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utilitycaster · 1 year

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Would LOVE that essay on combat in dnd because full agree. But not even just for people watching live play, like, combat is an essential feature of dnd as a game system and it endlessly frustrates me when i see dms be like “yeah combat is just too complicated and no fun so i dont do it in my game :)!” Like i guess thats your right, but any non-caster class is gonna be miserable in your game. I saw a video recently talking about how dnd has kind of become the default ttrpg and is marketed as the perfect system for everyone and any style of play which is just. So not true. Combat in dnd is equally as integral as roleplay is and theres really no argument otherwise. Very valid if you hate dnd combat, it sure isnt for everyone, but in that case maybe play a different ttrpg where the characters arent constructed around combat abilities, i promise you’ll have more fun.

So this is one of those things that touches on maybe 99% of my feelings on Experiencing Fiction in general and actual play in particular; I apologize in advance for the length and digressions within this response.

Here are the reasons I have seen or I surmise why people don’t like D&D combat, either in actual play or in home games:

It can get crunchy and involves a lot of rules

There are long stretches in which individuals do not necessarily act (not exclusive to combat but I think this is a factor)

It contains violence

There is a potential for character death

Now, it’s fine if you aren’t interested in D&D-style combat, for whatever reason, when you play ttrpgs. It’s just that this is a core feature of D&D. As you say, this is what the martial classes are structured around - and, frankly, no small number of casting classes/subclasses as well. By avoiding it when you play D&D, you’re avoiding the bulk of the game, and there are plenty of ttrpgs that permit open RP that aren’t combat focused that would probably fit your needs better (eg: PbtA and Savage Worlds are both generic systems that can support a heroic fantasy like D&D without the emphasis on combat skills). I happen to love and prefer D&D, but that is specifically because I love combat, and yeah, there are other games and people should seek out those games if they don’t like combat.

When it comes to D&D actual play though…skipping combat is just straight-up stupid. And to be clear I mean fully skipping it and not watching it at all; while this is piggybacking off my post about spoilers, it’s fine if you are the sort of person who needs to know how combat ends in order to enjoy it! That’s just a personal preference that I respect even if I don’t share it.

D&D combat isn’t just an inherent part of the game; it’s an inherent part of the story. The idea of D&D being split into combat and RP is a false dichotomy. There is RP and crucial story within combat scenes, and you simply do not achieve the same effects by reading an after-the-fact summary. To use examples from Critical Role, consider one of the most famous RP moments from Campaign 1, when Scanlan uses his 9th level counterspell in the Vecna fight. The weight of that moment derives from mechanics and from the fact that it is in the midst of combat and well into a climatic final battle. Or for lighter examples, there’s a ton of Beau/Yasha and Fjord/Jester mid-combat flirting running through much of Campaign 2 that informs those relationships. Molly’s death? Caleb going into a fugue state when he kills humanoids with fire? Yasha destroying Obann? Fjord dying mid-deep scion fight? Those are all moments that have deep character weight and meaning that are within the context of combat, and you cannot divorce them from that context and hope to retain the same effect.

This is what dovetails into a larger discussion of Experiencing Fiction which is a (in my opinion) worrying tendency among some people to truly believe that you can cut up media into the palatable bits and pieces and push all of what you see as icky vegetables to the side of your plate. I fucking hate this. I think it’s what drives a lot of things including a distaste for combat. This is how you get, for example, people who dislike combat because Violence And Death Bad, which, do I think that in the real world violence is most often a thing to be avoided? Do I think that in the real world death is heartbreaking? Yes, but this is fiction. There’s that great Brennan Lee Mulligan quote about how TTRPGs like D&D allow people who usually must be conflict-avoidant in real life to let out their anger and frustration in a place where it is safe and harmless, and I believe that whole-heartedly. I want stories about death because I want to know I'm not alone in how I feel about death. I want stories in which people can express their rage in ways both healthy and unhealthy, because big same. (I also think it’s absolutely not coincidental that people who believe they are ‘protecting’ people by circumscribing what is acceptable in fiction tend to be strongly associated with either bigoted, violent policies in real life, or harassment and doxxing online; maybe enjoy a fucked up movie, as John Waters once said, and you'll calm down.)

This idea that you can cut up media and only consume what you like is also what I think is behind some of the really ill-considered and overly granular timestamped content warnings I’ve mentioned previously. It is fine if there are things you don’t want to watch or which will be upsetting or even triggering to watch! It’s fine if you as an individual don’t like violence! But I think there’s a problem when people believe they are entitled to be able to watch whatever they want and have it mold to their exact wants and needs (and that it’s a failing if it doesn’t), rather than taking on the responsibility of seeking out media that already fits the bill. Actual Play D&D will nearly always have violent encounters. If this will be an issue this is not for you. It is not gatekeeping to say “you can come through this gate, but the gate is in fact here for your specifically requested protection"; and yet people think that instead, gates should be placed around everything else. So (to give an example) this is why the warnings for D20’s Neverafter strike me as a symptom of this larger problem - if you have discomfort with violence towards animals and children, that’s fine, but you are watching a D&D horror series in which over half the player characters are either animals or children. This is not something where you can skip a few seconds of a flashing gif that might be a migraine or seizure trigger, or a case where an exceptionally rough scene of gaslighting can be read instead of watched; this is inherent to the show, and if this is not for you, you need to go elsewhere.

To give one last example, I was looking for fanart for Worlds Beyond Number, and came across a picture of Suvi with a caption of “Suvi but without the imperialism” and like…Aabria has said in interviews that this engagement with the empire is extremely deliberate; that Suvi is intended to be tied into the political structures of this world as an intentional contrast with Eursulon’s status as an outsider and Ame’s role at the smaller, community level. Suvi without imperialism is not identifiable as the same character and it throws the entire story off-kilter; she is of this empire and that is the fucking point. Any story worth telling is not just items thrown haphazardly into a bowl; they are combined and mixed. Someone is giving you a plate of brownies and you are acting like it’s physically possible to take out the cocoa powder without fucking the end result, and buddy, it’s not.

(Truly, I was not joking when I said this is like, the load-bearing pillar of most of my complaints about fiction consumption patterns in general. This is about how people will deny the flaws in characters even though any reasonably intelligent ten-year-old, and I know because I fucking was one once, understands that person vs. themself is one of the core conflicts and overcoming one’s flaws is in many cases the entire story and if you start out perfect there is nothing to be said. Like…I think a lot of people genuinely just want to watch a nonstop Monterey Bay Otter Cam of their sufficiently sanitized, focus-group-tested blorbos baking cookies together, and are affronted when people with the tiniest sliver of empathy and/or curiosity want a story with plot and character growth, which in turn require conflict.)

Anyway. I think the takeaways here are that there’s this awful entitlement people have in which they think that they can simply consume anything and it is the failure of that media if it doesn’t cater specifically to them, rather than a failure of them to seek out that which they would enjoy (and I could go on this rant indefinitely; it is truly the most constant theme among Takes I Think Are Dumb); and also I really want to bake something right now, given my choices of metaphor. Combat is part of D&D as a game and as a storytelling medium, and it is incumbent upon people who do not like combat to find something that doesn’t have D&D combat, rather than try to pull out the vital organs of the story.

