Websites:

I heard that wattpad is doing a purge of NSFW works, so I'm going to be posting some general orientation type videos and some how to's to help folks learn more about Ao3.

If you want to follow (or avoid) those posts, I'm tagging them as welcome wattpad

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

There's this idea circulating in the Internet that all gacha games are evil. Which is dumb, because that's the same as calling all rice white jasmine rice. It's not. It very much isn't.

What people do with their time in game and the effort they put into is what make sit evil or not, and even then, it's for them personally.

Also, this section will be talking about Genshin Impact specifically, so take it or leave it.

Genshin is a game that's targeted for comfort gaming, waifu gaming, farming and managing resources. These is a game that rewards players for being consistent and attentive.

As someone with ADHD and autism, I love Genshin because it actually rewards my traits that aren't majorly appreciated in the outside world. Nitpicking at details, taking my time to look around and settle with ideas, attentiveness to small things that are otherwise negligible.

I've been playing this game for 2 years almost. In this time, I have, as a free to play, meaning I don’t pay actual physical money to receive in-game resources, being able to collect over 30 characters. And build them to my purposes.

But I'm also very casual about it. The only times when I put dedicated effort: spend hours on end in the game — are when I'm actively collecting resources for a character I want, and that does not happen often.

Or. When I'm playing with friends.

This is very important.

I have friends and family members who too play Genshin. We live very far from each other and our ability to see each other in person is limited.

But we have bi-weekly playing sessions on weekends. Where we spend several hours running around, helping each other out and goofing and fooling and making jokes and exchanging news and just hanging out.

Is it perfect? No. But this way I have a whole FOLDER of photos I made with our characters in it that I keep on my phone for when I'm sad and need emotional support.

This is 21 century. This is 2023. You might not see your precious people all the time. But you have a way of connecting to them.

And having the ability to goof around with them and spend time doing something you both enjoy is, in my humble opinion, SEVERAL TIMES BETTER than just calling and talking. Calling isn't bad. But gaming together is better.

I understand that it is a privilege that I can do this. And I will be using this privilege, because I love my friends and family and if Genshin helps me stay connected to them, then Genshin it is.

People also underestimate how useful lessons learnt in games can be. Take Genshin again.

For me, personally, it helped me widen my horizons about knowledge of the world and many things in it. It also helped me to start learning how to manage my time and energy and resources I have for the best results.

For example. I love Genshin lore. It encompasses several real world religions, cultures and philosophies. I've personally being reading up on Irish and Celtic mythology as of late to learn more about Childe's inspiration Cu Chulainn. I have also been casually reading greek mythology and gnosticism 101, because they are also in Genshin, and play a major role in it's world building.

Another example. When you log into the game, you have:

4 dailies - daily exercises to receive in-game currency - primogem - required to roll for characters.

160 of resin to farm for resources.

Sometimes also unfinished quests, if you have those.

To have better luck in rolling for a character you like, you need many primogems. For that, you do dailies.

To level up characters, you need experience, special materials and money, for that you need resin and some time to gather the materials. (keeping it simple)

To make your character strong you need to give them artifacts and weapons: those also need money, materials and resin for some of those materials.

So. Every time you log in, you decide where you want your own resources: time and effort — to go. If you are leveling a character, building their artifacts, their weapons. Or you might be gathering needed materials for a character you hope to get.

Most casual players who have well-built teams and leveled characters and weapons will tell you that it took some planning on their side: there's only so much resin to get the materials. There's only so much time a casual player can give the game. So they make a plan.

For example, take mine. When I was building Yan Fei, I logged every day to do a run for the enemy drops she needs. That took 15 minutes for all locations on my map with running counted in. I could farm her talent books only three times in a week. That took 15 minutes with all fighting and waiting. Other 4 days I collected money and experience books and boss materials she needed to be leveled up. That took 20 minutes, usually, with the running around. Plus, I had my dailies, which I do, if I log in. They take 7-10 minutes depending.

Summarizing. When I was actively investing my time in the game, I spent 40-45 minutes a day in the game. That time was not done in one go: I did some in the morning, to cheer myself up for the day. I did a bit during the day, in free time. And I rewarded myself for a good day with the rest of the needed time.

