#I am so so happy to deal with complaints problems issues etc etc presented in almost any other way

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

god I hate the customer service trap I can never avoid

customer: hey, how are you?

me, a customer service worker, who needs to be polite and friendly, who is required to ask it back or it gets awkward: Hello, I’m good! How are you?

customer: well...

me, looking skyward with a deep breath: ...

customer: ...I’d be a lot better if your product wasn’t-

[fromthedeskofelizabeththird]

So Here are the Spoilers -Volume III

AKA I have not been this mad at Cheritz for ages. Let’s deep dive.

Warning: this post contains spoilers and mentions of abuse and p*dophilia. 

Also Rika.

So much Rika...

I am mad, yo

Not even mad, I am furious.

As I usually do when I give my thoughts like this, here is what I wanted from V after end and Rika DLC

V moving on with his life and having a happy ending with MC

The RFA healing and also moving on

A focus on MC and V!! And their love???? You know?? The point of him having a route in the first place.

An exploration of Rika’s past and Mint Eye, to fill in all the blanks we have so far 

Rika facing justice and seeking redemption.

I’ll be honest.

If you want fluffy V and MC content, go ahead and play the existing ends. The after end is not really about V at all. It’s along the same lines as Secret Ends 02, where your LI isn’t really present and instead dealing with their own emotional turmoil and issues. 

And, you know. To an extent I would have been okay with this in V content. V is the leader of the RFA and it would be weird if the fall out from Rika wasn’t even addressed. My beef about this is that we don’t get a secret end 01 where MC and V are together, repairing problems together. We don’t see V at all for 98% of the story. We get more Rika content than V...which is a whole other issue I’ll get to in a bit. Hell...I’m pretty sure we get more VANDERWOOD than V. (Don’t get me wrong...I like Vanderwood, but wtf??) 

It’s honestly the same complaint I have for both Jumin’s after end and Valentine’s DLC, where he’s not even present for most of it and it feels like a waste of time and hourglasses. (And at 80 hourglasses per chapter, plus another 100 to unlock both endings, it doesn’t come cheap.)

V and MC’s ‘happy ending’ is an afterthought. V’s entire presence in the after end is an ‘oh by the way, remember V? The character whose after end you’re in I guess???’

Ugh.

Anyway.

It was good to see the RFA healing and moving on. I was so heartbroken by Jumin’s inability to cope with what was going on, even as he took extra care to make sure the rest of the RFA were fine. I loved Yoosung’s anger and conflict over this person he’d admired and respected for so long. I loved Seven’s complete breakdown over the potential loss of his brother.

I loved that they got reunited!

What I didn’t like?

The forcedness. 

The after end gives you two choices: Judge or Forgive. I hoped that they would be complimentary to one another, like in Seven’s Valentine DLC, where both were good ends, just different in tone.

Well, boy was I wrong!

From the beginning of the After End, you are pushed towards Forgiveness, with the MC being portrayed as completely unreasonable and borderline hysterical if they show even an ounce of resentment and anger towards Rika. If you go on to unlock the Judgement ending, Cheritz not only spits in your face but every single one of her victims.

There is a short VN sequence called Rika Circus, where you are mocked for essentially enjoying torture porn and wanting Rika to come to a cruel end and suffer a horrible fate. It’s the judgement ending, but you the player are judged instead. 

Just getting these screens made me feel physically sick:

I don’t know where to begin with this bs. Maybe with the preface that I am an abuse survivor and pushing the idea that victims have to forgive their abusers in any way shape or form and aren’t allowed to hold even a small amount of anger towards them is completely shameful? This ending literally borders on the same gaslighting logic that if a victim stands up to their abuser they are the shitty one and hyper aggressive. I wish I could explain how bad this ending was for my PTSD. 

Actually no. I will explain.

The most important lesson I got from my therapist was how okay it was to be angry, because it was an acknowledgement that I was a victim and my abuser was in the wrong. That I didn’t have to forgive her if I didn’t want to. That it was important for me to feel valid in my emotions.

Maybe what bothered me was the cognitive dissonance (and gaslighting) that an MC wanting Rika to face justice must 100% want her to die or live out the rest of her days being mistreated and even sexually assaulted? Like??? How about no?? Are there no jails in Mysme’s universe? No community service? We know from the Judgement end that she got a life sentence, so it’s not like the MC sentenced her to death.

Maybe it’s because the player is given very valid choices e.g. being suspicious of the cult leader who stabbed their boyfriend and tortured numerous people, but are framed along the same lines as the MC being like KILL HER *knife emoji*. 

Maybe it’s because this ending is the first time the player gets close to knowing Rika’s past and then is made to feel guilty about not knowing it? 

I just

/inhale

right.

/deep breaths

okay

/breathe

my hands haven’t stopped shaking for hours haHA fuck my life

I can’t help but feel like this after end undid absolutely all of the highlights of V’s route. V only mentions his love being an obsession in the judgement endings.

Actually, all of the RFA’s reactions in the judgement ending are the same as their reactions to finding out the truth about Rika in V’s route. Jumin wants her to have a life sentence despite his conflict about it. Yoosung is upset and mad. Zen wants nothing to do with her.

And this is the ‘bad’ ending.

The forgiveness ending is pretty Rika centric and incorporates V’s good end. The RFA is back to normal, V comes back fine. It’s strongly implied that he and Rika both spent time in Alaska together before coming to propose to MC. Rika, as far as we know, never faced punishment for her crimes, which is framed as a good thing.

Perhaps the most abhorrent part of the forgiveness ending is that it’s the only one where Rika comes forward and confesses the truth about the twins...which...  I’m not sure why C&R’s fate, the Chois being safe etc et al comes down to MC’s feelings about Rika. It’s a disservice to Rika more than anything, because it seems like she only comes clean because MC was nice to her and not because...you know.. it was the right thing to do.

And this brings me onto the treatment of Rika in the route and DLC and holy shit, it’s a ride.

No, Rika is not redeemed. 

Yes, she is woobified to hell and back and then twice more.

We learn that Rika was adopted by Yoosung’s relatives, who were cruel and devoted to the Catholic church. Later she was verbally abused and assaulted by a priest. She later decided to take power in the fact that people would be afraid of her and thought she was Satan etc.

I’ll be blunt.

Rika’s DLC is just an expensive retcon. It’s seven chapters at 60HG each just to be told that Rika had a sad past and all of her terrible actions came from being treated badly. She does not even get to be held accountable for Mint Eye, because Cheritz gave her a sister who actually was the one to tell her not to trust V or the RFA and poisoned her mind.

Rika does not, nor ever, get a proper redemption because even in her own DLC it’s never admitted that she was in the wrong...which is some bullshit logic because...well..it’s really jarring to have it constantly reinforced that Rika did nothing wrong and should not be judged because of her sad past at the hands of her foster mother with cult-like beliefs... because if we take from it the fact that Rika became essentially the same, by extension shouldn’t we then forgive her abusers because we don’t know their story either? Should we shrug off any notion that the priest should be imprisoned because judging people is bad and we just want him to be tortured and forgiveness is the way to go?

I’m just

I don’t know what I expected but

they still managed to disappoint me

To summarise, the after end is bullshit, V isn’t even there for most of it, Rika gets no redemption arc and is treated like an uwu flower crown victim and it’s all very manipulative and rushed lmao. It’s a waste of hourglasses and time and literally undoes everything good that came before it

[robert-c]

Political Correctness

I saw a poll that said about 52% of us object to some part of what is called “political correctness”, thinking it has gone too far. I guess I would go with the majority, certainly you can find instances where the terminology has gotten silly. But I’m reluctant to interpret that result as support for those people who complain the loudest and longest about it. I think their complaint is different.

Let’s start with the simplest elements. Is anyone (except the extreme fringe) really that put out over not using racial or ethnic slurs? Does anyone we really want to take seriously object to using ‘developmentally challenged’ instead of ‘retard’? At this level, ‘political correctness’ is really little more than common decency and courtesy. Is that something you want to be against? True enough, some folks have gone overboard in coming up with new terms, but I usually hear about them from people who want to ridicule the idea, not from serious originators. In fact, I can’t remember hearing a tortured PC term from any actual advocate; I usually hear it from someone seeking to ridicule these terms. Which makes me wonder if they are real terms, seriously proposed, or something someone wrote speculatively to “fire up” their readership.

Of course, someone is no doubt thinking at this moment, the problem with ‘political correctness’ goes beyond the language – it’s a whole philosophy, a system of belief. The rest of that remark usually includes words like “threat to our…” way of life/values…take your pick.

I’ll agree that political correctness does represent a general set of beliefs. Its critics like to put forward the idea that this belief seeks to stifle other viewpoints. And yet in everyday life I’ve never heard anyone shamed and humiliated for being “politically incorrect” to the same degree as those opposing it tell it, or to the degree they do to themselves when they state something they believe is “not PC”. It’s meant to cast political correctness as some sort of oppressive and controlling ideology.

This is actually quite ironic. There was a time when racial and religious slurs were considered commonplace and people used them without the slightest sense of guilt. They even went so far as to presume that certain races or religions simply were inferior, lacking in some crucial ‘work ethic’ or ‘moral rectitude’. This was the ‘political correctness’ of my youth – a time of separate (but manifestly unequal) facilities for people of color  – a time of the ‘color bar’ in the public buses, behind which anyone who was not white must sit. Anyone who challenged this version of ‘political correctness’ was met with a great deal more social pressure than I’ve ever seen delivered for those opposing today’s version of “PC”. In fact, actual personal violence against those who opposed such segregation, or had the outrageous idea that black people could do white jobs just as well, was a lot more common than even the unfounded rumors from today’s fringe elements claiming persecution by the forces of political correctness.

There is a more important and fundamental difference between these two beliefs. If I had to sum up what ‘political correctness’ means to me I’d say it’s about treating others with respect, regardless of their beliefs, heritage or other circumstances. It would follow that I try not to make assumptions about other’s abilities, honesty, motives etc. based on those factors. That respect would include the idea that they have a right to choose their beliefs and even if I think they are wrong I defend their right to believe as their conscience dictates, all the while I express that I think they are abhorrent. For me it values the individual, because regardless of real or imagined statistics about “those people” it says I should take each person as they come, and not judge them guilty of some crime based on my speculation; just as I would want someone to do for me, rather than assuming I’m this or that just because I’m…<fill in the blank>.

It seems to me that the forces of “anti-political correctness” are the ones actually trying to stifle disagreement. They seem to be the ones who feel that any different idea is somehow a threat to their own, that any disagreement is somehow undermining their values. In my best idea of “PC”, while their bigoted ideas are still horrid, it doesn’t try to legislate them out of existence, only out of public enforcement.

For me this idea of inclusiveness and respect is perfectly in line with the best interpretation of our Constitution. It is also why this isn’t an equal fight between conflicting ideologies. While encouraging acceptance and tolerance, the PC forces aren’t trying to legislate the private beliefs of individuals, or who they invite to their house for dinner; only their public interactions. If you are open for business to the public, then it should be all of the public. It is this very tolerance for differences which will allow the bigots to continue to isolate themselves with friends only of the same race and religion.

In fact, it is the only version of a public “ideology”, if you will, that preserves everyone’s right to believe as they wish. It is the “anti-PC” forces that seek to outlaw, or boycott, or refuse contact with anyone who represents a ‘challenge’ to their ideas. It’s as if they cannot tolerate the idea that someone may be allowed to disagree, and do so publicly. You can see it in the clerk who won’t issue a marriage license to a gay couple because they personally don’t believe it’s right; or the business that doesn’t want to serve gay couples, or people who appear to be Muslim. Very rarely do you see the reverse, but when you do (as when the restaurant refused to serve Mr. Trump’s press secretary) they are quick to label it proof of oppressive attempts at political correctness.

Of course they have to promote it as if they are somehow being oppressed by being exposed to differences. Promoting the idea that this is an either/or sort of choice about which belief system will be the “official” one, is a misstatement of the issue. Claiming a right under your belief to regulate other’s private beliefs is the very core of a tyranny. The anti-PC forces don’t seem to mind a tyranny as long as they are the ones in charge of it.

