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yourtoradorasextendedwarranty · 7 months

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You are not ACAB. You're an asshole

SO this post has been a long time coming and I have sent a rant to several people to look over it for me just so I could get opinions. And most agreed with what I had to say. However it was mean, callous, and too "I'm ok being an shithead" for my taste.

If I am being 100% honest, people hate cops just to hate cops. It's not because there are cops that do wrong. It's just because they are told to/programmed to hate cops. Ok, so why do I say that?

Well a few reasons.

For the past 40 years *minimum* it has been a point of the media to showcase any time a cop does anything bad. Because what better way to "Reach the people" than to assuage them with a "Hello fellow Americans. Doesn't it suck with cops get on our ass about stuff".

Social media has been using bait for years in order to get more traffic to more links and articles. This alone has made rage baiting as an entirety more of an issue.

Because of both of the above, there was a time when alt media *at the time* and social media worked in tandem to constantly show off instances of cops being assholes or outright doing things that were illegal.

So what does this mean. Well it means that you are under a notion that is already provided to you. "Cops are ruthless bad guys that don't do anything for anyone at all".

Except that's not even remotely true. What is true is that often, any positive stories involving cops is buried or glossed over and only ever talked about in very local reports. What's more a cops job is to do the right thing. So when a cop does do the right thing, the understanding is that they are not meant to receive praise. However, that is lopsided in how it works. It more or less means that you are under the LARGEST of microscopes, and if you fuck up at ALL, then you end up as a youtube video that reinforces that "Cops are bad guys" or "Cops are stupid and annoying". Rather than the truth which is that cops themselves are human beings.

Now. I can already see the comment from the shitheads. "ACAB EXISTS BECAUSE-" Shut it. I don't care. Unlike most of you I understand nuance. And more than that, I've had poor run-in's with cops. I have also had to work along side them as private security as well. And my mother, who's not shy about telling people they fucked up, worked as Dispatch and as a Secretary for the PD in the small city we lived in. "Oh well then your brainwashed", you can say that but it does not make you right.

Unlike you, clearly I'm able to think critically about subjects where as you are not. Am I a "Back the Blue" cultist? Absolutely not. I'm solely in the camp of Abolish Unions and hold officers to account for what they do wrong.

However, having said that, Cops duty to uphold the law sometimes manifests in ways that we don't like. Like Uvalde. The cops were in their rights to stop the shooter, but the top brass would have decimated any officer that decided to not follow his order of standing down. I don't think that's ok. Hell that entire chain of command should have faced a lawsuit. But where they DID properly enforce the law, is stopping parents from going in. Because had a parent gone by cops in order to stop the shooter, at that point, it legally could have been considered vigilantism.

Regardless of the moral implications of that, fact is, that's the truth.

So why am I making this post? Mostly because ignorant people exist in this world and their only reason for living at all is just to hate. "All cops are bastards"? Are you so sure? I wonder how many people in the US over the past 100+ years have been saved by cops. I wonder how many kids have been rescued from abuse. I wonder how many women have been saved from rape. I wonder how many kids have been save from gang violence or drug dealing.

Saying, "All cops are bastards" is no different than saying, "Yes all men". Functionally you are saying the same thing. And while you may say, "Hey that's not the same one is an immutable trait and the other is a job", to which I'll say, sure. Except you are making a gross generalization. Which IS the same. And ignores every single decent, good, great cop that exists out there. And every single good cop that has ever existed.

In my last post talking about this, I stated that people that are ACAB don't really hate cops. They just hate that they can't break the law without consequences. And I still believe that, but let me add a bit of nuance to that.

Most of the people that hate cops are programmed to hate cops. Because, like the media does, it picks something that will engage you, and will put it in front of you any way it knows how to. There are also a lot of people out there that hate cops because they can't break the law. That's also very true.

However there is another group that exists and it's Anarchists. Now, I have followers and people that I follow that are Anarchists. And while I view them as different from Tankies, Fundamentally they share the same, "Ideal Utopia" idea. Which is that, "Under my ideals, the world would be better". Except it won't be. It will be warlords and dictators forming groups. Assuming that we don't get taken over by Islamic Extremists, China, or the UN. Their ideals aside, they hate "The State" in all it's forms. And if you are fine with any form of "State" they will quite literally go off on a tirade of why you are a bootlicker. *Sigh*

Now, the last of these groups is just people that either 1) Do not understand what goes into being a cop and just hates them based on baseless notions, or 2) People that have had bad run-in's with cops and take that notion out on ALL cops.

So for these last two sets, things are difficult to deal with. Because they will go out of their way often to not care about how hard it is to be a cop. What do I mean?

Well for starters, cops are expected to be perfect at all times.

Perfect Aim

Perfect knowledge of all laws both federal and local

Perfect judgement at all times

Perfect execution of force at all times

Perfect response at all times

Perfect awareness of surroundings at all times

Perfect ability to listen to the law but also not piss off people breaking the law

And I could go on. Humans are fundamentally imperfect. They always will be. So expecting a cop to be perfect is like asking your SO where they want to eat every day for a month and them knowing right away. Unless you're a LIAR it's not going to happen. Same such, cops can't be perfect. Combine that with having to both uphold the law AND be sure to follow the law at the same time, then combine that with the dangers of the job, the fact that human beings are ANIMALS that are violent by nature, and unpredictable on top of which, with use of force laws. And yeah. You don't have a good time. It becomes a huge issue of people that are like, "Why didn't just just tase him?" or "Why didn't you just shot the gun out of his hand" or better yet, "He only had a knife and was threatening to kill someone. Why'd did you have to shoot him, you are not judge jury and executioner."

And that's where you are both right and wrong.

Right in the fact that they are not a Jury. Wrong about the fact that they are not acting in their capacity to judge a situation, and execute those that are too great a risk to subdue. And if you ever talk to a person that does MMA, subduing a person is not as easy as you think. More over, Tasers are not considered, "non-lethal". In a lot of cases they are considered lethal because you are delivering a shock, meant to incapacitate someone. Meaning that you have the risk of permanently injuring them, OR killing them if their heart stops. Hell you could also in theory turn them into a vegetable.

But sadly no one considers all of these things. And only people familiar with cops and how their jobs work, know any of this.

Am I justifying bad, or even evil cops with this post? No. I think cops fundamentally need more training. I also think that they need frequent psychological evaluations to see the effect of the work on them. Because some of the things you see in your capacity as an officer can be gruesome. Dead bodies. People that have been mutilated. Dead kids from drugs or gang shootings. And the list goes on and on and on.

Recently I made a post talking about how since the summer of 2020, there have been less good cops. And fact is, because of the 2020 riots, a lot of good cops did quit their jobs. That's a fact. Many actually put in for early retirement. And not because "They were being held to account". No. It was because they were told, "If you do your job, we will riot outside your station. Firebomb your cars and homes, and we will find a way to railroad you into prison".

So what do we see in NY and LA? Car break ins. Looting. Beatings in the streets. Cops that will literally stand down while people are being hurt. Why? Because why the hell would anyone be a cop when you are under a microscope SO LARGE, that even the SMALLEST twitch in the wrong direction could end your career and possibly your life.

It's easy to say, "Yeah I'd stop those looters and assaulters". Sure. Right up until the are a protected class. Then enjoy your media crucifixion, loss of work and likely stint in jail. As well as your family getting death threats for years to come. So given all this, I made a point that a lot of hires over the last 3 years have probably been scraping the bottom of the barrel. Because in truth, knowing all the above, why WOULD anyone be a cop? Certainly there are still good cops. But a lot of the good ones quit.

What's more, Now a days it's better as a cop to just NOT enforce the law. Because why risk everything I mentioned. You protect the law and you make the conservatives happy but piss off the woke. And the woke currently more or less control law and media. Good luck getting shanked in jail. If you don't uphold the law, you piss off people who want you to enforce it but you probably get to live another day.

At that point you may say, "OK so why be a cop at all then", and the answer is easy. It's a job. And it pays. Why excel at all when you are expected to be a bastion of perfection? What's that? Didn't use the PERFECT amount of force? Death Penalty. Oh? You shot a guy that pulled a gun on you and you didn't just take the shots to the chest? Well clearly you deserve to be put in jail for the rest of your life.

Cops are treated like they are supposed to be absolutely perfect at all times and it's stupid. I HATE police unions mind you. But you know what I hate more. People that have no idea the risk to their lives that cops are put through day to day just for putting on the badge. The fact that cops NEED wiggle room within the law in order to enforce it.

Remember "Hands up don't shoot"? Yeah. So do I. I also remember that it was a fucking lie, and that there are people to this day that still believe that lie. And if not for Police Unions, he might have rotted in jail for the rest of his life. There is no PEFECT in this life. Not for cops, not for anyone. Cops are not superheroes. They don't swing in on a web shooter and punch the bad guy JUST hard enough to knock him out without killing him. And with morality as fucked up as it is in the west, even just in the US, Law enforcement is in a no win situation. At all times.

But I want to find every person that has ever been saved by cops, and force you to tell those people that all cops are bad. And tell them about how whatever they were saved from doesn't matter because "ALL cops are bad". Tell the women that were possibly saved from rape, "You should have just been raped. Cops are all evil." Or tell the kid that was saved from the person that kidnapped them, "Yeah no, you should have just been a sex slave. Cops are bastards and clearly they didn't WANT to help you". Stop making assessments about ALL of any group of people. Because the likelihood that you'll be right is near zero.

There are good cops. And there are bad cops. Police Unions need heavy reformation. Accountability needs to actually be able to happen. And people need to understand how hard cops actually have it. All of these things can be true at the same time. And none of it is justifying evil or bad cops or even ones that don't enforce the law. It's a nuanced topic. And as such, it should be treated so.

#discourse #discussion

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shihalyfie · 3 years

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@sage-striaton replied to your post:

Idk how people can say Frontier has characters that lack depth. Imo it’s a very psychological season. The whole adventure thing is aimed to making them grown in their behaviours and feelings, it’s a big metaphor of their development

I’m sorry for hijacking your response to my post to segue this into another rant of mine, but I want to emphasize that one of my goals with this blog (if I can be said to have any) is that I really, really, really want people to re-examine whether they actually believe in the rhetoric that’s been dominating this fanbase for two decades, or whether there’s more to it. This is especially in regards to the fact that we’re talking a series deliberately written in such a way that it’ll change meaning and nuance as you get older, so it can “grow up” with you in a sense, and yet it seems like -- especially in regards to Adventure through Frontier, due to their position as the oldest series that the majority of the fanbase was elementary or preteen age during -- people are still regurgitating the same rehashed twenty-year-old ideas like they’re undeniable law. It’s one thing if they’re saying it because the series didn’t sit well with them the first time and they don’t want to watch it again, but we’re reaching a recurring problem where it’s sort of “brainwashing” even people who don’t actually believe it but feel compelled to go along with it, or wouldn’t feel that way if it weren’t for peer pressure. Obviously, there are dissenting opinions, and ones that are even very loud about that, but that pressure remains.

The mainstream opinion in the fanbase is that Adventure is untouchable and impervious to any criticism, 02 is its inferior sequel with half-baked characters, Tamers is an auteur work that’s the “deepest” of the original tetralogy due to being dark, and Frontier is devoid of much substance at all. Even those who don’t really believe in this will still be pressured to go alongside it, those who like 02 or Frontier will be pressured to consider it a “guilty pleasure”, and it’s only very recently when certain events revealed that the idea of 02 actually having quite its own fervent and passionate fanbase that likes it on its own merits became properly recognized. (I have actually noticed a huge uptick in 02 fans, especially casual ones, being more shameless in talking about liking it in the last two years; you’re still going to get the obnoxious person “reminding” you how bad it apparently is if you bring it up, but it’s not nearly as prevalent as it used to be.) I’m not talking about whether something is a “good” or “bad” series -- that concept doesn’t really exist to me as much as whether it’s “to one’s tastes” or not, and I think one of the joys of this franchise is that it has things that cater to people with vastly different preferences -- as much as a lot of potential for analysis and intimate thought about these very fascinating series. Even if 02 and Frontier were as shallow or half-baked as they were accused of, I wouldn’t think it’d be shameful to like them for one’s own reasons anyway, but what frustrates me is that I just don’t think that’s true in the first place!!

Not helping is that there’s still a refusal among the fanbase to admit that there were substantial differences in American English dubbing (especially in regards to Adventure and 02), which I don’t mean as a bad thing in the sense that some people prefer to stick only with that dub and consider that version what they want to work with, but in the sense that the treatment of them as “the same thing” has been horribly detrimental when two people, one coming from that dub and one coming from the Japanese version (or a dub more closely based on it), will end up often having an argument doomed to go nowhere because they were never talking about the same thing to begin with. Recently, a friend admitted to me that although they’d switched to the Japanese version a long time ago, they still couldn’t get the image of Daisuke and Takeru having an inherently hostile relationship (they don’t) out of their head due to the influence of that dub, and although they consciously knew better -- at least enough to admit this to me -- it wasn’t helped by the fact that the fanbase itself continues to reinforce this image because of how normalized it is to treat the dub version and the Japanese version as “virtually the same” and for Western fanbase discourse to assume you should be projecting those takes into the Japanese version. If you’re hanging out in English-speaking circles but are working from the Japanese version or a dub directly based off of it, you do actually have to filter out a lot of takes you’re hearing because they won’t actually apply to the version you’re watching, but not a lot of people realize this.

All four of Adventure through Frontier share tons of key staff, especially Seki, known for her focus on wanting the kids in the audience to be able to empathize with and relate to the characters on screen. All four share some of the best character work I’ve seen not only in this franchise, but also in kids’ media in general, and I also stress that a lot of this has a ton of nuance that isn’t always apparent unless you read between the lines. I do understand that a lot of this probably went over our heads as kids, and I won’t say that the choice to execute it this way should be impervious to criticism, but nevertheless, I think it’s important to call attention to the fact it is there, and much of it becomes recognizable once you see it that way; for instance, so much of "it's contradictory character writing!" comes from the fact that the series tries to represent humans in their inconsistent, messy ways, and while it'll feel "messy" from a writing trope perspective, when you think about it as "since this person has this mentality, does it make sense to approach this with this mindset?", suddenly it becomes very consistent. The supposedly “shallow” 02 and Frontier characters will act in ways that match existing psychological profiles meant for actual humans to terrifying degrees, in ways that you might actually recognize even better once you’ve hit adulthood and start intimately understanding things like depression or anxiety in ways you might not have before. Shockingly, “having heart, important themes, and kindness towards the human condition” are completely valid reasons to uplift a creative work in ways distinct from technical writing or cerebrality or how many tropes they subvert or whatever.

On the flip side, people praise Adventure and Tamers for being the naturally “superior” works with better writing, but when it comes to talking about why the writing is supposedly better, a good chunk of the reasons stated don’t actually explain anything substantial, or go back to actually being passive-aggressive dunks on the other series in some form -- it’s because 02 and Frontier’s character writing sucks that badly, or because Adventure had the “best plot” (which may be true if by “best” you mean “easiest to understand”, but that doesn’t mean much to someone who might not be very happy about how its story progression is just a boss rush), or because Tamers is the “deepest” when by “deep” they actually mean “cerebral, dark, and unsubtle about it” without any further meaning (as if Adventure and 02 were idealistic series that never went into anything nuanced and not, say, the fact they went very viciously deep into societal issues between parents and children, psychological horror, and intimate takes on the human condition). I’m personally saying this as someone who does think Adventure and Tamers have a lot to praise in terms of their approaches to realism and the unique aspects each bring to the table, and I feel that people like this are doing them more of a disservice by not bothering to uplift them for any reason that isn’t actually just inherently condescending. I mean, even taking this outside of the original tetralogy for a bit, when I was plugging Appmon earlier, there’s a reason I focused more on its theme and character writing and the use of “dark” writing to convey its sheer range, rather than trying to boil it down to a shallow “it looks cheery but gets really messed up later!”, which is unfortunately an argument I’ve been seeing about it lately.

In the end, when I write my meta, I write it "making a case" for my point of view, and I welcome others to disagree, but if you disagree, I really hope it'll be because you personally disagree, and not because the entire fanbase has been saying otherwise for twenty years and I sound like a radical. I’m not saying that everyone’s consensus takes are completely unfounded, but frankly speaking, this fanbase has some really bad takes, and in the past few years I’ve found it freeing to not only “say what you feel without worrying what others think”, but actually go out of my way to outright try and purge all the preconceived notions and pick only the ones I agree with because I actually agree with them. I encourage you to do it too! And if you do, you might find things about something you like that you didn’t realize before.

#digimon #shiha's ask box #sage-striaton #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon tamers #digimon frontier #shihameta

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psychemeanscure · 4 years

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PART 9

“Did you really expect me to let you drive by my watch? I don’t trust you, move.”

As he expected indeed. He was supposed to protest even, if he only hasn’t sense her stern look as if she’s going to bait him alive thus he had no choice but to snort and just move from the driver seat to the passenger side. “Tss. I can’t understand you really. Most woman would rather go crazy if a man offers a gentleman act. Then there is you who’s totally opposite. Are you sure you were from this earth? Don’t you think you were actually from different planet, because I do think you a--- hmp! Hey! What’s wrong with you, woman?”

His prompt halt from his rants for he has been hit by a tossed pack of wet wipes, only to be answered casually of his bulldozer. “Wipe that stain of blood on your knuckles, it creeps me out even a while ago. Tss. Do you really randomly punch someone that even mornings aren’t acceptable? Poor day.”

Her nonchalant blusters surely after closing the small compartment in front of him, putting her phone from her coat’s pocket. While he in the other hand only had to groan unpleased, urging to follow her instructions anyway. “Now what a word to say welcome. You do love tossing things on my face eh? I can’t even tell if I had to say thank you or rant with your behavior. Jeez, I can’t understand woman really.”

Unbothered anyhow, as she starts the engine instead and clasp the steering wheel. “So? Where are we heading, then?” getting a swift coy expression from him somehow like he himself is as well excited from his own idea for he encodes the exact location on its car’s installed GPS navigation device in no time. “There you are. Feel free to process anything. I can wait though.” Truly she should, as she even has to blink twice, eyeing between the device and the man who is looking at her with an elbow leaning to its car’s door panel to be able to rub his playful smirk by his forefinger. Expectant brows, waiting for her obvious positive answer. “What? You, in?”

Finally, the snickering laugh she keep on holding vent into actions. “God! I can’t believe I am actually biting this idea of yours Jang Taeyoung.” Her unbelievable approval from herself truly that another laugh had to come into her again. “Fine. But just one thing, Jang. No shed of blood. please?”

Contemplating from the thought but solve it in a way. “Hm?... I can’t promise though. But since you say so. Then noted, my lady.”

“Thank you.” Trusting his words definitely, as she steps on the pedal to finally start their drive ultimately.

“Now wha--- Oh sh--- Yah!”

Her supposed to be question the moment they arrive from the location, only to be startled totally that she almost jumps onto her seat. For she certainly not notices the Jang Taeyoung beside her casually putting a peculiar mask she never expected. Given his intention to actually lean purposely straight close to her face with his intimidating aura. Who wouldn’t be surprise indeed. Opposite to now laughing him, that a frown came into her seemingly. “Stop laughing you, cabrón.” Just to hear his proceeding faded laugh anyway. “Sorry. My bad. Did I frighten you?”

That she had to only look him with piercing eyes. “What do you think, loco?” Garnering another laugh from him then. “Shut up.” Her stern warning finally, thus he decides to bring back his composure. “Hoo. Alright. This is hell of enough indeed.” As he tends to fix his silver crystal-like mask by the rear view mirror of the car, that later made her cringe somehow. “Do you really have to wear that one? Weird.” Her criticizing statement definitely, only to earn a smirk from him.

“You think you were the only one who has a disguise? Mind you my lady, I have mine too.”

And it was enough for her to stilled. Not because of his fancy mask, nor the content of his remark. It’s because she is seeing a different Jang Taeyoung. A different voice she never knew existed. A face that could make anyone stutter. He is that one, the one who is right now. Sensing her astonishment someway, he retaliates another remark certainly. “Surprise? Nah, my volatile. Save that for later, for we have work to be done. Though you just have to sit here and relax. Alright?”

“It’s show time.”

By the moment his watch strike with another tick, and a chew of his freshly open bubblegum. He finally went open its car’s door, winking at her for the last time. “Watch me.” His last sentence as well, closing the door, leaving the still tongue-tied her who just had to watch his every move from afar.

That’s what she did anyway, except for the fact that she’s still in processing things from her thoughts. Just later to notice his selected men who actually came for nowhere with mask on as well different from him though. “So he planned it all along? Look this peccable man, really. Tss.”

She doesn’t want to admit, but she does enjoy the little rebellious act he gave truly. That at every stumble and fall of the kiddo’s men makes her heart boil in rejoice. The way they smoothly ruin the things inside the warehouse and as how the shuttering expression of the young Alcaziar is nothing but achievement.

