#done and said some shitty misogynistic things sure no doubt

[monstermoviedean]

i'm not saying dean hasn't said or done some shitty things but for me. for me. i think if someone said "hey that hurt my feelings" or "that's fucked up man" he would immediately stop, apologize, and cease that behavior in the future. and that doesn't have to matter to other people but it does matter to me.

[kara-is-a-cutie]

What in the hell happened over in Sweden, it’s like the voters gave foxes control of the henhouse over there; I’m fucking nervous for yall over here in America considering we have elections in a month and a half and there’s a high chance that it’ll be a shitty day for us too

Apologies in advance, I ended up going on a whole ass rant lol

The same thing that happened in the US in 2016 is happening for us now, we're just lucky that we're not in essentially a two party system like y'all are. People are tired of the establishment and scared due to the recent gang violence and thus are voting for the party that seems different in hopes something will change.

People forget and/or ignore that since the left got back into power the right has stopped them at every step and forced them to follow a right wing budget and go on to complain that they haven't done any of the things they promised. A lot of our issues pre pandemic and Ukrainian war also stem from the 8 years when the right were in power, but as you're probably familiar, the right loves blaming the left for their own incompetence. The leftist part have also fucked themselves and the left block over by being uncooperative until just recently. The Swedish Democrats (SD), a party formed by literal Nazis, are in regards to their worker's rights politics quite close to the Social Democrats (S) which has made it easy for many voters to switch sides. I don't have an issue with this part of SD's politics, the issues arise when it comes to ppl of colour, women, queer ppl etc. They've had openly bigoted people in their party, some of them who have proudly touted being neonazis, for most of their history they've been anti queer rights and even now when they've started accepting gay and trans ppl they still refuse to respect and acknowledge the Q in LGBTQ. They've talked about setting the limit for abortion at 12 weeks instead of the current 18 and many of their party members misogynistic.

The one saving grace with them is that they don't want to be in charge, at least not fully. They're the second biggest party in Parliament currently, but their leader has already said he doesn't wish to be stateminister (although they want a few positions in a right wing government). I'm quite sure this is because they know they do best as the opposition. As long as they're the ones criticising the people in power they look strong, but the few times they've held any level of government they've failed and at least once bankrupted the county they governed.

Then we got the other conservative party Kristdemokraterna (Christ Democrats KD) whose current leader Ebba Busch is a convicted criminal who is out on probation. She committed slander, plead guilty to it and then went out in the press and said that while she plead guilty, she believes herself innocent which I believe ended up getting her in even more trouble. Since RvW was overturned she's insisted her party isn't pro life, but many of the top ranking politicians in her party have said very much the opposite throughout the years, including her if I remember correctly. Simply put they're self righteous hypocrites, but I doubt that surprised anyone.

There's so much more fuckery and I worry about what rights we may lose and how many young men of colour will be murdered by the police in the next 4 years. We're heading into darker times and I fear for us all.

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

Just a small thing that you can definitely ignore if you want and I know this might be bad to say or even selfish but I just.. miss the old Schlatt? not the one who's now doing this content and making hurtful jokes just for money. because every day I'm losing more and more hope that off camera, he's a genuine person?

Or I just want him to improve and become better? I don't know, I know I might be selfish for being like that and I do recognise that parasocial relationships do exist and he is merely a stranger to me but I just want him to become better and to be better. curse me and my heart where I just want the best for everyone, even if I don't know them. c': I think I miss the old Schlatt - because I feel like even this persona he has is not doing him any good?

This might be a thought but you know when you look at someone and you can just see or feel that their mindset is affecting them - especially when it's affecting them negatively? I noticed that with him. Again, I know I'm a mere stranger and I don't know anything about him but even with strangers you can notice this? When he was on a break from that sort of content while he was moving, on the update "I'm Back" video he had a better energy? But when he started to embrace that persona again, his energy is just becoming worse and worse. the only times his energy was better again was when he had the moments with Jambo?

I don't know. I'm just going on a ramble at this point but I just wish he became better?

This is the exact reason I still watch the guy! I completely get where you're coming from, and it can be hard to have these sorts of conversations without speculating about what goes on 'behind the scenes' (something we know Schlatt is uncomfortable with and is possibly one of the reasons he puts on such a contrary persona).

I agree that his content has taken a downturn lately. But I don't think it's the fault of the persona, I think it's the fault of him misusing the persona. Of course he can do whatever he wants, I don't really care cause if he decides he wants to keep being a bastard then that's his problem and I'll stop watching cause that content isn't for me. However, I have some ideas about why the more recent videos have been 'worse':

His heart isn't in it. Jackbox games are fun and all but they aren't the kind of content Schlatt likes to make. In my opinion. His old channel had videoessays, but he's said before that they don't make enough money for him to keep doing that. I think he likes the little slice of life videos more because they're easy and because they're fun. I think the Wii videos were great, well-structured and good examples of well-done satire, but I feel he got a bit bored of it so he tried jackbox, which just isn't the same.

The satire doesn't work with jackbox videos. In the Wii videos it's just him and the game and some props. He plays his character and clearly makes fun of the kind of person he's portraying, or he just makes fun of himself, which is cool too lol. For example in the Wii fishing video, he plays the character of a misogynistic guy who loves fishing and hates his wife. Then proceeds to be terrible at the game and get angry to the point of making himself look like a fool. That's why we laugh! We laugh at the dumbass he's portraying. And obviously this is the same for most of the bits he does. The classic one being the gay Catholic patriot. The unexpected clash of traits makes it funny. With the jackbox vids you don't really get that. It's him and some friends. And yeah, they make fun of themselves and each other, but it has the unwanted side effect of being easy to turn into something that starts to make fun of other people, such as minorities or victims of tragedy, which isn't okay.

Mans is just trying to get a rise out of people. We all know this. The last video was purposefully offensive to try to scare the dream stans away. Which was dumb, and he shouldn't have done it, but I get why he did it. With everything that's happened recently, I'm sure Schlatt doesn't want to be associated with that sort of fanbase. Unfortunately, he went the wrong way about scaring them off.

Moving, the entire thing with lunch club and cmc, getting a cat, and Connor moving in, all while making near-weekly videos, two podcasts, and being on streams. That's a lot to think about, which is probably another reason for the lazier content and falling back on 'easy' jokes that often turn out offensive.

What I'm saying is that I feel he's in a rut. He hit a dead end, tried to fix things, then fell off and made a shitty video as an attempt for controversy. If I'm right, then I feel that he's gonna take a bit of a break (he's already taken a pretty long break if you look at how long it's been since the last video on his main channel) and come back when he's actually ready to do some better content.

The video was bad, and I get why people don't feel comfortable watching him anymore. I've made my peace with it and I'm hoping for some better content soon. But not too soon!

Lots of his friends have spoken about the whole thing, and the general consensus is that yeah, it was bad. I think Connor talked about him and Schlatt seeing a kid watching The Video and Schlatt having this 'oh shit' moment? I might be wrong, if anyone has a link to the clip or stream where Connor talks about this lmk. But regardless, I think mans is taking a break and sorting himself out. There are also rumours he might stream soon but idk idk.

I feel that off-camera he's a completely different person. Minx said she sees it that way, Ty also said he's very respectful and chill off-camera. So I don't think he's a bad person (I don't think he's racist or anti-Semetic, he fucked up but I highly doubt he believes that shit irl and I think claiming that he does is just performative and kinda weird. I understand microagressions are also very bad and can be used by racists/be racist but on their own they do not make you a racist especially if it's poor taste jokes that went too far etc).

You're right though, he definitely wanted to make money. That didn't really work out for him though (if you look at the stats on The Video, it performed terribly) so I doubt it's a mistake he would make again.

For now, if you want to see better content that (I think) reflects Schlatt in a better light (aka he's still doing a bit but he's much more chill and less of a bastard about it) I recommend the chuckle sandwich podcast and sleep deprived podcast. He's on OTK streams a lot too but that sorta thing isn't really for me.

Also stan connoreatspants bringing us Jambo content all the time. 🙌

Idk if that was helpful, but it's more a gesture of solidarity since I agree with and feel everything you're saying. Of course, this is all speculation, please don't spread this as fact because I don't know Schlatt any better than you do. He's just a comfort CC and guy I think is kinda neat when he's not doing dumb shit.

Sorry for the long post. Also, you can disregard the shit I said about racism if you want cause I'm not qualified to talk about it really. There are good points for calling someone a racist for jokes like the ones in the video, but I feel like the rest of the factors should be looked at too since this is a complicated situation. Again, just my opinion, please no hate. If you have a complaint DM me or send an ask. I'm open to hearing other povs.

Have a nice day !

[blorbosexterminator]

Thanks @spiny-norman for tagging me! I definitely think it's time for me to try and put an overview of my thoughts coherently in one place, instead of the cluster I've left my blog in lmfao.

For lack of better words, here's a review of s5

I'll start with the positives too! The things I truly enjoyed:

The action was really thrilling and well-done.

It was funny. That is a very important aspect to me lmfao. I was truly worried the season was going to be too edgy for its own good and sacrifice its trademark humor. Tamayo was easily a highlight of this season. I loved that man from the moment he showed up in season 3, and he only got better this season. Alicia was also one of my favorite things. She's just so hilarious, I'm rooting for her to betray everyone and fuck them up.

In la banda itself, Tokyo and Denver completely stole the show, with magnificent acting from both Jaime and Ursula and genuinely good writing for them this season (something I can't say for the other characters), and the way they stayed true to themselves and yet evolved in such an organic way will always stay with me.

