#DIE rubric

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: John Sailer

Published: Sep 9, 2023

What happens in California usually doesn’t stay in California — and that’s bad news for higher education. 

In his latest piece for the New York Times, Michael Powell catalogs just how extensively the Golden State’s universities have embraced mandatory diversity statements when hiring faculty. From junior college to prestigious research university, scientists and scholars throughout the state must demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to remain in good standing.

By now, this should come as no surprise, but it is striking to see some of the most egregious ways the policy plays out. In 2016, the piece notes, at least five University of California (UC) campuses decided to initially screen faculty job applicants based only on diversity statements. For one large hiring initiative at UC Berkeley — the Life Sciences Initiative — the faculty search committee eliminated three-fourths of the applicant pool on the basis of diversity statements alone. Berkeley’s rubric for assessing diversity statements, moreover, dictates a low score for candidates who speak positively about diversity but in vague terms. Even more remarkably, it gives a low score to candidates who say they prefer to “treat everyone the same.” 

All of this is especially notable because of what California represents to American public higher education. Out of any state, California best embodies the American vision of universal higher education — its promises and perils.

In 1960, UC System President Clark Kerr spearheaded the “California Master Plan for Higher Education,” an attempt to modernise the state’s system of higher education. The Master Plan institutionalised a rigidly tiered system for California’s colleges and universities, reserving the UC system for the top 12.5% of the state’s graduating high school students, the California State system for the top 33.3%, and the California Community Colleges system for everyone else.

The plan captured the country’s strong faith in higher education, its aspiration to send virtually every young person to college. Kerr once jokingly quipped that the mission of the university is “to provide sex for the students, sports for the alumni, and parking for the faculty” — an amusing, and functionally accurate, description. 

No doubt, California set the example. Today, it remains a powerhouse; according to the U.S. News and World Report rankings, the UC system includes six out of the top 10 American public universities.

California still sets the tone for American higher education. And for that reason, we might add one more item to Kerr’s tongue-in-cheek summary of the university’s mission: “DEI initiatives for the administrators.” The trend Powell describes — whereby enthusiasm for DEI, whatever that might mean in practice, has become a virtual job requirement for scientists and scholars —has trickled down. 

Berkeley’s Life Sciences Initiative, for example, was designed to test whether universities could use a method known as “cluster hiring” to advance the goal of diversity. Basically, the approach involves hiring multiple faculty at once with a heavy emphasis on DEI. In a forthcoming National Association of Scholars report, I describe how DEI-focused cluster hiring has boomed since Berkeley undertook its Life Sciences Initiative.

In 2020, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center carried out a cluster hire — hiring researchers in cancer, infectious disease, and basic biology — which heavily weighed DEI contributions. In 2021, Vanderbilt University’s Department of Psychology undertook a cluster hire; it eliminated approximately 85% of its candidates based solely on diversity statements. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has allocated $241 million in grant money for cluster hires at universities around the country — with the condition that every search committee must require and heavily weigh diversity statements.

Berkeley’s rubric — the one that gives a low score to anyone who espouses race-neutrality — is likewise ubiquitous. Two of the universities receiving NIH money for cluster hires are the University of New Mexico and the University of South Carolina. Through a public records request, I acquired both universities’ rubric for assessing diversity statements, which was published earlier this year. Both universities use the Berkeley rubric verbatim.

As a consequence of these measures, trust in higher education will likely continue to fall, owing in part to a sense that some views are simply not tolerated. But DEI litmus tests do not merely diminish the public’s trust in higher education. They degrade higher education itself. Clark Kerr knew that the mission of the university isn’t sex, sports, or parking. It isn’t social justice, either. It’s the pursuit of truth, which, following California’s example, all too many universities seem to forget.

==

There are still some people who say stupid things like, "how can you be against equality and diversity?" Except, we all know at this point that these are ideologically-charged words. The rubrics themselves tell you that liberal principles of equality are unacceptable; rather, contested and ideological notions about the world. This makes "DIE statements" ideological loyalty oaths.

It would be like saying something stupid like, "what, are you not against people being bad and doing bad things?" when people object to making commitments and oaths against "sin."

