#(love me a protagonist with some long-term planning skills and a knack for looking at the bigger picture)

[crossdressingdeath]

#op im in love with you for this#me and a friend were talking one time also about how it highlights the difference of their characters-#percy goes for the bandaid solution as it were#minor gods and their kids rebelling because they feel unwelcome? uhhhhh give them a place at camp 👍#its not a bad solution but its not addressing the core problem#and as you discussed it doesnt actually make him have to do anything#percy is going for an efficient solution#and its not a bad one but it also shows his tendency to say ‘how do i make this not a problem for me and mine’ rather than#jason’s solution. which is much more focused on ‘how can i help the injured parties. how can i do the most good with the least harm’#he wants to tear out the issue at its roots so it can’t hurt anyone anymore#and he’s more than willing to put in the work himself even if it doesnt benefit him directly#which i think is a really neat contrast of their characters (tags via @dumbass-prince-of-the-skies)

I think a large part of the difference between the two responses is the question of fairness and how they respond to that. It's not fair that this is falling on Percy and Jason! They shouldn't have to deal with the gods fucking everything up! And Percy especially is constantly making it clear in his dialogue and narration that he knows it's unfair that he has to clean up the gods' messes all the time and he hates that he has to do it. Which to be clear is not an unreasonable position to take, it is absolutely unfair that he's having to deal with so much shit. But I think there is an element in TLO where he makes the gods promise to claim their children and make room for the minor gods at camp because... it's not fair that he has to deal with it, so he's putting the onus on them. Which would be very good if not for the fact that the gods don't give a shit and break promises on the Styx on a regular basis (which I feel like I have to say again Percy as the result of a broken oath on the Styx should be very aware of). I suspect there's also an element of Percy conflating his own personal feelings about Camp Half-Blood—those being that it's the best place ever and every young demigod probably wants to belong there—with what the minor gods really care about, so he's not considering what their actual beef is because he's so fixated on the symptom of said beef that is their kids not being welcome at camp, but that's a separate thing.

Jason, meanwhile, doesn't seem to really... care whether it's fair or not. That's not a concern he has. It doesn't matter if it's fair that he has to deal with the gods' shit; the shit has to be dealt with, and the gods sure as hell aren't going to do it. He doesn't get caught up in the question of whose responsibility fixing this actually is because fussing about blame isn't going to fix anything. Now, Jason's willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good probably isn't entirely healthy, being in the legion from the age of two didn't do good things for his mental health, but in this case it's absolutely a good thing for the world as a whole. After all, if he's not focused on who should solve the problem he can focus more on who can. Which in this case is him. It's his willingness to step up and take responsibility for a situation that is in no way his fault, doing everything in his power to fix it so that it can't hurt anyone else, that sets his solution apart from Percy's solution of shoving the responsibility back onto the people whose fault it is and just expecting one promise will be enough to make them fix it. Percy wants to protect his immediate group from the immediate consequences of the situation, while Jason wants to protect everyone he can from as many consequences of the situation as he can regardless of what it costs him personally.

A thing I find really interesting: in the Riordanverse so far we've seen two sixteen-year-old children of the Big Three have to face the question of how to deal with the issue of the minor gods rebelling due to feeling abandoned, disrespected, neglected and otherwise unwelcome. First Percy at the end of PJO when he makes the gods swear to give the minor gods a place at camp, then Jason in BoO when he and Percy fight Kym and Polybotes. And the different ways they respond to that says a lot about I think both them and the way they've been trained.

Percy's solution is... actually surprisingly naive, if you think about it. I mean, first off he basically just assumes that an oath on the Styx will hold the gods to their word. He of all people should know that that's not true; he's the result of a broken oath on the Styx, after all. And we know from Piper and Leo—who are both past the age of thirteen and not Roman demigods, but still haven't been claimed or brought to camp even though according to the oath they should have been—that... yeah, the gods broke that oath basically immediately. Surprise surprise, the gods suck. And no one likes being forced to make a promise against their will, even when it's a promise that is basically "do the bare minimum as a parent and don't be dicks to people who've proved they'll turn on you if you do that". But aside from that, Percy's reasoning seems to have basically been "make the gods give the minor gods a place at camp = profit", which... yeah, that's the sort of reasoning I'd expect from a teenager whose leadership experience mostly boils down to sometimes making solo decisions during quests. I've mentioned before that Percy doesn't tend to think in terms of long-term planning and specializes in getting what he wants in the immediate short term, and it's the same here: he's focusing on an immediate problem (all the unclaimed kids at camp, some of whom are the kids of minor gods), and forgetting about or just not noticing the larger issue (the minor gods switch sides not because of their children not getting recognized but because they feel neglected because no one worships them anymore and the major gods don't care).

To be clear, those unclaimed kids are a problem and dealing with them is a good and very decent move. Percy turning down personal gain in favour of doing his best to ensure improvements for all those kids in the Hermes cabin growing angrier and more resentful with every day they go unclaimed is a very good thing, we love to see it. But it's treating a symptom, not the underlying cause of the issues that caused so many minor gods to turn on Olympus, and so would only ever have been a stopgap even without Gaea rising. And Percy didn't have any further plans to deal with the problems outside of this one aspect; he actually seems genuinely surprised to learn that the deal he made didn't solve the problem and in fact didn't even ensure that all the minor gods were recognized. Percy's solution also relies on the gods; as we see, there's no plan in place for if the gods fuck up or fail to keep their promise! The gods failed to do anything for Kym, and there was nothing in place to even check on that because the plan was just "force the gods to promise to do the thing" (and how do you hold gods who can smite you if you annoy them accountable for their fuckups, anyway?). The whole thing is reliant on the gods not breaking their oath, when again Percy especially should know they aren't great at that.

