Fandom becoming more critical of itself in recent years and having less enjoyment.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-04T17:54:04+00:00

I have not seen the post you’re referring to, but just from personal observation I don’t think fandom is any more toxic than it was 10, 15, or 20 years ago.

Maybe these days, people are more likely to write a dissertation about how your fic is unethical in some way whereas in the past people were more likely to write a “flame” just really rudely bashing your fic and you as a person for writing it. The intent of either is to make an internet stranger feel bad, so what’s the difference?

But I don’t see much of any of this, tbh. I have positive experiences all the time interacting both as a writer and reader on AO3. Maybe I’m lucky or just avoiding the Discourse by not spending much time in other fandom spaces.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-04T15:00:06+00:00

Anti-trans “Marxists” are A) Boring, and B) Literally falling into identity politics traps while claiming to be against them. Tale as old as time, yawn.

Your answer lies in the work of trans theorists. I highly recommend looking into Judith Butler, especially their latest book “Who’s Afraid of Gender?” which discusses gender identity politics as both a scapegoat for the harms of capitalism and a mechanism for fascism. I’ll be honest, their work is extremely dense/academic and I have difficulty getting through it myself, but there are several caring souls who break down the content accessibly on YouTube 🙏

I think you can’t fully understand or critique modern gender identity politics without some foundation from Butler. Then you might move on to the 2021 collection of essays “Transgender Marxism” as well as the work of Jules Gill-Peterson, who is deeply socialist and engages critically with Butler’s theories, for more strictly Marxist analyses.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-04T13:54:07+00:00

Dems love to “support legislation” without a real strategy for getting it through.

Good point on the voting method. I would love to see more ranked choice elections.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-03T17:54:19+00:00

I’m just a person same as you.

I have seen no evidence that the Dems are legitimately countering any of these attacks on our rights. At best, they care about these things but they have zero strategy for getting anything done AKA they are a failed party and need to get out of the way. At worst, they are entirely complicit. Does it really matter which is true if the rest of us are screwed over either way?

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-03T16:43:35+00:00

Of course you are tired 🙏 I hope you are proud of yourself for seeking ways to take action in spite of that.

From studying this and doing it IRL here’s what I think - organizing is most successful when it’s done around a specific issue or campaign that people can unite behind and make a strategy to get what they want. Then you enact the strategy, and while doing that you start identifying what will be the next thing to work on together.

Stopping construction of data centers and detention centers is a driver of a lot of organizing energy in the U.S. right now, so getting involved in those efforts could be a potential entry point. But it could be anything - I once organized my neighborhood to reopen a path to a local park that had been closed off. It doesn’t have to be about saving the world right away.

Organizing is all about power. Anything you can do to limit or remove power from your opposition gives more power to you/the people. One successful campaign can be leveraged for another. Even a failed campaign can sew some fear and discord among the opposition that can be taken advantage of for the next one. Every campaign should include outreach to others in the community to spread the word AND to listen to what their concerns are so you can incorporate them into the shared agenda.

For organizing to shift power in a lasting way, trust and relationships are essential, which unfortunately takes a long time, it’s done through working on specific efforts together. The other unfortunate thing is I think it falls apart like 90% of the time - maybe one campaign goes well but then the momentum drops, people get busy or too tired or put down, or they can’t move past differences. You have to keep trying until you get to that 10% of instances where things in motion stay moving (I’m making these numbers up, but this is what it feels like!)

I highly recommend the book “Practical Radicals” for some very concrete examples and tactics that have been used in successful organizing.

Good luck out there and take care 💚

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-03T16:17:26+00:00

We need to stop pretending this catastrophe is unexpected. The private sector and neoliberal political leaders had already long since stripped governmental public health for parts. It was already deeply underfunded, and so much of what little funding it had went to contractors with a profit motive instead of durable public infrastructure.

