#like did you think the author's bias was NOT going to factor into the way the characters are written?

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

im sorry im breaking my anti fast for this bc its literally the most idiotic thing i have ever seen.

"some people hate sjm for the racism in her books"

yeah NO SHIT.

that has always been the point.

thats literally the entire point of being anti sjm posts. thats literally all we talk about in the anti tags. but shortsightedness and an unhealthy relationship with these characters has always blinded y'all to that fact.

you see this is why i could not stomach conversations because you guys constantly make a mockery of the problems in sjm's work and only acknowledge the problems for a 'gotcha' moment. EVERY SINGLE TIME we have talked about how the racism in sjm's work affects the writing of her characters you guys have made it into an anti feysand problem, and by doing that you have willingly separated yourself from the problems in the story. the reality is that the racism affects the way these characters are written -- including your favs. do not dare twist the main message of antis to fit some twisted little point you want to make toward specific blogs. i have been on my last account for over two years and EVERY TIME i -- or any anti -- has talked about the way sjm's racism bleeds onto the text we have been undermine, ran off our blogs, sent hate mail. so yeah it pisses me off to no end to be sent the dumbest post in the anti tags to ever exist. yall do not care about her racism, her misogynoir. if you did, you wouldn't be calling people brain dead for daring to dislike your favorite ship for valid reason -- i.e. the racism. we talked about the complexities of how racist the portrayal of the illyrians were -- and we were dismissed as anti feysand and therefore 'braindead.' we talked about the way women of color and the allusions of FGM (female genital mutilation)-- and we were called anti feysands and then dismissed. stay out of the anti tags -- especially if you are the ones perpetuating these dynamics. i was ran off my blog for discussing these issues for two years. y'all sent hate mail, called me tamlin stan -- called others tamlin stans -- for even daring to discuss the racism in sjm works. that's not even touching the nehemia situation, or crescent city. fuck off the tags. you literally have a blog dedicated to this woman and her racist ass characters, you shoot down any criticism of them because of it, and then yall have the nerve to come into the tags for the some hehe hahah tamlin stan bs??? double fuck off. the anti sjm tag has always been a place for that criticism. always.

addition: and these problems are not just valid when discussing characters you don't like. the illyrians are written to brutes, with the bat boys operating as the 'model minority'. the story justifies the lack of infrastructure, and the misogyny (misogynoir depending on how you classify illyrian women), the lack of progress.

'its a culture problem'

'rhysand has tried, but they wont listen'

like do you know how crazy it is to write a group of people as permanently mentally stunted? to classify their women as nameless entities that our main character can shift in and out of to satisfy her supposed 'man of color' sexually? feyre cosplays as a woman of color for SEX, meanwhile in FIVE BOOKS we've met one named illyrian woman and shes described 'interesting,' but not as pretty as opposed to nesta and gwyn, mor, and feyre who are the prettiest people to walk the earth. that don't sound CRAZY to yall??? these people of color are left without leadership, without infrastructure, no access to a golden city, no access to their high lord, are forced to breed out warriors who live and die without ever getting to enjoy the city of velaris, the house of wind for survivors. all of that so that the maincharacters can live out that power fantasy. its racist. thats what it is. please think consider reading comprehension b4 yall make these gotcha posts because it really stinks of weirdness.

the illyrians are treated like rabid animals by their leaders, by everyone and then the responsibility is on them to somehow progress when everyone is unwilling to give them nothing more than scraps. like there's a real life counterpart to this, and yall arguments are very real and very damaging.

they are written by the author to be a permanent second class deserving of their position because they're minds somehow cannot comprehend any 'progression.' all of these characters including rhysand, feyre, mor, az, cassian, tamlin, nesta say racist things toward them because THE NARRATIVE thinks they're justified in saying them. like the moralizing is wild in this case bc all of them are allowed to get away with it. its not just tamlin or nesta, not just the valkyries (which is an ENTIRELY different scenario btw). like the idea that all of the bad can be ascribed to the 'bad' characters and the 'good' characters somehow don't feed into those racist tropes is WILD. rhysand literally told us -- the reader -- the in the war against slaves and their oppressors somehow it was an equal battle. like?????? somehow 'both sides were at fault' ignoring that one side WAS LITERALLY SLAVES. like can u imagine if someone looked at the Haitian revolution and was like....yeah the side of the oppressors was somehow on equal footing when the other side WAS ENSLAVED? how can u acknowledge this author is racist and then pretend that the racism only bleeds over to the characters you *shockingly* don't like?? yes -- there is a problem with feyre wearing illyrian wings BECAUSE SHES THE HIGH LADY. she made herself that title. of course that carries a different weight. the racism is ingrained in the text, not just some little trinket to flash when you want to moralize bullying a small group of people with strawman arguments.

[bikananjarrus]

for the ask game, top ten book recommendations?? (can be sw or non-sw since ik you’ve gotten a lot of sw asks already 🫶🏻)

thank you for this question! 💙 (meant to answer this sooner but then i really had to think about some book recs). i will split it 50/50 and do 5 sw books and 5 non-sw books!

five sw books:

light of the jedi by charles soule. life-changing, showstopping, spectacular, will never be the same etc etc. (best place to start if you want to get into the high republic books!)

lost stars by claudia gray. my first sw book i ever read back when it was published in *pauses to look up* 2015. imo it is an EXCELLENT book to begin with if you're looking to get into sw books and are overwhelmed with where to start.

a new dawn by john jackson miller. for the rebels fans out there, and especially the kanera fans, this one's for you <3

not a traditional novel, but going off the last one, the kanan: the last padawan comic run. two volumes, 12 issues total. so so SO good! a must-read (imo) for rebels fans!

revenge of the sith novelization by matthew stover. if you're a prequels fan, or an anakin fan, or an obiwan fan, this book WILL hurt you. in the best way possible lol.

(quick honorable mention for the ahsoka book, but specifically the audiobook bc it's narrated by ashley eckstein and it felt like watching a clone wars arc)

five non-sw books:

i mean who would i be if i didn't mention the percy jackson books. i recognize i am biased bc they've been part of my life for so long now, so i have the nostalgia factor. but also that's my number one guy percy jackson!

what you're looking for is in the library by michiko aoyama. this book felt like a hug, and i definitely recommend for anyone who is feeling a bit lost or unsure of what they want to do with their life, where they are in life right now. it was a really great reminder that you can keep growing and change your mind and do something different with your life no matter what age you are.

a study in drowning by ava reid. a more recent read of mine, so maybe a bit of recency bias here, but it's about an architecture student who gets tasked with redesigning her favorite author's estate. she ends up working with her academic rival, and they discover secrets about the late author's life along the way. i remember (personally) having a few minor gripes with how the end all came together, but overall it was really atmospheric with lots of seaside imagery (which i love), and the setting and certain mystery elements made it enjoyable for me!

giovanni's room by james baldwin. read this for the first time when it was assigned to me in high school, and while i don't think i appreciated it much then, i reread it later on my own and really enjoyed it, so i'm grateful for my 12th grade english teacher for introducing it to me!

hani and ishu's guide to fake dating by adiba jaigirdar. this is just a really cute ya wlw romance! i listened to the audiobook for this and there were two separate narrators for hani and ishu, and i thought they both did a fantastic job! i read it last year and still think about it from time to time, so for anyone looking for an easy romance read, it's a good one!

still up for doing more of these, so feel free to ask me my top 5/top 10 anything!

[nikethestatue]

I find it so amusing that all of a sudden an English literature undergraduate degree is to be a revered and esteemed point of view in the interpretation of the ACOTAR series. All the while there have episodically been those in the fandom with PhDs and MDs (psychologists discussing trauma, mental health professionals who have been consultants on screenwriting and writing projects, OBs explaining how having pliable bones doesn’t change the soft tissue of a woman’s reproductive system, etc etc) explaining a particular subject matter expertise being met with severe harassment, accusations of lies about their degrees, doxxing threats to expose them to licensure boards, and all out attacks and assault. You’re telling me that, now, an English lit degree is an authority on interpreting subjective fiction novels and that’s just supposed to be taken as a word of deference?

