#am i even using the word meta correctly here idk

[jooniely]

I haven't been in the stucky fandom that much but I've noticed that in fics, not a lot of writers write steve as intelligent? Like, the second cap movie shows that he is intelligent! The elevator scene! He saw 3 signs and immediately knew what was going on. He thinks super quick on his feet, and is the technically the avengers' leader who makes the plans of attack (their tactician when it comes to fights). He also knows French? He listens to batroc talk to him in French, understands him, and responds back in French! And also I know it's movie comic book science but the way he uses his shield quite literally shows that he has great understanding of (comic science) physics! He spends his time reading military strategy and history.

He doesn't have spy type intelligence but he's still very smart. The mcu sucks at sticking to their own characterization cuz past the second cap movie and the first (and maybe 2nd) avengers movie, I don't recognize steve. They just focus on his fighting but miss his intelligence and empathy(!!!!) (And let's never talk about endgame steve cuz that wasn't steve at all)

[tsskyx]

(Before you start writing your response, please read the full thing. It may come off as confrontational at first, but then eases off. I do not want to fight, I am just confused.)

Their closeness doesn't matter because they are video game characters and will conform to whatever the game design needs them to. They don't matter because they are fictitious, and the game never calls attention to it, not even once.

I'll be honest, I have no idea what you're talking about here. Not even a single clue. What do you mean their closeness doesn't matter? What does being a fictional character have to do with whether or not they are close to each other? What does game design have to do with this? What do you mean they don't matter because they are fictional? You mean in relation to things that are real? I mean, that's obvious, of course that real things matter more, but that's not what this discussion is about. And also, what do you mean by "the game never calls any attention to it"? What is the grammatical object you're referring to by the "it" here?

On that note, the rest of this paragraph makes no sense to me either. "not every single piece of game design needs an in-universe explanation" seems like something someone would say in order to clap back at a perfectionist, even though that's not what I was getting at here at all, so what gives? As for you bringing up Toby avoiding the gender debate, he does that since he wants to avoid controversy, to avoid pouring gasoline into the fire so to speak, so I can only understand you choosing to interpret his silence in your favor as a disingenuous attempt at scoring a rhetorical win.

"They" can be a stand-in for ambiguous gender, and it most likely was anyways for Frisk at first, but at some point, the monsters have gotta learn the right pronouns and start applying them correctly; at some point, it stops being the case, and as I've shown in my first response, I think Flowey's line is a proof of this.

Moving onto your second paragraph, idk where you got the info that Chara wasn't in the underground for that long. We know it wasn't too brief for them and Asriel to remain strangers, but also not too long for Chara to properly integrate, granted. But that's also all the information we have, and deriving anything else from it is sketchy at best. Toriel's words from the alarm clock text can also be interpreted in a multitude of ways, and the canonicity of Deltarune in relation to Undertale is also debatable. (I personally completely separate the two. Call it coping or whatever, but until Toby explicitly says so, this will be my stance.)

It still wouldn't matter cause people use "they/them" on people they know all the time, even when they know their gender identity isn't nb, so it could just be the default for monsters.

Well, granted, this is something I've mentioned before, that the "third person plural" is definitely a thing, particularly in German and also my own native language, Czech (albeit highly archaic by now). However, to my knowledge, there's no instance of this happening in the game aside from Frisk.

As for your third paragraph, I am not familiar with any other RPGs, I am only talking about this single one. To suggest that I couldn't possibly understand Undertale because I don't know certain other outside things is... perhaps true, and I've tried to learn a bit more about other RPGs, but in all honesty, it just seems to me like with those, the concept itself is incredibly vague and usually not meta at all. (Certainly not as meta as in Undertale.)

This, plus the fact that UT is unconventional and tries to break many biases inherent to this game genre, is why I'm okay with not analyzing it on those terms and accept the possibility that other explanations for its elements could exist too. Simply put, it's still a contradiction to me. Either they are us, or they are not and have their own personhood, their own attributes, names, pronouns, etc. Any metaphor they might represent is just that, a metaphor, with no actual tangible effect on, or implications for, the in-game universe.

I'll agree on one thing, which is that certain things about these characters are inherently unknowable, because they are unstated. But that's a territory of headcanons, not factual debate. You can make up any info in that regard, and also project yourself onto those unknowable aspects. Both of those actions are valid. But again, only in regards to that which is canonically left unsaid. You can't change the canon, otherwise you're making an alternative universe.

Coincidentally, yeah, I agree that Frisk's skin belongs into the "headcanon" category, since I can't find any canon evidence that they're actually dark-skinned specifically. (Though again, it is a neat headcanon. For example, I chose to give Frisk in my story a distinctly uncommon skin color for where they come from.)

About the fourth paragraph, I actually completely agree with that. That's exactly what I meant. I thought you meant the exact opposite of this. The point is, I separate the meta from the story itself, since I find the two incompatible with each other. And for that same reason, I cannot for example headcanon Chara as a mere stand-in for some player metaphor. I do not doubt that that's what they represent from a Doylist perspective (in the no mercy route specifically), but the representation is not canon to me; it doesn't impact the story in any way under my interpretation of the canon.

Okay, final paragraph. I... dunno what to say, honestly. I especially dunno why you came to me with it specifically, since I cannot really help you in any way. If someone's bothering you, then just ignore them, simple as that. As long as you don't stir up any trouble yourself, then all is good. Peace and love on the planet earth and all that. I may disagree with you on thinking of Kris as a "he", but I wouldn't want to chop your head off over it or anything.

I just want you to know that I personally think that Susie using "they" for Kris does matter canonically, that it is indicative of their true pronouns, and dismissing it on the basis of "game design" or "the meta" or "I just wanna project myself onto this character more authentically / it's easier for me" is factually incorrect, and especially trying to claim the author's intention for yourself, as standing up for your personal values and no one else's, is low, like, really really low.

(P.s., "Susie and Kris are close friends && Susie is using they/them for Kris => Kris is they/them" seems entirely common-sense to me. If a character says something new, I interpret it as part of the lore, unless I have a reason to doubt they're lying or are ignorant or something. Sometimes, even a minor off-the-cuff fact can completely flip the whole script around. I've had a few moments like this myself with UT's lore, particularly regarding monster biology, soul magic, the save power, etc. And yes, it was very difficult for me, accepting these new insights as facts instead of simply dismissing them. When you're emotionally invested in something, it is entirely natural to be critical of things that contradict it, even if doing so seems illogical to an outsider. I don't blame you for this, but do try to look at it from a distance occasionally. Some of your arguments were a bit subpar due to your personal biases, so I think a little perspective might improve your dialectical skills. Just a little advice from your local UT theorist!)

