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deborahdeshoftim5779 · 7 years

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The Marvel of Trelsi (Part III)

Because this image NEVER gets old. It also epitomizes the relationship between Troy and Kelsi as complete equals, quite unlike a certain other relationship.

In this instalment, I want to discuss the introduction to Trelsi, which will include scene analysis, comparative analysis, musings and headcanons. I love this scene primarily for what it says about Troy Bolton as a character, as well as for how radiant and confident Kelsi becomes throughout the rest of the canonical movie series. I will demonstrate the superior importance of this scene in establishing relationships thus far, particularly in comparison to Troy’s introduction to Gabriella, and how this scene represents everything the movie was supposed to support.

Now, first of all, I must start by noting the unrealistic spectacle of every other candidate being laughably inept at performing except for Sharpay/Ryan and later, Troy/Gabriella. I must presume that this is all in aid of plot-related reasons. In real life, although it is more believable that Sharpay still would have reigned as Queen of the Drama Department (with Ryan as her Page Boy), there would have been plenty of decent candidates for this role. After all, there is a Drama Club and I refuse to believe that this is populated by incompetents. Nonetheless, Kelsi’s patience throughout, playing whilst people mess up her song, is both hilarious and endearing.

As I write this analysis with the film playing, I often have to fast-forward or rewind to see which parts are visible to Troy throughout this to explain why he decides to reach out to Kelsi. Remember, he appears not to know who Kelsi is prior to this moment, as she is not shown in his homeroom class. (This begs the question of how Kelsi came to be there during HSM II and HSM III). After being denied the opportunity to rehearse, Troy would have had no choice other than to leave and return to his other lessons. Instead, he stands there in disappointment for a moment until distracted by Kelsi tripping over in an ironically dramatic fashion. So if we rewind and view the Auditions scene from Troy’s viewpoint, is there any reason to speculate that Troy might have intended to make friends with Kelsi? Personally, I don’t know. Obviously, I am biased and like to think this was the case, but it may well have been a spur of the moment decision. However, there is room, in my view, to speculate otherwise.

So, how much does Troy see prior to this grand introduction? (I say “grand”, because Trelsi :D). As we recall, he has performed an elaborate ninja routine in order to get to said auditions, which involves throwing Chad off his back, cutting through a D & T room, dashing downstairs, confusing his dad by doing a Houdini and hiding behind a mop once he reaches the Drama stage.

It is very important to note that Troy did this himself, as much later, in HSM III, Troy will make a grand speech in which he falsely claims that: “Problem is, East High changed when you got there. Now it’s changed again because you left.” As you can see here, the decision to check out the auditions was of Troy’s own making. Gabriella had even told him prior that she had no intention of signing up for anything, and just wanted to get to know the school first. This forward-thinking on Troy’s part explains his decisions much later on in the movie, not least his decision to make friends with Kelsi.

Obviously, Troy sees Kelsi introduced by Ms Darbus, but I don’t think he makes anything of it. He sees the slew of embarrassing performances throughout. It is interesting to note that, despite the glaring incompetence of many in East High, Troy is STILL nervous about trying out for the auditions. Having sung with Gabriella in karaoke over the holidays, it is clear that his confidence soars when performing, but in East High, it’s almost nonexistent. This is most likely due to Chad shooting him down earlier*, basically implying that Troy won’t make it as a top basketball player if he spends (wastes) time doing School Musicals. (“You ever think LeBron James or Shaquille O’Neill auditioned for their school musicals?”) It is also because Troy is scared of being sent off in disgrace by Ms Darbus and laughed at by everyone else. (“Ms Darbus is a little… harsh.”). After this, a thoroughly exasperated, but now somewhat hopeful Ms Darbus introduces Sharpay and Ryan who will “give us a sense of why we gather in this hallowed hall”. Given that Troy reluctantly agreed to watch Sharpay in the musical earlier, I assume that he is not looking forward to this performance. His expression throughout is priceless. But he doesn’t appear aware of how much dismay is caused to Kelsi by this performance, at least not until afterwards.

I had to rewind this a lot to make sure, but Troy does see Sharpay’s mean and condescending jabs at Kelsi afterwards. During this scene, Sharpay belittles Kelsi for being a heretofore unknown composer who has no right to question someone as seasoned as Sharpay, even though Kelsi wrote the music. “And you should be glad that me and Ryan are here to lift your music out of its current obscurity! Are we clear?”/”Yes, Ma’am! I mean, Sharpay!” Dismayed and subdued, Kelsi is knocked back onto the piano stool and accepts Sharpay’s Reign of Terror without question. However, as I discussed yesterday, it surely is significant that Kelsi overcame her shyness for one short moment of resistance by telling Sharpay that she hadn’t captured the meaning of the song. Hence why Sharpay was so insulted: “IF we do the part?” Anyhow, because Troy is such a decent and fair guy, he would clearly object to Kelsi being pushed around like this. However, as I asked earlier, did Troy have any intent in reaching out to her just then? Not long afterwards, he tells Gabriella that they should leave, presumably before Ms Darbus discovers them peeking round the corner like spies. So I suppose not, and the ensuing meeting was probably by chance.

