#and i hate that it has been so capitalized and exploited

[suuho]

by the way, i think it is a wonderful thing to be a fan of something, to admire different kinds of art and artists, and i do think that it is a fundamentally human characteristic that connects people, and changes them for the better. the idea that someone has created something that resonates with you, and that you get to love and cherish and engage with, is at the core of humanity, and community, and human-kind, and brings us all together. it is a necessity to live, even, and i think that is a beautiful thing.

[injvns]

copy that - na jaemin

wc: 1.3k

notes: this turned from a kun fic based on a song to this thing from my little brain hole. not being able to focus can do wonders sometimes. hope u enjoy ᡣ𐭩

you wake up to the sound of the shower running.

that already ticks you off, knowing jaemin left you to freeze your ass off in bed before you were even conscious. you pull the sheets up past your face, trying to human-hot-pocket yourself back to a warmer temperature.

you've been with jaemin for over a year now, and you still aren't used to the fact that he's an early riser. it's just weird to you, and kind of annoying. you will finally be getting to the good part of your dream, and that is exactly when jaemin's body decides it's time to start the day. you love waking up to him, don't misunderstand, but it'd be nice to wake up to him a little later. 

you hear the blow dryer start, signaling he'll be back to bed soon. painstakingly you reach your arm out from the blanket cave you've created and feel around your bedside table for a good two minutes until you find your phone. maybe you should've waited to open it. the first thing your screen greets you with is a text from your boss letting you know you have to come in later today. it was supposed to be your day off.

now you're plain irritated. 

this was the first day in weeks you and jaemin both had off at the same time. facetime calls and messages that didn't get answered until 3 hours after they were sent were starting to get old. today was meant to be a day spent in the house, together, no interruptions, just you and jaem.  you managed to get it interrupted sooner than it could actually start.

before you can fully spiral, you hear the bathroom door open. you peak your head out from under the covers,

"you gorgeous, gorgeous man and your stupid, stupid sleep schedule."

he smiles that gorgeous smile at you, "good morning, beautiful," he approaches the bed, getting ready to flop himself on top of you, "how'd you sleep?'

"good until i woke up without you, and now my boss wants me to go in." you sigh as jaemin wraps himself around you, "i don't understand it, the company is huge! i cannot be the only one available."

"i'm sorry, beautiful." is the only thing he says, knowing he can't solve the problem, but wishing he could. sometimes you hate that he's the best. you hate that he's more worried about you than upset that your plans together are ruined.

"today was supposed to be about us, jaem." you feel your tears begin to well up, "i just wanted to be with you today."

"i know, baby." he lets out a sigh of his own, "is there any way you can get out of going?"

"i don't think so," jaemin reaches to wipe the stray tears that had fallen from your eyes, "saying she 'wants' me to come in was the wrong choice, she's telling me i'm coming in today." 

your boss is a great woman, you would even consider her a friend, but damn does she exploit the hell out of your friendship. if someone calls in sick, you're her go-to. if someone has a family emergency and needs to leave, you're the one she calls to replace them. hell, if she can't come into the office you basically end up doing her job for her.

"i think i have a good hour before i need to leave." you hate capitalism.

 you get no response from jaemin, only the consistent feeling of his hand smoothing out your hair, that is until he pipes up.

"want me to shower with you?" he winks, it would've been super corny if he wasn't super hot.

"you just showered?"

"offer still stands~"

"okay, then get off me already." 

he takes that as his cue to roll you both over until you are the one on top of him, then lifting you off the bed. he carries you to the bathroom with a newfound determination. as he sets you down on the bathroom counter you ask,

"whats got you so excited?" you can't hide the teasing smirk that makes it's way onto your face.

"always excited to see my beautiful girl's body." he says it so proudly you can't help but hit him out of embarrassment.

"shut up! don't get me horny before i have to leave for work, asshole." there is no bite behind your words.

"sorry! sorry!" he blurts, full of amusement. he definitely isn't sorry.

soft laughter filled the bathroom. for every morning jaemin wakes you up way too early, he makes up for it with a lifetime of memories filled with shining sunrises and dazzling smiles. as you go through the motions of preparing for a day that could've been so much better, jaemin stays with you for each second of it. from washing your hair for you, to drying it as you brush your teeth, to just being there as you get dressed. the day might be time lost, but the morning is alive and well and filled with you and him.  

"wait, pretty, before you leave," jaemin trails off, going to get something from under the bed, "i got us something."

you watch him move in the mirror as you put on your necklace, the one jaemin got you for your 9 month anniversary. he pulls a box out, not small enough to be jewelry, but not big enough to be shoes. it's got your interest piqued.

"come see," he beckons you over softly.

you come up behind him to stare into the mysterious box and see— walkie talkies?

"huh?" confusion covers your features.

"i saw little dog toy ones when i was getting food for the babies, and i just figured it'd be so much nicer to talk to each other at work this way. i know it's still not the same as being together, but i thought it'd be nice to hear your voice whenever i want." he plays with the buttons on the walkie talkie as he talks.

your expression melts into one of pure warmth as you wrap yourself around the man of your dreams. you make sure to squeeze him as tight as you can; it blows your mind everyday that a man this considerate really made his way to you.

"t'ank yu" it comes out muffled into his chest.

he huffs out a laugh, the air comes and floats itself down over the top of your head, furthering jaemin's mark on you. it's not a mark in a possessive way, it's simply a mark that has been left over time. when a love is as deep as the one he has for you, it can't be helped that he unconsciously finds any and every way to connect himself to you further.

after that, you both decide its unfortunately time for you to start your day. jaemin drives you to work, leaving you at the office with a sorry but loving smile. his walkie talkie is pink and in the center console. yours in red and in your bag. he made sure to buy a charger for yours and his separately, 'so you can never get rid of me,' he says.

as you go throughout your day, constant updates from your boyfriend fill the usual silence of your office space. he lets you know when he gets back to the apartment, he lets you know what's happening in the book he's reading, and he lets you know when lucy sits on top of the book as he's reading it so that he'll pet her. you always make sure to give a response back. 

his voice is a welcome sound to your day and one that you hope you hear for all of your days. that feels like something too heavy to say over a walkie talkie so instead you say,

"hey, jaem, i love you."

your hear the line crackle to life, 

"copy that."

[klapollo]

I'm going to be honest. I really hate how the discussion has become "all AI is bad all the time always" and not "how can we regulate and improve AI in a way that will benefit people, not exploit them, and improve the world with a potentially useful technology that we can educate people on"

It just seems so defeatist to throw the baby out with the bathwater like this. Yes, as is typical under capitalism, AI has so far been used to some truly horrific ends. But, It also has the potential to do truly great things for people in a wide variety of ways. Why are we not fighting for an AI that is ethical, helpful, regulated, and understood by people so as not to be deceived by it? I don't want to stop the march of technological advancement, I want it to work for the benefit of people collectively and not just be exploited by corporations who want to hurt them. It's easy to see AI as completely bad when it's mostly been used for bad things, but there is a limitless amount of things we could do for people with this technology if we truly fought for it to be used ethically.

