#genuinely such an insight to hear the intentions of the creators

[etrevil]

Asagiri said so themselves:

CHUUYA IS ALSO A GENIUS‼️‼️‼️

Say it louder to the people in the back. Bro can do high-level physics equations in his head; obviously he's hella smart. And he's survived in the mafia for this long. He isn't just some brawn of soukoku; it's double black. A duo that have both brains and brawns, but work even better together.

Also from Harukawa:

He isn't just a hothead guys. People can have bad days, it just so happens his bad days happen when Dazai's around (/j of course, they're just idiots 🤣)

[theedoctorb]

Lessons Learned from Both Sides of Games

CW: Discussion of harassment, threats, and mental health challenges. I’m a clinical psychologist who has been working at the intersection of mental health and the game industry for just over seven years. My whole job is to help educate companies, communities, and individuals on mental wellness and to bolster that wellness across the entire game space. I was a gaming superfan for my entire life before that. I still have the first sixty issues of Nintendo Power on a shelf. Having spent considerable time in the game industry and even more time outside of it, I thought I might share some insights I’ve learned in the process, especially given how often I see people forget some of these things.  

The People Who Design and Make Games Are People Who Love Games 

The game industry is brutal. It’s hard to find a steady job in it. Many jobs are underpaid and undervalued. There’s chronic gender-based violence, and marginalized voices are often excluded from conversations and representation. Overwork and burnout are so common that they become topics of gallows humor at industry gatherings. While people are trying to change all of this (it’s a major aspect of my job), these are all still sadly true.  

Why is this important? Because it shows that the people who are making your games make games because they passionately want to. In the better part of a decade that I’ve had frank, private conversations with industry employees at all levels, I’ve never met a studio employee who didn’t care about games. They love them. They’re players themselves. It doesn’t matter whether it’s video games or tabletop games, they love games. The vast majority of studio employees I’ve met also care about the community. They just want to make games people enjoy. Does that mean they don’t make mistakes? They do. Most also genuinely care about fixing them and making your game experience the best it can be. They wouldn’t put up with the harshness of the industry if they didn’t! 

Additionally, corporations make moves to maximize their profits over consumer demands. Most corporations are – after all – in the business of making money. That still doesn’t negate the fact that they’re generally made up of individuals who care deeply. 

What Goes on Behind-The-Scenes is so Different Than I Thought 

Before I started working in games, I did what so many fans do: think of the companies as faceless entities with malevolent intent and speculated wildly with my friends, reveling in the schadenfreude of corporate trip-ups. What I learned after getting into the industry is that the companies are made of individuals. Some with more power than others. A lot more, in some cases, but it’s still individuals who make our games and make up the companies. 

Some companies are bigger, and that generally brings a slow-churning bureaucracy with a lot of conflicting needs and perspectives. Why don’t you hear about the inner workings of those companies as fans? Because company employees are often under non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and non-disparagement agreements, and companies have designated representatives who speak for them. I’ve lost count of how many times friends of mine have seen fan speculation trending or some “confirmed” leak about their company or project, and they desperately wanted to say, “That’s not how it works! I was in that meeting! It didn’t go like that at all!” but they can’t. Not without risking their jobs and even massive financial penalties for contract breach.  

What’s more, there are often intricate webs of sponsorships and contractual obligations that confound any speed of decision making. That’s at both the creator and corporate level. Even your favorite creators might be under some of the same contracts as employees and have similar restrictions on what they can and cannot say about a brand or company without risking their livelihoods.  

It was both eye-opening and humbling to realize that I genuinely had no idea how the inside of the game-making process worked when I was a fan, despite my Dunning-Kruger-esque self-assuredness. I had no idea the specifics of any one project, which I still generally don’t unless I’ve also signed an NDA for a specific project. There are often too many layers of insider nuance, and much beyond that is pure speculation. 

Rage-bait Fandom is a Thing, and It Actually Hurts People 

Let me be clear about something, I’m not talking about all fans here. I’m not even talking about the majority of fans. I’m talking about a small subsection of fans who – in some cases – literally profit by building content platforms on stoking the rage of the fanbase. They might ostensibly clutch their pearls and protest that they are doing it all for the community they supposedly represent, but then they use their platform to fan the flames of rumor and innuendo. They spread misinformation, and the misinformation does spread. It spreads because it preys on our various biases about corporations as faceless monsters who want to hurt fandoms. It preys on an us-versus-them dynamic. It intuitively makes sense to us. Then our rage escalates because others around us bolster it with their rage. 

Some of these content creators claim to have insider knowledge of a studio when no one at the studio knows who they are, or worse, the people at the studio do know them, dislike them, and can’t publicly say anything to correct the misinformation they spread.  It should be noted that I’m not referring to reputable journalists who engage in due diligence regarding the veracity of anonymous sources. I’m talking about content creators who build their platforms on manufactured rage and misinformation, sometimes even naming names of studio employees – employees who often have no influence or power over the decisions which were made.  

This is where the harassment often begins. Harassment of studio employees is so common in games that it is also periodically the subject of gallows humor at industry gatherings. The problem is that it’s not funny when people receive repeated, unwanted contact from other people. It’s not funny to receive emails and DMs of graphically violent imagery, death threats, or threats of sexual assault. It’s not funny when fans declare that it’s “open-season” on moderators in forums and streams because they’re paid (not always) by the corporation. It’s not funny when friends of mine develop full-blown posttraumatic stress disorder because their private information has been publicly released by angry fans, their families also receive death threats, or the SWAT team bursts through the doors of their house because someone called 911 with a fake anonymous tip.  

Before I worked in the industry, I couldn’t imagine the kind of toll this took on people, because they weren’t people to me; they were a faceless, malevolent corporation. Now I know differently and check in on my friends often, especially anyone whose job is public-facing. Corporate actions can and should be scrutinized (again, part of my job), but scrutiny is not harassment, and harassment and threats are not okay. If you believe harassment is okay, then you’re actively hurting the people who are trying to make the games you claim to love. You’re hurting the games you claim to love. 

Final Thoughts 

What are the take-home lessons I learned in all this time? It boils down to a few things: 

Most game employees love games and just want to make good ones you enjoy. That’s why they are in this difficult industry. 

There are often things going on behind-the-scenes that we don’t know about, and that often confounds processes. 

There’s a whole sub-industry regarding manufactured fan rage, and it hurts people by tacitly (or overtly) encouraging harassment.  

Corporate decisions can and should be scrutinized, but harassment and threats towards individuals are not okay.   

It’s still sometimes hard to let go of my previous biases, especially when companies make decisions that hurt the community, but I’m fortunate to be surrounded by people who are willing to say, “Hey, maybe we take a breath and think this through?” or even, “I think you’re wrong here, and here’s why…” That way, I can channel my anger in more productive ways that don’t hurt others, especially given most of us who are fans share the same goal: wanting the games and community to be as amazing as possible.  

[colorisbyshe]

Feel free not to answer, but I've always found your thoughts insightful and I'd like to hear your opinion on this if you care to give it. If not, fine. You're still rad af. Anyway, my question is: do you count monogendered alien races as LGBT rep? What TvTropes (cringe ik) calls Discount Lesbians. Personally, I don't. As a nb bisexual, I hate nb representation in the form of robots or aliens and never humans in particular, but monogendered races and pretending that's good gay rep also bothers me

Do they count as rep? Yeah. Do they count as GOOD rep?

... Sometimes?

I think "alien" (read: any non-human) species can be a good place to explore "What does our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality look like without human history or human biology?" Does "biological sex" as a concept hold up when you run into an entire planet of beings that share the same parts? Does gender? Can transness still exist on this planet? What does gender PERFORMANCE mean?

Does thsi impact fashion? Music? Courtship rituals? Does this change sexuality? Can there still be a "deviant" way to approach sexual intimacy? If there is... why? Why create an other?

There are some extremely compelling stories to be had here and can serve as a sharp contrast with "human" understandings of sexuality/gender. Hell, you can even have humans from different cultures have different reactions to these mono-sexed (but maybe not mono gendered?) beings. Because there IS no one human understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality.

And then... is there friction when the humans impose THEIR understanding onto the aliens/robots/whatever? Like, if there are humanoid aliens that kinda look like what society expects women to look like (breasts, thin figures, idk long fucking hair, whatever "fantasy" creators do to female code their aliens, you know what I'm talking aout), how do they feel when a gay girl astronaut is like "Brooo, lesbian aliens!" Do they find HER femaleness, her gayness confusing? Maybe even repugnant?

How do they respond to the often binary understanding of human sexuality and gender? Do they find straight people confusing because being with someone who isn't similarly "sexed" or "gendered" to you is a foreign concept to them? Or does it make sense to them for some reason?

Is the text who has "nonbinary robots" or "all lesbian aliens" or whatever engaging with that thoughtfully?

Do they have human nonbinary or lesbian or gay or trans characters to contrast with them or... are the robots/aliens it?

Is the story wholly without humans? Is it maybe wish fulfillment for a nonbinary person who wishes they were a robot or cyborg who can spot out parts at will? ARe the aliens/robots a metaphor for how otherized these groups feel?

Are these aliens/robots villainized?

Fantasy/sci fi dabbling with sexuality, gender, or even race, neurodivergence and ability, or class can be a BOUNTIFUL place to explore your own cultures take on said subjects. But it can be fraught with issues and implications, the same way so many "This group of people with powers is feared by society and this is a metaphor for race or sexuality" ends up being derailed by "Well, yeah, these powers can kill people,” cause that's a legitimate reason to fear people. There is no legitimate reason to be homophobic or racist or whatever else we're putting in juxtaposition. “These mutants are blowing up random people the street” or “these predators are eating the herbivores” are like... genuinely scary concepts, even if the mutants or predators are “oppressed.”

Like, "Nonbinary robot, yeehaw, we're exploring body modification and body autonomy to combat atypical dysphoria" is great... "Nonbinary people are unfeeling and are gonna end humanity" is bad.

So, I have no singular judgment for these stories. Some have great intentions and fail anyways. Some have horrible intentions and end up compelling and accidentally good anyways. Some coast by on good stories even when there's bad implications. Some manage to make their points flawlessly.

And some never intended on them being LGBT rep.

[katyspersonal]

Omg, I’m so glad to hear this! I totally thought you were maybe tired of writing those long posts, and I mean granted, I wouldn’t blame you. That’s A LOT of writing, but man, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy devouring every word of it. Your thoughts are incredibly insightful (hehe, get it?). No one else I’ve seen really delves into the Japanese text and all the visual details quite the same way. I really do hope you feel encouraged to keep sharing but with no pressure simultaneously if you are looking to keep your main blog mostly for art stuff! It’s all up to you of course, but yes, please know that you have a very dedicated fan hiding in the shadows that loves scouring through your notes like a Byrgenwerth scholar studying the cosmos lol!

...Ahaha allllllright I really need to find the weird guy that started to apparently pay people to send me compliments fshjghds Because recently I am having abundance of them and that never happens :^) /j

Thank you very much though; This means a lot! I will admit, I shared majority of my core theories, the rest are just some details I share at my own pace or when prompted <:3 Bloodborne solidified my belief that videogames ARE the best form of art for me. With BB, to understand more you need to analyse EVERY medium - more lore lurks in the songs lyrics, in songs leitmotifs, in colors, in subtle design similarities between clothes, in environment, in face datas, in cut content that is STILL useful, in internal filenames, in item descriptions, in item placements... And, ah, yeah, dialogue is there too I guess! xD

I have strong love for complicated, multi-sided things like this. If BB music was just pretty music with no lore significance - that would not be the same. Just check out how first stage of Rom's theme sounds like broken version of first stage of OoK's theme! If clothes designs were just cool drips with no lore significance - that would not be the same. Look at how interesting it is that default Hunter and Henriett are wearing bootleg style of Old Hunters! It just means a lot for me when someone enjoys all these infinite DETAILS with me ;-; Bloodborne is a godsend for my habit to overthink!

But... Yeah, never count on localizations of foreign media, ESPECIALLY Japanese ones. For some reason western translations often seem to warp the original context to fit their values/agendas more - and then western fans pick that up and continue. Or sometimes they simplify lore for no reason? Just ask Kirby fans what they did with Four Matters in Star Allies! Gehrman being made into a creep that tells you that you can do... things with the Doll is just one of the most awful examples, and I totally believe it was intentional and not a misinterpretation! Because a sexist creep is "easier to understand", in opinion of localization team, for western audience than an actually cool character or something? It is CRUCIAL for me to know what creators were truly trying to say! For example:

This is what Miyazaki had to say about Fauxsefka, and it changed my perception of her a lot back then! I used to think she was just a crazy binch using people to drain Insight from them once they're Kin with the cosmos yeah... But angle of Miyazaki helped me to look from different perspective and I could suddenly see what he meant with her character? Her dialogue about 'willing to save even if just one person' no longer seemed like bullshit lying to win sympathy, but as genuine sentiment - she was helping people to evolve past the risk of falling into beasthood the only way she knew how!

And it is arguable, twisted 'heroism' but isn't it what makes it SO interesting? THE core fun of interacting with overseas media is how different some things can be! Original Japanese script is just the next fastest way to access what creators TRULY wanted to say, after reading direct interviews of course x) So yeah that's why I always rely on direct excerpts from Japanese for my theories!

[rainbowsky]

Final round-up of fan fic asks

I've gotten a few more interesting responses to the fan fic discussion so I'm going to round them all up here. This will be my final post on the topic until/unless there's a dramatic new development, or a particularly notable response I want to highlight. Thanks to everyone who brought their thoughts and experiences to the topic. I hope everyone at least feels heard.

The biggest piece of advice that I would like to offer is for everyone to focus on what they love rather than what they hate. If we all did that, the world would be a better place. Alongside that, I'd like to remind everyone to please support authors whose work you like. It's so important. Give them a kudos, give them a nice comment, recommend their work to others. You never know what kind of grief and harassment they are dealing with to bring you these great stories, and our support means a lot.

This is in reference to previous posts here and here.

Anonymous asked:

With regard to fandom and fan fic issue, my years of experience being part of very large fandoms has led me to believe that big accounts are v important in facilitating and enforcing the general consensus of the whole fandom. Unless there will be big accs who'll remind everyone of being respectful & just not being a dick over other's preferences, nothing will change.

This is also the reason why I think certain solo fandoms have adapted weird and twisted narratives as their general fandom story because no big acc has tried to police them & and say hey pls be rational. Whether we like it or not, in a place where how far voices, ideas, tweets, posts get heard is based on the number of followers you have, big accs will have the power and influence in creating/curating/shifting the narratives.

So, if you want to know why your/our fandom thinks like this in general, look at what big accs are tweeting/posting, look at what ideas & values they follow, look at their preferences or how strongly they react to certain situations. it's taxing and toxic for big accs given the nature of social media these days, but it's also the reality of system, the more followers/audience you have, the more influence you will have.

So to anyone reading this I hope we all practice more restraint and reflection before we post anything. Remember that words, no matter what medium you write it in, will always carry weight.

So true. It is easy - even for myself who spends a fair chunk of time answering people's asks - to forget that people can sometimes be impressionable and what we say can influence people whether that's our intent or not. I get used to thinking of myself as a regular guy just doing my own thing when sometimes my thoughts and words go well beyond where I initially posted them.