I mean absolutely no hate towards anybody with an arts degree when I say this (I, too, have one)- but literature is not a science. There is no exact, reliable way to interpret literature. Scholars still debate great literary works throughout history. Lit is not a science. Do some people have a higher level of education that enables them to detect certain literary devices? Sure. But I think the point being missed here is that literature is not a science. It cannot be reliably interpreted outside of any one person’s individual bias. Culture, socioeconomic status, race, life experience all factor into how one interprets art. That’s fine and good. You don’t need a degree in lit to understand ACOTAR and pick up on foreshadowing. Education does not mean you can interpret subjective material without bias. That is the point of the scientific method in interpreting objective data.

One would argue that advanced degrees in most fields, particularly science driven studies where research is conducted in some capacity, are extremely equipped to think critically and analytically about what they read.

Seeing this all explode has really made me flashback to how actual licensed professionals in this fandom have been treated for attaching their credentials to their commentary or blog on a subject matter they have actual expertise and advanced training/experience in. Seeing the same people who attacked others with so much vitriol have this defensive energy is truly full circle. I can’t help but think how some of those in this fandom might be sitting back watching the hypocrisy. Where was this energy when actual experts with doctoral degrees and licenses were being attacked? Just wow.

Like you said, Anon, what's amusing to me is that some of these 'degreed' people seem to be under the impression that there is one answer to a written piece of literature. That there is something 'definitive' about their own personal interpretation. Where in reality, indeed, things are being debated for hundreds, and sometimes thousands of years. Everything from the Bible, to Plato, to Shakespeare, to Jane Austen, to Kafka, to Tolstoy, to Tolkien.

There might be some consensus on interpretation of texts, but at the same time, that's all it will ever be--interpretation.

Anna Karenina throwing herself under a train: the number of interpretations of why she did it is as vast as the number of people reading the book. Did she do it out of guilt and shame? Sure. Did she do it out of a sense of despair over her future? Absolutely. Was she a product of her time, where women had no freedoms? Yes. Was she a rebel? Sure. Was she amoral? Certainly. Did she deserve her fate? Yes. Did she not deserve her fate? Also yes.

People just need to calm the hell down and stop acting crazy. Nobody cares if you have a degree. ALso, if you have a degree and you are WRONG In the end, that's just going to be embarrassing. So just be and let others be as well.

[chattegeorgiana]

What are your thoughts on the argument that Naruto’s endgame pairings were dictated by Japanese culture?

Personally while I’m sure culture was a factor, it doesn’t do away with the fact the tsundere trope is still widely used and it doesn’t excuse the poor execution. So many other anime put genuine work into their couples (no matter which tropes the author chooses) and yet somehow only Naruto requires a deeper understanding of Japanese culture to get it?

My thoughts on this are pretty simple, really.

If you look around, the arguments that those people do are practically however it fits them best.

If you point out the cultural aspect in terms of tsundere trope, then it's always "I'm so glad Kishi went against the 'traditional' way".

Then if you say ok, but then going against the traditional way also supports NS for example, they go back to the "well, it's the cultural aspect, duuh!"

So you see, these people love to switch arguments however it fits them best.

They often divert people's attention from the actual story mechanics that shows us how this story was about change, actually.

That meant the character's feelings - the girls' especially. And the only characters that actually had the thematic of not changing in terms of romantic feelings were Naruto & his parallels in the story.

And yet they did a complete turnaround at the end, keeping the shinobi system the same and had Naruto - the one who loved Sakura throughout his entire life, suddenly not love her anymore.

It's like you say yourself, it's poor execution. I've always said it - I used to be a multishipper. If you look at my old Sakura analysis, I even start with that sentence actually, because back when I came in contact with Naruto's story, in pt. 1, they all seemed to have a great potential, yes.

But by the time part 2 started rolling, things started changing and it was clear the direction it went.

I'm not basing this on anything other than the clear story mechanics. And those story mechanics even dictated that loyalty to a fault is actually not that good - Kakashi's father broke the rules, Kakashi himself also broke the rules, Zabuza did the same, Sakura was well with choosing to be human rather than a machine, Naruto saying he's gonna be a ninja in is own way, so on and so forth.

And the rules are basically another way of portraying said loyalty. That loyalty to a fault.

So you see, that's why I can't take seriously those people. Because they don't adhere by the actual story mechanics and structure, but by their own bias and interchange their arguments depending on how it suits them.

Like I said, had the pairings been properly developped? You'd see me still shipping all of them lol. Like I do in ATLA for example.

In there the Gaang has such an amazing development that you could literally see everyone working with everyone - despite the story's structure indicating as well in that case Kataang. But they give the other dynamics such great development that you can literally go with other combos as well.

But in Naruto? That's definitely not the case, I'm sorry to say it.

Plus, how comes everyone screams Japanese culture when Kishi himself said he portrayed Naruto as a non-typical Japanese character and Konoha is actually similar to an American republic if you think about it?

You see, there are so many of these layers that people don't look at or blatantly ignore, that I've honestly just stopped giving a damn what they say to justify the bad writing.

Because that's it. It's bad writing. Had it been good, we wouldn't have had this discussion to begin with.

[impishtubist]

I always see Sirius apologize to Remus for believing he was the traitor, but so few fics acknowledge this went both ways, they both distrusted each other. Remus wholeheartedly believed Sirius betrayed James and Lily, he only realizes otherwise when he sees Peter’s name on the map. We canonically know the First War resulted in distrust running rampant, Sirius tells the Trio about how you could never know if someone was under the Imperius Curse and that nobody could know who to trust; we know that they were aware someone close to James and Lily had been giving information to Voldemort for over a year and considering everything, we can only assume the spy was narrowed down to the other 3 Marauders since nobody else was mentioned as being close to the couple. So, the whole thing about “thinking the other threw away seven years of friendship,” they’re not wrong to think this, one of their group was capable of ignoring 7 years of knowing each other. The issue was them glossing over Peter, not them suspecting their friend was a traitor since they knew it could only be one of three. Point is, Remus and Sirius did the exact same thing to each other during the First War (not factoring in everything after) so neither one should have to apologize more than the other for believing they were the traitor in their ranks. I see so many tics where Sirius apologizes and it’s always like, “okay, where’s Remus’s apology to Sirius. Gotta match the energy here;” in canon, they both go “yeah, we did the same thing, sorry about that, let’s move on and murder Peter in front of three kids.”

Yeah, most Wolfstar fics reflect the authors' bias towards Remus, which is why you will always see Sirius apologize but you never see Remus apologize, because authors largely favor Remus and don't believe he did anything wrong. They have all somehow characterized him in their brains as this kind, gentle, sweet man who everyone did wrong by, completing ignoring his canon personality and what actually happened. They project onto him too much, methinks.

Although I'll disagree with you at the end, Remus definitely needs to apologize more than Sirius does 😂 Sirius suffering in wizard torture prison for 12 years is way worse than Remus merely being sad in Wales for 12 years (or wherever the fuck he was, who knows). But as far as each believing other was the traitor, yeah, they BOTH did that, but fics will act like Sirius is the only person who did. Or fics will act like Remus was justified in thinking Sirius was the traitor, but Sirius was not justified in thinking Remus was, which is ridiculous.

(And okay fine I'll acknowledge that Sirius can give Remus one "I'm sorry" for believing he was a traitor, and then Remus can spend the rest of his life groveling to Sirius for everything else.)

[rain-fluff]

Journal Five

I'm starting to wonder if the courses I'm taking this semester really is as heavy most have told me. At first I was only worried about my the more calculation/factual courses but I'm starting to wonder if the other two could start to be mentally draining as well. I'm not sure if I'm being overly ambitious with this particular assignment but at the same time I can't help but feel like I'm trying to compensate my lack of will from when I was still in art school (maybe both for all we know). Am I biting off more than I can chew or am I just overthinking it and should just accept free-reign of my creative freedom where I can?

