#but also there's several other examples I've seen where people tip over from

[respectthepetty]

Hi! First off all, brain praise: I LOVE THE WAY YOU SEE I LOVE THE WAY YOU ANALYZE I LOVE THE WAY YOU THINK

*clears throat and shifts feet *

How much do you think the colors apply to people in real life? How far are someone's true colors (hah) identifiable through the colors and accessories they wear? And does your brain highlight those for you in real life too? (If yes please elaborate please)

Do people choose the colors they like consciously and then over time the qualities/traits get magnified/infused (?) or do the qualities make you subconsciously choose those colors as silent representation of the inner self?

Like if a red rascal consistently and consciously is trying to be a green guy or blue boy, will wearing those colors change his red rascal-ness over time?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read through this

Anon, go look at your closet. What does it say about you? Is it an accurate representation of who you are as a person.

Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. But I KNOW colors apply to people in real life, and I've written about this in other posts:

Why the colors?

Color-coding groups

Cultural color coding

Real-life color coding

Real-life color coding Part 2

Visual Rhetoric

But I'm going to be more scientific in my answer here since you want specifics.

TLWR: The colors mean things in real life, but we cannot color code the same as in visual media.

Most of these research studies are hidden behind a paywall, but the links will show you the abstracts.

A 2013 study found that people who were ovulating wore more red and pink clothing. It was a subconscious decision to highlight they were fertile [x]. However, when the study was conducted again in 2021, the results were not significant. The researchers suggested this change was due to a shift in unwanted attention (e.g. MeToo Movement). [x]

But women who wear red in the service industry receive more tips from men. [x]

Sports psychologist have long noted that players who wear red are deemed more aggressive than those who wear blue. Players who wear green are judged more fairly. [x] [x]

Several studies have found that people who wear black are seen as more attractive, specifically men [x]. There is an entire book about the historical context of Men in Black. [x]

During times of global competitions (World Cup, Olympics, etc.) color association is the strongest for national identities. For example, this study showed that orange was consistently associated with The Netherlands regardless if the person wearing it was Dutch. [x]

Research in educational design, interior design, and architecture concludes that colors affect the space in terms of emotions and production. [x]

Plants react differently depending on the color of the lighting they receive [x]. Animals as well. [x]

Colors mean things.

However, when you ask how colors affect people in "real life" I always have to give a tiny lecture because the term "real life" is broad. I know what you are asking, but art is real life. What colors we see on our screens have a real-world connection; therefore, they have real life implications. Barbie being pink is real life because pink in Eurocentric ideals is a feminine color, and Barbie is the epitome of femininity. We see this carry over into other pieces of visual media like Power Rangers where for thirty years, the Pink Ranger has been a woman.

The Japanese equivalent of Power Rangers finally had a male Pink Ranger in 2022, but culturally, Japan isn't tied to feminine pink the way the United States is. We use these colors in media because they mean something in real life.

But most people do not consciously go around choosing colors. People have favored colors, and they gravitate towards them more. People also have favored prints and styles such as florals or hoodies. So trying to categorize people based on the colors they wear in their everyday lives could quickly fall into dangerous territory, especially because a lot more goes into “real life” choices.

Neutral colors are more accessible in clothing – black and white. Blue can be found in nature; therefore, it has been easier to duplicate in dyes using natural resources. The red dye we typically use today comes from squishing a bug. When inventing new colors that weren’t seen in nature or that could not be duplicated through natural means, we used dangerous ingredients that could not and should not have been produced on a large scale.

All of this is to say that it is difficult for us to color code in real life because we do not have unlimited closets to pick items from like production teams. Most of us are not rich, so we must purchase what is available on the public market, and we must wear what we have available on the public market. Looking briefly at any clothing store, we can see how limiting those options can be:

This man cannot be a Red Rascal nor a Pink Person because the options do not exist for him at this store, and this is true of most men’s clothing. Because we live in a binary society, we get binary options. Men can’t be colorful unless it's blue (standard boy color), but women can. Prime example - The Met Gala.

And yet science tells me that we will find the man in the clothing ad more attractive in black. We will find him more approachable in white. We will deem him nonthreatening in blue-ish grey. We will see him as more of a worker in the tan/brown.

So, yes, I notice colors . . .  because we assign meaning to colors.

If I see someone in a red suit in a crowd of black, I’m going to think that person is bold and wants to stand out, but that might not be true of his everyday nature.

People make subconscious decisions based on the society they live in, so if someone is feeling down or wants to appear more attractive, they might wear more black, but if someone wants to stand out or appear Dutch, they could wear orange.

But because it’s real life, we can’t always pick colors to match our emotions or personality. But we CAN do that in visual media, which is why we do. We can be more intentional about everything in visual media, so we are. Visual media is a more extravagant version of real life. So we can get the boy in the blue and the girl in the pink and when they come together, it makes purple.

I could write about this all day, but I have to work for a living and actually get to teach about this ALL SEMESTER because there is a lot to unpack. This is art, biology, psychology, anthropology, sociology, marketing, and so much more because this is life.

Colors are real life.

And they mean things.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Do you ever get frustrated when fandom lumps SMS in with charactera like JGS, WC, WLJ, etc? Maybe it's just a very stupid pet peeve of mine but I really wish people would stop lumping SMS in with cartoon villains because he is very much not one. He is a Character and a very crunchy one at that

hmm. the thing is i personally don't see sms lumped into the same category as those characters very often. which isn't to say those shitty takes don't exist, just that i haven't stumbled across them in the tags recently, probably because the people who feel that way about him have me blocked. honestly i think the thing that most bugs me about common fandom mischaracterization of sms--and this is about fic rather than meta or other garbage hot takes--isn't that he is turned into a cartoonish villain absolutely unrecognizable from his canon characterization. that shit exists for sure, but it isn't really what bugs me the most.

what really frustrates me is that he often just. isn't there. at all. because he's seen as boring and incompetent and uninteresting to write about, you see.

and that to me feels like a depressing, but also fitting reflection of how much of the cultivation world sees sms: just this forgettable nobody who can't do anything right, who fucks up trying to summon a sword from a lake, who in the novel tries to give mianmian up to wen chao, then clumsily shoots the protagonist with a fucking arrow while trying to help, who's a petty and resentful coward doomed by the massive chip he carries on his own shoulder. which is true, he is absolutely all of those things. he just isn't only those things.

because in cql, he's also the guy who is desperately afraid for lan xichen's safety during the burning of the cloud recesses and pleads for him not to stay behind, but to run and take the irreplaceable tomes of the gusu lan library with him. this, right before he is abandoned by the rest of the inner disciples and is left to fend for himself against wen xu while the rest of the outer disciples are slaughtered around him. yes, he caves and admits to wen xu what the secret is to enter the cold pond cave where lqr, lwj and the others are hiding, and admits that lan xichen has fled with what is left of the library. but look at his face while he's enduring this:

this 👆👆👆 is not the behaviour of a coward. it's the behaviour of a brave man who has cracked under extreme pressure. because su minshan fought! he tried to protect his sect! and he lost! and the inner disciples, including lan wangji, can hear all of this as it happens from within their hiding place. this betrayal of the gusu lan by su minshan is also, imo, a betrayal of su minshan's loyalty up to this point. the gusu lan owed him better than this.

su minshan rewards loyalty with loyalty, and with courage. and i don't think there's a better example of this in the text than his dogged determination to protect jin guangyao during the guanyin temple confrontation. i know i've written about his death scene in the novel several times before, but i'm going to haul out the quotes one more time because i find the scene as beautiful as it is tragic:

As expected, gurgles came from within Nie MingJue’s throat. His body turned away from the empty coffin as well. At once, he realized whom the person lying on Su She’s back was. Wei WuXian’s whistles could no longer stop him either. Like a gust of wind, Nie MingJue rushed over, his palm flying towards Jin GuangYao’s head.

Su She dodged to the side with force. With the tip of his foot he picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground and conjured up all of his spiritual energy in one thrust at Nie MingJue’s heart. Perhaps because of the dire situation, the attack was abnormally swift and ruthless. Brimming with spiritual energy, the blade glowed brightly, enveloped by swirling radiance. It was so much better than all of the previous seemingly-elegant attacks that even Wei WuXian wanted to praise its excellence. Nie MingJue was forced a step back by the explosion of an attack as well. As the light dimmed somewhat, Nie MingJue went forth again, clawing at Jin GuangYao unstoppably. Su She threw Jin GuangYao at Lan XiChen with his left hand, while with his right he sliced at Nie MingJue’s throat.

Nie MingJue’s entire body was as impenetrable as fine steel, but not the thread that stitched his neck together!

