#I do enjoy that for how unsubtle the world is that that has included showing exactly how the cracks were forming

[pancoleon]

I finished reading this last night and yeah "reading this was like being punched in the face for 318 pages" is an apt description of it.

[kattahj]

Thoughts after finishing Shadow

Finished watching Shadow, and I just love it to pieces. Was it what I expected? No, but it's like expecting a strawberry cake and getting a schwarzwald cake – it's different, it may take some getting used to, but it can be just as delicious if not more. Spoilery spoilers below!

I don't feel like I can express all my thoughts in one post, because I don't feel like I even HAVE all my thoughts yet. This may be a show I have to return to and watch all over to see how things are set up, because they ARE set up. I mean, they straight up told us what the shadow was, pretty early on, but it was in among so many conflicting tales and perspectives that we didn't know who to trust. And that's at the heart of the show, isn't it? Conflicting perspectives. I was thinking about how Dan was so absolutely convinced that Brother Anurak/the one-armed man was a murderer, and it turns out he wasn't at all, he tried to stop the massacre and failed. But why did Dan believe that? Because he was influenced by the Shadow, who had its own agenda: wanting to stop the school and this newfangled religion that prevented the age-old rites from taking place. At the same time, can the Shadow be said to be lying? It never said Brother Anurak murdered anyone; that was Dan's conclusion. It just made the connection between him and the ghosts – and the connection WAS there, because he WAS the one who kept their bodies hidden and thus prevented their souls from moving on. Which, from the Shadow's perspective, was probably a worse crime, since death and the dead was part of its domain. And with Brother Anurak dying at the end, did he give himself over to the Shadow? Unsubtle political point: Do not sweep the past under the carpet! Bring it out into the light, acknowledge your wrongdoing, and learn from it! Anyway, I just love that even though we have people giving completely opposite opinions, you can't definitely say who is wrong or right even at the end. Apart from Dan's dad, who was just straight-up trash, it was hard to call people heroes and villains. Even Anan, murderer, bully, homophobe, was almost pitiful at the end. As for the Shadow itself, it's so ambiguous, and I love it! Everyone told Dan that the Shadow was a threat, and he insisted that it wasn't. He claimed to be at peace in the dark realm, but seemed afraid when the Shadow materialized. And then at the end, we learn that he always belonged to the Shadow, that he was connected to it even before his birth. So does that mean that he was never meant to be in this world and he is returned to his true realm, or was he groomed from childhood and lured in by a promise to end his depression, stuck in purgatory and effectively dead? You decide! (Sidenote: I can understand sticking the final scene post-credits, to end the "proper" show on the very effective note of Trin's reflection, but I also think the scene contained a little bit too much vital information to be placed where half the audience will miss it.) We were also warned that just about any spirit could escape through Dan's body, which is indeed what happened. From Trin's perspective, I suppose this is good news; he DEFINITELY didn't like the Shadow realm. And kudos to Singto's acting and the way the scenes were set up; I had been spoiled and really enjoyed all the little ways you could tell it was a different person. (He recognizes Josh and Nai but doesn't seem to care about their presence, doesn't acknowledge Cha-aim by name until he has heard it from somebody else, and only brightens up when Master Joe enters the room.) The way it's all set up, they COULD go for a season 2, but I don't think they should. This unsettling open ending is very suitable for the show! Shows and films I have seen compared to this one have included Twin Peaks, Pan's Labyrinth, and The Haunting of Bly Manor, which all did similar things with their protagonists. It's nicely thematic. Leave it be. Also, I think some of the negative opinions I've seen have been people who got so attached to their headcanons during the hiatus that they won't accept anything else. And that would probably just get worse with the time it would take to get a second season. Well that, and then the ones who are sad we didn't get romance. Because boy howdy, did no one get a happy ending on this show. :-)

[sineala]

Captain America Corps

[This is a repost from my Patreon.] An extra review for everyone this month! I wasn't actually planning to write a review of Captain America Corps, but, then, I wasn't planning to love it as much as I did, either. Surprise! This has been the Book Club selection on the 616 Steve/Tony Discord server for the entirety of September, and it took me all month to get around to reading it, and when I finished reading it on Marvel Unlimited I immediately ran to the internet and ordered myself a copy of the trade paperback, because I needed one of my very own to cuddle. This review contains spoilers for the entirety of the series, so leave now if you don't want to know them. (It also contains a few pictures of elements that you may wish to avoid if you are sensitive to body horror in fiction.)

Captain America Corps is a five-issue miniseries written by Roger Stern, whom you may remember from such classics as his Avengers run featuring the Under Siege arc and his short but extremely memorable Cap run with John Byrne. The art here is by Phillipe Briones, who I don't think I've seen in any other book, but it's nice enough, I suppose. Anyway, it was published in 2011 and is also set then (well, sort of) -- so Bucky is still Captain America (though not for much longer) and Steve is Commander Rogers. (It is still available in trade paperback but it is technically out of print, so you should act now if you want a paper copy.) The best way I can describe my feelings about this book is thus: you know how David Michelinie's 1979 Avengers novel I read and reviewed a few months ago, The Man Who Stole Tomorrow, had an amazing premise -- Kang the Conqueror freezes Steve again and takes him to the future and the Avengers have to go time-traveling to get him back -- but it completely flubbed the actual execution of said premise? Well, Captain America Corps is a lot like that, but it absolutely, perfectly nails it. The premise isn't exactly the same, but it is definitely Peak Comics in the best zany madcap way, and the more you know about canon, the more your familiarity will be rewarded. Captain America is being kidnapped. But not just one Captain America -- Captains America across the multiverse are being stolen, and history is changing around their disappearances. A cosmic entity by the name of Tath Ki has made it his business to right these wrongs, and so to do this he kidnaps some more Captains America of his own. He ends up with a team of five: the Captain America of 1941 (Steve Rogers), USAgent (John Walker, from a small but unspecified number of years prior to 2011), the Captain America of 2011 (Bucky Barnes), American Dream (Shannon Carter, from the MC2 universe), and Commander A (Kiyoshi Morales, from several centuries in the future). So you can see already that this is going to be fun. All the Caps, in my opinion, are very well-characterized -- Steve is painfully earnest and a little inexperienced; Bucky is cynical, jaded, and he kind of can't believe that 40s Steve is looking up to him, which is really sweet; and John Walker is, of course, a complete asshole. I wanted to punch him in his stupid face multiple times, so clearly his characterization is perfect. I can't speak to Shannon's characterization because I've never read MC2, and Kiyoshi is new as of this book, but he is also excellent. So, obviously, because this is a Captain America book, there is a terrible dystopian future for them to fight -- and to show them what's at stake, Tath Ki drops them right in the middle of Dystopian Times Square, and they all get rounded up and imprisoned, whereupon they promptly stage a prison break for the various superheroes (Sam Wilson, Luke Cage, Peter Parker...) that they meet, before Tath Ki brings them back to his home base talk about it, now that he's convinced them that this is a future they have to stop.

(The law enforcement of the dystopian future includes several Americops and the Ameridroid. Remember those guys from the Cap comics? I sure do! Whee!) Tath Ki explains the situation here on this Earth, because obviously there has been some divergence. And the divergence point is this: the Avengers never found Captain America in the ice in Avengers #4. Two new women -- Broad-Stripe and Bright Star (why, yes, those are deeply unsubtle code names) -- ended up on the team instead, but, well... the Avengers just didn't work without Steve, and right when they ought to have founded the Kooky Quartet in Avengers #16, they disbanded instead. All because they'd never met Captain America. Thor went back to Asgard. Hank ended up in a psych ward. Tony died during heart surgery. (Don't worry, I'm coming back to this point later. So is the comic.) So the Caps split up to go see what they can find out about the remaining Avengers. Jan is hanging out with Sue Storm but has been warned about Kiyoshi and Shannon by the villain, and she kicks them out. Steve and Bucky break Hank out of the psych ward. And Tath Ki takes John Walker to Tony's tomb... to find that Tony's brain is missing from his body. Uh-oh. That's never a good sign.

And, oh, yes, Broad-Stripe and Bright Star are the villains of this series. And, what's more, Broad-Stripe is actually Superia, whom you will remember from the infamously terrible Cap arc The Superia Stratagem. It was really bad. It was really, really bad. But reading this has now retroactively made reading that worth it. Anyway, they're the ones who have been kidnapping all the Caps, and the Cap Corps here teams up with the local resistance force (yes, of course there's a resistance) to fight their way to the villains' headquarters. And do you know who else is at the villains' headquarters? It's Tony! I mean, it's Tony's brain. In a jar. Alive. And conscious. (And his eyeballs. I don't know why or how he still has his eyes. I'm trying not to think about that.)

The fact that Tony is now a brain in a jar is what the #book-club channel has been shrieking about with horrified glee for an entire month. If you like sad Tonys, there is no sadder Tony than this. You cannot make a sadder Tony than this. He is a brain in a jar. It's like everything about his favorite transhumanism, gone wrong. He's been there for years. He has never known Steve Rogers, and doesn't that just break your heart? He's suicidal. He begs the villain to finally kill him. He begs Hank to kill him, whether or not the good guys win. His life -- or undeath, or whatever it is -- is so awful that death is, for him, the happy ending. (We already know, canonically, that Tonys who never meet Steve are the saddest Tonys. Fantastic Four: Dark Reign #2, the issue that famously gave us Earth-3490, also gave us a look at Earth-1735, in which Steve is found very late in the superheroing game and Tony has clearly spent all the time in which they should have been Avengers together instead drinking his life away.) Sad Brain Jar Tony fills the good guys who find him -- Hank, Bucky, and Kiyoshi -- in on the villains' backstory and plans, which is basically that Superia has been stealing all the Captains America and has joined up with AIM and gotten herself a Cosmic Cube to shove them all into, and I'm sure we all guessed that that was happening because what even is a good Cap plot without a Cosmic Cube? Anyway, 1940s Steve doesn't meet Tony personally, as far as I can tell, but he does get to hear about him being alive over the comms, at least -- although it wouldn't mean much to him then, because at this point he doesn't know Tony. So all the Caps and Tath Ki and the villains end up falling into the Cosmic Cube along with the rest of the Caps that Superia stole, who are already in there. Steve merges with one of his other self, which breaks the Cube, and the alternate dystopian reality basically... vanishes from existence as everyone goes home. And Sad Brain Jar Tony is finally at peace. *sniff* Due to the mysteries of time-travel, Bucky and the two Caps after him -- Shannon and Kiyoshi -- remember what happened, but the two from before -- 1941 Steve and John Walker -- don't seem to. Except when Bucky meets up with his Steve, the Commander Rogers of 2011, it's clear that Bucky's return triggered something and Steve is starting to remember everything. Then Bucky decides to go turn himself in and face justice for the Winter Soldier's crimes. We get a brief look at Kiyoshi's time, where he's helping christen a new aircraft carrier named after Steve. And that's it. So obviously this is a completely wild plot in the way that comics are the best at, and what I really want most in life now is fic where 2011 Commander Rogers -- who we know is not the best at having feelings where Tony is concerned, because his current reaction to Tony is to scream at him about his feelings, in the snow, surrounded by all of their friends -- has to deal with the fact that he remembers being in a world where Tony is a sad brain in a jar and it all happened because he wasn't there to save him. Heroic Age-era (early Avengers v4) is one of my favorite flavors of Steve/Tony angst, as they work out how to have a friendship again (and are so bad at it that it involves a lot of very public screaming fights), and this just piles the angst right on top. (Yeah, guess what's on my WIP list now.) Objectively, it's not a perfect comic -- it's kind of a mess, but it's a mess in that glorious comics way that comics are so good at. I suspect if you're not here for the Steve/Tony you won't like it as much, but if you are... well, please enjoy pondering Sad Brain Jar Tony in his dystopian, Steve-less future.

[sleepykittypaws]

The Christmas House

Original Air Date: November 23, 2020 (Hallmark) Where to Watch?: Hallmark will replay it multiple times this season, and for every season in perpetuity

It's impossible to review Hallmark's The Christmas House without noting that this time last year, then-Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott was personally taking phone calls from a SPLC-designated hate group, and pulling a Zola ad showing two brides chastely kissing from his network, at that hate group's behest. The ensuing firestorm of well-earned criticism following Abbott's bad judgement, is, without question, what brought us to today, with Abbott ousted, a woman of color, Wonya Lucas, now at Hallmark's helm, and a still totally G-rated holiday lineup that now regularly features former Hallmark no-gos like, interracial romance and LGBTQ+ inclusion, improving Hallmark's abysmal diversity record, one movie at a time. 

So, even though Hallmark had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, it's still hard not to be at least a little emotional that they're finally joining us here. The bigots are still having online temper tantrums about losing their all-white, all-straight safe space, but Hallmark's holiday ratings are up 7% year-over-year—a significant jump in a world where cable subscriptions are declining by 10-15% annually.

Now, what that progress looks like on a network known for being “clean,” conservative and about as unwilling to take risks as any channel on the planet, is another story. Frequent Hallmark star, and out gay actor, Jonathan Bennett, has been tirelessly talking about The Christmas House, since the day it went into production. And Bennett brings a lot of energy to this ensemble story, written by co-star Robert Buckley, of a family getting together to decorate their home one more time before it's sold. 

Buckley and Bennett play the sons of Sharon Lawrence and Treat Williams, a recently retired couple struggling with that fundamental shift in their relationship. Buckley is the star of a ridiculous court show, Handsome Justice, of which we luckily get to see a clip, and Bennett, a baker, and his husband, played by Brad Harder, are waiting to hear about an adoption, after several previous disappointments. 

Bennett and Buckley bring more humor than is normal for Hallmark to their portrayal of loving, competitive brothers, who clearly enjoy ribbing each other.

How conservative was past hallmark, you ask? Well, that Buckley's girl-next-door love interest is divorced, not widowed, is still a somewhat shocking twist in that world, as is the fact that both Buckley and Bennett are "allowed" to sport some facial scruff, rather than be clean shaven. Oh, and that the family next door is (gasp) Latino, is also something we likely wouldn't have seen in the Hallmark of yore. All of which is just mind-blowing, since those “days of yore” for this TV network were [checks notes]…2019, not 1968.

Lawrence and Williams are believable as a long term couple, and their life-change struggle to re-center their relationship feels real, but the way it's revealed is almost as anti-climactic as its resolution. The movie laid very unsubtle hints along the way—all storytelling progress aside, Hallmark movies are still written so you can half watch and not a miss a thing, allowing folks to join 20 minutes in, or do the dishes and come back without being confused—that Williams and Lawrence's wanting to have "one last Christmas" was about more than just downsizing in retirement. 

When Lawrence told the story of the clearly-actually-brand-new-and-from-Homegoods Santa pot, and what it meant to her, I thought Williams was going to later accidentally break Checkov's sentimental teapot and, in her anger, Lawrence would blurt out something about that's why they were separating, shocking their grown sons. 

And, honestly, as predictable as that would have been, it would probably have had more impact than what did happen…Lawrence just casually telling Buckley while stringing lights, and then nobody really mentioning it again, excepting oblique references during a single conversation between the brothers, and then Lawrence just announces at breakfast that they're not doing that after all.

Definitely feels like Hallmark's aversion to conflict in its stories is one of those provisions that is still firmly in place. (We saw a similar unwillingness to commit to actual marital difficulties, despite that being the central plot point, in Cranberry Christmas.)

Which is too bad, because Lawrence and Williams being much better than the actors usually used for these parent roles, could have handled a more realistic story well, and brought some real emotional beats to the movie.

As expected, Buckley's romance with Ana Ayora was the definite A-plot here, but why did their memory lane rekindling catalyst have to be close-up magic, the worst of all entertainment options? Was there no mime troop they could have been teenage members of? When it comes to magic, and jazz, I'm like Indiana Jones and snakes…Why'd it have to be magic?

Also, no way that 29-year-old guy they have playing "teenage" Mike grows up to be Robert Buckley. Nope! They definitely had to soft focus all the mostly unnecessary flashback scenes so that those actors, easily less than a decade younger than our leads, didn't quite look their age. 

And, c'mon, Buckley, who, again, is the star of his own TV show, gives the love of his life a necklace he bought…in high school? For real? I'm surprised we couldn't see her neck turn green in real time. At least get a gal a little upgrade. Sheesh! 

The whole rival real estate agent thing went nowhere. And what was that subplot even supposed to be about? Would have much rather seen a scene from the Handsome Justice episode where Buckley's character defended a dog accused of murder, than that whole waste of time. 

On the other hand, loved the Grift body spray mentions, and so glad we go to see that ad. Hallmark doesn't do subtle—"But will they get it?" is basically the network's motto—but this is one case of subtext just being text that worked.

