#writing fallacies

[er-cryptid]

Ad Hominem Fallacy

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[alltheotherblogs]

So, Regular Show.

Apparently it's getting some kind of pseudo-reboot. A new series tacked onto the ending of the last with some returns from previously featured characters. This is not necessarily bad news! But, the reasons for fans being skeptical are obvious.

One of the most important examples of a good idea gone sour is... Adventure Time. It doesn't take a genius writer to see that they blatantly disrespected the themes they started with. I had a chance to analyze, and criticize the series from a new and fresh perspective. And so as I jumped into it for the last time, I quickly used an analytical eye to spot the things I had missed as a child. One of these things was Princess Bubblegum. Coming from an abusive background, I can spot abusive behaviors the moment I see them. And P.B. is textbook. The various ways she manipulates the Candy people, the main cast, and Finn himself... It's scary familiar to a lot of the controlling tactics used by abusive parents. I don't have any specific examples and if I'm gonna be honest I don't desire to find any. But one thing that always comes to mind is how she attempts to manipulate the Flame people using these same tactics, and it fails... This is where an inconsistency pops up in the writing, Flame Princess and Marceline have similar father figures with similar motivations for how they operate and their family dynamic. The main difference I want to call attention to here is that Flame Princess didn't just overcome it but decided to rise to the occasion and take over the Kingdom. Marceline distanced herself from her origins as much as possible... I think you can see where I am going here. Where Marceline comes to accept her father, it only happens after he changes. I don't really think Flame Princess ever accepted her father. And so when Flame Princess sees P.B. blatantly stealing, and attempting to trick her and her subjects, she gets pretty reasonably angry. A manipulative woman pulls up into your abode under false pretenses and tricks you and everyone else so that she can get her sticky grubby fingers onto some SERIOUS ancient tech. Acting like someone as tyrannical as P.B. is anymore trust worthy with it than anyone else is delusional.

From here it's not very hard to draw a comparison to real world behavior. For once you have a character that is reacting reasonably to something instead of being absurd. And then you have the last episode where Marceline just magically, for no reason and with very little buildup, just falls into P.B's arms like some sick individual with a different KIND of authority issue. Marceline has an issue with authority not an issue without it. Even in the very first episode, this is how P.B. is setup. An authoritarian with a very skewed moral compass. The fact that she is completely different by the end of the series yet lacks any real character development and still commits the same sins she did at the beginning, it isn't some clever subversion or smart multilayered writing... It's just bad writing. That is why I get so mad whenever people say "oh you are just bigoted that's why you don't like it." If you are one of those people who unironically thought THAT was the reason the ending didn't go over well, you are more stupid than your teachers and parents thought. It wasn't hard to notice that they just inserted a relationship between two incompatible characters right at the moment the rest of the shows writing began to suffer.

Haven't finished J.G. Quintel's other show, "Close Enough" but I'm working on it. And it has good parts, which makes me confident this new show will have a good energy and a positive impact on the series as a whole. Since it'll serve as a sequel rather than a reboot, we have a lot to look forward too in terms of new characters and unique dynamics.

Regardless, the history of this kind of thing cannot be ignored. In recent cinema everything is getting a crappy reboot. It's gonna take a few times before they learn, what made the old thing work was not that it was the old thing, but how it was the old thing. You get what I mean?

People don't like same shit different wrapping. They like same wrapping different shit. They want to see skillful talented writing. They don't want cringey politically motivated garbage and marvel-quality one-liners. They want actual comedy, they want in-world belief systems to help the characters play off each other. They want creativity and a well built world. Not Helluva Boss, not Hazbin Hotel, neither of those cringey politically driven shows with TERRIBLE writing. People want the first five seasons of Adventure Time! They want Golden Era KOTH! they want good comedy delivered without pretentious snark... While it isn't HARD to do this, with studios breathing down peoples necks, and the people who give orders being corrupt scumbags with what I like to call "Wrong Beliefs" it is super difficult to actually make something good. But, Smiling Friends did it, Adult Swim continues to produce quality, Newgrounds continues to let loose incredible people, and talent always rises to the top regardless of what corruption is going on in the western media. It takes some time for these mega corporations to fall, but sure enough, hollywood is failing as everyone predicted. The games industry is failing, as everyone predicted. What happens when Hollywood and the Games industry fail? Indie creators come up to bat. Not all of them are going to hit it out of the park, but strike while the irons hot, and you just might see sparks.

