A devastating and confusing thing about the Fallout setting, when you explore the pre-war aspects, is what the creators think about pre-war America. In the first games we only get hints of the pre-war world, but they seem to be some sort of wild fascist nation invading Canada. In Fallout 1, the first thing we're introduced to of the pre-war society is seeing a soldier shoot civilians and laughing.
Now, for the first 2 games and New Vegas we don't really know much. What we know is that there's a fascist military group known as the enclave who were a sort of US deep state even before the war, and that the government teamed up with corporate interests to preform vaguely MKULTRA-ish experiments with the Vaults. Basically, the government was an extreme version of the 50s American jingoism and McCarthyism.
This is well and dandy, I guess issues come up more when we get to the later games, especially 4, where it seems like none of this extreme plotting and societal civil unrest which would exist is seen. The society as presented in 4 also seems quite progressive, gay people are featured in the opening, and none of the baggage of say, civil rights not existing are included. Now on a baseline, I don't want settings to be more conservative, homophobic and sexist etc., but it becomes a very confusing setting when it's displayed both as this jingoist extreme thing with fascist tendencies aswell as a progressive place where everyone is seemingly equal. If you're focusing on the 50s as your setting, and American nationalism in the 50s, then you can't have McCarthyism spoofs and anti-communism as a societal paranoia norm while also general equality is the norm without misunderstanding why McCarthyism and nationalist jingoism is bad. A massive harm done in anti-communist paranoia is how it degrades and vilifies any progressive movements (women's rights, civil rights, homosexuality) as being morally un-American and therefore connected to communism. To ignore this just makes any critique of MacCarthyism and jingoism weird!
Basically, pre-war America in Fallout 4 becomes this both sides thing where America is both pure and equal and white fences in every instance that we see as the player (the intro), while also supposedly being this dystopic MacCarthyist hellscape that's broadcasting gladly about their war crimes in Canada, and wants to root out communism. I guess the only fix for this issue without getting into the fine print like they had to do is just not to focus too much on the pre-war world.
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this is somewhat of a vent post & something i said i would not do again but has been plaguing me enough that i think getting it out might feel better. so. has anydoggy else been. Baffled and upset by nora sakavic’s refusal to speak on how terribly aftg has treated its characters of color? with the author of the series coming back with a new book and starting up on her online activity again, and questions of what she’d change about aftg bubbling up, it’s particularly glaring to me that we are all playing this very long game of pretend where we ignore how badly the non-white cast has been treated & her lack of thoughts on it
and i understand not wanting to bring up nicky and thea because people pick on her for it. i’m not trying to discredit nora sakavic’s terrible history of getting harrassed online by aftg fans. but i think it is very cynical, and it is very juvenile, and most of all very cruel, that she gets to ignore the very real ways the books have set up these characters to be hated. i think it’s obvious why the characters who get the most hate are the only canonical characters of color, and i think we do not get to treat this like a deliberate decision on the fandom’s part when the books have put these same characters in degrading and embarrassing and terrible positions in the first place. aftg is not a story about nice characters with clean pasts, but there is a very specific nastiness to the only characters of color being a brown man who sexually harasses and later assaults the main character, a black woman whose only scene is her lashing out at her love interest after being ignored for the first two books, and the japanese villain who gets maybe two lines of complexity before he goes back to being a terrible person. the white cast, in comparison, while not at all free from flaws, are never shown to commit mindless evil; all of their actions are ultimately justified. the book goes out of its way to give them concession after concession. we know exactly who to side with, because aftg tells us who these people are. does nicky’s assault ever get addressed in the books? does riko’s reasoning to be the way that he is ever gets more than briefly aluded to? is thea reserved even a shred of humanity or grace in her one scene?
anyway. it’s been years of talking about this and the fandom has been constantly hostile to criticism in this regard, and more recently any criticism at all, and it’s Grating to be on the other side of this discussion. it’s exhausting to know that in ten years we do not get even an acknowledgment besides the author saying she will not answer questions about nicky and thea anymore. it’s upsetting and it’s ugly and i wish no one had to talk about this again, but we do because what i thought was common sense has been washed away by a sudden influx of no-nuance adoration for the trilogy. basically i hope we all explode
two hours later edit: you're allowed to reblog this! sorry about the confusion
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I'm ngl I get raising awareness but seeing ppl draw like. cutesy fanart of their faves waving palestinian flags feels so dystopian & a little disrespectful/tone deaf. or posting about how "fave character from x show would support palestine" like. there's no problem imo w still participating in fandom while bad things happen in the world but it just gets very odd and tone deaf when we start crossing them over. like there's people dying, I really don't know that it's appropriate to bring up how glup shitto would oppose that. maybe you as your own person can do that on your own perhaps? without making it about fandom? like idk! it's just odd behavior To Me.
