#shows up. makes one preachy statement. leaves

[cleoenfaserum]

THE DEAD RINGERS

Dead Ringers Season 1 Review – A deliciously macabre and thoroughly enjoyable series.

25/04/2023 by Rati Pednekar (Dead Ringers Season 1 Review - A deliciously macabre and thoroughly enjoyable series (thereviewgeek.com)

LISTEN or READ or LISTEN&READ

Dead Ringers is one of those rare recent shows that, in its focus on writing, doesn’t forget that it’s also a visual spectacle. And a spectacle it is indeed, with its solid cinematography, vivid use of red, snappy editing and, of course, Rachel Weisz taking full command of any scene, twice over.

She plays both Beverly and Elliot Mantle, twin gynaecologists who use their identical looks to often swap places with each other — in the workplace and in romance. But in reality, they are as different as can be. When Beverly gets serious with a woman, Genevieve Cotar, the twins’ already twisted relationship gets even more warped.

The miniseries is primarily character driven by Beverly and Elliot, who stand out as two endlessly fascinating characters. Weisz has done an exemplary job underlying Beverly’s niceness with something strange and uneasy, infusing Elliot with a wild need to support (control) her sister. After a point, you need to remind yourself that it’s one person playing two people. Jennifer Ehle also does a fantastic job as Rebecca Parker, an apathetic millionaire with some choice opinions about protests and altruism.

The interesting thing is that the series is a gender-swapped reinterpretation of David Cronenberg’s 1988 film of the same name. The original film displays the power dynamic of men over women — the two male gynaecologists focus on ‘mutant’ women, the same women who later bear the repercussions of the twins’ downward spiral. This makes the gender swap even more significant as Alice Birch, writer and showrunner, turns the focus on pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

Birch uses complex family dynamics, provocative dialogue, and well-rounded characters to explore the subjects and dive into the nuances. The series brings up questions of body autonomy, surrogacy, class divides, and more. Conversations between people, often between the sisters themselves, are used to show two sides of an argument. Although, its worth pointing out that its portrayal of racial dynamics falls short.

While the creators have added as many people of colour as possible, it sticks out as filling up a needed quota and Genevieve is the only fully fleshed-out character. There’s a segment about the horrifying use of black women in the development of gynaecology but, again, the scene doesn’t tie into the larger story. Even though it’s beautifully made, it falls short of impact. Still, Dead Ringers does make some compelling statements and avoids being preachy. Instead, it is witty and darkly humorous, making the social commentary a delight to watch.

Another clever feature is how Birch employs childbirth to pay homage to Cronenberg’s element of body horror. From the pain of childbirth to the doctors wrestling babies out of c-sections, Birch has no hesitation in baring it all on screen — blood, gore and all. She keeps the graphic visuals to a limit though, employing them once in a while so they truly pack a punch.

The story itself is a crisply written one, divided into neat sections for each episode and supported by some brilliant directors. One specific storyline does branch off into another direction and doesn’t have the same appeal as the main story but can be forgiven in lieu of it. Sections of long, hypnotizing monologues are used now and again and they completely hook the viewer.

On the other hand, one particular dinner scene uses constant overlapping dialogues to depict a fractured family at its worse. Skillful editing contributes to the show’s style, sometimes lingering to intensify emotions and sometimes choppy to underline chaos. As a result, a few jump cuts do leave you reeling and rushing to join the dots, but this is a show about disturbed twins obsessed with each other — it’s meant to jar you a little.

[yuulkats]

this should go without saying, but shadow and bone (tv show) fans are not required to read any of the books in order to create and engage with fan content about shadow and bone

#shadow and bone #shows up. makes one preachy statement. leaves

[bluebellravenbooks]

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch #3)

Note: this is the final part of the trilogy! For my review of the first book head here, and for the second one here. As for the previous books, trigger warnings for violence and discussions of a bunch of painful topics.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What's going on: Breq has managed to maintain her position on Athoek Station so far - and stir up some long-overdue trouble while she's at it. But she knows that what little they have of peace is fragile, and as various powers turn their attention to Athoek, she has to prepare to defend it against the greatest odds.

What I liked:

An engaging story; even kept me reading on a train journey, which considering my attention span is an achievement

Interesting characters, and quite a lot of humor in their interactions which is just a joy to read

A satisfying ending with a bit of a twist at the end which didn't leave me feeling like the characters got lucky or were unreasonably competent against a powerful enemy, like many of such stories go

What I didn't like:

Particularly in this last installment, I felt like the book sometimes got a little too preachy. It discusses quite a number of moral questions, and while I agreed with what it had to say, I got annoyed by the narrator painstakingly going through the ethics of each statement and action, making triple sure that the reader got the right lesson. While there is certainly a place for books that speak that plainly, I felt like this was at odds with the generally high level of reading comprehension that the story required; it felt like a character breaking the fourth wall in an oldie kids show to spell out the moral of the story

I still have a couple of questions left about some aspects of the plot and some concepts that either shifted from the first book or I had misunderstood before; as opposed to the ethics, I ended up wishing that some of the plot logic was actually discussed more

Overall thoughts:

This series was an engaging read; while I didn't think that it is some sort of perfect masterpiece, it's definitely worth reading for anyone with even half an interest in modern sci-fi. It has interesting worldbuilding, and I particularly enjoyed the occasional humor that naturally flowed from the interactions of vastly different characters.

#booklr #books #reading #book review #ancillary mercy #ancillary justice #imperial radch #ann leckie #sci fi #sff #my pictures #original post

[swiftgronmasterpost]

Glee Live Tour Part 4 - The ShirtGate Essay Dianna published to the felldowntherabbithole Tumblr

Inserting a cut because this thing is long

or skip Dianna’s gay panic and click here to keep reading the masterpost!

June 2, 2000

What does that day, month and year mean to you? President Bill Clinton used that particular day to declare ”Gay and Lesbian Pride Month”. Nine years later, on June 1st, President Barack Obama spoke to incorporate an even wider group. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered citizens alike could all have this month for recognition, respect and appreciation. However, I am aware that not all minds meet equally about the rights and respect that we should pay to others. As each generation leaves their footprints, and paves the way for what is to come…to some, change is an impossible idea or action to put in motion.

You know what? Often, this unfortunate reality is because of learned behavior! As much as we may often preach that we like to speak for ourselves, or outside the box, how many times have you caught yourself, or someone you know repeating the thoughts of another before them? Sometimes without proper information? And how many times have you felt that perhaps further knowledge on an issue or subject matter might result in a different voice, a different understanding? Perhaps even going against the ideas they’ve learned, heard, or grown up around? We have the ability to fly planes, send astronauts into space, develop technology such as cellphones! Things that once were unfathomable. I can sit at this small computer and type this message. Once I push send, this message can be seen by anyone who’d like to engage, all across the WORLD.

As many of you know, we (the Glee cast) have been storming the country at whirlwind speeds to put on a forty-two show, month-long tour. It has been a constant reminder of why we do this. We’ve witnessed the impact our show has had, from the very beginning, to these moments, three years later. You LOVELY & AMAZING fans! Just indescribable. The love, affirmation, and dedication you provide! We see it all, value it all. Trust me, we do! On stage, the excitement that we absorb from your ball of energy brings our adrenaline levels to highs that often-times, we aren’t sure we can reach. Bottom line, we love you guys. And our crew! Without this diverse group of hard-working people, this venture would be impossible.

Yesterday was June 11th, and we were tackling our newest location, Toronto! We had finished our first concert of the day, and I was about to take a moment to relax before the second. On the way to our dressing rooms, I passed a stack of shirts lined up on the merchandise tables. The white T’s were modeled after shirts we wore in a performance set to Lady Gaga’s, “Born This Way.” This sparked an idea. And that idea ended up on stage.

Kindness moves mountains. Acceptance opens doors, makes room for change, diffuses misunderstanding. Every day, people commit hate crimes because of misunderstandings. Hate effects the target, and consumes the person behind the gun. It is crazy to realize that we have been in war for almost our entire existence on this planet. Many times for reasons of greed and hate.

Anyone that has experienced the death or abuse of a loved one can tell you that, “IT HURTS BEYOND EXPLANATION!!! AND WE SHOULD DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO MAKE ANY CHANGE POSSIBLE.” Raise your hand if you’ve spent nights crying yourself to sleep, raise your hand if you’ve felt as if you’d rather hide in bed all day than face the people that make you feel small or powerless! Raise your hand if you’ve felt as if you’d rather lie to people than tell them the truth about who you really are, because at least you wouldn’t be the victim of hateful behavior or prejudice! And raise your hand if lying feels almost as bad.

I was not raised in a family that accepted prejudice or hatred. For that, I thank my Mom and Dad each and every day. Look, we are human, we make mistakes. I will gladly shout from the rooftops that I AM NOT PERFECT. Nor will I ever be. But I can happily say that to my knowledge, I do not ever intentionally cause people pain. I love my family, my friends, my co-workers…and they all consist of girls AND boys. I do tell them that I love them. Yesterday, during our second show,  Instead of wearing my usual shirt during “Born This Way” I decided to wear one that said “Likes Girls”. It should actually have read, “Loves Girls”, because I do. The women in my life give me things that the men in my life can’t. And vice-versa. No, I am not a lesbian, yet if I were, I hope that the people in my life could embrace it whole-heartedly. And let me tell you, I can easily spill (quite comfortably) what I admire, respect and think is beautiful about any of the women in my life. Piece of cake!

Last night, I wanted to do something  to show my respect and love for the GLBT community. Support that people could actually see. Which is why I decided to change my shirt for the show. I happened to read a few comments that were posted on twitter. Many of you asked, “why?” This is my response. I am not asking for you to agree with what I am saying, but if you are listening, thank you. That is all I can ask. And a step further would be to take a moment to (honestly) answer the questions that I have raised. We can’t always put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. But we can try.

I am lucky to live in a place where I can wear almost anything that I want to express myself, and that jail is not a probable consequence. Which makes me feel as if I should exercise my right to do so every now and then. Think of the people that have died because of their passion and heartfelt hopes of change? So many good men and women. All because of an inherent wish for tolerance, love and support.

Our show celebrates the GLBT community. We are proud to be a part of something that embraces an often avoided topic. Hate is terrible, especially when we pass it down to a new generation of innocents. Recently, I heard a lament about San Francisco. How SFO just didn’t sound like a fun place to be, or visit, because that person wasn’t gay. Wait, really???? I wanted to laugh! But that would have been a response that wouldn’t have encouraged that person to be open-minded. To see that perhaps, their statement was foolish? Why won’t San Francisco be fun for you? Do you think the whole city is gay? Do you think they will judge you? Won’t feed you good food?  Perhaps they won’t let you have fun, the way THEY have fun?

Sadly, we’ve gotten letters from people who explain that they love the show but hate the gay story-lines. That we shouldn’t be polluting their children’s heads. To this I’d sometimes like to sarcastically reply, would you also like us to tell them that a stork is dropping off our offspring? That the sky is purple? That it is not practical to be true to yourself, because there are mean people in this world that will make them feel wrong for being honest? That instead of embracing themselves, they should lie to the world? THEY should be the ones being untrue and unhappy?

I believe that if you are bringing a child into the world, you should be willing to accept them in any reality. Whether they are Black, White, Asian, have four fingers, are disabled, gay….that the only wish should be for a happy and healthy baby. We are each other’s children. Unless someone has committed a violent or hateful act, why should we judge? We can so quickly resort to anger, often, the product of a whole other issue. Most often, an issue with our own self.

I understand that I am sitting behind the protection of this computer screen, in this hotel room, and to many I might sound “preachy”. Especially now that I have written an essay. I hope my intentions sound pure, and just. I speak, because I am passionate. I write with this passion because I know how it feels to be hurt, to be depressed, to not value yourself, or your feelings. If any of this has inspired or moved you, even just made you think….I encourage you to tweet or reblog a picture, quote, anything that you feel will continue to spread the love. And if any are interested in tracking the chain, perhaps visualizing the greater collective, include the hatch tag, #letlovein.

Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives. - C.S. Lewis

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu

Fortune and love favor the brave. - Ovid

AND remember that sometimes….

People need loving the most when they deserve it the least. - John Harrigan

To thine own heart be true. Many thanks for your time, your love, and the gift you’ve given me.

Sincerely,

Dianna Elise Agron

Click here to keep reading!

#shirtgate #essay #2011

[septembercfawkes]

How to Add Dimension to Your Story's Theme

A lot of writers believe you cannot intentionally write to a theme. I completely disagree. And I'm suspicious that those who say that, just don't understand how to write to theme intentionally. They claim that if you do, you'll just become preachy. Sure, that can absolutely happen, but it only happens when you don't understand how theme actually works in a story.

You see, for a theme statement to be powerful, it needs to have opposition. Who cares if the tortoise in "The Tortoise and the Hare" wins, if he isn't racing the hare to begin with? No one. The thematic statement ("It's better to move forward at a steady pace than go so fast we burn ourselves out") is only powerful because we see it paired up with its opposite (the hare).

Often it's helpful to breakdown how theme functions, like I did in this article. But here is a quick recap.

Every story has a thematic statement.

A thematic statement is essentially the teaching of a story. So for the Good Samaritan, the thematic statement is, "We should love, be kind to, and serve everyone."

The Little Red Hen: If you don't contribute or work, you don't get the rewards of those efforts.

The Ant and the Grasshopper: If all we do is have fun and entertain ourselves, we won't be prepared for difficult times.

Harry Potter: Love is the most powerful force in the world

On a broader scope, we have a theme topic. The subject or topic about which something is taught. It's the concept, without the teaching attached. It's what the theme or story is "about," in an abstract sense.