I criticize Gabriella regularly, but I think she displayed real initiative by conquering her stage fright to audition. So now we need to zoom out of Troy’s perspective and into Kelsi’s perspective for this scene, as she spends the entire time at the piano, probably despondent as she arranges her scores. But she is within earshot when Troy, quite commendably, puts himself forward as Gabriella’s singing partner. We are not given Kelsi’s reaction to this, which would have been very interesting. Troy Bolton, King of East High, agreeing to audition for a part? Stop the world! It would have been more effective if Kelsi had turned around at this point in astonishment, before getting up to leave and then tripping over. But that’s just my viewpoint. She definitely hears the ensuing exchange, as Ms Darbus makes no secret of her astonishment when Troy shows up from behind the corner. Had Kelsi shown some engagement with this scene, it would have made her tripping over seem a lot less contrived for the purposes of introducing her to Troy. Again, my opinion. But what the hell? My analysis, too. :D We can only speculate as to her reaction, which I believe would be of astonishment. I exclude Gabriella from this part, given that Kelsi does not know her name, presumably not until Ms Darbus gives the two a callback audition.

Kelsi’s trip is marvellous! Gasp of surprise, papers flung everywhere… Really well done! :D

And Troy’s first instinct is to run over and help her, even though he is a considerable distance from the stage. Now, if you watch this carefully, look at Gabriella’s reaction. Troy does not hesitate to rush over and help, but Gabriella actually hesitates. In fact, I see unwillingness in her expression for a moment, before she runs over after Troy. I may be wrong in this, but if you get the time, please look over that scene and tell me what you think. In any case, Troy reaches the stage before Gabriella does. It’s almost as though Gabriella is either a mixture of unwilling/exasperated and yet resigned before deciding to help Kelsi. I usually rewind minute by minute to be accurate, and that is what I see. It therefore seems to me that were Troy not present, Gabriella would either have hesitated to help Kelsi, or not done so at all. That may seem a harsh assumption, but at the very least, it does provide more proof as to why Gabriella is not in ANY WAY responsible for Kelsi’s character development. She’s friends with Kelsi because Troy is. That’s it, really.

You’ve got to love Kelsi’s stunned disbelief when Troy fricking Bolton comes and helps her pick up her manuscripts. Remember, Kelsi is limited by the status quo: cool guys don’t come within throwing distance of nerds like herself. You may see, by pausing at selected moments, that Troy catches her staring and smiles in a friendly manner, which makes me SQUEE! But again, if someone stares at you like you’re the Loch Ness Monster, some people might be pretty annoyed or self-conscious. I think this is Troy trying to break the ice, once again demonstrating that he sees Kelsi as a complete equal, and not some specimen from a different social class.

“So you’re a composer?”

Kelsi’s mute nods are cute. She cannot believe this moment is happening.

“You wrote the song Ryan and Sharpay just sang? [*nod*] And the entire show? [*nod] Well, that’s really cool. I uh-- [*holds out hand for her to shake*] I can’t wait to hear the rest of the show!”

I can’t get over the SWEETNESS here. Yet more evidence that Troy is nowhere near the arrogant and entitled jerk some “fans” allege him to be. Remember, Kelsi has just been put in her place by Sharpay, is despondent that two people who have ruined her song will most likely get the leads and has probably been discouraged from offering any suggestions in future, since Sharpay has made it clear that Kelsi would be nothing without her. After having had her musical ideas rejected time and time again by the Drama Department, this doesn’t feel like much of a reward, hence the resigned way in which Kelsi cleared her manuscripts from the piano earlier. So for Troy to tell her that what she does is “really cool”, and to express genuine admiration for her ability to write “the entire show” is everything. It is completely superficial to assume that Kelsi’s stunned disbelief is due to her having a massive crush on Troy. Whether this may or may not be true is besides the point; we don’t have any information about that. What is far more important, is the obvious fact that prior to now, very few, if any people, have ever spoken to Kelsi like this. With respect, admiration and friendly encouragement. We know this, because Kelsi is too astonished to respond. She must have felt like a complete idiot, just nodding instead of speaking, but Troy does not try and goad her into conversation. He just takes her as she is without judgement. It’s almost as though he understands her shyness and will let her speak when she’s ready. This is one of the first signs that Troy and Kelsi are attuned to each other on such an instinctive level that is impossible to ignore.