Just as they mock rebuke themselves more than I’ve ever heard anyone from the “PC side” do, they must also invent causes of action to perpetuate the idea that somehow they and their private ideas are under attack. For example, promoting a law that transgender people must use the bathroom of their biological genitalia – as if the “other side” was trying to promote some sort of “open bathroom” policy. It is pure political theater. Anyone who can reasonably pass for the “appropriate” gender wouldn’t be questioned even today. How would this be enforced? Shall we have TSA type scanners at all bathroom entrances? And who would notice anyway if someone were in a stall?

I am, perhaps, a little naïve. I don’t believe that a large portion of my countrymen are really that narrow minded and intolerant. I certainly don’t want to believe it. I do think that many of them have been misled by hearing a constant drumbeat of the extreme “anti-PC” voices. Whether deliberate and well thought out, or just a “happy” coincidence, the way in which they have presented their case makes it easy to mislead people.

Misleading people is easy when they are at least a little afraid. It doesn’t matter if there is a good reason to be afraid or not – fear seems to drive us away from careful reasoning. And if someone is willing to exaggerate or fabricate, then fear can always be found – at the very least, change is always fearful and the world is always changing. The potential harm that comes from not recognizing the flaws in their presentation of the issue is much greater than you might imagine.

It begins with establishing the idea that there is a “right not to be offended”, and quickly moves to one that suggests there can only be one “culture” or value system in the country. It is the equivalent of establishing a state religion without being quite so obvious as a Constitutional violation, but it would have exactly the same negative results that the Founders sought to avoid by prohibiting the establishment of a state religion.

I’ll return to this idea in later articles, but for now let’s think about how often people you have just met seem to bring up controversial political topics and which side do they usually take. If your experience matches mine, it’s overwhelmingly the right wing – it’s as if they just have to spread their ideas and win over or intimidate others. Understand I don’t approve of random preaching from the left either, but just try to take an objective observation (regardless of your current leanings) as to who brings these topics up in a setting where they have known someone only a short time, if at all. Then if you can still be objective, ask yourself why is it so important for them to be converting others? Are they being prevented from living their life their way, are they being criminalized for being who they are, or for what they believe, for pursuing their own happiness? Or are they trying to say that living their life depends on others not “being in their face” about their differences?

[douxreviews]

Star Trek: Discovery - ‘Saints of Imperfection’ Review

Pike: "Starfleet is a promise. I give my life for you, you give your life for me. And nobody gets left behind."

By nature I love brevity: This one was something of a mess. Half of it is manageable but clunky, the other half is rushed, barely comprehensible, and still clunky.

Watching 'Saints of Imperfection' for the first time is an experience roughly equivalent to skimming the screenplay of a movie you've never seen, then watching that movie on 2x speed. You know about where it's coming from and where it's going, and you have a general sense of the flow of events and the plot, but you don't quite get it completely and everything moves past too quickly to make sense of it anyway. The plot did make a kind of sense, and all the explanations seemed to fit, but the moment the dialogue finished leaving the characters' mouths, it was on to the next scene or concept.

Watching 'Saints' for the second time helps a lot, actually, so if you haven't seen it again, I would encourage you to give it a second viewing. The second go around, because I knew everything that was coming, I was able to focus on what was happening and it was significantly more comprehensible. It also clarified some of the general complaints I had from the first viewing, though, so it's not all sunshine and roses.

The first half of this episode moves rather slowly at first, compared to the other half. If you add it all up, the audience is probably presented with just about the same amount of information in the first half as in the second, but the first is far more manageable and far more comprehensible. This is because the first half deals mostly with setting up the characters' dynamics and perspectives as a result of this new situation. The writers have brought Section 31 firmly into the story, putting the Disco crew and Leland's 31 agents on the same mission to find Spock. This, of course, comes with each character's response to the new status quo, namely Tyler working aboard the ship again, as well as everyone's various different perspectives on Section 31.

The second half of the episode throws an obscene number of high science fiction concepts at the audience, spends very little time on each one, and then moves on, hoping you'll keep up. There are precious few moments where it stops to ponder or dwell on something, and it makes the episode very difficult to follow. For example, I didn't have almost any idea why Pike, Leland, and Tyler were yelling at each other until I watched the episode for the second time. The other byproduct of the sheer volume of conceptual mumbo-jumbo we're subjected to is that the story suffers from it. It's very hard to tell a story well when every scene must include two or three new ideas to explain to the audience. The characters and emotions are stifled because of it, and that shows here.

I'm not going to comment much on the sheer ridiculousness of these sci-fi concepts, other than to say that I don't really think Discovery's commitment to ground the show's technobabble in real science is helping at all. Because there's no way to make a show about a giant spaceship that can teleport anywhere in the universe truly scientifically accurate, there's really no benefit as far as how much sense it would make to someone who actually knows how physics works. All it does is cause the writers to explain their concepts in actual scientific terms, which doesn't help the audience to understand it any more. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, David talks a little about his work on the Genesis Device. He explains that the reason Spock is alive is because the regenerative processes of the Genesis Effect rejuvenated his body, that because of this Spock is connected to the planet, and that the planet is breaking apart because he used dark matter in the Device to cut some corners. The writer has no interest whatsoever in explaining how the Genesis Effect rejuvenated Spock, it just did. We aren't told what type of connection links Spock with the planet, they're just linked. And we don't have any idea what dark matter is or why it's so unstable, we just know that it is unstable.

Compare this to the resurrection of Dr. Culber here in 'Saints.' The writers here wanted to communicate that Stamets brought Culber's life energy into the mycelial network when he was shifting in and out of dimensions. But rather than stop there, Stamets and Burnham talk about the laws of thermodynamics and how Dr. Culber's energy changed states. They also wanted May to send Culber back to our world using the cocoon that May used on Tilly. They explicitly said earlier that it was a kind of transporter, to move atoms from one place to another rather than destroying them. But instead of just putting Culber into the cocoon and moving him, May talks about how the atoms in the mycelial network aren't the same as the atoms in our world. The way they get around this is by converting the atoms in the cocoon, which are from our world, into a new body for Dr. Culber. The problem is that from a story perspective, there's absolutely no reason to say that May can't just transport him through the cocoon. The suspense aspect could be accomplished just by making May unsure if it will work. It was even intuitive enough that the group of people I watched this with were guessing that that would be the solution. But instead, there's another layer of problem and solution added that had no purpose other than a scientific one. It overcomplicated the scene, making it more difficult to understand.

The episode also suffers from trying to do far too much on a personal level. While it's good that there's a different dynamic between each character and each other character, some of them are too complicated for their own good, and some of them didn't belong in this episode. Take the out-of-left-field 'connection' between Tilly and May. Though on second viewing, I noticed everything Mary Wiseman and Bahia Watson did to try and make it work, there was ultimately not enough setup to justify the level of emotion their parting had. The two characters have ranged from casually acquainted to borderline antagonistic, but there's not been anything resembling friendship between Tilly and May up until this episode. Even at the start of this one, Tilly is understandably quite angry with May for all the manipulative methods she employed in her efforts to communicate. While the sentiment of 'How many beings have lived inside one another before' makes sense on an intellectual level, there wasn't anything close to a positive relationship between Tilly and May up until now, and their sudden devastation at the prospect of leaving each other isn't in any way earned.

Another element that would have worked far better given more screen time is Pike and Leland. Again, the actors sold that they were old friends who have come down on different sides of an ideological divide, but there was precious little here about said divide. As near as I can figure it, it seems that Pike doesn't approve of Section 31, while Leland views it as a necessary evil in order to accomplish Starfleet's mission. The main reason I assume that this is their argument, though, is that these are the two basic positions on Section 31 that Star Trek has used before, and the only real sense I got from the actual episode was that Pike doesn't like 31, and Leland does.

The other thing that bothered me about it was the 'solution' to their argument. One of my fellow viewers pointed this out, and I think it needs to be said. I am sick and tired of scenes in television and movies where two men are having an argument, and a woman comes in and says something like, 'If you two are finished comparing your manliness/masculinity, etc.' Usually, both men then look surprised and then dejected, and probably walk away with a new respect for the woman. But in reality, this belittles men and their arguments. Pike and Leland, if they're having the debate I assume they are, are arguing a legitimate topic, and both have legitimate points. It's not about manliness or masculinity at all, it's a complex moral issue that they disagree on. To chalk it up to a contest of manliness makes men look foolish, and I'm not a fan of making female characters strong by making the men look foolish by comparison. It's like if two women were having a debate about a moral issue they were coming up against, and a man walked up and scolded them for 'having a catfight.' Of course that's not what's going on, they're having a reasonable debate, and you've just ridiculed them for it to make yourself look clever. That's a method of making your female characters seem strong that needs to stop.

I hope we see an improvement in the Section 31 material, since it seems it's here to stay, both on Discovery and in the new Michelle Yeoh-led series in development. All they really need to do is deepen and clarify the Section 31 moral debate, and offer some legitimate exploration of the topic, and I'll be a happy Star Trek fan. Speaking of Yeoh, a lot of people felt her performance in this episode, especially the hissing, was too over-the-top. I don't mind over-the-top villains, but there's a place where they work and a place where they don't. In Discovery, there isn't a whole lot of subtlety in any of the material. That's why I was happy when Section 31's involvement was announced, because 31 on DS9 brought lots of subtlety and moral grey whenever it showed up. I'm disappointed that it's lost a lot of that, and I'm not convinced Yeoh's 'I'm evil and I love it' performance really makes for the right villain for this show right now.

Strange New Worlds:

I'm not sure if it counts, but we spent a lot of time in what I guess you could call the 'ground level' of the mycelial network this time around. The network has been depicted a lot of different ways, and this isn't really better or worse than the others. It's just different, though I am glad they didn't try for the sense of 'space has no meaning' that they did when Stamets was lost there. It would've just made it even more confusing to watch.

New Life and New Civilizations:

We learned the primary function of the JahSepp: to break down matter and repurpose it for other uses. That's cool, I guess.

Pensees:

-This show really needs to get a handle on its definition of faith. So far it's been used to refer to religion and belief in the supernatural in 'New Eden,' faith in your legacy in 'An Obol for Charon,' and now faith that your friends will be there for you. The theme of faith as it pertains to science requires the former definition, and the latter ones have started to muddy the waters. The different meanings of faith could be an interesting theme, but you can't have it that way and also try to explore faith vs. science.

-We're only two episodes out from the first confirmed appearance of Ethan Peck as Mr. Spock. Hopefully we'll finally end the perhaps drawn out storyline that some fans are calling 'the New Search for Spock.'

-The dialogue, especially the exposition, was back to being clunky and stilted in this one. Please don't slip back into your old habits, DIS. Please.

-I thought the sequence at the beginning of Burnham running through the corridors of the ship was quite effective.

-I'm not quite so sure about the opening and closing narration, though. I have no idea what the heck they were trying to say.

-I don't know if it was Kirsten Beyer's script or director David Barrett that was responsible for the pacing issues. It's one of the two, though. Perhaps a bit of both.

-We were informed here that Commander Nhan is the new chief of security for the Disco. That might have been useful to know last episode, when I wondered what she was supposed to be doing here.

-There was precious little to convince the audience that the intersection between our world and the mycelial network was dangerous. Even just having one of the bridge crew brush against it and find it painful to the touch would've sold it.

-I did like the pinky swear scene, even if it was a poor excuse for a connection between the characters.

-The place where Stamets connects with the spore drive finally got a name - the reaction cube. Or have they been calling it that all along, and I just haven't noticed?

-My group of viewers guessed a lot of the developments in this episode. We knew Georgiou was in the shuttle, we figured Dr. Culber was the 'monster,' I assumed Culber wouldn't be able to pass through the intersection wall into our world, and somebody else guessed that the cocoon would be the final solution.

-So... Section 31 uses cloaking devices and TNG-style communicators? Sure, why not?

-That was a neat visual when the rings of the Disco started to spin and half of it had been eaten by the spores.

-While it was nice to see Jayne Brook as Admiral Cornwell again, why exactly did she need to be there? Her 'new information' really wasn't all that revelatory.

Quotes:

Burnham: "I want to have faith. In its absence, only duty remains."

Georgiou: "You're the one who brought me to this insufferable place. You don't get to be surprised I'm here."

Tilly: "Fall in. That's soldier for 'get behind me.'"

Tilly: "Whatever you are, I am holding a Type 3 phaser rifle. Which is more powerful and generally larger than the Type 1 or the Type 2. I guess that's why they call it a 3."

