#i Don't know who the author is

[soledad-0]

"and perhaps that is the fate of the tormented; saving the world and crawling into obscurity, if all goes well. if not, we die and become martyrs to the cause. they'll love us in death even if they hated us in life."

-taken and edited from a fanfiction i had read at 14

#poetic thoughts #i don't know who the author is

[anneapocalypse]

So, just curious how many writers and creators will have to be forcibly outed by relentless harassment before we acknowledge that "This queer characters was written by a cishet person and that's why they're bad" is not good criticism.

#yes i'm just going to come out and say it i'm talking about sera #not exclusively but i am talking about her #'but her writer actually iS A--' you don't know that! it doesn't matter! and i don't care! #just say that you do not like the character. #people will reblog posts about the latest actor or YA author or whatever getting forced out of the closet and be like #'wow. :( that's terrible.' #and then GO RIGHT BACK TO DOING IT #when are we going to learn #when are we going to stop doing this BEFORE somebody is forcibly outed #because in practical terms #that means you have to be okay with queer characters being written by straight people. #you have to stop weaponizing that against writers you don't like. #you have to be willing to critique the writing on its own merits #without using the writer's (assumed) identity to prop up your arguments #that's how it works #but who wants to actually change the way they talk about media #when tearing apart people's identities for clout is far more entertaining. #gwaren exports #fandom problems #fandom critical

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

I love how on Tumblr, "media literacy" has become "Um, just because someone writes about this doesn't mean they're endorsing this. I hate all these media puritans ruining everything."

I'm sad to inform you that knowing when and whether an author is endorsing something, implying something, saying something, is also part of media literacy. Knowing when they are doing this and when they're not is part of media literacy. Assuming that no author has ever endorsed a bad thing is how you fall for proper gander. It's not media literacy to always assume that nobody ever has agreed with the morally reprehensible ideas in their work.

Sometimes, authors are endorsing something, and you need to be aware when that happens, and you also need to be aware when you're doing it as an author. All media isn't horny dubcon fanfic where you and the author know it's problematic IRL but you get off to it in the privacy of your brain. Sometimes very smart people can convince you of something that'll hurt others in the real world. Sometimes very dumb people will romanticize something without realizing they're doing it and you'll be caught up in it without realizing that you are.

Being aware of this is also media literacy. Being aware of the narrative tools used to affect your thinking is media literacy. Deciding on your own whether you agree with an author or not is media literacy. Enjoying characters doing bad things and allowing authors to create flawed or cruel characters for the sake of a story is perfectly fine, but it is not the same as being media literate. Being smug about how you never think an author has bad intentions tells me you're edgy, not that you're media literate. You can't use one rule to apply to all media. That's not how media literacy works. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Aheem heem. Anyway.

#anyway this is just more of that lefty shit where 'well i can't be racist because i'm gay!' #'well i can't be media illiterate because i love villains!' #not how that works babes #'well I KNOW bad from good so i can't be affected by media!' #'everyone else also knows bad from good and defines it the exact way i do!' #'so if i think this is bad then the author must also think this is bad!' #i have bad news .... #also how do you know bad from good? who taught you that? hmm? #did you fall out of the womb knowing? or did you pick up some things on the way here? #'i just know' no you don't! that's what i'm saying! #assuming one thing is always true is the opposite of being a conscious consumer of media soz #assuming someone thinks and knows the exact same shit you think and know is not media literacy!!

[thelongestway]

#I don't know who the author is #reverse image search just gives a bunch of merchandise on amazon #so if you know let me know so I can give them credit #but also? I am dragon 4 today #for private reasons mostly

[eddis-not-eeddis]

In my early twenties I know more theology than most men in the churches I've attended who are twice my age. This isn't a boast, I am no scholar. I say this in abject horror and despair.

