#Look up the definition of cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation and get back to me.

[telekitnetic-art]

Have you seen the formline art in splatoon? It's present in a variety of salmon run decals and on some of the locker graffiti. Idk if the Devs just googled "salmon art" and got indigenous art and decided to copy it or what. Not sure how I feel about it personally.

Long post incoming, gonna put a break here. Also sorry for the late response, I wanted to take a couple days to formalize my thoughts together before responding fully.

I have, I remember noticing in 2018-2019 (when i first started playing splatoon 2) how much one of the decals/graffiti located on the ruins of ark polaris back in 2 sort of resembled a formline bear and salmon. (near the logo in this screenshot, I couldn't find a clear picture online)

Back in 2019, it was pretty easy to think of it as coincidence or a stretch for a comparison. But with splatoon 3's salmon run decals, the resemblance is far easier to see, specifically with the TS-ORBRS graffiti and the TS-SCHL graffiti.

(also this was the best image size I could find for the graffiti images, sorry)

A couple of the banners have the designs on them as well:

The website Sealaska Heritage has info such as textbooks and an online doc about formline art (specifically geared towards Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian nations' style) with lots of info about formline art, and the Seattle Art Museum website has an info sheet (with credits listed as being from the Sealaska Heritage site as well) breaking down some of the basic shapes of formline art.

with this chart, you can definitely begin to notice the similarities between the Salmon Run graffiti and formline art. the ovoids, crescents, and u-shapes appear noticeably in some of the graffiti such as ORBRS and SCHL.

For perspective, here are some formline pieces featuring salmon or fish from various Indigenous artists from various nations.

"sk’ug sdang" (Two Dog Salmon) by Robert Davidson (Haida)

"metal medallion", by Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl (Tlingit Athabascan)

"Salmon People" by Alano Edzerza (Tahltan)

"Jumping Chum" by Stephanie Anderson (Wet'suwet'en)

"Salmon" by Art Thompson (Nuu-chah-nulth)

And that's literally just the surface of dozens of Indigenous artists from the PNW.

With these pieces, you can begin to see the resemblance that the graffiti designs have. A lot of the heads follow the pattern of utilizing ovoids for both the head and eyes, and u-shapes for the bodies and crescents to fill in specific areas are also common. For example, TS-SCHL has a small school of fish where the bodies are entire ovoids.

However, there are a couple flaws in the graffiti designs too. With a few of the designs, you can see they utilize the u-shape (see the formline shape breakdown from Sealaska again) in designs like TS-WHP and TS-SMFR. I can't speak for every Indigenous formline artist ever, but from how I've been taught to design formline art from my family, the u-shape should connect to the rest of the form instead of free-floating. I drew a quick example here:

you can see similar mistakes with a different kind of u-shape with TS-RLPL and TS-C0HK.

Another very specific mistake that takes a bit of squinting to make out is that ovoids are sort of top-heavy, for lack of a term I can't think of right now. The line or the area should be thicker on the top then the bottom. This mistake is frequent in the graffiti designs utilizing ovoid or ovoid adjacent face or body shapes, like TS-ORBRS, TS-C0HK or TS-SCHL.

Full disclaimer, I am not an expert at formline art. I've been practicing it under the tutelage of my aunt and father for about 3 or so years now, and there are definitely cultural variations that come into play as well. My culture's formline art style can look completely different from someone who is Haida or otherwise. This critique of the graffiti designs is based off my knowledge and skill at formline art, as well as critique and feedback that I've gotten from family. Formline art isn't just something you look at and replicate, there is a specific process of utilizing the shapes and negative space that you need to account for too. Some shapes have their own rules for how they're used as well.

Despite the beginner mistakes, the clear resemblances are pretty definitive proof that a good section of the sticker/graffiti designs for the salmonids are meant to be, or at the very least based off of or inspired by, formline art.

Splatoon's lore has a lot of elements of taking inspiration from real life culture (which is sort of one of the main elements of the story, the squids and octos are basing their society off long dead humans). Hell, Shiver and Frye are two prime examples of Splatoon working in real world culture into their setting and characters.

With that in mind, using an art style that's exclusive to an ethnicity of people as inspiration or baseline reference for the game mode that's all about taking natural resources from a species that in-game dialogue tends to treat as dangerous and lesser-minded is... not a good choice. Especially an ethnicity that has historically been ravaged and attacked by settlers for natural resources.

Now, technically if you do digging into lore for salmon run, you can find out that the salmonid are not as simple-minded as the dialogue in-game (I am staring directly at the deep cut big run announcement dialogue we've gotten so far -_-) makes them out to be. The salmonids do trades and commerce with the octarians for equipment and gear. That's why they have such technically high tech gear, like the scrappers with their shields that actually resemble octarian shields and the flyfish with their missiles and flying aircraft. That's also why power eggs show up in the story mode; they're from the salmonids' trades with the octarians.

So the salmonid could technically be as just as smart as the inklings, which is why the dialogue and some of the portrayals of the salmonid are confusing and contradictory (shiver's dialogue from the first big run, that one promo picture of an inkling walking a smallfry on a leash????). I think a good bit of the fanbase sort of thinks of the little buddy we get during the game as a pet, and I'm sure that much more of the fanbase/playerbase doesn't really care about the lore whatsoever. Salmonids sort of have a similar vibe to me as hilichurls from Genshin Impact, where the lore tells you that they're smarter than people assume while NPCs talk of them as less intelligent monsters. And you're also caught in this paradox where killing/fighting them feels morally wrong but the gameplay loop has you continuously doing that while also telling you on the downlow that you should sort of feel bad about it.

Rassicas did a really good video on translating salmonid lore from various interviews, which is where I learned a lot about the salmonid lore that doesn't really get explained/brought up in the game.

The usage of formline art in Splatoon has me sort of mixed on my opinion, because besides using an Indigenous art style for an enemy species that are considered lesser in intelligence by the NPCs, Indigenous art and culture as a whole has suffered a lot under colonialism. I don't know how much awareness whoever is reading this has about Indigenous history and colonialism, but Indigenous culture as a whole was banned in North America by the respective governments from being practiced by the respective cultural groups. Things such as ceremonies, regalia, and even practicing formline art were banned from being used by Indigenous people. Non-Indigenous people however were free to use it, which is why a lot of bastardized versions of Indigenous regalia and culture exists. You can see it in non-indigenous spiritual practices utilizing Indigenous practices and terminology like spirit animals and dreamcatchers, and sports teams utilizing Indigenous culture in its labelling and mascots. That is where cultural appropriation comes into play. And before I get anybody commenting about this, the salmonid formlines don't count as "cultural appreciation" because as far as the info available is concerned, there wasn't any Indigenous people that were consulted for the designs. And even if there were, I again have mixed feelings about Splatoon utilizing an Indigenous art style as a design piece for an enemy character in the franchise.

On another note, this isn't the first time Indigenous cultural appropriation has popped up in the Splatoon franchise. There was actually a headgear that was unreleased in the first Splatoon game called "Warrior Headdress", and you can guess what it looked like.

Yeah. That was all levels of yikes and I'm thankful as hell that it didn't make it into the game (technically it's not in the game as a wearable item, but you can spot it at the very back of the headgear shop ingame)

So Splatoon has utilized Indigenous culture as inspiration beforehand with the games, so it's not much of a stretch anymore to think that the salmon run graffiti designs were based off formline art or was an attempt at formline art.

I'm not really sold on the idea that the salmonid are meant to be representative of Indigenous people though, nor do I believe that utilizing formline art for the salmonid was a malicious decision. But it was a slightly ignorant decision at best, because again using Indigenous specific art for a species of enemies that gets fought for their natural resources and is referred to by some of the NPCs as basically being lesser-minded animals is really not a good decision.

This whole thread is not meant as a guilt trip for anyone who likes the salmonid lore, has bought any of the salmonid graffiti stickers, or enjoys salmon run, nor is it an accusation of the devs for maliciously misusing Indigenous culture. I actually really enjoy salmon run for it's PSP and concept, but this design aspect gives me mixed feelings as an Indigenous person. And to be honest it's hard to label intentions or the thought process because there isn't any info available on the development of salmon run and those graffiti designs specifically. So it's hard to know if the devs employed an Indigenous artist for feedback or if they indeed just looked at some formline art of salmon and tried to replicate it or used it as inspiration. I'm inclined to believe the latter judging by the beginner formline mistakes seen in some of the designs. There is an art book coming out soon for Splatoon 3, so maybe that will give more info.

To wrap this all up, I don't think there is really anything to be done about the designs. The game has been out for a while and I don't know if the game would change the designs at this point. I also don't think this should stop people from buying the sticker designs in game or playing salmon run. However, it is important to learn about the context of these designs so that you know why they exist and why they can be harmful, and so devs and creators can avoid making the same mistake in the future, and so Indigenous issues with cultural appropriation can be made more aware in the public space and not be ridiculed by non-Indigenous people. And again, I am just one Indigenous person so there may be other opinions from other Indigenous people on the graffiti designs and how they should be handled or viewed.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and have a good day!! Be sure to check out some actual Formline art made by Indigenous people, like the ones I listed near the top of the post!

[takeshitakyuuto]

poc queer novels?????? please???

yes!! thank you for asking!!! i mostly read YA novels so thats what’ll mostly be represented here ♥ also i might not get all of the rep and content warnings exactly right sorry. also this is (obvs) not an exhaustive list and if youre looking for something more specific (like plot points or specific rep) feel free to ask!

Black rep:

• You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson - bi - a girl goes out for prom queen in order to win the scholarship money that goes with it and ends up falling for one of the other contestants. just a book full of joy that will have you smiling the whole time (cw homophobia, family illness)

• Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender - trans, gay - a trans boy gets outed and deadnamed at his school so he begins catfishing who he thinks is the culprit to get back at him. this is a really tough one emotionally but a great read regardless with a great romance (cw transphobia)

• Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett - bi, gay, hiv+ - a girl starts falling for a boy until she’s blackmailed by someone who threatens to tell the whole school her hiv+ status unless she stops hanging around her crush. musicals, cute romance, predictable but worth it for the fun that is this book

• All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson - gay - a memoir manifesto about the author’s life growing up as a Black queer person. although it’s not covered in the book, the author later came out as nonbinary (cw homophobia, transphobia, incest)

• The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus - lesbian - when a girl from Trinidad gets caught by her mother with another girl, she’s shipped off to America to live with her father where she meets another girl struggling with a terminal illness. this one also deals a lot with the prison industrial complex (cw homophobia, racism)

• Anger Is A Gift by Mark Oshiro - gay, trans, lesbain - a boy gets caught up in protests after a riot breaks out at his school. another book with lots of great casual queer rep but also a hard read, especially in times like this (cw racism, transphobia, major character death, violence)

Latinx rep:

• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - trans, gay - own voices trans rep about a trans boy who’s desperate to prove to his family that he’s a true brujo and ends up summoning the wrong ghost. hijinks ensue. this one is so cute please read it also i can’t see takis at the store without thinking of this book (cw transphobia, parental abuse)

• More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - gay - i’m not sure how to summarize this without giving anything away but it’s soft scifi set in NYC with unrequited love. not a happy ending but one of the best plot twists ive read (cw homophobia)

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz - gay - set in the 80s, two boys living in El Paso, Texas meet one summer and the book follows them as their friendship grows. slow and character driven, also my all time favorite book. basically a ya classic at this point (cw homophobia, transphobia, on page violence)

• Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - bi, gay, trans - first son of the united states and a prince of wales fall in love. the 2020 everyone wished for. this isn’t won voices for the latinx rep and i’ve heard some own voices reviewers say that it’s not the greatest rep unfortunately. great casual queer rep and really funny (cw homophobia)

Middle Eastern rep:

• Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian - gay - set in 1989, it follows a friend group making their way through the aids crisis in NYC. lots of gay culture including diva worship and Madonna. just as gay 80s as you’d expect and wonderful for it (cw homophobia, illness)

• Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram - gay - although not explicitly gay until the second book, the main character is certainly gay coded. it follows him as he visits Iran for the first time to meet his grandfather before he passes and his struggles relating to his Persian heritage. this book is definitely worth sticking around for the queer rep in the second book and this first one is amazing regardless (cw racism, illness) 

East Asian rep:

• I’ll Be The One by Lyla Lee - bi, lesbian - a girl tries out for a kpop competition despite people telling her she’ll never win due to her weight and falls for a competitor. this one is so damn cute ;-; also i know close to nothing about kpop so not knowing the industry doesn’t take away from the book at all imo (cw fatphobia, homophobia)

• Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan - lesbian - a fantasy novel that follows a group of girls kidnapped by the demon king to be his human consorts. a forbidden romance blossoms (cw rape, violence)

South Asian rep:

• The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar - lesbian - an enemies to lovers romance about competing henna stands in a class business competition, this also talks about cultural appropriation vs appreciation (cw racism, homophobia)

Indigenous rep:

• Ziggy, Stardust & Me by James Brandon - gay, two spirit - I tried not to include books where the main character isn’t the representation here but unfortunately I don’t have many queer indigenous books. if you know any please recommend them! this one follows a boy in the 70s going through conversion therapy when he falls in love with a boy he’s doing a school project with. the love interest is indigenous and two spirit (cw homophobia, anti-indigenous racism, parental abuse)

[qqueenofhades]

I really don’t want to start a discourse™, but I want you to know that I really appreciate how you write joe and Nicky in deo volente. So many of the fics I’ve read have placed yusef in the role of more sexually experienced and less devoted to god, while Nicky is depicted as an inexperienced and virginal priest/knight/monk and so forth and so on. Your narrative of joe out there rescuing people and being faithful, while Nicky looks back on his life of gambling and pleasures of the flesh ...(1/?)

