#yeah idk this isn’t the best example bc there are probably people that are complaining abt this so that’s where the reaction comes from

[jackleopard]

I hate when someone makes like one coment about something they didnt like/something they are dissapointed with and everyone says they are complaining

[thepoodlepack]

What's wrong with goldenpoodles? I'm genuinely curious because almost all of my dogs are mixed breeds and behave fine. So I'm curious if there's something else I'm missing

jeez this feels like bait but u kno what, you got me

alright, so it goes like this. the doodle really began with a guy in australia being like i need the temperament of a lab for a guide dog but these ppl are allergic to dogs, so i need a poodle bc they have hair, not fur. so he bred em together. years later he’s like damn that was a mistake.

now, why, exactly? alright so first of all he only needed that mix bc labs on average tend to adapt better to situations that are largely exclusive to service dog work than poodles do. i can go into what this means at a later date, but that’s basically how it is. but either way, people jumped on this creation and it kinda spiraled out of control. soon, poodles were being bred by everyone and every breed. suddenly, they were a marketing scam more then they were a dog breed.

oh theyre hypoallergenic! all of them, all the time cause zero allergies! look theyre so much better than poodles! theyre friendly and easy to train, not like poodles of course, just like labs! they’re better than labs bc none of them shed, ever! they’re super healthy bc breeding labs and poodles together wipes out all their health problems, of course!

lies, lies lies. the aussie guy, whose name i’m not going to look up bc i’m lazy but who you can find if you google creator of doodles, straight up says that even the first litter(s) of labradoodles he bred had puppies that the people he bred them for were allergic to. he very carefully tested the litter and the reaction the person had before placing a puppy that was not going to hurt them.

think of the punnet squares we all learned about in 5th grade science class. you draw the squares and one parent has two fur genes and the other parent has two hair genes and what do you get? well if you have four puppies, one might have hairhair and the next one might have hairfur and the next one might have furhair and the next one might have furfur. and so guess what? only hairhair pup is going to be the best choice for allergic people. additionally, you can see why the non-shedding thing can be bullshit, and that in particular is also a guessing game. you may be able to test allergy sufferers against the pups, but that does not necessarily mean they won’t shed. hairfur, for example, may be a good choice for some allergic people, but perhaps they’ve got just enough fur to shed anyway. also, lets look at salukis (and frankly, most long-haired sighthounds). salukis are still considered dogs with fur, not hair. they also still shed, even though it’s just a little. and yet they’re still considered good for allergy sufferers.

(ps poodles do actually shed. but they shed like humans shed. your hair comes out, doesn’t it? like, esp folks with long hair, aren’t people always complaining how you clog the shower drain? yeah, like that. ALSO obviously the situation is more complicated then super simple punnet squares and as an ex-groomer i have something to say about doodle coats but i’m going to save that for later, put a pin in it.)

oh and wait a hot minute there. i said best choice, didn’t i, not hypoallergenic. well, that’s because no dog is hypoallergenic. poodles, and a few other dog breeds, they have hair, like we do. but the thing is both humans and breeds with hair still produce the dander, though they’re different kinds. breeds with hair happen to produce the least amount possible that dogs can produce, which is why they’re a better choice for allergy sufferers, but that’s still not a guarantee. my roommate Dakota is allergic to dogs. if i don’t wash my dogs for an extended period of time (which has never happened, ever, in my life, idk what ur talking about), thus giving the chance for the dander my dogs still produce, he will have a very, very mild reaction when touching them. it can be countered by him washing his hands after touching them and also me just giving them a fucking bath, i need to stop forgetting, but still, there you go. ALSO people might not be allergic to dogs bc of their dander. they might be allergic to the saliva of dogs, which poodles or any other breed with hair still produces about the same as other dogs. so, yeah, not hypoallergenic, not at all.

the people who taut their hypoallergenic dogs for sale largely don’t do the testing required to check if they’re actually providing a dog to someone who won’t react to it. not acceptable at all.

so, labs are friendly and easy to train right? not at all like poodles, right? no. absolutely incorrect. some labs are friendly and easy to train. some labs, a lot of them when they’re puppies, are nightmare fuel. personally, i have a theory that everyone’s vision of labs in their heads are either a) service dogs or b) those old labs who are slightly pudgy (or morbidly obsess, which is a different topic) and who are graying in the face and just want to lounge around because they’re seniors now. alright, so here’s why thats bad. labs are a working breed. a retrieving breed. they’re supposed to be bulky and strong and driven. service dogs are highly trained, to a point that most pet dogs will never see, and if you see them with their actual disabled handler, they’ll probably be around 2.5 yrs of age and out of their most wild days. old labs are well. old. sleepy. maybe a bit achey. and well out of their most wild days. oh, and it’s the same type of thing with goldens by the way, the other most popular doodle type. poodles are also easy to train, especially if their parents have a decent temperament. they’re all about equal if you actually start training them when they’re puppies and just pay for some training classes, like everyone should. in the puppy classes i’m in right now, Euphoria is leaps and bounds ahead of doodles, goldens, and labs that are her age or older. I train her properly and she’s got amazing parents. that’s it, that’s the trick. not breed, not necessarily, and def not in this case.

I am once again going to say that labs and goldens are more often used as service dogs than poodles because of their adaptability, but it’s the ability to adapt to situations that most pet dogs will never have to worry about.

jeez this is a long post. i’ve still got more to cover too. alright, on to super healthy, or “hybrid vigor” as the nerds call it. uhh, it’s bullshit. thank u for ur time.

okay, but actually why on gods green earth would breeding two completely different breeds with little to no research make them super healthy? now i want to preface this with i’m (generally) pro-outcross projects. Euphoria’s dad is half mini poodle and half standard poodle, which isn’t technically an outcross bc all the variations are of the same breed, but if we’re going by genetic diversity alone minis and standards are different enough to actually be different breeds.

so, to be clear, outcrosses, given the proper thought and planning: good, results in healthier dogs (see: lua dals). randomly breeding two very different breeds together with no planning other than to sell the puppies to randos who won’t continue the outcross: bad. especially when you’re doing it to cash in and don’t health test at all, or don’t health test the major health problems with both breeds (if you’re doing an f2 breeding or anything like that). no the poodle’s health problems don’t get canceled out by the goldens or labs or whatever the other party’s health problems are, and vice versa. and yeah, i’ve looked at a lot of doodle breeder’s websites and yeah, most of them don’t health test at all, or at least don’t health test properly. do you know i own one doodle and currently live with another? yeah, i got them both from breeders and do you know how much health testing their parents got? if your answer is none, good job, you’ve been paying attention. in my defense, i was like 13, i didn’t know what i was doing.

alright, so those are the big points. this is kinda gonna be just... a mix of my other complaints. here we go, hope you’re ready for more. argument the first: i feel like it’s pretty disrespectful to reputable breeders. now, i actually have two reasons why that is. reason one: most reputable poodle breeders don’t want their breeding stock bred with other breeds, for various reasons. i’ve even met a few who used to be okay with it and then as the doodle scam got bigger and more out of control, they stopped being okay with it, even to the breeders who they had been fine with it in the past. that means a lot of doodle breeders out there have their breeding stock because they scammed poodle breeders into giving them pet quality, not breeding quality, dogs or because they’re getting their stock from non-reputable breeders. i also feel it’s disrespectful to breeders who are actually trying to create new breeds. quite frankly, a breed with the size, strength, and adaptability of a lab or golden that doesn’t shed and that has the train-ability of a poodle, lab, or golden sounds pretty interesting to me. did you know you can actually make that breed? and it wouldn’t be a cross with unpredictable... well, everything. it would actually be a true dog breed.