Jason, meanwhile, has a much more solid understanding of the overarching issue causing the minor gods to keep turning on Olympus and has a plan to combat it. Why do the minor gods keep turning on Olympus? They feel disrespected. Why do they feel disrespected? They aren't being worshipped. What's the best way to ensure they get worshipped? Build shrines and educate demigods about them. What's the best way to do that? Well... just go around both camps and see it done yourself. There's no reliance on the gods, because the gods aren't involved! Jason intends to handle this personally, and we see in ToA that he puts a lot of effort into it. And it makes sense that Jason is focusing on an actionable plan that he can keep an eye on personally, because he has years of leadership experience as a praetor of Camp Jupiter. He must be more than used to having to handle situations where two groups who should be on the same side are in conflict for one reason or another, so he knows how to figure out a solution and how to keep an eye on the implementation of that solution in a way Percy wouldn't. It also makes sense that he has more of an understanding that the issue of the minor gods not getting any respect isn't going to be solved as easily as just making the major gods promise to play nice; first off he again is used to leadership and mediation and nothing is ever that easy, and second he came from the Fifth Cohort, which is still mocked even though the much-vaunted son of Jupiter rose from their ranks.

And I think a lot of the difference in how these two approach this particular problem comes from how the two camps treat young demigods? While in both camps the kids end up doing most of the work, in Camp Half-Blood Mr. D and Chiron are in charge. They're the ones who call for quests and decide activities, people have to run decisions by them. And quests tend to be more team projects; one person is the leader, but the quests we see usually feature the quest-goers working together to make decisions and plan their next move rather than having one person in charge. Percy's not good at coming up with a solid, long-term game plan because that's never been his responsibility. Not to mention that the Greek gods interfere in things constantly, so poking them and saying "Hey, you owe me, fix this nonsense" is often a valid strategy. Meanwhile at Camp Jupiter they cut out the middleman and put the kids in charge from the start, seeing as they're going to be doing all the work anyway. So Jason knows how to plan for the future, because... well, that's been his job for some time, of course he knows that. He wouldn't have gotten far as a praetor if he didn't. Both camps absolutely traumatize the fuck out of their campers, but hey, at least at Camp Jupiter you might get leadership skills out of it! And also the Roman gods are more hands-off, so it makes sense Jason wouldn't put this whole mess in their hands. Especially since he now also has Percy's example to tell him that won't work at all. Basically Percy holds a position of respect and some level of power at Camp Half-Blood because he's one of their best fighters and not bad as a battlefield commander, but he's not a leader the way Jason is, which is likely part of the reason why he's so quick to give up the praetorship when Jason gets to Camp Jupiter in MoA. Jason is a leader, meanwhile, because he's had years of experience in that role and is used to handling it even if it wouldn't have been his choice. Both of them care about the people around them and want to do right by them, but Percy only does so as a friend; Jason does as a friend too, but also as someone used to being in a position of meaningful authority over the group and so in a position where they have a very real and concrete responsibility to the group in a way that someone who's just a friend doesn't. You can also see this in things like how when Nico says he isn't welcome at camp Percy's response is basically "Yyyyyyyyyyyeah, that sucks, huh" while Jason's response is to try to make him feel welcome. Percy feels bad about it but wouldn't know what to do about the problem even if he tried, while Jason's probably used to helping people who don't fit in find a place where they belong as part of his job and would do his best to do so here even if he didn't care about Nico on a personal level. I don't know, it's just a really interesting difference between them and I wish the books had gone more into the difference between authority born from Being Strong and authority born from being in a position of concrete leadership as decided by the group (although unless I'm misremembering there are a couple points where it's pointed out that Annabeth is really much more Jason's counterpart on the Greek side than Percy is, and I love that, it's very true, Percy is not the one in charge, that is absolutely Annabeth) instead of just Percy and Jason calling each other "bro" all the time and having the occasional Big Three squabble.

[inhumansforever]

Black Bolt #2 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

It's the second installment of the wild, haunting and beautifully rendered adventures of the midnight king.  From the creative team of writer, Saladin Ahmed and illustrator, Christian Ward. Full recap and review following the jump.

By way of the malicious mischief of Maximus the Mad, Black Bolt has found himself incarcerated in a bizarre cosmic prison.  Confused and alone, Black Bolt discovered that this strange realm defied the regular confines of space and time.  Its warden, a mighty creature known only as The Jailer seems to be omniscient and all powerful... complete with the ability to nullify Black Bolt;s Inhuman powers and kill and resurrect him with a whim.     

As the issue begins, Black Bolt is awakened from his latest 'death' by his fellow inmate, a young alien girl with multiple eyes.  Her name is impossible to pronounce by human language, so everyone just calls her 'Blinky.'   Blinky informs Black Bolt that he has been killed by the Jailer and brought back to life more times than any she has seen beforehand, suggesting something especially vigorous about BB's constitution or (more likely) a particular animus on the part of The Jailer to torture (and possibly 'break') BB's will.  