#i know more theology than half of the sunday school teachers i know... #i don't have a degree and i haven't studied it in a university #i am not someone who reads theology endlessly #i'm actually pretty lazy about it--to my shame #and yet i know more about church history and more about the core beliefs of our faith than most of the men in positions of authority #it makes me kind of sick

[holy--milk]

people be like "stop calling mxtx a genius, she's not even the best author in her particular niche",

and i'm like "but have you considered that i don't care if she's not objectively the best author as long as she's able to write characters and stories that make me go Insane for literal years?"

#like who else does it like her #(don't answer that. it's a rhetorical question) #the only other author who's ever been able to keep me up at night thinking about blorbos #is j r r tolkien #and tbh that was when i was younger and more into that particular flavour of fantasy #there's just a very particular something about those two and their writing #that makes my brain go brrr #if you know what i mean #mxtx #svsss #mdzs #tgcf

[teaboot]

(I'm a security guard.)

#There is an overwhelming number of traumatized people who work in security #So many of us have histories of abuse #Or other things #And I wonder so often #I'm good at my job #But am I attracted to power? #I like helping people #I don't like hurting people #Or picking on anyone #But it's hard to know what the right answers are sometimes #Part of my job is working with police #Even if I disagree with them #I tell myself it's better that I'm the guard here #And not someone malicious #Or cruel #But how much am I really changing? #And am I using my power correctly #Or will I become the unreasonable authority that made me the scared person I am #Is it already too late? #What if the calls I'm unsure of are the warning signs #Maybe I'm already too late #Maybe my sense of morality and justice is eroding #To fit the hole I've placed myself in #Maybe I'm not chipping at the walls fast enough #Maybe I'm being reshaped #Just being here #Maybe my conflict of conscience is the internal monologue of a sympathetic villain #Maybe I'm the bad guy

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS Disco Elysium AU part 2 - Psyche Skills

Part 1 - Part 3

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #disco elysium #MDZS disco elysium au #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #yu ziyuan #While it's more in vogue to draw a character's skill roster tailored to them - #One of the more subtle details I love in DE is how some of the skill portraits parallel character portraits of people hbd associates with. #Theres somethine rather poetic to be said about how other people shape out thoughts and sometimes act as a 'voice' in our head. #How we are in part a collection of impressions other people left behind on us. #I am a huge Skillhead (Those are my friends! My party members! They love me! They have their own agendas and alliances!) #so of course a healthy portion of this AU is dedicated to them <3 #the Int skills go basically unchanged from DE. Psy as well (with changes to a few quirks in voice). #Fys skills though...well...wwx is in a different body! Those voices belong to Someone Else. #Esp electrochem (MXY in this AU also partied to near death. WWX is withdrawing and craving substances he's never even heard of before) #While I personally don't fully subscribe to Volition Jean I *do* see Volition Jiang Cheng. The voice of your Not Brother keeping you afloat #All three of these parallels make me unbelievably sad. They are also both purple. Art is like that sometimes. #Empathy Jiang Yanli...oh man do I have a lot of thoughts about her. Disco fans Who Know....you can probably see what I'm cooking. #Authority is a really interesting skill in DE because *yes* its about power and intimidation - but it's also about finesse and respect #Titus Hardie and YZY both abuse *and* finesse how they establish their authority - in a way that leaves quite an impression. #2 more mdzs disco posts that I *need* to create and then I'm off to working on raffles <3

[littlelightfish]

Something I loved from the anime adaptation on episode 5:

They made a summary about Mick's and Kuro's characters and relationship from what they saw in this two panels on the few seconds this scene taked place.

Just this. Kuro and Mick both surprised on the first. Kuro looking at Mick like he's worried about something, and Mick eating bread in silence, looking in distrust at the guy.

The anime makes it so rich on subtle expressions, I'm in love here. They're just on the background of the scene. But what they do says really a lot about them.

When the guy first comes to scene, Mick looks a bit confused but nothing else. "Who tf this guy?" They're not planing on paying him any mind.

When he sits besides him, he gets uncomfortable, you can see it on his face he doesn't want to sit beside a stranger. He wants to get up and change places. "What's with this guy? What does he want? Why is he so close?" Kuro notices this and looks at him. He saw him flinch (off camera because guy is covering him). Mick is scared of this guy.