Look at Silken Windhounds and Biewer Terriers who began both development in the 1980s. Biewer Terriers were recognized by the AKC this year, and Silken Windhounds still haven’t been. And yeah, that’s the problem isn’t it? Making a real new breed takes a lot of time, planning, and care. People would rather just cash in. I think it’s sad and I think it’s disrespectful to the breeders who do work so hard to make actual new breeds.

and finally, unpin being an ex-groomer goddamnit. guess what? doodles are awful to groom! they’re terrible on the grooming tables because people want to have in both ways: they want a dog that doesnt shed at all and they want a dog who doesn’t need to be groomed. well guess what, that dog doesn’t exist and you can have it only one way. and also, bring back the goddamn punnet squares because a lot of doodles have awful coats. if you have hairfur and furhair over there, guess what, their coat fucking sucks bc it’s not meant to be like that. it wants to mat bc hair but also it wants the mats to slide out bc short-ish fur but its too thick for the mats to slide out bc thick hair. and yes its more complicated then this and that means its often more awful then this. its awful, it makes me want to cry. and maybe it’s slightly easier to get away with it with a shorthaired dog like a lab, or, you know what, even a golden, okay, even a slightly long haired dog like a golden but people are doodling akitas? border collies? bernese fucking mountain dogs? i am crying. i am crying right now as i type this.

lets do a sum up to this disaster of a post. look, i don’t go out there attacking or yelling at every doodle or every doodle owner i see, alright? or any of them really. i might engage in conversation to one that’s interested, but that’s it. i love my doodly Isis, okay? shes tiny and she’s adorable and I love her more than life and i will never, ever get another doodle. i don’t like the way they’ve gotten so prolific, i don’t like the reasons they’re now widespread, and i don’t like almost all of the people that create them, including the ones i’ve literally given my (parents) money to in the past. i wish they were better but i just cannot approve of them, especially not in the environment they exist in now. that said, i do support them in their original use case as assistance dogs, and i do not care about them if they’re shelter dogs.

[sour-n-salty-citrus]

5, 11, 28? ~necklace-of-sin

Hey Cat! Thanks for the asks :D

5. What is/are your least favorite trope(s)?

HMM! Idk if this counts as a trope, but I CANNOT read anything with public sex (MAYBE semi-public but even then it depends). Like idk bajdjsjs I'm super squicky about the idea of someone stumbing in upon or watching the MCs of the fic. Like- MAYBE if its one person watching in a confined space, otherwise, if its like a crowd or smth then nuh uh I'm not reading it. I think maybe part of it comes from a strong sense of second hand embarrassment or smth lol.

Next- I wouldn't say I 'dislike' this trope, but hurt/no comfort. I mean- maybe I'll read it, but I'm a godamn sap, so even in stuff like darkfic I need some kind of closure ;-;. Even if the ending isn't "happy", I prefer bittersweet to just... bitter akdjskd. I need some relief, otherwise it's just Torture Porn? Which can be enjoyable ig but very very very rarely for me.

Oh another one is when a ship is put in the main tags... only to break up/not be the main pair ajdbsj. Like- I read a bkdk fic (bc i was in the bkdk tag) that was about Deku cheating on Bakugou w Todoroki and breaking up, and then the following fic was Kiribaku. LIKE hsjdjasj it makes me so mad! Why couldn't the break up have been referenced in the kiribaku fic?? Why make a new fic! Doesnt make sense to me. It's even worse if your ship is a rarepair/not that popular. Like- I ship Reibert, which isn't exactly a rarepair, but it always shows up as a sidepair. I have to legit filter out the jeanmarco tag bc it takes up the reibert tag, and just has them in the background and it annoys me sm >:/ Wait does that count as a trope-? Whatever.

This isn't a trope, but it's rare I like canon ships. Like- if a ship is implied canon it's like meh :/. I think a lot of the fun comes from the knowing your ship won't be canon and the potential there, so canon ships are kinda "boring" to me. With expections, of course, but yeah. Its like a lot of the potential is already gone, and I think its partly due to lazy writing, bc once characters are romantically involved a lot of writers cba to develop their actual relationship and individual characters. (This doesn't go for fic, more canon stuff).

11. What makes a great ship in your own opinion?

HMM. Well, as mentioned, I think the best ships always tend to be the non-canon ones :"). Idk I just feel like when there's only a platonic relationship on-screen, it means there's so much more to develop and explore in fic and fandom. Generally though, I love characters that are opposites (opposites attract 4 life), but still similar enough to flow off each other and have an enjoyable dynamic. Because you ship Rickorty too, I'll use them as an example: I like how they work as a team and balance each other's strengths, but at the same time can be conflicting and bicker a lot. If you look at my other fave ships (Bakudeku, Shizaya, Frostshield) I think I really have a thing for opposites (and blondes... apparently). I love when there's one half who's honest and earnest, and one who's more reseved and manipulative/complicated. I love ships that bring out the best in each other, and again, act as a balance for each other's strengths/weaknesses. I love the "stronger together" shit, I'm weak for it, and I love the whole "x is soft for y, and y is tough for x". Its *mwah* perfection. I love when the ship gives each other a different perspective on life, makes them change for the better.

I think the best ships are, when you put them in a room together, something interesting is bound to happen.

(Fluff and mushy shit aside I love when ships have a lot of potential for angst too >:D)

28. What is your best shipping advice?

This is a vagueish question so I'll answer as "best advice for a shipper".

Imo, ship what you want and dgaf. Someone will share your ship (someone always does, trust me), and if it's a rarepair, be the change you want to see in the world! Even if you feel like you're the only one making content for something and enjoying it, I guarantee, someone else will be searching for it and be very thankful to find it. If someone wants to talk about their ships with you, and if its not a trigger/uncomfortable for you, let them! They'll probably let you talk about yours in turn. Respect other people's ships, and they'll respect yours. If you don't like a ship, you're free to complain about it, but make sure to complain about the ship and NOT the shipper. Block whoever you want, it's literally no big deal, and if people are being jerks you don't have to listen to them. AO3 is a godsend, its tagging system and bookmarks are a godsend, use them! If you really enjoyed a fic, leave a comment! Please ;-; Doesn't have to be big. Write/make what you want, even if it's for yourself.

