#yes I know it's a racist novel

[smudgy-boy]

why is it that in every date sim/visual novel i’ve come across that even dares to let you romance a black person it’s just. the same black guy. like he’s always smart, rich, and “articulate”. and they all wear sweater vests. like i feel like i should be offended

[theminecraftbee]

I’ve been seeing some writing advice that annoys me lately, and so, here’s some advice about writing advice from me:

“your teachers taught you wrong”, “unlearn the way your teachers taught you x”, and “you don’t learn in school” kinds of framings are often disingenuous. normally at the middle/high school level you aren’t learning creative writing, which is what most writing advice posts on tumblr, by contrast, are about. yes there ARE problems with the five paragraph essay and similar structures, but those are mostly to teach you how to structure an argument, not to teach you how to write a short story or novel. your teachers weren’t misleading you; your teachers were teaching you to do something totally different than what you’re trying to do now. cut them some slack and remember that you do have to know the basic principles to know when to break them.

gonna say that again: advice that says “throw out this basic convention/grammatical rule/formatting standard” is missing the point of throwing those things out. yes, in creative writing you can throw all of that out if you want to. however, you have to know the basic rules to understand when to break them. basic rules are there because they’re relatively easy to understand for the reader and largely invisible; breaking those rules becomes noticeable. just make sure you’re breaking them because you want it to be noticed, and in a way that makes it so your point is still legible. (similarly, advice saying “never throw this thing out” is probably also missing the point.)

advice suggesting to always structure sentences or paragraphs a certain length is typically wrong. the actual answer is typically that you should vary it. varied sentence structure and paragraph length is easier and more interesting to read than it all being the same, and the more extreme breaks of pattern become more noticeable and impactful if you don’t do them the whole time. so like, yeah, keep that in mind.

you do have to still read. sorry there really isn’t getting around it, if you want to write good you need to read the kinds of things you want to write.

the lines between “trope”, “cliche”, “beloved genre convention”, and “emotional and impactful twist” are super thin and depends on circumstance. unless the thing is like, actively racist, there aren’t many tropes/cliches/conventions that are universally bad. they’re tools for the circumstance. this is where knowing what tone you’re going for helps a lot and can help you figure out what tools are most useful.

genres are marketing tools and shouldn’t be the driver of what you write. however, genres have fans for a reason, and understanding the conventions of the genre you’re trying to write will help you a lot. yes this is contradictory I know but that’s just how life is. generally ignore advice about a genre that comes from someone who doesn’t like that genre, but also ignore advice that suggests that you can never do something in a specific genre (once again useless it’s actively bigoted or something you know the drill).

it’s actually perfectly okay to write for other people. you should know what audience you’re writing for. just don’t write entirely for other people, and if the numbers make you feel bad, find ways to cut the numbers out of your life. you should write what makes you happiest, after all. for most of us on tumblr this is a hobby and not a job. you just don’t have to feel guilty for imagining an imaginary audience while writing or even getting validation from a real audience, because those things are perfectly normal too.

you don’t have to write every day unless you want to. practice is important to write good, as is like, actually writing, but burnout will hurt you, so figure out a pace that works for you. as long as that pace makes sure you still write with somewhat regularity, it is between you and no one else how many words that is or how frequent it is.

you’re here to have fun. sometimes it won’t be fun; sometimes it’ll be emotional or a grind or frustrating or infuriating. that’s fine too, you don’t have to feel ecstatic glee every moment of the writing process. you’re allowed to have bad writing days. you also shouldn’t feel miserable the whole time. if you don’t have fun when you’re writing ever, not even the euphoria of having a completed final product, then take a step back.

you’re doing great, I promise. writing advice is bullshit. even this advice is probably bullshit. do what works for you. this is the literal definition of an art and not a science, after all.

[olderthannetfic]

Haah, funny thing... I was just seeing another post on Tumblr calling you out (struck-thru vowels and everything) for "propagating racism" on AO3. I think it was some years old, but it did drop something interesting. Apparently, the "real" mass-exodus to AO3 happened because too many writers on LJ were getting into fights over racism-in-writing?

--

Oh, I'm sure there are many. People often make me the posterchild, which I suppose is somewhat justified now that my tumblr is so much more popular than before but was pretty dumb in the past when I was no longer working for OTW and not yet popular with randos. (TBH, I sometimes wonder if people spreading my name around pointlessly and advertising me is what made me popular. If so, congratulations, I guess?)

I've been criticized by at the very least Rukmini Pande for not talking more about Racefail. She's an academic who talks about racism in fandom but who mega sucks on the topic of Asian media and who conflates a lot of things I don't, including ye olde SF book fandom and fanfic fandom.

It's true that Racefail was a huge deal on LJ, but it was "fandom" in the 1960s sense where the word sans modifier means WorldCon type SF book spaces. When I say "fandom", I don't mean that community because, like most fanfiction fans today, I was never in it.

I don't even come from K/S fandom, actually. I come from X-Files fandom (one of the first "digital native" fandoms that made up its own rules) and (US, English-speaking) anime fandom. Those are my actual cultural forebears, and I haven't wasted my time on the racist, sexist, homophobic oldschool SF book publishing world since I was like 13. I do consume sff canons, but they're TV or movies or manga or self-published m/m novels that are also sff.

Why would I waste my time on trying to fix that community that isn't even mine?

Anyway, when people try to tell you that fandom left LJ over something to do with race, they're talking about a massive wankfest called "Racefail" or "Racefail 2009", which enveloped all of SF fandom on LJ and inevitably spilled into lots of more fanficcy spaces because we were all adjacent and overlapping. It largely consisted of clueless white liberals going "But I'm one of the good ones!!!" and being shocked and appalled that anyone could find them racist. People spent a lot of time "defending" their friends in unproductive ways. There was a lot of self-righteous stupidity on all sides, but it was the culmination of years of completely justified anger at the SF establishment being hella fucking racist. (So the two sides were most certainly not equal. A lot of the racist stuff being pointed out was indeed extremely racist.)

Racefail was deeply unpleasant, like any wank that rips through supposed ~civil communities of friends~. In reality, of course, a lot of the people who were pissed had been pissed about micro and not-so-microaggressions for years. It was something like one of those plays or movies about suburban morality where all of the simmering tensions boil up towards the end, destroying the façade of middle class propriety. It's deeply traumatic for people who did not realize the tensions existed, but it's hard to have much sympathy for their feelings if you've been the one suffering all that time.

It is not, however, the reason people moved to AO3. AO3 had already been in the works for a couple of years by the time Racefail was everywhere in 2009 and 2010, and AO3 was not popular at that point and continued to not be popular.

What popularized AO3 was FFN fucking up in 2012.

You know why LJ fic writers moved to AO3 in 2009? Because that's the first time it opened to users.

Moreover, while Racefail certainly affected many individual fans who like fanfic, it was primarily about oldschool US SFF publishing, a thing that 99% of AO3 users could not care less about. A far higher percentage of old LJ users care, of course, but even there, it's a mistake to think fandom=fandom.

"Fandom" in the supposedly-unmarked "book SF" sense and "fandom" in the also supposedly-unmarked "fanfic fandom" sense have never been the same thing. In the early days of Star Trek fic zines, they largely overlapped, sure, but by the early 90s, they had heavily diverged, and by 2009, they were completely distinct.

The reason they keep being conflated is that some of the loudest meta writers are in both and care deeply about that SF-->K/S zines-->AO3 history.

It's fine that they do, but it is not my history, and I see no reason to pretend it is.

The people who spread this lie about AO3's origins have an agenda, and it is not to educate the current tumblr masses about Racefail.

[globetrotter28]

Another Cover Up (Part 8)

Fandom: The Boys

Summary: After Herogasm, Butcher, Hughie and Soldier Boy realise they might need more reinforcements. After doing more research, they discover the woman who was also injected with Compound V alongside Soldier Boy back in the 40’s. Everyone also thought she was KIA that day at Nicaragua. But if Soldier Boy was still alive… maybe she was too?

If you DO wish to be tagged for future updates, please let me know.

If there is a line, the tag didn’t come up for you, or you have changed your handle and I’m not tagging X amount of people who I don’t know.

Tags: @msbadgirl @queenofspades20 @mimzy1994 @erinnkenobi @goldngguk @ateliefloresdaprimavera @roseblue373 @acarboni21 @sexyvixen7 @buckybarnes-1917 @valkyrie418 @multishipper @bxwitched @capswife @bluedragonflylady @leigh70 @xxemoluverxx @quixscentsposts @junie-keene @depressed-kay @deansbbyx @just-levyy @lacilou @ladysparkles78 @kat-nee @themerc-with-a-mouth @howlerwolfmax @horrorgirl4life @spnwoman

Chapter warnings: nightmare, panic attack, reference to past sexual assault, smut, drug use.

Part 7

Series Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were sitting on a supply box, reading the novel you hadn't been able to put done for the last two days... when you weren't forced to spend time with the others. It was the only salvation you had when you were forced back into a Payback mission. This one was planned alongside the CIA and you hated any mission where the whole team were together... the only people you could handle was Noir and Ben. But Ben had been particularly frustrating to you the last 6 months, and you had only gone seperate ways with Noir just two months ago.

It was mutual, but you knew he still had feelings towards you. It made it only somewhat awkward. But you enjoyed his friendship and wanted to see him succeed. Being a black man was hard enough, let alone being forced to hide it by the industry that claimed to be supportive and inclusive... you still couldn't believe those that praised Vought like they did. Yes, you wouldn't be where you were without them, but the man himself you know was racist, Nazi, scum.

"Every chance I see you, your face is buried in that book." You're interrupted by a smooth masculine voice.

You look up to see the beautiful brown eyes you had grown fond of over the last year. You return Noir's smile, genuine happiness washing over you.

"It's better than secondhand embarrassment." You smirk, nodding to the cheers coming from the munitions tent where you knew the rest of the team were showing off.

