#which is neither true nor helpful nor frankly relevant

[genderfluid-druid]

Worked on a figure study for practice today that for some reason was just so difficult I almost made myself cry with frustration. Remembered that 1) anything worth doing is worth doing badly, 2) thinking your art doesn't look right is often a sign you're about to improve a level, and 3) it's just practice anyway!!

And then this evening I sat down and banged out three fanart sketches and felt a lot better about life.

[backofthebookshelf]

One of the nice things about the way the TMA fandom has reached full large-fandom levels of toxicity is that I no longer care if people get mad at me for my opinions on characters! So, some Georgie meta.

(Because fandom is and always has been Like That, I do feel the need to clarify here that I love Georgie, she's one of my favorite characters, characters are more interesting because of their flaws, and I have no investment in the idea that women or female characters are inherently better or more emotionally competent than men or male characters. If I talk a lot about her relationship with Jon, it's because Jon is our point of view character and also the person she interacts with the most. Also, this rambles, sorry.)

I've been thinking about the Season 4 Jon Trauma post and how much I liked the way it talked about Georgie, and it's convinced me that if Georgie could feel fear, she's the one who'd be most afraid of Jon out of all of them. She's the one protagonist we have whose only interaction with the powers has been as a direct victim of them. She doesn't know what they feel like from the inside, like Jon and Melanie; she doesn't know what they're like when they're someone you love, like Basira; she doesn't even know what they're like as petty middle management, like Martin and Tim. What she knows is that one time a monster ate her (only) friend and traumatized her so badly she spent a year in a suicidal depression.

And now her ex - and yes, Jon and Georgie have a remarkably comfortable relationship in the beginning of season three, but they're still exes and they broke up for reasons, even if we don't know exactly what they are - has turned up on her doorstep, shaking and possibly bloody, with nowhere else to go and no access to his home. He's clearly lying about what's going on. He repeatedly violates her house rules. And then he tells her that he's turning into one of those same kinds of monsters that traumatized her and ate her friend. It's clearly enough to override any remaining affection she had for him, and by any definition he has now positioned himself as a trigger.

(Through no fault of his own: the only real response he has to Georgie's statement is "I can't believe you didn't tell me." She's the one who assumes that he Knew, somehow, that she also had a statement; she's the one who suggests he had alternatives. Both suggestions are plausible but we don't actually know for certain that either are true.)

But Georgie isn't afraid of Jon because Georgie can't be afraid -at least, according to her. I'm not sure how much I believe this in the grand scheme of things; it seems like an extremely unlikely mechanism for one of the fears to have. It seems much more likely to me that she's just never met anything as terrifying as that encounter was, and her subjective sense of fear has been massively recalibrated. In which case not only meeting but having hosted in your home another monster who self-describes as similar to the one that was so terrifying that literal threats to your life are no longer distressing would...probably ping. But she's conceptualized herself as a person who doesn't feel fear; it's even possible that was part of her recovery, identifying this as a possible benefit of what would otherwise have been a universally terrible, soul-breaking experience. She looked existential terror in the face and survived, and came out of it a person who cannot be afraid of anything left on this earth. That's kind of a superhero origin story, and I can't blame her for it. I think anyone with a mental illness has at least tried to find ways in which their suffering has made them a better, stronger person.

But whether she's suppressing and rationalizing away any fear she feels or she genuinely doesn't feel any of it, she does frequently behave as though her lack of fear gives her a more objective view of the situation than anyone else. I don't believe she actually uses the word "just," but it drips from her every interaction with Jon after Dead Woman Walking. Why doesn't he just stop reading the statements? Why doesn't he just quit? And, in Zombie, I honestly can't interpret her reaction to Jon when he wakes up from his coma as anything other than, Why doesn't he just die? If he hates being this so much, if he really doesn't want to be a monster, why doesn't he just die?

I really would like to think that it goes without saying that this is, at the very least, a massive failure of empathy, but she's so explicit about it and fandom spent so much time basically agreeing with her that apparently it doesn't. Not only is Georgie not afraid of the situation, but (and this is the part that makes me wonder if she's not rationalizing, rather than being supernaturally unable to feel fear) she can't possibly fathom how afraid everyone else is, and she never tries. She persists in treating the whole awful situation, as @findingfeather's post says, like this is a mundane problem with people who are refusing to help themselves, rather than a supernatural trap that has been specifically built to be inescapable.

Now, let me be clear, even if she were talking to, say, a drug addict who nearly killed themselves because they were in denial about how much of a problem they had, her attitude would be unforgivable. But in this case Jon had no choice in whether or not to become addicted to statements; it was done to him in such a way that he didn't notice it was happening until withdrawal was already incapacitating. He also didn't have the option to leave, as Tim's extended vacation made clear. And, on top of all of that, the whole reason he was in a coma in the first place was that he was trying to save the world. (Neither he nor she knows at this point that he was doing nothing of the kind, so that's really not relevant.) And - look, when Jon came to her after the end of season two, he was asking for help. When he rejected the kind of help that she offered it was because he knew it didn't apply to the problems he actually had, but she treats that like it's his problem, which is something like offering a leg splint to a person bleeding out from a gunshot wound and getting offended when they tell you that won't work. He was very clear that what was happening scared him and he didn't know what to do about it, and her only suggestion was "walk away," which he literally could not do, for multiple reasons.

She's lucky Jon has pretty much precisely zero self-worth at this point, because anyone else would have cut her off completely for behaving like a fucking asshole.

I say "she's lucky" because frankly, even though she says that she wants nothing more to do with him, she turns up at least twice in the Institute after that, with the excuse that she's picking up Melanie to take her to therapy. I don't know about you, but I have never once gone to someone's workplace to pick them up and gone snooping around inside, and no matter how fascinatingly weird that workplace is, I definitely can't imagine doing so when I know that workplace also contains a person I have definitely decided I never want to speak to again. She goes into the Archives, for Christ's sake, and she listens outside Jon's office door for long enough to catch a bit of the recording before letting herself in (so it's very clear she knows who's in there).

Now I'm not trying to paint her as a monster here; Georgie would hardly be the first person to have second thoughts about cutting off someone they still care about, or to break that boundary that they set themselves when they realize they do still want to know how that person is doing. But the fact is that she positions herself as having the moral high ground in every single discussion they have and that's just not true. She is not literally a supernatural monster, true, but if season four did anything with the concept of monsters it was breaking down the difference between "supernaturally driven no-longer-human" and "person capable of caring and empathy." (That's a whole different meta, though, one that I will get around to someday.) Not that Jon is any better, in that encounter specifically, at dealing with a complicated and contentious relationship - he deliberately goads her, even if he doesn't use compulsion. But that's the thing, they're both exes who have had a falling out and aren't handling it very well. Neither of them is in the right.

All of which makes me really wonder what her relationship with Melanie is actually like. We don't actually see hardly any of it directly, and of what we do, well, Melanie sounds like she's still high on painkillers, so it's hard to take that as an indication of anything. But given that people (who are not intentionally trying to manipulate those around them) tend to, y'know, be fundamentally the same person in their various relationships, though it may manifest in different ways, we can probably make some guesses.

I have always been bothered by, and I really can't ignore, the fact that they were getting together at the same time that Melanie was doing what Georgie has been demanding of Jon since season three: she did whatever it took to get out. I have to wonder if Georgie knows about the nonconsensual surgery part of Melanie's process of getting out, and if she does, if she understands how vital it was. I certainly wouldn't be surprised, if she does know, that she's managed to compartmentalize it: Jon inflicted this terrible trauma on Melanie, Melanie escaped the entity that took her over. (Subconscious implication: Jon is a monster; Melanie is better than him.) I would be very surprised if Georgie is interested at all in the fine distinctions between entities; she's shown no interest in learning what is actually happening to anyone in this situation beyond "it's bad and they should get out of it." But it's relevant, because by the time Melanie makes the decision to blind herself, she's in a much different position than Jon, enslaved by an entity but not consumed by one. She herself admitted to Jon that she would never have voluntarily escaped from the Slaughter.

And given how difficult Melanie finds it to talk about any of this - you can hear her dragging the words out from behind her teeth in her conversation with Jon in Flesh, truly incredible acting by Lydia Nicholas, my god - if Georgie doesn't want to hear it? I can't imagine Melanie insisting. Yes, Melanie is going to therapy, but let me tell you, I've been going to therapy for twelve years now and I have yet to have several of the important conversations my therapists have insisted I have. That shit is hard. But I can imagine a scenario where, having been told by her therapist (who, remember, doesn't have the first idea what Melanie is actually going through, because Melanie isn't telling her about the supernatural so she has to leave out a lot of really relevant details) that she ought to tell her friend/potential girlfriend/new girlfriend about these things, Melanie attempts to bring it up, Georgie says kind and reassuring things and refuses to let her clarify any of the details, and Melanie gives up in relief, thinking, well, I tried. Super valid all around, but it doesn't mean that Georgie has any clearer picture of what Melanie's traumas actually look like, never mind Jon's. There's no world in which I can imagine Georgie actually internalizing the idea that Melanie loved the Slaughter when it had her, and she would gladly have stayed with it if Jon and Basira hadn't intervened.

In Georgie's eyes, Melanie is being a Good Victim. She was hurt but she was strong; she fought it until she won; now she's going to therapy and setting boundaries and trying to heal. She got away.

(Except, of course, she didn't, because as of The Eye Opens no one has gotten away, because this is the entire world now. We have no idea how this has affected Melanie. Presumably she's out of reach of the Eye, given that Jon can't see her or Georgie (and there's some evidence on the side of Georgie's encounter genuinely having stripped her of fear, if she's also invisible to the Eye), but she spent a long time under the influence of the Slaughter. It had her firmly enough that her attacking Jon was enough to give him his Slaughter scar. If nothing else, Melanie certainly hasn't had her fear removed, and talk about a situation bound to retraumatize someone who had such a visceral revulsion to being trapped that Elias chose it as his mechanism of control over her. Melanie probably doesn't look like a Good Victim any more, and I'd bet her relationship with Georgie is suffering some serious strain because of it.)

We don't know when exactly Melanie and Georgie got together; the last time one of them mentions the other is, I'm pretty sure, when Georgie tells Jon that Melanie is back from India. So we know that Georgie and Melanie were friends; that's good, that's a good foundation for a romantic relationship. At the very least they know each other, they have some idea of what to expect. I'd be surprised if they were dating during that season 3/4 hiatus period, though, or frankly any time before Melanie's surgery, just because Melanie seems much too consumed with rage to have room for any other emotions, and I can't imagine Georgie putting up with that.

What seems way more likely to me is this: Melanie comes back from India, arranges to meet Georgie for drinks. Probably they don't talk about anything serious; possibly they talk about Jon, honestly, since we know Melanie was looking for him and Georgie talked to him about Melanie, but very likely in the same "stuck-up pompous ass" way that Melanie talks about Jon in early seasons. (I bet Melanie's roasts are amazing.) Shortly after that Melanie joins the Magnus Institute and then, very likely, either she never tells Georgie about it and therefore they don't talk much or she does tell Georgie about it and Georgie tells her that place is bad news and she won't have anything to do with it and they don't talk at all, until, whichever way that went, the Unknowing happens and Tim dies and Jon winds up in a coma and everything goes to shit. We know Georgie visits Jon in the hospital; we don't know if Melanie does, but frankly it seems unlikely. If they did cross paths during this time, it was probably very brief and superficial. Then: the surgery, and Melanie's recovery.

I'll be honest, I have a hard time imagining Melanie deciding on her own that she should go to therapy. It's possible Basira suggested it, but it really does sound like a Georgie thing to do. So I picture something like this: from the way Basira talks it sounds like they've all been pretty much living in the Archives for a while, and on top of that everyone in the Archives has just badly violated Melanie's trust, so Melanie pulls up her Facebook DMs and talks to the only other person she has. You were right, she says, this place is terrible, I can't handle it, there's no one here I can trust and I'm so alone. And Georgie, who is generous with help and advice (so long as it's accepted) and (like anyone) weak to being told she was right about something, starts talking to her. We know Georgie's got good boundaries, and we know she doesn't want to hear details about what's going on in the Institute, so I can see her saying, I can talk to you, I would love to talk to you, but not about this. For that you need a therapist.

So Melanie gets a therapist, and the prospect of going out amongst the monsters they know are stalking the Institute without that protective shield of rage (never mind the emotional vulnerability of going to therapy in the first place) makes public transit an unthinkable option, so she asks Georgie to take her, and she does, and she keeps taking her to therapy, which is, as far as we know, the only time Melanie leaves the Archives in season four, until she blinds herself and escapes it completely.

And so they have this relationship that's built up almost entirely around Melanie's trauma - with a foundation of friendship, certainly, so I do think that if they are willing to work through it they could make it a working, healthy relationship, but (and again this isn't stated in canon but is my speculation based on what we know about these characters) it is a romantic relationship that's built around the process of Melanie recovering from multiple traumas. Ones that we know that Georgie a) doesn't know many details about, and b) more importantly, refuses to know any details about. Now, I have no experience with romantic relationships and serious trauma; I might be wildly off base here. But. I know that boundaries are important and I know that trust is also important. And if Georgie is holding similar boundaries with Melanie that she has with Jon (and, as I went into excruciating detail about earlier, she has very solid emotional reasons to protect herself with those boundaries), that's drawing a hard line around what's basically the past two to three years of Melanie's life, and undeniably both the worst and most important things that have ever happened to her. That seems...difficult to manage in the long term.

(This is a bit more of a stretch, more of the germ of a fic idea than an argument I'm prepared to defend, but I also would not be surprised if Georgie told Melanie that she wouldn't date her while she was still working at the Institute. That's a very reasonable boundary, and it's good motivation - and probably healthy motivation, I do like the idea that Melanie had something to reach toward in escaping the Institute, not just the desperate flight from - but it's also something of an ultimatum. Which is not inherently bad, but it is the kind of thing that can fester, given other problems.)

Now it's entirely possible that Georgie isn't that internally consistent. People aren't! (See: Basira's attitude toward Daisy vs her attitude toward Jon in season four.) Maybe she's more flexible about being willing to listen to Melanie, maybe she's starting to understand some of what was happening and how genuinely impossible a situation it really was. But that has to be a struggle for her, too; it's not a perfect, sweet, unconditionally good situation that teaches you that you've been unfair to the point of cruelty to someone you used to care about. And by the time the apocalypse rolls around, Melanie is, if she's lucky, just barely able to say she's healed from the plain physical trauma of blinding, never mind all the other baggage. They've got to be having a rough fucking time of it, at the very least, even if you assume that they're suddenly both the kind of people who will sit still and listen supportively and talk honestly about their own messy and complicated emotions, when neither of them have been that kind of person before.

(Another disclaimer because Fandom Is Like That: This is in no way a condemnation of or argument against fluffy What the Girlfriends fic; fic is for making fluffy things that you want to happen to your faves, or building fluffy content that you desperately need for whatever reason. Gods know there are plenty of unhealthy parts of Jon and Martin's relationship that I ignore in most of my fluffy fic. This is me attempting to work through my thoughts and feelings about the relationship I see in canon in the hopes of actually being able to write some fic about these girls myself someday, because I personally can't write fic until I understand canon, and so much of them happens offscreen because they're not main characters, and they're written with such depth and complexity that you can't just slap a stereotype on them and call it good. Which is awesome! But it means I gotta do the work, and I post it because a) it's work, and this is fandom, and I want validation; and b) I'm hoping other people have insights that might also help me clarify my thinking.)

