#i think people might not want to believe that a story that has clear homoerotic undertones can also be about fascist ideology

[meteorherd]

i think one perspective i never really see when it comes to fight club is how it's not just satirizing masculinity, but it's also showing a very true-to-life pipeline of how feeling emasculated leads to following fascist ideology. i think the reason i haven't seen much analysis on that is because the homoerotic subtext tends to be at the forefront—and there's nothing wrong with that, obviously, i love the homoerotic subtext in fight club—but what i particularly love is the double-edged interpretation of certain scenes.

when tyler says the men of fight club are a lost generation, it's both a warning that fear of emasculation, specifically from white collar labor, is a fascist recruitment technique relying on the masculinity of the "good old days", as well as a devastating reminder that chuck palahniuk, who originally wrote this story, is a gay man who survived the aids crisis. when tyler's kiss of lye burns the narrator's hand, it's somehow both the marker of the irreversible damage that a cult can do on your identity and a visual representation of internalized homophobia. yet i feel like i've only ever heard the latter interpretations of each moreso than the former ones.

like...yes, fight club is an anticapitalist story, but i feel like people don't openly acknowledge that fascism can also be an anticapitalist ideology. i personally love seeing the film (and book!) as a warning that anticapitalism and the patriarchy can still very much coexist. AND it can still be a homoerotic story on an individual level! tyler durden can very much be representative of both.

#வார்த்தைகள் #i have been thinking about this ever since i rewatched the movie with a friend.... #it's very much a story that can be read from multiple lens. #i think people might not want to believe that a story that has clear homoerotic undertones can also be about fascist ideology #but it absolutely is and i think thats the beauty of how multifaceted the narrative is 👍🏾

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

what are your thoughts on book vs show mat so far?

Hi Nonny!

I wrote a lot about this when Season One came out and you might still be able to find those posts for more elaboration.

Generally, the show appears to understand the heart of Mat, which I appreciate, but finds it difficult to juggle all aspects of him. That is to say that they get how he's primarily motivated by his love and loyalty, even if he'll swear blue in the face that he's self-serving. How maybe he sees himself that way, too, because it's the narrative he's internalized— he tends to lean in on bad opinions of him, using irreverence as defence and humour as a coping mechanism.

The show isn't taking him at face value, but he can only be one thing at once (if that makes sense)? He's either a charming charmer, or paranoid asshat, bantering people enjoyer, absolute brat, loyal and loving (homoerotic) friend, abandons his friends, is brave and wants to save people, is scared and wants to run away. He's all of those things but it's hard to portray that level of contradiction on screen, it gets harder still when the story appears to want to red-herring the audience into believing Mat has real darkfriend potential. However, they've also given him better motivations for Book!Mat's loud but less developed issues.

Overall I'm enjoying the ride and who knows what will happen in this wheel's turning? They're making a lot of changes. Many I like, some I can't see the scope of. It's clear to me that the show is in the hands of people who know how to update the outdated parts of the story while keeping its soul intact.

(I do think Min's vision could backfire if they wanted people to love Min, however. Readers love Mat way more than they've ever loved Min, and they know he'd never kill Rand in cold blood, so I predict a lot of anger directed at Min whenever she moves against Mat. A real and true friendship would've been better, but that might still happen).

#wot show spoilers #wot book spoilers #mat cauthon #and some #min farshaw

[unlikely-course]

The tl;drs of this very long post, which is about Gideon’s arc and her relationship to Harrow:

-Gideon’s arc in gtn is a corruption arc because tlt is not just goth but Gothic

-Gideon “forgives” Harrow because of Trauma and that’s definitely not the endpoint of how she feels about Harrow or their past

-The narrative knows what it’s doing

When Gideon says “For the Ninth!” as she dies, and thinks “this is the loyalty they always said I lacked, this is me making good” that’s not growth, that’s part of the tragedy of the moment. Like, the Ninth does not deserve her allegiance! It is, as Gideon was the first to remind us, rotten to the core. When she dies, it’s for Harrow, and her saying it’s for the Ninth does represent on some level that she’s come to new understanding about who Harrow is and how Harrow views herself *as* the Ninth, but like this is, I mean. Bad. Harrow herself does not deserve Gideon’s loyalty! Gideon gives it to her because it is a relief. Gideon is very good, yes, but the forgiveness is a response to trauma. The second Harrow shows even the slightest vulnerability or regard for Gideon, Gideon is eager to make amends because she has been starved for any positive association to others for her entire life, and Harrow was literally the only peer she ever had to associate with. She correctly identified that resistance to Ninth society was vital to her survival and selfhood, but also that shit is exhausting. That resistance is also partially formed by that society conveying to her: we have no place for you, we have no use for you as you are, and that makes you hateful to us.

Her response to Harrow and the cavalier role then is pretty classic! It is a relief to have a place, to be able to stop fighting, to give herself over to a structure sold to her as one in which she can support and be supported, to resolve the central conflict and most complicated relationship of her life. I maintain that you the reader are also supposed to feel initially relieved and even cheered by Gideon and Harrow growing closer and then gradually unsettled when Gideon embraces cavalierhood and the increasingly invasive demands of the trials, and has her mindset adjusted in increments toward sacrifice. To feel her thoughts turn in this direction is alarming! This is purposeful, and it is purposefully mixed in with good feelings, the same good feelings that Gideon is getting, to distract from and inoculate you against what is happening just as Gideon is inoculated against it.

In addition, Canaan House is a very particular crucible. This is not only the first time that Gideon has ever been bombarded with new people and experiences, but also the first time she’s faced these unknown external threats, which pushes her to unite with the familiar (Harrow) against them. Her past and present environments have made it so that the compassion she comes to feel for Harrow gets bound up in the idea of being loyal to her house, the ‘contract’ of her new role, and the positive interaction it gives her until the idea of her offering her life to Harrow is not simply necessary in the moment but good and right. Redeeming, even, when we as readers know she has nothing she needs redemption for. 

