#ableism in rtc

[haowenyang]

if i live in denial i can ignore the fact that the script got changed into something 100x more ableist

[rtc-confessions]

CW for S/A mention/porta potty scene mention

I really really hate the trend on tiktok where people use beautiful from heathers to describe the rtc characters. Specifically, the “freak, slut, cripple, homo, homo, homo”

It feels like an excuse for abled people to say the word cripple and coming from a certified cripple ™️, it really pisses me off that they’re so comfortable saying that word.

But what I think is equally bad if not worse, is that they always label Constance as the “slut”. I tried to search for any reasoning beyond this, when Ricky and Noel have arguably sluttier behavior. And they’re doing it because of her having sex with the carnie in the porta potty!

Yaknow, the one she was too young to consent to, and who was almost DOUBLE HER AGE. That’s literally just sexual assault. People are calling her a slut for getting her assaulted, like it’s funny or something. Coming from a victim, it’s not funny. It’s just really weird and fucked up and I want people to stop doing it. She’s not a slut because she’s a victim, she’s not old enough to consent.

~~

[thelegendofmik]

Stop Defending Ableists Challenge (Level: Impossible)

So the other day I made a post listing all the ableist things Jacob Richmond has included in Legoland and Ride the Cyclone.

And the response was abysmal - the amount of "well actually..." kind of responses I got was disgusting and I took down the post because I find it counterproductive to argue with teenagers on the internet. However, I stand by the belief that if you think you are old enough to post publicly on the internet, you are old enough to be held accountable for what you post.

But I think what I had to say was quite important, so I am going to reword it here.

TW here for the discussion of ableism and ableist slurs (they are all censored)

There is ZERO (0) justification for the use of THREE (3) ableist slurs across both works. I don't fucking care if it was the 2000's. The ADA predates both shows and disability activism had existed for decades before that (as yannick very kindly reminded me). So no, it was not ok for Richmond to use those slurs in his works, regardless of the time period. Because there is nothing "correct" (politically, or otherwise) about ableism.

And before you say "Oh, but it was the character who said it, not the writer..."

CHARACTERS ARE NOT SENTIENT BEINGS! They are not created in a vacuum. Their thoughts and actions are often a reflection of the author's own beliefs and morals.

It was not Ocean who decided to use the word cr*pple. It was Jacob Richmond who decided to use it. Same with the r word and sp*z in Legoland. It wasn't Penny and Ezra who decided to use those words, it was Jacob Richmond. Because each character's actions are dictated by the decisions that the author makes for that character. And in this case, the author decided to be an ableist asshole.

Yes, characters can be assholes. They can be complex and nuanced beings. But there are better ways to portray such experiences than being violently ableist (i.e.: without using slurs). And why does the ableist character get complexity and nuance, but the disabled character is simply the sad, disabled kid, with not much else in his personality until he magically becomes abled bodied. Like we deserve nuance and complexity as well, people!

In a 2022 interview with Curtain Call Bway (here), when asked who his favourite character to write was, Richmond responds with the following:

Ocean is definitely my favorite character to write because it’s based on certain people I’ve met and certain aspects of myself too.

Like he literally admits it himself, that his decisions when writing an ableist character were based off aspects of his own personality.

The reality is, disability has never been more than a comedic plot point to Richmond. He has never cared about portraying a realistic disabled experience. He has never cared about disabled people.

And the cherry on top is that his response to yannick-robin being hate-crimed was to rewrite Ricky so that he could be played by an abled and therefore production teams wouldn't have to give a shit about ensuring their spaces are safe and accessible for disabled performers. If he actually cared about disabled people and properly representing our experiences, he would have worked with a disability consultant and fixed the issues within the show. Instead, he doubles down and causes even more harm.

To add insult to injury, he then licensed that script to Sarah Rasmussen and her team of ableist cronies for the DC production. Because him choosing to continue working with Rasmussen and her team just shows that he shares the same ableist values as the McCarter/Arena team.

So by saying that "its the character, not the author", you are defending Richmond and his violent ableism. You are attempting to justify the harm he has done and CONTINUES TO DO to disabled people. YOU. ARE. A. PART. OF. THE. PROBLEM.

Ride the Cyclone and Legoland (in ALL its forms and versions) contains so much ableist violence. This violence has traumatised REAL PEOPLE, but yannick, myself, and other people speaking out are the ones ruining the vibe by calling it out? Be fucking for real people.

