#can i just give myself more grace

[pop-punklouis]

[bookshelf-in-progress]

The trick to writing a good story is to make sure it has at least one element that people like so much that they don't care if other elements are imperfect.

People are drawn to stories with stuff they like; they're going to like flawed stories that have those things more than they're going to like perfect stories that don't have those things. I personally love certain authors because of one thing they do well--I go to this one for character, and this one for intricate plot, and this one for immersive worldbuilding, etc.--and get confused when people complain about the other elements not being done well because that's not what I'm reading for. If one element is really well-done, I will forgive a million other storytelling sins that would make me tear apart a book I liked less. If I can give that grace to other authors, I can trust other readers to give me that same grace, if they like my stories well enough to keep reading them.

[lingeringscars]

There is something really beautiful about Simone Biles being regarded as the best gymnast in history, and her still falling/making mistakes/not qualifying for bars final/not placing first always.

[wildflowercryptid]

something that's been weighing on my mind ever since learning about the situation with ezra / toonimal is seeing how these predators will take the active hostility that is frequently directed towards minors in online spaces to their advantage and use it to prey on vulnerable children. i think that we as adults in online fandom should probably come together and maybe rethink the language / manner we go about interacting with kids bc clearly the way things are rn is causing active harm.

like obviously, if you're an adult and aren't comfortable with minors interacting with you or your content, you should be allowed to set that boundary and should be vocal about it, ( especially if the content you create isn't safe for them to consume. ) but i don't think talking to them like they're a blight on all that is good and holy is the way to go about it. maybe just saying you're an 18 plus account will suffice, you don't have to tell them to fuck off.

[eddie-rifff]

lol. im gonna be ruminating about my interaction w bill bruford in the hotel for the rest of my life. he was clearly like not expecting a fan to approach him then and there but he was also trying to be cordial and normal despite me probably looking like i had just witnessed a tragic event or something. we exchanged a few words n then he was like "ya so we're heading up to manhattan now" just like making small talk and i was so intimidated and starstruck i dont even remember what i said LOL i think it was pretty normal but i wanted to ask him something (if the weird modulated voice on back to the beginning is him tho im pretty sure it is but id like confirmation) and get a pic but. i was unable to do so on account of the being absolutely petrified. anyway props to bill for trying to be normal to me when i was probably visibly trembling

[roaringroa]

they should make a life where you don't have appointments, work, school and scheduled events every single day for months on end

[clowningcrows]

accidentally took a fairly objective step away from myself today and went. oh shit. i’m like REALLY hard on myself aren’t i?

[arsenicflame]

i will beat the depression slump... i will beat it.... i will........ (sobs)

[tokyoteddywolf]

22 isn't very much at all, I think.

[landgraabbed]

running some redoran quests

[dallonwrites]

lately my only goal w my writing sessions is just to do whatever i need to feel good and set myself up for success w the next writing session and it feels kind of like basic advice but i seriously never gave specific focus to that and it's kinda life changing lol

[blujayonthewing]

I was trying out variations on colorways for aubree's outfit and, with a few of them, realized that her outfit has trended slightly less colorful over time, and specifically less yellow (originally a green and yellow striped vest, then a green vest over a yellow short sleeved shirt, and now possibly a white shirt and green vest, with only small amounts of yellow embroidery). this wasn't intentional, but nonetheless, the concept that, as the adventure has worn on, she's outwardly losing color-- and specifically in favor of browns and whites, the colors associated with the halfling god of death-- is compelling to me. I mean, I suppose if I had been doing it on purpose, the shadowfell arc immediately following our literal deaths and mysterious rebirths would have been a really good time for the most muted palette... but, then again, aubree was still relatively fresh then, confused and traumatized but also still powerfully and stubbornly alive where it counts; vibrant, burning, shining light into dark corners just by existing. but the more we learn, the heavier things weigh, the fewer outlets she has, the less she feels like she can relate to the people who should understand better than anyone... she's still righteous and angry, but she's also just... sad, and tired, and growing more tired the more she feels like she has to keep herself together for everyone else. and gradually, quietly, her colors are washing out.