Culber: "You're devoted to creation, to life. And there are a million reasons to love you, but that's mine."

Georgiou: "I've had your life in my hands dozens of times. You're going to have to start trusting me." Burnham: "Said the scorpion to the frog."

2 out of 6 bucketloads of concepts.

CoramDeo is a skilled metal-worker. Of course, he did not know that before.

[weregonnaneedmorewhiskey]

Social Media:Guilty in the court of public opinion. The problem with cancel culture and its toxic nature and why I have a major problem with it

DISCLAIMER: If you read parts of this and not the whole thing and type a “rebuttal”. Just save your time and don’t do it because you don’t the smoke

Ok before I start, I would like to say this. 1. If you are an ignorant person who cannot accept the opinions and thought of others then don’t read this. 2. If you don’t take the time to look at facts, then don’t read this. I don't have time for you and 3. If you are to crucify people then you can just go. I just gave you some warnings already so why is your ass still here?! Ok I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I think social media can be great in terms of communicating with others and making friends online and of course sharing memes and funny videos because those are fantastic. Social media can be great for displaying people’s interests and talents. I myself have a photography blog alongside this one and some people have made a career from social media. However like all good things, it has its ugly side. In the last year or so, a trend has appeared on social media and that's cancel culture. I myself have never taken part in cancel culture myself as I thought it was toxic, immature and petty in most circumstances. I'm definite that cancel culture will come to an end (hopefully this year) but for now, we have to deal with it on our timelines. Anything that is either taken out of context, blow out of proportion or is a simple mistake will face the court of public opinion. The social justice warriors of the internet, the holier than thou folks will decide your fate.

First and for most, we all need to remember that we are all human. We make mistakes and we learn from it. I am not better than the next person as I have made my fuck ups at the end of the day but we all grow and evolve. I have several problems with cancel culture. If a person makes a mistake or has made a mistake in the past, that does not give you the right to ruin them. By doing so you are no better than the person who’s made a mistake and you are ruining a person’s life. Prime example, Kevin Hart and the Oscars. Kevin Hart was forced to step down as the host for this year's Oscars ceremony due to some homophobic tweets from 2009. Whilst I believe that homophobia is wrong, Kevin has moved on from a tweet that he made almost a decade ago in which that comments probably wouldn’t have taken as seriously. Kevin has grown and evolved but the court of public opinion has forced him to step down from the role due to the mass controversy. If you are searching through old tweets from 2009, you clearly have an agenda to ruin a person’s life because you are blinded by your hatred and do not want to see someone have success. This role was an amazing opportunity for Kevin but because of this toxic era of being overly PC, it was taken away because people wanted to hold his past against him and not acknowledge his evolution. 

Now let’s get to how cancel culture is effecting the legal system. We’ve all heard the term “innocent until proven guilty”. In terms of the legal system, this is still true but for social media, this isn't the cause. Cancel culture has pronounced people to be guilty into proven innocent. People are no longer reading the facts, they are immediate to jump to conclusion, therefor inspiring this title “guilty in the court of public opinion” This is extremely dangerous. Social media should have no influence in the judicial system WHATSOEVER unless the person has committed the crime on Instagram Live (a man who raped someone on Instagram Live was recently found not guilty, just letting you know. What a fucked up world we’re living in huh?). When it comes to a case, people need to look at the evidence that has been presented and not from outside influences especially if it turns out shock horror that the person is actually innocent and then they’ve been sentenced to 25 to life. 

This leads perfectly leads into my next point. So if you've been on Twitter in the last 24 hours then you would have seen that Chris Brown was detained in Paris for several hours on a rape complaint. Now before I go into this and break this down, if you are expecting me to drag Chris and call him a piece of shit and xyz, you can stop reading this now because I’m happy to let you know that I am a fan of Chris and have been since his debut. Now when this report broke out, I immediately went and read the whole report because we look at facts in this household. As soon as I saw that the “accuser” had done an interview with Closer Magazine France and went to The Shade Room, I immediately raised an eyebrow because why would you go to a tabloid before going to the police? This rang some serious bells and red flags and reminded of another incident involving Chris.

 Back in 2016, a woman went to TMZ to say that Chris had held her at gunpoint. Again if you were held at gunpoint, then why are you going to a tabloid? Eventually LAPD found out that this was a false allegation and Chris was released from jail and the charges were dropped. Another thought that popped across my mind is that “I don’t think Chris is that stupid to do something like with the amount of negative press he's had in career over the last decade and I can’t see him doing something like especially since he has a daughter who is his life and who has helped him grow up significantly” . Bear in mind Chris has not made a public appearance since October when he attended Diddy’s Halloween party and his public appearance are few and far between now within the last few years with Royalty in his life. He mainly stay at home or is on the road. Paris fashion week is the first public appearance from him in months. 

The accuser then went on to Instagram to say that she was not raped by Chris and he was not even present at the club that it was claimed that they met. Several eyewitnesses also went to social media to confirm that the allegations were false and that Chris never had an encounter with this woman and that he has never been alone at one point during this Paris trip. (PSA can we you know go to the fucking police to give statements to prove someone is innocent or guilty instead of going to social media because you are screwing with someone’s livelihood here!). Of course the court of public opinion came and gave their two cents on the situation and they pretty much proclaimed that Chris was guilty without looking at the facts. 

Now if you are about to say “well look at 2009?” Yes Chris made a mistake which I don't agree with but we also need to remind/enlighten ourselves that the Rihanna incident was A FIGHT and both parties were wrong. She should have not hit him and he shouldn’t have retaliated. (side note: can we hold women accountable of when they are abusive towards men because there is a serious gender bias when it comes to abuse in relationships and we need to remind ourselves both genders can be abusive). He has also evolved from that and showed genuine remorse for the situation. The majority of social media were on Chris’ side in regards to this situation and he was eventually released from police custody when the French police found out the accusations was false and issued an apology to Chris and told him that he was free to leave the country. Chris’ lawyer has said that he intends to sue for defamation of character rightly so and Chris has also gone to social media to deny the allegation. Chris’ situation sparks several different issues. The first being in regards to social media. It is extremely dangerous and toxic to contribute to a false narrative without looking at the fact especially with a charge as serious as rape and even more the silence upon it being revealed that accusations were false just shows how DISGUSTING people can be since many people wanted this accusations to be true. 

This shows the type of world we live in that people WANT a woman to be raped all the expense of not liking someone. I cannot associate myself with people who think like this when they are actual rapists such as R Kelly who is yet to be charged for his NUMEROUS crimes against underage black girls despite concrete evidence and a tape but yet we can arrest Chris on a false accusation and several eyewitness and hotel footage to show that he didn't commit this crime? Kevin Spacey and Matt Lauer are also rapists who careers have ended but have yet to be charged for the crime despite once again having concrete evidence and eyewitnesses. The president of the United States is also guilty of sexual assault and is on a recording bragging about his crimes like its a badge of honour. Brett Kavanaugh is walking a free man despite also having concrete evidence and eyewitness confirming his crime. Asia Argento, a victim of Harvey Weinstein was discovered to be guilty of sexual abuse after a young man came forward about how he was abused by Asia as a teenager. Harvey Weinstein is awaiting trial for his numerous crimes. Why can't the court of public opinion keep the same energy they had for a man who was innocent for those who are guilty. Secondly in light of the Me too movement, to accuse someone of a crime as serious as rape is extremely dangerous to their career and their character, a person’s life can be destroy at the expense of an opportunist. Additionally to lie about rape is DISGUSTING! This is what stops ACTUAL rape victims from coming forward because we have people who lie about it and the true victims aren't taken as seriously as a result. I would also think in light of the Me Too movement and Surviving R Kelly, people would pay more attention to the facts now before we “cancel” people.  Personally I think that if you lie about a offence as serious as rape, you should go to jail and get sued because you are evil and karma will come to you. What if this your brother or your son or uncle or dad etc who was being accused of this crime? How would you feel if everyone thought they were guilty because of a mistake they made a teenager that has nothing to do with what they were currently accused of? Just think about that for a moment. 

To end this I think Chris deserves an apology, one of them being from Eve after her comments on The Talk and that he should not only sue the women who lied but should sue media outlets such as TMZ and The Shade Room for defamation of character and let's remember this: innocent until proven guilty and look at the facts (in this day and age we really need to do this)

Update: Malibu Dollface made a video pretty much explaining everything I feel about cancel culture. Please watch and support him because he’s amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah4ZfxTqT5s

[universallylightcherryblossom]

Life and work

29/11/18: Ahhh my week has been a challenge as usual with my toxic job. It’s gotten to the point where the candidates doing the programme I supervise are getting very upset and threatening to write us up in the newspaper / Facebook etc and go to the education minister with complaints.

I’ve been doing my best to fix the shitty as fuck system that the company has in place but management ignores my suggestions for improvement, the problems etc knowing that I will magically find solutions as I always do.

This is usually what has me overwhelmed/ overworked and frustrated on a daily basis: knowing that the system can be better but they intentionally overwork me and keep the programme understaffed so that they can continue embezzling funds from the government.

And like I said, they know that they don’t have to worry as any problems that arise I will go above and beyond to handle them.

Now that our clients are becoming increasingly irate as I had warned management they would, management are not the ones having to bear the brunt of their rage but me. I have to answer the angry phone calls and get the threats when I’m the one who has been begging for improvement in the system.

Having anticipated that this would have been the result considering the piss poor system that they have in place, I had been hoping to resign from my job and migrate to another country by now but life had other plans. Between the crime rate, corruption and this job, sometimes I find myself daydreaming about buying a plane ticket and just walking out of work and into the airport with just the clothes on my back, my important personal effects and an idea of where I want to be.

Tbh I’m very very grateful for having a job and I am sane enough to know that life won't magically become better if I run off but the intense levels of stress makes me feel like I’m losing years off my life with every phone call from angry clients who only have me to direct their rage to, or every time management acts like each major issue is no big deal or every time I have to apologize on their behalf for the shitty system they make no effort to improve or every time I have to sit through a meeting where they act like they were unaware of the departmental problems or whenever I get my request for a promotion turned down because the company has no money while at the same time they promote undeserving ppl while making me work in three different roles.

Another person asked me today why I sound so normal / calm / happy with all the b.s. and stress I’m under in that company. I told them that maybe it’s one of three things:

1. I have reached a stage where I understand that I’m powerless so it makes no sense stressing over things that are out of my hands. Those things would only unnecessarily make me ill and it's best to tolerate it for the moment while planning on getting to a better place.

2. I’ve already been driven insane by this job and nothing bothers me anymore

3. It’s like the stages of grief and I’m in the “acceptance” stage.

So in order to maintain my sanity, I’ve adopted a new attitude. I tell myself that “this too shall pass” and I’m going to deal with things in the moment, do my best to think positively and not worry about things that are beyond my control. As I said before, it's not about getting weighed down by the present, but planning for a better future and working towards it. That truly is the secret to living..

30/11/18: Today I won a small victory against them. I finally got through with nagging management to rehire a member of staff that was critical to the department.

Only took me four months of begging, writing, challenging them and talking about it in every staff meeting until they were sick of me... *rolls eyes*

Now, when Monday 03rd comes, the load on my back will be a little easier but there’s still more battles to be fought. And to think that on top of all this work b.s. I still have the married loser insisting that I’m in love with him just because I’ve been too nice to listen to his problems. Sometimes I wonder where does the b.s. end.

This is why, outside of work I need to spend what time I can manage writing, drawing and ensuring that I eat healthy to counter all this.

[danfanciesphil]

Hey, I am looking at doing the Creative Writing MA in Paris,but I was just wondering what it was like in general? Like the modules and how big the course is etc?? It sounds so so good but i'm unsure at the moment if i want to apply. Especially since I'm low on money to pay for tuition... :(

hey! ah i am so pleased to hear you’re considering it! i’ll give you a brief rundown of what the course is like below the cut.

In Term One (Sept - Dec), the modules for Creative Writing are: 

A choice between two compulsory modules:

- Fiction 1 - Poetry 1 

And a secondary module unrelated to the first. I chose to do French Cinema, but there are lots of other options to do with art, literature, and other creative subjects. There should be a module guide on the website as I can’t remember them all. 

