Love Letter

Interviews are inherently biased. The interviewer sets the stage with his or her set of questions designed to goad the interviewee to a certain direction, injecting his or her own personality into a process designed to elucidate on the counterpart. But that is not all: The interviewee being made to answer these biographical questions about himself or herself is compelled to act in continuation of his persona -- he or she necessarily addresses these questions to an audience, propping an inauthentic barrier that shields the vulnerable self. There is a solution to this problem: the love letter. There is only one prompt for everyone: Write the most sincere love letter you can to an anonymous target. This not only eliminates unnecessary guidance between the interviewer and interviewee, but it also forces the interviewee to consider a highly personalized, subjective, emotionally-based topic that is designed to make a person vulnerable. A person cannot use ego to write a love letter without sounding obviously stilted, and any conscious shield prevents him or her from doing this act in the first place. Thus, the love letter bares the soul, the essence of an individual more directly than a normal interview. The purpose of this club is not to make legends, but to promote creativity, and provide a context for people to say deeply personal things in poetic form that cannot be pinned by anyone to regard any specific IRL occasion (except by people who wish to know you, or know you well). There are some rules to make this a little more consistent: 1. A love letter cannot mention specific names, whether real names, MAL account names, fake names, or any other symbolic pronouns to represent any real person. The target must be completely anonymous (and does not have to be real), described only by regular nouns and adjectives. 2. A love letter can be long or short, complex or simple, prose or poetry. Above all, it should sincerely express an emotion. You may refer to some specific event, as long as we don't know of that event, or a conversation on MAL even, but not indicate the specific conversation (whether by a link or thread name). 3. A love letter can consist of text, and at most 2 images, but no Youtube videos or links to any animation. 4. We may tease each other in harmless fun, or discuss each others' love letters if we wish, whether in philosophical depth or just a friendly nod. Please do not be disrespectful, incite distasteful argument, or expose personal or private information if you happen to know what or who a person is referring to. 5. If you feel disinclined to discuss your love letter, then you may feel free to state that you don't want to discuss it, shall a person quote you or ask you about details. This is obvious, but it should be explicitly clear. 6. You may post love letters in your own thread, and add more letters to the same thread (you may post multiple letters). You may also create a new thread if you wish to explore a different theme, or some other reason. You may also respond to other love letters with love letters of your own in their thread, if you wish, but only do so if your post is relevant to theirs. 7. Finally, have fun!