Tokyo deserves a whole point on her own even though I haven't shut up about her for nearly a week now lmfao. I'm still amazed at the perfect way her arc was handled, I could have never imagined or wanted anything different for her. It was a hugely bold move to place this in the finale of the first volume because I have no idea how they'll top it with anything now. Ursula obviously stole the scene, but everyone's acting in that scene punched me in the gut repeatedly. Very few characters' deaths in all media really affected me generally speaking, but I just know Tokyo's is here to stay with me.

Now, for everything else. This is already long but it's about to get longer lmfao.

First, I genuinely disliked how the show handled its political aspect this season. It was never perfect at it tbh, with a lot of misplaced allegories, but it was fine. The reason it was fine is because, other than a few weird moments, the show stayed realistic. It was was character-driven, and most of the time, the characters didn't mold themselves to be activists. This seasons' progressive tone was very out of place. I know a lot of people took pleasure in Bogota's speech while he beat Gandia, but it took me out of the mood. It was out of character and very ill-fitting to Gandia. I disliked Martin's speech nearly as much. Again, it was very out of character and ill-fitting. The really fun and realistic thing about the previous seasons was that just because a character was a minority or in some unfortunate group for one reason or the other, it didn't change anything. It didn't make them better people. Martin was still an egotistical, narcissistic, power-hungry, misogynistic, macho piece of shit. The fact that he was gay changed nothing, it didn't make him kinder to fellow oppressed people, not once did he act or gave any indication that he thought of himself as a victim in that sense. They were very unnecessary scenes.

Speaking of the characters, outside of Tokyo and Denver, I didn't feel 'anyone'. All actors did more than an amazing job, Rodrigo and Alvaro were top notches. But it just, the story had suddenly changed from a character-driven story to a plot-driven one and the show didn't handle that change well. Raquel, Martin, Andres, and Sergio were just there. I'll come back to Andres later because he's a special case lmfao. But those three, with how huge their roles are supposedly now, literally were just there. Raquel was just going around shooting things and sometimes giving some order or the other. Martin is pretty much the same. And the only useful thing Sergio did was pull the kid out of Alicia.

Now, I get that Alex Pina said this volume will all be boom boom, and in the next volume we'll get more of the character-focused scenes, but I'm not disappointed because the scenes were few. No, I'm disappointed because they were out of character. Martin was very, very not Martin. He was just some guy lmfao. It's not that I just wanted him to be more of an asshole, which I did because he is an asshole (bless the Monica and Arturo scene tho) but also he was just very soulless. Very unrecognizable. The moment he showed up, took Raquel's order to stop the melting without even one objection or even asking her to explain lmfao, (even fucking Tokyo was like ????? and not Martin!!!), I knew that he's not himself this season. And I was right, this Martin didn't give a single shit about the gold, had no passion, no fire, no soul. It's not like he doesn't resemble 'Palermo' (whatever the fuck that means), he doesn't even resemble himself in the s3 and 4 flashbacks. This isn't healing or redemption. This is a complete personality change overnight. And it just made him a boring character ngl, he's just not entertaining or complex or intriguing anymore. He's literally just some guy with some cringy out-of-character moments that made me go ???? Not even asking about plan Roma and having no problem with not melting the gold, telling Bogota 'revenge is egotistical and bad uwu', his whole speech of being the shit of society or whatever were all highlights of how the show just threw his previous characterizations in the trash lmfo. I genuinely hope it was just because this volume needed to move without any obstacles from the characters and he'll go back more to who he is in volume 2, but I doubt it tbh.

The flashbacks. First, they were funny, and that is their only saving grace. Andres going 'LOBSTERS' in the middle of telling his kid that he ruined his life was top-notch. Other than that, they were terrible, terrible shitty writing. The show didn't connect them in any way to Andres' flashbacks in s3 and 4 and at the same time didn't connect them to bank heist (outside of the parallels of the water, diving, and gold in both heists). They were very disconnected from everything else, and even though I'm certain they'll have more meaning next volume, it doesn't erase the fact that they had none this volume and didn't establish any stones for connections. @spiny-norman Tatana isn't even my type lmfao so I got nothing from this.

Lastly, the relationship dynamics were so.....not there. We got about nothing other than the Tokyo stuff. No hermanos, no Martin and Sergio, no Sergio and Raquel, no flashbacks from the panning in the monastery, no Tokyo and Martin being a pain in each other's asses, no Martin/Andres and the plan, no Martin and Raquel beyond co-leading. If we had time for that stupid, stupid love triangle, then we could have had some meaningful interactions between the actual important relationships in the show. Monver defending each other and their relationship to other people was very <3 though.

The plan has no meaning. Sure, I enjoyed the action. But this bank plan itself was devoid of the soul it had since it first appeared. The bank plan was something like an individual character in previous seasons lmfao. It was the one true love story of Andres and Martin. I think the show could have balanced some of that with the action and thrill.

Again, I know it's all about the action. But the show had a true shining chance to have some iconic scenes between Raquel and the police now that Sergio was unable to participate, and we had absolutely nothing. No negotiation, no clever back and forth between her and the people she worked with for decades, just nothing. I loved seeing her in action, but the boom boom omg badass queen woman warrior with a gun thing gets boring. This fits Tokyo. Raquel's truest moments of really being a boss were supposed to be between her and the police. Just again, all characters were just doing the same thing. They were no longer brilliant, varied individuals each shinning through their own strengths that were already established. I only hope we'll get more of that in volume two.

I think this captures most of my thoughts about the volume. Sorry for long it is lmfao.

[laufire]

i’ve seen people compare dean to buffy (and dean/sam to buffy/dawn), and i do not have the energy to articulate how deeply fundamentaly WRONG that is. NO. he’s elena. (i do however see agree that there are dean/angel parallels.)

Oof.

I could imagine there were such comparisons, but I’m very, very glad I’ve never had encountered them personally xD.

There’s a lot to unpack alone in the Dean-Buffy comparisons that I’d feel more comfortable doing when I’ve watched more of Dean’s journey, but it goes without saying I agree with you: Buffy and Dean aren’t similar people, at all. The comparison bugs me, ngl, but, and this goes beyond parallels. I’m going to take comfort in the fact that Buffy would be disgusted by Dean xDD (and god, can you imagine how shitty Dean would be to her. Putting aside what a misogynistic creep he can be -I’m not forgetting that scene with Jess any time soon-, I can just picture the kind of shit Dean “rape joke” Winchester would say to her about her relationships with Angel or Spike and it sickens me). Not that I actually think Dean and Elena would get along either, similarities or not xDD

But boy, the Buffy-Dawn vs. Dean-Sam comparison. That one is a kick to the stomach. Even worse than the one with Wynonna and Waverly -Wynonna Earp takes clear inspiration from SPN, but it really only works on the surface level; so, if that’s how you watch the show, I could potentially understand those comparisons, fine. But Buffy and Dawn?? Are you kidding me???

Buffy cherishes Dawn, she encourages her growth and her relationships and bonds with others. She doesn’t restore to violence when Dawn says something that makes her angry. She apologizes to her and strives to make amends and acknowledges when she’s wrong. She’s forgiving and understanding and compasionate of Dawn’s mistakes. When she finds out Dawn is not human (that she’s not even her sister at all), she embraces it and never shames her for it.

If you think any of the above applies to Dean, you have completely bought into his POV, disregarded Sam’s, and have a blind spot in the narrative the size of every state they’ve been in s1 alone combined.

Now, Elena sending Damon to erase Jeremy’s memories when he becomes to difficult to control? That sounds right up Dean’s alley and, according to s9 (I think? The one where he tricks Sam into getting possessed by an angel without his knowledge. Good times I’m sure) wikia summaries, maybe even a little tame for him xD. Jeremy had to lie to Elena about what he was planning to leave town and her clutches, and that was by the time Elena’s influence was minimal. At least he seems to have a life separated from her doing what he wants.

Also, I’m never, ever going to forget something Dean said to Sam back in s4 that froze me where I stood: that threatening “If I didn’t know you, I would want to hunt you”. Try to put that phrase in Buffy’s mouth, *especially* in relation to Dawn, and tell me how that sounds.

I do concede there are similarities between Dean and Angel lmfao. For one, Doylist-wise I see them fitting into the same pattern: SPN seems to have started with the idea of being about BOTH brothers, but Dean’s POV (partially for his character type, partially for Ackles presence and charisma) dominates and redirects the plot from practically the first second. Angel wasn’t initially supposed to have as much weight on BTVS, but try to stop Boreanaz xD (he has the IT factor. How I wish he was cast as Bruce Wayne in a show lmao). His scenes on the pilot awakened memories of both Angel and Chuck Bass lmfao, in terms of how disruptive and all-encompasing his presence was.

I can see some similarities beyond that, too. I’ll never deny that Angel could be a terrifying mean cold mofo, soul or no soul. Hell, some of my favourite moments in the Buffyverse are whenever Angel acts like a cold mofo (Forgiving, anybody???). And I could see very unflattering yet not entirely unfair comparisons been made, although I’d probably have a good argument for those! Like with Buffy, I see key differences that to *me* matter in terms of how I react to each character, although I’d probably could say a lot more after I finish SPN.

For now, I’ll say that one of them is that Angel has proven himself capable of relinquishing control and make amends (see s2 of ATS), something that at this point I doubt Dean has in him in any meaningful way. And also... this is more abstract but Dean is so full of this self-righteous, poisonous hate in him for anything other. It’s one of the things I find so utterly frightening about him. And I don’t see that in Angel, at all. Because Angel is the other and he never, ever forgets that (in that one way, actually, Sam is closer to him. Dean could’ve never done what Angel did with Faith, or with Darla in s2. Sam could, and has done close enough things for comparison).