Overall, 40-45 minutes looks like a lot. But objectively, nowadays people spend a massive amount of time on social media, or watching and streaming shows. How many of you catch an episode or a half of your favorite show, or podcast, or a YouTube video while resting? How much time do you spend scrolling Tumblr and TikTok or reading books and fanfiction? This is approximately the same length as that.

Plus, on an everyday basis, I spend around 20 minutes in game: a quick run through the dailies and resin, and that's it. Usually I play events and time-consuming quests on weekends, and that's around 1-2 hours depending on the quests and my interest in a given event. Very similar to how one would relax with a movie or a show and catch up on two-three episodes you missed during the week, or checking out something new.

Playing games is as valid as a leisure time as any other more socially "acceptable" way. It's just being given a bad label by people who don't understand it and people who have not being very thoughtful of themselves and others when on it.

This also helped me understand how to plan around my disabilities as someone with BOTH ADHD and autism.

Understanding that my limited energy needs to be spent rationally, but also in a way that tomorrow I would be able to work again. Capitalism is not slowing down for me, so I need to work around it, in a way that would harm me least and encourage my growth. So make plans around my studies, my personal wants that replenish the energy, and my work. It takes effort. It also helps so much, I still feel dumb for not having done this sooner.

Understanding, that to be stronger, to grow better and develop, I need to invest in myself consciously and actively. But it doesn't have to be burdensome and boring and exhausting in a negative way. For example, I'm slowly learning Sanskrit. For me, because I'm curious about this language. But it also is a language that I need to learn for a book I'm writing for my character. So, I got a grammar book and a notebook and now I'm learning the alphabet. It's really cool, even if it's difficult. My pronunciation is garbage, but this is a step forward for my personal goals and it is being done in a way that I enjoy it, I'm not forcing myself like a parent would a petulant child.

Understanding that progress takes time. I spent over half a year making my Yanfei to my satisfaction. I need to let the seed root, to let it sprout and develop leaves. It's frustrating as hell. I have ADHD. I have imposter syndrome. I want and at times NEED the results immediately or it will hurt me emotionally. But now I'm able to manage this stress more successfully and return from the slump it causes me faster.

Yes, it took a gacha game for me actually learn this lesson and drive it home. It doesn't devalue the lesson itself and the positive reinforcement it gave me.

Gacha games can be good games. Learn to appreciate them for what they can give you.

For some, it's cute characters. For others, the cool things they learned. Some make their careers on games. Some find a place of comfort in games.

All of this is valid.

My girlfriend and I talk a lot about our different generations of queerness, because she was doing queer activism in the 1990s and I wasn’t.

And she’s supportive of my writing about queerness but also kind of bitter about how quickly her entire generation’s history has disappeared into a bland “AIDS was bad, gay marriage solved homophobia” narrative, and now we’re having to play catch-up to educate young LGBTQ+ people about queer history and queer theory. It gets pretty raw sometimes.

I mean, a large part of the reason TERFs have been good at educating the young and queer people haven’t is, in the 80s and 90s the leading lights of TERFdom got tenured university positions, and the leading lights of queerdom died of AIDS.

“Excuse us,” she said bitterly the other day, not at me but to me, “for not laying the groundwork for children we never thought we’d have in a future none of us thought we’d be alive for.”

Don’t get your sex ed from fanfiction!

Get it from

Scarleteen

at some point, I wanna make a short list of resources frequently used by dlsite games, because a lot of people assume there's more of a baseline quality gap between "eastern" and "western" rpgmaker games than there actually is, and a lot of that comes down to the JP rpgmaker community having established avenues through which to acquire cheap royalty-free assets that specifically match the vibes of rpgs lol

All Breathing Styles and Forms!!!

