#i feel bad for being an inconsistent writer/poster

[fatuismooches]

will u be writing more of ur long fragile reader x zandik?? 🤗

YES OFC!!! I NEVER WANT TO STOP WRITING LONG DOTER FICS </3

I guess i do have one idea rotating in my head - but it's angsty. Focusing more on the not-so-good side of being Dottore's lover. The angst of him diligently taking care of your health in the physical sense, but neglecting the emotional aspect. He's simply not there when you want him. He turns you away for any reason except a genuine emergency. He gets caught up in work and research and forgets things. He restricts you from doing things he deems potentially dangerous while not giving himself up as a solution. Maybe he doesn't notice how much you've withdrawn. Maybe he doesn't notice until it's too late in the end. (OMFG I SWEAR. i have such a good line for this kind of idea, i'm just going to put a small snippet here before i forget.)

Your eyes were usually an accurate indicator of your mood. You also shared this knowledge and always peered deep into his eyes when you were being serious, which was why Dottore tended to keep his mask on to avoid your prying gaze. When you truly were mad, your eyes could show whether you were just playing or really upset. When you were sad, your eyes would shimmer with sorrow or glow with mirth when trying to get your way. Your eyes always told Dottore how to fix the problem. But now, now your eyes hold nothing. No emotion, no feeling. Your eyes are empty, he's the cause, and he doesn't know how to fix it.

I plan to write my yearly birthday fic with fragile reader/dottore in July no matter how lazy i get as well (which i WILL NEED ideas on what to write this year)

I've also got flufftober slowlyyyyyy cooking up, which will include fragile reader ofc 😭🥺

(i also got to finish up those tea prompts, which may or may not include fragile reader)

So yes. Things will happen. Eventually. I WANT TO!!! But i also have bouts of unmotivation easily lol. I need to get a true spark of inspiration. Of course i'm always open to ideas. Whether i will click and zero in on an idea however depends on if it tickles my dottore brain.

[thejackalxi]

Watching "Kahmunrah Rides Again" for the FIRST TIME like...

(Final thoughts and disclaimers at the end, so hold all questions and comments for the end, please. For all my rantings and ravings, I do take a breath and anaylize this fairly and even have my own epiphany.)

Seeing "Kahmunrah Coming Soon" poster made me laugh like the immature boy that I am.

The voice acting is not great. No one sounds even remotely like the original actors, including the way they speak, their natural flow and line delivery doesnt feel beliavble, except for the Ricky Gervais sound-alike who actually was pretty close.

Worse than the voice acting is the dialogue itself. The writing is atrocious!

The scenes with Larry and Nick felt genuine and were actually written pretty nice, immediately followed up with a terrible clunky scene with Larry and his ex-wife.

Inconsistancies ABOUND! There's no Rebel Wilson character and Dr. McPhee doesn't know about the museum coming to life, and with the inclusion of Laa, yes, the script confirms that this takes place after the events of the 3rd film.

The candy bar scene got a chuckle out of me before the badly out of sync Teddy Roosevelt jumpscare. The animation itself is not...awful, that one shot just was sync'd weird.

Seriously, the scenes of Nick sharing dialogue with his dad are the best written bits, it's like being able to come up for air while otherwise drowning in a sea of stupid. I actually got a small chuckle out the Tokyo bathroom joke.

I really hate that Kahmunrah doesn't have his speech impediment...and looks nothing like Hank in NATM2.

WH-what is this voice he's doing? It's super inconsistant. He has an accent, then he doesn't have an accent, his voice is all over the place. At this point I'm completely convinced there was little to no vocal direction and Disney execs didn't care, they just wanted the tracks recorded and mixed by the end of the week. "This is all so bad."

"Ohh, it IS bad, and DON'T interupt me!" The movie is aware, heard my critique, and agrees 🤣 This was the hardest laugh I got out of watching this thing so far...

I HATE HATE HATE this writing and the line delivery *screams into hands, and notices there's still 50 minutes left to watch* Gotta keep going...maybe it gets better??

Personal nit pick, but if my handsome beefcake daddy Kah with massive biceps has superstrength in this cartoon pushing over a whole ass stone column, what sick character designer gave him pool noodle arms??? I mean, are you for real??? LOOK AT THOSE THICK TREETRUNKS, MAN! What sick monster drew him in this cartoon- whatever, it's fine. It's fine. It's just a cartoon, it's fine.

No, it's not fine! Listen! Kahmunrah's entire design in this animated movie is offensive and it deeply bothers me, I recognize that it shouldn't bother me, but it does, and it's wrong and I don't like it...Ill tell ya how I really feel, I don't particularly care for this cartoon....*takes a breath* Moving on...

Ugh...and the poster of Merenkare looks NOTHING like Ben Kingsley either *sigh* Im kind of glad Ahkmenrah is M.I.a. from this film because I'm sure the character designer knew they couldn't replicate Rami Malek's angelic beauty and perfectly capture his face, so they just didnt bother.

stop...this dialogue is so unfunny and delivered so baddddd *cries*

"Technically he was never a pharaoh because [insert badly written quick exposition]" FALSE!! First of all, Teddy, you weren't there, so shut your goddam moustachio'd mouth. Second, if the writer of this thing had watched ANY of the movies or done any research into this franchise (they clearly didn't, who am I kidding), Kahmunrah WAS passed over and the throne given to his little brother Ahkmenrah who, after only a year on the throne, was violently murdered by Kahmunrah and reclaimed his rightful place on the throne for 17 years before he passed. Did anyone on this production think to ask the original writers or Shawn Levy for creative consultation? Of course not, because it's Night at the Museum now owned by Disney, they don't care to fact check...or even glabce at the original source material 😒 (Turns out yes, they did and they just forgot their own established canon. Don't you be tryin to take away my man's title of Pharaoh, how very dare!)

Yet, they included Joan of Arc who appeared in a NATM spin off junior novel following Nick. Kinda disappointed she's not voiced by Nicole Sullivan 🤣 jk, this actress is good for Joan, Im just a sucker for Clone High.

"Let's dance." Kahmunrah draws khopesh (hot)

"No dancing, just swords." Joan replies. I actually giggled, that was cute, until,

"Silly girl, that was a metaphor! A metaphor is not literal-"

Dammit movie!! Stop killing your own jokes by pointing out why the joke is meant to be funny! Stop! Let me just TRY to have a laugh! This dialogue is just bad. Please don't follow up your jokes with, "See, that's funny BECAUSE-" Stop! We get the joke, it's annoying! I get they were trying to match the improv comedy tone of NATM, but they failed so hard doing so!

*Kahmunrah talks more*

BRO, PICK A VOICE! PICK JUST A SINGLE TONE, PICK A LANE! PICK ONE ACCENT AND STICK WITH IT! One minute you sound like if Hank Azaria was on ALL of the drugs, a Mark Hamill's Joker-esque tone, then you sound insanely British, now you have an American accent, some sort of demented gremlin voice, and now sound like Jafar?? PICK A VOICE, MAN!! And of all these voices, still no teeth lisp. A crime.

"Don't eat me, or this will be a very short movie!" Please do, a fourth wall joke doesn't work for Kahmunrah, that really should be Teddy Roosevelt's shtick.

Also REALLY bothers me that they made Jedediah a freckled red head.

"Let gho of me you Phillestines!" And now Kahmunrah is Mark Hamill? Why...did he deliver that line like the Joker?

"I need backup, the ULTIMATE backup." Now he's what, Haas Delgado? What are these vocal choices his actor is doing?

Also, not the voice actors fault here, but why is Kahmunrah's khopesh sheethed in the back inside his tunic like that? Is his blade nestled in his ass crack? 😂 Why animators did you make such a terrible choice??? He could've had a sheath at his hip, but...why in the back like this???

There's still 40 minutes left, HOW???

And again, just when I feel like we've settled into an American scary guy voice for Kah, he slips into the Joker again. brah....brah...come on.

Seth's accent isn't very tight or consistant either, but I'm so exhausted by the insanity of Kahmunrah's vocal deliveries to really care. Speaking of which, he alives a Scorpion statue and his voice COMPLETELY changes tone and delivery style... again. I know I could just stop watching, but Ive made a comittment to see it through.

"Is it really bad?..." Teddy asks, Nick and I happen to say at the same time, "Yeah, it's still really bad." (Though we're clearly not talking about the same thing) 😂

Seriously, the khopesh is like RIGHT down the crack of his ass!!

"I smell Kahmunrah's musk-" YOU SMELL WHAT?! You know his SCENT?

"Fire burn." "I know the feeling." DAMMIT JOAN! 🤣 Ya got me on that one.

Aw, this scene building Nick up, this was nice. A breath of air before Im sure it goes back to shit quickly...

A fart joke, yup. Sadly I was right.

Yup, and then the movie reminds us that Robin Williams would've had a funny improv bit as Teddy, except it would be actually funny and naturally paced, and the other characters would be chuckling and trying not to bust up laughing, and not a phoned-in unfunny delivery like it is here in this cartoon where the characters are annoyed and critisize Teddy's reminiscing. I miss Robin so much. He was such a light on this world.

"We have an hour left before sunrise, come on!" Well, once again the franchise doesn't seem to understand how short an hour actually is. You're two hours deep into Ancient Egypt, you still have to stop Kahmunrah, leave the portal, get through the Art Museum, back on the Subway to get to the Natural History Museum...all in the span of an hour...Sure (Yes, they find a way to get home in time, that's the point, I know).

Jedediah shouts, "Don't forget to swallow!" I have died!

"Once I insert my tablet into the sarcophagus-" ...*slowly raises eyebrow* Once you insert WHAT now??? "My army will RISE!" ...sir... I hate your voice, I despise so much of the dialogue throughout this movie, but THAT line *slow clap* truly a masterpiece, *chef's kiss* Thank you to whomever wrote that line for me.

"We can't let that bully win." "Bully!....I mean, yes I agree." Oh now with less than 20 minutes I'm mildly enjoying myself.

And the "heiroglyph" of the 2nd chord to the combination in the MIDDLE of the tablet looks like :===

This cartoon has turned SUPER innuendo-y all of a sudden 🤣

HELL YEAH! A jackal army is WAY COOLER a birdmen army in my personal opinion. Damn, if only the voice actor had actually tried to sound like Hank (or if the vocal director didn't at his job) and Kahmunrah's design wasn't so awkward, I'd say that's insanely hot...Imagining Hank Azaria's Kahmunrah commanding a muscled canine-man army is one of the sexiest sounding things I could imagine...too bad it only exsists in this cartoon without Hank and not live action WITH Hank (obviously) 🥲

"Yes, my minions, ATTACK!" Now, imagine that line said in a commanding English accent and a forward lisp, while pointing with a big muscular arm....HOT!

UGHHH Why...why was he drAWN WITH STICK ARMS? *personal breakdown for the hundredth time watching this hour and 10 minute cartoon movie*

"Fine, then leave Son of Larry..."draws sword, "to me!" delivered in what I can only describe as freaky goblin voice. Why...? This...this would be so sexy, except everything is wrong.

That's it, I'm transcribing every bit of his dialogue and recording what he SHOULD sound like, and y'all will agree, they should've brought Hank back for this!

This weird goblin voice...this is the voice he's settled on now I guess, er...nope, nope, apparently we're going back to sounding like Jafar. Good god, just let this movie end.

They're using a poster of the natural history museum to get back while they're in a painting at another museum...I don't think that's how that would work, but I don't...I don't care, I want this to just be over.

Teddy, why are you not freezing with Texas-? Augh, who cares?

So Shawn Levy AND Chris Columbus produced this??? How much of a hand did they really have in this, because it was a nightmare.

*Does some Googling*...The AUTHOR of the original Night at the Museum children's book that the franchise is based on was one of the screenwriters? Did NOT see that one coming!

All in all, this movie got a few chuckles out of me, and the plot is pretty much a re-skinned version of Night at the Museum 2 Battle for the Smithsonian. It's not a bad concept, just a little weak as a final installment to the franchise.

My biggest issues come from the predominantly awkward dialogue, the joke murdering, granted it's hard to translate that vibe and live action comedic improv that leans more mature into a cartoon movie for a younger audience. The writers were bound to their screenplay and didnt have the luxury of improvizational comedy gold from the likes of the original NATM cast. With what they were constrained to, they tried their best, sometimes jokes worked, but most of the time it just didn't.

Some of the character designs were wonky, but I didn't mind the art style itself, Im just nit picky about the choices in Kahmunrah's design and his overall color palette.

But above all, the voice acting was ROUGH in places! Some performances were great, Joan was solid, Jed surprised me in the end when he finally started to sound like Owen Wilson, the Ricky Gervais sound-alike was decent enough, and Joshua Bassett as Nick was pretty decent as well, but Teddy Roosevelt, do I need to say it? No one will ever be Robin Williams, but Disney could've found a sound-alike.

And FINALLY, my guy, Mr. Joseph Kamal...what were you doin, man?