Now if only my university papers were this thorough...

[lore-gore]

Saw this comic by @icepoptroll and thought: "we need to do something similar in our roleplay."

And then I proceeded to draft this:

Song ends.

(Pause.)

Ocean: I just wanted them to pay attention to me. But no achievement could ever make my parents give- give a shit about me! Because they never did. So I just kept climbing and climbing, until eventually it wasn’t about them anymore. Winning just became who I was. I became so obsessed with the climb, that I forgot where the top was. I hurt the people who actually gave me happiness for a goal that would never be reached because it never existed.

Ricky: You really did, Ocean. You constantly infantilized and talked down to me, calling me sweetie despite the fact you didn’t even know if I was sweet. You didn’t know me at all. You treated me like a charity project, rather than seeing me as a person. You reduced my value down to my physical disabilities. You called me useless. You said I’d never learn to read, even though I do know how to read, I love to read actually, and even if I couldn’t, even if I had low cognitive ability, that doesn’t make me below you. I honestly wish you just ignored me like everybody else.

Ocean: I’m so sorry, Ricky. You didn’t deserve that.

Ricky: I know. There’s no undoing what you’ve done, Ocean. Not just to me, but to everyone in the choir. But what you can do is be better. Start treating us with respect and learn from your mistakes. Apologies only go so far.

Ocean: Thank you, Ricky.

Ricky: You’re welcome, Ocean.

Obviously needs tweaking to make it truly fit their characters, but I think I nailed the vibe down.

@krowsindulgences @astral--horrorshow @parasolyaa @savannahwiththegreeneteyes

[rickypottsboyfriend]

rtc fandom moved on too fast from rickys disability being cut . why the fuck is nobody talking about . it goes to show that ableds do not care about physically disabled people when it comes to media . you guys were letting his disability get erased . you maybe reblogged a link to a petition to stop if from happening . but what else did you do ? continue to share what happened ? not support productions that cut his disability ? no . you guys were performative . you dont care . the rtc fandom has moved on entirely . i have seen NOBODY other than myself talk about rickys disability being cut from the musical . fuck you guys

[dial1-800-peachykeen]

It's always 'ily' and never 'mdtwiliyaeidnstbiabtmimbtpyiwttaotpfysaitpfomhtiifjiettyhbtcrawauawtyamwawssadadatiswiyelrroltbdmptilmmataoym'

[a-fucking-tornado]

Just wanted to say: nothing but respect for @adandelioninspring

[misconceivedcapricorn]

Ride the Cyclone's development as a musical will always fascinate me because the probability of a recording of the original performances is most likely nonexistent but what we do have of it is also quite interesting

[whosmarinette]

If I see another person here or anywhere try to defend Kholby Wardell and/or the changes to the ride the cyclone script made to erase Ricky’s disability I will start eating my own skin in frustration and it’s gonna hurt me a lot

[thelegendofmik]

THIS THIS THIS

I haven’t talked about rtc in a hot sec because real life has absolutely kicked my ass as of late but this is such a correct opinion that I’m coming out of my flare up hidey hole to reblog this op u slayed so hard with this

hey RTC fandom, i wanted to talk about disability erasure in RTC, and how the fandom (and potential future productions) can do better than canon has done so far!

What is disability erasure?

Disability erasure is, basically, finding ways to avoid acknowledging or depicting disability because of how it makes people uncomfortable. One example of this, and the most common thing that pops up in discussions of RTC, is taking a character that is canonically disabled or usually depicted as disabled, and depicting them without that disability.

When this happens in general, it is a problem because it deprives disabled people of a chance to see themselves represented in media. In theatre, it also often means that an abled actor gets a role that could have gone to a disabled actor - and this is already a problem even when the character is being depicted as disabled on-stage, due to ableism in the hiring/audition process.

We already have few enough disabled characters as it is - we don't need any less. Ricky is an important character to me and to many other disabled people. That's why I, like most of the fandom, do not support the 2022 script changes that made Ricky able-bodied and replaced his physical disability with a psychological trauma.

I won't discuss the script changes much here. Many other people, including Yannick himself, have already explained it better than I can. But suffice to say I think the new script is incredibly, inherently ableist.

But that's not the only example of disability erasure in RTC.

