#i don't take positive criticism

[uncanny-tranny]

Good news! You aren't required to make your hobbies and passions "marketable." In fact, your crafts, hobbies, and passions don't even need to be public if you so choose. You don't have to spend all of your energy becoming perfect if you aren't enjoying the process. You are not a product, you are a person, a creative, and your work also does not need to be a product.

#positivity #yet another post that's like... thinnly-veiled as being for myself #i find myself freezing with anxiety when i think about the things i used to do (writing especially) because... #...i had felt this force to make it ~content~ and ~marketable to an audience~ and it was so fucking daunting... #...it felt like being a gladiator in a coliseum #even now i fight the urge to equate being marketable to being acceptable and worthy of admiration and praise #i wish i hadn't burnt myself out of writing by doing this because i'm simultaneously grieving my writing and hating it #and it sucks the life out of what makes you feel like a person and it takes the art out of art #so be free! pist your art or don't! you are beholden to nobody!!! #(obviously this is not the case for professional artists who rely on their art to keep them alive) #(and i criticize heavily the idea that audiences are entitled to an artists labour) #(i understand that this isn't universal and if it doesn't apply to you then you don't have to take me seriously) #(if you are a professional artist or what have you i hope you are able to feed and house yourself off of that career!) #(i hope you are able to live a happy life and be able to keep loving what you're doing)

[utilitycaster]

Whenever people get mad about the literal discussion of narrative in the context of media analysis, there's always this undercurrent of "Oh? So you want a story with themes and structure and conflict and resolution instead of my booktok/fanfic-approved headcanons? Do you think you're better than me?" And I just want to clear something up: yes. Without a doubt.

#people really out here like must a story have conflict? #and the answer is yes actually it must. hope this helps. #tbh i really do think people dislike criticism on the basis of basic story principles because it's so fundamental #if you don't like a specific character or event people can chalk that up to personal preferences #(or bigotry - whether or not that is actually the case) #but if you actually can delineate the structural flaws they need to have a real argument and that takes effort #unless they take a position of what if I like that the story is poorly crafted. which. ok. live in that dumpster then.

[burinazar]

wondering how many more people in my circles i've accumulated enough Recommending-Things-To Credit to throw the hole show at them because i am dying for more sickos to show my things to

that 'write for an audience of thirty sickos' tweet is like aspirational to me because if i had that many (especially if a couple were like, Concrit-giving Sickos) i'd be really happy and not even slightly wish for a bigger audience. but it seems i can at most pull three-to-four sickos at a time and the prior sickos orbit away before new sickos come. Where Are My Thirty Sickos

#something really unfortunate is that there IS someone who shares the fandom with me AND shares my 'fics are Serious Art' takes #and would under other circumstances perhaps be able to give me the excoriating constructive criticism i desire* #*not that i don't love positive comments too! i ADORE them ; - ; feels like positive feedback on Bits Of My Soul <3 but i also want concrit #--anyway. under other circumstances i could perhaps request it from them. #BUT. LIKE. i keep framing stories through the lense of a ship they REALLY don't want to read and am unlikely to stop. whoopsie!!! #anyway. if you can stomach much Horror and Pain with the assurance that the driving force that makes it horrifying is Love and Tenderness #if you like the thought of engaging with a narrative where the act of doing so IS you acting out the metaphor of irreversible journey-- #the theme of the inevitable destruction of innocence is one you yourself will have enacted upon you through following the story-- #do your ebil a favor and watch the orphan hole show

[sealeneee]

not tagging or showing the op because i don't want to beef with them specifically

but this is such a dumb sentiment. how DARE people want the content to make sense and actually progress the story and not just cum in their panties at the sight of a character cameo amidst a very bad ""storyline"" consisting of side quests that make zero sense given your character's status. do you want to have no progression -- because that's what 7.3 gave us -- and run side quests that aren't even part of a new reputation track or a daily area? please, be my guest, i'm not here to tell you what to enjoy. but don't pretend that the criticism is unfounded. it was a terrible update. not to mention the people who have torian or arcann or both dead. by op's logic these people just have nothing to enjoy about the update -- why should they be happy about this?

anyway if you liked 7.3 good for you but don't tell people who have reasonable dissatisfaction with it that their complaints are dumb or unfounded.

