bruh i need to vent about a rude comment i got on my recent chap and also about clora, cuz its something thats been on my mind for a while now. it has spoilers to my most recent chap tho so im putting it below

so in my most recent chap clora gets hit by the killing curse but thanks to seb sacrificing himself for her, it doesn’t work/she survives. and I got a rly rude comment about how that’s super cringe and that clora is a "shoe horning of every possible manifestation of Mary-Sueism I have ever seen." theyre dropping my fic after almost 500k words bc apparently THAT’S where they draw the line and that "just somehow pulling it out the bag and surviving a killing curse from the power of love. In simpler terms, it’s absolutely cringe worthy" and "forgive me if I rolled an eye at the yet again invincible nature of Clora Clemons-the-one-eighth-Veela-extraordinaire"

BUT LIKE LMAO TELL ME U DIDN’T READ/WATCH HARRY POTTER WITHOUT TELLING ME. that’s literally what happens to harry??but its only cringe when it happens to our "mary-sue" clora? like yeah sure love magic might be a bit cringe but IM LITERALLY JUST PULLING FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL. of all the things to take issue with in my fic and interpretations, theyre taking issue with something that’s canon BAHAHA.

and since im on the topic of clora being mary sue can I just say I hate the misogyny/internalized misogyny that i've seen some people (NOT A LOT, THANKFULLY) treat her with. like i get it, im not pale and blonde and as conventionally pretty as clora is, but even if I was, is that a reason to hate me?? and does being beautiful and well-liked = mary sue? bc as far as I know, mary sue is a chara who is just naturally amazing at everything and doesnt need to try hard and theyre just inexplicably great for no reason (like mc in the base game BAHHAA) if anything the mary sue in MY fic is seb LMAO (but hes a boy so its ok). like clora has worked hard and studied magic all her life due to being a squib and wanting to make up for not being able to DO it. she isnt good at flying, seb is still better at her than duelling, shes really short sighted when it comes to doing/thinking whats best for others and can be a huge idiot.... and like. the only guys that have even shown interest in clora on a real scale have been seb and leander (and then lawley for blackmail purposes, and also bc he hates seb) so its not like literally everyone is falling over themselves for her?? like her interactions with the main cast of boys (ominis, garreth, amit) theyre all indifferent to her LMAO but still, the fact that shes pretty and guys here and there might look at her and go o shes cute! doesnt make her a mary sue SORRy thats just called being attractive idk its just annoying that ppl automatically see a nice kind beautiful female character without any VISIBLE flaws and go SHES TOO PERFECT!! MARY SUE!! WAH IM JEALOUS! and like I get it bc when I was younger I probs would have been annoyed by clora as well due to my own insecurities and internalized misogyny but hey, how about u just realize that’s ur own problem and your own jealousy, and not a real one HAHAH anyway ive since evolved bc I used to be a ‘not like other girls’ type girl back in highschool. trying to be super tomboy-y bc I thought being feminine was cringe and too basic but now ive embraced it and love girly things and dresses and charas like clora who are still strong and showcase their strengths and weaknesses in subtler ways, and I want to smooch her and make out with her. get behind me clora ill protect you🤺🤺🤺

Hello!

Hope you’re doing great today.

How do you become your best self- like operating in your full Potential? There’s a girl I know of who’s super popular on campus and she’s great: a model, may be doing pageants one day (I encouraged her), and is super smart. Recently on IG I saw she’s at Harvard Business school studying and she has a major in Political science.

I’m an English major - couldn’t attach myself to any legal studies because it wasn’t for me and I get insulted by family that I should be doing something other than English (they look down on the major).

So I find myself comparing myself to her because I am trying to do different clubs, and speak up and be all that I can be. But I’m not seeing anything changing for me.

I get over looked a lot, and it’s a new school for me (I’m a transfer student) so that’s added.

And I’m so lost.

I often looked down on my degree, I do believe I should be a speaker or go to galas and study things that holds influence. To be a woman of change but I don’t see that. I haven’t gotten any scholarships for holding events for clubs, nor do I get recognized.

I feel like I’m not doing enough and I feel inadequate in my abilities (I literally took a creative writing class with fifteen other poets for a special class and the Professor would constantly nit pick at my writing and say I have to revise - and the other students would be praised for their writing. And I actually thought I was a great poet til that happened. And he’s a poet himself, and well known so that hurt. And was embarrassing cause my peers weren’t helpful or encouraging either. They would just stare at me while he critiqued my work).

Not sure who I should be.

I’m not even good at the things I thought I was good at.

But when looking at my acquaintance- I see such great things going to happen for her in her future (all well deserved).

Hi love! You sound like you're doing great for someone in university, honestly. Most people, especially at that age, do not take the time or energy required to self-reflect and think critically about how they can improve/ thrive in their environment instead of blaming external circumstances for any obstacles they face. You sound very emotionally mature, which I'm sure will take you far. Having so much uncertainty and little support is so difficult, so know that your feelings are valid regarding why you feel uncertain and like you're losing time in this current moment.

While it is easier said than done, comparing yourself to others is a waste of the time and energy you can be spending on ideas, hobbies, and activities that make you happy/help you reach your goals. Please know that people putting you down for being an English major is very closed-minded. There are so many career paths you can pursue with an English degree (signed someone who almost did one, lol) – copywriting, PR, social media/content strategy & creation, UX & technical writing, broadcast journalism, reporter, editor, screenwriting, etc. Also, he is one poet – that is an opinion, not a general consensus. He might be a professional and have considerable skills under his belt, but that does not make his words gospel. Writing quality can be fairly subjective. However, the way he singled you out is awful – I would talk to an advisor about this unprofessional behavior.

The best things you can do in a situation like this are three-fold:

Focus on taking care of yourself. Block out what others, especially critics, think or say about any choices you're making that don't hurt anyone else. Try to establish some healthy routines (meals, walks, workouts, studying, skincare, reading, etc.) to feel more in control of your day-to-day life

Sit down and reflect on the activities that give you energy, what you're passionate about, and the goals that you would most like to achieve in the few years after university and the immediate ones while you're still on campus. For example, it sounds like you're interested in writing, public speaking, and fancy events. Find resources to get good at these skills and ways to get yourself in your desired work environment (internships, temp service work for special events, etc.) Maybe consider potential career paths like PR or speech writing. Consider creative outlets like making a podcast, TikTok, or Youtube videos.

Make it a priority to develop confidence in yourself and an unwavering sense of self-trust. I feel like an old lady saying this, but you're so young and have so much time to figure it out. Everyone has different histories, traumas, resources, and advantages/disadvantages in this life. Spending time ruminating over those of others and comparing notes is taking away the energy and creativity you need to pour into constructing your own life and identity.

Hope this helps xx

Manifestation as I understand it to work for me, and how I upgraded my mindset INSTANTLY. Long post ahead !

Disclaimer, please only take what resonates with you with this post, because this may not work for everyone! This is just what I feel works for me the best, but you still make your own rules!!

So I've been reading and watching a lot of videos lately about manifesting, specifically Joe dispenza "breaking the habit of being yourself" and Abby Ruston on YouTube. Both of these in tandem have completely change my views on a couple of things, and I had a COMPLETE 180 in my mindset literally INSTANTLY last night, so I'd like to share with you what I've learned to see if it helps some of you.

Alright, so let's start with the basics. What is manifestation to me? This is going to be a rather scientific take, which may not resonate with everyone! If you just want to know how I upgraded my mindset, skip this part, I'll put a note where it ends!

Manifestation to me has a lot to do with quantum physics, that is, atoms on a quantum scale. As I'm sure we all know, when an electron is not being observed, it acts as a wave, and when it is observed it acts as a particle. Electrons exist within a cloud around the nucleus, and they are so incredibly small that they are practically not even there. The space in which an electron exists is 99.9999% empty space, and the electronic can exist in any part of that space. Because of this, there are an infinite number of places an electron could be within an atom, and therefore there are an infinite number of possibilities for each atom's existence until they are OBSERVED.

Do you see where I'm going with this? See, we are made of of atom's and energy just as anything else, but we also have a key to manipulating this energy, called consciousness. When we observe something with our minds, it becomes real and solid to us, therefore our thoughts can literally create reality!!

But how do we actually observe a new reality? We'll Dr Joe Dispenza says that there are two keys to manipulating the quantum energy field that surrounds us: thoughts and feelings. When we think, we put energy out into the quantum energy field, and when we experience positive emotions/ vibrations, we attract that energy back to us in a positive way. These two things act in tandem, and they are the foundations of how to create your reality.

HOW I CHANGED MY MINDSET INSTANTLY

So actually this part was incredibly easy. With this new knowledge of how manifesting works, I put out into the universe that I wanted a better self concept, and then I meditated to get into the feeling of the wish fulfilled (no guided meditation this time, I did this on my own!). Afterwards, I found a YouTube channel that really resonated with me, and I'll summarize her teachings here:

Basically, the whole premise is that self concept forms in childhood, and we carry it into adulthood. The problem with that is that as children, we lack critical thinking skills, and so many times those old views of ourselves no longer suit us.