#answered #faltermoth #long post #to continue with food metaphors it's really like. you are going to an italian restaurant and being mad there are tomatoes there #girl why are you at the devil's sacrament and so forth #i was going to make a joke about bombing all your coffee shop aus but actually i read a coffee shop au that was like. dark. and good.#(it was also professionally published in a work specifically about retellings though)

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shysublimecoffee · 2 months

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Itachi would've been fine to me tbh if like the story just let him be humbled lol. The main issue is that nobody called out Itachi for his actions, except for Itachi himself, which ironically serves to make him seem even more virtuous and flawless. "I understand feeling upset when some people in the fandom community don't use critical thinking. However, imagine investing a lot of time following a story you read since you were a kid. Many people simply follow the story as presented, and can you blame them when the story validates Itachi? I can't really blame them that much when even the writer seems to be bending over backwards to portray the character as a well-meaning hero, like in the case of Itachi." Now, I don't really know how well something like reading a piece of Naruto media can translate to real life but the saying the things we read and watch can influence on how we perceive the world rings true in my opinion because unfortunately some people really do believe in the Uchiha curse b.s and to me reflects a lot when it comes to how marginalized groups are stigmatized like the idea of a group having the curse of hatred inside of them is fucked if you are so set to believe in something based on a fictional group in a piece of media well... it raises questions about how that might influence real-life beliefs and attitudes towards marginalized groups

I think it's important to be at an age where you have developed critical thinking skills to engage with complex narratives like this. Many people are influenced by nostalgia and are such huge fans of certain characters that they are inclined to make elaborate analyses justifying their actions. For example, some might argue that because Itachi was just a kid when he committed certain acts, it excuses his behavior. However, if we start using age or other factors as excuses for heinous actions, where do we draw the line? What other circumstances would you be willing to bend over backwards to justify committing heinous crimes similar to what Itachi did?

Naruto is a bitch. I don't really want to extend to much with this character since I just feel disappointment. I wanted him to do more then he failed. He's become a politician I don't know what else to say lol. So many people say he inspired them how? What did he accomplish besides obtaining Hokage their world is still fucked up man the shinobi system still rotten. I thought this kid would grow up to do something about it but he remained complacent and changed nothing only difference is he's on top. I realized about later that was Sasuke role as an antagonist and it wouldn't make much sense lol there need to being 2 opposing sides but yeah... He was a whole lotta nothing as a protagonist he was cute kid but he grew up to be a dumb fuck who can't figure out why his "dearest friend" is siding against him and became man who can't keep promises.

It makes sense he had a hunger for acknowledgement I'm not discrediting that since he was a child but he wanted validation from everyone that he has such an obsession with his own self-image and how everyone thinks of him that I find it portrayal to be unhealthy. Sasuke at the end was just a checklist a reward at the end of the day that he wanted to gain for his personal goal.

Naruto talk no jutsu is so manipulative to me sometimes that instead of directly confronting Sasuke's ideas or opinions as equals would in a debate or discussion he would indirectly undermined them. He did this by ignoring Sasuke's valid arguments and instead focusing on exploiting Sasuke's emotional vulnerability, particularly his feelings of loneliness and despair stemming from the loss of family. Like his approach to me suggests a tactic to manipulate Sasuke's emotions rather than engaging with his ideas or concerns directly. But, I ain't sure if he's doing this deliberately since I don't know if he's that smart or I'm looking to much closely.

I'd rather ship his character with fucking OC's. I feel like each member of Team 7 are obsessed and want something from the guy but they don't care for Sasuke personally because if they did it would show but they're after him for what they want from him as a goalpost and hey they won.

#anti naruto #anti naruto ending #anti itachi

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justmeinabigolworld · 4 months

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You wanna know why I love middle grade books so much compared to YA?

One, they feel much more optimistic than YA, and more likely to try new, off-the-wall things

And two…

They don’t have all that gratuitous romance. Like, I already don’t read a huge chunk of YA books because they’re pure romance, and even in the books that aren’t explicitly about romance, there’s romance. Just when you think you’re safe, it pops up.

Oh, look! A fantasy book with a creative setting and a female protagonist! I’m gonna read it! Okay…good so far…wait, there’s this guy…oh, I don’t like where this is going…aaaaaaand they kissed. And the guy tends to be awful, too. Really mean to the protagonist, but she loves him anyway, because…she has to. It’s YA. I mean, sometimes the guy is fine, but sometimes he’s a piece of shit.

It’s like there’s some kind of law stating that all YA with a female protagonist must give her a love interest, complete with an angsty romance subplot, no matter what the story is about or how much (or little) it fits with the actual plot.

And you know what? I’m seeing more books that give the heroine a female love interest, which is great, even though that means the book has to be marketed as a “queer book” (so as not to upset the homophobes who would otherwise pick up the book or whatever). Still, a love interest is a love interest, and even though I enjoy seeing more queer representation these days, what I’d enjoy even more is a YA section that’s not dominated by romance.

Come on, people. We teens aren’t that horny. Not every book needs romance. Like, with how prevalent love interests are in teen fiction, why are you guys surprised that teens feel bad for having never kissed anyone? Hell, I’ve never kissed anyone, and I’m 19 at the time of writing this. Do I feel like a loser? Yes. Is it because of teen media? Yes…and it’s also due to seeing my classmates in relationships and feeling bad in comparison, but shush.

Also, this is gonna sound weird coming from a girl, but I’d like to read more YA with male protagonists. Everything seems to be about girls these days, and it’s good to have female protagonists, but let’s not leave guys out. As a plus, they have less of a chance of having a love interest. Hooray.

Seriously, though, not every girl constantly thinks about romance, and not every girl wants to read about it. Okay?

Hell, who am I even talking to? It’s not like the publishers are gonna listen to me.

But, uh, yeah. Read middle grade, it’s awesome. I’ve got some recommendations if you’d like.

I’ll probably make a post that’s just a list of good middle grade books and series, but here are a few:

The Thickety by J.A. White: really good dark fantasy, stuff that would even disturb adults, great worldbuilding and characters, and yes, there’s a love interest, but there isn’t much of a romance element. Feels really unique.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell: yes, it was a series before it was a movie, and yes, the books are better. Very different from the movies, but that’s not a bad thing. The series gets darker as it moves along and Hiccup grows up, and things the characters took for granted are looked at with a more critical eye. Really interesting.

My Life With the Liars by Caela Carter: a book about a girl who grew up in a cult. Every time I read it, it gets more disturbing because I realize things that a younger me didn’t. Still, the book is more about Zylynn’s trauma and how she begins to heal and reach out, even as her worldview crumbles.

The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch: witty, charming, and secret! Apparently, some people find the author’s frequent asides and footnotes to be annoying, but I love them. The sequel trilogy isn’t nearly as good, though.

Okay, that’s it for now. I hope at least some of you can understand my frustration, and I hope you’ll check out these books!

#Reading #bookblr #ya #middle grade #fiction #young adult #rant #the thickety #How to train your dragon #the secret series #my life with the liars

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weaselbeaselpants · 6 months

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kind of related but not- I'm genuinely sorry to be posting so much or about Lily Orchard, guys. Prior to Courtney coming on and telling us her story I was mostly just taken aback and angry with Lily as "one of those critic types" in my circle of vision.

