#but I did do a whole deconstruction for myself

[neverendingford]

.

[emeryleewho]

I used to work for a trade book reviewer where I got paid to review people's books, and one of the rules of that review company is one that I think is just super useful to media analysis as a whole, and that is, we were told never to critique media for what it didn't do but only for what it did.

So, for instance, I couldn't say "this book didn't give its characters strong agency or goals". I instead had to say, "the characters in this book acted in ways that often felt misaligned with their characterization as if they were being pulled by the plot."

I think this is really important because a lot of "critiques" people give, if subverted to address what the book does instead of what it doesn't do, actually read pretty nonsensical. For instance, "none of the characters were unique" becomes "all of the characters read like other characters that exist in other media", which like... okay? That's not really a critique. It's just how fiction works. Or "none of the characters were likeable" becomes "all of the characters, at some point or another, did things that I found disagreeable or annoying" which is literally how every book works?

It also keeps you from holding a book to a standard it never sought to meet. "The world building in this book simply wasn't complex enough" becomes "The world building in this book was very simple", which, yes, good, that can actually be a good thing. Many books aspire to this. It's not actually a negative critique. Or "The stakes weren't very high and the climax didn't really offer any major plot twists or turns" becomes "The stakes were low and and the ending was quite predictable", which, if this is a cute romcom is exactly what I'm looking for.

Not to mention, I think this really helps to deconstruct a lot of the biases we carry into fiction. Characters not having strong agency isn't inherently bad. Characters who react to their surroundings can make a good story, so saying "the characters didn't have enough agency" is kind of weak, but when you flip it to say "the characters acted misaligned from their characterization" we can now see that the *real* problem here isn't that they lacked agency but that this lack of agency is inconsistent with the type of character that they are. a character this strong-willed *should* have more agency even if a weak-willed character might not.

So it's just a really simple way of framing the way I critique books that I think has really helped to show the difference between "this book is bad" and "this book didn't meet my personal preferences", but also, as someone talking about books, I think it helps give other people a clearer idea of what the book actually looks like so they can decide for themselves if it's worth their time.

Update: This is literally just a thought exercise to help you be more intentional with how you critique media. I'm not enforcing this as some divine rule that must be followed any time you have an opinion on fiction, and I'm definitely not saying that you have to structure every single sentence in a review to contain zero negative phrases. I'm just saying that I repurposed a rule we had at that specific reviewer to be a helpful tool to check myself when writing critiques now. If you don't want to use the tool, literally no one (especially not me) can or wants to force you to use it. As with all advice, it is a totally reasonable and normal thing to not have use for every piece of it that exists from random strangers on the internet. Use it to whatever extent it helps you or not at all.

[dragonseeds]

do you have any thoughts on daenys the dreamer?

extremely fun and obvious play on the cassandra figure. a version where her family not only believes her but venerates her visions and prophecies—like, she saves them and a handful of dragons and, in doing so, the world, but it also curses her bloodline. the thing that once saved them becomes an obsession that consumes them literally in wildfire. the idea that you can be doomed by believing in and actively trying to fulfill a prophecy (aegon v at summerhall, melisandre and stannis) just as easily as others are doomed by their disbelief or their attempts to circumvent fate (cersei echoing my buddy king laius)—like that’s so, so cool to me. i love the ambiguity between fate and choice, the way grrm takes the whole trope apart and plays with all the individual components.

also very interested in the line running from daenys to daenerys, and i always wonder if daenys saw her too and if so, how much of her life daenys saw and was able to contextualize? did she see clear images like melisandre and bran or more metaphorical ones, like jojen or dany in the house of the undying? something like… a dragon with three heads fighting in a frozen wasteland lol?

considering the the loss of female power in house targaryen is so deeply entwined with the dying of the dragons, underneath all of that for me is aemon’s line in affc and the context that follows it:

what were they translating?? were some of the documents in other languages? it couldn’t have all been daenys’ works because aemon says they’ve been wrong for a thousand years. this prophecy has been a motivating factor for the targaryens (and valyrians?) for a thousand years, but i wonder at what point the translation error actually crept in? daenys was valyrian and that would’ve been her primary language—i like to think she would’ve understood the nature of the dragon in a way her male descendents couldn’t. no one ever looked for a girl, but it was always a girl. not men in a patriarchal feudalist society reducing women to their reproductive capabilities (rhaella’s miserable life being one of the most egregious examples of this) and then being surprised when a woman is needed to rebirth the dragons lol.

this got away from me because i think the (deconstruction of the) use of prophecy in asoiaf is fascinating and everything we know about daenys is tied up in that. cutting myself off before i start talking about gender as it relates to this prophecy. beyond that, i’m really not interested in interpretations of daenys where she’s catatonic or broken by what she’s seen any more than i am in interpretations of dany where she goes mad, just because i’m sick of the seeing the general victimization of women in asoiaf taken to such an extreme that they’re defined by it—with whoever suffers most ecstatically being the least problematic to stan, especially when the women in question are from/associated with house targaryen.

[bloggingboutburgers]

If it's okay to ask, how do you handle acephobia as an adult? I know that's a broad question, but it feels like ever since I become an adult, the acephobia in my life has kicked into overdrive. Suddenly, if I'm not an active, excited participant in 18+ conversations, I'm being @'d and teased for it no matter how many times I disengage from the conversation or say to just leave me out of it. I've had (ex, otherwise extremely toxic) friends tell me that my version of aceness doesn't exist because "nobody is that sex repulsed" because I don't read fics if they have 18+ scenes, that I can't be childish forever, and that they hated that people wrote fics about sex repulsed aces. My mother told me that she regretted not being more openly loving with my father because she thinks that's what caused me to be asexual as an adult. Being a kid gave me a shield to hide behind, but now that I'm above 18, there's just this assumption that if you're not totally comfortable with 18+ topics, you're either an infant or a puritan, and you need to be fixed, and I don't really know how to handle it without making these people feel validated that I'm "just a puritan." I just don't like being the butt of the joke because of my sexuality all the time.