I must also say that a good romance softens audience reaction to a cold mofo like nothing else lmfao, so Bangel definitely affects how I see Angel. It’s not exactly a mystery why his episode with Cassie is by far the most likeable I’ve found Dean lol (likeable as in likeable, as opposed “fascinating terrifying character” the way I’ve done in other episodes lol). Still count myself lucky she never made a reappearance, with this show’s track record xD

But anyway. Dean is his own thing. And one of the many things he can be is a meaner, scarier version of Elena Gilbert lmao -because he doesn’t have the constraints she has and can be terrifying in areas Elena couldn’t. I get the impression I’m going to have a reversed reaction to their arcs, however. In TVD, I started out loathing Elena (on Caroline’s, and later Bonnie’s, behalf. Even Jeremy’s, to a lesser extent) and only could properly appreciate what an interesting character she was after I’d let go~~ of my hate lol (in her case, because she was no longer as serious a threat to those characters I cared about).

With Dean, as of now I don’t hate him. I mean, I think he’s scary and hateful as a person, but I don’t feel the way I did for Caroline or even Bonnie about anyone around him getting hurt, by him and their vulnerability to him; for now, my interest on him as a character construct trumps that -we’ll talk again when I properly see his dynamic with Castiel lol. Even if it turns out there’s no reason to feel as protective there as with the characters in TVD, the spoilers I’ve read (and contrasted with the wikia, I always do that) about how I know he treated Jack are going to be enough to make me wish the worst for him. His treatment of full grown adults he has complicated relationships with can fit within my “fascinating and terrifying protagonist” description. Driving a kid that, looks or not, has the life experience of a toddler to a suicide attempt to them tell him “no, I’m gonna be the one who kills you” is only going to make me feel nausea, because it already does. At this point, the knowledge that Jack has the power to resurrect him but doesn’t care to only fills me with satisfaction xD

[praisetheaxolotl]

I’d like to get your thoughts on this, hope this is okay!

Look at this quote from this article:

“It’s easy to pick on the “this wouldn’t be happening if these characters were coded as male,” but it’s nonetheless true—as a fan of the unrepentantly (gloriously) awful Bill Cipher, among others, I can promise you I see it regularly.”

I immediately thought of this blog when I read this. 

Not saying you’re misogynist, of course. This blog is just so fascinating, and for someone to dismiss it all like that is frustrating. 

I mean, of course they weren’t referring to you directly, but still. 

For someone to brush off people’s interesting, thought-provoking theories as nothing but misogyny is kind of close-minded, in my opinion. 

But this makes me curious. Do you think you’d still feel the same way about Bill if he was more feminine-coded? Would it matter?

And what do you think about that statement? Are you as annoyed by it as I am?

It’s always alright to get my thoughts on certain subjects, Anon! And lucky for you, I have lots of thoughts on this.

First of all, thank you for liking my blog! I put a lot of work into it, and I still look back on everything I’ve done here fondly. This blog is my only fandom-specific blog that’s still semi-active even after I’ve left the fandom. 

And, about what you said about misogyny... I don’t actually think that’s what the article is talking about. It’s not misogyny for someone to pick apart Bill Cipher, but it’s misogyny if someone offers that level of potential depth to a male character while instantly condemning a female character. 

But... honestly, from my experience? These two groups of people are different groups. 

I used to run in those “anti” circles, back in 2015? 2016? Before the whole “SU criti/cal” thing started to become popular. But I could still kinda see hints of it? It was back when SU was hailed as THE perfect show, before people knocked it off the pedestal they put it on. 

Anyway. These people hated redemption arcs. They saw Bill as this irredeemable monolith of a character, and any alternate interpretations were met with outright malice. I got called out once for, and I am not joking, headcanoning Bill as an abuse victim. They claimed I was “excusing his actions,” but when I asked to please show a screenshot of where I said that this excused him, they couldn’t. Because I never said that. 

(I ended up publishing the whole headcanon on my main blog, and people loved it. That reception is what pushed me to create this blog.)

I don’t doubt at least some of those people became the type to nitpick SU. So I feel that the same people that nitpick male characters are also the type to nitpick female ones. They’re just nitpickers with a black-and-white sense of morality.

But there are always exceptions to the rule- people who love morally gray male characters but hate morally grey female characters. Yes, some of these motivations may be spurred on by misogyny. But what frustrates me is the initial assumption of malice. I’m not saying the article itself is guilty of this, as it seems to be speaking to a general problem, but more those tumblr posts or tweets trying to “call people out” if they gravitate towards more morally gray male characters than female ones.

Which brings me to my answer to your question: No, I don’t think I would like Bill as much, had he been a woman.

But please let me explain first. 

First, you need to know some facts about me:

I am transmasculine. (Not a trans man- I’m nonbinary.)

I have a personality disorder. I’m not comfortable disclosing which one, but it’s one of the cluster B ones.

I was abused, and my reaction to the abuse was extreme anger and irritability. (Hence the PD.)

Another important fact is that my abuser was a woman. She’s my mother. I had to live with constant emotional abuse, gaslighting, neglect and other forms of malice for my whole life. I’m still not free yet, and I’m turning 20 in a month. (No, literally, exactly one month to the day.)

I was abused my whole life by a vindictive, manipulative shit of a woman, and it made me into a vindictive, manipulative shit of a person. The key difference is that I am actively trying not to be a vindictive, manipulative shit.

When I pick apart asshole male characters, I see myself in them. I do a deep dive into the whys, the hows the whos of why they ended up the way that they did, because it makes me feel liberated. It’s personally liberating to see someone like me, whom everyone sees as a monster, have a backstory that shows that monsters aren’t born, they’re made. It’s liberating to see them try and change, it’s liberating to give them someone to help them change no matter what, it’s liberating to look harder. Because that’s what I wanted. I wanted someone to look at me and see past the violent, angry 15 year old that I was, and actually help me. I wanted someone to see I was a victim, that I didn’t like being the way that I was. I wanted someone to help me and be there for me, even though I was messed up and awful.

(But don’t feel too bad for me- A few years ago I met someone wonderful through this very fandom who was exactly the kind of person I needed. And last November I proposed to him and he said yes!)

When I see a morally grey female character... all I can see is my abuser. I see in them the person that hurt me. I don’t want to look deeper, just as I don’t care about my mother’s long rambles about how shitty her childhood was. Was she also abused? Yes. Do I care? Nope! I don’t feel that same drive to pick apart female characters that act like the male ones I like, because of my trauma.

 And honestly? Just because I gravitate towards male characters more doesn’t make me a misogynist. How I treat actual real life women does. I do examine my behavior to make sure I’m not being misogynistic- in fact, it was worry that I was being misogynistic in my dislike of these characters that made me think hard enough to have such a long answer to your question. 

Maybe someone liking only male characters is an indicator of misogyny. Maybe it isn’t. I’m not shy about talking about what happened to me but people should not have to disclose their traumas in order to be “allowed” to consume fiction in a way some stranger doesn’t like. 

And there actually is a specific subset of morally grey female characters I like: my own OCs. 

I guess it’s the fact that I created them and thus can control how they act? They’re all assholes and I love them so much, but I don’t feel that same aversion as I do with characters that aren’t mine. Because the lack of control I had over my own abusive situation is what fucked me up so hard, but now I do have the control. If I watch a TV show, I don’t have any control over what the characters do, they’re not mine. But I do have control over my OCs.

(Psst- if you wanna see those OCs, I’ve since moved to the Invader Zim fandom, and am working on a HUGE fic series for it. (It’s not published yet- I’m working on it behind the scenes.) Those OCs I’m talking about star heavily. Here’s my blog, if you’re interested. I kinda wanna do some metaposting for that fandom, too, but I’ve no idea where to start. I love the Irkens, though, haha. Anyway if any of you happen to like IZ and have a meta-question for me... the askbox IS open!)

Anyway. This got really long. But misogyny in fandom is a thing, and the article does call it out well. I just get frustrated that people immediately assume malice. The statement does annoy me, but because it does happen if the characters are coded as male, too. I see it all the time. People just tend to either be fans of the morally grey, or... not.

[jaeausten]

My thoughts on Sanditon 1x06 (Beware, here be spoilers...)

Okay, up until now I have been watching Sanditon with mixed feelings, most of it positive, but Sundays episode left me screaming WTF at my tv.

In this house, Andrew Davies is a legend. His television adaptations of the classics has always let me soak into the world of Austen, Dickens etc and has been a welcome escape from the various shitty things in my life. He has been adapting books for tv series for decades and I thought that Sanditon was going to be full of the things I love about Jane Austen’s works and subsequent adaptations (wit, satire, self possessed, independent thinking heroines and intelligent, impeccably behaved heroes) with anything else left strictly to the imagination. Austen’s works have always had elegance and propriety to them (even when dealing with sex and ruin) that simply does not appear in this adaptation. There is such a sense of pandering to modern tastes in this episode of Sanditon that I cannot get past...or forgive. This is not an Austen adaptation and I am a little upset that Andrew Davies has interpreted Austen like this. People like Austen for all the subtlety and repressed sexual tension and although Jane did not write more than 11 chapters of Sanditon, surely Andrew has had enough experience dealing with this genre and original material to have written the rest of the story the way Jane might actually have intended.

Anyway, to the episode. I was literally jumping in my seat at the end of episode 1x05 when Charlotte set off on her plucky adventure to Set Things Right and help bring Georgiana home. But when this episode started, it soon became clear that Charlotte had arrived in London with only the flimsiest scrap of a plan and little to no money! (Note- In the rest of the series, Charlotte can be impulsive, but not stupid). Next, Charlotte is made to demonstrate another act of uncharacteristic stupidity by aimlessly wandering around the back streets and alleyways near the docks acting the fresh country girl ripe for the plucking. And of course, someone grabs her. She is rescued by Sidney, but this trope of stupid, naive country girl puts herself in a dangerous situation and has to be rescued by the hero pisses me off.