#swtor critical #sealene talks #i don't usually rant here and i'm pretty positive about the game in general but this was such a brain dead take i just had to

[ahelpfulpeach]

thing I am eagerly awaiting/hoping for next ep (36)

FCG having a chat with Ashton about the whole “everything hurts all the time” thing and/or taking it upon themself to take on some of Ashton’s chronic pain and whatever fallout from that happens

Orym and Imogen having a chat about grief and Laudna and guilt and such Imogen and Keyleth ALSO having this breed of discussion

just more time for the Hells to discuss Feelings about the whole situation in general like even setting aside from the Moon Plot stuff, a very emotionally central member of the party is dead, and two of the currently alive party members died for a bit, Fearne’s parents and grandmother situation is a whole thing, FCG’s murderbot/trojan horse thing is another whole thing, as are the revelations about Dancer and whatnot, Imogen and Laudna had only just barely had the chance to make up before Laudna died, Laudna had been dealing with Delilah’s influence a lot more recently, Ashton had some Backstory Reveals that are clearly affecting them a lot, Chetney is having some weird werewolfy shit goin’ down that he has not really alerted anyone to, and I’m probably missing some more things but YEAH they mentioned they needed a good round of What the Fuck is Up with That and i AGREE

Fearne and/or Chetney shenanigans in a fancy castle

Percy makes Mister a gun

Percy Regrets making Mister a gun

the whole party contributing to Laudna’s resurrection ritual cuz they’re a FAMILY, DAMMIT

Laudna coming to in a place that’s familiar and full of such awful memories, but this time she’s surrounded by the love and devotion of her new family and she is safe

whatever the fuck Delilah may do about the everything, especially being in Whitestone

#critical role #critial role spoilers #cr spoilers #cr #cr3 spoilers #cr3 #idk i am just RAMBLING #i can't decide if i also want an imodna confession like as soon as she's brought back or like an episode or two after #cuz that emotional high would fit the moment of her coming back but also like #i imagine a quieter moment with just the two of them talking about their fears #like if delilah had been telling her see they don't care about you they chose someone else you only have me kinda shit #and while she didn't fully believe it she was so SCARED that she'd be stuck with her until they both faded away for good #and imogen just saying something along the lines of 'we all dropped everything to bring you back. and even if they all hadn't #'there is NOTHING i wouldn't have done to have you here with me again.' and idk kiss her after that #i also want them to reference the ring cuz THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR EMOTIONAL SHIT THERE #JUST THE TINIEST SHIT LIKE POSITIONING HER DURING THE CEREMONY SO THE HAND WITH THE RING IS ON TOP #or like imogen taking her hand and brushing a thumb over the ring like #pls give it my gay heart REQUIRES #and i'm tempted to just write some of this shit myself but THAT REQUIRES TIME AND ENERGY

[likealittleheartbeat]

Social justice, shipping, and ideology: when fandom becomes a crusade, things get ugly

by Aja Romano for Vox

“Shipping is as old as fandom itself. But traditionally, fans never expected their particular pairing to "become canon" — that is, to officially happen on a show or in a storyline. In modern fandoms, however, fans of movies and TV shows often root for their ships to become canon the way sports fans root for their teams. If the football fans’ goal is to see their team win the Super Bowl, the shipper’s goal is to see their ship "win" by entering the narrative as an official storyline.

These shippers collectively form group narratives about their favorite ship. More and more, these group narratives are evolving into unshakable belief systems that usually take one of three increasingly common forms:

1) The belief that the ship in question is unquestionably going to become canon

Historically in fandom, liking a ship meant just that: You liked a ship. Anything more than that would get you a lot of side-eyeing. In the Harry Potter fandom, the advent of Ron and Hermione becoming a couple in the sixth book led to a very famous (and still ongoing) meltdown among Harry/Hermione shippers.

At the time — fandom in 2005 — their unwavering faith that Harry/Hermione would eventually become canon was widely seen by fandom at large as extreme, because shipping was typically viewed as something that existed outside of canon and generally had no particular relationship to the course of canon at all.

Today, expecting your ship to become canon is more or less the norm. But there are lots of complications with this line of thinking. Even if a ship does become canon, it might not become canon in a way that fans like — Buffy/Spike, anyone? And of course it might not be guaranteed to remain canon. Breakups happen, actors leave shows, and, as The 100 fans were brutally reminded earlier this spring, characters die.

Serial narratives are fueled by drama, and they often create that drama by shaking up character relationships. Happily ever after is a rarity for couples in fictional stories, at least while they’re still in process. But fans pushing for their ships to become canon are typically looking ahead to what they call "endgame" — they believe that when all is said and done, after all the drama, their ship will, essentially, be the one that comes out victorious. Generally, they consider any alternative to be unpardonable.

Clinging to this kind of all-or-nothing view of a character pairing is, in general, a recipe for massive disappointment.

2) The belief that the ship should become canon because it involves an underrepresented identity

Fans of ships involving queer characters, characters of color, disabled characters, and other drastically underserved identities often lobby creators to acknowledge and embrace the validity of their ships. They frequently cite the sad but widely observed fact that characters who fall within these underserved identities rarely get to have meaningful canonical relationships written about them.

The problem with explicitly linking shipping to this kind of political platforming and social justice activism is that these arguments are often self-serving — that is, they’re more about having a specific ship become canon than about achieving social progress.