Everytime I sit in this class I can't help but have these mixture of feelings of being too confident and lacking confidence. I'm overconfident because some stuff taught are things I know already but I can't exactly show off either because my execution hasn't always been the greatest and was a major factor why I dropped out of art school. I want to say I feel good with my work but the truth is I never actually do, even if it's something I have already set aside as a hobby today. Hopefully this particular assignment works out well enough but man I hate Adobe softwares. It took me like two hours just the get the programmes I needed but at least I've upgraded them from the outdated ones I used to use.

I definitely want to make my assignment themed after Final Fantasy VII though. I might as well make the assignment entertaining for myself right? I get to make goofy and silly sprites of Cloud Strife and Sephiroth for an event poster that is never going ever to happen. Who wouldn't like that?

Speaking of interests though, I was able to get a ticket to watch the new Spy x Family! Alone!! I had a classmate that said that it must feel nice to have a "me day" but honestly I'm a fairly lonely person and remembered being pretty desperate when I asked my friends to join me but alas conflicting schedules within adult friend groups will usually arise in these situations one way or another and it couldn't be helped. I did almost and could've gone with this one friend on a later date but for some reason I thought it would be the final screening (it wasn't, I was just an idiot who didn't know that screening lists refresh every Wednesdays) so I went ahead and bought a single premium ticket anyway.

I loved the movie a lot in spite the hiccups ! I can't decide whether I want to give it an 8 or 9.5/10 because I'm aware that I am rating it out of large bias due to my favouritism towards the pink gremlin but can you blame me when the author created such a loveable dumbass child? Anya is so silly and she feels very reminiscent of how I was as a kid being closer to the bottom of the class when it comes to grades but she still has this genuine earnestness to make her new-found family proud that it makes you want to root for her as much as you can. I think my only complaint was that there could've been more interactions between Anya and Damian but otherwise it was a very heartwarming watch and would not hesitate watching it again if I weren't so broke.

I also had a really good coffee and bagel for lunch! The jalapeno bagel with spring onion cream cheese paired with my caramel latte was so good that I appearantly had the urge to spend more money on popcorn and soda anyway for the movie. See, this is another reason why I can't go out alone because I spend my money too much when I'm by myself. (Yes I am fully aware that I am a responsible adult in my mid-twenties who overindulged please know that I'm joking because God forbid people know the difference between between seriousness and sarcasm in text form)

Hey speaking of money; I definitely may or may not have overspent my monthly financial support with a particular doll that I saw online. In my defense however, it is a very cute doll that I've been eyeing since mid January. In other news, don't be surprised if I don't write about outings after this because capitalism has me gripped by the balls and I can't escape it every month. Attached below is the doll I eagerly wait for arrival and an illustrative embodiment of what I will endure for the rest of the month. Cheers everyone!

-rain

[glorified-red]

What is the boys go to method of persuasion (read: manipulation) and how would someone persuade them in turn?

This request took wayyyy too many of my brain cells, thanks fish, you’ve killed me

Batboys Method of Persuasion

word count: 1390~

warnings: none

I’ve been wanting to write angst for a few days now and I am so close to diving into Nightmare and never coming back until the whole series is written.

Dick Grayson

Dick uses social influence consciously and subconsciously all the time

Social influence is how we are all wired to believe that if the people we admire are doing something, then that behavior is normal and we should act that way as well

He uses this to his advantage whenever he leads the titans or any of his siblings

A role model of sorts

Dick acts like the perfect vigilante and people subconsciously follow

It started with Jason when he was first learning about Robin, then with Tim, and eventually with Damian

Going out to patrol with Jason and being very careful about what he’s doing in front of him in the off chance that he picks up the habits Dick has

Knowing Tim watches him so closely so Dick might as well take advantage of it to keep his brother safe with protective patrol actions

Seeing Damians adoration for Dick and genuinely trusting what his older brother says, so why not slowly show Damian how to assimilate into the family through his actions

Theres plenty of different ways this affects Dick however

The constant pressure of needing to be perfect and make the right choices

The feeling of everyone and no-one watching him at all times

And even people pleasing tendencies, because what else is left of his self-importance without admiration?

Which is exactly why the easiest way to persuade Dick into doing something, is making sure he likes and trusts you

He couldn't care less about what strangers think of him, but those close to him? Those inside his circle of influence? Dick wants them to love him

Thats exactly why he tries to keep the family together; exactly why he takes every argument with his siblings to heart

The Liking Principle: we are more likely to comply with requests made by people we like

Ask Dick to do something and he will cross a valley for you not only because he loves you, but because he feels like he has to go through with it to make sure you still love him.

Jason Todd

Jason loves to use reciprocity

He exploits it every chance he can when he’s the Red Hood, how else would he have gotten so powerful?

Reciprocity is how we feel obligated to give back to others what we receive from them, especially if there was no cost to begin with

Jason spared plenty of criminals as Hood to use them for deals or favors later, always bringing up the fact that he could've killed them and could kill them now

He’s not afraid to say to those criminals, “Remember when I did this for you? Yea, I want compensation now.”

He doesn't use it much to his family aside from the typical sibling drama of Jason driving to get Tim food and then bringing it up again to get a few pop tarts during patrol

The more the time passes though, the less he can use reciprocity since it'll lose its draw

So he tends to use it within a few days or weeks

Jason keeps tabs, especially when it comes to crime lords or mob bosses

With his family he kinda just remembers? He’ll see a cookie and automatically remember that Dick owes him a pint of ice cream

But reciprocity works both ways

Jason knows this, so if anyone is smart and cunning enough to see through his manipulation and do it back? He’ll comply

The best way to do this is through consistency and commitment

Make Jason commit to his morals or word by bringing up statements he’s made in the past

His word means a lot to him so twisting it or holding him to it will definitely make him cave

Especially if his word was public and other people were there as witness

But be sure to reward him and reciprocate so that he keeps doing it ;)

Tim Drake

Tim’s method of persuasion is so meticulous 

Anchoring: the tendency to rely heavily on the information presented first when making a decision

He mostly uses this at work because it works better with numbers

Having a point value presented for the company so he can appease the snarky board of directors

Twisting and manipulating how the stock market values look by prefacing inflation or previous values from months past 

Or maybe shifting employee percentages around to make it seem more successful than it really is, not by a lot but enough that Tim can get them off his back

It’s not lying, he’s just presenting the information a different way that makes it seem more pleasant for his side

Since Tim is well aware that information can be tweaked or presented in a bias manner, persuading him can be a bit tricky considering he’d much rather do his own research

The Ellsberg Paradox, a wonderful experiment that showed people tend to lean towards things they know about rather than take a chance on unknown factors

Like the true introvert he is, Tim needs to know every detail before he makes a decision on something instead of going in blind and regretting it

Want to persuade him into going to a party? He needs to know exactly who's going, what to wear, what’s being served, what’s the earliest time he can leave—the list goes on

Trying to persuade him into doing something risky? Give him the details and he’d have no choice but to sigh and go through with it

Damian Wayne 

Damian and the hot-hand fallacy

When someone experiences a success, they’re more likely to continue that streak

He uses this to his advantage when it comes to Robin

Showing his father that he is self-sufficient because Damian busted this ring by himself and took down this villain too

Setting down a steady foundation of success to persuade more privilege and independence with the cape on

It’s a way to prove he belongs as well as keep the line of success for Robin going, purifying the colors so to speak

Dami also uses it on his siblings, especially when Dick took Batman’s role

Taking a weak, low point and showcasing the success that was brought to the mantle through him rather than previous Robins

It’s his confidence, his drive, the passion to maintain success lest he break that streak and tarnish his name

He's also used it to present new tactics or weaponry to the family, stating the success rate or how it has been used in the family before

However, with the inflated importance of Robin’s role, it doesn't take much to persuade Damian back into line

That’s where his weakness of persuasion comes in, The Authority Bias

Authority figures are perceived to be correct and have a stronger influence on others because of this

Damian not only grew up being forced to respect Ra’s and Thalia, but its so deep rooted in him that it is very rare for him to speak out against someone of higher authority than him

Hence why he respects Dick so much as Batman, or even Bruce because he is Damians biological father

So the easiest way to persuade Damian into doing something is to assert authority or dominance over him

There has to be merit behind it however, or he will call your bluff and not take you seriously

Bonus

All of the batboys share one method of persuasion that can also work on them: Mimicry

Its natural for us to respond more positively to people who act, look, or sound similar to us

This comes in handy with survivors on patrol, each of the boys mimicking body language or softening their voices to appear less threatening

In Jason’s case, he likes to appear more human by taking off his helmet so his voice doesn't sound as intimidating, it sounds similar and soft

For Tim, he sometimes takes off his cape to seem less like a super hero and more like an ordinary guy, especially for younger kids

In general though, it’s an unspoken bond between them all that they can tell exactly who each brother likes just by watching mimicking body language or adaptation of speech—very easy to tease each other about it

And of course, mimicry works on each of them as well

Makes them all—in their own way—feel less outcasted

Taglist ♡

@anothertimdrakestan

@bungunz

@red-hood-redemption ​​

@missredrobin

[darkestcorners]

Hi. Sorry if this is off topic. I just want to share with someone here. Since you are my fav author here and you seem so sweet, i decide to tell you this. Hope you dont mind.