Hmmm... I'll be honest, I guess I didn't see that much difference between as a teen and as an adult myself? But I guess it might be a cultural thing about the rapport to sex related to age. In my country, at least when I was growing up, you were very much expected to have an interest in sex-related topics in high school already.

That said, everything you described is true. And because I've wanted to hiss so many times at what you've described, here's deconstructed thoughts:

I'M that sex-repulsed, anyone who says that shit can fuck off

Anyone who says they downright HATE that people write things about sex-repulsed ace has a queer hate issue. That's downright what it is. It's fucked up and they oughta check themselves and their aphobia.

Aah yes, the classic "sex=adult and that's the only thing that equals adult ever". While we're at it I'll also assume that when they say "18+" they just mean sex and none of the other many many things only a person over 18 experiences and understands?

Anyway... It sounds like you're surrounded by pretty fucking sucky people. Granted personally there's a fuckton of bullshit I just smile and nod at on a daily basis, and I don't hang out in group spaces, much less in fandom spaces, because sadly with the state of how things are, I know they're kinda anti-me by nature. It's lonely and heartbreaking and I won't pretend it's easy every day, far from it, but the alternative of having to force oneself to put up with even more hate and erasure is worse.

So yeah, lots of self-preservation reflexes. Lots of laughing at a person's aphobic joke like "Wow that's a glorious asshole if I ever knew one and I'm gonna stay as far away from them as I can from now on." Got very tough when that description involved some coworkers in the past, but hey, at least my dance of joy was all the more satisfying when they left the company.

And on the flip side, if a person is friendly and open to listen, and learn if needed, without dismissing me? Oh you bet I'll hold on to those people for dear life and do my best to hang out with them more. Such people are scattered across my life, but they helped me build a support system of self confidence that made it much easier for me every day, and helped me build the confidence to come out as ace to my whole family over time. (I also have amazing bros who somehow always seemed to consider my asexuality as an obvious part of me and their opinion is the one that mattered the most to me from the start family-wise, so y'know, I'm lucky.)

So yeah... Preserving myself from people who invalidate me and cherishing those who don't really did a lot for me. It made me more and more confident over time to mention that I'm ace casually to new people, because these people taught me that hey, sometimes you tell someone you're ace and they somehow DON'T turn you into a laughing stock for it! And yeah, it's kinda fucked up that this has to be some kind of incredible news, but... Hopefully the fact that it's possible nonetheless can bring you a bit of hope.

Ofc that also means that sometimes I'll be having like, dinner with friends of a friend that I've never met before, and suddenly I'll find myself thinking "Wow these people who just met me and know nothing about me just made like 3 jokes involving me having sex in the span of 2 hours, and I forgot that was apparently 'normal'." It's weird for sure. Bit of a survival game of sorts sometimes. But hey... It's a life, ig, we didn't choose our lives so we gotta play the hand we're dealt. And uh... How did that Bojack Horseman quote go again? Oh yeah.

[xiki-pupper]

I can understand how Shuro may be a frustrating character to some folks - in fact that is kinda what he is there for, narratively speaking. But it really gives me ick when people just wanna shit on him for "being awful/the worst/an asshole"

The way I see it, the dude is his own different flavor of Autism- repressed, conditioned, awkward, and forced to participate in high society, not to mention the culture clash - and he sees laios just being his own weirdo self and he hates it --- no, thats not it. I honestly don't think he hates laios; i truly believe he hates that Laios gets to be TRUE to himself, and he (shuro) Doesn't get to be.

And it's a feeling I can understand and sympathize and empathize with, as I have been on my own personal journey to try and un-mask and deconstruct and heal myself in a world that has made me feel broken my entire life

People scream "hypocrisy" as shuro sees the same traits between the touden siblings, and is attracted to one whilst hating the other - and yes, I can agree that it's a bit hypocritical, but yall are taking it at face value and not understanding where his feelings are coming from. Shuro doesn't hate laios because he has a special interest, shuro hates that his whole life, he has had to squash himself into a form-fitting box, behave as his family commands, and now he sees laios being free of expectation, just out here being a weirdo, and shuro is possibly feeling that frustrated grief that comes with the late diagnosed autistic situation of "I could have been happy, too, but no, *I* had to be the responsible one"

... at least, that's how I view it. Coz I myself have had those thoughts. And I know, it's NOT a good look for me to be out here admitting that I have felt this way, like for example, maybe I see someone else's struggle with anxiety, whether it's online or in real life, and I have this bitter thought to myself of "yeah, I have anxiety too, but *I* was still forced to be a responsible adult anyway" which makes me momentarily frustrated.

And before anyone jumps my ass about it, NO, I definitely DO NOT think that "if I had to suffer thru it, so should everyone else" that's NOT what I'm saying. But I AM saying that, there is a bitterness, when u see someone who is able to avoid a struggle that you had to endure - that bitterness is NOT thinking that everyone should suffer as I did, but me being bitter that *I had to* at all.

Does that make sense? Coz I really feel like Shuro just gets shit on because people think he's there to interrupt the Yuri and be mean to Laois, and I really feel that he's a whole ass person. And a somewhat melancholic one, at that. He makes me think of how I had to grow up Christian whilst being queer and undiagnosed Audhd my entire life, and I would be very very surprised to hear that a large chunk of dunmeshi fans didn't ALSO grow up this way, feeling broken and stupid and tired, forced to do things the "normal people" way, and then NOT understand how Shuro feels when he sees someone who is in a position to be mostly free of that...

[genericpuff]

I wonder why christian misrepresentation are rarely talked about if compared to other religion misrepresentation. Like, I've seen people really vocal about Greek myths misrepresentation in LO and such (and it's valid because it's a culture and religion) but I rarely saw the same thing with christian even though there are many media who use christian religion innacurately, to the point where it comes off as using it as an aesthetic and not a proper religion.

