#this drawing is intended for an audience of like four people

[archer-kacey]

Secrets of the Machine (Bendysplaining)

(Full disclosure: both of the computers I have access to WILL NOT TRIGGER THE LIGHTNING CUTSCENE therefore making B:SOTM unplayable for me! Watched a couple walkthroughs to get the gist of things. I found ONE easter egg on my own lol.)

Secrets of the Machine is so out of place to me, seeming almost unpolished. I'll give it a fair shake and go over the pros and cons, but if you want a short Bendy game to play, PLEASE play Boris and the Dark Survival, not this.

Pros:

This very important bird that makes me well up inside with a positive emotion.

Ragtime Guffie. Cute character that I feel has a charm similar to the original Bendy cast. I wouldn't have been surprised to see this guy walking around in BATIM back in the day.

This screenshot I can use for memes:

This ONE scene/"jumpscare" was executed well:

The Goofy ahh can dispenser laugh

My personal favorite, this random ass arrow outside that you can follow into the darkness for about a minute until you're spat back out by the entrance arch (useless):

And last but not least, the inclusion of Gaskette and an insanely niche nod to Nightmare Run?

FIrst off, Gaskette looks killer (pun intended):

And secondly, there are at least a couple hands around the map that open and close when you click them in a very similar fashion to a hand that could be found on the menu of Nightmare Run. I was actually excited about this! (Why they didn't they just go full ham with the Nightmare Run characters for this game?)

Cons:

The first glaring issue I have is *checks watch* the FOUR Bendy advertisements thrown into the game??? What???

I'm not mad about hyping people up, but it is............LAZY?? What was the point of this? These ALL could've been Tweets!!

In fact, Lone Wolf's Announcement nearly WAS a Tweet!!

I would feel differently if the presentation was better, but you literally throw a can at some flippable....plates(?) around a screen at random and get still images. I understand that this game is meant to be small like BATDS, but BATDS was more polished, more fun, and didn't throw four adverts in as gameplay/easter eggs.

This is also gives me a Bad Feeling because if you're willing to make your smaller content into a glorified advertisement, what are you going to do with your mainline games? How are you going to treat your content? Are you going to let things cook or serve it to us raw?

ALSO...

Riley.

Riley's story itself is fine. Not amazing, not awful. Riley's parents die in a car accident when she's six. She starts drawing disturbing content, and the school counselor catches wind of this and brings it up to her guardian. Riley goes to work for JDS at the same age as Buddy (17), and is subsequently fired for drawing more disturbing material pertaining to the accident.

While it sounds cliché, the way it was presented in-game was fine. There are obviously things that could be improved, but the point here isn't the story itself.

Let me ask the audience of this post a question.

Where the hell is Lacie Benton?

Or, more broadly, why aren't M+M fleshing out characters that have been with us since *checks watch* 2017?

I'm struggling not to start doing the Macarena, because adding new characters and slowly abandoning the old ones works in direct contrast with "caring about the lore", AKA what this franchise was built on, and it's something M+M like to bring up. When you remove that backbone, everything else falls apart. When you neglect the old characters, you're neglecting the heart of the franchise.

Riley having her story isolated to one game seems to be a blessing in disguise, I'll admit. However, this is ALL just BATIM: Red Flags. Disappointed, but not surprised. Scared for the future of this franchise, but trying to stay optimistic.

#bendy secrets of the machine #secrets of the machine #bsotm #gaskette #ragtime guffie #bendysplaining #archer writes #batim #batdr #batds #bendy 3

[dinitride-art]

Why Byler Would Be a Failure of a Queerbait

Queerbaiting is used to draw in an audience and usually results in a strong fandom. It’s goal is to gather a larger audience, and the audience that would not want queer characters. What I’ve noticed about it, is that it usually is comprised to two straight characters who are good friends. They then sprinkle stuff into interviews outside the media from actors. Things like, maybe she likes her? I guess you’ll just have to find out in the next season! Or saying they could see it happening. Basically anything that would draw in people who want to see a queer pairing, but keeping a reasonable amount of doubt available to those who don’t want to see a queer pairing. Also fan service when the queer bait is being directed at an audience of mostly straight women shipping two male characters. It’s a marketing tactic.

Queer baiting does sometimes result in queer characters, but not the ones that they’re marketing. Or if it is the ones their marketing, they immediately die. The Queer baiting and bury your gays combo. See, supernatural. Having canon queer characters usually isn’t what is intended. They aren’t important to the plot, and can be easily disposed of once they’ve played their part. Their part being covering up any trace of queer bait with the argument that they actually have a queer character in their show. These characters, more often than not, are one dimensional side characters and aren’t there to stay. Main characters revealed as queer, can’t be more than one, and are only revealed at the last possible moment as not to lose the part of the audience not being queer baited.

Stranger Things has two characters that are canonically queer and are relevant to the plot. Robin on her own could be seen as potential queerbait, if byelr were at that time, popular enough to warrant baiting. The queer side character backtrack comes after pressure from a queer baited audience. Not before. Prior to season four, there were more people on tumblr who shipped Mike and El, than Mike and Will. On tumblr. In fact, there were so few byler shippers, that they were in a position where they could be targeted by Mike and El shippers with no consequences. In season three there would be no reason to even think about smoothing over anger from a baited fandom. There was no fandom to be baited. The audience being baited needs to actually be present for it to work.

With one queer character introduced there is no need for another. If Robin were a side character who died in season three then that might allow for another queer character to be introduced in season four. However, Robin is very much alive in season four. She’s not going anywhere and actually has a character arc discussing both her as a person, and her experience as a lesbian in the eighties in Hawkins. That’s pushing it for queer bait. It’s really pushing it.

Will Byers is in love with Mike Wheeler. That’s canon in season four. It’s been built up to since the beginning. If Stranger Things was baiting a queer audience, this would be a weird move. Considering that Byler shippers have never been worth noting before season four, and that Will’s the character that they built the foundation of the show off of, this is a terrible option for queerbaiting. Not because it wouldn’t draw a queer audience that wasn’t to see queer characters, but because it would push away the audience that doesn’t. That is a line that they cannot cross. Will Byers would be crossing that line, and then some. This character is not one that can be thrown away without consequence. He’s important and affects almost everything that happens. I have never seen a main character be queer, and have their story represented in a genuine manner. Never would it affect a central straight relationship. They wouldn’t dare lose a single member of a heteronormative audience.

Two queer characters that are this important are not queer bait. They are not a marketing tactic, they’re integral to the story. Their experiences are integral to the story. Robin Buckley was the first straightbait I have ever witnessed. She is a queer character who was a character first, and queer after the work was put in to make the audience see her as a person. This character is enough to say that Stranger Things represented a queer character well.

Will Byers says that Stranger Things is about queer people. He’s in love with another main character, and it’s affecting the plot. Will Byers being in love with Mike Wheeler is actively changing Mike and El’s relationship. It has been since the beginning.

You can’t queer bait an audience that isn’t there. You can’t bring in a queer character to cover your asses when no one’s accusing you of anything. This isn’t something I’ve ever seen before. Robin is introduced in preparation for Will. It’s the literally opposite of queer baiting. It’s creating a story with queer characters, about queer characters, and marketing it to a straight cisgender audience.

Queer baiting has never been done like this. Because this isn’t queer baiting. It doesn’t effectively function as queer baiting because there was no audience, and their largest audience is the one they’re testing. It is more of a problem to lose a straight audience than a queer one that barely exists.

Byler cannot be queer bait because that’s not how queer bait works. There are not two canon queer characters in a queer bait. Certainly not one of the characters the plot has been centred around since the beginning. And definitely not a character that they would lose members of their audience for writing him as gay.

Will Byers is in love with Mike Wheeler. Will’s relationship to Mike is still important to both of them even after the audience sees this. In fact, Will is affecting Mike’s decisions, and it’s stressed how much he cares for him. Mike and El’s relationship is in shambles and Will is the character they’ve chosen to get involved in that.

This doesn’t happen.

Will is in love with Mike, and he’s still someone who Mike cares about. There’s no distance put in their relationship. They actually spent an entire arc repairing and strengthening it.

Will Byers is in love with Mike Wheeler.

And he’s still alive. He’s still important. He’s still important to Mike.

I literally don’t know what to do with Mike and Will. Because it’s not queer bait. It doesn’t function as queer bait because queer bait is not an aspect of the story. It’s always marketing to an audience. Never an experience or a conversation or anything that’s significance goes further than saying there’s a queer character for the sake of having a queer character.

And it’s never a main character.

When your main character is queer, your story is queer.

They cannot use queer bait as a marketing tactic because they’ve already committed to writing a queer story. Their main audience is not queer. There’s no reason to queer bait a straight audience that doesn’t want queer characters in the first place. It doesn’t work like that. Queer baiting has never worked like this.

This isn’t queer bait. It never has been.

They’re going for it. They are actually going for it. And I can’t wait to see it.

#it just hit me #it’s always been about this #byler #stranger things #oh #I’m in this story #oh fuck #I’m gonna start crying

[tarisilmarwen]

I see a lot of people say that Ezra and Sabine are sibling like because Sabine doesn’t like him and Ezra got over his crush in the second season.

What proof is there in the 3rd and 4th season that that is not true?

Honey if you want definitive canon proof of narrative intention you are on the wrooooooong ship.

The truth of the matter is that reading Ezra and Sabine as romantic is an interpretation. It's one that I think personally has a lot of merit behind it, but unless and until I hear from the writers a definitive, "Yes we were actually definitely heading that direction for them." then everything is guesswork and theory and fanon and we can't make any absolute statements.

What people are doing when they say those things is essentially demanding that you stop shipping it because it isn't canon. Rather than trying to find "proof" to prove those people "wrong" (which trust me has led to way more drama in way more ship wars than I can count) just don't let it bother you and ship the ship anyway, because since when has canon status ever stopped anyone from shipping anything?