“Oh ow.” Yet, just how she thought it went smoothly as she can see less men from the enemy. For it’s actually the other way around after learning there’s still tons of them coming. Then she decided. “Guess, a little contribution might help.” She starts without a doubt definitely.

“Get in.” her firm suggestion indeed, the moment she roll down the backseat window by the driver side window switch. Turning to him who swiftly jumps inside it expertly, taking off his mask surely after another roll up of the window.

“Faster, Sung Eunyoung.”

His straight request later after taking its glances to the rear glass. Allowing a sinister laugh to subdue. “Catch morons, catch! As if you can.” Proceeded with another laugh again, enjoying every show he started through the presence of his chewing gum. While she in the other hand, manage to drive every alley of narrow streets she can seize. She’s loving it as well. Given police cars tried to chase them as well as the enemy’s drive. And it only increases the wonderful excitement of emotions inside her that she can’t even help but to squeal from their blasting overdrive. “Wohow! I’m loving this very much! Really~”

“Want to make the live action more pleasurable?”

He even succeeded offering his own sunnies that she gladly accepted as well. “Truly.” And with the last puff from a random engine…

“Bang yah!”

His urging eagerness and her screeching cheering surely vent into unison. Appearing clasp by each other’s hand from the menacing fun they just surpassed.

“That was fun.”

Her flowing satisfaction from just finished fuss indeed. After a clink of each other’s canned beer while siting the nightly overview of Han River. “Loving my present?”

“Very.”

“Guess we did click as business partners after all, eh?” Her approving words after a sip of her beer somehow. “Really? I’m even close on hiring you as my drifting partner even. You do have a knack for escaping. I like it. Would you allow me though?”

A shake from her head takes in, while he starts to sip with his own beer as well. “Shut it, Jang Taeyoung. I will never. Thanks anyway.”

“There you are with your rejection again. Tss. I’m sure you had done it before either.” He decides to sit on the trunk of the car near the rear window at that point making them a bit close since she was leaning to the backseat car door as well. Remembering a certain event somehow. “Well. Kind off. I once help Lee Chanwoo when his MCMC nightclub had been jeopardized. But the coño just complained about me bumping his car with another. Jeez.”

As she rests her left hand under her right elbow, sipping another taste of her beer. Yet, a simple nuance that made him praise her again. Savoring the once in a while moment where they were just randomly talking about things.

“Wah… It’s been a long time since I talk with this classy, you, huh? I realize I missed it.”

An arching brow give in to her surely. “Eh? What are you talking about, I’m always classy you, lo---“

“Without insulting me. Yes, you do still classy.” Guilty indeed, but not quite as she remembers the reason why. “What is this? Am I to be blame now? It’s your fault anyway. If not, you being a troublemaker and sl---“

“Sly fox? Fine, I admit. I am that person. But hey! I only act like that with you though.”

His defense indeed, just to be responded by a rolling of her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. As if I care, mister. Care to share your first happenings with that knuckles instead?” her abrupt shift of topic somehow, after seeing his now band-aided hand, that he knew what she meant. The encounter before their prompt live action started. The one he chose not to be heard by her. “Ah… This? Nah. Not so important. No need for your concern.”

“Concern in your dreams, loco. Tss.”

Thus a nonchalant laugh came into him. He does love teasing her, really. “Oh come on, love. Don’t deny… I know you d---“

“Another word of that love of yours, Jang Taeyoung. And am I going to choke you for real.”

Threatening him finally, as she had been keeping that rant all throughout the day. But what can she expect for a sly like him either. “Ah. Is that so? Mi amor it is, then.”

“Yah. You’re not listening, are you?”

Ready to throw her empty can surely, if he still insists. “What? It was you who suggested that. It seems to be your liking. Don’t you remember?” He did exactly so. Not her disappointed by how he swiftly dodges it as soon as he gets off on the trunk, running and laughing by her gloomy face. “Come back here! You, loco!”

There she ends up chasing him without a doubt. If not for his assistant’s arrival to junk the car they had just used. They wouldn’t stop rather. “Take care of it, alright?” Tossing the key of it indeed, before turning to her who was halt from stepping into the passenger seat of another car they intended to drive. “Before I forgot.” Purposely stopping his words to leaning closer to her. “You look stunning back there.”

She sure not following what he meant by his whisper. The only thing she knew right then, was that he’s starting with his tactics on her again that she had to shake her head from the obvious. “Whatever, Jang Taeyoung.” And with his last coy smile, he finally closes the car door for her. And just how he simply got the chance to drive her home again.

“Thank you for today, Jang. I sincerely am.”

Her overwhelming gratitude that he gradually welcomes even. Little not knowing, that it could probably also the last day they’ll be in sync.

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vr2 · 4 years

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haha anyways genshin must be on some wild fucking shit if they think theyre gonna try and drag out their main story for like 2 years. on god having like half a year between main chapters of its already weak spindly little story is like mindboggling decision i do not trust your storytelling skills at all to make any of the hype worth it but i also think thanks to the general playerbases inability to read they will continually feel disappointment at how poor genshins main story content is and how it is purveyed to the reader especially in comparison to the lore which is completely jarring in quality of delivery.

in the archon quest at the end of liyue chapter you get a lore dump from zhongli where he just stands there and gives you like 3 quest prompts about shit that exists for no reason other than idk “they needed to put the plot threads in there asap and they forgot they had an entire world to do it in” and then that mf disappears. forever. literally exiled from the overworld unless you pay like ninety quid to summon him on his banner. not to mention every single other npc you meet will never appear again outside of their instanced quests. it’s such a weird jarring end point that you’re left stranded in and its not only a frustratingly awkward delivery, it honestly just seems pointless. why couldn’t there have been an extended epilogue that involves talking to the npc character FROM inazuma, talking to beidou who is a pirate with an electro vision about idk ... travel and her ELECTRO vision being granted which is a feat she in known for in the lore of liyue folk. it could even be someone from the qixing like ningguang who surely would know about the status of foreign nations or keqing who has an electro vision and would absolutely have something to say about baal’s stance on things and her condescension towards humans. god it could still even be zhongli just space it out, let him invite us to dinner and chat over liyue cuisine and let inazuma come up naturally thgouh paimons huge appetite to eat new things. not only would the pacing be better, the plot threads be put in a way where you dont immediately forget them because they’re being rapidfire talked at you, but it would be a great way to make the character seem like theyre people with lives and not just trying to move the plot along and be on their way.

conversely, the story of arundolyn and rostam, the legends of mondstadt and the ordo favonius, the lion and the wolf, the building hints towards the cataclysm of khaenri’ah and what kind of nation earned the scorn of the gods -- its all slowly fed to you piece by piece linked through artifacts, world lore, in-game books, weapons and sometimes the world itself. you uncover things as you explore and the more thoroughly you explore - the more you discover! it’s rewarding, it feels natural and its some of the most fun you have piecing together stories and building out this strange world like some kinda anime historian and it encourages theorycrafting rather than a concrete set of events and characters being straightforward. its genuinely interesting that theres a whole society and cast of characters from the days of yore who are intimately connected with our current cast and the world we live in but also very much their own interesting characters who hold their own legacies and wills, carving them into the stars for ill or good.

its almost as if the main quest writers and the lore writers are completely separate, work on different floors and they dont ever meet because why ... why on earth would you deliver critical parts of the main story in such a blatantly poor way and make it have none of the nuance and intrigue as the worldbuilding? in a game that is designed for the express purpose of making people sympathetic and invested with characters to spend silly money on them? you think your paper thin story is going to let you do that? no gacha game is allowed to have storytelling subpar to the most average middle of the pack lightnovel and get away with being a gacha game. your story has to have at least a few moments where i am dazzled, daresay fucking delighted, at least a second where i have to stop and say ‘this is cool as hell’ or ‘FUCK ITS HAPPENING’ or else it is well and truly expendably worthless non-product! you have to be a little more ambitious than making some normie shit and try and make the story have a little heart! i dont doubt that they can do it, im sure there are talented writers there since i like a lot of the characterisations but man, let em free you need them no more than ever

the only thing i can think of that explains how watered down the story feels in comparison to lore, is a fear of making people ‘read too much’ in the main quests which honestly doesnt seem to be much of an issue to them. lanternrite wasnt that long but the sheer amount of npc dialogue feels staggering because its all ultimately ... inconsequential. we have no investment into these npcs and theres like 15 odd quests of it, it goes from cool world flavour text to genuinely feels like its taking up space all because they are trying to endear you to the lives of these generic npcs when you’d rather know like even one thing about chongyuns life and daily routine or xinyans performances. being able to see kaeya for one second even was the most fun and even then i was still disappointed cause its like bro? you didnt even let him do anything and it was JUST him? in the world there are so many characters explicitly referenced but never utilised and it makes their complete absence even more noticeable and frankly fucking baffling? not even fate episodes for all of our 12 SRs? actually nevermind, even the character stories are somehow unforgivably generic!

honestly i feel like the best event so far was the unreconciled stars event but by my standards it definitely felt like ‘solid gacha game event story’ with a touch of something more interesting with the inclusion of scaramouche’s lore insight. i was hoping this his how events would be in genshin, i really thought that this was the ‘standard’ but for some reason, its beginning to seem like that event was a bit of an outlier? i would gladly take less events and have them be more like the unreconciled stars event, with character interactions and slowly improving and hashing out who these characters are over never-ending carousel of random events that are mostly fetch-quests or fluff.

idk man its just a strange mess of me enjoying genshins world and theorycrafting, loving playing the game and exploring but feeling like the ball is not bein dropped but violently slammed into the ground by the sheer lack of character content whilst being praised by everyone under the sun for ‘story’ and ‘characters’. m*hoyo do better bitch! you already made such a good roster of characters now fuckin do something with them! stop releasing new characters without bothering with any of the existing ones! i beg of you!

#damn you ren #if i like anything in any capacity i immediately have to criticize it sfhajshfsa ITS JUST HOW IT IS .......#the adding characters to gacha but not even utilising them in story is my LEAST favourite thing a gacha game can do #gacha games are ALREADY on thin ice for the sole reason they are gacha games but man genshin really thinks they can get away with that?#im not somebody who cares too much about spending money on gacha games but genshins system is completely unrewarding even for 'early' gacha #the fact that like half the characters DO NOT EVEN HAVE STORY QUESTS? NOT EVEN LIKE AMBERS SHITTY GLIDING TUTORIAL???????????#u rly think i am going to play 3 years of current genshin for khaenriah chapter? do u think you are fgo!?#i also gate that fgo made the lostbelt release schedule like that because EVERYONE ELSE thinks its cool to copy them #completely misunderstanding that i am here for kinoko nasus wacky adventures and no other gacha game should get funny ideas #its the normies for me that make me feel insane. sir this game is incredibly fucking stingy please dont pretend #i do not care to see people try and defend multimillion dollar corporation m*hoyos gacha practices #esp with the whole zhongli and constellation shit like .... if this game did not have its world it would be dead in the water #renshin impact

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ramblingguy54 · 5 years

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Louie & Della:The Tragedy Of Emotional Separation...

Wow, Timephoon certainly went in the direction I was expecting in a number of areas, but its execution genuinely surprised me with how controlled and focused Louie’s anger was toward Della’s “hypocrisy” when she verbally dressed him down for disrupting time itself, by stealing a time machine without realizing the severe consequences of what he’d done or greatly endangering the lives of all his family, basically. Like, I knew Louie would call her out, but the subtlety was beautifully tragic on display here. Goes to show how deeply conflicted Louie is at her for not lashing out severely, but the icy anger in his eyes when Della grounded him really hit me hard. Not to mention, she permanently shut down his business that he’s highly passionate about trying to make a reality, which no doubt easily pissed him off enough to throw a dagger back at her in spiteful attitude.

Before I continue any further, allow me to address the massive red flag that this was going to happen. Beakly called out Della’s flawed parenting style at this episode’s introduction of letting her kids do whatever they please because she believes them all to be sincere, sweet, and honest individuals, like how she and Donald were raised by Scrooge, overall. However, that’s an extremely naive mindset that Beakly civilly criticizes her on, a good couple of times, before things finally get too much for them to handle anymore with the time stream being a total colossal mess. Della, to an extent, is living in a day dream of her’s, where she thinks that parenting is so simple for her kids, but doesn’t realize just how troubled they actually are, yet. Especially for this poor green boy of her’s.

Beakly, you gotta let kids, be kids. Don’t sweat the small stuff!

Is this your parenting strategy or things you read off a bumper sticker?

As things escalate further and further, Della realizes Beakly was on point about toughening up her act as a parent having decided enough is enough, seeing how bad things have gotten at this worst case scenario they’re now in. Everyone is getting teleported to different time periods separately, along with danger everywhere in whats supposed to be their household, a safe haven.

Everything that she had been dreaming about returning to for the past ten years was now being put into danger of being hurt or worse, permanently killed if it escalated to a higher level. Knowing the possibility of it being Louie maybe, no doubt, gave her so much anxiety and stress to boot at the very notion that one of her kids wasn’t an honest/upstanding individual. Something that every parent or future one fears for their child’s future in general around our world.

Where’s your brother?

Where’s Louie!?

Della’s worst nightmares are right in front her now. The culprit behind screwing up everything potentially in her life is standing right there, caught red handed. Who almost could’ve ruined everything she worked so hard to get back into her life again.

Her own son...

Louie!

Della isn’t just mad. She’s beyond furious at Louie and herself, for not seeing the signs earlier that her child was up to no good, which could’ve made her lose the family she was separated from years back, on that fateful night of The Spear Of Selene tragedy. There’s no getting around the heavy consequences of Louie’s actions. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, for it was time for Della to do, like what Donald does, best in raising the kids. Give him the ultimate punishment, by taking away the source of this big problem, Louie Incorporated.

Absolutely adore the focus they gave on Della’s eyes here in the knight suit, as she clearly doesn’t like how hard she’s about to be on Louie, but knows there’s no other choice. Louie screwed up way worse than other attempts at getting rich before. It’s pretty dark, but the reality of it is Louie could’ve indirectly wiped away his family due to screwing around with the complicated laws of time travel. A simple family hug of symbolic forgiveness would only undermine the severity of Louie’s actions, period. Time travel, as shown in Last Christmas, is a dangerous power to mess with. You don’t fuck with it, ever.

I watched your brothers’ blink outta existence because you wanted a short cut to riches!

You took off in that contraption without thinking about the consequences or the people you would hurt!

Let’s take a moment to put ourselves in Louie’s shoes here. While, yes, Della’s obviously 100% right, Louie has always wanted his company to become a an actual thing. To see it taken away so quickly, by the person who you felt abandoned not only this family, but your own emotional needs, scarring you deeply? Yeah, he’s beyond pissed at her in this scene for, in his perspective, having the gull to act high and mighty when she’s no better, as far as Louie’s concerned. Look at all that conflicting anger on this poor kid’s face. He feels like everything is being crushed by someone, who wasn’t there for him and now decides to fire back in the most controlled bitter fashion Louie can possibly give Della Duck. All it takes is one simple line. It’s subtle, effective, and crushes me every time when I’m re-watching it for reference, as I type out this long, detailed, post of mine. Louie, I see so much of myself in you for how often I bottled my emotions up in my childhood, leading to deeply venomous remarks toward others, who don’t deserve it in the long run. I’m trying my damn hardest to fight back from getting teary eyed right now. The mature nuance of this scene is just that brilliant...

I wonder who I got that from...?

You see this face...? That’s the face of all Della’s PTSD, depression, and regrets coming back to haunt her mind in this very moment from her own kid she fought tooth and nail to get home to. Louie saw from “all the angles” to hurt her deeply, choosing this one phrase to crush her, as his own payback for hurting him.

Your little scheme to bypass the present almost cost us our future. This all stops now!

You are grounded! No schemes, no treasures, and Louie Incorporated is done. Understand!?

Frank, can I just say how much this heartbreaking, subtle, and nuanced episode means to me? Like, Christ, I can see so much of my emotional issues in Louie’s characterization here. It’s eerie, but also powerfully resonating on many layers for me. Timephoon gets nothing from me, but high praise. No one deserves to be spoiled on this powerful first part, kicking off more angst to come. I need to lay down and stare at the ceiling because it’s really got me thinking about my own childhood baggage. I’m truly at a loss for words currently.

This story was a masterpiece for Louie’s troubled emotional state.

#dt spoilers #the angst is very real #congrats frank you've left me speechless and i love you for it #ducktales timephoon!#ducktales spoilers #louie duck #della duck #timephoon #welp that did a number on me #that was powerful af

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ngame989 · 5 years

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Starco Fic Recs

Disclaimer: This list is largely curated to my own personal preferences (minimal feelings angst, minimal AUs, character development >>> plot) and has a fairly high bar for quality in characterization, etc. There will likely be many popular/beloved fics that I really don’t think highly of at all and therefore don’t make the cut. Feel free to DM me things you think I should consider adding, but I make no promises.

And of course I’d be flattered if you gave my own works a chance - stop by my About Me section for links! Thus far I’m particularly proud of the post-canon series I just started in collaboration with an awesome team, The Greatest Gift.

(Updated 9/26 - I decided to redo the list since people might appreciate seeing it in the tags again. To anyone whose own work is featured here that I haven’t personally responded to - I’m a tough critic with a lot of strong personal preferences so PLEASE do not take my gripes as condemnations of your skills - if they make the list at all, I think they’re worth a read!)

See below for the very thorough list!

Bolded titles indicate must-read.

Italicized titles indicate work is incomplete (in the case of continuous stories).

Asterisks indicate new additions from last update (3 for brand new, 1 for status update).

I’ve VERY loosely organized the categories by personal priority order this time around, but read the descriptions and decide for yourself!

Must-Reads

Forevermore - A Starco wedding story (with a bit of Jantom as well). Simply one of the best fics I’ve read in the fandom. I have no meaningful criticism to give it, and that’s the highest praise I can possibly give something.

Monarchs of Mewni (+ Traditionally Lovingly Yours) - A series of chronologically disconnected oneshots set years after the show. The backstory is very dated given how long ago it started (Jarco was kinda serious for a few years, Tomstar v2 never happened, etc) but overall it’s lovely. Has a bit of plot, a bit of Jantom, a lot of other character interactions, and a boatload of Starco - plus a Starco kid who is a decently developed character but also doesn’t just take over and crowd out Star and Marco themselves! That alone deserves merit.

Ruined - Aftermath of a hypothetical return of Monster Arm. Angst with a happy ending (and one of the few angsty fics that gets my seal of approval), so read this extra early if that’s more your schtick than mine.

study buddies - Y’know what, fuck it, I’m putting this here. It’s a short ball of Starco fluff but it’s one of the sweetest and fluffiest fluffballs I’ve seen in a long time and it’s very emotionally immersive and y’all needa read it.

*When Two Worlds Collide - One of my favorite postcanon series thus far. I admit I’m really not big on “magic returns!” plots in postcanon (which this has), and the sections that focus on that are hit or miss for me, but overall it has some of the funnest and cutest characterization and gags I’ve seen in any SVTFOE fic, ever. Absolutely worth following (and it has a fair amount of art to go along with it!)

***Star Chef - Oneshot (two chapters, so twoshot technically?) set in the same universe as Starlight Justiciar (see below) and is just a day in the life of Star and Marco. Goes absolutely above and beyond at emotional immersion and little nuances and details to bring the world and characters to life, which elevates it to something special to me.

Light of the Sun and Stars - (Promoted to Must-Read!) One of the few heavily divergent AU fics I care for. Marco is an orphan raised by monsters, and meets Star after running away. Just finished its “first season” and I've loved the recent chapters, am very excited to see where it goes.

*Don’t You Let Me Go - Wonderfully fluffy post-Cleaved Starco, one of my favorite oneshot “epilogues”.

i want to tell you (but i don’t know how) - Post season 3 fic detailing the growth of Star and Marco’s relationship. It’s spectacular writing and shows off a lot of the true depth of Starco beyond just being cute.

Adult - NSFW warning, non-explicit (aged-up characters). It’s a story about the journey towards Star and Marco’s first step into adulthood together - it’s not graphic and way more focused on the emotions involved, but it still is definitely more explicit than your average FFnet rated-T fic. If sexual themes ain’t your thing, I totally respect that, but this is a charming and funny piece of writing.

Lawchan’s various oneshots - There isn’t a great compilation for them right now so the best I can do is give you her tag for it and you can comb through it yourself. I like some more than others here, but they’re all very well-written - my only gripes with some of them are my own tastes in subject matter, so have fun perusing this on your own.

I Will Always Be There For You - A really pure and wholesome Starco oneshot. Very well-written.

Post-Canon Series to Follow

I figured with the show being over, and so many people starting their own series, I should include a lot of them here even if I’m personally not the biggest fan just to help gather them up so people can decide for themselves. Little bit looser on judgment here.

*Life on Earthni A to Z - Non-chronological postcanon slice of life oneshots, Starco and some Globclipsa and Jantom. Overall really good so far, one of my favorites in terms of direction.

