#i have like three bi themed projects to work on for my bisexuals. it’s just a weirdly common colour way lmao

[discountassistedliving]

bisexualités

[forgotten-queers-event-week]

Hey folks! Took a bit for me to get back around to this; I got a new job and then a rarepair week hit, but I'm back!

The interest check survey got 46 responses, and 36 of those were people indicating they would be interested in participating.

I'm going to answer a few of the questions I got in the final section, and I'll make a post with general information later today.

Questions and concerns presented in the interest check survey:

Does the work have to be posted on tumblr or can it be posted somewhere else?

I will be making an AO3 collection, so people will be able to post there as well. If you do not have a tumblr, I will reblog here to the event blog.

some hesitation about poly just from the number of threesome fics in fandom already - obianidala, bailbrehaobi, codexwan, etc. not entirely sure there's any solution for that, however, and it would be good to see less straight (hah) triad works

While Star Wars does have a relatively high amount of threesomes, I would argue that they are not actually polyamory, as often as not, just a threesome. It's also a fairly small fraction of the overall whole; Star Wars is just so big that even that small fraction feels like a lot.

I intend to keep the polyamory prompt.

Just general interest about the details of the event- dates, additional rules, etc. I like the overall concept but don’t particularly want to end up in a fandom war by accident (just a general Star Wars fandom observation, not an accusation of those proposing the event)

I will be addressing this later today! The primary rules will be no bashing, tag appropriately, and keep the prompts and theme in mind when writing.

I probably won't be able to do much creating until like may cause grad school is eating my brain

We are currently looking at late June.

day 3 might be better phrased as bisexual or bicurious?

Nope! Day three “it may be M/F, but that doesn’t make it straight” is meant to touch on all those 'straight couples' that get flack at pride parades, even though:

One or both is bi or pan

One or both is trans

One or both is ace/aro

Any variation that is not cishet, honestly

If I adjust phrasing, it will be to “it may be M/F, but that doesn’t make it cishet”

I'm gay but don't really relate to the other categories so I'm not sure how I'd participate without taking away the voices of others or creating for an experience that is not my own.

Create away! You don't need to be writing about the dark and heavy vagaries of a queer existence; a sketch of a character waving a pride flag counts!

If you do want to work on something that is heavy or more complicated, there are plenty of queer people in fandom. You can probably find someone willing to help you brainstorm or look it over for major red flags.

With the event centered around queer characters - and I assume mostly being participated in by queer creators - I think it would be a good idea to have it in the event rules that aphobia/transphobia/etc must be tagged in fics. I'd also like to know if it's canon-only or if OCs would be allowed too, since that wasn't mentioned in the post. Either way, the idea sounds great and I'd love to participate.

Noted! Proper tagging etiquette is a big deal to me, and while I will allow wiggle room (e.g. if a person thinks it may bloat their tags to include everything, they can go with 'see author's note for warnings' and I will consider it due diligence), including proper warnings is a big deal.

I hadn't thought about OCs yet, but my instinct is that they can be included.

“Ace and aro spectrums” rather than “ace and aro spectrum (singular)” would be better since they are separate identities that don’t always overlap.

A good point! I'll adjust, going forward.

You had me at an ace day 🥺 also idk if I'd be able to participate in writing (deadlines for other projects in abroad for the first two weeks in June) but i would DEFINITELY consume content!!

As mentioned a little further up, we are now looking at late June.

This is an extremely weird thing to put in this box, but my friend sent the post about this challenge to me all pissy because "I don't know why poly people would be on here ahead of regular gay men and lesbians", and it made me, a genderfluid bi ace person, almost blind with rage. Thank you for making a space that specifically opens doors to identities that are less inherently known and understood in real life.

Absolutely baffling take from your friend, considering the theme is 'the queers we don't talk about,' so the entire point is to talk about stuff that is... not 'regular' gay men and lesbians. That. That's a bit of a red flag, oof.

I'm glad you're excited!

[trutrustories]

Okay, this will be probably long and with many errors (my english isn´t very good) But I saw several posts here on Lokius tag, talking about this ship as result of gay fetish, and about non existing chemistry and  how this ship doesn´t make sense etc… And from what I understood there is tagged Lokius because of genuine interest to understand others point of view, so here is mine: I wil try to explain where my frustration comes from, and how I feel about Lokius, Sylkie, AND representation + some other things which I saw here somewhere. But first of all: I like Sylvie, I don´t hate sylkie shipers, and after so many years reading fan fictions, I don´t mind selfcest – I read weirder things. I have some issues with this ship (the mainlythe fact that it isn´t Lokius), but  this is not one of them. Also, I am not about to tell anyone, they shouldn´t ship sylkie.Ship whatever. And I LOVED the show as a whole. 