[apas-95]

Quick question, do you have to be anti porn to be a good communist, due to it being the capitalist manifesation of the commodification of women? while opposing the industrial production of it, that is studio porn, is a very obvious red line and shouldnt exist at all, is it wise to make a point of just hating All of it? I ask because some comrades in a server are discussing it and i wanted your thoughts

My thoughts regarding this are threefold:

First: it is important to understand the class character of any given institution, the failure to do so leads to errors. A common 'left' error is in attributing the negative aspects of an institution under capitalism to the institution itself, without understanding its capitalist character. An example would be the characterisation of the police as fundamentally an agent of repressing the people (when under socialism they are an agent of the people for repression of the bourgeois), or of the academy as fundamentally an arbiter of class access to certain roles in society (when under socialism it is straightforwardly an educator and enabler of technically-skilled labour). To some degree the abuses of the pornography industry are, doubtlessly, down to the social context it exists in, and in the exploitation of (lumpen)proletarians engaged in sex work.

Second: a vulgar 'proletarian feminism' which avoids this class analysis inevitably also commits the same ignorance of class in the opposite direction, and commits rightist errors. Commonly, in the advocating of an alliance with the bourgeois state and bourgeois police to 'protect women' - by criminalising one or the other aspect of sex work under capitalism. The status of sex workers as proletarians, and, when criminalised as such, lumpenproletarians, is essentially ignored. It must be understood that first and foremost the issue of sex work is a labour issue, and like any labour issue it can only be solved by the self-organisation and self-emancipation of the workers themselves.

Third: the categorisation of pornography as specifically an issue of the commodification and exploitation of women (as above) breaks down in the contexts of both male pornography and amateur pornography. Male pornography clearly does not involve the commodification of women (though it does involve the exploitation of sex workers!); and amateur pornography, produced, as it were 'as an expression of one's own nature', and removed from any valorisation of capital, clearly involves no commodification at all.

Generally it has been the case that socialist states have banned pornography and sex work once established. Sex workers who found themselves now unemployed under socialism were not, as in capitalism, made even more desperate and destitute - rather, they were happily able to take up other fields of guaranteed work. However, socialist states were generally established in impoverished, semifeudal nations, where the conditions of sex work were uniformly that of sexual slavery and prostitution. In the most culturally advanced socialist state, the German Democratic Republic, restrictions on pornography were much more lax. Certainly, the conditions of a modern, developed nation would have a major impact on the treatment of pornography under socialism.

[ezrazone]

copyright abolition / post-fandom thoughts dump bear with me if these are half-baked riffs cuz they’re half-baked riffs:

i think the reasons people actually share work on ao3 and attribute it to fandoms are more complex than many people realize. i speculate that many people are more afraid of potential copyright strikes than they realize, which reveals how much of a cudgel IP actually functions as. people want their work to get *read* and they want to express where something “came from” / what inspired it, which is a fine impulse, especially when the alternative seems to be coy about where your projects began and even to make a career out of producing “original work”, which is so fucking loaded as long as IP is the foundation of our creative pursuits.

i think we’ve all seen fairly wild/interesting work that we wouldn’t know is related to an existing IP without the author identifying it as such lol. and we’ve certainly seen “bad fanfic” where stuff’s out-of-character in less… shall we say… engaging ways! so what actually motivates people to place their work under a protective legal model that would (theoretically - ao3 is not necessarily actually safe but that’s another post lol) prevent copyright holders from coming after them so long as the work is not monetized? is it that all of this work falls neatly under a “fanworks” umbrella, or does a lot of different kinds of work get crowded into opposite sides of a binary created by intellectual property as a pillar of modern capitalism?

what attitudes has IP instilled in us regarding iterative / transformative works? what iterative work do you love and consider original, and what socioeconomic circumstances did it come out of? what if it had been released on ao3 first, would that make you uncomfortable and suspicious? i speculate that a lot of discourse around subject matter and “problematic” source materials actually boil down to knee-jerk copyright defenses (think abt tumblr discourse disavowing the locked tomb series every few months bc the author once posted homestuck fics). like do you hate this new work because it resembles another work that’s bad (notice you perhaps do not have the same energy for the source material that is allegedly so toxic that everything that touches it is diminished) or do you hate admitting that all art, in some way, is iterative? would admitting that make you realize that IP is a completely arbitrary system of domination and exploitation?

derivative art is made every day lol. there is no meaningful way to “fight against” derivative art. but we can ask what socioeconomic circumstances actually produce it (why are we gonna keep seeing trailers for movies that look like other movies? it’s not because filmmakers are stupid or smart - it’s because there’s never actually been a problem with IP passing hands or transforming so long as it does not disrupt the economic order that IP enforces). something something osgood perkins can rip off the silence of the lambs for millions of dollars but tsotl “fans” are just cringey babies with their hannigram smut (while NBC hannibal couldn’t even use the character clarice starling bc she was already owned by another network. yes the estate of a dead author is split between television networks. are we ok with this?)

so then maybe we can ask why new work is so demeaned by ever passing through the Fandom label. is it perhaps that fandom itself is an economic label and not some fantasy of spontaneous heartwarming community founded on mutual interest lol? is fandom actually a source of freedom, or is the label confining the limits of your imagination?

idk how to tell you this but much of what constitutes modern fandom that ao3 claims to uniquely protect is actually completely legal via any number of channels that might actually threaten copyright as a censorship tool. you are allowed to produce porn parodies and that isn’t necessarily “fan” behavior. you don’t have to be a “fan” to stick your hands into work that you love. you are allowed to do media criticism. you are allowed to remix any number of images and shapes. you can copy and trace and fucking steal if you can get away with it and your fear of doing so only allows intellectual landlords to get away with charging rent for more and more creative possibilities — names, faces, logos, fucking styles — and you’ll cheer and clap as what is considered “real art” gets narrower and narrower, mistakenly thinking you’ll be next in line to copyright your dipshit characters or be exploited in service of the next legal iteration of your favorite property.

it made me crazy when steamboat willie entered the public domain and everybody was drawing the rat getting fucked. you could draw the rat getting fucked before! parody and criticism are protected forms of expression! you can draw mickey getting fucked right now, but you won’t cuz you’re scared shitless of disney and even if you’re not worth financially ruining the “let people enjoy things” fandom liberals do the social leg of their dirty work for them!

copyright is the modern enemy of expression, and fandom is a honeypot for young artists to misattribute their best urges and ideas to their inspirations, mistakenly making a faustian pact with the assholes who are holding the art that they love hostage. what are we left with when our home movies get taken down because a song was playing in the background? our hair and our fucking teeth?

our dreams are made up of everything we see in our waking lives, and putting “universal” original art on a pedestal (fucking joseph campbell everything’s-a-hero’s-journey horseshit nonsense) while degrading referential art is an incredible way to never see anything new. what you are thinking about as fanfic/fanart right now can actually be something else - something better than another “original” property that will subjugate someone else with the “fan” label. it’s available to us right now actually. you can take it.

[arthurianlegend144]

Mouthwashing, Capitalism and the illusion of individual choice.

I have made two posts about Mouthwashing and Capitalism, but I want to make a longer post about it. Also, I would like to read what others have to say about the subject :D

Let’s define some words first: 

Capital: difficult to be defined, but let’s summarize it as the way the capitalist society works, it’s not a thing, but all the social relations that make capitalism exist. 

Ideology: as defined by Marx, it is the ideas of the elite that are forced onto the worker class to maintain the current system

Marxism: also known as historical materialism, it analyses social conflict between classes, classes relations and social transformation. 

To be clear, this analysis will be Marxist in nature, if you don’t agree with the Marxist way of seeing social interactions, then I am afraid this post isn’t for you.

To start, let’s think about Pony Express. A lot of people have already expressed how all things considered Pony Express acts like the average corporation: cold and incompetent. But is it really incompetent?

A feeling I think is very common for the majority with people who have class conscience, but not a deep understanding of the machinations of capitalism, is the feeling of confusion. Why are things so cruel? Why are people agreeing with those things? Why does injustice exist? The thing is that for those injustices and cruelty needs to exist for the capital to maintain itself. 

