Hi everyone! This was not going to be my next post, but then events happened and here we are! For those of you who do not know (I do not blame or judge you, I promise), tattoo artist Kat Von D is being sued by a photographer after she tattooed his photograph of Miles Davis onto a friend’s arm (for free!) and posted photos of it to Instagram in 2017 (Wild to think that is 5 years ago now, wilder that the photographer waited till 2021 to bring up copyright issues with it, and wildest that he was permitted to do so at all). This is now a further issue, because a judge has now permitted the case to go to trial instead of doing what they should have done the minute it came to their attention and toss out the case. If this photographer were to win it would have crazy, impossibly difficult to deal with, manage, and exist easily within, consequences not only for creatives but for people as a whole. Literally, there is no way a judgement in this photographer’s favor would be allowed to stand, as if they do somehow get a jury to side with them in this suit it would be 1000000000000% in the best interest of Kat Von D (and literally everyone else) to push for an appeal which would be likely granted by anyone else who is in any way, shape, or form better informed on the matter. If this photographer won, not only would this prevent tattoo artists everywhere from being able to tattoo ANY copyrighted content onto a person’s body but it would also put any person who currently has (or would potentially get a copyrighted tattoo before the verdict is reached) into an incredibly precarious position where they likely would NOT be able to show off their tattoo in public unless they have specifically organized a deal with the copyright holder (Imagine having to arrange a deal with Disney to show off your Star Wars tattoo in public, like it would be so incredibly terrible), and would also just make copyright laws stricter than they currently are in the worst way possible. So we are all on the same page here: “The Copyright Law of the United States grants monopoly protection for ‘original works of authorship’ With the stated purpose to promote art and culture, copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of their works, to create derivative works, and to perform or display their works publicly… The United States copyright law protects ‘original works of authorship,’ fixed in a tangible medium including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works” but “In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. For example, a paper describing a political theory is copyrightable. The paper is the expression of the author's ideas about the political theory. The theory itself is just an idea, and is not copyrightable. Another author is free to describe the same theory in their own words without infringing on the original author's copyright” unfortunately though “Reasonable people can disagree about where the unprotectable ‘idea’ ends and the protectable ‘expression’ begins. As Judge Learned Hand put it, ‘Obviously, no principle can be stated as to when an imitator has gone beyond copying the 'idea,' and has borrowed its 'expression.' Decisions must therefore inevitably be ad hoc.’” This is taken directly from the Wikipedia page for “Copyright law of the United States” at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_States (I don’t want to hear anything about using Wikipedia as a source, it is a perfectly acceptable source, especially in this instance) What this essentially boils down to is that creators only own how exactly they did something not the idea behind it and therefore it is their exact expression of that idea that is copyrighted but it does not extend beyond that. Unfortunately, since that is subjective each judge gets to make the decision for themselves about if something is the expression or the idea, which is why we are in this mess. So we are further on the same page here is the original photo in question: And here is the piece done by Kat Von D: Both images were acquired from this article about the situation: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/a-photographer-is-suing-tattoo-artist-kat-von-d-after-she-inked-his-portrait-of-miles-davis-on-a-friends-body-2135112 They in turn were able to gain the images from the court filings. Now, I could actually probably argue with relative ease that the moment she turned this into a tattoo it became original enough in its expression to not be covered under copyright law, though I am not a lawyer. I am though someone who has gotten tattooed and who has watched a number of Tattoo Reality Shows. This is easily enough for me to be aware that if it were somehow possible for a tattoo artist to attempt to do the exact same tattoo, in the exact same place, on the exact same client several times over the course a few days, weeks, months, whatever without it being a Groundhog Day situation (Where you would know exactly how someone is going to react time and time again because they do not have the knowledge of the previous attempts but you do) you would likely end up with at least moderately different pieces each time even if a stencil is used. This is because even if a tattoo artist attempts to do everything the exact same way, they wouldn’t be able to control the potential different reactions of their client. If you expand this further it would be even more difficult to get the exact same tattoo if you attempted to do the same one again on a different person because people all react differently to different things, and our skin is all different in a lot of ways that can affect how tattoos look once healed. Yes, some of that is mitigated by how tattoo artists tattoo is trained and operate (Including how they position and still clients, their healing instructions, etc.), and some is mitigated by stencils, but in this exact case Kat Von D apparently did the tattoo freehand (Without a stencil). In the end though, each tattoo artist has their own approach and style that is their “expression” and makes them different from any other tattoo artist which should be enough within the confines of copyright law to not count as copyright. Additionally, the tattoo doesn’t look exactly like the photo (In fact I have criticisms that I will keep to myself, because for one I could not do better and for another that is permanently marked on someone’s body and I do not want to put these issues out there in a way that could potentially reach that person), so already you could easily look at it and say, “Meh, they are different enough” and call it a day. If this photographer were to win and set a precedent for this though, it would be limiting what people could consider enough deviation from the original work to not be considered copyright, and that would cause IMMENSE harm to creators everywhere as that deviation protects people and ensures that people can make things that resemble what has already been created (Which is what all creative expression is anyway). (Also, I do just want to point out again that Kat Von D apparently did this work FOR FREE which should add another check to the “Not Copyright Infringement” category) This though actually connects to a lot of other and further reaching issues, because the reality is that this photographer is not likely going to come out the winner. Even if he wins once or twice, Kat Von D does have money and any lawyer worth their salt would push to appeal until they reached either the one that was smart enough to give them the win or the highest court it could go who would have to see that this would have extremely far reaching complications and would likely dismiss it (I know we have some real idiots out there already doing their best to restrict rights and such, but if this passed the consequences would likely be widespread enough that literally everyone would eventually be harmed by it in some way, shape, or form and while some do not act in our best interest they do act in their own best interest which this would not be). Essentially, this is another in a long line of more recent frivolous lawsuits I have seen. See, I do not use the term “frivolous lawsuit” easily, but I have been seeing it more and more especially in terms of copyright. Two easy examples recently would be the lawsuit brought against Taylor Swift for “Shake it Off” and against Ed Sheeran for “Shape of You” in both cases the people who brought the lawsuit forward lost and they really should have, no matter your personal feelings on either artist. In Taylor’s case the issue was that the other artists also had a song that talked about haters hating and players playing. I kid you not, that is the case. Like it should have been thrown out right away, but the judge allowed it to come to trial. Can you imagine if we were no longer allowed to mention similar concepts in songs that other artists also used? Like, “Oh you want to write a song about love between two people? Sorry, that’s copyright infringement because X artist also wrote a song about love between two people 20 years ago,” that literally would not make any sense at all. In Ed’s case the artist who sued him had a song where