It sucks -and yeah I know other critics don't want to hear this+Lily will use this fact as an excuse to discredit ppl's complaints abt her. but I think a lot of us were initially exposed to Lily because they knew of andor were fans of her cartoon criticism content. In my case I knew Lily from her days of Bronydom and have watched her make more and more meanMEAN material even w it's not about internal fandom dramacallouts. Back in those days and up to last year I could say of Lilly the same thing I'd say for a lot of people who annoy me online: I think she's a bully. Which is still bad, it's just not 'criminal', inherent. Comparing her to Rebecca Sugar, Lindsay Ellis, Contrapoints or VivziePop would be stupid as she really doesn't have even half the portfolio or wherewithall as any of those people -or even Zena and Poppy, not that they're angels. Lily was/is annoying because she'd use other people's genuine concerns and talking points. There's a certain takenupbyaltlight-term that I begrudginly would love to use for Lily that REALLY hits the nail on the head with her, be it as a fan, a critic or an activist. But I won't use it. Not because it's untrue, but because it's used by the same people who write her kiwifarm pages and misgender her and clearly couldn't give a crap about her if she didn't make them "lol"

But then, I actually looked at some of Britt's receipts and skimmed bits and pieces of what remains of Stockholm (I think you all already know this but @britts-galaxy-brain the links are missing now). For years, I'd known and listened to others honestly harp on Lily as some kind of counter-initiative for her going after their fav foalcon people. I assumed it was more of the same. It's not. Lily 100% wrote cp and is trying to hide it. No not fiction abt young adults that delves into erotic and sexisms; not stuff with aged-up child characters being big boobied of themselves thru the gaze or r34 artists. She wrote cp.

Essense of Thought's and that one hour long video talking about Stockholm were the first real horrifying revelation. Then I read through Brittney's saved messages from Lily and 'Tara'. Then I saw Patch's video.

THEN, Courtney came out and told everyone on here and her server everything we needed to know. I don't abide by everything Courtney says, especially about her abusers but I mean they're her abusers and please stop asking her to like the children who're valued more than her in the lives of her abusers, or at least maybe vent openly not to Courtney directly about your fear for those kids Cameron has. Yeah, I'm also concerned but idk there's got to be a better way to handle this. Anyway, as previously stated, I believe Courtney, Britt, and Patch. There's no way that those people have faked that stuff. I've heard kind of stretched explanations being true, but there's no way Stockholm was "edited by pedos" like Lily's saying it was I know I'm missing a few folks in there but I believe a lot of people have been genuinely victimized by LO and aren't just acting out of transphobia, bigotry.

Of what I can attest based on what I've seen, I KNOW that Lily Orchard wrote 'fluffy' foalcon and is saying she didn't, and also that the woman hates the word "queer".

Of what has been shown to me, I fully BELIEVE Lily Orchard is an abusive, sockpuppeting predator. Not only that, she's hiding behind other predator's existence to lie to her audience of other abused people to convince both them and herself that she couldn't possibly be a predator.

In 2013, what was 10 years from now, there was a controversy in the MLP fandom where a minor rose a (not undeserved) stink abt the askblog Princess Molestia and how it was making light of r*pe, intentionally or not. To counter this, a bunch of mouthbreathing bronies took it upon themselves to prove they weren't creeps by threatening the underrage sa victim, making r*pe porn of her while other mouthbreathers basically said "yeah put she's [the minor] annoying so it's the same kind of evil we're doing, really". Centrists.

Why this matters to me is (CW. CW. CW) you can find a post from Tara Callie, who was almost certainly one of Lily's alts at the time, admitting she found the r*pe art of Pinkiepony "hot", all the while Lily herself was publicly denouncing Pinkie's treatment by the fandom.

Lily Orchard is an awful human being. She does not have intrusive thoughts or fears of acting on those intrusive thoughts sometimes, like me and other people do. She has sexual and violent urges that she hides enough form the public to not make her followers suspect anything. She's twofaced and takes out her probable self-hate by attacking other predators. She's all deflection and lies. I can not believe a thing that vile woman says. Neither should you.

The biggest means of fighting her I think we all can do of is refusing to use her critical tag w we talk about her. Spam her "own tag". Enough hiding and denying who this terrible bigoted abusive woman really is.

Because really, her thoughts on glubshitto or whoever from Owl House are HARDLY the worst of it. Not even.

#lily orchard #lilly orchard #the owl house critical #the owl house criticism #critical fandom #steven universe critical #spop critical #my little pony friendship is magic #friendship is magic critical #Whelp at least it looks like the Helluvaverse fandom is safe from her #for now

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kaladinkholins · 4 months

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i think fandoms can be soooo ridiculous a lot of the time (see: all the nonsensical fan wars, discourse, etc) but i cannot understate how much i actually love fandoms.

like yeah it may be super nerdy and even cringe and outsiders look at it like "why tf do you care about these fictional characters so much?"

but 1) my field is literally..... literary studies..... in which all i do is study fiction and analyse it like an insane person, and 2) even if that WASN'T my field, thinking about the stories we consume is important even for any person to do, because thinking about stories exercises our brain to think critically!! why do you think our ancestors used stories as a medium to share knowledge, to propagate moral values and lessons? stories—telling them, thinking about what they're saying, and caring about the characters within them—are all inherent to the human experience!!!

so that brings me to fandom. because we are literally just making these little communities with each other based on our shared love for a particular story, and for a particular character or theme within them that resonated with us, or whatever. we're all here because we loved a thing so much that we built connections from it!!!

like yeah my irl friends laugh at me when i tell them i write fanfic, cuz ha ha what a nerd what a loser etc, but dude. i made genuine real friendships from fandom alone. from just obsessing over two characters we thought were cute together, we've gone to sending each other gifts and postcards and having voice calls and confiding in each other and sharing parts of us and our personal lives and our cultures (cuz we're all from different countries) with each other! like now i don't even share a fandom with most of my old fandom friends anymore but we still stick by each other and that's amazing???

also like, i cannot emphasise enough how amazing and encouraging it is to share your craft (art/writing/etc) with others in fandom. because for example if i make my own personal art or write my own original work, i'd have no one to share it to, no one interested to see it, and thus no one will be there to provide feedback or encouragement.

but if i post a piece of fan art or fanfic, people actually do see the work i post and care about the craft and the content it's depicting and even share their thoughts on it and that ??? is so motivating and lovely ??? because even though i make art for myself, art is still meant to be shared and seen at the end of the day—even if only with one person. so to be given the means of sharing our art in such a way, to have such a community that fosters so much creativity, it's amazing. i don't really get that anywhere else.

and especially to have this in like, a casual setting, you know, where you can just be yourself and do things according to your own time and energy without the pretenses of professionalism and a perfectly curated resume or portfolio, and all the confines of a rigid work schedule, which would all make the process of creation less fun and less genuine, and instead just more taxing and chore-like.

because fandom is essentially meant to be about doing what's fun for you! it's about sharing your creations and enjoying what others share with you. you make friends and you go ham with it.

