#mega rant

[tatsunokoori-blog]

So remember when I said Trust the Process?

Fuck Season 3, Fuck Season 2, And Fuck Gaiman. WE MAKE OUR OWN GOOD OMENS STORIES HERE.

[callme-alma2]

Why is it exactly women’s issue that men with dysphoria are struggling? Like, why should women give up all they fought for because a percentage of men who still benefit from misogyny, feel dysphoric in their bodies?

You can argue that they are mentally ill but how does that put the burden of care on women? Why should women try to fix these men or let them into their circles to validate them?

You say that they will kill themselves if we don’t let them in and coddle them, but since when is it women’s fault to help suicidal men? So should we also offer sex to men who threaten suicide because of their virginity? (Incels) threats of suicide and violence is nothing but an indicator that these men need psychological help. Not for the whole sex of women to bow down to them.

You can say it’s “common decency” but since when it’s common decency to let someone who oppresses you into your group of the oppressed? Do you let straight people dictate what gay rights are? Do you let whites dictate what BIPOC rights are? Why is it a common decency to let men get away with changing the definition of feminism? Do you let straight people argue what is and isn’t homophobia? Do you let white people argue what is and isn’t racism and colorism? Do you always allow the oppressor to have a say in what’s actually happening to the oppressed? No? So why should women allow it.

When men threaten violence, rape, and suicide to bait women into letting them control their movement, why is that not against common decency? Why is that weird iteration of common decency only reserved for men?

Men are men, but women are a byproduct that needs to bend over backwards to make the men as comfortable as possible, especially if they have a little mental illness.

When women demand to be referred to as women and not some disembodied term like birth giver, or uterus haver, we are unreasonable and we need to be open to words having new meanings but when men are using the word “woman” suddenly it means all the stereotype’s and archaic behaviors that is associated with a woman. What are those “new meanings” are?

“Woman” as a word is supposedly evolving, but somehow it’s becoming nothing but bimbo attire and anal sex. Men want women to be walking two holes and a mouth they can fuck, so that’s the “evolved” definition. Because it’s them who decide what a woman is and isn’t. To them, a surgical hole made from colon tissue is identical in function to a vagina because all it is to them is a place for their penis to get into. So why can’t someone with a surgical hole call themselves a woman? In that logic, it’s completely valid for a man, to call himself a woman because he now has two holes and a mouth, thus becoming what a woman is in function to men.

This is what allowing men, regardless of excuse, into feminism has led into. The very concept of “women’s rights” is currently unacceptable. You can’t acknowledge women’s suffering, because men wouldn’t like that, and since feminism has now “evolved” into allowing men to dictate what is and isn’t acceptable, real issues can never be discussed.

[southsidewrites]

Thoughts on Riverdale and Marginalized Groups

So, after a lot of thought, I’ve realized what one of my biggest issues with Riverdale is, and that’s their flippant treatment of marginalized and disenfranchised groups.  I’ll preface this by saying I am a straight white woman, meaning that I will undoubtably have gaps in my understanding and experience.  I do always welcome additions/corrections from people who have lived these experiences, though, so don’t feel bad for calling me out (politely please).  I just need to put this in words though because my discomfort with this show is so much deeper than “ew, cringey plotlines”

Warning: This is going to be long (and it’ll probably still not cover even half of the issues).  Topics covered will be people of color, Native Americans, the LGBTQ community, people with mental illness, and people suffering from poverty/homelessness.  Read on for more.

People of Color

Riverdale has a lot of people of color for a network show.  No doubt about it.  However, these people of color have literally some of the least development.  It’s like they were cast to shoot a few promo pics and then forgotten as soon as they were introduced,  Most prominent examples:

Josie and the Pussycats: When I saw they were an all-black group, I was thrilled.  Then, they promptly disappeared.  This feels like such a half-hearted attempt to be diverse without any care for making them actual people.  A huge dissapointment.

The Serpents: Aside from Jughead, our main Serpents are all people of color.  And what do we get for them? No backstories, no real names in some cases, no representations of healthy families, and definitely no solid character development.  Again, a huge disappointment.