Here are the theme topics of those stories:

The Little Red Hen: Contribution and work

The Ant and the Grasshopper: Preparation

Harry Potter: Love

In a strong story, the theme topic will be explored during the narrative, through plot or character or both. The story will ask (directly or indirectly) questions about the theme topic. This can happen through main characters and main plots, or side characters and subplots, or all of the above.

Often, in most stories, the protagonist's character arc starts an a false or inaccurate idea about the theme topic and ends on the true thematic statement. Example: Harry starts unloved and powerless, living in a cupboard. By the end, he's surrounded by supporters, and he's willing to sacrifice himself (the ultimate manifestation of love) to pave the way for Voldemort's defeat.  

Between the false thematic statement and the true thematic statement is the struggle that leads to transformation, or at least, demonstrates a point.

Sounds great, right? But what do we put there? After all, that transition part of the story will take up most of the story, and so far, we only have black and white: false thematic statement vs. true thematic statement. I mentioned that the theme topic needs to be questioned and explored. And by the climax, it needs to be proven. Do we just reiterate the same false statement and true statement over and over?

Life is rarely so black and white. It's more complex.

To get ideas, it's helpful to give your theme topic more dimension.

Luckily, Robert McKee (who I've been re-studying, as you may have noticed) has a method that will help you do just that. He doesn't technically relate this to the term "theme," but he relates it to what he calls a story's "value," but I consider that concept nearly the same thing as "theme topic." (He's just coming at it from a different angle.) So, I'm going to show how it applies to theme.

I'll be honest, this was hard for me to wrap my head around, at first. But over time, the idea has become clearer to me.

So here is how this goes, from my perspective, in relation to theme (I've altered it slightly).

First, identify the theme topic of your story.

Then identify its opposite. Its contradiction. 

From there, you have what he calls the "contrary." It's not really the theme topic's exact opposite, but it's not the theme topic either. It's contrary to the theme topic. It's not the thing, but it's not the direct contradiction of the thing. It's different, in some way. 

Then we take it a step further. We look for something more negative than the negative. What is worse than the opposite? What is a step more extreme? McKee calls this the "negation of the negation." 

Let's fill this in with the theme topic of love, so you can see how this works.

The opposite of love is hate. Simple. But then it gets more complex. What is contrary to love? It's not the same, but it is not a direct opposite either. Indifference isn't love, but it's not really hate either. It's in between.

What is worse than hate? What is a step more negative? Or more extreme? What is the negation of the negation?

As McKee explains, it's one thing to be hated and to know it. But to actually be hated by those who you think love you? People who want to pretend they care about you, but actually wish and do you ill? Now that gives me shivers.

It's important to know that it's okay to come up with variations. Real life is complex, so there can be multiple answers. This is just an exercise to help give dimension to your theme topic.

For example, another negation of negation could be this:

If you think about it, hating yourself is even worse than hating other people, in some ways. You are always with yourself. You can never get away. Now that sounds like living H-E-double-hockey-sticks. And also, if you can't love yourself, you can't love other people, or at least, not as well.

When I was learning this method, I was super confused by how to come up with the negation of the negation. Part of it is because I've never had to practice that. I mean, who has? (I also altered these charts a little from McKee's version, to try to make it clearer.) Luckily, he literally gives over a dozen examples, and here is what I've learned to look for in a negation of negation:

- Deception. Something being bad is one thing. Something that's truly bad pretending to be good is even scarier.

- Self-damning. Having to work against a damning force is one thing. When you are damning yourself and don't see it or can't get out of it, you're screwed.

-  Grotesque or More Extreme. It's bad to murder people. To murder people then eat them? Bleegh, that seems too unnatural to even mention in this post! It's bad to torture people. But to torture children? Not even the scuzziest criminals will let that slide.

Here are some other examples.

Theme topic: Truth

If you are believing your own lies? Well, you're never going to get to truth.

Theme topic: Freedom

What do you mean North Koreans are enslaved? They love their country!

Theme topic: Justice

Sure, we all need to obey the law. But some of us can change the law whenever we want.

Now, I want to acknowledge that in some stories, the theme topic may be an inherently "negative" value. Maybe the true theme topic isn't justice, but injustice. In cases like that, I think it's still probably best to start with the "positive" value.

If you are still confused, no worries. I had to think and play with this for several days until I got it down. And don't forget, you can have variations, or perhaps, even more than one answer.

In a future book I want to write, I'm pretty sure the theme topic is going to be "control." Here is how my chart looks.

Responsibility is similar to control, but not the same. If you are responsible for something or someone, that doesn't necessarily mean you have full control over it. So I put it for the contrary.

What's worse than things being out of your control?

You being out of your control. What if you lose control of your own actions? Or your own thought patterns?

Alternatively, I also came up with this variation.

Authority is similar to responsibility, but not exactly the same thing. Maybe I want that value to be my contrary. Heck, or maybe I want to explore both concepts.

And likewise, what's also scary is when you have perceived control. We all want to believe we have some control over our own lives. What if in reality, you thought you did, but you didn't? And all your choices were actually meaningless, or perhaps worse, someone else was being your puppet master the whole time? Maybe I want to explore both of those alongside a lack of self-control. Maybe I want to explore all those values. After all, this is just an exercise to help me come up with them.

And if I wanted to take this further, I could look at a secondary theme topic to generate ideas. Most novels have more than one theme. Love is the primary theme of Harry Potter, but choice is a secondary theme.

A secondary theme I see emerging with my future book is sacrifice. So I might brainstorm this.

Interestingly, I can look at how these play into the values of control. If people are self-indulgent, they lack self-control. If someone has authority or responsibility over something, they may need to make sacrifices or compromises. Or maybe someone thinks they are controlling an outcome by making a sacrifice, but in reality, something higher up is in control, rendering the sacrifice meaningless--now that's painful. 

Once you've brainstormed four slots of your theme topic, you have plenty of dimension to explore, plenty of hard questions to ask, during the middle/struggle/transition part, which makes up most of the story. (And this may be doubly true if you incorporated a secondary theme topic.)

So how do we get that into the actual text?

Well, like I said before, through plot and character. It will be the main plot and main characters, but can also be subplots and side characters.

I recently saw The Little Mermaid musical, which varies a bit from the movie, but is similar enough. So I'm going to use it as an example.

The theme topic of The Little Mermaid is belonging. From the beginning, Ariel feels drawn to the surface, in fact, she's already convinced she belongs up there.

Here is what our chart might look like.

But despite aching to live on the surface, Ariel begins stuck under the sea, where her desires leave her isolated and alienated from her own kind, even her own family. She starts in a state contrary to the thematic statement.

In order to feel isolated--like you don't belong--you have to be around people who don't understand you. Cue Triton, who despite being her only parent and favoring Ariel above his other daughters, understands her least of all the characters. This brings in father and daughter conflict that escalates through the first act.

But other characters tolerate Ariel and/or her fascinations with humans. Sure, she has friends, but none of them are her own species. Sure, others understand that she likes human things, but they don't share her need to be a part of them. Even her sisters, who dislike her, ultimately tolerate her to some extent. But toleration, even when well meaning, is ultimately weaker than belonging. Flounder says too much; Sebastian betrays her collection.

What about the negation of the negation? What about when people feel they are elite? Supreme over others? They don't want to belong to something. They want to rule over something. Ursula fits that. She preys on unfortunate souls. In the musical, she sings about how she killed all her sisters to try to get the throne. She is the negation of the negation.

And the plot moves through all these characters. As Ariel feels like she belongs with Eric, those who tolerate, alienate, and want to rule over her, all react in their appropriate ways, creating more conflict. As the story progresses, Ariel moves permanently into the positive value. She belongs on the surface, with Eric.

On Halloween, I watched Signs with my family. I know some people hate that movie (*cough cough* Blake Snyder from Save the Cat *cough*), but we love it! Afterwards, I made a theme topic chart of it.

The protagonist, Graham, used to have faith, but at the start of the story, he's faithless. By the end of the story, his faith is restored. In between faith and faithless fits agnostic. It's neither fully one or the other. While no one character embodies that value, it's still explored and questioned near the midpoint of the story (interesting, since it's a great transitional state to be in, smack in the middle of the story), in a conversation between Graham and Merril.

What's the negation of the negation? Well, not having faith is one thing, but when you don't have faith in yourself, you're screwed. How can you do anything if you don't believe at least a little you can? Graham hits this point when he doesn't believe any of them will survive the night. He doesn't have hope or faith in anything anymore. Not even himself or his loved ones. Notice this is around plot point 2, which is technically the "Dark Night of the Soul" moment for protagonists.

Unlike The Little Mermaid, in Signs, separate characters don't embody each value, but by the end of the movie, we've encountered all four as the plot unfolds.

Often in the plot, the values will escalate. We might go from the topic, to the contrary, to the contradictory, to the negation of the negation, before finishing back on the topic.

Coco does this well.

Theme topic: Remembrance

Remembering someone on the Day of the Dead is intentional.

Indifference is when you recall them, but don't really care about them.

Forgetting is when you unintentionally don't remember someone.

And intentional erasure is when you want someone to be forgotten.

At the beginning of the movie, the family is all getting ready to remember their ancestors for the Day of the Dead. But drawn to music, Miguel is indifferent to this, even when they try to explain it to him.

He ends up in the land of the dead, where, at the midpoint, he learns that there is a second death, one that happens when the living no longer remember you. This is a real death, and why Hector, in part, is frantic about being remembered by the living.

As the story moves toward plot point two, we learn that Ernesto de la Cruz is doing the worst of the worst--he's intentional trying to erase Hector from history!

By the time Miguel returns home, all of the values have been reconciled back to the first. He is no longer indifferent. He keeps Coco from forgetting her father. And within a year, everyone knows the truth about Hector's role in history.

Interestingly, all of this is foreshadowed through the characters before the inciting incident.

It's important to note that you do not have to go in that escalating order to write a powerful story. Lots of successful stories don't.

The point is to hit and explore different values of your theme topic. When you do that, the true thematic statement will shine all the brighter. A lot of people forget to consider the negation of the negation, which is really, the end of the line, the worst of the worst, and including it can really strengthen a story. Remember, it's the struggle and transformation that make the it powerful.

#writing tips #writing tip #nanowrimo #writeblr #writing tips and tricks #writing reference #theme #coco #the little mermaid #writing advice #writing help #theme topic #thematic statement

[vohalika]

hello, this is random but.. could u please tell me some of your fav things about vex? i don't often see people who Really Like Vex and we need more of that

Well, well, well, anon.

I have literally no idea how long it has been since you asked this of me, but rest assured I have not forgotten! Well, okay, I had for a while, then I saw it again and was like “oh, right, huh… And would you look at that, I’m about 100 posts away from 100,000… Wouldn’t that be a good one…”

So. Here we are! An unstructured rambling of all the reasons I really, really love Vex, somewhere between superficial and embarrasingly personal, to celebrate this arbitrary number of things I have spread around on this hell site.

Okay, first of all, the only thing Laura had to say to Kit Buss for the official art was “make her hot”. That is a Statement. And boy did Kit and also everyone deliver on that.

Like seriously. I didn’t use to be a fan of feathers in hair or white armor, but good god does she make it work.

Hey, I said this was going to be extremely superficial

Another thing I really didn’t use to like, twins. Overdone and usually poorly executed. But our girl made a Point out of being as different from her twin as she could be while at the same time being completely believable siblings.

I swear to god I’ll do my absolute best to mention Vax as little as possible. This is not about him.

Third thing I really couldn’t stand! The one, usually female, team member with a pet! Closely related to the one with the nature powers! I don’t know, these just always rubbed me the wrong way in media before, probably because I also never really cared for shows or movies about animals. Fight me.

And yet here she is, and she is not the “won’t somebody think of the children animals!” type of gal and Trinket is amazing and it still ties into her personality on a larger scale without being preachy.

I have a fourth thing. I also really don’t care for elves, ever. Everybody hates them. And then she turns around and makes me cry about the elf thing. Good god.

Yes, watching the first episode way back when was an uphill battle. There’s a reason I started with episode 69 and then watched the rest.

Nice.

Vex has the best worst sense of humor. No, really. I’m not even talking about that time she made a comment about the boy with the shot off fingers not having much of a future as a musician. But I’m also talking about that. And that time Scanlan tried having a meaningful monologue about having a daughter now. “I’ve defined most of my life by the people I slept with, and now…” - “Well, technically, this is still kinda defined by that.”

(Shoutout to Percy “I was just thinking that”)

Also, “We don’t do anything with dignity”, “I only serve gods with big dicks”, “You might live forever, but you will still be fucking ugly”? Girl is iconic, even if her sense if humor is usually pretty inappropriate for the given situation, she just can’t help it. I relate.

On a related note, it is so easy to play a similar archetype and have her just be this always dignified and above the humor kind of stuck-up. It’s basically how most people would have written her (and a certain someone did). But not our girl, oh no.

Also, I recently made a post about this, but we really, really don’t talk enough about how she’s just the leader of the party. She is. No, really, lower your bitch sticks, y’all. She’s the one to talk to the most NPCs, she’s the one to usually say go, and everyone just naturally adheres to her. It’s never forced, it’s never an “I, as the leader” moment, and she doesn’t try to wrestle her way into the role. It’s just what happens naturally.

Which also means she’s good at stepping back and letting other people shine for a bit. But still, Vex is the reason they didn’t just flounder around like a chicken without its head after Scanlan left. Laura was late to two sessions in campaign one; the first one was already in an extended battle scene, and the other was literally spent in a bedroom in hell waitinig for Vex to tell them what to do.

This is why scholars are generally of the opinion that Vex is the only Top in VM. And also what intellectuals refer to as Big Dick Energy.

Let’s talk about what the assholes call Greed. Yes, Vex is, out of all of them, the most pre-occupied with gold and loot. But she NEVER hoards anything for herself, never spends any of her own gold on herself even until the timeskip, leave alone the party funds.

