lilithgravesdiary-blog

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Free, Poisonous Candy!

Alright. This time let's talk about idiotic Visual Novels and generally art. I've been procrastinating on Play Store the other day looking for a visual novel with a deep story like Amnesia, Hakuoki and Mystic Messenger. All of a sudden I saw this title: "My Horse Prince". Even though my inner self had warned me time and again in the past, I couldn't help but be impressed by an impossible 4.8/5 popularity among its users. It's a girl in love with a human faced horse, huh? Okay I'll try not to think superficially and download the damn thing.

It was then when I was traumatized by lines such as "I hadn't had the chance to meet any good-looking guys", shallow dialogues and humor aimed for elementary schoolers. Meaningful conversations are, of course, nonexistent and even when something valuable is stated, it is never supported by good arguments. Then, certainly, there is the ridiculous waste of time while watching the horse/doofus being absurd and waiting for a damn bar to be filled before one can go on with the story.

But the thing that enraged me more than anything else were the idiots spreading 4/5 and 5/5 reviews accompanied by cheap ways to argue that the game does in fact offer something valuable. First of all, a 5/5 review isn't objective at all and if someone wants to support it, they should be able to argue strongly about it. Secondly, even if some reviews are only trolling, this doesn't make them less foolish. Because, as I mentioned, the humor only burns brain cells and besides, someone who sees too many of people's nonsense in the comments might actually start believing them -if this isn't the case already. Thirdly, it's rather pitiful watching people congratulating games ONLY BECAUSE they are inexpensive and giving a 1/5 review to other games whose developers DARE ASKING TO BE PAID FOR THEIR PROFESSIONAL WORK. The word 'quality' has been biased  so much, it can change an app's true reputation completely. And lastly, there is the 'hotness' factor. I mean, do I even need to explain myself? Of course I'm not denying that I am somewhat shallow myself, but to consider beauty a determining factor to advertise and base story plots on it could be considered a crime when it comes to justice. It's not a boring cliche at all to repeat that beauty is on the inside. The outside is mostly pure luck which is going to wither more and more as time passes. Mind and personality is what matters. For God's sake, I wanted to suggest Mystic Messenger to some friends but the horror of them seeing the shameful key phrase "Downloading a messenger app leads to chatting with hot guys?" made me rethink my options.

And something more; Dear artists, please stop promoting innocent and naive Main Characters whose beauty saves them from going unnoticed. And of course being sassy for no good reason and having a smart mouth which isn't smart at all is also bad news for society's progress. Stop stupid cliches to move the plot forward and don't be afraid to deal with taboos and darker themes every once in a while. If anything, this is what might make people think.

Perhaps all those people are in fact stupid and unable to find the true meaning of concepts like "fun", "quality" or "beauty". Perhaps there's some crowd psychology going on here causing the brainless masses to go along with the trend merely because the majority approves. Yes, democracy sucks and many comedies do too. Why? But of course because a lot of them refer to inferior people dealing with unfortunate situations so that the ordinary, average person watching them can feel better about themselves. They want to laugh and be happy and -God forbid!- never question a thing or two through more unpleasant genres of art. Congratulations, normal people! Through free, funny and aesthetically beautiful art, you've found the path to wisdom! And thanks democracy, for making the rest of us bare with them.

[lilithgravesdiary-blog]

As Long as the Brain’s Dysfunctional

In this modern society, characterized by a barrage of information, I recently came across a very typical story which I hated so much as to be incredibly inspired. This, certainly, doesn’t concern the upcoming authors who wish to tell their stories in famous platforms like Kindle and Wattpad. I will be also accusing classical literature which for some reason is taken more seriously than it should be. Nevertheless, I am not here to offer critique to fellow writers; I merely wish to state my concerns.

Trying to write something that only professional work couldn’t be considered, I am somewhat familiar with the concept of “length” in a novel, essay etc. Of course, I am not referring to phrases like “the lengthier, the better”. Every writer who has a little pride in themselves, must at least take into consideration that quantity does not equal quality.

Then why, dear people, do you insist on forcing yourselves to add more and more information? This reminds me of those pitiful students who, in order to pass a test, keep adding anything that comes to mind no matter how incorrect or irrelevant this is. “If the professor sees such a long answer, they’ll be convinced of my wealth of knowledge!”. Why do I get the feeling that some authors tend to behave similarly subconsciously or not?