I am asian, next year i will turn 30. I have been into kpop since 2009. I have only liked 2 idol (which i really obsessed with), one has left his group and one is still active and quite famous in kpop. The things is today i scroll on twitter and found that my bias have kissing scene on his drama. I understand that he is just human like us too, and thats his job as an actor but i cant help but to feel so sad and anxious. I started to feel dizziness and nauseous all day. I feel like crying but no tears coming. And I am pretty sure this is not because of food poisoining or something else. But then i recalled when one of my bias left his group in 2014, i got the same situation with today. This make me thinking to stop into kpop. Kpop is like bittersweet for me. Sometimes it makes me happy and sometimes it makes me stress as hell.

Do you think this is normal? You are a physchology student right, if am right? Would you mind to share some advice? I feel embrassed to share with my fellow friends or my family because i am afraid they think me just overact and make fun of me.

If you find this ask annoying, kindly ignore me. But if you feel like replying, i appreciate it so much 🥹 And sorry for the bad grammar, english is not my first language. have a great day 💚

Hi babes! ❤️❤️

I’m so sorry this took so long to answer, I just came across it after coming back from my vacation and I wanted to gather my thoughts on it well. I hope you still see this!

Firstly, I want to say that you don’t have to feel embarrassed by admitting this, you’re definitely not the first person who feels this way and I understand you may not feel comfortable sharing with your family or friends since it’s a subject that can be seen as dramatic.

While I’m no expert on the Kpop industry, from what I’ve seen and researched over the years of being in fandoms and the overall experience, it’s very common to fall into this type of mindset. The industry relies heavily on parasocial relationships and they tend to market idols and groups in a way that leaves fans always wanting more, to the point of even forming emotional connections and attachments. Fan service is another key factor, the industry encourages idols to cater to fans and the type of content that comes out is very telling, ( vlives, fansigns, certain role plays they do when they act like they are a fan’s significant other , interviews catered to pleasing fans ) This this is by no means me blaming the idols or the fans, or saying the idols are not genuine , it’s just an observation & strategy that tends to happen in the industry. Unfortunately, while this is what makes Kpop so entertaining and immersive, it’s also what easily can cause some fans to fall into a mindset that’s not healthy for them. Especially if you’re someone who has gone through tough periods in your life ( we tend to gravitate to what makes us happy and gives us an escape ).

I think what you’re experiencing may be the effects of this parasocial relationship with your biases, you have most likely unconsciously formed this emotional attachment or connection with them and that’s why you’re not sure why you feel so much anxiety upon seeing them outside of this idealized version that they have previously presented themselves to you as ( or that you unconsciously made for them ) Again this is very common for a lot of fans from what I’ve seen so don’t feel embarrassed. What’s important is that you recognize this ( and you already do it seems, you know that what you saw your bias doing wasn’t meant to make you upset or stressed but it did ) . I think what you need to is take some time to reflect and maybe disconnect yourself from Kpop for a little while ( I’m not saying you should let it go completely or permanently ) I believe that just for now, if it’s causing you to feel those irrational feelings and anxiety, it’s best to remove yourself from it for a while and take a break. During this time, I think you should focus on taking some time to focus on doing other activities that make you happy ( any other hobby you may enjoy, try engulfing yourself in it as much as you can, keep yourself busy and if you can, try hanging out with your friends to distract yourself and leave Kpop as a background aspect for this time ) Once you find yourself more connected with yourself and your own life outside of Kpop, you may start to realize how dependent on it you have been for it to make you feel happy and you may reflect on that and how it may have unhealthily been impacting your mental health or life in general. Sometimes we need that push towards reality and it may sound harsh but we need to separate ourselves from the comfort zone we have fallen into or we may continue to down a detrimental path. Focus on yourself and remember that while Kpop is very fun and a form of escapism for a lot of us, these idols do not know us personally and they never will. We shouldn’t ever let them impact our emotions and mental health to that extent because they are essentially strangers and you should always prioritize yourself & the actual relationships with people in your life.

I also want to note that while I am a psychology student, I’m very much a rookie and new at this haha so please if you don’t feel like this helps, always try to seek out a professional ( promise they won’t judge , we are trained to deal with everything ) Of course this is only if you’re able to, I know therapy is expensive so don’t take this as me pressuring you. You can always look up videos on parasocial relationships on YouTube if you’re more curious about what I was referring to and how common it is in the Kpop world, it may help you get some more insight. I really love this Ted Talk and this video specifically targets Kpop so it’s also informative ! Thank you so much for even reaching out to me and I’m always here if you have more questions, I hope you feel better and have a lovely day :) ❤️🥰🥰🫶🫶 Sending lots of love ! Hope this helps you a little bit!

[hiruseki]

What is your least favorite Garou take?

idk where to start anon. i'll limit myself to my top 3 most loathed garou takes.

1. garou's backstory is intentionally mild to parody the "tragic backstory" trope

have already seethed about this before, but i find this take mindblowingly bad. especially given that ONE has already written about how destructive social isolation and bullying is (see: mogami arc in mp100). putting aside that ONE doesn't ridicule his characters' emotional baggage, one of his most prominent themes is that a support network (which garou did not have) is one of the single most important things a person can have to be functional and happy. mob snapped like a rubber band after 6 months; this was garou's status quo. he was also established as a particularly sensitive and empathetic child, so no shit he's got some issues.

2. garou is childish/a toddler throwing a tantrum/any variation of infantilizing garou in an attempt to discredit him

to clarify, i do think garou's age/immaturity plays a big role in his worldview. and his naivete feels distinctly young (it'd be sweet if he wasn't being so destructive), but i think all of these factors are meant to humanize him and demonstrate how non-malicious he is. a huge takeaway in the webcomic and manga has that he's sweet. not just well-intentioned, but soft. very explicitly not a bad person. an idealist to a fault.

and the other reason this annoys me is because of this next point:

3. garou has no point; he's just a bad person.

i have no idea what the story has to do to show people that he absolutely 100% has a point about heroes behaving poorly and this being actively detrimental to their heroism. i can't tell if this is some extreme bias towards authority or something, but it's actually crazy to me when people act like the story is just throwing in a million scenes of the heroes being assholes for no reason. or worse, that it's asking you to give them all a pass just because they're heroes. like. if you say so.

garou could save the world (again), protect a thousand zenkos, rescue one million tareos, and tank every attack ever to protect civilians, and people would still be like "omg mumen rider though." and insist he can't be a hero because apparently his antics are way too far. not like half our heroes are rookie crushers, murderers, and one is a serial rapist or anything. or that a major theme is that people can change and grow because they're not static. i'm going to start biting people fr.

[ataintedcure]

Gasp! What's this? You've inspired me to write my own Sans!reader fic?! How could you do this to me! In all seriousness, you've inspired me to make something really fun and I'm having a blast writing it! Do you have any tips for writing though? This is my first fic, and as excited as I am, I'm also hella nervous.

Double gasp! I did?!? Whoops! <3

Well I'm honored to inspire others to indulge in the joys of writing! I'm glad you seem to be happy doing it! And to make a sans!reader fic? Heck yeah! That was the whole point of writing my own fic - I love Sans!reader works!

