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fiddlepickdouglas · 4 years ago

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Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 22 - Agreed

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, what does he want?, 2.9k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edit, we stan supportive friends

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21

“How did you get in?”

Every ounce of blood in Willie’s veins pulsed as it coursed through his trembling limbs. He could feel his mind rushing to put together a defense. There was nothing he had prepared - he’d never thought to prepare for this. Any illusion of freedom and safety fell like a vase onto a marble floor. There was fire in the room and Willie was nothing but a piece of paper.

“Persuasion,” Caleb stated obscurely. Sheldon leapt from his lap and toward his owner, glad to be free of the strange hold he’d been in. Willie remained lost for words as he watched Caleb turn and look at his sketches on the wall in a similar fashion as the time before. It made him clench his teeth and nearly begin huffing in anger.

“It wasn’t all that difficult to find you, especially considering your friends aren’t as good at keeping secrets as they believe.”

“Don’t you dare touch anything,” Willie seethed. It was already unsettling to know he’d sat there holding Sheldon for who knew how long.

Caleb turned back to him and chuckled darkly as he shook his head.

“I just wanna talk!” he said in that strange, business-like charisma he was so good at switching to. “I knew you would refuse if I asked nicely, so pardon the intrusion, but humor me, won’t you William?”

“It’s Willie.”

Sighing, Caleb only looked at him expectantly. Planted where he stood, Willie listened to his heart thump against his chest. A surge of loathing came over him as he looked at the man across the room. He wanted nothing to do with Caleb so why should he be forced to? Staring at him, despising every second of his presence, he realized one thing: the longer he made Caleb wait, the longer the man would remain in his apartment. The only way to get rid of him was to let him speak. Anyway, he wasn’t sure he could stand the stalemate they were in anymore.

“What do you want?” he asked, not toning down the anger simmering under everything. His entire body vibrated with it.

“An agreement,” Caleb said. “See, legally I’m still your guardian. Things got a little messy a few months back, but they never got handled properly.”

“You said I was dead!” Willie bursted aloud.

Caleb held up his hands in defense.

“A mistake I won’t ever repeat. But you see, that’s only what I told your friends. It was much easier than explaining that you were missing, which was the official statement I gave back in Vegas.”

Willie squinted as he tried to understand what he was being told. He’d thought for sure Caleb would’ve claimed he was dead so he didn’t have to deal with everything.

“They found no body in the shed, so how do you think that looks on me?” Caleb continued. “Actually it looks bad for both of us: it means you committed arson, which is a felony with some pretty terrible consequences; and I am now the guardian of a runaway criminal who should’ve been able to keep his kid in line. Social services won’t get off my back, but that’s nothing compared to what you will face if you’re caught.”

Those words made Willie want to shrink away from existence. He knew Caleb was right. It was going to be impossible to prove his innocence if he ever had to face charges. Wait, was Caleb going to make those charges against him now?

“So what’s the agreement?” he asked warily. Fear seemed to fill every inch of him like a weight. Watching as Caleb stood and approached him, he went cold.

“You come back with me,” Caleb said as he moved toward him. “No hard feelings, no charges. We give them a story about how you were taken and I managed to find you - I have plenty of enemies without a solid alibis I can put the blame on - and you’re free. I let you work in my club, and as long as you follow what I say,” - Caleb pressed a finger into Willie’s chest for emphasis - “then you won’t ever have to worry about any jail time and social services can stop wringing my neck. We both get a clean slate. I’m offering you complete protection, which I should say is extremely generous after everything you’ve put me through.”

Willie looked back into Caleb’s eyes, trying to find a weakness, or something he could take advantage of. There was nothing. Caleb had thought through everything and more. A sudden nudge against his leg made him look down at Sheldon, who was mewing and peering up at him with his big eyes, like he knew something was wrong. It hit him that if he said no there was no saying what would happen to Sheldon.

“Why do you even want me back?” he wondered in frustration.

Caleb took in a deep breath before looking at him thoughtfully.

“Because, William. There’s one thing you need to know and it’s that I win. I have the power and I’m not letting someone like you take from me without paying it all back. You think you found freedom just because someone turned up with pretty blonde hair and sweet green eyes and made you smile?”

The dig at Alex made Willie clench his fists tighter and press his lips together.

“Oh,” Caleb said, tutting at Willie’s response. “You’ll forget about him. He’ll forget about you. It won’t take long. Especially when he realizes you didn’t stay around to fight for his side when I take his band to court.”

His whole body tensed and Willie shook his head.

“No!” he gasped. Tears quickly spilled onto his cheeks. “You can do what you want with me, but leave Alex and his friends alone!”

“Too late,” Caleb said, unbothered as he grabbed his coat from the chair. “That’s not part of the deal.” He pulled on his coat and moved toward the door. “I’ll let you decide, but the clock is ticking.”

As he made his way out, Willie stood in defeat. Frankly, there was no other decision he knew to make. He had no power to protect Alex if Caleb made charges against him for arson and he actually did go to prison. Before the man could get too far, Willie ran after him.

“Wait!” he cried.

Caleb stood at the top of the stairs and peered down at him, raising an eyebrow and listening intently.

“I’ll go.” He hated hearing the words come out of his mouth, but he had to. “Just please go easy on Alex and his band. They only went as far as they did because of things I told them.”

Nodding, Caleb considered his words. Willie bowed his head, the shame taking over.

“I’ll be here tomorrow evening,” Caleb told him. “Be ready.” And with that, he turned and disappeared into the night.

Willie stood in his doorway and felt everything crashing down upon him. All the things he’d worked for, all the things he’d made for himself here - they were as good as ash in the flames. There was a great knot in his chest that trapped out all hopes of ever getting any of it back. Before he knew it, Willie was heaving and gasping for air on the floor of his apartment, dizzy and distraught. Fresh hot tears came faster than he could clear them away, and none of it helped untie the vicious knot that kept growing and eating away at every sense of happiness.

He hated himself. Willie hated how foolish he was for never thinking through anything and getting himself in such a mess. All he could do was imagine what could’ve been if he’d just waited things out. He could’ve aged out and gotten away from Caleb peacefully. Could’ve found Alex when they had an album out and toured in Vegas again. He would be worth more to Alex like that than he was now, at least. This wasn’t what Alex deserved; not some poor, directionless, impulsive coward who would never overcome his past.

Still the thought of betraying Alex wracked him with sobs. What Caleb had said about him hadn’t been fair - they were more than that. And even with everything Willie had just done, he didn’t think they’d forget each other so fast. The way Alex had come right back to him after they found each other again was proof of that. Willie would never forget him, for sure, even if things did go badly. Alex had been the start of the best thing Willie ever had.