[honestlyvan]

In 2018, Quinn Curio made a video essay talking about storytime youtubers, and the cottage industry of people who only exist to criticise the content put out by storytime creators. It's an excellent overall video, but my main takeaway from it at the time was that when you're drinking deep from the well of dunking, it's easy to start dehumanising your target and... essentially getting high off your own supply. The other points -- about how many of these animators had broadly done nothing more than make art in a genre the critics didn't care for -- are also good, but the observation that this kind of "slime ranching" serves to gratify the critic primarily, and it's actual usefulness as criticism is limited by the context.

I'm not trying to make a direct comparison here -- I don't really watch HBG but I did watch this video and I think he did the best he could to impart an anti-slime ranching message to the video -- but the response to the video does, when it's not sheer schadenfreude from people who have carried hatchets for a long time, hit a lot of the same high notes what the appeal of something like storytime critics is. The easy hit of "at least I'm not that bad" is very tempting and sometimes genuinely necessary if you're low, if your self-esteem is truly garbage.

But I did also watch little hoots' video on the dirtbag left like an hour after release and I do kind of... wonder if the urge to find emotional release through "righteousness" isn't kind of inherently reactionary, and how that plays into a general contempt for compassion and giving grace that is inherent to any hierarchies. (After all, hierarchies aim to calcify -- with too much fluidity between classes they will not function as effectively). I wonder if there isn't something inherently sinister about our tendency to absorb criticism of other people from the perspective of the critic, rather than absorbing it from the perspective of a potential target of such criticism.

Because criticism, social pressure tactics, mobbing and dunking aren't primarily tools of the powerless. They're not primarily power wielded by those with little to no social clout to wield them. There's a reason the "twitter reply guy" is such an enduring fixture of the pantheon of people on the internet whose opinions we almost wholesale discard. And the people with no integrity to speak of are, let's face it, not as affected by them as we would like them to be, because the opinion of any given segment of the total population of people they can have influence on doesn't super matter to them.

At the very least, I think what OP is describing is our tendency to want to individualise the problem, and solve it by Getting Rid Of the Bad Ones (against a nearly inexhaustible supply of new Bad Ones), when this is largely a matter of incentives. When is your integrity worth less than the money being a grifter could bring in? (Have you ever even been rewarded for your integrity?) When is the social validation from your peers more than your repulsion towards socially aggressing against the outgroup? (Have you ever been rewarded for aggressing?) When you say "well I would never do something like that", who is that I you're talking about?

i think the thing that is specifically bothering me about the conversation about the new hbomberguy video ("live your life in a way so that hbomberguy doesn't tear into you for 3 hours", "hbomberguy has figured out how to death note someone through video essays", "oh new hbomberguy video [incredibly dense paragraphs of text] i now despise james somerton") is that it really feels like people aren't paying attention to what hbomberguy was actually saying. like, as much as he wanted to make people aware of the plagiarism issue, he also very explicitly did not like the fact that he might even remotely have a financial incentive to make those sorts of videos. and rather than the last video, which was a "get mad about this" call to action, hbomberguy spent this whole video sympathizing with the people who were directly out indirectly affected, and wanted the focus of people's attention to be on uplifting small queer creators

but also, negativity drives engagement so i guess it's to be expected.

[duskerot]

i just put together my year in review art summary for the year and its interesting because compared to last year i think my technical skills improved but it feels a little bittersweet overall because as soon as i got my job all of that ambition just vanished LOL

[seokshinedk]

Trying to remember that I am still only starting out my career as a new clinician, & that everyone needs to start somewhere🫠🫠

[passerinesoncaffeine]

So I didn’t really have time to prepare for all 31 days of Fan Joy July (obviously), do art fight, commissions, and personal projects, so I’m going to try to combine huevemer and my unfinished ffj art so I have more time to work and I can color <3