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In my experience--particularly in fandom, but elsewhere as well--one big red flag to watch out for is when it comes to the well articulated sort is a marked lack of humility. If they're forceful, hostile, unwilling to consider the possibility they might be wrong at least long enough to double-check themselves, and are consistently averse to "agreeing to disagree", then they're probably not really all that bright-- they're just assholes who know how to wield a vocabulary, but with very little depth to speak of once you begin to pick its use apart.

Unfortunately, in many online spaces, where there's a dearth of critical thinking, "outspoken asshole with a vocabulary" is often all it takes to get quite a loyal following. For those where critical thinking isn't much of a problem, and who might rightfully dissent, they're often cowed out of saying anything--or worse, into pretending to agree. And when entire communities sometimes come to treat "asshole with a vocabulary" as one of their most valuable voices, who can blame others with salient-yet-less-articulated points for not speaking up?

At the end of the day, the best that you can often choose to do is not allow the popularity of the well-spoken asshole to cause unwarranted self-doubt.

Sometimes it's sadly necessary to be content to stand (mostly) alone in your own integrity.

just because someone can articulate their point better doesn’t make them right, it makes them articulated. 

#fandom wank #And IRL wank tbh

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Someone: How are you doing?

The fractured piece of an eldritch deity that I keep in my head at all times: lie.

#...Is this a callout post? This feels like a callout post relevant to my interests in particular. 😆 #It's all slander I swear... #I keep him in there for creative writing purposes and nothing else...nothing at all...😇

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"You fought well today, Tifa."

#I've reblogged this before. #Because for real: One of my first early reactions to Clive was 'Ah. A male Tifa.' #And then Ben Starr went and cosplayed as Tifa...so yes. This makes clear sense to me. 😆 #Not to mention it's just very cute.

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{Insert extensive grumbling noises here about half of my YouTube recs being for The Rising Tide playthroughs while I've opted to do a replay of the full game in order to fully grasp the implications of the DLC on the narrative as a whole.}

#I just made it past Bahamut last night. #And if Echoes of the Fallen taught me anything it's that there *will* be implications. #For instance--Echoes not-so-low-key confirmed that Ultima wasn't just blowing smoke up our asses about how vile the Fallen were. #Those fuckers were ready to self destruct for want of power...And while Ultima still can't be said to have reacted correctly #...it shows that he was not without a truly legitimate grievance. #Humanity didn’t merely 'awaken'...they awoke and built their own military industrial complex... #Committed grotesque violations of wild nature that even Jill was quite disgusted with--calling it a twisted menagerie--to facilitate it. #And remember: Ultima used members of himself to build his mothercrystals. The Fallen? Defenseless animals--and a kid based on TRT's trailer. #Anyway...That's all quite a lot just from Echoes. And TRT is much longer and more involved. No way I'm going into that raw on an old save. #A full replay is a must!

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Today's daily affirmation: We're taking pleasure in setting challenging goals that will reward us with our desired results.

#shitpost #ffxvi ultima #ffxvi #(I actually haaaate daily affirmations IRL so this is extra fun for me. 😇)

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FFXVI. I cast Primogenesis. I'm not getting arrested. The cops are now my personal Akashic army. They're still bastards, but they're my bastards to puppeteer and herd as I see fit. A small price to pay for a new age of reason...

#shitpost #I'm determined to be absolutely insufferable about my attachment to this game.

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that moment when you cross the point of no return with a character should be accompanied by a specific chime i think. like 🔔 congratulations! this one has been installed in the Permanent Collection and you will never stop thinking about them as long as you live

#I'm still trying to pinpoint the exact moment this happened with me and XVI's Ultima. #Sometime in late July of last year. Definitely during playthrough no. 2. #I do remember thinking to myself: 'Oh shit. How in the fuckety fuck am I going to explain this one?' #With Sephiroth it was easy to fly my brand of weird under the radar. That one's a video game cultural staple. Has tons of fans. #But the XVI came along and my proud ass just had to take 'You think you know me...?' as a *challenge*. #And...geez. There's so much more to it than just that. So many psychic nerves hit at once...shock and awe. #To think I was getting really attached to Cid at first. And Cid's still really cool! Buuut... #Guess I'm just a total slut for the divine. 🤣

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5000 years ago, Ultima is born

#ffxvi ultima #ffxvi #beautiful fanart #That description from the Ultimania does make me chuckle a bit. #The word 'born' feels like it's doing a lot of work. Like. A LOT. #Which is why I enjoy this depiction...looking almost as though the earth itself was the womb... #As though he was self-conceiving--thoughts entering into the aether and giving rise to shape and form.