#John Sailer #diversity equity and inclusion #diversity statements #loyalty oath #DEI statement #DIE statement #wokeness #woke #wokeism #wokeness as religion #cult of woke #ideological corruption #DEI rubric #DIE rubric #religion is a mental illness

[spectre-ship]

some good quotes from an interview with Josh Sawyer about Pentiment

#pentiment #i will rubricate that word every chance i get till the day i die #great interview. i strongly recommend reading it--he talks a lot about the game's influences and background

[roseofcards90]

Professor: just follow the rubric and you'll do good on the assignment

Class: okay *follows rubric to a T*

Professor: what the fuck FAILING GRADES FOR ALL OF YOU <3

#IM NOT EXAGGERATING LIKE WHY DID THE MAJORITY OF THE CLASS FAIL THE ASSIGNMENT WHEN MOST OF THEM FOLLOWED THE RUBRIC INCLUDING ME 😭💀 #he really said no rights for any of you LMAOOO #GET HUMBLED OR DIE #sobss #I can't even like fully be sad this is somehow both funny and also like a major wtf 💀 #my posts

[wiseatom]

will byers, resident baby sibling for 14 years, suddenly becoming the middle child: the way i am about to make this everyone's problem ❤️

#will (oprah voice): YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS! YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS! #he really sat there and let el make a project about hop when he KNEW that didn't fit the rubric #will: hey el that's not the assignment #el: fuck off #will: okay fuck you i hope angela wrecks your shit like actually ❤️ #will and el being best siblings also means they fight and tussle if you will #they would die and kill for each other every day of the week but also. we know they're both brats let them be loud about it #and jonathan. will is so unimpressed #this dynamic is just so funny to me. #will byers #mine

[tamaharu]

FUCK MY STUPID BAKA LIFE

#literally clicked send on a comment like five seconds after the stupid disucssion closed im killign myself #i guess its my own fault for writing so late at night but still. killing myself in my mind 5000 times over my GRADEEEEEEE #it was 25pnts to submit my essay and 25pnts to respond to 2 other essays and i responsed to one im going to explodeeeee #okay im fine (not fine) but its fine its just a coupla docked points im not going to die or anything #i NEED TO GET BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT I NEED ADDERAL SCREAMS INTO MY HANDS #UNRELATED but the amount of essays that did not follow the rubric/did not analyze what we were supposed to analyze is insane.

[eesirachs]

thinking about the refusal of the biblical lexicon to engage in the kind of critical spectatorship that nonetheless gives permission to it. i mean to tear at the margins of the holes left in biblical hebrew. there is no word for stillbirths, and no space for them even in the legal rubric of lex talionis. there is no word for the particular kind of 12-part-cutting that happens three times to three different bodies in what are, i think, the most violent biblical passages. there is no word for sacrifices that happen without blood, though they happen far too often (the red cow, and isaac, who did die on that mountain, you know). the biblical lexicon hemorrhages out of these holes, using verbs instead of nouns, adding chains of signifiers, infixing and prefixing וְ after וְ. but it is never enough. it heightens its own absences. i am trying to tell you, i think, that there are some things not even god can name

#thinking

[dearest-painter]

I’ll die before I let you get harmed! PT.1

Summary: Y/N has deeply missed their friends oh so much but their all busy with their own lives so they cannot say much. Soon Y/N meets Miles again but he seems terrified and scared which breaks their heart, they make sure that miles is safe from everyone…even if those people are obsessed with them.

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive behavior,abusive relationship,Reader is Spider-Noir,Reader is hinted to be in a relationship with Miguel(bc im simping for him) but it’s never really said out loud,Reader talks to themselves,very out of character characters,this is a series,Reader knows about colors now,Reader doesn’t really like the spider society,people might be out of character,tell me if I need to add more

How long has it been since you’ve seen your friends? It was very sad with how long you haven’t seen them but everyone is busy, you know you can go to HQ but it just doesn’t feel the same…it’ll never feel the same. Sighing as you sat down while taking your hat and mask off you played with a rubrics cube that’s you’ve completed about five times now until someone crashed into you. “ACK-!” “IM SO SORRY! PLEASE DONT HURT ME!” You looked down to see miles very scared so you took him and hid him behind a wall with you.