The most important thing is to have fun! :D

[phoebehalliwell]

Ok, but like do you ever think that there could have been a way to bring back Prue and have the Power Of Four? Because I want it SO BAD XD

i mean like short answer no not really not without like just Majorly jumping the shark you know like it just completely rewrites everything at the most basic level like it’s just Such a ballsy move especially after pulling the long-lost-sister card reconstituting the power of three to somehow bring back prue and make the power of four but like. i mean like. let’s be real. like would we really be complaining? like yes it’s crazy but tbh i feel like it wouldn’t have been poorly received within the fandom man like yes it’d be something to make fun of like how crazy it was but like. i mean. idk i feel like the majority of people would not be opposed to prue returning!! basically if i were doing this i’d making it hella obvious prue was coming back. i think i’d probably do this maybe s5 (bc as previously stated. i hate season 5 lmao) as the b side because i don’t think i could drag it out for the full season. but like start with the girls travelling back to melinda’s time bc who doesn’t love a good time travel episode and having the first person they really come in contact with is this young girl and it’s paige who meets her and she’s like you know having a bad time so paige is like hey how can i help like hi can i help blah blah blah her Mom is being Burned at the Stake today and paige piper phoebe are like !!!!! bc a) bad but b) they’re also witches so like. watch out! and piper and phoebe have time travelled before hmm paige has as well in paige from the past but like. okay hmmm one second. bc one of them has to be like we can’t interfere with the past and another has to be like we can’t let an innocent die. okay piper’s like no we have to interfere bc like. she sees herself in this little girl she doesn’t want her to grow up motherless especially now that piper’s having her own little girl (psych lmao) like she wants to lead by example so to speak. and she knows she can interfere hell she delivered melinda warren the last time they travelled to the past there’s wiggle room. paige also wants to help bc that’s just the woman she is and Yes she couldn’t save her parents but that’s because they were fated to die maybe this girl’s mother isn’t. she knows fate won’t let her change it if it has to happen. so she might as well try. phoebe is actually the one who has the most reservations bc like. okay she knows firsthand how it feels to be burnt at the stake. but she also knows that some things have to happen. and this feels like it has to happen she doesn’t know why but her psychic feelings are telling her this has to happen. and piper and paige are like ????? callous bitch?? and phoebe’s like i know but trust me!!! but like. she’ll go along with them anyways. so like okay kid take us to your mom. and piper and phoebe are lingering behind bc they’re on opposite sides of the spectrum with piper being like we’ve interfered with the past before and phoebe being like some things have to play out the way they have to play out!!! so paige is left with the kid and she’s like hey what’s your name? and she’s like prudence. and piper and phoebe stop in their tracks. and paige is like. oh. i had a sister named prudence. and prudence was like oh was she nice and paige is like i don’t know i never got to meet her. and prudence is like oh. and like a beat and then is she dead? and paige is like 😶😶 yeah bc like normally no she would kinda gloss over death with kids but like lil prudy’s mom’s getting burned at the stake today so like. we might be passed that point. and prudence pulls paige close like hushed voice and she’s like don’t tell anyone. but i can talk to your sister if you want. i’m a witch. and paige is like oh that’s so sweet but no i’m a witch too! it’s okay. and prudence is like don’t you want to meet her? and paige is like yes but sometimes the timing isn’t right. it’s okay tho. idk obvi this would all be polished a lot more maybe giving little prudence a reason to trust these girls and kinda like. immediate familial bond. (gee wonder why?) but piper and phoebe back in the background now know Exactly who they’re walking with right now this is definitely prudence warren their ancestor meaning her mother is melinda warren who like. kinda does need to burn at the stake to have the proper chain of events occur. but they’re already here. and there’s melinda warren. and paige is like hi my name is paige we’re here to help. and piper and phoebe are in the background like ,,,,hi? and melinda looks up and it’s kinda clear this isn’t the ghost they summoned she doesn’t have memories of them. but there is like a vision of hope in her eyes. and blah blah blah something something something we find the charmed prophecy is actually not three sisters but either a) it’s four or b) it’s an unspecified number, which i kinda like more. blah blah blah this connects paige to the warren line and the three girls kinda back to their roots. and they get back and they’re kinda like huh. and they try summoning prue bc what the heck it’s been a year plus so can we see her now and instead they get melinda who basically tells us there Is a way to get prue back but like. it’s a full half-season long adventure. blah blah blah emotional journeys on like. what bringing prue back would even like involve. phoebe being excited at first but then kinda remembering her whole queen of hell era and being like oh. is she gonna hate me now? and paige of course being scared to be next to her because she’s an icon like. she’s the best and will she even like paige blah blah blah the challenge of lining up the idea in your mind with the reality. but yeah they gotta save prue’s soul. at first she was fine but something happened they gotta go save their sister from something evil. so there’s also a deadline. s5 ends with like. idk one off-camera line from prue. start s6 and she’s back babey!

[altruistic-meme]

just ranting about my sister bc i’m tired of her bs

ok so a list of things i’m So Fucking Sick Of aka a list of things i’m gonna rant about 

1. She’s so contradictory

2. She only cares about being the Most Pitied

3. She complains about EVERYTHING and does NOTHING to fix it

4. Constantly saying I don’t understand... anything

5. Basically she’s just an emotionally abusive bitch and I’m really tired of her shit

cool? cool. that’s basically it but like read on if you want to, i’m just gonna go into detail about everything cause i’m annoyed and she just pushed me over the edge. 

1. She’s so contradictory

she has told me, on multiple occasions, “i hate it when people make everything a competition, everyone has different limits and different experiences”  and then any time i talk about... anything i’m struggling with (i.e. my depression/anxiety, my insomnia, that i’m sore, that i had a bad day, etc.) she IMMEDIATELY starts talking about how worse off she is. 

Followed closely by 2. She only cares about being the Most Pitied

I didn’t sleep well last night. “Well I never sleep well, I woke up 3 times last night, I didn’t fall asleep until 3am.” 

My feet hurt after my shift at work. “Well you know,,, I sprained both my ankles and both my wrists and my side and I hurt my shoulder and my neck and you think YOU’RE sore?? Please.”

I have a headache. “Well I have had a constant headache for MONTHS and I’m just living with it, you can’t understand how I feel, I’m in SO much pain.”

no matter what issue I have, she is 10x worse. even when it is something that I KNOW she doesn’t actually experience!!! i.e saying I’m sore after a full shift on a day she didn’t work, and she then still talks about how she’s sore despite having done nothing all day. also see: I have MDD and she doesn’t, and yet whenever I talk about anything that is a symptom of said MDD, she IMMEDIATELY starts talking about how she experiences that but worse (insomnia, negative thoughts, etc.)

