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soloorganaas · 1 year

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I feel stupid asking this but 😭 I just read your reply to the ask about mauraderstok. I have no idea what that's like since I don't engage with a lot of mauraders content But I agree that the stuff u described isn't like canon. but wouldn't this apply to all of the hp fandom ? there's always silly goofy AUs around. I think I just don't see what's different but I'd like to know please 🙏

honestly v good q anon and im glad you asked bc im sure a lot of people are thinking this

the whole point of fanfic is obvs that it isn't canon. it's literally about transforming canon with your own creativity. for some fics this involves imagining what other characters in the og universe could be like, or its taking the blorbos and imagining what they'd be like in a totally different universe. thats the same for all fandoms, and its not the principle of that me and a lot of others are aggravated with

there are two different but overlapping issues here: the prevalence of marauderstok characterisations and also of the coffee shop au genre

wrt marauders tok: what pisses me off is that fic which is either no longer based on canon bc of (a) the extent to which its about random background characters and/or (b) the mwpp have deviated so much from their canon personalities they are dif characters entirely has permeated the fandom and is shoved down peoples throats as actual canon. its this whole trend of one canon-but-actually-au fic being built off by another until huge swathes of fanfic are not even close to the original stories. except they're being passed off as the only way to write or interpret canon

wrt coffee shop aus: when you remove the characters from their og context you are inherently losing some of the traits that only exist bc of that context. if sirius and remus are in some modern uni band they're not gonna be the same as 70s gay kids living through a war. which is the point, bc seeing what they'd be like in different situations is fun and interesting and often v v cute. but the way modern aus are written in the fandom rn is not even trying to write the og characters but in dif situations. they are entirely made up new characters based on shallow interpretations of what fanon has universally decided the characters are. aka sirius is a cocky flamboyant slutty drama queen, and remus is a do-gooding self-depreciating quiet nerd

so whats happening is its harder and harder to find fic which is based off the actual original characters and digs into how rich and complex their stories are. even if you took out the entire idea of a romantic relationship between sirius and remus, their friendship alone is incredibly complicated and meaningful. the mwpp generation grows up in the first wave of a war that is the crux of this series, and their friendships and failings are what pave the way for harry's story. there is so much to explore within this and by creating entirely new fanon personalities and characters to replace the actual canon ones, the fandom is missing out on interesting and meaningful fic

what i really really want to emphasise is that there is nothing inherently wrong with writing fics that are nothing based off the canon characters if thats what you wanna do. fanfic is supposed to be about having fun and if you enjoy reading or writing about that then i and no one else should stop you. i have literally written a whole fic about sirius and remus studying latin together at a summer school in rome. it was so so much fun and i adore it

but when these fics take over such a disproportionate part of the fandom and influence each other so much its hard to find fics that are actually based off the canon characters, its infuriating to people in the fandom who want to read and write about canon

for a lot of us its also really personal, too, bc we relate to so many of the issues in canon, for better or worse. some of us have actually lived through war or terrorism and want to explore that in fic. some of us were really harmed by the shitty way j*r treated queer/trans & gnc/neurodivergent/disabled/poc characters and want to reclaim that. and seeing that invalidated by so much of the fandom rn is hard and often painful. which for me at least is why i get so angry

i hope this explains what youre asking and please feel free to ask whatever qs you have no matter how dumb you think they are (this def wasnt a dumb q at all)

#wolfstar #another day another essay #see this is why every fic i write is 100000 words longer than i intended it to be #otp: i'm mental about you #hp #asks #hp meta

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shunsellon · 2 years

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checked out various asian bakugan dubs today out of curiosity

majority of east and SE asian dubs seem to be dubbed from the original jpn, with the exception of filipino. filipino keeps the jp opening and ending themes, but the content of the episodes itself are dubbed from english and keep eng dub names and OSTs. chinese, bahasa indonesia, thai, and taiwanese dubs are all dubbed from the original jp and keep the jp OSTs.

south, west, and SWANA seem to be dubbed from english. hindi, turkish, hebrew, and arabic all use dubbed versions of the english op and are based off of the eng dub.

couldn't find any videos of the dub in central asia, don't know if they have their own dubs or if the russian dub aired instead.

#bakugan #bakugan dubs #russian dub is based off of eng as far as i can tell except with some changes apparently #like skyress being masc lol #central asian dubs probably exist but in the way that in ph the eng dubs are more known over the local dub but russian? idk #also i say ''seem'' because i obv couldn't find dubs in all countries #but there seems to be the trend where east and SE asian countries got the jp dub #while others got eng

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iampikachuhearmeroar · 3 years

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honestly one of my worst crush rejections from high school was when my years 9-12 crush (let’s call him rich boy) decided to do one of those stupid “like this status and i’ll…..” trend fb statuses that were big when i was in late high school back in 2011-2013….. and it was “like this and i’ll pair you with someone/something for shit & giggles!”. unfortunately for teen me, rich boy decided to pair himself with one of the girls in my group at catholic school, a post which had a load of likes….. while he paired me with fucking lord voldemort (leave me be i was still a hella HP stan at that age). but the post on MY timeline had received no likes but mine (i think) and a like on the weird asf comment that i’d made on it from one of our friends from catholic school.