Not to say that there’s anything wrong with either, obviously. I love guilty priest Nicky and repressed Nicky and p much every Nicky. But in the vast array of fics out there, it’s rare to see the opposite. Not that you’re working in a binary morally good/religious vs. not way. Your writing in the fic is really subtle and and your characterizations reveal a lot of depth. I just think it’s cool to see Nicky, average second son of a duke, drinking and gambling and feeling terribly guilty (2/?)

Guilty about the crusades and the fucking horror of crusade 1 without being excessively devout. Just an average dude. Not some paragon of virtue (btw, I’m on chapter 2 of the fic, so I don’t know how much your characterization changes moving forward. You have a lovely ability to combine your incredible knowledge of history, your beautiful writing, and these intimate details of the characters that make them fit— fit the canon and fit the history. (3/? Shit I’m sorry this had gotten way too long)

I enjoy the way you’ve really inserted us into the quotidian aspect of history. Aaaaaanyway— the discourse that I was afraid of: I think that a lot of fans of the movie that are generating fan content (tysfm to all of you beauties, btw 🙏🙏♥️) are westerners (which is a whole nother kettle of fish) and that carries a sort of ignorance about the Muslim world in the Middle Ages and this desire to simplify Europe as “Christian” “fighters for faith” etc. (4/? Fuuuuck. One(??) more)

And when we do that, we end up as characterizing the brown people as “not that”. The thing I love about this fandom is that people are definitely down on the crusades. I feel like all the fic I’ve read has been particularly negative about those wars, but the thing I love about your fic is that you don’t just say war is bad because people died and it was despicable and this pious white dude says so and this one brown person agrees. (5/6, I see the end in sight I swear it)

Instead you give us a larger cast of Muslims and Arabs and really flesh them out and give them opinions and different interpretations of faith, and I really appreciate that. The crusades were terrible, and we know this because these regular dudes who struggle with their different faiths and lives say so. And I just. I think that’s really great. Also, I fucking love yusef’s mom. I feel like more people would be accepting of the gift in this fashion and I think she’s lovely and (god damn it 6/7)

Aaaaaaaand. The bit where yusef returns and she’s already gone breaks my fucking heart. Also the moment where he’s like “I’m not sure about Abraham’s god, but my mothers god is worth my faith”?? Just really fucking great. So. Excellent fic. Excellent characters. Excellent not-being-accidentally-biased-towards-white-Christians. That is what I came here to say. Thank you so much for your amazing stories. I love them and I love history. Sorry about the rambling. idek how I wrote so much. (7/7)

Epilogue: tl;dr: you’re great.

Oh man! What a huge and thoughtful comment (which will in turn provoke a long-ass response from me, so…) I absolutely agree that no matter what fandom, I don’t do Discourse TM; I just sit in my bubble and stay in my lane and do my own thing and create content I enjoy. And I don’t even think this is that so much as just… general commentary on character and background? So obviously all of this should be read as my own personal experience and choices in writing DVLA, and that alone. I really appreciate you for saying that you love a wide range of fan creators/fanworks and you’re not placing one over another, you understand that fans have diverse ranges of backgrounds/experience with history and other cultures when they create content, and that’s not the same for everyone. So I just think that’s a great and respectful way to start things off.

First, as a professional historian who has written a literal PhD thesis on the crusades, I absolutely understand that many people (and regular fans) will not have the same privilege/education/perspective that I do, and that’s fine! They should not be expected to get multiple advanced degrees to enjoy a Netflix movie! But since I DO have that background, and since I’ve been working on the intellectual genealogy of the crusades (and the associated Christian/Muslim component, whether racially or religiously) since I was a master’s student, I have a lot of academic training and personal feelings that inform how I write these characters. Aside from my research on all this, my sister lives in an Islamic country and her boyfriend is a Muslim man; I’ve known a lot of Muslims and Middle Easterners; and especially with the current political climate of Islamophobia and the reckoning with racism whether in reality or fandom, I have been thinking about all this a lot, and my impact on such.

Basically: I love Nicky dearly, but I ADORE Joe, and as such, I’m protective of him and certainly very mindful of how I write him. Especially when the obvious default for westerners in general, fandom-related or otherwise, is to write what you are familiar with (i.e. the European Christian white character) and be either less comfortable or less confident or sometimes less thoughtful about his opposing number. I have at times tangentially stumbled across takes on Joe that turn me into the “eeeeeeeh” emoji or Dubious Chrissy Teigen, but I honestly couldn’t tell you anything else about them because I was like, “nope not for me” and went elsewhere rather than do Discourse (which is pretty much a waste of time everywhere and always makes people feel bad). This is why I’m always selective about my fan content, but especially so with this ship, because I have SO much field-specific knowledge that I just have to make what I like and which suits my personal tastes. So that is what I do.

Obviously, there’s a troublesome history with the trope of “sexually liberate brown person seduces virginal white character into a world of Fleshly Decadence,” whether from the medieval correlation of “sodomite” and “Saracen,” or the nineteenth-century Orientalist depictions of the East as a land variously childishly simplistic, societally backward, darkly mysterious and Exotic, or “decadent” (read: code for sexually unlike Western Europe, including the spectrum of queer acts). So when I was writing DVLA, I absolutely did not want to do that and it’s not to my taste, but I’m not going to whip out a red pen on someone else writing a story that broadly follows those parameters (because as I said, I stay in my lane and don’t see it anyway). Joe to me is just such an intensely complex and lovely Muslim character that that’s the only way I feel like I can honestly write him, and I absolutely love that about him. So yeah, any depiction of hypersexualizing him or making him only available for the sexual use and education of the white character(s) is just... mmm, not for me.

For example, I stressed over whether it was appropriate to move his origin from “somewhere in the Maghreb” to Cairo specifically, since Egypt, while it IS in North Africa, is not technically part of the Maghreb. I realize that Marwan Kenzari’s family is Tunisian and that’s probably why they chose it, to honor the actor’s heritage, but on the flip side… “al-Kaysani” is also a specifically Ismai’li Shia name (it’s the name of a branch of it) and the Fatimids (the ruling dynasty in Jerusalem at the time of the First Crusade) were well-known for being the only Ismai’li Shia caliphate. (This is why the Shi’ites still ancestrally dislike Saladin for overthrowing it in 1174, even if Saladin is a huge hero to the rest of the Islamic world.) Plus I really wanted to use medieval Cairo as Joe’s homeland, and it just made more sense for an Ismai’li Shia Fatimid from Cairo (i.e. the actual Muslim denomination and caliphate that controlled Jerusalem) to be defending the Holy City because it was personal for him, rather than a Sunni Zirid from Ifriqiya just kind of turning up there. Especially due to the intense fragmentation and disorganization in the Islamic world at the time of the First Crusade (which was a big part of the reason it succeeded) and since the Zirids were a breakaway group from the Fatimids and therefore not very likely to be militarily allied with them. As with my personal gripes about Nicky being a priest, I decided to make that change because I felt, as a historian, that it made more sense for the character. But I SUPER recognize it as my own choices and tweaks, and obviously I’m not about to complain at anyone for writing what’s in graphic novel/bonus content canon!

That ties, however, into the fact that Nicky has a clearly defined city/region of origin (Genoa, which has a distinct history, culture, and tradition of crusading) and Joe is just said to be from “the Maghreb” which…. is obviously huge. (I.e. anywhere in North Africa west of Egypt all the way to Morocco.) And this isn’t a fandom thing, but from the official creators/writers of the comics and the movie. And I’m over here like: okay, which country? Which city? Which denomination of Islam? You’ve given him a Shia name but then point him to an origin in Sunni Ifriqiya. If he’s from there, why has he gone thousands of miles to Jerusalem in the middle of a dangerous war to help his religious/political rivals defend their territory? Just because he’s nice? Because it was an accident? Why is his motivation or reason for being there any less defined or any less religious (inasmuch as DVLA Nicky’s motive for being on the First Crusade is religious at all, which is not very) than the white character’s? In a sense, the Christians are the ones who have to work a lot harder to justify their presence in the Middle East in the eleventh century at all: the First Crusade was a specifically military and offensive invasion launched at the direct behest of the leader of the Western Roman church (Pope Urban II.) So the idea that they’re “fighting for the faith” or defending it bravely is…

Eeeeh. (Insert Dubious Chrissy Teigen.)

But of course, nobody teaches medieval history to anyone in America (except for Bad Game of Thrones History Tee Em), and they sure as hell don’t teach about the crusades (except for the Religious Violence Bad highlight reel) so people don’t KNOW about these things, and I wish they DID know, and that’s why I’m over here trying to be an academic so I can help them LEARN it, and I get very passionate about it. So once again, I entirely don’t blame people who have acquired this distorted cultural impression of the crusades and don’t want to do a book’s worth of research to write a fic about a Netflix movie. I do hope that they take the initiative to learn more about it because they’re interested and want to know more, since by nature the pairing involves a lot of complex religious, racial, and cultural dynamics that need to be handled thoughtfully, even if you don’t know everything about it. So like, basically all I want is for the Muslim character(s) to be given the same level of respect, attention to detail, background story, family context, and religious diversity as any of the white characters, and Imma do it myself if I have to. Dammit.

(I’m really excited to hear your thoughts on the second half of the fic, especially chapter 3 and chapter 6, but definitely all of it, since I think the characters they’re established as in the early part of the fic do remain true to themselves and both grow and struggle and go through a realistic journey with their faith over their very long lives, and it’s one of my favorite themes about DVLA.)

Anyway, about Nicky. I also made the specific choice to have him be an average guy, the ordinary second son of a nobleman who doesn’t really know what he’s doing with his life and isn’t the mouthpiece of Moral Virtue in the story, since as he himself realizes pretty quick, the crusades and especially the sack/massacre of Jerusalem are actually horrific. I’ve written in various posts about my nitpicking gripes with him being a priest, so he’s not, and as I said, I’m definitely avoiding any scenario where he has to Learn About The World from Joe. That is because I want to make the point that the people on the crusades were people, and they went for a lot of different reasons, not all of which were intense personal religious belief. The crusades were an institution and operated institutionally. Even on the First Crusade, where there were a lot of ordinary people who went because of sincere religious belief, there was the usual bad behavior by soldiers and secular noblemen and people who just went because it was the thing to do. James Brundage has an article about prostitution and miscegenation and other sexual activity on the First Crusade; even at the height of this first and holy expedition, it was happening. So Nicky obviously isn’t going to be the moral exemplar because a) the crusades are horrific, he himself realizes that, and b) it’s just as historically accurate that he wouldn’t be anyway. Since the idea is that medieval crusaders were all just zealots and ergo Not Like Us is dangerous, I didn’t want to do that either. If we think they all went because they were all personally fervent Catholics and thus clearly we couldn’t do the same, then we miss a lot of our own behavior and our parallel (and troubling) decisions, and yeah.

As well, I made a deliberate choice to have Nicky’s kindness (which I LOVE about him, it’s one of my favorite things, god how refreshing to have that be one of the central tenets of a male warrior character) not to be something that was just… always there and he was Meek and Good because a priest or whatever else. Especially as I’ve gotten older and we’ve all been living through these ridiculous hellyears (2020 is the worst, but it’s all been general shit for a while), I’ve thought more and more about how kindness is an active CHOICE and it’s as transgressive as anything else you can do and a whole lot more brave than just cynicism and nihilism and despair. As you’ll see in the second half of the fic, Nicky (and Joe) have been through some truly devastating things and it might be understandable if they gave into despair, but they DON’T. They choose to continue to be good people and to try and to actively BE kind, rather than it being some passive default setting. They struggle with it and it’s raw and painful and they’re not always saints, but they always come down on the side of wanting to keep doing what they’re doing, and I… have feelings about that.

Anyway, this is already SUPER long, so I’ll call it quits for now. But thank you so much for this, because I love these characters and I love the story I created for them in DVLA, since all this is personal to me in a lot of ways, and I’m so glad you picked up on that.

[stina-is-a-punk-rocker]

stephanie perkins: ‘anna and the french kiss’

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Then again, if you’ve read any YA book, ever, it’s fairly obvious what’s going to happen.

I was going to go easy on this book; I really was. It’s really unfair how media aimed at a female demographic is seen as frivolous and vapid, and more often than not bashed and bullied when it comes to reviews. “People actually enjoy this crap?” ask the powers that be. “It’s worthless! Pulp! Dreamy-eyed nonsense only complete nimrods could ever like!”

And I take offense to that. There’s nothing wrong with liking romance or happy endings or stories about cute European boys. I was ecstatic when I stumbled across Anna and the French Kiss upon a chance trip to the bookstore. The cover was… meh (Century Gothic? Really? There were no other fonts?). But I’d heard nothing but praise about the book, and I was prepared to stay up all night and into the wee hours of the morning to finish it.

Admittedly, I was far from impressed upon the first reading. The characters were unlikable, the plot would’ve worked better for less shitty characters, honestly fuck these characters am I supposed to like them, fuck Anna, fuck Étienne, fuck Bridgette, fuck Toph, fuck Dave and Meredith and Amanda and Seany and every other stupid character in this stupid book.

The second time around, I expected to not hate it as much as I did when I first read it. It’s happened- I hated Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda when I first read it, and when I read it again, all that red-hot anger simmered down into an overall dislike. I thought To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was trash at first, and then I read it again, and it got promoted to recyclable waste matter.

I found Anna and the French Kiss horrendous the first time I read it, and then I read it again, and… yeah, it’s still pretty awful.

Le Sommaire:

Anna Oliphant is a seventeen-year-old wannabe film critic who is #NotLikeOtherGirls – so she’s exactly like every other female YA lead. To her credit, she never explicitly says she’s special… everyone around her does.

She has a pretty meh life in Atlanta, Georgia with her mum and little bruv Sean- and then her dad decides to ship her off to France for her final year of high school. I’m not judging Anna for bawling her eyes out on her first day; I’m a huge mummy’s girl myself and I’d probably (definitely) do the same.