Gideon is so very angry when she comes to in htn, and it is not merely anger at those who have wronged Harrow or anger at Harrow for endangering herself. On the First, she made a simple deal: her life for relief from the emotional state she had to live it in. Forgiveness for some kind of peace. And when she wakes up that exchange is refuted. Gideon frames Harrow’s actions as a rejection of herself out of low self-esteem but also in an attempt to deal with unresolved anger she has towards Harrow, anger that cannot fit into the cavalier role she wants to embody, anger that she attempted to trade away but in actuality can’t. Because the role she was sold, the type of relationship the cavalier and necro is supposed to be, is ultimately false. It encompasses very real and deep relationships, as we have seen, but the framework uses these real elements to its own ends, the Empire’s ends, and despite its proclamations of mutual care the relationship is always at the cavalier’s expense.

This is what it means to say Gideon’s arc in gtn is a corruption arc. It’s not that she becomes “bad,” it’s that the corrupting forces of the narrative have reached out and altered her, worn her down, seduced her even. This is Gideon’s first contact with the wider Empire, in the seat and seed of its wretched power, and it has used her goodness, her capacity for connection (and yes for forgiveness as well!) against her to further ensnare her, to draw her in line with itself. And then she dies for it, as it demands! Wow. And the we have the other side of that, which is when Gideon says “For the Ninth!” she’s signaling to Harrow that she has come to value what Harrow values, just as Harrow herself, watching in horror, has come to realize her values are very fucked up.

And Harrow has indeed realized that by that time! Harrow really does travel such a distance in gtn, but this is largely obscured from us just the same as plot details are in the book, by the limits of Gideon’s perception. And let me be clear: this is a feature, not a bug. It is not a weakness. It is vital! Integral! To the above, and all it entails for Gideon as a character and the overall themes of the series, that Gideon forgive Harrow without Harrow having “earned” it or made real amends. The fact that she does conveys to us everything I’ve just been talking about!

Furthermore, this story is in conversation with a rather particular type of Christianity, but Gideon’s Jesus parallels are even more widely applicable. Forgiveness is kind of a whole theme with that guy, and the book is also plenty interested in what it costs for a human to forgive as divinely as scripture demands (to forgive as the bond demands, as the empire demands). In some ways there are good things that may come of it, sure, but it is not a purely redemptive force for the giver or receiver. It does not necessarily resolve.

I myself can’t say that I ship Gideon and Harrow in the way people traditionally think of shipping, nor as I have traditionally shipped other characters. Still, I reject the notion that that way of relating to each other is not a central part of the questions the book is asking. Like before, when I was talking about Gideon finding something to believe in in the way the adept/cavalier bond is sold to her—although we see that bond encompass many different types of relationships it is in Gideon and Harrow’s case speaking to how romantic love (much like that forgiveness!) is not immediately and entirely redemptive. I mean, Muir does say the series is about how love can be redemptive, but I think can be is the operative phrase here, in that it’s also first demonstrating the ways it’s not, or at least not always the way we think it will be--the limits and then the power. Trying to set that aspect of the relationship aside (like a “sisters” route or something similar) is a weak and queasy side-stepping of the issue.

Remember that interview where Muir says something along the lines of like, she didn’t write it as necessarily romantic but definitely homoerotic? Yeah. 

Despite all that I do want to make it clear that I hope Gideon and Harrow work it out in the end. Just don’t assume the narrative does not understand what working it out might entail. And who knows? I might have the read all wrong. Maybe Muir doesn’t understand what she’s doing. But I feel pretty compelled by the textual evidence.

#gideon the ninth #gideon nav #the locked tomb #gideon the ninth spoilers #harrow the ninth spoilers

[vaguely-concerned]

Some T.F./Graves thoughts from their bios

I realize what a dumb move it is to base uuuuh basically anything on lol bios, since riot apparently change those like other people do underwear, but if I’m not here to build my castles on sand what am I here for honestly  

- I LOVE the description of their first meeting, it’s such a meet cute lol... these two assholes really did just take one look at each other and mutually went ‘so is anyone gonna enter into a life-defining homoerotic partnership with this lying cheating bastard??’ and then neither of them waited for an answer 

- Though at times Twisted Fate would blow all their shares and leave them with nothing to show for it, Graves knew that the thrill of some new escapade was always just around the corner…

I am genuinely a little emotional about how obvious it is that at the end of the day the money really is secondary to him - what really drives him is how much FUN they have together. (he seems in general quite driven by that sense of Adventure; if it were just about the cash he had steady work in bilgewater before he took the trip over to the mainland as a kid) it’s like the part of ‘the road to el dorado’ in the boat except more sincere... ‘you made my life an adventure bro’ :’) 

(also very funny that graves’ bio is where you learn that t.f. doesn’t always win or get away with his shit hahaha, in his own bio it’s played like ‘oh gotta let people win once in a while to throw off suspicion’ flasdhfjsad. it’s mentioned he gets caught a lot more without graves watching his back too, which also gets me in my feelings a bit) 