Kalluzeb isn't even canon (canon as in the text itself clearly portrays romantic feelings between them, discounting any outside commentary) and that doesn't stop the shippers one bit. Why the heck should it stop us on the Sabezra train?

Now, all that being said, I will put forth a couple arguments as to why I think romantic!Sabezra was something that may have been intended by the show.

1: The constant paralleling of Ezra-Sabine to Kanan-Hera.

This started Season One and it was constant throughout the show. Kanan gets jealous and annoyed at Lando for flattering Hera, Ezra gets jealous and annoyed at Lando for flattering Sabine. Kanan babbles nervously around Hera's father, Ezra babbles nervously around Sabine's brother (AND her father, later, too). Ezra and Sabine's first conversation in "A Fool's Hope" is almost a shot for shot recreation of the Kanan/Hera scene at the beginning of "Kindred". Ezra and Sabine's dynamic even, starting in Season Three and extremely prominent in Season Four, takes on a lot of the playful teasing bantering and quipping that defined Kanan/Hera from the beginning promo shorts (see "The Machine in the Ghost" for an example, then compare the Sabezra banter in "Flight of the Defender").

Why invite comparison to the primary main objectively romantic canon couple on the show if not to have the audience draw comparison?

2: The canyon chase sequence in "Imperial Supercommandos".

I maintain that much of the staging and posing in that setpiece was at the very least... questionable, if we were meant to view the two as purely and completely platonic.

3: "Are you with Sabine?" "Yeah I'm with her! I mean--not with her with her, I'm just friends... with her."

There was literally no reason why they needed a She Is Not My Girlfriend moment if they had dropped all intention of showing Ezra having a crush on her. XD

There was no reason for Ezra to assume Alrich was asking about that, and if he truly had gotten over his feelings he wouldn't see an unprompted! need to clarify their relationship.

Including that moment does the opposite of discouraging Sabezra interpretations.

I know this isn't the concrete answer you wanted but as I said, it's not a concrete situation. Sabezra is still, at this point, fanon. It's got a LOT of material to support a romantic interpretation regardless, and I'm definitely liking our chances to go canon in the Ahsoka show but I'm not going to be obnoxious "Those fans are WRONG!" about people seeing them as solely platonic in Rebels. And I would definitely encourage the rest of the shipper base to do the same, because as a Fandom Old I can tell you that no one likes overdefensive shippers.

For the most part I am very happy and proud that we've not been shoving our ship into non-shippers' faces and demanding they take the same interpretation.

I would kindly like the same courtesy to be extended to us.

#askbox #we literally just wanna vibe here yo #sabezra #star wars #star wars rebels #ahsoka show #fandom wank #i'm just not gonna be one of those people who insists my ship is canon i have been in too many ship war hells

[pxper-cranes]

Meddling Kids Redesigns

It took a while, but I finally finished all four designs of the main gang. There are still some tings I would change if I were to redesign them again, just by seeing all the other ones on tumblr.

I'll do some headcannons here, and maybe draw them again with plot ideas for a fictionalised series I would make with them.

Fist of all, they would start out as high schoolers, then go into univertity after. either way they would all be adults when the film starts

None of these guys are cishet or neurotypical sorry slays but you cant tell me otherwise

Thirdly, these guys are FRIENDS. they CARE about each other. some have been besties for years others were hard and fast ride or dies but they all really care for one another

They would initially start out unmasking people in monster costumes, but there would definitely be an overarching plot that is defiantly supernatural. by midway through season two, the monsters of the week would be real more often than not, and the gang has to turn to more spooky ways of dealing with them

Aight so

FRED

This man HAS to be nice, and reasonably stupid. He was a himbo Blueprint and we must make sure he stays that way

I want to make him into theatre tech and stuff, which he uses to debunk the monsters and point out all the techniques in the 80s horror movies he likes to watch with the gang.

I'd also say he was a prolific camper and scoutgoer as a child, and intends to work as a camp counsellor once he graduates for a little while

because of this hes pretty much a survival expert and gets pretty intense whenever they find themselves in the woods.

while he is strange himself he still is a leader for the group, and plans a lot of their moves on cases.

He and Daphne start the show dating and they are madly in love with each other, and are the bestest of friends. Fred is the more puttogether in the group though, and regularly has to stop daphne from comitting crimes like breaking and entering or simply trying to beat the monster over the head with a bat

DAPHNE

This version of Daphen would just be a pretty unhinged girlboss. she is the part of the gang who is just itching for a fight half the time, so shes been designated team muscle.

Her family is extremely rich, and while they don't really like her pastimes of going out and solving mysteries, but those funds are the thing keeping the gang going, and funding their trips, as well as bail when they get caught investigating some abandoned house or something.

She is really into fashion, specifically 70s style clothes, and spends a lot of time at home making her own clothes and things for others.

alongside that she is really into journalism, so much so that she practically runs the school newsletter when in high school, and runs it through her brilliant people skills. she intends to go to university to do a media and communications degree.

but shes also regularly unhinged and the fisrt one in the gang who would get into a brawl with a monster if given the chance. shes like a black belt in karate at least, and can definitely ride a motorbike.

I think she would encourage Fred's traps in their cases but if she was left alone she would just use a crowbar to solve her problems.

VELMA

This Velma is a todal dork. she is such a nerd its funny, bun in a way ehre the audience laughs with her. let her talk endlessly about her academic interests and cut back to everyone else dumbfounded.

Also my version of Velma isn't mean in any way. While she can be dry, witty or packed with smart comebacks, she is rarely intentionally cruel.

She doesn't believe in the supernatural at the beginning of the series, but she desperately wants to believe in everything. Cryptids, monsters, aliens etc (She was one of the kids that cried when they made Pluto not a planet anymore)

because of her eagerness to investigate she is practically uncarable, and more interested in anything spooky than she is frightful, which could be used for some good gags, especially since she never realises that she is ever out of her element

Velma brings out the nerdier side of all her friends too. she gets Fred talking about traps and survival skills, Daphne on about fashion and law, and Shaggy talking about food and films.

SHAGGY & SCOOB

Scooby doo is Shaggy's assistance dog, and that's how he is allowed to go wherever the gang does.

I've got some lore ideas about how he talks and stuff, which is basically the same as mystery inc plus some inspiration from the Magnus Archives but I'll probably talk about it another time.

I was thinking it might be funny if he talked kinda like puppycat from Bee and Puppycat, but that's just a thought, all I'm going to say is that's not a normal dog.

Shaggy also comes from a wealthier family but nowhere near as rich as Daphne. His parents really tried to shelter him as a kid after something happened in his childhood (IDK what but it was spooky) and ever since he's craved the independence that he gets with the gang

He has been friends with everyone the longest. I assume he went to a summer camp with Fred when they were little, met Velma at some kind of convention and lived close to Daphne.

He has tons of random skills and knowledge about pretty much anything. hes a trivia god and there could e a running gag that he went to a bunch of summer camps too, but for weird and niche things. he's also the kind to binge read wikipedia articles at 3am

I think we would be really into films, specifically horror and pulp films from the 70s - 90s. He probably has an interesting relationship with horror, scaring easily but still doing it for the thrill.

He also implores that in their mysteries, pointing out a bunch of the technical clues with Fred. He probably really likes mystery solving because it gives him that reassurance and control when they finally unmask them. I'm sure he starts to crack a little once they start going up against real monsters.

Hes also a really good cook and makes great playlists.

#scooby doo reboot #scooby doo #scooby doo fanart #shaggy rogers #fred jones #velma dinkley #daphne blake #scooby doo redesign #scooby gang #these took so long frfr #i really want to do a hex girls set like this tho so look out for that #if people are interested ill talk about my lore ideas #my art

[threewaywithdelusion]

I truly don’t understand people who think Byler is going to be canon. This is nothing against people who ship Byler, because I absolutely see what would draw people towards that ship.

But some people genuinely think it’s going to happen in season 5 and that’s what I can’t wrap my head around. Stranger Things is a show written by, as far as we know, two straight men. It’s a mainstream show and it’s target audience is everyone from teens to adults. A large portion of this audience is going to be straight.

The Duffer brothers are probably patting themselves on the back for their excellent queer rep. They have two whole queer characters in the main cast. I think there’s a decent chance Robin will end up with Vickie, in which case we have three characters who are confirmed gay and one gay couple ending up happily together. The Duffer brothers have been at least exploring the fact that Will could be gay since season 1, when Joyce said that Lonnie used to call him gay slurs. They committed to it in season 4, but also in a very subtle way. Queer audiences saw this coming years ago. I rewatched season 4 with my parents and had to explain to them that Will was crushing on Mike. (I straight-up said those words and they said, “you mean… he likes Eleven?”). Straight audiences are not picking up on some Will/Mike love story. And yes, I don’t think Mileven was super well-written in Season 4. But that’s a problem with the writing itself, not proof that the Duffer brothers don’t intend for Mileven to be endgame.

Also, Mike is arguably The Main Character. Especially with how he was framed in S1. Modern shows might make one (or several) main characters or series regulars queer to show how inclusive they are and appeal to queer audiences. But I truly don’t believe we’re at a point where you can make the main character queer without alienating straight audiences (especially if your fan base is not just younger people). Maybe that’s cynical of me, but I think people want to watch shows with queer representation but that aren’t Queer Shows. And that’s what Stranger Things would be if Byler happened, because both Will and Mike (two of the main leads) would be queer and together.

Even if the Duffer brothers wanted to make Byler happen from a creative perspective (which I seriously doubt), it would be a terribly marketing move. I just don't believe we live in a world (at least yet) where predominately straight audiences want to watch shows with large gay casts. (Of course there are exceptions, but I'm speaking in generalities). So while I totally think there's space for Byler in fan fiction and that it's a fascinating dynamic to explore, it bewilders me that people think it's going to happen for real. I think this comes from being in fandom spaces and/or interacting mostly with queer people.