I am not interested in poetry, so I chose Fiction 1 and French Cinema. 

In Fiction 1 you get: 

- 3 hours of taught lesson, once a week. So a three hour lecture/workshop.- A reading list of relevant novels relating to the theme of the week. It is expected that you read the novel before your class to prepare. - Each week, a different subject will be introduced. For example, in week one you might focus on character, in week two plot, and so on. - Half of the 3 hour lesson is focused on the lecture (your teacher will introduce the subject, maybe do a presentation, and then you’ll discuss the book). - The second half of the 3 hour lesson is dedicated to workshopping. On top of reading the novel to prepare for the lesson, you are expected to have read the pieces people have submitted (online) for the workshop. You take it in turns to submit something - about 3 people go each week. Everyone will read the submitted pieces, and then discuss it in class. People bring up what they liked, what they didn’t like, and hopefully give some constructive criticism. 

I cannot speak for what you will get from your second module in term one as they are all different, except that you will get:

- 3 hours taught lesson, once a week. - A reading list- Probable access to musuems/cinemas/relevant study spaces

At the end of term one, you will be expected to submit a 7,000 word assignment of creative prose. It can be whatever you like. The deadline is early January. On top of this, there will be another assignment due for your second module - obviously this will vary depending on what module you choose. I had to submit a 4,000 word essay on Feminism in the French New Wave (cinema). 

In Term Two (Jan - May), the modules for Creative Writing are:

- Fiction 2/Poetry 2- Paris: The Residency

You do not get to pick a module in your second term, they are both compulsory. (Sidenote: if you picked Poetry 1 in Term One, then you must pick Poetry 2 in Term Two. You cannot do Poetry and then Fiction or vice versa as far as I know.)

In Fiction 2 you get: 

- 3 hours taught class time once a week- A reading list of relevant novels- The same structure is in place as in Fiction 1 with half workshop half lecture, however the teachers will be different and have very different approaches (which is very helpful imo!) I learnt way more in Fiction 2 than Fiction 1 personally, but I’ve had great teachers in my second term. 

In Paris: The Residency you get:

- 3 hours taught class time once a week- A reading list of relevant novels- A homework task each week to do so that the following week it can be workshopped. Examples of these homework tasks are ‘follow a stranger for ten minutes - discreetly - watching their mannerisms, gait, etc. and write about who they might be’, or ‘try and lose yourself in the streets of the city, then spend fifteen minutes just writing all that you see and hear’, etc. - This module is supposed to be about ‘city writing’, so they want you to write about Paris, or wherever else you feel drawn to city-wise. - I will be honest with you, I really disliked this class. However, I personally didn’t like it because I came on this course to work on and complete my novel (which Fiction 1 and 2 allowed me to do by submitting different chunks of it each week for workshopping and for the assignments), and it seemed a waste of time to be writing silly things about the city each week when I could have been more productive by working on the novel. The class isn’t poorly taught, it just had no relevance to me. I also don’t really enjoy ‘city writing’ as it seems bland, but that’s just a personal preference! Not enjoying this module did not (really) detract from the overall experience of the course, so it was fine. 

At the end of Term Two, you are expected to submit one 7,000 word piece of fiction for Fiction Two, and another 7,000 word piece of fiction (city-themed!) for Paris: The Residency. Ngl, this killed me a little bit, because they’re both due on the same day haha, but I did it! And I did very well, so it is possible. 

After this, you start work on your dissertation. For anyone doing (Fiction, not Poetry) Creative Writing, this is a 12,000 word piece of fiction. It can be whatever you want, but you must pick a supervisor to meet with 3 times before the deadline (met with mine today and she was so super lovely i could kiss her) to make sure you’re on the right track. 

Other Things About The Course: 

- It’s based on a campus that doesn’t belong to Kent University, so we only take up a small section of the building. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it does limit us as students as we aren’t permitted to use all of the classrooms and study spaces. It’s a beautiful building, but it’s very old, and in the winter it was very cold. Having no place to study (there are some but very few) can be a bit of a problem especially in those cold months. In the summer I just sit in the courtyard and work which is d i v i n e. So that’s easier. 

- It’s pretty small, and pretty far away. So, in Term One, there were maybe 30-35 students across the whole course (not just Creative Writing, I mean everyone from Kent University on the Paris campus). The faculty are lovely, lovely people but there are really only 3 of them actually there full-time (yes, really). I have no complaints about these lovely staff, however it does make one feel a little cut off from the main University at times. Frank (who I can absolutely put you in touch with if you need!) is the person to go to with any issues, and I’ve yet to see him not be able to help someone who needs it whether it’s issues with finance, scheduling, contacting staff or whatever. 

- In Term Two (important!), the amount of students studying in Paris DOUBLES in size. This is because Kent also offers a ‘split-site’ MA course in Creative Writing along with a variety of other subjects. Students that opt of the split-site MA spend Term One in Canterbury at the main Kent campus, and Term Two in Paris. This is a tricky thing to get to grips with, mostly because having a bunch of new people try and insert themselves into your established Paris life is tricky to accept. However, we eventually integrated fine, and only a few minor problems occurred. Also, it is important to note that if you were interested in doing the split-site course, there is funding for it if you apply for a Masters Loan. For the solely Paris-based course, there is no funding aside from scholarships. 

- French courses are provided (two hours a week, and you are divided up by existing skill into three different classes). 

- You receive free access to both the BNF and The American Library in Paris which is very, very important as all study material in regular libraries is obviously in French. These two places have study materials in English, which is fantastic. 

- Accommodation is almost impossibly difficult to find, and Kent will be little to no help I’m not even joking. They’ll give you a vague list of places to try, but rent is so fucking expensive here, and if you don’t speak French you’ve basically had it. I can discuss some options with you that worked for me if you give me a private chat message. 

- Don’t expect to be coddled when you get here. I’m quite an independent person, so I didn’t really mind this, but it is in no way similar to the experience I had as a fresher at undergrad. They give you a headstart, some contact information for a local gym, a local bank, etc, but then you are more or less on your own. That sounds pretty daunting but it’s also incredibly freeing and definitely gives you the chance to bond with all your classmates! I’ve made friends for life here (and found a girlfriend) so I do not think this was a bad thing at all. 

That’s pretty much all I can think of to tell you right now! If you have any more specific questions I’d be happy to answer them, and if you decide to go ahead with it let me know as I can give you some tips on how to set yourself up here. 

I wish you the best love, please don’t hesitate to ask me anything more! 

xxx

[tlbodine]

Writing Logical Characters

A particular pet peeve of mine, especially in RP circles, is people who attempt to write a Highly Logical (tm) character without apparently understanding how logic works. On the one hand, it’s kind of amusing (”oh honey, is THAT what you think is going on in our heads?”) but y’all can do better. I have faith in you. 

Where do the illogical Highly Logical (tm) characters show up? 

One favorite example is the Coward Who Spends All His Time Thinking Instead of Taking Action. 

Another, related, trope is the Character Who Has No Opinions And Never Chooses A Side Because He Is So Unemotional 

There’s also the perennial favorite, The Skeptic Who Is So Skeptical That He Blatantly Disregards Evidence Put In Front Of Him

At best, these tropes miss the mark of what it’s actually like to have a logical brain. At worst, they’re downright insulting and make logical people (frequently Intellctuals (tm) ) seem weak, craven or actively obstructionist. Which, in a world that has become in many ways openly hostile toward intellectualism, seems pretty dangerous. 

So. Let’s dissect, shall we? 

(I apologize in advance for the length of this post, I had.....opinions.) 

What Is Logic? 

In philosophical terms, “logic” refers to the way an argument is structured. It has nothing to do with the content of an argument but rather the way that it’s built. Logical fallacies are flaws in the structure of a logical argument, which can then be exploited to render the conclusions incorrect. 

In other words: A sound logical argument is one where each conclusion follows rationally and directly from the claims made before it. Logic, then, is tied intricately to cause-and-effect. 

How Do Logical People Think? 

Logical thinkers are especially interested in why and how when it comes to solving problems. They believe (whether accurately or not) that by better understanding the circumstances of the current problem that the problem can be better dealt with or prevented in the future. 

This is something that many other people apparently do not feel or do not have patience for. The complaint or counter-argument that is sometimes raised is: It doesn’t matter how we got here, we have to fix it. 

For the logical thinker, this is a ridiculous statement. Of course it matters how we got here, because only by analyzing the root cause of a problem can it be completely solved. A logical thinker will consider anything else to be a “bandaid solution” and will be very skeptical about its effectiveness. 

Similarly, logical thinkers utilize data in order to substantiate our claims. The way that this works is thus: 

- Notice what appears to be a pattern

- Look for previous scenarios where that same pattern shows up

- Compare the multiple instances to see if the conditions are the same

- Use the outcomes of the previous instances to speculate as to what will happen in the current instance

Yes, this means that logical thinkers will often be slower to make decisions than other people, because we will take the time to find supporting evidence and data. However, not always. If we already have substantial knowledge about a topic or experience with a specific circumstance, we know the patterns and can react very quickly and insightfully -- because we’ve already connected these dots and can see right away what the appropriate course of action should be. It should only take a logical thinker a long time to solve a problem when confronted with a problem that they have never encountered before or which is substantially different from their prior experience. 

Do Logical Thinkers Have Emotions or Opinions? 

Well no shit we have emotions. We’re not goddamn robots. 

The difference between logical thinkers and other people is that we treat our emotions as a sign of something that bears consideration and not as data or a conclusion in its own right. When we experience an emotional response, that is a cue to understand why we are having that response. What is it that triggered that response? What, if anything, should be done about it? 

The logical person’s response is never, “This makes me feel bad, so don’t do it.” 

The logical person’s response is, “I am angered by the fundamental unfairness of what you just said. In reality, X and Y are not true, as proven by These Examples. Therefore, you are wrong.” Or else, commonly, “When you said X, it made me question my own closely-held beliefs, and I realized that I might be wrong, which is very upsetting. Now I need to reconsider.” 

note: it takes us a while to get to this point. depending on the complexity of the issue, it might take a long while of soul-searching to figure out why something bothered us. we may in fact react emotionally -- lashing out, for example -- in the heat of the moment. but the issue will not be considered resolved for us until we understand why we felt that way to begin with. We may fuss over the event and the details and talk the ear off of anyone who will listen in our quest for understanding. Because until we know why something affects us in a particular way, we will not be able to deal with it in a satisfying way. 

Logical people also have opinions (in fact, we may have Opinions, which we will discuss at great length), but our Opinions are usually based on supporting evidence. We generally will not develop a Closely Held Belief without first exploring the circumstances, doing research, figuring out what others have said on the topic, comparing the patterns, etc. Instead, before we have Opinions, we have theories (or hunches, or hypotheses, or guesses). 

Because of this, we are usually pretty open-minded toward changing our opinions, even our closely held beliefs, if the right evidence comes by to sway our minds. 

Logical people are not, by definition, dogmatic. 

All of this is not to say that logical people are always correct. 

A logical conclusion is only as good as the data that supports it. We absolutely can and do have opinions (and theories) that are incorrect, because sometimes the data we gather just isn’t very good, or it’s blatantly misleading, or we’ve drawn the wrong conclusions based on what we’re looking at (often because the pattern we think we see is only a small piece of a bigger picture that we are unaware of, or because we erroneously compared it to a different pattern and drew the wrong conclusions because the two things we were comparing are not actually similar). 

For the most part, when faced with evidence from a trustworthy source, we are happy to change our opinions. However, we can become very defensive of our position. One of the first things we will do when confronted with a challenge to our opinion is to attack the source of your data. What, you don’t have data to back up your claim? Your argument is invalid (even if you turn out to be correct later - until we see the receipts, we’re not buying it). Your data was obtained from a questionable source? Not buying it. You presented your data in a way that includes fallacies or whose conclusions are not earned by its premise? Nope. 

We can be smug bastards about this, absolutely. 

But when faced with impossible-to-argue-with data, we absolutely will not dig in our heels and say “Nope, this isn’t happening.” Because logic is the opposite of dogmatism. 

Efficiency and Elegance 

Logical thinkers generally ascribe to the theory of Occam’s Razor, which suggests that the simplest answer (that takes into consideration all of the variables) is the right one. Of course, Occam’s Razor needs to be taken with a grain of salt, because it’s not always true (sometimes very unlikely things turn out to be the truth), but for the most part -- if you hear hoof steps, think horse, not zebra. 

