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digitalmarkettingintern · 7 months ago

Text

How Will Digital Marketing Change in the Future?

Digital marketing has the ability to push your Company to the next level.

Marketing trends are based on customer behavior, and these trends determine how various corporate organizations operate.

You’re on the correct track whether you’re already a digital marketer or want to get into the field.

For organizations, using digital marketing tools is no longer a choice. It’s an essential must that should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list. Technological developments, ease of access to the internet, and other factors all contribute to the digital marketing industry’s enormous success.

Using various digital marketing methods, you may provide tailored experiences to your consumers. When it comes to providing a smooth and user-specific experience, digital marketers have a distinct advantage over their offline counterparts.

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future:

Monitor engagement and time spent.

As a digital marketer, you must determine the location of your target audience. According to a survey by We Are Social, people spend more than six and a half hours each day on the internet. It’s a no-brainer that interacting with these folks and converting them into consumers is easier.

Mobile phones continue to dominate internet usage patterns, having already surpassed traffic generated by desktop computers. Your digital marketing strategy should likewise take a mobile-first approach for the same reason.

Whether it’s video content or time spent on social media, the statistics are stunning, and they’re just going to become bigger. Take advantage of this opportunity now to get your company ready for the digital future.

Build Brand Awareness with a Global Mission

While developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have already adopted the digital system, emerging countries such as India and China are not far behind. From a government standpoint, digitization is essential since it streamlines the process of providing public services.

Governments can simply gather citizen data, distribute messages, and so forth through approved digital means. The public, who are wary about switching to digital forms, will gain trust as a result of this.

All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tactics for small businesses by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Artificial intelligence (A.I.) has become digital marketing’s greatest friend. It not only automates different procedures for you, but also assists you in making informed judgments. Programmatic advertising is a prime example of this.

With thorough data analysis, this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area. According to research by Pubmatic, about 86 percent of all digital advertising will be delivered by automation in the near future.

Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business costs, the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track Your Results with KPIs and Cost-Effective Tools

In digital marketing, you may measure and assess your efforts on a variety of criteria. There are several generic KPIs that might assist you in this regard, and you can also establish specific KPIs to track your digital marketing plan.

These measurable objectives enable you to assess the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and provide a clear “expectation vs. reality” comparison. By examining this data, you can continue to enhance your digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values and achieved outcomes.

To Conclude,

You have access to a huge audience pool of over 4.5 billion individuals when you use digital marketing for brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and other purposes. Digital marketing has a bright future ahead of it, and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come.

#digital marketing #seo

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leranindigitall · 9 months ago

Text

How will Digital Marketing change in the future?

Digital Marketing has the ability to push you company to the net level

Marketing trends are based on customer behavior and these trends determine how various corporate organization operat

You’re on the correct track whether you’re already a digital marketer or want to get into the filed

For organization using digital marketing tools in no longer a choice .It’s an essential must that should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list. Technological developments ease of access

To the internet and other factors all contribute to the digital marketing industry’s enormous success

Using various digital marketing method you many provide tailored experiences to your consumers. When it comes to providing a smooth and user-specific experience. Digital marketer have a distinct advantage over their offline counterparts

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future

Monitor engagement and time spent

As a digital marketer you must Determine the location of your target audience According to a survey by we are social people spend more than six and a half hours each day on the internet. Its ano-brainer that interacting with these folks and converting them consumer is easier

Mobile phones continue to dominate internet usage putters having already surpassed traffic generated by desktop computer. You digital marketing strategy should likewise take a mobile first approach for the same reason

Whether it’s video content or time spent on social media the statistic are stunning and they’re just going to become blogger. Take advantage of this opportunity how to get your company ready for the digital future

Build brand awareness with a global mission

While development countries such as the United Kingdom have already adopted digital system emerging countries such as India and china are not farbechild from a government standpoint, digitalization is essential since it streamlines the process of roving public service

Government can simply gather citizen data , distribute messages and so forth through approved digital means. The public who e way about switching to digital forms will gain trust as a result of this

All you have to do now is be productive and develop successful internet marketing tactic for small business by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global

Measure Rol with SEO artificial intelligence and Analytic

Artificial intelligence (A.I) has become digital marketing greatest friend. It not only automates different procedures for you but also assists you’re in making informed documents. Programmatic advertising is a prime example of this

With thorough data analysis this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area according to research by PubMatic about 86 percent of all digital advertising will be delivered by automation in the near future

Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business costs the Rol associated with digital marketing is always positive

Track your result with Kpl, and cost – Effective Tools

In digital marketing you many measure and assess your efforts on a variety of criteria. There are several generic kpl that might assist you in this regard and you can also establish specific kpl to track your digital marketing plan

These measurable objective enable you to asses the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and provide a clear expectation Vs. reality comprising By . examining this data you can continue to enhance your digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values and achieved outcomes

To Conclude

You have access to a huge audience pool of over 405 billion individuals when you use digital marketing for brand awareness ,lead generation conversion and other purposes. Digital marketing has a bright future ahead of it and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come

#digital #technology #web design #website #blog

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learnindigital2002 · 1 year ago

Text

How will Digital Marketing Change in the future?

Digital Marketing has the ability to push your company to the next level.

Marketing trends are based on customer behavior and these trends determine how various corporate organization operate.

You’re on the correct track whether you’re already a Digital Marketer or want to get inti the field.

For organizations, using digital marketing tools is no longer a choice. It’s an essential must that should be on the top of everyone’s bucket list. Technological development, ease of access to the internet, and other factors all contributed to the digital marketing industries enormous success.

Using various digital marketing methods, you may provide tailored experiences to your consumers. When it comes to providing a smooth and user specific experience, digital marketers have a distinct advantage over their offline counterparts.

The following are the reasons why Digital Marketing is the future:

Monitor engagement and time spend

As a Digital Marketer, you must determine the location of your targets audience. According to a survey of We Are Social, people spend more than a six and a half day on the Internet. It’s a non-brainer that interacting with these folks and converting them into consumers is easier.

Mobile phone continue to dominate Internet usage patterns, having already surpassed traffic generated by desktop computers. Your digital marketing strategy should take a mobile-first approach for the same reason.

Whether it’s video content or time spend on social media, the statistics are stunning, and they’re just going to become bigger. Take advantage of this opportunity now to get your company ready for the digital future.

Build Brand awareness with a Global Mission

While developed countries such as United States and the United Kingdom have already adopted the digital system, emerging countries such as India are not far behind. From a government standpoint, digitization is essential since it streamlines the process of providing public services.

Governments can simply gather citizen data, distribute messages, and so forth through approved digital means. The public who are wary about switching to digital forms, will gain trust as a result of this.

All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tactics for small business by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO. Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Artificial intelligence (A.I) has become digital marketing’s greatest friend. It not only automates different procedures for you, but also assists you in making informed judgments. Programmatic advertising is a prime example of this.

With through data analysis, this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area. According to research by Pubmatic, about 86% of digital advertising will be delivered by automation in the near future.

Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business costs, the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track Your Results with KPIs and Cost-Effective Tools

In digital marketing, you may measure and assess your efforts on a variety of criteria. There are several generic KPIs that might assist you in the regards, and you can also establish specific KPIs to track your digital marketing plan.

The measurable objectives enable you to assess the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and provide a clear “expectation vs. reality” comparison. By examining this data, you can continue to enhance your digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values and achieved outcomes.

To conclude,

You have to access to a huge audience pool of over 4.5 billion individuals when you use digital marketing for brand awareness, lead generation, conversations and other purposes. Digital Marketing has a bright future ahead of it, and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come

#digital marketing #contentmarketing #seo

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lightlines · 1 year ago

Text

How will Digital Marketing Change in the Future?

Digital marketing has the ability to push your company to the next level.Marketing trends are based on customer behaviour,and these trends determine how various corporate organisations operate.you’re on the correct trackwhether you’re already a digital marketeror want to get in to the field.For organisations,using digital marketing tools is no longer choice.it’s an essential must that should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list.technologicaldevelopments,ease of access to the internet,and other factors all contribute to the digital marketing industry’s enormopus success.using various digital marketing methods,you may provide tallored experiencesto your consumers.when it comes to providing a smooth and user-specific experience,digital marketers have a distinct advantage over their offline counterparts.