You took off your coat and wrapped it around him. “Miles, kiddo what’s wrong? Why would I hurt you?” Miles calmed down as he held your hands, It was obvious he was trying to make out words but all that came out was a scared whimper so you held him close to your chest. “Shh~ it’s okay, I’m here now” he took a couple of deep breathed before speaking. “Everyone is chasing me around and trying to tell me what to do…they all wanna hurt me…they all wanna make me be someone I’m not” You we’re surprised, you knew the spider society was strict but to try and force a teenager to be someone he isn’t just for what reason?!

You shook your head in disbelief as you held him closer and tighter to you. “It’s okay kiddo, I’m here for you. I’ll make sure no one harms you, I’ll die before I let anyone harm you, I promise you Miles” Miles smiled as he calmed down into your touch. You didn’t have the spider society watch as you never wanted one and each time Miguel tried to make you wear it, it always end up on his desk. You ran a hand through his hair or the best you could while making sure he wasn’t hurt. You knew got to get miles into your universe but it was risky.

Sighing a bit you looked at the teen. “Miles…I want you to be honest…who started the chase?” “Some guy named Miguel” You we’re pissed at Miguel! He’s a full man going afterwards 15-17 year old boy! “that mother fucking bastard!” You mumbled under your breath. “Look kid, I’m on your side. I’ll always be here to protect you, you got it?” “Mhm…thanks Noir” “Please…Call me Y/N, it’s far more catchy” he chuckled a bit nodding his head. “Okay Y/N…hey you solved the rubrics cube I let you have” “Mhm, I’ve solved it five times not including today, I even know which color is which” Miles smiled, he’s happy to see you again..it’s even better since your on his side.

#yandere #please don’t do this #obession #unhealthy #platonic yandere #yandere platonic #gn reader #x gn reader #yandere x gn reader #gender neutral reader #yandere x reader #yandere x gender neutral reader #romantic yandere #yandere ​spiderman across the spiderverse #I’ll die before I let them hurt you series #part 1 of many #yandere spiderverse

[lotus-pear]

Btw I never asked, how did your APUSH exam go last Friday? A couple friends of mine IRL said it went fine for them so I was just curious about you. Also like I heard the rubric loosened? You know only have to use 4 docs on the DBQ? And if you use 6 you get the complexity point? Lotus, last year I had to use 6 docs and if your quality of writing was the complexity.

Anway ranting aside, how was it?

yea godbless they altered the rubric both my aps last year required six documents for the dbq and it was genuine hell,,,,,,,,,,,,die cry hate college board fr. also btw the complexity point is whether to not you included outside information, not writing quality lmao

it went rly well! p sure i got a five

#lotus’s asks

[dilfbracket]

102 GENDER UNRESTRICTED DILF ELIMINATION!!!

narrowing the dilfs down to a somewhat workable bracket was, by far, the one of the most nerve-rackings things we've ever done. it has kept us up for nights. bickering in the mods video call over this has ripped this family to shreds. the bracket was longer, shorter, and longer again as we pulled dilfs from the abyss to set them down into the arena. absolutely gutted that we couldn't include everybody, but if your dilf isn't on the main bracket, do not fear. we will not leave a dilf out in the cold to die without honor. they will have their moment.

the dilfs were ranked and seeded based on a very intricate rubric and vibes that included number of nominations so if you see a heavy hitter in a lower bracket than you'd expect, you've nobody but your fellow man to blame.

the first round of dilf death match arena contenders are below the cut. we'll work our way down the bracket with new polls roughly every day. first round seeds like hannibal and bob belcher get a bye week, due to their incredible energy catapulting them into top seed contention, and will not appear until round 2.

happy hunting!

p.s. some of your entries, including those that did not make the cut, shook us to our core and will forever be ingrained into our dna. congrats

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 1

Lord Asriel (His Dark Materials) vs Klaus Mikaelson (The Vampire Diaries/The Originals) WINNER: ASRIEL

Corvo Attano (Dishonored) vs Praxidike Meng (The Expanse) WINNER: CORVO

Hades (Hades the Game) vs Olivier Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) WINNER: OLIVIER

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 2

Iroh (Avatar The Last Airbender) vs Frank Castle (The Punisher) WINNER: IROH

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 3

Iorek Byrnison (His Dark Materials) vs Mick Rory (Legends of Tomorrow) WINNER: IOREK

