Arsonism-the-eighth - North

returning to my punk cinderpelt agenda

day 13: creepypasta

ft. toby rogers “ticci toby”

a smaller part of my thoughts on the mw3 campaign that i think is important enough to need its own post:

(there are spoilers below)

i've seen many cod creators on here talking about the situation going on in the middle east right now, and a lot of posts condemning the ethnic cleansing and genocide happening in palestine. i think it's great, especially coming from a fandom based on games that are first and foremost military propaganda. what i don't think is great is that soap's death seems to be taking priority over the blatant terrorist storyline that happens with samara and the changing of the no russian mission.

a middle eastern woman - the second one to get a shocking, and brutal death (more brutal than soap's, might i add) - is taken hostage by a group and forcibly made to hijack a plane. she is forced to wear a bomb strapped to her chest and dragged to the back of the plane where more civilians are. when she tries to fight back we get this exchange:

hijacker: are you a terrorist?

samara: no!

hijacker: you look like one.

she is then handed a gun, shoved into a crowd, and we are forced to watch her struggle to get a phone against a crowd of people who think she is a terrorist before the plane blows up.

i see a lot of people in the fandom saying to reject canon as a way to cope, which i fully understand - canon is really really stupid sometimes. however, i'm also seeing a lot of people saying to pretend this campaign just doesn't exist, and i take a lot of issue with that.

this fandom, in particular, does not get to do that. you can be upset with soap's death, the thrown together storyline, the half-baked combat, whatever else you don't like about the game, but we do not get to ignore the purposeful mistreatment of a middle eastern character while also being vocal about palestine. we do not get to ignore that activision chose to change this mission from makarov shooting up an airport, to forcing a middle eastern character to blow up a plane while he escapes. we do not get to ignore that the cod games are military propaganda, and that just because we may enjoy playing or watching these games, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking at these games, their storylines, and their characters critically.

i need people to understand that it is an immense privilege to be able to turn them off and "ignore the campaign" while casually reblogging the occasional post about palestine. you are allowed to enjoy these games, and you are allowed to be angry and hurt over soap's death. these games are allowed to be a form of escapism for you, but i am begging you all to think more critically about the choices activision is making here, and understand that escapism doesn't mean you can disregard and ignore those choices.

and i think a lot of people, those who post about palestine in particular, should think about why this fandom is placing more importance on a white character's death than the blatant and egregious islamophobia and military propaganda.

scream 1996

You knowww, every now and then I come across someone else's AU project and I see a little sentiment somewhere on the blog that they fear... not being creative enough, or borrowing too many ideas from me in particular, or something similar.

And then, in another post, they'll also be worrying that changing one element or another will spoil things, or that leaning into one character or concept being too bad will come across as "bashing" it, or for some reason they'll end up breaking things if they alter something

To both of those things I gotta say... break shit! Fuck it up! Destroy something and then have fun putting it back together! "How do I go forth and make a conlanguage?" Just do it! "What if it looks like I'm bashing Bramblestar?" If you end up bashing him, you can just put him back together in a way you like more later. "I have this cool idea but how do I make it work?" Figure that out later, commit to the cool idea now and write what makes you HAPPY!

The worst art is art you don't make.

This blog. I made it in the first place because I always wanted people to be able to come here, pick up an idea or inspiration, and go forth with it. It's why Clanmew's free to use and I made that clear with Trout when we first started. I had always made Better Bones, and the Bonefall Rewrite before it, with the idea in mind that I was a helmsman but I was writing it with the contributions, wishes, and musings of followers in mind. Collaboration at its core.

It wasn't all perfect to begin with. I've changed things-- I started BB!DOTC with Gray Wing surviving, and now he is the first pioneer death. It was a major change and I'm STILL altering old posts, but I promise! It's not that big a deal! You CAN just go back and fix stuff! Don't be so afraid!

YOU are you only person who can make YOUR art. You are the most unique tool in your own arsenal, with your unique tastes, interests, and thoughts. That is what makes every AU unique, given love and time. Trust your intuition, be critical but kind towards your work, and remember that passion is always worth the initial price of fear.