Is it because of rampant religious trauma especially in western world? No ulterior motives on this question. I'm not a christian and yet I'm curious about this. I apologize if this sounds harsh.

I obviously don't have The Answer(tm) to this but personally speaking (and I'm about to get VERY personal here so take this with MOUNTAINS OF SALT), I think it's just the obvious - Christian mythology is one of the most well-documented and strongly protected out of virtually any other religion on the planet. Especially here in the West, it's commonplace for kids to go to Sunday school, for couples to have Christian weddings even if they're not practising Christians themselves, even the American anthem references the Christian God. It's simply not as easy to 'misrepresent' it because the representation is written into our very fabric of society. Even Greece itself is primarily made up of Orthodox Christians.

So anyone that does 'misrepresent' it are either completely mislead hardcore Christians, or people who are doing it intentionally, such as with the intent to make a parody of it or to deconstruct it through a different context or whatever have you. And of course, people will still get mad at those things, if you're implying that people aren't vocal about Christian misrepresentation then frankly IDK what to tell you there LOL If you want a contextual example in the realm of webtoons, Religiously Gay was dragged to hell and back during its launch for having a very crude and insulting depiction of St. Michael, and frankly, yeah I don't disagree because what the fuck is this-

(like at best it's just terrible character design lmao that said, there's also plenty else to criticize Religiously Gay for, including its fetishy representation of gay relationships and the fact that it's still just the "naive person who looks and acts like a child hooks up with mean person in a position of power" trope, blech, but the character design is definitely the first thing you notice)

There are even plenty of hardcore Christians who will deadass claim "misrepresentation" over things that ARE factually correct but they just haven't read the actual Bible and simply cherry pick what works for their own agenda. And of course those people are routinely called out by people like myself who know for a fact that Jesus wouldn't have promoted the war crimes that many modern day Christians are committing and justifying today. So it really depends on the definition of "misrepresentation" here.

The issue specifically with LO and Rachel that I personally call her out for (and many others) is that she's called herself a "folklorist" and claimed she's so much more knowledgeable on Greek myth than anyone else, while making a complete mockery of the original mythologies while not being honest about her intent as to whether LO is actually supposed to be a legitimate retelling OR a parody (because it sure acts like the latter more than the former, but she still seems to expect us to take it seriously and consider her knowledge of Greek myth superior?) Which leads to a lot of her teenage audience claiming shit like "Persephone went down to the underworld willingly" and "Apollo did assault Persephone in the original myths actually" and the classic "why would Lore Olympus lie or make up fake myths?"

You just can't pull off this extent of erasure with Christian mythology because we have a whole ass book of it that's been preserved, sold on shelves, and systematically integrated into society for thousands of years. Of course, there are people who will still try their damned best to twist the Bible to match their own bigotry with the whole "Jesus hates gays" bullshit (he would never), but it's met with equal amounts of 'misrepresentation' that are actually fully well-read and are intentionally subverting and changing things to either critique, parody, or restore the original intent of a lot of stories in the Bible without all the manufactured right-wing crap.

Greek myth, on the other hand, has some stories that are well preserved, and others, not so much. And in the modern day outside of the poems and hymns, you'll also rarely, if ever, see anyone use stories from Greek myth to ostracize, torture, and murder other people. "Misrepresenting Christianity" is more often done by actual Christians who are using the Bible to commit hate crimes than the people who have actually read the Bible and are just taking creative liberties with it for the sake of deconstructing / parodying / analyzing / subverting it. Veggie Tales "misrepresents" Christian stories because obviously Moses wasn't a fucking cucumber lmao but it still accomplishes its goal by retelling Christian stories in a way that's fun and educational for children.

By comparison (on the whole, I'm not comparing LO to Veggie Tales LMAO) LO just isn't clear in its intentions beyond Rachel's initial statements that she was trying to "deconstruct" the myths, while labelling herself as a folklorist. Therefore, I'm going to criticize how she does it because the way she's done it up until now has been very mishandled and has resulted in a lot of misinterpretations of the myths simply for the sake of fandom. And yes, these people exist in Christian media as well - they're called TV evangelists.

And that's my (very heavy) two cents.

[rickktish]

I feel like this entire fandom got as far as "Dumbledore had a messed up past!" and turned off their brains from there

This drives me so fucking nuts.

Dumbledore WAS attached to an extremist group in his youth-- Grindelwald's "greater good" was an ideal he believed in, it's true.

UNTIL it wasn't any more.

It fucking pisses me off when people write fics about Harry having to deal with "greater good" phase Dumbledore because!!! the whole point is that he saw the error of that way of thinking!!! He deconstructed and decided to avoid positions of political power!!! That's why he refused to be minister, not because he wanted to keep manipulating from the shadows or whatever but literally because he did not trust himself with that much power!!! The existence of the prophecy put him in a deeply strained situation between "I have a duty, a responsibility, as a person with the abilities and experience I have, to do everything in my power to stop Voldemort" vs "I literally do not trust myself in positions of power or responsibility because I have proven to myself in the past that I cannot be trusted." He doesn't want to make it a numbers game! He wants Harry to grow up and live happily ever after, so much so that he nearly destroys all of his own plans in order to achieve that end! Calling Dumbledore manipulative and equating that with him being bad is such a shallow take. Yes, he's manipulative; that doesn't make him evil! If slytherin ambition and slyness can be positive traits why are you intentionally plugging your ears to avoid letting machiavellian manipulation be used for a positive end as well? Is it because you decided in your edgy middle school phase that the Light Side are Secretly Evil and the Dark Side is Tragically Misunderstood and you haven't grown or matured since then? Did you completely miss the part where Dumbledore utterly despises himself with his whole being? Did you miss the part where he made the choices he thought he had to, not because he wanted to but because they were necessary, and even then he couldn't keep from sabotaging himself in the hope that Harry might get just one more happy year, one more happy month with his friends instead of having to fight or die in a war he shouldn't have had to face? Grow the fuck up. Do you want me to get on your level? If you think Dumbledore was "raising Harry like a pig for slaughter" you're agreeing with Professional Racist and Child Abuser Severus Snape. You're agreeing with the guy who quit the KKK not because he didn't agree with them anymore, but because the girl he wanted to be his exception didn't survive her family's honor killing to marry him instead. How's that for a childish argument? Does that get through your thick skull? Does that appeal to your barely pubescent sense of morality? "It's for the greater good" my ass. If your year-5 or -6 Dumbledore is still making Greater Good arguments then you've accidentally transposed him with the teenage version of himself that Rita Skeeter exhumed for clout and controversy. Dumbledore was a highly intelligent cult victim who got out and never trusted his own perception of a situation again but still did his fucking best, okay? get over your authority issues without reasonable solutions, deprogram yourself, deradicalize yourself, and figure out that people are still people no matter their past mistakes and when they're genuinely doing the best they can, especially when they're drowning and alone and trying to make the best of a shitty situation for everyone involved, maybe have like. A single ounce of compassion instead of declaring them wholly evil without possibility of parole.