and also it's why it's more frustrating when people take things too seriously and legitimately get upset over assumptions of other people's beliefs and hold the most minor grievances that could only be felt if you're like, chronically online.

but on that note, there are definitely still honest-to-god bad people in fandom spaces too (see: racists, TERFS, homophobes, groomers, harassers, etc). but that's the case with all communities, because bad people are always going to exist, and thus statistically speaking, the bigger a group or community is, higher chances are there's gonna be some awful people in there. but honestly that is its own can of worms and also that's not what this post is about, but i felt it necessary to address because i don't want to paint fandom as like, the best thing ever in the world, because fandom spaces are incredibly flawed, as everything is.

but i've always been one to appreciate things despite its flaws. and though this may be very personal to me, when i love things so much, i am still willing to stick around and try to change the culture around it in the ways that i can (like promoting internet safety measures, creating safe spaces for thoughtful and polite discussion, raising awareness on harmful stereotypes and fandom depictions or opinions, etc).

so regardless of the bullshit that online fandom spaces tend to perpetuate, i do very much still love the way that fandom allows me to connect with folks over something as silly as our little blorbos, and from there end up making life-long friends, or at the very least new acquaintances. insert reinforcement of my thesis statement about stories fostering human connection here. the end. send post.

#fandom #inspired by me feeling lots of love for my long-time fandom friends and enjoying making new ones since joining the BES fandom #like i still remember comments i got on my fanfic from years ago. telling me how much my work resonated with them?#talking about how much they cried reading my work? how much it touched them?#like to me that's insane. like i'm thrilled to even have one (1) person care about my work ykwim #bcs irl it's hard to find that kind of recognition? ppl hear like. “oh you write/draw? cool” and it's p much whatever #so yeah. fandom has always been v important to me like i met so many cool and awesome and nice ppl bcs of it #and though I've lost touch with a lot of the friends i've made i still think abt them a lot. they all mean smth to me still #lol joining a new fandom community is makin me feel nostalgic dont mind me!#shut up haydar #scribblings.txt

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theerurishipper · 7 months

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Lol I guess the anonymous haters scene in Reunion was a meta jab against annoyed fans like us who rant as anons now in specific blogs who allow us a platform like that. Yours for example.

M pretty sure tho that the show writers are not willing to put into perspective that WE are now "anonymously hating on Maribug" in the "shadows" because it's a fictional story with hypocritical and sexist writing full of main character centric morality, which wasn't the show we started out with all those years ago and what people got emotionally attached to and invested in.

The show didn't deliver on what it promised and I'm not watching a damn documentary. If I did those were entirely different circumstances & oc would treat it as such.

Also if that scene in Reunion really was a jab at us then I guess thanks for nothing for reducing our points mostly to Chloé's "Marinette is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!". Can't have people actually having a point about the writing of a show that's at this point largely known for its often problematic/ questionable execution of its narrative and themes the moment it isn't for Marinette’s benefit, now can we?

Yeah, like, I also got the vibe that it was a fuck you to the "haters." I do think there's a conversation to be had about how people can be radicalized on the internet, but Miraculous is not the show that can deal with that subject. There's a difference between hate and critique, and you are allowed to criticize a piece of writing. And just because we have standards for our media and expect it to be, idk, good, doesn't mean that we're just haters hiding in the shadows and making jabs at the show for the sake of making the writers or anyone involved upset. I genuinely love this show, and it just as genuinely disappointed me. I think I'm allowed to talk about that. And it just seems really immature to me to make an episode of your show about Owning The Haters and shoving anyone who critiques the show into the box of "just a hater."

Thank you for your ask!

#MLB #Miraculous Ladybug #Asks #ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt

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esther-dot · 6 months

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I double-checked and heard '100' as well. I'm the same as you, honestly it sounds positive to me but people are going to spin headlines. The fact he's opened up about struggling alone probably indicates he's feeling better about it - I guess speaking personally, when I was able to verbalise that I was having trouble at all with my writing, that was already the point where I was beginning to untangle it.

I'm more interested in GRRM's process from a writer's POV as opposed to waiting morosely for the endproduct, so that's the angle I like thinking about. His work is extremely ambitious, because he's got multiple working elements at once: not just multiple perspective characters, but he's trying to pull off a deconstructive commentary (I mean this in the literary criticism sense, not the sense used in fandom spaces which is 'thing bad? what do about it?') in addition to marrying the weighted moral/thematic complexity of a classic novel paired with the fantasy genre. LOTR is much more firmly in mythic territory than that imo.

I say this as someone who's not necessarily an ASOIAF superfan, but I find his work interesting just because holy fuck, George, of course it's taken you twelve years.

(about this post)

Yeah, I think looking at this from a writer’s perspective gives one a lot more sympathy for how long it’s taking him to write. I've criticized him a fair bit myself, so I don’t feel overly protective of him, but most fans seem to ignore the vast difference between typical genre fiction and what he’s doing. I’ve said before, it’s literature, with all the layers and complexity that implies. Hence it taking a decade + to bring his story together just so (in addition to all the other reasons) and ghost writers not being a workable solution for him.

I've written some original stuff and with that, and with my fics, I have a similar style with the whole, knowing certain things, even having later bits of dialogue written, but not using an outline and just, writing until I reach those moments naturally. In the interview, Cornwell said he's a true gardener, doesn't even know how his own stories will end, but Martin has created a headache for himself by having established endgames, major beats, and what he's called set pieces that he's determined to naturally find. It's a difficult way to write. I think it does allow him some great characterization, but I honestly feel sick to my stomach when I think about what he has to be going through with that method and this series.

I'm sure no one is more anxious for him to finish the book than he is. Fanfic writers feel a weight over their unfinished fics, meta writers groan over metas sitting in their drafts, but none of us had the showrunners of the most popular TV show waiting for us to wrap it up, contracts with publishers, a mouthy worldwide fandom, our legacy hanging in the balance. Martin even talked about wanting to write the best book he could, knowing he's already kept people waiting so long, which means he's putting additional pressure on himself. I personally wish he took on fewer projects (distractions! demands!), but he has the right to a payday even if it is coming from HBO after the travesty of s8. He mentioned in that interview how there were times he thought his career was over, and I'm sure he never imagined he'd be so successful or become this wealthy. He should enjoy it!

I know there was a discord for Jonsas at one point, and I hope someone does that again when TWOW is gonna come out so people have a safe place to talk. I actually might wait for some Jonsas to post about their thoughts before I read it. I like spoilers, and I've stuck around this long to support the Jonsa fandom ( +spite for all the people who harassed us), so I don't think I'd be able to dip when TWOW comes out.

#dot chat

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ihopesocomic · 1 year

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That low-empathy anon made me see red a little because like. As an autistic person with low empathy towards people, like really low at times, I'm gonna hope they aren't thinking this about like, other autistic people with such a thing, or adhd folks who have low empathy (Heck, my sister does too). Not to go on a tangent but Storm having low empathy made me so happy, because sometimes I never notice other people's feelings. I'm also a lot of an ass ngl, I have a really hard time being considering of people's feelings, or even feeling what I think I'm supposed to feel in situations. If you told me why am I not crying at a family member's death when other people are I'd be bothered af because wow thanks, but that doesn't make me a .... psychopath. Wow, and you're talking about being ableist, anon. There are actual psychopathic people that exist I am SO TIRED of people throwing that around and I don't even have psychopathy =3=)

Nobody deserves less kindness just because they don't process/notice others emotions the way 'normal' empathetic people do. Nor are those that question said low empathy obligated to be close to us. All we ask is to like, understand it and be patient. The complete lack of empathy towards us that struggle with it don't help one bit. Ironic even.

