#so it's easy to misunderstand who tumblr thinks its audience is

[starfieldcanvas]

@staff If you claim that most users want an algorithm or whatever, you're really going to need to back that up with data if you want a chance of the high-engagement high-community high-loyalty users believing you. It's POSSIBLE that all of us are in a bubble together and actually most of tumblr's traffic is an entirely different group of people, but the people who think of themselves as your core audience and actively identify as Tumblr Users? Those people are going to think you're insane for most of this post.

If there's some data backing this up, SHOW US, because this sounds like bullshit based on our lived experience.

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

[starryknightwrites]

Does anyone else think the Miraculous writers let a few loud minorities impact their writing to the point of stunting it?

*Leak Spoilers Ahead*

I think there's a reason why Season 1 and 2 are more beloved than the rest. The showrunners let their audience get into their heads and they took all the wrong advice- in the last two seasons especially. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it's difficult to ignore at this point.

A part of the fandom thinks Marinette is a creepy stalker? Let’s explain that away with an unnecessary but sympathetic backstory we never alluded to before, stretch it out for several episodes and make what used to be comedic teen girl hijinks super traumatic so no one can ever interpret it in bad faith again.

 A part of the fandom thinks Chat Noir is an entitled sexual predator who is a brat to Ladybug? Let’s cut his screen time and make sure he never disagrees with her again (unless he’s under a spell we can blame it on) so that he’s the perfect love interest and no one can ever interpret his normal human reactions in bad faith evermore.

A part of the fandom thinks Adrien is so passive he needs to replaced? Let’s have him apologize for his compassion first method and maybe throw a chair or something to prove himself. In the name of love.

A part of the fandom is harassing us about redeeming Chloe? Let’s make it painfully clear how evil she is in a glorified salt fic so that no one can ever interpret her in good faith again.

When people misunderstand your intentions, you don't scramble to "fix it" and try and make things black and white for easier digestion. You stick to your "problematic" guns, dammit. In trying to be perfect and play to everyone, you appease exactly no one.

I think this is partly an unfortunate side effect of the social media era of television. Showrunners never used to interact this much with fandom. Public forums like Twitter are a double edged sword because nowadays they’re a necessity for marketing, but everyone has access to you on there. Every Tom, Dick and Jane with an opinion and no boundaries can rage at you to their heart’s content at all times of day. And it’s easy for us to say “Well, why didn’t they just walk away/delete Twitter?” but even Tumblr users with 80 followers will lose themselves a bit on a bad anon day. I can only imagine dealing with that hundreds and hundreds of times over while also having the pressure of writing the trajectory of a worldwide acclaimed television show on your shoulders that EVERYONE has an opinion about that they are more than happy to rant at you. I think more of us might crack than we expect. And TA cracked.

People with a following have spoken time and time again about how they were unexpectedly affected severely by public ridicule and toxic parasocial relationships on social media. It’s terrible for anyone’s mental health and I think the Miraculous show runners are no exception. The pressure and the push and pull got to them and I think we’re seeing the results of that here. It’s good that TA is stepping away from the show- at least in part from what I gather- after Season 6 because I don’t think it’s healthy for Miraculous or him if he stays onboard. He’s seeing the show now through a filter of all its criticism, of a hundred random takes, and it just comes across incredibly stunted, unnatural and resentful in his writing. Like walking on eggshells and being bitter about it the entire time.

I understand they want to take input from their audience and feel pressure to write the show "correctly", but sometimes fandom ideas- especially the saltier ones- are worse. Sometimes you should just ignore criticism, no matter how loud and long it’s screamed at you, do your thing and hope for the best. At least you'll reserve your energy and passion that way and someone's going to bitch regardless. Sometimes you should write that salt fic just to get your frustrations out and then delete it.

[vkelleyart]

Thoughts on fandom: inclusion and engagement.

(Art credit to the kindhearted @penpanoply​!)

There’s been some stuff floating around on Tumblr about strife in the CO/WS fandom, and though I haven’t been explicitly named-dropped on anything public, my DMs have been... active. lol Rather than rehash what’s been said already, I just want to impart a little wisdom and perspective in the hopes it may soothe frayed feelings and offer a way ahead for cultivating a respectful community. As someone who has been an active participant in online fandoms since the mid-’90s, which was the advent of online fandom content creation (shout out to my fellow X-Philes!), and who has also spent a chunk of her professional life managing social media for the federal government and for activist groups, I can promise you it’s all gonna be okay.

Here’s some context for why strife happens and what we can do to create a more inclusive and communicative fandom environment. 

1) It sounds cliché, but fandoms go through growing pains. 

In the case of the Simon Snow fandom, what was once a small and cozy space untouched by cataclysmic events (such as the release of *gasp* a sequel) has grown exponentially in a relatively short amount of time following the release of Wayward Son. Newcomers are eager to find a home in this space at the same time as folks who’ve been here a while may be consciously or unconsciously wary about widening their circle, and It’s important to remember that this is not necessarily an expression of bad behavior on either side but just human psychology doing its thing. 

The byproduct, however, is that tension and stress builds over time from the lack of meaningful communication across the divide, which subsequently fuels misunderstandings. Ironically, the interfaces we use to communicate don’t help with this because any existing communication about the tension happens in tiny vacuums until a trigger goes off and bad feelings go public. 

Way Ahead: These moments of destabilization are opportunities to see where we can be more self aware about how we engage with fandom and the kind of community we want to be. Can you promote, support, or befriend someone trying to gain a foothold? If yes, please do! Each person must reach their own decision about what they can do within the confines of their available energy, health, and time, but a little self awareness goes a long way as long as you’re honest with yourself and others if applicable about what you can contribute. Anyone who judges you for it isn’t worth the strife.

2) In a fandom comprised of vulnerable/marginalized people, it’s more accurate to say that cliques are “bubbles of trust.”

This one's important. Just by nature of the source material, the CO/WS fandom includes fans with a wide array of backgrounds and experiences, especially when it comes to those who identify with the characters’ queerness, mental illness, and/or trauma. I really believe––based on individual conversations/group chats––that the difficult lived experiences that so many of our fandom peers have endured has produced one of the most open, aware, and accepting fandoms I’ve had the pleasure of participating in. Our vulnerability is, in a real way, our strength.

That said, a community of survivors also has the side effect of cultivating small circles of engagement that I call “bubbles of trust.” When you’re a survivor of abuse, marginalization, mental illness, fill-in-the-blank, it’s often quite hard to risk casting a wide net and expanding your circle to include new faces––which can subsequently be internalized by equally sensitive and vulnerable newcomers as rejection, judgement, or inadequacy.

Way Ahead: First of all, there may indeed be gatekeeping and exclusion going on. But before internalizing someone’s cagey behavior as gatekeeping or purposely exclusionary, ask yourself if you have all the information. Many people are private (I include myself in this assessment) because life has regrettably taught them to be this way, and so they may insulate themselves to a small group of people who have earned their trust. Some people might also triggered by certain content (case in point: smut triggers my anxiety) so they don’t engage with it. Others might have something in their pasts that define how they handle certain subjects (for example, a person of color should not be tone policed for getting angry when confronted with a racialized microagression, however accidental it was). You just don’t know what you don’t know. 

The solution here is to regularly check your privilege and ask questions in a private space if you sense you’re being treated unfairly by someone. If you go public with your grievances in hopes of mobilizing the mob, you may accidentally find yourself stepping into the role of the aggressor instead of the victim.

3) Social Media is not built to help you get engagement. It’s built to help itself make money off of you.

Repeat after me: Hits/likes are not a measurable indicator of talent or worth. There are ridiculously talented folks on Tumblr and elsewhere who, for whatever reason, haven’t had their viral moment, and it’s not their fault. Loads of factors come into play where things like likes, reblogs, and comments are concerned, among them being posting frequency, subject matter, the time of day, the day of the week, the week of the month, the month of the year, the current administration, the stock exchange, the concentration of middle class users, who just won the Superbowl, a madman trying to steal an election and undermine the democratic process, a PANDEMIC, do you get where I’m going with this?? lol

At the end of the day, my humble successes have been helped along by good luck, good timing, high profile signal boosters, and an absurd amount of work. (This is why I try to signal boost new work whenever I get a chance over at @vkelleyshares.) 

So while you cannot control Tumblr’s interface, trends at large, or your fellow users, here’s what you can do to ensure you give your work the best possible chance of exposure.

Have an image ready to go with your post. Tumblr is a visual platform (no matter what it says about being good for text). Not good with images? Set up a Canva.com account and get access to free graphic software with a gazillion templates to create whatever attractive image you want to attach to your post.

Keep the outward facing text brief and easy on the eyes. Too long and eyes will glaze over. Put excess text behind a “read more.”

You may think you’re being cute when you do this, but don’t put yourself down in your posts. (Don’t put yourself down in general, of course.) Doing so acts as engagement repellant. If you don’t believe in your work, no one else will.

Related: Be your best cheerleader. Confidence is a magnet, and if you don’t have it, go ahead and fake it until you start to convince yourself you are worth the buzz. So promote yourself! You have gifts that only you can impart. Use that knowledge to fuel everything you do from your art/fiction writing to your outreach with other content creators, and by golly, if someone’s done it already, acknowledge that contribution and then tell the world that this is YOUR unique take on it.

Treat your fellow fandom creators as human beings, not art/fiction/content boosting machines. I cannot count how many times I’ve had folks slide into my DMs with offers of friendship only to disappear once they realize I’m not available to draw a picture for their fic. It hurts because it’s manipulative and it makes me want to hole up and not signal boost anyone. Creators who truly support each other will not give off a transactional vibe. I want to help you reach more people, but not if that’s all I’m good for in your eyes. 

The long and short of it: Lead with compassion, do your best with the opportunities at  your disposal, and remember that fandom belongs to everyone in it. ❤️

What saves a fandom made of sensitive and vulnerable souls from imploding when it goes through growing pains is radical compassion from those who can offer it. Begin with the assumption that your fellow fandomers are not trying to harm you, and wade into the water knowing that your insight into the lives of your peers is limited by default and you may need to temper your words or actions accordingly. If you’re a content creator, save compassion for yourself as well, as there are indeed challenges to gaining an audience, and lack of engagement does not mean you lack talent or skill. Be your best advocate, and if you have the bandwidth to lift up a fellow creator and make a new friend, please, go ahead do it! 

And finally, fandom belongs to everyone, and no one has a monopoly on characters, tropes, or themes. Create and consume what you love (with respect for your more vulnerable peers), and bask in the variety, my friends!

That’s all I’ve got in my head at the moment, although I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. Thanks so much to @penpanoply for letting me use her art for this and to everyone else, hang in there and try not to judge each other too harshly. These are unprecedented times, and most of us are doing our best in circumstances that are pushing us to our limits. 

As always, if you have questions or want to sound off on anything, shoot me a message or an ask, or ping me on Discord. It might take me a second to respond (thanks, Covid) but I’ll get to it! Love, love, and more love to all.

[i-did]

hi hello i couldn't sleep last night so i was scrolling thru all ur asks and stuff and ur opinions and analyses are so interesting!!! and then afterwards i was thinking about what u were saying about mlm smut and i'd also been thinking about such things a little bit recently bc like.....at a certain point it becomes quite clear that the vast majority of smut-writing is just imitation. like there's the sex noise verb list and all and the whole general mechanics of the sex and those things just .... replicate over and over. and the whole thing w people writing mlm vs wlw smut regardless of their own sexual orientation..... like i feel like a big part of that is just a self-perpetuating thing. like if u have not had sex and u r getting all ur (pleasure-related) sex ed from fandom (even if u do watch porn, that doesn't rlly tell u how to describe stuff? idk) regardless of What fandom , the majority is going to be mlm smut. which is itself majority imitation of other mlm smut, imitating and imitating back to whoever knows what the first smut fanfic was etc. there's just way More to mimic than there is on the women side of things. which then becomes a self-perpetuating thing, bc the mimicry continues and generates more and more. and---if there are fundamental misunderstandings of anatomy involved---those self-perpetuate as well. and maybe even exaggerate. and yeah. does this all make sense? idk i was just thinking about it. like all the stereotypes and stuff continue bc writers are getting their inspo from other writers rather than their own brains. or something. idk!!!!! it's just all... divorced from reality? bc words. or something!! i hope u get what i'm trying to say. just thoughts i've been thinking. anyway i think ur thoughts are cool. and ur writing. ok bye have a good day!!

Okay yeah this is kinda messy but hope u see this, uhh yeah I think you're right about the echo chamber effect fr about stuff. I think it's a mix of projecting too sometimes. talk more under the cut and also link to a video essay since I love video essays.

Here’s a video that sort of touches on this topic: 

“Gay fanfiction” by Sarah Z. (has CC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8E_C00dKwI

This video begins to talk about fetishization at the end, but also… not really. The words “gay fanfiction” is used as a catchall, when really gay fanfiction is largely mlm written by non-mlm.

Fandom is a largely women's space dominated by the female gaze in a media industry world that is dominated by men and the male gaze. I'm really glad women have this space to explore creativity and queerness, and I don't expect the female gaze to go away, but I am still ultimately bummed out I can’t read most fanfic or interact with most fandom spaces without having fetishization in my face. 

So about 80% of fandom is women, and most of those women aren't straight, but 90% of those women prefer mlm ships. Why don’t they prefer wlw ships? Well definitely part of it is the fact that queerbaiting is centered around white straight men, and then there is also the fact that women tend not to be written as well charcter wise. But the fact still remains that you get jerjean getting priority over Layla and Alvarez who are in canon just as much and are a canon wlw couple who actually interact as well as Alvarez could likely be a woc because of her Hispanic last name. Korasami doesn’t get nearly as much hype as zuko and saka, despite the fact that they are 2 fully dimensional characters who canonly kiss and hold hands, something the creators fought for and ended up having to sacrifice another reboot for. 

I do believe the fandom echo-chamber is largely responsible for… a lot of things, like you're saying. But what's interesting is that the complaints I've heard about visual porn from non mlm in the fandom space is that they can’t get off to it because its for the male gaze and misogynistic usually. But they also don't seem to notice how the mlm smut circles has the female gaze and is also… almost always mlm. If it was a pure anatomical not knowing thing, I get that, but I also think that leads to the question of “then why the male body for porn, and not your own? The one you know and are familiar with?” 

I know some people want to get outside of their own body for porn and don’t want to think of their own anatomy at all, but overall I'm still uncomfortable. If an anglo said “well I watch porn of only Mexicans so I don't self insert” I'm gonna be like … hhhh in a similar way. I understand people “like what they like” but I wish they also noticed said patterns in the first place. I understand the t4t tumblr porn circle, and how it's different from cis people who only watch trans porn. 

I actually wished that instead of fandom focusing on mlm ships where some asshole guy hits on bottom troupe charcter for top troupe character to save, was instead… a wlw character experiencing said shitty getting hit on and other wlw swooping in. what's interesting is fandom writes a lot about misogynistic experiences without often realizing it. Ive read fanfic where guys get called sluts for sleeping with people or called bitch for speaking their mind, these arent things men usually experience, but rather women. Fandom has a lot of internalized misogyny and also queerphobia imo. Women characters often get pushed to the sidelines and men become the canvas for female fans to project onto. 