The majority of the world isn't the fandom and also isn't queer. We're still years away from a time where a hugely successfully, mainstream money-maker like Stranger Things can make two of its main characters queer and in love.

I adore the world y'all are living in though. I don't think we're there -- but I hope some day we will be.

Addendum because I wrote this quickly: I also think Mike/Eleven are a really important relationship that is central to the show. That's not to say that Will and Mike aren't, because I do think they have one of the closest friendships on the show and that there's something special about their bond. But the show, from the beginning, has centered around Mike and El as the protagonists for the kids' generation. Their love for each other and trust in each other has been a huge characteristic of both Mike and El and a huge driving force for the plot. They haven't adequately set up a pivot from that central relationship, and I don't think they could do it in the final season without doing a disservice to the past four seasons, but especially to El, who is the center of this whole show.

#stranger things #someone is going to yell at me for tagging this but #byler #will byers #mike wheeler

[maeamian]

I tend to be less amused by the genre of post where we laugh at the angry reviews of conservatives who don't like that there are queer people in art than many of you, that whole "I don't get it how could this be queer" and "How come they're shoving this down our throat now when the comics..." style comment about Sandman being the specific animus for this post.

Where, like, obviously someone who sincerely wrote those things would have drastically missed the point of the show, but there's a key word in that phrase 'sincerely', a I don't think they're actually operating in a way that adverb applies. I think this scenario is a bit more like that Sartre quote, that they're just fucking around with words because serious people believe in words and they believe in power, fundamentally this isn't different from that news clip the other day where people got mad at Cracker Barrel for introducing their non-meat sausage, no one actually cares about the sausage qua the sausage the sausage is a stand in for how a large movement in our culture is tending towards greater inclusivity and the people who don't like inclusivity don't like *that* and that's what the yelling is about

I think something that people miss when they pick out the absolute point-missingest ones to highlight how dumb our foes are is that said foes don't care they're being dumb on purpose and also, we, the audience, aren't the actual intended target, they don't care if we laugh. The actual point, I think, and the place of critical stress, is on the publishers and creators, firstly they need a one star review that won't get scrubbed for calling someone a slur and will pass the extremely generous faith of the moderation algorithms over at Amazon/Twitter/Whatever and possibly even a casual human perusal, "I hate gay people they put gay people in this" is gonna get that review removed but "I was confused by the presence of gay people" sounds like it's in good faith if you refuse to apply any context to anything, which those algorithms and their overworked moderators do.

The other thing that I think we miss is the scale, we're just looking at like... the four dumbest reviews and going 'oho' but when you're the creator, if you're looking at your reviews you go 'Jeeze there's hundreds and/or thousands of people hating this for this specific reason' and depending on why you were putting that art into the world that can hit you in a lot of ways but plenty of them extremely discouraging. I'm drawing on my experience here as a part of a mildly successful YouTube channel and knowing a few other people with them as well, but that sort of backlash can absolutely make an artist go "I would like to not touch this live wire again" which is far more the point than expressing any sincere confusion about anything. Anyhow this is probably too many words about something that doesn't really matter, I definitely am not *so* annoyed that I think you shouldn't, but it does feel a little bit like by highlighting this sort of review you're helping (not substantially or anything) with their actual goal of making it more annoying to make diverse art.

#IDK does any of this make sense? #Been thinking about it for the past few days and trying to put my finger on why that post wasn't sitting well with me #And I think it engages them on a front they're not actually fighting I think it's bad tactics to pretend they're serious as it were #'wow can you believe they believe this' they don't they just don't give a shit what you believe they believe #The other thing is that the scale and quality of the backlash on this sort of thing scales with the marginalization of the creator #Like two video essay people I respect did two takes on basically the same topic and the one who looks like a lady got it *way* worse #So there's also the sense where looking at how it happens when it's Neil Gaiman's show also misses how this works #Kinda it's funny in isolation but it's not actually happening isolated from the overall world #Where we're definitely in a period of rising backlash to queer people

[dodger-chan]

So I was reading this very alternate timeline Chrissy lives Stranger Things fic, enjoying it very much, and I noticed what looks like the beginning of what seems to be a redemption arc for Jason. Now, to me, Jason is the scariest threat in season 4 even if the plot doesn't treat him as such, but not necessarily the most evil. So I can see where people might want to give his character the opportunity to be better. I think he's a tricky character to redeem, though, because with Jason there's what he does and there's also what he represents.

This is going to be long and very rambly, so under a cut.

So for a redemption arc to work you start with a character that has done bad things and you force that character to confront them. In Steve Harrington's arc (which is a relevant and fantastic example) he first has to realize he was an asshole, apologize for being an asshole (somewhat interrupted by a Demogorgon but the sentiment was expressed), and finally demonstrate that he learned by not being an asshole. The redemption arc doesn't work without all of the steps.

Now, what does that mean for Jason? Well, in terms of what Jason does wrong there are several levels. He's clearly not a very good boyfriend to Chrissy, though much like Steve with Nancy in season two, this may not be about him being a deeply flawed person so much as being young and ill-equipped to handle Chrissy's very serious issues (he does come across as a bit arrogant and self-centered in episode one but in a way that says eighteen years old rather than asshole). Assuming that Eddie killed Chrissy isn't a huge leap to make based on how the police questioned him, though assuming it was a satanic cult connected to D&D is a pretty wild conclusion to draw. Between that and his decision to go looking for Eddie, I think a tendency to rush to judgement and to let his emotions overwhelm his reason are character flaws that ought to be addressed in a redemption arc.

Also key is the need to address all of the ways he was an asshole. The reason I don't consider Steve's redemption arc to be complete until season three is that part of Steve's asshole behavior in season one is calling Jonathan "a queer." While he is shown to understand the direct harm he does to Jonathan in season one and Nancy in seasons one and two, nothing in the first two seasons shows Steve has any grasp of the general harm done by using queer as an insult. In fiction, character growth only counts when it's visible to the audience, and Steve's casual homophobia isn't addressed until his complete acceptance of Robin.

In fact, I would argue that those flaws, turned up to eleven (no pun intended) along with a refusal to reflect on how he might be wrong are what leads to everything Jason does wrong in the show. Assaulting Gareth is absolutely letting his anger and his need to do something about Chrissy's murder override rational decision making. Witnessing Patrick's murder is obviously traumatic, but Jason's response of doubling down on Eddie's guilt is about needing to believe he is still right, he didn't waste time and physically attack another student looking for the wrong killer. Because Jason sees himself as a good guy, he can't accept that he did bad things for a bad reason. He must have had a good one, so Eddie somehow must be murdering people with magic.

The biggest wrong Jason does is when he brings that conviction in his own self righteousness to the town meeting and turns what should be the police (and only the police) looking for one potential killer into an angry mob in pursuit of not merely Eddie, but the entire D&D playing population of Hawkins. At that point he is no longer just one guy doing bad things, but representative of the violent enforcement of a social order.

The satanic panic of the 80s was real. It sent real people to prison and got real people killed. It was very reminiscent of the blood libel and with season four set in the lead up to Easter, a traditional time for pogroms in Europe, Jason's actions at the town meeting feel less like one minor villain and more like the lead up to a mass murder. Which is a bit more serious than anything the character actually does.

Now, for a Chrissy lives au the problem you run into is that before Chrissy dies, Jason has done none of those things. So it might seem like the easiest way to deal with them is just not to have him do them. And while that might work for the story if he's at most a minor character, it doesn't redeem the character because it leaves his flaws unaddressed.

A version of Steve who never has to deal with the Upside Down may still become a better person (like Jason, a lot of his character flaws are immaturity), but simply not giving him the opportunity to fight with Jonathan doesn't fix him being an asshole in season one. Similarly, not giving Jason a reason to believe Eddie's a murderer doesn't address Jason's hot headedness and tendency toward violence.

Also, even if Jason's character flaws and actions are specifically addressed in the story, the question remains what can be done about what Jason symbolizes within Stranger Things. While it seems apparent from the way the story wrapped up that the satanic panic elements of the plot were written as more 80s flavor than serious threat (prove me wrong, season five, I beg you), the show still used Jason as the stand in for a major threat. And whatever is done with regards to Jason's behavior, he still represents the threat of "normal" society wiping out those who don't fit within its constraints.

#i don't actually know where i'm going with this rambling #i doubt the writers were thinking about blood libel and pogroms when they outlined the plot #or when they set the story in the lead up to easter #but uh intended or not #jason's whole subplot feels like one big reference to antisemitism #but without the character himself being specifically antisemitic #making it a really difficult thing to address in a redemption arc #but still too prominent a part of his story to just ignore #jason carver #stranger things

[variaoftevinter]

sera (dragon age) fanfic

sera x oc, leliana, dorian, scout harding all mentioned!! sorry for sm smut i swear i'll have more story based things soon. like way way more

content: lesbian SMUT, afab reader/afab sera, oral, f!ngering, teasing

“Do you intend to join the contest tonight?” I hear Leliana say, looking up from my table in the corner. 

“Contest?” She hands me the flier in her hand.

Archery Contest! Saturday! All challengers welcome*! Sister Leliana to judge!

*Except Varric and Bianca

“What is this, why are you showing me this?”

“It’s Saturday.” Leliana says, smirking.

“Maker, is it really? I haven’t been able to keep track of days since the boat ride. Then there was the month’s training, then there were the weeks on horseback-”

“Sorry to spring this on you, Zena, but I paid good money for your training, and I’d love to see my future assassin at work.”

“Aren’t I supposed to go by Florence now?”

“Fatine.”

“Who are Bianca and Varric?”

“Bianca is the biggest crossbow you’ve ever seen. And Varric is a dwarf whose aim is worse than a blind man’s.”

“I don’t have my bow.”