- one thing I find interesting is that t.f.’s parents aren’t referenced directly at any point (the only family members mentioned specifically are his aunt and grandfather, I’m pretty sure). I’m wondering if they were already out of the picture somehow and that’s part of the reason no one spoke up for him? I mean it’s fucked up either way, I don’t know what’s worse; that his people found it so easy to exile him because he didn’t have anyone to protect him, or that his parents were alive and JUST LEFT HIM THERE. like what the fuck. from how it’s written it’s pretty clear he was still considered a child at the time too, so, y’know. (Graves is described as ‘little more than a youth’ when he headed for the mainland while T.F. seems to have been a kid when he started being on his own, so I’ve headcanoned something like 16-17 and 13-14 for their respective ages of leaving home, with both of them around 19 when they met) I’m quite curious about what kind of internal family politics were at work for them to apparently all agree -- or perhaps be too intimidated to disagree -- to exile a child for life with no recourse and no resources. like yeah okay he messed up but that’s some next level assholery to pull on a kid honestly, no wonder he grows up to have a bunch of abandonment and emotional intimacy issues (and presumably some prime survivor’s guilt as well. oh buddy) 

- eternally entertained by how much meeting t.f. is worded like the ‘how they met their spouse’ section of a wikipedia article in graves’ bio

Across one table, he met a deplorable fellow named Malcolm Graves is also *mwha* so good 

- for fic purposes I would just like to give a moment of thanks for the paragraph in graves’ bio that mentions a bunch of shenanigans they got up to back in the day, very useful thank you

- from what I understand t.f.’s exile-causing transgression has been changed quite recently from fighting back to running away, which I am so happy about because it makes a lot more psychological sense to me and makes graves’ words in ‘burning tides’ hit so much better.  

- I like that their individual descriptions of graves being captured are so indicative of how they each think about it -- namely t.f. doesn’t want to think about it (repress! repress! repress! very relatable) but probably has the more accurate view of it: The exact details of that night remain shrouded in mystery, for neither of them likes to speak of it—but Graves was taken alive, while Tobias and their other accomplices ran free, while graves does think about it but sort of still has his trauma goggles on for it: During a heist that rapidly turned from complex to completely botched, Graves was taken by the local enforcers, while Twisted Fate merely turned tail and abandoned him. t.f.’s is obfuscating and refusing to engage in the emotional aspect of it, graves’ is much more emotive in the language used, like ‘abandoned’. the lol bios often teeter awkwardly between straight biographies and wanting to dip into prose/flavour text, I must say I usually find them very clunky and unsatisfying, but this juxtaposition works for me.

sort of weird the details that don’t make it in, though -- like the fact that they’re both aware that miss fortune was the one who screwed them over in the whole gangplank Situation? (I love that part in ‘destiny and fate’ where graves is gamely like ‘yeah of course I’ve got a grudge against her but that was pretty metal too so y’know *shrug*’ haha)   

- it’s interesting how much t.f.’s uh connection I guess to the cards is almost described as some kind of... compulsion/unstoppable drive in the middle of his bio and then fades into the background towards the end (because his priorities have changed to repairing his marriage now that it’s an option and by god I support him in that). I really do wonder how his card magic actually works -- it’s a cool mix of extremely unsubtle and undeniable sorcery (straight up throwing fireballs around) and subtle (’hunches’, being ‘guided’, just knowing things he sort of shouldn’t), which seems to be where it started

also it seems like he can do it with just about any playing card he comes across? would be sort of weird if it’s the cards that are special, considering he keeps throwing them away and also I don’t know a lot about gambling but I distinctly imagine that casinos don’t let you use your own decks haha. and t.f. seemingly can’t do magic just on his own, without them. so it’s a thing that happens very specifically in relationship, when all the elements come together, symbiotically sort of thing? could he do magic without the cards but it’s how he’s trained himself to think of it so he doesn’t realize it (well I honestly doubt that but just for the thought experiment)? is there some sort of spirit behind those cards looking out for him? is it lady luck keeping an eye out for her favorite boy lol? we know this stuff can physically change the cards like when they showed the crown in ‘destiny and fate’, and he seems able to ‘prime’ a card with magic beforehand if ‘double-double cross’ is anything to go by, but even then mf can’t actually use or release it. hmmmmm many questions  

- the more of my long fic I write the more I am questioning what the fuck these two DO with all the money they steal -- like they’ve clearly pulled off some HUGE heists, surely it can’t all go into like drinks and cigars and fancy waistcoats and tf’s seemingly unending supply of playing cards

do they have like. a bunch of small caches of gold hidden away all across two continents in case of emergency? are their buried treasures the stuff of runeterran urban legend and people go out hunting for them? Have they invested this stuff in actual banks? (actually no I refuse to accept that as a possibility lol if nothing else this would make it hard to figure out if they were robbing THEMSELVES sometimes, sounds like a lot of hassle)

- His people had always waved away concerns over primitive magic and “cartomancy”, but now Tobias began to seek out ever more dangerous means to bend the cards to his will. 

I’m having a little bit of a hard time parsing this -- does this mean his people didn’t believe the cards were magic at all and he’s the only person he knows who can do it, or do they know but just don’t think can be dangerous??? I chose one particular interpretation for my fic, but I honestly can’t figure out what it’s actually meant to mean haha

- T.F. getting a special satisfaction from robbing people who are Assholes is a good character detail (his colour story really goes out of its way to show that the merchant he’s playing against is a real shitbag, for example); there is some lopsided form of righteousness/sense of justice there, I think. and it also ties in with why I like that his exile was because he ran away rather than because he resorted to violence -- there’s this underlying sense that he particularly enjoys outsmarting people who’re dickish to outsiders in precarious situations (like his people) so thoroughly that they don’t even realize it before he’s long gone, without ever having to even lay a finger on them, because that’s a way to fight back while staying out of reach when you come from relative powerlessness. There’s a... lack of malice, I guess, to both of them that I find quite endearing, you can see in Burning Tides that even at his most mindlessly vengeful Graves doesn’t actually enjoy being actively cruel. ‘mutual sense of roguish honor’ is RIGHT they’re bad men but not Bad men you get me  

- All in all, Twisted Fate is glad to have his old friend back, even if it might take another job or two—or ten—to restore their once easy partnership.