"Pfft, yeah fair. I thought we weren't allowed to bring personal belongings?" Noir queried, pointing back to the novel in your hands.

"We aren't. However, we are allowed those that assist our powers." You state, turning to the next page and marking your place before closing the book.

"Oh?"

"Yes. I must continuously sharpen one of my most powerful tools." I smirk. "And since that tool is my mind, reading books it will be. It's far more challenging than reading the minds of the majority of our so called team mates." I wink at him, making him chuckle. But something else flashes across his face.

Much like Ben, you made it a point to not enter Noir's mind. That didn't make you not curious, however.

"What is it?" You ask, seriousness colouring your tone.

"Just... Edgar is still refusing for me to take off the mask... even threatened to send me to Minneapolis."

"Erving..." you frown, not knowing what to say to make it better.

"It's okay... it's just part of the job, right?" He says, trying to make it seem okay. You know it isn't though.

"Yeah..." you say as you let out a heavy breath. You look back over to the noise erupting once again from the camp.

You suddenly sense Noir's prescience directly behind you and tense up.

Something was wrong.

As your powers open up, you move to stand up, trying to get away, but something is quickly covering your mouth and nose, strong arms pulling you backwards.

A gas you don't recognise is forcing its way into your lungs as you struggle with the strong man behind you. You attempt to get him off, your powers shooting out of your hands, a few boxes being destroyed in your attempt at freeing yourself.

Your mind expands to meet Noir's and you can feel his internal struggle concerning his actions. You try to jumble his mind with your powers, but the bitter tasting gas is rapidly making you grow weak. Your muscles give way, your body slumping against Noir as you are now paralysed.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N..."

You jerk upwards, your chest tight and a bitter taste on your tongue as you gasp for breath.

"Y/N?" You feel a hand touch your back, but you jerk away from the contact, still gasping for air.

You turn and see green orbs staring at you, brows furrowed as you feel like you can't breath. No amount of air that you're sucking into your lungs is helping you.

"Y/N, it was a nightmare!"

You continues to gasp.

"Y/N, look at me." Hands grasp either side of your face. "You need to calm down. Listen to my voice. Listen to me." You tune into the deep timbre of his voice, eyes focusing on his. "Good girl. Now breath with me. In and out." You hear the air move through his nostrils and see his chest expand and deflate. "C'mon, baby. In." You feel your own chest expand. "And out." It deflates like his.

You continue staring into his eyes, noticing the flicks of gold in the iris around his pupils. You focus on how beautiful you've always found the colouring of his eyes as he continues to instruct your breathing which you don't even realise you're following anymore.

Before you know it, you feel your chest is lighter than it was moments before.

"Good work, Y/N." Ben's soothing voice says as you feel his thumbs wipe under your eyes, collecting the tears that you now notice were filling your eyes.

"I..." you swallow through your tight throat. "It was that day... Noir... h-he used a gas..." your voice cracks.

"Baby..." his fingers enter your hair, scratching your head softly and you focus on the sensation. You see his mind playing his own experience that day, the same mask covering his face as it did your own.

"I can taste it... still..." you whisper.

"Me too." He says, his face in a frown. He leans forward, his forehead resting on yours as your breaths mingle. He then moves to kiss your head, soothing you through fresh sobs.

You wonder if it was finding Noir yesterday that triggered your memory of that day in Nicaragua. You also wonder if you made a mistake to walk away from him...

"I want them dead, Ben..." he pulls back to search your eyes. "I want them dead." He nods.

"We'll find them."

You can't help the pain in your heart as you think about killing Noir. You weren't sure about being the one to do it... or if you should even tell Ben yet that you only just saw him and had ample opportunity to put him down not even twenty-four hours ago...

"Okay." You lean forward and press your lips against his in a wet kiss.

Ben can taste the saltiness from your tears, but that's not what bothers him. It's the people that made you shed them.

Your kiss grows deeper, more passionate and Ben's hands grips the side of your hip tighter. The feel of his strong fingers pressing into your flesh, the sheet the only barrier between his calloused fingers, sends chills throughout your body. You push forwards, twisting your body to lift your leg over him before lowering your behind onto his muscular thighs.

The hair on his legs tickles the skin of yours, only adding to the pleasure that's building through your body. You felt the sweet burn in your tight muscles from your vigorous activities the night before. It had been forty years in captivity, but another six months before that, assault aside, when you last enjoyed the lustful and pleasure filled touch of a lover.

Ben groans out loud when you rub yourself along his now erect cock, spreading your wetness along his shaft. He moves his face into your neck, pressing open mouthed kisses along your throat as you tilted your head back, letting out a moan as you continue to grind your pussy down on him. Ben can't help but jerk his hips up into yours, rubbing against your clit and shooting sparks though your veins.

After rubbing yourself against his length once more, you reach down grabbing him and running his tip through your now dripping folds before you lower yourself onto him. Ben can feel you lowering yourself at a torturously slow pace, taking him in inch by inch, but he enjoyed every moment of it. Once you were fully seated on him, you both let out a shared gasp as you adjusted to his size again, that burn making its presence known once more.

Your eyes lock as your breaths mingle, lips grazing each other's, not going for the kiss. Something about just softly brushing against the other's made the moment even more sensual, more heated.

You move a hand to the nape of his neck, fingers brushing through his hair and grasp the strands softly as your other hand rests on his shoulder. You lift yourself up, feeling every thick vein from the inside as you begin to move together. Heavy breaths, gasps and moans fill the air, your eyes staying locked on one another's.

You soon begin to feel the tingle at the base of your spine, your skin prickling at the early signs of your approaching high. Ben notices a change in your breathing and you tightening around him just enough to know your orgasm is approaching, and he wants nothing more than to get you there.

His hand reaches up to the base of your neck, pulling your body backwards gently to expose your front enough to change the angle of his thrusts up into you. Your gasp tells him he hit the spot he was looking for and he sees violet begin to light up your irises.

He tilts his head down enough to suck your left nipple into his mouth, his tongue teasing the bud as his thumb pays attention to your right. The action alone is enough to send you over the edge, but it was the continued eye contact that made you fall into pure bliss. 

Ben can't help but be amazed by your violet eyes lighting up the space between you both as your body pulses in ecstasy, your contractions pushing himself into his own pleasure. Your moans and his groans bounce off the walls of the room before you both breath deeply in an attempt to catch your breaths.

Your thumb smooths out his furrowed brow, and Ben feels his heart ache at the tender touch. He meets your lips in a deep kiss, no words worthy enough for what he wants to express to you.

There's suddenly a heavy banging, making the both of you jump in surprise.

"If you've both had enough, the kid's found Mindstorm!" Butcher's cockney accent yells through the door.

"What time is it?" You say aloud as you turn to try and look for the time.

You see that the digital alarm clock on the nightstand, weird place you quickly realise, reads 4:12am.

"Too bloody early for your fucken!" Butcher yells once again before he bangs on the door again. "C'mon! Lets get a move on!"

You and Ben look at each other, smirks on both your faces at being caught. It wasn't like either of you were trying to be quiet. And let's be honest... Ben couldn't care less that the delectable sounds you made bothered the other people in the house. Because he made you make those sounds and he'd do anything to hear them again.

He cupped your cheek, thumbs brushing against your skin. "You ready?" He softly asks.

Your answer is simple. "No." His eyes observe the anxiety in your facial features. "But I want it done."

"You don't have to come." Ben offers.

You only shake your head, moving off his lap, his now soft cock slipping out of you. You wince slightly, before he offers you a tissue from beside the bed, which you use to wipe yourself of his cum dripping out of you. Ben can't help but lick his lips, knowing exactly what he wanted to do with the mess you both made.

"I hate that cockroach more than the idea of being the one to kill him."

You knew you were the only one with the ability to get close to Mindstorm. Your powers were stronger than his. You didn't need to make eye contact to get inside of someone's head, and you could do more than make people see their worst nightmares. And to top it off, his ability didn't work on you, since you were always able to block him out. You never knew why exactly, maybe it was just your minds built-in protection mechanism. But even when he first joined Payback, Vaught wanted to see if he could best you in telepathy.

They were sorely mistaken when you were able to project his own power onto himself, making him see his own worst nightmares. But also project it into everyone else's mind for them to see. You were a woman in a man's world, and you weren't going to be bested by the scrawny little man who was cocky enough to go up against you. The moment he made his way through the doorway, he physically peacocked himself and you didn't like that. Not one bit.

You always thought it was ridiculous of them to bring another telepath into the group... but he proved to test well with the geeks... you guess the "not as attractive man" (not your words... but not not your thoughts either...) who could bring anyone to their knees was what their inner child always wanted for themselves.

Knowing someone on the board didn't hurt his case either...

"So let's get the fucker." Ben says. You turn to look at him as you pull your suit out of the cupboard and start pulling it over your body. "He's another one off the list."

“I want a hit.” You say as you clasp the last of your suit on.

“A hit?” Ben questions you, confusion evident.

“I want a hit of your reefer, Ben.” You say, hand held out waiting for him to hand it over from the ash tray next to the bed.

“I thought you didn’t like doing this shit…?” He points out, picking it up and lighting the end. He takes a puff of his own before he holds it out to you.

“I never said I didn’t like weed… definitely helped with my anxiety.” You take the blunt and bring it to your mouth, sucking the smoke into your lungs. Holding it in as you continue to talk, “I just preferred to put it in something.” You puff it out. “Like a cake or something.”

“Ahh that’s right, you never loved the smell.” He remembers, getting up he saunters over to you, still fully nude. You can’t help but eye his magnificent body, happy to say he’s yours now.

“You planning on killing Mindstorm with that hammer?” You smirk up at him, referring to his semi- hard cock.

He grabs you by the waist, pulling you towards him as your hands reach around and grab two fistfuls of his ass.

“You know it could do it.” He jokes as he returns your smirk. He pulls the blunt from between your lips and takes his own puff, leaning down to your mouth and connecting your lips as he shotguns you with the smoke. You suck the smoke in, finally starting to feel the affects of the drug as it moves through your muscles.