Oh and, how did his parents buy a house on the Hudson river just by selling a nice, but fairly average, suburban home? Sure, they said it was a fixer upper, but anything on the water is gonna be way more pricey than where they were, and you've still got to have the cash to do the fixing. Also, you know the old adage about how nothing soothes a struggling marriage like a whole house renovation project, amirite?

Speaking of money…Why didn't Buckley just buy his folks the house right away if he didn't want to see it go? I mean, even if he's only a mid-level TV star, this wasn't some extravegent manse, and certainly wouldn't be an unusual thing for a well-off child to do for their middle-class parents. Why all the rigamarole with the weird guy and the rescinded offer? And, like, what was that all about? So many stories I'd have rather seen from this talented cast than some of the filler we actually got.

Harder didn't get nearly enough to do, but he and Bennett had decent chemistry and they got most of the best lines. The joke about "Will we decorate like this for our kids," and Bennett's emphatic, "No," cut the tension of an emotional scene well, with perfect timing, making it actually, laugh out loud funny—a Hallmark rarity. And when Harder appears in doorway after hearing from the adoption agency, and Bennett knows just by looking at his face what the call said, I got emotional.

That all the couples in this one got to kiss, including Bennett and Harder, is important. With the specter of last year's Zola debacle absolutely lingering over the entire movie, it's hard to think of a better, actual example of #LoveWins, than that moment.

I also teared up when we saw Bennett and Harder's family at the end, not only because it was a long overdue Hallmark milestone, but also because Harder's real-life son, Kael, played he and Bennett's on-screen adopted child, and is just so stinking cute.

Am I giving this bonus points for finally having an LGBTQ+ storyline, even if it was pretty far from the foreground? For sure. But Buckley and Bennett also brought humor and heart to this one, of a variety not usually found on Hallmark, and Lawrence and Williams also upped the ante on the quality here. Notable that Hallmark also sprung for two actual, name-brand holiday songs, so they were willing to spend a little bit of extra cash on this effort, which says more about their “commitment to diversity” than years of empty promises ever did.

Would have liked House even more, if Hallmark had been brave enough to swap the storylines; Bennett falling in love the boy next door, and Buckley and his bride waiting to hear about adoption, but barring that, do wish it had been bit more of a true ensemble (i.e. all three love stories had equal weight).

Despite quibbles, I'm still putting this on top of the 2020 Hallmark heap, at least for the moment, because I laughed, I cried and I felt good about the progress that has been made, no matter how long overdue it is.

As I've said so many times, representation really does matter, particularly on a channel like Hallmark, which caters to exactly the audience that most needs to see LGBTQ+ people laughing, living and loving, just like every other family.

Representation really can change lives. It opens hearts and minds. It can help those struggling within themselves feel seen and worthy. Really can not underestimate how transformative these normalizing glimpses can be, particularly for a network like Hallmark, with a large "conservative" audience. 

"Conservative" is in quotes, because there's nothing genuinely conservative about human rights, and respect for those unlike you. Empathy and acceptance for others should be a baseline standard for living in a society—not a political statement. 

No one has the right to deny someone else's humanity, and someone's choice to hold hate in their heart deserves no respect from Hallmark, or society at large. Really hopeful that some kid out there who feels excluded and awful about themself because their family and upbringing has told them everything they're feeling is wrong and sinful, can now see representation like this on their family's safe space TV channel, and know it's going to be OK.

It's a small step, but it's definitely a good one, and I'm really looking forward to the actual lead LGBTQ+ holiday romances coming soon, like Hulu's Happiest Season (Nov. 25), Lifetime's The Christmas Setup (Dec. 12) and Paramount Network's Dashing in December (Dec. 13), and hoping Hallmark joins that club in 2021.

Until then…

Final Judgement: 3 Paws Up

[vetoing-clocks]

Decepticon!Hot Rod Anniversary Q&A

Yes! It happened! On November 13th, 2018, I posted a vignette on Ao3 based on the idea “What if Hot Rod had become a Decepticon in ‘Autocracy’ (and dated Deadlock)?”

365 days and 44,8k words later, the deceptirod AU is still going and I still have plans and ideas for it.

It’s been a huge year for me. I learned a lot as a writer. I achieved some things in my professional path. I made friends in the fandom and got some loyal readers.

I wish I’d noticed sooner that the anniversary was coming up, I would have had something written for today. Since that couldn’t be, I want to thank everyone that sent questions for this hastily put together q&a. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into this little universe I’ve been building.

Everything’s under the cut.

As usual, thank you for reading these fics. This series wouldn’t have gone beyond that first oneshot without the interest and support of all of you.

Anon: So it’s implied events pan out the same as they do when Roddy steals the matrix for the Autobots. Have you ever thought about what happens after? Would Deadlock/Drift’s arc have still happened?

Fun fact: I’ve got this whole AU planned up to the point in which “Transformers: Lost Light” ended. Saying more would be a spoiler.

@kyrinthewarrior​: How did you come up with the idea of Thunderbird and Doctor?

Last year I was writing a canon divergent TFP fic (that’s been on hiatus for over a year, I’m so sorry) in which Starscream realized that he’d never, ever win and decided to become neutral. One of the plot points in it was that Starscream accidentally inspired the Vehicons to start a liberation movement, which included taking names and picking the pronouns they felt fit each one best. Doctor is a character from there, but the name’s different in that fic (hasn’t shown up yet in that fic, actually). I didn’t see any reason to invent a new character to be the medic in Pache when I could just grab one that already existed.

Thunderbird was, like every TF OC I make, an accident. I needed a character with information that could interact with Hot Rod and tell him the things he had no way of finding out on his own (the Great Carrot knows I love Rod, but he’s not in charge of anything that would give him access to privileged information). Now, we have plenty of cold and serious calculating characters, so I decided to write someone that would purposefully try to get everyone to think he’s harmless and good. Someone you’d want to be friends with and would never ever suspect of having a mental file in which he keeps every sign of weakness you’ve displayed around them and who would sell you to Satan for a corn chip if they felt the corn chip was more important than you. Then I went to my list of potential OC names, picked the one I liked best, and Thunderbird was born. The heelys, though, are there because I find them funny (this AU, like many things I do, runs on a delicate balance of things that I love to read, things I find fascinating to explore, and things that appeal to my sense of humor).

@marsreds��: Favorite line you've published?

“I’m sorry, but I love you.”

@marsreds​: Favorite line you've written?

Oof, this is hard, but I’m gonna go with, “Because something has to matter. Because something has to be done. Because there’s nothing else I can do.”

Although I’m also terribly fond of Doctor’s lines about why Medicine’s patron is Adaptus, not Primus. I have a whole mental essay about why Primus being Medicine’s patron doesn’t work, and I’m turning it into a fic one day.

@marsreds​: What do you look forward most to writing?

In general, any bit that foreshadows unwritten fics, or any bit that’s a callback to a previus story (especially when it’s a fic I haven posted yet). Basically, bits that should be rewarding to anyone that decides to re-read the series.

@marsreds​: What even set you off to make this au in the first place?

We were on Discord and someone started talking about how easily Hot Rod could have become a Decepticon. We started talking about how some things would have gone differently, but also how we could keep the canon timeline pretty much the same, and it led to “Hot Rod realizes how messed up their faction has become, so he steals the Matrix anyway and gets shot.” That’s when a line started forming in my mind and I had to write it. 90 minutes later, “The cold” had been written, and from there I had to keep playing in the sandbox. There was too much to explore.

@marsreds​: Can you believe that we didn't know each other when you published the first installment of this?

Wait, we didn’t????????? Didn’t you link me to the server where this whole thing started?

Huh. Wow. You’ve been so present throughout all the plotting that I guess I can’t picture this without you at the beginning.

@marsreds​: What's something that surprised you while you were writing it?

How much it grew. Not as a plotline, but as a world. This was supposed to be an exploration of the progressive distortion of the Decepticon ideal disguised as a hotlock slowburn. I’d maybe throw in one or two OCs from “Such a big deal, though” to make the world seem more populated and believable. Then I was writing “Crash and burn” and I realized I couldn’t really talk about the Decepticons without the Decepticons, but I didn’t know enough about canon characters to fill the world with recognizable names, which forced me to create my own characters. They were supposed to be background characters, show up for a couple scenes, fulfill their roles and disappear forever, and instead they had personalities, alt-modes, and whole stories inside my mind that I can only hint at. It went from feeling like my little AU fanfic to my own alternate timeline, like maybe Brainstorm’s briefcase made it exist and it’s as “real” as everything that’s been published and has aired throughout the years.

Connected to that, I’ve also been surprised by the reaction to this bigger world. I’ve seen someone include Doctor and Thunderbird in their own AU. You declared Crystal Wing your favorite and get super protective of him. I’ve been asked what Thunderbird looks like, and everyone seems fascinated by him. It makes it all feel more and more like its own canon timeline that simply hasn’t been recognized by Hasbro, and that makes me happy.

@marsreds​: Something you would've done differently?

Not really? Nothing that can’t be edited, like the writing in “Alive”, or the bits I’ll eventually add to “Crash and burn” and “Nightlight”.

@marsreds​: How do you come up with names for things?

For characters, I mostly use rollercoasters. I went on Wikipedia one day, found a list of rollercoasters, and wrote down all the names that sounded like they could be used for OCs. Some have been given by others and one is a very unsubtle historical reference that made me feel embarrassed by how shameless it was (there’s a while until you see that name, though).

For places, I think of what happens in the fic in which they’re first named. Then I think of something associated to the events, or to the description of the planet, and then I pick a word that alludes to said events/description and which amuses me. Basically, every planet name is a joke/reference/unsubtle-nod-to-the-plot. All of them. Not very funny jokes, sure, but definitely things that made me feel very clever.

@marsreds​: Am i a good editor and do i actually contribute to the process or are you just humoring me?

Mars, if you didn’t contribute to the process I could just ignore you. When I disagree with your suggestions, I tell you so. When your suggestions make me cry inside but I agree they’re good, I follow them. When your suggestions add to the story, I gladly include them. You’re stuck as my editor until you get sick of me.

@marsreds​: Are hotlock gonna be invited to the thunderdice wedding?

Hot Rod and Deadlock won’t be invited to the thunderdice wedding.

But if there was any way for Hot Rod and Deadlock to be invited, they’d be invited by the groom. The bride doesn’t want to see Deadlock ever again.

@marsreds​: If you had to make a thesis statement for this au, what would it be?

Kindness. That might sound odd in what’s mostly been a slow burn set during a war, but kindness is what everything is built on here. Hot Rod cares about people, cares even when it might get him killed, because somebody has to. Back in Nyon, it was him and the other gutter mechs looking after each other. In “Crash and burn”, his kindness is what saved him, the fact that others remembered what he’d done for them. His kindness is what makes him stand out to Deadlock. It’s his kindness that makes him start doubting the cause and eventually steal the Matrix.

But it’s not only him. Deadlock doesn’t know how to be kind, but he can follow Hot Rod’s lead, follow his example until he can perform kindness on his own. Doctor is in Medicine for selfish reasons, but still goes and puts medgrade in Hot Rod’s hands when he looks like shit, and forces Thunderbird to take care of himself despite knowing he’s a bastard. Thunderbird cares only about himself and his best friend, but he doesn’t see any reason to be rude to people that might be dead the next day.

Kindness is not a weakness and there’s no mold for it. Kindness doesn’t mean never fighting, or never doing anything bad. It just means that, if there’s a good thing you can do, a good thing you know you can do, and there’s no reason not to do it, you should do it. It may never be repaid or it might save your life. You put some good in the world because somebody has to do it. And maybe in the real world kindness won’t be rewarded as it should, but this is fiction, and I’m allowed to write a world in which kindness is valued, even during something as terrible as a war, because it’s a promise, it’s hope, it’s something to hold on to and to remind you that things aren’t always bad.

The thesis is: Hot Rod was kind, and that was the right course of action.

@marsreds​: What would be this au's theme song?

Be More Kind - Frank Turner

@marsreds​: What's deadlock's favourite thing about hot rod? and hot rod's about deadlock?

Deadlock likes that Hot Rod lets him bite him.

Just kidding. Can I say kindness again? But yeah. The fact that Hot Rod cares for everyone. Deadlock came from the streets and was used to nobody giving a damn about him. He joined the Decepticons and got used to being valued for being a fighter. Enter Hot Rod, who values everyone no matter their rank, simply because they’re on his faction. The moment Hot Rod knows you’re on his side, you become one of his people. He’ll take care of you. To Deadlock, Hot Rod is a shelter.

As for Hot Rod? He likes how reliable Deadlock is. He likes that Deadlock seems to have clear loyalties and principles and he sticks to them. If Deadlock says he’s going to follow you until the end of the universe, you can be sure he will. If Deadlock decides to help you, he’ll be there no matter what. If Deadlock has decided that something is wrong, then you can be sure he won’t be looking for loopholes that allow him to do it anyway. He likes that Deadlock is there for him and will always be there for him as long as he deserves it. To Hot Rod, Deadlock is a pillar.

@marsreds​: Objectively, is deadlock considered hot in this universe? (i know hot rod's considered attractive but that's just his personality)

This one technically goes against my “How do I interact with my fiction” rules, because it refers to a detail I’m probably never showing/implying in the text.

What I’m saying is: you are free to ignore this answer if you don’t like it.

It amuses me to think Deadlock is average, physically speaking. People like his face when he’s not doing the murdercat expression, but he’s almost always doing the murdercat expression and has the social skills of a toothpick.

It also amuses me to think that the Autobots think he looks edgy. It’s the bad boy appeal. Hot Rod would find that hilarious.

@marsreds​: What do you like the most about their relationship that is present in this au but not in canon(ish) iterations of these characters?

I wrote three very salty paragraphs in reply to this and proceeded to delete them. Nobody needs that. To be brief, what I like about their relationship here is that their friendship means something to them. Even if this series ended with Hot Rod marrying Thunderbird and Deadlock marrying Doctor, you’d know for sure that there’s so much trust, companionship and love (and I don’t mean romantic love) between them that they’d be in each other’s lives as best friends until one of them died.

@squireofgeekdom: Any songs you associate with any of your OCs?

None yet, surprisingly?

Anon: What sort of key points do you keep in mind to keep track of where characters should be emotionally/in their arc when you're writing stories set at very different points in time, and not necessarily writing them in linear order? It's all very much coherent character/relationship arcs and I'm just very impressed - and the cohesiveness overall. Are there themes that you try to keep consistent across stories to build that?

Pre-Matrix stealing I have a clear idea of how things progress relating to key events, because it’s all very linear. The first relevant change in the relationship happens in “Triage” (still unwritten, sorry), so I know that any ideas for fics that happen before that will have to fit a certain pattern. The next big change is “Nightlight”, because it’s when the mutual pining starts. Before that, it’s only Hot Rod being invested in their friendship. Then it’s only mutual pining until “Declaration...”, and from then on things are mostly stable until “Home” (also unwritten, sorry again).

The hotlock dynamic progresses with their feelings. The only important thing I have to keep in mind is that they must be friends first and love interests second. If I can’t believe that these two genuinely like each other, then it’s time for a re-write. Cybertronians have long lives, which means their friendship must deepen as time passes, and so I can have them noticing or knowing more about each other the later in the timeline a fic is set.

Relating to OCs, there are key elements that will never ever change and which form the base of the interactions. For example, Doctor’s only goal in life is to survive; related to that, Doctor is unimpressed by, but extremely wary of, Thunderbird, despises Deadlock (I’m not talking funny rivalry, I’m talking a feeling that borders on disgust, of finding a person that so absolutely opposes the core of your being that you daydream of beating their face to a pulp and leaving them out for the wolves), and is fond of Hot Rod despite being certain he’ll get himself killed one day. Thunderbird likes to know things for the sake of knowing things and thinks life is one big cosmic joke and that taking it seriously is a mistake; because of that, he’s curious about Hot Rod and really wants to know what will become of him, is reluctanctly fascinated by Doctor, and the only person he loves besides himself is Crystal Wing. Crystal Wing is so slow that he knows he has to use his time wisely, so he’s always in a good mood (it takes too long to overcome a negative emotion), likes everyone immediately (it’s faster to dislike someone than learn to like them), and always says exactly what he means without adornments or metaphors.

As for plotting, I keep notes of key events and the rest is fluid. I know what’s going to happen in “Home”, so I’m free to foreshadow it when I get the chance. I know what happened in “Triage”, so I can write callbacks if I feel they fit the story.

About themes... There are a lot of things this AU is about, but off the top of my head I can mention:

Kindness

Making one (1) person the key to your emotional development is fucked up

Who we are and who we become can’t be traced back to one moment. We’re all the result of thousands of interactions and events that pile up and which we choose to see in a certain way to justify the person we are or want to be

Friendship!