She looks out for the interests of the group, makes sure they get the best possible deals and are paid what they are owed. And she’s the only one to ever worry about money, too, whereas everyone else never bothers to think about it. Hence why her and Vax split the cost of paying their staff after the party spent all the funds early on.

Look, I find her worries very indicative of growing up in poverty with her mom, than surrounded by rich and important people but locked out of the loop, and then poor and on the road again with Vax. I find it very relatable, and everyone who claims that looking out for the financial well-being of the party is “greedy” is lucky enough to never have had to worry about eating next month while also making rent.

There’s Safety In A Fist Full Of Diamonds, okay?

No really I need y’all to read that and send it to the annoying bitches who complain.

Vex is literally never stingy when it comes to helping people with the money she made sure they have. Remember how she didn’t even flinch at spending a five digit number to free angel boy slaves?

WHICH LEADS ME TO ANOTHER POINT. Vex. Vex has a serious hoarding problem. But not when it comes to money of earthly possessions. No. When it comes to PICKING UP STRAYS.

It’s how she got Trinket.

It’s how she got the angel babies.

It’s what she tries to do with the grey render baby.

It’s what she suggested they do with the dragon eggs in the Raishan fight

(LET! VEX! HAVE! PET! DRAGONS!)

IT HOW SHE GOT HER OWN GODDAMN HUSBAND OKAY.

I have no idea how she hasn’t adopted her own zoo by the time VM forms. Though I can totally see her opening orphanages in Whitestone, both for people and animals and creatures of all kinds, really.

Remember when she was the only one to protest the punching of a spectral ghost cow?

The hardships of her youth made her, yes, very afraid of being out of money, but also made her compassionate as fuck. She’s always down with helping people even if there’s little to no coin in it, okay? Stop overlooking that, assholes.

SPEAKING OF COMPASSION. Remember what her original beef with the Vasselheim potion seller was? That he took advantage of Grog being intellectually challenged. Which is what he did! Blatantly so! And he wasn’t the least bit sorry about it!

I mean, I bet he is by now, but, you know. Karma.

When Laura says Vex just wanted justice and then everyone else escalated that scene she is goddamn right, rewatch your own footage Matthew.

Oh god do I have to talk about broomgate now. I don’t want to talk about broomgate.

OKAY

Broomgate is literally the only time in the entire series that Vex ever takes something for herself. Was it the morally right thing to do? Maybe not. Though to keep in mind that a) Hardwick is a piece of shit, b) they literally met Gern when he had the skeletons of Kiki’s dead civilization dancing for him; Vax shanked Nothics for less, c) and this was hot off the heels of fighting a necromancer in the last big arc, too, d) they were on a mission to kill dragons. That fly. With no method of flying for the majority of the party. Vex always intended to use the broom for that purpose, so you could make the legal argument of commandeering it instead of stealing, and, finally, e) SHE HAD JUST FUCKING DIED

Why do we never talk about that

Other characters get cut all the slack for what they do after just dying

Other characters get cut all the slack when they steal from other guests

Other characters get cut all the slack when they withhold loot for the party

Other characters DIDN’T GET AN ALIGNMENT DROP FOR DOING WORSE SHIT THAN THIS

WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT BROOMGATE

WHY WAS BROOMGATE EVER EVEN A THING

okay

okay

MOVING ON

Hey, while we’re at dying. Remember how Vex spent the day after she, literally, died, trying to make sure the person who was to blame for her death was okay? She did that. And Percy was uncomfortable with it, visibly so, but also too guilty to call her out here.

And no one. NO ONE. EVER. Bothered to check in on how she felt after dying.

Vax made it all about the sacrifice he made, Percy felt too guilty, NO ONE ELSE CARED.

And what does she do? Soldier on. Try and cheer Vax up and support him in any way she can.

Honestly, learning the Raven Queen book by heart and then telling him that being the champion of a god is really fucking cool? Relatable. Relatable as fuck. You go girl.

And TO THIS DAY. ACROSS TWO CAMPAIGNS. Vex has been the only one. THE ONLY ONE. To EVER check up on someone after they died. Jester might eventually be the second one, but, you know. I am a big advocate for post-death and just post-big-battle-in-general aftercare cuddle piles or whatever. Someone tell the cast to implement that immediately.

And while we’re at death, let’s talk about THE DARKNESS

There are dark facets to her character. Vex never makes her own issues everyone else’s problem and they go largely unadressed, but they’re there.

Saundor brought up the story about how she got Trinket and had to kill for the first time while doing so.

(Sidenote: Saundor doing more research into her character than an actual writer is extremely telling.)

That was definitely traumatic for a young girl and I don’t mean to dismiss that, but that’s also the part I can understand Vax dismissing when they talk about it later on. They do kill a lot of people after that and this was self-defense, so hey, okay. Fine.

HOWEVER

That short story was indicative of many other things that torment Vex. Mostly her low sense of self-worth.

Like, her entire inner monologue is centered around how stupid she was for getting into this situation in the first place (= for being taken advantage of by criminals at the tender age of probably like 15), and how this would never have happened to Vax, who was away in the city to take care of them.

And we see that low sense of self-worth bleeding into Vex’s character throughout the campaign. That’s part of the reason why she spends the day after her first death making sure everyone else is okay. That’s also part of the reason she blames herself for Scanlan leaving and acts like she’s completely fine when he returns just so he’ll stay.

Honestly that short story is so insightful and explains so much about her, I don’t know how anyone could claim to have any grasp on her character without reading it.

(Also, Laura should write more, she’s talented)

Now a significant part of her self-worth issues obviously also ties back into her time at Syngorn. I can just hear people getting out their tiny violins, oh, waaah, she wasn’t one of the rich, cool kids in elf school, poor her.

But that’s not entirely it?

Like, just that is already plenty to fuck a person up. I’ve been there, too.

But let’s just say the fact that her dad was also cold towards them and acted like they were unworthy is a BIG part of what fucked her up. Call it daddy issues if you feel like being dismissive about a genuinely traumatizing upbringing, but that’s how it is.

And don’t get me wrong, if this were the traumatic childhood olympics, it’s not exactly up there and relatively tame for the background of a character in a fantasy story, but it is very true to life and extremely relatable, and Laura just executes it so well. So, so well.

That’s part of what makes the entire stretch of Feywild episodes so great. From what we see of Vax’s reaction later on, Percy is the only person she ever talked to about this - or at least the only one who ever listened - and he immediately got it. And instead of yelling at her about how amazing she is, he did something to make her feel better about herself. Without making it about himself, by the way.

I enjoy a fake married plotline as much as the next gal, but Percy giving her a title she’d have to earn by her own merits is soooo much more meaningful than just putting a fake ring on her, okay?

Yes, at the end of the day, this is basically a Cinderella fantasy. So what? No, really. One of the best things about Vex and her arc is that it validates feeling upset about not measuring up in superficial, material ways. And it validates getting your come-uppance. These are, as mentioned above, experiences that can really mess with a person, but we’re usually supposed to be above it all because money and titles don’t make you happy.

Also something only people who never struggled financially can say/believe unironically and without specifying.

Hell, that’s about 70% of the reason I’m considering getting a Ph.D. if I happen to get the grades.

I’m also not a big fan of the term daddy issues, but I can’t deny that this is a thing here

not the thing they went into the Feywild for, buuuut

ahem

So. Remember when Laura said during the campaign wrap up that Vex thought of Scanlan as a father figure and everyone was like whaaaaat? And I was like ahahahaha, I knew it.

This is so tragic, really. Because she tried so hard so many times to help Scanlan and be nice to him and he just brushed her off. And then she’s the one who volunteers to spend the night all by herself in some dirty pub far, far away after opening up to his daughter about her own issues to bring him back alive, and then gets yelled at, and never apologized to.

And then he comes back and tries to erase her memory and not only is that never even brought up, she also just doesn’t even think she might be owed an apology because a) she still blames herself for him leaving because, you know, they never really talked out what happened there and b) she’s just too happy for at least that father figure returning to them to make much of a fuss about it, and Percy, bless his heart, TRIES, but it’ll take a few more years of marriage to talk through all of her issues

And like. I am not wild about anything that happens after episode 99. If I’m known for anything in this fandom on this platform it’s probably for that time I was really into the Ioun discourse, which I still stand by, btw. And I personally would have preferred for Vex to maybe get someone like Sehanine as her patron, as fitting as giving her yet another unworthy and disapproving father figure in her life might be

But there is also something somewhat gratifying about everyone talking about how great she is. And she had been sort of working for Pelor before that. Also, the headcanons about her having sun spots or starting to glow when she gets emotional after this are amazing.

So I made my peace with that. She deserves better, but hey, she always does.

She is so smart. So extremely smart. People roll their eyes at her battle plans and say it’s all Travis feeding Laura information, but Travis fed her nothing that time she schmoozed up to the Briarwoods while also making herself appear extremely superficial and unthreatening. Honestly. That dinner scene? Prime Vex. Amazing Vex.

Her battle plans are also so good. Pokeball-ing Grog out of the kill box? Using the Goristro against Vorugal to save the party a trip into the abyss? The only plan of Vox Machina that ever worked out basically perfectly? Amazing. And even IF Travis told Laura these ideas, that means literally nothing in relation to how smart Vex is.

And btw I don’t believe that for a second. People just aren’t good with acknowledging that sometimes, D&D playing women might actually have good ideas.

And she just is so street smart. With her skills, her battle plans, and just her way of handling people. There’s a reason she is the natural leader when it’s not someone’s turn in the spotlight at the time.

Like, the two things holding her back were that her class was extremely underwhelming, so much so that it got completely revamped in the Unearthed Arcana to make up for how bad it was in the PHB, and the fact that she just. Has, what. 1.5 episodes of her own storyline? Even Pike got 2. It’s amazing that I can even say this much about her with how little narrative focus she got throughout the series. And most of what she did was literally due to Percy using his plot clout and putting a foot in the door to force her into the spotlight.

Speaking of which. Percy’s best quality, next to being self-aware of how fucked up he is and actively trying to do better and be kept in check, is how he realizes Vex is the coolest, smartest, most amazing person around and treats her accordingly. The way she deserves to be treated.

Oh hey I mentioned to get this far without even mentioning the romance arc. And oh my god THE ROMANCE ARC. The pining. The slow burn. And the fact that we actually saw them together and later married for like 35 episodes. They were so good for each other.

And yes, PERCY WAS GOOD FOR HER. And Vex was not his therapist and manic pixie dream girl. None of that bullshit here. Percy was already firmly on the path to being better before he even considered that crush he has had on her for forever to turn into something more.

And by he was good for her I mean that he actually UNDERSTOOD her and where she was coming from. Refer again to the titling issue, where Vax is just confused and kind of pissed, Percy got it. And that’s important.

Something I have not made a post about so far, by the way, is also something people have called problematic and co-dependant is how Percy shares his darker impulses with Vex in hopes she’ll talk him out of it. Which she does, and it’s never hard, but that also means so much to her? Because he involves her and tells her exactly what is going on with him and values her opinion? And that is just exactly what she needs? And they’re so good? THEY’RE SO GOOD.

WHEN DOES YOUR OTP EVER

HE COULDN’T HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER DREAM

This is more on Laura, admittedly, but also, it was just so great to see her unapologetically pursuing this romance? There’s a place at the table for a 72 episode slow burn, and she’s gonna go for it, and there’s nothing any of the dudebros who are just here for the fighting can do about it.

And also Vex is just so unapologetically sexual at the same time. From episode 1 onwards, really, and in general and just limited to Percy. And no one ever treats that as weird or bad or anything. It’s just who she is and that’s great.

And she fought. So hard. For that happy ending of hers. Kicking and screaming, against the world and against Taliesin’s determination that Percy is irredeemable and not capable of getting a happy ending. Defy that auctorial intent, my girl. You deserve it.

Seriously. Seeing her get that happy ending against all odds was unfathomably gratifying and validating and I’ve never connected to any single character or narrative at large for that matter this much and this intimately, and considering how I came across this story at one of the darkest times in my life, I probably never will feel so strongly connected to anything ever again.

Which is probably for the best, but hey. 

Aaaand there you go. An almost unstructured, epically long list of reasons I love Vex. Dammit, I talked about other characters way more than I intended, buuuut hey. That’s how it goes when you’ve got an ensemble piece, they’re all kinda interwoven.

Thank you this wonderful ask, anon, and reason to celebrate my 100,000th post on this site in style.

#critical role #cr #cr1 #vex'ahlia #lady vex'ahlia de rolo #is better than you #deserved better from the narrative #will forever be my favorite character probably #will forever be part of my ultimate OTP #we do not deserve her #we are unworthy #long post #long post for ts

[ctl-yuejie]

opinion on the term bl?

uhhhhhh…very complicated. I might have written a whole rant post before on the topic on this blog on an empty stomach so it was most likely not very nuanced (I think it was about people saying that The Untamed didn’t count as BL).

buckle in, this got suuuper long

tbh i first came into contact with the term in the early 2000s and since the internet didn’t play any role at my age then, the only context I had were magazines (here in Europe) and manga publications.

I knew that BL was a whole genre in Manga and that it featured gay romance and that fans / content creators would refer to themselves at fujoshi. Now, at that time I was only figuring out that I was bi, didn’t know any Japanese and didn’t have any friends with cultural ties to Japan.

So based on the magazines I read, I started to believe that “Fujoshi” literally meant “Rotten Girl” because of the taboo of same-sex relationships and the tantalizing sense of the forbidden that comes with it.