If the neck attack succeeded, even if it wouldn’t defeat Nie MingJue entirely, it’d still be able to save them some time. However, the sword had been infused with so much spiritual energy, due to Su She’s sudden explosion, that it could no longer withstand it. Halfway through the lunge, it broke into pieces with a crack. On the other hand, Nie MingJue’s punch landed right in the center of Su She’s chest. Su She’s splendor left as quickly as it came. He couldn’t even spit out a mouthful of blood or say a few last words, no matter with dignity or cruelty, before the life in his eyes went out.

Collapsed beside Lan XiChen, Jin GuangYao saw this scene as well. Whether because the bleeding and the pain intensified at his arm and stomach or from some other reason, the glisten of tears could be seen in his eyes.

- EXR Translation (Ch. 108)

anyway, su minshan may begin the novel as a coward with a grudge, but i think his death proves that he was never actually afraid to die. he just needed to find a reason--a person--worth dying for.

[animehouse-moe]

Women In Anime

I came across this tweet a few days back, and did give it a response on Twitter back then, but I keep thinking about it, so I wanted to bring a longer discussion here.

I think hating that anime ends up a male dominated industry is totally fair, I think that hating that men end up bringing a lot of negative stereotypes and tropes and whatnot is valid.

There's a mountain of problems with men in the industry, and just the industry in general. But there's also a problem with the awareness of the NA community. Scrolling about the quote tweets and replies, it's probably one in ten responses at best, that show an opening that's actually from a woman.

Hate like this ends up performative, and targeted at the most negative aspects, rather than being used as a tool to shine a light on the people that deserve it. Directionless and generalized points like this do nothing, and in the end can actually take away from uplifting the voices and talents that they should be.

So, I wanted to bring a list of ten women in anime that have worked on openings over the years.

Karneval OP - Satou Akira

Openings that really cut deep into the core of a series can be a little hard to come by sometimes. I think a lot of openings get suckered into "looking cool" and tend to neglect their creative ability to depict something deeper within. Satou Akira falls into no such trap with Karneval, providing an incredibly strong opening that consistently relays several themes to the viewers through its visuals of things like, well, carnivals, for one. Also included is clock faces, butterflies, gears, and a few other pieces. It's really great work, so it's a shame that they haven't returned to the role since then.

They have, however, been in some pretty impressive roles elsewhere. For example, their biggest role was boarding for the second Fate/Grand Order Camelot movie. Important to note that it's the second movie, and not the first, as the second movie is considerably better.

Akira is still only reaching the tip of the iceberg though, as they recently were the lead director on Ao Ashi, and are being tapped for the Kinnukuman anime in 2024. They certainly have a good relationship with Production I.G, so I'm really hopeful to continue to see them on future projects with the studio.

Skip and Loafer OP - Deai Kotomi

Yeah, it hurts my soul to have different embeds, but I've had to source some of these OPs as they don't exist on YouTube.

Anyways, Deai Kotomi definitely had her limelight moment this year with Skip and Loafer and it's very fun and energetic opening. It's a great reflection of the characters and story, which really highlights Kotomi's understanding and ability to work with the content of the series. She did an absolutely wonderful job leading the production of Skip and Loafer, but I think a lot of people don't know about her history and connection. I mean, the reason she's following up Akira and Karneval is because Kotomi actually did the ending for Karneval! Really cool little piece to learn.

Make no mistake though, this isn't Kotomi's first rodeo, it's just the one she's most known for. But man, does she have a good history. Starting off with assistant direction credits for Kids on the Slope and the first season of Silver Spoon, she then moves on to helm the follow up season of Silver Spoon, and take over for Natsume's Book of Friends.

Though with the new season of Natsume's Book of Friends I'm a little sad to see Kotomi relieved of the role as the Chief Director for the series, Hideki Itou, steps into the role. Still have high hopes, but was looking forward to more Kotomi. Just means I need to wait and see where she ends up next, and I highly doubt it'll take too long for her to appear once more.

Sk8 The Infinity OP - Hiroko Utsumi

Speaking of people that I can't wait to see more of Hiroko Utsumi. I'm sure everyone that's seen it is a fan of Sk8 The Infinity and its opening, and there's not really a better person to handle the opening that Utsumi herself. After all, she's the original creator for the series.

But let's rewind a little before I get ahead of myself. Utsumi has probably one of the most prestigious careers on this list. Utsumi originally started with KyoAni, working her way up from second key animation to first key animation, to episode direction and storyboarding, finally making their directorial debut with Free! back in 2013, quickly following it up with the sequel.

Interestingly enough though, Utsumi then goes silent for 2 years before re-appearing outside of KyoAni, doing some storyboarding work with Bones and Mappa, leading into the next crazy piece of her story: the lead director of Banana Fish. Then of course it's to Sk8 The Infinity, and now she has Bucchigiri?! on the horizon, as well as a continuation of Sk8 The Infinity.

Talk about a career with no misses. Even better is that with her new works, we'll almost certainly be getting more of her expert openings, as with every series she's directed, she's also done the openings. So really, lots and lots to look forward to with Utsumi.

Arakawa Under The Bridge OP - Yamamoto Sayo

I know, not the opening that most would pick, but I wanted to be ✨Different✨. Everybody surely knows Yamamoto Sayo from Yuuri!! on Ice, but I just wanted to show off a bit more of a her range with an opening like this one. Clearly, she's a very talented woman, and the industry recognizes that with her work as she's done quite a few openings, especially with Mappa as of late.

These are all of her openings (and some endings), in order of appearance: Rozen Maiden Traumend, Michiko and Hacchin, Arakawa Under The Bridge S1 & S2, Hanamaru Kindergarten (ED), Attack on Titan S1 (ED), Space Dandy S1 (ED), Yuri On Ice, Kakegurui, and Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul.

Quite the list, to be sure. I just wish they did more direction work, as they've been stuck at Mappa for the Yuuri!! on Ice movie. Hopefully that'll come out some day and Sayo will be free of that hell, but all we can do is sit and wait.

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic OP - Eiko Hirayama

I mean, it's Kaguya-Sama, do I really need to say more? Great effort, and great direction from Hirayama here to really cap off the best season of the series. But did you know that she also did the work for the first opening of Love is War?

Hirayama is probably the most curious staff member on this list though. They do have a good few credits for various openings, but by and large they're all special or visual effects credits. For example, they most recently did the visual effects in the opening for the Nier anime, and they also did the same for 2 of the Vivy openings.

I think it's really interesting to see someone like Hirayama step out of their comfort zone to do something like an opening, because you can absolutely feel their experience shape the opening.

Here, let me add a little breakdown of the opening for Kaguya S3. If you pay close attention to the opening, you'll realize that there's not a crazy amount of animation. Rather, there's a lot of camera and 3 dimensional movement, and a lot of interesting composition. I mean, just look at the sequence of Kaguya running, it's a compositor's dream as they shift through all sorts of different visuals and styles.

And I just think that's really cool. Sure, Hirayama isn't a thoroughbred director like the others on this list, but I think their storied experience with composition gives them an angle in this opening that a lot of others just wouldn't find.

Heike Monogatari OP - Naoko Yamada

Naoko, alongside her work with Heike Monogatari, will always have a special place in my heart. Much like Utsumi, Naoko started her career with KyoAni. However, she was a part of the studio for longer, and because of that, was present during the arson attack on the studio in 2019.

This opening, and really the entirety of this story, hits really close to home with its ideas of the loss of family and suffering through a cycle of violence, and she does a beautiful job of juxtaposing that idea against the pieces that Biwa fondly remembers of those around her. It's very, very strong work from Naoko that feels almost like a rebirth as her first major work following the arson attack.

Regardless of what she went through at the end, her time with KyoAni was incredibly impressive. I'm not sure how many will know her name from it, but she was the director behind the incredible success of K-On!. Similarly, she also worked on Tamako Market and the follow up movie. She's an incredibly talented woman, and has continually put her best foot forward with everything she's done, so I'm really hopeful to see her continue that hot streak with wherever she goes next.

Naruto Shippuden OP20 - Chiaki Kon

Had to bring a bit more of a classic pick out, no? Chiaki Kon is certainly not a staff member that tends to really be seen as someone popular, if that makes sense. They're rather light in terms of individual expression, so having a stronger opening like this that hones in on individual character arcs while relating them to larger interactions within the world is really great to see.

Though that's not to say that Chiaki tends to get lost as a staff member, but that I think her work is very subtle. For example, she directed the recent (and popular) Sacrificial Princess anime, which is one of J.C Staff's top 3 anime in the last 5 years. It undoubtedly has Chiaki to thank for a lot of that, where she's kept a reasonable distance on the project while still providing a lot of her overarching vision to it.