Disability erasure doesn't just mean taking a disabled character and making them completely abled. In fact, many people have correctly pointed out that Ricky still has a disability in the new scripts, because being unable to talk due to psychological trauma is a disability. And this is true, but it doesn't change the deliberate erasure of Ricky's physical disability.

Because all disabilities are different, it's possible to erase a character's disability even without making them fully abled. If a character has one disability, and you remove it to give them another - that's still erasure! Disability rep is not all interchangeable, and it does matter what disability or broadly what type of disability a character has.

I hope most of the fandom can understand that, for example, it would be a problem to make Noel bisexual. Even though bisexuality is still part of the queer community, it's erasure to do that for Noel - because he isn't just generic queer representation, he's specifically gay! And the same sort of principle applies to Ricky, because he isn't just generic disability representation - he is specifically a person with a degenerative disease, and a mobility aid user who cannot speak.

With the canon info that we have on Ricky's disability, based on the 2016 script, here are some examples of things that might not be making him fully abled but are still erasure:

Depicting Ricky not needing mobility aids, even if he can't talk

Depicting Ricky talking out loud, even if he still needs mobility aids

Depicting Ricky being a person who cannot speak & needs mobility aids, but having this be due to two unrelated disabilities that affect his speech & legs only (for example nonverbal autism & arthritis in his legs). Ricky canonically has a rare degenerative disease that affects both his speech and his mobility; it is very likely (all but stated outright in canon) that this is a neuromuscular disease which affects his whole body.

Removing the fact that Ricky has a degenerative disease specifically, and explaining his symptoms with a disability that will stay at the same severity throughout his life, when he canonically has a degenerative disease that he outright says will lead to an early death (even if this makes you sad to think about, which is 100% valid and understandable, it is not appropriate to erase outright)

But what about in the afterlife? What if Karnak allows Ricky to remove his disability or specific parts of it?

Pretty much every production of RTC involves Ricky, upon death, gaining some abilities that he didn't have in life. In most productions he discards his mobility aids, though there are some where he keeps them during most of the musical and only throws them aside for choreography, and some where he keeps them throughout choreography. To my knowledge every production of RTC also has him talking out loud after his death. This is all pretty easily explained by some sort of afterlife magic, or by Karnak actively choosing to remove (parts of) Ricky's disability.

And I'm sorry to say that it's still erasure.

I'm not saying this because I want to file RTC away as bad rep. I love RTC, and I love Ricky! I think Ricky is extremely valuable disability representation for so many reasons, and I also think there are some things that it could have done better.

I think having Ricky as an explicitly disabled character who becomes able-bodied due to magic later on is much, much better representation than simply writing his disability out of the canon entirely. It's a different level of erasure, because it still acknowledges him as a disabled character, and still acknowledges that as part of his backstory.

But using magic as a way to remove disability is lazy. It's a quick way to avoid having to depict a character as disabled for the entire length of a musical. And that means that the disabled fans who see ourselves in Ricky, don't get to see a character depicted as disabled or using mobility aids on-stage for the whole length of the musical.

Now, I understand that whenever you're making fanworks for a flawed piece of media (and every piece of media will have some flaws), there's a balance between being canon compliant and improving on canon. I don't think fans should be instantly labeled as ableist, or canceled, for writing canon compliant fic where Ricky's disability is erased in some way in the afterlife. I don't think it carries the same harm or weight - for one, it doesn't have the same reach as actual musical productions do, and on top of that, disabled people in the RTC fandom are already aware of the flawed parts of RTC's disability rep & we tend to be prepared for this when we go into the fandom.

I do think people should consider making Ricky disabled in the afterlife in fanworks. Many other parts of canon are changed in fanworks, so this one can be too!

And more importantly than that, I think more RTC productions (on the off chance anyone involved in a production of RTC is reading this post) should work to continue depicting Ricky as disabled on-stage throughout the whole musical. As I've said before, to my knowledge, there isn't an existing production of RTC that doesn't engage in some level of disability erasure, and that's something I'd like to see change one day.

But wait, if Ricky still couldn't speak out loud in the afterlife, wouldn't that mean cutting his song?

Actually, no!

I get this response a lot when I bring up the disability erasure inherent in Ricky consistently regaining his ability to talk upon death. I understand the concern - I think it would be awful if a production simply cut SABM in order to avoid depicting Ricky talking/singing out loud, and that doing so would also be a form of erasure in the sense that it would inevitably involve minimizing Ricky's character and removing parts of what made RTC such valuable disability rep in the first place (especially so if some of ricky's speaking lines, such as his post-SABM speech, are also cut with SABM).