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 4

FitzChivalry Farseer (Realm of the Elderlings) vs Lawrence Gordon (SAW Franchise) WINNER: LAWRENCE

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 5

Rumplestiltskin (Once Upon a Time) vs Lord August Ruthven (Case Study of Vanitas) WINNER: RUMPLESTILTSKIN

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 5.1

Mortimer Goth (The Sims) vs Loid Forger (Spy x Family) WINNER: LOID

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 6

John Winchester (Supernatural) vs Father Blackwood (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) WINNER: FATHER BLACKWOOD

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 6.1

Lee Dong-sik (Beyond Evil) vs Dexter Morgan (Dexter) WINNER: LEE DONG-SIK

Joel Hammond (Santa Clarita Diet) vs Samuel Vimes (Discworld) WINNER: VIMES

Scott Lang/Ant-Man (MCU) vs Captain Christopher Pike (Star Trek Discovery/New Worlds) WINNER: PIKE

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 7

Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney, Apollo Justice game #4) vs Davos Seaworth (Game of Thrones) WINNER: PHOENIX

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 8

Chris Argent (Teen Wolf) vs Octodad (Octodad) WINNER: OCTODAD

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 9

Rock Lee (Boruto) vs Jean Valjean (Les Miserables) WINNER: ROCK LEE

Norman (Pokemon Advanced Generation) vs Siegfried Farnham (All Creatures Great and Small 2020) WINNER: NORMAN

Waymond Wang (Everything Everywhere All At Once) vs The Mako (Mass Effect) WINNER: WAYMOND

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 11

Carlisle Cullen (Twilight) vs Piotr Rasputin/Colossus (X-Men)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 12

Din Djarin (The Mandolorian) vs Jim Hopper (Stranger Things)

Ted Lasso (Ted Lasso) vs Professor Hershel Layton (Professor Layton game series)

Izzy Hands (Our Flag Means Death) vs James Flint (Black Sails)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 13

Ben Sisko (Star Trek Deep Space Nine) vs Marcus Kane (The 100)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 14

Data (Star Trek) vs Ethan Winters (Resident Evil 8)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 15

Geralt of Rivia (Netflix edition) vs Lan (Wheel of Time)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 16

Columbo (Columbo) vs Kermit (The Muppets)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 16

Aaron Hotchner (Criminal Minds) vs Craig Cahn (Dream Daddies)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 17

Dill (Easy A) vs Mr. Krabs (Spongebob)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 18

Professor Utonium (The Powerpuff Girls) vs Coach Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 19

Heinz Doofinshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb) vs Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Michael Bluth (Arrested Development) vs Ratchet (Transformers)

Thane Krios (Mass Effect) vs Lazslo (What We Do in the Shadows)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 20

Emma Swan (Once Upon a Time) vs Li Haichao (Go Ahead)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 21

Aragorn (Lord of the Rings) vs Hugh Neutron (Jimmy Neutron)

Mufasa (The Lion King) vs Yagi Toshinori (My Hero Academia)

Shrek (Shrek) vs Frontman (Squid Game)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 22

Eddie the Rabbit (Empires SMP season 2) vs Pastramis (Tumblr)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 23

Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man) vs The 12th Doctor (Doctor Who)

ROUND 1 / BRACKET 24

Cliff "Robotman" Steele (Doom Patrol) vs Bowser (Mario)

#dilf bracket #mcu #asoiaf #game of thrones #the untamed #my hero academia #doctor who #dw #once upon a time #star trek #the 100 #mass effect #bioware #his dark materials #stranger things #the last of us #tlou #the witcher #columbo #teen wolf #avatar the last airbender #atla #legends of tomorrow #disney #lord of the rings #lotr #shrek #tumblr bracket #tumblr tournament #tumblr polls

[vintagepresley]

I wholeheartedly believe that when he fell in 1967 and he hit his head on the bathtub that was the beginning of the end.

The nursing degree nerd in me is coming out lol. But seriously I think this fall is when his health started to decline and it was the delayed effect of suffering from a traumatic brain injury that caused an autoimmune disorder which affects all of your body as evidenced by his autopsy with the multi-system involvement of pretty much every one of his body systems. I think if people’s knowledge of TBIs would have been more advanced like today they might have ran tests and other things to treat him differently and detected and prevented these issues that were connected to this event.