Reggie: One of the most under-developed characters on the show.  Not much to say other than he’s a stock douschey bad boy.  Again, no family and no development to speak of.

Special shout-out to the Lodges who are canonically Latino but show almost no sign of it other than an occasional “mi’ja”.

Extra special shout-outs to Chuck and Dilton who basically serve no purpose on this show other than a half second of storyline.

Basically, this show loves hiring actors of color, but when it comes to actually giving them screentime and worthwhile development, no such luck.

The Uktena

This I wanted to touch on in addition to people of color because it was extra disappointing.  The whole episode that introduced the Uktena and their history with the Serpents and the Blossoms was downright fascinating.  It was interesting, complex, and a sort of thoughtful exploration of colonialism.  Then, once they could promo it and get the box checked, it was gone, leaving us wondering if the Serpents are/aren’t the Uktena and why the heck is it being run by a white man?  Cool idea, pitiful execution.

LGBTQ

Ugh.  This one is hard to even start because I am PISSED. Riverdale has given us a few non-straight ships (Joavin, Kevin/Moose, and Choni), and they’ve all been messy af.  Let’s break it down.

Joaquin/Kevin: Initially built on a lie, but immediately a fan favorite.  Some interesting potential.  Ripped away as soon as it got good. 

Kevin/Moose: A rebound couple with a history of cheating.  Possibly the realest thing on this show, but kind of a disappointment.  Why can’t Riverdale just give Kevin a love interest that isn’t built on a foundation of lies/cheating/death?  Also, why can’t they develop Kevin as more than a stock gay best friends?  Literally, he just seems to be there for other people to vent to.

Chery/Toni: I’ve said a lot of this before, but this ship pisses me off the most because it could have been so good. Instead, we get a rushed romance that goes from literal enemies to literal girlfriends in the span of like three two-minute interactions.  Then, they get no  individual or relationship development, no valid screen time, and no anything really.  They’re just there to be there, and it seems to clear to me that they only exists to appease us.  It’s such a shallow cop-out relationship, and it makes me mad.  I would have been happy to wait for season three to get Choni if it meant I got well-developed, natural Choni instead of forced down my throat Choni.  Do better, Riverdale.

I don’t know what else to say other than I’m mad, and I want some valid LGBTQ relationships.  Give me some depth on these characters--tell me their struggles, their joys, their messy teenage emotions as they wrestle with who they are.

ALSO LET’S NOT FORGET THAT THEY MADE A WHOLE EPISODE ABOUT CONVERSATION THERAPY AND THEN DROPPED IT LIKE IT WAS NOTHING. Conversion Therapy is downright traumatizing.  Even a few days can literally destroy teens.  I am not okay with how passively they “rescued” Cheryl, and literally all she needed to do to feel better was kiss Toni.  That’s just wrong, and it downplays such a huge, traumatic problem that is still a problem today.  Basically, they just wanted Toni to play hero, and they thought that could be an “edgy” way to do it.  Not okay with it being taken so lightly.

Mental Illness/(and kind of abuse)

So, a while back, Lili made some remark in an interview about how Riverdale tackles mental illness in a complex and real way.  Lies.  Sorry if this one gets heated, but I am someone with a diagnosed mental illness, and I get heated about poor representation.

Betty has some sort of mental illness.  Not sure if it’s depression, PTSD, something else, or some combination, but it’s there.  Calling it “darkness” and having it presented as her becoming some sort of dominatrix in a wig is creepy, romanticizing, and not to mention offensive. Her darkness isn’t profound or dramatic, it’s an illness, and she needs help and support.  Taking down bad guys is not the solution--real treatment is.  

Archie was sexually groomed and abused and watched his father get shot.  No way the boy doesn’t have PTSD.  Maybe instead of making him make all these dumb, thoughtless decisions, develop that a little more so we can see him as a struggling, hurt kid and not an idiot that’s easier to manipulate than a jar of play-doh.  

Cheryl attempted suicide and then literally burned down a house after her murderous father killed himself.  And how was that handled?  Not at all.  Literally, she should be hospitalized and given real, meaningful treatment, not sent back to her crazy abusive mother, sent to conversion therapy, and then initiated into a gang.  Honestly, it’s so ridiculous that I don’t even have words.

