#the older I get the less convinced I am by ethics that translate everything into terms of power

[francesderwent]

it’s interesting to me how close songs like “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve” or “The Manuscript” get to a robust ethics of love versus use. beyond simply the assertion that leaving is a betrayal of love which ought to be forever, these songs contain a pretty strong rejection, specifically of sex where it did not belong and had no business appearing. she can say, not just you leaving was cowardly, you ruined something real, but I regret you all the time—I wouldn’t do it all over again, any of it. not just you hurt me within the bounds of our love story, but this wasn’t above board at all. it wasn’t love. you took advantage. another way to say this: “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve” and “The Manuscript” recognize that sometimes sex is a sin. not leaving afterwards, but sex itself. for the first time, we’re presented with a love story that couldn’t have been saved by an eleventh hour confession of love, by “don’t go” or “I want you for worse or for better” or “the worst thing that I ever did was what I did to you”. the whole thing is rejected as poisoned.

but these songs can only make such a strong statement because there’s the age gap to point to. to the modern mind, it’s easier to recognize use when there’s a clear power imbalance, but I think we’re getting the causation wrong, or at least oversimplifying it. the reason there shouldn’t be sexual relationships between people of drastically different ages isn’t that older people and younger people exist as such in relationships of imbalanced power. a healthy relationship between a mentor and a mentee or a teacher and a student is about guidance and education and protection and respect. these things aren’t “good” exercises of power or restrained power, they are not exercises of power at all.

power enters into the equation when one party decides to use the other. this choice transforms every difference in the relationship into an inequality, every imbalance into a threat. this wasn’t always secretly there under the relationship, it’s a totally transformed new kind of relationship now that use has entered into it. the more differences and asymmetries there are to start with, the more dramatically unequal the new relationship is—not because the relationship was bad inevitably and to begin with! but because these relationships are more vulnerable and so bringing use into them is a greater corruption, which magnifies the damage that is always there. even a perfectly “equal” relationship becomes a power struggle when use enters into it.

but the further step which is invisible to modern eyes is that sex, outside of marriage, does this all on its own. somebody who sleeps with you without marrying you is using you, full stop. and as much as I think this revelation is between the lines of Tortured Poets (and I do think that, it’s in the parallels between the two men!), she can’t face it head-on. there is no she thought about how he said since they loved each other, everything had been above board…she wasn’t sure. because modernity is so convinced that that has to be above board. so the closest thing we get to a song that speaks to that creeping feeling that she was used again is the mashup of Sweet Nothing and Hoax, and her derisive conclusion: all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing.

[moody213]

WicDiv #35 Impressions (and craters)

(I started this commentary 2 days after the last issue was released, and seeing how the latest issue was released on Friday and I haven’t finished yet (something extremely typical of my lax/non-existent work ethic) I’ve decided it needed to be done before I would allow myself to read issue #36. Here goes!) 

SPOILERS UP TO #35

This issue was particularly hard for me to start reading. Ever since we reached the penultimate arc the idea that we had so little to go has become an anxiety-stirrer for me; I've been a fan since before Laura got her freckles, when all we had was Luci and Laura inviting us on a floor of broken glass to anticipate the next Mcklevie/Gillen chapter after Young Avengers. The idea that the past four years were almost done- well, the subtext should be obvious for anyone who's been reading. 13 hours after release, I read. And then I opened issue one and did a concurrent re-read. And then I reread yet again and promptly passed out.

Seeing that Mckelvie has reworked his first issue art- our first introduction- was marvelous to behold. Matt Wilson's recolor was also stunning (except for one instance of Amaterasu's lips!). I compared them on my second reread, and both the subtle and not-so-subtle reworking truly encapsulate the journey they've both been on: I found issue one an enthralling, gorgeous ride from the beginning; they're my favorite colorist and artist currently working in comics. Issue #35 has a level of ease and understanding of the art that was perhaps more rigid in the first one.

Minerva's rework was especially obvious here; she went from a cute little Shirley Temple gremlin to a child star a bit beyond her cutest years. Also, the difference in hair and clothing (I mean, that sleeve! I stan that sleeve! The ease! And I fixated on it every reread like a sleeve fetishist?)

I love that it kind of insinuates that the version we got on #1 was the ‘it is known’ version and this was the post-Persephone-being-alive truth, like in issue 20. I love the warmth and depth this rework adds.

Susanoo is a peach who cared too much and truly was too good for this world.

Minerva leaving the fire splattered in blood with her hands in fists- iconic and quintessentially WicDiv!

