#or trying to...

[girl4music]

I have to second everything Melissa Blake says here about Rob Tapert. Every time I have heard that man speak he is always proving himself to be the true feminist he is well known for in being the main showrunner of Xena. He is just constantly “You know what bugs me? There’s never any women-led…” and will just complain about the severe lack of women in everything in the TV art/entertainment industry. Or in any medium of public entertainment whatsoever. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak in an interview where he didn't say something about the lack of female representation in everything.

He is always championing and cheering for women and their hard work all over the world and it never ever comes off performative or like he is trying to appeal to a specific demographic. He genuinely supports women’s rights. He has spoken out so many times about how much he wishes there had been more female creators in Xena but that he just couldn’t convince all that many to give it a try and said that apart from Renée O’Connor, Liz Friedman, Chris Manheim and Nora Kay Foster, no female was really a regular on the set as a writer/director/producer and as much as he loved his entire team, it always bothered him that his show was male-dominant as far as the creative field went instead of female-dominant because, as far as he was concerned, that was how it was meant to be. A women-led show in every sense of the phrase. But that they just weren't interested in doing action/fantasy and preferred rom-coms. Donald Duncan - director of cinemaphotography on Xena - attested to that in the commentary he did for the episode ‘King Con’. He spoke about how there were very few female directors that directed for Xena and that it was a shame because that was really what the show was made for. To give women the opportunity they often do not get in the industry.

I’m not saying it’s got everything to do with her love for him but it’s no wonder why Lucy Lawless married Rob Tapert. It’s also no wonder why the Xenaverse fandom (Xenites) - which are predominantly gay or queer women - respect Rob so much as an executive producer. I mean as Melissa Blake said… you hear horror stories about the way women are treated by male showrunners (coughWhedoncough) and it’s something that I really think gets overlooked about the on-set experience of Xena. That it was a family environment even though it was male-dominated. Women had more opportunity and authority on the set of Xena than probably any other set because that’s how Rob wanted it to be. He didn’t just cater to the Xenaverse fandom - he catered to every woman on his team and never ever made any excuses for why anything couldn't be done for them at any point. It just genuinely ended up being that not many female creators wanted to stick around on the Xena set because the scope of it often meant leaving their families behind for a long time. But Rob and all the other showrunners or the leads of all the different departments working on Xena always made sure to make their environments as comforting as possible on the off-chance a woman wanted to join their team and stick it out for the long haul like them. That's what 'Xena: Warrior Princess' was about. It wasn't just an "in-show" representation thing with having two lead female characters in a romantically-heavy type of character dynamic. It was for female creators to get a foot in the door in TV art/entertainment amongst a plethora of male creators that were constantly catered to just because their sex chromosomes were XY. Rob and all of the male creators on Xena did not want that but they ultimately had no choice because few female creators were willing to take the risk on doing something that's outside their field.

Something that - at the time - was only ever expected for men to do.

I think we - as a fandom - take for granted what Xena was in this way. It was a very unique and groundbreaking experience on-set as well and if there were any horror stories, it never had anything to do with poor treatment from an abusive and oppressive male showrunner because that showrunner was the first person to offer his support.

Sure, Xena was his baby but he would have happily shared his baby with women if they were inclined to accept the offer of opportunity. I think Liz Friedman was probably the closest we had to a female showrunner on Xena. Especially since Babs left so god damn early. I do often wonder what Xena would have been if Babs stayed but then catch myself on that because that would've meant no Steven L. Sears since he is who joined the Xena team in replacement of Babs leaving.

Xena took the representation of women incredibly seriously and it's not given its due for that in my opinion. Not on the creative side at least. Rob Tapert isn't credited even half as much as he should be on this either. People remember Whedon, Moffat, Roddenberry, Murphy... the list goes on. But when you mention Tapert... it's just cricket sounds. I don't know. Maybe he prefers it that way because - like I said - he was never performative about it or seeking glory.

[anais-mirliaz]

frolicking with mama :)

[yekokataa]

do you guys know about the internet roadtrip? right now somewhere between 500 and 900 people are collectively 'driving' a car on google street view trying to make it to canada. it's fun i recommend it

[pirateprincessjess]

When I was early on in my transition I got in a Lyft, and the driver was this big country guy. I was a little nervous so I just sat quietly in the back.

After a moment he changed the music on his phone to what sounded like a Hatsune Miku song. Curiosity got the better of me, so I finally spoke up and said “is this Hatsune Miku?”

And he said “Yep. You looked uncomfortable, and I know Transgender women like Hatsune Miku, so I thought it might help.”

I think about that interaction a lot.

[jester-nonconforming]

People still tend to lump JK Rowling in with the category of ~problematic artists~ and I need everyone to understand that is not the problem with her. She is not comparable to anyone who wrote a piece of fiction you hate, or someone who made rude comments in 2015 and has since learned better.

She is far more like Elon Musk. She is a radicalized person with an extreme amount of social and financial power, and for YEARS she has been using that power to try to influence her government into hurting vulnerable people, on purpose. And she has succeeded. THAT is the problem with her, and THAT is why spending money on her books is so dangerous, not because her books aged badly.

Critiquing her work is fine, of course (I personally was never a fan so I really don’t care) but you NEED to understand that fiction is not the main issue here. And I truly think acting like she’s the same as the rest of any giant list of ~problematic creators of the week~ waters down how dangerous she is.

[ninjasmudge]

worlds slowest fanfic author tries really really hard

[aropride]

(so mad i can’t see straight) Yeah i just don’t think chat gpt is a good classroom tool

[busket]

I feel lucky that my pet became a meme that was not adopted and used by nazis. everyone that has told me they adore this meme is a cool person and not a scumbag loser. if she became the face of a crypto scam or the name of an illegal government entity id have a crisis

[leofwines]

[miiilowo]

anybody else . can anyone hear me

[unpeeled-human]

stop telling me what not to draw. i do not care

[notjusthespongenextdoor]

I'm coming to realize how vital it is to keep a running list of shit you did in the past few weeks so that you can participate in small talk. It's literally not anything to do with them being interesting at all it's just having Something to say to give people even the barest thing to hold on to. It's so you don't get into the "what have you been up to" "nothing much what about you" "yeah same" trap. Literally just say something.

What have you been up to? Um well it's getting warmer so I've been having to brush my cat every day.

Like no it's not that interesting of a thing to say. But now they can respond to it. They could say, man yeah it really is heating up, I've been trying to think of things to do inside more often. Or, oh you have a cat? What's their name?

Like. It's Something. All you need is Something. And if you're like me and your brain immediately goes blank upon entering small talk then keeping a list will help you remember things to say.

[opera-ghost]

[tsuchinokoroyale]

Tumblr once again coming up with a feature I’m not gonna- hey whats going on back there

[meltygetswifi]

not to be a dirty commie or anything but i don't think any one person should have enough money to solve world hunger and then get to decide not to