He loved Alex.

At some point the sobs and shaking faded away with all the energy he had left and he fell asleep, Sheldon curled up beside him. It wasn’t until some early morning hour that he woke again and moved to his bed. To no surprise at all, he was already having that dream again - the one where everything burned. Normally he would’ve stayed awake trying to ward it off with something that made him happy, but there was nothing left that wasn’t tainted with pain. Maybe if he’d had Alex there to hold him and tell him he was okay, but he was alone.

For the rest of the night he went between fitful sleep and panicked waking. He wasn’t sure what time it was when he heard a knock on the door, but judging by the light through the small window in the kitchen area, it was likely close to noon. Another knock sounded and he tried to shake all the tiredness away and straighten up his appearance before opening the door.

“Alex?” he murmured groggily at the sight of the beautiful blonde boy at the door. Looking at him, so perfect, so pure and sweet, made his heart crack in two.

“Hey, is it a bad time for me to come?” Alex asked. “You said stop by whenever, and I didn’t have a way to warn you so - ”

“Alex.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. How could he explain it all? There was no way he could possibly tell Alex he was leaving him behind and going back to the man who had caused so much hurt. If only he could steal him away, too, but he would never want to subject him to life with Caleb. He had to figure out how to say goodbye without letting Alex down.

“Are you okay, Willie?” Alex was saying, brows knit together with worry.

Taking in a deep breath, Willie thought quickly for a response.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Um...something came up, and I need to be ready as soon as possible. And I just woke up.” He placed a hand on his face, partially because he was still dog-tired but also to avoid crying again. He hoped it looked like he was just sorry to change plans.

“Oh, I’m sorry, that sucks,” Alex said, his posture drooping with disappointment. Nothing about this made sending him away any easier.

“I’m kind of unsure how this whole weekend is gonna look, since things changed,” Willie said, trying to keep his voice steady. “I really wish I didn’t have to do it.” He meant that with every fiber of his being, even though Alex couldn’t have understood.

“I get it,” Alex responded patiently. “I don’t have to be in the studio anymore but I remember what that’s like. Stuff happens.” Always speaking with his hands, the way Willie would never forget. He could watch it all day, even if Alex weren’t in a good mood.

“I really did want to see you,” he said, pouring as much sincerity as he could into those words. Alex’s eyes peered into his with softness and warmth. Willie couldn’t get over how beautiful he looked, with the sun at the right angle to make him glow like an angel, and the discreet curl at the corner of his lips, eyes gleaming as if there wasn’t anything wrong at all in that moment.

“I know,” Alex said, almost quietly.

Unprompted, Willie’s hand brushed back a strand of hair hanging in Alex’s face, and then rested on Alex’s cheek. In that moment, there was something so delicate about him and Willie couldn’t stand knowing how soon that would break. For a while Alex simply stared back into his eyes and there came that feeling again. The one Willie had felt outside of the Pearl, and countless times afterward, telling him that he and Alex were more than just two cute strangers.

He pulled Alex into a kiss, and they held each other as it deepened, the world falling away for a moment. Maybe he could say the proper things this way. If Willie could do that for Alex, maybe it would hurt less for both of them. All he hoped was for him to understand that everything Willie was doing was for him, given the options that he had. Or at least he could feel the sweetness of Alex’s love just one more time.

As they let go, he saw the look in Alex’s eyes. The surprise, the enjoyment, the confusion, the worry. There were no waves pulling him ashore, keeping him safe, calming his worries. Those were gone for good. They caressed each other’s faces and Willie felt Alex’s thumb rub across his cheek.

“I told you I missed you,” Willie said, finally gaining the strength to give him a goofy smirk.

Alex chuckled.

“I could tell,” he said, the smile on his face growing wider as he lowered his hands. That was a good thing. “But I guess we’ll have to reschedule.”

Willie simply nodded.

“Well, then, I won’t hold you up.”

“Okay. Bye,” Willie said, trying to sound as casual as possible. He bit his lip to somehow keep everything together.

“Bye.” Alex pecked him on the cheek and then made his way up the steps, but turned before he’d made it to the top. “I’ll call you!”

Willie nodded again and sucked in a sharp breath. He watched Alex head back down the sidewalk until he was no longer in sight. That had been goodbye. It had been surreal, like none of it was really happening. Maybe he could wake up and everything would be just fine, after all. He knew that wasn’t likely, but it was a nice thought. Crying again was no use now. He had too much to get done before Caleb arrived. Sighing heavily, feeling both halves of his heart sitting in a pit in his chest, Willie went inside to feed Sheldon.

Mere hours later, he sat in the passenger seat of Caleb’s car. It was already dark. Caleb had really thought through everything, up to the point of bringing a trailer to pack Willie’s desk, dresser, and mattress, as well as the rest of his stuff. Sheldon was in the carrier he’d gotten from Bessie, resting in the back seat. All Willie felt up to doing was watching the desert pass by, stretching out in every direction, like a wide open cage.

The memory of riding in the truck ran across his mind. There was a sick irony that rose from the pit of his stomach. Willie remembered wondering about the difference between Caleb and his real father. Who was the better man? The one who had left him behind or the one at the steering wheel to his left? Now he was certain he knew the answer.

“Don’t worry about where you’ll sleep,” Caleb was saying. “Everything from your handiwork has been cleaned up. It took no time to get a new shed in place.”

Willie didn’t bother responding, keeping his gaze out the window toward the black sky above. He didn’t have to talk. They weren’t friends; they didn’t even like each other. At least he didn’t have to pretend anymore, so long as it didn’t get him in trouble. Any moment outside of working at the club would be a quiet rebellion, and that was nothing Caleb could take away. It would maybe take some time, but he’d get out again.

He remembered going to the record store and telling Kyle that he had to quit.

“What?” Kyle had replied, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You can’t be serious, man.”

“I have to move,” was all Willie could explain. “I can’t stay where I’m at anymore and I only have one place to go.”

The look Kyle had given him, the way he hadn’t expected such a change, somehow hadn’t hurt. Willie almost felt like he deserved more anger from Kyle. He hadn’t been able to tell Alex as much and face his reaction, so there was a sort of imbalance. It was like he needed someone to yell in his face and tell him he was being stupid, or that he was absolutely being the coward everyone thought he was for taking Caleb’s offer. A punch or a slap would’ve been welcome.

Instead Kyle had told him the job was his whenever he wanted to come back. He’d gotten sympathy, and a ‘hope everything’s okay, man.’ Sitting inside the car presently, Willie still didn’t understand. But it no longer mattered. The one optimistic thought came that at least he could visit Escobar again.