Oh, and Fyi costume designer, Charlotte should be wearing her hair up, UP, UUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPP!!! 

When Sidney tells Charlotte off in the carriage, I kind of thought that he had a point; reminding her that there can be other motives for marriage than love, but her looking shocked that this could be so surprises me as she has not previously written to be so naive. But, if you see it from her point of view, Otis rocked up looking dandy af a couple of episodes ago (I’m assuming that Charlotte thought that Otis might not need Georgiana’s money with that snazzy outfit on) and spouting romantic feelings and the telling of a genuinely funny first meeting with Georgiana made her think that it was for love and that it must be prejudice as his fortune has been made from slavery! Charlotte accuses Sidney of being less than forthcoming about his objections to Otis and he is pissed that his vague af explanation did not satisfy our independent thinking heroine. But as I see it, if you can be a first class asshole and scream into the heroine’s face while losing your temper in the street, you sure as hell can be explicit about why you ask someone to keep an extra eye on your ward. Just saying....

Also, Sidney’s behaviour throughout this series to Charlotte has been so far from an Austen hero and has made me dislike him so intensely that I have rooted for young Stringer as Charlotte’s eventual husband (though we all know that’s not going to happen, don’t we). An Austen hero never lets his anger show too strongly nor bellows at the heroine in the street. But apart from the story, good manners in that era and at that social level would prohibit any true gentleman from doing so. 

Andrew, if you are not going to follow Austen’s style, then place it in the proper confines of the period. Good fucking manners always prevail!!!!!!!!!

Taking Charlotte to a Brothel?!?!?!?!?!? Gently bred females do not get taken by an Austen hero to a brothel, Jesus Christ! Would this happen in reality? Not really! This scene seems to have been lifted out of the pages of a bodice ripper (not that I have any objection to bodice rippers- I frequently read and love them myself- but in an Austen? No, just no).

Charlotte preventing Sidney from beating the shit out of Otis for ruining Georgiana’s rep with a gentle plea while he reigns in his rage for her by focusing on her face, oh my heart... Still not Austen tho...

There’s finally a flash of the old sensible Charlotte when she figures out that Georgiana might still be held in London, whoops, I sneezed, back to the naive country girl trope that doesn’t fit. 

Ewwwww, the fat, misogynistic fucker making a joke about breaking in horses being similar to handling wives while drooling over a forcibly restrained woman just had to be in there didn’t it?  

It just bugs me why Clara, Edward and Esther don’t seem to take Lady Denham seriously when she has said repeatedly thought the entire series so far that none of them will benefit monetarily from her death, yet when the will is eventually found, Clara and Edward are outraged when nothing is left to them?

I can’t decide if Charlotte is still the annoying country girl from the beginning of the episode or the plucky heroine determined to find out the truth when she refuses to stay in the carriage when Sidney goes into the brothel where he is clearly a regular member...

‘You haven’t made an honest man of our Mr Parker, have you?’ 

‘GrAcIOuS NOOOO!’

Sidney’s face. One second of pained outrage. Classic!

Ooooohhhhhhh, a dramatic carriage chase. Area man in a cravat leaping to another carriage to bring the horses to a halt and rescue a girl. Melodrama meets western...

Oh look, Clara has found the hidden will and taken the time to put on a new dress and villain smirk of crazed triumph. Fuck off luv!

Oh. My. God.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jumping each other and having grunting, rough af sex on the cold marble floor to seal their devils deal? Um, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

This is the most unAusten disgrace of the entire episode. This is what almost made me turn off the tv, but I wanted to see what else happened in the episode, so I put it on mute and glanced through my fingers occasionally. Wtf, Andrew Davies! You are so much better than this! Your experience and Austen lovers could have done without a gratuitous sex scene. Not only was it uncharacteristic in a work claiming to be based on an Austen, but it was jarring with the melodrama of the rest of the episode and quite clumsy in it’s execution. It took me completely off guard and tbh, it was fucking gross.

Here that? It’s poor Jane Austen, spinning in her grave...

Georgiana is restored to the bosom of her cold hearted guardian. Or is he? Finally, a Austenian trope! Thank fuck! Misunderstood asshole who can be capable of compassion and clearing an unworthy gentleman’s debts with his wealth to make the heroine realise he is not a complete dickhead? Can you guess which Austen hero I‘m referring to?

A manly heart to heart is in order. This is a scene that would never be in an Austen as Jane never wrote a scene that she herself could not have experienced, but I’ll let that go if it means Sidney won’t stay a twat...

Oh dear Lord, Charlotte doubts herself because she feels she has disappointed Sidney. Heroine doubts her previous harsh judgement of the hero is so Austen, I both cheered and groaned. Yay Austen! Nay Charlotte having a bad opinion of her own instincts which have been written to appear to come out of her perceived sheltered lifestyle and naivety. On the one hand, she is written as knowing nothing much about real life and needs firm handling to avoid becoming a complete idiot, and yet she is also written to understand architecture and shows clear headedness when old Stringer breaks his leg. I’m having trouble with this pendulum swinging here!

Dear God, why is Charlotte’s hair all scruffy like that? Why is it still not UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was rooting for Otis and Georgiana, but Otis proved himself kind of a douchebag. Georgiana realises that Otis is spouting bullshit when he says he only boasted of her beautiful soul to the gambling fucker, when in reality he had been dangling her and her fortune to appease a creditor. He seems sincere when he apologises though and it’s clear he does love her. But he wants to have his cake and eat it, so Georgiana out...

Oooh, that total sweetheart Babbington just showed up! I have to keep reminding myself that he isn’t Grenn from Got looking fit af in his regency gear. Rawr...

Why in the actual fuck is Charlotte refusing invitation to a London masquerade ball? Who does that? Sidney obviously expects her to be cheered right up by this and damn it, I do to! Georgiana is back safe and sound (almost) and Sanditon is about to be saved by the Regatta! She doesn’t feel sociable!? Her being sad by Sidney’s apparent bad opinion of her? Fuck that shit! Have some fucking self respect and get out there! A girl’s first visit to London on a mission (albeit in less than fun circumstances), friend is saved and you are invited to a big ass masquerade ball and you say no because of a man’s opinion?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Sidney spouts crap about underestimating her while looking sheepishly adorable and Charlotte agrees to go to the ball. Knew she wanted to really... But I don’t get Sidney’s sudden change of heart about Charlotte and as for underestimating her, what for? She bollocksed up everything, except for guessing that Georgiana was still held in London so they didn’t need to go off on a wild goose chase to Gretna Green. The episode up until that second has been Sidney treating her like she is a child who has made things unnecessarily difficult and not worthy of respect or a kind word. I don’t buy this. Sorry.

The ball!!!!!!!!

Poor Tom! No one gives a shit about the Regatta at the ball and one man even throws Tom’s card on the floor! Rude. Oh well, at least he looks da bomb in his burgundy silk ensemble.

Charlotte’s disappointed in the ball and wants to leave?!?!?!? Disappointed!?!?!? In a London ball! She’s only been there for five minutes and hasn’t done the obligatory sexually charged dance in a fabulous dress with the brooding hero yet! I know she is upset that they have left Georgiana at home and that’s fine, it shows that she has sensibilities and compassion for a friend, but come on! 

Why is she asking Sidney’s opinion to leave? Why is she putting herself down? Yes, Sidney’s behaviour has definitely led her to believe that she is too headstrong and opinionated, but I don’t think she’s too much. The way she has been written up until this episode has been what has made her interesting. Austen heroine’s do go through this in the last third of the story though.

Oh, now he thinks those things are cute. No wonder Charlotte is confused. I am.

Why in holy fuck is Charlotte telling absolutely everything to a total stranger?!?! I get that it is a human thing to want to pour out your heart and problems to someone who can take a step back and see things from a different perspective, but Austen heroine’s keep their fucking counsel! Also, in the time period at that level of society, spilling your secrets to a stranger opens everyone involved up to potential scandal. Good fucking God. This is not even reality at this point!

Charlotte in love with Sidney? Surely not Queen Susan. It’s glaring that Charlotte does love Sidney at this point. Treat them mean, make them fall in love with you, I guess.

Ooooh, the smoulder! Fuck, it’s even working on me!

Jesus Christ, this dance has everything. Not taking their soft eyes off of each others, gradually getting more intense as the dance goes on. Tender brushings of hands. The waltz with his head bent to hers with while being a bit too close for proprieties sake. The way they move in perfect harmony in a way that has not been in evidence in their interactions before. Lingering touches when they have to part in the dance. Taut sexual tension dripping from every step. Both suddenly grinning their arses off when the dance gets faster. The slow-mo shot showing them falling deeper into love. Ending the dance in extreme reluctance as it means they cannot be close in front of everyone anymore while looking stunned by their feelings. Divine! 

Uh oh. Enter old flame. Why did you have to spoil it Andrew?

I know that’s Theo’s actual real life wife, but there was no chemistry that I could see. I could go and get my binoculars. Eliza Campion, I know you won’t prevail, but please step it up for the next episode cos you haven’t convinced me yet.

Charlotte is happy and glowing with her new found awakening. I hope it will last. Of course not...

If you have managed to read to the end of this, well done! I certainly wouldn’t have! As you can see, most of this post has dealt with my feelings of incredulity at the way this episode has turned out. Don’t get me wrong, I really do like Sanditon, but Sunday’s episode has left me shaking my head in confusion. Andrew Davies work has always been top notch, but I wonder if the absence of full original source material has left him unable to write the fully realised characters of the Austen novels that we have come to expect. But injecting melodrama and bizarre about turns in terms of characters and their characterisation while introducing unnecessary scenes (you know the one I mean) has left this episode severely disjointed for me.