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future;

Monitor engagement and time spent

As a digital marketer,must determine the location of your target audience,According to a survey by We Are Social,people spend more thansix,and a half hours each day on the internet.it’s a non-brainer that interacting with these folks and converting them in to customers is easier.Mobile phones continue to dominate internet usage patterns ,having already surpassed traffic generated by desktop computers.Your digital marketing strategy should likewise take a mobile-first approach for the same reason.Whether it’s video content or time spent on social media,and statistics are stunning,and they’re just going to become bigger.take advantage of this opportunity now to get you companyready for the digital future.

Build Brand Awareness with a global mission

While developed countries such as the united Statesand the United Kingdomhave already adopted the digital system,emerging countriessuch as india and china are not far behind.from a government standpoint,digitalization is essential since it streamlines the process of providing publicservices.Government can simply gather citizen data,distribute messages,amd so forth through approved digital means.The public who are wary about switching to digital forms,will gain trust as a result of this.All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tactics for small business by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO,artificial intelligence and data analytics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become digital marketing’s greatest friend.it not only automates different procedures for you, but also assists you in making informed judgements.Programmatic advertising is a prime example of this.With thorogh data analysis,this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area.According to research by pubmatic,about 86 percent of all digital advertising will be delivered by automation in the near future.Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business costs,the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track your results with KPI’s and cost effective tools

In digital marketing ,you may measure and assess your efforts on a variety of criteria.there are several generic KPI’s that might assist you in the regard,and you can also establish specific KPI’s to track your digital marketing plan.These measurable objectives enables you to assess the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and provide a clear ‘’expectation vs reality’’ comparison.By examining the data ,you can continue to enhance your digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values and achieved outcomes.

To conclude,

You have access to a huge audience pool of over 4.5 billion individuals when you use digital marketing for brand awareness,lead generations,conversion,and other purposes.Digital marketing has a bright future ahead of it,and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come.

#digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #seo

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forzentamil · 2 years ago

Text

How Will Digital Marketing Change in the Future?

Digital marketing has the ability tp push your Company to the next level

Marketing trend are based on customer behavior, and these trends detemine how various corporate organizations operatle.

You’re on the correct track whether you’re already a digital marketer or want to get into the field.

For organizations,using Digital marketing tools is no longer a choice.It’s an essential must that should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list.Technological developments,ease of access to the internet,and other factors all contribute to the Digital marketing industry’s enormous success.

Using various Digital marketing methods ,you may provide tailored experiences to your consumers.When it comes to providing a smooth and user-specific experience , Digital marketing have a distint adantage over their offline counterparts.

The following are the reasons why Digital marketing is the future:

Monitor engagement and time spent.

As a Digital marketing ,you must determine the location of your target audeience.

According to a survey by We Are Social, people spend more the six and a half hours each day on the internet It’s a no-brainer that interacting with these folks and converting them info consumers is easier.

Mobile phones continuse to domibnate internet usage patterns,having already surpassed traffic generated by desktop computer.Your Digital marketing strategy should likewise take.a mobile-first approach for the same reason.

Whether it’s video content or time spent on social media,statistics are stunning ,and they’re just going to become bigger.take advantge of this opportunity now to get your company ready for the digital future.

Build Brand Awareness with a Global Mission

While deveolped countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have already adopted the digital system,emerging countries such as India and China are not far behind. From a government standpoint,digitization is essential since it streamlies the process of providing public services.

Governments can simply gather citizen data,distribute messages,and so forth through approved digital means.the public ,who are wary about switching to digital forms,will gain trust as a result of this.

All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tacties for small businesses.by aligning yourself with th global

Mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO , Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Artificial intelligence(A.I.)has become Digital marketing’s greatest friend.It not only automates different procedures for you,but also assists you in making informed judgments.Programmtic advertising is a prime example of this.

With thorough data analysis,this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area.

According to research by pubmatic,about 86 percent of all digital advertising be delivered by automation in the near future.

Because ofn technical integrations that limit risks and decrease businness costs , the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track Your Results with KPIs and Cost-Effective Tools

In Digital marketing,you may measure and assess your efforts on a variety of criteria .There are several generic KPIs that might assist you in this regard , and you can also establish specific KPIs to track your Digital marketing plan.

These measurable objectives enable you to assess the

Effectiveness of your marketing intiatives and provide a clear “expectation vs reality” comparison.By examining this data,you can continue to enhance your Digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values achieved outcome.

To Conclude,

You have access to a huge audience pool of over 4.5 billion individuals when you use Digital marketing for brand awareness,lead generation conversion,and other purposes. Digital marketing has a bright future ahead of it ,and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come.

#digital marketing #seo #online courses

0 notes

umulhind · 2 years ago

Text

How will Digital Marketing Change in the Future?

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future;

Monitor engagement and time spent

Build Brand Awareness with a global mission

Measure ROI with SEO,artificial intelligence and data analytics

Track your results with KPI’s and cost effective tools

To conclude,

#digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #seo

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akkilgeorge · 2 years ago

Text

How will Digital Marketing Change in the Future?

Digital marketing has the ability to push your Company to the next level.

Marketing trends are based on customer behavior, and these trends determine how various corporate organizations operate.

You’re on the correct track whether you’re already a digital marketer or want to get into the field.

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future:

Monitor engagement and time spent.

As a digital marketer, you must determine the location of your target audience. According to a survey by We Are Social, people spend more than six and a half hours each day on the internet. It’s a no-brainier that interacting with these folks and converting them into consumers is easier.

Build Brand Awareness with a Global Mission

All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tactics for small businesses by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business costs, the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track Your Results with KPIs and Cost-Effective Tools

To Conclude,

#digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #seo expert

1 note · View note

jusy123 · 2 years ago

Text

How will Digital Marketing change in the future?

Digital Marketing has the ability to push your company to the next level.

Marketing trends are based on customer behavior, and these trends determine how various corporate organization operate.

You’re on the correct whether you’re already a digital marketer or want to get into the failed.

For organizations, using digital marketing tools is no longer a choice. It’s an essential must that should be at the top of every one’s bucket list. Technological development, ease of access to the internet, and other factors all contributes to the digital marketing industry’s enormous success.

Using various digital marketing methods, you may provide tailored experiences to your consumers. When it comes to providing a smooth and user – specific experiences, digital marketer have a distinct advantage over their offline counter parts.

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future:

Monitor engagement and time spent

As a digital marketer, you must determine the location of your target audience. According to survey by We Are Social. People spend more than six and a half hours each day on the internet. It’s a no-brainer that interacting with these folks and converting them into consumer is easier.

Mobile phone continues to domine internet usage patterns, having already surpassed traffic generated by desktop computers. Your digital marketing strategy should likewise take a mobile-first approach for the same reason.

Whether it’s video content or time spent on social media, the statistics are stunning, and they’re just going to become bigger. Take advantage of his opportunity now to get your company ready for the digital future.

Build Brand Awareness with a Global Mission

Government, can simply gather citizen data, distribute massage, and so forth through approved digital means. The public, who are wary about switching to digital farms, will gain trust as a result of this.

All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tactics for small business by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Artificial intelligence (A.I) has become digital marketing’s greatest friend. It not only automates different procedures for you, but also assists you, but also assists you in making informed judgments. Programmatic advertising is a prime example of his.

With thorough data analysis, this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area. According to research by PubMatic, about 86 percent of all digital advertising will be delivered by automation in the near future.

Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business cost, the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track your Result with KPIs and Cost-Effective Tools

In digital marketing, you may measure and assess your effort, on a variety of criteria. There are several generic KPIs that assist you in this regard and you can also establish specific KPIs to track your digital marketing plan.

These measurable objectives enable you to assess the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and provide a clear “expectation Vs reality” comparison. By examining this data, you can continue to enhance your digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values and achieved outcomes.

To conclude,

You have access to a huge audience pool of over 4.5 billion individuals when you use digital marketing for brand awareness, led generation, conversion, and other purposes. Digital marketing has a bright future ahead of it, and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come.

#digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #seo

1 note · View note

learn--digital · 2 years ago

Text

How Will Digital Marketing Change in the Future?

Digital marketing has the ability to push your company to the next level.

Marketing trends are based on customers behavior, and these trends det4ermine how various corporate organizations operate.

You’re on the correct track whether you’re already a digital marketer or want to get into the field.

