#i think people will actually have VERY nuanced thoughts on this

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

saw ur vents abt dungeon meishi and while I haven’t read the series yet or watched the anime I have seen bits and pieces and already saw the blowup scene where Toshiro attacks Laois and like. even I with zero context didn’t totally hate him. It sucks majorly that it had to happen but like. Toshiro is going through his own shit and plenty of other characters ALSO don’t like Laois! I think people just see that scene and project the amount of times that’s happened to them with someone in real life, which like. I get it. I’m autistic and reading that scene hit like a gut punch bc it was something I had experienced directly in real life: trying to be friends with someone, thinking you are friends, only for them to reveal one day that they couldn’t stand you and hated your guts from day one. You wonder why the fuck they pretended and let you hurt even worse than outright initial rejection. You wonder why they’d put themselves through enduring you. It makes you feel like you can’t trust anyone, makes you feel like utter shit. I 100% get why it bothers people. But you can’t project real life people you experienced onto this character that does not align at all except for this one moment. Also knowing about the author, she probably put that in on purpose as commentary for how autistics in Japan generally have to go through shit like this bc of the way their social culture is. She’s made plenty of autistic commentaries before, I doubt she stuck that scene in there for no good reason. The fact that Toshiro kept quiet and didn’t say anything until he couldn’t take it anymore is VERY indicative to me of the ways Japan’s typical social system is a struggle on all sides. Not to say these are problems unique to Japan, but the nuance needs to be understood. Toshiro isn’t being a dick just for the sake of it. I want to read it sometime so I can better understand the guy, but I don’t want to hate him based on one scene where he was an asshole. Laois is an asshole plenty of times himself, being very overtly written as autistic doesn’t absolve him from the responsibilities of being an adult.

TLDR: People tend to infantilize Laois and demonize Toshiro, which comes down to the prejudices preconceived for both of them: people see Laois, as an autistic man, as an innocent sweet guy who needs to be protected. They see Toshiro, as an Asian man, as someone who should be “polite and honorable” or whatever and are appalled when he acts like a fallible human being and not some appropriation of a fictional romanticized samurai. I understand feeling betrayed and angry seeing a character be a genuine asshole about something (social expectation does not completely absolve Toshiro of his own antagonizations however much of a reason he had) but when it’s so damn one sided, and especially in a series where almost NO one is without complete asshole qualities that round them out, I find it kind of gross that people hate on him for that. Anyway. Just wanted to send a message of support and understanding. Hopefully after I read more I can offer more analysis to corroborate with you on.

100% CORRECT thank you anon

i also understand the people who are sympathizing with laios bc that scene is very easy to relate to for many autistic or otherwise neurodivergent people (i also got a cold sweat when i was watching it bc. like. having someone you thought was a friend straight up tell you there are parts of your behavior that they can't stand is one of the worst things to experience of all time, ESPECIALLY if you were only showing that behavior around them bc you thought they were your friend and you trusted them) but it's so frustrating seeing so many people have such shallow opinions about toshiro bc of it. im on hands and knees begging people to consider the characters in three dimensions and/or develop better reading comprehension because like!! toshiro's official meeting with laios's new group literally leads with 'oh his name is actually toshiro and we never knew bc our leader had a misunderstanding and microaggressed him and he was too polite to correct him' laios is not an innocent party here!! he is not an innocent uwu autistic baby he's a grown adult man with responsibilities, in that whole time he was partied with toshiro he never learned his real name!! plus using toshiro's crush on falin as a reason to hate him, falin's adolescence was spent in a school and a social setting where she was expected to mask + her being a girl also means she is expected to mask by default -> she is better at masking than laios so why are people saying that toshiro hates laios for the same traits in falin bc clearly not?? also saw one person saying 'he only likes falin because she's hot' NO HE DOES NOT HE WOULD NOT RISK HIS LIFE HEALTH AND RETAINERS IN A DUNGEON ON A FOREIGN CONTINENT FOR THE SAKE OF A WOMAN HE ONLY THOUGHT WAS SEXY!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DUNMESHI FANS THINK WITH YOUR BRAAIN

the whole fight he had with laios where laios points out that their party is more serious about finding falin and resolving everything also drives me nuts because i've seen at least one take saying that toshiro doesn't care about falin as much as team laios because of this. which yes the fact that team laios understands the importance of health in pursuit of a goal is very very important but for many cases in east asian culture (and actually any culture with emphasis on capitalism and economic growth) productivity will get valued above all else which leads to neglect of personal health, i.e: what toshiro was doing. so this is just a clown take to begin with

also interesting to me that almost every character in dunmeshi thus far has demonstrated some kind of racial bias/misconceptions (i.e: chilchuck about elves, senshi about half-foots, etcetera etcetera) and laios and falin are no exception. race and racial differences and conflict and coexistence is also one of the underlying themes in dungeon meshi, with the elves of the west being considered a major issue to many dungeon-goers and the mayor hating dwarves and having to contend with those elves, and then marcille's motive for studying black magic and even thistle's motive for being the dungeon keeper. so it's real fucking ironic that the fans are really quick and happy to demote toshiro to 'asshole side character who is bullying our autistic rep' instead of, you know, using nuance and thinking about it

tldr; dungeon meshi has great commentary on what it's like as an autistic person in society. but dungeon meshi fans are too quick to write off toshiro as an asshole japanese guy who is ableist and getting in the way of their white woman yuri, therefore helping to promote this website's enduring legacy as the piss-poor reading comprehension website

#dungeon meshi #asks #i thought this might happen when i heard dunmeshi was getting an anime adaptation but that doesnt make me feel better abt being right #i watched the ep last night with some friends and one of the first things out of their mouth during the laios-toshiro fight was 'i hate him #and i get it bc both of us had bad experiences being neurodivergent in a shitty american suburbia town #but also like. damn girl!! already???