Pony Express isn’t incompetent, it’s cheap by design. The system is always there, looming over those characters and their social interactions even when they are away from Earth. So much so that when in a dire situation, they are still scared of losing credits. 

A bunch of other posts, including mine, have talked about how hopeless the situation was in the Tulpar, because of the company’s rules, so I won’t repeat myself. But like I said before, keeping systems that enable abuse of all kinds are a feature, not a bug. That’s why a lot of Marxists think that individualizing causes weakens them, since the root cause of why those problems still exist is capitalism. If people are busy hating others or getting tortured, they won’t notice they are all getting explored. 

I think this post here has basically all the important points of things that are wrong with Pony Express, I would recommend reading it before continuing reading this post.

I will also elaborate on why I think Jimmy is a good representation of ideology. Like I said in the post I linked, I think Jimmy has a little bit of class conscience, because of one of his hallucinations (the one of him watching the TV), and by what Curly has said about him, Jimmy was probably struggling financially before Curly found him a job. Despite knowing that he is being exploited and oppressed, Jimmy is blinded by the hopelessness of ideology and his own paranoia.

His friendship with Curly is especially soured by ideology, despite knowing he is from the worker class, Jimmy can’t see Curly as an equal. Curly may have a bigger salary and a higher position in the company, but he is also being exploited, he is burnt out and getting ill by his work environment. Jimmy is so blinded by ideology that not even the knowledge that he is oppressed is enough to stop him from lashing out and hurting others in the same situation as he is. Jimmy used the system that Pony Express made to enact his anger.

I have expressed before that I think Jimmy shouldn’t have been in the Tulpar in the first place. But Pony Express is like every company, pretending they care about their employees mental health, while they wouldn’t pay for any medical bill and would put a man like Jimmy to work in an isolated place that can make any sane person go insane. Health isn’t important, what’s important is for them to work like horses until they can’t work anymore, becoming useless to the system.

Then we arrive at the illusion of individual choice. All the rules that Pony Express made were designed to keep employees quiet and scared of punishment, the perfect environment for abuse. I think it is specially cruel that they gave the captain a gun and also made a rule that all accidents in the work place aren’t their responsibility. If Anya or Curly actually used that gun, I am sure they would be punished, and Pony Express wouldn’t be held responsible for what happened. 

There was little they could do to avoid more conflict or to avoid the situation all together, so much all the characters seem to have accepted that’s how things are. No safety, no comfort, just work and work in precarious situations, stepping in eggshells trying to avoid getting punished all the time. They rarely complain about their work environment and when they do, they seem to have normalized how dangerous everything is, Jimmy isn’t the only one getting fooled by ideology.

Individual choice isn’t real. Anya wanted to be in medical school, Curly wanted to be satisfied with his life, Swansea was just doing what was expected of a “good man”, Daisuke felt like he was good for nothing. And well Jimmy… Jimmy was very mentally ill, in an ideal world he shouldn’t even be worrying about work, but he needed money. 

In the end of the day, we talk about Jimmy’s responsibility, but he isn’t the only one that will never be held responsible for what happened in the Tulpar. The only thing that Pony Express will actually regret is the fact they lost more money by losing the mouthwash cargo. They will blame the crew for what happened, whether they find Curly in the cryopod is irrelevant, because they won’t take responsibility for causing suffering their workers couldn't escape.

I guess that’s what I have to say for now, if you guys want to add something or disagree, I will be more than happy to discuss things.

[docholligay]

I have no idea how wild the fandom for Hadestown is. If you don’t know me, if we’ve never exchanged words, and you have BIG FEELINGS about Hadestown that any level of critique will set off, I very much encourage you to move it along. I can’t do Hamilton 2 or whatever. (If I know you I will give you more leeway FOR SURE. I just want to keep strange weirdos out) 

First, I have to provide a little bit of context: I got in on the ground floor with Hadestown. 

Yes Doc, I too, have been obsessed with it ever since it was in previews--no, I mean, i saw folk singer Anais Mitchell perform the whole thing like 15 years or whatever ago in a converted garage venue. 

I wasn’t even in town to SEE HER, I was in town to see a different artist and this was back when live music was a bigger thing and not a dying scene, and people just bought tickets to whatever was playing on a free night. I like folk music, I liked the idea of what was then being called a folk opera. It was instant love. Orpheus and Eurydice is one of my favorite myths, I am from a rural and exploited place, I loved everything I heard, some absolutely glorious poetry going on there. Bought the concept album, forced so so many people to listen to it all the way through. Forced jetty to listen to it on our road trip! Before the musical came out even!

I have been following this musical ever since then. I kind of thought it would never get made! I followed the original version, and then the broadway one. What I’m saying is, I have what now amounts to about fifteen or so years of history with this musical, and all the changes it has gone through, and all my individual feelings about each of those changes. My evaluation necessarily lives within that context. 

This was part of the reason it took me so long to see the Broadway! I wanted the emotional space to feel however I felt about it, even if that ended up being, “I fucking hated that” and it’s hard to have that when someone buys very expensive tickets and a trip for you to see something you’ve been following for years. Part of jetty’s gift of this was “And you can hate it!!” and I knew she meant it, because when you watch something move and be workshopped and change, you get a lot of feelings about it. 

So I can’t really go, “I liked Hadestown/I didn’t” I mean, I have loved hadestown for a very long time. If all you wanted to hear was , ‘Did you like it?” oh yes! But I have at least four versions sitting my head right now, and they are all next to each other for evaluation in a way that someone who has only experienced the broadway can’t have. 

I want to provide this knowledge because my thoughts about it go so far beyond what is currently being staged on Broadway. No, this is not going to be me saying, ‘Everything was better with the concept album!” no, some things are, but this isn’t that I promise. 

Everything below this is spoilery

So, originally Hadestown was a slightly different story and admittedly, one that spoke to me more than the story I saw last night. It was a lot more specific in its earliest days--it was about an impoverished mining town. Hadestown was the company town, underground, and there was basically no mention of Hades and Persephone being actual gods, anything was winked to, but it was mostly about how the holders of capital have all the accountability of gods. The whole thing had a much stronger anti-capitalist framework, and Orpheus and Eurydice were basically naive kids who thought they could avoid involvement with the mine. Obviously, this very much spoke to me. It was matching my freak exactly. 

It is not that now. And that’s both totally expected, and disappointing to me personally. The show now is much more of a, I’m trying to put this in a way that feels less insulting because I don’t mean to be, very Captial L Liberal. Audiences who can afford Broadway tickets will eat up the vague notions of wishing for a better tomorrow and ‘show the way the world could be’ and putting this back into the framework of a story of the gods instead of the utter lack of choices available to people, that the game is rigged from the start, and Orpheus even having this chance is both an exception and a test hades expects him to fail. I get why this happens. Literally every story that has ever been brought to Broadway has had to be made more palatable to a broader audience. The story it is now, is much much more broad, much more life affirming or whatever, and much more easy to hear. I think I would like it better if I didn’t know the story from the very first versions. 

But that was not a problem last night! That was a problem when i heard the previews out of Alberta! So I’ve had years to adjust to knowing that they were going to blame Orpheus a lot more. Which I love that the Broadway seems to have backed off of! The Alberta production really sort of LAID INTO THE BOY in a way I aggressively did not care for, because it was the antithesis of the story as I understood it. Love that they took that back a step. 