like 17yo me liked rich boy’s status all bc she just wanted to see if he’d be nice to her on fb bc she was partly getting over the crush by then (mid 2013)…. but she was still hoping he’d write something stupidly romantic like “you’re the elizabeth bennett to my darcy” or some other jane austen pairing; even though she’d never bothered to read jane austen books back then lmao. or even “you’re the hermione granger to my ron weasley” (again LEAVE ME BE) or some other harry potter themed relationship lmao.

obvs it was all bc a couple of years earlier, rich boy had decided at our year 10 formal to hold one of teen me’s high heels up for her when it’d come off in a dance circle lmao. or at that point, she was even happy to be paired with his best friend that he kept trying to hint at her on some joke statuses with flirtatious undertones; that she should go out with him by tagging that friend on them lol.

the crush was also based on the one term long drama group assignment we did together in year 9, and the one (1) seemingly flirtatious comment he’d made to 14yo me in year 9/2010 when i had that short-lived typical train-wreck teen relationship with clear braces boy…. where rich boy and a couple of his friends decided to sit with us (ie to harass us) on the wooden benches at back of year 9/10 lunch area, which were playground hot property for groups to sit on.

but the point is that the flirtatious comment came out as if to sound that rich boy was jealous about that teen me was “off the market” so to speak lmao. but i remember with the drama group assignment, i hated rich boy at the start and wanted to change groups 😂, even asking my teacher to change me to another one. but he made me stay in the group with rich boy to “learn to work with him” lmao 😂😅. i was so overdramatic back then. and then i got the crush on RB like a sickness for 3 years. the jokes’ on me, as usual lol 🙄😂.

she also was holding out secretly that hopefully rich boy was staying at tafe (technical college) with her bc he liked being with her and also wanted to keep her safe from her stalker/creeper from public school (although let’s be real here, he really couldn’t do much about that lmao, that was more her job to deal with and not his) and in general she hoped he was just staying to keep her updated on what was happening at that school when her group from catholic school had stopped talking to her by mid 2013….

when looking back now, he was probs staying bc he was the top of our small tafe theatre tech class along with me lmao… so he was staying there for the good marks and not teen me’s company at all. on top of it all, by the end of the course, i’d stopped talking to him anyway. like 17/18yo me really had a rosy view of everything lmao.

and also, i haven’t seen rich boy (and by extension also clear braces boy although that’s more than 10 years now lol) in almost 10 years now lmao. i legit forgot that he existed for a while bc he never updates his fb; except when something big happens or when he gets tagged in something. or i’m also reminded that he exists when he likes one of my selfies/i update my dp or whatever else; albeit those times are obvs very, very few and far between. and like…. i’ve pretty much forgiven him for the above. bc god. we were both fucking dickhead assholes. and i suppose i should’ve actually expected some stupid witty pairing like voldemort or the like….. and not a real one lmao….. bc after all, we were always sassy/witty/sarcastic/snarky to each other at catholic school; so we had to play that bs out on our fb interactions as well.

which looking back, didn’t breed a good friendship with us either. considering i only ever went to him for rude tit-for-tat conversations, where i always made sure that i got the last quick-witted word in with criticising him when people were around us; and nothing deep and meaningful or serious lmao. bc to teen me, he was only good to talk to for a laugh mostly… but when we did try to talk about other things it was stilted and awkward; bc we didn’t really know how to be consistently nice to each other when we were alone lmao.

and tafe is also where l learnt that we didn’t really have much in common (besides liking 1-2 of the same emo bands- and things like him going to soundwave (ie aussie warped tour/slam dunk fest etc back then)… where i literally posted flirtatiously on his wall one that that i “hated” him for going to it and also made pointed statuses at him about it lmao) like lonely 14-18yo me thought we did lmao.

for example: rich boy was super into classic cinema (one of his projects in our tafe course was building a model house from alfred hitchcock’s psycho), game of thrones and quentin tarantino movies and also he loved basketball…. while i was still obsessed with harry potter as i said earlier, and still into pretty little liars and into the “…….next top model” reality tv juggernaut with australia’s and america’s next top model and the E! celeb channel; amongst other things. i loathed and despised sport, and most especially basketball lmao. i actually tried to read asoiaf/watch GOT bc he liked it lmao (and also had friends at public school who were into it)…. but i couldnt bring myself to do it at the time. like we weren’t compatible at all lmao. but teen me didn’t get it.

but yeah. unrequited teen crushes suck. so, to all of my younger followers, if i have any: if your crush acts like this don’t waste time on thinking they’ll be nice to you lmao; and drop that crush like a hot fucking potato. bc if they’re mean to you (which is what i was running under from all the shitty tween/teen shows i was watching at the time) it defs means that they do NOT like you romantically lmao. fuck that noise.