Let me give you an example. Let's say as a child your caretaker was too busy for you, they may have had work and been exhausted. Because you were a child at the time, and because your very survival depends on the approval of that caretaker, you form the assumption that you aren't important enough, because if you WERE important, then your caretaker would have had time for you.

Can you see how this belief is outdated now? As an adult/ when you're past the age of about six-ten, you can understand why a caretaker may be tired or absent, but they likely are trying their best to make time for their children. THIS DOES NOT INVALIDATE YOUR EXPERIENCE, because how you felt during that time is still valid. As a child who lacked reasoning skills, you took the blame for things that usually had nothing to do with you, and you carried that mindset into adulthood.

I want you to know that whatever happened in your childhood WAS NOT a reflection of your worth as a person, because as a human being you do have inherent worth. We are not born hating ourselves, that is taught to us, you see?

This realization that I was never at fault for everything that happened to me AUTOMATICALLY upgraded my mindset and my vibration, because I let go of all of the limiting beliefs I had immediately upon rethinking WHY I felt that way with my adult mind.

If you want to learn more on this topic, PLEASE go watch Abby Ruston on YouTube, she explains all of this in depth!!

Anyways, I hope that this helps some of you, because it helped me SO MUCH to really realize these things, and I can feel in myself that I'm going to be getting my desires very soon because of it!!

✨ I'm Alisha (she/they, 26), I'm a bi disaster and welcome to my space on the web! ✨🐌

I'm a friendly potato if you're friendly too, so make yourself comfy. Ship and let ship, kink tomato, we have critical thinking skills and don't do moral panics here. I personally don't ship 'taboo' dynamics, but it's fine if you do.

No specific theme here. I post funny things, art I like, cute animals, and lots of things about censorship. I try to catch the most important tags in each post, tell me if I forget something.

I appreciate everyone who follows me even if I don't follow back.

I block assholes who hurt and/or target other people. This includes making threats and death wishes, guilt-tripping people into clicking poll options that involve killing people, harassing people, or insulting people you don't like by calling them the r-slur, inbred, or other things. Let's not synonymize disabilities and mental illness with being a bad person. No, I don't care who the person is. Same with telling people to die with no chance to better themselves. We do reparative, restorative justice in this house, I can't even with the death penalty talk.

I don't wanna see people being shitty to someone strictly based on their innate race gender orientation etc either, and yes this includes cishet and white people. Your labels don't give you a free pass to be a jerk.

Some of my popular posts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Check out my comics here!

I don't reblog chain letters, superstitious 'reblog and this will happen' posts, reblog bait, or fundraising posts.

You can like or reblog my posts, no pressure! I'm not gonna guilt trip you into doing one or the other, I get that posts don't always match the themes of blogs, and that posting isn't activism and all that other stuff.

I have good media literacy and I'm strongly against censorship. And no, censorship is not something 'only chronically online people care about'. Censorship movements have happened for decades eg DND, pokemon, book bans. Just because fandom has labels for where you stand on censorship it doesn't mean people won't understand why it's bad. They do. Censorship affects everyone, and everyone cares about it, even if you don't wanna talk about it online (which is ok)! Needless to say, censorship-happy people with unhealthy views of media consumption get blocked on sight, I don't dance with em.

I don't have a DNI. They're a naive control fantasy that assumes everyone is actually who they say they are and will respect your wishes. Vague DNIs with 'etc' and 'basic DNI criteria' are even worse, because idek what they mean. I chose not to make my blog password protected, and I can live with what that means. If I see someone with a stinky personality, I block them. I expect y'all to do the same if you see someone you don't like, it ain't my responsibility to curate your space for you.

One last thing:

Obviously I can't control what people do, but I instantly block anyone who claims they have DID. Just a heads up, peeps. I've been through enough with my former friend's malingering to care for one second about validating mistakes and attention-seeking behaviour someone won't get help for, because there's maybe a handful of people who actually have this disorder, and I refuse to risk getting involved with more people like my friend. It's obvious when you're faking, or just convincing yourself you have DID, when the symptoms don't line up with the MOST BASIC ways the disorder works. I'll say this once: get off tiktok and twitter, you were given bad information further up the line by someone equally mistaken. You gotta figure out the real source of your problems, and it's almost guaranteed to not be DID, even if you have trauma! I'm sorry your needs aren't being met, but you can't get it like this, you convinced yourself you have something you don't, this is literally what's happening with you. And it's delaying whatever diagnosis you actually need. Professionals aren't always right, believe me I know lmao, but sometimes they are. You gotta learn how to think critically, instead of relying on tiktoks and parasocial groups that just confirm your biases over and over again. Get out of those echo chambers, it's insanely unhealthy and it's seriously gonna screw you up.

Anyways, that's all the tough love for today.

Peace!

an acquaintance of mine, who i met through a mutual friend, casually admitted that he used chatGPT to help with his master's thesis (in the humanities); and when i curtly said "i don't think that's good" he was like, "oh it was just to give me some ideas and to help me write the introduction and conclusion.. and besides since i'm not going to write a PhD it was completely unnecessary anyway for me to be forced to write a thesis anyway"

i'm not going to report him or anything but it legitimately is so upsetting to me that someone with this kind of attitude now works as a high school teacher

Oof, that is rough, and on top of the substantive issue, there is something really tactless about one person admitting to you with a lot of chill that they cheated, when you yourself put in the work. It lacks some decency imo. It is indeed very upsetting, and I am sorry that you met someone with this little consideration for (your) academic work.

Obviously the first point is not valid: "to get some ideas" is literally the absolute worst use of ChatGPT or any AI ever, I stand by this and will die on that hill. "to write the introduction and conclusion": the most charitable interpretation would be "to help me rephrase stuff", but I am going to guess he meant "to tell me what to put in the introduction and conclusion", which is also bad. Introduction and conclusion are not summaries of the content, nor are they vapid fluff. There is proper content to put in both of them. If your intro/conclusion ends up feeling like a rehash or an empty shell, folks, you're doing it wrong. It's ok, we've all been there, but it needs to be changed.

As for the "I won't do a PhD anyway"... Something in me balks at that, but I have to sit down and consider if it's internalized elitism or not. I think it depends why you do a Masters, and from my experience it varies from country to country. In France, people go have a Masters because Undergrads are shorter, and you often are not competitive on the job market with a just an Undergrad. The vast majority indeed don't want to do any research, and therefore are not required to - you often can do an internship instead. But even in countries where Masters are more of a choice, an option rather than something that you naturally have to do, obviously not everyone will go into research. Still, the point of going one step above the undergrad is that it should then truly mean something. The masters is not a 5th year of undergrad, I think it is acceptable to require of MSc Graduates a different, wider skillset than from Undergrad Graduates. And part of that skillset is the ability to conduct an independent, small research project. The MSc theses expectations are not even close to a PhD thesis expectations anyway, I would argue they are barely the same exercise (in France, they do not even have the same name). The goal is not to show that you can be a good researcher, it's to show that you can develop originally ideas, think critically of the current state of knowledge, knows how to write convincingly about a complex topic, and have implicit understanding of epistemology, whether you realize it or not (aka you know how to know things, or you know at least one way to know things and understand the world).

These are all transferable skills, and your friend should sit down with a PhD researcher, to understand how little there actually is to do with a classic MSc thesis (or a mémoire as well it in French) and an actual PhD thesis.

For choose violence: 6, 23 & 24

[i've gotten so many of these -- thank you so much guys, this actually means the world to me that someone cares about my thoughts!]

from: choose violence ask game

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

It really depends. Nowadays, probably wolfstar. Some of them are pretty fucking annoying. But it's far from what it used to be. I was here during the gold old ship war days, and I remember dramione and harmione (?) stans being the most annoying people on the face of the earth. 2012 dramione fandom anyone? the ron bashing?? 2016 jily stans with the anti-snape posts??? *shudders*

Not to say the Marauders fandom isn't toxic now but my policy is to: block block block whenever I see people who say atrocious things with 100% conviction.

Also, I just can't stand, as a general rule, people supporting wildly fanon ships over canon ones, and trying to unironically argue why they work better... There is literally nothing wrong with liking a crack!ship, I could argue that's the point of fanfiction, but don't insult my intelligence. Sometimes I see takes where the only possible solution would be for the author to read the source material again.

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

Unwillingly is a strong word... I have read some good Tomarry fics in the last year (but. like. literally three (3). don't get excited) which is something that I would have rather gauged my own eyes out than do in the past. But then again only under very specific conditions for themes/setting/length/etc. It's not something I would ever look for, it's something I read if I know the author from other works and think “let's give it a try”... so, probably, I'm actually more in love with those authors' writing ability than the actual ship. You can tell if you actually like a ship in the following way: mediocre stories still make you swoon. You can tell if you like an author in the following way: I would rather get slapped in the face than read this ship but you make it interesting/enjoyable.

Jily is another, not because I disliked it in the way I dislike Tomarry but just 'cause it bores me a little. After exhausting any and all Snape character studies where he mopes about Lily (happy-ending Snily is not something I've ever liked) I thought meh, why not.