*When Dimensions Cleave (sequel - Unforgettable Getaway) - Another postcanon series hellbent on bringing back magic queen lore, but it has some solid Starco fluff still. Credit where it’s due, the “Star constantly freaking out over what a horrible person she was” bit that I called preachy in the prior rec post gets somewhat less preachy and does end up actually going somewhere as part of character development, but I’m left scratching my head at how they all act sometimes. The good parts are certainly good, though, and in terms of quantity of lovey dovey Starco, it really can’t be beat (especially the sequel) and that’s worth something by itself.

We’re a Miracle - Extra adorkable postcanon fluff. Lighter on the “but ACKSHUALLY MAGIC IS BACK” stuff compared to the others, but it’s there, like almost every postcanon fic in existence.

Star vs the Sands of Time - Heavy politic/lore postcanon fic, not my fav but if that’s more your thing then great. Has some casual Starco too.

Goodbye Isn’t Forever - More POV dives into Cleaved.

Fake Proposal - Some decent jokey but cute fluff

The Stars Above - Some exploration of Earthni

New World - A bit over-the-top meta, but fun fluff

The Starlight Justiciar - Four years after canon, some social change plot stuff and some decent Starco. Not the biggest fan of some of the plot stuff but check it out for yourself!

Starco vs the Forces of Evil - Another collab fic/art thing. Fair warning, I really am not personally a huge fan of a lot of the characterization and plot decisions here (see my notes on Sign of the Moon waaaay down below) but decide for yourself, don’t let my pickiness dictate your own preferences!

Ready For The Future - Technically a oneshot (with some Starco) but sets up some Mina plot, if you’re interested in more give it a follow/review.

Worlds Together - Some Starco and exploration of Earthni.

Epilogue - Some Starco and exploration of Earthni.

***A Dark Horse - Has a few really nice lovey dovey Starco bits but also lots of superdrama with politics stuff. There’s a lot of fics here that I honestly just windowshop the scene I like for a quick fix of dopamine every now and then and skim at most otherwise, and this is one.

Revolution - end of canon AU where Moon is as anti-monster as Mina, dark as fuck. Only putting it here cuz some of y’all angstlords might like it.

Shorter Works/Oneshot Collections

I’ll Carry Your World - Big ole’ ball of wonderful Starco fluff with an important moment between them (written before end of show so a bit divergent).

***LoveIsTheStrongestKindOfMagic - Very short and basic fluff.

Starco Week 5 (Hugs Included) - Some of it is postcanon Earthni oneshots and others are from the Light of the Sun and Stars AU (see above). Great author, fun as hell writing style.

Fragile - Star worries about keeping her boyfriend Marco safe.

Complete - An older Star reflects on her past and present. Short and sweet.

Knighthood - Simple fluff piece on if Star and Marco got together after Storm the Castle.

Too Hot to Move - Star and Marco try to survive a heat wave on Earthni. Also funny fluff.

Marco Make-out Mayhem - Star really likes kissing Marco. Funny fluff.

Cleaved Together - NSFW warning, non-explicit (aged up) - Star and Marco’s first time. Very very overly focused on the whole purity/sacredness of first time thing, but still pretty cute.

Like Us - Really nice, sweet casual reflection on her life with Marco from a future Star’s POV.Toothpaste Kisses - Short fluff about its title.

A Friend’s Memento - Starco fluff with some reflection on the results of destroying magic

Plum Pie - Some goofy antics and hurt/comfort.

Not Losing You - A little dive into Marco’s POV at the end of Cleaved. Also adds a kiss.

We Belong Together - More speculative slightly angsty comfort/fluff.

Enough - A nice study of the emotions and thoughts during the last scenes of Cleaved, adds some depth to it.

Heartless - A bit of angst over magic going away with some sweet Starco comfort.

Together - Post-Cleaved Starco megafluff.

My Prince - Starco fluff set in a world where they were together before Cornonation.

Dancing with a Star - Starco fluff from alt S4.

Love in the Time of Pancakes - Written hours after my last update of the list, another little ditty based on the pancake promo.

Pancakes - Fluffy S4-promo-based little oneshot.

Hers - Hurt/comfort/confession-y fic, has some really nice moments and shows off a lot of how much they care about each other. Nice to see after such a drought.

Someone to Stay - Another hurt/comfort fic, nice and simple.

A Viola, a Violin, and a Butterfly’s Sword - some nonlinear oneshots about Starco. Some kinda weird directions gone in with the “plot” but it’s pretty good overall.

Falling - One of many, many fics from throughout the fandom’s history about Star and Marco getting together. Short and sweet.

forget about white horses & once upon a time - Drabble collection of various moments scattered throughout Star and Marco’s lives. Cute fluff.

The One Where I Thought I Lost You - Post-BFM fic where Marco realizes his feelings for Star earlier. Very wholesome.

christmases when you were mine - Established relationship fluff.

lightning in your veins, thunder in your heart - Post-season 3 established relationship fluff (slightly divergent, written before 3B).

once upon a december - Established relationship fluff.

Flags - Alternate rendition of the episode “Flags” with Starco.

Spells and Hot Chocolate - Wintry fluff.

5 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’ - Post BFM with some events in Star and Marco’s lives.

You’re My Wish Come True - This is just indulgent Starco trash. I won’t even argue for the characterization/writing quality, this is just a straight-up guilty pleasure.

Wands and Nachos - ^

The Princess and the Safe Kid - ^

A Day in the Life of Starco - ^

A very Starco Xmas - ^

Could It Be -^

All the times Star wore Marco’s hoodie - ^

Protect Me, Squire - ^

Crushed - Star and Marco both get turned down by their respective crushes and find comfort in each other.

Stay - Cuddly fluff. There’s another Stay out there which I frankly can’t stand with will-they-won’t-they melodrama out the wazoo, so don’t get confused.

Longer Series

*The Inescapable Us - Really tropey miscommunication will-they-won’t-they type of thing. Not my fav, especially now that the show is over and finished that leg of Star and Marco’s story once and for all (I’m personally WAY less interested in things that redo something canon already did). However, where it’s at now has some really good Starco moments. Fully admitted that I hella skimmed most of it until the parts I enjoyed, but And if you’re more fine with that type of thing then you’ll probably really like it, it’s well-written otherwise.

Together We Fall - Throwback S2 AU fic where Star and Marco go to the dance together instead and Toffee makes moves earlier. Gets kinda dark but has a lot of nice Starco along the way.

Safer, Sorrier - A recent rewrite of an older fic, Better Safe Than Sorry, where Star has to leave early to become queen and Marco is alone for a few months before they reunite. A very dated premise (post season 1 ish) but quite good.

Sugar and Spice - NSFW warning, non-explicit (NOT aged-up characters). In this fic, Star and Marco have gotten together after BFM, and a spell gone wrong leads to Mewberty relapses with obvious consequences. This fic has adorable Starco moments, but what I love this for above all is the other character interactions (especially Glossaryck and Star’s parents). This is probably a controversial add-on to the list, but I stick by my decision - if the subject matter isn’t your thing, then by all means avoid it.

Beyond Dimensions - Plotfic + established Starco where some ancient sorceress has to trap Star to escape and try to take over Mewni. Maybe y'all are more into plot stuff than me but the Starco that’s there is quite good regardless.

Starfall - NSFW warning, explicit (aged-up characters). Probably the most popular one to make the cut. Star and Marco are forced apart and have to find their way back together. Very old fic, lot of dated stuff here, and the narration and plot itself can get kinda questionable sometimes, but it has a lot of good Starco and some interesting plot elements that make it, in my opinion, worth a read despite a lot of flaws. A few epilogue chapters contain rather explicit sexual content, so be wary of that (and the epilogue itself after Ep 6 kinda transitions into a nextgenverse, so maybe just skip that entirely).

The Star Butterfly Effect - The sole fic on the list that is purely plot-based, with very little actual Starco development whatsoever. I can’t even really explain it, just give it a shot and see what you think; I was rather engrossed by the plot, and that’s rare for me.

The Princess and her Knight, Return of the Empire The former fic in this series is way more character-based, while the latter is very heavy plot stuff. Pretty decent character writing with some fluff. There’s a third that I honestly can’t recommend because I completely dropped it because it was just a nonstop war story.

Experimental - REALLY heavy, dark AU where Star and Marco are tortured and corrupted. It’s pretty decent.

Blood Moon Blitz - Alt BFM fic of Marco going to fight Toffee with Star. unfortunately dropped without completing, but what’s there is pretty solid.

Read at Your Own Risk…

The Sign of the Moon, The Dance of the Stars - Starts post-3A, involves the growth of Star and Marco’s relationship as they take on foes in and out of the castle and learn more about the Blood Moon. This series is rather… melodramatic, and there were some chapters and character interactions I flat out did not enjoy reading. But some people aren’t as strict on character interpretations as I am and would love such a long plot-based Starco fic, so overall I still will at least list it and let you decide for yourself. There might be a third entry in this series now, but I dropped it before then.

Photos - I hesitate to include this one here because the “Tom is a perfect angel who must sacrifice his love for Star” thing pisses me off. But just skip all that (and ignore the random “a part of me will always love Tom” line) and it’s a really nice post-s3 confession fic.

#starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #fanfic #ngame

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

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How to Do Nothing: Jenny Odell's case for resisting "The Attention Economy"

Artist and writer Jenny Odell (previously) is justifiably beloved for her pieces and installations that make us consider the economics and meanings of garbage, weird markets, and other 21st century plagues; in her first book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Odell draws on art criticism, indigenous practices, "Deep Listening," anti-capitalist theory, and psychology to make the case that the internal chaos we feel is no accident: it's the result of someone's business-model, and until we reject "productivity" in favor of contemplation and deliberation, it will only get worse.

Odell's central thesis is hard to pin down; part of her subject-matter here is that really important ideas don't neatly distill down to short, punchy summaries or slogans -- instead, they occupy a kind of irreducible, liminal complexity that has to be lived as much as discussed.

With that in mind, the broad strokes of her book are that:

* The rise of "productivity" as a measure of the quality of life is incredibly destructive, and it obliterates everything inside and outside of us that make us happy, because sleep and love and laughter and beauty are not "productive."

Odell links this to neoliberal capitalism, and the requirement that each of us be a hustling entrepreneur, which, in turn, is a way for capital to shift risk onto labor. It's a scam that moves both wealth and joy off of our balance sheets and onto the balance sheets of the super-rich.

This is very strong material, and it reminds me of the one conversation I had with David Allen, author of "Getting Things Done." Allen lamented that everyone pays close attention to the first two parts of his book (which focus on making sure that the stuff you decide to do get done) and skip over the third part (which focuses on deciding what to do).

* That doing "nothing" doesn't mean becoming a hermit: it requires more social engagement, not less

Odell builds on the idea that capitalism atomizes us and makes us stand alone and think about our relations to others in instrumental, individualistic terms; the reason social media is toxic isn't that it connects us with others, it's how it connects us with others. Doing "nothing" (that is, spending your time doing "meaningful," rather than "productive" things) requires that we find ways to genuinely interact with others.

This reminded me strongly of Patrick Ball's incredible essay on depression and suicide, and the reason that affluent white dudes are the most suicidal people in America today. Ball's thesis is that people who lack privilege must forge social relations with the people around them just to survive. If you have no money for a babysitter, you can substitute favors from friends.

"Favors from friends" are unreliable and nondeterministic, while spending cash with a sitter (or better, a service that has many interchangeable sitters) is extremely reliable. But if you keep substituting transactions for social networks, you'll eventually end up lonely and outside of any kind of social group that can form a resilient mesh for your inevitable problems: there's no one to put a hand on your shoulder, look you in the eyes, and say, "Are you all right? You seem to be in trouble."

Reading Ball's essay made me realize how much of a hermit I'd become, substituting work and transactions and "productivity" for friendship and connection, and how much of the anxiety and depression I was experiencing was the result of this isolation.

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with the people who matter to me, so that we can have offline, longer-form, important and meaningful interactions. But the commercial imperatives of social media work against that kind of socializing, because once you get together and start to have those contemplative and meaningful interactions, your social telephone starts ringing, because the algorithms that govern it notice that you're not paying attention to it anymore.

* That refusing to pay attention is an act with a long and honorable history

Odell traces the traditions of refusal from the ancient Greeks to avant-garde artists, and connects these to feminism and liberation struggles. This was fascinating context, and often very funny, and felt like something of a masterclass in understanding abstract art as well

* That cities have unique properties that make them hubs of resistance

The struggle against our reduction into productive workforce units, as opposed to thriving, contemplating, loving humans is the struggle against monoculture. Cities, with their diversity of people, backgrounds, incomes, social situations, and so on are the perfect place to resist monoculture. Places where strangers mix, like public transit, are hotbeds of resistance.

Odell also lauds "third places" here, the places that are outside the market, like libraries and parks, where your welcome is not dependent on your productive contributions, which ask nothing of you except that you be there.

And even as Odell is praising cities here, she's also working in a strong environmental message, connecting refusal to indigenous practices of attentive co-existence with the natural world, and connecting that to the complex idea of "bioregionalism," which involves identifying as a person whose place matters, whose views on the world and daily activities are influenced by the things that grow and thrive around you.

I've been around "bioregionalism" advocates for much of my life, and I admit I still struggle with some of the nuance of this idea, but Odell's connection feels right, and I really enjoyed the way she connected the beauty of cities -- which I love -- with an appreciation of, and connection to, the natural world.

* That technology isn't the problem, but rather, its economic and political context are what get us in trouble

This is the argument that puts Odell in the same group as some of my other favorite thinkers, like Leigh Phillips, Paul Mason, and Peter Frase.

Like the others, Odell doesn't argue the simple position that technology is neutral, but rather takes the position that technology's current decidedly partisan configuration is the result (and not the cause) of market ideology that demands growth, consumption and "engagement" instead of joy, meaning and peace.

It's an important point: Odell isn't telling us to stop using technology, but to use different technology in different ways.

There is so much to love about this book: Odell's discursive, interdisciplinary critique approaches an important and difficult question from many different angles, making it a chewy, provocative pleasure of a book.

But all that said, I'm looking forward to her next book. I know from my own work that what feels like irreducible complexity is often a lack of clarity. That is, just because you think you've made something as clear and simple as it can be, it doesn't mean you're right, it might just mean that you don't understand your own material well enough, and have not spent enough time trying to explain it to other people in order to learn what parts of it are important and which parts can be left to one side.

As much as I love this book, I also think that there is room to make it crisper, and some of that room will come from Odell gaining clarity as she tours with and discusses these ideas, and some of it will come from the rest of the world catching up with her -- when we started talking about online privacy, there was a lot of getting-up-to-speed that had to happen before the discussion could start. Today, the baseline of familiarity that others have with the ideas is much farther along, and so the discourse is more substantial and less about getting on the same page (this is also true of other complicated debates, including the contemporary critique of capitalism and concerns over climate change).

That's not to say that Odell has fallen into the trap of the masochistic longread ("because paying close attention to complicated ideas is a virtue, I will simply write this idea out in sprawling and undisciplined form, because the longer it is, the more virtue it has"). This book never bores. However, it does leave the reader with more feelings (which are good and important!) than clear articulation (also good and important!), and I think that Odell's continuing trailblazing will find a place where these two virtues are more in balance.

How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy [Jenny Odell/Melville House]

https://boingboing.net/2019/04/09/resisting-attention-economy.html

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bountyofbeads · 5 years

Text

What Happens When Ordinary People End Up in Trump’s Tweets https://nyti.ms/32bCiou

🍁🏈🍂🍻🍁🏈🍂🍻🍁🏈🍂🍻🍁🏈

What Happens When Ordinary People End Up in Trump’s Tweets

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER | Published Nov. 2, 2019 | New York Times | Posted November 3, 2019 |

McCALLA, Ala. — The evening of April 29 passed like many others for Ben Rawls, a fire lieutenant in Tuscaloosa: settled in the rocking chair on his porch, amid empty beer cans and mosquito-fighting candles, tweeting to an audience of dozens until he got sleepy.

“Granted I am in Alabama,” Mr. Rawls, 45, wrote around 11 p.m., after a major firefighters’ union endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr. for president, “but most of the firefighters I talk to are voting @realDonaldTrump.”

The morning of May 1, some 36 hours later, was less typical.

Mr. Rawls showered and took his daughters to school. He ignored his phone, until it yapped so insistently that he had to look. An ashbin of Twitter comments greeted him: Racist. Moron. “‘Toothless’ — that was a good one,” he recalled.

The most curious posts disputed Mr. Rawls’s very existence. Strangers accused him of being a bot. He replied to one with a video he recorded in his pickup. “Here I am,” he said to the camera. “No faking here.”

All told, it took about 12 hours for him to solve the mystery. Back in his rocking chair, he stared at a fellow Twitter user’s note of congratulations: Mr. Rawls had been retweeted by the president of the United States.

Along with the Republican allies, Fox News hosts and conspiracy-mongering trolls whose messages President Trump pinballs across the political arena, he has also elevated regular people whose words he finds pleasing. Perhaps no group understands the praise-seeking cyclone that is @realDonaldTrump better than these arbitrary few who have lived inside it, briefly and usually unwittingly.

Their brushes with cybercelebrity are a portal into the Twitter feedback loop powered and experienced by Mr. Trump — dark, caustic, skimpy on nuance — where the ripples of a single presidential tweet can be hard to fathom unless measured against the relative anonymity to which these users were accustomed. Mr. Rawls got 2,700 retweets and 14,000 “likes” with the boost from Mr. Trump. The reach of his tweets before and since, he estimated, was approximately zero.

For many of the retweeted, the temporary platform stands as a testament to a style of politics they have never seen before — one that has bonded the president to his followers, virtual or otherwise.

“No other president has ever done stuff like this,” said Curtis Vincent, a 35-year old in Bowling Green, Ky., who operates one of the more than 215 unverified accounts Mr. Trump has retweeted since taking office. “They’ve been on a higher pedestal.”

Mr. Rawls, Mr. Vincent and several others were retweeted by Mr. Trump on May 1 after responding to a post by a Fox News personality, Dan Bongino, about the fire union’s endorsing Mr. Biden.

Joining them in temporary Twitter fame was Joelle Palombo, 46, a Southern California resident with 11 followers, who had largely used her account to cheer on her daughter’s soccer team. But after Mr. Bongino tweeted that “NONE of the firemen” he knew were with Mr. Biden, she replied with a note of support for Mr. Trump from one “fire family” out West.

The flood of reactions so spooked Ms. Palombo that she enlisted her teenage son to help block anyone she saw in her feed. The purge took three days, she said, and included the president, who she did not realize had retweeted her until a reporter told her months later.

“I went and looked at his account, and I blocked him,” Ms. Palombo said of Mr. Trump. “That’s how scared I was. I’m just one tiny hair on a dog. Are you kidding me?”

Although her affection for the president persists, Ms. Palombo questions the value of his favored medium. “How many hours of the day do people put in to do this?” she said. “I don’t need to have a voice on this. I’ll vote.”

Others have found more purpose in the practice. Mr. Rawls described himself as a reluctant Trump voter in 2016. He preferred Ted Cruz during the Republican primary, and he winces at some of the president’s choices, including insulting John McCain well after the senator’s death.

But as the 2020 election approaches, Mr. Rawls suggests, the president’s Twitter output is a more effective galvanizer than even the slickest campaign ad. “The tweeting doesn’t bother me so much anymore,” he said. “I don’t really feel like I wasted a vote.”

And the validation of the president’s retweet has encouraged his own more quarrelsome instincts. “Before all this happened, I would type something out and say, ‘People will think I’m crazy,’” he recalled, citing prospective tweets that he scrapped.

Since May, these second thoughts have been rarer. He has called Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director, a “bitter jerk.” He has shared a doctored video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to slur her words. He has weaponized a gif of Judge Judy (“Either you are playing dumb, or it’s not an act”) to mock Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat promoting gun control.

“I’m a little bit less of a wallflower than I used to be,” Mr. Rawls said, crediting Mr. Trump’s retweet. “I guess you could say I was more emboldened.”

CATCHING HIS EYE

Capital letters help. Sentence structure can be disregarded. Mornings, East Coast time, are best.

Grabbing Mr. Trump’s attention on Twitter is more art than science — and, often, more fluke than art. But some who have been retweeted say there are certain flourishes that can improve the odds.

The surest path is echoing Mr. Trump’s voice. The user @fiiibuster, whose profile boasts that he has been retweeted twice by the president, has built a following of more than 38,000 accounts — and won the digital stamp of approval from a man with 66 million — through a steady offering of posts that resemble Mr. Trump’s own. Among the words in @fiiibuster’s retweeted messages: “security,” “prosperity,” “America first,” “Pathetic,” “bad reporter,” “shame!”

In other cases, Mr. Trump has gravitated toward those who share his taste in reading. A few weeks ago, he retweeted Cathy Buffaloe, 70, a retired librarian in Walton County, Ga., after she quoted a Wall Street Journal column criticizing Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

When she told her husband what had happened, he asked if she had simply dreamed it. She took screenshots to show to friends and gained about 200 followers. “It isn’t often that ‘regular’ people have an opportunity to be heard concerning national issues,” Ms. Buffaloe said in an email.