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One of my friends thought there might be a correlation here, so let's find out...

No see results, you must decide. Add nuance in tags/replies if you wish.

reblogging for larger sample size appreciated

you can submit polls to this blog via asks and submissions

#Demisexual #Definitely have a bent towards divine entities but there's been an alien or two in the mix too. #And of course there has to be some kind of emotional appeal regardless. I'm not here making lewd passes at Cthulhu. #Whether the tentacles or claws or what have you are sexy depends on a psycho-spiritual fascination with their owner.

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This is just me this morning. (I blame my dogs for getting me up 2hrs early.)

#shitpost #not even putting this in any tags #Need caffeine. Liquid consciousness.

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I love darkfic and angst and the horrors

I'll drink to that!👏

*Cracks open my morning energy drink.*

#asks & answers #ringnis

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Sometimes I see a respected mutual in my notes and remember they follow me and I'm like. Should I apologize for what I'm doing here. But they did choose to be in my house

#I've done my best to make it habitual to remind myself that I've made it pretty damn clear in my blog description that I'm about The Horrors #It's never my fault if someone followed me back or continues to follow me without reading what it says on the label so to speak. #They are indeed choosing to be here... #off topic

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I made the mistake of digging into the notes on that post I reblogged about having opinions counter to major fanon, and found someone flat out admitting that their hatred for a character arose entirely from adherance to what the rest of the fandom seemed to think. Happily, encountering a compelling opposing view snapped them out of it, but I just...grrr!

It makes my skin crawl, if I'm being honest. In my view, the capacity for independent thought is directly tied to the notion of autonomous personhood. The idea of choosing not to exercise that capacity--of choosing to let the group do your thinking for you unless explicitly compelled otherwise--feels personally threatening and a little profane to me.

I *need* to be able to show that my thoughts are my own. Even in situations where I largely agree with popular opinion, I'm not comfortable unless I can point to having come to that agreeable conclusion via a unique angle, or to a collection of minor or nuanced exceptions to that agreement.

(And please note that this is a separate issue from simply not being vocal about one's unpopular or unusual opinions due to fandom hostility or what have you. It's about failing to develop one's own opinions at all.)

#fandom wank #sort of #off topic #It really really really bothers me when people actively choose against thinking and feeling for themselves. #It typically points to a willful lack of self awareness on top of everything else. #I dunno. Maybe I'm being a judgy shit--I'm very well aware that a fear of thinking independently can arise from having been harmed for it. #I just lack much patience for it regardless. #It too often reads as cowardice to me.

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There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

#Enjoy a villain or two for this experience. #You'll very quickly find that fanon enjoys piling OOC crimes at their feet--as if what they canonically did wasn't bad enough! #Popular fanon also doesn't tend to bother looking beyond 'Omg bad guy did bad thing because they're bad & here's all the ways they're bad!' #And then... you also inevitably have to face the incurious sect of fandom who's ultra extreme ire towards the villain has less to do with #the character themselves as much as believing their hatred of said character is somehow evidence of their own goodness. #'This villain has a legitimate core grievance' is a quick way to go against the grain in a fandom where most fail to recognize the character #represents more than one theme. #(Ugh...and well... that's another thing isn't it? Media literacy. If you're media literate AND enjoy a villain's complexity? Be prepared to #see fanon water them down to one or two despicable notes. Wooof.)

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"...saving Clive from Ultima’s *advances*..."

"Ultima’s will--*his hunger*--grows..."

I...ah...hm... that's some really thirsty assed language to describe Ultima’s disposition toward Clive, game. And as part of Joshua's observations, no less.

Listen, Ulti...I get it. Clive is one of a kind, but he's also a Very Good Boy. You can't just make heavy-handed passes like this the first time you're really face to face while his buddies look on. You have to wine n' dine him a bit.

#Men women and even god all want Clive. #Excuse me while I polish one of the more fucked up pairs of shipping goggles I've owned...but the game itself is baiting me. #Woooof

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Temple of the Ancients -- Poor Tifa 🥲

#Poor Tifa lol #ffvii rebirth #beautiful fanart #Tifa

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We love an inter-dimensional being that just HAS to take a little nap

#ffxvi ultima #ffxvi #beautiful fanart #In which Ultima uses his ass curtains as a blankie. #Delightful~~