#unfortunately I have a problem

[squarebracket-trickster]

You can analyze your favourite writers' techniques. You all know that right?

When you read a book or fic or whatever and are blown away by how amazing the writing is you can just go, "huh, how is the writer doing this? what things are they doing to get this effect?"

And if you can't figure it out you are allowed to google it. Check out YouTube videos, blog posts, and the wealth of posts on Tumblr even. If the writer is famous enough there might even be full-length academic papers on Google Scholar or JSTOR, or even 100+ page published books dissecting their style (Tolkien, for example, if you like his style). If you still can't find the information, ask someone. Ask more experienced writers or writers who write in a similar style. Ask writing advice blogs/channels. Ask the writer/author themselves.

And if you still can't figure it out, you can keep trying things and reading similar stuff, observing until it clicks.

I just say this because, well, reading someone else's writing and feeling like yours is horrible in comparison is pretty much a universal writer experience. I see a lot a posts on Tumblr offering encouragement like, "it is okay if you writing isn't like theirs, you just have different strengths," and "actually your writing is better than you think it is, you've just been staring at it too long." And these are valid.

But also, just because you can't write like that now doesn't mean you can't learn. You don't have to resign yourself to a particular style just because it comes easier to you. It is completely okay to be happy with the style you have, but it is also okay to not be happy with it and wish you could write like your favourite writers instead.

Just... when you get that, "oh my gosh, I will never be as good as them," feeling, maybe try figuring out what it is they are doing that you like so much. Maybe being patient with yourself doesn't mean accepting that this is your best work. Maybe it means accepting that this isn't and that it will take time, knowledge, and practice to get there. But you will, you just have to keep trying.

[sharlinefreire]

sometimes what you need to get out of a deep depression is to start shipping a fictional couple that encourages you to read fanfiction until 3 am.

[hyohaehyuk]

Just want to remind everyone that loustat had their 1st time on Valentines Day. Lestat the last romantic 🤭

[wolfienation]

when you really really think about it, the elphie who sings for good is the elphie who might have stayed and the glinda who sings for good is the glinda who might have gotten on the broom and they will both spend the rest of their lives missing each other and mourning what could have been all the while knowing there is no world in which they make different decisions because they are who they are and in the moment of defying gravity neither of them have been trialed by the world as harshly as they have been by for good

and isn't that just the fucking tragedy of it all. that the harsh hand of destiny said "you will be a revolutionary, a martyr of your cause" and "you will be the pride of your people" and together they'll have nothing more than one short day for a lifetime of fun to hold onto for the rest of their lives

[sunlight-shunlight]

i do think the argument of "oh you're being EXTRA harsh on veilguard for being racist/misogynistic/etc! what about all that stuff in previous games??" is actually in very bad faith.

bc firstly: people have already talked about previous games at length. it is weird to expect old arguments to be rehashed when a new thing is available to discuss.

and secondly: yeah, i will actually hold veilguard to a higher standard! i don't think that's unreasonable at all. time is linear, and 10 years passed in between the last game! there have been so many highly public social movements since then, the entire world has changed. most people have had growth in their awareness of the world and how they understand history and politics in that time, just from being alive and reading the news occasionally. they SHOULD have improved! i was never expecting it to be showstoppingly good or like a masterpiece of writing, but... i think "not getting worse, and perhaps being 2% better" is a completely reasonable expectation.

but, it did not improve, and did actually get worse, unfortunately! i do not think it's reasonable for a game published in 2024 to have such a regressive, flat way of depicting women; their implications on the worldbuilding became incredibly similar to irl racist or antisemitic conspiracy theories, while the writers crowed about how they were so proud of ~giving the elves a win~; the portrayal of the qunari only got more flat and islamophobic, somehow; and the entire idea of "i can excuse being nb but i draw the line at being an immigrant" is so stupid that it sends me into space.

i think it's completely reasonable to expect better from Progressive Writers™️ in this modern era! this is a very low bar to exceed, and they still managed to dig under it, on such basic topics as "can women visibly age or be rude and still be major characters". previous games were managing to reach this standard, minor as it was! whether it's a failure of the writing itself, or corporate interference, it is completely valid to expect better.

[adventuretolkienlover]

So I got these little guys for my birthday last month and I thought the Sonic fandom might enjoy. :)

[astral-herald]

Viktor's (subverted) Aristotelian Tragedy

A common sentiment I’m seeing throughout post-finale Viktor discourse is an understandable concern or distaste for the element of choice lost throughout his story. I know a lot of us – myself included – expected more time spent on his transformation, along with emphasis on the anger/rage/betrayal fueling it. But seeing him allow Singed to “begin the process” in episode 8 reminded me of Arcane’s origins – tragedy. Bear with me for another long analysis :)

Aristotle wrote the following on the tragedy: “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself…with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” He also emphasized that the true tragic hero couldn’t be perfect, and his downfall into such catharsis-inducing circumstances was reliant on a fatal flaw, oftentimes pride.