Blinky is eager to show the others that Black Bolt had revived.  These others being Crusher Creel an earthly super villain known as The Absorbing Man who has tangled on many occasions with Thor as well as The Avengers, and Molyb, an extraterrestrial foe who battled The Hulk under the moniker of The Metal Master.  

Black Bolt recalls that his destructive voice has been in some fashion turned off, but it still reluctant to speak. When he finally does, he expresses confusion as to how his fellow inmates had come to be here.  BB had learned of the existence of this strange prison by way of the Terrigen Codex… and it seems he had believed it a penitentiary reserved only for Inhuman criminals.  Yet Creel states that he was sent here by human law enforcement agents; Molyb was sentenced here by some alien court.  

And Blinky was ushered to the prison by a sinister-sounding creep who punished her for merely stealing a few scraps to eat.  

There are no answers for Black Bolt in terms of what this prison actually is, how or what enables its confines to constantly shift and reshape; nor how its warden can kill and resurrect inmates on a whim...  Creel seems to believe the Jailer does all this, kills and revives, makes people suffer and fight all merely for kicks, just as a means of scratching some sadistic itch.  

Their conversation is interrupted by The Spyder.  The Spyder is an intergalactic trader and criminal who first appeared in an issue of The New Mutants.   Although an inmate himself, The Spyder has come to an accord with the Jailer, informing for him and doing his bidding in exchange for favors and privileges.

Not taking kindly to Creel's jeering, the Spyder fires off some form of liquid filament that covers Creel's face and begins to suffocate him.  Black Bolt intercedes, putting The Spyder into a hold and forcing him to release Creel.  The Spyder possesses some degree of control over the constantly shifting architecture of the prison, he teleports himself and Black Bolt to a kind of gladiatorial theater where BB is forced into combat with the Skrull pirate known as Raava.  

A terrific battle ensues, showing off Christian Ward's particular knack for relaying action sequences.  Black Bolt ultimately prevails, besting the Skrull in combat, but he refuses to kill her.

The Spyder is irate, insisting that BB take Raava’s life to appease the audience (which as it turns out are a series of wooden figures seated in the pews).  Again BB refuses and attacks The Spyder instead.  That same liquid filament fires forth, adhering to BB’s face, hardening and suffocates him.   

Black Bolt revives some time later, Raava and Cteel standing over him.  Both have been impressed with the skill and resolve that the one time Inhuman king has shown.  They state that each had merely allowed BB to best them in combat so to test his metal and the degree he can be trusted.  He’s been found worthy and a suitable component to their plan to escape.  BB doesn't know if he can trust these cads, but their lot seems just as bad as his own and he decides to aid them in their effort to escape.  Which is good in that the jailbreak appears to be occurring just in that moment as the walls rip open (possibly a result of The Metal Master having somehow re-obtained his magnetic powers).  And it is here that the issue ends, to be continued in the next installment.  

Another truly fantastic issue! Whereas the first issue offered artist, Christian Ward, the opportunity to flex his illustrative muscles in establishing the wild and impossible architecture of the prison, this second issue provides writer, Saladin Ahmed, the chance to quickly and very effectively build the characters of the extended cast.  Creel and Raava, the Metal Master, Blinky, even the Spyder each have their tale to tell and Ahmed gives them each such a distinctive voice, juggling the different dialects in their dialogue with deft precision.  

In Ahmed's novel, The Throne of The Crescent Moon, the protagonist, Dr. Adoulla, is very much the main character... yet it is the vibrancy of the extended cast that greatly helps to propel the narrative forward.  And it would appear Mr. Ahmed is looking to do something similar in Black Bolt, cobbling together a wild collection of colorful rogues to act as the supporting players in BB’s adventures.  And I really dig that each has been picked from some rather random corners of the Marvel Universe.  

The Metal Master first appeared in an early issue of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's run on the Incredible Hulk; he hasn't been seen from in years.... whereas The Spyder is from Louise Simonson and Brent Blevins' terrific time on New Mutants, a fun but otherwise forgettable space gangster who runs afoul of The New Mutants.  

And preview pages from next issues shows that The Marvel UK mainstay bounty hunter, Deaths Head will be joining the fold.  It's a veritable whose who of esoteric and previously forgotten characters and I love it.  

Raava I believe is a brand new character, but she is so quickly offered depth and intrigue she may as well be a long since pre-established figure.  Her tale of turning her back in the Skrull Empire, losing her children and becoming a feared pirate is quite well done.  The authenticity of her dialogue allows the tale to be told quickly without losing its emotional weight.  

Creel is offered the same treatment and it is made clear he is a character Mr. Ahmed especially enjoys writing.  Despite all the rotten things he has done Creel still maintains something of a noble soul.  Hints of this have been shown in the past, such as an issue of John Byrne's run on Avengers when Creel released his hostage, Sandy Hercawitz, before engaging the heroes because he didn't want to get hurt.  

He’s a bad guy, but has something of a good heart.  Perhaps Creel's best feature is his longtime relationship with his sweetheart and fellow super villain, Titania.  The two have been the Ralph and Alice Kramden of the super powered villain sect.  Creel desperately needs to escape so to return to his woman... the idea of her not knowing where he is something he cannot stand for.   He also gets the best laughs, both in relaying a story where he used his absorbing powers to transform himself into a ginormous pile of cocaine and his hysterical reaction to learning Black Bolt's given name…

It leaves me very much looking forward to learning more of the backstory behind the Metal Master and the adorable Blinky.  