But the fact is that you simply don't have to cut Ricky's song for this to work. There are real people who have performed in musicals without speaking/singing out loud, and still had major roles!

One way of doing this is with an interpreter. Ricky's actor would perform SABM in sign language, and another performer would sing the song as he signs it. It's important to note that when this is done, Ricky is still the main performer and still the focus of the song, and the interpreter is just that - an interpreter.

This method has been done in musical theatre before. One example is Joshua Castille, a Deaf actor, playing Quasimodo (an originally deaf character) in the 5th Avenue Theatre production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He performs in ASL, with singer E.J Cardona acting as the voice of Quasimodo. There are some clips online if you'd like to look it up!

There's another idea that I've thought of myself, though I don't know of any examples or if it'd been done. If Ricky was depicted using an AAC device on-stage, that would mean he talks using a synthesised (text-to-speech) voice. And we already have the technology to create singing with synthesised voices - it's called Vocaloid!

Of course, real world AAC devices generally can't sing, and programming a song into a vocaloid inherently takes a lot of time - you couldn't do it on the spot. But the whole premise of a musical is people singing on the spot when they wouldn't normally be able to! In RTC specifically it's explained as Karnak's doing, but pretty much every musical involves characters perfectly singing in contexts where they couldn't have possibly memorised/rehearsed the lyrics, harmonies or choreography in advance. I don't think it's that out-there to stretch this to Ricky singing using a vocaloid-like voice in a context where he couldn't have possibly programmed it into his device in advance.

I don't think these are the only ways it can be done, either - they're just some obvious examples. I just wanted to make it clear that it is possible to depict Ricky as a nonspeaking character throughout the musical, and this wouldn't have to involve cutting his song or removing his singing roles. I'd really like to see productions start to come up with creative ways of doing this!

Conclusion/TL;DR

Disability erasure is a problem in all existing RTC productions to varying degrees, and it's a problem in the fandom as well. Disability erasure isn't just taking a disabled character and making them fully abled - many cases of disability erasure in RTC involve Ricky still having a disability, but it's still erasure if aspects of the disability he canonically has are erased.

Contrary to popular belief, Ricky's inability to speak being erased in the afterlife is not just a necessary evil of the musical genre. Nonspeaking characters can be represented in musicals, and this wouldn't have to involve cutting his song!

Thanks for reading!

[haowenyang]

yannick: please don’t be a performative ally

SOME rtc fans: okay *is a performative ally*

(saying arena stage was good, saying mccarter theatre was good, praising kholby after what he said, saying the new script was accurate to TRAUMATIC mutism (which yannick has said it is not)/not bad/people are being over dramatic/saying that there’s still rep in the show etc, while reposting and saying stuff about what happened to yannick are all examples of the act of outwardly appearing devoted to a cause while declining to take any major actions to support it. the literal definition of performative ally-ism)

[rtc-confessions]

i’m going to start off by saying that i myself am autistic which is widely considered a disability (a hidden one in fact) and i would never myself want to come off as ableist and i’m sorry if you think that way it isn’t my intent i’m just here to state my opinion (and hopefully stop harassment towards 13 year olds which i’ve unfortunately seen) . recently there has been discourse in the fandom on weather or not it’s is ok to call ricky 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 and i wanted to give my two cents on the situation at hand. i personally think it’s ok to say it as long as it’s not in a ableist way. Most people when their using this term they mean it in the tiktok meme and often don’t have any intent of being ableist. yes the word freak and freaky have adopted ableist origins that originated in i believe the 1800s. however most often or not when people use the word freak they are referring to the something as odd or unusual (or the tiktok meme) yes this obviously dosent disregard the origins but the context is being used differently and throwing ableist accusations isn’t ok. most of the time someone isn’t educated on the subject. i think it’s ok to use the 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 meme on Ricky as long as you aren’t being ableist about him but if you disagree with that it’s perfectly fine and i’m open for criticism. also i’m not trying to disrespect anyone’s own experiences I myself have bean called a freak as-well. thanks for taking the time to read this rant and don’t harass others if you disagree feel free to discuss this is just my opinion and stay safe <3

~~

[thelegendofmik]

Ride the Cyclone's Ableism Runs so Much Deeper than I Realised

Hi friends! Its been a while since I spoke about Ride the Cyclone, because it was a shitshow and I quite frankly wanted nothing to do with it anymore.