But man, has she been active lately. While she does do lead direction, she's insanely present as an episode director and storyboarder, getting anywere from 6 to even 12 or more episodes boarded and/or directed in a year. Odds are if you watch any amount of anime, you've seen an episode done by Chiaki Kon.

Given OP - Hikaru Yamaguchi

Maybe a bit of an odd choice, but I feel like that makes it all the better to give them some spotlight. Not everyone is going to be a "knock it out of the park anime rockstar", and that's perfectly fine. Though I might still argue that Yamaguchi fits that bill. It's just that they're not as productive as others on this list.

After all, they did the OP for Given and directed the series (as well as the movie), and it's a very good show. It's interesting though how long it took her to get another lead direction role. There was 3 years between the Given movie, and the Osomatusu-San movie that she directed in 2023. And you might be thinking, "well hey, what about smaller roles to fill the gap?". Nope, not really any of that.

There was a 2 year gap between the Given movie and her next staff position. Though I mean, it's a pretty damn cool one. She did the storyboard for episode 3 of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War. For those that don't know, that's the episode of Ichigo vs Quilge Opie (which was very cool, by the way).

Yamaguchi is certainly an interesting staff member in that regard, as she doesn't have many projects she's worked on, but they've almost all been very big name ones. Certainly has me curious to see what she'll manage to appear on next.

Dance Dance Danseur OP - Sarisa Kawamura

If you thought Kawaguchi was an odd pick, wait until you hear about Kawamura. This is the second ever credit for her that I've been able to track down. The other comes from VFX assistant role on the Undead Girl Murder farce ending. So you can imagine my surprise considering the insane quality and creativity displayed with this opening that she boarded for.

I mean, when I first watched it when the anime aired, I was stunned. Absolutely incredible work with the first person perspective and the ideas with all the reflections and the wild expressiveness of the characters. Seriously, this was a shoe-in for opening of the year back in 2022, and I'd still say one of the standouts in this decade for sure.

I just, really, really hope that we'll see Kawamura board something else soon, because I absolutely need more of her incredible vision.

And that's the end of the 10 women, that I chose to use for this list. Seriously, there's a mountain of them that have done all sorts of other openings, or endings, and an unimaginable amount that have done creative work outside of those things.

I wouldn't say I'm disappointed that nobody talks about anime staff (in general, really, but also more specifically women), but a lot of people just don't have the interest in looking this stuff up. I really, really wish that streaming services would start translating credits to make it easier for people to get a grasp of who it is that's working on their favorite series, but we can't always rely on companies to do things like that.

Thankfully, the community out there is really, really dedicated so you can find staff credits on websites like MAL, Anilist, Anidb, and even Anime News Network. Sure, it takes a little bit of time to go and find those credits, but I think it's really valuable time that's well spent. You're bringing more awareness and understanding into the hobby and community, and that can change the trajectory of it in really wonderful ways.

Highlighting the works of women in anime is just one way of doing that. It inspires people in the community, it makes people aware of the idea of who is making their favorite works, that women are a central and pivotal part of the industry.

I really hope that people found out something cool with this list, and I really do encourage everyone to do a bit of digging into their favorite series to find out the names behind them. I mean, we all know who directs a movie or TV series over here, and we certainly know all about the actors and whatnot, so I'd love to see people bring that same understanding to anime.

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

no actually i must be salty about it more because i do have a passing interest in fashion history and when I look for reference pictures i don't want to have to be dealing with this shit:

First of all, hate that we're lumping together an entire decade of fashion, because that always goes well /s

But actually first of all, sudden fifth hand! get this eldritch lady away from me! Actually neither of her right hands seems to be at the right placement anatomically, and also who holds onto their boyfriend's wrist for a picture WHILE HE HAS HIS HAND IN HIS POCKET. What is this pose.

His right coat pocket appears to be opening into the void towards his back. Also, his whole look just seems distantly off? I can't put my finger on it and it may just be that, again, we're lumping ten years of wildly different reference images together. Probably a lot of movie costumes as well, which may be why he looks like a vaguely 1912 circus director from a mid-level tv show? The white piping is just so jarring, the buttons placement is nonsense and even if it wasn't, the way it buttons is just... i can't back this up rn, but I'm pretty sure that's not right? If it is, then it's probably too long, and way dressier than the lady's outfit (and also seems to be waist-length in the back?).

Try imitating this man's pose without falling over, I dare you. I'm so glad his girlfriend has an extra arm to support him, because he is not standing upright on his own.

Also, the fit of her dress around the shoulders and neckline is weird - somehow the folds go through that horizontal stripe of lace in a way that real fabric simply would not. And this really is annoying to me because the fit of women's clothes around the chest and sleeves is usually a good way to get a silhoutte right, and now you're muddying the waters with whatever that is. Also also, the waistline is suspicious, by modern standards, but for sure for the 1920s. What's with that dramatic hourglass shape and extremely full skirt? Is it it the 1880s? Is she wearing a bum pad?

This one is also fun. This poor man's uniform jacket is um. let's go with poorly made. Not only does the right lapel somehow flow seamlessly into a holster strap - how innovative, might make removing and putting on the jacket a little difficult. He seems to be wearing a vest underneath his jacket, which I guess he could, but I haven't seen that a lot. I actually think the lapel is just extra wrong. Whoever set his sleeves into the armholes should be fired. The right one is just fucked, the left is scrunched up in a way that I don't think I've ever seen a sleeve do, especially not in a heavy wool fabric, this should have weight. The pants do not have a zipper in the front, except they do, except they don't, except they kind of do?

Once more, his girlfriend has two right hands, or he's holding a severed one in his left, which is a fun option! Also the AI gave her his sleeve cuff. Solidarity, I guess? Much like his fly, her skirt is buttoned down all the way except not, because it's smooth from the waistband down but then has buttons once it comes out from underneath her arm.

Good luck trying to extrapolate patterns from this mess!

And that's just examples where the AI actually screwed up noticeably. The others are way more devious, because you can't immediately tell they're not real pictures. My biggest tip-off for the video was that these people looked eeriely similar throughout 100 years, and then that funny thing in the late sixties where the girl still looks the same but suddenly gets noticeably shorter?? If you get just one frame of it, you don't get any of these hints, and sure, it all looks too smooth and there's probably a lot of stuff that's off if you know the fashion very well, but once again, you're just pouring fake data into the interwebs. And hey, at least this video is tagged with a telling username! That's more than you usually get. I still think this is bad for history literacy and ultimately hurts exactly the people who would enjoy videos like this.

[thedreadvampy]

why do people do the thing where they read something someone's written and then rewrite it in a reblog? like I See You Have Made Art I Think it Could Be Done Better So I Did. it strikes me as really rude.

[xiaq]

With kids who consistently have problems with other classes/teachers I wonder what could be causing the difference- because you’re right about the kids being good, kids usually are good, so there’s probably something external causing the difference.

Could be as simple as meeting the expectations teachers have, but I feel like based on what I’ve seen you put in a lot of effort to reach kids where they’re at without judgment so I was wondering if you have any tips on student interaction/classroom policies/grading rules that have created a positive environment in your classroom?

I'm really tired so this might not be very coherent, sorry.

I haven't been in a high school environment long enough to have a strong opinion on the difference, but from what I've seen, most teachers at my school are just...tired. They aren't adequately paid or supported by the administration. Something I'm already very frustrated about. Examples: I've had to buy all my own supplies for my class, and I still haven't received my first paycheck. I also only just got access to my class rosters/online grade book/curriculum/printing capabilities this week, and I still don't have an ID or (non-borrowed) keys to the building/my classroom. I also have several students who don't speak fluent English and two who speak No English At All (literally just came to the US this year) and there's no support for those kids or for me. So I'm having to translate all the materials I give them myself and then translate their responses to grade them and that's not really helping them learn English or how to communicate in English and they're mostly lost during the actual teaching portion of the class, but it's the best I can do since I have over 100 kids I'm trying to teach each day. I also have several kids who need accommodations for learning disabilities and I similarly can't tailor lessons to their needs the way I'd like to. It's super frustrating to feel that you're trying your best but no one seems to want to help you. I imagine that gets old really fast and makes you pretty jaded. I mean, if you don't care so much, it doesn't hurt so much that no one else seems to care.

And the students--90% of students at my school qualify for free lunch and the majority are ESL students whose parents can't help them with most of their homework because they don't speak or write in English. These kids already had disadvantages they were dealing with that were just compounded by Covid. Most of my students haven't interacted with other people their age face-to-face since 7th grade. AND they're dealing with typical teenage hormones on top of the whole being emotionally and socially stunted due to a global pandemic, thing. They need heaps of extra help and kindness right now that most teachers just can't provide because the teachers are also at the end of their rope. I'm just shiny and new enough that I haven't yet hit that point. As for tips--I try to just treat kids like less-educated adults who are Going Through It and need a lot of compassion. I try to make them all feel seen and appreciated and try to set myself up as a trustworthy authority who won't judge them. I'll come down hard on them if they're being disrespectful to me, other students, or even themselves, but I don't hold their bad days against them. And I don't ever force them to participate or belittle them in any way. I have a "you always get second chances" policy because how the hell are they supposed to learn otherwise? So if at any time a student is unhappy with their grade, whether it's a 0 or a 99, they can redo the assignment and I'll re-grade it.

