#in the way that this discourse seems to think they are

[rosetterer]

hiiii bucktommy anon here who is tired of the buddie stans. may i just add one thing, which i hope brings a bit of a positive twist into this entire fandom discourse situation?

in all my years of being in fandoms like this, especially regarding shipping, i always knew that i hit the jackpot with my interpretations for endgame couples when the hate for some side character love interest who is said to be ""sooo unimportant"" was the most extreme and all the antis were talking about. because listen. if buddie shippers were absolutely secure in the endgame-ness of their ship, they would not give a single fuck about tommy or bucktommy because it would not pose any threat. it'd be a blip in buck's story that will never matter past a few meaningless episodes, except for the fact that it canonized bisexual buck. (which ignores the problem that buddie has a much bigger problem: eddie is still very much straight, and the possibility of him also being confirmed bisexual someday is dwindling, but that's another topic lol).

but look at all the hate that's suddenly coming from everywhere. that tells me that ultimately, all buddie shippers agree with our interpretations and see/feel the exact same thing as we do: tommy is very strong candidate for buck's endgame love story in the canon narrative.

and idk about you, but when the entire buddie fandom seems to agree with us, in their hateful roundabout way, well! i think it's time to celebrate, my fellow bucktommys!!! (sorry, i being a bit petty here but the amount of hate i have to block these days just makes it impossible not to be ;;;)

That's a nice way to look at it, anon 🧡 Thank you for the positivity!

#911 abc #bucktommy #911 on abc #tevan #kinley #tommy kinard #evan buckley #rose answers

[dulcewrites]

I think the thing that shocks me the most about the discourse, if you can even call it that, around book Alicent vs show Alicent, is the idea that people think book Alicent had full autonomy over all her choices and she wasn’t a “victim” like show Alicent.

Now first, I put victim in quotations bc the way people who do not like her have almost bastardized that word. Alicent is a victim, and those things (rape, abuse, neglect) were done to her. That says everything about the men who did that do her and nothing about her. But people are hellbent on throwing Alicent, a woman in a violently patriarchal environment, being victimized back at people as if it is moral flaw of hers. Which is just terribly ironic bc the same folks who say Alicent “did it to herself” or “deserves what she is getting” also seem to think the crux of the story isn’t about generational trauma catching up with itself, how far people will go for power, or even how all girls and women are harmed - albeit to different degrees. But more the fact that Rhaenyra is the only woman to be harmed - and the only harm done is not getting the throne easily. Those same people wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that Rhaenyra is also a victim in the way they shit on Alicent for being. From the father who sets her up fail, to the baby daddy that’s been eyeing her since she was barely 18, to the uncle that grooms her. It takes away from the fantasy projected onto Rhaenyra if she too is surrounded by men that use her and she never escapes that.

Second, it’s funny how F&B gets heralded by some as this exploration of how history is skewed depending on who is telling it. But people can’t read between the lines (you honestly don’t even have to do that much work) with book Alicent. Showing 14 year old Alicent being preyed on, 16 year old Alicent being pregnant with her second child, and 18 year old Alicent being raped is somehow the show needlessly making Alicent a victim. But reading about a 13 year old bathing, dressing, and taking care of a king who mistakes her for the daughter he abused and neglected, and then that same girl, at 18, marrying another king that killed his previous child bride is just girl bossism on book Alicent’s part?

People hate conceptualizing the idea that (even book) Alicent is caught in patriarchal trappings bc to some that takes away from Rhaenyra’s plight…. Bc they can’t wrap their heads around several women *gasp* all going through hardships, and that ultimately people will respond to trauma differently depending on tools/knowledge they have at their disposal. Alicent neither being gleefully evil nor picking herself up by her bootstraps to somehow end years of patriarchal violence is not the neat box they want for her.