“It’s a good thing then, that I have it right here,” She picks up the bow she had strapped across her back. It is my bow. Damn. “I know you are nervous, Zena, but the stakes are low. What are wooden targets to a trained killer?”

“I don’t normally shoot for an audience.”

“Oh come now, Zena, that’s quite enough of this whining!” I chuckle, begrudgingly rising from my seat.

“When is this competition?” 

“Any minute now.”

“Maker!”

She leads me outside to a corner of the Skyhold fortress. There are people of the Inquisition milling about, sharing mugs of ale and chattering amongst themselves. Three or four have formed a line, bows drawn and warming up to compete. 

Leliana gently nudges the bow into my hands, and I take my place with the competitors.

“Hello everyone,” a dwarf with strawberry blonde braids steps forward, attempting to address the crowd, to no avail. “Hello all! Hey, hi,” the murmuring diminishes. “Thank you all for coming out to our archery contest! It’s good to build camaraderie by showing support for each other,” she says, teeming with nerves and excitement, “And to have some fun now and then!” She smiles giddily at her own joke, but the others remain quiet, unsure how to react. I clap. She looks over, startled, but appreciative for the awkward solidarity. Others join in for a round of applause.

“May the best archer win! If all competitors could take their place we’ll get under way shortly,” a few more people step forward from the crowd with their bows. “Oh, and thank you to our Spymaster Leliana for judging today! Thank you!” 

Leliana steps forward to explain the rules. She is clearly not half as into the whole camaraderie and support thing as the host. 

We will go in the order we arrived in (I’ll go fifth), and whoever scores the lowest each round (does the worst job hitting the bullseye) will be eliminated. First round I hit the closest ring to the center, gaining some murmurs of approval. Some, but not many, did just as well, many did worse. One Dalish elf got a bullseye, leading to roaring cheers and applause, and some eye-rolls from their competition. 

After some rounds we were down to seven people. The Antivan kid in front of me nocks his arrow, beginning to draw,  when I hear an-

“Oi!” The boy jumps, loosing his arrow into a wall, narrowly missing some spectators. I turn my head to see who just called out. 

She’s an elf with her blonde hair cropped short to her jaw, a sight I would normally find unladylike if my own hair wasn’t shaved to the scalp for ease in combat. She couldn’t be older than 22, but she dresses how my five-year-old would dress herself. A bright red tunic with the ugliest plaid breeches you’ve ever seen. 

“Am I late to the party?” She calls out, all eyes on her. Leliana rolls her eyes. 

“We’re halfway through the match,” the hostess says, visibly frustrated, “but, this is all just for fun,” a reminder more for herself than anyone else. “Sure, Sera, you may take your place among the others.”

“Thanks, Harding,” She says, satisfied. She looks for a place to go, then squeezes between me and the Antivan. “So was that your turn, or…?” She says to the boy.

“I should hope not!” 

“No, child, that was not your turn.” Leliana reassures him. He goes again, his arrow landing toward the outside of the target, his confidence shaken. 

Then it was Sera’s turn. In one fell swoop she grabbed an arrow, drew it back, then fired with no hesitation. It hits the dead center of the target. 

“Shit!” A man behind us swears, the competitors erupting in anger.

“Oh you lot are gonna have to get used to this. The real challenge has entered the game!”

I know this is all in good fun, but fuck her.

“May I go now?” I say to Sera, still standing in front of the target. She whips around to face me, looking shaken. Her expression warps into one of amusement, a corner of her mouth lifting.

“Sorry, my lady. Don’t let me keep ya.” She bows out of the way. I sigh, drawing back the bow. I close one eye, my tongue sticking out in ugly concentration. I fire. Mine hits the bullseye too. The crowd celebrates, cheering and jeering. I can’t help but grin to myself as I head to the back of the line. Sera is glaring at me, a mixture of intrigue and bitterness in her face. 

“Looks like you’re going to be trouble for me, lady.” I laugh.

“And you, me.”

“I’m Sera.”

“I know. I’m Fatine.” 

For every perfect hit Sera got, I was somewhere between good and great. But I stayed in the game, and so, of course, did she. When it was down to three, I matched her bullseye again, leaving us as the final two. By this time, a very large crowd had gathered, waiting with baited breath to see if I (the mysterious and sexy underdog) would beat Sera (Sera). I managed to keep up with her move by move, but she was effortless in her perfect strikes. My turns took concentration, hesitation, and thought. I moved slow. But she smugly watched me strategize each of my moves. Her certainty that she was going to win pissed me off, even though yes. She would probably win. Miraculously, I kept up with her for over ten agonizing rounds. Swiftly she draws the arrow and fires. It hits to the left of the bullseye. The crowd is in shambles.

“Fuck! God damn it! I don’t friggin’ care about this bullshit anyway. Fuck it!” Sera is swearing up a storm. 

“Now, now you haven’t lost yet! Pull yourself together, woman,” I coo at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looks at me with her big puppy-dog eyes, her mouth agape. I lift my other hand and gently raise her chin, shutting her trap.

“Now let’s see how this all turns out, why don’t we. Hm?”

“Argh!” She swings to the side. As I nock my arrow, I wonder if it’s even worth winning. She’s so mad at herself right now it’s pitiful. But there is a lesson to be learned from this– life is full of disappointments, after all. I draw back, steady myself, and fire. My most beautifully symmetrical shot yet. People yell and cheer, jumping up and down, celebrating how the Mighty has fallen. Sera simply slumps her shoulders and lowers her gaze.

“You did good, Sera!” I call out as she walks away. She pretends not to hear me. 

“We have a winner! Congratulations, Fatine!” Scout Harding proclaims. I lock eyes with Leliana, and she gives me a nod of approval, a twinkle of pride and mischief in her eyes. 

⇼

“Everybody raise a glass!” The bard sings out, ferociously strumming an old Tevinter tune in the winner’s honor. 

The tavern comes alive after dark, the glee from the competition still fresh in the air.  People were finally drunk enough to start dancing, I watch as they pair up and start swinging each other around. No one knows this dance in this part of Thedas. I stay at my same seat in the corner, challenging myself to finish a bottle of wine alone.

“Are you going to drink this bottle alone?” A young man with dark skin and a mustache says to me. 

“If I don’t, it won’t be for lack of trying.”

“Mind if I assist?” He takes a seat across from me. His accent means he’s a ‘vint as well, and it’s clear he came from money. Some magister’s son, probably.

“You can imagine my surprise when I heard the winner was from Tevinter as well, there aren’t many of us around here.”

“Indeed.”

“Are you military?”

“My father was. I… was a slave.”

He chokes on the glass he had poured. I had intended to break the news a little gentler.

“Oh.”

“It’s alright. What House do you hail from? You might know my old mistress.”

“...Pavus.”

“I served the lady of House Adonis,” I watched in secret horror as he put the pieces together. “I’m sure I’ve run into you at a party at some point, the two families intermingled often!”

“Yes I’m sure.”

“I do love this dance!” I offer, the music picking up. I look around the room to see the bard playing her heart out, and people hopping around to the tune like the country bumpkins they were. I see a flash of blonde hair on the other side of the crowd. There Sera is, a wallflower in bloom, still moping.

“Would you like to dance with me then, my lady?”

“It would be my pleasure, sir.” I take his hand and we make our way toward the crowd. They egg us on, exclaiming in excitement as we begin the Matryoshka. Others sort of catch on to the steps of the routine, and soon the room is booming with dancers. 

Dorian and I laugh with each other in a moment of solidarity I never could’ve predicted. 

I bump shoulders with a tall freckled man and he murmurs an apology. His dancer partner is Sera– who does not look happy to be in his arms, her eyes locked on me. Dorian, knowing his cue, trades partners with Sera. He spins into the arms of the other gentleman. Sera slides a hand on my back, awkwardly guiding me through the energetic dance. 

“Hello, sore loser.”

“Oh, shut it will you. I’m trying to play nice.” I firmly grab her jaw, forcing her gaze on me.

“If you know what’s best for you, you’ll keep it that way.” She pulls at my hair teasingly. I groan. The alcohol has made me bold and flushed my cheeks red.

I grab her upper arm and lead her off to the side. I back her into the wall, my form pressing against hers.

“You need to learn how to behave when someone outdoes you.”

“And jus’ how should I behave?”

“Graciously. Take it like a lady.” She giggles and swivels me around with her forearm, switching our positions, my back pressing against the cold stone.

“Oh, I’ll shut up and take it. But not like a lady.” She whispers into my neck, the sweet heat from her voice raises the hair on my skin. I feel myself open up, my heartbeat pulsating with lust. She brings her mouth to mine, so close our lips brush against each other. But she does not kiss me, she only takes me by the hand and leads me upstairs.

⇼

The second we are in privacy we’re rushing to get naked. We pull at each other’s tops, I lift her shirt off over her head to find she has no bra on, her breasts surprisingly full on her lanky frame, her beautiful brown nipples hard as daggers. 

Before I can even get my hands on them she’s kneeling down in front of me. I claw at my legs, anxious to get my bottoms off. She laughs at my desperation. She eases my trousers down and peels off my underwear. My face grows even hotter with shame at how soaking wet they already are. My pants are still around my ankles when she looks up at me, smiles, then parts my thighs and gets to work with her tongue. It’s all I can do to brace myself against a bookshelf as she makes gentle, slow circles on my clit. I cry out, the pleasure making my knees buckle. 