in the chorus there was a similar lyric and similar chord progression. For those of you wondering it is the part of “Shape of You” where Ed sings “Oh-I-oh-I-oh-I-oh-I I'm in love with your body Oh-I-oh-I-oh-I-oh-I I'm in love with your body Oh-I-oh-I-oh-I-oh-I.” For more information it is only the “Oh I”’s that are the issue but without them you wouldn’t have the best context about the part of the song I’m talking about. For comparison, the artist who sued Ed is named Sami Switch and his song is called “Oh Why” which contains lyrics like “Oh why, oh why, oh why, oh Why do I put myself through this? Oh why, oh why, oh why, oh Why do I put myself through this?” and “Oh why, oh why, oh why, oh I hope the suffering's worth it Oh why, oh why, oh why, oh And we suffer for a purpose” but only the “Oh why”’s were the issue. This is even worse than the Taylor one. Imagine if this was how music worked now, how would that even work? You would literally run out of actually good songs and end up with stuff more chaotic than Avant-garde jazz (No hate, but that is only a limited number of people's cup of tea) as artists try to ensure that the chord progression and words weren’t too similar to any other works, it would be super unpleasant and disorienting. I literally do not know why a judge let this one go to trial (I will say I believe it was a UK case and I know less about their copyright laws, but honestly, I don’t feel it could be so different as to think this was acceptable), as they could have easily read the lyrics and listened to the songs exactly one (1) time to see that this is not close enough nor does it encompass enough of the song for it to in anyway be a valid copyright claim. Now, some people hear about these lawsuits and essentially say, “Ah yes well Americas are incredibly litigious they sue over frivolous things all the time” and generally will not care to adjust that statement even if you do point out that the Ed Sheeran case was in the UK, but here is the thing, WE REALLY DIDN’T USED TO BE You see, corporations shot themselves (and everyone else as a result) in the foot over this issue. Let’s use a really easy and well-known example. In February of 1992, Stella May Liebeck, who would have been 79-years old at the time, ordered a coffee for 49-cents from McDonald’s through the drive thru with her grandson. Since the car did not have cup holders accessible to the passenger seat she was sitting in, her grandson pulled into a parking spot so she could add cream and sugar to the coffee. She held the cup between her legs as she attempted to remove the lid, and in doing so, accidentally spilled the entire cup into her lap. Further compounding the issue, she was wearing cotton pants that absorbed the liquid, thus holding and pressing the incredibly hot liquid against her skin, burning her severely. This is often known now as "McDonald's coffee case" or the "Hot coffee lawsuit" or any other minor variations on the same concept. Most people still mention it when they bring up frivolous lawsuits, when that is literally the issue we are looking at here. McDonald’s pushed the rhetoric of “frivolous lawsuit” and despite losing the case the propaganda stuck and now they and many others reap the consequences, especially since many other corporations did the exact same thing with other “frivolous lawsuits.” You can laugh all you want about how someone should know that coffee is hot or whatever, but the reality is that Stella May Liebeck, at 79-years-old, had to be taken to the hospital, and they determined that she had third-degree burns on 6% of her body and lesser burns on another 16% of her body. This is easily accessible knowledge on Wikipedia, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants For easy clarification: “First-degree (superficial) burns: First-degree burns affect only the epidermis, or outer layer of skin. The burn site is red, painful, dry, and with no blisters. Mild sunburn is an example. Long-term tissue damage is rare and usually consists of an increase or decrease in the skin color.” “Second-degree (partial thickness) burns: Second-degree burns involve the epidermis and part of the dermis layer of skin. The burn site appears red, blistered, and may be swollen and painful.” “Third-degree (full thickness) burns: Third-degree burns destroy the epidermis and dermis. Third-degree burns may also damage the underlying bones, muscles, and tendons. The burn site appears white or charred. There is no sensation in the area since the nerve endings are destroyed.” This information is taken directly from Stanford Health Care here: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/skin-hair-and-nails/burns/stages.html and was stated similarly on other sites when searched as well I am not going to do photos of that because that is not what am trying to do here, but you can feel free. The point is third-degree burns are nasty, and I don’t mean in appearance, I mean in how they effect the people who get them. Due to how bad this burn was, Stella May Liebeck had to be in the hospital for 8 days and got skin grafts done to help. All of this led to her losing 20 lbs. while there, reducing her weight by almost 20%, and leaving her only weighing 83 lbs. Following this, she then needed care for about 3 weeks which her daughter provided, but it left her permanently disfigured and she was considered partially disabled for 2 years afterwards. None of that is frivolous to me in the slightest. To make matters worse, she attempted to settle with McDonald’s out of court before hand for $20,000 to cover present and future expenses related to the burns. When they brought this to McDonald’s she had already racked up $10,500 in medical debt alone while future medical needs and her daughter’s loss of income needed to care for her after the fact added to the total they came to. In response, McDonald’s only offered her $800 and refused to go any higher. To adjust for inflation: $20,000 in 2022 = in $10,140.41 1994 $10,500 in 2022 = $5,323.71 in 1994 and $800 in 2022 = $405.62 in 1994 $20,000 in 1994 = $39,446.15 in 2022 $10,500 in 1994 = $20,709.23 in 2022 and $800 in 1994 = $1,577.85 in 2022 (Wow, that is so sad ☹ Anyway, I used https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ to get these numbers) Due to McDonald’s pitiful offerings and refusal to budge, Stella May Liebeck hired an attorney and they sued McDonald’s. Before they went to trial, they offered other settlement amounts of $90,000 and $300,000 while a mediator also suggested settling for $225,000, but McDonald’s turned down the settlements at every turn. The trial was held in August of 1994, and in the course of it they managed to find and prove that McDonald’s required their franchises “to hold coffee at 180–190 °F (82–88 °C)… [but coffee at] 190 °F (88 °C)... may produce third-degree burns (where skin grafting is necessary) in about three seconds and 180 °F (82 °C)... may produce such burns in about twelve to fifteen seconds” in addition to finding that other local businesses that sold coffee were doing so at about 20 °F (11 °C) cooler temperatures (Which gave more time to deal with a spill before it caused a third-degree burn) and that while McDonald’s claimed they did so because drive-thru coffee was for commuters who needed it to stay warm over longer distances, it eventually came out that they had conducted studies that determined most people going through the drive thru for coffee expected to drink it right away (Stating the obvious a bit, but we need scientific data to back that kind of stuff up) and McDonald’s had received over 700 burn claims about hot coffee of varying severity in the decade leading up to Liebeck’s burn in 1992 (which is 70 burns a year), resulting in settlements with McDonald’s for more than $500,000. Despite attempting to argue that all hot food is a burn hazard and that there weren’t enough cases for them to reevaluate their practices, the jury decided that McDonald’s was 80% to blame and Liebeck was only 20% at fault, awarding her a significant amount of money in response that was eventually reduced down to “a total of $640,000.” McDonald’s of course appealed but eventually the matter was settled out of court for an unknown amount. Now, you really might be thinking, “Well yeah that is terrible but what does this have to do with copyright or frivolous lawsuits, obviously this wasn’t frivolous but other are!” But the issue is that is the rhetoric that was pushed for years, over and over again. Companies were doing things that hurt people and didn’t care to change (Even when it really wouldn’t have lost them money to do so, like yeah maybe you have to throw away coffee sooner, but really that can be managed in a lot of ways (Especially if you look at sales and get a sense for how much coffee is typically sold each day of the week and at which times), so literally should have been an easy fix) and when someone finally, publicly sued them for it they poured their money into pushing the rhetoric it was a frivolous lawsuit hoping to turn the tides of the results if not in the first verdict then on appeal, but instead they lose and end up paying out a lot of money because they were doing something messed up. Propaganda doesn’t just disappear though. It sticks around with annoying persistence, but the results are still also public knowledge. So, when the idea of frivolous lawsuits is continually pushed only to result in major payout to the people who sued, you do eventually reach a point where a lot of people truly start to believe that you can sue (and win!) over literally the smallest, dumbest things you can think of. Like say, a tattoo artist using a photograph you took as the base for a tattoo of a well-known famous person which they gave their friend for free. Till next till! -Shadow Finch