Oh boy do I have tips. I'll list them below to spare others the length. Also please keep in mind that I'm no where near a professional writer - I make mistakes and I've got a lot of growing to do - so not all of my advice is going to be perfect. And my word is NOT law, if you want to write a self-indulgent fic ignoring everything on here, that's fine too! That's the joys of fanfiction!

PLAN - I mentioned it before and I'll say it again: PLAN! Not only can writing an outline be really fun, but it's a surefire way to make sure your writing doesn't peter out when you run out of immediate ideas. I know some people like to write "by the seat of their pants," but in my experience it doesn't usually work for me. With outlining, I can look forwards to chapters I'll be writing in the future and avoid feeling lost in the plot. You don't even really have to strictly follow it (scenes like Cinth eating sour cream were completely on the spot) but just get to the huge plot points you wanted to address for that chapter.

CHARACTER VOICES - Try to avoid character voices sounding the same. No, I'm not talking about uppercase and lowercase (although the UT fandom makes it sort of easier to distinguish). I'm specifically talking about how a character is written. For example, I write Black's dialogue as very articulate. He uses larger SAT words and rarely - if ever - curses. Mutt, on the other hand, is written with the least amount of words possible. If I can get him to say a ten-word sentence in just three words, I'll cut the other words out and do that. Things like that can really matter, and it gives characters that extra distinction.

MAKING AN OC (Reader/Sans in this case) - First of all, have fun with it! Make a character you genuinely like because if you don't like them, chances are other readers don't either. Second, make them relatable! Give them hardships, things to cry over, people to mourn for. Give them a goal and take it from them in the most brutal way you possibly can. It'll make it that much more meaningful when they pick themselves back up, stronger than when they first fell from grace. Not to say all characters have to 'get stronger' or anything I guess, but I'm partial to persevering characters in general (so there is some bias there, lol). Also - and I think this is most important when considering OCs in writing - don't feel like you have to figure them all out before you write. Just find the general 'feel' for your character, then work from there. I didn't know Hyacinth wouldn't be able to taste anything, or have so much apprehension about eating food, until I wrote it out and thought: "huh, that works actually." Sometimes characters just write themselves, all you have to do as the author is keep track and make sure they stay in-character.

AVOID MARY SUES - I'm sure this has been repeated to you ad-nausea, but give your character flaws. I don't really mean 'quirky' ones like weird phobias or agnosia, either. I mean something that shapes who your character is, and will be the deciding factor to their eventual demise or salvation. Something to overcome. I'm also not saying they have to be obvious flaws like Hyacinth's bad attitude. A flaw may not always be obvious; most good ones aren't. You could have an ambitious character with a strong drive to help others, but they tend to forget about taking care of themselves. You could have a super smart character who desires to change the world for the better, but tends to forget about the human factor. You could have a loyal character who would do anything for [insert person here], including terrible things like murder. You could have a character with a heart of gold, but doesn't know how to talk to people without looking like an asshole. Literally there's tons of ways you could swing a character's inner torment, you just have to find one you like!

MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAVE FUN - Yeah I know I sound like a third-grade teacher trying to give a pep talk to her students, but hear me out. Fanfiction owes no one. You're not mandated to be an all-star writer, and readers aren't mandated to give feedback (kudos/comments/etc). No one owes anything to anyone in this space. Write for yourself, because you are the only one who truly matters in this exchange. You are the only one you have to please. Readers are nice, sure. Dedicated readers are amazing, yeah. But if you don't make yourself happy doing this, it doesn't really matter what others think. Do this for you, not for anyone else. Even if that means writing stupid self-indulgent cringe that only you like; because it exists for you. It's a fun hobby first and foremost, and the minute you start thinking of it as a transaction, you're no longer making yourself happy. Believe it or not that can actually reflect in your writing quality as well, so it's bad on both fronts.

Those are just a few things off the top of my head- if you have any other questions feel free to DM me if you'd like!

Hope that helps! I'm excited to see where your story goes :D

[alltheselights]

Random question but how come the majority of fics where there is wealth gap between hl Harry is usually the one who is richer and the same thing goes with like careers or fame it always made wonder like cause I know most larries don’t are very far into fanfic belief and it’s kinda silly but I always get offended sometimes lmao it always makes me wonder like do people have a hard time seeing Louis in this positions against Harry like Harry is far better and more capable of success then him it’s silly but that’s how I feel😭😭 I just want a more balance with them I guess

Interesting question! I can see why you feel that way, so let me break down some of the things that I think have contributed to this.

1) Harry vs. Louis’ images

Since going solo, Louis and his team have tried very hard to market him as a very normal, relatable guy from Doncaster who doesn’t care about going to expensive places or wearing expensive clothes (even though Louis does go to expensive places and does wear expensive clothes). He doesn’t hang out in the Hollywood scene and doesn’t hang out with other celebrities, instead sticking with his old friends from home. Louis’ team has also worked to make it seem like he doesn’t prioritize his own success and is just writing music for himself and existing fans without any interest in charting - despite the fact that we have evidence of the contrary - and unfortunately, a lot of fans buy into that.

In contrast, Harry and his team have marketed him as a wealthy rockstar who sets fashion trends and only dates and hangs out with other wealthy, famous people like Kendall Jenner, James Corden, and Adele. They want you to know Harry’s a nice guy, but you’re not supposed to relate to him. His image is supposed to make him untouchable and a level above the rest.

I think those images bleed into peoples’ real perceptions of the boys, regardless of whether they’re accurate or not, and that does impact how people write them in fics. It’s easier for a lot of writers to picture Harry being rich and wearing expensive suits and performing at Madison Square Garden and it’s easier to picture Louis wearing joggers and hanging out in a pub in London with regular people because those are the images that are being pushed on us constantly.

2) Misconceptions about their childhoods

A lot of people believe Louis’ family was lower class and that Louis grew up poor, which I don’t think is true based on things I’ve read over my years in the fandom. I don’t think Louis’ family was wealthy and of course Jay was a single mom to Louis for a period, but I don’t think there are many indications that they really struggled, particularly once she married Mark Tomlinson, and then of course, many years later, when she married Dan Deakin after Louis had already hit it big. I think people falsely assume that because Jay was a single mother for a period of time, because Louis’ biological father was a deadbeat who abandoned them, and because Jay had a lot of kids, Louis must have been in poverty throughout his childhood. Jay also said that Louis sent money home from the X-Factor, which probably helped further these ideas in the fandom. A lot of it is just based on stereotypes though, I think.

With Harry, his parents went through a divorce when he was younger as well, but because Harry is still in contact with both his parents to this day and because he only has one sibling, I think people don’t stereotype his upbringing the same way that they do for Louis’. Those ideas about their different childhoods, even if they’re inaccurate, have definitely influenced some people in terms of deciding who should be wealthier in fics.

3) Some writers just don’t like Louis

It’s DEFINITELY not every writer who does wealth or fame gaps in fics (I’ve done them myself and Louis is my favorite always!!), but there are people who write fics who just don’t really like Louis and think he’s less capable of success, so that’s something I try to watch out for. I feel like it’s very easy to tell when a fic writer doesn’t really like or respect Louis because it comes across very clearly through the way that they write him compared to the way they write Harry. You should be able to write a character with less money or less fame without making them seem less capable, less talented, less intelligent, less beautiful, or less kind, so when somebody doesn’t do that and when it’s always Louis, they probably just don’t like him very much. (And they’re also classist.)

4) Sometimes it just fits the story better

I’m guilty of writing fics with a wealth gap (The Space Between and Secret’s Safe With Me), but for me, and I think for a lot of authors, I did it because it just fit the story better. For example, in my fic The Space Between, it was based on a prompt where Harry had insomnia, and I decided it would be fun if Harry was a rockstar who had to hide his insomnia problem from the world. Since Louis was going to be somebody hired to help him sleep (also part of the prompt), it wouldn’t make sense to also make him a wealthy rockstar. I think that happens with a lot of authors where a person just gets an idea, tries to assign Harry and Louis to the characters that best fit them or best fit the story, and then lets the chips fall without any kind of negative bias being behind it.

