#it seems like there are a lot of ESL fans who want to write so if you���d like help lemme know!

[libidinous-weeb]

oh also! to anyone following me that writes! ESPECIALLY ESL writers or anybody with any form of disability! (not a requirement tho!) i am always available to grammar check (for free!) if you’re interested! or to be a beta if you need one!

maybe you just want to see how something sounds before you post it? or check the flow? concerned about inclusivity too? making sure you get all the TW? let me know! i’m here to help! my DMs are always open and proofreading is a lot of fun for me. love ya’ll!

[showtoonzfan]

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE, ADDICTION AND ASSAULT

As much as I dislike to admit it, Angel Dust is NOT a one note character. It’s clear he has layers to him, there’s been so much information on him personality wise and as a character over time, and his deeper side is something that Viv wants to explore in the show.

However, yes this is going to sound petty, but I really hope someone ESLE writes him because the way Viv handles his character is not for me. Like I’ve said before, I’ve restrained myself from talking about Angel since he’s a hefty subject (and the most popular in the fandom and I don’t want rabid fans at my neck) but I still would like the take the time to discuss his issues just a tad, though this’ll be short. The truth is I don’t think Viv can handle someone as deep as he seems to be. He’s a character who’s abused, an addict, a murdering psychopath with a twisted sense of humor, a character who doesn’t show his deep feelings to others, a person who while loves his work, the fame and attention he has, he feels trapped it seems at the same time, there’s just.....a LOT to him. While I think Viv overcompensates him WAAAAY too much, he still deseves to be written well, especially since a lot of people look up to him for being a gay man struggling. The issue is simply that he’s written by Viv. In the pilot, he’s an annoying, obnoxious, unlikable hyper sexual douchebag who spouts sex jokes every second, and every time I see him I want to get the raid and spray it till the damn can is empty. He seems to be treated as a joke and not at the same time, but for the pilot, it’s definitely a joke. As someone who’s followed Viv for a long time and seen her livestreams, she clearly thinks liking dick is funny, and spouting sex jokes is peak comedy. It seems she takes how Angel acts regularly as a pawn, making him the comic relief character but also this predatory hyper sexual dude and it’s disgusting. And no, not that he’s in HELL it’s disgusting, it’s disgusting because he’s gay and portrayed as someone making sex jokes every 5 seconds and it doesn’t make me like him, it makes me annoyed. Like I said, Angel has layers and there’s more to him as seen in the pilot, but the persona he puts on is still that of a stereotype. She’ll use him as a joke and then suddenly tell us to get serious because he has a pimp who physically and sexually abuses him, and it’s just all done sloppily. Like all of this is happening to him and yet we have to laugh when he flirts with other characters and cracks sex jokes? And then we’re supposed to feel bad for him when he’s clearly a horrible person with barley any redeeming qualities? Because I’m sorry, I don’t feel bad for him, or at least I can’t sympathize with him fully because of how shitty he acts. Not to mention all the fan service that doesn’t even collide with what she’s trying to get across with his character. One moment he’s a deep troubled character, then he’s an UWU hot boy who likes sex so laugh and drool at him please. It’s just so much, I don’t even think Viv knows what she WANTS his character to be because he seems to flip flop all the time.

But for now, that’s all I’m saying. I just hope someone else will write him, someone who knows how to write characters with trauma, complex characters, and especially GAY characters, because not every gay person talks about how much they like dick every 5 seconds. You can feel free to disagree with me, I’m not going to argue but please do NOT harass me in the comments. You can feel free to voice your opinion on Angel Dust though, thank you.

[romantichore-blog]

Shoot?! That sounds violent! But I love it!

Hello friend! :) How are you?

Could I get a 2, 17, 30, and 49?

hi! worry not, friend! it's more like, shoot as in shoot me a question, no violence in this house. I mean, except for the one I write. for some reason I tend to write quite a bit of it haha

2. Are you a pantser or plotter?

oh, we're starting with the difficult questions already! I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle. for most of my writing 'career' I've been a proud pantser. I started young and unruly and it never really crossed my mind to plan anything, because I felt like it'd stifle my creativity.

I started teaching in-depth writing classes for ESL students six or so years ago, right around the time I took an extended break from writing - I only managed to come back last year and it's been a Process. a very important piece of writing advice for my students is to plan ahead, but I personally had never done it. that is, until I found myself staring at the computer screen for extended periods of time not managing to write anything and thought hey, what the hell, let's put my own advice to the test. and it worked wonders!

but I found that detailing everything meticulously does kill the mood for me a bit, hence why I'm sitting somewhere in the middle: I have a very rough outline of what I want to write, just so I don't forget the flow or some details I wanted to add. if I really can't seem to write anything, I break scenes down into very small chunks and simple wording, which to me feels a lot like plotting.

17. What writing habits or rituals do you have?

I tend to 1) have an overactive imagination and 2) be very forgetful, so I always try to have something available to write on wherever I go in case an idea hits me unexpectedly. there is a small notebook in every part of the house, basically, then one in my backpack, and an app on my phone and tablet. once a week I sit down and read over everything, then transfer it to Scrivener, where I have a 'project'/folder to catch all my ideas.

I also need to be completely alone to write for longer periods of time, as I will invariably get distracted at some point otherwise, or my partner will talk to me, and I'll lose focus and it's really difficult to get it back 🙃

30.  Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet

oh, there are so, so many 😭 I'm really bad at starting things, but have ideas for days. I'd say my favorite is one I started a long time ago (some 5+ years), then stopped, but it keeps popping up in my mind. the premise is fairly simple, two dragonborns instead of one, they at first do not know of the existence of the other, and don't really get along very well when they finally meet. the catch is that I'm a big fan of original character pairings rather than oc x canon ones, and the original idea had one db be my OC, and the other someone else's. it fell through a couple of times for a variety of reasons, haha

recently though I've wanted to write something more in the style of a visual novel, or an interactive novel, rather. something with choices, or at least different paths, written in second person. it's my current favorite because I can't seem to get it out of my head.

49.  Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

honestly? Farkas. amazing heart, not complicated to get along with, looks like he gives amazing hugs and would punch someone for me. but perhaps more importantly would be that friend who isn't shy to signal the waiter over, which is something I cannot do. realistically though, I'd probably get along better with Vilkas. smart snarky friendship.

ok ok so I know the question asks for one but I'd also befriend Farengar and Marcurio in a heartbeat if they were real. they're both sarcastic pains in the ass which makes them perfect.

[booksandwords]

Love in English by Maria E. Andreu

Read time: 5 Days Rating: 4/5

The quote: I can't even blame it on English. It was the internationally nonsensical language of boy that did me in this time. — Ana

Let's see if I can make this review quick. First I am fully aware I'm not in the demographic this is aimed at. But please someone give me a book where the main character faces better(ie lasting) consequences for her actions. Have some balls go full I don't need a man (or I need to find me) or just have her alone as a consequence of her action (though in Ana's situation that would be harsh). Also, I'm not one for love triangles so I wasn't reading this for that aspect I wanted it for the immigration and language aspects. It more than delivers on those.

From that comment, you can probably guess I'm not a huge fan of the ending. It ends in a really odd place. It's so fast, possibly too fast especially given the time jump and vagary of the timescale of the book. I can see where the logical moves are made but it feels unsatisfactory. That said there is certainly some intelligence in writing it the way Andreu has written it. We read and perceive the world as Ana, her flaws, her inability to perceive the situation as an immigrant to America become ours, we too become strangers in a strange land. Ana isn't simply a girl unable to choose, it's more complicated than that.

As well as writing that ending well Andreu uses pop culture references and language well. Reintroducing native speakers to the shall we call them quirks of a language we possibly don't understand the complexity of entirely. We were raised into it, figures of speech at least partially come naturally to us. I appreciate the strings of hashmarks (#) to indicate words, phrases Ana cannot understand that understand. 80s movies, origami (used so well), slam poetry. The poetry is stunningly beautiful. A wonderful way to show Ana's development as a person (well kinda), as a speaker of English and an American resident.

I appreciate the characters and the points they are making. Ana is a good protagonist, a reasonably unproblematic way to take a walk in someone else's shoes. Harrison is the personification of the all American boy, the boy next door. He is largely surrounded by women which is an interesting choice which I'm not sure I want to think too much about. Neo like Ana is a migrant facing more ostracisation than her and there under different circumstances. I like the contrasts and similarities between them. Their different interests as well. Both like words but in different ways. Altagarcia aka 'Gracie' is a way to show assimilation and she's lgbtq+ which is appreciated. I really like her she's a moment of lightness. As a father, Ana's Father is a good way to show growth/ development and much can be missed in a relatively short time. Also the impact of stress and loss of control moving in new circumstances.

I turn back to the screen. Two men who both seem like they're Brad Pitt are sword fighting next to a pristine blue sea. — And I mean fair. I'm pretty sure Garrett Hedlund was cast purely because of his physical similarities to Brad Pitt. I will never ignore an opportunity to talk about this man. Sorry not sorry.

I know they speak Greek there. Turkish too, I think, at least on part of the island. In Spanish the name is Chipre, which sounds a lot like a chirping bird. I wish I knew how to tell him all this. Like: I see you. I know your country is small but I know about it. — This is about Neo's birthplace Cypus. (p.28)

It's weird to think of teachers of humans, as people who care if other people think they're doing a good job. — I like Mr T the ESL teacher. He does a good job of teaching more conversational English. (p.174)

What does he want from me, anyway? He wants perfect grades, he wants me to love the topic he thinks is best, he wants me to stick to the old rules about boys like we're living in the Dark Ages. And he wants me American but not too American, brave but not too brave. — Honestly this has one of the best follow up lines. (p. 275)

I've round this book really hard to rate. I'm giving it four stars. It might have been five stars with a different ending. Only the skill in writing pop culture in a recognisable way despite the cultural barrier and the smart use of poetry saves it from being three stars.

[bxngtan-fanfics]

On the whole “English Album business” (REPOST from main blog)

I’ve seen some people who think that it’s not a big deal that BTS are being bombarded with English Album requests. I’m here to clear up exactly why people should stop and why it’s disrespectful and entitled to expect it. Read to the end, and PLEASE reblog!!!

Language Barrier

First off, BTS are Korean. We all know this. Their first language is Korean and Korean and English are not similar languages and trying to learn English as a second language is very hard. My mother works with ESL kids, and even at a young age, they struggle with such complex and abstract grammar rules. Adults have less ability to learn languages like kids, so automatically BTS will have an even harder time learning English. While RM is fluent, he cannot, and should not have to carry the weight of the entire team. BTS has already worked their asses off to give us the English they do speak. Appreciate their hard work. Realize that trying to make an entire English album would be difficult, unfair to BTS’s work ethic and force them to translate lyrics that were meant to be Korean. This means many of BTS’s beautiful lyrics would be lost in translation, and it would sound much more dumbed down and might even change the entire feel and meaning of the songs. That would ruin so much of an album that what point is there anymore? Making BTS sound Western is to lose a huge part of their sound and style.