Viktor fits this mold, as do many Arcane characters, and it stands to reason that this was intentional since the writing team has reiterated that the show is a tragedy, at its core.

Regarding Viktor’s fatal flaw, I’d argue it’s pride, but it manifests very uniquely. He never makes any grand declarations about his success and doesn’t draw attention to himself in any clear way throughout season one (“Progress Day” comes to mind). Instead, his pride manifests as staunch independence and self-reliance that lead to his downfall; his unwillingness to break his stoic mold arguably led to his use of the Hexcore…so it goes.

Fascinating caveat: Viktor’s pride is a defense mechanism, a necessary tool he built in order to survive and succeed in a hostile environment to people of his station. His self-reliance is increasingly desperate as his illness worsens. He’s cornered by fate but banks on the sanctity of choice at every turn – in season one, Viktor is bound by the conviction that we all have a choice. It’s why he’s so distressed when Jayce makes the wrong one regarding weaponizing Hextech.

“There is always a choice.”

Viktor’s choice to fuse with the Hexcore is the classic Aristotelian fatal flaw moment, the singular incident that opens the flood gates for eventual catharsis. We watch Viktor make an irreparable choice, one that we know to be bad, and endure the repercussions. He then makes the choice to abandon the Hexcore, and end his life, but audiences can’t shake the feeling that those consequences aren’t leaving anytime soon.

So why is Viktor so anti-choice in his final season 2, act 3 form?

Choice is Viktor’s weapon. Pride is what leads him to abusing it. Despite how uncomfortable and depressing it is to watch, Viktor’s slow descent into the Herald is a perfect twist of fate. The Arcane is even so insidious that it meshes with his original intent, to help those suffering in the undercity, while convincing him that their subservience is healing. He becomes responsible for their choices. He knows what’s best because he’s relieving the Gloriously Evolved of their suffering, right? The utopia is for the greater good, yes?

Admittedly, it was really hard watching act 3 Viktor descend fully into his choiceless ethos. But we can still relate it to his tragic flaw – his pride has mushroomed into coldhearted omniscience; not only does he know what’s best for everyone, evolution, but he also has the sense to make the choice for them to supersede their “baser instincts.” The grief we feel upon seeing this perverted, violent version of himself, as far removed from Viktor as possible, is the culmination of Aristotle’s treatise on tragedy. The catharsis is the rock-bottom Machine Herald.

"Choice is false."

But then Arcane decided to basically make Jayvik canon (get out of here, Christian Linke) and destroyed the early drafts of this post. I’m going to rapid-fire this next bit:

Jayce forces Viktor back to life. Viktor has no agency in his season 2 inciting incident. Again, it’s distressing when we mourn his agency, but it remains in accordance with Aristotelian tragedy.

Viktor clings to humanity as long as he possibly can. When Jayce calls out Viktor’s trajectory, alleging that his old partner had died in the Council chamber, whatever is left of Viktor gives way to the Arcane because his last tether has been snapped.

Jayce knows the game – Old Man Jenkins Mage Viktor told him so. Jayce becomes the linchpin in subverting Viktor’s tragedy. He knows what must happen. He understands now.

Machine Herald Viktor is given the chance to undo his fatal flaw, to reverse the catharsis, when he sees Old Man Jenkins Mage Viktor. With Jayce’s help, he takes it.

Given that it’s a version of Viktor who ultimately frees him from himself by empowering Jayce, we can gather that Viktor has liberated himself from his tragedy.

Aristotle’s catharsis is rapidly transformed from something based in release to something healing – Viktor’s tether to humanity returns. He grasps it. The walls of his pride and self-reliance collapse. He accepts Jayce’s help, finally being seen as the full individual he is. Catharsis ensues, for sure, but I don’t think it’s based in the typical tragedy genre.

All this to say, I think Viktor’s arc was, in fact, carefully constructed. He represents the Aristotelian descent into a fatal flaw and that’s very distressing to see unfold, especially since he embodied the tragic hero archetype so well from day one. However, Jayce undoes this narrative and we’re given an incredibly subversive ending that I, personally, never saw coming.

I’m sure that Mage Viktor has a much larger bearing on this analysis than I’m accounting for. But for now, suffice to say that he is Viktor’s way out of the tragedy. TALK ABOUT CHOICE!

This doesn’t erase anyone’s discomfort for Viktor having less and less agency, but I’d like to emphasize the logic and literary precedent behind the story decisions.

PS: here's a quick source I looked at about Aristotelian tragedies. I hope to re-up on Greek tragedies so I can get more specific about the parallels Arcane draws from them.