[0poole]

Humor in Writing

    Most of the time I feel like dismissing what might seem like “faults” in writing because I haven’t actually made anything myself, and especially haven’t gotten any attention to what I make, but every once in a while something really ticks me off. Of course, I still try to take it with a grain of salt because of my lack of true experience in writing, but considering I’m hoping to actually become some degree of a writer I feel like it’s worth actually trying to explain what I think is a fault with things and why. 

    There always seems to be one specific thing that bothers me a lot when reading/watching stuff, and it’s the hard switching of tone from comedy to sincerity, or something similar to that, or vice versa.

    Honestly, even though it sounds like the motive of a cartoon villain, I kinda think there’s too much humor in the world. It’s probably just entirely driven by opinion and preferences, but I feel like so many people are striving and looking for comedy that it hinders so many other things. I feel like, both in real life and in writing, having so much humor everywhere creates a pretty big gap between that tone and sincerity, which is pretty much always needed at some point. The big line between comedy and sincerity makes it so much harder, emotionally speaking, to feel good about the switch. I’ll try to explain…

    First of all, this whole line of thought, even though I’ve been thinking it forever, was spawned by me watching Epithet Erased. Took me long enough, because I’ve seen some of the characters around and really loved their designs, but I finally watched it all, and I gotta say… It was interesting. Also, this is probably just going to be very ranty and opinionated but I will (hopefully) have something more valuable to say after. But, anyways, for one, it felt just barely too close to some of the premises for the stories I’ve thought of in various ways, but I guess that’s just bad luck on my part. Second, I feel like its humor really brought it down for me. Some episodes felt so long winded (although not necessarily “boring” I guess) because I felt like I got the joke they were trying to tell relatively quickly after they started it, but carried it so far. It didn’t help that, at least for a few of them, some of the characters felt like archetypes that I’ve seen a lot around the internet, or at least were simple enough that I understood what they were instantly, and when they are carried out through long character-focused moments it felt like nothing was happening. I feel like some of the characters are fine enough, even if I may not like them, but Giovanni and Indus were the two big ones that I thought had a little too much time given to them…

    But more relevant to what I’m trying to say, sometimes the writing jumps way too far from the very comedic tone it’s trying to put out and into it trying to be sincere. The worst case of this was when Sylvie met Mera in the museum storage, and Sylvester tried to out Mera’s nightmares, only to see that her nightmare was the reality she was already in. With the scene change, and Indus becoming more serious with Molly, it felt like a good enough departure from the usual comedic tone to warrant the deeper motive of the character. But, then, of course, they had to trash the whole tone by adding the line about her also being afraid of ducks. There was absolutely no good reason to warrant that line and I will die on that hill. Not only was it just humor, but it was spontaneous “random” humor, and so on… I honestly hope people could just understand where I’m coming from there by how out of place it seems. I feel like the only defense they could use, apart from “just liking it,” would be that it’s comedic relief, but I genuinely feel like since practically the whole thing up until this point was comedy there was absolutely no need for comedic relief. The scene itself is like the opposite of comedic relief, like “Sit down and pay attention” or “Turn your brain back on” or whatever. The climactic point of the scenes before it were reached, meaning the sincere conflict there should be focused on, and apart from that one tiny little line it worked well enough. The fact that it was so tiny and insignificant is basically why I hated it so much. They literally could’ve just scratched it off of the script and only good things would have happened. 

    Something a bit similar happened before when Molly revealed her backstory to Giovanni. It wasn’t quite as bad, but when a scene goes from comedy to “my mom’s dead and my life sucks” you do feel the shift a little too quickly. I feel like it’s not as bad because it could just be Molly’s character, seeing the tragedy of her life as just sort of normal and not really that remarkable, meaning she’s more likely to just randomly bring it up. 

    But I definitely wouldn’t be going off this much about it if there wasn’t at least a little bit more. Zora was literally the reason I wanted to watch the show, because I saw a drawing of her a while back and thought she was just some random OC, but when I heard she was from this show I instantly wanted to watch it a lot more. I think the same thing happened with Molly, but I think I knew she was from the show to begin with. Anyway, Zora was the main character who I loved from the get-go and loved even more the more I learned about her. She’s such a perfect amount of diversion from being a generic cowboy in the little design details, while still being 100% cowboy material. Then, when I saw that her power was “Sundial,” or more generally just time powers, I loved it. The big thing that seems little conceptually is making her key term “sundial” instead of just “time” or whatever, because of how much it relates to her cowboy-ness, with it being associated with the “sun” people often associate with Death Valley and the Wild West and whatnot. Not to mention, it’s just a cool power.

    But that’s kinda the thing, though. She’s so insanely strong. She could literally kill anyone on a whim. I don’t see how anyone could be cracking jokes in her presence. It’s kinda more general of a gripe, but when she aged up Howie it was borderline terrifying, and yet… right after, they’re cracking jokes again. It’s just so jarring. She could have literally reduced him to dust, and they’re so casual about it. I know Percy is supposed to be kinda blind to some obvious things, but I feel like even she could see the horror. That said, though, Percy is also one of my favorites. Her powers feel so natural yet interesting for what she is for some reason. 

Frankly, the visual character designs alone for this show are all really good. Whether or not I’m into the writing, I can’t deny that the show kept me coming back just because it feels so good to just look at it, you know? The minimal animation, vocalized stage directions, and top-down scene view was really interesting to watch, since I’ve never seen it before, and seems like a perfect way to produce more content with less budget. It made everything feel super crisp and tidy, despite being animated so simply. Not to mention that the general lack of animation meant the few scenes where there was traditional-level animation felt really good. The voice acting was also amazing, (again not directly tied to the writing) especially when the voice actors carried their character and emotion from the scene into the stage directions, instead of just reading them out plainly. And, at the very least, the premise of the show is also really interesting (at least to me, mainly because I created 2 stories with a similar idea without even knowing anything about it. Simplified, specific superpowers are just perfect for character designing, you know?) 

But I am kinda acting like the writing was bad, but it really wasn’t all things considered… I’m just not really into comedy, and when the comedy I don’t like is paired with writing and practically everything else I do like it doesn’t sit right with me. Considering this idea and some of the story beats were adopted from a DnD(-esque?) campaign, I feel like it’s much more fine. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t realize it sooner. Once I read about that, everything just fell into place. I’m not really into DnD either, though…

So, I feel like there are things to gain from thinking about this. While Epithet Erased is still on the mind, I feel like I’ve realized something about the juxtaposition of comedy and sincerity, that being that comedic characters can exist in sincere surroundings, and vice versa. Zora specifically could be one of these characters, because she’s so powerful that she probably sees everything around her as trivial, while the other characters have more sincere reactions to her obscene power. She could easily crack a sick joke that no one laughs at because she’s the only one who can find humor in whatever’s going on. By contrast, the thing about Mera’s fear of ducks was a product of the scene and not of the character, so it just ruined things. Nothing about it was made to be funny to the characters, it was made to be funny to the audience, even though the audience should be in sincere mode then. 

Another character that I think works like this is Charlie from Hazbin Hotel, who is the sincere personality in a world of complete and total insincerity. She’s basically a more unique kind of straight man (despite being neither straight nor a man), who are always the grounding in comedic casts, like Squidward in Spongebob. I guess in sincere stories there are comedic relief characters, and in comedies there are straight men. You know, these are probably all things other people have figured out already… at least I can feel good knowing I sort of reached them on my own…

    I think a good solution for stuff that’s primarily meant to be a comedy is to make it almost entirely comedic, at least with the inclusion of a straight man if needed. The big name that comes to mind is good ol Monty Python, the backbone of 14 year old boys’ humor style. At some point I realized why I like the humor of The Holy Grail, at least above other comedic movies, is that they don’t hold back at all. At no point whatsoever do they pull back the veil and put in a sincere moment. And, of course, since I can basically recite the entire movie from memory I think it did wonders. I think when it comes to comedies like this, trying to be too sincere at certain points makes it feel even less sincere than if it didn’t have the sincere moment at all. This might be a product of the 00s American family-rated live action comedies who all feel like they fall into that same boat, where the entire movie is hijinks, but then at the very end they pull that all back and have something really impactful happen, with the idea being having some shoehorned message about “family” or whatever. I can group so many movies into that category that it feels almost corporate how many there are like that, and because it’s both overdone and geared towards too generalized of an audience, trying to capture the comedy-lovers and sincere-lovers, it really just fails in both ways. Or, maybe people love them because they’re just barely bad enough to enjoy it in a so-bad-it’s-good sort of way. I dunno. If I wasn’t a little nostalgic for the time those types of movies might be my all-time least favorite.

    But I’m a stick in the mud who hates comedy so I’m not really equipped to tell anyone how to do it right. Instead, I feel like there’s some seriously untapped potential in other forms of “feel-good” tones, like casual lightheartedness and just plain fun. I feel like those two things really work towards creating sincere stories that are still enjoyable, and not just one shot of sadness after another, while still having a dash of impactful emotion in them.

    I feel like this is where Pixar really shines. People say “It’s not a true Pixar movie if you don’t cry at the end” because I think Pixar movies are great at making the audience lower their guard, and when the moment is right, hitting you right in your heart to make you feel the right emotions. For example, what I’d call my favorite movie of all time (for intents and purposes, if not for real), Inside Out, is all about emotional sincerity, where it’s trying to get across how it’s okay to feel sad, even though the world around you tends to say happiness is always what you want. For most of the movie, it’s a pretty casual romp around the inner workings of Riley’s mind, with some jokes thrown in (because it doesn’t have to be completely without jokes). I’m not really sure how to explain it, but the various jokes in Inside out feel like they’re sort of blended with the interesting workings of this fantasy mind-world, like the fact that earworms are just the little blobby workers in our minds sending the memory of the song back up to the control panel for the hell of it, or that our dreams are a product of a Hollywood-like place in our minds. These things definitely are there for humor, but something about them feels much more fun than just any kind of generic comedy. 

    Then, I feel like the most important thing about fun and lightheartedness is that they feel like they blend so much better with the sincere moments. Obviously if it’s too quick it’ll still be bad, but I think it’ll be much less bad than with comedy. Maybe you could think of it like a spectrum with pure comedy at one end and pure tragedy at the other, with fun and lightheartedness just barely crossing the midpoint towards the comedy side. Since there’s less of a gap between it and tragedy compared to pure comedy, it feels less jarring. Plus, it just feels more reasonable logically speaking, since comedy sort of puts up this insincere barrier to sort of suspend the disbelief that the events in question are supposed to be taken seriously, which makes breaking that barrier harder once it’s established. With fun and lightheartedness, there may be an expectation of it sort of maintaining itself but there isn’t as much to say there isn’t something hiding in the background. In Inside Out at least, throughout Joy and Sadness’ journey they are pretty determined to get back to the control panel to save Riley, but they’re for the most part confident they can do it (or, you know, just Joy’s confident), so they sort of interpret the world around them in a more casual light, but with that lower-level need still there. But when Joy falls into the abyss of forgotten memories and the hopelessness sets in, you feel it much more, because it was sort of already there to begin with, and it was just made perfectly clear at that moment. I think Bing Bong’s emotions during the scene also make it pretty emotional, since he’s being casual about his death while also being sincere about his sacrifice for Riley’s sake. Not to mention his inner sadness was outed while talking with Sadness.

    I feel like if I were trying to write an actual essay I could probably phrase all this a lot better. I just think there’s a ton of value to lightheartedness in stories, as opposed to comedy, for the sake of “feeling good.” Pretty much all of my favorite things have that tone to them to some degree, like Wander Over Yonder, my for sure favorite TV show. It definitely feels fun in a way that can elicit laughs, but it’s not a lot like “This is a joke and you should laugh” most of the time (Disregarding the Evil Sandwich, my least favorite character in the show). I also think Steven Universe succeeds very well with that tone, creating an extremely comfy atmosphere when it comes to the less climactic episodes. 

    I also vastly prefer the lighthearted resolutions to the conflicts in lighthearted stories. Frankly, I am infinitely more likely to cry to a comfy and happy resolution than I am to the actual sad parts. I’m not really sure what it is about them, but I guess the characters finally being happy again after emotional turmoil warrants a happy-cry. I swear, if I think too hard about the scene where Riley finally admits her sadness to her parents and just sits in their warm embrace, I tear up. It feels so much better than hijinks-danger-hijink resolution. 

    But yeah, the stories I want to write the most will all inevitably have that sort of lighthearted flair to them, unless of course I choose to go more inherently serious with a story. There’s nothing wrong with that either. 

    With regard to the really big claim I made before about there being too much humor in the world, the themes of Inside Out, and what I said about comedy’s insincere barrier, I really think the world as a whole would benefit from valuing humor a little less. It feels like there are so many situations where people sort of want to maintain their good feelings with humor instead of more directly dealing with issues in a sincere mindset. For example, if people say something disagreeable (but not insane), It feels like too many people resort to making jokes at that person’s expense and not dealing with the issues directly. Obviously if someones saying some insane bullshit it’s fine, but when the more reasonable takes that are just barely put under the same umbrella as the insane shit are made fun of, it really deepens the trench between the people of different opinions. Of course, humor isn’t the only thing deepening that trench, but it really feels like one of them a lot of the time.

    Apart from that, I feel like using humor as a way to distract from general negativity and negative emotions like what Inside Out sort of warns against can be pretty detrimental too. Obviously happiness can still be around, but putting up that kind of barrier between you and the necessary sincerity for emotion with comedy just makes the unpleasantness of the unpleasant stuff that much more unpleasant. I’m saying this one at least out of personal experience, since I have sort of developed to be too subconsciously against super sad and sincere real world scenarios. I haven’t personally felt too many of them myself, but I definitely feel myself blocking off some of my own emotional vulnerability, especially around other people. I can consciously talk against it, like I’m doing now, but I feel like it’s going to take a long time for that barrier to really break. Is humor to blame for that sort of thing? Maybe, with a dash of toxic masculinity and other buzzwords people often avoid for reasons I mentioned in the last paragraph. 

    Even though this one is much more unreasonably generalizable than the last two things, I feel like the popularity of self-deprecating humor across the internet also (probably?) takes a toll on some people. Obviously some people might just use it to their genuine benefit, but since it seems so common surely some people are putting on a self-deprecating face to get along, and eventually maybe even believing what they used to joke about themselves. Either way, it might be a product of an extreme departure from any kind of narcissism, making being self-confident and self-loving just that little bit harder for people.

    But, while I’m not the most equipped to judge writing, I’m even less equipped to actually debate for the existence of all those things, so just know I’m kinda speaking with my heart and not my brain here. People obviously want and need different things, and I’m probably just projecting. Hell, maybe that’s me self-deprecating to not make me seem weird to everyone else. I dunno.

        No matter what, all this reliance on humor really just shows who is and isn’t funny. Sometimes, people really need to get a grip. Frankly, I don’t think I’m that funny either, which is why I’ve kind of had the humor beaten out of me by one too many awkward silences after a weird joke in my elementary/middle school days. I guess that’s my cartoon villain origin story. 

[protagonistheavy]

I only really liked vtubing when it was new... aka just Kizuna Ai. What even happened to her? Does she still make videos? I never see her now in the flood that is a ton of awkward, overly-produced characters with gimmicks coming out the wazoo, all of which are necessary to make their character stand out within the flood of highly-eccentric, niche-oriented vtubers.

