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(Mods, please move this if it's in the wrong section.)
I just need to vent a bit. Lately, I’ve been feeling a lot less optimistic about the future—both in the short and long term. I’m not exactly where I’d like to be in life, and I worry that I might never reach my financial goals. In the meantime, I spend a lot of time online for work, school, and leisure.
That brings me to the point: I’ve recently joined a new (for me, but long-established) fandom, and while I'm having fun, there's something that bothers me. I’ve noticed a significant increase in race-swapped art, which wasn’t a thing a decade ago. I tend to block or mute those accounts, but it still irritates me. What makes it even more conflicting is that, at first glance, my own appearance seems to align with what people might call “woke.” I find myself feeling conflicted, and if I’m being honest, a bit hypocritical for even thinking this way.
It also makes me reflect on the recent harassment of actors over decisions made by producers and executives. And don’t even get me started on the non-stop complaints from gamers about the slightest changes to female character designs. I feel like we won't be able to get out of the bubble of bad writing and remakes and stupid executive decisions. It’s all so much louder than it used to be, and I don’t see a way out of this culture.
I hate where things are heading. Sometimes, I feel embarrassed to have been a teenager in the early 2010s—like maybe I had a hand in how we got here. I wanted better representation, not what it’s turned into. Aside from intentional invisibility online and in real life, I don't see a lot of positive options.