It makes Hope's patience and willing to banter with Storm's lack of said empathy when we saw it nice to see because I'd give for someone like that. It's upsetting yeah, but nobody with low-empathy is gonna like, secretly hurt you or something or think less of you deep down for thinking differently than us. Storm was really upfront about how she didn't get why Hope would want to live in a situation like that, and Hope gave back her piece on the matter. Hope was willing to talk to Storm about the whole pride thing. Even if it made things a little complicated and awkward given their upbringings (and Storms past experience with them as seen in the recent PMV especially, man I'd love to see that talked about eventually), Hope was willing to discuss it nonetheless. And didn't think any less of Storm afterwards.

I'd even say I have higher empathy for fictional characters than people, because I've connected with them better than actual people, and they don't question my empathy problems and blah blah, I'm rambling rn, but funny how the brain work.

@ That anon, please understand that Low empathy havers don't want to hurt you just because we don't get certain things, and we will not call you ableist if we did hurt you, that has nothing to do with our struggle with empathy, you definitely didn't make yourself look better asking that, and nobody will take being called a psychopath lightly regardless of their empathy level. So I can't say as a low-empathy haver that you are on our good graces with that ask. But please, do your research, ask folks with low empathy what it's like so that you can get different viewpoints, it's a lot more complicated than you made it sound anon, and preferably next time, do not villianize us and deem us as secretly evil or something like that after you do so. x.x

All of this. Thank you, anon, and I'm very sorry that you and others here had to be exposed to that last anon's bulllshit. Normally, we might have deleted an ask like that but sometimes this kind of stuff needs to be called out.

Oh, and if the last anon is reading this: I'm just gonna come out and say you were being ableist. Don't really care if you're disabled or not. How dare you come onto this blog and insult an entire group of real people over fictional lions. The hell is wrong with you? We're not changing our comic to be as vindictive and mean-spirited as My Pride was: deal with it. It's also real funny how the initial criticism of the comic was that it's "too much like My Pride" and now we have to read garbage about how we need more ableism "because well that's why My Pride was entertaining for me" because the comic is heading in its own direction now. Because that's 100% what this is all about. As I've said before: I'm done being nice to people who simply view our comic as the best of a bad situation because it's highly unlikely My Pride will continue. If you like My Pride for its rampant ableism and trivialising oppression for plot beats: re-watch it to your heart's content. Because we refuse to accommodate this kind of mindset and have our comic fill that weird void for you.

If anybody here thinks this kind of talk is remotely OK because "Storm and Hope's relationship doesn't have enough drama for me because they don't trade enough insults over their respective disabilities": piss off. Our comic isn't for you. - RJ

#ask #ask us stuff

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waxingrunes · 7 months

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what are your thoughts on tracing ? because im fairly new to digital art and i’ve been trying to draw this truck forever now and i cant !! but i cant help but feel that if if i trace its cheating ?? but like also fuck that because art is art but some people can be really mean about it.

I’ll be really transparent with you here and you might not like my answer for that fact.

Firstly, as a beginner (I’ll circle back to this later in my answer) you do whatever you need to do in order to get comfortable with your style and learn. Trace the truck, trace whatever you need to and evolve and adapt as you go, I’m rooting for you newbie.

To answer on a greater scope, I’m very much of the mindset that this place is a stupid little ‘community’ for us to all enjoy no matter what you like or do or don’t do, or to what level. No piece of art created within this fandom space is up for exhibition in the Tate, none of it is up for marking or comparison, etc and should be created however you want to create it. Nothing here is that deep at the end of the day and every single one of us should be here to enjoy the same fictional characters no matter what.

All this being said I will be honest and say, I know for fact one or two artists here trace and make out it’s ‘100% their own’ and some of this stuff is so painfully obvious it’s traced, it makes me wildly confused when the hoards of ‘talent’ comments pour through. I hate this part of me that twists in annoyance because the other half up there ^ wants to throat punch me for it. What pains me about it, I think, is when people will claim one thing to be true when it’s not. They don’t have to make a big show out of it or how/where their materials are coming from, I’m not asking for a dedicated paragraph every time with cited sources and images, just be a bit more honest and transparent about where your shit’s coming from. If that’s AI, amazing, just don’t pass it off as your own. If that’s tracing, nothing wrong with that, just don’t churn out piece after agonising piece and say “I only use references” when it’s eye-wateringly clear that’s not the case. If I see it, I won’t be mean about it, just suffer in silence. And if the topic comes up amongst people I trust I’ll pass my opinion between those safe walls, as I don’t advocate for unwarranted, uninvited public criticism.

I don’t want to discourage anybody from learning to draw digitally through tracing because we all start somewhere. I’m pretty certain I had a sketchbook in the womb with me and have drawn humans/bodies/animals/basically living forms for a long time, but anything else like trees, buildings, furniture, scenery (this fucking car I’m trying to draw for the next piece) I suck at and absolutely despise doing. It bores me, but as a personal choice I won’t turn to tracing because I want my art to be consistent (-ly shit) over suddenly perfect. I don’t think I’m superior for making that choice and am not saying you suck for wanting to trace because honestly, I am constantly oscillating between ‘it ain’t that serious’ and ‘I just wish people would be more honest’.

I’m still going bet you regret fucking asking! Basically I’ll never be a dick about it if I see it or someone tells me, ‘hey I trace!’ Because good for you, give us the good shit, give us the characters and pairings we want in that form and I’ll eat it up just like the rest of us because we’re starved. But yeah, food for future thought maybe.

#ask

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mollymarymarie · 7 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for tagging me @squintclover you treasure ❤️😘 i'm gonna make this a keep reading, because i get wordy

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

In total, I have 39 works on Ao3

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

so i didn't know this but apparently i have over a million words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I don't write for HP anymore, but that's the majority of my fics. I have a few for the marvel universe and two weird real people fics (which now give me the ick so i won't be writing those anymore either)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Dear Your Holiness (lots of people share my priest kink apparently)

The Road Not Taken (for the angst, i'm sure)

The Lad That Loved You (it's my oldest wolfstar fic)

Bird Set Free (figure skating, Yuri On Ice, what's not to love)

When It Counted (this one sort of surprises me, but it's amortentia-based, so I think that aspect is the draw)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! not as often as i'd like but i do read them all right away, i have notifications for ao3 comments turned on. in that way, i get to enjoy them twice!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a short oneshot called Midnight about Halloween 1981 and I have another one called Where The Willow Don't Bend about Remus being a ghost at Hogwarts. I think those both end pretty angsty