Hi everyone! So, there is something I do want to address. As of now my discussion on Netflix’s First Kill is live. I wrote that post a couple days prior, and used it to discuss a lot of the common complaints I have seen about the show. Before it was published, I learned of a new complaint about the show, which is that Jewish people are stating it is antisemitic. I am a person who truly does want to do my best to help and support others, but also, I feel this is a complex issue, that I have now stumbled onto. I could have decided not to publish the discussion at all or I could have still published it and ignored the complaints, but neither is really what I wanted nor do those options really reflect how I feel about this, which I feel would then be a disservice to me and anyone who does eventually read these posts. Before I begin this in full, I would like to be clear. The definition of a “myth” is: “A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events” This means that any story within any religion is a myth, and please do also understand that generally speaking all books, movies, TV shows, video games, etc. are all modern myths in their own ways. When discussing the stories that go into a religion, I will always refer to it as a “myth” because that is what it is. If me calling a story within your religion a myth is offensive to you my suggestions are: A.) Stop reading and don’t read anything else on my site, B.) Stop calling the stories of other religions that you don’t follow myths then too, C.) Read up more on myths as a whole, D.) Take time to internally process why that is your issue and not mine, and E.) DO NOT decide to make that my problem, because it really isn’t. Before a few days ago, I never knew that vampires are associated with antisemitism as a whole. I am a writer who deals primarily in fantasy, my Bachelor’s degree is in History with a Religious Studies minor, I am agnostic, and grew up in a household that was decidedly limited with religion. I have always been interested in fantasy and the supernatural, loving shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Vampire Diaries (Within reason, seeing as I never finished either show, but that is more due to my own disagreement about the direction both shows ended up taking). The reality is though that I associate most myths with storytelling more so than I do with any religion, because in the end that is what all myths are, storytelling. That is even the case in a lot of non-fiction because even though it is something that has happened or is happening. As a writer you have to focus on telling the story that needs to be told, it’s just that when it is non-fiction you have little control over how events in the story play out, but you still need to tell the story. Furthermore, if I would have associated vampires with any religion it would have been Christianity since vampires are typically harmed by specifically Christian objects (Something I do wish to change within my own writing because it never really made sense to me that it was only Christian objects, not those of other religions too, which always made it seem too pro-Christian to me, but I digress). Even so, me not knowing about something, especially when that something has to do with a minority group that I am not actually part of, doesn’t negate it as being a real and present issue for that group, just as me not knowing is not some personal moral failing. Despite all that though I do feel like there is a lot to work on and unpack here, and that there is also a need for outside input. As I said, I am not Jewish, I have studied some Judaism but that does not in any way make me an expert, and as a whole, Abrahamic religions were never my area of interest. First though, I do feel it is important to address why this issue with First Kill specifically falls into a bit of an ambiguous area. See, it would be one thing if the antisemitism in the show was blatantly obvious and intentional to be antisemitic, but I do have my doubts that was ever the intention of the creator of the show. Now, I have been unable to verify this fully, but it is my understanding that V.E. Schwab (Who originally wrote the short story First Kill is based on and was majorly involved in the creation of the show) is Jewish herself. Again, I have not been able to fully verify that she actually is, but for a moment let’s assume she is, that of course does not prevent her from having internalized antisemitism that bled into her work anymore than a queer person could have that happen with internalized homophobia or a woman could have that happen with internalized misogyny. Being part of a minority does not mean that you cannot do or say things that are biased against that minority. At the same time, we need to use critical thinking and analysis skills to determine if that actually is what is going on here or not. I could go into a whole rant about critical thinking analysis here, but the gist of it would be that critical thinking is vastly important in everything but we are not necessarily taught it in the best way. The importance of the “Blue Curtains” is not what we think, and this is missed by many. The importance of looking at why curtains are blue is to determine if it is significant and why. Maybe it is insignificant, maybe it isn’t, the point of critical thinking is to be able to read/watch/play/etc. through something and first of all determine if the curtains being blue is even significant in the first place, and then decide why they may be that color after you have determined that it is significant. Many people miss this and just hear the discussion as pointless because, “Why does it matter if the curtains were blue? Maybe the author just liked blue!” Totally missing the fact that you are supposed to determine if the color is significant or not first and then decide why that might be. In the case of First Kill, the issue of antisemitism is brought up for two main overarching issues that encompass other smaller ones (As far as I have seen and read up on). The first, I discussed above, which is that some Jewish people (I don’t think this is known/believed by every Jewish person but as I stated I am not Jewish so I’d rather be more general than absolute) believe vampires are antisemitic at their base as they were created to demonize Jewish people specifically. The second, is that within First Kill the vampires are a matriarchy (just as Judaism is) that utilizes parts of the mythos surrounding The Garden of Eden, Lilith, Eve, The Snake, and The Apple which is also part of Judaism. As I stated above, before seeing complaints about First Kill I never knew that vampires were associated with antisemitism (Which brings up questions as to why I am seeing this now and not during one of my deep dives into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, etc., but that we aren’t going to get into that right now), and honestly, at this point in time, I am not positive that pushing that rhetoric is going to be healthy for anyone involved. See, the issue is that at this point vampires are a staple of the supernatural genre, anyone who attempted to “recreate” vampires to separate them from the history that potentially spawned them isn’t actually going to go over well and would likely fizzle out before it ever gained ground. That, of course, doesn’t mean you don’t still try though for most situations of course, but here is the rub: even if someone did the base would still be vampires. They would have just changed the name and some of the details, but all vampire stories have their own deviations too so really all it would truly amount to would be the name change, which isn’t going to actually help anything. I’m not saying no one should try or whatever, actually the opposite, I am asking, realistically, what I could do as a writer that would make vampires okay for Jewish people? How can I as a modern writer change things that haven’t already been changed to separate them enough for you to feel it is okay? Because I truly want that, I want to be able to do that for you, but I also still need to be able to tell the stories I wish to tell and some of them include vampires. So, how can I do this in a way that it is understood that I, as a writer, simply have a story or two trapped inside me that includes vampires, not because I associate them with Jewish people (Or any religion for that matter), but because I associate them with the supernatural and fantasy genres and have stories that include