Their Korean Pride

BTS love their country. They love Korea and they are so proud to be Korean. Jimin makes jokes that he was born in Busan first, lording it over Jungkook playfully. Suga will literally never shut up about being a D-boy, and that he’s from Daegu. BTS was so proud of their cities they made a song about it - Ma City. They didnt even care when it got banned for the song being what it was. If they could tell the world how much they loved their town, they didn’t care. Also, one of my favorite BTS songs is Satoori Rap. This song was the first idol song to feature Satoori (or certain Korean dialects) as it’s main point. Most idols have to lose their Satoori when they move to Seoul or they are made fun of or something of the like. The song features the complexities of different Korean dialects and they rap about how sometimes it’s so different the Satoori’s can sound like different languages. Obviously, they put so much pride into where they come from, and they don’t want that to change. Suga has vehemently denied English album propositions before, and a lot of the time in America he doesn’t speak much or just speaks in Korean. He 100% can speak some English, but he doesn’t want to. He could give broken English answers but he knows he sounds better in Korean. He doesn’t want the message he cares about to be lost to translation. He’s Korean, and he loves it. They all do. They smile so wide and are so happy when international ARMY’s learn some Korean, know the fanchants, or sing along to Korean lyrics. Why take that joy away from them? They love when other people learn to love Korea through them. Don’t make them give that up. Asking them to make an album in English is like asking them to give up so much of their pride in their culture. That’s asking them to turn away from a place and a country they love with all their hearts. Essentially, trying to make BTS more westernized is… Well… Kinda trying to white-wash them and make them pretend they’re western when they aren’t. And that’s wrong.

It’s Unfair

English may be a very widespread language. So is Chinese and Spanish. Western artists are not forced or pushed into learning another language because they are popular in that country, much less pressured into making an album in a different language. Why on Earth would you expect BTS to do it? Don’t make them set this precedent for Kpop in the Western world. They are pioneers right now, and what they do shape American opinions on Kpop. If another K-artist makes it big in America, they will probably have to follow similar steps to BTS. No Korean artist should be forced to learn English or write English songs unless they want to.

It’s Entitled to Think You Deserve it

You don’t. No one does. BTS are their own people and they give so much to ARMY no matter what. You may think an English album would be connecting with them better, but you’re wrong. Korean fans won’t understand the songs. How will the album fare in their home country? An English album could fucking flop and it’s just not worth it. If you want to know what they’re saying so bad, look up lyric translations that fansites work their butts off to give you, assholes.

You Love The Way Korean Culture Has Shaped Them

Don’t deny it. They’re respectful, sweet, keep their noses clean and never step too far out of line. Korean culture and the Kpop industry is what made them that way. If they were Western, they’d most likely be much more closed off, have less of a bond with their fans. They wouldn’t dance or make covers for you. They wouldn’t make Bangtan bombs or half of the events they do in Korea. They wouldn’t rush to make so many songs and wouldn’t worry about taking a while to come back. Their music videos would be vastly different. Their songs and image would most likely be sexualized worse than it is now. Admit it. You love the way Korean culture and Kpop has shaped them. You can’t have both. You can have a Western artist or a Korean one. Asking BTS to adhere to your American standards and still take what you like about Korean culture with them is appropriating their culture and that’s not okay. BTS may not be a racial minority in Korea, but the U.S. they are, and racism has already reared it’s ugly head on them. Don’t add fuel to the fire.

They Already Accommodate For You

BTS already incorporates English into their songs. If you’ve been a fan for as long as I have, then you noticed that the English in their albums increased the moment they realized how many international fans they actually had. They want you to appreciate that. They want you to hear the English they do put in and know they thought of you. They love international fans, and they try so hard for you. They just try in ways that lets them keep their central identity.

You’re Ignoring What BTS Taught You

BTS have repeatedly said that music is a universal language. Ive heard so many ARMY complain that people don’t understand that not English language music is just as good as English music. How does it look if we demand English music from them now? How does that reflect us as a fandom, us as fans? We seem hypocritical as fuck, and that’s not what we want. BTS taught us that all music can speak to us, no matter the language it’s in. Remember what those seven wonderful young men taught you.

Before anyone comes for me, know I am an American. I like Western Artists. I don’t know Korean, and I only know English. But that doesn’t mean everything I said wasn’t true. If you’re American like me, understand that asking for an English album makes you sound horrible to other ARMY’s. Realize how ignorant and selfish you make Americans sound when you say that stuff. Please. Our reputation already sucks.

Add on if you can, send me asks if you want to ask questions or want me to explain more. Spread this. Please. Reblog this so every ARMY can see it. They need to know why asking for English albums are wrong, not just the fact that it is. Make this known that true fans of BTS only want them to do want they want, not what a society pushes them to do.

BTS deserve their own creative freedom.

[the-brodiac]

The Red-Eyed Lied (SagAqua Human!AU) ch. 5

Warnings: ESL grammar, food, alcohol, smoking, NSFW jokes, I live in a small town with no library

Word count: 2371

<< Previous chapter || First chapter || All chapters

+++

Chapter 5: Immersion

   “The original plan was”, Veto spoke up as we head to the twins’ room that afternoon. “When Caleb’s roommate calls for his usual alcohol errand boy, we connect him to Dragon instead. He’s the principal… Oh no, don’t worry, he’s chill. It won’t get him kicked out if he’s smart but it’ll still be hilariously awkward.”

    “Wow”, I replied, not sure what to say. “You guys know how to do that?”

    “We have our ways”, Quinn told me, quickening his pace.

    “And how do you guys get all the information to this?”

    “Well, I’m an errand boy in this school as well, so I know ‘im”, Sag said with a smile. “People pay me to sneak out and buy ‘em stuff from shops around here, except I don’t buy alcohol like Caleb’s does. Everything else is from our ‘dataminer’, Oliver. He’s one of the guys in charge of the lakehouse trade and has lots of connection.”

    “The only thing stopping you from buying alcohol is your wrong fake ID and your baby face”, Quinn chimed in, snickering.

    Sag rolled his eyes. I stifled a laugh.

    We finally reached their dorm room, situated in the second floor of a different building from mine and Sag’s. I didn’t know what I was expecting. Theirs was a bit larger than any room here I’ve visit, with painted walls that actually isn’t peeling off and furnitures that looks like they didn’t come from an abandoned backyard. No offense, Sag, I love you and I love your couch.

    “You’ve even got a balcony!” I exclaimed, running towards it to check out the view. “And close route to the bathroom! And an actual working fan! Fuck you!”

    They both laughed, plopping down to the (nicer) bottom bunk bed. Sag walked over to me and looked out of the balcony as well. You can barely see the lake from here, but the main school building and one of the neighbouring girls’ dorm are visible.

    “Nice place, huh?” Sag said, as if he owns the place.

    “I’m still wondering what kind of privilege these guys have to end up here”, I retorted.

    “This room is originally for exchange students, but we never even have one, so we claimed it. Oh, and the furnitures are ours”, Quinn explained, stretching and laying down. “Aaand our parents are members of the board. Aaaaand we’re rich.”

    “Wow. My parents won’t even get me McDonalds when they’re out”, I said.

    “Anyways”, Veto got up, pulling out a wheeled whiteboard from behind their closet. “About the plans… We need to brainstorm a prank that can compare to what he did to Aquarius. Quinn?”

   Quinn didn’t move from his position. “Yeah, that. Hmm. Well, the best way to find a personalized prank is look for inspirations from the target’s routine, since it’s meant to be surprising. Is he doing anything special soon?”

   “Y’know Michelle from History class?” Sag went to the nearby couch and sat down. I joined him. “Samesh said he was invited to a Richard party hosted by her this Friday… or Saturday? Well, guess who’s gonna DJ? Caleb.”

    “Oh yeah, we knew about that.”

    “Wanna call the police on them or some shit?”

    “That’s gonna involve innocent people… Even if they’re Richards. And it’s too simple.”

    “Also it kinda broke the first Millennium rule.”

    “Doesn’t pranking in general broke the first Millennium rule?”

    All three of them turn their heads towards me. I looked around awkwardly.

    “I mean”, I began. “You’re basically interfering with someone’s daily lives. Not that I don’t like pranking and appreciate you guys doing this to avenge me or anything.”

    “The rule’s unofficial, it… doesn’t have to be black and white, and… Uh, nevermind, I have no defense”, Veto muttered, writing some points about the Richard party on the whiteboard. “It’s just fun to do.”

    Quinn yawned loudly. “Maybe the biggest prank of all is that we come to the party and have fun with the Richards. He would never expect that. We’d blow all his expectations and he’d be so embarrassed he’s wrong. I’m a fucking genius. Veto, write that down.”

    “Quinn…”

    “I’m joking”, the blue-eyed twin quickly said when he caught Sag glaring at him.

    “I’ll put that as Plan E, just because”, Veto retorted.

    “Seriously?!”

    “God, then help come up with something, Kieron!”

    Sag bit on his nails. “…We can switch out his songs to somethin’ completely different?”

    “Predictable, hard to manage in a few days, but classic and appreciated. Thanks Sagittarius”, Veto wrote it on the board as Plan D. Sag visibly rolled his eyes. I gave him a pat.

    “Do you have anything, smartypants?” Veto questioned, turning to me.

    “Yeah, can you hack stuff?” Quinn added.

    “A bit, but nothing really useful”, I replied. Besides, I do robotics all day, not practicing my hacking skills. “I tried to think of something outside the box, but it’s going to sound really… dumb.”

    “Oh, dumb ideas are good”, Sag said. “Make it so dumb he’ll never see it comin’.”

+++

    “It takes ‘bout a day for Oliver to datamine what we’ll need, so in the meantime we’re just gonna go shopping for our materials”, Sag told me after we returned to our own dorm later on that day without the twins. “C’mon, we’ll pay the lakehouse a visit.”

    The twins wanted me to have “experience”, so they keep telling me to tag along Sag. But we haven’t even been back for 5 minutes, yet he’s already pulling me out of the room again, and out of the building. We made our way towards the woods across from the lake I’ve been curious about. It was a bit of a walk, having to go around the lake, and the woods are even worse, as the ground is anything but flat and there’s always some tree root sticking out to trip anyone who pass. I’d probably get lost pretty quickly without Sag.

    “So, no teacher ever caught you guys in here?” I broke the silence.

    “Well, the lake and everything else beyond that is actually not the school’s properties, so they’re technically not responsible for whatever we do ‘ere after school hours end.”

    “What a school.”

    “Yeah, but some of the more caring guys like Tiger checks around the lake every now and then. He’s never gone deep into the woods though. Afraid to get lost, probably.”

    Sag, who noticed me struggling with keeping up, stopped and offered his hand with a smile. I smiled back and took it.

    Finally, we reached the old abandoned farmhouse they keep referring to as the lakehouse. I don’t even see a lake. Maybe it’s deeper in the woods. There were some other people there, but Sag didn’t let go of my hand. I don’t mind. This feels pretty nice. A few people were chatting close by, group of people smoking were sitting at the porch, and there’s a guy asleep on a tree.

“…Okay, it’s actually only active on weekends”, Sag told me.

    We walked towards the porch. I watched the smokers blow smoke rings and do tricks and compare them to each other’s. One of them caught me. “Do you want one or something?”