Meredith is Anna’s next-door neighbor, who does that thing which only happens in YA where she’s like “Oh, newbie? Let’s be friends!” (Or maybe it does happen irl and I tend to make a bad first impression which is why no one has ever approached me.)

Meredith’s friends are: Rashmi and Josh (who are a couple), and Étienne St. Clair. Guess which one is the love interest.

Étienne is cultured in that white person way where he’s half American, one quarter French and one quarter British. A true international.

But- *gasp*- American-British-French boy has a girlfriend, Ellie.

Anna has an absolutely gorgeous punk rocker (yum) boy with sideburns (yikes) back home named Christopher. Also, Christopher’s nickname is ‘Toph’ instead of ‘Chris’ because he too is #NotLikeOtherGirls. Anna tells us that nothing will happen between her and Étienne.

Anna is wrong.

Meredith has a crush on Étienne. So does the Regina George of the school, Amanda.

Étienne and Anna have some moments ™.

♫ Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but Anna ♫

I tear my hair out in frustration.

Several other white boys vie for Anna’s heart. Anna remains blissfully unaware (♫ that’s what makes you beautiful ♫). Étienne (who is still dating Ellie, mind you) is unreasonably agitated by this.

Étienne’s mum has cancer btw, which excuses all the shitty things he does, because he’s just a poor, misunderstood boy.

Ellie dresses up as a, quote unquote, ‘slutty nurse’ for Hallowe’en, though- so it’s perfectly okay to dislike her (even though, in the first interaction she had with Anna, where Ellie meets Anna and Étienne, after Étienne takes Anna to the movies, Ellie is perfectly sweet).

Anna, however, is NOT a slut. Amanda is, though. And Rashmi’s cold. And Meredith’s desperate. And Emily’s a slut, too. And her friend Bridgette from Atlanta is a traitor. Anna has an intense case of internalized misogyny.

Anna’s friend Bridgette from Atlanta is screwing Toph, and Anna throws a fit.

Étienne and Anna have some more moments ™.

A truly chaotic series of events befall Anna. She somehow winds up dating Dave (one from the harem of white boys who likes her) to spite Étienne, she gets into a fight with Amanda, more drama ensues, there’s a hint for a spinoff, Étienne and her kiss, Meredith sees and feels betrayed… several misunderstandings and more bullshit later, Étienne and Anna wind up together, because true love conquers all.

Mes Réflexions:

(If the French is off, blame Google Translate.)

Usually, it takes me half a page of my notebook to scribble down my thoughts about the book I’m reading. This motherfucker took me almost an entire page.

Granted, a solid 30% of those notes are me throwing insults at Étienne, but still. ‘STOP STOP STOP YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND YOU DICK’ counts, right?

(That was #17 in my notes, by the way.)

For the record, I like Stephanie Perkins’s writing. It’s not as over-the-top and unnecessarily introspective as Jenny Han’s in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and the interactions between Anna and her classmates were natural and not the “How do you do, fellow kids?” style of Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. The pacing is decent- I didn’t feel like it was too rushed; not the insta-love trope most YA romances unfortunately fall prey to.

And yet. AND YET.

Anna: “What’s your problem?” Amanda: “You.”

Same, Amanda, same.

Anna Oliphant is one of my least favorite leads in a book, ever. Étienne’s even shittier. And it’s not like Nick or Amy Dunne from Gone Girl, or any of the main characters from The Secret History, where readers pretty much unanimously hate them. You’re meant to relate to Anna, you’re meant to find Étienne charming and dreamy. I literally had to put the book away and calm myself down several times- especially in the last quarter of the book.

One of my main gripes with Anna is how… dumb she is. I guess Anna’s “Oopsies, silly me, I don’t know French!” is meant to be relatable to the readers. And some parts (like her not knowing how to order food because she can’t speak French) are plausible, but- sis, you didn’t know how to spell oui? And my idea of a cinematic masterpiece is Kung-Fu Panda, but even a dumbass like me knows that France is the film appreciation capital of the world. And yet Anna, a self-professed film freak, doesn’t?

Of course, Anna’s gorgeous, but she has no clue, because of course she doesn’t- even though she has multiple guys falling head over heels for her.

I’m in a short skirt. It’s the first time I’ve worn one here, but my birthday seems like the appropriate occasion. “Woo, Anna!” Rashmi fake-adjusts her glasses. “Why do you hide those things?”

Étienne is staring at my legs. The scales covering them throb under his intense gaze, and the pincers sticking out of my thighs start clicking rapidly in arousal. My hooves shiver in ecstasy.

… sorry, that’s not funny.

Her friends think Anna’s weird for wanting to write film reviews (which is the most contrived thing I’ve ever heard) instead of being the next Margot Robbie or whatever, but of course Étienne doesn’t and he thinks it’s not weird and cool and that Anna is such a special snowflake.

(Man, I sound like Amanda.)

And then we have this spiel by Anna about how she got into film critiquing (?), because we the readers need to know how special and #NotLikeOtherGirls Anna is.

To this, I say, “Piss off, you pretentious fuck.”

Of course, Anna’s a virgin and she’s never gotten drunk before or worn short skirts- she’s not a slut, she shaves below the knees only.

And would YA really be YA without several hearty helpings of internalized misogyny?

First up, we have the bimbo; the Barbie doll archetype whose only goal in life is acquiring the main guy (who is quite obviously uninterested in her), and making life hell for our protagonist. Amanda Whatsername (is she ever given a surname?) has this coveted role in Anna and the French Kiss. She’s blond (because of course she is); the first time we meet her, she’s in a, quote unquote, ‘teeny tank top’, and she also ‘positions herself for maximum cleavage exposure’. She’s always flipping her hair, getting her grubby paws on Étienne, giving Anna the stink-eye, being homophobic and a grade-A bitch.

Meredith goes batshit when Anna and Étienne kiss, and is very pouty and unhappy during prior Anna x Shittiene moments. Honey… he’s just not that into you. Rashmi’s the Ice Queen reincarnate and halfway to bitchdom. Anna doesn’t go as hard on them as she does on literally every other female her age in the book, though.

Rashmi looks at me for the first time, calculating whether or not I might fall in love with her own boyfriend.

Anna, hate to break it to you, but not everyone’s a possessive fucking weirdo.

About Cherrie, her ex-boyfriend Matt’s new girlfriend:

And maybe Cherrie isn’t as bad as I remember. Except she is. She totally is. After only five minutes in her company, I cannot fathom how Bridge stands sitting with her at lunch every day.

Her lifeless laugh is one of her lesser attributes. What does Matt see in her?

Even Bridgette, Anna’s best friend from Atlanta, isn’t immune to Anna’s anti-female propaganda. She’s screwing the guy Anna used to like, and Anna, the hypocrite, throws a huge fit.

For context: Bridgette and Toph are in a band called the Penny Dreadfuls (why is it with YA books and horrible band names? ‘Emoji’ from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was bad enough), and Anna + Matt + Cherrie go to a bowling alley to see them perform. After the performance, Toph announces that he’s sleeping with Bridge, and Anna confronts Bridge… onstage.

“… You’re welcome to move in when I leave again, because that’s what you want, right? My life?”

She shakes with fury. “Go to hell.”

“Take my life. You can have it. Just watch out for the part where my BEST FRIEND SCREWS ME OVER!” I knock over a cymbal stand, and the brass hits the stage with an earsplitting crash that reverberates through the bowling alley. Matt calls my name. Has he been calling it this entire time? He grabs my arm and leads me around the electrical cords and plugs and onto the floor and away, away, away.

Everyone in the bowling alley is staring at me.

I duck my head so my hair covers my face. I’m crying. This would have never happened if I hadn’t given Toph her number. All of those late-night practices and… he said they’ve had sex! What if they’ve had it at my house? Does he come over when she’s watching Seany? Do they go in the bedroom?

I’m going to be sick.

Give me a goddamn break.

Anna, about Ellie:

To my amazement, Ellie breaks into an ear-to-ear smile. Oddly enough, it’s this moment I realize that despite her husky voice and Parisian attire, she’s sort of… plain. But friendly-looking.

That still doesn’t mean I like her.

“Anna! From Atlanta, right? Where’d you guys go?”

She knows who I am? St. Clair describes our evening while I contemplate this strange development. Did he tell her about me? Or was it Meredith? I hope it was him, but even if it was, it’s not like he said anything she found threatening. She doesn’t seem alarmed that I’ve spent the last three hours in the company of her very attractive boyfriend. Alone.

[about Ellie’s Hallowe’en costume] Slutty nurse. I don’t believe it. Tiny white button-up dress, red crosses across the nipples. Cleavage city.

If I didn’t like Ellie before, it’s nothing compared to how I feel now. It doesn’t matter that I can count how many times we’ve met on one hand.

I fantasize about their break-up. How he could hurt her, and she could hurt him, and all of the ways I could hurt her back. I want to grab her Parisian-styled hair and yank it so hard it rips from her skull. I want to sink my claws into her eyeballs and scrape.

It turns out I am not a nice person.

YOU DON’T FUCKING SAY.

Emily Middlestone bends over to pick up a dropped eraser, and Mike Reynard leers at her breasts. Gross. Too bad for him she’s interested in his best friend, Dave. The eraser drop was deliberate, but Dave is oblivious.

One of the juniors, a girl with dark hair and tight jeans, stretches in a move designed to show off her belly button ring to Paul/Pete. Oh, please.

And I’m meant to like this character? I’m supposed to root for her?

I’m not saying every girl in the book should be perfectly sweet and friendly- that’s just not realistic. But when Anna has something judgmental to say about every other young female character… maybe she’s the problem.

In fact, the only girl I recall getting a pass is Isla Whatsername. And why do you think?

Brilliant.

And now we have the amalgamation of almost every fanfic boyfriend trope from 2014, Étienne St. Clair. Brown-eyed Harry Styles. I can’t fucking wait.

Étienne could’ve discovered the cure for cancer, or abolished poverty, or volunteered at animal shelters in his spare time. He could’ve been the most virtuous guy around (fret not; he decidedly isn’t). And I still wouldn’t’ve thought of him as the man of my dreams because HE HAS A BLOODY GIRLFRIEND.

I mean, which girl doesn’t want her boyfriend to say:

“I cheated on her every day. In my mind, I thought of you in ways I shouldn’t have, again and again.”

Fuckin’ smooth, bro.

“No matter what a terrible boyfriend I was, I wouldn’t actually cheat on her. But I thought you’d know.”

Such a gentleman!

“So you can keep dating Ellie, but I can’t even talk to Dave?”

Étienne looks shamed. He stares at his boots. “I’m sorry.”

I don’t even know what to do with his apology.

“I’m sorry,” he says again. And this time, he’s looking at me. Begging me. “And I know it’s not fair to ask you, but I need more time. To sort things out.”

And this gem:

“If you liked me so much, why didn’t you break up with her?”

“I’ve been confused. I’ve been so stupid.”

*me, banging pots and pans together* F U C K Y O U

“Ellie’s not like you, Anna; she’s a slut and a whore even though I’m the one who’s been thinking about another girl inappropriately and I’m the one who gets my knickers in a twist when another man glances in your direction because my masculinity is extremely fragile and I’m a total hypocrite and a dickhead.”

I mean, he didn’t actually say that, but that’s the gist.

WHILE DATING ELLIE: he gets Anna a book of sexual love poems, he calls her attractive (“Any bloke with a working prick would be insane not to like you.”) multiple times, he gets jealous whenever another guy so much as breathes in Anna’s direction and constantly interrupts such interactions, he’s been ditching his friends for his girlfriend but suddenly decides he prefers a new girl over said girlfriend, he thinks bread pudding tastes good- in conclusion, he is a Massive Fucking Prick. Though in hindsight, him and Anna deserve each other. They’re awful.

I had loads more notes taken down (Anna using Dave; “The important thing is this: Dave is available. St. Clair is not.”); the implication that cheating is okay because Ellie is bad or whatever, even though the sudden change in her character seems contrived because she was perfectly okay with Étienne and Anna hanging out before; how my blood boils whenever I read an American book and American girls are like “oOoOh AcCenT!!!1!!1!!”; me reading “DAVE SAYS YER A SLUTBAG” in Hagrid’s voice; the sheer atrocity of the name ‘Étienne St. Clair’ (sounds like a caricature of a French person)… but this ‘review’ is already pushing 3k and I can’t be fucked to expand on any of those points.

Verdict (which is apparently the same in French):

Who needs Christopher when Étienne St. Clair is in the world?

Speak for yourself.

[sailorfailures]

ColourPop is dropping a Sailor Moon collab on Feb 20th and I have some Opinions

It’s the moment Sailor Moon makeup geeks have been waiting for - ColourPop cosmetics, noted for their affordable and colourful official pop culture makeup collaborations, has announced a Sailor Moon collaboration containing an eyeshadow palette, two liquid lipsticks, two lip glosses, two blushes, and two body glitters. Most likely this collab is being timed with the 25th Anniversary of Sailor Moon’s debut in North America to contrast with Japanese cosmetics from brands like Creer Beaute and Shiseido, which were released for the Japanese 25th anniversary.

Source: ColourPopCo on Twitter

After my initial excitement about the long-awaited collaboration died down, I was left with a somewhat disappointing realisation... this entire collab, over a total of nine products, was not about Sailor Moon: The Show... it was about Sailor Moon, the character.

When I imagine a makeup collection for Sailor Moon I immediately picture the rainbow of colours represented across the whole Sailor squad, or at least the OG Sailor Team five. But almost everything in the collab is quite warm, and either pink or neutral/natural. Exceedingly neutral/natural, in fact. One look at the names for all the product colours - “Shining Moon”, “Twilight Flash”, “Bun Head”, “Usagi” - make it clear that the products are intended to reflect Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon only.