I mean, I tried to keep an open mind, and I am all for a voice actor putting their own spin on a character performance, but my man, this was not good, and I'm really disappointed.

*RESEARCHES Kamal's IMDB page* SOooo, in...SOME fairness, this was only his 2nd ever voice acting/voice over role. He's only ever done minor acting roles in serious television dramas or soap operas.

That being said, as a freelance voice over artist and voice actor, voice acting is NOT easy, especially when you have BIG BIG BIGGG shoes to fill from long time crazy-talented voice actor Hank Azaria. I just think Kamal was simply miscast into a role that was too much for him to take on. And I also blame whoever was in charge of vocal direction. Sometimes for voice actors, without a strong director, in a big vocal performance, the choices made in a delivery are too vast, like throwing darts into the universe while blind folded. You just kinda throw a variety of deliveries out there and ultimately it's up to the director and the editor which takes to go with.

Maybe that was it! Kamal did multiple deliveries of lines with varying styles because again, lack of strong direction, and the editor ultimately just threw these unfitting takes together making Kahmunrah sound batshit insane in not a good or well executed way...I wanna give this guy the benefit of the doubt.

3/10 There were ideas here, but this movie was painful to get through.

[thisdungeonearth]

what are your gripes with elden ring?

to be honest i don't hate it as much as it sounds like i do i think the fact so few people see what i see and how unbelievably successful it is compared to their other games (given a lot of this is due to reasons i completely understand and Do like about elden ring like the significantly more open potential for builds and also the fact i understand most don't want to just break into a series three games deep and bloodborne isn't exactly accessible like elden ring is) just makes me crazy and there Are lots of things i like about it gestures to how much shit is in my elden ring tag HOWEVER. now a cut because i am not going to be able to be concise

i think that its largeness and openness does not lend itself to the way fromsoft games generally tell stories and that a lot falls apart on that level both on a gameplay level and story level because of simply How Much it needs to cover and while obviously information you're given has never lined up perfectly in other significant games of theirs in this specific case it feels more like writers genuinely not being on the same page than a deliberate warping of time and reality/biased sources/any other number of reasons for inconsistencies in other games. many of the boss fights are some of the worst designed in the series and even though i think the dlc is significantly better than the base game story-wise, probably largely because of the by design less open-ended progression, many of the dlc bosses are VERY good examples of this. and while they've never been like Incredible about women it's always been to a standard i expect from ~*dark fantasy*~ pseudo-medieval settings like it, but elden ring just feels more opposed to any free will for women than any of the previous games have. even though the lands between are in concept a matriarchy due to the greater will enforcing marika's rule and her vision of reality/the matriarchal system she herself grew up in (and even then this is not Completely the case as these structures of power still rely upon men as their Physical warrior class and enforcers of violence) and are therefore at least not explicitly as informed by real-world gendered dynamics of the VERY broad time period they're inspired by, almost every female npc's personhood is owed to a male relative, malenia is their poster child/their Lady Maria 2.0 Powerful Lady Boss and even then owes her physical ability to her brother and her skill to a male mentor and doesn't have a fraction of the personality or substance of her siblings including the dead one or the one eating corpses like a dog (AND I DO NOT AT ALL LIKE RADAHN SO DO NOT TAKE THIS AS RADAHN LOVER COPE), even marika as previously alluded to doles out her genocides to her husband and brother and the man she shares a body with no matter how bad people want to ooooo buff dommy mommy her and i'm NOT saying the ultimate feminist act is women getting to wipe people out too but i am saying despite the rules the GAME ITSELF dictated of the way the world works it is still too dedicated to centering on men to even allow the god-queen matriarch to exact her own violence and quite literally only demihumans defined by their primal nature and true fingers-worshippers defined by the extraterrestrial nature of the fingers Actually operate under female rule. i also think that despite the presence of the girl companion throughout so many of their games and how obviously a character that exists to serve you only have so much capacity for depth melina is a very flat character in comparison to others of her sort and if you'd asked me months ago i'd have more to say about that but now that i've been most of the way through ac6 and am aware of what ayre is like i can appreciate melina's character a lot more L O L. in fact i've gotten so mad about ac6 that i can't think of anything else to talk about here even though i know i have it oh well. but once again i do not truly Dislike elden ring it's my least favorite under the soulsborne umbrella if you will but i do have it 100%ed with like probably a few hundred hours in it between console and pc and i'd still rather play it than the overwhelming majority of other major video games but i don't think it's nearly as good as any of the mechanically similar games fromsoft has written and once again even though i understand why it got so popular i do think that it's introduced a lot of people who have no desire to do any thinking for themselves and expect to be spoonfed to a series that necessitates putting things together for yourself and this makes trying to engage with it especially frustrating

[kathleenkatmary]

I will say it over and over again until I have no voice to say it with... FRAMING. MATTERS.

EDIT: Okay, I'm going to expand on this because I remembered that there have been multiple times when I've said this that someone truly did not know what I'm talking about.

Framing matters. The way a narrative frames a character and their actions matters. In so many different ways. It matters to the message the writers are trying to send. It matter to the message that is actually sent. It matter to what the character and their actions end up meaning or representing with in the narrative. And it matters to how the audience perceives and feels about the character.

Obviously, that last bit is what matters here. The way a character and their actions are framed within the narrative can be consistent with the things they do and say, or it can be inconsistent with the things they do and say. And Spike and Xander actually serve as a really good demonstration of this. As has already been pointed out, when Spike does something bad and toxic and fucked up, more often than not it's framed as such. Yes, from pretty early on he was written to be far more complex than just the unambiguous bad guy, and from season 4 on in particular he's given an arc that gives him more and more chances to do good things and to do the right thing, and for increasingly less selfish reasons. But the narrative never treats those things as some sort of get out of jail free card that frames everything he does as good and not selfish. His toxic bullshit is still framed as toxic bullshit. Are there a few moments here and there where things he does aren't appropriately framed? Sure, probably. But you're going to find that in a pretty much any show, because no show is perfect.

Xander, on the other hand, is pretty regularly (as the poster above says, at least 50% of the time) framed in a way that is not consistent with the way he behaves. Not only is he framed as the loveable loser harmless best friend, he's also more than once framed in ways that treat him doing the literal bare minimum of not being a horrible person as though he's some kind of ultimate good guy hero (him not taking advantage of Buffy when she was under the love spell and the way he's treated for that is a great example) or that treat his really gross and toxic ideas and attitudes as being completely correct (the bullshit he spouted when Riley gave Buffy the ultimatum). Even when his attitudes or behavior is framed appropriately, it's usually stuff that's brushed off pretty easily, even when it has dire consequences (like him not telling Buffy that Willow was going to do the spell to give Angel his soul back).

Now, of course, framing isn't the only thing that determines how an audience will react to characters. For one thing, there are plenty of instances of fans just going crazy over characters who are framed as being heroes or desirable romantic leads even though that framing is inconsistent with how they actually behave and the things they actually do. And there are plenty of other things that go into how an audience reacts to a character. There are certain character traits, from aspects of their personality to just bits of their design, that will make a character more appealing. Especially when it comes to online audiences.

So yeah, Spike as a character hitting a lot of those "fandom favorite" boxes almost certainly contributes to people favoring him to at least some extent. But I think the framing really is the big thing here that makes people so much more likely to favor Spike, and so much more likely to call out Xander. The narrative is pretty regularly calling out Spike. His behavior is weird and creepy and the narrative points that out regularly. So it's not really something the fandom needs to do. Going online and being like "so, Spike kidnapping Buffy, tying her up, and telling her he's going to kill his ex girlfriend in front of her to prove his love is so creepy and toxic, right?" isn't really necessary because... yeah. The narrative knows it, and therefor so does the vast majority of the audience. But with Xander that is not something the narrative usually does. When he, for example, condescendingly corrects Anya, the narrative doesn't treat that critically, it treats it as a funny thing that Xander is probably right to do. When he agrees with everything Riley said when he gave Buffy that ultimatum and treats Buffy like she's the problem in that relationship, it doesn't frame him as wrong, or as projecting so many of his own issues with women and with Buffy in particular onto the situation. He's framed as the man talking sense into Buffy. So it does fall on the audience to call it out, and to call the show out for not doing it.

Like I said, inconsistent framing isn't something that an audience always notices, but with a show like Buffy, where a lot of - really, I would even say most of - the characters are usually appropriately framed, and where you do have an instance of a guy's creepy, toxic behavior appropriately framed, I think that makes it easier for viewers to clock it when there's a character that isn't being appropriately framed. Even if viewers doing consciously realize it's why they're reacting negatively to a character. Personally, I think that's also at least part of the reason a lot of people don't react well to Riley. It's not because he's 'boring' or because they ship Buffy with someone else and he 'gets in the way', or whatever. At least, not completely. I really think the way his character was framed, especially in season 5, was often not really in line with what was actually happening with the character, and people could feel that.

Are there Spike fans who just completely ignore it all, ignore the framing and all the shitty, creepy, toxic shit Spike has done so that they can feel like they're allowed to like him 'guilt free', or so they can engage with the character completely uncritically? Sure. Of course. Any character with any amount of fanbase is going to have people who do that. It's just a part of fandom. And I'm not going to act like Spike doesn't check a lot of boxes of typical "fandom favorite" types, and that is going to make people more likely to be drawn to him as a character. But there's a lot of critical analysis of Buffy that happens, even just in online fandom spaces, analysis that goes far deeper than just that kind of more surface level fandom engagement. And even then, so much of what you see is incredibly critical of Xander and the way he's written while being much more favorable to Spike and the way he's written. That's not just fangirls ignoring the bad stuff their fav does while dogpiling on another character. That's people recognizing the problems with Xander's writing and the very stark difference in the framing between Xander and Spike.

At the end of the day, fictional characters are not real people. The way they're written and how audiences react to them is about a lot more than just the way a character behaves and the things they say and do. There's a lot more that goes into it, and framing is a big part of it.

ok I’m only on season 5 but can someone explain to me how Xander is the universally hated one for, from what I can tell, some bad choices and worse jokes, while Spike, the fandom’s babygirl and beloved heartthrob, literally stalks Buffy, holds her captive, and then commissions a robot version of her when it’s made clear he’ll never have her. like someone please explain it because the math is not mathing.

[turbobyakuren]

Sorry Maria but you know I gotta ask for those Nasuverse takes

Fate/Grand Order is one of the most ambitious directions the nasuverse has ever been and i think it makes me profoundly sad that a bunch of nonsensical directions completely ruin the appeal of the stories and the desire to follow them to me, such as: inability to read past events (including events that are critical to the main story plot, though this is getting better), art direction that is IMO just way too inconsistent in quality for me, character writing that can get super cliche at times and the tendency for the writers to ruin their own characters (and that's even worse in light-hearted events.)

Sub-opinion on F/GO but i genuinely believe at this point Fate/Grand Order just feels inaccessible to newcomers. Both in terms of characters in gacha (way too many limited, why???) and story content to catch up. I can't imagine myself recommending it to new people fdnsjfnqsf you really had to get access to it at a certain point i believe.

I do not understand it when people ask "how do i get into fate?" and people recommend them literally everything on Earth except the most obvious answer: the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel. I think the other Fate/ media vary too much in quality and requires you to know a certain extent of the Lore that is contained in Fate/Stay Night to be palatable to newcomers. Most "how do i get into fate?" questions shouldn't get 500 answers with "watch orders" (why!!!!!) they should get a fucking nyaa torrent link to the Realta Nua VN with the english patch. Speaking of which this is why i want an official english release of Fate/Stay Night because at least it would be accessible. tl;dr: if someone asks them "what's the watch order for fate" tell them there is NO watch order, give them a link to realta nua and tell them to read all 3 route and then explore anything they want from there

While i did enjoy Fate/Zero, if you recommend Fate/Zero to someone new to Fate as the first thing to watch i will nail posters of Kotomine Kirei on all your walls like that one Maizono room.

I hate Tamamo Vitch with all fibers of my being. I hate her so much. Most badly written character ever. Made me singlehandedly quit FGO. Years of hinting and teasing for something as bad as this. Lol.

I think the concept of Nasuverse's Magecraft as a whole and the way it's handled around regardless of the verse is absolutely bitchin'. I love it so much. It's literally the best thing on earth. I will eat it for breakfast.

[bagofbonesmp3]

So what's wrong with Loki TV? I wouldn't expect the MCU character to properly resemble any Loki from comics (especially because MCU Loki is effectively a different character every time he appears thanks to inconsistent writing and no one working together to ensure a coherent narrative), but am I missing something here in why they've made a mistake? I do greatly enjoy the series for what it is on its own.

i don't particularly love the series. i like making fun of Loki and the aesthetics are cool but to be honest.... i don't really care about the show anymore. before talking about the aspect of the show itself i don't like, there is the issue of the evident misogynoir of the show, which bothered me specially after the last episode.