SUN BREATHING (13 forms)

Also called Hinokami Kagura or The original Breathing

‌First Form: Dance (円えん舞ぶ) whit variant by tanjiro: Dancing Flash (円えん舞ぶ一いっ閃せん)

‌Second form: Clear Blue Sky (碧へき羅らの天てん)

‌Third Form: Raging Sun (烈れつ日じつ紅こう鏡きょう)

‌Fourth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun (灼しゃっ骨こつ炎えん陽よう)

‌Fifth Form: Setting Sun Transformation (斜しゃ陽よう転てん身しん)

‌Sixth Form: Solar Heat Haze (飛ひ輪りん陽かげ炎ろう)

‌Seventh Form: Beneficent Radiance (輝き輝き恩おん光こう)

‌Eighth Form: Sunflower Thrust (陽よう華か突とつ)

‌Ninth Form: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance (日にち暈うんの龍りゅう・頭かぶり舞まい)

‌Tenth Form: Fire Wheel (火か車しゃ)

‌Eleventh Form: Fake Rainbow (幻げん日にち虹こう)

‌Twelfth Form: Flame Dance (炎えん舞ぶ)

‌Thirteenth Form (拾じゅう参さんノ型かた)

KNOWN USERS: Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Sumiyoshi, Tanjuro Kamado, Tanjiro Kamado

WATER BREATHING (11 forms)

One of the five main Breathing Styles

‌First Form: Water Surface Slash (壱いちノ型かた　水みな面も斬ぎり)

‌Second Form: Water Wheel (弐にノ型かた　水みず車ぐるま) whit variation Lateral Water Wheel (弐にノ型かた・改かい　横よこ水みず車ぐるま)

‌Third Form: Flowing Dance (参さんノ型かた　流りゅう流りゅう舞まい)

‌Fourth Form: Striking Tide (肆しノ型かた　打うち潮しお) whit variant Striking Tide, Turbulent (打うち潮しお・乱らん)

‌Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought (伍ごノ型かた　干かん天てんの慈じ雨う)

‌Sixth Form: Whirlpool (陸ろくノ型かた　ねじれ渦うず), whit variant Whirlpool, Flow (ねじれ渦うず・流りゅう流りゅう)

‌Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust (漆しちノ型かた　雫しずく波は紋もん突づき) whit variation Drop Ripple Thrust, Curve (雫しずく波は紋もん突づき・曲きょく)

‌Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin (捌はちノ型かた　滝たき壼つぼ)

‌Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent (玖くノ型かた　水すい流りゅう飛沫しぶき・乱らん)

‌Tenth Form: Constant Flux (拾じゅうノ型かた　生せい生せい流る転てん)

‌Eleventh Form: Dead Calm (拾じゅう壱いちノ型かた　凪なぎ), created by water hashira Giyu Tomioka

KNOWN USERS: Giyu Tomioka (Hashira), Tanjiro Kamado, Sakonji Urokodaki Sabito, Makomo, Aoi Kanzaki, Murata

FLAME BREATHING (9 forms, only 6 known)

One of the five main Breathing Styles

‌First Form: Unknowing Fire (壱いちノ型かた　不知火しらぬい)

‌Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun (弐にノ型かた　昇のぼり炎えん天てん)

‌Third Form: Blazing Universe (参さんノ型かた　氣き炎えん万ばん象しょう)

‌Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation (肆しノ型かた　盛せい炎えんのうねり)

‌Fifth Form: Flame Tiger (伍ごノ型かた　炎えん虎こ)

‌Ninth Form: Rengoku (玖くノ型かた　煉れん獄ごく)

KNOWN USERS: Rengoku Kyojuro (Hashira), all the male members of Rengoku family

WIND BREATHING (9 forms)

One of the five main Breathing Styles

‌First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter (壱いちノ型かた　鹿じん旋せん風ぷう・削そぎ)

‌Second Form: Claws-Purifying Wind (弐にノ型かた　爪そう々そう・科しな戸と風かぜ)

‌Third Form: Clean Storm Wind Tree (参さんノ型かた　晴せい嵐らん風ふう樹じゅ)

‌Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm (肆しノ型かた　昇しょう上じょう砂さ塵じん嵐らん)

‌Fifth Form: Cold Mountain Wind (伍ごノ型かた　木こ枯がらし颪おろし)

‌Sixth Form: Black Wind Mountain Mist (陸ろくノ型かた　黒こく風ふう烟えん嵐らん)

‌Seventh Form: Gale, Sudden Gusts (漆しちノ型かた　頸けい風ふう・天てん狗ぐ風かぜ)

‌Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash (捌はちノ型かた　初しょ烈れっ風かざ斬きり)

‌Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon (玖くノ型かた　韋い駄だ天てん台たい風ふう)

KNOWN USERS: Sanemi Shinazugawa (Hashira), Masachika Kumeno

STONE BREATHING (5 forms)

One of the five main breathing Styles

‌First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar (壱いちノ型かた　蛇じゃ紋もん岩がん・双そう極きょく)

‌Second Form: Upper Smash (弐にノ型かた　天てん面めん砕くだき)

‌Third Form: Stone Skin (参さんノ型かた　岩がん軀くの膚はだえ)

‌Fourth Form: Volcanic Rock, Rapid Conquest (肆しノ型かた　流りゅう紋もん岩がん・速そく征せい)

‌Fifth Form: Arcs of Justice (伍ごノ型かた　瓦が輪りん刑ぎょう部ぶ)

KNOWN USER: Gyomei Himejima (Hashira)

THUNDER BREATHING (7 forms)

One of the five main breathing Styles

‌First Form: Thunderclap and Flash (壱いちノ型かた　霹へき靂れき一いっ閃せん) improved by Zenitsu in Sixfold (六ろく連れん), Eightfold (八はち連れん) and Godspeed (神しん速そく)

‌Second Form: Rice Spirit (弐にノ型かた　稲いな魂だま)

‌Third Form: Thunder Swarm (参さんノ型かた　聚しゅう蚊ぶん成せい雷らい)

‌Fourth Form: Distant Thunder (肆しノ型かた　遠えん雷らい)

‌Fifth Form: Heat Lightning (伍ごノ型かた　熱ねつ界かい雷らい)

‌Sixth Form: Rumble and Flash (陸ろくノ型かた　電でん轟ごう雷らい轟ごう)

‌Seventh Form: Honoikazuchi no Kami (漆しちノ型かた　火ほの雷いかづちの神かみ) created by Zenitsu

KNOWN USERS: Zenitsu Agatsuma, Kaigawa, Jigoro Kuwajima

MOON BREATHING (16 forms, only 11 known)

derivate from Sun Breathing

‌First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace (壱いちノ型かた　闇やみ月づき・宵よいの宮みや)

‌Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing (弐にの型かた　珠しゅ華かノ弄ろう月げつ)

‌Third Form: Loathsome Moon, Chains (参さんノ型かた　厭えん忌き月づき・銷つがり)

‌Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy (伍ごノ型かた　月げっ魄ぱく災さい渦か)

‌Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant (陸ろくノ型かた　常とこ夜よ孤こ月げつ・無む間けん)

‌Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit (漆しちノ型かた　厄やっ鏡きょう・月づき映ばえ)

‌Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail (捌はちノ型かた　月げつ龍りゆう輪りん尾び)

‌Ninth Form: Waning Moonswaths (玖くノ型かた　降くだり月づき・連れん面めん)

‌Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes, Moon Through Bamboo Leaves (拾じゅうノ型かた　穿せん面めん斬ざん・蘿ら月げつ)

‌Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe, Tenman Crescent Moon (拾じゅう肆しノ型かた　兇きょう変へん・天てん満まん繊せん月げつ)

‌Sixteenth Form: Moonbow, Half Moon (拾じゅう陸ろくノ型かた　月虹げっこう・片かた割われ月づき)

KNOWN USER: Michikatsu Tsugikuni/Kokushibo

SOUND BREATHING (5 forms, only 3 known)

Derivate from Thunder Breathing

‌First Form: Roar (壱いちノ型かた　轟とどろき)

‌Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes (肆しノ型かた　響きょう斬ざん無む間けん)

‌Fifth Form: String Performance (伍ごノ型かた　鳴めい弦げん奏そう々そう)

KNOWN USER: Tengen Uzui (Hashira)

FLOWER BREATHING (7 forms, only 5 known)

Derivate from Water Breathing

‌Second Form: Honorable Shadow Plum (弐にノ型かた　御み影かげ梅うめ)

‌Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo (肆しノ型かた　紅べに花はな衣ごろも)

‌Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility (伍ごノ型かた　徒あだの芍しゃく薬やく)

‌Sixth Form: Whirling Peach (陸ろくノ型かた　渦うず桃もも)

‌Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye (終ついノ型かた　彼ひ岸がん朱しゅ眼がん)

KNOWN USERS: Kanae Kocho (death Hashira), Kanao Tsuyuri

LOVE BREATHING (6 forms, only 5 known)

Derivate from Flame Breathing

‌First Form: Shivers of First Love (壱いちノ型かた　初はつ恋こいのわななき)

‌Second Form: Love Pangs (弐にノ型かた　懊おう悩のう巡めぐる恋こい)

‌Third Form: Catlove Shower (参さんノ型かた　恋こい猫ねこしぐれ)

‌Fifth Form: Swaying Love, Wildclaw (伍ごノ型かた　揺ゆらめく恋れん情じょう・乱みだれ爪づめ)

‌Sixth Form: Cat-Legged Winds of Love (陸ろくノ型かた　猫ねこ足あし恋こい風かぜ)

KNOWN USER: Mitsuri Kanroji (Hashira)

INSECT BREATHING (4 forms)

Derivate from Flower Breathing

‌Butterfly Dance: Caprice (蝶ちょうノ舞まい　戯たわむれ)

‌Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter (蜂ほう牙がノ舞まい　真ま靡なびき)

‌Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon (蜻せい蛉れいノ舞まい　複ふく眼がん六ろっ角かく)

‌Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag (蜈ご蚣こうノ舞まい　百ひゃく足そく蛇じゃ腹ばら)

KNOWN USER: Shinobu Koucho (Hashira)

MIST BREATHING (7 forms)

Derivate from Wind Breathing

‌First Form: Low Clouds, Distant Haze (壱いちノ型かた　垂すい天てん遠とお霞がすみ)

‌Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist (弐にノ型かた　八や重え霞かすみ)

‌Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash (参さんノ型かた　霞か散さんの飛し沫ぶき)

‌Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash (肆しノ型かた　移い流りゅう斬ぎり)

‌Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze (伍ごノ型かた　霞か雲うんの海うみ)

‌Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist (陸ろくノ型かた　月つきの霞か 消しょう)

‌Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds (漆しちノ型かた　朧おぼろ) created by Muichiro Tokito

KNOWN USER: Muichiro Tokito (Hashira)

SERPENT BREATHING (5 forms)

Derivate from Water Breathing

‌First Form: Winding Serpent Slash (壱いちノ型かた　委い蛇だ斬ぎり)

‌Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head (弐にノ型かた　狭きょう頭ずの毒どく牙が)

‌Third Form: Coil Choke (参さんノ型かた　塒とぐろ締じめ)

‌Fourth Form: Twin-Headed Reptile (肆しノ型かた　頸けい蛇じゃ双そう生せい)

‌Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent (伍ごノ型かた　蜿えん蜿えん長ちょう蛇だ)

KNOW USER: Obanai Iguro (Hashira)

BEAST BREATHING (11 forms/fangs)

Derivated from Wind Breathing

‌First Fang: Pierce (壱いちノ牙きば　穿うがち抜ぬき)

‌Second Fang: Slice (弐にノ牙きば　切きり裂さき)

‌Third Fang: Devour (参さんノ牙きば　喰くい裂ざき)

‌Fourth Fang: Slice 'n' Dice (肆しノ牙きば　切きり細こま裂ざき)

‌Fifth Fang: Crazy Cutting (伍ごノ牙きば　狂くるい裂ざき)

‌Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite (陸ろくノ牙きば　乱らん杭ぐい咬がみ)

‌Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness (漆しちノ型かた　空くう間かん識しき覚かく)

‌Eighth Form: Explosive Rush (捌はちノ型かた　爆ばく裂れつ猛もう進しん)

‌Ninth Fang: Extending Bendy Slash (玖くノ牙きば　伸しん・うねり裂ざき)

‌Tenth Fang: Whirling Fangs (拾じゅうノ牙きば　円えん転てん旋せん牙が)

‌Sudden Throwing Strike (思おもいつきの投なげ裂さき)

KNOWN USER: Inosuke Hashibira

How to Critically Analyze a Piece of Media

By Deniigiq (Almost Ph.D)

So as a person who has spent the last 5+ years working in higher education in both research and staff capacities, I feel that it is my responsibility to provide y’all with some tools to help you critically analyze shit that you come across so that you don’t end up guilt tripping yourselves and others around you 24/7.

I am writing this because I see people constantly saying that people no longer know how to critically analyze something or don’t have critical thinking skills, but very few people actually have the time/energy/obligation to break down what that actually means and looks like for others.

The good news is that I apparently do have the time, energy, and honestly, the genuine concern to start to help people do that.

This is going to be a long-ass post.

I am not sorry.

It is not comprehensive.

I am not sorry for that either. This is just a tiny taste of some shit that you can and should really go ham with.

So anyways, here’s how to critically analyze a piece of media.

Critically analyze = asking questions of a text/media/object and thinking about answers to those questions.

THAT’S IT, PEOPLE.

THAT’S ALL. Don’t make it more complicated at this point in time.

Here are some basic questions that you want to ask yourself about a text/media/object (hereafter referred to as a Thing) before, after, and during your consumption of it:

When was this made?

The period in which a Thing is made is important because the world during that particular point in time influences the decisions that went into producing the Thing.

Why was this made?

This question has layers. You will find many answers to this question if you pose it to anything that exists ever. And it should have multiple reasons because humans give many different meanings to individual things. There are often very few absolutely right answers to this question.

Who made this thing?

The layered identities of the people who create a Thing are always present in it. The important part is that if a person creates a Thing, then that Thing will have both insights into that person’s perspectives/beliefs/values/identity AND the limitations of those perspectives/beliefs/values/identity.

What ideas does this Thing include and what ideas does this Thing leave out?

This is a really basic question that you probably don’t think of to ask yourself often, but when you are presented with a Thing, you have to first identity what is literally there right in front of you (example: this is a movie about a superhero. The superhero is a tall, beefy white man. The tall beefy white man has 2 sidekicks. And so on and so on.)

THEN, once you’ve done that, you sit back and think about what is NOT there. (The tall beefy white man’s sidekicks are both white characters. None of them are woman. None of them are people of color. And so on and so on.)

Once you get to this point in your analysis, you start asking different questions about the Thing.

For each answer you come up with to the above questions, you ask yourself:

1. Why?

and

2. How?

Some questions you may find yourself making at this point include:

Why was this Thing done in this way?

Why does this Thing have that audience?

How does this aspect of the Thing affect this other aspect of it?

Why did the person who made this Thing choose to do it X-way and not Y-way?

How might the time and place this Thing was made in affect its creation?

So you may be saying to yourself at this point, “but Matt, this doesn’t sound very critical to me! This just sounds like a load of fucking questions.”

To which I will say: thank god you have finally understood, padawan.

Being critical of something does not mean that you or someone else hates it.

It does not mean that you or someone else thinks the Thing is worthless.

It does not mean that you or someone else hates the people who made the Thing or the people who like the Thing.

It simply means that you have asked questions about the Thing and have recognized what it is, what it is doing, and what it is not doing from a variety of different perspectives.

So that means that when someone comes to you and says, ‘this Thing is having X effect on its audience,’ ‘this part of this Thing is representing X idea in Y ways,’ or ‘this Thing is leaving X people out in its story, which has Y effects’ that ‘criticism’ isn’t actually a targeted attack on you as a person.

This is because Things are not personality traits. Fandom ideas and ships and headcanons and whatever else are not what makes you you. You are special and unique because of so many other things that you do and have experienced. The thing that you like does not make up the entirety of your person or identity, even if that Thing or hell, even if a specific person has a lot of emotional value to you.

And because of that, when someone criticizes a piece of media or an object, they are not criticizing you. Rather, they are explaining to you how a Thing is functioning through a lens that you often don’t have access to or haven’t thought of.

That’s all!

That’s it, folks!

And just so that we are clear, you can absolutely like a Thing after going through this process and finding that it has all sorts of limitations.

You may find that there’s a lot of shit about a bit of media/fandom/object that you don’t like, and you might decide that that shit outweighs the things you do like about whatever it is.