[serenagaywaterford]

1) Hey, it's me again. The idiot rambling anon. I wasn't gonna spam you again, but then I read your responses. At this point, I'm convinced you're my alter ego, lol. My thoughts are all over the place, but I'll try to organize them. So, about Nick. I've purposely avoided talking about him so far, but why the hell not? Let me make one thing clear: I'm NOT of of those thirsty fangirls. But even if I was? I wouldn't get offended or butthurt, because another person likes different fictional

2) characters (of all things) than me. I mean, big fucking deal. Each to their own, no need for apologies. ;) (My tone is a little aggressive, I know, but I’m sick and tired of some people on social media –in and out of fandoms– acting holier-than-thou and sending hate messages and even actual death threats (!) to creators or people that express unpopular opinions*. It’s reached a point where many people feel the need to put disclaimers in their posts so as not to be attacked.)

3) Back to Nick. I liked him just fine back in early S1, when he was all mysterious and his background story was unknown to us. When we did learn about it and the fandom started acting like he’s that pure, handsome angel uwu? Nah. Obviously, he’s no Fred/Serena/Lydia,but he’s not a “cinnamon roll” either. (Imo, the only decent dude on that show is Luke.) I mean, if Nick was SO altruistic, he wouldn’t have joined this job. Or even after everything went down, he could have tried to help other

4) handmaids without expecting anything in return. But no, he only helps June and that’s because he’s in love with her. I’m not blaming him for trying to survive under such circumstances, but I won’t idolize him either. Now, in s2? I’m kinda neutral about him. I don’t hate him, but I can’t say that I’m a fan either. Not gonna lie, he bores me at times, because he’s just… there. No sparks, no fireworks. Not sure if it’s the writing that doesn’t do the actor any favors, but his acting hasn’t

5) really drawn me in yet. A counterexample to this? Aunt Lydia. Her personality is despicable 98% of the time and yet. Dowd’s captivating performance makes me want to know so much more about her character.) On the other hand, I’m glad that June has someone (besides Rita) to back her up in that hellhole. She needs comfort and allies. But the whole ‘tRu Love 5eva" fanon thing? No, thanks. Not only it doesn’t fit the tone of the series, but I also believe that sharing an intense, forbidden love/

6) during such a shitstorm is not the same thing as keeping it alive after all is said and done (post-Gilead). Maybe they’ll stay together (as long as Nick doesn’t die), maybe they’ll fall apart. I can’t really see June romantically reconnecting with Luke either. After everything she’s been through… She’s a completely different person now. Unfortunately, the same things goes for Emily and her wife. Even though I’d love to see her interact with both her wife and her child in S3.

———

My inbox is so beautiful right now! Never, ever call yourself an idiot, my friend. (If you are, then so am I!) Brain twins, you see.

(Also sorry about this being out of order lol.)

I was trying not to talk about him too cos generally I just … I prefer not to think about him much. The fangirls, just, *sigh*. I try to avoid as much as possible in this fandom, esp on tumblr. Just hang out in my quiet little, not-Serena-hating corner. I always feel a need to put disclaimers these days cos as much as I don’t really care about random hate, I’d prefer not to have to deal with dogpiles or to look at it lmao. Like people can go around just hating on any character here–especially if they’re women–but say one critical (not even hateful) thing about their male fav and things just go off. 

I’m more than aware the majority of people don’t like Serena and think she’s the worst thing ever. And fair play! (I get it… cos I’m not delusional. She’s awful.) Each to their own. I don’t go around bitching at people who say shitty things or stuff I don’t agree with, or blocking anybody who doesn’t like her. (There are a few posts I do engage with cos normally they seem like they want to go deeper in The Discourse but most Serena/Lydia/Eden/Janine/June-hate I just ignore.)

ITA. S1 was, like, okay. That’s Nick. What’s he up to? What’s his deal? (I don’t really care but I’m not opposed to him either. Just like I didn’t care about Luke’s backstory/escape.) He’s trying to be good to June and she needs that.When we did learn his backstory I was not pleased cos he seemed like a twerp but whatevs. Grey characters are grey. It wasn’t until S2 that I started to get irked by him (and the hypocrisy of his fans but that’s a whole other issue). 

I can’t agree ANY more with your assessment of Nick. Like that’s EXACTLY what I’ve been saying! Firstly, he was RIGHT THERE when the Handmaid/Ceremony thing was first suggested and was like “Oh, yeah, great idea!” to Fred. I get that perhaps he was pressured to go along to keep his job but that’s a stretch imo, and if you can give him that sort of leeway, why can’t characters like Eden, Serena, Lydia and June get the same benefit of the doubt for certain things? Why is Nick’s pressure to keep his job more important and forgivable than anybody else’s pressures? It’s like that entire scene doesn’t exist to fangirls and Nick is so precious and in love and wonderful. Then there’s the rape of June. Like I know it’s pretty controversial to look at it that way, but that first time, with Serena overseeing it like a fucking creepy pimp (YUUUUUUCCCKKKKK I HATE IT THANKS) was rape. June barely knew the guy and I’m pretty sure if she wanted to have sex with him it wouldn’t be like that! And sure, after that, it was totally consensual but that first time was not. And I’ve heard the justification and excuses of “Well, Nick didn’t have a choice either!” which I call bullshit on, cos Nick is not some powerless delivery boy. 

He’s a fucking Guardian who is tight with the top Commanders. He’s a man, if nothing else. Serena can act all high and mighty but she’s still a woman in a highly misogynistic society. I’m not convinced Fred would take his wife’s word over Nick’s tbh, especially if it was like “Dude, your crazy wife asked me to fuck the Handmaid you’re obsessed with”. If he really didn’t want to do it that badly, he could have taken that chance to report Serena. Even if Fred wanted to keep it hush hush away from other Commanders, he would have gone after Serena. Men are far more likely to turn on women than each other, esp in THT. But that’s just my take. Maybe I am missing something about Nick’s status. To me, it was like double rape. Neither of them wanted to do it, like that anyway. But Nick also did fuck all to stop it when IMO he did have some power to do something. He is not a helpless victim in that society, imo. Again, probably not a well-received opinion. 

Don’t even get me started on his “Poor me!” routine in S2 when June tells him to have sex with Eden. I’m glad she called him on that bullshit. (But again, over the fangirls heads. Enough about them!)

Basically, everything Nick has done wrong isn’t his choice; he’s just a victim. In a story about women, Nick’s victimhood at the hands of these nasty women and men is the real issue. Blah. Whatever.

I just find Nick lacks total self-awareness about being part of the shitty ass system. He kind of just floats around thinking nothing is his fault and he’s blameless for it all, and he certainly can’t seem to see it from anyone’s perspective except his own. He’s upset about Fred & June’s Jezebel trips, not for her own safety or well-being but mainly he’s jealous. Of course he’s concerned about her safety but I believe it takes a backseat to his jealousy. He just seems to never take any responsibility for anything.

And BINGO about the previous Handmaid. Nothing we’ve been shown has given any hint he cares about any other woman’s plight in Gilead other than June, and only cares about her cos he had a crush/fucked her/is in wuv wiv her. Basically, she’s HIS so suddenly he cares about her. Look how fast he dumped that Martha as soon as he got brooding about June. He’s done fuckall for anybody except himself and that alone makes me dislike him. He’s no better than Fred in that way for me. But where Fred can occasionally be an interesting villain, cos Fiennes is nasty good, I find the actor who plays Nick just… not engaging. And he’s not SUPPOSED to be a villain! He’s meant to be a good guy! It’s crazy. He’s not compelling, he’s not interesting. He’s bland. He’s not even good looking, lol. I was watching with a friend once and mention I thought Fred was way better looking than Nick and she just stared at me and said, “You shouldn’t say that. But me too.” So, count me in the camp that just does not get the appeal of the character OR the actor.

I don’t hate Nick generally. I am just totally indifferent to his existence. If he left the show tomorrow, I’d shrug and probably be a little glad I don’t have to see that bland moping anymore. If he stays, oh well. Shrug. And I just don’t want his and June’s star-crossed romance shoved down my throat. It’s so… I dunno. I’m not opposed to June finding solace and hope but making it some beautiful forbidden romance, I’m not buying it. Like you said, it’s all well and good in Gilead–but it doesn’t strike me as something that can be sustainable outside it. To borrow from you last time: It’s the Handmaid’s Tale, not The Guardian + the Handmaid’s Tale.

Okay, enough about that pipsqueak. I don’t even like talking about him, tbh. He’s not worth it when there’s so much else going on.

ITA about Luke/June too. I feel like the level of disconnection and trauma that they’ve sustained, especially June, they can try to reconnect but it’s pretty difficult and I think especially with June having a sexual/romantic relationship with Nick pulls that really tight. It’s just two different planets they live on now. I don’t doubt that she still loves Luke, but actually reforming the relationship they previously had seems like an impossible task considering everything both of them have been through. It’s sad, but … sadly true for many people. Relationships can fall apart for far less.

And on the same page about Emily/Sylvia too. She is just soooooo fucking broken, and hopeless, that if they have them just rekindle with no issues, it’ll be bad writing. (I dunno if you see spoilers but there’s one about them.) She needs therapy so much more than a cutesy feelgood storyline.

Back to Lydia: Exactly! There’s a character we know very little about and who is a horrible person, yet the performance by Dowd makes almost everyone go, “TELL ME MORE!” With Nick, it’s the opposite for me. I’m just like, “Please, less of this.”

[the-interpersonal-is-political]

Sometimes people “admit” to being evil because they’re good people with shitty self-esteem.