While I read some BL manga (couldn’t tell you the titles anymore), I never referred to myself as a Fujoshi or being into BL because both terms seemed to apply only to Japanese people and the sense of “the forbidden” in regards to same-sex relationships didn’t fit to my reality (having been to a same-sex marriage with my family at age 8 etc) and also felt demeaning to me.

After learning Japanese and living in Japan I didn’t really question my aversion to the terms, since I did have access to the internet now but didn’t think of fact-checking everything I had “learned” pre-internet (I think it is important to note here that the magazines weren’t the highest in quality in terms of journalistic prowess nor scientific in any way. They were just short entertaining articles, aimed at teenagers like me, trying to profit from the still ongoing wave of japanese pop culture in the west) and my only experience with both bl content and real life fujoshi wasn’t that positive:

My feelings on BL and fujoshi culture were heavily influenced by 

- the wave of very sad and traumatizing gay movies in Japan that most of the time ended in double suicides of the main characters

- rape storylines getting romanticized in manga

- pretty heavily stereotyped gay characters in main stream tv series that were only there for comedic relief

- the Fujoshi I knew back then being weirded out by the thought of same-sex relationships between women and basing their thought on gay men solely on the content they consumed 

- not finding the hailed “subversion of traditional gender roles” or discussion thereof in the BL my friends consumed. 

- my gay friends in japan having very frustrating encounters with fujoshi who started to treat them like an open air circus and not making them feel supported in real life 

- people around me making judgments based on attractiveness on whether gay people should get supported, while the hint of a celebrity being gay was weaponized  against them

now, this pretty much sums up, why I tended to have negative thoughts on the subject and felt more sympathetic to the push from some people in the queer community in japan to please retire terms like “uke” and “seme” when talking about real people.

since then, i didn’t intervene when other female friends in japan would use the term for themselves, because it still was a term coined in japan and those people were actually supportive of queer people so i didn’t see how me being preachy about it just because of my experience and not calling myself a fujoshi or fan of bl would be of any help and/or called for.

jump to 2018/2019 and i started to read more papers about it on a whim because i started to watch Crossing The Line and for the first time in a long while I was in a fandom again where people called the genre “BL” and themselves fujoshi/fudanshi.

I came to know that what I assumed the origin story of the term “Fujoshi” to be had been misreported (shocker) by the magazines back in my youth and that apparently the term was also widely used in Thailand, Taiwan and Mainland China. especially the knowledge that apparently TERFs were behind a pushback of the term made me reevaluate my opinion.

Since I have really no insight into Chinese or Thai culture it is not on me to judge whether it is appropriate for people there to use BL as a genre signifier etc and from all I have read, in some cases it is really about finding a way of creating and distributing queer content in a place that is not lgbtqi+ friendly or use it as means of finding expressions for one’s own sexuality etc.

Obv. there are genre conventions I will get annoyed about and criticize (all female characters are evil etc) but those things are also not BL exclusive so there’s not much sense in condemning a whole genre that at least tries to push some conventions.

With the Internet and a global push for more lgbtqi+ rights there is now definitely a strong symbiotic relationship between queer content and real life social changes. so being harder on queer content (in general) because it isn’t perfect doesn’t make anything better for queer people. 

nowadays there has been some wonderful content in japan with a push for real life legal changes as well, taiwan has the marriage for all and thailand is also pushing for a civil union for everyone.

especially in the case of mainland china with strict censorship rules i will congratulate anyone who tries to sneak some ambiguity in. it saddens me that the rules are as strict and that there are even more hardships for lgbtqi+ people in real life but i would never say that not creating any content that could be interpreted as queer should be favoured over trying to do something, regardless of how lacking the result might seem. 

The reason why I ranted about BL as a genre term recently was mostly directed at western fans with no cultural ties to any of the aforementioned cultures, but i definitely didn’t stress that enough in my previous post.

Since I still don’t call myself a fujoshi or being into the BL genre I am suspicious of western fans calling themselves as such. because i project my own experience and knowledge on them and there are people out there who definitely emphasize the cheeky “rotten” side of themselves while not knowing (like past me) where the term comes from and that it does’t have to do with any “forbidden fruit”. i assume a certain laziness when straight people will try and convince me that they are allies to me, because they consume BL series, but will still call me “the man” in the relationship etc.

There can definitely be a need for a similar outlet that allows people to write about gender roles, sexualities etc in a similar way but very often the argument of “it is female empowerment to be into BL” is just warping the origin story of the term into an excuse for homophobic statements. I see the term get applied to western shows as well (when there isn’t a need for using a Japanese term, especially not when there’s a missing understanding of its origin) and actual mlm shows in asia being dismissed just because it doesn’t fit the BL genre conventions (point and example: people in the west discounting The Untamed as mlm content because they weren’t explicit about it; What Did You Eat Yesterday getting dismissed because of similar reasons and the diversion from presumed age and beauty standards of BL as a genre). That way western fans made BL feel quite restrictive and not interchangeable with mlm anymore, which just confounds me.

in the end it also comes down to scope: someone writing fanfiction, producing small indie series cannot really be harmful even when they content might seem so. so regardless of what the genre entails it is important to put everything in perspective and whether this is the hill someone wants to die on, instead of leaving space for artistic expression, cultural differences and celebrating the steps into a more loving world for all.

tl;dr: I feel many emotions; there’s always space to learn more and I am grateful to everyone who made posts about the racism in criticizing the terms “Fujoshi” / “BL”; I don’t use the term myself, but only feel wary when westerners use it; personally I prefer to use mlm or wlw as content describers but I am also not 100% satisfied with that as well

ask me my opinion on ______

#ctlyuejie writes #ask game #ctlyuejie rants #long post #lovely mutuals are lovely #this is mostly to sort my own thoughts #thank you for the ask and sorry for the word vomit

[sincerity-moi]

Warnings For The Preachy Ramblings Of Someone Who LOVES An Obscure Show Exactly As It Is! (But Still Feels The Need To Ramble On About Possible Changes Anyway!)

I REALLY wish that the Italian-Animated Series Huntik: Secrets And Seekers hadn’t been a specifically catered kids’ show with Net-Work Restrictions!, I mean I appreciate it for basically being the Italian-Equivalent of Carmen Sandeigo (Except that it taught kids about the basics of Mythes/Folklore instead of Geography/Cultural-Facts!).

But it would have been a rad All-Audiences series if hadn’t pulled it’s punches so hard! (They could have done SO MUCH with The Blood-Spiral ARC if it hadn’t been so subdued!).

Bullet-Points Of The Blood-Spiral ARC:

. Child-Indoctrination

. The Decision To Get Involved With A Cult Out Of Desperation For A Purpose In Life

. The struggles of helping your family member escape a cult

. Dark Magic-Rituals involving Other-Worldly (Or In This Case Dimensional) Beings/Powers

. A series of battles between multiple Secret-Societies (Some Good And Some Bad) Which Would Have Been A Bloodbath No Matter How You Sliced It If This Show Had Been More Mature (and would have been more than dramatic enough to carry the entire season)

. Emotional Conflict/Drama All Around! (We got some of that anyway, but still!)

. The Pure, Unadulterated Existential-Dread of dealing what is supposedly a Pre-Determined Fate (And then later accepting this fate with the singular goal of leaving your loved-ones in a GOOD, SAFE place before you go to meet it!)

. Increasingly dangerous tasks for the Main-Characters with Higher-Risks/Stakes Involved Should There Be A Failure 

Bullet-Points Of The Show On The Whole:

. The idea that someone can be born with “Magic” of a sort and that it can affect their lives outside of the world where this ability is accepted

. Badass Dimensional Beasts!

. The Weight Of Heritage And How That Can Mold You As A Person (For Better Or For Worse)

. What Jealously And Revenge can do to you if you let it

. Note: Being a Douche-Bag Who wants all the glory in a world where one wrong move can get your ass cursed (And thus poorly affect literally the entire world if you don’t get your shit under control) is bad news!.

. People controlling Badass Dimensional-Beasts and utilizing their magic!

Bonuses:

. Getting over what other people would have wanted in order to do the right thing by your own hand, only to realize that doing exactly that IS what your dead loved one would have wanted you to do

. Getting the chance to realize that the trait you always saw as just you yourself being a weird person is actually a good attribute which can be used to better society

I also think that there should have been more Trust-Fallout between Lok and Dante over Dante’s Grief-Blinded attempt to save his own former mentor’s life instead of ignoring his own feelings in order to save HUMANITY AS A WHOLE FROM THE HUNTIK-DIMENSION BEING OPENED! (there should have been some SERIOUS Screen-Time devoted to this and I’m kind of pissy that there wasn’t!).

Thankfully it didn’t end with him making the decision to fuck humanity over sense ultimately his trust in his own apprentice stopped him from doing it, but Hot-Damn!, he just spent AN ENTIRE SEASON telling Lok on repeat (As part of his training) that emotion’s “Couldn’t Rule” a Seeker’s decisions!.

The Hypocracy in that statement alone (Sense he was clearly planning from the beginning to try and save Metz) should have cause enough of a rift that we would have needed some extra episodes to fix it!.

We had PLENTY of episodes devoted to telling us that “This Bitch Is As Shady As His Intentions Are Noble”, but did we get some actual furthering conflict between him and Lok over this?.....

 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!.

NO WE MAC-FUCKING DIDN’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

BECAUSE APPARENTLY NOBLE INTENTIONS (EVEN IF THEY END UP NEARLY TAKING YOU TO HELL!) ARE ALL THAT  IT TAKES FOR FORGIVENESS AND FRIENDSHIP-IS-FUCKING-MAGIC!.

Phew!.....

ANYWAY!.

I also wish we could have gotten a sort of Pre-Cursor ARC to set us up for the Blood-Spiral ARC.

Rather than just having The Blood-Spiral ARC dropped on us like with little preparation beforehand.

It just might have made the story feel fuller!.

(This entire post is jibberish to anyone who hasn’t seen this Obscure-Ass show LMAO!) X’D

#huntik secrets and seekers #When I was a depressed teenager this show was #my escape! #I binged both seasons whilst hunched over my mom's (now dead) Kindle-Fire #Because all of our other Electronics were dead at the time #GOOD MEMORIES!

[pagesaplenty]

Fridays with the Booksellers: Navigating Change, Negative People (and a world if we are being honest), and a Reading Mojo that would rather be napping

In a rare moment of ‘hey you should write’ and ‘hey wouldn’t it be cool to have a column of sorts’, I’m sitting down tonight, before bed, to write a little something for a Friday post for the shop. It is the age of TLTR (too long to read), of the programmed mindset to not click out of one location (don’t leave FACEBOOK ever), and an increasing mass exodus from the aforementioned. It is difficult to find an added self-motivation to write. We might be writing for no one and that might sound easy because it removes pressure to be great (though we should strive for this regardless), but it has this side effect of prompting a why bother response.

I had this brewing idea to get back into writing and writing for the shop, about books, the shop, and even life. It kept sitting in the back corner, rather patiently, and then an email came through on my account. I haven’t even read it yet, but the subject line was enough to prod some words out of me this evening.

“Self-expression, not self-promotion” *

Call my mind a little blown away by this idea because increasingly I’ve become disenchanted with this saturated mindset of social media to be an influencer. It is pressure; it is filled with holes that anxiety, depression, and a load of other things are waiting to fill. I can’t keep up and even when I try I ultimately feel as though I’m failing, but by whose standards I don’t know. It may be akin to the great and powerful Oz, behind a curtain dictating to us the rules and regulations for influencing in an influence hazed world. Yet behind that curtain is someone like you and me.

I didn’t mean for this to turn preachy or self-reflecting. I wanted to start a self-motivating writing project for the shop’s page. Low-pressure, fun inducing, thought provoking, and read worthy. We haven’t been minding our page at full tilt lately and we took a break from the After Hours Book Club for August. Our September is looking CRAZY and our birthday is in October. I think you can say we are feeling the pressure a bit these days to perform.

Freddy and I both have jobs outside of the shop. Some of you know this and have known, but many may not realize it. I recently accepted a job locally that fits in well with the hours I work at the shop. It is still a new challenge to accommodate the change and find a routine that benefits everyone. It is change and change can be a kind of four-letter word. We take each day and we strive to grow as business partners and as adults in this crazy world. Essentially this is what we have been doing since day one of opening our shop at 19 and 21.

Perhaps it is because we are young, because we are women, because we live in a small-town, or this is the Midwest so live with it, but Negative Nellys have been aplenty at Pages Aplenty lately. I’m not telling you this so you can assure of us the opposite or rush out to buy more books because you might read in this a ‘we are not thriving’ vibe (because that’s not the case). However, I believe it is important to manage your naysayers with a “chew like you have a secret” swift style and to be honest with fellow conspirators. In honesty maybe others can be educated or take the highroad and in this case the highroad is stop saying negative things.

Someone in passing remarked to me today that they can’t believe the shop has made it this long in a town like Mentone. Every week we have people who walk into the shop and tell us bookstores are dying. In a pat you on the head style comment, eBooks are taking over the market and isn’t it sad for you. I just can’t believe you can make it still.

Chew like you have a secret is essentially this motto that makes you smile when you remember the movie it came from and then it reminds you that a small percentage (oh howdy do we hope it is small) will always think bookstores are dying. It is easier to keep chewing and not waste your breath explaining to someone who believes such nonsense. Books have been around for longer than any other media type (I think it is okay to write such a blanket statement, but if not I’m sure someone will comment and correct me).

The other day I got chills thinking about the printing press. I am getting them now. Here stood this machine that was going to guarantee, not right away but eventually, that millions of people would be given access to words. I wonder if Gutenberg had an epiphany and his mind went forward in time to show him THIS IS THE IMPACT YOU WILL HAVE, THIS IS WHY YOU MUST CREATE THIS THING. Chills.