Furthermore, Troy tells her that he “can’t wait” to hear the rest of the show. Think carefully about this. Not long beforehand, Sharpay said “I hope you can watch me in the musical”, and made Troy promise to do so. He only nodded, clearly unable to bring himself to say anything. He nodded to get her off his back. His discomfort around Sharpay is self-evident. Now here he is, telling Kelsi, a girl with whom he has NEVER spoken before, that he is excited to hear the rest of her compositions. Up until now, he has only heard a few measures of ONE song. For all he knows, the rest might be mediocre or terrible. (I doubt it, but that’s always a possibility). Her compositions have never been selected before. There’s no discomfort here for Troy at all. He comes across as completely genuine in his interest and willingness to support Kelsi. So we can infer that Troy must like the little he has heard and thinks she has untapped potential. And prior to now, has Troy ever watched a musical? I tend to assume not, given his complete unfamiliarity with the Drama stage, and his lack of knowledge about Broadway: “Who’s Michael Crawford?” For heaven’s sake, he spent the entire audition hiding behind a mop! He has never seen the preparation it takes to write a musical, and I assume he has never been to one of the school productions, given how reluctant he was to watch Sharpay perform. Add to that his supreme status as East High’s Primo Boy, the significance of his offer is HUGE.

All of this underscores how accepting Troy is of everyone around him. He accepts Gabriella, who is extremely intelligent and always comes top of her class. He accepts Zeke’s interest in baking. He presumably accepts Martha’s love of hip hop, and the skater dude who likes the cello… All in all, Troy never expects anyone to change who they are for anyone. Troy never judges people, unlike Chad. He is always happy to extend the hand of friendship (quite literally in Kelsi’s case, and later in Ryan’s case), irrespective of the alleged social divides. Troy doesn’t think that anyone should be limited just because of who they are: “[Chad] You ever think LeBron James or Shaquille O’Neill auditioned for their school musicals?”/ [Troy] “MAYBE.” (Capital emphasis my own). And later on: “Look, I just did it! [auditioned for the musical] Who cares?” Furthermore, Troy always takes an interest in other people’s lives and admires their achievements, even if he knows nothing about what they do. We are not told whether Troy plays any musical instruments, but I assume not. We are not told whether he reads music, although I have to assume from his excellent, and sometimes unrealistically good sight-reading skills, he must have had availed himself of school music lessons. Either way, I wouldn’t call him an insider in the music profession. Yet he immediately takes an interest based on very little information other than a couple bars of Kelsi’s song.

I reiterate again: this is significant.

I love the hand-shake, as Troy helps her to stand again. The metaphorical significance of this is beautiful; he is raising her self-esteem, pulling her up, lifting her mood, making her feel like an accomplished young lady, instead of a nobody. The friendly smile remains even though Kelsi seems unable to detach her hand from his-- again, I think the reason for this is stunned disbelief first and foremost. Clearly, she is unused to such friendliness from anyone, let alone Troy Bolton. And remember, he’s just told her that he wants to hear her other compositions.

At this point, having helped Kelsi pick up her manuscripts, Troy could have left. After all, free period is now over. He should be getting back to class. Instead, he has something else to say, which fuelled my earlier query about whether he had intended to speak to her beforehand. And remember, Kelsi has not said a word thus far, so he might have concluded she was too shy and gone back to class. Yet he is still keen to engage with her, whether she might answer or not.

“So… why’re you so afraid of Ryan** and Sharpay? I mean, it is your show.”

I love Troy telling Kelsi, in effect, that she doesn’t have to be afraid of the Evans twins. He’s offering her a way out. He’s offering her options she had never previously considered. He’s reminding her that these are her songs and she is therefore a lot more than a Sideshow Bob.

“It is?”

The fact that Kelsi questions something that is so OBVIOUSLY true shows how little self-esteem she has up until this point.

“Isn’t the composer of a show kinda like the Playmaker in basketball?”

“Playmaker…?”

“You know, the one who makes everyone else look good. I mean without you, there is no show. You’re the Playmaker here, Kelsi.”

First of all, just look at the effect these words have on Kelsi:

For the first time since being introduced into the movie, she looks delighted. Given her crippling shyness and introverted nature, I feel fairly certain that she has probably rarely, if ever, been made to feel like this. Empowered, confident and worth something. The utter delight on her face, the way she completely lights up, shows her unfamiliarity with such praise. It further highlights that very few, if any people, have taken an interest in her music, or have given her the chance she craves to be heard and understood, as I explained yesterday. Compare this to her intimidation, disappointment and dismay when Sharpay belittled her earlier. THIS is the moment that the deal is sealed: she takes to Troy in an instant. Her excitement is brimming beneath the surface. And make no mistake, this is entirely directed towards Troy. Gabriella, up until now, has not said a word, and neither is she the recipient of this delighted expression.