You both pull back from each other, small smiles on your faces.

“Let’s go then.” You say. “But best for you to actually get dressed.”

“You’re right.” He says, turning and walking out of your room, still completely naked. You shake your head, bending down to get your boots.

“Oh my fucking god!” You hear come from a startled voice down the hallway. You can’t help but see Ben walking down hallway, his dick swaying, from Hughie’s point of view as you read his mind.

You only laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry!! I started my new job and it’s hella cool! But damn you forget how tiring a new role can be.

But as I’m still settling in, I’ll do my best, but I’ve never been regular at updates. You know, setting the standards low so you don’t get disappointed haha

[vmindrift]

A Final FAQ & A Final Goodbye

Hi, all, I occasionally get a note from somebody or other asking where I've been and when I'll be updating, so I thought to come and do make a formal announcement:

I will not be updating this blog for the foreseeable future

This is bittersweet for me. This blog was instrumental in getting me through the pandemic; in helping me learn all these wonderful things about BTS and ARMY and vmin; and in helping me connect with ARMY for the first time—and now, I'm proud to count many ARMY among my true, irl friends. But I think it's time.

As you know, my posts were sporadic all throughout 2022. There were a lot of reasons for that: primarily job/time, but also a feeling that I had basically said what I wanted to say about vmin and was just repeating myself, a sadness that as the blog grew every other ask was something I had already answered or somebody trolling to get a reaction, and the sense that I was not getting the same analytical/creative fulfillment from it that I had in the past.

BTS is onto its Chapter 2, and I want to be on my Chapter 2 as well. I recently quit my job (yes, that racist one) and am hard at work trying to find a new one, while the tech sector's imploding around me. I want to spend more time with my irl friend rather than hours upon hours (upon hours) arguing online with people who'll never change their mind. I want to finish writing my novel. I want to write about BTS and their music and their bond and their inspirational effect on ARMY to OT7 people and even GP audiences (I really, really want to write an in-depth analysis of Indigo, which has my whole heart). To spread the gospel of BTS far and wide, I suppose, haha.

This isn't goodbye. Really. I am still very very much an ARMY, and a Vminnie. Maybe one day you'll read an article and it'll be by me, haha. Or we'll come across each other's content on Reddit or Tumblr or Twitter or ao3. I'll be around! This blog will stay up as an archive. And honestly, I won't cross off the possibility of a return either, down the line (maybe in 2025? Haha).

As a final parting gift, I'll leave you with some of my half-written Q&A, old Asks Roundup style. They also, quite happily, say most of what I want to say in the end about the nature of this blog, about shipping and fandom, and about BTS / Jimin / Tae. If you enjoy these asks, or if I've just given you joy and entertainment or the past year or two, please do consider tipping through Tumblr. As I said, I'm going through a job change / life transition, and it'd mean a lot.

-Drift

Ask: Did you rage quit? [Drift: No]

Ask: Order of future releases & behavior of ARMY to other ARMY? [Drift: I was right! And it's atrocious, it's my biggest complaint in fandom]

Ask: Can you stop saying Jimin is insecure? It's not true! [Drift: Do you even read his interviews and what's shared about his struggles? Please stop taking out your pet peeves - Jimin will be super successful and conquer any challenge through his own innate talent and determination as well as the support of all those around him. Jimin forever!!]

Ask: So little Vmin lately 🥺 [Drift: But Vmin seems fine! And yes, slowing content some, but it's the healthier thing]

Anon: Did you rage quit the blog because Tae was/is in a relationship with a woman lol?

*looks at my explanation up top*

Oh, love, It's honestly really sad that you think anyone's life could revolve around something so inconsequential—even if it were true in the first place (which is a big if, as based on my very basic visual analysis and other's more expert opinion, it's highly likely the "proof" were edits). That's the first reason that came into your mind about why someone might just stop posting on a free blog comprise of literally hundreds of thousands of words that took as much as a part time job to keep up? The entitlement.

Sure, let's say Tae or Jimin is dating someone. Possibly a man (distinctly in the realm of possibility after Jimin's folio, from the colors to the symbol of Apollo to Artemis to his outfits and staging). But maybe even a woman, le gasp! Which is definitely not outside the realm of possibility, we don't believe in bi-erasure here.

....How many times must I say I don't care?

I'm a Vminnie who has always said platonic or romantic doesn't matter to me - what matters is their bond, in the present and past. And that will always endure, no matter what happens from this point forward.

Thank you, however, for telling on yourself that you don't even read my blog (since I've said this again and again, and first said it in 2021). And for being a prime example of the worst parts of being here. Whatever I say or have said, people like you (other toxic shippers, other toxic Vminnies, solos, etc) will always want drama just to get yourself that little bit of interaction, will always want to believe in some conspiracy to give yourself something to care about.

But here's the thing: you need me to give you content to react to. But I don't need you for anything. I admired and had fun with Vmin's bond here because it was fulfilling, and now that it's less so, I can just switch back to doing it all myself—with the content HYBE puts out, and with the company of IRLs and a select few Vminnies when I want to squee with others.

Hope that answers your inquiry! I wish you the most joy in loving BTS.

From anon: Hi! I just read your post on the predictions of how they will enlist and release their solo albums. You said that Jin enlists, then rapline releases an album, then enlist, then maknae line releases, then enlists. My issue though is that didn't they say Hobi would release first, then Yoongi and then JK? So that doesn't fit the predictions. Also, how do you feel about I ARMY attacking K ARMY for not (in their words) "supporting BTS enough" so they don't deserve things and attacking translators trying to explain?

[Drift from the future update: I was right that RM goes after Hobi, it turns out! But it seems Jimin's making great progress and is expected to be after RM, not Yoongi. I also think it's quite smart, because it breaks up the rap-heavy releases. Fingers crossed we'll see it in Feb/March! ]

I watched the vid several times to see if I missed the order you're talking about - and I think the difference is your assumption that Yoongi follow Hobi. What we actually heard is just this: 1) Hobi is first, and 2) JK will follow Yoongi (we also hear RM's album is quite far along in progress, as he said the album flow is a little random, so he must have enough to sketch out a tracklist; that Jimin just started but thinks he'll finish before Tae who keeps noodling; and that Jin's will be last).

So the most likely order for me is Hobi > RM > Yoongi > JK > Jimin > Tae > Jin - So rapline first ;)

Your list isn't wrong and I think possible too! I just think my top prediction is more likely because of enlistment, but both are just predictions xD And you can disagree with me and think the 2nd scenario is more likely, that's fine.

The second part of your comment is about translator Sel I presume, whom mandakko actually backed up at the time. I saw it happen in real time... I think I have a few screenshots actually. But since Sel deleted quite a few of her tweets, out of respect I won't share those or go into too much detail. If you would like to support her, I've sent her KoFis to express my support.

I will just share the rant I wrote about to get my feelings out at the time about Sel:

And now fandom busybodies are going after Sel! Sel! Of all translators. For having the misfortune of following the 'wrong people' (whom she probably followed years ago and never see on her tl. I can't find that Twitter thread about "judging" people by who they follow - as if we all do an online excavation of the hundreds of people we follow and also pay attention to / agree with everything they've ever done - is dumb as bricks, but I fully concur with the sentiment). For telling i-Army not to generalize a whole swath of fandom they can't even understand. For telling them their habit of shady quote-retweeting is counterproductive and clout-chasing (k-army screenshot, report directly to platform or BH, then report, as I have always advised people to do here on my blog as well).

I wonder if in T-3 months, this incident is going into somebody's "report" / "cancel" thread that's going to go viral - "Sel is racist against i-army, a secret manti, and tolerant of hate aimed at the boys," the thread will claim, with select screenshots that cut out context and willfully misunderstands what she says. Evidence will 'pile up' as people repeat each other, and before we know it, another translator has "been revealed."

We've seen this dance before, again and again, and I hate it here. It's just so damn pointless and petty. Why are we cannibalizing our own? Why do people love wagon-banding so much? And when their wagon-banding turns out to be wrong, they never freaking apologize. And sometimes they chase off great translators, who contribute over a day more than these busybodies have in their entire existence to the fandom. I'm happy and proud that Sel and other translators have the strength and passion for BTS to carry on despite experiencing this toxicity throughout their fan careers. As for KARMY: As an immigrant, my blood also boiled to see insults being slung around on a language and a platform K-ARMY don't even use. You know what that makes you? An entitled mean girl. Even if I hated my colleagues - and I don't hate my ARMY colleagues, I love them all - I would not talk behind their back like this. And if you think K-ARMY, who literally do streaming test-runs on Melon with old songs to figure out best methods and rule changes pre-comeback, are somehow not "doing enough"—get yourself on the Korean streaming platforms and go do it yourself. And you damn well better have streamed every hour of every day and bought all digital versions of Yet To Come with 3 different emails and also as many physical copies of Proof as you could in the weeks it's been out. Else sit down.

[Future Drift: I still mean every single word of this. Please, keep our best ARMY with us]

From anon: Can you stop shoving the 'Jimin is insecure and has low self-esteem' agenda? I know you won't answer this and you're entitled to your opinion, but it's frustrating to see fandom attach everything to this narrative. Go read his Weverse interview, the man is ready to take on the mental challenge of his solo work - two things can be true, that he's attached to his members, and that's he's ready for his solo work.

[Drift from the future: I stand by the answer to this too, especially immediately post FESTA announcement! Jimin's actually talked more about it in his recent W Magazine interview - feeling a bit lost in 2022, worried about his solo music, etc. But he's been successful and will soon be sharing his wonderful music and soul with us! Exactly as I said he would be in June 2022! Wow, I'm a prophet!]

This is also a reconstructed ask. Indeed, I wasn't going to answer this, because I'm (again) trying hard to be less easy to bait. But then I remembered I never got the chance to talk about Jimin's Weverse interview in my Vmin write-up (since it wasn't out yet, btw, as I stated in the piece), so thanks for giving me an opportunity to talk about it, I guess, anon, haha.