Logical people value efficiency in our problem-solving. This is the purpose of looking at the root cause of an issue -- we want to find the single simple solution that will solve all of the problems at its root rather than solving multiple problems one at a time without finding out how they’re connected. 

(If you want to envision this, imagine a series of interconnected plastic boxes that are all filled with water from a hose and leaking from dozens of holes. Instead of plugging up each individual hole, the logical person will find the place that the hose connects and shut off the water source) 

I hope that clears up some misconceptions about how logical people think. As always, I’m happy to answer questions to clarify things. Now, please, go forth and make your logical characters act more logically! 

[scummy-writes]

Thoughts on the V Route! (Spoilers)

Full on disclaimer: This is purely my opinion on the route, and in no way am I trying to force my opinions onto anyone, or am I expecting people to agree fully. We all have different opinions and that's okay! Please don't harass me over any opinion stated in this, as I'm just sharing this for people who are interested and my intention is that and that only. Thanks! 💕

So, starting off, I cannot say I didn’t have a fun time with this route. I mean throughout the whole game, I was so excited for every chat, even if it dealt with characters I didn’t enjoy at all (Which was mainly just Rika, to be honest.)

I’m not going to lie though, while I like V, there were some things I was kind of disappointed in, but since V isn’t one of my super favorites, I don’t think it’s appropriate to say that the route is terrible because of some of the things I didn’t personally like.

But...I wanna open this up with more than just complaints!

I do wanna talk about what I enjoyed!

So seeing all of the characters before the canon main story was very fun! It was neat seeing how different they were two-ish years back. Jumin seemed to remain the same out of all of them (Still confused about the world outside of what he’s experienced, still a lovable dork in my opinion, still pretty level-headed and trying his best to joke).

Jaehee, through the whole route, seemed a lot more blunt than usual, and after I was secured on V’s route (aka getting to day 5 with no problem), I was very happy that I could throw a lot of hearts to her without an issue, haha! I missed being able to be sweet to her, and the cute (and tired) selfie we got was great!

Yoosung was very….Salty. Very much so, and there were times where, at first, it was a little annoying. Right off the bat he starts trying to convince you V is shady, and I can’t really blame him due to it being set just six months after Rika’s ‘death’, and how he was there with the interview with V and the police- That would make me a little suspicious as well….But, like usual, he kinda...blew up about it at first, but I got used to it, especially later on once he learns about what Rika had been doing and starts freaking out (along with all of the other members). I really Can’t blame him for that orz poor sweetie ;;; I think that would be such a huge shock knowing a close family member did such things. I’m glad he was able to get help, but also as the route went on, I felt so bad that he apparently never got therapy when he first learned about Rika’s ‘death’. :( And it was also sad when Jaehee seemed to recommend it from possible personal experience. I mean I’m glad she was able to get help, but hhhhh my babies ;;;; The fact that he apparently turned to drinking a lot when Rika ‘died’, and later on in the route, h u r t s orz

And contrary to popular belief, while Zen isn’t my favorite, I did have a fun time with him in this route except for when he was an asshole in situations that it wasn’t necessary. V getting hurt and needing a doctor is an example, and I thought it was uncalled for when Zen chose that time, of all times, to nag at Jumin for wanting to bring in his personal doctor. Another time is calling Yoosung a ten year old when Yoosung started to text MC during a big mental breakdown moment of his- Finding out this stuff with Rika. But...Besides that? He was pretty fucking funny. The whole thing about his computer was great, and I really did appreciate him helping Yoosung out, and showing more what their friendship is like. My only other issue was that, at first, there weren’t many options with him that I could choose that weren’t either A- Relentless flirting, or B- being a complete ass to him. Later on this got better though! I really like it when he’s not trying to flirt with you a lot.

Seven……..Was fucking great LOL. Lately I’ve been liking him more as a character! At first I was just kinda ‘meh’ with him, or had days where I just didn’t want to think about how he was kinda rude on his own route, but just seeing him in the chatroom was always great. At first he seemed a little...Hesitant? But later on it was just great seeing him interacting with everyone. The car-ride with Jaehee was great, and according to a friend, I apparently missed a very prime opportunity to call and hear him impersonate Jaehee LOL. I felt extremely bad for him later on, but...I’ll get to that later >>. Regardless,  I enjoyed his goofiness and interactions! I especially loved when him and Vanderwood were able to interact. I honestly didn’t think Vanderwood would be in this, but it was great seeing him! (And realizing he wants to go by ‘Stark’ instead LMFAO). When Vanderwood took Seven’s phone and chatted with you- I can say I think that was one of my favorite chatrooms in the game. I laughed so much and just had a fun time talking to him!

For V...

While I highly enjoyed each chat, a lot of phone calls, and some of the scenarios we were presented with, I have to say overall that this route sorta lowered my opinion of V ;;; There were many moments I enjoyed, don’t get me wrong! I loved finally getting to talk to him on the phone, how kind he was with the player, and just seeing how V really acts. In the main route, we never got to see him much...So every chatroom with him and Jumin were great, and I loved being able to learn more about his past (and good god I love his mom a lot? I wasn’t expecting that ajfbsdbhf). I Also loved the chat with V and Zen, talking about when Zen got into that motorcycle accident? It was nice hearing that Zen didn’t really seem super bothered (??) about the fact that V was...stalking him. It was weird, but I suppose it’s because it led to Zen still being alive to this day ajkbfsh

There were a lot of moments in the game that I loved, and so I was really hyped for what his route was going to bring! I was hoping my worries were going to be answered, but it started going downhill quickly for me when he straight up lied to Seven about Saeran being the hacker. Like, I was all “Okay, well… Maybe it’s because adding even more stress into a stressful situation isn’t ideal right now…?” But...It just rubbed me the wrong way, and as the plot progressed and Saeran killed himself- It’s never shown with V telling Seven about who the hacker really was?? He got away with never giving Saeran a chance to be saved from that horrible situation, which could have been solved if he just told Seven. Hell ;;; I wouldn’t even have minded if V told Seven, and the outcome was still the same. It would mean he was at least trying to help Saeran.

Because of that, and because of how much I love Saeran, that...Really made me not like V as much anymore. I could handle him wanting to hide things from the RFA members- He’s a victim of abuse, he wouldn’t want to hurt them especially when it came into terms of how horrible Rika had turned out to be. But he had several chances to tell Seven about Saeran, even if it was just “The hacker is Saeran-” Because Seven would have damned well tried to rush into Mint Eye a lot sooner than Saeran had a chance to kill himself. I...Can’t really think of any ways to forgive him for that. That’s a huge mistake to make, and where it led just makes it harder to say I like V after this.

I think I still prefer a V that is outside of this route, and based off of stories and fics I read before this route ;;;

Since we’re on the topic of Saeran, I cannot express enough how much I love him waaaah ;;; The whole Ray/Saeran bit gets me confused. I can’t tell if ‘Ray’ is how he really acts (which doesn’t make a lot of sense), if he has BPD (Which I guess is plausible but I don’t know anything about the disorder to be okay with saying he has that), or if the possible multiple personality is a side effect of the elixir? I honestly cannot tell. I know that probably makes me look insanely stupid, but BPD is something I’ve never looked into, and the few times I’ve seen it portrayed in various media, there’s always been a huge fuss over how its portrayed wrongly (like a lot of other mental health issues are).

Besides that, I loved every interaction with Saeran/Ray ;;;; I loved the calls, the messages, and it was always so difficult trying to purposely be mean to him. Orz Saeran is a heavy bias for me, so I loved all the content we got with him in this route. Him liking plants, researching flower meanings, the small details about everything he went through as a child (besides it being vague), the fuckcing emojis… I l ov ed. When day 10 happened, I died so much inside. I’m almost tempted to try writing a few fics (that are not….smut) dealing with Saeran and those moments. My fucking heart hurts too much ;;;;

I could gush about him for a while, so I’m going to take a hard lean to move onto trying to talk about my thoughts with the plot now, and then try to wrap this up! I’ve been trying to write this out for the past few days and failing miserably due to work.

I fully went into this game expecting this to be an AU (I mean...it is, right?), that a lot of the new details we learn about the characters are still canon, but it’s an AU because this wasn’t how they originally wanted the game to play out. (Does this make sense?) So, Zen having an old computer and being a doof when it comes to technology, Yoosung never getting therapy and drinking to deal with his feelings of Rika’s death, Jumin…………….being the same showing more interest in the supernatural, Jaehee being fully trusted as being the head of an intelligence unit- etc etc, all of that can be taken as canon!….Right?

(T_T I’ve never tried explaining it, but I’m sure you guys understand what I mean by that!)

Anyway, keeping that in mind and how this is nearly two years before we meet the gang in a more mature-er state (cough Yoosung cough), it was fun finding out more details about the characters that I didn’t expect, or having personal/friend HC’s confirmed!

Besides learning about the characters, we did get to learn more about Mint Eye, which I was thankful for. It was nice seeing how it worked, that they DID have a cleansing process (but apparently only needed to use it twice within the first six months?), what sort of ranking Saeran had, and how Rika was regarded. It seemed pretty big at six months, and I think Rika herself says that it’s been since months since they’ve moved into the building, so it does sort of raise questions again, such as was she getting people into her cult for a while before her ‘death’, the funds she got for it (I’m guessing possibly V’s money? Her parents, adopted or not, didn’t seem to care much about her at all), and so on. Also, since it seemed like there were so many members after the first few months, it’s scary thinking about how big it got after two years. 

And god, did we learn so much about Rika. On one hand, it’s nice seeing more of her backstory, her (delusional) reasoning for making a cult and brainwashing a child and many other adults. I really wanted answers, even if it was through some unpleasantness with Rika herself, and I got some of mine answered. I was thankful we could say no to her, as a lot of her actions and some of her excuses for her behavior reminded me of two very horrible people in my life, and it tremendously hurt seeing how much she had Saeran wrapped around her finger. I’ve heard some rumors about what the bad ends are (please don’t tell me!) and if they are true, it means there’s a chance a few sad hcs I had aren’t too far from the reality of the game. Which...Doesn’t make me a happy camper orz But regardless, their relationship worried me a lot, even if we knew he was really ready to do anything for her. Just seeing it just- shudder.

I also actually enjoyed the game showing that mindless devotion towards a partner doesn’t really solve...Everything. I don’t see that often! It was nice, especially since it was showing how they both messed up in the relationship (very much one messed up a shitton more than the other, with stabbing and dropping treatment, b ut it was nice seeing it nonetheless). 

With the plot, even if it could be seen as cheesy or generic, the only time I really felt it was strange was in V’s endings. The Normal ending was didn’t wrap up a lot of things, which you would expect from just a small ending (it was cute, though!!), but the Good ending didn’t really answer my more pressing questions that I had, and the one thing I was annoyingly upset about didn’t get resolved at all, so that kind of bummed me out. I think if you’re a huge fan of V, though, the ending would be good for you! Just the way the wrapped up the route was weird, but since the afterend isn’t out, there’s still a chance of some of my questions being answered in that department!

I’m trying to think of some things that really struck a negative cord in me, but besides what I’ve said, I’ve still really enjoyed this route. I’m upset about Saeran, of course, since he was a bigger fave than V for me, but... It’s not unusual for cults to have members commit suicide. I was moreso expecting a mass suicide, instead of Saeran having to blow up the building and just letting himself die in there rather than escaping like the plan seemed to have been, but...Saeran didn’t have anyone. He didn’t have us, Rika had left and was obsessing more obviously over V, and Mint Eye was in shambles and he was told to blow it up to get rid of the evidence surrounding it. I just really wish V told Seven. c h r i s t.

Regardless, I did enjoy this route. I can’t wait to worm my way through the bad ends, replay it for things I possibly missed before, and to hopefully crank out a few fics for it! Haha, I already have one in my drafts! I wish I could think of some more things to say, but off the top of my head these are just my general thoughts on the route!