them as an element that is common in those genres? Truly, if you have an answer, I would absolutely love to hear it, but I will add a stipulation, telling me, “You’re the writer, figure it out!” isn’t helpful or productive, because I am honestly telling you here and now that I do not have an answer for you. I cannot retcon the origins of a supernatural being after this much time, that simply isn’t feasible, and if I just change the name and adjust its powers slightly as I would have anyway, that is very much going to likely feel like a hollow change, to you and to me, and that isn’t what I want. Now, adding in the elements of Judaism to the vampire mythos of the series could definitely be antisemitic, if the intention of the show was to demonize that mythos, but I do not see that as that case here. Yes, the family are vampires, but the message of the show is not that vampires are monsters or that their traditions are monstrous, it is that actions make you a monster, how you treat people makes you a monster, and a monster can be anyone, for any reason. The issue also becomes where people have to separate stories from individual religions and recognize them as religious elements instead. Lilith is becoming more and more prominent in modern media, for better or worse, and the reality is that she is still present in Christianity and Islam, if only because they all began at the Jewish base. Lilith doesn’t belong solely to Judaism anymore because of that divergence, nor does the story of Eden, Eve, the Snake, and the Apple. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all Abrahamic Religions because they began at the same base, that was Judaism. Just because they diverged doesn’t negate that the base of the religion is still there. Additionally, a lot of people (both religious people and non-religious people) have latched onto the myth of Lilith as part of growing female empowerment (Again for better or worse), further removing it as a story that would solely “belong” to Judaism (I put belong in quotes, because in the end stories do not really belong to anyone, especially once they are public knowledge). While I could change the name people would largely still understand who I meant/was basing them upon because they fulfill specific roles, stereotypes, functions, etc. Everything is an archetype or a mixture of archetypes (Or tropes, or whatever). Having the vampires be matriarchal doesn’t even have to be related to that choice, as it literally could have just been an easy plot point to the show. Them being matriarchal and having Juliette’s family as the Keepers puts prominence and pressure on her and her family specifically, and is a driving plot point, without it the show would have turned out completely differently. I’m not saying that is good or bad, just that it is life. Writing is long, arduous, and time consuming, sometimes you need the win of easy plot points. As I stated earlier and in my post on First Kill there are only actually 7 original stories in the world and everything else is just based on it. The reality is that when you write a story you have to build a framework, and it is a lot of work. It is also extremely time consuming. The way you cut down on that as a writer is using stuff that already exists. It makes your life easier and makes it easier for the audience who then doesn’t have to track a bunch of new information. Even when a writer does “make their own” religion, mythos, etc. it is still always going to be part of the framework of reality, in that it won’t actually be some completely new thing that has never existed before. It is going to be a mashed together mixture of elements they wanted to include and an absence of ones they didn’t dressed up under a different name. Nothing within writing is completely unique or original, you can have a different take on it for sure, but the reality is that even the take you have is still going to be based on everything else that came before it. Take recipes for example, you have a base of “Put over fire until cooked” and then someone comes along and adds salt so that becomes the new base and then someone comes and add another ingredient and so on and so forth, yes, sometimes we know who made the original change (or at least where the change came from), but most of the time we do not, we just know that is the recipe and that the change we are making is because we tried something else or learned something new and we thought it would be an excellent addition. Finally, I feel it is prudent to bring us back to a point, it is my understanding that the creator of the show is Jewish. The truth is, that as a writer if I had a specific religion I believed in (or even grew up in), it would likely end up in my writing too. See, there is a limit to how much a person can take in and know and it is, of course, different for everyone, and depends on their own interests, time, abilities, etc. If I spent my life learning all about one specific religion, I would know significantly less about other religions simply because I did not have the time, energy, and mental space needed to learn about the others if that time was instead being devoted to learning a lot about a specific religion. The way I look at worldbuilding is often a lot more involved than a lot of other people I speak with about worldbuilding (According to them). I do try to create things where I can by doing the combination method and everything, on top of doing my best to be sensitive to the variety of differences in the world, but even I am completely overwhelmed by it all sometimes and need to just slap in some easy stuff I already know and already know my audience is at least a little aware of. There are a number of writers out there who are much less intense about their worldbuilding, because they are fine with that and manage to make their story work in other ways, often meaning that a lot of the mythos in a story will be mythos already created that other people are familiar with, and if they grew up in a specific way that will always color that lens. Again, this is nether good nor bad, just a fact of life. If V.E. Schwab isn’t Jewish, then yeah, maybe she used a little too much Judaism in First Kill, but honestly, either way, story writers have been doing that kind of stuff for an incredibly long time, because there isn’t some easy solution. We are not gods and we are often not geniuses. We are simply people who are trying to get stories told. I, and any other writer who cares about this, would love to know what you think an easy to implement solution is that doesn’t feel hollow to you, the writers, and/or the audience, how should we address this in a way that makes it clear that our intention is not to harm others? The only current solution I see as even a remote possibility is simply providing that as a disclaimer, but the problem is that doing so doesn’t really fix anything and honestly (to me at least) feels more like someone trying to cover themselves without actually having to do anything, and would likely result in some writers taking it as a carte blanche to write stuff that is incredibly hateful, hurtful, offensive, and wrong only to slap that in there so they can point to it and say, “But I didn’t mean any harm! It says it right here!” because writers are not perfect and there are plenty of assholes out there. I do want to do my best to be an ally to the Jewish community, but I do not understand how I can do so in a way that is actually helpful without requiring eons worth of work from me, because that is the only way to fully separate and create something completely new, is to take eons and research every single little thing that has ever existed and synthesize it down in understanding and then hope for some kind of miracle that you can find or figure out something that is completely unconnected from everything that existed before then, which isn’t feasible at all. Again though, changing a few names and details is not a real change, people will still be able to see the original base. So, we need to know how to make that base not a rotting putrid mess, which does take time and effort, but if I am not the one who can see and experience the base then I have no idea how to fix it, I need the guidance of someone who can see it, and so does every writer out there if we want there to be meaningful change. If any of you want to come at me for this post feel free! I want to talk with you! I want to hear from you and get your feedback, because I truly do not know what to do that will help you and won’t make me more overwhelmed by my worldbuilding process than I already am, but I can’t do that if you don’t talk with me. I can’t do that if I have no way to learn and grow. If you are angry about something I said here that is still completely fine! I need to know! I cannot change something if I am unaware it is a problem, I cannot even change problems I am fully aware of sometimes because of the actual restrictions of life, but I will always do my best and I will always care about trying to do better. Until next time! -Shadow Finch