First. Let me just talk directly to the insecurity/self-esteem point. I stand by what it, but also think anon is twisting my words based on their own "pet peeve" and responding to what they think I said and not what I actually said.

As I mentioned, meeting his own expectations is something Jimin's struggled with in the past.

Jimin said in recent years that one of the key things he's learned is to love himself. But he still occasionally expresses being unsatisfied with himself, especially in regard to his work—and as I explicitly mention in my post, that's a double-edged sword. It makes him perfectionist and hold himself to a high standard, which is obviously useful in his field of work (just look at how meticulously 3J dissected their Butter remix dance break performance, and it was just thrown on the internet, not even for an award ceremony or anything). But it also means he puts himself under a lot of pressure, which if not checked can be bad for his mental health (remember that Game Caterers episode when Jimin criticized himself for being too sharp towards others, then Tae interjected that he is very kind, and that Jimin was too harsh on himself?).

It is also still something he seems to struggle with. I want to ask if anon read the Weverse article, because in my opinion, his statements reaffirmed exactly what I said:

Jimin: I’m really grateful for everything ARMY says, but I'm not entirely satisfied with myself yet. Nothing would make me happier than having this much self-satisfaction, but I don’t, and I struggle with that. I guess that’s why, even though I really want to be better, I was avoiding the fact that to change in that way I would have to be more consistent in what I do—but I forced myself to bury those thoughts by telling myself maybe I was already good enough. But now, I want to be even better. I want to be better, and cooler. I changed. Jimin: I want to show off everything I’m capable of at the highest possible proficiency. For example, whether I’m showing that dark but sexy vibe that only “Black Swan” has, the high energy of “IDOL” or “FIRE,” or how cute I can be, I want to do it all with the highest proficiency. I always look forward to the audience erupting into cheers whenever all my proficiencies come together. I think that’s one of the reasons I used to criticize myself so much whenever I made a mistake or did something wrong. Jimin: After that first day of the LA concert, I felt like I had been wronging the fans this whole time somehow since our concerts kept getting canceled. [Drift: I just want to note, as a former high-achieving perfectionist, so much of what he talks about - the joy of reaching the greatest heights with things you love; the pressure to perform, always; the guilt over things that aren't even your fault - resonate So. Much. Jimin will always, always, have my heart]

The insecurity point was just one supporting point within my main argument:

Jimin seems most reluctant to go solo, seeing his identity as wrapped up in BTS (and needs to do the work to figure out his solo identity). And that main argument is something I stand by, because it literally came out of his mouth: "I'm not a solo artist, I'm a member of BTS", even though he later on states that he "understands now" that they're making solo albums, all of which indicate he wouldn't have pursued one if this wasn't the plan for the next little while. And this is by and large something the fandom seems to agree with, if the conversations I've had with many ARMY are anything to go by.

I do think he has some growth as an artist to do in the next bit. In fact, he says that himself in the Weverse article ("I’m looking forward to knowing who I’ll become and how much better I’m going to be able to perform."). He's looking forward to it. I'm looking forward it. I'm sure it won't be without pain, because what personal growth is without pain? But ultimately, I'm not worried Jimin will not come out a stronger person and artist in the end. Again, as I literally said in the original post, I'm sure Tae and the rest of BTS are behind him, and I'm also sure that his music will be a cathartic avenue by which he can process emotions and propel his growth. Indeed, Jimin literally said that himself in the Weverse article: that when he felt lost, the other members suggested he put that into his song and he's going to try that; and that when he's struggling, the members help him return to his true self.

In case you were confused: I am positive Jimin's solo career will be successful. He's a born idol and crazy talented and even beyond that, heartbreakingly hardworking. He's shown where he can grow too, with his ear for melody, lyrics, and song concepts generally. And regardless of what success markers he achieves, objectively or in relation to the other members, I will be 100% behind him. Always.

Finally, here's a personal piece of advice to you: if you have some general pet peeve, maybe talk about it on your own blog? Please don't come onto mine with your own agenda.

If there's some fandom tendency you don't like, the more productive thing to do is collate across sources, make a cogent argument as to why the fandom tendency is inaccurate (complete with sources and logic)—and post about it so that it's out there as a resource to change people's mind. I've done this in the past, from my entire Say No to Shipperverse Bad Habits to my post about why the fandom painting Jimin as some giant flirt is utterly inaccurate (and you might notice - probably because it's never been true in the first place - that tendency and depiction have receded dramatically in the past 2 years).

Imagining arguments I never made and ranting about your pet peeve in my ask box - without engaging with a single data point I cited, mind you - is honestly just spamming me.

[Also: Let it be known I read the Weverse interview 1 minute after it dropped at 11pm EST quickly, then one additional careful read, and now just another one as I wrote this xD I also watch his vlives, interviews, etc, religiously. In fact, I will literally sometimes rewatch vlives because I like observing the careful way he phrases things (I swear someone can test me on what he said in his Oct 2020 vlive). How dare you doubt how obsessive I am about Jimin, lol].

From anon: Hi drift, idk if u noticed it too, but it feels like Tae is also becoming more private when it comes to Jimin. It's also expected that we'll see less and less from VMin especially with the different approach on their career this time. TT

[Drift from the future: I really am Nostradamus lol. As I predicted, member interactions have become scarcer, like, I don't think we've seem Jimin interact with Namjoon since the fall. But they all seem fine still! Especially Vmin—don't forget Tae immediately posted Vibe to his IG story upon its release, almost like he was waiting for it to drop with us. And that Jimin really randomly posted a throwback pic with Tae (from ITS2 filming?) a bit awhile, when a quick glance across his IG will tell you he basically only posts promo stuff or things happening in real time. My Vmin heart is, as always, full 🥺]

Well, let's remind ourselves "I like you most" was... last year? And in the past six months, we've gotten these moments - some from Tae - that directly show that they remain close, that they still hang out. Heck, in FESTA 2022, filmed just late May (shortly before they went to see Biden), Jimin went on about how he'd gotten a look (seemingly by himself, not with all the members) of Tae's album and hyped Tae's solo works way more than his own. In fact, see related asks that put that more articulately.

So it's not like we've gotten nothing.

But funnily enough, I saw some Vminnies on my twt timeline recently talking about how they don't 'show evidence' they hang out anymore. No vmin selfies, basically. Think about Hobi + maknae line hanging out in LA & LV - we never saw the two of them in one photo and they did not post photos of each other either. Think about these two photos, which has the same framing and filter, heavily implying they took them for each other using the same phone - posted separately on their respective IGs.

And whether that's 'deliberate' or 'not deliberate ' - who knows? But it's worth pointing out Jimin's relationship to social media has changed significantly. He posted on Weverse (?) relatively recently about feeling guilty he doesnt post more and promising to do so more often (though honestly, he should NOT feel guilty about it)... but it's a steep decline from pre-2016 where he posted all the time. Indeed, every member's relationship to social media has changed (reflect: Hobi really blossoming on IG; Jin also going kind of silent except for his hilarious comments - we've heard most about him from the middle-age chefs he hangs out with hahahaha - their group Twitter being a whole deadzone). It likely will continue to change a lot, with their solo activities and individual IGs in the mix. So yeah, as I stated in Part 2 & repeated again Part 3, expect to see a decline of visible interactions across the group, and particular Vmin, who already has a streak of being private.

Am I sad about it? Kind of. But as I've said many times, I'm not a particular insecure Vminnie. Whether or not I get to see it, their relationship - whatever form it takes - will persist. They've made it clear they intend to take it to the very end.

But even if some catastrophe occurs where they break apart? It's not like me seeing a selfie or report of them hanging out foretells that sort of thing happening or not happening, right?

Honestly, think about how shallow that form of communication is, anyway. What's you'd learn? That they look good together in a photo? That they spend time in the same space? (You don't even get to know how long they spent time together, or what they were doing together).

Personally, I'm looking forward instead to their interviews, their acknowledgments, their solo albums - where you might see their artistic collaborations, or hear what they mean to each other as personal and artistic supports. That's much more meaningful. We're also much more likely to get that than photos etc, at this stage in their career.

And honestly? I think it's a good move all around. It's healthy for them and their various relationships. And it'll allow narratives to re-focus around their artistry.

I understand shipping is a hobby, but it'll be good for all shippers to be reminded their ships are not a tv show. You can't expect to 'tune into' every couple of days (especially outside of group comebacks, when we always a glut of content between members) and expect to see something new.

It's important to separate Vmin and their real life relationship from this Vmin fandom. Depending on the real people to keep you entertained and the overall shipping fandom going isn't healthy. If you want "ship content," go follow some fanworks creators. The art & fic are spectacular. Admire the real boys from firmly behind the 4th wall.

[Drift-from-the-future: Quadruple underscored here!! If you're bored, go leave some kudos and comments on fanfic and fanart!!!]

And that's it for me, everyone. I love you all <3

[secretmellowblog]

The ending of Dracula SUCKS because it’s both laughably anticlimactic and the peak of the novel’s racism. The biggest plot twist of Dracula is that Dracula is not a good book.

In the climax, because Dracula is asleep(tm) in his coffin, Stoker decides he has to throw in some mini bosses for the gang to fight instead— Dracula’s carriage drivers, a bunch of Romani people.

It’s one of the many areas where Stoker makes the racist subtext explicit text?

We get a “climax” where the heavily armed white heroes violently attack this caravan of sorta-armed Romani people and it’s framed as noble and heroic. (we’re supposed to Assume the driver are inherently guilty/okay to attack because they’re Romani, and other Romani people were helping Dracula in the castle chapters, and we all know Those People can’t be trusted!! etc etc) It's nearly “B*rth of a Nation” level racism.