[brights-place]

Hello!! I read some of your Trolls stuff and I really really like them! May I request Trollex, Branch, and Floyd with a super supportive s/o who’s experienced in a lot of genres of music and dance? They have a TON of instruments and they know how to play every last one like girl where did you get these???

Sheet music and music theory knowledge is through the roof like you’d think they teach it as a profession, and if they give them physical affection and compliments and actually just normal relationship stuff??? They are a puddle on the ground they are NOT used to someone close actively caring so much about them besides like family they love that shit, giving AND receiving 😎 (they can be shy about it sometimes tho it’s adorable)

Uhhh tldr local music nerd is smitten with their amazing s/o, they down bad tbh /j

If this is too much in a single request, don’t hesitate to message me in case this is too long!

Them Dating an Music Theory! Troll

Pairing: Trollex X S/O, Floyd X S/O, and Branch X S/O

Warnings: Lots of Fluff, Mild cursing

A/N: OOOOH I LOVE THIS REQUEST! this is so good okay okay! plus I do music theory myself so this is fun! >:D

Trollex

- Trollex loves the way you explain music theory in a way that is easy to understand and engaging

- He enjoys listening to them talk passionately about music.

- He enjoys watching you play music for you and analyze the pieces in depth

- He listens when you rant and explain Music theory to him explaining that music theory covers things such as pitches and scales, intervals, clefs, rhythm, form, meter and time signatures, phrases and cadences, and basic harmony for music which he nods his head listening to you - Trollex loves how you play many instruments and stares at how you play it with ease - Trollex listens to you rant about it and is very patient with you even with his short attention span and endless energy.

- loves the way you light up when you talks about things that are about music

- He asks so many questions and forgets since his brain is re-setting sometimes - He can't help but admire your dedication to studying and refining your endless knowledge of music - He loves that they challenge your preconceived ideas about music and open you up to new perspectives of different musical styles and genres.

- He loves your creative ideas and imagination for how to explore and experiment with music.

- He values your willingness to share your knowledge and experience with you.

- He loves the way you express yourself through music and many genres not sticking to one and enjoys how you dance with him to techno music

Floyd

- Floyd loves to encourage you to express yourself creatively and explore your musical side more around him which you obviously do

- He appreciates how you share music tastes with him and discover new songs to listen to together

- He finds your knowledge of music history fascinating and enjoy learning new facts about the origins of different musical styles.

- Floyd is fascinated by your ability to deconstruct a piece of music and understand how the different elements interact to create a cohesive whole

- Floyd can’t help be impressed by the way you can find common threads between seemingly disparate pieces of music and make connections that he had never noticed before and would ask more

- You love the way your shy emo partner aka Floyd opens up to you and shares his emotions through music with you

-You two enjoy discussing the deeper meanings of songs and analysing the lyrics together though he mainly stared at your face to see your focused face

- He loves to play you a song that relates to your current emotional state and makes you feel understood and comforted.

- He can’t help but be drawn to how your musical knowledge and understanding of music theory can shed light on your personality in ways that you may not have been aware of but he was aware of it

- He finds it amazing how you can deconstruct your emotions using music theory and communicate with you on a deeper level which he also does I mean he is the sensitive one and knows about emotions

- He can’t help but be amazed by how much you can learn through many genres of music and their musical knowledge… I mean he’s Pop Rock but he can’t help but be shocked how you know ALL the genres

- He can’t help but be charmed by the way you approach music with pure enthusiasm and wonder as he stared at you lovingly.

Branch

- You both feel a strong connection with each other through music and can tell that you're both on the same wavelength even though he doesn't show it much,

- He can't help but admire the way you are fine with how branch can effortlessly switch between serious discussion and playful banter

- He finds it adorable when you become shy and blushes after realizing you have been rambling on about music for too long.

- He loves when you start sharing your favorite songs and artists with each other and discovering new music together

- He loves to support your creativity and encourages you to express yourself through music. - Branch can’t help be impressed by the way you can find common threads between seemingly disparate pieces of music and make connections that he had never noticed before and would ask more about it towards you

- He's impressed by your intelligence and knowledge of music theory.

- He finds himself admiring at your musical skills and wishing he could play or compose music the way you do.

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2023 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact!

[hymnoeides]

AAAA your art is amazing! How did you learn to draw poses btw? I know the shapes, I always do gesture drawings everyday and I cant draw poses at all, despite breaking it into shapes! any advice? im not a beginner artist and I love how you stylize your anatomy KJDalksf

(Deadpan) We ball. Take all those rules you learned of anatomy? Throw them out the window.