#people want Alicent to gleefully be evil not bc it would be more interesting (newsflash it wouldn’t) #but so they can be justified placing her in the ‘evil woman’ category #bc to them their is only ‘good woman’ and ‘bad woman’ #but since the show doesn’t lineup perfectly with the woman they made up… they put her in the ‘weak woman’ category #bc the only thing worse for a woman than being a bitch is being perceived as passive in your demise #trust me I would have loved to see Alicent let Viserys rot and plot against him just as much as the next person #but please do not act like that wasn’t probably self preservation and trauma on book Alicent’s part #not her doing it for shits and giggles #and lbr the same people wishing the show went that route would’ve been the same people STILL shitting on her #pro alicent hightower #alicent hightower #pro team green #anti viserys i targaryen #anti targaryen #ok NOW I’m done lol #told myself no more of these lol

[ninjakk]

A friend who, unfortunately, likes JC defended him a lot to me when I was first watching the donghua then read the novels. Perfectly honest, I thought he was a loser but my friend kept defending him for being able to pull the Jiang sect together after the LP massacre but...I don't know? Did he really? wasn't it more WWX's reputation that pulled the sect up and high? Is JC actually a good leader? I have trouble seeing that

Hi anon 😊

Ah yes, I have been there as well unfortunately!

Although I was respectful of their opinion, it seems we no longer talk haha 😆 Perhaps it was something to do with the time they claimed JC hunting down and torturing innocent people who used guidao was "just a baseless rumour" - to which I casually responded with proof it was certainly not a rumour. I mean, JC literally encouraged JL to kill them and feed them to his dog for a start 😂 I don't think that was a joke in the slightest lmao. Honestly, I didn't expect them to take offence at the evidence proving otherwise, since we enjoyed discussing the novel and debating such things anyway! But, hey-ho!

Hmm, the whole "restoring the Jiang sect to its former glory" debate is a major source of discourse between MDZS fans! I mean, JC did join forces with the Twin Jades of Lan and launch a surprise attack on the Wens in order to secure their confiscated swords. Which I have to say, I always found so hypocritical and two faced of him to do... You know, considering he not only unjustly blamed LWJ for everything that happened to LP, but even wished WWX had left him and JZX to die in the cave prior to the attack as well! And he calls WWX shameless...

But even so, JC seems to have worked hard in the three months WWX was missing. Attacking the Wens supervisory offices and hunting down WC alongside LWJ and the respective cultivators under their command. Even WWX praised his efforts when they were all reunited. So credit where credit is due, I guess.

That being said, it works both ways! WWX's efforts should not be ignored either - which I often find the case whenever JC is praised for his accomplishments regarding the Jiang sect. WWXs new cultivation path is what helped them gain an upper hand during the Sunshot campaign, he garnered much praise and admiration during the war - it was only in the aftermath that people began to turn against him, especially seeing the obvious lack of loyalty or protection from JC. But WWXs guidao most certainly helped rebuild the sect's reputation and enticed new disciples as well. JC even gave his blessing for WWX to showcase his cultivation during the Mount Baifeng night-hunt, in order to recruit even more disciples! So I agree with you, WWX's new cultivation path was one of the driving forces in helping elevate the sect to its former glory, perhaps even beyond.

As for whether JC is a good sect leader? Honestly? No.

Evidence would suggest otherwise, in my opinion. Some like to pretend JC is the beloved sect leader of Yunmeng - but that's far from the case. He's made the sect less approachable, closed its doors to the public and scared away those seeking help on matters he doesn't deem worthy of his attention.

The general public seem frightened of him because of his awful personality and the fact they have witnessed him torturing innocent people. His own disciples seem to feel like they have to walk on eggshells around him and be careful of his famous temper. He seems more focused on pushing JL beyond his limits and imposing his own insecurities on the poor kid than actually helping others with their problems. When he's not doing that, he's off hunting down his latest unsuspecting victims to torture and do god knows what to!

So no, I don't consider him to be a particularly good sect leader, his priorities do not align with what I (or I would assume most others) would consider as such. A great leader is able to get along with others and inspire their disciples. They should also be able to secure backing from the general public by being present and approachable when issues arise.