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

In general, all my fics have happy endings. i go to fiction to escape the fact that almost nothing in life has a happy ending so i don't really like ending stories with anything except happiness. I really like the ending of We Can Pretend - they're in love, they get to be together, they're in Paris, their friends are all there with them, they're singing Nat King Cole to each other on a balcony while coq au vin is on the stove. fantasy scenario tbh.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

sure do. i won't list it. one thing that happens (which isn't exactly hate, but it makes me laugh) is when people criticize the fact that wolfstar are mentioned as having greys in The Road Not Taken because they're only 28/29 so they can't possibly have grey hair lol (i definitely had greys by that age, 100%)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yeah most of my fic is smut, but i'm sort of getting away from that. the TENSION is the best part, in my opinion.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

nah, not really interested, i guess.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. my fics have been put up on other sites without my permission but my name was still attached to it, at least.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

a few! usually DYH. it's always nice to have someone ask for permission to translate.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, mostly because i'm a control freak lol

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

it used to be wolfstar (kinda soured on me for multiple reasons, the biggest one being JKR is a piece of shit and getting associated with her works is not fun)

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

back when i was watching Preacher, i was (still am) obsessed with Joe Gilgun, so i definitely have a Proinsias Cassidy fic in the WIPs somewhere that will never get finished, but i do go back to it from time to time because, i mean, irish vampire. give it to me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

do i have any???? people tell me i do tension well. maybe that?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

first of all, NOT PLANNING AHEAD, figuring it out as i go and then having to go back and change a bunch of shit when i inevitably fuck it up. also, commas. i use FAR too many commas. i won't be stopped.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i have a few fics that i have done that for. with French, with Russian, and now with Portuguese. it's difficult, Google Translate will only get you so far, but i LOVE languages so much. people will usually politely correct me

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OH TRUTH BE TOLD the Good Charlotte fandom, i am not even joking you right now. wrote an ENORMOUS self-insert fic for me and my friends with the members of Good Charlotte (i was with Benji, obviously) at the age of like 15 and the plot was SO fucking ridiculous. i mean. john mayer was there, ville valo from HIM was there (the main character had dated both of them before benji, of course). Elijah Wood was in there at some point and i think he was a murderer???? i should do a dramatic re-telling of what happens in this fic over tumblr (i will not post it, it is so so badly written)

20. Favorite fic you've written?

truthfully, i think it's Dear Your Holiness. i wrote that just after losing my grandmother and all of the conversations about faith still sort of hit me in the gut even now. plus the tension is really nice, i love the idea of a heavily tattooed Remus, and it's the music of my teenage years so it's very sentimental for that reason, too.

#tag game #fic writer asks #this was fun!#thanks for tagging me love #i don't really tag people that often #but if you want to fill this out #consider this your tag

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magnorious · 2 months

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Eowyn and the "Strong Female Character" debate

In the ongoing argument about Strong Female Characters (SFCs), the usual poster-women of “characters no one ever complains about” are the strong badass women from classic movies, like Elen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Princess Leia, and Trinity. Modern SFCs no one hates include Wonder Woman, every female character in Last Airbender, a handful of Marvel women like Gamora, Nebula, Agent Hill, Black Widow, and *some* of the heroines from teen dystopian fiction like Katniss Everdeen.

The attention paid to the women of Lord of the Rings goes, “Galadriel is a badass in her own right and the movies could have had more women, but the women we do have are great.”

And, yes, I agree, but I want to look at Eowyn in particular and answer this question: Would Eowyn, written exactly the same, in the exact same story, be criticized by today’s audiences? We’re looking at movie-Eowyn, not book Eowyn, for familiarity’s sake.

Eowyn looks a lot like the terrible so-called “strong female characters” modern audiences hate from modern movies. She’s strong, she’s skilled, she’s smart, she’s capable, and her whole story is about overcoming the stigma against women warriors and joining the battle in the end, and killing the great evil Witch King that “no man can kill” by virtue of having a uterus. She’s also one of… I think five named women in the cast, Arwen, Galadriel, Eowyn, Freida (little villager girl), and Rosie (the hobbit bartender).

She checks so many boxes, she’d have to fail in a movie written today, wouldn’t she?

I love Galadriel and Arwen and I love the argument around them—that SFCs don’t need to act like men to be considered strong. They don’t need to be physical warriors, they can champion their femininity and that in itself makes them strong. Their wisdom and compassion and wits, not just their muscles.

Eowyn, though, is a warrior through and through. She literally goes “I am no man,” as she stabs the Witch King, a line specifically and implicitly subverted by Wonder Woman in her debut solo film during the No-Man’s Land scene when it’s softballed to her with the line “It’s No-Man’s Land, that means no man can cross it.”

Surely, a 2024 Eowyn would be ripped apart…. Right?

—

Getting this out of the way first: Every character is written with depth and nuance, including the women, and, thus, no character feels like an agenda with a face taped to it. So already Eowyn has a leg up on so many other terrible releases lately. But let’s take it piece by piece here.

Eowyn is one of three prominent women in the cast

Yes, no arguing that. Why? “Because it’s fantasy and the author is sexist-” no. This is an author who lived through the World Wars, from a time period without women soldiers. Young men and boys being ripped away from home to never see their sisters, daughters, wives, aunts, mothers, best friends ever again is what he lived through and what this story is saturated with.

Could there have been scenes of prominent women nurses, or lady elves at the Council of Elrond or any member of the Fellowship? Yeah, sure, but it’s not at all a lack of women because Tolkien discounted women warriors. This cast is hefty enough, these movies are long enough, and they’re based on a book that’s almost 100 years old.

Eowyn is objectified by male characters and trapped in a love triangle

Yeah… the love triangle bit was weak. However! Eowyn was never bitter over Arwen and didn’t know she existed until Aragorn tells her basically, “yeah, I love her, but I’m guaranteed to never see her again,” so… can you blame Eowyn for holding out hope? It doesn’t at all define her character either, and she likes Aragorn not because he’s Protagonist Boy but because he’s a high-ranking, noble man who doesn’t bat an eye at her desire to join the war effort. She then gets Faramir, so, win-win.

Grima objectifies her, but Eomer, her brother, Aragorn, and Theoden, her uncle, all defend her. Eomer gets banished under punishment of death for standing up for his sister (among other things). She’s not the butt of jokes or slights or innuendos. No soldiers look at her with lust and desire. No one degrades her or belittles her or mocks her for being a woman. Nowhere do the writers get to satisfy their own sexism by writing in gratuitous insults and slurs against her.

Eowyn is repeatedly told to run from the fight and hide with the other women

Theoden has no living siblings and his only son dies off-screen. Eomer is (I think) older, but he’s busy being a general. Eowyn is Theoden’s best chance at an heir to the throne and he can’t let her get killed on the battlefield. Eowyn being told to hide is strategic, not sexist. Not only that, she may be competent enough with a sword, but she can’t have trained as well as the battle-tested soldiers to not be at risk in a nasty battle.

Also, at the rate men are getting killed on the battlefield, sending too many of your women off to war risks so much collateral damage.

Even putting strategy aside, Theoden loves his niece, loves her strong and pure and good soul, and doesn’t want to see it destroyed in the fog of war. All he wants is to see her smile again, so he can give her a world and a future worth smiling for. War is the “realm of men” not because they’re male, but because it’s a horrible, terrible, violent, depressing, scary place to find oneself in, and he’s trying desperately to protect her from it. Eomer tells her this explicitly in a deleted scene, that they’re only trying to spare her some horrific trauma.