I just want to defend my standpoint, that Lokius does make sense, people shipping it does make sense and whether it will happen or not, (I don´t have my hopes very high, and I learned to be very skeptical in this regard ) it is more than just about crack ship, or fetish. I´m honestly blown away that people are still surprised that this ship became a thing :D First of all, let´s look at some romantic story telling and tropes: I mean the way they introduced them in the first two episodes set the tone for all series and how the heck this isn´t romantic? Somehow there are all these romantic tropes existing in a show. They´re just there. Just chilling between Loki and Mobius and large portion of audience can´t even see them. (and some of those tropes were used for Sylki as well, so you could actually see them side by side)

For example: 1) traveling to the apocalypsis 2) breaking law/rules for the other 3) literally changing for the better thanks to the other 4) arguing like old married couple 5) saying secrets, personal things to the other 6) sharing glances, touches, visibly being happy around each other - in case of Loki happier then we´ve ever seen him before 7) being completely themselfs around each other 8) One knowing everything (even the worst) about other and still accepting him completely 9) teasing, being comfortable and domestic around each other 10) one being literally enthusiastic FAN of the other 11) Mobius defending Loki whenever he has a chance 12) Freaking amnesia trope that they pulled of in the end??? (It could be different Mobius, but point is he suddenly doesn´t know him - and Loki knows more, in contrast with the beggining) 13) the jealousy in ep4 14) Misunderstanding - when Mobius thought Loki betrayed him and Loki (thanks to Ravonna) thought Mobius betrayed him... 15) witnessing death of the other and being absolutely broken afterwards 16) The goodbye hug with romantic music in the backround 17) Saving life of the one (even when it means problems for the other ) - like Mobius saved Loki´s ass at least three times when he was trying to stop others from pruning him. 18) sharing deep conversations about meanings of life, freedom and how it would be fun to make some chaos and ride that fucking jet ski!!! 19) Inspiring the other 20) looking for each other (Mobius didn´t believe for a second, that Loki would die in the Void and the way how in the last minutes of the series Loki run through all places they were together when he was looking for Mobius... and I could go on. Point is, even if they are not planning to make Lokius canon, all these things are used on a daily basis to describe romance in media and they are used here. On top of that it´s just very poetic and cute, that this drama queen and powerful god of Asgard who looked down on people would find his match in someone, who is so quiet, ordinary on the first sight, and basically is just human from 90s, who loves jet skis. Mobius can´t even fight. But is highly inteligent and he also happen to be as good manipulator, such as Loki himself. - That´s why they work together so well. Mobius sees right through him and once Loki understands that, he drops his evil persona. Almost nobody expected to ship it for real. But story itself and chemistry between them just made it probably the most exciting duo in the whole MCU. And I mean it genuinely. Third episode, even though it was beautiful and Sophie was great in it (and is literally dipped in bisexual colors), is the least favorite for a reason. And that reason being, there is no interaction between Loki and Mobius whatsoever. Lot´s of people though that series slowed down a bit. Even when in fact there was more action, then when we watched Loki and Mobius working at the TVA.

(and let´s just talk about evil!Mobius narative for a bit and how some people say he is manipulative and toxic for Loki: show itself explore heavy themes and one of them is in Loki´s line: no one bad is ever truly bad and no one good is ever truly good. And as a theme in a fictional world, it is working as it should, for the  story. When Loki and Mobius meet, one of them just killed lots of innocent people and destroyed almost whole city. The other one is a part of fascist organization – and in the beginning of the series they both believe what they´re doing is right. They´re both bad, they´re both good, they´re both broken. And they are changing with the help of the other.) From all reactions I watched - and there was many of them, lots of people actually didn´t see dynamic between Loki and Sylvie as romantic in the third episode. So it´s not like Sylvie and Loki had unequivocally love story right from the start.

The only difference is that lots of people won´t see romantic tropes, when it comes to two men in a mainstream show – show that isn´t primarily about relationships and problems that queer people has to face. Because in super hero story and science fiction we have to warn audience, that they´re about to watch two man in love, right? At this point It´s just frustrating really. There were many M/M dynamics that used similar story line, as for example Lucifer, or X-files, or Bone collectors. -  But unlike those M/M pairings, no one was making fun of people for shipping main characters in these shows. But when it comes to two men suddenly you´ll see from all corners of the internet: “why can´t it be just platonic?” “There is not enough platonic relationships” “why can´t two man just be friends?” (They can and they almost ALWAYS are) and “if you think there something romantic between them, you´re delusional” “fetishist“ “And for god´s sake just let them be friends, Loki needs a friend more then....” oh wait, but Sylvie is allowed to kiss him. Sylvie doesn´t have to be just friend. (And I must say, that I love Sylvie, I liked most of the interactions between her and Loki and I think she is a great character ((I hope we learn more about her in the future)) it just doesn´t work for me as well as Loki´s dynamic with Mobius. Maybe partly because of chemistry between actors, partly because combination of characters and they´re personality and also because I had two whole episodes to fall in love with the pair before Sylvie was even introduced.)