I have my blackboard wall that students are allowed to draw on any time they aren't working, or need a break during work time. I also have led light strips that change color and they're free to play with the lights (something that they inexplicably love?) when they're done working. I have my visible "Sin Bin" for folks using phones during class, which they seem to respond much better to than the whole "I'm going to take your phone and put it in my desk drawer where you can't see it" that most of the other teachers do. And I let them use their phones if they finish their work early. They also all have permanent invitations to eat lunch in my classroom if they want to avoid the cafeteria, which about 15-20 of them do at this point (I'm worried we'll run out of room, soon!). So I've set up me and my space as a safe place for queer kids and oddballs and pretty freshman girls trying to avoid predatory older boys because they know I won't let anyone in my room be unkind to them.

Mostly, though, I just try to say at least one positive thing to every student every day, and during lecturing, discussion, and individual work time, I spend time moving between all the desks speaking directly to each student to try and make them feel included and valued. Some will sleep through class anyway, but the majority seem to respond well to that.

I don't know if any of this is helpful--but I'd love to hear other folks' tactics as well!

[nevermindirah]

Do you have any thoughts on the use of AAVE for Nile (or lack thereof) in TOG fanfiction? I've been reading some Book of Nile fic and some writers seem to write her as a Millennial™ (using words like "fave" and "woke") but never acknowledge her Blackness in her patterns of speech. I know we don't see her use as much AAVE in the films, but I would argue she's in situations where code-switching would be valued (first in a "professional" environment in the army, then around a group of non-Black strangers).

Hi anon! I have many thoughts on this and I'm honored you asked me! But I should start by saying I'm white and any thoughts Black fans and especially Black American fans have on this that they want to share would be beyond lovely. (I'm not gonna tag anybody bc that feels rude but please add onto this post if any of y'all see this and want to!)

The main reason I personally avoid AAVE for Nile in my own fics is because I'm not Black. But Nile-centric fics by Black writers tend to avoid using much of it too, at least from what I've noticed/understood, and my guess is it's largely for the reason you mention, that she's in situations that encourage code-switching.

In movie canon Nile is highly competent at tailoring her language to each situation she finds herself in. This fantastic linguistics analysis meta shows how skillfully Nile chooses her vocabulary and grammar to meet her goals with different conversation partners in different contexts. In comics canon Nile had a bunch of different civilian jobs before joining the Marines, so she would've had experience code-switching in the ways that made sense for all those different contexts as well as the Marines and her family and high school and wherever else she spent her time before we met her. And now she's spending her time with a handful of immortals none of whom are native English speakers and a fellow Black American but one with a Queen's English UK accent whose professional experience is in the CIA where high-status code-switching is often an absolute must for success or even survival.

Fics featuring Nile are charged with extrapolating from that to how it might show up in her use of language that she's coping with a traumatic separation from her family and her career and pretty much everything she's ever known and now she needs to be able to make herself understood to people who seem to care about her and each other but are super duper in crisis, three (soon to be four) of whom predate Modern English entirely and the only one who's anywhere near her contemporary she's not supposed to talk to for a century. All of these people are telling her that pretty much any contact with any mortals poses an existential threat to her and the rest of the group. How the FUCK is she supposed to cope with that, like, generally? And would it be a more effective way for her to cope if she talked to Andy Joe and Nicky using the speech patterns that she used to use with her mom and brother, to at least retain that part of her identity even if it means having to do a lot of explaining, or would it meet her needs better to prioritize Andy Joe and Nicky understanding what she means with her words over using the particular words and grammar forms she used with her family?

I've seen several fics, both Nile-centric / BoN and otherwise, explore this a little bit in how/whether Nile uses Millennial™ speak. It's often a theme in Nile texting Booker despite the exile because of the popular headcanon that he as The Tech Guy is the only other immortal who understands memes. But Nile's much-younger-than-Booker mom probably uses Boomer and/or Gen X memes and Andy has been adapting to new communication styles for forever as evidenced by her canon high level of fluency with standard-American-accented English.

Which brings us back to people avoiding AAVE because they're not Black and they don't want to make mistakes (or they're not Black and they don't want to get yelled at for making mistakes, though I think many people overestimate how much they'll get yelled at while underestimating how much these mistakes can hurt). I can imagine some Black fans hold back from using much AAVE in fic because they don't want to share in-group stuff with white people who are likely to then adopt and ruin it, as white people so often do with Black cultural stuff. Some links about this including a great Khadija Mbowe video. I'm saying this gently, anon, because you might not know: woke, an example you cited as Millennial™ speak, is AAVE, and that's gotten erased by so many white people appropriating it and using it incorrectly online.

And also there's the part where fandom is a hobby and you never know when you're reading a fic that's the very first thing someone's ever written outside of a school assignment. This cultural considerations of language shit takes a level of effort and skill that not everybody puts into every fic, or even could if they wanted to because they haven't had time to build their skills yet. It's definitely easier for non-Black fans to project our millennial feels onto Nile than to do the layers of research and self-reflection it requires to depict what Blackness might mean to Nile, and it's not surprising that often people sharing their hobby creations on the internet have gone the easier route. There's not even necessarily shame in doing what's easier. It's just frustrating and often hurtful when structural white supremacy means that 3-dimensional Black characters are rare in media and thoughtful explorations of them in fandom are seen by the majority of fans as not-easy to make and therefore Nile Freeman, the main character in The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, has the least fic and meta and art made about her of our 5 main immortals.

I've been active in different fandoms off and on for twenty years and I barely managed to write 5,000 words about Sam Wilson across multiple different fics in the 7 years since I fell in love with him. There's an alchemy to which characters we connect with, and on top of that which characters we connect with in a way that causes us to create stuff about them. Something about Nile Freeman finally tipped me over the edge from a voracious reader to a voracious writer. It's not for me to judge which characters speak to other individuals to the level of creating content about them, but I do think it's important for us to notice, and then work to fight, the pattern where across this fandom as a whole Nile gets way less content, and way less depth in so much of the content that's in theory about her, than any of these other characters.

Anyway, back to language. My two long fics feature Nile with several Black friends — Copley and OCs and cameos from other media — but all of those characters except Alec Hardison from Leverage aren't American. It's very possible I'm guilty of stereotyping Black British speech patterns in I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore. I watched hours and hours of Black haircare YouTube videos in the research for that fic and I modeled my OCs' speech patterns on what I heard from some of those YouTubers as well as what I've heard people like John Boyega and Idris Elba saying in interviews, but the thing about doing your best is you still might fuck up.

I'm slowly making progress on my WIP where Nile and Sam Wilson are cousins, and what ways of talking with a family member might be authentic for Nile is a major question I need to figure out. For that, I'm largely modeling my writing choices on how I hear my Black friends and colleagues talking to each other. I haven't overheard colleagues talking in an office in a long-ass time, but back when that was a thing, I remember seeing a ton of nuance in the different ways many of my Black colleagues would talk to each other. Different people have different personalities! And backgrounds! And priorities! A few jobs ago my department was about 1/3 Black and we worked closely with Obama administration staff many of whom were Black and there was SO MUCH VARIETY in how Black people talked to each other, about work and workplace-appropriate personal stuff, where I and other white coworkers could hear. There are a few work friends in particular who I have in my head when I'm trying to imagine how Sam and Nile might talk to each other. From the outside looking in, God DAMN is shit complicated, intellectually and interpersonally and spiritually, for Black people who are devoting their professional lives to public service in the United States.

One more aspect of this that I have big thoughts on but I need to take extra care in talking about is the idea of acknowledging Nile's Blackness in her patterns of speech. There's no one right way to be Black, and Nile's a fictional character created by a white dude but there are plenty of real-life Black Americans who don't use much or even any AAVE, for reasons that are complicated because of white supremacy. (Highly highly recommend this video by Shanspeare on the harms of the Oreo stereotype.)