5) Existing fics inspire future fics

And finally, I also think that once a common trope is established in a fandom, it just continues to grow. A lot of people get vague ideas for future fics based on things they’ve read previously, so once something has been well-established in a fandom, it’s natural that there will be more of it in the future.

Anyway, those are my theories on this! If those fics make you uncomfortable though, I don’t think it’s wrong to avoid them. Fics are meant to be fun and if there’s a trope or concept that upsets you, don’t hesitate to avoid it.

[anthropologist-on-the-loose]

Hi Em. I had a thought today and wondered if you could point me in the right direction.

In my experience many people hang onto ideas long after they've been discredited, disproved or fallen out of favour. Left brain/right brain, "old wives' tales", misreported news, friend of a friend stories.

A few years ago I knew someone who didn't want to use aluminium pans because he worried there was a link to dementia in his family - a theory that was disproved in the sixties if I recall correctly.

I know there are many factors involved, but are these examples of people favouring oral history over other sources? Might this also be a factor in people trusting more colloquial sources than academic or journalistic ones?

Thanks

This is an absolutely fascinating line of inquiry. I’ve never studied it in particular, and I don’t have any specific academic resources to provide you. I did a little digging to see if there was an academic term that encompassed everything you’ve mentioned. I know Wikipedia isn’t a primary source, but in looking I found this wiki page on cognitive bias and this extensive list of types of cognitive biases. If you’re interested in further research, I would recommend plopping some of the terms from those pages into your preferred academic search engine, or reading the cited sources in the wiki.

Now you pay the tax of hearing my own thoughts on the matter, bearing in mind that the following are my personal observations and not cited academic sources.

Take your aluminium example. That line of thinking comes from a rather logical thought procession: 1.) we don’t fully understand all the mechanisms underlying dementia 2.) numerous metals or mineral compounds that were thought to be safe in the past are now known to be toxic, sometimes in ways affect the brain (lead, mercury, asbestos, etc.) 3.) therefore, it is not a stretch to imagine that another commonly used metal compound might be harmful in ways we don’t fully understand.

So if you’ve heard from people you know and trust that “hey, this thing is toxic” it’s easy to believe them. You don’t even necessarily need the explanation for why spelled out for you; it just makes sense based on what you already know. Then one person comes along and says “that’s not true, there’s scientific studies about it”. Okay, sure, whatever. Why should you believe them over everyone else? There’s scientific studies for everything, people use that claim all time. You also don’t care enough to go searching for a scientific study based on what one person said.

And this is just one example. And I’m not even delving that deep into the myriad of factors involved, like hearing the false information repeatedly, or how authority is viewed differently in different cultures, or confirmation bias, or personal experiences, or the complex sociology of it, or that these factors are all going to vary based on the specific information being discussed.

To come back to your last point, there is a certain validity in trusting colloquial sources over authoritative sources. Like when I called a family friend who’s also a mechanic for help jumpstarting my car, he told me to do things differently than what the manual said. And I trusted his vast personal experience and knowledge of my specific situation over a generalized jumper cable manual. There’s a billion more examples like this out there where the authority isn’t always right, and those experiences influence the way we view things. Sometimes it’s the difficultly in distinguishing which sources are valid in a particular circumstance that can lead to misinformation.

tl;dr: this topic relates to cognitive bias, and there are countless psychological and sociological elements involved in how we perceive the veracity of information.

[igarbagecannoteven]

alrighty megs i am asking you 1, 9, 10 but also for writing as well if that's different, 16, 28, 39, and 44 -hazel

hiya hazel! thanks for stopping by, i hope your weekend has been going well :))

1. how long ago did you start reading fanfic? writing fanfic? answered here, but i can answer in terms of 5sos fic! my ao3 history is a hard thing to gauge with bc i reread so much (and it only lists fics once for the last time you opened them, right? or am i thinking of something else) but according to that i started reading 5sos fic in early november 2020 which feels right bc i know i'd had this blog since august and it took me a while to warm up to the idea of rpf. i started writing fic in mid-december i think? early mid-december? idk somewhere around then

9. tag three fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfic community. gosh okay i have like, little awareness on how "big" writers are (and also i tend to just gravitate to fic writers whose work i trust and are established which means i don't get out of my bubble a lot) so i'm def leaving out people who deserve shoutouts but @valiantnerdtm is great and big susan summer is absolutely slept on (i'm holding off on reading the newest chapter til i'm in the right headspace but i am so excited!!) and while a lot of nyms stuff is Not Safe For Megs(tm), everything of nyms that i've read has been very good. @bandsanitizer did a wonderful job on the fic she wrote for me with fic exchange is just *chef's kiss* and i'm excited to see how her fic portfolio expands! @4thbrighteststar is a new face in the world of 5sos fic whose work has not blown up as much as it should yet (i mean have you read her ghost of you fic??? the fact that it has less than 20 kudos is a crime)

10. what's your favorite fandom, character, or pairing to read fic for? answered here, but i do have to admit that while i don't look at pairing when picking fics to read, i do think i naturally gravitate more towards lashton and malum plots? i think it's just that storylines that people choose to write for them are usually the ones i'm most interested in (also they were the pairing everyone was writing the most when i first started reading *and* they're what several of the authors i like tend to write more of than others) so as much as i'd love to say i have zero bias in terms of pairing,, i'm working on balancing the scales tho!

16. do you research for your fics? if so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching? i research when i have to. i'm not really a big fan of it, which is why i try to write fics that aren't super research heavy (one of the many reasons i don't write many "canon-verse" fics) but i do it when necessary. probably the biggest rabbit hole was when i did some, uh, "hands on" research for seeing things in a different light where i actually went out and bought a watermelon and hacked it open with multiple oyster shells and lots of help bc my upper body strength is not it boss. also def the most dangerous thing i've ever done for writing bc my brother's friend who helped for a bit has a deadly shellfish allergy and he scraped his hand up on the shell so it could have ended very badly lol. but everyone was fine! only minor injuries occured and the watermelon tasted very good :))

28. how do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)? when it's influenced by external factors, i try to take a step back whenever possible. that's why i'm doing my whole "24 fic challenge" thingy, bc i saw how i was starting to fall into certain unhealthy thought patterns when it came to posting fic and how it was received and yada yada so i took what i could control and tried to set things up in a way that will keep the way i feel about my work healthy! (we'll see if it actually works once i start posting tho lol) as for things i can't control,, i kinda just don't deal with them very well? kldjflksd that sounds bad but also my resting state is worrying so most of the time i just sorta power through it while trying not to scream lol

39. what’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on? my dialogue! it's usually one of the first "positive" critiques i get whenever i'm in a critique group, and i think most of the time writing natural-sounding dialogue comes very easily for me

44. rant about something writing related. idk if this is the kind of rant you're looking for since it's more of, like, a personal vent, but i am really supremely tired of how hard it is for me to just. sit down and type words into a doc. it's not something that i only struggle with when i'm in a slump, it's something i deal with every time i write, even on "good writing days" and it sucks! i know it has a lot to do with how my brain is wired (aka not in a neurotypical way lol) but it's just frustrating! i would not be a slow writer if it was based on typing speed alone, but i am because i can rarely put a decent amount of words in one wip in one sitting. i wish i could, but i can't! it makes me want to take out my brain and go over it with a scrub brush and some dish soap but alas my skull does not have hinges and that is generally recommended by doctors. such is life.

fic writer ask game

[royalydamned]

Severus Snape and social pressure

I've been putting this off for a while but in the light of recent events I really wanted to adress it. I'm not the one for metas per se, but well....

People who think Snape wanted to join Death Eaters because of idea of blood purity usually accuse us, Snape defenders, of thinking he was forced into it. That's nothing but a overdramatization and twisting our words, our point stands in the fact that he was manipulated/persuaded into it.

force - "make someone do something against their will"

manipulate - "control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly or unscrupulously."

persuade - 1. "induce (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument."

- 2. "cause (someone) to believe something, especially after a sustained effort; convince."

- 3. "(of a situation or event) provide a sound reason for (someone) to do something."