J. T. Lewis, a 19-year-old Republican candidate for the Connecticut State Senate whose brother Jesse was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, was retweeted last year after writing a flattering message to Mr. Trump. When he traveled to Washington months later to meet with the president as part of a school safety event, Mr. Lewis brought a printout of the tweet.

“He smirked and signed it,” he said. “It’s in my room somewhere.”

Mr. Lewis said he hoped the president’s imprimatur would show that Mr. Trump was not in league with the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has spread bogus claims about the Sandy Hook shooting, including asserting that the victims’ families were actors and part of a plot to confiscate guns. (In 2015, Mr. Trump appeared on Mr. Jones’s “Infowars” program and praised him.)

But Mr. Lewis is skeptical that getting through to Mr. Trump owes to any elaborate strategy. “I don’t think things are planned out the way we think they are from the outside,” he said. “I think that was literally just: Guy in pajamas, ‘Oh, this is a nice tweet.’”

THE WRONG IVANKA

“The fingers aren’t as good as the brain,” the president once explained, discussing the typos he makes on Twitter.

And those fingers have at times conferred a spotlight on unsuspecting tweeters with low opinions of him.

In a tweet one night in January 2017, just before his inauguration, Mr. Trump shared a message calling his daughter Ivanka “a woman with real character and class” and tagging @ivanka.

That Twitter handle belongs to Ivanka Majic, 45, a technology researcher in Brighton, England, who shares a first name and little else with the president’s daughter. Ms. Majic woke up to media inquiries and a dilemma.

“There’s a decision to be made,” she said in an interview. “If you’re going to say something, what are you going to say?”

Ms. Majic recognized she would probably never be handed a megaphone like this again. “He was a bit unlucky, really, that it was my Twitter account,” she said.

She settled on this: “You’re a man with great responsibilities. May I suggest more care on Twitter and more time learning about #climatechange.”

Instantly, Ms. Majic became something of a local luminary as her progressive city strained to process Mr. Trump’s victory. Days later, at the London chapter of the global Women’s March, one attendee’s sign read, “@Ivanka, loving your work!”

In the years since, Ms. Majic has celebrated an annual “Trumpiversary” to mark the occasion. But one news clipping from the time still grates.

“There was one article that said, ‘Ivanka only has 2,700 followers,’” she remembered. “I was like, ‘That’s quite good for a normal person!’”

_______

Karen Yourish and Larry Buchanan contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research. Produced by Gray Beltran and Rumsey Taylor.

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myaekingheart · 5 years

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1, 2, and 12!!

Bless you, Jessie 🙌💕

Alright so since I reblogged like 20 ask memes, I’m just gonna go ahead and take the liberty of doing all of these numbers for every single one I’ve reblogged that’s applicable to give myself extra stuff to do xD

Fanfiction Asks!

1. Do you read fic? Do you write fic?

I actually write fic WAY MORE than I read fic. I find that the issue I have when reading fic is that I get really giddy and inspired and then I lose my concentration on the story in front of me and my interests rather shift more towards the story in my own damn head. I really need to start reading more of other people’s work, though. I have a handful saved on AO3 that I just have not gotten around to, but I really should. I really have so many damn things I want to read, fanfiction and otherwise, but lack the motivation to sit down and actually read it.

2. Favorite genre of fic?

I feel like it’s kind of hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of fic I’m drawn most towards, but I guess the best descriptor would be drama? I don’t know, I just really like stories that focus heavily on character development and interpersonal relationships (so bildungsroman lmfao), especially when there’s some imperfect romance and action/adventure involved. Both of my main fanfics, my Narnia series Temptation and The Scarecrow and the Bell, my Naruto fic, both are pretty much just that: heavy focus on character with imperfect romance and action/adventure. I just think it’s fun seeing characters, especially ones that have feelings for each other, in stressful and dangerous situations trying to work through them together and oftentimes disagree and have to figure out how to handle the disagreements, too. Or have personal stuff they’re dealing with on top of things. I don’t know, I just really love focusing on relationship dynamics and situations like that are a fun lens to look through.

12. What turns you away the most from a fic?

Honestly, grammatical issues and whether or not the story feels believable. I guess I’m kind of picky when it comes to that stuff, but I’m also used to being critical of writing solely because I’m a creative writing major and a big part of this degree’s curriculum is workshopping peer writing. Grammatical issues in terms of a misplaced comma or something aren’t that big a deal, I’m not that stingy, but things like lacking paragraph breaks, or not knowing when to switch paragraphs, bug me as well as habitual misspellings of common words--the one that peeves me off the most is spelling “definitely” like “defiantly” or “definately” or any other misspelling under the sun. The idea of a story feeling believable might just be me being really picky but I’ve opened up fics sometimes where I could hardly get through the first paragraph because the story didn’t feel genuine to me. It’s kind of hard to explain, but I guess as someone who puts a ton of research into my own fanfics and also really tries to perfectly capture the tone of the source material, sometimes I’ll read stuff that just feels out of place and it really takes me out of the story and honestly makes me cringe. I feel like saying all of that makes me sound like some kind of asshole, though. I don’t know, I’m just so goddamn picky when it comes to what I’m reading and especially with fanfiction, since it’s a lot more organic and it doesn’t go through the same fine toothed editing process that professionally published works do (although I’ve picked up on some questionable stuff even in print books; one such thing was so minor, but it was a forgotten period at the end of a sentence and I kept laughing about it saying to myself “Someone missed a period!” You know, like an asshole.)

Music Asks

1. your favorite album opener

Beartooth’s Greatness or Death off their most recent album, Disease. It just really sets the tone for the rest of the album and feels like such an appropriate intro overall. They have a playlist for the entire album on Youtube with the correct track listing so that was the first song off thei newest album that I had heard and it just felt like such a great and appropriate intro, it really got me into the vibe and energy of the rest of the album and I just...I love it a lot. The song, the album, the band in general.

2. a song starting w/ the same first letter of your first name

Aurora Avenue by Defeat the Low. I’m a huge Nirvana fan, and the song is all about Kurt Cobain. The entire first verse was literally pulled straight from his infamous suicide note (”Speaking from the tongue of an experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complainee.”) I stumbled upon this song by pure chance-- it was playing at the end of a video for a different song, which I think was actually a Beartooth one-- and it sounded interesting so I pulled it up and the minute I heard the first verse, I, who had read Kurt’s suicide note already, was like “WAIT A SECOND THIS SOUNDS REALLY FAMILIAR” but it didn’t hit me that that was what it was, and that the entire song was about Kurt, until later and it made me love it even more.

12. a song you can scream all the words to

Hospital for Souls by Bring Me The Horizon. It’s an all-time fave, made even more so by the fact that it’s one of my top ship songs (for my Naruto ship, Kakashi Hatake x my OC Rei Natsuki, who I write the fanfic about, and even made an AMV for them with because I’M CRAZY). It also just hits really hard personally, especially the line “Have you ever put a blade to your wrists, or have you been skipping meals?” because it relates to my own mental health struggles. I’ve never had the right opportunity to actually scream all the words aloud along with the song, but I desperately need to find the right place to do it one of these days because I have a lot of feelings I need to get out that can only be done through that exact act and I need to do it in a way where I will not end up getting the cops called on me for being way too loud. I just need a soundproof room in general (not just for these purposes, but also because I’m a voice actress for an independent animated series called Space Hotel and I need someplace to record shit anyways.)

Soft and Ethereal Asks

1.secret garden or forest?

Secret garden! I love the idea of having someplace only I know guarded off by a wall with vines running up the side of it, the kind of place you enter through a wrought-iron gate, where flowers are growing through the cracks and there’s a bubbling fountain in the center you can sit by either on the edge or in the grass or on a dirty old cement bench from times before I was even a thought in my parent’s head, and just revel in the silence with a good book or a pencil and sketchbook and make flower crowns and daisy chains or have a little personal picnic laying out a checkered blanket and carrying everything in a big basket like strawberries and little sandwiches and homemade cookies and shit. I’m such a sap but I live for the idea of that gentle, pastel-tinted quiet afternoon. Pure solace.

2.the stars or the moon?

The moon. I love stars to death, too, but there’s something about the moon that really hits me. Maybe it’s because it goes through phases but no matter what is still whole even when it appears not to be. Maybe it’s because it’s kind of comforting to look at. More than anything, though, it’s probably at least partially because one of my favorite films is Rise of the Guardians (and by extension, the book series it was based upon, The Guardians of Childhood) in which the moon is a major character, or at least The Man in the Moon. In the movie, he’s never seen or heard but he’s always there watching over the world. Jack Frost, the protagonist, doesn’t understand his purpose in this eternal life of his where no one can see him and no one believes in him, and constantly looks to the moon for answers but never hears any. The very first lines of the movie are even “Darkness. That’s the first thing I remember. It was dark and it was cold and I was scared. But then...then I saw the moon. It was so big and so bright. It seemed to chase the darkness away.” Not to get super religious here but in a way the whole moon thing even reminds me of Christianity a little bit, and I’m not really religious in the slightest (maybe spiritual, but not very religious) but this movie also came to me at a time when I was very at odds with the idea of God and faith and everything, and I felt like Jack Frost constantly questioning what the point of it all was and questioning whether something greater even existed and if so, then how could they let terrible things like this happen? Without any solid answer? I don’t know, I don’t want this to get into a debate about my own religious beliefs, but yeah. The moon and I have some history, so I’ll choose the moon over the stars.

12.fiction or short stories?

Fiction. By nature of my degree, I have to read a lot of short stories for college and some of them are really enjoyable and interesting but then we get to the debate of genre fiction versus literary fiction, which I think is a stupid fucking debate and literary fiction needs to get off it’s damn high horse with it’s “holier than thou” complex or whatever. Or maybe it’s not the literary fiction itself so much as the people who praise it. Like yes, I get that literary fiction is contemporary fine art and nuanced and shit but sometimes I like stories about vampires and ninjas and teenagers with weird names and social anxiety. Literary fiction is fine and all, but let’s face it, genre fiction is way more fucking fun and that is why I chose “fiction” over “short stories.”

65 Questions You Aren’t Used To

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

If I’m going to be brutally honest, sometimes. Hell, sometimes I even question my own existence but I guess that’s just the depersonalization aspect of anxiety talking.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

With 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, I’d say I’m at about a 3? I’m not as afraid of the dark as I used to be, but it’s situational. If I’m alone and it’s dark, then I get panicky because my awareness is impaired and I’m admittedly a very visual person so if I can’t see and I suspect there’s something going bump in the night, I’m going to freak out. Even hearing something, even when logically I know exactly what it is, freaks me out because I can’t know for sure unless I’m looking straight at it but if it’s dark, I can’t do that. I prefer to sleep when it’s like fully dark, though. I even used to wear a sleep mask to help with that and because the feeling of something soft over my eyes was comforting??? I don’t know, like I can sleep perfectly fine with the lights on, too, and sometimes if my anxiety is bad that’s what I’d prefer to make things easier on myself but for the most part, I guess it’s situational. I also feel like this is an appropriate place to say I have a duck nightlight in my bathroom, which doesn’t really have anything to do with being afraid of the dark so much as darkness in general but I also have a thing for rubber ducks so having a rubber duck nightlight is very on brand and I love it.

12. Who told you they loved you last?

Probably my boyfriend. He’s the one whose always here anyways. If not him, then from my mother but I don’t particularly want to think about her right now because I’m kind of upset with her so we’re just going to go ahead and say my boyfriend.

Sensory Asks

[sight]

1. favourite colour(s)?

Red is my top fave, and has been since I was three. I think it was when I got a red VW Beetle for my Barbie dolls that I really fell in love with the color. All the accessories that came with it were red plastic and looking at them just filled with me a lot of energy and joy, which I later realized I felt whenever looking at red in general. It also helps that I can now make the joke whenever I’m asked this question that I love red “like the blood of my enemies,” which is always fun.

2. least favourite colour(s)?

I’m really not a fan of yellow, chartreuse, and tan/beige. I can handle yellow in certain instances like with sunflowers or lemons or sunshine related stuff, but I prefer gold over straight up yellow. I don’t dislike yellow nearly as much as tan/beige, though. That one I can also handle in certain instances but for the most part, it reminds me of a time I got sick as a kid so looking at it for too long brings back that nausea. Chartreuse is the end-all, be-all of the colors I’m not big on, though. It just...reminds me of snot. It feels really unappealing to look at for me, too.

[smell]

12. favourite scent?

Clean laundry, hands down. I love nothing more than the smell of fresh laundry, like sometimes I’ll catch myself literally sitting at my laptop sniffing my shirt because I love the smell so much. It’s just so comforting, and I think that’s because it reminds me of this doll I’ve had literally since birth. I called her Baby Doll and she was just a basic baby doll with a plastic head and cloth body that my grandmother got from Avon and I was so damn attached to it as a kid. I brought Baby Doll everywhere with me, even in my backpack on my first day of preschool. I slept with her for way longer than I’d like to admit, too. But she smelled like fabric softener, and when I was a little kid and was having bad anxiety attacks (which I’ve been dealing with since I was three), I would hug her really close and the smell was just really comforting. So now I have to get it from my own laundry because I still own Baby Doll, but I’m a grown-ass adult and she’s very fragile now (and also currently in storage for safe-keeping). So yeah, clean laundry hands-down.

Fashions Asks

1. What season has your favorite looks?

Fall! I’m such a sucker for big cozy sweaters and jeans. Back to school fashion lowkey excites me, too, and besides: I feel like it’s a lot easier to find appropriate outfits for my personal fashion sense that fit cooler weather than the seventh circle of hell 106-degree-heat-index I’m currently living in. I adore oversized sweaters, leggings, skinny jeans, combat boots, creepers, hoodies, layers, all that good stuff but you can’t do that when you feel like you’re dying of heat stroke even standing in front of the fridge butt naked. Not that I do that, but it’s hot enough here that I could if I wanted to. That’s not an issue in fall, though, which is super fucking nice. I just really love being cozy all the time always.

2. Formal or casual?

Casual! As much as I love the look of formal clothes, I am chronically ill. I am anxious. I am depressed. I want to be comfortable all the damn time, and I just can’t be genuinely comfortable in formal clothes. For example, I attended my cousin’s wedding last spring and wore these really cute Mary Jane heels that I love. They fit my aesthetic and make my legs look great, too, if I say so myself. I was able to get through the ceremony with them on but after the fact, they started getting so damn uncomfortable that I went to the car and changed into my ratty five year old combat boots like a total punk because comfort. At least they still looked good with the dress I was wearing, though, so that’s a plus.

12. What fashions do you hate?

Okay, I feel like a lot of people might get on my case about this but I really can’t stand Birkenstocks. They just...look like what your overbearing uncle would wear with socks to the summer barbecue to me. I don’t know, in certain cases they’re at least fitting for a certain look and I commend the people who can pull them off but as for me? I just can’t wrap my head around them. I dislike them even more than Crocs, which I am also not a fan of. But then again, like...I’m also not big on today’s fashion trends in general. There are some things I do like, like oversized t-shirts with leggings especially if they’re a band t-shirt, and those cute Japanese uniform style pleated skirts (I admittedly own one and I love it). The whole ethereal quirky pastel modern grunge e-girl shit, though, just doesn’t vibe much with me. My fashion sense is more on par with Luanna Perez’s alternative looks and the 2007-2012 era of the emo/scene style, as well as some pastel goth, genuine 90′s grunge, and kawaii/lolita inspired stuff. Like I will gladly tease the hell out of my hair, add in extensions and coontails and a little pink bow, and throw on a pink polka dot dress with fishnets and creepers or something. I don’t know, I just feel really disconnected from what’s considered trendy in today’s fashion sense. Maybe it’s because I tried so hard for so many years to fit what was in style despite it not feeling genuine to who I was personally, that now that I’ve finally mustered enough confidence to leave the house wearing what makes me happy even if it is unorthodox and alternative (like black lipstick!!!), I just can’t get on board with what everyone else is doing. Sure, I feel a little weird dressing like it’s ten years ago when everyone else is walking around wearing like those dinky crop tops that say “I have no tits” or have like applique roses on them or whatever and anything else that’s considered modern on-trend but like...in the wise words of Kurt Cobain, “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I’m not.” I’m tired of trying to fit the status quo and doing what everyone else is doing. If I want coontails and snake bites in 2019, then goddammit I’m gonna go for it (though not gonna lie, the 20NINESCENE craze has me crying because I regret not having “the phase” in middle school that everyone else did so much sometimes that it’s physically painful so to think that there are still people out there rocking the thick side fringe and heavy eyeliner and the RAWR MEANS I LOVE YOU IN DINOSAUR shit makes me feel like maybe I’ve been given a second chance to be true to myself and become a part of a community that means something to me, rather than what I was actually doing in middle school being dragged through the mud trying to redeem myself of some sense of popularity because I was losing my best friend to the alpha female clique mentality and I was so damn unhappy, I legit had a breakdown in her pool about it once so you bet your ass I’m going to say screw it and do everything I wanted to back then now that I actually have the confidence and stopped caring what people thought about me.)

#this got so long i am so fucking sorry xD #answered asks #ask memes #lasaraleen

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years

Link

With the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming a podcast I used to regularly listen to with panelists I used to respect did their two cents on the movie.

I say used to respect for a few reasons, but one of them is self evident by the podcast themselves.

They seemed to have forgotten/sold out big time on their grasp of Spider-Man’s character and mythology. It’s still better than most people but as their defences of Homecoming (though admittedly they weren’t as enthusiastic about it as everyone else) mounted in the episode I began to write them off more and more. To the point in fact where I wrote them an e-mail explaining both my POV and counterpointing many of their views. A few episodes later they seemed to have not covered what I wrote and I am now presuming they simply aren’t going to for whatever reason.

Nevertheless I felt very strongly about what they said and so will repeat here what I wrote to them, albeit with less polite asides.

Dear CBFR

If I am honest I have to disagree with a lot of what you guys said. That was code for ‘Were you guys on drugs during parts of this review’.

If I was grading the movie on its own I’d give it a solid B but as an adaptation it’d be a D at best.

It was a fun thrill ride but there have been way better MCU films. In fact the slapstick comedy moments of the film felt repetitive to me of other MCU movies, especially Doctor Strange. For record they were also pretty praising of Doctor Strange, which isn’t as bad when you consider they all had limited knowledge of Dr. Strange whereas they have been touted as Spider-Man experts, even claiming as much in the episode themselves.

However there was also one huge logic problem with the movie which underscored the movie as an adaptation. That was the critical scene where Stark lectures Peter and takes the suit away. The thrust of that scene and the whole movie is to make Peter think he’s nothing without the suit and then to realize that actually he doesn’t need it.

However this sentiment doesn’t really make sense when you consider that for most of the movie Peter hadn’t unlocked the suit’s extra features and was using it more or less as high tech cloth. Worse though, in Civil War we’d learned Peter had been working without the suit for months. Given that he still has all of his powers and had all this past experience it’s not exactly an honest story to have Peter realize he is more than just a fancy suit. Even if Peter has come to believe that due to his youth the audience know from earlier in the movie and Civil War that that’s clearly not true. As such it’s not really a good justification to hang your coming of age story on.

Beyond that there wasn’t much wrong with the movie.

However comic book films like this, at the very least when it comes to characters as big as Spider-Man, are frankly obliged to honor the spirit of the character’s source material even if they don’t do a word for word adaptation of it. A fact the panellists despite their self-proclaimed Spider-Man street cred seemed to not give a shit about. Chris did the same when it came to Guardians of the Galaxy, his favourite MCU/comic book movie that was ultimately a wretched adaptation of the Abnettt/Lanning source material he has also praised in the past.

That’s the bulk of my problem with this movie. It really goes against a lot of the spirit of Peter Parker. A spirit the panellists seemed to have forgotten about.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not demanding another origin movie or that this movie religiously adapt Ditko stories. And I understand the need to involve elements of the wider MCU in this film, including Iron Man. Nor am I saying this has to, as Chris said, be ‘a definitive Spider-Man movie’. Chris repeated this frankly shallow point more than once during the course of this review.

However the way the film goes about this is honestly a disservice to the character regardless of whether this film was trying to be a definitive take on Spider-Man or not. Certain changes and directions taken to be blunt do not belong in any Spider-Man movie. I imagine the panellists would disagree and argue the ‘adapt’ part of adaptation implies ANYTHING can be changed...which isn’t true the ‘adapt’ part of adaptation refers to changing the MEDIUM not any given thing about it.

Sorry to sound cliché but the biggest one of these was the high tech suit and Peter’s relationship with Iron Man and his motivation to be an Avenger.

I disliked the suit for most of the reasons you guys went into in your review but I disagreed with Chris that its present was justified by virtue of Homecoming not having to be a definitive take on Spider-Man. I agree it doesn’t have to be a definitive take but at the same time part of the spirit of the character is that he’s relatively ordinary so that level of high tech gadgetry to be honest doesn’t really belong in any given Spider-Man film.