The most important thing to note here is “the one who makes everyone else look good,” as the inimitable teamwork between Troy and Kelsi throughout all three shows in movie canon is a living demonstration of this. Again, I must reiterate that Troy has barely heard any of Kelsi’s music, and is saying that her compositional skills make everyone else look good. Ms Darbus, whom I presume had previously rejected many of Kelsi’s ideas and now selected these ones, is never shown to have given Kelsi such high praise, despite having considered these songs on their artistic merit to her play. (Correction from last post: Ms Darbus wrote the plays. Credit to BoltonEvans). And because Troy doesn’t treat sports like a religion (unlike a certain Mr. Danforth), he doesn’t judge her for being ignorant about sporting terminology, either, which is a small but once again noteworthy point.

This scene basically launches the term “Playmaker”. Let’s discuss this. Troy is not only giving Kelsi a nickname (something he hasn’t done for Gabriella or indeed anyone else), but it is the very same name that others in his team use to refer to him. More importantly, it is a term with which he has a love-hate relationship. We know this because later on, Troy’s father tells him, “but you’re Playmaker. Not a singer.” Troy’s reaction to this is one of rising frustration; in other words, he appears tired of hearing about his Playmaker/Basketball Guy status ALL the time. A lot of viewers seem to, in their haste to judge/belittle Troy for his mistakes, ignore the effect of constantly being praised and touted as the Top Gun for the team. He is, around this time, between 16 and 17 years old. Adolescence is a time of self-doubt and learning to figure yourself out. Coming of age. The pressure that Troy’s father and his team-mates put on his shoulders by such honorary titles must be immense and counter-productive.

So I feel it is very important to note that the term “Playmaker” does not necessarily have very positive connotations for Troy, as it reminds him of the pedestal upon which he is placed, and how much is expected of him by everyone else. In which case, it is somewhat unusual that Troy deems this nickname appropriate for a composer, let alone a girl he has only just met properly. But he chooses “Playmaker”, for several key reasons: 1)- he sees the value of Kelsi’s work, 2)- he believes she deserves it more, 3)- he senses that she needs it. Troy himself suffocates under all these honorary terms and wishes he could “just be a guy”. Like I said yesterday, Troy is running away from his pre-destined status and longing to be ordinary as well as try something new. Kelsi, on the other hand, thinks her path as a composer is predestined and is longing to be extraordinary. The title “Playmaker” and its special significance gives her precisely that. ALL of this is communicated from Troy to Kelsi with precious little dialogue. Troy just instinctively understands what she needs right then and can encapsulate all of this with the nickname “Playmaker”. This seals the deal, folks. It makes their bond esoteric, rather than transparent-- later on, when Troy calls her Playmaker in front of a cheering crowd, only he, Kelsi (and Gabriella) know what he means. Again, Kelsi’s delight here says it all. It underlines all their later scenes together and is the centrepiece of their friendship. They are both Playmakers in their own respective fields. So Troy demonstrates his ability to take something with difficult implications for himself and turn it into a positive for someone who would otherwise be unheard. This is a special moment in the movie, and definitely the most significant up until Troy revealing his love for performing later on.

The movie makes a great deal of hullabaloo about Troy meeting Gabriella, using twinkling lights, night skies and romantic music. We’re meant to believe that this is a once in a lifetime meeting, when in fact it is a fateful night that starts Troy on the path of self-destruction. This is supposed to be the centrepiece of the movie: boy meets girl. But I assert that this is NOWHERE NEAR as relevant, inspiring and special as when Troy meets Kelsi. There is barely any significance in Troy meeting Gabriella, other than the plot. He could have sang that karaoke with any other girl. There is no evidence that Troy would not have had chemistry with any other of the many girls standing there. But Troy meeting Kelsi is relevant, because this is how Troy is introduced to her music and how he gets to practice the musical. It’s inspiring, because it involves the hero at his very best, reaching out to make friends with an outcast, and showing that he values everyone based on their merits and not based on transient constructs like social hierarchies. It’s special because they forge a bond together near instantly that to me, is far more poignant and deeper than that between Troy and Gabriella. Their bond leads to a solid music partnership, but even more importantly, a strong friendship, UNFAILING loyalty and support for each other throughout the entire movie series. Troy and Gabriella’s meeting leads to a solid music partnership, but not a friendship, and definitely not unfailing loyalty or support, with Gabriella more than happy to abandon Troy when things aren’t going her way. We will discuss more of this in later instalments. But bear that in mind. Furthermore, Troy and Gabriella do not have an esoteric bond. There is nothing between them that only they can understand, except for the fact that they’re together! :D On the contrary, we see Troy and Kelsi totally attuned to each other when performing in ways that are not demonstrated with anyone else. That’s why Troy always looks to her for a boost/confidence. It might just be me, but I don’t see this with Gabriella at all.