(cw for misogynoir)

it's become evident how little the (white) show runners care about the female black characters (ravonna, hunter b-15 and hunter c-20). ravonna has had little character development asides from being a strict antagonistic character, who just keeps on intruding on Loki and Sylvie's plans for no reason apparent (that we've seen). b-15 is another black female character that gets ridiculed constantly by Loki, used by Sylvie to escape and so far I've only seen her be used as a comedic relief or an enabler for the plot, with little to no information about who she is as a character (unlike Owen Wilson, who has the same position in the agency but has way more character development). lastly, hunter c-20 gets used, hypnotized and then killed off screen by the titular white woman. these are all the black female characters in the tv show. also let's mention the fact that they get assigned numbers as names unlike Mobius does. interesting. all of these characters are either antagonists or victims with no agency. it's very fucked up to say the least. i was excited for gugu mbatha raw and wunmi mosaku to be casted in a marvel project, but the way they've been treated so far is frankly awful. this is not exclusive to the Loki show, wand*vision had the same issue with monica's character.

now with the show narratively:

the first two episodes were very strong. they focused on the mechanics of the world, loki's character and how he felt about this new environment, and the humor (which the writers are known for). but onwards, with the introduction of Sylvie's character, it stopped... being loki's show? i get that she's supposed to be another Loki but we're here for the Loki Loki guy! he's in all of the posters!!! why are we suddenly treating him like a secondary character? he just asks questions and reacts to situations. i don't care about Sylvie. also there are a bunch of plot holes in universe but that's a minor thing.

from a Loki Fan™️ standpoint:

look ngl, this must only bother me because I'm a Loki comics fan, although this IS an MCU issue in general... and that is using imagery or plot points from the comics without the actual story that makes them relevant. this is the case with Sylvie's broken horn crown, which has a whole reason to be in the comics, but here it's just a stylistic choice. and i have a feeling this is also gonna happen with kid Loki and king loki's appearance in the next episodes. they're gonna be stripped away from their meanings and be given a funny, ridiculous backstory. this is an MCU thing. they love to mock the source material and then use their imagery or concepts (and they usually execute them in a mediocre or just bad way). of course i don't expect it to be comics accurate, or to adapt these storylines right, but then simply... don't borrow from them? do your own thing? it's specially nasty because they've credited the writers and artists who made these concepts, took what they wanted from their stories, and then they mock them. loki in the MCU was always incapable to be comics Loki. but they're having all of these elements from the newer comics in their show with none of the soul.

and as an extra, hi I'm genderfluid and bisexual

why are you like this marvel!!! stop profiting from lgbt identities and then give them scraps you cunt!! i would prefer Loki remained a cishet character at this point, if I'm being honest. that little blink and then miss it moment did nothing for me. and then have the AUDACITY to market him as genderfluid, and make the "female Loki" another whole different character? there was a post that said "the Loki show had the genderfluid character be a cis man and a cis woman" AND LITERALLY that's how it feels. they didn't even paint his nails smh. Loki means a lot to me as a trans person. his latest arcs specially. i don't care about marvel's terrible rainbow capitalism. I'd rather have no rep than bad rep.

overall, i think the show is just another one of marvel's flawed and mediocre products. I'll stick around to see how it turns out, but my previous expectations of it just being a funny wacky show with small emotional moments is gone i just know it's gonna be an action packed series trying to be epic and groundbreaking and failing to do it

[kitkatopinions]

Many RWDE posters: *Posts about how the main characters need more development and focus, especially Team RWBY. Posts about plot inconsistencies. Posts about flaws characters made that are ignored or excused. Posts about retcons. Posts about how some characters have been ill used. Posts about the inconsistent or not well carried out moral messages. Posts about queer baiting in RWBY. Posts about AU ideas and ships. Posts about how ill handled and harmful some of the handling of real world situations has been. Posts about not liking this or that character or that ship which personally affects their enjoyment level of the show. Posts about how the relationships among the main cast need to be fleshed out. Posts about some story decisions don’t make sense to them. Posts about how the magic system has been ill used. Posts about how some of the moral messages the narrative has been pushing affect the show in a negative way. Posts about how the designs are either flawed or personally unappealing. Posts about how the world building in RWBY is lacking. Posts about how the character bloat problem has become hard to get past. Posts about not liking the music or voice acting. Posts about antisemitism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and sexism that has been in the show or been seen in the writers. Posts about how the power scaling and fighting is sometimes bad or about how characters sometimes seem to forget they have super powers. Posts about the lack of commitment to following through on some character or story plots. Posts analyzes of various things. Posts vent posts about some story plots or directions they just don’t like. Posts theories both about how things might go good in season 9 and about how things might go bad. Posts alterations or ideas for things like world building, magic systems, storyline, character dynamics and directions. Etc. Etc. Etc.*

Those RWDE posters: “...Also I like Ironwood and feel like his character was really mishandled.”

RWBY simps: “Well, it’s clear you’re just a bootlicker who hates women and gay people who only likes manly men! You’re all so stupid, you missed that this isn’t a show about Ironwood, okay? I bet all of you are straight, all of you just want to make out with Ironwood and you’re making excuses! You keep making excuses for Ironwood being a murderer! You edge-lord juvenile idiots, we all know you have nothing worthwhile to complain about with this brilliant work of art!”

RWDE posters: “Actually a lot of RWDE posters are talking about how Team RWBY ought to get more growth and screen time and most of us are pushing for more open LGBTQ+ rep, since this is presented as a progressive show about kickass girls and yet they get shafted for-”

RWBY simps: “Oh my god, and now you’re accusing the amazing writers of bigotry for no reason! Vile, baseless attacks! I couldn’t imagine ever assuming someone is bigoted just because I don’t like what they say! Bad faith arguments!”

RWDE posters: “But you just said that about RWDE posters!”

RWBY simps: *Posting on their own blog.* “OMG YOU GUYS! Pressed members of the HTDM are attacking me now because they misunderstood what I said LOLOLOL! Anyway, just so everyone knows, if you say anything bad about MKEK, that means you’re a bad person! Keep loving and stay strong, RWBY fans!”

NOTE: This is a somewhat exaggerated vent post based on my frustrations and not based on an actual conversation. It’s just that I’ve been thinking about a lot of Anti // RWDE posts and how weird and bad some of the takes are. XD

[itoldheraboutyou]

i just binged to my star and let me just tell you right off the bat, i’m confused lol. like the first 3 episodes are extremely promising and interesting and then it all goes downhill. when doing such a short bl they really have to find the perfect transition point into this is no longer the beginning we’re into the story now because if they don’t, they run the risk of it either being on episode 6 and the audience is still struggling to grasp characters or it’s on episode 6 and nothing has happened yet. i unfortunately think to my star falls victim to the first one. and it’s not because these characters are static but rather there wasn’t enough time to flesh them out so there’s inconsistencies. for example, seojoon is like 3 different characters in one. one minute he’s a lonely, misunderstood actor who’s learning the effects of the industry but is entitled because he’s grown used to it to i’m goofy and kind of a himbo who’s actually self aware of how what he does affects others. or how we still don’t know exactly how or why their lives intersect in the first place.

also, the jump from ep 4-5 feels beyond off. i felt like i missed an episode in between. like i get that the montage / sequence in the beginning of ep 5 is to show them growing close but it’s way too soon for me, nothing significant was shown besides their ONE semi deep conversation to warrant jiwoo’s huge switch. like i got whiplash when he shielded seojoon from looking at a graffitied poster of himself, the feelings could just not have realistically jumped to seojoon being jiwoo’s first priority when a minor accident happens when they only just had their first comfortable conversation and jiwoo only just started to understand him. but the thing is if they were given one more ep in between, that would probably resolve the issue.

and then the absolutely RANDOM mention of the parents that they just threw in there. like that seemed like an important part of the plot but i don’t think the writers could decide whether or not they wanted it to be ? which is a running theme i’ve noticed. i think the because they were so cut for time the writers really struggled to identify what was important and what wasn’t and the dialogue specifically suffered because of it. but i’ll blame a good portion of that on translation and digress.

i did actually really like the scenes in seojoon’s “favorite place” though, because it’s really the first time we see jiwoo open up at all. he’s uptight and stoic until seojoon basically forces any other emotion out of him which is a fun dynamic that i enjoy. but, and this might be a nitpick, they never actually show seojoon’s favorite place ? like i’m calling it seojoon’s favorite place because they never actually have any b-roll footage of it or any b-roll footage at all and that bothered me. the cinematography in general was subpar, like i can only pick out one or two times where i was like oh that shot wasn’t bad. it never created an atmosphere or really worked to the plots advantage at all which is what it should be used for. the sets were working overtime to compensate for the camera work. like their kitchen is beautiful, there’s enough detail in the apartment to tell you something about jiwoo but also mold to fit seojoon, the restaurant is modern but quaint enough for jiwoo to work there. too bad thats overshadowed.

this may sound weird because this analysis has been mostly negative but overall, despite my critiques, it’s a good little watch. the actors have enough chemistry to where it can keep your attention and also root for them. like if they had more episodes i don’t doubt it probably would’ve been great because again, the plot is extremely intriguing.

[bat-lings]

The current characterisation of Bruce is simply. Wrong. Like it logically does not make sense for Bruce to be discompassionate or cruel on purpose, because I feel like all his major decisions are direct proof of his compassion and kindness. Training to become Batman and stand on par with literal gods is no easy feat, why would a child put himself through all that rigorous training? To be able to ensure that other people don't face what he did, that's compassion. (1)

"(2)I agree 100% with what you say about him being well meaning but still in the wrong, repeatedly; I just need to say that Batman being cruel is ILLOGICALLY out of character. All the sweat and blood that went into becoming Batman HAS to be driven by compassion, because being Batman doesn't benefit him at all; to do something so difficult and gruelling when it doesn't benefit you at all has to be driven by an overwhelming amount of compassion and empathy. TL;DR dc writers are fucking STUPID."

"3) Bruce, who apparently has canonically studied law, should know very well that child abuse is a criminal offence, similar to the very natural of brutal crime that he set out to fight, it is logically inconsistent to have him be abusive to kids. This is a person who set out to right the wrongs done to innocent people in Gotham (including the ones who were driven to crime by necessity!), It is bad characterization to have him terrorize innocent people in his control. (Sorry for the rant)"

About this.

White I mainly agree with you, the problem remains that the current characterization* of Bruce is... what it is. No matter how nonsensical and downright offending it may be, it’s what is "canon" right now, and if people don’t want to dwell into decades of older comics to rationalize why Bruce shouldn’t be written as an abuser, I can’t really blame them. It’s natural for his fans to feel robbed; it’s also natural for other readers to call bullshit and not want to bother with the character.

*Plus and as the "tired of Bruce" anon pointed out, this isn’t solely a current-canon problem. There’s a strong trend these days in writing Bruce as a somber parody, sure, but it happened in preboot too. Perhaps all the occurrences that we dismissed as OOC marked other readers differently. The more it goes, the more Bruce feels like he’s suffering the same fate as Talia tbh.

I agree on that Bruce should (and originally was dammit) be, foremost, a compassionate and well-meaning character. We’re talking a guy who suits up at night to take justice into his own hands. Bruce needs to be compassionate, needs to be willing to offer second chances, needs to be fundamentally kind in spite of his many missteps; else he can be turned into a poster-boy for fascism, Frank Miller style. I just feel the writers don’t think about what is/should be the essence of the character and why. Yet he’s still inevitably framed as a hero and when the characterization doesn’t follow it feels... highly uneasy at best.

[davidddbojay]

lost in mysterious shades

no aid to what I have played

(myself)

falling into an illusion

the pursuit of love

there's no need to desire if it's all around

yet, I'm alone in bed wanting to hold someone to sleep

the memories are deep

I question what I truly seek

practicing everyday to communicate feelings

art is the result

expression through mediums

I've always known.. this is what I would do

there's no room for people like me, so I'll remain in solitude

(i have so many new posters to hang up)

my week has been weird, I sleep a lot these days... it's not that I want to... I wake up and lay... think... long for her...

my eyes slowly begin to close until...

IT'S FUCKING 1 PM AND I THINK TO MYSELF... I COULD'VE BEEN DOING SHIT...

(I reason with myself..."you do work from 10 to 3am...every night of the week)

I'm not used to my schedule

growing up after college kind of sucks... where I want to be will take some work

(mostly financially)

a stable job... my own place... solitude... good weed...

soon.. I hope

I've been doing my best to overcome yesterdays "self"

even though I know ultimately there is no "self"

little day by day accomplishments drives the human

let me be human with inconsistent reasoning and carelessnes... I'll learn from it

... and also be nothing.. at the same time?

isn't it all the same

anyway, it's 4:39 am and I always wonder why I'm so drawn to specifying the time in some of my poems

it's not that deep... I promise

maybe I should be the first person to introduce cubist poetry??

could that be a thing??

just write about different times in my life in a "poetic manner" and jumping to when I was 10 years old busting my first nut

the internet was weird for me those days

soccer compilation vids of my idols and porn

(writer later on becomes a monster and commits suicide)

(in my dreams)

anyway

these days... I feel alive, I was talking to this girl but I know... it won't work

time requires some entertainment and I'm just... a piece of shit when it comes to feeling something for someone other than who I'd want to... start a family with...