The hours stretched in sync with the darkness, and for a while, Willie had passed out. He began to stir again just as Caleb was approaching the freeway exit back into Vegas, and the nighttime lights flooded into the window. It had really been almost five months since he’d last been there. It seemed like forever, but sounded so short. Somehow, Willie already knew what he would do the first chance he could get out.

He was going up the Stratosphere and he was going to scream.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #fanfic #jatp fanfic #willex #alive au #sunset curve #alex mercer #willie #luke patterson #reggie peters #bobby wilson #julie molina #caleb covington #viva las vegas #vlv #agreed #fiddlepickdouglas

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sapphosclown · 5 years ago

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Julie and the Phantoms ✨Reactions✨

Ep. 8 & 9 (s1 finale)

(spoilers maybe i don’t remember, also apologies for any incoherentness, i was using voice to text/trying to watch the show)

ep. 8 - Unsaid Emily

- guys i don’t want the boys to leave :(

- nick is shooting his shot 😳

- julie is shooting him down :o

- what a king

- this is annoying but he’s trying

- julie you can’t have the dead boy i’m sorry but you can’t

- reggie and ray frienship :)

- “he liked our new music too :D” “ehh still doesn’t count”

- uh oh

- little boy figured it out

- oh nvm

- dude they boys dynamic is so fucking good

- the cd was right under :(

- julie talking to luke’s parents :(

- unsaid emily :(

- why’d this show have to make me so sad

- them not knowing how modern day shit works >>

- crazy glue of friends

- WAIT HER MOM WAS THE GIRL FROM THE THING

- alex wha

- “we’re less than nobody. we have no bodies!”

- but ghosts do 😎

ep. 9 - Stand Tall

- SHIT THIS IS THE LAST EPISODE

- FUCK OK FUCK IM NOT OK GIMME A SEC

- ok i’m good let’s go 😼

- the boys turning away when alex goes to talk to willie >>

- he’s do anything for him 🥺

- THEYRE HUGGING 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

- 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

- guys

- if they don’t kiss before this show ends i SWEAR TO GOD

- alex is dancing 💀

- yes alex with the handwriting

- julies fit 💞

- YESSSSSSS

- THEYRE ALL SO CUTE

- THEM PICKING UP ALEX LMAOOO

- “i’m swimming!”

- uh oh

- little boy actually figured it out

- uh oh trevor bobby saw it

- little boy shut up

- little boy go away

- you’re a star julie

- uh oh

- caleb showed up pls go away

- WHAT DID HE DO TO THEM

- NO YOU CANT DO THAT

- PLS LET THEM PLAY THE ORPHEMUS

- guys pls

- pls pls pls pls pls

- when the spooky house

- i wish the villains song didn’t slap when i’m trying be mad at him

- boys come on you gotta show up

- boys pls show up

- she’s crying i love her so much julie it’s ok

- THE LADY GAVE HER A FLOWER

- ITS HER MOMS FAVORITE FLOWER ISNT IT

- SHUT UP 🥺

- you got this babe

- they’re gonna be there

- the orpheum seems small for panic ngl

- julies a star with or without her phantoms

- YEAH

- THEYRE THERE

- AAHHHHHH

- I TOLD YOU

- THEYRE ALL SO CUTE

- PLSPLS

- YAYYY

- ok ima just chill and watch

- ALEX SINGING

- REGGIE SINGING AHHHHHHHHGHH

- REGGIES MOTE SHUT THE FUCK UP

- they didn’t cross over...

- what happened oh no

- there’s 8 minutes left guys help

- julie was their unfinished business????

- no they didn’t cross over

- but the curse lifted

- HUGGGGGGSSSSSSSS

- THEY PLAYED THE ORPHEUM

- caleb leave nick alone

- CALEB IS NICK OH NO

- NOOOOOOO

- not the angsty turn 💀

- bad

- very bad

- why is there four minutes of nothing i think they could’ve sped that up

- ANYWAYS BAD BUT GOOD BUT BAD BUT IM SO HAPPY THE BOYS ARE STILL THERE IF NETFLIX CANCELS THIS SHIT IM COMMITING ARSON

#i’m really glad i wrote down my reactions- it’s like watching the show for the first time again :)#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #jatp #julie molina #luke patterson #alex jatp #reggie jatp #jealous-kippen reacts to jatp

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pinkevilbobdoesthings · 7 years ago

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So, yeah, this is where it gets pretty dark. There's references to abuse and some messed up stuff cause Trent Ikithon is an a-hole. I've been waiting for this chapter for a while and I hope you all liked it.

There should be one or two more chapters to this fic and then the epilogue.

So here it is the 5th chapter of ‘I Ship It’.

Jester planted herself face down of the couch and cried as soon as she got home. Everything was ruined and Jester didn’t know why. She was pretty sure that she didn’t do anything to trigger what happened, but maybe she did something to make it worse and she didn’t realize it.

Her roommate, Beau, came in for a second, looked at Jester, and immediately left. Twenty minutes later Beau returned with a pint of rocky road. “Here,” she said handing the ice cream and a spoon over to Jester. “If it’s about a boy, I don’t want to hear about it.”

“It’s Caleb. I think he hates me now,” Jester said wiping her eyes, but not moving up from where she lay.

Beau groaned. “I just said if it’s a boy, I didn’t -ugh, I’m not prepared for your heteronormative drama. Come on, move your feet.” She swatted at Jester’s legs until Jester lift them so Beau could sit down. “Now, not that I care, but what happened?”

Jester told Beau about the poster and Caleb’s reaction and how he yelled at her. “Yeah, he’s crazy and you gotta dump him.”

“We’re not dating, we’re just friends,” Jester said. Part of her wanted to date him, but he probably didn’t want to. Also, their school had a rule against undergrads dating professors.

“Yeah, still crazy and you still need to avoid him like the plague.”

Jester frowned and played with her ice cream. “I don’t know. I think he might be sick.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to put up with his garbage.” Beau patted Jester’s leg. “There’s better guys out there, I guess if you like guys . I mean they’ll still be dudes, but that’s probably better than nothing.”

“I guess,” Jester said, but she was still worried about Caleb.

Beau got up. “And, hey, if you suddenly have a bi awakening, I know some girls that will treat you right. Well, I know a girl that will treat you right, not Keg. Unless you want the night of life.”

“Beau!” Jester giggled.

Beau noogied Jester lightly. “Don’t worry so much. It will work out or some garbage like that.”