Something that's not the same but has enough similarity that I think it's worth talking about is my personal experience with authenticity and American Jewish speech patterns. My Jewish family members don't talk like they're in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I've known lots of people who do talk that way (or the millennial version of it), some of whom have questioned my Jewishness because I don't talk that way. That hurts me. Sometimes when another Jew tells me some shit like "I've never heard a Jew say y'all'd've," I can respond with "well now you have asshole, bless your Yankee-ass heart," because the myth of Dixie is a racist lie but I will totally call white Northerners Yankees when they're being shitty to me for being Southern, and this particular Jew fucking revels in using "bless your heart" with maximum polite aggression, especially with said Yankees. But sometimes I don't have it in me to say anything and it just quietly hurts having an important part of me disbelieved by someone who shares that important part of me. The sting isn't quite the same when non-Jews disbelieve or discount my Jewishness, but that hurts too.

Who counts as authentically Jewish is a messy in-group conversation and it doesn't really make sense to explain it all here. Who counts as authentically Jewish is a matter of legal status for immigration, citizenship, and civil rights in Israel, and it's my number 2 reason after horrific treatment of Palestinians that I'm antizionist. But outside that extremely high-stakes legal situation, it can just feel really shitty to not be recognized as One Of Us, especially by your own people.

It can also feel really shitty to be The Only One of Your Kind in a group, even if that group is an immortal chosen family who all loves each other dearly. Sometimes especially in a situation like that where you know those people love you but there are certain things they don't get about you and will never quite be able to. I'm definitely projecting at least a little bit of my "lonely Jew who will be alone again for yet another Jewish holiday" stuff onto Nile when at the end of I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore she's thinking about being the only Black immortal and moving away from the community she'd built with a mostly-Black group of mortals in that fic. Maybe that tracks, or maybe that's fucked up of me.

Basically, this got very long but it's complicated, writing about experiences that aren't your own takes skill which in turn takes time and practice to build, writing about experiences not your own that our society maligns can cause a lot of harm if done badly, it can also cause a lot of harm when a large enough portion of a fandom just decides to nope out of something that's difficult and risky because then there's just not much content about a character who deserves just a shit ton of loving and nuanced content, people are individuals and two people who come from the exact same cultural context might show that influence in all kinds of different ways, identity is complicated, language is complicated, writing is hard, and empathy and humility and doing our best aren't a guarantee of avoiding harm but they do go a long way in helping people create thoughtful content about a character as awesome and powerful and kind and messy and scared and curious and WORTHY as Nile Freeman.

[godshideouscreation]

Hi, I love that you are so confident and also beautiful.

This may not be allowed to ask but how did you get your OF going? I want to make an OF but I don’t know how to start, where to begin, etc. I’m also a chubby girl so idk if it’s worth it to even try.. but if you have any advice Or tips on starting out, it would be awesome to know them.. thanks ❤️

Thanks so much. I haven't always been. It's definitely been a journey for me. I used to suffer with an eating disorder for a long time too tbh. Sex work started for me before Onlyfans though. I've been doing sex work online for 8 years now! I started selling a "private blog" on here when I was 19. Then I got started on Manyvids. And about 2 years ago I started my Onlyfans.

I would really love to help you out honestly if you want to come off anonymous I will give you lots of tips and tricks as I continue to learn new things. This is definitely a job in an industry that's always changing. One of the things I love most about being able to work online is being from home since I'm chronically ill but also that I can put my own hours in so maybe I'll put in 2 hours if I'm really not feeling good or maybe I'll put in 10 hours if I have the energy to. There's a group that my friend made for adult workers from Tumblr (@kittenbre is a babe pls go follow her) it's on telegram!

Here's my referral link for Onlyfans and Manyvids. If you sign up for either with my link please let me know!

Also, it's a total myth that you can't be an adult content creator and be chubby. There is literally an audience for all types of bodies! I used to view porn in a specific way when I first started creating because I was used to the stuff that I've seen on pornhub. But honestly I love seeing all the independent content creators who are all shapes and sizes. Everybody has a different body type and there's nothing wrong with wanting to display yours. I bet you are beautiful.

Potential worries /safety tips for beginners

- fake name / hiding your face , neither are required obviously but it depends on the level of security you want. If you don't want people to know your real name, make a separate profile! There's no shame in wanting to protect your identity.

- do not send porn out in item trades until the item is in your hand. They can cancel it even if Amazon has already started shipping it out. 🙄

- do not use PayPal for any reason. They'll lock your account. If you must, use gift rocket, cash app, and do not let the senders say for porn or use suggestive emojis. instead try to convince people to say it's for art, stickers or something bc those cash sending apps do not allow you to use them for porn!! Be discreet if you are using them.

- getting verified on a site like many vids or only fans will help prove to others that you are real and a legitimate seller. You can also set up previews so that people will know what they're going to be buying and you can make it really streamlined so you really don't have to talk to anybody. 👌👌

- branching out on several social media sites until you find one that's right for you! Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

- Reddit, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and dating apps can all be lucrative but on some you need to be more discreet than others. For example, on Instagram you cannot put your actual porn links you have to set up and all my links so people can click on your link to then click on your other links. I know it sounds tedious but if you put your link on there straight up they'll get your account deleted over and over again. whereas Tumblr banned porn completely but you can tag safe for work images with whatever website it doesn't even matter to them. 😂

- Twitter allows explicit media as long as there is none in your icon or header and your profile is marked as adult content. reddit allows porn in the 18 plus threads but your account has to be a certain amount of days old and has a certain amount of karma. most dating apps aren't a fan of you advertising but if you keep it pretty low-key and don't come off as super pushy about it you can definitely make it work.

- If you haven't signed up to any sites yet the first thing I would suggest is to make as much content as possible until you're ready to sign up with your government ID. The more content you have the more people can buy from you and the more money you will make. I always tell everyone to make something that they would enjoy watching so that they genuinely have fun and look sexy doing it.

- Don't tell people that you're new to sex work because customers will try to take advantage of you and control you and fight you for your prices. when you set your prices it's good to look at the market and see what other people are selling their content for that is similar. For example don't put a 10-minute anal video as $1. You deserve way more money for your hard work. You want to set your price for what you feel your content is worth. And then if you're not making enough sales in the time frame you want, you can adjust your prices. Don't let people walk all over you when you're doing a sale, then you control when you want to give the discounts.

Anyway that is just some basic stuff If you have any questions just let me know and I will do my best to help you out.

Follow my new blog that is not marked NSFW, @thegodshideouscreation

[author-morgan]

As of today, I have decided to take a reprieve from Tumblr. I do not intend for this to be a long-term absence (hopefully no longer than two or three weeks), I only need some time away from this website. My writing won't be impacted by this but just know if you've sent a request, it may be a little longer than normal before it is posted. I’ll be using this time to catch up on everything and get a jump start on the next chapters of Kryptic. Now that I have delivered this news, all my readers and followers deserve to know why it is that I feel I must do this.

I've been writing for Alexios since 2018 with the release of Odyssey. I love Alexios' character and wanted to create and share content for others to enjoy since there really isn't much for him in comparison to say, Kassandra. For a year and a half, I've posted my works to Tumblr, Wattpad, and AO3 without issue. 

In March, I saw a link going around to join a discord server about Assassin's Creed called AC Tumblr (ACT for short). Thinking it would be a fun opportunity to connect with people who also liked Assassin's Creed and share my stories, I decided to join. A naïve action on my part looking back. Shortly after I joined, I received my very first piece of anon hate ever. Note that I have been writing for over 10 years now and for several fandoms including the MCU, Game of Thrones, and Lord of the Rings and have never received an ask that was pure anon hate. I knew it was no coincidence as this message contained cues to things I had only ever mentioned on ACT. But I played it off and didn’t think much of it.

But it happened again, and again, and again. You have only seen the tip of the messages I have received as many of them I just delete —there’s no sense giving these people the time of day. A week has not passed since March without me receiving hateful messages about my Assassin’s Creed stories, or how I write a certain character, or why I tag things the way I do. I left the anonymous function on during this time because I know people can be uncomfortable requesting prompts off anon and I didn’t want to alienate my readers by forcing them to make a request off anon or via DM. But now, after 6 months, I am tired of it. I’m tired of the anon hate, I’m tired of the drama from ACT, and I’m tired of it following me to my Tumblr. Where once I loved seeing messages pop up in my inbox because it would be new requests or fun asks, I now dread to see what vile things people that do not know me will have to say.

In a few months on ACT, I became one of the most active members of the server. I shared my stories that I spend so much time creating. I shared my headcanons and AUs for characters. I talked with people about my OCs Irene and Lesya and shared “behind the scenes” things for Phobia and Kryptic. I thought I was having fun, making friends (and I have made friends —I’ve made three great friends from ACT), but it seems that I was also making enemies and didn’t even realize it.

Let me be clear. If anyone ever has a problem with something I’ve done or said one, please come to me and come to me off anon. I’m an adult, I can civilly discuss things, but I cannot read minds.  