But I am a chronic ruminator, and its midnight and I am currently in a pain flare, so I have found myself ruminating on RTC. In my head, I jokingly introduced Ocean as "Ablest Extraordinaire!" - which led me to realise that while Ocean is the only one who is explicitly ableist, the others are inherently complicit in her ableism, as they stand by and do literally nothing about it. And they were most likely the exact same while they were all alive.

And then I had the realisation:

The choir only deem Ricky worth listening to - his story worthy of being heard - after he is magically cured of his disabilities and is all of a sudden able-bodied. Now that his existence is palatable to the ableds.

Isn't this an amazing message to be sending to disabled kids? (/s) That in order to even be listened to they should suppress their access needs (by ditching the mobility aids and/or forcing themselves to communicate verbally).

And this isn't just a mentality expressed in the show (and by extension, by Jacob Richmond/Brooke Maxwell), it is one that is expressed by the teams that produce this musical. Exhibit A: McCarter theatre. They hire yannick-robin, but try to dictate which mobility aids he uses, and when, in order to try and make his disabilities more palatable to them and their target audience. And the moment yannick experiences a symptom of said disability (*gasp* shocking, I know, that a consistent denial of one's access needs leads to intensified symptoms) that doesn't fit with the carefully curated image of disability they want to portray, they throw him aside and deem him too "inconsistent".

Fucking pathetic, if you ask me.

To any disabled folks reading this:

You deserve to be heard, as you are. Tell your story however the fuck you see fit. You don't need to force yourself to be palatable to the ableds. They need to pull their heads out of their asses and grow the fuck up, quite frankly. And don't let anyone diminish your access needs - you deserve to have equal access in EVERYTHING. I love you all xx

That's all for today :)

[lore-gore]

Breakdown of edits for upcoming roleplay, found here:

The changes to the 2016 version of Ride The Cyclone will be as follows:

Ricky will switch between his wheelchair and crutches throughout the play, depending on the choreography. (Or whatever mobility aid/combination of mobility aids Ricky's roleplayer wants to use.)

Ricky's catchphrase will still be last, but it will also be when he first speaks:

(RICKY realizes that this plane of existence has no boundaries. He attempts to communicate telepathically.)

RICKY; RECORDED

Story of my life brother.

KARNAK

Meet Ricky Potts

SFX: MEET RICKY

KARNAK

Town dreamer. Catchphrase:

(RICKY does a small physical gesture. He moves his mouth along with the words now.)

RICKY

Level up.

OCEAN

Oh my god Ricky, sweetie you can speak!

RICKY

That's nothing... watch this.

(RICKY summons his wheelchair.)

During What The World Needs, the tambourine line is used instead.

Ricky and Constance switch places in the pyramid.

Afterwards, Oceans 'I love you' to Ricky will go like this:

OCEAN

And Ricky! Honey. I love you. I got you into the choir even though you didn't talk! I mean, you got play the tambourine!

RICKY

No one gets to play the tambourine, they're always made to! No one's making out with tambourine guy.

OCEAN

Accessibility for all!

RICKY

And then I rode the roller coaster. Thanks.

Karnak calls Ukraine Ukraine, not THE Ukraine

Pre- Space Age Bachelor Man will go like this:

RICKY

Level up!

KARNAK

Ricky Potts, born June 5th. Gemini: the dual nature. Favorite ride: The Gravitron. Born with a rare degenerative disease, when Ricky mysteriously stopped speaking at an early age, the Potts family took a vow of silence. The only time they ever really interacted with one another is when they read comics, or fed the cats. They had 14 cats. From the time he started school Ricky was subjected to the most appalling cruelty humanity can muster: complete indifference. Far from growing bitter, Ricky developed an elaborate playground in his synapses, where he became his own best friend. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Ricky Potts! The most imaginative boy in town.

(Pause)

MISHA

Why don't you express your truth as 'The Boy Who Couldn't Talk Now Plays The Accordion Like The World's Most Celebrated Accordion Player.' Whatever the hell that dude's name is.

RICKY

Well... What if people can't handle what I have to say?

CONSTANCE

Just go ahead! It's fine.

RICKY

I dunno, it's... Kinda hard to talk about. So...

