#okay but here’s the plot twist

[whenthesunshinesonanewhope]

It was a trend a while ago on here... but may we see Gordon in a dress? 👀

I’m gonna be honest, I had no idea this was a trend until one of my friends had to explain it to me. XD

But, I’ve decided to humor this request just this once. Another friend was kind enough to send me dress ideas in a voice call, so I’ll be showing that down below—

At least be thankful that Thomas and Percy are not here to witness this. XD

~ Miss Kani

The dress inspiration:

#thomas the tank engine #ttte #ttte humanized #ttte human au #ttte ​when the sun rises on a new hope #ttte au #the sun shines over tidmouth #ttte gordon #gordon in a dress #okay but here’s the plot twist #bill and ben decided to make him put on a dress #boco picked out the veil bc he decided to play along with the twins’ pranks just once #thank you anon for this XD #also it was a valid excuse to test out watercolors a friend gave me

[egophiliac]

(almost) four years in, and I finally had time to draw something for the anniversary! woo! 🎉🎉🎉

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #because i need to talk for a minute about how the plot of the anniversary story so far is literally just #crowley jumpscares us in our living room to demand we make him lunch and yuu is just like 'i need to start locking the door' #oh twst you always know just how to get me #the qol updates though! CONVERTING SINGLE KEYS INTO 10-SETS YES THANK YOU OH MY GOD #SKIP LESSON TICKETS!!!! #3X BATTLE SPEED!!!!!!!!!!!! #SAVE TEAM BUILDS AND SUPPORT CARDS FINALLY AHHHHH #oh and some other stuff too but look i NEEDED these things #also master chef grim! he's so precious! #though he's not going to get a little sporty uniform after all? #grim canonically flies in the nude i guess #no it's okay chef grim is ADORABLE #if you zoom in on his card you can see little smoodges from his inexpert cake decoration 😭 #which on the one hand is cute but on the other hand i'd been convinced he'd just slapped some frosting and candles on an actual can of tuna #anyway happy (a few days until the) fourth anniversary everybody! #i've been here since the beginning (preregistered during the dorm reveals babyyyy) and it REALLY doesn't feel like it's been four years #you know what they say: time flies when you're watching anime characters have emotional problems

[agent217]

I just watched Skull Island on netflix and god it goes SO fucking hard. Like holy shit. I put in on as "casual background noise" bc the animation looked neat and ended up binging the whole thing in one sitting with undivided attention. Please give me more of this I'm begging you. Please where is the rest of it

#skull island #fun fact i didn't check the rating and 20 minutes in i sat here like #oh fuck this is NOT for kids #i'd been rewatching episodes of blue's clues for nostalgia earlier okay my mindset was NOT in it #i did not expect sudden on-screen violent death lmfao #(this was a positive twist) #i don't usually make posts to recommend random shows i liked but for this one i need to it is SO good #the animation style is gorgeous and i'm so fucking invested in the plot

[didhewinkback]

a something old blurb to celebrate the impeccable street style

---

You tilted your head towards the sky, basking in the early June sunshine, the sounds of the busy London streets far away, that horrible eight am meeting nothing more than a distant memory. You can feel his heartbeat from where your back is pressed against his chest and you close your eyes, feeling a bit dazed at his ability to make everything better, the stress of your morning instantly melting away when you saw his surprise “Got sandwiches. Lunch break’s at one?” text.

 A wide grin on his face when he met you outside your office, explaining that he “was on a walk in the area, figured I should stop by” before he took your hand and headed to a secluded spot in the park, laying out the blanket he packed alongside the lunch he brought, a proud smile on his face.

Lasting all of five minutes before he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into him, settling against the nearby tree with you sitting between his thighs. And that’s where you stayed, eating lunch and laughing together, conversation dwindling to companionable silence, your fingers drawing mindless patterns against the grooves on his shorts. 

“Have to go back soon,” you say regretfully, and you can feel his grumble as much as you hear it. 