I think what I want out of vtubing is for it to become more accessible and more diverse. God I’ve just really become a total sjw at this point in my evolution, huh? But it’s true and I think it would give the scene some more lasting power than what it looks to have -- as it is now, vtuber success is based heavily on an entertainment branch picking them up as contract workers, or flash-in-the-pan meme-like successes that attract enough attention to keep them relevant for the year. I can’t say for sure how this trend will curve since it’s so new and all, and I’m not exactly invested in the scene either, but it’s hard for me to see these personalities retaining attention deep into 2021. Once people have their “preferred” vtubers that appeal directly to them and whose quirks are to their palette, there’ll be a lot less openness towards newer vtubers that don’t bring anything new to the table.

The novelty of vtubing is really impressive. I have to admit that SOME of my ill-regards with vtubing stems from jealousy; I really want to join in on this, it looks fun! It’s avatar building, an aspect of the internet that I kinda really love -- the ability to create your idealized self within the Matrix, complete with your own quirks and fascinations. But when the whole scene is a mixed bag of... every single overused anime trope randomly distributed across 100+ otaku dudes... it’s just not very gripping, I don’t feel the potential that I’m able to imagine.

And I can’t brush over the fact that it is overused anime tropes that make up everything you’d ever need to know about a given vtuber. You have every animal-eared girl you can imagine, your bodytype diversity is strictly a binary between loli and Tig Ol Bitties, personality quirks consist of only the most subtly-erotic anime girl traits like absentmindedness, eagerness to do spontaneous things, and a craving for attention. And since only one of those traits is genuine at all to the actor, you’re often watching what is just obviously a male otaku pretending to be a 10 year-old girl that conveniently doesn’t mind being looked at religiously by an all-male audience.

I’m sorry but I have to say it, I think more than anything it’s the loli vtubers that drive me furthest away from the vtubing scene. The whole idea of that is just obscenely creepy to me and I can’t help but imagine how this will be used to further groom minors in the same vein that loli culture already has for the past three decades. It really does seem like the next logical step in that world...

And in general, I guess vtubing is, in a lot of ways, the next logical step. It’s an expansive way of building up one’s internet avatar, letting people create the image of themselves they want others to acknowledge them as. There’s so much potential for fun and great things here, but it feels like it’s being squandered big time by otaku-types who are neither particularly creative nor entertaining. Much of what’s out there in the vtube market are trend-chasers that entertainment syndicates have invested thousands of dollars into, and it frankly shows.

But again, maybe I’m just a major shitty pisser. I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, I just personally have these wrestlings with myself in trying to understand why I happen to feel so negative about an idea I would otherwise be over the moon for.

[yeojaa]

From all the bts members, who do you personally think is the most to least fashionable?

OHHHHHHHHHH i love this question. i love fashion @_@

but also, i want to preface this with the fact that this is my personal opinion, obviously. each of the boys are fashionable in their own way...

JK

tae

suga

jimin

jin

joon

hobi

my reasonings are below the cut if anyone is interested... 🤡 please note i’m gonna talk about what i think it means.. to be fashionable? i guess. or stylish (which i think is different)!! n e weigh...

JK is... kind of a chameleon? i love his style the most, not just because it most closely resembles mine (lol) and i think i have good style HAHAHAH but because he’s very adaptable. and being adaptable is a big part of fashion. he can wear... almost anything? you can put him in a slinky leopard print blouse and it’ll look just as good as when he’s in an oversized carhartt tee. he wears the clothes;  the clothes don’t wear him. 

i think we’ve seen that as he’s grown up and how his style has always changed. he kind of, idk, keeps a finger on the pulse point of fashion without like.... losing his own sense of style? because every year (or comeback or whatever you want to call it), he has a very distinct look. it’s usually a mix of what’s in at the time, mixed with his personal taste? and he’s one of those people that like.. finds things he loves and really leans into it. eg. timbs, white shirts, balenciaga, combat boots. 

at the same time, he’s not stuck on old fads or fast-fashion and bridges the gap between different and very popular well.  

imo, tae has... the most effortless style? he’s the most stylish in my eyes (even though his style isn’t my #1). 

when i say he’s the most stylish though, i mean it as in, he’s very good at taking different pieces (whether or not they’d conventionally work) and making it work. he’s got style in spades and while he isn’t necessarily the most fashion-forward, he encapsulates i think... what it means to be stylish? he mixes timeless pieces with quirkier things? finds the balance between new and old? i think if you looked in his closet, you’d find relevant pieces from throughout the last, idk, century, and i think it means a lot to be able to dress with the times but to not be caught up in what is cool now?

there are some things he wears that i hate (HIS FUCKING DUMB BIG SLIDES UGHHHH STOPPPP) but a lot of his closet is very wearable and very timeless, which is honestly a feat. **note he’s also like a friggin’ bajillionaire so like.... it’s not hard to be well-dressed when you have money... but he still does it VERY well.

suga cares a lot about comfort (hell yeah brother) but he makes the simple things look good. i love that. love that for him. etc. it also helps that for the last like, five years, simple has been in? simple, classic, lowkey flex shit, which is very him and which i highkey drool over 24/7. 

ew @ normcore though. ew forever 😇

jimin’s on the other side of the spectrum. he wears a lot more extravagant stuff (again imo!!) but he pairs it in such a way that it.. works for him? now there’s not a ton of stuff in jimin’s closet i’d probably wear, but he does have an eye for picking really wonderful pieces to pair with his like, chelsea boots and pretty face... bonus for also being so great about not giving a damn about gendered clothing!! A TRUE KING!

jin dresses... i think the most, hm. how do i say.. normally? as in his style is most like that of someone you’d see walking down the street in korea. casual, comfortable, well-fitting. which isn’t to say he dresses boringly or anything, but he just... knows what works for him and sticks with that. and frankly, i would like to raid his closet for his sweaters 😐😐

joon does athleisure wear really, really well. like. he is. .. idk. effortless, also. but in a different way. i don’t think you could go into his closet and be like “ah yes you belong on the best-dressed list” because, again, i feel as if he dresses for himself? he wears what he likes and pairs things as he sees fit. he doesn’t really abide by any traditional conventions in terms of style, neither following the current trends nor harkening to like... a capsule wardrobe. he just. is. he’s just joon. and that’s cool as hell, tbh.

last but not least, hobi. hobi hobi hobi. he is the most fashionable to me. and by fashionable i mean the most fashion-forward. experimental. willing to try new things. he doesn’t ever really shy away from the “new” and i think.. is most likely to be found rocking something from a new collection, versus sticking with the same old stuff. i don’t always think it works (luckily, fashion is about self-expression so whom tf cares what i think!!) but he’s always just. trying. doing. having fun. and that’s huuuuge. 

[epiitaphs]

Sebastian and Control

a list of potentially relevant older headcanons: prison, emotions, attention-seeking, how does he reconcile the fact he kills for a living, why he won’t leave jim’s network, silence/nothing to do, caring or not, feelings surrounding his discharge, a weird drabble about his life before/during/after jim, hc about freedom

(this is approximately 1700 words. so yknow, read only if you’ve got a couple minutes.)

Okay, let’s start with some audience participation. How do you perceive Sebastian? Either through your own eyes or those of the characters you write. Would words like cold, calculating, or possessive come up? They should. But do you think that he has control? I’m not asking if he’s controlling, because he is, and it’s not the same thing. The answer is no. Sebastian seeks out control but ultimately is incapable of possessing it for himself.

Sebastian seeks to control others’ perception of him. This manifests in a couple important ways: in forcing people to pay attention to him and in calculating his actions and performances. For example, we see this in his constant drive to pick fights with people. The thing is, there’s a difference between simply being aggressive and being attention seeking. He’s both. As I say in ‘attention seeking’, “a lot of seb’s bullshit comes from wanting people to pay attention to him bc like. people always have. He hates his father, but he needed those arguments because it meant that he was causing a reaction.” There are other issues at play when it comes to his relationship with his father, but in fighting with him, but never completely overstepping boundaries, he is keeping his father’s attention firmly on him and not elsewhere. He doesn’t want to quietly fade out - he needs to know that his actions have an effect. Because being quietly ignored means he has no control over what’s happening in others’ minds. Which brings us to what I said in ‘silence/nothing to do’, which was: “He needs to know what the other person is thinking, and it’s even better when he knows that they’re imagining stabbing him with a rusty fork.” He needs to have control over other people’s perception of him or else he won’t know how to act or what to expect. A lot of Sebastian’s control paradox is all about keeping himself safe. So he either makes people hate him, because he knows how to deal with that or he makes them show what happens when pushed a little farther. And he likes it when people push back - that isn’t a bad thing. He doesn’t want every single person he meets to hate him, even if it may seem that way. He just wants to know how they react. 

Loss of control terrifies him. Sebastian has never lived without control. His father, for whatever his actual intentions may have been, was controlling. This is why Sebastian can’t live without control but also gives it up so easily to others, especially when it comes to work life. Sure, he rebels against authority - against his father - but does he really? If you remove the actual details, Sebastian did exactly what was expected of him by going into the Army. Did he become an officer? Did he become a politician afterwards? Absolutely not. But Sebastian followed the overarching rules, while breaking ones that would get him attention but not isolation. The fun thing is - and why this is a little bit of a paradox - is that Sebastian isn’t actually easy to control. He’s quite difficult to control, in fact, when he sets his mind to it. Thus, him giving someone control requires his consent, whether implicit, explicit, or manipulated out of him. It’s possible for him to give it up, but it is not easy for him to get it back. 

Okay, so he gives up control in some situations, but that’s not really a failure to grasp it in most cases. Where does the actual failure come in? Well, folks, that’s where we get into Sebastian’s emotional wrangling. He does feel emotions, even if sometimes it may not seem that way due to his expert level compartmentalization. However, the way that he expresses emotion is typically funneled into anger because he doesn’t know how to express it. And that’s where the issue lies. He doesn’t know how to deal with emotion because he’s been taught in several ways that showing it is weakness or dangerous. He needs to have control over them or there will be consequences. This is why for Sebastian, love is a kind of control. Admitting he’s in love with someone means that he’s giving over control of himself to them in some way, which of course ties back into the fact that he’s scared of giving up control. So he tries to control how he shows that, which is why it’s so hard for him to admit it. 

And he tries and fails to control the true emotions he feels. He buries his grief, his guilt, and anything that could hurt him. He still feels them, which is why he can never have true control while he denies their existence. Not to paraphrase notable historian of Algeria, Benjamin Stora, but simply covering a wound only invites gangrene. So what is the wound in question? Arguably, there are likely more than just one, but the deepest one is David’s death. Sebastian has never properly dealt with the emotions surrounding it and he feels incredibly deep guilt over it. He’s probably somewhat aware of that, but it’s not easy for him to acknowledge it, because examining the fact that he had no control over the situation is going to lead to a lot of other emotions flooding in and he’s always kicked those to the side. So he has very little actual emotional control, even if it may seem like he does. He can hide or display certain emotions as he needs them but ultimately, even if they’re hidden, they’re still there and still affecting him. This is why he acts the way he does in most relationships. He picks fights because he knows what to say and it gives him a sense of control and that if he really needed to, he could break their hold over him and make them stop loving him before they choose to do so on their own. 

And then we get into his very desperate attempts at controlling his life and emotional responses. The guilt from David’s death is part of what drives the nightmares he has. His entire army experience undoubtedly fed into him developing PTSD, but David’s death is again, one of the major events that contribute to it, because of the emotions tied to David as a friend and mentor. And so when he’s cut loose from the army, he has nothing but free time. This is the first time that he really has direct control over his life - neither his father nor the army are telling him what to do. But he doesn’t actually have much control because his mental health is rocketing further downwards, and he feels like he’s lost control even before he actually has. And so he finds ways - to control his feelings, to control the nightmares, to control something. It’s not sustainable, but it feels like he’s doing something, and quite frankly he doesn’t think he’s going to live long enough to consider consequences. It’s worth noting that later on when he’s not using, being drugged against his will either for malicious reasons or for emergency surgical ones is something that deeply frightens him because he doesn’t have any control over what happens when he’s out and waking up brings disorientation that leaves him feeling incredibly vulnerable. His drug use was and his alcohol use continues to be about controlling how he feels (feeling being on several levels), so yeah, to call it specifically an escape...isn’t entirely accurate. He’d see it more as stopping or preventing all of the emotional/mental negatives he was or is experiencing. 

These issues don’t go away entirely when he meets Moriarty. Yes, he had to get clean, but he’s not magically “fixed”. Moriarty provides structure - the way the army did, the way his father did - and it helps Sebastian a lot. This is the type of control that Sebastian’s okay giving up. There’s something about the total control Moriarty has that is comforting to him. That said, he’s not submissive about it. Seb may have handed over control, but he doesn’t always make it easy, even if Jim is an incredibly special case. But Moriarty holding his leash doesn’t magically make his nightmares or his guilt disappear. It just means that because he doesn’t see part of his life spiraling out of his control, he can work at controlling his emotional responses in a slightly safer - but still ultimately unhealthy - way. He feels like he doesn’t have to use super strong methods to do so. As I said in ‘hc about freedom’, “[f]reedom for Sebastian is the ability to do what he wants to do. Does he count working for Moriarty as part of this? Yes, absolutely. There is control and there is uncertainty, but he’s respected in terms of talent and usefulness and given just enough control that he doesn’t feel as trapped as he actually is.” Having given up something means that he doesn’t have to see how disastrously he controls himself when he’s on his own. Not that he ever did, not properly, which is part of why he crashes so hard after being kicked out of the army  - “[h]e couldn’t find a way to regain control of himself because he’d never really had it.” - also from ‘why he won’t leave jim’s network’. 

As we know, Sebastian’s a reasonably perceptive person. How does he deal with all of the contrasts as detailed above? This is where the calculation enters in. It’s a type of control. If he regiments everything he does, he can just follow cues and try to keep on top of a situation. If he has control over peoples’ reactions, he can get himself through something. He also simply doesn’t deal with any of it. When there is external control in his life (his father, the army, moriarty), he can focus on the tasks that each of those bring instead of feeling like he needs to grasp at the straws of trying to keep control of his mental and emotional state. It’s not healthy, but because seeking actual help would mean giving up control over how people perceive him, it’s not going to happen. There are scenarios where he can heal and get some sort of idea of how allowing himself to have full control without being overwhelmed by everything he needs to take care of could be possible. Ultimately, it is true that he seeks control and it is true that he cannot grasp it for himself, but he can give it to others with varying degrees of fear involved. 

[progmanx]

So? Part 2?

Well, now that it’s been released digitally, I can actually answer this question. Thank you for your patience. So, uh, spoilers, if you haven’t read Turf Wars Part 2 yet. I guess.

Short version: It’s just as bad as Part 1 (if not worse), but for slightly different reasons. For mine and @lokgifsandmusings‘s thoughts on Part 1, you can read our several articles about the first installment, as well as our good friend Bo’s take on Part 2 who makes some excellent points on why nothing works. I’m going to do my best not to reiterate the things he’s discussed, as I think his work does a better job of laying out that argument than I could. So go read that first, if you want.

Slightly Longer Version (That’s Shorter Than The Short Version?): Mike (there’s no way Bryan is actually consulting on anything aside from the art; Asami is his baby) clearly neglected to rewatch his own series/re-read his own series bible, and the scope of this negligence goes so far beyond nitpicking it’s baffling. The narrative threads and characterization of our two heroes are jumbled and essentially nonsensical.