*Side note: This is not me saying she doesn’t have depression because “she doesn’t seem like the type ://” or any bullshit like that. This is me saying I am medically diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, while she is medically diagnosed with Panic Anxiety Disorder. She is NOT diagnosed with depression.

On a similar note,  3. She complains about EVERYTHING and does NOTHING to fix it

a good, prime example of this is her PAD. she is always complaining about it, and about how she feels, etc. but whenever anyone suggests something, she either just ignores it or directly attacks the person about what they’re suggesting. most likely bc she thinks fixing the issues she has will lower her chances of getting the pity points she so desperately craves. 

ex. i say “hey, maybe you should go to therapy for xyz” and she says “yeah, well, my LAST therapist gave me TRUST ISSUES :// so idk i think that’s something i should just live with, and also the trust issues that i definitely have bc of my last therapist, despite the fact i constantly complain about those too :// i don’t like therapists anyway” etc.

also see; well if you’re having issues with your ankle, side, etc. maybe try doing the things you were told would help? “Hmmmmmmm, no, i’m too tired, too lazy, it won’t actually help (despite it being what the multiple doctors she has seen about it have told her to do)” 

Then, of course, there’s  4. Constantly saying I don’t understand... anything

this is the one that really pissed me off today, and triggered this whole gd post. i think i said smth about covid-19 and she said “yeah well I had plans this summer :// “ and i said “... yeah, ok, we all did” half-jokingly

and she said “yeah but i had plans with FRIENDS” like,,,, bitch??? 

it’s hard to convey this through text but the way she said it was like... rubbing in my face that i don’t have many friends. she knows that, and she still said it with that tone, like i have no friends i can hang out with. 

but anyway she also said it like I could never understand the pain of not being able to do something I was looking forward to??? like... just because she was looking forward to doing things with her friends doesn’t mean I wasn’t just as excited about what I had planned for this summer. it just... also adds to her contradictions.

“everyone experiences things different/not everyone feels the same about everything” ->  “you don’t feel as upset as I do bc my thing was more important than yours.”

And you can probably see how all of this kind of ties into  5. Basically she’s just an emotionally abusive bitch and I’m really tired of her shit

this is something I kind of noticed a few months ago, and in 10 minutes I had written 2 full pages of things she does to me that are emotionally abusive. you should not be able to do that. you should be allowed to remove people from your life when you can do that. but of course, i’m not. because she’s my sister, and anyone i tell about any of this is going to whine and tell me to listen to her side, and that she doesn’t mean to be this way, and that she’s my sister so I should try my best to keep our relationship bc on the outside? it looks fine. we actually look really close. and we are, but we’re also this. 

and here’s the thing:

 i do NOTHING but listen to her side of things. she is constantly telling me about every little aspect of her thoughts and feelings. (but she has literally told me she doesn’t care when I tried to tell her mine)

she is FULLY aware of what emotionally abusive behavior looks like. i know she is, because we had a long discussion on it when our other sister’s friend was being emotionally abusive. (if she didn’t mean to act this way, she wouldn’t. she knows what’s she is doing. she is not some innocent baby.)

if i am not living proof that sisters can be emotionally abusive the same way anyone else can, then i am nothing. (abuse can come from anywhere. from parents, from lovers, from friends, from sisters. telling someone that they need to play nice with their abuser, regardless of their relation to their abuser, is fucked up in so many ways i can’t even begin to explain it)

I am really tired of being abused, of dealing with her erratic behavior and her NEED for attention. I’m tired of trying to explain something I’m struggling with only to be told that my feelings don't matter because she "has it worse" even when half of what she says isn't true anyway.

mostly, i’m just tired of being forced to stick it out and deal with this shit when it is killing me inside. 

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

Hey! A bit ago I saw that you were wondering if anyone was interested in a tutorial on dialogue?? And I just wanted to say that I would totally love to learn how to write dialogue/banter like you do, if you’re still interested in creating that tutorial of course

Hi yes of course I’m still interested!! But before I jump in, let me say that this is by no means a be-all-end-all, and this is just what works for me. If it works for other people, that’s great! If it doesn’t, that’s totally valid! Maybe this could be a jumping off point for other pieces of advice, idk. But anyway, let’s gooooo

Okay so I’m gonna be pulling out a bad example of my own writing, and a good example for each point, which is extra but will hopefully show the differences, & I’ll be doing it without putting anyone else down so yeet!

SAY IT OUT LOUD, MAKE SURE IT FLOWS, MAKE SURE IT MAKES SENSE

Another point to this one is, can you imagine real life people saying it? If the answer is no, then you gotta rework it. If the answer is yes, then yay!

Otherwise I’m not really sure how to explain this. Making sure it makes sense is easy enough, and saying it out loud is too, but making sure it flows is different. What I do for this is maybe not the best advice, but I use less periods. Commas, dashes, and ellipses keep it from being choppy. Also, adding words/phrases such as ‘well’, ‘like’, ‘I mean’, ‘uh/um/er/etc’ can help connect sentences/thoughts together in a realistic way.

BAD EXAMPLE:

“Bruce shrugged. “I knew, but didn’t realize, I guess. I’ve known he was young since I first learned about him.”

Clint, who was blanching, said, “he looks like a kid. Or an underage father. Think about what he had to go through as a kid, though."” - posted on July 1st, 2014

Why it’s bad: (Ignoring the horrible blocking dskljflksdf)

It doesn’t flow! Bruce’s line here feels just a little off, probably bc I was trying to put information where it shouldn’t have been (more on that later), but even without the second sentence, it’s still off. Time to reword, then; I’d change it to “I learned about it when I was studying him, but I kinda…forgot.” Idk about yall, but I can see Mark Ruffalo saying this, shrugging sheepishly. This flows a lot better and in my experience, it’s more likely someone would say this instead of “I didn’t realize, I guess”.

Clint’s lines should be combined, and there should be some diction added in. “He looks almost like a kid, or like, an underage father. God, think about what he had to go through!” Way less choppy & has some rhythm to it, instead of sounding like a robot is saying it.

GOOD EXAMPLE:

““Stop texting me weird stuff so late at night.”

“It’s not weird,” Sam denies immediately, “You just don’t appreciate it.”

“Why would I appreciate—” Steve reads carefully off his screen, “—Buzzfeed’s ‘Which Possible Illuminati Member Are You?’ quiz?”

“Because everyone thinks you’re in the Illuminati anyway, so why not see if you get yourself, you know?”

“Okay, but at four am? What were you even doing up that early?”” - posted on March 2nd, 2019

Why it’s good:

This is one of those I suggest reading out loud to understand the flow. Banter, at least in this case, is like slapstick comedy, and it’s gotta go back and forth without going way off course (unless that’s the desired effect!). Steve says something, Sam picks something specific to react to & adds a comment that makes it seem like they’ve maybe had this conversation before, and from there, they pass the rhythm to each other. Going from the second-to-last to the last lines is part of the flow; Sam makes a point that Steve doesn’t want to refute, so he continues it in another way. “Okay, but” is like the hinge connecting one flow to another. I’m just talking in circles now but anYWAY THIS IS BACK AND FORTH.