What I'm trying to say is, just don't fuck it up J.G.

[despazito]

Actually some of us think about our ecological impact all the time and on a list of resource priorities I think food and a communication device has more reason to exist than a dogshit coca cola commercial

[otaku553]

Procrastination doodles of sabo for the king sabo au :)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Logical Fallacies

A logical fallacy occurs when an argument is not adequately supported.

This can be the result of errors in reasoning, a lack of evidence, the author’s use of irrelevant points, or other reasoning moves that do not logically support the argument.

Advertisers, salespeople, politicians, and others might use logical fallacies to manipulate you.

Argument to the People (Appealing to Stirring Symbols)

Involves using a visual symbol (the American flag, pictures of babies, “Support the Troops” bumper sticker, etc.) of something that much of the public finds hard to reject but that has little relevance to the argument.

Example: Political candidates often use the American flag and other patriotic symbols in TV ads to appeal to and persuade citizens to vote for them.

Appeal to Pity (Ad misericordiam)

A verbal version of Argument to the People.

Example: A political candidate may tell stories about their life that are not connected to their platforms.

Like Arguments to the People, Appeals to Pity are fallacious if they are irrelevant to the argument in question; pity for the candidate should not be a reason why citizens vote for them.

In some cases—for example, when soliciting money for people whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold or for the Humane Society—appeals to pity may be legitimately used.

Erroneous Appeal to Authority

Example: Years ago, a commercial for Bufferin Aspirin used Erroneous Appeal to Authority by featuring people on the street lining up to ask Angela Lansbury, a popular actress at the time with no medical authority whatsoever, questions about the pain reliever.

Ad Hominem (“to the person”)

Involves a personal attack on the character of the opponent rather than on the argument itself.

Example: Criticizing a restaurant because the chef is “too skinny,” rather than focusing on the merits of the restaurant’s food, service, atmosphere, or other relevant aspect is an ad hominem attack.

However, an ad hominem argument that is relevant to the issue (“Rinalda Gooch will not make a good President because she faints every time she tries to make a speech”) is not a logical fallacy.

Shifting the Issue (Red Herring)

Refers to the arguer’s changing the subject to avoid dealing with an unpleasant aspect of the argument.

Example: When a reporter questioned candidate Stone about her past marijuana use, she responded, “Why haven’t you asked my opponent about his drinking?”

Hasty Generalization

Means to argue on the assumption that an entire group shares the same traits as one or two examples of that group.

Example: “Women should not be considered for high political office because they’re too emotional to make thoughtful decisions.”

Appeal to Popularity (Bandwagon)

An argument based on the premise that an idea or product has merit just because it is popular.

Example: “All the cool kids are wearing Stinko sneakers this season,” the saleswoman told the boy. “You don’t want to be left out, do you?”

Begging the Question

Involves “supporting” an argument by stating the argument in different words.

Example: “We need to bomb evildoers because they are guilty of horrendous acts,” basically restates the claim (evildoers are people who do evil) instead of stating a reason why bombing the “evildoers” is a good thing to do.

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

An argument that uses Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”) illogically suggests that because one event followed another, the first event caused the second to occur.

Example: “The fact that students cut their hair over the weekend and their test scores were higher on Monday shows that shorter hair leads to good grades.”

False Dilemma or Dichotomy (Either/Or)

This argument attempts to sway opinion by making it seem as if the only alternative to a proposed argument is one that is obviously unacceptable.

Example: “We must fight the enemy in their land so they don’t follow us to ours” suggests -- but does not attempt to show -- that one country’s aggression is the only way to decrease another country’s aggression.