Hi, I've read your post regarding the interpretive gender of Kris, Frisk, and Chara, and I really love those posts. It helps remind me I'm not alone in think ling their genderis up to interpretation. But after seeing some recent reblogs. I was kinda worried that you don't believe that anymore, and I'm here to ask if you still do.

Well, after I reviewed all the evidence, I came to the conclusion that Kris and Chara are canonically they/them, while Frisk's pronouns are unknown. However, it is a nice and fitting headcanon that they too are they/them, imo.

It also is debatable whether, at the very end of the game, the others are already familiar enough with Frisk that they're no longer using they/them as a polite generic pronoun and rather as Frisk's personal pronoun. (And since Frisk never told Asriel their pronouns, only their name, I don't necessarily consider this to be the case yet.)

That said...

Depending on where in the timeline this line fits and how close of a friend Flowey is to Frisk at this point, it could be considered a confirmation.

[dontbipanicjonsa]

Did Kit suddenly lose his ability to heart-eye or is Pol!Jon actually a thing.

I'm late to the fandom but I just finished S7 and I'm having thoughts.

I'm a reader of the books, and I hadn't watched the show till now because... I suck at watching shows with hour long episodes and more than three seasons.

What made me decide to watch it was the Pol!Jon discourse I found on the Internet.

I know enough about the show to understand how unlikely and out of character this theory would seem to show watchers. At the same time, I fully believe that book!Jon would be fully capable of something like this. But also, even though I do ship Jonsa in the books, I can't deny that Jonerys is.....a big deal. Everyone expects it to happen. It's a highly anticipated pairing and....I just couldn't honestly believe Pol!Jon because it is just so against the general expectation.

So I decided to watch the show. And now I've finished season 7 and I am astounded.

Let me preface this by saying that I went into S7 already disliking Jonerys (sue me) but I still fully expected to have some serious doubts about the validity of Jonsa. I fully expected to be at least somewhat convinced of Jonerys. Even hating the idea of Jon and Danaerys together, I still expected more.

There are a number of things I would like to note here.

First, Jonerys is a romance that is told, not shown. Davos talks about Jon watching Dany's "good heart" (hehe) to tell us Jon is attracted to Dany. But then Jon immediately dismisses it- and not in a way that looks like he's deflecting. He's not only dismissing it, he's dismissive of it. His mind is not in the conversation, it is beyond the Wall.

Similarly, Tyrion says (not in those words), "yeah right, and Jon only looks at you longingly coz he wants a military alliance with you". Not sure what I'm supposed to think about that....? First, Jon doesn't look at Dany longingly at all???? Not once. Second, is this line supposed to suggest that Jon is looking at her longingly for a reason that is not desperately wanting a military alliance....? Because we already know that that's exactly what he does want. Wtf do I make of this statement?????

There are other examples, but the point remains. People keep talking about Jon and Dany being into each other, and that is what is supposed to convince us that they are into each other (well yea Dany is) but Jon gives no indication of looking at her longingly, of falling in love with her, of being intrigued by her even. He's a brick wall.

Alright, I'll concede one (1) scene where I saw legitimate attraction on his face for a second- that is the cave scene. Even there tho, it's hard to tell if he's just watching her reaction carefully or if he wants to bang her.

On the other hand, Dany shows that she is into him. Even so, when I say she's into him, I mean she's attracted to him and intrigued by him. I cannot believe she loves him.

Next, I think it's interesting that in the episode before (or was it the same episode?) Jon bends the knee, we have a number of people (Tormund, Beric) talk about stuff like- kings not bending the knee leading to people dying, knowing what's important (the fight against the dead), being the shield that guards the realm of men blah blah I don't remember the exact words. Then he sees the WW and the Army of the Dead (again) and sees a dragon die. And then, the first opportunity he gets, he bends the knee. I want to point out here that the scenes really emphasise on Jon's thinking face after every conversation he has during their little gay party beyond the Wall. They focus on the look on his face again while he's watching the Army. Multiple times. And there's clearly something going on in his head, gears are turning.

One other scene that struck me is the scene where Jon and Dany are saying goodbye to each other (the Eastwatch episode). In the same episode (if I remember correctly) Jon calls them strangers, and then the goodbye scene comes and Dany says to Jon's little morbid joke, "I've grown used to him". Him being Jon. Two things to note here-

One, Jon considers them strangers but Dany has gotten "used to him". Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's an indication of how the two of them are absolutely not on the same page (about anything).

Second, Jon's face after she says that. It shuts down. Like a door slamming. And then he says that "wish you good fortune in the wars to come" line, which has ZERO romance, or longing, but a whole lot of bad precedent (does that make sense?). Ouch. The thought that occured to me here is that Dany is being somewhat obvious about her feelings, and maybe, just maybe Jon has picked up on it. And that is why he reacts the way he does.

I wasn't sure so I compared the scene with the Jonsa forehead kiss scene in S6, and Jon's expressions after that kiss.

My logic was this- I assume that either Jon has become aware of Dany's feelings in the Eastwatch goodbye scene, or his own feelings for her. One of these assumptions is true. Which one?

If Jon has feelings for Sansa, then his confusion/awareness/discomfort regarding that are seen in that forehead kiss scene. So if Jon has become aware of his feelings for Dany, let's see how these two scenes compare?

My dudes. There is no comparison. Go watch it.

I watched both scenes with sound off, and the difference is insane. Jon looks at Sansa's lips. There's a moment's pause that's full of tension, and then his face shuts in a way, but it's a bit confused, a bit thoughtful.

Jon does not look at Dany's lips. He does not look confused, or thoughtful. This is not a romance.

Side observation- speaking of showing and telling, it's funny how we're shown Jon looking at Sansa's wolf bits, and told that Jon looks at Dany's good heart. Yes I'm talking about boobs but wolf bits and good heart is funnier. We literally see Jon look at the wolf bits twice, talk about it himself, in a completely unnecessary conversation...as opposed to being entirely dismissive of the good heart, even when someone else brings it up.

Back to the main point, one last thing I'd like to talk about is the scene where Jon actually bends the knee (not really). First, there are still no heart-eyes. Definitely not from Jon. Second, it's funny how Jon uses the exact hand-grabbing move that Sansa used on him last season, when she was trying to convince him to do something he didn't particularly wanna do (like he's now trying to do with Dany). This means that

1) he learnt that move from Sansa. He knows how effective it is XD

2) if the Jonerys hand-grab is romance, it stands to reason that the Jonsa hand-grab is romance too. I mean both the grabs are suspiciously similar.