    “…Can I?”

    “Oh God”, Sag said. “Aqua, it’s better for ya’ if ya’ don’t start.”

    “We’re gonna die soon anyways, Archibald”, the girl who offered me one retorted, helping me light the cigarette in my mouth. “Just don’t try it for the second time if you’re afraid of becoming addicted. That’s when you start reconsidering it and adapting… Personal experience.”

    I inhaled. Oh, and then I was coughing. Pretty hard. I collapsed on my knees and held my throat, wheezing.

    Everyone but Sag seems to be laughing. I was still gasping for breath. Now Sag is panicking. He asked me if I need some water. I told him I need death.

    At least these guys don’t need to be worrying about me trying it the second time and becoming addicted then. I’m never doing that again. Don’t smoke kids.

     Slightly leaning against Sag for support, he helped me in. Inside the lakehouse, there was only a single guy there. He looks like the kind of guy that would punch everybody in the room. He sat on a recliner that looks like it will fall apart anytime soon, his legs propped on a dusty coffee table next to a laptop and an ashtray, while blowing out smoke rings to the ceiling. Of course.

    “If you’re looking for Oliver, he’s in his room. Jacking off, probably”, he spoke when we approached close.

    “Actually Mered, I’m wondering if there’s anyone who’s got a shit ton of sugar for caramel on your list. I’ve got stuff to buy”, Sag replied. Mered sat up straight with an eyebrow raised. Then he reached for the laptop, placed it on his lap, and began scanning the screen (from the reflection on his glasses, it seems to be an excel file). Well, at least this guy doesn’t question much about what we’re up to.

    “…Nope, you have to go grocery shopping yourself. But Frankie from your building’s got some caramel popcorn, that’s pretty close. He’s in room 14”, Mered finally said after a while.

    “Seriously, nothing? What about anything sweet?”

    “Archibald, you know these depressed teenagers only live off coffee, instant food and underage drinking. Hm, but Casey from building 2, room 9 has got bubblegum ‘to sneak in in class’. Sam from building 3, room 2’s got a month old apples to get rid of, those are sweet… if she keeps them in a fridge. Zoey from building 3, room 17 has tea, but I don’t think they’re up for sale, just trade. She’s looking for… Uh, booze. Amazing. That’s pretty early during the school year.”

    Sag sighed. “Well, whatever, going out it is. I have to pick up some pads and ice cream for Cadence anyway.”

     “And two packs of the usual for me. Get them by tomorrow”, The redhead in front of him added, motioning to his cigarette and taking out some money from his pocket. Sag took the money, but Mered’s gaze drifted towards his other hand holding mine.

     “Cute catch. But he looks too tame for you, in my opinion.”

     “We’re just friends” “Gee, thanks”, Sag and I quickly said simultaneously. Also what the hell is that supposed to mean? Too tame? I’ve been rigging vending machines my whole life. What can you do, blow smoke rings in people’s faces and not cough your lungs out?

    Mered just rolled his eyes. “Don’t call me squealing when you jinxed it.”

+++

    At school the next day, gossip seems to have spread a bit, because everyone I come across in the halls threw me pity looks. Well, at least I’m not a subject of laughter, I guess. Some sneered, but Sag said they’re just Richards. Even Cancer greeted me as if he’s going to a funeral… My funeral. He seems embarrassed in my place. I quietly told him not to worry with a pat.

    Aside from the stares, Sag and I have been avoiding Caleb nonstop. We don’t always have classes together, but everyone else helped me in other ways, such as Libra who diligently saves me a seat near him. What an angel.

    “Can you guys go deliver this to Oliver today?” Quinn said in a quiet voice during lunchtime, handing Sag a hardcover book. The cafeteria is pretty noisy, so I don’t know why he even bothered.

    “What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the book with my fork.

    “Uh, Watership Down”, Sag replied, reading the cover. “Oliver helps out in the school library all afternoon today, right when we have study hour after this. Libra also helps there sometimes.”

    Okay, but this is such a random timing. Is this how the librarian dataminer receive payment? Having people return books on time? That’s actually believable.

    “What about the party plan an’ stuff?” The purple-haired guy next to me turned back to them.

    “Oh, he sent in everything already”, Veto answered while texting, barely touching his salad from before. “Exact schedule, address of place, guest list, which people from Millennium are gonna help set-up, dresscode, even menu – down until every booze. Oliver’s insane.”

    “Holy shit. Are you sure he’s trustable?” I can’t help but wonder. Insane is right.

    “Yeah, his shitty ex was a Richard, so he hates them. Besides, he’s been working with us for a year, and the dude knows we pay… There. I told him you guys are coming. Now shoo and take that book far with you.”

    Fortunately, none of the teachers here give a damn about what we do during study hour, so when the next hour start, Sag and I slipped off from class easily. The library is located in a different building, and on the walk there I was surprised by Sag suddenly grabbing my hand.

    “Um…”

    “Ah! S-Sorry, haha… It just seems right to do now, y’know?” He quickly said, all flustered, immediately letting go. Well, we did come back to our room still holding hands yesterday.

    “No, no, it’s fine! I was just a bit surprised”, I assured, grabbing his. “Come on.”

    The library is perhaps the most depressing and non-liveliest place in this godforsaken school. There’s like one or two people not including the librarian himself, typing away something at the computer on the checkout desk. This is Oliver, I suppose. Sag waste no time chatting and handed him Watership Down without a word.

    “I’ve been expecting you two. Thank you for returning your book on time.”

    Oliver looked up with a subtle smile that makes me feel like being in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and he’s enjoying my psychological torment. He flipped through the book quickly and slipped a white envelope from inside it into his pocket very swiftly. Then he stamped the book and stuff, before slipping it into the to-be-put-back tray.

    “This is a bit ridiculous. Can’t you guys just use PayPal or something?” I whispered.

    “Immersion, Tinia”, Oliver scoffed. “Immersion. Look, whatever it is you’re doing in that party, make sure you do a good job of it. That wine balloon prank is just distasteful.”

    “Will do, Sir”, Sag smirked and saluted, pulling me back to class.

 +++

((Hey, sorry it’s been a while! I’m living as a NEET for the time being, so I might as well try to finish this. Oliver and Mered were supposed to be Scorpibra and Scorpittarius cusps.))

((…BTW sorry for the awkward pacing in this chapter. I haven’t written anything for months rip))

[isitandwonder]

We’re all stories in the end...

What will follow is a very long explanation of why I think BBC Sherlock has become fan fiction in every sense of the word, applying a technique called estrangement effect to achieve as well as envision this. It has been happening since S3 - but came into full force in S4 and especially TFP.

Let me state at first: Sherlock Holmes is dead. He died after jumping off Bart’s. That’s the one thing Mofftisson did that no other adaption has dared to do. Not even ACD did describe Holmes dying. But Mofftisson showed us: Sherlock jumped and hit the pavement. We saw it, and it was never explained how he survived. Because he didn’t. What we watch in TEH is altered footage, like in the beginning of TST. Alienated ficitional reality.

But still Sherlock came back. How is this possible? Because Sherlock Holmes never lived, and so could never die; because Sherlock Holmes as a fictional character has long ago crossed the line between ficiton and reality. He exists in both worlds, the ficitonal and ours. Schödinger’s Sherlock, so to speak.

Mofftiss (and Steve Thompson) have adapted Holmes for the 21st century - with all its consequences. They are the first who allow Holmes to die - as it should have been, in Watson’s arms. This is truly new - like it or not.

But why could he survive? Because of the fans. Fans brought Holmes back in 1903 - and they brought him back in S3 (or even MHR). Whereas S1 and S2 might still be somehow canon compliant if modernised, with S3/MHR the show left the realm of ACD and became something else. It became our story. We are the narrators. Therefore, we appear, for example, as Anderson or the Empty Hearse Club, before we, in TAB, leave this concrete narrator position behind to ascend onto yet another narrative level.

Many commented (and lamented) the change from S2 to S3. The show became a romcom! The cases didn’t matter anymore! All those new characters! All true - because the BBC adaption had detached itself from ACD and started to become its own work of art, it’s very own pastiche. That might be self-referential; and perhaps wasn’t even always well made (TFP!) - but I think we should stop applying real life structures and standards to this work of art - because it simply doesn’t work. (And, as every writer, Mofftiss have the right to fuck their own story up).

The audience and fandom struggle with a lot of twists after S2 because making the distinction between canon compliant fictional verisimilitude and the realm of associative fan fic is especially hard to mark with a figure like Holmes - who seems real and yet never was. On the other hand, he is the perfect character to undergo such a narrative transformation.

If this interests you, please continue under the cut.

We tend to structure random things happening within a linear narration, thereby charging these happenings with meaning, embedding them within a reasoning of cause and effect. But this is an illusion. Life doesn’t work this way. Things just happen, sometimes simultaneously, mostly randomly; they don’t have to be connected. It’s us (western) humans, with our way of thinking in past, present and future, and by drawing a straight progressing line from these points, who impose this structure on life and stories. Because we need this to function in our modern societies, that are based on reasoning and predictability. We think critical and want explanations. This is the way we are used to tell stories and be told stories. So, when we fabricate stories, we mostly apply those narrative strucutres: cause and effect, connections, one thing leading to another.

Stories who evoke the impression of telling real happenings have therefore to follow those lines and rules to be believable. As @welovethebeekeeper wrote, they have to follow a certain learned cultural verisimilitude. If these rules are broken, we start to feel uneasy. Things seem strange, fucky, we become aware that something is changing. It kind of shocks us.

Of course, there are other ways of storytelling: magical realism, for exapmple, or ghost stories, who break down the barrier between what is probable and what is not. But even most of them follow the classic form of storytelling: beginning, climax, end.

This is especially true for ACD Holmes stories, in which the deduction process always followed the laws of logic. Furthermore, within the classic Sherlock Holmes stories, the reader always knew who the narrator was: mostly Watson and, in a few instances, Holmes himself. The narrator is always identified within the first paragraph. There might, additionally, be a second narrator within a story, for example the client outlining the case or the culprit telling what happened (for example, Jonathan Small in Sign of Four). But the reader always knew who was telling the story.

Now, when Holmes was tranferred to the screen, this slightly changed. Because the things that clients or culprits might have told in the written form could now be shown, to enhance the films excitment and make good use ot the new media’s ressources. Therefore, we get kind of prologues or flashbacks; we, as viewers, see things neither Holmes nor Watson have been privy to, thereby introducing a god-like narrator perspective, watching from above. Sometimes the visual adaptations even put a piece of paper at the beginning, to visualise that we are shown one of Watson’s stories, or put a voiceover at the beginning explaining that much (like BBC Sherlock did in TAB, for example).

Thereby, the visual adaptations blurred to role of the narrator. And they changed something esle: where, when we read the ACD stories, we get the official version, filtered mostly through Watson’s storytelling, most visual adaptations create the impression that we are watching raw footage. Usually, it’s only at the end of an episode/film that Watson sits down and starts to write the case up. So, some visual adaptations step back from the published accounts and seem to show us what truly happened, thereby fabricating a feeling of reality.