As for Black Bolt himself, it would seem that he is not entirely convinced that he does not belong incarcerated with these pirates and criminals.  He has show great valor in his time but there is also much that he regrets.  He is not really at a place to delve into his feelings on the matter, but it is likely that Creel and Raava are going to press him on the matter.  BB is no standard-issue white-hat hero, he has plenty of blood on his hands, and Creel can sense it.   What exactly BB may be feeling so guilty over remains thus far unexamined... it could be the deaths of the Mutants that led to the war wit the X-Men, the alternate realities he was forced to cull as a part of the Illuminati, his failures as a father and a husband, the deaths of his parents…

There's a profound sadness in his eyes and heaviness on his brow.  Yet it is not the stoic heaviness of being a king that BB has so frequently shown in the past, but rather a heaviness of genuine sorrow and regret.  

Once again the art by Ward is just jaw dropping. I especially like how the more static scenes are rich with fine details while the action scenes are more sparse and fluid, adding to the dynamic sense of motion.  

Just loved getting to see BB engaged in an old school sword fight!

Ward plays some neat tricks with perspective, blurring objects and bringing them into focus as BB revives from one of his latest 'deaths.'  It's a very neat trick that highlights the overall dreamlike nature of the prison.  Such coolness! 

Never did I even think to hope that such a favorite character would get his very own book; and it would be done with such skill and ingenuity and originality.  I'm over the moon with this series and cannot recommend it highly enough. Once more, five out of five Lockjaws.  

[thesinglesjukebox]

TAYLOR SWIFT - LOVER

[6.61]

We’re mostly likers!

Tobi Tella: Gentle, passionate, and legitimately beautiful. For a song by someone who's normally thinkpiece-inducing, I don't want to think or look at this critically at all. I just want to sit and be enveloped by pure emotion (also a famous London boyfriend). [8]

Joshua Lu: Hot Girl Summer is over and Christian Girl Autumn fast approacheth, heralded by this ode to monogamy that's touching and pretty in all the obvious ways -- at least until the bridge. Taylor Swift, perhaps understanding the inherent cheesiness of ballads like this, pushes the song to its campiest limits as she spins cliche marriage vows to be lyrical and silly. The way she promises at the end to be "overdramatic and true" hints at how she's knowingly playful here, and it's a clever way to enhance this particular kind of song to its hyperbolic end. If only the rest of the song weren't too comfortable just being a "Thinking Out Loud" redux, then it might be worth revisiting. [4]

Jessica Doyle: It's fine! It's pretty, it's soft, it's got echoes of Maddie & Tae (in that lifted "close" in the chorus); Taylor sells the jealousy line as a self-deprecating in-joke that the video chose to play straight. It's a perfectly fine song, all the better for not requiring any additional knowledge to decode. It's a nice high note to leave on. So, without speaking for anyone else, I am adopting the belief that Lover is a stand-alone single released with very little promo by a talented but otherwise unremarkable country-crossover singer, whom this blog will get around to covering again in, oh, 2026 or so. [6]

Alfred Soto: Impeccable craft. Facts are facts. The use of echo, the voluptuousness of Taylor Swift's vocal prodding the acoustic strumming, the overdramatic middle eight/bridge in which she swears "to be overdramatic and true to my lover" -- I need a nap after such a bounteous feast. The other lyrics fascinate me less; the line about Christmas lights staying up is Creative Writing 1102, Week 3: Using Precise Detail. But the yearning in "Lover" is closer to autocratic than tender, which, to her credit, she sees as indistinguishable. [7]

Michael Hong: I once read a comment section where someone referred to Taylor Swift as the "queen of long bridges." Since then, I may have forgotten where I read it, but it remains something that I think is completely true and when Taylor Swift is at her best, she masterfully writes bridges. Her best bridges are midnight realizations, headbanging depictions of the crushing weight of heartbreak, or the anxious and relieving reminders of failing relationships. They often unfold as tightly-wound emotional revelations and are never without their cathartic release. But sadly, going by the early Lover singles, Taylor Swift may have lost her knack for great bridge-writing, producing the infamously cheesy "spelling is fun!" or a slightly too childish reference to Humpty Dumpty. "Lover" is no different. While "Lover" paints a grand picture of romance, everything feeling like just one of the many real possibilities, the bridge spoils the sketch, playing out like an obsessive fever dream. Contrast the way Taylor Swift sings the word "lover" on the chorus, which seems to resolve all anxiety and stop time around it, with the schmaltzy over-the-top way she stretches out the same word on the bridge until it becomes so mawkishly corny, it loses all meaning. It immediately takes you out of the romantic waltz of the rest of the track and into the overdramatic musings of a diaristic fantasy that would have been embarrassing even if read from an actual teenager's diary. The bridge is full of various awkward and uncomfortable moments from the moment we hear "ladies and gentlemen" through Taylor Swift's egregiously awkward and choppy talk-singing that seems to be on full-display across Lover -- it didn't work on "You Need to Calm Down" and it certainly doesn't work here. All's not lost because of the bridge, and I'm certain I could still get lost in the beauty of the rest, but there's certainly more realistic passion and romance in one line of the chorus than there is across that entire bridge. [5]

