u/Write_And_Fight — reddlx

I need help with a pen name.

Hey, everyone. I need help with my pen name, as I want to write books. I also need it to sound catchy, as I want to sing on YouTube, too. I want something that pairs well with the initials AJ, but everything I type in seems taken. I wanted to use AJ Mooney, but AJ Manney exists and it sounds too close to her name.

As for my tastes:

• I like AJ best, but I am open to other gender neutral name suggestions.

• Moon-themed surnames work, but I am open to other ideas.

• Surnames I like include Mooney, Sparks, Yarbrough, Daughtry, Carlisle, and Magne.

All ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

reddit.com

u/Write_And_Fight — 3 days ago

▲ 16 r/exchristian

How do I criticize religion without being anti-religion?

Hello, everyone. I am an aspiring author and ex-christian.

I am currently in the process of writing a fantasy book series that tries to tell a fun story while providing commentary on religious trauma. I also plan to write a memoir years later telling of my life as a former Christian and the creative endeavors that I got into post-deconstruction.

The problem is: How do I criticize the abusive systems and doctrines within religion without being generally seen as hateful? I want to be respectful, but I don’t want to pull any punches in my criticism, either.

Beliefs I hold pertaining to religion include:

“Teaching children that they’ll go to hell if they don’t believe in and want a relationship with God is child abuse.”

“People are inherently flawed, but NOT inherently evil for the flaws they didn’t ask to have.”

“Purity culture causes sexual trauma.”

“One’s body and life is their own, and whether or not they want to dedicate themselves to a God should be their choice and their choice alone.”

“While not all variants of religion are bigoted, religion has been used as a tool of oppression against the marginalized.”

“It IS possible to lead a relatively moral life and be non-religious.”

My ultimate goal is to raise more awareness about religious trauma and the ways religion is capable of harming people. How do I do so in a way that won’t be seen as disrespectful? Google says to critique the system and not the individual, but how do I keep myself from accidentally crossing a line? In fact, where does the line even start? I also understand that I can’t please everyone.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to ask any questions you want.

reddit.com

u/Write_And_Fight — 15 days ago

▲ 2 r/promotereddit

r/Ecoamplectorism

Hello, everyone. I am here to talk about my new subreddit.

It is centered on Ecoamplectorism, a religion which aims to bring people of different beliefs and backgrounds together through worshipping nature and learning about its diversity. Anybody of any religious beliefs or the lack thereof can visit and even join if they wish! We have an official Ecoamplectorist manual linked there as well, if you wish to learn about it.

Thank you all!

reddit.com

u/Write_And_Fight — 1 month ago

▲ 81 r/characterdesign

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory

TLDR: I am making a video game with an anti-racism allegory that centers around alien shape people. The character above is meant to be black-coded. Which design communicates that better?

Hello, everyone! I am a white artist and I am currently writing the story for a video game aimed at teens and young adults that has an anti-racism allegory as a major point in the story. I figured that this subreddit would be a good place to get some feedback.

Pictured above is the first of the two protagonists (specifically, in a flashback of her childhood). On the left is the original design I had for her. On the right is my revision.

For context, I first designed her before I weaved the anti-racist message into the narrative. In the game, the two protagonists are shape people who live on a planet inhabited by other shape people. Irregular shapes (those whose heads are unequally shaped) are an oppressed group and are meant to be a stand-in for people of color. Regular shapes (those whose heads have all equal sides) are meant to represent white people.

The character above is an irregular shape and she is meant to be black-coded. The second protagonist (not pictured) is a police officer who slowly befriends the character above and comes to recognize the importance of combatting the systemic prejudice against irregular shapes that is so deeply engraved into their planet’s police force. All this happens as they team up to fight against a big villain in the story.

My question is: Which design is better for the above character and the story’s overall message? Given that these characters are aliens, I wasn’t sure which eye color and features would be considered “right”, though my intuition tells me that the design on the right side of the image is the more sensible one. This may be a painfully-obvious, “um, DUH” moment for me, but I wanted to get input just to make sure.

What are your thoughts? All questions and critiques are welcome, as I aim to improve as much as needed. Thank you all!

EDIT: It has come to my attention that making this post was incredibly tone-deaf and hurtful of me. I see now that my approach to this allegory is very flawed and would do more harm than good. Thankfully, after reading your comments, I have decided that I won’t be using this concept for the game, instead opting for a more general “persevere in spite of the bad in the world” message. Maybe I could tackle racism in another project, that is, if I educated myself more and got the necessary cowriters for it.

I’m leaving this post up so it can act as a learning opportunity for myself and others. Regardless of my creative plans, I want to educate myself on racism and undo my subconscious biases. As someone who wants to be an ally, I have to put in the necessary work. Thank you to everyone who responded and showed me where I went wrong. Stay strong and keep drawing, everyone!

u/Write_And_Fight — 2 months ago

▲ 1 r/namenerds

I wanted to go by Layla Mooney as an emerging author/singer, but I’m worried that I’ll be confused with romance author Layla Moon. I’d like to keep Mooney as a surname.

Anyone have suggestions for a first name?

I like:

Autumn

Charlotte

Delaney

Delilah

Eden

Layla

Leela

Lilith

Robin

Tessa

reddit.com

u/Write_And_Fight — 2 months ago