I think it's important for us to be careful what we say, and it's equally important to be careful what we take from what other people say. Especially when it comes to big claims. Always get a second, third, fourth opinion and don't be afraid to ask for clarification if something doesn't sit right or sounds confusing.

It's also important to reflect on how our words and actions might affect other people's experience of fandom, and err on the side of 'live and let live' wherever possible. It's great to have our own preferences and to champion them, but we should try to do so in a way that leaves space for other people and perspectives.

The more unique perspectives and the more friendly, open dialog there is, the healthier the community will be as a whole.

There's nothing wrong with encouraging and guiding growth in the particular areas we are interested in, as long as it doesn't step on, oppress or attack those who are peacefully enjoying something different.

Anonymous 2 asked: bjyx fans attacking gdgdbaby for including zsww/lsfy dynamics in an event named bjyx then turning right around and attacking the zsww/lsfy event organizer for excluding bjyx? god, can you hear my facepalm and sigh of resignation and incredulity from over there? im genuinely not surprised that they're trying to drive an entire part of the fandom out by disgusting them (and me) with these immature tactics. i believe what im about to say next will sound quite bait-y and i respect your decision 1/?

should you choose not to post this. but i do know that it is not only me, in fact there are many out there, that is of this opinion. we just dont talk about it on twitter to avoid the potential mess it will bring lol. okay, here goes nothing. (do note that im talking about the majority here, not every single person is like this) so bjyx fans tend to be cishet females whereas zsww/lsfy fans are more diverse in terms of age and gender, and most of them are part of the queer community too 2/?

i would like to clarify that most of these zsww/lsfy fans are not dynamic exclusive (in the sense that they are friendly and interact with all ggdd fans) they just prefer to "identify" themselves as zsww/lsfy fans (on twitter specifically) just to form a distinction from bjyx fans who mostly are dynamic exclusive (as in; they do not consume non-bjyx content, and straightup refuse to interact with non-bjyx fans, often blocking them). as a result, id say that the zsww/lsfy communiy is way more 3/?

mature and respectful (after all, they're mostly queer people talking about a queer ship) whereas many problems in this fandom, such as the homophobia, adamantly insisting on "drawing lines" between dynamics, stem from the bjyx exclusive fans, comprised of cishet females who "may not know better". so, it is of no surprise to me that they're resorting to these immature tactics of calling gg unsavory names, and organizing retaliatory events with controversial topics in an attempt to "purify". 4/4

I trust that you have arrived at that theory through your own experience and observation. I haven't personally spent much time immersed in this stuff so I can't claim to have any real insight or expertise. If you say that's your experience of it, then at the very least that's how you've seen things up to this point.

I just want to say that I think we should always be careful about making assumptions about people's age, gender/gender identity, etc.

There are plenty of good reasons to avoid doing that; because those assumptions could be very wrong, because those assumptions are often laced with ageism, sexism, etc., because those assumptions - even when correct - might not be an accurate basis for the conclusions we draw.

But the primary reason I recommend avoiding those type of assumptions is because anything that enables us to clump a group of people together in our minds like that will tend to make them easier to demonize and dehumanize. They are no longer individuals who are each responsible for their own unique perspectives, they are now 'the X group' who is known for 'A B C series of easily attackable ideas or behaviors'.

If we attribute undesirable traits and behaviors to a group of people we feel opposed to in some way, that makes us feel more righteous and justified in behaving unfairly toward them, dismissing their humanity and warring with them. It's just risky behavior to engage in, even when it's well-intentioned.

There might actually be some truth to what you're saying. It could very well be that most of these people are young, inexperienced, heteronormative, etc. but if that's the case then we should try to use those traits to better understand and empathize rather than to better dismiss and discredit.

Just my two cents on that.

It can be really frustrating dealing with what feels like other people attacking us, trying to oppress us, etc. - especially when there are more of them than there are of us. In my experience the best solutions to that sort of problem are generally the ones that focus on what we are doing and want to do rather than what they are doing that we don't want them to do.

As I am always preaching, we can't control what other people say, do or think. The only thing we have any control over is what we say, do and think (and how we respond to what they say, do and think).

I have found in my experience that the moment I step out of a conflict mindset and instead step into a problem-solving mindset, everything starts to come together. I feel better, my outlook is more positive, I can begin to see solutions and allies rather than problems and enemies, and most of all, I become more focused on what I am doing than what others are doing.

So I would recommend everyone who is invested in resolving these conflicts focus on that. "How can we best showcase and encourage the types of stories we enjoy?" instead of "How can we stop these other people from doing things we dislike?"

Anonymous 3 asked:

Hello again! It’s anon #3 from the fanfic post. I really do appreciate reading your thoughts on various issues like this, so thank you for always taking time to write in depth. As for supporting without going to war, the simplest way has always been to just show appreciation for the creators, hype them up. Kudos are the easiest way on ao3 but comments in addition are great. This goes for all content—art, fics, vids..etc. Creators love to see and read how people react to their content. Sharing is also great, fic recs are very helpful, just be cautious with art and reposting though. Hope this helps a bit!

Thanks so much, Anon. I think this is excellent advice. And it's true that appreciation is great, but helping to expand the audience is also great. Recommending stories, pointing people to the pages/websites of artists we like (as opposed to reposting), sharing our own ideas and approaches, encouraging people to try new things... all of this helps build healthier communities.

And here's another one: WRITE! DRAW! CREATE!

I urge anyone with creative interests or talents to bring their voices to the community because we all can benefit from hearing from you.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your thoughts on this issue. I hope that over time we can all work in positive ways to improve the situation.

I think this subject has been well-covered now so I'm going to retire it for the time being. If anyone still feels they want to discuss it further please feel free to message me privately. Thanks.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

I'm a bit embarrassed to ask this. Have you ever read a fic that, stylistically, it's beautiful, linguistically it's tight, and it's obvious the author poured their whole self into constructing the plot, crafting the world, and nailing down the characterizations, but... You just don't get it? Like, perhaps there's some insight you're missing, and it's almost there, you think maybe you're close to getting what the author is trying to portray, but you just can't make the connection necessary?

(Embarrassed nonny continued) You even reread to make sure you didn’t skip anything, but it’s like it just seems that something missing? Or that you’re the one missing something vital? So you go to the comments to see if anyone else is confused, but all you see are lovely, supportive compliments about how beautiful the story is (and it is), or how heartwrenching it is (usually so). But you seem to be the only one not getting it?

(Embarrassed nonny cont. again) Is it destructive to let the author know that I think a story is beautiful in it’s telling, but that I don’t quite understand it? I don’t want to offend the author, who has clearly worked very hard, and I appreciate them so much. But, I want to understand the story they’re telling, even if I’m the only one not getting it. If that even makes any sense. P.S.- thanks for always taking time to listen to fandom woes and fielding requests. You’re a champion! ❤

Hi Nonny!

First of all, there’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about! Stories are partly about authorial intent, and partly about reader interpretation; no two people will interpret a story the same, and no author SHOULD expect a reader to interpret their story exactly as the author intended. SHERLOCK is a perfect example of this (the writers SAY they meant it to be one thing and literally the ENTIRE FANDOM is divided on what’s actually being shown on screen), or if you want to be more classical, the works of Shakespeare as well.

In fact, Shakespeare is a perfect example of your problem: I love Shakespeare: it’s beautifully written, it sounds lovely to the ear, and it invokes imagery based on how someone interprets it. But I sure as heck have NO idea what I read until someone explained it to me, or how I SHOULD have interpreted it (which, is oxymoronic to my point, I know…). Only after I hear how someone else interpreted the work, I can then RE-READ a work and begin to understand what was meant by it, and then develop my own interpretations. 

I’ve read a few fics by a couple authors in this fandom where I LOVED their writing, but I had NO idea what was happening until I re-read the fics… it’s a reading comprehension thing with me, I’m sure (my brain tends to move a bit quicker than I can read and talk, and in turn it also tends to wander when my eyes aren’t going fast enough, LOL), but a lot of times, if I just read a fic a second time I can then grasp the words my brain omitted the first time and then really enjoy and love the fic. I hate that about me, but that’s how my brain works… Perhaps it may be the same with your brain? If a fic is well written and you enjoyed it but just had some comprehension issues, perhaps a second read-through will help you as it has done with me :)

So, now to answer your question: if after reading a fic, and you don’t understand it, is it okay to ask the authorial intent of the story? Unfortunately, there is no yes-or-no answer to this question, Lovely, as every author is different. Personally – and this is just for me speaking, and what I would do or what I would not mind if I were the author – I think it’s alright, so long as you are respectful to them! Dig around their user pages and you can often find ways to interact with the author outside of their fics, or information about whether or not they want to read criticism etc. on their stories. If an author doesn’t want any interaction, they’ll be very clear about it, but most authors have ways to get in touch with them, so to ME that’s a saying “hey, if you have any questions, here’s how to get a hold of me!”. 

If they have a Tumblr with asks turned on, you can even do it like you have done for me here; write exactly what you mentioned, just tweak a few things: Mention how much you love their prose and their storytelling, and you can really feel how much love they put into the story. You found it interesting, though you’re unclear on a few parts. Ask them kindly how they intended for an audience to read it. Many creators appreciate honesty when talking about their works, so just be honest and say that you didn’t understand something and wouldn’t mind a bit of clarification about something. They can’t fault you for not understanding something, and if they do, well… I find that rather ableist, in my opinion: That’s like telling someone with dyslexia to just stop mixing up letters, or someone who’s native language isn’t English to just learn one of the most complex languages in the world with so many structure rules that make no sense half the time…. *shrugs* It’s harsh of me to say, I am sorry about that, writers, but reading comprehension doesn’t come easily for everyone.

ANYWAY, back to my point: An author, so long as you are respectful (and maybe peppering in some compliments and praise never hurts either… a lot of us creative-types have praise kinks) and don’t throw a backhanded compliment (like don’t say: “Your work is so amazing! Though I think you should make it easier for people to understand it, your words are too complex”), they will be more than happy to write out their intent for the story. Let them know it’s YOU who’s not understanding (so, “I have trouble understanding this part” as opposed to “you should make this work easier to read for everyone”… make the onus on YOU). DON’T be demanding (like, don’t say something that can be interpreted as “it’s YOUR responsibility to cater to MY need to understand”), and be patient for a reply.

You can see why this isn’t an easy yes-or-no answer, LOL. 

Essentially, kindness begets kindness, and respect begets respect. And –  this isn’t an attack on you personally with regards to this ask, because I know my audience are adorably shy beans – it might be a show of good faith and intentions to stay off anon when you ask your question; it shows the author that you aren’t being malicious, just simply a smol bean who loves stories and want to learn more about theirs. BUT, it IS okay to stay on-anon if you are shy / worried about not the author but other people interpreting it the wrong way, just make sure you tailor your question to the author in a respectful way that it comes across as respect. Perhaps something like this:

Hi, [author]! I really love your story, [story title]! It’s well-written and I can really tell how much you love this story and how much soul you put into it. I just had a question for you with regards to [name concern here]. [state question here]. I have trouble sometimes with [reading comprehension, English/language, dyslexia, etc.], and I would love to know what your ideas and thought process was for [character, plot point, situation, etc.]. Understanding what the author intended really helps me enjoy the stories even more than I already did, and your thoughts would be really helpful for when I re-read your story! Thank you so much for your time, and thank you for blessing us with this beautiful story!

Or something like that, LOL. And if you genuinely aren’t a native-language speaker, let them know that it’s not your first language so you’re just honestly not grasping a colloquialism that’s common in English but not in, say, German. It’s more common than you think! I’ve had people ask me in private before about a phrase I’ve written or about how they should interpret a meta of mine; I’ve never taken insult upon it, and in fact I love helping people understand my work so that they can enjoy other peoples’ content in the future. 

As an additional thought I just had, I think a good example of fandom-understanding-authors is, actually, the @johnlockficclub; every couple months or so we read new stories, and then at the end of the story, we ask authors our questions about their intent of the stories, and in turn the author gets an interesting (I hope) insight into how various people interpreted their stories. Even during the live-chats leading up to the author q-and-a, we all see how we each interpreted certain sections of the chapters we read that week, and see various viewpoints we never considered. So I think that is a wonderful way to see authorial intent vs. reader interpretation, and as far as I know, all the authors we’ve “interviewed” loved just getting that kind of feedback for their stories. You should join in on at least the author interviews just to see how they go and give you some ideas on how an author will take feedback. It’s so fascinating to me!

Just a fun little anecdote that oftentimes, it is a positive experience for an author because most of them love to talk about their stories – their stories are their children, and they care deeply for them, because it’s a part of them, and it’s an expression of their love. They WANT you to understand and enjoy their work. It’s a cyclical thing: if you understand their children so you can love them too, then they will love their fanbase and will want to continue to write since they received feedback that was validating to them that they produce work that people enjoy and want to know more about. 

Finally, I’d love for some authors to weigh in on their thoughts about this; would you be offended if someone loved your story but would want your clarification on some things, or want to know how you intended for the audience to perceive it? Please let us know!

Sorry this answer was so long, but I hope it helps!

P.S. Aww, you’re far too kind, Nonny! me. XD

[jewlwpet]

@palaceperspective had the idea that someone could make a post about just the snippets we see in the series of Touga’s and Nanami’s childhood. I think that’s a really neat idea. I was going to make this part of the general post on Touga I’m making, but I think that’s long enough as it is; I’ll just include a link to this post in that one.

I tried, at first, to leave creator commentary out until the very end, because I know some people prefer to reject certain parts of it regarding the Kiryuus’ past; however, I couldn’t do this because.it simply makes too much of a difference regarding the flashbacks in episode 10. Still, there’s a lot in the scenes that stands regardless of that, which I talk about plenty.

The specific piece of commentary I’m thinking of is this bit from Yoji Enokido, scriptwriter and planner for the series and movie. Aspects of the movie are discussed in there, so do expect discussion of childhood sexual abuse.

Touga’s birthday cake has 12 candles, so it’s likely, though not certain, that this was his twelfth birthday. It’s very obvious that this household is very rich and decadent: No surprise. I don’t know what kind of flowers those are; I wonder if they have any special meaning. It probably doesn’t represent his birthday: His birthday is June 6. The birth flowers for that month are the rose and honeysuckle; this I find in English-language and Japanese sites alike. Japanese Wikipedia also lists birth flowers for each individual day of the year (pretty cool); June 4 corresponds to the evening primrose (Oenethera), the ice plant (Lampranthus), and pink baby’s breath (Gypsophila). This doesn’t look like any of those.

Touga is sitting on what looks like a throne, but he seems to be on display for the guests (all adults) more than anything else. They’re peering at him like a museum display or an animal in a cage. One of them holds a bouquet of white roses, which generally represent innocence and purity... also, according to one site I’m looking at, “new beginnings.”

Nanami arrives at Touga’s party late and covered in dirt.

No comment that she’s late, only that she’s dirty. No one cares that she was missing... which, in hindsight, makes a lot of sense, because a child with much adult supervision surely won’t find an opportunity to drown a kitten.

I really don’t know how I haven’t thought about this before, but Nanami just says she “brought” this kitten. I have very little doubt at this point she spent a good portion of the day running around the no doubt extensive estate grounds trying to capture a kitten.