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My fav thing about TAZ is that any aspect out of context sounds fucking bonkers.
Like, in the balance finale there's a scene in which Garfield (who is very specifically never described visually bc most people imagine him as like. The Lasagna Cat. Who in this universe is the most powerful warlock in the realm and also has a hobby of cloning people, which is great for the one character that got forced into haunting a mannequin) is summoned by an alien spaceship that runs on the power of friendship so he could beat up some flashing balls. In D&D.
And that was just. Such a normal scene in the narrative. No one blinked an eye. I would like to bow down to Griffins clear unmatched talent for making me feel such big emotions over ridiculous shit like a goddamned umbrella or a regular ass pair of jeans or the idea of a taco recipe.
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"Superman is better than Captain America!"
"No Captain America is better than Superman!"
Shuttup, they are kissing.
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Quick disclaimer: Fuck Biden, I hope he rots in hell.
That said, I know trying to convince tumblrinas to vote is like trying to herd stoned cats, but this is too important not to share here.
I know how you feel, I don't fucking want to vote for Biden either, but I need you all to understand: Every vote abstained is a vote for Trump. AND ZIONISTS ARE COUNTING ON THAT. THEY WANT YOU TO STAY HOME SO TRUMP WINS.
They know he plans to fire and jail his opposition, they know he plans to give himself full military power and "total immunity", that he wants to extend his presidency beyond four years. They know all this because he's literally bragged about it with his shitty "Project 25." (Please please PLEASE for the love of GOD do some research on this before giving your takes.)
They know this and they WANT IT. BECAUSE THEY KNOW HE WILL SUPPORT THEIR ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINE EVEN MORE AND IF HE GIVES HIMSELF COMPLETE POWER, THERE WILL BE NOTHING WE CAN DO TO STOP THEM.
Zionists don't want you to vote, so get Get the fuck out there and vote.
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I think another aspect of conservative thought people need to understand is the idea that it's all about dominance.
The reason why sayings like "we don't want to trans your kids, we want trans kids to live" is because, in the conservative mind, you are replacing their dominance with your own. It can never be about what is best for others, it is always about expressing absolute power and control.
Natural selection, at its ideal, will weed out the people who "shouldn't live." If their existence is a threat to the already-established hierarchy, then it's obvious that they shouldn't exist in order to challenge hierarchy.
While this certainly isn't a "conservative-only" mindset, it's a trend I have noticed more in conservative spaces. This is why I don't always think it's helpful to go on about how, "Oh, we don't want to threaten your worldview. We just want people to live 😊". You will fundamentally be threatening their power in their minds. Therefore, nothing you say can truly take away from the anxiety, fear, and anger at losing control that may be instilled.
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youre very anti american until someone from another country says something bad about america. you do realise how hypocritical you are? (coming from an american)
First of all, I’m anti-America not anti-American. This country is wicked from its foundation, on an institutional level. Which I do lot deny and speak about honestly.
I like Americans, I know, crazy. We’re a resilient people, fundamental good resides in most of us. I believe that about all of humanity but Americans are who I know. I love my neighbors. I love my community. The people I love live here, mainly. I wish the best for all of us. I think we deserve to live lives without constant fear of violence and political unrest, with access to resources without discrimination. We are all done a disservice by this country, not in equal measures, mind you. I want to make this country a better place. I do not consider myself a patriot, not a nationalist, I swear fealty to the people and landscape around me.
You’re right, it is hypocrisy to lash out at people who speak negatively about the establishment I despise. It isn’t productive. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. It is extremely frustrating to see people from other countries, mainly Europeans, some Canadians, mock American society for problems that permeate their own government and culture that they refuse to address. Because it is easier to condemn stupid Americans than it is to begin to acknowledge that their country is built on the same white supremacist ideals, that the picturesque stately homes that dot their countryside largely would not exist if not for colonization and slavery. It is easier to imply that Americans deserve to live in constant fear of gun violence and homelessness for their own stupidity than it is to have a deeper compassion for the American people, than to admit that what is happening to us could possibly happen to them. They are not in any meaningful way helping us, they are not helping themselves, not their countrymen.
Europeans, if you think that the people of your country are smarter than Americans, are more enlightened, less bigoted, less violent, more rational, I beg you to look around. I beg you to witness Italy and it’s current slide back into fascism, I beg you to look at the antisemitism rising in Germany once more. I beg you to address the xenophobia in your own country, to look at the transphobia, the malefactors sneaking into your government to roll back your rights and resources.
Also if this is in response to me commenting on British food looking yucky, I want you to know I’m not walking that back. I think I’m in my right to have a little fun poking cheeky fun at British food since British people post about how shocking American food is so much of the time. That was in good faith. Not that deep.