Let's put it this way - LWJ was given the title 'Hanguang-jun' a title befitting of how the public perceive him, righteous and willing to help others. JC also has a title, that of 'Sandu Shengshou', which is in relation to a Buddhist saying regarding the three poisons - the root of all turmoil. Certainly not a good public image to have! Even the general tone of anyone talking about him isn't overly respectful - people rarely call him by his courtesy name unless they are addressing him directly. Otherwise, it's his birth name, which of course, is highly disrespectful unless you are very familiar with said person. MXTX made a deliberate choice for the public to call him 'Jiang Cheng' instead, so it is certainly significant and shows us that he is not well respected or liked by the general public and even other cultivators! This is in the first few chapters as well! All in order to set the tone of how JC is perceived. I mean, even the narrator (which is of course a stand alone entity/person and not WWX as many wrongly assume) calls him JC instead 😂

Overall, I think JC did put effort into building his sect up again, but WWX certainly deserves equal credit for that as well. That being said, it doesn't alter the fact he's not a very good leader in the sense I would consider, and I think that's been made more than apparent in the text as well.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #canon jiang cheng #mdzs novel #anon ask #answered ask

[longing-for-rain]

you know what i noticed about kataang shippers is that, they have made multiple blogs (even titled in the url) fully dedicated to bashing zutara. like whole blogs full of nothing but hating zutara and everyone who ships it.

i don't see the reverse. yes, there are zutara blogs with lots of aang/kataang critical posts. but these blogs also have content that's focused on zutara (posting about the ship you actually do like! imagine that!) and most are content creators as well. i can't think of any blogs that are purely anti-kataang or even mostly anti-kataang.

idk to me it just seems like zutara shippers are better about staying in our lane and enjoying what we like instead of devoting *that* much energy to hating ✌️

Oh definitely, I think in the past few years I’ve seen two blogs called something along the lines of “Zutara isn’t canon” and post nothing but angry anons whining about people shipping Zutara. And of course, the “fandom police” guy who is very obviously a right winger poorly applying social justice concepts in an attempt to win ship discourse, and who thinks anything non-canon is stupid.

It’s funny because how do you miss the point of fandom this badly? It’s transformative. There are only so many ways to tell the exact same story. There is a reason why it’s very common for non-canon ships to be more popular among fans than canon. It taps into the creative aspect that so many of us enjoy.

And for Zutara specifically, I’m actually glad it isn’t canon. I like that it’s open-ended and that I’m free to write it however I want, because to be completely honest, I think the creators would have completely botched it if it was canon. I mean, I actually like Maiko quite a bit too but I don’t like how rushed their ending felt. I don’t like how it felt like Mai reappeared to be Zuko’s prize. And given the straight up creepy things I’ve heard the creators say about Zutara over the years, I have no doubt they would have made me hate it via poor writing.

Plus you’re right, at the end of the day, fandom is about enjoying what you want to enjoy. Making entire blogs dedicated to telling people they’re stupid because they don’t adhere to canon as if it’s a religious doctrine doesn’t seem like you’re enjoying yourself too much. Sure, I’ve made posts critical of tropes, characters, relationships, etc. that I don’t like, but ultimately I spend my energy on what I actually do like.

#anti kataang #zutara #atla #avatar the last airbender #ask #anon #fandom salt

[aeide-thea]

tumblr ate the original version of this post, but tl;dr i'd gotten to thinking about the 'don't just like, reblog!!1!' discourse that seems to have intensified lately, and i think for me the issue is basically that artists seem to want to have their cake and eat it too when it comes to whether they're our peers, or actual professionals?

like—fundamentally my blog is my space to express my own taste in. period. that's what it's fundamentally primarily for. ergo i'm not going to reblog things i have mixed feelings about, because that would be misrepresenting my taste, unless i can append critique to them in order to clarify where my taste diverges. which i can do, with professional work!

but i'm pretty sure most tumblr artists would be upset to find criticism popping up in their notes. which is totally understandable! but like. if i have to discuss your work politely, rather than honestly, because you're a peer who's in the room with me—then yeah, if i don't like it enough, i won't reblog it, because if i don't have anything good to say, i shouldn't say anything. which isn't how we handle professional art! but it is how we handle our peers.