Then, even after Dany "promises" that she'll help the North fight the WW, Jon still bends the knee. I felt both an odd sense of urgency coming from him, and an understandable hesitation. Or maybe that's just me.

Now suddenly, he becomes complimentary of her. But there's something weird about his compliments. They are completely generic. "They'll see you for what you are" and in the later episode, "you're not like the others". Wtf does that MEAN ??

Here's the thing...Jon could have paid Dany a way more specific, genuine sounding compliment after bending the knee (complete with heart eyes). I mean she did just fly over the Wall to rescue him and his men. He could have said more, something meaningful, but he didn't. He bent the knee like a house on fire (that doesn't make sense but you get what I mean I hope) and paid generic compliments. Then he pretended to sleep until she left and then sighed very loudly.

??? Romance??? WHERE????

Then the dragon pit. Heart-eyes still missing.

Then the sex scene. What do I say? Lol.

No really. There are no heart eyes even during the sex scene. Honestly, idk what that face was. Not in love for sure.

Another side note- Arya and Sansa have talks while standing in the same place where the forehead kiss scene happened (wtf do you call that place again, the bridge.??) But no heart eyes. No lingering looks. There is no incestuous gay love between them, I can say for sure. All it does is prop up the odd incestuous vibes of the Jon Sansa scene in that same place.

ANOTHER side note- goddamn but does Sansa talk about Jon a lot.

Edit: I'm sure most of this stuff has already been discussed in other metas. My purpose here is only to put down my first thoughts after watching the season.

[matan4il]

I know people still have hope, but it will take some miracle work writing to successfully get themselves out of the corner they've painted themselves into.

If this was real instead of fiction, Eddie is going to be miserable and Chris is going to feel so guilty for what he has done. He's old enough to understand what he said was detrimental to Eddie. Does he even really want Eddie to quit after calling him his hero several times over the seasons? Is Eddie hiding behind Chris because he knows he's slowly falling apart?

If they don't show the both of them getting therapy, both together and separately, and actually /talking/ things through instead of bottling them up until they explode...

Eddie said he wanted Chris to learn to show his emotions, but kids learn the most from their parents. Eddie is failing Chris here. He needs to break the chains caused by his own upbringing. Until there is open communication, everyone is going to /hurt/ - Eddie, Chris, the 118 crew, and Buck. Good grief, Buck already has abandonment issues.

The only way they might get this right is if the writers talk to /real/ therapists about how they would handle this situation. Not pull how they think it should go out of their rears.

I do see the missing Albert coming in to fill Eddie's position, maybe? We've been wondering where he is.

For now, I can't bring myself to continue watching unless I hear otherwise, despite OS's interviews.

After that rant, all I can think to write to maybe make this a slightly happier ask is Happy Holidays!

Hi Nonnie! Thank you so much for that kind wish, I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season as well!

as for the rant, I'm glad you got it out, it's always better to voice frustrations. And I hope you felt better after sending this in!

IDK if it helps, or if you're looking for some positives, you def have my sympathy, 'coz I feel you, I get where you're coming from, but I am gonna try to offer some words of encouragement. First of all, I do think Eddie's move away from the 118 is temporary (if it ends up happening at all), and I think I went into the most details about why in my 510 meta and in this ask where I also referred to Albert's return which is unlikely from what I could gather...

I also agree they really need communication and help. I think this season has been building up to it, everything is fitting in correctly, so I trust that just like the show managed to give us this convincing build up on what the Diaz boys need next, it will also deliver on that.

As for Chris, no doubt he IS proud of Eddie, of his firefighter job and being a certified (literally!) hero. We don't yet know how Chris feels about his dad leaving the 118 and there are a lot of ways to tackle this, 'coz he's also a traumatized kid who already lost one parent unexpectedly to a violent death. It'll be interesting to see how 911 will explore this ambivalence in his experiences. I do trust they will do so respectfully and will rely on adults (including professionals) showing Chris what are healthy ways to cope with anxiety.

Thank you for sharing and I do hope you're feeling better, hon! xoxox

To anyone else who sent me an ask, I am going through all of them, thank you so much for your patience! If you wanna check whether I've replied to yours yet, you can have a look at my ask tag. xoxox

[inyoursheets]

2, 16, 18, 23!

Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

wow ok this is surprisingly hard to answer! confronting! im not even sure, there isn’t anything specific ive got planned out that im excited to write. i don’t have any future projects planned out yet. or. i mean.....there are some things at the tips of my writing fingers but i can’t allow myself to think about them properly yet bc i need to focus on and commit to finishing warm water. and my thesis (ugh).

there are some things from warm water that ive already written that im excited to share, but right now im in a place where writing just isn’t going smoothly, so whenever i have an idea (like the eloquent “sweatpants dick” note i took recently) (my only contribution that day) im not all that confident or excited about it bc im afraid the actual writing itself will be a pain? that i’ll drag my feet for days and it won’t come easy and i’ll hate every second of it -- until things click and the words start flowing, not unlike this post describes. idk i keep really wanting to write and sitting down for it and then it just--won’t happen. or if i do actually try putting pen to paper i just start hating it all, which i don’t want.

so! this is a sad note to end on! here’s some vague things i am looking forward to: i’m looking forward to being excited about writing in general! i’m looking forward to writing something i’m proud of, either in terms of plot or theme or characterization or dialogue or whatever! i’m also looking forward to having that oh-my-god-the-words-are-flowing-from-me moment, regardless of the result tbh, bc i just love that feeling of loving writing and having it come easily. that’s what im excited about -- being excited about writing again.  

Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

ok so i have this terrible writing tendency to not know how to not describe every single action characters make -- every movement, every gesture. particularly on first drafts i feel the urge to describe it all, otherwise i can’t continue. i know that it’s not always necessary to write what happens every single second of a scene, but i can’t seem to stop?

idk if im explaining what i mean correctly -- there’s probably terms for this that i dont know -- but someone who i think manages to do the opposite of what i do very well is @fairhairedkings, who is really good at time jumps and not going overboard w the minute-to-minute descriptions, the way i tend to.

i know it can be pretty tiresome and it’s one of the things that annoys me a lot about my own writing, both in terms of reading it (it can be plain boring?) and for the writing itself. it blocks me! but i can’t seem to stop doing it, feel like i’m glazing over things otherwise or lose track of where im going. i have to keep reminding myself that leaving out certain things doesn’t mean that nothing happens or that people assume nothing happens.

so, to answer the question, ive tried to be a bit more concise with it’s hidden in heartbeats, exhales and in the hope of open hands when i started writing it. that fic is a product of being fed up with my other WIPs and it didn’t take more than a week from its initial idea to the finished product, so i really wanted it to be a quickie, and i thought something tight and concise could work for the plot. i didn’t actually manage to succeed though, still ended up describing just about every action there, too. i don’t think i’ll ever manage to write something concise tbh. i do bad with time jumps, i do bad with less is more, which is unfortunate, bc less can truly, truly be more. so! im gonna try this again some time!

Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

mmm well, warm water originally didn’t include mutual pining -- beth wasn’t supposed to be in love with rio yet, we were gonna watch her fall in love slowly, while he already felt things. but then i ended up almost turning that entirely on its head and now we’ve got the mess that is that this fic in its current state lol. there’s also an AU to warm water that i briefly considered bc of you which i won’t go into now bc of possible spoilers -- but ive considered things!!! 

also for it’s hidden in heartbeats, it was supposed to be more about petty!rio and haha, look, exes trying to get “revenge”, and to be light and funny, but i realized that idk how relationships work, let alone how exes work, so i couldn’t really find any good reasons for them splitting up, at least nothing that could generate comedy, so it ended up getting fairly angsty? idk why this keeps happening -- me planning to do something rom com-esque and it developing into something wayyyyy angstier, but it did!

What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

oh wow idek! ive definitely been working on warm water the longest, so i guess technically that one, but there are some other ideas that have been drifting near the surface that have been there longer and are very underdeveloped and need time and nourishment and attention and love, all of which i can’t give them yet bc im trying to stay focused on warm water and thesis writing. maybe the beth/stan friendship snippet ive got hidden in somewhere in my docs!

thank youuuu for indulging me!!! meta writing asks!!!!

[applekitty]

ive noticed that a LOT of fanfics that try to redeem dedede really dont try. like its not like the author is lazy but the way its executed is

i have never read a fic wherein dedede is given a satisfactory redemption arc, he’s usually just nice from the beginning and very flat with the same personality every other ‘game’ dedede has, basically just ‘i am loud, i’m not mean or cruel im just loud and also im very sassy and a dad dont mess with me im epic’ which seems at first like it might substitute for his evil nature but it doesn’t

or he’s just really outrageously stupid, which is more anime dedede. 

i do agree with you, though i think dedede in and of himself is a hard character to do perfectly ‘correctly’. because when it comes to game canon, there is no correct way to write him. because dedede has no personality. he has hints of personality. which is not replacement for a personality. you are left entirely to your own devices when it comes to dedede’s flaws and his entire mindset in general, because canon supports absolutely everything you could ever put onto his canvas. i could say dedede is a hostile matriarch with no care for anyone other than himself and his kingdom and it’d be supported, because the only times dedede has been forced to act out of good is to defend his planet from something (potentially, in magolor’s case) hostile. or i could say he’s just a cozy uwu dad who’s done some wrong but he’s fluffy and cute nao and canon would sort of shakingly support that.

i went out a LOT about this on the hnk discord server. i’ll leave the entire transcript below but it’s about how people write game canon / why i don’t read game canon fics / the intrinsic, EXTREME difficulty with writing game canon fics. had this convo with @sociallyunacceptableorb , @toon-kirby , and azuranaito

i’ll tl;dr it here but: the reason why game fics seem a little strange while going in is because the games themselves lack a solid personality for the characters. fanon personality exists for them, and usually when writers write for them, they step in such a way which may not align with you, the viewer’s expectations of the fanon personality. it may seem inherently unsatisfying, to you, but for others, it’s very satisfying. the status of game canon and fandom canon makes it harder for you to be satisfied by the fanfics you read unless they are very surface level, boring sorts of fanfics. 

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:40 PM

kitty’s opinion time

most writers cannot go without incorporating the anime in some regard to kirby content due to how much the anime had bled into the interpretations of the games. people will write spanish meta knight as a game thing, people will write kirby being babyish / saying poyo being a game thing, as well as dedede being southern a game thingthe writers who decry the anime as bad / only good ‘at the time’ yet use anime personalities / interpretations make me lul extremely.(edited)

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:44 PM

Galaxia was from the anime.

Girlaxia was from 4Kids.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:45 PM

kirby saying ‘poyo’ is an anime thing, galaxia is an anime thing, to pick and choose from the anime shows that the games and their lack of writing cannot stand on its own without having to take from the very franchise that’s being decryed to help a worse written franchise

(edited)

no writing / intrigue writing ≠ good writing

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:47 PM

To be fair, it’s probably for the best that anime bleeds into the games or else we’d be stuck with oceans of edgelordery KIRBY IS EVUL AND EATS INNOCENT LIVES… though that’s already on AO3.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:47 PM

looks at matpat

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:48 PM

He ignores all canon to make people mad on purpose.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:48 PM

honestly if removing anime canon / anime’s bleed into the video game’s interpretation = writers to go 'KIRBY EVUL’ then idk what to say other than lul

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:49 PM

I mean, I don’t think the games writing is shit, but I also don’t trust edgy people with Void Termina.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:50 PM

i think saying 'game writing > anime writing’ is just blatantly.. wrongbecause that’s just saying 'little to no writing so that way you can focus on gameplay > a literal 22 episode made for television with themes and lessons’

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:51 PM

Oh! Yeah, that I agree on.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:51 PM

i also dont trust edgelords with kirby or void honestly

or any kirby characters

i dont trust edelords period

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:51 PM

I thought you were saying that all game lore was trash.

It’s crumbs.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:51 PM

i used to be one and i made EVERYTHING baaad

it’s comparing crumbs to a loaf of bread

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:52 PM

“Well, I hate pumpernickel! So the entire loaf is bad!”

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:52 PM

uerGHERUG

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:53 PM

“But you haven’t even eaten it.”“IT’S BAD.”…this metaphor is getting lost.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:53 PM

honestly it’s why i just.. dont read game fics, because there’s little to no ground for writers to stand on and write stuff with

things get too wild and they feel just.. weird ig

i dont know how to put it into words, really

AzuraLast Wednesday at 12:54 PM

That kinda makes me mad with what happened with one of my friends. People got onto her for crossing the anime and games together, which, when she wrote it, it wasn’t bad at all, but because the anime was involved people wanted to bitch at her for it.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:54 PM

interps of game canon are based purely off the person who writes it and all the people reading said thing all have different interpretations which inherently makes reading a game fic unsatisfying and ooc for you personally because your hc filled in the void the game left differently than the authors did. but for the writer it is ic.(edited)