“Y’ should play hooky.” 

“Yeah? You reckon?” you say with a laugh. 

“‘M being serious,” he says, nudging his nose against your neck before planting a line of kisses against the skin. “Play hooky with me, baby. Call out sick for the rest of the day.”

“H, they all saw me leave for lunch break. They’ll know I’m lying out of my arse.”

“Don’t know, love. Pollen’s really bad this year.” he says, laughing when you do.

“C’mon, we can go for a walk…” he says, pressing a lingering kiss to your shoulder. “Can get some drinks by the water…can take y’ home and have my way with you…”

“Mmm. It is hump day after all,” you say, giggling when he honks out a delighted laugh. You turn to face him, his legs sliding down to hold you in his lap, his hands immediately sliding up under your shirt, fingers drawing up and down your spine. 

“Please?” he says, before licking his lips, his eyes grazing across your features. “Just wan’ to spend time with you.”

“Gonna be with you for the whole summer. You’re not gonna get sick of me?” you ask, mostly as a joke, heart clenching when he shakes his head immediately, looking at you with such open affection it makes your breath catch in your throat.

“Not possible.” he says softly, his hand coming up to hold your cheek. “Come here.” 

He pulls you towards him, capturing your lips in a sweet kiss. He kisses you softly, gently, his thumb brushing against your cheek as he drags his lips against yours. You could stay here forever, slowly melting into him as he pulls you closer, taking you apart kiss by kiss.

“Have to -” you say breathlessly as he starts to kiss a line down your face, mouth resting against your collarbone as you both catch your breath. “Have to text my boss. Tell her I’m not making it back today.”

“Get innn,” he says, pumping his fist, looking up at you with mischief twinkling in his eyes. 

“You are a terrible influence.”

“And proud of it, love.”

---

#okay take 2 #something old #something old blurb #harry styles fic #edited this one a little hows that for a plot twist #lmk what u think #pls and thank u theres so many of u on here now it is bonkers

[hauntingblue]

Ace...?? they cloned my beautiful wife...

#ace if he was born with his mother's hair but without freckles....... #this 3d intro... damn they spent their coins here but didnt age that well xd #i love how there is nearly a movie for every character that joins since usopp.... sanji got the last one. chopper has one i havent seen #and robin now.... i mean its not their movie but you know what i mean #zoro and nami on the same wavelength i miss you.... my fag and hag sisters.... #robin old design i miss you.... her and nami look so different.... not like now.... #I MISS CHOPPER OLD DESIGN HE LOOKS SO SILLY!!! #the goofy scenes are too good..... 'luffy what are you doing''nothing just a fight' 'okay dont get lost' #also sanji with robin and nami while the others fight... the girls AND sanji #this guy looks like ace with his kinds long middle part hair and eyes.... and luffy likes seeing hum fight #i am seeing things where there are non but my beautiful not dead yet wife keeps haunting me once again #seeing luffy talk about how if he dies fighting to be pirate king then so be it and like HE DID!!!! AND THAT DIDN'T STOP HIM!! #kids with guns TUN TUN kids with guns TUN TUN #robin made a gigantesco mano.... this was visionary #ROBIN giving back the gun to the child so he shoots luffy and he can bounce it back.... luffy enabler num 1. #nami threatening a child with zoros sword.... i needed this so bad. #shryer.... your drip too hard.... your swag too different.... your smoke too hot.... they will kill you #NOOOOOOO the clone of my beautiful dead wife died just like him.... face down... #the old man is dying and zoro knows.... #shryer is alive who woulda thot..... #'be serious' 'im always serious... didnt i get out?' this is him. omg #sanji with the cooking hacks for the fight.... i am sure of it... also sanji spy come back to me.... #THE BOY IS THE SISTER??? AND THE OLD MAN AND ACE CLONE ARE BLOWN UP??? #it is flour lmao they got their ideas from the fight with crocodile #everyone is alive and well 👍🏻including the hat #that was kinda beautiful with that plot twist and everyone wanting to live and all.... #nami strangling zoro!!!! more!!! #talking tag #watching one piece #watching one piece movies