****

Nott was cooking. She liked to cook. Nobody liked to eat what she made, but that just meant that there was more for her to eat then. Caleb came in, grabbed Frumpking and went straight to his room without a word. A bad sign, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. He might have just been tired.

She poked her head into Caleb’s room to find all of his blankets dumped on the floor and only his top sheet covered him. Her heart sank; it must have been a real bad day. Nott folded up the blankets and set up his laptop where Caleb could see it easily and turned on the third season of the Voyage of the MISTake since it was his favorite. A few minutes later, Nott presented a hot pocket and a fork to Caleb and waited to see what he would do with it.

Caleb grabbed and ate it failing the hot pocket test. If he was even slightly okay, he would have turned it upside down, tear off the bottom and only eat the filling. And if Caleb was actually doing good, he’d refuse to eat it all together. It was going to be pointless to talk to him for a while. Nott pressed a kiss on his forehead before leaving him alone in his room.

Nott finished making her dinner but her heart was no longer in it. Caleb hadn’t had a day that bad since leaving Soltryce. She had hoped that truly bad days were completely behind them, but it seemed they weren’t that lucky.

After a few episodes, Caleb left his room. “Hi Caleb,” Nott said softly and got up. Caleb clutched his cat closely and looked like the slightest puff of wind would crack him.

“I lost Jester,” Caleb whispered. “The head of the science department is onto me.”

“Oh, Caleb. What do you mean?”

“Jester hates me now. I’m terrible. And the head of the science department knows it.” Caleb sat down on the floor.

Nott brushed his hair out of his face. “I don’t think Jester knows how to hate. We’ll make it through this.”

“It’s worse than that,” Caleb said. “Ikithon is coming.”

“What do you mean Ikithon’s coming?” Nott’s pulse began to race. “When?”

Caleb stared down at the ground. “Next week to the university. Tuesday.”

Nott swore. They needed her at the antique store on Tuesday. There was no way she could skip. “Can you just stay home?”

“No, there’s meetings that require me and finals are coming soon,” Caleb said.

“Then get a restraining order.”

Caleb shook his head. “There’s not enough time to. I’m sorry I ruined everything.”

“No, you didn’t. You are the victim here.” But he didn’t believe her. He never did. “I’ll see what I can do.” She’d do anything for Caleb. If he’d just let her.

******

The subway was awkward. Jester didn’t know where to sit. For the past weeks, she always sat next to Caleb every Thursday. But after Tuesday, she wasn’t so certain. Caleb never went online after that and he didn’t text her either. She didn’t dare text him herself.

When Jester got on the train, Caleb briefly made eye contact with her with his bright blue eyes, but he looked away quickly. Jester sat in the back of the train for the first time.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She opened it to see a text from Caleb. -I’m sorry.- Jester stared at it not sure how to reply. It wasn’t okay, but she was glad that he was talking to her again.

-You deserve an explanation.- Caleb texted again. -And, if I don’t do it now, I won’t. Can you skip class today?-

-yes- Jester texted back. She’d just get notes from one of her classmates, maybe Calianna.

-Thank you. There’s a coffee shop on campus we can go to. I’ll treat.-

Under any other circumstance, Jester would have been beyond excited. This was the chance to skip class and spend time with a guy she was crazy about. Instead a heavy weight sat in her stomach. Beau told her to not give Caleb any of her time, but Jester couldn’t just ignore him. He needed her help, she knew he did. Or at least he needed somebody’s help and she was who he had.

They walked in silence to the coffee shop and placed their orders with barely a word spoken between them. On any other day, they would’ve been talking about what coffees Kristoff and Melody would’ve ordered and maybe played with a coffee shop AU, but there was just a quiet awkwardness instead. When they sat down, Caleb opened his laptop and showed it to Jester. It was a psychology article by Professor Ikithon. “Dancing with the Devil: A Study on the Impact of Abusive and Supportive Mentors,” she read out loud. The rest was just academic mumbo jumbo to her.

“Ja,” Caleb said. “That article might be Ikithon’s biggest claim to fame. But, I had looked up to him and his work before that. I was his,” he paused for a moment, “assistant at the time. I helped write that article and do the research.

“It was an in depth case study focusing on a young man known as Subject K. Subject K had a good upbringing and was healthy and mentally sound. At the beginning of the case study, he had recently lost both of his parents and an older gentleman with a good standing in the community agreed to be his mentor. But, the man, K’s mentor, was a sadist who delighted in breaking people mentally. The next year and a half for K would be best described as torture. All of his outside support networks were removed, he was gaslighted and manipulated, made to do terrible things, and eventually convinced that the only use he was to the world was to obey his mentor. At the height of this, K’s mentor rejected him, which left K in a deep depression and we have no recorded of what happened to K for three months. He disappeared.” Caleb spoke so clinically, but his hands were shaking. Jester wanted to comfort him, but she knew he’d just pull away.

“When he was found next, he had committed arson and burned down a barn. It had been abandoned so no living beings had been harmed. After that, Subject K was committed to a psychiatric ward. Three days later, he was released into the custody of a new mentor, according to the article. This new mentor treated K with kindness and worked to build him back up, and by all appearances, he was successful.”

Caleb lifted his coffee like he was going to take a drink of it, but he stopped himself. “It was controversial to say the least. Some claimed that Ikithon made it up. Others said that Ikithon should have intervened early on in the study. That if Ikithon knew this young man was being mistreated, he should have stopped it. It was a cruel study.”

“And you helped with it,” Jester said hoping he didn’t think she was judging him. It seemed like he already felt guilty for it, and he couldn’t have stood up to Ikithon about it. He was terrified of his old supervisor.

“I did.” Caleb stared at his coffee. “There were somethings that the article left out. The first and second mentors were actually the same person. It should be noted that the article painted his second behavior as kinder than it was. There was still a cruelty to it all. And it wasn’t the mentor’s treatment that made K better. The credit belongs to a dear friend who would fight monsters for him and K writing fanfics for his favorite show, The Voyage of the MISTake.”

Jester gasped. “You were Subject K?”

Caleb nodded sadly. “I had trusted Ikithon so much at first, but I guess I’m terrible judge of people.” He turned the coffee cup slowly in his hands. “It was Nott who helped me get out of Ikithon’s grasp. She made me realized that I was trapped. We met during the missing three months. I don’t remember much about those days except that she was there protecting me. Ikithon was so mad that I couldn’t remember, but he made it work in the narrative of the article.”

Jester wanted to say something or ask a question or comfort him or something. But nothing felt right or real enough to say.