When I look at a page, when I swipe on a screen, when I listen to someone, and when the story is being told in pictures as well as words, I never want to think or fear that books are dying… because they are not. They are adapting. They are thriving. They are being used as tools in resistance, to strengthen resolves, to unite, and yes in bad places by bad people for not such good things. But books are not lying down, booksellers are not weeping in the streets with sandwich boards…unless you think that would help *wink*.

Books are published every day. A writer is sitting at their desk each and every hour. Booksellers are not waning; they are dreaming up ways in which they will not break into song and dance because that is how excited they are to share their love with you.

It is almost 10 years for our “little shop” and the comments haven’t stopped. Some weeks they are worse than others and some weeks we have none. We both realize and accept this is all part of the job and that if we are meant to be here 5, 10, 15 years from now… books will always be dying, according to someone. We will just keep chewing our secrets and sharing with the other secret keepers.

I was going to delve into my reading mojo being on hiatus and how you are not alone, but it is getting late. I also like where I ended the above. As an episode of the Book Riot podcast recently suggested… just go with it. Maybe you need that break to enjoy other things and your love of reading hasn’t gone away. It wants to give you space for a Netflix binge or to enlighten your mind with some thought provoking podcasts. Reading mojo will return, that’s a promise.

Happy Friday, Pete

* Thanks Shuffle for that boost in my writing.

#readerslife #bookseller #Fridays with the booksellers #bookshop #reading #negative people #writing #inspired #wordstoliveby

[cochart]

Film adaptations: blessing or curse? Discussions about media specificity and respect.

Every time there is a talk of film adaptations, one sees an old question, often worded poorly: are film adaptations of books good or bad? I believe this is a misleading question that ends up in useless debates between film fans and book lovers as to why one must accept the other. In short, I believe films are good if they are well-made. One can also differentiate between 1. films that are good on their own 2. films that are good adaptations. Most of the time, good film adaptations are both: they’re enjoyable as an independent work and respectful of the source material. For example, I think LOTR trilogy is a good balance of successful adaptation and good film. The differences between the film and the book exist, but the choices made substantiate the film work as whole and show respect for the books. On the other hand, I find The Hobbit trilogy to be a mediocre film and a poor adaptation. It’s difficult to accept that a 300 word book meant for young readers should be stretched into three separate films with grandiose battles and histrionic love lines. The choices to put original character and romance seem misguided at best and other than some delightful set designs and superb acting by experienced actors, it provides little to the fans. It’s not so bad that it makes one’s blood boil. It’s just mediocre, leaving you deflated and disappointed, frantically looking for merits that could salvage the trilogy. 

What makes a film a good adaptation? It boils down to knowing what to keep and what to change to suit the medium specifics of a film. The film doesn’t have to follow the book word for word. In fact, blindly following the source often ends up as a poor film. Instead, the director and the team have to know what key elements to bring into the film language. For example, Eowyn’s statement that she is not a man--she’s a woman--is something that the movie cannot miss since it’s the highlight in that section of the book. Overlooking such key parts can alter the whole feeling of the work. I was disappointed by 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby because while having opulent visuals, the movie left out one of the scenes that I find important in the book: a man finding uncut books in Gatsby’s library--showing the vanity of the facade that Gatsby puts out to the public--and Gatsby’s funeral (I may be mistaken in this funeral part since it’s been a long time). For me, that blew the narrative that the book had. 

Another important aspect of a good adaptation is respecting the author’s intentions. It would be of poor taste to convert a children’s novel into an R-rated movie or objectify a strong female protagonist from the book by dressing her up in unnecessarily revealing suits. If the book is specifically about an Asian woman’s struggles in the modern society, the decision to change her race would disappoint many. Tolkien’s work shows a strong anti-war sentiment. Even though the books have no preachy tone, I don’t think it is difficult for any readers to see that he felt strongly against wars. If any licensed film works failed to respect that, I would feel insulted as a fan. 

Final thing I want to point out about the film vs. book controversies is that one should respect the medium. I see many people getting defensive when book fans suggest that people could read the book instead of waiting for movies to come out. It often leads to a false dichotomy between the readers who are the privileged gatekeepers and the people who need the movie. The film fans argue that without film adaptations, people would not be able to enjoy the work. This is false. Just as books are not raw materials waiting to be made into films, films are not first step before reading the books. More importantly, the medium matters. People like works for the way that they are constructed in the particular medium, not some sort of pure essence of the story. Would you still rank LOTR as your favorite story if it were made of series of internet memes instead of English sentences? If only the narrative mattered, wouldn’t reading a Wikipedia plot suffice instead of reading a whole book or watching a whole movie? Clearly, this is not the case. When discussing a written novel, people sometimes seem to forget that some fans love the story because of its literary merits. In other words, I love LOTR for its power as a written work, not just a summary of the plot. I am not the biggest bookworm out there, but as a person who enjoys written works, I get annoyed when I see treatment of novels as some sort of meat for some future film to be made. 

[fallen029]

You Get These Words Wrong, Every Time; I Just Smile

Whenever I’m writing something, no matter what it is, it always sounds...written, if that makes sense? Like fiction or something? So sorry if this sounds that way. I just have a hard time writing things that don’t sound like the set up (which makes this sound like a set up; it’s not).

It’ll soon be February 15th here which will mark the first full year since my father officially passed away (he’d been hospitalized a few days prior to that). I thought that I would write something about it and I truly did plan to, maybe something retrospective or introspective or something, but I’m still just as much at a loss of words as I was the last time I saw him. I feel no more sad today as I did yesterday or the day that he passed away and I’m not really sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I’m not terribly emotional, either, right now, which I would have guessed I would be, before, but the older I get, I guess the idea of anniversaries, over death or anything else, kind of just don’t make sense to me. Since I’ve been out of school, where dates and seasons mattered (as they determined breaks), I find time to be less and less important to me. I imagine it’s that way for a lot of adults, really. It’s hard to explain other than, when each week is basically the same, regardless of season, and you don’t have a huge two months break in the Summer and others sprinkled between, it’s hard to really care about the date.

Maybe that’s just me?

Regardless, for all I thought that anniversary of his death, especially the first year, would mean to me...it just doesn’t? I don’t feel like that’s an indictment on people who do get caught up on those sorts of things, I’ve just always felt distanced a bit, I guess, from those sorts of things. So I can’t really write some sorrowful, sad piece right now about how much I miss him (I do) or how terrible sports are now, without him to talk about them with (they are; even baseball, sadly, isn’t the same for me) or how it feels like my life is a completely different one from the one I had when he was still alive (it does, like a barrier or something), because I feel those things every  day and I have since that last day, honestly. My father really was one of the only people in my life that I truly spoke to (I’m a bit socially awkward) and losing him has really fucked with my head more than it probably should.

There’s really nothing more to write about that.

So I thought, instead, that I’d kind of just share some of the stories (two of them) that my father liked to tell me over and over again. We had an extremely close relationship and spent a lot of time together. We drove, a lot, back and forth when I was growing up, from the towns we lived in and the one that he grew up in, where his parents and siblings still all lived. It was only a seven hour drive, in which we’d listen to music (mostly jazz and old school blues) and, the last six or so years, when I fell in love with old time radio shows, I’d download us some of those too. But we also talked, a lot. I think everyone’s parents have some interesting stories and my father was no exception.

My father was a kid, living in the western part of Texas (about an hour away from Odessa), when Texas finally began to desegregate their schools. It, obviously, was no easy feat. In fact, the town beside the one my father grew up in, had been in the process of building a new school right before the final issue from the state that, yes, everyone must desegregate, and decided to try and send the black kids to that school, instead. Anything to keep them away from the white children. The state had to come out and force them to have the ‘colored’ children with the whites. That new school sat vacant, my father always said, for awhile before it was re purposed because the state wouldn’t let them use it.

The two beside it, the one my father called home, was hesitant as well, I’m sure, but didn’t try anything underhanded. So, I believe my father was in the second grade (I could be wrong) when school segregation came to an end. There’s a lot of fucked up stuff I could talk about dealing with those sorts of things (I’m sure most of us with black parents can), but his favorite story to tell wasn’t really terrible. In current context, probably, but my father always found some humor in it.

His first week of school was a bit rough. The ‘black’ school he’d gone to up to that point was literally on the end of a block two over from his home while, the white school he now had to walk to with his siblings, was in town a bit. I don’t think that his younger brother had started school yet, but his sister, who’s older than him, would walk with him there, but he’d have to walk home on his own for whatever reason. Which was fine, of course, given that kids walked all over back then, but my father was no doubt a bit nervous, given the climate at the time.

Well, he left school either the second or third day and this little boy followed him. A white boy, in his class. My grandparents how, along with all the other blacks and the Hispanics in town (though they had their own little section) all lived, literally, on the other side of the rail road tracks, right before you drive ou of town, while white people lived on the other side, with the more ‘town’ area. It’s hard to explain, I guess, if you’re not accustomed to that (I mean, come on, it’s still a thing now), but blacks just weren’t allowed to buy homes or live on the other side of the tracks.

It’s how it was.

Well, my father’s walking home with his friends and this one white boy starts following them, my dad in particular. My dad always said that his friends started teasing him for it and it made him uncomfortable, so he yelled at the boy, but the white boy wouldn’t leave, so my dad got upset and ran home. The boy followed him all the way to my father’s backyard where, once he got there, my father yelled at him, “Why are you following me?” and the boy only shrugged a bit, I think, my father would always say.

Then he told him, “I wanted to see where the blacks lived.”

My father went inside them, where his mother was, and was real upset about it told his mother who only laughed (not in a mean way, of course), but he always told me that part. That she laughed.

The story just always sounded bizarre to me, when I was a little kid, honestly. Like something out of a movie, if not kind of fictitious. My father liked that one though, a lot, that memory, I guess it was, and he told it to me many times growing up. I asked him before, I recall, if that boy and him didn’t get along after that or if he even knew him and yeah, my father could name him by name and said that they were friends, you know, in that way that everyone’s friends once you know one another, and would always tell me that I just didn’t understand. It was a different time, after all.

I guess it could be construed as humorous (in an absurd kind of way), because my father lived no differently than that boy did. It was (and had became again) an oil town and everyone was pretty much across the boards poor save the few rich fucks and that boy wasn’t any better off than my father was. The ‘blacks’ lived just like the ‘whites’.

When I went back to live there, a few years back now, to take care of my father’s mother, another one of the old ladies in the town passed away. A black lady who, obviously, lived on that same side of the tracks. In the way that everyone knows everyone, my father was friends with that woman’s kids (my grandmother knew her well; again, just another time). Facebook, for all it’s terrible deeds, brought my father really close to the people that never got out of that town (a lot of them didn’t) and he reached out to her older son, who he was close friends with, and they talked quite a bit. Became close again.

Well, anyways, they were having trouble selling her house and my father remarked how this was odd, to her son, because oil’s been doing well recently in that area (enough so that the town has really come alive again) and surely someone was willing to take it off his hands. So my father’s friend replies that a couple were asking about it, but he didn’t wanna sell it to them. When my father asked why, he replied it was because they were Mexican and it wouldn’t feel right for Mexicans to live in that house and then griped about, nowadays, more and more of the ‘families’ were dying off and their children and grandchildren were just letting anyone buy their houses.

My view of my father, is, of course, is highly favorable and therefore unreliable, and I’m sure he’s had a racial thought before, but he truly wasn’t that way. And it tore him up that one of his friends, who knew how whites had treated them, could say that. He didn’t talk to him again and, given my father would be dead in the next year or so after that, I guess they never will.

I mean, I guess it sounds preachy, the way that I wrote that, but I don’t mean it to. It’s just the way it is, flat out. I don’t know why my father liked that story so much and I don’t know why his friend couldn’t see the sad irony in his statement about selling the house, but it’s just how it is, even today. My father had a lot of similar, some a bit more sinister in the intent, stories about those sorts of things, but that one always stuck out to him.

Another he liked to tell me was, later, in high school, when he got voted for some sort of yearbook.  award. It wasn’t most popular, I don’t think, but some of that nature, where there was a boy chose and a girl chose. Well, he was the first time a black kid had been chosen. The problem with that was, in the year book, the boy and the girl that each got chose for this award always took a picture together. Always.

That was much too scandalous for my father’s small town and, of course, he didn’t get his picture taken with that girl. Instead, that year and only that year, my father and the girl, who he was actually really good friends with, took separate photos in the year book which were put on the same page together.

A compromise of sorts, I guess.

It’s funny because, as I type these out, these aren’t, you know, the least bit humorous, but my father would always laugh when he told them and I would snicker too, I guess at the absurdity and the lack of tact they hold currently. It’s ridiculous, you know? How this was just acceptable back then? I guess that’s the joke. Far worse things happened back then, obviously, and still do today, but for some reason, he always had a way of finding the humor when the acts were done against him.

Maybe that was just a defense mechanism?

The other story I wanna share is a bit more vain, I guess, on my part. It’s not really a story my father would tell me, but rather something that occurred. If you’ve followed this blog for a hot minute, you might have guess I’m a pretty big fan of baseball. This came from my father who, unbelievably, was an even bigger fan than me back in the day. As he got sicker, this died down as he had less time to devote to watching the games, but it was still something he enjoyed and we talked about often. Some of my favorite memories of being a kid were waiting for him to get off work (he always would around the same time) and get home with dinner all right around the seventh or eighth inning of the Ranger game, which we’d watch together. All summer long.

Well, if you’re not as familiar with baseball, the Texas Rangers went to the World Series only twice in their entire careers (so far, I say, hoping against hope that this rings true eventually), the first time being in 2010. It was, understandably, a big deal to my father who’d been a fan since he was a kid. So, of course, he was invited out a lot, to watch the games at bars and, for one game, the only game of the World Series we won that year, my uncle got tickets and my father went.