#life #about me #shut up ilona #relationships i guess #and this why i’m not dating #bc i can’t deal with this level of rejection again lmao

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tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors · 4 years

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LAOFT AU in which everything is the same except Thomas goes “Hey can I base characters off you guys” and TSS/CT/Shorts exist. Part two: CT+shorts

-It was about time Thomas got a new bit anyway. There’s only so many mental illnesses he can play the embodiment of, and there had to be an easier way to talk about it.

-So he and Emile start thinking again.

-Emile wants to be a character

-and since this character isn’t supposed to be a part of Thomas, Emile gets to actually play himself!!

-same goes for all the other CT characters, obvs

-Kai is “reluctant” and “doesn’t want to be helpful”

-he agrees to participate after some gentle bullying 😌

-Elliot is a little nervous, but also agrees

-Lmao Dot and Larry find out that Thomas is making characters based on his friends and immediately want in.

-Corbin is only doing if Sloane does it, too.

-Y’all remember that one part from the blooper where Joan has to leave the room because they can’t stop laughing?

-That’s the whole filming process.

-Polly, as the local Pranks Master, helps Thomas with all of his Pranks w/ Friends shenanigans

-Y’all know Crimefighter action guy is based on Nate

-And now for the one you’ve been waiting for

-best boy

-Mr. Remy Adams

-He is SO HYPED to be a character. SO HYPED!!!

-He thinks Thomas’s impression of him is the best thing ever

-His ego goes through the roof when Thomas posts a new Sleep short and “Sanders Shorts” trends almost immediately

-If you wanna see how he reacts to Remile, the next part focuses on fan content ;)

V: this is absolutely precious the idea of dot and larry being SO “supporting our sons dreams!!!” that they willingly act in his skit is adorable alksdjklaj

#laoft fic #not mime #laoft emile #laoft remy #laoft polly #laoft thomas #laoft kai #laoft corbin #laoft sloane #submission

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asiryn · 5 years

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Part of me is bitter like why the heck was Kairi the only one crying at the end? Not even Riku?? Or Roxas?? Or Namine?? Or R I K U??? Nomura my boi time to except that you havent sold SoKai very well & just drop it at this point if you're going to treat all the relationships you DID build like this

TEA!!!

(But yeah……everyone at the beach at the end being all like, “lol let’s just ignore that Sora has vanished from our lives and is possibly dead, but ehhh it’s cool, anyway who wants ice cream?” was very……..strange. Guess being made into emotionless zombies to allow certain plot points to happen hasn’t worn off yet, huh…)

(Also yeah, this whole trend of “Kairi and Sora care soooo much more about each other than anyone else bc they’re in loooove and romantic love is obvs more important than any other kind of love” that Nomura’s pushing needs to fucking stop and die tbh. Along with the idea that “uwu Kairi loves Sora more than any of his other friends or his boyfriend do bc she romantically loves him and shared a paopu fruit with him bc it’s not like riku totally shared one with him in kh1 as well oh fucking wait– so therefore her love for Sora is sooo much greater and more pure uwu”. Like give me a fucking break, tbhhhh. And like….I guess it’s technically canon that Kairi cares about Sora more than anyone else, but tbhhhhhh that’s only bc she’s barely allowed to even interact with any other characters. :/// Anyway yeah this trend fucking sucks and I hate it. :) Also let Sora have emotions about his other friends (and not just ignore Riku’s continued existence, fuuuuuck that Demon Tide scene), and let Kairi actually interact with everyone else on a meaningful level, and also like….ACTUALLY LET SORA AND KAIRI INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER FOR A TRULY WILD IDEA, is that so fucking hard, Nomura? >_>)

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chiaroscuroverse · 6 years

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What would you say are your biggest tumblr pet peeves?

Ok, Nonny, let’s do this! I am super curious and ngl a little suspicious about whether this is “about” something, since a lot of people are getting it ,which I should probably list as an item number–that is, reasonable sounding things that turn out to be stealth-something-else. (I was there, Gandalf!) But, I am going to take my own advice from earlier and assume good faith since I have no reason to believe otherwise!

I rambled a lot, so here’s a cut! (except not for mobile users, sorry! didn’t mention that as a peeve because hopefully tumblr will fix that shit!)

Not tagging. Ok, obvs nobody *has* to tag. Especially if someone is mobile-only, I GET that Tumblr increasingly makes tagging so effing difficult! So, tagging has nothing do with whether I will like you as a person. It will affect whether I can follow (if I follow non-taggers that means we’re *very* simpatico in likes and interests). I don’t have a lot of bandwidth, so I add to my dash slowly, but when I’m going through fandom looking to add follows, it’s the first thing I look at, followed by making sure they don’t hate certain key characters, haha. Aside from filtering capabilities, I really enjoy tagging as a space for personality expression. It adds a lot to the experience! And the way tagging conventions have evolved as their own type of language expression is very cool.