This probably means nothing because as I said the lol bios seem an endlessly shifting kaleidoscope of canon, but I think it’s so sweet that both of their last sentences/’where are they now’ statements are about them wanting to repair their partnership (and do some Cool Big Stuff together in graves’ case, I do wonder if that’s foreshadowing for the ruined king game or what)

#tf x graves #twistedgraves #league of legends #listen overwatch trained me well in trying to tease something like lore out of the smallest little crumb of detail I cannot be stopped

[pavlikovskaya]

the secret history live blogged

forever mad that i got spoilered so much on this book.

anyway hello! and welcome to this … shit fest of the secret history by donna tartt aka the biggest letdown of my life

enjoy! i didn’t

ok whaatttt the fuck. he was walked over?? he was packed and squished under ice?? WHAT DID THIS BUNNY GUY DO TO MAKE Y’ALL SO MAD????? istg what the fuck. cruel cruel fate

four against one, i knew y’all were assholes. you sounded like assholes before i even knew what your names were.

i have to say, i’m not a very big fan on the beginning: hello, my name is richard, i am 28, this is my story. makes it sound like he’s in an AA meeting, but i’ll let this one slide.

years at home dispensable like a plastic cup? fictional history and upbringing tales? [*clears throat in relatable*]

my father was mean, my house ugly, my mum didn’t give me attention, must kill someone to cope and serve the aesthetic™ of rejected, unloved child, brooding and mad at the world. got it.

if richard, plain and poor is the one who kills the rich asshole bc he’s a rich asshole, i might relate to him more than i thought.

[*slams book shut*] okay. okay. am i gonna have to google every other phrase in this godforsaken history book or is donna gonna go easy on my ass?

sounds like a university i would love to go to. oh, pardon me, CoLlEgE.

wait, they’d pay him back for the plane if he GOT IN??? and if he didn’t well then what, soz dude, tough luck , such is life, see ya never? makes a lot of sense. should pay him back regardless imo but hey, i had to pay £50 six times to audition at universities who, all six times, rejected me, so.

three days on a bus and arrival at six in the morning? i cannot fathom a worse scenario.

this prof conducts his selection on a personal level rather than on an academic one, said with a note of sarcasm? is he … you know … ?

ahhhh these saucy saucy tea spilling french people, gotta love em. ‘listen, i know i’ve only met you three minutes ago, but i’m bout to spill some serious tea which i must ask you to keep to yourself and never mention for i have some formidable enemies in the literature division, yes, my very own department, but we all actually love each other. you know, in a very shakespearian ‘i shall murder you at the end of the play but for now, let’s make sweet love under the stars as a witch friend of mine who will later murder you watches’ way. all very platonic. but don’t say a word of it.’

who do you think was with morrow when richard came to see him in the lyceum and what were they talking about? GODDAMN IT, this french bastard put me in a gossipy mood.

bunny — short for edmund…….

god, i love a redhead.

richard and me being whipped by francis and his long, flapping black coats, love to see it.

‘pseudo-intellects and teenage decadents abounded and black clouting was de rigueur’ can I enrol ~now~????

francis talks to cats and bunny yells from his window down at the incest twins to stop snogging in the garden. i can’t wait to see which one am I at the end of the book

henry and julian driving off together? do i smell something…. gay?

THEY WRITE WITH FOUNTAIN PENS????? [*flashbacks from my childhood intensify*].

i do not understand most of these references or sentences and if the whole book is like this, i will throw myself out the window in attempted suicide even though i live on the ground floor.

i have absolutely no idea what they’re on about.

hwhat

francis in black cashmere and cigarette smoke brushed past him and almost touched his arm. how bloody delicious is this??

‘give him some flowers and he’ll enrol you.’ ok, julian is definitely the gay prof everyone falls for.

at this stage, i would rater have voted we kill henry, not bunny, but we’ll see.

‘i was tired of being poor.’ [*buys a tie with pictures of men hunting deer on it*] ‘that’s better.’

‘i believe that it is better to know one book intimately than a hundred superficially.’ donna tartt gave me the book and the reason both.

constantly chuckling at the way richard is so completely mesmerised and intimidated by francis to the point that he’ll duck into a doorway to let him pass even though they’re going to the same lesson.

I don’t know how a ‘bostonian voice’ is supposed to sound like so francis will be slightly british in my mind for the rest of the book.

cubitum eamus? cubitum. eamus? CUBITUM?? EAMUS????? OH! GOD! HELP ME! THE SWEET SWEET HOMOEROTIC FORESHADOWING OF IT ALL!!! throwback to when, in a much too similar vein, boris, upon being asked by theo to say something in russian for him, he said ‘fuck you up the ass’. my heart is racing with yearn. i can’t fucking believe i just read this. it’s time to bust out the annotation tabs again.

oh my gooooddd whAt is henry’s problem????? he reminds me slightly of number one from the umbrella academy, but in a meaner, more show-offy, bastardish way that’s supposed to showcase his superior intelligence over all mortals like fuck you, go read harry potter and chill.

‘meke (s.p.) you Wear it’? i take it meke is actually make but what on earth is (s.p.)? google gave me 238 possible definitions for that acronym and, needless to say, i didn’t bother.

i love how donna’s main characters are funny essentially bc they’re bitches towards other people they deem inferior to them in their internal monologues.

if you were drunk and ‘slam-dancing’ at a party, i don’t have to be stuck up or elitist to judge you and hate on you. even less so if you throw your beer in my face.

‘love that jacket, silk, isn’t it?’ ‘yep, my grandfather’s. totally not from that annoying girl in my dorm whose mate your mates beat up at a party last term for shoving camilla and throwing a beer in her face and who probably only gave me the jacket because she wants to fuck me, nope.’