and it just seems to me like—you've got artists out here going 'i'm a struggling amateur, so you should do me a solid and toss me some free publicity! 🥺' but also 'i'm trying to make a living at this, so you should do me a solid and toss me some free publicity! 🥺' and i just feel like, which is it? because if you're my peer, then i'm only going to discuss your work publicly if i like it enough, because to do otherwise would be rude. and if you're a professional, then i don't owe it to you to subsidize your business by providing free advertising! if a business's products don't actually organically appeal to people, it should go under!

which maybe sounds harsh, but like. i have no desire to see making art restricted in any way. people should make whatever art they like, regardless of audience or quality, and derive joy from that! but like. if you want to make a living from your art, you should, actually, be making work of a quality that will speak for itself, in which case you shouldn't need to browbeat people into recommending it??

#obviously there's some nuance around the edges of this discussion and what i've said here is an oversimplification #but i feel like this discourse has gotten to a point where it's worth just staking out some basic ground #like. idk. (1) art is an actual craft and being good at it is an actual skill #and if you're trying to go pro with it‚ it *isn't* just about uncriticizable ~self-expression~ anymore #and (2) no one owes it to you to use their personal corner of social media to provide you with free advertising #like. frankly i'm not convinced people are confused about the difference between likes and reblogs #in the way that this discourse seems to think they are #i think most people hit like on stuff they like‚ and reblog stuff they want to tell their friends about #and not everything in the first category makes it into the second category #just as i don't mass-text all my friends about literally everything that makes me smile over the course of a day! #like. idk. it IS fucking hard to make a living at art but i just really don't think that trying to force more of a response out of people #than your art is eliciting organically #is the way to go about it‚ for a lot of reasons #anyway the original version of this post was better—this one's more abrasive but like. the original got et #so now you're getting annoyed!me :) #a wild engagement with the discourse appears

[biracy]

I absolutely understand the desire for asexual representation and I really do think that that's something that deserves to be represented in more "mainstream" gay media (how much gay media is actually mainstream is debatable but you know what I mean), but at the same time I just can't get behind posts like, idk, lamenting the loss of potential asexual representation because two guys on TV had nasty gay sex, bc gay sex on TV is not "the norm" no matter how you slice it. Whereeeee is all the media filled with nasty gay sex. Can I see it

#open mick night #it just feels like missing the forest for the trees you know. i feel the exact same way abt non-asexual gay people blaming ace people #for stuff. all this vitriol aimed at the wrong targets #idk i'm most certainly not trying to Do Discourse i just kinda think it's funny #this world some people seem to live in where men are never allowed to be friends and MUST suck and fuck at all times

[ingravinoveritas]

I personally think its disgusting of what she posted yet again its all about her and she the reason why micheal keeps trending 4th day oh please he was trending for days before she came in the picture. And for someone who has no career and basically living off her parter who works so hard and been ill with virus the last few days and haven't been able to perform and she post this. Taking the credit for something that has nothing to do with her. He very grateful that she keep him grounded what that suppose to mean ? He was doing better before she came in the picture since he been with her his career have been slowed a little and she probably the reason for it

What do u say ?

Oh, boy. I saw this a little while ago, and all I could think was that the bar is so low at this point--like halfway between the fourth and fifth circles of Hell--and this still somehow falls short.

I know there has been a lot of talk about the t-shirt Anna is wearing (which was a gift from a fan at the stage door of Nye), but for me, the t-shirt is the least concerning part of all this. It's a reference to a quote from Staged (it's the title of a season 1 episode, in fact), and I am sure Michael found it funny. The only problem is that without the context of why it's a joke, it actually just isn't that funny. And it sets the stage for everything else that is happening.

Which brings me to the caption she wrote, which was what primarily caught my attention. The reason Michael is currently trending on Twitter (X, whatever we're calling it) is because of the overwhelmingly positive response to The Assembly, which aired last Friday night. He is receiving a tremendous amount of praise for being on the show, how he spoke to the interviewers, and the respectful and joyous atmosphere that was cultivated on the show. And rather than allude to any of that--not to mention Michael being sick recently, or the trip they went on to Disneyland Paris--Anna made Michael trending on Twitter about her.