The packaging itself is... interesting. I can appreciate that they were trying something new with the eyeshadow and blush cases, as they are all topped with different holographic pictures - not (just) the shiny kind of holo, but the old school kind that flips between two different images, all exclusively featuring Usagi and sometimes Luna. You can see the effect in action in this video review by TrendMood. Good concept but slightly awkward execution. I think they would’ve benefited from some kind of static frame around the images so that it didn’t look like I’d just hot glued a pog to my pencil case. The rest of the packaging features the same old redrawn clipart from every other piece of anniversary merch, so, yawn, though the prismatic elements are nice. The body glitter pots are cute, featuring Usagi’s first transformation brooch to mirror the round shape of the pots, but ColourPop’s “gliterally obsessed” branding seems out of place. I know that’s the name of their glitter gel series but maybe it could’ve been swapped out just this once.

(Screencap from above video by TrendMood)

The lip sticks/glosses are by far the most disappointing. Apart from the cardboard boxes they come in, the only branding visible on the tubes themselves is the series logo and a nondescript crescent moon pattern on the caps. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of subtle packaging. I don’t really want Sailor Moon’s face plastered all over a lipstick either; but I’ve also never been a fan of using random moons/hearts/stars as a stand-in for something more relevant to the show when that imagery is so generic and disconnected from the series. Why not little graphics of the Silver Crystal? If they’d thrown some rabbits, bows, and/or roses into the pattern then the combination would read more as “Sailor Moon” than moons on their own. (That said, splitting them into “Moonlight” for the liquid lips and “Daylight” for the lighter glosses with transformed vs. non-transformed? Brilliant. Genius. The perfect blend of nostalgic and practical.)

(Screencap from above video by TrendMood)

Here’s a photo of the palette taken from Temptalia’s website with everything but the shadows desaturated, so you can read the colours more clearly without being influenced by the packaging:

At first I wasn’t sure what this colour story was trying to tell me. I definitely understand going for a more neutral/“everyday” palette over something more glam, since the characters themselves are generally fresh-faced, but the AMOUNT of neutral shades here seem out of place for such a bright series. Tuxedo Rose and Love (the two pinks in the middle of the bottom row) are so similar for such a limited palette. Twilight Flash (top, second from the left) feels out of place; oddly saturated and just a bit too warm to play nicely with many of the other colours. Mare Serenitatis (the coppery-looking one) stood out as unusual but is actually more of a wine/plum under all the glitter, which is much more appropriate and reminds me of Sailor Moon’s transformation.

The more I looked at this palette, and the more I saw of reviewer's looks using it, the more I slowly realised that this palette wasn’t really evoking the character of Usagi herself, but rather the nostalgic, hazy, pink-washed aesthetic of the entire 90s Sailor Moon animation.

The dreamy not-quite-pastel quality of the 90s anime (half conscious design choice, half convention of the time) has received a lot of modern attention and praise. It makes sense that the palette feels like it’s being viewed through a rose-tinted filter when the entire show felt that way, or is at least remembered that way. It wouldn’t surprise me if ColourPop literally based some swatches on recurring colours picked from screenshots.

That being said... Does that make it a good choice for a makeup collab? Is this what Sailor Moon fans want and will buy? Is it versatile enough to warrant a purchase for non-diehard fans? Is it actually what casual fans, who might buy something like this out of pure nostalgia, are actually nostalgic for? Just because I see what ColourPop was going for, does it automatically translate to the most appropriate choice?

Ultimately, my judgement on that comes down to whether this is ColourPop’s only Sailor Moon collab. If this is them testing the waters to see if they can branch out into releasing products focused on the other girls, like a blue/silver mini palette for Sailor Mercury, a green/pink mini palette for Sailor Jupiter, etc. then I’m all for it. When perceived as a palette that represents the show itself, and not any specific character - not even Usagi, despite what all of the swatch names suggest - it really shines. But that’s not really ColourPop’s MO. Most of their pop culture collections are released in one big shining burst of products and then... nothing. And there are quite a few different products here.

I’d also be remiss not to point out that there are lots of indie Sailor Moon-inspired makeup collections already on the market, which makes sense for an almost-30-year-old series that literally repeats the words “make-up!” nearly every episode. Maybe ColourPop felt like they would be stepping on fandom toes or running the risk of copycat accusations if they strayed too close to any of the 2,348 red Sailor Mars-inspired eyeshadows online, though I assume they’d have the legal upper hand. In that respect, I do appreciate that this is a unique approach to a concept that has been nearly driven into the ground.

But ColourPop is not an indie brand and there are some benefits that come with that. They are generally more accessible, sometimes more affordable, can usually ship to more places in less time at a lower cost to the buyer, and can afford much larger runs that will sell out less quickly (though don’t be fooled, this collab will almost certainly start to sell out shortly after its launch). For many fans, especially younger fans, this is probably their only feasible option for Sailor Moon makeup. And some fans prefer the stamp of authenticity from an “official” collaboration, even if indie collections are often, well, better. So I think there’s an impetus for ColourPop to release a less specialised collection that’s reminiscent of more characters.

If this really is the only Sailor Moon collab ColourPop is planning to release, then the packaging, in my opinion, is an odd choice. I don’t know why they decided to focus exclusively on Usagi herself; if the colour story is meant to represent the entire series, then why not either have all the girls on the front in a rosey colour scheme, OR have none of them and focus on one of the cityscapes that clearly inspired the palette? I feel like there are lots of fans who aren’t necessarily fond of Usagi herself who may be put off by the overwhelming focus on her.

Overall: The lip sticks are nice but not super exciting, but I like what I can see of the lipglosses. The subtle glitter is very Sailor Moon. I love the Moonlight/Daylight concept but wish it were reflected on the actual tubes. The body glitters (Moonlight Legend, Moon Prism Power) are exciting and interesting, by far the most experimental part of the collab. The shape and colour choices for the glitters are very “Sailor Moon” and I can see them getting some use on the festival scene. The blushes also seem cute but a tad overpowering for the otherwise understated vibe of the rest of the collab, like the liquid lipsticks, and I love the Luna stamp in the blushes but would be sad to actually use them and see it get worn away. And while I like the gauzy backdrop-inspired looks people are making out of the palette, I feel like it’s extremely limited in the number of unique looks you could actually pull off.

So, in the end... am I going to be buying any of these? Hell, probably, if they’re not totally sold out by the time I get to them. My initial roller coaster of OMG COLOURPOP SAILOR MOON!!!! excitement dropped into “that’s it?” disappointment but has now leveled out at a respectable buzz of interest. I could see myself wearing most of these products, and the collector in me wants at least a piece of the collab for posterity. I just really hope that this isn’t the end of ColourPop’s involvement in Sailor Moon and that we might see some future products tailored specifically to the other girls, so that my collection isn’t just Usagi’s face staring back at me.

[haikumomentsandinspiration]

#healthcarevacation, part IV

Today is Sunday, May 10, 2020: Mother’s Day. (I like that in Turkish, the name of the day is Mothers’ Day—plural. I prefer that.) 

This felt like the appropriate time to sit down and catch up with the documentation of this long journey. 

If you need to catch up, you can read Part I here, Part II here, and Part III here. 

So where were we? Ah, yes. December 2019. The pregnancy/birth guarantee program at Fertty International Clinic in Barcelona, Spain. 

In my research looking for a new clinic after the last failed transfer (and the poor communication after staffing changes at our old clinic), one thing became clear: G. needed to have more tests and analyses done to try to figure out why all these transfers, including a donor egg cycle with two transfers, had failed.

After much struggle trying (in vain) to have Kaiser cover the tests and analyses Gene and I needed to have done, we realized it was going to be cheaper and easier for Gene to fly solo to Spain in November to get all that done. He would come back to SF, we would wait about three weeks for the test results, and then, based on the test results, we would finalize the protocol for me and the embryo transfer. 

Thankfully, G’s results came back normal, everything within expected ranges and levels. So our application to the birth guarantee/shared risk program was officially approved. I would go to Barcelona (solo this time) at the start of my winter break, have a first scan to check my lining, adjust my medication as needed, and get ready for transfer day in about a week. 

On December 10, G and I went out for sushi in San Francisco one last time (we hoped) before pregnancy, and a week later, I left for Barcelona. My first check up at Fertty the day after my flight was mostly just blood work and an initial scan to see how my lining was coming along. The lining was fine, but surprise, surprise: I was getting sick with a cold—December flights/weather change were working their magic on me again. My doctor asked to see me in a couple of days, and told me to keep the clinic updated on my health. Two days later, my cold had gotten worse, but my lining was still all right. I spent the rest of the day looking for a reputable and affordable acupuncturist (the second part being the challenge), and thanks to a friend’s rec, I made an appointment, with a focus not on uterine lining support this time, but on kicking this cold’s ass before transfer day. 

I took it easy that week, feeling no pressure to do any sightseeing since my priority was the healthcare part of this #healthcarevacation without a doubt. I feasted (!) on soup, bone broth, and hot tea and not much else for several days, and slowly started getting better. My clinic decided to keep my transfer day as scheduled: December 27. Meanwhile, Rina joined me again in Barcelona for a few days for emotional support leading up to transfer day (she doesn’t need much of an excuse to travel, especially to Barcelona). 

December 27: Transfer Day! I went to the Fertty for my final blood work before the transfer and to sign some papers. Then, off to fertility acupuncture, and back to the clinic for my transfer. Everything went smoothly; we transferred one embryo this time, with four more good quality embryos left for future attempts/a sibling, so I was feeling good and positive. Besides, their recovery/rest room was the most comfortable one I’d been in in all these cycles at three different clinics. After resting a bit, I went out for lunch, then headed back to my acupuncturist for a post-transfer fertility acupuncture session. Stick, baby, stick! 

I took it easy the rest of the time I was in Barcelona. Went out for a walk at least once a day, but had lazy days for the most part. 

On New Year’s Eve, the woman I was staying with, Renata, and I went for a late lunch at her favorite Brazilian Bistro (she’s from Brazil). And for dinner, we decided to go to my favorite Turkish restaurant, which I knew would be open till late with their regular menu and would not be charging an arm and a leg for a modified menu. After lunch, Renata, another Brazilian friend of hers, and I walked to the beach for a Brazilian ritual honoring Iemanja (Brazilian spelling). We made wishes, prayed, meditated, and threw yellow and white carnations to the sea for Iemanja, then sat together and watched the sunset. I felt so grateful to be invited to join this ritual (this will be my new cultural appreciation vs. cultural appropriation example the next time I teach that class!). Ever since I’ve known about her, I’ve always felt drawn to Iemanja—being a Pisces and considering my home to be the sea more than any piece of land and all. I felt at peace, and all felt right in the world in a way that I hadn’t felt for a while during this long fertility journey. 

I took it easy the next day. And the day after that, the morning of January 3, I had some spotting...very faint, but still spotting. I called G. and cried on the phone. But as he said, we were not out yet. I let Fertty know, too; they said they would up my progesterone dosage and monitor me closely. I had a big lunch and a late dinner that day. Big mistake. I woke up around 3:30 am, nauseated, and threw up twice. In the morning, my spotting had gotten slightly darker, but it was still not heavy spotting and definitely not considered bleeding. I went up from 600 to 800 mg of progesterone a day, and followed the BRAT diet—well, just the R part. The following day, I was feeling better, and finally went outside and played tourist. Surrounding myself with the beauty of Barcelona felt healing. Meanwhile, my clinic told me I could come by the morning before my flight back home for a blood test so they could tell me sooner than later both the result and what the next steps would be. If I weren’t pregnant, I didn’t want to keep taking all those pills and patches loaded with hormones. 

January 7, 2020: pregnancy test day! A year ago today was transfer day at Irema clinic, I noticed. I had a glimmer of hope, but no gut feeling either way. I repeated the lesson I had learned from a guided meditation that had been helping me a ton: there is hope in uncertainty! I distracted myself by finally sitting my ass down and doing some lesson planing for my cultural competence/equity literacy unit. In the middle of that, around 2:30 pm came the phone call from the clinic. “Do you want me to tell you on the phone or do you want to come in?” I didn’t want to go in just to hear “I’m sorry...” and I wasn’t sure I wanted a hug. You can just tell me now, I said, bracing myself. 

And that’s how I found out I was pregnant. 

I don’t remember the exact words the patient coordinator said. I just remember it took a second for it to sink in, and then I started crying while still somehow continuing the conversation and smiling from ear to ear. I finished up my work, and headed to the beach for sunset, which was my plan whether it was positive or negative. Whether I had to celebrate or grieve, I wanted to do it facing the sea. 

I went to the beach, watched the sunset, thanked Iemanja, thanked the Universe, and recorded an “IVF Log” video, which I assumed we would eventually share with our baby. 

At this point, you may have noticed I didn’t call G as soon as I heard. The next day, January 8th, was my flight back, and the day of our first date 11 years ago. The plan was to tell him in person—our anniversary gift. 

When I arrived home, I didn’t let him know I already knew. I didn’t know if he knew that I knew. We had decided on no anniversary presents this year since we had plenty of medical expenses. Turns out G got me a couple of gifts. I would have been upset with him when we had said we weren’t doing presents. Instead, I went to the bathroom, took the pregnancy tests I’d been saving for this day, then went back to the living room, saying I did have some presents for him from Spain. I gave him the couple of small gifts I had gotten for him from Barcelona. Then, I said I realized there was one more thing, and went back and got the pregnancy tests. 

The adventure didn’t end there, leaving its place to a blissful period. I had some bleeding week 7 and week 8, and ended up going in for five ultrasounds in those two weeks, freaking out each time since that’s around the same time in my pregnancy and the exact way my miscarriage had begun back in 2016. Each visit, though, instead of the “I’m sorry...there’s no heartbeat” of 2016, we heard “there’s the heartbeat” and exhaled, immensely grateful. After week 8, all was well, but I remained cautious and scared, and didn’t want to share the news with anyone other than family for a while. 