As for Tony Stark, I’m not saying Iron Man shouldn’t have been in the film or that this was an Iron Man movie but Peter Parker, especially as a teenager, should categorically never have anything resembling a mentor or parental figure as far as his super hero life is concerned. A point the panel repeatedly mocked to the point of obnoxiousness was how some people called Homecoming Iron Man 4, which it wasn’t outside of a very abstract sense. But it was more Iron Man Junior than Spider-Man which somewhat justifies the criticism.

This is because a truly massive part of Spider-Man’s original conception was that he was effectively the first ever solo teen super hero. He wasn’t a sidekick like Robin or the token teenage team member like Johnny Storm. Josh of this podcast is a huge F4 fan and, along with Donovan, a huge Batman fan. So combined with their Spider-Man clout you’d imagine they’d have recognized this big aspect of the character’s history. But apparently not.

Not only was that a novelty at the time but it fed into his characterization because he essentially had to make mistakes and learn from them all on his own. He didn’t have somebody there to lecture or reprimand him as Stark did in this movie. Giving him a figure like that, even one who isn’t there all the time changes that dynamic and infantilizes a character who had to grow up faster than most people in the wake of losing his actual father figure. It was also a fairly subtle appeal to the idea of teen rebellion, something popular in the 1960s. Along with his F4 and Batman knowledge Josh is a huge Beatles fan, the band being touted as part of the counterculture of the 1960s. He even once made note of all the times Spider-Man stories have referenced the Beatles. So again you’d think he’d have recognized this aspect of Spider-Man and taken it into account when evaluating how Homecoming eviscerated it. But no.

I am aware this direction for Spidey has some precedent from the Civil War storyline and Ultimate comics but I do not really see why that is a viable justification.

A concept having precedent in the source material doesn’t necessarily justify including it in an adaptation. Contexts can be different and concepts can be rotten in the first place.

In the Ultimate Universe you could just about get away with Nick Fury as Peter’s father figure/mentor because the Ultimate Universe by that point had made it clear it was the experimental side universe where things could be different for the sake of being different. One of the panellists, I think Donovan, has expressed his love for the Ultimate Spider-Man series and backed up the idea that Nick Fury was a huge part of that series.

Personally I still think making the head of SHIELD Peter’s pseudo-mentor figure was a bad direction given Spider-Man’s concept as a relatively ordinary person who is also a super hero. But fans could roll with it because USM existed tangentially to the mainstream version that people did expect to be more definitive. That’s why people who weren’t that upset over Nick Fury over in USM were rubbed the wrong way when Peter moved in with the New Avengers in 616.

Although Spider-Man: Homecoming didn’t have to be the definitive Spider-Man movie in every way possible, it is now the primary version in the public consciousness and part of the closest thing to the definitive take on the Marvel universe as a whole. That drastically changes the context from what the USM comic was.

I know the big defence of the Avenges/Iron Man thing is Spidey’s attempt to join the F4 in ASM #1 and his growing up in a world where the Avengers exist but I’m afraid I don’t buy this justification either. This is another case where the fans street cred is undermined. Not only is Josh an F4 fan but both he and Donovan actually used to be part f a podcast covering Ditko/Romita Spider-Man and ASM #1 referred to here was part of literally their first episode. Even putting that aside, all three panellists have definitely read ASM #1 but seemed to ignore the important context and nuance of the situation that actually undercuts their arguments.

In ASM #1 Peter tried joining the F4 purely for the sake of getting money to provide for himself and Aunt May, he wasn’t really in awe of them and he wasn’t driven by a desire to join the big leagues. And although they didn’t debut when he was a child the F4 were famous big time superhero celebrities, with Reed Richards already being a famous scientist years beforehand. Additionally Peter was never in awe of Captain America during their interactions in the Silver Age despite Cap’s legendary status.

Because of this whilst it isn’t illogical that Peter could be in awe of the Avengers it also isn’t unrealistic that he wouldn’t be driven by a desire to live up to them like he is in Homecoming. After all if he was you do have to question why he never tried to join them before Civil War or why he would bother going into show business when he got his powers?

At the end of the day though I really feel the spirit of the character is more important than pretty much all the other aspects of the movie. Like I said that doesn’t mean you have to be word for word accurate but if a big part of who Spider-Man was as a teenager was his independence as a superhero then the MCU films should do their best to make that fit into their universe not ignore it and make Spider-Man an aspiring Avengers fanboy desperate for approval.

It’s not like going with that would be a bad movie. Spider-Man could be butting heads with Iron Man due to his disagreement with the Sokovia Accords and his belief that the little guy on the street actually gets ignored by the Avengers, thus justifying guys like him or the Defenders.

My other major problems with this take on Spider-Man is that it’s clearly influenced by both the USM cartoon version of Spider-Man and Miles Morales.

I’m sure Don could speak to the Miles influences better than me but personally I find it a huge disservice to both characters to mix and match them like this. Don goddam LOVES Mild Morales and sees precious few problems with his character, he regards Mild as his main Spider-Man currently. Peter Parker has 50 years of history to draw from so borrowing elements from Miles is totally unnecessary. But for Miles it’s even worse because it means film audiences might see him as ripping off aspects from Peter. Whilst they called out the use of Ganke as Ned Leeds in this movie, none of the panellists, who have ALL read Miles stories, mentioned the OTHER Miles Morales elements implanted into Peter...even though Donovan DID mention them when asked about it separately. He straight up said the following:

the whole comparing himself to other heroes was way more Miles than Peter...Peter would make off-hand references to the MU, but it wouldn't stick in his mind...lemme put it this way: If Peter's mantra is Power and Responsibility, Miles' mantra is living up to the standard of the other heroes...the whole "I was trying to be like you!", Peter Parker has never said that before...

As for the USM cartoon take it from someone who suffered through more than a full season of the show (which to my understanding is far more than any of the panellists ever tried), this movie was under the impression that a bumbling screw up Spider-Man is the best thing ever.

Much like in the show a lot of the time problems are caused or exacerbated by Spider-Man’s intervention precisely because he is played as so out of his depth and incompetent.

The ferry scene is the biggest example obviously as the lesson being pushed was that Spider-man should have just left it alone. Most of the action sequences push this idea in fact to the point where had Peter been smarter listened to Tony and ignored the crises he saw things would’ve gone better.

This is really problematic for Spider-Man’s character not least because his origin story hinged on him ignoring a situation and it having terrible consequences.

More generally though Spider-Man is simply not as incompetent or bumbling as the movie put him across as. Showing him as inexperienced and capable of occasional missteps would have been relatively new to the movies, but in this film his missteps are most of his character. He rarely makes the right call as a superhero and he rarely avoids tripping over himself or coming off as an idiot.

It’s a far cry from say the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon where the character was both a teenager and even less experienced but wasn’t a buffoon despite being imperfect.

There is a lot more I could say but I realize I’ve gone on long enough at this point.

Basically, I enjoyed this as a movie but it was unacceptably bad as an adaptation and we deserve better in future instalments.

I actually cut a load of stuff I wanted to say and have now deleted it. off the top of my head though I called them out for themselves not sufficiently calling out the disservice done to Mary Jane’s character. The fact that Chris justified the movie on the basis of adapting the crappy USM cartoon, the crappy Iron Spider era of the comics (which only worked at best as a tangent to what Spider-Man should be at default) and the USM comics which I have already called out. What I wanted to say but didn’t was that their review was profoundly disappointing.

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poetsalive-blog · 7 years

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On Rebecca Watts’ Essay “The Cult of the Noble Amateur”

(Author’s note: This is a rebuttal to Watts’ essay which can be found here: http://www.pnreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?item_id=10090 ) After hearing that Rebecca Watts has received abuse for the above article “The Cult of the Noble Amateur,” I decided that constructive discourse was needed. As a poet and critic, I find it very upsetting that any person would receive abuse let alone a person seeking to have a difficult conversation on the direction of publishing, prizes and popularity.

I will begin by saying I disagree with Watts’ arguments that the world pretends poetry is not an art form and that social media has helped dumb it down. However, I do understand her frustrations with turning out technical, complex poems that ask for critical engagement when quick-to-digest pieces seem to garner a lot more attention in the current poetry market. Let me assure everyone though, that there is space for both subgenres of poetry and both are art.

The problem with poetry, a number of family members tell me, is that they don’t understand poetry. Their memories of poetry are being forced to memorise passages of Shakespeare, Wordsworth and other poets whose work bore no connection to the realities of their everyday. I come from a working class background and I do see the disconnect between high literature and the interests of that demographic. They feel spoken down to and thus, poetry found itself relegated to classrooms as the average person turned away from text that they felt didn’t get them. People like to see themselves in all forms of media and art. It is why increasing the number of minorities and LGBTQ in entertainment is getting a lot of advocacy: these demographics want to see themselves in the forms of entertainment they enjoy. Why shouldn’t they?

Therefore, when we scour the literary landscape for journals to submit work to, we find a lot of specialist titles; journals for LGBTQ only, women only, language poetry only, poc only thrive alongside bigger publications that display more diversity in order to speak to more demographics. We are fine with this so why not the rise of “spoken word on paper” (or perhaps we could coin this type of poetry “pop poetry)? I’d like to think that poetry has made inroads towards peace with language and prose poetry. Is pop poetry not the next in line to be added to the roster of styles we celebrate? The Ted Hughes Prize is certainly leaning that way. I agree that honesty in poetry is nothing new. It is also true that this is not the first time honesty in poetry has been challenged.

The Confessionals of the mid-1900s received much criticism for being too prone to, as Robert Phillips phrases it, “ public breast-beating” and narcissism.[1] When Confessionalism came to the forefront of the poetry market, critic Charles Molesworth wrote that the movement was “a degraded version of Romanticism” and that the Confessional poet was a “failed sage.”[2] Robert Bly accused Robert Lowell of “offering his readers nervous excitement rather than poetic excitement.”[3] In the end, the handful of genuine Confessional poets produced poetry that has remained in “the spotlight” even now. Just as we had our Plath and Sexton as young writers, certainly young poets are entitled to the “disarming honesty” of McNish and Tempest’s work (which applies to today’s young concerns) and to see that it is doing and achieving something in the market besides racking up YouTube views.

In terms of the style of poetry that demands more of its readers, there is still plenty of room and praise. However, does the rise of “spoken word on paper” / pop poetry mean you will need to do a little more research as to which prizes you submit work to? Of course, but you should be doing that anyway. You should know who the judges are and what interests they have in the moment so that if the Ted Hughes Award is going the way of a style you don’t write, you will know not to submit (and save yourself the fee). There is no shortage of journals, prizes and publishers for poems that utilize higher diction and complexity and enough people submit to these journals that the competition is fierce as ever.

Kaur, Tempest and McNish are thus the types of poets for people who would have left poetry behind in secondary school. There is nothing wrong with that. Their style allows the audience to stay engaged in a performance and their use of social media utilizes a platform that the public is addicted to. They are reaching out to the public rather than expecting the public to come to them. In terms of high literature at readings, I’ll use the example of John Ashbery – whose poems are difficult and take work. Trying to absorb John Ashbery in real time can be quite a task let alone fully “get it.” The books of Kaur and McNish require less strain and as such, watching their work and also having it at hand are akin to reading along song lyrics printed in cd jackets (or cassette tapes if anyone else can remember these) while the music plays. I fail to see how “easy to grasp” equates with bad when it seems to me that the experience is just different. One of the most poignant examples of spoken word poetry being at the right place at the right time was Tony Walsh’s delivery of “This is the Place” at the Manchester Bombing vigil. On paper, the poem lacks what you call “intellectual engagement” and “craft,” but when delivered, Walsh gave the community it what it desperately needed. The performance was powerful, to say the least and I understand the public’s desire, then, to have a written copy of that performance piece which spoke into the grief and fear everyone was experiencing.

I assume that the demographics that are interested in Kaur and McNish are no different, and because publishers exist to make money (and endure) as much as promote good poetry, there is a profit to be made in that. McNish came to Picador with a ready-made following which translates into guaranteed sales. I can’t, in good faith, knock Picador for taking advantage of McNish’s marketing savvy. We also cannot assume that an interest in pop poetry and its penchant for clichéd language will negate a person’s potential to venture into other forms that use more technical and creative elements. I certainly began, as a teenager, writing poetry that utilized such overemotional language as “I don’t grieve \ I shatter,” and have changed so that I now enjoy looking for poetry that challenges me, asks that I spend time with it and get to the root of how it works. My favorite poet is easily Frank Bidart. But could I have commenced my interest in poetry by reading and engaging with his work – which is unequivocally challenging as it is emotionally visceral? Not a chance; I was not emotionally or intellectually capable. (And I am not arguing that those who prefer accessible poet are not capable. I am stating that I was not capable.) We need to understand poetry can’t speak to one demographic, one level of education or understanding, one prosodic style. There is plenty of room for both McNish and Ashbery and by having an array of “levels” (for lack of a better word), you offer up more variety to the public to draw them into a world that they shut themselves out of because they felt shut out. I would also warn against drawing comparisons between the cult of personality wielded by Trump/Farage and that of the pop poets. I found this to be a very hyperbolic and misguided section of the essay. Trump, in particular, leads a movement bent on spreading misinformation, division, exclusion, prejudice and, at times, violence. To even compare the pernicious nature of Trump’s cult following to that of poets that draw crowds is guilty of “dumbing down” the conversation and depriving it of nuance – the very thing Watts accuses the poetry market of doing.

As I previous indicated, I do understand the frustration of producing work that challenges a reader only to see it rejected. The business of poetry for most of us, I assume, is a life of “not quite right for us but good luck elsewhere.” Seeing a poet get praised for including poems she wrote at age 8 in her book would rankle even the most welcoming of us. Nonetheless, it is art and it has worth and a purpose. It is up to the individual poet to look at submission guidelines, back issues, and the interests of the editors / judges to make more prudent choices as to where to send work.

That said, I do think that the article Watts’ wrote is very much needed even though it is a difficult and uncomfortable conversation, especially if prizes like the Ted Hughes prize are going the way of “pop poetry” and away from complex poetry that utilizes the page.

[1] Robert Phillips, Robert Phillips, The Confessional Poets, (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973), pp. 1-2

[2] Charles Molesworth, ‘“With Your Own Face On”: The Origins and Consequences of Confessional Poetry,’ in Twentieth Century Literature, 22: 2 (May 1976), 163-178, p 164.

[3] Phillips, p. 16

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septembersung · 7 years

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Tagged by @scarvenartist. Thank you!!

1. How many works in progress do you have?

I have four open novels that are in various stages of beginning. The farthest along is the epic fantasy I began in 2016 and NaNo’d this year that I’ve been blogging about. I’m fairly determined to get a complete draft, even if it’s just a sketch in places, down before I move on to another project/take a break. Then there’s a YA high fantasy playing off the powers-of-the-four-elements idea, which has the least done on it; my multi-generational Catholics in Space sci fi which always seems well thought out to me until I go to write a scene; and the whimsical fantasy that was plotted with the help of a friend and Story Cubes, also probably YA, which is pretty thoroughly conceived but I scrapped the drafts I’d started and am going to begin again with a more developed tone. I’m also still poking away at my current poetry manuscript, editing and reordering, wondering if it’s actually complete. I’ve also finally started writing new poems again after a months long hiatus, this time tackling sonnets. My plan for months now has been to do an in-depth practice and study of traditional meter and form in the new year, beginning with reading translations of ancient epics and throwing in some Shakespeare, so that will go nicely with sonnets. My nonfiction project is current in a research, note making, and mulling lull.

2. Do you/would you write fanfiction

I wrote some pretty bad fanfic in high school. It began with Harry Potter, but not until I needed a way to process my grief after HBP. I was always more interested in reading fanfic, and writing my own stuff. I don’t read much of it any more, though I have happily read some of the Batfam stuff that’s come across my dash (and I don’t even go there!). I’m glad that fanfiction is A Thing that exists in the world, although there is a large swath of it I would burn down and salt the earth after without a second’s hesitation.

3. Do you prefer paper books or ebooks?

I see the practicality and situational uses of ebooks in theory, but in practice have only used them a handful of times, and then only when there wasn’t another option. I compose on a screen a lot, but physical paper is crucial to my process, and I read and absorb better on paper. I believe it is a universal absolute that the more digital and abstract our world gets, the more it is vitally important - literally, necessary to living - that we are grounded in the physical world, especially in those things which are a big part of our brains and hearts and lives. Personally, since books and words are a major part of my existence, it’s important that they be solid as much as possible, in part as a counterweight to the internet and reading/doing blogging, which is necessarily digital, and makes up a big portion of my daily word consumption.

4. When did you start writing?

Somewhere between ages three and five. (I was a very early reader.) My first “novel” was several sheets of construction paper stapled together and it was about a giant sentient carrot. I have a distinct memory of writing the letter E, but I couldn’t remember how many horizontal lines it had, so I gave it lots, just to be safe.

5. Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with?

I’ve shared two of my novel WIPs with various friends and internet-friends online. The only people who regularly see my poetry in progress are my husband and @byjoveimbeinghumble. I can always count on Husband for support and an honest non-poet’s reaction, and Sharon has a wonderfully critical eye for form and clarity. @moochiethinks has been seeing lots of Eleyus as we do near-daily word wars, which has been wonderfully useful as a discipline and as a daily dose of positive feedback. I’m trying to be more open about sharing my fiction; it helps me to ‘get over myself.’ But now that I’ve made some progress there I need to find a balance and draw a line. I’m way too easily tempted into throwing words on paper and then asking the world for adulation.

6. Where is your favourite place to write?

In my library, on the couch or at my desk (which is finally cleaned off and nearly organized!) I sometimes retreat to my bed and lock the door if I’m in the middle of something important and can’t get any peace, when Husband is home to watch the kids. I also love going to a certain coffee shop, or occasionally the local library.

7. Favourite book as a child?

I read Anne of Green Gables and Little House (and its spin offs) and Narnia a great deal, and later Harry Potter. There was a few months after OOTP came out where I read nothing but OOTP, over and over.

8. Writing for fun or publication?

The two aren’t separate for me. Poetry is more nuanced, as individual poems have different geneses and purposes, but publication is part of the fun of storytelling; sharing a complete story, telling it ‘out loud’ as it were, has always been part of the appeal, ever since I was a child. I’ve already scoped out publishers and agents for Eleyus.

9. Have you taken writing classes?

Often the best writing classes are literature classes. We learn an art by immersing ourselves in it; much of the foundation is simply education, absorbed into how we think and see the world. (Although, many lit classes today are rubbish because they aren’t lit classes at all, but leftist ideology training grounds.) Writing classes are great for people who need help jumping the hurdle from processing to creating - and at some point or several, whatever form the ‘class’ takes, most of us need that help - but there is good and deserved criticism about the way writing is taught, at every level. That said, long ago I earned a certificate in YA/children’s lit, I was an English lit minor, and I have an MFA in creative writing.

10. What inspired you to write?

Reading. I’ve loved books from the earliest moments of my childhood. I read, and then I wrote something for others to read. It was natural as breathing. I can’t imagine one without the other.

I’m not sure who all has done this already, so I’m tagging @praise-the-lord-im-dead, @moochiethinks, and anyone who wants to do it.

#my writing life

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mediabasedlife · 7 years

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Initial Impressions 05: Doomsday Clock

Disclaimer: This Article Contains Spoilers For Watchmen And Doomsday Clock.

To say Watchmen was a good comic is like saying Bob Ross was a good artist; that is, both sentences are obvious understatements. Watchmen was - and remains - a piece of literary genius, a commercial and critical success. It was one of the first graphic novels to make it onto Time Magazine's best 100 novels list and a winner of the illustrious Hugo Award. For those who don't know, Watchmen is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Batman - The Killing Joke) and drawn by Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It started publication in 1986, continuing for twelve issues into 1987, before being collected into a single volume that same year. Watchmen's story is a rich and complex narrative that plays out as equal parts political satire, murder mystery, and deconstruction of the superhero genre. It takes place in an alternate history than our own, in which the world saw the rise of the costumed hero back in the 1940s whos presence dramatically altered the course of world events; America wins the Vietnam War, Watergate is never exposed, and Nixon abolishes the term limitations, going on to be president far longer than he ever should have been. The 1980s see America and Russia edging closer and closer to World War III. Amidst all the political chaos the aforementioned costumed heroes have been outlawed, with many of them now retired or serving the government. All of this history leads to the event which kicks off the entire Watchmen graphic novel; The death of the Comedian, a hero turned government agent and the investigation that follows.