When Eowyn does finally see real battle up close, she’s rightfully horrified and terrified and out of her depth during the battle for Minas Tirith. She’s not riding into war all smug and overconfident, and she’s not magically a better fighter or rider than the rest of the cavalry.

Eowyn constantly complains about being looked down on for not being a man

She’s not allowed to be a soldier, yes, but women of Rohan aren’t treated as lesser by the men. She’s not being teased or mocked, her station as the crown princess is uncontested, being relegated to the caves with the women isn’t seen as a time-out, but a necessity to make sure all the vulnerable non-combatants don’t get murdered and the entire kingdom of Rohan doesn’t get exterminated in one night.

She herself isn’t putting other women down for not wanting to fight, or putting men down to make herself look better. No one is telling her she can’t be a soldier because she’s weak and womanly. If she was Denethor’s kid, he’d be singing her praises right next to Boromir (within the context of movie Denethor, at least). She wants to fight, not because she hates her own femininity, but because “women of this country learned long ago that those without swords can still die upon them”.

Eowyn single-handedly kills the Witch King because Woman

Actually, Merry stabs him in the leg to distract him first, giving Eowyn a few seconds to breathe and surprise him. The legend goes that “no man can kill the Witch King,” but it’s not meant to be the fault of men and instead the arrogance of the Ring Wraiths. These nigh-immortal spirits are so cocky and overconfident they don’t even register women on the list of potential threats, to their own doom. The legend also didn’t specify no Elves, Dwarves, or Hobbits, since “Man” is a race, not just a gender.

The Witch King is the Witch King because he was seduced by a shiny ring and a lust for power by Sauron. The “power of womanhood” isn’t the point, it’s the overinflated ego of the Witch King that is his downfall.

So Eowyn’s “I am No Man” is as much a “yay feminism” as it is a dig at his arrogance. It’s the fulfillment of this line by Galadriel: “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” Frodo is small in stature and worldly presence, and Eowyn is small in prowess and authority.

*headcanon that Sauron also hates the Nazgul and wrote in that little clause for the Witch King so he could get the last laugh on these snot-nosed, so-called “kings of men”.

—

So would Eowyn be panned by today’s audiences? No, I don’t think so. Another well-written woman who wants to learn swordplay and join the men’s war, and kills an unkillable witch king is Arya Stark. That “victory” went over like a box of rocks and no one hates Arya for it.

You can write women warriors in a no-women-allowed fantasy land. You can write them championing feminism without cramming an agenda down your audience’s throat, or insulting the audience for presumed bigotry. You can write women who kill the Witch King through a prophetic loophole. You can write them in a love-triangle and give them all the “women empowerment” speeches you want.

She is still feminine. She’s still nurturing, still has her wardrobe of pretty dresses, still sings at her cousin’s funeral and pines after men she absolutely deserves. She’s also a terrible cook and independent and not afraid to put creepy men in their places. She has flaws, she’s humble, she’s shown having fear. She’s not built up by stepping on her male counterparts, and her big moment isn’t detracted by Merry going “Wow! A woman! Who’da thunk it?”

#lord of the rings #eowyn #strong female characters #female characters #feminism #retrospective

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carinelian · 3 months

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02272024 | notes on writing

These days, it's getting harder to separate hobbies from means of living. On most days, I can tell whether I'm doing something as a means of living, something for survival, or something as simple as a human being.

On most days, I also delude myself that it's all a matter of compartmentalization. Like choosing which clothes to wear for the day. Except the world is burning, all my clothes are worn down and made for a time long past, and even if I went out butt-naked, there's no way I'm coming out of it unscathed. That's what writing feels like for me, as of late. Or living, in general.

Maybe someday I can flesh out a timely piece on late-stage capitalism, how creative work is reduced to content, the essence of separating fiction and reality, and all the ways they influence each other without being mistaken as one and the same. We're living through an ongoing health and climate crisis, multiple genocides, and rotting from the inside out thanks to decades of exploitation and systemic ills. Global fuckening to the highest, most damning scale. I wish this is fiction. The context behind that thought terrifies me.

I wish I can save the serious writing for when it really, really counts, but as it stands, tomorrow isn't promised. Never was.

That's what spurred me on, to write this little note. I think I'll be writing more. I have my WIPs, I have my vague little scenarios in my head that will probably haunt me until they get their well-deserved 100K novel, and these occasional trains of thought that derail and create their own train tracks in my mind. There's also the shitstorm that's going on in real life, real time. There's no neat shelf for me to separate the things I care about and things I don't, because it affects us all.

To write online, without capturing all the possible nuances of whatever the fuck it is you're writing about, is an invitation to be flayed alive. For this reason, I shied away from writing about things that matter to me -- much like this one -- because shutting up means no trouble. No room for mistake. After all, what's there to criticize?

But then I realized, well, it's a sad way for a writer to live (at least for me), knowing that writing has been long ingrained in my life. It's a hobby. It's a means of living (hopefully *side-eyes publishers*), and it's a means of survival, with the way it calms me down and is an outlet for my anxieties. It's a way of life, it's not all of me, but it's a HUGE part of me.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. Fiction and real-world issues overlap. They bleed into what I write, regardless of whether or not I permit it, and I look for fiction -- hope for fiction -- in the face of staggering, depressing, and bleak reality. Perhaps the intersection here is where fiction is supposed to inspire you to take meaningful action in real life. And real life finds its way to fiction, one way or another, in the little bits and pieces of us writers that we leave in our stories. I'm so chronically online that I could think of a thousand ways critics can gut this paragraph like a fish and come up with the worst meanings.

But then again, maybe the people who need some comfort will find it, too. Maybe people will add into it, I learn something new, and we ALL learn something new. If you're having complicated feelings about writing, questioning what the fuck is it to you, trying to deal with that maddening shelf -- well, here I am. Write whatever the fuck you want to write. Write loudly, unapologetically, meaningfully, purposefully. May your words add a little bit of hope. And if doesn't, may it free you, may it release you, may it provide some relief. Or if you're out there to disturb, then do it. Put your horrors and your fears into paper. Trap them with ink. Slap them with periods and put a name on whatever haunts you.

Write, for fuck's sake. And this is a reminder to myself, in the most literal sense.