Oh! And you might be absolutely shocked to hear this but Belladolphus was one of these too. I was (and always will be) a Bellamort shipper, for my first few years in the fandom I was indifferent to Rodolphus at best. The man doesn't have a (1) single line in the books and we don't even really know what he looks like, but he's my angel and my baby and my darling and I accept no Rodolphus Lestrange slander in this house. Now, they're one of my favourites.

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

In canon or out of canon? Because I feel that's different.

In canon probably Snape. The world isn't split into sexual assault apologists and Death Eater apologists, we all have some functioning brain cells and critical thinking skills, it's important we choose to stay in the fucking middle.

Out of canon... come on, you don't need me to tell you what it is. Personally, I think that pointing out the flaws in a book series is important and useful to the general public (and so many criticisms of the series are incredibly valid), but clutching your pearls because the kids decorate for Christmas in Grimmauld Place and *gasp* “I cannot believe JKR wrote her characters putting christmas decorations on the disembodied heads of slaves and thought "yes. this is good. very cute and charming."” (yes, this is a real comment someone made on the internet, i didn't write this. yes, it has hundreds of likes.)

Guys. It's not that deep. It's played as grotesque in the same way the Addams Family is. The Blacks are spooky ha-ha that's the joke. It's played for dark giggles, literally not that fucking deep. Although maybe I'm wrong and insensitive for this, but come on. Feel free to correct me.

Also, something that most people don't get about the Blacks: they weren't unkind to their house elves, or at least not in the way we think. Again, the Blacks are a bit like the Addams family in this scenario, they have a macabre way of doing stuff: their elves were all very devoted and thought it was an honour to be beheaded (which happened when they were too old or weak to carry the tea tray) and Kreacher even hopes that that will be his destiny when his time comes, like his mother before him. Dumbledore also says that "Mistress Cissy and Mistress Bella" were probably kind to Kreacher in their own way - Sirius was the one who was cruel to him, actually. They all saw elves as their natural slaves (which is bad), but they were part of the family just as much as servants were for an aristocratic family of the 1700s/1800s.

If it makes you feel better, you've succeeded over Freeze and Bubbles in one area: you haven't gotten anyone to harass you like they have. Someone falsely reported Freeze's blog for sexual themes because Freeze had Mahiru end her friendship with Hiyoko, and Bubbles had a Kanade fan spew vitriol at him because he likes Hibiki better. But you haven't had anyone harass you like that, so you must be doing SOMETHING right.

//Technically, you're right on that front, and I think that the majority of the reason why I haven't gotten any significant criticism about the way I write is that I'm only just starting to begin the story, and my writing certainly isn't that well-written or that barley almost any of the hate anons have an actual thought of how alternate history works or functions, hence why I haven't gotten criticism over the plot, the character, or the worldbuilding.

//I had some anons, though, that said some really uncomfortable asks towards Nagito, one of them deciding that it would be a good opportunity to publicly make an ablest joke about Nagito apparently faking his lymphoma and dementia, both of which are truly life-threatening conditions, and lying about his terminal illness just to gain sympathy points, which I don't honestly believe that warrants an explanation because just saying that comment is fucked up already enough, and the other ask was basically to tell Mahiru and Honami, or even Mikan and Tsumiki to murder Komaeda, push him off the building, and then bury the body, lamenting on how nobody will miss him.

//I promptly deleted those asks once they appeared on my ask box, but other than those two incidents about Nagito and how much on an unlikable douchebag I made him, as well as one instance where a Hiyoko fan tried to shame me over not including Hiyoko in the story, despite the valid explanations and reasoning as to why I haven't included Hiyoko in the story, and why not making her an addition to the story and letting her have a more prominent role was actually well-intentioned mercy kill in terms of the absolute tone of this world. Considering the dark tone of the storytelling, and in a world where the literal opponents of the Quantum Crew are basically well-trained, well-financed, and incredibly skilled men who are basically leading an authoritarian and radical regime in their geopolitical conflict with the USA, Hiyoko wouldn't be able to do much. Even Poi herself reaffirmed my argument by giving me supporting details as to why Hiyoko wasn't there yet more questionable individuals such as Fuyuhiko and Peko were in the mix.

//Other than those two confrontations alone, I haven't received any significant hate towards me personally or at the story since the Hiyoko-Freeze debacle and how much of a disastrous shitstorm it became. I know Bubbles received criticism about Hiyoko during the entire chaotic mess that ensued, but Freeze took the absolute brunt of the entirety of the criticism towards his writing and characterization of Hiyoko and Mahiru's relationship, with most of the directed criticism being nothing more than spiteful, rage-induced, hate-filled comments about Freeze's treatment of Hiyoko and the Hiyoko stans relentlessly assaulting him as they unleash their holy wrath upon him, simply because he dared to criticize their queen, just like with Meatcanyon and the Talyor Swift fans.

//I wholeheartedly recall myself being the most vocal and avid supporter of Mod Freeze, throughout the entirety of the drama, constantly having his back and giving explanations and facts as to why almost half the criticisms towards him were unnecessary and inaccurate. I admit that Freeze could've handled Hiyoko's writing in that arc a lot better, as even I wasn't shy to give him some criticism over his bashing of Hiyoko, but there's a clear difference between giving some well-intentioned and lighthearted criticism and trying to get his blog canceled by falsely claiming that his chapter about Mahiru ending their friendship with Hiyoko contained sexual themes simply because he wrote something that the fan didn't like. THAT'S unhealthy amounts of toxicity, and I'm honestly relieved that I came to Freeze's defense, because the situation could've ended far worse than it did.

//As for Bubbles, I don't think I need to offer much of an explanation, because he absolutely ROASTED that fan's miserable excuse of an argument, MoistCritikal style. This might go down as one of the worst attempts at defending a character that I've ever seen, not to mention a character as bland and forgettable as Kanade. Hell, that could've been me that that piece of an argument was directed to, and I would still manage to come out on top because that's how awful that fan's defense actually was. Highlight was the part when he described Hajime as a self-insert, a comment that is nonsensical yet hilarious at the same time.

//Perhaps, as the story continues, I might receive some criticism towards how I handle my characterization, but for now, it seems as if I'm the blog with the least amount of drama, which is honestly a great yet also worrying thought.

i feel bad for sehar bc that review going around right now was the farthest thing from actually being constructive criticism (and i'm pretty sure they only praised hamza more bc they knew him personally in comparison, sehar is definitely the more skilled and versatile actor of the two imo) but i think i know the person anon is talking about who implied maya is merely a director's actor (and juxtaposed this with saying wahaj has way more star power and talent) and i just find it so funny how willing these people are to dish criticism blasé but utterly unable to take it when it's what they're personally invested in. the fact that so many of them were Pissed about that fuschia article on maya and yumna and said it was meaningless to give further attention to the hate but are simultaneously upset about this review and writing essays over it.. come on now. i agree with people that the review was in poor taste but at least hold everyone to the same standards and defend/support consistently. admittedly this may be receiving more attention bc it was actually industry veterans doing the hating rather than random trolls on the internet but regardless i'm tired of the fandom's hypocrisies. some of the fairytale criticism is overly harsh but a complete resistance to criticism isn't healthy either. even the roundtable gave me the impression that actors and fans alike are more invested in going on a complete defensive rather than fielding any criticism of their work whatsoever bc it's all painted as hate and being unsupportive. sometimes as an actor your job is to filter out the hate and focus on the criticisms of merit bc that's how you improve in your work. idk why it's so difficult to understand that !

i mean regardless of how much anyone tries to pose that they are 'not like these other people' because they stan a show with 'quality writing wrt romance and green flag characterization' the fact remains these are the SAME people who have been here for years only praising anyone who is NOT in direct competition of their ult fav. FT fandom tries to be above all by sneering at other content in the safety that their show would never stoop so low but it's clear as the day they are also affected by the valid criticism that the show is getting. i don't mean the extremely below the belt "criticism" that senior actors are doing on national tv to get some excitement in their lives where they try to relive their past glory but just comments and reactions of people on social media. you are right, the current atmosphere around social media is such that anything that is NOT extremely positive praise is taken as a personal attack. which...no? aisi bhi koi baat nahin??? just because we have complains about something or aren't agreeing with the direction a certain plot or character is taking doesn't mean we are haters or trolls or some jobless jealous fangirls who are only being mean cuz it's not our favs doing this "Quality" project. there's just a lot of dissonance here.

sureeee the show has greenest of love stories but toxic positivity is also not good. completely shutting off any opposing opinion by literally requesting the fellow fans to ignore all that noise and counter it by showering MORE love on something flawed will not get you anywhere in the long run.

as for what these people say about Maya toh again..she's only beloved when she's not a direct competition. she's only agreeable when she's doing niche dramas like Yunhi. she's acceptable when she's in short series with low viewership like Jo Bichar Gaye. in any mainstream project she's a nuisance. in a Netflix project where their beloved MK is not officially confirmed as the leading lady and the worst offense of all, not paired with either of the more desirable male actors while Maya IS..of course they'll revert back to finding flaws in her or passive aggressively put her down. i mean if her and Hamza are the "ceos of lost potential" shouldn't you be happy that they are getting another chance of being together onscreen? but lol nope. itna bada dil kahan hai. kitni bhi yeh maturity ka dhindora peet len..yeh dil se "bachay" hi hain. smug about the things they have and claiming that only THEY have the best toy of all. petty about the things others have and if they can't have those things, they'll do their best to make others feel bad for having them. it's soooo transparent? they claim to be feminists who like and want flawed heroines but only if their fav actor is playing them. a non-fav actor playing a flawed heroine in a similar vein as their fav character is "confusing" and "too out of touch with reality". the hypocrisy hypocrisizes like a hippopotamus xD

honestly, more power to Sehar. I hope she rises above all the hate she is getting unnecessarily due to the flaws of her character. and i hope she her fans continue to support her as well. even on the day when she ends up being a competition to their asli fav.