#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend is a recent fandom trend directed at Marvel creators, but even though many Avengers fans have used it to advocate for general queer representation in the Marvel universe, the vast majority have used it to advocate for a specific ship — Stucky, or Steve/Bucky: Captain America shipped with his lifelong best friend.

Conflating ships that involve underrepresented identities with the desire for inclusion gets especially dicey when it leads fans to prioritize support for their ship over other intersectional concerns. For example, in Teen Wolf fandom, fans of the "Sterek" ship (Derek/Stiles) have frequently accused the show of "queerbaiting," or exploiting their specific queer male pairing without any intention of following through on it — even though the show’s creator, Jeff Davis, is a gay man who has already inserted several queer relationships in the show’s storylines, and even though Sterek, as it currently exists within canon, is a physically abusive relationship.

The prioritization of a ship at the expense of other intersectionality concerns is also present on The 100, which earlier this year featured a queer canonical relationship between main character Clarke and the warrior queen Lexa, a.k.a. Clexa. Clexa fans have been so focused on advocating for Clexa — even after the ship effectively ended with Lexa’s untimely death — that they’ve come under fire for ignoring the many elements of the show that some fans feel are racist and problematic.

In these and many similar cases, one might wonder if a given show’s overall progressiveness matters less to ideologically driven shippers than the ship itself.

3) The belief that the ship is already canon but the creators are unable or unwilling to confirm or admit it

This belief argues that the people in charge of the narrative are deliberately concealing the "truth" about a relationship. Because it involves an official cover-up, this particular ideological thread is particularly well-suited to ships involving real people (real person fiction, or RPF) and ships involving fictional queer characters. It almost always escalates into outright fandom conspiracies, especially if the ship involves a (perceived) real-life relationship between two same-sex celebrities.

Perhaps the most notable example of this kind of deep fandom conspiracy is the great Larry Stylinson conspiracy in the One Direction fandom, followed by TLJC in the Sherlock fandom and swaths of conspiratorial RPF shippers in numerous other fandoms, from Supernatural to Twilight to The X-Files.

The obvious problem here is that, like all good conspiracy theories, those built on the insistence that a pairing is real but secret are designed to explain away every contradictory bit of "evidence" that a pairing isn’t real. And like all conspiracies, this level of shipping can lead to hardcore, alienating belief systems.

Ships often involve a combination of these three basic branches of belief. For instance, Harry Potter’s Harry/Hermione shippers believed their ship represented a philosophical approach to love and Harry Potter as a whole. And Sherlock’s Johnlock conspiracists consistently point to the progressive nature of their ship as a reason for its inevitability. As one fan put it, "What a minority of LGBTQIA viewers label as ‘queer baiting’ is but a tool that serves the slow narrative of how Sherlock Holmes and John Watson finally end up in a relationship."

Of course, combining these three ideological strains serves to make the overall shipper ideology that much stronger — and that makes interactions within and between different ideologies that much more fraught.

When shipping is treated as an ideology, it creates deep tensions between fans and creators

These days, because so many fans treat shipping as a serious matter of urgency, they tend to approach the fan-creator divide feeling utterly justified in their belief that a ship will be or should be canon. Yet creators and writers generally have no idea what kind of belief system has amassed around a ship until members of that ship approach them to try to discuss it.

When a single fan or a group of fans tweet at creators asking whether a ship will become canon, creators generally aren’t aware of the tremendous amount of background attached to said ship — the thought, speculation, love, emotional investment, and collective justification that has gone into a fandom’s perception of a pairing.

Creators and other cast and crew members who interact with fans tend to get asked basic questions like, "Will this ship be endgame?" But most can't answer, and often don't even know, because of the many factors involved in producing a storyline.

In other words, the creators are seeing only the tip of the iceberg that is a fandom's investment in a ship, and fans are seeing only the tip of the iceberg that is the behind-the-scenes production of the canonical storyline.

Add in the fact that both fans and creators usually believe they can see the whole iceberg, and the result is inherent miscommunication. Fans might come away feeling like creators are being evasive or brushing off their need to have their ship to be canon; creators might come away feeling like fans are placing too much emphasis on a single aspect of the plot at the expense of everything else they’re trying to do within a storyline.

This disconnect can lead to feelings of resentment on both sides. It can also lead to creators accusing fans of wanting to control their narratives.

The rise in ideological fan beliefs is less about control and more about equal partnerships

The modern state of fandom involves an uneasy imbalance between fans and creators. The two groups both encourage each other creatively but lack a mutual partnership and mutual understanding of how fans’ collective creation might contribute to a storyline.

Though it would have been taboo in the past, fans who engage with creators in 2016 tend to assume they’re on equal footing with those creators, thanks to their role as active consumers of the narrative: Here is what we want your TV show to do for us, the paying customers who watch it.

But creators tend to engage with fans via a top-down approach. They are still viewing themselves as the powers that be, the ones in control, even if the fans aren’t. This is how we wind up with the kind of supreme disconnect between fans and writers like the one that has existed between Supernatural and its fan base for most of the show's interminable run on air: A substantial number of the show’s fans are collaboratively creating a vision of a completely different show than the one being produced in the writers’ room.

It's possible that shipping as ideology has arisen in part because of these imbalanced power dynamics with creators. After all, if you’re worried the creators won't listen to you, or won’t consider what you have to say as equivalent to their own opinion, what better way to justify what you have to say than to package it not as once-shameful fan desire, but as ideology?

It’s easy to stand back from fandom and point to shipping behavior as a hallmark of fan entitlement. But it would be far more accurate to say that shipper ideology is ultimately about fans trying to find a way to gain equity with creators, to work with them in a tacit collaboration.

There’s no easy answer to this dilemma, but awareness is a start

For creators who are winging their interactions with fans, knowing when a ship has become a collective fandom ideology, and why, might help give you a bit of autonomy from your fandom. At the very least, it might help you remain neutral in your presentation of various ships and plot points and avoid unexpected pitfalls.

Meanwhile, for fans feeling fatigue over an embattled struggle to make a ship canon, and the crushing disappointment of setbacks or failure, it might help to remember that ships don’t have to be canon in order to be transformative and meaningful on both a personal and cultural level. Look at Star Trek’s Kirk/Spock: that ship never became canon, but it remains one of the most compelling ships ever created, and within canon it gave us one of pop culture’s most enduring symbols of love — their hands touching through the glass.

Henry Jenkins famously said that queer fanfiction "is what happens when you take away the glass." And, sure, it’s increasingly possible that savvy creators might go ahead and take away the glass for us. But that doesn’t negate the power of fans being able to do it on their own, without anyone’s help.

Shipping is exciting, fun, and often a progressive and empowering experience. And if a ship ultimately becomes canon, so much the better. But when shipping becomes an ideology, tantamount to a religion, it makes a story’s creators pretty much tantamount to gods. In essence, even though that level of shipping may grow out of a wish to maintain parity with creators, it’s ultimately de-empowering to fans, making them dependent on creators for validation.

But fans are validated through their love for the source material; they’ve never needed more than that. Turning that source material into a game to be won only turns all involved players into winners and losers.”

#long post #fandom problems #i've been having a lot of feelings the past month or so about shipping and modern tastes #ever since the release of heartstopper #which i found to be a horrendous and gimmicky netflix rainbow flag cash grab #with stilted performances and absolutely zero nuance #and everyone's obsession with it has had me feeling so lonely #alongside a real alienation from tv and movie critics positive reviews for these basic-ass gay films and shows #there's a certain strain of fandom that obsesses over ships and the reproduction of familiar tropes without any subversion #and they don't seem to have any interest in anything beyond that #except maybe a weak pop feminist take #which is fine i guess #and that strain did free me to focus on my emotional experiences to stories that opened the whole world up to me #but i also need and relish the motifs and themes and craft and philosophies that go into a work #i love to start to understand my emotional reaction and where it came from #and experience feelings from stories beyond *squeeeeee* #and there's so little of that work in fandom #It makes me want to go into academia but i honestly doubt it would be any better and I really don't want to write papers professionally lol

[torchickentacos]

can fucking harvard maybe not try to sell me weight loss diets?

#tw weight loss #ok to rb but no contrarians. not in the mood #harvard🤝the kardashians for SOME FUCKING REASON? #tw weight talk in the tags but in a way that's critical of weight loss' pervasiveness as a put-forth cure-all. #but yo i just need an article on how to not gag while taking my meds and it shows me this pop up #I HAAATE how weight loss has become synonymous with health #to the point of ads automatically assuming you need it #like. no. that's not automatically something that'll make you healthier. #less is not better #even if less WAS better for someone that's so individualized #like. for me less is worse with my medical issues and a sign something's wrong. #weight loss for me is a worrying symptom and not something to strive for. i wish it would stop being painted as a universal net positive. #it means i'm not absorbing nutrients properly/too sick to eat/it's taking a lot more energy for my body to function than most people/etc #like no. it's actively fucking worrying for a LOT OF PEOPLE #like. don't @ me playing devil's advocate on this. i know weight loss is something healthy for some people. #but don't for a second even try to pretend that it isn't a core part of our society in ways that negatively impact millions. #that's my problem with this moreso than the pop up itself. this pop up is a symptom of that #i'm not in the mood for a debate on this topic to be honest. this is not an invitation #AND I'M STILL NOT FINDING GOOD TIPS ON HOW NOT TO GAG WHEN TAKING MY MEDS but that's another long ramble #but like tldr i'm FULLY capable of taking my meds. i've had to take like 8 in a single sitting before #but i've had one recently that made me feel really sick #so now i've pavloved myself into preemptively gagging at the mere thought of taking pills #and i can't undo it. which sucks as an emetophobe #ughhhhhh. just one of those nights. i'll manage. #pms is not helping kjdfhkdjg