First of all: people can be friends and then evolve into lovers. Not only it is common romantic trope, but it is also the most realistic one. And those relationships are usually strongest. second: If people want to see Loki in a platonic friendship so desperately, why can´t it be a woman for a change? They were acting like chaotic siblings for most of the episode three anyway. The age gap aspect is also very funny. Owen is only about 12 years older (That is not that much. But I imagine, some people would get uncomfortable. But If it was man and woman, most of them wouldn´t even blinked. But two men, that has to be somehow automatically son and father figure dynamic) And If you want to dive into age of an actual characters, then good luck with that in a series about gods, variants and time travel. Almost nobody cares about age gap between Lucifer and detective Decker, or Bella and Edward. On top of that, it was heavily implied, that Loki slept with older, silver haired guy in Ragnarok, so it´s not like he would have problem with that.

Different standards are projected in a way how we see romantic dynamics between fictional characters depends on what we are used to, how are we perceiving world around us, what we are expecting to see and ALSO, what we would like to see, that much is true.  When people are used to make no differences between heterosexual and homosexual pairing, then everything what happens to the characters is measured with the same meter. (Even though I experienced queerbaiting many times (( Once upon a time, Sherlock, Supernatural, Good Omens – the last one hopefully is not the case, but I guess we´ll see)) I also saw lots of lgbt shows like Queer as folks and Sense8.) And when we are not used to see it the same way, well… then it looks basically like that one comment under Castiel´s “I love you” scene on youtube, that said  “what a beautiful friendship”.

If we forget about all that chaotic mess behind the scenes (all those articles and contrary messages)  What is happening in a show between Loki and Mobius can be objectively considered romantic and what is happening between Loki and Sylvie in a series can be objectively considered platonic (until the kiss) and vice versa.  And then to see comments about how absurd it is to even think they have chemistry, and about gay fetish - it´s hard to swallow. I read posts about absurdity of a ship and how there is absolutely nothing that would suggests romance.  Well there is, actually. But whether creators are going to work with it or not, that´s something we can only speculate. They already made Loki officially bisexual. So why should it be so absurd to assume, that there is an actual possibility of romantic subplot between Loki and Mobius? Oh right… it´s Disney and Marvel we are talking about.

So on a subject of bisexuality: Bi people can date whoever they want.  But It is a little frustrating, when there is so many heterosexual pairings in the mcu and disney but when there is a promise of lgbt character (speaking of endgame) we get one line about date from a man we´ll never see again. And when there is a promise of lgbt representation you can´t even blink during movie, or you´ll miss it (Star wars, Beauty and the beast). And then Loki said “A bit of both, I suspect the same as you”. And I won´t lie, I was happy. And I think creators made biggest step yet with this one line (which is honestly terrible, that “a bit of both” coming from Loki of all people, is the biggest step forward.) But they played it VERY safe. Obviously, both Loki, and Sylvie are bisexuals, and in three episodes, we had Loki flirting with female flight attendant, Sylvie talking about her relationship with POSTMAN and then they fall for each other. So the only thing that suggests they are really as bi as Lamentis 1 is that little sentence, that can be edited out, or easily overheard. It´s the bare minimum. And I think that frustration with how freaking slowly we´re moving into some progress is understandable. From all those great M/M dynamics I talked about, those, that could make great love story, nothing happened, because too many people “don´t mind gays but don´t need to look at them” or are scared for their children. In 2021.

It is not a fetish to wish for a gay love story in superhero movies/series. (But anyway, I don´t think there is anything bad about it. Some men like to watch lesbian porn, some woman like to read gay porn. AO3 wouldn´t be were it is today, without people reading and writing slash :D – but that has little to do with what we actually see on tv)

I´m not delusional. As much, as I love these two characters together, I know how little chance it has.  I´m not delusional. I´m just in the future, old and tired, waiting hundreds of years for at least one of my OTP to finaly become a fucking canon.

[abarbaricyalp]

Sierra Burgess is a Bisexual

Proof:

This entire scene is shot in lesbian pride flag colors, with the occasional blue and purple hue shifting it to the bi-pride flag colors.

We know this color scheme was added into this scene because none of the other bedroom scenes are bathed in the same light, suggesting that as Sierra and Ronnie get closer, wlw themes become more prevalent.

Bi-pride colors again! This time while she’s looking at who I’ll postulate would be the two main love interests, Jamey and Ronnie. She also panics in this scene when she sees them together  (bi mood of the month) and refuses to break them up. (Possibly because that would mean she no longer has a reason to hang out with Ronnie??? My dumb bi ass has worked on a project longer just to hang out with a girl)

In that same scene, upon looking at both of them, the decoration on the wall also seems to be a combination of the ‘male’ and ‘female’ symbols (without the pointed heads).