That is what stands out to me the most. The idea of "keeping him grounded" that is coming across more like kicking someone when he is already down. That he somehow needs that, and that she would have us believe he is "grateful" to her for, what...comparing him to a loud bird? Repeatedly making fun of his looks and interests without a shred of respect or affection behind it? I'm also confused by the implication (and the irony) that Michael somehow has a large ego that needs to be kept in check when she is the one coming across as self-involved in this Insta story. So, yes. I'm at a bit of loss here.

I just keep thinking of the things she could have said instead. How she could have uplifted Michael, wished him well on returning to the stage tonight after several days' absence, said how she was glad to have spent time with him or taken care of him while he was ill. Just something that would give him a reason to hold his head high. But I guess it might just be easier to convince herself/everyone else that he is smiling if his head is hanging down instead.

I am just glad Michael is out performing again tonight and getting to be on stage and do the thing he truly loves to do. But those are my thoughts, and I'd be glad to hear from my followers about what you think, regardless of whether you agree or disagree...

#angel19924 #reply post #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #the 'keeping him grounded' thing is giving me Georgia Lite vibes #though at least with Georgia it's original #i don't even know anymore #i don't think AL has had any effect on Michael's career either and I'm not blaming her for that #yet it seems clear he hasn't affected her career in the way she hoped either #trying to provide a balanced perspective #but what's the old saying: when someone shows you who they are believe them the first time #anna lundberg #relationships #thoughts #discourse

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

It is truly fascinating how the common tumblr narrative around John and Paul somehow makes the guy who literally got violent multiple times over people insinuating he was queer appear more "on board with the whole gay thing" than the guy who said some awkward/dated stuff in interviews a couple of times.

#im not trying to defend paul here btw. or tear down john #i just find the reading of john as like the Self-Accepting King between them.... myopic #i mean. it touches on the whole Was It Reciprocated Thing really #the idea being: If We Assume Paul Reciprocated He Is MORE Repressed Than John Because John Hinted More Heavily That He Wasn't Straight #but like.. #that's Exactly why some of us think.... maybe Paul IS straight 😭😭 or at least it's not nearly as big of a deal to him than it was to John #(perhaps because he's bi but treats it more casually than John ever felt capable of) #any reading of John and sexuality that concludes something LESS fraught than Paul's mostly benign slight weirdness/curiosity #seems to me.... like McLennon tunnel vision #like because John never gay panic attacked PAUL all that ugly stuff he did can be set aside. #also. look at the way people think about India #and the Get Back convo about it. it's all like JOHN'S NOT IN DENIAL. HE WAS CLEAR. HE WANTED IT. HE WAS ALL IN. #Was He? #anyways. i am becoming chatty these days. #as always people are welcome to discuss this with me even if we disagree #fiona.docx #jp speculation #discourse

[burnpyygmalion]

i think ppl who are super online or into fandom should watch/read/etc something without ever touching fandom discourse or making aus or shipping characters just like every once in a while

#this isn’t a diss at shipping or aus #i participate in that sometimes #and its fun #im mostly saying like #sometimes people seem to get way too engrossed in the idea of fandom to the point its not even about enjoying the source material atp #and it also seems to result in fans acting like the creators of things have some obligation #to keep in mind a fandom or how a fandom would feel ab their thing #and i think that’s a stupid mindset #a writer should not be like i better specify this specific thing so there’s not meaningless discourse about it on tumblr! #☀️🌈🔥 #i just think it’s not particularly good to get really into a fandom of anything and everything you consume #mostly bc of the way fandoms are nowadays #also maybe i’m a bit tired of seeing really good series/whatever turned into au/shipping fodder and nothing else #if you’re going to do that at least pretend you like the source material outside of the character designs #idk im rambling i might make this a more cohesive post later lawl

[atthebell]

i'm not gonna get into this whole thing because i don't think getting like insanely outraged is all that helpful and i think just waiting to hear more is best but yeah this sucks and i hope they work on their organization structure because clearly it fucking sucks