I know right

those hopes have evaporated into nothingness and I'm here... I'm capable

different people make me realize different things about myself

that's why I choose to expose myself... their way of being changes when I let them know... it's okay to be, no pressure

no ego

we're just a shit load of atoms... communicating

(I don't want to believe in anything)

I want to learn so many instruments

stringed

percussion

fuck

I'm on a good track.... I believe

I wan't to write my parents symphonies

and the girl I miss...

I always comeback to that

thinking about what to type

live for my wrongs to make them right

go through the dark to get to the light

fear no repercussions, out of perspective sight

I feel like I've gone off track

it's been a long day

I can't wait to wake up tomorrow

I might go get some kolaches later... my spot opens in 4 minutes

should.. I leave now???

mm.... I'll give it 30 minutes

after I post this I may lay down and fall asleep though

I never have the desire to eat in the morning

gives me more time to plan what I'm going to stuff my face in later on

intermittent fasting bro

I hear you can sell your art via crypto currency...I've also made research about how it's bad for the environment???

weird... but I want to give the future generations more time to solve modern day dilemmas... like that shit

it'd be dumb if I fell asleep mid sentence and my computer died... I'm actually pretty tired... I closed my eyes for 10 seconds and thought 30 minutes had gone by... I'm... hungry though (lol)

I think I will go out for those kolaches after fucking all (as my eyes close slowly)

I'm here... awake...listening to Polyphia

getting hype

this solo

how the fuck??

my days are numbered

so are yours

we will all vanish... every word people say about us after we're gone means nothing but will be missed somehow

I'm going to end it here

the poem

hahaha

I have... a lot to live for

finally

[mysilverylining]

Don’t Renew Veronica Mars for S5

One of our Burned Marshmallows received a response from @hulu this morning claiming that the forum we were directed to leave our complaints and feedback in was merely tech support and our complaints will be “archived”.

I’m posting my complaint here for posterity, and I suggest that other Burnt Marshmallows do the same.  

I'm a longtime lover of Veronica Mars and one of the co-founders of a large and very active VM fan group spanning multiple social media platforms. I contributed heavily to the Kickstarter and attended the NYC premiere of the Veronica Mars. Since then, I've put in time and effort every single day to keep the fandom engaged through rewatches, activities, and challenges, and to ensure that when a streaming service came calling, they would know the fandom was ready and waiting. When Rob and Kristen called on us to demand more Veronica Mars, we used our platform and our social media cred to organize and make it happen. All this to say, I feel qualified speaking for the pulse of the fandom - both before and after the release of Season 4.

We DO NOT want another season of Rob Thomas's Veronica Mars.

Either replace Rob Thomas as show runner, or put Veronica Mars out of its misery.

Rob Thomas's name has been stained by the betrayal of his fans. Not because he killed off a popular character, but because he made this decision back in 2014, knowing it would cost him a large chunk of his fanbase, and then continued to use and exploit the "Marshmallow Army" for his purposes. Milking every last drop of activism and goodwill from us before we could turn against him en masse.

I do not want a Veronica Mars without Logan. Let me clarify. I would have applauded a cordial LoVe breakup in episode 8 for the sake of Logan's mental health.

I LOVE an angry female protagonist. I seek these characters out as a rule. But Logan was absolutely INTEGRAL to Veronica. Not as her boyfriend or husband, but as her truth teller. He was the only one who knew all her dirty secrets and was the only one with the guts to stand up to her when she was wrong. He pushed her to grow and heal and to be honest with herself. Keith is a wonderful character, but he has neither the knowledge nor the chops to push Veronica kicking and screaming on her journey.

Rob Thomas has no business writing women's stories in an era of #MeToo and #BelieveWomen. In the novel, Mr. Kiss and Tell, Veronica is hired to disprove a rape victim's story. On its own, this is bad, but if you combine it with Season 2's "The Rapes of Grath" and most of Season 3, you'll find that Veronica has disproved more rape accusations than she's caught rapists. This is extremely harmful messaging and contributes to the public perception that false rape accusations are common, committed by vindictive women hoping to ruin a man's life. Statistics prove the opposite, yet the messaging persists. Perceptions like this explain why rape victims are terrified to come forward and have their character put on trial.

Rob Thomas has no business writing mental health stories. Veronica's constant belittling of Logan's attempts to get healthy send a bad message, as does the idea of a single therapy session being a magical cure for Veronica's issues. Rob's statements after the finale only compound the damage. He tells us that emotionally healthy people and people on the journey to emotional health are not interesting. I could not disagree more. I found Logan's journey to be the most interesting storyline of the season.

Rob Thomas wants to move Veronica out of Neptune. Away from her father, her best friend, and the rest of her crew. He wants to focus on the mysteries instead of the personal relationships. The problem is, he's a TERRIBLE mystery writer.

His complex character stories actually worked to distract viewers from his gaping plot holes. Without the relationships we've grown to love, Veronica Mars would be just a 4th-rate procedural.

Just off the top of my head, I can point to the season finale. The edge-of-your-seat pacing is necessary, because if RT gives you a moment to think about it, you'll realize it was impossible for Penn to kill Don, plant the paper order slip, place the bomb at Kane High School and construct the backpack bomb, because HE WAS IN JAIL DURING THE TIME HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SETTING THIS UP.

Most Veronica Mars mysteries have similar inconsistencies, and the most insulting part is seeing the brilliant Veronica Mars being dumbed down for the sake of plot, forgetting other cases she's solved with the same M.O., and trusting villains with the exact same characteristics as the last 10 villains she trusted.

In conclusion, if you refuse to get a new showrunner, then at least just please put us all out of our agony and cancel it. This latest iteration was not the Veronica Mars anybody wanted.

[ouchmaster6000]

RE that zim/anpanman post - while Anpanman doesn't get as dark in tone, Baikinman regularly tries to kill people and has done things like tear pages out of an anthropomorphic book and make food-based characters spoil and rot. Not as gruesome as doing it to "real people" characters but that's not the point really; the idea behind it is still there, so Japanese kids are just very accustomed to an alien being that sadistic within the context of their series

First of all, I should point out I agree that Japanese kids are probably used to seeing more intense stuff on TV than american ones. Alot of shows like Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Digimon and even Pokemon occasionally are known for having stuff edited out of the english dub. A pretty decent number of shonen series just flat out get marketed to an older audience in the states (stuff for kids in japan being aimed at middle schoolers here, stuff for teens being aimed at adults etc.)

Hell, I’m fairly certain Dragon Ball Z and Tenchi Muyo probably would have been marketed to adults in the US if it came out today too (Former for the violence, latter for the sexual stuff) and only got away with as much they did because they were on cable, and the idea that kids anime could appeal to adults simply hadn’t occurred to most western producers at that point.

I just…. Dont really think Anpanman is a good example of this? I also dont agree with the original poster’s Zim comparison. Granted, I suppose I probably should watch the show, but from everything I have seen of it, such as discussions on Bogleech’s website, it doesn’t seem that much edgier than standard kids show? Definitely a bit weirder and more violent than most preschool shows in the states, but overall, I doesn’t sound like Baikinman is much worse the your average kids cartoon villain.

I mean for starters, its pretty standard in kids media for killing and mutilating for non-human characters to be allowed, especially if said characters don’t have blood or flesh.

The obvious example is robots. Star Wars, Transformers, Doctor Who, Superman, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, Age of Ultron,  - There are way too many shows, comics and movies to list that eithor aimed at kids or families, that have robots and cyborgs being torn apart in ways that would be pretty graphic if it happened to humans or animals.

Digimon is a related example - The only reason the franchise is allowed to have as much death as it does is because 99% of the fatalities happen to digital lifeforms that dissolve into pixels upon death.

Hell one of my favorite movies as a child was the original Toy Story, and all the scenes where Sid was mutilating and blowing up his toys would have gotten a hard R rating if he was doing it to people. I’ve heard a lot of people compare Sid to Dr. Frankenstein, but with toys, but at least Dr. Frankenstein used parts that were already dead (as opposed to tearing/cutting apart still living people) and put them together in a shape roughly resembling a human. Really, Sid’s toys are less Frankenstein and more human centipede.

I also remember Fosters Home for Imaginary friends having a similar reoccuring theme of “food friends” meeting a worse fate than Anpanman. This included half eaten, traumatized anthropomorphic food dreamed up by kids in stuck in fat camp, or a talking pizza dreamed up by the bully character and eaten and killed just seconds after being “born”

So, although obviously dark comedy, Baikinman doing those things isn’t really anything new for childrens media. Neither, is trying to kill someone, since a lot of cartoon villains have made serious attempts to kill people, they just never succeed.

But Zim successfully mutilating and removing the organs and body parts of human children is definitely not normal for a kids show.

Another issue I took with Revretch’s post was that she wasn’t just talking about Zim the character, she seemed to me to be claiming that “Invader Zim” the TV series wouldn’t be seen as edgy just because the main character is similar to Baikenman… but thats not really how it works? You can’t necessarily tell the tone of a show, just from the nature of its protagnist.

Like, by that logic, Courage the Cowardly Dog should be one of the most light hearted and kid friendly shows out there, but in actuality the world he inhabits is much, much darker, scarier and more surreal than Courage himself is.

Its true that, though the writers/network let Zim do much worse stuff on screen, there are plenty of other childrens cartoon characters whose personality is pretty similar to Zim, or whom are a lot creepier and more threatening. Mojo Jojo and HIM from the powerpuff girls are good examples of both of these, respectively. 

In fact, Powerpuff Girls, Xiaolin Showdown, Codename: Kids Next Door, Danny Phantom and plenty of other childrens cartoons all have both villains that are similar to Zim, and villains that are considerably more evil, creepy or serious than Zim ever was, but the tone of these shows, overall, is a relatively more optimistic one, where the main protagonists have more or less happy lives and good always triumphs over evil in the end.

Hell, even Gravity Falls, with its use of creepy horror imagery, occasional forays into adult humor, and having one of the most infamous big bads in childrens animation (and easily my favorite from the last 10 years) remains a fairly optimistic show at its core, about family and summer adventures.

This is not the case with Invader Zim, which is a show where humans as a species are portrayed as so comically stupid and mean spirited that, even if Zim somehow successfully killed or enslaved them all, it probably wouldn’t come across as a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

A show where the Irkens are depicted both commiting genocide, and electrocuting a disobedient slave on screen, and whose society is such a dystopia they are forced to udergo intense military training from birth and generally assigned roles for life based on genetics.

A show where the elementary skool is portrayed as a collection of all the absolute worst aspects of public school, both in terms of how its run, and how the kids treat each other, exaggerated to an absurd degree.

A show where a reoccurring joke character is a homeless man, who got taken advantage by a fast food chain, paid in free pizza and a room in the back of a resturant, became morbidly obese (Yes, this is Bloaty’s canon origin story) and was last seen in the original show sobbing uncontrollably because he hates his life.

Also, although this was obviously changed significantly in the comics and the Enter the Florpus special, in regards to what was portrayed in the original show, its really not difficult to make the argument Dib’s own dad and sister don’t give a shit whether or not he lives or dies.

Of course, this was all done for very dark laughs, as well as to create a setting that was just the right balance of humor and nihilism that the viewer could choose to either root for, laugh at or sympathize with either Zim or Dib without really worrying about the actual moral implications of either sides goals.

I’m not saying Zim is the edgiest show out there, comedic or otherwise. With stuff like Warhammer, Berserk, Venture Bros, Metalocalypse and all manner of gritty 90s anihero comics, Zims pretty light hearted and goofy in comparison.

But for childrens animation? Aside from some of the 90’s “grossout” cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Cow & Chicken (which varied a lot in quality, imo) I can’t really think of any others that come close (Maaaaybe Billy & Mandy, but I think its too tonally inconsistant, with a lot of episodes being pretty standard cartoon slapstick.)

Wow, I sure did type a lot. Sorry about that. But Invader Zim is one of my all time favorite shows, and fictional villains one of my favorite topics, so I feel like I have a lot to say about them.

[locke-writes]

To Call Mine

Author: locke-writes

Title: To Call Mine

Based On: Imagine Hopper realizing he’s gay and meeting you, a significantly younger guy, ending up being his first boyfriend. and Imagine Jim Hopper having feelings for you and whenever he sees you he get awkward. From: @thranduilsperkybutt

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,996

Warnings: Homophobia, Implied Homophobic Acts

AN: I ended up scrapping the age gap part of the imagine because I had an idea after getting inspired while listening to My Hallelujah - Autoheart. 