Then, the month after my return from Spain, of course: a global pandemic! We were handling all the challenges of this fertility journey so well, apparently, that the Universe thought, “Here, how about a global pandemic during your pregnancy in case things seem too easy now?” “Awesome,” I thought sarcastically; “what perfect timing.” Then, I realized: wait...this IS perfect timing. I came back from Spain, and not long after, Spain was suddenly one of the epicenters of the pandemic, one of the first countries that took significant precautions. This pregnancy did have perfect timing for real. I feel for women whose cycles had to be canceled or postponed. 

Today, Mother’s Day, is exactly 22 weeks into my pregnancy—we are more than halfway there to our estimated September 13, 2020 due date. So it feels like it’s a good time to share the news at last.

I want to say that I do not take this pregnancy for granted—especially with the context of a global pandemic and how it has impacted assisted fertility cycles in mind. Each day, I thank the Universe “for this healthy pregnancy—for all the healthy days so far, and all the healthy days to come.” Each time I light a Shabbat candle, I pray not just for my own family and friends’ health, but also for all who are pregnant, and for all who are trying to get pregnant.  I had thought that after almost five years of trying to conceive, when we finally succeeded, we would have celebration and community...and hugs! Instead, we found a global pandemic, isolation, distance from our loved ones, and more than the usual dose of a new parent’s fear of the unknown. Last month, I spent a lot of time crying upon slowly realizing all the things I wasn’t going to get in this pregnancy:

- being pregnant out and about in the world and experiencing what that’s like, even with all its irritations (people trying to touch my belly, people not giving their seat up for me on public transportation...); watching people slowly notice it at work...

- looking at baby stuff in person with G.: “OMG...Look at this one! Isn’t this soooo cute?!?” 

- an all gender (in-person) celebration/party with our family/friends in July or August (silver lining, I guess, is that family/friends who aren’t in the Bay Area can attend the Zoom party now...whatever that will look like);

- going to Turkey in June one last time in a while before the baby comes; being pregnant on a beach in Turkey; going baby stuff shopping with my family in Turkey; eating all the amazing food in Turkey and knowing it was nourishing not just my soul, but also our baby. 

- having my parents’ hands on my pregnant belly, feeling the kicks of their first grandchild; 

- coming back from Turkey with my mom, who wanted to come for a visit before the baby to help us get ready at home; 

- the September visit from both my parents; possibly having my mother in the delivery room, and knowing my dad is in the waiting room, being anxious and impatient; wondering if Rina could make it, even, and if she could, knowing she would be taking some amazing newborn photos. 

Gratitude has been my savior this whole time, and it still is. I know we will have time with my parents, my sister, and my in-laws as they each meet our baby in person eventually, and we will all make beautiful, sweet memories. I know there was a time when there was no FaceTime that would allow a partner who’s not allowed to be at the anatomy scan to still be there virtually. I know there was a time there was no anatomy scan via ultrasound. I could go on. 

There is so much to be grateful for still. Thank you, Universe, for this healthy pregnancy—for all the healthy days so far, and all the ones to come. 

[intersectional-intersectionality]

Any member of a diaspora is likely more guilty of "cultural appropriation" than a completely foreign person. By nature, a member of a diaspora has to appropriate the culture of the nation they are occupying in order to survive/succeed. They, being immersed in a foriegn culture for an extended time, will almost subconsciously begin to absorb and appropriate it into their everyday lives as if it has always been that way. They will instill these foriegn cultural values into their children, as if they were from their country of origin and, their children will pass them on to their children as well. So, at what point does it cease being appropriation and become mere adoption?

It also seems that those who get the most worked up over these situations tend to forget that there is also such a thing as "cultural appreciation." The use of element of a foreign culture to convey something that just cannot be expressed in symbols of your own culture, the exposure to something you find superior to your own culture, homage to the elegance and beauty of elements, fashion, concepts from a culture foriegn to yours; that is cultural appreciation. To be inspired by something outside of yourself and share that with those around you... what kind of navel gazing, ingrate could find anything wrong with that?

Anyway. Here are some pictures.

Katy Perry (and frinds) in Kimonos vs

Bey (and friends) ,K. Kard-ass-ian, RiRi, and Holmes in...kimonos...kimono-esque attire.

But, that shit Gucci so it's 🔥 right? Plus, 5/6 of them are black poc so it's ok, also queen slay or some shit.

Funny, I never heard anything about theme wearing Kimonos even when it is worn completely as an accessory and improperly.

But, I also remember part of the issue being about her sexualizing the kimono, which leads me to believe this is in reference to her AMA performance of "Unconditional". Have any of you even seen that performance? It's on YT, and, I can definitely say that there is nothing sexy about it, unless you think women's legs are inherently sexual and should always be covered up, which wreaks of prudish slut shaming.

Her presentation seemed quite meticulous and she even had Asian (can't be sure if Japanese) dancers as her primary back up. It appeared she really was being as respectful to the culture as she could in a pop performance.

Two more pics here:

Do you know the difference between these:

One is a geisha and one is a prostitute (花魁 oiran). The difference, the prostitute has her sash tied to the front for ease of access and so she could easily retire it between "customers", and the geisha's was to the back because she is an artist (which is what geisha means) , not a whore. That aside, the look of the geisha is actually taken from the the oiran, and that is why they are so similar. Same look, different professions, but they often worked together during the Edo period.

However, when prostitution fell out of style, as it tends to do, Geisha still had a place and rich cultural influence that continued to this day. However, it was the spectacle and popularity of the geisha and their beauty that caused some confusion, mostly because WWII GI's were enticed by prostitutes who would dress like geisha as part of their gimmick. Though, in all likelihood, they were probably dressed like oiran which would be hard to distinguish since they were no longer a recognizable part of Japanese society.

Wow! Who would have thought that a group of women would take something innocent that men like and intentionally sexualize it for monetary gain.

I guess you can't really fault Katy Perry for doing something that Japanese women do anyway, sexualize Geisha's, even though I fail to see where she sexualized it.

“Japanese people can’t have a valid opinion on a white American pop star wearing a kimono. Only Japanese-Americans can.”

BONUS ROUND: Person expressing this opinion is black.

[boglog]

A Love Letter To Atla; A Hate Letter To Bryke.

smallroundpotato said: i don’t know, i’m chinese and it was really important to me growing up. i was born in south africa and moved to canada when i was 8, so i didn’t have any access to any representation at all. i think maybe in comparison to a lot of other things it felt the least fetishizing at the time. looking back, i guess it is fairly appropriative. but i think, of all the reductive representations out there, this wasn’t so bad 

smallroundpotato said: i suppose all i’m really doing is defending one monster because the others are so much worse. but i also think that’s kind of an aggressive way to attack something that might’ve meant a lot to some people when there was nothing else

so this is p old at this point but this a reply that was left on a thread i wrote on abt some of ATLA’s failings as a supposedly progressive show and I’ve always been meaning to reply but haven’t gotten around to it ‘till now. 

Ok, so, what I want to preface with is that in my critiques (sometimes borderline keysmash rants) are not and were never intended to make other fans feel guilty. Moreover, any tone of aggression (which does happen, I can get carried away) is frustration at the creators themselves rather than a dig anyone who finds genuine enjoyment abt the media I talk about. The latter is an unintended consequence and I really am sorry that anybody might’ve felt personally victimised. I don't make this blog or these metas to ruin the community or anybody’s fun and i am saddened at the thought that this might be the case. No one is obliged to read the things i write (which are conveniently tagged by the way).

Additionally I do regret my, uh, not so smart word choice in dichotomising ATLA fans between “”educated” and “””non-eductaed””” Asians. That was not a smooth move and I apologise.

The thing about ATLA is that it meant quite a lot to me too. I’m a Chinese-Canadian who grew up in an ass-backwards white rural town. I know as well as anyone else that what was left to us in Western animation in the early 2000s were largely cheap copies of the anime coming out of Japan in the 80s and 90s, just American bigshots cashing in on what they thought was a craze. Think: Hi Hi Puffy Ami Umi, Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, Samurai Jack, that really bad Mulan sequel, Kung Fu Panda, Yin Yang (yo yang yo? Anyway they were pink and blue martial arts bunnies), Sagwa, (shudders) Kappa Mikey, etc.

All of these things paled in comparison to Avatar, which ironically was also an American-made show likely cashing in on its Asian aesthetics as much as its peers. (I have a definite hunch the cute sci-fi adventure Bryke originally came up with was turned into a pan-Asian fantasy epic at least in part because of how lucrative the ~asian~ craze was at the time.) ATLA surpassed the copycats, though, with the sheer dedication of its research and the richness of its story and animation. Here we had, finally, a complex and beautiful high concept show that had an all poc cast and a variety of female characters. It was a mirror for a culture that western society will demonise me for indulging in and yet stereotype me for. It was mine as it was yours. It’s ours. White people could not touch this. It’s stitched inseparably within my childhood in a way that’s super embarrassing to admit but this is the internet so I will. I honestly do not think I would be the same person were it not for ATLA.

I loved ATLA, loved and still do, but therein lies my frustration when, as an older fan, I started to notice cracks. Why are two white men benefiting off of a show they created based on Asian mythology? Wait why are all the moms dead or missing? Why are all the LOK VAs white? Why can’t any sequel of the franchise capture ATLA’s original magic? Why are there so many abusive romances in LOK? Why was there a fork in LOKS02E01?

From examining glaring faux-pas in LOK’s pacing to OOC characterisation in the comics, it seemed, finally, that the root of ATLA/LOK’s faults were that Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are actually not the visionaries they’re praised for. Simply, they’re people who came up with a flawed but bold idea whose success depended on important copyediting from co-writers like Aaron and Elizabeth Ehasz (you know the guys who gave us IROH and Zuko’s entire redemption arc). They had an idea but it took several under-appreciated collaborators to make it into a vision. And not a lot of people know this, which means Bryke are solely credited and solely benefit from ATLA. This borders on plagiarism, on cultural appropriation (re: decontextualisation, trivialisation and monetary profit from stealing culturally important material/ideas). Bryke are HUGE names wi the animation industry and now they get away w stealing, shoddy work and letting it get to their heads that they’re above criticism enough to insult their own fanbase?

THAT IS JUST NOT SOMETHING I CAN ABIDE BY and thusly i did all that was in my power to enact change…. I talked about it on the internet. (this unfortunately is as far-reaching as my influence will go)

The purpose of criticism is never to put something down for its own sake but to encourage improvement. Now, it’s too late for the ATLA franchise. To expect Bryke to backtrack now is just beating a dead horse. But I still want people to know the history of this show, its strengths and its faults, so they can replicate the former and learn from the latter. So that future media can be smarter. So that we don't credit people who simply cannot write for creating the show of the century because their editors aren't at the forefront. 

The age-old bad representation vs no representation dilemma doesn’t have a clear catch-all solution, either can be just as damaging and I won’t berate people who enjoy “problematic” media because in some way everything’s problematic under white capitalism.  But I’m a perfectionist, a bit of an idealist. I don’t want to settle for crumbs, I want flawed stories to have its flaws pointed out and I want popular media to be truly democratic in its representation of people instead of a superficial mess of identity politics (COUGH ste*ven Univ*rseCOUGH). I’ve always been a huge ATLA fan and that’s how I know, quite intimately, what went wrong with it.

Don’t think I don’t love the things I rant about. Because I do.

[lotrewrite]

Commentary: Episodes 1-6

I’ll preface this by saying that I loved all the episodes, and I could visualise everything like I was really watching it, so I’m mega excited. I also know that these are rough drafts from everyone and the dialogue/scenes are just examples of the direction we’re heading in and are just the initial product, so people might already be aware of what I’m saying. It’s just that I’m unused to giving constructive criticism outside of an academic sphere so I really want to underline that I do appreciate the hard work that’s gone into these outlines and I hope that I’m not stepping on toes or upsetting people. It’s a creative effort and it truly shows!

Overall comments: I love each episode individually and have a lot more positivity than criticism. What I will say is that we’ll all have to be careful of pacing, since (am I right in saying?) most of us probably more used to prose than screenwriting when writing fanfic. Other than that, no major issues, which is amazing considering how many of us there are, and the fact that there’s 22 episodes! Great job, guys! :-)

Also please ignore any misspellings of Darhk – I hate that stupid silent h so much.

Episode 1 –

-          I love Jax sticking up for Mick, particularly when he points out that Mick is still edgy about anything to do with Cronos

-          We need the info from Eo’s panicked speech but on reading the information seems a little clumped together and rushed. Maybe punctuate it with Darhk asking him what he means and then Eo has to clarify.

For example:

[“I’m out-running my own non-existence,” Thawne explains. “Nice little perk of being a speedster – but now I’m being chased by the worst thing out there, even worse than the time wraiths: the Death of Speedsters.”

“The Death of Speedsters?” interjects Darhk. “Bit dramatic.”

Eobard is unimpressed. “It’s the Black Flash. He has my scent now and he’ll never stop following me – so I need to keep moving.”

“And how exactly do you plan on outrunning death itself?”

“Our little deal, that’s how. I have some time before he figures out where and when I am, but I need to make sure that the timeline that my ancestor dies in never happens, and the best way to do that is to make a massive adjustment to the timeline early on.”]

-          I love Mick’s interaction with Rex; I actually prefer this shorter scene to the original episodes, it plays as both comedic and practical

-          I think you’ve kept a really good balance of new content vs sticking to canon, the scenes gel well together

-          Especially love the end scene with Kendra and Oliver

-          Thanks, liked this!

Episode 2

-          I don’t see a problem overmuch with the spear pieces ‘whispering’, it’s a pretty well-known trait of ‘mystical things you 100% Should Not Touch’ and experience with pop culture already tells us that the only people who can hear it can only do so because the magic thing wants them to (a la One Ring). Same with glowing. Maybe the whispering could be more indistinct, like wind through the trees or parseltongue or something?

-          Where are Jax and Stein when the scene opens? At first I thought they were already on the ship but reading further down it’s unclear until much later in the episode.