#bell.txt #discourse #i cannot say im surprised i never thought it was super well-organized but it does still blow #also the way people always seem so hungry for stuff like this REALLY bothers me #like y'all seem desperate to grandstand about it and i dont think that does anything for anyone atm #but yeah it's upsetting and i hope they fix things

[mulletmitsuya]

random tokrev rant ahead !!

when i first started this blog it was going to be for random shitposts, groupchats once in a while, and mostly tokrev analysis but i was so scared of discourse that i just chose to do the funnier stuff 😭. when tokrev was at it's peak i'd be reading 20k+ words of analysis and it was so fun!! but i felt like i couldn't word what i wanted to say properly so that discouraged me but i wish i'd ignored that because there would have been at least one person who understood what i was saying yk?

#anyway #i used to have a tagging system but i forgot so that's my bad #and the thing about discourse is that you could give a person all the canonical facts of the story and they'll still find a way to pretend #that they're right and i personally cannot handle that #i take things very seriously and someone thinking they won a argument when they didn't would make me rip my hair out #so maybe my blog not going into that direction was good for my metal health #i feel like fandom interactions always end up as fights for some reason #why can't two opinions co-exist #let's discuss and have fun why we gotta tell each other to kill ourselves😭 #like i saw a very well thought out and written theory about sanzu having autism or something along those lines #and a comment was like “stop trying to give him excuses he's a terrible villain and he's just crazy blah blah blah” #whole time this person's an izana apologist #like😐 #i love both these characters but a lot of characters in tokrev are more complicated than just a “crazy villain” #and it seems like they understand that about izana so???? #ok i'm done now i hope you guys get what i mean #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers manga #tokrev

[chewydolls]

Not to be a hater but I dislike Bagi e Tubbo siblings headcanons, not despite their playful and caring relationship but specifically bc of it

q!Bagi's arc is very focused on the concept of family, from tracking her lost twin for 15 years to being rejected by this same twin and then finally learning to form meaningful relationships with people she can call family, probably for the first time in her life since she first escaped the island

Bagi got dealt a very unfair hand in terms of family baggage, but that shouldn't dictate the rest of her life. There's other people here ready to give the love she deserves, in the way she deserves (bc i don't deny the possibility of cellbit loving her, but the way he currently acts with her is... less than ideal)

Tubbo is a man she trusts, the father of Em's little sister (which, in turn, are also not biologically related as far as we know), a person she would go back to purgatory for. Reducing their dynamic to "they were bio family all along" is so detrimental both to bagi's arc of finding love outside the nuclear family and to what found family represents in the island as a whole

(Disclaimer that I know most people sibling truth them just to indulge in the sillyness, but imo it just removes from the complexity of her character)

#qsmp #discourse #fandom neg #idk im tagging just to be safe #also focus on the word bio i don't care if people think they're like siblings q!bagi herself seems to approach found family this way sometim

[always-a-joyful-note]

Messes me up that the closest we get to legitimate criticism of the idol business is the stuff that probably happened with Zero, Kujo, and Haruki as well as Takanashi, Yaotome, and Musubi. This isn't to say our current generation of i7 doesn't give us entertainment industry criticism (it obviously does), but I mean to say that, personally, the conversation between Torao and Ryu about Ryu's image was a horror story to me personally. Like, I can extrapolate the sincerity and heartwarmingness of surviving a terrible world because you have loved ones who see you for who you are AND be horrified by his acceptance of being sexualised by the media because he's an idol, right?

#i do not Enjoy giving critique to medias i enjoy #well i do but i dont post it because i have other areas where i discuss criticism and current events #make this blog escapist at its best or something #HOWEVER....i7 has unleashed the obsession in me in a way that me more confident on tumblr... #...is going feral with #idolish7 #fandom spamdom #note's notes #to clarify i also think that the whole zero revolutionised the industry means that things are Better than irl #but i also do find such things horrifying #something about tenn as an allegory for what happens if you sell yourself to the fans #just horrifying stuff right there #makes me realise that if this were a female idol media...they could keep things exactly like so #but somehow the tone would be slightly darker given what irl female idols/women in gen seem to experience #....not idol media extrapolating the discourse out of me #im so sorry....and yet i post.