BBC Sherlock does the same. Even here, John writes his blog, that is shown and features from the beginning. But we are not shown the episodes from the perspective of the blog entries (or John’s perspective), we are shown the things that happen before and lead to the blog entries. The perspective has been subtly converted to some kind of behind the scenes footage. We are following John and Sherlock on their adventures as the happen.

I’ll explain further below what it means that this blog was abandoned for S4.

Now, of course, there are also written accounts that try to evoke this kind of authenticity. Sherlock Holmes was a phenomenon in that he was one of the first fictional characters that people thought was real. Even back in ACD’s time, people wrote to the detective. His death in FINA was mourned by people in the streets. The lines between fiction and reality started to blurr.

Those written accounts operate, for example, with lost manuscripts, the true diaries of Watson, found after his death etc. They all play with the notion that those ficitonal characters were real, and that there are true stories behind the published ones that can be unearthed and told.

BBC Sherlock does this as well: At Angelo’s, one fictional character asks the other: “What do real people have then, in their real lives?” - thus evoking the impression that this show is a portrayal of real life. But it isn’t. Sherlock has no girlfriends or boyfriends in BBC Sherlock - but he has in fact archenemies. The modern setting kind of conceals this at first for contemporary audiences, because the BBC adaption isn’t removed from our time, for example to Victorian London. These two seem to be modern men in modern London - but they aren’t. The series is playing with boundaries between fiction and reality as well as with the PoV of the narrator. It gets away with it, because it - as well as the audience - is aware of Holmes’s and Watsons’s legacy.

There has been lots of discussions from which perspective S4, TAB and - to a lesser extent - S3 has been told. From that stem theories like EMP, John’s mind bungalow, alibi theory. But I think this is all just scratching on the surface while pointing out nonetheless what most of us have sensed: something is strange with the perspective since S3. Something has changed.

When you start to follow through with these theories, you come to a point where you have to acknowledge that they fall short at one point or another. For example, when did EMP start? In HLV, after the Fall, at the pool, after the pilot? You could argue and proof any of it. 

Why? Because we are in a fictional story and have been from the start. How does ASiP start? With scenes neither John or Sherlock could have witnessed. They are not the narrators. It’s made plain from the start: John Watson is, unlike in canon, not the main narrator of BBC Sherlock. But still, the series follows most other adaptions in that John writes about the cases, and what happens is mostly shown from his or Sherlock’s perspective. And we, as Sherlock Holmes fans, are used to this form of storytelling and accept it. We know that we are in a story, watching an imaginated work of ficiton that is loosely based but not totally subjected to the rules of real life.

But who is telling this story?

Within the original Holmes stories, it seems to have been Watson (or Holmes). But, of course, there never was a Doctor Watson - it was all made up by Arthur Conan Doyle, who chose to tell his stories through a narrator within them, evoking the impression that said narrator witnessed the events and retold what really happened (in shaping this narrator after himself, ACD kind of started to break the fourth wall, though). And he did this so convincingly that people believed in Holmes and Watson.

Two posts I read recently gave me an idea. One is by @goodmythicalmail and explains the different PoV’s in S4 and their impossibility. The second was the already cited post by @welovethebeekeeper , explaining the trope of false documents.

Both posts refer to narrative strategies. The first one seems to call for a god-like narrator to explain all the different narrative angles we get in S4 (but which are, to a lesser extent, already present since S1). The second one describes the narrative trope of having a story told by producing an allegedly original, real manuscript within a fictional story.

This is how, for example, Nicholas Meyer tells the Holmes pastiche story The Canary Trainer. It takes the form of a lost manuscript of Dr John Watson, telling the story of Wilson, the canary trainer, mentioned in ACD’s Black Peter. The manuscript somehow finds its way to Meyer, who writes a prologue and epilogue to create the impression as if he’d edited this real story about real people.

This canary trainer is also mentioned at the beginning of TST, when Sherlock solves one case after another. Is it a clue? I think it is - a hint to the false document we’ll be watching.

Because, how does S4 end? With the hideous monologue narrated by Mary, mentioning the legend Holmes and Watson will become and the adventures they will have - as fictional characters. I ranted and hated that Mary got the last word - but it’s just a narrative technique or trope, she just tells a story, the surface narrative of classic Holmes and Watson. And so S4 is book-ended by false documents - to tell us by way of alienation that we are watching a story to which the rules of real life don’t apply.

At first, this feels totally odd and out of place, because what we’ve been watching since S3 was all about character development and the relationship of the two main protagonists: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Not about legends or adventures.

Now, in giving Mary the last word, throwing everything they developed over seven years prior overboard, Mofftiss either suddenly forgot how to write and tell their story... or it is on purpose.

Let’s go for the latter. I think it should show us that we are dealing with ficitonal characters, who somehow, however, have transgressed into our real world. But they are still protagonists in a story being told. Of course, we had elements of stroytelling within the story throughout the show: John’s blog, for example. All the writing on screen. The newspaper articles. But not to this extent, that makes it totally obvious that we are watching a pastiche.

There are numerous different versions of the Holmes/Watson story. ACD canon even ends with the words: ‘Someday the true story may be told’. But what is the true story of two ficitonal characters? Doesn’t every generation, every writer, interpret this truth differently? And perhaps that’s what Mofftiss wanted to do, that no one else had done before: Kill Holmes and Watson to free them. Liberty in death. To show how real Holmes and Watson can become, while still keeping them inside a story. A story that allows for different interpretations (like Johnlock, Adlock, Sherlolly, asexual genius + sidekick solving crimes) - but still, or because, speaks to many people on many levels. There is no truth. Every reading is valid.

Of course, this is on one hand frustrating in its vagueness - but it also opens up so many possibilities, especially for fans to engage with the original material and create their own. Like Mofftisson did.

Mofftiss are brilliant storytellers in this, for they show and don’t tell. Via all the things we don’t understand, that don’t make sense in a linear narrative, what we call fuckyness or emp or dream logic - they show us that we are watching a fictional story without telling us explicitly that this is fiction.

The oddity of S4 has been described in many ways: fake, fuckery, emp - you name it. All these explanations have in common that they don’t think S4 really happened. Which, of course, it didn’t - it’s a fictious story!

This is blatantly obvious since S3. Before that, Holmes and Watson inhabit the in-between realm of ficitonal characters people believe to be real. But then Sherlock Holmes dies. And it’s a legend that gets ressurrected. Because I’m sure that we are in a story within a story since TRF, a story told by fans to disguise Sherlock’s death or to deal with it an keep him alive in our stories.

I’d like to give you a few examples of why I think we are in a story within a story since the end of TRF before I explain where this all might lead. I argue that we don’t have these conglomerated callbacks to fiction in the prior episodes.

In TRF, there appear repeated hints at fairytales: the apple, the Grimm’s Brothers book, the gingerbread man.

Moriarty calls himself the villain needed for a good fairytale.

Moriarty calls himself the storyteller in the Sir Boast-A-Lot clip.

A story in a newspaper will reveal who Sherlock really is and expose him. Those articles are also called fairytales.

In MHR, Anderson tells us what Sherlock did during his time away. It is a fancy story about crimesolving around the globe. But it’s just a story, told in a pub.

Even Sherlock tells us a story - on the DVD Lestrade delivers to John. It’s simultaneously a glimpse in the past, a flashback... we’ll see more of those in the later series.

When S3 starts, we are again reminded that we must be in someone’s story, because a longhaired Sherlock is suddenly tortured in Serbia. There is no linear explanation how he got there.

There’s the added element of Mary. Some people have lamented that it became a romcom, following a different kind of storytelling than classic Holmes stories do. It shows increasing signs of being (fan)fiction.

The fourth wall is broken: Cumberbatch’s real parents play Sherlock’s parents. Martin Freeman’s partner plays his love interest. Mycroft is played by one of the writers (true, since S1).

We even get a false document in TEH: ‘How I did it by Jack the Ripper’. But it’s all fake, a story, set up again by the fan Anderson. Like the whole thing we are watching is set up by fans.

In the end, Sherlock nearly dies, another storyteller - media tycoon  Magnussen - presumably dies, and a third dead storyteller - Moriarty - appears again. We’ve been moving in circles.

TAB is a Victorian fantasy. The explanation for it - Sherlock solving a crime in his MP, set in another era to explain things going on in the present - is only a thin excuse for time travelling back to the original ACD Holmes setting. And the MP in TAB is totally different from the MP we saw in S2. This is a whole new world in Sherlock’s head. Yet, due to the interwoven modern scenes, we are even repeatedly reminded that we are in a Victorian story - inhabited by Sherlock, John and all the other fictional characters.

Moriarty even tells us: It’s not real. And we can deduce that because it doesn’t make sense. Like a lot in S3 - for example the Ripper case, or the increased time jumps, or Mary shooting Sherlock, or the whole leverage chain Magnussen spins and so forth.

Yet TAB has to be set in 1895 - because of the poem that circles around the everlasting presence of Sherlock Holmes - a man out of his time, for any time. Not real, yet not wholy fictional either. Poetry and truth.

At the end of TAB, John even calls himself a storyteller and declares that he knows when he’s in one. This is a fictional character stepping out of his role, acknowldeging that he plays one - a core feature of epic theatre and its alienating effect. This again changes the narrative perspective, in becoming truly meta, lifted onto an outer- or uber-textual level. It’s not John’s story. He doesn’t tell it - he’s just in it.

We get the impossible transition from Victorian Baker Street to modern Baker Street - like the transition of the Victorian fictional character Sherlock Holmes into a public figure that has left the realm of fiction and entered our reality.

Then again, with the beginning of S4, everything we thought we knew is altered. Apparently, Sherlock didn’t shoot Magnussen. There’s a new story told via a video.

Then we get the above mentioned canary trainer - from a false document story, telling us this might seem real but isn’t.

As if to point in that direction, documents feature in TAB/S4, but we never see what they contain... false documents: The list with drugs in TAB. John’s letter to Sherlock. Mary’s drugged piece of paper. Mary’s letter to John. The AGRA stick. this evokes a false sense of reality while simultaneously, in applying this trope, revelas what is happening.

Sherlock even starts to openly recite Shakespeare monologues: he’s not only talking about scenes from plays, he’s enacting them. A play within a play - a metaphore for what is going on.

Everything gets stranger and stranger during S4. Characters are there and not (Faith/Eurus). Characters act totally OOC (John beating Sherlock up). We even see a cameraman. Who is who? What is going on? People die - but it looks more and more like a farce. Because it is. It is not real - a play within a play. We see the characters act like actors (Mary dying, for example, and John’s reaction - badly acted to emphasise that it is acted).

And as every proper pastiche has the right to introduce one new character - we get Eurus. Who lives at Sherrinford - in a pastiche character! Omnipotent, allmighty Eurus. Like our storyteller. Only - of course - no one in the story can tell it like it is told. She is again a metaphore - for someone telling a story, creating a maze, making characters react to her whims. Like a puppet master. An allmighty storyteller.

As the story becomes less and less probable and and more and more illogical, we, as viewers, get hints as to question what we see: We see Saw, Shining, Shutter Island, Spectre and loads of other movies. TFP even starts with Mycroft watching a film like a fan. It becomes absurd.