Ian Mathers: The sound, all that dusky reverb and brushed drums, is pretty lovely. Most of the song works well too, although god she lands hard on that title every single time it comes up, eh? I know I'm supposed to have a more complex reaction to Taylor Swift, but I got so burned out on the competing takes it's hard to focus more than "a pretty nice song I'll be fine hearing on the radio that has some clunky bits". [6]

Vikram Joseph: Love songs are a hard sell; the best ones make you overwhelmed with joy for the protagonist, or make you believe that you one day you could have all of that happiness for yourself, but that kind of listener empathy takes real skill to engender. "Lover" sounds smug and entitled, like your posh acquaintance who's never had to struggle for anything (emotional or material) in their life boring you to death down the pub about their wedding plans. The aggressively cloying middle-eight perfectly encapsulates drink number three, when they're off on one about their honeymoon plans (an all-inclusive resort in Dubai) while you're remembering why you've only seen them twice since uni and wondering whether you can get a lobotomy on the NHS. And yes, it sounds a lot like Mazzy Star, but if I want to listen to a reimagining of "Fade Into You" I'll head straight for "Coming Down" by the Dum Dum Girls, thanks. [3]

Katherine St Asaph: Early reports likened "Lover" to ersatz Mazzy Star (a reminder of what they actually sound like), when what it's clearly trying to be is "Hallelujah," and given the sparkly perkiness of the bridge and all beyond, quite possibly the Pentatonix version. The rest is the usual Taylor Swift problem: the song's supposedly about a "magnetic force of a man" but sounds like it's about a Build-a-Bear. [2]

Sonia Yang: Cozy, intimate, and eschewing glitzy synths in favor of drawing upon her country roots. Rather middle of the road for an album title track, but it's packed with neat little bits such as that relaxed swing-y 6/8, the way everything cuts out for Swift to sing the "lover" at chorus end, and Swift's breathy head voice. It's not a big track but it doesn't have to be. However this is something I can see myself loving much more life than on record; without the immediate atmosphere to bask in, it does feel a bit underwhelming. [6]

Edward Okulicz: "Lover" sits in the middle of songs on its parent album for me -- it's beautifully made, but like a few of its midrange peers has one or two things that annoys me. Here, it's the word itself -- not "lover," but "luvv-verrrr." It's not that it's a weirdly coquettish thing for her to say, because Swift has always done the modern girl dreaming of the romances of literary greatness, although usually she's a little bit more creative ("Starlight") or subversive ("White Horse"). No, it's just that I don't like how she sings that one word and it feels gratuitous in a song that doesn't really need a slightly anachronistic, coquettish touch to it. Other than that, no complaints about a lovely melody, delicate production and a performance that radiates relief and warmth and comfort. Probably an 8 in a month, but not yet. [7]

Rachel Bowles: I never truly believed the old Taylor was dead, the romance of reputation's 'Delicate' hinted at it, and Lover's eponymous single confirms it. It's a wistful, waltzing, breathless ode to long term relationships, making a home and real life happy endings- Taylor's teenage 'Mine' fully realised. [7]

Alex Clifton: I fell in love with Taylor Swift's music when I was nineteen and heartbroken. Speak Now carried me through a time when all I wanted to feel was loved and complete instead of the broken mess of a teenager I was. I thought I wanted a fairytale love myself, grand gestures and bouquets of roses and a partner who would shout their love for me to the city, but I couldn't even have a real conversation with the people I had crushes on. Needless to say, it didn't happen. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to mend my own heart and really open myself up to love. Eventually, I found someone and learned that love lives in the smallest things. He knows the way I take my tea and holds me when I cry; I know his regular orders at restaurants and tell him stories at midnight to keep his anxiety at bay. I never knew I'd prefer a quieter love to something all-consuming that burned red to the point of self-immolation. Instead I revel in the moments we have while walking around our favourite park, playing Scrabble in a cafe, reading together in bed. Swift has found the same sort of security and has carried this feeling into one of her best songs in years. "Lover" is a sun-drenched lazy ode to love itself and is the song that Swift's been building to her whole career, complete with wedding vows. It's a mature outlook on what love can and should be--something that fills each quiet moment between all the drama and major events, a strong feeling that can't be knocked down by a single fight or small mistake. Even with the occasional overdramatic moment (lovahhhhhhhhhh) it's made me remember how much I love my partner each time I've heard it, which is what the best love songs should do. [10]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The paradox of Taylor Swift is that all of her songs are inherently flashpoints in the discourse, even when there's nothing to talk about. "Lover" is the least controversial thing that Swift has done in years, both in intention and execution, and yet there's still no way to talk about it without talking about Taylor Swift, Important Pop Star And Cultural Figure. It's true that this becomes true of any sufficiently big pop star, yes-- but since (at very least) "Mean," Swift's music has been written like it's almost exclusively commentary about her own reputation. Yet the thing about "Lover," all the way down to its title, is that it's uncomplicated. It's maybe the least complicated single she's ever put out-- it's a love song with no twist, an acoustic ballad that's content to just be a big, stately acoustic ballad. It does its job-- the song will undoubtedly soundtrack twinkly-lighted summer weddings for the rest of eternity, and I won't even be mad. Because underneath it all, Taylor Swift is a pretty damn good songwriter when she doesn't feel the need to excessively perform the role of Taylor Swift. The lyric is full of lines that were clearly written with pride and skill-- the bit about guitar string scars on the bridge, most obviously-- but it doesn't feel as obsessed with the self as, say, anything on "You Need To Calm Down." And in letting the song breathe and stand for itself, she manages to reinvent herself: not as a pop megastar or some empire unto herself, but as a craftsman that happens to be the biggest thing in pop music. It's a compelling guise, and one that feels refreshing after a decade long media slog. But the greatness of "Lover" ends up leaving me feeling more skeptical of the rest of Swift's work than ever. [8]