All this does is just demonstrate how the screenwriters accidentally did with Troy and Kelsi what they should have done with Troy and Gabriella.

“You’re the Playmaker here, Kelsi.”

[*beaming*] “I am? Do you want to hear how the duet’s supposed to sound?”

So they’ve clicked instantly. Kelsi now decides to trust Troy, a complete stranger, with her music. She is definitely speaking to Troy directly here, even though Gabriella is the first to move towards the piano. She wants to prove herself to him, now that he has given her the confidence to believe in herself, her talent and her music. More importantly, she has decided, in just a few moments, that Troy is the one. Don’t assume I mean this in a romantic way. Sure, it has romantic potential, as I will discuss later. But what I mean is that she just knows-- instinctively-- that Troy is the one who can interpret her songs as she envisions them. He has proven that he gets her, understands her vision and thinks she has potential. Therefore, she sheds the shyness and excitedly offers to play her song, finally getting a chance to show someone what she can do. Please note that Kelsi is not shown to have done this with anyone else. This is why, like I said in the introduction, she only has to NOD at Troy to begin singing a song with which he is relatively unfamiliar. (He certainly hasn’t read the score before). That’s just a silent way of stating that she trusts him to take the music and roll with it. And Troy is surprised by this, as well as her offer to play her song, but notably NOT hesitant. Compare this with when Gabriella found him hiding behind a mop. His expression is wary, awkward and shamefaced, even though they are just spying on the auditions. But when confronted with Kelsi’s song, he gives it a go without thinking, and clearly gets it right, because Kelsi is smiling throughout. I don’t like to speculate, but it appears her smile at the end may be directed more towards Troy than Gabriella.

The fact that she barely needs to prompt Troy to begin also explains why, in HSM II, she felt confident enough to teach him a new song on the very night of the Talent Show at Lava Springs. Previous to that, she had written “You Are The Music In Me”, with the expectation that Troy would participate-- again, I emphasise Troy given her pleading expression is directed at him. In HSM III, she is so comfortable with his style of performing that she lets him incorporate her into his dance routine, which I think is just genius and the mark of a true performer, such as Troy is. I’m sure that Troy needed coaching practicing to sing (vocal runs etc), but their rapport is demonstrated in HSM I when Troy is energetic and riveting whilst PRACTICING the song; so much so that Kelsi feeds off his energy and is standing up, dancing/miming along. Given that Troy does appear more nervous about performing than Gabriella, it would perhaps seem likely that the scene where Kelsi is rehearsing with Gabriella, during which Kelsi shows Gabriella how to breathe properly when singing the chorus, would better apply to him. Maybe it’s just me. I’m making assumptions, but I wonder about these things.

At the end of the duet between Troy and Gabriella, the latter is pleased by the song and how well it went, even though she hasn’t received a chance to audition. Troy, as I have said before, is moved. “Wow… That’s nice.” I have to make this point: THIS is the point at which Troy discovers his love of performing. He did NOT react this way after singing karaoke with Gabriella-- sure, he was surprised, but here he seems stunned, as though he has just released a part of himself. I think this is due to the very emotional and personal nature of the song, and Kelsi’s undeniable talent in expression an emotion into words and music. This is when he realizes that he’s good at this singing thing, and that he can express himself in a totally new way. Remember, performing becomes a part of Troy’s identity, because it’s his method of projecting his true self, his therapy, his way of releasing pent-up frustration and anxiety. And if you think about it, the lyrics have some significance to Troy’s situation himself, but not in the way that the screenwriters want you to think. We’re told to believe that because Troy and Gabriella keep looking at each other throughout, that they are what they have been looking for. But actually, given how powerfully Troy reacts to the song, what he has been looking for is the ability to express this strong talent that he has. In other words, it’s hard for HIM to believe that he had this strong and natural ability to express himself in song: it was there the whole time (when he was singing in the shower!), but he never noticed it. This seems a better interpretation than the unrealistic spectacle of him falling in love with a girl he just met. Therefore, I argue that Kelsi is the reason that he discovers his love of performing, and this seems realistic to me, given their intense chemistry when performing. And taking into consideration how Troy not only takes to Kelsi’s songs in an instant throughout the film series, but makes them uniquely his, I feel certain in stating that Troy’s development is possible without Gabriella, but impossible without Kelsi, who understands him instinctively.