Ananke never cared about the gods. She was crying for her own approaching expiry date. Everything we learn about her adds more to this pathetic and yet unrelentingly cruel force of selfishness. I love how the last turn of Minerva is treating the old Ananke the way she treats the gods- and then assuming her place. Fitting.

JOSEPHINE BAKER AS 1923 PERSEPHONE #DEAD #GAGGING

Set- even as a talking head, ever the bore.

Face-flaying issue #11 powerup!

I love how the pixelated effect still shows up a bit less clearly. It reminds me of the 'tattooing of reality' aspect of the deal between Ananke and her sister. They're resources she can translate- here, for 'eternal' life four faces must be shorn from reality.

The colors and general atmosphere of being somewhere underground and laden with arcane implications is so apparent- I love the warmer tones, they remind me of those heady spiritual moments when you’re somewhere religiously/arcanely significant (those places are always smaller than you’d expect) and the gravity and headiness of the energy seems to make everything a bit more vibrant and hard to explain.

I love jewel tones. This is the quality discourse you’ve been looking for!

The art on the transformation scene, and the purple skull eyes: shivers. How they achieved the transformation effect so much more subtly and yet just as profoundly as the usual God transformations- Mckelvie/Wilson, you're just bragging now.

Present Minerva is a cold snake and if I was even remotely on her side of the equation I would be so proud of my evil maidenr/future manipulative crone!

I love how gradually she was transformed into this punk-y, calculating creature; with her hair down you can really see how the red is a callback to previously blood-splattered Anankes and Ananke (Maiden Edition With Minerva Mask) and yet it’s been peeking out at us from Imperial Phase.

Such an accomplished actress, a veritable Shirley Temple! (Dakota Fanning?)

I wish I could go back to meeting McKelvie/Gillen last year and make a clever quip about talking heads and evil Minervas. That’s my baseline for an excellent twist: I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING!

In the present, Laura makes me sad. The warmth between the gods has seemingly dissipated once and for all. Everyone's either looking out for themselves or isolating. Laura's idea that if they were truly friends Cass wouldn't be screaming at her- hogwash.

Oh, Jon. I love you. I also truly think you’re our always-captured/suffering proxy princess. I can’t wait for him to do something other than be forced to build Woden another contraption that removes consent from the conversation. (He does have a pattern!)

Again, Minerva, you (literal!) snake! That expression on her face when she’s setting Baal up is DELICIOUS and I’m pretty sure I’ve made that expression before, most recently when I convinced a friend to eat coffee grounds I pretended were healthy brownies. (I know! I’m an awful person. But at least I stopped her from taking another bite. By laughing. Still.)

I loved how in the Writer’s Notes Gillen says this was supposed to be more pages+no words, but I think it works perfectly for what he’s going for even with the words. I can almost hear suspense music reading Laura/Persephone’s thoughts, and the insight into her feelings feels earned after so much with nothing further elucidating her thoughts. I mean, we all thought she was pretty horrible to Baal, no? A bit indifferent.

I’ve really missed her, you guys. She’s our Laura, our herald, our first guide. We lost her, we found her, she lost herself, she found (?) herself (or at least her thoughts).

I’m really curious about Jenny (Laura’s sister). I really wonder if we’ll have enough issues for anything to wrap up about that aspect of the story, or if it was a superficial lure, like Baph’s Christmas Dinner with Laura’s Family was basically a simulation of reality, and meant nothing, really.

 Minerva getting pushed is really strong, in that there’s no way he’d ever do that unless he was under a crazy amount of pressure. Also, if I was woken up with news my greatest secret, a secret I’ve invested so much in keeping, was about to be discovered by a person I LOVE and CHERISH, well... I wouldn’t be that conscientious either. Reaction got, Minerva, you manipulative teenage goddess, you! (Is it obvious that if I were a 13-year old again I would choose to be Minerva? I would choose her so hard, she’s Hermione Granger but, like, with none of the redeeming qualities except maybe caring for her parents before her older aspect (?!?) literally decimated them.)

Flashback page is spectacularly done. I love the reds of the room, and the repetition of four skulls (except these are baby skulls we are set to believe and not primates! NOT THAT IT WOULD MAKE IT BETTER BUT MAYBE THEY’RE NOT INNOCENT CHILDREN... no. No. This argument doesn’t make it any better, I’m just pathologically delusional when it comes to people I like.) 

‘I’m not afraid of who I am. But everyone else should be.’ It’s one of those Baal-isms you’d be disinclined to take a note of, one of those prepared one-liners like the line about how when you know someone’s bad in their guts, you don’t have to lie about your own shit. We just thought it was posturing, and here we have evidence of child sacrifice. As can happen, sometimes, never. 

And now I’m finally off to read the latest issue!