Everything I write must be in accordance to these ideas. Themes and cohesiveness go before everything else, even my own ego and need for approval. Surprising my audience is not as important as feeling I respected the characters and the story.

@choomchoom: Is Hot Rod’s history as an insurgency leader in Nyon commonly known amongst the Decepticons? If not, how did Deadlock find out?

Yes and no. This might count as a spoiler? Stop reading here if you don’t want to know absolutely anything about fics that I’ll write someday.

When Hot Rod arrived, his past was used as propaganda. “Look at the mech we brought in. Someone willing to do whatever it takes in the fight against the Autobots.” Anyone who was around high command or near the area when Hot Rod joined the Decepticons knows his past. After that, it was part of the information in the starter pack. After a while, it wasn’t relevant anymore, and so newer recruits don’t know about his past and might have only heard about this crazy mech that drags injured soldiers out of the battlefield.

@choomchoom: Also if no one has asked about music yet I would love some song recs to cry and swoon to the next time you post an update.

I have a playlist that’s 95% somewhat serious and/or shippy songs (the remaining 5% is “Despacito” and I have no regrets).

Highlights from it include:

The already linked “Be More Kind”, which is this AU’s thesis

The hotlock theme is Los Tres’ “Amor Violento” (loose translation of relevant lyrics: “I’ll spend my whole life in buying yours [...] Love will have to wait for a good while to rest from you and I [...] Because a violent love blinded us / A violent love fulminated us”)

For the post-Matrix stealing to the point at which the war ends, the song is Silversun Pickups’ “Growing Old Is Getting Old”. It also fits for that point at which you realize that your faction has strayed from its original vision

For the Decepticons in the beginning, Los Prisioneros’ “El Baile De Los Que Sobran” (”Join the dance of the left overs / Nobody’s going to miss us / Nobody truly wanted to help us / When we were small we were told / ‘Make studying your game’ / Men are brothers and must work together [...] And it wasn’t so true / Because in the end those games were for others / That ended up with laurels and a future / And left my friends kicking rocks”)

A bit of a post-Nyon mood: Coldplay’s “42″

[empty-movement]

The Comet and the Stars

CW/TW: Discussion of sexual assault, emotional abuse, events of episode 33, incest, um...everything? Look, it’s about Akio. :(

I discovered a comet earlier. It’s new. No one else knows about it yet. But I won’t tell anyone else about it. I won’t even name it. It’s amazing… The feeling of discovering a new heavenly body. You feel as though doing that makes it your property. But what’s in the heavens is in the heavens. It belongs to no one. ...It belongs to no one...

Goodnight, big brother.

Must you still torment me?

For twenty years, this scene has driven me nuts, and taking my cue from the man himself, I've just ignored it. The gist is obvious enough: Akio is gloating about seducing Utena and it backfires on him, but any dramatic weight or potential for analysis has been eclipsed for me by an unforgivable sin. In all previous translations, Akio uses ‘comet’ and ‘star’ interchangeably.

This is absurd coming from someone who, according to Ikuhara, probably teaches astronomy in the university. It also breaks the comparison he's making. I brought this up with our translation buddy at Nozomi, not asking him to fix it but more bemoaning my fate. After all, Akio does clearly use two different words…

It turns out that I didn't give enough credit, either to Akio or to Enokido, who wrote the episode, on why it’s worded this way. Though Akio begins by saying suisei, which is explicitly the word for comet, he continues into his little speech using hoshi. The latter is generally translated as ‘star’, but is actually not specific beyond ‘celestial body.’ (Had I been a Sailor Moon fan, I would have known this, as hoshi is used to refer to planets in it, apparently.)

As close as I can get to the experience after twenty years, this is like me getting to analyze a piece of Utena for the first time. It was a fascinating look at something I knew I wanted to explore, but couldn't, because it was broken. It’s fixed now. And I am digging in, because I’m Akio trash, toxic relationship trash, space trash, and analysis trash. (And also, this was homework/research for the Akio fic I wrote for the upcoming Utena Future Zine.)

This scene immediately follows episode 33, The Prince Who Runs In the Night, which ended with Utena and Akio having sex in a hotel room, an event framed by Akio and Anthy as ‘delivering roses’, and alluded to by Akio as ‘beautiful stars.’

Here, at the beginning of episode 34, The Rose Seal, having just had sex with his sister, Akio is in the mood to gloat. He begins to describe having found a new comet. This seems...unlikely. You’ve never seen Akio use a telescope. The entirety of his exploration of space is contained within a planetarium, a representation of the night sky, beholden to the accuracy bestowed by its creator. It’s incapable of letting him ‘find’ anything. Of course, that’s not a flaw. It’s a feature. Akio is choosing where the stars shine, even if outside of his world, this would not be up to him.

The stars are a metaphor, both in the context of the series, and Akio’s own use of them in conversation: the heavenly bodies he discusses are the people he controls. Everything Akio has said relating to the stars or the mythology surrounding them is ultimately about someone in the story, and there is always a contextual clue to indicate this. 

Later, he will go on to say “Actually, I have no interest whatsoever in the stars.” You can take this as him rejecting his own framing device, or you can take him as using the metaphor still: he doesn’t care about people at all. I think it's both. He never shows an interest in space that isn’t clearly bound up in its comparison to people, and he shows somehow even less regard for the people those stars represent. They’re at best playthings, and at worse, just a means to a repetitive, futile end.

It’s obvious that Utena’s the comet he has discovered, that no one else knows about. This is an unsubtle reference to ‘discovering’ Utena's virginity, and taking for himself the one piece of Utena that Anthy could not have ‘known about’ herself. Whether she wanted it or not is far less important than that it's something Akio was able to deny her. Right out of the gate, this is not nearly so much about his comet, as the person he's speaking to.

It is interesting though to consider if Akio is aware at all that Anthy's feelings for Utena could be romantic in nature. The choice of sex as a means to drive them apart does seem to speak to that, but it's also probably the move he'd make regardless of the nature of Utena and Anthy's relationship. Anthy's refusal to look at the ‘real’ stars Akio enjoys so much in the previous episode is framed rather like jealousy, but it's hard to say exactly for who or over what. Her reaction to this event is...complicated, despite her complicity implied by her assistance in “delivering the roses.” This is an especially eerie way to reference Akio's sleeping with Utena, given the bouquet, red and white roses mixed, follows them to the hotel room, sits on a chair, and is eventually is set in a vase. After all, the destination is already there. A similar bouquet is delivered to Akio’s office way back in episode 15, when he is first alone with Utena, suggesting Anthy’s awareness and involvement in Utena’s fate, including this rape, has been there from the start.

Having established this as a discussion about Utena, he goes on to say he isn’t going to tell anybody about this new comet, nor is he going to give it a name. A secret thing that’s yours because you found it… is no small power trip, and if he were talking about a comet, one could certainly imagine a few precious moments where the possession can be savored before the pleasure of sharing your discovery takes over. There is certainly some of this in how it pertains to Utena, but more pointedly this is an act of aggression. And this, the fact that comets aren’t stars, is why the mistake in translation literally destroys beyond repair this entire bit.

Comets are temporary visitors in the night sky, they flash brilliantly but ultimately will only be there for a little while before going on their way along a much larger orbit. (Ruka is another comet, shown coming down in the window in episode 28, then departing in 29.) Stars, for all intents and purposes, are fixed bodies. Things that reliably stay where you expect them to. They aren’t going anywhere.* Akio is reminding Anthy that Utena, sweet as she is, is a temporary visitor in their sky. She may shine brighter than most, but her path will eventually lead her away. Don’t get too attached, Anthy, to a thing that will soon disappear.

To Akio, there’s no point naming her. He only concerns himself with what's in his domain, and if she’s going to leave it anyway, she can do so namelessly. This is exactly what happens: the students forget her, struggling to recall her name not long after her departure. By refusing to name this comet, he’s rejecting her in advance of needing to do so, anticipating her departure, and planning her erasure. I’m not going to name her, because she isn’t going to be part of our world.

He goes on to say how wonderful and fun it is to discover a comet and then keep it to himself. No one finds comets if they don’t look for them, and if they’re looking for them, they’re doing so out of passion for the hunt. But he’s talking about Utena, making it about how much pleasure he takes in the hunt of innocence, and its subsequent destruction. Though certainly no excuse for his actions, this seems to me like it would be a satisfying preoccupation for the fallen prince, denied his former glory by the endless, fatal demands innocent princesses placed on him. Ohtori Academy could be read, cynically, as an elaborate mockery of a fairy tale world that he has created just to play out this story, over and over.

But what’s in the heavens is in the heavens. Or more simply “A comet is a comet.” On some level, Captain Obvious is aware of the nature of the coffin he lives in. He makes reference to the world outside and is to some limited extent in communication with it. He knows within his sphere, time is arrested. He knows, I think at varying levels of conscious awareness, that the world he’s the ends of is not the entirety of the earth. In this comment, he extends the temporality of Utena’s presence to not just being true for Anthy, but him as well. Utena will leave, and who will be left? Just the two of them, still together under the same sky, though their comet is no longer in it.

The comet belonging to no one is an elaboration of this point, and probably the closest Akio inadvertently gets to a moment of genuine self-awareness. The discovery of a comet makes him feel like it’s his...but it’s not. It’s a comet, and it will leave the sky they live under regardless of what either of them does to it.

He repeats this line again. It gnaws at him, because it strays too close to the subject of his own limitations. This started as a threat that he can ruin this creature Anthy’s grown fond of, and as he expanded the point, it became tinged with reassurance that Utena is a passing fling for both of them. But Akio, in a hurry to absolve himself of any real culpability, ends up admitting, certainly by accident, that Utena isn’t a passing fling because that’s what he’d prefer. Akio won’t keep her because Akio can’t keep her.

On some level, he is aware that his control is not absolute. This comet that has appeared is not his to keep, and while he may budge its trajectory to his own ends, ultimately...he can’t force it to do anything. He can’t force anyone to do anything. He can trick, cajole, coax...but his perception of his own capacity to control the world around him does not line up accurately with reality, and he knows this. Deep down.

Because while illusions may belong to him, reality belongs to no one…

Anthy leaves when she does knowing he’s been made vulnerable by his own contemplation. Not only does she not care to offer any comfort, she is ignoring both his empty threat and his hollow reassurance. After all this peacocking, and the dark place he inadvertently led himself, she tells him by her passivity that, oops, sorry. She wasn’t listening.

Must you still torment me?

Yes. Because I don’t belong to you, either.

The give and take of love and resentment in Akio and Anthy’s relationship reaches levels of toxicity that would make Chernobyl blush. They dance constantly around their codependency, swiping at one another, and then soothing each other in turn. “No one will ever know you as well as I know you.” becomes both a reassurance and a threat on their lips.

It’s Akio that does all the talking, and one could assume that’s usually the case, but Anthy wins this round by doing the one thing more dangerous to Akio than anything else: she ignores him. Hating him is a glue that binds her to him, and his rubbing her face in what he’s done to their young comet smacks of an attempt to reinforce that attachment, negative thought it is. As long as she’s wrapped up in her hatred and resentment of him, she’s not going to be able to move on. Their hostility to one another is heavy with that awareness on both sides: they both know the ‘love’ the other has for them depends on that hatred, and neither really believes it could mean anything any other way. Neither dares invest in the idea that they could be genuinely loved for their own sake, so neither tries.

A fair bit of Akio’s dialogue in the climax of the series also seems geared to elicit contempt from Anthy, seeking this bitterness as a validation of her attachment. There’s a bit of lip service to the idea of them loving one another, but the form that takes is a hostile one, and it’s that hostility Akio is trying to drag from Anthy now. Anthy, knowing why he’s doing it and what he hopes to achieve, denies him...and enjoys it. After all, it’s how she swipes at him in turn, by reminding him that her veneer of compliance, her passivity as the Rose Bride, is a weapon she can aim just as readily at him. And he sees every day what it does to others, just as she’s made to watch what he does to their makeshift prince.

Akio’s seduction of Utena is a military action ending a cold war, and this scene is our first glimpse at what open hostility between these powers looks like. The Akio Arc and the Apocalypse Arc are not a distinction officially made by the series creators, but the presence of a ‘recap’ episode implies it, and the shift from one story arc to the next marks a gross change in the tone of Akio and Anthy’s relationship past any capacity either may have to salvage it. Akio is clearly aware what he has done angers Anthy, but he misjudges the severity of her reaction, having let himself be pretty much blind up to this moment to the distance Utena is putting between them.

But...why does he change terms? Why not just continue using the term that appropriately describes the subject? Well, I used to think this was done because it sounds better or something, and that certainly could be the case. However, it also creates a double entendre that isn’t exactly necessary to the point, but certainly enriches it. Hoshi is ‘celestial body’, hoshii, with the extended vowel, is ‘want.’ They do absolutely sound different in Japanese, however, they don’t sound so different that a Japanese speaker wouldn’t notice their similarity. Consider this:

I discovered something interesting earlier. It’s new. Something that no one else knows about yet. But I won’t tell anyone else about it. I won’t even name it. It’s amazing… The feeling of discovering something new to want. You feel as though doing that makes it your own. But...I want what I want. Though what I want belongs to no one.

Reworded to this, his speech doesn’t radically change in meaning. He’s still gloating about a thing he’s found and enjoyed, and he’s still eventually tripping over an awareness that he can’t keep it. The flavor of it changes though, it sounds far more world-weary, like someone aware of how infrequently a new thing to interest them comes along. That novelty is rare, and Akio, selfish creature that he is, would make it belong to him if he could. He can’t, though...and why is that?

Perhaps he’s aware that the very act of possessing this comet ruins what he likes about it. Under any condition where Utena becomes his possession, she stops being the innocent, spirited little prince he’s having such fun playing with. He knows possessing her would destroy what he enjoyed in the first place. This is a conundrum he shares with his ‘competitor,’ Touga. This interest, this distraction, is one that is entirely impossible for Akio to keep. It will elude him, and the satisfaction he feels at the destruction of a noble thing will be fleeting, leaving him only with the wreckage of Anthy’s anger, and none of the pleasure he feels now.

This is absolutely not to say I think Akio is remotely in love with Utena. I actually kind of had a hard time typing that sentence even. He enjoys the pursuit, perhaps, but more importantly, Akio lives to bring others down to his level. If everyone else turns out to be total garbage, it validates his decision to take the easy way out. To be garbage himself. Utena interests and pleases him so because she has that much farther to fall, and he appears, against his better interests given Anthy’s reaction, compelled to push her. But if Dios’ fundamental ambition was to save others, it seems reasonable to assume Akio’s is the opposite--he’s compelled to destroy what innocence crosses his path, and whether that is out of the programming inflicted on him by his very nature as a living archetype, or whether that’s a retaliation against others for the wounds he perceives have been inflicted on him and what’s his, meaning Anthy...I suppose depends on your reading of what exactly he and Anthy are. The former has been used in the past to frame Akio as unable to help himself any more than Dios does. I’ve never really liked that reading, because it removes the burden of responsibility he has for his actions by removing his agency in deciding what he does or doesn’t do. That just feels cheap to me, utterly out of line with the richness and complexity to be found literally everywhere in the series.

I think the world Akio and Anthy inhabit, that they’ve created for themselves, is such a dark place because both of them feel most comfortable there. Akio lashes out madly in hostility toward literally everyone that crosses his path, and though it is smoothed over and made attractive by his methods, the fact remains that Akio structures everything around him to service this ambition. He misleads, hurts, and ruins others, and does so with the point of view that he has a right to this. (‘Foolish mortal’ is translated this way because the word he uses, ikimono, literally implies like...minimal sentience.) The vengeance he takes on the world seems almost an addiction at this point, one he indulges to his own detriment as Anthy’s approval shifts from irritation to far beyond tolerance.  

This moment of reflection, where he admits, albeit briefly, that the toys he plays with aren’t his own, is one of very few moments in the series where you could even attempt to read his behavior as self-aware or something he struggles with. It suggests on some level Akio is aware that the world at large buzzes about without him, and that his petty tortures are ultimately meaningless, either as a means to real satisfaction, or as revenge for a wrong as great as the one inflicted on him. People are not his in the end, and they are capable of walking away from a garden he cannot. This is an interesting insight for him to have at the beginning of such open hostilities between him and his sister. What has been obvious to us as viewers for a very long time is starting, maybe, to sink through to him: Anthy is capable of leaving him.  Not threatening. Not using the distance as a bludgeon...but actually leaving.

If Akio could be capable of regret for his actions, this would be a moment for him to be so. He begins by gloating, but ends this dialogue aware that something went wrong with this particular ‘discovery’...and his greed for its destruction, his selfishness, and his resentment toward all things innocent and pure are all little satellites orbiting what I think is the biggest insight Akio risks having here. Akio is not entirely sure what he just did to this girl will be without consequences. That he might have gone a bit too far, a bit too late, and left himself with an Anthy he can’t be nearly so sure of anymore.