Extremely Long Version: Sigh. I would like to preface this by asserting that my opinion of Turf Wars is in no way related to the work I did with RRaU, or Spin the Rails as a whole. Sure, I thought a lot about the world and this relationship, but frankly no conclusion I came to couldn’t also be reached by anyone else who puts in the time. Just because Mike continued the narrative differently doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like it automatically. The fact of the matter is, I really wanted to like this. It just so happens that the method Mike chose is…like, kind of the worst possible amalgamation of bad narrative decisions he could make short of turning full edgelord.

This got extremely long, hence the moniker, so it’s under the cut.

Anyway, my problems and critiques of Turf Wars are that of the product itself, how it chooses to continue the story of the animated series proper.

Now that that’s out of the way: I kind of hate almost everything about it. Yeah, I’m probably gonna lose followers for that. I want queer rep, and I want it badly, but if we can’t even criticize what we get without getting thrown out onto the street, how will it get any better? It’s not all or nothing.

Not even Turf Wars is all or nothing. I still stand by what @lokgifsandmusings and I said in our pieces regarding Part 1: It’s an overall good thing that it exists, and it’s not hurting anyone. However, that does not mean I think it itself is actually anything close to good, narratively speaking.

If I really had to boil down all of my problems with this…since Bo’s argument regarding how these books are overly stuffed with narratives that have no connection to one another aside from the fact that Asami gets kidnapped (we’re gonna dissect that one) and that none of it actually serves any purpose other than treading water for…something is so comprehensive and great. Seriously, read it!

Fact of the matter is, there’s no reason for any of these narratives to exist. It doesn’t push anyone’s character forward, with the exception of Zhu Li, Toguka (who even cares?), possibly Keum, and I guess by default Raiko by making him more of a jerk. None of those characters are the principal cast, meaning that this whole damn thing is, as far as I can see, really weird, overwritten filler.

Filler for what? I have no earthly idea, but if the only thing that changes out of this graphic novel series is that Zhu Li becomes President, then…you could have done that off-screen. Like how Raiko won. Neither Bryan nor Mike know how to write politics (or business, but that’s another conversation) so why not? Saves a lot of time.

Okay, so, there’s one other change that could happen in this “filler arc”. And it’s something that everything so far seems to be pointing to as a resolution. For anything to make sense, Asami has to basically say to Korra, “I’m a liability and will only keep getting in the way, so we either have to keep our relationship a secret or break up.” Probably to get rejected by Korra, or the world, or something. Which is just…terrible and ridiculous, as I’ll outline more in this post/rant/essay/dissertation. It has nothing to do with them being a same-sex couple, which is somehow both not as bad (because that shouldn’t matter) and worse (because of Kya’s infodump in Part 1).

Anyway, on to the biggest issues above all: our two “protagonists”. Well, more like the title character and also that lady she’s banging. Because it’s really hard to see how Korra and Asami are actually relevant to any of the narrative threads in this story aside from the ones they are forcibly pulled into so they can react to things. And this isn’t even accounting for how Mike is somehow able to write literally everyone else just fine except for Korra and Asami! It’s so freaking weird!

Korra, even more than she was in Part 1, has been almost comically back dialed to her Book 1 characterization. At best, it’s Book 2, but that is a stretch. Everything she does it to try and bust some heads, and even goes out of her way to physically assault Raiko’s campaign advisor. This isn’t even accounting the flagrant abuse of the Avatar State in Part 1, or the many other microaggressions that keep popping up.

Book 4 Korra would not do this. That was like—it’s her whole fucking series arc. She doesn’t look for fights! She tries to resolve them before they get bad, and especially with Asami she backs down and tries to diffuse and explain the situation. Like, you know, that time when Asami snapped at her in 4x07 in contrast to how Mako snapped at her also in 4x07?

But it goes deeper than tossing out years of character growth because “lol conflict”. I felt that the interactions between Korra and Asami here read embarrassingly straight. What I mean by that is, it’s how I imagine a straight dude would believe “special” relationships (ie queer, who aren’t) should be written. It’s something that a lot of non-queer writers struggle with, since there’s this false belief that treating those “different” from you as unique or better props them up, when in reality it artificially props them up in a way that is inherently insincere. Mike wants to show us he understands how important this relationship is, and how it’s important to him, but the words he’s choosing have the opposite effect.

It reminds me of the “Magical Negro” trope that originated in Hollywood as an absurd, and then eventually harmful, overcompensation for making sure people knew that they weren’t racist by making every minority character in a given film the perfect wisdom to set the hero on their journey. It’s same basic principle, as Mike is trying to make sure as loudly as possible that we know he’s super supportive of all of this…but the outcome is just plain weird and dangerous, even though his intentions are absolutely good.

Remember that bit in Part 1 where Asami says that the Spirit World is special and unique, like their relationship? Welp. It’s not. It was exceptionally well-written and true-to-life in its queerness but I guess not anymore, huh?

They’re more caricatures of their former selves than they are actual characters in these moments. The purest irony here is that these scenes, the “relationship scenes”, are actually pandering. Like, while the show wasn’t and yet anti-korrasami people kept yelling that it was (it wasn’t; that’s not how animation production works) boom, here we go. Actual pandering. (And yes, this is an entirely subjective opinion, but isn’t that kinda what this ask was for?)

Thirsty Asami, Overprotective Korra; these characterizations not only don’t make sense, but they’re exactly what the fandom has been asking for despite neither of them really fitting at all with previous characterizations. These things are supposed to build off one another, and yet they just go in random directions. Okay, fine, in fairness, Thirsty Asami only doesn’t make sense in the context we see it here, rather than a general sense. She can be horny, but that was the weirdest segue to that sort of tone, and it felt shoehorned in as fanservice. Need proof? Look no further:

I mean, seriously? The final lines of the TV show? That’s…every single fanfic writer has at least considered doing that because of the free sentimentality points due to the emotions attached to that final scene, but good lord that is some blatant not-helpful fanservice that, to me, feels automatically pandering right there.

Because that’s what their relationship reads as in these comics. Fanservice. It’s meaningless fluff that seems as though it’s actively refusing to progress either character in personal and communal growth. It serves no other purpose than to reinforce the idea that Asami is a liability (and that Korra’s feelings are the so super strong for her you guys that she’s overprotective lmao). Which is so beyond absurd a notion to have, according to the show itself, because Korra has been present for almost every doofus Asami has decked:

This is also depicted in the end of Part 1, where Korra chooses to save Asami (who is either drunk or high as balls considering her hilariously inept and counter-canon combat performance) from a rock instead of Tokuga. Which just ties into what happens to Asami at the end of Part 2. Yes, the kidnapping. I already talked about the kidnapping, and lo and behold, I was right. Tokuga kidnaps Asami to get to Korra (how original!), and is weirdly okay with them being in a relationship. Remember that homophobia in this universe that may still exist in the Fire Nation because nobody bothered to clarify that? Welp, apparently it didn’t mean squat because Korra just flat out tells a security guard that she’s dating Asami when they were all like “hey let’s keep this to ourselves for the time being”. Even the supervillains don’t care that queer people exist, I guess?

Which of course leads to this scene:

Okay, no. No, there are…so, so many ways to get out of this scenario. First, that’s not a real knife. It’s a fire made in the shape of a blade. It does have mass, but whatever level of “sharpness” it has can’t really retain shape because it’s FIRE. It’s not ice. Asami could presumably just run through it, suffering some nasty burns, and jump to safety because there are plenty of people there who could catch her. Second, that dude is an old man. Asami has taken down multiple terrorists simultaneously. She could just kick him in the balls with her heel. It’s super easy. Third, Asami has been trained in “self-defense” since her mother was murdered (we’ll circle back to this) by firebenders, the implication being that it was the Agni Kai Triad.

So, Hiroshi, being a hardcore genocidal anti-bender crazy person with a daughter insists that she start learning to defend herself at the age of like 5…what do you think those lessons are? I’ve covered this in my Jings and Other Things post, but frankly it doesn’t take a whole lot of thought to realize that “oh he’d make sure she was trained to fight against benders.” That actually circles back to point two, since hey, remember how firebending works?

Remember when Uncle Iroh was all “firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles”? Which lead to Zhao getting his butt kicked by Zuko? All Asami has to do is knock the wind out of this old geezer and jump. Or break his concentration, because, again, not a real knife. This is something she would absolutely know.

Elbow his stomach, kick him in the balls, bite his knuckles, break his nose with the back of her head, kick out his legs, throw herself backwards—the list goes on. Something so fundamental to the universe, to the point that it was sort of Zuko’s whole thing, rebelling against Sozin’s perverted firebending teachings (DANCING DRAGON FORM) through the previous series, being ignored and seemingly retconned because…Mike forgot? And didn’t do any research on his own work to make sure it remained consistent? Uh, okay.

You don’t need to be an action director to think of any of these, especially if you’ve seen the TV show in question. Also, just as an aside to Korra not being able to locate Asami…she, uh, has spirit GPS? Remember that? Through the vines? Found Wu, and Jinora. Just kind supports my theory that Mike forgot to watch his own show. Since that was like, important to Korra’s healing arc.

Anyway, for Asami’s character as a whole…good lord. I don’t…she’s, again, either drunk or high as balls. I mean how else do you explain her being super chill and okay with working with Zhu Li in the first place? Didn’t her husband steal her company? Something that Zhu Li had to have been complicit in considering she was in prison with him? None of this makes any sense! Asami’s convictions on what is just and what is not are kind of her core (remember the Equalists?), so for them to just be thrown out because plot is a little strange and disconcerting.

I’m not saying she wouldn’t work with Zhu Li for the good of the city; she did the same with Varrick and that rings true to me because it’s not like she spent three years rebuilding the fucking thing. Of course she’d be protective of it! It’s also her home. But all of that pales in comparison to the single most glaring thing that is addressed briefly, in passing, in Part 1, but isn’t even mentioned in Part 2:

I just—Korra got a phenomenal healing arc. Asami is the second half of this couple that they are banking these book sales on, and she’s not given room to grieve? To acknowledge that her father was not only murdered, but sacrificed himself to save her life and how complicated and conflicting those feelings have to be considering he tried to murder her back in Book 1? Yeah, that is a meaty subject matter that can absolutely be tackled by a comic. You just sort of have to actually do it and not sweep it under the rug. But that’s what they do, despite the fact that he’s been dead for, oh, I dunno, like less than a month? Nobody can recover that quickly. No one. Not even the Avatar, and we literally saw that in action.

I get that Kuvira isn’t physically in this, and that the corpse of the massive mecha-giant that could not have possibly been moved via conventional means (it was covered in vines that not even Korra can safely remove, remember?) is randomly missing after Korra and Asami get back from their vacation but I really feel like Raiko’s surrender directly leading to Hiroshi’s death is something that could easily be dug into. Even if it’s not totally rational, because it doesn’t have to be because grief and emotions are not rational.

I mean, I doubt I need to get into the fact that Asami is once again sidelined in a plot that should be about her (the reconstruction effort was literally her thing between Books 3 and 4), since that one is just—it’s there. That’s what it is. Zhu Li gets it because she’s around, I guess? And because Raiko is a terrible President who needed to get ousted anyway (why is he not letting people get their food???), but why wouldn’t whatever theoretical legislature just impeach him while Korra and Asami were on vacation? What purpose does this narrative actually serve since we already don’t like Raiko and would want anyone in that position that isn’t him? Preferably someone who lost in the first round of elections—I’ll stop there. It just unfolds with the slightest tug.

SPEAKING OF DEAD PARENTS (perfect segue) remember when I reminded you that Asami’s mother was murdered by firebenders? After a break-in? When she was five? Wow that must have been pretty traumatizing for her considering it literally radicalized her father into becoming a genocidal maniac. Which, you know, makes it extremely strange that this isn’t brought up or addressed when Jargala and her crew do like, the same thing to Asami.

Wow that’s scary, isn’t it? Possibly PTSD flashback level scary, if Mike had remembered that important aspect of Asami’s history. Yet this is not brought up, and it doesn’t seem to inform Asami’s character at all despite the fact that it should probably be the second thing that comes out of her mouth when she discusses the encounter with Korra.

But wait, it happens again with Tokuga, who just ransacks her place, which just makes it worse. It’d be bad enough not to have Asami explicate this connection the first time around, because she could be bottling her emotions (she does that), and we find out about this later, but to do it twice in the same graphic novel? In quick succession? Yeah, Mike just plum forgot.

I don’t think I need to explain further why being lazy with a canon that you yourself poured your blood, sweat and tears into is not a great look. But that’s what the story Mike wrote is saying.

So, yeah, those are most of my issues with Turf Wars Part 2. Thanks for reading through to the end!

Other random thoughts on how none of this makes sense:

Why does Republic City have Kuvira’s military armaments in a warehouse? Even if the war is somehow over, which it can’t be because that’s not how anything works, it’s still Earth Empire property.

Why do any of those mecha-suits even work after Varrick’s EMP?

Why is Ba Sing Se offering relief efforts when that’s the capital of the country that just invaded the United Republic— seriously they’re still at war you guys you can’t just capture the enemy commander and win

How does Tokuga’s half-spirit form allow him to control spirits? Wouldn’t that make them hate him more?

Why do the triads agree to work under him when all he’s got is a tentacle arm? They could just set him on fire and be done with it

What is the point of Keum, like, at all? Why does he even exist? He got kidnapped at the end of Part 1, but we have no emotional stake in his existence

Why are Mako and Bolin relearning how to value one another’s different skill sets? This is like the fifth time or something

[my-mystic-messenger]

My thoughts on and analysis of the V route

I did play the V route and so far I got the Good End, Normal End, Bad End on day 9 and today and the Bad End on day 7, therefor effectively filling all my albums. As for analysis, there is sadly very little too analyse plot wise, in all honesty. Despite it’s overdramatic and pseudo-philosophical nature there wasn’t really a lot to pick apart and find the hidden meaning behind. As for my thoughts, if anyone really cares to read this, I was quite frankly a little disappointed with the route and especially the eventual conclusions in form of the Normal and Good End. @promiscuous-jalapeno wrote a very good piece on the V route - which you can read here - where she mentioned a lot of the things that bugged me about the route and some points I disagree on so here it comes:

In short, I can only say that while I found it quite interesting to play, I have to admit that I found the route highly underwhelming altogether, although I will wait with my final judgement until the After Story is out. But if you know me, you know I like into detail so let me tell you what I thought about specific aspects of the game:

V: 

Honestly, I was never the biggest fan of V. People who know me know that. I blame him for Mint Eye almost as much as I blame Rika for it and in my opinion Saeran was much more deserving of a route and redemption than him.

So, when the route was announced, I was already a little bit salty but figured I give him a change to prove himself. He is pretty and I did like the idea of romancing him, since I saw potential for his character.

As a writer myself, I was majorly disappointed. V was a bland character at the beginning and the story ended with him remaining a bland character. Other than his self-sacrificing he really doesn’t seem to have a personality.

Despite the fact that I’m no big fan of Saeyoung, Yoosung or Jaehee those are distinguished characters with likes, dislikes, problems, talents, flaws and many things that make them human. V has nothing going for him.

There were certain parts of the route where I actually went aww and came close to liking him as a character, but then he started with his peaceful solutions to problems he shouldn’t even try solving himself and I was done.

All in all, as someone who writes headcanons, fics and more and therefor invests a lot of time into these characters this route was in no way helpful in actually getting to know V and that’s just sad.

His Mother:

That whole thing bothered me immensely. I’ve seen people enjoy it, liking that whole backstory part but I couldn’t have cared less for a single one of those diary entry VN even if I tried.