‘let me get that door for you.’ that’s it, that’s the tweet.

when bunny said they should round up the ‘officious fags and burn them at the stake’ i yelled the loudest what the fuck i’ve ever yelled at a book. i can see now why they killed him. and i bet that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

okay, his true colours are starting to show. it’s even more unnerving when i think about the fact that like half of this stuff is supposed to be true.

called it, they’re boning.

i can’t wait until francis locks lips with richard. i am simply tingling for it. i hope he and camilla have a threesome with richard at this country house. oh wait no, they’re all here. eh, maybe another time.

oh, we finally get some juicy inside gossip

if francis and richard don’t fuck in that gorgeous immense library, i will riot.

okay, what’s henry’s deal? he’s nice now? and he’s oddly … interested in/caring towards richard? like who the fuck says ‘i hope you slept well’ without at least a little affection towards them.

AHAHAHAAHA, NOW I GET ALL THOSE MOON LANDING QUESTIONS ON THE TSH RELATED UQIZZES I STUPIDLY TOOK. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL. imagine them lot in present day completely bewildered and confused at the fact that the whole world is in lockdown for some weird fucking reason. this is the funniest shit ever, swear to god.

dogs get heart attacks?

wow they’re being dicks. that shady shit they’re doing’s so fucking rude aajksdhfkfh and to think i had initially thought richard was the ‘leader’ of their group...

okay, they’re either all into bdsm or they’re some odd breed of late vampires who don’t have much of the traits/qualities of ‘classic’ vampires as they have possibly diminished over the centuries as the species was becoming extinct. maybe witches. hm. or occultists. I REALLY DON’T KNOW!!

richard be like ‘what should I tell you?’ well—and this is merely a suggestion—, how about you start with what they’re actually doing when they’re not hanging out with you?????

i can’t wait for bunny to figure/find out richard’s not actually rich and be a dick about it.

two months??? what kind of bonkers winter vacation between terms is that???

is being constantly cold part of the dark academia aestehtic? cos it certainly seems to be.

what the fuck are these (sp)s bunny keeps putting in his letters??

i hope somebody (henry, or maybe francis? as something that would bring them together?) is fake rich too.

ouuuuu here comes the dark, mental stuff.

richard dropped out of drama to study the classics. if we were villains is a group of people studying shakespeare. coincidence? i think not. it is with dread that i think at the possibility that i might like the other more because so far, i can’t say i’m heavily impressed with tsh.

now i’m all for weird, fancy names, but marchbanks is really an odd one. who the fuck looks at their newborn baby and goes ben? nah. tom? no. MARCHBANKS! perfect.

henry winter saves richard from a piping cold winter. ah, don’t bother, i’ll do it myself [*jumps out the window*]

henry dislikes electric lights? smokes cigarettes without filter? reads milton translated into latin ‘just to see if a language with no noun cases could possibly support the structural order he attempts to impose’? can this dude be any more pretentious?

BUNNY! IT’S BUNNY! HE’S FAKE RICH THE BASTARD! ALL THAT ‘oops, forgot my wallet’ BULLSHIT, I THOUGHT IT WAS A TEST FOR RICHARD OR JUST RICH PEOPLE LEECHING OFF OTHERS (why spend yours when you can spend theirs?) BUT NOOOO, HE’S BROOOOKE! AND AN ASSHOLE! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!! serves him right, the asshole (that gay people being burnt at the stake comment really bothered me despite the fact that i laughed). and not only is he broke and leeching off of henry, he leeches in the most shameless, greedy, extravagant and ignorant way, ordering the most expensive thing on the menu fuck out of here.

ha! he got fat the bastard. found some sugar daddy to sustain you during your last month in italy or what?

this rabbit dude sure has some big balls for a broke ass bitch.

‘let me see your head wound.’ vs ‘your arm.’

‘that sort of tension which i, being rather more disinclined that way than not, am quick to pick up on. i had caught a strong breath of it from francis, a whiff of it at times from julian (…)’ sounds like we got another one boys, a straight dude with the best gaydar in the world. that being said, julian is the fakest bitch in the book so far.

this secrecy is killing the ever-loving shit out of me. argentina one way?? whY

lol if you’re gonna steal his book with the intention of having him come back to the apartment and see all that shit, at least don’t put it in such an obvious place where he couldn’t have possibly missed it. for such a smart guy, you sure are dumb, dude.

francis’ mother be like ‘give that bad boy a kiss from me’ and i’m like HE BETTER.

richard the worst liar. just say your mum called for fuck’s sake! you could get your boyfriend in trouble!

cheesecake cover: ‘please do not steal this, i am on financial aid.’ bunny: [*steals it*] the cheesecake: [*sucks*] me: serves you fucking right, pig.

THINKING ABOUT HIS HANDICAP. I’M YELLING. funniest thing donna tartt ever wrote.

i bet they’re all there sat at the table like nothing happened and weren’t supposed to leave anywhere at all.

called it! motherfuckers.

what the hell is going on. are they a gang of assassins or something?

richard: ‘you killed somebody, didn’t you?’ henry: [*laughs as if it was the most ridiculous idea in the world and how could you possibly suggest such a thing*] yep

bunny: gays are weirdly obsessed with food, don’t you think? also bunny: [*gets excluded from the bacchanal because he couldn’t stop eating*]

okay. i can see now why this book started the whole dark academia aesthetic

aight, that’s all good and great (far from it) but WHERE IS MY FRANCIS CONTENT????

going through the motions of hating and liking henry every other chapter.

everybody: [*burning clothes, cleaning the car, running this way and that to get rid of evidence*] francis: aight y’all imma take a power nap real quick cool? cool

there is hardly anything in the world i hate more than loose-of-tongues. bunny and that bitch ass hely from the little friend. god, i want to sock each and every single one of them in their stupid bloody loud mouths.

i want to know, i really want to know if there are any bunny apologists or … s…. s… [*grits teeth*] stans out there. don’t worry, nothing will happen to you, i just wanna talk.

if it’s henry and richard and not francis and richard,,,,, i will riot.

boy this henry guy smokes a lot…. more than me in my prime.

as if this dude reenacted the murder he wasn’t even present at in the lobby of a hotel just to torture henry. i can’t believe this character is still alive and has been for so long.