IDK if it’s a universal bi experience or just me, but I will take every opportunity to deny being “gay” or a “lesbian” if I don’t want to be out to someone, because I’m not gay or a lesbian. I’m bi. I got heavy notes of that every time Sierra rejected ideas that she was gay.  She never says she doesn’t like girls, just that she’s not gay. Which is interesting.

Also interesting, Ronnie doesn’t say she wouldn’t “les out” with Sierra, just not Sierra and Jamey. Not wanting to be part of a threesome with two people you think are straight is also a heavy bi mood of the month.

(Also, spot more of that bi lighting. It truly is the year of bisexuals in bi lighting)

This whole scene? Gay. The softness? The closeness? The exchanging of clothes? The laughter? The song playing in the background? Full of wlw energy. Sierra and Ronnie were the queer couple we were denied of this year. I will die on this hill.

This should’ve been a kiss, dammit! I have never seen a more tender moment between two people! The eye acting! The raw emotion! The silent conversation! It pans between them THREE (3) TIMES!!!! Again, we see Sierra having to choose between Jamey and Ronnie (like at the theater) and this time she chooses Ronnie! We don’t ever see her with Jamey again! My stupid bi heart burst at this scene. I love it so much!

THE SONG!

Supposedly this song is for Jamey, the romantic interest. It’s based on a line he says earlier in the movie (”You’d be a rose. The queen of all other flowers”) but this is another instance where we never see Jamey and Sierra interact. It’s Ronnie who listens to the song and who it affects.

Furthermore, Jamey’s reaction that we get to the song is him bringing Sierra is sunflower for the dance (heart eyes emoji, motherfucker) but Ronnie also wears flowers afterwards, which we only see when she’s with Sierra.

(Spot that ring! Not a sunflower, but a daisy, which is as humble as the sunflower)

More on the song? It’s co-written by at least three queer artists: Troye Sivan, Allie-X (who was touring with Hayley Kiyoko earlier in the year. I got to see them. It was awesome), and Leland.

Let’s look at my fave lyrics:

The beginning of Sierra and Ronnie’s relationship is tumultuous because Ronnie doesn’t want to be seen with Sierra because she’s a ‘loser’. While this is supposedly only supposed to be speaking to Jayme’s interest in popular girls, I mean, it could be speaking to Ronnie’s interest in popular girls too. Since Ronnie is the first to listen to it and all. We also only see Sierra changing her appearance (and not much! My fave part of the movie is that she doesn’t have to change to get the guy!) when Ronnie asks her to (the eyebrow plucking. Literally, that’s it. But still, the song mentions transformation.)

Speaking of transformation! The biggest transformation comes from Ronnie changing from a shallow, image obsessed mean girl, blossoming into the kind hearted, funny, intelligent soul that she is under all the hurt. IDK, I just thought it was worth mentioning. I love this song. I love these characters.

One last thing on the song:

Him or Her!!!! Sierra’s English teacher is the coolest, most with it character in the whole movie (and isn’t that true of real life English teachers, right?) and she can imagine Sierra being in love with a girl. 

Not to mention, the way Sierra’s ‘masculinity’ and ‘ugliness’ is not only addressed, but accepted by her gives me heavy dyke feelings (in the reclaimed connotation), as does her non-performance of traditional femininity in her presentation of self, particularly around other girls and women

Then she gets to have this kick ass line

Damn Sierra!!!

Not to mention the way she totally owns her voice (which is something I struggle with hard) TO THE BOY THAT SHE LIKES, I COULD NEVER

Also, can we talk about how Ronnie is leaving behind a version of herself that she learned wasn’t true over the course of her relationship with Sierra, as well as pursuing a passion she became aware of because of Sierra?

Because that shit is not subtle

All of this to say: Sierra Burgess,

[mazzystargirl]

do you have any good book recommendations?

ok sorry this took me so long to answer but i have so much i want to recommend!!! thank you for giving me an opportunity to rant abt books, anon!!!! i also know this is going to be long so i put all my recs under the cut :)

it’s likely if you’re on tumblr that you already know about the main tumblr books (like six of crows or all for the game etc) so i’m not going to waste time telling you that you should read them if you haven’t. you should. they’re good.

here are some lesser known books that i don’t see a ton of fan content for! in no particular order!!!

1. Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore. this is an all around weird (in the best way!!) book tbh. it follows a girl named jane who visits her friend’s house on an island. it’s split into five stories, each one a different genre and based on a choice that jane made. it’s sort of hard to describe, but it’s seriously so brilliant. also jane is a bi girl if you’re into that! 