In general, all these kids are going through some heavy stuff, and there is not a doubt in my mind that they are suffering some clinical trauma and abuse issues.  I’m not sure how/if the show should tackle this, but what they’re doing now just isn’t working.

Poverty/Homelessness/Economic Disparity

Let’s talk about the Southside for a minute.  Jughead has been bounced around in foster after being semi-homeless.  Toni is admittedly couch-surfing while semi-living with her uncle.  Fangs and Sweet Pea have zero backstory.  All of them are lower-class, go to a poor school, live in trailers or other lower-class housing options, and all of them joined a gang (which typically don’t attract people with means and money).  And how does the show introduce them? Villains.  How shallow is it that the rich side of town was initially presented as good guys and the poor side as bad guys.  Sure, that dynamic was mostly demolished in Season 2, but it definitely started that way.  Not to mention, the three main Serpents are POC while the core four are all white or white-passing.  While some of these dynamics were disrupted, the foundational assumptions are still there, and they’re a bit too heavy-handed for my taste.  

Basically, the Serpents were introduced as the “edgy” foils to the main characters, but none of them have any of the development to go with it.  The ONLY reason I care about the Serpents is the fanon development because canonically, they’re beyond shallow.  They’re barely even characters--really, they’re just kind of plot pawns that keep the action moving.  Overall, they should have been more developed.  At least give the kids some parents, some background, some internality, because I cannot get behind them as heroes or villains when all we know it that they come from the “rough” side of town.

IN CONCLUSION/ TL;DR

Riverdale needs to stop worrying about checking inclusivity boxes and develop their damn characters.  Instead of trying to cram in a little bit of everything, slow down and do a couple things well because right now, it feels phony.  Like, “yeah, he include all sorts of real-world issues and problems, and our character are totally #diverse.”  When in fact, the show is about four kids, three of which are white, all of which are straight, three of which are upper middle class/wealthy, and all of which have been through severe trauma/abuse.  Don’t tell me this show is inclusive if your definition of inclusivity is two second storylines that have no development and serve only to forward the stories of four main characters.

As I said before, I welcome feedback/additions/corrections.  I just had to get this off my chest before I punched a literal wall.

[antidam0n]

delena are a “cute couple”

So I just casually watch msmojos list of top cutest teen drama couples thinking - “there’s plenty of cute innocent couples in the MANY teen shows that have aired over the past few days.This might be a watchmojo vid I’ll like.”

And I never expected vampire diaries couple to be on there because I wouldn’t describe anyone on there as very cute.Maybe.. you could call early stelena or some of Caroline’s ships cute, maybe.You see where I’m going with this?

Watch mojo put Delena, bloody delena as the top 10 cute couple list. This wasn’t even a tvd list! No apparently delena are just that ‘cute’ . What the actual fuck. The commentary goes on about how they are popular. yeah they’re popular but not cute!

You ask most die hard delena fans and I swear ‘cute’ is not the first word they’d use to describe them they’d use words like ‘passionate’ and ‘adventurous’ but as always it doesn’t matter as long as delena fans see results that’s all that matter. 

This reminds me of how much the worst of this fandom went on about  endgame, that’s all that  mattered. They want to be top of the polls, that’s all that mattered.Who cares if the poll isn’t even close to a good fit for your ship as long as you monopolize it right? Who cares if Damon isn’t very paternal we can make him that way last minute so delena gets the same ending as a chic flic. That winning right? Not saying all de fans were like thisbut still..

This video reminded me about all my bad experiences with so many of the de fandom, thanks watch mojo.

[bionicdragonguardian1]

I found this on Pinterest, and just had to say something about it.

Can I be the first to say; uh no. You’re wrong. Not in a rude way, but I just totally disagree with the fact that you think he’s squinting because he can’t see.

If this were true I’d be really concerned, these are both clips from his short skate performance (as utterly obvious by the outfit). Which means he’s on the ice, alone. If he was seriously squinting now because he can’t see I’d honestly be really concerned. Being on the ice by himself means that he really only has to be keeping an eye on where he is in the rink- most easily distinguished by the distance from any of the walls. Since the logos under the ice change from rink to rink.