Anyway, so, things I loved about the musical last night:

The staging of Wait For Me fucked SO SEVERELY that honestly it makes me forgive like 90% of the things I don’t care for in the final Broadway version, that I thought were done better in other versions. I almost cried, it was EXACTLY what I would have pictured in my head after hearing it all those years ago. It was incredible. I wish I could see it again, and study it. I am thinking about it right now! It will live rent free in my head. Perfect. 

The gal who played Eurydice has clearly listened to Anais Mitchell albums, because she sounded SO MUCH like Anais that it even took me back for a moment. 

I’m not sure if this is praise or a criticism: 

I don’t know how I feel about having Hermes as an overall narrator! I go back and forth on it and have since the Alberta came out. If I were going to do it I would do it differently than it is currently staged. Jetty was talking about how she loves when the instrumentals are onstage, and I’m the exact opposite--I mostly find it crowds the stage while not bringing much interest for me. But in general, i both like it and do not like it, to give a very useful critique. I don’t hate it, for sure. I love the opener for Wait For Me II. But overall I will probably need to think about it for another 15 years. 

Frustrations I have:

 I think I have decided that even for the MASSIVE INSANE BUCKWILD flaw of seemingly blaming Orpheus for Eurydice’s decision, the Alberta is the best version. I think I prefer the concept album on a personal level for a lot of things, but I think the Alberta is, well for starters, definitely more complete--the concept album has some massive gaps in it that desperately needed filling--but it preserved a lot of the poetry that the Broadway version seems to have stripped out while being much more mass appealing. I was particularly GALLED by the rewrite of Epic III, one of the things in the Alberta version that made me say, ‘Wow I am prepared to forgive a lot of horseshit for this song, my god” 

NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY TOOK FROM YOU

They took out "The heart of a king who loves everything like the hammer loves the nail" imagine writing that line and scrapping it, are you HIGH, fuck me running.

And I think this summarizes a lot of my frustrations about the changes between the Alberta and the Broadway. It no longer sounds like a folk opera. It has lost a lot of the poetry of the original, folk music being very grounded in lyric and somewhat less in vocal theatrics. 

Also, and this might just be an actors thing, I did not get any sense that Persephone and Hades love each other…at all. Part of the appeal for human beings named Doc who are me is that they love each other, and they can’t stand each other, and I didn’t FEEL that at all. Like i said this could be an acting thing--I was not overly impressed by our persephone broadly. But taking out her part in Chant II I think also really contributes to this problem. 

This is both the Alberta and Broadway versions: I MISS THE FATES BEING A REALLY TIGHT 40s STYLE GIRL GROUP SOB SOB SOB. In the original, the fates were the only characters ‘outside’ the story, and this was indicated stylistically by the fact that everyone else was singing folk music, and they were singing in this very different style. The idea fifteen years ago was that they actually would be dressed all in that style, but yeah, none of this happens now and i find it SOOOOOO disappointing personally. I hate their stupid costumes I hate the ‘rougher’ style of vocals I hate it so much ahahahahha. If I was going to force Anais to change one thing it would actually be this, even though it is insanely petty and silly. 

The best version of when the chips are down:

I don’t know if literally any of this is what you were looking for but I somehow deeply suspect not. I am IN THE SHIT with Hadestown though, so if you have any specific things you wanted to ask about or have me talk about, let me know! I am just cutting this off now because it’s already at 1700 words and I’m not sure anyone cares that much about my journey with the only musical I can truly say I knew about when it was still a twinkle in someone’s eye. 

(Yeah Doc, I have a question: Do you have anything mean to say about the concept album? OH BOY DO I. Some of it is to be expected like, "Uh, Anais you need the rest of the story here girl." but a huge one is I fucking HATE that she got Justin Vernon, who you know better as Bon Iver, to do Orpheus. He SUCKS. He sounds bored the whole time because that is how that motherfucker sings. I have HATED it since day one. Reeve Carney is perfect and literally what I started my local women's prayer and casserole circle to petition the Lord for.)

[wavysocks]

I like to think Stanley likes the idea of fashion (especially when the man knows how to dress let's be real), but he hates the concept of it. When you think about it, fashion has always been something for rich people to see what is considered the new trend, the new style, and the new way to flex your money by buying a 2000$ bag that looks like you could buy from Ikea for 1$. So when the fashion trend is homelessness, it frustrates him to the core as someone like himself had to experience it for a decade or more. A decade of stress and worries if he is able to eat the next year, month, week or day. A decade of trying to find ways to make money in any way, even if it means crossing his boundaries. A decade of sleeping in his car that gave him back pain, and never able to sleep at all. A decade of being banned from several states. A decade of eating unhealthy foods. A decade of feeling you would never find a home that can keep you warm and safe. A decade of stealing, bribing, scaming all just so he can survive to the next day, and the next day and next and it repeats. And this is what he comes to see, people who would never experience like he did. So much for romanticizing poverty and making a struggle that hundreds, if not millions, of people still not able to afford stable, functional life for themselves and their families into another quirky aesthetic for the rich people to dehumanize and exploit them, all thanks to capitalism.

[metatheatre]

"Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that Capitalism was build on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad. If Negroes and poor whites do not participate in the free flow of wealth within our economy, they will forever be poor, giving their energies, their talents and their limited funds to the consumer market but reaping few benefits and services in return.

The way to end poverty is to end the exploitation of the poor, ensure them a fair share of the government services and the nation’s resources...

The tragedy is our materialistic culture does not possess the statesmanship necessary to do it. Victor Hugo could have been thinking of 20th Century America when he wrote, "there’s always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher classes."

The time has come for America to face the inevitable choice between materialism and humanism. We must devote at least as much to our children’s education and the health of the poor as we do to the care of our automobiles and the building of beautiful, impressive hotels. We must also realize that the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power...

So we are here because we believe, we hope, we pray that something new might emerge in the political life of this nation which will produce a new man, new structures and institutions and a new life for mankind. I am convinced that this new life will not emerge until our nation undergoes a radical revolution of values. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people the giant triplets of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will only be an initial act. One day the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar, it understands that an edifice which produces beggars, needs restructuring.

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth, with righteous indignation it will look at thousands of working people displaced from their jobs, with reduced incomes as a result of automation while the profits of the employers remain intact and say, this is not just.

It will look across the ocean and see individual Capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia and Africa only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries and say, this is not just...

A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war, this way of settling differences is not just.

This business of burning human being with napalm, of filling our nation’s home with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloodied battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.

A nation that continues year after year, to spend more money on military defense then on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

So what we must all see is that these are revolutionary times. All over the globe, men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and out of the wombs of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born...

Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world, declaring eternal opposition to poverty, racism and militarism. With this powerful commitment, we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places plain...

So let us stand in this convention knowing that on some positions; cowardice asks the question, is it safe; expediency asks the question, is it politic; vanity asks the question, is it popular, but conscious asks the question, is it right. And on some positions, it is necessary for the moral individual to take a stand that is neither safe, nor politic nor popular; but he must do it because it is right."

-- Martin Luther King Jr., 1967

[thebeesareback]

I would love to have a Hunger Games short story about, well, anything. I would especially like to have one which focuses on the families of the career tributes.

Because it must be so strange! Everyone we see in District 12 is aware of exactly how awful the Games are. They all hate them and know it's a slaughter and live in fear. But for districts 1, 2 and 4? Its an honour. Allegedly.