After about 2 months on the server, it felt like I couldn’t say anything at all without being unjustly watched just because I was rising in ranks and on the server’s leaderboard. It got to the point where I couldn’t carry on a conversation with someone without constantly being moved from channel to channel —how can you speak to people if the conversation is in four different places? You can’t. That’s how conversations die (that and slowmode). Just for an example, from the end of August, until I decided to leave, I and another of the most active members on ACT went silent after being unjustly targeted and under constant surveillance and scrutiny to the point where we could no longer speak to one another on the server —in our absence, there was hardly any activity in a server of almost 200 people. On top of this, the server lacked any sort of transparency and accountability among those who were supposed to be keeping ACT safe for everyone —the suspicions I’d had all along were proven true. And this is only a small preview of what I’ve noticed during my time there.

Nearly a month ago, I left both ACT and the affiliated NSFW server after weeks of no longer feeling welcomed and being singled out in a community that is supposed to be accepting and welcoming to everyone. On Friday, I was invited back into this server as I had become a topic of discussion, despite the claims that no one here talks about people after they leave, I spoke my part and made my peace, but even after this, people that I am certain are from the server will not let the drama die to the point where it is beginning to feel like harassment.

My hope now is that with my anons off and a sizable break, all this will we be in the past by the time I return. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has offered support during these months and have been so quick to come to my defense —it means more than I can ever say. Know that I will not forget this and that I will not let this stop me from writing for the characters I love. More fics will be coming soon and my inbox will always be open to requests. 

[furbyq]

Hey, you've been a big inspiration creativity wise to me, and I've been meaning to ask um a question. I'm interested in making like my own skins and whatnot and I'm not really sure where to start? I feel like its mainly texture editing/ photo manip that I'm not sure about and I'm wondering how you started? or if you could point to like some good tutorials/sites?

hi! that's a really sweet thing to say, thank you! ^^

i've been trying to figure out how to answer this for a few days (i've been having some pretty severe brainfog as of recently) so i hope this answer actually helps.

TOOLS / TUTORIALS

there's a few things i think you should familiarize yourself with before trying to blend skins.

the first is how the basics of photoshop work (i highly recommend photoshop over gimp or paint.net. i've seen *cough*free*cough* versions of cs5 floating around on tumblr, so if you don't have it, i'd recommend trying to find one that seems safe.) certain tools are going to be more useful than others for blending, but i'll definitely go over the specifics later down this explanation.

the second is how layer masks work. this tutorial by bosie and this tutorial by pooklet go over things you may need to do that utilize layer masks, so knowing how they work is paramount.

the third thing that is important is understanding how the ts2 uv maps work. this is important for understanding what part of the skin texture goes where and such. the best uv maps i've found are the ones here at mts, but they're in rars with a bunch of other uvs so i've uploaded the nude body mesh ones here by themselves with a separate face uv if you want to see where certain textures go on the actual 3d sim mesh.

BASICS OF SKINBLENDING

generally the way that skinblending is done is picking two or more skins with different pieces you like. you pick one as the base and then use layer masks to blend different features from other skins onto it. bosie's tutorial really goes over what you need to know about using layer masks for this purpose, although i personally keep all features on separate layers, even if i'm using the same texture for all of them. you don't even have to keep the layer masks at full opacity; messing with the layer opacity can give you really interesting effects!

if you’re wanting a tutorial on how to photoskin, apparently i wrote one on that a few years ago that you can read here.

you can also use handpainting to improve the coloration or texture of your skin. for example, sometimes i put some low opacity blushing over the cheeks or use a noise filter to create pore-like overlays.

always remember that if your face texture ends up a little asymmetrical during blending that you can duplicate, flip, and delete half of the texture in order to achieve perfect symmetry. although some creators definitely like some imperfection in their skins.

a lot of people end up using a body skin from one of the skins they blend facial features from without changing it because making a body blend is more challenging than making a face blend. this is due to how many more uv seams there are. you can even use a body from a skin you didn't use for your face blend, as long as you use a paintbrush on the neck of both the body and face textures to fix any seams!

this is more of an intermediate or advanced tip, but one strategy i have for mitigating this is to use the uv to draw a border on the seams with a paintbrush. for maxis matchy skins, you can use floodfill to patch the seams and on skins with more detail, you can apply a body skin to the border as a clipping mask to fix seams as long as you blur the border enough so that it blends.

BASICS OF RECOLORING

some people use actions to recolor skins, but i'm not a fan of doing that for natural tones because of how much pixelation it tends to add. instead, i usually use skintone shades on color fill layers set to multiply. this tends to make the texture look very flat, so i'll typically duplicate the base layer and drag it to the top and use a layer mask to only make certain features (like the eyes, lips, nose, and ears) visible. then i manually tone this layer using adjustment layers that are assigned as a clipping mask.

if you have difficulty with coloring beyond this, i suggest looking at a skin that already exists that is similar to the tone you're going for to see how it should look.

the tutorial by pooklet that i linked above goes over how to combat pixelation (which you will almost always end up with to some extent, even if you don’t use actions) but there’s also another tip here by them for an alternate way to smooth skins. 

i have a tutorial here that provides some layer mask psds designed for smoothing, but using them on every skin may not be feasible.

BASICS OF TEXTURE REIMPORTING

now, as far as how intensive making skins actually is; if you utilize the amount of differences maxis skins are built to accommodate, you're looking at around 16-17 images per skin.

that includes: 

teen to adult female body (normal/fat/fit states) elder female body (normal/fat/fit states) teen to elder male body (normal/fat/fit states) baby body toddler body child body baby face toddler face child-adult face elder face scalp

although a lot of popular skin makers forego some of these textures for their own sanity; some of the most popular skins have no fat/fit states, for example. with the way bodyshop and simpe work together, skins that are reimported to game will combine similar textures. so if you save your bodyshop project with the same face for every face available, in simpe you'll only have one face image to replace. you can use this fact to cull the textures down to an amount you are comfortable handling.

it should be added that you'll experience really bad image compression in bodyshop, ESPECIALLY with darker skintones and there isn't really any way to fix that in photoshop. reimporting your textures into simpe using DDS utilities will really help with that. here's a tutorial on how to install DDS utilities. there's a tutorial on how to reimport with DDS utilities here for hair. doing skins is the same basic concept, although like pooklet's tutorial mentioned, DXT3 may work better for skins than DXT5.

i know that you mainly needed help with the photomanipulation area, but i felt this was important to mention.

like i said, i hope any of this helps! if you have any specific questions beyond this, feel free to hit me up-- if i know the answer i'll definitely share it with you.

[hotpriesteddie]

Kay so I've been watching film essays in between study breaks and one of them was an explanation of the cool girl trope by the take, it said that Natasha is a cool girl bc she "looks like scarlett Johansson but is one the boys" and honestly that's true (i def rec watching the video) and one of the things I thought anout too was the reason people (specifically men) didn't like captain marvel but love black widow is that bw is shown to be good, but never good enough (1/?)

ur so right. natasha is like the perfect male fantasy superhero - femme fatale who’s overt about her sexuality and manipulates men at the tip of her fingers, but is actually a ‘male gaze superhero’ who exists narratively, esp in the earlier movies, to aid men’s storylines. so much about her caters to the male gaze - even at the point where she first enters the mcu, we have tony looking at her appreciatively. she’s in makeup all the time. there are several scenes where she wears skin tight dresses. her entire superhero costume.

any growth she goes through is because of things happening to her, not because of choices/actions/mistakes she makes (a prime example is the aou infertility storyline, but also her arc in the winter soldier, everything with bruce in aou). cacw is the first time we see her making choices that majorly influence the narrative, although every choice she makes in cacw somehow happens to tie into a man’s storyline.

her entire narrative up until this point has been controlled by men, and it shows.

putting the rest under a cut cause i got a bit carried away -

carol, on the other hand, has obviously had women majorly influence her creative writing process. practically nothing about her appeals to toxic masculinity. there are no scenes of her dressed ~sexy. her costume is the first female superhero costume that isn’t extremely skin tight or has very prominent boob-armour. there isn’t a single poster of her that features the boobs-butt pose.

nothing about this -

or this -

or this -

caters to the male gaze.

compare film posters for nat and carol -

very similar positions, facing front with weapons in both hands, but,,,,,,,,,

natasha is presented as either highly sexualised - when she’s trying to manipulate men (im2, her opening scene in a1), or Sexy Fighter (end of im2, a1, tws, IW WHERE SHE HAS TWO PRETTY DROPS OF BLUE BLOOD ON HER FACE WHEN A PERSON HAS JUST EXPLODED ABOVE HER), or vulnerable in front of men (tws, aou), and subsequently she isn’t allowed to do any growing on her own unless a man influences her somehow

while carol’s entire movie is about escaping the control men have over her and finding herself with her found family, which consists of one moc and two woc

consider this -

“Black Widow is a billion times better woman, person, character, Avenger than Captain Marvel.