[heffrondriving]

soooo. that new big time rush album huh

#how we feeling today rushers (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ #also yes i've come back from the dead just to post abt this like. i owe this blog *this much* at least ykyk #anyway its like 3 in the morning here and ive just woken up after a vv long and exhausting day yesterday so this was a pleasant surprise :> #i haven't really listened to it in full yet bc idk adhd things but when the mood hits right y'all know i'll be VIBING #i never talked abt it but waves and can't get enough were great earworms so i'm excited to see how the rest of the songs will turn out #also hope everyone's doing well here on the btr side of tumblr hehe y'all been absolutely fed this year <3 #is this gonna be allen's 2k23 tumblr comeback??? nah prob not i'm too in love with the fooo conspiracy atm but hey maybe also who knows 👀 #(*heckler from the back of the audience* NO ONE CARES ABOUT U AND UR TRASH CONTENT IDIOT STFU FOREVER ACTUALLY!!!!!) #but yep. life has been fuck work has been a headache and so many unwanted tragic plot twists this year. but at least we got new btr lezzgo! #also happy pride month y'all!!! just saying this for absolutely no rhyme or reason related to this post at all wdym lmao ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ #okay thats all promise i'll shush now and it's time for old grampa to disappear into the darkest recesses of the internet yet again hejdååå #btr #big time rush #another life #album #stop it forever #lmao i hardly remember my dumbass blog tags;;; it's for the best hdbfkgk

[acourtofquestions]

Why I’m currently mad at Chaol:

… buckle up folks; these ever-changing opinions (started with the Rowan rollercoaster) & are now about to go off the roads (much like Queen of Shadows seems to be preparing me for)…

Honestly, I think I am angrier with him than I was with Rowan. Maybe cause I’m slightly bitter because I did love him (maybe I still do… we shall see) but that came first, so there was a character more than the initial arguments — but even more so because she loved him, and he did love her; it makes it worse — Rowan at least didn’t know her; yes, it made him seem more unjust in his cruelty & anger, it was clearly far more assumption based & projection, but despite how well he managed to know her (& use it to hit where it hurt) he didn’t really know her (not yet, not in the same way). Meanwhile, Chaol KNOWS her & she trusted him; more than almost anyone or “entrusted” (maybe as the better term); giving him her identity after 10 years TEN YEARS on the run she told him.

And when he said those words it was pointed to the fact of knowing her, hurtful in a way only he could be; knowing not only her, but her past, her trauma, her grief, and saying all of it to spite those things; to hurt her. I at least don’t think Rowan wanted to hurt her; he was willing to, he was aware of the bruises he left but with the end goal was not suffering, he wanted to help. Chaol was angry over some petty claim to a broken heart, angry at himself & unable to admit it, angry at her for so many held tallies & mistakes against her, he leaves so much unforgiven & carries such a grudge. He is unwilling to admit to the parts he plays & willing to hurt her for the sake of his anger, regardless of the price; one she will be paying instead. The way he blatantly disregards her; her name, her ideas, her love, her family, her grief, her fear, her… everything; the good she did, the bad he did, what parts they both played. It’s not acceptable.

Not After everything… perhaps one could say it’s because of everything… but it’s just unacceptable. And though there is no “just” nor excuse in trauma; it’s not a competition; he, however, has no reason within it. I’m sorry, but your broken heart is not the same as hers, your year is not the same, you know nothing of duty & horror & guilt & grief; of monsters, & love, & tragedy. And though he has kept his hands mostly clean, he has been privileged; that’s not to say she hasn’t chosen wrongly, she has decided to bloody her hands in wrong ways time & time again. There is no changing that, but she also has not had many choices in her life & the ones she had she made right. She tried to spare you of so much even after & in her own fury over Nehemia… and you just threw her to the wolves like that; just. like. that.