CONSTANCE

It's hard to talk about stuff. But um... After a while you might feel better.

OCEAN

Yeah you can talk-

(Everyone looks at OCEAN)

Okay...

RICKY

Okay, um... Well I guess you can say I'm pretty sexy on another planet!

Look, I am a radical prophet from the Zolarian Starcluster. Supreme leader of those beings that evolved from cats. There are seven suns on planet Zolar so, the gravitational pull it makes everything hotter, longer, wider, and wetter.

(CONSTANCE giggles)

CONSTANCE

I'd be lying if I said that was exactly what I was expecting! But okay?

OCEAN

Who even are you right now?!?

RICKY

I'm telling you, monkey lovedrop! Come on-

I'M JUST A SWINGIN'

CHOIR

AAAH!

RICKY

SPACE AGE!

CHOIR

AAH AH!

RICKY

BATCHELOR MAN!

He does not concede afterwards.

Instead of Misha being missing from The Ballad of Jane Doe, it's Ricky.

And then, the ending, in which Karnak dies before Jane is ressurected:

OCEAN

(to herself)

“The one who wants to win it the most shall redeem the loser—in order to complete the whole.”

(beat)

... you knew all along I could never do it

KARNAK

What?

OCEAN

Choose myself.

(She looks around the room. She exhales.)

(To everyone in the room)

It shouldn’t be me.

(She looks at CONSTANCE who looks at JANE, OCEAN nods)

I made no attempt to get to know any of you in life. Not even my best friend. In any real way. Which turns out is too bad for me, because each and every one of you is a fricken rockstar. We died young, in some random accident. But to say that if one dies young, they die needlessly - that is to discount the years we had. The experiences we had... Our hopes, our dreams... I would gladly take my seventeen years over nothing. Who do I vote for? ... The girl who can't remember any of it. Her... we had a life—she didn’t. That’s my vote. Motioned carried.

(JANE looks confused as she moves toward the proscenium.)

OCEAN

Democracy rocks.

KARNAK

As you wish.

(Suddenly a flurry of fortunes he has given over his life overlap. “You will get a promotion, be sure to ride the Cyclone”, “Your love will last. Be sure to ride the Cyclone”, “The truth is on your side, be sure to ride the Cyclone” etc.)

KARNAK (SFX)

Automation, digital hiccup

Your lucky number is seven, you will get a promotion, you will soar to great heights, be sure to ride the Cyclone.

(KARNAK is dead, but the children remain. They huddle around JANE to comfort her.)

OCEAN

IT’S NOT A GAME, MAYBE THAT’S THE NEWS

CAUSE NO ONE WILL WIN HERE

AND NO ONE CAN LOSE

THERE’S NO ONE TO MEASURE OUR FOOLISH PRIDE

AND NO ONE KEEPS SCORE OF HOW HARD WE TRIED

OCEAN, CONSTANCE

THIS RIDE IT HAS HEARTBREAK

THIS RIDE IT HAS PAIN

OCEAN, CONSTANCE, NOEL

ALL KINDS OF BLUE SKIES

NO SHORTAGE OF RAIN

KIDS (EXCEPT JANE)

YES THERE IS LAUGHTER AND THE TELLING OF LIES

AND MAYBE IN DARKNESS WE OPEN OUR EYES

AND YOU GIVE AND CHOOSE

WHILE YOU LOVE AND LOSE

AND YOU FEEL THE WORLD IS SPINNING

WITH NO ENDING OR BEGINNING

YOU JUST TAKE A LOOK AROUND

TAKE A LOOK AROUND

TAKE A LOOK AROUND

AND ‘ROUND AND ‘ROUND AND ‘ROUND

(The children break away.)

#20 SAILING THROUGH SPACE REPRISE

CONSTANCE

WE'RE JUST

KIDS (EXCEPT OCEAN)

SAILING THROUGH SPACE

MISHA

THERE'S NO

KIDS (EXCEPT OCEAN)

UP OR DOWN

NOEL

SO

KIDS (EXCEPT OCEAN)

BEAUTIFUL AND STRANGE

RICKY

BUT IT'S

KIDS (EXCEPT OCEAN)

MORE THAN SPINNING 'ROUND

(glock echoes)

YES, IT'S EVERYTHING YOU LOVED

AND EVERYTHING YOU DREAMED

AND EVERYTHING YOU SHARED

AND EVERYTHING THAT SEEMED SO...