“More pressure, Sera, fuck it feels so– fuck!” She purposefully ignores my request, keeping her contact light, prolonging me from coming. This makes me even louder, My moans so guttural I hear her chuckling between my legs. I look up at the ceiling, letting waves of ecstasy wash over me, When she slides two fingers inside of me, stroking my walls with that same slow pace. I expect her to tease me for my wetness but she holds no judgment, she feels proud. She goes harder on my clit, but doesn’t change her speed at all. It’s agonizing. I fall to the floor, my legs giving up on me, and she only uses my position to bury herself in me, my legs spread on either side of her. I stuff a hand in my mouth to stifle the sounds. My body is shuddering, my cunt is throbbing so hard that it’s almost painful. I cry and swear the whole way to my slow, torturous climax. She pulls away, her eyes still hungry. My breath is shaky and loud. I’m speechless. She stares at my sweaty, glistening form and all I can do is look back. I laugh. She smiles. From her spot between my legs she slides off my boots, and with her assistance I get fully naked. I guide her down below me so she’s laying flat on the ground.

“Sera, you’re beautiful.” I say in earnest as I guide her pants off her legs. She runs a finger along my cheek.

“You’re a gorgeous creature yourself, lady.” I sit over top of her and part her mouth with three fingers. She stares into my eyes as she takes the fingers down her throat, Moistening them up for herself. I remove the fingers and wrap my hand around her neck. She whimpers as I lean forward and kiss her passionately. 

Our tongues intertwine, lightly brushing up against one another, until she pushes her way to the back of my throat. I push back and we make out, skin to skin on the floor of her room for what feels like forever. 

I trace kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone, making my way to her supple tits, and I suck on her nipple, flicking it with my tongue. She moans violently. Hers are as sensitive as mine. Got it. 

I take my hand off her throat and bring it down to her heat. Her pubes are so blonde you can hardly see them. Cute. I brush over the area, lightly teasing every fold. We don’t talk much while we fuck, but her cries tell me she’s begging for more. I stick one finger, then two, then three, inside of her while my thumb presses against her clit. I squeeze my fingers together while inside her, and she cries out even harder. I bring my face close to hers.

“Come on baby, you can cry into my mouth.” I whisper, then lock lips with her again as I continue to finger her in strong pulses. She does as I told her and shudders, groans, and sighs frantically into our kisses. Her warm smokey breath does crazy things to me. I open my palm and slap against her cunt, she jolts and cries out in surprise and euphoria. 

“Faster, please. Please,” I give in and increase the speed. Her legs shake forcibly as she cums into my hand, her warmth spreading all over my fingers and palm. She watches from below me as I lick it all up in delight. “Damn.” 

I roll over beside her, the cold floor soothing my overheated body. I turn to face her and see that her eyes never left me.

“If you’re the prize I get for second I can’t imagine what the Maker would’ve given me for winnin’.” I tuck her hair behind her ear, letting my hand rest on her soft cheek. 

“You’ve been a most worthy opponent. I like you a lot, kid. For what it’s worth.”

“From you, it’s worth a fortune.” She collapsed onto me, our mouths colliding as she rolled on top. We fucked until we succumbed to sleep. I woke up on the floor to the sunlight pouring in, and a still naked Sera pressed against me. I smile to myself as I think of what else the Inquisition could possibly have in store. This was just the first night here, after all.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #sera dragon age #sera x reader #sera x insquisitor #sera x trevelyan #sera x lavellan #sera x cadash #sera x adaar #lesbian smut #sera fanfic #sera smut #sera fanfiction #dragon age fanfic #dragon age fanfiction #dragon age smut

[skoople]

Frankenweenie: Transmutation as Transsexuality in Frankenstein

Gender Threshold

Victor Frankenstein’s creation, who will from here be referred to as Adam¹, experiences many of the struggles of an openly transgender person. In this reading, Frankenstein is a story about a transsexual body, and because it is a horror story, it is especially about the transphobia that the gendered individual undergoes. These struggles will be broken down into four main categories² as seen throughout the book. The first category is a pervasive self-loathing, which is a catalysed product of the second facet: social punishment, whether that punishment is disgust or rejection or alienation. The third facet is the medicalization of Adam’s body; a body created through obfuscated means, but presumably some surgery, which contributes to the fourth: a profound desexualization, which does not exclude but rather amplifies a sexual anxiety around his body and removes him from the right to companionship, physical closeness, and the ability to be loved.

This investigation will be using the term “transsexual” interchangeably with “transgender” for three reasons: first, it reaffirms the mutable nature of sexual characteristics; second, it emphasizes the medicalized experience of trans people; finally, the use of “transsexual” calls to mind the frightened cisgender projection of the boogey-trans³, and a descriptor for someone which has been socially determined as monstrous certainly holds relevance to Frankenstein. “Katrina Roen, in turn, clarifies that transgenderism is “a political positioning that draws from postmodern notions of fluidity (for both bodies and gender),” while transsexualism is “a state of being that assumes the preexistence of two sexes between which one may transition””(qtd. In Rodríguez-Salas 82). Roen’s criticism holds true for much of the social writing pertaining to a gendered experience; however, the purposes of this paper have more to do with a distorted, mythical perception of the gendered individual than with practical social reform.

Four Elements of Transphobia

Self-Loathing is a complex and personal aspect of any life, but holds special relevance to a transgender life. Air is an all-encompassing and inescapable element. It is the least material; the least quantifiable; air could be likened to gender dysphoria in its ineffability. As clouds or mist are formed by the water cycle, self image is merely an apparatus intended to extend the social perception into an internal affair. While forming a sense of identity and self-image, Adam lives in open-air lodging and is subject to the changing of the sky and the winds. “I sickened as I read,” he says. “Increase of knowledge only discovered to me what a wretched outcast I was” (Shelley 124, 125).

Social Punishment is an essential function of transphobia, and the one that occupies the widest variety of forms, much like the capricious element of Water. Binary and cisgendered concepts of sex and gender as immutable, essential, and dual-uniform can only survive through rigid self-policing and an acceptance of a certain portion of hypocrisy. Gender non-conforming and transgender people disrupt and expose the flaws in a hegemonic understanding of gender, and are thus swiftly punished and minimized to preserve order, which shakily remains at the expense of gender liberation and transgender lives. When Adam first sees his reflection in a pond, literally the self reflected in water, he despairs due to his understanding of the social reaction to a transsexual body. Similarly, his final condemnation to exile and suicide occurs on an icy sea, into dark and frozen water. The fluid social conventions give life to Victor in some contexts⁴, but cause Adam to drown beneath the waves.

Medicalization is a grounded, material aspect that is best represented by Earth. Presumptuous as it may be to intrude upon the clinical details of a person’s body, such a gaze is considered a prerequisite when the body in question is something considered to be anomalous. We as an audience to Frankenstein yearn for detail in Victor’s alchemical process, just as a talk show audience pokes and prods to know more about the guest’s plans for their own genitalia.

“The consciousness shaped by the transsexual body is no more the creation of the science that refigures its flesh than the monster’s mind is the creation of Frankenstein. The agenda that produced hormonal and surgical sex reassignment techniques is no less pretentious, and no more noble, than Frankenstein’s… hubristic desire to create life itself.” (Stryker 242).

Here, the endowment of life is likened here to a sex change⁵; the birth undergone by a transsexual body at the hand of doctors that commodify or pathologize their creations. When Victor thinks on the process of his creation, and when he begins to construct a companion for Adam, he goes to a lake or the coast of Scotland. In other words, he goes to where the water meets the earth, usually for isolation, a simulated social alienation of his own, to enact surgical processes aping a sex change. The earth near a body of water happens to be ideal conditions for clay, in a story subtitled “the modern Prometheus.” It is noteworthy that most cultural depictions of Frankenstein’s process involve him literally unearthing corpses from the grave to use as materials.

Desexualization is a presumed natural consequence of a body shaped by the medical or surgical realm. The transsexual body of Adam, is at once reviled and fetishized. “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! … but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast” (Shelley 104). This simultaneous fetishization and revulsion is reiterated in Victor’s nightmare of Elizabeth undergoing the same putrefaction of his creation. Fire is classically representative of passion, and both Adam and Victor describe seeking a “warmth” from companionship. Adam in particular is fascinated and enticed by the embers of a fire, but is hurt when he attempts to get too close. He explains that he does not know how to recreate fire for himself, in the same conversation that he asks Victor for the option to seek companionship. Because of his aberrant body, his desires, his privacy, and his autonomy are not inherent rights, but conditional, to be granted or revoked at the whims of Victor’s cisgender authority.

Let us read a passage with these elements at play: “A flash of lightning illuminated the object… it was the wretch, the filthy dæmon, to whom I had given life.” (Shelley 102). In a synthesis of air and fire, accompanied by water, we see lightning literally illuminating Adam. In keeping with the elements outlined above, this is a burst of self and desire overwhelming the darkness of a social curtain and exposing the transgender individual in brief flashes of truth.

Gender Synthesis

Horror is essential to any transgender narrative where transphobia is present. In order to see the tragedy clearly, we must remark upon the cruelty with as much shock and condemnation as the gendered victim is regarded with through the eyes of transphobia. In Frankenstein especially, it is a tragedy of the potential lost to social victimization. Sonny Nordmarken writes about his experience undergoing hormone therapy and watching the way he is socially perceived shift: “As I continue to change shape, I am becoming more transsexed. My body is becoming more monstrous, but my monstrousness is becoming less outwardly obvious than it was before. I am becoming new betweenings.” (Nordmarken 39). This familiar⁶ acknowledgement of the monster-creature-self leads to a new lens on cisnormative society. Referring to Susan Stryker’s explosive performance essay My Words to Victor Frankenstein, Jolene Zigarovich claims that “transgender fury pushes her to speak her disidentification with gendered norms and to name ways to become differently legible in spite of those strictures” (Zigarovich 266). Forging a new language to fit her perspective is necessary, because she, like the creature, must express herself to live as a full being.