The Slippery Slope

This argument attempts to dissuade people from taking or allowing a specific action because it might cause a particular condition to spiral out of control – no matter how far-fetched.

Example: “Legalizing same-sex marriage could lead to legalizing marriage between people and their pets!”

If these notes are helpful in your writing, do tag me, or send me a link to your work. I would love to read it!

Writing Notes & References

[thepixelatedbunny]

Spoilers for AC3 and AC: forsaken i guess

I love how Haytham's big plan to sway his son to to the templars is to just reveal that the guy Connor's working for, George Washington, was the guy who ordered the attack on his village. That will def sway him instantly.

Like, Bro.

-Your father was an assassin

-Your templar mentor killed your father and sold your sister into slavery. (And *maybe* threatened your mother into giving you to him)

-You killed more templars than assassins (in-story)

-Your fellow tenplars are either greedy, idiots, or sadists. You even said it yourself.

-You are Probably one of the only Templar Grandmasters who doesn't want to deal with magic bs (smart choice.)

Yeah, sure, that'll def convince your equally stubborn son.

[t1sunfortunate]

I truly do think one of the largest pitfalls among the "media consumption is my passion" crowd is the tendency to treat characters as human beings with agency rather than narrative tools manipulated by the author

[g1ngerbeer]

do you think they noticed a change, the first few loops. i think they did. because how could they not, cheng xiaoshi and qiao ling, the two closest friends lu guang has, seeing him walk out of the room through a camera shutter and re-enter changed. diminished, faded, sad, the worn and cracking face of an old photograph. more and more tired each time he dives, further and further back with each attempt. every time a failure. and even as he lets the tides of time weather him more - render him a ghost, it feels like sometimes - even as lu guang changes more and more from the person he used to be, so too does that moment of disconnect in his friends’ eyes shorten and fade. because they don’t know him anymore. the golden stretch of time he spends by their sides before it all goes wrong is sliced thinner and thinner with every photo he uses, his touch blurring the memory with blood. each time he fails they know him less - the first him, the one unburdened by the terrible knowledge he now holds and the weight of too many failures.

soon they will never have known him at all.

Because you would notice if your best friend time travelled from a horrible future, but not if he travelled back so far he erased the person he once was (the person you knew) (the person you loved, first. before you loved this newer-older transparent version, never knowing a difference.)

(and this too is a loss to be grieved, he thinks sometimes in the dead of night to the sound of soft breathing in the bunk below, selfishly. but it is worth it if cheng xiaoshi lives.)

(the death of everything lu guang ever was is worth it if it means cheng xiaoshi lives.)

[marzipanandminutiae]

"Why does everyone insist that Hangsaman is gay? Just because I wrote a scene where the main character's female best friend reads an erotic novel with an F/F/M threesome aloud to her, and then they sleep in the same bed, and then they shower together, and then they plot to run away together, and also earlier in the book the main character was tenderly supporting another woman- with whom said main character was obsessed -while she got drunk and cried about her terrible much older husband, doesn't make it gay!" – Shirley Jackson probably 

[danshive]

Explanations (more accurately, guesses and hypotheses) are not correct by default in the absence of other explanations.

If all anyone can come up with for why a painting won’t stay level is “a poltergeist,” it does not mean there’s a poltergeist. Whether or not a poltergeist exists is independent of what explanations have been considered.

This is one of those things that doesn’t seem like it needs explaining, but when people lack good points, logical fallacies can quickly become second nature.

This isn’t me on a high horse. I’m vulnerable to this, too, and have to be as careful as anyone to keep a clear head when frustrated. My past is full of me making terrible arguments.

It’s also annoyingly common in stories, as is characters not getting truly called out on it?

“Do you have a better explanation?”

“No, but that doesn’t make your hypothesis that it was a quantum pirate ghost correct.”

“WHY ARE YOU SO CLOSED-MINDED?!”

[shabby-chic-detectives]

foils

Jayce has an intuition for engineering. when he first masters the Hex crystal and makes the room float, we watch him fuss and fuss with the dials to their device…. eventually he closes his eyes to manage the dials on pure instinct, on what he can feel from the crystal.