Jim watched you work in the kitchen, making El her lunch and helping her finish up a history project. The home that you shared wasn't much but as long as you were there it was more than enough. He walked further into the room, stepping away from his place along the wall of the hallway. You'd already started brewing coffee early in the morning and Jim pressed a kiss to the top of your head before grabbing a mug and pouring himself a drink.

He sat at the table next to El ready to continue gluing down photos on the poster-board she had to carry. His mind was only half focused on the project at hand. Mainly he was focused on his relationship with you and the long road it had taken to get to the place where you were now.

There was always a sense of attraction to men. It had always been there for Jim, it wasn't something he had to think about, it wasn't something that just suddenly appeared. It simply was. While guys around him were starting to talk about their attraction to girls he remembered having the same feeling, just, towards men. 

He'd never thought of himself being in a relationship with a man. He'd never believed that was something a man could do, so he didn't. Rather he grew up, became police chief, got married, and had a kid. For the most part he was happy, but he wasn't in love.

It had taken a long while for him to admit that his attraction to men was normal and not something that was going to go away. The divorce really pressed him into reevaluating himself and what he found out about himself was simple. Jim Hopper was a gay man. It was freeing to say but he was truly petrified. Acceptance was everything and the fact that there were so many risks associated with coming out was terrifying.

There was everything to lose he thought and so he kept quiet. Until you came back to Hawkins.

You'd been accepted to a college in New York and left Indiana that summer never looking back. Sure you came back for the holidays but that was spent hiding from everyone you had gone to high school with. Minus a handful of elect people you really wanted to forget everything about high school including where that high school was located.

New York was the vast city you'd been looking for and the writing inspiration that you had been greatly looking for. New York was more accepting of you than Indiana was. There were still people who made the same homophobic comments as always yet you felt as though you didn't have to completely hide yourself. It felt as though you were meant to be there and it felt like that until the breakup.

You'd met him at a bar. It was a whirlwind relationship, the two of you deciding to move in together after only a few months. At the time it seemed like a good idea, you enjoyed being with him, why shouldn't you enjoy living with him? But dating someone and living with someone were two separate things. 

He disappeared. He always returned yet there were nights you'd stay up wondering where he was, nights wondering if he was with someone else. Living together meant you saw sides of him that he'd tried to keep hidden before. There was mystery in a relationship when you don't live with your partner but now all you saw was someone who kept inconsistent hours. Someone who would cancel dates and then never come home until the afternoon the next day.

Maybe the red flags had been there the entire time and you'd missed them. Maybe it wasn't exactly him running out on you. There were a lot of maybe's the greatest of them all just being the word: wait. 

Waiting was all you seemed to do in this relationship.

Waiting was all you seemed to do in New York.

You'd gone there to find love and be a published author. Neither seemed to be coming true. 

A failure in love and in career is what you'd deem yourself. So you left. You left him and you left New York, going back to an apartment in Hawkins. You were going home.

Once you were settled in back home you spent most of your time writing and avoiding people from high school. Maybe moving to New York before you had anything published was a bad idea, but becoming a writer was your plan and you'd continue to keep writing no matter what. Rejections only made way for acceptance in the world of published authors.

The first time you ran into anyone was at the grocery store. Damn the frozen food aisle.

Jim was making a quick stop at the store on the way home. The Eggo waffle stash was being depleted and he had to restock. It was simple: go in, grab waffles, pay and leave. But how was anything simple nowadays in Hawkins? How could he go anywhere without something happening to him?

He stood there in front of the freezer door trying to find the right waffles. Was it Homestyle or Buttermilk that El liked? Should he get chocolate chip as well? Waffles were an important decision. The sound of cart wheels coming down the aisle made him look up, and there you were.

Like most of Hawkins, Jim had heard that you were back home. You'd gone to school together and Jim had truly never expected to see you again after graduation. He'd known you only barely back in high school, you'd had a few classes together but weren't always running in the same friend circles. Jim had assumed that if he ran into you at all once you came back it would be fine but seeing you there was like being back in high school. Floundering and becoming flustered because there you were and damn if he wasn't very much infatuated with you.

You'd had a crush on Jim since the first moment you'd seen him freshman year of high school. With time you'd assumed that it would just dissipate. With the years that passed you'd assumed there'd be no amount of attraction left to be had. But seeing him there, those same feelings seemed to come back nearly instantly.

Jim was there for waffles, you were there for frozen vegetables. That was all it was supposed to be. And then suddenly you're there for fifteen minutes talking about coming home and how home had changed and what New York was like and catching up in general. You were both nervous, both struggling to make a conversation work in the middle of being overwhelmed by feelings of attraction. 

You'd never so much believed in fate before returning home but suddenly you were running into Jim everywhere. It was odd, of course people changed over time but you'd never known him to be one to avoid eye contact, or one to become shy quite quickly yet that's what seemed to happen in every conversation. He even acted nervous when you had to call him over to check out your car after it had been broken into. There was always a voice in the back of your head that told you to ask him out but that voice was wrong because there was no way that Jim Hopper would ever say yes.

Months were passing by quickly and still Jim was feeling like he was back in high school every time he had seen you. Still that same kid who couldn't be around you because he had the biggest crush on you. Only this time he wasn't a kid trying to figure out if there was something wrong with him because he was attracted to guys, no this time he knew who he was, it was just a matter of letting everyone else know. He would prepare for the consequences as they arose but he was ready.

The first person that Jim Hopper ever came out to was El. She was his daughter and if he was even going to begin attempting to date anyone she needed to be aware of who might, after many dates to see if they were even worth meeting El, come around on occasion. She was confused at first but caught on quickly. Caught on quicker than he'd anticipated, especially when she questioned him about asking you out. He honestly wasn't aware of how much he spoke about you.

But she was right, that's exactly what he was going to do.

Asking you out in the middle of a parking lot probably wasn't the most romantic thing. But the middle of a parking lot is where he happened upon you next. You were confused at first when he mentioned dinner, and only more confused when he brought up the fact that it was meant as him asking you on a date. 

After a very specific line of questioning Jim opened up to you, revealing that yes, he was gay and yes he was asking you out very sincerely. You had to admit that it was quite odd finding out the man you had been attracted to way back in high school had been attracted to you then, the only problem was that he hadn't figured himself out quite yet. But that didn't matter because here you were now, accepting a date with him years later. Maybe coming back home to Hawkins was good for a lot of things.

The relationship progressed slowly for a few reasons. Jim had never dated a man before and this was an entirely new experience. Being closeted he was used to dating women and while there wasn't too much of a difference there still was a learning curve when it came to the nervousness of being a gay couple in public. Hawkins turned out to be more accepting than he or you had originally thought. He'd come across a few people who thought he was going to Hell for being with you but he didn't really believe in Heaven or Hell and he still had his job which meant he could still take care of El, so what was the point. You were also taking things slowly because Jim had been informed of the way your last relationship had gone, moving to quickly may not have been the problem but it wasn't really all that helpful.

It had taken four dates before Jim kissed you and ten dates before he even held your hand in public.

It had taken six months for you to meet El and you only met her because she insisted to Jim that it was time.

It had taken a year before you told him you loved him and he said the words right back.

It had taken a year and a half before you moved in with him and El.

It had taken a lot of time and there had been a lot of firsts in this relationship with Jim. You were content, overwhelmingly happy, and so was he. 

He rose from glueing pictures to put his mug in the sink. El grabbed her lunch from the counter and you followed the two of them to the door making sure that they each had everything for the day. El went out to the car and Jim kissed you goodbye, letting you know that he'd be picking up dinner and that he had one more chapter left in the manuscript you'd given him.

New York seemed so far away now. You'd gone there to get away from Hawkins, Indiana although somehow Hawkins, Indiana pulled you right back. There were never any regrets from that time because that's what seemed to have been needed. Time. Time had given you what you wanted.

You were happy now. Just you, the chief of police, and a teenage girl with powers. A family.

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

The other meta you wrote were so good that I just wanted to ask this as well, although I know it might be hard to answer... but do you have any advice or tricks on writing good, complex, authentic and strong characters? Especially the protagonist... of this is too hard to answer, maybe you could write what makes you like certain characters?

Writing complex and authentic characters is very challenging because it’s so easy to water characters down and make them generic. Also, if you’re writing a long story or a novel, it’s easy to lose sight of the character you’re writing and start to write them as being more like yourself. 

It’s important when developing characters to think of every single aspect of what makes that character who they are and to get to know the character as if they’re a real person who exists in your life. Most people when creating new characters will immediately think of a name, the way they look, how old they are and what their family is like, but those are only tiny parts of what makes up a person and it’s important to think more broadly than that. The more details you have (no matter how insignificant they might seem) the more authentic the character will be. 

Here are some things to think about which can help develop authentic characters: 

Likes and dislikes: Is there a drink that they particularly dislike? Maybe they love coffee but hate tea. Do they have any hobbies? Sports, music, dancing, writing? Do they have a favourite place to go, if so, where is it and why is it their favourite place? How about shops? Do you they have a store they love to shop in? A favourite outfit or style of clothes? Build up a picture of what the character likes and dislikes and reflect that in their external surroundings. There could be posters of their favourite band on their bedroom wall, a stack of books they enjoy on their shelves, a keyboard that reflects their musical talents. 

Relationships: Consider the kinds of relationship the character has in their life. Who are the important people in their life? Their family or their friends or both? Why are those people important in their life? Is there a common connection that brings your character together with those people? Perhaps there could be shared hobbies or interests. Think of memories the character could share with the people in their life and how that reflects on them. Ensure there are different faucets to the characters relationships with people and that each relationship is unique. Perhaps the character goes to their mother for advice on school, their best friend for dating advice and their brother for fashion advice. Consider how each person in your character’s life serves a different function for them. The number of relationships a character has does not matter so much as the quality of the relationships you’re writing. 

Habits/routines: Everyone has certain ways and routines that make them who they are. Some people bite their nails, smoke, drink too much, chew loudly, go to the bathroom lots of times a day, take long showers, fiddle with their hair, like things to be in a certain order, are always late or always on time etc. Consider the habits (good and bad) that your character has. It amazes me how few writers include habits for their characters and in my opinion, they’re a fundamental part of what makes a person who they are. Think about your own family and friends and the little quirks they have. Also consider your character’s routines. Do they have to get up at a certain time everyday to go to work or school? Do they have allocated days for dance/music/sports? Do they meet friends on a particular day? Do their washing on a set day? What do they have for breakfast? Perhaps your character doesn’t like routine and so everyday is different. Just take the time to consider these aspects of your character’s daily life. 

How they behave/react in situations: It’s easy to attach character traits such as “angry”, “pessimistic”, “bossy”, “ambitious” etc. to your character, but you have to reflect those traits through your character’s actions and behaviours. If someone came up to your character in the street and started yelling abuse, how would they react? Would they shout back? Carry on walking and try to ignore it? Get violent? Run away? Look to someone else for help? If your character is running late for an appointment, how would they react? Would they be stressed? Would they not care because they’re late for everything? If your character is faced with a dilemma, how do they handle it? Do they ponder over it themselves or ask for advice? How do they make a decision? Is it their morals that guide them or their compassion or their ambition or something else? Think about their motivations and how they handle situations. Once again, it’s a fundamental part of what makes us who we are.

Beliefs/morals: Everyone has a completely unique set of beliefs or moral code. What is your character’s? Think about the things that have shaped your characters beliefs and morals such as religion, culture, where the person lives, their family and friends, education and experiences. Don’t be afraid to let your character be immoral either. An authentic character is one that isn’t perfect. So perhaps your character is selfish and will screw someone else over in a heartbeat for their own benefit. Perhaps your character is racially prejudiced due to the cultural environment they’ve been raised in. Perhaps they are a pathological liar but believe they’re lying for the right reasons. Beliefs and morals don’t always have to be “good”. 

Flaws: As I mentioned above, an authentic character is one that isn’t perfect. It’s so easy to write a character that is good looking, intelligent, talented, morally good, brave and an all round hero, but that’s not real. Consider flaws your character could have such as laziness, selfishness, immaturity or dishonesty to name a few. Consider how these flaws impact your character and if you want to provide your character with some development, how they’re going to overcome those flaws. On the flip side, it’s unnecessary to tackle every single flaw the character has to make them perfect. Make sure that those fundamental flaws they have remain until the end. What’s important here is to not care about whether the character is likeable. A lot of the time when people are writing characters they want their character to be loved by the readers, but once again, that’s not real. No real human being can be liked all the time by everyone and it’s exactly the same for your character. Sometimes they need to act out of turn or do something that you know readers will disagree with, because it’s those things that make the character feel authentic. 