This would mean Yuri’s vision is so bad that he can’t see the walls of the rink. Here’s where my concern comes in, yes, if you take off your glasses your depth perception can take a bit to line back up in your brain- which would account for why he takes his glasses off before he warms up.

Completely logical, but what boku wa goofy goober (and I wanted to murder myself for having to write that) is implying is that Yuri’s vision is utter shit. That his vision isn’t a minor correction, but rather a larger one. That being said, this is where my concern comes in. If he has to squint when he is on the ice BY HIMSELF just to see the walls and know where he is in the rink then I am sincerely worried about the safety of him and every other skater that is on the rink at the same time as him. Like in warm-ups, where there are up to five other skaters on the ice. If he has to squint to see the wall, that means he’s having serious problems when it comes to seeing the other skaters. Something that would be seriously bad for his reputation (and body) should he do so more than once.

This is the only time we see him squint off the ice, at the Cup of China. In episode 6, after his Eros performance. His 106.84, an extremely high number for a short performance. Which means he can’t read the numbers on the Jumbotron, so yes, his vision is absolute crap. There is denying it, but with vision that bad he would be a danger to not only the other skaters- whether that be for the 6 minute warm up or the fact that Phitchit was his rink-mate for the whole time he was in Detroit before the Sochi Grand Prix Finals- but also to himself.

If either of his coaches Celestino had any common sense, he would’ve picked up on this. Telling Yuri that he would either have to wear his glasses or get contacts to wear to practice.

In this shot from Episode 3, Yuri isn’t wearing his glasses, but anyone with common sense would know that SEEING the person you’re skating beside is important. Now, technically, the distance between the two of them very easily falls under the “intermediate” distance for Yuri’s eyesight. Which could easily mean that he can see Viktor far better than he can see the Jumbotron. However, according to my friend, who is 100% nearsighted. Meaning that he only needs his glasses for things that are further away. “It’s very disorienting to see something, then have it step over this line that suddenly causes it to go from being crystal clear to blurring. Only getting worse the farther away from you, whatever it is, goes.” To have this happen while you’re skating beside someone would unnerve anyone.

It would be easy to say that Yuri is farsighted, except for the Jumbotron screen AND this scene.  

Where he’s less than three feet from Viktor and not squinting at all. While one could argue that he has astigmatism, the most common reason someone has trouble seeing both far away and up close, there is this scene right here that denies it.

As someone who has astigmatism when someone gets close enough that I have trouble seeing them, through the portion of my glasses meant to help with my distance vision, my instinctual reaction is to look up. And I don’t mean like Yuri is, looking over his glasses. I mean tilt my head back and look through the bottom portion of my glasses so they continue to look clear to me. If I were Yuri, at this distance, I’d be able to tell that it was Viktor who was right in front of me purely because of the sound of his voice and the fact that his hair is silver. The rest of his face would look blurry. Yuri is very much aware of the fact that Viktor is in front of him, but he’s also aware of how Viktor is looking at him. Something someone with farsighted vision would have problems with.

So, Yuri is far-sighted but still squints while performing. The question is, why? Would he really put someone else in danger because he can’t see properly without his glasses on? Do I even need to answer that? This is Yuri Katsuki we’re talking about, of course, he wouldn’t! He is competitive when it comes to figure skating, sure, but he genuinely cares about the people he meets and competes with/against. His rink mate at the time that this was going down would’ve been Phichit. There is no way that Yuri would put Phichit in danger for the sole reason being that his vision sucks rocks. No, he would’ve toughed it out, gone to the eye doctor and gotten contacts. It’s just who he is. He might not have enjoyed wearing them in practice, or in competition, but he would’ve done what he was told.

Though, that still leaves why Yuri had to squint at the Jumbotron and why he squints while performing. That’s actually easy like I said before I have astigmatism, my vision is a mess. My doctor described my vision in four sectors, rather than the common three. Distance, being 20ft (about 6.1 meters) and greater. Near, is the distance that a person would normally hold a book or sew, about 18-25 inches (46-63.5 cm) or less. Intermediate being everything in between. Due to the fact that I competed in Martial Arts I couldn’t wear my glasses while I practiced or competed. At practice, I was usually pretty okay, but competitions could get dicey. Long story short, one of them did and I ended up hurting someone during sparring because I couldn’t fully tell where the headgear ended and their glove had started. I had felt bad, and had been told by my instructor that if I wanted to compete again I would need to get contacts.