A transgender conclusion to monstrosity is not to deny the outrageous nature of a supposedly incorrect gendered body, but to advocate for more of the grotesquely beautiful. “The monster always represents the disruption of categories, the destruction of boundaries, and the presence of impurities and so we need monsters and we need to recognize and celebrate our own monstrosities,”(Halberstam 27) declares Jack Halberstam in Skin Shows, his 1995 book about the social and gender sensibilities of horror (both Gothic and modern). A rigid cisgender binary is clean and known and proper, and yet it does not fulfil anyone for a sense of identity in society. Therefore, in order to know and to enrich ourselves as individuals within the whole, we must turn to the hideous face of the truth and find what we can love in it. Our story does not need to be horror as long as someone is willing to take courage in the true self.

FOOTNOTES

This is for ease of reading and emphasis on personhood. The name “Adam” was chosen to allude to the biblical First Man; his first sin is knowledge. It is the creature’s independence that cements his fall from grace in the eyes of Victor Frankenstein. Adam does not express reverent gratitude, but instead begs for a companion to be shaped from his rib. Additionally, going by a simple, common name aids in making him feel familiar and relatable. Anecdotally, many of my transgender friends and acquaintances have names from the beginning of the alphabet. Usually the reason for this is that they sorted through a baby names list in alphabetical order.

This is a somewhat simplified depiction of transphobia

The phrase “boogey-trans” is my own invention, as a tongue-in-cheek descriptor of transphobic caricatures historically demonized in popular culture. Examples of the boogey-trans include, of course, Buffalo Bill, along with the antagonist Ray Finkle of Ace Ventura, and Frank N. Furter of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While it is an accepted reality among transgender writers and media critics, it lacks a shorthand; I have devised my own to maintain flow and clarity.

For example, he is revived by the ministrations of Henry Clerval; his wellbeing is dependent on the social connections he spurns for the sake of convenience.

Although sex change typically refers to a surgical procedure (especially vaginoplasty or phalloplasty), it is used in this essay as a catch-all term for medical transition, whether surgical or hormonal.

It is a familiar sentiment to most people who have medically transitioned.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Halberstam, Jack. Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters. Duke University Press Books, 1995.

Nordmarken, Sonny. “Becoming Ever More Monstrous: Feeling Transgender In-Betweenness.” Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 20, no. 1, 2014, pp. 37-50.

Rodríguez-Salas, Gerardo. “Frankenstein’s Creature’s Self-Portrait: Transgender Politics in =Man Into Woman and The Danish Girl.” Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies, vol. 44, no. 1, 2022, pp. 74-91.

Stryker, Susan. “My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage.” GLQ, vol. 1, 1994, pp. 237-254.

Zigarovich, Jolene. “The Trans Legacy of Frankenstein.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 45, no. 2, July 2018, pp. 260-272.9

#writing #reading #frankenstein #my art #? i guess it counts #btw thanks if you made it to the end! okay to rb #long post

[adamwatchesmovies]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

No adult who didn’t grow up watching the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series has any business watching the 1990 live-action film. While the animatronics and costumes bringing the reptilian heroes to life are impressive, the humor is juvenile, characters thin and the dialogue bad. These facts didn’t matter to the film’s intended audience. The beloved pizza-eating shadow warriors appearing on the big screen was enough and everyone knew it. The poster’s tagline of “Hey dudes this is NO cartoon” made it abundantly clear. It’ll continue to engage young viewers even today but children of the ‘80s who revisit it will be disappointed unless they're wearing thick rose-tinted glasses.

Mutated by radioactive ooze, raised in the sewers of New York by a rat who knows Kung Fu and obsessed with pizza, Michelangelo (Robbie Rist), Raphael (Josh Pais), Donatello (Corey Feldman) and Leonardo (Brian Tochi) are unlikely heroes. When the Foot Clan, a criminal organization of ninjas led by the mysterious “Shredder” (James Saito), begins recruiting the youth of NYC, the turtles team up with news reporter April O’Neal (Judith Hoag) and vigilante Cassie Jones (Elias Koteas) to take them down.

You’d never guess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was made for a mere $13.5 million. Even when you consider the inflation, this is a good-looking movie. Our crazy-looking heroes interact with each other and with people, speak, eat, fight, ride skateboards, and so on. The lip-synch may be slightly off here and there but the illusion is convincing.

I can also praise the film for staying true to itself. The source material is a tough pill to swallow but the screenplay by Todd W. Langen and Bobby Herbeck doesn’t try to make the concept more digestible by making the turtles aliens or making their sensei/father into a man that was transformed into a rat-like creature. They’re 15-year-old shell warriors who love pizza and speak like surfer dudes. If you don’t buy that, the movie doesn’t want anything to do with you. It’s going to keep moving along those lines and doesn’t want to waste time dealing with semantics.

I suppose I can give a thumbs up to some of the film’s humorours sequences. They are genuinely funny about half the time and even when the gags are bad, they never go for fart jokes or other low-hanging fruit. Beyond this, I wish I had more nice things to say. This movie tries to do too much. It’s introducing the four protagonists, plus April, Cassie Jones, Shredder, Splinter, April’s boss and his troubled son, all on top of the characters’ origin and the actual plot. As a result, we hardly get to know the mutant heroes. They're virtually indistinguishable from each other except maybe Raphael, who has anger issues. Shredder is just as bad. We know nothing about him except that he’s evil and needs to be defeated.

Unless you already love the turtles and are overjoyed seeing them beat up an endless number of incompetent foot soldiers, the plot doesn’t offer much at all. It might be more “grown up” by daring to have a few of its characters curse (that surely rattled some cages back in the day) but the story has no depth. The dialogue is filled with groan-worthy one-liners, which to me makes the warriors believable as cartoon versions of teenagers. As a kid, I might’ve idolized these “grown up” turtles. Today, I find them mostly annoying. That goes double for the rap that introduces the end credits.

I choose to call Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a good movie because it accomplishes its objectives. This is an unpretentious action comedy that wants nothing to do with the non-fans of the turtles. Everyone was into this franchise at the time and it continues to draw an audience. Kids will laugh at the turtles’ antics, be shocked when they get hurt, and cheer when the bad guys get what’s coming to them. It’s not for me and probably not for anyone reading this but I can see the appeal. (November 6, 2020)

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #TMNT #Steve Barron #Todd W. Langen #Bobby Herbeck #Judith Hoag #Elias Koteas #1990 movies #1990 films

[melinatsalikis]

QCQ - Installation Art (Chapter Four + Conclusion)

"Everything about installation art's structure and modus operandi repeatedly valorises the viewer's first-hand presence...Perhaps more precisely, installation art instates the subject as a crucial component of the work..." (Bishop, Page 130)

Earlier this week, I brought up the phrase "If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" when referencing how I feel about my installations. I think that my art works best when people are present because their interactions breathe life into the pieces they are seeing. Having people walk through or touch something I made deepens their understanding of the piece as a presence, and in doing that then hopefully their understanding of its meaning deepens too. I would agree with Bishop that in installation work, the viewer is as much a part of the subject as the actual subject of the work. Hélio Oiticica's work, which Bishop references often, speaks to the subject of political oppression. But it isn't until someone walks through it, bringing with them their life experiences, that the piece transforms and can be about something beyond what Oiticica made it about. The work becomes about the viewer, what meaning they bring to the table, and how their story interacts with the original subject of the work. As a viewer, by being inside the installation, the piece becomes about you.

For my previous QCQ response, I wrote a little bit about how artists can create art with a certain intention and yet there is a big chance that that intention will not be relevant to how viewers respond to the work. I still stand by that, but I would like to point out that it is different from what I am suggesting above in that there are two types of artist intentions/expectations: the first is the emotional or romantic, and the other is the call to a physical action. It is one thing to say that you expect your work to illicit a specific response from people - it truly may not do that. It is another thing entirely to demand that your work be experienced a certain way (for example, walked through). You still face the odds of people not interacting with the work how you intended, but at least the groundwork is there for the potential of them doing so in a meaningful way. Here, the difference between the two is the openness to a unique emotional response from someone versus trying to make someone feel something. I am reminded of Bruce Nauman and his ideas on viewer participation and agency. To bring up another well-worn -ism: You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

How does the "need" for audience interaction affect how non-sculptural/installation based artists create their work? Can drawing and painting be included in these conversations or do they (unfortunately) get excluded and placed in their own category?

#installationartspring2023 #art school

[o-wyrmlight]

Forgive me, this is mostly just venting out my frustrations. It's not a callout post or anything, just annoying.

By the way. A stunning argument. A smashing revelation. I may have to reconsider. /s

In all seriousness, this is the sort of person I was trying to reason with on Twitter. This person literally took a video I made and reposted from a couple of months ago and decided to use it to accuse me of supporting Abusive Espresso x Madeline.

'What is said video?', you may ask? Well. It's this one.

You may be wondering, 'Bill, where did this come from?' You may also be wondering 'Wait, but where is Espresso in the video?'

Well. To answer your questions.

The accusation seems to be intended to paint me as someone who supports rampant abuse ships. I'm guessing the kind of abuse ships where the audience seems to 'get off on the abuse' or 'romanticizes it', a la the fandom of Killing and Stalking. The implication is that they believe Cyril supports this when he said nothing of the sort.

Ironically, this particular reply chain started with me stating, in order:

A) You're allowed to not like a female character. That doesn't make you misogynistic.

B) Drawing characters with features that their biology commonly gives them isn't racist if it isn't used for the purpose of dehumanizing or shaming them.

C) Where the hell did you get 'Espresso' out of this? (The first image)

For context, the video itself takes place in my Crumbled Castles AU, which is an AU very much divergent from the canon timeline. Specifically, it revolves around a sideplot of the larger story, wherein Madeline is a byproduct of how he was raised and has to learn to disassociate himself from who he was in order to develop real connections with others. Said 'byproduct' is specifically about his constant need to compulsively lie and manipulate in an attempt to keep himself safe while he accomplishes his mission: Hence 'Manipulative Madeline'.

Not once is Espresso even mentioned, seen, or implied--and yet this person somehow saw 'Manipulative Madeline' and decided to associate it with 'Abusive Espresso x Madeline' rather than look into what the post was actually about.