The open hostility between the siblings from this point forward stems from that spiraling trust he has in his grip on what, so far as he believes, sustains him. The game played now aims as much to sever Anthy from her attachment to this little creature as it does to creating a prince out of her. Akio is starting to be afraid.

Thanks for reading, if your crazy ass got this far! I know Akio isn’t exactly the hot topic everyone loves to talk about, but I find him uniquely compelling for all the reasons we don’t want to talk about him, and if any of this was interesting to you, I’ll be glad of it! :D As always, any feedback or whathaveyou is welcome. If you need some seriousness bleach, here, have a stupid picture:

PS. Happy birthday, Akio! Sorry about the long essay totally ripping into your weaknesses and calling you a scared little man.

* Akio pointing out Venus (‘the morning star’) as a comparison to himself earlier in the series is especially rich given this entire framing device. Venus, like the other planets, masquerades as a star, and you can’t really tell the difference without a telescope. However, unlike the fixed stars, it moves about freely in the night sky, appearing to be one thing while behaving in another way. Just as Akio appears to be the Trustee Chairman of the Board, but moves about across his sky as Ends of the World. Just as he appears one of us, he is something altogether different, and altogether closer than we realize.

[elizabethrobertajones]

“The Most Meta Finale”  Or, on trying to disown old canon since season 11.

To be honest, I was going to spend today re-watching some season 6 episodes to see if I could come up with a much more modest plausible theory about the reason there was so much AU and time travel nonsense especially in the latter half of the season, was because of a theme of shattering canon, quite deliberately. In a way of staking a claim but also washing hands of messing up the stuff that came before. And instead I ended up giving myself a migraine seeing canon since season 5 as something that's been repeatedly disowned and carefully distanced from over and over.

In 5x22 Chuck ends the story with his definitive THE END on the whole mess. Of course it's a bit ridiculous because season 6 was already long foretold and the story was going to have to continue. But Chuck sits there representing the author, in a very unsubtle way, with his finished drink, finished manuscript, and all cleaned up, washing his hands of the Chuck the Prophet persona and going on to chill out and enjoy the ~finished story~

6x15, though, represents in the most meta ridiculous ways the trouble the show felt, or lampooned itself being stuck with, having to continue on into season 6, with the theme in 6x15 and then seriously in 6x20, being what to do when the original story was over, and how to continue on. In The French Mistake "Bob Singer" dismisses the entire idea of season 6 out loud, rolling his eyes at the fact they're continuing to make the story. At the end of the episode he is killed off, and "Kripke" is taken out with much dramatic fanfare (and the same music as 6x18's cowboy confrontation, which amuses me no end and is another weird link between the episodes about travels in time and space, testing the bounds of the universe they're written in, and breaking them.) Of course killing "Kripke" off is the very unsubtle message about the death of the author, a metatextual image that goes with God leaving the story and sending it off into the wild. Kripke (the real one) wrote 6x22 as his final episode, before leaving it all in others' hands since then. On pretty much every level of the story it's handed off to writer after writer.

I think it's interesting that the "original story" is captured within the show as the Winchester Gospels (and my tag for that has plenty of amusing exploration of the ways this makes canon fascinatingly more complex) - but also that it makes SUCH a clear divide between the Original Story aka the subject of the Gospels, and what comes after. Charlie giggles in delight at discovering that the seemingly random hunters she meets later in their story have been the subject of the books and have such a meta backstory, and in 8x20 their lives are turned into a low key conflict between the real and the novelised in the way Charlie interacts with them. 

In 10x05 they see their lives from the outside, Marie's canon which echoes their lives up to the point the Original Story ends, and we get another line which is one of my favourites in that episode, dismissing everything that comes after 5x22 as terrible fan fiction. Not that Calliope thinks she did much better...

I've written somewhere else about the meta episodes or characters such as Metatron showing the writers' anxiety about taking on the story, and it often comes with this deep horror of the weight on them to continue the story, the meta story within the story also making this shove on them that shackles them to this narrative of the Original Story. I also should have really included Metatron being waved off into the Empty or wherever in between Chuck's disappearances but I ran out of gif space up there... 

Rewatching 11x20 recently I was deeply struck by how alike Metatron and Chuck are even down to their little curly haired vessels, though of course with wonderfully acted different bearings to make their personalities and place in the story clear. 

Metatron has his own huge part to play in representing the story and the deep, deep anxiety they had about following on from it. In 9x18 Metatron burns a copy of Tall Tales while trying to stand above the old canon, and Chuck takes him to task for it in 11x20, and Metatron folds and admits he's a terrible copy-cat writer, the anxieties you can see all over his appearances in Carver era while trying to wrangle the story in his favour. And in the end Chuck leaves his desk with a manuscript on it again just like in 5x22, though this time going to what he thinks may be his end:

These moments of trying to end or box off old canon with Death of the Author moments are incredibly numerous. We have Chuck leaving in 5x22, "Kripke" dying in 6x15, the entire plot of 10x05 being about Calliope coming to consume the author, and the meta nonsense there, and then Metatron's death, Chuck slated to die but saved by network panic about what you can and can't show on screen... 

This shot of Chuck was a zoom out in comparison to the zoom in on dead "Kripke", but feels very similar, especially with Amara having raged at him about the story, after in 11x20 Chuck refused to allow it to be her story. Of course the resolution allows the suppressed, forgotten, fridged feminine side of the story to be released, and Mary is brought back. And after Chuck and Amara - now joint authors of the story with her action to bring Mary back creating the narrative of season 12 and flipping the influence from the douchey male creator to the women whose stories were never told, we've had ANOTHER absconding of the authors of the story, once again leaving the story in a sort of 5x death of the author situation, and once again like season 6, which season 12 mirrored in many ways, scrambling to understand their ends of the story.

I think the destruction of old canon seems almost like a necessary sort of household chore on the story - a chance to try and reclaim it, to put it into the hands of new author figures within the story, and an attempt for those left behind after showrunners and enormous creative influences like Edlund (who set Metatron up to go, threw him at the story, and left) or Robbie (who set Chuck up, threw him at the story, and left) have gone. Once Carver left somewhere before the end of season 11, we entered the rather strange world of the first time since season 2 not having part of the "Carver Edlund" duo the show's own God was named after on the writing team, and Dabb, who had been with the show almost as long as Carver and written more episodes than any other writer by like, the end of season 10, so will probably hold that title forever now, was left to remove the characters related to all this from the show, to start fresh.

And it seemed like everyone was having a stab at telling the story - the BMoL in particular twice referenced 9x18 and Metatron in a bid to wrangle control of the story with face on talking to the camera asking for stories or typing them - although lampshaded that the story really wasn’t going their way.

I find it really fascinating then to look back to season 6 and these other examples of trying to disown and distance the story from the old canon, to try and strike out and say the story now belongs to someone else, that these old parts of it are no longer our parts of it, though they influence us and we draw from them. If season 6 was using these AUs and time travel stories (The French Mistake, My Heart Will Go On and Frontierland) to explore the shattering of the world (before 6x21 and 6x21 explored smashing open Purgatory and bringing in new monsters and new plotlines to change the game for season 7), then season 12 referencing the most meta of all these examples when bringing in its own AU seems to me to be very deeply relevant.

The premise of the AU is one that in a way wipes the slate clean - removing the Winchesters, their entire influence, trashing every single word in those gospels, so the story can never happen that way, in a way is the freshest start so far. If season 13 focuses on characters like Michael or Bobby's experience of this AU and give us another history, an explanation of where it all went different, which all seems fairly likely at this point that we should learn more and understand the motivations and lives lead in the Winchesters' absence, then I think this really will live up to the threat that this was the most meta finale yet. A throwaway reference to the French Mistake doesn't SEEM to make it all that meta on the surface. But in the immediate context of the episode, the AU's description, of being turned on Mary's deal not being made, was used to absolve her and lift up Sam and Dean in the context of their own world - that they'd made the right choices, that they had authored their own world far better than it would have been without them.

I am very curious to see what Dabb does with his clean slate, after he used season 12 to try and tie up as many loose ends as humanly possible, and churn up references to almost every part of old canon into the story to give it another hearing, another perspective, another chance to be told. I think season 12 was very much the tidying away season and an AU with potentially completely different rules, and definitely an entirely other history and sets of characters, is an interesting way to re-make the show in... something's image. I suppose these thoughts are for revisiting in the aftermath of the end of the season and whatever that ends up bringing...

[aion-rsa]

The Best TV Shows of 2020

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Some year, eh? 

We’re often poetic about TV around these parts. It’s no secret that we like to sing its praises as a powerful, restorative, and maybe sometimes therapeutic medium. But during a dangerous, confusing year, delving into the many ways that TV “kept us sane” or whatever feels reductive. 

What we can say, however, is this: TV was around this year. And that’s no small feat as not every other medium was so lucky. Concerts and other live performances were canceled. The movie-going experience was upended (perhaps permanently), and even curling up with a nice book at a coffee shop was no longer an option for much of the year. The TV production schedule may have been disrupted, but for the most part, the television machine chugged along, providing us with a diverse (and often overwhelming) number of truly excellent options to take in.

This year we want to honor the best of those TV shows – not for any particular reason other than that it’s fun to do and we’ve all earned some year-end distractions. We had our staff vote on their favorite series, polled you the reader as well, then crunched all the numbers in an intensely complicated propriety equation (not really) to determine our winners. 

Please enjoy our choices for the 25 Best TV Shows of 2020. 

25. How To with John Wilson

How To with John Wilson is the heir to Nathan For You’s throne, which seems obvious considering the series boasts Nathan Fielder as an executive producer, but the new HBO series shares much of the fiercely beloved former Comedy Central series’ DNA. While Nathan For You used helping businesses as a jumping off point to explore social interactions and the funny, insane things that people may say or do if you point a camera in their face, How To with John Wilson purports to explain how to perform simple tasks like making small talk or splitting a check, but mostly showcases how beautiful, ugly, life-affirming, and odd life in New York City can be. It’s a difficult show to explain, but it uses dry narration and quick documentary-style footage to create laugh out loud set-ups and punchlines, and digresses into some of the most poignant, and “WTF” moments found in a comedy series. You may not learn much, but you’ll laugh a lot. 

– Nick Harley

24. The Plot Against America

TV writing geniuses David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire, The Deuce) are masters of subtlety. Their many shows, several of which are among the best in TV history, know how to conquer small moments en route to a bigger, oft devastating picture. During these very unsubtle times then, how could they possibly adapt Philip Roth’s equally unsubtle book about creeping fascism in America, The Plot Against America? The answer, as it turns out, is with the same gentle touch and keen understanding of the human condition as they always employ.

Like Roth’s 2004 novel, The Plot Against America picks up in an alternate version of the American 1940s, where real life aviation hero and Nazi-sympathizing populist Charles Lindbergh is elected president. The show then follows the working class Jewish Levin family as they deal with the fallout. Simon and Burns’ subtle touch works uncommonly well here. The Plot Against America’s six episodes are in many ways about how gradually and imperceptibly things can get worse until one’s home is no longer recognizable. For obvious reasons, the series resonated this year but its ability to summon creeping dread would have played well just about any time. 

– Alec Bojalad

23. Lovecraft Country

A sprawling anthology with an overarching fable set in the depths of Jim Crow America in the 1950s, Lovecraft Country was an epic, political, sometimes gory, always ambitious sci-fi horror unlike anything else in 2020. Following the journey of Atticus (Jonathan Majors), Leti (Jurnee Smollett), and Atticus’s uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a mission to find Atticus’s missing father, the story combines real life racist horror with supernatural creatures inspired by H.P. Lovecraft.

Each episode is both a standalone story and part of the whole, playing with different subgenres. Ep 3 “Holy Ghost” is a classic haunted house tale with a historical twist against a backdrop of neighborhood racism, ep 5 “A Strange Case” is an extraordinary body horror which explores the female experience, 6 “Meet Me in Daegu” introduces a character from Korean folklore, while ep 8 “I Am” is a sprawling afrofuturist sci-fi. Created by Misha Green, exec produced by Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams, this is glossy cinematic stuff with a terrific ensemble cast. Talk about bang for your buck.

– Rosie Fletcher

22. His Dark Materials

If season one of this fantasy adaptation was carefully laying the tracks, then season two is hurtling along them, whooping out of the window as it goes. The new episodes started from the high-point of the season one finale and kept climbing. The difference is in tone – this time it’s warmer, keying more successfully into its characters’ emotional lives. It’s bolder too, demonstrating confidence by stepping away from the books to add scenes, humor and modern updates as required.

Season two, adapted from the second book in Philip Pullman’s original trilogy, sees Lyra and Will cross worlds and forge a bond. Will undertakes his own hero’s journey, one involving Spectres, a magical knife and the father he’d long thought dead. The real star though, is Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter, a devilishly complex character into whose head this show is satisfyingly determined to get. 

Season two is an episode short, thanks to COVID-19, but we should be grateful it made it here on time at all. The real delight is all the talent and effort that’s gone into telling such a weird story, one that only gets weirder from hereon in…

– Louisa Mellor

21. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Season 5 of She-Ra was the show at its absolute best. Every restriction seemed to be lifted and it just let loose with all the joy, deepness, and big queer energy it had ever wanted to display. Bless it for that because it allowed the show to go out on the highest of notes. We’d be here all day if we listed all the fantastic plots this season and how everyone got a chance to shine but no moment stands out more than Catra and Adora kissing. 

It’s a moment queer fans had hoped for and were shocked it actually happened. Seeing two leads in a legacy property get to be not only confirmed queer but also kiss is still a rare sight and we can only hope it signals great change in animation going forward.  We’re sad to see She-Ra go but glad it got to end so perfectly. 

– Shamus Kelley

20. Pen15 

During the 2011 “Middle School” episode of This American Life, host Ira Glass interviews producer Alex Blumberg, who presents a radical new approach to education in America: get rid of middle school. Children’s bodies and brains are just simply too volatile in their preteen years to meaningfully learn anything in the years between elementary school and high school. Give them a break, then pick up and try again in a couple years.

It’s hard not to think of that interview when watching Hulu’s wonderful middle school comedy Pen15. Lead characters Maya (Maya Erskine) and Anna (Anna Konkle) are very rarely seen learning something in class or poring over their homework. And why would they be? There are boys to obsess over, school plays to audition for, and moments that will scar them forever to experience. 

Rarely has there ever been a more frank, honest, and hilarious exploration of the middle school years than Pen15. Much was made during the show’s first season about the adult Konkle and Erskine’s ability to portray their younger selves. And in season 2, they blend in so seamlessly that the novelty of the casting choice might never even occur to the viewer. 

– Alec Bojalad

19. I Hate Suzie

The last time playwright Lucy Prebble wrote a TV series for Billie Piper, it was 2007’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl. London-set, glamorous, sexy and funny, that was a distinctly twentysomething story. Over a decade later, Prebble and Piper reunited to do something different in I Hate Suzie; still funny, but rawer, more experimental, and probing all the ways that a thirtysomething woman’s identity – wife, mother, and in this case, celebrity – can be defined by everything except herself. 

Piper plays popstar-turned actor Suzie, whose life explodes when hacked photos of her cheating on her husband leak online. Suzie goes through the stages of grief in eight riotous half-hour episodes that experiment with form and genre. There’s drama. There’s satire. There’s singing and dancing. There’s Dexter Fletcher doing coke off a bare arse, and a whole-episode wank that explores the societal construction of female desire. It is, in modern parlance, a lot, in the most exhilarating and enriching way. These two had better not leave it another 10 years until their next collaboration. We demand more. 

– Louisa Mellor 

18. Rick and Morty

Did you hear? This guy turns himself into a pickle…a PICKLE! It’s wild. Every subsequent year that Rick and Morty airs, it gets harder to separate the “meme” of Rick and Morty from the show itself. Suppose that’s just what happens when a fanbase proves itself to be…uh, energetic, and the Merchandising Industrial Complex kicks itself into overdrive to produce some truly offensively bad Big Dog-style shirts. 

Removed from the meta of it all, Rick and Morty still churned out some great episodes of television in 2020. The back half of the series’ two-part season 4 all aired this year and there were real gems included among them. Though it proved to be divisive, “Never Ricking Morty” was certainly among the most structurally ambitious installments the show has ever attempted. Then there was just the sublimely hilarious “The Vat of Acid Episode,” which was enough to earn the show a Best Animated Series Emmy. 

– Alec Bojalad

17. Dark

Dark is already notable for reaching levels of popularity in the United States not often enjoyed by subtitled fare, but it also was afforded the rare opportunity to end on its own terms with its third season in 2020. Audiences fell in love with the generational stories of the families living around the nuclear power plant in Winden, Germany, marveling at casting choices for characters in their older or younger forms whose resemblances were spot on.