Please keep in mind:  This is purely my opinion on the route, and in no way am I trying to force my opinions onto anyone, or am I expecting people to agree fully. We all have different opinions and that's okay! Please don't harass me over any opinion stated in this, as I'm just sharing this for people who are interested and my intention is that and that only. Thanks! 💕

[breakingarrows]

Feedback on Claim of Bias

"Does Nintendo Get A Pass with Reviews?" KindaFunny Gamescast Ep 111 (Pt. 4) published on March 16, 2017 [Transcript located at the bottom of this post]

The question was posed, "Do Nintendo games get higher scores due to a critic’s nostalgia or bias for Nitnendo?" First off, in regards to Breath of the Wild, I can tell you firsthand nostalgia is not the reason Breath of the Wild is getting high scores. As someone who has played and gotten quickly bored of The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Minish Cap, I have really enjoyed Breath of the Wild and think it is a very high quality game. I do not have the nostalgia for Nintendo but if I had to review Breath of the Wild I would first have to finish it though I believe (based on my forty hours of playtime) that I would most likely also give it a very high score because I believe it is very good and could back that up with text arguments. Although since I have not finished it, I cannot say anything definitively as far as a review score, just my inclination.

Now does that mean I think those who do not align with my own opinion and do not give Breath of the Wild a very high score are wrong? No. They simply have a separate and different opinion from me. Just as those who complain about a number decreasing on Metacritic for a game they love because one review had a lower-than-average score have no merit, the inverse is true: people who complain about a number increasing on Metacritic for a game they do not enjoy because reviews have been higher-than-average have no merit.

The questioner also states Breath of the Wild was, "praised for features that have been a staple in the industry for five plus years..." I would be curious as to what specific features he has in mind when saying this. Is it the open world? The cooking? The towers? I know these features are not new, but I would argue that they are presented and implemented in such a way that is of a high quality. The open world is large and not empty or contain copy-and-paste side missions. The cooking has a delightful animation and gives me satisfying boosts to combat and general travel that I am happy to engage with. The towers you must climb reveal parts of the map, but do not then go on to fill it with icons for side missions like any Ubisoft open world game and instead pushes the player to actually explore to find things. These are features, elements, and systems we have seen before, but that does not automatically make their implementation banned from praise.

Then we come to Colin. "I do not believe Twilight Princess is a 95/Skyward Sword is a 92/Breath of the Wild is a 98." That is his opinion, but by stating it in regards to the Metacritic number he is calling out those who do believe those games are of high quality as being wrong.

Because Colin does not believe the number should be so high, he does not believe that the reviewers who contributed to that score were correct in their assignment of a number to a game. Not because of the argument made in the text of a review for why a certain score was given, but because Metacritic pumped it into its vague formula and outputted a single number. Metacritic is problematic enough for reducing all opinions and varying scores into a single number for every game. Assigning a baseline number to every game, no matter how varied or different they are from one another, reducing them to a number on the same playing field, is dumb.

"I think there are some critics, some journalists that do as much as they can to try and sell games for Nintendo." I would be very interested to hear who specifically he is talking about, because this really vague statement appears like many comments sections at the bottom of reviews claiming "You are bias for/against X" or “moneyhat” I have a big issue for this given that Colin comes from a background where he knows how the review process works and is an insult to other reviewers who give high scores not because they have some form of stock in Nintendo’s bottom line, no one from major sites listed on Metacritic do, but because they genuinely think the game is amazing and write at length about why they think that.

He makes an example of Ocarina of Time, the last "revolutionary" Zelda game. He uses the phrase “revolutionary” as if it is the only bar by which we judge a game's quality. Not by the overall quality of everything it is and is not doing. Instead a game has to be "revolutionary" in Colin's eyes in order to gain such high praise. It can't simply be doing everything very well.

He also makes an example of Splatoon, saying if it was sold on another platform it would not have done as well, because it was merely "a third person team shooter that you play online…" Not because it was a unique take where instead of trying to kill everyone on the opposing team you are trying to paint the field in colorful ink.

Here's a review sample: "What I love most about Splatoon is how you’re rewarded more for your awareness and willingness to pitch into a team effort than you are for “killing” anything. It’s not like “splatting” your foes isn’t a crucial part of the equation, but after so many multiplayer games in which pure murder is the only measure of success, it’s refreshing to play one – a third-person shooter, no less – that deemphasizes the violence in favor of less direct competition." That was from one Jim Sterling, someone Colin frequently cites as a friend.

By stating Splatoon would have sold less and reviewed lower had it released on a PlayStation platform, he is insinuating that Sterling gave it an 8 out of 10 for being sold on a Nintendo platform. Not because it was, in Sterling's opinion, backed by text, a great game.

Colin also brings back the old faithful word-of-the-day, "objective" which essentially means basing a qualitative review on facts instead of someone’s personal opinion which is, ahem, what reviews are. To have an objective review you cannot state an opinion or viewpoint, instead it merely has to be a listing of the features with no qualitative judgment given. “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has graphics. It will sometimes play sounds. There are swords. Etc.” that is what an objective review looks like. Many more can be found at Objectivegamereivews.com

Lastly, "It’s not a 98. I can tell you that from playing it for a couple hours [emphasis mine], no way in God's green earth." Now look, I haven’t completed the game either, and I don’t think you need to complete something this large or 100% it to give an opinion of quality, but if you are going to give a definitive statement such as that, only playing for a couple of hours really discredits your argument.

Bottom line, you’re better than arguments like this. Earlier in the Gamescast you laid out your complaints and problems with the game and gave an argument for why you didn’t think it was that great. However, attempting to undermine other people’s reviews by spouting a pro-Nintendo conspiracy that has no basis in facts, discredits your claims. Statements such as this, and ones from your past regarding games, has severely discredited your opinion since I must think, “Okay does he have an argument to back that up or is he saying it because he feels a certain way but has no cogent argument?” It’s insulting to reviewers who spend lots of time formulating their argument for why they think a game is good for you to undermine them by stating they simply have a bias. You’re smarter than this.

 Transcript

Question: Does Nintendo get a pass, yes it’s a very clickbait question, disclaimer these are just by observations etc. Breath of the Wild currently sits at a 98 on Metacritic with virtually every major outlet giving it a perfect or near perfect score. By all accounts this game is great I'm not trying to dispute that, but I also know that I have heard of many a handful of people in the industry praise Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess and yet those games respectively have a 93 and 95 on metacritic. So my question, and/or discussion topic is this: Do big Nintendo franchises have a tendency to draw out higher scores from reviewers based on virtually every "games journalist" having some kind of childhood nostalgia for Nintendo? Again I'm not saying Skyward Sword or Breath of the Wild is anything other than great but looking from the sidelines it certainly seems like Nintendo gets reviewed in a vacuum and praised for features that have been a staple in the industry for five plus years sometimes.

[Greg and Tim give their answers.]

Colin: "Nintendo clearly deals with a super pro-bias in the gaming industry and has since I joined it. If their game, with the exception of maybe Super Mario Galaxy, would have been scored probably a full point or two points or even lower on Metacritic if they were not a Nintendo platforms, not made by Nintendo. I think Zelda is the great example of that. Twilight Princess is in no way shape or form a 95, and Skyward Sword is in no way shape or form a 92, and I don't believe for one second that this game is in any way shape or form a 98. [How much has he played? "A couple hours"] I was saying, 'Wow welcome to 2008,' just in terms of my initial impressions of Zelda. What is it? I think it’s so obvious that if this wasn't a Zelda game no way would it get 10s. I think that's obvious, people can look at that as anti-Nintendo-bias but I think that there is a strong pro-Nintendo bias in the industry. I think it has something to do with what you said that people grew up with Nintendo and root for them in a way. I think there are some critics some journalists that do as much as they can to try and sell you games for Nintendo. I think that it's kind of shitty, I agree with his insertion that the last time there was a Zelda game that was truly revolutionary was Ocarina of Time. Now my favorite Zelda game is Majora's Mask but it wasn't revolutionary. Ocarina of Time was revolutionary. Just like Mario 64 in its own way was revolutionary and Super Mario Galaxy did something to 3D Mario and made it revolutionary in its own way. But Nintendo is given way too much credit for making these amazing revolutionary games. Like Splatoon was PlayStation only you wouldn't give a fuck about it. If Splatoon was on PlayStation or Xbox One it would have sold a hundred thousand copies probably. Because Nintendo made a third person team shooter that you play online suddenly it’s this revolution. I'm a little tired of it personally. I wish I knew how people really felt about Zelda or how good, I wish there was some sort of objective way of what is this Zelda game it’s not a 98. I can tell you that from playing it for a couple hours, no way in God's green earth. So how would it be scored if it was on a PlayStation? It’s a great question, they're the only company that enjoys that. "

[michellelewis7162]

Forms Of Woodworker Devices for Accomplish It Yourself Projects

Forms Of Woodworker Devices for Accomplish It Yourself Projects

 Market contains different kinds of woodworker devices thus creating it hard to decide on the most effective out of all. In order to make a simple wooden dining table you require collection of tools like you need them for assessing, sawing, planning, boring, inspect, honing, joining, mounting and also several other such purposes. Buy the one having higher top quality. While acquiring the woodworker devices you will have to choose if you are actually trying to find woodworking palm device or electrical power driven resources. Bubble Leveller

 Types of Carpenter Tools for Do It Yourself Projects

 Sculpt

 Sculpt is a palm tool that is actually utilized for reducing as well as creating of wood. You can easily have the bevel edge shape, stronger and also paring shape. While getting this check for the blade as well as gripping of deal with.

 Saw

 Saw is just one of the key tools demanded for every single and also any type of timber work. You may purchase either palm found, electrical power driven or both. Yet the hand saw are more affordable and fix the function. In the group of hand saws you will certainly find the slit saw, cross cut, door, head found, adapting, draw, keyhole, laminate, pole and also back viewed. The cutter of the saw is actually brought in from quick and easy to hone steel that is actually coated along with Teflon to prevent acid.

 Screwdrivers

 Screwdriver is utilized either for fixing or getting rid of the screws coming from a wood write-up. It may have plastic or even wood manage however need to be non slimy. Plastic manage of the screwdriver is actually made up of plastic that is warmth and fire insusceptible. Relying on the type of screw there are actually various sort of screwdrivers such as cupboard, standard, square drive, star, clutch scalp, almond driver, balance out etc. Some of these possess magnetic recommendation that produces the tightening up or losing of little screws extremely easy.

 Hammers

 If you are performing any kind of timber job, you may certainly not carry out without hammers. Pound could be rounded paw hammer, plain paw, ball marker, finishing hammer, hand boring, block, woodworker's hammer, drywall, soft-face hammer as well as even more. High quality hammer is actually solid and resilient. It has well established paw factors and safe take care of. While getting hammer check out the balance, intensity of solidifying, eye, claw as well as hold.

 Measuring Tools

 Mixture square, tape square, attempt builder, square and also amount square are few of the assessing woodworking resources that are accessible in the marketplace.

 Buying Carpenter Tools

 Carpenter tools create an optimistic gift for the growing carpenter in your family and it does not also need to have to become their special day or maybe Xmas for you to give it to them. These are wonderful presents for any time and any sort of budding carpenter will certainly like all of them as will any kind of seasoned woodworker.

 Just understand what amount of woodworking they go to. For I make certain you desire to provide something they are going to make use of. The only problem with that said though is that if you, your own self may not be a woodworker after that just how do you go about selecting the right devices?

 It's not as quick and easy as it may appear, and there are a few things that you ought to keep an eye out for. The 1st and first trait is actually to watch out for the Unbelievable Bargain. No such trait exists. If it's astonishing after that there's something inappropriate somewhere. Unless of course they are operating some sort of clearance. Now if you bump into a discount and it's a well recognized brand you should buy the resources promptly. Excellent woodworker resources at good deal rates are actually uncommon, thus receive all of them when you can.

 When to seize all of them up and when to manage the various other method, pro handymans will certainly know what the good resource labels are actually and will definitely know. In the case of the naive present customer however, I would certainly suggest following one thing you could be assured of regardless of whether it is actually certainly not at the discount cost you had hoped for. Right here specifically more than everywhere else, the Latin "Caveat Emptor" is true, buyers definitely are careful of what you're obtaining into. Great tools aren't inexpensive and also knowledge woodworkers understand the distinction between an excellent device and also a poor device. So, don't attempt to reckon as well as trick all of them.