Mickbell is a naturally untrusty person because of his backstory. He gets uncomfortable when new people starts acting friends because "well that can't mean good, can it?" Kuro knows this because they share a life together and proceeds to try and calm him the best he can in this situation.

Kuro puts his hands on Mick's back. He already has them there when the camera changes angles. "I got you. I'm here. Nothing is going to happen to you. Calm down." Mick now looks confused at the guy, but it's still clear he's very uncomfortable there. He leans towards Kuro a bit "I feel safer by your side and this guy is wierd".

In seconds, as soon as he sees him grab food from their table, he changes his mood. He jumps in surprise at the audacity. He's now annoyed and pissed. That's their food! How dares he... But he isn't the one to say anything, and from this alone you could tell he's quite introverted outside of their friends group (or that he didn't pay for the food idk). Kuro keeps his hands in there, knowing he's nervous.

Mick just looks at him eat, annoyed, maybe angry, and silent. He isn't probably paying any mind to what this guy is saying. He is stealing food. He should go get food somewhere else. Kuro seems to think something alike, but he is a bit surprised this guy has the balls to steal food so openly (he isn't paying atention either ot he doesn't understand)

He thinks a lot of thinks but says none, eating in silence. Kuro is staring with no good intentions behind those eyes. Only murder. Food robber. Mick disturber. Deserves death.

#DON'T EVEN DARE TO TAG AS SHIP #they're family #very family #the author says so not only me #i love them #they're so everything to each other #and I get you Mick #when you hang out with friends you dont want a random ass stranger to pop up suddenly #i hate when it happens (its always someone who knows one of my friends and I just.. kinda dissapear into secind plane until it's gone) #I would love a Kuro to put his hands on my back to calm me down so I don't leave or step back from this person #welp #mickbell #mickbell tomas #mickbell dungeon meshi #kuro #kuro dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #delicious in dungeon #my shit

[andy-clutterbuck]

The Ones Who Live | 1x03 - Bye

#Rick Grimes #* #rg #The Ones Who Live #who let him be this handsome #im calling the authorities #i don't know who they are but i'm calling them #HIS LIL SCARS #and bless every line on your face #they're all beautiful and sacred #EXCUSE ME BUT THE NOSE™ #me impatiently waiting for a clear cut kiss on the nose™ #clearly everyone is just dumb #the look in the second gif #im more open than Motel 6 #like bout to dislocate my hip

[thecruellestmonth]

Does the mass-murdering criminal Jason "Red Hood" Todd canonically support the death penalty?

No, I can't find evidence that Red Hood supports the death penalty.

There is a difference between murder (illegal) and state-sanctioned killing (legal). Red Hood commits unlawful homicide. The death penalty is lawful homicide. Jason is a murderer. The death penalty is not legally considered murder. Commissioner Jim Gordon is a decorated military veteran, not a murderer.

Committing violence ≠ wanting the government to have the right to commit that violence. Batman and his allies brutalize criminals; they don't necessarily support the state brutalizing criminals. Red Hood kills some criminals; Red Hood doesn't necessarily support the state killing criminals. Catwoman doesn't necessarily support the state committing burglary. Et cetera.

The death penalty is administered by the criminal legal system. Jason does not like the criminal legal system (see some of his run-ins with the police). He grew up as an impoverished child who didn't believe in the system, he was raised by Batman to believe that vigilantes can make a difference that the system can't, and he became an adult criminal who still doesn't believe in the system. He's not interested in using the criminal legal system. He isn't interested in giving more powers and privileges to an abusive system that has wronged him and the people he cares about.

When Jason started up his villain business, the death penalty was legal in Gotham City. (See Detective Comics #644, The Joker: Devil's Advocate, Batgirl 2000 #19, Punchline #1.) The death penalty was also in place during his Robin run. Jason didn't argue in favor of the state having the right to kill prisoners, and the death penalty never addressed his complaints about the status quo.