HALF JOKING!! But it still applies to an extent imo! Especially with gesture drawing practice, but in general too, focus on the movement/flow and vibe/energy you want to convey with the pose instead of worrying about getting every single shape right. To me, rules are meant to be broken, especially in the world of art. Something I do is instead of seeing body parts as separate pieces to get right, start seeing them as in relation with one another! Stare at references(!!!!) and something that personally helped me, contort your own body if you can to see any relations - ex. Press your arm to your sides, to your head, feel where the elbow ends up. It can help with keeping proportion even when you stylize/stretch and bend. As always, practice practice practice. I’m still improving myself,,,, but at least I can kind of eye-ball things now! Keep sketches loose :) I tend to think of the whole picture/vibe I’m going for then kind of deconstruct backwards into something that actually looks ‘correct’(perspective and composition can really effect how a pose interacts with the canvas and stuff and feel etc etc.)

[emeraldcity1900]

no but sofia the first didn’t need to go as hard as it did.

like that was my shit when I was a little kid and I caught some episodes when my brother was doing a rewatch during quarantine so I know it’s good. but now rewatching it for myself in full, they did not need to go this hard.

they didn’t need to emphasize that the main character had a blended family when so many fairytales demonized stepparents and step siblings. They didn’t need to make amber a deconstruction of the very stereotype (the evil stepsister) she was meant to embody. They didn’t need to make the soundtrack slap so fucking hard. They didn’t need to draw up a map of the show’s universe that can’t be shown to the public for writing purposes.

And Cedric? Don’t get me started. They could’ve left him as the bumbling antagonist of the series, but they didn’t. They could’ve had sofia befriending him be a one off something that affects nothing in the show and never explore the storytelling possibilities with that. But they didn’t. You know what they did? They fucking RAN with that! They saw the potential for conflict that could affect the entire story as a whole and just went with it.

they could’ve gone and said “eh it’s a princess show for five year old girls, let’s just half ass it.” And they didn’t.

it’s almost as if, kids are smarter than we give them credit for and the entertainment made for them should reflect that.

[duncebento]

did you know your ex bf was weird about israel going into the relationship or do these freaks hide it well and spring it on you later?

“or do these freaks hide it well and spring it on you later…” it’s a terrible question, maladjusted and provocative.

when people on the left possess whatever liberalism-that-turns-to-fascism-under-pressure idea, it’s normally not because they’re a nefarious imp. it’s far more likely that they’ve struggled to do the necessary deconstructive work to effectively continue engaging in antifascism (and historically, many many people have fought valiantly for rights in one area and been cowardly oppressors in another.) weakness, cowardice, blindness. when the contradictions are heightened it’s easy to laugh at such failures (and they can indeed be very funny, because some people really do give in to a fascistic impulse for unserious, superficial, ahistorical reasons—) but it is a capacity that we all possess, and i don’t generally find it useful to fool myself into thinking there is some fundamental difference between me and anyone who succumbs to those qualities. i don’t think i am part of a heroic “us” fighting against “freaks hiding it well,” i think i am fighting against the passive perpetuation of status-quo evil, even as i know that i perpetuate the same status-quo evil in littler ways. it might be a touchy answer; you’re asking rudely about a recent ex.

re the specific and singular post that you’re responding to, i don’t actually think that my ex reposting an instagram story about israeli hostages was him being “weird about israel” exactly. i know WHY he would do that; two of his family members were taken hostage. the whole point is that he doesn’t have to go put of the way to act maliciously; outside of a vacuum, his rhetoric perpetuates a larger myopic focus on the recent harm caused by palestinian fighters decontextualized from a larger history of their oppression.

because i was dating a human jewish person, and not a thinkpiece or caricature, i wouldn’t say that either leg of your dichotomy is descriptive of the experience i had with them. nor do i feel any vindication in having to separate myself from a jewish person i was very close to, even though i think it was the right thing to do. i think it sucks that israeli fascism is further isolating jewish and gentile people in my own community at large from each other. there’s not like. a gotcha or a clapback. that’s sad

[littlemisssquiggles]

...So...about the second episode of RWBY Beyond...

[SPOILERS AHEAD! NUFF SAID]

It skips over the return of RWBY and Jaune, reuniting with their comrades in Vacuo and getting to see everyone’s reactions to being reunited with their missing comrades after so long.

Alright. I guess they're saving that for V10 if it gets greenlit. Fair and fine.

That being said, it skips over the reunion to focus a whole episode on Jaune in the aftermath of the return from the Ever After?

...Huh?

I’m sorry. But for the sake of being that person, I’m gonna be that person.

Just to set the record straight, I don’t hate Jaune. I've never hated Jaune as a character. I have mostly had issues with the way the Writers just love to have Jaune’s development usurp others who deserve the screen time and focus more than him.

Personally, I do not care for Jaune’s development right now. Jaune’s whole experience in the Ever After, for me, did NOT need to be a focus episode for RWBY Beyond.

Especially since there are other characters who had more tragic experiences in the Ever After whose feelings I would’ve liked to see in the aftermath.

And by other characters, I mainly mean Ruby!

I do, however, love the detail of Oscar being someone that Jaune gets to talk to.

That was nice and I’m pleased to see that for a second time, Oscar is featured in RWBY Beyond. I actually hope that’s a thing for the final two episodes. I hope that Oscar appears in each episode of RWBY Beyond, even if he’s just in the background.

But going back to my original rant, Jaune is NOT the person I was itching to see Oscar talk to especially in respect to their experience in the Ever After.

If there is any body I wanted to see talk to Oscar, it’s RUBY ROSE! And no, this has nothing to do with Rosegarden or shipping potential at all. I’m talking about this from a narrative perspective.

Ruby’s whole arc in the Ever After was basically about life, death and rebirth in a sense. A complete deconstruction of her character, resulting in her committing the Ever After equivalent of “suicide” and be faced with an ultimatum of choosing to become someone else or be herself in which she chose herself.

Ruby lost herself in the Ever After for a moment. Oscar is on the cusp of losing himself at this moment.

Ruby saw Oscar “die” as part of an illusion that hinted at her being responsible for his death and/failing to save him just like she did with other friends like Penny.

Oscar is on the cusp of “dying” metaphorically right now.