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:55 PM

Like gijinka fic?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:56 PM

reading mirror fics also, inherently, can be unsatsifying i think

for the same reasons

people have so many different interps of how mirror world works that reading anything about it, just on its core basis that the author uses to define a 'mirror world’ can feel unsatisfactory

gijinka as well suffers from this

AzuraLast Wednesday at 12:57 PM

My friend didn’t write gijinka. But she self projected quite a bit onto Meta; her HC for him was that he was an engineer trained under Haltmann.Which also ended up writing out the actual irl problems her major has which is an aerospace engineering.Hoo boy, with the Mirror World, there’s no clear line with it but the majority is usually edgy.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:58 PM

people have different interps, and because of how the western world works, we all think our interpretation is the best we can possibly have. usually when we read things we suspend our disbelief, and when it comes to kirby fics, game fics, gijinka fics, i don’t think people can really.. deeply get involved in them.it’s a problem fics i suppose in general have. but it’s especially bad for game canon writers, or gijinka writers.people have hugely different adaptations of the same subject. with the anime there’s clearly written rules and characters defined over the course of 100 episodes. there’s a clear cut story with lots of dialogue and content there to be tackled. but even still, it can be interpreted differently by different people because thats how life works. only the existence of a canon episode cannot be refuted; a fic can be

game canon is harder to do because yes you have the games, and a lot of them, but there is no writing. it is all gameplay. which means that personalities and dialogue and whatever else is not the focus. people can have extremely varying interpretations of canon because of this, which is what intrinsically makes game canon harder to write for. with anime canon it’s easier to write closer to canon because there is a clear cut one. but with game canon, there is no clear cut canon.

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:02 PM

That’s also why so many people also freak out about all the supposed lore the games have, right?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:02 PM

the lore in games is very open ended is the thing, so it leads to people’s speculation and very different extrapolations of the lore and canon, yes

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:03 PM

Yup! It adds to their own things; it’s satisfying less for the confirmation and more for the new content to tinker with.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:03 PM

kirby is very, VERY dry in terms of story telling in the games, so any piece of lore given is EXTREMELY important for content creators / theorists(edited)

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:04 PM

I can’t really fault people who build off lore since it’s such a personal thing. Other people get huffy and whine about them “not really appreciating the game” but I find it is appreciation, just in a different fashion. It goes downhill once people get childish and argumentative, though.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:05 PM

the thing is people can also do that ^ for the anime too

remember that one server you were talking about in #newbie-chat

lol

in the end we are the people going 'you are not appreciating the anime right and the way you write for the games is going to intrinsically be unsatisfying unless you go onto the crutch of anime lore'i do anime/game fusion because i know the games can’t stand on their own

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:08 PM

Aheh. But of course.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:08 PM

[snobbish laughter]

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:08 PM

I actually don’t for the same reason. It feels cheap, like I’m forcing a square peg into a round hole.The barebones of the games doesn’t mesh with the backstory of the games that well for me.

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:09 PM

So, like, if I wrote a fic with a sentient Galaxia, and then threw the rest of anime canon in the trash, it wouldn’t be cool?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:09 PM

it’d be relying on the anime canon in some regard, showing that the game canon can’t hold its own

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:09 PM

Too many plot holes

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:10 PM

it would be a tad bit jarring, at least in my opinion because im the local brutal 4kids anime stan

but for other people it wouldnt be, i’m just a person with too much time to complain about kirby

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:11 PM

I’ve been really curious if “a nightmare of a galactic crisis” was just a coincidence or a deliberate lore inspired word choice, hence why I’ve steered away from capitalist idiot nightmare….it’s fun to write him like that though.

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:11 PM

Also, if it’s a prequel… where the hell does Tiff go? The Cappies? Cappy Town? Dedede just abandons everybody for no reason and there’s a fountain powered by something that Kirby had to create by eating?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:11 PM

schrodingers cappytown

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:12 PM

I would like to know my own headcanons give my own appreciation to both the anime and the games. Games can’t stand alone with their bare bones and the anime can always be expanded upon. Nothing wrong with having fun while writing, that’s all it is, isn’t it?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:13 PM

honestly i think the best way to write kirby stuff is anime/game fusions

i wonder if it’s because thats what i write HMMMMMMEIUGUIERGHERG

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:13 PM

I fuse. I go by manga lore.

Novel, whatever.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:13 PM

novel lore or bust

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:14 PM

I fuse because it feels the most natural for me.

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:14 PM

Because the novels actually build on it! They don’t pop backstory in everywhere! It’s just a Kirby game with more explanations for stuff in it!

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:14 PM

I just wanna write about an evil vampiric wizard for some reason

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:14 PM

the games do need something to help them, i believe. when it comes to content creation of the purely fic type, anywayscourtesycalling does great one-shot comics and what not, they do game lore to the t because their comics are.. well.. oneshots. they’re satisfying by themselves

anyways i’ve got a lot of feelings on people decrying the anime as bad or cool to hate then taking things from the anime and putting it into game lore. that’s mostly what this is about

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:17 PM

It seems kind of hypocritical in a sense too, doesn’t it?“Oh, I hate the anime but love the games but I’ll piss on the anime as I write my fic because even though I love the games I need to strong bones of the anime to hold me up as I write my fic.”

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:18 PM

yeah that’s sorta what im on about here thank you for summarizing it for me

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:18 PM

Yep! I joke about it a lot myself.Especially people using 4kids voices when they say 4Kids is trash.

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:18 PM

Same, all it seems to be is a freaking joke.

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:18 PM

Sorry for turning this into a Steven Universe-esque debate thread.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:19 PM

i instigated it

:v

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:19 PM

:v

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:19 PM

it’s an interesting thread anyways so

[samingtonwilson]

Loot - Jim Kirk

Loot masterlist

Summary: reader is a cadet in the academy working as a hired thief to pay for tuition. reader gets caught in a sticky situation and jim and spock come to their rescue-- maybe

Pairing: Jim Kirk x Reader (not yet, though)

Prompt: “You don’t have to trust me – just don’t leave me here to die.”

Word count: 2,153

Warnings: language, injuries (i guess)

A/N: i felt like writing something different. so far there’s no romance between any of the characters mostly because this is just the first part. it’ll obviously eventually have something-something but not right now. idk if i want to continue this, though, so give me some feedback n tell me if i should continue it! i personally quite like it so far! enjoy! 

You struggled against the restraints tightly wrapped around your wrists, waist, and ankles as you were seated in a chair. You couldn’t see even three feet ahead of you and the pain on the right side of your chest worsened with each breath you took. You retained little information on how you reached such a point while trying your hardest to move as little as possible in order to minimize any exasperation of your attained injuries. You did, however, move your head to strain your hearing as the sound of voices poured into your dim location.

The voices echoed as if you were in a dark cave and the humidity causing sweat to form in beads over your skin furthered that theory. The sound of footsteps surrounded you, the clicking of multiple heavy treads growing louder and louder with each passing second. None of the words they spoke seemed to register with you, possibly a side-effect of only just regaining consciousness or possibly because they weren’t speaking one of the countless languages you knew.