The time travel plot tied viewers’ brains into knots, but the desire to see an end to the apocalypse was made even deeper by the strong chemistry between Dark’s own Adam and Eve: Jonas and Martha. As the true source of the alternate timelines and causal loops became known, everything about the show’s reality was called into question, but the ending left a lingering question mark to entice fans to speculate long after the show had ended. 

– Michael Ahr

16. The Untamed

While The Untamed technically premiered in 2019, the Chinese xianxia drama was one of the escapist stories that most defined a year we all wanted to get as far away from as possible. Bursting onto the transformative fandom scene to come in ninth on Tumblr’s list of the most-discussed live action TV shows of 2020, the foreign-language fantasy series tells the story of supernatural flautist Wei Wuixan (Xiao Zhan) from his humble beginnings as a teen cultivator-in-training to his controversial role as a demonic cultivator war hero to his time as a masked detective after he is mysteriously brought back to life in a stranger’s body 13 years after his gruesome death. 

But, like any good melodrama, The Untamed is really all about the relationships. This is a complex emotional story about siblings and sects, honor and morality. At the heart of the interpersonal narrative is the epic romance between Wei Wuixan and his stoic swordsman boyfriend Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo). The Untamed is adapted from an explicitly queer web novel, but China’s anti-LGBTQ censorship laws require the series tell its love story via lingering gazes, clasped wrists, and declarations of undying devotion. The result is no less queer, as these canonical soulmates sacrifice everything but their fervid commitment to protect the innocent for one another. 

– Kayti Burt

15. The Haunting of Bly Manor

In 2018, Netflix shrieked its way into the spooky season game with the breakout hit The Haunting of Hill House. The streamer then afforded creator Mike Flanagan the opportunity to American Horror Story-ize his work into an anthology of his own, thus The Haunting series was born. In typical second child fashion, The Haunting of Bly Manor had a world of expectations to live up to, which included its often-adapted source material, primarily the novella Turn of The Screw by Henry James (or Hank Jim as we like to call him) among two other works. Flanagan, who’s a heavyweight in the horror genre at this point, again eschewed a direct remake for a loose adaptation with Bly Manor, a slow burn, but ultimately a deeply personal and satisfying tale of ghosts, both of the faced and faceless variety, intertwined with Gothic romance.

The returning players from the previous season, Victoria Pedretti (Dani), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Peter Quint), Henry Thomas (Henry Wingrave), Carla Gugino (The Storyteller), and Kate Siegel (a surprise character in an excellent episode 8), bring back some of the winning chemistry from Hill House. However it’s the newcomers to the series, T’Nia Miller as Hannah Grose the housekeeper, Amelia Eve as Jamie the gardener, and Rahul Kohli as Owen the cook, whose standout performances ground Flanagan’s headier concepts, like the series’ mesmerizing fifth episode. It’s through these characters that Bly Manor poignantly articulates how love can be as much of a burden as it is a blessing. Not long after your Bly Manor binge is complete, Flora’s line, “You said it was a ghost story. It isn’t. It’s a love story,” will crystallize the throughline Flanagan was gunning for. And if that line isn’t a lasting memory of the limited series, perhaps it’s Owen’s lucious mustache, the best on TV in 2020, that will live on. 

– Chris Longo

14. Ted Lasso

In a relentlessly dark year, Ted Lasso was one of the few rays of sunshine that warmed our hearts. Its title character is so pleasant and optimistic, he makes Leslie Knope look like a curmudgeon by comparison. Folksy, thoughtful, and almost aggressively friendly, Jason Sudeikis’s Lasso is hired to lead a struggling English Premier League team in a move of sabotage, but ends up charming the pants off of the squad and proving the power of positivity. 

The character is practically impossible not to like, and in a time of so much anxiety and frustration, it’s refreshing to spend time with someone like Ted. The title coach isn’t the only reason to watch; the show features well-crafted characters with satisfying individual arcs, comforting, yet well-executed sports movie tropes, and funny fish out of water culture clash moments. Ted Lasso is a breezy, low-effort experience that makes you feel good. What more could you ask for in 2020? 

– Nick Harley

13. The Umbrella Academy

The first season of The Umbrella Academy was already a stellar achievement in adapting the gloriously weird Gerard Way/Gabriel Bá graphic novels, but season 2 took the show to another level in 2020. The varied reactions of the superpowered family to being stranded in 1960s Dallas were extremely enlightening and made the characters even more enjoyable with all of their quirks, flaws, and emotional depth.

Of particular interest was the manner in which Allison strove to lead a normal life with a husband that loved her despite the difficulties of being Black in the segregated South and her determination not to use her powers. Fan favorite character Ben also received a noble and inspiring arc that led to a completely new role for him in season 3. Although there are plenty of mysteries remaining, the unfolding backstory leaves us always wanting more of The Umbrella Academy. 

– Michael Ahr

12. The Great

“Russia must be saved, and I with it.” An occasionally true story from The Favourite co-screenwriter Tony McNamara, The Great is a satirical look at the rise of Russian monarch Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning, getting a chance to show off her comedic chops), from her arrival from Prussia as a naive teen bride to her time plotting the death of her husband, Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult, seemingly having the time of his career). The Great is cutting, clever, and hilarious, but, like The Favourite before it, its true secret weapon lies in its moments of earnest emotion. 

The Hulu series revels in the often absurd nature of its subject matter, but not at the cost of ignoring the trauma and joys of its often gruesome world. The unpredictability of which kind of scene you will get next—absurd, deeply emotional, or both—creates a fantastic dramatic tension that sustains throughout the entire 10-episode first season, perhaps necessary in a story that, should it follow the broadest of historical strokes, the viewer knows will end in Catherine’s triumph. Huzzah! 

– Kayti Burt

11. Harley Quinn

This year, we found out the answer to a question that no one was really asking – “who would win: a big budget Birds of Prey DC spinoff movie starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, or one small Harley Quinn-focused animated series that was seemingly about to be left for dead on the ailing DC Universe streaming service?” Harley Quinn won, for everyone who cared to investigate, as the show leveled up in season 2 by having the balls to let Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel fall in love with her sardonic roommate Poison Ivy on screen and ditch any lingering feelings she had for the Joker, but for those not invested in the romance (they should go have a soup and rethink their priorities) there was so much else going on beyond deconstructing its central character.

Animated shows are typically seen as an immature, lesser form of entertainment than live-action series, but just imagining the creativity you’d need to come up with this many running jokes, in-jokes and meta jokes for the larger-than-life characters of Gotham is exhausting. There’s so much writing talent behind Harley Quinn that a third season wasn’t just expected, but demanded. And indeed, Harley Quinn will live on at HBO Max, but if it hadn’t happened, we’d do what the Doctor ordered and RIOT. 

– Kirsten Howard

10. BoJack Horseman

Through its superb six-season run, BoJack Horseman’s tonal brilliance came to be an expected fact of life. Early on, it was tempting to pull non-viewers aside, shake their shoulders, and yell in their face “No, you don’t get it! It’s an animated comedy about a horse that was a ‘90s sitcom, yes, but it’s also a searing exploration of depression, dysfunction, and the dismal nature of the human condition!” It’s to the show’s eternal credit that that stellar comedic/dramatic tightrope act became all but a given a few seasons in and the world adjusted to it thusly. But even with that level of familiarity and comfort, it’s jarring just how well the show pulls off that delicate formula in its final, and perhaps best season. 

BoJack Horseman season 6 premiered eight of its final 16 episodes in 2020’s first month and their dramatic resonance carried through the rest of the year. The story ends here as we always expected it might. BoJack’s past finally catches up to him, and when he becomes a pop culture pariah, he slowly begins to undo whatever progress he made throughout the series, culminating in a stunning penultimate episode where BoJack faces the infinite and meets up with all the figures in his life who died along the way. But it’s not until the show’s very end where the message comes into clear focus. BoJack has to start all over again, just like we all must from time to time. The difference this time is that the other people in his life are finally prepared to move on…possibly without him. “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if this night was the last time we ever talked to each other?” BoJack says to Diane as they look up at the Hollywood night sky. Wouldn’t it be funny indeed. 

– Alec Bojalad

9. Legends of Tomorrow

There is no superhero TV show that has strayed as far from its superheroic roots than Legends of Tomorrow. Despite the fact that its full official title is quick to point out that this is indeed DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, you’d be hard pressed to find a DC show less overtly concerned about its comic book roots, or even with any synergistic responsibilities it may have to the other DC shows in its orbit. Sure, Supergirl, Black Lightning, The Flash, and Stargirl are great, and they’re note perfect representations of what makes those characters special, but Legends does everything those other shows do, but with far less recognizable characters, with far more laughs, and an effortlessly perfect ensemble cast boasting chemistry for days.   

No matter how high the reality-altering stakes, it all seems less important than watching the friendships between this crew of superheroic time traveling misfits. Legends of Tomorrow is everything good and hopeful and pure (ok, well…maybe not pure, especially where Matt Ryan’s John Constantine is concerned) about superhero shows without any of the baggage, and often without the superheroics. Always hilarious and often surprisingly touching, there’s not a single superhero team on the big or small screen that you’d rather actually hang out with. You don’t have to love superhero TV to love Legends, you just have to love TV. 

– Mike Cecchini

8. Schitt’s Creek

People who love Schitt’s Creek LOVE Schitt’s Creek. It’s almost become cult-like in its following, so the arrival of the sixth and final season felt like an event and the end of a journey not just for fans of the show but the stars themselves. Season six isn’t the best season of Schitt’s – it leans into the schmaltz and sentiment heavily and throws realism to the wind in favor of the absurd but if you’ve come this far with the displaced Rose family and the sometimes odd but overall endearing residents of Schitt’s Creek, you won’t be disappointed. 

All the major players get their arc. Alexis and Ted’s separation is heartbreaking, Moira’s Crows movie premiere is a hilarious mess, some of the Jazzagals almost join a cult… the season is packed with ridiculous scenarios in between many more moments of genuine sweetness as it gently guides its characters to an end. The finale comes together with David’s wedding to Patrick – a perfectly idiosyncratic affair in the Schitt’s Creek town hall. It’s a moving send off to which we’re all invited. 

This is a show about family and community, created by a real family – father and son Eugene and Daniel Levy (sister Sarah plays Twyla) – that spawned a community of fans. This might be the end of Schitt’s Creek but we can always re-visit. 

– Rosie Fletcher

7. Devs

Alex Garland’s unsettling, yet visually gorgeous science-fiction parables are always thought-provoking, but FX’s Devs asks bigger questions than any of the writer/directors previous projects. Do we determine our own fates? Does the multiverse exist? Can computers predict our future? Devs isn’t just heady techno-philosophical musings, it spends its runtime being a pretty satisfying corporate thriller, with our protagonist Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) investigating the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend.

This is a somewhat scathing indictment on Silicon Valley culture, with a Google-esque tech company operating with unmatched power in the shadows. Featuring a moving dramatic performance from Nick Offerman and a star-making turn from Sonoya Mizuno, Devs is just as pretty, existentially threatening, and hard sci-fi as Garland’s beloved films Ex Machina and Annihilation. If you love thrillers, but are also interested in Quantum Theory, this was the limited series you’d been waiting for in 2020.

 – Nick Harley

6. The Mandalorian (READERS’ CHOICE)

Starting with its first season and extending into its improved second, The Mandalorian just works. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s creation about the galaxy’s most beloved bounty hunter dad is the kind of forward-thinking Star Wars project that works perfectly on a streaming platform. 

If you’re a massive Star Wars nerd, The Mandalorian continues to provide plenty of Easter eggs and callbacks for you, but the show excels at being both a fun reentry point for fans fatigued with the sequels and prequels, and a standalone adventure series for viewers who don’t have much knowledge of Star Wars at all, deftly creating a string of sidequests in a galaxy far, far away that put you firmly in the beautiful Lone Wolf and Cub-like tale of Mando and Grogu as they fly toward an unknown future.

As we recently learned, there will come a time in the next few years when we will be simply drowning in Star Wars TV series, as ten(!) of them are in development, but for now, we get to really savor the intricate worldbuilding going on in The Mandalorian.

This is the way. 

– Kirsten Howard

5. The Boys

The Boys was a breakout hit when it first landed on Amazon’s streaming service, but when the series returned, there was a bit of a backlash from fans of the show who were enraged that some of its new episodes would arrive weekly, unlike the binge-ready first season. Luckily, Season 2 had so many “what the fuck” moments in store that the griping soon quietened down, and the show eventually found its stride again after a slow start. Our diabolical, supe-fighting team led by a rather distracted Billy Butcher dealt with one bonkers revelation about Vought International after another this season, while the Supes themselves battled with their own humanity, and both groups often found common ground where they least expected it. 

It’s really hard to pick a favorite moment from Season 2, but if you’ve forgotten how out there it was, let us present a wild bouquet that includes “Homelander angrily wanking over the city in the form of his own demented Bat-Signal”, “The Seven filming a very (very) thinly-veiled Zack Snyder-esque superhero movie that had undergone a Joss Whedon rewrite”, “a massive-dicked supe-in-captivity called Love Sausage”, and “a timid child getting confidently pushed off the roof of a house by his own beaming father”. And that’s without bringing up the whole “immortal Nazi” stuff that occasionally propelled the narrative into Verhoeven-level satirical territory.

There were things that didnt work about Season 2, and we can argue about them forever, but there’s one thing that everyone can agree on: if Antony Starr doesn’t get two armfuls of awards for his performance as Homelander, a fucking travesty has occurred. 

– Kirsten Howard

4. I May Destroy You

On a night out while writing the second series of her acclaimed sitcom Chewing Gum, Michaela Coel was drugged and sexually assaulted by strangers. What she did with that experience – alchemizing it into a wise and fearless TV drama about trauma and survival – was extraordinary. 

I May Destroy You is an extraordinary series. In it, Coel plays Arabella, a young writer also drugged and raped on a night out, while under pressure from publishers to follow up her hit book debut. With long-ranging flashbacks, the story moves through the next year in Bella’s life. We see her draw power from her new identity as a survivor and (often clumsily) navigate close friendships and new sexual relationships. She strays from likeability, changing in response to what happened, and in a transcendent, experimental finale, teaches herself how to live.

Coel is a bewitching lead with excellent support from Weruche Opia and Paapa Essiedu as Bella’s friends Terry and Kwame. This is no dreary misery memoir. It’s surprising, confrontational, often funny and always buzzing with life – a frank and much needed course correction for telling this kind of story on screen.

 – Louisa Mellor

3. What We Do in the Shadows

Over the past decade of television, we’ve come to expect a lot out of our TV comedies. Since the Emmy Awards now categorize just about anything that’s 30 minutes long as comedy, the genre is now home to things like shockingly dramatic coming of age tales, intensely personal narratives, and experimental structures. This evolving of the half hour format is a welcome one. At the same time, however, sometimes you just want to laugh.

Enter What We Do in the Shadows. In its remarkable 10-episode second season, this FX adaptation of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s movie of the same name made a serious case for itself as the funniest show on television. And it did so in shockingly simple fashion. In season 2, the character list remains short: just Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Guillermo (Harvey Guillen), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) make up the show’s cast of characters for the most part (give or take a Mark Hamill or Nick Kroll). And that’s all they need. 

This year, the writers and performers all operate at the top of their game to make every possible plotline work and every character pairing sing. The comedic energy is top notch from the season’s opening “Resurrection” episode through midseason classics “Colin’s Promotion” and “On The Run” and all the way to the finale “Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires.”

– Alec Bojalad

2. Better Call Saul

The penultimate season of Better Call Saul was an absolutely brilliant run of episodes that perfectly set the stage for a climactic conclusion that looks to be every bit as heart-wrenching and explosive as the final season of parent series Breaking Bad. The show successfully introduced Lalo, perhaps the most charismatic and terrifying villain in Vince Gilligan’s Albuquerque, and merged the series’ seemingly disparate storylines by bringing fan-favorite Kim Wexler closer to the dangerous dealings of the cartel.  

It turns out that Jimmy becoming Saul wasn’t the tragedy that we should have been anticipating, it was Kim embracing the Saul way that we should have been worried about. The show’s strengths have always been its meticulous attention to details, fascination with processes, and humanistic view of exactly why someone like Jimmy McGill might break bad and become a dishonorable huckster like Saul Goodman. Those strengths only became more apparent in the thrilling, low-key heartbreaking fifth season.