TRY TO FIT THE CHARACTER

Think specifically about the character, and if it sounds like something they would say or not. That’s kinda hard at times, so just make sure you aren’t having them say things you can definitely NOT imagine them saying. I’m gonna go with Batman because we all know him enough to know what he absolutely would never ever say.

BAD EXAMPLE:

Batman says, “And I was like, ‘oh my god, is this serious? You’re just turning yourself in?’ And he said ‘hell yeah I am!’ and I almost died from the shock!”

Why it’s bad: 

Batman is a character who doesn’t ramble and wouldn’t retell an event like this (by paraphrasing it & recounting exact exchanges). He’s a very stoic person, and this whole thing is more emotionally open and telling than he would be comfortable with. And while this flows, I can’t picture him saying it unless it’s a heavily AU’d version, which is generally not what you want.

GOOD EXAMPLE:

Batman says, “The Joker turned himself in last night. I assume he’s planning something, something big if he’s willing to go to Arkham for it.”

Why it’s good: 

This is a lot more subtle with the emotions, and a lot more monotonous, which is what Batman would probably want to sound like when recounting an event like this. He WANTS to sound like a textbook or police report, which are serious and straight to the point. But he can still add his thoughts into the mix, e.g. “something big…”, which shows how he’s kind of surprised and is thinking about what it means.

YA CAN’T ALWAYS INPUT INFORMATION INTO THE DIALOGUE

Sometimes you really want or need to share some information with the readers, and an easy way to do that is with dialogue, right? Sometimes! This, like everything else, hinges on flow & the realisticness of the words. Some pieces of info need to be conveyed through thoughts or actions, and some of it just shouldn’t be shared, no matter how much you might want to include it.

BAD EXAMPLE:

“Bonnie asked, “so…Original vampire? What does that mean, exactly? If you don’t mind my asking, I mean.”

“It means that my siblings and I were turned into the very first vampires after the death of my youngest brother. Also turned were my father, sister-in-law, and nephew. All vampires in existence come from us.”” - posted on March 6th, 2017

Why it’s bad: 

The OG vampire in question here is Elijah, and while it makes sense for the character to quickly summarize it, it doesn’t flow. He would probably react firstly to Bonnie’s last sentence, then answer more concisely, “It means that my family and I are the first vampires in existence.” Maybe with an additional comment about them being the source of all other vampires, but not much more. Being so specific chops up the rhythm and makes it harder to understand, almost, ‘cause that’s a lot of people to keep in consideration.

GOOD EXAMPLE:

““What are you talking about, Kev?” Cheryl sets her phone down, the picture of fully-invested. “Schools don’t just shut down in one day.”

Kevin flops into the other chair, breathing calmed for the most part. “Apparently they do. Dad told me they arrested a teacher there for selling Jingle Jangle to students, and when they were going through his office they found meth. The basement was being used as a meth lab. The whole thing’s being quarantined and shut down until further notice.”” - posted on August 2nd, 2018

Why it’s good: 

It flows!!! For being secondhand information, it’s clear enough to understand without bombarding readers with extremely specific details. It reads almost like an online article, with enough feeling to make it interesting, while still explaining exactly what’s happened.

DIFFERENT MOODS/DYNAMICS

Something to think about when writing dialogue is what mood your characters are in, and what kind of relationship they have with the character(s) they’re talking to. If person A is in a bad mood and talking to someone they like, they might try to tamp down on the mood in order to be nice. If person B is in a great mood and talking to a stranger, they might be pretty exuberant and friendly. Etc etc. Gonna use Superman as an example (this is extremely cheesy but it shows the difference).

BAD EXAMPLE: (Mood)

Extremely annoyed, Superman tells Lex Luthor, “Lex, you’re crazy! Trying to take over Metropolis with a hair growing scheme is just stupid! I’m leaving!”

He goes on to his date with Lois, now as Clark Kent, and says with a smile, “Sorry I’m fifty-seven minutes late, Lex kept me at work! Anyway, how was your day?”

Why it’s bad: 

Okay I know this is cheesy I’m sorry I wrote this at 2 am last night lkdjflksjdfhskjdfhjashf ANYWAY. Superman goes from talking to Lex, who he doesn’t like and is quite annoyed with, to talking to Lois, who he does like and presumably isn’t annoyed with at all. The problem here is that you usually can’t turn moods off like a switch. Even though Superman likes Lois, he wouldn’t walk into the date perfectly happy. The annoyance from dealing with Lex would stay with him (though it would probably fade the longer the date went on). I think instead of smiling, he would be rolling his eyes a little and complaining like, “I swear, he’s so inconsiderate….”, instead of immediately jumping into “how was your day?”

GOOD EXAMPLE: (Dynamic)

Superman laughs as Robin does a flip off his shoulder. “Good job! Maybe next time we could try it from a little higher up,” he winks.

Robin cheers, “Yes! Thanks, Uncle Clark!”

Superman nods and leaves, finding Batman in the hallway. Seriously, he says, “Batman.”

“Superman.”

“Did you get your report done? They’re due by this afternoon.”

Why it’s good: 

Again with the cheese that’s my bad lmao. This is mostly to show that characters are gonna sound different when speaking to different people. When talking to Robin, who is a child and quite a friendly one at that, Superman is teasing and joking around. Then, when he talks to Batman, who’s a grown man and also his coworker, he’s more serious and to the point. Both situations fit his character but show he’s got different relationships with different people.

IN CONCLUSION, uhhhhh yeah follow these points and hopefully dialogue will come a little easier. Experiment and have fun with it (these aren’t rules, but guidelines!), and if there are any questions I’m happy to clear them up/answer them/whatever lol.

[nu-metal-generation]

i’m super aware of and interested in genre classifications in music, even though i know they dont have any real bearing on anything. as such, ive noticed a LOT of bands that get referred to as nu metal when in reality they are of some adjacent genre, so im gonna explain some shit bc i can and bc im in special interest limbo.

1. What makes a band nu metal?

Obviously this is up for debate, seeing as how any genre is only defined by the loose boundaries set for it by listeners and critics. However, the criteria I would use to determine would boil down to the following: Heaviness, aggression, and Groove™. But there are lots of bands I see referred to (and even bands widely accepted) as nu metal that do not meet this criteria. It’s worth noting that this is only the stuff that I would consider “true” nu metal, and there’s plenty of this nu-adjacent stuff that I would classify as part of the genre in passing.