There’s been posts going round for a while about how if someone says they’re good at manipulating people / lying / persuading people with charm, then they are probably not actually very good at manipulating people - because if they were good at it then they’d keep it secret. Also they are probably horrible people who think manipulating people is cool and edgy. So you shouldn’t be afraid of them manipulating you, but you should stay away from them because they are terrible.

This is really intensely frustrating to me because, well - I’m charming, sometimes. I’m not going to say that I have Amazing Social Skills Level 9000, because also sometimes I embarrass myself and sometimes I rub people the wrong way and sometimes I get in stupid fights for no reason.

But sometimes I walk into a party and within half an hour, half of the people there are gathered around my armchair listening raptly to me answer people’s questions about stuff I keep trying to clarify I know nothing about. Sometimes I gather a group together for a roleplaying club or a workshop or something and they accidentally become my fan club, start calling themselves my cult semi-jokingly, and offer to run errands for me. Sometimes I meet someone and flirt with them, and within a day they’re buying me expensive jewellery, within a week they’re madly in love with me and within a month they’re offering to pay my bills.

This is a whole mixture of different things. Some of them are morally neutral, like being pretty. Some of them are arguably questionable, like being good at knowing how to ask for things or being confident/arrogant. Some of them are prosocial, like being good at structuring problems and making things clear, so that people end up wanting to listen to me because they will learn useful things from it. Some of them are clearly morally positive, like how I enjoy doing nice things for people and making them happy, and if they want to do nice things in return then that’s bonus points I guess but not the point.

But there’s definitely a trend, among some people (cough it’s the same group of people who fall for geek social fallacy cough), toward only seeing the bad parts. People who talk a lot about “status” and “popular cliques” and etc don’t really look at the part of the model where perhaps people like me because I do good things for them; their model is that it’s just this unfair thing that happens because I’m pretty. And there are also people, and writers, and groups, which see this kind of thing as inherently creepy. If people automatically like you, it’s because you’re somehow mind-controlling them with your witchcrafty ~social power~. There’s occasionally a really icky misogynist bent to this stuff - if you’re a girl and people like you, it’s because you’re manipulating them with your ~sly feminine wiles~.

So you end up with people like me, who are really fucking unsure how to feel about the whole business! On the one hand, I’m proud that I do good things for people and that people appreciate them. On the other hand, I have a whole bunch of anxiety about how maybe I have evil social witchcraft powers. People offer me nice things, and half of me goes “yes that sounds wonderful” and the other half goes “oh god, I did it again, didn’t I? I evilly manipulated me into offering me nice things! I’m so sorry for whatever I did that persuaded you to think I deserve nice things!”

I am working on developing a much healthier way of thinking about this. To the extent possible, I am scrubbing my mind and memories and internet feeds of the “status/popularity = social skills = manipulation and deceit = evil witchcraft” type of ideas and posts and memes. They are Banned From Entering My Brain. I am avoiding interacting with people who have other kinds of unhealthy ways of thinking about this stuff, like lashing out at socially confident people on a “what if they’re dangerous manipulators!!!!1111!!11!” basis. I am doing my best to avoid a binary where either social skills have to be Just About Being Nice So If You’re Against Them It’s Because You’re Mean or social skills have to be Deeply Manipulative And Inherently A Barrier To Truthseeking.

But I’m fairly far along, at this point, in the whole “developing a healthier way of thinking about this” thing. I’m certainly much better off than I was a year ago. A year ago I was in a fairly shitty state.

The fairly shitty state I was in looked a bit like:

I noticed that people often liked me, even though I felt like I didn’t deserve it.

People were helping me get out of my shitty abusive situation with my parents, but I was still in the stage of “but what if I wasn’t really abused? my parents said I was just crying for attention, what if they were right? isn’t it normal to hit your kid and threaten them and destroy their possessions?” and so I had a whole bunch of anxiety about whether I was manipulating people into helping me. Plus I was a rare girl in a lot of male-dominated groups, with a bunch of internalised misogyny that manifested in weird ways, like getting it into my head that I could never be well-liked the way that boys are well-liked but perhaps I could use my feminine wiles to seduce everyone.

People trying to compliment me told me that I was pretty and a good writer and that I gave nice hugs, and I internalised that and felt good about myself and decided it would be a trait of mine that I could be proud of, but then I encountered all of the “social status is actually manipulative and it’s very bad to be persuasive because it’s anti-truthseeking” memes and that threw me into a whole bunch of self doubt.

So I went around telling people that I was manipulative and they couldn’t trust me. Because I fucking believed it! Because people did nice things for me, and I didn’t know why and I certainly didn’t deserve it, so surely they must have been doing the nice things for me because I evilly tricked them into it.

I wrote shitty call-outs for myself about how terribly manipulative and deceitful and persuasive I was because I felt like people needed to be warned in advance, like, “just so you know, I’m pretty, and that might bias you into liking me even though you shouldn’t like me, so... be on your guard!”

You can say that I shouldn’t have been vain enough to believe that I’m actually charming enough to magically make people like me, but it’s not like people won’t accuse you of it if you don’t already believe it about yourself. (Someone you dislike is more popular than you? Say that everyone’s biased towards them due to their manipulative social skills! It’s a fucking classic in nerd communities, especially used against women, because we’re used to being low-status and banding together against the popular cliques who think we’re uncool for liking Star Wars.)

I mean, it’s true that I have never actually been very good at manipulating people, and that if I were good at manipulating people then I wouldn’t go around TELLING everyone about that. But that was sort of the point; I was trying to nerf myself, to make sure that I couldn’t accidentally manipulate people by giving them advance warning.

I’m so done with “when people tell you what they are, believe them” type rhetoric. Sometimes people go around warning everyone about their terrible bad traits because they have scrupulosity issues, or anxiety, or terrible self-esteem. If someone tells you they’re a piece of shit, sometimes the correct response is to accept that and avoid that person, but often the better response is - hey, who told you that about yourself? You’re not a piece of shit. You deserve better. I know enough about you to decide for myself whether I like you, and you don’t need to shout about all of your bad traits because you don’t think I ought to like you. How can I help you deal with the issues that are making you feel that way?

[tgwltw]

A little push

Hi! Thank you for sending in this prompt! Sorry if it took me a while to get to it. Have been busy and I am also on a Peter Parker mood right now. That aside, this was fun to write to be honest and I might even attempt to turn this in to an actual drabble/imagine series: the bodyguard!au. I have always wanted to do something like that. Anyways, hope you enjoy this and thank you! Fair warning, it is a little bit short.

Truthfully, taking on this very particular job had initially been something Jason had not really wanted to do but dragged in to because Roy is always jumping in at any opportunities to bring their team some more recognition and money. It’s not like they were short on cash anyways but Jason being the best friend he is, simply lets Roy drag him in to it.

The first time Jason had met you, it was not love at first sight or anything. It went something along the lines of ‘I’m Jason and this is Roy – we are your security team’. His initial impression on you had been a little bit of a mix between amazed and in awe. Amazed because with how shitty your previous security team had been prior to you taking in their team, you had managed to survive, what with the amount of threats you receive on your person and blooming business.

That amazement, over the months, have grown in to something like a crush (or more than a crush as Roy would love to tease him). Jason never really expected you to be someone that can actually make him laugh with your witty jokes and you are also surprisingly down to earth too. Jason used to think that he has his crush under controlled but apparently not.

The moment he hears you scream out loud, Jason drops whatever he is doing – thankful that as your private security team, Roy and him have their own rooms in your mansion – and rushes to your room, getting his guns out as he busts in to your office, breaking the door only to find Roy holding a broom and you are currently standing on top of your chair looking absolutely terrified.

“What the fuck?” Jason puts away one of his guns because he still isn’t sure what the problem is and he steps in to the room. “Roy, why are you holding that broom?” He eyes his friend before turning to look at you.

“Jay,” Your voice is shaky and Jason can see your face looking very pale too and Jason narrows his eyes at Roy. “There’s a freaking rat in this office.”

Jason immediately heads for Roy and he pulls Roy towards him, causing Roy to quickly throw the broom to you. You clumsily hold on to it. “What did you do!” He hisses in Roy’s ears.

Roy glances over his shoulder and look back at Jason. “You wouldn’t do anything about your crush on Y/N so I’m doing something only I didn’t expect her to actually scream that loud or that she is highly afraid of a rat!” He hisses back to Jason and Jason rolls his eyes.

“Harper, you little shit.” Jason punches Roy on the shoulder before turning to look at you. He pads over to you and pull the broom from your hand. “Come on, Y/N. Let’s get you to somewhere safer while Roy and I try to get the rat.” Jason tries to coax you off of the chair.

“I doubt I can move from this chair – my legs are shaking.” You look down at your own knees and Jason has to agree that while it is true that your knees are shaking from fear, it is also adorable to see this version of you too. The fact that you are able to hold yourself against old men who think they are the best as well as misogynistic men but cower at the sight of rats just makes you all the more appealing to Jason.

Jason then decides to simply fuck it so he wraps his arms around you, pulling you to him. You let out a squeal from the sudden movement and Jason gently carries you out of the room, making sure not to forget to give Roy the stink eye. Roy’s response had only been to flip him off and mouthing ‘go get her, tiger’ and Jason makes sure to bring you as far from your office as he possibly can without putting you in a weak spot.

“Y/N, I’m going to skin Roy for letting that happen to you.” Jason frowns as he sets you down on the sofa. You let out a small laugh before shaking your head. Now that you are far away from the rat, you are starting to feel a little bit better and it really is a relief. You absolutely hate rats and you can’t really explain just how much you do not like them at all.

“What do you mean?” You ask him, confused as to why he would want to skin his friend.