There is this natural inclination to mlm. When people are talking about “gay shipping” or “gay books” or “gay feels” or even just “gay” mlm is what’s largely in mind. I honestly am kinda saddened by this because if gay fanfiction was really solely about writing more to feel represented, then you would see a lot of bi and ace and lesbian rep, but this isn't the case. Queer women are seriously underrepresented, and I want to hear their stories and read them in fanfiction as well as published. 50% of lgbt literature is mlm, and of that its largely written by women. Becky Albertalli, Rainbow Rowell, Maggie Stiefvater, are the YA big names and are all women writing mlm. Red white and royal blue is written by Casey McQuiston and Captive prince (which is not YA) is written by C. S. Pacat, who is non-binary, but is also TME and not mlm. These are all the big names in mlm lit, behind them is some gay men, but honestly their stories aren't preferred, they're not the right “flavor” for the consumers usually, who are largely women. In general YA consumers and authors are women, but I wish that they… just wrote about women too. I think there is a certain… snowball effect to the overrepresentation of mlm representing the whole LGBT community that leads to fetishization, as well as misogyny playing a factor in: less women characters being written well to write fanfic on, when they are written well they're taken less seriously or the audience struggles to relate to them, they're less marketable then men. 

Idk I never feel “seen” or “represented” by any of the books above, which don't address boyhood and manhood and queerness intersecting really, and AFTG doesn’t either. I relate to AFTG as a trauma victim who has experienced a lot of what many of the characters go through and have gone through in the EC as well as them just overall being very well written characters, but I don't relate to it as a mlm really. I've never seen like.. gay voice or being straight passing or femphobia or how boyhood can be affected from a young age by those around you sensing you're ‘other’ or if you didn't experience this you feel outside the mlm community. Let alone sub cultures like bear and leather and pup, at most you see the word “he's such a twink” in fandom which... i fr hate non mlm using that word because it's usually used to replace the f-slur essentially, used derogatorily or to call him “such a bottom” and stuff like that. It’s like a joke or an insult.

Long story short, idk mang this was a ramble and I think I'm coning down with something. I wanna see more queer women rep and women authors writing about being a queer woman too. I think it's a complex web of fetishization and a bit of forbidden love yaoi culture (or it used to be in the BOYXBOY days) as well as misogyny on an industry level, creator level, as well as reader/consumer and fandom level. I don’t think it’s inherently wrong to explore other peoples stories and what we read has to be segregated, “only mlm are allowed to read and write mlm, only wlw are allowed to read and write wlw,” but I also think author’s intent and audience and background is telling, as well as overall statistics. Like about an hour ago I was looking for cookbooks in spanish or in english, and I was looking for some mexican food cook books, but I had to look for them using words in spanish because otherwise what came up was a bunch of “fiesta party, easy as uno dos tres authentic cooking!” and I was like… hm. Since I could tell they were marketing to anglos. (also the author’s last names were like michelle smith, james cooper, and this could be for a variety of reasons, but I trust Hispanic names more tbh and deadass would look at the authors pictures and if they had other books in Spanish or what their specialties were.)

anyways. not sure how to end this. uhm if anyone has any book recs (my to read list is like 500 books tho no joke) preferably not YA white mlm written by a white lady, hopefully queer women written by queer woman, LMK, I need more wlw and queer women stories on my list. I have a decent amount but always looking for more. I kinda wanna link my goodreads or my storygraph but I also don't want to get doxxed and it has my legal name on it so.

Also, I'm dyslexic and using spell check but if there's like some wild typos my b.

[ohnobjyx]

Would it be that impossible for dd and gg to come out as a couple (provided they respected censorship and didn't talk about it with the media)? I read the other day that homosexuality is not illegal in China, just talking about it and showing in the media, so could not someone as brave and crazy as dd attempt to come out outside of the media? after all they are the first 3 shipped real couples in china, they do have support. Coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed..

Hi, anon! (*this blogger cracks her neck and gets ready*) Let’s get into it!

Disclaimer: fake fake fake. Why would you think that we believe in bjyx?

Preface: this post might not be exactly a controversial opinion, since I think many will have the same one. However, it’s alright to disagree: we all have our own perception of the matter, which is coloured by our own experiences (let’s just say that an absolute objective view is difficult). I present here with the most objective post (at least in terms of data and facts) I could write.

Oh, and you all might have noticed, but being concise is not my forte. I tend to digress.

First of all, I assume that the concept of “coming out outside of the media” means that they could have told just close friends and family, without announcing it to the media.

But how would we know that they have done it? (and I don’t mean we should know for sure, ofc). For all we know, they may have already done this, and, from my pov, they probably have. Without entering in “fake” rumours:

TTXS bros know something (repeating myself for the nth time). From the way DZW jumps in whenever it remotely looks like dd is slipping up, how WH poses his questions, how QF teases him. It all seems references to a real, tangible thing, instead of baseless friendly teasing. It’s also very interesting that they have stopped their matchmaking mission and have instead started to defend why dd is “single”.

Their parents are their cover. Even if dd parents didn’t watch TTXS, wouldn’t someone else watch it and ask them about it? Wouldn’t they wonder about the supposed clothes that dd sends home, the medicine, the market stroll? Maybe I’m just projecting, but I wouldn’t use my parents as a shield if they weren’t aware of the situation behind it, because I’d be subjected to their questioning later. That’s why, unless I wanted to tell them or I had already told them, I wouldn’t use my parents as an excuse. So, once is alright, but dd has done it several times, and that, for me, means that his parents know.

That’s what I would consider “coming outside the media”. Of course, this doesn’t involve us fans, and it’s their decision, of which we probably will never hear about (or, at least, not soon, and that’s fine!). 

In my opinion, it’s also the best course of action, especially with all the rumours that are always circulating about them. It wouldn’t be a “brave and crazy” course of action, but rather the most sensible and rational, since it’s the best way to avoid misunderstandings with your friends and family. It’s also considerate for his friends at work, just so they know what to expect when they are on stage and it allows them to understand dd’s reactions.

(Again, we are talking about dd because that’s who anon asked about. I think gg’s circle is less close to him, so it may not be the case with him, but I don’t know enough to say what would happen).

Just let’s suppose his TTXS bros didn’t know anything and just kept trying to act as matchmakers for dd. That’s the kind of situation that’s bound to be uncomfortable for everyone because dd isn’t the kind of person who’d lie (and he doesn’t fast enough to improptu questions). 

The second thing I wanted to talk about is their fans’ support. I want to talk about numbers.

I’m going to explain why I only take the c-fans data as reference. We int fans don’t really count, because we don’t affect their careers directly, as c-fans do. Of course, our support is very useful in showing how many people are rooting for them, like what happened when Roseonly’s livestream with gg was live. And I like to think that they would feel better knowing that there are a lot of people in Chn and overseas that support them and whatever there is between them.

So int-fans do contribute to give more views and likes to their Roseonly livestream (if they can access it, which isn’t always the case), but they won’t buy the roses and impact with real money, so to say.

We don’t really participate in their endorsements, many won’t stay long enough to watch more dramas from them (and I do understand that the lack of eng subs is the main problem), and many don’t/can’t/don’t know how to push them up in the charts. We’ve talked before about how the c-ent industry doesn’t really need the int audience to make a lot of money, and to be highly profitable, and it still applies in a smaller case, like a single idol. 

That’s why I think that in matters of real, tangible fan support, c-fans still make a bigger percentage (around 80-90%) of their support.

So, as of now, there are 3 supertopics in w/ibo that features gg/dd (let’s leave the difference in supertopics for another day, but I don’t support the discussion about people’s sex life, thanks for your understanding):

BJYX. The largest supertopic (top 1) with a wide margin from the others. It has 2.570.000 fans.

ZSWW. It’s the number 5 in the CP supertopics, with 910.000 fans.

LXFY. The number 23 in the CP supertopics with 590.000 fans.

All of them added make 4.070.000 fans. But we have to take into account the overlapping in these three supertopics: many people (like me) are following the three supertopics at the same time. That’s why, in a not scientific way, I’m guessing that those 4.070.000 come to around 4.000.000 once you take out the people that are following the three at the same time.

Even 4 million people is still a huge number of people: that’s more people than the population of the capital of my country, and one tenth of the total census here.

Yet, in China, it means 4 out of every 1400, which translates into 0′003%. It’s also from a very specific demographic (mainly female and young). Of course, it doesn’t mean that they won’t get support from other people if it ever got out, but they can’t know what would happen then for sure.

It means that, in actual 3D world, there are a lot of people who don’t know about their CP. I read the other day some tumblr blogger saying that “we bxg are in our own little bubble, not that many people know about their cp” (was that you, @jcisthebestfightme?) which I agree a lot with. I mean, my w/ibo account and tumblr is filled with bjyx/yizhan, so much that it’s easy to forget that I arranged it to be like this, but that the majority of the people don’t receive so much info about them, nor they analyze their every move like we do.

The only thing they can know for sure is what general population thinks about same sex relationships.

In a recent poll I saw, with thousands of answers about what netizens thought of the legalization of same sex marriage in Taiwan, the supporting votes didn’t get to 50%. In Taiwan, public opinion was like this around the time same sex marriage was legalized:

An opinion poll conducted in November 2016 by the Kuomintang found that 52% of the Taiwanese population supported same-sex marriage, while 43% were opposed. Another poll commissioned that same month found similar numbers: 55% in support, and 45% in opposition. Support was higher among 20–29-year-olds (80%), but decreased significantly with age. (Wikipedia)

(I just want to say, I can’t wait for the younger generations to take over).

More data: the public stance in China could be described as: “no approval, no disapproval, no promotion”, and the public opinion is becoming more and more tolerant, but there’s still a deep-set homophobia, as in only 5% of the lgbt people comes out completely (around 20% comes out to their family), and around 80% of gay men are married to women due to social and family pressure (ofc, these data is from a few years ago, and new polls and surveys are needed, but don’t expect them to carry out a wide-range survey about this nor I think the situation has changed drastically).

In my opinion, society is slowly taking more steps towards tolerance first and acceptance second. One of their best achievement was the lgbt community and many netizens’ refusal to allow w/ibo to instate a ban on content related to homosexuality, which led to w/ibo actually reversing its decision and stop banning that content in less than 3 days.

However, the fact that a lot of people express their support doesn’t take away the truth of a lot of people openly opposing it (let’s remember that there weren’t so many antis to start with in 2/27, but its effects were undeniably large and unjust).

(If any of you read more data about lgbt rights in China, please remember that Hong Kong receives a lot more Western influence, and that public opinion in HK does not represent the actual situation in mainland Chn. Ofc, because they’re more open to lgbt, there are also more data and polls carried out in HK, so a lot of info is HK based).

Leaving this kind of data aside, let’s take another matter of numbers. While they have in total 4 million fans in the supertopics, dd has as of now 35,400,000 fans following him on w/ibo and gg has 26,690,000 fans.

One thing I’m sure they are aware of is the discussion that arises from time to time between the solo fans and the bxg. Another thing they must be aware of, specially dd, is that their fanbase has a lot of females who are their fans, not just because of their talent, but also because they’re single and therefore they can fantasize about being with them.

All in all, even though a lot of people support them, there would be also quite a number of “disappointed” people, with the danger of them becoming antis.

So while I do think they appreciate it, and leave clues specifically for us, and dd goes as far as interacting with bxg, I also feel that gg and dd might not see widespread support, enough so they’d feel comfortable coming out completely with the current public stance on homosexual relationships in Chn.

(And again, from my pov, they aren’t in the closet with their family and friends).

And last, but not least, does “coming out respecting the censorship and not talking about it with the media” mean that it would be known by the general public, or, at least, their fans (in a very hypothetic case, since I don’t know how this could be achieved)? Because then, even if they didn’t talk about it with the media, it would be as good as coming out publicly.

In an idol’s life there’s no “private” and “public”. There’s only “public” and “secret” (and by secret I mean things they “hide” in public/don’t talk about, even though people next to them might know about it). The line between public and private is very very blurred in the c-ent industry.

I always remember the case of an actor who had an affair. Because of his affair (he was married and had a son), he lost endorsements, he was taken out of tv programs and literally erased from filmed episodes. The things he did in private affected very directly his job (I don’t approve of the affair, but the consequences it had surprised me a lot). 

So, while I do think that gg and dd are getting bolder with time, when they were both very startled by the “you’d lose your job if you were in a relationship” phrase, the fear was real and palpable. However, I’m aware that that was their stance a year ago, and that a lot of things have changed (heck, we’ve gone through a pandemic, something I couldn’t have imagined a year ago), so I’m going to observe how they act from now.

That’s why, “coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed..” is true, but it’s also true that it would push them into a storm I’m not sure they’d come out completely unscathed. And it may be selfish, but I don’t want them to be the ones who test the public’s tolerance to gay idols.

I think I’m missing my point, so I’ll spell it out: if they want to come out, I’ll support them with everything I have, as I think many fans will do. If they ever prove us wrong dating another person, be it male or female, I’ll support them as a fan too. But I would like any action they take to be decided by them, instead of pressed by fans who just want a confirmation at any cost.

I’ve seen people saying that if they were really together, they should be “honest” with themselves and the audience and come out publicly. In my opinion, it’s easy to judge when you’re not the one who might lose something if you take a step in the wrong direction, and it’s not your income and your job in the line.

I’m sure (reminding you all that I believe that bjyxszd) that they’d come out completely if possible. I’m also sure that they have consulted with managers and public relations experts (and their team would have talked with them about it even if gg and dd didn’t bring it up). Therefore, I strongly believe they are doing what they think is better at the time being. 

To sum up: I’ll support whatever they do, but I don’t want others to push them to do things they don’t want/aren’t prepared to do. They are already between a rock and a hard place, so whatever they do with their relationship is absolutely their call.

So, anon, I hope I have answered you, but I leave here a short summary for you in the case the info was too scattered for you:

Would it be that impossible for dd and gg to come out as a couple (provided they respected censorship and didn't talk about it with the media)? I read the other day that homosexuality is not illegal in China, just talking about it and showing in the media, so could not someone as brave and crazy as dd attempt to come out outside of the media?

They might have come out to friends and family, and, based on dd’s interactions with the people around him and the words he has said, I do believe he has. Because gg is also an honest, sensible person, I think he might have done the same.

after all they are the first 3 shipped real couples in china, they do have support 

Chn is a big country. That means that in terms of public support, sometimes numbers that would be astronomically high in other countries, is not so much in Chn. Translating numbers into percentage, a 1% means 14 million people.

So it’s true that they have a lot of people supporting them, of course. 2 million people is a lot of people, especially considering that many don’t know about them. But when you have to take into account the general public (because it’d be a scandal), since their fans aren’t the only ones interacting with them, it’s still a low number.

Coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed.. 

That’s true in the case of family and friends. But if you’re talking about being outed in the media, that’s not possible. Known by the fans = Public.

And remember that in this case, the media wouldn’t talk about them, since talking about homosexuality in the media is prohibited. The problem would come from within the industry and the antis.

[mypoisonedvine]

Hey! Also a fellow writer who posts series on Tumblr (AO3 too).

Same as you, probably, I get likes, mostly likes/kudos and very little comments/reblogs. And I understand, as a reader myself, it is easy/convenient to just double tap or click a button and keep scrolling. And I think, that's what most people do - they consider likes to be feedback.