YOU DON’T THINK THESE ARE TWO PEOPLE WHO DEFINTELY NEED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER?!!

C’MON CRWBY! IT'S FINE THAT JAUNE GETS TO TALK TO OSCAR BUT I NEED RUBY TO TALK TO OSCAR TOO!

And speaking of Oscar, don't think I didn't notice his little awkward cough and shifty eyes, immediately redirecting the conversation when Oscar made a point about being in similar situation to Jaune and Jaune be like "You mean Ozpin, right?" and Oscar be like "Aah yes, of course". Ya'll ain't slick dropping dem Merge crumbs! For what it's worth, I do hope an episode focus more on Oscar and Oz in the cards for the final two episodes.

Overall, this second episode of RWBY Beyond was alright. As was the first.

The artwork of RWBY Beyond is absolutely breathtaking to me and is easily my favourite part of watching the anthology. Inspite of the limited animation, the beautiful artwork more than makes up for it. I definitely wouldn’t mind an actual physical RWBY storybook anthology series done in this same art style.

Makes me wish that Fairytales of Remnant animated series was done in this exact same style instead of the awkward Camp Camp style that DID NOT feel like RWBY at all.

All in all, onward to the next episode of RB. Makes me wonder who will be the focus of the final two episodes.

Like which characters will be we get to have an episode about? Obviously, speaking for myself, I would love an Oscar-centric episode. I mean…he’s been in every episode thus far so it’d be nice to see on all about him for once.

Outside of Oscar, I wouldn’t mind an episode about the Schnee Family done from Whitley’s perspective? That’s also a good one to see.

And of course, if there is one person an episode needs to be done on, it has to be Ruby. I mean the Oscar and Whitley ones are probabilities but a Ruby-focus episode for RWBY Beyond has to be in the cards, right?

If they can touch base on Jaune’s feelings during the Aftermath of the Ever After then surely, they gotta talk about Ruby's whole experience with her literal death and rebirth, right? RIGHT?

I guess only time will tell. 2 Episodes down. 2 more to go so see ya’ll next week.

~LMS (2024)

[kaurwreck]

i'm so curious if you have anything specific you would like to say about your processes regarding mirroring different bsd character's mannerisms and methods of speaking, because 👀 (-> person who recently picked up writing bsd fic but struggles wrt matching character voice as a rule). completely fair if it's something that you either have said all you intend to about for rn or if it's something you would prefer to engage with only in more direct conversation though!!

oh, all i ever want to do is talk about writing as a craft; i'm delighted to chat about it.

much of what I do for bsd is the same as I do for characters in other fics. I'm never aiming to necessarily mirror the characters as they appear in the source materials, because I write fanfiction to explore the characters outside of the confines of canon. instead, I aim to recreate the "look and feel" of the characters, so they still feel like themselves, even when adapted to my authorial voice and lenses of interpretation.

There are a several principles of canonical interpretation that I use to guide my characterizations, which I've listed below.

Characters are storytelling devices that serve the canonical narrative's key themes. Even if I'm writing outside of canon, I'm not going to be able to make them feel like themselves without first understanding canon (genre, themes, tone, thesis, etc.) and the characters' roles in the context of canon.

Characters are comprised of component parts (such as goals, motivations, flaws, experiences, preferences, skills) that, if conflated, obscure or make it very easy to misidentify their behavioral patterns.

Characters are designed and written intentionally. There is no random detail; every scrap of canonical information survived multiple drafts, rounds of revisions, and editorial scrutiny for a reason.

If I don't understand why a character behaved the way they did, or if the "why" seems out of character or incongruent with the overarching narrative and themes of the story, then I assume I'm missing details; I have misunderstood some aspect of either the character or the context; my bias or experiences are clouding my perspective; or I am operating from a false premise or place of ignorance. This is especially important for engaging with works outside my own cultural context, and for cultivating discernment, emotional intelligence, sincerity, compassion, and curiosity (which are core to my values).

I continue to deconstruct and reconstruct and reconcile characters and their narratives, constantly testing the patterns I've previously identified against new information or canonical material, and refining or reworking them accordingly. In other words, I remain flexible in my interpretations, and I continue applying those interpretations to ongoing canon. I don't want canon to validate my interpretations, I want to understand canon.

To write characters that feel like distinct, whole people, I observe people, myself and others, both granularly and holistically, with insatiable curiosity. Otherwise I risk writing my own ego, patterns, and mannerisms over and over. That doesn't work for me, because I write and read to explore the expansiveness of existence, not to force existence to fit into the narrowness of my present perception.

You only asked about characters' mannerisms and methods of speaking, so many of the above principles may seem out of scope. They're not. If you only observe patterns without analyzing their causes and context, you'll, at best, only ever be able to caricature them, but never replicate, adapt, or expound upon them.

But, with the above principles in mind, my process for learning to write characters' manner of speaking includes revisiting their canonical dialogue to identify their (1) speech patterns like vocal rhythm, pace, intonation, and pausing (sources of which may vary based on the medium, e.g., narrative descriptions and punctuation for written canon; expressions and other characters' reactions for visual canon; etc.); (2) vocabulary, dialect, frequently used phrases, favorite filler words; (3) nonverbal modes of communication (e.g., Chuuya screeches like a vixen in heat when he's either in Corruption or really, really, really riled up by or in regard to Dazai).

Then, I note variations in (1)-(3) across interactions with other characters and in different settings, noting where, how, and potentially why those changes occur (e.g., Kunikida doesn't usually use honorifics, but he does for Ranpo and Fukuzawa; it's explicitly because he immensely respects them and desires to learn from them, the former perhaps because of the latter).