Imagine raising a child and watching them excel at killing and physical activities. You think this is an opportunity to bring wealth, prestige, honour to your family and your district. So perhaps you'd encourage them! You raise this perfect little killing machine, and try to reconcile them with the funny little baby you held and loved. Then you watch them die, on TV, and their killers come and visit your district. Would you feel angry? Ashamed? Heartbroken? If you've got other children, would you want them to volunteer to try and claw back pride?

Let's say that your child did win. They don't come back, not really. Think of Finnick. A 14 year old boy who's killed people and then been sexually exploited around the Capital. You might have raised a beautiful killer, but now he's haunted by nightmares and desperate to protect Annie. Your whole family is in danger if you don't comply with the Capital's requirements. That's not glory: it's horror.

There's an offhand line in the second book where a previous career tribute is reaped and has to return to the arena. The night before the games starts, he goes around to everyone, shakes their hands and apologises because he's going to try and kill them the next day.

I've heard soldiers talk about how they feel like frauds. In the UK we have a charity called "Help for Heros" which works with military and ex military personelle, and apparently it can be strange to have people thank and congratulate you for fighting, because you feel guilty for hurting people or upset because you couldn't protect other soldiers. I imagine Suzanne Collins would have lots of thoughts about this, given her personal history. She grew up with a father who served in Vietnam and witnessed his PTSD firsthand.

Back to the books. If you parented a teenager who came back a killer, would you be afraid of them? In denial about what they've done? Disillusioned? Ashamed? I think there's plenty which could fuel a fascinating character study or short story.

Also, if you're a fan of The Hunger Games, check out Girls Gone Canon's coverage. It's excellent

[pynkhues]

I read somewhere that Rolin specifically wanted Louis to be a brothel owner because he thought it was important for his character that he have the same casual view on the exploitation of people’s bodies as book slave-owner Louis. These are important aspects of his character that I feel the show handles with more nuance and care than the books. Louis should get to have his negative qualities!

(x)

Yeah, I think I read that too, anon, and honestly, I think it really makes a lot of sense for his character, and also is a part of what makes him really interesting? This is a bit of a tangent, and I've got a half-drafted longer reply to someone else's ask about this that I'll post eventually, haha, but there's so much stress on Louis as the most 'human' vampire in fandom, when I think that's both true and untrue? I think Louis feels very connected to human expression (most clearly seen through his love of art and literature), while having detachment at best and derision at worst for the humans who create it (best seen through his cruelty around the artist in Paris, but also his gentrification of San Francisco in the 70s and abandonment of the people in 2.01).

In a lot of ways, even that in itself feels like the embodiment of capitalism, and like - - it's been fascinating to see this embrace in fandom of Louis as a capitalist and yet this sort of denial of the reality that successful capitalism relies on the exploitation and abuse of people for the sake of profit. That exploitation and abuse almost always involves intersections of racism, misogyny and classism, which Louis has absolutely been shown to participate in.

Like, God, in the first episode alone, the Alderman Fenwick tries to anally rape Bricktop, and someone (well, Lestat) murders Miss Lily, and Louis doesn't even bat an eye. Maybe you could make an argument that he had commercial interests at risk with Bricktop, and was distracted by his brother's death and Lestat's Whole Deal by the time Miss Lily was killed, but I think to deny that his flippancy towards both crimes isn't inherently steeped in misogyny and a devaluation of women's bodies and lives, is pretty naive.

I think people tend to think misogyny is just about hating women, and it's not. It's about upholding patriarchal structures and values that oppress and objectify them, and having ingrained prejudice against them. Louis absolutely uses women as a pimp, and I think even at home upholds patriarchal family dynamics with both Grace and Claudia. I've touched on that before, and linked to those posts there, so won't get into it here, but yeah! Louis' relationship with women is complicated and usually paternalistic, dismissive and - ultimately - about him, even with the women he - genuinely! - loves.

And when I say that, I mean it as literally the opposite of a criticism. Like you said, he should be allowed to have negative qualities! Those negative qualities give him texture and humanity and make him real, and are one of the reasons the show's version of him is so, so compelling.

[projectjasper]

Hey Archer, thought I'd check in due to your reactions to the recent ThamePo episode. I take it the episode eleven curse cursed all over the place?

i don't wanna sound like i'm the end all be all of opinions by any means, so anyone who's reading this and who liked it please don't throw eggs at me, okay yay thanks 🫶

anyway so hi! hello! i personally did not end up liking the episode very much, no. i actually did enjoy the angst, i had a good cry. and i do really think i would have liked it all, if the ceo was an actual villain of the story. perhaps controversially, i occasionally enjoy a tragic separation or perhaps even a *gasps* time jump, where outer forces separate the characters, but then - despite it all - they end up together anyway. (<- guy who's literally written an nlmg fic like that). i think it would all make sense as a tragic sort of thing, showing how these companies disregard their artists' wishes and personal lives and happiness in the name of numbers. but then i realised... i don't think the narrative is presenting it as a tragedy? maybe a necessary one at best? nor is it seeing the ceo as the villain at all.

i don't know... i don't like what thamepo said this episode. and maybe it's just my politics bleeding through it all, but the fact that the ceo is portrayed to have "ultimately made the right choice for everyone" is wild to me. because it's not like they even made her a nice person? she is not a uniquely good ceo who cares about her employees more than profit or anything like that. i don't think there is any tangible argument to be made about her doing anything truly good. she is genuinely just an evil millionaire at the head of a company which manipulates and exploits its workers?

throwing pepper and gam under the bus because thame is "more valuable" (in a very literal my-cow-costs-more-than-your-cow kind of way), manipulating po into breaking up with thame while not telling thame anything, rewarding po with a promotion specifically because he did what she asked for company profit and at the expense of his own personal happiness, not warning mars about the deal not going through and not giving them any agency in their next choices as a group but instead announcing thame's departure to the press specifically so they wouldn't be able to go against the decision, further manipulating everyone by revealing that thame paid off the boys' debts in that vulnerable moment, confidently making decisions for thame and the others with no regard to their actual wishes: these are just some of the things she has done, and most of them just this episode.

i mean, she explicitly says "whatever brings the company the most benefit, i have to do it". which is literally the evil at the heart of any company like this??? i feel like my mind is exploding. "the ceo was right" is not a message i would ever agree with (probably), but like... this feels wild. she has done so much genuinely inexcusable and undeniably horrific shit...

and i really don't think that there is a possibility to read this episode as anything other than complimentary to her. she is so girlboss making the tough decisions for the most monetary gain and imagined success here (<- presented as a yay awesome correct logical thing to do). because she is absolutely giving a victorious speech at the end of the episode and we are being shown how "everything is working out so well thanks to her actually!" it also now feels like everything we've done has been in vain? with this progression it's starting to feel like a fable: here's your characters doing the wrong thing the entire time (aka going against the ceo) and here's our moral lesson at the end of this arc, which is - of course - the ceo has been right all along haha!

and you could say "hey, archer? did you like... actually expect a critique of capitalism in this series?" and idk, i guess that's a fair question and makes me sound really stupid with all my silly expectations, but what can i do, you know? i just hated what i saw today. i can't help it.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Spider-Punk x Black Cat: Punk!Cat Headcanons

Yes, I'm doing this. Every Spider-Man needs his Cat.

First of all, they'll be the first to tell you they are not dating.

If you ask, they'll both say 'We hate labels'. It's their thing.