Also not to roast Quincey— but I do love how this squad of white people armed with GUNS could barely defeat this ragtag little group of barely-armed carriage drivers, and even lost one of their members trying to do it. Stoker’s trying to frame them as noble underdogs but they come across as overpowered hyper-violent incompetent idiots who couldn’t manage a clean attack even when everything was on their side. XD

The entire novel is essentially a fantasy version of “B*rth of a Nation”-style tropes? It’s “the evil foreign race preying on our innocent white woman.” This is made extremely explicit in the scene when Mina compares her predicament to the predicaments of women in war zones who are killed by their husbands in order to prevent the foreign enemy from having sex with them. In the narrative, murdering your wife like this is framed as Good. Mina believes she should be killed like this before a Foreign Man Takes her in order to preserve her purity, and the narrative agrees with her. She is a “good English woman” because she believes she’s better dead than corrupted by a foreigner, and if she is corrupted by the foreigner her soul will be damned forever.

After all, the foreigners are evil! Either your wife is a Mina, a Good Wife who is assaulted by the poor evil foreigner, and whose purity can only be regained if you violently take revenge. … or your wife is a Lucie, a Misled Child who says she’s happy now but it’s because Her Mind isn’t Her Own Anymore and shes going to hell and she’s so poisoned by the foreigner that she needs to be put down like a rabid dog to protect the white English race.

I’ve seen people make comments about how bad it is that adaptations tend to make Dracula somewhat genuinely seductive/lovable to Mina compared to the book, which baffles me? It frustrates me that a lot of analysis is treating Dracula like a real person, rather than a character who was written in a specific way for a specific reason.

Yes it is bad that Dracula-the-person sexually assaults the other characters. But the reason Dracula-the-Character is written that way is because Stoker is writing him as a metaphor for Evil Foreign Races Preying on Our White Women. The reason book- Dracula is written so unsympathetically isn’t because Stoker is making a progressive point about sexual assault, but because he’s using Dracula as a deeply regressive symbol of the evil Foreigners having sex with white women who must be exterminated to preserve the purity of white English children.

Honestly I feel like the reason most adaptations make the Count genuinely alluring/seductive/sympathetic is because there’s really…not much to his character in the original novel, outside of being the archetypal Evil Foreigner who is Evil because Foreign, which is both offensive and also really shallow/uninteresting. Later adaptations are more interested with portraying Dracula as more tragic or sympathetic or at least more genuinely seductive because...well at least that's SOMETHING to add to this nothing character.

There’s a lot of potential in some of the concepts and aesthetics and plot points of Dracula, but most of the “deeper thematic elements” of the book are bigoted, shallow, or both.

It makes sense that adaptations have decided to attempt to give the characters depth, nuance, and interest that they didn’t have in the original novel? Or to take the aesthetics but flat-out reject all of Stoker's takes and argue with him about every single thematic element? and I am completely on board with vampire reimaginings that continuing to spit on Bram Stoker’s legacy. I hope people continue to make him roll in his grave. XD.

And again, I'm kinda surprised there were so many people during the Dracula Daily readalong acting as if the book portraying Dracula as purely evil is somehow more progressive than later adaptations portraying him as tragically sympathetic or seductive, when "questioning why the author chose to write Dracula as the monster" is kinda like "baby's first Dracula criticism." I mean that, in even in Hotel Transylvania (the recent kid's cartoon) part of the central plot is that Dracula's family is hunted down because bigoted people assume vampires are monstrous predators incapable of love. And it's not because Hotel Transylvania is a deep challenging movie, but because "let's question Why we've decided to invent this entire class of foreign predatory monsters it's okay to kill without remorse" is such a normal milquetoast uncontroversial mainstream critique of Dracula that you'll even find it in Adam Sandler children's movies. XD.

[scarfacemarston]

So you’re new to the Vampire Chronicles fandom:

Long post. I know I’m not “known” in the fandom, but I’ve been a lurker and popping in here and there and I just want to share my thoughts. I’ve been a fan since 2004 and this is a very special series to me. I know with IWTV coming soon, there is going to be a huge influx of people. That’s not a bad thing. There has been a lot of people join the fandom recently. A couple things: A lot of the fans are older, but there is a lot of diversity in terms of age and background. Just don’t be surprised to find people over 25 here. Yes, they exist. Scary, we know. The books and the show are extremely different and NOT just based on the changing of race. The setting/time frame, the characters’ ages,  backgrounds and what appears to be some personality traits have also changed so be aware of that when exploring. Even from the trailer, the Interviewer, Daniel, has a completely different age and background. Louis’s personality is already different in some ways from what we’ve seen and his background has changed. Some of these changes are huge and it’s okay for people to point out these changes as long as they aren’t racist,sexist, homophobic and generally creepy about it. I can’t believe I have to say that but this is a horror series. Characters are going to do things that are “problematic” like murder or intimidate, abuse or threaten, or stalk. That is the point. That is a horror series. No one should at all think these things are ok and most people who watch the movie or read the show already know that, yet this still seems to pop up anyway.  The Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles are the most famous vampire books after Dracula, of course it’s going to have all the dark elements to it. But I find it ironic people give the vampires from resident evil a free pass for doing the same thing that Anne Rice’s vampires do  I hate using the word problematic, but I’m using it to quote what I’ve seen.  It’s thrown around constantly and this risks losing meaning . The fandom knows that unfortunately, there are definitely some issues with the series, Anne Rice herself and a few additional ones with the tv series. Racism has zero place in the fandom. This is something that I’ve seen burst through the roof.  People say Lestat and Louis are “problematic” - well yes, that’s the point the books are trying to make. They love each other despite their issues. Again, this is a horror novel about vampires discovering their monstrosity while trying to balance humanity. They’re complex. There aren’t too many “Good vampires vs bad vampires” until later and those vampires that are bad are extremely obvious.  Lestat is an example of this for Louis and Louis has his own “problematic” moments with Lestat.. However, my statement from above changes a bit  with some of the race changes some aspects of the relationship are being looked at through a new lens which does lead to some concerning ideas. We’ll have to wait til we see the show for sure as that does change the dynamic of the relationship, but overall, no one should be viewing this as a healthy relationship and Louis is already clear on that. 

Another example: One of my most interesting ships is between a 500 year old vampire named Armand and Daniel. (Who is the name of the interviewer and is actually a 32 year old who was turned into a vampire instead of an old man.). The relationship can be dark and has abuse, too but the way its written is that Daniel has just as much power in his own way making it a very interesting read.He fights back and can be nasty, too. Yet, some parts are strangely sweet in some aspects. Just because I find the dynamic interesting to read about does not mean I condone something as messed up as Armand/Daniel’s relationship. Never in a million years. This attitude should apply to many aspects in this fandom.  Too many people are getting into the series “just for the gay shit”. Come on. There isn’t an issue with enjoying mlm relationships, but fetishization and watching a show just because “you want to see gay vampire fuck” is your prerogative, but it’s shitty because the series is so much more than that and characters shouldn’t be reduced to just their sexualities. (Btw, Anne Rice's vampires don’t have sex, fyi.) So that’s just a few things I thought I’d point out. I understand not everyone will agree with me, but any sort of abuse will be blocked immediately.

[patrickmstump]

since we're still kinda in the mania zone i feel compelled to make this post but by god i dont wanna attract discourse to this blog! just know im best friends with the block button <3

ive been seeing this come up again, with ppl protesting that disliking an album isnt racist and like, this has already been said much better by other people who got tons of harassment so im not digging up their posts

heres my explanation: when poc say the reaction to mania is racist, we're not saying u personally is a scheming vilain rubing ur hands together going 'mwahaha i hate poc!' i cant be inside ur head, ur feelings are for u to figure out alone. what we are saying is we keep picking up on this pattern everytime ppl talk about this album. its ppl editing burna boy out of sr, its this, its white ppl coming back to bandom out of the blue to make latine fans feel bad for enjoying hmtod, etc.

its not about u personally, its about the general response from a fanbase we know is overwhelmingly white. would i like white fans to examine where their reactions stem from? yes absolutely. but again, i cant be inside ur head. and bc it gets exhausting writing the same novel as a response everytime and we get so tired of hearing how bad this album is, an album that made us feel so seen, we're just like 'yeah pls just stop being racist'

now with that being said...... those white cishet men on yt making careers out of shitting on this album. racists. sorry, theres no 2 ways about it

[veliseraptor]

February Reading Recap

Getting to this one real late but it's fine because I only read three books in February anyway.

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie. I'm a sucker for books that are doing something interesting with format, and this one caught me with the "ghost hunting TV show episode" format and then surprised me a little by being both better and scarier than I expected. I don't think I'd say that it's among the best horror I've read, but it was a good time, and spooky, and left enough of the "what's going on" vague and undefined for me to appreciate it.

There's at least one interesting thing that the author did with the format that I completely missed, though (having to do with time stamps, so that's on me for never paying a lot of attention to time stamps). Makes me wonder a little what else I might've missed. This author wrote another horror novel I've seen floating around (The Children of Red Peak), and I enjoyed this one enough that I'll probably give it a read.

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: vol. 2 by Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat. I'm still in very familiar territory with this one so far based on what I remember from the first time I read it, but it is (as with most cnovels) definitely rewarding reread with the benefit of hindsight. I am very much enjoying it, still, and finishing this volume kicked me into trawling AO3 for fanfiction, so I feel like that speaks well of the experience.

The drawback (one of the drawbacks) to this novel being so damn long is that we're not really in a part of it that I have particularly strong feelings about, and because of the novel's length it's also going to be a minute before we get to the parts that I do remember having strong feelings about. me @ Ye Wangxi though: 👀

The Glory of the Empire by Jean d'Ormesson. This book is both fascinating and very hard for me to figure out how to talk about. The conceit is quite possibly my favorite thing about it - this book is written as a narrative history of a completely fictional empire, in the style of (classically) Herodotus or Suetonius, but in more modern terms I think was meant to evoke Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which I haven't read. I wonder what would be different (or not) about my experience reading this book if I had that background, since I do feel like this is a text that is very much existing in deliberate conversation with those it is playing off.