Using varios digital marketing methods, you may provide tailored experiences to your consumers. When it comes to providing a smooth and experience, digital marketers have a distinct advantage over their offline counterparts.

The following are the reasons why digital marketing is the future:

Monitor engagement and time spent.

As a digital marketer, you must determine the location of you target audience. According to a survey by We Are Social, people spend more than six and a half hours each day on the internet. It’s a no-brainer with these folks and converting them into consumers is easier.

Whether it’s video content or time spent on social media, the statistics are stunning , and they’re just going to become bigger. Take advantage of this opportunity now to get your company ready for the digital future.

Build Brand Awareness with a Global Mission

While developed countries such as the United States and United Kingdom have already adopted the digital system, emerging counties such as India and China are not far behind. From a government standpoint, digitization is essential since it streamlines the process of providing public service.

Government can simply gather citizen, distribute messages, and so forth through approved digital means. The public, who are wary about switching to digital forms, will gain trust as a result of this.

All you have to do now is be proactive and develop successful internet marketing tactics for small business by aligning yourself with the global mission to become global.

Measure ROI with SEO , Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

With thorough data analysis, this intelligent technology determines the optimum audience segment for you and also configures the complete advertising area. According to research by pubmatic, about 86 percent of all digital advertising will be automation in the near future.

Because of technical integrations that limit risks and decrease business costs the ROI associated with digital marketing is always positive.

Track Your Results with KPIs and Cost- Effective Tools

In digital marketing, you may measure and assess your efforts on a variety of criteria. There are several generic KPIs that assets you in this regard, and you can establish specific KPIs to track your digital marketing plan.

These measurable objective enable you to assess the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and provide a clear “expectation vs. reality” comparison. By examining this data, you can continue to enhance you digital marketing tactics by bridging the gap between desired values and achieved outcomes.

To Conclude,

You have access to a huge audience pool of over 4.5 billion individuals when you use digital marketing for brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and other purpose. Digital marketing has a bright future ahead of it, and you can expect to hear this word for decades to come.

#digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #seo

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the-ghost-king · 3 years ago

Note

About the cupid scene, Nico was forced to come out, but its also made very clear that Cupid is the bad guy. So is Aphrodite to an extent. They have a twisted and fundamental misunderstanding of love and how it works for mortals. I get that people could be mad about how Nico was forced to come out and putting him through more emotional trauma, but I also think its very realistic in showing how callous and cruel the gods understanding of love is.

I am reminded of the quote by Madeline Miller, "There is no law that gods must be fair..."

I also understand why the scene might be traumatic for other young LGBTQ+ readers, I've seen a lot of people talk about the fear of being outed in regards to them reading that scene as a kid. I completely respect their feelings on that, and I understand that as well. However, as someone who had been forcibly outed once before reading that scene, that scene really helped heal me. I don't think the Cupid scene is inherently homophobic, and I'm often bothered by the lack of nuance regarding around how it's handled.

I recognize it's a very emotional scene, and that people may have a hard time fully separating their emotions from that scene, but at the same time if there's a group of people saying "hey I understand why you disliked this scene but it was really helpful to me as a child because of the different experiences I had" maybe slow the breaks and hear what others also in the community have to say before determining if the scene is homophobic. You don't have to like the scene, and yeah maybe the scene did hurt you but that doesn't make it homophobic.

I want to specify on my word choice there a little closer, because of course outing someone is an act of homophobia, and the scene is homophobic in that sense. However often times the conversation about homophobia in this scene goes to "Rick was homophobic for writing this" where personally I would say this scene toes the line at being too far without ever crossing it. Some people may think this depiction crosses the line into "Rick was homophobic for writing this" which is fine, but just because something depicted homophobia and hurt you doesn't mean it was homophobic. Something doesn't have to out rightly be stated to be bad, in order to be read as bad*, and the Cupid scene does a wonderful job of depicting this.

I talk here about how Nico is shown what love is, and how love is treated by Nico, and how it affects his character. I think it's important to note that Nico's entire storyline can essentially be encompassed in an Orpheus-like or Odyssey-like tale. Nico's undergone this huge emotional and physical labor all in the name of having some form of unconditional love. I think that post is a really important read in the context of this one because I very carefully outline how love shapes Nico and how Nico shape and chooses his own definition of love, but I want to specifically dig into the Cupid scene on this post.

The big criticism often seen is "it's homophobic" which I covered above, and I want to clarify I'm not upset with or mad at or trying to tell anyone they can't dislike it or even say you can't say it's homophobic (my words on my one post are a bit off I'll admit) but the problem I have is when people believe they hold a moral high ground for thinking it's homophobic, or they remove all nuance from the discussion with "it's homophobic". Which is frustrating and annoying because it's a very complex scene, and it really changes Nico's arc and personality and it does help characterize him.

The big reason it shapes him so much is because of the other largest reason the scene is criticized, Cupid's behavior. What often fails to be recognized in those scenes is that Cupid is intentionally painted as the villain, this is very important to the scene.

In the context of this scene Nico makes an unspoken choice, a choice of "what is love to me?". I talk about how Nico claims his narrative in BoTL when he overcomes Minos, and he partially peaks that arc by convincing Gods to join the final battle of TLO. Following that arc however, Nico falls into his second arc, his crush on Percy was important in PJO, but not as important as it is in HoO.

By HoO Nico's entire character revolves around Percy, how to help Percy, how to aid Percy, etc. All of this has to do with Nico's crush on Percy, but also as an act of repayment because Nico hurt Percy- Nico lied to him about knowing him at New Rome in SoN, and he goes to Tartarus shortly after... This mirrors what Percy did after Hades tricked Nico... Percy choked Nico because he was upset with him, so Nico tried to win back Percy's affection by bathing him in the river.

The Cupid Scene is the resolution of Nico's arc, he is essentially given a choice- Cupid or Jason?

For this reason, we do see Nico recognize love for what it has been vs how it could be.

Cupid is there to represent what love is, to Nico love is brutal, and painful, and a lot of hard work... Nico has made himself utilitarian in love simply because it is the only way he can find any affection. Love to Nico is about flaying yourself for the benefit of others, to trample any and all parts of yourself simply to appease those you care for, because you want them to love you so much as you love them. The parallels I could draw between Nico and Orpheus, or Nico and Odysseus... I'd be here a long while...

In that scene Jason represents the alternative form of love which Nico chooses after his interaction with Cupid.

Jason says during the scene that he "preferred Piper's idea of love" which has to do with kindness and caring, etc, and then Jason becomes the embodiment of that idea during the scene- which showcases the alternative of what love can be, thus making Jason a personification of love in the context of that scene.

Jason looks to Nico, he doesn't ask for more, he simply looks to Nico with understanding and acknowledges him for who he is, and he does the exact opposite of what Nico expects:

Jason loves Nico where he is, without conditions, without forcing Nico to become something more. Jason didn’t force Nico to say more than what was necessary for him to understand, Jason looked at Nico and he called Nico brave.

Cupid is a more volatile form of love than Aphrodite, Cupid shoots arrows that makes people animals, that can make a god grow insane, but Aphrodite's form of love is about acceptance and humanity (think to how she picked Ares over Hephaestus even if it was perhaps "wrong")- both are about truth but one is about force and the other about acceptance.

When Nico walks out of there, he makes his choice- he is forced to come out yes, Cupid is wrong for doing this, but Jason again stays a figure of love in Nico's life. Jason basically says, "Good job, I know that was hard, thank you for sharing and let me know if you need anything, people will care about you and understand you," again and again and again to Nico, he doesn't tell Nico he has to come out, and he agrees to keep it between them for now. Jason is love as acceptance, Jason is the first person who unconditionally loves Nico, and that's the choice.

Will Nico accept unconditional love? If the answer is no, then Cupid wins and Nico is denying himself. If the answer is yes, then Jason and Nico win, and Nico no longer needs to make himself utilitarian in love in order to be loved.

The choice is made with Reyna and Hedge, most specifically Reyna.

When he accidentally comes out to them, and they accept him without making a big deal of it, without show, just that acknowledgement and "thank you for sharing" and Nico accepts their words and friendship still- Nico made his choice then to accept the love he was being freely given.

“He carried so much sadness and loneliness, so much heartache. Yet he put his mission first. He persevered. Reyna respected that. She understood that. She'd never been a touchy-feely person, but she had the strangest desire to drape her cloak over Nico's shoulders and tuck him in. She mentally chided herself. He was a comrade, not her little brother. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture.”