[taylorswiftdebut]

swifties’ beef with people who have supposedly wronged taylor is so funny to me cause it’s like on one end of the spectrum one dude stole her entire body of work and one dude emotionally manipulated her and their relationship when she was 19 and on the other end of the spectrum there’s her boyfriend of 6 years she parted amicably with and a girl who can’t even legally drink alcohol in the united states like it’s all so unserious be so fucking real

#BUT ITS ALL TREATED WITH THE SAME SEVERITY #and i think it’s different when people are like yeah it seems they might have beef or this is interesting #but people literally put situations like the one with olivia rodrigo at the same level of that with scooter like it’s all so silly and rid #*ridiculous’ #*! #me and my keyboard are struggling #also i can’t base my perception of a person based off of something i THINK my favorite artist (who i don’t know) might THINK about them #if olivia rodrigo had been like actually i don’t even know what she could’ve been like to make me hate her the way eveeyone seems to #(even though taylor has talked at length how traumatizing that experience can be at such a young age but whatever) #and people always bring up the conan grey not listening to midnights but he was literally touring at the time 😭 #and almost every single person i’ve ever talked to who tours or works on a touring crew has said #it’s incredibly difficult to listen to new music especially new albums while touring #and especially if it’s an artist they love they want to give it consideration but like i said this whole situation #is so silly! oh you’re not gonna listen to her album because of taylor??? respectfully grow up! #i’m just so tired of seeing this discourse everywhereeeeeeeeeeee #anyway alkakakakakdkd #eris: text

[lord-squiggletits]

NGL I think one of my least favorite "gotchas" that I see/get while critiquing stories is "so how would you fix it? oh so you don't have an idea of how to rewrite the story to make it better? oh so basically you're just complaining that you don't like it and don't have actual critique."

Buddy.

Sometimes the reason I don't have a "solution" to how the author should've rewritten their story to be better, is because I'm not privy to the author's thought process, what their alternate story ideas were, what they talked about with their editor, what they might've been forced to do by deadlines, or even what they might've thought they were writing towards at first but then later changed the trajectory of their story to be about something else.

It's all well and good for me to say something like, idk, "I think Character A should've gotten more narrative focus because their story could have helped fix XYZ Plot Hole," but it could very well be that the author never intended for Character A to be a prominent character (just a secondary or tertiary character). Maybe using Character A to solve one Plot Hole would've gone against the writer's plans because then it would open up a different plot hole for something else they had planned later in the story. If it's an ongoing story, maybe something I see as a "plot hole" is actually a deliberate mystery that the creator left open to write about later-- or maybe the plot hole is because there was a deadline crunch and the author had to drop a certain character/plot point/etc because they couldn't fit it into the story any more. Maybe having Character A be a more prominent part of the story is just based on MY personal tastes and what I would want to write in MY version of the story, but completely clashes with the characters/conflicts the author wanted to focus on.

Because yes, there are some story critiques that are as simple as "part A doesn't make sense, you could just fix it by doing B", but there are also some story critiques where suggesting a viable "solution" would require BEING the author or someone involved in the production of the story to understand what limitations or plans were involved in the selection of that flawed plot point. There are also some story critiques where even if there is a "problem" and my critique offers a "solution," there could be another "solution" or even dozens that do just as good of a job fixing the issue, but involve vastly different characters, plot ideas, so on and so forth.

Being a good critic isn't (just) about going "the story would've been better if X happened" because the story is ultimately in control of the author and their vision, and without knowing what the author's vision was (something that you almost exclusively know if you're 1. the author or 2. their beta reader), it's impossible to definitively say "this plot point should've been cut/[completely different thing] should've happened instead" because THAT is the point at which you're complaining, not critiquing. I would argue that in some cases, trying to "fix" a story yourself actually makes your critique worse, not better, because it ends up being a case of you simply imposing your artistic vision over the author's to say "I think it would've been better this way."