Guilt-tripping! Ohhh, wow, this is kind of hard to explain, and it’s something that can’t be tagged for, and is probably in many ways totally subjective, but I have a very quick trajectory from reading something that is control-attempt-by-means-of-guilt-shame to going all *knife emoji* and wanting to run as far away as possible. Long story short, I’ve figured out that I have triggers from my fundamentalist background, yay. :/

Gatekeeping! We are all responsible for our own selves and what we read or otherwise consume. Ship and let ship, and all that jazz. Each person’s headcanons only exist in their own head. Story does not equal headcanon. No fan is the boss of any other fan. Also a bit hard to express but here goes: “I ship what I ship because I do.” Shipping is an overflow of the heart - no one is going to stop shipping something because of online disapproval AND - AND - no one is going TO ship something because people on the dash think they ought to, for whatever good and pure reason. IMO, when shipping gets mixed into meta discussions of trends and societal issues it quickly devolves. We can have discussions and education about a lot of cultural issues without it being “about” whether thus-and-so is a “bad” ship. It undercuts the arguments anyway, when it looks like some serious social analysis is really about a ship war.

Mean anons! Let it goooooooo, let it go! LOL It’s weird to observe nearly all dissenting opinions coming to other people in the form of anons. Like, if you wanna disagree with someone, why not just comment under your url instead of sending snarky anons that will automatically sound ten times more aggressive because of being anon?? Knocking on all the wood around me, I’ve been here since 2014 and have not yet gotten a mean anon (and would prob not publish, and lol this seems like I’m testing the anon gods :P). They seems to be 1. people who have a fixation, and 2. people who won’t have a url-face to url-face disagreement. (Also, people still sound like themselves on anon - I don’t think this gets said enough! :D) And I get it - it’s not like I haven’t composed some anon messages in my head after some infuriating behavior, but I assume I wouldn’t be as anon as I think haha, and also, who cares, people can and will be wrong on the internet. Move on and live. Nice anons on the other hand are marvelous! :P

Lord, I’ve said enough! Thanks, happy hour! lol. But let’s go one more:

What to call this? Maybe, treating following as equal to friendship? [ETA: whoops I should have said “following equal to friending ie Facebook” thus thinking of unfollowing like unfriending], Following is about what you want to see on the dash/what you’re currently into, not about whether you like or affirm someone as a person (I’ve realized this can be read another way soooo I mean it to be reassuring in the sense of not following doesn’t mean I don’t like you...I hope this hasn’t gotten muddled beyond understanding whoops). There are people I like A LOT who have incompatible fandom things. Unfollow ANYTHING, including this blog, that doesn’t make you happy, even if I’m your biggest fan, even if we’re mutuals or pals. (If we’re friends, you can talk to me about it - I kinda hate there is no script for this situation.) I won’t assume you never want to speak to me again unless you give another indication :P I am putting this into practice myself in 2018. I am so serious, I only want followers who want to be here! It makes me really uncomfortable to imagine reluctant or socially obligated followers, please fly free!

Well, Nonny, that’s more info than anyone needed! And I don’t love talking about just negative things (like now I’m hoping no one is anxiety-triggered over something I said). Sooooo, I just hope we can all try to give each other more grace and space and assume more good faith in 2018. This is a VERY WEIRD and hard to figure out space we have to coexist in to do fandom, and it makes sense that we frequently rub up against each other and have to deal with that. I’m probably going to look over that list again and think about whether there are things I could do better at taking a more goodwill approach for for.

But I am super curious what kicked off the inquiry, so please follow up if there’s anything you found out that you needed or whatever. :P

#more information than you wanted to know #ask replies #Anonymous #haven't even gotten into the bizarro stuff out there in the wider tumblr world #because it hasn't infiltrated our exact fandom much #tumblr woes #but oh i do have some opinons :P #fandom

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itsyourturnblog · 5 years

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There’s a big difference between a stuck leader and an Unstuck Leader. You can read all about it here, but the crux of it is this: a stuck leader operates from an ego-system (as in me, me, me) and an Unstuck Leader operates from an eco-system (as in we, we, we). And as a result, Unstuck Leaders are far more effective, especially in the long-term, than stuck leaders (obvs).

Below, I’m going to show you the five steps to becoming an Unstuck Leader.

But first, a warning.

All this Unstuck Leader stuff sounds awesome, but it’s also really, really hard. And uncomfortable. And at times, exhausting. And that’s why the most important type of management for the Unstuck Leader is self-management. That is to say, it’s impossible to become the kind of person who does the things an Unstuck Leader does unless you’re willing to do a substantial amount of inner work.

If you’re not, stop reading now and go watch some Netflix. If you are, here’s an overview of what you’re in for.

Step 1: Stop. Assess. Align.

Here’s the deal. You can’t possibly become an Unstuck Leader until you are in alignment with your true self. And understanding your true self begins with discovering what’s driving your current behaviours and patterns.

We all have the same six basic human needs. The ways in which we choose to fulfill them affects how we spend our time, what we focus on and ultimately, the quality of our lives.

