#false characterization

[gia-batmm-crickle22]

In short, Thrawn doesn't believe to killing unless it's necessary (even mentions it in the book). Even then, he doesn't look at the corpse directly for long.

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

Watching a playthrough of dead plate and I'm at the dinner party part AND I think it'd be really funny if the attendees to the dinner party assumed rody was vincent's boyfriend and that's why he was helping out

[anghraine]

I know this isn't only an autistic thing or always an autistic thing, but over the least few years, I've realized that a lot of my difficulties with humor are not actually with humor itself. If anything, there are specific kinds of humor that really work for me and I end up laughing so much harder and longer than everyone else that it's uncomfortable or embarrassing.

But a lot of popular humor fundamentally relies on saying things that aren't true. Sometimes this is drastic exaggeration, sometimes it's OTT parody that is far more about Being Funny than about the actual thing being parodied, and often it's flatly false and that's what is supposed to be funny about it. And yes, that's a humorless and ungracious way to describe that kind of humor—I don't mean to say that this is objectively bad or something.

I even understand the jokes intellectually. But in the vast majority of cases, there is something deeply unfunny to me about jokes reliant on something that is either obviously untrue or which I firmly disagree with.

I've seen quite a few posts recently about how, in online fandom, mocking your faves or being amused at other people mocking your faves is an important part of fandom culture. But for me, jokes about my faves based on things they actually said or did, or qualities they clearly possess, can be very funny, while jokes that are based on misrepresentations—even obvious, it's-all-in-good-fun-and-we-all-know-the-truth misrepresentations—are tedious at best.

For an easy example: Anakin and Luke Skywalker are two of my main Star Wars faves. Jokes about sand or Anakin mass-murdering children in his good phase or Luke being far less concerned than Han over the revelation of who his twin is or "it's not faaaaair" can still be really funny to me when told right. Jokes about Anakin obviously mind-tricking Padmé or Luke being obviously an eternally optimistic loser twink are intensely annoying to me regardless of context or delivery, not because they're comparably objectionable or anything but because they're not true.

Functionally this does cut out a lot of humor—especially online humor—but it's not that I literally don't understand it. I get it. I just don't get it.

[moonshynecybin]

i do think. as much of a deal i make about marc being a lil weird about his pain. that the motogp press establishment is infinitely more obsessed with taking his pain and lionizing it. narrativizing it. making it a monument to racers (and often marc specifically) being sort of. superhuman beings who can white knuckle through any injury because their noble devotion to the sport can overcome it all. which is of course a very flawed line of thinking to propagate amongst the fans and employees of a sport that involves people flinging themselves off of motorcycles at 300kmh. but nonetheless it helps create this sporting narrative (frequently FULLY endorsed by a lot of the fans, the press/media, the motogp DOCTORS, and the riders themselves) that takes very stupid decisions concerning the health and safety and well-being of these people and transform those decisions into something to be rewarded as the ultimate ideal of what it means to be a motorcycle racer. no pain no gain, even when you literally don’t even gain anything !! and it’s not unique to motogp whatsoever but it IS still weird and i don’t think it should be glossed over

[graciehatesgracie]

I know I say this a lot but I think a lot of you forget that Simon isn't just some submissive lovey dovey weakling. hes scary. like. scary. other task forces have expressed how terrified they are of him. Y/N cant just have sass, carelessness and act like theyre the stuff around him he'd humble them by just staring at them. hes a grown man in a special task force, considered one of their deadliest soldiers. he kicked his own abusive father out of the house, helped his brother with a drug addiction and did his best to help his family. he goes on missions almost everyday and takes his job extremely seriously and is just so focused and so determined that im 100% sure if he were a real person country leaders would be terrified of this man being sent on an assassination mission out for them. I'll be damned if he let himself be treated like some kind of dog from someone just cause theyre pretty or hot or whatever. I've said it once and I'll say it again, your OC is not special.

[skitskatdacat63]

I don't know how I'd ever convey this in art but. Thinking very deeply about how in boy king au, a very crucial part of characterization is that Seb is a wolf in sheep(or lamb more specifically)'s clothing and Fernando is a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Seb is very unassuming, very delicate, seemingly very vulnerable and malleable. But, deep down, he can be very ruthless. It's in the the way he hesitantly declares war, with a spark in his eye and a suppressed smirk. In the way he challenges someone to a card game or a horse race, proclaiming that he's not great, but winning every round and prancing around the room and mentioning it ad infinitum. The way he's able to instantly turn the tide in a debate in one fell swoop. By showing all his cards constantly and letting himself be vulnerable, he's making himself invulnerable. No one would ever consider him to be able to make big moves, so he wins every single time, because no one even thinks to expect it from him.