We end with Mary’s voiceover. It’s all about the legend, the stories, the adventures. It’s always 1895.  Mofftiss put the storyteller’s words into Mary’s mouth - to show that this can’t be real, that it is someone else’s narrative, who tells us this version of Holmes and Watson. It’s not real, and it’s not their true story, it’s an interpretation.

It’s a story within a story, pure fiction detaching itself from fictional reality. Not like the comic books in the Geek Interpreter, where the comics started to become real. It’s the other way around now: The story becomes more and more artificial.

In that, the whole of S4, but especially TFP, reminds me of Brecht’s epic thearter that is based on the estrangement or alienation effect: “The purpose of this technique was to make the audience feel detached from the action of the play, so they do not become immersed in the fictional reality of the stage or become overly empathetic of the characters. Having actors play multiple characters, rearrange the set in full view of the audience, and "break the fourth wall" by speaking to the audience are all ways he used to achieve the alienation effect. Lighting can also be used to emulate the effect. For example, flooding the theatre with bright lights (not just the stage) and placing lighting equipment on stage can encourage the audience to understand that the production is merely a production instead of reality.” The aim of this form of theater was to “encourage playwrights to address issues related to "contemporary existence." This new subject matter would then be staged by means of documentary effects, audience interaction, and strategies to cultivate an objective response.”

In short, the audience should be aware of watching art, and shouldn’t be carried away by their emotions; instead, they should think, question not only the issues the play - or tv series - deals with, but their own circumsatnces in relation to its meaning as well. Rings a bell with lgbtq representation, for example?

In a 21st century tv show this is, however, not achievable by theatrical techniques applied in 20th century political theatre. BBC Sherlock used some of those techniques - breaking the fourth wall, characters mirroring other characters extensively and therefore actors kind of playing multiple characters - but the alienation effect was mostly achieved by continuously removing the story from the reign of verisimilitude.

It started with the end of S2, where something fundamentally changed at the end of TRF. There something happens that is totally different to ACD canon, and the first thing in the whole series that simply can’t be real, can’t be explained (and never is): Sherlock jumps of that roof - and survives. The trick in ACD’s FINA was that Holmes never went down the Reichenbach Fall. And, honestly, you can’t survive jumping off that roof. It’s impossible.

But we see Sherlock jump - therefore that’s what happened. And it’s never revealed how he survived. Sherlock Holmes is dead since TRF and what we’ve seen since then is a story told to us as a means to conceal this. It is kind of an alibi story - but not for John, for Sherlock.

Because you can’t kill an idea.

And therefore Sherlock Holmes isn’t dead. But he is. And becomes Schrödinger’s Holmes.

So, who is this narrator, who tells us this cover-up story? Mofftiss, who feature heavily in fan discourse and even got their own aconym? Or Arthur Conan Doyle, who invented Holmes and Watson?

There have been adaptions of Holmes in which ACD turns up and breaks the fourth wall (having the creator of the play step on stage is also a popular feature in epic theatre). The play ‘The Penultimate Problem of Sherlock Holmes’, for example. Remember all those penultimate tweets during setlock? ACD also figures in the German film ‘Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war’ - a film in which two frauds pretend to be Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, but solve a crime nonetheless and get ACD’s blessing in the end.

I am aware that after TAB, there were some metas arguing for John as the storyteller. But since S4 this can’t hold, because, as @goodmythicalmail has explained, we see stuff from a persepctive that can’t be John’s. For example, we see the flashback of John leaving Lauriston Gardens in ASiP - but not from John’s perspective, and neither from Sherlock’s. It is as if a superimposed god-like narrator looks down on the story and tells/shows it to us.

I doubt that Mofftiss would exhume ACD. And as much as they are prone to hubris - to write themselves into their own series - as writers/creators - sounds over the top even for their liking.

So, who continues to tell Sherlock’s and John’s story. The fans! Only, the more time elapses, the more our stories tend to depart from the characters we met in S1 and S2. The stories start to get increasingly fantastic. But it’s us fans who keep Sherlock and John alive. And even Mofftiss are ‘just’ fans.

I think we are watching a story, being told by fans, because the protagonist stepped off a roof and is dead, but his legend - the idea - lives on in numerous adaptations. This theory explains most things other theories struggle with: the changing PoV’s; the ever prolongued alleged coma/dream, that isn’t made explicit and therefore kind of fizzles out; the alibi theories; the fuckyness. It even incorporates things like an ARG - be it by the BBC or fanrun or imagined. Because it is created around the character of Sherlock Holmes and wouldn’t exist without the fans. We create our own ficitonal reality, our own canon.

I think everything we’ve been criticising since S4 aired was intentional. It’s a clue. For those who look deeper - us. We already ascended to meta level: we not only ask ‘Does this make sense for Sherlock as a character’ - but we start to question the storytelling itself, the writing, analyse the tropes. We are aware that we are watching a manufactured piece of art - we have stepped back in the true sense of the estrangement effect. We should now fully embrace this idea. Because imo, the increasing fuckyness, the dreamlike feeling, the plot holes, the bad writing, the adaption of other films - are all signs that this story moved from the realm of narrative verisimilitude, set in some form of fictional reality, towards a pure fairytale, a legend. Sherlock Holmes belongs to all of us. He is public domain.

And this is exactly adapting the Sherlock Holmes experience. He never lived and never died. He’s not real, we know that, yet we play the game as if he is. We believe in him. Sherlock Holmes has transcendet the border between fiction and reality - and so did the series.

Comparing the series to fan fiction is not saying btw that fan ficiton has to be badly written. On the contrary. I only think Mofftiss overplayed so heavily in S4, wrote in plot holes etc, for the inclined viewers to start to question what the hell they were watching?! In that, S4 took the concept even a step further than TAB - and that is brave storytelling. It needs courage to serve this ‘crap’ - to literally risk the alienation of the fan base by showing them that they now own the stories.

And Johnlock? Well, epic theatre is not a means in itself, not self-indulgent. It has a message. The audience shall look at what is happening, become aware of social injustice. Sherlock can be read as being about representation - not in giving answers but by asking questions in this regard and get people to think. It can be read as being about the influence of the media (fake news!). It can be read as being about the surveilance state. It can be read as fan empowerment. And, as @darlingtonsubstitution argued, John and Sherlock might very well become the narrators of their own story. I’d love to explore this angle, but at the moment I am sticking with us fans as storytellers.

And if we only take S1 and S2 as being ficitonally real, I’m sure you can very well show how Johnlock is embedded in the story. It’s set up in S1, while in S2 John stops denying, and they seem almost ‘married’. And to whom does Sherlock - like ACD Holmes - address his final note? To John. Not to Molly, or Irene, or even Mycroft. To me, this confirms Johnlock, but it ends tragic and still not explicit. Do I like that? Well, if it’s the greatest lovestory never told, I can see its appeal. It’s incredibly sad, a tragic love story - but it’s the writers decision. If Sherlock had ended after S2, I’d never accused them of queerbaiting. Because, in the end, it was made quite plain where Sherlock’s heart belonged. But by implying it heavily without making it canon, Mofftisson keep the door open for other ships to sail when we enter the realm of fan fiction in S3.

And I think if you want to, you could still read Johnlock into S4. I’ve seen it done. As you might see Sherlolly or Adlock or Warstan if you want to. This vagueness can be seen as a weakness - if you still want the series to resemble some form of reality. If not, it opens Sherlock’s story up for many fan readings. As ACD said: You can marry him or murder him. It was all fine with him. Therefore, every reading should be fine with us, the fans. We should argue, discuss, and write our own versions. Because this keeps Sherlock Holmes and John Watson alive - even if they never lived. 

[matthoerig]

Game of the Year 2017: What it is? And what isn't it?

2017 was an amazing year for games. My numbered list couldn't be cut down below 16 in good conscience, and I felt like with that number I might as well shout out a couple of trends or themes I appreciated, and that swelled the list to 18, but with about 8 more games listed among those two new entries. It will make more sense when I publish my list. But what is my list?  

My Game of the Year list is largely inconsequential. It's a way for me to reflect and collect my thoughts on the games I played in the prior year. It's heavily focused on games that were released in the year in question, but 2017 has really put that to the test. Prior years saw me keep a spot open for Hearthstone because I've continued to play it almost daily since its release in 2014 (and before given its time in closed and open beta). The same goes for iOS title Marvel Puzzle Quest, and both of those games have been the tip of the spear for games that are released and supported continuously with new content and changes to gameplay. PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds started down that path from Steam's Early Access in 2017 before even being officially released. While it's scheduled to exit Early Access in December, would I not include it on my list because of an arbitrary version number given that it dominated the gaming conversation for a huge chunk of the year and I played a lot of it AND had a ton of fun with it?  

While my game of the year list is focused on titles from 2017, it's ultimately MY game of the year list – a reflection on games that were available to be played and that made some kind of a positive impression on me in this year.

What my Game of the Year list isn't in 2017 is comprised of any of the following games. These are games I played some of, but not enough to make a final ranked decision about. This doesn't mean I've finished everything on my GotY list, but I feel like I've played enough to have an informed opinion about it. So here's my partially annotated, unranked list of games that didn't make the cut.

What Remains of Edith Finch

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Cosmic Star Heroine

Prey

Resident Evil 7

These are all single player titles with play times ranging from a few hours to dozens and dozens of hours. I either didn't have time to start them despite wanting to (Edith Finch, Prey) or started and played just the barest minimum before getting distracted by something even more awesome (Torment, Cosmic Star), or just wimped out because I was too scared to keep playing (RE7)

Splatoon 2

Mario Kart 8

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Three fun Switch games that I just didn't play as much as three other games that did make the list. Fun and nothing at all wrong with them.  

Halo Wars 2

Ghost Recon Wildlands

Tactical military shooter and console-ified real times trategy title that I had a lot of fun with for literally an hour or so each. I suspect Wildlands will get mentioned elsewhere in anotehr contect but wanted to shout it out here too.

LA Noire Remastered

Final Fantasy XII – The Zodiac Age

Two remasters, one of a PS2 game I never finished and one of an Xbox 360-era title I finished the main story, every side quest, and found like 85% of all dumb collectibles. They both look much better in HD (4k and HDR for LA Noire), but FFXII gets a bit more credit for making some improvements to the older gameplay elements. La Noire is just a visually enhanced version of the previously released game.

Gwent

Elder Scrolls Legends

Collectible card games in the vein of Heathstone that have both held my attention for periods of time, but never captured my attention the same way. ESL is still installed on my iPad, and both are on my PC (there's no mobile version of Gwent yet).

Nier: Automata

I'll be honest, I have zero interest in playing Nier: Automata even though people who I greatly respect have said laudatory things about the themes it explores and the impact it has had on them, but I don't like the look of the action and playing through it seems like a slog. If it ever comes to Playstation Plus or Xbox Games with Gold, MAYBE I'll download it for when I've played through every other game I own.  