All of this; intent, uneven, ignorant, cruel, small mindedness… it’s shifted into something more menacing; & dare I say tinged with misogyny? His system of; she is erratic, emotional, hysterical, uncontrollable, manipulative, selfish, unpredictable, “monster” thought process of a “tyrant queen”… Not to mention the further concerning growing edge of prejudice; his love & his fear for his friends, his lack of knowledge & blissful ignorance of privilege, has all instead shifted into a “holier than thou” it’s all of them thought process. A belief system built on eliminating danger, on singular right without wrong; dangerously capable justifications & a start to ruin; not just for her, or him, but the world.

#Chaol Westfall #Queen of Shadows #QoS #Maasverse #SJM #first read #currently reading #Aelin Galathynius #Rowan Whitethorn #Chaol and Aelin #Aelin and Rowan #unpredictable #you did not just say that #current thoughts while reading #plot twist #reverse uno #here we go again #don’t make me anti chaol #I get it Aelin isn’t perfect I know what I’m defending and no Rowan isn’t either but still Chaol that was not okay #after everything #that one hurt #this series #TOG

[thebirdandhersong]

.

#as a side note i had a moment of horrid irony when i thought suddenly that I WISHED mr knight were there #because he was at the vigil last year and used to be a part of my church. and i suddenly missed all my old housemates #who were here last year! went to hug people during the peace and a good friend asked if i was okay #i was like 😭😭😭😭 not really and then turned around and SAW the boy and was like well this is a twist in the plot i truly dont care for #anyway all's well i just cried buckets more my heart's been wrung OUT #he lives fae away. he was not supposed to come. anyway he did and i shook his hand formally because he offered to (???) #*far away #it was totally bizarre #he did not stay for long which. thank God. i wouldve been so much more tired if he had #but he wished me happy birthday which irked me because we'd had an unspoken agreement to not wish each other happy birthday (for fear of #mixed signals) which. happened i guess #it was INCREDIBLY bizarre. the safest ive ever felt in my life was when he was holding me #and now he's a familiar stranger i know too well whom i dont WANT to know #anyway it has been a heartwrenching and soul draining Lent and past six months or more and i was ready to cry #and so i did. bawled like a baby after certain readings and songs. cried and cried and cried #re: reasons for that concerning the ex boyfriend: it is SO weird and i dont know how to deal with it #like. i still have so much love that it feels like grief and the grief bleeds into that love too #but that love isnt for HIM anymore or at least not the person i found he was. so now it really does have nowhere to go #ANYHOW IT'S LATE BUT THE POINT IS. HE IS RISEN AND THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS #THAN SEEING YOUR EX BOYFRIEND AT CHURCH AND BEING LIKE ?????? HUH????????

[tavners]

“I am totally level headed about this photograph” she lied to herself

#PLOT TWIST I AM NOT EVER #I AM NDJDOSNSKSBS #michael dorman #okay okay I’m cool okay #insert all the screaming meme gifs here #beautiful man out to destroy my mind with all that talent #…. I admit I just got done watching hlls again #self sabotaging self

[alchemist-shizun]

I've come to the realization that I've known about mdzs for about 4 months and so far I've been juggling in my head 3 different songxuexiao fic ideas (ones actually not ship fic only about post canon song lan and inner turmoil which we love) and SOMEHOW all of them involve little kids to a certain degree, either raising them or having a group of little ducklings following u everywhere u go.

This is a first and a pattern I wasn't expecting but I guess I'm welcoming it!