OH SO TERRIFYING...

#21 IT'S JUST A RIDE

OCEAN

BUT IT'S NOT A GAME, IT'S NOT A GAME

KIDS (EXCEPT OCEAN, JANE)

WHOA NO NO

IT'S NOT A GAME, IT'S NOT A GAME

KIDS

IT'S JUST A RI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IDE! WOO!

IT'S JUST A RI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IDE!

CONSTANCE, MISHA, NOEL

YOU MIGHT LIVE FOR A DAY OR ETERNITY

OCEAN, RICKY (OVERLAPPING)

AAAAAAAAAH!

CONSTANCE, MISHA, NOEL

THERE'S NO TIME FOR A JUDGE OR A REFEREE!

OCEAN, RICKY

NO ONE WILL MEASURE...!

CONSTANCE, MISHA, NOEL

AAAAAAAAAH!

OCEAN, RICKY

HOW HARD WE TRIEEED!

KIDS

WE’RE ALL JUST SAILING THROUGH SPACE

THERE’S NO UP, THERE’S NO DOWN

IT’S ALL SO BEAUTIFUL AND STRANGE

BUT SO MUCH MORE THAN SPINNING ROUND

YES IT’S EVERYTHING YOU LOVED

AND IT’S EVERYTHING YOU DREAMED

AND IT’S EVERYTHING YOU SHARED

AND IT’S EVERYTHING THAT SEEMED SO

OH SO TERRIFYING

TURN IT ROUND!

IT'S JUST A RI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IDE! WOO!

IT'S JUST A RI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IDE!

AND THE WORLD WILL KEEP ON SPINNING

WITH NO ENDING OR BEGINNING...

SO JUST TAKE A LOOK AROUND

TAKE A LOOK AROUND...

TAKE A LOOK AROUND...

KIDS (EXCEPT JANE)

AND ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND...

JANE

I KNOW THIS DREAM OF LIFE IS NEVER ENDING

IT GOES AROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND AGAIN

(The kids stand in rollercoaster formation, except for JANE who stands at the side. We see the curtain open up with the eternity light with only the sound of howling wind for a brief moment ... The curtain suddenly starts to close with the sound of the roller coaster track, the instant it closes, snap blackout.)

THE END

[thelegendofmik]

THERE IS ONLY ONE VALID WAY TO REWRITE THE SCRIPT. HERE:

Get it? It's an empty document. Because this dumpster fire of a show that has literally, may I remind you once again, resulted in a HATE CRIME against a real person, cannot be rewritten in a way that humanises the disability experience.

fin.

A Project.

So, Im sure everybody here knows about #Saverickypotts.

I agree with this movement, and I'm here to make my contribution to it.

Im going to attempt to rewrite the script, re-add Ricky's disability, and keep him disabled in the afterlife.

This will all be explained in my version of the script.

The ableist Ocean comments will be kept, but in Ocean's monologue towards the end of the show she will apologize to the end of the show for her harmful words.

I am completely open to ideas!

#Saverickypotts. <33

-Ocean ☆

[beababoobies]

I saw a post that was talking about how we “ignore” Oceans ableism and it made me go insane because I’ve not seen a single person who SAW her ableism and ACKNOWLEDGED it and didn’t make sure that they drew her character in a much more welcoming and inviting light…. Yes she’s ableist. Every fucking popular white kid in southern Canada is, sorry. SHE’S A CARICATURE. OF ANNOYING POPULAR WHITE KIDS. SHES ALSO SO WEIRD ABOUT MISCHA BEING UKRAINIAN. SHES WEIRD ABOUT CONSTANCE BEING PLUS SIZE. SHES A CARICATURE OF AWFUL POPULAR KIDS.

sorry I genuinely feel like I’m going insane by saying this but I feel like the fandom has completely acknowledged this and understands this this like. Shouldn’t be controversial. Like all these other characters suck too by some standard if you want to stretch it that way; Noel romanticizing sexual assault, STDs, ect ! Constance’s insane sexualization of gay men ! Ricky… no actually? Ricky is perfect. But all these characters are AWFUL by some sort of far-fetched standard and it’s so weird to try and ‘call out’ a fandom for just?? enjoying the characters and blatant face value. anyways, rant over. guess who’s back to being controversial in the rtc fandom YIPPEE ! Media literacy is very dead !