West of Loathing

Assassin's Creed: Origins

I lied that this list was unranked. These two are my favorite of the games that didn't make my too big final list, but I haven't played enough of them to, in good faith, put them both anywhere on the list. West of Loathing is a traditional RPG by the people who made the text-heavy Kingdom of Loathing web based multiplayer game. It's quirky, charming, and legitimately funny which is not common in games. The problem is I'm so paranoid about missing something funny or interesting, that I've played for almost 80 minutes and not left the starting tutorial area. I'm reasonably sure the developers would claim there's not an hour's worth of stuff to do or see in the opening area. I just can't get past my own weird hangup and leave.

Assassin's Creed: Origins suffered a bit from a similar problem, plus it was released on the same day as two other games that fared pretty well on my ranked list. The pull of those games plus the knowledge that Origins was a huge game and had 4k and HDR upgrades for the Xbox One X made it easy to set aside until that system launched in mid-November. I've since gone back and played 8-9 hours of the game, but I'm having so much fun exploring the world and doing side quests that I've seen almost nothing of the main story. The year away for the franchise has done it good – the climbing is more puzzle-focused than in recent prior iterations and the addition of an RPG-like loot system freshened up combat for me. I adore what I've played so far but realize I've barely scratched the surface.  

Game of the Year 2017

As always – spoilers ahead.

18. Sports Games I Enjoyed (Madden NFL 18, MLB The Show 17, and Fire Pro World Wrestling)

I play sports games every year, and Madden 18 and MLB The Show 17 stand out for making their card collection-based modes not just palatable, but actually engaging for someone who plays primarily single player games. Both made the expected forward progress in terms of visual fidelity and gameplay improvements. Madden 18's Madden Ultimate Team has slowly evolved into THE reason I play the game, collecting players from card packs to earn in-game currency to buy more card packs to get better players and on and on into infinity. The number and types of quests (called "Challenges") is greatly improved, and ranges from single play quests to completing one drive to playing a full game. It's the perfect way to kill a few minutes or an hour and feel in either case like you're making progress and improving. MLB The Show 17 comes almost as far with its Diamond Dynasty mode, improving on the "Conquest" mode and having more ways to collect and improve on the players in your binder.  

Also on my annual play list are the WWE games from 2k. These are bad games – they play poorly, don't look good, and haven't improved in at least 7 years. Fire Pro World Wrestling, a Japanese-developed game in Early Access on Steam, eschews any professional wrestling league licensing to focus on 16-bit style gameplay and customization. The inclusion of Steam Workshop support means a dedicated community has already sprung up around the game to fill the gap from not having any license to create literally thousands of custom characters that not only look like their real-world counterparts, but behave as them too thanks to deep move set and logic customization.  

17. Live Games (Hearthstone/Elder Scrolls Online/Marvel Puzzle Quest/Typeshift/Hitman/The Division)

The way we play games has changed phenomenally in the past few years, and there may be no more vicious fight coming than the fight for player retention by making your game "sticky." I have played Hearthstone almost every day since it was in beta, and the just-launched Kobolds and Catacombs expansion introduces a new single player mode that has me playing even more often than I anticipated it would. I have played Marvel Puzzle Quest every day for over 960 days. Elder Scrolls Online launched a few years ago and took some time to find its footing, but multiple content updates and refinements made it a game I played for several months and have every intention of playing more of for the foreseeable future. The same goes for The Division. Typeshift is another mobile game like MPQ, with daily challenges and multiple post-launch updates. Hitman launched last year and was damn near my Game of the Year, and got another mini-campaign late in this year after the developer, IO Interactive, worked out ownership of the IP after a split from their publisher and former owner, Square Enix. Season 2 is slated for 2018 and I couldn't be more excited. As long as game makers and publishers find a way to provide meaningful updates, both free and paid, there's no reason to write off games released in prior years as meaningless in the current conversation.

16. Horizon: Zero Dawn

Guerrilla Games, makers of the PlayStation exclusive first-person shooter series Killzone, made an open world game. I was never a big fan of Killzone, and the thought of the same people used to making a corridor shooter set on futuristic alien worlds making a third-person open world game set in a more natural, "futuristic native" setting with bows and arrows and spears and robot dinosaurs...I was not sure this would be up my alley. Not only does the game run well and look gorgeous, but the story of Aloy and her society and how the world they inhabit became what it is (with robot dinosaurs!) is pretty great. There's a bit here that seems to familiar, like stealth in tall grass being overpowered. I also found the combat to be rote, repetitive, and challenging more in its pacing than its design, but the characterization of Aloy and the people in her world is fantastic.  

15. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Ubisoft created the Rabbids to be the Minions, those ubiquitous, irritating yellow creatures, before the Minions were an afterthought in a bad kids' movie. Mixing them up in a world with Nintendo's beloved characters from the Mushroom Kingdom seemed like a weird decision for Nintendo...and it seemed even weirded when it was revealed to be an XCOM-style turn based tactical strategy game where Mario gets a blaster and Luigi gets a sniper rifle. Again, it shouldn't work, but "Mario in a simplified XCOM game" is pretty great. The turn-based challenges mix mobility options with those XCOM tactics in a simplified manner to be more of a puzzle game, where there's a right answer to how to complete the scenario with your tools the "right" way. Exploring the overworld and finding alternate paths and collectibles is fun, but the whole game sticks around just a biiiiiiiit too long to be considered exceptional.  

14. Injustice 2  

Injustice 2 is a better Justice League story than the Justice League movie. NetherRealm, makers of Mortal Kombat and the series' previous entry, Injustice: Gods Among Us, goes back to the well of DC characters split along the lines of totalitarian prick Superman and brutal, anything goes resistance leader Batman again, plus they added collectible loot with cosmetic changes and stat bonuses that can push you to trying a new style or enhance the way you already play. As some who is terrible at fighting games, the story was fun and the rotating challenge towers gave me enough reasons to keep coming bac k for a while, earning more loot to spec out my Batman, Robin, Harley Quinn, Robin, or Supergirl the way I wanted.

Superman is still a prick.

13. Golf Story

It's been a long time since we had a good golf game – EA's golf series was in decline before Tiger Woods's...troubles...and has never really recovered. The Golf Club and its sequel have tried to be the realistic golf replacement people are looking for. But what if we didn't really want realistic golf, but old school three click meters in a 16-bit style reminiscent of JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Earthbound? The golfing is passable, the story is a little cliché for a 16-bit style RPG, and the characters and quests are nothing special. Altogether, it all combines to be more than the sum of its parts. This may be due to the initial dearth of games on the Switch, but I enjoyed my time with it nonetheless.  

12. Hidden Folks

This mobile gem is the result of someone who grew up on Where's Waldo taking advantage of the technology available today and making a deviously difficult version of that game that uses the interactivity of modern touchscreens. I feel like this is one game where the less said the better, except to say that you should fight the urge to move on from one area until you've found everything in one place. It's the most rewarding mobile experience I had this year.  

11. Pyre

Supergiant Games has made three games, and I've loved each one more than the last. Bastion's story was fantastic with lauded twin stick shooter gameplay that didn't connect with me. Transistor moved more towards tactical gameplay and retained the writing I loved from Bastion. Pyre finally mixes an engaging, moving, meaningful story about relationships and redemption with gameplay that works beyond its elevator pitch of "Blitzball from Final Fantasy VII with three characters." Each character you recruit brings new tactical options, opens up the story, and challenges you to find new ways to maximize your team's abilities. Pyre not making my top 10 games of the year is a testament to how amazing 2017 was that a game I loved this much has an eleven next to its name.  

10. Persona 5

Persona 5 might be the game I've played the most, with over 100 hours logged in one playthrough. There's a part of me that wants to go back and see sidequests I missed, take different paths with party member affinity, and just spend more time in this world. The problems are there are too many good games, and the story is split between meaningful allegory for free-thinking and control and what can be generously called "complete anime bullshit." This isn't a surprise – it's exactly what you sign up for when starting a Persona game. The game does have an undeniably sense of style in its look and sound, meaning I'm sure I'll come back to it someday.  

9. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

If I was surprised that Persona 5 and Pyre were so low on my Game of the Year list, I'm honestly stunned The Legend of Zelda isn't my Game of the Year. It's an incredible game, breaking conventions that have been part of the series since it debuted in the 80s. Nintendo, for all their failures to adopt modern conventions in online account structures and old game sales and cross generation purchase support, have made what may be the first true next generation open world game. Systems layer upon systems in a way that interact smartly and naturally and encourage exploration and experimentation. Shrines dotted throughout the world provide for bite sized chunks of gameplay and also invite hours of exploration to keep finding more.  The gripe that sticks with me, and it's an intensely personal one, is that I HATE weapon durability, which is implemented here in a way that encourages weapon experimentation. Despite the best possible use of this type of system, I still hate it.  

8. Tacoma

The game studio that made Gone Home is back with their sophomore effort and made another game similar to Gone Home. As opposed to Gone Home's early 90s Pacific Northwest setting, Tacoma is set on space station Tacoma, allowing for a slightly less linear experience. You play as a contractor sent by the Venturis Corporation to retrieve AI data the physical core of the station's AI after some kind of accident. During your time on the station, you can use your own AR interface to relive the last days of the station crew and piece together what happened before they went missing. These AR scenes play out across constrained spaces, but with different crew members interacting at the same time in different areas; the station engineer and botanist may be having a conversation in the rec room while the administrator dictates a letter back to Venturis in her office and three others are planning the evening's dinner. You're free to pause, rewind, and fast forward these conversations and move about with the participants as you see fit. Not only do you pick up bits and pieces of the main mystery, but your freedom allows you to rifle through these people's lives and find out who was in love with whom, who missed a long deceased sister, and who was working every connection he had left to find another job – any other job – away from the station. It was one of these "optional" areas where I turned on a character's radio and heard the song "Driving" by Floating Room which may end up as my favorite song of 2017. It's a wonderful song on its own, and also perfectly placed by the folks at Fullbright in this place and this moment. It was these quiet moments I enjoyed the most, although the strong cyberpunk narrative spoke to me as well. Tacoma didn't have the same personal level impact as Gone Home, but I think its overall message hits harder and shows a novel approach to storytelling in games.

7.   XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

A brief history lesson – X-COM was a 90s PC game that I played for hours with my friend Kyle. It had a turn-based strategy layer where you tried to guide a squad of soldiers in repelling an alien invasion. IT was hard. X-COM 2: Terror from the Deep was that game's sequel, set underwater. In 2012, Firaxis, the people behind the Civilization games, resurrected the franchise as XCOM: Enemy Unknown and it was very well received. The released an expansion pack named XCOM: Enemy Within which was good and added missions and maps and some new enemy types and new solider types for your squad, a new enemy faction, and new story missions. It was generally well received too. XCOM 2 was released in February of 2016 and made some more incremental upgrades – new soldier and enemy types, a brand-new campaign story where humans lost the first XCOM war and you are now overseeing a human resistance, and some new mechanics around squad concealment and mission/campaign timers. It was, again, generally well received but my impression of it and its reception was along the lines of "This feels like another expansion pack." That's a bit unfair, as a lot changed, but it didn't have the feel of drastic change.  