Hello. I hope you're safe and doing great.

In your "Feanorian Week Day 4: Caranthir" post, you said that you think Maglor is Caranthir's favorite brother because you think Maglor is the best at handling those situation when Caranthir is very angry and miserable.

Would you like to elaborate on why you think that?? :)

Hi! I am, today is a happy day because it's Reading Day! So, I have talked a little about Maglor and Caranthir in the past, so you might wanna read it first for context, here. And for context to people who haven't read the Feanorian Week post this is referencing, here it is.

So, my headcanon is, nobody in this family likes seeing baby Caranthir look this upset, and they have a marked tendency to want to Do Something. What that is depends on the person and the exact circumstances, but they just want to Fix It™️. Nerdanel and Maglor are really the only ones who are comfortable with just being there and letting Caranthir work through things without overwhelming him with More Things For His Brain To Process. He can tell when people want him to stop crying, and that either angers him or makes him feel bad or frustrated when he's unable to do what he thinks is being demanded from him. In his little head, he's a very good boy who barely ever asks for anything (which is true!) so he kind of feels like if he wants to throw a tantrum every now and then, people should let him. (They do let him, and this isn't a tantrum anyway, but that's headcanon!Caranthir's reasoning, not mine.)

Now, the thing is that besides Caranthir, Nerdanel has several other sons, a craft (which, for Noldor, is virtually a full-time career), and duties as a princess of the Noldor. She is very willing to drop everything for Caranthir, of course, but Maglor is rather likely to volunteer to help with his younger brothers anyway, so.

You know how sometimes you might go to someone's house and they have a cat you really, really want to pet, but doing that would be a very bad idea because it doesn't trust you? So you just sit there and wait for the cat to approach you instead? That's basically Maglor's whole thing.

He's fine with asking Caranthir if he can do anything and - and this is what Maedhros and Feanor both suck at - believing him when he almost unavoidably says no, and giving him space. Maglor will just sort of stay in the room doing his own thing (actually doing his own thing, not pretending to), speaking only if he's spoken to, and then following Caranthir's lead once Caranthir is willing to get someone involved. Most of the time, Caranthir is surprisingly sensible about how to solve his own problems, and just sort of wants A Trusted Grownup™️ to validate whatever it is that he wants to do.

Like, none of this is actually hard! It's literally just listening, but this is a family noticeably better at speaking, and even worse at silence, which involves neither speaking nor listening (gasp! Noldor being silent???)

For the record, I also think this carries over a little bit when they're adults in Beleriand. When Caranthir gets angry and harsh, Maedhros's first instinct is to deal with it immediately, because that's what works with all his brothers, himself, and the men under his command. But Caranthir will automatically disagree with whatever criticism he hears when he's in a temper, so that's either useless or makes things actively worse. Maglor instead just... lets Caranthir says what he wants to say and storm off. Then he waits like an hour for him to cool down, says the exact same thing Maedhros said and Caranthir magically is willing to negotiate because Caranthir negotiates for a living and can certainly find compromises for his brothers's sake. He won't be happy about it, but he can if it's important.

Caranthir is literally one of the easiest Feanorians to deal with, but even Maedhros who has great people skills acts like Maglor has magic brother-whispering powers just because he understands the concept of waiting five seconds before trying to Improve The World 🤷

Wizard Breakdown Tracker, Episode 138

I think it is easy to forget that literally every episode that aired in the year of Our Common Era, 2021, has taken place over the span of *Spurt voice* eleven days. Well. It has. And, indeed, the last seven episodes have covered roughly two days.

The reason this is only about wizard NPCs is because they serve as a sort of audience surrogate in that they are nerds who don't go outside, vs. D&D PCs who see more shit in two to eleven days than most people would see in a lifetime; case in point, Essek's current state of shock. This is also making it very hard to check in with the other wizards. But also this is not about accuracy, even though I am usually right about everything. This is about...honestly I'm not sure, other than wizards.

What I'm trying to say is:

Caleb Widogast is a PC, not an NPC, and is not included in these strange statistics*.

Currently sidelined: Pumat Sol, Oremid Hass, Ludinus Da'leth, Astrid Beck, E_dwulf Grieve

Obligatory self-indulgent Vess Derogna song parody: Tomb....takers, killed you in your room, they’ll end the world soon but hey/you cult wizard, lost in a blizzard, whatever you’ve done, well, murdered, you’ll stay

Trent Ikithon: I am 100% serious that while I have made Narrative Sense In Actual Play Media in the rock on which I will cast my Temple of the Gods, if the final boss is Trent riding on Uk'otoa...I won't be mad. Like does it seem tonally off? Yes; Critical Role is not humorless high fantasy by any means** but they are not actively trying to seem like something that should be airbrushed on a van, usually. But will it be pretty awesome? Yeah.

Trent on the other hand is pretty fucking mad, presumably, because Caleb continues to leave him on read and also picked up a little something called Mind Blank, which is actually useful and not in fact No Thoughts Head Empty. With that said I don't think it's increased; I think we're just at a steady simmer.

Conclusion: 7/10.

Essek Thelyss: Okay I am a dabbler in both cosmic horror and mathematics; I enjoy many elements of both but am an expert in neither. But if I may drop the jokes for a second, how incredible is it that in this alien setting of a city that is an unwitting and unwilling amalgam of consciousnesses, with all the trappings of classic cosmic horror, two people decided to take a scientific risk with things seen as forbidden or foreign by their respective cultures...and won.

I don't know what will befall Essek and he's clearly still having a pretty rough time of it, even though unlike Caduceus I don't think he was brought to the brink of profanity again, yet; but no matter what happens at least he'll have the nat 20 of instant long rest. No matter what happens...he was right about dunamancy. Fucking ironic how much potential the dynasty is wasting, really.

With that said he does have a red eye now even though all he (and, to be fair, Fjord, Veth, and Caduceus as well) did was fight off an eldritch abomination without rolling what must have been like a 20 Wisdom save DC. Like, he (and Fjord, Veth, and Caduceus) do not deserve this. You think this man has a positive wisdom score? In this economy? (actually, he might, I say, looking at Caleb 'Wisdom Ostensibly 16' Widogast).

Conclusion: keeping him at 8/10. It's funny because he is fully on an emotional roller coaster but it's averaging out to about an 8/10 each time; it's just that he's constantly beset by horrors beyond imagination and really terrible rolls but also incredible validation of his beliefs that had so long been ignored. The man's mental state is basically a sine wave, which interestingly enough is itself influencing his mental state.***

Yussa Errenis: The Prodigal Most Interesting Man in Exandria returneth! Wensforth, play Freedom! 836 PD. You know, he should probably feel a little bit of shame, because he should know better, but also he probably does not. Anyway please enjoy the lines I had for Yussa while he was trapped in Cognouza that I did not ultimately use:

aha no don’t get your consciousness sucked into an ancient city you’re so sexy

Here am I floating in an ancient and terrible world-devouring city/far out in the planes/Threshold crests are blue and there’s nothing I can do

Making bad choices and joining the voices it’s...YUSSA ERRENIS

Conclusion: I'm going to say 6/10 but rapidly decreasing. Also Wensforth has had several days to clean the tower...maybe he just won't tell Yussa? He probably will though.

Allura Vyesoren: she's going to facepalm so long that Kima starts timing it, isn't she. She's going to get a series of messages like "hey so the Mighty Nein seem to be doing well! they freed me from the city which sucked me in like some spicy ramen when I did an astral projection...also something happened in my tower?" She's going to just stare out the window for a long moment. She is going to ask herself, much as I have many a time, what the fuck is in the water in Wildemount.

Conclusion: 3/10. Hey, at least she got some news on the Mighty Nein and the city!

Known Gem Wizard Hotsauce Lutefisk: consider: after over 35 years, give or take, in your own perception of time, trapped in a gem, you finally come across some people. Consider that one of them apparently can't resist a big shiny wizard trap. Now consider that this guy went into your +1 Demiplane of Wizard Murdering AND got his mind fully schlorped by Aeorians and yet you are still, inconceivably, stuck in this fucking gem. This is where he draws the line? At a teensy little bodily possession? What the fuck dude.

Conclusion: I'm pretty sure he's already a few large handfuls of iron filings short of a component pouch (which is to say, full up on the batshit) already but this cannot be helping.

*this will be the first but probably not the last cosmic horror and/or math joke because I actually forgot to make cat jokes last night, so thoroughly did the Nein demolish Cree. Speaking of Cree's fate...call that a Furrier Transform.