Kylo Nocom: Taylor replaces the pain of what ended up happening with the comfort of what could have been. Her fairy tale ending is real, but "Lover" is generous enough to let one believe every single thing here can exist forever and ever. The spacious drums sound like they could have been recorded from the moon; that string-plucked bridge came from heaven. [8]

Isabel Cole: Having had some time to acclimate to the roller coaster kinda rush of Taylor following up the two worst songs of her career with the first album of hers I've ever genuinely loved, I'm content enough now to say I just think this is wonderful: unhurried, cozy like a well-worn sweater, pretty without showing off, knowingly nostalgic without being cloying, humbly besotted. Impressive that after half a lifetime making music Taylor is still deepening her skill as a vocalist, finding new clarity and a few welcome hitches; her performance, like her writing here, works by not working too hard, all the more convincing for not needing argue its merits. The fact that Taylor sees leaving the Christmas lights up till January as a show of deep intimacy is as hilarious as it is completely believable -- no one who's not a bit of a control freak winds up with their face plastered on UPS trucks. Similarly, I'm so genuinely endeared by "at every table, I'll save you a seat," coming from an artist who was writing songs bearing the sting of her lifelong dweebishness well into her era of global acclaim: marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to sit alone! It's hard to imagine that when she recorded the breathless final act of Love Story she could have envisioned that one telling a love story would sound as easy as this. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Every time I'm on the verge of disowning Taylor Swift for her terrible choice in singles, she releases something like this. "Me!" was an infantilizing failed experiment at camp, "You Need to Calm Down" was surprisingly thoughtful social commentary let down by a dud of a song, and "The Archer" sounded like a forgotten Hunger Games soundtrack cut. "Lover", though, is a timeless, gorgeous vignette of domesticity, mature in its lyricism and warmly familiar in its sound. It's the most compelling Taylor Swift has sounded since "New Year's Day." [9]

Jonathan Bradley: On early hit "Love Story," Taylor Swift punctuated a marriage proposal with a key change. The moment is one of ecstatic joy: a fairytale promise fulfilled beyond the bounds of reality. "Lover" sounds like a proposal, too -- her vow to be "overdramatic and true" is both lovely and gently self-aware -- but it's a rich and grounded union that finds more to happiness than the relief of a promise "you'll never have to be alone." It is a song of brushed drums, slow steps and brocade, a "Speak Now" from the altar and not the jealous aisles, of pleasure in shared domestic spaces where friends can stay over and Christmas decorations can stay up. There are no princes and bare promises, but Swift sings it with an awe even her earliest romances could not conceive. [9]

Joshua Copperman: Continuing my series of altering professionally produced music, I created an alternate tracklist of Lover, creating an 11 track 40 minute concept album about a battle between naivety and maturity. It goes from a scattered pop album to a fun-size Once I Was An Eagle. On this closer, love definitively wins out. "Lover" is Swift and Antonoff's take on 50s rock; purposefully campy and over-the-top, but genuine in a way that the first two singles from this era did not. As a closer, it resolves a lot of the tensions that have plagued Swift's work this decade, giving her a happy ending... but as the third track, it's baffling. I should not have to make my own context for this to take on a meaning, but that's also the whole point of pop music. (At least, it was before albums became more of a status update for an artist's life than a complete body of work.) I was on the fence about docking a point because "forever and ever" gave me "Jerika" flashbacks, but it's just a phrase that can only be given weight if someone genuinely believes in it. Kind of like "true love." [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[nitacus]