This is where we see the slow and steady, and healthy, end to Nico's arc in regards to love really grow into itself, and he begins to heal. He no longer sees such an intense need to make himself utilitarian for love, and he begins to heal from his internalized homophobia too.

(Internalized homophobia discussions with Nico also bother me too often times, people too often assume you can't date while struggling with internalized homophobia or at least very heavy handedly imply that which is just not true... You may have some issues in your relationship, but you can work through the internalized homophobia while building a new relationship and be just fine. Also to assume someone has an unhealthy relationship because of internalized homophobia is weird and lowkey reinforces the idea that "broken" people don't need love, but also does a huge disservice to so many LGBTQ+ people who are happily married/themselves but still struggle with these feelings, and to see a healthy relationship depiction despite someone in that relationship struggling with internalized homophobia is fine and good actually. As long as the individual can recognize what they're dealing with, and work through it in a healthy and constructive manner, then there's nothing wrong there...)

When I started this post to be honest I thought I would have a lot more to say, it's a scene that touched and changed me so deeply as a person, and beyond that in a more objective experience it completely changes Nico's character, by turning his arc around and beginning his healing process. To be honest, there probably is more to be said on it, I just haven't found the words yet... I know parts of this post are clunky and in a year I'm going to read this and see all the places it could be better but for now I'm content with it.

Whether or not someone considers the scene homophobic is a subjective experience, but I think this is a very well written scene purely for the characterization and symbolism, intentional or otherwise. I don't really care that much to debate if it's truly a homophobic scene or not, I can see both why people say it is and why people say it isn't and that can be culminated into "people have different needs" and "minorities aren't a monolith". Personally my much larger complaint is the complete lack of nuance and insight scenes like this are handled with, not the matter of personal opinion an individual reaches on the scene.

*the post uses the word "adult audience" and yes, fair point, children should not be able to decipher symbolism to the extent adults can. But older children and young teens, which the RRverse series are sold for, is when critical thinking skills and media analysis do begin to become parts of classroom curriculum. The scene does an excellent job of not outright stating Cupid is evil, but of depicting that in a very clear cut way.

#nevermind i lied here you go #nico di angelo #meta #long post #anon #ask #internalized homophobia #fandom homophobia

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pumpkinpaix · 4 years ago

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Hello! Feel free not to answer this question if it is in any way too much, but I've been wondering about something concerning the "western" mdzs fandom. Lately, i have seen multiple pieces of fanart that use what is clearly Christian symbolism and sometimes downright iconography in depicting the characters. I'm a european fan, but it still makes me vaguely uneasy. I know that these things are rarely easy to judge. I'm definitely not qualified to do so and was wondering if you have an opinion

Hi there! thank you for your patience and for the interesting question! I’ve been thinking about this since i received this ask because it?? idk, it’s difficult to answer, but it also touches on a a few things that I find really interesting.

the short answer: it’s complicated, and I also don’t know what I feel!

the longer answer:

i think that this question is particularly difficult to answer because of how deeply christianity is tied to the western art and literary canon. so much of what is considered great european art is christian art! If you just take a quick glance at wiki’s page on european art, you can see how inextricable christianity is, and how integral christian iconography has been in the history of european art. If you study western art history, you must study christian imagery and christian canon because it’s just impossible to engage with a lot of the work in a meaningful way without it. that’s just the reality of it.

Christianity, of course, also has a strong presence in european colonial and imperialist history and has been used as a tool of oppression against many peoples and nations, including China. I would be lying if I said I had a good relationship with Christianity--I have always faced it with a deep suspicion because I think it did some very, very real damage, not just to chinese people, but to many cultures and peoples around the world, and that’s not a trauma that can be easily brushed aside or reconciled with.

here is what is also true: my maternal grandmother was devoutly christian. my aunt is devoutly christian. my uncle’s family is devoutly christian. my favorite cousin is devoutly christian. when I attended my cousin’s wedding, he had both a traditional chinese ceremony (tea-serving, bride-fetching, ABSURDLY long reception), and also a christian ceremony in a church. christianity is a really important part of his life, just as it’s important to my uncle’s family, and as it was important to my grandmother. I don’t think it’s my right or place to label them as simply victims of a colonialist past--they’re real people with real agency and choice and beliefs. I think it would be disrespectful to act otherwise.

that doesn’t negate the harm that christianity has done--but it does complicate things. is it inherently a bad thing that they’re christian, due to the political history of the religion and their heritage? that’s... not a question I’m really interested in debating. the fact remains that they are christian, that they are chinese, and that they chose their religion.

so! now here we are with mdzs, a chinese piece of media that is clearly Not christian, but is quickly gaining popularity in euroamerican spaces. people are making fanart! people are making A LOT of fanart! and art is, by nature, intertextual. a lot of the most interesting art (imo) makes deliberate use of that! for example (cyan art nerdery time let’s go), Nikolai Ge’s What is Truth?

I love this painting! it’s notable for its unusual depiction of christ: shabby, unkempt, slouched, in shadow. if you look for other paintings of this scene, christ is usually dignified, elegant, beautiful, melancholy -- there’s something very humanizing and humbling about this depiction, specifically because of the way it contrasts the standard. it’s powerful because we as the audience are expected to be familiar with the iconography of this scene, the story behind it, and its place in the christian canon.

you can make similar comments about Gentileschi’s Judith vs Caravaggio’s, or Manet’s Olympia vs Ingres’ Grande Odalisque -- all of these paintings exist in relation to one another and also to the larger canon (i’m simplifying: you can’t just compare one to another directly in isolation etc etc.) Gauguin’s Jacob Wrestling the Angel is also especially interesting because of how its portrayal of its content contrasts to its predecessors!

or! because i’m really In It now, one of my favorite paintings in the world, Joan of Arc by Bastien-Lepage:

I just!!! gosh, idk, what’s most interesting to me in this painting is the way it seems to hover between movements: the hyperrealistic, neoclassical-esque take on the figure, but the impressionistic brushstrokes of the background AAA gosh i love it so much. it’s really beautiful if you ever get a chance to see it in person at the Met. i’m putting this here both because i personally just really like it and also as an example of how intertextuality isn’t just about content, but also about visual elements.

anyways, sorry most of this is 19thc, that was what i studied the most lol.

(a final note: if you want to read about a really interesting painting that sits in the midst of just a Lot of different works, check out the wiki page on Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa, specifically under “Interpretation and Legacy”)

this is all a really long-winded way of getting to this point: if you want to make allusory fanart of mdzs with regards to western art canon, you kind of have to go out of your way to avoid christian imagery/iconography, especially when that’s the lens through which a lot of really intensely emotional art was created. many of my favorite paintings are christian: Vrubel’s Demon, Seated, Perov’s Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Ge’s Conscience, Judas, Bastien-Lepage’s Joan of Arc, as shown above. that’s not to say there ISN’T plenty of non-christian art -- but christian art is very prominent and impossible to ignore.

so here are a few pieces of fanwork that I’ve seen that are very clearly making allusions to christian imagery:

1. this beautiful pietà nielan by tinynarwhals on twitter

2. a lovely jiang yanli as our lady of tears by @satuwilhelmiina

3. my second gif in this set here, which I will also show below:

i’m only going to talk about mine in depth because well, i know exactly what i was thinking when I put this gif together while I can’t speak for anyone else.

first: the two lines of the song that I wanted to use for lan xichen were “baby, I’m a fighter//in the robes of a saint” because i felt that they fit him very well. of course, just the word “saint” evokes catholicism, even if it’s become so entwined in the english language that it’s taken on a secular meaning as well.

second: when I saw this scene, my immediate thought was just “PIETÀ!!” because LOOK at that composition! lan xichen’s lap! nie mingjue lying perpendicular to it! the light blue/white/silver of lan xichen in contrast to the darker robes of both nie mingjue and meng yao! not just that, but the very cool triangular structure of the image is intensely striking, and Yes, i Do love that it simultaneously ALSO evokes deposition of christ vibes. (baxia as the cross.... god..... is that not the Tightest Shit) does this make meng yao joseph of arimathea? does it make him john the evangelist? both options are equally interesting, I think when viewed in relation to his roles in the story: as a spy in qishan and as nmj’s deputy. maybe he’s both.

anyways, did I do this intentionally? yes, though a lot of it is happy accident/discovered after the fact since I’m relying on CQL to have provided the image. i wanted to draw attention to all of that by superimposing that line over that image! (to be clear: I didn’t expect it to all come through because like. that’s ridiculous. the layers you’d have to go through to get from “pretty lxc gifset” --> “if we cast nie mingjue as a christ figure, what is the interesting commentary we could do on meng yao by casting him as either joseph of arimathea or john the evangelist” are like. ok ur gonna need to work a little harder than slapping a song lyric over an image to achieve an effect like that.)

the point of this is: yes, it’s intentionally christian, yes I did this, yes I am casting these very much non-christian characters into christian roles for this specific visual work -- is this okay?