-          I really like that first hint of Len. It’s a nice red herring too, especially if the whispers we heard earlier are kept in.

-          I like the bit with Ray and Bambi, and Stein and Jax read fine.

-          Good use of Nate

-          Mind the pacing a bit when switching between scenes – I like the Ray and Bambi scenes, but something needs to happen in every scene or we’ll be left wondering why we were shown that, and not in a ‘oh, a mystery’ way. That said, I’m loving all the Ray and Bambi scenes, pleeeease don’t kill Bambi. It’s so very Ray that he’s keeping a pet dinosaur, I love it. Also, killing the raptor lets us see a more hardcore side of Ray we don’t usually get.

-          As an aside…with those injuries Ray will definitely die from infection/blood loss and he knows it. We are so lucky he’s going to be rescued. From his perspective, he’s staring death in the eye and that’s despairing and intense.

-          Fricking LOVE the idea of Firestorm appearing as an ‘angel’, cannot underline that enough

-          Love the drama in this episode, like the plot and battle

-          Loving the friction Mick has when Nate can’t find Ray and I love how they end up doing so

-          Overall I really enjoyed this, I’d just be very careful with pacing in the episode itself. Thanks!

Episode 3

-          LOVE the premise of Sara working with the JSA

-          Like the build-up to Nate’s reveal of how he knows so much

-          Way prefer this method of introduction and interaction between the Legends and the JSA, nice

-          ‘Nazis in the White House’ – if that was a nod, I like it

-          Fantastic interaction between Amaya and Sara

-          Nice reveal with Nate, the pencil, and him being Henry’s grandson

-          Nice interaction with Henry and Nate after Nate gets injured

-          Good ending, maybe just add in that Amaya actually gives a reason for mistrusting Mick specifically since she would have had more interaction with Sara and knew that Sara didn’t particularly respect Rex

-          Really like this episode! I think the pacing is pretty good too.

Episode 4

-          Good opening, but coming from the first episode where D and Eo are already working together, maybe Eo should specify a more ‘long term, mutually beneficial alliance’ i.e. instead of a once-off arrangement like with the bomb

-          I think Nate should lead the conversation on leaving history the way it is, when coming from his whole thesis needing to be re-written like a billion times, with Stein interrupting him with his own two cents

-          I really like the premise of this episode – I like the images of the mess of the crowd, the fact that Ray actually checked up for Sara what would happen if she brought Laurel back, Young!Clarissa and Stein finding each other in the chaos – good stuff

-          Nice interaction at the bar with everyone, and I like the Sara and Mick convo

-          Nice manipulation by Eo towards Sara, I find this progression believable. Really good twist there, with everyone slowly realising what Sara had done, including Sara herself

-          LAUREL

-          That’s a good reason Eo had for actually bringing Laurel back instead of just lying to Sara and stealing the pieces – good job

-          Good interaction between Mick and Amaya, Sara and Laurel

-          Good drama at Star Labs, and I liked the mention of Amaya’s reasoning for leaving her home for the JSA

-          Thank you for the Lisa ending, very nice. Woo!

Episode 5

-          Great premise, I like the opening

-          Nice nod to ‘authentic’ Vikings – the image of Mick in a horn hat will live on in my heart forever

-          Very atmospheric episode actually, it felt like I was watching it unfold and hearing the yells of battle, so nice job

-          I appreciate all the hard work you’ve done with the spellings and the insertion of ø, I really do, my word

-          I love Jax and Gunlød’s interactions, all of them – the casual chats, the flirting, the pep talk he gives her

-          Very emotive episode, I think it all flows down to the funeral scene very well

-          The Legend’s funeral scene is so sad, thank you

-          The ending needs something to tie it into the next episode I think, instead of just ending with Jax and Gunlød’s goodbye, but I think that’ll actually depend on the pacing for the whole episode once it’s been fleshed out into full length – the story seems pretty long already so there might not be room and it might end up as an appropriate ending, with a following episode dealing with the vision etc. We’ll have to see how that turns out!

-          Enjoyed this episode, nice job!

Episode 6

-          Nice nudge at Darhk’s usage of idols

-          Great focus on Lisa and her skills, nice atmosphere from the location (like, not ‘nice’…I mean that I get a real sense of the place)

-          Good plan

-          Good expansion on Ray’s theme of suit/intelligence

-          Just a suggestion – in light of the stuff  he went through while stranded with dinosaurs, maybe just have a line about how when he was in the prehistoric era he felt helpless and useless without his tech, and now that he has it back he finally has a chance to be useful again and fight with his full strength, or something along those lines? Just so we’re not just throwing away the dinosaur era trauma he must have gone through, especially since he nearly died? And maybe highlighting that he has a deeper reason beyond stubbornness to sticking with the suit, since it’s literally his safety net?

-          Great escalation of things going wrong for the Legends

-          This episode flows very well actually, and I loved the interactions with Mick and Jax, and when Lisa ripped Ray a new one

-          That’s some gooooood Lisa and Mick interaction, thank you

-          Very enjoyable, nice work!

Episode 7 – since this was an episode I worked on I’ll leave the commentary to others who can spot the issues with it!

I’ll leave it at that for this evening but I’ll try to give a look at the others tomorrow. For now we’ve got some solid episodes here with only a few minor tweaks that’ll come about naturally as the writing progresses.

Hope this commentary was okay!

- Kako-Pumpkin

LOTREWRITE: Your commentary is EXCELLENT, so much positivity and very good points on the critique made all around, and I can't wait to see your comments on the remainder.

[hi-topmgmt-blog]

The Unwritten Rules of Concerts

Concerts are a sacred place. It’s at concerts where people from all different walks of life cross paths because of one similar belief. This band, this artist, this group, is fucking awesome. I’ve never been a very religious person, but the concept is not dissimilar from going to church. Let’s be real, Dave Grohl is the closest thing to a God I’ll ever have. But there are rules for walking on this sacred land; you don’t show your shoulders in church, and you don’t bring an iPad to a concert. I’d like to say that for the most part, the people who regularly walk on these sacred lands are some of the kindest people on this planet... potentially too kind to tell you when you’ve bent these Unwritten Rules. But believe me, they WILL subtweet you for hours if not days to come. So I’ve written a little guide in hopes that we can all learn to respect both these sacred lands and the sacred people who walk on them.

1. It’s a concert, not a costume party.

For a lot of the people at the show, they live the metal life, the pop life, the indie life, the hip-hop life, every single day. I’m not telling you not to pick out your outfit days before and I’m definitely not telling you how to dress, but there’s a fine line that needs to be walked between appreciation and appropriation. There’s no need to pretend you’re someone you’re not just because the people around you don’t know you, ‘cause believe me, they know you don’t live that life. You know how they know? Because that’s their life. We all know that Nirvana t-shirt is from Walmart.

2. Beware of the Hair

This is key to respecting those around you. As a 5’3’’ woman, and it’s hard enough for me to see over your head when you don’t have a hair-do the size of a lion’s mane, so please don’t make yourself any taller than you are already. Fellow girls and newly long-haired men of the man-bun trend, listen up. When you headbang, your hair turns into the tail of a black lab who just heard the word “walk”. It’s not your fault that the crowd has become packed like sardines, but it is your responsibility to know how close you are to those around you, and how far your hair protrudes from your body.

3. Be respectful when assuming your spot.

If you want to be in the front, you have to get there early. I don’t mean 5 minutes before the headliner, and I don’t mean halfway through the opener, I mean at or even before doors depending on the show. The bare minimum you can do is get there before the first band goes on, and at that point, you get what you get. This is especially true for tall people. Tall people are the target when people can’t see at shows, and I’m sorry because it’s not your fault. But recognize that as a tall person you’re all the more likely to be tweeted about if you try to weasel your way to the front because then you aren’t only pushing the person behind you further back, but restricting their view as well. As a general rule for tall people, get there early so that whoever stands behind you holds the blame for their own inability to see, not you. The front rows of standing shows are filled with the most die-hard fans, don’t think you’ll be able to squeeze in without getting a talking to. This comes down to courtesy. Just because the people in the front row haven’t packed in like sardines, doesn’t mean there’s a spot for you. Nobody wants to be packed like sardines, so if people leave some breathing room, respect that and enjoy breathing oxygen instead of CO₂.

4. Concerts are a great date, but I don’t want to watch the concert between your two sets of lips.

Concerts are the ideal date night with my boyfriend, but I’m sure him and I would both agree we are there to see and enjoy the show together, not enjoy each other in the context of a loud room with the company of hundreds to watch. In no way does this mean you can’t talk during concerts or kiss during “your song”, but please don’t turn my night into your reenactment of Fifty Shade of Grey. Breaking this rule bothers me more than most because not only are you inhibiting my ability to watch the show, but you yourself aren’t even enjoying it.

5. Take pictures and videos, but not at the expense of those around you.

This is probably the most commonly broken of all the Unwritten Rules. I once saw ZZ Top at a venue called the 9:30 club in DC. For those of you who don’t know, the 9:30 club is one of the clubs major acts play when they decide to do a club tour. An incredible show, but it was nearly ruined by a drunken 50 year old birthday girl who decided to Facebook Live the entire show. THE ENTIRE SHOW. This is definitely an extreme, but at every show there are a few people that watch the whole concert through a screen, only taking a break to look down and post. Don’t just do this for me, but do it for yourself. It breaks my heart to know that even though we spent the same money, came to the same place, and are here for the same reason, you won’t get to feel or experience the transcendence that is live music. Just being there isn’t enough, you have to choose to listen and choose to feel. When you throw your phone up not only do I know you aren’t feeling this, but you’ve broken my 30-minute long uninterrupted focus on Billy Gibbons’s fingers. Moral of the story; take your pictures and videos in 30 second bursts, and make sure to take a several at a time so that at least one has to be in focus.

6. Don’t crowd surf if the average audience member is younger and weighs less than you do.

I thought this one was pretty self-explanatory until I saw a robust, grown man come crashing down upon the muddy ground, seemingly surprised that the crowd of We The Kings at Warped Tour couldn’t hold him. Crowd surfing is a dangerous game because even if there are strong people to hold you, the likeliness that they’re looking backwards to make sure they’re ready to catch your sweaty body is slim to none. That being said, crowd surfing is an incredibly cool experience, so if you do choose to crowd surf, make sure the crowd is one that can hold you up. (What would be better still is if you crowd surfed to the back so people can see you coming!)

7. Don’t be a bully in the mosh pit.

Moshing dates back to the early days of punk, so if we’re honest, most of the people moshing today weren’t there when it started. This rule is especially important because anyone who is moshing today has to learn the cultural etiquette. Mosh pits aren’t meant to be an everybody vs. everybody fight to the death. It’s more like a high-stakes game of people pinball with the perimeter of the circle serving as the triggers. Moshers are some of the more violent people at the show, so following this rule is extra important because if you throw a cheap shot, you can bet you’ll get one right back at you.

8. Pouring your heart out to the married lead singer won’t get you backstage.

It always surprises me how many people will try to get backstage. The reality is unless you’ve got an in, or a pocket full of cash to throw at VIP passes, you probably aren’t getting backstage. Not to mention, the kind of rock stars who would want you backstage after only just looking at you aren’t cool, they’re creepy. That’s beside the point though. Rock stars are real people too, they understand who they are, but it’s way cooler to be a hard core fan than their wannabe wife. If you do get the incredible opportunity to meet some of your musical heroes, spend that time telling them how they made an impact on your life instead of how you want to replace the wife they wrote all your favorite songs about.

9. Don’t buy counterfeit merchandise.

Counterfeit merchandise is the biggest backstabbing mistake a fan can make. We’ve all heard it before: physical sales are down, streaming is up, and bands are forced to make all of their money through touring and merchandise. You probably spend hundreds of hours a year listening to your favorite bands, the least you could do is sack up and spend the extra $5 on official merch. It’s easy to think what difference could one person make, but if you really believe in a band, don’t give your money to people who make a living screwing them over.

10. Have a designated driver.

I really wish this didn’t have to be on the list, but it does. At every concert, I’ll see entire groups of people arrive together, get obliterated together, and leave together, as I sip my water and hope that I don’t end up driving next to them on my way home. Even if it doesn’t end in an accident, even if you only had a drink and a half before the asshole next to you spilled it, the parking lot is hard enough to get out of without you being in a drunken haze.

Despite years of teenage girls telling me their dad was in the front row, despite countless hours watching concerts through somebody else’s phone screen, and despite multiple pony-tail whips to the face, I had never once stood up for myself. Never dared to cause confrontation where there needn’t be any. Until just this past week. A couple squeezed in front of me 3 rows back from the front 5 minutes before the headliner came on. I held my tongue. Then they started making out when I am a mere 3 inches away from their faces. I held my tongue. By this point between the girl and the boy caressing each other I had been elbowed in the boob five times, and did I mention I could bite her ponytail off without moving? I held my tongue. Then they started bragging about how close to the stage they were, AND THERE I WENT. I let it out, all the aggression meant for every teenage girl weaseling to the front, for every bald dad taking videos of full songs, for every 6 foot tall guy who ever stood in front of me. I told them off as respectfully, but as truthfully as I could in this moment of true and utter disgust. The wanna be alpha male tried to defend himself and just like that, I had the support of every fan that heard me tell them off.

“I think if you look around, everyone would agree [with her]”

“You should’ve gotten here at 7 like us”

“I came from South Africa to be here tonight”.  

I knew I had been getting stares when I started to go off on these two, but I had no idea they were stares of support. The people at these concerts are extremely cool and caring people, and they don’t want to ruin your night, so please don’t ruin theirs.

So, respect the code, don’t be a dick and we will all have the best night of our lives!

- Devon

[evanhunerberg]

10 deep-seated beliefs, and how to work with them

Preamble ramble: what are deep-seated beliefs?