 – Nick Harley

1. The Queen’s Gambit

Oftentimes when assessing the quality of TV shows, we talk about how “timely” they are. In fact, if you scroll back through this list, you will find at least a few instances of just such language. The appeal to Netflix’s stylish, thrilling limited series The Queen’s Gambit, however, is just how timeless it is. And in a year with plenty of timely TV shows, that distinction was enough to launch the show to the very top of our best-of list. 

Though we on the television side of Den of Geek are loath to call any rightful TV show an “x-hour movie,” there’s no denying that The Queen’s Gambit fits that mold. But this is not just any kind of filmic experience. It’s a throwback to a ‘70s and ‘80s style of simple, elemental storytelling that simply knows how to win over an audience. The beats of The Queen’s Gambit are predictable, but elegant and perfectly executed. Beth Harmon (the ethereal Anya Taylor-Joy) is a quiet, wide-eyed hero armed with one skill that can make the world care about her and in turn make her care about herself. 

So she uses that skill and assembles her tools – her King, Queen, Bishops, Knights, Rooks, and Pawns, to embark on a classical bildungsroman journey of self-discovery and chess dominance. Like a deftly executed chess game itself, each of The Queen’s Gambit’s seven episodes acts like a move on a chess board. Some moments are triumphs, some are defeats, and some are sacrifices. But they all lead into one definitive, enormously satisfying checkmate. 

– Alec Bojalad

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Other shows receiving votes: Animaniacs, Ozark, High Fidelity, Star Trek: Picard, The Last Dance, Mrs. America, Solar Opposites, The Hollow, Killing Eve, Noughts + Crosses, Outlander, Star Trek: Discovery, Vida, Saved by the Bell, Lucifer, Gangs of London, Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, World on Fire, Crash Landing on You, Infinity Train, Locke & Key, McDonalds & Dobbs, Into the Night, The Good Lord Bird, The Last Kingdom, DuckTales, Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Pharmacist, Doctor Who, Away, Dublin Murders, Great Pretender, The Babysitters Club, Tiger King, The Crown, Ramy, The Shivering Truth, Perry Mason, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, The Undoing, Westworld, Doom Patrol, Stargirl, The Clone Wars, P-Valley, Bridgerton, Homeland, Stumptown, The Magicians, Bob’s Burgers, Primal, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Search Party, Roadkill, Raised by Wolves, The Flight Attendant, The Eric Andre Show, Defending Jacob, The Outsider, Julie and the Phantoms, Brave New World, Utopia, Carmen Sandiego, Brockmire, Somebody Feed Phil, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Dead to Me, The Gift, Ghosts, YOLO: Crystal Fantasy, The 100, The Spanish Princess, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Adult Material, Fargo, Deadwater Fell, The Flash, Archer, Weird But True, Evil, Motherland: Fort Salem, Baghdad Central

The post The Best TV Shows of 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3oUilhV

[withinthescripts]

Season 2, Cassette 8: Ohara Museum of Art (1980)

[tape recorder turns on]

Hello, I am curator Leah Akane, welcoming you to the Ohara Museum of Art, and our special exhibit of the work of the late Claudia Atieno. Toward the end of Atieno’s life, it was suggested by friends that she was walking toward more epic depictions. But as those works are unfinished, or perhaps not begun, we have but her more intimate concepts.

In this exhibit, we will see some of Atieno’s more political tributes to classic works, which were lost in the Great Reckoning. We also have the rarely displayed “Attentiveness”, which I feel has been an underrated part of Atieno’s catalogue.

Narrating your audio guide is journalist, artist, and dear friend of Atieno, Roimata Mangakāhia. We are (blessed) to have Mangakāhia’s knowledge not only of Atieno as an artist, but as a person. While not nearly as successful as her late friend, Mangakāhia has been an invaluable champion of Atieno’s work, perhaps as important to Atieno’s popularity as Atieno’s own talent.

We hope you find deeper understanding and appreciation for Atieno’s work, a life in art sadly cut short.

The exhibit begins in the main gallery. Artworks included in the audio guide are numbered. Enjoy your time at the Ohara Museum of Art.

[bell chimes]

One. “Stars”. Little remains of impressionist Vincent van Gogh’s work. There are a handful of photographs of “Starry Night”, and a portion of what remains in the paintings hangs in Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art. Its new (Harmer Island) structure, a masterpiece of modern architecture.

Many works of the European masters were lost in the Great Reckoning. Many works by artists worldwide were lost, but at the center of Western art history were the impressionists. “Starry Night”, Manet’s “Olympia”, Cézanne’s “The Card Players”. These paintings are often recreated by artists in our new society. An exercise in cultural reclamation of course, an attempt to return to the knowledge and art and history that was lost after the war. But with “Stars”, Atieno took this replication trend in a new direction, a direction that rejected recreating what was lot. In fact, Atieno’s replicas were reappropriations of classic images. In her way, Atieno was rejecting a return to the past and embracing the society, albeit the society she wanted, not the society that was.

From the moment I first saw Claudia in 1970, she was obsessed with replications. In “Stars”, she takes the stylized swirls and moist, twinkling glimmer of twilight, and brings all of its vibrant motion to a halt. The irony of Atieno’s version of “Stars” is its complete lack of stars. The black sky looms above a charcoal city at night, mostly war-scarred and evacuated. Or worse, eradicated. The stars likely shine and soar behind the choking clouds, unaware and unobserved. What we see is merely a moon struggling to be seen in a humid black haze above the town.

Notice in the center of her painting the church spire, broken. The rising hills along the right, rocky and charred. The homes him and roofless. There are large spirals of smoke mirroring van Gogh’s inspired blue swirls, but in Atieno’s “Stars”, we see only variations of gray. The one contrast in her bleak landscape is the tall flames in the foreground on the left.

Did you ever go to church? What is a spire? Did God do this to us? If so, whose God?

Some critics refer to this as a fire representing the destruction of the Reckoning. But I believe that Atieno was attempting to evoke a bonfire, a possible celebration by the townspeople in the universe of her painting. A communal fire to burn old art, books, clothes and doctrines of the tribes which led the world to such destruction. The art of war, obviously, paintings and written accounts of war heroes, as we know now that war holds no place for heroes. All themes of national superiority were turned one by one to ash. Underneath the bleak sky, we have a fire of a new day, of a new people wishing to rid themselves of the package of their past, the treachery of nation states and family.

It’s a brilliant work and a perfect approach to artistic repurposing. It’s difficult to say when repurposing becomes just a copy or plagiarism, sometimes even the artist doesn’t know where to draw the line.

[bell chimes]

Two. “Attentiveness”.

Many critics claim Atieno’s “Attentiveness” is her most garish work, noting its bold, almost clumsy strokes and its unsubtle praise of her own fame and wealth. I don’t disagree with them, but I would hate to completely dismiss this work simply for its lack of tact and technique.

While Atieno never stated directly that it was a self portrait, it’s easy to place her as the woman central to this painting. Her narrow shoulders and short stature contrasted against the long, dark, braided hair.

The woman is exiting a luxury automobile, her head turned from the viewer, and a woman on the other side of the open car door, taking a camera from her bag.

Look at the photographer’s mouth agape, caught in a moment of surprise and awe at this chance encounter with a celebrity. Have you ever seen a celebrity? [chuckles] Were you this obvious about it? Are you impressed by luxury automobiles? Do you wear driving gloves?

While she often bemoaned the loss of her anonymity and by extension, a freedom of self, Atieno most certainly relished the attention her career provided her. She would shower, dress, put on makeup, take off makeup, undress, shower again and repeat the process for two hours before a gallery opening.

She always dressed fashionably, but at private parties or events, she carried herself casually and comfortably. She did not like photographs, only compliments. She grew bored with conversations that did not acknowledge her talents at least occasionally. I had many conversations with Claudia that acknowledged her talents, as I urged her to focus on larger projects, pieces that could continue to impact the art world, as she slipped further an further into lazy drawings of discarded papers and staplers and weak forgeries disguised as tributes. I told her about her incredible talents and she liked that part. I followed it up with a critique of her process, and that she liked less.

In “Attentiveness”, Atieno does not paint the face of the woman, only the face of the woman who sees her.

Look again into the photographer’s stunned face. Do you see awe, panic, adoration in a single oval (moor) into glistening eyes, and a hand frantically clutching a camera strap. Do you believe cartoons are art?

This painting is garish. It is clumsy. But it’s so revealing of Atieno herself. I do not feel we can devalue its worth simply because it does not seem to show any skill.

If Claudia were still alive and could hear what I am saying, she would never speak to me again. But she’s dead and cannot hear what I am saying and will still never speak to me again, so what are you going to do?

[bell chimes]

Three. “Sunglasses and Cigarettes”.

These are two men wearing sunglasses. They both hold cigarettes. Next to them is an unpleasant looking dog. The five-buttoned suit jackets these men are wearing are dissimilar to the conservative business fashion of council employees or the simple structure of police jackets.

These men look quite different from usual police, even undercover officers. Atieno has also spent quite a bit of time on their mouths and hands. Notice the texture of her lines in these areas of the picture. Much more detail on their tight countenances and the tense physical postures. Their hands are clenched, cigarettes poking out of stone fists. Their lips curled, not in anger but stern concentrations. And unlike agents from the Society Establishment, they do not attempt to hide their observations of Atieno and her private home.

Statespeople who appeared at Atieno’s home often tried to gather information, but in a sociable and subtle manner. These two men and their dog, a mixed breed similar looking to a Dobermann pinscher though, stand brazenly at the curb staring directly inside.

Given the rectangular framing around this sketch, I believe Atieno drew this from the front window of an apartment she lived in years before I met her. It suggests she did not go outside to greet or confront them. I believe she was perhaps frightened or at least dubious of these men and their dog.

Claudia socialized with many politicians of the new society, as well as other well known artists and business owners. She wanted to be as important as her art. But the edges of these circles (--) [0:12:19] roughly with insidious people, people who do not trust nor like those within.

These men and their unpleasant dog were from some place we should not want to know. [softly] Look at the way they stand and stare. Do you feel watched? What do you think they know about you?

Who do you think they report to? Do you believe in conspiracies? Claudia did.

I saw men like these once sitting at small tables on the footpath outside a small café in Cornwall. They watched me, smoking their cigarettes. I did not believe them to be anything other than well dressed men with a bad habit and an unpleasant dog. But Claudia was certain they were dangerous and covert operatives. I told Claudia if they were a threat we should lay low, have fewer parties and get togethers, but we did not. I don’t know how strongly Claudia believed in her own stories.

We had more parties with bigger, more important, more controversial people. Her then lover, Pavel Zubov, brought many friends who talked often of the new New Revolution. Nothing ever came of their bluster. But in an unstable new world, revolutions are not difficult. What happens after a revolution is another matter, of course.

[bell chimes] [tape recorder turns off] [ads] [tape recorder turns on] [bell chimes]

Four. “Lamp”. Oil on wood.

Of this particular era of Atieno’s life, during the height of her frame, this might be my favorite work, the type of work I encouraged in her. A piece which when she finished it, I applauded and opened a vintage Cabernet (--) [0:16:43] I’d been saving for such an occasion.

Most of her paintings from this time pander to a broader pseudo-intellectual audience, in search of strange moderately confrontational art, a story they can tell others, a debate they can have over art’s virtuosity and validity. They may say this is not art, but that argument is the art itself.

In “Lamp”, Claudia basically painted an inverted yellow V atop a brown circle on a flint background. It’s geometric to be sure, and part of a post-war revival of art deco, all of the evolutionary flourishes of art nouveau eradicated, however. Here we see only the effects of the lamp, an incandescent shine in the dark, but the actual architecture of the device is missing entirely.

I spent a full 20 minutes raving to Claudia about this work when she showed it to me in 1969. We had not known each other long, and our initial relationship was almost like a master and pupil. I could teach her nothing about the craft of visual arts. But we drank wine and talked late into the night. For all of her political and refined small talk at parties with celebrities and power brokers, I was – I flatter myself, one of the few people she could really talk to.

There was Pavel, but their relationship was purely one of mutual and tumultuous passion for each other’s bodies. Claudia’s and my relationship was one of passion for creation.

My praise of this painting, original in a way she had seemed incapable of, so bold but on the noise politically, went past her. I told her this, this is what she should be creating, not staplers or glorifications of celebrity, not copies of other works.

She put the painting away and later told me she’d destroyed it.

When the staff at the Ohara Museum told me they were showing this work, I flew to Japan just to see it again. I’m glad she did not destroy it.

[softly] Look at its architecture, its balance. How it’s teetering slightly. It’s not physically possible, this lamp, but every element is in harmony. Look at that shade of yellow closely. How can a human make that color? It almost makes me angry.

Which brush strokes in this painting do you resent? Are they the same strokes you admire?

I’d like to tell you that this is her finest work, but in the past few years, more tributes and derivatives of “Lamp” have multiplied throughout the modern society art movement. Her work seems to be a cheap replica of itself, rather than an original that inspired hundreds of copies. Perhaps this painting’s brilliance has been eclipsed by the works it instigated.

Or perhaps I’m the wrong person to be narrating your walk through this exhibit. There are several other paintings I could describe to you, but I think after just a few you’ve got the idea. These works are decades old, and you’ve seen countless tributes or copies of them. You don’t need me to tell you what a clear acrylic box full of acorns mean. It honestly doesn’t mean anything. Or rather it means Claudia Atieno recognized that quantity was greater than quality, that celebrity simply means that demand surpasses supply. If she could keep generating new work, she could keep putting on exhibits all over the world, filling the needs of art-hungry survivors of a terrible war and its apocalyptic aftermath.

[bell chimes]

Five. “Box of Acorns”. Acrylic box, acorns.

I already said you don’t need to hear about this work, but oh I don’t know. [sighs] Perhaps you need to hear about it.

There was an oak tree on the island of her home in Cornwall, and she collected the acorns, I watched her do it. She found this acrylic in a warehouse of post-war debris. I was with her that day and we marveled at the number of paintings and sculptures in that warehouse.

[crying] I really didn’t… [long silence, music]

[bell chimes] [silence]

[bell chimes]

I’ll stop beeping in your ears. No, I won’t.

[bell chimes]

Eleven. There’s not actually a painting 11, but I’ll just go on the idea you forgot to press stop or you’re curious to see how far I’ll take this.

[sadly] I will tell you though that investigators found parts of Atieno’s body two years ago. They weren’t certain they were hers at first. Pieces of bone and clothing washed up on a lonely beach on St Agnes island. Then this year they found teeth and most of a torso underneath several inches of mud along a rocky beach. The torso had pieces of clothing that matched the previous clothes. They knew from the torso that the body had fallen, been crushed by the hard slap of gravity.

And 8-year-old girl found the body. The girl’s attendant had to report the girl to retraining at the institute. A-a place dedicating to ensuring that society’s new precepts aren’t disrupted.

Not much is known about the institute, and what is rumored about them goes unproven but… there is reason to be suspicious. There is reason to be more than suspicious.

I’m positive that the scars of seeing human remains were less impactful than the scars of whatever… [sigh/weep] recalibrating they’re putting her through now. Or perhaps she didn’t know what she found, just a blue gray mound of – fetid biology, vaguely human-shaped, partially preserved in salt and mud.

Maybe the girl could make out the outline of a person in this rotten flesh lump? Somehow, that’s even more frightening. Something that looks human but is not. Is not anymore.

Crushed from a fall, they said. But it wasn’t the fall that killed her. [scoffs] She’d been falling for years. It was the rocks, or something that she hit, I shouldn’t just say “rocks” out loud.

I never forgave her for slighting her legacy in favor of fame, but maybe I’m the one who needed to be forgiven. For demanding too much of her, for resenting her. [sighs] For adoring her. For lots of things.

Teeth and a torso. [chuckles] Someone should paint that. Oh god, I’m sure you’re gonna want your money back from this audio tour. Tell the folks at the Ohara that the tape player seemed broken, or tell them that you didn’t end up enjoying it. don’t tell them what I said. Or do, I don’t care. I honestly don’t.

I loved Claudia! She was a gifted artist and giving friend. She had a period of work this museum seems to like, but which I find contemptible for its naked pandering.

Maybe I’m just sad. I can’t reconcile my feelings. [whispers] I can’t believe they found her body! [deep sigh]

I can’t believe I don’t get to tell anyone anymore that she’s still alive. I probably knew she wasn’t. but I could always tell myself she was.

Bone fragments on the beach, near a home for preteens. The first post-war generation to grow up without parents. The great experiment for a bright new world. [sighs] I don’t know.

[tape recorder turns off]

“Within the Wires” is written by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson and performed by Rima Te Wiata, with original music by Mary Epworth. Find more of Mary’s music at maryepworth.com.

The voice of Leah Akane was Julia Morisawa.

Don’t forget to check out the amazing “Within the Wires” T-shirts and Claudia Atieno art print at withinthewires.com.

