Random Thoughs™️

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

My contribution to the Santos/Langdon discourse:

I think part of the reason people are so unforgiving is because of the format of the show as well. We’re used to shows being set over days/weeks. The Pitt doesn’t give us that. It seems as though when people don’t see Santos face on-screen backlash, or Langdon face on-screen consequences, it’s easy to forget that we have seen ONE AND A HALF DAYS, not months or a year like seasons are normally set. Santos went through TEN MONTHS of feeling othered and experiencing blame for reporting someone who was endangering patients at the time, and Langdon went through TEN MONTHS of withdrawal, therapy, recovery programs, and countless interpersonal consequences.

As for Santos’ perceived pariah status: there is such a HEAVY focus on the character’s mental health this season that I wouldn’t be surprised if she is heading fast toward a breaking point, and this is a self-fulfilling prophecy that allows her to validate her own self-esteem issues and isolate further. In one day, her trauma has been triggered MULTIPLE TIMES, and we see her switching between stress, apathy, and self-sabotage. So I do think that while she most likely faced backlash, she pushed that to allow herself to isolate. I am CONCERNED for her.

People are struggling SO HARD with concurrent truths. Langdon can absolutely have abused his power and endangered patients. He can ALSO be a very different person after seeking the proper treatment and therapy. People are not taking into account SUD, and are only thinking “he’s either a good or a bad person”. He is flawed and absolutely responsible for his actions while in that place, but he is also seeking recovery. He is reaping the benefits of his privilege as a white man in a system that benefits him, and he also didn’t set up that system (cough cough ROBBY). Santos has been abused by people on her life, by people in the Pitt, and she is trying her best to keep that from happening to others. She is also STILL RESPONSIBLE for her responses being rash and significantly impacting others’ lives (talking more about her DV/SA assumptions). It doesn’t make her a BAD PERSON. She is doing the best with what she has and desperately needs support and safety to learn and grow.

I am concerned about what this says for our society’s emotional intelligence, and how people would react with others nearer to their circle should nuanced issues arise. I am concerned. Media is a sandbox where people can learn lessons and empathy, and instead, this conversation is IMPOSSIBLY black and white for some people. Learn the lesson THE SHOW IS TRYING SO HARD TO TEACH YOU.

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

I was just listening to Fall Out Boy on shuffle for the first time in a WHILE and you know what? As a society, we should’ve given the same raw cultural power that we gave to 3OH!3 when they said “Tell your boyfriend if he says he’s got beef, that I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t f*ckin scared of him” to Fall Out Boy in The Mighty Fall for writing the lyrical masterpiece:

“Hell yeah, I’m a dick girl, I’m addicted to you.”

How did we miss this?

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

A Rant Re: Wicked

I am so tired of seeing the takes on Wicked that run face first into the point but REFUSE to get it. The media literacy crisis is DIRE. My irritation is mainly with people defending Glinda with the “Oh I love her and she was just naive and she DIDN’T KNOW!!”

Y’all. That’s the point.

1. You can like a character for how they’re written and a know they’re not flawless and not SUPPOSED TO BE. A main character CAN BE A FLAWED AND HARMFUL PERSON.

2. The defense that she “just didn’t know” is one of the biggest commentaries of Wicked and it KILLS me that it’s being replicated in the consumption of the movie specifically (not that the movie helped. It definitely watered it down with the new additions).

But this is a commentary on privilege and ACTIVELY HARMFUL IGNORANCE. Not only should Glinda have been able to tell on her own. Elphaba told her. But Glinda as the conventionally attractive and malleable one wanted approval and popularity and power more than she wanted change. Because that change would affect her level of privilege. And as much as she loved Elphaba, she loved having that power and privilege more. So she turned her back on so many things that were actively ISOLATING MINORITY POPULATIONS because if she addressed them and fought for them, she’d lose that. It’s a very naive take to say she didn’t know SOMETHING was up and CHOSE not to find out.

3. People who are saying “well Elphaba did sleep with Fiyero”. Yeah. Sure. That’s bad. But if you’re COMPARING the badness of two things and one of them is being the face of a fascist regime… that’s the worst one. The slogan was “kill the witch” and whether or not she knew about Nessa, she KNEW Elphaba was a political “enemy of the state” and at the worst would be killed, best would be tortured. Her advocacy and friendship only lasted as long as it was convenient for her. That’s a MARKER OF HER CHARACTER AND PRIVILEGE.

Yall please continue to love Glinda. Love the Wizard. Love Madame Morrible. They’re all fantastic characters. But please at LEAST see what the ENTIRE point of Wicked is.