1. Your First OC ever? Oh gosh, I'm fairly sure it was a robot/cyborg girl (I think because I really liked the Androids from Dragonball Z) I annot remember her name I do remember, she had some love interest who was blond, and didn't discover what she really was for a while. Her maker was evil, I think I wrote it when I was like 8-ish ugh how embarrassing.         2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OC's? Oh gee probably Riea just because she is the oldest long term one who I've written for, and recreated and built upon many times, but it's hard to pick favourites out of them all. 3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from somebody? I genuinely don't remember ever taking on another persons character, I have made suggestions on how a person could characterise their OC better so I used the, temporarily to demonstrate but never took one on long term to keep. I would though if I thought they were salvageable, or if I felt they possessed a story inside of them waiting to be told. 4. A character you rarely talk about? Does Cyborg girl count ^^' if not, I don't really discuss the Knight Commander with people, even though he's an antagonist. Other than him, there is a blonde female who my succubus character (also female) seduced who I haven't discuss much, mainly because I haven't determined how she's going to be reintroduced yet. I might make her a witch and thus aware of her soul having been stolen. 5. If you could only make only one of your OC's popular/known, who would it be? Viseran ( my deaf/mute character) a scouting party member, from a post apocalyptic future story. 6. Two OC's of yours that look alike despite not being related? That I made similar intentionally? Or I only realised were similar later on? None spring to mind who weren't related. 7. Are your OC's part of any story, or stories? Yes, that's what my entire list of OC's consist of. 8. Do you RP as any of your OC's? No I have never RP'd before. I sort of just work through everything in my head. 9.  Would you ever be willing to give any of your OC's to someone else? I have no idea, perhaps some old, or abandoned ones. It feels weird saying I'd give one to someone else though. 10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design? Complicated how? Like their character and personality, their story and purpose, or their actual design and appearance? A) Little Empress, B) Riea, C) God knows but probably Aymia Crewe. Little empress is a succubus, on the side of evil, she is a literal empress despite others having turned it into a sort of pet name, much to her distaste, and the story follows her and she sort of ends up working for the other side. 11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a 'sunshine'? Zeriste/Rabbit is the only one who springs immediately to mind. 12. Name an OC who isn't yours but you like a lot? Some of the Dragon Age OC's that people have made are super interesting. I saw a thunder god one on deviant art that was pretty cool too. 13. Do you have any troublemaker OC's? Oh yeah I've created a few. Else witch, Blade, Peydion, immediately come to mind 14. Introduce an OC with a tragic background? Aymia Crewe applies due to having become permanently stuck in a child's body of ten, even though she is like nineteen years old. A number of her childhood years were spent as a child soldier, of which she was only one, another character of mine is also a child of warfare, however refocusing on Aymia due to her being highly skilled, and being one of the longest surviving children, as well as children being more compatible than adults, with the experiments to enhance soldiers on the battlefield. Due to being one of the subjects experimented on, a side effect of that was her body ceasing to age, she also has successfully enhanced battle skills, but she kind of feels trapped in a never ending nightmare. 15. Do you like to talk about your OC's with others? I rarely talk about my writing projects unless they are finished and I am content to discuss them. 16. Which one of your OC's would be the best at Biology (school subject)? Uissade, he is driven to seek achievement and learning above all else.  17. Any OC OTP's? Of my own characters - Riea and Blade though they probably will not end up together given the significant trauma in her past, Novice Witch and the Main Character, Aleksis and Vio, Riel and Lief though sometimes it changes, in other words I have several 18. Any OC crackships? Mine or from other media because I have a lot that belong to others. Sometimes I enjoy one-shots of various interactions between my characters, even cross overs from different stories 19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why) - Riea purely because she was my first OC that I designed as an adult, with a complete story and background and she has morphed and gone through many changes over the time since I created her, so I feel that I know her best and where she is coming from during the story. 20. Do any of your OC's sing? None actually, I have yet to make a musical OC. 21. Your most artistic OC? Out the ones I've created thus far Acera fits this best of all, she's artistic, creative, addicted to bright colours, popular, and collects shiny knick-knacks. 22. Is there any OC of yours who people tend to mischaracterise? No, I don't really mind how people view or characterise my OC’s, as the only one who knows what I had in mind when I created them is myself. I am always intrigued to see how another person might view different characters.  23. Introduce OC who has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like? Riea, she's changed several times as mentioned above. 24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be, and why? My former slave turned free traveller and fighter for justice, he's kind, sees the best in people and has never become bitter or angry over the hand life dealt him, I admire that. 25. The OC who resembles you the most? Auli, she has some differences from me namely her ethnicity, but she has dark hair and eyes like me, is kind but passionate and fiery whenever defending those she cares about. Also loves her family, culture, good food, and isn't afraid of expressing herself.  Therefore yeah definitely Auli. 26. Have you ever had to change your OC's design, or something else about them against your will? No, I am stubborn when it comes to who I perceive a character to be, or how they firm as a complete person in my head. I take constructive criticism, and allow others to suggest things whether a flaw or a positive trait, but I know who they are overall, and I know the story they are telling, so if they need to be rebuilt, I sift through trying to identify what I need to change for it to feel right. 27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? None that I remember ever creating. 28. Your most dangerous OC? Gees, many are quite dangerous in truth, however the most dangerous character I have who isn't a straight up villain/antagonist is probably Aymia, she looks like a small child physically, but is an experienced, capable, killer, seeking a cure to her current condition, or punish those responsible, so definitely Aymia. 29. Which of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they're going? Serafien out of sheer stubbornness, Aymia, possibly Riea too seeing she can be very impulsive and isn't used to involving others in her plans or business. 30. Which of your OC's would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? Sayah because she's always acting tougher and more aloof than she really is. Possibly also Jarei. 