I’m not sure what to think about Nanami calling this woman Mama. I figured these were all strangers or servants, since they were saying “Touga-sama” and “Nanami-sama.” Touga still has short hair, so they’re still living with their original parents. I wouldn’t expect Nanami to have any memories or photos from that time, but it seems she does, just not going back far. But all of the adults here are faceless, none singled out. I’m not sure if the original parents are here, or if she just... assumes that the servants who have interacted the most must be her mother and father, and they never corrected her. Either way, she ended up forgetting them.

I want to note that not only are all the adults in Nanami’s memory are faceless silhouettes, they only interact with her to scold her and take away things that are precious to her and that she worked hard for. I think that’s probably how it was for her, growing up.

I think he’s in earnest here. It makes sense that he’d be pleased by Nanami’s gift, seeing as she’s the only one who was actually trying to make him happy... it showed that someone, at least, cared. Given how extremely weird and creepy this party is, it seems like... maybe it was an auction. Except, it must not have resulted in anything, if it was his birth parents who originally forced him to grow his hair long... maybe Nanami arriving late, covered in dirt, and carrying a stray kitten in a box had something to do with that. In which case... No wonder Touga’s happy about it.

"His smile was something for me alone.” You know what, I can believe that.

Similarly, his annoyance with Nanami, when he yells at her to leave him alone, also seems genuine.

It makes sense that, even before Touga begins deliberately manipulating Nanami, she would develop an unhealthy obsession with obtaining his affection, because based on what we see in this, she probably has no other source of affection in her life.

It also makes sense to me that this might grow really frustrating for someone who is constantly being made into a spectacle and showered in invasive attention (and according to what Enokido said, that’s just the beginning).

Ikuhara’s commentary for this episode really hits home when the scene is given a close examination:

When I was a child, the center of the party always seemed to sparkle.

I was always standing on the sidelines, gazing at that sparkle from afar. I thought the sidelines were my place. Surely I could never approach the center of the room.

But then, I was chosen! I touched that sparkle in the center of the room, and no mistake. Still, I know full well that it’s something that won’t last forever.

The day the contract ends, I’ll turn into an “unchosen girl.”

So I’ll go back to the sidelines again, eh?

--Smash the egg’s shell.

For the revolution of the world.

“The center of the party” was/is both figuratively and literally where all the worst things are happening, and Nanami, without knowing it, is striving to get there, next to Touga, before anyone else can take that place by his side, and that’s what her whole story is about.

I’m just going to say, on that note... it’s super messed up to read "in order to protect his younger sister, Touga accepted his lot” and then think about the fact that he ended up using her as a pawn anyway, was already at that point by the beginning of the series, and ended up actually sexually assaulting her in episode 32. Just. Nice going. Ugh.

The other major flashback we have is from episode 9. It seems to be slightly later.

"See, it’s pouring down! That’s why I told you we should have quit after the tenth match!” “I couldn’t help it. You’re the only one I know who’ll let me practice on them.”

And here we see the beginning of Touga’s habit of making excuses for everything he does... no. I don’t think this means anything; it seems innocent enough. This Touga has grown his hair out, and he has a friend, Saionji. They appear to be very close.

His reaction to hearing the funeral bells is interesting, though. He looks very interested and not at all disturbed.

Touga says nothing when some adults come by to ask about a missing girl whose parents have just died. When Saionji keeps talking afterward, Touga doesn’t respond but is looking into the distance very intently.

When Saionji brings him back to reality, he starts walking towards the church they had passed earlier. He explains to Saionji that he thought he saw three coffins there before. Generally I think the assumption then would be “someone else died too,” but Touga is led here by the story of the missing girl. He strides over to the coffins very quickly and immediately starts opening one, despite Saionji’s protests. Sure enough, a voice is heard telling him not to open it, but he doesn’t anyway. The next part is interesting: he tells her that people are looking for her, and she asks if he’s going to tell them where she is.

I don’t think I’ve seen any analysis of this scene other than “Even as a kid Touga thought nothing of fondling this complete stranger’s hair.” Which is an interesting point and brings up the question of where he learned this from. But I think it’s equally interesting that he was just going to leave her to die and that this, to him, is “being an ally to girls.” Being “feminist,” even though I’ve read that in 1990′s Japan it was common for that term to be misused.

...It occurs to me that this is actually very different from how he treats girls later: well-intentioned and absolutely wrong, but in pretty much the opposite way from how he treated Utena later at the end when again he claimed to be looking out for her. That Touga tried to take control of her in order to “save” her. This Touga basically goes, “Well, if this seven-year-old wants to die, we should let her, because that’s her choice.”

The camera pans back to him when she says that living on just makes her sick.

The next pan to Touga happens when she says, “I’ll never come out into the sunlight again.”

Saionji thought that Touga must have shown her something eternal so that she was motivated to keep living on. In reality, Touga didn’t have anything to offer her. I have a feeling he suspected he was right. But clearly, he wasn’t that far gone yet; he wasn’t at the point of stopping everything, of no longer going through the motions of life. But it seems like he could get there. So why didn’t he? What changed? It turns out Ikuhara wrote about this in his commentary on this episode:

When he was young, he met a girl. She said things like “Everyone is alone” and “There’s no such thing as eternity.” A deep despair: He couldn’t save the girl. But the next day, there she was in the sunlight, with “something different in her eyes.”

Something had saved her.

He wanted to know the true nature of the “miraculous power” that had done it.

When he met her again, he tried to “rule” her heart. His thinking was that only “the joy of being ruled” could save people. He believed that was wherer the “power of miracles” dwelled.”

I think that says a lot about Touga. It probably took some time to get there, though.

The new manga is, of course a different continuity, but I want to take a moment o cover it because it explores how the scene might have gone if Touga and Saionji had found Utena just a bit later. The subtext of Touga feeling that the girl in the coffin is perhaps right is made explicit in this.

Utena: Living on makes me sick. Touga: You’re right. Life is so unreliable.

He says that outright. And I think that anime Touga was likely thinking it. So when this Utena says she’s decided to live on, Touga is surprised.

He hangs onto every word she says and seems especially moved by the phrase “revolutionize the world.”

Back to the anime. The anime doesn’t have any more scenes from the Kiryuus’ past, but of course we get some insight in episode 37. I’ll start at the beginning: Nanami says that the two of them used to share everything. There are some pictures we see to represent that:

“But now Big Brother doesn’t care about me at all.”

I’m going to use the empty movement gallery for the next couple of screenshots because these photos went by v. fast:

As you can see, these are all Short-Haired Touga... also, none of these seem to be much older than that flashback of Nanami’s.

We catch some more glimpses when Nanami notices the lack of photos from Touga’s early childhood and is desperately rifling through all her pictures with him.

I would comment on the fact that we never see him in the regular (non Stu-Co) Ohtori uniform in these, but then, Nanami isn’t wearing the normal uniform in any of these either, and we know she used to be a normal student... so I think it’s just because we don’t get to see all of the photos.

[housmania]

In Defense of TJLC

A response to this Slate podcast and to general misconceptions.

Hello! Call me soe. I like cats, BBC Sherlock, and friendly online communities. I hope you do too.

I also blog about TJLC. So, when a Slate podcast came out this week portraying TJLCers in a jarringly negative light, I was dismayed. What I heard was not the community I know.

This post’s aim is to tell the other side of the story. I’m writing both for people who support TJLC and were shocked to hear of the podcast, and for people outside TJLC whose initial impressions have been skewed by the podcast or other outside sources.

I’ll address four of the most common arguments against TJLC through the lens of the argument presented by Willa Paskin, the podcast’s creator:

TJLC, as a theory, is “far-fetched” and merits no serious consideration.

TJLCers are dogmatic, ideological, and close-minded.

TJLCers have hated on people outside of TJLC to an unusual and appalling extent.

TJLC has brought more harm into the world than good.

I intend to refute these points. In the process, I hope to represent your run-of-the-mill TJLCer: not a hateful extremist, but rather someone who supports a theory, enjoys discussing it, and is happy to let those who don’t live their happy lives.

It also means adhering to the standards of a good TJLC meta writer: going through the podcast thoroughly, addressing Ms. Paskin’s correct insights as well as her failings; reading and acknowledging critics and downright opponents; citing all sources; and remaining civil and open-minded. I wish Ms. Paskin had afforded us these privileges.

I genuinely believe that Ms. Paskin meant well. Nonetheless, the biases of her sources, combined with several misconceptions and imperfect research, result in a piece that portrays TJLC inaccurately.

To understand what the podcast got wrong, we first need to cover:

What is TJLC?

TJLC is the theory that the characters John Watson and Sherlock Holmes will end up in a canonical romantic relationship on the BBC show Sherlock. People who support this theory are called TJLCers. TJLCers write analyses of the show, the Sherlock Holmes stories, and numerous other sources known as “metas”.

TJLC is short for “The Johnlock Conspiracy.” I must immediately clarify that this name is a joke. It began humorously and is always, always used tongue-in-cheek. Keep this in mind: Many misconceptions about TJLC arise from the fact that we take very few things seriously, as I’ll discuss later.

What isn’t TJLC?

TJLC is not the same as Johnlock.

Johnlock refers just to shipping John/Sherlock—thinking they’d make a cute romantic couple, without necessarily having any expectation of that happening on the show.

More fundamentally: Johnlock is about creating transformative, creative content. It’s about making something new. In essence, it’s fiction.

TJLC is about analyzing evidence that’s already there. It’s nonfiction.

Ms. Paskin frequently blurs the lines between the two and mourns TJLC for not having the same level of creativity. She explains, for example, that fandom reads into tiny elements of a show to create a transformative space. But TJLC is not transformative. That’s Johnlock.

Neither is TJLC based on wanting the show to “bend to [our] desires”—i.e., Johnlock shippers projecting wishful thinking onto the show. I’m happy to serve as a counterexample for that! I actually didn’t ship Johnlock at all before discovering TJLC. Rather, I found the theories plausible and loved the idea that a show centered around deduction and analysis could also be the subject of deduction and analysis.

Of course, people who already ship Johnlock are more likely to be attracted to TJLC. But the basis of TJLC is not to “see in the story that you have, the story that you want” (46:40)—that’s shipping—but to analyze the story you already have.

I cannot stress this enough: TJLC is analysis, NOT shipping.

TJLC and the “Great Game”

As the podcast explains, TJLCers aren’t the first analyze Sherlock Holmes. Fans of the originals have been analyzing the stories since the 1880s. These early theorists actually gave the name to two kinds of fan analysis: Watsonian and Doylist.

Watsonian fans played the “Great Game,” treating the stories like a real world. Doyle didn’t exist, so every detail had to be explained in-universe rather than attributed to author techniques or error. They’re closer to your modern shippers, creating headcanons to fill in gaps.

Doylist fans acknowledged that (no duh) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a real person, and therefore analyzed the stories as works of literature. They are essentially literary analysts and critics, the kind that wind up on JSTOR.

TJLCers are Doylists. Obviously, someone made the show. That means we analyze character arcs, cinematographic techniques, and rhetorical devices in the dialogue like a researcher in film studies or literature would.

Ms. Paskin warns that in the Watsonian Great Game, people kept “tongues planted firmly in cheek; TJLCers, not so much.” And yet, that’s the point! You wouldn’t expect a literary analyst to go “lol maybe The Great Gatsby criticizes society but like who knows” any more than you’d want Watsonians to really believe that because John Watson’s wife called him James, his middle name is Hamish (Scottish for James) rather than acknowledging that Doyle just forgot. A ridiculous premise entails a humorous approach. A reasonable premise entails a rational one.

TJLC isn’t quite the same as highbrow analysis, however, for three reasons:

First, we use our analyses to speculate about the future of the show. We don’t have the privilege of analyzing a complete work. In that sense, the closest analogy I can think of is that of political analysts: examining what’s already been said and done to predict what will happen next.

Second, we evolved from a fandom space. That means that the barrier between TJLC and Johnlock, between nonfiction analysis and creative fiction, is never as solid as it would be in academia. Furthermore, a significant number of TJLC meta writers also engage in fictional fanworks, making it more difficult to distinguish where hard analysis ends and transformative work begins. I’ll go into some of the nuances of meta in a bit.

Third, the people in TJLC are generally queer women and often young. And we can’t discuss biases against fandom and TJLC without acknowledging sexism and homophobia. When a film critic writes a theory, it’s deep; when we do, it’s ludicrous. Paradise Lost is fanfiction just as much as AO3, but only the former is treated as legitimate literature. Theories about straight couples are plausible; ones about queer ones are suddenly delusional or fetishization. Adult fanboys are mature content creators; fangirls are hysterical.

Conversations about the implicit biases in media depictions of fandom aren’t my focus here. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to bear in mind that highbrow criticisms of fandom that focus only on its ill effects and ignore the complexity, depth, community bonding, and social change that fandom (analytical and transformative) creates often denigrate fans as immature and delusional without considering whether that accurately represents even a significant minority of a fandom. It’s a bias that we should all keep in check.

As progressive as Ms. Paskin may be, the podcast also falls into this trap. In particular, she emphasizes sensationalist depictions of TJLC theories—highlighting far-fetched theories and glossing over deeper points—and the contemptible actions of very few TJLCers while glossing over the far more plausible mainstream theories and kindness of nearly all TJLCers. As a result, we naturally look hysterical and delusional.

So let’s tackle each of those issues: TJLC as a theory and the behavior of the TJLC community.

TJLC as a Theory

If you don’t support TJLC, I’m not asking you to be convinced by a few paragraphs. The aim here is simply to explain why TJLC is plausible.

Ms. Paskin asserts that (1) TJLC is completely unsupported by the original Sherlock Holmes stories, (2) that romantic coding in the show is simply “a knowing wink,” and that (3) TJLC “is based on an unfalsifiable premise: that the creators are lying to you.” In fact:

1. TJLC is supported by the original stories.

The Sherlock Holmes canon contains significant, documented evidence of queer coding similar to other works of the same time period. It’s also reasonable to theorize, based on biographical data, that Doyle himself was bisexual.

The extent to which the stories were deliberately coded is a matter of debate. Yet Ms. Paskin simply asserts that “Conan Doyle wasn’t trying to create a homosexual subtext when he wrote the characters, but he did write a deep and committed friendship.” As @one-thousand-splendid-stars put it:

How on earth can anyone possibly know if the homoeroticism was intentional or not, when ACD could’ve been persecuted for admitting it, or making it more obvious?

Ms. Paskin’s assertion, which does not acknowledge any evidence to the contrary, again conflates Johnlock shippers with TJLCers. Johnlock is about transformative fiction; TJLC is about nonfiction analysis.

Ms. Paskin also suggests that TJLCers are “queering” the text, except that queering generally implies a queer theory approach to something that wasn’t queer to begin with. Our whole objective is to reveal that the text was originally queer.

2. The basis for TJLC is the show itself.

Ms. Paskin supposes that TJLC is “is based on an unfalsifiable premise: that the creators are lying to you.”

But TJLC isn’t based on anything the creators have said. It’s based on analysis of the show itself.