“I know I’ve done terrible things and that Nott is more than I deserve and so are you,” Caleb said. “So I needed you to know that without a doubt that I’m weak and worthless, but that I liked the short time we were friends.” He got up and started to turn away.

Jester caught his hand. “How can you say that? You’re not weak. You survived. That has mean you’re strong.”

“Because if I was strong, I wouldn’t have let any of that happen. I would’ve seen through him and gotten away from him, but I didn’t. I let myself get trapped and now I’m trapped again.” Caleb looked at her his eyes shining with unshed tears. “He’s going to try something, I know it. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“What about Nott? Can she help?” Jester asked.

Caleb shook his head. “She works that day and she doesn’t know what he’s like. Nott just thinks he’s going to screw with me and that I’m going to avoid him, but it’s not that simple. He’s going to take me and there’s no avoiding it.” He gently took Jester’s hand and removed it from his hand. “Thank you for your friendship.” Softly, he kissed her on the cheek, leaving her too shocked to move, and left.

#widojest #critical role fan fiction #pinkevilbob writes #i hope the backstory reveal was worth the wait #and i hope you enjoy this chapter #i ship it

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johnboothus · 4 years ago

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VinePair Podcast: The Perils of Celebrity Culture in Drinks

This week on the “VinePair Podcast,” hosts Adam Teeter, Joanna Sciarrino, and Zach Geballe discuss the perils of celebrity culture in the beverage alcohol industry. After listing what they have been drinking recently — including a Jungle Bird and a Japanese whisky — our hosts dive into a discussion about celebrity culture in light of the shocking arrest of Caleb Ganzer, wine director at La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels.

Teeter begins by questioning whether or not celebrities even exist in the drinks industry, and gives his two cents about why glorifying drinks pros can become problematic. Sciarrino explains how putting these “celebrities” in the spotlight can result in questionable — and even illegal — behaviors. Geballe discusses how the beverage industry is changing by slowly realizing that it is not exempt from society’s rules and guidelines. In the end, our hosts agree that the media needs to change its approach to how they talk about popular industry professionals.

If you have any thoughts on “celebrity” culture in drinks, please send your ideas to [email protected].

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Or Check out the Conversation Here

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter.

Joanna Sciarrino: And I’m Joanna Sciarrino.

Zach Geballe: And in Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe.

A: And this is the “VinePair Podcast.” Joanna, what’s going on? Zach, hi. What have you both been up to? What are you drinking and what are you doing?

J: I can jump in.

A: Of course, you need to.

J: I’ve tried another local bottled cocktail brand called Wandering Barman.

A: Interesting.

J: I had their La Niña Margarita, which is very good. Also, I made a cocktail recipe from our website called the Summer Sunset.

A: Nice.

J: It has reposado tequila, dry vermouth, Cointreau, and orange bitters, and that was really nice.

A: That’s awesome.

Z: Very cool.

A: Zach, what about you?

Z: Well, the thing that was most exciting in the last week or so was that I’m an adopted Milwaukee Bucks fan. My wife is from Wisconsin, and as there is no basketball team in Seattle anymore, I have been over the last few years on the bandwagon. As many of you listening know, they won the NBA championship recently.

A: The Greek Freak?

Z: Yes, indeed. Also, I actually have been drinking Greek wine, although not because of that. We recently had a podcast about Greek wine, and I’ve always loved Greek wine. It spurred my interest in revisiting some bottles that I have and all that. Actually, the thing I opened that I had bought my wife, as you all know, is pregnant so we didn’t drink very much to celebrate. Yet, I did open a very special bottle of single malt from Nikka in Japan, which is their Taketsuru 17 year, which was really awesome. We have talked, Adam, about some of the really aged whiskeys and whether some of the high end of the category is really worth it. I think it’s totally reasonable to feel like a whiskey at that price point isn’t worth it, but it was really beautiful. I think the thing I’d love and we’ve talked about it, and I’ve talked about it in some “Next Round” episodes, is the thing I love about single malt whiskey is it’s been such an interesting diffusion of technology and distilling approach. You see these really distinct styles and approaches to it and types of single malt whiskey now from, of course, Scotland and Ireland, but also Japan, India, Indonesia, the United States, and lots of other places. It’s so cool to see that flourishing because it’s a category that has an incredible potential to showcase differences. I don’t want to talk about terroir and everything, but there are definitely some real distinctions there and especially in some places. It’s very cool to see it, especially because in Japan, it’s very much something where the broad strokes of the technology were imported, but in a lot of ways, they’ve taken things in their own direction. The spirits are often identifiably single malt whiskey, but not intended to be Scotch analogs, which is very cool. I think it’s much more exciting to say we’re going to use this approach to making whiskey, but using what we have here as opposed to we’re going to try and make something that tastes indistinguishable from Scotch, which unfortunately has happened some other places, including here in the U.S. in some cases. What about you, Adam? What have you been having?

A: I got to have some tasty stuff last week, but the coolest thing I did is I got to taste a 43-year-old Talisker.

Z: Oh, well, talk about Scotch.

A: It was pretty awesome, but even cooler was I got to meet Matthew Rhys. Sorry, Joanna.

J: I’m so jealous.

A: He was… I mean, so dreamy, very handsome. He recorded a video for Naomi because she couldn’t come. It was the best. Also, over the weekend, I had an interesting experience that I’m curious how the both of you would react to. Basically, we went to the new Fotografiska museum in New York, which is awesome. I totally encourage everyone to go. It’s on 22nd and Park Ave. It has this amazing photography, and it’s the only museum that has come over from Sweden. It’s another location and they had really cool exhibits. Then, we were going to go to dinner and I was looking for a place and I found this restaurant that I had not been to in a while. I remember this place is really well known for its burgers. On their website, it said free corkage fee on Wednesdays, and this was a Friday. I decided to email and say, “Hey, I saw that you do free corkage on Wednesdays, I’m assuming that means you have a corkage fee the rest of the week. If you do, what is it?” The owner wrote back and he said, “Yeah, we do corkage fees. It is $45 for 750 milliliters and $65 for a magnum, so not bad. I had this bottle that I brought back from Napa that I wanted to share with her. We went to dinner. I brought the incredible bottle. It was Louis Martini Howell Mountain, it was really cool. I pull out the bottle and say, “Hi, I just want to be clear that we’re going to order some cocktails first, but we want to have this bottle of wine with dinner.” The waitress said, “I’m really sorry. We don’t allow people to bring their wine.” I said, “Oh, I actually emailed the owner, and he told me you guys do corkage fee, and this is the price.” She goes and I see her talking to the owner. She comes back over, and she says, “Oh, well, he says that we actually do not allow corkage on Friday or Saturdays, but since you’ve already brought the wine, he’ll make the exception.” He made me feel really icky. Meanwhile, my email to him says I was coming on Friday night, and he wrote back that this was the price. I literally pulled the email out for her, not to be a d**k, but to show that this is why I’m here. It was so weird. Also, I said, “By the way, can you decant this? It was just the weirdest feeling because then Naomi asked, “Well, what are we supposed to do?” I said, “Honestly, I’m all for wanting to buy one off the wine list, especially in these times but that is why I emailed ahead.”