I could talk at length about my love of Watchmen from both the original graphic novel to the 2009 film adaptation, praise its subtleties, narrative, nuances, and motifs, but that's not why we're here today. Instead, we're here to talk about Doomsday Clock, the Geoff Johns (Flashpoint, DC Rebirth #1) led Watchmen sequel. The idea of a sequel is outlandish to some, and with good reason; the last watchmen project that went through was 2012's controversial Before Watchmen, a DC comic book series designed to serve as a prequel to the events of Watchmen proper with each story focusing on a different hero or villain from the original series. Led by a myriad of different creative minds, the project was met with lukewarm critical reception, especially by Alan Moore himself. Personally, I consider the series to be fine at best, neither overly terrible or outstandingly good. It certainly wasn't the stroke of mastery that Watchmen was. This could be said for much of the DC universe at this time; 2012 was just one year into DC's controversial New 52 continuity. It abolished decades of established DC history, electing to start a new continuity more accessible to new readers, but left many veteran fans displeased. The New 52 continued from 2011 to 2016, and it was here that DC found themselves at a turning point. The New 52 was coming to a close, and a rebirth was at hand. DC Rebirth, to be exact.

The DC Rebirth special, also written by Johns, served as a return to form; while still following the New 52 history, Rebirth's goal was to restore as much of the old as it could, bringing back characters and storylines lost to the New 52 and incorporating them into the current canon. On a list of things to read before starting Doomsday Clock, this would be number one. The issue follows Kid Flash, aka Wally West, on his journey back home. It serves as the first in-universe indication that things are amiss in the DCU. Something, or someone, has stolen a decade from the world. Memories, Characters, Events...Rebirth kicks off the mystery of who this somebody is in a spectacular fashion - by bridging the DC Universe with that of Watchmen. This bridge would go on to be further established by a myriad of different storylines throughout the current Rebirth comic line, but most notably by The Button crossover event. In The Button, we see Batman and Flash investigate the mystery of a certain bloodstained smiley face which lodged itself in the Batcave at the end of the Rebirth special. It was also with The Button that we got the reveal of Doomsday Clock, which started its twelve issue publication run in the tail end of November 2017.

So, we're here. We're finally at Doomsday Clock. The Big To-Do, the explosive clash between Alan Moore's Watchmen with DC Comics. As it stands right now, Doomsday Clock is one-quarter finished, with three of its twelve issues available to read right now. So how is it? Well, in my opinion, Doomsday Clock is fantastic. It's no Watchmen, but I don't think it was ever supposed to be. Doomsday Clock serves as a direct sequel to Moore's masterpiece and does a good job standing up next to it, at least so far. So far Geoff Johns has done a fantastic job authoring this story, seeding it with mysteries and hooks that keep you guessing and wanting more. His prose isn't identical to Moore's, but carries the same heft and feel. His writing is amplified by the equally fantastic artwork courtesy of Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson. Together the two make the comic pop, painting a vibrant collage across every panel and page. Their style is distinct, adhering rather faithfully to Watchmen's nine-panel grid, sporting visuals that feel right at home next to the literary classic. The tone of Doomsday Clock also melds well with Watchmen, with both stories being byproducts of the political climate of their respective times. Watchmen played off of the politics of the eighties, creating an even darker vision of the world in a sort of parody. Doomsday Clock almost got scrapped, before the 2016 presidential election and how the world changed as a result of it. Together they feel like stories that go hand in hand, but for the purists out there, Watchmen can still be seen as its own work, an entity separate from all else.

But what is Doomsday Clock about? As earlier stated, Doomsday Clock serves as a direct sequel to, and a crossover of, Watchmen and DC Rebirth. But what does that mean? Watchmen concludes with Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, succeeding in his mad plot to bring peace at the expense of countless lives. He averts nuclear war through a convoluted scheme involving a faux-alien invasion and the death of over three million people. Following this Doctor Manhattan, the only truly superpowered being of that world, left earth to find a new universe that was less messy than that of Watchmen's. The Rebirth special established the idea that a hidden power was manipulating the DC universe and all of its characters, a godlike entity who has been watching and altering events to their whim or for some unknown purpose. This entity is revealed to be Doctor Manhattan. Through the Rebirth Special, the Comedian's badge embeds itself in the wall of the Batcave. Batman studies this button, along with the flash, leading to an adventure through dimensions, other realities, presenting a further look at the modifications Manhattan has done to the DC Universe. This leads to Doomsday Clock, where the crossover truly begins. The world of Watchmen is in chaos. The people have discovered the truth behind Veidt's scheme, and it pushed them over the brink. Doomsday Clock's first issue sees all of this play out, taking place seven years after the conclusion of Watchmen. Watchmen's world faces nuclear annihilation, and this time nothing stands in its way. Hence a new scheme by Veidt; he builds a team with the sole purpose of locating the absent Manhattan and bringing him back to the Watchmen universe in an attempt to right the world's wrongs.

This is the basis for Doomsday Clock's story - the hunt for Doctor Manhattan, and the investigation into his true impact on the DC Universe at large. Veidt's team for this universe-spanning endeavor consists of himself, a new Rorschach, and two original characters; The Marionette and the Mime. The first Doomsday Clock issue sees them all coming together, while the second one sends them on their way. As of Issue three, all the players are in motion. It is here I want to diverge a moment and express a certain admiration for an accomplishment Geoff Johns has met with this story. With the Marionette and the Mime, Johns has managed to create new characters that still feel like they could have existed back when Alan Moore first wrote Watchmen all those years ago. Mime and Marionette, much like the other characters from Watchmen, are based on Charlton Comics characters - Punch and Jewelee. Husband and Wife, both are costumed villains in the Watchmen universe, with Doomsday Clock #1 seeing Rorschach springing them from jail in order to recruit them for their mission. Mime is mute, as his name implies, while Marionette is the voice. Doomsday Clock's second issue establishes a believable backstory, solidifying their necessity and value in the events to come. It is with these original characters that Johns proves he is more than capable of capturing Watchmen's tone and feel, a fact that is further solidified as the story goes on.

On the DC side of things, Doomsday Clock is set one year into the future of all current DC stories, further emphasizing that this is the tale Rebirth has been leading to since issue one. The world is faced with a superhero identity crisis; a new theory has been bred that asks the question, "Why are almost all the heroes and villains American?". Dubbed the Superman theory, it has the DC world in its own state of disarray, proposing the idea that the American government has found a way to create heroes and villains in an attempt to get an edge, hence its large number of metahumans as compared to any other region of the world. This ire spills over to Batman as well, with some of our first moments in Gotham being as viewers to a rather angry protest of the Dark Knight. This hasn't stopped Batman from doing what he does best, but it does show a dramatic tonal shift on the behalf of public perception to his heroics. Under the Cowl, Batman isn't faring any better; Wayne Tech and LexCorp are currently at war with one another on a corporate level. To quote Sally Juspeczyk from Watchmen, "Things are tough all over, cupcake."

We're only three issues in so far, but already Johns has proven his worth and created a story just as compelling and intriguing as the stories it strives to succeed. Watchmen was a masterpiece of its time, a piece of literature that continues to stand as a pillar of the comic book industry even now. Doomsday Clock feels like a pleasant complement and a strong sequel, expertly mirroring the narrative flow, the subtleties, and the visual flair of Moore's work while still putting new ideas on the table. It's too early to say whether or not Doomsday Clock will have the same impact as Watchmen, or be the same stroke of literary Genius, but I don't think it needs to. The world already has a Watchmen. Doomsday Clock is shaping up to be something familiar but new, something that can stand on its own merit while still being an impressive sequel to one of the best graphic novels ever written. Doomsday Clock's initial three issues are available now, its fourth releasing on March 28th. The clock is ticking across the DC universe, and with nine issues left to go, all we can do is wait and see what mysteries it has in store for us next.

#Initial Impressions #Doomsday Clock #Watchmen #DC #Comics #Comic Review

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themostrandomfandom · 7 years

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Hey JJ, I was wondering what is your opinion on Klaine and the relationship between them and Brittana. Also I have a friend whose really obsessed with you and your blog and she reads it religiously so that must mean that your stuff is good ;) hope your day is going well :)))

Hey, @ruskinino!

First off, thank you forthe sweet message. Sorry it has taken me so long to post a reply.

Second, in response to yourquestion:

While both TPTB at Glee and fanon might like toimagine a close and straightforwardly friendly bond between Brittana andKlaine, I think that, in reality, things are much more complicated, and,unfortunately, less positive.

The two couples don’t hate each other, but thereis certainly a degree of caution in the way they interact, with both sides having been burned in the past.

We can break the issues down after the cut.

WARNING: I am writing this response as a fan of Brittany Pierceand Santana Lopez and a Brittana shipper. Though my intention isn’t to bashKurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, or Klaine, there are elements of my analysis thatare critical of their behavior and which discuss some negative views which I believethat Brittany and Santana hold towards them. If you ship Klaine, proceedcautiously. What follows probably won’t be your cup of tea.

___

Brittana, Klaine, and Glee’s Writing

First, let’s talk aboutBrittana and Klaine on a production level.

In terms of Glee marketing,Brittana and Klaine were very important. For a show that prided itself on itsdiversity and forward-thinkingness, having two same-sex teen couples at itsfront and center was a big deal. While a lot of the critical praise for Gleedied off before the first season had even ended, the show continued toaccumulate awards from GLAAD, the Trevor Project, and other LGBTQ organizationsthroughout its run thanks, in no small part, to Brittana and Klaine’sprominence.

For PR purposes, Brittanaand Klaine were often paired together in promotional materials and paralleledin episode structures. RIB loved putting them side by side because when they did,it got everyone’s attention. If having one same-sex couple getmarried on TV was a huge thing, then having two same-sex couples get married onTV at the same time was an even huger one. It was all about doubling up, and thepowers that be at Glee took the opportunity to put two and twotogether when they could.

That said, Brittana +Klaine was often better executed in idea than in practice.

The truth is that asidefrom being LGBTQ and participating in show choir, Brittana and Klaine were twovery different couples, and Brittany, Santana, Kurt, and Blaine were four verydifferent characters. While in theory there exists a fictional universe wherethey all (or at least most of them) could have been friends—a point which manyexcellent fanfics well prove—the canon Gleeverse wasn’t it, mostly because thewriters never put in the work to really establish those interpersonal dynamics.

Brittana and Klaineran in the same circles and frequently orbited around one another in terms oftheir storylines and character development, but the narration never truly allowedthem to get to know one another or to form stable bonds.

Despite various comingstogether, at the end of six seasons, shared wedding notwithstanding, one nevergot the sense that Brittana and Klaine were actually very good friends. Sure,they didn’t hate one another, but there was also no deep love between them.Klaine were still questioning Brittana’s motives. Brittana were still mockingKlaine’s clothing, mannerisms, and relationship status.

Glee had failed to provethat these kids actually liked and related to one another on any special level.It was just another instance in which Glee kept trying to tell us that thesecharacters were friends, but they never showed us that such was the case (see here).

For as much as fanon lovesto imagine what might have been, canon shows us a much more convoluted—and muchless pretty—picture, one in which, due to a history of bullying and hijinks,Klaine never got comfortable enough to drop their guards around Brittana, andso, after years of repeated rebuffs and rejections, Brittana eventually grewfrustrated with Klaine’s distrust of them and emotionally disengaged.

So now let’s talk aboutthese relationships “in universe.”

Kurt and Brittany

The truth is that KurtHummel, like most of the characters on Glee, never really gets Brittany Pierce,and his view of her doesn’t change much between S1 and S6 (see here).

To Kurt, Brittany is simpleand strange—“a girl who thinks the square root of four is rainbows” and talks openlyand unironically about unicorns.

He tends to accept what hesees from her at face value, buying into the early stereotype she perpetuatesfor herself, namely that she is slutty and dumb, in some ways unaccountable forher own actions because she doesn’t understand what she is doing (see here).

Because Kurt’s initialimpression of Brittany is that there is not much to her, he never really thinksto look at what might be going on beneath her surface, and his opinion on hercharacter remains generally static. Consequently, he has trouble comprehendingher more nuanced behaviors, and he oftentimes patently misunderstands herbecause he is unaware of what her true motivations are and where her emotionalstakes lie.

Initially, the fact that Brittanyis one of the most popular girls in school is somewhat intimidating to Kurt, andespecially because she and the rest of the Unholy Trinity don’t mesh well withthe New Directions. For a long time, he doesn’t understand Brittany’smotivations for joining the glee club and so doesn’t entirely trust her. Whenshe is revealed as a spy in episode 1x13, he feels his distrust of her hasbeen validated (“You leaked the set list! You don’t want to behere. You were just Sue Sylvester’s little moles!”).It is well into S2 before he begins to trust that Brittany really wants to bepart of the glee club and that she isn’t just out for herself.

As time goes on andBrittany becomes more integrated into the group, Kurt tries to be nice to her inthe same way that people try to be nice to infants and pets, but oftentimes hispatience with her shenanigans wears thin, which is something that we see fromhim both when she serves as his beard in episode 1x18 and when she becomes his presidentialcampaign manager in episode 3x02.

When the things she saysbaffle him or when her behavior comes across to him as particularly nonsensical,Kurt has a tendency to snap at Brittany and drive her away. Lack ofunderstanding and patience for Brittany notwithstanding, Kurt does seem togenerally like her and is sometimes even protective of her. If asked, he wouldprobably say that he considers Brittany a friend, albeit not his closest one. Attimes, he even calls her by an affectionate short name, “Britt.”

Kurt and Santana

Kurt’s dynamic with Santanaover the years is similar to his dynamic with Brittany, in that it is alsopredicated on an initial poor first impression and the inability to advance thoseinitial views, even given an accumulation of new evidence.

To Kurt, Santana is thequintessential mean girl, motivated largely by malevolence and spite.

When she initially joinsglee club, he doubts her loyalties, just as he does Brittany’s. However,whereas the biggest fault he finds with Brittany is that, in his view, she isstupid and has a bad taste in friends, with Santana, he finds that she isvicious and even dangerous, particularly as she has a tendency to makehomophobic comments towards him (K: “Can we talk about the giant elephant inthe room?” S: “Your sexuality?”).

While there is some debateas to whether or not Kurt realizes that Santana is gay prior to her S3 outing, thefact is that, no matter what he knows or doesn’t know, he remains fairly alooffrom her throughout S1 and S2, and, in the few instances when they do interact,he is openly wary of her intentions.

In his mind, Santana isinherently selfish, so the idea that she would put herself on the line forsomeone else without expecting anything in return just doesn’t add up to him. Why does she protect him from Dave Karofsky? How come she goes out of her way to get him back to WMHS from Dalton? What gives with her suddenly using her prom queen campaign to protect him when for the lastseveral years she has taken every opportunity to bully him for being gay?

His cautious attitude towardsher continues into S3, when he doesn’t know exactly what to make of herattempts to be nice to him and behaves towards her as one might a cat that hadpreviously attacked him but is now purring. Though after her outing, he has abetter idea of why she does some of the things she does—such as going with him,Blaine, and Brittany to confront Sebastian Smythe after Dave Karofsky’s suicideattempt—much of her behavior still remains a mystery in his mind.

Why, for instance, does shenot appreciate his and Blaine’s attempts to serenade her during Lady MusicWeek?

In S4, when Santana becomeshis roommate in NYC, Kurt finds her behavior invasive and at times infuriating,though he generally gets along with her better than Rachel does.

In S5, he feels forced to choosebetween his loyalties to Santana and his loyalties to Rachel, and he inevitablychooses the latter.

In S6, he regards Santanaas a friend, though he still struggles to reconcile her behavior with what hethinks he knows about her basic motivations, which is why it so surprises himwhen she seemingly “out of the blue” decides to share her wedding day with himand Blaine.

As I discuss elsewhere,

Santana spends much of S1 and S2 making homophobic comments aboutKurt, so, to him, Santana is a mean girl, and he never really allows her togrow out of that role in his eyes.

Though in later seasons she becomes his roommate and tries tobecome his friend, he always keeps her at arm’s length and will side withRachel over her in a heartbeat, even in situations where Rachel is in thewrong.

At best, Santana is his fun, bitchy lesbian acquaintance. Atworst, she is his caustic, bitchy lesbian acquaintance.

He seems convinced that she is an awful person who sometimesmasquerades as a sweetheart rather than a sweetheart who sometimes masqueradesas an awful person, and he treats her accordingly, for the most part—though, infairness, he seems somewhat more amiable toward Santana than is Rachel, on thewhole.

Kurtand Brittana

As stated above, Kurt’sopinions of both Brittany and Santana remain fairly static throughout theentire series. When he first gets to know Brittana, he observes that Brittanyis a ditz and Santana is a bully, and his views on them don’t much change overthe course of the next six years.

If he encounters behavior fromthem which deviates from what he thinks he knows about their characters, then hecounts that behavior as aberrant and doesn’t shift his schema to allow for thenew evidence.

In other words, if Brittanydoes something undeniably clever, then he is likely to suppose it was anaccident—an exception rather than the rule. Ditto for if Santana does somethingcertifiably nice.

By S6, he knows enough torealize that, generally speaking, he and Brittana are on the same side.However, he continues to doubt their intentions, and, even up to the pointwhere they are graciously sharing their wedding day with him and Blaine, hestill questions their characters, failing to understand that they have grownand changed a lot since they were fifteen years old.

Overall, he does notunderstand Brittana’s dynamic. He either assumes that they function like he andBlaine do (see episode 6x03)—which they don’t—or else just plain fails to wraphis head around how they behave and what they feel for each other,underestimating the strength and depth of their bond. At his core, he can’t seewhat they see in each other. Why would someone like Brittany want to be withsomeone like Santana? Why would someone like Santana want to be with someonelike Brittany? What do they have in common? How do they make things work?

Brittana really are amystery to Kurt, but one he doesn’t spend too much time trying to unravel.

The fact that he soadamantly opposes their engagement even after six years of knowing them showsthat he doesn’t really get what they’re all about because, if he did, he wouldrealize that through all the ups and downs and changes with them throughout thetime that he has known them, they’ve always been each other’s only constant,and their bond with each other is strong, deep, and mature.

Brittany and Kurt

In S1, Brittany primarilyseems to pity Kurt Hummel—and especially because she very much understands hisunderlying motivations at that time.

Brittany is out long beforeKurt is, and she seemingly never wrestles with her own sense of identity in theway that Kurt does (see here).However, she does still feel for Kurt, and particularly as she recognizes thathe and Santana are essentially in the same boat.

Though at this point in theshow, few people would see similarities between an unpopular, virginal gaychoir boy and a popular, slutty “straight” cheerleader, Brittany knowsthat Kurt and Santana actually share much in common, albeit below thesurface.

Both Kurt and Santana carrya secret that that they’re desperately trying to suppress. Both Kurt andSantana worry that if they are honest about their identities, they will losethe love of their family members. Both Kurt and Santana perform socialgymnastics in order to maintain a sense of equilibrium in their lives, tryingdesperately to balance who they really are with who they think they need to bein order to survive.

Brittany is aware longbefore Santana says it out loud that Santana looks to Kurt as thequintessential canary down the mineshaft and that anything she sees happeningto him, she fears will also happen to her. Whenever Kurt faces homophobia orsuffers a setback as he negotiates his outness, Santana takes note, andBrittany, by extension, does, too.

In my view, that is why throughout S1 we see several instancesin which Brittany helps Kurt to interact with his father on his own terms, suchas in episode 1x04, when she and Tina convince Burt that Kurt is on thefootball team so that Kurt can save face (see here),and in episode 1x18, when she acts as Kurt’s beard so that Kurt can prove toBurt that he is “straight” (see here).

At this point in herdevelopment, Brittany is still very much in the business of helping Santana tomaintain the illusion of their straightness, and she essentially does the samething for Kurt. While she may not personally feel the need to hide her same-sexattractions, she knows that Kurt and Santana do, and she doesn’t hesitate toplay along in their schemes to convince the world that they are “outstandingheterosexuals,” no matter how overblown and ineffectual said schemes may be.

It is only as Brittanystarts to change how she relates to Santana during S2 that her relationshipwith Kurt also changes, and she becomes less about trying to help him obfuscate his true self and more about helping him to celebrate it.

Nowhere is this attitudefrom her more apparent than in episode 2x20, when she acknowledges how strongKurt has to be in order to be himself and encourages Santana to stand by him inhis time of trouble (“Go back out there and be there for Kurt. This is gonna bea lot harder for him than it is for you”).

While there is an element of self-service to Brittany’s actionsin this situation—Santana helping Kurt to feel comfortable with himself in turnhelps Santana to feel comfortable with herself, and a comfortable Santana isone who will be able to date Brittany—there is also some genuine pride andappreciation underlying them.

Brittany is glad that Kurt has gone from being someone who wouldlie to his father about having a girlfriend to being someone who can takeownership of a shitty situation by saying, “I’m proud to be who I am.” She seesthe progress he has made, and she applauds his real bravado.

Though she hasn’t said so out loud, to this point in the show,Brittany has considered herself to be in a position to “help Kurt up.” While hehas struggled to accept himself and later to forge his identity as an out gaykid at a conservative school, Brittany has already been there, and she has beenquietly watching him, lending him help when she can, and rooting for him fromthe sidelines.

Come S3, she feels that Kurt has finally peaked and that theyare now on equal footing in terms of being comfortable in their own skins.

