#james rants

[jaime-in-chaos]

ngl I got so wrapped up in the easter dandys world update that I forgot about the new glitch show the gaslight district

speaking of easter its kinda interesting that the gaslight district ep came out on good friday

good friday being the holiday that commemorates the crucifixion and death of jesus

and with mel being sort of a jesus figure(?) it makes it more interesting

also I got eggson now, he silly old guy

[james-stark-the-writer]

terrible news, i tried to watch the Friendly Space Ninja Riverdale finale video again and i think i've pinpointed my problem with his videos, specifically the Riverdale ones but also just his general approach to media criticism, it's just the terrible wave of "objective criticism" we had on youtube with shitheads like Mauler but framed as just a more subjective opinion and it tries to pretend like that makes it any better, which it doesn't, like it really doesn't, because the underlying assumption that there is only one way to tell any type of story is just such a terrible thing for art but also he just fundamentally doesn't understand what type of art Riverdale is and there's just such a sheer lack of even attempting to treat it as a serious piece of art because the assumption is already that because popular consensus is that it sucks (the critical consensus has actually been consistently fucking great, you could just go look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores or even check out the legacy section on Riverdale's Wikipedia page), that means it automatically is trash, it never gets the opportunity to fight for itself because it's never given the chance to be thought of as a piece of art. it's an insistence that writing is the only way to analyze an audio-visual medium and like sure, writing doesn't "age" the same way other elements might, but audiences do age and change and evolve, media criticism does too, there's a reason people appreciate the Star Wars prequels more now than they ever did at release because we understand different ways of appreciating art now beyond the base insistence that conventionally "good" writing is the only thing to aim for (the prequels are actually well written but let's not get into THAT rn), that doesn't make the prequels "bad," it just means the prequels are different. i find the whole good/bad paradigm pretty suffocating in the first place but this is just so exhausting and i cannot believe that I've just managed to articulate it bc it seems shockingly obvious in retrospect.

also the video in question is just like factually wrong multiple times, he flat out admits he skips a lot of the season but then complains that the season doesn't make sense when he's jumping in at a random point, he complains that the previous seasons are meaningless but it's like has he forgotten that the audience doesn't forget stuff even if the characters have (and they even get their memories back in a thematically important and resonant moment the defines who the characters want to be so it's not really even entirely sound criticism) and that the show is intentionally trying to do interesting parallels and reversals of the stuff we've seen before, it's like commenting on itself because season 7 is a nostalgic look back at what the comics have been and what the show started from, and about the nostalgic feelings of that time and their appeal contrasted with the brutal truths of the reality of the situation, like this is just basic art criticism, i'm not even like trying to defend the season, like i don't even like season 7 that much, i think it's one of the more boring seasons and it ranks towards the middle for me, but like this is not like deep criticism where you're thinking and analyzing a lot, this is just seeing what the plot of the episodes is and what they're trying to communicate, it's just really irritating how fucking exhausting the objective criticism shit is but it's actually even more grating when you don't pretend to be superior about it because it makes it seem like you're not even bold enough to stand by your opinions and actually embrace the implication present in the shit you are saying, like it's just cowardice, honestly. but anyway, glad i figured it out, because it was honestly irritating me that i couldn't articulate why i didn't like those videos beyond just them being wrong about Riverdale on like a factual level and him just not understanding what it's trying to say as a piece of art.

the point of this isn't to say that i think he's making these arguments in bad faith or anything, i do think these are genuinely opinions he holds, and they are valid opinions for him to hold, i'm not saying they're invalid, you can prefer one aspect of a piece of media over other aspects because it's more important to you, that's okay, i'm just saying they're misinformed takes and generally display a shocking lack of imagination and respect for art and no desire to broaden his horizons.

anyway, if you actually want to understand the appeal of Riverdale, go through the Riverdale tag on my blog for my own analysis (but here's somewhere to get started), or if you want videos, the Super Eyepatchwolf video is pretty good, i still disagree with it a lot but at least the man tries to understand why people like the show and he even gets some part of the appeal, and we are going to get 4 5-hour videos from Lily Simpson over the next few months so i'm looking forward to those, bc Lily generally tends to at least understand the appeal of the stuff she talks about, and the title of the first video ("the captivating madness of Riverdale" [though i don't love the use of "madness"]) is already enough to make me feel like somebody kinda gets it and hopefully it'll be more coherent actual art analysis.

[notme-notyou]

I'm probably gonna fuck some people up with this, but i don't care, here is a rant:

I don't feel safe in the queer community! I don't, i should, but i don't.. just soley because of how i identify, there are so many people (not all i know that, but still enough) that hate/invalidate the way i identify or parts of it. And i know a lot of people will say "don't let it get to you" or stuff like that, sure, i try my best, but it also doesn't change the fact that the queer community is not the safe space it always claims to be, when people like me, who are aroallo or agender/xenogender using it/its pronouns/neopronouns in general, get a lot of hate and invalidation from within the community and that can't be a thing, y'all can't say "everyone is welcome and safe in this community" but in the same breath say that sex without love is bad, that everyone loves or that xenogenders and neopronouns are not a thing, that is NOT a safe space for everyone, get your shit together guys... just because you don't understand something or why somebody might identify the way they do, really that doesn't concern you one fucking bit. Like i don't understand physics, do i go around and say that thermodynamics is not a thing, or hate on people that study physics, love being physicists, because i don't get it, no because it makes those people happy and then so be it. I hate that that keeps me from experimenting into xenogenders and neopronouns more, i hate that it keeps me from being open about how i identify, because I'm scared of my own fucking community and that can't be, should never be a thing for a community that calls itself a "safe space"

LIVE AND LET PEOPLE LIVE FOR FUCKS SAKE

[citrusandghosts]

Etsy won't let me leave a review so I thought I'd put one out here!

I bought these stickers from @jackiestalkinghead and oh my god I love them.

Firstly, since they put out the design I've loved it, and so I bought 4 stickers and they're fantastic.

The colors are vibrant, lines are sharp and clean, and it has a satin? Matte? Finish and they're great.

One was promptly put on my laptop and I am saving the others for an appropriate use.

[here-queer-spacethefinalfrontier]

Trying to revamp my main blog, that I haven't touched since middleschool. Thinking about shifting all horror or non trek stuff to that blog

[plaidgardenpinkskeleton]

quick reminder for those of you just now starting binding:

dont bind for any longer than eight hours. you can damage your ribs and lungs doing that.

stretch before and after. idk if this is an actual thing but i do it and it helps.

listen to your body. if you're in pain, even a little, go somewhere safe and remove your binder.

i hope this helps any of you just starting! good luck.

[teethingpains]

I should not have looked at my ex's blog, damn you bpd, he's beautiful, but a total asshole. Also I really hope he doesn't ruin anyone elses life. Just please, don't, they deserve better than a narcissistic sociopath who is just going to throw them under a bus when they're in need of help.

[jaime-in-chaos]

whenever I know, I am going to have a rough day (or days) I pack some candy in my backpack so that if I am feeling a little bit upset or about to go ballistic, I can just eat some candy, and I'll feel better

this morning, I packed as much candy as I could,

some in the front pocket, some deep in there, others in the sides, and some near where most of my stuff is

hopefully I should be all good