I think it is important to consider that younger Tumblr users might not know that this is a reblogging platform. A few likes won't do much for exposure (or even feedback - it's like being left on read tbh), but a reblog will make that post branch out like a pureblood wizard's family tree, attract more feedback & will be a godsend if the reader not only reblogs but also adds appropriate tags (hence the "big in [tag]" thing the discover page has), however tagging takes time, is annoying etc etc

I don't support guilting or obligating people to interact with fanworks in any kind - please don't misunderstand! However, a lack of consistent feedback may cause a writer's block or just a loss of interest in posting in the author.

It may be helpful to add a "hit that reblob button if you like my story" every now and then in the header of your fics. It takes 3x the amount of time as pressing a like and - to be honest - as a reader, blogs that just have fanfic reblogs, even without tags, are one of the most I enjoy. So many great authors.

Another coupla tips on gaining an audience:

>> periodic masterlist/masterpost reblogs, I'd say about once in 6 weeks; a single masterpost reblog once a story is finished if your story has it. I occasionally reblob stories that did particularly well or have a larger fandom (ex. Tony Stark vs Loki fandom - I have two Loki stories but they brought in people who are Tony stans too).

>> check out any challenges/bingos/etc your followers or just larger blogs host. participating in them will give you a good shout-out. most writers love to hype up their fellow writers so you may even get a mutual out of this!

>> dark or yandere themed blogs usually attract a large following buuuuuuuttt.... the admins deal with really nasty shit :( there's a community for that (I'm not a part of it) so if you're into that I can drop some @s in your inbox

Hope you don't mind this wall of text from a Tumblr dinosaur 🦖🦖🦖

yes, sadly I've been here long enough to see tumblr lose its identity as a blogging platform and turn into an endless scroll platform like pinterest or instagram.

there was a time when tumblr was in the same league as blogspot, blogger, or wix. it was designed as a platform for bloggers back when that was a lot more of a 'thing'. and it was one of the most creative, unique, supportive communities online for years.

then Yahoo came along and killed the personality that tumblr was known for. then SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) brought on the porn ban and a fifth of the users left.

so I'm not surprised people don't understand what tumblr is for, even if I think there are enough "reblogs are important" posts to make it obvious by now. I've been here since 2013 (with the same blog the whole time! my main has a lot of backlog) and it's odd to see how much it's changed. but every reader and commenter means so much to me.

keep in mind that on the app, you can quick reblog by just holding down the reblog button and swiping to whatever blog (if you have multiple) you would like to reblog it to! it's not harder than liking!

I'm not worried about gaining an audience so much as keeping it, really. I just fear that the drop-off in series represents something lacking in the writing!

[melissawyatt]

Answering the Critics of Tarsem Singh’s The Fall

(Previously appeared on my old tumblr. Reposting revised version by request:) A couple of years ago, I fell head-over-heels in love. With a movie. Specifically visionary director Tarsem Singh’s 2006 labor of love, The Fall. The first time I watched it, I was swept away by the visuals but confused by the story itself. Was it good? I wasn’t sure. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I sat down to watch it again and this time, I realized that it was a film told in the language of symbols. Once my brain unlocked that, the film absolutely blew me away. It rocketed to the top of my favorites list, which is saying something considering my top ten hasn’t changed in about twenty years and most of the films on it are more than sixty years old. I hadn’t been so transported by a modern film in years. 

Not only that, but it has changed the way I view my role as a writer and storyteller, a quantum shift. (I’ll write more about that in another post later.) Needing to connect with the opinions of others, I searched out reviews on-line and was staggered by how poorly this film had been received by mainstream industry critics. At the time, it had only a 59% aggregate rating on Rotten Tomatoes (the rating has since climbed to 61% but only because some negative reviews have been deleted,) ranking it significantly below such cinematic treasures as Talladega Nights and Jackass: Number Two.

So I began to carefully read the negative industry reviews in an effort to understand what it was that the people paid to professionally understand film did not, in fact, understand about this particular film. And what I discovered was this: they are Philistines. Yeah, I’m sorry, but they are. There’s something very wrong when people who make a living watching movies almost willfully misunderstand a film that is all about understanding, provided you have a basic grasp of the universal language of symbolism and metaphor and creative narrative structure. And you would think a film critic would have something of a nodding acquaintance with those things.

What follows is my defense of the film against the most often-cited issues raised in those reviews. If you haven’t seen the film, this won’t make much sense. If you have and didn’t like it, maybe it will inspire you to try again. In any case, spoilers abound.

What you have to understand about this film first and foremost is that it is a testament to the power of storytelling. You can’t go in expecting realism--even the sort of realism that often grounds fairy tales and fantasies. You know why? Because stories aren’t really real. They’re how we help ourselves understand reality by turning it on its head in a space removed from ourselves where we can safely examine it. 

So we know this is a story about stories. We also know that stories function through the language of symbolism and metaphor. This is how storytellers connect their own thoughts and feelings to those of their audience through shared experiences. I can tell you that a man is like an oak tree and you will understand that I don’t literally mean this man is an oak tree. But because, like me, you have also seen an oak tree, you will instantly have a feeling about this man that I want you to have. That is the language of story.

The best stories add to this a language of their own and require the audience to learn that language in order to participate in the story. This film is such a story and one of the criticisms stems from those who were either deaf to that language, weren’t aware that they were expected to pay attention to it, or were too impatient to do so. These are the critics who found the film to be “empty eye candy” when, in fact, it speaks a rich, symbolic language.

It’s not a difficult or obscure language and the storyteller (director Tarsem Singh) helps you to understand, if you are willing to participate. And because there is a theme here of shared storytelling, it is right that you should. The storyteller even tells you so with the defining lines of this film: “It’s my story,” the hero says. And the heroine counters “Mine, too.” It is a compliment he is paying you as well as a hearkening back to the very roots of story: the audience is part of the story.

In film, the storyteller makes use of images, visuals that help him connect the intent of his story with his audience. But that still requires willing participation. It still requires that you understand the language not just of words but of the things that he will show you.

So the director uses the camera in many different ways to direct you to see what he wants you to see and feel what he wants you to feel. In this film, our director/storyteller uses his camera as an open door into his vision. But he does not abandon you in this world of his. He stays with you, telling you what to notice. He even tells you he understands that you will not get all of it by making his heroine someone who barely understands the language around her. Like her, you will learn. But you have to listen to him and you have to remember.

Perhaps most importantly, you have to step away from the conventions of more realistic films and back into that language of story. Because in the real world and films that try so hard to ape it, randomness occurs regularly. But in symbolic story, nothing is random. Everything is important. And so it is, here.

Because we are in the hands of a virtuoso visualist, the wealth of symbolism contained in this film can be overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the images. That is a valid criticism but it’s what we call a high-class problem with a simple solution: watch it again.

At heart, this is a love story, but it is also a passionate love letter to storytelling. We are told this right up front, when our heroine Alexandria writes a love note. But love does not always lead us where we intend and like a butterfly, her note flutters through an open window and into unexpected hands.

Alexandria’s love note will appear again throughout the film, a reminder of its strength and power. And we will see her take up her crayons again later, as she literally tries to draw the hero out of his unhappiness. There is power in her creative expressions as there is power in story.

But back to those opening scenes. Everything is important and a potential symbol, and that includes Alexandria’s seemingly uninteresting costume. Notice that she wears a gray sweater and because her left arm is in a cast, one arm of her sweater hangs down. What does that remind you of? Maybe nothing just yet but keep paying attention.

When she meets Roy, the accidental recipient of her love note, she shows him her box of treasures and the first thing he draws out of the box is a small elephant. While elephants are universal symbols of good luck (you knew this, I hope), they are particularly so in India, where they are identified with water, of the greatest importance in a hot, dry climate. Water is the stuff of life. The Hindu god Ganesha is represented with the head of an elephant. He is the remover of obstacles.

As Roy begins to tell Alexandria his “epic tale of love and revenge,” he has stranded his characters on a desert island, a hot, dry place surrounded by water. (Deserts figure largely in this movie. The first shot we see in color after the black and white title sequence is a palm tree, indicating an oasis in a desert.) But the hero of Roy’s story, the Masked Bandit cannot swim and must be rescued by an elephant.

And so we have Alexandria, the baby elephant with her gray sweater sleeve trunk and her stubbornness, which we will see later. Obstacles do not get in her way. Alexandria arrives to save Roy from his desert island of despair.

See how easy this is once you think about it for a minute? And it’s all there, presented to you like the treasure box Alexandria carries. You only have to care enough to root through it and see what’s inside. 

Let’s try another one: butterflies. Because they change from their earthbound caterpillar form to winged creatures of the air, butterflies are symbols of the soul. In the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is often symbolically connected with butterflies and her name is the Greek word for soul.

And this film is full of butterflies. One of the most often mentioned sequences is the transition from the iridescent blue butterfly to the Butterfly Reef where the bandits are stranded. But that is so much more than merely a cleverly beautiful camera trick. It’s deeply symbolic. Butterflies everywhere. Souls everywhere. Souls in peril.

Because that is what’s at stake here. Later on, it will be said outright, but for now, the storyteller is building intricate layers of symbolism so that when he comes out and tells you “Here is a soul in need of saving,” it will have the added depth of meaning and connection that art brings to life. By asking you to participate in “collecting” these symbols, the storyteller places his story into your hands through your shared understanding. You and the storyteller are collaborating. At that moment, it becomes yours as well as his.

But we’re not done with the butterflies. When the villain of the piece, Governor Odious, presents a rare butterfly to Darwin (one of the company of bandits), the butterfly is stabbed through the heart, and we learn that Roy’s heart has been stabbed through in much the same way.

Darwin himself wears an outrageous fur coat. Considered more carefully, the pattern of “eyes” on his coat mimics the defense mechanisms of certain butterflies.Later on, when Nurse Evelyn appears in the epic, she wears a gasp-worthy costume that again, can overwhelm with its artistry so that you might miss its symbolic importance. The fan-like screen of her headdress resembles a butterfly, and Darwin even gives voice to this. “Just like a butterfly,” he says. 

But she is only “like” a butterfly. She is faithless, without a soul. Even in the “real world” hospital sequences, her caring is only superficial. The clue to this is when she can’t be bothered to retrieve Alexandria’s note when it goes astray.

When Alexandria stands before the bathroom mirror, she draws a butterfly on her belly rather than putting the lipstick on her cheeks as Nurse Evelyn did earlier, identifying with the soul rather than transient human vanity. (That scene is framed to perfectly reference the vanitas motif in classical paintings.) 

Oranges are another heavily used symbol. Oranges are loaded with vitamin C. Vitamin C promotes healing. Oranges are delivered by the crate-load to the hospital, this place of healing, surrounded by orange groves, where Roy and Alexandria have come to recover from their falls. Other patients are seen consuming the oranges but never Roy because Roy is not healing. Alexandria, already associated with bright and hopeful things like butterflies and elephants, is such an exuberant messenger of healing that she throws oranges about. She has herself emerged from the very groves where oranges grow. 

Let’s move on to another problem some critics had with the film.Other films have employed the conceit of having a real world frame story where one character tells another a story that takes place in a fantasy world. If you go into this movie thinking “Oh, this is going to be like The Princess Bride (or some similar film),” you will be confused. You might think that the epic sequences don’t make sense. That the epic doesn’t stand alone as its own story. That the epic, in fact, is not a very good epic.And you’d be right. But you would also be missing the point. The epic isn’t meant to be its own story. It isn’t meant to make sense. It isn’t meant to be—well—an epic. At first, it is just a bunch of nonsense this unhappy man is pulling out of the air to entertain this little girl. From Roy’s perspective, it begins as an idle diversion, develops into a manipulative tool and ends as a warped and dangerous weapon.

What you need to remember is that Roy is not a storyteller. He is a broken, desperate man. Physically and psychologically wounded, in pain and clouded by morphine, he strings together seemingly random elements from his “college man” background. His words grow into the vivid, sweeping images, colored by Alexandria’s imagination and her own experiences. The inside lid of her treasure box is the handbill of her imagination.That is what sets the structure of this film apart from those with which it is most often compared. The real world story and the epic are inextricably linked. They inform on each other. The epic reflects what is going on in Roy’s battered mind. As he falls apart, so does the epic.

Another frequent criticism is the five bandits and their lack of development as individual characters. This is an outgrowth of not understanding the role of the epic in the larger story and that the five bandits are not individual characters but instead represent different aspects of Roy’s fractured psyche.

Without realizing he is doing it, Roy reveals a great deal about himself through them.First, there is the Masked Bandit, who is of course the dashing hero Roy wishes he could be, who he tried to be. It’s a fantasy he can’t sustain when later in the epic and in the real world, Alexandria puts him too firmly in the position of hero and the Masked Bandit crumbles.

Then we have the Indian who has lost the only woman he has ever loved and has vowed never to look at another woman again. The Indian represents Roy’s broken heart.

Next is Luigi, the explosives expert, who represents Roy’s suicidal tendencies, which ultimately prove to be impotent. Note that Luigi’s bombs never go off until the end, when he still does not achieve the release Roy sought through suicide.

Otta Benga, the escaped slave, is Roy’s desire to escape the physical bondage of his disability. He loses his brother, his other half, in the way that Roy considers himself, as a paraplegic, half a man.

And then there’s Darwin. Darwin is Roy’s calmer intellect, his kindness and ironically, his spirituality. Among the bandits, he is the only one without a weapon. He stops Luigi from blowing open the door of the castle with a more thoughtful solution. He is the one to invoke God when the Masked Bandit attempts to execute Evelyn. And he is the one, through the Mystic (who represents Alexandria), to warn that swallowing the morphine tablets was a mistake. He is Roy’s voice of reason and he is the first to go when Roy starts killing off the bandits. In his final desperation, Roy must silence that voice. Darwin is the side of Roy we care about, the Roy we hope will win in the end.

So no, the bandits are not developed as individual characters because they are not individual characters. Like the epic itself, their function is to help you understand Roy.

The film takes the storytelling conceit to another level by allowing Alexandria to alter the epic. She is no passive listener or static receiver of story. She participates. She exerts her own influence over the story, at first in small ways and without understanding the significance, such as stating that she doesn’t like pirate stories and so Roy turns it into a story about bandits (inadvertently supplying him with a term and concept he uses later for his own purposes. “Be a good bandit.” Steal for me.) Or when she pushes for romance and kissing when Roy, heartbroken and betrayed, doesn’t want them. And going so far as to change the main character from her father (who she informs Roy—in the poignantly matter-of-fact way of children—is dead) to Roy, with whom she has fallen in love. Roy becomes her hero, though he is so wrapped up in his own misery, he misses the significance of this moment until it is too late.

Later on, when the story takes a turn that is too dark for her, Alexandria alters it in the most dramatic way, by inserting herself into it. At first, she makes a heroic effort—even so far as dressing herself in her imagination in the same costume as her hero—and it seems as though she might succeed. But even this stubborn little Ganesha is powerless when Roy succumbs to the three real morphine tablets he has swallowed (along with the placebos.) She can’t waken him and she must walk away.