This was V’s route and yet I learned more about his mother than I did about him. I think if I count, more VN were dedicated to her than to the actual protagonist of the story. 

What kind of thinking is that? I could have gone well without all those extra VN if those we had ended up actually focusing on V or even adding to the progress of the story, but they absolutely didn’t.

Please, explain to me how his mothers very detailed past is in any way relevant to the events that transpire during the route? They don’t even explain why V is the man he is, not really.

The Plot:

While we’re already at it, let’s talk about the plot, because frankly I think they made a mistake choosing this setting and it’s obvious that they didn’t really think the whole two years in the past thing through.

There were a couple of continuity issues with the entire thing, but that can happen so I don’t really want to focus on that. I’d much rather talk about the setting and why I think it would have been better as a Saeran route.

Despite this being V’s route, you not only barely get to romance V - but we’ll get to that later - but you actually barely get to interact with him at all. And due to setting the interactions like the car phone calls are extremely cringeworthy. 

Personally I would have preferred the entire thing having been set in the same time line as the original routes just a little later with Rika gone and V having to deal with what he’s caused and how to move on.

That way interactions would not only have been more natural, they also would have made more sense as well as actually giving you the opportunity to romance and help V properly. 

In this route, you really don’t help him like you do in the others. It’s more about saving yourself than V and the change in his heart that does happen doesn’t seem natural at all.

One moment he is telling you how he loves and adores Rika and how he needs to sacrifice himself and the next moment he realizes it’s obsession and not love and let’s everyone else take the reigns.

That change came way too fast and therefor seemed rushed and rather unnatural to me. The general flow of the entire story did. At first is was far too slow and then it turned into a rushed clusterfuck towards the end.

The Romance:

This is honestly one of the parts I am the saltiest about and I don’t even know where to begin with this honestly. Cheritz is aware that MM is an otome game, right? Why can’t I romance the main character?!

Like I’m not even a V fan, but even I felt let down but the romance aspect of this route because there was literal none. The entire routes it’s Rika, Rika, Rika and ‘I don’t know how to love, keep away from me’

To me it felt like someone had taken the worst parts of Yoosung’s and Saeyoung’s route and smashed them together to create this. It was honestly so frustrating and the suddenly ‘romantic endings’ were unsatisfying.

Worst of all, the romance we did get wasn’t really all too nice either. It was a constant cycle of MC trying to save V and V trying to sacrifice himself for MC. They don’t even get to know one another?! How is that even love?

The RFA:

Where were they? I’m seriously confused. Zen disappeared for an entire day and it literally changed nothing. You barely get to talk to any of the RFA, actually, despite them being kind of the focus of this game.

I learned nothing new about them, I didn’t get to build any friendship with them which made them suddenly trusting me and caring so much for me really awkward and from a writing point illogical.

I mean technically as a player you get to know Jumin through the backstory VN but he doesn’t know that and neither does MC so why do they talk about her like she is some saint and she cares so much. 

Also, and I want to mention this specifically because it bugged the hell out of me: I literally lost all respect or faith I had in Yoosung. He was a huge disappointment and I’ll never see his character the same way.

I really enjoyed how unapologetic everyone else in the RFA was of Rika, as they should be after everything she’s done , but Yoosung even attempting to excuse it despite not knowing of her past made me rage

Rika:

Ah yes, the grand bitch herself. Honestly, I really hope that anyone who ever posted positivity for her feels really, really bad after playing this route because there is literally nothing that could excuse her choices.

She is a horrible person and on top of that they really added a notch of completely mental in this route, making all conversations with her hard to follow and boring as hell.

In fact both V and Rika have this tendency to talk in code and comparison and I cannot hear the word sun anymore. Everything seemed so pretentious after some time, like two hipsters discussing Nietzsche at Starbucks.

Her backstory didn’t really surprise nor touch me, mainly because I too suffered bullying and abuse by my parents probably even more severe than hers and I do not go around torturing and drugging people. Not impressed.

The whole look into V’s and Rika’s past made me extremely uncomfortable as well. Their ‘love’ was really sick and unhealthy and what weirded me out was how strangely sexual everything seemed.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I love me some Wolf!Zen and Bad End Jumin, but with V and Rika it seemed so out of place and plain uncomfortable, especially the whole photo thing…

But above all, and I cannot stretch this enough, I find it utterly disgusting that you basically have the option to romance Rika. To even think that was okay to put into the route is beyond me.

That worn out idea that every villanious woman has to be over sexualized and in this case even homoerotically is a cheap writing point to begin with, but executed the way it is, it’s like a slap to the face.

How come Rika gets to cuddle it up with MC in multiple CG’s and flirt the entire time but Jaehee’s entire goddamn route has none of that? That is seriously just insulting to the players in my opinion. Moving on before I have an aneurysm. 

Saeran:

Loved him! Hands down the highlight of the entire route. I’d always dreamed about his route being similar to this route, with you working with Mint Eye to take down the RFA instead of the other way around.

This was like a taste of a dream, really. He was what I’d hoped V to be; romantic, devoted, actually pursuable to some extend and beyond everything you actually get to know more about him.

His character is really well expanded in this route and for a writing who always wants to get to know the character better, this addition to the game was like a dream come true.

Beyond just getting to know more about him, however, he actually gave some room for interpretations, analysis and discussion. Is he really dead? Is Ray the real personality or Saeran? 

He made me laugh. He made me cry. He actually made me go through the emotional rollercoaster the route should have been but only was due to him. He saved the whole thing for me, because he was actually human.

The Art:

I was a little disappointed by the art as well, if I’m honest. It’s not as bad and rushed as the DLC art was, but also not entirely the same style as the original. The fact that they can’t stay consistent within the same game is sad.

The colour palette was constantly changing between the CG’s as well as the CG’s in comparison to the in game play. Just look at Jumin in the picture with V’s father and the one with his own. The skin doesn’t even add up.

On top of that some of the colours were way too vivid and made some of the art seem flat for lack of shading. And don’t let me get started on those pathetic chibi pictures of Jumin and V.

I was actually looking forward to the backstory parts of those two, I even wrote a fic about that, but with the art looking like super poor chibi’s like not even the cute kind, I was extremely let down.

As for the CG’s themselves, they weren’t all too overwhelming either. A lunch box, a salad and an old ass book? Thanks for the amazing additions to my character albums.

Not to mention the amazing V album that while it actually expanded quite a lot, most of it was useless since it involved Rika or his mother. 3 CG’s. We get 3 MC x V CG’s and two of those look like MC is forcing herself on V. Great!

Also was it just me or did V look kind of blurry the entire time? Not in the CG’s but in the game he looked kind of fuzzy compared to the old design. I mean not that there is much of a difference with anyone, despite 2 years…

The Voice Acting:

Some were amazing, some were mediocre and of some I was really disappointed, namely Rika. Since we non-Korean’s rely heavily on the text below we obviously pay a bigger focus on that.

Now reading the subtitles Rika’s VA really underperformed on this one. Rika had some very dramatic scenes and a lot of anger and pain that were conveyed beautifully while written but fell flat while spoken.

I honestly expected more vigor with this one, because as an actor myself I know how much fun it can be to get those really dramatic slightly over the top roles. It didn’t look like the VA was enjoying it at all.

She could have screamed so much more, could have actually sounded angrier and match the facial expressions Rika was making while talking, but never did. A grave opportunity missed.

Ray on the other hand. I wasn’t really a fan of the VA in the normal route but he really stepped up his game with this one and I loved it. Emotions to rip your heart out. Once again, saving the route. 

Conclusion:

While I enjoyed the route with the new content and general excitement it provided, I was overall disappointed with what seemed to be a lack of thought and care put into creating the route.Of course I am still thankful to Cheritz for creating at all, but as a content creator myself who gets literally nothing out of it, I still make sure to keep certain standards. Let’s hope for a better Saeran route…

[polss]

Political Swizzlestick: is it time for mayor Pete, Tulsi, Amy, and maybe even Elizabeth and Tom to get out of the race?

I heard that Mike Bloomberg made the point that unless candidates who are splitting the conservative vote get out of the race, they're going to enable Bernie running away with this race.

That obviously didn't go over well, but he's absolutely right.

My guy, Andrew yang, had a very disappointing night in New Hampshire where he drew 2.5%. The negative momentum he was going to carry from New Hampshire was going to hobble him in Nevada which was probably his best state out of the first three primaries. If he had drawn like 9% in New Hampshire he might have drawn 20% in Nevada. At two and a half percent, that dragged in perception was likely to drag him down to about 13%.

The rules of the DNC generally don't give you any delegates unless you're exceeding 15%. Andrew Yang knew it was unlikely that he would get any delegates in Nevada, his best state and without success in the first four states , he would not have success on super Tuesday.

So he parked his ego at the door and he got out of the way.

We are at a point where a lot of these candidates need to consider ending their campaigns. Maybe their donors need to come to them and tell them "it's time for you to end your campaign."

I am not a Bernie hater. If he wins the nomination he has my vote.

But it's pretty clear that the only reason he's running away with this race is because no one else can get any traction because six people are trying to share 70% of the Democratic vote.

There are legitimate concerns about Bernie. His economic policies with the exception of Medicare for all don't seem sensible to me as a business owner.

And medicare-for-all as much as I think it would be a tremendous boon for society, delivering actual Functional Health Care that covers everything at probably a third of the cost of what we're paying today, looks like a poison pill politically, when a good chunk of the country is desperately clinging to shity health insurance from their work and frankly has been brainwashed by the insurance companies to be irrationally fearful of a government-run healthcare program.

I don't know that Bernie can't beat Trump, but I do understand the concern that maybe his Pro socialist and at times pro-communist rhetoric may be too objectionable and will cost us enough of the moderate vote to swing the election. (To be clear Bernie is a "Democratic Socialist". If you're not intimately familiar with that term you should really look it up . That's not far off honestly from what the US is. The problem is Bernie has waxed poetically about programs in true socialist countries and in communist countries. That's just a really f****** tough sale to a lot of Americans.)

If Bernie beats a consolidated field, then Bernie will have absolutely earned the right to be the candidate and moderate voters like myself will feel a lot more comfortable with the viability of Bernie as the nominee. Bernie will just be stronger for that.

But right now the only reason we don't have a more consolidated field is because people cannot park their long-shot presidential ambitions for the betterment of the country.

Again I'm not saying that Bernie is bad for the country. I am saying that the entire Democratic ticket looks better if Bernie defeats 2 strong contenders, or if a contender emerges who defeats Bernie.

It isn't good if 60-65%....the vast majority of democratic voters... want "someone other than Bernie" but because people at the bottom of the race refuse to give up their slim hopes, no one emerges to represent the other 60-70%.

So who should get out? Man that is so tough for me to say from the perspective of a guy who followed a candidate who everyone said should get out, but not so hard if I ignore that. I hope that fans of these candidates understand that I'm saying this from a perspective of what would be ideal for us in beating Trump.

Well let's talk about who should stay in first. I think most liberals have a bit of a bone to pick with Bloomberg, but it doesn't change the fact that he's a very electable candidate who is like catnip to moderates and conservatives and he is the only Democrat with major momentum and a ton of money. If you listen to your Republican friends , they all really like Bloomberg. It is very possible he could pull some Trump voters who are quietly tired of the drama.

Likewise I think Joe Biden should stay in for now. More than anyone else, all of these people trying to split the moderate vote are injuring Biden's primary hopes. He represents the "safe" second choice for a heck of a lot of people. If some of those people go away, I think you would see Biden and Bloomberg split those votes.

. Now understand I'm not talking merit here. Biden certainly hasn't earned anything in Iowa or New Hampshire. Biden is again a candidate who in a head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump one could see Biden winning. He is popular in the Rust Belt which is what the Democrats need to win to beat Trump.

Biden has drawn his line in South Carolina and frankly in an election usually someone has a state where they do well and then they turn into momentum. South Carolina could be it for him. Biden basically has to do well in South Carolina. I think he also has to do somewhat well in Nevada to make a win in South Carolina possible. If he wins South Carolina, he's likely to be in the race on super Tuesday.

If he loses South Carolina, he should probably just drop out at that point and clear the field for someone else, probably bloomberg, maybe somebody else.

At that point Joe Biden becomes a 10% guy. That's not relevant in the DNC rules.

Now we are to the guys who I am on the fence about.

Elizabeth Warren has horrible political instincts. She should have used her financial acumen to credibly run as a moderate but instead she thought she would steal liberal voters from Bernie Sanders. That's just ignorant. Sanders voters are all about Sanders and nothing else.

Instead what she got is the loyalty of the small but noisy liberal cross-section of Hillary voters. She has been painted as such a liberal candidate at this point that moderates won't consider her and she had a moment of wavering on some of her issues that killed her previous momentum and has the people who weren't firmly in her camp unwilling to commit to her.

I think she is politically done. There is an argument that staying in may prevents a chunk of her support from going to Bernie, but I don't buy that. I would describe her voters as militantly anti Bernie first and political second. In that regard if she got out of the race it would help all of the remaining candidates.

There is an argument for her to get out of the race after Nevada.

That seems unlikely however as she actually made some good money this week so she has the finances to go a little longer.

There could surprisingly be a narrow window of opportunity for her to emerge if the field cleared before super Tuesday if she does well in Nevada and South Carolina. I don't expect her to do well in South Carolina at minimum and probably in either state.

Tom Steyer is a guy who I like a lot but he has the longest of shots to make it. He has at times looked very presidential and at times look like a schizophrenic mess spewing out warren-like PC nonsense and mayor Pete like BS attacks. He is horribly awkward when he's attacking.

But he's very good when he's just being himself.

He's got a slight window of opportunity to emerge but he's got to clean up his act if he should earn a slight second wind.

But as I was saying just as a neither here nor there aside, I do like the guy. He is worth 1.6 billion, but has spent a ton of that on a campaign to get Donald Trump impeached, which absolutely should have happened to protect this country. He's spent about two hundred thousand in this campaign already. It's not unrealistic to say that Steyer may have spent 1/4 of his total net worth on principle to fight Trump. Steyer is rich but he isn't Bloomberg rich. I find that quite admirable.

I think Steyer has a chance to do fairly well in Nevada. Like all the other candidates he's polling between about 10 and 18% in Nevada.

If he can manage to stay above 15% all across the state and pull some delegates, steyer might have a little bit of momentum moving forward. If he managed that well , he could become an alternative to frustrating front-runners sleepwalking Joe Biden and perhaps morally questionable Mike Bloomberg.

Steyer has the money to compete deep into this election, the question is if he can make a mark in Nevada and build off that in South Carolina prior to Super Tuesday.

If Steyer cannot pull delegates in Nevada, then he's got no shot of pulling them in South Carolina and he should absolutely get out of their race immediately.

Mayor Pete and Amy are both candidates who could end up with 8% or 18% in Nevada. I think Amy is the longer shot. If Amy can't pull delegates in Nevada, she immediately needs to get out of the race.

I know this may come off sounding hateful or dismissive with her success in the first two states but it's not meant to be. Amy and Mayor Pete were both successful in two states that were 90% White. The rest of America is not like that.

Amy and mayor Pete both have problems in their resumes that make it unlikely that they will ever get support of the black vote. In addition Bernie Sanders dominates the Democratic field with support among Hispanic voters. Amy and mayor Pete are both below 18% with Hispanic voters.

One of the few good things about a state-by-state process like we have is that it gives later states the ability to correct mistakes by earlier States. Yes, I called Iowa and New Hampshire naming mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar the second and third best choices in this election "mistakes". You two states who claim to pick the best presidential candidates can't send the rest of the country two candidates who have zero appeal to any minorities. It's time to get out the eraser.