There’s a whole lot of analysis; good summaries are here and here. Essentially, we argue that given the level of coding on the show, the most probable outcome is that there is deliberate subtext meant to foreshadow that John and Sherlock will become a couple. Elements like Sherlock being indifferent to women, yet “romantic entanglement would complete [him] as a human being” suggest that the subtext isn’t just a “knowing wink,” as Ms. Paskin asserts: it would be poor writing (not to mention queerbaiting) to complete such a setup and not follow through.

3. The creators

Ms. Paskin finds it alarming that TJLCers believe Moffat and Gatiss are deliberately lying when they say that Johnlock will not become canon.

And normally, I would agree! Except that Moffat and Gatiss have a long history of lying through their teeth about plot developments. For example, they vehemently repeated that The Abominable Bride would be a stand-alone episode completely independent of the show, but it turned out to be a drugged Sherlock’s theorizing about Moriarty’s plan. And before Series 4, they said that Mary would become a long-running character, then killed her off in the next episode.

So it’s not a stretch to think that they could be lying about one more thing, particularly when TJLC relies on independent evidence from the show itself.

In fact, Paskin argues that TJLCers, like Watsonians playing the Great Game, base their theories on a “contradiction”: “On the one hand the author might as well not exist, but then on the other hand, this person who doesn’t exist has made this perfectly explicable logical thing.”

Except that unlike Watsonians, we do acknowledge that the creators exist. We analyze the show as a work of fiction, with narrative techniques that can be analyzed just as much as plot elements.

Furthermore, the fact that the creators lie constantly doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to what they do say. They have large incentives to keep upcoming plot twists secret, but that doesn’t mean they can’t reveal their motivations and influences. A lawyer questioning a lying witness can still gain information from what they do say.

Take a closer example: Say I went back to 1897 and asked Bram Stoker if there’s queer coding in Dracula (which is now well-documented). He would probably respond along the lines of “I’m not a sodomite; also, what???” But he might wax poetic about homoeroticism in Walt Whitman’s poetry and mention that his charismatic but domineering idol Henry Irving was the basis for Dracula.

So no, there’s no contradiction between analyzing the show and the creators’ influences while still believing that they don’t want to reveal upcoming plot points.

The Behavior of the TJLC Community

How Theories Work

Ms. Paskin rattles off several far-fetched TJLC theories that make TJLC as a whole sound ridiculous. Furthermore, she implies that TJLC is a monolithic community with a “dogmatic” belief in all of these theories, such that criticism and discussion don’t exist.

Guess what? I’m in TJLC, and I don’t believe half the theories she mentioned. That’s because TJLC is much less uniform than its detractors would believe. Furthermore, the general level of confidence that people have in a given piece of evidence depends on its strength. In other words, the more evidence for something, the more likely that TJLCers agree on it. The less evidence for something, the more likely we are to treat it as just something cool that could turn out to be coincidence.

We can divide TJLC meta into five basic categories:

1. Foundational meta

These are well-respected analysis of character arcs, dialogue, and other clearly deliberate plot elements such as this one. Pretty much all TJLCers agree with them. These are your best-researched, most widespread meta; they form the true basis of TJLC. Here are some examples. And yet they hardly show up in Ms. Paskin’s discussion, because they don’t make TJLC sound too far-fetched.

2. Circumstantial evidence

TJLC can stand on foundational meta alone, but there’s also secondary evidence to support it. This includes the “drinks code” (the theory that beverages serve as symbols on the show, supported by subsequent creator remarks) and similar theories that can’t hold up TJLC by themselves, but do provide extra evidence and add nuance to theories about character arcs and plot development.

3. Accessory meta

These are analyses of elements that could well turn out to be coincidence due to scarce evidence. If true, they allow us to establish character arcs in greater depth, but it’s perfectly possible that any given one is coincidence. These include the theories on wallpaper and lighting that Ms. Paskin reports as though they were the pillars of TJLC. They’re theories that I read and go, “Hm, interesting; maybe.”

4. Spinoff theories

These are theories that deal with specific paths the show might take. They generally have groups of supporters within TJLC, but each spinoff theory usually only has a smaller group of supporters within the larger TJLC community.

It’s important to note that many major theories don’t have to do with Johnlock at all. Take M-theory, the idea that Mycroft and other characters are under Moriarty’s thumb, or EMP, the idea that some episodes take place in Sherlock’s mind palace. If, as Ms. Paskin asserts, TJLC is about wishful thinking and wanting Johnlock to be canon, what would be the point of these? Furthermore, if TJLC is monolithic and dogmatic, why do we constantly discuss and critique these theories in constructive discussions? I had to make a whole table of theories after Series 4 because everyone’s opinion was so different!

5. Crack theories

These are usually clearly labeled “crack” and are never meant to be taken seriously. Again, TJLC contains a lot of humor. So sometimes, we goof off and write theories like this one that are clearly ridiculous, usually with an exaggerated conspiratorial tone, to have fun in the spirit of the Watsonians. Unfortunately, some people outside TJLC think we actually take these theories seriously and accordingly treat us as crazy people. Guys… Ctrl+F “crack” first.

To summarize:

TJLC contains theories with varying levels of evidence that are treated with corresponding levels of seriousness.

TJLCers are far from dogmatic. Different people have different views, and that’s OK.

TJLC is founded on criticism and discussion (here’s an example). By disagreeing on meta, we gain better insight into the characters.

Addressing Ms. Paskin: The theories she dwells on are EMP and M-Theory (40:04 and 10:37), both spinoff theories. They do not form part of the main body of TJLC, and fans are far more flexible about that stuff because it’s not nearly as firmly supported as foundational meta. She cites a clip analyzing Mycroft’s theme in the score, which is accessory meta that could well turn out to be coincidence. (By the way, I have serious doubts about all three of these theories. And TJLC is perfectly accepting of that!)

She also talks about loudest-subtext’s meta on the 2009 BBC queer representation report, whose objective was to demonstrate that it was possible for TJLC to happen from a production/permission standpoint, not to prove that TJLC was happening on the show. In that sense, it’s closer to circumstantial evidence.

She also fears that TJLCers “try to find order and logic and reason in every detail.” Again, sane TJLCers treat less solid evidence as less likely to be true. Caveat: Some TJLCers do go overboard. But they do not represent the overwhelming, sane majority.

TJLC Culture

Confidence and Criticism

Ms. Paskin finds it alarming that many TJLCers regarded TJLC as far more well-supported, even certain, than “an opinion or a possibility” or “just one ship among many” (14:50).

And yet, in an academic setting, isn’t it normal to think that the theory you researched and support is correct? Again, we hit the boundary in how the public perceives highbrow research and fan analysis. TJLC was not “just one ship among many” because (again) it’s not a ship, it’s a theory based on research and analysis. So naturally, we had a higher level of confidence in TJLC becoming canon than a shipper with an unsupported ship would.

Ms. Paskin implies that this confidence led directly to TJLC being unable to take criticism and therefore hating on people outside the community, since “denying [TJLC] was denying the truth” (14:55). But—first off—confidence does not directly lead to thin skins. Again, we debate everything. If good meta writers couldn’t change their minds given new evidence, TJLC wouldn’t exist.

Yet even when some TJLCers were more certain about TJLC than could be reasonably expected, the overwhelming majority was perfectly nice. We can, in fact, agree to disagree with others.

But this brings us to the most painful part of the podcast:

Fandom Toxicity: The Broad Picture

The podcast, having painted TJLCers as delusional, dogmatic crusaders, goes on to argue that TJLCers hated on people outside TJLC to an unusual and deplorable amount, such that TJLC’s main effect was to increase toxicity in the Sherlock fandom.

For starters:  Yes, a few TJLCers did fit this despicable mold. I universally condemn people who went out of their way to attack people outside or inside the community. They are an insult to TJLC’s values of inclusivity and rational debate. And my heart goes out to the people who suffered as a result of them.

But guess what? All the TJLCers I’ve talked to agree with that. Because the fact is that awful people form an incredibly small minority of TJLC.

Most of the TJLCers who listened to the podcast found this to be the most insulting and painful part. They’ve reiterated time and again that the community as a whole is not a toxic place.  @artfulkindoforder put it best:

So many TJLCers were never mean to anybody.

You can think we’re unrealistic, immature, delusional—fine. But at the end of the day, the overwhelming majority of us stuck to our circles of courteous people and just had fun.

In broad terms, there were several inconsistencies between the podcast and what I found. First, the podcast attributes toxic behavior to large swathes of TJLC, when in fact it tended to be a small group of repeat offenders, many of whom would attack people inside TJLC as well as outside it. loudest-subtext, a longtime TJLC blogger, discussed this here.

Secondly, the podcast makes absolutely no mention of the hate that TJLCers—often perfectly civil ones—received, which makes it easier to paint TJLC as engaging in vicious, one-sided attack. TJLCers, especially at the beginning, received shocking quantities of anonymous hate. Like attacks on people outside TJLC, I’m sure that the attacks on TJLCers were also due to a tiny minority of toxic people. But to gloss over them entirely is to paint an incomplete and biased picture. As @one-thousand-splendid-stars put it:

I’m not going to pretend that there was never nasty behavior from TJLC, but I’m also not going to say her description of us was accurate. She presented the TJLC fandom like it was a toxic cult.... She talked about fandom bullying as though we were never on the receiving end of it, and weren’t ever ridiculed, or called stupid, or sent anon hate, or harassed. To imply that tjlcers were only dishing it out is just flat out inaccurate.

The anonymous attacks on TJLCers had several results. First, TJLC developed a culture that stresses avoiding confrontation with outsiders: leaving other shippers be, unless they seek out TJLC posts. For example, some of the first things I learned were to misspell other ship names on TJLC posts so they wouldn’t show up when people wanted content promoting that ship, and not to reblog posts from outside shippers’ blogs with TJLC-related comments. Far from attacking outsiders, the whole point is to let people who disagree with TJLC do their own thing.

Second, the vast majority of TJLCers despise anon hate because they receive it unusually often. I’ve never seen a community with so many posts reminding people never to resort to it because they’ve seen how it hurt TJLC bloggers.

Third, a handful of TJLCers who got repeated and unwarranted hate did get more combative. But when looking at their later behavior, it’s important to understand that many of them became less willing to compromise on TJLC because they’d seen toxic fans remain unwilling to compromise or debate with them. And most of the conflicts I’ve seen as a result came from anti-TJLC people coming specifically to comment on TJLCers’ posts, not from TJLCers going out of their way to fight non-TJLCers.

Specific Incidents

I didn’t want to rely on secondhand knowledge about hate to write this response. In the spirit of TJLC, I wanted to be fair and impartial. That meant looking through the blogs of people who had received hate inside and outside TJLC. So here’s what I found out:

First off, it was awful. I was looking 4-5 years back to find the worst instances of hate in the community, and I wasn’t used to it because the bloggers I interact with are universally inclusive and civil.

Ms. Paskin discussed three specific incidents on the podcast: top/bottomlock, the 2015 221BCon incident, and post-Series 4 anger.

When top/bottomlock came up, I was baffled. First off, that discussion is ancient. It’s so old that by the time I joined TJLC in late 2015, it had practically died out. More importantly, a “debate” that Ms. Paskin describes as “very specific and dogmatic fanon” was—as I’ve understood—never taken seriously. Again, TJLC is not a very serious place, and people outside it are bound to misinterpret inside jokes. 99% of TJLCers saw top/bottomlock as nothing more than fodder for crack theories, and yet Ms. Paskin’s sources on this issue—none of whom are actually in TJLC—describe it as a debate of monumental importance.

The 2015 221BCon, on the other hand, was a serious conflict. As far as I can tell, people like Emma genuinely suffered, and the fact that neutral fans received anonymous attacks is shameful. But the results of this stretched to TJLCers as well as people outside TJLC, something that the podcast conveniently neglects to mention.

The end of Series 4 disappointed people throughout the Sherlock fandom. I’m not talking about Johnlock: plot inconsistencies, weird characterizations, and plot pulled from a horror movie resulted in its lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating ever. TJLC is too small to have that kind of clout, so to say that TJLCers were the only ones disappointed is clearly inaccurate.

Ms. Paskin claims that Series 4 “seemed straighter, not gayer, than before” and yet John telling Sherlock that “romantic entanglement would complete you as a human being” is uh…pretty gay. For many TJLCers, the problem wasn’t that there wasn’t Johnlock; the problem was that the quality of the show seemed to have drastically decreased.

TJLC immediately split into two groups. One group left TJLC, believing that Moffat and Gatiss had been queerbaiting. Many of them began constructive anti-queerbaiting discussions. Unfortunately, a few took their anger out on the creators.

The resulting hateful messages do not represent the views of the vast majority of former TJLCers, let alone people who still support TJLC. The fact that Amanda Abbington received a death threat is disgusting; and yet in TJLC, she’s always been regarded as a sort of beloved “fandom aunt”. In addition, Ms. Paskin cites an article that claimed that fans “dampened [Martin Freeman’s] enthusiasm.” But that interview has already been revealed as a clickbait-seeking misinterpretation—by Freeman himself.

The second group—those remaining in TJLC—were a bit desperate, and I’ll be the first to admit that several theories with scanty factual basis became more popular then than they would have in calmer times. The Apple Tree Yard theory, for instance, is clearly ridiculous in retrospect. But even I was willing to consider it. (Not my finest moment.) As a side note, however: the far-fetched “China cancelled Johnlock” theory she mentioned is by someone who’s not only outside TJLC, but also notorious for hating it

But regardless of the quality of these theories, 99% of the remaining TJLCers were certainly not hating on people—because who was there to hate, if there was no queerbaiting?

Ultimately, the podcast’s descriptions of hate related to TJLC are one-sided, distorted, and do not reflect the conduct of the overwhelming majority of TJLCers.

Podcast-Specific Errors

There’s a reason why the podcast comes off so different from reality: its research is seriously flawed.

For a podcast about TJLC, Ms. Paskin interviewed a whopping one (1) actual current TJLCer, whom she apparently interviewed after building much of her argument. Every other interviewee was outside TJLC and specifically disliked it. That will hardly make for an unbiased final product.

As a result, she culminates with several remarks that are genuinely insulting. She likens TJLC to “any other standard conspiracy where you have a Judgment Day,” suggesting that we’re irrational and fanatical. She summarizes the entire community as “people being cruel to one another because they disagree about how a fictional TV relationship should turn out,” combining every misconception of (1) TJLC being a ship instead of hard analysis, (2) blaming every TJLCers for the actions of very few, (3) TJLC being a silly fan thing rather than a starting point for meaningful research into queer representation and literary analysis, and (4) ignoring TJLC’s vast contributions to TJLCers’ lives while overemphasizing those who were harmed by it. Both remarks are in keeping with standard media portrayals of fans as irrational and immature. I expected better of her.

Ms. Paskin says that she “had a dream about…digging deeper, talking to more people, ones who could perfectly explain the allure of TJLC to me.” She had the opportunity to interview more actual TJLCers, but didn’t take it.

But the offer still stands! Come talk to us! Learn about what we’re actually like! Criticize our theories, if you think we’re dogmatic. Ask us what we think of TJLC, if you think it ruined our lives. Our ask boxes are wide open!

What the Podcast Left Out

Swimming in descriptions of TJLC as a source of hatred, the podcast glosses over one tiny little detail: that TJLC genuinely improved the lives of the vast majority of TJLCers.