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

A quick Rant™️ about Pretty Little Liars…

Alright, so I have a VERY specific bone to pick with the writer’s room for this show after rewatching. This is going to be a rant about Ezria, but specifically a choice that the writers made to INFLUENCE THE AUDIENCE rather than the relationship itself…

So as a former Ezria shipper (when I didn’t have a fully developed frontal lobe), I’ve realized how BAD that relationship was. But I’ve heard all the normal analysis on both sides, including but not limited to:

The show chose to go with this relationship, despite the fact that the books made it clear it wasn’t okay

He DID know how old she was. AND dated her THIRTEEN YEAR OLD BEST FRIEND

The show made it look like it was HER CHOICE, which was both a bad influence on viewers and priming victim blaming / self-blame

“People watching should know better” (a dark romance-esque take)

The last one feeds into what I want to say. Let’s say for argument’s sake that this is a dark romance. The relationship is meant to be a kink/fantasy explored solely through media and has more to do with scene-oriented power dynamics than literal pedophilia.

If that was the case, the show would do as MUCH as possible to divert you from seeing the real world concerns or ramifications, while acknowledging enough that there’s a thrill of risk. And they do that…

Until season 7.

Now right here, I want to remind you that “A” weaponizes things that the writers think the girls should be ashamed of. The only point this doesn’t apply in is Emily’s sexuality, instead allowing her to both come to terms with and be empowered by who she is (and then A no longer uses it).

In Season 7, Aria commits some of her worst acts. This is something that each of the girls go through during their most “shameful” a secrets. Except Aria’s?

Aria’s was filing a police report saying that she was groomed by her high school teacher.

The writer’s inherently create the perception that FILING A POLICE REPORT WOULD BE ARIA’S GREATEST FLAW. If they had wanted it to be a dark romance, they would have NEVER MADE HER FILE A POLICE REPORT IN THE FIRST PLACE. The fact that by this time, there was already immense criticism of the relationship and its effect on younger viewers makes this choice even more questionable.

The writers CHOSE to acknowledge that she was well within her rights to go to the police, but the. PUNISH HER FOR IT.

I will NEVER be convinced that there WEREN’T people involved in the writing of this show who actively wanted to prime minors to be groomed. This was SUCH a specific choice and it didn’t need to happen.

TL;DR: The writers punishing Aria for filing a police report against Ezra will never fail to convince me that there were people in production who actively wanted or believed that it was okay for minors to be involved with adults.

[matthiasrox555]

”i’m a top” “im a bottom” okay?? im a stitch away from making it ??? and a scar away from falling apart?????? Apart?

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

Okay?? And I am an arms dealer?? Filling you with weapons in the form of words??

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

Whenever you make a social media account, and the little option is like “Hey, do you want all your contacts to find you immediately? Do you want them to get a text with a link to your most embarrassing or incriminating photos? Do you want to feel Public Humiliation™️?”… I fear the people who click “Yes”

Actually, I wish there was an option that was like “Hey, here’s a list of people you see on a regular basis. Would you like this account wiped from any device they might possibly come in contact with?”

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

Science side of tumblr, my ex vaped (specifically in my bedroom / in my apartment), and I don’t, and when we would be apart for a while, I would get jittery and anxious and Need To See Them™️, and yes I’ve been anxious before with people, but this feels different so I guess I’m asking…

Am I missing them this much, or am I having mild nicotine withdrawals?

Sincerely,

Anxious, Dazed, and Confused

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

You know, sometimes, I’m able to be kind to myself about not being in a traditional, long-term relationship. I tell myself that I’m allowed to have standards, and that waiting for the right person and being fluid and understanding that relationships are unique and grow with the people involved are POSITIVE qualities…

And then I remember that one of my friends took a woman on a date, caused anaphylactic shock due to an (undisclosed) peanut allergy and the date CONTINUED after per her request. And I feel a BIT less self-confident.

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

On Living in an Apartment with a Roommate:

Me: *Crying and emotionally wrecked from the plot twist at the end of the episode of a show I just watched, changed as a human*

Me: *turns off TV to sit in stunned silence*

My Roommate, singing through the shared bedroom wall: “One fifty one rum-”

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

Dear Manager,

Just finished season 2, episode 2 of The Last of Us, so I will be out on bereavement for the next 2-6 business months.

Sincerely,

The crying shell of your employee

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

I really want SOMEONE to write an AU one-shot of Arcane where it’s the partner test from The Sex Lives of College Girls, except it’s Caitlyn, Ekko, and Viktor testing Vi, Jinx, and Jayce.

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

How I imagine Jayce and Vi’s friendship would go…

Vi, thinking she’s home alone: My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…

Vi: *pauses*

Vi: and I’m like, please find my friend Jayce, because I have feminine taste

Jayce: *tries to laugh silently while recording to send to Caitlyn*

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

Caitlyn, slowly: When the people we love make us angry, how do we communicate that to them?

Vi and Jinx, in unison: Violence!

Ekko: *sprays them with a squirt bottle*

[modern-problems-no-solutions]

Everyone talks about Alex being gay in Modern Family (which, don’t get me wrong, I totally agree with), but no one talks about Haley and Luke being CANONICALLY bi…

There’s an entire episode where the family is boating, and Luke and Haley see a hot person, but can’t immediately clock their gender… and both of them were essentially like “Actually, I don’t care, I call dibs.” And spent the WHOLE EPISODE trying to find this person to shoot their shot.

If that isn’t bi panic…