(I also think he possibly had ehlers danlos syndrome but that is another too long of a discussion that will be for another day possibly lol).

Also side note his medical history fascinates me because I’m a nerd lol but I have even tried to write papers in my masters program about his TBI and likeliness of his developed autoimmune disorder but the topic never fits the rubric lol but literally I try every time to somehow be able to use him as the subject of one of my assignments lol 😂

Umm, okay, I really love this! Especially because Destined to Die Young is one of my favorite books. I’m not in the medical field but his health also fascinates me and just all the detailed research that had gone into that book and learning about how his body was functioning.

Honestly, you definitely are onto something I listen to a lot of like psychological/serial killer podcasts and they go into details sometimes about head injuries and how depending on how hard they are can effect the body in different ways and continue to do so years later. So this is totally interesting to me and I love seeing your thoughts on it and if you want to talk more about it I would love to listen!

Ah, that’s so cool! Hopefully one of these days you’ll get to talk about it in one of your assignments.

[visenyaism]

bc you don't have a name in bio and bc of your in-depth descriptions of what visenyaism is, your name is just straight up visenya in my head. like "oh visenya posted another rubric i should check that out"

speaking of theories. has anyone asked you about the "the hound warged his horse to avoid death" theory yet because i feel like you have incredibly strong feelings

okay literally why. we can’t ALL be wargs. The Hound WANTED to die he didn’t want to AVOID dying at all he was begging to arya to kill him???

#asoiaf #theory rubric #to answer ur quandaries: i had my name in my bio but took it out after the chess post went viral #and 2) visenyaism is the flavor of crazy all of her little serial killers (daemon margor aemond aerion etc) have

[fierceawakening]

I'm not sure if this counts legally as involuntarily commitment or some other rubric, but two decades ago, when I was in a much worse place mentally, I purposely took too much aspirin, pretty much immediately realized that as bad as I felt I didn't want to die, and went to the emergency room for treatment. They did hold me for 24 hours in that circumstance, and the psychiatrist assigned to me wouldn't release me until I agreed to outpatient group therapy.

Ahhh okay.

Yeah, even after I self-harmed and confessed it, I guess because I hadn't injured myself badly, it was just... let's get you some therapy.

Which is why I was wondering how people get sent. I mean

(poss trig)

my persistent suicidal ideation involves a gun, because I know they are maximally lethal.

I worry that, if hospitalization is a thing they do after you take pills, if I ever DO give in to my fantasies... no one will figure it out in time, because it'll just look like I went shopping.

[metalgearsolid3pussy-eater]

I like to call chairs butt sitters. I am told to die by a random internet stranger because of this. Who is in the wrong?

Please refer to the rubric for guidance.

Level 1: Unable to justify answer or form proper argument. Syntax errors.

Level 2: Sometimes uses proper argument structure. Unable to justify argument. Some syntax errors.

Level 3: Uses proper argument structure. Somewhat justifies argument. One or two syntax errors.

Level 4: Proper argument structure and justifies argument. No syntax errors.

you, the internet stranger is merely pointing out the inevitability of death. all shall return to dust.

#namaste #🙏

[quietbluejay]

A Thousand Sons 7

Magnus fought for calm, reciting the secret names of the Enumerations known only to him. This was his fate; this was what he had accepted as his punishment. He could not cast off his noble intent to pay for his mistakes.

how noble, to pay for your mistakes with the lives of other people

‘And for that we must suffer?’ asked Hathor Maat. ‘For that we are to be destroyed?’ ‘They think we are traitors,’ said Ahriman, with the dawning horror of comprehension. ‘All those who spoke against us at Nikaea will be vindicated if we fight back.

man Magnus really put them in an impossible position in the end, it's everyone else suffering for his mistakes

-also what i find interesting is that the whole battle cuts the purple prose -this is good tragedy, they're becoming exactly what everyone feared through no fault of their own except their backs being against the wall

Phosis trying to resist giving in to anger because it would make him no better than the SW, and then he suffers the flesh change and lets them kill him -also classic Ahriman once again only realizing someone was a friend after they die

-oh wow brutal death for Ohthere. It kind of reminds me of Shinji's death in HF in that like, you're cheering for it but also uh oh -also I think this is like the only time I've ever seen Ahriman enjoy killing someone. I support wizard wrongs.