I came out because of TJLC. I learned how to analyze literature because of TJLC. I discovered new parts of history and the queer people who have always been part of it. I found a community of curious, passionate, funny, and kind people who I could talk to.

And I’m just one person. I know people who found lifelong friends because of TJLC, wrote books because of it, became students of gender and sexuality studies, found a community of support when they had mental health, financial, or other personal problems, and had a blast theorizing about the possibility of landmark LGBT representation. Heck, Rebekah of TJLC Explained filmed hours of people talking about how much the community meant to them. And I even know former TJLCers who, though disappointed with the show, still appreciate how much it taught them about queer theory, queer history, and themselves.

Evaluating TJLC as a whole, it’s not far-fetched, dogmatic, or primarily a source of “darkness.” It’s a legitimate theory, supported by debate and rational analysis, that improved the lives of far more people than it ever hurt.

You’ve read this. Now what?

If you’re in the media:

This Slate podcast is now the #1 result when I search The Johnlock Conspiracy. Thousands of kind and logical voices on Tumblr and other sites are immediately silenced by well-known publications. So yeah, I care what the media thinks. Few voices have widespread effects. I want people trying to find out about TJLC to get a well-researched, less biased view of it.

Please, take your research seriously when discussing fandom. Interview actual members of the community. Be aware of the public bias of fans as unworthy of serious attention and unable to construct rational, legitimate arguments. And fight against it.

If you’re inside TJLC:

Researching for this meant a trip into the darkest parts of TJLC. We need to acknowledge that not everyone in this community is nice to everyone all of the time, and this resulted in incidents that seriously hurt some people. Remaining civil, especially when faced with disagreement or outright malice, means we keep this community friendly for everyone.

If you’re outside TJLC:

Thank you for taking the time to learn about a topic from someone you don’t necessarily agree with. We need more of your open-mindedness in the world.

If you completely disagree with me, please don’t send me anon hate. Constructive criticism is cool. Anon hate is lame. Be cool. But I welcome questions, comments, and constructive debate. My ask box is always open.

 Thank you for reading.

-soe

        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

@thesaltofcarthage @devoursjohnlock @waitedforgarridebs @one-thousand-splendid-stars @garkgatiss @shinka @witch-lock @jenna221b @sarahthecoat @inevitably-johnlocked @the-7-percent-solution @artfulkindoforder @warmth-and-constancy@marcespot@whtboutdeductions@tjlcisthenewsexy @bluebluenova @heimishtheidealhusband @tendergingergirl @sagestreet @ebaeschnbliah @221bloodnun @marcelock @watsonshoneybee @victorianfantasywatson

[kaleidiopesocs]

o(TヘTo)

The worst thing about making stuff like stories and characters is knowing that if it gets well-known, there will be people who "fix" what you make They won't care why you made it, what it means to you, or even if their "fix" is something good So many art "fixes" have had backlash. Because they're never thought out. And often insulting to both the viewers and artist And I don't mean the (I have no clue if there's an actual word for this, so if anyone knows please enlighten me and help build my knowledge!) skin tone changing. As I'd happily welcome seeing others draw my characters with different skin tones, hair textures, you name it! I'd consider that to be fanart, and I'd be so happy to see someone take my characters and portray them in a way that's relatable to them! Head-canon them to be LGBTQ+ icons, head-canon them to have disorders. Give them prosthetics, hearing aids, anything you wish! One of the reasons I don't mind how my characters are portrayed particularly look-wise, is because their looks don't matter in the story. But for someone to change them, only to say it's "better" now. Takes that to the wind and personally, feels hurtful (I'd actually like to know others opinions? And if anyone has insight? I always like to learn and gain new perspectives) But no, I actually don't mean that kind. I worry people will take a character, a story, and genuinely change it. Saying it'd be better "this" way And, you don't know how happy I'd be to see others make fanfic and AUs from my stories But the idea that people will take what I make. And say they did it better by erasing meaning I carefully crafted. Hurts so much Same though, I have to be prepared for nsfw stuff if anything I make becomes popular And when I think about that, I sometimes hope my creations never get off the ground I already worry people will hate what I make. Say it's bad, but that's the gamble a creator takes. I need to focus on the good that may come from it. And let the weird and bitter side of the interwebs not affect me I can't prevent what others do or think. But I can keep myself in check. I can portray things with the best accuracy and good intent I humanly can! I can do my best This "best" may change as the years go on. But for now, I will do my currant best It is all anyone can ask of anyone

[do-you-have-a-flag]

most LGBT/non-white fans aren't happy with how there was still no LGBT representation canonically and how they reduced poe to stereotypical latino tropes, made finn's arc the same as tfa basically (and sidelined him in for adam driver which is just racism lmao) and how underused and underwritten a lot of the characters were/how they mischracterized rey/how they REALLY mischaracterized luke and like the overall pacing was p bad, so white ppl liked it and dumbass kylo stans did too but that it

first off, why u anon, i’m not mean to people who message me generally and i won’t send followers after you because that’s a shitty thing to do, now i have to make a big long response publicly instead of using the messenger app, sorry everyone, long post incoming:I WANT LGBT representation to be canon in star wars but i know that they’re not gonna do it and it’s frustrating but not unexpected. Big budget genre FILMS (tv is different) are so lacking in LGBT content, it’s frustrating that off the top of my head the only example i can think of where it’s not sub-textualised via aliens is Sulu in the Star Trek reboot universe.

but let’s look honestly at how the people who run star wars and the actors responded to questions about LGBT content in interviews: there is spoilers blackout aversion, and actors explicitly supporting fans for their interpretations of characters but at no point was there a promise to show that sort of representation.

Disney has shown before that if they’re going to include LGBT content in their big films they do address it directly, much was made of Lefou in beauty and the beast and there was backlash because the actual content was so minor and still fairly subtextual. 

With the Last Jedi no promises were maid so not getting LGBT content is frustrating for me and others but I can’t fault the film for it only the creators and a criticism of studios and directors and writers does not mean the movie itself is flawed for that specific reason. At least in my view. It’s blaming an absence of a feature that was never promised. would it be better with that feature? YES! but i also think it would have been better for various writing changes but the writing choices that were made are what we have to assess it on.

As to Poe being stereotypically Latino, I don’t live in a country with enough of a latino population to have much insight on that but I will say that I don’t understand this argument. 

my PERSONAL view of Poe in this film is that last time we didn’t get any depth to his character outside of friendly heroic pilot, this time we are starting to be introduced to his flaws, that being his inability to see the big picture, he always makes good strategies and plans and is a great leader and has a sense of humour, these are good qualities, and when he is called impulsive it’s by generals who have the experience to think about the bigger picture where he goes for the most damage on a small scale, Poe has a very complimentary arc to Fin in that they both have to shift their thinking when the resistance is weakened because saving people becomes more important than always beating the bad guys.

so from that understanding of his character I don’t understand what stereotypes are being used here? genuinely please let me know because is it that he’s “hot-headed”? it’s a war and they are losing and because of that he makes the wrong decision and lashes out when he is restricted and believes his superior is making the wrong choice so all the “hot-headed” stuff is really just character complexity and his prominence in the plot is the reason why it’s only applied to him. IDK what other stereotypes there are i legit haven’t seen that criticism actually explained in detail yet so if any latinx fans can let me know i’d be glad

Fin’s arc isn’t the same, yes he’s been sidelined and its annoying because I hate the thing they sidelined him for too but when we do focus on his character they evolve his problems from TFA: running away out of fear and self loathing becomes running from one responsibility because he believes they’re a lost cause in the moment and wants to protect Rey, which becomes planning to sacrifice himself to lash out at first order  in a way that mirror’s Poe’s journey because they both have to think better than that about who they’re fighting for. 

There are so many characters to juggle in the film and by partnering Finn up with Rose they do detract from his character development but only to allow her to help him and introduce her to the stage at the same time as moving the plot along and setting up things for the next movie thematically.  Finn was underserved but it was due to a writing puzzle of balancing an ensemble cast and ultimately at this point his story is supportive of the main plot but not directly a part of it and they could have done that differently but again that’s a writing flaw but not what I would call the worst part of the film i think people took it too hard and would like to hear a response to my reading of Finn’s place in the story in some detail too.

 Also I love Rose and her dynamic with Finn was my fav and desperately needed because they keep having Finn Poe and Rey be separated in these films and we needed that friendly banter and mutual support space filled and Rose is honestly the heart and soul of the resistance even if the casino sequence was written in a very on the nose blatant way these films are for a very broad audience and some people need that stuff spelled out for them. (i’ve seen TLJ twice and both times i think most people in the audience missed the kid using the force at the end which i thought was wonderfully subtle before his posing became blatant visually with the broom)

underuse and underwriting are both side effects of the ensemble cast and i’m willing to forgive the clumsiness of it generally but you’re correct about Rey’s writing, I’ve said it before but everything about her and kylo and snoke and Luke contained in the scenes between the second force skype conversation and Kylo waking up on the floor is the characters making bad choices, that’s why it feels out of character. the rest of the film even when characters make mistakes everyone is behaving consistently and there’s a balance but in that entire segment of the film all four characters make the wrong decisions. the results of these scenes afterwards is fine but i wish they hadn’t decided to have rey trust kylo so readily, considering her character history as a scavenger you know she’d be more skeptical than that.  And with Luke his reticence to tell her the truth is frustrating because that’s what happened to him regarding his father and he should know better, I think the moment of weakness misread as utter betrayal was interesting, not a great choice on the writing side but i’m willing to deal with it. outside of those scenes though it’s like the competent writing suddenly returned! 

Bad pacing? yeah, but it’s the middle film in a trilogy there was a lot of ground to cover.

also listen there’s nothing wrong with being a fan of villians in a work of fiction and personally i loved watching hux suffer and kylo get the door slammed in his face and just because i find his character entertaining doesn’t mean i wanted the rey/kylo romance teasing that happened. I have to accept that the writers are going for redemption arc stuff here but honestly give me complex pathetic villain who dies dramatically at the end and i’ll be happy, 

I wrote out all these paragraphs because you made a whoooole lot of generalisations and i wanted to respond with personal thoughts and specificity,\

 I can’t speak for groups i’m not a part of but i can give my personal reasons for liking the film. at the end of the day it’s not the worst star wars film and of my expectations of the franchise some flaws are a part of it. I LIKE goofiness intentional or not in my genre fiction.

 Representation-wise the LGBT stuff would have been wonderfull but as of right now it wasn’t something i felt should be expected but instead it is something I think should be pressured onto the creators to include canonically because there’s literally no reason not to include it that isn’t getting money from garbage people who hate diversity. 

On a casting level i love the inclusivity of race in the cast, not just with Finn, Poe, and Rose being the majority of our new young heroes, but also of background characters because that sort of understated representation is important too. Do i think the writing could be better? sure, but as far as stereotyping goes i don’t believe there’s deliberate and malicious intent there, any flaws are unintentional on the writers side and their personal biases, but personally I still don’t see the specific problem you’re citing here and would like to hear more about it because I don’t get it.

also pls chill with the “white people and kylo stans” attitude here because i get why people don’t like adam driver, but you’re being deliberately escalating in your language and i’m not okay with that, it’s a false equivalence of the concepts of white complacency when it comes to representation with….. people who like the main villain. 

He’s the main bad guy. he’s played by an actor cast with his looks in mind because he’s one of the few villains who doesn’t spend the whole film behind a mask or with cgi or makeup effects obscuring him, he’s placed in a position of power and given sympathetic elements because a complex villain is more interesting than, oh, say, every simple evil marvel villain who wants to destroy the earth (and I say that as someone who likes marvel films) they knew they couldn’t recapture the appeal of darth vader so they aimed for audience enjoyment in a different way and it worked and it’s pointless to be mad at fans of star wars for liking it’s main villain?

 I’m not saying fans who take it too far by going “he did nothing wrong”/”his victimisation excuses his actions” or who woobie-fy him or who shit on other characters are in the right here, they’re not, and it is frustrating when there’s so many good characters that others lose screen time and complexity to focus on him when he’s a shitty fascist who wants power for himself. 

just like, de-escalate your aggression here because i’m talkative as hell and I also want better representation but I’m also one hundo percent about viewing media and people complexly and in terms of the fiction i thought it was a good film and in terms of the choices by the creators in how they crafted that film i thought they did okay but could have done waaay better and that’s what fans want. 

i’m not gonna speak for most LGBT/non white fans because I’m only a part of one of those categories personally but i’m SURE a chunk of the audience responses in those reviews trashing the movie are from straight white cis dudes who are mad about all the POC in the film or goofy writing choices they feel undermines their view of the movie and they’re objectively wrong about a lot of things but their opinions are still added to that review percentage and the only way to know who thought what from what background and coming from what perspective is to go through every review and make a chart and that sort of research isn’t something i’ve done and you probably haven’t done it either so we can only speak from our view from discussing with friends and online and on tumblr i have seen some lgbt and poc  responses and most of them are positive, a couple of people aren’t and that’s only my dashboard but i can’t assume it represents the communities as a whole

so anyone seeing this long ass post who hasn’t unfollowed me: what’s your opinion?

[stronghealthtoday]

How to improve English without any partner to speak?

Are you attempting to turn out to be better at communicated in English, yet don’t have accomplices to address, which usually happens when you’re attempting to learn English at home.

In this post I’ll cover a few stages you can take to improve your communicated in English when looked with this circumstance. This post is isolated into three segments:

Area I: General strategies in the event that you don’t have a talking accomplice (Point # 1-11)

Area II: Have periodic discussions with others (Point # 12-14)

Area III: Unique difficulties solo specialists face (Point # 15-17)

Before we start with the primary area, let me quickly share an encounter.

I solicited a gathering from conclusive year understudies who were attempting to improve their relational abilities to think about how much time they talk in English consistently. They thought for a minute and answered, “Scarcely brief when posing an inquiry or partaking in a dialog in the class.” And that too just barely any understudies do.

What’s your fair response to a similar inquiry?

Most don’t talk a lot of English. That is the place most students of English language slack.

That is the reason I’ve concentrated bounty on how you can work on talking more (without, obviously, a talking accomplice) in this post.

Area I: General strategies on the off chance that you don’t have a talking accomplice

1. Make a creative environment

I’ve watched understudies taking in communicated in English without any preparation at Freedom English Academy (FEA), a non-benefit association established by Deepak Chopra, a prominent creator and open speaker. At its focuses in Delhi and hardly any different urban communities in North India, consecutive 105-minute sessions go during that time from 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM.

What struck me during my different visits to not many of these focuses was the promise to talk just in English. Regardless of what level of English the understudies are at, they can’t articulate a solitary word in their local language. In those 105-odd minutes, understudies talk, read, and listen just English. That is the thing that drenching is.

I saw that the individuals who conveyed this vivid condition to their homes improved much quicker. (A portion of the understudies had their kin also took a crack at FEA and in this way they could talk in English at home as well. One little youngster addressed his math mentor in English.)

Vivid learning is the surest method to quicken your familiarity. You’ve to take the vow – and, obviously, execute – to supplant your non-English substance (perusing, composing, talking, and tuning in) with English-just substance.