[swaps55]

I have never heard of an epithet before! What does it mean?

This is a great question! You have probably seen many of them, and just not heard them referred to as epithets.

An epithet is more or less a descriptive word or phrase that stands in the place of a name or a pronoun, such as, “the taller man,” or “the brown-haired woman.” In my experience, fanfic writers in particular tend to latch onto them, especially when trying to create variety in scenes with two characters who share the same pronouns.

I’ll put my thoughts on them under the cut, because I have Opinions on epithets, but I am not An Authority. I’m not your mom. I’m not here to tell you what to do or how to write, and I’m not here to ruin your fun, but we all have the hills we’ll die on and this one is mine. If you are a fan of epithets, just give this post an eyeroll or the finger and scroll on. If you want to know more about epithets and why I think writers can and should avoid them, read on!

Let me get this out of my system: I loathe epithets. Do whatever you want with your oxford comma, but take your epithets out back and shoot them.

Okay, now that’s out of the way, I’ll be a little more constructive about the purpose epithets serve and why I think they are so frequently used poorly.

In my experience, they’re often used as a tool to avoid pronoun confusion, but it’s an inelegant tool that can become a crutch. You have two characters of the same gender in a scene, you have already used their names in a sentence, but the pronoun antecedent is unclear unless you name the character again. You don’t want to do that because it feels repetitive, so you pick out a physical quality and use that instead. Problem solved! Except instead of solve the problem, you’ve potentially introduced new ones.

Nuance is important, and to talk tools we should be using the same toolbox, so for the sake of this argument I’m going to assume we’re talking about 3rd person limited POV, because that’s what I generally see, read, and write the most of.

Chances are very high that the descriptor you chose for your epithet derived from you the writer’s perception of the character being described and not the POV character. This is important, because if you are writing in 3rd person limited, the way you describe other people is how the POV character sees the person being described.  

Now tell me. Have you ever thought of a close friend, a lover, or someone whose name you know as, “the taller woman,” or “the dark-haired man?” Have you ever thought about YOURSELF in these terms? Probably not. I have never looked at my Real Life Romance Option and thought of him as “the brown-eyed man” or “the taller man.” I’ve also quite frankly never consciously thought of him as “my lover.” Is he all of those things? Yes. But from my POV, those are never descriptors I would use for him. Once you know a person’s name, they tend to become Their Name and not ‘Random Characteristic” in your mental picture of them.

So when you default to Random Characteristic, it’s usually the writer talking, not the character. And chances are high that the characteristic you choose to represent is not something that is important to the POV character or the scene in that moment. Therefore, is it significant enough to the reader that it clearly identifies the character, or does the reader now have to stop and think, ‘wait, which one is taller?’ So instead of eliminate confusion, you may have actually introduced more of it.

And even if it is an important detail, stating it as a fact is generally a lot less effective than making it part of the character work being done in the scene. For example:

“Can you help me reach this?” Jed asks the taller man. Leo stops chopping vegetables to oblige, and snags the wine glass the shorter man couldn’t reach off the shelf.

Vs.

Jed sighs as he makes another futile swipe with his fingers and barely grazes the bottom of the shelf. He looks over at Leo, blissfully chopping vegetables in a world where stepstools are for other people. “Can you help me reach this?” Leo sets the knife down and looms behind him, effortlessly snagging the wine glass and handing it to Jed with a grin.   

Hopefully, the second example feels more impactful than the first, because the height difference became part of the scene, and not just a descriptor cosplaying as a pronoun.

Epithets become even more distracting when they become part of a prose style rather than just a means to avoid pronoun confusion or name repetition. I see a lot of writers make the stylistic choice to have a POV character refer to themselves as an epithet right alongside the epithets being thrown around for other characters, and there are so many crammed into a paragraph or two I can’t figure out who is doing what.

At best, epithets are distracting. At their worst, they’re actively confusing when their purpose is to do the opposite.

“But Swaps, if I don’t use an epithet, how do I avoid pronoun confusion without wanting to throw myself out a window?”

This is a problem every writer contends with, whether you’re writing same gender smut, combat, or just have two people of the same gender doing things in a scene together. And unfortunately, this is one of those ways in which writing is hard. When you have some pronoun confusion in a sentence you can’t wriggle your way out of, the answer is probably to try a different sentence. Break the sentence up. Structure it differently. Finding the better sentence is part of becoming a better writer. 