Well, here’s a little secret for you; Professors are bored of never-ending written babbling. Professors get irritated by those who underestimate their ability of judgement. Notice the similarity? Why try to promote your works by writing a longer text? It actually requires skill to write a genre like a short story.

Then does this mean that long stories are doomed to be filled with unimportant information? Not necessarily. It is possible if one has a variety of genuine ideas and the talent to express them through writing.

However, only an idiot would find themselves blown away by cheap plot devices. “And then the man leaned over, leaving the woman speechless at that sudden turn of events. Did he intend to kiss her?!” NOPE, of course not! What on earth would the author do if everything interesting about the book ended in that moment?

But neither an irrelevant and uninteresting study or survey would have a place in a novel. Even history should be limited in such a genre. For sure, this doesn’t mean that any combination equals failure -on the contrary, it could have great potential if used correctly. But one shouldn’t present a literary work as a thrilling adventure and include a large amount of encyclopedic information presented in a way a scientist or academic would expect to be informed about. Nor is it always appropriate to include a series of historical data in the middle of a fictional narration. The “I learned so much about that period!” argument has its limits too. Dear writer, remember that your readers aren’t interested in history and science but in a serious novel. Otherwise, you should clearly state this peculiarity.

But anyway, this idiotic type is often seen in the romance genre which is still my preference, even though lately I am wondering why. Can’t you authors think of any better obstacles to make your story longer and interesting? Instead of trying erasing all the unnecessary information, consider giving a darker theme to your books. What a great source of inspiration, what a great stimulus of getting yourselves to think. Because, let’s face it; nobody wants to read a story where nothing hardly ever happens?

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The Illusion of a Career

I’ve been struggling to define laziness these days. This is how people must be defining those who can’t see themselves working on some pointless project for a respectable job. Why, I’m talking about all those ridiculous occupations emphasizing a little too much on economy, politics and the like, of course.

Never born with a clear talent myself, laziness was my favorite hobby for the time periods during which I couldn’t decide what to do with my life. Math? Sure but not competitive enough. Literature? Can’t seem to match the teachers’ and society’s expectations. Sports? Good enough if I try but what’s the point?

These days, the idea of how meaningless one human is among millions of others, or even the whole universe, has been messing with my thoughts and ambitions. Like, even if I had a good job would it even matter? What is the meaning of one’s occupation if their role can easily be replaced by someone else? Life is short and soon enough there will be no proof that the average individual was even alive.

You only live once right? Let’s enjoy life while we still can. This short-minded logic never suited me. I refuse to live only to make money so that I can brag and live a supposed easier life. But life would definitely wouldn’t be easy if I could hardly make any money.

Thus I ended up studying for a bachelor’s on Politics and Economy. I was still a teenager when I chose to pursue a convenient life in the business world through this first degree. By the end of my studies, though, I found myself disgusted at both the futility of the courses and all those air-headed humans behaving like they had found the meaning of life in them. Bragging during lectures, bragging on social media, bragging in conventions.

In the beginning, when I tried to at least like subjects, I used to be excellent -so I would never call my emotions jealousy. Perhaps those people are so desperate not to realize the lie they live in, they cling to the belief that they doing something important. If you can’t change it, you must learn to love it, right?

Like that, I ended up wasting three years of my life in such an environment, before realizing that Psychology was the field that truly suited me. That second degree would, of course, kill my competence but I couldn’t stand doing a job I would hate for the rest of my life.

Because life can be hard. If not yet, it will be in time. That is, if one is intelligent and sensitive enough. When the moment I will feel like I have nothing will arrive, my job will most likely be the only source of happiness. A job isn’t a duty one has to do once a week. One spends large amounts of time through their whole life on this domain. Better make this time meaningful.

It’s your fault you didn’t pursue this career earlier, one could accuse me. To an extent it is. But not only isn’t the system meritocratic enough to promote those who best fit a career path but I really was immature back then. Yes, I was immature by the end of adolescence? But who wasn’t? Other’s haven’t realized as much even after having their first degree and, perhaps, by the end of their lives. Others are busy seeing illusions and socializing with shallow people.