2. Copy TV projects and recordings

You can turn your TV or a video to quiet and give a running editorial of the scenes as they unfurl. Since the scenes will move in a matter of seconds, you wouldn’t have the privilege to think and develop sentences at relaxation, which is the thing that you face in genuine correspondence.

I’ve played this activity ordinarily, changing the substance type to get broadened practice. For instance, you should be snappier on feet (tongue!) to depict a quick paced games program than when you portray a wrongdoing scene in a motion picture.

At the point when you run over discussion between two people, put yourself in the shoes of each, surmise their lines, and talk. Try not to in case you’re totally off the blemish on precision. It makes a difference less.

Sid Efromovich, who communicates in seven dialects, planned something comparable for check in talking practice with no accomplice when learning another dialect. He took to ‘shower discussion’ (self-talk during shower), wherein he represented both the sides of a discussion, in this way getting a progressively complete work on, something you get mirroring TV on quiet. To cite him:

What’s more, it’s [shower practice] incredible, on the grounds that you don’t rely upon anything on anybody to get your training, and I did this for quite a long time.

3. Try to speak with yourself

Nobody prevents you from conversing with yourself, correct?

On the off chance that there are others present around you who may believe a boisterous self-converse with be a weirdo demonstration, you can turn off your cell phone and imagine you’re conversing with somebody on telephone.

What to chat on, however?

You can chat on what occurred in the day. You can chat on any of your past encounters. You can pick any breaking updates on the day to express your interpretation of the issue. You can pick any discussion subject. Or on the other hand you can simply offer voice to horde of contemplations that whirl in your brain as the day progressed. (In the event that you watch yourself, you’ll see that except if you’re focusing hard on some undertaking you’re perpetually thinking something or the other intuitively.)

4. Talk in front of the mirror

Talking before a divider mirror can uncover negative behavior patterns that you generally haven’t saw previously.

While talking before a mirror, you may find that your face looks passive, bleak, or even irate.

You may discover you use part of filler words, for example, ‘you know’, ‘fundamentally’, and ‘um’.

Or on the other hand you may find that you can’t stop while talking.

Mirror will give you important criticism, which you can use to improve. For instance, on the off chance that you look excessively genuine while talking, you can get increasingly intentional about driving a grin.

Talking before reflect additionally causes you improve your eye to eye connection when addressing individuals.

5. Try to speak up what you see around

You can carry on your independent vivid practice in any event, when you don’t approach TV or video content.

Glance around any place you are – it could be inside, it could be outside – and express a word or full sentence, depicting whatever you see. Try not to consider every option on what to state. Simply state on the fly. Go for speed, not for exactness. Since you talk without delaying, your training is near what you’ll look in genuine circumstances. Later on, search for words or articulations you battled with in a lexicon to fill the holes in your collection.

Despite the fact that you can rehearse this activity anyplace, you’ll go over assorted circumstances to get out chiefly outside.

6. Try to think in English

This is the greatest test most non-local English speakers face.

You first think in your local language, at that point make an interpretation of it into English, and afterward talk it out. The psychological interpretation fills your discourse with long stops and backs it off.

You can check your inclination to initially think in your local language and afterward interpret by:

Talking or thinking suddenly what you see around (see the prior point). Suddenness seizes mental interpretation. You can begin with deduction or talking words, at that point graduate to sentences, lastly take to stories.

Learn however many standard articulations as could be expected under the circumstances for various circumstances.

Example: “Would i be able to have another aiding of the frozen yogurt?” (An articulation utilized when you need another serving of something.)

In the event that you know loads of such articulations, you’ll talk them straightforwardly (without interpretation) in your discussions.

We think for quite a long time in a day. In the event that we can change the language of our considerations to English, envision the amount more practice we’ll get each day.

You may investigate this point in detail in this post on the best way to quit interpreting and start thinking in English.

7. Watch/listen in to TV in English language

Watch/listen content in English, all the more so when you’re an apprentice. Listening is definitely more significant than perusing with regards to acing communicated in English (perusing is progressively useful on the off chance that you need to improve composing). Through listening you learn:

7.1 Pronunciation

As you listen increasingly more English substance, you’ll see contrast between how you articulate certain words and how the speaker does. On the off chance that the substance is legitimate, you’re in all likelihood the person who is on an inappropriate.

At the point when you notice such distinction, note the word down, play its elocution on any online lexicon, and talk the articulation so anyone can hear not many occasions.

7.2 Intonation, stress, and respite

Inflection is the ascent and fall of voice when talking. Without inflection, your discourse will be level and you’ll put individuals to rest.

Other than sound, you likewise realize which words to put weight on in a sentence and where to stop.

7.3 Peculiarities of communicated in English

Communicated in English is less unbending than composed English.

Not at all like in composed English, in communicated in English, slangs, phrasal action words, subsidiary words, and disrupted punctuation norms are normal. What’s more, you can realize a considerable lot of these takeoffs and subtleties through tuning in.

For instance, you’ll discover a lot of conversational articulations, for example, ‘you wanna desire a motion picture’ and ‘I gotta leave now’ while watching or tuning in, yet infrequently while perusing.

You may investigate the subject of tuning in detail in this post on how and what to tune in to improve your English Language abilities.

8. Peruse to get some roundabout advantages

(Keep in mind, point #1 – inundation. Perusing English substance is one of the mainstays of drenching.)

Reading has a circuitous effect on your communicated in English by:

Improving your jargon and sentence structure

Showing you how contentions are made

Extending your insight, which would empower you to explain on scope of issues

Be that as it may, on the off chance that you need to improve your jargon genuine strong, go a stage past understanding the significance of a word through setting. Imprint the word or expression while perusing and later allude an online lexicon to investigate those words. Give unique consideration to model sentences delineating use of that word. On the off chance that you need you can even note these words down alongside their meaning(s) and model sentences for later audit, which will improve your maintenance of these words complex.

9. Improve Pronunciation

A greater part of non-local speakers misspeak words by the dozen consistently. Furthermore, more awful, they don’t understand a significant number of their mix-ups.

Why such a significant number of non-local speakers misspeak?

Since they’ve figured out how to articulate various words from tuning in to others like them, who also are misspeaking.

Misspeaking even barely any words in a 15-minute discussion is the quickest method to leave poor impression of your relational abilities.

Be that as it may, luckily, it’s additionally perhaps the simplest mainstay of communicated in English to fix.

What you’ve to do is build up the propensity to check (rather, tune in) the way to express any word whose articulation you aren’t sure of. Learning articulation, at its center, is tied in with tuning in to the hints of a word and rehashing it hardly any occasions, and for that you needn’t bother with a talking accomplice. Isn’t that right?

Most online word references nowadays give sound of elocution. Dictionary.com is an asset I’ve utilized widely, particularly for it non-phonetic elocution. Another great asset is Cambridge Dictionary, which contains both American and British elocutions. (Pick one of the two. In the event that you live or work in a Commonwealth nation, pick British elocution.)

10. Always read it out loudly

Peruse so anyone can hear for at any rate five minutes in a single session consistently. Even better, press out two – one in the first part of the day and the other at night. This activity has following advantages:

On the off chance that you haven’t expressed certain words regularly, you’ll likely battle to state them accurately or falter to state them at all in a genuine discussion. Perusing for all to hear from a paper, magazine, or any content will constrain you to talk wide scope of words (note: the jargon in these sources is a lot more extensive than yours and subsequently you’ll get presented to hints of numerous new words) all the time, which will make you OK with their sounds and thus you’ll be bound to talk them in a genuine discussion.

Perusing for all to hear likewise fortifies the elocution you’re learning through online lexicons (shrouded in the past point), as these words keep springing up in future.

Last, you can likewise rehearse your sound (canvassed prior in the post), stops, accentuation, and pace through this activity.

Get more on the subject in the post on how perusing for all to hear benefits your familiarity.

11. Use tongue twister to improve pronunciation and fluency

At the point when your lips, tongue, and throat outstretch to state tongue twisters accurately, you practice these vocal organs in manners that in any event, perusing so anyone can hear can’t, which improves your elocution and familiarity. You may see this post for in excess of 200 tongue twisters.

Area II: Have infrequent discussions with others

So far in this post I’ve secured strategies you can rehearse alone at home without a talking accomplice.

In spite of the fact that you can gain great ground through these, you’ll need hardly any key correspondence sub-aptitudes, for example, tuning in to other people, adjusting reaction on the fly contingent upon what the other individual just stated, persuading others, compassion, and certainty when talking in nearness of others. Conversing with others will likewise assist you with measuring your level versus that of others.

In this way, it’s imperative to periodically address others and make your talking experience comprehensive. In reality, all things considered, you won’t talk yourself.

Here are not many steps you can take to speak with others, in any event once in a while, in case you’re battling to discover talking accomplices:

12. Do an intensive review to recognize a talking accomplice in your circle

You may think you’ve nobody to converse with, yet truly there are chances to talk in English with others around you.

Do an intensive review to recognize whom you can address, regardless of whether it’s simply once per month.

Perhaps you can persuade your companion whom you converse with consistently on telephone to change to English for your discussions.

Perhaps you can discover a couple of associates at your work environment or school whom you generally converse with in English.

Take a long, hard take a gander at all the potential outcomes. You might not have thought of tapping your current system to work on talking. Or then again if the idea crossed your psyche, you may have wavered as a result of dread of committing errors or venturing out of safe place.

What’s more, you needn’t bother with 5-6 alternatives. Indeed, even 1-2 devoted accomplices will do. I can let you know with certainty that on the off chance that you address an individual in English for not many weeks, your default discussion language with her/him will get English. You’ll feel bit odd to change to your local language with them, much the same as you feel odd addressing somebody in English with whom you’ve constantly communicated in your local language. I’ve seen this incident at FEA.

13. You can speak to client service

You can call client care of any association and enquire about their items and administrations, value, merchandise exchange and so forth. You don’t should be a client to call them, which opens gazillion associations to call. Furthermore, nobody prevents you from rehashing the call following hardly any weeks.

14. Search a talking accomplice on YouTube

You can discover individuals to converse with in English on YouTube.

A portion of the watchers of YouTube recordings on English language aptitudes present their enthusiasm on locate a talking accomplice in the remarks beneath the video.

You can react to them in the event that you need to address them.

Having said that, you should be mindful when managing outsiders and you have to recall that local speakers may not be the best decision for a talking accomplice.

With this we go to the third and the last area of this post.

Area III: Unique difficulties solo specialists face

As an independent specialist, you’re the ace of your own predetermination. You’ve to manage highs and lows yourself. I’ll top this post with three a greater number of focuses that influence solo-specialists more than others:

15. Find your strong motivation through “WHY”

Your street to get conversant in English would be long and difficult. To outlive troubles and levels, you must be spurred to keep at it, particularly when you’re learning only it.

In this way, you have to pinpoint the genuine reasons why you need to show signs of improvement at English.

In the event that your explanation is proficient, at that point compose all the expert advantages you’ll harvest because of solid relational abilities.

In the event that your explanation is to grow your group of friends and improve your remaining among peer gathering, at that point compose it as well.

On the off chance that your explanation is to impact general supposition by improving as a communicator, at that point that is fine as well.

What’s more, your explanation, as is for most, could be a mix of these and others.

Without a solid motivation to become familiar with the language, you may surrender following barely any weeks or months when you don’t see anticipated improvement.

16. Show discipline

You wont get familiar with 30 days

Not even in hardly any months.

You’ve to keep at it for long.

Nonetheless, what doesn’t work is deluge (or short explosion of work) trailed by long, drought. Would you be able to quick for two days and afterward eat the amount you missed in one sitting? No, isn’t that so? The equivalent applies here.

You’ve to process gradually a little bit at a time. You’ve to take out at any rate 30 minutes consistently to take a shot at your English language abilities. On the off chance that you show consistency, you can accomplish fabulous outcomes.

As a solo-specialist, you don’t have the advantage of a responsibility accomplice or the constrained order of a proper class. Along these lines, you’ve to intentionally make space for English language in your calendar each day.

There are different components (other than discipline) too that prevent individuals from showing signs of improvement at English Language aptitudes. Know them and be prepared for them.

17. Get feedback, if conceivable

You may level notwithstanding placing in the hours. You might be committing errors without figuring it out.

In such cases, criticism – even once a fortnight – from somebody superior to anything you can do some incredible things for your advancement. Sid Efromovich, alluded to prior in point #2, underlines the significance of criticism from individuals who realize the language superior to anything you do.

So you can look out for someone who is very well-known with English to provide you important feedback.

[weavingmemories]

okay, why not, i want an open discussion on what’s going on with the portal fandom? because i’ve been hearing a lot of stuff that i just haven’t been seeing publicly in the tags, and i’d like some insight from people that have been experiencing these things because i don’t know if i’m at the end of my rope portal-fandomwise for no reason or not?

feel free to respond, no matter what angle you’re from. though i would appreciate not instigating a fight, i want to hear what other people are feeling from other perspectives! i also want to apologize in advance if any of this upsets people. i’m just genuinely really confused and i would like to open this up- maybe we can all come to a better understanding of each other’s perspectives this way.

everything below the cut to avoid making this too long a post!

a) ‘chelley shippers are being let off scot-free but chelldos shippers aren’t’

i didn’t participate in the portal fandom at large back in 2011-2012, but from what i recall, ships tended to coexist enough for me to not know much about any potential drama. sure, the chelley collective was and IS still a huge one, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in of itself. yes, the silly rumor that glados is caroline is chell’s mom was floating around a lot more back then, but no one was really using that to call out people for shipping chelldos disgusting, at least not to my knowledge (just that believers of this headcanon rumor would personally not ship it, which is also fine). and my current take on this specific point is that lately, lots of blogs have been publicly talking about ‘how canon’ and ‘how gay’ glados and chell as a relationship is. which, yes, for all intents and purposes, a ship can be canon and they could both be wlw, but generally when people in fandoms crop up and say those things, people who ship other ships tend to feel slighted. it’s a natural reaction to the ‘mine is better and true and shiny!’ because it sort of lends itself to people implying the second part, ‘which therefore means yours is terrible’. it might be a personal thing for me, but when people tend to ramble on about how good their ‘canon’ and ‘true’ ship is, i tend to get a wave of insecurity about my own ship and it’s just. not a good feeling. as opposed to me seeing content for an opposing ship, which doesn’t inspire that same feeling. i like seeing chelldos art and fic, though those text posts set me off for some reason? i can’t say i know why. but i think that might be why people are more apt to ‘vague’ or be miffed about the situation, which people might be misreading as a loathing for chelldos as a ship in general? which i think personally is not the case. i don’t know about other shippers, but i would be just as annoyed if i saw the same context with chelley to cootp to factventure to caveline to even gladley (or literally any other ship). i sort of wish people would instead channel their energy into creating either fanart, fanfic, edits, or literally anything, even headcanons!

as an aside, i made a rant post about how i felt being bi in fandom here, and it sort of sums up how i feel about text posts that heavily imply glados only loving chell and only possibly being a lesbian.

b) the concept that in general, there is an overwhelming amount of bad stuff to fight in the portal fandom in the first place?