Jason has rescued people from wrongful* imprisonment and the death penalty. Again, based on his own firsthand experiences, he has many reasons to believe that the system is broken. *Some of us would argue that locking any people in prisons tends to be wrongful and inhumane by default, but we could choose to accept the standard premises of crime fiction as without endorsing it as moral instruction.

Jason Todd is a criminal: a mass murderer, a terrorist, a villain. He does evil. He doesn't represent or support the legal system. He probably has the least political capital out of all the Batfamily-associated characters. He doesn't promote the death penalty. He commits murder—illegally, as a criminal, state-unapproved.

Some recent comics related to the topic:

Gotham Nights (2020) #11 "One Minute After Midnight", written by Marc Guggenheim

Red Hood and Nightwing team up to investigate the case of a man wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed. Both of them disapprove of how the broken criminal legal system botched this case.

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #8 (2023), written by Matthew Rosenberg

"You familiar with Hannah Arendt's concept of Schreibtischtäter? Desk murderers? It's people who use the state to kill for them, so they don't have to get their hands dirty."

#Jason Todd #Jason Todd meta #Batfam meta #Batfamily meta #Batfam #Batfamily #Robin II #Batkids #Batman Gotham Nights #DC Robin #Red Hood #Joker The Man Who Stopped Laughing #Matt Rosenberg #canon vs fanon #fanon vs canon #panels #RHATO 2011 opens with Red Hood saving somebody from being unjustly executed. Don't read it. It is bad. Just trust me. #Jason Todd is legally dead and not registered to vote. #I could make a much longer post about Jason's general contempt for authorities but let's limit it today. #thecruellestmonth #I know the 1992-2010 comics purists are going to come after me for using recent comics. #I could make a much longer post about Post-Crisis Jason Todd's attitudes about the police and the state. #But that longer post still wouldn't have much to say about the death penalty-- #--because--AGAIN--there is NO evidence that Jason supports the death penalty! But there is plenty of indirect evidence that he doesn't. #Do the words ''system''‚ ''state''‚ ''criminal''‚ and ''legal'' look like real words anymore? #ID in alt text #described #image described #ID in alt #image description

[mister13eyond]

dont normally post about drama but this seems relevant:

im seeing a lot of people jump to "james somerton was never good anyways" in retaliation for the hbomb expose, but there's a really fine line to tread there before you get into stepping on the toes of the people he stole from, you know?

some of his videos and analysis did seem genuinely intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, and well-written. yeah, it turns out those are the result of him stealing from other people. but that doesnt mean the original writers WEREN'T intelligent, thoughtful, insightful and good writers. he had plenty of garbage opinions interspersed throughout, but the reason many people (myself included) were suckered in by him is that the queer creators he stole from DID have really important and interesting analysis. the parts of his videos that were good were stolen, but by discounting his essays entirely we're throwing the baby out with the bathwater and insisting those he stole from didn't have anything important to say.

the parts he himself supplied were trash, but he stole the work of some genuinely brilliant and insightful writers and passed it off as his own- and that writing still exists and is still brilliant and insightful; we just know now who was actually responsible for it and who to thank for that work

lets just be careful when we smugly proclaim that we always hated everything he had to say- because a lot of the words we're discounting were never his to begin with, and the last thing those authors need is to have their work trash talked because it ended up in the mouth of someone dishonest

#james somerton #hbomberguy #im just saying like #i liked a lot of points he made in his videos because it turns out he was never the one who made those points #now i can go seek out the original authors and Actually read the work that intrigued me in the first place #they DO deserve credit for their writing! #saying everything he ever made was garbage and nothing he said was worthwhile is such a disservice to those authors #they DID do really brilliant work #and then it was stolen and passed off as his #but their work still stands on its own merits- even more so now that i know #that much of the stuff i Disagreed with was his own opinions or tweaks and that the original work #is not bogged down with his bullshit #and can read it as originally intended #i think admitting that the writers he stole from Are really genuinely good writers and that the opinions he stole from them ARE compelling #is the least we can do to ensure that the authors don't feel like their work is irrevocably taken and tainted