Deep-seated beliefs are constantly guiding us. We make most decisions and judgements automatically, instinctively, without “thinking.” (Daniel Kahneman calls it System 1 Thinking). Obviously, this impacts our interest in brand and product communications. We reject without thinking. Or we jump on board impulsively. These are, in some ways, “subconscious” events.

Our life experiences etch deep, unspoken beliefs into our minds, and many of these experiences depend on the wider culture we grow up in. A person raised in Minnesota suburbs will have different experiences and beliefs about the world than someone who grew up in Karachi. Focusing on an individual’s experience is important for providing therapy, but in communications we’re trying to reach many people. We need to zoom out and widen our net … but not too far. The more we zoom out, the the more bland, uninteresting, and useless the beliefs become for building communications.

Ideally, you should be thinking about a defined audience as distinct culture. Understand them as a Nation of people, with their own shared customs, beliefs and rituals (which they might not even be aware of). This requires specific, dedicated research. For this article, we’ll be zooming all the way out to the “Western” beliefs that form the foundations for a lot of perception and decisions among people who grew up in North America, Europe, and Australia. You can see them at work in everything from court decisions to Disney movies to hiring decisions, and of course, how people choose to spend their money.

What you’ll find in here

10 cultural beliefs drawn from The Masks of God, Europe: A Cultural History, From Olympus to Camelot, and a bit from my own reading of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I’ll quickly describe the roots of each belief, with a thought for addressing it.

Putting deep-seated beliefs to use

You can lean into them, or you can challenge them. You just can’t ignore them. You can adapt your story to the contours of these beliefs and use them to frame your brand and product. Or, you can attack them head-on with simple, brutal, and concrete logic. Stupidly simple attacks can make for really arresting advertising. Some of them conflict, so you can even wield them against each other. Just don’t resist or ignore these beliefs silently. If you don’t adapt to them or actively dismantle them, your communications will lack intuitive credibility. You’ll be pushing meaningless non-starters.

(Disclaimer

Most beliefs are invisible tools of Power. Many of these beliefs evolved as mechanisms for elite control, and they have oppressed many people. I’m definitely not supporting any of them. I am bringing their existence into the open, and I hope I can help you reconfigure them for better uses.)

10 deep-seated Western beliefs

Good deeds will always come back to you Roots Ever since our reliance on the cycles of the sun for agriculture, we’ve believed in a cosmic order and balance. Around 3000 years ago, we also started working morality into the picture. Recommendation If you’re pushing for behavioral change (especially an uncomfortable one), remind people that their actions are part of a bigger interconnected web.

There is a clear line dividing Good from Bad Roots The metaphysical division started in Persia and became a key component of Christianity. It’s been fading since the Scientific Revolution, but it’s hard to shake. It still shows up through our villains and heroes, and it’s exacerbating 2020s political disagreements. Recommendation In 2020, this trope is a little too prominent. You’ll probably have more success attacking this idea, reminding people about the gray areas, and snapping people out of tribal allegiances.

We all get to choose between doing the right thing and the wrong thing Roots According to ancient religions and a lot of Christianity, the cosmic war of Good vs Evil plays out in our daily lives. We participate everyday, and we all choose how to participate. This is the angel and the devil on your shoulders. Recommendation Provoke action in your audience by challenging them to take a clear position. A meaningful decision urges us to do something about it.

If you listen to your heart, you’ll make the right choice Roots As Roman and Catholic bureaucracy lost it’s grip over Europe, ethics and salvation became a more private activity—to understand what was right, you only had to look within. Half a millennium later, Anne Frank would write “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Recommendation If you’re asking for altruism, dissociate from any of the surface-level politics that might be in play, and urge your audience to follow their deepest values. They’ll probably have trouble recognizing anything but love and selflessness.

You have to forge your own path Roots As the scientific method started showing us how the world works, it became harder and harder to find our purpose written in the stars. As early as the Enlightenment, we started looking inside ourselves for meaning. We started living our own original adventures. Recommendation Sometimes we need to break our audience away from the herd. Consider if your cause can impel and help someone to live their own truth.

Wherever someone is, they deserve to be there Roots Ruling classes have always maintained that the socioeconomic order reflects a cosmic order. Everyone is where they “should” be, so don’t try to change things. Even now, too many people cling to the idea that someone’s status is an appropriate reflection of their own actions and innate abilities. Recommendation If life is good for you, it’s easy to justify that you deserve it that way. But (in America) our faith in “opportunity” makes it difficult to believe that someone (especially a child) deserves hardship. In your communications, it will probably be easier to argue certain people haven’t had a “fair” shot—especially if you represent that community with an individual person.

To the victor go the spoils Roots A cornerstone of Western fiction, The Iliad, starts with an argument between two “heroes” who are angry about giving up women they took as civilian POW sex slaves(!) And even today, when we walk past mansion estates and luxury cars, we carry a sense that the winners of society are entitled to whatever they can legally capture. Recommendation World-renowned luxury brands make their patrons feel like queens and kings, and it works. To challenge this belief effectively, frame the “victor” as someone much different than the audience.

Power corrupts Roots The late Roman emperors are good symbols for this idea (think Caligula and Nero). The New Testament infuses King Herod with this notion, and we imagine it happening during the height of the French aristocracy too. Recommendation We often envision corruption, decadence, and depravity together alongside tyranny. They’re indicators of leadership that’s fallen out of balance and decayed into something sinister. If you’re battling an entrenched status quo, consider linking some of their personal behaviors to their policies.

Nature needs to be chained down Roots Early farmers had a harmonious relationship with nature, but waves of horse-riding invaders had a different view. They saw nature as an unruly beast to wrestle under control. They put women in the same category, and we’re still dealing with the many effects of this worldview. Recommendation Government regulations can seem unnecessary and meddling. But, the same thing might feel more comforting as a leash on unchecked, untamed behaviors. Instead of framing it as a safety device or a punishment, you could discuss regulation as a harness for a dangerous wild force.

Nature is pure Roots Bronze Age (~3000 BC) and Abrahamic religions characterized the natural world as corrupt and unclean in contrast to God’s abstract perfection. But, nature worship persisted anyway for figures like the goat-legged Pan and the god Dionysus. And then, with the scientific method excusing all kinds of heresy, and industrialization pulling people away from their fields, Westerners developed a special appreciation for the purity and balance of nature. Recommendation This idea contributes a lot of the undertones in environmentalism, but there are many people who don’t identify with that whole package. It might be easier to drum up interest in preservation. America has a long and distinct tradition of preserving pure, wild, pristine land. While some people might not care about saving a far-off exotic animal, we might solicit a lot more care for the spaces in the National Parks that feel sacred.

Let me know what you think! Leave a comment or a question below!

[thoughtsaday-blog]

10 Things I Wish for Black Folks

1) I wish that we would stop bashing single mothers as some sort of high and mighty imperative of the "talented tenth" and their self hating respectability politics within our communities. This belief that, "Maybe if we mimic white folks in their hatred of us they let us at they table and have some of they money"  is not serving us well (Incidentally, I don't notice the same level of vitriol towards single fathers which is again an indication of the internalized misogyny both among black women and within black culture as a whole).

2) I wish that we would instead support and champion programs that mitigate some of the wealth inequalities and social stresses that make being a single mother often so difficult, specifically in our American culture because such programs actually benefit ALL women. Guess what, it sucks to be a single black mom in America but it also sucks to be a working married mom of any color in America. The two are actually synonymous as increasingly married couples give over a significant portion of their wealth to enable the mother/wife to work.  Aside from that, what is often ignored in the tirades against those darn “loose” single black mothers is that single motherhood is also an epidemic in Europe. However, because whites are so collectivist and tribal in nature with such strong self love and unity, they were determined that such a drastic change in family dynamics for whatever reason would not negatively affect white wealth or white children. As a result, many European countries have  amazing social safety nets that not only assist single parent families but all women in living thriving lives of contribution to the public sphere. The children are doing well. The women are doing well. The families are doing well. The people are doing well. Truth be told, America would likely have the same if the specter of racism did not so thoroughly hold American politics in it’s thrall. 

3) I wish that black people would begin to think outside the box. We're rigidly mired in respectability politics and we love to denigrate and marginalize one another. We don't seem to understand that those are the same tools of oppression used to keep us as the lowest people on the totem pole. 

4) I wish that black people would come to realize that the white man's ice is NOT colder. We speak about cultural appropriation which is a very important issue,  but let’s keep it real? Many of us didn’t value it until white folks appropriated...erm..uh...”appreciated” it. I firmly believe that colorism will likely only be mitigated if somehow modern medicine creates a pill that those with less melanin could take to become darker. As whites and non-blacks run en masse to take those pills, suddenly black folks will realize what they had all along. Unfortunately even then, there will likely be some id-jiots among us who will only think dark skin is pretty on former pale people vs the “true blacks” who “aren’t as fine”. Cue the eye rolling. 

5) I wish that we truly loved one another. Truth is, many black people virulently hate other black people...and it shows. We hate our romantic partners---why else would there be so much negativity in our romantic relationships? For men: If she’s a “bitch/heaux/slut” after you had sex with her, she was a “bitch/heaux/slut” before...so that makes you look like a fool. For women: If he was a no-count f-boi after you laid down with him, he was one before so again that makes you look like the fool. 

 We hate our children--why else would we continue to allow some of the abusive behaviors towards the most vulnerable portions of our community? Men like R.Kelly should be a footnote in our entertainment history, not a current celebrity who is still selling out concerts. Why do we continue to call our innocent young girls “fast” as a means of justifying their abuse by predators? Why do we continue to brag about our excessive use of corporal punishment? Beating a child into submission is not a sign of good parenting.  

We hate our ancestors---why else would so many of us continue to deny the significance of slavery and de jure segregation upon our current experiences? Black people have only been truly “free” for around 40 years.Slavery might have technically ended in 1865, but following that was a period of 100 years of brutally violent legalized apartheid. That brings us up to the Civil Rights era and even then the legislature of equality that helped so many groups even beyond black people did not come into actual action until the 1970s. That’s not even a complete generation ago. How is 1970 so far back in the past? Get out of here. 

6) I wish that we would stop buying meaningless consumer b.s. that does nothing for us individually or collectively beyond temporarily bolstering our low self esteem. I am very careful with my dollars because I recognize that my dollars support systems. I was in a community where a relative owns a few rental properties the other day. I see one  of the neighbors who perhaps owns his home,  drive by in...a Bentley. I asked my relative---does he own that Bentley? Yes. True, this is in an upper class neighborhood in P.G. county, supposedly one of the wealthier enclaves of black people in the nation. However, I have lived in predominately non-black neighborhoods that were comprised of  multi million dollar estates in other portions of the country and no one had a Bentley. Why? For one thing, they get horrible gas mileage. Really a waste. A Bentley serves no other purpose beyond the ostentatious communication of status. Now let me get this straight----you purchased a $500k home and have decided that now, nothing will do but a Bentley? Come now. Your dollars support systems...what systems have you been supporting? Do you know who the organizational executives are in the companies that make the products that you purchase? Do you know the politics of those executives? Do you know what political campaigns if any were supported by the companies that make the products you buy? For example, what charitable contributions has Nike made to the black community over the last 10 years? What educational programs and/or black students has they supported? Let’s also turn the lens inward---what regular charitable contribution have any of the black celebrities supported en masse by black folks made to our community? What schools or educational programs have they opened or supported? What political candidates within the black community have they funded? What portion of the dollars from the purchase of their licensed products goes back to the communities which have made those products into multi billion dollar enterprises?  

7) I wish that black people embraced entrepreneurship as an active model for production and wealth attainment rather than as merely a title for status. I want desperately to support black businesses and I do--- but I will also admit that many of them are run so shoddily. You can use the excuse of less access to capital to a point, but funding should have nothing to do with your client service and organizational hierarchy. Many of us run our businesses like we're still employees passing the buck and refusing to be accountable. Many of us run our businesses in a way that indicates that we are under the unfortunate misnomer that running a business will mean less work. Many of us just want to say that we're "CEOS" and that we're "entrepreneurs". However, many of us don't want to pay the cost to be the boss. Many of us refuse to educate ourselves and to legitimize our businesses by appropriately establishing them. Yes, there is most definitely discrimination in business funding, however if you’ve not legally established your business, you can’t even be in the running for funding vehicles. If you don’t have a business plan, no one will take you seriously beyond your friends and family and unfortunately they will likely not be the people seriously investing their dollars into your vision. If your business is product based and you’re not buying wholesale but instead buying retail in the hopes that you can resell, you’re not running a business---you’re hosting a yard sale. In most states, a wholesale license is free. There is no excuse.  

8) I also wish that those who are affluent within the black community, especially those who are successful entrepreneurs would begin to invest their time as mentors and their funding as angel investors within our entrepreneurship class. I see many shoddily run ventures, but I also see a great many awesome ideas where the individual just needs some mentoring and/or some funding to make their ideas extremely profitable. We keep waiting for others to see our value and invest in our dreams when we don’t see our own value and continue to refuse to invest in our own dreams. The crab-in-a-barrel “I got mine and that’s all that matters” mindset has to end. Besides, if you’re not giving back in a sizable and sustained manner, you’re not truly wealthy anyway. 

9) I wish that we would recognize our power. Black people have wealth. Collectively, we are extraordinarily wealthy. Our buying power is on par with no other group. We are also heavy influencers when it comes to western culture. Many whites and other non-blacks have gone onto great success simply as a result of having our stamp of approval. Why are we still struggling individually? Because of everything that I listed 1-8. Self hate will kill a people and that is why it is so profitable for the system of white supremacy to make sure that we continue to hate ourselves. As long as we hate ourselves, we won't invest in us, we won't have compassion for us, and we won't really care about us. 

10) I wish that we could begin to see ourselves through a lens of truth sans the harmful tint of white supremacy. If we could begin to do that then all of the "isms" that plague our community could be exposed for the harmful poisons that they are and we could begin to leave them behind. Colorism and featurism are nothing more than internalized white supremacy.They have no place in a people who are supposedly attempting to move forward beyond the oppression which once held them captive.  Just my thoughts...