For Japanese speaking characters, I research which type of keigo they use in canon, and which particles of speech indicating tone they commonly use, and why/when/to whom they code switch. I don't speak Japanese, so I generally rely on analyses provided by native speakers, but I also listen/read the raws to confirm the formality or type of keigo they're using in situations relevant to whatever I'm writing. For other languages and dialects too, the process is roughly the same; I look for resources from native speakers and translators that provide insight into patterns I wouldn't otherwise hear or recognize as a monolingual English speaker. I don't do this with any intent to try and replicate them, but to better and more precisely adapt the character's speech patterns to the English version of them. For example, I've noticed a lot of MDZS/Untamed fanfiction writes Lan Wangji speaking very brusquely. This is because he does so in Chinese. But in Chinese syntax, his short sentences indicate his formality and noble character. In English, which requires packing way more context into sentences than Chinese, short sentences with minimal context can come across as informal, clipped, and sometimes rude/dismissive/abrupt.

There's also the matter of code switching, which transcends any one language, and lends lots of insight into our relationships and dynamics. We do not usually talk to our best friends the way we speak to strangers, for example. Our accents and dialects also shift with our settings; I'm from the Deep South, you call EVERYONE "ma'am" or "sir" if they are even slightly older than you or you otherwise respect them; using "ma'am" or "sir" where I currently live is liable to offend someone. Paying attention to this in characters can really, really help you capture them across contexts. It's also just generally respectful to engage with the cultural and linguistic context of the stories you love.

For their body language, it's very similar to the above, in that I revisit canon, note patterns, and compare contexts. (Also still salient are my notes about culturally specific details and code switching -- body language, like any form of communication, is also informed by our upbringing and cultural backgrounds.)

Then, I write, revisiting my notes and canon as necessary, but mostly focused on drafting. During revisions, I more carefully compare my dialogue and body language against canon, and pay closer attention to refining my dialogue to sound more like the character. Sometimes I watch or read relevant canon before writing specific dialogue so that the rhythms are fresh in my mind.

I'm never trying to erode my own authorial voice, and I make all sorts of choices with how I adapt character voices to my writing style and preferences. But, I can do that without compromising the character's "look and feel" because I've done the above work to understand the essential elements of their communication, and how those elements relate to their overall characterization (essential to which is applying the principles I listed at the outset to the speech and body language patterns I notice).

But, like, all of this amounts to just revisiting canon a lot and connecting patterns in the characters' speech and body language with their characterization + being curious about the cultural layers you may be missing.

Also, with regard to bsd, I recommend reading, even if just in snippets, works by the irl!authors, since Asagiri almost literally quotes them sometimes, and certainly uses the irl namesakes' authorial voices to guide the tone, inflections, and speech quirks of the characters he writes. (I love, love, love to invoke irl!Chuuya's symbolist and sometimes bewildering habit of mashing together imagery and bastardizing words/turns of phrase in ways that are nonsensical when taken literally, but which are evocative or meaningful in the tone, atmosphere, and meter of his poetry. I'm not as clever as him, so I'm silly with it, but nevertheless, it sparks joy.)

I have no idea if any of this is helpful, but it's how I enjoy approaching it. I'm also inclined to think it works for me; the element in my fics I'm complimented on the most in comments and feedback tends to be my characterizations.

[bomberqueen17]

sewing

So, being back in my own house for a bit, I've been trying to get my sewing area back together. (During the kitchen renovations I had to move things around in great haste and it's a horrible mess down there and I can't find so many of my things now argh.)

The thing I'm really excited about is that Cashmerette put out a pattern for a wireless bra. I can't wear underwires, and to those who insist I've just never had one that fit, well i've been fitted professionally in three different countries, the problem is that I have fucking enormous tits and underwires literally don't work for me, thanks! (Several times after bra fittings I have gone home empty-handed because the specialty bra boutique for special boobs had nothing in stock for my special boobs oops. Yes that always feels amazing, never fails, thanks, everyone loves finding out they're a total freak. Does wonders for the self-esteem. [My boobs are not that huge but my ribcage is freakishly small, as it happens, not that anyone was wondering, but that is what the problem is, and there just isn't room on my sternum for underwires, casings, and a central gore like underwired bras need to have. So the underwires have nowhere to go but my armpits, and that neither feels nor looks good, and in short, I've sworn off them forever because absolutely fuck those things.])

So anyway I have a bunch of supplies for that on order but am making myself do other sewing first, at least until the supplies arrive.

I managed to cut out two different dresses, and finished one, but the one I finished.... alas. So I've been subscribed to the Cashmerette Club for a while now (since it started) getting a pattern a month, and one of the dress patterns was for a kind of shirred-waist dress with a faux-button placket and all-in-one sleeves and bodice, and I made it and it is just as comfy as it sounds but I didn't like the look of it on me. But I thought it had potential. And then I saw an ad on Instagram for a dress that sort of vaguely resembled it, and I thought, oh, I could make that dress, which has a few style features that I thought would mitigate the accidental-schlubbiness of the Cashmerette club dress. So I adapted my pattern and last-minute changed to use some fabric I liked but wasn't sentimental about, and did my whole thing, and.

Well, of the changes I made, a couple worked, but the main one did not-- I wanted to make the waist an inverted V instead of straight, to give the bodice some more oomph. And it did not work in such a way that it's pretty well unsalvageable-- the inverted V just looks like my belly is so fat it's pushing it up, and then I altered the skirt panel to fit better but I got the angle wrong so it billows out in an awkwardly-dimensional shape, and in short I look like I'm about to go into labor. So the dress is really a total loss, I can't fix it without entirely recutting the bodice panel and I don't have enough fabric for that and also I would have to deconstruct the entire dress in order to replace the bodice and waistband.

So i have yet another unflattering-schlubby dress to kick around the house in I guess. Like I don't care that much about things being """"flattering"""" but this one is so oddly-shaped that it is distracting.

However I did come up with a cool way to have huge bell sleeves that i can roll up. Hear me out: Drawstring casing on top of the arm. In this bodice pattern with no shoulder seam, that means I encase the end of the drawstring in the neckline binding, right? And then the ribbon goes down the casing the whole length of the arm, and hangs out the end. And then when you want to push the sleeves up, you just pull on the ribbon, and tie it to the small length of ribbon you also enclosed in the neckline binding. Voila! Tiny bows on the shoulder, huge sleeves beautifully pushed up out of the way, and then when you're done doing work and want to protect your arms from the sun you just untie the bow! That did turn out pretty cool if I do say so myself.