FINALLY! one francis moment that indicated there will be no more francis moments…. .

funny that, reading the secret history put something into perspective about the goldfinch for me.

i love how richard just casually throws it in there whenever he happens to mention camilla that he loves her and wants to kiss her and that she’s so beautiful and blah blah blah and then it’s never brought up again ever because he’s constantly going on and on about henry.

wait, don’t tell me it’s happening now, in the middle of the book! that would be most unexpected as there’s a whole entire book following.

henry is such a stone cold bitch, i wonder where they put his heart when they made him, in his ass?

don’t tell me henry went boxer dogs on JULIAN?!?!?! he wouldn’t. … would he?

i don’t know. i get it, obviously, the gravity of the situation, but going as far as killing him to silence him is a bit … extreme in my opinion.

thank you, charles, for being the only voice of reason in this madness.

okay, i understand it’s in richard’s best interest not to be involved, but they called him there to what, make him listen to all this and then send him on his merry way?

charles: well, if you wake up intending to murder someone at two o’clock, you hardly think of what you’re going to feed the copse for dinner. [*crickets*] francis: hey, how about asparagus?

henry: someone’s coming. quick! act normal! richard: [*turns to inspect the trunk of a tree*] [*footsteps approach*] richard: [*inspection of tree intensifies!!*]

you’re a bit late, bunny, just saying.

and now what the fuck is the rest of the book about? what do we do, let’s run, let’s stay, let’s go to the police, what do we do with him?

i love how richard describes himself as part of the process: we dwelt on it, we convinced ourselves, we devised plans when in reality, he was only there as an attaché, he wasn’t included much, almost at all in the actual planning process of it other than to give his insight on the poison route because henry thought it was his area of expertise so to speak when, really, it wasn’t and then was told about the other plan because they simply thought he should know. even then henry tells him ‘you can go now, if you like’ because there wasn’t anything they sort of needed him for anymore since he wasn’t going to be there, he was just a pair of ears. i like to think he was there in hopes to maybe dissuade them, try to stop them, tell them how mad it is, tell them there’s another way, but he didn’t do much of that either (not that I think he would’ve succeeded anyway, had he tried, henry’s one stubborn motherfucker). he didn’t come up with shit, he wasn’t supposed to even be there, i think, much less contribute in any way. had bunny not told him about the bacchanal, richard would have probably found out about it after it was already done, he was only included for the fucks of it and yet, he talks as if he was right there in the room with them, brainstorming ideas how to kill him. and i get how it only comes from a sense of obvious guilt because he knew about it, he was there and didn’t do anything to stop it, but he’s by far not one to have agreed to the whole thing or condoned it in any way from what he’s told us in book one. he himself says in the very same paragraph that he only watched. he’s very much a dark academia nick carraway type of character and i hate it. because i like him. he deserves better.

i’m pretty sure that the reason that serial killer autobiography you picked up in an airport was bereft of details is because no publishing house would allow such lurid specifications that might shock, disgust, enrage or give ideas to the reader in their book, not because the author is shy, richard, but ok, let’s move on. actually no, let’s not. you can’t expect the autobiography of a killer to only tell you about the murders, especially since in this particular instance, he was caught and went to prison. of course he’s going to tell you more about that than the killings, have you any idea what prison life is like? how much it eats away at your soul? how it crushes your spirit if you have one and how hard it is to get over? the time he spent in jail is going to haunt him forever and after such a long time in there, however long it was, you hardly think about your crime as anything but a huge mistake that was not worth the torment if you’re not a downright psychopath which, since he came out and wrote a book about it, doesn’t seem to be the case here but i guess you’ll find out all about it soon enough.

OH! a francis moment???? could this be it? please dear god may this be it.

it wasn’t, but there’s another one!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

‘it’s fun, i promise you.’ [*dies*]

if this is it, if that’s all, i am not forgiving this book.

‘i tried to pull him out but it was no good; his head lolled back uselessly’ YEAH. BECAUSE HE’S DEAD, RICHARD. [*scoffs*] ‘uselessly’

i wish i held any of my teachers and professors in at least half the high regard henry holds julian. i also wish they were half as competent and passionate about teaching as julian.

I DON’T BELIEVE ‘HE WAS JUST THERE’. IT’S BORIS AND THEO AT 6 AM IN THAT NEW YORK BAR ALL OVER AGAIN. HE’S ONLY SAYING THAT BECAUSE RICHARD WENT ALL ‘YOU’RE NOT HOT’ ON HIS ASS AND I REFUSE TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE. if they don’t kiss again—

i can’t help but admire the way they communicate sensitive information to each other in ancient greek, they sound like characters from jane austen novels while talking about drugs and saving face from tabloids and gossip, it’s rather amazing.

quite pointless to go through all that trouble to hide the cigarettes and deny having been smoking when the smell will be there no matter what and she’ll know for sure. i swear, all these seemingly smart ass people are actually idiots

my question is why would anyone, drunk or not, for any reason, leave the top down in the rain? why? what possible pleasure could one get from driving in the middle of the rain with rain actually pouring down on them?