**high fantasy is a complicated distinction and the wikipedia page includes Discworld which does not seem right to me; it also includes the Belgariad, a series for which I have great fondness having inhaled the first three books while sick in bed as a fourteen year old and having reread several times, but which is explicitly written by a guy who was like what if I made something as formulaic as possible but also literally everyone is either super sarcastic or a huge moron but anyway imo High Fantasy is actually frequently fucking hilarious and a sign of the skill of the creator(s) is whether it's hilarious by accident or on purpose.

***something something Heisenberg uncertainty principle. I had a joke here but it got very convoluted and that is actually not a pun although if you understand why it could be a pun, good work.

Calling bullshit on the opinion that Kishimoto doesn't know how to write romance.

The reason why this entire shipping business on Naruto has been going on for over a decade and still going strong, making fans go absolutely mindless, about a story which is not even about romance, about things that are so effective and impactful that the fans feel completely consumed with it, to the extent where they have almost completely defined their life and philosophies on its basis, is because Kishimoto can write a good fucking romance. And that's what he did. That's the reason why ships are fighting with each other, because it's not just about Naruto the manga or Naruto the series, it's about how they imagine their own romance, it's a deep, profound feeling. That's why they have strong motivations and convictions that drive their insight into the story. That's why there is so much polarity in Naruto fandom. They are ready to jump to protect their ship at a moment's notice because that's how much it means to them.

Are you telling me that it just happened on its own? Just happy coincidences and random factors?

No.

A lot, a lot of thought goes behind closed doors of the studios. I know this because I work in the business. The reason why I was so astounded with Naruto's story because it was actually a brave story. A brave concept. In a shonen. Because I am ready to bet a million dollars I don't have on the fact that Kishimoto knew what he was doing. Anyone who enjoys poetry, or literature, or drama can, if not approve, appreciate Naruto and Sasuke's story. Because it's that deep. Because it's that impactful. Because it's that dark. Because it's that tragic. Because it's that tender. Because it's that painful.

Because it's so...

(Applause.)

Romantic.

These are all the ingredients of a well written romance. This is the reason why I don't care about other ships because I know that SNS is not random or a projection. It's mindfully and carefully and even tenderly written and developed.

Kishimoto's projection? Oh sure. It stands to reason that someone from his real life affected and inspired his favourite character through and through. He did say that he based some characters on certain people from his own life. And he did base Naruto on his own self, if partly. And the reason why I am able to surmise that he could have had a real crush on someone like Sasuke in real life, is because how clearly and insightfully written and contrasted the two characters are. So nuanced. They are like poetry, that's why I am so dazzled with them. Their story is so beautifully shaped by their characters and growth that it creates a clear impression of who they really are in the story. Soulmates. That's the whole crux of the story. They are written out to be this literally 'once in several lifetimes' pairing that finally broke the bonds of hate with bonds of love and changed the entire world and as a result, grew themselves. This is reflected in themselves what with Sasuke being propelled with hate and Naruto with love and coming together finally in a world that they made happen, for each other. And all of their parts and counterparts with which they think and move and function are so well in sync with each other that they lock together perfectly, like two pieces in a two piece puzzle box.

To say that this intricately and intelligently and tenderly written story is just like, an accident, my lord no!

No. The content that is finally syndicated on screens all over the world, especially with the type of response Naruto has enjoyed, and believe me when I say this, everything goes through many levels of scrutiny during production; to the extent of why would this camera angle work better than all the other angles, here's a flowchart and analysis of all of them and let's spend three days on deciding it while the producers are going crazy frustrated with fanatic creatives. This is a very common thing to happen in most serious studios.

Naruto stood out at the time it came out and reached a much larger audience for several reasons. But one of them was that it got the right exposure and was shown to critics outside of Japan, who could appreciate and admire it's cinematic beauty and this reached a different subset of audience. This extra effort is not consistent but it shines at so many places, because it's just good storytelling technically and aesthetically. And the reason why Naruto and Sasuke stand smack dab in the middle of that storytelling, is because Kishimoto told their story with so much feeling, it literally shows. The nuance is just crazy. Note that I am saying nuance and not subtext, even though it's there in heaps. But I want to make a distinction clearly. Like I can write pages and pages over it. Anyway, their story stands out because the nuances are so well defined and mindfully drawn by Kishi, that one can't help but wonder if Kishi actually experienced them. And they are just small things but still get a lot of exposure in the manga and anime. And because they are so small but clearly noticeable, it makes us stop in our tracks and think. And the thing is Kishimoto could have easily done without them and it would have made everything still seem undisturbed but he chose Not to. That kind of decision is a direct result of deep understanding, feeling and thinking in terms of forming a certain visual approach and meaning. The visual language Kishi has used to show their chemistry, their bond, their need for each other, is so tangible, like you could cut it with a knife, that it makes one feel something is right below the surface, simmering and about to explode, but you can't put your finger on what it exactly is. Until you start to think. And it takes some time.

You think that kind of writing is random? Are you out of your mind?

No, Kishi is a maniac. He pulled something that was not easy at all. He is a genius. He is also sadistic because he knows he didn't give us a resolution. Resolution is cathartic to viewers and the reason that nobody got any with Naruto and still not getting any from Boruto is making everyone go crazy. Fifteen years is a long time man. And I can bet my other non existent one million dollars on it. He owns a lot of rights over Naruto franchise, I don't think he can be cowed down to such an extent even by the studio. Kishi fought studios for a few significant scenes of Naruto and Sasuke, he is not unfeeling about them.

Maybe I am being a mere deductionist but more often than not, deduction is right. It's a valid form of acquiring knowledge. Sherlock is right more times than he is not.

Anyway, my point is, Kishi can write romance. Kishi can write very good romance. He could have chosen to remove some tropes and make Naruto and Sasuke either just brotherly or friendly. But he chose not to. A lot of people think that they are platonic. And I think I know why. But I don't. They are not platonic. They seem like they feel physically aware of each other, acutely so. they just don't know what it is. Maybe Sasuke does, Naruto doesn't. Kishi used also such common tropes to show this element, but just because it is in shonen and between two boys, y'all won't believe it. Don't you feel that palpable feeling, the simmering tension and emotion when they fight at the valley of the end both times? And it makes you think maybe it's just you, and what you are thinking can't be true because this is shonen and it would mean they are gay, let me tell you, no it's not you. It is Kishi. And it takes skill to write. Something like this is almost always used as a trope of unaddressed sexual tension in media. Pick any romantic drama of this genre, where 'hate turned to love' or 'two unlikely people who fall in love' and you would find it in almost every single one of them.

Why do you think Kishi designed it that way? You think with all the detail (action moves are literally inspired by real life martial arts, lighting, sound, editing, dialogues that sound like out of a Bronte novel), that was him just playing innocent?

No. No. No. And No!

He wrote SNS throughout Naruto and Shippuden and is still doing something of an extension of it that has made Boruto a weird and uncomfortable to watch family drama.

Hi, how can I improve my conversation skills and be more charismatic? I’ve been so shy my whole life and never used to talk to anyone, now I want to make a change. I love your blog so much💕

The Charismatic

Charisma holds weight in the world of socializing. Some people have it naturally, some may never achieve it, because they do not have what it takes. Everyone can become charismatic.

Charismatic people are alluring and enthralling. You can tell the difference between an individual with charisma and an individual without it. The room is absorbed with their presence. To be charismatic you must achieve a level of confidence and be free of all cares at all times. You must be self assured in every social situation. Charisma isn’t something I can necessarily model for you because you have to do the self improvement it takes to get there. Become confident, own the room, and make others feel important. It’s a simple formula that many people get wrong.

I get told I am charismatic so here are my tips.

Posture is everything. Shoulders up, back, and down. Do it everytime before you walk in somewhere. You will never see people of high stature walk with poor posture.

Have a self assured mindset.

Social Skills

Charisma and being sociable is all about how you make people feel.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou

You only get one chance to make the best first impression and this is actually true.

•Take the initiative. Engage the other person in conversation. Not dominating, there is a difference.

•Use the other person’s name when speaking to make a good first impression.

•Don’t try to be the next so and so. Be the most enthralling version of you possible. This is very important because you can be literally any version of yourself that you want to, but being someone else will be way too obvious.

•Speak with clarity and enunciate your words. Mumbling will get you nowhere. Someone that is sociable and fun to speak to is not going to be remembered if they speak underneath their breath or become meek.

-> In that same grain, don’t speak too quickly. Slow down your thoughts and let the words flow naturally. Force yourself to pause before speaking and pause between speaking — for a few seconds, not astronomically long...

-> Maintain eye contact when speaking with someone. It makes the other person feel important and as if you care about what they’re saying and are paying close attention.

-> Keep your composure. Do not fidget about while having a conversation, as this will be a giveaway of anxiety.

-> Body language is everything... Don’t fold your arms, turn your body away... non verbal cues such as that can be a turnoff to others. Read the other person’s body language as well so you know when to wrap up.

-> In order to create a sense of warmth in your conversations, be sure to smile.

Don’t: Overdo it. When you smile, be authentic.

•Small talk is key to master. Whether you like it or not.

On the flip side, listening gives you the power. If you are not a fantastic listener, you will not impress anyone. Your goal is to be a master of conversation.