So, with my recent “Something to Consider” post in mind, I will preface this by stating First Kill is a Supernatural Lesbian (Or Sapphic if you prefer) Teen Romance Drama and thus contains elements from all of those genres and if you do not like that then this review (And this show) isn’t for you. Now first things first: Caution Potential Spoilers for First Kill Season 1 Ahead!!! First Kill just came out not long ago on June 10, 2022 and as I write this it is June 22, 2022. Some of you may be completely unaware of it or may only have the barest understanding of what the show is even about because Netflix did very, very little in terms of promoting the show. This is, unfortunately, something that happens specifically with sapphic media quite often, but we will not get into that here. Honestly, I love the show, I think it is great and have already watched it about 10 times. There are of course problems with it, but every show has problems, I can accept the ones in First Kill even if I can’t with other shows. If you like all of the elements that go into a Supernatural Lesbian (Sapphic) Teen Romance Drama then you will likely love First Kill and should go watch it to help it get a second season. A quick summary of the show is: Juliette Fairmont (Sarah Catherine Hook) is a teenage Legacy Vampire who will soon need to make her first kill in order to cement her vampiric change before it makes her incredibly sick and dangerous, but all she wants to think about is the new girl at school she has been crushing on. Calliope “Cal” Burns is a monster hunter, as is her whole family. They have moved to town due to increased supernatural activity in the area, not long after she choked on her first monster kill. She is determined to prove herself to her family and start becoming the greatest monster hunter who ever lived. Unfortunately, in the process of trying to earn the trust of her parents to get the chance to try once more for her first kill, her classmate Juliette caught her eye, and she watched her long enough to determine that Juliette must be a vampire. Both attend a party where their first kills are at the forefront of their minds, and their actions there have far reaching consequences for both families. As dictated by Newton’s Third Law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the actions of this party definitely results in a lot of reactions. Can the girls figure out a way to forge peace between the families or will their Romeo and Juliet tale end in tragedy like all the others? Now, for this discussion I’m actually going to go over some of the common complaints I have seen, as my personal view is “Great stuff, want more!” Which is why I’m not exactly calling this a review. The top complaints I have seen are: There is Too Much Music/The Music is Too Loud It’s Lame/Dumb/Cringey/Unrealistic Cal is so Flat/Cal and Juliette Have No Chemistry It Should Have Been Set in College It’s Basically Just Romeo and Juliet but with Lesbians and Supernatural Elements Production/Design is Poorly Done Now, most of these can be addressed rather quickly in terms of why this complaint is “a thing” but also why they aren’t. I could easily go on to long rants about each, but I will do my best to keep it short and sweet, but hopefully you will bear with me a bit. 1. There is Too Much Music/The Music is Too Loud So, I’m not sure which shows the people making these complaints are watching but every show I know is full of music and the music, effects, etc. are always way too loud while the dialogue is way too quiet. This isn’t individual to First Kill it is a universal problem. The music within the show was all newer to me with the exception of “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood, and I know that some people have issues with that kind of stuff, but unfortunately, for them specifically, Teen Dramas are often full of “newer” or “less well-known” music. In part, it is because a lot of new music has a bigger target audience in younger people as the older you get the more you settle into your own musical ruts, but also it is simply due to budgeting. Look at The Umbrella Academy it is easy to tell that they must have had a pretty big budget from Netflix if only because they use a lot of “known” and “popular” music. Budget is always an issue, especially when a show is just starting out, a good way to limit your budget is to use less well-known music as you often need to pay less to access it and use it. Personally, I thought the soundtrack was great and often end up singing along as I watch despite not knowing it before watching this show. Each song seems to do its part to help convey meaning and I’m never irritated by the songs themselves. In fact here is the Opening Intro: Now, the volume of the music is of course completely ridiculous sometimes especially in conjunction with how quiet dialogue is, but as I said above that is a universal issue that I experience on literally every single show I watch. It would likely need to be fixed by regulating it on a large-scale level, but I doubt we will move in that direction anytime soon. So, yes, generally, if you don’t like “newer music” in shows then First Kill isn’t for you but that is often a staple of the Teen Romance Drama genre anyway, so again, this wasn’t really for you in the first place, and loud music is not a new complaint nor is it specific to First Kill. 2. It’s Lame/Dumb/Cringey/Unrealistic Oh, I could so wax poetically about this, but I will do my best to keep this short and simple. THAT IS A STAPLE OF THE GENRE!!! Like literally for one it is a supernatural show, already negating “realistic” right from the start. As for Lame, dumb, and/or cringey, I would ask that you show me any Teen show at all (Not just Teen Drama) that is not lame, dumb, and/or cringey. Like they literally all are. That is the lame, dumb, and/or cringey stage of your life (Which can extend as long as it chooses), which is part of the appeal of the Teen genre of shows. Just because it is lame, dumb, and/or cringey doesn’t mean it can’t be good and you don’t get enjoyment out of it! It is a TV show, literally there to entertain people, if it isn’t entertaining to you then don’t watch it, but otherwise if you enjoy it (and it isn’t hurting anyone that you do) then it doesn’t matter that it is lame, dumb, and/or cringey. Like just look at the posters for some of the other shows in this genre! Additionally, part of this can easily be an issue with the hypersexualization that is a constant on-going problem with all shows in the Teen genre, but it is unfortunately still a deeply in-grained part of the genre that First Kill would be completely unable to dislodge on their own, (and honestly shouldn’t have to), and realistically isn’t all that bad in comparison to a lot of other shows out there. Yes, there are passionate make outs with what could probably be classified as “Dry humping” and “Heavy Petting” but as it currently stands, they haven’t done the whole “We are naked under these sheets and cuddling in bed” thing or the “We are obviously having sex in this car” thing or the many other ways that shows do this. No clothes are removed and no one is implied to be naked, so it is honestly way less sexualized than a lot of shows at this point. Yes, what is shown is also “cringey” especially if you are like trying to watch this with your parents or something but it also isn’t bad. As it currently stands, you could even say that the show is taking a step back on how sexualized teen shows are. Sure, it isn’t Derry Girls which so far doesn’t seem to have any of that but it also isn’t the hardcore levels some Teen shows push through. VS I would say First Kill is in the middle somewhere 3. Cal is so Flat/Cal and Juliette Have No Chemistry A lot of elements can go into this complaint, but generally I am going to be kind here and simply say that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Look, the reality is that we all see, hear, process, conclude, etc. through our own lenses and that can cause immense differences in how things are perceived. Personally, I thought Sarah Catherine Hook and Imani Lewis had/have great chemistry, and generally would be unsurprised if they at some point started dating or whatever, but that is none of my business so I will leave it there. They seemed very believable to me, but I am looking at it through my own lens of course. As for people saying “Cal is a flat character” or otherwise saying anything that implies Imani Lewis is doing anything other than an amazing job, are not actually considering her character as a whole. Cal is guarded and cold, you would be too if you grew up in a family of monster hunters. Literally, it is a stated canon plot point that her oldest brother (Yes, he is a half-brother but literally they do not make that distinction very much at all in the show which is honestly a breath of fresh air) was 12 years old when he “killed his first monster while out on a patrol with [their] dad.” So, that is literally a 12-year-old boy killing something that could have easily ripped him to shreds before his father could have stepped in and saved him with a gun, after presumably other prior times of going out on these patrols and watching as his dad