I obviously thought it was because I made it. but would I feel the same about a work that was written doing something similar? probably not. I think that would make me quite uncomfortable in most situations. but there’s something about visual art that makes it slightly different that I have trouble articulating -- something about how the visual often seeks to illustrate parallels or ideas, whereas writing characters as a different religion can fundamentally change who those characters are, the world they inhabit, etc. in a more... invasive?? way. that’s still not quite right, but I genuinely am not sure how to explain what i mean! I hope the general idea comes across. ><

something else to think about is like, what are pieces I find acceptable and why?

what makes the pieces above that reference christian imagery different than this stunning nieyao piece by @cyandemise after klimt’s kiss? (warnings for like, dead bodies and vague body horror) like i ADORE this piece (PLEASE click for fullview it’s worth it for the quality). it’s incredibly beautiful and evocative and very obviously references a piece of european art. I have no problem with it. why? because it isn’t explicitly christian? it’s still deeply entrenched in western canon. klimt certainly made other pieces that were explicit christian references.

another piece I’d like to invite you all to consider is this incredible naruto fanart of sakura and ino beheading sasuke after caravaggio’s judith. (warnings for beheading, blood, etc. you know.) i also adore this piece! i think it’s very good both technically and conceptually. the reference that it makes has a real power when viewed in relation to the roles of the characters in their original story -- seeing the women that sasuke fucked over and treated so disrespectfully collaborating in his demise Says Something. this is also!! an explicitly christian reference made with non-christian japanese characters. is this okay? does it evoke the same discomfort as seeing mdzs characters being drawn with christian iconography? why or why not?

the point is, I don’t think there’s a neat answer, but I do think there are a lot of interesting issues surrounding cultural erasure/hegemony that are raised by this question. i don’t think there are easy resolutions to any of them either, but I think that it’s a good opportunity to reexamine our own discomfort and try and see where it comes from. all emotions are valid but not all are justified etc. so I try to ask, is it fair? do i apply my criticisms and standards equally? why or why not? does it do real harm, or do i just not like it? what makes one work okay and another not?

i’ve felt that there’s a real danger with the kind of like, deep moral scrutiny of recent years in quashing interesting work in the name of fear. this morality tends to be expressed in black and white, good and bad dichotomies that i really do think stymies meaningful conversation and progress. you’ll often see angry takes that boil down to things like, “POC good, queer people good, white people bad, christianity bad” etc. without a serious critical examination of the actual issues at hand. I feel that these are extraordinarily harmful simplifications that can lead to an increased insularity that isn’t necessarily good for anyone. there’s a fine line between asking people to stay in their lane and cultural gatekeeping sometimes, and I think that it’s something we should be mindful of when we’re engaging in conversations about cultural erasure, appropriation etc.

PERHAPS IT IS OBVIOUS that I have no idea where that line falls LMAO since after all that rambling I have given you basically nothing. but! I hope that you found it interesting at least, and that it gives you a bit more material to think on while you figure out where you stand ahaha.

was this just an excuse to show off cool (fan)art i like? maybe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(ko-fi)

#Anonymous #asks and replies #art #fanart #art history #christianity #mdzs #mdzs meta #meta #mine #mymeta #cyan gets too deep in the weeds #lmfao this post is a mess ive been staring at it for like a week and at this point im just gonna post it to the wall and keep moving asldfj #hope you enjoyed

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kiingocreative · 3 years ago

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The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

If you ask around, a lot of successful writers will tell you that they look at their writing the same way they would a business. And what do successful business all have in common? They have clearly defined brands that are designed to appeal to their target audience or customers.

What does that mean, concretely?

• It means that they know what they stand for, what their values are and what they’re offering.

• It means that they know who their target customer is, in terms of demographics, likes and dislikes, and general lifestyle or habits.

• It means that their messaging and content is tailored to appeal to that type of customer…

• …So that, ultimately, when their ideal customer lands on their social media pages or website, they can relate to everything on there and be more inclined to purchase a product or service.

Being a writers is no different, in that your work will be, by design, targeted to only a segment of the population. Nurturing your brand is how you’ll ensure your book will be put in front of the right readers, and have the best possible chances of success.

Before you set out on your journey to building your online presence, therefore, think about what you want your channels to reflect—be it across social media or through your website. The online image you’ll be creating has to be consistent across all of the mediums you are leveraging.

This by no means implies your online persona should be fake—quite the opposite in fact! The more genuine your online image is, the easier it will be to maintain over time and the more believable and consistent it will appear (because it’ll be true!).

Why Your Online Image Matters.

Trying to maintain a fake image will, at best, make it unconvincing and, at worst, confusing.

And that’s the thing.

Most people reject what they don’t understand. If they check out your content and it looks all over the place or doesn’t make sense, they’ll simply move on. Confusion turns people away from your content before they’ve had a chance to hear what you have to say.

Ask yourself some questions before you start:

• Who are you? What makes you, YOU? What is unique to you?

• When people think of you, what do you want them to think about? Someone who’s fun? Quirky? Talks about things as they are? Someone who’s formal? Someone with a particular interest? etc.

• How does this translate into the look and feel and content of your social media channels, your website etc.?

Take some time to write this down and use it to create your brand guidelines. And I mean exactly that: write it down. Make it a rulebook, and refer to it regularly. It may change and evolve with time, but having a reference point you can physically consult (as opposed to shreds of an idea of what your brand is about somewhere in your mind) will keep you and your brand on track.

Everything you post about, and the format in which you share it (e.g. photos, videos, long captions, blog posts, newsletter etc.) should be in line with the image you’re building.

From there, identify who your target audience is, and make sure your message (and its delivery) is relatable and appealing to that audience. It can take some trial and error to get right, so give yourself room to learn and grow!

Your Instagram Brand: Content vs. Aesthetics.

Looking at Instagram, you’ll see two main types of focus:

• Focus on aesthetics: these are feeds with high quality, impeccable pictures, quirky reels/videos, with a consistent theme and colour palette, and a huge focus on being visually pleasing.

• Focus on content: feeds where more thought and effort is placed on the post captions.

There are different ratios in which you can combine the two. Go back to your brand guidelines and see which ratio or combination of the two feels like a better fit. Ask yourself what would be more relatable for your target audience. Find what resonates most with you and your brand and stick to it, especially at the beginning when you’re growing a platform.

If you’re unsure what’s right for you, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Take some time to browse Bookstagram and find accounts you like. See what they’re doing and use the techniques you can see are working for them and feel right to you. Find what works, throw away what doesn’t.

Whatever you do, keep it consistent.

Wherever you land on the ‘aesthetics focus’ to ‘content focus’ ratio, as with a lot of things the first thing that people see when they land onto your channels (be it your instagram feed, your website etc.) is… Well. What they SEE.

People’s opinion of you based on your content will likely be formed (often subconsciously) within seconds of landing on your website or feed. Within those few seconds, they’ll decide whether or not to stick around or bounce, never to come back again.

For that reason, it’s important to keep the look and feel of your content generally consistent. Remember, confusing people is the surest way to fry their brains and turn them away from your channels before they give you, or what you have to say, a chance.

Your channels should all reflect the same look and the same message, i.e. they should look like they belong to the same person, and not show people one person on Instagram, a different one on your website and yet another one on Facebook. Things need to line up for your audience to get a sense of who you are and what you’re about, so that they can evaluate whether or not they can relate to it all. Once again, and I can’t say this enough, confused brand messaging is your worst enemy.

Professional, or not at all.