How do you rate your fulfillment on each of the following needs:

Certainty (comfort, security, safety)

Uncertainty (variety, spice of life)

Significance (to know that you matter, to feel validated)

Love and Connection (to have people in your life you love and who love you)

Growth (to expand your knowledge, capabilities and spirit)

Contribution (to give back to the world)

What are the positive and negative ways you choose to meet these needs? How are your choices affecting your career, your relationships and your wellbeing?

Discover what drains your energy. Are there activities, people and environments that leave you feeling depleted? What do they have in common?

Next, examine the qualities in life that you value (i.e. family, creativity, exploration, honesty, community). Here’s a list to help you get started. Prioritize them. Are you living your values? Or are you betraying yourself? What keeps you from living your values?

Use this new self-knowledge to write a purpose statement. This is the reason you’re here on earth. It will likely be smaller in scope than you might think it should be.

For example, here’s the Dalai Lama’s: To be happy and to help others be happy too.

You are now grounded in solid values and purpose. This allows you to be open to new ideas, people and situations.

You’ve become watery.

Step 2: Listen and Observe

Open your eyes and look around you. This is where ego becomes eco.

Understand others.

Now that you’re familiar with the universal six human needs that drive our thoughts and behaviours, see if you can spot them in others. How might your communication with a person change if you understood that they have a high need for certainty? Or variety? Or significance? How would you choose the words you use to inspire them?

What if you knew that a person values creativity? Or independence? Or justice? Would this change how you choose to incentivize them?

If you do this with enough care and conscientiousness, you’ll realize that everyone around you is absolutely fascinating. They have stories and experiences. They have loves and passions, aversions and fears. You will come to genuinely care about them.

Now you have the gift of credibility, trust and influence.

Understand the whole.

You live in a world of complex, interconnected systems. Your mind and body are systems. The team you are a part of is a system. The division of your company you work in is a system. Your company is a system. Your industry is a system. Your suppliers operate within multiple systems, as do your customers. Your local, regional and national governments are systems. And all of these systems exist within global eco-political systems. And of course, the planet is a system. In fact, it’s the mother of all eco-systems.

Each of these systems produces a pattern of behaviour over time. Understanding, respecting and learning to influence these patterns is what makes real leaders truly exceptional.

Systems, by their nature are the sources of their own problems. Understanding the nature of a system leads to the wisdom required to restructure it. Observe the systems in your world. Actively communicate with its players and listen deeply when they tell you things.

First of all, what are the elements, interconnections and purpose of each system? And I mean the real purpose, which isn’t always as advertised. The stated goals of a system are one thing, but in action, the reality is often quite the opposite.

How does information flow into, out of and within your systems? Are you getting real with your data? Or are you going to the same people with the same sources and the same perspectives? Do you really listen? Or are you confirming biases?

How do decisions really get made in your systems? How do you make decisions? How do you set goals?

And where does the real power reside? Are you really leading your team? Or is someone else? How influenced are you? How influential are you?

What are the system’s driving factors? Are the system’s inputs likely to remain the same? And if they changed, how would the system change? What or who is driving the driving factors?

Next, listen for what’s emerging. Where are the cracks? What’s on the margin? What are the trends, patterns and stories?

Now you have the gift of anticipation.

Step 3: Let go

In the field of System Leadership, it’s frequently mentioned that the Indo-European root of “to lead” is “leith”. It means to “go forth”, to “cross a threshold” or “to die”.

For most systems, the most important function is to ensure its own existence in perpetuity (or at least for as long as possible). This means that the participants within it often won’t or can’t see when it’s time to let something go away.

Letting go, or letting go of the old ways of doing things, is terrifying to most people. Fear makes us grasp into the past. A leader’s job is not only to let go, but to make it possible for others to do so too. This means creating space for what’s to come.

Look at the systems you’re a part of. I mean really look.

What’s not longer needed? What’s dying? What must go?

Letting go, or more specifically, letting go of old ideas and old ways of doing things, is terrifying to most people. Fear makes us reach into the past. The Unstuck Leader’s job is not only to let go, but to make it possible for others to do so too. This creates space for what is to come.

Can you let go of stability, inauthentic power structures, message control, ego, and the things in your life and business that are coming to a natural end?

Now you’re free to co-create the future.

Step 4: Co-create

Embrace what’s emerging.

Once you’ve let go of what’s dying, you must embrace what’s emerging. And you must provide those around you with a compelling vision of that emerging future. And the only way to do that is to bring them into the conversation. Create understanding. Foster optimism. In other words, lead.

What wants to emerge? What wants to be born? What must grow?

This is difficult. It will test you. And fear will pull at you.

The key is to stay in alignment. Develop a daily ritual to maintain your focus. Perhaps you’ll meditate. Perhaps you’ll run. Maybe yoga is the key. Or keeping a gratitude journal. Or perhaps, a simple, 20 minute walk will do the trick.

Now you’re ready to begin your exploration.

Explore possibilities.

I call the mental quality that allows you to stay in the realm of possibilities “wateriness”. You can read more about it here.

As explorers, you and your team will have an idea of where you want to go, but will need to cultivate several possible paths to get there. If any of these paths take you off in a new direction, simply ensure it’s in alignment with your values and purpose. And if it is, go, but leave room for surprise, serendipity, uncertainty, fear and discovery.