But the other dress I"m working on is probably going to be just fine, it's one I already made and have not altered the pattern for appreciably so I have reasonable expectations of success. I'm using several yards of silk I tie-dyed around Christmastime (to exhaust the dye vat I'd used for some scarfs I made as gifts) and it's very lightweight so I added more width to the body panels to pleat down, and if it's too lightweight and floaty I'll put trim on the hem to weigh it down a little. It looks cool AF and one way or another I'll get something usable out of it.

And I also have a button-up collared shirt to do next, which I think will work well and has already been hacked by a few people to make dresses that I think would finally fulfill my dream of several years to have a sharp-looking shirt dress. And then i figure I'll sew bras until I get sick of trying.

You've come all this way so I'll find a photo. 1) here is the Failed Dress, a detail showing just how awfully I misjudged the shape of the front skirt panel:

[image description: a mirror shot of my lower torso showing a shirred waistband that looks like it's hiked up over a full belly, and the skirt attached to it is standing straight out for about an inch before falling in weird billowy pleats] Yeah that's fucked up, I don't even know what shape to make it be for it not to defy gravity like that. I promise I'm standing straight, I'm actually even sucking my belly in a little bit to try to make it lie better and no dice baby, that shit is So Shaped and nothing I do can apparently affect it.

But here's the dyed silk I'm working with and surely this will look okay?

[image description: a length of fabric dyed in a blocky kind of streaky deep blue lies on a cutting table with a couple of pattern pieces and a yardstick]

yah there's a color theme but it's fine since i won't be wearing them adjacent to one another lol

[lover-of-mine]

I think your religion ask and response was interesting; definitely agree with Eddie having to deconstruct his relationship with religion and how religion impacts the way you perceive life even after you stop practicing.

While I’m not Catholic (ex-vangelical here), I’ve done a lot of this myself. I see Eddie’s comments about how religion pushed him to marry Shannon as indicative of him being raised in a relatively conservative form of Catholicism and can easily see how other things like needing to be a provider, have a traditional nuclear family unit, be the man of the house can come from that religious upbringing. That type of thinking is very ingrained in a lot of more conservative religions. Deconstructing that thinking is in my opinion the only way he’d be able to embrace any kind of queer identity but also potentially let go of this need to replace Shannon.

The Catholic guilt specific part of the storyline that I think will tie into where Eddie was at the end of s7 has more to do with what Ryan said about Eddie seeing himself as the root of all bad things. I think that’s going to have a heavy interplay with this revisiting of the church, especially given how catholicism emphasizes penance and also confessing your sins.

Yeah, I agree. Even tho the whole conservative view wasn't my reality at home, I did experience that in school, and stuff like no premarital sex, if you get someone pregnant, you have to get married, I heard a lot, and I feel like even if it's not fully your reality, it affects your relationship with relationships and attraction in general, I know purity culture did affect my relationship with sex. And since catholicism has the whole thing atoning for sins aspect, I think Eddie needs to look at that. Kinda like he needs to look at stuff that he was made to believe he would be punished for as a kid if they are doing the religious route to get Eddie to accept it's okay to be in love with his best friend even though he is a man. He needs to walk the path to get to a point where he fully accepts what he needs and how to want the things he wants. At least that's what I think makes more sense.

[thelindenpapers]

It's annoying the way some christians insist that, "You just became an atheist because you're upset with god!".

First, because that's untrue.

Second, because that dismisses SO much that goes into the process of deconstruction.

I got upset with my husband and his family, that's true.

I uprooted my whole life, after a seven-year courtship, to be with him...because I thought I was in love.

I unfortunately had been convinced that the man that I married was real -- rather than a cynical lie he was projecting to me, in order to 'tie me down', into what I view as a false relationship and a false marriage.

I had been additionally convinced of assumptions that:

•because his family were christians, they were good people, and that,

•because he was a "scientist", he'd be a logical and reasonable partner to deal with; and that,

•because they all liked some of the things that I liked, that that meant they held the same values as I did.

I could not have been more wrong.

Instead of thriving, and despite all efforts and arguments on my part, I watched as they slowly isolated me, and dismantled my body and my life.

Again: my upset was at THEM.

I knew that I had stayed chaste and devoted to god. That I had extended myself to the utmost, in order to deal with my husband and in-laws in pure and good faith. To support and uphold and maintain my husband and household; despite extremely confusing, adversarial, sabotaging, and gaslighting behaviors from him, and racist and misogynistic behaviors from his family.

I poured my entire being into them: being the best wife that I knew how to be, only to be denied every success, every consideration, every dignity...

I was horrified that god had somehow allowed me to fall into their cruel, uncaring, and dismissive hands.

I viewed it as some kind of cosmic misunderstanding.

I knew that anyone who "loved and knew me the way that god surely did" would not do such a thing to me!

The incongruity of these things made me afraid that god did not exist.

A fear that squeezed my heart and held me by the throat; no matter how hard and how long I prayed, no matter what christian marriage advice or ministry website I consulted.

So I started searching.

Because I "KNEW" that god did exist.

And I wanted to prove it!

I hoped that, after understanding god better, I could then come to understand my situation better, and then I'd know what god wanted me to do.

I kept looking and searching for the evidence of god that I'd always been assured was there -- by countless christian books, ministries, speakers, pastors, clergy, my own family members...

Only to find that each and every scrap and report of the "proof" of god, and of the bible, was either made up, or thoroughly debunked!

It was then -- only then -- that I became angry with the CONCEPT of god, and everything that leaning on that proverbial staff of Egypt -- in this case? Religion itself -- has done to my dreams, my potentials, my health, and my life...

There is no such thing as my having "become upset with god".

Because you can't truly be "angry" at someone who doesn't exist.