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in modern trek, they always present the idea of logic vs emotion, with spock being logic and kirk being emotion, but thats not how tos has it. in tos, the logic vs emption debate is spock vs mccoy. kirk is supposed to be the mediator between the two, sometimes siding with one side over the other, sometimes finding a middle ground between the two. thats why hes the captain, hes able to see all angles and pick the best course

when you make kirk the emotional one, it completely breaks the format, because 9 time out of 10, it means kirk has to be correct. theres no more balance

A few weeks ago, a small but higher-than-normal number of accounts were mistakenly suspended. The suspensions were quickly reversed, but our response wasn't good enough, and we want to say more.

We're sorry it took us this long to address this. Trust and safety issues are difficult to discuss publicly, and we can’t share details about specific individuals or how our systems work without exposing Tumblr to bad actors. But caution led us to say too little, too late.

We’ve heard from members of the trans community on Tumblr that they were disproportionately impacted, and that deserves a direct response. According to 3rd party researchers, Tumblr’s userbase has the highest proportion of LGBTQIA+ folks on social media, so it makes sense that when something goes wrong, those communities might feel that disproportionate impact.

One thing we want to emphasize is that we do not moderate people's identities. We moderate behavior. We know that identity shows up across a Tumblr profile in many ways, from followed topics to the flags people put in their bios, and more. However, these signals play no role in how our moderation systems make decisions. We monitor those systems for evidence of bias and take corrective action when we find it.

We understand that the communications sent to affected users, and our broader silence to the community, didn't meet the standard people expect from us. That feedback is fair, and we apologize. We've updated the messaging sent to people impacted by these incidents. We are also overhauling our process with a goal of responding to mistaken suspension appeals within 24 hours, and have instituted an ongoing internal review of how suspensions and appeals are handled.

Going forward, we're committed to finding a better balance: being more transparent with our community about issues that matter, even when we can't share everything.

Tumblr belongs to everyone. We take that seriously, and we intend to earn back your trust. We are not afraid to have tough discussions with you or make updates based on your feedback, though on occasion, it might take some time.

To the people whose accounts were affected, and to the members of our trans community who felt targeted: we are truly sorry.

a small but higher-than-normal number of accounts were mistakenly suspended

Two hundred within five minutes.

The suspensions were quickly reversed

Some suspensions were reversed.

We’ve heard from members of the trans community on Tumblr that they were disproportionately impacted

Correction. All members harmed but one were trans women, specifically, not just "members of the trans community".

We moderate behavior.

All members terminated were terminated after following one specific blog, created a few hours before. The "behavior" you moderated was following a trans woman's new blog.

However, these signals play no role in how our moderation systems make decisions.

Then explain why trans women are disproportionately banned on false grounds. What happens if someone gets mass reported by transphobic userrs? Why have you chosen to restore the account of a kiwifarmer, known hate group, and ban yet more trans women? Explain your decisions.

We are also overhauling our process with a goal of responding to mistaken suspension appeals within 24 hours, and have instituted an ongoing internal review of how suspensions and appeals are handled.

Going forward, we're committed to finding a better balance: being more transparent with our community about issues that matter, even when we can't share everything.

Since this event, trans women have been terminated at greatly accelerated rates, on more and more openly false grounds. Their appeals have been denied often without any human oversight, recieving a denial within seconds, or not recieving any answer.

To the people whose accounts were affected, and to the members of our trans community who felt targeted: we are truly sorry.

Films reflect the time period in which they were made.

Our most popular films right now are all reboots, sequels, and reused IPs.

On one hand, you could make the case that our generation is being deprived of its place on cultural timeline, because (as far as the mainstream goes) all we're being given is rehashed ideas from other time periods. Seems rather boring to analyze.

But on the other hand, I think future film historians will find that this era is culturally fascinating. Not because of the "nostalgia bait" itself, but because it represents the emergence of independent cinema and streaming.

When TV was invented, people could watch filmed media at home. You no longer had to go to a theatre just to watch cartoons or comedies.

So the studios responded with a wave of epics in the 1950s. They said "Okay, you can get Dick Van Dyke at home, but you can't get Ben-Hur." Television couldn't compete with the budget, big name stars, or visual tech that film studios could offer. They were financially incentivized to blow your socks off with visuals and big name stars.

But with the emergence of streaming and independent film, that's no longer the case. A-listers are happy to take TV roles, and TV offers Hollywood-level visuals. You don't need to mess with the theatre system at all. It's easier than ever to make good-looking movies and share them with the masses with no major studio backing.

So what's the one thing that studios still have going for them? What's the one thing that Disney can give you that an independent filmmaker can't? Yoda. The Little Mermaid. Iron Man. Fucking brands. That's all they have, so that's all they sell.