Jason shakes his head. “We’ll make sure there are no more rats in your office so for the mean time, you can stay here first.” He explains to you, already thinking of several ways where he can scold Roy for even attempting to do something like this just because of his crush.

You give Jason a small smile before nodding your head. “Alright, my knight in shining armor, go ahead and get the rat.” You usher him away and Jason resists the urge to roll his eyes and laugh instead. “I will make myself absolutely comfortable here.”

Jason nods his head. He makes a move to walk away but then pauses before turning to look back at you. You tilt your head to the side, blinking a couple of times at him. Jason shakes his head and gives you a small salute before making his way back to the office. 

Maybe once this whole thing is done, Jason might even ask you out on a date. There wasn’t anything in the rules that said he can’t date you once he stops being the head of your security team.

[easyobsession]

DWTS24 Cast Announcement and why Simone Biles won’t win.

Do you feel it? The anticipation, the desire, the lust for shirtless foreign men mixed with the scent of sweat dripping on hardwood?

YOU’RE GODDAMN RIGHT YOU DO. BECAUSE IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER SEASON OF OUR FAVORITE SHOW WE LOVE TO RIP APART SINCE THIS IS OUR VERSION OF THE GODDAMN NFL.

IT’S TIME FOR MY RECAP OF THE DWTS SEASON 24 CAST ANNOUNCEMENT. BASK IN MY DISPLAY OF EXCITEMENT VIA CAPS LOCK. HERE WE GO, KIDS.

The Guys

BONNOR BOLTON with pro partner SHARNA BURGESS:

To start us off, like a large portion of the cast this season, especially the males, I have no clue who this person is. Apparently he’s a bull rider and model? Because those two things are commonly associated with each other… Anyway, he looks 12 but apparently is almost thirty. Now, if you remember back to season 8, rodeo cowboy Ty Murray (ex-hubbie of singer Jewel, though they were still married at the time) managed to get to fourth place with Chelsie Hightower. Now I won’t take anything away from Ty, but the competition wasn’t incredibly stiff that year outside of the top 3. That being said, it is possible this Bonnor guy (raise your hand if you’ve ever heard that name before. Me either) could turn out to be the next James Hinchcliffe and shock us all (shoutout to James. We love and adore and miss the hell out of you and Shar. #GetMarried). But I doubt it. My expectations are low. Moving on.

RASHAD JENNINGS with pro partner EMMA SLATER:

Please welcome the latest inductee into the Pro Athletes I’ve Never Heard Of Because They Are In Fact Athletes Club! His bio says he’s a running back in the NFL. Wasn’t Tim Riggins a running back on Friday Night Lights? GO RIGGINS! (Shoutout to everyone in Dillon, Texas. #TexasForever) …That’s it for my football knowledge. But congrats to Emma for getting a partner that isn’t old enough to be her grandfather and is actually in good physical shape. He won’t win, but he sure as hell won’t be as bad as her usual partners. Yahoo!

CHRIS KATTAN with pro partner WITNEY CARSON:

I’m never upset to see Witters. I missed her on the tour. This guy’s turn on SNL was before my time, so I’m 0/3 thus far. I’m gonna make a guess based on physique and just first glance (because I wouldn’t be the Lo you all love if I wasn’t a judgmental asshole) and say he’s gonna suck and be out early. Sorry Wit. Enjoy your time with the troupe.

DAVID ROSS with pro partner LINDSAY ARNOLD:

Again, I’m always happy to see Lindsay. We’re up to 0/5 for my recognition of the males of season 24, and we have our second inductee into the season 24 IDK Athletes Club. My knowledge of baseball is limited to the new FOX show Pitch (watch it. Fall in love with it. Obsess with me and my friendys in the #bawson tag. And yes, that is Mark Paul Gosselaar from Saved By The Bell. Zack Morris is a sexy motherfucker with that beard. #ShamelessPlug) but he seems like a nice guy. Horray for the MLB finally getting someone on the show. Or really, I’m sorry to the MLB for finally getting someone on the show. Moving forward.

MR. T with pro partner KYM HERJAVEC:

I KNOW THIS ONE! YOU GUYS, I KNOW WHO THIS ONE IS. And Kym is using her married name! (BTW, sidenote, I’ve started watching SharkTank and now adore Robert. Just sharing #Sharkaroo) Anyway, I think we all know how this is going to turn out. Lord help us. And I’m already sick of hearing that catchphrase.

NICK VIALL with pro partner PETA MURGATROYD:

Sigh. Yes, I know this one too. First of all, let me say welcome back Peta. We’ve missed you and couldn’t be happier to see you back on our screens. However, I’d rather see her with damn near anyone else but this guy. Am I watching this season of the Bachelor? Hell no, and Nick is the reason why. I didn’t watch his seasons of The Bachelorette- I actually have only seen a handful of seasons, but I’m aware of what’s gone on. And I’m opposed to him being the Bachelor for two reasons: #1. It should’ve been Luke. And #2. He’s a dick. Go ahead and try to convince me otherwise. I’m waiting. He won’t be great, and hopefully he won’t be around long. Sorry Nick, yet again you’ll be sent home with only your hand to console you. BUH-BYE NOW.

The Girls

SIMONE BILES with pro partner SASHA FARBER:

Another sigh. Am I excited she’s on the cast? Yes. Will she do well? Pointless to even answer. Am I excited to see the routines she does and how epic her partnership with Sasha will be? Of course. But I’m 95% sure she won’t win and here’s why: it’s also why I’m upset she’s on this season: they can’t and won’t have two identical winners directly next to each other. Simone isn’t even just a gymnast like Laurie, she was literally on the same team and is damn near a carbon copy. Is that a bad thing in life? Hell no. She’s tiny, adorable, and too precious for planet Earth. Make no mistake, I’m in love with the girl. But Simone winning would be almost an exact repeat of last season, which I do not think TPTB (sorry, I mean “the public voters” O.O) will allow. This is why when directly after the Olympics Simone said she couldn’t do the fall season of the show because of other commitments but would love to do the spring season, I was concerned when they announced Laurie. It’s like when Riker Lynch competed and his sister Rydel (shoutout to R5 for being fucking rockstars. Also, #TeamRallison you are missed) said she’s wanted to do the show for a long time, I said even if her schedule worked out it would have to be several seasons before she competed because having siblings back to back is too similar. So really it’s unfair to Simone and unfair to Sasha as well that she’s competing this season, because it’s an almost guarantee she won’t win despite the fact that we know she’ll be one of the best on the floor. Will she make it to the finale? Of course. But I sincerely doubt she has a real shot at getting the mirrorball.

CHARO with pro partner KEO MOTSEPE:

Okay. I get it. With a lot of the male vets being gone, it makes sense that Keo would get another shot as a pro. Plus, in this scenario whether or not he’s a great teacher doesn’t really matter. Do I know who this woman is? Yes. And…I don’t think I need or want to say much more. Godspeed.

ERIKA JAYNE with pro partner GLEB SAVCHENKO:

The Housewives is actually one of the few reality shows I don’t watch, primarily because I simply don’t have the time. So I have no clue who this woman is. I have a feeling she’ll be similar to Kim Zolciak, who I also did not know during her run in season 21 but quickly fell in love with and still follow on social media to this day. So who knows? I’m open to it and wish her well.

NANCY KERRIGAN with pro partner ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV:

Nope. Don’t know her either. But I remember when poor Dorothy Hamill, another former Olympic skater, back in season 16 was tragically forced to drop out of the competition in week 2 due to injury. Dorothy’s first performance was epic though, and she and Nancy seem somewhat similar in build, so… perhaps this could work well. If nothing else, we know the Olympians know how to train. Again, I wish her luck. Let’s see how this goes.

NORMANI KORDEI with pro partner VAL CHMERKOVSKIY:

I will be honest: of all the members of Fifth Harmony, Normani is not my favorite. She’s actually 4/5 for me, and yes, I still count Camilla. But I’m open to new things. She seems cool. And just because she isn’t my favorite member of Fifth Harmony doesn’t mean I don’t like her, she’s just not my fave. I’m excited to get to know and love her. I think she’ll be great. I look forward to seeing her partnership with Val. I’m good with this.

HEATHER MORRIS with pro partner MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY:

OH MY HELL KIDS, HERE WE GODDAMN GO. “Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?” “Whenever I pray, I fall asleep.” “Mr. Schue, is he your son?” “When I pulled my hamstring I went to a misogynist.” “It’s a male duck.” “I’m pretty sure my cat’s been reading my diary.” “She’s the one they made me talk to when they found out I was keeping that bird in my locker.” IT’S BRITTANY MOTHERFUCKING S. PIERCE. Yes she toured as a dancer with Beyoncѐ. Yes she knows how to not just dance, but slay. Is it fair? Probably not. Do I care? Find my fucks, I dare you. This is my girl, this is my pick, this is it. The end. I’m sorry Simone, honestly I am and I wish to hell you weren’t in such a shitty position, but this is my One. Mic drop. I’m done.

The Troupe and Missing Pros

Again, sorry to see Mark absent, but he’s moved on and seems happy so good for him. I’ll miss Allison like hell and wish both her and Jenna well in whatever they’re doing next and hope to see them return at some point. Meanwhile, I’m popping bottles and toasting because #MANTISLESS24. Make it trend! Watch me work! PS- welcome to the newbies in the troupe. Mama’s spikin’ her Dr. Pepper tonight. YES INDEED!

Predictions

EARLY EXIT/THANKS BUT NO THANKS: Charo, Chris, Mr. T, and possibly Bonnor (he could go middle and surprise us).