#mdzs #songxuexiao #theres like. modern swtting au where songxiao adopt a kid out of specific circumstances and xue yang shows up after a while #hes late with starbucks /j but their kid parent traps him as well #then the second one a canon divergence from the novel where an issue sees xxc bringing both zichen and a captured xy to baoshan sanren #xy is there mostly bc xingchen wouldnt know what the hell to do with him and theyre on a time limit #HE DOESNT GET TO TAKE HIM TO ANY BIG SECT. when they get there xxc brings sl to his master for treatment for stuff i havent figured out yet #but its BAD #and while xingchen waits he comes back to find xue yang is cornered SURROUNDED BY a myriad of younger disciples #theyre listening intently to the stories he tells and theyre so engaged by the plot and frequently ask questions #and ngl its kind of a cute vision #AS FOR THE LAST more canon compliant fic we have post yi city song lan doing his wandering cultivator life #stumbles upon a street where some older men are picking a fight with a child #the child is definitely a street child. orphan and homeless. he seems too softhearted to defend himself so sl helps! #ofc it doesnt end there Because this is a whole ass child who needs help so he decides to do what he can #little kid is gripping so HARD at his robes too hes terrified. thats also how he finds out in some twisted sick fate that fhe child is.. #missinf a fucking finger. and now he has to resign himself to the idea of being constantly reminded of a certain someone as he raises him #because he WILL raise him its the right thing to do cant trust anyone these days #okay thats all if u read up until here hi im idya come chat with me about yi city arc im friendless /hj #but seriously im so insane about this arc and the characters i need someone to yell with

[rimouskis]

I think I've read just about every gay hockey romance out there and most of them are. Yeah. Not great. I really like Heated Rivalry/The Long Game by Rachel Reid (the other books in the series are a bit more meh for me but readable, and oddly enough, the first time I read it, I didn't love it but I've reread it so many times now), as well as Him/Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy (as well as the Understatement of the Year by just Bowen), I tend to come back to those pretty often. They're pretty big classics in that little world! I've got lots of other "probably not worth rereading but definitely readable" recs if your anon wants them.

once I found out heated rivalry was ovi/sid inspired, I kinda just wanted to read actual fic! I didn't get too deep into it, but maybe I should give it another shot. elle kennedy burnt me BAD on "the deal" (I disliked it a lot) so I don't intend on reading her other stuff, though I hope her m/m stuff is better!

#seeing how often ''the deal'' is recced on ~hockey romance tiktok~ was enough for me to go: yeah okay this environment isn't for me lol #the main characters in that book are so immature that the college setting feels high-school-ish #and it was fairly obvious from some passages that kennedy was insecure in her own writing and the plot twist at the end was. not good! #also hockey was deeply irrelevant to the plot and as a hockey fan I was like........ dude where's my hockey! #anyways I don't want to dump on books here that isn't my intention but that book particularly soured me on ~hockey romances~ forevermore

[nettleshuttle]

now that i think about it, it’s actually pretty sad that i had all the major plot twists of respective ygo series spoiled before watching the actual things, because they’re — objectively — surprisingly good?

like. zexal. ryoga being a barian (not any barian, while we’re at that, more like The Barian) actually made a lot of sense and was a really huge thing, seeing how he turned from an almost-protagonist to the main antag, but i knew it beforehand, so my best reaction was “uh-huh”. jaden’s relationship with yubel and the fact that he goes batshit mad in the final arcs? immaculate, but i knew that beforehand as well. godwin being the last signer in 5ds’ initial arc? interesting turn of events, but i knew from dl. arc v and the yu-boys being all parts of zarc, the chief villain, while yuzu &co had once been riley? i’m not commenting on the execution, but overall idea was top notch — yeah, i had at least half of that spoiled too. and only now do i notice what a waste that actually was??

i’m not here to complain about untagged spoilers or anything (honestly, it was mostly from scrolling through memes, on my part, so that’s entirely a consequence of my own actions) — but it’s just that, hey, these series are not always as stupid plot-wise as they look. and because they’re full of oh-yeah-who-cares-about-coherency stuff and plot holes and no-i’ve-not-heard-the-word-sense solutions, i tend to forget that the key ideas are often real nice (as long as they’re not carried out like vector’s true identity “twist”. i’m still sour about that one).