2. Examples

Look at my avi. I adore Linkin Park with my entire heart. However. I would not at all consider them true nu metal. They are probably one of the most famous examples used of a nu metal band, but I don’t believe this claim to be legitimate. You see, despite their fortitude in the aggression department, they’re in one of the several grey areas between the genre and its surrounding genres. LP is a rap rock band, and most hard rock or metal bands that employ rapping end up receiving the nu metal label at some point or another. But rap does not equal Groove™. It can serve as the groove, or it can supplement it in some way, but they are not equivalent. By and large, LP doesn’t have that groove in their sound on their albums that get classified as nu metal (HT, THP, Meteora) and the albums where they do find a groove (ATS, HT EP) are not heavy enough to warrant a nu metal label. Again, this isn’t a bad thing, I wouldn’t change a thing about these records. I’m just stating some observations.

Another grey area I see a lot is alternative metal/post-grunge. This is best encapsulated with bands like Staind. While I would maybe concede that a song like Mudshovel could probably be considered a nu metal track, what I’ve heard from Staind on the whole is post-grunge with not a lot of nu metal going on. Once again, they don’t have the Groove™. They also often don’t have the high-speed, breakneck aggression that you get from proper nu metal bands.

Industrial tends to exhibit this as well. I would absolutely not consider Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, or Nine Inch Nails nu metal in any regard, but I’ve seen that happen. I think this is purely through association bc of bands like Static-X, Spineshank, and Dope who are nu metal and also industrial bands.

Yet another would be funk rock. This is a bit more niche than the last two, but I often see people referring to the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers as “proto-nu metal” and while I can’t really dispute that too much, I don’t think it’s a super accurate term. “Proto” implies that it’s basically the thing you’re applying the prefix to, just not quite developed. For example, the Stooges are called proto-punk because they were almost punk rock, but punk hadn’t quite developed yet, and so the Stooges helped tip the scales to allow punk to be created. Similarly, I could understand something like Rage Against The Machine being described as proto-nu metal, but I often see it applied to bands like the Chilies that don’t line up quite as well (pls don’t interpret this as me ranting or complaining, again I’m just dumping some observations I’ve made).

I’m also gonna take a sec to talk about some outlier bands. First, Crazy Town, who baffle me. I don’t know how anybody considers them nu metal. In fairness, I only know them by their one huge song, so maybe I missed something, but Butterfly is a rap rock song and that’s it. No nu, no metal. Idk. Just weird. Second, Evanescence, which I understand. Bring Me To Life features those rap vocals that make everybody think Ev is a nu metal band, but they don’t check any of my boxes. They’re not particularly aggressive in sound, not extraordinarily heavy, and definitely don’t have the groove. Thirdly, and this is a big one, Bring Me The Horizon. ?!?! What?? If you’ve listened to wonderful life and nothing else, maybe, but people have been saying that since That’s The Spirit which is not in any way a nu metal album. I think what happens a lot is that since nu metal is likely the most expansive and well-known forms of alt metal, it gets substituted as though they’re synonyms, but the only thing remotely nu metal about TTS is Oli’s vocals being reminiscent of Chester B’s. But the same could be said for Sempiternal, and noone calls that nu metal in any regard! Mind-boggling to me, but if anyone has answers pls explain it to me.

Now to my favourite thing... 3. Categories

also im just doing some of the biggest bands bc those are the most familiar ones

Actual nu metal bands (according to me): Korn (duh), Slipknot, System Of A Down, Mudvayne, Disturbed, Kittie.

Rap rock/Rap metal that is also nu metal: Limp Bizkit, Ill Niño, Vanilla Ice (yeah he’s made nu metal if you didnt know).

Industrial metal that is also nu metal: Dope, Static-X, Spineshank, Powerman 5000.

Rap rock/rap metal that is not true nu metal: Linkin Park, Crazy Town, Papa Roach (debatable)

Alt metal/Post-grunge that is not nu metal: Staind, Three Days Grace, Hoobastank, Breaking Benjamin.

“Proto” shit: RATM, Sugar Ray, Faith No More.

???: Evanescence, Crazy Town, Bring Me The Horizon.

Nu metalcore/nu metal revival: Cane Hill, Wage War (debatable), Demon Hunter, King 810.

[oceansborn-blog]

intros: next gen verse, pt. 1

ALICE LONGBOTTOM: seventh year, hufflepuff, head student, halfblood, cis female, she/ her. fc: milena tscharntke. pinterest. 

Mum Friend™ 

alice is like... very nurturing, honestly. she likes to be there for people and take care of them -- they come first, in her mind, and she comes second. definitely considers most people around her more important than herself -- she doesn’t have a bad self-confidence, really, but putting herself first isn’t something she’d think of?

even from first year she’d be the kid others could come to if they couldn’t sleep and she’d make them some tea and stay up with them 

favourite subjects are care of magical creatures & herbology -- just loves everything about nature and all the creatures in it 

her room at home is full of plants & she joined the herbology club at hogwarts as soon as she could so she could help out in the greenhouses; makes her feel like home and less homesick, though having her siblings and parents at hogwarts now definitely helps 

her tag is ‘steady flame’ which i tend to think pretty suitable for her -- she’s not a bright, roaring wildfire or anyone that sticks out particularly much, but she’s steady in her light and her love and she’s always there to provide some comfort 

always tries her hardest in her classes but if she has to help a friend out that takes precedence -- she cares about her grades but not as much as helping people, so if she needs to skip out on revising more for a test to comfort a friend, she will 

takes her prefect responsibilities quite seriously and now her head student ones, but isn’t a stickler for the rules in the sense that she always tries to understand the reason behind why a student got in trouble and if exceptions should be made 

her biggest passion is dragons and they have been her favourite animal since she was a kid her heart just !!!! soars when she thinks of them 

her dream job is to be a dragonologist but she hasn’t really... committed to it because she’s like... afraid of leaving home? she doesn’t want to be somewhere else if people need her? in a way ig she considers herself a bit more important than she is -- people will be fine if she moves elsewhere, the world will not fall apart, people will be happy for her -- but simultaneously she’s afraid to leave if like. nothing changes when she’s gone? and she’s not as important and necessary here as she thought? idk she has Conflicted emotions so her solution rn is just to let that dream remain just a dream 

hopefully she’ll get her act together and go for it one day 

but rn she’s considering a herbologist career instead even tho her heart is yelling at her to work with dragons 

AISLINN FINNIGAN-THOMAS: seventh year, hufflepuff, vampire, cis female, she/ her. fc: inbar lavi. pinterest.

bde: big dumbass energy

chaotic horny

kind of spoiled in the sense that she has both her dads wrapped around her little finger and kind of... charms her way into avoiding punishment?

gets away with a lot of shit she shouldn’t and has since she was a kid

maybe that’s why she’s such a disaster now! whom knows

was sorted into hufflepuff not so much because she admires or embodies the traits, necessarily, but because hufflepuff takes the rest and she really couldn’t fit anywhere else

she’s really just here to have a good time and wants to accomplish that in any way possible

she’s really... not interested in anything that doesn’t involve having fun. schoolwork? serious matters? will gladly ignore!