[nyehilismwriting]

hi everyone! just a heads-up, I've been dodging being on here because of [unintelligible] - i know the update is late and unfortunately, due to [unintelligible] it still isn't ready, but I promise promise promise i'm still working on it (36,000 words and counting of pure uncut nashperative toxicity) and I will get it out as soon as I possibly can<3

[pinkd3mon]

Dealing with Trauma while being King Dedede

Bonus:

Dealing with Trauma while being Taranza

[elodieunderglass]

was it the decision to dismount

[ruthytwoshakes]

ah my gay ass husband I’m going to kill you with hammers now

[tragicallycrispygirl]

"Unika saw a trans woman naked and decided to stop hating gears" is reaching levels of "ram ate burger and became normal" which is unfortunate because they're like hilariously similar (though ram is like. way way worse lol) but it was also really funny that for a while it seemed like some people thought Bridget was a gear and I'm sorry to break it to y'all but no. shes just some random person. from Britain. with a yoyo.

[sunlight-shunlight]

me staring into the distance:

so the evanuris/blight situation is that: solas managed to, at the height of his power + with all his ancient elf besties helping, seal them into the black city and make the veil. and this took so much out of him that he was basically comatose for 5000 years. ok fine.

but then in vg, his initial plan was to put them in a different jail, while the veil is still up (despite that weakening all magic significantly and making it difficult to even access the black city). and then he wants to tear down the veil afterwards, presumably expecting to still be awake to do so. despite not having his original orb or his ancient elf besties anymore? so it doesn't particularly make sense in general. similar to how he described what he wanted to do with the orb, you'd expect him to take out the veil first and then reseal/move the jail?

(and then he wanted to put them into a Regret Prison when he is the ONLY one out of that entire situation who feels any regrets... 😭)

then his more ambiguous-sounding veil removal motives of being depressed about elves/spirits and unable to see the modern world as worthy of existence... become almost irrelevant. bc it's kind of necessary for him to Do Something? or else everyone fully dies of turbo blight when the archdemons die and the black city inevitably opens?

but then no one really mentions the looming catastrophe of the blight part, and they handwave it at the end, and all act like he's being very unreasonable. which he is! but only bc they made him dumber than a rock and weirdly inconsistent in his capabilities, not bc his motivations were actually proven to be wrong. aaaaa.

[chewyhanniebug]

happy anniversary to another one of the prettiest junhan looks (and whatever it did to the other members) ♡

fancams: [x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x] (also made gifs of jungjun not being able to hold hands like normal people here)

[ibunyang]

doodle pages !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i finally figured out a way to draw norton in the way i like him draw. i always thought that his side part was kinda ugly looking, but i looked up pictures of his model in that one thing and found out his hair curves like that and it finally made sense to me afterwards

[sadkachow]

You cannot claim to be anti-AI while still actively seeking out and using AI.

Once again.

You cannot claim to be anti-AI while still using generative AI, no matter the reason.

(Bold/italicized text: You cannot claim to be anti-AI while still using generative AI, no matter the reason.)

Even if you’re just using it to make fun of it or show how bad it is.

Even if it’s only for your personal use, and you don’t plan on sharing it with anyone.

Even if you’re “just” roleplaying on Character AI.

If you are willing to justify your usage of a system created and profiting off of stealing from artists and writers, a symstem that is destroying the Earth, then you were never as “against that system” as you think you were. Being anti-AI isn’t something that exists only in name. You can’t claim to be against AI if you are willing and able to use it as soon as it benefits you. You can’t say you’re for writers’ and artists’ rights if you’re using the very thing that is causing them harm. You can’t claim to care about climate change and saving the Earth if you are participating in the system that is destroying it.

There is no middle ground here.

There is no “Oh, but I-“.

If you have the knowledge of what generative AI is doing, of how it is hurting people, and you choose to use it anyway, you aren’t  against it. You aren’t fighting against that system, you’re upholding it.

You can say how much you hate AI and how horrible you think it is, if you choose to use it anyway, then your actions and your words are not lining up, and the former reveals so much more than the latter.

Stop pretending like AI is something you can condemn only in name, while using it to your heart’s content in your free time. All it does it tells writers and artists that you don’t really care about us, and that any actions you claim to be taking to protect us are performative at best and lies or even outright malicious at worst.

You are—and I mean this in the kindest way possible, even with the fury that generative AI invokes in me—a complete and utter hypocrite. AI is not your friend. It is a tool, and it is a tool that steals from writers and artists in order to function. It is a tool that is using levels of energy and emitting amounts of polution in order to be maintained that are actively damaging the Earth. No matter how much you try to justify using it to yourself, that doesn’t change.

Stop hiding under the guise of being anti-AI while continuing to use it yourself.