That’s why she turns to him as an ally in her quest to make WMHSa safe place for other, potentially still-closeted LGBTQ kids, includingSantana—because she assumes that she and Kurt are both in a position to helpothers reach the point they’ve gotten to and that they’re on the same pageabout the importance of activism in their community (see here).

Her assumption is a mistake not because Kurt doesn’t care aboutLGBTQ causes but because he doesn’t understand her and her motivations.

For one thing, like most people at the school, Kurt doesn’t seemto think of Brittany as bisexual, her openness concerning her orientationnotwithstanding (see hereand here).Particularly given that Brittany and Santana are not yet openly dating at thetime when episode 3x02 takes place, Kurt doesn’t get that Brittany has theproverbial dog in this fight. In his mind, she is an ally at best, so it’s nother personal safety, comfort, and wellbeing that are going on the line in thiscampaign, just his. He is the out gay kid, so he’s the one that will have to facethe backlash, not Brittany, who, according to his understanding, is ostensiblystraight.

For another thing, because Kurt views Brittany as naïve, he believesthat she is wildly oversimplifying the matter at hand and that she doesn’tunderstand the grander implications of her own actions. He assumes that shethinks that running a campaign of this nature will be easy and that no one willpush back against it because her world is all rainbows, puppies, andbutterflies. He doesn’t realize that Brittany has been watching how peoplereact to him for as long as they’ve known each other. He also doesn’t get thatshe is smart enough to know what happens to anyone who dares to be toodifferent at their school.

While Kurt is finally to the place where he is comfortableclaiming his identity as a gay man and publicly being in a relationship withBlaine, he isn’t eager to become the face of the gay rights movement atWMHS—and especially not after being driven to Dalton the year before. The waypeople react to him is different than the way people react to Brittany andalways has been. While she may be comfortable associating herself with ProjectUnicorn, he isn’t, and so he and Brittany butt heads.

Whereas in the past when Kurt has snapped at Brittany (see episodes1x18 and 2x02), Brittany has typically backed off and done as Kurt says, in S3,Brittany actually stands up to Kurt, and the fact that she does so isreflective of her own personal growth during the Back Six of S2.

That said, it is also reflective of her changed view of Kurt nowthat he is out and more at ease in his own skin. In the past, Brittany viewedKurt as delicate, so she was all about being gentle with him and going alongwith things at his pace so as not to spook him. Now she knows that he isconfident in himself and that he can handle tough love. In her mind, that meansthat she can take the kiddie gloves off with him. So she does.

When Kurt says he doesn’t want her to run his campaign for thesenior class presidency, Brittany comes back swinging. Though she initiallyshows shock and disappointment about his decision, after a pep talk fromSantana, she tells Kurt that she is going to continue the campaign without him,becoming a candidate herself. While she isn’t mean about what she says, she isfirm, and she doesn’t back down.

This action represents a major shift in the way Brittany relatesto Kurt. No longer does she pity him or look at him as someone she has to baby.

—and that point is important, because going forward into S3,Brittany really seems to take off her rose-tinted glasses when it comes toKurt and how he treats her.

Brittany has always been aware that everyone aside from Santanathinks she’s stupid. Some people are meaner about it, like Finn, while somepeople are nicer about it, like Mercedes. It’s the difference between outrightdisdain and condescension versus “being too gentle” with her. Kurt was alwayson the nicer end of the continuum. Brittany knew he didn’t think of her as anintellectual equal, but she was willing to let it slide because at least mostof the time he was kind.

But as their political campaign heats up, Kurt starts to getannoyed with Brittany’s antics—and particularly as she gains over him in thepolls—and his interactions with her become noticeably harsher. Whereas beforehe always at least tried to hide the fact that he thought she was as dumb as abox of rocks, now he is much more open in his patronization, and Brittany isn’thaving it (see episode 3x03).

Between the disrespect he shows Brittany as a political rivaland his participation in Santana’s humiliating public outing experience (seeepisode 3x07), Brittany starts to get a bit passive aggressive towards Kurt. Ofcourse, it’s not that she outright hates the kid—she still likes him wellenough—it’s just that she is no longer giving him a free pass in how he treatsother people.

That attitude is the one she carries into S4 and S5, as Kurtgraduates and moves to New York, where Santana eventually becomes his roommate.While Brittany doesn’t have much direct contact with Kurt during this time, shehears through the grapevine about how he is treating her girl, and, honestly,the reports leave her troubled.

That Rachel and Kurt would kick Santana out of first the Loftand later Pamela Lansbury when Santana wants nothing more than to be theirfriends doesn’t sit well with Brittany. That Santana always seems to have tobeg for Hummelberry’s acceptance and friendship even though she freely givesthose things to them hurts Brittany’s heart.

In episodes 5x12 and 5x13 especially, Brittany sees just howmuch of a toll it has taken on Santana to constantly have to be on her guardaround Hummelberry, and she feels frustrated because things didn’t have to bethat way.

If Kurt had just dropped his guard, Santana would have been hisfriend to the end. Couldn’t he see?

Again, Brittany doesn’t hate Kurt for his behavior, but she alsodoesn’t entirely excuse it. In her mind, Kurt can be a nice guy when doesn’thave his head up his ass. It’s just that Kurt does have his head up his ass alot, and particularly when he is caught up in the constant drama that seems tosurround Rachel and Blaine.

Honestly, Brittany is never a big fan of Blaine, a point whichwe’ll discuss in more detail later.

Come S6 when Brittany starts interacting with Kurt on theregular again, her m.o. seems to be that she wants to remind him to be true tohimself and to heed his better impulses. She goes about doing so by behavingpassive-aggressively towards Kurt when he fails to toe the line (see episode6x02) and calling him out when he crosses it (see episode 6x03). Throughoutthis season, we see her use more tricksy troll!Brittany behavior on him thanshe ever has before, usually with the intent to take him down a peg or two whenshe believes he is getting too full of himself (see here).

At this point, Brittany knows that Kurt will probably neverfully get her and Santana and that their relationship will never be superclose, even given their shared history at WMHS. Still, she wants to be ondecent terms with him, and she wants him to show her and Santana basic respect,even if he doesn’t understand them or their dynamic at all.

As for Brittany’s push to share her wedding with Kurt andBlaine, suffice it to say that there’s a lot more to that story than meets theeye, and, despite what she professes, Brittany is no Klaine shipper (see here).Brittany has her eye on a prize in that situation, and Kurt is just in thedetails. She is on her way to a happy ending, and if she has to let him mooch herwedding venue to do so, then so be it.

Her attitude in that episode is indicative of her overall attitudetoward Kurt to end the show: She feels like she and Santana tried to connectwith him, but it never worked out. At first, she was hurt by the fact that Kurtnever came to understand her—and especially that he never came to understandSantana—but now she’s over it. She can be friends with him on a superficiallevel as long as he’s nice to them, but she’s not going to sit back and let himtreat her or Santana badly anymore. She knows they’re worth more than that,whether Kurt sees it or not. In the end, Kurttany has become a fairly neutralrelationship, and Brittany’s m.o. with it is to do no harm and take no shit.

Brittany and Blaine andKlaine’s Relationship

As I discuss elsewhere,

While Brittany doesn’t hate Blaine like she hates Rachel, she alsoisn’t his number one fan. In general, Brittany doesn’t take well to anyone whobelieves that they’re better than everyone else, so Blaine going after everysolo and role and class presidency with aplomb, regardless of whom he steps onto do so, doesn’t sit well with her. Brittany believes in being a team player,and, the way she sees it, Blaine isn’t one. He will always put himself in thepoint position, even if he isn’t the best person for the job.

—which brings us to his treatment of Kurt.

Historically, Brittany has been protective of Kurt, as she cansympathize with him (see here, here, and here).Brittany likes to see Kurt succeed because she likes the idea that someone whomarches to the beat of his own drummer can make it in a world that tries tomake everyone conform—hence why she helps Kurt with his campaign and why sheacts as his background singer for his NYADA audition and why she is generallynice to him, even though they’re not necessarily close friends.

Of course, just because Brittany generally likes Kurt and wantshim to succeed doesn’t mean she always agrees with him and his choices or willrefrain from giving him a little bit of tough love should she feel the need todo so.

Enter her “advice” to Kurt in episode 6x02 “Homecoming.”

Brittany has watched Kurt’s relationship with Blaine from thestart, and, honestly? I don’t think she likes most of what she sees.

For Brittany, a real partnership is about two people supportingeach other and helping each other to fulfill their dreams, and from Brittany’sperspective, I don’t think she sees Blaine doing those things for Kurt, thoughKurt often does them for Blaine.

In her eyes, when Kurt and Blaine both want the same thing—i.e., asolo in glee club, a role in the school play, a prestige spot at NYADA, acertain rule to be honored in their relationship—Blaine almost inevitably endsup getting whatever the thing is, with Kurt stepping aside or bowing out inorder to allow him to have it.

Add on the fact that Brittany has undoubtedly heard all about the“Klaine can’t live together without fighting” fiasco from Santana, and,frankly, I think Brittany probably views Blaine as a negative factor in Kurt’slife rather than a positive one.

That said, Brittany is all about respecting the choices peoplemake for themselves, so for as passive-aggressive as she may be about and eventowards Blaine, she isn’t going to stand in Kurt’s way once he decides he wantsto be with Blaine forever.

If Kurt loves and wants to be with Blaine, then Kurt loves andwants to be with Blaine, and Brittany will accept that Blaine is Kurt’s person,even if she doesn’t understand the appeal (see episode 6x03 and 6x08).

Santana and Kurt

Santana’s relationship with Kurt follows a similar trajectory toBrittany’s.

However, while Brittany runs through the cycle of sympathizing withKurt, wanting to befriend him, realizing that a deep friendship with him is notpossible because he never makes an effort to understand her, and then gettingover it mostly over the course of S1-S3 (at least on her own account),Santana’s cycle runs over the course of the whole series, and it runs on higheroctane than Brittany’s does overall.

Santana is the more emotionally reactive half of Brittana, so shetends to take things with Kurt harder than does Brittany on a whole, and especiallybecause her relationship with him is wrapped up in her own sense of identity asa gay person and in her dynamics with Brittany, Rachel, and her feelings abouther future, and it is marked by insecurity from start almost to finish.

As I say elsewhere,

Santana’s relationship with Kurt iscomplicated.

On the one hand, she spent much of high school wishing she couldbe him: i.e., the out gay kid who persisted in being himself no matter whatopposition he faced.

On the other hand, she spent much of high school terrified to behim: i.e., the out gay kid who got thrown into lockers and roughed up andtossed into dumpsters and hated on and threatened because he was gay (“I mean,you know what happened to Kurt at this school”).

Kurt was simultaneously an object of both devotion and fear forSantana. In spite of herself, she identified with him very strongly. She sawhis successes as successes she could possibly have and his failures as failuresshe could potentially experience (see Santana intervening to save Klaine fromKarofsky’s wrath in 2x18 and Santana’s panic after Kurt becomes prom queen in2x20).

That’s part of why she worked so hard to make WMHS safe for Kurtin Season Two, long before she herself came out (see here).

During Season Two, Kurt was more of a symbol to Santana thansomeone with whom she had an actual relationship, but during Season Three, shemade her first overtures of real friendship to him, reaching out to him whenSebastian and the Warblers tried to hurt him and Blaine (“Today is your luckyday, because Auntie Snixx just arrived on the Bitch Town Express”).

In her mind, Santana had done Kurt several solids by thispoint—i.e., forming the Bully Whips on his behalf, bringing him back to WMHSfrom Dalton, singing to him at prom despite her own fears, taking downSebastian after Sebastian hurt Blaine, etc.—and the fact that she had done soplus her and Kurt’s shared experience of being out gay kids at WMHS should havebeen enough to make them friends.

We see Santana operate under the assumption that she andKurt are friends throughout Season Four, answering his summonsto stage an intervention for Rachel in 4x12 and bringing him Christmas presentsin 5x08 (the events of whichtake place during Season Four chronologically). Though Santana stillcalls Kurt names, she assumes he knows that she only does so because she likeshim.

That being the case, she fully expects him and Rachel to welcomeher into the Loft with open arms (and particularly as Rachel actually invitedher to live in the Loft during the events of 5x08).

Unfortunately, that’s not what happens.

From the very first time Santana does something nice forKurt—i.e., forming the Bully Whips in 2x18—Kurt questions her motivations in sodoing. Why is the girl who openly mocked him and attempted to sabotage the gleeclub during their sophomore year suddenly buddying up to him in their junioryear? Surely someone as selfish as Santana can’t have altruistic motives. Shemust have either lost her mind or stand to profit from helping Kurt somehow.

Even when he learns that Santana is gay come Season Three, Kurtstill views her largely as an outsider, and his distrust (andmisunderstanding) of her continues well into Season Four, when she moves intothe Loft.

To be fair, navigating the Hummelpezberry dynamic is trickybusiness, and particularly for Kurt, who often finds himself in theuncomfortable position of mediating between Rachel and Santana, both of whomget up to some pretty wild hijinks and who often butt heads with each other.

Kurt is a natural peacemaker, and he dislikes having contention inhis home, so he will try to counsel Rachel and Santana through their disputesas much as he is able.

That said, at the end of the day, Kurt is Rachel’s best friend, notSantana’s, so while he may try to maintain his neutrality concerning theirdisputes, when push comes to shove, he almost always sides with Rachel in theend, as per what we see during the Pezberry Funny Girl disputeof early Season Five.

As I say elsewhere:

While there is certainly no shortage of wittybanter and fun musical numbers between roomies Kurt, Santana, and Rachel, thereis a shortage of “relationship-building” scenes—or at least a shortage oflasting “relationship-building” scenes that the Glee writers don’t subsequentlyrescind, ignore, or negate.

For every one friendly gesture Hummelberry andSantana make towards one another—such as, for instance, when Santana helpsRachel through her pregnancy scare in episode 4x15 or when Rachel encouragesSantana not to give up on her dreams in the first scene of episode 5x09—thereare at least two or three scenes that then show how very unstable their dynamicactually is—such as when Hummelberry kick Santana out of the Loft in 4x16 andSantana and Rachel are at each other’s throats throughout most of 5x09 and5x10.

Just as it was always the case that the UnholyTrinity broke down into units of Brittana + Quinn, it is also the case thatHummelpezberry breaks down into units of Hummelberry + Santana, with Santana asthe odd one out.

Not only do Kurt and Rachel frequently form ranksto outvote Santana, but their bond as Hummelberry can exist independent of her,whereas her bonds as part of Pezberry and Kurtana are largely dependent onHummelberry’s bond with each other—i.e., Kurt serves as a necessary peacemakerbetween Pezberry, allowing their friendship to exist, while a common interestin and exasperation with Rachel and her antics is what keeps Kurtana united.

Santana’s bond with Kurt is more stable thanSantana’s bond with Rachel, which is to say that Santana and Kurt are lesslikely to fight than Santana and Rachel are. However, Santana’s bond with Kurtis also weaker than her bond with Rachel is, which is to say that Santana hasless in common with Kurt than she does with Rachel and also that Santana feelsthat Kurt needs her less than Rachel does.

Of course, both Santana’s bond with Kurt ANDSantana’s bond with Rachel are relatively weak compared with Kurt and Rachel’sbond to each other.

If it comes down to it, Hummelberry’s tendency isto have each other’s backs. Though they like Santana to a degree, she is extraneousto them.

And the thing is that Santana knows it.

Santana knows the difference between a secureattachment and an insecure one, and she knows that while Hummelberry aresecurely attached to each other, they are, for the most part, insecurelyattached to her. Santana knows that Hummelberry will tolerate her as long asshe is on her best behavior, and she fears the implications of theirtoleration.

Frankly, Santana is terrified of stepping one toeout of line, lest Hummelberry kick her out of the Loft again—because for asmuch as Santana says that she needs her job at the diner, she needs her placeat the Loft equally as much.

So while Santana ultimately fights less with Kurt than she doeswith Rachel, her relationship with him is just as tenuous and one-sided as isPezberry’s.

She ultimately never achieves the kind of intimacy and secureattachment to Kurt that she craves.

So cut to Season Six, when Kurt objects to Santana’s proposal toBrittany (see here):

Santana is angry that she tried for years toprove to Kurt that she was his friend, and he responded by evicting her fromthe Loft, questioning her intentions in auditioning to play Rachel’sunderstudy, kicking her out of his band, making her feel like a stranger in herown home, being ungrateful when she saved him from his high school bully anddefended Blaine against Sebastian Warbler on his behalf and scored him a job atthe diner and brought her girlfriend into his band and participated (graciouslyand quietly) in his proposal to Blaine and spent time socializing with andgetting to know him, being kind to him in his down moments, giving him soundadvice in a way that no one else was honest enough to do, etc.

Santana is angry that despite her trying herdamnedest to show Kurt that she was not the same girl he knew in highschool—that she wasn’t wrathful anymore, that she was generous, that she waswilling to share her heart in friendship with anyone who would treat it withcare—he never believed her. He always thought the worst of her. He kept her onthe outside, when she so desperately craved (and worked hard to earn) histrust.

Santana is angry but mostly she is hurt.

Santana is hurt because she genuinely cares aboutwhat happens to Kurt, but he has just shown her that he doesn’t give a damnabout what’s most important to her in return.

She showed him her precious things, and hetreated them like they were garbage.

Kurt was supposed to be Santana’s friend, and itbreaks her heart that he isn’t.

So while Santana’s capacity to forgive is muchgreater than most people generally give her credit for—and often even greaterthan those who wrong her might deserve—she does inevitably reach a point whereshe just can’t take it anymore.

And so when Kurt fucks up something that isimportant to Santana, that is sacred to her, that’s supposed to be beautifuland happy and pure, by lecturing her about learning from his mistakes? Sheloses it.

To Santana, it’s just another example of howeverything about the Kurtana relationship has always been about Kurt.

It is no coincidence that Santana spends the months that herrelationship with Brittany is at its most tenuous chasing after Kurt’sapproval. Throughout S4 and early S5, she is desperate for a place to belongand something to hold onto, and she keeps hoping that Kurt will take pity onher. She has always envied the courage he has to be himself, and now that sheis scrambling to figure out who she is outside of high school, she seeks toally herself with him, thinking that maybe some of his self-determination willrub off on her and help her find her direction.

It takes until episode 6x03, when Kurt objects to her proposal toBrittany, for Santana to realize that she should stop killing herself to winKurt’s love and approval, as, in the end, she is probably never going to getit. Going forward, she doesn’t bear Kurt ill-will. She just isn’t as hung up onwhat he thinks of her, largely because she has found where she belongs and shehas a better sense of who she is, regardless of what anyone might think. Thesecurity she feels in her relationship with Brittany makes up for the insecurityshe feels in her relationship with Kurt (and also Rachel). She’ll be friendlywith them on a superficial level, but when they inevitably do something todisappoint her, she isn’t going to take it personally—not anymore.

This attitude towards Kurt is the one that Santana carries intoher wedding day, and it is what allows her to offer up her nuptials for Klaineto take part in as well. Everything that has happened between Santana and Kurtover the years is water under the bridge now, so if Brittany wants Klaine toget married at her and Santana’s wedding, then Santana is cool with it. She’sgame. She can be altruistic, and if Kurt notices, then awesome, but if not,that’s his deal. She doesn’t need his validation anymore. She is just going tobe herself.

Santanaand Blaine and Klaine’s Relationship

The central dynamic between Brittana and Klaine is always mostlybetween Brittana and Kurt, as neither Brittany nor Santana has much of apersonal relationship with Blaine beyond his being Kurt’s boyfriend/fiancé/husband.

To this end, Santana and Blaine don’t often interact on a one-to-one basis, andmost of their exchanges center on and are filtered through Kurt.

On the few occasions when Santana does take notice of Blaine forreasons not directly related to Kurt, her interactions with him are notnecessarily positive.

In episode 2x12, Blainetana get off to a bad start when Blainesingles Santana out at BreadStix, singing to her that she may never find loveat all and compounding her already horrible, awful, no good, very badValentine’s Day by drawing attention to her loneliness and (inadvertently)playing on her fears.

Things get worse in S3 after Blaine transfers to WMHS from Daltonand immediately starts grabbing up solos left and right, exacerbating Santana’ssense that there is no place for her in an already crowded New Directions (seeepisode 3x04).

That said, though Santana does not have much love for Blaine on apersonal level, she is willing to tolerate him for Kurt’s sake.

In general, Santana follows the same rule as Brittany when itcomes to how she treats Blaine and his relationship with Kurt, which is to saythat, though she may not personally see Blaine’s appeal for Kurt or think that Blaineis a particularly good match for him, she acknowledges that if Blaine is Kurt’sman, then Blaine is Kurt’s man, and so treats him like a friend for Kurt’s sake.In her case, “treating Blaine like a friend for Kurt’s sake” translates to hersnarking at him as she does at Kurt but also protecting him like her own whenneeds be.