Like a trained musician instantly recognizing how notes slot together in a sweeping harmony, Jayce is a natural engineer - he just knows how stuff works, how to slot things together and make them do something else. he’s good with his hands. he’s physical.

of course on the other side is Viktor, who has a brilliant hand for theory and mathematics, and tends to manage the rigorous calculations behind their hard science. he’s also plainly good at managing his connections, given that he’s assistant to the head of the Council despite being from zaun.

but we see him working with devices in the lab as well - and when it comes to mastering the not-quite-precise adjustments to the Hexcore (in a very similar scene to that of Jayce’s breakthrough with the crystal, if you ignore Jayce & Mel doing it), we watch Viktor struggle and struggle with increasing frustration until he collapses.

…….the reason i bring this up is specifically because viktor also seems to be overwhelmed by his magic after exiting the hexgoop. he’s more machine than man but he’s still exhausted with the efforts of healing a sick man in zaun. has nothing to do with the Grey or his health, those are fixed. now he just seems to struggle (at least at first, i haven’t finished s2) with making the magic/tech work properly together

but if you switched their roles, i’d bet any amount of money that jayce would have THRIVED. the big lunk would have popped out of the hexgoop thrilled with his jacked new body and flawlessly integrated arcane brain (?). partly because his body has never been a source of shame or frustration to him, but also because he’s good at machines

and assuming he immediately heals viktor, he would’ve gone off next to test what ELSE his Avatar Form could do and cause absolute mayhem for the council: running around in his councillor uniform, gleefully using his magic all the fucking time, insisting that viktor study him and the hexgoop. he’d have healed every sick kid in zaun AND piltover and destroyed every hextech weapon ever made. probably would have found & helped Jinx too.

man what a phenomenal au that would make

[vonlipvig]

if i was making scandal s4 i'd have a psychological horror cyrus subplot where he's periodically haunted by a rotting, zombie-fied ghost version of james every time he continues to support the administration in his usual immoral ways, both serving as a representation of his guilt over his loss, and the constant reinforcing of his sunk-cost fallacy way of coping. but because this wasn't relevant to olivia's journey they didn't include it.

[rain-rainynights-side]

we live in a world where everyone believes in black and white, when everything is painted in gray. therefore, how can an ideal world be anything but a fallacy?

[bulllinachinashop]

The nomadic tendency of childhood. The vastness of the earth without boarders. Without color. Without creed. Without identity.

I do forgive myself for who I became squeezing into tight boxing boarders. I do forgive myself for blindfolding my eyes and placing an apple on my head; naming groups bad, naming cultures different from me. I gave you the arrow and bow. I stood perfectly still as you shot me with your prejudice. My imprisonment; Fear; of not fitting in, of stepping outside of the line, of causing you to feel negative emotions towards my own choice to be -

The nomadic child. The one who glares at the world not like a map but like the sea. Each soul inhabited in black or white vessels knows me. Each soul inhabited in Muslim and atheist creed understands me.

Each soul who glares at the sun, nomadic childlike tendency, understands me; the rest are blindfolded. The rest have apples on their head, accepting the sweet hell.

- S.I.A

[lilacandladybugs]

i LOVE women and im a christian and sometimes reading commentaries on the Bible makes me feel fucking crazy stay safe out there girls

[thisisoutofcustody]

That moment in editing

when you're revising your document, rewriting where it needs, editing out-editing in, in the flow

and then suddenly you REALIZE

that you've fallen prey to the 'it's logical'-goblin that every writer knows that tricks you into believing that you've set up all the foreshadowing necessary because it all makes sense to YOU

but you realize with dawning horror

that you're not just the reader, you're also the writer

and so of course it makes sense if Character A is a cat for 20+ chapters, turns human for only 2 chapters and then has a full-on make-out session with Character B

it makes sense

because you wrote it

and the "it's-logical"-goblin told you that it's logical when you read it

because the logical-goblin is an effin' logical fallacy is what it is

and now i don't have enough foreshadowing

gfdi