She has a strong character arc, has seen ups & downs of Avengers from the very beginning and has an amazing do or die attitude. She loves her fellow friends with all her heart & contributes with everything she has got (even without having any special powers). Her journey is nothing but inspirational. A russian spy, a beautiful soul inside & out. The way she respects Captain America, loves Banner, supports Thor & cares for Clint makes her the defacto #1 Woman of MCU.

And, then, we have this self proclaimed, abnoxious and shallow Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel.

She has absolutely no character, has supported no one in her story other than herself and has shown no emotional connect with anyone. On top of her over the head attitude, she thinks she has it all & knows it all & self proclaims her the Most Powerful Avenger.”

or this

“Natasha Romanoff - Smart, ambitious, no powers in the MCU, mysterious, does the right thing because she wants to and not because she can. She’s the backbone and soul of the Avengers.

Carol Danvers - Arrogant, doesn’t show grit because she’s so powerful, is a hero because she can.”

or this

“I like Black widow more because Captain Marvel got her powers from an accident but Black widow trained herself to be what she is and also she sacrificed her life for the well being of others …” 

all by men. nat is shown as skilled but not powerful enough that her presence threatens the spot of any man on the team. carol is so powerful that at least one or two men on the avengers can become redundant if she joins. hence this appreciation of nat - she ‘’’’chooses,,,, to do the right thing (its not like any male character became a hero only after getting powers or abilities), she worked for her skills instead of getting powers in an accident (can you think of a male superhero who gets powers in an accident or through an external source? no?), she’s humble and works silently instead of being arrogant (cocky male superhero? never heard of him), she ‘proclaims herself the Most Powerful Avenger’ (really? when?), she sacrificed her life for others (what’s that? carol was ready to blow up an engine that would probably kill her? i don’t remember that, what movie did you watch?)

here’s the kicker - The way she respects Captain America, loves Banner, supports Thor & cares for Clint makes her the defacto #1 Woman of MCU. she’s number one apparently because she supports all the men in her life.

tl;dr nat is written, mostly by men, as a male gaze female superhero and therefore appeals to all those men who criticise carol - who has been characterised mostly by women - for being arrogant or selfish or any number of things that male characters in the mcu have done, since carol is narratively put on a platform equal to men but nat is put on a platform that defers to men

[theclaravoyant]

I've been questioning my gender too lately and I just want to know what made you realise you're NB? I'm struggling to figure mine out. Xxx

No worries, I am happy to help!

The story of it all got a little long so my key tips/bits of info I picked up are:

Try to start from a position of gender neutrality. Ask yourself, if I had not been assigned this gender at birth, what would I be?

Remember that dysphoria is about discomfort and disconnect; it does not have to be a strong, aggressive, instantly recognisable experience, and you may be surprised when you reflect how it shows up in you.

Accept flexibility and not-knowing on your journey. Don’t be afraid to try things out and see what sticks.

Familiarise yourself with a wide range of gender diverse experiences. This will give you things you can relate to and identify with, which will help you navigate the waters of gender identity. This has been extremely helpful for me as I have heard some experiences that very much resonate with me, and that more than anything has given me the confidence to explore my identity and to come out.

That’s the short version of my advice, but there’s a bit more detail and explanation below the cut. I am super happy to give more examples and things like that, or explain/clarify, etc, but this should get the ball rolling :D

First of all, a couple of years ago when I was basically introduced to the concept of trans people and gender questioning (rather than the ‘always knowing’ narrative), and I was contemplating my sexuality at the same time, I decided I might as well question my gender as well. However it was soon clear to me that I was/am not a man or trans-masculine, because basically it sort of… didn’t make sense to me on an intimate level, Like, I understood the concept of being trans, but the being a man part I could never imagine or grasp. I didn’t want a penis, I didn’t want he/him pronouns, but on another level a bit more intimate than that… It’s a bit hard to explain, but basically I went “could I be a man? probably not? cool”.

At that time I had not heard of nonbinary people and though over the years I became more aware of nonbinary genders and such, I always thought of it like “I’ve questioned my gender already, it’s time to question my sexuality now”. I didn’t revisit my gender questioning with this new information until a few months ago. When I did, it was in the wake of several things - for example, the exclusion of trans & nb people in debates about marriage equality going on in my country last year made me much more aware of them as a people, as a community, as well as their issues, relationships etc. Seeing trans people in media, and my first nb person! (Syd from ODAAT), also helped, because it normalised those experiences and started to make them part of my life. Syd was also an example of a nonbinary person who ID’d as gay and was in a relationship with a woman, so this showed me that I could still be who I am essentially, and still potentially be nonbinary. So there was this rep and these resources and awareness slowly sort of trickling in and piling up, and then earlier this year I had a very interesting conversation with a colleague from Amnesty International, where I am quite involved.

This conversation with this colleague was in the context of an LGBTQI+ allyship workshop. We had stickers on which we wrote our name and pronouns and this colleague hadn’t written anything under pronouns. Since she was fairly high up I wanted to get her to participate more fully in the exercise and I was all “fill out those pronouns babe!” (paraphrased) and she shrugged and said “I don’t really have pronouns. I don’t mind, I’ll go by any.” Later in this exercise, we were asked to think about and express where we fell on a spectrum of sexuality and a spectrum of gender.

I asked my colleague about what she had said regarding the pronoun thing and she explained in a little more detail using terms and phrases such as:

I don’t feel like a woman.

I don’t identify with women / as a Rights Holder for women’s rights (at Amnesty, RH basically means a community member as opposed to an ally of that community)

I don’t really care about my gender.

I found these sorts of sentiments really strongly related to me, except that I did care about gender. I wanted an answer to why I felt this way, this disconnect with womanhood, and that’s what (re)ignited my questioning process. I found that a lot of nb people, especially those somewhat aligned with their gender assigned at birth, expressed similar sentiments, including Rebecca Sugar, a creator of Stephen Universe (which I don’t watch, I just stumbled across a video clip recently of SDCC where she says):

I like both she/her and they/them. I am fine with being perceived as a woman, but it’s not something I really identify with internally, which is why I’ve been hesitant to talk about it, but I think that the characters in the show have been a really wonderful way to express myself because I think, like, many of the Gems, they don’t mind being seen as women, and it’s sort of part of their experience, but it’s not something they really think about, about themselves. That’s very much how I feel.

This was RIGHT on the money for me. So my first main bit of advice would be, search for those experiences and don’t be too willing to disregard experiences that gel with you. They mean something. Other things I found incredibly valuable to my questioning process include:

Start from a position of gender neutrality. Similar to removing heteronormativity when we are questioning sexuality, this can be difficult to do or even conceptualise, but it might be worth trying to start from a place of, “if I had not been assigned this gender at birth, what would I be?” I found that my experience of questioning my sexuality gave me good practice in this regard, as I sort of found that I was just ID’ing as a woman because that’s what I always had been, just as many people ID as straight because they just sort of… are, or haven’t had the resources to recognise they’re not yet.

For me an example of this is pronouns. My mother and I were talking about gender neutral pronouns (in general), and she told me she found them weird and dehumanising whereas I was completely fine with them. However, what she was describing sounds very much like feeling misgendered, including how I would feel if someone were to refer to me with he/him; I would want instinctively to correct the person speaking. Mum would also feel that with “they/them”. I would not. 

Learn/Remember that dysphoria isn’t always as dramatic or traumatic as ‘popular’ trans narratives make it out to be. It is not always a very strong, clear, sometimes violent experience, like “I need x body parts or I’ll become depressed”. It was not like that for me at all and for a long time I thought I did not experience dysphoria at all, but I do - it’s just that it’s more in the sense of a disconnect with the identity of “woman”. Dysphoria is about discomfort with your perceived or assigned gender. It’s up to you to explore that relationship and that discomfort - eg are you comfortable with your name, your pronouns, your presentation and/or expected presentation? If not, what would you prefer? If you would prefer something associated with the “opposite” gender, you may shift further around the scale than I did. If there is a disconnect, but it’s harder to find something to connect to, then you may be more in the neutral space.

Familiarise yourself with a range of gender diverse experiences. There is no “one way” to be nonbinary, and familiarising myself with a wider range of these experiences helped me to understand that nb isn’t necessarily a third gender of sorts, it’s more like, the space between / beyond / outside “male” and “female”. From there it can then be used as a gender identity, or there are more specific ID labels for you to explore. I felt swamped by the specific labels, but I am quite comfortable with the general one. You may prefer to go hunting for a specific one that matches your experience more closely/specifically. Either way, seeking out nonbinary people - whether online or irl - helps you find something and say “that sounds like me! I feel that!” and that’s what it’s all about.