At least if you just say "this part of the story was flawed because XYZ" without saying "it should have been ABC instead", then you're stating your grievances with the story without being presumptuous enough to assume that YOUR version of the story would fit the author's original vision, or the constraints they were working under, or the other versions of the story that they were debating over at the time before ultimately settling on one version (even if flawed).

There's a point at which "this plot is flawed, that should've happened instead" is just fix-it fan fiction and not actual critique that could help the writer write their story in a way that fits their vision.

#squiggposting #discourse #i think the closest you can get to definitively saying 'the author should've done X instead' #would be something like JRO and the handbooks he recently released where he actually revealed alternate plot ideas #or like what the reasoning was behind different plot points. as well as what he did and didn't include and why #because THEN with a more clear understanding of the behind the scenes/what the author wanted to achieve #THEN you would have more information to be able to say 'this alternative storyline would've solved this plot hole' #or to even say 'actually those alternate ideas weren't as good and picking the canon flawed plot made a better story' #like for god's sake ppl apparently don't understand that art and storytelling and creativity are subjective #sometimes if i don't have a solution it's not bc my critique is invalid. it's bc there's multiple ways to fix it #and i'm not the author so idk which way of fixing the story would best suit their intentions/purposes/limitations #despite what snobs seem to think it's very possible for you to say 'this is flawed' and not know what the fix for it is #it's like how you can eat restaurant food and go 'something about this tastes bland' #w/o having to know what ingredients went into the recipe or how it's supposed to taste #and in that case unless you literally know the recipe or are a chef you would come off as a dick #if you tried to dictate to the kitchen what they did wrong and how to fix it #for some reason story critics are terrified of ambiguity and uncertainty and subjectivity and idk why #it is very easy and not intellectually wrong for a person to say 'this is flawed' and not have a solution for how to fix it

[ingravinoveritas]

I've already shared many of my thoughts on Staged winning two I Talk Telly awards today and the subsequent acceptance speech videos for those awards, but I can't stop thinking about Michael not being in either video.

Michael and David are the heart and soul of Staged. It's not a far reach to say that they are the reason Staged came to exist in the first place, after Simon witnessed their amazing chemistry in GO, and that they are also the reason it continued on for as many seasons as it did. I am in no way attempting to diminish the supporting cast, but there is a reason that Michael and David keep winning the acting-related awards and no one else has.

For them/the show to collect two new awards (Best Comedy and Best Comedy Partnership) and Michael to appear nowhere in either acceptance speech video is very strange at best, and at worst, downright concerning. And it is further not helped by the way in which the videos are presented. It would actually be much less bizarre if we only saw David and Georgia's video, as they did the same exact thing when Michael and David won that same award in 2021 (when Michael was sick with Covid, which was why he wasn't in the video). So it makes sense for them to have gone this particular route:

...And then we have Anna's video. A video that contains cardboard cutouts of David and Georgia in the background, and in which Michael is neither seen nor even mentioned, which seems thoughtless at best given that Michael is the reason Anna was in the show in the first place (and apparently as a very last minute addition).

And for some reason, Lyra is the one speaking while they are both in front of the cutouts and AL is standing there like she's giving away a new car on The Price Is Right:

I'm just honestly at a loss for what the reasoning was behind this. Because all it does is draw more attention to the fact that Michael is missing, that he's been virtually absent from Twitter since the end of October, and that he's been previously reluctant to promote Staged and is apparently equally reluctant to appear in a video with his own girlfriend co-star (as he himself once referred to her, mere moments after saying that he loves David).

Whatever the case may be--if someone from PR has told Michael to continue laying low, if he's busy with rehearsals for the play he's about to star in, or if Michael is fully over promoting Staged in any capacity--none of this seems normal. I'd love to hear what my followers think, of course, so please feel free as always to speak your mind in the comments on this post...

#michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #staged #or 'Brokeback Mount Him' which is what i am referring to Staged as from here on out #georgia tennant #the more i think about it the weirder this all seems #it's giving Michael David and Georgia as a polyam unit #and Anna being completely separate from that in every way #choices #not all of them good #regardless the fandom is certainly worse off without Michael #anna lundberg #thoughts #discourse #gifs by me