did so too and training for this moment. Cal’s other brother first did this at 14, and she got her first chance a year before at 15 but failed. Now, she is 16 and doing her best to start being able to prove herself to her family who has been training her for this her whole life. That is like military families times a hundred since they have to operate in secret and there are limits on how much “training” a military family can even remotely attempt before their child turns 18 and actually joins the military. If Cal was open, peppy, positive, etc. it literally would not make sense within the context of the show, as she was raised to kill monsters and not care about it, to the extent that she doesn’t understand why Juliette would be upset that her family had fully written and drawn out plans on how to kill her and her family since she already made it clear that she was always going to be a hunter and her family are professionals (Which is logical for her to not understand given her upbringing). Cal is played exactly how she should be given her background, if you think she is flat you may want to either analyze why exactly you seem to think that or you could literally do the easy thing and watch some interviews with Imani Lewis and Sarah Catherine Hook as you will see that how Cal is, is not her actual personality and thus is a legitimate actual part she is playing based on the context and not someone who doesn’t know how to play a role. 4. It Should Have Been Set in College There are so many things I could say about this and maybe one day I will give you all a full post on it, but let’s just get to brass tacks. I know we all (Yes me included) like to say that things “Could’ve been set in college” but you need to understand that while yes it seems like a lot of things that are “practically nonexistent” in High School shows anyway mean that it could just be in college, but that is actually fundamentally untrue. Let’s try a quick and easy example. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Buffy’s mom is rarely around to have an influence, but the reality is that her mom is still a vital plot point in the show even though she is barely present, and having Buffy the Vampire Slayer immediately start in college actually probably wouldn’t have gone as well as you might think. See, part of the whole plot was that they moved to Sunnydale because her mom thought she was getting in too much trouble back in L.A., her mom doesn’t know she was getting in trouble because she has had a magical destiny placed on her shoulders and now has to spend a lot of her free time dealing with everything that entails, which gets her in trouble (with the law, with the school, and just in general) and causes her grades and such to suffer. This makes her mom a driving force in the plot even though she isn’t present. If Buffy was in college, she wouldn’t have to worry about being out past curfew, whether or not her mom thinks she is participating enough if her mom will accept her boyfriend, etc. because there is much more leeway with that kind of stuff in college unless your parents/guardians are like super strict and controlling. Yes, she may have to text her mom to let her know she is out late or not coming home that night if she still lived with her, but generally you lose all of the little dramatic plot points that make up this genre where they have to do something because otherwise their parents will know what is up or will ground them or will become more involved or whatever which adds stakes (no pun intended) to the plot as a whole. College has it own plot points but if the points you want as background aren’t present there then it doesn’t make sense to set it in college instead. As a final addition to this part, I will also quickly point out that generally there is actually a reason to write stories where high school aged kids go out and do something big/special/important with little to no help from the adults around them and manage to do “great things.” These stories play an important role not only for their target audience but also for those outside of it. Young kids need to see (and as a result often like to see) people they relate to being able to go out and do things without the help, input, or support of the various adults in their lives to help them gain the confidence to do the same. As kids get older, they may also need stories where they are given help, input, or support by the adults in their lives just as they may also need stories where it is in college struggling through like they are but that is a different genre to look at altogether. 5. It’s Basically Just Romeo and Juliet but with Lesbians and Supernatural Elements Honestly, this one confuses me because I’m not positive why it is a complaint. Like yes, if you do not like Romeo and Juliet but with Supernatural Lesbians shows then the Romeo and Juliet with Supernatural Lesbians show probably isn’t for you! The show makes it very clear that is what this is about, no one is forcing you to watch this unless you are actually being tied down and forced to watch this. If you aren’t having a good time watch something else. Otherwise, this seems more like a positive. Like in Easy A they literally talk about how it is a movie cliché that the students are working on a play or reading a story that actually reflects what is happening in their lives because that is used all the time. First Kill is no exception. Literally the school play is Romeo and Juliet. It is a common trope to do this. Additionally, everything is based on everything else. There are only about 7 original plots and everything else is all just based on each other. If you don’t believe me, I need you to take a second to read and absorb this fact: Around 175 CE, during the height of the Roman Empire, Lucian of Samosata (a part of modern-day Turkey), publish a story, called True History where the plot was essentially that a group of people were on a ship but it was blown up into space where they eventually landed on the Moon only to find that not only are there people on the Moon but they are at war with the people who live on the Sun because they are fight over a colony on Venus. Please go back and re-read that and really let it sink in. There are no new stories, and that is perfectly fine! 6. Production/Design is Poorly Done This here really should be the longest to talk about, but once again I am going to do my best to be short with this. So, first of all, poor production and design is honestly a staple of this genre, just because there is better technology now than when say Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on the air, does not mean that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is now bad. If you think that is why people have become more critical of the show, I can almost guarantee that most of the people who would complain about low quality on Buffy today say it because it is a quick and easy thing to discuss. Most of the actual criticism of the show nowadays actually have way more to do with writing and plot issues that are now more widely acknowledged as problematic in addition to the information we are now much more aware of about what was going on behind the scenes on set. Some of these issues do detract from the show now, but most of them nothing at all to do with how things looked. To bump up to more recent times we can easily look at shows like MTV’s Teen Wolf or Vampire Diaries from the CW. If you look at their first seasons you will actually see a lot of similar production/design elements to First Kill because it is a staple of the genre AND because most of these shows don’t have huge budgets for their first seasons. If a show can tell the story, it wants then it doesn’t matter how big or small the budget it or how low-quality production seems, because it did the job it was supposed to do. An easy look at this is in season 1 (I think it goes on longer too, but it is most prominent in the first season) of Vampire Diaries you will notice that a lot of the times when they are doing the whole “Vampire biting someone’s neck” thing they like open their mouths extremely wide and like go up and then go down before biting into the neck. This happened for 2 interconnected reasons. Reason 1 is that the fangs they used that season were apparently really short, making it difficult to try and bite necks, and Reason 2 is that this is a TV show and they need to get the best shots possible to convey what is happening. To get the shots they wanted with the teeth they had that is the compromise that happened. It was such a staple of the show that the Hillywood Show actually included it as part of their parody. I only know the background on it because Ian Somerhalder (Who plays Damon Salvatore) was asked about the parody at one point and stated that them including that detail meant that they truly knew the show. Both the Parody and the video of Ian Somerhalder are embedded below Vampire Diaries Parody by The Hillywood Show Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley Discuss the Vampire Diaries Parody by the Hillywood Show An additional easy thing to look at, are these comparison shots of