This year's XCOM 2 expansion, War of the Chosen, feels revolutionary. I hopped back in after not having played much (at all, maybe?) since the winter of 2016. War of the Chosen doesn't just add new factions and soldier types for both you and your opponents, but deep stories around them and systems upon systems upon systems that govern how you and your soldiers interact with the world, prioritize missions, and generally think about and play the game. I was enjoying myself with it but feeling a little overwhelmed, so I did a quick Google search for expansion-specific info and tips. I found one key video from Eurogamer.com that spelled out 112 new things from this expansion. War of the Chosen launches as its own executable. For my money, War of the Chosen is XCOM 3 and may be the game on this list I come back to the most often from this list. Enabling that is the ability to create a character pool, ensuring my new recruits are named after friends, family, and people I follow in the gaming industry. There's a certain satisfaction above and beyond just finishing a mission when you're able to bring home your best friend, cigarette and all, and his clutch grenade landed the final blow on the final enemy, or destroyed that alien's cover to allow someone else to take a better shot.  

6. Destiny 2

Destiny 2 occupies a weird place, where it will probably have a place on this list for many years as one of those "live games" I mentioned all the way back in item #17, like 2,100 words ago. For many players, the original Destiny launched to great hype, disappointed, and rallied thanks to post-launch support from developer Bungie. I had a different experience, being excited at the launch as many but quickly realizing my own worsening chronic health condition made playing a game where you are always online and can't pause in the middle of a battle a non-starter. To be fair, this is also a problem for other groups of people like "parents" and "non-crazy people," but it forced me to reevaluate what kinds of games I could play and what experiences like this, which seemed to becoming more normalized, meant for me.  

Destiny 2 launched almost a year after I underwent surgery to correct that health problem. What Destiny 2 really is, when viewed with a harsh critical eye, is a mediocre story with a loot grinding treadmill enabled through various types of events that can be done solo or with groups designed to keep that treadmill moving, all supported by some beautiful graphics and tight first-person shooting combat. With the game's first expansion just launched, there's still some unrest in the community about high-level post-game content, but for someone like me who wants to play for a few hours a week, get my few high level guaranteed gear drops, and check in after the weekly reset – it's fine. The fact that I can put in hours grinding for an exotic gun or armor piece means more to me than the frustration of never finding it, or finding it a day before everyone can just buy it from the weekend exotic item vendor.  What elevates this for me over games I LOVED like Tacoma and XCOM: WotC is what Destiny 2 represents in terms of the ability to experience a game like this without fear or anxiety beyond my control.

5. Heat Signature

Heat Signature has a simple but effective elevator pitch: Hotline Miami's top down look and combat, but in space in the future and with the ability to pause at any moment to get your bearings and plot your kick-ass next move. This is all enabled by standard weapons of combat like wrenches, swords, and various guns, but also with items that let you teleport (yourself or enemies) or hack electronic systems and turrets or even turn shielded enemies' weapons against them by making sure those shields reflect bullets fired from inside them instead of out. There's a satisfying story and strategy layer that sits above all of this, but the draw is really figuring out if you can stealth your way through a ship, get the cargo you came to steal or hostage you came to rescue, and then escape unseen...or knock out every bastard in your way including the ship's captain and fly his own vessel back to your home. There's even a set of tactical considerations in planning your mission loadout – do you take a grenade launcher to deal with armored enemies you know will be on the ship you're infiltrating, or do you go for the bonus objective of not killing any enemies? Or maybe you don't care about the no killing bonus but don't have a grenade launcher to deal with those armored enemies, so you take a teleporter who can launch enemies into space, and a shotgun that can't pierce their armor but sure as hell can blow up explosive canisters, sending them and you into space where they'll suffocate but you can maneuver your transport pod to pick you up, return you to the enemy ship, and carry on with your mission. I feel like Heat Signature is a game I can play for years and never begin to scratch the surface of what it allows with systems and weapons interaction because I’m just not that creative.

4.  Night in the Woods

Night in the Woods can best be described, in terms of gameplay, as a combination 2d walking simulator and adventure game with some slight branching paths. I realize this might not be everyone's bag, but this speaks to me. It also has anthropomorphic animals as its characters in a really unique animation style that makes looking at it for 10-12 hours pleasant. There are some light puzzle elements that were frustrating because I tried to play them on a new, improperly calibrated tv, so the truth is that's on me. These sections also involved finding ghostly musicians who ended up playing a more chill Golgo Bordello-style track in each segment that made it all worth it. All these elements would add up to a game that probably struggled to crack my top 10 this year.  

Where Night in the Woods becomes something special is in its treatment of the three main characters, its environment, and the secondary characters. Set in a dying rust belt town, Night in the Woods tells a story centered on Mae – a recent college dropout returned home – and her friends Greg – a loveable burnout – and Bea – an ambitious woman pushed into the family-owned retail business by financial realities. How these three interact in this dying town makes up the core of the game, and I found it all too easy to see myself or parts of myself or alternative versions of myself in each of these main characters, especially having grown up in a dying rust belt town. Even the secondary characters interactions have some weight behind them, from the genuine love and warmth I felt from Mae's mother that was tinged with some serious conflict at time to the two...let's say "yokels" who stand outside a bar and trade empty platitudes about the local sports (I assumed football? I don't recall know if it was ever spelled out) team. Even those two characters, who do nothing else, have a bit of an arc between them.  

I think it's unfair to say Night in the Woods has "a message," and more accurate to say it has multiple messages. You may click with some and not others, all of them, or absolutely none of them. For me, a LOT of Night in the Woods hit home. I don't know if I'll ever pick it up and play it again to see paths I didn't take, but what I did see is going to stick with me if I never launch it again.

3. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

It's hard to ignore a game that's sold 24 million copies and dethroned DOTA 2 as Steam's most concurrently played game. Those two facts would have probably placed PUBG on my Game of the Year list alone, but the fact that I had a blast playing and watching PUBG meant that I couldn't justify it being any lower than 3 on this year's list. And I have such strong feelings about my numbers 1 and 2 games that I can't see anything else having been released that would have topped this.  

By now, if you follow games, you know PUBG is a Battle Royale/Hunger Games inspired multiplayer game where 100 players are thrown onto a plane, parachute out over an island, and then scavenge for weapons, armor, and other helpful equipment in an attempt to be the last man or woman standing. In addition to other humans, there are occasional bomb zones that can kill you, and a creeping blue wall of electricity pushing the action towards a more and more constrained circle. I'm terrible at multiplayer shooters, but something about PUBG hooked me. There's never been a multiplayer game like this where I both went into each round expecting to die quickly but walked out of every round, regardless of how I did, tense. I wanted to do well, didn't expect to, but the uncertainty of every encounter just ratcheted the adrenaline up a notch.  This is also one of a few games I've enjoyed watching as much as playing, thanks largely to Giant Bomb's regular Murder Island feature. It's a game where watching people play well is as rewarding as watching a squad bumble around on the outskirts of the map, struggle to find weapons or vehicles, and then die due the blue wall. Some of that probably has to do with the squads I was watching, but I still had a hell of a time with PUBG in 2017. And for the record: Solo 5th with one kill once, 5th with 0 kills once, and I doubt I'll ever top either of those rounds. Although it won't be for trying.  

2. Super Mario Odyssey and 1. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

I have a hard time thinking of these games separately because of how complementary they are in broad strokes. It also doesn't hurt that they were released on the same day (October 27th) and were so good and felt so essential that I felt like I couldn't even think about Assassin's Creed: Origins until I had finished both of these games, and I've loved a lot of Assassin's Creed games.  

Super Mario Odyssey is a 3d platformer where our titular hero terrorizes multiple worlds by asking its inhabitants to consider what it means to be "alive" or "conscious" by invading their bodies with the aid of magic hat. Kidding, of course, it's a lighthearted game where Mario's new power is using Cappy, the aforementioned sentient hat, to possess other things in the world (living and not) in order to use those things' means of travel or tools to solve puzzles and reach areas he couldn't have before. This is all done to find Power Moons, some of which are hidden and some of which are out in the open and only hidden behind what creature you need to use to reach them. This is all being done in service of powering up Mario's new ship, the Odyssey, so he can fly after the kidnapped Princess Peach and Bowser to prevent the former's forced marriage to the later. The less said about the story the better, not because it reinforces tired damsel in distress tropes (it does, even if Peach gets a pretty cool "liberated woman who don't need no man" post-credits life), but because it's old and boring. Mario has saved Peach in a million games and will continue to do so as long as Nintendo makes games. Where Odyssey excels is in creating fun worlds to explore where the payer is rewarded for asking "What if I jump here?" Or "Can I use this to get to that and then to here?" The power moons serve as a minor gate to moving from world to world through the story, with seemingly every bit of investigation and exploration resulting in another moon for the player. Odyssey is perfect to fire up for 15 minutes to find a moon or two, or to keep playing for hours because you want o know what's over that hill, or figure out how to get to that rooftop, or find the secret area in this 2d homage to the original Super Mario.  

Where Mario's story feels like a tacked-on afterthought to a brilliantly controlling and joyous game, Wolfenstein's story is THE reason to play it. Mechanically, I felt like Wolfenstein 2 was poor to passible, with bad systems for player feedback in its first-person combat, shooting that was okay but unrewarding thanks to bullet sponge enemies, and stealth sections or options that were terribly designed and implemented to the point of being detrimental from the game as a whole. I realize none of this sounds like a Game of the Year write-up, but my god the story this game tells and world it builds screams "Game of the Year 2017" to me.  

Where Mario was a lighthearted romp, the lighthearted moments in Wolfenstein come from a gallows humor where the world is in tatters. Picking up directly where Wolfenstein: The New Order left off, the Nazis won Word War II and we're in the 1960s where their control has spread to include the United States. The opening twenty minutes or so show a wheelchair bound BJ Blaskowicz fighting Nazis on his formerly secure commandeered U-Boat home, experiencing flashbacks to his childhood with a racist, wife-beating, anti-Semitic, abusive father, and witnessing the execution of a dear friend at the hands of an equally cartoonish Nazi villain. The rest of the game's combat that I denigrated earlier is absolutely worth enduring, even if on the lowest difficulty, to experience the world and character building Machine Games put into The New Colossus. Major and minor characters have conversations in the halls of your U-Boat, the Eva's Hammer, that flesh out their world and experiences under Nazi occupation. Encountering Grace and Horton are more impactful moments for what they say about building resistance movements and the importance of the act of fighting than more bombastic cutscenes that get more attention, like a jail break gone wrong or a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, or even a scene somewhere unexpected with THAT Nazi leader and a surprising cameo from a terribly overrated actor. What's even more impressive is not that the unsettling part of Wolfenstein 2 is not asking the question "What if Nazis took over the US" but is in the subtle answer it provides to the question "How can this happen?" The presumed ease with which occupiers are met is shockingly relevant in how the roots of the video game's hypothetical spring from the unpleasant, unreckoned with roots of America's history with white supremacy and the supposition, too easily supported by facts, that oppression of others but comfortable for a ruling white class would go unchecked. Wolfenstein 2's 1960s America is not a funhouse mirror reflecting our current political climate back to us through a distorted lens, it is a microscope examining parts of our history and present that ruling classes try to minimize and gloss over or sweep under the rug.    