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh spoilers #no like major spoilers okay #we’re evaluating crucial plot twists here #i just. randomly reflected on that #making my silly little discoveries

[koroleva-nazyalensky]

When Reva revealed she was the youngling from the flashback:

#and I enjoyed every fucking second of it #VALIDATION #VINDICATION #VERY VERY COOL #reva #obi wan kenobi series #obi wan Kenobi #because of obi wan #Star Wars #order 66 #we called it besties #my job here is done #sometimes you just gotta go for the obvious plot twist okay #it’s satisfiying as heck #AND I’m high key tired of writers trying to shock audiences with nonsense #it’s refreshing to be right and you know what #it also still hurt because it’s ducking order 66 #anakin scarred that poor girl for life #and then USED HER AS A PAWN #that shit hurted #imagine if they were like lol actually Reva is obi wan’s daughter in law because she married Korkie or some out of pocket stuff like that #that would suck #it would be a bomb crackfic #I’d read it at 3 am on ao3 #but it wouldn’t work for canon #you feel me #this Reva plot line was solid okay #also the grand inquisitor surviving out of spite to annoy Ezra 💯 #great #answered all MY questions

[southislandwren]

Every farmers market this past week and a half (so like 4 or something idk) we drink a ton of water and then I’m like oh just toss the empty bottles in my car so we don’t have to go find a trash can. And that works great until I have 11 FUCKING WATER BOTTLES in my backseat

#and there’s no trash service out here so the next time I get gas I have to do the walk of shame with my 11 BOTTLES to the trash can #markets exhaust me but they’re fun since I get to sell cheese and hang out with my boss #today her husband was there too and he wasn’t obnoxious or gross or anything. great work buddy #unfortunately I continue to fear that my boss secretly hates me now. I must try not to be cringe anymore #and I was doing really well at being normal until two fucking Thursdays ago #she said I love you and I haven’t recovered apparently #I don’t even know if she’s aware she said that she might’ve been too drunk at that point #idk. maybe tomorrow I’ll be like are you okay? you seem bummed out. and then that gives her an opening to be like #actually I fucking hate you/you crossed a boundary/I want you to go home and not come back ever/etc #but if I ask that what’ll most likely happen is she’ll be like oh im fine! just tired #and it’s like yeah I know youre tired but is there something I can do to help. like be less cringe and awful. #work post #she didn’t call me in until 4:45 today so I got to play arceus all day long #I’m a couple hours away from 100 hours of gameplay woohoo #I organized my boxes so I have all 200+ mons in numerical order #(just one of each so I put all the extras in color order) #and then I have my team separated out so I can grab them as needed #and then I went on my other profile and got some more plates. so now I need spiritomb’s plate and I can do the volo fight #I’m gonna be a wreck when I do the volo fight it’s such a heartbreaking plot twist #and I’m recording all the dialogue so I can make more progress on my fanfic #which I haven’t been working on since I 1) haven’t played arceus 2) haven’t been on my laptop that often 3) don’t get a ton of alone time #but when school starts and I throw myself back into my coping mechanisms I’ll make a lot of progress #okay I think that’s all for tonight. gotta go to bed now

[faerabbit]

Dream fangame that will never be made 'cause I'm a lazy fuck part 1: Touken Ranbu/Bungo to Alchemist/Senjyushi(/Twisted Wonderland?) crossover tactical RPG thing

The basic idea is that units are divided into three different categories, depending on which game they came from: Sword, Author, and Gun.

Sword units excel at close range, but struggle with dealing with enemies dealing damage from afar. Only a few Sword units have long range options, and while these are quite limited in scope and require meeting certain conditions, they're pretty good for crowd control.

Gun units, meanwhile, are the reverse of Sword units. They excel at taking down enemies from afar, but struggle once the enemy gets up close. Unlike Sword units, with their limited long range options, all Gun units have close range attacks. The trade off is that these attacks do very little damage, and are best used as a last resort.