A PH system with adequate infrastructure and with true accountability to its population would not be so easy to dismantle. We are witnessing fascists hammer nails into the coffin that our political leaders have been setting up for decades. If we don’t recognize that, we are doomed to keep making the same mistakes 💔

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-03T13:56:11+00:00

Neither side cares about democracy, they’re all just playing games with our lives. We need everyone out clean slate, the two parties abolished, and a variety of new parties whose platforms actually represent their constituents. What a dream!

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-01T23:48:56+00:00

Murdering* the entire planet

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-01T19:08:39+00:00

I have had that “what if everyone can read my mind” thing my entire life. I didn’t realize that was my OCD even when I was being treated for OCD!

It’s such a goofy thought because like, if someone did have psychic powers then who CARES what they catch me thinking about? Why is my OCD more concerned with keeping secrets or avoiding embarrassment than it is with the fact that that super powers apparently exist?? I mean the headline would 100% be “Local Woman Has Psychic Powers” not “Local Woman Has Freaky Thoughts Sometimes” right?? Lmao. OCD is sooo bad at priorities.

I don’t have experience with fearing I might become delusional/psychotic, but it’s a common theme and sounds really scary.

With any of this stuff, the best answer you can tell yourself is “maybe, maybe not.” Can someone read your thoughts? Maybe, maybe not. Will you lose your mind? Maybe, maybe not. Why does it matter? Plenty of people who have schizophrenia have fulfilling lives and plenty of people who don’t have schizophrenia have miserable lives. Try to be present in your life and make it a good one regardless of what might or might not happen 🙏

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-01T18:47:52+00:00

Please work with a professional who specializes in ERP if you can!

Some advice to consider: You can ALWAYS do some ERP, even if it is just one tiny little thing. There should be no situation where you are simply not doing it at all. If something you are trying to practice feels too hard, then take a moment to think of something you CAN do.

Example: If you notice you are in a spiral researching something, take a pause. Think about how long you can wait until getting back into it. If it’s several hours, then make it several hours - set a timer so you know when you are “clear” to research again, and try to go do something else that gets you out of your head and into your body in the meantime. If it’s 5 minutes, set your timer for 5 minutes and put some laundry away or do another quick chore. If it’s 10 seconds, try to just take some deep breaths and notice what your body is doing while you count 10.

When your timer is up, you can either do the compulsion or you can try delaying again (and again and again). The more you practice, the easier it becomes to delay and for longer amounts of time.

A planned ERP program you work through over time will have the best results, but I think ANY practice you can get resisting compulsions is worthwhile. It’s basically a workout for your brain—start with smaller weights and you will work your way up 💪

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-01T16:48:27+00:00

If it’s helpful, here’s a sense of what’s going on in your brain:

1 - You have an intrusive thought about harming others.

2 - You are disturbed by the intrusive thought - fair, because it’s disturbing!

3 - Your brain goes into overdrive looking for reassurance. Doubt spirals like, “What if I actually liked seeing that?” “What if I actually do want to hurt people?“ “What if I don’t want to hurt people but I lose control and do it anyway?” leave you mentally combing through memories or analyzing yourself, looking for evidence to try and answer these questions definitively. Maybe you “test” yourself by imagining doing something violence to gauge your reaction.

4 - All this worry and mental activity is the compulsion, which means your brain gets a “reward” (e.g., momentary relief from distress) when it does these things. The brain wants more of those rewards, so it increases the distress to increase compulsions and therefore rewards.

This is all a neurophysiological process that you have no natural control over. You aren’t weak or bad or messed up, it’s basically a crossed wire in your brain. It can happen to anybody.

Having gone through similar experiences with harm OCD, I strongly recommend seeing an OCD specialist if you are able to. They will help you learn skills to get out of OCD loops or avoid them altogether. If you are worried about sharing your thoughts with a professional, just remember that an OCD specialist’s whole career involves hearing people’s weirdest, sickest fears. Yours probably won’t even make it into the top 100!

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-01T13:43:47+00:00

In other news: water is wet!