If Hobie is the king of all things anti-facist then Felicia is the monarch of rage fueled feminism and anti-capitalism

Hates all things classist, racist and sexist and has a 'k!ll your local rap*st' patch on her battle vest

And her weapon of choice is spiked-out brass knuckle claws

Hobie towers over her (like he does everyone), but Felicia's ten times louder and twice as confrontational. Felicia in any universe talks bold with no filter, and Punk!Cat is that turned up to eleven

Which is probably why she's on vocals in the band

She has a mouth like a sailor and an accent as thick as Hobie's, so mixed with his slang, their conversation are literally British-dipped jibberish

Her style sits on the border of old-school punk and trad goth. She's usually in all black and white, compared to Hobie's red and blue, and sometime her domino mask is swapped out for trad goth style eyeliner

The motives align more than any other Spider-Man, at that makes things a lot easier.

Hobie loves a girl who can do a little direct action, and his anarchist beliefs align more with hers than any other Spider-man.

Though they did have to get over the fact he's an anarchist and she's a communist (she constantly says to him 'i dont believe in private property')

Of course she likes to steal, and she's real good at it

To most Spider-men this would be annoying, but Hobie actually finds it fairly impressive.

She steals things for him constantly, and he keeps every single thing she gives him. Lots of times they turn out to be useful, especially in his builds

Punk!Cat steals shit from museums to return objects back to their native countries and defaces pieces from racist, sexist artists

Steals from banks to handover the money to grass-roots resistance movements

And since Hobie is one of the only Spider-men to hate cops (blue laces people) he's always there to happily protect her from the pigs

She's still herself, but a bit different than most Felicias

Every Felicia is a little 'not normal' about Spider-Man, and Punk!Cat is the same, but approaches it from a different angle

She'll call Hobie a hero only because she know it bugs the day lights out of him

But unlike a LOT of Felicias, Punk!Cat outright hates Spider-Man merch and imagery

She thinks it's incredibly exploitative of Hobie and everything he stands for.

And she hates their totalitarian J.Jonah more than anything because if theres one thing she hates, it's misinformation and propaganda

Although most Fe's love their jewlery like no other, Punk!Cat takes another slight deviation -

Punk!Cat knows that things like diamonds, pearls, and gold has been used as items of oppression for literal centuries. Instead of a taste for items of bougeois lust, Felicia is much more into punk jewlery

She loves everything pinned, spiked, and covered in soda tabs. Her hero uniform is covered in chains, and even her canon 3-claw grappling hook is replaced with a heavy chain and hook she fashioned herself. Scavanged, of course.

She's really close with Gwen and Pavi

Community outreach is everything to a punk, ya'll

Her and Gwen get along immediately. Felicia is never one to be quick to jealousy and she accepts Gwen with open arms.

Gwen turns up to Hobie's universe distraught and homeless.

She teaches her about squatters rights and how her and Hobie keep a roof over their heads, always made sure she had toiletries and someone to talk to, because she knows what it's like to have a strained relationship with your dad

Pavi takes to everyone quickly, but when he and Felicia are together, it gets LOUD

The Spider-Society hates her

And Felicia and Hobie love it

Hobie had no idea how controversial dating Felicia would be. Not for band fans, but for all the other Spider-people

Turns out, Felicias aren't very popular with the Society

The both of them thinks it hilarious

They tell him Spider-people are suppose to be with their MJ's. That's how it's meant to be.

Dating a Felicia or saving a Gwen is an anonmaly waiting to happen.

But neither of them care, and if anything, that only eggs them on. If everyone thinks they're 'bound' to breakup eventually then thats even more reason for them to stick together.

Hobie has absolutely made Felicia her own watch

One which she uses to crash the Spider-Society every now and again

Because of this, Miguel hates her and Jess is just so done with the both of them

Even if Hobie and Peter.B are in no way close, Peter seems to be the only adult in their corner. As a Spider-man that didn't have the most conventional story with his MJ, he's more than supportive of Hobie and his unconventional story with Felicia. He figures if he and MJ can make it work, so can they.

Her and Gwen bond over the awkwardness of being variants of the dead or ex-girlfriend of most of the Spider-society, and how Spider-men see them because of it

And when it's time to take the Society down, she's the first in line (after Hobie, Gwen, and Pavi of course)

[takemeinyrarmy]

I genuinely hate this romanticization of the art industry so bad because it is mostly just based on the "good experiences" from artists on the imperial core but the real art industry is deeply exploitative and predatory to artists in the global south but none of that seems to matter to ppl who claim they will only engage with art that is made 100% by humans (all this without even realizing the use of AI has been actually quiet common for many years in many studios) and it is weird imo to have this sort of "moral" stance on gen AI but like do most people care if the movies, series, games you are engaging with are being made by artist who are being underpaid? who don't have any sort of working protections? who are being overworked and often times abused? And the answer is no, most people don't care because most animation and video games already have those insane problems and I've never seen as much outrage about those real people's working conditions than what I see with the use of gen AI

Again it is just insane to me to romanticize art making so much and glorify the "making it with your own hands" mentality as if overworking is anything to be celebrated and not a symptom of an industry that only cares about profits where workers have very little protections, but the use of AI is your hill to die on and not the bad working conditions of the people who already make the art you claim so much to love?

On the other hand this hilarious stance of "I will never engage with art made with AI" is ridiculous because again most studios already use AI to some degree and have been for years, but most people don't actually understand what AI even means, so those broad statements make no actual sense and I get not liking purely gen AI stuff I don't really care for it either but it isn't some sort of "moral virtue" to not like it it is just personal taste, no? To me it falls in the same category as not liking certain music or art styles of genres it is nothing more really...

It all goes back to the fact that the bad working conditions in the art industry are not something new or that it is AI's fault it is something that happens simply because under capitalism profit will always be prioritized over worker's well-being plus artists at large lack organizing there is nothing "virtuous" about being overworked and underpaid just because you are doing it "100% by hand" whatever that means lol

[misterbitches]

I have mixed feelings about the episode!

If I hadn’t have gone online I would have been more of a blank slate. It’s good to know my criticisms are affirmed by others but it doesn’t mean this show is weak because even with the faults this episode was still entertaining at the very least. I feel crazy! Like some of my issues with the social commentary so far are dealt with—not remediated per se but addressed—or tended to.

The whole marriage thing isn’t a bad scenario typical of a BL imo because it makes sense. Patriarchy has everything to do with the hoarding of wealth. You have to make sure a woman has limited options for offspring to preserve a familial/blood line. Marriage is a business practice (it isn’t final or static but marriage and love are not interchangeable and “love” is a very specific goal that is hard to meet particularly if you are poor) and even if Rosé doesn’t want it, that’s how you secure capital…via legacy and literal financial bonds (presented as familial).

Rosé isn’t a good person. As much as Save is a bitch and Hope is…whatever he is (and agree with the user that said they should have kissed there!) the show is telling us over and over that THESE PEOPLE ARE POOR GUYS. THEY HAVE NO MONEY. I don’t know if the audience understands what that means fully. That means that Tattoo’s actions are not the same as Arun’s or even Joke’s; Jack’s poor decisions aren’t the same as Joke’s; Save is being absolutely insane and fucking ridiculous and wow I hate him but even his decision is not the same. You see how much hospital bills are, not having insurance, INSURANCE LITERALLY BEING TIED TO YOUR JOB AND THE NUCLEAR FAMILY. Things these people do not have, nor should not have to have, and the pains you go through to do everything right so the state says and you still get fucked.