(added exact definition of words in case someone decided to twist what I mean)

We don't deny him making the choice as his own decision. They didn't threaten him, blackmail him, force him. As group they had enough influence to make him believe in it as well, and also providing a safe space which he desperately needed and wanted to stay in.

Before anyone tells me I'm condoning his actions, I am not. This is analysis meta, explaining the possible things leading to him joining the Death Eaters, and not excusing them, or putting the blame on others. I feel like I always have to explain myself on anything on this goddamn app.

Individual in a group:

When it comes to a single individual in a group without opinion plurality, that share most views, the person adapts to the group’s perception, and not only because of the desire to fit in. They get affected by the habits, behavior and even language usage (like when a lot of people who don’t swear start swearing to different extents after being around the group often, accommodating to it even unconsciously, or quite the opposite, when a person who swears is welcomed into a group of people that find swearing rude and shield from hearing/using it, they regulate this language not to feel awkward, different and judged) and pick them up into their own daily life over time. The gradual adjusting and merging into the group can not only add and change one’s habits and behavior, but also completely erase the ones they had before joining and didn’t go with the others.

Snape is known to actually adapting his behavior in different case, like language. As a kid and a teen, he is shown to have poor communication skills and problems with proper speaking:

"You're...You're a witch," whispered Snape.

"I didn't mean-- I just don't want to see you made a fool of-- He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!" The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. "And he's not...everyone thinks...big Quidditch hero--" Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were traveling farther and farther up her forehead.

"The-- the prophecy...the prediction...Trelawney..."

He always seem to have difficulty speaking under some kind of stress and pressure, yet as a teacher he always seems to speak properly and appear collected, as a person with authority and surrounded by well educated people, he has to be seen on the same level, clearly perfecting his language when even angry or pressured he rarely starts almost stuttering. Just an example of how Snape is actually willing to adapt and quick to do so, no desire to hold his actual habits.

Response of one's environment:

Behavioral change is also linked with external reaction. After his and Lily's friendship ended, he was only around one group of people, getting positive responses when doing/saying things that others would find bad.

He wasn't actually known using Mudblood before hanging out with his housemates

When it comes to reinforcing the adopted behavior, person encounters positive and negative response, that shapes their perception on the way they act and if it’s truly acceptable. If the responses are mainly positive and encouraging, these new demeanors stick with them, if the responses are negative, person can change to be accepted by the majority in society if they don’t have enough support.

If Snape faced mostly positive reactions to those actions, he normalized them even if he didn’t quite believe in them at first, and if he wasn’t called out on it by Lily enough which could be only a theory, and nobody else cared enough to challenge it, it stuck with him.

Snape's bullying of muggleborns:

There is no clear evidence of Snape taking an active role, but also no evidence of him being passive.

I’m sure that the initiator wasn’t him though, and that he was either an imitator, that takes part in the action when invited and does what others want from him/imitates what others did, or just participating without taking any action, as an act of hiding behind group’s protection and validation that sometimes under pressure especially in public social events can result in a person acting out of their way.

Peer pressure and group manipulation:

In my opinion Severus was great and easily manipulated target because he had strong feelings of anger and sense of injustice that he experienced on himself from multiple people therefore could easily fall for the ideas especially if there was selective providing of information from their part (intentional avoiding of certain topic that could be viewed as upsetting or in any other negative way, potentially putting off the “target” and only focusing on the positives which would appeal to the positive feelings).

Snape was a victim of bullying humiliation and almost murder because of bunch of arrogant guys, the idea of being powerful and no longer be an easy prey must have been insanely intriguing and most definetly the main reason of his agreement.

This is more of a side note, but it also had been proved bullying victims have higher tendency to turn to crime.

The other way of manipulation that could be theoretically very easily present in the Snape - Death Eaters dynamics is the eliciting of certain emotions in individual, which is the well known protection, acceptance and feeling of belonging they provided Snape.

Next I’d mention the confirmation bias, which is the tendency to be persuaded about values and opinions that are already present in one consciousness, the idea already born, but in doubt as something new, where the person is affected only by the confirmation of their idea/suspicion and mostly ignore or try to ignore everything that rejects/doesn’t support them, so if Snape had already bad perception of muggles because of his father and maybe Petunia, it would be easy for it to grow into the growing idea of purism under the support of DE that agreed with him, adding on more negative traits/ideas about Muggles/Muggleborns/non-magical people, since it was a very emotionally sensitive topic for him and he was easily affected because of the trauma he endured by a muggle.

Why Severus Snape but not Sirius Black?:

Many people bring up Sirius' Black as a counter argument, since Sirius was also abused and even brought up in Death Eater household.

The more easily manipulative individual, or the less strong-willed, the easier and quicker the transition is.

Manipulation is mostly done on emotionally weakened or recently very frustrated individuals, that are already starting to form a certain ideas, the majority supporting and/or confirming it makes them give in easily.

Like I mentioned before, Snape had a strongly negative emotional connection towards Muggles in his life, easily forming a negative bias against them, which if reinforced and supported enough were easily transformed into next level. He never shown any dislike towards Muggle-borns, he even protected Lily's feelings when she asked if it makes any difference in the Wizarding World.

His emotional nature and vulnerability because of his abuse and bullying in the course of his life, without any kind of protection and support system, it must have been rather easy to brought him into the great idea of power, authority and protection.

Sirius was from Death Eater family, but had the Marauders, mainly James, who rejected those ideas, being with him significantly more often than his family. Taking the same analysis on Sirius as Severus, Snape was abused by a muggle and protected by blood purists, Sirius was abused by blood purists and had no negative experience caused by Muggles.

People tend to have the same ruler for different experiences in this case, but their experiences are actually the opposite.

Snape is great subject of analysis especially when it comes to psychological side , and it is definetly not as simple as being forced or believing in it himself but many more factors like an average human mind in different situation and it feels almost insulting to his character simplifying his choices like that.

I'm by no means a psychological expert, but this meta was researched, and not on the internet, and I take great passion in my research, still doesn't mean I couldn't translate something correctly or that certain things weren't updated in some way.

[eretzyisrael]

Nationalism vs. Empire

Recently I’ve had some arguments with Jewish anti-Zionists (although they sometimes claim they are Zionists). These are not the ones who wear Palestinian keffiyes and say kaddish for dead terrorists. These are the “moderate” ones who say that they totally understand why Israel should exist, but think that it should repeal the Nation-State Law and become a “democratic state of all its citizens” instead of one that privileges one group at the expense of others. It makes them nervous that Israel has a Jewish symbol on its flag, and refers to the “Jewish soul” in its national anthem.

They believe that ethno-religious nationalism, of which Zionism is a sub-species, has been the cause of great trouble in the world, giving rise to wars, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in the recent past.

This is a common view today. Humans are apparently genetically wired to feel trust for and loyalty to their immediate family, their extended family, and to broader and broader circles (clans, tribes, and nations) of people that are in some sense like them. But many people believe that this is a negative characteristic that leads to hatred and violence. They believe that social progress requires eliminating it, at least for circles wider than the family. In particular, the loyalty of individuals to national groups has been blamed for the destructive wars of the 20th century. Indeed, the European Union was intended from the beginning to grow into a super-nation that would ultimately absorb the loyalties of the various European peoples, and thus make future wars unlikely.

Yoram Hazony, in his book “The Virtue of Nationalism,” argues that in fact the main cause of the world wars was not nationalism, but rather imperialist expansionism. Hitler, according to Hazony, wanted to destroy the order of independent sovereign states and replace them with an empire, the “Third Reich,” modeled on the ��First Reich,” the Holy Roman Empire. Hazony contrasts two divergent ideas of the best way to bring about peace and prosperity: “an order of free and independent nations, each pursuing the political good in accordance with its own traditions and understanding; and an order of peoples united under a single regime of law, promulgated and maintained by a single supranational authority.” The former, he believes, provides the best opportunity to maximize each individual’s liberty and opportunities for self-realization. Empires come into being and maintain themselves by coercion of their subject nations, which naturally inhibits personal freedom.