It was the last Rangers game my father ever went to and we won, so he was pretty stoked. When he got unable to go to games anymore, he always reminded me that the last game he saw, in the ballpark, was a win in a World Series. It felt poetic enough, right?

We lost the others after that one, obviously, and I remember my father at home for the final one and he was pretty down, of course, because it was obvious that we weren’t going to win the World Series, but I remember him telling me that, even though he liked when he went to the game, he had had as much fun, not even at the bar, as he did at home. And I kind of scoffed at him, because that was kind of ridiculous, but he insisted.

“I’d rather watch the game with you.”

That’s what he told me. And I was in high school at the time, so I kind of ribbed him, talking about how he was lying and I’d rather have gone to the game, personally, and he only laughed.

We went to the World Series for the last time that next season, in 2011, and other than the games where he ended up working, he watched them with me, at home.

I can easily say now that I, too, would rather watch a game at home with him than be anywhere else.

Even when I was living away for a bit, he would call sometimes, during games, and we’d talk. We actually talked once a day. He’d call me on his way into work and, when he was off, we’d talk much longer, probably multiple times a day. I guess that’s why it’s been so hard, since he’s been gone. I really did talk to him, if not see him, each and every day. It really has been like living a completely new life.

My father wasn’t the best person in the world, not by a long shot, but he wasn’t the worse. He was someone who worked his entire life for the little he had and was happy to have it. He was a good man who didn’t deserve the pain he was in, up to his death, and I am so glad he’s no longer in it, now after it. He liked mundane things, like I do, like these stupid stories that I told that really aren’t gonna have an impact, you know? On anyone who reads this (I know no one is going to read this) or, ultimately, on anything.

But it’s kind of the same stupid stuff that I like to write, you know? I love writing about people in ordinary, simple situations dealing with typical problems. Even when I write my Fairy Tail stuff, it’s never about jobs or, typically, really plot driven. Just silly, ridiculous situations that I think other people might find humorous if I write them down and many some of you do, maybe you don’t, but I appreciate it, all the same, the people who take their time out to view this dumb shit I write in my spare time.

We don’t have forever and life isn’t infinite, but things we write or say or tell other people do stick around. My father’s gone but the things he shared with me, all the things he’s told me over the years, will stay with me to the grave. I dunno if I’ll ever post anymore of them, but they mean something. To me.

I hope everyone has a nice February 15th as well as every other day, I guess. Heh. More fanfics soon, hopefully.

#anniversary #Death #RIP Dad

[knightofbalance-13]

https://queenypie.tumblr.com/post/178692574503/how-not-to-write-blake

And it’s a bad idea to talk about racism without understanding racism.

It’s tough to talk about Blake without talking about the white fang. In fact, it’s virtually impossible because they’re her entire character, much like how an overwhelming portion of Weiss revolves around her family.

A. That;s not a bad thing.

And B. ‘overwhleming’. I would barely consider it ‘defining’ instead of overwhelming.

When Blake has a conflict, it stems from faunus racism. In volume 1, Blake runs from the team because of her past with the white fang. In volume 2, Blake goes crazy because of the white fang, and her big question from Oobleck is about how she’ll resolve racial oppression. In volume 3, the one-dimensional black panther stand-ins come to separate Blake from her group. In volume 4, Blake’s family time is interrupted to deal with the hand-rubbingly, mustache twirlingly evil white fang brothers. And In volume 5, Blake’s whole plot revolves around stopping Adam.

Except you know..

Her cowardice and her self destructive maytr complex. Both of which has nothing to do with the Fanaus.

Gee almost like you’re just boiling Bake down so it’s easier to make her look bad.

Also-Volume 2, Volume 4 and Volume 5′s plotlines are more to do with general issues than the White Fang directly...In fact, Volume 3 had Blake barely care about the WF and instead had her care about ADAM specifically.

So you’re already failing.

P.S. The WF can’t be BP stand-in, Malcom X had a point. They’re BLM stand-ins.

Remember how with Weiss I was weary about her becoming a one-trick pony? I think this sums up why.

Guess I’ll have to cover that post.

Also you lied about most of those. So no, it doesn’t sum up anything unless the summary is “I’m a liar.”

It’s safe to say that even if you wanted to argue Blake had some identify outside of being the token-minority, that was quickly swallowed up. On the rare instance Blake gets to be a real character, that moment is quashed by something stupid.

How about her issues with her cowardice, her recklessness and her martyr complex all fow hich stand-out, have been addressed separate from the Fanaus and are central focuses of her character?

Oh wait, I’m sorry. That would require doing anything to RWBY aside from attempted murder. Sorry, I forgot you people have no standards.

When Blake runs from her team, she meets another faunus and spends the majority of her time talking about her white fang past or trying to find the white fang (never mind the whole splitting from your team).

Maybe it's because she ran from them not only because one of their members is a racist but the White Fang terrorist organization.

It’s no coincidence that Volume 2 has her best arc, as said arc involves a negative trait of the character that isn’t directly tied to the white fang plot (if you squint anyways) and is resolved through interacting with her teammate, fulfilling the idea that rwby is in fact a team of people who care about one-another.

Funny how when this exact same thing happens in Volume 4, you’ll mock it. Almost like you aren't willing to

In volume 4, Blake has time to reconnect with her family, have a genuinely heart-felt relationship…and then Sun comes in to push wacky hi-jinks!

Said ‘hi-jinks’ were him trying to warn her of a possible killer and wa resolved with him, which is what Sun was trying to accomplish in the first place-

Sorry sorry. i’m acknowledging RWBY without demonizing it. Sorry for not being an irrational jackass.

Blake rarely ever gets to be a character that isn’t just a token.

No you just refuse anything that isn’t about her being a Fanaus.

While it’s not unreasonable to have a character angst over what makes them a minority (racism, sexuality, gender, etc.) you need to remember that that character is still a person, a person who has other issues, be they familial, platonic, or rom-no, we’ll save that for another time.

Funny how you leave out ‘personal’. You know, the category Blake’s issues fall under. Once again, rather convienent you ignore anything that contradicts your view.

Needless to say, the racism on display isn’t done well either. Until volume 5, the most “subtle” form of racism came from a team of bullies who tormented one faunus. Once. Bullies are not a good way of showing racism or homophobia or sexism, because they’re not people who genuinely believe in this topic to make a statement, but to lord power over someone.

Yeah see, the thing is-

Not only did one of those bullies STILL show that they believed what they did (Cardin referring to fanaus as animals in the VERY NEXT EPISODE) but actual racists usually DO use it as power because they have control issues. The Alt-RIght does that all the damn time.

If you wanted real, oppressive racism, you need to have characters the audience likes display it. Have Ruby or Yang make an uncomfortable joke about Rabbit Faunus, or Deer Faunus, or any Faunus. Have Jaune say something stupid, as he is normally want to do. 

Self destruction in 3...2..1-

When you have the designated hate sink be a racist, they’re just fulfilling their role. When you have a likeable character display this negative trait, it puts the problematic nature of these issues into perspective. If Blake’s friends had said made Velvet feel uncomfortable, there could have been a real dialogue over what is right and wrong to say to a faunus; instead, the team just feels bad that a bully picks on the poor bunny girl.

A. That is preachy as fuck. Seriously, that is not how you handle a subject ‘subtlty’ The only way to be more blunt would be to break the fourth wall.

B. That in and of itself IS racist because the fanaus are PEOPLE, INDIVIDUALS. Not a hivemind.

And C.-

Weiss.

You just described what they did with Weiss, except in that instance they showed how someone CAN become a racist through bad experiences and assumptions. But you magically forget about Weiss despite mentioning her before...

Because she would break your entire point here.

And that’s the thing isn’t?

You only accept what supports you instead of EVERYTHING in the show.

Also- Most racists in Tv shows are hate sinks. And they address racism well anyway. So you’re still wrong.

#queenypie

[cyjprojectarchive]

kalma | youngjae

a cyj fic fest 2017 entry prompt: “just smile. i really need your smile right now,” in which his anxiety is getting the best of him, but a certain hyung gave you a pass for their performance. genre: fluff, comfort words: 1425

a more softer and cuter and warm and vulnerable side of youngjae. (side note: kalma means calm in tagalog.)

Your feet take you to a hallway full of doors on each side, others seemingly occupied with either too many people squeezing in the tiny room and all of them coming out of it all at once. You don’t exactly know whether you’re going the right way or meeting your demise, but thankfully you see the room number you had been texted by a certain leader plastered on the center of one of the doors, black and bold letters contrasting the paleness of its painted wooden surface.

You knock once, hear a voice telling you to come in and proceed to turn the knob slowly. As you enter, you officially feel the cramped space of the room, with chairs lined up on one wall and vanities on the other. A group of staff is huddled on one side while a camera crew finishes up restoring her equipment inside her duffel bag. Your eyes continue scanning the place until you find the person you’re looking for.

Nobody seems to pay attention to your presence as the moment you came in, another person exited and one more replaced her spot. You walk towards a guy in a video game costume too big for his figure, the animated green suspenders making you giggle involuntarily. He whips his head at the sound and immediately, eyes soften at the sight of you coming in for an embrace.

“Jae,” you sigh against his neck, inhaling the fresh minty scent of your boyfriend. Youngjae chuckles in response, grabs onto your waist tighter as he nuzzles his nose lightly on the junction of your shoulder. “Sunshine, you’re here,” he says, more of a statement rather than a question–like he wants to believe you’re physically in front of him, hugging him, kissing his uncovered cheek.

“I am, all thanks to your favorite hyung,” you admit, coming out of the hug to look him in the face, blemishes and all. You’re glad you saw him before they put the make up on–you missed this side of Youngjae. You missed your boyfriend in general, but seeing the face you woke up to in the early mornings and dozed off to dreamland with during late nights almost two months ago–right here, right now…. It made your heart ache with pure joy.

“Yah, they all are. If Jackson hyung hears you say Jaebum hyung is my favorite, I’m never going to hear the end of it,” Youngjae reprimands you playfully, bopping his nose on yours. You close your eyes at the quick glimpse of affection and smile. “I can only imagine, Jae,” you answer, giggling still.

You contemplated whether to actually kiss him on the lips–god, were his lips fuller and plumper than you remember–but you didn’t plan on ruining your boyfriend’s career this early on its path. They all probably think you’re a close relative and besides, no one really was playing attention to your public display of minimal affection right now.

But you decided with your better judgment and hope that you’ll be able to sneak in a real kiss when it was just the two of you again.

“Jaebum snuck me a ticket for front row seats. Well, fourth row but that’s not too bad,” you say, recalling the night GOT7’s leader called you asking if you wanted to go to Youngjae’ secret guest performance on a singing competition airing on TV. He was able to pull a few strings, knowing the two of you haven’t seen each other in a while thus making this the perfect opportunity to surprise him.

“That’s still a good spot, babe,” Youngjae chirps, letting go of your waist but keeping your body close to him–he needed any and all types of decent touching from you. It has just been too long.

“Right? Anyway, I’m excited to see you rock the stage, Jae!”

As soon as you exclaimed your excitement, you witness Youngjae’s relieved expression turn into a nervous one, shoulders hunching and hands grasping each other tightly–his face was suddenly painted a ghostly pale, the life almost sucked out of him in mere seconds. You panic, heart beating fast and mind whirring loudly.

“J-Jae? Did I say something wrong?” You blurt out, looking for any signs of answers through his hooded eyes. He doesn’t look at you, head down low as his thigh start bopping up and down with the rhythm of his breathing.

“Just smile for me.I really need your smile right now,” Youngjae pleads.

You freeze, knowing exactly what was going on, but remember he needs you to help him right now.

“Breathe for me, baby. Deep breaths, one two three, yeah?” You encourage him, slow and soft with your words and the loving smile he had asked of you. Youngjae doesn’t nod, but seems to acknowledge your instructions as you see shaky but long breaths coming out of his parted lips. Hands intertwining with yours, you give him a light reassuring squeeze. You count some more as he breaths in time.

“I’ll get you some water. I’ll be right back, okay? Just breathe, baby.” You hesitate leaving, but you know he needs something to drink to refresh his throat and mind. You finally see a slight nod, and proceed looking for bottles of water provided in the room. You come back to his seat, opening the cap and reaching your hand towards his chest.

Youngjae takes the bottled water carefully and brings it to his mouth, gulping it down immediately. Patiently, you wait for him to slow down his breathing completely, and be comfortable enough to speak.

“I’m sorry,” Youngjae says, playing with your laced fingers. Looking up at you, his eyes seem puffy and red, cheeks flushed in the same color. You sigh understandingly, nodding your head for him to continue.

“I just… I didn’t sleep well last night–or the night before. I’m excited about this, I really am, but the thought of singing by myself without any of the guys with me on stage is just terrifying,” he continues, biting his bottom lip in contemplation.

“I was so happy about getting the offer of being a contestant because I thought this would be a great opportunity to show this side of me apart from GOT7, you know. Not that I prefer to go solo, I love being in the group, it’s just that–” Youngjae sighs, shaking his head. “Maybe I made a mistake.”

“A mistake?” You ask.

“Believing I’m cut out for this– singing on my own with hundreds of people’s eyes all focused on me,” he answers, the dread getting louder in his voice.

“You don’t mean that, Jae. And I think you’ll do absolutely amazing tonight,” you counter. “It’s normal to get nervous, that happens to you and the guys a lot before shows, right?”

Youngjae nods. You give him a reassuring smile.

“And you go on stage, take a deep breath, and do the best you can for that day. You remember all those times you dedicated practicing for that exact moment to be excellent, to show everyone the passion you have for your career. Whatever happens during the performance, you walk out, go home and pat yourself on the back for doing the most you can,” you tell Youngjae, meaning every word in your speech.