“Bolton! Montez! You have a callback. Kelsi, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them.”

How far did Ms Darbus get before hearing them sing? She either has VERY good hearing, or decided to stick around for some reason.

Kelsi excitedly rattles off a list of places where Troy and Gabriella can come and rehearse including her house. Now, there are several other roles available for this musical, meaning several other people auditioning. Kelsi must surely have time with other people on the show, and the natural question is, has she ever invited anyone else to her house for breakfast and rehearsal? It appears that her excitement and openness is entirely down to how Troy has liberated her, given her a chance to prove herself and raised her self-esteem to its highest. Of course, Troy is too bewildered by his sudden opportunity to sing to hear half of what she says, including her “basketball class” comment (it’s basketball practice!), but it remains relevant nonetheless. This sets the precedent for Kelsi’s endearing excitement about all her musical ideas from here on out.

In short, this AMAZING scene is vital for plot and character arc progression, and is therefore the most significant meeting in the movie. Some of the points here are relevant for upcoming instalments, particularly when I discuss the friendship potential and romance potential for Trelsi.

TO BE CONTINUED

(*FOOTNOTE-- Of course, Chad mocking show tunes in musicals is amusing, as later on, he tells Troy that his mother has seen Michael Crawford in “Phantom of the Opera” 27 times. How could Chad have come by this information, unless he too, had been either watching or counting the times his mother watched? I don’t believe a word he says, given that he arrogantly claims that he doesn’t dance, after having danced when school finished for the summer!)

(**FOOTNOTE-- (”So why’re you so afraid of Ryan and Sharpay?”) We can ignore the inclusion of Ryan here, as throughout this movie, he is just Sharpay’s unwilling accomplice. That being said, Kelsi was visibly timid when she asked him “What key?” and didn’t even question him when he told her that HIS rehearsal pianist had done a new arrangement-- a.k.a completely changed KELSI’S song without her prior approval at his and Sharpay’s behest, and chose to just randomly reveal this information to her at the audition. We know this because, Kelsi wanted to know whether they had a particular preferred key. This leads to Kelsi’s surprise and disappointment (she doesn’t even question him on this creative decision with her own intellectual property), making her look useless and unwanted throughout. So actually, I suppose it is fair that Ryan is included here, but I would place Sharpay’s name first, given that, despite Ryan’s complicity in the ruining of Kelsi’s song, his intentions are never malicious or even mean. He simply wants to win the role of Arnold and thinks Sharpay knows best. Later on, when Troy and Gabriella win the roles, he is good-natured about it and doesn’t question the decision.)

#Trelsi OTP #TroyBolton #KelsiNielsen #HSM1 #Playmakers #IFrickingLoveTheseTwo #Deb'sAnalysis #ThisSceneisSOImportant #ToBeContinued #WhatI'veBeenLookingFor #TwinkleTownMusical #MsDarbus

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diamondarmored-blog1 · 7 years

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Just some stuff from yesterday’s post nothin’ special particularly--

@corditeheart Idek, it's so small that people think one comment speaks for the entire fandom

INCOHERENT HOWLING NOISES. I can’t even comprehend this mindset. Clearly I am still a summer child who knows not the struggle of fandom veterans. I was relatively late to the party and it’s still my firm opinion that people can do what they want as long as it’s not in an attempt to overwrite someone else. I sort of assume everyone else feels like that as well, so it’s never occurred to me to take one comment as law.

@ahmyhotdog I can only speak from where I've been. Most people in this fandom are nice. This is true. I've met way more nicer people than not nice. But I think part of the issue is if you don't want to people with certain people for whatever reason then a lot of others just don't seem to play with you as well? Or it could just simply be once you find people you enjoy playing with you just end up not looking for new muns to play with.

That’s true, actually! So it could be partly down to misreading peoples’ motivations for doing that? I would usually assume it’s because our headcanons don’t mesh, though I will say that’s happened to me elsewhere. I don’t think it’s the fault of the collective though, I think there are just arseholes wherever you go. Idk, I hear “x is a bad fandom” and I think of Bloodborne (INB4 SOMEONE IS A BLOODBORNE PART TIMER AND TAKES OFFENCE... @ them, come on, man, you know exactly what I mean here. BB is a mushroom cloud on the horizon for everyone else).