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD/AT LEAST YOU TRIED: Nick, possibly David, Nancy, Rashad, possibly Erika (she could go lower. We’ll see if she’s more Nene or Kim).

GOING ALL THE WAY/LOVE ON TOP OF THE LEADERBOARD: Normani, Simone, Heather. Final 3, I’m calling it now. Unless they end up shocking us and letting Simone have it, I’m gonna predict Heather takes the mirrorball, Simone gets second, and Normani lands bronze. I know Amber Riley won back in season 17 and Heather winning would be the second Glee star to win, but I don’t think that matters as much as two Olympians from the same team winning back to back. That’s my prediction as of now.

I’ll be on vacation in DISNEY WORLD (yessir, let’s go Mickey) for the premiere but I will of course check out the routines online that night. I’m coming home Tuesday so within the next day or so I’ll watch the whole show and either write up something for this blog or toss out some tweets. Keep an eye out.

And that’s it! Season 24, it’s on. I thought for quite a while over the break that last season was season 24, so there you go. Big shock, I have no idea what’s going on. What else is new?

Feel free to join the discussion and hit me up on social media which has changed since last season- I am now @lauthom93 on Twitter and Instagram. You can also comment on this post, check out my ask box, or send me a message. I’m always down to talk. :)

You all know what time it is. Say it with me:

Until next time, love, hugs, and inappropriate gestures. <3

I love you guys to all the moons and back.

-LO.

[god-hunter]

X-Men: Gold #1

This was very good.  Maybe not quite as groundbreaking as Prime, but for a new direction, I can definitely say that Guggenheim has got it covered.

[Spoilers and thoughts]

Right off the bat, you’re not gonna like what I’m gonna say.

I was so annoyed to see that Kitty cut her hair.  Why?  What’s the point??

Less hair does not equal strength.  At this point it’s a really stupid cliched trope that nearly EVERY female character falls into and I’m kinda sick of it.  And before anyone goes off toting that I’m a misogynist prick, let it be known that I only bring this up because Kitty’s always had an iconic look with her long hair in a ponytail.  And we were JUST re-introduced to her as such in Prime.  If they really wanted to take this new direction with her look, they could’ve made a point of her doing that in the Prime issue.  They showed just about every other transitional aspect in that regard...

But anyway.  That’s a minor annoyance.

This issue starts with Kitty, Old Man Logan, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm and “Prestige” investigating an issue with Terrax right at the heart of New York City.

[...Prestige?  The name threw me off on the character re-cap page, but it’s explained later that it’s Rachel Grey, which made me feel better.  Because at first I was hoping and expecting Rachel Grey.  Then they throw a new name at us, and I got scared, because you never know with Marvel.]

So.  Terrax is terrorizing the city for reasons unknown to us.  I should’ve said that the very first thing we see before this, is someone toting Mutant Hate on the news.  Someone who seems important.  A Ms. Lydia Nance.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing and seeing that name more in this book.

But back to Terrax.  Its unexplained why or how he got there, but the action is pretty great.  Storm tornadoes him away, clashes him with a bolt, but damage was done to a nearby building, which is about to fall and crash onto another building, hurting hundreds of innocents.

Kitty makes an impressive call to have Kurt teleport her up to the top of the building, where she can phase the entire place [and presumptively its inhabitants], so that when the building crashes down to the ground, it actually goes THROUGH the building and no one is hurt.

Logan and Colossus aided in this process too.  Logan taking on Terrax in mid-air and Colosses helping to hold the building from falling, probably softening the landing.

A whole crowd of people are now outside and staring at them in fear.

“You know, if the Avengers or the Champions were here, they’d be cheering right now.” Rachel throws in her 2 cents.

Kitty addresses the crowd and asks if everyone is okay.  A little girl speaks up, and the mother immediately says, “Don’t talk to it, dear.”

I loved Kitty’s reaction.  “’It’? Really?”

Then she tells all of them, “I think the word you’re searching for is ‘Person.’  ‘Human being,’ even. If you’re feeling charitable.”  “...You’ve never exactly trusted us... and I know that to the extent you ever [had], we have a long way to go to rebuild that trust.  But we’re starting today.”

I really appreciated that.  And I love that back-sass.  Definitely missed that.

[Now... I would be remiss not to mention something shitty in the art, done by Ardian Syaf, since its all over Tumblr today.  But apparently Kitty’s head was placed very close to the word Jewelry, which kind of only looks like the word “Jew” is prominently featured.  Also the number 212 on the store seems to take significance.

[Neither are things I noticed, but this is where I will sign on to something being amiss, for real.]

In the very next scene, the X-Men are once again playing Baseball, only this time it’s at Central Park, and I’m beginning to realize that maybe this is a thing the X-Men do in their downtime after all.  So maybe there was something to that last game in Limbo after all...

But Piotr is up at bat and wearing a very strange white shirt that reads QS 5:51. I didn’t understand it at first, and Tumblr blew up about it today, mentioning that this, and the 212 and the Jew thing are all references to the Quran.  That all of this is some sort of Muslim warning or something.

[I’ll be honest.  I didn’t read the post.  I was disgusted that a Muslim Artist would do such a thing in the first place, and I just kinda... don’t need to read on any of the hate.  Marvel apparently made a public statement saying that this artist is receiving disciplinary action and that future prints of the book will not feature this at all.]  - But holy shit man.  How crafty do you have to be to get passed the editors in the first place?  That’s fucked up man.  These guys are giving you work.  Don’t be subtley passive aggressively political.  What the fuck is that???  I just want to read an X-Men comic and enjoy it.

And of all issues, it had to be the most important Restart Issue??  ...This guy’s an asshole.  And his art is good.  [I never mention artwork in reviews unless I really don’t like it.]

So...  after/during the Baseball game, some lawyer guy comes looking for Katherine Pryde, and he slams her with legal paperwork, regarding their communities relocation to Central Park.

[Logan was being really annoying here btw.  I kind of hope Guggenheim fixes his voice for Logan.]

“I signed about a Phone book’s worth when the Mayor agreed to let us relocate here.” Kitty said.  Oh good.  So they didn’t just teleport in and expect to just.. inherit the territory.

So she reads the booklet and asks what it is.

“Just an invoice.  For the first, six months’ lease payments as well as property taxes for the parcel you’re occupying.”

She frowns.  “This is for Eighteen Million Dollars.”

“This is Central Park.” He smiles.  “Arguably, the most valuable residential real estate in the entire World.”

Her eyes widen with fear and shock.  [I kind of liked this realism a lot actually.  But I have no idea how they’re gonna get that kind of money or funding.  They’re gonna have to do a really good job with the public or something.  We’ll see.]

I did enjoy Logan’s quick, “Want me to claw him?” to her.  It added much-needed levity to the moment.

That night, Storm and Nightcrawler have a nice bit of downtime.  They’re watching that asshole Lydia so-and-so taut off her mutant anti-trust.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same...” Kurt says.

Storm decides to quote Magneto and says that, “The past is prologue.”

Kurt corrects her and says that it’s Shakespeare.  Then he asks what she means.

“That, perhaps we’re returning to our roots...  Perhaps, after all the trials and tragedies, we are returning to what we were.”

“Outcasts?”

“Heroes.”

I enjoyed that.  There was a little bit of her getting down on herself about IvX.  As Lydia brings up the fact that the world is unsure of the long-term effects of their war against the Inhumans, Storm feels like they’ve not only lost the war, but they’ve lost any sort of good reputation they might have had.

It was refreshing to see Rachel train with newer students, Armor and.. a stone guy. [I forgot his name.]   She explained why she’s going by “Prestige” now, which I really appreciated.  And it seems that they will go by new code names too.  Kitty wants everyone to move forward, not backward.  That’s pretty cool.

Kitty has a moment in her office, where she’s trying to go through files and work.  Narrative moments of self-doubt or just being in awe of it all occur.  I appreciate this.  Then Piotr walks in and asks her to have dinner.  I love that she worries about this internally and then tells him that she doesn’t want to eat with him.

“I mean, as friends sure. Always. No problem.  But you didn’t mean as friends, right?”

[Yes!  Thank you.]

She tells him she moved on, but she’ll always love him.  [The difference here than with Jean and Scott, is that Piotr and her HAD their past.  Multiple times.  And they’re both adults.  Jean... just knows a past that occurred between them.  And she’s fucking young and all over him.  Then saying, not interested when Scott makes a move?  That’s bullshit man.  It’s very Teenager.  And that’s why I reacted the opposite way, when this same exact thing happened between her and scott in the last issue of All-New X-Men.]

Thankfully, this awkward moment gets interrupted by Rachel, who tells them that someone’s attacking the city.  

Kitty feels both relieved and like the worst person ever for hoping for that sort of out.

They take the Blackbird Jet over to the UN Headquarters in Manhattan, and teleport directly to whoever is causing the problem.  It turns out to be a 5-person team, in which I only recognize Pyro and Avalanche.  And a fire-woman tells them, “We’re the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.”

-To Be Continued-

Aw man.  Well, here we go.

Thrust into a new thing.

I like it.  I wouldn’t say any of the outlying conflicts are groundbreaking.  We’ve seen this kind of politics before in Fraction and Gillen’s run a lot.  Probably Bendis’ too.

I do like the newness of Kitty making a conceited effort to have the Public know and Trust them though.  And I’m definitely looking forward to a day where this public looks to the X-Men and actually asks for their help and appreciates them!

We saw it in San Francisco very early in Fraction’s run.  So much that it almost didn’t make sense at first.

I’d kind of like to see that level of respect happen in New York.  But I would appreciate if it was gradual, if Guggenheim took it in that direction.

Looking forward to X-Men: Gold #2.

But I’m looking forward to X-Men: Blue #1 more.  That’s coming out this next week.