she Loves her friends and family but might not be the best person to always turn to for emotional support? or ever gfhsjd. her strategy for anything painful is ignore, ignore, ignore! and that tends to be her advice to others. she’s for sure nice to turn to if you want to distract yourself and do something fun, but in terms of actually discussing things and trying to process them? really not the right gal

‘mate, am genuinely jus here for a laff x’ in a person

gets into A Lot of stupid and reckless and dangerous situations just because she’s a person who tends to follow any half-rotten idea she gets. could be seen as brave, i suppose, since she’s not really scared of much --- but it’s more because she doesn’t think about it or linger on what consequences could come long enough to actually get scared

really doesn’t have an ambitious bone in her body. she’s never been one to even plan a week ahead but just lives her life a day at a time. teachers might try to get her to settle on a career and plan for it but she’ll just say a goal and by the next meeting drop another random career that she has no intention of trying for. probably drives them up the wall

does just well enough to scrape by in her classes so her parents can’t complain but no more than that

makes a lot of bad decisions, especially if she’s drunk

key example: deciding that knockturn alley seemed like a good place for a hookup and went there late at night, alone, and drunk as hell

did not find a hookup, but a vampire found her

woke up the next day feeling like absolute shite and with a very obvious bite that aislinn in true dumbass fashion thought was the ugliest hickey in the world

really hasn’t.... processed being a vampire? she’s like eh! can be ignored! i’m not emotionally and spiritually a vampire which is all that matters!

insists on still doing stuff she can no longer do, like eat a shit ton of garlic bread and lie out in the sun when she’s fucking nocturnal now

she’s quite sweet but her disaster energy brings a lot of stress to the logical people in her life

ISABELLA POTTER: fifth year, ravenclaw, disaster, halfblood, cis female, she/ her. fc: lana condor. pinterest.

she’s like the really trashy love child of leslie knope and ben wyatt?? mostly their bad sides lmao??? she too would be referred to as a human disaster on national tv

she’s a descendant of the part of the potter family that moved to america ages ago, so until she transferred to hogwarts in her fourth year she didn’t know the other potters?? like obviously she knew of them what with harry saving the wizarding world and all, but they hadn’t met each other before. she’s an only child with no close cousins so like meeting the potters and the huge fam that comes with them was kind of like ………………… wait what for her and she’s still like??? doubt we’re actually related sorry can’t live up to you all

but yeah it was just her & her parents growing up and she was quite close to them when she was younger, but her dad is a politician ( now the president of the magical congress of the us ) and her mother is a healer, and they’re both just really ambitious, hardworking people so they didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to their home life?? and when isa went off to boarding school they drifted further apart, so at this point they honestly don’t know each other that well?? and tbh they’re not bad parents per say, if you don’t count how focused on their careers they are rather than supporting her, it’s just that they’re both so focused and confident i don��t think they ever consider that isa might,,, not be?? and she really, really isn’t.

her self-worth is so low and confidence is basically nonexistent, and when she’s nervous or struggling a lot with anxiety she tends to ramble a lot, which her parents just interpreted as her being talkative rather than there being an underlying reason for it, and basically there was just… a lot of misunderstanding between them? like isa still loves them, but whenever she was home she just didn’t feel good, and she hates herself for it because they are good people, but she just doesn’t know how to change that??

somehow did not end up nearly as charismatic or smart or anything as her parents tho and is just a mess™ so she mostly introduces herself only with her first name and tries to like not think of the fact that that her dad held such an important position bc she doesn’t want to bring more embarrassment to the family than she already has lmao

she really wants to make her parents proud and everything and tries to behave properly she’s just ??? failing epically. always finds a way to embarrass herself and put her foot in her mouth and once it happens her pride kicks in and she just makes it worse and worse because she can’t just admit that she did something wrong so she just continues to dig her own grave like every second conversation it’s amusing to watch but she’s just a tragic mess

with her father being the president and her mother out there literally saving lives she was like i gotta do something good with mine!!! she doesn't see becoming an author as good enough in comparison, so she's gonna study to become a healer like her mom after she graduates but like,,, it’s so not the right career choice for her, she'll probably would dropp up halfway through training

when anything remotely bad happens she’s like this is THE worst thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life and i cannot show my face ever again so basically,,, the ppl in her life are probably used to her Dramatic self by now. tho i guess now that there is an actual apocalypse going on, everything sort of is the worst thing that’s ever happened in her life?? anyways 

when it comes down to it isa is just a mess™ who just. gets into embarrassing situations Constantly because she never shuts up. she is often awkward and anxious and always puts her foot in her mouth and once that happens her pride kicks in and she just makes it worse and worse because she just can’t admit that she did something wrong so she just continues to dig her own grave like every second conversation. amusing to watch but a terror for herself she’s just a tragic mess who Cannot shut up for two seconds 

her mouth just runs on it’s own and her brain struggles to keep up so she just says weird shit sometimes 

it is honestly a surprise she hasn’t run off to live in the woods and write trashy romance novels yet 

that’s genuinely a thought she has daily djhasg she loves her family so much so she wouldn’t but like. she thinks she should not be allowed to talk with other people because she Will fuck it up and she’s proven that again and again

lowkey terrified of actually falling in love despite how often she gushes about it and just runs away at the thought. quite literally. she will ramble and then run as fast as she can she’s gotta GO

VERA WOOD-KRUM: fifth year, gryffindor, broom racing mess, halfblood, cis female, she/ her. fc: brittany o’grady. 

vera is entirely her fathers’ daughter and that becomes clear to everyone who has heard of them like .5 seconds after meeting her

she is Loud and she Will Not be stopped!! 

so yeah she’s the daughter of viktor and oliver, and at this point they’re even more iconic than they were when they were younger tbh. even their ‘love story’ is pretty famous around the wizarding world, their rivals-to-eventual-friends-to-lovers story touching many, not to mention being one of the first openly gay couples in the quidditch sphere

vera will always argue they’re the most iconic couple at the very least in the quidditch world but also probably in the wizarding world but lbr she is Biased 

she has three siblings, a younger brother named max who is... probably in his second year at this point i wanna say, and two older siblings, katya & alex, who are a bit closer in age to her. oliver and viktor used surrogate mothers and mixed sperm and have their kids, and yeah long story short vera is fiercely loyal to her family and would highkey die for them. 10/10 always ready to fight for them if someone talks shit 

very grateful for her family and her happy upbringing and they mean more to her than anything in the world 

obviously comes from a very quidditch centred family, and tho neither of her parents would force their kids into any career, they did have her join a little league quidditch team as a kid to encourage a healthy lifestyle and bc it’s their favourite sport in the world lbr. vera started out as a chaser but the coach decided to switch her position to seeker because he thought it would be a more suitable position --- which it definitely was, only more so than intended. her time in the little league quidditch team made her realise her intense love for broom racing, and she quickly lost interest in the actual game, racing off the pitch before quickly crashing and being brought back by the coaches fgjgdsfjhs