#spike after learning Oz plays guitar: why İsn't he in the band? #buffy: he's already in his own band. which is actually a real band unlike our fake band that you keep forgetting is just a cover story #spike: we're never going to make it in the music industry if you don't stop calling our band fake

Spike (with reluctant but knowledgeable backup from Giles) finally convinces her that "Slayer" risks bringing copyright lawyers down upon their heads, a fate worse than vampires

t'pol's presence is felt, at first, by acher as a demasculizing insult and an effort of the vulcans to control him and by extension humanity. while this may be soval's game, t'pol herself is generally loyal to archer and ready to follow his lead and serve his interest. however, when they disagree, she is usually arguing for restraint, caution and following of the procedures. she is, especially at first, othered and seen as intrusive and shrewd, also because she is a woman who "takes authority away" from archer, who sees it as something he is owed because of his patriarchal lineage.

phlox's presence on the enterprise is seen as a favour and a blessing, and he generally fits in well with the crew. he emotes in a way that is rarely alien, and his differences are mostly played off as comedic and endearing. (interesting that he's the one who they use to make a point about anti-alien violence on earth, and not t'pol, when that doesn't really reflect inner crew politics). archer does not feel endangered by phlox. despite this, he's the one who actually seeks to influence archer more profoundly than t'pol, giving him counsel or making decisions that change the way archer conducts himself and his crew, not always submitting to archer's authority. (eg. he isn't willing to let archer make the decision on what to do in the "not how the evolution works but ok" episode, Similitude) in that way, phlox is exactly who archer feared t'pol would be - a meddler from an established galaxy travelling civilization with a strong of sense of ethics and ideals, divergent from the human ones, seeking to convert.

phlox is a sort of a doctor crusher, in that he argues for medical ethics, but the denobulan medical ethics are well, denobulan - i feel like it's not that far off to say that if the statement "dr. crusher argues for empathy and kindness" is more or less true, then phlox argues for lack of empathy and unkindness. obviously both are simplifying the moral codes those characters display, but more or less, phlox is sort of a bad influence on archer. this is lessened by the fact that phlox accepts cultural relativity and appears gentle, curious and adaptable - but again, in practice, he often ends up proposing his own ideas.

and in general phlox and t'pol could be seen as foils/opposites in a way, if we were to positon them as the representatives of denobula and vulcan fighting over the way that humanity takes their place on the intergalactic scene. i'm not saying they are that, phlox is very much on enterprise for his own accord, but i'm saying thet could be, if written differently, bc they are already in some many ways contrasting with each other.

phlox is a doctor, and while t'pol serves as science officer, her actual career is in security/law enforcerment, which in star trek writing would already usually juxtapose them (security officer arguing for violence, doctor arguing for empathy). t'pol is a very interesting security officer, not only because she's not actually one, but, also because of her relationship to the brutality she commited as a bounty hunter and her regrets and trauma stemming from that - that do not push her fully out of alignment with the ideals that got her into the job in the first place, but do give her a tendency to avoid violence.

t'pol, like all vulcans, is vegetarian, while phlox is very Carnivorous, mostly by his readiness to use animals for experimentation and as medicine and let the "stronger" beings hold dominion over the less advanced ones (no idea what he actually eats tho). t'pol is burdened by her duty to her family and self-sacrifices her own happines for her mother's, phlox has a sometimes troubled relationship with his children, but he generally stays unburdened by it and makes his own choices. you could make a case for phlox, as a doctor, being in control of Substances vs t'pol falling victim to addiction.

with phlox being the way that he is, the usual "person arguing for empathy and kidness" is not taken. not to say that good doesn't happen on enterprise, or that individual characters never make a case for empathy, but i feel like while we have characters who will reliably argue for caution and pragmatism/arming yourself (t'pol, malcolm reed, maybe the macos), there isn't someone reliably trusted to argue for kidness. i guess the closest person to fit this description would be trip, who has a bit of a fall into apathy/acceptance for violence after the xindi kill his sister. could also go to hoshi, with her lack of a military background and being the translator (Communications as a value), but i don't actually think she does something like this or makes a case against archer's, while trip does (the cogenitor, sigh). enterprise would be a very interesting show about a bunch of people commiting heinous crimes, if it didn't stop trying to convince the viewer that it's about the Human Spirit and that the war criminal in charge of the ship and his yes-men were flawed but admirable Heroes.

to be clear, i don't actually think that phlox being a denobulan agent send to soft influence humanity would be that good of a choice, as most portrayals of aliens in ent are already quite xenophobic, no need to affirm the idea that a person from a different culture who has different views wants to influence others in some sort of a government-sponsored conspiracy. (in general archer's whole complex of hating how people play with his toys i consider very juvenile and embarassing. which is funny bc it's not like the vulcans are in the right by how they treat in ent, thinking themselves entitled to control their affairs and shape according to themselves, it's colonial-esque. but simply by the power of 1. the fact that the ent crew's conduct is often so disastrous 2. archer having to make it about his daddy and his male pride, somehow i end up having to admit that maybe they're right.)

We go forward.

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