the only recurring theme i’d generally spotted myself was the whitewashing of chell in art, and the moniker of ‘insane’ from back in 2011-2012, and maybe like... that one post i saw a month ago about glados being a ‘crazy bitch’ by someone who clearly wasn’t even involved in the fandom (yet? they were playing for the first time, i think). i can see that there are issues, but every fandom is similar. there are always problems that people seek to solve, but it’s hard to solve them without directly going to the person in question. of course, that brings its own share of issues and likely lengthy arguments, especially when people are set in their ways. although aside from an overwhelming amount of people who like chelley, which may be problematic (i personally see all three ‘core’ ships of portal- chelldos, chelley and gladley- as problematic in their own right, but that’s for another topic entirely), but like... other than that?

c) salt over popular fanworks

what i HAVE seen is a trend lately that has been cropping out of the blue hating on fanworks both old and new. blue sky is one of them. the portal unauthorized musical is another. i personally feel the hate is kind of... overboard, and i can’t help but put myself in creators’ shoes, as an artist. i get a bit hypersensitive over people possibly being vocal about disliking my art, and i feel like a lot of people who create, who turn their emotions into a piece, can relate to the vulnerability of putting it out there for comment and critique. however, in a lot of cases, these text posts and actions towards blue sky and the portal unauthorized musical aren’t even really critique, but just plain out insult. of course, these also get overwhelming love from the fandom as well, and it’s easy to feel as though these overshadow your own achievements, but they really don’t! people will latch onto some things, and sometimes they won’t. maybe there is a common theme of chelley, but that is only because a LOT of portal fandom enjoys chelley as well. i could ramble about the pieces themselves, but that’s also going off topic. the point is, the creators behind these two productions are human as well, as vulnerable as putting their work out there as any artist, and don’t deserve blatant hate or spite. create the content you want to see, or encourage it, but please don’t tear fellow artists down!

d) war over wheatley and glados???

as a gladley shipper, it’s kind of silly for me to have to state, but: i love both wheatley and glados. i don’t really get why people think this has to be some sort of war between them or think that hating wheatley is Cool compared to liking glados or vice versa (even if personally, i haven’t seen anyone hate glados, but again, that’s just my experience). i don’t really get why this has to be a thing, even for people who ship chelley as opposed to chelldos or vice versa. they’re both great characters in their own rights, and you don’t have to like glados or wheatley, but... publicly bringing them down doesn’t really do much imo other than make fans of the character or people who relate to them sad or upset.

anyway, that’s about it, but all of these things are really things i want people’s opinions on! again, sorry if i stepped on any toes. i’ve just been witnessing this and posting about it occasionally but i really wanted some more fresh takes on it to broaden my own view and maybe see why people are posting/thinking the way that they do. thanks!

[imum-coeli]

Hi. Ok, I'm not going to speak for all of SoRiku fans when I say this, but as a SoRiku fan myself I have never denied the fact that Sora does indeed have feelings/a crush on Kairi that persists through both games. However, that's not to say he can't possibly have feelings for Riku as well (which obviously, is what I believe). If you don't think that, hey, it's my interpretation and you can believe what you want. I won’t try to prove otherwise to you and I promise I'm not trying to convert you to this pairing (which is probably impossible at this point anyway), I just want to give you some insight on why I like SoRiku and give you some reasons why many others do as well. First, I’ll address what you had to say, then I’ll add anything I still have to explain at the end. Sorry, this will be a little long… You mentioned how back on Destiny Islands Riku and Sora were always in competition with each other and how it mostly seemed to be for Kairi's attention. I would like to point out the fact that Kairi does not seem the slightest bit interested in Riku, so even if he usually wins in competition with Sora, it’s like he’s fighting a losing battle when it comes to gaining Kairi’s favor. What’s interesting though is that if Riku is given the opportunity to act on his supposed feelings for Kairi, does he? No. It almost seems like this battle between Sora and Riku is one sided. When we arrive at Destiny Islands it’s like we’re supposed to know how things have always been with this group of characters. Riku’s the show off that everybody’s impressed with and Sora’s the underdog that never gets his chance to shine. I’ll be honest, I was a lot younger when I first played Kingdom Hearts and I disliked Riku because I thought he was being mean to Sora. Now that I’m older I interpret their interaction a bit differently (this is a personal thing, not a dig at you. I’m not saying that I’m wiser or anything by thinking this and I’m sorry if it comes off that way.) I think it’s sweet that Kairi actually shows more interest in Sora because of how the characters are presented and how I expected her to be all over Riku, but that’s not what goes down. What I noticed about Riku is that he probably shows even less genuine interest in Kairi than she shows in him. I mean, he shows interest but isn’t that only when Sora is listening? I think it’s very interesting that Riku seems to only pretend to have feelings for Kairi in order to get a rise out of Sora. Riku obviously knows at this point that Sora likes her, so why would he do this if he has no intention of acting on his own feelings for her? I agree that Sora got upset when Riku suggested that the winner of the race give a paopou fruit to Kairi because of his feelings for the girl. In fact, most of what Sora did, his actions and thoughts, revolved around saving and finding Kairi for almost the entire game. I won't even try to deny that. No matter how much I love the SoRiku pairing, I would hardly ever use evidence from the first game to try and prove mutual feelings of anything other than friendship between the two. But that's the first game. Anyway, the sunset scene. Not sure how that does anything to disprove the SoRiku relationship other than strengthen the relationship between Sora and Kairi. Which still really doesn't take away from any feelings that might be had by Riku for Sora. The only problem I have here with your argument is that you are trying to disprove the pairing of Sora and Riku, but aren't taking into account how Riku fits into the equation. It’s not only Sora’s feelings that should be analyzed. Sora’s feelings for Riku aren’t going to be demonstrated during a scene with only Sora and Kairi in it. Whether you’re trying to just prove friendship or otherwise. You can’t really argue how a pairing doesn’t exist when talking about a relationship that contains another character. Just my opinion. Whether Kairi is serious or not also doesn’t matter, from the way I’m looking at it. One doesn’t take away from the other, especially in a scene that’s playing favorites. Anyway, onto the next. When Sora tries to grab Riku's hand, that shows how much he trusts Riku. I wouldn't call it so much a yaoi pointer as much as it simply demonstrates that they do have a stronger bond then one might think at first because of their rivalry and bickering. That being said, I think it’s also telling how Riku tried to convince Sora to come with him by telling him that Kairi would be going too. He didn’t actually know her whereabouts, so how could he have known if she would even survive the darkness, let alone be able to find them? It seems he just didn’t care. (I think that changes though, I really do believe that all three of them care a lot about each other regardless of who’s paired with who and just don’t think he cared in that moment because he had Sora with him. Plus the fact that it was possibly their one chance to leave the island.) Like I said before, Sora's main motivation in the first game is to find and save Kairi. I know he has feelings for her. He does have a tendency to daydream about her in both games. However, Riku is a big motivator for Sora at the end of the first game when he's about to give up and during a lot of the second game...no…? On Captain Hook’s ship, I don’t think Riku really gave Sora a choice in the matter. I don’t think he betrays Riku’s friendship by defending Kairi against him. It would have been worse for all if Sora hadn’t acted. In a way, Sora was fighting to save Riku from himself just as much as he was fighting to save Kairi. It wasn’t ever about picking sides or who he liked best. It was about what was right and what was wrong. What Riku was planning was wrong and Sora knew he had to fight him in order to stop him. Riku was angry at the time, not to mention jealous of Donald and Goofy and I don’t think the ensuing fight helps to prove or disprove this pairing either way. If it was Kairi he had to fight against because it was her in Riku’s place, do you honestly think he wouldn’t? It would have been a lot more dramatic and a lot more tears would have been shed, but Sora’s a bit of a hero. He’s a strong character and does what needs to be done. If the fact that he is willing to fight against Riku means so much, then what about the fact that he’s just as willing to accept Riku back into his life, even after all he’s done, as his best friend? Sora didn’t want to fight him, it’s something that he had no choice in at the time. When Sora continuously talks about what he needs to tell Kairi , he doesn’t mention Riku at all. I know that might seem like a huge deal, but I don’t see it as being much of one. We don’t hear his thoughts, we don’t know what he’s thinking. Granted, you could turn that around and say he could be thinking about Kairi, but that’s why there’s this thing called interpretation. When he talks about and envisions Kairi, I actually think those parts of the game are really sweet. I just don’t think that they prove anything more than a crush. I’m not doubting the strength of his feelings, just the depth of them. Again, interpretation. I’m just a bit tired of people saying that every bit of SoRiku evidence points to Riku and Sora simply being really great friends, when the same could be said for a lot of the evidence pointing to SoKai. Depending on how long lasting you think young teen crushes are. Hollow Bastion. This one is pretty difficult to tackle. But, really, you might hate me for saying this, but do you honestly think if the situation had been turned around and it was Riku he had to be turned into a heartless for, he wouldn’t do it? Not even Riku, but Mickey, Cinderella…or anyone really? I think he would. That being said, I’m also a believer in writers actually knowing what they’re doing. If an event happens, in anything. Be it book, tv show, movie and it’s important, I won’t disregard it even if it goes against what I’m trying to explain I believe. What I’m trying to say is that Riku wasn’t the one Sora sacrificed himself for, it was Kairi. And with me, things never happen on accident. The writers/creators of Kingdom Hearts wanted to demonstrate the lengths Sora would go for her. I acknowledge that completely. However, you go on to explain how Kairi gave her heart to Sora and that he risked practically everything to save her and give it back and in the process ‘gives’ her his own. I understand that giving your heart to someone usually means you love them and I’ve said before that I think he does care for her. But something I kind of implied earlier or meant to is that Sora is an extremely selfless person. For him, this act of sacrifice almost isn’t that big of a deal (it is a huge deal, I’m just saying because of his actions towards others), to be honest with you. Yes, it’s very sweet and obviously this means something, I just don’t think it’s everything it’s made out to be and I don’t take it a face value. Kairi giving him her heart means next to nothing to me because of what you’re arguing. If in a television series a girl loves a boy and that boy has a crush on her, but he doesn’t get a chance to reciprocate until he possibly has feelings for someone else and then the series ends, well, does it really matter how the girl feels about it? She could be madly in love, but it doesn’t affect his choice. She doesn’t get the guy, not in canon at least. And the lucky charm thing? Friends give each other lucky charms all the time. I'm going to continue this in a different review cuz i'm not really done...

[phoenixtakaramono]

For the writers numbered questions, how about 8, 9, 13, and 15? By the way, I absolutely ADORE your work☺

Ohhh. How sweet! Oh my goodness. Thank you sincerely for the compliment, dear!

In regards to the “✍ Finally, an ask-meme for writers! ✍”:

08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten? Hmm. It depends on what “best piece of feedback” would be defined as. If it’s about effectiveness, I would mention the time someone told me that my life would be happier (and more productive) if I simply concentrated on myself and not focus on those around me. I take this as my philosophy in life as well as my works: there’s no point comparing yourself to others. Be inspired, but don’t copy. There will always be those that are better. Focus on your own improvements, be yourself while discovering what makes you “you,” and market yourself as a brand that you’ll want others to see your persona as you see it. It’s alright to take inspiration from those around (do your research/ see what your competitors are doing), but ultimately you’ll still have to give your works your interpretation to avoid plagiarism. Nothing is creative anymore technically, so it should be an interesting challenge for any creator to undertake. There are already plenty of ideas existing already. So, to stand out, what new innovation can you bring to the table?

If it’s about feedback that’s made me the happiest, I hold a lot to my chest fondly. But off the top of my head, the ones that have touched me all involve someone mentioning how they were skeptical at first about the premise but after reading it through, they were won over. It tickles me when I hear from others about how a project of mine is not their usual reading material but it somehow became one of their exceptions after giving it a chance. For me, this really means a lot.

Feedbacks that are long and well-thought out, analyzing my content to share their story theories aloud also tend to make me giddy to continue sharing with strangers this world that I’ve built in my head. I’ve sometimes had remarks and questions that’ve inspired me to make necessary edits, making me realize any plot holes or how something has been (mis)interpreted. I adore when someone makes a deep, insightful analysis, even more so when it’s on the mark.

If it’s about suggestions others have gotten that resonates strongly with me on the most part, it’s these cardinal rules of writing: 1) show, don’t tell, 2) be genuine; don’t write what you don’t write just to please the fans/ pander to them, 3) do your research; know your readership, 4) avoid Mary Sues/ Gary Stus unless your intention plays on the overpowered archetype, 5) avoid cliches and don’t be cheesy, 6) avoid currently trending slang because chances are your dialogue will seem dated once time flies should you rely on lingo that’s popular at the moment since, unless that is your intention, you’d usually want your writing to come across as timeless for mass appeal, 7) as good as you think you are, you’re not infallible; don’t be arrogant and think you’re above taking advice/ help and 8) you have to be excited about what you’re producing.

09: What’s the worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten? Worst feedback…would be by impatient readers who have lost credibility and/or respect. With our educational standards, I’m also taken aback by a person’s inability to factcheck when making persuasive arguments. While not everyone is a writer, understandably, as someone who will be hiring others, I am stunned sometimes when I get bollocks that also isn’t impartially, formally written. When one forgets who is the writer and who is the consumer, it…can result in quite the misunderstanding, even if you give them the benefit of the doubt. These usually come in the form of entitled readers who form quick assumptions without doing their research and reading all the way through, who then type out unhelpful complaints. It comes across as more of a scheme to convince writers to change what was written and will write in order to satisfy this personal ideal in their head. They’re so frighteningly attached to this ideal, I’m alarmed whenever they’ve become uncompromising to any other creative alternatives and are at the point where they only want to win the argument to feel validated instead of wanting to be exposed to a unique perspective. My patience is tested even further whenever someone follows up with juvenile rhetoric, or they pretend to be someone else 100% supportive and defensive of their online feedback (despite how suspiciously similar their syntax is, as well as how convenient the timing is). No one likes being taken for a fool.

The instant one demonstrates that they don’t know what they’re talking about, trust is lost.

13: What’s your favorite writing quote? “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” -Toni Morrison

"Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” -Anton Chekhov

15: What would you say has inspired you the most? Factors in my childhood to where I am now. Writing became one of my strengths, aside from art, that gave me confidence and soon became a hobby. So, two answers:

From early childhood, I’d say it’s mainly due to the odd notion of having consumed adult novels throughout primary school, only being exposed to fanfiction later in my teens. No one thought much of my writing skills―even my English tutor from France―until something that I wrote was announced to have won a national writing competition and would be among those published. The faculty, and even to the extent of the principal, noticed me more, treating me like an adult and being friendly. My tutor, who used to sneer at my purple prose and emulation of authors’ writing styles, turned a new leaf and commended my writing exercises. My artistic parents finally had something else to boast about other than how their daughter was so quiet, artistic, and obedient. Relatives became more inclined to gift me books. It was also something that set me apart from my parents and my STEM-oriented peers. All in all, that event was a turning point in my life.

Another answer: nowadays it’s other people’s works or the lack thereof. The works by JK Rowling and Nora Roberts (and her other pseudonyms) paved the way for me, showing how immersive worldbuilding and fictional romance can become. Fanfiction exposed me to more possibilities, infinite worlds created by others like me, and the popular trends. The latter has shaped what I appreciate in my reading material and molded me into the writer that I am today. If it's about when I realized the power of fanfiction and good storytelling, I would say the first most impactful would be the 'Child of the Night' by Scribe. She'd reimagined the Dracula characters so vividly in a way that I'd never envisioned any fan could come up with for any franchise. So, one can say she is a rolemodel.