If repetition is what you’re concerned about, know that just saying a character’s name and using their pronoun is okay. It’s like ‘said.’ ‘Said’ isn’t a trendy word that goes in and out of style. It’s a building block word that blends into the background. Can you get fancier than ‘said?’ Sure! But do it with purpose. Don’t be afraid to use a character’s name. It’s their name. It’s what you’re supposed to call them. Why are we fighting so hard to respect people’s names and pronouns if all we’re going to do is replace them with epithets? (Kidding. Mostly.) And if you’re using their name so much it’s interfering with readability…it’s probably time to revisit a few of those sentences and figure out what the better sentence is.

When can you use an epithet?

I joke that there are no exceptions to my There Are No Good Epithets stance, but there are. Sort of. Because rules are made to be broken, though I do believe you should understand why the rule exists before you break it, and you should break it with purpose.

Here’s the easy one.  

Epithets are useful when the POV character doesn’t know a character’s name. Now you have to use something else! And here’s the great thing about that: the epithet is now a vehicle for characterization. What about this stranger stands out enough to get the POV character’s attention? Do they notice a physical characteristic? Clothes? Attitude? What does the thing they notice say about the POV character and the character being observed?

For instance, my POV character is eavesdropping on a conversation between two people in a restaurant. You could grab the low hanging fruit and describe them as, “the brunet woman” and the “older man.” Or you could make your scene work harder. “The man with the punchable face,” or “the woman who makes eye rolling an art form.” Or how about, “the woman wearing fake pearls,” shorthanded to Fake Pearls Woman, and “the man with the name-brand suit that’s seen better days,” shorthanded to Shabby Suit. Now you’ve said something about the characters that place them in a more useful context than their hair color – you’ve said something about them that helps inform the scene, and how your POV character observes the world around them.    

Are there other instances where you can effectively use an epithet? Yes, if you are using them like this: with narrative purpose. And in those cases, is it really just an epithet anymore? It is in that yes, it is a descriptor taking the place of a name or pronoun, but it’s doing a lot more heavy lifting now. Maybe you have a character who chronically can’t remember or can’t be assed to remember people’s names. The epithet is now a means of characterization. Maybe you have a Jekyll and Hyde style character, in which a descriptor of those different personas becomes a means of setting a scene or crafting their relationship with the POV character. These descriptors are narrative vehicles being used with intention. “The other man,” is rarely a tool being used with any real intention. If there is an instance of it, I have never seen it.

Now, if reading this makes you second guess your own work, or to feel like you write wrong, or if the thought of going to painstaking lengths to rewire sentences you would typically use an epithet in gives you hives, there’s an easy solution: forget about this post.

Because fanfic is supposed to be fun. It’s your hobby. You are not getting paid for it. You don’t have to use a specific writing style, or meet anyone else’s expectations. That’s part of what makes fanfic such a beautiful thing. You can do whatever makes you happy. Not me, not anyone else. If you fucking love using epithets, use them. If you think I am made of bullshit, give this post the finger like I initially suggested and write five epithets just to spite me. No one will stop you, certainly not me. Though I will continue hating epithets, because you can’t stop me, either. XD

#swaps replies #Anonymous #how writing is written

[lil-guys-brainrot]

HELLO I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABT UR NINJAGO OPINIONS PLS

seriously tho I love this show so much and I'm always looking for excuses to talk to people about it so... thoughts on where things might go after S2Pt2? I'm starting to believe the evil Arin theories, but I feel like our boy deserves more nuance than that...

I'll gladly indulge! you can always bother me with ninjago thoughts in either my inbox or dms :3

I don't personally think the evil arin theories will come to fruition, but I do think this will blow up in the team's face if they can't properly address arin's self-worth issues soon (they won't). especially since it was confirmed that he doesn't have any elemental power. everything is so tense on the team after kai getting yoinked into the nether space, and it's only gonna get worse when they see a lightning EM in the s2pt2 tournament. and when arin finds out that sora helped him with his object spinjitsu, ohhhhh he's not gonna be happy. I can maybe see him leaving the team for an episode or two, but I don't think he'll go awol. the show is definitely trying to insinuate that though huh :')

lloyd and sora just need to stop coddling him for a second. they're forcing optimism on him when what he needs is a heart to heart about his actual capabilites. the boy is very capable, but he needs to be able to say "I can't do it" and actually have someone respect that and say "okay, here's an alternative instead."

but that's s2pt2 commentary. you asked what I think will happen in s3 and beyond

I honestly think they're gonna focus more on jay in s3. I think we'll see him a fair bit more throughout s2pt2, but I don't think the main cast is gonna realize it's him until towards the very end. and I honestly can see the season ending with the team realizing jay's alive, and the production crew won't actually try to "deal with" his arc until s3. and as much as I love jay, I hope they draw out his arc and make everyone suffer :) I do really want him to get his memories back in the end tho

I also wonder if we'll get a glimpse at next season's protagonists? similar to how ras was carried over from last season into this one, could the forbidden five somehow carry over into s3? idk. I'm just thinking out loud. I don't really believe that'll happen. tho I think it would be strange to give them so much lore without giving them more significance and screentime

anyhow, that's all I have for now. I'd be interested in hearing some of your other thoughts for what the future seasons hold.

#sorry I waited a bit to respond. I'm bad at time management;; #ninjago dragons rising #ninjago #dragons rising #answered

[itsbansheebitch]

We should probably talk about Elliot

So... I feel like there are three types of opinions when it comes to Elliot. I usually see some version of the same three points depending on the person.

Elliot is boring (This is fine, honestly I'd like to see his character fleshed out more with some of the new dialogue coming, but that's not a guarantee.)

Elliot is the Ideal ManTM & Can do No WrongTM (I understand where people are coming from with this, but I also understand why people disagree. yes I AM going to be a fence sitter on this one)

Elliot is alright, but I HATED the boat heart event.

I'd like to discuss the third opinion. Because I'm an Elliot fan and I COMPLETELY understand why people (even Elliot fans/stans, and myself at first) HATE this heart event. Having a guy row you both out to sea in a tiny rowboat with no one around and kissing you without asking is a fairly major red flag.

It shows that he sometimes oversteps boundaries, even if he doesn't mean to. However, I'd like to argue that this is NOT a deal breaker. Let's break it down. Elliot, in the context of the game, is a person. And people are flawed. they make mistakes. I think this event actually goes to show that he's a well-rounded character.

He has flaws. He (sometimes) breaks boundaries, and if you say your uncomfortable, he says, "I see" and you get -50 Friendship points. This shows that he doesn't take criticism super well AND could imply that he kisses you spontaneously because he's so isolated in his cabin with only BOOKS (fiction, probably some sort of romance included) as his entertainment. He probably didn't even realize that what he did was wrong. It is NOT an excuse, but it IS an explanation!

I'm just saying this to say that I think Elliot is actually a well-rounded character with flaws, and if this happened in real life, you could probably talk it out and understand each other's point of view, thus mending the (metaphorical) lost "friendship points."

I actually think this heart event adds MORE to his character rather than taking away from it. I mean, Stardew Valley is not unfamiliar with flawed characters! Alex can be kinds misogynistic if you play as a girl, Clint is a LITERAL incel, and Shane & George are pretty big assholes when you first meet them. Elliot just has a different kind of character flaw, one that we don't usually see in media.

HOWEVER, I understand if after this you still don't like the heart event and/or Elliot. I respect your opinion and I think we can all still be civil even if we disagree. I just appreciate that we all have wildly different experiences when we play the game. I only recently started playing the game and I love how passionate this community is. Hope ya'll enjoyed this long winded rant! :)

#stardew valley #sdv farmer #sdv #stardew elliot #sdv elliott #stardew valley elliott #sdv discussion #stardew valley discussion #video games #let me know what yall think #i think people will actually have VERY nuanced thoughts on this

[asteria-argo]

i can feel myself getting preemptively annoyed with some of the comments I might get on the next chapter of to all the better places and let me tell you it's making it really hard to write this chapter in peace

#i just know I'm going to get so so many people hating on Ted again #and I appreciate the comments I really do #but the total lack of nuance astounds me #I think people forget just how much of a dickhead Jamie actually was in season one #and also that Ted thinking slightly ill thoughts about Jamie when he remembers him as being a very hostile and combative person #doesn't make him a bad guy #because fun amazing fact about to all the better places #is that Ted and Jamie haven't actually had a SINGLE conversation yet #because when Ted tried to have a civil conversation with Jamie in chapter three Jamie ran away #they are currently still dancing around each other #and I love that people are invested in the story and care about Jamie #but getting comments that are literally just character hate towards a character that isn't actually supposed to be hated? #not that fun #makes me feel like I'm trying to write around a bunch of landmines to avoid getting comments that are pure character bashing #you can be mad at Ted in this fic he's being frustrating and I'm writing him like that on purpose #but he's not the villain #he's barely even an antagonist #he's just bias and not sure what he's doing because he's in a confusing ass situation. he's trying his best under the circumstances #because he is as much of a fully fleshed out character as Jamie is

[bisexualsfromouterspace]

re: that poll i just wanna say i don't think having fantasies is cheating but like..... if there's a real person in your life that you think about fucking and fantasize about fucking while you have a whole-ass partner like.... again it's not cheating but it's not like a chill thing to be doing?

#that's why i answered gray area #just coming from my experience ok #i never cheated on my ex but i wanted to and i think that's still pretty bad sorry ! #sue me ! #they were just as hurt about the whole thing anyway so it didn't matter that i didn't ~actually cheat lmao #it just makes me wonder how many of the people saying no have actually been in a situation where they need to answer this #in my experience it was something i thought was very black and white until it happened to me personally #and i also don't think it's a straight v queer thing as much as it's a simple monogamous v polyamorous thing #like a LOT of the responses on that poll talk about being poly and it's like of course that wouldn't be cheating. to YOU #ig the straights just happen to be more monogamous so that's why the results are Like That #it's all about boundaries baby #oh wow a tumblr poll with no room for nuance made me mad? shocking!

[tricoufamily]

my this is the fall headcanon which i can have as its creator is that after jacques's death and maybe even after the kids' deaths they'll make an award-bait mrs. villareal biopic that is genuinely well made but like 99% inaccurate and hugo would probably publicly denounce it

#like is this canon is it not who's to say #i have so many Thoughts on her public perception and media narrative following her death i could write a book #i'll get into some of it eventually but they truly just have no idea who she actually was #it's very black and white. no nuance #she was basically never seen when she was alive except for public events no one really paid attention to her or cared what she did anyway #there are a lot of lies and cover ups about her also some of which were discovered and made public during the investigation #like how she had just started working at the company at 23 as a low-level employee #and jacques was 34 and her boss and their relationship started there that was covered up until the investigation #people know it now but like he recovered from the backlash #a lot of people DO think he killed her of course though. there have canonically been snl jokes about it #but like there are no interviews with her no diaries no publicly released family videos. no one knows what she spoke like her personality #they just have to project whatever personality would make sense with the narrative. they just have to guess #honestly realizing just now how big a theme media narratives are in this is the fall....like i have brought this up multiple times. hmmmm #this is the fall: extras

[bmpmp3]

dysgraphic artiƨts risɘ UP!!!!!

#raise your pencils!!!! and erasers. to fix the backwards letters 😔 #sorry still thinking about my weirdness with my art professors. yknow a lot of em have been really pushing us as #students to make our personal identities a major part of like our 'brand' as artists #which. well from an art history major perspective thats a very contentious and nuanced topic. i love a lot of artists who live this way #and i think its great seeing my peers who focus on identity thrive. but also as an fine arts major (double major fool LOL) #i keep getting pushed by teachers into like. specific '____ artist' identities??? #specificaly woman artist. which is a little bizarre because im a bit fat and a bit gnc so im generally like. ungendered? in day-to-day life #(which doesnt actually matter to me directly that much honestly LOL people tend to view me as like. buddy? buddy or pal.) #(not man. not woman. not anything human. sometimes i remind people of a beloved dog. which. hkdsahjk thats its own can of worms) #(a can of worms that also doesnt matter much to me directly because im a wannabe furry who chose to be the dog when playing house as a kid) #(LOL so um. well. theres that) but yeah i dunno i dont really consider myself a woman artist. its been. shockingly (and sometimes luckily?) #irrelevant to most of my life and experiences and art (although dont get me wrong misogyny is very real and very present) so i dont #have a whole lot to say about it from an art perspective. you could also call me all kinds of things. a queer artist. a mixed race artist #again technically correct. some aspects more visible in my work than others. but also very technical. i focus on race a lot in in my #art historical work but i dunno how much my drawings have to say. except that i keep making too many mixed ocs LOL #i dunno i just think my professors gotta focus that energy away from tokenizing me and over to supporting like actual #capital W Woman artists capital Q Queer artists capital A Artists of Colour who are doing far more interesting things than I #far more thought out and engaged in these topics directly. i just kind of stumble into my art blindly and confused <3 #sorry that was a long tangent WHAT IM SAYING Is despite all that: i do consider myself a capital D Dysgraphic artist #i think its an unmovable constant of my art and the way i draw and the way my hands move. the untrained eye doesnt seem to be as aware #of it directly. but those who are familiar can probably see it. the dysgraphia LOL if not just from whenever i write a letter or number #half of them are busted and frantically fixed HDKJSDJDS but its in all my art. if u can see it <3 ive been trying to embrace it #dygraphic artists raise your pencils indeed!! and throw away the eraser!!! make the legibility of your words everyone elses problem!!! #what does that say? what is that sketch? none of my business! none of your business!! its the business of my hand and the pencil alone #motor skill and spatial issues take the wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel

[devsgames]

Some years ago when everyone was talking about Blockchain, I made a post on Twitter that went viral and somehow resulted in me getting to write an opinion piece for Wireframe (Raspberry Pi's now-defunct gamedev magazine).

I find myself thinking about this article again as I see people have constant circular discussions on AI and generally spreading misinformation about tech in general. I find my thinking is still very much the same - that technology is just a tool, and that the root problems are always something larger. Sometimes I wish we bothered pooling our effort into tackling those instead.

It was originally titled "Blockchain Isn't the Enemy", and you could probably replace a good chunk of "NFT" and "Blockchain" talk with "AI" and it still works.

#I have way more thoughts on this sort of thing but I'm too busy to post #tbh I think tumblr is way worse than other platforms in terms of users blatantly misunderstanding the factors at play when it comes to tech #a very core belief of mine is 'make sure you actually understand the nuances of a tech before you try to support/rebuke it' #so many people don't do this and then it just boils down to a disinfo echochamber #but I think that's just social media these days babyyyy #thoughts #blog #article #AI

[heroicallynude]

Its a bit goofy of Pinkett Smith to pick the one ruler who definitely was not black for her documentary. Not only that, but it is stated in the docu that "Cleopatra was def black" and similar statements. I hope she chooses to portray more African queens and rulers in future documentaries. I also hope that filmmakers in general explore more stories outside of the European context instead of raceswapping historical figures such as Anne Boelyn. Its just very Eurocentric. But then again, its probably done because well known names pull bigger audiences, and therefore more money etc etc

I agree, it's definitely goofy. I think it was stated that she wanted to make a docu about strong African female rulers, and i guuuuess since Cleopatra was technically ruler of a country located on the African continent, she figured that counted, despite Cleopatra being way more Greek than Egyptian?

I think this might be why i can't bring myself to take it all that serious, because it's clearly not made by someone who knows enough about the subject for me to really respect them in like a scholarly fashion. I can only assume she must've had some scholars involved, but if the docu feels confident claiming Cleo was DEFINITELY a black woman, then it's clear that Pinkett Smith chose scholars that would support the worldview she needed for her vision to work. So then, the docu was made by unqualified people with a flawed premise, and some wrong choices were made along the way because her narrative took presidence over actual facts.

I hope that the rest of the episodes about other Africans queens are more historically accurate and respectful, but the issue is that her Ethos is already lost since we all know the documentary hasn't bothered with accuracy. It was a noble endeavor, and i think my fear is that others will be discouraged from making similar stories that amplify often unheard voices, because the backlash over this one, stupid, choice overshadowed everything else

#my first post lacked a looot of nuance #it was this very undeveloped thought i voiced becase i was already des up form lsitening to ppl bitch about the little mermaid #but thats not really an excuse to not stop and consider before just letting out some halfbaked opinion #i think bow that ige had some time to think about it. that i can understand why it was the wrong choice to make #and why some people are rightfully angry with it. unfortunately those are mingled in with people that are just being racist about it #and that sucks i think. i want to be supportive of the people who are wronged but i also want to tell the racists to go suck an egg #anyway i looked into the project a little bit more and started to understand why the choice was made even though i dont really condone it #but i guess i also just don't care all that much because im not personally affected by it? so then for should probably just step down #and not engage in a discussion thats not about me or for me. so yeah. I'm gonna refer to the people who have actual stakes in this #omg so many typos in these tags but i am too lazy to fix them . sorry

[turquoiseskye]

It’s funny how obsessed the internet is with hating gatekeeping when the internet is also full of assholes that I don’t want on my side of the gate.

#gatekeeping is one of those words overused into meaninglessness #its not gatekeeping if I don't want bullies at my party #if I call it curating my space does that sound better #I am doing that in real life and in virtual form #this is all because I think you should like the thing on the tee shirt you're wearing #but at the very least don't mock the thing or the person who likes the thing on the tee shirt you're wearing #and you know what this trope of asshole who makes you list 20 facts is probably happening about ten times less than the internet pretends #its also just cooler if you at least know what the thing on the tee shirt you're wearing is at all instead of being dumb #like I have so many nuanced opinions about this #and if any of you come at my with that its not that deep thought terminating cliche bs I will turn into a eldritch horror and consume you #I am quite aware that people can do what they please but are you also quite aware I can have disagreeing opinions while still recognizing th #that #i think what we have here is actually 2 kinds of people #people who give no shits and people who give many many shits #and giving shits is fucking important

[noriakicatkyoin]

The thoughts i hv about fujimoto and his characters one day ill be able to put them into words

#for now i reread his look back one shot and cry ab it #that one post saying how kyomoto reads as autistic and i go oh. screams. #godddd look back is like peak. its like the embodiment of my thoughts. the way that no matter the way the content is dressed at its core is #the inherent grief of knowing other people and having limited time in every relationship you have with everything and everyone around you #and how that time while you may grieve when its over it shouldnt be regretted and should push you to keep going #like i love how he writes relationships so much #its not oh everything is all about love oh we all need romance and love it is the core of our being how will we live without it #and instead its just he just shows all these varied and changing relationships and what they mean to different people #and how the relationships people cherish affect them and make them better in the long run. #and the majority of these relationships that he shows as actually beneficial being platonic. oh im just crazy now huh #look back is about 2 friends. csm centers on a friend group/family dynamic. goodbye eri is about 2 friends and a family #like yknow. its. its WEIRD its refreshing to me like its not groundbreaking maybe but like #i dont see relationships explored so casually so normally and made so important and theyre friends and platonic every single time #i dont like watch romance linger on the horizon and it turn into that and become some mess of tropes like #a lot of ppl i dont think really explore nuance in friendships. the weight and different kinds of friendships there are #aki has an older brother dynamic w denji and power. denji and power VERY easily read as qpps. kyomoto and fujino are best friends #and yet all these stories about their ties to each other are so heart wrenching and make u so invested in their relationships #i enjoy it !!! i just enjoy it. who cares how technically good it is. i dont. i like it and its fun and new to me and feels great #screaming in the tags #youve given me unnecessary feelings #im not putting this in any main tags i dont need ppl trying to communicate with me about things #rohan rambles #ig #yeah bc i need to find this later