In the best case, an independent nation’s population shares a common language, religion, and other cultural features, along with a shared vision of the kind of society it wants to have. Such a nation can provide a high degree of autonomy for its citizens, because they work toward common purposes. In the worst case, you have Lebanon or Syria, where ethno-religious strife tear a nation apart, allow despotic regimes to take power, and sink into a state of daily hell for their people.

Empires, on the other hand, invariably stratify their populations into advantaged groups, who make the rules and consume the fruits of empire, and those who make do with what the elites allow to trickle down to them. The latter have little autonomy, because they must be guided – coerced – to act in ways that promote imperial objectives, and prevented from rebelling. Today there are several empires or aspiring ones: the US, Russia, China, and the European Union.

The nations that consistently score highest on the World Happiness Reportscale are not the richest or largest nations, but smaller, ethnically and religiously homogeneous ones, like the top three: Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. Of course there are many other factors that affect rankings, but there is no doubt that their homogeneity plays an important part in their people’s satisfaction.

“But that’s racist!” I hear. No, it’s just fact. Anyway, skin color or other genetic properties have nothing to do with it except as markers for culture in the broadest sense, including language and religion and numerous other things. I suspect that the desire and ability to live together with others who are like youis a property that developed by an evolutionary process, and as I suggested, is now hard-wired into the species. Those who want to change it, to create a new kind of human who will totally free of bias won’t be pleased to hear this, but they are fighting hundreds of thousands of years – going back to pre-human species – of evolutionary development.

I suggest that we should work with the nature of our species. Nations should be small nation-states of similar people. Countries like Iraq that were created by strokes of a pen on a map without consideration of who lives in the area circumscribed by those strokes, are bound to have problems, as well as artificially balanced multiethnic constructions like Lebanon. Empires can provide stability, but at the cost of the exploitation and oppression of the majority of imperial subjects. A majority in the UK decided that they would prefer full sovereignty to attenuated self-rule as part of an empire, and voted to leave the EU.

Not every group with national aspirations can have a state. Some people will live in countries like the US, which are defined as states of all their citizens. Others will live as members of a minority in someone else’s nation-state.

Jews have a special reason to need a state of their own; their unique history of ever-mutating persecution. It takes a surprising degree of historical ignorance, or something less innocent, to deny that today. The Jews got their state at the cost of an enormous amount of blood, and then had to defend it again and again. And their enemies, both the local ones who simply want to take their land and their wealth, and the European empire for which the Jewish state stands as a reproach, show no evidence of giving up.

Israel did pretty well in the World Happiness Report, coming in 11th out of 149 (the US was 14th and the UK 17th). That is despite the fact that Israel is not Finland: there is a large Arab minority (one out of five Israelis is an Arab) that is excluded from the national mission of the Jewish state. They are not, however, excluded from economic and political life the way minorities often are, as (for example) America’s black minority was for many years. There is a very delicate balance here that the state needs to maintain in order to thrive, or even survive, with such a large national minority within its borders. One doesn’t have to go very far here in the Middle East to see what can happen as a result of unhappy minorities.

One of the reasons that Israel has been so successful, despite the challenges it has faced from its external enemies, the tension between religious and secular Jews, and the complications created by its internal minority, is its sense of national purpose as the nation-state of the Jewish people. I cannot imagine the state would survive the cancellation of this national purpose, even if it maintained, for a time, its Jewish majority. Why would it be more desirable for a Jew to live in Israel, with its mandatory army service and periodic wars, than to live in Europe, America, or Australia? Many of those who had the option to leave would do so. And why would those that stayed have a desire to improve anything in the public sphere, anything beyond their personal situation?

Nationalism, including Zionism, is not anti-democratic, racist, or otherwise evil. I would rather see a world of independent sovereign states coordinating their activities by means of treaties of mutual advantage, than the one governed by one or several powerful, coercive empires toward which we are tending.

Abu Yehuda

[katsidhe]

coffeecustard

replied to your post

“Love your blog!! Your meta is *chefs kiss* So! I made an observation...”

I'm very curious what that makes me, because I was never shocked at Sam's decision, never felt he was disgusting, in fact I found and still find the s4 demon thing to make 100% sense in light of the info he had. I love your meta and I'm hoping one day you'll write what you think makes ppl like me feel this way -- accept Sam's actions and motives 100% no questions, because they make absolute sense to us.

You know, I think there is something interesting here. In some ways I’m in the same boat as you. The first time I watched s4 I was on Sam’s side, but while I never felt that he was disgusting or unjustified, I definitely understood why Sam felt he was doing something transgressive/something that potentially crossed a bright moral line. And that struggle, and the fear of intrinsic evil, was real for Sam (even without Dean/the culture surrounding him driving it home), and frankly added to my respect for him. 

So, textually I think it’s inarguable that the Show itself regards Sam drinking demon blood as morally questionable at the very least. Even setting aside Dean’s moralizing, the literal in-universe author of their books tells Sam it’s not right. Can’t get much more explicit than that.

But Sam’s guilt is a lot muddier compared to whatever Dean struggles with in s9, because it’s not just ~bad bc the show said so~. Sam’s lifelong feelings of innate uncleanliness, interwoven with the degree of suspicion with which Dean tends to treat him as a matter of course (which stems from John’s suspicions, the Family Cult, Dean’s absolutism, etc etc.), combined with the Show’s bias, make the separate factors really, really difficult to parse. All three have narrative effects that influence how the audience is likely to perceive Sam’s decisions. 

Like I touched on in my previous post, one first obvious reaction is to take a stance that most closely resembles Dean’s (and arguably the Show’s): something to the effect of, Sam means well, and some version of him is Good deep down, but he’s misguided; surely he can see that this stuff is Bad News and is all going to end in tears; really, he should go back to Normal. 

But sometimes, like in your case and mine, that isn’t the first reaction. Part of it for me at least is that pragmatism is a really attractive trait in my fictional characters, and I deeply respected that Sam was willing to set aside his own deep self-disgust because he could acknowledge that making use of the blood and his powers got undeniable results. But I also wonder if it might be the naysayer in me who wanted to be on Sam’s side in the first place, that wanted to revolt against what the clear narrative authority was trying to tell me. If it’s an instinctive reaction to be on the side of the party being assigned blame and called out for wrongness, the one being called abnormal and freakish in the face of persecution. 

The blood is a continuous action on Sam’s part, and an addiction with side-effects that are debatably causing harm to him. Sam has to make the active decision over and over to keep using it, and it’s one he visibly struggles with while the necessity wars with his shame, and while we as viewers fear for his safety in the face of both his friends and his enemies. All the while, Sam is painted as overtly deviant, in ways that tie in with his sexuality and with addiction, with his mental health, with him being, somehow, innately tainted. This, I think, can easily be fundamentally sympathetic. 

The Mark, in contrast, was one ill-informed decision, with inarguably harmful fallout for both Sam and Dean. Interestingly enough, Dean’s grappling with the Mark of Cain is basically never addressed as a choice? He finds out about the thing, accepts it without asking about terms and conditions, and is branded all in one episode; following this, his struggle is all about him internally trying to repress, control, or channel the urges the Mark gives or intensifies; never (to my recollection, anyway; feel free to correct me if I’m forgetting something in some s10 episode I’ve never rewatched) is he significantly wracked with regret over taking the Mark in the first place. I think this is typical of Dean. He felt he did what he had to do, so he’s not going to agonize over a decision that was made that he cannot take back. Sam doesn’t react the way Dean did in season 4, either--Gadreel aside, he’s on Dean’s side, quick to reassure Dean (and himself) in s10 that the Mark’s influence isn’t Dean’s fault. 

This definitely contributes to how we the audience view that decision, and since Dean is tormented but not terribly guilty, and Sam is supportive even while a victim, it’s easy to assign pity rather than blame. But for me, as a viewer, it’s a lot less interesting to watch Dean grapple when there’s little acknowledgment of how he made his bed in the first place, and, indeed, when there’s NO ONE in the narrative, not Sam, and not even Dean himself, who is in major conflict with that decision. 

In s4, Sam is resolutely the moral outsider. I think for some people it can have the effect of making his point of view MORE attractive rather than less, because it is transgressive on a level intrinsic to the fabric of the show itself. And that’s plain fun.