[popwasabi]

“Baby Driver” Review: Wright’s Worst Movie Still Better than 90 percent of Action films in 2017

Directed by Edgar Wright

Starring: Ansel Egort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jaime Foxx and Lily James

 “Baby Driver” is a fun, exciting, high speed, heist film that fits right in among the best films of the year. However, its big, little flaw is that it’s perhaps a tad bit underwhelming, even a little ordinary.

Now being only just a little average might be a badge of honor for other films but when its coming from a director like Edgar Wright, a little ordinary is very unusual.

(”Ordinary? That’s our specialty!”)

“Baby Driver” is definitely several bars above the average summer blockbuster (not that that bar is set particularly high of course) but when measured up to Wright’s previous work (be it fair or not) it doesn’t quite stand out.

In “Baby Driver” a young talented getaway driver, for a crime syndicate, named Baby plays an endless loop of classic and indie pop and rock music to heighten his focus during his driving. The music helps drown out a hum in his ears he sustained during an accident when he was younger that killed his beloved mother but it’s as much an elixir to his ailment as it is a joy to his world. Baby does his driving though to pay off his debt to criminal kingpin “Doc” and with a final heist job completed it seems as if his ledger is finally paid off…until it isn’t. Now Baby looks to find a way out of the criminal underworld permanently before he’s dragged in too deep and those he loves are put in danger.

When it comes to movie-going, I’ve always been someone who will go out of his way to see a movie based on who’s directing more so than any other quality.

Directors, and the various styles, tones and film-making techniques they use make the movie matter more to me than who’s acting in it or even what genre the film is (though plenty of great directors are of course attached to a single genre).

Whether it’s the Coen Brothers, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Christopher Nolan or Wes Anderson, whatever these guys crank out of Hollywood in the near future is a virtual lock for me to go see. Hell, I had no interest in what I originally perceived as a baffling, inexplicable sequel in “Bladerunner 2049” until I learned Denis Villeneuve, who directed my two favorite movies of the last two years (“Sicario” and “Arrival”) was directing, so it matters quite a bit to me who’s steering the ship when it comes to these movies.

(Also HYPE!)

Edgar Wright is one of those directors for me. From “Spaced” and The Cornetto Trilogy to “Scott Pilgrim vs the World,” Wright has one of my favorite directing styles in Hollywood, consistently schooling the US when it comes to directing great comedy by using jump and long cuts, stylized humor, dry wit and using pop culture references in an actually effective way and not tired and forced like some other movies I’ve seen this year.

(*wink, wink*)

A couple of the things that Wright has been quietly great at though in his tenure are action and the use of music. Its hard not to think of Wright’s films without thinking of “Shaun of the Dead’s” pool cue zombie fighting sequence set to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” or even more appropriately “Scott Pilgrim’s” base guitar battle with Ramona’s third evil ex.

In Wright’s “Baby Driver” there is a clear effort to take these two genres of action and music and shove them to the front of the line while the comedy for a change takes a back seat and the results are pretty good for the most part.

Wright’s love for music, heist films and bare knuckle, pedal to the metal action is very apparent here. As Baby thumbs through his playlist telling his waitress girlfriend about the music he listens to, setting his soundtrack throughout the day, you get the feeling that’s Wright talking to the audience directly here. In this way “Baby Driver” at times feels like Wright’s most personal film as he implores the viewers to set their life to their own soundtrack and kickass to it too.

The music plays in great synchronized harmony with the action in each scene playing both the appropriate and appropriately inappropriate tunes from sequence to sequence. Ansel Elgort’s Baby is our Maestro to this orchestra of greatest hits of rock, R&B and indie alternative in this movie and he conducts it well, starting and stopping only when he wants the scene too and Elgort keeps that tempo high for the audience to keep them engaged throughout.

(And little details like this to make a simple getaway scene just an ounce more amusing is the kind of shit I appreciate about Edgar Wright.)

Side characters provide more than just a base for the rhythm of the story though as Kevin Spacey’s “Doc” is delightfully wicked and Jaimie Foxx’s Bats is enjoyably unhinged and impulsive as the squad’s gunslinger. Jon Hamm also turns in a nice performance, rounding out the cast as “Buddy” who forms an sadistically endearing Bonnie and Clyde chemistry with his wife “Darling” played by Eiza Gonzalez.

(My thoughts each time I look at my playlist before entering the gym.)

Yes, this is an intensely enjoyable movie, and as far as summer films go its one of the better ones of 2017 but whether it’s fair or not to make this comparison its simply a little underwhelming when compared to Wright’s previous work and at times even a tad average.

“Baby Driver” has great chase scenes, car stunts and action sequences but nothing better than his previous movies. The film’s opening car chase sequence and on foot chase scene stand out quite a bit in this feature but the finale of “Hot Fuzz” has better usage of vehicular action, and even “The World’s End” has better on foot chase sequence with heightened tension. Granted this film is much more grounded in reality than Wright’s previous work so his trademark ridiculousness can’t get as over the top as it usually does but it’s just not as enjoyable here.

(”Scott Pilgrim vs the World” was definitely NOT grounded in reality either.)

Even the film’s use of music, which is central to the plot and style of the film, although enjoyable, is not as great as even “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” where music definitely makes a stronger appearance and blends itself in perfectly with the plot.

“Baby Driver” is just not Wright’s best use of action in his career and certainly not his best either in music or any combination there in. Hell, it’s not even the best usage of music and action in a film this year.

(*coughs*)

The plot, while enjoyable, is nothing new either even with its unique traits Call it a homage, if you like, and it certainly is, it’sstill the typical criminal with a heart of gold story, who’s not really a bad guy, who’s held in check by the actual bad guy/mobster dude and threatened by his goons, but finds his heart in a woman who he feels is worth finally busting out of the criminal life for.

(*Coughing intensifies*)

“Baby Driver” is a film I certainly wouldn’t mind watching again but all-time greats like Wright’s previous films? It just isn’t quite there for me.

You can say its not fair to measure the quality of a film almost entirely based off a director’s previous work but if you went to your favorite restaurant a dozen times and suddenly on the last visit the food was a little more stale and over cooked than it should be, it would make you scrunch your eyebrows too.

But as mentioned, by that same token, measuring this film up to the rest of 2017’s movies, its still a damn good time at the theaters this year and a worthwhile escape from rest of Hollywood’s far more averagely produced action films. 

(*Coughing intensifies louder*)

The action is solid, the acting is stellar and the music will definitely have you bobbing your head more than a few times throughout and it’ll be worth your price of admission by the time the credits roll.

“Baby Driver” may not quite measure up the same way other Edgar Wrights films have in the past for this super fan but it’s definitely not a waste of your time either.

Just consider dialing back your expectations a bit.

 VERDICT: 4 out of 5

Looking forward to the inevitable folks who take my slightly less enthusiastic take on “Baby Driver” too seriously. I’ll be waiting, bitches!

[martechadvisor-blog]

Interview with Jon Nevitt, VP Marketing at Taykey

Watch Jon speak about analyzing social platform and website data to identify trends, the importance of real-time data for advertisers to stay relevant to their audiences and balancing the need for quality and scale

Q: Ginger: Hello and welcome to Martech Advisor Executive Interview Series, I am Ginger Conlon, a contributing editor with MarTech Advisor, and joining us today is Jon Nevitt who is VP Marketing of Taykey. Welcome Jon.

Jon: Thank you, hello

Q: Q: Ginger: Glad you are here with us today. We are going to talk about trends and opportunities with, speaking of trends, trend-based targeting and advertising as well as campaign optimization. So, before we jump into that, I would love to hear a little bit about Taykey. Can you tell us what is it and what makes it unique?

A: Jon: Sure. So Taykey understands what’s trending for audiences and we help marketers take action on that data. Primarily by automatically aligning their ads with relevant content. And also providing insights about what their target audience cares about: right now and also over time. With regard to advertising we think it’s pretty unique because it’s the only solution on market that really helps marketers target the context of their ad, and inform that by the audience data. We are really focused on what the target audience is talking about right now, what do they care about this moment and we can align ads with that content.

Q: Q: Ginger: Very cool. So, let’s talk more about trend advertising and campaign optimization. So, can you give a little more insight into how that works with the real-time audience data and optimizing campaigns based on what’s trending?

A: Jon: So, first when we say the word trend, we are referring to the fact that we are continuously analyzing chatter from all major social platforms and thousands of websites to understand what specific topics are seeing a statistically significant increase in conversations running around them. Then we also want to understand why these topics are trending and who is talking about them. And then we scan the web for relevant articles and videos around that particular trend and we push that data to advertisers in real time to their ad platforms to align their ads.

So, for example if you told me you wanted to reach millennial females who are passionate about music, our system might detect right now what they are talking about Justin Beiber’s new album. So, we would automatically send the list of maybe some articles or videos talking about the new music video, URLs for that content directly into our ad platform as targeting criteria. We update this list evolving content continuously as interests change, so, specially things like music, obviously the taste around pop culture, people might be talking about a number of different artists throughout the day. So we can adapt to that in real time.

Q: Ginger: Excellent. So, when you think about advertising optimizing advertisements based on trends, maybe the quick things that come to mind are ‘Oreos dunk in the dark’ or maybe getting tweets out there, but this is really more about optimizing your campaign. So, is there any opportunity that you see that marketers are overlooking in terms of this trend-based advertising that if they took advantage of can have a significant positive influence?

A: Jon: Yes, the way a lot of marketers tend to think about what we do, I think that causes them to miss opportunities, they tend to think about it around major temple events. Like the super bowl for example. So they will say, this is a big cultural moment so we would like to use your data to make sure we are aligning with conversations around super bowl or the Oscars and certainly that’s appropriate, and something we can do. But I think the missed opportunity in only thinking about it that way is that there is also this opportunity to use this data as more of a always-on campaign layer for relevance and even quality. so people’s interest change all the time every day and why not use this real time data to keep you in front of what’s relevant for an audience at scale across the campaign on having a more sustained strategy around it.

Q: Ginger: So, any challenges when it comes to trend-based advertising? Trying to optimize campaigns using that?

A: Jon: One increasing challenge overall the industry is, I guess this is overall and maybe also goes back to your previous question about another way that marketers can take better advantage of it, bouncing this need for quality and scale. Marketers who are concerned about quality are using very restricted white lists to kind of limit what they run but then the flipside is that they are not getting enough scale and enough efficiency. So we are saying you could use our data as a supplement to that white list to discover both relevant and quality content that people are talking about and sharing, that your audience is talking about sharing.

And it gives you a lot more flexibility, a lot more scale to use that data to determine context vs. starting with manually going through a list of sites and curating it, which it doesn't really allow you to align that the way people actually discover content today which often is through social media. Which is a lot more spontaneous. So, I think that is often a missed opportunity or challenge. So, we encourage people to use us as a supplement to those white listing strategies. In addition, we are also blocking any content that has negative or controversial sentiment and we are also using kind of traditional brand safety measures on top of that so there is that sort of baked in.

Q: Ginger: Great balance. So, you know there is no escaping customer experience say when you think about targeting and based on what people are talking about, their behaviour, in interest I think you deliver a kind of better customer experience. So, is there anything that marketers should be doing in terms of trend advertising to make a big impact on the customer experience?

A: Jon: Well I think, arguably, well targeted ads themselves make for better customer experience. But I would say outside of that they could really take advantage of the data they get back from campaign and so all the insights that are getting around, what customers are interested in, the things they care about, and use them to inform, maybe not only messaging, but even product development further up the funnel. So that way they can really be leveraging the insights that they are getting back from all the data they are running in kind of these strategic ways to improve their product and service delivery, as they understand what’s important to their target consumers, both in the moment but also whatever kind of gives you that view over time.

Q: Ginger: So, let’s take a look into the weeds a little bit. One of the great things about technology is that you can help improve processes in terms of efficiency, effectiveness. Where do you see marketers stumbling here in terms of trend advertising, campaign optimization that they could improve? Any advice you have there?

A: Jon: I think I would just reiterate probably the two areas that I mentioned about are really the biggest sort of stumbling blocks. One that I just mentioned: allowing the appropriate scale by not imposing manual predetermined white lists against the sites that they are running, definitely a big one. The other thing is expanding their thinking about how to test the technology beyond just sort of limited temporal opportunities and testing on more sustained basis. These are the two ways that we could see people get more certainly out of what we are doing.

Q: Ginger: And testing is always a great way to go. So, let’s wrap up with a look forward. What’s coming up that you are excited about in two areas, one the market in general, is there a trend or tool, that you are looking forward to doing more with. And within Taykey any new features or upgrades coming up that we should know about?

A: Jon: Maybe I will kind of wrap this together, because definitely I remain very optimistic and excited about the opportunities around programmatic advertising and the ability to drive scale and efficiency for advertisers. And coincidentally or maybe not coincidentally that’s a big area of focus for us as well. So, we are working on integrating more data with more buying platforms so whatever platform we are using to buy programmatically, we want marketers to be able to access our data in real time, and improve the relevance and quality of the sites they are running on. We think that sort of combination of quality, relevant content at scale for specific audiences can really help us deliver almost a prime time reach and engaging experience for advertisers online. Even across today’s fragmented landscape. I would think it would really help deliver that type of experience for brand advertisers and the audience they are trying to reach, so we are really excited about that combination of programmatic advertising and those platforms and the ability to bring our data into the programmatic ecosystem in a bigger way.

Ginger: Well Jon, thanks for all the great insights today. I appreciate you being here with us

Jon: Thank you.

Ginger: I want to thank everyone who joined us on the video, and just tell you that Jon and I had another great conversation about what it takes to succeed in marketing today. So, check that video as well. And also, we should check out MarTech Advisor’s YouTube channel and maybe subscribe to that as well. And we look forward to seeing you another time.

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor