#open dialogue

“I’m going to communicate with the other mes.”

“So, uh…what do you two wanna do after school today?”

“Eat some pizza and then call up Kevin and see if he’s up for some gamin’!”

“As usual, he wishes to waste time with frivolous things that don’t shape his future.”

“Future smuture. Fun is as important as our stupid grades.”

“My point still stands. There are other, far more beneficial ways to have fun, while still learning important lessons and building life skills.”

“Blah blah blah.”

“Stop ignoring me. You are such a child.”

“We are all children here. A freakishly mature kid, is still a kid.”

“I think Nerd-boy missed the memo!”

“What memo? Was there a memo I wasn’t given?”

“Guys, can we focus…please?”

“I’ll pay attention, AFTER you get us pizza.”

“I can’t just walk downtown during lunch and get pizza! I’ll get in trouble!”

“He’s correct. And one more demerit would get him suspended from school for a week. Or, at the very least, result in a hefty amount of detention.”

“Oh be quiet, Simon the second!”

“Please, I implore you to refrain from calling me that. I’m simply Alvin’s higher cognitive functions given a voice….and personality.”

“Yeah because he wasn’t happy with ONE personality!”

“He has never truly had a consistent personality and you know this.”

“Guys, we’ve been at this like 5 minutes now and we STILL don’t know what we’re doing after school.”

“Because of that rabble rouser….”

“What the frack’s a rabble rouser? Now he’s just making up words!”

“It must be nice to know so little. I envy you, really.”

“You still sound like Simon!”

“DO NOT CALL ME SIMON!!!”

“My headache is worse now. Thanks for the open communication, guys. I really REALLY appreciate it.” 🙄

“You are very welcome.”

“Haha! That was SARCASM, Brainiac!”

“Oh, errr, I knew that.”

But someone else might call me a proshipper because I’m willing to ship characters in their late 20s with characters in their early 50s. Or hell, even some people think enemies to lovers is proshipping. There are blurred lines in what counts as proship in terms of how something is portrayed, too. What is the line between portraying something dark and “proshipping”, however you want to define it?

So here are some dynamics that might be considered controversial, let me know what you think in the notes. Remember, try to consider if you think these dynamics count as proshipping, not whether or not you’d be personally comfortable with them:

Adults with a large age gap.

“Minor coded” characters being shipped with adults. (That’s a whole other topic)

Bigot X Minority

Therapist X Patient

Prisoner X Guard

Enemies

Rivals

Adoptive siblings that met when they were older than 10

Two people that physically fight

Hero X Villain

Villain X Anyone

Two people that knew each other when one was a minor and the other was an adult but now they’re both adults (think Monica and Richard’s storyline from Friends)

Kidnapper X (adult) Victim

Someone X themselves from an alternate universe or from the future/past (the age old question about selfcest: incest or masturbation)

Human X Monster

I’m realizing I can think of so many pieces of non-derivative media that outright contain these dynamics.

I’m so tired I need sleep now

Alan Tudyk recently appeared on Open Dialogue with Noel T. Manning II to discuss finding the voice of Valentino in the Disney film, Wish. You can watch the interview below:

"We probably know best which arguments are most difficult for our position, because we know our belief’s real weak points and what kind of evidence we tend to find compelling … use that information to look for ways to make their arguments better, more difficult for you to counter.

This is the highest form of disagreement. If you know of a better counter to your own argument, say so. If you know of evidence that supports their side, bring it up. If their argument rests on an untrue piece of evidence, talk about the hypothetical case in which they were right...

...Because if you can’t respond to that better version, you’ve got some thinking to do, even if you are more right than the person you’re arguing with...

...First, people like having their arguments approached with care and serious consideration. Steelmanning requires that we think deeply about what’s being presented to us and find ways to improve it.

By addressing the improved version, we show respect and honest engagement to our interlocutor. People who like the way you approach their arguments are much more likely to care about what you have to say about those arguments…

Second, people are more convinced by arguments which address the real reason they reject your ideas rather than those which address those aspects less important to their beliefs."