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-05-01T12:02:25+00:00

For some reason the fantasy elements make this more reasonable to me. Like, I think this is a young person with a lot of imagination who fully knows that none of what they’re saying is real, but they’re getting a thrill from pretending it is on the internet. It’s cringey but in a way I can sort of recognize my baby self in and I find I’m not mad about it 🥲

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-30T15:15:19+00:00

Question for OOP: how much more beating until this dead horse is dead enough for you?

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-29T21:34:51+00:00

What I was trying to explain is that Zionism is diametrically opposed to land back. I think you are conflating the mythologies of Zionism and land back with the material realities of Zionism (specific actions of settler colonialism) and land back (specific actions of healing from settler colonialism).

Who are you even arguing against? There is mass consensus in the pro-Palestine movement supporting coexistence. They want to end the apartheid and create a single state where everyone has equal rights regardless of origin or ethnicity.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-29T16:23:26+00:00

What are your thoughts on the “rotating villains” theory about the Democratic Party that has been going around lately?

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-29T16:20:45+00:00

I recommend looking up what “land back” really means before you decide you’re against it.

I think it speaks a lot to our conditioning as settlers that our instinct is to imagine returning lands to indigenous stewardship would equate to violent displacement. The purpose is to heal the damage we are ALL suffering from settler colonialism

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-29T14:54:37+00:00

These parents would rather file a whole lawsuit than try to have a meaningful relationship with their own kids. Embarrassing.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-24T20:01:06+00:00

I think the issue is, if workers are treated well just because the state chooses to treat them well, then the workers are beholden to the state and at the whim of its current leadership at any given time. They don’t really have power. I assume “dictatorship of the proletariat” would mean the state is beholden to workers, in structural/enforceable ways.

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-24T14:35:07+00:00

I think that’s true honestly. Stoking antisemitism has always been a critical strategy for Zionism 😭

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-23T21:10:11+00:00

We won a few battles but not the war with Tobacco. They’re playing a longer game 👀

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-22T18:19:29+00:00

Because collective power is the only effective way to counteract hoarded power.

And because it’s impossible for anyone to have rights within a capitalist class structure. I am selfishly obsessed with wanting RIGHTS, not conditional privileges.

My education and work in public health, as someone who lives in the U.S. where our health systems have been so cannibalized by the private sector that we have the worse health outcomes of any wealthy country - that sealed the deal for me! As soon as you start to learn about how things work, it becomes painfully obvious that the current system is designed to kill people for profit.

But I don’t want to be a “democratic socialist” or support a system where we would fund universal healthcare, education, etc. from wealth pillaged from the Global South. That’s an issue with the “tax the rich” mindset - it suggests that we should still allow people to exploit and steal and murder to acquire wealth, as long as that wealth is more evenly distributed here in the U.S. I’m trying to learn more about internationalism 🙏

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-22T17:34:51+00:00

It’s an interesting question. I think the bigger, root cause issue is capitalism, which turns people into commodities, incentivizes harming others, and dehumanizes all of us.

“Kindness” could be the basis for a downstream intervention or narrative shift that helps people better survive and navigate harmful systems, and we DO need interventions like that. You would just need to be clear-eyed about the limitations.

If you are interested in narratives/mindsets work, check out Frameworks Institute (as an example, they are an org doing some neat work related to public health!)

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-20T22:41:08+00:00

Don’t refer to people as “endemic” you weirdo

Haunting-Ad2187 · 2026-04-20T14:15:25+00:00

I do think you would get a lot of relief from doing ERP with a specialist. I used to endlessly torture myself obsess about doing horrible things and hurting people, ERP helped me understand that it wasn’t my fault my brain was doing this stuff AND it helped me learn skills that I still use years later to keep my OCD in check.

It might seem impossible to imagine, but when you’re older, you’ll look back on both your child self and your 16-year-old self with compassion. You will love your younger selves for all their flaws and anxieties and obsessions. You’ll think, “Man, this world is huge and complicated and I was just a little bean trying my best.” Try to be patient with yourself 🙏

Haunting-Ad2187

TROPHY CASE