That’s all! :)

[townnightwalk]

NOVEL SYNOPSIS

27/03/2017

- originally, the plan for this story was to be in a novel format. The first chapter was written, and others already planned. eventually however, it was reworked to become a visual novel video game with different endings for different choices-

WARNING, STORY SPOILERS

TOWN NIGHTWALK

Synopsis

Genre: Science fiction, mystery, thriller

Working title: Nightwalk

Concept statement: 3 young adults (Prue, Sybil and Jones) are runaways, driving to nowhere in a stolen car to escape their separate abusive parents. In the middle of nowhere, Prue crashes into something unknown, destroying their car and leaving them stranded. They find themselves on the outskirts of a closed off community that they nickname Nightwalk. When they crash however, Prue alone gets a glimpse of the inhuman creature they hit, and experiences something extremely strange; she feels like her stomach is being gored on the jagged metal of the car. But once she wakes up she finds no wounds to speak of.

When they reach the nearby town, they discover it is completely isolated, filled with strange and potentially dangerous locals. There is no transport available to leave, and so they decide to stay in a refurbished and empty church. This is offered to them by a very feminine and mysterious stranger, named Kit. She is helpful, welcoming and beautiful, a combination that excites some and creates distrust in others. The longer they stay, the more suffocated they become as they hide from the town and monster tormenting them. As they explore, argue and hide, it becomes clear they all have demons to face if they’re ever going to get out of Nightwalk alive. There is no hiding from the past; as visions of abuse, loss and their deepest insecurities force themselves to the surface with the help of a supernatural entity.

They are stuck with so many questions to answer; why is everyone so strange, how will they escape, where will they go, what is the huge monster that’s following them? And perhaps most of all, who is Kit, why is she helping them and what does she have to do with monster?

The story is told predominantly from the perspective of Prue, with short sections also narrated from Jones’s and Sybil’s perspective.

Chapter outline

Chapter 1: The Crash Prue, Jones and Sybil crash their car when they run into an indistinguishable creature. This creature seems to be capable of making people feel things without them actually happening. They are stranded and spot a distant town, but once they reach it they quickly discover it to be very abnormal.

Chapter 2: Town Nightwalk After deciding to call the nameless town Nightwalk, the group search for help around the town and are greeted by people who are clearly very isolated and not very trustworthy. They search for transport and find none. They search for connections to the outside world only to discover poor reception and almost archaic internet connection. The search seems fruitless until they run into someone that seems to genuinely want to help them.

Chapter 3: A new friend They discover Kit, a young feminine stranger around their age who wants to help them. She offers them a refurbished yet empty church to stay in, which they accept as there is seemingly nowhere else to go. Prue is taken aback by Kit, yet Sybil is sceptical and untrusting. As they discuss what the group should do next they are confronted by something absolutely supernatural.

Chapter 4: The Creature The creature from Prue’s hallucination reveals itself to the group, lurking outside the church and visible from the inside. They discuss what it is, why it’s here and exactly how dangerous it is. After spending the night and following day hiding from it, the group decides it won’t attack and that they should try to discover what it wants. After a few daring experiments their carelessness ends in disaster.

Chapter 5: Visions Prue, Sybil and Jones are confronted with intense visions of their fears, their pasts and their possible futures. The creature melds into their minds taking over their consciousness and memories, showcasing its power to make you feel and remember. The only vision they share is that of Prue’s older sister, who left a lasting impact for them all when she was killed a year ago. They are only saved when Kit surprisingly manages to take control of the creature, connecting with it in a way completely different to the rest of the group.

Chapter 6: Sybils Stupid Wrath Angry and upset by her visions and fearful of Kit, Sybil lashes out and attacks her after a heated argument. This fight leads to a horrific scene in which Kit is badly hurt, but also the discovery of something even more unbelievable. The group must struggle to keep Kit alive as they desperately search for someone who can fix her.

Chapter 7: The Maker, the Mother The group decides splitting up is the best course of action, as Sybil and Prue search for someone to help Kit while Jones stays to care for her. As Jones does, he is joined by the monster, which is seemingly peaceful for the time being and only focusing on Kit as she lays damaged. Sybil and Prue have time to themselves, and end up fighting and resolving some serious tension between them. Eventually they discover a scientist hidden away in the town, who appears to be the creator of Kit. Chapter 8: Answers Sybil and Prue demand answers from the woman, and tell her she must come to help Kit. The woman is surprised to hear her android has been broken, and the group undergoes a serious argument which ends in the scientist agreeing to come, help and tell them everything she knows. They learn that Kit was an attempt to communicate with the creature, that it is capable of channelling itself through her so that she can allow it to speak rather than just evoke emotions as it does in humans.

Chapter 9: Reunion and Revelations As the scientist brings Kit back to her former self, the group reunites. Sybil apologises for her actions, and Kit forgives her with the open minded-ness of a very young, naïve and caring android. They press the scientist for more answers, but soon learn that she intends to take Kit away. The group, now protective of their friend, refuse to let her condemn Kit to a life of servitude as a soulless robot. The scientist tries to take her by force, and is ultimately defeated by the very creature she’d been working to understand.

Chapter 10: Escape The group decides to use the scientists’ car in order to skip town together, and that Kit will come with them. They are faced with overcoming the town, and manage it with the help of their new companion, the very creature that had caused them to be stranded in the first place. As they leave without it, they decide to head back home to overcome the demons that lay behind them together.  

Character Profiles

Main characters:

Prue The Main character with the most focus, Prue is a 19 year old woman on the run from her abusive father. She is cunning, resourceful and brave but also self-righteous and judgemental. As the story unfolds Prue must struggle with her fear of her father, her relationships with her friends, her sexuality, coping with the loss of her sister and her internalised shame.

Sybil The loudest and most outgoing of the group, Sybil is an energetic, funny and adventurous risk taking 18 year old, who fights for attention and acts out to keep it. She is fiercely loyal towards her friends, pushing them to do what they need to and unwilling to give up on those she cares about. Her anger issues often get her in hot water, and her tendency to act self-absorbed is something many people dislike about her. She struggles with her self-esteem, her uncaring parents, her unrequited crush and her burning self-hatred.

Jones A quiet observer, Jones is the product of a fearful and sheltering mother who has made it almost impossible for him to find friendship in the world. At age 19 he was able to find people who changed him, and is in the process of learning who he is. Jones is insightful, kind-hearted and surprisingly wise. He struggles to find what he wants and works to understand his own identity and help others do the same. He must decide what healthy relationships are, what the future will bring him and help his new best friends as they help him in return.

Kit Living as an android, her existence is almost as mysterious as the creature with no face that haunts and follows her. Kit is programmed as a young adult, found in the town of Nightwalk with limited social skills and understanding of the world. As she learns from her new friends, Kit begins to understand more about herself and what it is to find friendship and love. She must learn just where she has come from, what she is meant to do and what the monster that follows them all means.

The Creature Described as only “the creature”, “the unknown” and “the monster” this thing with no name is the most prominent and physically terrifying part of the town. Its biology is unknown, its intentions are unknown and its numbers are unknown.

Minor characters

Prue’s father An abusive man, the very reason Prue had to run.

Prue’s sister A kind woman, who died in suspicious circumstances a year ago.

Sybil’s Parents Distant and never even named, they do not care about their daughter.

Jones’s mother Overbearing and critical, Jones ultimately runs from her control as well.

Kit’s creator/mother A scientist living in the town, trying to discover the town and creatures secrets whilst hiding underground.

Townspeople

Stari, Maggie, Ruth, Gregg, Arthur, Stevie, Rose

[teritcrawfordca]

The Speaker Profit Formula: How to Market, Maximize, and Monetize Your Business With Speaking

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET.  This is excerpted from my recent interview with David Newman, CSP. David is a Certified Speaking Professional, marketing expert, speaker, and founder of Do It! Marketing, a strategy and done-for-you services firm that specializes in working with executives and entrepreneurs who want to speak more profitably. He’s the creator of the Speaker Profit Formula mentoring program and hosts The Speaking Show, the #1 podcast for experts who want to speak more profitably. You can learn more at http://www.doitmarketing.com.  

SmallBizLady: How should we think about speaking as a marketing tool?

  David Newman: Speaking is an incredibly powerful tool because as an executive or entrepreneur, it gives you AUTHORITY at SCALE. If you’re standing up to speak in front of 100 of your ideal customers at an association meeting, there’s ONE of you and 99 of them! Speaking is also a powerful lead generator, but you need to build the “call to action” into your talk – otherwise, you won’t get leads. Part of what’s exciting is that in a hyper-connected online world, person to person connection at live events is THE #1 fastest path to intimacy and trust

SmallBizLady: Some executives and biz owners already speak at conferences. How can they get more ROI from those?

David Newman: Speaking as a marketing strategy needs three building blocks: content, connection, and conversion. The content you’re probably OK with – but even there, you could add more humor, stories, examples, and case studies. The connection is where you show your flaws and share that you didn’t always have this topic figured out. That makes you more relatable. The conversion part is what’s missing for most executives and entrepreneurs who speak. You need to use Persuasion Architecture – things like the “soft mention” or “seeding” your other products and services, adding genuine scarcity and exclusivity, and more.

SmallBizLady: What do executive and entrepreneurs tend to do wrong when it comes to speaking?

David Newman: The three things meeting planners and conference producers hate is: boring speakers, sales pitches, generic information. First tip – don’t be boring. Be authentically YOU – don’t try to be perfect, polished, and robotic. That will always work against you. It’s important that your speech “sells” from a place of service and genuinely wanting to help your audience. They can “smell” bad intent a mile away. Not doing pre-work before the event is another common trap – you must know your audience more than they know themselves. Not having a strong follow-up plan is also a huge missed opportunity. That means you don’t come home with leads, appointments, or sales.

SmallBizLady: Corporate speakers have different challenges than entrepreneurial speakers – what are the differences you see when working with them?

David Newman: Corporate speakers sometimes have to present canned corporate talks – that’s never good. Executive speakers also tend to not engage the audience and just “deliver” their information in a one-way data dump. The best kind of talks these days are onstage conversations that include lots of interaction and audience engagement. The days of “sage from the stage” are over and meeting planners tend to hire professional thinkers over professional “speakers.” This is GREAT news for most of us because it’s both popularizing and democratizing the stages that most of us want to be on.

SmallBizLady: What can corporate speakers learn from independent experts?

David Newman: What you almost never see is a corporate speaker give a “personal” story – which is the rocket fuel that moves most audiences to action. If corporate speakers want to establish a “speaker brand” they have to do MORE than deliver the canned corporate PowerPoint. There are so many smart executives and entrepreneurs who have not monetized their thought leadership. They should be writing more, blogging more, live streaming more, and becoming more visible and credible BEYOND the conference circuit.

SmallBizLady: What can entrepreneurial speakers learn from the corporate speakers they often share the platform with?

David Newman: Most executive talks have a good structure – they know how to convey information concisely and clearly. So many “creative” entrepreneurs deliver talks that are a disorganized hodgepodge of ideas not really connected to each other. Corporate speakers are also better at delivering consistency – that doesn’t mean boring – that means they deliver the goods the same way over and over. Corporate speakers are also better at restraining their inner happy puppy – meaning, they have nothing to prove and nothing to hide. That type of confidence works well for ANY speaker in any situation.

SmallBizLady: How about speaker videos? Is that a must-have?

David Newman: Yes and no. Do you have to have a killer video on Day 1? No, you don’t.  Eventually, you WILL need a good speaker video to demonstrate to meeting planners that you’ve got the goods! Best advice: become an educated consumer by watching other speaker videos and see what works and what suits your content and style. We also work with speakers on their videos, and I can tell you that the preparation beforehand is priceless. This is NOT about “just hire a local wedding videographer” to come to your next gig – there’s a lot more to a great speaker demo!

SmallBizLady: You’ve already written a great marketing book with Do It! Marketing – what’s the book you’re working on next?

David Newman: I’m just finishing it now, and it’s called Do It! Speaking: 77 instant-action ideas to market, monetize, and maximize your expertise. It’s all about how executives and entrepreneurs can use speaking as the ULTIMATE marketing strategy. Key ideas include how to get started, packaging, positioning, messaging, prospecting, sales, and how to maximize every speaking gig into more leads, prospects, and sales. I’m pretty excited about it even though it won’t be out for another 10 months. That’s the one flaw with traditional publishing = long process!

SmallBizLady: What was it that made you write this second book?

David Newman: I’ve been working with speakers, consultants, and experts since 2005 and in every marketing book, speaking only got a slim chapter. Because my clients have gotten so much from our work together, I wanted to put my speaker mentoring advice into book form.  This goes way beyond being a good speaker – in fact, there are hundreds of books on how to be a better presenter. There are very FEW books on how to monetize speaking that are written NOT just for professional speakers!

SmallBizLady: As people start to take their speaking more seriously as a lead generator and revenue generator, what are some first steps they should take?

David Newman: The first step is to just START – make some strategic decisions about whom you want to serve and what problems you want to solve. Figure out what that specific audience NEEDS to hear – what strategies, tactics, tools, practices, and principles are vital to their success? Build a talk around that – and focus it 100% on THEM – their pains, problems, heartaches, headaches, and challenges. Make sure your content is highly relevant, actionable, and not the same old crap they’ve heard before or could find on Google in 10 seconds. Clients don’t need more “information” – your talk should be about your INSIGHTS, opinions, recommendations, slants, biases, and perspectives.

SmallBizLady: What are the core tools every speaker needs to consider adding to their thought leadership toolkit?

David Newman: Obviously you need a website – if you have a website for your main business, you should add a tab or section called “Speaking.” Let people know you’re a speaker – add “speaker” to your bio on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook. Don’t say “public speaker” because that screams that you’re an amateur. Create a one-page PDF with two or three different speech topics – each topic should be 1 paragraph and 3-5 bullets of what the key points are. For executive and corporate speakers, I’m shocked at how few have an internal speakers bureau to promote their executives, and almost NONE of them have videos. Build a prospect list – we call this your “Active 20” – these are associations, corporations, and events where you’d be a good fit as a speaker. Start reaching out to them.

SmallBizLady: How can people get in touch with you and get more speaker-related resources, training, and tools?

David Newman: There are a lot of free resources on our website which is www.doitmarketing.com. We have a Top 50 business podcast on iTunes which folks can grab at www.TheSpeakingShow.com. And we have a free deep-dive web training at www.SpeakerProfitFormula.com that’s worth checking out. Other than that, my best advice is to get GOING on this stuff right now. Don’t wait for “someday” to add speaking to your marketing toolkit. The best way to market your smarts, gain credibility with your prospect community, and build trust quickly is to stand out every time you stand up to speak!

If you enjoyed this interview, please join us live on Twitter every Wednesday from 8-9 pm ET. Just follow the hashtag #Smallbizchat, and don’t forget to follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

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The post The Speaker Profit Formula: How to Market, Maximize, and Monetize Your Business With Speaking appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

from Teri Crawford Business Tips https://succeedasyourownboss.com/the-speaker-profit-formula-how-to-market-maximize-and-monetize-your-business-with-speaking/