This is where the epic shifts from the idea of shared storytelling to a battleground where the two of them fight for control of the ending. After her second fall, when Alexandria pushes Roy to finish the epic, he turns it into a weapon, using it to strike out at her and make her understand why he feels he needs to die, to kill the hero image of him he has unwittingly helped build in her mind. Her influence has become so strong, he is aware that she can alter not only the story he has been spinning for her but his own choices. He tries to silence her. In the epic, she is gagged and in the hospital, he speaks over the things she tries to tell him. But she has also become aware of the true nature of the epic and what is really at stake and she will not give up. Note here that the tables have been turned and it is Alexandria in the bed and Roy in a chair by her side, the storyteller roles reversed.

And that is what this film is telling you. We connect with each other through story and story can be more powerful than we can guess. There is a great responsibility we take on when we invite people into our stories, regardless of our agenda. Roy did not begin his epic believing or even hoping that Alexandria would save him by changing the course of his own story. But that was the unpredictable risk he took by letting her in.

Is it a perfect film? Of course not. There is no such thing as any perfect work of art. But you don’t look at the Mona Lisa and say “The perspective of the background on the left does not match the perspective of the background on the right. This thing is crap!” No. Why? Because you are transported by the creative power of the rest of it. And maybe you are even a little touched by its flaws. Perfection is achieved by machines. Flaws are human. Humanity is who we are, and that is beautiful.

So some of the writing is clunky, some of the supporting performances awkward, and something is a bit off in the climactic sequence. The most troubling problem is that of Roy’s motivation. The reason for his great despair is not established well enough to support the ultimate resolution. But I believe these flaws are born out of the creative passion of the storyteller, and I will take flawed, risk-taking passion over carefully calculated flatness or a string of polished CGI tropes any day. Beyond the justly celebrated dazzling imagery of this film, what it gets right is loving, generous, and human. It is a rare and unusual combination of flamboyance and bombast alongside tender intimacy. It is a love note in astoundingly beautiful gibberish that will reward you over and over if you take the time to learn its language.

[saruma-aki]

Well, I would like to say I thought this through before dragging this post back up after having posted it way back when ST2 was new and fresh out of the proverbial womb, but, the harsh truth is, I did not. Honestly, I have been ignoring the existence of this post since its conception because the amount of popularity it garnered was mainly negative (no shock there; this is, after all, tumblr) and I had more important things to stress over than what someone interpreted from a line in a show that will fade into obscurity in a couple of years. However, the most recent reblog caught my eye because someone actually wrote something under it—and not just under someone else’s words, but the original post, which I had not seen in a while.

Obviously, what they said did not make me very happy. Otherwise, what is the actual point of making this post?

Here is the thing, the “tea” or however you want to call it—everything they said is way out of line.

I will be the first, the very first (no one is beating me to that spot) to admit that the original post was just a little bit tone deaf. It did not really discuss the topic or why it is that I felt like I did or Dacre’s own opinion. It was just a couple of screenshots from an article that made me feel better about where I stood on the whole debate—and I wanted to share it. I don’t know why. Maybe to just not feel crazy in the midst of that drama? Who can say? However, I will be the first to say that the post is wholly inadequate in explaining anything of note.

I was not exactly surprised when people took to it with raised hackles, even if I really never conceived it would reach close to five hundred notes by the time I got the guts to address it again (and I know that five hundred, 5-0-0, doesn’t really seem like a lot, but considering that I thought maybe one person would pay attention to it, it’s basically the equivalent of a million in my eyes).

But, you know what? I’m tired. I’m stressed. I’m slowly dying. Let’s finally addres this. Because this reblog, this most recent reblog, really bothered me. And I know, trust me when I say I know, that it seems simple and of no need for concern, and I’m sure the few people who are actually bothering to read through this are thinking, “Why on earth did they not just talk to this person instead of making a long post?” But, here’s the thing with this whole shebang: I’m tired, and this person isn’t alone in their opinion. What made this one stand out is how they phrased their belief.

I’ve had to listen to people gripe about how this post “proves there’s no such thing as POC solidarity”, and they’re absolutely right because Native American woman are being slaughtered and raped and abused every day, and Native Americans are represented less that one percent of the time (<1%) ) in film and media (and the few, very rare, times they are it is with an abundance of racism and stereotypes piled onto them), and yet I don’t see black people, with their sixteen percent (16%) representation score raising much of a fuss. (This is not a call out or something. I get it. Get your own representation and rights before helping out anyone else. It makes sense, in a way—I’m not judging. But maybe don’t come at people with that when you’re part of the issue.) I have had to listen to people assume my race, ethnicity, political leaning because of this post, and, honestly, I’m just a wee bit tired of it.

I have four things I really want to say with this post, in response to everyone, but especially in response to this one reblog:

1) I am a proud person of color. I am a proud descendant of African slaves. I am a proud descendant of Taino natives. I am a proud member of the Latino community. I am a proud non-white individual who experiences racism on a daily basis.

I experience racism meant for black people. I experience racism meant for Latinos. I experience xenophobia meant for Middle Easterners and Asians. I experience racism meant for Middle Easterners. I experience racism meant for Indians. I experience Islamophobia meant for Muslims. I have been told they should “build a wall” to keep me out. I have been told that the KKK should pay me a visit. I have been called a terrorist. I have had people dance in crude imitations of Indian traditional dance to my face while laughing. I have experienced all of this and more.

I have been a victim of racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc., from both POCs and white people, straight and gays, natives and immigrants.

Do not presume to know my race and my experiences just because my opinion does not coincide with yours. Quite frankly, don’t do that to anyone. You do not know anyone’s life story, especially over the Internet. Do not assume otherwise. Do not delude yourself into a false confidence and assurance of your own moral superiority when you know nothing of the people you are attacking. It is easy to hide behind a screen, and I am not here to tell you to not talk about what you wish and what you can and cannot talk about and direct at people. I merely suggest you stick to the information readily accessible, not mere assumptions based on your own prejudices. It reveals more about you than the person you are belittling.

2) Billy never saw Max and Dustin together like he did Max and Lucas. Billy never saw Dustin upsetting Max like he did Lucas. Billy never sees Max and Dustin in any capacity like he does Max and Lucas.

This is not a justification. This is not an excuse. This is a mere statement of fact. Whether or not you believe Billy is racist or abusive or whatever, the bottom line is the same. Billy doesn’t witness Max with Dustin like he does Lucas. Honestly, I’m fairly certain Billy never even sees Dustin and Max together at all. Think Billy is racist or don’t, but it doesn’t change this very basic fact. It’s not a situation of “why didn’t he” when every iteration can be debunked by simply understanding that this wasn’t information he was privy to ever. “Why didn’t he?” Because he didn’t know.

3) I don’t take the word of the Duffers on anything. Let’s make that perfectly clear. And this is not some personal dislike or something. This is born from experience. I have sat in the writer’s chair; I have sat in the director’s chair; I have sat in the actor’s chair. You know what I have learned? The writer provides the skeleton, the director gives it movement, the actor gives it life. The job of an actor is solely to understand the character. That, ladies and gentlemen and the general populace, is the secret of acting.

What the writers provide is just the guidelines for the actor. The understanding the actor develops can evolve into a different interpretation than the writer or director had, and it has the potential to be more profound.

The other two reasons I don’t take the word of the Duffers on this is: A) had it not been for Dacre, the Duffers would have been subject to critique on lazy writing moreso than they are already because Billy’s depth and complexity, especially the jarring scene we all remember, came from Dacre—Dacre wanted a villain with a reason if he was going to play Billy and he pushed for it (which says a lot about him and how skilled of an actor he is—understanding that experience and trauma shapes us and forms us into what we are and that we are not static beings, so there should be no such thing as a static character) and that makes Dacre’s opinion a lot heftier than the Duffers’ already——B) Dacre originally did think Billy was racist. Isn’t that a kicker? Dacre remarks in interviews that when he read the script at first, he thought, “Oh, no, gosh, he’s racist on top of all of this?” And he stayed with that mentality for a bit. It was only as he delved deeper into the character and understood Billy more as a person instead of the two dimensional villain he’s set up as that he changed his mind and came to the conclusion that he doesn’t think Billy’s racist.

He put in the work.

The Duffers went in with a throwaway line and labeled the character as racist. They wanted a human villain, someone for people to hate, someone to pit against our heroes, against Steve. They wanted to make him awful and static and to have him do what Steve’s character couldn’t and stay the asshole the audience could hate.

Dacre didn’t fall prey to that mentality. He searched for the human in the label “human villain” that the Duffers wanted and found a much more complex character than the Duffers even considered. Because of this, Dacre’s opinion carries far more weight than the Duffer Brothers’.

And, ultimately, most importantly—the main reason I wanted to make this post, to defend the original post this is born from even though I’ve stated my stance on this issue in a separate post in much clearer terms—the real reason I made the original post to begin with even if I never talked about it:

4) People who immediately assume racism instead of ignorance, racist instead of ignorant, are part of the problem, not the solution.

This really bears no explanation. You cannot change what you believe is irreversible. You cannot educate what you believe is closed off. You cannot help that which you’ve condemned.

I do my utmost to live my life by this. Ignorance before condemnation, always, always, always. The majority of the time it is a lack of education on the subject and a lack of personal experience that leads to such grave misunderstandings. Give a person the chance to learn and to be taught and to redeem themselves, and most of them will. It takes time and patience and a boatload of energy and perseverance, but you get there through understanding and the willingness to help out—by giving them the chance everyone else is denying them.

You cannot help those which you’ve condemned. In life and in fiction, until proven repeatedly over and over again when intervention is applied, I like to adopt the philosophy that people are ignorant before they are racist, before they are a sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc., etc.

I’m not saying it’s a popular philosophy (because it’s not), and I’m not saying it’s right (because maybe it isn’t), but it’s my philosophy. And knowing where Billy comes from, what he’s been through, who his father is, what his home life is like, I elect to believe in my philosophy and in my understanding of the human mind, and I don’t think he’s racist. I can definitely see how he might be construed as such, and I don’t belittle those who see it that way, but I stand by my original observation (however ineloquently stated) that I, in my own personal opinion, don’t believe Billy is racist.

And, ultimately, I just want people to accept that. I’m not denying the possibility. I’m not uninformed. I’m not some white, cisgender, hesterosexual man sitting behind his computer screen agreeing with a white actor because it makes me feel more comfortable in myself and my own experiences. I am a proud POC, a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, a writer, an actor, a director, and a human being. I see where you all are coming from—I hear you; I read what you write. I get it. But can you get me? Can you understand where I am coming from? Can you stop with the misinformation and the moral superiority complex? Life is too short to live like this. I know that it’s Tumblr. I know being superior is the bread and butter of this site. But, honestly, guys, let me get cheesy for a second, let me get real, because you guys clearly need to hear this:

Be willing to understand and to learn. You will get so much further in life. You cannot help that which you’ve condemned, guys. And you really can’t. You can’t change what you believe is irreversible. You can’t teach that which you believe is unwilling to learn. Give people a chance, and they might just surprise you.

Gosh, I hope this cleared some things. I doubt many of you made it to the end if you even got past the beginning, but I sure feel better after writing this. Take care. Bless. I’ll see you on the other side of the war.

[quirrrky]

insecure

secret lovers (tumblr thread | fanfiction.net)

Chronological One-Shots / Post-War / Pre-Last 

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto’s huge crush on Hinata gradually surfaces and the whole village of Konoha knows it…Well, aside from him.

entry ten

Prompt: Now that the war was over, Naruto and Hinata must face another challenge in their lives, adolescence.

/insecure/

Naruto couldn't feel so delighted. He was glad that he was successful into talking Sasuke's case out of the council. Well, that's all thanks to Shikamaru, Hinata and Iruka-sensei's effort in guiding him. That damn, Rhetoric, sure had an importance, after all!

The teme just left the village for some atonement and Naruto felt the needed that his friend might need a reminder that Konoha's doors will always be open for him by returning his hitai-ate.

He sighed, but as he did, an eager Konohamaru and his team caught up with him.

"Niichan! I've told you about this kore."

"Uh, not now? I don't know, Konohamaru, but your project doesn't seem to fit me dattebayo."

"Well, you're the only one I can rely on, niichan!" The brunette kid muttered as Naruto surrendered,

"Fine! Fine! But just for an hour, okay?"

They walked along the village street as Naruto stopped at the sight of his teammate.

"Sakura-chan?"

She lifted up her head, blush evident on her face, "Naruto…"

"Ah! Hinata seemed to be blossoming lately, eh? Just in time for spring?" Kiba retorted, making his teammate blush with his compliment.

"Why? It is because…"

"Yeah! Yeah, Shino! It was all because of that stupid-looking Naruto, who is looking more stupid, whenever he sees our Hinata!"

"That's not what I'm about to say…"

"Kiba-kun! Tha-that's not it!"

The leaves were now evident on the branches of the trees, coloring Konoha with a brand new shade. Gone were the days when they have to wear extra article of clothing just to keep them warm. Springtime had come and its manifestation was just beginning.

Team 8's briefing with their current Hokage, Kakashi (who was still unsure about taking the position although his face was quite blatantly etched on the Hokage rock), just finished and they will be sent to search a missing person who belonged to a powerful clan for next week.

"Well, he said he'll be returning, right?"

"Yeah, Shino-kun. He'll just be dropping by to return Sasuke-kun's hitai-ate back before he leaves the village."

Kiba scoffed and prided, "I don't really think you must go back there, Hinata. My senses can smell he's just near, so… Ah! See! I told you, in speaking of the devil, he's just right there. How about we surprise him, huh? Don't ya' think, Hinata? I wonder if he'll scream like a girl."

"Kiba-kun!" Nonetheless, Hinata's complaint was remained unheard as she was dragged hiding in a corner. They couldn't see him, but they could eavesdrop and he was with Sakura.

"Wait! I think Ino's somewhere here too?" Kiba informed them with Hinata ready to leave the scene, until their words started to mince her.

"I know that you have loved me ever since. I just realized that maybe…maybe we could try?"

Sakura-chan?

"I-I couldn't be any happier."

Naruto-kun…

Drowning her teammates' voices in the background, she ran away. Just far away from them. Where there was air, though she could hardly breathe.

That was all she needed to hear.

She didn't even need to see them. Just the words they professed to each other were enough to wake her up from her petty little sweet dream. A dream, it was all a dream.

His eyes, his smile and his gravelly voice would only remain as a dream to her. How could she not, when it felt so surreal and good? Naruto always made her feel like that. Out of many people in the world, he was the first to believe in her. Never, ever in her life did someone make her feel strong, important and worthy. She thought he was the exception, not thinking that he was just like that to everybody else.

She loved him, she truly did. It was a pure kind of love. Something that didn't demand reciprocation Although people may mistook it as unhealthy obsession, little did they know that for her entire life she never felt special until he cheered on her amongst the crowd. Until he believed in her when no one else did. He showed her that she could still walk with purpose. He showed her that it was still possible to smile even if nobody cared.

He made her believe.

Sadly, it was because it was just him. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sasuke-kun left the village now and who knew what happened?

All this time, Sakura-chan loved the boy. But Naruto-kun was also easy to love, and Hinata knew that he would search all over the town just to be with Sakura.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Hinata!

In her mind, she pictured her pink-haired friend and her blonde dream.

They looked good together.

Tears fell from her eyes, trying to force a smile on her face.