That’s why the whole ~dOn’T sTEaL~ would piss me the fuck off! Jenny’s character makes complete sense! I know this is an easy way for us to express this idea of never being able to “get out” but poverty isn’t actually a cycle. Poverty is man made, it is not real. A cycle suggest something inevitable where an underclass would always have to exist, some sociogenetic defect that you just can’t beat and the cure (money) is just too hard to find (as in made up but never freely given). What makes that cycle relevant? Capitalism. This term has bred such reification i swear. It makes it seem like this is something they can GET OUT OF and BREAK on their own volition (with no direct action against the capitalist class/elites like you know…robbing them)

To be wealthy is to inhibit a class position, a social category, in which your livelihood depends on the subjugation of others. It’s obvious that Boss has limited money—and that dwindles—he relies on his boss. He is a manager, an inbetween, a boss but not The Boss. He is a cop essentially (cops have more autonomy tbh) to literally protect private property and collect and give to his bosses. They’re also all landlords and deserve to die.

Anyway there is no cycle as a real tangible thing one can take control of. There are people who choose their comfort and life over others and exploit to maintain, retain, and gain. ANY type of wealth hoarding is immoral. Richness is immoral.

Every single one of these people who suffer are in this position because of rich people. The monopoly was literal and exaggerated metaphor but rich people HATE and i mean HATE they LOATHE they resent disdain the poor. They hate you. They hate me and I’m not even poor! It is not a (referent-less) cycle! These are deliberate choices being made by others to make sure ppl stay poor—women, children queer ppl, darker ppl, the disabled…

If we focused less on the actions of those who have had to work in service of the pillagers and more on the pillagers and why the FUCK these people do this and get to do it, maybe Jack’s choices would make sense. Yes they are frustrating but I don’t necessarily think this is bad writing considering that Jack’s life could be made a living hell if he “got another job” which…ok but where? Who will hire him? How quickly will he make that money? With what skills when he has one very good one that could be used AND this money could be made immediately?

Are these particular choices stupid or do they exist in a broader story that is unfolding? Obviously this is a tv show beyond bl bc this episode was like completely story related and I enjoyed that. There was def some stuff where i was like wow this seems a bit rushed and it does seem like filler but it also technically isn’t…? If I’m thinking beyond what I would like to see with romance. If I think of it as more of s general show that is openly queer but that’s just the life of the show…then was this an outlier or does it fit? Even if it doesn’t I still get to understand more of what they think abt the world…? Idk i liked this episode i go back and forth! But it was a good way to spend my hour.

Also rose’s plan is fucking disgusting neoliberal drivel and insulting lmao when joke threw that all i could think of was bush and that shoe

[hourglassfish]

A (long) Aside on 1:7 and 2:10

There are two responses to 1:7 and 2:10 that always quietly horrify me.

The first, and you know, I'm writing a multi part series on it, so it's no mystery - is that Sydney was arrogant/a brat/ couldn't hack it/ wrong to walk out, and that the situation as a whole was her fault. Nah. She was right to walk out, the biggest failure of that episode is not fucking pulling the breaks when Richie gets stabbed. The workplace has gone from dysfunctional to dangerous, she has been responsible for that danger, the perpetrator of it, and she is right to leave.

little bit of an asshole but i love you so i don't care

Carmy sees Syd saying she's going to stab Richie (as she holds her knife to his chest!) while they're up in each other's faces (with Richie goading her) and he does... nothing. He tells them to shut the fuck up and make giardiniera. At this point they needed to be separated! One or both of them needed to cool off. We've seen Syd bodily put herself between a fighting Carmy and Richie. A little reciprocity would have gone a long way here.

It's wild to me that people think that Carmy was justified in his anger and aggression towards Marcus and Syd and ignore that he is aggressive to Richie also! Richie, typically one of the more confrontational characters in the show asks him to calm down, to cool it. That so many viewers so quickly and uncritically accept Carmy's narrative point of view, even while the show actively challenges it confirms something that has been in the culture a long time: that we are much more used to excusing and aligning ourselves with abusive behaviour, than we are at challenging and refusing it. That people - many of whom have received this kind of behaviour themselves - want to defend it, makes me so, so sad.

It always hurts me a little that in 1:8 Tina tells Carmy that if he 'tries that shit with her, she'll fuck him up'. It's a fun line! But I'm sorry, no she won't. He screams at her too, while chucking bowls around and Sydney's words in 1:7 clearly hurt her. Tina categorically did nothing wrong. She doesn't deserve that shit. But at the end of the day, she is a middle aged Latinx woman and a mother, and so her tolerance level has to be higher. She needs that job! Shedoes not, as far as we know, have a father she can live with rent free, she does not have youth and the promise of exploitable potential to offer to employers in an ageist job market, she does not have CIA qualifications or a CV full of ‘serious heat’.

Carmy. holds. a. position. of. power. over. these. people. He is their boss, not their manager, and he owns the place, mob loan or no. He has the power to sack them all, to cut their hours, to cut their wages; thus the impact of that power extends not just to them, but also to their children and families. Louis being present in Review is not just to add an obstacle, it's also a reminder of those stakes.

Carmy has influence in the fine dining industry, regardless of whether that social and cultural capital is respected at The Beef or not. The very same oppourtunities that he provides them with in season 2 are things he could also lock them out of if he so chose. Any analysis of 1:7 that ignores this power is flawed from its root. When you are a boss, this power is ever present. One of the few things you can do to alter your boss's behaviour is to withdraw your labour. It's not the only option you have, but everything else is at their discretion, or mediated by lengthy, expensive legal processes.

yeh, i hate this

Carmy knows this, even if you don't! It's why the apology he gives Marcus - which Marcus does not ask for - is so heartfelt. Carmy has been on the receiving end of what that power, wielded cruelly, can do. He does not want to do this to others. We see him talk to staff with respect even while he endures horrid abuse in a flashback. We see him teach and explain himself, we see him listen and invite feedback - ‘say more’. His commitment to being a good boss is sincere, that kindness is in his bones.

The second thing people say that makes me want to die a little inside is that Carmy bought getting locked in the fridge on himself, that he deserved it in some way, and that getting locked in the fridge was him abandoning Sydney.

Oh my god!

He does not have a diagnosis yet - so anything we see is an interpretation. But it feels explicit that Carmy has panic disorder, and perhaps generalised anxiety disorder and CPTSD from both his workplace experiences and his childhood. A couple of things that he says and does suggest ADHD, or some other neurodiversity. He is not very careful with himself, and does not recognise these things as treatable problems (Richie says he experiences anxiety and dread, Carmy's response is 'who doesn't' - wince, cruel to Richie, cruel to himself - vomiting everyday and crying out of nowhere are presented as something 'loads of people do' to Sugar. Tumblr loves to send people to therapy, but I just want to send this man to do a basic google search of more than fun tbh). But they are debilitating for him, especially at work.

What happens to how we read Carmy's behaviour when he is presented as someone with an untreated disability, and absolutely no support plan in place? Does he still get his just desserts at the end of the season?

The fridge thing is a bit clumsy, I think. It's silly that over the space of three months, no one at any point just takes that job off him as a priority, or at least makes it something where Tony will call the restaurant, not Carmy specifically. It is unrealistic that there would not be some kind of back up safety lock inside the fridge. But you know, they're characters in a TV show, it also does not take two people swivelling around on the floor to tighten the coat hooks on a table (LOOOOOOL) - it's realistic until its not.

But, you know, it's doing a thing, several things - it's Chekov's gun, isn't it, it's the tangible impact of the lapse of focus that Uncle Jimmy is constantly trying to warn them about.