OK. Our time is done, it’s you time now. Time to stop by the museum gift shop, grab yourself a souvenir book of paintings about [the sinus infection I have], pick up a poster featuring [me coughing] and buy a commemorative vase made out of [-].

[klaineharmony]

Updated Klaine fic recs

Hi everyone,

So there was a small disaster earlier this year in which the first page of my Klaine fic recs had all of its links wiped out. At long last, I have reconstructed a chunk of that first page - all of my canon recs and fill-in fics, and then a few of the Dalton! Klaine fics. This was a long process, as I had to go through AO3 to find new links there for as many stories as I could, and then back through my old LJ and FF.net bookmarks for those stories that have not made it to the Archive. Many of these are stories that were were written during S2 and S3, early in the Klaine fandom, which means they may not be familiar to those of you who joined the fandom later. I will keep working on reconstructing this page (and the other two that follow it) on my blog, but I wanted you all to be able to enjoy the stories I have re-linked so far. More notes and explanation under the cut, as well as all the links. Please enjoy! :)

Canon Klaine: one-shots, fill-ins, slight AUs.

Unless otherwise noted, links lead to AO3. If authors have multiple pseudonyms, they will be separated with a forward slash, e.g. aspiringtoeloquence/mybriefeternity.

A Hint of Blaine by OccasionallyRestless. The “Furt” wedding scene with a Blaine twist - When Blaine gets a call from the New Directions offering to let him help with a surprise for Kurt, he readily agrees. Cue singing, cute dancing and Klaine fluff. Posted on FF.net.

After Opening by Aeditimi Scriba. Artie notices an improvement in his leading actors as “West Side Story” goes into its second performance. Klaine and Finchel, Artie’s POV. Posted on FF.net.

And A Thousand Moments Like This by DaybyDay. Post-Original Song kiss fic. Fluff. Posted on FF.net.

Be It You Outside My Door by water_nix/the-water-nixie. 4x04 fix-it fic. Blaine’s instincts lead him to the right place at last. Posted on LJ.

Before You Met Me (I Was All Right) by purplehairedwonder. Without New Directions, Kurt never goes to Dalton to spy on the Warblers. For Blaine, life goes on… except for those strange moments he feels like something is missing.  This is an AU inspired by that “Glee Actually” promo with Kurt asking Artie, “Who’s Blaine?” during the dream sequence.

Blame It On Insecurity by sunandrainfic/rainingaces. Blaine does not like blaming things on alcohol. A conversation between Kurt and Blaine during BIOTA. This is one of the most poignant and insightful BIOTA fics out there. Posted on FF.net.

Blaine Anderson is Missing by lovely-sparkle. AU spec fic for Season 4 Regionals. The break-up is included. What will New Directions do when Blaine goes missing on the morning of the Regionals competition? And why is Blaine worried about Kurt? Posted on LJ.

Blessing by antarcticbird/Alianne82. Happy engaged boys and the world’s best dad. 5x01 reaction fic.

Blossoming by avaserenity. Post-“The First Time.” Burt Hummel’s perspective. He knows because he’s never seen anyone look at Kurt the way Blaine does. Posted on LJ.

Box by trufflemores. 3x09. “But what are you promising?” Blaine surprises Kurt with a special gift before Christmas break. Gap filler.

Call by trufflemores. 3x22. Blaine makes a special phone call after Kurt tells him about his NYADA rejection. Gap filler.

Can’t Explain (How the Wind Went and Pulled Me Into Your Hurricane) by ahmarionette. After the kiss in “Original Song,” Kurt gets Blaine to explain some of his swings in behavior since they met. Posted on LJ.

Captivate and Enrapture by trufflemores. 3x08 and 4x09. “Oh my God, it’s the Gerber baby.” In which Blaine sees Kurt lip-syncing during Harmony’s performance, and Kurt finally sings for NYADA.

Convalescence by trufflemores. Quickie reaction fic to 4x07. Sometimes healing comes in unexpected ways. Blam friendship, with heavy Blaine angst.

Coping by trufflemores. 4x01. Kurt has been gone at college for months now. The New Directions’ newest member helps Blaine cope. Kurt/Blaine. Marley-Blaine friendship.

Counting Down the Days by skintightsocks. “It’s okay to be sad, you know,” Rachel says, petting at his hair. “You can pretend I’m Blaine if you want; I know we’re almost the same size.” It’s Kurt’s  first birthday in NYC, and he’s missing Blaine. AnderHummelberry friendship. Posted on LJ.

Enough by flaming_muse. 4x02. Standing there silently as Rachel works, Kurt wonders if he should say anything to her. He’s just not sure there’s anything else to be said. Klaine, HummelBerry friendship.

Epiphany by trufflemores. 4x12. Sam thinks he’s worthless. Blaine shows him otherwise. Sam/Blaine friendship.

Everything Changes by wowbright. The more Kurt thinks about Rachel’s yearbook message, the more he doesn’t know what to make of it. Finn does, though. (Reaction fic to “Goodbye” and "Rachel’s Yearbook Message to Kurt Scene".)

Fearlessly and Forever by missbeizy. 5x01 reaction fic. They hold court on a leather sofa in the common room where Blaine and the Warblers had sung “Teenage Dream” to a wide-eyed and very unsubtle McKinley High spy.

Finish Line by klaineaddict/iconicklaine. 4x01. Burt’s perspective on sending Kurt to New York. Originally posted on LJ; posted to AO3 by my request, for the Glee AO3 Fest. :)

Firsts by tweeney. 4x11. Kurt goes on a date with Adam, but his mind refuses to cooperate and decides to take a trip down memory lane to his first date with Blaine. Adorable and sweet fix-it fic. Posted on LJ.

Five Times Blaine Wanted to Kiss Kurt But Didn’t (and One Time He Did) by tweeney. Some S2 Klaine, missing moments and kisses. Posted on LJ.

Goodnight Sweetheart (Well, It’s Time To Go) by antarcticbird/Alianne82. Kurt and Blaine say goodnight on their third date after becoming a couple. S2.

Happy Days Are Here Again by klemonademouth. It had been eighty-two days since Kurt had been in Ohio. Eighty-two days since he’d touched Blaine. Eighty-two days since he’d held him against his chest and pressed his face into Blaine’s hair, inhaling the scent of sandalwood and pine. Posted on FF.net. Also here on LJ.

Hurry Up Please, It’s Time by lookninjas. This is technically part of lookninjas’ stripper!AU ‘verse, but it is really a reworked version of The Box Scene, and it is fluffy and lovely.

Hurt by foraworldundeserving. A “Never Been Kissed” missing scene. Kurt finally looked up, his eyes glassy, and Blaine had to stifle a gasp at the absolute terror reflected in them. “He snapped,” Kurt whispered. Posted on FF.net.

I Don’t Have to Tell You, But You’re the Only One by aspiringtoeloquence/ mybriefeternity. Takes place during the events of “Rumors” - 2x19. With all that’s going on at McKinley, Kurt misses his boyfriend more than ever. Posted on FF.net.

If This Ain’t Love Then What Is? by aspiringtoeloquence/mybriefeternity. "I mean, what would you do if Blaine proposed to you today?“ Takes place during 3x12 - Kurt’s thoughts. Posted on FF.net.

If You Let It Go by trufflemores. 4x04. “It’s an expression,” Marley explained. “If you love something, you have to let it go. If it comes back, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.” Blaine and Kurt’s phone calls post-break-up.

I Guess We Thought That’s Just What Humans Do by sunandrainfic/rainingaces. Missng scene from “I Do,” in which Tina and Blaine argue and work out their differences after the Vaopor Rub incident. Posted on LJ.

I Love You More Than I Have Ever Found a Way to Say by lavender-love00. Kurt and Blaine after junior prom, S2. Adorable and sweet, awkward and romantic.

I’m Beginning to See the Light by normal_scaresme. It’s Kurt and Blaine’s two-year anniversary, and even if they aren’t technically together, Kurt still thinks they should celebrate. S4. Posted on LJ.

In Want of Magic by trufflemores. This story is how I found Truffles, and it is a truly amazing piece of writing. 3x01 - 4x01. “I just … I want my senior year to be magic.” Kurt knew that there would be challenges to overcome his senior year. Little did he know just how tumultuous it would be. Kurt/Blaine. Blaine as a senior. Minor canonical alterations, but otherwise canon compliant. Posted on FF.net.

Initiation by WickedForGood13. The aftermath of Blaine’s first slushie facial.

I Thought You’d Keep Me Warm by water_nix/the-water-nixie. 4x04 fix-it fic featuring Sebastian. Sometimes the right push comes from the most unlikely of places. Posted on LJ.

It’s All Fiction by happyinchintz72. Follow on from 2x15 and their ‘non-conversation’. Kurt is frightened and doesn’t ever see how that will change… ONE-SHOT. Angsty fluff. Posted on FF.net. Also here on LJ.

It’s Not Unusual by gigi42. 4x21 reaction fic in Kurt’s POV. Kurt’s in survival mode, but the idea of Blaine is in everything he does.

It’s Time by trufflemores. 4x01. Blaine, after Kurt has left for New York.

It’s You They’re All Waiting For by missgoalie75. 4x02. Blaine tries to get used to the eccentricities of the new New Directions. Wonderful Blainetana and Brittaine friendship. Posted on LJ.

Journey’s End by the-cimmerians. 4x04 fix-it fic. After the break-up, Blaine flees Lima, and Kurt finds himself enlisted by the Andersons to help find their son. Kurt is as surprised as anyone that he agrees to go looking. Posted on Tumblr.

Kiss by foraworldundeserving. The now-famous, 234-chapter prompt fic that is equal parts fun, fluff, angst, and gorgeousness. While the kiss in “Original Song” was oh-so-beautiful, there’s millions of ways those two boys could have shared their first kiss. Posted on FF.net.

Kiss & Tell by impromptucoffee/engorgioblaine. Kurt and Blaine’s progression through the four bases. Originally a GKM fill. Awkward, sweet, gorgeous emotion and description. Posted on LJ.

Kiss Me Slowly by skitzzy. "He wasn’t even paying attention to the sky anymore; the only thing he wanted to see was the beautiful boy in front of him that no sunset in the world could ever compete against.” Posted on FF.net.

Last Night by Icicle Raindream. “The First Time” missing scene. Rachel and Blaine share a secret with one another backstage. Posted on FF.net.

Letting Go by trufflemores. 4x08. Kurt finally calls Blaine intending to end his relationship with him permanently. It doesn’t go as planned. Canon-compliant.

Locked Out of Heaven by trufflemores. 4x11. In which Blaine can’t have Kurt, and so he finds love wherever he can. One-sided Blaine/Sam, with mentions of Kurt/Blaine.

Memory by trufflemores. 4x10. “Who’s Blaine?” Kurt/Blaine. Sebastian/Blaine. A take off from “Glee, Actually,” in which we see what has become of the Blaine who never knew Kurt.

May Your Days Be Merry by manywingedescape/wingedescapes. “Glee, Actually.” Kurt and Blaine have a discussion about love and life after Burt falls asleep on Christmas night. 4x10. Posted on FF.net. Also here on LJ.

Need by trufflemores. 3x07. “I have to find Blaine.”

Never A Good War, Never a Bad Peace by foraworldundeserving. Finn and Blaine in S3. Nobody’s perfect. So under that logic, it was entirely unfair to watch certain people just float through life without so much as stumbling, and Finn wasn’t going to stand for it any longer. Posted on FF.net.

New Meanings by flaming_muse. 4x01. It’s with a little hesitation that Blaine pushes through the doors of the Lima Bean and breathes in the familiar scents of coffee and baked goods.

Oh, Whistle and Come to Us by purplehairedwonder. 4x08. Whistles had come to mean something both haunting and seductive to Blaine by the time the Warblers performed “Whistle” at Sectionals. This amazing story was written based on a meta post I wrote for fyeahgleemeta, and I am so flattered and awed by it.

One Fine Day and Catch the Wind by arainymonday. They had talked about their dads enough for Kurt to know three things: One, Mr. Anderson desperately wanted a straight son. Two, Blaine desperately wanted an accepting father. Three, Kurt had everything Blaine wanted. And they had talked about their families enough for Kurt to know three more things: One, the Andersons do not get along. Two, the Andersons are not happy. Three, Blaine does not feel loved by them. But Kurt had no idea it was this bad. Posted on FF. net. Also One Fine Day on LJ and Catch the Wind on LJ.

One More Night by trufflemores. 4x11. Once he starts thinking about Sam that way, he can’t stop. In which Blaine projects, Sam reflects, and lines dissolve. Explores Blam, but remains firmly Klaine. Kurt features fairly prominently. One-sided Sam/Blaine, Kurt/Blaine.

One Thing Kurt Got Right by abbypotter327. 3x22. Kurt takes his NYADA rejection hard, but he has Blaine to hold him together. Posted on FF.net.

Out of Control by trufflemores. 4x12. Sam’s on a downward spiral with the ‘Men of McKinley’ calendar. Blaine intervenes. Unbeknownst to him, he, too, is on a downward spiral that leads up to “Diva.” Blaine/Sam friendship. Posted on FF.net.

Pamphlets by foraworldundeserving. 2x15, leading up to 3x05. Because as much as he wanted to, no matter how easy it was to stay naive and pretend that relationships never went beyond the touch of fingertips, Kurt had to face up to the facts and the truth. He couldn’t stay a baby penguin any longer. Posted on FF.net.

Perhaps by aspiringtoeloquence/mybriefeternity. 3x03. The aftermath of Blaine being cast as Tony in West Side Story - Blaine and Kurt aren’t exactly experts at this whole healthy relationship thing yet, but they try, and that’s half the battle. Posted on FF.net.

Pink Sticky Notes and Portable Hearts by hopewithfeathers. Post-“Dance With Somebody,” 3x17. Kurt and Blaine couldn’t talk out and fix all their sadness and insecurities in one conversation, so Kurt goes to apologize properly. Angst, fluff, and sexy times. Posted on FF.net.

Play It Cool, Boy, Real Cool by aspiringtoeloquence/mybriefeternity. Pre-3x06. McKinley is where Blaine’s heart is… but he’d feel better if he spent more time with some of the members of New Directions. Posted on FF.net.

Please Don’t Come and Go by sunandrainfic/rainingaces. 4x04 fix-it fic. He doesn’t say these things, because how can you say those things to the boy you cheated on? Anything that had happened before is meaningless, now. It’s been blotted off the paper by the huge ink-stain Blaine spilled on the canvas. Posted on LJ.

Promises by bluecloudsupabove/ca_te. 4x01. Blaine sends Kurt off to NYC with love.

Put Up the Tree Before My Spirit Falls Again by water_nix/the-water-nixie. 4x08-4x10. Kurt has secretly hated Christmas since he was eight years old, and now that he’s living away from home he can avoid it with nothing but a little excess guilt. So when he calls to say he isn’t coming home for Christmas this year, Burt decides it’s about time he did something about that. It’s a good thing he’s bringing along a right-hand man. Posted on LJ.

Ready or Not by unwrittenfic/drunkonwriting. Kurt and Blaine come to Santana’s aid in the aftermath of the Finn and Santana situation in “Mash-Off.”

Remind Me To Forget by peanutmeg. Blaine’s moved on from Sadie Hawkins. He’s fine. It was years ago. But it seems that the past isn’t done with Blaine. Canon-compliant through 5x07.

Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall by flaming_muse. January 21, 2013. Blaine watches the inauguration alone in his house, a bowl of microwave popcorn cooling on the coffee table and a glass of soda fizzing gently by his hand.

Shooting Star by trufflemores. 4x18. AU spec. Blaine’s bad morning spirals rapidly downward when a gunshot is fired. Here there be Blangst. No character death. TW: shooting. Features Blam friendship and Klaine romance. Posted on FF.net.

Sometimes It Takes a Storm to Calm a Storm Within by thefatesallow/comewhatmay. Another beautiful 4x18 reaction fic, in which Kurt and Blaine talk after the shooting and are on the road to mending. Background Brittana as well.

Something New by the-cimmerians. Post-4x14. Kurt and Blaine reconnect and being again. Posted on Tumblr.

Swallow My Heart and Flee by fallovermelikestars. Blaine Anderson comes to New York thinking the world is his oyster, overjoyed at the prospect of taking a bite of the Big Apple, moving into an apartment he and Kurt can call home and finally living the Manhattanite life together they’ve always dreamed of. But then Kurt gets an offer that he’s not sure he can refuse, the plans they’ve made are turned on their head and Blaine finds out that having a dream and living it are two very different things. While the first three seasons of Glee are canon here, it goes AU after 4x01.

The Art of Fixing Hearts by bluecloudsupabove/ca_te. 4x04 fix-it fic by the incomparable Cate, immediately following the confrontation in Battery Park. Also here on S&C.