Consistency is one thing, and it’s crucial, but it’ll mean nothing if your channels don’t all look professional. Professional doesn’t mean it can’t also have a casual vibe, or be a friendly brand. Professional means whatever your brand is, it should have a certain polish to it, and clearly show that it was thought through and well-executed.

If you’re not convinced, riddle me this: When you land on a website that looked hacky or unsafe, do you still stuck around and browse through it? Or when you find an instagram account with burry pictures, weird-looking captions and totally unrelated content throughout, do you still scroll through for more?

…

My guess is you wouldn’t, because when you find something that looks dodgy (or, in other words, unprofessional) you can’t get away from it fast enough. We all do, because on a primal level that sense of uneasiness, uncertainty and insecurity signals to our brain that there may be danger, and it triggers our flight response.

Here are some prompts to get you started with building professional-looking and consistent channels:

On Instagram:

• What’s your Instagram handle? It is unique and memorable? Find a handle that says what it does on the tin, and one that doesn’t include a string of random numbers and letters. e.g. @authorjohnsmith is good, but @johnny_1999 and @John_Smith99 aren’t because they say nothing about who you are and they won’t be easy to remember.

• What type of pictures are you posting? Are they all clear and high-quality?

• Will you be using filters? If so which one? Ideally pick one and stick to it to give your feed a homogeneous look.

• What format are you using for your captions?

• Are your captions properly spaced out and easy to read?

• What content are you planning to post? Will there be recurring themes? If so, which ones?

On your website:

• Does your website look professional? Or does it look like a dodgy website that people will want to run away from immediately?

• Is your domain clear, specific and easy to remember?

• What does your landing page (your website home page) say about you?

• What imagery are you using?

• Is the look and feel of your website aligned with the look and feel of your Instagram feed? i.e. do they look like they belong to the same person?

• If your website navigation clear?

• How many clicks does it take to go from your home page to finding key information about you and your books?

• Is it easy for people to get in touch with you?

REAL and GENUINE does it.

I appreciate that a lot of the information we’ve covered so far sounds like it involves a lot of over-engineering of your online persona, but that isn’t to say that to succeed you need create a fake alter-ego.

Quite the opposite, actually.

What it suggests is that you should take some time to think about what makes you YOU, what feels real and genuine to YOU and to see how you can best translate that into images and content that will help people get to know YOU and what you stand for.

The illusion of perfection won’t make you attractive. All it’ll do is make you seem one-dimensional, and most likely make it look like you lack substance. In this day and age, people like to be able to relate to others and to see what goes on behind the scenes, the good AND the bad.

That’s all that your writer brand is. And the people who can relate to it will be the ones who stick around to hear more of what you have to say and will be more likely to enjoy your books.

In fact, look at it that way: building our writer brand online is like matching-making our books to their ideal readers. It’s getting our work in front of the people who are primed to love it and embrace it. And if we’ll give our characters a chance to find their literary soul-mates, why wouldn’t we grant our books the same courtesy?

#writingtips #screenwriting #creative writing #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #writerblr #writing advice #writing community #writing resources

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bigskydreaming · 3 years ago

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I'm so used to Dick getting hit because his family or friend was annoyed and decided he was the closest wall to punch that I never expect anything different anywhere, and then Young Justice s3 and Titans s2 caught me by the neck and threw me into a pool of unexpected catharsis. I never expected Dick to defend himself, I never expected the catharsis, I never expected how much it'd affect me. Although now that Titans s3 is upon us with a Dick vs Jason fight I'm back to the default.

I really, really, REALLY wish more people had even the slightest idea of the catharsis that can come from one character just fucking INTERVENING in a situation like we see happen so often in fics and the comics and just be like....no. That is not fucking okay. And like, without that, it literally is just...permissive? Like when Jason punches Dick in Grayson #12 after the Spyral thing, and Tim just stands there.....Tim's essentially saying its okay, he sees nothing wrong with what just happened. Which....dun dun dun....not all that surprisingly then turned into Tim punching Dick in Batman and Robin Eternal.....again with nobody upset.

Its why I've never even been able to like, go with the idea that Alfred or any of the Titans knew about what happened between Bruce and Dick in NTT #55, specifically, because like....I can't make peace with nobody saying anything about that ever. Bruce is a Big Time Superhero. Who frequently rubs people the wrong way. I don't buy that nobody's ever gonna throw that back in his face to make a point about how he's got no business being holier than thou about various topics. *Shrugs*

But yeah, unfortunately its not just canon. Like, I've read a fic where the prompt was literally like....people being glad to see Dick back from Spyral and getting actual catharsis for everything he went through instead of what we got in canon....so I went into the fic like okay, cool, this is exactly what I'm looking for. LOL nah, we got Jason STILL punching Dick anyway, even AFTER finding out about the events of NW #30 and Dick actually having died, and like, Jason was still so pissed at Dick for not TELLING them this that NOW, THAT'S why he just has to punch Dick before THEN hugging him and saying okay I just had to get that out, but now I'm over it and glad you're back.

And I was just like.....ummm. The author and people in the comments are treating this like an lol moment where all's well that end's well, and I'm like ARE YOU KIDDING ME, THAT'S THE EXACT SAME ISSUE CANON PRESENTED. Only now its WORSE, because people act like that addressed and resolved it, but with it STILL including Jason punching Dick cuz he was mad, and now with this even MORE formally being treated as like....something fine and necessary to repair their relationship. And all of this is packaged as like...the specific catharsis that people who were UPSET with how that all played out in canon like, came into this specific fic looking for....and this is what we got instead, with zero warning.

That's not even getting started on like, the super long super serious fic set during the Ric Grayson era that was supposedly about addressing Bruce's abusive actions towards ALL his kids, which FEATURED Ric as a regular character, but only ever actually DELVED into the times he'd hit Jason and then Tim. With Tim as an unreliable narrator making some reference to Bruce having hit Dick a couple times but that was different because Dick was an adult....and the author and narration at NO POINT pushing back against this to be like well actually Timmy, that's not fucking different at all, Dick is still his kid, Bruce was still taking out his anger on him, that was still abuse, and saying or even just implicitly framing it as NOT abuse the way it played out in Tim's head, when you're presenting this entire fic as a whole as like, an ode to actually acknowledging the abusive aspects of how Bruce has been written with his kids....

Again, SUPER upsetting to read and witness, because people are absolutely going to read that and internalize that as reinforcing their belief that the situations with Bruce and Dick WERE substantially different and thus not qualifying as abuse and belonging in a separate category the way Tim slotted it in his brain.....because why wouldn't they?

The author only wrote it that way because they perceived it that way, clearly, otherwise by their own stated admission of trying to tackle this subject honestly and completely, like....they would have actually made some kind of point or acknowledgment of it not being different at all and still very much abuse....and the fact that they didn't suggests they very much did see it as somehow different.....so why would readers perceive it any differently and why wouldn't its inclusion in a fic that delved into abuse so extensively NOT at least on SOME level potentially reinforce whatever leanings or perceptions they had in the same direction already? And meanwhile, this story like sooooo many others that wants to talk about abuse SERIOUSLY, all the while calls this their hobby that they do for enjoyment, so please don't criticize anything because that would ruin the HOBBY of it all for them, and its like....

And then there's the fic where its Dick hitting Jason while in the midst of a narrative that's bringing all of Jason's abuse issues and related triggers front and center, and this one is highly recommended as like, a great Dick Grayson characterization by an author who hates any and all canon renditions of Bruce being abusive and so doesn't include anything like that, and so you're going into it like okay, I'm not expecting any catharsis or anything along the lines of acknowledging Bruce's worse moments with Dick or Jason because clearly that's not what this fic is about and that's fine...but by the exact same token, I ALSO was not expecting that an author who is so vehement about how abusive Bruce is wildly OOC writing because the real Bruce would never do that and that's not how they perceive the characters, like....what I'm NOT expecting is for Dick, in a fic PRAISED for a good and complex depiction of him, to like....just fucking pop Jason one in the face and bring to mind how this makes him no different from Jason's abuser and then he runs and seeks comfort in Bruce who whether people like it or not, is canonically someone who has made Dick an abuse survivor himself....