-dangit, McNeill, you had me really into this whole battle sequence but you just had to

Magnus swept his eye across the horrified Space Wolves, and all who met his gaze died in an instant as they were driven to madness by the stygian depths of infinite chaos they saw there.

return to purple prose, didn't you. also

His eye locked onto Ahriman, and the depths of despair he saw in that haunted, glowing orb froze the blood in his veins.

HE ACTUALLY DID IT, I'll take "eyes referred to as orbs" for 200$, please

and I'm done! it definitely had a strong ending! ahriman plotting out how to cast the rubric

#warhammer 40k #bluejay reads warhammer

[purplerakath]

Toxic Ships

Before I get to the meat of this thought I can’t get out of my mind, this isn’t about Toxic Ships in the sense that ‘characters harmful to each other’ as that’s not what I care about, and often that’s good storytelling with a purpose. Lost on parts of the audience due to poor critical media literacy but that’s a fight for another day.

This is about Ships toxic to the show as a whole. With a larger ‘excuse to talk about old ABCFamily/Freeform series’ as the main course but an overall wide topic under the cut here about how these sorts of things happen to shows, books, and movies.

So overall, a toxic ship on this rubric is one that, through focus, actively harms the story it’s in. Either actively because the show is putting time into it when it has other more important plot beats it should focus on. Or passively because the nature of the ship is antithetical to the themes and message of the work.

It isn’t a measure of how pure and good the romance is, because I will say this right now: Romeo and Juliet isn’t detrimental to the plot of Romeo & Juliet. It is in fact *the plot*. And all things in it web off from this nineteen year old and this fourteen year old who really want to bone.

Like- yes, a ton of death could be avoided if they didn’t, but that’s the plot.

I’d say the most basic is a forced heterosexual love interest to avoid the active leads being seen as gay because if it was just two dudes hanging out in an adventure plot without a girl that’d be kind of gay. Usually it isn’t that damaging because those sorts of love interests aren’t given a ton of time or plot energy, but it would count as what I’m looking for.

But my comparison will be two relatively comparable ships from shows on the same network in close to the same time frame. Where both ships are equally ‘bad’ for the involved characters, held up as good in their respective fandoms, but one of the two hugely hurts its show.

Study One: Switched at Birth Bay and Emmett

So Bay & Emmett get together halfway into Season 1, break up before the end of the same season, are awkwardly possessive of each other through S2 and S3 while broken up, get together in S3 by Bay cheating on her current boyfriend with Emmett. Have the worst possible break-up in S4 for the worst possible reasoning all around. Bay gets called out on her shitty vindictive behavior, then end S5 not reunited.

They are messy, complicated, actively harmful to each other, and completely fine as a baseline relationship for the show as a whole.

While Bay and Emmett aren’t together, it’s clear they care about the other’s health and happiness (save that S4 thing I alluded to), and when they are together it’s generally sweet outside of pressures from outside of their relationship. Emmett spends all of S1 struggling with his parents divorce. And then Bay is suffering through being a main character in an ABCFamily series in S2 and S4.

It’s messy but it’s also *fine*, it doesn’t hurt the show overall, their chemistry is strong. And outside of their relationship are about the best written characters in the main cast.

And our other (less shining example)...

Study Two: The Fosters Callie and Brandon

So similarly they get together in S1, break-up afterwards. Are off most of S2 but perpetually pining for each other while trying to do their own things. Pine more for each other in Season 3 before sleeping together when both are having a rough go. Then can’t be together cause of the lede I am burying right now. Spend Season 4 doing their own thing, and then we revisit this will they won’t they in the series Finale in S5, at Brandon’s wedding. To someone else.

Because they started as foster siblings and become adopted siblings.

Now, if this was just the first two seasons. Callie wanting to blow her life up in spectacular fashion because Callie’s bad at self-preservation, realizing things can be good, then letting this die and never touching it again I’d be okay. It’s a messy teenager feeling plot and I am fine with those. It is doomed out of the gate and not a good tension mark for the series as a whole. But the plot kept going. Forever. All five seasons. And that’s the problem. They can’t be together it undermines the very message of the show. It’s not a great Brandon character beat because his sudden lust on first meeting her is just that. It doesn’t do anything. Every time it blows up a ship with an actual chance it just feels insulting. Because of how clandestined it is they can’t be called out on their behavior.