2. The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding. this is a lesbian rom-com! it’s about a girl named abby in los angeles who meets another girl (jordi perez) and they fall for each other. ITS SO CUTE UGH it’s full of really awesome friendship and romance that made me feel butterflies in my belly. ugh i love it so much. 

3. Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner. this book made me cry a lot. i think it can be a really emotionally heavy book, but it’s also very cathartic to read. it follows a girl, brynn, who’s brother’s died and she is struggling with the aftermath of that. the thing i love about brynn is how much she really cares about everything. she’s my favorite type of heroine, someone who tries so hard and cares so much, but has a lot of trouble expressing it because of sadness and stuff. maybe i’m projecting. also, brynn’s a lesbian. i think you can probably see a theme here. tw//suicide attempt

4. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour. i’m not sure how popular this book is but it’s good, ok. don’t let anyone tell you nina lacour books are boring. it made me cry like hell. it’s about a girl named marin who goes to college across the country from where she lives after her grandfather dies. she isolates herself from everyone in her old life, and it’s such a beautiful story of family and friendship and finding yourself after you think you’re so lost you can never recover. 

5. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth. this book is amazing and not enough people have read it. i know you might have already heard of it but: follows a gay girl named cameron whose parents die and she navigates through being gay is montana in the 90s. highly, highly recommend if you haven’t read it! tw//conversion therapy

6. The Literary Works of Alice Oseman. she has a decent fanbase on this website, but just. read all her books. they’re so amazing. they’re all so realistic and indicative of the millennial/gen z experience in this day and age. highly, highly, highly recommend. her books are probably my favorites of all time! 

7. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. i know i said lesser known books, and this book is pretty popular, but ugh. this book. ugh this book is so, so, so good. it’s a must read! it’s about a girl named starr who is the witness to the murder of her friend khalil at the hands of the police. it has a very delicate exploration of relationships between the police and low-income black families. the core of the book is really about family and friendship and being strong in a time of hardship, and it’s very very touching and an extremely good piece of work. also it annoys me that there’s not more fanwork surrounding this book. i can’t draw but i wish i could JUST so i could draw starr and khalil!!! tw//character death

8. Release by Patrick Ness. this book follows a young gay boy, adam, through one day of his life, and it is a WEIRD day. there are some really insane supernatural elements, and it explores adam’s relationship with his friends, his family, his boyfriend, his ex-boyfriend, and more! it’s definitely on the heavier side, too. it’s sweet and sometimes really sad. it’s also such a beautiful book. patrick ness is SUCH a good writer ugh. tw//homophobia and sexual harassment

9. Whatever by S.J. Goslee. this book is SO funny ugh. it’s kind of wild but very cute. it’s about a boy named mike who realizes he’s bisexual! he’s a dumb stoner half the time but he drinks his respecting women and loving his friends juice so you end up adopting him halfway through the book. there are a lot of really awesome friendships and i love mike’s sister a lot too. tw//homophobia and biphobia

10. Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen. this book is also Very Funny. it’s about a girl named cynthia who realizes that her librarian is actually a demon from another dimension, and has to save her best friend annie from becoming his bride. it has such an awesome friend dynamic between cyn and annie, and also her two other friends diane and leticia! the romance between cyn and her love interest is also a very healthy and cute relationship that i love. plus the backdrop of musical theatre was also very cute because i love musical theatre lmao! there’s also a sequel and a third book coming out in august that i am Very Excited about!

11. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken! an actually good apocalypse novel series! a whole thing happens that makes a bunch of kids have superpowers, and they’re sent to basically concentration camps, and they have to overthrow the leader. i love the main character ruby and also love the relationship between her and her friends, zu, chubs, liam, vida, and jude. three books in the series and one book of novellas. 

12. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger. abt a girl named sophronia who goes to finishing school. the school ends up being a school for spies. chaos ensues. i seriously love this story so much. it’s set in a steampunk london, so lots of cool gadgets with the retro coolness of the victorian era. there are highwaymen, but they fly so they’re called flywaymen, and werewolves, and vampires, and a kid named vieve who is seriously such a delight. four books in the series. 

13. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis. this book is so insane. it’s about a girl named alex craft who gets revenge on the asshole who murdered her sister. it’s an examination of rape culture and all the shit that comes with being a girl in high school right now. tw//sexual and physical assault

14. Stranger Than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer. so i didn’t know the author was in glee, i just picked the book up because i thought the cover was cool. and yes, it is not a perfect book. but it is wild. it is crazy. it has a lot of heart. and that’s what matters. it’s funny and just kind of a fun trip to read. the plot kind of feels like fanfiction at times, but you know what. its stranger than that. 

i hope you like these books anon!! they’re some that i really enjoyed and now i feel like i want to go back and read them again lmao. 