Abandon your ego. We all have egos. If your ego is huge, check it at the door.

-> Listen without fixing. Ask questions for clarification, mirror words for understanding, and validate the other person.

-> Let the other person finish. It is absolutely inconsiderate to interrupt, no matter how badly you would like to. You ruin the art of charisma if you interrupt the other person.

-> You want to ask open ended questions and maintain interest in whoever you are speaking to. This creates an environment for active listening, and it breaks the ice which makes both you and the other party comfortable.

Examples:

“Why....”

“Tell me more about...”

“How did that happen?”

“I wonder if...?”

Don’t check your cell phone. Don’t look around the room. Your goal is to make this person feel important.

Social Situations:

•If someone is upset with you, don’t be overly apologetic and kissing butt. Understand how THEY feel first. Listen. Only explain a position when they’re open to hearing it. Make the OTHER PERSON speak about THEIR emotions. That is the goal.

•If someone is rude to you, ask them to repeat themselves. Most people will rephrase it nicer. “Excuse me, what was that?”

“Pardon?”

“Can you please repeat what you said?”

Both said in a genuinely confused and calm tone.

•Never argue via text or social media. Never subtweet or air out your business over social media.

•If someone is cute, hilarious, or funny, tell them. This makes them want to speak to you. But be genuine not fake.

Persona

•Become easy going. Your way is not the only way.

•Criticism is welcome. Listen to what is being said and accept what is being said. Never be defensive.

•A positive attitude wins first versus a negative Nancy.

•Be confident, but not as though you are inherently superior to others (even if it may be true).

•Politeness. Stay kind when you are upset. Learn how to effectively wrap up a conversation.

“It was a pleasure speaking with you.”

“It was great catching up with you!”

“Nice to see you again!”

•Speak with conviction. Use words like “I am sure” vs. tentative words like “I think, I hope and I feel.”

•Humorous. Know how to play the crowd and tell a humorous story. Be relevant and know what’s in the know.

Examples:

Negative: Regina George, Mean Girls — she uses her charisma to manipulate individuals and maintain status quo. She is confident, sure of herself, yet insecure deep down. She is a textbook narcissist and mean girl, but it works because she is a master of socialization. See how she makes other people feel important when interacting with her. She uses some of the tips I have given here.

Positive: Naomi, Wolf of Wall Street — see how Jordan is hanging on to Naomi’s every word? She is giving him open body language and smiling with her mouth as well as eyes. A seductive feminine character.

-> Jordan’s speech, also showcases his charisma

Positive: James Bond

Celebrities:

Oprah Winfrey

The thing that feels disingenuous about Miles answer about Ironwood is that he was part of the writing staff that framed the general as a cool character to start with. I do think that the signs about Ironwood's evil were clear since V2 and in V7 he was an outright dictator from episode 1. Nonetheless, he was still consistently framed as a cool character, someone you can trust and rely. You don't get to blame the fans for liking a genocide if you was the one framed him as cool in the first place.

I actually don’t think being cool is the problem. If we’re satirizing and/or making a  statement about the toxic masculinity that leads to something like a dictatorship, then being “cool” is a crucial part of that. People don’t leverage the power they have by looking lame, they do so by appearing desirable, enviable, awesome. Being in the military is supposedly “cool.” Being a white guy with a giant gun is supposedly “cool.” Having power over an entire nation is supposedly “cool,” etc. If you only make such characters look revolting  — even when they are  — then you miss one of the main recruitment tools for this kind of rhetoric. Any version of Ironwood that’s meant to make a point about the dangers of following someone like him needs to make him look “cool” and then deconstruct that, pointing out the ways in which this cool veneer is a lie meant to pull you in. To do otherwise is to claim that evil people are always easy to spot. Making your villains “uncool” implies that the people who do appear cool in real life must be fine then. That good looking, charismatic leader is great. Why would I look critically at his actions? He’s too cool to be evil. 

My personal problem is not that “They made the dictator look cool and we can’t possibly expect the audience to tell the difference between someone who is truly good and someone who is just using various Cool Points to skate by” because that would be the point of such a character  — the work the show needs to do. My problem is that RWBY didn’t do that work. At least, not to the extent they needed to. Rather than making Ironwood a truly heinous character (prior to Volume 7 ‘s shooting, I mean) and allowing the audience to learn how appearing cool can’t hide that, they just made him good person. Straight up. Flawed, absolutely, but no worse than any of the other character on screen, particularly post Volume 6 when our heroes are frequently putting people in danger, seizing power, telling lies, keeping secrets, and generally acting in the ways we’re supposedly meant to condemn Ironwood for. Since talk of Miles’ vid last night I’ve seen three separate “Ironwood was always bad, idk how people can miss the signs” posts and those people are half right. There 100% were signs we were meant to pick up on. The problem is RWBY then went and deconstructed those signs. Ironwood didn’t just bring an army to a peace festival, he brought an army to an event he had good reason to believe wasn’t peaceful  — and he was right. Ironwood didn’t wrest control from Ozpin (using a series of checks and balances that exist for this very purpose...) because he has an obsession with being in control, he did so because he honestly believed Ozpin was putting people in danger  — and he was right. Ironwood didn’t step up post-Fall because he arrogantly believes he’s the only one capable of saving Remnant, he did so because he’s actually the most qualified: a fully trained huntsmen leading an Academy (like Ozpin) with an army and knowledge of this secret war. What, was Ironwood supposed to read the script and wait for the group of dropout teenagers to arrive and save the world instead? To say nothing of how his power and responsibility are framed as sacrifices, not something he sought out. Ironwood doesn’t want to be the sole ruler here. His desperate relief at having allies again proves it. Good setup for the rise of a dictator would have been Ironwood being cagey with his information and exerting control over the group... not telling them everything, not giving them more power, not letting them keep the Lamp, not taking arrest off the table so as to keep them in line, and generally doing the opposite of everything he did do to share that responsibility and power. RWBY got very good at giving us the first half of these red flags  — he has an army, he’s stubborn, he’s hurting Mantle, etc.  — but then time and time again introduced a context that changed that flag dramatically: they are fighting literal monsters, he’s no more stubborn than our title character, hurting Mantle is a consequence of a plan he thinks will help the whole world and our heroes back this. Those who insist that Ironwood was 100% a villain in the making (or a villain already) prior to shooting Oscar are working from their assumption of what his archetype represents, not what RT actually put on screen. Because RT is just really bad at writing a dictator character. They didn’t have the skill to manage someone who only appeared good on the surface, let alone a character with the complex nuance of wielding “coolness” to their advantage, which is why in Volume 8 they had to resort to cartoon villainy with literal, evil spotlights. It’s not that the audience is too dumb to pick up on those red flags, it’s that RT couldn’t manage to plant them without continually introducing valid justifications. You can’t say, “Bringing an army is a bad thing. Look at this dictator coding!” without me going, “Yeah, except in the fictional world you created an army does not represent the problems it does in our real life societies. This isn’t a guy amassing soldiers to go after oil, he’s trying to protect people from monsters. Not even metaphoric monsters acting as stand-ins for a minority group. Literal, evil monsters!” RWBY ignores its own context and a good chunk of the fandom ignored it too. 

The problem with that (besides the general frustration of someone ignoring parts of canon to forward a particular reading) is that the fandom’s go-to claim is that everything is meaningful  — and it’s a reading the writers very much support. Fans do not, as the above attests, push for a simple reading of, “Don’t think too hard about it. Just take the surface reading and run with it” which, while still frustrating, would have at least been a valid stance. Rather, they insist very strongly that nuance and depth are what drive the show. From the song lyrics to a tiny detail in the opening, everything is important and if you don’t accept that then you can’t appreciate RWBY’s complexity. 

“Okay,” I said. “Then in that case Ironwood coming around to Ozpin’s position is meaningful too? Glynda  — one of our best and most faultless characters  — supporting him is meaningful? Flipping his gun, defending Weiss, Qrow writing to him, the group working with him for months on end... all of it is meaningful to his characterization? You said so yourself.” 

“No, no, no,” comes the reply. “He’s just bad. But he’s also nuanced. He’s tricked you into thinking he’s a good person by acting kind sometimes, by getting support sometimes, but none of that is true. His actions are what matter and his actions are simplistically bad.” 

“Ohhhh. So then does that mean this story is really about the creation of a villain?” 

“Huh?” 

“Well, Ruby. She’s ‘nuanced’ in the same way. She acts kind sometimes and gets support, but her actions are terrible. She endangered an entire city because she couldn’t wait to see if Ironwood got his letter. She condemned Ozpin for keeping secrets about Salem and then kept those same secrets just two days later. When the kingdom was under attack she sat around drinking tea, crying on a staircase, just hoping someone would come fix things for her  — all while actively sabotaging the one person who was trying to save people, even if that action seems silly to us (let’s fly really high). So if we’re looking at the impact of someone’s actions outside of their intent, as we just did with Ironwood, then she’s a bad guy too, yeah?” 

“No! She’s the hero!” 