And the writers really liked it and I cannot get behind that at all!

And both of them have better tension points to come back to. Callie’s a self-destructive mess due to years of being ground down by a system that convinced her she doesn’t matter, so she fights tooth and nail to protect others at the detriment of herself. This is a much stronger line to explore, but we can’t as we have to keep going back to this plot.

And Brandon is trying to save every pretty girl that crosses his path, which never really gets addressed out loud? The why of it. But he dates Talya (insecure basketcase), Callie (see above), Lou (token normal girlfriend), Cortney (single mom), and Grace (literally dying). Brallie makes Brandon a weaker character through how his plots warp into moony-eyed possessive jerk.

I’m not going to go so far as to utopia.meme if Brallie wasn’t a major plot beat. But it’d be way better. Callie’s plots are better without this ship. Brandon’s plots could be amazing without it. Callie and Brandon interacting outside of this specific plot would be better without this plot looming over them in the eyes of the rest of the cast.

And why bring it up in the Series Finale!?

And I guess my lesson is...

It’s great to have romantic subplots, friendships, friendship+, love, and what-have-you ground and humanize your character whatever ways you get it. But make sure that the narrative doesn’t undercut or overstay it’s welcome.

It doesn’t need to move your story forward on it’s own, but it absolutely can’t have it hold your story back. That’s kind of the gist of this.

#writing theory #writing advice #switched at birth #the fosters #i didn't talk about twilight because i'd need to read twilight #and honestly I don't think it's that bad #but mostly because like R&J it is the plot #i also didn't do PLL because I don't have time for that #and literally so many ships would hit toxic for the show #just not the lethal toxicity of Ezra

[inamayday]

Short writing bursts to get rid of writer’s block: Day 1

“So you’re telling me that the hurricane’s here,” Quinn sighed. He refused to think about it, stomping on a rickety stool, watching the storm stitch on despondent clouds. His only comfort was watching droplets of stars streak down, weeping at the day about to come. The night was one of the only lifelike things besides himself and Yuni. But Yuni could hardly be considered alive, barely checking the rubric of living.

“You want to stay here? To die because you insist on staying at your father’s lighthouse, continuing your futile attempts to save it?”

“Affirmative, Quinn,” Yuni nodded. “I have decided my path, and my destination is firm. Leave if you wish, but humans have defied nature before.”

Quinn engraved his nails into his palm until it drew blood. “You call yourself a human? To stay here, committing to our dead father’s wish without any regard for your safety? You’re alive, Yuni, and you’re choosing to die for this lighthouse!”

“If it comes down to it, I will.”

“Are you stupid? Because this goes beyond sentimental!”

“I’m not sure,” Yuni smiled. “But I’m certain of this. If I die, I’ll die with my life’s work, in the place where the people I love are in.”

The sky reflected in her pale, kaleidoscopic eyes, and he could hear her scream. He could hear the sky taunting him, they’ll become a fossil, a future study engraved in the ground.

“Forget me saying you’re going to kill yourself one day, this is real, Yuni! This isn’t research, if the storm takes us, we die! Do you want to visit our father so badly that you’re going to kill yourself for this?”

“Some things are worth risking your life for, things you can’t imagine your life without! Protecting the lighthouse, researching the environment and the tides is what fuels me,” Yuni emphasized, her voice strained. “In the past I don’t doubt I had a death wish but now?”

“No!” Yuni screamed, the echo reverberating into a quiet tension. “I do not wish to die, I just couldn’t live without this lighthouse. I’ll just—“

“Exist,” Quinn said, and he understood. “I’ll die with you if that’s your choice.” He grabbed her hand, blood running through their fingertips.

“It’s a promise,” Yuni smiled. “Not even Earth could withstand the depth of our will.”

(Free to use! I’m only writing this as a step to write more, because I need more writing experience and writer’s block is consuming me right now. Sorry if it’s bad.)

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #bookblr #writers block #booklr #bookworm