@eruditorem I’ve heard things but honestly ive never seen anything and everyone has been so welcoming??? so idk either. also i dont pick my nose, i pick my butt. i mean... wait-- dont reply to that

Mostly adding this so everyone knows Bri picks her butt

@legendaryturk Hmm. Well I'm kind of newish to the fandom at least for RP, and I think...things just go in cycles? I've seen ups and downs in various fandoms - not just 8, but also ffvii, doctor who, mgs, and tons of other fandoms I've RPed in. overall I'd say ff8 has been mostly welcoming to me? it's small, and tumblr being the animal it is, people may just flock toward others who share similar writing styles or fanon. Idk, if I find I have something in common with another mun, be it writing style or fanon ideas, I'll kind of squee with them over it, but I *never* do so with the intent of excluding others, kwim? that said, there are times where I feel like muns talk around me and there's a joke I'm not in on, but, I think that's just the beast that is tumblr, and not fandom related tbh.

You were in MGS tho//// / ?!?!?/q/1/

That part about not doing it with the intent to exclude is so important tbh. So far, I’m getting the impression that most of it is misunderstanding. I can’t imagine anyone I’ve come across so far being deliberately dickish in that way. Eg, there’s one person I can think of who doesn’t really want to acknowledge me, but that’s okay, cos I know they’re a heavy Seiferx[redacted] shipper and I’ve already said I’m not, so I’d not be much use to them. We still follow each other, though, and I can’t think that they’d be all like YOU CAN’T SIT WITH ME if I spoke to them.

@diosleighrp There's douchenozzles in every fandom who try to dictate what other fans can and can't do. It's quite unfortunate, but there are just entitled brats everywhere.

I can’t say much about this, I haven’t had it! Idk why. Maybe I’m too babbymode for the haters to have found. I have had it elsewhere though so I know what you mean and you’re right, they are definitely lurking somewhere. They’re lurking everywhere.

@lionseed Just like American politics, it's the small angry voices that get the most attention for some reason. Sometimes there's a bad experience, and people take that as proof the fandom is shit.

MMMM and there’s always people with a bad experience to talk about because nowhere’s perfect, so I guess it’s partly on the reader to be on it enough to realise that. I would like if people within the fandom wouldn’t say that about all currently participating members though :( Obviously people can talk about their experience, good or bad, but their experience is with a person, not all of us.

@underplater Okay, so. I will say that what I've personally experienced with the ff8 fandom is a lot of, "oh wow, I really like your blog and your take on the character you're doing. That's wonderful!" "Oh awesome, do you maybe want to do something with her/him/me?" "Uh... Maybe." Which... Means no. And then people are always all, "You just keep doing you, dear, it's wonderful," but no one sends in memes or replies to stuff? And it just.. I always feel like I'm pressed up against the glass, looking in.So I'd say my experience with the ff8 comm has definitely been that it's very insular and hard to for me, personally speaking, to break in on. ... Sorry, I'm fairly sure this was about my comment earlier? I think I was the one who used insular.... Unless, of course, I guess the problem could be me? But if it is, I wish someone would tell me so that I could drop the muses and just stop cluttering up people's dashes.

JJKASHDJASHFGGHFJDSJJHH this hurt me to read and is the main reason I’ve made time to do this reply post rn. I couldn’t remember who said what, to be honest with you and it surprises me that it was you, purely because you’re always one of the first people to come to mind when I think of “the FFVIII community”, you seem like a valued part of it to me, even if you’re not one of the most active. YOU ARE DEFINITELY NOT THE PROBLEM. I can’t really say with 100% certainty what *is*. With the meme thing, I think it depends what it is. If someone reblogs one of those “send me x and I’ll tell you about y”, I try to send it, but if it’s a starter or something that feels thready, I won’t unless I have an idea to back it with, cos it doesn’t feel any different to writing an actual starter for me. I’d rather do that, but I won’t do it uninvited/randomly because that’s putting pressure on someone who didn’t ask for it. If a lot of people do the same as me and don’t mention it, then that could be a big factor because people can well end up waiting for each other to approach without realising it. It might also be something to do with you having multiple blogs (particularly Reno) and that altering your perception. The reason I say that is because I had the exact same thing myself, I had a male muse in a fandom and everyone loved him - mostly everyone wanted to lowkey do him tbh - and I had a female one who got comparatively zero attention because she wasn’t as accessible to such a wide audience. Ellone in particular is a complex character and it’s a sad fact that people tumblr-wide aren’t always into the idea of paying attention to something before they interact with it. Reno is much more easy to interact with in a casual way, since he’s had more exposure in source material and is widely regarded as being a fun, not-serious character (though I acknowledge he very likely IS, and I know from experience that you will have put a lot of thought into him - I love Reno and anything that gives him some substance). He attracts people from further afield, people who might have only seen Advent Children or only know him through fan works. Ellone doesn’t have a movie or much fanfic, and she’s not really subject of the most popular speculation (lbr - by that I mean “who she’s sleeping with”), so she doesn’t have that far a reach. Your Ellone is so valuable to the whole community, you have a hell of a lot to share in your headcanons and your ideas. I haven’t seen you use Julia too much yet, but I’m sure she’ll be that way too. I think you should pick one of those ideas, pick someone who seems like they could pull it off and tell them about it, because I’m so sure 90% if not 100% of us would thread them with you. That’s all I do tbh!! I’m always prepared for someone to say no, but mostly they’re happy to have been approached with an idea to use as a starting point. PLEASE DON’T DROP THEM. You’re not cluttering up anything. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s sad to see you inactive on her whenever you are, tbh. I don’t think you realise how essential she is. I know it’s a small, slow fandom, but anything you post raises the overall standard for the sheer fact you did it, and it had your characteristic level of consideration put in. Course, I’m probably biased, cos I think I can tell when people work more behind the scenes than out front on their muse and the related background and I appreciate that, always have.