I imagine I do not have to explain to the Goncharov website why this is a fascinating exercise. It's a history! Of an entirely made up empire! Including citations of articles and books and asides about different interpretations/the relevance of new "discoveries" to the author's argument. It's conceptually fascinating. It also reads as (not to put too fine a point on it) orientalist and bordering on racist in the way it talks about real cultures external to the one being imagined. It is possible that is on purpose as part of the author's project, since it does very much feel in keeping with the texture of the genre d'Ormesson is pastiching here, but also it is possible that it's just an artifact of this being a book written in French in the 1970s, and it's hard for me to say how much it is one or the other. Certainly for some people it might not matter at all; for me it would make a substantial difference.

Anyway, fascinating book, still not sure what to make of it, kind of want to shove it at other people I know and go "here read this and talk to me about it."

Presently I am reading Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikvosky which I am (unsurprisingly) really enjoying (I can probably call him one of my favorite authors at this point); I have a whole bunch of scattered things I'm looking at reading next and no clear idea where I'm going to land, though I do think I might try to get into finishing my Wheel of Time reread soon.

[80svhstapes]

how are u a Billy stan and a person of color? he literally tried to kill a black kid, he would NOT like you. good thing he's dead tho lol!!!!! also calling him an abuser is NOT victim blaming. growing up with abusive parents doesn't mean you're allowed to be abusive back to the people around you. Johnathan had a shit dad as well, and he's a great brother. maybe Billy is just... racist and written to be disliked? also Mike is a child who makes bad choices sometimes and it's kind of stupid to call HIM an abuser and not Billy, like are u ok? do u need therapy? clearly.

he wouldnt like me? you dont fucking know that honey, he's not real

if you think its surprise that im a poc billy fan then I wonder how you are with black billy fans, yes they exist, surprising I know.

you antis seem to love to bring up jonathan to compare victims which is fucking gross by the way because for starters lonnie fucked off ages ago, Jonathan has will and joyce which gives a solid support, billy on the other hand never got escaped from his abuser and never had a support system for his active trauma.

im not stupid for calling mike abusive because that's exactly what he is, he tried to gaslight el when she broke down in front of him, called her ridiculous when she called him out on his bullshit and called her a superhero despite the fact that's not what she wants to be known for because mike makes it out that that's her only purpose when its not

not to mention that mike is sexist and he bullied max for no reason in s2 which he still hasn't apologised for but gets away with it because he's cheesecake. which is what i called rich white entitled assholes. I've dealt with a lot of them in my life. i literally have a tally in a journal.

also need i remind you that mike made a racist remark towards licas in s2? literally no one else in the group had a problem with lucas being Venkman except for mike because if something doesn't go his way he throws a tantrum like a 5 year old.

and in the lucas on the line novel, lucas sees that mike is death glaring him but he doesn't know why, the was no reason for mike to do this, the dnd campaign could and should've been rescheduled.

it says a lot about what tyoe of friends mike and dustin are since they'd rather play a board game with a 19 year old than go and support their childhood friend

the duffers tried to make an exact rip off of it's henry bowers but dacre said fuck no and gave a realistic representation of non-romanticised victims because unlike you, he knows that not every victim will not turn out the exact same specific way.

if you dont like my account and what I post stay the fuck away because your bullshit is not gonna make change my opinions that I've had for the past 5 years

[tamelee]

If you hate boruto and those couples so much then try and do it better? You can’t. I don’t see the point complaining getting more content from a show you claim to love so much. Where is common sense in that? Its kind of disrespectfull to the people who worked on the movie or on the boruto anime and I usually dont say things like that but people like you say you are fans and on top of that you even defend Kishi’s writing which I don’t get either. How must the person feel who worked on Retsuden? Bet all of you don’t think about that either, yet you think so highly of a mysogynistic retard that writes characters like Minato the worst father ever, Jiraiya a pervert who spends an orphan’s money and Tobirama a racist. No but 2 relationships are the worst because yaoi hearts aren’t satisfied. Makes me wonder why you’d allow to not speak out to racism or perverts but encourage it by speaking so highly of the man who wrote it. Hmmmm

HmMmMMmmMMmm

Oh yes, the typical “you’re not allowed to hate on Boruto and I’m going to come up with several excuses that will try to make you sound jealous of its major success with my intelligent words that I took my time to think of last night and majority of this afternoon. This will not only make you look bitter about the gremlin- excuse me, Boruto, the great successor.. but it will also make it sound like you approve everything I accuse the creator to be.”

Yes, yes, how dare I.

How dare I complain about “content” that assassinates 15+ years of world/character and story development. To “disrespect” people who brought that upon us peasants as a simple ‘money-grab’.. uh, for our entertainment- sorry. To not think about Jun Esaka who wrote ‘Sasuke Retsuden’, the author that got into ‘Naruto’ for about a year and interpreted the characters for a novel in exchange for money, having a character like Sasuke grab Sakura by the hair like some kind of horn dog to kiss her over Naruto’s unconscious body and have the audacity to call that ‘canon’. How can we as a fandom not think about these third-party creators that get hired to create this extra “content” you talk about as nothing more than marketing material and ignore the main story that is ‘Naruto’? Because fuck all of that, amiright? Who cares about what Kishimoto wrote anyway, it’s all garbage, yes? He’s only a “misogynistic retard” as you say. All that matters is what is said in interviews in the end and what NH/SS shippers want to hear/read in their little novels after the whole goddamn story is over to give shit new meaning. As if “true canon” never happened. 

How convenient for you. 

And how funny that most of you tend to completely ignore ‘Gaiden’ too.  

I’m so sorry to ‘Boruto’ creators and Jun Esaka. My little yaoi heart got in the way of my judgement. It made me not see all the relationship development between NH/SS throughout ‘Naruto’. All the mutual love that was seen between these couples. The way Naruto and Sasuke accepted the love from Hinata and Sakura, the way they were driven to act out of love for them, how their confessions gave them strength to continue the story forward, how it developed them as characters. How could I have been so blind? Jun Esaka saw things within that one year we never have. Kishimoto misinterpreted his own characters so badly that he simply got stuck in the end.. that’s all it was. Or is that me defending his writing.. HmmMmMMm. 

Kishimoto was wrong within his own story I guess. And you know.. I’m so glad we had interviews at the end.. and ‘Boruto’ as well! You’d almost think that Naruto and Sasuke were actually..

You know..

*whispers*..gay. 

Heh. Imagine. 

But then: Chapter 700. Phew. 

/end of sarcasm/

“If you hate boruto and those couples so much then try and do it better?”

Right.

Yeah you know what, I said this some time ago in my tags: 

And *huff*. Maybe I will? 

It’ll be good CSP practice. 

Fine.

I'll do that.

Sure.

It'll be my own spin-off.

Watch me.

I mean it!

..

[fan-mans]

The Suchong rant/theory/speculation

So, I know that a vast majority of the Bioshock fandom fucking hates BAS (Especially on here) for very good reason. But, I will say that, when it isn’t being racist, destroying canon, and insulting all the characters- it does bring a few interesting things to the table. This is especially true for Suchong’s character, his motivations, personality, and his relationship to Jack and Tenenbaum.

Ever since I read the note Tenenbaum left Suchong, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’ve gone down a bit of a wiki rabbit hole, investigating Suchong and Tenebaum’s characters to answer all the questions that came up. I mean, if Suchong was really as much of a soulless bastard as people like to portray him, why would Tenenbaum try to appeal to his emotions? It makes no sense to me that Tenenbaum would try to appeal to the sensibilities of a man who has given no indication of compassion or remorse.

So, I posit a theory: Suchong and Tenenbaum both began to feel remorse for their actions at roughly the same time, leading to Tenenbaum writing the note to save someone she was friends with and could possibly aid her.

Now, I know this may sound ridiculous but, after applying a little bit of logic, Suchong showing some remorse but going on with his work makes more sense than Tenenbaum appealing to someone she knows doesn’t care about the kids and that she doesn’t care about either. And before I get into my evidence, I am using what is present in the games only as I have not read the novels, nor do I care to.

So, why would Tenenbaum even begin to care about Suchong? Well, one could argue that she just wanted help with the little sisters, but there are plenty of good people in rapture so her bothering with Suchong in particular feels important. Of course, he did do the mental programming on them, but Tenenbaum herself states that the children can grow out of it and forget, so Suchong would really only speed up the de-conditioning process.

Instead, I want to bring forward the idea that Suchong and Tenenbaum were good colleagues, and maybe even friends. Listening to Gilbert Alexander’s audio diary “Improving on Suchong’s work”, it’s easy to hear the sadness in Alexander’s voice, which can imply a lot of things, most prominently that there was some level of camaraderie between them. Other cut audio diaries from Alexander similarly imply a strong amount of sadness about Suchong’s death, furthering this point. Okay, Suchong probably had friends- so what? Well, it means he could’ve easily have had a positive relationship with Tenenbaum! Since we don’t know the date of Suchong’s audio diaries “Mozart of genetics” and “Plasmids are the paint”, we can’t say for sure how long ago those thoughts about Tenebaum were, though both are implied to be early in their relationship. Even while looking down on Tenenbaum, Suchong still very much admired her skill as a scientist, which at least to me, indicates a clear avenue for solidarity and mutual respect between them. 

As there are no audio diaries mentioning Suchong and no radio messages giving her clear opinions on him it’s a little tough to gauge her perspective on her colleague. However, Tenenbaum being outright friends with Suchong, I feel, makes much more sense when you take her note into consideration. Tenenbaum’s note being an not only appeal towards someone who can make saving the little sisters easier, but an appeal to a friend, a man she respected, who she raised multiple children with, makes the effort of writing it and putting it in his secret lab make so much more sense! It makes the appeal at all make more sense as well. Tenenbaum is a very hopeful woman, yes, but if she was talking to a friend, someone she knew even somewhat intimately, over a man she barely knows or actively dislikes, then her confidence in convincing him to her side skyrocket.