It made sense. Sakura-chan was confident, beautiful and a strong kunoichi, whom everyone in their village admired. It just made sense that she would be perfect for the brilliant hero, who brightened up the whole of Konoha.

He deserved someone like her. Someone who was unafraid to fight for what she really feels. And she was not her.

But she had to be happy for them. They were her friends.

She had to accept that Sakura will be the one to hold his hands. She will be the one their friends would tease with him, saying he finally got the girl he's been chasing after.

Then, he would buy her flowers, her favorite food and would tell everyone stories of how beautiful and strong she was. He would show the whole world just how much he loved her, because she was his dream and there wouldn't be a single day that she would feel neglected, because he'll always make sure she's special.

When the day went by, she will be the one to kiss him goodnight. She will be the one to live her dreams. Hinata's dreams.

And then for Hinata, she will be drowned on the background amidst it all. Waiting for someone to love her just as much as she loved him.

Truly, purely and unconditionally.

Wondering how long will she wait as though no one could replace him.

"W-What's with you two?!" Ino angrily shouted as she went out from hiding at a corner, eavesdropping all throughout the whole ordeal.

Sakura, blush now dissipating, answered her with a sigh, "I-Ino? Well, I surrender. This knucklehead has been trying so hard already-"

Naruto turned, rubbing his hand at the back of his head, "Uh, yeah, yes. I guess I didn't' get that quite right. I know!"

Kiba, furious at the stupid blonde's comment, revealed himself with Shino, "Just, you, shut the hell up! I know I'm in no position to say this, but I'm keen enough to smell your own bullshit, you, pathetic idiot! ! For these past few months, I thought, I thought that you and… Forget it! You don't deserve that kind of love!"

The loud-mouthed brunette then suddenly noticed a few audience, namely Konohamaru and his team, "The hell?! I couldn't believe this! You even get your own documentation team to record this crap?!"

"Cut! What's wrong with you all? The scene is now going great and now you made it all appear scripted kore!"

"W-Wait, scripted?!" Kiba and Ino simultaneously erupted, shocked and confused at the young boy's complaint.

"Hey, niichan! I thought you hired these two. How come they aren't oriented? Too bad the scene they created is already effective!" Konohamaru demanded, annoyed.

"Ahhh, about that, errr…"

"I really think that won't fit our topic after all. We are supposed to show this at the orphanage. Seriously?" Moegi interjected.

Meanwhile, as realization hit Ino, she sighed and turned to Sakura,

"That explains everything. I thought you two were really going on about it. I didn't really mean to intrude with what's between you guys, but just earlier you were gushing about Sasuke-kun poking your wide as hell forehead like it was the most special thing in the world, then now I'm going to see you like that with Naruto. I just couldn't help it. Well, anyway. I couldn't believe I participated in this kind of weird thing."

Sakura, on the other hand, released a heavy breath and slumped her shoulders forward, "I just couldn’t not do it. I reluctantly accepted this idiot's bet that Sasuke-kun would not allow me to come with him. In exchange, I have to participate in this video thing for the children at the orphanage. I was about to knock him off but he guilt-tripped me with his nindou."

The blonde girl faced the younger ones with much pride and determination, "Well, if you want a better actress, you should've gotten me instead! This billboard-brow surely has no talent aside from punching people in their faces!"

"Hey! What's wrong with strength you Ino-pig…" The two girls fought in the background. On one hand, pissed, but fazed Kiba stood agape, still deciding what to do with the situation and just in time, it was Shino who voiced out his frustration.

"You see, we have a bit of a problem here. Why? It is because Hinata…"

Both girls stopped at bickering and Sakura immediately dropped Ino's collar-off with a grim expression starting to form on their faces, "Hinata!"

Actually, they both didn't hear Shino's words before that, but by just the mention of her name, the two kunoichi identified that a big misunderstanding had been created.

Both of them had been supporting their shy friend all along and even developed several plans behind her back in order to create a moment for Hinata and Naruto to be together.

Sakura was the one more passionate about it as she could reflect her sort-of unreciprocated love for Sasuke-kun to that of Hinata's genuine affection for the still childish and oblivious Naruto. She couldn't just stand that she'd be the reason to cause her friend's faith to waver or even hurt her in any way. She almost make a big damage before and she was not planning to cause anything like that anymore.

"Yeah, where's Hinata? I left to go find Sasuke after she tied my hitai-ate. I was looking for her until Konohamaru bothered me."

The said boy and his gang just watched the exchange with a freaked-out look on their faces, Shino just remained stoic, while Kiba, Ino and Sakura both turned their heads on the blonde's direction.

"Well, Mirai is asleep now. I can feel that she's not the real reason for your visit." Kurenai stated, placing cups of tea for her and her former student.

Silence laid flat between them. Hinata just stared blankly at her cup of tea.

"Kurenai-sensei," Hinata muttered as she called out to the person, whom she considered as a mother after all that happened around her life.

"Hmmm... By looking at you, I could tell this is about a certain blonde boy."

The young girl just gulped dryly, giving away the information to her sensei through the quietness.

"I understand, Hinata. I am right and it's all about that dreamy boy, isn't it? Ah, young love, fragile, fickle and difficult to understand. Intense and overwhelming emotions." Kurenai finished with a humble yet prim smile. Memories of the past appearing before her eyes.

"I remember back then, it was the same with Asuma. We were really close friends and I started to harbor a different kind of feeling for him. He didn't notice that at first. He was the Hokage's son and he had a lot of admirers surrounding him as well. I couldn't avoid but feel confused and frustrated. There was a lot of questions and the emotion got only stronger, because I was not able to fully express it and show it. Then the more we became closer, the more I wanted to hear him say the words I've been longing for… I thought it would be right, but it wasn't."

Kurenai took a sip from her cup of tea as she further relive the past with her deceased beloved husband.

"It wasn't, Hinata. There came a time when we were both so near each other. In his eyes, I could see sincerity and it was as if the world was pulling us close together. At that moment, I felt scared. I felt scared that he'll tell me he was feeling the same way, because…I wouldn't believe him. Not because he didn't show me, but because I realized that I wasn't ready for that and he wasn't yet either."

"Kurenai-sensei…" Hinata tilted her head up and serenely looked at her former teacher.

"I was relieved when he got flustered and laughed his embarrassment away. Love, Hinata, is not about finding someone who completes you, it's about having someone who complements you, someone who will fit who you are not with what he is."

Hinata tried to unravel the message beneath Kurenai-sensei's words. The older woman seemed to notice this leading her to guide Hinata's head above her shoulder. Right at the spot, her student gave in and cried her heart out, pouring all the stirring hurt inside.

"You and Naruto are both so young. You still have a lot more to discover about yourselves outside the war. I bet he was just as confused as you are."

She stayed at her teacher's arms, washing down all the thoughts running in her mind. Silent water runs deep and the same can be said to Hinata. Her calm and unassuming personality had won a thousand rejections and degradations form other people and especially her father.

But this.

This was something new to her. Although she wasn't really expecting him to return her feelings, she never thought it would be like this. And it wasn't because he finally found another nor was because Hinata thought Sakura-chan was better, it was something else. And that something else certainly was the essence behind Kurenai-sensei's message.

After regaining her composure, Hinata got conscious and took awareness of the time and started to make her way to farewell.

"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I know I took your time and-"

Her teacher waved off, "No, no, anytime, Hinata. Anytime, I'll be here for you."

The young girl gave a curt bow and proceeded to depart until her sensei stopped her.

"Naruto..." Hinata stopped at Kurenai's word, "He dropped by with Kiba and Shino a while ago. He was looking for you. Well that kid, he seemed to be angry, sad and nervous all at the same time."

"Oh," Hinata paused for a moment before she continued, "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I'll bring something for Mirai-chan next time I'll visit."

Hinata subconsciously avoided her usual path going to home. Her head was tilted down while she walked and missed the beautiful sun that was about to set, until she bumped her head. The scent was familiar and a loud bang of nervousness dropped against her chest.

"Hinata! Where have you bee-"

Though her eyes couldn't betray her, she forced a smile and turned to him, "Congratulations to you and Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun!"

Tears were now triggering to fall, but it was cut by the blonde's aggressive denial.

"No! No! It's not like that at all -ttebayo! Ah, err, it was actually for Konohamaru's project and he wanted to experiment with his new video cam thing. So! Be-between Sakura-chan and I... There was nothing! Nothing between us!"

Naruto had been vocal about his admiration for his teammate ever since he was younger, but there was something about Hinata's presence now that made him clarify things a bit desperately.

With the truth now vivid before her, Hinata gave into the weight of her knees and sat down on the grass. But before she wash herself with relief, she must ask him one thing. Although she wasn't known to be bold, she knew it was something necessary for her to ask.

"But you love Sakura-chan, right?"

Quite taken aback, he muttered back, "Yeah, but-"

"She loves Sasuke-kun." She said it calmly, but deep inside she was beginning to hurt.

"Mhmm," It was a tone in agreement and Hinata could see sadness in his expression through her peripheral vision. She took a brave inhale and started to stand up, but he sat beside her.

"When I was younger, Sakura-chan was the prettiest girl I knew. She liked Sasuke. Well, why the hell did everyone liked that teme? But among everyone, she was the most determined to be acknowledged by him that's why she stood out, that's why I felt we were the same and that's why I liked her."

Hinata just sat there frozen. It hurt. Everyone in her shoe would hurt to hear this. Self-torturous, yes. But perhaps, she needed to know this, she needed to hear the truth. Hinata may love Naruto deeply, but after all the desertion she had undergone with her family, she would not stand to be a substitute for someone else.

"A lot of things happened and the more I noticed their growing closeness to each other. Time passed and Sasuke left the village. It hurt me, but it hurt her the most and I just know I must bring him back. Years gone by and I trained with Pervy-sage and she's the only girl close to me. I convinced myself that I have to prove and make her see that I'm better than Sasuke. Then, the village started to acknowledge me and even her..."

Naruto looked at the horizon. The sun painting its ripples with orange and yellow hues.

"Then, she told me she loves me. I thought it was just a joke. I kept on asking why did I think it was just a joke. If I was younger, I would totally fall for that. But I saw right through it and I realized that something's changed."

The blonde must have realized that he'd been telling her a lot already and got agitated. "Ah! I-I'm so sorry, Hinata. I didn't mean to bother you, uh, it's just uh, I find it comfortable talking to you, being like this, and, uh,…Never mind! Never mind at all!" He looked at her searching, if everything's all right.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," she needed to hear him out for her peace of mind anyway.

Naruto sighed and continued, "Actually, I was genuinely happy for the both them and that's the point! I should feel hurt, right? But there's nothing, none. Everytime Sakura-chan rejected me, there's just that. I grew out of that feeling and all's left was nothing…Nothing. That's why I know there's something missing."

Hinata noticed his crestfallen expression.

"If there's anything, that's…I'm insecure. I wish I could feel...Just how it feels like. I wish I know." He, then, turned sullenly dreamy, "Everything, you know. Even the bad feeling?" Naruto pouted. He was certainly being uncool in front of her.

The pale-eyed girl was left speechless. How odd was it that he wanted to feel what she just felt a while ago? Now, she remembered his troubled childhood. The lack of love, acceptance and acknowledgment.

This was what probably Kurenai-sensei's message was about.

Discovering other parts of ourselves.

"I see…" She muttered, not knowing what to feel.

Naruto chuckled nervously upon seeing her reaction, "Well, yeah, I still love Sakura-chan, but it was different! I just couldn't pass up with the opportunity to embarrass her sometimes and it's sort of became a habit."

Why was he explaining like this?

"But it was really different! Different from how I saw that look on kaa-chan and tou-chan whenever they remember each other. Although, I've met them for only a short period of time, what they had…was really different. Ah! Tch! I really wanted you to meet them. I'm sure they will like you -ttebayo!"

She blushed at his eagerness to meet his parents, no matter if it was no longer a possibility. There was also a part of her that felt relieved as she still got chance to, at least, let him know how she felt when she's finally ready.

All of a sudden, she remembered how pathetic she overthought, tapped her forehead repetitively and sighed. "Silly, I'm very silly."

"Yeah! That's right! I've been looking around Konoha for you dattebayo! I told you I'll be coming back, but you were gone in a zap when I returned." He complained and pouted, leaving out the part that he was subconsciously anxious that she might have misinterpreted that scene with Sakura-chan, which lead him to evaluate his current sentiments towards his teammate.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Naruto-kun I..."

"It's fine, it's fine. Shino already explained it to me, uh, by the way!" He said as he reached out to her a can of Oshiruko. "Sakura-chan told me that you might be having a moment. And I thought that moment thing isn't really nice. I saw this Oshiruko on the vending machine and remembered you liked it..."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head habitually, "I couldn't afford a zenzai, but it's similar so..."

She returned the can to him and stated, "You-you don't really have to, Naruto-kun."

"Ah, it's no good, huh?" Naruto's smile fell. He just wanted to cheer her up with all his best intentions. However, in its naive and simplest form, she unknowingly rejected him and he didn't feel great about it.

Hinata, as emphatic as ever, noticed his glumness and it was just in her nature to never let the people she considered as precious to feel neglected. "I-I think it would be nice if we would have a drink together."

Naruto instantly lit up and pulled out Gama-chan, unfortunately he didn't have enough as he already used his penny to buy instant ramen for dinner.

"Hi-Hinata I..."

She was giggling at him and stood up, approaching the nearest vending machine. "It's fine, Naruto-kun. I could buy one for myself."

And there, there's something about her statement that made her feel like she was getting close to what Kurenai-sensei was talking about.

In the end, Naruto's protest didn't reach her and they both ended up sitting and watching as the moon take over the sky. He told her how Sasuke blushed, when he thought no one was looking, before leaving Sakura-chan and how he convinced the reluctant Konohamaru to cast Lee instead. They shared a few innocent laughs. She shyly met his stare and he absent-mindedly snuck several side glances at her.

Hinata drew a heavy exhale. She never thought growing up would be this tumultuous. She never fully unraveled her sensei's message, but in time, just as Kurenai-sensei said, she will.

On the other hand, Naruto looked at the space on the grass where they were seated. He, then, looked at her—she was smiling peacefully at the sky. It was so serene that he was guilelessly moved into closing that sweet little distance between them—arms now touching each other.

He turned his focus into the sky, staring and admiring the moon as his head remembered her name.

Hinata.

"Y-yes?" She looked at him with tilted head, leaving Naruto flustered.

"O-oh! What! What?"

"Y-you called out for me."

I said that out loud?

[bulgariansumo]

Galactimato Big Brother Week 2

<<Week 1 | Week 3 >

In the first episode, Emil succeeded his first mission of getting Aiden nominated, but when it came to eliminating his own brother, he was simply outnumbered! How will he explain this betrayal?

--

"It was actually easier than I thought it'd be?" Emil recounted. "I meeean, we're pretty well off already--I don't even know if I'm gonna keep the money I win--and Aiden doesn't really have a steady place to live, sooo, I told Lorie I was thinkin' of that. He seemed to buy it."

--

Week 2 has officially begun with 1 down and 13 remaining!

I made a couple of custom pictures for this week, and since tumblr only allows 10 images per post now, I'm going to describe some of the events in text, like now!

Week 2's HoH contest kicks off with a game of Majority Rules!