“... these characters don’t know she’s the hero from a meta perspective. If we’re supposed to judge the meaning of RWBY based on these details — ” 

“But it’s not just the details. It’s also the allusions. Everyone in RWBY is based on another person or character. It’s very complex and that inspiration drives their story, so if you don’t have that information it’s no surprise you’re confused. For example, this is why Penny had to get a human body. That’s what happened to Pinocchio!” 

“Oh! So then Ironwood is destined to be a good guy!” 

“What?” 

“Well, you just said the allusions drive their stories, right? The whole point of the Tin Man is that he always had a heart and just needed to realize that. So clearly — “ 

“No! He’s supposed to be a classic dictator, he’s only bad!” 

And ‘round and ‘round we go. RWBY’s writing is atrocious yet the fandom pushes this narrative that it’s all a complex, multi-layered story that requires taking every part into account to understand the “real” message... but when you try to do that with certain characters like Ozpin and Ironwood it’s, “No, actually, they’re just simple archetypes of Bad Men.” Nuance exists for the bees, but not other ships. It exists for the characters fans like, but not the ones they don’t. And RWBY’s inspirations have to predict the ending for this character... but not that other character. It’s a nonsense grab bag! 

Fans are right that Ironwood had a lot of red flags to set up this downfall. Fans are also right that those red flags were severely undercut, thus reversing their impact. Fans are right that Ironwood becomes a 100% bad guy who kills because he can and threatens to bomb a city. Fans are also right that this characterization feels absurd for Ironwood, both in terms of his morality and his intelligence (how does bombing Mantle help you now??) Ironwood is badly written. He was badly written in 7 and 8, if he was always meant to be a dictator in the making then he was badly written in 2-6, and he’s conclusively badly written when it comes to lacking a backstory and a canonical semblance  — two things are are supposedly driving all of this characterization. That’s the answer: not that he’s good, or bad, but that RWBY can’t write a consistent character, let alone a nuanced one, so it’s no surprise the fandom can’t decide on anything. What’s there to decide on? It’s that nonsense grab bag. In a different show I think making the dictator appear cool would be a crucial bit of commentary, but RWBY doesn’t have the skill to pull that off. 

I spent three months working on my fic. The art is also amazing. And just 7 kudos. Shortly after, a fic appeared, that was literally a copy of MY fic and badly written, and just 1000 words, and this fic have more kudos now. I really want to cry

I’m sorry Anon. This may sound like impossible advice and is really just random words from a stranger on the internet that doesn’t know anything about you, but the best thing I would encourage you to do is to stop comparing your worth to others.

We live in a world of numbers where “value” is measured by views, likes, clicks, and any other metric companies can think up and put on a UI. In a world of Instagram influencers, Big Name Fans, and the Twitter-famous, we’re being told that bigger is better, more likes means more love, and the more interactions you have, the more important you are.

Do not do this with your writing. I get it. The AO3 stats are Right There. Front and center. Unignorable. Writing is lonely. It feels like screaming into the void, and after all that work, surely someone will give you the validation you deserve, right? After all, that other writer and their work got it. So why not me?

It’s not wrong to want that, Anon. It’s not wrong to love and share and want that love reciprocated. I would argue that it is very very human, and a very beautiful thing that you are reaching out, labouring over something you love, putting a bit (a lot) of yourself out there, hoping for some of that love back.

But as long as you’re always looking over your shoulder, always wondering why them and not you, why do they have more more more, why why why...you’re never going to be happy. And if this is the situation you find yourself in with your writing, I’m afraid that it will destroy your love of writing.

I’ve seen it happen. Writers turning bitter. They get angry. They get disappointed. They start asking questions. “Why can’t readers comment?” “Why don’t readers say anything?” “How do I get more kudos/comments/hits?” And sometimes they stop writing. They stop doing the thing they love. They stop creating. Why write and post when no one is going to appreciate it?

There’s really only one person whose answer matters: You.

When it comes down to it, You, the author, are the only person that should matter. How do you feel about your writing? Did you tell the story you wanted to tell? What did you learn?

No one is going to love your story more than you. No one knows your story better than you. No one knows the bits that made it in, and the bits that didn’t. No one really knows which parts you struggled with, which one caused you the most tears, which ones you’re the most proud of because it was so hard for you to write.

Every time I see a fic I’m in awe. Because it’s a labor of love. It’s something someone tried, something someone wanted to do, regardless of the writer’s skill, experience, or English proficiency. It’s something someone created, for fun or as a way to heal. It’s part of them and their own personal journey in this funny thing we call life. It’s something they decided to spend what precious time we all have in this world on and it’s what they’ll leave behind. It’s beautiful because it exists and You made it. And if you are the only one who sees and appreciates that. So be it. It’s your writing. It’s a bit of you. Will you really be happy if everyone else loves it except you?

So find your reason to write. Try not to let it be something that is dependent on things you cannot control and the numbers attached to it. Aren’t you a little tired of being constantly measured, compared, and criticized because what you did isn’t big enough or loved enough or good enough? Why can’t the pure act of writing just be enough?

If you’re still reading this and are thinking to yourself, “easier said than done” or “it’s all very well for me to say these things, but what can you actually do about this” then maybe here are some things you can try to distance yourself from the addicting pull of the numbers popularity game:

1. Take a step back - Try to be self-aware and realize what your expectations and goals are when you post a fic. I would refrain from an outcome that you cannot control. Number of hits/kudos/comments are things you cannot control. Who reads your fic and what they say are largely things you cannot control. What other writers post and what their readers say are things you cannot control. Realize that there’s always going to be a “bigger” and “better” fic by the numbers. There’s always a bigger fish. Don’t fall into the trap of measuring the worth of a fic, and by extension yourself, by numbers that you cannot control.

2. Find a friend - Someone whose feedback you cherish and who can laugh and cry with you and give you that feel good feeling we get when we share things, the communal creatures that we are. Share your love with them and have fun!

3. Participate in an exchange - Much easier to feel happy about a response to a fic when it’s specifically made and targeted to one single person. As long as that person likes it, mission accomplished! Also, exchanges usually have a community (fellow participants, mods, betas) for the event who can give you feedback as well. It’s a pretty good way to make some new fandom friends too!

4. Get feedback from the right people - If you are looking for feedback to improve on your writing, try to find someone whose opinion you respect and who you can build a relationship with. Constructive criticism is often very personal and takes a lot of trust between the giver and the recipient. It will take some time to build enough trust with a beta/friend/reader, so be patient with them, yourself, and the process. If you are able to build enough trust with someone you want feedback from, I find it helpful to be specific when you ask for feedback: “The pacing feels off here. What do you think?” “Can you help me show XYZ? I want it to feel like ABC.” “Does A seem to be too childish here?” “Is B acting out of character?” “Is there too much description on this page and did you lose interest?” Take their feedback at face value and try to keep an open mind. Communication is key to any relationship and it is no different with something like this.

5. Write, but do not post - Write your fic. Create. Put it down in words. But if you can’t stop yourself from constantly comparing yourself to others, don’t put yourself in that position. Just don’t post your fic. Let it sit in google docs, Word, or whatever word processor you used to bring your thought to life. Don’t gamble your happiness on things you can’t control. Find another reason to write.

Be honest with yourself about why you write. Try to stop comparing yourself and your fic to others. Don’t let something that should bring you joy be a source of sorrow.

Luz’s Online Experience?

           Talking a lot with @sterling-jay over the subject and discussing this; I noticed that Luz can be particularly persuasive and a powerful debater, specifically at the end of The First Day where she mercilessly gives Bump a peace of her mind until he finally concedes her genuine point. Coupled with her mentioning “Jerks online who want to debate” as one of her primary fears, and… I have to wonder if she honed her argumentative, debating skills from having to deal with those kinds of people as a kid, usually in online forums that she’d go to talk about her hyperfixation with other like-minded kids; Especially since the internet tends to be a place of solace for neurodivergent kids who can’t find others like them in their area.

           I’d see Luz as being SO passionate and into her argument as she brings up a bunch of brilliant points, and then she just gets shut down by a cruel remark (like some internet edgelord calling her “nerd”) and it HURTS so much, because Luz invested so much energy and effort, and yet clearly others don’t feel the same, despite apparently inviting her into discussion. Luz really seems like the type of kid who practiced her arguments and speech and really deliberately stewed over them during class and meals, getting distracted as she thought of the perfect rebuttal, usually within the shower; Because for someone like her, she just CAN’T let it go, because her hyperfixation is being trashed and she has to defend this, etc.

           And I think Luz was the kind of kid who easily fell for the kind of taunts and trolling that older people online would do, targeting neurodivergent kids who take things at face-value and are too literal and innocent to realize what’s up. I can imagine Luz getting into flame wars online, because some trolls deliberately aggravate Luz by trashing on her interests and saying dumb things, forcing Luz to go on the defensive as they mercilessly criticize what she likes in order to ruin the fun for her- And eventually Luz realized those people weren’t actually interested in debating her, just making Luz second-guess and doubt herself. So she learned not to bother engaging with those people and just shut them out- Hence why she defeats her fear by recognizing such people as not coming from a place of intellectual honesty, that they aren’t worth her time trying to convince because of this.