[dragongutsixofficial]

#fe3h #seriously i love this game and most people in the fandom #BUT #a few others ought to take a chill pill #disrespecting and bullying irl people because you disagree on fictional characters is b a d #like for instance i personally really dislike rhea right #but that DOES NOT MEAN i will go into the comments of one of her fans and just start. treating them like sh*t #they can enjoy who they want for their own reasons #and though we all have a right to be critical of any character and share our opinions #our primary focus should always be to strive to be good kind people #live and let live i guess #anyways all i'm saying is. please we don't need the fandom to be a battle zone all of the time #the world is already sh*tty enough rn =( #edelgard positive #dimitri positive #claude positive #hell even #rhea positive

[stop-stealing-my-username]

Idk who needs to hear this, but I'm a fairly tall, deep voiced, broad shouldered, muscle-y cis woman, I promise you that there are other women who look like you. "Woman" describes so many different people who all look very different and all of them are good and valid and beautiful in their own right

#also you don't owe anyone passing #but it's also okay if passing is important to you #and if it is then I promise you pass better than you think you do #people tend to be their own worst critic #this was intended as trans positivity but halfway through I realized it's probably something cis girls need to hear too #because there's a weird pressure put on us to be small and dainty and feminine and take up as little space as possible #and it ends up giving a lot of us a weird sense of self because we just Aren't Built Like That™ but told we should be #it's fucking stupid and annoying and I hate it #anyway I love you guys you're valid and fine the way you are and I'll drop kick anyone who argues otherwise #💞 #positivity #minor rant #lgbt+ #lgbtq #trans positivity

[darling-archeron]

Based on the direction acosf took the series, I’m really wondering how much enjoyment will be left for me in the future books. At this point the worldbuilding and the plot are a pretty big mess, I’m here for the characters. That being said, I don’t think I can handle feysand’s relationship and individual characterizations getting dragged through the mud to suit the needs of the story.

#i read acosf in 48 hours and then never touched it again #i don't even have it in my apartment #sorry for the slight negativity #i usually try to keep things positive over here #but honestly other than the general fact that nessian became canon #and we met some new characters #i try not to include it when i think about canon lol #the high king plotline might be the thing that takes me out #in a bad way #sjm critical

[imp-furiosa]

glass onion tidbit (spoilers)

before I do this, know that this is a down and dirty quick splash of an idea that’s been knocking around my head since watching it. particular wording I know needs work and if I were writing up a paper this would be much more thought out and particular words would be very considered. in short, there are a few phrases I use here which could be picked at to undermine the entire argument and that’s not the sort of feedback I want to engage with. consider the vibe rather than the exact phrasing

thesis: Blanc’s character can point out what’s wrong but will not take the necessary corrective actions. a perfect allegory of liberal American politics that just wants to be correct, not do the correct thing

antithesis: it wasn’t Blanc’s action to take. he’s not some sort of white savior. he helped create the situation by exposing the truth but then left the shot at justice in the hands of the one person who deserved it, Brand

synthesis: Netflix workshopped and focus grouped a fun film targeted at a specific audience one might describe as “woke maskers” -- no offense intended to fellow politically motivated mask wearers. the film works very hard to create a situation where you can feel good that the Mona Lisa gets destroyed while of course the Mona Lisa doesn’t get destroyed irl. one of the first things it does is make up a fantasy mouth spray so that you don’t have to hand wring about Blanc and the others not wearing masks during their Covid party. our antagonist/villain is a guy just as insufferable as everyone else you want to punch on the screen, with the exception that we’re given some good reasons you’d actually punch him, whereas the social norms (the status quo we wouldn’t dare disrupt) say we can’t do that to the others

it’s a film about feeling good when the stars align and some rich asshole gets justice but not actually rocking the boat enough to do it for real. it’s about ignoring systemic issues to focus instead on intensely personal ones. the system is unimpeachable. you can only lash out at individual actors within the system when they commit some personal crime. like the “disruptors” in the film, the work’s final act of disruption and the good feelings it brings the audience are ultimately the false catharsis of a bourgeois placebo intended to placate its target audience. you know you’re good because you consumed a good film. there’s no need to do more (and you’re good: good people wouldn’t burn the Mona Lisa)