Slowly, images came back to you. They were difficult to piece together but, because of your impatience and desire to jump to a conclusion, you understood that a robbery hadn’t gone as planned. It was the whole reason you were on the God forsaken, barren wasteland of a planet— to collect a set of ancient artifacts before any Federation agency was able to. It wasn’t your old-hunk-of-metal fetish that pushed you to risking your own life— you just really needed the money.

The Starfleet Academy tuition wasn’t cheap and your people skills rendered a normal retail, restaurant, or bar job implausible. There were other choices, though— you could’ve worked in some sort of office or library as both required little social interaction and you could’ve put your training to use to work as a translator for visiting diplomats. But desperate times called for desperate measures— and your skills in the areas of silence and stealthiness were too good to be wasted.

It was a calculated risk continuing to take such illegal jobs while actively pursuing placement in the exact Federation you were looting, but the payoff was worth it. You told yourself repeatedly that every job came with its fair share of risks and even if you were expelled from the Academy and unable to work as a communications officer, you had a monetarily secure backup job.

Now, however, instead of convincing yourself of your honorability as to decrease your cognitive dissonance, you allocated your energy to undo the rope digging into your bruised sides. You could feel gashes, other bruises, and wounds all over your body and hoped to every God of every faith that the markings would fade before anyone at the Academy could ask any questions once classes started up again.

When the pain in your wrist caused by the rope digging into a cut was too much for you to handle, you stopped and sat back. You took a deep breath and tried to focus on the voices and footsteps again, hoping whatever perception abilities you were lacking initially had returned to normal.

“The one day we forget to bring a damn flashlight. There’s gotta be someway to get light in here.” You weren’t sure if you were hearing the deep-voiced man correctly, but it sounded like English. “Spock, have you found anything?”

The voice received no answer and a sigh of discontent met your ears. “Commander, have you found something that’ll function as a light before I run into something and break my nose?”

“Just a moment, Captain,” a second voice replied. This voice was much more monotonous, void of the irritation that laced the first voice and it was closer. “There is someone here.”

You rolled your lips together and held your breath. You shut your eyes despite the pitch black environment, hoping it would cloak you with invisibility.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

The first man sighed heavily once more. “I can’t even see my own hand. How are you able to say— with certainty— that there’s someone in here?”

“Vulcans have heightened senses as compared to humans— one of which is hearing. I can hear someone breathing.” You heard a few more steps in your direction before he spoke again, “The breathing is labored— perhaps due to anxiety or injury.”

“Hello?” the first voice called out, his loud steps growing closer and closer. You approximated his location. “Is anyone here? My name is James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise— my First Officer and I were sent to retrieve an artifact and do not mean you any harm. Are you hurt?”

You released your bottom lip and let out the breath you were holding. You quickly began to formulate a story that would explain your presence— something that would keep you out of trouble. You cleared your throat. “Yes.”

“Where are you?”

“Not sure,” you answered honestly. “But you sound close. Maybe a few more steps ahead and to your right.”

A series of steps ensued until a kick to the leg of the chair you were seated in sent it lurching backwards and forward again. You winced at the sharp pain of your ribs and clenched your jaw as your hands balled into fists. “I think that was a bit more steps than a few.”

“What did I hit?” he asked, his voice coming from directly in front of you.

“I’m tied to a chair— my wrists, ankles, and waist are bound and I think I might have a few broken ribs in addition to bruises, cuts, and abrasions.”

He didn’t speak for a few seconds and when he did, it wasn’t to you. “How are we doing on getting some light in here, Mr. Spock?”

“I have located a control panel. I am not confident on the purpose of each button and would prefer not to cause inadvertent harm to either of you—”

James T. Kirk clicked his tongue. “Aw, that’s sweet—”

“— as it would be extremely difficult for me to assist you both.”

“Spoke too soon,” James said with a soft laugh. “Just press the biggest button.”

“Captain, I cannot see—”

“Feel around for the biggest button and press it— in my experience that’s usually the one for light or self-destruction. If it’s a light switch, fantastic.”

“If not?” you asked, looking up into the darkness.

“We’ll deal with that if we have to. Press the button, Spock.”

Immediately, almost as if a bolt of powerful lightening, your surroundings were brightly illuminated. The intensity of the light forced you to squeeze your eyes shut, setting your chin on your shoulder so your hair could cover your face. “Fuck, is there a dimmer?”

“I think we should thank our luck that there’s light at all,” James told you. “Open your eyes slowly.”

You complied to the best of your abilities and straightened your posture so you could face where his voice came from. You had to blink a few times to help your eyes adjust.

When you were able to make out the figures before you, you saw a pair of men. One taller than the other, one in a yellow shirt and one in a blue shirt— both wore Starfleet insignias and both had their eyes on you. The one in blue was visibly Vulcan with skin undertoned with green and ears pointed while the other was visibly human— you assumed Commander Spock was the Vulcan and the man in command yellow was James T. Kirk.

They watched you with the same curiosity you thought must have been watching them with, the three of you silent until you cleared your throat again. You offered them a small smile. “Could one of you untie me?”

They looked at each other, then back at you. James nodded at Spock and crossed his arms over his chest as his First Officer undid your restraints. “You’re human.”

“Yeah,” you said with a single nod as the rope around your waist hit the ground. “My name’s (Y/N).”

“Why are you on this planet, (Y/N)?”

“I’m on summer holiday from Starfleet Academy in San Francisco. I’m here as a tourist.” The lie came out naturally. You were proud.

His blue eyes narrowed as he looked over you again with enough intensity to make you want to disappear. His eyes teamed with his full lips, sharp jaw, dirty blonde hair, and thick eyebrows made you feel too small, too inadequate to be in his presence. “Not much to see on this planet.”

The rope from your ankles fell to the ground. You wet your lips. “My boyfriend’s family was relocated a while ago for diplomatic purposes— I came with him to visit. Although I guess he’s my ex-boyfriend now.”

“Did he,” James began slowly, clearing his throat before continuing, “Did he do this to you?”

“No, no— of course not,” you said quickly, shaking your head vigorously before pain radiated from your ribcage and you were forced to stop. You couldn’t let James have the wrong idea about your fictitious boyfriend. “I had some time before the Earth-bound ship left and decided to explore.” You shrugged and smiled a bit. “See the parts of this city I missed while crying alone in my hotel room.”

A single eyebrow of his rose. “How did you wind up tied to a chair, battered and bruised, in a dark warehouse?”