And regardless of the case, you are MORE than allowed to continue to consume a bit of media or whatever and say, ‘you know what? I enjoy this for a number of reasons. And I also acknowledge that there are parts of it that are not good for a number of other reasons. So now when I have fun with this Thing, I’m going to be aware of and sensitive to those less great parts, while also celebrating the good parts of it, too.’

That’s totally fine. In fact, that’s great. That’s amazing. That’s the kind of awareness that people are asking you to have when they ask for critical analysis.

So. In conclusion:

Critical analysis is a tool that helps you think beyond the surface layer of an idea/thing/object. Being asked to think critically is not an attack. It does not mean that you cannot enjoy something or let it occupy an important place in your heart.

Critical analysis is a tool for everyone to use, and it is intended to help you understand how an idea/thing/object relates both to itself and the world around it.

What you do with critical analysis after that point is all up to your values and morals.

Anyways, if you have more questions, please don’t ask me. Ask yourself and then ask Google for more information or what to do next. That’s a whole different process called ‘researching’ and no one is paying me to teach you all how to research next. (…UNLESS???)

A Checklist Of Possible Reasons I Am Upset, To Review When I Can't Seem To Figure It Out:

did not eat

new hyperfixation and no time for it

have not done a creative in 24 hrs

Bad Sounds

clothes are touching my body

cold

people

one (1) comment is stuck in my brain like a popcorn kernel

last time I drank water was ??????

nervous nervous nervous nervous

got a Slightly Worse grade than expected

last hug was ??????

slept a full 45 minutes

lonely ............

guts are shredding (again)

have not seen sunlight in 24 hrs

stuck inside

too much screen time

Yay Overwhelm

room is disaster area

have not talked to Person in a while

bored

imposter phenomenon (again)

no current routine

how long have I been working???

Too Much Socialization

and then. and THEN. I may consider:

something is actually wrong

Facts about in-game Yuu (Twisted Wonderland):

NOTES:

This is an ongoing the list and will be updated when there's new information. I'm not caught up w/ chap 6 and I'm not very perceptive. This list will probably be a lot longer if anyone could add to it in the comments, tags & reblogs! All help is very much appreciated plz i wanna know more about yuu Last but not least, some of these might be a stretch/be slightly incorrect so bare w/ me plz :]

They've been good friends with Heartslabyul ever since Book 1.

They're forgiving/don't hold any bad blood with the people who've overblotted (at least on the outside).

According to the Harveston event, they can play the flute.

They don't like bringing up the fact that they might go back to their world (Deuce's Wishing Star vignette).

Many people seem to consider them a "goody-two shoes" (Leona, Ruggie).

A good listener.

Based off of Malleus' interactions with them, Yuu talks to him a lot more off-screen as Malleus states that he values their opinions.

Loves Grim to hell and back.

It's implied that Yuu invites Malleus over frequently enough that he visits unprompted.

They can be snarky and brutally honest when they're pushed into it.

Comes up with stupid plans that nobody believes will work but it somehow does.

They're insecure about not having any magic.

They want to be able to help their friends.

Has a sense of self-preservation.

Does not actively seek out danger (*cough* om mc *cough*).

They've cleaned up Ramshackle since living there, however, it still looks "abandoned & ancient" on the outside.

Crowley doesn't give them more money than "needed".

*if i'm not mistaken, i think stamens is meant to be stamina? @milkygalait-blog plz correct me if im wrong :]

They don't know much about mushrooms (Floyd's Camp Vargas vignette).

They're very patient.

Used to be afraid of ghosts until they got to Twisted Wonderland.

They adapt to new/difficult situations quickly and calmly.

They don't complain much.

Very much so the silent type.

The audience doesn't really see anyone helping them out with their situation, so I assume they fix most of their problems themselves.

They don't have any memories of the Great Seven prior to coming to Twisted Wonderland.

Fluctuates between being observant and not noticing really basic stuff.

Doesn't hesitate to say cheesy things.

Keeps calm in harsh situations.

Here is @darkscorpiox list on other Yuu facts.

Here is @starsilluminateourgalaxy list on other Yuu facts.