#glass onion #critical reading #I don't have the energy right now to get into this more but #if I wanted to write like a 15 page paper #it'd be about the history of the american labor movement and how glass onion informs us about the ways it has failed #culminating in this sort of usurpation to be used by a tech/media giant to just give us an hour and a half of entertainment #we'd much rather watch the rich get the guillotine on the big screen and feel good because we think that's just #than to do the work of making a more just world ourselves #even that's a bit more cut and dry than the topic deserves #anyway if someone feels like expanding on it please do #i saw a joke about how the perfect ending woulda been for blanc to test positive after the weekend #and yes absolutely that woulda worked a bit at shall we say disrupting this fantasy #we still have to worry about covid #but structurally the narrative isn't set up to do anything else #like it'd take huge rewrites to retain the mystery and general plot #while pointing the finger at the system #rather than at one rich asshole

[scarletfasinera]

All of the responses I keep reading on the antitheist post (because I hate myself I guess) about hell being abusive to teach children all going "actually you're just talking about CHRISTIANITY because JUDAISM doesn't believe in hell" as if Christianity and Judaism are the only religions ever. as if there aren't literally thousands upon THOUSANDS of religions out there in the world that have some kind of concept of hell that is used as a form of power and control to scare children and threaten people into submission within it. But sure, your one or two religions you can mention off-hand that don't have a hell-like concept are the reason the "antitheist" part of the post should be written off and the reason you can try to reduce the post to "just being about christianity". ok.

#txt #I hate to tell you this but you cannot make that post about one singular religion because it APPLIES to many #and it IS an anti-theist position to take in a world where MOST theistic religions have a concept of hell????? #sorry all of the “just say christianity. this post is clearly only about christianity.” responses to OP's post are SO ANNOYING #and if you glance for a second you can see countless people in the notes saying “yeah i was raised with [non-christian religion] - #- and our concept of hell traumatized me” #there's like this strange thing where bc people are scared of being racist they somehow think that criticizing organized religion is racist #like if you believe all Muslims are terrorist bombers that want to kill you then THAT is Islamophobic! #But criticizing a religion for it's religious qualities being used to harm people within it is possible to do #without being racist/islamophobic/antisemitic/sinophobic/etc #Like I don't know how to tell you that Christianity isn't the first or the last religion to have hell in it! #and like that literally IS a cartoonishly evil thing to threaten children into behaving with! Which many religions do! #and there needs to be a space where people can be ex-[non christian religion] without feeling lost & alienated & shouted down!

[mieczyhale]

becoming a fan of something or someone means getting weird secondhand embarrassment that didn't occur before. and anxiety! !SO MUCH!! both SO EASILY. just because i... now care about the thing or the people involved?? really??

because i really love a thing i can't freely enjoy it without some weird vague negativity related to some unknown vague people?? sure. okay. checks out.

#i know i cant handle criticism.. and people hating things i like is a personal and miserable experience #but come o n #this has happened since forever and i hate it #kim's new video drops tomorrow and where i've never cared what other people think of their content before as of late im like OH GOD. OH FUCK #maybe its because i saw so many shit fucking takes about their album?? maybe its just that i love them and i feel ready to #physically fight anyone with a bad thing to say?? #plus idk how this is gonna go. they have Messages and don't give a Fuck and thats beautiful but i have anxiety and the general public does #not seem to understand them #again: i didnt care!!! there was no shred of secondhand embarrassment or anxiety or anything when i first started listening to them!!! #but now when new content comes out??? fml i guess!!! #this absolutely did happen with the shadow and bones #as with all things before it #i cant watch most interviews and stuff #trying makes me wanna scream and kick my feet but in a nearly painful way?? like its an aggressive feeling. not the fun kind most fans get #i can sometimes watch them with no sound + subtitles #not sure why the fuck that is #anyway #im positive i didnt explain ANYTHING about ANY of this well but i have literally never tried to put it into words before and i am. so tired #maison speaks

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Nothing quite as humbling as looking back at your old takes and realizing that you were completely wrong

#this happens for me when i'm emotionally invested in a character or show and won't let myself acknowledge that it's bad #like i thought the wandavision finale was 'great'...i did so much meta-writing about loki before finally admitting it sucked... #theory-wise i'm not typically incredibly off but when it comes to evaluating quality i do have a subjectivity issue #like moon knight--i really loved that show and did not recognize most of the pacing or plot issues until the finale #to be clear i still love the show because despite its imperfect story the character exploration and acting really held it together #and i love that they took things in a new direction with how deep they were willing to go with exploring trauma #but it was definitely not as good as i was feeling like it was...and it's ok to like things in spite of flaws #i just have to be aware of them haha #but also sometimes i'll absorb other people's critical takes even when they're off-base (e.g. worried about something that doesn't happen) #like with the season finale to the mandalorian season 2--there was some strong criticism of it and i jumped on that train #because i was worried that they were completely abandoning the story and relationships that they had put in place #and canon has since confirmed they aren't (although i still haven't watched bobf) so those worries were at least largely unfounded #but i am still concerned about how they intend to treat din's religion and what his arc will be bc it can still go badly #however those concerns should not make me evaluate existing content unfairly #all of this is why i am so absolutely resistant to seeing any criticism of kenobi #because i am enjoying this show so thoroughly that i don't want anything to burst my bubble #if it is truly not that great i'll recognize that soon enough once the joy of seeing my BOY on screen again wears off #but i am being so positively affected by this show that i don't want anything to burst that bubble #especially because as stated above a lot of criticism comes from people being worried that they'll do something that they aren't doing #like making the show all about vader was a common preemptive criticism. it is clear that is not what's happening #anyway that's an awful lot of thoughts but in short yeah my takes are not perfect and sometimes i am too forgiving #but also i (and others) have been too harsh before and really all it does is kill the joy! i just wanna enjoy the things i love #kay can i just catch my breath for a second #kay has a party in the tags