2017 has been an amazing year in games and, for many, an absolute trash fire in reality where we have to fight the rising tide of global fascism with marches and calls to elected officials whose loyalty to big money donors over constituent wishes is all too clear. Wolfenstein taps into this moment with biting satire – the profile of a "dapper Nazi" and two jackbooted thugs decrying political violence are just two examples where many exist – and a cathartic message that "Things may suck, but you can always find a reason to keep fighting." That's what I'm choosing to take from 2017, and Wolfenstein is the game for its time.    

[bat2011markw-blog]

Analysis of teaching/learning strategies in the videos

Roller Coaster Physics

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-stem-strategies

What a wonderful lesson. The students not only were engaged but understood the task. The teacher- of course - sets her expectations high- though the process in which she got these expectations are not explicit in the video. The great thing about this video is that you can see the teacher’s detachment and you can see that the expectation is not with the teacher but with fellow students. One of the only times I see the expectations from the teacher is when (1:30) the teacher says that “good engineers learn from what they experienced and tested before hand.” The expectation here is that all students will be good engineers. Student’s expectations of each other in this video are key. The teacher uses what she calls ‘Chime in time’. During Chime in time students present what they have learned and students ‘chime in’ with what they think. The expectations are high but they are not high expectations that need to be made explicit from the teacher. The expectations are from the students’ peers and this contributes to a culture of wanting to be the best and wanting to listen to other ideas. By listening intently students bid to be the smartest and learn a vast amount in the process. The other interesting thing about this video is when the teacher places the expectation on the students themselves. At the end when students are asked about their failures and told that they need to say why they think this happened and how they would modify it- the students expectation is on themselves. By asking students where they failed and how they can do better- all the pressure is off that student. A student in this situation will show their own expectations and will challenge themselves to do better. This is the ultimate efficiency in student expectation and something every teacher should strive for.

3rd Grade Chinese Math

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7LseF6Db5g

I currently teach in Shanghai, China and my co-teacher is a Math’s teacher, the other day I walked by her class and it was just as animated as this video. I thought to myself, what the h**k is she doing to keep these students animated? Now, I’m a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell who discusses how easy it is for Native Chinese speakers to grasp Math due to the inherent understanding associated with their language (Gladwell 2008). But the emphasis is not on the teacher’s expectations of students here but on each other’s expectations. In this classroom the teacher is facilitating a chant. That chants’ power is immeasurable. If a student feels excluded from that chant, the pressure comes not from the teacher but from other students’ expectations of that students’ responsibility to fulfill their roles or duties. In the same way that a football fanatic may look down on the person next to them who isn’t singing, the expectations here do not come from the teacher but again from their peers. Writing this and thinking back to my co- teachers Math class I see what she did to make students so animated. She sat at the back of the class and let the students present the class. Though I didn’t understand the class itself (as it was in Chinese) I understand that the power of expectation on high performing students is served best from peers or own expectation and not from the teachers. That being said and knowing what is said in this article it seems clear to me that the basis of student expectation in China is more around the idea of repetition and not on the students being taught what is expected of them. The communication of student expectation is not overt in this article or video. Students know they are expected to perform well in Math in China. This can be a number of things that contribute to this culture. In my opinion Math is placed number one in Chinese culture and failure in Math can often be seen as a failure in academia. Parents place Math as top priority. Teachers do too and society does too. Is this because these Chinese scores in Math are one of the proudest scholastic international achievements of the country? I think so. In  a 21st century society were resources for figuring out math problems are readily available in our pocket- China has chosen memorization and quick calculation of math problems as one of their priorities. Could it be a national embarrassment to take away Math scores from academic achievement statistics? I daren’t say.

Whole Brain Teaching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXTtR7lfWU&feature=youtu.be

When I first watched this video I hated it. I thought this class has no passion and is led by repetition and shouting in order to maintain class integrity. I am a Social Studies teacher and I pride myself on teaching individual opinions and brining those out of students. It seemed to me that I had no use for this kind of repetition. The more I thought about this kind of teaching though, the more I saw its use. Whenever a student is off topic the class/yes technique can be a great way to bring them back on topic. It’s also something that can be used at many other times with great effect. For example like when rules are being introduced. There was something this teacher said in one of his later videos that if you want to introduce this technique to class then introduce it as “I think you’re ready for this new type of teaching I have.” I liked that. There is a lot of fun and laughing in that classroom and though it is robotic this technique has its uses. This is a class or group mentality way of teaching.

Overview and Analysis of my own class in reference to the 3 videos

I teach Social Studies to grade 6 and 7 at an International School in Shanghai, China. The students are all Chinese and from a rich background. A lot of the families at my school are extremely rich but you wouldn’t think it looking at the facilities of the school which is generally in a bad order (the school doesn’t even have computers). In reference to these three videos though I think the first is without doubt my favourite. I used to teach science myself last year and I haven’t seen a better science lesson in a long time. The students loved the tasks, used the correct vocabulary and peer reviewed each other. I like Chime in time and will be using this in the future. A lot of the time an activity like that can work very well but I think for some of the ESL students I have it may be too difficult. I will try it on my more advanced students and see what happens and take it from there. The students in video two seem very engaged. I have seen this in Chinese Math lessons before. The expectations are high with the teacher that the students will follow along but I don’t agree that this is what contributes to their success. I won’t speculate on why Chinese students are so good at Math as I don’t think there is a lot of evidence for this answer. The third video shows what can be achieved with high expectation- attentive and eager students. I think I will use some of the techniques in the video such as getting the class to repeat you however you say a word but I feel that the class this man is teaching has been rehearsing some of these reactions. So I am not entirely convinced just yet.

 Reference

Gladwell, Malcolm. 2008. Retrieved from: http://gladwell.com/outliers/rice-paddies-and-math-tests/

[afoolsingenuity]

Five Reasons To… Read And Love You’re Welcome, Universe

I recently read an absolutely fantastic book. I bought it by mistake (sometimes you add stuff to your basket and click buy when you intended to just save it until later) but I had no regrets in buying it. Once I began I knew I would love it. The style of writing and the characters themselves and then the fantastic story all added up to hook me right in. I couldn’t figure out the words to explain my love for this book and then I remembered I like to rave about books and the perfect way to do it was give you all five reasons to read it.

You’re Welcome, Universe – Whitney Gardner Published: 7th March 2017 Source: Bought Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult My Rating:

A vibrant, edgy, fresh new YA voice for fans of More Happy Than Not and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, packed with interior graffiti.

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.

Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Out in the ’burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off—and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.

Told with wit and grit by debut author Whitney Gardner, who also provides gorgeous interior illustrations of Julia’s graffiti tags, You’re Welcome, Universe introduces audiences to a one-of-a-kind protagonist who is unabashedly herself no matter what life throws in her way.

Diversity Out The Wazoo

Seriously, I loved the fact that this book wasn’t trying to tick the diversity box. It didn’t force it but instead simply was. The main character was deaf, and she was proud of being part of the Deaf community. She didn’t see why she had to change herself to fit the ‘hearies’ instead she questioned why she had to adapt to their world. She was also an Indian MC with two moms and that wasn’t a big deal. She was accepted by those around her and she accepted herself and that was awesome. I know one of the biggest complaints about the publishing world is the lack of representation as people fail to see characters who are like them. This book definitely succeeds in showing that it isn’t difficult to include diversity as this one does it without it being a problem.

The thing I really loved about this book was the fact that there were multiple characters who were deaf and the fact that they were all part of the Deaf community and it was just awesome. I especially loved her moms. That’s a whole other point, though.

Present Parents

Now, having lesbian parents in a book is not ground-breaking. I loved it but the actual reason I loved Julia’s parents is actually because they were so present and involved in her life. One of my biggest pet peeves in YA books is when parents are just utterly absent. I mean, I get parents being the enemy in YA, they so often feel that way as a teenager. I get bored of seeing bad parents in books, though. I know they feel like the enemy but most parents aren’t bad ones and I do find the whole bad parent trope boring. To see Julia’s two moms suspicious of her, checking up on her and inspecting her bag was great because that’s what parents do. When you get expelled from a school you don’t get complete trust from your parents and I liked that. I liked seeing Julia sitting with her parents over a meal and chatting about her day and getting annoyed with them when it feels like they’re spying. I liked seeing genuine family life with one parent who feels a little guilty and gives small gifts, like cool new boots, even if they aren’t necessarily deserved. I want that kind of parent in YA because that is the kind I know and recognise. I want more awesome parents and strong family bonds.

The Integration of Art Into The Story

Art, graffiti more specifically, plays a major part in this story and so the fact the book features artwork throughout to demonstrate art from the story was fantastic. I am not always the best at visualising things in a book so I really enjoy seeing things to support the story. The only thing which would have made it better was if the artwork was in colour (I would buy a special edition if they did that). It felt like the colour of the artwork would have added something a bit extra as a lot of thought went into the colour choices. That may just be me, though.

The Friendship

I love when a book features friendship of any kind and this one is all about friendship. This is most definitely a book where our MC Julia learns no man is an island. She forms this fantastic friendship with YP without intending to and it was awesome. She connects with her purely on accident and then the friendship she develops is brilliant not only for her but YP as they both accept each other just as they are, something they haven’t had much of previously.

There is also an element of toxic friendship and often who we view as friends can take advantage. Often toxic friends aren’t acknowledged but this time it is and Julia goes kind of an extreme way of showing she is better friend (and some might question if what she does makes her a worse person) but it was satisfying to see the contrast between good friendship and bad and even when a good friend betrays you it is very different to just having a bad friend. Just everything about friendship in this book is right.

The Story Felt Real

Okay, we can’t all relate to graffiti artist dreams and I got confused about some of the slang used (it made me feel old and out of touch) but Julia felt like a very real character. She was a teenager who acted selfishly and impulsively and didn’t think about others all of the time but she felt like a real teenage girl. She could be selfish but then she would go out of her way for YP even when she didn't truly consider her a friend at that point. She could do something to prove a point and act like a crazy self-destructive psycho but also be really sweet. it was insane and I love that because that is how you act as a teenager. Consequences come later and I loved the path she took to apologise. I just really enjoyed it.

Bonus:

Learning Deaf Culture

I cannot say for certain, I know no one who is deaf, but I felt like a lot of work went into making the representation of the Deaf community accurate. Like the alarm clock where it seemed like an earthquake and the way, there are short names for people which get chosen for you. The way that too often when you have an interpreter with you people will speak and look at the interpreter rather than looking at who is doing the talking. It was small, it was the little things like people muttering about Julia’s use of her phone to type communication as the youth of today and the embarrassment of learning she’s deaf. And her quick dismissal of having an implant to hear when she feels she’s not missing anything by not hearing. And her outrage at the ESL class and how much she didn’t enjoy English with all the grammar rules. Just every part of Deaf culture and the difference between being deaf and being Deaf was amazing.

As you can see I loved this book and I think you will too. It is a fantastic read which is real and interesting and included characters which felt real. Have you read this, what did you think? And can you recommend books which will make me just as excited to read?

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