The Blog Formerly Known As PerfectionistDia

I just saw a post talking about that scene in natla of Iroh looking at the wall of names that said something like, "we already know Iroh is a war criminal" and it occurred to me that people think war criminal just means someone fought in a war and wasn't on the "correct" side.

Everytime I attempt to get someone to explain what makes him a war criminal the most they manage was "he killed people" or "he seiged Be Sing Se" and no, sorry not war crimes. But then I've had people get real mad at me when I point out shooting retreating soldiers isn't a war crime either.

I think it's telling that him being "middle aged" was brought up in the discussion, as if it has anything to do with anything. I think people use "war crimes" basically to mean "war, but extra bad" which is not what it means. I also think that the reason people use it this way is because they want so badly for the gaang to be "child soldiers" and that puts them in the position of having to defend what they think is good war vs bad war, because like, I hate to break it to the atla fandom, but use of child soldiers is unambiguously a war crime. But none of these kids are child soldiers and Iroh isn't a war criminal.

I get in theory why people complain about het ships or whatever, I get wanting to watch queer media I really do, but I guess where y’all lose me is like. I saw some asshole on a post about Sinners complaining it was “hetslop”—this person was specifically doing so while also claiming Remmick was a queer character and thus they were justified in caring more about him than the Black protagonists. which is a whole other disgusting can of worms that has been well addressed by others at this point. but even in the absence of that part of the argument, like, no, i actually don’t think that a hunger for queer stories is an especially good excuse to deride and dismiss a piece of landmark Black filmmaking, especially as a non-Black person. I have a post that’s been going around encouraging folks to engage with more Native stories and characters, and I had someone come onto that post saying in the tags that they’d need these stories to be queer in order to care. and I just think that, you know, sucks! like obviously as a queer Native I also want to see more of those stories too. but idk how else to put it other than to say that Black people and people of color shouldn’t have to be like you in order for you to care about our narratives and experiences. and I think some of y’all are using this disdain for heterosexuality as a cover for your unexamined racial biases. it’s not okay to be racist to people just because those people happen to be straight, and you continue to be white before you are queer.

on an even more basic level than that, also, I simply just think some of y’all NEED to learn how to interact with media and storytelling without ships and fandom in mind. like if not being able to write fic about two men kissing is genuinely going to be a dealbreaker for you I think that’s actually something you need to work on within yourself because at that point I think you’re no longer really interacting with art and themes and narrative so much as just kind of playing with toys. which is, like, fine I guess. have fun. but it wouldn’t kill you to disengage from that from time to time. especially if would allow you to actually appreciate rich and deeply moving cultural stories from communities of color that you desperately need to learn how to see as human

im begging the zutara fandom to ship with no regrets; i see so many posts by zutara shippers being like "i respect the canon but" or "the live action will probably follow the canon and that's okay but" and its like fuck the canon. lol zutara is better than the canon. ship that shit proudly. this fandom didn't last two decades because us og shippers cared about what bryke thought lol

Frankly, I think taking 24 seasons before depicting Richard Nixon as a bloodsucking monster shows a lot of restraint on Brennan's part

“Do dishes” and “take out trash” both require the use of a spell slot, vs “use phone” is a cantrip, and brother, I am a level one wizard

Thinking about how Elizabeth Welch Ehasz wrote some of the best episodes of television ever (Zuko Alone, Appa’s Lost Days, The Southern Raiders) and then bounced. I hope she’s doing well.