 If you're buying the woodworker resources for a person who's been at it for pretty a large amount of time after that the final factor that you'll want to do are going to be to give them lower-ranking level woodworker resources. Something which is available in a set could be helpful for the novice that is actually only beginning and also therefore has no crystal clear idea of what they need to have, but that certainly will not provide for the professional carpenter. They require the great resources for many reason as well as indeed one could be for the self-pride.

 These woodworker resources ought to be of five-star caliber to ensure that the receiver of your present understands the moment and attempt you take into obtaining the excellent carpenter devices for them. For the novice you can easily purchase all of them something extra innovative when they can easily discriminate in between the tools and when they can easily really feel the variation of holding a great set of carpenter devices in their palms rather than the amateur's set you gave them!

 However if you possess problem deciding which collection of carpenter tools to get inquire a welcoming purchases person for guidance and also generally you'll leave behind the store pleased that you came forth with the genuine trait. You may additionally buy a present memory card to their beloved resource shop. You can absolutely understand the recipient of the present will definitely be happy for the extraordinary present you provided.

 Distinction And Growth Using The Carpenter's Tools Of Success

 One of the significant issues I possess with most of culture's trainings is actually that they perform certainly not educate the whole tale. Currently, there is absolutely no question in my thoughts that this claim has actually distressed some people and also possesses topic me to mock and complaints that I do not understand what I am discussing. Possibly I perform, perhaps I do not. However, truth is actually but one. Hey, that is what reality performs anyways.

 In the spiritual mentors, there is a parable in relation to Joseph that operated as a Carpenter and the definition of the Carpenter's Tools. Whether you feel the tale took place or not is actually certainly not also vital. The important part is the significance and also how our team may use the devices of a carpenter to create our very own holy place of perfection.

 The woodworker's devices have been used to develop a terrific numerous frameworks. One thing our experts overlook in the social mirror is that these very same devices and also the definition of all of them could be utilized to develop results and also quality in our really personal thoughts. They may be utilized to assist mold your character in to something splendid.

 Maintain in mind, the same resources that you can easily make use of to produce excellence and excellence are actually the quite exact same tools that may damage if not utilized effectively.

 Right here is a brief passage of a number of the devices in the sessions of your thoughts:

 1. The Square - square away the jagged pipes as well as places and also creates the corners of your conduct square.

 2. The Compass - use to attract a circle around your passions and devastating wishes to maintain them in the bounds of integrity.

 3. The Ax - potato chip and also cut away the knotty, worthless parts of your plant and also maintain your sign symmetrical.

 4. The Hammer - use it to deliver the fact up until it becomes a portion of your being actually.

 5. The Plane - use to ravel the rough, irregular edges as well as areas of your lifestyle.

 The definition of the woodworker's devices is actually one of the most significant component right here, as well as it instructs us, that is if our team reside in the mode of understanding, that our experts possess the devices in our notions, in our minds, in our hearts to end up being everything we all want to become. All too often our team look away from our own selves for tools to help us ponder as well as construct why our team can never possess a strong foundation, our team are actually making use of the incorrect tools as well as we are actually using the resources incorrectly. The great factor is that our company possess the correct devices along with guidelines in the sessions of our thoughts to build whatever it is our team would certainly like to build.

 Discover the meaning of the builders devices and recognize that these really significances live within yourself in order that you may construct a holy place of distinction. You don't have to search outside your own self anymore to locate the devices necessary for your results and joy and happiness. Know that they stay in you.

 Builder Pencils - Why Do I Need That Old Thing?

 What is a builder pencil?

 Woodworker pencils have actually been around given that the very early 1500's. A Carpenter's Pencil is huge, flat pencil designed to note timber for cutting. A perk of making use of a woodworkers pencil is the lead is actually just about the same width as a cutter of a hand viewed or even rounded saw. When you are laying out your cuts on the panels, if you don't hone it to a fine factor it works incredibly well to indicate out the size of the blade.

 Perform you need to have a builder pencil?

 Many of the moment when remodeling your home it actually does not matter what you utilize to denote your hardwood or even drywall prior to your hack it, considering that your collections and also spots are actually normally concealed responsible for paint or even slick. You will definitely discover many of the amount of time though a pencil is also weak, a marker avoids, as well as a felt-tip bleeds excessive. A Carpenter's Pencil repairs each of these problems and also makes denoting most construction things easy. The top lasts, it does not break easily, it's affordable as well as will mark on a lot of property components. The lead is actually very easy to clean off the wood well-maintained, especially if the lumber you are actually utilizing is truly absorptive and will certainly absorb the ink coming from a magic marker simply. I make use of builder pencils a lot. I keep a lots approximately best with my tape measures. When they all obtain blunt I like to use a builder pencil sharpener to develop them, yet you may quickly make use of an utility blade out at the job. I utilize the taper drill to score as well as begin openings and also a woodworker's pencil to score cuts.

 Utilizing One

 Each kind of timber will call for a various pressure to produce the spot you yearn for. If you are actually making use of want you will not need to use much tension to create your mark but if you are making use of challenging walnut you will certainly have to utilize additional force to denote it. Make an effort the your pencil on a fragment piece first. I utilize the woodworker pencil in combo with a square or direct advantage (leader). I lay the square where I wish to help make the smudge and afterwards draw the tip of the pencil along the side of the square to keep the line straight. Here is an adorable video clip showcasing the most up to date carpenter pencil. Considering that I leave all of them setting all over the location and I would never be able to find merely one pencil, I utilize wood pencils rather of the refillable ones generally.

 Which Carpenter's Pencil Is Best For You?

 I will definitely let you determine exactly how wonderful of an pencil you require. There are 3 for you to choose from. Basic Homeowner Grade - You utilize it each month or so - Good resource at an excellent rate. Remodel/Construction Grade - You use it every weekend - Better resource, will last you years. Professional Grade - You use it daily - When you merely want the very best.

 Buy 6 to 12 at an opportunity for the finest offer if you are getting the wood pencils. You can easily go my site and then order the ideal builder pencil for you. The are lots of companies that sell builder pencils however I merely present you providers to purchase from that I depend on. You understand that my varieties are actually based upon several years of making use of devices both around the house and at the office.

 While purchasing the woodworker resources you are going to have to determine if you are actually appearing for woodworking palm device or even electrical power steered tools.

 Great devices aren't economical and also knowledge woodworkers understand the difference in between a poor device as well as an excellent resource. If you're obtaining the carpenter tools for somebody that's been at it for rather a large total of time after that the final trait that you'll really want to do will be actually to offer them lower-ranking grade carpenter devices. The significance of the woodworker's tools is actually the most important part right here, and also it educates us, that is if our experts are in the setting of knowing, that our company possess the resources in our thoughts, in our thoughts, in our centers to become all that our company all dream to be. All also often our company look outside of ourselves for tools to aid our team ponder as well as construct why we can easily never ever have a tough groundwork, we are utilizing the wrong devices and our company are making use of the devices incorrectly.

[constructivemanagement]

The 10 Secrets of Customer Dispute Management: 'Compromise'

In business, disputes happen. They are an unfortunate, but inevitable, consequence of the financial interests of the supplier and the customer. Obviously, we do everything we can to avoid disputes. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (PMI, 2013) guides us in making sure projects deliver value to customers—so that we understand the customer’s needs and set their expectations. If we follow that guidance, disputes will be minimized—but anyone who thinks that a methodology will stop all disputes with customers is not aware of the practical reality of the business world.

What happens when we, as project managers, are faced with a customer who says they are not happy, who refuses to pay, or who threatens legal action? What steps can we take to address this challenge? The PMBOK® Guide is light on the subject; the word “dispute” is not included in the glossary or index. However, there is some guidance under Project Procurement Management around Procurement Negotiations that tells us:

…the final equitable settlement of all outstanding issues, claims, and disputes by negotiation is a primary goal. Whenever settlement cannot be achieved through direct negotiation, some form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) including mediation or arbitration may be explored. When all else fails, litigation in the courts is a least desirable option. (PMI, 2013, Section 12.4.2.2)

That is good advice. But it doesn’t help me if I am a project manager and I am asked to undertake the direct negotiations in a financial dispute. What exactly do I do?

What I am going to describe to you in this article is a series of principles you should follow, and an order to how you should address things when you are in dispute negotiations. If you can, drive things, set the direction of the discussions, and set the steps of the process. But even if that advantage is not available to you, I believe the principles described here offer real value in bringing any dispute to a conclusion.

In my experience, project managers often struggle with managing dispute negotiations for two reasons. First, they take everything personally, they assign feelings of pride and offense to the discussions, and personal success or failure to the outcome. This is business; it is never personal. That is 1,000 times harder when your own money is depending on the outcome; but nevertheless, you should always remember to stay professional and never offer or infer any personal slight.

Second, there is a tendency with many project managers to try and get all pseudo-legal about it. I define a dispute as the phase of discussions before things go legal, after the normal discussions of project activities and customer feedback, but before the expense and formality of bringing the lawyers out on both sides. In this dispute phase, it is a mistake to try to be too legally clever. Some managers study the contract and try to explain to the customer why the word “accept” is not the same as “review.”

The problem is that everyone’s opinion about the legal meaning of things is different. Remember that lawyers have different interpretations of the legal meaning of phrases too. My solicitor once told me there is only one person who actually knows the truth of what a document says, and that is a judge. What the judge thinks is the truth—everything else is an opinion, and we don’t want to go anywhere near judges, if possible.

I am not suggesting that the contract would not be read and understood, but to have reached the stage where we have a customer disputing a payment or delivery, I am assuming there is a difference of opinion between supplier and customer on its meaning. Faced with those conflicting opinions, a project manager would be wise to avoid trying to be an amateur legal genius.

So, let us look at what we should do when asked to handle a dispute.

“The aim of argument should not be victory, but progress.” – Joseph Joubert

C for Cost Awareness  - Compromise

The first thing I would advise when facing a financial dispute is to understand your costs. Note that, at this point, I don’t suggest you go into the details of the customer’s complaint, or speak to the delivery team to get our side of the story. Instead, first thing, before everything else, just understand your cost position.

The reason we do this is because it may be possible to end the financial dispute in two seconds, just based on the cost position. If you are asked to consider a customer’s financial complaint, and you learn that the project is worth US$2 million and making 86% gross profit, and the customer is refusing to pay a US$2,000 travel invoice—you know what the sensible solution is. Tell the customer you are happy to forget that invoice and hope that we can continue to do business in the future. It is a decision made in moments, without any need for further investigations. Was the customer justified in their complaint? Who knows? Who cares? It’s business; settle, move on, do the deal.

On the other hand, if you look into your costs and find that you are dealing with a challenged project, down to 6% gross profit, and the customer is refusing to pay US$110,000 which would result in a financial loss, then it’s different. Then we have to move on to consider some other ideas, but knowing your costs is your first step. It informs everything you do.

O for Outcome Planning – Compromise

To have reached this point means you have checked the costs and you are faced with a situation where giving the customer what they want would hurt your financial position. If you could have given the customer what they wanted, you would have done it, but you are faced with your own commercial responsibilities, and that means you need to move into a deeper discussion. Before that discussion can progress, you need to plan your outcome. What do you want to achieve from this dispute? It is important to plan the outcome because there will often be conflicts in the goals you might have. Including:

Do I absolutely want every penny to align to my forecast costs or revenue?

Do I want to keep this customer happy in the long term because it has been a very productive relationship in the past?

Do I want to end the relationship with the customer because each engagement ends in this kind of mess and it is not productive anymore?

Do I want to get out of the business area I am in because the product/service is unreliable, problematic, unprofitable, etc.?

Do I want to safeguard a big sale with this customer that is in the pipeline and expected to be very profitable?

Make sure you consult above and around you in your own organization to understand what the desired outcome is. It may be that you are not aware of the bigger picture; it may be that you need to get the outcome confirmed or set by senior managers—especially if you are dealing with a big customer. This is about understanding what success in this dispute will look like for you. That is outcome planning.

M for Make a Deal – Compromise

To have reached here, you know that you cannot afford to give the customer everything they want, but you now also understand the outcomes you really need to achieve. That might change your position immediately. In planning outcomes, you may have discovered that every other deal with this customer has delivered 80% gross profit and there are four new contracts waiting to be signed. This might make it obvious to you that you should give them what they want.