[blackshabbatmusic]

Dookie (Green Day) - Feb 1, 1994

So, I wanted to start with this because, in a time honored tradition of punk teens dating back to 1994, the very first album I bought with my own money was a copy of Dookie. It was exciting even though I’d heard some of the songs before - my dad used to play Basket Case a lot, and the very first song I taught myself on my guitar was When I Come Around. I picked up the guitar after I bought the album, so that’s technically getting ahead of myself, but whatever.

Burnout: A fun fact about me is that I dropped out of college! So I’m a lot more into this song now that I was in the seventh grade. 

Having A Blast: This is a song about a suicide bomber. I actually own this album on cassette tape and the cassette lyric sheet has a bundle of dynamite drawn next to the lyrics. Pretty cool. I definitely listened to this song on loop a lot when I was in freshman year which is definitely a symptom of some kind of metal problem.

Chump: Another classic generic angry punk song. Good for when you want something to project your anger onto, you know? Tre Cool kills it as always on the drums. There’s also an insane instrumental in this song that I literally always forget about. It’s really good though and it fades perfectly into Longview.

Longview: So, this is a song about jerking it. The bassline is what this song is most known for, it’s very acid-forward. It’s one of those songs where the bassline is more instantly recognizable than the guitar part. My cassette tape is actually fucked up and makes the first 30 seconds of this song sound like an anxiety attack but I think that adds to the experience. 

Welcome To Paradise: It’s frequently incorrectly claimed that Dookie is Green Day’s first album but that’s not true. Before Dookie was released on Warner Bros, Green Day released two albums with now-defunct record label Lookout! Records. (Author’s note: Larry Livermore has a really cool autobiography called How To Ru(i)n a Record Label. Check it out! I thought it was pretty rad.) Anyways, their first two albums featured covers. (Their debut 39/Smooth featured a cover of another East Bay band, Operation Ivy, and their second album Kerplunk had a Who cover.) This song is technically a self-cover, as it’s a re-recording of a song off of Kerplunk. I think that’s kinda neat. The actual song is solid, I really like the guitar line. It’s about the shitty house the band shared, and it’s I think fun to have songs that are about some very base and grounded reality, as much as I like songs about stuff like The Abstract Concept Of Anger.

Pulling Teeth: This is a song about BDSM. It is one of many songs that Green Day has about BDSM. They’re all very fun if you think songs about BDSM are fun. Again, Mr. Cool on the drums. Fucked up how into him I was in middle school. I didn’t even have a crush on him, I had, like - gender envy. Fucked up. 

Basket Case: This is another personal favorite and also another song where my cassette tape is fucked up and makes the song sound like a panic attack. I think it works for this one. I remember being obsessed with the pronouns for the prostitute changing mid-line and none of my straight friends understanding why. Which is funny because there’s literally a song on this album about being bisexual. My dad used to play this song a ton when I was younger but he like. Edited the lyrics on account of my being small. So I was very surprised the first time I heard the actual song. 

She: Another angry punk song that is WONDERFUL if you are in middle school and very very mad all the time because of your undiagnosed mental illnesses. It’s nice to have a song you can just freak the fuck out to sometimes, you know?

Sassafras Roots: This song is romantic but, like, in a scumbag way, you know? It’s romantic in the way that sharing a joint and a flask in a public bathroom is romantic.  

When I Come Around: This is the first song I ever taught myself on guitar and it’s still the chord progression I use to get the feel of a six-string. I don’t think that it ever won’t be, you know? Also again I had SO much gender envy for BJA in the music video for this song it was unreal.

Coming Clean: The aforementioned bisexuality song! I used to think it was funny seeing people call Billie Joe Armstrong an “ally” for touring with Pansy Division. It’s still pretty funny if you can pretend not to be mad about people ignoring the fact that he’s not straight just because he’s married to a woman. I’ve always been very into the line “I’ve found out what it takes to be a man” because so often gay and bi men are treated like we are less male due to our attraction to other men, so hearing it phrased as something affirming like “what it takes to be a man” was very empowering to me as a bisexual teenager. Armstrong does a similar thing in a song on a different album, King For A Day, which is about crossdressing and has the line “just wait til all the guys get a load of me,” taking the idea that male femininity should be a shameful secret and instead making it a bragging point for himself.

Emenius Sleepus: Okay, this is maybe lame or whatever, but I think that “I think you’re sick and I wanna go home” is a genuinely brilliant line. This is the only song on the album whose lyrics weren’t written by Armstrong. The lyrics are actually credited to bassist Mike Dirnt. The song is about meeting a childhood friend and being disgusted by the way they turned out. It’s a really good song. In The End: Another sort of spiteful song with not a lot of lyrical substance; it seems like a few of these songs were intentionally vague? I’d love to know why. Then, “vague semi-directionless anger” is like, basically the biggest theme in punk rock, especially the 90s punk revival. 