And I'm just sitting there fucking BLIND-SIDED thinking wow, not only did I NOT want this recommended to me by the whole freaking fandom as a wonderfully nuanced portrayal of Dick Grayson, I would have kept a ten mile radius from it if it had say, a tag warning of sibling abuse, which is what they wrote between Dick and Jason, just the other way around. And its like.....I completely understand the author's dislike of abusive Bruce in canon and their desire not to engage with that content on any level, and would have been totally fine with that.....except, I naively figured there was no reason that same logic wouldn't extend to Dick, especially in so lauded a fic, because like, what? Bruce would never ever hit his family and its wildly OOC and simply not believable, even though its happened like five different times with Dick alone, but Dick hitting HIS family is a wonderfully nuanced and complicated portrayal of him? In what universe is that not gonna be a problem for some people??

But because we live in a fandom that's like, umm, this is just peoples' HOBBY, they're doing it for FUN, we're expected to be silent about stuff like this which are very real fucking problems to watch go unacknowledged in fics that claim to be TRYING to treat these topics seriously, but in reality only want to be entertainment just deep enough to move people but NOT deep enough to warrant criticism for having an undue influence on peoples' emotions or perceptions of various dynamics.....and we're supposed to be polite and just smile and say this isn't for us and let it all go, even though like, we would have KNOWN it wasn't for us and not gone anywhere near it in the first place if like, it had been tagged as sibling abuse or something like that. That would have been a clear advertisement to me that like, this is not something you want any part of.

Like, I go to fics that do acknowledge or reference Bruce's abuse to his kids because I'm LOOKING for the catharsis of having abuse actually called out as abuse....and what about that makes anyone think I or someone like me is in doing so LOOKING for characters who AREN'T already abusive to each other in canon NOW being abusive in ways that only the individual fic writer chose to depict them as? And by the same token, its not like I want to go into any fic and see more of the same thing as we get in canon, which is.....more instances of actual abuse being framed and treated as something that's just fine, actually, and nothing to worry about or take too seriously....

But meanwhile, back at the fandom farm, everyone's still totally convinced that they're so superior to canon and doing things so much better than them and fixing all their mistakes....and its like....well then why are you MAKING the EXACT same mistakes, and what the hell are we supposed to do about it with YOU guys if unlike with canon (where we can criticize but it doesn't do much good because there's no guarantee of the people who need to see it actually seeing it), we're not supposed to bring it to your attention as 'criticism-worthy' (thus making the opposite problem of where we CAN bring it to the attention of people who can see it, but we're not 'supposed to' because fandom etiquette)?

And back to the whole thing about using a sibling abuse tag as a warning for people to steer clear if this isn't something they want in their dynamics between the Batbrothers, not just Bruce and his kids....

The thing that fucking gets me every time here, is like......THIS WOULD BE SUCH AN EASY PROBLEM TO FIX, IF PEOPLE WEREN'T JUST SO FREAKING EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT THEY ACCIDENTALLY WROTE IT WITHOUT NOTICING WHAT IT WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Like that first example I used....I very naively DID try to bring it to the author's attention when I was new to dipping my toes back into this fandom, and boy oh boy did that just exemplify how counter-productive that is as long as people can hide behind the DONT CRITICIZE MY WORK shield. I sent a private message on Ao3 so it wouldn't even show up in their comments, and just said very simply:

"hey, I really enjoy your stuff but I was wondering if you would mind putting a warning tag of 'sibling abuse' on your latest fic? I'm not trying to tell you how to write the characters and I figure you probably didn't intend it to come across that way anyway, but as an abuse survivor, I can't help but see that dynamic pop out as such for me in a way that I would at least have liked a heads up about, if that makes sense? Its just I do see how you paralleled how the canon presented this scenario and thus get what you were trying to do there I think, but I kinda only came into this fic for the specific lure of the catharsis we DIDN'T get when things played out somewhat similar in canon, with a lot of it having to do with that dynamic between Dick and Jason, and so...yeah. This part of the comics is obviously emotionally charged for a lot of us and I just know personally, this wasn't quite the catharsis I was after for that scenario and just a quick tag like that would have helped warn me of that. Anyway, sorry for this and hope you can understand my position, I'm not trying to be heavy-handed here or anything, but this was a problem for me and just in case it might be a problem for anyone else in the future, I thought I'd try and send a quick message about that for you to do whatever you want with."

I mean, I thought I was pretty reasonable there, personally?

Yeah.

The author did not.

She went off on me for constructive criticism which she did not ask for, and did not appreciate my insinuations into her character about her being an abuse apologist, because that's clearly what I was saying there. But I mean, that's what happens here. I'd bet anything that she was just embarrassed to have written the dynamic in such a way and then been called out about something she was previously oblivious to and then felt self-conscious about having overlooked or perpetrated herself.

But like....as understandable as that is, like....that's not my problem? And that's not a reason to shut down ANY avenue for people to raise the issue when writers unknowingly perpetrate stuff like this, in ANY way, no matter HOW delicately.

I get being defensive about someone thinking you INTENDED to write a pair of brothers as abusive and saying that was fine, and I even get how, being in a defensive mindset, she could have jumped to that interpretation of what I was saying rather than what I was ACTUALLY saying which was just....look, I don't know you, I don't know your own story, but for whatever reason you didn't pick up on this potentially troubling element of what you wrote in ways that I did because of my own experiences, and I'm just trying to point the issue out as delicately as possible because I KNOW that chances are, you WOULDN'T have written things that way if you had at all perceived the dynamic as I did. And I also KNOW that for people who don't have necessarily the same experiences or perspective I do, that they're not going to be as naturally inclined to perceive trouble spots the way I'm kinda....primed to notice them, and its NATURAL for some of this to pass by peoples' notice for a variety of reasons and like....I'm not freaking mad about that?? That's FINE. That's NORMAL. You're not a bad person for writing something a 'problematic' way purely because you LITERALLY DIDN'T SEE THE PROBLEM WHEN YOU WROTE IT.

Nobody has universal experiences. Nobody has all experiences. The problem is almost NEVER somebody just WRITING something in a way that they 'should have' known better than to, especially when it comes to topics like abuse or whatever.

No, the problem is ONLY when they get all up in their butthurt feelings about being embarrassed that they DIDN'T omnisciently know that and they feel self conscious now about how they think it makes them look now that the issue HAS been raised in a way they can recognize, and so they just fucking double down on pretending there's no issue whatsoever and whomever brings it to their attention is just overstepping and who even asked, anyway.

And thus a problem that can easily be solved in TWO ways....1) by adding a simple tag acknowledging the problem area for what it is, or 2) by editing the problem area to erase or write around the issue it raises that the author didn't perceive initially and likely would have avoided from the start if they HAD, because they AREN'T someone who wants to stand KNOWINGLY by that implication and what it says or suggests.....

Instead, this problem just gets turned into a generic fandom discourse issue about critique etiquette that addresses absolutely nothing, changes nothing, makes nothing about any of this better for ANYONE, just extends the problem to one likely to be repeated over and over again because it WILL never change so long as it remains something that isn't SUPPOSED to have attention brought to it, and all of this.

All of this.

Is just self-conscious defensiveness because people didn't want to be perceived as someone who either actually thought the things they'd unknowingly implied for WHATEVER reason, or didn't care/pay enough attention to notice as a problem in the first place....

Or else they just literally DON'T care enough about the content of what they're writing enough that they actually GIVE a shit about becoming better informed on it and thus better able to steer away from troubling implications or points of view in the future. Even if pointed out by survivors or people with personal experience as such that they recognize a problem even where the author didn't themselvse, no matter WHAT their own personal relationship with the subject matter is -

(because yeah, survivors of rape and abuse can absolutely perpetuate harmful viewpoints ourselves as well, because experiencing these things doesn't take away from our being exposed to just as much of the abuse/rape culture and apologia society and media churns out regularly enough that it can cloud ANYONE'S mind on this subject, without the addition or input of other points of view).