           That’s why it’s one of her primary fears, “Jerks online who want to debate”, because there’s always that one person on an internet forum who has to be “Um, actually” and deliberately try to ruin Luz’s fun and disprove her headcanons, all while acting so much smarter than Luz, all condescending and pretentious; Probably defaulting to that “Why are you so EMOTIONAL/triggered” response that’s frustrating and invalidating to Luz. And you know someone with a good heart like hers would NOT stand for that kind of talk on principle; And as the daughter of a nurse, she’d go into a spiel about how triggers are an actual medical term, only for Luz to be accused of “taking things too seriously” or “ruining jokes”.

          This kind of frustrating, constantly-being-egged-on harassment from others online- It could’ve really soured Luz’s experiences, making her feel even more lonely and unsupported… And it could’ve led to Luz explaining that it’s not worth one’s time trying to engage into argument and conflict, which she explains to King at the beginning of Once Upon a Swap- She’s been there, Luz knows how it feels, and she knows that it never ends well and is just playing into the aggressor’s game. And when Boscha bullies and harasses Willow during Wing it like Witches, it strikes a particular nerve with Luz, causing her to challenge Boscha; And for a less drastic example, this kind of unpleasant experience influences Luz to challenge Amity at the Covention, for King’s honor.

           It’s because Luz IS curious and genuinely thoughtful and willing to hear others out in a meaningfully critical sort of way, so she just HATES people who act like that, who come from a position of bad faith and aren’t interested in actually evaluating arguments. So she’s so passionately against the type of ableist trolls who make fun of people for being so invested into their hobbies and interests (because that’s “not a personality”). And it just culminates in Luz being somewhat cautious whenever people approach her online or in real life, because she’s not sure if they’re being genuine or not, if they’ll ever take her seriously, so what’s the point in being able to argue on her and others’ behalf?

          For a while, Luz could’ve been the kind of kid who has a brilliant argument, but it’s just… SO HARD for her emotions to not get riled up, to be made fun of as her voice wavers and her eyes water- Which means getting dismissed as unreasonable, ‘too emotional’, all that sorts of stuff. And so despite setting this situation up, Luz’s bullies manage to make it look like LUZ is the aggressor, that she’s the one throwing the first punch, when they were deliberately trying to emotionally trigger her into doing so. And as @sterling-jay suggested, that just leads to the word “Trigger” becoming an ACTUAL trigger for Luz, because of the way it was cruelly and inaccurately used against her in the past- And sometimes when people use it like that, it can launch Luz into a whole spiel about how that’s super-disrespectful to people with actual disorders and PTSD, only to be mocked for being so ‘emotional’.

           That means Luz having to learn to regulate her emotions, pretending to not actually care, to be more mature… Before she realizes that no, that’s also playing by their game, who cares what those trolls think? So Luz just blocks them out, ignores them, and continues to be who she is unapologetically, blocking anyone who tries to intrude on her fun without remorse. But what happened still happened, so Luz has a bunch of clever debating skills and rhetoric left over from those days when jerks online would drag her into flame wars for their own amusement. But on the Boiling Isles, especially Hexside… Luz might find an actual, genuine debate club in the Bard Track or someplace similar.

          She’d have an environment where people DO debate and argue on good faith, from a place of intellectual honesty- A place where people genuinely, critically think and reflect on their own and others’ takes! So Luz has this powerful, persuasive energy and debating skills that she’s built up over the years, but never had a chance to properly utilize in an environment where it would be taken and evaluated seriously; So like a lot of her passion and interests, curiosity and energy- Luz finds the opportunity to indulge and explore it in the Boiling Isles, channeling that skillset and ability into something good and productive… Like convincing a local principal to provide multi-track learning options for students, and not bend a knee to a corrupt system!

          And Luz’s fiery, righteous rage against injustice can come into play during a revolution against Belos’ dictatorship; Because she knows firsthand what it’s like to be frustrated by people who claim to argue on superior, academic merits, but are only really interested in just shutting you and your ideas down… Because no, Luz KNOWS that her and others’ ideas are worth listening to, and hearing out- And it’s just so validating to see people like Eda actually listen to Luz… To actually change their minds, or else explain their own thought processes in earnest, instead of just shutting the girl down because they said so.

          It’s this ability to really critically question things and evaluate if people are coming from a place of good, intellectual faith, that makes Luz ready to challenge all sorts of things, while mentoring and encouraging those who are in a similar spot to her childhood, but didn’t have any support- Until now. That yes, what you say IS valid, and if people can’t be bothered to explain themselves properly and/or take your argument into account- Then you shouldn’t have to listen to them, and at times; Just remove yourself from the situation entirely! Prioritize your own comfort and health, and don’t bother trying to play by the rules established by others who are trying to drag you down onto ‘their level’. Challenge the system, break its rules, and don’t bother vying for some kind of moral approval from others who don’t actually care about that kind of thing; And always remember, your emotions, your anger and grief, ARE valid…!

          ‘Calmness’ doesn’t necessarily indicate objectivity, it can be apathy operating from the comfortable status quo that is being upheld. And don’t fall for the trap of lowering yourself to their playing field, by assuming both sides have a point, because chances are; Both of you are operating from very disparate positions already. What others say may be coming from such bad faith, that they are not entitled to your ‘respect’, nor an actual platform to validate their terrible ideas. And don’t let yourself be blamed for making things ‘more contentious than they need to be’ when you lash out in self-defense; Because a lot of the times, the status quo that’s being disrupted is unjust and NEEDS to be changed, and it’s the one causing conflict by hurting people in the first place.

Now this. This is interesting.

Do understand how delicious it is for someone to say Pixar's Ratatouille of all things is corporate propaganda. How actually stupid this increasingly sounds? May I share why because I just had to with this...

Let’s put aside the fact that most people who actually remember the film enough to analyze it see that it was clearly anti-corporation when Skinner is the manifestation of marketable greed where he literally is using the image of his dead partner to try selling microwavable meals. Let’s put aside the fact that Ego didn’t give up his job because he was reasonably fired (the film says this btw so the bottom ask here pulled shit out their ass, naturally). Three very important things I want to make clear here. Kinda four really.

The “blind slander against critics” is the result of people not immediately buying everything they say or believing everything is a 10/10 or a disaster beyond belief. There is a reason Rotten Tomatoes has become a joke over the years, why Joker became a billion big success despite the visible ire against it, and why “voting with your wallet” has become more of a staple in the market. Critics hardly matter outside the retrospective anyway when stuff that actually could be shit can earn millions anyway. If critics really influenced the monopoly, stuff like Wolfwalkers and Into the Spider-verse would’ve made a billion easy, if not near compared to what they got. Hell, The Emoji Movie would not have been as successful if the unified hate against it actually affected anything. Disney is Disney, people have always had enough of the stupidest trust in them so the “blind slander on critics” means nothing and hasn’t meant anything when it comes to them. When people say being a critic is easy, this is what they mean. That and Youtube.

Anton Ego was not redeemed. He didn’t save Gusteau’s with his ending review, he didn’t help Remy be recognized as the greatest chef in Paris, he just recognized his arrogance. The whole point of Ego’s flashback was not because “I was sad once”, that’s grossly myopic. Remy's food made him nostalgic for his own childhood and that is why he gave a positive review after knowing who made the dish “pontificating” the message of the film "innovation and talent can come from anywhere and anyone." Ego wasn’t a villain, there was nothing to be forgiven about because he just did his job. Hell, beyond Gusteau’s death which wasn’t his fault, the restaurant didn’t shut down because of his original review and there was never any sign of the place going under after said review. He was hardly an impact beyond being the obstacle perspective for Remy to challenge and that’s the point.

This disdain for Ego is in the nebulous idea that Ego is a “Take That” towards critics and criticism in general when that really isn’t the case. Ego did what he did because of his genuine love for food and he was very fair towards a disadvantaged chef. If he had shittalked the restaurant while loving the food, Lily would have a point, but he was completely sincere regardless. Like the whole point of the climax with Ego was that he enjoyed the meal not as a critic, but as a lover of food, reminding him of why he became a professional critic in the first place. I bet Orchard only believes Ego is an imaginary take on critics because Ego openly admits that criticism can be easy and the film is about curbing your ego and recognizing what can be great can come from anywhere. Who left this film taking the fucking bait? Which leads into my last point.

How the hell do you get corporate propaganda from the message that “open-mindedness and integrity are good things to offer for people who’ve put in the effort”? Remy’s journey is about proving to himself and others that he can cook, challenging Ego’s notion that “Not anyone can cook”. The film is about the passion in creativity, having genuine perseverance in what you want to achieve for yourself, and THAT’s “corporate propaganda”? It’s hilarious coming from Schrodinger’s Asshole herself, somehow taking this into the worst light possible. If Ratatouille was so anti-critic as Orchard believes, it wouldn’t have validated his opinion. Hell, if it was so anti-critic, Linguini would have kicked out Ego before revealing Remy to him. Ego expressed a positive experience in spite of the fact that a rat made his food. Indirectly, he recognized Remy’s skill when he could’ve easily been disgusted at the thought; again, the guy had his integrity.

Like, brazen corporate propaganda? What would be opposite of that, Orchard, or do you just hope no one would care enough cuz this is the worst, dumbest, funniest bad take for this film I will ever know.