“I found something while in one of the old shipyards. It looked nice, so I decided to keep it and maybe run some tests when I got back to Earth,” you told him, looking around said warehouse before meeting his gaze again. “Judging by my current circumstance, I don’t think I was supposed to find it, let alone keep it.”

He nodded at Spock once the rope fell from your wrists and the Vulcan stepped to stand beside him. “What is it?”

“Don’t know— it’s made of metal, has some ancient writing covering the front and back. I’m in my final year of studying xenolinguistics and I still couldn’t make any of it out.”

Spock spoke this time. “Do you know its location?”

“They took it back, so no,” you lied as you took a breath that sent a cold shock up your spine.

James looked over at Spock who was whispering something to him. You couldn’t hear most of it aside from the word “artifact” and heard only the portion of James’ reply in which he asked, “Should we trust that?”

You cleared your throat once more to gain their attention. You looked between both and rotated your wrists to regain some blood flow, taking note of the large gash on your left forearm. “The shipyard’s owned by some mongrel with a whole mob of creatures just like him. I’m lucky they only beat me— they said they were going to do much worse when they came back.”

James frowned. “When are they coming back?”

You shrugged and your hand immediately flew up to your right side, a loud wince escaping your lips. “I don’t— I don’t know. I was unconscious for a while, so probably soon.”

They looked at one another again and whispered a few sentences back and forth. They were taking too much time. You knew at any moment the door would burst open and the team of creatures looking for their stolen property would return only to beat you further and probably find the artifact in the pocket of your boot. Meaning the longer it took, the less likely your payment would be— all that trouble would thereby be futile.

Your impatience kicked in again. “I know how all of this sounds. You don’t have to trust me— just don’t leave me here to die.” You sighed through encircled lips. “This isn’t— I don’t want to go out like this. There’s a campus ID card in the left pocket of my jacket if you want to confirm my identity and I promise to answer any question you ask. Just, please, get me out of here.”

James, not bothering to look at Spock again, pulled a communicator from his belt. He flipped it open and tuned it. “Scotty, it’s Jim. Three to beam up directly to the medbay.”

“Aye, sir,” the voice on the other end answered— a Scottish accent was laced through his words. “I’m picking up two signals that are good to go, but I cannae distinguish what the third is.”

“It’s a cadet— in a chair and injured,” James, or Jim, stated. He looked at you then. “If I help you, will you be able to stand?”

You nodded slowly, taking the hand he held out to you and letting him bear the majority of your weight. “Thank you,” you said softly when he looked down at you.

“Not a problem,” he said as he smiled slightly while gold rings surrounded the three of you and you felt weightless.

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: Choke

Masterpost

3x18: Choke

Okay -- so after along absence, I am back! And jumping into an episode I consider the beginning of a long downward spiral of quality of episodes that I don’t think really recovers until we get to Dynamic Duets in season 4.  Yes, we’re entering a dark time here, (and my personal least favorite part of the series) but that doesn’t mean there aren’t interesting things to pick apart.  

So, let’s do this... 

Phantom of the Opera

So -- we open Kurt’s story here with him singing Music of the Night -- a standard if there ever was one. It’s his audition for NYADA.

And you know, it’s nice.  It’s not great.  It’s definitely undoctored as he goes a little flat on a few notes.  Intentionally or not, when Kurt goes on about it being safe and being bored with the number, I think he has a point.  There’s nothing about this performance that stands out.  I don’t even need to do meta on the music, because it’s so unrelated to Kurt, that it’s not really worth it.  And with the lackluster performance of Tina as Christine (god, talk about no chemistry, though I know they were purposely trying for that), I think the point is that it /is/ the safe and boring choice.  

I love that Kurt’s ideas to spruce it up are utterly ridiculous.  Doing it German? Sing it in the nude? More sequence on the cape? Kurt’s used to doing outlandish things to get attention -- but I’d like to point out that all of these things are about being theatrical, but not about himself.  And, if I’m going to tie this in with season four’s Swan Song -- I should mention, Kurt’s audition pieces are, and should be, about showing himself. 

And I mean, it’s not that Kurt’s theatrics aren’t him -- they are! It’s just that it’s an outward persona.  Who Kurt is on the inside is something he often keeps guarded.  And right now he’s playing up to expectations of what he thinks people want him to be -- not showing off what he really is. 

Meanwhile -- out in the audience is Blaine, trying very hard to be the dutiful boyfriend now that we’re post-Dance With Somebody.  He isn’t quite sure how to tell Kurt that his ideas really aren’t that great.  However, he does have the best line of the scene.  When Kurt suggests adding more candles, Blaine’s response is hilariously amazing.  

Blaine: Oh god no.  No more candles. 

School’s Out

Intersecting with Puck’s story, he comes blazing through singing some Alice Cooper.  Most of the glee club looks confused or repulsed.  I love that Kurt’s just scared, and at one moment, you can see him almost curled into Blaine -- like save me from this insanity.  It’s kinda hilarious, actually.  

Change of Plans

Something I’d like to point out -- post Whitney tribute, Kurt changes his locker.  It’s more reflective of being a senior, and more photos of the group and the seniors.  I’m a little sad that the Blaine shrine came down (though, I’ll argue that it needed to as they go from fairy tale to real story), but I am amused he has a picture of Brittana in his locker.  

Anyway, we get into the crux of Kurt’s story for the episode.  And, I’m going to be straight with you, there are a few things about this that drive me a little nutty.  As I’ve been saying through most of season three, Kurt’s NYADA arc in the season is intentionally propped up against Rachel’s.  All of Kurt’s decisions and all of the good things that happen to him are going to be marred because of what happens to Rachel.  But making it even worse is the fact that Rachel’s going to get into NYADA and Kurt, while doing his best, while trying is everything, is not.  And while I’l say, yes, yes, Kurt gets the better story line out of it -- I can’t help but be annoyed that for a long while, he just can’t have a story line to himself.  

In addition -- I’m not really thrilled with what Glee is trying to sell here.  Kurt wants to take a chance on something that he feels right.  And in Glee world, it is the better choice ultimately.  But just a word of advice for any of you who might be going into the performing arts -- practice.  Seriously, practice.  You aren’t going to get anywhere on talent alone.  I promise you that -- as someone who’s been there.  Do not just wing it because you think you can.  

However, here, though, Rachel’s projecting all of her insecurities and issues onto Kurt.  It’s another Hummelberry trait that’s going to drive me nuts, as this kind of thing is going to get worse as we go into season 4, and Kurt starts drinking her Kool-Aide more. 

Rachel thinks he’s self-sabotaging by going with a song he feels more connection to, and taking a risk on something he feels more passionate about.  He’s not -- it’s the right choice.  There is something to say about being on top of things and being inspired to do something, instead of Rachel, who’s relying on being in her comfort zone, which is why she’ll crash later on.  