Don’t worry too much about the trolls. It is hard to explore being nonbinary in a world where people from one side or the other are likely to attack for being too special, too political, etc etc. It’s especially hard in terms of the questioning process, if you don’t have a strong sense of dysphoria and/or euphoria guiding you to the right answers. However, it’s important to remember some important things during the questioning process to help you focus on the questioning itself and not the response to the questioning, which can scare you off (and which, I believe, is what was keeping me from coming out). For example:

You can’t fail at identifying as a gender, even if that gender is the one you were assigned at birth, and you don’t have to pick one and be stuck with it for life. You can change genders 50 times if you have to to find the one that suits you best.

Changing your gender doesn’t have to change everything you are. You don’t have to change your name or pronouns or your body, or even your sexuality (though you might have a different relationship with that too) just because you ID as something where people might tend to do that.

Don’t be afraid of being ‘political’ - eg I’m concerned that if/when I come out, people are going to say “is this because you’re gay?” “is this because of your uterus/child having problems?” etc to which many people will answer ‘no’ but to which my answer is actually ‘I don’t know, and I don’t care.’ People should respect you anyway, and you know who you are better than they do. Your gender isn’t defined by your name, pronouns, clothes, hobbies, or anything, but those things - and your relationships with them - can definitely help (and complicate!) this journey.

If you are not sure where exactly you fit, perhaps try out a broad label and work out your place within it as you go. For example, I identified as “wlw” loooong before I found my relationship with terms like gay, lesbian, queer and so on. Nonbinary or genderqueer can be broad labels if you’d like to sit with them for a little while and see what comes to you. Sometimes “well, I’m not x” is the best you can do, and from there just sort of see what happens.

Some blogs you might find helpful to check out include @nonbinaryresource @genderfluidsupport and @nonbinary-suggestions. They often have asks etc in which people describe their gender experiences and look for terms and such.

Again, feel free to ask me any questions, I’m a pretty open book, but I hope this has given you a little help for now!

Much love & good luck~ Clara

[topicprinter]

Hello r/Entrepreneur!My name is Gart and I am a professional contract/freelance branding, illustration and interface designer. I have worked in this field for almost 12 years. For the past 5 years, I've worked extensively with the Reddit community in places like r/forhire and r/designjobs making a living wage. The tally is getting close to 200 different logos, illustrations, editorial pieces, mobile apps - you name it. Each job either slightly or incredibly different than the last, but all involving me designing something for a client. I've had the immense pleasure of working alongside some of the coolest people through Reddit and communities like this one and have made some lifelong business partners. Subsequently, I've also been pulled into awesome startups and businesses I would have never thought to be a part of, doing things that go beyond the scope of just graphic design. Working through this medium has sharpened my tools and made me a better designer, but has also taught me a ton about doing good business.If there is one thing I've come to learn about most businesses or startups seen on Reddit, it's that not everyone knows about the marketing/branding/media/etc side of starting a business. And more likely, they don't know about branding design or the design industry at all (which is totally fair.) And because this community is where I get work and the relationship is 100% symbiotic, I wanted to make a post about some of the key things I've found and try to offer some info or tips that will be useful for starting or experienced entrepreneurs alike looking for branding or a professional to design something for them. If you have a new business or startup and need design work done, the following will hopefully help you out:Your Brand is Your ProductYou've probably heard this little chestnut a lot. It's corny, absolutely, but mostly true. You could have the best blender on the market, but if the packaging is bad and the overall look of everything related to your product is off, people won't want to buy it and stores won't want it on their shelves. That's pretty obvious advice, but it's understandable if you haven't put much thought into branding. Sometimes you're so focused on the blender that you forget it has to go in a box and make people buy it. It's 100% okay to not know about this aspect of your business, but the better you understand and approach it, the better results you'll have by far.So remember to value this aspect of your business and know that it's pretty darn important. The great part is that there are a lot of super talented people online and on Reddit that you can hire to handle these important materials.Do Your Homework This is the most important section of the list. I can't tell you how many times I've seen entrepreneurs and people with startups make super lazy posts in the working subreddits that put off designers. "I need a logo for an apparel company." "How much are logos?" Asking bad questions like this can be avoided by educating yourself about design and how to find the best designer for you.To a designer, all projects are different and will require a lot of information before they can make an educated quote. A logo or branding item for a major product that's intended to be sold nationally on shelves in major stores will have more worth to the company, therefore costing more than a logo for small development team working remotely in Ontario. A designer will need to know who you are, what the product is, where it's sold, how much it's sold, where will it be advertised, etc before they can quote you. In order for me to give a quote, I try as hard as I can to get on the phone with my potential client and learn all this information from the horse's mouth. It also gives the designer a chance to answer any questions you may have and inform you of their process and how you'll fit into it. When you're making a post looking for a designer, posting these types of details will be a tremendous help. You'll be much more likely to get higher quality designers to bite and reach out if they feel comfortable enough with the information you've given.Everything is online, so if you've got a tea company, looking in the right places using those keywords will net you some great examples of branding for tea. Google image search is an invaluable tool for this, but may yield some lower quality results. For better examples, use sites like www.behance.net, www.dribbble.com or www.logomoose.com. These communities are made of actual experienced working professional designers where they can post their work. In cases like dribbble, a user must be invited by another user, meaning that the level of quality is self-regulated by the community and standards are super high. 99% of the best designers you will find here on Reddit are also members of these communities and use them as an alternate means to post their work.Research pricing. I'm sure you've heard of fiverr or other super super cheap places to get crowd sourced design materials, but stay away from them as a means of getting your design done. These places are unethical and severely undervalue both the professional design industry and the businesses that get materials from them. Most importantly, because people are selling logos for $5, you can be absolutely certain that the designs are being stolen from other designs they've seen, or templates you can download for free from easy to find places online. I've had my designs stolen by these guys on multiple accounts. They're not professional, experienced, skilled or able to actually communicate and work with you in the correct process to deliver the best materials. I see a lot of uninformed pitches on Reddit saying they'll pay $50 for a logo. Branding does not cost $50 unless you're commissioning your grandson. Branding costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands and thousands. It all depends on what the product/company is, usage of materials and so on. There is no fixed price for logos and if you see someone advertising "I do logos for $200", they're inexperienced and have undercut themselves because they're too scared of having a potential client pass them up. This stuff costs money not only because of it's worth to your company, but because when you hire a solid designer, they've got Malcom Gladwell hours behind the pencil/computer,know what they're doing, and have the skills and equipment to deliver. Really, the best thing to do is hop on Google and do some pricing research and when you find a designer you like, get on the phone with them and have an open discussion about budget. It's not a fun topic for anyone, but it's something you should research and talk to a professional about.Communication is Key This one is easy. Once you've found someone that you like and think would be a great candidate to design for you, get in touch with them. On my contact page of my website, I have "Be as detailed with your needs as possible. Who is your demographic? What is your company? Who are you? How much of the product are you looking to sell? How will the materials be used? What colors do you like? Etc. Give examples of things that inspire you or things that you are visually intrigued by. The more I know about the project, the better I can assist you in realizing your goal and garner the most positive response from your intended market." Providing information like this upfront on a post or in a response email is a major plus. It gives the designer the information they need and shows them that you're a responsible and involved person to work with. Remember, it goes both ways.Once you've started working with the designer, your job will be to give feedback and work with them to get to the final result. You'll be shown proof sheets with multiple concepts and variations with text variations on top of that. You'll get lots of options and then it's just a matter of whittling it down. An important thing to also note is not to be 100% tied to any concepts or ideas you may have for the materials. You don't hire a professional to act purely as your hand and do exactly what you have in mind. You hire them for their better knowledge and ability when it comes to brand design. Sometimes what sounds good to you on paper won't actually be as effective for your business in practice. If a client of mine is pushing for a concept that I am 100% certain won't be best for the company and demographic, I will put my foot down and do my best to explain how something else will work better and show them an example of that to get them to see. You wouldn't stand over a plumber and tell them everything to do, and the same goes with working with designers. You're paying them to do their job and that's to give you what's best for the pocketbook of the company, not necessarily the personal biased feelings of what the client likes. That's not to say at all that the ideas and input from you are moot, but rather to have an open mind and be open in your communication. Ask and listen. My best work has always come when the client and I have a healthy back and forth and put enough pressure on the coal until it becomes diamond.I realize that's a lot of text and maybe a little rambling, but I hope there's something in there that will help someone. I would love to field any questions anyone has, as I haven't covered everything. This community is awesome and I'd love to help anyone I can. I've worked with so many different types of companies and startups and learned so much over the past decade, that it would be my pleasure to offer help in this subject.Thank you guys for being hard working and inspiring. Take care and talk soon!Michael "Gart" Gartsman | www.gartsman.net