[unproduciblesmackdown]

ideal scenario is that i like thinking about this like, essential short story adventure where winston and tuk hook up w/a couple [that bachelorette party] members, and as a foursome/quartet because they have these parallel stories of two pairs of friends who are like "sure i'd have sex with you if things aligned for that" and now are living that short story about expanding a dynamic & becoming closer friends for the end of it (of course billions only wrote winston as standing next to tuk next episode, instead of rian as he's often written to be standing with incl in a previous finale, to shove him out of the path of getting material and let taylor have confusing nonresolution w/rian based on this proximity and coincidence instead. but who can't say that that, And winston next not even trying to sit with tmc in the last finale appearance which at this point is probably for the best and instead again hanging out with tuk and then ben, isn't about having been closer for whatever all happened there in obtaining casual sex together)

and they can have perpendicular stories of also just having some nice chats and enjoying other interactions together such that maybe it's just fun for this one night of crossing paths, maybe anyone stays in touch at all, who even knows, if winston or tuk are dating anyone it's probably only going to come up again in how they were last dumped for being too much effort for how unepic they are, so godspeed to offscreen unmentioned dating. but just friendly acquaintanceship, or again this one-time spontaneously crossed paths night's acquaintanceship, is also a lot of fun. and why not imagine that winston "he's not allowed to not feel self-loathing or, by doing basic things like talking or initiating Or oppositng anything, Not operating as though he's too low in a social hierarchy here to be allowed thusly" type of material where his spontaneity, vivacity to bon vivantocity, self-assurance that is apparently arrogance/aggression to every who thinks he ought to be self-effacing instead, etc, is actually just a social success in other less wretched non-work situations, and his personality is taken as a contribution to the proceedings even before anyone takes up his proffered contribution of himself as a potential sexual partner. and lending confidence to tuk as like one person who won't, at any given time, go into hostile mode with him or even like take up the position of issuing this criticism, which is an inherently elevated (over tuk) one when it's a unilateral thing. such that tuk's personality can be a potential contribution as well. and winston and tuk's Friendship Developing Moments can be happening then, too, b/c Maybe they've hung out outside work on their own aleady, but also maybe they've never really been interacting with a larger group outside work, such that that group is less likely to include some people, or entirely people, who will suddenly go sicko mode on either or both of them. and then meanwhile, who knows anything abt this bachelorette party, could be already a cohesive friend group who all see each other all the time, or people who see each other more infrequently meeting up on this trip, or a mix; could be fun and chill or something so scheduled/demanding it's kind of like a work trip, or fluctuate....and of course zero info abt the individuals such that imagining anything abt them is entire OC territory, and i'm bad at that, or at coming up with stories, so not exactly a lot of details here from me but godspeed if two of them unlock another tier of friendship here b/c like parallel to winston and tuk, they're like hmm okay so we're mutually down re: potentially having a foursome here, and spending some time away from the larger group

(or of course the scenario that tuk and winston can also have that moment but just as putting "and/or: a threesome?" as an option, and that tips the scales for someone who might've otherwise felt more indecisive like "hmmmm casual convenient hookup, or spending more time out & about like this / whatever other activity...." but then is like oho Well, if it's a threesome, i'll seize that opportunity, sure....such that then maybe afterwards [winston and tuk hanging out together] happens sooner, if the third member feels more third wheel about things lol, since now they'd be the only two who already know each other. like ooh who knows, round n+1 in the aftermath just one on one (and/or i mean, maybe another thing the third party's still around for, re: further casual sex opportunities that don't just fall into your lap every day), and/or talk, watch tron together, go back out on the town even. where the conclusion of this truly is the essence of "it Is easy to imagine that winston and tuk are real Genuine Friends for the implicit further offscreen time spent together outside work / interactions between them here. and fun" and with that flair of "and give that a juxtaposed parallel in it being the same for a couple bachelorette attendees, why not, good for them"