Fernando on the other hand, is constantly committed to having a looming presence and harsh reputation, but deep down, he's soft. He knows what happens to people when they're vulnerable, and he's not going to let himself be taken advantage of. The way he keeps a brave face when being informed of the marriage proposal, but goes back to his room and cries. The way he proclaims that he was always going to be the rightful ruler of Spain, but confides to Flavio that he never thought there was any real chance of it ever happening. The way he takes himself so seriously in public, but inside feels so giddy whenever he can make someone laugh. Everything to him always feels unstable and ready to crumble at any moment, and he's not willing to contribute to that by letting himself relax.

I think thats why it's very difficult for them to get along at first, because they have completely different approaches to how they carry themselves and make their way through life. Seb is confused at Fernando because he feels that he's very bland and overly serious at first, but truthfully he's not really seeing the actual Fernando. And Fernando finds Seb to be naive and easily taken advantage of, but that's because he's never seen Seb at his most cruel. Seb really loves when he eventually gets to see Fernando being vulnerable, and Fernando really admires and respects Seb when he sees him being serious. I think it just takes a while for them to show the other their full and complete selves, even the parts they can sometimes be ashamed of. There's this very compelling dichotomy in Seb laying out all his cards, but still being very difficult to read, and Fernando keeping his cards to his chest, but his intentions often being easily seen through.

[howifeltabouthim]

'But that wasn't him. That was only how he wanted people to think he was, while all the time he was someone else.'

John Banville, from Snow

[gay-homophobic-lawyer-show]

I wonder if there's an in-universe explanation for Nelle's change in characterization. Or an out-of-universe real life explanation for why David wrote her differently in season 3 onwards. Any explanation would be nice really.

[spiderfaang]

I still think it was a massive mistake to not have windclan take in frostpaw during the book called Wind. Like you had the buildup for it to happen. Why didn't you just put frostpaw in windclan.

[limeade-l3sbian]

biopics that knowingly divert from the true events of the story they're telling are just big budget fan fictions.

[quietwingsinthesky]

soulless sam was at his best when he was still being written as a version of sam, to accentuate parts of him that normally get held back, and not as 'guess he's evil now'. soulless sam when he's reflecting sam's tendency to lose sight of everything else in pursuit of a goal. soulless sam when he's just kind of rude without thinking about it without his filter on. soulless sam when he's equal parts intent on keeping dean with him and also happy to lie to him and keep him shut out of the things he knows dean won't like so that dean won't leave. soulless sam when he equally recognizes that he is a better hunter now, and also that he probably can't continue to exist without his soul. (you know. before they went along with making him just kind of evil.)

...soulless sam when he's begging for literally anyone to acknowledge his autonomy in this situation and not force him to take his soul back without knowing how much it could damage him and being ignored.

[kayawolfhorse]

Ask game! Any/all of 9, 10, 11, 14!

11. Are you more of a planner or an improvisor?

Definitely a planner. My outlines are very dear to me and the only times I work without them are for flash fics that I already have a clear idea for

14. Most fun and/or engaging character voice to write in?

Character voice is something I focus on a lot in my work, and as such most of my favorite characters to write have earned the title not only for their place in my heart but for how interesting their voice is. To only name one is tricky, but I’d be remiss to go with anyone but Pearl

(Ask game)

[idiotsonlyevent]

i think its funny when people call law a fraud because he "doesn't have a medical degree" or "didn't take the hippocratic oath" or whatever when he is 1. canonically incredibly good at his job (and he has to be, to bring out his devil fruit's full ability) and 2. a "swordsman" despite NO ONE ever commenting on his sword-fighting abilities and NEVER actually... fighting anyone.... with a sword... without his devil fruit powers.....

[potatoesandsunshine]

vivian experiencing 1 (one) moment of genuine concern and kindness: i’m about to tear up my life by the roots. and it’s her fault.

[howifeltabouthim]

There is sadness in Phineas, a wound that lies beneath the brisk, bright persona . . . I am drawn to that doleful piece of him. In unguarded moments, a pensive expression changes his features. It never happens when he is looking at me, but when he pauses, when he turns away. Once I asked him, Are you okay? And he said, No. The no made me glad. Aren't we always saying, Yes, I'm fine? Yes, and you? Fine, fine. We're all fine. I wish I hadn't been so fine, so goddamned fine for so many years . . .

Siri Hustvedt, from The Blazing World

[lipglossboy]

I see a lot of posts that are like "this character isn't like you characterize him because look at this thing he does! Proof!" "No way these characters would get along because ____" "no way this character would do this because ____"

People have different qualities that don't seem to perfectly align with each other. That's the world. We contain multitudes! Truly! All of us!

Our behaviors will seem contradictory because the words and categories that we assign to them are completely arbitrary! Traits are just ways of making sense of people but you don't have to hold the person to the box you've put them in if they seem to spill out of it!

We're all capable of so many things and loving all differeng kinds of people for all different reasons. I've come to realize that I'm unconvinced by most of the critical fandom characterization takes I've read.