Consistency: As I mentioned above, it’s very easy to lose sight of your character as a story progresses, particularly if you’re writing a long story or novel. Keep a character profile for your character that you can keep referring to and adding to as you’re writing your story. It’s easy to create a character trait in the beginning and forget it. Maybe you mentioned in chapter 1 that your character really hates tea and then later on you have your character drinking tea, because you’ve forgotten. Those are the small details that count and that you want to be consistent with. Also, if you write a realistic and authentic character, readers will be able to get to know the character and will understand them, so will likely be able to gage how the character is going to react or behave in situations. If you’re not being true to the character and are inconsistent, readers will pick up on that. So, keep reinforcing your character’s traits/habits/behaviours throughout. 

Get to know your character inside and out: I’ve already mentioned this, but it deserves it’s own paragraph because it’s really key. If you take the time to get to know and understand your character, you will be able to write them more easily and be consistent in the way you write them. Writing characters requires you to take a step back from yourself and to become that other character. You can’t talk how you would or act how you would, you have to do everything as that character. Therefore, you need to know that character as well as you know yourself. Take the time to develop your character before jumping in and writing a story with them. It can also be helpful to track your character’s development throughout the story. If you know your character is going to go on a particular journey, write how they’re going to change. For example, in a fantasy novel it’s common for a character to start out as a sceptic and non-believer, but by the end that’s changed. It’s important to trace how those changes are going to occur without losing all sense of the character. 

Those are the main tips I have for writing complex and authentic characters. I’d also add that it’s important to keep referring back to yourself and the people you know in your life. You don’t have to give your character traits from yourself or those around you (in fact, I’d advise you not to, otherwise the lines can become blurred between the character and the person in your life they are based on), but if you understand what makes people who they are, you have a better chance of writing an authentic character. 

[letswritesomenovels]

Writing Workshops: An Introduction

If you want to study creative writing--whether in high school, college, or outside of a typical school setting--you’ll undoubtably find yourself in a workshop. 

Writing workshops can vary wildly, but the basic premise is this: one writer shares their work and silently listens as a room full of other writers judge it. 

Depending on the instructions the people in that room are given, their experiences with workshopping, and their own writing know-how, workshops can either be be scary, unhelpful, humiliating, and downright depressing, or amazing experiences that fundamentally improve your ability to write. 

I’ve been workshopping for ten years-- in high school, undergraduate, and graduate classes, and in informal workshops among friends.

Today, I want to share what I’ve learned over those ten years, because I believe that there’s no reason for a workshop to ever be a bad experience.

This is a bit long, so under the Read More you’ll find:

How to Workshop Someone Else’s Story

Reading a piece for workshop

Discussing a piece in workshop

How to Deal with Other People Workshopping Your Writing

An Example of a Not-So-Helpful Critique

An Example of a Helpful Critique

What to Do If You Find Yourself in a Hostile Workshopping Environment

How to Workshop Someone Else’s Story

Reading A Piece for Workshop 

When reading a story for workshop, the first thing you should do is look for the story the author is attempting to tell. This is extremely important. That story may or may not be the same as what you would like the piece to be, but convincing the author to write the story you want is not the task at hand. 

While reading, pay attention to your personal reaction to the story. What paragraphs are you skimming? Where are you bored? Where is your interest piqued? Where are you confused? What do you find funny/sad/anger inspiring? 

Once you’ve identified your feelings, look for the writing elements that are causing them. These are the things you should be pointing out to the author. 

Characterization:

What makes the characters feel real or relatable? Where is characterization inconsistent? What is interesting about the character? Can you identify what about the character is driving the plot?

Plot and pacing

Do you have any trouble following the story? Do the events occur in such a way where there is a defined beginning, middle, and end? Does anything feel like it’s happening too quickly/slowly? Are you ‘just one more chapter’-ing your way through this work? Do the events build to a satisfying conclusion? 

Setting

Does this place feel real to you? Does the setting add anything to the story? Inform the characters/plot in any way?

Description

Do the sentences flow? Do they invite you into the scene? Do they feel relevant? What do they reveal? Is the author choosing the right words? Are there words they’re overusing? Are they writing in passive voice? Does the writing tell where it should show? 

Dialog

Are the characters’ voices distinct? Do you always know who is speaking? Do the characters feel like they’re speaking to each other? Or like they’re explaining things to the reader? Does the conversation feel like it has a natural rhythm? Is it too cluttered with unnecessary dialog tags/actions?  

If you don’t know how to tell whether the author is using the correct amount of dialog tags, or what ‘passive voice’ is exactly, the simplest way to usefully critique a piece is to look for the places where an author is obviously trying to do something and let them know whether or not they’ve succeeded at that thing. When they add a comedic line--do you find it funny? When they describe a character’s looks--can you see that person clearly in your mind? When they reveal a shocking piece of information--are you shocked?

Discussing A Piece In Workshop 

Don’t frame your critique around what’s bad and what’s good or what you like and what you don’t like, but around what works and what doesn’t work. This will also help to change your mindset while reading the piece. It doesn’t matter if you like it. It matters whether or not the writing is doing what the author wants it to be doing. 

When discussing what works, explain why that thing works. If you like a piece of dialog, take the time to figure out what exactly you like about it: is it funny? Does it provide some smart foreshadowing? Is it inspiring? Terrifying? Let the author know what you think. 

When discussing what doesn’t work, point out exactly what aspect of that thing is not working, and if you can, suggest something the author could do to fix that element. 

When you suggest fixes to a story element that’s not working, it’s better to give the author advice that focuses on what the fix needs to be doing, rather than exactly what the fix should be. Tell them the poster needs to be affixed to the wall, not whether they should use tape, glue, or nails, if that makes any sense. 

Try to balance the time you spend discussing things that work and the things that don’t, even if the things that don’t work are the plot and characters, and the things that do work are the occasional sentence. You’ll probably spend more time talking about the things that need work than the things that don’t no matter what, but that ratio should be closer to 60:40 than 90:10. 

If you’re not sure whether the advice you’re giving is good, if you aren’t sure whether something is working or not--bring it up anyway and ask the rest of the class what they think about it. 

If you don’t agree with something someone else is saying, but don’t want to disagree because that person probably knows more about it than you--say what you want anyway. The writer can only benefit from the additional view. 

And remember, it will be your turn eventually, and the way you discuss other students’ writing will set a precedent for how they’ll discuss your writing. If you develop a reputation for being especially harsh to other people’s writing, they’ll probably be equally harsh to you. Likewise with gentleness, kindness, and praise. 

How to Deal with Other People Workshopping Your Story 

In nearly all workshops, you won’t be allowed to speak while people are discussing your work. Don’t break this rule. This is the time for readers to tell you what your words say to them, for your work to speak for itself. This is not the time for you to tell other people how to read your words. If someone is complaining that you didn’t say X, but you did say it on page 9 and they just didn’t see it--let someone else correct them, let it go, or maybe X needs to be clearer in the text. 

Never write for your workshop group. There’s no guarantee your tastes will align with the rest of the class. You may find yourself in a workshop where no one reads your preferred genre. That’s okay. It’s not their job to love your writing, and it’s not your job to provide them with something to love, but it is your job to write what you love. 

Know that suggestions are not mandates. Take in the feedback that you think would help your story, and reject the feedback that doesn’t fit the vision you have for your story. 

Remember that the people in your class are learning as well. They may not realize how critical they’re being or how hurtful their words are. They may even be outright wrong on occasion. Don’t take it personally. 

If you can’t handle looking your classmates in the eye--or if you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed--it’s okay to pull-out a notebook, pretend to take notes, and doodle. Still listen, but let the doodles distract you enough to keep your composure. 

An Example of a Not-Very-Helpful Critique*

Overall, I liked this piece. I thought there were a lot of good things in it. The characters were cool and the plot was really interesting. However, I didn’t like the setting. It didn’t feel like a real place to me. I think you need to do some work on it to make it better. Maybe you should change the setting entirely. I think the story would be more fun if it was set in a small town, rather than in a big city. Also, I thought there were some places where the dialog was bad. It was clunky and didn’t sound very natural. I’ve put marks next to the lines that you need to change. There are also a couple of cliches, but you can probably get away with those, because this is SFF and you don’t really have to worry about avoiding things like cliches in that sort of genre. But overall, yeah, I thought this was okay. 

*which is still better than many critiques you’ll hear in workshops

An Example of a More Helpful Critique. 

Overall, I thought there were a lot of things that worked in this piece. The characterization stands out particularly. The protagonist’s frustration when the man keeps interrupting her felt very relatable to me, and I thought the way she responded by turning into a fire-breathing dragon and roasting him alive was very telling about the emotional turmoil it caused her. Her anger was evident on the page, and you never even had to say outright that she was angry, which I thought was clever. 

Also, I thought the foreshadowing in the piece was executed well. The scale earrings, her hoard of silver spoons, and the way she didn’t need a match to light her cigarette... I didn’t realize she was a dragon, but I knew something was up, and that kept me turning the page. 

However, I thought there were a few things that could use some work. 

Largely, I think the dialog works well. The protagonist’s voice is distinctive and believable for her age. However, there are a couple of pieces of dialog that don’t sound very natural. I think maybe it’s because you aren’t using contractions in places where most people would use them? For instance, on the second page, she says, “there is not another way to go about it,” but “there isn’t another way” would sound less clunky.

I’ve also flagged up a cliche at the end. I know that knights in shining armour riding up on white horses have traditionally been the good guys in fantasy novels, but the way I read it, this piece is all about the personal journey of the dragon, so I was confused when the knight riding up and slaying her was framed as something the reader should be happy about. It might be worth considering subverting this trope, or taking a second look at how it fits in with the ideas you’re already exploring in this story. 

I’d be curious to hear what other people think about maybe setting this story in a small town, where the protagonist’s sense of isolation would be more exaggerated. If you do keep it in the big city, I think describing it in more detail, telling us more about the protagonist’s apartment building, and her neighborhood in a couple of scenes would help it work as a more realistic setting. 

I thought this was a fun fantasy story, that had a unique and fascinating twist on dragon lore. I look forward to seeing the next draft. 

If you find yourself trapped in a hostile workshopping environment...

A good workshop environment depends upon an instructor who will facilitate a helpful and healthy discussion. It’s an instructor’s duty to curb students who get carried away describing all of the things they hate about a piece, and to point students toward constructive criticism, to bring up the great elements of a piece that no one else has mentioned. 

When workshoppers are less experienced, it won’t be uncommon for someone to struggle to learn the difference between helpful critique and a rant about all the ways a story could’ve been better. People will give sharp, decided opinions. 

If you submit your writing to a class, and your classmates’ reaction is overwhelmingly negative in a way that upsets you, or if your classmates are upsetting someone else, talk to your instructor about it. Ask them to remind students about good workshop etiquette. If they’ve never even brought it up, suggest taking a few minutes out of one class to discuss it. 

If they refuse to do their job, try to be an example to everyone else. Find small ways to facilitate a more helpful discussion yourself. When you see students bashing another person’s piece, interrupt them with your own comments about what works in the piece, even if it comes down to individual lines you thought were funny. Conspire. Teach people about good workshopping yourself. Share this post with friends in your workshop class. A few well-spoken critiques can change the tone of the entire conversation. 

[shirlleycoyle]

What Alternate Reality Games Teach Us About the Dangerous Appeal of QAnon

This story was originally published on mssv.net by Adrian Hon (@adrianhon)

The far-right QAnon conspiracy theory is so sprawling, it’s hard to know where people join. Last week, it was 5G cell towers, this week it’s Wayfair; who knows what next week will bring? But QAnon’s followers always seem to begin their journey with the same refrain: “I’ve done my research.”

I’d heard that line before. In early 2001, the marketing for Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, A.I., had just begun. YouTube wouldn’t launch for another four years, so you had to be eagle-eyed to spot the unusual credit next to Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, and Frances O’Connor: Jeanine Salla, the movie’s “Sentient Machine Therapist.”

Close-up of the A.I. movie poster

Soon after, Ain’t It Cool News (AICN) posted a tip from a reader:

“Type her name in the Google.com search engine, and see what sites pop up…pretty cool stuff! Keep up the good work, Harry!! –ClaviusBase”

(Yes, in 2001 Google was so new you had to spell out its web address.)

The Google results began with Jeanine Salla’s homepage but led to a whole network of fictional sites. Some were futuristic versions of police websites or lifestyle magazines; others were inscrutable online stores and hacked blogs. A couple were in German and Japanese. In all, over twenty sites and phone numbers were listed.

By the end of the day, the websites racked up 25 million hits, all from a single AICN article suggesting readers ‘do their research’. It later emerged they were part of one of the first-ever alternate reality games (ARG), The Beast, developed by Microsoft to promote Spielberg’s movie.

The way I’ve described it here, The Beast sounds like enormous fun. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a doorway into 2142 filled with websites and phone numbers and puzzles, with runaway robots who need your help and even live events around the world? But consider how much work it required to understand the story and it begins to sound less like “watching TV” fun and more like “painstaking research” fun. Along with tracking dozens of websites that updated in real time, you had to solve lute tablature puzzles, decode base 64 messages, reconstruct 3D models of island chains that spelt out messages, and gather clues from newspaper and TV adverts across the US.