He wanted to cry here so bad!!! It makes me laugh every time

But umm... guys? What happens to him on that night is so, so horrible. They're a chef down, they're running out of forks, Richie's giving him shit (and Carmy is so susceptible to Richie giving him shit), Marcus and Syd are being all weird. He thinks one of his abusers (Donna) might come, or that she might not come and there will be emotional fallout from that. He thinks he sees his other abuser (Evil Joel Mc Hale) - and he's triggered. He goes in the kitchen and yells, but Syd pulls him back in. Then he goes into the fridge, partly to do chef stuff, I'm sure, but also partly to fucking get his shit together aaaaaand he gets locked in there! He has a panic attack! In a fridge! That he is locked in! And the people he loves most in the world, are the other side of that door, and for five minutes, an eternity in panic attack time, they ignore him! He has no clue what's going on! Last time shit hit the fan, two of his staff walked out (he's still not over Syd walking out cus they never talk about it properly), another one got stabbed and all these new ones are 'emerald green'. And he still thinks evil Joel Mc Hale is out there!

My loves, that shit is the stuff of nightmares! I know he tells himself that he bought this on himself but can we please! stop! uncritically! accepting! his narrative! point! of view!

I don't think anybody on screen recognises that a panic attack is what he's having. That's not their fault. None of them have seen him have a panic attack! They don’t get to see inside his head like we do (which saves them from a lot of R.E.M.) He is locked in the fridge, they just hear the bear banging on the door of his cage! It's not even in the language of the show at this point (though i am curious about how and when Richie came to get his Xanax). But that's what's happening. The team are fine. They do great. He has a terrible, terrible time.

My support worker found 2:10 deeply triggering - and her reason for this, she said, was that a lot of her job was supporting people with panic disorders who are leading teams, and seeing that moment coming, the moment where the panic crashes headlong into their role as leader. Part of her role is anticipating it, and trying to turn it around before they reach the point of no return. And as soon as Carmy thinks he sees Old Boss, he's gone. His body is in flight or fight, and he is alone with that. He can’t show up for Syd at that point, he is in his equivalent of the trenches.

This is also what is happening in 1:7. Somehow his response is often framed as a) rational or b) just an asshole - but it is so outsize to the situation, and to who we know him to be most of the time (quiet, kind, thoughtful, sensitive, BITCHY), that we know it has to be more than that.

None of this is helped by the fact that Carmy's panic attacks are... well they're kind of ugly! His meltdowns are aggressive and shouty, on the edge of physical violence, in an industry where people behave like that because they can. It is hard, parsing through that to the triggers, and fears, and panic beneath. It's scary! It asks so much of people to see that and want to help, not run away. But that is where he's at.

I do not have language for how much I hate how physical he gets with Marcus here, it is deeply upsetting

I have an access rider, to help me work well with people, and to help them work well with me. My mental health turns up in every job I do. All the time. Has done for years. It can make me unreliable, uncommunicative and absent. It can mean that people have to step up sometimes in ways they weren't anticipating. And one of the things the rider asks for is 'Good Faith' - a belief that I have not shut down because I'm an asshole, but rather because I have some unhelpful coping mechanisms that I am trying to work my way out of, that my triggers are real, not excuses for laziness or an expression of lack of care, that i will give as much as I can when I can.

Syd and Carmy are beginning to work towards this - Carmy says over and over again that he doesn't want to be shitty. Claire fucking muddies things, because I will not meet you skiving off to see your girlfriend with good faith fam. That shit he needs to be held accountable for. Dropping that envelope was a perfect Richie job, I'm still pissed about that. But being locked in the fridge... there's way more going on there.

The idea that Carmy should, and will, leave the culinary world keeps coming up in various metas. But... the problem isn't cooking? I think Carmy loves cooking, still. I think he likes being part of a team, and wants to be good at it. I think he likes teaching, and he is good at that. I think he likes picking the right silent plates and having his CDC in Thom Browne. I also think he likes being there a lot and being absorbed by his job.

The problem is that the workplace he is in is not one that is set up to his needs right now - it's not set up so that he can rest enough, so that he can eat well, so that he can exercise, or whatever he needs to do to help him manage his brain and nervous system. It's not set up so that if he is triggered, he and his team knows how to keep going with the service *and* not abandon him to the worst of his brain.

Ohhhh it's bad

Carmy ignoring Claire's call and not calling Tony feels bizarre stripped of the context of his panic attack that morning. But we know that anxiety and panic and executive dysfunction take simple things and make them insurmountable. It's not about Sydney in that moment, or even really about Claire*, and self sabotage feels so weighted with judgement when I think about what those frozen moments feel like from the inside. And I've had my diagnoses for 12 years! I've been doing that work, the long slog of trying to make sure my employees know enough context that my MH doesn't fuck up their day, whilst also maintaining my own dignity and right to privacy.

The disentangling of symptoms from personality traits is so hard - fuck ups from trauma responses, what was preventable, and what might have happened even if you did everything right. I never want to lose sight of compassion for Carmy, and the reality of how long it takes to break those cycles.

I also never want to stop seeing the power that he has over the people that he works with, and how, unfortunately, one of the responsibilities of leadership is that you have to be trying to get your shit together, you have to know yourself, and know how your baggage, combined with your power could be creating harm. It’s hard, but there’s not way around it. It is essential that he gets the support he needs, and puts the measures in place that means that he can also be vulnerable, not just for him, but for the team as whole. The power and the lack of framework together are so very harmful for everyone.

makes for delicious tv though 😉

I think a lot about the ticket machines in The Bear. I'm not thinking about them as a former line chef, cus I'm not that, I'm an artist and writer, that waitressed for a while (while a lot of chefs did a lot of coke out back!) and The Bear is fiction, not a documentary. Those little tickets are used for so many things. They're the sound of pressure. They're where a bunch of intrusive thoughts get flashed up on the screen. They are the presence of tech and of speed and alienation. They are the gap where two human beings, one asking for food, and one cooking that food, become consumer and producer. They are a presence of the machine in the workplace, and they stand in for Marcus's machines in McDonald's and for Evil Joel McHale and for financial failure.

One of the things that capitalism demands is that we always listen to that machine. That when we are making a choice, between the people stood around us, who we work with daily, who we live massive chunks of our life with, and the demand for production for go go go - that we choose the latter, even if it harms the former. That we open for service, even though one of our oldest friends just got stabbed. That we prioritise getting the service turned around on Friends and Family night (the easiest night of the year to go out, pour more wine, and say service is a little delayed, but we've got this), rather than maybe asking Fak or even Claire, to come and talk to Carmy through the door, as well, make sure that he's OK. That we just keep going.

And there are so many really important reasons to do that! Keeping going is how we learn and grow, it's how we make sure that we can pay the bills, how we provide beautiful experiences for customers and guests who are more than consumers to us.

But at some point, we have to ask at what cost. When do we stop and make different? When do we try something else, make new systems, that work for us?

A moment - a small, tiny moment - of triumph for me, is when Richie and Syd turn the table around. So rather than one person, facing the tickets alone, with their back to the kitchen as they yell out orders, the person on Expo faces in. yes they can see the tickets, but they can also see the people they are working with. They can see stress, and worry and joy. They can see how hard they are working. They can see that they are not alone, not just in a promise before service, but during service, when you need that connection most.

My hope is that Season 3 will have more of them making these decisions - ones that lean into seeing each other, where their relationships keep growing, and they build a system where the love and care they have for each other is truthfully at the heart of it.

Richie is not my bag, that's just for me, personally, but I get how much he means to others, and he's beautiful here.

*Man, I do think the romance subplot was a bit of a misstep. Pop always feels like such a waste of the audience's time, time not spent with Ebra and Tina, time spent on a presentation of romance that has been done to death and is never especially satisfying. Truncates a lot of empathy for Carmy. Boo. Hiss.