And then when I told them that their assumption was wrong, what did they do?

They just blew it off.

These are the kinds of people that are on Twitter. These are the kinds of people that see the tiniest grain of information and try to twist it against you. These are the kinds of people that lack the ability to see nuance and context and deliberately go out of their way to prevent context from being provided. (Forgive this one. I forgot to censor some names and had to re-take the screenshot from the Tumblr post editor.)

Wherein these are the two posts that they showed:

And this was their response when I pointed out that they didn't show the whole thread and deliberately cut it off?

'That is the whole thing.' 'We have already provided the whole thing.' 'Oh also writing abuse is wrong and harmful and he's sick for doing so.'

Oh, but, but, but--what is this that I see? In that post accusing me of shipping 'Abusive Espresso x Madeline'?

Excuse me??? So what is the problem, chief??? Do you not see the contradiction???

God, there is so much more than this that went on within the last... god, what, four, five hours? So forgive me if I'm a little bit miffed about this whole situation.

This isn't a callout post. This isn't a request for people to figure out who this person is. That is why I blocked out the names of everyone except myself.

Because unlike this nameless person, I don't have any intention of sending targeted harassment toward anyone. And I don't plan on dredging up pictures of them to post.

You know. Like they did with Cyril. When he was a minor. And what was their response when Cyril tried to call them out on it?

'You posted that yourself on a public account'.

Not 'I'll take it down'. Not 'Sorry, I didn't realize you weren't comfortable with your face being used while insulting you'. Just 'You posted that image yourself on a public account'.

This is in response to them being made aware that this picture was of Cyril when he was a minor.

By the way, this person wasn't responding to people at this time. They were silent for well over an hour before somebody was kind enough to send me a link to the tweet so I could tell them to take it down. But they were still online. And I know this because they took it down within five minutes of me tagging them in that post.

All of this to say: Before you believe any claims people make on Twitter--or on any social media website--please be aware that this kind of shit can happen. Information can be withheld. Information can be misconstrued. Context can be lost, contradictions can be ignored. Before you fall into the pit of believing discourse the moment you see it, ask yourself:

'Is this missing some sort of context? Does this persons' argument even make sense?'

Because they will try to make you believe that it makes sense. Oh, goodness, they will try. It's like talking to a brick wall. And they will have people blindly following in their wake to support their claims, but ultimately, it's up to you to sniff out bullshit when it happens.

If Cyril were accused of these things and indisputable evidence were given that would prove--without a shadow of a doubt--that he is any of these horrible things that this person and many others claim that he is, then I would not be so angry.

I have taken a look at the context that people have provided me. I have asked questions, I have seen screenshots and used my brain to think about the deeper meaning and find what was missing. If I genuinely felt that Cyril was guilty of these accusations, then I would have no problem backing down and letting whatever may happen happen.

But with all of the screenshots and evidence and context that I have been given, I don't believe it. If I were shown evidence that would prove to me that Cyril is guilty of anything he is accused of--or even that some of the stuff he is accused of is even wrong, in the case of shipping abusive ships because he enjoys the character dynamic and psychology--then I would admit I was wrong.

But with arguments like this? How can you expect to do anything but bully someone into believing you because it's easier?

I didn't believe people when I read that Twitter is a hellsite. I now know that I was wrong. This is the second time that something like this has happened within two or three months, and I am so tired and so frustrated by it all. It isn't fair to see creators suffer for things that they haven't done, and as fellow creators--as the audience for those creators--we have to be mindful of the libel we read.

That's sort of it, I guess. My inbox is open if you want me to elaborate on my opinions more. Thank you for reading, and sorry you had to suffer through this. I hope you have a better day than I've been having.

#crk drama #i guess i'm using that tag now. fucking hell #long post #rape mention

[udo0stories]

  Never be afraid of shadows. They just indicate that there is a light shining in the area." Renkel, Ruth E. I believed I had a serious problem before I began to heal from my anxiety. Every panic attack, every dreadful morning, and every social gathering I would psychologically brace myself for made me feel as though I lacked something that no one else possessed. When I worked as a grocery store cashier, I avoided socializing with customers twenty-four hours prior to my shift. Yes. That implies that I would not spend Friday afternoon and evening with anyone if I worked on Saturday morning. Why? I had to get myself "ready" for my grocery store entry-level job. I felt like everyone was watching to see if I could go an hour without smiling, and I had to "make sure I felt okay." I was harshly critical of myself and believed that I was worthless to the world if I was not filled with optimism. Additionally, if I did not radiate confidence at all times, people would assume I was not good enough. Upon embarking on my quest to overcome my anxiety, I discovered several life experiences that had significantly impacted my inner world. One of them happened at a dance competition in which I participated when I was younger. I joined a Bhangra group when I was around ten years old. Bhangra is a kind of folk dance that has its roots in Punjab, India. When you see a performance of bhangra, you can tell that the dancers are exuberant and smiling broadly. Bhangra is a very energetic dance form. This is a crucial portion of the show since you want the audience to enjoy themselves, so you need to bring this much energy to the stage. My group had just finished a performance at one of my dance competitions, and the judges were prepared to give their piece. All of the judges were very complimentary, with the exception of one who chose to draw attention to a weakness in my own portion of the performance. "You," he said, pointing to me, younger Raman, "did not seem to be smiling so wide. Everyone did such an amazing job and were smiling so big and having fun," he said. Why did that occur?" My heart stopped as a ten-year-old because every single eye in that auditorium was staring at me. To be honest, I do not think I said much in response, but I cannot quite recall what I said. It was "chill," as best I could. It was probably just a shrug and an "I do not know" as my soul slowly poured out of me in embarrassment before my dance group and I eventually left the stage. We were enjoying ourselves during this dance competition because we were young. We were not even attempting to impress the judges, much less win a national championship. The criticism from that one judge ended up lowering my spirits, even though we did wind up winning a prize. It really affected me to be the one singled out among the group. Our minds may not know why we might grow older with certain fears and anxieties, but the child who went through that suffering is still a part of us. Additionally, the judge from a dance competition takes on the role of an inner judge who assesses us prior to a cashier shift. "Grow your smile!" he exclaims. Both the little and the large painful moments are what stay with us. Even though, as adults, we might think, "Oh, it was just one thing someone said; that is not a big deal," to that little child, it certainly was. It is very significant! This brings me to the first misconception about anxiety that we have: that there is a problem with us. There is nothing wrong with you if anxiety of any kind has ever occurred to you. Your internal system is, in fact, operating precisely as intended! We develop an inner judge to "fix" what went wrong (in this case, not smiling big enough at the dance performance) in order to hopefully prevent having someone criticize us from the outside (at work) and avert a potential future "threat" (in this case, the embarrassment from the judge in my story). Our inner world functions strangely, but it does its duty. It is true that

if you mentally prepare yourself for a big smile at work for twenty-four hours prior to a work shift, you will probably smile big at work, and no one will criticize you for being a downer. You no longer have the energy to give it your all when things start to get really tough. When your inner critic makes you feel inadequate, it gets particularly difficult. It’s usually around this time that people start looking for some help, because even though their inner world is doing its job, it becomes exhausting to keep up with it. This brings me to the second misconception about anxiety, which is that it is a lifelong condition. Many people think that a label you receive from someone has to stick with you for the rest of your life. Not me, though. For example, I made the decision to change my anxiety for the better and to take the necessary steps to treat it when my doctor diagnosed me with moderate generalized anxiety disorder. There is no need to "cope" with anxiety. A young woman who was one of my clients recently exclaimed, "Oh, yay, another coping mechanism!" when I suggested a tool. Even though she was eager to try something new, I had to be honest with her and tell her that she could change her anxiety rather than just learn to live with it. Recognizing the dominant thoughts in your mind is the first step towards changing your fears. Frequently, the anxiety is brought on by overly critical thoughts. We can then inquire as to the source of these thoughts once we become conscious of them. You have a backstory for your anxiety, just as I do! Although there are frequently multiple origin stories—a collection of origin stories—it is helpful to begin with one. You will shift more the more willing you are to change and the more open you are to healing through your story. You do not have to live your life in constant control of your anxiety. It can even function as a passenger. This brings us to the third and last myth concerning anxiety: the idea that healing requires constant tranquility and the total absence of anxiety. The truth is that anxiety has occasionally surfaced during my six years of recovery. I spent weeks being a nervous wreck when I first started offering workshops. When I am trying something new, I still get nervous, but my reaction is different. The process of healing gives us strength that enables us to act and behave differently in the world. Despite my intense nervousness about taking risks in my career, I found the inner strength to pursue it! That is because my life is no longer driven by anxiety. It turned into a welcomed traveler. The fact is, I do not want to throw her out of the car if her experiences and that inner child are the source of her anxiety. I should make a safe place in my life for that little girl. I greet anxiety when it manifests itself. I talk to her, I journal in her voice, and I reassure her that everything will be alright. I tell her that I will be the one to empower and encourage her, that I am not that judge from that day on. She is free to join me at any time on this journey. And it would be a pleasure if she could travel with me. I am here to reveal to her the full extent of the magic within. I am here to help her recognize the qualities and abilities she possesses that no one else can take away. She is a welcome passenger, and I will steer the vehicle in the direction of our mutual benefit. I have learned to be kinder to myself, to see the person behind their mask, and to be a living example of inner peace as a result of my experience with anxiety and the healing that followed. It is possible that the more trying times in our lives also mold us into the people we were destined to be.