In this game, the Houseguests stand in individual booths in the backyard. Benji Baker will ask a question and they must answer it the way they think the rest of the house will respond. Those who answer with the majority advance to the next round; those who don't are eliminated. The last Houseguest remaining becomes the new Head of Household.

Toni wins Head of Household! And now for the nomination ceremony.

--

"Hey Toni, you're a sweet kid, so I know this choice might be rough on ya," Benji reassured, "but don't think too hard about it. Just pick whoever!"

"Oh no, I know exactly who to pick." Toni smiled.

"Oho~ Why don't'cha tell us, then?"

"Okay!" Toni hovered a finger at the crowd. "I pick you," he stopped on Mia, "annnd you!" with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he pointed at his brother.

"WHAT?" Maxy exploded. "What gives??"

"You ate my chocolate bar!"

"It didn't have your name on it! ...After I took the wrapper off." he admitted.

--

Just as one brotherly conflict resolved, another began! Yet one question still remained...

--

"Why Miaaa?" Roxie hugged the freckled nominee.

Toni folded his hands behind his back. "I don't not like her... but she won against me in the cutest freckles contest!"

"The what?" Higgy quirked an eyebrow.

"A tally chart posted in the kitchen earlier this week." explained Jun. "It's also rigged. I never voted, yet there's 13 tallies."

"Whoa, huh??" reacted Emil.

"I couldn't choose, so I never voted either!" Roxie chimed in.

"Until now, I didn't know it even existed." Higgy folded his arms. "Who set it up, anyway?"

Angelo made eye-contact with Emil. "I th-thought I saw..."

"Who did you see, Angie?" Leon asked his brother.

With all eyes on him, he lost confidence. "No one... Nevermind."

"Should I pick someone else?" wondered Toni.

"Sorry kiddo, no do-overs!" Benji cut in. "On with the show!"

--

The second veto challenge begins. Toni, as HoH, and Maxy and Mia, as nominees, compete along with Angelo, Nicky, and Mai, who were also selected to play.

Cutthroat Christmas is the name of the game, a Christmas-themed curling competition where the player whose puck is furthest from the center gets eliminated. Eliminated contestants get to choose a prize, including the Power of Veto, but it can be taken by the next contestant who gets eliminated. Whoever holds the PoV at the end of the game wins it.

Maxy won the Power of Veto, but Mai would like to have it on record that she won the actual curling challenge, despite not taking the PoV for herself.

--

"I'm gonna use the veto on myself!" Maxy didn't wait for the Veto Ceremony to properly begin.

Benji chuckled. "Love the enthusiasm, but you gotta state why you need to be saved first."

"Does it matter if he has the veto?" asked Mia.

"...I guess you're right!" The host shrugged.

Maxy stuck his tongue out at Toni and walked back to the rest.

"You got someone lined up?" asked Benji.

Toni's eyes darted around the floor. "Um, Leon?"

"Me?" He pointed to himself. "Why?"

"Angelo told me about the time you made him give up his arcade tickets. It's not nice!"

"T-Toni? I-I-I didn't mean--!" Angelo sputtered. "That was years ago!"

"Ohhh!" Leon remembered. "Are you still mad about that?"

"What? I-I could never--! Toni, please! I-I don't want him to go!"

"Oh. Sorry." Toni looked pitiful. "Can I pick someone else?"

"Nope!" answered Benji.

--

Through many misunderstandings along the way, the final stage for Week 2 was set! Another star will fall from the Celestion-5 crew. The question is, will America keep its sights on Mia, or will Leon be the new target? Stick around for the voting to find out!

The votes have been cast, and America kept true to its original target. What do the houseguests have to say about their decisions?

--

"I-I'm sorry it ended up this way." Angelo couldn't bring himself to look at the camera. "Th-This is all my fault, but I need Big Brother to know I'd never betray him."

"Leon's easy to impress." was Mai's reasoning. "He's a better audience."

Higgy gazed disdainfully to his side. "He lacks rhythm. Even Maxy has that much going on."

Lorenzo sat prim and proper. "Summers has passion for the Interstellar Forces, but Wattson abides by rules more consistently."

The video feed cut from the other contestants' interview rooms back to the front of the house where the host stood.

"You know what time it is!" Benji pointed at the camera. "Time to check in on Emil! How ya doin'?"

Emil exhaled, sitting in his own interview room. "Ange nearly got me back there."

"Ha ha ha! Sharp eyes on that kid. How ya feel about the votes?"

"Sorry Mia," He lowered his head, "but it's what America wanted."

"Another thing." Benji pursed his face. "For someone claimin' to not need money, why are you playin' along?"

"I don't wanna ruin the show!" Emil laughed.

"C'mon, is that it?"

"Wellll. There's a chance I miiight need a new place to stay soon." He lost his smile. "But that's all I can say."

"If ya win the house, you'll have that all set!" Benji explained. "Good luck, kid!"

"Thanks!" Emil winked at the camera. "Catch ya later!"

--

The whims of America have been delivered by Emil's hand. Mia Wattson is a houseguest no more. What does she have to say about this?

--

"I can't really think of anyone I would've won against." Mia shrugged.

"Aww, that's a shame." Benji frowned. "What are your plans now?"

"I can probably get more reading in with less people around."

"Hey!" Benji gave her a hearty slap on the back that nearly knocked her over. "Atta girl, that's the spirit!" He pointed to something off camera. "There's also some people who wanna say goodbye! Last one walked off before anyone could."

Roxie slammed into Mia for a hug. "I'll miss you, Mia!!"

Mia attempted to choke out a thanks.

Leon waved. "If I wasn't also nominated, I probably would've voted to keep you in."

"Thanks."

Toni stepped up shyly, bowing toward Mia. "Just so you know, I voted for you on the freckles thing."

"Really?" She seemed surprised. "You didn't have to."

"I really think yours are cuter! Anyway, I'm sorry for picking you. "He bowed to Leon. "You too."

"No big deal!" Leon smiled. "You were just looking out for Angie!"

"I made him really sad, though..."

"Knowing him, he'll forgive you." He reassured. "Just like forgave me! I still kinda owe him for the ticket thing... Thanks for the reminder!"

"Toni," Higgy called, "it's time for dance rehearsal."

"I'll be there!" Toni bowed to everyone. "Sorry, but I have to go. Bye bye, Mia!"

"Good luck, Toni." She smiled. "I voted for you too."

[askjonfreeman]

Pixar's Coco - spoiler free review

TL;DR = Through and Through it's on quality par with Disney Classic 2D animated.  I'd rank it alongside Beauty and the Beast easy, no questions. Ton of heart, balanced fare, and with basically none of the negatives you're probably thinking it will have. Go see it! ... but if they show the Frozen short, leave the theatre for 15 minutes to get popcorn.  that short is terrible and needs to be cut from existence. ========== Saw it on Tuesday.  Now that I've had time to digest it I can properly review it. THE GOOD! - It feels more like a Disney Classic Animated Film than a Pixar Film. ... and I mean the good Disney classics, like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, etc.  (though it's definitely in the half-step lower that Beauty and the Beast was as opposed to pure gold Lion King / Aladdin) - The music is amazing I've had the main song of the film stuck in my head off and on and I've had no complaints about it. ... bonus points, they clearly wrote the lyrics in spanish first, then translated to english.  Savvy viewers will be able to pick this up.  Also, the soundtrack has Spanish language versions of the songs. - The characters are fantastic Expect fanart of Dante from me - I seriously don't have complaints about it! This is better explained through the subsequent section... THE GOOD ASPECTS THAT ARE DERIVED FROM AVOIDING PITFALLS! - It doesn't feel like a Pixar film! Pixar films lately have been terrible.  They also focus heavily on The Science of Sad (i.e. calculated forced tear jerkers or teaching kids the valuable life lesson of DEATH). ... It doesn't feel like that.  The only times you might cry are when they touch on resonating tones (because the film is heavily family centric), but they aren't cry moments.  So it's like Disney animated better films where you might get weepy eyed because it touches you.  Not because they pull a narrative sucker punch. - It isn't Book of Life! I still haven't seen Book of Life myself.  But I've read plot synopsis ... the two stories have basically nothing in common.  So if that's a concern, don't worry about it. - It doesn't follow the "but I wanna be an artist!" trope-line I hate that plot line.  Seriously, it's predictable sappy artuer wankery.  Coco presents the foundations early on for plot twists later where it breaks away from that horrid story-flow.  So it's not a "I'll show everyone artists are better than you pleb" story.  ... but why it's different is spoiler territory, so I can't talk about it further. - It isn't political! This was a big concern going into it for me.  And this is because of how pants-on-head retarded Hollywood liberals have become (let's politicize everything, get the facts wrong because we focus on feelings, and alienate everyone destroying our story!).  There's absolutely ZERO political sentiments in there.  That means it focuses on stuff that everyone can relate to ... WHICH MEANS IT'S A GOOD STORY. - It doesn't get lost in its myth This is a general concern about any film with magic elements: story tellers get sidetracked by the world/myth lore to the point where the audience can't connect.  They keep it focused to a few simple/unique aspects that have a resonating quality to them ... which means you don't have to remember WHY something's important or get re-explained anything.  It's stuff you likely care about. THE BAD FROZEN it's that bad. It's the only thing I regret and hate about the experience And it frustrates me that they paired something so HORRENDOUSLY AWFUL with something so good. The rumors are true about how terrible this thing is. You'll wish everyone (except Oaken) dies by the time the "short" is over. - rumor, that lines up with product, is that it was a made-for-tv special that got cancelled (because animated TV specials are almost always terrible) - so it's 20 minutes, way too long - the music is terrible garbage - they made Olaf into a truly unbearable waste of space (actually impressive since I didn't mind him before) - They made the clown the main character.  That never works out. - Olaf goes out literally looking for traditions.  I mean ... WHAT.  nobody can relate to this shit. - you'll pray for a quick death and nail in the coffin to Frozen Fever ... and hopefully a cancellation of the sequel ... and with how bad this short is that just might happen - the lesbian princess scrapped story line still hangs its awful uncanny head over the sisters (substantiated rumor is that Anna/Elsa lovers was plan A and it didn't test well, so they recast them as sisters ... and now you can't unsee it. ... Granted, I think it's more that Frozen isn't that interesting of a story, so having a divisive politicized element in a boring story will lose half your audience instantly as opposed to "THEY AREN'T READY!" but tumblr-ites will never accept that answer).  This short did nothing to shift the dynamics away from Anna/Elsa being lovers ... which is totally weird since they're sisters.   - I mean, for example, Kristoff coulda been a bigger part in this to make Anna have an actual love interest (with an odd-couple romance) and further push that uncanny creepiness away ... BUT THEY ALSO COULD HAVE MADE A GOOD SHORT. - i think i laughed a total of 3 times in 20 minutes - I can't even imagine what the story boarding meetings where like when they crew had to try and sell each other on this garbage?  Did those happen in a vacuum? - We got this instead of a cool short like Piper.  Screw you Disney.   Screw you and your Frozen Fever! - however, the sauna house guy, Oaken, makes a 60 second appearance.  He's still an amazing character.  ... that's the only good point of the short. Out of spite, I'll pitch a better story line set in Frozen with the same parameters of it being a Holiday Special... - Keep the intro gag that the sisters try to host a party and all the citizens go home to their families for christmas, leaving sisters without a party to host - ... but then have Anna be torn between spending time with her boyfriend Kristoff (in some adorkable odd couple romance hijinks) or spend time with her sister ... - and have Elsa feel a little bitter and jealous over this and sulk a little, with Olaf misunderstanding everything for comic dramatic irony - then the sisters both get over their little argument, and apologize - have a quiet ending where the characters spend time together  (not some big chorus number full of painful sap) - the idea is to strike tones with anyone who's dealt with marriage, significant others, and other time conflict of interests - keep to 5-7 minutes and boom.  Cute story, simple conflict that's resolved, stuff people can relate to So yeah, IF they show the short.  walk out for a 10-15 minute stretch.  A lot of theater houses are complaining and are trying to figure out how to cut the short from their screenings.  So you may not have to suffer.

[aion-rsa]

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell Review & Discussion

https://ift.tt/2MhJtYI

In which two Rainbow Rowell fans discuss Wayward Son, the much-anticipated sequel to queer wizard romance Carry On ...

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This Wayward Son discussion includes major spoilers for both Carry On and Wayward Son. 

Wayward Son, the sequel to Rainbow Rowell's queer wizard romance Carry On, hit shelves earlier this month. The book picks up roughly a year following the ending of Carry On, which saw Chosen One Simon Snow defeat the Insidious Humdrum and The Mage alongside best friend Penelope and vampire boyfriend Baz. It asks the worthy question: What happens after The Chosen One fulfills his prophecy? 

Answer: Simon Snow is depressed, having not developed the coping skills to thrive in a post-Watford, post-Prophecy world. This prompts Penny into strong-arming Simon and Baz into a cross-country road trip adventure across America. What begins as Cheesecake Factory visits and Ren Faire detours escalates into another fight for Simon and his friends, as the gang is inadvertently pulled into a vampire conspiracy that already has Simon's ex Agatha in its clutches.

With a third book in the series, Any Way the Wind Blows, set to conclude the trilogy, Den of Geek Books Editor Kayti Burt and Den of Geek Contributor Natalie Zutter take the time to check in with the beloved series. How does Wayward Son expand on the cultural conversation begun in Carry On, and what do we hope for from the trilogy's final installment?

The First Question

Hot take! Generally, how did you feel about Wayward Son?

Kayti: I feel the need to preface this answer with some context: I was very hyped for this book. Carry On is one of my favorite books, and Rainbow Rowell is one of my favorite authors. To say this was one of the pop culture artifacts I was most looking forward to in 2019 would not be an understatement. Perhaps this kind of hype is untenable, but I am not in the habit of trying to talk myself out of positive emotions (anymore.. I hope), even for the worthy cause of not later being disappointed in part because of them.

That being said, I was disappointed. If Carry On was a nutritious and oh-so-delicious meal, then Wayward Son was a snack. There were elements of the narrative that I really loved and I think it had an amazing, ambitious premise—to explore what it can feel like after you’ve finished The Thing You’ve Always Been Working Towards (this is a particularly good allegory for graduating into the “real world,” a subject I don’t think is explored enough, honestly in our pop culture) but the book never quite fulfilled on its promise. I ended it with a feeling of Not Enoughness. Even though so much happened, plot-wise, it didn’t feel like the characters developed, either individually or collectively, in many noticeable ways.

read more: Best Autumnal Books of 2019

Natalie: In retrospect, maybe we should have expected this, since the jacket copy does describe the book as “a second helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter”? But that’s the thing, it didn’t feel decadent. That qualifier would probably apply to a super escapist story, one where Simon and Baz have worked out an easy relationship banter, and Penny is off following some Hermione-esque plot of becoming their equivalent to the Minister of Magic, and everything’s coming up magicians. Instead, everyone handled their relationships to one another awkwardly, and there were misunderstandings and missteps, and everyone made incremental character progress but not the transformative leaps I had hoped for.

Which—not necessarily bad! But definitely not the expectation I had set up with all the buzz around the book, and Baz’s floral suit, and the overall Supernatural vibe of the sequel. So, sorry to say, but I was also a bit disappointed during the reading experience.