werewolves. One is from season 1 of Teen Wolf while the other is from this first season of First Kill. I personally find them to be incredibly similar, but that’s your call. MTV's Teen Wolf Werewolf (Alpha Peter) Netflix's First Kill Werewolf Now, as a final point to touch on for this post, I would extremely remiss if I failed to mention the predecessor to First Kill which does an excellent job of proving that production does not matter one iota if you can make your plot entertaining and engaging for viewers. That predecessor is the web series Carmilla which ran for 3 seasons and actually was popular enough to gain a movie too. The show (Which you can still watch for free on YouTube) ran from August of 2014 till October of 2016. They had a total of 121 episodes with an average length of around 5 minutes each. The show was based loosely on what many consider to be the actual first vampire story Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu which was released in 1871 (a full 26 years before Bram Stokers’ Dracula). It is shot like a video blog following journalism student Laura Hollis (Elise Bauman) in her freshman year at Silas University (A fake Austrian University), after her original roommate suddenly goes missing only to be immediately replaced by the weird and mysterious Carmilla Karnstein (Natasha Negovanlis). The show and movie were both great and I would still be completely down for more, as would many, many other fans of the show, which is absolutely hilarious because their production/design was largely non-existent. The show was shot as if from her computer for school which remained in a stationary location, most of the action took place off screen while the audience was simply hearing about it and seeing the effects on the characters after the fact. Stills from Carmilla Season 1 Stills from Carmilla Season 2 Stills from Carmilla Season 3 The movie of course included more stuff, but still not to an extreme degree, and it literally never mattered. What mattered then and will always be the important factor of shows, movies, games, books, etc. is if they manage to tell the story they are trying to tell and get the audience invested in the characters, which Carmilla obviously did with essentially nothing and which First Kill also does with whatever they have. Yes, some things in First Kill look cheesy or overdone, but that is literally every show in this genre and many people are grateful it is there at all, while also acknowledging it is completely unnecessary since so many were obsessed with Carmilla which had basically none of that. Now, if you made it through all of that and First Kill seems up your alley go check it out! It really is a fun show and views are super important right now as fans are waiting to hear if they are going to get a second season. Its numbers have done pretty well so far, but more would never hurt. It is always a bummer when good shows get cancelled too soon, and that would be the case here, so any support you can give is really helpful. I’m more than happy to talk with any of you about the show when/if you finish it! Otherwise, if you made it to the end but it doesn’t seem like that show for you know that is totally fine, and I’m even fine to discuss why that may be as long as you are willing to keep it civil! I am always curious about the different ways people think about and experience things. Be on the lookout for more updates! Till Next Time! -Shadow Finch

Hi everyone! I’m Shadow Finch. This post was going to talk about a number of different things that all essentially tied into one, but I am struggling to articulate it in a way I am fully happy with, so we are going to just do our best with this. I am getting ready to write my first review for something on this blog and was going to make this a disclaimer of sorts, then it became its own post and just kind of kept mutating and growing as a subject, and I never really liked the ways it was coming together. Generally, this is just a reminder to think carefully about all the elements that go into things. In this case, I am going to discuss a show I like on Netflix that just came out that I would classify as a Supernatural Lesbian Teen Romance Drama (Yes, it is First Kill, but you can read the review to see my thoughts on the show itself). It is a show I would highly recommend though, if you like all the elements that entails, which is what I want people to think about and consider so for this easy, already present example that means you have to like: Supernatural Shows, Teen Shows, Lesbian Shows, Romance Shows, Dramas, Supernatural Dramas, Teen Dramas, Lesbian Dramas, Supernatural Teen Shows, Supernatural Lesbian Shows, Supernatural Romance Shows, and on and on and on, to meet all of possible combination of elements that go into this show just like any other show. Essentially, this means that if I say, “I like First Kill, here are the reasons, you should watch it too!” you need to decide if it actually is a show you would want to watch on your own, and understand that I do not control what elements you may or may not like, and thus you should keep your own preferences in mind. Additionally though, this became a reminder about all things I say on here. I am a person which means I have my own experiences which shape what I do and do not like about stuff that I watch, read, play, etc. If something I say helps/works for you then great, use it, do it! But if something isn’t going to work for you, doesn’t fit with your preferences, etc. then ignore it! You don’t have to do anything I say, just what works for you. This does also mean though, that if I get angry messages that are essentially just tearing me to shreds for liking or not liking something, I will just send you a link to this post. I am a person who is willing to discuss why I think one way or another about something, but only when it is clear the other person actually wants a discussion, not when they simply want me to change my mind and do what they want (with the exception of harmful behavior, which I will always do my best to fix/change). Understanding the elements you do and do not like about something is an easy way to start a conversation, and to classify how you will take any recommendations I give, as knowing, “Oh, I do really like Dramas, Teen Dramas, Teen Romance Dramas, etc., but really don’t like Animated Cringey Hypersexualized Teen Romance Dramas” is good for you to know if looking at my review (or the review of anyone else or whatever) that while I am saying you should watch this Animated Cringey Hypersexualized Teen Romance Dramas that obviously that review isn’t meant for you, that obviously you are not the target audience for that one, but can easily start a conversation with me by replying, “Oh, I am glad you liked this, I do not like Animated Cringey Hypersexualized Teen Romance Dramas” at which point we could talk about why I do or do not agree, what elements might make it more worthwhile to you, what other shows that are similar are out there but do not contain those elements, etc. All of which is better for all involved rather than someone deciding that the people who like X show are messed up because it includes elements X, Y, and Z, when the reality is that X, Y, and Z are stables of the genre of the show and isn’t actually the issue since you liked Y show which also included elements X, Y, and Z but didn’t include element S like X show did which is the real issue you have with it. People will always have different opinions on things, I am happy to discuss those differences as long as it is a discussion and not a conversion. Anyway, hope this helps keep things clear! Till Next Time! -Shadow Finch

Hi Everyone! So, if you read my about page you will hopefully know this by now, but if you don’t, I’m Shadow Finch. This is a pseudonym that I chose, because I am introverted and socially awkward so I’d prefer to not use my real name so people can’t look me up and track me down. Shadows are an interesting thing to me and I tend to like to include them into things where possible, thus Shadow became the first name. Honestly, if I was willing to put in the time and energy along with putting up with my family’s nonsense about it and the grief, I’d likely get in just daily life I would probably change my name to Shadow, but I’m not so I don’t and therefore it works here. Finch was honestly a last-minute addition to give me a last name, and was just the one that resonated the most with me as I scrolled through possible last names to use as it flowed well enough and helped create an overall image, I could work into art for the blog specifically. Before starting this blog, I knew finches were a bird but not much beyond that. As a result of starting this blog, I am learning more about finches and finding they are great, and some of their traits are similar to traits I have in some ways, so I decided to have one of my first posts to be discussing interesting things about finches and showing pictures of some beautiful and interesting ones. I am in no way a finch expert, but figured this would be a good way to pay homage to the birds that are the origin of the last name I