The understanding of the bigger picture widens your judgment of costs, and it may be that giving in on this occasion is good for business. Even if the position is not so clear cut, planning the outcomes may present opportunities for making a deal to settle the dispute. You might offer a discount on a new deal, you might offer something free in the next contract, or you might offer an extra month of a service for no extra charge. You sometimes find that once you understand your costs, you realize that some things can be given to a customer for free with minimal impact to your profit.

Notice that, again, I am trying to find an early settlement, I have not gone into the details of this situation. I haven’t trawled through a year’s worth of emails or had late night meetings with the project team to ask their opinion. If I can, I will avoid that. The longer the dispute continues, the more resources I have to drag into the discussions and fact checking, the greater the effort that is diverted from productive delivery, and the greater the likelihood of long-term damage to the customer relationship. So, look at the bigger picture and look for a deal that might be offered using the value and the objectives revealed in that bigger picture.

However, just before you offer your deal, there is one thing to consider…

P for Personalities – Compromise

You have reached a critical point in the process. You have a deal to offer which might bring the whole dispute to a close, so before you play your card, it is worth looking closely and honestly at yourself and asking a question: Are the personalities involved in this discussion a blocker to a successful resolution?

We mentioned earlier that a common problem with disputes is that individuals take things personally. It is also a known truth of human interactions that some people just don’t get along with each other. You need to make sure that neither of these factors affects the likelihood of your deal being accepted. Consider how the customer relates to you, and consider how you relate to the customer.

Is there a friction between you? Are you sick of the sight and sound of each other? If you think things are likely to be received better without that personal friction, then get someone else to present the deal. Remove any personality clash or personal resentment from the consideration. It’s just good business. Don’t take it personally if your customer does not like you; you are involved in a dispute, and this is stressful. Do not think badly of yourself, and do not think badly of them either. If you were in their position and looking after the interests of their company, you would probably be acting a lot like them.

So, consider the personalities before you offer the deal.

R for Recognition – Compromise

If we reached this point, you have put a deal together, you have considered the personalities, and you have offered the deal. But sadly, the deal was not accepted. Before we progress, it’s time to think a little deeper. Up to this point, we have examined our cost position, planned our desired outcome, looked at our wider engagement, and faced up to any friction involving our personalities. It’s all been about me, me, me—and it has not succeeded.

The next step is really to get into the mind of the customer, and recognize things from their point of view. You might ask why we didn’t do that earlier, and we may as well be honest, it’s because we are in business here. If a fast solution could be found that suited us, then that is a good position for us. But that approach hasn’t brought success, so it’s time to look at things from the customer’s point of view. Maybe this will change the dynamic of a solution and bring us to a settlement.

We can look in detail at the chain of emails and the body of documentation to understand what the customer thinks, but it’s often better to sit in front of them and be completely honest and explain that you had hoped discussions up to this point might have found an equitable solution. You can accept that they are still not happy, so ask them to explain everything to you. Ask them how you can move this forward.

Customers often report that they hate suppliers being defensive when in a dispute. What they mean by that is that every time they express disappointment in some area, they are faced with a great wall of detail fired back by the supplier to defend against the accusation, as if somehow explaining something changes the feelings the customer has expressed. Don’t be defensive when trying to recognize your customer’s position. Listen.

The benefit of doing this after you have made an offer is that the customer might propose something to you based on the deal you suggested. They might tinker with the deal at the edges and move it by a few percent here and there, and you might reach an amended deal position that you can live with. In my opinion, the advantage in a negotiation is always with the person whose proposal is on the table being discussed, because a settlement is likely to be plus or minus some percent of what you wanted. Whereas, if you give someone a blank piece of paper and asked them to describe what they want, they could present something which is 2,000% from where you wanted to be.

In recognizing the customer’s position, remember that you are dealing with human beings. Consider not just the financial position of your customer, but the reputational damage they may have suffered—not just the reputation of their company, but of the individuals in their organization who may have championed the project or selected you to deliver it. I am not suggesting you offer to compensate them for this, but it would be very helpful for you to know all the details. You need to understand if customers feel they were kept in the dark about project problems, oversold on the capabilities of a product, or promised a service level which, in hindsight, seems impossible.

And while you remember that this is always business, and never personal, it will be helpful to understand if issues around this dispute have caused any personal problems for your customer. Listen to them, empathize with them, and recognize their situation. It will help you move forward to a solution.

O for Open the Drains – Compromise

At this point, your deal was turned down and you took the time to recognize the position of the customer. You now understand exactly how the customer feels because you listened. So, what’s next? It’s time to find out exactly what your organization has done. Get the details. You may be surprised that we have gotten this far through the process before you start to establish the truth of what went on. Surely, you should do that straight away, right? I would suggest it belongs here for two reasons.

First, I think you should always listen to the customer’s side of things before you look into your own details. It will help your investigations to know what the customer thinks, and it will help you to focus on the areas of greatest concern to them.

Secondly, if you perform your own investigations before you listen to the customer, there is a great temptation to counter everything you hear with an excuse, a reason, or a clarification. And while you may be right on every point, that kind of interaction is not likely to create an environment that supports an amicable solution to a dispute. Countering every point of someone’s complaint says to them that you do not recognize the validity of their concerns and that you do not listen. That is not good.

This phase is called “open the drains” for a reason. We are not just describing finding out the details of what happened in our organization. You want to open the drains. What I mean by that is that you look around knowing that what you seek might not smell too good. You are not just looking for the status and the events that brought you to that position; you are looking for mistakes that were made. The true, ugly facts of why you got to where you are. This can get ugly. It might reveal the truth about weaknesses in your product, in your capabilities, or in your contract. It might reveal incompetence in your work, an overpromising process, or misleading project reporting. It all happens; and sometimes, they all happen together.

You are not trying to find individuals to blame here. You are trying to understand issues, so you can find a solution and avoid problems on future projects. Getting to the bottom of what went wrong can be difficult, especially if you are dropped into a dispute and you don’t have an established relationship with the delivery team. You will need to be very open with them about the level of understanding you need, and why you need it.

Be clear that I am not suggesting that you share all this ugly truth with the customer. This is for you to frame the solution to a dispute and to learn lessons. That is why you can be so honest, because you seek the truth to learn, not to punish.

M for Make Your Offer and I for Iterate – Compromise

So, what is the difference between making a deal and making an offer? Look at it this way, your deal is the position you put to the customer. It included everything you believed might frame a solution to the dispute—maybe a discount on future work, maybe a refund, maybe free services, etc. It defines the parameters of your solution. Your deal offer was not accepted; but down here, you are going to amend those parameters—informed by what you have learned during the recognition process and by opening the drains of your delivery process. To get to a resolution, we are going to make an offer and iterate until we get to where we need to be.

Making an offer and iterating is the haggling phase. You listened to your customer, you put a deal to them, you took all their concerns on board, you got to the bottom of all your mistakes, and you amended your offer in full knowledge of what the customer wanted and what you failed to do.

In this phase, we keep going, we shave, we pad, we haggle, and we negotiate, using all we now understand about the customer’s position and the supplier’s shortcomings. Don’t give in, stay positive, and remember that you know everything you need to know at this point to reach an agreement.

A couple of principles worth noting here, which are valuable in any discussions, but particularly apply to disputes:

Remember emails are forever. Never write anything in an email that you would not be happy to see printed on the front of a newspaper and read by your family/boss/customer. In the event of a dispute becoming legal, every email you sent can be taken and used in evidence. Calling a customer unreasonable is probably okay; calling them wrong is probably okay; calling them stupid, proposing to lie to them, mocking them, etc. can cause real problems. As we mentioned at the start, this is not personal, and your customer has a hard job too, so always maintain respect. Always watch your emails.

Never back yourself into a corner. During a negotiation, don’t put yourself in a position where you have nowhere to go. Do not threaten, do not give unmovable deadlines, and do not make final offers. If the only place after you is a courtroom, then keep looking for a solution. If things go to court, you will be risking your reputation in the marketplace, which may have taken 100 years to build. You will also burn cash on legal fees at a frightening rate.

Avoid saying no. “No” can close down discussions; try to find alternatives, move, negotiate, or amend. Instead of saying no, say yes, subject to a couple of changes. That is how to keep moving.

Use your management chain. Big companies have spare managers—layers of them. Sometimes, this offers us some opportunities. If you feel that you need to change your mind and accept a position you initially rejected, bring in a friendly manager to overrule you. Your negotiations should have the support of your managers, and you are probably reporting progress to them, so use them when you need to; it is a good tool for changing your position if that helps you.

We stay in the offer/iterating phase until we have reached an equitable solution that both the supplier and customer can accept. To help you recognize what that looks like, remember a simple rule. It’s simple, but not very easy to hear:

The successful end to any argument is when both sides are happy or both sides are unhappy.

Think about that for a moment. Obviously, if both sides are happy then a resolution is found, but that might be impossible to achieve. The best you might get is that both parties are unhappy. This is the situation where you have not been able to give the customer everything they wanted, but you have moved far enough that all your managers are screaming with the pain of how far you have moved. Both sides are unhappy. Sometimes, that is the best that can be achieved; and sometimes, customers need to know that you are unhappy with the proposed solution so they can understand that the end point of mutual pain is being reached. Iterate. Make an offer and iterate.

Eventually, you get an agreement. You are nearly done, but there are two things left to consider.

S for Saying Sorry – Compromise

Politicians famously never say sorry, and saying sorry in business is a controversial thing. Some people suggest that an apology is an admission of legal liability, and should never be forthcoming. Forgetting the obvious fact that only a judge can decide what constitutes an admission of responsibility, we should be capable of saying sorry without going anywhere near blame. It is a reasonable thing to say sorry that the issue arose, to say sorry for misunderstandings, and to say sorry for any stress and extra work that the whole thing caused. No supplier wants those things to happen, regardless of who is responsible, and saying sorry is a very human thing to do.

I was once told I had transformed a relationship with an unhappy customer because I turned up at a meeting and said we were sorry that their organization had seen disruptions from working with us. I told them how hard we worked and spoke about the commitment from our engineers and how we always tried to do a good job, so any disruption caused was a great disappointment to us and we were truly sorry. The two companies had been in dispute for over a year, there had been massive disruption, and they told me that I was the first person that had bothered to say sorry.

That was not genius on my part; to be honest, I was new to the account and I didn’t know any details and I couldn’t think of anything else to say. But it taught me the power of sorry. Never forget you are discussing this dispute with other human beings; they might have been under a lot of pressure or they might have been enduring a personal crisis and really not needed this kind of mess at work. Sorry often means a lot. Sorry is kind, and kindness is not weakness; kindness is what we should try to give each other.

E is for Educate – Compromise

At this point, a solution has been found. It took a while, and it might not be exactly what you hoped for at the start, but the dispute is over. Legal action was avoided and the crisis is averted, however imperfectly. But before we move on with our lives and find the next task to fill our days, we need to do one more thing. We need to educate the right people to avoid a dispute like this from ever happening again. We need to understand what lessons can be learned and make sure those lessons inform process improvement where it is needed.

These lessons might result in wide-ranging actions including:

Changes to sales materials or presentations to avoid misunderstandings with customers about product capabilities

Changes to contracts to avoid misunderstandings by making things clearer

Changes to training so team members know more, and become more productive

Changes to the implementation approach to share more with the customer and avoid misalignment of expectations

Changes to products which address weaknesses in areas that caused issues and customer disappointment

Changes to reporting activities to avoid misunderstandings on projects in the future

Changes to stakeholder management activities to improve supplier/customer relations in future engagements

I think you get the idea. We should educate our colleagues and our processes with anything and everything that might prevent a dispute from affecting a customer relationship again. Make sure to focus on improvement and lessons learned, and not on blaming anyone. I sometimes hear project managers explain that there was nothing to learn from a dispute; they say it happened just because the customer was awkward. I cannot accept that as any explanation. Customers are awkward. I know this because I spend some of my life being a customer, and I am awkward. I suspect many of you are too. There are always lessons to learn; always. Look for them, and take every opportunity to educate.

So, that is a little overview of a 10-step process that works toward ending customer disputes. I think there is great value in reminding yourself of these principles from time to time, and certainly before you start managing any dispute. You can take a letter from each of the headings and spell out the word compromise, which is a handy reminder for us to keep working the process and driving toward an acceptable solution.