[gibbearish]

to anyone watching the james somerton situation and going "well how DO you write your own things like this then? everyone's talking about how /not/ to but i dont know where to start, the way highschool taught me essay writing was all about the number of sentences in a paragraph and mla citations :("

you know how james made things up between his """sources""" that sounded just plausible enough that people accepted it? he did it in the wrong order, do that part first THEN research. 100% serious right now, just make some shit up in your head that sounds vaguely right based on what you know now, write it down, and then go check if you're actually right or not. boom, now you have a topic. thats literally all it is, its just you saying "i think (xyz)" and then checking to see if the facts agree with you or not. if you turn out to be right, talk about what lead you to the conclusion initially and anything you learned about that you didn't predict. if you turn out to be wrong, talk about the right answer and examine why you thought differently at first. then either way talk about how things got that way, if you think it should stay like that, and why (e.g. how does it being that way effect people right now). tada suddenly you have an essay that is unplagiarized and entirely your own thoughts, with a plethora of sources on hand to cite because That's What You Used To Check. now be free your beautiful doves

#obviously its not actually that easy but thats how it tends to feel after the fact KENFKSBFKBSKFBDJ #like presumably the reason youre writing it is because youre excited about the topic right? so show other people what was #so exciting about it to you #if the research made you go 'no way no way no way this is insane' freak out about it onto the page #(esp if youre aiming for youtube‚ obv if youre actually doing professional writing dont make it Too Out There but still keep the energy) #act like youre showing a friend and you also want them to go no way no way no way this is insane #thats the frustrating part abt james is its like. you can tell he kind of does have a bit of that deep down #like the 'current body standards come from nazis' thing just Stated like that is absolutely misinformation #but '/do/ current body standards come from nazis' is a topic i could see absolutely being a thing #like with 0 context it sounds plausible enough on its own‚ they had weird body standards and we have weird body standards #and its not like there arent other things at the very least america decided to keep around from them and i imagine canada #wasnt much better given all ive heard abt their history #so its like james that couldve been your discussion topic!! that couldve been your thesis you couldve explored that!!!! #you could've said 'i think these standards come from here and here's why' and broken it down and drawn connections to show people why you #think that!!!!! #but no he just horks it up into the filler without a thought and moves on with his day #sorry just rewatching the todd video and the podcaster at the start refers to it at james 'making the connection' between #those things and it just struck me like. huh yeah misinformation and theorizing are only really separated by #putting a question mark at the end sometimes #obv its way more nuanced than that in general but with one isolated statement like that you can see how thin #that tipping point is #and that just makes it 1000x more frustrating bc it's like you were so close! you were so close to coming up with an interesting #question to ask and perspective to offer!!! and then you just DODGED AROUND IT doing basically the same amount of work anyways? #in pursuit of laziness??????????? #absolutely mystifying #ah apologies the podcaster says 'does the cultural connection' but same diff #and it was modern fitness culture not body image standards in general #theres been a lot of info going thru my brain recently phrasing details get lost in the weeds sometimes kwbfkshfksh #james somerton #hbomberguy

[bastardlybonkers]

i feel like not enough ppl are factoring in the cultural clash between laios and shuro and the many micro agressions shuro faced while being in their group. literally the name 'shuro' in itself is one

his name is toshiro 😭 lets also not forget that he has his own communication issues, in the opposite way that laios does- thats literally a factor in their argument, that his envy for laios's ability to express himself sincerely manifested as part of his distaste for him.

ig all this to say like, was their fight heart wrenching, especially when reading laios as autistic? absolutely. anybody whos ever been in laios's position knows how much it hurts to realize someone you thought was your friend doesnt actually like having you around, especially when they didnt tell you and you had no way of knowing due to not understanding their cues. but im begging yall to step back and see the nuance of this situation cause im gonna be real a lot of you are kinda just brushing over it acting like everything is toshiros fault and that hes a terrible person when in reality hes an average guy who really, really clashed with laios and it led to a very long misunderstanding due to their supremely opposite methods of communication. even laios and toshiro, after letting everything out in their fight, were able to come to an understanding and start a foundation for an actual friendship built on better communication

ok yknow what Edit: i shouldve made it even more explicit at the end of this post, i hadnt thought i would need to since i started the post with this, but i think a few too many people are missing my point so i just wanna clarify. i shouldnt have said 'really clashed' and left it at that because yeah they did, but it wasnt just their opposite methods of communication, it is also very much that toshiro was experiencing microaggressions via laios. it may have been unintentional on laios's part, but it still happened and wore him down, made it harder for him to communicate on top of both the more subtle social cues that he was raised with and his own communication difficulties. i also want to say that the fandom reaction to toshiro and the complete ignorance of this point is also racist tbh or at the very least ignorant. i understand that the anime did not cover this panel, and neither did the manga, as this was an omake, but im gonna be real with you guys. there are enough context clues within the story to clue you into this. if you didnt pick up on it thats ok, but i think this is a good lesson in picking up subtext in the stories that youre watching and/or reading. kui shouldnt have to explicitly say 'by the way laios was racist to toshiro' for this point to be understood, and at the very least, when the author portrays a character in a sympathetic light (as kui clearly does) it should make you question Why they are doing so and what makes them sympathetic, rather than youre immediate and only reaction to be 'well i hated what this guy did/said so i hate them and they suck'. idk exactly how to finish this, just. idk. question your biases and gut reactions to things you see in media and stories, and think about whether or not theres subtext that youre missing.