My vision is absolute shit, I need my glasses on almost 100% of the time, meaning that the thing that would be hardest to do would be to get contacts that fit my prescription. My eye doctor had actually told me that it would be nearly impossible, but what he recommended was contacts that would solve my near-intermediate and short-distance sight problems. Meaning the distance from arm’s length to about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters) away. These couldn’t be used to drive and they wouldn’t begin to help with my reading vision, but they would do exactly what I needed them to for Martial Arts. And I only wore them during those times, however, like Yuri when they would post the scoring I still couldn’t see it quite as clearly and would have to squint slightly. What I also did, though was subconsciously squint when I was moving quickly. I think part of the reason was I was afraid my contacts were going to come out, even if that was “completely insane to think about” according to my mother. I still did it, and it’s entirely possible that’s what Yuri did too.

My little brother is looking over my shoulder and the first thing he brought up was the press. More specifically this scene right here in Episode 11. (technically he meant the one right before this, but I can’t find it for the life of me.)

I would like to think that they give people a bit of space, but it’s likely that they don’t. However, it could be entirely possible that Viktor could push the press away for a few minutes to let Yuri take out the contacts that he hates so much. Or (though I like the other idea better) if that wasn’t quite the case, Yuri could easily put his glasses on while his contacts were still in. It’d be entirely stupid and could give him a headache if he wasn’t careful, but it is possible. There would some slight overcorrection, the cause of the headache I mentioned before, but if since Yuri is nearsighted it wouldn’t affect his ability to see the interviewers. It would also give him a very valid reason to keep his time with the press short.

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD that was a long post. Anyway, I felt like I had to say something, I’m not trying to be mean or rude or anything like that. I just thought I should point out that not everything is as cut and dry as it seems.

[rainbowflavouredkitten]

My wits do in fact have an end.

I like to think I'm a pretty patient person. I can tolerate quite a bit. And even if I can't, I suffer silently. However, I don't know how much longer I can be quiet. Unfortunately, when I do reach that point what comes out is not always pretty... nor rational, let alone nice. I'm working two jobs. One four days a week, totally 20 hours. The second is five days a week at a variable amount of time, probably around another 20 hours. So I essentially have a full-time schedule. Here's the catch: despite having a full time job I live below the poverty line. I don't make what 40 hours at my first job would amount to if heaven forbid I were still at minimum wage. The short version of this is that I work a lot. There are upsides but we're focusing on the negatives here, okay? So now we know I work a lot. I live with someone who works one job, at the same place as my second job (the one with flexible hours). They have no mode of transportation so now instead of making their own hours they follow my hours.... which are considerably less than what this person worked when they could go to work on their own because guess what.... I have a second job. Less work is being done on their part, no doubt. Also because they have no way to get to work except me, they have decided they can work from home. None of the rest of us have the luxury of getting to do that. I know that personally I would not be very productive while surrounded by my own things. While I realize everyone is different, my own tendencies make me wary of how much work they are doing on these at-home days. And it's frustrating. Not only that. Very few people can (or would) not go into work (or "work from home" in this case) because they didn't get much sleep the night before. Instead, most people buck the fuck up and suffer through that day. Just because we have no HR or authority type presence does not mean you can take it easy because you didn't sleep much one night. You pump yourself full of caffeine and get through the damn day like every-fuckin-body else. It keeps going. If you're at home most of the day, no doubt taking breaks here and there, would it kill you to do a chore every now and again? I'm sure it wouldn't. Unload the dishwasher. It takes five minutes tops. Heaven forbid, clean the fucking toilet that constantly reeks (and it don't do so because of me). Not only do I have five or less hours after work before I need to be in bed. I'm also tasked with doing most of the cleaning and straightening up. Some people might be okay with living in a cluttered, mildly filthy residence but I am not. It makes my head cluttered and I have a bad time in general. It is endlessly frustrating to know there's chores that need doing and not having the energy to do them in what little spare time you have, especially when there is someone capable sharing the same space. We have just scratched the surface here but I believe my time has run out for now. No? Half an hour past when my shift has started and the key holder still hasn't showed? Mmmkay let's keep going. Clearly the people in my life have a tendency to suck. I understand that some people lack social skills and social awareness. I understand that some people are considered disabled or mentally handicapped either due to this or being the reason for this. However, as someone who is not on the autism spectrum, living with someone who might be is taxing at times. They say insulting things without seeming to care. They answer questions that weren't directed at them. They do and talk about things without thinking about whether their company shares their interests. Most of the time I can go along with it. I can shoulder the hurt feelings and mild annoyances. Lately, this has not been the case. I am at the point where I am feeling the need to speak my mind about the nature of what this person says. Or try to make it obvious that I don't care about what they're showing me/talking about instead of feigned interest. I usually only dismiss those things I'm shown if I am upset by them, for one reason or another. Frankly, I'm getting tired of being mostly around people who don't have their shit together, most notable people whose shit-not-togetherness affects my life or my partner's life. It's not necessarily any unavoidable circumstances that keep their shit from being together, either. It is their inability to see the best course of action or the inability to take that best course of action. "Best" here being the most rational choice or the one that ends with the least amount of grief for themselves and the people around them. I understand that "best" is ultimately subjective, though I cannot help but feeling like there would be a consensus on the "best"s in question. Alas. Now that I have typed out an ode to my irritations, using all sorts of overly formal sentence structure and language, it is at last time to do my job. But now I've lost an hour of my time and pay. Happy Friday.