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which egg would treat the masjid shoe racks as their own personal shoe store (because we cant wear shoes inside the masjid we put our shoes on a shoe rack outside the door and SOMETIMES you can get your shoes stolen, so its like a meme where ppl take pictures of the shoe racks and post them with the captions like "going shoe shopping")
Ramadan mubarak! (Sorry that this is so late in the season)
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Today on things I have realised have been american-ised in Hilda that I didn't notice before: The walk signal.
Idk if I would've fully realised before going to the states on holiday but america does these bad boys way differently
Firstly, I've never heard anyone call them a walk signal. Pedestrian crossing or zebra crossing, or just "Green man".
Secondly: The signal's are different
Usually its a guy standing or even a bike coloured red, and when you can go? It's a green man walking - Hence, green man. Idk how common the bike is off the top of my head but its not always there
This is typically what they look like. The pole with the button you press has the green man, and sometimes there's also a traffic light (upper photo) with the green/red man.
Sometimes they look like this, but typically it looks like the photos above
It's not important or anything, but I think it's interesting how many little things are different, like them calling jumpers "sweaters" or the side Johanna drives being swapped. Small changes from the original british comic that add up to be a little odd to see at first, but are pretty darn nifty to notice and talk about. I don't know if I would've fully clocked it as american/canadian before I went there and experienced the different signals in person
I just think its Neat
(also these photos are taken from google images. Before anyone thinks they can dox me. Its very dark outside I couldn't take a photo of these if I tried)
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all hate to tiktok for taking 'having a space to more openly and actively talk about different cultures' to mean 'cultures are NOT to be shared and we must be vigilantly defensive of our cultures for fear of appropriation, a word that can be applied to any multicultural interaction'. like of course cultural appropriation is a very real problem but ive seen with the access to global multicultural conversation that tiktok provides it's made people TERRIFIED to even interact with cultures other than their own for fear of 'doing it wrong'. like at some point you have to acknowledge that in the real world of the great outdoors, the majority of people are eager to SHARE their cultures. yes there are ignorant questions and biases but also... how do you think those things get unlearnt? i dont understand how deciding that multiculturalism is an elephant in the room instead of a normal thing that should just be talked about and lived with is supposed to benefit anyone? and kids on tiktok are CONVINCED that it's a time bomb of a conversation to have and therefore must be avoided at all costs but like. people generally LOVE their home and their culture and are PROUD of it and want to share it. how have we made it so that showing genuine interest and a desire to understand something so integral to a person's identity is now feared and borderline demonised?
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sometimes interpreting media through a shipping lens enhances it, on occasion even beyond the author’s original intent, but sometimes, you do have to accept that your ship was not in the heads of anyone making the source material and trying to force it to fit into evidence of your ship will severely hinder your ability to discuss the actual text.
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So are all American paperback books just terrible quality or is it just the ones I keep accidentally buying
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The way republicans talk about women, black people, trans people, gay people, and non-Christian religious groups is sickening.
Whenever a woman does something 'wrong' (in their eyes), like the judge who recently indicted this black guy, they emphasise 'female' when describing her. If they forgot to originally, they go back and restate their entire sentence just to add in 'female'.
And the way these assholes say 'female' just has this..dehumanising tinge to it. And when you hear one of them say the word, you immediately cringe in pain at just how disgusted they sounded, despite how badly they try to hide the tone of voice behind normalcy and mixing it in with the sentence. It just always sticks out.
And for black people..there's a heaping wad ton of shit here, so I'm not going to name it all off. I didn't even name off nearly as much as I should've for the women part.
But let's just say, Steve Bannon, the asshole running that republican TV show..he publicly stated to 'feel proud of being racist', and that 'Martin Luther King would be proud of Trump'.
And when they're 'defending' a black person? They highlight that that person is black, repeatedly. If that person were the victim, they wouldn't mention race, and they haven't plenty before. They're just doing it to look good.
We all know what republicans are doing and has been doing to trans and gay people..there's way too much to that. Main point of this entire thing is: they're actively taking away their rights and passing laws to kill them, hence we being on the edge (actually we're in one) of a trans genocide right now that can lead to a full-on queer genocide.
And then, for non-Christians..why don't the cultists of 'God' slap on a 'cult' label to every other religion? Why not hate Muslims and instantly look at one and think 'oh that's a terrorist'. Say they side with Jews, when in reality, they despise them for not praising 'Jesus'. And some weird other argument for each and every other religion..'they're traitors to our country'.
Well, this isn't your fucking country. This shithole that already fucking sucks has become a living hell with republicans existing. Why not just fucking kill us? Oh wait! YOU'RE ALREADY DOING THAT.
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