This purposeful yet bewildering complexity is the complete opposite of what many associate with conventional popular entertainment, where every bump in your road to enjoyment has been smoothed away in the pursuit of instant engagement and maximal profit. But there’s always been another kind of entertainment that appeals to different people at different times, one that rewards active discovery, the drawing of connections between clues, the delicious sensation of a hunch that pays off after hours or days of work. Puzzle books, murder mysteries, adventure games, escape rooms, even scientific research—they all aim for the same spot.

What was new in The Beast and the ARGs that followed it was less the specific puzzles and stories they incorporated, but the sheer scale of the worlds they realised—so vast and fast-moving that no individual could hope to comprehend them. Instead, players were forced to cooperate, sharing discoveries and solutions, exchanging ideas, and creating resources for others to follow. I’d know: I wrote a novel-length walkthrough of The Beast when I was meant to be studying for my degree at Cambridge.

QAnon is not an ARG. It’s a dangerous conspiracy theory, and there are lots of ways of understanding conspiracy theories without ARGs. But QAnon pushes the same buttons that ARGs do, whether by intention or by coincidence. In both cases, “do your research” leads curious onlookers to a cornucopia of brain-tingling information.

In other words, maybe QAnon is… fun?

ARGs never made it big. They came too early and It’s hard to charge for a game that you stumble into through a Google search. But maybe their purposely-fragmented, internet-native, community-based form of storytelling and puzzle-solving was just biding its time…

This blog post expands on the ideas in my Twitter thread about QAnon and ARGs, and incorporates many of the valuable replies. Please note, however, that I’m not a QAnon expert and I’m not a scholar of conspiracy theories. I’m not even the first to compare QAnon to LARPs and ARGs.

But my experience as lead designer of Perplex City, one of the world’s most popular and longest-running ARGs, gives me a special perspective on QAnon’s game-like nature. My background as a neuroscientist and experimental psychologist also gives me insight into what motivates people.

Today, I run Six to Start, best known for Zombies, Run!, an audio-based augmented reality game with half a million active players, and I’m writing a book about the perils and promise of gamification.

It’s Like We Did It On Purpose

Perplex City “Ascendancy Point” Story Arc

When I was designing Perplex City, I loved sketching out new story arcs. I’d create intricate chains of information and clues for players to uncover, colour-coding for different websites and characters. There was a knack to having enough parallel strands of investigation going on so that players didn’t feel railroaded, but not so many that they were overwhelmed. It was a particular pleasure to have seemingly unconnected arcs intersect after weeks or months.

Merely half of the “Q-web“

No-one would mistake the clean lines of my flowcharts for the snarl of links that makes up a QAnon theory, but the principles are similar: one discovery leading to the next. Of course, these two flowcharts are very different beasts. The QAnon one is an imaginary, retrospective description of supposedly-connected data, while mine is a prescriptive network of events I would design.

Except that’s not quite true. In reality, Perplex City players didn’t always solve our puzzles as quickly as we intended them to, or they became convinced their incorrect solution was correct, or embarrassingly, our puzzles were broken and had no solution at all. In those cases we had to rewrite the story on the fly.

When this happens in most media, you just hold up your hands and say you made a mistake. In video games, you can issue an online update and hope no-one’s the wiser. But in ARGs, a public correction would shatter the uniquely-prolonged collective suspension of disbelief in the story. This was thought to be so integral to the appeal of ARGs, it was termed TINAG, or “This is Not a Game.”

So when we messed up in Perplex City, we tried mightily to avoid editing websites, a sure sign this was, in fact, a game. Instead, we’d fix it by adding new storylines and writing through the problem (it helped to have a crack team of writers and designers, including Naomi Alderman, Andrea Phillips, David Varela, Dan Hon, Jey Biddulph, Fi Silk, Eric Harshbarger, and many many others).

We had a saying when these diversions worked out especially well: “It’s like we did it on purpose.”

Every ARG designer can tell a similar war story. Here’s Josh Fialkov, writer for the Lonelygirl15 ARG/show:

“Our fans/viewers would build elaborate (and pretty neat) theories and stories around the stories we’d already put together and then we’d merge them into our narrative, which would then engage them more. The one I think about the most is we were shooting something on location and we’re run and gunning. We fucked up and our local set PA ended up in the background of a long selfie shot. We had no idea. It was 100% a screw up. The fans became convinced the character was in danger. And then later when that character revealed herself as part of the evil conspiracy — that footage was part of the audiences proof that she was working with the bad guys all along — “THATS why he was in the background!” They literally found a mistake – made it a story point. And used it as evidence of their own foresight into the ending — despite it being, again, us totally being exhausted and sloppy. And at the time hundreds of thousands of people were participating and contributing to a fictional universe and creating strands upon strands.”

Conspiracy theories and cults evince the same insouciance when confronted with inconsistencies or falsified predictions; they can always explain away errors with new stories and theories. What’s special about QAnon and ARGs is that these errors can be fixed almost instantly, before doubt or ridicule can set in. And what’s really special about QAnon is how it’s absorbed all other conspiracy theories to become a kind of ur-conspiracy theory such that seems pointless to call out inconsistencies. In any case, who would you even be calling out when so many QAnon theories come from followers rather than “Q”?

Yet the line between creator and player in ARGs has also long been blurry. That tip from “ClaviusBase” to AICN that catapulted The Beast to massive mainstream coverage? The designers more or less admitted it came from them. Indeed, there’s a grand tradition of ARG “puppetmasters” (an actual term used by devotees) sneaking out from “behind the curtain” (ditto) to create “sockpuppet accounts” in community forums to seed clues, provide solutions, and generally chivvy players along the paths they so carefully designed.

As an ARG designer, I used to take a hard line against this kind of cheating but in the years since, I’ve mellowed somewhat, mostly because it can make the game more fun, and ultimately, because everyone expects it these days. That’s not the case with QAnon.

Yes, anyone who uses 4chan and 8chan understands that anonymity is baked into the system such that posters frequently create entire threads where they argue against themselves in the guise of anonymous users who are impossible to distinguish or trace back to a single individual – but do the more casual QAnon followers know that?

Local Fame

A Beautiful Mind

Pop culture’s conspiracy theorist sits in a dark basement stringing together photos and newspaper clippings on their "crazy wall." On the few occasions this leads to useful results, it’s an unenviable pursuit. Anyone choosing such an existence tends to be shunned by society.

But this ignores one gaping fact: piecing together theories is really satisfying. Writing my walkthrough for The Beast was rewarding and meaningful, appreciated by an enthusiastic community in a way that my molecular biology essays most certainly were not. Online communities have long been dismissed as inferior in every way to “real” friendships, an attenuated version that’s better than nothing, but not something that anyone should choose. Yet ARGs and QAnon (and games and fandom and so many other things) demonstrate there’s an immediacy and scale and relevance to online communities that can be more potent and rewarding than a neighbourhood bake sale. This won’t be news to most of you, but I think it’s still news to decision-makers in traditional media and politics.

Good ARGs are deliberately designed with puzzles and challenges that require unusual talents—I designed one puzzle that required a good understanding of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs—with problems so large that they require crowdsourcing to solve, such that all players feel like welcome and valued contributors.

Needless to say, that feeling is missing from many people’s lives:

“ARGs are generally a showcase for special talent that often goes unrecognized elsewhere. I have met so many wildly talented people with weird knowledge through them.”

If you’re first to solve a puzzle or make a connection, you can attain local fame in ARG communities, as Dan Hon, COO at Mind Candy (makers of the Perplex City ARG), notes. The vast online communities for TV shows like Lost and Westworld, with their purposefully convoluted mystery box plots, also reward those who guess twists early, or produce helpful explainer videos. Yes, the reward is “just” internet points in the form of Reddit upvotes, but the feeling of being appreciated is very real. It’s no coincidence that Lost and Westworld both used ARGs to promote their shows.

Wherever you have depth in storytelling or content or mechanics, you’ll find the same kind of online communities. Games like Bloodborne, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Dwarf Fortress, Animal Crossing, Eve Online, and Elite Dangerous, they all share the same race for discovery. These discoveries eventually become processed into explainer videos and Reddit posts that are more accessible for wider audiences.

The same has happened with modern ARGs, where explainer videos have become so compelling they rack up more views than the ARGs have players (not unlike Twitch). Michael Andersen, owner of the Alternate Reality Gaming Network news site, is a fan of this trend, but wonders about its downside—with reference to conspiracy theorists:

“[W]hen you’re reading (or watching) a summary of an ARG? All of the assumptions and logical leaps have been wrapped up and packaged for you, tied up with a nice little bow. Everything makes sense, and you can see how it all flows together. Living it, though? Sheer chaos. Wild conjectures and theories flying left and right, with circumstantial evidence and speculation ruling the day. Things exist in a fugue state of being simultaneously true-and-not-true, and it’s only the accumulation of evidence that resolves it. And acquiring a “knack” for sifting through theories to surface what’s believable is an extremely valuable skill—both for actively playing ARGs, and for life in general.And sometimes, I worry that when people consume these neatly packaged theories that show all the pieces coming together, they miss out on all those false starts and coincidences that help develop critical thinking skills. …because yes, conspiracy theories try and offer up those same neat packages that attempt to explain the seemingly unexplained. And it’s pretty damn important to learn how groups can be led astray in search of those neatly wrapped packages.”

“SPEC”

I’m a big fan of the SCP Foundation, a creative writing website set within a shared universe not unlike The X-Files. Its top-rated stories rank among the best science fiction and horror I’ve read. A few years ago, I wrote my own (very silly) story, SCP-3993, where New York’s ubiquitous LinkNYC internet kiosks are cover for a mysterious reality-altering invasion.

CITYBRIDGE/NYC

Like the rest of SCP, this was all in good fun, but I recently discovered LinkNYC is tangled up in QAnon conspiracy theories. To be fair, you can say the same thing about pretty much every modern technology, but it’s not surprising their monolith-like presence caught conspiracy theorists’ attention as it did mine.

It’s not unreasonable to be creeped out by LinkNYC. In 2016, the New York Civil Liberties Union wrote to the mayor about “the vast amount of private information retained by the LinkNYC system and the lack of robust language in the privacy policy protecting users against unwarranted government surveillance.” Two years later, kiosks along Third Avenue in Midtown mysteriously blasted out a slowed-down version of the Mister Softee theme song. So there’s at least some cause for speculation. The problem is when speculation hardens into reality.

Not long after the AICN post, The Beast’s players set up a Yahoo Group mailing list called Cloudmakers, named after a boat in the story. As the number of posts rose to dozens and then hundreds per day, it became obvious to list moderators (including me) that some form of organisation was in order. One rule we established was that posts should include a prefix in their subject so members could easily distinguish website updates from puzzle solutions.

My favourite prefix was “SPEC,” a catch-all for any kind of unfounded speculation, most of which was fun nonsense but some of which ended up being true. There were no limits on what or how much you could post, but you always had to use the prefix so people could ignore it. Other moderated communities have similar guidelines, with rationalists using their typically long-winded “epistemic status” metadata.

Absent this kind of moderation, speculation ends up overwhelming communities since it’s far easier and more fun to bullshit than do actual research. And if speculation is repeated enough times, if it’s finessed enough, it can harden into accepted fact, leading to devastating and even fatal consequences.

I’ve personally been the subject of this process thanks to my work in ARGs—not just once, but twice.

The first occasion was fairly innocent. One of our more famous Perplex City puzzles, Billion to One, was a photo of a man. That’s it. The challenge was to find him. Obviously, we were riffing on the whole “six degrees of separation” concept. Some thought it’d be easy, but I was less convinced. Sure enough, fourteen years on, the puzzle is still unsolved, but not for lack of trying. Every so often, the internet rediscovers the puzzle amid a flurry of YouTube videos and podcasts; I can tell whenever this happens because people start DMing me on Twitter and Instagram.

This literally came a few days ago

A clue in the puzzle is the man’s name, Satoshi. It is not a rare name, and it happens to be same as the presumed pseudonymous person or persons who developed bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. So of course people think Perplex City’s Satoshi created bitcoin. Not a lot of people, to be fair, but enough that I get DMs about it every week. But it’s all pretty innocent, like I said.

More concerning is my presumed connection to Cicada 3301, a mysterious group that recruited codebreakers through very difficult online puzzles. Back in 2011, my company developed a pseudo-ARG for the BBC Two factual series, The Code, all about mathematics. This involved planting clues into the show itself, along with online educational games and a treasure hunt.

To illustrate the concept of prime numbers, The Code explored the gestation period of cicadas. We had no hand in the writing of the show; we got the script and developed our ARG around it. But this was enough to create a brand new conspiracy theory, featuring yours truly:

My bit starts around 20 minutes in:

Interviewer: Why [did you make a puzzle about] cicadas?

Me: Cicadas are known for having a gestation period which is linked to prime numbers. Prime numbers are at the heart of nature and the heart of mathematics.