The Key Series, comprised of ‘The First Steps" and “The Next Steps” by Fabrisse. This is probably my absolute favorite 4x04 fix-it fic. Blaine comes back to New York the week after “The Break-Up,” and talking, domesticity, and forgiveness ensue.

The Five New Voicemails of Chandler Kiehl by aspiringtoeloquence/ mybriefeternity. 3x17. Chandler Kiehl’s phone number finds itself in the possession of the members of New Directions. Who have a lot of feelings. Set after “Dance With Somebody.”

The Perspective of Age by flaming_muse. 4x10, “Glee Actually.”  If there’s one thing that Burt does know, besides how to take any car engine apart and put it back together running better than before, it’s his son. Gorgeous fic from Burt’s POV in which he muses about Kurt and Blaine, love, loss, and his relationship with his son.

The Plans That We’ve Made by aspiringtoeloquence/mybriefeternity. Kurt and Blaine are back in Ohio for the holidays, and it feels like the next few weeks could be important in so many ways.

The Sparrow by wowbright. On March 8, 2013, at 3:42 p.m., the same calendar reminder pops up on both of their phone displays: “THERE YOU ARE - ANNIVERSARY in one week.” Kurt and Blaine do their best to cope with being broken up on their second anniversary. So poignant and sweet.

The Worst is Far Behind Us Now by normal_scaresme. Blaine calls Kurt after the events of 4x18. Lovely emotion and wonderful Anderson family moments at the end. Posted on LJ.

This House Doesn’t Burn Down Slowly by sunandrainfic/rainingaces. 4x01. It’s not the kind of “confronting what you’re afraid of” fear that got Neville Longbottom to win points for Gryffindor, or Diane Lane to dive into a lake and admit that she loves John Cusack. It’s the kind of paralyzing, one-wrong-move-and-the-snake-kills-you fear that boxes you in and turns out the lights and whispers in your ear, “Don’t make a sound.” Posted on LJ.

This Is It by impromptucoffee/engorgioblaine. AU for “Goodbye”; originally a GKM fill. Kurt gets into NYADA and Kurt and Blaine celebrate, all by themselves. Posted on LJ.

Till We Come Face to Face by the-multicorn/multicorn. They end up together at the Lima Bean, promises made over the phone at Thanksgiving long left behind. “I know the relationship between us is - complicated,” Kurt says. His hands are folded around the cardboard cup as if in prayer. “But I need to talk to my best friend. Can you do that?” Reunion fic, AU after 4x22. Also here on Tumblr.

To Love You Is To Need You Everywhere by undesirablenumber1/warble_on. 3x11. Blaine needs Kurt; a discovery reflected upon in Kurt’s arms. Blaine’s inner monologues on love and necessity and people who save you. Also posted here on LJ.

Transference by flaming_muse. Kurt and Blaine’s relationship is complicated; other people (and objects) are much more simple. Transference is the phenomenon of unconsciously redirecting feelings about one person or object to another. Set before through soon after 4x17, “Guilty Pleasures.”

Two Years Ago Tomorrow by flaming_muse. The afternoon of the day after Kurt and Blaine’s first kiss. Set within 2x16 (“Original Song”) and written for the second anniversary of Kurt and Blaine’s first kiss. So lovely.

Waiting, Hoping by flaming_muse. 4x21. Blaine’s perspective during “Wonder-ful.” There he is, Blaine’s Kurt. Almost.

When the Lights Go Out, Will You Take Me With You? by narceus. AU spec fic for 3x02 and 3x03. Blaine moves to New York with Kurt, and it takes his parents months to notice he’s gone. Beautiful and heartbreaking. Posted on LJ.

When We Can Say Goodnight and Stay Together by antarcticbird/Alianne82. 3x12. Kurt and Blaine talk about Finn’s marriage proposal to Rachel while doing … other stuff. Absolutely sweet and adorable perfection.

Wherein Blaine is Well on His Way to Becoming a Crazy Cat Lady by water_nix/the-water-nixie. Kurt’s impending move to New York may be upsetting Blaine far more than he is letting on. Cue Kurt and a plan to help soften the blow. Absolutely hilarious fic with spot-on voices for the the boys and the old ND members.

Wrapped in a Bow by livehighnmighty. Adorable Box Scene reaction fic. Posted on LJ.

You Are Not Perfect … To Me by cinnamont. 4x04. Kurt calls the universe’s greatest Dad for comfort and understanding and gets a whole lot more. Or, Burt Hummel giving Kurt a fatherly reality check. Posted on LJ.

You Touch Every Place in My Heart by bluecloudsupabove/ca_te. Alternative S4 Thanksgiving, where Blaine comes to NYC to surprise Kurt, with some loving and insistent help from Rachel.  Cate wrote this for me after talking to me for the first time, during one of the hardest periods of my life, and it is so gorgeous and sweet and perfect that it made me cry. Posted on LJ. Also here on S&C.

Warblers! Klaine fics

A Fine Frenzy and A Fine Frenzy: Outtakes by arainymonday. The New Directions and the Warblers experience new friendships, hookups, and breakups as they perform a musical rendition of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at a Renaissance Faire. Posted on FF.net. Also here on LJ.

Dalton by CPCoulter. Post-“Furt,” Kurt begins an entirely new chapter in his life at Dalton Academy for Boys. Blaine, Wes, David and the boys of Windsor House make his life, for better or worse, far more eventful than he imagined. It’s hard to say enough about this beautifully imagined fic, which is now over 400,000 words and has its own fandom. CP Coulter also has her own extensive Tumblr with updates, Dalton fics by other authors, and lots of additional info, which can be found here. Dalton is also on FF.net, here.

Klaine, As Told by David and Wes by Ultraviolet-Ink. When David and Wes do something, they don’t do it by halves. So when David suggests they document ‘Klaine’ in all of its entirety, it’s not going to be some half-arsed job - they’re pulling out all the stops. This was one of the first Wevid fics I ever read, and I laughed until I cried. Hilarious. Posted on FF.net.

Lantern by Salazarfalcon. The power’s out, and all the Warblers have is a single, flickering light that may or may not be a literary metaphor for one Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. Posted on FF.net.

[hawthornewhisperer]

Because I like theorizing about potential ships and you seem like the best person to go to for this, which do you find more intriguing? Bellamy/Echo or Bellamy/Luna? Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing B&E interact/develop more as the season goes on. But then, I'm also curious about the potential between *peacefulLuna* and B struggling with trusting Grounders - to put it simply lol but I'd love to hear your thoughts on these 2 ships + potential!

You’re right nonny, I AM someone to come to with this because yesss let’s talk about pretty people mushing their faces together.  I’m gonna take this in two parts: what I think is most interesting, and what I think is the direction the show is most likely to go.

For me personally, as firehot as I think Bellamy/Echo could be, I think Bellamy/Luna is more interesting.  For one thing, the show has already done the “a grounder betrays a sky person, that sky person learns to forgive and love them anyway” twice now (cl.exa and memori), so I’d be up for something a little different this time around.  For another thing, Echo is responsible for the death of Gina, something the show didn’t handle very well the first time around (as Gina was clearly created just to be fridged and I thought you were better than that, show) and so I’d rather see the show handle that head on rather than just be like “idk, it’s war” because that’s lazy.  I also think “Bellamy learns to forgive Echo despite her being responsible for one of his major traumas” feels unnecessarily harsh on Bellamy, because everyone else on this show gets to make horrible mistakes and move on with lessons learned, but for some reason Bellamy has to pay for his mistakes first.  And that sort of storyline with Echo would feel like more of the same and again, I want something different.

Bellamy/Luna, however, presents far more intriguing options to me.  Luna has deliberately chosen non-violence despite the world she lives in, and I see Bellamy struggling with following that same path this season.  He wants to “deserve to survive” as it were, and I think exploring a relationship with Luna would give him the opportunity to figure out how to do that without it seeming like punishment/self-flagellation.  It would get across the same narrative of “Bellamy learns to trust grounders” that we’d get with Bellamy/Echo, but without the grossness of the show getting a boner for punishing Bellamy and not knowing what to do about Gina.  Nadia is also incredibly pretty, and I for one am a slut for “pretty people making out” and thus it checks that box for me too.

However, for almost the exact same reasons as I listed above, I do think the show is more likely to go with Bellamy/Echo.  I’m not entirely convinced that all the parallels we see are actually parallels so much as lazy writing, but “sky person forgives and loves a grounder despite betrayal” is definitely a story beat they seem to enjoy.  They’ve also clearly set up Bellamy and Echo as foils for one another, and their story is definitely being portrayed as “unfinished” for now, because “Do you think we’ll ever be able to trust each other/I doubt it” is what we call Very Unsubtle Foreshadowing, my friends.  In contrast, Bellamy barely seemed to interact with Luna in 314. In fact, I’m not sure they even had a conversation that didn’t include other people.  That sort of complete narrative indifference to a character dynamic indicates to me that it’s not a relationship they’re really interested in exploring (and before anyone mentions the set visit video from Seat42F, I took Bob’s answer about Luna to be more of a “uh, I didn’t plan on answering a question about her because we have almost no scenes together so I’m just gonna say something vague and non-committal” dodge than anything else.)

All of that being said, however: I’d still be surprised if Bellamy/Echo went explicitly romantic.  I would not rule out (and definitely wouldn’t be opposed to seeing) a scenario where Bellamy hits rock bottom and like, has grief/hatesex with Echo as a way of attempting to process the absolute mountain of feelings he’s dealing with right now, but the farthest I see his Echo feelings going this season is “downgraded from Hate Always to Grudgingly Trust.”  If we take 401 as the place setting episode for s4, wherein they lay out where each character is emotionally at the start of the season and what each character is going to have to overcome, here’s what we have for Bellamy:

Current Emotional State:

Concerned About Octavia

Concerned About Clarke

Does Not Trust Echo Even The Slightest Bit

Worried He Doesn’t Deserve To Survive

What He Needs To Achieve This Season:

Learn To Let Octavia Make Her Own Mistakes

Learn to Believe He Is A Good Person

Learn To Trust Echo/Not Hold a Grudge

Clarke????

If you notice, everything but Clarke from the “current emotional state” list was addressed explicitly (and verbally) by 401.  Clarke called out his worry about Octavia, Kane called out his worry about his soul, and Echo called out his distrust of her.  Given the clusterfuck of s3 and ships, I’m not at all surprised that they left Concerned About Clarke as the only element uncommented upon, because if a character calls that out then the Build Up To Canon Bellarke has officially begun.  And narratively, Le.xa died for the second time like, two hours ago, so I get why they felt it was too soon.  (Because it was!)  But the fact remains that the show repeatedly and bluntly emphasized “Bellamy is very worried about Clarke, even more so than he is worried about his sister, the one person he has consistently been shown to love above all others” throughout 401.  I highly suspect the show is laying the ground work for something involving Bellarke and they just didn’t want to get accused of erasing L.exa right out of the gates.  (And again: good.  Let Clarke grieve one love interest for a bit instead of immediately introducing a new one.  I disliked it in s2 and I’d dislike it now).  So I suspect that if Becho is introduced at all, it’s going to be introduced as a complicating factor on the way to canon Bellarke rather than True And Everlasting Love.

Okay, one last thing I want to say about speculation before I wrap this up: I have absolutely no idea if any of the above is true.  I could be totally wrong, because I don’t actually write the damn show.  So if you read this and got upset that I think Becho might happen in some form, take heart in the fact that I am not an actual authority on the s4 plot and therefore this spec carries absolutely zero weight in real terms.

But the same also goes for my “I think they are building to bellarke” theory as well.  I could be totally wrong.  As my dear friend once said about show speculation: it doesn’t count if you promise it to yourself.  I can look at the clues and say “I think this is what is going to happen,” but that’s all it means, okay? 

[londontheatre]

The Quentin Dentin Show, TBT – Cast (courtesy of Lidia Crisafulli)

Science fiction and musical theatre, musical theatre and science fiction. If that’s already turned you off The Quentin Dentin Show, so be it. A show either to be liked or loathed, appreciated or dismissed, hilarious or distinctly unfunny, shallow and pedantic or deep and thought-provoking.

When Quentin Dentin (a fresh-faced Luke Lane) calls for an interval by threatening other characters with words to the effect of, “We’ll see how you enjoy the second half,” it’s a most unsubtle hint that Act Two is going to be substantially darker than the relatively celebratory Act One.

The mischievousness in the first half, which to some extent carries on after the interval, means that quite how dark events become, particularly in the last half hour or so of the show, is surprising, leaving this reviewer with a bittersweet taste in the proverbial mouth. In some ways, there’s nothing in this production that hasn’t been seen in some form before in science fiction – robots, artificial intelligence and surreal surroundings, that sort of thing. The beauty in this musical lies in how those elements are used to create a remarkably plausible world in which computers and technology have so much inescapable sway over people’s lives. For Keith (Max Panks) and Nat (Shauna Riley), this even means technological intervention to sort out their apparent relationship problems.

There are 17 musical numbers, though none of them are particularly memorable. A touch of The Book of Mormon musical comes with The Voice (Freddie Fullerton) disseminating instructions and destinations of next assignments to loyal followers of ‘The Programme’, including Dentin. But signing up to The Programme involves signing off a contract – the terms of which are a futuristic variation of the Faustian bargain (that is, making a pact with the Devil). I only realised this myself late on in proceedings, and it took a scene, arguably ironically, in which people’s souls were being extracted by a ‘brain machine’, for me to see the light.

The upbeat nature of many of the songs emphasised the surface level glee and happiness as well as magnifying the underlying serious issues the musical raises. The choreography (Caldonia Walton) is performed with gusto, adding much sparkle to an upbeat score (Henry Carpenter). A warm welcome – and for theatre regulars, a reassuring one – is supplied in a series of announcements given in a soothing voice as the audience file in, above and beyond the standard ‘no mobile phones please’. A request to not kick the seat in front should, frankly, be more widespread. I couldn’t count the number of times when I have felt unsure I whether I was in a theatre or on a train.

Although veering repeatedly towards the absurd, there can be something genuinely therapeutic about, for instance, being in space or swimming in the sea, scenarios in which Dentin puts Keith and Nat through in a determined attempt to help them achieve some sort of utopian existence (this is all as dramaturgically ridiculous as it sounds). But, as Dentin points out, there’s no benefit to be gained unless Keith and Nat really want it. It’s a bit like doing physiotherapy but with no desire to increase or maintain mobility.

Panks’ Keith and Riley’s Nat are bemused by proceedings, as is the audience, who can only empathise with them as the eccentricities keep ratcheting up. Flanked by Friend 1 (Freya Tilly) and Friend 2 (Lottie-Daisy Francis), Dentin is like one of those presenters on a shopping channel, ever beaming, and doing his best to deal with unforeseen circumstances as they arise. In all the fun and frolicking, there are some grave and somewhat alarming questions about how far anyone should be prepared to go just to realise a desire to be happy and content. It’s all done in such an unconventional way. I’m not sure about this musical achieving cult status, but I would recommend it as a case study into how to get audiences engaged in some (technically) possible future scenarios involving robots, in the form of an escapist musical comedy. A bizarre but boisterous production.

Review by Chris Omaweng

Following a highly successful run at Above The Arts, the cult hit rock musical, The Quentin Dentin Show is back. This is The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the new Millennium.

Join the charismatic Quentin Dentin on his mission to make humanity happy. In order to demonstrate his musical therapies on his domestically unsatisfied test subjects Nat and Keith, Quentin Dentin finds his way into their world through the household radio – now a teleport for his sensational signing. Are you ready for him? If not, prepare for an appointment with the Brain Machine…

The Quentin Dentin Show has developed a cult following on its journey from London to the Edinburgh Fringe and back, on a trajectory from humble beginnings to a fully blown Off West End rock musical. With a brilliant original soundtrack, live rock band and dazzling choreography, The Quentin Dentin Show is guaranteed to make you happy or kill you trying.

The Quentin Dentin Show Performance Dates Monday 19th June – Saturday 29th July Running time 1hr 45mins, including a 15 minute interval Producer Hannah Elsy Productions Music and Lyrics Henry Carpenter Book Henry Carpenter & Tom Crowley Director Adam Lenson Choreographer & Associate Director Caldonia Walton Lighting Design & Production Management Lars Davidson Sound Designer & Engineer Iain Harvey Stage Manager Anastasia Booth Associate Producer Soha Khan for Curious Flamingo Productions The Quentin Dentin Show is supported by The Rich Mix Cultural Foundation. Keys & Musical Director Henry Carpenter Guitar Mickey Howard Drums Archie Wolfman Location Tristan Bates Theatre, 1a Tower Street, London WC2H 9NP http://ift.tt/1gE6fmS

http://ift.tt/2tF8pwJ LondonTheatre1.com