isn’t linoleum a bit tacky for a house that looks like it’s been in architectural digest?

why is charles so on edge? why are they all always hiding??? camilla and her late night 3 am phone calls, her secret phone code with henry, charles mysteriously going out for cigarettes so brusquely without a word in the middle of the night and refusing to talk about it, what are they all always hiding?! nobody trusts one another with anything, it’s very annoying, to be honest. aren’t they supposed to be super best friends? you’d think that after a bacchanal and a double homicide, you wouldn’t keep secrets from one another, but i guess not.

ah, shame. was kind of hoping for some sneaky richard/francis basement action, but alas. what’s their ship name anyway, richis?

i just spoilered myself again, twice, by going through the tsh tag on tumblr and then looking for francis/richard fanfics on ao3 and finding out that francis marries? gets with? a girl who’s apparently called fucking priscilla. donna tartt really has a knack for weird fancy names, huh? i’m here for it tbh

richard you fucking snitch! you had one job!!!!!!

why the fuck are they still keeping him in the dark about shit? henry and charles quarrelled and charles is in jail and henry still won’t tell him what’s so bad about it and why he wants richard to handle all this shit instead of him and why bunny’s murder still matters and why why just why are they still using him as their pawn??

seriously, this exchange was about the worst they’ve had so far. he himself knows it: ‘there was a silence during which I felt acutely the hopelessness of ever trying to get to the bottom of anything with henry. he was like a propagandist, routinely withholding information, leaking it only when it served his purposes.’ THEN WALK AWAY. SAY NO. PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN. FUCKING—UGH!!!!!!!

they’re all so shamelessly using him… i can’t read. it’ll kill him, one way or another.

these ungrateful little shits i swear to god. richard bails him out, he’s all thankful and sweet when he wants him to do ‘this one little favour’ of taking him to his francis’ house so he can break in and when richard’s like i don’t have a car, he immediately turns sour and passive aggressive like you know what?! richard hasn’t slept all night and all morning waiting for your ass to go to court cos you were a drunken idiot and decided YET AGAIN that driving in that state is a great idea so he can bail you out and when you are finally out, you start being fussy and then it’s all ‘right. thanks a lot’??? richard doesn’t fucking need this shit! y’all are horrible friends. he’s not your bloody servant. how about you take that stick and privilege out of your asses and start treating him a bit more kindly, huh???

‘henry made me swear not to tell.’ WHAT. WHAT. BITCH, GET THE FUCK OUT.

this is by far the most toxic friendship i’ve ever heard of.

oh wow that kiss was hot. i thought it was just a speculation that they were incestuous with each other, but i-i guess not.

FINALLY it gets interesting. Mr Abernathy spilling some piping hot tea mmm

he literally just said i’d sleep with you if you got drunk enough to let me. oh dear god help me.

oh fuck it got sad. It’s patrick and brad all over again ugh always happens to the best of gays

finally richard my boy starts hating them, as he should. except francis, you’re a dick in that respect. he’s only joking for fuck’s sake, don’t get all butthurt, jesus. sensitive much?

uuuuuu tunts Tunts TUNTS! shit is hitting the fan. henry, henry, henry, our ‘golden boy’. nothing but a crook himself, the motherfucker. i’ve been waiting for this reveal since the beginning of the fucking book. if they gang up on him and kill him, i will never stop laughing.

it’s as if he’s begging to be excluded and hated, i swear. why is he being such a prick? does he love her? is that it? then there are a BILLION other ways to go about it, he doesn’t have to be such a shady bitch!! besides, wasn’t he in cahoots with julian?

‘i was depressed, i thought if i slept here it might make me feel better.’ that’s so precious tho….. funny, but precious. such child-like innocence in this grown ass intoxicated man, i melt.

clever, luring him out of the playground under the false pretext of a drink when he’s had plenty. think like a drunk

the only consistent, recurring and ever-present elements in donna tartt’s books are the hors d’oeuvres.

it’s so cute how charles needs him, i—

girls be like: watching a film, listening to a podcast, talking on the phone, having dinner, figure painting, filing nails, writing an essay and doing their makeup all at the same time

this so called love he feels for camilla is so unfounded and feeble and just … it seems so out of the fucking blue every single time he mentions it, i can’t read this shit. IT’S SO SEE-THROUGH!!

okay WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DID I JUST READ. WHAT. THE ACTUAL. MOTHERFUCKING. FUCK. one second he’s ‘i love her so much’ the next he wants to strangle and rape her?????????????? i have zero goddamn words. i am fucking speechless. i don’t think i have ever been this confused at something since i watched the turning. i don’t think you realise quite how done i am with this fucking book at this point.

i think i do hate henry more than bunny and i’m afraid i’ll like if we were villains better.

richard: [*takes sleeping pills*] also richard: [*surprised he can’t keep up with the film he started watching after taking sleeping pills*]

‘look,’ said francis. ‘let’s just go, if we leave now we can be in montreal by dark. nobody will ever find us.’ vs ‘well, i’m not going,’ said boris serenely. ‘fuck that, i’m running away. do you want to come?’

this henry bitch is the most difficult piece of shit i’ve ever fucking encountered. ‘you mean, it’s something you need to tell me in private?’ oh FUCK OFF AND STEP OUTSIDE, FOR FUCK’S SAKE. IT’S ONE THING I ASK OF YOU, YOU TWAT.

huh, i thought he was doing this shit on purpose, leaving the page face down on the table so that julian could see it, i thought it was some sick twisted plan of his.

lmao called it. everybody saw through julian’s façade except richard and the others and i completely understand. in a fashion much like julian’s, i think he knew that, he saw it, but just chose to ignore it because the image he posed and richard himself constructed of him in his mind was much more favourable to what he really was. i mean, fuck, who the fuck says ‘i hope we are all ready to leave the phenomenal world and enter into the sublime’ with their whole chest and mean it?