The place where this behavior from her is most apparent is inepisode 3x11, when she “goes to battle” against Sebastian Smythe after hethrows rock salt in Blaine’s eye, sending Blaine to the hospital. Her musicalduel against Sebastian and the reconnaissance work she does against him is allfor Blaine’s benefit, a way to prove that Sebastian is guilty and get him backgood for what he’s done.

To Santana, that’s just how one treats a friend’s significantother—and it’s what she would expect Kurt to do for Brittany were the situationreversed.

Note: Santana’s expectation that friends should respect theirfriends’ relationships even if they don’t necessarily like or “get” themunderlies her hurt when Kurt objects to her proposal to Brittany in S6. No matterhow she feels about Blaine, she would never undermine Kurt’s right to be withhim or place her objections over Kurt’s feelings.

Overall, Santana seems to view Blaine as conceited and feelannoyed with him for his grandstanding, but she still accepts that Kurt loveshim, and that’s good enough for her. The only time she ever truly “goes after”Kurt and Blaine’s relationship is in episode 6x03, after Kurt objects to herproposal to Brittany. In that case, she is lashing out to hurt Kurt because hehurt her first. In her mind, he broke the “your friend’s relationship is sacred”rule, so she’s punishing him for it, plain and simple. The fact that she laterforgives Kurt enough to let him and Blaine share in her wedding proves that herdiatribe was mostly a nervous reaction and that, underneath everything, shebears Klaine no real malice. Again, she is over it, and if Kurt wants to marryBlaine, then that’s his business, and she’ll respect his decision.

Blaineand Brittana

As stated above, Blaine doesn’t have many individual interactionswith either Brittany or Santana, as he knows them mostly through Kurt (and, inBrittany’s case, through Sam).

That being the case, his views of the girls andtheir relationship seem mostly to fall in line with Kurt’s: He thinks Brittanyis dumb, Santana is mean, and Brittana is somewhat inexplicable. In general, heseems to be amused by the strangeness that is them, and he doesn’t really gettheir whole “thing,” but he plays it off because, well, why not?

On the few occasions when Brittana do nice things for him—such as when Santana protects him and Kurt from Karofsky in episode 2x17 or when Brittany invites him and Kurt to share in her and Santana’s weddding in 6x08—he is grateful, if befuddled, as he doesn’t really understand where the niceness is coming from.

Following Kurt’s lead, he never really pushes for a deeper or more intimate friendship with either Santana or Brittany or with Brittana as a couple. He seems mostly fine with the pleasant but superficial status quo and with Kurt being closer to the girls than he is. Whatever history is there, he’s not going to poke at. There is nothing that really personally compels him about Brittana, one way or the other.

Conclusion

Brittana and Klaine end the show as neither friends nor enemies.

Santana’s early bullying and Brittany’s seemingincomprehensibility put Kurt off on them early on, and Kurt’s inability tochange his opinions put them off on him later. Though over the years, they singplenty of songs together and show occasional care for one another, ultimately,they fail to achieve true understanding. To Kurt, Brittana are still asimpleton and a mean girl. He doesn’t recognize Brittany’s cleverness orSantana’s ooey-gooey center. To Brittana, Kurt is impossible. They feel theyhave tried to win his friendship to no avail, so now they’ve given up. Their relationshipstops just short of real intimacy. They have shared history, but they don’tbare their souls to one another.

In the end, Brittana and Klaine represent a failed experiment bothinside and outside of their fictional universe.

The writers tried to make “two same-sex couples as buddies” fetchhappen, but they never truly allowed the groups to overcome their rocky startswith each other. Their inability to scaffold and build up this friendshipcorrelates to a larger failure on their parts in the way that they wieldedSantana as a character—namely, that they never quite knew what to do with heronce they could no longer just straight up treat her as a villain following herdevelopment in S2.

They knew that Santana could be nice, but she made such aconvenient heavy that they were reluctant to label her a hero. Their attitudetoward her is reflected in Kurt’s treatment of her, and it accounts for many ofthe starts, stops, and stalls that she and Kurt experience over the years.

The same is also true to for Brittany and Kurt, as the writerswere never able to gracefully transition Brittany between what they had firstenvisioned her as in S1 and what they eventually made her into from S2 on, and,consequently, Kurt was never able to advance his views of her, either.

Since Kurt’s attitudes eventually became Blaine’s, the wholeBrittana and Klaine friendship stalled from the onset. For every one bondingmoment they experienced, there was always a fight or a misunderstanding or agrudge that prevented them from truly drawing close. Klaine keep their guards up. Brittana have hurt feelings and eventually move on.

Of course, none of this analysis is meant to discourage peoplefrom enjoying the idea of a Brittana and Klaine friendship in fic and fanon. It’sjust to say that, in canon, I think that the Glee writers choked in theirexecution and that the whole situation is a lot more complicated than itappears on the surface.

As for my own views on Klaine, I don’t personally ship them,though I respect those who do.

Sorry this answer turned into such a monster piece.

Thank you for the question!

#Crazy Brittanalyst answers #ruskinino #Also @dive-right-into-you: I got your question and I'm working on a response

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girl4music · 7 years

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The 6th studio album from Demi Lovato is here and it’s ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. I made sure to give this a good listen a couple of times through so I could get all the details down of what I wanted to say about it in my review. I heard it on a rushed initial listen and I disliked near to every song on it because of the musical production. I didn’t like how dead and dull the beats sounded. But later I found out that the production did not actually sound that bad, I was just listening to it through earphones that had a broken right ear and I did not realize it. Musical and vocal production is most important to me when it comes to the music. If you have not got that right, then you haven’t got anything right. If the musical production is bad, then it’s all going to sound bad. If the vocal production is bad, then the singer is going to sound bad, no matter how well they performed in the studio. Clarity is key when it comes to both kinds of production. I need to be able to hear everything that’s going on in that track. All the detailed nuances and dynamics in instrumentation. Of course how it’s mixed and mastered plays a huge role into how it sounds on the final cut but it’s mainly the producer that has the job of making sure the track sounds clear so that everything is equalized. These days though the producer also mixes and masters the tracks, so they are pivitol to the finished release. When it comes to the vocal production, that is also extremely important. Especially how the vocalist phonates the lyrics. How they convey their thoughts, feelings and emotions to the listener so you can better understand the story or concept behind the music. Demi is very good at that in general, and on ‘Tell Me You Love Me’, it’s truly what sells it.

This is a track by track review where I talk about the specifics of what I personally picked up both negatively and positively about each track and how I rate it based on those opinions. I’m not your average reviewer. Those of you who read my reviews already know that I am a subjective one. I only draw from my own perception. Everything I see, hear, feel and know about the music is what I talk about. I do not talk about sales, charts and awards. I don’t talk about numbers at all. So if that’s what you’re expecting, you should move along because I never do that. I do not consider it a necessary thing to talk about. But what I do consider necessary to talk about is the music itself and how the artist/band has grown from their previous efforts. What has improved and what has decreased. This shows their development as an artist and that has more benefit to them than me just praising them for the success they’ve already achieved. I attempt to give them critical acclaim through constructive and unbiased criticism. So I will do the very same with this review. Here we go…

1. Sorry Not Sorry

The debut single to ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. This song is a great summer song. She released it at the right time and makes her market. In several interviews Demi talks about how she was the only one that wanted this track to be the first single and that nobody else on her team agreed with her and would of much rather chosen the title track ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ instead. Until she went to seek out the advice of Jay Z at Roc Nation and he told her that she was right. That it should be the debut single. That was what made the debate settle and they went with ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ as the first single of a whole new era for Demi’s music.

I think they made the right decision. It’s a great song. It has it’s pop vibe for radio to latch on to but it also showcases the soulful side the album is offering. It features a choir as many tracks on this album do. It’s sort of an intentional set theme Demi wanted to go for with it’s soulful/gospel style. It’s got a very catchy chorus, something you will sing along to, if you can. Demi’s songs are always difficult for even a classically trained singer like myself to sing to, let alone just anyone. I want to point out how interesting I find the techno bass vocal effect that’s in the track. She uses this effect quite a bit in this album and it’s interesting to me because usually I don’t like this kind of thing in music. Modulated/pitch-shifted vocals usually puts me off. But I actually quite like it in this album. It gives it edge and attitude and it contrasts well with the gospel choir, making it compliment the track overall rather than destroy it. There is too many songs out there where even small things like that can make or break the song. It was a risky decision and it payed off for Demi.

9/10

2. Tell Me You Love Me

‘Tell Me You Love Me’ is the title track of the album and as previously mentioned earlier, was supposed to be the debut single for it. It’s a great song that really shows just how soulful Demi wanted to go with this album and I think that’s why her marketing team were fighting for it so hard against Demi. But she argued that people know her too much for this kinda thing when it comes to her music, so she wanted to prove to the public that she can also be a party girl. She’s versatile and I absolutely LOVE that about her. It’s a big reason why I am a fan.

This track brings in a Jazz band. Horns and brass instruments are heard sounding out in the intro and they have a prominent existence all throughout the entire song. It makes it sound sophisticated and mature musically and sonically and that’s something Demi definetly wants to have if she’s trying to get The Grammy’s attention. The drums that make their way into the track at the chorus are real drums. Big deal for me. I’m tired of hearing drum machine beats. I love the sound of a real drum kit. Demi’s vocals go for the goals with hitting those high upper-belts that she’s known so well for. Upper-belts are her trademark. You know it’s Demi when she’s hit about 5 F#5′s consecutively in the same breath without even so much as a stagger in vocal control. Yeah, to say I’m jealous is an understatement. She said she’d give us an album that showcases other sides to her massive vocal capacity, and she does, but you just come to expect the powerhousing alongside it and think nothing of it. It’s just what she does and she does it very well. For musical production and vocal production as well as vocal performance this makes it one of the best songs on the entire album for me. It scores as high as her voice.

10/10

3. Sexy Dirty Love

Initially I did not like this song but it’s grown on me with every listen to it. It’s a grower track. It’s an infectious disco tune. Like something you’d get from Donna Summer back in the 70′s but with more modernized musical and vocal production. Using the techno bass vocal effect gives it that updated pop production as well as the electronic bass and drum beats. Demi’s proved she can do fast-tempo music with her cover of Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ for the soundtrack to The Angry Birds Movie. She’s never really done disco for her own music though. It’s very different for her, but as usual, she smashes it because she’s just that vocally versatile. Although, not a favourite from this album or really anywhere close, it gets respect and praise from me for her experimenting and trying something new which furthers her development as an artist.

4/10

4. You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore

Now we get on to our big power ballad. ‘You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore’ is gorgeous vocally. Demi finally uses her falsetto register to a degree where it’s clear and consistent and her voice is not wavering around. She has good control of it, proving that she is fully capable of singing in head voice whether recording in the studio or live in performance. She just needs more practice with it. The tonal quality and brightness of her head notes are stunning. A beautiful and light timbre that’s perfect for singing R&B/soul music. Because in soul more than just the modal/belting registers are needed. R&B is about the vocals being used as an instrument. Everything is about vocal capability. It requires flexibility and dexterity. It requires a mixing technique where you can go from head to chest voice easily and fluidly. If you haven’t got that or you can’t execute your vocals to do that consistently, then R&B is not right for you. This is the only reason I was skeptical of Demi going R&B. Not that I doubted that she could do it. I had all the faith in her. I just wanted her to prove to me that she was ready to. This track is what cemented it for me that she can and she will succeed as an R&B/soul artist. I 100% believe that all she needs is more vocal training. I want to see her perform this one live without changing her voice to chest when she has to do the falsetto parts or avoiding the notes completely. Whatever weakness she believes she has is all in her mind. She is capable of it physically, she’s just doubting herself and hesitating when it comes to actually executing it in performance. If she can do it in the studio, she can do it live. No excuses.

As for the musical production, it’s old-school style instrumentation. Lots of violin and cello. It’s got big strong kick drum beats that give it a really dramatic feel. It’s very reminiscent of ‘Stone Cold’ from her last album ‘Confident’. The lyrics, and I don’t often talk about lyrics, are very interesting. Demi has confirmed that while the song sounds like it’s about a breakup song with a lover, personally for her, it is not. It’s about her breaking up with her old self and saying that the alcohol and the drugs don’t do it for her anymore. Of course you can interpret it any way you like, but I think this is a very interesting take on the song. Self-reflective lyrics are something I would resonate with or relate to more than if it was just about a relationship going down in flames, which Demi leads you to believe it is about when she refers to what she’s singing about as a “who” instead of an it. Clever multi-perspective lyrics. I am very impressed with her songwriting on this. The fact it is so brillaint musically, vocally and lyrically make this song the epitome of the album. The highlight of the entire body of work that she’s created and put together.

10/10

5. Daddy Issues

This is my least favourite track on ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ because of it’s messy electronic production. Her vocals sound great but the electronics are so punchy, in your face and distorted that nothing sounds clear at all apart from her vocals. But even they sometimes at some points in the track get lost in the mix of the mess it is. It all just kind of clumps together and isn’t very well arranged. The distorted electronic drum and bass beats, the weird video game-like sound effects, the techno rhythms and melodies don’t make it a very appealing song to listen to. You might feel differently, but it just doesn’t work for me. The only part of the song I like is the dance break bit and with her singing “daddy issues, huh”. Otherwise this song is just disappointing to say the least. I wish she would stay away from DJ’s and EDM-style so-called producers because they cannot provide for her the musical quality her voice needs to be surrounded by to really just exemplify how fantastic of a vocalist she is. I want for her material to be just as strong as her voice is so that she’s taken seriously as a vocalist and an artist. This electro-pop stuff just isn’t right for her at all.

Also, does anyone know why they censored out the word ‘fuck’ in the first verse? If you do, let me know. I thought I had downloaded the clean version until I realized it’s like that on the explicit version too.

1/10

6. Ruin The Friendship

This bluesy little number captured me eventually. I skipped passed it on the initial listen because my earphones were just making it sound just as bad as everything else sounded. Dull and dead. But no, the track doesn’t actually sound like that. I just need better listening gear. I love the drum beat and bassline on this track as well as the sensual Jazzy instrumentation. Those trumpets sound so sexy. I feel like it was missing a saxophone solo, but you can’t have everything. I’m just such a big fan of real and orchestral instrumentation. Demi’s vocals here are also very sensual and sexy. Using a softer and lower vocalization in the main vocal track but also doing the backing vocals in a high and light falsetto. Gives it a confident and yet vulnerable contrast. She’s almost whispering when she gets to the bridge. It’s really arousing. She gets louder and more forceful towards the end of the song. That gets your attention and pulls you out of that foggy haze her sensual vocals have put on you. So very emotive.

I am not gonna go into the lyrics. We all know who it’s about as she doesn’t exactly keep it illusive. I think it’s a really good track. Not as good as some of the others though so it’s not a personal favourite. You might feel differently and that’s perfectly fine.

7/10

7. Only Forever

Another ballad. A much needed departure from the faster tempo we’ve had for the passed few tracks. Demi has mentioned that this song is sort of like a part two from the last track ‘Ruin The Friendship’, so clearly it’s about the same thing and the same person. I won’t get into that. Although, I am very intrigued, I’m keeping it strictly about the music.

So the track opens with the sound of out-of-tune piano notes. Like they’re being played on an old, dusty, hasn’t been touched for years piano that’s so out of tune it just doesn’t function properly anymore and sounds awful. I’m sure there is an artistic reasoning behind this so I’m not gonna point it out as a fault. It’s probably got something to do with the story of the song. Connecting the musical production and the lyrics together to tell the story. I love songs that do that. The techno bass vocal effect makes it’s way into the album once again. She seems to really like that effect. It must provide or mean something specific for her. Not sure what that could be but it’s interesting enough to make me peruse my thoughts about it. And I love thought-provoking music and art of any kind. I love interpretating and coming up with theories and headcanons on that art. I always say we never look for the meaning in a piece of art. We create it for ourselves. It’s very synthy. Got lots of atmospheric synthesizers. Could almost pass for a dream-pop song. I find it a bit boring to be honest. However, it does make it more entertaining when she picks up power and tempo in vocals.

6/10

8. Lonely (feat. Lil Wayne)

Demi’s one and only collaboration for the album. There was supposed to be two but one fell through apparently. A midtempo borderline ballad I would call ‘Lonely’. It’s just basic percussion and bass. I think I hear an organ but I’m not sure. Any instrumentation in it isn’t very prominent. What makes it worth listening to at all is Demi’s emotive vocals. They sell the song. Like no question about it. Those creaky, raspy, husky vocals, emoting all the pain and grief and conveying them to the listener’s ears. You can hear everything she does without all the distracting instrumentation and you feel it. You feel how upset and pained she is. You literally feel how lonely she is. Or maybe it’s just me because I have the ability to feel what she feels anyway. Long story…

Her emotive vocals communicate everything there is to care about in the song because Lil Wayne’s feature is terrible. I mean, it’s really bad. 1. It’s covered in autotune. 2. Because it’s covered in autotune, you cannot make out a damn thing he is saying. 3. It just sounds like he is underwater for the whole thing. Maybe it’s a conscious artistic choice though, I don’t know. I thought he would be a good collaboration but nah… he might as well not even be there for all the good his rapping contributes to this track. It just doesn’t. It’s all Demi. Absolutely from start to finish, it’s all Demi. ‘Lonely’ would actually be a better track with just Demi solo. Lil Wayne is just that useless and pointless to it that you could edit him out and have Demi doing the rap and the song would actually be better. Maybe something to think about when she performs it on tour. If she performs it on tour…

5/10

9. Cry Baby

“I’m no crybaby, but you make me cry lately. I’m no crybaby, but you make me cry baby. Crybaby”.

This song if you can’t tell from the lyrics alone is just an absolute masterpiece. The musical and vocal production, the vocal performance, the rhythm of the verses, the guitar solo, the lyrics. Everything. Absolutely everything about this track is incredible. The chorus hits hard. The chorus is so fucking good! Let’s just talk about the intro to start with though before I get ahead of myself. When I heard the lone electric guitar echoing through my ears like it was being played in an empty arena, I immediately thought of ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’. But not Cher’s version. The Nancy Sinatra version from the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Volume 1. It’s actually one of my favourite films in history. Obviously not the same melody because that would be copyright. But I mean just the aesthetic of it. I fell for this track straight away. Hopelessly and helplessly fell in love with it. I’ve repeated it God knows how many times since it came out.

The musical production reminds me a lot of ‘Mistake’ from ‘Unbroken’ album. A very underrated track. But hopefully this won’t recieve the same treatment. Tayla Parx wrote this song along with another song called ‘The Beauty’ that unfortunately didn’t make it on the album. I’m dying to hear that one if ‘Cry Baby’ is this damn good! No guesses which song is my favourite song on the album.

10/10!

10. Games

This one has weird electronic sounds and effects like ‘Daddy Issues’ but I find them more tolerable than in that track. Again, it’s just an electro-pop track. Doesn’t sound very R&B or soulful at all. But maybe that’s just me. I don’t have much more to say about it than that. It’s not the worst on the album but it’s not much better than that. Not for me. It could have easily been replaced with a much more worthy track such as ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ from the exclusive Target version of the album.

2/10

11. Concentrate

‘Concentrate’ starts off as an acoustic/stripped down ballad at first. Snaps, claps and acoustic guitar. A little bit of reverb on Demi’s voice as she sings the lyrics in the verses. Then an electric guitar melody, her gospel choir and a drum beat comes in at the chorus and there’s definetly an organ that joins in too. It’s a very laidback track but it builds up to a climax, so it’s quite progressive and Demi sounds really great on it. Emotive vocals full of soul and attitude really lift the song into the stratosphere. When the heavier instrumentation comes in, it does not overtake her vocals. The vocal production remains clear and it’s easy to make out how she sounds and what she’s saying. It’s a good song but not a standout.

4/10

12. Hitchhiker

Bassline sounds off in the intro and brings us into another bluesy little number from the album. I especially love the backing vocals in this song. The gospel choir was a great addition to this era and this album. This song will sound amazing live with them. This is another song I’m really looking forward to hearing live. I love the musical production too. The driving guitars sound awesome. I wish there could of been a blues guitar solo. It would of really added the cherry on the cake to end off the standard version of the album.

8/10

This is my most favourite to least favourite tracks:

Cry Baby

Tell Me You Love Me

You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore

Sorry Not Sorry

Hitchhiker

Ruin The Friendship

Only Forever

Lonely

Concentrate

Sexy Dirty Love

Games

Daddy Issues

This is my track by track review of the standard version of Demi’s 6th studio album ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. I would of done the deluxe tracks but I don’t like ‘Instruction’ at all and there’s nothing really much to say. The ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ acoustic version with the choir sounds great though. You should definetly check that out if you haven’t heard it yet. She’ll probably post the video of them performing it eventually. There is an exclusive Target version with 2 tracks on it called ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and ‘Ready For Ya’ but since I don’t class them as part of the album itself, I’m not gonna review them either. But I do think ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ should of replaced either ‘Daddy Issues’ or ‘Games’ as I don’t like those tracks much but I do love that one. Thanks for reading. Give feedback.

- Girl4Music

#w #demi lovato #tell me you love me #track by track #fan review

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