Z: It wasn’t some random person who responded, it was the owner. The owner should get on the same page with the staff.

A: It was so weird, and then also, the whole experience was bad. I have a whole editorial pitch. The food was good and the wine was great, but just the whole staff and everything. Again, we’ve been talking about staffing issues and I also think some owners are not giving a shit anymore. I believe we’re going to start seeing a lot of backlash against restaurants in the next few weeks from consumers who are just over it. It was a great experience with the wine but really weird with the maître d’ or with the owner. However, on Saturday, I batched a bunch of Jungle Birds and took them to a party I was invited to with Naomi’s colleagues. I was invited because they knew I’d make the cocktails. It was pretty fun, though. I was very proud of myself.

Z: That’s a great cocktail. I love that cocktail.

A: It is such a good cocktail. I had never batched it before, but yeah, that was what I was drinking this weekend.

Z: Anyway, I want to make one more comment about your story. That is also a good reminder of the economics of scale. When we closed Dahlia Lounge, our corkage fee was $25, and we got grief from people about that price, which is not the highest in Seattle by far but befitting the stature of the restaurant. Any of my diners there who complained about the corkage fee, it could be a lot worse. It could be going to some restaurant in the East Village where they charge you $45 and then give you a hard time.

J: Yeah, some burger joint that charges you $45 for a corkage fee.

A: The restaurant is called Virginia’s. I wasn’t going to name it, but yeah, this is where it was.

Z: Gotcha.

A: Again, it was a very weird experience. Anyways, I have some interesting news to talk about this week that, I think, allows us to talk about a deeper discussion. We’re recording this on a Thursday, July 29. News broke on The Daily Beast first and then in The New York Times after, and some other publications that Caleb Ganzer, who’s a well-known sommelier in New York, was arrested for having committed arson. He’s the owner and the beverage director of La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels. It turns out that over the past few months, late at night, he had been setting fires to the outdoor seating areas of other restaurants in the area and was finally caught when he was caught on video doing this a few weeks ago. I want to start by saying that we don’t know why he did these things. Obviously, if there’s a mental health issue there, we encourage anyone who knows anyone that’s having mental health issues to please go talk to someone. This has been a really challenging time for everyone, especially people in the restaurant industry. One of the things we did want to talk about with this situation is that in the breaking of this news, a lot of people referred to Caleb in their headlines, including The New York Times and The Daily Beast as a “celebrity sommelier.” We talked about this a bunch internally, Joanna and Zach, and I have talked about this privately, that this idea of celebrities in the drinks business is really problematic. It’s problematic for a lot of reasons. It doesn’t do the people who are named celebrities any favors and it doesn’t do the drinking public any favors. There really is no basis for it.

Z: Right.

A: There truly aren’t any celebrities in the drinks space. For me, the way I define a celebrity is if I see them walking down the street, would I recognize them and then would I potentially want to go up and talk to them or take a picture with them? À la, Matthew Rhys.

Z: Yes, I was just about to say if they are Matthew Rhys.

A: That’s exactly the question. Do I recognize them or just someone that I know recognize them? Then, are they a big enough deal that I really want to go up and talk to them? The only people that really exist as celebrities in our industry are chefs. I would argue that only chefs on TV. You can be a chef at a really well-known restaurant and I still don’t think you’re a celebrity. Yet, Éric Ripert is a celebrity. If I saw him, I would feel like I had seen a celebrity. He’s on TV and is 100 percent the definition of what a celebrity is. Do I think that a chef at the trendiest restaurant in New York City right now is a “celebrity”? Probably not. They may be well regarded, but they’re not a celebrity. Someone who makes the 40 under 40 list in the legal profession and gets a lot of great accolades in their industry is still not a celebrity. They may be well regarded in their industry, but they’re not a celebrity. My take — and I want to hear what both of you think about all this — is when we label people celebrities, I actually think it damages the way we come at the entire industry because those people wind up, first of all, getting an overinflated sense of self worth. Secondly, they become the only ones that people use for specific campaigns. Zach, I was actually thinking about this morning, going through Covid, I was thinking back at the brands and regions that were using spokespeople. There were four or five people in the wine industry that I think were used over and over again. There are a lot more well-qualified people in wine than that. The same thing was happening in cocktails, because I want to make this a discussion — obviously, we’re using the hook of Caleb — but I think this is all-beverage. Joanna, you and I talked about how I went to a restaurant recently and the bartender said, “A celebrity bartender owns this place.” A celebrity bartender? What do you mean?

J: Who?

A: I don’t even know who this person is. I don’t even know how to say their name. I think all of this is really bad, and we just need to stop. Media, like us, probably needs to stop. We’re going to obviously do awards and things. Everyone does that. We have the Next Wave Awards coming up in October, but as best we can, we want to shine light on people to give them great recognition, but we need to be very careful about trying to create celebrities. I think it’s just not good, and I’m going to stop talking and let you guys talk.

J: I agree that it’s important to, as you said, spotlight people for their contributions or for the things that they’re doing for the industry or to propel the industry forward, innovations, etc. However, I think that the problem lies with publications calling them “celebrities” or other words that inflate their sense of self worth. Then, it also gives them more power to wield in the name of fame. Ultimately, and we’ve certainly seen this in the food world, it gives them power to exploit. Then, exploiting other individuals with that power, too. I think that’s the issue or one of the issues, I suppose.