chose. So, without further ado: Interesting Finch Facts by Shadow Finch: Finches are very social but also relatively quiet I love this because it reminds me that I can be social in the right conditions but that people can see me as quiet or whatever else otherwise. Finches do not like to be handled Same! I am not a person who has ever really been overly fond of touch. Some birds that are kept as pets apparently need to be held/touched regularly for their health and happiness, but for finches touching them should be limited to medical need to avoid frightening the birds and causing them stress. From what I read though, finches can also observe from a far and eventually decide to initiate touch on their own which is good and fine, which continues to be an entire mood for my life. A finch without other finches will probably die Honestly, me. I’m very introverted and need a lot of alone time, but I also need the support of others or it doesn’t go well for me. Finches are songbirds Chaffinches (Which can largely be found throughout Europe) can have different songs based on where they live Bullfinches can mimic songs which very much reminds me of the mockingjays in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series Despite their small size they need a lot of space Now, I am not very small, in fact I am fat, but I too need a lot of space to thrive as I am claustrophobic and can have that triggered if I don’t feel I have enough space even if the area isn’t ‘small’ Some finches (Typically the lighter ones) will hang upside down to eat Finches are found all over the world Their coloring can be affected by the food they are eating There’s a finch called the Vampire Ground Finch that drinks the blood of other birds They do remove parasites from Boobies (The bird) which can cause them to bleed Canaries are a type of Finch I learned recently that The Canary Resuscitator was made to provide the Canary safe clean air once they had shown signs of gas to help ensure they stayed alive even as the miners evacuated the area. Miners likely had good relationships with these canaries and are said to have enjoyed talking and whistling to them while they worked A flock of Goldfinches is called a Charm Finches prefer their own kind over humans Vibes. Some finches can foster birds of other species as needed See some Finches: The Goldfinch is the most common finch in the U.K. The Mangrove Finch is the rarest finch and are found on the Galapagos Islands The American Goldfinch is the most common finch in North America The Zebra Finch is one of the most popular finches for pet owners The Strawberry Finch is gorgeous Owl Finches look like owls! The Gouldian Finch is super colorful The Speckled Finch is Intriguing Hawaiian Honeycreepers are Critically Endangered The Fire-Fronted Serin Conclusion: Finches are great and random selection sometimes works in your favor! Till next time! -Shadow Finch

Hi everyone! For those of you who don’t know, I’m Shadow Finch! Nice to have you here on my blog! I decided to put this out there as one of my first posts to hopefully help avoid any future issues and honestly, to hopefully assuage other writers out there. I consider myself a writer as it is what I enjoy doing and I work on it in a number of ways to hopefully have a wide variety of works published one day, but in the end, I write primarily for myself, to get the stories out of my brain so they aren’t taking up as much space. Due to a number of factors getting writing done is very slow going, but I do love all the parts of the process and truly do put my all into my creation process. With all that said, I am also terrible at spelling and grammar. I regularly have times when I was literally just typing a word but now, I am doing so again and I cannot spell it correctly no matter what I do and have to say it allowed to voice search or something similar to get it spelled correctly. I am also disabled and thus can end up hitting wrong keys and not noticing because the word that came out is similar enough to the one, I was trying to write that I don’t realize it is incorrect. Grammar on the other hand is something I do struggle with in many ways and do not fully understand why. In any case, that means I can also miss periods, commas, etc. None of that negates me being a writer and, in many ways, I am completely unconcerned about it because eventually if I do publish or whatever then either an editor, some family members, an editing software, etc. could all be employed to help clean up those issues that remain and that’s after it’s gone through the regular spelling and grammar stuff already in place. Even so, I do not have access to most of that for this blog as of right now, so anyone who reads these posts should be aware that they can be present. If you see an error that makes understanding difficult or would make something easier to read if it was fixed feel free to let me know and I will make fixes wherever possible. That being said, if you are rude about it, I can easily choose to leave it out of spite as that is completely free to me and requires no effort, whereas changing it takes effort. Anyone who needs to hear this please do: You do not need to be great at spelling and grammar to create fun and interesting stories, and are still very much a writer even if you struggle with the technical aspects of writing. Keep it safe and kind out there all! Till next time! -Shadow Finch

Hi Everyone! So, I was planning on putting out some other posts first, but figured I'd put this up now so it can hopefully let me know what you all want. I'm pretty happy with how everything looks on the Desktop Version at this point but determined that the Mobile version ends up looking weird due to how phones boost color vibrancy and contrast. I have attempted to darken where possible on these but a number of things cannot be adjusted in Mobile without also adjusting it in Desktop. So, I'd like to know what you all think. Should I leave it as is now? Should I make the Mobile version largely white instead of purple? Should I adjust Desktop to have more while to avoid other issues in Mobile? Let me know in the poll below and I will do my best to accommodate the results. Till next time! -Shadow Finch

Hi there! I’m Shadow Finch! Welcome to my blog. I hope you find it helpful, informative, and/or interesting in some way. You can find out the basics about me in the About page, and over time I’m sure you will continue to learn more if you are interested. Honestly, for this first post, I figured something basic would be good, since I didn’t want to just jump in with something. I did my best to design this website as simple and easy to use while still doing all I wanted it to, and hopefully over time I will figure out more features and such to customize it to my needs further. If you have an issue with the way something is set up, please don’t hesitate to let me know, I will always do my best to accommodate wherever possible. I hope anyone who visits my blog will give it a chance and will give me time to build it up to what I want it to be, but I completely understand if this simply isn’t your cup of tea for whatever reason. I do hope to one day make money from this site as I have no current source of income and no idea what I can possibly do to gain any as my disabilities get in the way of doing anything for long periods (Long is unfortunately, incredibly relative and can be seconds, minutes, hours, or maybe days, but in the end, if I push it long enough, I will never be able to make that push again). I will do my utmost to ensure this blog is always based on me supporting what I discuss and that it remains functional/usable for all who use it even if I do start making money here. Currently, there is no plans or systems set up for this to make me money, and there will not be until there is enough traffic/demand, once changes seem to be needed, I will be sure to let everyone who is on this blog know as much in advance as possible so it isn’t a surprise and you can make the decision yourself if you do or do not want to support me in those changes. In any case, for the time being I am doing this completely for free, but I do not want to deter anyone, if you have a question do not worry about asking it, that is not something I would charge for now or in the future. I truly just want to help others, and if I don’t feel I am doing that then this blog will never become much of anything, because it will feel pointless to me if I do not get to help others in some way, shape, or form. Finally, please do understand that everything here is going to be colored with my own life experiences and if I say or do anything that you do not agree with that is totally fine (and if it is a problem in some way please let me know, I cannot fix problems if I do not know about them and will always try to adapt, learn, and grow to be more accepting and inclusive as long as in the acceptance I do not exclude others), do whatever works best for you, and take only what you need from any advice I offer. I hope to be working with you all to turn this blog into a safe, productive, and helpful place. Till next time! -Shadow Finch