#notes for writing #cari's writing #writing #writers on tumblr #spilled ink #spilled feelings #literally just me mulling over what writing has been for me #and my anxieties #fuck it we ball #writeblr #writerscommunity #writers #okay now i can go back to writing my WIP

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mosshook · 7 months

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20 questions for fic writers

thank you sm for the tag, @mangatxt / ani!!! <3

to any of my friends who write fic, feel free to do this if you'd like! (@astertiae, @catbandits) this is just for fun :]

the questions are below the cut.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

12, currently

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

44.5k

3. What fandoms do you write for?

right now, i'm not actively working on anything. but if i get a chance to work on a project over my holiday break in december, it'll probably be for our flag means death or lord of the rings.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

two very old merlin fics, my singular mandalorian fic, and both of my mob psycho fics that are over 1k words.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i usually do, yes! i think it's really cool that people take the time to leave a comment after they're done reading something of mine, be it long or short. it touches me every time, and even if i don't always know what to say in response sometimes, i appreciate them so, so much.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

probably ouranos. it's canon-compliant with the merlin timeline for season 4, and it follows lancelot from his sacrificial death for merlin, to his limbo existence in underworld, to being resurrected by morgana and eventually being killed in combat with arthur.

on a language level, it's also one of the first fics i wrote that started to lean more into what my style currently is! so it's kind of sweet on the occasion i reread it and can see my roots.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

definitely without a question it's this is a life. no fictional character has ever touched me quite like reigen, and i wanted to finish that specific piece on a note that was less emblematic of an ending and moreso felt like a triumphant beginning. like a promise of a new, better tomorrow.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i did once, and in hindsight it's pretty funny. but basically, i made critical comments about a character on twitter, so someone went into my comments section and told me to NEVER write for this one specific pairing anymore. (for the record, i didn't. but that was because i realized the pairing in question was kind of lame.)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i tried my hand at it once. it went horribly, but it was a learning experience. let the record know it was SO MUCH HARDER than i thought it would be.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

not really, no! i mean, i published a self-insert fic as a joke for my friends a few years ago, but that's not quite the same thing.

if we're talking "not published and will never see the light of day" stuff, i did write a little blurb where keanu reeves' jonathan harker meets alex winters' vampire marko from the lost boys.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes. the title was taken, as was the premise, from a popular author in the community.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not to my knowledge!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah!!! nothing serious that ever got published, but me and my friends have collaborated on mini-projects together and have old google docs together. i used to write mini fics with my friends all the time on twitter, but sadly i never archived them.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

probably yuuri and victor from yuri on ice. i can't express enough how much yuri on ice changed my life when it came out, or the sheer euphoria i felt as a kid in the closet watching someone so much like me - yuuri - be out, and happy, and brave. i miss my show so, so much.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

my aquarium fic with serizawa as a education volunteer and reigen as a schoolteacher who takes his kids there on field trips. i have so many little scenes from it and an incredibly specific vision for it as someone who loves the sea, has a lifelong appreciation for marine life, and has always wanted to live by the shore.

16. What are your writing strengths?

oh man. i think that i do a good job of integrating leitmotifs and playing into my semi-poetic voice. i also think that over the years, i've gotten better at creating tangible atmospheres, specifically with the quiet. i love portraying the quiet.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

grammatically, i'm a bit of a nightmare sometimes. dialogue takes a while for me to develop, too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i wouldn't do this unless i knew the other language well (like vietnamese). most likely i don't think i'll end up doing this at all because even with my personal and professional writing, i'm hesitant to write in another language that isn't english.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

merlin. i was 11 and wrote my first fic on my ipad in the pages app...it was a merlin fix-it that was over 15,000 words long, and it was absolutely atrocious. said ipad is at my parent's house locked forever because i forgot the password, and i hope it stays that way. some things should stay lost.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

honestly? i think it's still principles of stellar connectivity. i wrote this for community during lockdown in late 2020, and i conceptualized a lot of it with my friend, @combeferres. (they're credited at the beginning as the person who made the fic's mixtape!) it's got everything i love: rock music, troy and abed being silly, national parks, stargazing, celestial motifs. i wanted to do a serious character study with sitcom characters while still retaining the core of who they are and what makes them so special, and to this day, i think i was pretty successful.

#fic tag #tagged #thank you sm again for tagging me ani this was a lot of fun!!!#i am also procrastinating rn. i do not want to write this poli sci essay

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lu9 · 1 year

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FUCKWARTS LEGACY - I feel like I've seen way too much about this on my dash AND twitter and I'm getting absolutely tired of it

so let me share what I've already said since it's relevant and some people here that aren't on Twitter might want to know my stances:

To elaborate on that last point about "antisemEtism" (...from the same people who brought you "fiction -E-ffects reality"™)

it's especially cuz some people have been saying like The Exact Same Shit about some enemy characters in "Pizza Tower", so it really just feels... forced a lot. Here are some thoughts from friends who I'm sure wouldn't mind me sharing them (ALL queer like me Also, and don't fuckin go "they don't speak for the entire community!!!" when I literally just said what I think about that non-argument, many people will have different and varied experiences, get over it):

and this was after already discussing the stupidity that was the Pizza Tower discourse over the same sort of thing:

Bottom line, don't be like this I guess?:

Like, "DON'T buy the game"? Yeah, I fully agree. "DON'T buy the game and then support a trans charity just to make you 'even'" (which is the context of OP the reply in the above screenshot is from)? Also agree, it's not an excuse because you'd still be supporting JK's voice, she might not be involved in making the game but it's still her IP and still gets money from it. Now, "Don't even pirate it or even play it or do Anything or else you're fucking evil and our enemy automatically because you clearly can't consume a piece of media and still be critical about it without directly financing bigotry even though you're literally pirating it"? Geez, I don't even give a shit about the game but I probably wanna stay as far away from you as possible.

Please learn some critical thinking y'all and I mean it, not just for the buzzword.

Peace out ✌️

#hogwarts legacy #pizza tower #probably will get my first legitimate hate asks and threats over this but idc lol #i also probably just wanted an excuse to tag Both HP and Pizza Tower to see how both fandoms would interact with each other cuz idfk #they're so fuckin different that my Autismo brain probably just wants to see What Would Happen #anyways performative slacktivism is The Word™#see the alt texts for a few additional contexts just in case #discourse #long post #harry potter #image described #alt text

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mourninglamby · 2 years

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People automatically assume being critical about something is equal to attacking them or hating on the show, which in most cases is straight up not true lmfao

I’d argue it’s a symbol of deep appreciation/consideration for the media that’s being analyzed. If you love something, truly and fully, you are going to inevitably recognize it’s flaws. that’s what makes CRITICAL analysis so fun.

like “yeah this decision the writer made was fucking stupid and I want to dissect why that might be, and how authorial intent may not line up with what the audience comes away with” can -and in a healthy scenario SHOULD- exist alongside “BUT they did this thing really well”.

It’s just a matter of self awareness and maintaining the balance of consumption for mindless escapism AND what the piece of media is actually saying in a more intellectual (or nonintellectual) way.

If that scares u and u would prefer the curtains to just stay blue tho, that’s. Fine? Just don’t go shitting around on other people for wanting something more meaningful out of their viewing experience every once in a while. There is a distinct issue in especially fandom spaces where if someone is being critical of a piece of media that isn’t perpetuating any harmful rhetoric, then some people will have a weird inability to just. Ignore it.

I disagree with my closest friends about some shit when it comes to how we digest media, but that doesn’t mean they’re morally wrong for being less or more critical. Just fucking vibe bro, and learn to leave the people who think more critically about fiction alone. And vice versa. I’m not gonna shit on you for enjoying it mindlessly, don’t go after me. Mind ur damn business?

#long post #I’ll probably delete later I’m rly tired of discourse #I’ll say one thing that’s like semi joking while I’m high abt not liking an aspect of dmsp #and now suddenly I have 34 red dots on my forehead chest and stomach

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