You didn’t want to sound preachy, but the only way to calm Youngjae’s heart was to reassure him of his skills, and that you are proud of where he is now and how much farther he can go. This is only the beginning, and you know he’s not going to entirely give up, He just needs that extra push, and then you can count on him to really rock that stage.

“How do you always know the right words to say?” He whines playfully, pouting and all. You blush at the sight, chest feeling light and happy. You shrug, an innocent smile encompassing your visage and he chuckles breathlessly.

“I think it’s part of my job description, as a girlfriend,” you say jokingly.

“You feel like it’s your job to be my girlfriend?” Youngjae gasps dramatically, and you slap his shoulder with a sharp look. “You know what I meant, dummy,” you say sternly but the grin on your face continues to show.

“I missed you so much,” Youngjae whispers as he brings the back of your hand against his soft cheek, rubbing it in circular motions. You watch him indulge in your touch, as you do too, and sigh contentedly. “I’m here now, Jae,” you remind him and he nods.

“I know, and I’m glad,” he responds, and you just know he’s going to do exceptionally well later, and all the days ahead of him.

#got7 imagines #choi youngjae imagines #got7 scenarios #choi youngjae scenarios #cyjnet #cyjficfest2017

[biofunmy]

9 Books to Help Calm an Anxious Toddler

These days, anxiety is on the rise in all age groups, and toddlers are not immune. Children’s books publishers have responded to the spike by producing more books aimed specifically at helping kids cope with all this ambient anxiety.

Of this new crop of books, I prefer those that aren’t overtly therapeutic. The best ones do deliver tips and strategies for dealing with oversize worries, but they are sly about it. After all, just reading the right book with your toddler can be a calming experience

[ This list is part of Story Times, a project from our children’s book editor to recommend the best books for young readers across all ages. ]

Image

Credit…

This brilliant board book invites a child to “help” someone else who’s upset — which works wonders to induce a calmer state of mind. Little Rabbit has fallen down and scraped his arm, leaving a red mark. Your toddler is invited to “try blowing on it.” Uh-oh: On the next page, Little Rabbit wails, “There’s blood!” A Band-Aid (with bunnies on it, of course) appears. “Can you put it on?” comes next, but tears still stream down the distressed bunny’s face. And so on, until the bunny feels better — and, chances are, your toddler does too.

Image

Credit…

‘Quiet,’ by Tomie dePaola

The esteemed creator of “Strega Nona,” who has practiced meditation for years, has made this beautifully spare picture book that teaches mindfulness to children in a non-preachy way. A grandfather, two grandchildren and a dog watch what’s around them: bees on a patch of flowers, a praying mantis climbing a lily stalk, a mother fox curled with her young in a hidden den. “My, oh my,” the grandfather says. “Everything is in such a hurry.” The family sits on a bench in order to relax, notice, see deeper and describe: a recipe for a peaceful state of mind.

Image

Credit…

‘Here and Now,’ by Julia Denos. Illustrated by E.B. Goodale

Full of soft, detailed illustrations, this is another good book to help a kid slow down and become more mindful. It starts with an inarguable statement: “Right here, right now, you are reading this book.” Then it calls attention to events occurring elsewhere: ants building, ideas forming, animals living and breathing. One breathtaking spread shows an airplane carrying people, other people sitting below in a field, and the earthworms, fossils and rocks beneath them.

[ The topics new parents are talking about. Evidence-based guidance. Personal stories that matter. Visit NYT Parenting for everything you need to raise thriving babies and kids. ]

Image

Credit…

Inspired by Milne’s own daughter’s struggles with anxiety and repetitive behaviors, this charming tale features a habit-bound dachshund who is called upon to rescue a friend stuck in a pipe. His success makes him so happy, he dares to vary his routine — just a little bit, at first. Little ones controlled by worries may find a ray of light in this pup’s small victory.

Image

Credit…

‘Ping,’ by Ani Castillo

The poofy red creature in this wise book is here to demonstrate a crucial life lesson that can help small children with social anxiety: Go ahead and put yourself out there — what Castillo calls a Ping — but remember, you can’t control how other people will react — the Pong. The creature Pings by painting, singing and “expressing feelings that just need to burst out.” Then it’s time to breathe deeply, listen for Pongs and decide what to do in response. So many books these days offer kids social-emotional counsel; this one delivers down-to-earth ideas in a refreshingly direct package.

Image

Credit…

For an agitated toddler, this lovely book is like a cool drink of water on a hot day. A child named Taylor, who’s wonderfully drawn to be either a boy or a girl, builds a block tower that falls down. Everyone who comes by to help, including a chicken and an elephant, is full of well-meaning advice. Only a silent rabbit offers what Taylor — like all of us — needs: the comfort of someone who will just listen, laugh and give a hug.

Image

Credit…

‘I Am Loved,’ by Nikki Giovanni. Illustrated by Ashley Bryan2

Reading poetry, with its rhythm, repetition and incantational power, is a great way to create a mood of reassurance for an anxious child. This playful collection for children from the distinguished poet Nikki Giovanni and the distinguished illustrator Ashley Bryan focuses on the most reassuring thing of all — love — without being mushy. The short poems float by like feathers, encouraging children to tune into their own self-love as well as the embrace of their families and communities. Bryant’s colorful artwork is warm and welcoming.

‘Most People,’ by Michael Leannah. Illustrated by Jennifer E. Morris

Most people are good: That’s the simple message of this deeply reassuring book, and it couldn’t be more timely, given the conflict, stress and negativity even the littlest kids pick up from the grown-up world these days. Most people, we are reminded, also love to smile and want to help other people — in fact, there are many, many more good people than bad ones. There’s also a story unfolding here, as two characters play out the words we are reading.

Image

Credit…

Sometimes a serene and philosophical picture book is just the thing to improve a frazzled mood and set the world right. In this one a bear and a wolf, out for nighttime walks, cross paths and decide to hike together, first through snowy winter vistas, then later through green springtime fields. Nothing much happens. Their peaceful companionship and mutual appreciation of sublime natural beauty are more than enough.

Follow New York Times Books on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar. And listen to us on the Book Review podcast.

Sahred From Source link Arts

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2RwVJF9 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

[septembercfawkes]

How to Write Your Story's Theme

Whenever someone says you "can't" do something in writing, I often hear instead *I* don't know how to do that in writing. For a long, long time, many writers, even professional, seasoned writers have said you can't and shouldn't write to a theme. That if you do, you'll always come off as preachy.

What they are really saying is *they* don't know how to intentionally write theme.

Theme is one of those elusive words that people often use but don't fully understand in storytelling. Worse yet, there are actually a lot of misunderstandings in the writing industry and community about it.

Here's the deal: Whatever we write communicates or teaches something to the audience, whether or not we intend it to.

During His ministry, Jesus Christ used parables (aka, stories) to teach people lessons, morals, new ideas, and change culture and ideology. Whether or not you are Christian, you've likely heard of the parable of the Good Samaritan. What is the point of that story? What is it teaching? It's teaching that we should love, be kind to, and serve everyone--regardless of nationality, religious background, culture, or whatever. Everyone is our "neighbor."

A thematic statement is essentially the teaching of a story. So for the Good Samaritan, the thematic statement is, "We should love, be kind to, and serve everyone."

Let's look at some other famous stories and their thematic statements (teachings).

The Little Red Hen: If you don't contribute or work, you don't get the rewards of those efforts.

The Ant and the Grasshopper: If all we do is have fun and entertain ourselves, we won't be prepared for difficult times.

The Tortoise and the Hare: It's better to move forward at a steady pace than go so fast we burn ourselves out.

These are old, famous fables with seemingly obvious thematic statements. Often in children stories, the theme is stated more directly. For adult fiction, it may be much more subtle.

Here are some more modern examples.

The Greatest Showman: You don't need to be accepted and loved by the world, only by a few people who become your family

Spider-verse: If you get up every time you get knocked down, you'll accomplish more than you thought possible

Harry Potter: Love is the most powerful force in the world

Zootopia: To change biases in society, you first must evaluate and work on your own biases.

Les Miserables: Mercy is more powerful than justice

Legally Blonde: Someone who is beautiful, blond, and ultra-feminine can be smart and taken seriously.

Hamilton: We have no control over our legacy.

(By the way, I realize a reuse a lot of the same examples on my blog, but it's just faster and easier than grabbing something new. What matters is that you understand the concept, regardless of example.)

Okay, so when we take English, language arts, and literature classes, we are usually just taught about thematic statements.

Which makes it difficult when you are trying to create stories, because if that's the only thing we understand about theme, and we try to write with that in mind, we often come off as sounding "preachy." As a result, many seasoned writers have actually told themselves and others not to write with any theme in mind (which has its own potential problems that I'll talk about later).

A good portion of this next section is information that comes from Amanda Rawson Hill and K. M. Weiland, because they are the two people who got me to have a clearer, conscious understanding of theme.

Okay, so we have the thematic statement, but on a broader scope, we have a theme topic. The subject or topic about which something is taught. It's the concept, without the teaching attached. It's what the theme or story is "about," in an abstract sense.

Here are the theme topics of those stories:

The Little Red Hen: Contribution and work

The Ant and the Grasshopper: Preparation

The Tortoise and the Hare: Pacing

The Greatest Showman: Acceptance

Spider-verse: Perseverance

Harry Potter: Love

Zootopia: Bias

Les Miserables: Mercy (and justice)

Legally Blonde: Being respected/taken seriously

Hamilton: Legacy

The theme topic is broader than the statement. The thematic statement is the specific teaching about that topic.

Note: People often use the word "theme" to mean either "thematic statement" OR "theme topic," which is why it can be confusing. I've done this multiple times myself, but am trying to stop. (Plus the fact my ideas on storytelling are regularly evolving, probably doesn't always help with ambiguity on my blog either)

In a strong story, the theme topic will be explored during the narrative, through plot or character or both. The story will ask (directly or indirectly) questions about the theme topic. This can happen through main characters and main plots, or side characters and subplots, or all of the above.

Let's look at some examples to illustrate what I mean.

In The Little Red Hen the theme topics of contribution and work are explored by having the red hen ask multiple characters for help (or, in other words, for contribution and work) and by having the red hen work alone. She herself is asking questions related to the topic.

In The Tortoise and the Hare, the theme topic of pacing is explored and questioned by comparing a slow character to a fast character, and as the plot unfolds, we see the choices each one makes.

In Zootopia, the theme topic of bias is explored, as a prey animal cop (the rabbit) has to interact and team up with a predator criminal (the fox), and each have biases against the other. But the theme topic is also explored in the society as a whole. Officer Hopps is told by society that she can never be a cop. Nick is told by society that because he's a fox, he must be untrustworthy. In one scenario, Hopps is trying to overcome her society's bias. In the other, Nick has given into society's bias--he will only ever be seen as a fox. Side characters and subplots explore the topic of bias as well, whether it's pitting crime on predators or dealing with nudist communities. Everywhere, the theme topic of bias is being touched on. By exploring the topic from all these different sources and perspectives, the audience is naturally confronted with questions (whether or not they are consciously aware of this). Can you succeed in a biased society, or will a biased society keep you from ever becoming what you want? In our efforts to create an unbiased society, do we criticize others' biases while remaining blind to our own? How can we create a safe, unbiased community? Are we prejudice ourselves?

Pretty deep stuff to be asking in a kid show, right? Disney is a pro at handling theme in their animated movies, so they are definitely one I'd recommend for people who want to study well done examples.

In The Greatest Showman, the theme topic of acceptance via love is explored in a similar way. As a child, P. T. Barnum is never accepted or loved by his society. His goal in life is to give the girl he loves an extravagant lifestyle, to prove to her parents, nay, to the whole world that he's worth something. Through the course of the story, he tries to do this in multiple ways: at his job, he approaches his boss with a new idea; he tries to start a museum; he starts a circus; he wants to present an opera singer to the world so that he can gain notoriety. Everywhere, the protagonist is asking for love and acceptance, and it's never enough.

But side characters and subplots explore this topic as well. Charles doesn't want to be laughed at for being small, Lettie doesn't want to be a freak for having a beard, Anne doesn't like being treated differently for being black, Phillip wants to leave high society but will be shunned, Jenny Lind never feels good enough because she comes from a low class. As we see these characters collide with other characters, and society, we are confronted with questions. Can these people ever find love and acceptance? Will they ever feel fulfilled? How can they overcome society's hate and prejudices? Are they willing to sacrifice family, income, security, personal weaknesses to get there? And furthermore, it seems that as you are finally accepted by one group of people, your are only rejected by another--can you be accepted by all circles? And does it matter if you aren't?

Often when writers fail at theme it is because they are only focused on the thematic statement. And they are therefore not fairly exploring and questioning the theme topic.

But the theme statement is the answer to the exploration and questioning, and should not be fully realized until the end.

Let's take this a step further. We have the thematic statement. We have the theme topic. But in most stories, the beginning will have or illustrate a false thematic statement. (Alternatively, K. M. Weiland calls this "The Lie Your Character Believes.") This is almost always manifested through the protagonist in some way.

The false thematic statement is typically opposite of the thematic statement.

The Ant and the Grasshopper: The grasshopper believes that all he needs to do is have fun and entertain himself, and he doesn't need to work or prepare--that's a waste of time. OR "Having fun is more important than preparing."

The Tortoise and the Hare: The hare believes if he runs as fast as he can, he will easily win the tortoise.  OR "If I go as fast as I can, I'll be most successful."

The Greatest Showman: P. T. Barnum believes if he shows the world how amazing and successful he can be, he'll be loved and accepted by all society. OR "Once you prove you are amazing, all of society will love and accept you."

Spider-verse: Miles Morales believes that by quitting everything, he won't have to deal with any expectations. OR "If I don't persevere, I don't have to worry about expectations."