Now, speaking of kids, let's talk about Jack and the little sisters. I don’t think people really acknowledge that Suchong had put just as much, if not more, work into raising Jack as Tenebaum. I personally think that though Frank was present, he did leave most of the work of raising and training Jack to those two. The little sisters, on the other hand, he had no care for other than funding. Suchong, however, is directly addressed by the girls as “papa’ multiple times, indicating that he is their father figure like Tenenbaum is their mother figure. 

Alongside this- there doesn’t seem to be much outright hostility between him and the girls. Of course, in Bioshock 1, there is the ghost scene of the little sister crying about not wanting to be ‘put on the table’ and the infamous ‘protection bond’ audio diary where he slaps a child, but nuance can put those instances in a new light. First, the ghost scene has no context other than the words spoken by the girl, so, this could easily be a case of Suchong turning an orphan into a little sister- still bad, but expected of both him and Tenenbaum. The audio diary on the other hand, as well as the real time version in BaS, does require a deeper analysis.

So, prior to the event, we see Leta and Masha rescue and befriend a big daddy, creating the protector bond, the girls disappear and later re-appear, as we come across Suchong venting to his audio diary, trying to figure out his massive problem. The girls enter and enthusiastically try to get his attention. Now, let’s pause here and ask a few questions. First; why would kids he’s very cruel to regard him with such enthusiasm and second why are they trying to get his attention? My conclusion to answer these questions is as follows; Suchong was NOT as cruel as implied and he communicated his problem with the protection bond to the girls. 

If Suchong was super abusive, why would the kids actively seek his attention? Would they not fear angering him if they bother him, especially at work? The enthusiasm the girls have and willingness to approach him (As well as Suchong allowing them to roam around freely) indicates a more relaxed relationship. Despite what he says about children sometimes, calling the girls brats, and generally regarding children as stupid and unruly, there is room to plausibly infer that he didn’t hate them 24/7. Even more so, as evidenced by both of the coded notes, the problem with the protection bond is on the Big Daddies, not the little sisters, their conditioning is well in effect at this time. With the added detail of the girls jumping to find him after the bond is made, then it stands to reason that they understood the problem and were going to tell their papa the good news. I figure that they either sensed a change in his behavior or he outright told them the problem and to find him if there was a change, leaning toward the latter explanation.

Okay, now let's go back to Suchong's death scene. So the girls bug him a bit, don’t take the hint to leave him alone, and he loses his temper and slaps Leta. The girls not taking the hint to fuck off tells me that him telling them to scram is pretty rare. What seems just as rare is slapping one of the girls- Masha rushes to Leta’s side and both seem pretty shocked at the turn. Suchong gets killed by the big daddy and the girls rush to said big Daddy’s arms once he becomes docile again- which one may say implies that they didn’t like Suchong or were happy to see him die. However, I would argue this is mostly the mental conditioning. The girls easily changed their minds about the injured big daddy, going from fear to willingly helping him in an instant. This happens again during the death sequence- what normal child would watch something that violent happen, even to someone they hate, and jump into the perpetrator’s arms? The answer is in the strong mental conditioning- so powerful it overrides any form of logic.

With that out of the way, let’s look at his relationship with Jack. Again, if he really hated the kids, why would he let Jack and the sisters call him papa? Logically, he’d want to distance himself from any kind of parental role- but he didn’t. With Jack especially, he lingered in the old baby room- likely often enough that Tenenbaum knew he’d see her note there. Hell, his damn sandwich is still fresh! I also can’t find any instances of him insulting Jack. He never calls Jack by name, but neither does Fontaine or Tenenbaum, which makes me believe he was only given a proper name after being sent topside. There is also the matter of the puppy Jack had- but we aren’t given enough context on how Jack obtained her to know why she was killed, she could have very well been killed on Fontaine’s orders. Like with the little sisters, I don’t think Suchong was outright cruel to Jack- at least not most of the time. If anything, he gives Jack more respect than the little sisters and potentially prefers him to the girls.

Now, how about Suchong’s personality? I think his personality, other than ‘cruel evil doctor’, and ‘coward’ gets overlooked by the fandom. I’d argue that Suchong isn’t a coward per se, but rather that he won’t pick a fight that he doesn’t think he’s got a chance at. He’ll really only fight people he sees as equals or underlings- caving only to superiors. This is why he made himself useful to the Japanese rather than fight them and it’s why he easily transitioned to working under Ryan after Fontaine ‘died’. He’s smart, he knows when he’s got a chance and when to pick a fight- though he clearly isn’t afraid of bitching about his circumstances or spitting sass. It’s clear that he is greedy for money like a lot of rapture characters, outright stating that it was good that he was the only one who knew about the little sisters after Fontaine and Tenenbaum went down, as well as scientific progress.

I would even go as far as to say that he may have regretted his actions after Jack left or had some weakening towards Jack specifically. I have two reasons for this, first being Tenebaum’s note and the ‘send to Ryan’ note. The verbiage of Tenebaum’s note strikes me as odd- specifically the line ‘It is in your power to be a different man’-  that line screams to me that he has shown some sort of remorse for his actions prior to Tenenbaum leaving. The line ‘They are children… and yes, they will forget’ also strikes me as Suchong not wanting to Kill the sisters and having some kindness towards them. Now the big one to me is ‘What can Ryan take from us that we have not already sacrificed…?’ That tells me Suchong is afraid or hesitant to change because of Ryan. There’s also the note Suchong left for himself.  He clearly planned to send the evidence of Jack to Ryan but something made him chicken out. What event exactly is unclear, perhaps Fontaine's ‘death’ or Tenenbaum's disappearance or the overtaking of his job. Whatever it was, something made him feel brave enough to start a whistleblower plan and something else made him stop.

So, with all the evidence (A.k.a. me pulling at threads) together, let’s set up a very rough timeline for Suchong. He enters Rapture, meets Tenenbaum, and begins working with her on plasmid tech. Initially the two don’t get along and he retains a low opinion of her, but slowly they begin to warm up to one another and some level of respect for each other if not outright friendship blooms between them.

Fontaine then entrusts them with the Little Sisters program, putting them in charge of children for higher ADAM production. With the addition of children, things get complicated. The more immoral side of their work begins to be less excusable as before the little sisters, they really only experimented on adults. The kids are hard to care for but a necessary evil to continue producing Adam to meet customer demand. They cannot sedate the girls so Suchong attempts to alleviate some of the struggle of working with them, as well as encourage his ‘Adam recycling’ by implementing mental conditioning in the girls. This works to an extent, but they nevertheless remain children, in both mental capacity and physical strength.

Fontaine, seeing this mental conditioning, then entrusts the WYK program to Tenenbaum and Suchong. The girls at the orphanage already referred to Suchong and Tenenbaum as ‘papa’ and ‘mama’ respectively, but now they have even more responsibility and intimacy in raising this child. In an attempt to stave off the growing softness for the child they are now raising as a killing machine, Tenenbaum and Suchong don’t name him, only calling him ‘baby’. They recognize the growing instinct they have for the children both in themselves and each other, but do not discuss it, likely because of Fontaine’s eye over them.

Suchong breaks first, giving baby Jack a level of affection that he does not show the girls. Tenebaum sees this but does not say anything, intending to protect her colleague. Fontaine begins to notice Tenenbaum going soft, however, and sets Suchong up to keep lot 192 a secret from her. Project WYK wraps up and they send the baby to the surface, Suchong and Tenenbaum shoving their feelings back down and returning to work on the sisters. Still, Suchong cannot get the baby out of his head, often returning to the child’s secret room to the point of Tenenbaum noticing. Nonetheless things are normal. 

Tenenbaum has a change of heart and her actions become far gentler with the girls, which gives Suchong the strength to re-asses and begin a whistleblower plan. That is until Tenenbaum disappears, sapping all his confidence away as Fontaine becomes increasingly erratic. The civil war breaks out and Fontaine vanishes. Suchong is the only person aware of the sisters now, without an employer and needing somewhere to go until Ryan forcefully takes his job over.

At the same time things get bad in Rapture, the Little sisters need protection from being harvested. Suchong can build the big daddies to protect the girls but cannot get them to imprint. The girls are too terrified, despite their mental conditioning, to interact with the big daddies. He explains this problem to the girls, hoping some level of self-reporting may give him a leg up. Mind still stuck on baby jack, he returns to the secret room and finds a note from Tenenbaum, encouraging him to change his ways. Suchong, perhaps feeling betrayed by her simply leaving, rejects the letter and leaves to figure out the big daddy problem angry, leading him to lose his temper at the girls when he normally wouldn’t. Or, perhaps he is stricken with fear, knowing Fontaine is still alive and watching his back. Either way, he dies at the hands of his own creations, at least knowing the girls will be protected now by the big daddies.

So yeah. TL;DR: Suchong, though not the best person, wasn’t entirely evil either and may very well have had the same revelation as Tenenbaum but no chance to act on it/may have backed out because of Fontaine. The way the girls and Tenenbaum act display a certain level of complexity to his character, a hidden softer side where he may have acted much better than his audio diaries initially let on.

One last thing: I want to point out that applying any sort of soulless/heartless characterization to an Asian character like Suchong (The only Asian character in Bioshock 1 and one of four Asians in the entire series) comes with some very nasty racist baggage. Now, it’s no surprise to any of us that Ken Levine is a racist bastard, so his writing characters of color as racist stereotypes is expected. However, I’m disappointed to see no one has directly addressed the fact that the portrayal of Suchong as ‘cold and heartless’ is in and of itself a very old racist stereotype. Everyone seems to only shit on BaS and Infinite’s racism (For good reason) but no one seems to point out the inherent racism in the first Bioshock game. So, my first instinct is to break that stereotype, even if it goes against canon. Because, in the end, when it comes to keeping the integrity of a racist canon versus breaking it and fighting stereotypes in fiction as well as what resides in the racial consciousness of the society I live in, breaking canon will always be the better option. A canon that is shitty should be improved upon by fans, not upheld.