The Narrative Nitty-Gritty

Expanding the ensemble: What did you think about the new characters (e.g. Shepard as POV character, Lamb) introduced in Wayward Son?

Natalie: Shepard might be my new favorite! His insistence on telling the truth and being forthright about his intentions gave him surprising cachet for a Normal, elevating him from just being the Xander of the group; and his curse is a crucial reminder of the consequences of barreling into magickal situations. I’m so glad the trio are dragging him with them to England; I want to know more about his curse, see if it’s stronger or weaker over continental lines, etcetera.

Lamb I felt like I could never get a handle on. Was his vibe supposed to be some Lestat-esque hottie, or a Downton Abbey dreamboat with a darker side? Also, True Blood kind of cemented for me what a vampire king might look and act like, so when that detail got added it just further muddied the character for me. That said, I really liked what he represented to Baz—this notion of someone who came over from the old country and has had such a different branching lifetime(s) of experience.

read more: How Red, White, and Royal Blue Hopes For a Kinder America

Kayti: OMG, same on both fronts. I loved getting a new POV character in Shepard. As a Normal American reading this series, he worked particularly well as an audience surrogate character, which is surprising considering he was obviously not in the first book. I do wish he had come in a little earlier as a POV character, even though I am not sure what that would have looked like. In Carry On, Baz comes in surprisingly late as a POV character, but we hear so much about him before we properly meet him that it feels like he is there throughout the book. This narrative strategy wouldn’t have worked with Shepard, but I would have been OK with having him as a POV character, even before his storyline met up with Team Snow.

As for Lamb… one of the loose threads from Carry On I was most looking forward to seeing explored in Wayward Son was Baz’s vampirism: how he feels about it, what it could mean for his future, and how it affects his relationships. Wayward Son did not address these questions to my satisfaction—I think we could have gotten more of Baz’s internal thoughts and feelings on these subjects, even if we don’t see him externalizing them to the people in his life—but I think we got the closest with Baz’s conversations with Lamb. There’s still so much we don’t understand about vampirism, and that is because there is so much Baz still doesn’t understand about vampirism. I was surprised that Baz wasn’t more interested in getting information from Lamb.

Natalie: Now that you mention it, both Shepard and Lamb could have entered the story sooner, which might have helped make the narrative feel less back-heavy. The Penelope/Micah section at the start of their trip dragged for me, because their breakup seemed to be broadcast so clearly, long before Penny caught on. It might have been more interesting if Shepard had been someone in Micah’s orbit and have either interacted with the group or been tailing them (with a mysterious, withholding-information POV) before he actually saves their lives.

read more: Check, Please! — The Queer Hockey Bros Comic You Should Be Reading

I don’t know if I was necessarily missing Baz’s internal thoughts about his vampirism; for some reason, I keep thinking fondly about the whole sequence at the Cheesecake Factory and how he has to run off and get an illicit snack after being confronted with that gigantic menu. Then again, Baz’s vampirism is lower on my list of unanswered questions.

Kayti: I lbrought up The Cheescake Factory in casual conversation with Normals yesterday just so I could mention this book.

Setting: How do you think America worked as a setting in Wayward Son?

Kayti: I’m always trying to puzzle out how reading the Harry Potter series as an American is different from reading Harry Potter as a British person: is there another layer of escapism for Americans? As a child, I read many of the real-world British things—such as certain foods—as just as foreign and, perhaps, magical as the actual magical things in the world. There is that element of that in Carry On—not only as an American anglophile, albeit one who has now been to England many times and therefore sees it as a real place in way that I didn’t as a child reading Harry Potter—but also in Rainbow Rowell’s writing as an American who, perhaps, also infuses a degree of not totally unproblematic anglophilia in her writing that is like catnip for me.

In other words, there is a level of escapism reading a magical story set in not-America that I don’t get in the same way reading a magical story set in contemporary America. I have too many intense feelings associated with the places and politics here. That being said, I was looking forward to seeing what Rainbow Rowell had to say about contemporary America, as I imagined she, as an American writing about her home country, would have a more nuanced, informed depiction of it, and I am hungry for those explanations of what we are living through: who we are as a country and culture. I didn’t get that.

I did love that Rowell touched on how magic works differently in American. In explaining how the magickal system works in the Carry On world (because I love it, and think it is so clever), I have told so many friends the detail of how Baz is less skilled as a magician in American because so many of his spells are too British. I liked learning about the different kinds of magickal creatures who reside in America, and what their relationship to Mages is, and the reflections about how the wide, open spaces in America would affect magicians’ ability to do magic.

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Natalie: The Renaissance Faire was the shit… though I was surprised that it seemed so alien to these Brits, as I would have assumed they would have a much higher likelihood of running into reenactments of medieval life on that side of the pond. A quick google later, and it turns out that Ren Faires are a very post-World War II American pastime—who knew! So that was a keen choice of Rowell’s, to present a subculture that would feel incredibly foreign to these magicians even though it’s mundane for the Normals.

For all that I felt like the Penny/Micah scenes wasted valuable time, forcing our trio to road trip across the heartland (instead of starting out on the coast, which would have been much more convenient) felt very American. Earlier this year, I spent a month in Nebraska City, NE on a writing residency (with brief visits to Omaha and Lincoln), so those portions felt much more familiar than they would have if I hadn’t temporarily lived there.

Kayti, I share your love for the quirks and rules of American magic, from the dead zones to—my favorite aspect of this series’ magic system—the efficacy of using American language and phrases in spells.

Kayti: Thank you for bringing up the Ren Faire, Natalie, and for giving that American context for it. I did not know about its history and now need to read more about it.

Natalie: Always here for Ren Faire discourse.

Kayti: Sadly, I have not yet been to a Ren Faire in real life (it’s on my loose bucket list!), but that did not keep me from loving this part of the book, or from understanding (having been to other delightfully performative spaces like this one, including Harry Potter World and, you know, Comic Con) what it looks, feels, and even smells like. There’s something incredibly powerful about going to a space in which everyone, including adults, has agreed to pretend, to play to some degree. In general, the Ren Faire scene felt like the point in the book in which the plot jumpstarted. The narrative sped up and felt kinetic and full of potential in a way it hadn’t before.

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As for the other parts of the American road trip narrative, it struck me in reading your comments that I have not been to almost all of the places that they visit in Wayward Son, which is interesting given my earlier rant about the brand of escapism I enjoyed as a child Harry Potter fan who had never been to England. (Reading Rowell’s books have taught me a lot about Nebraska, which I would love to visit. I recently read her graphic novel Pumpkinheads, which is set at a Nebraskan pumpkin patch, and it made me realize how, as a native New Englander, I erroneously ascribed certain Traditional Fall Practices solely to New England.)

Natalie: To be fair, I think most Americans (or at least coastal ones, like you and California-bred me) are raised to regard fall as very much belonging to the East Coast what with the leaves and the apple picking and such. So I’ll have to check out Pumpkinheads to disabuse myself of that notion as well!

You’re so right about the plot jumpstarting at the faire, because it was a site of so much concentrated pretend and delight in play. Maybe our quartet will find that they need to locate a similar space in England in the next book?!

Supporting characters: How did Penelope and Agatha grow (or not) as characters?

Natalie: I’m not sure if either grew on her own within her own arc; with Penny, I was especially waiting for her to be shown the error of her ways in looking down on Normals, as it seemed like the book was building to that. Then again, that kind of deep-seated self-reliance (which occasionally manifests as know-it-all arrogance) wouldn’t necessarily go away from just one adventure; so I guess it’s more realistic for her to need to experience more of the world beyond Watford before she fully grasps that while magicians are special, they’re not the be-all, end-all. To that end, one of my favorite moments in the book was when Penny and Agatha realized they could command magic without speaking and by drawing on one another. I’m excited to see how this brings them closer together—and likely on a different magickal level than Baz or Simon can grasp—in the third book.

Kayti: Same. I loved the big fight scene that saw Penny and Agatha holding hands, walking out of the fire like some kind of dude witchhunter’s worst fear. I didn’t think it was particularly earned, character-wise, as we didn’t really get to see these two talk things out. The book began with Penny trying to insert herself into Agatha’s California life, against Agatha’s express wishes. Penny disrespects so many of the boundaries Agatha has communicated to her, and, even though Agatha obviously ends up needing Penny and co., it’s not really addressed.

read more: How Harry Potter Shaped Modern Internet Fandom

I liked Penny’s storyline in Wayward Son, even if I wish we had gotten more of it. I liked that we got to see more of her relationship with Baz, and that her “deep-seated self-reliance” (which is a great way of putting it) is challenged. I think she’s the character who gets the most development here; Micah’s words seem to get through to her and, by the end of the book, she is relying on people a bit more. On the Agatha front, I was disappointed to see Agatha fall back into a world of magic/rigid external structure after she chose a different life for herself at the end of Carry On.

Natalie: I’d say that aside from Simon, Agatha is surprisingly the character with the darkest and most nuanced outlook on the Chosen One narrative—especially since she spent her formative years believing she was the reward for Simon saving the world. Yet I wanted to see more of that anger/frustration from Agatha, who instead seemed rather apathetic (though she got in a few good snarky comebacks) about her limited prospects in California. I wanted her to lay into Penny for ignoring her boundaries!

Looking Forward to Book Three

Do you think Simon will get his magic back in the third book? Do you want him to?

Natalie: Simon seemed to do fine without being able to command magic in this book, thanks to the wings and tail and his general MO of acting like a bat out of hell in battle. I would be curious to see him develop his relationship to magic in what I assume will be the conclusion of this trilogy: having gone from being the manifestation of magic to having to rely on his friends for every little thing, hopefully there’s a way he can learn to exist parallel to it.

Kayti: Yeah, I like that. In some ways, the NowNext crew’s efforts to transplant magic into a non-magickal creature seem to foreshadow a potential choice for Simon: would he choose to get his magic back if he had the option? I’d like to see him develop an identity and broader skillset outside of magic. His inability to properly take care of himself in Wayward Son is not a result of his lack of magic, but rather his mental illness, which I think is a reality Rowell does a good job emphasizing, even if Simon himself can’t see it.

Natalie: Good point. I think that at times I failed to recognize that as a mental illness issue and instead regarded Simon entirely through the lens of magic—i.e., much the way his friends do.

What do you think has happened at Watford???

Kayti: I don’t know! Why didn’t I let you answer this question first?!

Natalie: I might have chosen to answer these questions in a certain order for this very reason…

Kayti: Very Slytherin of you. 

Natalie: I keep wanting to be Ravenclaw, and then the Slytherin just takes over in moments like these...

Kayti: I am the opposite! I am a Ravenclaw who wants to be a Slytherin. 

Anyway, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect that Penny, Simon, and Baz will face some consequences for their careless actions in Wayward Son, though that doesn’t seem to be what the emergency at Watford is alluding to. I wonder if it might have something to do with the vampire community, as they played such an important role in Wayward Son and are obviously tied to Baz, which would force him and Simon to face some realities they have thus far been able to avoid. Whatever it is, I am happy to be heading back to England.

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Natalie: I definitely think it’s some crisis that’s mostly been running parallel to the events of Wayward Son, though I wouldn’t be surprised if their actions in middle America (and the aforementioned outing via Ren Faire battle) had some impact.

Considering that the trio were all at least a year out of their time at Watford at the start of the book, it would be really interesting if the crisis at Watford is something about which they’re completely out of the loop—if going back to a place where they lived for years is nearly as foreign as stepping on American soil.

How did you feel about that ending?

Natalie: I read this entire book expecting it to be concluding a duology, so even when we got to the ostensible cliffhanger of an ending I initially thought maybe it was meant to be open-ended—that Simon and Baz would or wouldn’t resolve their individual issues, that there would always be an emergency to draw their attention away from fixing their relationship. That would have felt a bit too unsatisfying for me. Now that we know there’s a third book in the works, I’m more onboard with ending on a “to be continued…”

Kayti: As I got closer to the ending, I think I began to realize that this would not be the end of the series, but I still expected more from this ending: more of an emotional confrontation, of some kind, even if it ended in Simon and Baz breaking up. Simon’s intention to break up with Baz stated in the very beginning of the book felt a bit like a Chekhov’s gun that never went off.

Natalie: You’re right! The fact that they didn’t address anything about their relationship nagged at me—like, even if they’re as bad at being together as they each seem to think, it seemed truly surprising that after nearly dying a half-dozen times over they decided to stay in this weird cautious detente.

What do you want to see explored in the next book?

Kayti: I was expecting the question of Simon’s parentage to play more of a role in Wayward Son—if not in Agatha inadvertently giving Team Snow the information about Lucy that would probably allow Penny or Baz to put the pieces together, then in Simon wondering more about it himself. I’m still not clear how much he knows about The Mage’s machinations. Does he realize that the Mage was his biological father?

I’d also like to learn more about Baz’s family. We get hints of him in Carry On, most especially his Aunt Fiona, who is a force to be reckoned with in the fandom world. How has Baz’s relationship with Simon affecting his relationship with his family, if it has? Is he close with his siblings?

read more: Checking In On Harry Potter Canon

Natalie: I… completely forgot that Simon doesn’t know everything about the Mage’s plan, so yes I would like to see this resolution as well.

I’d like to see each of the characters struggle with fitting into a post-Watford world in adulthood: Agatha with some righteous anger, Penny examining her magickal privileges, and Simon and Baz comparing their relative support systems in the form of family.

I’d also like to see the magickal world change. Wayward Son proved that there are some cracks in how the magicians harnessed magic and built their identity around it; but it seems like in some ways they need to get with the times. Like, now that Simon is no longer the Chosen One, how does that affect an entire magickal world that was half-expecting to get wiped out at any time?

Kayti: Yes to Agatha’s righteous anger and Penny’s examination of her magickal privilege!

The Final Question

How do you think Wayward Son compares to Carry On?

Natalie: Carry On was so clearly in conversation with Harry Potter and Chosen One narratives—and subverted those story beats so brilliantly, from how spells are constructed to the Mage’s self-fulfilling prophecy—that it feels like a complete book.

Wayward Son felt like it didn’t know what kind of story it was: part culture-clash tour of magickal creatures of the U.S., part interrogation of its own established magic systems. And maybe that was by design! The characters are figuring out who they are now that they’ve broken the standard Chosen One narrative, so it stands to reason that the sequel would similarly be looking for itself. But it felt very much like a middle book; I will probably enjoy it more on a reread someday once I have the hindsight of knowing how the story ends.

read more: This Is How You Lose the Time War Solves the Time Traveler's Wife Problem

Kayti: Yeah, I am interested to see how I feel about this book after I read the third one in the trilogy, but I am also a big believer in all respective works of a larger series (whether it is in book, TV, or movie form) having to stand on their own, which I am not sure that Wayward Son does. It’s possible that Wayward Son was never going to be as revelatory a reading experience as Carry On, and the ways in which it used some of the best qualities of fanfiction culture to challenge, expand, and contextualize some of the problematic and/or unexplored aspects of the Harry Potter series, in particular when it comes to trauma.

That being said, I think Rowell’s ambitions with this one—to explore depression and what comes after The Chosen One wins—is just as brilliant an idea as what she was working with in Carry On, but one that wasn’t given the time or space to be adequately explored.