has been set on becoming a professional broom racer since she was a kid, basically, and is as obsessed with that as oliver is with quidditch --- if not more. like father, like daughter fjhsdgfhjs 

basically all her birthday and christmas wishes since then has been related to it, whether for broom polish or workout clothes or books on the matter, even sometimes wishing from brooms when a new version was released 

always makes sure to keep up with the latest news regarding anything from brooms to quidditch 

anytime one of her fathers went to diagon alley, she would hound them into bringing her so she could hang out in broomstix, overtime annoying the old owner into liking her LMAO, becoming something like the granddaughter he never had 

she worked there over summer and helps out a bit now during christmas break as well 

but yeah vera was sorted into gryffindor like .2 seconds after the sorting hat touched her head HFJSDGFJS she was so far from a headstall it’s ridiculous 

she takes after oliver a lot which i think is one of the first things ( and sometimes only if they don’t get to know her ) people notice about her --- she’s vivacious and loud and dramatic and incredibly competitive and is absolutely ridiculous, most of the time, especially when it comes for the lengths she’ll go to when it comes to broom racing. but she holds viktor’s kindness and loving nature at her core and she has quite a fixed 

definitely wouldn’t be wrong to call her a daredevil, one of the things she loves about broom racing is flying around obstacles and how wrong it can go if she’s not good enough gjhdsgfj 

has been in and out of both the hospital wing and st. mungo’s many, many times for a sixteen-year-old 

her whole family is very supportive of her dreams which she is So grateful for, partly because they just want to see her succeed and be happy but also to reduce the amount of injuries she gets hsdhjfgs viktor especially trains her a lot with his seeker experience in mind, a role which her older siblings took on when she started hogwarts 

that said, the wood-krum siblings are just as likely to encourage each other to get into trouble as to help each other so she ends up in trouble a lot hjsdghfj she Loves it tho all the professors probably think she is a pain in the ass, albeit a charming one

vera always tries to get around hogwarts by broomstick or longboard so like. rip in peace to the rest of hogwarts’ inhabitants bc the amount of detentions she gets doesn’t face her, she is set in her ways 

[nightglider124]

You seem into your movies, fellow couch potato. Please, favourite and film you hate most?

I flippin’ love films. Tis what made the choice so easy at school when I chose to study Film Studies. It was fab and literally it was a class where you watched part of a scene and discussed it so in depth, a little like literature but with films rather than books. God, I miss that class

Favourite: Eesh… This question is always difficult for me… I’ve always kinda said these two films that have just stuck with me in life called Jack & Sarah aaand My Girl. Like idk why, I really don’t, but those are the two I would probably call my favourites.

However, there are some films that I can watch over and over without getting bored of like Juno, Shaun of the Dead, The Breakfast Club, Frozen- Actually, basically any disney film… Erm… a couple more, I’m sure. But, my main kinda films that I love are coming of age, high school kinda movies but I think that’s due to the nostalgia I feel from them. I also love romance; like I don’t do the crying all that much at romances but I do enjoy them but obvs, fave genre is horror. Though, not many good horrors that recently… none that have genuinely scared the bejesus out of me and simultaneously had a gripping plot.

Most Hated: Sigh, I know I’ll probably piss off a lot of people here but it’s my question, it’s my opinion so hold ye tongues. The film I absolutely hate and despise and refuse to ever watch again is The Blair Witch Project (1999).

More under the cut bc I went full on response with this  one and I don’t wanna be an asshole and clog up your dashboard.

I just fucking hate it. Like, nothing about it grabs my attention in the slightest.

Now, I know it’s a rather popular horror choice and it’s got a serious cult following throughout the years and most recently got a remake and people usually claim it as their fave horror film which is fab. But, I can’t say the same.

Basically, the plot really isn’t interesting to me. Like, I think of it as 81 minutes of boring. I cannot get into it; it is so unappealing to me, I was genuinely like wtf when I finished watching it.

I find the plot seriously lacking and the little gestures in the movie to pursue the whole “urban legend” thing kinda pointless. I mean, the whole film is kinda just this group walking around a forest until oh no, night time… how original. Then it’s kinda on a run time of oh, this persons hurt, oh this persons dead. Ohh noo, there’s something unseen hunting us down, it must be this legend.

No. I’m not into it. You’re giving me nothing to hang onto here, really. Like, I really did watch it with an open mind and had heard nothing but good reviews and then when I watched it, I was let down, to say the least.

My biggest issue, as you can guess, is the plot. It feels directionless like the directors weren’t even certain about where they were going with it. I just kinda cringe watching it… it’s just a little messy and all over the place, in my opinion.

As well as the plot, the general running around a forest is literally the enitre movie until the end where you kinda watch like hm… right… okay then. I’m not gonna throw any actual spoilers in tho for anyone who does wanna check it out, ever.

However, I am not an uneducated fool who is too ignorant to acknowledge the good pieces of the film, no matter how much I hate it. Which, believe me, I do. Ask anyone who knows me. I complain about it still, without even intending to.

The film does have some good aspects. I feel the acting in it, was not bad. At all. Like, kudos to the actors bc I feel they worked with the film and tried to put themselves in the position of it being real and really tried to flesh it out and play their parts to the best of their ability.

One thing in particular that is very good and is noted countless times in reviews through the years is the style. This is 1999 and was one amongst the new-ish style of “found footage” which I can be persuaded into watching. The Blair Witch Project does this so well because the camera is constantly shaking back and forth and is never just stationary and unrealistic. It’s always at the angle of someone realistically holding it and recording everything, as you would if you were placed in this scenario so props for that. Whole-heartedly.

As stated, the style is fairly new back in 1999 I mean not completely but it isn’t like the ones you see today for example, Paranormal Activity, Rec, VHS, Quarantine, The Last Exorcism… yada yada yada. Like it’s a fairly common film technique used in horrors today. However, a number of those use jump scares even in like “found footage” so it kinda derails it from being a product of originality; which The Blair Witch Project has going for it.

I also feel the film has unfortunately, been kinda smeared due to the numerous spoofs that have used the iconic scene of one character. You most likely know it, if you’ve ever scene Scary Movie when her nose is running and she’s talking directly to the camera after being chased by the killer. That is a huge play on that scene from the original film which… kinda sucks because it takes away from the eerie ethos the film attempts to create, especially with that sequence in particular, because people who have seen the jokey pieces tend to think of it and won’t take the atmosphere seriously.

Anyway, I’ll wrap this up. But there, I do love me some films, I do.

This kinda shifted into a review rather than a reply… hey there’s an idea. I should just review films instead. XD

So, yeah, I can acknowledge the good points but… I still fucking hate the film because I don’t find it engaging. But hey, that’s just me.