#PersonalDevelopment #Anxiety #Healing #Myths #Popular

[rcmndedlisten]

Interview: Tay Roebuck of Smut On The Band’s New Album ‘How the Light Felt’

Photo by: Jaycee Rockhold

How The Light Felt, the sophomore effort from Smut, is a reckoning on a personal and creative level unlike anything which the Chicago-based quintet has contended with thus far. Born out of tragedy following the death of vocalist Tay Roebuck’s sister in 2017, she alongside guitarist Andrew Min, bassist and synthesist Bell Cenower, guitarist and synthesist Sam Ruschman, and drummer Aidan O’Connor have crafted a sonic document of deep grief through spells of dream-pop, alternative pop-rock and trip-hop that ultimately transcend the darkness and redefine what hope sounds like upon breaking through the other side.

+rcmndedlisten spoke with Tay Roebuck via e-mail about interpreting the personal through their art, the ‘90s gaze in today’s current music spectrum, and what comes next after this moment.

+rl: There's the natural desire to want to describe Smut as a dream-pop band who meshes into the walls of '90s luminaries like the Sundays, Massive Attack, and early Cranberries, but there's also an unassuming aggressiveness on tracks like "Janeway" and more unorthodox bedroom-styled production on closer "Unbroken Thought" that stop you in your tracks from doing so, and instead draw tangents to modern artists like Nothing and just nothing else really at all. How do you search for creative inspo in a scene that's so familiar to the ear?

Tay Roebuck: The best thing about our band is that we all take inspiration from different places. Yes, we all have a love for ‘90s music, but that spans genres. If you think about bands from the ‘90s, they take a lot of inspirations from the ‘70s and bands from the ‘70s riff off the ‘50s. Music to us is a lot about finding the sounds you love and expanding on them. It’s what a lot of great bands do!

+rl: How the Light Felt is an album that is deceptively heavy (even more so than your 2017 punk-driven debut, End of Sam-Soon) despite how it feels on the surface, which in turn, puts a metaphorical focus on the album's title itself. Personal grief and loss permeate throughout the listen, but tracks like "Soft Engine" and "After Silver Leaves" are soft, luminous, warm and comforting in a manner that makes each song sound like a breakthrough to the other side. Was the way you crafted your sound on this effort part of the healing process?

TR: To be honest, when writing the lyrics for this album, I wasn’t intending anything. I was going through something raw and getting it out of me in the way. I had learned to process my emotions by writing. I didn’t want to quit the band, but I couldn’t really keep writing and performing the way I did before. We were making aggressive songs with abstract lyrics and to do that after my sister’s death felt impossible. So the natural solution was to change how I performed and to change what I wrote about. Only after it was done and sent away to be pressed and sold did I feel the reckoning of having written it. Imagine selling the worst thing that ever happened to you to an audience. It was something I was fully unprepared for and still struggle with. I wouldn’t say it’s been exactly healing in the long run in that sense.

+rl: At the same time, How the Light Felt could easily be interpreted as an album about love and the sensation of falling in love through its veiled sunlight by turning its lyricism toward it with a longing romanticism. Did the dichotomy between two profoundly different emotions meeting in the center come across to you during the songwriting, or was that a beautiful accident?

TR: The sound itself was crafted by all members of the band. The content of the album lyric-wise is very much my life and experiences, but the instrumentation itself is the growth of four other people and me. The comforting sounds to me can almost be read as the symbiotic relationship Smut has. They were and are the comfort and support that lifts my heavy experiences and that gives levity to the outside audience. I think they add hope to the songs that I wouldn’t be able to give on my own.

In this moment, this album also sounds like the Smut's fullest realization yet, and should be appreciated for that. From here, do you start to creatively look to where the path leads next, or have the experiences lived throughout this listen redefined your perspective on that process as well?

TR: I think we as a group are ready to move on to the next thing, which will hopefully be an evolution of How the Light Felt into a more energetic sound. Now that we’ve cried it out and seen the positive effect the album seems to be having, I think we are all ready to get out there and fuck it up. I’m personally setting my sights on this next album to speak more broadly to the injustices happening in our country. I’ve thought about myself enough for the time being. We are itching to speak to the people, make ‘em dance, and maybe inspire them.

How the Light Felt by smut

Smut’s How the Light Felt is available now on Bayonet Records.

#interviews #smut #bayonet records

[maacwanowrie]

Display Advertising Types

For those with imaginative thinking skills who appreciate art, technology, and communication, graphic design is a terrific career. Every business has a need for design, therefore short-term graphic design courses in Pune have a lot of opportunity to work on a variety of fresh and intriguing projects.

 The main message of the campaign must be conveyed to the audience through graphics for display advertising management to be effective. Having consumers naturally led to an advertisement when they visit a website or social media platform is the goal. So, when formulating your display advertising management plan, here are a few possibilities you should test out.

 Ad banners

The most popular type of display advertising is banner advertising because it stands out the most on websites. They are so called because of their shape, which resembles a flag. They are merely strip-shaped, hyperlinked, image-based advertisements. They are typically positioned near the top of a webpage to grab the user's attention right away.

 Strong Media

A third of Internet users find standard banner advertising to be annoying, therefore businesses are looking into more creative ways to display their adverts. One such innovative strategy is the use of rich media, which involves incorporating compelling interactive components like video, audio, and clickable features into the commercial.

 advertisement breaks

Before you are taken to the website you first intended to visit, these advertisements appear on a separate page. They successfully grab the user's attention since they fill the entire screen.

 ad videos

Video ads are slightly more expensive than display ads, but they are still worthwhile. Marketers can now easily run video ads that draw a lot of interest and engagement thanks to platforms like YouTube and Instagram.

 The control of display advertising

 Any business that uses display makes a major investment, so it makes sense that you'd want to get the most Return on Investment (ROI) from your display ad spending. Therefore, it is imperative to evaluate the effectiveness of your display advertising management plan. Four Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are provided below to assist in quantifying the results of display ad management:

 1. Reach

Getting statistics on how many users saw your advertisement is necessary to effectively gauge its reach. The unique number of views on your display ad reflects this. You can track the efficacy of your display ad management and targeting efforts as well as the reach of your advertisement. It is recommended to alter your targeting criteria if advertising are not reaching the desired audience.

 2. Impressions

The quantity of times an advertisement has "served" itself to a user on a website or other venue is known as an impression. Every time an advertisement is shown, it generates impressions. The performance of your advertisements can be mapped against conversion rates once you have correctly quantified this. You might need to reconsider your display ad management strategy if it appears that your impressions are increasing but your conversion rate isn't.

 3. rates of click-through

The click-through rate, a vital sign of engagement, shows how many people have clicked on your advertisement. It is the ratio of impressions to clicks in mathematics. For instance, if 200 clicks are generated from 200 impressions of your advertisement, your click-through rate is 10%. Low CTRs are a sign that you should change your display ad management strategy or revisit your targeting algorithms.

 4. Rate of conversion

This is the most crucial metric to take into account because, at the end of the day, conversion is what running advertising is all about. This rate is a measurement of the amount of visitors who arrive at your landing page and do a certain action, like installing your app, signing up for a subscription, or making a purchase.

[tonkirecords]

City of ember

#CITY OF EMBER HOW TO#

#CITY OF EMBER PROFESSIONAL#

The reality is that once a direction forward on any issue is determined, we can only be responsible for our own behaviors, and the rest is up to our colleagues.

#CITY OF EMBER PROFESSIONAL#

Nearly every decision that we encounter in our professional lives involves this dynamic. This is true in any meaningful exchange between people. Positive change and adaptation can only happen in an environment of trust. We’re evolving our communications and developing new tools to better understand our patients’ personal needs. In academic medicine specifically, we’re adapting to shifting payment models, diminished federal funding for research, and an increased need to deliver better, more compassionate care to our patients at a lower cost. In our increasingly fast-paced work lives, change happens rapidly. When people aren ’t made to feel comfortable to discuss matters, decisions also have less chance to succeed.

#CITY OF EMBER HOW TO#

While it’s common for people to have different ideas on how to arrive at a shared goal, many often do not feel comfortable sharing their thoughts in meetings or in an open setting. Since the novel is for young readers, the author has provided a silver lining at the final message stating people always find a solution for all their problems in spite of the chronic fear. Finally, the four messages come like a rather dark omen, Man's internal fear of the end whether the religious end represented by the apocalypse or the scientific end and the expiry of earth. The research studies four vital messages the first message is that history repeats itself for the novel has many allusions to the history of Jews and their painful holocaust and even goes back in history the days of Moses and the Exodus, the second message tackles the conspiracy theory that states nothing happens by accident and that everything is planned and connected hence comes the third message incarnated in the film adaptation of the novel, secret societies do exist namely the freemasons. In this research, both the novel and the film adaptation are studied with the intent to decode the warning messages that the novelist and the director tried to introduce to the audience. Ages 10-13.The City of Ember is a very interesting novel that is although intended for young readers, have so many layers and messages that are misunderstood. Readers will sit on the edge of their seats as each new truth comes to light. Thanks to full-blooded characters every bit as compelling as the plot, Lina and Doon's search parallels the universal adolescent quest for answers. Together, the pair become detectives in search of the truth-part of which may be buried in some strange words that were hidden in Lina's grandmother's closet. Meanwhile, the messages Lina carries point to other sorts of subterfuge. Through their perspectives, DuPrau reveals the fascinating details of this subterranean community: as Doon repairs leaks deep down among the Pipeworks, he also learns just how dire the situation is with their malfunctioning generator. Lina gets "pipeworks laborer," a job that Doon wants, while Doon draws "messenger," the job that Lina covets, and they trade. The story opens on Assignment Day in the year 241, when 12-year-olds Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow draw lots for their jobs from the mayor's bag. They tuck "The Instructions" to a way out within a locked box programmed to open at the right time. The city of Ember, "the only light in the dark world," began as a survival experiment created by the "Builders" who wanted their children to "grow up with no knowledge of a world outside, so that they feel no sorrow for what they have lost." An opening prologue describes the Builders' intentions-that Ember's citizens leave the city after 220 years. In her electric debut, DuPrau imagines a post-apocalyptic underground world where resources are running out.

#City of ember