And either way, no matter what the reason is, when people aren't willing to even ENTERTAIN input, feedback, or potentially negative or even just AWARENESS-RAISING viewpoints in response to culturally influencing fictional content they put out via a variety of fairly wide-reaching platforms that can thus reach and influence any number of mindsets, from those of survivors to potential survivors to friends or families of survivors to people with no connection to abuse or rape whatsoever currently but for whom that could change at any time because we all meet new people every day and survivors could come into your life and be affected by your views and knowledge of abuse and rape culture and apologism at any point, even if you never become a survivor yourself -

(as is my ardent wish for anyone no matter HOW much I dislike or disagree with them personally. I don't expect or WANT people to be as fully informed on a lot of this stuff as I am personally, just like I'm not like, sad about not being MORE informed on the aspects or experiences stemming from it all that aren't personally relevant to my own life, because I'm additionally very aware that my own viewpoint is not definitive and not the monolithic voice for all survivors everywhere, I've literally only ever advocated for my own perspective on these matters and anyone of a like-mind which is an entirely opt-in POV that people have to decide for THEMSELVES if they feel that applies to them versus something that I'm CLAIMING on behalf of anyone but myself) -

Anyway. Bottom line is whatever the reason for WHY people are so avoidant on this topic, the end result is we've created a culture that says people are allowed to craft fictional viewpoints on any topic in any way to any degree...but the only impact that can ever be acknowledged is positive. Nobody can point out where things can be better. Nobody can point out where things are just fucking WRONG. The entertainment of whomever wrote the thing and whomever reads it and ISN'T bothered by it in any way, is eminently more important and worth protecting than the comfort of anyone who reads the thing and is not only troubled by the viewpoint made or claims presented on a matter they're intimately acquainted with in some form or to some degree themselves.....but then merely wants their viewpoint and concerns acknowledged and made part of the conversation so that both writer and readers can potentially apply that viewpoint and ANY additional perspective or information it contains to future works.

In essence, for all the free speech and censorship talk that gets thrown around fandom spaces....THIS kinda thing RIGHT HERE?

Is the most self-evident example I can come up with of ACTUALLY shutting down conversation and the spread and dissemination of information relevant to the topics being raised as points of interest every. single. day. in this fandom and most every other one I can think of.

So if peoples' ACTUAL goal was creating spaces where the people for whom fictional content is actually MOST relevant to are encouraged and outright TOLD to try and separate their feelings from that relevancy and treat it all as an abstract.....

Just so that people for whom this content already IS an abstract and nothing more, can refrain from having it made real and thus reality-impacting, and in doing so take away some of the escapism and FUN of it all, and make it a little more 'heavy' than they wanted when they turned to it for a bit of self-indulgent angst they never intended or expected to treat (or see treated) as anything more than that?

Then its like, congrats. You did it guys. That's what you've got here. That's what you've made.

Yay.

Go team.

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evienyx · 4 years ago

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Can we hear your thoughts on Tommy? I feel like he's a very interesting character.

Okay, I held off on this for a bit, but today’s the day of the trial, so there’s no better time than the present, I suppose.

(I will add that I mostly get Tommy content in bursts, because I cannot handle watching him for longer than like twenty minutes at a time. He’s one of my favorite content creators, and incredibly talented with what he does, but he’s a lot. He’s the kinda energy that my friends and I have, and it’s jarring when I can’t directly involve myself in that chaos. My brain can’t handle it. Anyway, moving on-)

I most definitely agree that he is an interesting character. What I find the most interesting about Tommy is not his actions, though, but the way that he views himself.

Because, for the entire time that he’s been on the SMP, Tommy has always, without fail, insisted that he is right.

We saw it with the Disc Wars, when he fought for what he cared about against a tyrant, and in the L’Manburg Revolution when he fought for freedom (and drugs). All of that was clear, you know? We all got that, people agreed that he was correct.

Then, though, we got to things like the Election, and the Exile of Tommy and Wilbur, when Tommy called for rebellion, saying that he was in the right, despite Schlatt being legally elected in the country that Tommy himself helped to establish.

It’s a case of a bit of hypocrisy, in my opinion. Yes, Tommy and Wilbur were exiled by a man who took power in a fashion that was legal but not democratic, but technically Wilbur and Tommy did, too. They were president and vice-president to lead the country, but they were never elected. And then they tried to do it again. The election only happened because they (more Wilbur, but Tommy still just agreed with his plans) wanted to consolidate power and seem like democratically elected leaders in a country they tried to establish with democracy, without actually having a democracy.

(One other thing I will mention is how the ground rules of L’Manburg are very weak for a country. Yes, I know it’s Minecraft, but this is serious Minecraft. They have a rule of no Americans (which I am offended by because I would like nothing more than to not be from America, I didn’t get to choose), but they don’t have guidelines for the powers of the president? They made a democracy, and then gave the president near-absolute power once they are elected. What did they think was going to happen???)

Moving on, we go through all these points in the story thinking to ourselves that Tommy is in the right, because of course he is, why wouldn’t he be? We never wonder whether we’re a bit biased, if we’re only looking at things from a certain point of view, Tommy’s own.

Then, though, everything changes when the festival is announced and Wilbur voices what everyone is secretly thinking: “Are we villains, in this story?”

For those few moments, Wilbur feels a bit like we, as the viewers, do, asking Tommy, a bit desperately, “We’re the right. We agree that we’re in the right, here?”

And Tommy responds with, “Well, I’m always in the right, so...”

This line is often brushed over, or garners a few chuckles at the most, but it’s actually incredibly interesting to think about how this reflects on Tommy’s character.

I’m always in the right.

Tommy, with this one line, tells us that he does not doubt himself. He not only has full confidence in what he does, but he is completely certain of his morals, and he is completely sure that he has never done the wrong thing. Anyone who stands against him is evil, is the villain, because Tommy is always in the right, and anyone who isn’t with Tommy, therefore, must be in the wrong.

This makes it very easy to draw a line in the sand separating the good from the bad, both in the mind of Tommy and in the mind of his viewer. If someone only watched from Tommy’s perspective, there would be no doubt about who was right and who was wrong, because, it’s as Tommy says, he is always in the right. A Tommy viewer might leave the battle of Manburg vs. Pogtopia, as well as the destruction of L’Manburg, believing wholeheartedly that Techno is a villain, is a despicable traitor, ignoring the fact that Techno was technically the one who was betrayed in this scenario (go back and read my (small) Techno analysis for more details on that if you want).

Tommy operates the exact same way. As he believes himself to always be in the right, he sees no reason to change his ways, and so he never looks at things from anyone else’s perspective to see if both of them have a bit of good in what they’re doing, because why would he, if he already knows that he’s always in the right?

This point was set to the side for a bit, but comes back in full force just a few days ago, when Tommy burned down George’s house. Specifically, though, we see it in the way that he proclaimed that he had not done it, despite the overwhelming cry that said the opposite. Dream and George did not seem to shake him in what he had done, but Tubbo did, because then Tubbo, who has always been by Tommy’s side, is suddenly not.

And despite the fact that Tommy stays strong in his stance that he is innocent (even though everyone knows he isn’t), it’s this threat, of possible exile and Tubbo trading away his discs, that seems to shake Tommy more than anything. We know this because then, as the stream draws to a close, Tommy wonders, for the first time, if he was wrong in his viewpoint. He wonders if Techno was right all along, and if he himself had made the wrong choice. He pushes these contemplations away quickly, asserting to himself that Techno was wrong, and Tommy hadn’t made a mistake, but the uncertainty remains clear. It is a sign of cracks in a resolve that, up until this point, has been stronger than anything physical in the entirety of this server.

What’s even more interesting is the way that Tommy seems to have convinced himself that he is good. He’s said many times in the recent streams that he does not want to be a bad guy. He does not want a corruption arc, he wants to be good and stand at Tubbo’s side, and he wants to stay firmly in the right.

In my opinion, exiling Tommy, having everyone against him again, would be one of the best things for his character, simply because it is something that he is not even allowing the light of day to think about. If Tommy was kicked out of the country he’s fought for and died for twice, now, especially by his best friend, when he has been so firm in his beliefs and wants to be the hero of the story, it would completely throw his character for a loop, because this is a scenario he refuses, at the moment, to even consider. It would thrust his character into a situation that he has expressly been trying to avoid, and I, for one, would love to see it.

Anyway, yeah, the thing that most interests me about Tommy’s character is the way he views himself as the hero and, no matter what, insists that he is in the right, and I would love to see what would happen should those beliefs be directly challenged.

What’s a boy on the side of good meant to do when the side of good turns against him?

I, for one, would love to find out.

#mcyt #ask #ask away #tommyinnit #dream smp #dream #wilbur soot #technoblade #tubbo #georgenotfound #i answered this like two weeks late but my brain wouldnt work for a while #and then i suddenly had a lot of thoughts #prob bc of the trial #which is today i think?#so i just wrote them all down here

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