It’s all about options.

One option is no choice at all. It’s an attachment. And it’s trouble.

Two options is an ultimatum. No one likes an ultimatum.

Three or more options, well now you’re making a choice. Now you’re exploring.

And now you’re ready to create and iterate.

Create and iterate.

If you’ve done things properly to this point, you and your team will probably be a little scared in addition to excited. And there are likely lots of things standing in the way between where you are now, and where you want to be. In other words, there are constraints. And over time, that can be tiring.

You will need fortification.

First, envision the best possible outcome. Next, list all the constraints that will keep you from reaching that outcome. Now, for each obstacle, strategize. Think of how you’re going to overcome them.

And to do that, use the phrase, “We can, if…”.

No miracles are allowed. Only things that are real and implementable. (The incredibly powerful “We can, if…” methodology comes from Morgan and Barden’s A Beautiful Constraint)

It’s so damn simple. How can it possibly work? By keeping you focused on the right question. And where focus goes, energy flows.

So what are you going to focus on? The obstacle? The problem? The constraint?

Or the solution?

And if your solution doesn’t work, try something new. And test and measure and then iterate again. There’s no room for perfectionism. Ditch it. You’ll be in a constant state of evolution and learning and building and testing.

Now you’re ready to say yes.

Step 5: Say yes

When you see the emerging future and when you find a solution that works, just say, yes.

Act now. Make it real. Or else it will pass you by.

The thing about this real leadership stuff is that it’s not for the weak, the cowardly or the lazy. It’s hard. Like, really, really hard. And it requires things of you. When you say yes to an emerging future, you also have to say yes to courage, kindness, gratitude and best effort. And you have to say yes to those things each and every day.

And then, truly commit.

Look at you. You’re an Unstuck Leader.

Ready to learn more? You’re in luck! This post includes excerpts from my book, The Unstuck Leader. If you’re ready to get and stay unstuck, you can buy a copy here.

How to Get and Stay Unstuck was originally published in It's Your Turn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

by Judy Sims via It's Your Turn - Medium #itsyourturn #altMBA #SethGodin #quotes #inspiration #stories #change #transformation #writers #writing #self #shipping #personaldevelopment #growth #education #marketing #entrepreneurship #leadership #personaldev #wellness #medium #blogging #quoteoftheday #inspirationoftheday

#ItsYourTurn #It's Your Turn #IYT #altMBA #Seth Godin #Inspiration #Stories #Change #Transformation #Blog #Medi

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shepgeek · 7 years

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Film Review of 2016

Disappointments

Since everyone seems so keen to dispatch 2016 asap, let’s start on the downers!

2016 has definitely had its occasional moments but we seem to be fast converging on a generic blockbuster soup. The year was littered with blockbusters which had both impressive visuals and charismatic performances but also had nothing new to say, beyond sticking a franchise marker in the ground (Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts, Ghostbusters, Kung Fu Panda 3, Warcraft, Jason Bourne, The Magnificent Seven & even the largely over-praised Civil War). Whilst all of these films passed the time well & were basically enjoyable, there is the ever-increasing whiff of missed opportunity around the primary Hollywood fare. Less successful were Independence Day: Resurgence (distracting but pointless) and X-Men Apocalypse - an uneven, florid and unexpected misfire, although nowhere near as far behind Civil War as was generally made out.

Meanwhile, over in the DC Universe, Warner Brothers kept fumbling what should be their easiest win. From a low start, Batman vs Superman fades badly on repeat viewings (even the ballyhooed Special edition). There are definitely no problems in their casting department and I remain a fan of Cavill; his mournful look in the courtroom is played magnificently. Ben Affleck’s Batman was expertly portrayed but bore almost no resemblance to the essence of the character that I for one love, delivering in his place a psychopathic fascistic jackass who was a far cry from the world’s greatest detective. How we’re supposed to root for him then or in the future is a mystery - I would honestly take Clooney’s portrayal over this. Poor Affleck - he delivers what he is given magnificently; blame the architects and not the builder. Gal Godot’s cameo keeps me hopeful that Patty Jenkins may just save the whole damned thing with Wonder Woman next year, but Warners are certainly running out of strikes. The idiotic shambles of Suicide Squad was only barely saved from one-star dreck by the huge charisma of Will Smith & Margot Robbie, and whatever spark the concept started with seemed produced and edited into manufactured oblivion. To make it worse, DC’s TV shows remain such charming and silly fun: I wonder how much appetite standard audiences still have for the upcoming JLA films.

Arrival came trumpeted with massive critical heraldry but I was greatly disappointed. I found it derivative (Torchwood: Children of Men with the pilot & finale of DS9) and, as with The Martian and Interstellar, flirted with scientific ideas (which film reviewers mistake for “intelligence”) only to discard them for woolly sentimentalism. Only Zemeckis’ Contact reigns supreme in this expanding genre of science storytelling and, even though the performances in Arrival were compelling, the film (albeit decent) left me greatly frustrated.