#dunmeshi #dungeon meshi #shuro dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #toshiro nakamoto #dont get me wrong i understand relating to a character and hating whoever wrongs them cause youre protective or you relate really hard #but i think toshiros been getting the short end of the stick for a long time now 😭 #even his love for falin is misunderstood #he literally states all the reasons he likes her #and none of them are superficial #but hes so closed off and has such difficulty expressing himself that instead of asking her out or smth he just #proposed to her out of the blue 😭 #leading a lot of ppl to just assume that he went 'white woman spotted' and proposed #do Not misunderstand me i am #a HUGE farcille stan #obviously #but i dont think toshiros feelings are surface level and i think theyre absolutely crucial to understanding him and his motivations #as a character in this story

[jytan2018]

I read the comic in one sitting less than an hour after finishing the movie, and wow I have many Thoughts™.

- It's very obvious the two versions were meant to cater to different audiences AND tell different messages. I don't get why people are going "But the comic was better! It had more nuance!" just because Nimona was easier to root for in the movie.

- The comic was written back when ND Stevenson was still trying to process a lot of stuff, so all the characters are morally grey/straight up evil and the climactic battle is between a Ballister who regrets turning against Nimona, even if it was to save others vs. a Nimona who's too hurt to care if her lashing out was going to hurt innocent people.

- By the time Nimona got a movie adaptation, ND was a lot more secure in his sexuality, so the climactic battle was Nimona vs. the Director, the symbol of religious oppression and bigotry. It's not just about your friends turning on you because you're "too much" for them anymore, it's also about a society that would rather bring itself to the brink of ruin than coexist with you.

- (I totally get why people were upset about Ballister's surname change, though. Like come on, the media dubbing him Blackheart just to be mean was RIGHT THERE).

- Nimona's metaphor for not shifting is such a neurodivergent thing. Even in the comic, Nimona's parents insisting she's a monster who replaced their daughter is reminiscent of the changeling myth, which is what many parents thought their neurodivergent kids were—changelings who replaced their "real" children.

- Ambrosius being trained to cut off HIS BOYFRIEND'S WHOLE FUCKING ARM instead of merely disarming him is a very cop thing to do. As much as cops claim they're trained to de-escalate situations, their training still teaches them to treat everyone as a potential threat, and that level of constant vigilance can turn anyone into a trigger-happy/arm-choppy bastard. Even the Director, who can use a sword but probably hasn't actually fought someone in ages, STILL can't see Ballister reaching for the squire's phone without assuming he has a weapon.

- And on that note, the Queen getting killed simply because she was trying to reform the Institution and allow commoners to become knights? That's the best "no such thing as a good cop" metaphor I've seen. Because even if there ARE good cops and they ARE in leadership positions, the system will crush them before they make any meaningful change. It's not a good institution that turned rotten, it's an institution that only exists to spread its rot and refuses to be good.

- That's why Ballister's characterisation is so different in the movie vs. the comic. Comic Ballister had 15 years to come to terms with his trauma and the Institution's evildoing, while Movie Ballister is still freshly traumatised and hasn't found a way to define himself beyond the role he was assigned by the Institution.

- Not to mention Comic Ambrosius was not very noble to begin with and genuinely believed Ballister was better suited to villainy than heroism, while Movie Ambrosius never wanted the glory that came with his lineage in the first place and only antagonised Ballister because of indoctrination he needed to unlearn (which he did, all by himself, after witnessing the lengths the Director will go to just to kill Nimona).

- It really shows how important it is to surround yourself with loved ones who are open to change. Comic Ambrosius can love Ballister all he wants, but he'll still blast his arm off because he thinks Ballister deserved it anyway. Movie Ambrosius will stop to question what "the right thing" even means, even if he didn't love Ballister enough to defend him unconditionally.

I have so many more thoughts bubbling beneath the surface, but I'll probably address them some other day. In conclusion:

[ID: A pink-haired Nimona grinning evilly while holding up a knife.]

Watch Nimona. This is not a request.

Edit: Added more thoughts!

#nimona #nimona meta #nimona comic #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin

[soracities]

i think at some point in life you are going to have to grapple with the fact that nobody is going to just perfectly fit into your idea of them, and nobody is going to slot into your life without any uncomfortable bumps or rubbing of edges, and nobody is going to follow the script you want them to follow or thought they would follow because the people around you, shockingly, are not cardboard cutouts. at some point in life you WILL need to face the, surprisingly, real and messy interiority of other people. and you are going to have to learn to grant them the same nuance, agency and consideration you grant yourself, or want to be granted. and you are going to have to learn to make grace an important factor in what you say and what you assume about others bc i guarantee there is no shortage of grace being offered to you at some point in your life, and not in some transactional sense either but bc it is not that difficult to pause for literally 2 mintues and give people the space to be human and then just....move on with your life.

like i dont think it can be pointed out enough that responding and reacting are two very different things and it's a kindness to your future self to actually learn the difference.

#p #idir lúibíní