F.O.D.: This song actually starts very soft and builds into a more traditional punk revival piece. I love that shit, I love songs like this that start with just a guitar and a singer and get into a full band piece halfway through, I think it’s SO fun.

All By Myself: So this is a secret track on this album that I literally. Always forget about. It’s definitely a song that a bunch of a shithead 20 year olds would put out as a joke. The song is Tre Cool on an acoustic guitar talking about jerking off to someone in their bedroom. You can hear his bandmates laughing in the background. Very punk rock.

I’m realizing now how much of this album is just angry songs. It’s a little funny when you think about how often Green Day was mocked for putting out corny love songs. Not that I don’t love corny love songs. I also love Billie Joe Armstrong’s voice on early Green Day albums. The whiny 20-something carries through VERY strong which is super fun. I might be motivated by nostalgia, honestly, but I do really get why this album had so much sticking power and how it helped Green Day break through from the underground Bay Area punk scene into like - movie soundtracks and shit. It’s a really solid piece of art from three talented musicians.

[literaryinspiredwebserieslove]

LIW Review: Lovely Little Losers

Much as I love NMTD as my favorite adaptation of my favorite Shakespeare play, LBD for introducing me to the genre and the genre to the world, and so many other literary-inspired webseries for so many reasons, Lovely Little Losers will always be my favorite. 

The premise is simple: Benedick, Balthazar, and Pedro (now going by Peter) from Nothing Much To Do are going to university in Wellington and living in a flat together with the lovely and awkward Freddie Kingston. Freddie and Ben decide to impose some order on the flat with a set of absurd flat rules that everyone has to follow, including a curfew, vegetarianism (and vegan Fridays), Ben getting to film everything, imposed flat bonding in the form of challenges, and the worst rule of all, no romantic relationships, aka no shenanigans. 

The series is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, but in reality there are only about five episodes that have anything to do with the plot of the original play. Apart from those moments, the inspiration mostly just creates the premise and the names of certain characters.

Plot overview:

Freddie, Benedick, Peter, and Balthazar sign a bunch of ridiculous flat rules that at first seem like a good idea and quickly spiral out of control. Then Beatrice and Meg decide to road trip to Wellington, where, due to The Rules, they end of sleeping in a tent in the back garden along with Kit, another friend of the flat. It’s hard to say more about the actual plot without spoilers, since it’s barely revealed what’s been going on until almost the end (starting around “SARDINES” and going until “FEATHERS”), so I’ll move on to my other categories.

Format:

All actual episodes are posted on the Lovely Little Losers YouTube channel, with Ben as the main (unreliable) narrator, Meg as secondary (mostly reliable) narrator, and other characters (such as Beatrice and Peter) occasionally filming/uploading videos as well. Fifteen videos are devoted to “Balth in a Bath,” which was all filmed on the same day in February but is uploaded sporadically throughout the year. There are also between fourteen and seventeen song videos, depending on how you define “song” (more on that later). There are also a few extras on other YouTube channels that, while not technically part of the story, help illuminate things considerably (the channel I’m referring to here is Zoos Job, though there are also two videos on the Nothing Much To Do channel).

How to watch LoLiLo:

This is ordinarily not one of my categories, but in this case it is very necessary. You MUST read the video descriptions, and also check the comments section, to have ANY idea what’s really going on here, and even then most of it’s going to be subtext. You can watch the series either in the order it was intended to be watched in or in chronological order (which ruins a little of the mystery but averts a Zoos Job marathon later on. Links to both playlists are below). Keep in mind that Benedick is the narrator of nearly the whole thing, and that he is editing the content to fit his own agenda – the one @beatriceeagle calls “Project Birdy-Fingers.” This means that two-thirds of the love stories in LoLiLo are almost entirely hidden from the viewers and once again need to be read through subtext. 

Realism:

Off the charts dedicated. This series has a much more experimental style than NMTD – several episodes use more than one camera angle, nearly every episodes has multiple characters in it, and is frequently filmed over multiple days and edited into non-chronological order – but there is still always a reason for the camera to be there and always a reason, in-universe, for it to have been edited and uploaded the way it was. This dedication to realism made things that much more difficult for The Candle Wasters, but it also adds hugely to the value of the series.

