#and instead of OP making the very obvious case of how this is a bigoted and distorted viewpoint

[lord-squiggletits]

Now I may be overgeneralizing a bit, but I feel like in certain fics as well as the audiences for those fics, there's a weird tendency for the writers/audience to treat Optimus as if he's some sort of goody two shoes who doesn't care about his own race because of his love/respect for organics and it like...bothers the hell out of me honestly lol.

Like if you would rather focus on Cybertronian politics and ignore/even retcon out the organic destruction caused by the war, I totally get it. People find the Cybertronian politics way more interesting, there's not really as much lore on the aliens of the TF universe besides humans, you're tired of the Decepticons being bad guys, yeah like I get it.

I just find it incredibly off-putting when people (in fics or otherwise) try to frame Optimus prioritizing organics as legitimate criticism of him when it's not?????? Like his stance across multiple continuities is universally "organics are equal beings to us, we brought the war to their planets, they don't deserve to be hurt or exploited by us" and I don't fucking get how people can possibly frame that as a bad thing. HOW are mfs in this fandom treating Optimus as if his empathy/care for organic races makes him annoying or self-righteous or selfish like what.

#squiggposting #like idk i may be thinking of a few specific fics/authors #but it kind of really annoys me #because i see fics where optimus gets told that he cares more about aliens than cybertronians #or things along that line #and instead of OP making the very obvious case of how this is a bigoted and distorted viewpoint #the writer just has OP sputter ineffectually or like admit that he needs to propritize cyberteonians #when this is in the context of like decepticons (or megatron since i read megop) #being openly racist and disdainful towards organics #like youre not actually making an insightful criticism of optimus here lmao #youre just sweeping the whole colonialism thing under the rug #and acting as if optimus is some unrealistic self righteous goody two shoes whos being unfair to decepticons #for the crime of uh (looks at writing on hands) thinking colonialism racism and genocide are bad #there's this one super popular fic where like #the author basically writes optimus as an ineffectual ignorant moron #who cant even defend his own principles against megatron and ends up giving up on the inherent goodness of the universe #and ppl in the comment section were saying how this is an actual good optimus #(while shitting on idw optimus incidentally) #and i'm like. so you claim to love optimus but the depiction of him that you praise #is one where some of his most defining traits (universal love and respect for all beings) #is framed as a foolish delusion #and where optimus himself is too stupid and ineloquent to defend his view against megatron #and you call yourself a fucking optimus fan??? lmao #you just want optimus to be Nice without actually having a cause to stand up for #with a bonus dash of writing megatron like he's right about everything #and optimus just sits and takes his bullshit #sorry this became a rant against one particular interpretation lol #point is a lot of people try to criticize OP and the autobots in fuck-wild stupid ass ways #and it's really annoying lmao

[chivalry-in-debate]

We shouldn't give fascists a place to live. As in, you shouldn't let people who are bigots into fandom spaces, aesthetic cultures, or social media platforms.

By saying "If you like (thing that has nothing to do with fascism) you're a fascist dni", you're willingly giving fascists a place to stay, and letting them take a perfectly innocent subculture in the process.

Case in point: punks

Facists, ever since punks and punk activism, including lgbt and racial punk activism began to rise, took a liking to the punk aesthetic. They liked punk clothes, they made them feel powerful. So, they wore punk clothes.

This started to give the punk scene a bad look (for obvious reasons), and ordinary people started to confuse good punks (not facists) with bad punks (fascists), and there was a massive movement to completely eradicate fascism from punk spaces, resulting in what you may know as the doc martens "shoe lace code" in which white supremacists wear white shoelaces on doc martens, as well as the "Nazi punks fuck off" t-shirts, signs, and patches for jackets.

This movement was very successful.

So why, then, op, are you explaining this to us?

Well, little children, in my old age you learn to recognize patterns and use them to your advantage.

On: Cottagecore

The want to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere is not inherrently harmful. The want to look at pictures of cows, grow your own food, tend to your own animals, is not inherrently harmful. The aesthetic of cottagecore, and the ideals that go with it, are not inherrently harmful. This is cottagecore. The want to be a farmer, a nomad, or a polite witch in the middle of the woods.

People who reblog photos of flowers and cows are not colonizers. They don't colonize new land, they aren't inherrently facist by wanting to live unbothered in the middle of the woods.

Now, there are people, however, who actually buy and tend to land, either as a result of cottagecore, or they already did this before they got into cottagecore. These people are not inherrently harmful either. However, for these people, I suggest that you do research to find the specific group of original owners of the land by contacting the most nearby native government official, or by extensively looking it up, in order to ask them how to be respectful to it, if they would like you to pay rent, or if they want it back. Preferably do this before you purchase the land, but you can also do so after.

All of the above that I have said is the essence of cottagecore without the fascist taint. This is cottagecore. This is how it should be.

But op, you're still just telling us things, you're not making an argument you're just presenting contextual evidence!

Oh, how observant of you! Yes, I'll get to that right now.

What you, yes, you should do, is the following:

Don't call people facist for interacting with cottagecore, participating in it or being interested in it. Why? Because, dear reader, most all people in cottagecore aren't fascists.

The people that ARE the problem, are people who don't think that colonizing native land is wrong. By telling people that they're bad people for posting cottagecore, you're completely ignoring something. The bad thing that they agree with isn't cottagecore, the bad thing that they agree with is colonization.

If these people listen to you, and completely stop interacting with cottagecore, instead of understanding that colonization is wrong, they'll just find a new aesthetic, and they won't learn anything.

Instead of targeting cottagecore, which is an aesthetic, not a political ideology, target colonizers and facists within those groups. Within all groups. Facists don't deserve a place to live in ANY space. Not aesthetic spaces, not fandoms, and certainly not safe spaces.

(p.s. if any natives want to add anything that I missed, go ahead.)

#fascism #colonization #cottagecore #native