[qqueenofhades]

Kind of a weird question, but I figured you know history so you could answer it. Why does the KKK burn crosses, specifically? Like why a cross, and why burn it?

The original KKK didn't actually burn crosses. It was first popularized in the early 20th century, with Thomas Dixon's novel The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, if you want a book with the strongest contender for most horrifying title ever. This practice supposedly drew on the medieval Scottish Highlands' custom of burning a "fiery cross" to gather the clansmen, because the KKK was founded on a confused and fervent blend of late 19th-century Victorian idealization of Scotland, romantic medievalism, and other appeals to a supposedly idyllic and chivalrous white southern past. The KKK were literally supposed to be "white knights" and "clansmen" protecting society from Terrible Black People, and was strongly influenced by the idealised, melodramatic conception of medieval history that was popular in the 19th century.

As such, The Clansman's depiction of the KKK burning a cross, in alleged emulation of the medieval Scottish clans, was then used in D.W. Griffith's somehow-even-more-wildly racist 1917 KKK propaganda film, Birth of a Nation. The real KKK members liked it so much that they incorporated it into their rituals, so yes. Life influenced art influenced life, etc, except, you know. Terribly.

[sainteverge]

one thing that’s so weird about people claiming they don’t want to read the classics because “they’re all the same story written by old white men whereas YA is a diverse genre written by queer people and people of colour” but at the same time because “expecting people to read books written by foreign authors is pretentious and actually classist because we all know that poor people don’t have enough brains to consume anything else than US imperialist propaganda hidden behind the thin veil of hollywoodian blockbusters, fanfiction, and children’s cartoons with ‘complex themes’ like abuse”, is that there’s absolutely zero coherence. i can’t help thinking that it’s bad faith.

1) every culture in the world has its own art and literature. consuming exclusively US-american commercial content is not diverse; the queer people and POC writing these novels are still all US-american, and even if their novels contain diversity on a US-american scale, the novel remains US-american and still relates a US-american experience.

2) there is diversity in classics? the stories are not all the same at all! i can understand that many people dislike the books that they had to read in high school because, well, they’re not always the most interesting reads and the way literature is taught in schools should be revised, but you can still read other things on the side. there are so many classics that are nothing like what they make you read in school and are, perhaps, for that exact reason, more memorable. i received an extremely classical and sanitised education in a catholic school and didn’t learn shit in class. the good books were the ones i discovered on my own. read books written by marginalised people, by queer people, by people of colour, by colonised people, by women, by communists, etc. by people from all around the world, not just the US and the UK.

3) saying it’s elitist to consume “intellectual” media is just dumb and classist. thinking “poor people” can’t afford to use their brains and read intellectually stimulating books that do shape the mind and force them to bring a reflection on the world surrounding them is not the hot take you think it is. critical thinking skills are crucial when participating in society. as a citizen you have a legal duty to keep yourself informed. and even if you want to live outside of society, you do still need to use your critical thinking skills and to stay informed.

4) i do understand the difficulty of reading when you’re not in an environment that pushes you to read. it’s my own case. i get shamed by half my family for my study choices, they’re constantly referred to as “unemployment studies”, “useless” and “pretentious” (i study romance languages and literatures + modern history). i know many people who are also studying literature despite coming from an environment that doesn’t push them to read or even go to university. but they still do it because they can. because it’s feasible. because it’s liberating.

5) as per “old people were racists, i don’t want to read books written by racists”: yes, western culture is ingrained in white supremacy, imperialism and christianity. we are uncomfortable with racist discourses, but it’s important to understand and confront them, to understand modern racist discourse and also how past beliefs have shaped our society. 19th century colonial discourse is important to understand the state of the world today. there is also a large amount of authors from all around the world who criticise imperialism and are “classics”; there are authors from all around the world who wrote before being colonised by western europe and north america, and whose œuvres are classics too.

6) maybe an unnecessary point but this annoys me tremendously: a lot of the supposedly “complex” themes present in children’s cartoons are really not complex at all; it’s all more or less explicit subtext. how many times have i seen the argument “X children’s cartoon is complex because it contains themes like abuse”. abuse is present in so many children’s stories because it’s a theme that children do understand. little red riding hood and hansel and gretel and cinderella and hop-o’-my-thumb etc all contain themes that children can understand, even if it’s on a subconscious level. children understand that they have to fear the wolf in little red riding hood, but also that they shouldn’t talk to strangers, because these strangers can do them harm. does it make little red riding hood a complex story for adults rather than a children’s bedtime story? no! though i do believe that it is interesting to study the books from which they come from: charles perrault wrote his tales because he believed in the importance of modernity and opposed the idea that we need to imitate ancient greek and roman models in 17th century france. the grimm brothers’ tales played an important role in the rise of german nationalism in the 19th century. but that doesn’t mean that reading these books is sufficient. they were written for children, children who would then grow up to consume more intellectually stimulating content.

7) i promise reading books with themes like incest, paedophilia, cannibalism, will not turn you into a pedophile or a cannibal or an incestuous person. it’s fiction. i promise it’s ok to consume media with these themes. it won’t convert you, because you have morals.

8) we need to stop thinking about everything in terms of fandoms. you don’t have to look at stories as romances with tropes, because that’s not how most books outside of the YA category work. stories can even be read not for the plot but rather for the style, the context, the prose, the poetry, or other. there are french writers in the 50s, 60s and 70s who theorised what they called “new novels” (nouveaux romans) and in which there was no plot, just descriptions that had to be as accurate and objective as possible. they would describe tomato seeds for pages and pages because the point was to show that a novel isn’t a novel because of the story it tries to tell, that books can go beyond their plot. until the romantic revolution, the concept of originality and copyright did not exist in europe. so themes did repeat themselves in poetry, romances, epics and novels because the importance lied in the style, the artistic prouesse of the writer as well as the message, rather than the plot itself (even if the plot was oftentimes important as well, of course).

[docholligay]

I mean, did you genuinely kill someone? I think the show is trying to make me think you did, and I don’t know if it’s because I am just so early on in the show or because I’m out of my mind, but I am refusing to take the bait, here. I just don’t think she’s the one who did it. Excellent analysis, I know, but it all seems too convenient for a whodunit show, which generally prize themselves on tricking the viewer, not even in a bad way, just, that’s part and parcel of the game, right? You don’t read a Holmes novel and go, “Oh, obviously, it was the guy holding the knif and fleeing the scene” and then Sherlock comes on and goes, “I DETECT THE KNIFE THAT WAS PLUNGED INTO HIM AND COVERED WITH HIS BLOOD KILLED HIM” and then we all go home, no whodunits aren’t liek real mysteries, not really. They work on the basis of the trick.

Being fairly story-savvy, it’s hard for me to fall for that sort of thing. Though I am going to laugh if it’s something that obvious and take my lumps.

Anyway, also, yes it is who you WERE. In a desperate situation, and hungry, you were very capable of being a bad person. Of behaving badly. And this is not me getting on my high horse, please trust I am currently on my daughter’s rockin rider pony right now because in desperation and cowardice, I have ALSO, done things that shame me. Or not done things. BUT, just because I was up against it doesn’t mean I wasn’t that person then. clearly, I was. But I don’t have to be NOW. It was who you were, but that doesn’t have to be who you ARE.

I mean, if she wants to be like, “:I wasn’t a racist, just a coward” well, fair enough and I’d take that. But whatever the reason, you did the thing.

[andysandfordcomedy]

Knowing When You Know

One skill that must be accrued over time and experience with writing jokes is knowing how much meat a premise has and the best way to structure whatever kind of bit suits that premise. Sometimes the right answer can only be seen after the fact. You can explain why this or that bit makes sense, but you can’t build the joke to that perfection as you go. That’s ok. A lot of the time you just run with a thread and structure it the way it came to you. Nothing wrong with that, but if you never consider a better structure or direction and always go with the first attempt at conveyance, than most of your jokes could probably be better. I don’t know what specific rules can be applied to any and all premises that would indicate a for sure right way to do said bit. When is an analogy the best approach? When it’s funny. It’s an art, not a crossword. The important thing is knowing when it’s right, and knowing when it’s not there yet, and also knowing when to move on. Make it make sense. Pass up the very first angle that popped in your head, and go from there. However many angles you have, the strongest ones will stand on their own. You can drop any angles that don’t pop. Don’t bother with making any unclear cases. Keep what pops, make it make sense, and bring it home. 

If one little angle or point made in a bit is tricky to remember and ..ohhh what was it? There was something else I had for it...ditch it. Don’t drag a great two banger down with a tough sell. Do what pops out to ya. Distill it. Consider who is saying it. You, presumably, but who are you? Are you the voice of reason with an astute observation? Are you the idiot unable to see the irony? Are you a shitty ventriloquist with racist puppets? It’s your call, but use that to your advantage. Lolita is a hilarious novel about pedophilia because the narrator is the pedophile. The reader hears the story through the warped perception of the antagonist. I personally find it much easier and likable to have a passive approach to your points. No one wants to hear how shit really is by this comedian who knows everything. Even if you do know, it’s better to be the guy who doesn’t know much, but it sure seems like blah blah blah...but that’s me. Finding your voice is a whole thing though, so just consider it.

When do you throw away a bit that isn’t working? When it just isn’t working. If you have a truly funny and interesting premise, you will likely find a vehicle for it. If it just isn’t as engaging a premise as you thought, move on to one that is. Don’t hang onto jokes that exist in limbo. Make em work or ditch em. If it’s too complicated a puzzle, it probably isn’t funny. Know thyself. Know thy premise. Do what you’ll have fun doing. Don’t shit on the previous comic. Give it up for your host. Thank the crowd for being there or be thankful they are there. Make them comfortable. Be easy to listen to. No right on red. No white shoes after labor day. Have fun out there. Get out of the way. Stop that. yes that.