Also -- man, Rachel has some control issues in this scene, and Kurt kind of lets her steamroll right over him.  I realize that Rachel is kind of a tour de force at times, and I’m glad he kind of shakes her off later on, but man, Rachel, let Kurt make his own decisions.  

(I need to take a second say how much I appreciate the scene where Finn is telling all the guys his plan on intervening with Puck.  It’s hilariously amazing.) 

Not the Boy Next Door

It’s audition day -- and Rachel tells Kurt that their adjudicator is none other than Carmen Tibideaux, NYADA and Broadway Bigwig.  Now, here’s my thing -- I adore Whoopie Goldberg, I’m delighted she did the show because I think she’s fantastic.  But Carmen Tibideaux drives me crazy -- and not really because of how she handles Kurt, which she could have done a lot better, but because the way she runs things doesn’t make much sense, and she often lets Rachel get away with waaaay too much, imo.  

Kurt’s understandably nervous -- because yeah, this is a big crossroads moment for him, and to do so in front of someone so prolific heightens the stakes.  But you know, he’s wearing those gold lame pants underneath that phantom costume.  It was always an option, even as he let Rachel talk him down the safe path.  I think the fact that it was Carmen made Kurt decide to go with something he’s ultimately more comfortable and interested in doing.  While Carmen may not see it, this is Kurt at his best -- and at least afterwards, he can say that he gave it his all, and presented himself the best way he knew how. 

(Btw, as this starts -- Blaine sneaks himself into the audience.  This is such a little ‘awww’ moment.  I love how proud Blaine is of Kurt throughout this sequence.) 

Anyway -- it’s interesting how Kurt can read Carmen when he gets out on stage.  She’s heard Music of the Night hundred times, as well as The Impossible Dream and Being Alive.  I have to wonder if they knew they were giving Kurt Being Alive next season.  It’s hard to tell with Glee.  

So yeah -- Kurt makes the split-second decision to go with Not the Boy Next Door.  And I kind of love this small little moment before the song starts, as Kurt closes his eyes and goes to a different place, and sheds the scared part of him off as he embraces the role of Peter Allen.  It’s just kind of awesome.  

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ZKxx1YSks] <---- Not the Boy Next Door Link.  Idk why Tumblr won’t actually let me post it correctly.  But go watch it!

So.  Not the Boy Next Door. 

I don’t think there’s another solo that’s as Kurt Hummel-ish as this one.  This song is so fantastic, and it’s Kurt at the height of his scene-stealing ability.  The choreography is interesting, it’s most definitely an homage to the original musical -- only Kurt adds his signature moves, which is adorable and brilliant.  He sounds fantastic on the number, and it’s a shame we don’t get the full studio recording, as that shows off his range better than here.  Everything about this is such an amazing performance, and I’m so glad they had Kurt do it. 

I'm not sorry for just bein' me But if you'd look past the past you could see That I am not (I am not the boy next door)

And, of course, this song fits with Kurt so well.  Because it’s about a guy who realizes that he doesn’t fit into the mold that society deems worthy but that doesn’t matter -- he decides to leave the facade behind, and be himself.  And that is exactly what Kurt is doing here -- showing off his true colors, and completely owning it.  

Also.  I should probably mention the gold lame pants. But, I mean I think they kinda speak for themselves ;) 

(Watching Blaine through this is so entertaining -- we are all you, bb, proud and overjoyed about Kurt’s performance)

So.  Here’s the interesting and complicated part about all of this.  We know Kurt.  We saw him shine like the bright bb that he is.  Carmen, however, does not know that this is Kurt coming into his own and owning it.  And she just happens to have a different set of standards.  Because this performance, yes was undoubtedly Kurt Hummel at his best.  But.  It wasn’t Kurt at his emotional and raw.  So to Carmen -- she can see that he can perform, but can he dig down deep and give emotion? Well, we know that he can, because most Kurt Hummel solos do that ever so well.  But she doesn’t see that here.  

And now -- that’s personally why I think you do a variety of things when you audition, but this is Glee logic, so whatever.  But what I find kind of interesting here is that she compliments him -- because he does deserve it.  But maybe because i’m watching it knowing what happens, I kind of sense something else here, too.  She was impressed, sure, but she didn’t see what she wanted to see. She congratulates him for taking the risk -- but that’s all.  It’s not enough for her.  

(Now -- I’m not going to sit her and say I’m completely content with this -- especially since Rachel whining enough is enough to get Carmen to change her mind, but I’m just trying to make sense of the whole thing)  

So, oh Kurt, he’s so happy, and proud of himself, and I love it.  And I’m so sad that it’s just not enough right now.  

  The Consolation of Ms. Rachel Berry

And now we get to the frustrating part that leads into the messiness that is the end of season 3.  Rachel chokes on her audition.  Kurt is in disbelief.  And I’m frustrated because Rachel fucking it up means that Kurt’s going to fail.  Because Rachel needs to succeed.  And for reasons I just don’t get, that seems to be the balance the writers need to strike in this stupid NYADA plotline.  Why can’t both of them succeed? I don’t know. Why is it every time something goes Kurt’s way -- Rachel is left an emotional mess to be picked up? I don’t know.  Why does Kurt have to fail if Rachel wins? I don’t get it either.  But that’s the plot line we get.  I guess the only consolation is that Kurt ends up being the better developed character after all of this. 

And -- here at the end, Kurt does what Kurt always does.  He tries to make Rachel feel better in the varying ways he knows how.  And I feel like now is where we’re cemented (at least for a while) in how the Hummelberry dynamic is going to work.  Rachel emotionally stumbles and Kurt’s there to pick her back up again.  And it’s going to be this off balance until we get to season five.  I wouldn’t mind so much if it’s sometimes turned the other way (and around season five we get that), or if Rachel didn’t always need to be picked up from being an emotional mess.  But, I get the feeling that that’s really what the writers knew how to write.  And I suppose the Kurt fan in me is sad that his story is sidelined for a good long while as he becomes, essentially, Rachel’s side kick.  

Now in general - I don’t want to knock friendship stories. And I’m glad that he that they show he does have this huge heart.  And I’m also not saying that Rachel doesn’t deserve to have this low moment, either, because she does.  I just wish they had gone in a different direction -- and had shown that sometimes dreams change because you screw up -- not that you screw up, and people crown you prom queen because you’re sad, and if you harass the right people long enough you get what you want.  But I digress.  

But, ah, this I suppose is the last high point as Kurt’s year is going to get a whole lot worse.  Fun times ahead!