Interviewer: That puzzle comes out in June 2011.

Me: Yeah.

Interviewer: Six months later, Cicada 3301 makes its international debut.

Me: It's a big coincidence.

Interviewer: There are some people who have brought up the fact that whoever's behind Cicada 3301 would have to be a very accomplished game maker.

Me: Sure.

Interviewer: You would be a candidate to be that person.

Me: That's true, I mean, Cicada 3301 has a lot in common with the games we've made. I think that one big difference (chuckles) is that normally when we make alternate reality games, we do it for money. And it's not so clear to understand where the funding for Cicada 3301 is coming from.

Clearly this was all just in fun – I knew it and the interviewer knew it. That’s why I agreed to take part. But does everyone watching this understand that? There’s no “SPEC” tag on the video. At least a few commenters are taking it seriously:

I am the “ARG guy” in question

I’m not worried, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t a touch concerned that Cicada 3301 now lies squarely in the QAnon vortex and in the “Q-web“:

Here’s a good interview with the creator of the “Q-web”

My defence that the cicada puzzle in The Code was “a big coincidence” (albeit delivered with an unfortunate shit-eating grin) didn’t hold water. In the conspiracy theorest mindset, no such thing exists:

“According to Michael Barkun, emeritus professor of political science at Syracuse University, three core principles characterize most conspiracy theories. Firstly, the belief that nothing happens by accident or coincidence. Secondly, that nothing is as it seems: The “appearance of innocence” is to be suspected. Finally, the belief that everything is connected through a hidden pattern.”

These are helpful beliefs when playing an ARG or watching a TV show designed with twists and turns. It’s fun to speculate and to join seemingly disparate ideas, especially when the creators encourage and reward this behaviour. It’s less helpful when conspiracy theorists “yes, and…” each other into shooting up a pizza parlour or burning down 5G cell towers.

Because there is no coherent QAnon community in the same sense as the Cloudmakers, there’s no convention of “SPEC” tags. In their absence, YouTube has added annotated QAnon videos with links to its Wikipedia article, and Twitter has banned 7,000 accounts and restricted 150,000 more, among other actions. Supposedly, Facebook is planning to do the same.

These are useful steps but will not stop QAnon from spreading in social media comments or private chat groups or unmoderated forums. It’s not something we can reasonably hope for, and I don’t think there’s any technological solution (e.g. browser extensions) either. The only way to stop people from mistaking speculation from fact is for them to want to stop.

Cryptic

It’s always nice to have a few mysteries for players to speculate on in an ARG, if only because it helps them pass the time while the poor puppetmasters scramble to sate their insatiable demand for more website updates and puzzles. A good mystery can keep a community guessing for, as Lost did with its numbers or Game of Thrones with Jon Snow’s parentage. But these mysteries always have to be balanced against specifics, lest the whole story dissolve into a puddle of mush; for as much we derided Lost for the underwhelming conclusion to its mysteries, no-one would’ve watched in the first place if the episode-to-episode storytelling wasn’t so strong.

The downside of being too mysterious in Perplex City is that cryptic messages often led players on wild goose chases such that they completely ignored entire story arcs in favour of pursuing their own theories. This was bad for us because we had a pretty strict timetable that we needed our story to play out on, pinned against the release of our physical puzzle cards that funded the entire enterprise. If players took too long to find the $200,000 treasure at the conclusion of the story, we might run out of money.

QAnon can favour cryptic messages because, as far as I know, they don’t have a specific timeline or goal in mind, let alone a production budget or paid staff. Not only is there no harm in followers misinterpreting messages, but it’s a strength: followers can occupy themselves with their own spin-off theories far better than “Q” can. Dan Hon notes:

“For every ARG I’ve been involved in and ones my friends have been involved in, communities always consume/complete/burn through content faster than you can make it, when you’re doing a narrative-based game. This content generation/consumption/playing asymmetry is, I think, just a fact. But QAnon “solved” it by being able to co-opt all content that already exists and … encourages and allows you to create new content that counts and is fair play in-the-game.”

But even QAnon needs some specificity, hence their frequent references to actual people, places, events, and so on.

A brief aside on designing very hard puzzles

It was useful to be cryptic when I needed to control the speed at which players solved especially consequential puzzles, like the one revealing where our $200,000 treasure was buried. For story and marketing purposes, we wanted players to be able to find it as soon as they had access to all 256 puzzle cards, which we released in three waves. We also wanted players to feel like they were making progress before they had all the cards and we didn’t want them to find the location the minute they had the last card.

My answer was to represent the location as the solution to multiple cryptic puzzles. One puzzle referred to the Jurassic strata in the UK, which I split across the background of 14 cards. Another began with a microdot revealing which order to arrange triple letters I’d hidden on a bunch of cards. By performing mod arithmetic on the letter/number values, you would arrive at 1, 2, 3 or 4, corresponding to the four DNA nucleotides. If you understood the triplets as codons for amino acids, they became letters. These letters led you to the phrase “Duke of Burgundy”, the name of a butterfly whose location, when combined with the Jurassic strata, would help you narrow down the location of the treasure.

The nice thing about this convoluted sequence is that we could provide additional online clues to help the players community when they got stuck. The point being, you can’t make an easy puzzle harder, but you can make a hard puzzle easier.

Beyond ARGs

It can feel crass to compare ARGs to a conspiracy theory that’s caused so much harm. But this reveals the crucial difference between them: in QAnon, the stakes so high, any action is justified. If you truly believe an online store or a pizza parlour is engaging in child trafficking and the authorities are complicit, extreme behaviour is justified.

Gabriel Roth, editorial director for audio at Slate, extends this idea:

“What QAnon has that ARGs didn’t have is the claim of factual truth; in that sense it reminds me of the Bullshit Anecdotal Memoir wave of the 90s and early 00s. If you have a story based on real life, but you want to make it more interesting, the correct thing to do is change the names of the people and make it as interesting as you like and call it fiction. The insight of the Bullshit Anecdotal Memoirists (I’m thinking of James Frey and Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris) was that you could call it nonfiction and readers would like it much better because it would have the claim of actual factual truth, wowee!! And it worked! How much more engaging and addictive is an immersive, participatory ARG when it adds that unique frisson you can only get with the claim of factual truth? And bear in mind that ARG-scale stories aren’t about mere personal experiences—they operate on a world-historical scale.”

ARGs’ playfulness with the truth and their sometimes-imperceptible winking of This Is Not A Game (accusations Lonelygirl15 was a hoax) is only the most modern incarnation of epistolary storytelling. In that context, immersive and realistic stories have long elicited extreme reactions, like the panic incited by Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds (often exaggerated, to be fair).

We don’t have to wonder what happens when an ARG community meets a matter of life and death. Not long after The Beast concluded, the 9/11 attacks happened. A small number of posters in the Cloudmakers mailing list suggested the community use its skills to “solve” the question of who was behind the attack.

The brief but intense discussion that ensued has become a cautionary tale of ARG communities getting carried away and being unable to distinguish fiction from reality. In reality, the community and the moderators quickly shut down the idea as being impractical, insensitive, and very dangerous. “Cloudmakers tried to solve 9/11” is a great story, but it’s completely false.

Unfortunately, the same isn’t true for the poster child for online sleuthing gone wrong, the r/findbostonbombers subreddit. There’s a parallel between the essentially unmoderated, anonymous theorists of r/findbostonbombers and those in QAnon: neither feel any responsibility for spreading unsupported speculation as fact. What they do feel is that anything should be solvable, as Laura Hall, immersive environment and narrative designer, describes:

“There’s a general sense of, ‘This should be solveable/findable/etc’ that you see in lots of reddit communities for unsolved mysteries and so on. The feeling that all information is available online, that reality and truth must be captured/in evidence somewhere”

There’s truth in that feeling. There is a vast amount of information online, and sometimes it is possible to solve “mysteries”, which makes it hard to criticise people for trying, especially when it comes to stopping perceived injustices. But it’s the sheer volume of information online that makes it so easy and so tempting and so fun to draw spurious connections.

That joy of solving and connecting and sharing and communication can do great things, and it can do awful things. As Josh Fialkov, writer for Lonelygirl15, says:

That brain power negatively focused on what [conspiracy theorists] perceive as life and death (but is actually crassly manipulated paranoia) scares the living shit out of me.

What ARGs Can Teach Us

Can we make “good ARGs”? Could ARGs inoculate people against conspiracy theories like QAnon?

The short answer is: No. When it comes to games that are educational and fun, you usually have to pick one, not both—and I say that as someone who thinks he’s done a decent job at making “serious games” over the years. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but it’s really hard, and I doubt any such ARG would get played by the right audience anyway.

The long answer: I’m writing a book about the perils and promise of gamification. Come back in a year or two.

For now, here’s a medium-sized answer. No ARG can heal the deep mistrust and fear and economic and spiritual malaise that underlies QAnon and other dangerous conspiracy theories, any more than a book or a movie can solve racism. There are hints at ARG-like things that could work, though—not in directly combatting QAnon’s appeal, but in channeling people’s energy and zeal of community-based problem-solving toward better causes.

Take The COVID Tracking Project, an attempt to compile the most complete data available about COVID-19 in the U.S. Every day, volunteers collect the latest numbers on tests, cases, hospitalizations, and patient outcomes from every state and territory. In the absence of reliable governmental figures, it’s become one of the best sources not just in the U.S., but in the world.

It’s also incredibly transparent. You can drill down into the raw data volunteers have collected on Google Sheets, view every line of code written on Github, and ask them questions on Slack. Errors and ambiguities in the data are quickly disclosed and explained rather than hidden or ignored. There’s something game-like in the daily quest to collect the best-quality data and to continually expand and improve the metrics being tracked. And like in the best ARGs, volunteers of all backgrounds and skills are welcomed. It’s one of the most impressive and well-organising reporting projects I’ve ever seen; “crowdsourcing” doesn’t even come close to describing its scale.

If you applied ARG skills to investigative journalism, you’d get something like Bellingcat, an an open-source intelligence group that discovered how Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was shot down over Ukraine in 2014. Bellingcat’s volunteers painstakingly pieced together publicly-available information to determine MH17 was downed by a Buk missile launcher originating from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade in Kursk, Russia. The Dutch-led international joint investigation team later came to the same conclusion.

Conspiracy theories thrive in the absence of trust. Today, people don’t trust authorities because authorities have repeatedly shown themselves to be unworthy of trust – misreporting or manipulating COVID-19 testing figures, delaying the publication of government investigations, burning records of past atrocities, and deploying unmarked federal forces. Perhaps authorities were just as untrustworthy twenty or fifty or a hundred years ago, but today we rightly expect more.

Mattathias Schwartz, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, believes it’s that lack of trust that leads people to QAnon:

“Q’s [followers] … are starving for information. Their willingness to chase bread crumbs is a symptom of ignorance and powerlessness. There may be something to their belief that the machinery of the state is inaccessible to the people. It’s hard to blame them for resorting to fantasy and esotericism, after all, when accurate information about the government’s current activities is so easily concealed and so woefully incomplete.”

So the goal cannot be to simply restore trust in existing authorities. Rather, I think it’s to restore faith in truth and knowledge itself. The COVID Tracking Project and Bellingcat help reveal truth by crowdsourcing information. They show their work via hypertext and open data, creating a structure upon which higher-level analysis and journalism can be built. And if they can’t find the truth, they’re willing to say so.

QAnon seems just as open. Everything is online. Every discussion, every idea, every theory is all joined together in a warped edifice where speculation becomes fact and fact leads to action. It’s thrilling to discover, and as you find new terms to Google and new threads to pull upon, you can feel just like a real researcher. And you can never get bored. There’s always new information to make sense of, always a new puzzle to solve, always a new enemy to take down.

QAnon fills the void of information that states have created—not with facts, but with fantasy. If we don’t want QAnon to fill that void, someone else has to. Government institutions can’t be relied upon to do this sustainably, given how underfunded and politicised they’ve become in recent years. Traditional journalism has also struggled against its own challenges of opacity and lack of resources. So maybe that someone is… us.

ARGs teach us that the search for knowledge and truth can be immensely rewarding, not in spite of their deliberately-fractured stories and near-impossible puzzles, but because of them. They teach us that communities can self-organise and self-moderate to take on immense challenges in a responsible way. And they teach us that people are ready and willing to volunteer to work if they’re welcomed, no matter their talent.

It’s hard to create these communities. They rely on software and tools that aren’t always free or easy to use. They need volunteers who have spare time to give and moderators who can be supported, financially and emotionally, through the struggles that always come. These communities already exist. They just need more help.

Despite the growing shadow of QAnon, I’m hopeful for the future. The beauty of ARGs and ARG-like communities isn’t their power to discover truth. It’s how they make the process of discovery so deeply rewarding.

What Alternate Reality Games Teach Us About the Dangerous Appeal of QAnon syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/