Democrats in Nevada are only 58% White. This is why all of the candidates who appeal to White candidates are in that 8 to 18% range. There simply aren't enough white voters to go around and things get even more brutal in South Carolina for the candidates that only appeal to White voters. South Carolina Democrats are only 35% White.

If Amy can't pull any delegates in Nevada (ie. break 15% to more likely 18% in nevada), she will enter South Carolina with negative momentum. As Joe Biden is discovering people don't like to vote for candidates who don't have momentum.

She is in that scenario unlikely to break 15% in South Carolina which means she will enter super Tuesday with two horrific losses in a row.

Amy is not a well known enough name and not well-financed enough to endure that and reverse all of that negative momentum in the face of a Bloomberg media onslaught. Staying in would just be an ego thing.

If she doesn't pull a delegate in Nevada, it'll be time for her to get out of the race rather than damaging a "more viable" (at least in terms of support with Democrats of all ethnic origins) candidate like Joe Biden.

Mayor Pete looks to have slightly better odds than Amy of pulling a delegate in Nevada. I think the exact same calculations figure in for mayor Pete.

I have zero confidence in mayor Pete's ability to beat Donald Trump. Mayor Pete cannot even win a Statewide election. That's damning.

On the positive side, he has proven that white aAmerica will vote for a gay candidate in a presidential race , so that's a big victory in itself.

He has zero support among black voters and minimal support among Hispanic voters because they don't see anything that he's done that's vaguely in their interest. And if female voters realize that he has targeted Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi gabbard, and Amy Klobuchar for kind of aggressive garbage attacks Pete may find that female voters tune him out as well. The people who consider Pete acceptable seems to be narrowing, not expanding. That is not a good trend.

On the positive side he still has a little bit of money left theoretically to compete on super Tuesday but that's where the positives end.

While Pete could pull a delegate out of Nevada , he is almost certain to get curb-stomped in South Carolina and will enter super Tuesday with very little momentum. (Again only 35% of South Carolina's Democratic voters are white. Those voters are going to favor Bloomberg,Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders first. It is difficult to imagine Pete breaking 10% in South Carolina.)

California and Texas are a lot more like Nevada demographicly then iowa or New Hampshire. Pete's subtle winks at the Trump crowd which served him so well in Iowa is not going to play in the bluest of blue states, California. I live in Texas and I can tell you that conservatives who might consider voting Democrat are much more enthralled by Bloomberg. And honestly I don't know how well a gay candidate would do in Texas, let alone one who is kind of a dick.

That will leave Pete with The narrative of claiming victory in Iowa which he may not have won, finishing second in New Hampshire, finishing second or more likely third in Nevada, and then whatever 5th or worse in South Carolina without ever showing the ability to expand his Coalition of Voters. That's not a strong position entering super Tuesday.

Pete is in a difficult situation. He's a guy who didn't expect to be where he is and he feels that he needs to work as hard as he can for the people who've invested the money in him to allow him to compete. He desperately wants to be president and this may be the closest he'll ever be. He's not going to walk away from this happily. But for the good of the party, his donors should probably tell him that it's done.

There is zero evidence supporting the idea that he can build a coalition to defeat Trump. They invested in him because they thought he was going to displace Joe Biden as the favorite candidate for moderate voters. Pete support is too racially limited to allow that, and Bloomberg is emerging as the "not Joe Biden" candidate for moderate voters. Additionally Bloomberg is telling rich moderates not to invest money in any of the candidates, because "Bloomberg's got this".

If Pete is non electable, what is the point?

Further his donors are the wealthy moderate Democrats. The last thing they want is Bernie to win the nomination. Pete is making that happen. If Pete is in the race on super Tuesday, it probably means that Biden and Bloomberg will end up with about 5% less each. That just helps Bernie.

Tulsi gabbard has absolutely been screwed by the DNC. She needs to sue them too. One of the biggest shames of this race is the fact that nobody got to see Tulsi with unbiased eyes. While she's far from a perfect candidate, I truly felt like she was a candidate who drew passion out of people and could have emerged if the DNC and the media weren't actively f****** her every 5 minutes. She is a candidate with a compelling message that people generally liked.

But it's time. Either now or at latest super Tuesday. At this point not getting out would make Tulsi appear delusional and hurts her brand long-term, just as Hillary did in 2008.

Get out of the race and strongly endorse your followers supporting the eventual Democratic candidate because getting rid of Donald Trump is the most important thing..... even as you condemn the DNC. That just makes you look like a bigger person.

Tulsi is not going to pull any delegates in nevada and she's not going to pull any delegates in any of the future states either because she doesn't have the benefit of any momentum. It's time to get out and write a tell-all book that waves the flag furiously and sets you up for the next election.

Am I saying that I would be fine if after super Tuesday the field was Bloomberg, Bernie, Tom, and Elizabeth? Yeah, even though my first two choices would be out of the race, I'd be okay with that. At that point Amy, mayor Pete, and finally Joe Biden would be proven flops.

Maybe Bloomberg runs away with the race. Maybe Elizabeth Warren surprises everyone and starts getting a lot more financial and a lot less PC cop. Maybe Tom finds a message that his money makes him a very effective choice to Bloomberg. (I'm not going to say those last two are likely.) And maybe Bernie runs away with the nomination. But that's where we are today anyway. This way it's just cleaner and better for the eventual nominee.

[mittensmorgul]

Hi! So, does this mean that Sam has completed the first of the Trials for closing the gates of hell? Or does he have to intend to close them?

Hi there! I’ll start out with a few comments, and then I’ll try to answer this as best I can. First, I am in Downtown Migraineland right now. I apologize in advance for any weird incoherency in this reply…

(note from the future, i.e. nearly 4 hours after I started trying to piece this reply together: My migraine is gone, but this reply went into A LOT OF DETAIL about the parallels not only in this episode, but in all of s12. This ended up being really weird meta on what I think Dabb’s Grand Plan for the entire season is hinging on. IT IS LONG. Just a warning.)

I think a lot of s12 has been paralleling A LOT of the past, turning it inside out, applying it through a different lens or allowing characters to see these things from a different side, and resolving things in a better way.

That said, I think they’ve been referring back to the Demon Tablet Trials and the Angel Fall Spell (because the angel fall spell was a spell, not Trials. Metatron confirmed that). But all the elements of those things are being addressed in different ways, and paralleled to ~similar~ things happening in s12… I’m struggling to try and put this together in a linear narrative that even comes close to connecting all the dots. There’s SO MUCH going on in this episode, I’m not sure that’s really possible, but HECK I WILL TRY.

(second note from the future: this is about 3k long, so it’s going under a cut. THERE IS SO MUCH)

(i am typing this from the floor where I’m curled up around pictures of Andrew Dabb and Davy Perez while weeping gently)

(A/N: cut removed during the tumblr nippocalypse of 2018)

Let’s start our parallel journey with 8.14, Trial and Error. The episode that began with Dean reveling in his new room in the bunker, the fact he’s “nesting” (and one episode after he gloried in the shower room’s water pressure), where he glared daggers at Sam for tossing a gum wrapper on his floor while talking about how wonderful it was to live in a place with no weird stains or odd smells.

That ENTIRE script was flipped in the beginning of 12.15… Dean’s just covered in blood, sits right down on the furniture, drops Lucille (I’m calling it Lucille, but it’s got other relevant parallels I’ll get to in a sec…) on the library table while SAM is the one reacting to the “offense” that Dean’s presenting here– right down to the weird stains and gross smells.

*Necessary Digression #1

(aside to note that bit of siren he picked out of his hair sorta reminded me of Chuck pulling Castiel’s tooth out of his hair in 5.01… But those “back to back to back” hunts that Sam and Dean just got back from– a ghoul, a wraith, and a siren– ALSO HAVE HISTORY that really needs to be mentioned here…)

(see what I mean about this being impossible to address in a linear fashion?)

ghoul: 4.19. (written by Dabb fyi) Family/not family. that whole episode dealt with finding out about a deep family secret (the existence of Adam) that was all wrapped in a deceptive betrayal. Adam was already dead, being impersonated by a ghoul. Sam and Dean had been divided over whether to indoctrinated Adam into the hunting life for his own protection (Sam), or to keep him out of it entirely for his own protection (Dean). But in the end it was already too late. It had been a trap set for John, but Sam and Dean ended up tidying up the ghoul case that had led John to meet Adam’s mother in the first place. John had tried Dean’s approach (keeping Adam in the dark about the monsters for his own sake), and it hadn’t saved him. Frankly, if John HAD told Adam about the monsters, he might’ve been able to save himself.

6.10: Samuel attempts to feed Sam and Dean to a couple of ghouls (aah, the sweet bite of family betrayal)

6.16: Not exactly ghouls, but Bobby mentioned a “ghoul-wraith smorgasbord” as one of the unusual monster activity things that eventually led them to Eve. Also, that whole episode was about the monster inside (literally! Khan worm! possessed by monsters!) and family betrayal.

wraith: 5.11 (also written by Dabb): Sam and Dean get themselves committed to a mental hospital by telling the unvarnished truth about their lives (>.>) in order to help an old hunter friend of John’s. The wraith “poisons” both Sam and Dean, and even though they were perfectly “sane” when they entered the hospital, the wraith’s poison made them crazy.Made them fight against invisible monsters of their own mind’s creation. But Sam and Dean soon realized how they were being affected, fought through the illusions, and save themselves.

6.19: The “Jefferson Starships” that Eve was making (hybrid monsters combined of all sorts of different monster bits) had been part wraith. Dean let Eve DELIBERATELY bite/infect him with this monster mix because he’d already drunk the phoenix ash that would in turn poison HER. She just happened to be wearing Mary Winchester’s face while she did. Family (in a horrifically mutated fashion… basically a lie), monster possession. Dean finally turning the tables and turning HIMSELF into the weapon that killed Eve.

siren: 4.14. aah, the infamous siren episode. Love… and love. Deception, family betrayal, and a monster that feeds on lust. Dean believed (wrongly) that Sam had been infected, but really DEAN had been the one “seduced” by the siren– and his siren had not been a “hot chick.” It took Bobby interfering to slay the thing.

7.08: when Dean visits Sam and Becky at their apartment after their wedding, Dean accuses Sam of not acting like himself, and Becky gets defensive asking if Dean thinks she’s a witch, or a siren.

12.11: Sam tells Dean who’s lost his memories about some of the things they hunt, and Dean’s fascinated by the fact that sirens aren’t all “hot chicks” 

AND I AM REALLY DYING TO KNOW IF THAT BIT OF SIREN IN DEAN’S HAIR WAS A HOT CHICK OR A DARK HAIRED, BLUE EYE’D DUDE.

*/digression #1- back to the point… for now

So here’s a list of the other relevant bits of 8.14 that were addressed in 12.15:

Hellhound glasses: I think we can all agree that we have been waiting years to see these things again.

multiple people attacked by hellhounds. in 8.14 they’d all sold their souls though. in 12.15 NEITHER Gwen nor her dead boyfriend did. That hellhound was deliberately released as a distraction by Crowley’s idiot minions so they could figure out what he was up to (and they found Lucifer chained up in Crowley’s secret room there)

so these people were attacked for NO REASON. They were innocent. They didn’t deserve to be attacked and killed just because they happened to be existing there >.> (sort of like the random monsters the BMoL intend to exterminate don’t deserve to die just for existing… but I digress, and will digress back to this point again in a bit…)

the goal in 8.14 was for Dean to kill the hellhound to start the trials, but SAM was the one who managed it in the end. The goal in 12.15 was for Dean and Crowley to hunt the hellhound while Sam protected Gwen (driving her off to safety in Baby)… but in the end it fell to Sam to kill the beast

the hellhound in 8.14 HAD BEEN CROWLEY’S. It answered to him. Now the hellhound in 12.15 ONLY ANSWERED TO LUCIFER. Basically, the Alpha hellhound. And instead of fighting against Crowley, Dean’s fighting alongside him while they both discuss how much they’ve changed. They’ve both moved a little more toward center– to that grey area where they’re both a little good and both a little bad like Meg and Cas in 8.17, but also Dean and Crowley have “rubbed off all over each other >.>

BUT HERE IS A KEY DIFFERENCE! Yes, Sam killed the hellhound and saved the “girl of the week,” BUT instead of it being the catalyst for him to behind hiding stuff from dean (the damage of the hell trials), it becomes the catalyst for him BEING HONEST with Dean… INVERSION!

Also, thinking back to 12.14 where Sam killed the Alpha Vampire, he’s now also killed the “Alpha Hellhound.”

*Necessary Digression #2:

back to 6.19 for a quick moment. Eve, mother of all the monsters. But apparently God created Hellhounds but considered them a failed experiment that he tried to wipe out, only to have Lucifer keep one for himself and twist it into the entire lineage of hellhounds we know. I’m trying to puzzle through the lot of this, now that Mary is clearly being paralleled to Ramsey the Hellhound, which lizbob and I are discussing in the chattybubbles:

The theme of the season is clearly motherhoodhow does she relate to Mary though :PI mean the whole pregnant thing makes it sound omre like Kelly

mittensmorgulyeah… but Mary “birthed” the entire plot of the series in more than one waythough none of it was actually her fault (like it wasn’t actually ramsey’s fault that she was let out of her cage)she was just doing what hellhounds dowhen they’re masterless

elizabethrobertajonestrueAnd this is the whole attack dog thingmary, Dean AND Cas all get it

mittensmorgulI am having shades of Eve (since she died wearing Mary’s face)

[…] where we talked about God having created the Hellhounds…

then again, he kept trying to create “monsters” to keep the world in balance. Every Apex species needs something to keep it in checkI think “Eve” was his balance there, creating the monsters to balance humanity

elizabethrobertajonesYeahand 12x14 discussed that as wellhow they’d been in balance

And Dean had unknowingly been on Sam’s BMoL leash the entire episode. All those “back to back to back” hunts that Dean came back from covered in blood, wielding “his father’s weapon.”

*Necessary Digression #3– and yes I’m aware we’re still mid-digression #2… bear with me here:

Dean apparently clobbered those three monsters mentioned above with a barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat that he said “Dad loved this thing” or whatever. Yes, haha, a reference to Negan. But that blunt, bloody instrument was also a major parallel to early s8– when Dean came back from Purgatory (that he referred to as “pure”) COVERED in the blood of all sorts of monsters, while Sam remained “clean.” That baseball bat made a nice stand-in for Dean’s purgatory weapon, no?

Dean telling Sam about his time in Purgatory, describing it as 360 degree combat, cutting a bloody swath through every monster in the place…

And Sam hit a dog.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE IN 12.14!!!

Sam is taking Dean out on all these bloody hunts and hiding stuff about the source here. Meanwhile Sam’s hanging out with a veterinarian (student… close enough), but instead of hitting the dog, THE DOG HIT HIM. Literally, jumped all over Baby.

So going right back to the beginning of s8, i.e. the part of the story where Sam and Dean began to think that they could change the entire world to make it “safer,” to stop the supernatural from even existing on Earth (by slamming the gates of hell, altering the entire balance of nature).

BUT THIS TIME IT’S HAPPENING IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

The BMoL are trying the same sort of cosmic adjustment, committing monster genocide in the name of “the greater good” that got Sam and Dean wrapped up in four years of “cosmic consequences” that they’re only NOW beginning to recover from.