Z: I think that you’re right, Joanna. The power dynamic and imbalance create one real negative to these accolades. It’s not just the media. To some extent, it’s the public, too. I think the difference between the comparison of someone in the legal profession or something that’s not as public-facing is, there can be people who can be viewed in their own industry as leaders or pioneers. To me, a largely positive but with some negative things that has happened culturally is we care a lot more about the food we eat and the things we drink, and we care about the quality of them. We care about who made them, in some cases, societally. Of course, that means some people are going to be much more famous. There’s a long history of celebrity chefs in France and in other places where dining has long been considered a cultural pursuit. It is not just the thing you do because you’re hungry. Here, it’s taken a lot longer to get to that point, and we’ve done it quickly and in a slapdash fashion. Obviously, we can name many people — almost exclusively men, but not entirely — who have become famed. After their fame has grown, either the shit they did before they were famous or the shit they’ve done since they were famous or both have proven to be pretty horrible. The same is true with drinks, obviously, whatever those things might be. I think it is a little unavoidable to say that there’s always going to be some higher-profile people in these professions when the public’s eye is on it. We don’t just do this podcast for us. We don’t just do this podcast for people who work in the trade. We have lots of people who are just interested in drinks who listen, so there’s obviously an audience for this. I mean, that’s why VinePair exists. I think it’s important that we think about two things here. One is that some amount of this is just unavoidable. If Caleb Ganzer was a civil engineer who happened to light some fires, none of us would know. I don’t know that it’s necessarily the case that it’s always easy to say — and I don’t think this is what we were saying, I want to be clear — but I think it’s tempting for some people to say, “Oh, it’s because he was in the public eye or was famous.” That may be true, but it sometimes lets those individuals off the hook a little bit for their own behavior. It’s also true that, as I said, I think it is to some extent unavoidable. For us to talk about the drinks industry, to write about the drinks industry, we have to talk to people who work in the industry. Some of those people are going to be people at more prominent restaurants. They are people who are going to be people who are more successful in certain ways. Obviously, it’s important — and I think we do a really good job of this, both on the podcast and on the site in general — to talk to a wide range of voices. People who are not famous, people who are all over the country, all over the world, people who’ve had a great deal of success, and people who are hoping to have success. Yet, there is an inescapable nature to the fact that some people, because of this category rising in public prominence, those people will rise in prominence along with it. What’s important — and I think we are doing a better job of this, slowly and painfully — is that we do not let that prominence and success cover up for all of the bad things that they might do. In fact, it is more incumbent upon us to pay attention to what these people are doing and to watch them closely. To make sure that if the people we are holding up in this industry are gaining stature and elevated positions because of that attention, that they live up to it. I mean, that’s what I think it comes down to.

A: I agree somewhat with what you’re saying in terms of the prominence, but I would argue in terms of why this was covered. It was covered because at the end of the day, he’s a restaurant owner, and it’s a restaurant owner lighting other restaurant owners’ property on fire. Literally doing damage.

Z: Oh, for sure.

A: Especially when he was a restaurant owner that was very vocal early on in the pandemic about how restaurants were not getting any support and how no one was helping. Then, to see someone do that, we would cover the person who did this regardless. If they are the local sandwich shop or the bodega, we would cover it. Yet, in the idea of celebrity, what’s problematic for me is that I completely understand what you’re saying about chefs. I did say earlier that there are celebrity chefs, and I really only think you’re a celebrity if you’re on TV. I guess it’s not totally true if you go back and you look at, as you’re saying, the culture in France and Italy that has somewhat come here. There are some pretty prominent chefs who’ve really never been on television that I would still consider celebrities. I would still say I probably wouldn’t recognize them or be intimidated by them. If I met Éric Ripert, I’d be a little intimidated in the same way that I was with Matthew Rhys. I think if I got to meet someone who is highly regarded but he doesn’t have a personality that I’ve ever encountered, I might be a bit more chill. Now, my issue with the drink space is that I really don’t think there’s a lot of consumers that know who these people are.

Z: Oh, I agree.

A: I think it’s a prominent inside of a small bubble, but the way that bubble reinforces these people makes them think that everyone outside the bubble also knows who they are and makes them act like everyone outside the bubble also knows who they are. That’s what I think is problematic. Actually, no. No one knows who you are. At the end of the day, to most people, if you are still working on the floor or whatever, when you come to the table, you’re just the person that’s going to help them have a better time at dinner.

J: The only thing that is problematic is if you’re a jerk as a result or you do bad things as a result of this feeling.

A: Exactly, and that’s where it bothers me.

Z: But I think it’s important to note that the men who are featured in the “Somm” film, I don’t know that you would call them celebrities exactly, but they were in a movie that a fair number of people saw. I’m sure there are people who saw them on the street shortly after and stopped them. We’ve talked about the Court of Master Sommeliers and their many issues before on the podcast, and we can go there again if we want. Yes, there isn’t quite the same cachet with celebrity sommeliers or bartenders as there are with chefs in some cases. Again, as a recent podcast episode discussed, you don’t see a lot of drinks-focused television shows out there. That is true but what we’re talking about is both curating, but also stature and prominence within the industry. It’s not that Caleb was going to get stopped by people on the street saying, “Oh, my God, are you Caleb Ganzer? Can I get your autograph?” As you said at the beginning, Adam, here was a guy who came on our podcast as a representative of the Wines of Roussillon because he was a well-known and respected sommelier who could talk about the region knowledgeably and lend it some shine. That is not to knock anyone involved in that because it was an interesting conversation. I don’t doubt that Caleb knows a lot about the wines of Roussillon, but the point is where it becomes a reinforcing thing and the same people get put forward. Those people may not think of themselves as hot s**t broadly. Again, I don’t think they think that everyone in America knows who they are, but within an industry, I think they get very used to a level of acclaim, attention, deference, and special treatment. To me, that is the problem because it doesn’t have to be a broad societal thing for those people to take that power, that prominence, and wield it in a variety of unscrupulous to outright criminal ways. That is the thing that I think we have to be vigilant against. If we are going to hold up people as noteworthy for what they do professionally, that’s one thing. But often, that becomes not just about the job they do, but the person themselves. Where so many of these problems start, as Joanna said, is people having an inflated sense of themselves and then it becomes very difficult for the industry to check them because they’re prominent. I also wanted to ask you both something and then maybe I will share my thoughts, too. Adam, you mentioned before we started recording and I think is worth noting, which is the case with the quartermaster and master sommeliers who were accused of all types of sexual assault, harassment, etc. It was true with the two different chefs in the Seattle area who are both James Beard Award winners who were accused of similar things. It’s an open secret within the industry for some of this stuff whether it’s the specifics or one person has a drinking problem or behavior problems. This person yells at their cooks, they throw things, etc. It’s not until something like this happens that people start speaking out about it. I don’t know if there’s a good answer to what we can do to maybe get some of this stuff out before people get hurt or crimes are committed, per se. Joanna, what do you think about this? How do we keep some of this stuff from just being open secrets within the industry?