Natalie: Really well put. I think we were all expecting more drawing upon fanfiction culture (something that I will note that Tamsyn Muir’s Harrow the Ninth succeeds in doing as a follow-up to Gideon the Ninth) when instead this is an entirely different animal. If anything, I would love to see Any Way the Wind Blows build on Wayward Son’s conversation about mental health and moving on, so that the third book is closer to the second than the first.

Wayward Son is now available for purchase via Amazon, Macmillan, or your local independent bookstore.

Natalie Zutter is a playwright and pop culture critic who will talk about fanfiction until you spell her silent, and is very much due for a Fangirl reread. Read more of her work here.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature Natalie Zutter Kayti Burt

Oct 17, 2019

Young Adult Fiction

Fantasy Books

from Books https://ift.tt/2pzSHFB

[brianwilly]

So apparently I wanna talk about Secret Empire

[Shows up a month late with Pete’s Coffee]

There’ve already been a lot of well-written thinkpieces and entries about this comic, about Nick Spencer, about it all.  But I wanted to maybe throw my two-cents into the pile because, to this day, I think most people are still a little confused about where the outrage is coming from, what exactly is making people uncomfortable, and why it all just keeps snowballing on itself.

And honestly I don’t blame those people; this whole situation is kinda hard to parse.  You think it’d be easy to understand why “They turned Captain America into a Nazi” makes people upset, but the thing about Secret Empire is that it honestly does a good pretty job of covering its own ass, of not doing anything overtly offensive, of leaving in all the loopholes and technicalities and escape clauses to its own premise. “It’s going to be undone in the end.” “He’s not actually a Nazi, he’s just brainwashed (even though the story goes on and on for pages about how he’s actually not brainwashed and is in fact a Nazi).” “We’re treating Nazis as bad guys, not glorifying them.” “And they’re not really Nazis, they’re Hydra, it’s totally different.” “We’re tackling topical issues!  Aren’t we brave!  And daring!”

And that’s the kind of stuff I wanna try to cut through here, but it’s gonna require...well...yet another thinkpiece.  Sorry about that.

So I think that Tumblr has covered much of this pretty well, but something to be aware of is that, for a while now, genre media has had A) really iffy mindsets about Jewish issues and B) a sort of casual flirtation with "cool Nazis" as some edgy cool thing to hype and market.  It’s not glorifying Nazis exactly, but it’s using that kind of imagery and ideology as tools to sell your books and movies and TV.  And when I say "genre media" has been doing these things, I actually am specifically referring to Marvel comics and studios for a notable chunk of these instances.

When you combine those instances with the state of the world where Nazism has been regaining traction with the 'chans and redditors and within the White House itself, with Holocaust denialism and Jewish defamation being a regular fixture of the news cycle...it's no wonder that members of the Jewish community and blogosphere has been feeling disenfranchised by a lot of the old entities and structures that had seemed like they should be able to count on as a matter of course. That includes the government, that includes our fellow citizens, and it also includes the media.

(sidebar, I am not Jewish, I just enjoy their comics!)

That's what readers mean when they say this feels like the worst sort of climate for a story that reveals and is marketed on the premise that Captain America was secretly a Nazi all along. It's not that people don't want the current political climate to be examined and lampshaded in media, it's that this specific method of examination comes across scarily comparable to all the antisemitic media and rhetoric that's been released throughout the years which has led us to this current political climate in the first place. It's the media-slash-rhetoric where Jewish (and other) characters have their origins retconned and whitewashed into homogeneity, where pontificating supervillains are just misunderstood revolutionaries who might have a point or something, where fascist police-states are shock value tropes to engender hype and interest amongst audiences.

Spencer's argument is that this story, which depicts a universe where the fascists win, is intended to incite discourse and criticism against such a universe. Hydra are still clearly the bad guys of the story, we're obviously intended to want to see them lose, of course they're going to lose by the end. But the way that the story has been constructed up to this point exhibits a lot of the same signatures of various antisemitic story beats we've had throughout the years. Captain America being retconned from a stalwart defender of Jewish people into being a Nazi agent, for instance, evokes Wanda and Pietro Maximoff being changed from prominent Jewish-Romani superheroes into whitewashed Hydra recruits on the big screen...and there was certainly no secret message or hidden allegory behind the Maximoffs' change; all it was was offensive and tone-deaf and that was it.

For another instance, Nazi Steve delivering issues-long sermons about how the heroes of this world have gotten complacent and misguided and that the world needs someone willing to make the tough choices, to do what it takes to protect it, is reminiscent of Tony Stark and Carol Danvers making fascism-apologia for months on end throughout the two Civil War event comics, like, hey maybe these guys playing the hardball roles have a point right? Hey aren't we so hardcore and edgy for tackling the hardcore and edgy topics?  CHOOSE YOUR SIDE!...and in the end this fascism-apologia is just played completely straight, no hidden critique, no last-minute swerve, just Marvel turning its heroes into borderline supervillains and that was the end of the story. But hey, this story here and now will be totally different from that! Becuuuz...for some reason.

To be direct about his: This isn’t our first rodeo, Marvel Comics.  Let’s not pretend that Marvel...and DC, let’s be fair...haven't in fact made a lot of legitimately terrible in-canon offensive character assassinations of iconic characters and that it's not that unreasonable to be afraid of it happening again at any given point.  Let’s not pretend that Marvel hasn’t done a lot of those things for the specific reason of angering readers and then feeding off of that anger and attention.

At the very least, there's been this weird romanticizing of Hydra Cap from Spencer in what I've read of these books so far; it doesn’t exactly refute the premise that Steve being Hydra is bad, but Steve is still the protagonist of these books no matter how brainwashed he is, so these issues seem to have come across less like "Our heroes have to prevail against this nefarious schemer and his nefarious schemes!" and more like "Watch in wonder as this shadowy agent prevails against all the clueless establishment and does badass things throughout his mission!" It falls into the "cool Nazi" trend where it's like, of course we're consciously aware that he's the bad guy here, but isn't he so edgy and hardcore and badass anyway? I haven't read as many issues of Hydra Cap as Spencer would probably like so, I dunno, let me know if I'm way off here.

So, to summarize...well, not summarize exactly, but to organize these points, lets’ do a list.  Everyone likes lists, right?

1) Showing the "bad guys" losing in, like, probably the very last issue of this year long storyline (which also included the main Captain America book which led up to the actual event) doesn't suddenly omit all those issues where the "bad guys" were shown being edgy and hardcore and badass and smart and powerful and pulling one over on all those dense clueless liberal "good guys," except in this case the bad guys are people who directly abetted in the Holocaust and not the guys who stole forty cakes.

2) This is during a time in the world where antisemitic rhetoric is seeing a startling resurgence -- or maybe just coming back into the light again after hiding away for a bit -- and Holocaust denialism, vandalism of public Jewish spaces, and outright physical violence being more and more common occurrences.

3) Readers in general have been consistently burned by Marvel's consistently tone-deaf depictions of moral or social narratives throughout their events (Civil War: police states are great!) (Civil War II: police states are great!) (IvX: Cyclops is goddamn HITLER for some reason). Jewish readers, in particular, have good reason to not to trust Marvel to be respectful and tactful of their issues. Any such complaints or concerns have been responded to with derision or misunderstanding on Spencer's part, which only makes everyone angrier and more wary.

4) Indeed, Marvel and Spencer's go-to insistence that Hydra are totally not Nazis at all and you're just being nitpicky if you say they're Nazis just further makes them come across as tone-deaf and bullish on the matter, on top of (probably unknowingly, if I’m feeling generous) mirroring the talking points of actual real life Nazis, who've been trying to rebrand themselves as something different for years in order to come across more fluffy and palatable to mainstream sensibilities.

5) I mean there's also the fact that Hydra is -- as currently depicted in this very event by the very writer who keeps saying they're not Nazis on Twitter -- a completely fascistic political regime that stifles free thought and rewrites history through fear, violence, and propaganda and oh hey did someone mention concentration camps? ‘Cuz there are concentration camps in this book.  Hydra is functionally indistinguishable from Nazis in this actual book. This is not a book about Captain America being brainwashed by Saturnians to plant death lasers on the moon, this is a book about Captain America being a Nazi and doing things associated with Nazis in absolutely every respect.  But sure let’s get comic shop owners to dress up like them and stuff

6) "I don’t care if this gets undone next year, next month, next week. I know it’s clickbait disguised as storytelling. I am not angry because omg how dare you ruin Steve Rogers forever. I am angry because how dare you use eleven million deaths as clickbait." Copypasted directly, because how can you get clearer than that.

7) Spencer's work with Sam Wilson Captain America, which generally turns him into a centrist apologist at best who couldn't believe that he himself was ever that much of an annoying liberal activist or something and occasionally fights literal "social justice warriors" on college campuses throwing bombs and internet slang, isn’t a particularly encouraging thing to have hanging on the back of your mind while reading this story about how Steve Rogers was actually a Nazi all along. 8) In a world where an X-Men artist is literally sneaking secret antisemitic propaganda into books that are supposed to celebrate diversity and civil activism, can you really blame people for being antsy about a comic book that is making members of Stormfront cream themselves by revealing that Steve Rogers was a secret Nazi all along?

So yeah, I dunno if I have any great point to make with any of this.  I just felt like collating all the outrage and shedding a little light on how the situation comes across to me.  Secret Empire isn’t exactly the sort of clear-cut idiocy where, y’know, some dense writer fridged yet another female character or replaced yet another hero of color with his white predecessor from forty years ago.  Its problems are a bit more intricate, which means the blowback is a bit more intricate as well.

[danielhewn-blog]

hello worlds

[Antinomy 0A: there is no koine Greek for ‘hoodie’]

After getting to Bible graduate school, I kept asking myself: “Why am I studying all these books that aren’t the Bible? Can’t I just learn Bible please?”

To this question came answers:

(1) The Scripture is a conversation that keeps going; a theme that keeps riffing.    The Bible itself used to be books that weren’t “The Bible”. No one wrote their part thinking it would be part of the Bible as it is today. Sixty-six books were written over centuries. So people who read the Bible as it was written couldn’t have just read the Bible, because the newest parts weren’t part of the Bible yet! In Biblical times, God’s people did read their Scriptures (which didn’t include the books we have now), but not exclusively: they were also reading anything that brought them closer to God--including those books which later became Scripture. Paul’s letters. The words King Lemuel remembered his mom said to him. Luke’s historical research. 

   The Bible is like a concert where successive encores happen, and it’s the audience which gets to play the next act. People wrote parts of the Bible as replies or meditations from older parts. The Bible is a conversation. Careful listening begets words, which call for more careful listening, which beget more words, and so on. If this creative cycle helped generate the divinely inspired Scriptures, who am I to say, “Stop!”

(2) The Bible is for eclectic readers. If you’re reading the Bible, then you have to master a ton of genres, written to a variety of audiences: a poem here, a prophecy there, an ancient civil code, a response letter, a rebuke letter, an encouragement letter. When we read the Bible, we are reading wide and far. The Bible is for eclectic readers, not for someone who just wants to master “one book”.

(3) Each new generation has to understand the Bible for themselves, and the hints of understanding lie in past generations’ experiences. There’s no way to live exactly like the first churches in Acts did. The language isn’t the same (and we’re still working out how it’s different), the culture’s not the same, and the struggles aren’t the same. We don’t eat food sacrificed to idols anymore (wait--do we? don’t we?) Even if we brought Paul and Peter through our non-existent anachronistic time machine to have them start a church now, who would understand what they were saying? There’s no Koine Greek for “hoodie” or “l33t” or “lit” or 🚦. Which is why we need the centuries of post-Biblical writing: how did they hear what the Bible was saying in their cultural microsecond, and what did they do about it?

(4) Everyone imports their own understanding when they read the Bible, whether it is written down or not. We all have important experiences, landmark historical events, formative texts, epic movies, memorable relationships, unforgettable poems and songs and rock bands which help us make sense of the Bible. There’s no such thing as having a “purely Biblical mind”, as if our brains were a holy USB key with just a pdf of the Bible on it. What good is that? We actually already have that!

(5) It’s reckless. Has anyone ever quoted the Bible at you, and you felt small, put off, or unhelped because they didn’t take the time to understand you, to get you where you are--to listen? It’s too easy to throw a naked Bible like a doctor might toss you some pills. Oh, if life was that easy! But real lives aren’t test tubes that “need more pure Bible extract”. I’m not saying that the BIble’s not worth memorizing, studying, or quoting. But how you act, what you say, especially before and after quoting the Bible is as important--and this means being non-Biblically informed. So the one who reads other ideas, other needs, and especially other people around them--in addition to the Scriptures--will go far.

So. Who am I to say stop? Let the cycle of careful words and careful listening and more careful words and more careful listening continue continue continue continue continue  

[Antinomy 0B: frivolous, frivolous, frivolous]

If, above all the other writings of humanity and all the recorded thoughts of history, stands the Bible, shouldn’t there be a focused discipline in its study? Yes, the Bible is a deep reservoir in which many elephants drown. Therefore we must dedicate most, if not all, of our time to its priority. All other endeavors are a distraction (1) and cannot last (2).

(1) Other books, games, cultural studies--beware of its ability to suck your time away! Because after you finish your book on the secularity of this age, or put the finishing touches on your dazzling late-modern website, are you any closer to God? You are still you. There are many ways that seem right, but in the end prove tangential. There is no end to books and their study. Rather, run the race yourself. If you must read, read what is essential.

   Of course it is impossible to have a singly “Biblical” mind! But let your extrabiblical knowledge come from relationships; from the experience of life of which you are the original source. Why should you spend hours interpreting someone else’s experience through the lens of language, authorial license and bias? The likelihood of going astray, of misunderstanding, of narcissistic belly-button gazing is high, and the potential profit is low. Examine rather what has been proven, which promises wisdom, and godly living, and knowledge of the most-High.

   In your facebook or instagram or tumblr feed, isn’t it difficult to wade through all the adverts, the barely-relevant self-aggrandizing posts, the pretty but forgettable images? After hours of this, have you become worthy of a greater gravitas? Is the divine beatific vision somehow more present after a few thousand more flicks of the thumb? It is the same with reading the sugary words that relate more to the world than to God. Even peripheral words “about the Bible”, commentaries, monographs, and best-selling devotionals mean nothing without the fear of the LORD. Respect then, God’s words, and do not adulterate them!

(2) Neither can the works of man last. They have no staying power. Even Augustine’s many words--only a handful can recognize and quote him; but the Biblical texts will be venerated in perpetuity. 

   Neither also does the Bible need to be heartless! Study it, and it speaks aright, as no man spake; only unchain it and it shall do work beyond any man’s artifice. But God’s words shall not return to him void.

Someone once said at the conclusion of time, all that will remain of this world will be people and the Word of God. Why not bank on what will last?

Why are you even reading this online post? Frivolous, frivolous, frivolous! All is frivolity. O deep thinker, beware knowledge and techniques gained without the working of supernatural love. In the end, science saves no one. So it is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the enemy; strengthen not your thumbs for swiping, but gird yourself with armor from God. 

πορευθέντες δὲ μάθετε τί ἐστιν Ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν

Go, and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice; 

What counts is not instant knowledge, but an obedience sustained; not wit and relevance, but pleasing God; not books, but beauty of character; not complex proofs, but a compelling life; not the construction of mental mansions, but abiding in Christ.

//end of Antinomy 0