Sam nearly dying, the angel fall, Cas losing his grace, shoving Gadreel down Sam’s gullet, Metatron destroying heaven, Dean taking on the Mark… right down the line to releasing the Darkness and then reconciling Amara and Chuck to balance and save the universe.

I mean, Dabb is just killing me with what he’s doing here. I’ve now been working on this reply for the last 3 hours…

mittensmorgulI am STILL working on my first ask message, where I’m tryin gto sort through ALL the pies he[’s got his fingers in…

elizabethrobertajonessort of belatedly realisinghe’s genuinely got a finger in ever freakin’ pie in the show

elizabethrobertajonesDabb JUST tying up his OWN loose endsis actually tidying up the ENTIRE show

mittensmorgulthis is a turducken wrapped in a piecaken wrapped in a croissookie

elizabethrobertajonesDabb era is season 4 - presenthahahahahais that your new Dabb era tag

mittensmorgulshould beto think i had reduced it to just a linzer torteit’s everything

elizabethrobertajonesyeah

mittensmorgulJust as I typed that, Rowena on screen said “It’s MEGA.”

*/digression #3

*back to digression #2

*actually, let’s end digression #2 here as well…

Imma try to stay on point from here on out. Let’s see how well I do…

This isn’t about restarting the trials. This isn’t about recreating the angel fall spell. This is all about going back to revisit these things that ended up being Cosmic Consequences™ level MISTAKES. Giving everyone a chance to face these things again, in a different way, and make better choices. They’re in the process of finding another way.

The last little bit of my chat with lizbob might give you an idea of where I think this season is headed, and it all boils down to love… and love. (edited a bit because REALLY LONG and rambly, and there was a lot of “yeah” and “huh” sorts of comments through here…):

elizabethrobertajones: Joshua seems nice and all but God related to him as a gardner just as he related to Metatron as a writer

mittensmorgul: after he locked up the darkness, he was trying to create that balance on his own, but he really lacked the finesse to do it properly

elizabethrobertajones: Hm. and the writing is controlling the narrative on a BIG scale

elizabethrobertajones: gardening, if you were controlling the world, would be clipping it into shape. like just tidying it up taking out some weeds. like say… eliminating all monsters

mittensmorgul: but if we’re about balance and finding better ways, and Chuck’s still talking to Joshua… now that he’s reunited with Amara maybe things CAN be better now?hopefully?

mittensmorgul: BUT CHUCK SAID THAT DEAN WAS THE ONE CARRYING THE STORY NOW

elizabethrobertajones: don’t know if Joshua is still talking to God :Pyeah

mittensmorgul: he put the earth in DEAN’S hands

elizabethrobertajones: Dean gets to decide what happens and he doesn’t approve >.>

mittensmorgul: Dean’s the gardener now. I think he likes the weeds

elizabethrobertajones: And he tends to the garden in the traditional ways which WORK and keep a good sort of peacehe relates to the weedsknows some dandelions can be pretty

mittensmorgul: he thinks he’s one of the weeds

elizabethrobertajones: no need to rip them ALL upyeah >.>poor Dean

mittensmorgul: heck, most of the “weeds” are food for the beesbalance

elizabethrobertajones: CAS SAW IT ALLback in 7x21the whole planit was perfect

mittensmorgul: yepAnd Chuck CONVENIENTLY left Cas out of his description to Dean about the world being left in his hands (and Sam’s)BUT CAS HADN’T FIGURED OUT HIS PLACE YETHe’s still struggling to figure it outBUT WE ALL KNOW HIS PLACE IS WITH THE WINCHESTERS

elizabethrobertajones: yeah

mittensmorgul: He’s the third piece of the triptych here

elizabethrobertajones: he loves themdone dealwell he needs a sense of HOMEand he’s already done the whole I love you thinglike

mittensmorgul: Dean’s the firewall, sam and cas are the two sides

elizabethrobertajones: what else needs to happen

mittensmorgul: love… and love

elizabethrobertajones: (marriage propsal)

mittensmorgul: yep

elizabethrobertajones: like the next big step :Phe’s already platonically embedded in the familywhat’s the next motivation to live with them and call them home if the question is STILL OPENAFTEr that

mittensmorgul: he’s still trying to figure out what family and FAMILY mean to himhence his trip back to heaven

So onward to Sam’s battle with the TRUTH, and how it relates to veterinarians and dogs he’s hit (or who have hit him).

Well, this time around, the dog hit HIM. The veterinarian knows part of the story. She knows the monsters are out there, but she very specifically does not know certain things… like… she thinks Crowley seemed “nice.” Pffft

BUT SHE ALSO STEPPED UP AND SAVED SAM in more ways than one. First her speech about honesty, and how it was her deception (that she loved her boyfriend) that had gotten him killed. If she’d only told him the truth, they wouldn’t have been out there camping together where the monster found them. Instead of just breaking his heart, she now feels like she has his blood on her hands, which is a far worse sort of guilt.

When she finally confessed the truth to Sam, she was able to take back her agency. She saved Sam, whacking the hellhound with the green cooler.

*gives props to the props* the green cooler saves the day! :P

Sam lost his glasses in this fight, too. He was fighting blind, against an invisible enemy he could only really see by following its tracks in the dust. 

And the episode ends in a tidy inversion of how it began. (pffft, tidy…)

SAM is now covered in blood, and Dean is clean.

Now Sam has his chance to “come clean” with Dean.

Sure, Dean doesn’t know everything yet, but the image is coming more into focus. Sam and Dean are getting closer to being on the same page here.

(also, Mick is in Sam’s phone as Frodo, while Mary had the MoL in hers as “hobbits.” I’m sensing a theme here)

Sam had been lying to Dean about where all their hunts were coming from, essentially leaving Dean in the “hellhound on a leash” role. But now that Sam has told him the truth, Dean can cut that leash. He’s not just the attack dog anymore.

There may still be truths that need to come out, but at least Sam and Dean are nearly back to a level playing field here:

Dean: What do you want me say? Do I like it? No. Do I trust them? Hell no. But you’re right. We work with people we don’t trust all the time. Hell, I just Liam Neeson’d it up with Crowley. So, if you wanna give this a shot, then fine. But the minute, and I mean the second, something feels off, we bail.

Kinda makes me wonder what Dean might feel was “off” enough to follow through…

Finding out Ketch killed Magda? Finding out the truth about the Colt? Learning about the Monster Genocide Agenda? Or maybe just seeing behind the curtain that Sam saw through about just how incompetent the MoL’s intel really is…

Dean’s already seen their “attack dog” in action (Ketch), and he was not impressed. Now that Dean’s been let off his leash and been given part of the truth like a PERSON with AGENCY, and is able to make his own choices based on the fact that their info is coming from the MoL, I wonder if he’ll start piecing all of those sketchy details together for himself.

I have a feeling he’s gonna have a BAD feeling right quick…

[shadowporcupine]

Delegation of 'Matters'

Society treats geniuses differently. Everyone else has something tangible to contribute; to write, to sing, to in-some-abstract-way, motivate us all to work together. Because the moment we can't, "crime" is justified by the lack of any consensus of pretense necessary to call it "crime" anymore. In lieu of collapse, all the delegated thought has to go somewhere, to think on behalf of society. To work out the ultimate outcome of its values, to make sense of the intangibles that enable the abstract process known as "civilization" to (continue to) form.

It is very often the case that a "genius," (your word, not mine) or: someone who appears to be really great at thinking, is actually a very hard and earnest worker, the equal of any blue-collar workman. Just as often, probably, a genius is relegated to the realm of the "mad," (again—your words; not mine) ostracized by the same society who is actively trying to delegate so many responsibilities that even thought itself no longer becomes their possession. Needless to say—(but then again, clearly not)—this system is unsustainable. Unless and until we are conscious of this very material fact of coordinating together through delegation (rather than emergence, as an example) to form a stable civilization capable of encompassing many disparate societies, our cycle can only repeat. Civilization will have nothing to do BUT collapse if it feels that it can get along without thinking. This is very basic and I should think I'd not have to argue it.

But if I'm going to let you call me a genius, then I can't exactly afford not to. To fail to argue my case, in this case, would be equivalent to letting society sit in its blissfully unthinking state and drive itself toward a future it can neither predict nor prevent. If "thought" is thought to be too abstract a notion to run civilization, to orchestrate societies affairs, if the obvious mechanics of running a business, organization, or group of individuals are considered "too obvious" for the effort that goes into thinking about them, then society is in constant conflict with itself and wholly and entirely incapable of appreciating the efforts of its administrative layer. This disconnect is perfectly allowable, because civilization is allowed to collapse. Thoughts are allowed to be incorrect, overly idealistic, or arbitrarily unmatched to reality. You get to fail, you get to be wrong. Therefore, any group of individual is allowed to be collectively wrong. This seeds collapse.

This is good. This means that every failing society will invariably vanish from this Earth. Or not even that—from the very universe. I can't imagine there's a planet out there where life is free to blind itself to responsibility all the way up to the moment of its own technological singularity and venturing forth into space. Except, if mine does, then that is the precise norm I must assume is universal. If this is the case, then Fermi's paradox is easily resolved—the universe simply lacks the intelligence necessary to explore the stars. In this case, the only thing that can reliably occupy interstellar medium is piracy. Those who stole away from their burgeoning civilizations, took entire ships in their wake, and decided they had enough of civilization to never try it again.

One theme persists throughout our attempts at interstellar media—the conflicts of societies continuing upwards into the heavens. Across the vastness of space. Our fiction would seem to have us believe that we really are stupid, that we can't seem to do anything right—as a society. I'd be temped to agree, but in doing so I'd only be re-delegating my responsibility to think, which I will utterly refuse to do, in any situation. There is no place I can walk, where to have walked would imply I had given up my sovereign right to think. There is no place I can meet, where I would feel that my thoughts cannot become relevant. There is no place, frankly, in this universe, where I will feel like I don't have an earnest reason to think out every possibility to completion.

I could iterate this process, with every person in turn, slowly eroding the ridiculous facade of a blissfully ignorant society incapable of organic collapse and generating the world I wish to see, but this would be slow. Too slow for my tastes. Far too slow for what I consider my intellect to be qualified to achieve. I have a responsibility, to myself, to believe that society can improve faster than a piecemeal dissemination of a non-viral argument. The moment I don't, I haven't just failed society—I'll have failed myself. Because in the end, this argument is really just a long drawn out way of saying that I do have something to contribute. (For the more formal reasoners among you, consider it a proof by contradiction.) Even were I to grow mad, is that not better than "criminal" in your eyes? Or the eyes of your brother? Neighbor? Mayor? Chief?

I do see society as far beneath me; I can't help it. If there were another way for me to see it, I would entertain that argument. I see where we are lacking, I know what the solution is. I know why it spreads at the rate is does, and why hopelessness is uneconomical to resolve. But it is because I can see these things that I have to believe what has become my core mantra:

I can find a better answer.

And it comes with just as much madness as it does bear any responsibility. That much I can't deny. Madness is the risk society runs of is genius, of its talent. We can as well imagine a defecting spy, or an idealistic military leader changing sides in a moment of heatlessness between battles. Really, they can end war, but it requires compromise. A compromise they are often prevented from being allowed to make. In our society, a soldier may well be the one who punishes a general from defecting, and so all this does it cut off the head of the "snake." (Or more accurately reflective of the actual chain of command: Hydra.)

Every member of society, no matter how small or large, suffers this conflict. In my case, in the case of the genius, yes, it is with madness. But this is, at the very least in retrospect, an obvious consequence of the role delegated to me by society.

To think.

Would it not be obvious that our thoughts can drive us mad at times? Given the delegation of thought, would it not stand to reason that the very responsibility of a genius is to never stop thinking? To run the risk of being driven mad at all times? Is this capacity, the natural resistance to such madness, not what defines a great thinker, or a great mind?

It seems simple once said, and yet I've never heard it before. No argument, so concise, has ever crossed the periphery of my mind before. This is a first for me, to finally understand what my role is in this great big pretense of a society. I searched far and wide but the answer was never out there because no genius had had the gall to make this argument before. Perhaps we needed one to go just a wee bit mad before one of them would finally crack this argument.

The question now is, not how you will judge me, or whether or not my genius is true. If it has even the slightest chance of being true, you can scarcely dismiss it with something so primitive as an ad hominem attack. Society has at least reached the levels of intellect necessary to comprehend why that is not an answer. (And if it hadn't, then I'd perhaps be a bit less mad about it.) But more to the point, regardless of any social evolution, it logically follows:

The question now is whether or not I will become mad.

I will tell you now, why I have reason to be mad, and why I do not have reason to be mad.

I have reason to be mad, because society would wish to insist that its own measures were what stopped me from becoming mad in this moment. Indeed, if I bought this argument, I would become very mad.

I will prevent my own madness by not stewing in these emotions, and allowing the world to react to my thought process at the exact moment when I consider it most productive for it to react. To cycle about within myself would only create a more manic through process, something that is harder to relate to. Something that might be called "mad."

I have no reason to be mad, quite simply, because I have no reason to be called mad.

It is on this flimsiest of premises that I consider it my responsibility to totter. You may well conceive within yourself of infinitely many reasons to not want to be mad, while yet I move forward with but a single one. I am not asking your permission to drive myself mad; indeed, your permission couldn't be more powerless over the matter. Instead I am telling you, that that one reason is all you can allow yourself to hoist upon me. To burden me more, with anything more than thought, would be to elect for a mad genius. I should like to say, "And nobody wants that."

But that would be a lie.

I know where you hide your innermost taboos, and I know how to cross them. If you have no reason to, then you admit to yourself that I have no reason to. Because for it to be a taboo to begin with, you must know how to cross it.

To let you think that this battle was not being waged, would be the very image of irresponsibility. Given my beliefs.

The infinite abyss is where I make my home.

[asylum-ireland-blog]

Why men's voices are vital in Ireland's abortion referendum

New Post has been published on http://asylumireland.ml/why-mens-voices-are-vital-in-irelands-abortion-referendum/

Why men's voices are vital in Ireland's abortion referendum

Male allies in politics, the creative scene, and all walks of Irish life are stepping up alongside women to fight the system that oppresses them

‘Ireland Unfree’ is a Dazed mini-series telling the stories of Ireland’s bold fight for abortion rights, in the run up to the monumental referendum on the eighth amendment. Stirring protest, creativity, personal politics, and vital conversation, these Irish people push for autonomy. Here, we share their journey on Dazed.

The death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012 had an earth-swallowing feel to it. Denied of the basic healthcare required to ensure her survival, a constitutional amendment deemed her life – 31 years of complex human love, colour, and learning – of the same value as a 17-week-old fetus. She died in Ireland’s University Hospital Galway in Ireland due to the complications of a septic miscarriage. Her husband, Praveen, was dutifully left to channel her lost voice and carry her legacy on his already burdened shoulders.

On Friday May 25, Irish citizens will go to the polls to determine if the controversial Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution, which equates the right to life of the mother to the unborn, should be removed and repealed. The amendment, which criminalised abortion in almost all cases, was brought about as a result of a 1983 referendum, a time when the Catholic Church in Ireland was still very much an arm of government. Divorce was still illegal. Contraception was a taboo. Homosexuality remained outlawed.

The Irish man, of course, has no such lack of bodily freedom. Yet, about 70 per cent of Irish women who receive abortion care in the U.K. are married or with a partner. That is, conservatively speaking, thousands of fathers and partners that the Eighth Amendment has, too, bound to secrecy and shame.