Another smash hit that I did not care for was the Secret Life of Pets, a tedious and rambling Toy Story knock-off (though my daughter loved it so what do I know?) but nothing compares to the real disappointment of the year- Swiss Army Man. My take was this: a smug, cold, flimsy and empty experience, it became the first film I’ve walked out of. Ever. In fact I did so about 5 minutes before the end, since I knew exactly where it was going and was so disengaged that it was only going to annoy me. I should add that I do like very much that the film exists and I could imagine friends and reviewers whom I respect loving it (as many did) but it bounced off me completely and ultimately left me irritated and even a little angry.

Moments

In the midst of an uninspiring year for cinema, there were still a few moments which blazed through the repetitive fug & reminded me how joyous cinematic storytelling can be. Spielberg’s BFG had many such notes, from the visual poetry of the Giant silently twirling through the shadows of London to the childish joy of the whizzpopping Queen. Other moments of delight included the moment of “Hang on - are they doing this? - oh Yes They Are!” when the Beastie Boys’ bassline kicks in during the final act of Star Trek Beyond and, whilst The Revenant may have been a tad indulgent, the bear attack had me yelling at the screen. Any scene featuring Flash the Sloth in Zootropolis was laced with comedic genius whilst our arrival in the city, combining Shakira’s perfect pop with gorgeous animated depth and colour, was magical. Ryan Gosling’s masterclass of toilet gunplay clowning in The Nice Guys was only topped comedically by the rampant and prolonged genius of the game of “Would that it were so simple” tennis in Hail Caesar! But narrowly pipping that for my cinematic moment of the year though, was Lord Vader himself.

I feel conflicted over Rogue One as ultimately it is yet another film which exists because it can, not because it needed to. To note the lack of comment about the unsettling fake Peter Cushing (squarely in the uncanny valley) after the shrieking which greeted the prequel trilogy’s “Dodgy CGI!” headlines perpetuates the accepted myth that those films are disasters to discard but I see little difference. Rogue One is another three star entry to the saga; I’d put it on a level with Attack of the Clones in terms of quality, ahead of Phantom Menace. Disney have a whole Galaxy to explore but choose to sustain the increasingly weird trend of aping preceding classics with an echo instead of trying out a new voice. Quite what Joss Whedon made of the final act is anyone’s guess: “the feisty rebels fight their way past a space armada (losing comedy relief Alan Tudyk along the way) to climb a radio antenna so they can send out the message to topple the evil empire” rang a few bells with me anyway. Rogue One also felt choppily re-edited (what was with the psychic space octopus?) whilst the new characters didn’t really land at all. Indeed directly after leaving the cinema I (and all of my party) struggled to name any of the characters (Erm…. Jinn, the moustache guy, the blind guy, his mate, the pilot, Forest Whitaker, the funny droid, the small thing that looked like a testicle…). Despite this problematic emotional deficit we were treated to some glorious set pieces and nicely pitched beats, but when Darth Vader’s lightsaber illuminates his terrifying visage we are treated to a moment of cinema as resplendent in its awesomeness as it was shamelessly gratuitous. After my considerable mithering about not being able to share Star Wars with my children last year it was almost a relief to see such a grim conclusion (No Way is it suitable for under 10s) but it makes me return to my wondering of who Disney are making these films for. Episode VII is rumoured to be “darker” still; where is the cheerful space-fairy-tale where we all started? Eventually they’ll stray too far from Lucas’ indelible first film (still the finest of the lot, for me) and step back cinematically but they run the risk of increasingly diluting the specialness of the whole thing. The fun “Star Wars Rebels” TV show fills a bit of this gap but even that has clouds of doom in the background (although seeing Chopper & The Ghost in Rogue 1 was a nice touch). Maybe after the sad loss of Carrie Fisher last week now isn’t the time to whinge about gloom in the Star Wars Universe, but I feel that my love for the franchise is certainly starting to be tested.

The year in numbers

Number of films seen: 93

Way down on other years- I blame box sets).

Number of ***** films released in 2016 : 0

This happened in 2011 too, but I’d normally expect at least 3.

Number of 2016 releases seen: 32

About par for the course.

Number of cinema trips:29

Again about my average: I’ve been to the cinema 188 times in the past 6 years.

Number of new films seen:51

I’m improving here, which pleases me.

Most anticipated for 2017

Baby Driver

Edgar Wright’s films are ace (except that one which I don’t mention since people shout at me).

La La Land

This looks gorgeous and I thought Whiplash was sensational.

Logan

I like everything about how this looks.

A Monster Calls

Original storytelling! Yes!

Paddington 2

Obvs.

Star Wars Episode VIII

A New Hope?

T2: Trainspotting

Hugely exciting- these film makers have only grown more talented in the past 20 years.

20 years.

Gods I’m old.

Thor: Ragnarok

My favourite Marvel franchise goes comedy-space loopy. Has the potential to be my favourite of them all.

Wonder Woman

I love this character and I want my daughter to as well. Get this right DC. Please.