Music:

As I mentioned above, many, many episodes of LLL are actually songs. The series has been referred to by many people as a “secret musical” because of this. 11 songs are almost entirely character development. “A Merry Note” was written by Shakespeare and was mostly The Candle Wasters being clever and making us think our ship had sailed. “Heaven in Her Lips” is a cute love song. “Stay” is secretly plot, though the lyrics also assist in understanding “one foot on sea one on shore one in the boiling hot lava,” which is the real first episode of LoLiLo. Then we get to the question of whether certain other videos are songs. “Berry Nice,” while a Balth in a Bath episode, is clearly a song. But what about “Beatrice and Ballads,” which is essentially the reprise of “Beatrice, You’re Vivacious”? What about “A Sonnet,” which, although not a song, is the inverse of “An Ode” and should therefore be included for the sake of symmetry? Of course, the numbers don’t matter, because the songs are amazing. The songs themselves were mainly written by Reuben Hudson, Elsie Bollinger, and Maude Morris, with some help from other writers, and are performed mostly by Reuben Hudson and Mouce Young, with help from most of the rest of the cast.

Representation/diversity:

Very strong. Several characters are not white at all (Kit and Jaquie), and race just generally is a non-issue. LGBT representation is also great, especially for a pre-2016 webseries: Peter is now openly bisexual, Balthazar actually uses the word “gay” to describe himself, Paige and Chelsey are a lesbian couple who have basically the only functional relationship in the whole series, and the sexuality of several other characters (Kit, Freddie, Costa, Vegan Fred), is never defined, though I headcanon them all as bi. Though there are no disabled characters, there are extensive explorations of mental health issues, though as usual for The Candle Wasters, this is largely in subtext. Also, people actually talk about money in this and have realistic issues with money, which is a nice change from every other webseries I’ve seen.

Film quality:

Fantabulous, especially since The Candle Wasters had an actual budget for this series.  As mentioned before, there are even episodes shot with multiple cameras THAT ACTUALLY WORK. Yay for realism and quality combined is all I can say.

My three favorite things about Lovely Little Losers:

1) My two favorite episodes, “RUSSIANFUDGE” and “ACCOSTED”

2) Balth in a Bath, because Balth in a Bath is perfect and innocent and lovely and actually includes a lot of exposition and character/relationship development that doesn’t exist anywhere else.

3) The fact that I keep getting more out of it on every rewatch – and I have now seen this thing in full ten times, though it’s been more like twenty for some episodes (”TEA,” “RUSSIANFUDGE”), and I have no idea how many times I’ve watched/listened to some of the songs.

Difficult things about Lovely Little Losers:

On first viewing it can be almost impossible to understand what’s going on almost all the time, and it can be easy to skip things because the series seems largely plotless. Do not give up hope! There is indeed a plot, but you have to hunt for it. If you finish the series and still feel confused or dissatisfied, I recommend a rewatch and @beatriceeagle and @marydebenham ‘s LLL rewatch metas, which have been invaluable for many the confused/dissatisfied viewer. It can also be frustrating that certain things (like apologies) are never said on camera, but we can blame realism for that. 

All I can say is, despite its surface flaws, LoLiLo is not only my favorite webseries but also only of my favorite pieces of literature of all time. There’s so much here, in character, in content, and in theme, and I could talk about it for ages more than I already have. Although on first viewing I had no idea what to make of it, I now give LLL a solid and glowing 5/5 stars.

Cast:

Benedick Hobbes – Jake McGregor @jakeasaurus--rex

Peter Donaldson �� Caleb Wells @letslipthedogsofwar 

Freddie Kingston – Bonnie Simmonds @bonniesimmonds

Balthazar Jones – Reuben Hudson @reubenhudson

Meg Winter – Jessica Stansfield

Beatrice Duke – Harriett Maire @harriettstella

Kitso Harper – Phodiso Dintwe

Paige Moth – Mouce Young

Chelsey Long – Bronwyn Ensor

Rosa Jones – Ella McLeod

Hero Duke – Pearl Kennedy

Jaquie Manders – Kalisha Wasasala

Costa McClure – Robbie Nicol (Aka White Man Behind a Desk, now part of The Candle Wasters)

John Donaldson – Geroge Maunsell

Vegan Fred Boyet – Daniel McBride (aka Sheep, Dog & Wolf)

Dogberry – David Hannah

Claudio – Matthew J. Smith

Leo Duke – Alex McDonald

Ursula – Tina Pan

Zeb – Jim Mitford-Taylor

Kelsi Forrester – Calum Gittins

Julia – Mirabai Pease

Violet – Hannah Mitford-Taylor

Maria – Hannah Geddis

Created by The Candle Wasters @thecandlewasters

More complete social media links for the cast and crew are available from people who aren’t me :) 

Running time:

Approximately ten hours. 

Time frame:

December 24, 2014-December 25, 2015

Watch it in the original order here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4M4eic7acR3w0c4lLxWE8SnpT2WzoCJ

Or in chronological (Zoos Job) order here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4M4eic7acRAEqZtFwMqTz_lvB5YxKs4

Or in upload order as a slideshow here:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tvK1vOQNA9ClJi8K061c_sxiY4pwHfxbUvj8yPd_yuE/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000&slide=id.p