J: Yeah, I think that there are two options, especially for somebody in a publishing position and working for food publications in the past. There were certainly times where the publication heard that very prominent chefs badly behaved in the kitchen. This is not news anymore, but we would continue to work with them or publish stories about them because they were so prominent in food that if you didn’t, you were missing something. I think in this instance, as a publisher, if you hear these things about individuals — especially well-regarded ones in the industry — you can choose not to publish things about them and continue to advance their career in that way, or you can publish these things about them and report stories on it. Those are two obviously very different decisions to make and with different consequences as a brand. I agree that it is s****y to know after the fact or after things like this with Caleb come to light, to hear people saying they knew all these things about him before.

A: Right. Zach, you talked for a while. I tried to break in, but I wanted to say that I did agree with you. I actually think that the four people in the first “Somm” movie are maybe the only true celebrity somms. I think it was probably, as you said, the most watched thing ever.

J: I think my mom could probably identify them.

A: Yeah, if I asked a friend if they knew who Dustin Wilson was, they would say yes. I think in this regard, the media is really crazy because we obviously want to highlight as many people as possible who are new, young, fresh, and not even young, but just doing different things. Then, there also is a thing where if VinePair isn’t writing about the hot, new, natural wine bar run by someone like Caleb, then are we even relevant? I think every publication feels that for sure. I think that it’s hard on the media side. We try to know as much but also, in all honesty, we don’t know a lot of people. The reason you are one of the hosts of this podcast, besides your really great voice for radio, Zach, is you have an insight to the industry that Joanna and I don’t. We don’t know a lot of these people. My only interaction with most people in the industry is interviewing them for stories.

Z: I want to make one quick note on this, Adam. Your stories about horrific service experiences notwithstanding, when people are in front of the press, they behave one way. When they’re in front of who they consider their peers, they might behave in a different way.

A: Exactly. It’s very unlikely that, as journalists — and I want to be clear, we very much consider ourselves high-quality journalists — but we can do as much background checking as possible and we do. It’s still very difficult. Now, where this can be prevented is among the peers. It’s people who do know this, and that’s where I think in all of these, it sadly comes down after that. I’ve never heard a journalist say to me, “Oh, I knew about this already, because if they did, that’s a juicy f*****g story and they would have written it.” Let’s be clear, it’s all about the lead for us or about the story. If we knew, we’d write about it. Then, it is other sources that I’ve had in the past who will text me and say, “Oh, this person was a heavy drinker, or I’ve been at parties where this person blacks out a lot and that breaks things.” Again, I’m not saying this is the person that we’re talking about now, it’s not. These are just examples. I want to be clear about that, but it’s like, “Oh, man, I wish someone had told me that when I was reporting the piece.” I wish someone would have reached out and said, “Hey, I see you’re featuring so-and-so and just so you know, they’re a bad actor.” That doesn’t seem to happen. I don’t know if it’s out of fear because often the people that get covered are powerful. They run really amazing lists, restaurants, and places that people just are dying to get into. There’s a feeling in the industry that if we tell on them, and it comes out that we were the leak and it doesn’t get reported, all of a sudden we’re going to be blacklisted and not get access to all the stuff that they now have access to in the power position that they’re in. It would be great if it did happen more. It would be great if we were informed. It doesn’t have to be where you tip Joanna or me. If you are a peer, say something to them: “I think your drinking is getting a little out of hand, you might want to talk to someone, or you may regret this in a few years.” These late nights that happen when you’re in the service industry, as you know Zach, can only often bring trouble. There’s nothing wrong with just going home.

Z: For sure. And to add to that, I think one of the most challenging things for me as I’ve grown as a professional and seen more and worked with more people and experienced things is, the restaurant industry and the beverage alcohol industry, have generally been industries that are very permissive, largely without guidelines. And a lot of people who are in the space — whether they know it or not — is because of that is what attracts them in the first place. They can, frankly, get away with s**t that they might not be able to get away with in other industries. That isn’t to say that many of them aren’t deeply passionate, great, and skilled. Obviously, this is true. To be honest, when I was in my early 20s, that’s part of what attracted me to the industry was that ability to have a workplace where I could tell my coworkers to go f**k themselves when I was angry at them and not necessarily get in trouble for it. You maybe had to make it good later, but it wasn’t the end of the world. The biggest change that is happening in this industry is we are realizing, very slowly and painfully, that we are not exempt from the rules. One of the things I have seen a little bit more of and would strongly encourage anyone who listens to this who owns and operates a place or is a manager somewhere, is look really long and hard into third-party human resource options. One of the biggest problems we see in this space, in general, is sometimes someone does bring it up, right? They mention it to the person or they mention it to another manager or to the HR person, but in small and medium-sized restaurant companies and even in big restaurant companies, the PR person, if they’re internally maintained, sometimes their biggest focus is on protecting the company. It is what it is.

I think when you have third parties involved, it allows for people to feel a little bit freer to speak their mind, to talk about what they may or may not see or experience or feel. It allows for there to be a layer between the employee, the person whom they are reporting something about, and a buffer that you just need for these systems to really work. I think you’re right, both of you, that it needs to be on people within the space to speak out when it’s appropriate and to talk maybe privately to people when it’s appropriate, but it’s also about putting systems in place so that it no longer requires extraordinary action by people who have been victimized or witnesses so that these stories can get out.

J: And people feel safe doing that.

Z: Yeah, exactly.

A: It’s crazy, guys. Look, there’s a lot to unpack here. I think what we seem to all agree on is this idea of some people having more notoriety than others and therefore positioning them as one of the more important people in the industry is problematic in a lot of ways. The more we can do to try to limit that and to have more than a few people as spokespeople, especially in New York. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll talk to a brand and they’ll want to do an event with us. They would say, “Can you get this person?” And it’s always the same four or five people. Let’s try to expand who we’re having, who we think is important. It would just be beneficial to everyone. Then, on another level, try to be aware of people who seem to have mental health problems, those who seem to be struggling, and try to get them help. Then, also to speak out against people who exhibit bad behavior and seem to exhibit that behavior with no real feeling of regret or remorse. Those are things that we have to call out as much as possible.

Z: Absolutely.

A: Joanna, and Zach, this has been a really interesting conversation. Our thoughts are out to the restaurants that have been affected by what has happened, and I hope that they’re able to recover. It’s been a terrible year, and a lot of people are under a lot of strain and a lot of pressure. I think it’s a good reminder that the effects of Covid are not over. We need to be really aware of that and try to be as supportive as possible. Thank you both so much for a great conversation again. I’ll talk to you again next week.

J: Thanks.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, then please give us a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and in Seattle, Wash., by myself and Zach Geballe. He does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who is instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: The Perils of ‘Celebrity’ Culture in Drinks appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/vinepair-podcast-celebrity-culture/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/vinepair-podcast-the-perils-of-celebrity-culture-in-drinks

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