@misplacedxheroics .... I'm hoping this is permitted that I comment, as it was my blog where you read this post. I'm only addressing what I've experienced in the community, not trying to speak for everyone here. In my personal experience with VIII, more often than not, I see a lot of the insular behavior mentioned. Several blogs that start up are made to feel so unwelcomed that they leave or close up shop. Then there are the pass/agg anons, the ones who attack strong female characters (OC or otherwise) and 'correct' headcanons for canon characters. Whoever the person is, I have to believe it's just one single person. But anons have begun to reach out and outright tell people who they can or can't write with, which is baffling. And lastly, I'm guilty of this, and I'll own it -- We also become so comfortable and so familiar with who we write with we don't try out other players. There's also the overlap of muns playing with 'private' blogs. To me, the word 'private' tells me I don't have access to them. So what's the bother in following or engaging if everyone who writes muses that are in the fandom closed off to the rest of us? I can't say how the fandom should be run, I know I'm the least liked person in this fandom but this is my experience. A very polarizing, cold and unwelcoming experience. We need to communicate more among one another, set clear boundaries and maintain community and unity, imo.

I think private is just a word people slap on a blog to make it look legit these days, or as a get-out clause if they find themselves followed by some kind of My Immortal Eldritch horror. Least, that’s what I’ve seen in my travels. Private blogs seem to favour their existing friends, but be open to others who will bring them ideas. I had one blog I called private and that’s because I kept getting people saying “wanna rp?” and I’d be like “yeah okay” and they’d literally say “alright you come up with an idea then”. ? / / //???? Also... I’m trying to word this in the least mean-sounding way possible because I’m not one to shit on anyone’s parade, but if I’m really honest with you, I had to unfollow you on an older blog because you were posting vagues about people so often. I don’t mind when people vent, but it got to the point where it was almost every day someone was on blast and I felt like I’d walked in on a family argument. You can do what you want with your blog, it’s on me to unfollow if I don’t like it, so I did. But. Any oversensitive person seeing it probably assumed you meant them and that might have something to do with you finding it difficult to connect with people. You follow that up by slating the entire fandom when it’s not exactly a fandom problem, which makes people less likely to approach you as you’ve already indirectly blasted them. I’ve had people tell me more than once that you’ve posted something about me without naming me; notably when you made a point of reblogging that one anti-Xu post from an inactive account after saying you hate people who disagree with you “on purpose”. I had just posted a silly Xu support one liner that got a few reblogs. I don’t really have a fig to give whether it was about me or not, but it’s a good example of how a vaguepost causes negative ripples. If one person assumed that was about me, another ten probably guessed it was someone else. I was welcomed to the fandom with a couple of how-do-you-dos and an anon telling me to stay away from you or you’d bully me into deleting. That was the first of several. Then you got that anon telling you to stop sending me hate when you hadn’t (what basis did that have?), and one of your friends for some reason assumed I was the one who had sent it and demanded that “anon” show IP proof, which gives the impression that they’d been led to believe it was me for some reason. I know you said you didn’t understand the logic behind me saying that, but we’re both running Statcounter, you know as well as I do how it works and what the implications are of saying that. It’s also how I know the anons I’ve had that I’ve mentioned are not all one person. Maybe it really was a totally out-of-nowhere thing that person said, but when you combine it with the vagues and the assertions that there’s a split in the fandom that no one else (so far) has detected, it causes bigger problems than it would on its own. I’m not trying to put you on blast, this ain’t a callout post and I haven’t taken any of it to heart - it’s no big deal to me - I’m just trying to offer an outsiders’ perspective because I read this as you being honestly oblivious to it, and if I didn’t I’d either have to ignore your comment or lie to you, neither of which I think you’d appreciate - and I assume since you made the effort to drop in despite not following me that you would want a response.

#ooc.#in which charlie tries not to sound like a massive axe wound but probably ultimately does #you try being me and talking serious talk #the tone never feels right #tbd.#tba.?

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