Harry Potter: Because his parents are dead, Harry Potter begins as an unloved and powerless person living in a closet. OR "Death and oppression are the most powerful forces in the world."

Zootopia: Judy Hopps believes she will fight society's biases by proving to everyone else that a bunny can be a cop. OR "To change biases in society, you must start by criticizing everyone else's."

Les Miserables: Jean Valjean was thrown in prison for nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread and when released continues to deal with extreme justice, which leads him to stealing from the church. OR "Justice is more powerful than mercy."

Hamilton: Hamilton believes he will create and build and control his legacy by never throwing away his shot. OR "If I seize every opportunity to be great, then I will leave a powerful legacy after I'm gone."

You'll notice I left out the Little Red Hen. Her story is different. From the beginning, the little red hen believes in the thematic statement--that's why she is working so hard, but the theme topic is still explored and questioned (and tested) through her interactions with the other characters. This can be done in modern stories too, but it's rarer and harder to pull off. Remember, I said writers often fail at theme when they only focus on the thematic statement, without fairly exploring or questioning the topic. In The Little Red Hen, it's all the other characters that embody the false thematic statement. They think they can enjoy the rewards without having done any work. Take note that the red hen herself isn't preachy or snooty. She adheres to her beliefs, even though it requires more of her (because no one will help, she has to do more work).

In order for stories like this to be successful, we need to see the protagonist have to struggle through more adversity to adhere to the true thematic statement. Remember how the maxim goes, "No good deed goes unpunished." These stories are more difficult to write, so I probably wouldn't recommend them to beginners, but I'm not going to say no definitively. If your protagonist starts with the true thematic statement, she still needs to struggle, if not struggle more.

Legally Blonde is similar. Elle Woods fully believes she can get into law school and get her boyfriend Warner back, despite everyone around her saying Harvard won't take someone like her seriously. Throughout the movie, Elle is constantly told she just isn't "serious" enough. However, her story varies from the red hen's, because as the theme gets questioned and explored she eventually reaches a point (at Plot Point 2), where she succumbs to the idea that no one will truly respect her, when she says something along the lines of, "All people will ever see of me is a blonde with big boobs. No one will ever take me seriously. Not even my parents." But once she receives her "final piece to the puzzle," she returns to and proves the thematic statement that someone can be beautiful, ultra-feminine and smart, respected, and taken seriously.

So the Little Red Hen and Legally Blonde are rarer variations, but keep in mind that they still legitimately question, explore, and test the theme topic (this is key).

In most stories, the protagonist starts with the false theme statement and ends with the (true) theme statement, a process that typically comes about through the main character arc. (You can read more about this specifically here).

So here is how the theme may fit in, in story structure.

Beginning:

Protagonist believes or illustrates the false thematic statement.

Middle:

The theme topic is explored through plot and characters having different experiences and providing different outlooks.

This will lead to questioning: It leads to the audience questioning. In most stories, it leads to the protagonist questioning. After all, he believes in the false thematic statement, and maybe after these encounters, he's unsure how true it is.

(Also worth noting, the middle may test and disprove wrong thematic statements other characters have.)

The middle is the "struggle" part of the theme, and on Freytag's Pyramid, the rising action. We are struggling to come to a better understanding of the theme topic.

At the second plot point, the protagonist may have an epiphany (the true thematic statement) or at least a turning point, where they now take on, embody, or demonstrate the true thematic statement.

Note: In some rare stories, the protagonist may not embody the true thematic statement, which will result in a tragic end for them. If the thematic statement is true, then they can't "survive" (literally or figuratively) if they don't learn to adhere to it. (If they "survive," that means that what you thought the true thematic statement was, was probably just another false thematic statement, and you got them mixed up somewhere.)

Note: Also, the true thematic statement may be stated prior to the ending, but the protagonist will not fully realize or embody it until the end.

Ending:

The climax of the story is the ultimate test of the final, true thematic statement--does it hold up to the test? Is it proven to be true? If it's the true thematic statement, it must.

In the denouement, the true thematic statement is further validated. We proved it true in the climax, now we must validate and show its effects. This can be very brief--one example--or it can be validated again and again through multiple examples.

It's worth mentioning, too, that in a lot of highly successful stories, the antagonist embodies THE false theme statement or A false theme statement (which is one of the reasons why they fail). So Voldemort can never understand that love is more powerful than death and oppression (notice that Voldemort and Harry have similar beginnings in life). In Les Mis, Javert ultimately can't live with the fact that mercy is proven to be more powerful than justice (which is why he takes his own life). However, this tactic is not a necessity by any means, just something worth considering.

Now does everyone who writes successful stories consciously know and adhere to all the things I've talked about so far in this article?

Heck. No.

Remember the first of this, where I said even seasoned writers may believe you should write with no theme in mind?

Lots of people write successful stories without even thinking about a theme.

But.

If you are aware of how theme functions, you can use that to an advantage and write even more powerful stories (and it will help you stand out from those that don't).

There are lots of stories that are good that don't follow through on this element of story structure--but I sometimes wonder: How much better and stronger could they have been if they did?

Theme is what makes a story "timeless." This is exactly why Christ's parables and Aesop's fables have withstood the test of time. Why audiences trust Disney movies for a worthwhile emotional and intellectual experience every new movie. Why classics like Les Mis or Shakespeare are still taught and studied today. Because they aren't just stories. They are perspectives on the human experience and teachings that influence lifestyle and culture. They can touch hearts and minds and shift ideology.

And even if you write a story without caring two cents about theme, it will still have a thematic statement. Because every story is teaching something--if only through action and character. But there are dangers and problems that can happen (especially in today's world), if you don't pay attention to theme at all. Take the famous children's story, The Rainbow Fish. I loved that book as a kid (and if you aren't familiar with the story, you can listen to it here), but it has problematic, unintentional teachings. It teaches that in order to have friends, you must give away personal boundaries; that you can "buy" friends; that if you want to be liked by others, you need to give them things they ask you for. Sure, it conveys that sharing makes you happier, but it has those problematic parts as well.

Did the writer intend to teach those negative things? Probably not. But in the story, they are "proven" as true thematic statements simply because of the outcome of the plot and characters.

This could get all into some really deep stuff, like minority representation, biases, culture control, and censorship, but for today, let's leave that for the university classrooms. (Not to mention, for someone learning the craft of writing, it can sometimes feel super paralyzing.)

I will say that even in stories where the writer doesn't completely care for or understand theme, even if the thematic statement is good, I sometimes find myself wondering if the theme is "underdeveloped." But that doesn't mean I still can't enjoy and support the story.

For most writers, theme isn't going to make or break your ability to get published. It's not something I would tell beginning writers to stress out about straight out of the gate. But it is something that can move you from great to phenomenal.

You don't need to know your theme topic or thematic statement to start writing. I would wager, that the majority of writers don't. Often what happens is that a theme topic or thematic statement will start to naturally emerge. Then in the revision process, you can use this article to check, develop, and strengthen the theme.

You can have more than one theme. As you are writing, you may realize that there is more than one theme topic and thematic statement. Lots of stories have more than one. Like I talked about in my story structure series, Spider-verse also has themes about choice and expectations. Harry Potter is chock-full of themes. Legally Blonde includes thematic statements about having faith in people. In some cases, one theme will relate and play into another or help refine it. With all that said, there is usually one theme that emerge as the main theme.

And that's pretty much what's worth knowing about writing your story's theme.  

#Writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writing help #writing reference #writeblr #nanowrimo #fanfic #fanfiction #writing advice #fiction writing #creative writing #theme #writing to theme #zootopia #spiderverse #hamilton #Harry Potter #legally blonde #les mis #fables #tortoise and the hare

[all-emos-become-hipsters]

“But Eating Meat Is Natural!”

While you may enjoy the taste of flesh, the way in which it is brought to your table is often cruel, brutish and rather unecessary. I you ever asked for a coherant, non-offensive argument against the consumption of animal products. Personally, I am unable to digest red meat well and it made me ill when I used to consume it. And I’ve never cared much for chicken. So I only really ate fish as my only source of animal protein. As you are well aware, I was a pesketarian for many many years before I made the decision to go vegan. And it hasn’t been an overnight thing. I’ve been gradually moving towards it for years and only in the last few months have I been able to actually get there. I’m not asking, or telling you to go vegan. As you say, we all make choices. And so... Here we go. There is no ethical way to steal the flesh, reproductive products and body fluids of another creature. We are vastly beyond the point of 'Evolution' and the food chain as a species. We are an apex preadator that has colonised and spread across every landmass on the planet, and in our wake we have eaten our way across a large percentage of the animals that make up the world. Not to mention the fact we are not 'Carnivores' which is an organism that survives purely on the flesh of other creatures such as the Lion or the Wolf. We evolved mostly as herbivores, and omnivores at a push. Much like pigs, bears and chimpanzees (Our closest genetic reliatives). Even then, the amount of meat these creatures consume is negligible when compared to their consumption of plants. If you're concerned about protein, the average person needs only 60 grams or so a day which is easily achieved by consuming legumes, soy, beans and pulses. Our canine teeth are pitiful at tearing flesh, but far better at tearing through fruits and nuts. Meat was benefitial to our evolution as a species as it is high in calories and full of protein. But considering we are mostly sedentary as a species and way more evolved than any other organism on the face of this planet, do you think it is still entirely essential to our survival? Is it still natural? The minerals etc are easily obtained from plants and the only thing a vegan diet is truly deficient in is vitamin b12 which is very cheap as a supplement. You mention animal cruelty. It is the world we live in but only because people make it that way. That’s like saying the government are shit but it’s the world we live in. They’re only shit things if normal people allow or permit them to be ☺️ Which brings me nicely onto my next point: The oceans are being fished to breaking point and if you think that meat raised for slaughter is in any way natural, then you are under a commonly held delusion. There is one thing to be said for having chickens at the bottom of your garden, but keeping tens of thousands of live animals in the dark, being fed through tubes and pumped full of hormones to make them grow big enough to consume is not only unnatural, but also incredibly inhumane and deeply unethical. Eggs are often produced in much the same way which leaves chickens stripped of calcium in their bones which causes their legs to break and their bones to split and crack. Jungle Fowl, the 'Natural' chicken lays around 12 eggs A YEAR. Chickens, like humans have a menstrual cycle. Through selective breeding (read genetic engineering) we have altered the genome so much that we have forced their own bodies to work against them for the benefit of our species. Let that sink in. Then onto Milk. Name one other species that consumes the mammary secretions of another animal? Do lions suckle on Wilderbeast, Foxes on Rabbits, Dolphins on Whales? Nope. Also, when do female humans produce milk? After they have given birth. We forcefully impregnate animals (read Rape) in order to make them bear children. We then steal babies away from their mothers, and indeed the body fluids meant to sustain a calf, a lamb, a kid in order to fuel our own cravings for dairy. But, due to the disgusting conditions that most 'Dairy' animals are kept, often blood and pus from sores on their udders and nipples contaminate the milk. Cheese is nothing but curdled (read Stale) milk and many hormones and anti-biotics used to keep the animals alive through their horrific and strenuous lives enters their flesh and secretions which we then consume (More on that later) That's the animal welfare part.. The actual negative health effects on our bodies from consuming meat are vast and numerous. There is an increased risk of stroke, cancer, diabetes and heart disease not to mention effects on our hormonal balance such as decreased fertility, acne, psoriasis, and many other conditions. Processed meat is categorized by the World Health Organization as a type 1 carcinogen, putting it up there with smoking and asbestos. I’ve quit smoking, quit drinking and recreational drug use. I exercise regularly and eat well. I do this because I care about my own body, the planet and the welfare of our state. And I changed because of the wealth of information that shows how unhealthy and expensive these things are. I will not rethink that statement because it is true. If you drink, if you smoke, if you eat meat you are doing yourself a disservice. I have already damaged myself enough and I am not prepared to continue that way, and that is my choice. Now, I know you may not care about the health risks, but the effect these diseases have on our society as a whole are devastating. These diseases are the main killers in the West and cost our Governments Millions a year in healthcare costs. Do you care about the NHS? Stopping yourself getting sick is a good way to start helping. The anti-biotics pumped into animals is causing the bacteria in the world to start evolving to be resistant to them and as a result, we could be potentially faced with a super-virus in years to come which would render modern medicine useless and wipe out a vast amount of people. That's if climate change doesn't get there first... Environmentally, the rearing of animals for consumption is devastating. 51% of carbon emissions come from the Livestock industry and raising animals (specifically Cows) is the primary driving force behind deforestation. If you think consuming flesh, milk and eggs is really a 'natural' thing to do in todays world, then that is not an 'opinion'. That is a delusion. And the issue is, the vast majority of the world is still suffering from the same delusion. Vegans and vegetarians are often slated as 'preachy' and 'pissed off' but why shouldn't we be? The animal agriculture industrial complex runs deep in the veins of society. Hunting an animal with your teeth and fingernails is natural. Do you think that slitting an animals throat with a buzzsaw while it is hung on a conveyer belt and still consious and then transporting it's dismembered flesh and body parts thousands of miles across the world, spraying it with preservatives and wrapping it in toxic plastics and keeping it in a refrigirator for weeks is natural? Consuming those things is entirely your choice, much the same way it would be my choice to drink (or smoke) poison. I don’t expect you to change as I have very low expectations of people as a whole and I don’t stroke my ego thinking I can preach salvation. I’m in no way perfect what so ever but I am making an effort! 😉 Vegans are very good at listening to arguments to the contrary, the trouble is, your arguments as carnists aren’t valid. They have been proven wrong by science time after time. And with that in mind, I'm off for a falafel...

#vegan #food #plantbaseddiet #plantbased #health #vegetarianism #meat #animal #slaughter #consciousconsumer #falafel #politics #environment