#winston billions #not even overt winstuk ideas. at least not in the sense that this or other ideas i have in that realm would necessarily be distinct from #the realm of ideas abt their being actual regular friends. even when it's like ''ooh & what if they kissed'' ideas. #it's [aroace] it's [relationship anarchy] it's [for the most part if i use ''romance/romantic'' as a term it's a shorthand for convenience] #not the most interesting dynamic i'm working towards here. like even w/the world of [many Tayston ideas that involve their both extensively #navigating this world of What Are We] most fun ideas aren't that they Just want to say ''i love you(tm)'' especially not wherein that in #turn is supposed to be a shorthand for Romance; Huh? that itself elides everything else w/more Meaning that can be discussed or organically #figured out by further navigation when what's more honestly going on is that they want more options in how they interact w/each other #which is included in fun ideas that they do enjoy & go ''jk unless??'' when ppl assume they Are dating / together romantically(tm) lol.... #all that to really take a long tangential way around to ''and i don't even think much abt what billions canon could offer re tuk & winston #being friends beyond further very occasional very isolated very peripheral glances outside of knowing a) it'll be a joke on both of them #and/or b) it'll be a joke on just winston; in that tuk is the one who must Transcend this genuine friendship'' and i certainly don't expect #much in general given that i'm not even presuming winston's not written out early in season 7 or anything #to even write some nebulous Positive Enough / Genuine Enough riawin dynamic material for my tayriawin wip sure is essentially equivalent w/ #writing this What If Their Friendship Was Positive/Genuine Enough. and tbh taking it back to pre 5x08 rian of the short hair & busy desk #when there was still that potential re being a character b/c whoops weren't yet cast into being taylor's mirror & only plot Device vs Drive #great times out here. could get actual character material if she's actually criticized vs w/e taylor says abt her is [their mood ring] #evidently hypocritical in how she treats winston; which is to say: uses him; most often by bullying him; & seems to have interacted w/his #ever indeed having a crush on her by consciously taking advantage of that for....only more bullying. so based on That canon precedence it's #like....considerations of how they could interact now that might be more romance(tm) proximate are. certainly not Good lol. #the one true This Could Be Good And Enjoyable billions canon has proven to yield: Put It All On Taylip Baby. As Personal All/Anythings 🙏🙏 #hilariously similar Seeming premise w/riawin like wow they're rivals when feeling petty but can & want to work together. they're peers. #they're foily. they're offbeat enough. they're a duo of somethings. they're Aware of the language & the rules & the behaviors. they're #crucially unusually cooperative in general but esp. with each other....and yet. apparently At All Costs winston must be a joke and rian mus #be correct; other characters insisting on thusly so much that there's no indication the writers are even aware of any other possibilities #when perhaps core themes of analyzing perceived intrinsic vs extrinsic incongruity fails to apply this to Autistic Ppl Are Real....shrugh! #i have no idea if the fact rian has no clue she also ever uses people to her benefit & will keep at it b/c she can get away with it is also #aligned thusly like. writers think pwning winston is A Neutral; Unquestionably Correct simple fact of human interactions/relations. #still nonzero suspicion that [no; rian isn't meant to simply be correct] but if you write him off / nobody's said shit to her except for #winston himself (ignored by characters & potentially viewers) or even blinked; as has been the case so far....then where are we exactly.

[gettothestabbing]

My sister keeps telling me that I should make more personal posts here and vent and be more open. Not a bad idea, on its face. But she also reads my Tumblr. She’s the only person I know IRL that reads it and knows it’s mine. So I could vent on here about pretty much everything . . . unless it pertains to her, in which case she will message me and tell me to change what I wrote about her. Even though NONE of you know who she is.

#she's a Tumblr lurker #she has a completely private account that even I have never seen #and never posts so far as I know #when I first joined Tumblr I wasn't that open with people because I quickly saw that my friend who got me on here was super leftist #and so were most blogs I followed for fanart and pictures #so I just put everything under read mores and tagged those posts very carefully #I still got anon hate several times and ended up on argument posts occasionally #in college someone claimed to know me IRL and I told them to just confront me and they never did #frankly I do want to be more open on Tumblr. I'm on here enough anyway might as well share more #it's kind of an all or nothing deal though #if I have an issue with Mimi I'm probably gonna talk about it #but unlike with others I might complain about she'll see it instantly and then we'll have to talk it through anyway #sometimes I feel like I'm not allowed to have my own opinions in the same way that she does #she criticizes me a lot (with the intent to improve me and help me out) and I have accepted that #but 99% of the time if I try to offer her the same #even phrased gently #she just tells me I don't understand what she's saying and reiterates her position in a much longer fashion #her husband can change her mind but I can't #one of the many benefits there would be to being in a long term relationship: someone might actually take my side for once #'oh but I take your side!' when it's also yours yes #personal #pers com