The world is on fire, literally and figuratively.

[rogueslayer452]

++ TikTok may be banned in the U.S. It's topic that has long been ongoing for a while, and although I never used it myself and grew to be annoyed and detested the way misinformation/disinformation and dangerous rhetoric was spread especially among incredibly impressionable users (which isn't unique as most social media features this to some degree), the potential decision to ban the app is very bad. The entire battle over the app has largely been about power and control more than anything else, never mind the racism/sinophobia reasons that were given. So no matter how one feels about the site itself, censorship is always bad because there are always ulterior motives for doing so.

Interestingly, the Chinese app Xiaohongshu (XHS), or RedNote, is currently welcoming U.S. TikTok refugees. I don't know much about the app (I only know of Douyin, the OG TikTok exclusive to China, and Weibo), but it's hilarious that this loophole is happening mainly as a "fuck you" the the U.S. government. I just hope people who migrate there, even if temporarily, will behave themselves.....

++ A recent publication came out about Neil Gaiman, which delves deeper into what the victims went through in their own words (another alternate link). MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING: it's long and extremely graphic and upsetting, even the few excerpts that I read from it were too much.

I have to say, as horrific as the whole thing is, I am glad that it's getting more attention. I remember when all of this started coming to light last year during the summer and it didn't gain as much traction as it should have. Much of that was due to the reports mainly coming from a questionable podcast where the victims were being interviewed, so there was some initial debate on the legitimacy of where the reports were coming from, even though in hindsight this probably was the only outlet for the victims to come forward in any capacity in order to be heard. There were some places reporting on it, linking back to the podcast/transcripts, but otherwise it kind of went silent for a while. Now, thankfully, it seems the tides are turning. The author of this article also wrote the scathing exposé on Joss Whedon, the very one where during the interview he single-handedly ruined his own career by shooting himself in the foot repeatedly. So I do have some hope that this will spark something to be done to get actual proper justice for the victims.

Comments

[author_by_night]

Yeah, I'm very disappointed in the "hurr hurr hurr I never got that dumb app" responses. Okay. Neither did I. A lot of people did, and they're losing community ties.

Is that the right link? I clicked and got "Remove Paywall". What little I saw past that looked correct, so I'm guessing it's just a misleading header, but I wanted to make sure.

ETA: Ohhh. I get it now. It's just a way to provide us paywall articles. Sorry, I saw "remove" and my brain went to pop ups that claim you have a virus, etc.

[rogueslayer452]

Yeah, it was a link some provided to bypass the paywall articles, since unfortunately the article is behind a paywall (funny how the Joss Whedon one isn't, go figure). Sorry if that was a bit confusing.

I get the impulse with TikTok criticism because we often hear about the negative impact of what that app has done, because yeah I find it annoying too, but the whole holier-than-thou attitude is immature and does nothing but really show ignorance to the actual bigger problem.

[author_by_night]

Exactly.

[sherrilina]

Idk JK Rowling was already showing her ass as a person and on LGBTQ stuff as early as the 6th book (her reactions to H/Hr fans) and immediately after the 7th book came out. She literally said that Charlie couldn't be gay because Dumbledore was in an interview, like there can only be one at a time, and smirked that her ~reveal~ about Dumbledore that was very lightly in the text only (and conveniently didn't involve any action for Dumbledore) would keep fans talking for a decade. So I disagree that there were no warning signs before the TERF stuff, frankly. Same with Joss...we have known since the early 2000s he fired Charisma Carpenter because she dared to get pregnant.

[trobadora]

The XHS bit is hilarious! Everything else, ugh. :(

[rogueslayer452]

I don't know how long it'll last, but it's certainly amusing. I also like how it is connecting two cultures together, if nothing more than out of spite.

Yeah, it's quite a downer. :(

[blakmagjick]

These days, I'm more surprised when someone famous isn't a terrible person, than when I find out that they are actually the worst. >.>

[rogueslayer452]

In recent years I've learned to keep my expectations low with celebrities and public figures. We don't know these people, only the image they project.

[elizalavelle]

I'm still processing the Neil Gaiman stuff. I wasn't a huge fan but I have enjoyed his writing and own some of his books.

I was a much bigger fan of Amanda Palmer's music. As a person she's always been a bit of a mess but I didn't need to idolize her to enjoy her music. Now I'm feeling less able to enjoy the music. I'm sure more information will come out that may make me reconsider one way or the other. For now I'm feeling mostly worried for their kid who has been exposed to enough that he hopefully is in a lot of therapy now and I hope is able to break that cycle when he grows up.

I also hope the victims get justice. I knew it was not going to be good but I didn't realize it was this bad.


ETA good catch on realizing it was the same writer. She does great work!

[rogueslayer452]

I've been mostly neutral to both of them, having only liked some of their works and was never too deep beyond that, though I knew of Amanda Palmer's questionable history before and side-eyed her a lot because of it. So all of this coming out is awful but her level of involvement doesn't surprise me given that past.

Gaiman, on the other hand, was definitely a bit more shocking mainly due to the extent of the things being reported on. Particularly the Scientology connection.

Once you learn more about his past, it also kind of clicks into place. Like, I've seen some people say that this has been an open secret which I definitely believe, the industry is filled with these kinds of people (see: everything surrounding with Diddy, none of us would've known but those within those inner circle in the industry definitely did) so it's understandable how this was kept quiet until now. It's horrible, vile and disturbing, and it's a sad how common this is behind closed doors, not just within the entertainment industry but all industries.

[elizalavelle]

I am disappointed in Amanda Palmer but when I examined it I find the allegations credible as to her role in things. I may revisit that opinion when more investigations are done but the fact that what's said feels possible is enough for me to say I can't support her until we know more.

I agree that understanding more about his past made things click into place. Scientology is a cult and I have empathy for the child that he was who grew up with parents who likely did horrific things to him. My empathy stops when he has all of the money and ability in the world to make better choices and instead is abusing his son. I know his children from his first marriage are adults now and I wonder what they've been exposed to. Although when they were young he wouldn't have had the same kind of celebrity to draw people into his orbit. Not that regular people can't be monsters as well, just that money and celebrity helps keep the criminal away from repercussions.

He's hiding behind the BDSM scene which reminds me of Jian Ghomeshi who did the same thing and got away with it because his victims weren't perfect victims and his lawyer was able to play it off. I did like that at least Jian got himself fired because he thought an expose was about to come out so he brought in his own video to the HR department at work and that started the whole revelation. Poor HR people, thinking it's a regular day and then one of your star hosts shows you a video of him violent assaulting a woman trying to tell you that it's okay because she clearly wanted it. There's not enough brain bleach in the world for that kind of day.

Open secret - I've definitely heard Neil would sleep with fans. I've now seen people writing about the time he and Amanda were working at a University and that the TAs and such were quickly warned away from both of them so people knew something. My guess is he saved the truly awful parts of himself for victims who were like Scarlet, women who didn't have somewhere else to go, didn't have someone to tell and who stood to lose a lot if they tried to leave before Neil was done with them. I can see variations of that play out again and again in other industries. We won't hear as much about them because it's not celebrity culture but just look at the Pelicot trial in France. Those were all regular men and every one of them was a monster.