[sergeantnarwhalwrites]

The way I'm tearing my body apart for these letters is enough to fight any other pale ass fucker that approaches me and asks "do you like this college?" "How was your college experience." Seem like no matter how hard I work it ain't fucking good enough. Ain't take college for me to gather that sometimes that's true. But college is sure to remind you of that day and day. All you can do is keep trying to get better. But it's becoming nearly impossible to do when you're broke as fuck and too prideful to take handouts and jobs seem to have force fields over doors with "now hiring" signs, in love with your major and the professors there but feel like they don't truly understand that at this point you selling your soul to be there, and the school itself is toxic it seeps waste in aching bones and minds melted to puddles years ago. You're so close to the end, are you sure it's worth it man? My mind and body screams no, stop now! But I keep motherfucking crawling!! Cause I'm stubborn, so so stubborn and I don't like to listen. And as I wrote this shit I laugh and I attempt to muffle screams. Cause mimicking joy while losing your sanity is how I've been living for years. Don't know if I learned it myself or mommy dearest passed down this bout of mental insanity.

[corporate-octo]

A Business Student's Take on 'Escape from the Office'

Eco-friendly paper bags presumably already have a mass market. Especially with the number of retailers trying to invest in them. Therefore, a tiny business with almost no business knowledge could not match the economies of scale the bigger businesses already benefit from.

This means that these bigger businesses can mass-produce these bags for much cheaper and in larger quantities. They don’t need some tiny hippy business to do it for them.

Okay, so say they *do* get those orders like they did in the video. How on Earth are they producing 50,000 or even 5 million without having any economies of scale? It’s a tiny business with only like what? Five people?

Even if they did produce that many, they would get into horrendous debt. Where are they getting this money from?

You could argue from a bank or an investor.

Not likely.

They’d see the business as lacking innovation and funds, therefore it would be risky to provide them with significant capital. Plus, where's the business plan? There’s none. They literally never showed a business plan. If you showed up to a bank or an investor without a business plan, they would simply laugh at your face and tell you to fuck off.

Okay, so this business is tiny, lacks innovation and is on the brink of bankruptcy. Oh? What’s this? A megacorporation just happens to want to acquire these guys. What, and acquire their debts? Unrealistic. Unless the corporation lacks a competent CEO.

And, these guys leave the second they have a boss? They should’ve known what they were getting themselves into. The fact that they leave the second they don’t like something shows that they are reckless and lack enterprise. Why would someone EVER want to invest in them?

(Link for own future reference: youtu.be/GC5Gmkn92Bg)