[omgrandomwords]

WHY DID IT TAKE ME OVER FOUR YEARS TO REALIZE HOW MANY TMA CHARACTERS ARE NAMED AFTER HORROR AUTHORS

#WHO WAS GONNA TELL ME THIS #the magnus archives #tma #the magnus protocol #okay heres who i figured out #michael shelley #mary shelley #tim stoker #bram stoker #sasha james #henry james #melanie king #stephen king #i don't know that many authors but that's who i have rn #i still am going insane #this is bungou stray dogs all over again #i've been relistening and taking notes #its insane the things you figure out when you actually engage with it ell em eff ay oh

[muffinlance]

I really do love your writing and Salvage gets me through when I am sad or depressed. However, I was wondering, how do you cope when someone who wrote a review didn’t like your writing? If you’ve had this before… I had one today and I am dejected. I’m working through my perfectionism and I keep telling myself, “my writing isn’t for everyone and it’s okay.” Any advice?

If it was unsolicited, especially on a fanfic? Delete it, block the person if you feel like, then go do your rage activity of choice before forgetting about it forever. That person is rude and doesn't deserve your time anymore than someone bumping into you on the street.

I've also found it useful to actively think of my fanfic as writing practice, and not even my brain expects perfection from writing practice. It also frees you do Try Cool Things.

Now take this digital blanket and cup of hot chocolate and go reread your nice comments.

#most readers are absolutely lovely #But yeah I've gotten these too because there is always someone on the internet who thinks they are Right and Smart and that those things #Are more important than being kind and polite #Fic Reader Etiquette 101: the only writers looking for crits on a fic are the ones that explicitly asked for it #The only potential exception is for typos that impact reading clarity and even then varies by author #I love having any and all typos pointed out but I know some writers Don't Want To Hear It #My worst comment was the person who wrote essentially: #Wow I remember loving this story it had a huge impact on my life but now I reread years later and it's shit #...Honey. HONEY. #please realize that your personal growth and resulting resonance or lack thereof with a story's themes #have literally nothing to do with me #and I hope your next bit of character growth involves internalizing your self-reflection instead of outsourcing it to fanfiction

[hajihiko]

Are trans women real women?

As opposed to what. Fictional? A mannequin? Unreal in the sense that it's unreal how bomb she is?

(tags V relevant)

#Inventing boxes around people never works. There's no parameter for real or not real that doesn't allow for discrimination #If a woman says she is a woman then she is a woman. It is not my business to comment on how ''''real'''' it is #Based on what?? The hell kind of authority am I??? I'm some fuckin dude. #It does not matter to me what pronouns or what chromosomes or what presentation someone has #If you tell me you're a woman okay you're a woman. You know better than me. What kind of douchebag would I be to contest that #Short answer: trans women are as real women as any women. It doesn't change anything. #Are he/him women women? Are drag queens women? Are femboys women? I don't speak for them why don't you ask them to their face #By which I mean get a scope on their experience and opinion. And don't ask the person who LOUDLY DOESN'T LIKE FIRM LABELS. #Not an art

[not-poignant]

Every now and then I just get the kind of comment that makes me stop working on a fic and just has me going 'how about you write it since you're so concerned with correcting me on this one tiny thing that doesn't matter because it's fanfiction actually'

And like, I do want to work on this fic, but damn, not today.

#personal #i don't know how many times i can tell people #to fuck off when it comes to canon details and palmarosa #but if you ever have the instinct to correct something in palmarosa #just know you're the reason i don't want to work on this fic atm #because it's not at all motivational to have people arguing with me #about the NOT CANON COMPLIANT details in my own fic #like it's tags and author's notes at this point #reading comprehension i miss you #you all get gold medals for knowing the canon better than me #now leave me and my fic and it's very clear “not canon compliant” tag alone #because palmarosa isn't for the people #who want it to be canon compliant #and cannot let it go otherwise #i've just deleted a bunch of comments i will no longer be justifying #this fic to people who just exist to win #know it all contests