31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their Tumblr blog would be like? Peydion would reblog the latest fashion trends, she would always be posting hair and makeup tips for others as naturally she has immaculate taste. She would post skincare products, the only other types of things she would reblog would be fundraisers, and anything for a good cause as Peydion despite being vain will always champion the causes of the underdog, she will defend the picked on, indifferent to status. Acera's Tumblr would be a crafty, artsy collage of style and colour, I feel like she would make her own fashion accessories, upload her paintings and drawings, and make eclectic music playlists and suggestions for people, I also feel like she would have sections of her page dedicated to black and white photographs to break up all of the colour every now and then, I feel she would be a sweets and caffine addict to. 32. Which of your OC's would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?  I feel like Jarei, would be a matter of fact and rational protagonist, however she might be far too sensible to end up there in the first place. Therefore...I'm going to say, Iris would be unique in that type of situation. She's extremely different, spends the majority of her time amongst nature, and her powers as an empath would make the entire journey extremely interesting. 33. Your shyest OC? I can't really think of a shy character that I've written, I have expressed pain and distant characters, cautious and uncertain, bold and fiery, I've written introverts and extroverts, good and bad, jealous and vindictive, cruel even but I haven't written shy oddly. I will make that my next OC goal. Out of my characters who exist right now, I guess I would have to pick Iris or Briayla, because they are more introverted, Riea is also. 34. Do you have any twin characters? Yes three sets. Paige and Kat, another set of girl twins who are thus far unnamed still, and then there's Alex and Cole 35. Do yo have any sibling characters? Apart from the sets of twins ^^, not that I can recall. 36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends, etc)? Belongs to someone else? Like another writer with their OC? Or who the character belongs to in the story? I wouldn't say any characters belong to, or with anyone in any of my stories, they are each, their own person. But if you mean as in another writer's OC, no. 37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human? Riel and Lief both count in this case, essentially both are members of a group of beings who possess roles and responsibilities on the earth, they manage a particular job in everyday like that makes society function. A civil war breaks out, Riel is attacked and almost killed, she manages to escape, but at the same time falls into the mortal realm with a tear in her spiritual essence. Each being has an emergency, corporeal body which they inhabit within the human realm, Riel ends up being trapped within hers, and they are only supposed to be used minutely therefore the reliance upon it weakens her, so she's stuck, and during the initial aftermath she doesn't remember until Lief shows up and restores her memories of this, as they were sealed along with her powers within her. They are a part of her spiritual essence, it's intended to both protect the mortal realm as well as ensure mortals never discover their existence. Other stuff happens, war is being waged by both sides, that's all I'll say. 38. Which of your OC's would be the best dancer? Serafien, Else Witch I assume given the time period both women are from. 39. Introduce any character you want. Nine has white-blonde hair in a styled ponytail, with a messy braid running through it, and red eyes due to being albino. She is scrawny, and badly scarred along her right side and hip. Nine has the ability to kill, but she needs to picture how your organs work, in order to cause your lungs to seize up, she has to know how the respiratory system works, and picture it's inner workings in her mind, only then can she disrupt or shit down how it functions. She also has the ability to increase or decrease the potency of medicinal plants, herbs poisons, and all alchemical draughts she makes, making her both a brilliant healer, or killer depending on the necessity. 40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Other than writing for them, being complimented on one or two. One time I made my sisters laugh with one of my OC's. A ghost and secretary working for a organisation of guardians, and although she is incredibly good at her job, she's of course incorporeal. Which means she cannot answer the phone, get the door, sign for packages that sort of thing, so at times she gets frustrated over it and her ghostly abilities act up, so office supplies randomly end up scattered about the lobby and that sort of thing. Also her partner as a receptionist who does answer the phones etc is a male mummy, who roller blades to work because he really enjoys human inventions, of course concerns that he might unravel means that he often puts tape on his bandages to keep them together. That sort of thing tends to make people laugh. 41. Has anyone drawn fan art of your OC's? No. 42. Which one of your OC's would be the most interested in the Greek Gods? Gaia considering her name comes directly from them, I also think she would be interested in her namesake and others among them. 43. Do you have any certain type when you create OC's? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It's time to confess. I lean mostly toward fantasy settings, I confess to liking troubled OC's, and the only physical features that I can say I lean towards is dark hair colours and bronze or tan skin colours. I try to represent as many ethnicities in my writing as possible, therefore I've made, French, English, Greek and Italian, Middle eastern mixed, Asian mixed OC's, a Hawaiian and Samoan OC, Native American, African American, Jamaican, as many as I can because I think everybody deserves representation, in stories and adventures, so it really depends on the setting I'm building, if it's a future society then I use our world ethnicities and say countries and nations have mixed and shifted etc, if it's a fantasy setting then I create and build my OC's and their ethnicities or cultures from scratch, likewise if I make a sci fi story which deals with alien races. 44. Something you like about your OC's in general? I like that they are all uniquely different, I try to explore new personalities and mindsets. 45. A character you no longer use? Well I haven't thought about cyborg girl in well over a decade but I might recreate and build her anew in a future story because I'm feeling some real nostalgia right now. 46. Has anybody ever told you that you treat your OC's badly? I would readily confess to doing so, you have to push characters to their limits, to determine what they are made of, that's how you work out who they are deep down. So yes I do think I act quite sadistically, and I'll kick them when they are down at times. 47. Has anybody ever (friendly) claimed any of your OC's as their child? No, no one has. 48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. Mayyyybe Zeriste, she's the only character I can think of who falls into the sees the best in everybody, innocent type. Every other character I've made, ever, has been more complicated and more flawed than that. Zeriste isn't an old creation though she's a relatively new OC. 49. Which one of your OC's would most likely enjoy memes? I feel like roller blading mummy would be down ^^ he likes human creations. 50. Give me the good ol' OC talk here, talk about anything you want. If you want tag your answers as #yetanotherOCmeme so I can check them out too. I don't really know what OC talk is being referred to here. All I shall say is make them as varied, flawed, and three dimensional as possible. Be brave when challenging them with a difficult situation, and never hand OC's an easy way out. They can only build character in the face of adversity.