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Missed during 2016 but would like to have seen:

Allied, the Big Short, Finding Dory, Midnight Special, Money Monster & Passengers. I also did not see either Room or Spotlight, because I was never in the mood for the grimness of either. Look, I’m busy and I’ve turned 40. Can you tell?!

Top 10 films of 2016

Bubbling Under: The charming and colourful Moana and also Kubo and the Two Strings were superior family fare whilst The Jungle Book was an immersive treat.

10 The Revenant

Technically stupendous but also oddly emotionally detatched and often needlessly arty- truly great cinema puts storytelling before craft and allegory with the latter drawn from the former (if it can) and I felt that, despite the stupendous cinematography and artistry on display, that beauty was sacrificed for emotional or narrative strength- certainly for plausibility. I’ve had these issues with Iñárritu before, but there is no denying the fact that this remains a remarkable piece of cinema.

9 Deadpool

Actually a bit more sharp than I’d first realised and a clever piece of programming, but still not what it could be if it halved the budget and really cut loose.

#driveby

8 10 Cloverfield Lane

The main problem is the name (It has nothing to do with the 2008 film and I was always waiting for them to tie together), but the claustrophobia and paranoia are immersive, shocking and unpleasantly tense.

7 The Hateful 8

A trifle indulgent at times, but a terrific theatrical experience.

6 The BFG

Not as comedic as you’d think, with a pervasive melancholy vibe of loneliness, guilt and regret emitting from the screenplay, lead actor and the director. It takes a while to get going and doesn’t aim for huge emotional sweeps, but the patient craft of Spielberg is clear to see. The BFG is lovely filmmaking with a real gentleness at its core and it will only grow in reputation over time. Also features explosively farting Corgis.

5 Star Trek Beyond

The best Blockbuster of the year I was surprised and delighted to see how much it grew on repeat viewings. This warm and witty love letter was assembled at huge pace but it made for a thrilling piece of cinematic escapism. A considerable improvement on its predecessor, the highlights were the pairings of the characters, especially Spock & McCoy. They did fudge the character of Kirk a little in order to both complement the story’s main theme & provide a suitable reflection in the villain and as a result Kirk is, paradoxically, the least convincing part of the piece but, after a terrific and assured finale and beautiful grace note for the 50thAnniversary, the films ends perfectly with the whole crew, as it should.

4 Hail Caesar!

Another film that gets better the more you think about it, Hail Caesar! loves movies almost as much as its protagonist and this feels like one of the Coens’ more personal films. Their goofy wit is littered throughout it and it nods to cinematic tradition constantly, including some wildly unnecessary set pieces which spectacular and as fun as there are knowingly indulgent.

3 The Nice Guys

Quintessential Shane Black it may be, but his voice is so distinct and entertaining that a film with this level of charisma is hard to take against, no matter how familiar the ingredients might be.

2 The Man who Knew Infinity

A truly delightful surprise, I was expected this to be a guilty pleasure (given my love of Maths and knowledge of the subject matter) but instead I was treated to a terrific piece of film making: quiet, earnest, substantial, well acted and gracefully told. Seek it out! It may appear like a generic biopic but the subtle exploration of Ramaujan’s talent and his faith and the search for absolute truth in both Mathematics and Religion that connects him to Hardy (along with circumstance) is well rendered. It is certainly considerably superior to the Imitation Game.

1 Zootropolis

So Disney has eclipsed Pixar- that Lassiter dude certainly knows what he’s doing.

I’m pretty amazed to see this as my film of the year, as it is a kids’ film, a cartoon. And yet, when I look back on everything I’ve seen over the past 12 months, it is the one film which made me smile the most and it continues to grow on repeat viewings (which my children beg for). It is kind of expected that incredible colour, imagination, design and wit are de rigueur in these films but not only does Zootropolis get all of these ingredients exactly right, it sneaks in small hints of profundity. After a year in which unsavoury debates have been poisoned by irrationality, this film, without every threatening to be preachy, gently illustrated to my children exactly the message I needed them to see. The core of the film concerns how we can get judged by what we are, not who we are or what we do and even both protagonists, who are wildly different, fall into this trap during the course of the story. Judging a book by its cover is in our DNA but reflecting on how we process this instinct is something that struck a chord with me, long after my first viewing. Concepts of “Them and Us” are challenged directly but without ever lecturing or straying from the narrative or the wit. The film is subtly layered both narratively (themes of exclusion and lack of purpose are examined through deft comedy) and visually (a quick rewatch of the final 10 minutes allowed me to spot nods to Speed and The Empire Strikes Back) and the music and humour are hugely pervasive. It is no masterpiece but is certainly the film I needed in 2016.

This may be a cheesy way to finish the year but the lyrics to the (frighteningly) catchy main song from Zootropolis contains a message for Film Producers (despite being sung by an alarmingly sexy gazelle):

“I want to try everything, I want to try even though I could fail; I’ll keep on making those new mistakes.”

I’ll take more Swiss Army Men every now and then if it leads to more Whiplashes. Let’s hope to see cinema trying everything in 2017.

Happy New Year!

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