Author units are somewhere between Sword and Gun units. All author units are equipped with two different weapons, one usually being long ranged while the other being short ranged. Author units can switch between their two weapons, though this takes up a turn. Another drawback is that their sword and gun options are not as good as a Sword or Gun units of an equal level and stats, however they have access to two weapons not used by these units; bows and whips.

If TWST is included, then there's a fourth unit category: Magic. Magic units have access to spells, which in turn come in four different categories. All Magic units have four spell slots, one of which is always taken up by a spell unique to each unit. The drawback is that only one Magic unit can have a spell at a time; that is, two Magic units cannot use the exact same spell on the battlefield. In addition, using spells (or at least the unique spell) drains a bit of HP.

Each unit category also has subtypes. For example, Sword units come in Tantou, Wakizashi, Uchigatana, Tachi, Ootachi, Yari, Naginata, and Tsurugi subtypes. While the basics of what each subtype does is the same as their type, a unit's subtype determines what they specialize in.

(might add more later, we'll see)

#touken ranbu #tkrb #tourabu #bungo to alchemist #bunal #senjyushi #senjuushi #sjs #1014 #twisted wonderland #twst #theoretically this game wouldn't be too hard to make #i'm just lazy #''okay but what's the plot'' you ask #uhhhhh #parallel universes collide and cause shit to get fucked? #up to our boys to save things? #look the plot isn't what's important here #deep thoughts with venus

[emeryleewho]

I used to work for a trade book reviewer where I got paid to review people's books, and one of the rules of that review company is one that I think is just super useful to media analysis as a whole, and that is, we were told never to critique media for what it didn't do but only for what it did.

So, for instance, I couldn't say "this book didn't give its characters strong agency or goals". I instead had to say, "the characters in this book acted in ways that often felt misaligned with their characterization as if they were being pulled by the plot."

I think this is really important because a lot of "critiques" people give, if subverted to address what the book does instead of what it doesn't do, actually read pretty nonsensical. For instance, "none of the characters were unique" becomes "all of the characters read like other characters that exist in other media", which like... okay? That's not really a critique. It's just how fiction works. Or "none of the characters were likeable" becomes "all of the characters, at some point or another, did things that I found disagreeable or annoying" which is literally how every book works?

It also keeps you from holding a book to a standard it never sought to meet. "The world building in this book simply wasn't complex enough" becomes "The world building in this book was very simple", which, yes, good, that can actually be a good thing. Many books aspire to this. It's not actually a negative critique. Or "The stakes weren't very high and the climax didn't really offer any major plot twists or turns" becomes "The stakes were low and and the ending was quite predictable", which, if this is a cute romcom is exactly what I'm looking for.

Not to mention, I think this really helps to deconstruct a lot of the biases we carry into fiction. Characters not having strong agency isn't inherently bad. Characters who react to their surroundings can make a good story, so saying "the characters didn't have enough agency" is kind of weak, but when you flip it to say "the characters acted misaligned from their characterization" we can now see that the *real* problem here isn't that they lacked agency but that this lack of agency is inconsistent with the type of character that they are. a character this strong-willed *should* have more agency even if a weak-willed character might not.

So it's just a really simple way of framing the way I critique books that I think has really helped to show the difference between "this book is bad" and "this book didn't meet my personal preferences", but also, as someone talking about books, I think it helps give other people a clearer idea of what the book actually looks like so they can decide for themselves if it's worth their time.

Update: This is literally just a thought exercise to help you be more intentional with how you critique media. I'm not enforcing this as some divine rule that must be followed any time you have an opinion on fiction, and I'm definitely not saying that you have to structure every single sentence in a review to contain zero negative phrases. I'm just saying that I repurposed a rule we had at that specific reviewer to be a helpful tool to check myself when writing critiques now. If you don't want to use the tool, literally no one (especially not me) can or wants to force you to use it. As with all advice, it is a totally reasonable and normal thing to not have use for every piece of it that exists from random strangers on the internet. Use it to whatever extent it helps you or not at all.

#writing #writing advice #writing tips #am writing #books #booklr #fiction #media analysis