Actor and author Emmet Kirwan – who last year created the beautiful spoken-word short film Heartbreak – views the redressing of Ireland’s wrongs broadly and disputes any sense of moral responsibility on individual men. “It’s not just a binary issue of males versus females: It’s an institutional issue,” he tells me. “Whether they be governmental, health, Church – all various arms of the state. There has been an institutionalised gender bias.”

On Irish streets, in local bars, on shop corners, through headlines painted across newspapers and hashtags proliferating via social media posts – there is a bitter political divisiveness that this debate has wrought, a clearly-defined chasm that calls other political ruptures of late to mind. No wonder there have been questions of sinister outside interference akin to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In response, micro-campaigns have popped up all over social media – necessary conversation-sparking tools.

Ger Murphy, a 35-year-old events manager from South-Dublin, decided that Irish men needed to contribute to the dialogue around abortion rights. A conversation that, without question, needed their support. In late February, he founded the Men For Repeal Facebook page – ‘balls to the 8th’ is its light-hearted but defiant URL – after some troubling conversations about male engagement. Murphy sought to, at minimum, challenge the many outspoken men on the other side of the debate.

A large subset of the Irish male population, Murphy tells me over the phone, feel this is not their vote, that this a women’s issue that has no true bearing on their existence. Outside of the reality of crisis pregnancies which routinely affect women everyday, the idea that it’s a women-only issue is misguided, disingenuous, and, frankly, outdated. In truth, indifference largely translates as pro-choice.

“Whether they be governmental, health, Church – all various arms of the state. There has been an institutionalised gender bias” – Emmet Kirwan

“There is no problem in coming out and saying there is a male aspect to this issue. The vast amount of women would agree that the men in their lives are being affected as well,” Murphy says of the messaging. “The left trips over itself sometimes trying to be too PC about these things.”

Complacency is participating in neither debate nor democratic process, and it’s something to be concerned about. Kirwan, one of the most vocal Irish artists, explains there are no excuses for liberal-minded men eschewing their right to vote in the referendum: “The kind of passive, non-participation is essentially giving the vote over to the other side. This kind of idea that you can affect change by doing nothing; it’s a logical fallacy.”

Gordon Grehan of the Transgender Equality Network also tells me that repeal is “imperative to ensuring the rights of all people who can become pregnant, including trans men and non-binary people”. He adds: “As a trans organisation, we know the importance of ensuring self-determination, bodily integrity and physical autonomy.” As previously detailed in Brian O’Flynn’s report on the pro-choice campaign’s push for inclusivity, marginalised people like trans men who can get pregnant must be included in the conversation.

I’ve listened to women’s stories they deserve better. A No vote won’t stop abortions but continues the hypocrisy, shame and stigma. A Yes vote moves us to fairer, safer, more compassionate healthcare in Ireland. It’s our responsibility to put the hand out to our women. #men4yes

— Eamon Mc Gee (@EamonMcGee) April 24, 2018

So glad to see #men4yes emerge. I’m voting yes because, as a man, there is no medical procedure unavailable to me to protect my life or my health. I want the same for women.#TáDoMhná

— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (@AodhanORiordain) April 24, 2018

Men For Repeal, along with Lads For Choice, have thrust the conversation of male engagement directly into the national discussion with Together For Yes, the campaign in favour of repeal. Through the #menforyes hashtag, men online have told their uniquely positioned and shared stories of loss, shame, and state-sanctioned oppression. One such story, which was posted by Men For Repeal’s Facebook page earlier this month, attributed to a man named Enda, illustrates the culture of shame embedded in Irish society.

Enda’s mother – empowered by his coming-out as gay – confided in him that she had an abortion pre-marriage, but for fear of judgement, had told just Enda and one of her sisters. “She’d felt sure that my grandfather would disown her for having sex outside of marriage and he died never knowing,” Enda writes. “I remember her saying she felt as if she was damaged goods with my own father, and had been terrified of telling him in case he no longer wanted to marry her.”

Elsewhere, Murphy alludes to meme culture (check the Ireland Simpsons Fans page for some of the best) and the use of internet spaces as a shareable access point for men, more so for those that are tentative or unsure about their place in a large, fast-moving campaign. Murphy’s resourcefulness also helped him develop a video series where male musicians cover female artists.

via Ireland Simpsons Fans

Creativity in the arts has propelled much of Ireland’s political movements, and the Repeal Project is a major example. The monochromatic sweatshirt – simple, inclusive, and unisex – is boldly inscribed with ‘Repeal’, now iconic in Irish millennial culture as a statement of aesthetic defiance. Repeal founder Anna Cosgrave recently guest edited local music and culture magazine District with the ‘Men’s Issue’ of its Dublin City Guide. The issue profiles male Irish allies across sport, music, film, and politics. Dance music magazine and online community Four Four has been passionately supportive of repealing the 8th on its pages.

Dublin’s vibrant young music scene sees lyrics that continue to reflect Ireland’s bewildering reality, from DIY punk to burgeoning R&B. Rising Dublin hip-hop act, KOJAQUE, recently rapped: “Sovereign state; they’d rather see my mother bleed out than build a clinic.” Elsewhere in the fashion world, designer Richard Malone has been an outspoken supporter for repeal, taking over Selfridges’ window display to write messages of support. In a powerful open letter for Vogue, Malone describes the “infuriating and unjust treatment of women” he has witnessed at home, the misinformed, Catholic-based education about sex and abortion he and his generation received, and the social and class structures that hinder women’s right to choose. “We have to use our vote to speak for ourselves and for the generation of young people coming directly behind us,” he writes, “who remain voiceless in the votes on their future.”

Toxic masculinity is seriously affecting Irish young men’s mental health, sexuality, and attitudes towards sex, the latter manifesting itself in one of the most widely reported and divisive public trials in Irish history: the rape case involving Ulster Rugby stars Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding.

The voice of brusque social sensibility in Ireland today, Blindboy Boatclub of Irish comedy duo Rubberbandits is in equal parts an absurdist and a realist. He’s become an unofficial spokesperson for these disenfranchised young men, men who accounted for 80 per cent of Irish suicides last year. With one of the highest percentages of teen suicide in Europe, a silent epidemic pulses through Irish society.

During a revealing 2016 interview on Ireland’s The Late Late Show, Blindboy asserted that feminism is, in fact, a remedy for male-centric mental health issues and toxic masculinity, something that rings through with this referendum and long afterwards. “I have nothing to offer a woman, I have nothing,” he says of young men’s attitudes in Limerick, his native city. “How am I supposed to provide for a woman? The fact of the matter, is that that is a patriarchal attitude that is no longer relevant to us in the 21st century.” Blindboy has become a pivotal voice in the movement; utilising social media and his increasingly popular podcast to speak to men directly. His recent book, The Gospel According to Blindboy, delves deeply into such issues – he’s a leader, and a cultural reckoning force behind the pro-choice movement.

In a more recent filmed conversation with Cillian Murphy, Blindboy and the actor rallied for men to excercise their right to vote. “Men and women are both custodians of this society…we need to go out and support women,” Cillian Murphy said.

For too long, Irish women have been defined by their struggle. Those single mothers, those women who claim asylum under Ireland’s dehumanizing Direct Provision system, women of disparate colours and backgrounds, those with varying sexual identities and disabilities: it’s a vote for all women, and now isn’t a time that men can be complacent or indifferent. May 25 gifts Irish citizens – men equally – the opportunity to right one of our nation’s great wrongs. Though cis men will never know what it is like to carry a pregnancy, men are inextricably linked to this upcoming referendum. Men have a duty to engage with, support, and amplify female voices and stories so that an experience like Savita and Praveen’s is never relived again.

, http://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/40058/1/why-mens-voices-are-vital-in-irelands-abortion-referendum

[jaymaydraw-blog]

Just a story I wrote a while back and never posted.

Tags: Tyler/Kyle - Freeform, Prince Kyle, Marquess Tyler, Archduchess Charlotte, Archduchess Helen, King Franklin, King Franklin is an Asshole, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Charlotte is a Scary Woman, Kyle is a Shy Child A story based off of a roleplay scenario that myself and friends had come up with. All of the characters mentioned are original and belong to my friends and I; so please do not use without my permission. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Royalty: Until We Meet Again Kyle drummed his fingers on his leg, watching the rolling hills pass as his carriage clobbers along. His father was seated beside him, similarly bored and exhausted from the long journey. Kyle lets out a long suffering sigh, slumping with the knowledge that the day ahead was going to be very boring indeed. Carriages in front and behind were also carrying small groups of noblemen and women to the same destination, one such carriage held a remarkable noble family. Tyler's family. Tyler has a Remarkable family in the sense that he had two mothers, whom share their powers equally. They are a strong diarchy, even though they were totally pacifist. The two arch duchesses preferred to concentrate on resources and care of their subjects. Unfortunately, they were considered a lower power due to the fact they had no military and had only one heir to the bloodline. However, this does not stop the two Archduchesses from being a formidable political opponent. Their skills in negotiation and moderation were unparalleled. They expected absolute respect from all, and anyone who opposed them would be... Educated. The young prince Kyle awoke from a broken sleep by his father. Their carriage had stopped, and it was time to get out. His father dragged him from the comfort of the carriage and out into a large hall. Kyle was coming along because of 'Political Education' or something similarly ridiculous. As important as it was, as far as Kyle was concerned it just seemed to be a bunch of stuffy old men and women bickering and pretending to like each other for a few hours. Not far behind were Marquess Tyler and his mothers' carriage. The three exit, assisted by a couple of attendants. They moved inside along with everyone else and into the Hall to socialise a little before the meeting was called. All around were Knights, earls, and various other noblemen and women all talking of business. Talk of recent wars, treaties, trade agreements and even marriages. It saddened the young prince, who was stuck listening about one such marriage, that two people were pushed together with little to no say in the matter, before any form of feeling had developed. Just like the one Kyle's father had arranged for him. Alas, that was the fate of royalty in this world, and one must accept that. Some short few minutes pass then; the chatter fades into hushed mumbles and respectful silence at the entrance of the formidable Duchess Charlotte, clad in a deep purple gown and silver accessories, the beautiful Duchess Helen in a warm red trailing gown, ornamented with golden thread. Behind the two women strode in the dashing marquess Tyler, wearing a striking black tunic and leggings, a spectrum of colour seeming to glitter from under the fabric like stars in the night. Gazing at the new group, Kyle felt small- literally and figuratively. His blue and white outfit made him feel unimportant and meek. They were also standing tall with Tyler at five foot and six inches, while he was a mere five foot two. He stowed himself away quickly to avoid feeling even less important, but his mind had a different idea. He couldn't remove the image of the two women's son; tall, dark and handsome. The meeting was called to begin, so the three took their seats, which resulted in Tyler sitting right next to the young prince Kyle. Tyler doesn't seem to notice him, as he sits patiently watching straight ahead, straight backed and calm faced, surely a perfect heir. Kyle attempted to look dignified beside the perfect man beside him, though all this seemed to do was make him look like a common man next to a royal. As the meeting wore on, an expression of great boredom and distaste etched its way on to Tyler's face. Mutterings of hatred left his lips as he glared at the current speaker, whom was lecturing the matriarchs of the room on their under-qualification and general uselessness as rulers. This rant had particularly been aimed at the Arch Duchesses Charlotte and Helen as they still have neither plan nor intention on building armies or navies. This continues for a good ten minutes until Charlotte's agitation finally boils over. She refused to be spoken of in this manner, and refused to let it go unnoticed. She stands, and her voice boomed over all noise in the room "How dare you speak of myself and the other maidens present! We have had to work twice as hard to gain our titles then twice again to sit in this Hall, and you DARE call our lives easy! You know not of the things you speak. So if you do wish to keep that privilege I bid you be SILENT" To Kyle's relief, the room does indeed go silent. Even his father was quiet, which was out of the ordinary, as he would usually mumble under his breath about something or another to get someone riled up and then they'd no longer be in good standing. He did miss being on good terms with the majority of the nobility here. Time passes before the other Duchess, Duchess Helen, began to speak. Her gentle voice was enticing and captured the attention of any who listened, and she spoke of an important event. The upcoming marriage of her only son, Tyler, and the young prince Kyle. The prince froze in shock and fear in equal measure, as he had never known who he was to be married to, only that he would. He couldn't believe that the terrifying man beside him would be his future husband. Everything else the woman said was tuned out into the background as he fiddled with his sash, thinking of how his future would unfold. After this minor shock, Tyler settled back into his seat and continued to listen to the meeting. He voiced his own opinions and even got into debates with people, which many of the children of the other nobles wouldn't dare do. His voice remained calm and measured while he spoke, but he was also firm and even a bit passionate, which Kyle seemed to find easier to listen to and follow. He never attempted to gloss over or sugar-coat anything, though he knew how to perfectly handle a sensitive subject. Some such subjects were the continued starvation in the frozen north lands, and the imbalance of wealth in the eastern territories. He argued for an improvement in the quality of life of the townspeople in a central and southern central kingdom. All three problems raised were promised to be dealt with and reported on to the relevant powers. Unfortunately tempers had been running thin in the south, which was the land that Kyle's father ruled over. His father had taken offence to the accusations Tyler had made, no matter how true they were. Kyle notices his father’s shortening temper and attempts to silently reason with him, which fails. He turns back to Tyler, listening to him and praying to whatever powers may be that his father doesn't try to do or say anything to anger Tyler. This also gets totally ignored. "Yes our kingdoms have their problems, but you can hardly think of yours as perfect can you?" Franklin retorts spitefully. Kyle groans internally, of course his father had to argue. He also knew that he was about to be, quite literally, in the middle of this. Rather than yell, Tyler turns to the leering king and smiles. A sickly sweet smile dripping with poisonous hatred. "Oh, I do apologise." he says eerily calm. "But I believe the answer to your question is no. Years and years of peace, no famine nor infection and only a short drought. Our kingdom is not perfect, though compared to yours it is a paradise. Our kingdom has helped yours on numerous occasions in case you may have forgotten. Do you remember the months of drought when the only source of water came from our generous kingdom? Do you remember the year of famine when whole families starved to death and only the donations of other kingdoms kept your subjects alive? And let us not forget those wars that YOU started, knowing you couldn't fund the care of your injured afterwards. And yet again you had to depend on others to drag your sorry ass out of debt. Where did you spend that money we gave you? Oh yes I remember. On another banquet after another unnecessary war while hundreds died of very treatable wounds." Franklin frowns and sits down. "Do forgive me for my insolence," he mutters quietly. Tyler sits, with a slightly smug look on his face that made Kyle smile slightly. It had been a long time since his father had been dragged through the mud like this, and it sort of made him happy. The meeting continues, with leering looks thrown at the shamed King Franklin, with a few directed at Kyle but he was frankly too happy to care. The meeting drew to a close after five eventful hours. Kyle got out of his seat, and paused. He considered talking to Tyler quickly before he was forced to depart and, thankfully he seemed in no hurry to leave. Kyle taps his shoulder to gain the taller mans attention. "Those were some excellent points you made" He says shyly Tyler smiled warmly at him. "Oh, thank you," he replied. "And, you must be Kyle. If I am correct?" Kyle nods, "And you are presumably Tyler." The tall man looks at Kyle with a soft gaze. "You are so much more stunning than your portraits suggested" he mumbles Kyle goes as red as a rose at the complement. "T-Thank you. And... Well... It’s nice to know who I will be marrying," he manages to stutter out. "Yes, that was quite the wonderful surprise." Tyler agrees. "Well I wish I could stay longer, but my father's patience is thin. Farewell, Tyler." "Until we meet again, Farewell,"