if you think he’s not coming, why sit in silence staring out the window, ignoring everyone and wasting everybody’s time instead of telling them from the very start this piece of information you have on hand that could save everybody a lot of trouble, time and overthinking? why be all mysterious and enigmatic about it? just tell them from the start, you’re not in a film for fuck’s sake……..

charles, one of the four of them (henry, camilla, julian and himself) might be the one i despise the least, almost like had he not been so brutal towards camilla,,,, but i don’t know if i can trust her, that whole scene seemed … staged somehow. i don’t know. i don’t know

didn’t expect henry would turn on julian too though. first real thing he’s done all book.

agatha

christie

writes

good

mysteries.

richard does seem like the type of fellow who would grow up in a household where his dad would strike his mum for no fucking reason.

okay so did henry punch him for that comment or not? what was all that father beating mother bit for?

#boysweekendinthecountry! 🤪 #partytime! #ignoringourproblems! #woooo!!!

oh my fucking god chARLES!!!

yes, henry, great, brilliant, fucking splendid idea to antagonise the man pointing a gun at you.

MY PAUL SMITH SHIRT!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHASFSHDGFDK

i love how absolutely nobody noticed fucking richard BLEEDING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM

‘expected everyone to stop and look at me. no one did.’ and they never will. that’s your whole friendship summed up in two lines. you don’t matter to them, you never did, you’re absolutely unimportant. just a tool, a pawn, a nobody. sorry you had to get shot to realise that.

‘’he shot me.’ somehow, this remark did not elicit the dramatic response i expected. before i had the chance to elaborate—’ ELABORATE WHAT? ELABORATE WHAT?! THAT’S ALL YOU NEED TO SAY!! GOD, this hurts to read. this angers me beyond words, but it also fucking hurts so bad…

nothing, not even getting shot can make richard lose his wit

disGUSTING henry and camilla moment. I HATE THEM

oh shit. did not see that coming. well, glad that’s over.

ugh, time to read how francis got hetero married :\

[*chokes*] DUE TO THE VERY EXCELLENT EXCUSE OF HAVING A GUNSHOT WOUND IN THE STOMACH I DIDN’T TAKE MY FRENCH EXAM YAY!!! god, i fucking love Richard.

the thing is, right, i read that line, ‘i managed to get out of taking my french exams the next week’ about three or four times and somehow, the following line or even the words ‘gunshot wound’ never made it to my eyes! i don’t understand how! but i’m completely happy about that given the fact that i spoiler myself on every single book i read by reading ahead like an idiot..

how much do you want to bet that it was the inn keep who called the ambulance and not those fuckers? because of course henry, dead henry’s more important than slowly dying, almost dead but not quite richard.

despite everything, it sounds like he had a nice summer in brooklyn. good for him. god knows he deserved it, the poor guy.

yeah no, fuck henry’s post-mortem hero narrrative.

lol, at least he got a nice car out of it. this book shows me once again that things happen just the way they should happen.

OH MY FUCKING GOD NO. NO. NO. NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT READ. I DO NOT SEE. I REFUSE TO COMPREHEND THIS PIECE OF INFORMATION.

i will not say a WORD on this, much less his letter. i am hurt, i am wounded, i am grieving, my head is full of thots and i cannot speak. i died on this bed.

ugh [*rolls eyes*] this fucking guy again with his sudden, out of my ass declarations of love towards camilla. JUST GIVE IT UP ALREADYYYYYYYY!!! TELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO CARES!!! (francis) i wouldn’t be surprised if she was married or engaged and just didn’t bother to mention it ‘because he never asked’ or some bullshit excuse like that.

I HATE HENRY I HATE HENRY I HATE HENRY I HATE HENRY [*deep breath*] I FUCKING HATE HENRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he’s telling me about all these people and where they ended up after graduation but not only do i not give a single solitary fuck, i actually don’t know who the fuck he’s talking about?? like who the fuck is bram guernesnesnica? rooney wayne? what the fuck do i care what jack jud and frank did?

the only people i do remotely care about are the professors (the saucy french teacher and the boring, senile dude who wouldn’t shut up and who kept referring to richard as ‘jerry’ in his grad school recommendations letter ahahah that is the content i signed up for, not dumb and dumber’s bar or whatever) and the cat charles left at francis’ country house who lives in a ten fucking room apartment in boston.

love how ionic the whole marion storyline turned out to be. marred another corcoran who looked just like bunny and had a daughter who, despite having her and his mother’s name ended up being nicknamed also bunny. i’m sorry, i just—i have to laugh.

[*slams fists on the table*] THE AGENTS??? YOU’RE GONNA TELL ME ABOUT THE BLOODY FBI AGENTS???!!!!!! CAN THIS BOOK PLEASE JUST FUCKING END ALREADY??????!!!!!!!!

a dream. a dream. if it’s a dream of henry i will personally shoot you and make sure i aim a little higher than your abdomen this time.

[*shoots the book*]

oh, you died and suddenly you have a sense of humour?

‘that information is classified’ [*shoots a torpedo at the book*]

‘are you happy?’ / ‘not very.’ vs ‘are you happy here?’ / ‘not particularly.’

okay. so. final thoughts: fuck this book.

good night

#jaden reads tsh #and probably never will again #my expectations were too high i think that's my problem #but even so this book was a whole ass mess #i WANTED to like it #i wanted to like it so bad!!!! #but i'm sorry no #it's just not happening #jaden talks shit #tsh #the secret history #donna tartt #long post #not tgf #richard papen #francis abernathy #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #bunny corcoran #henry winter

[wodrueckts]

Druck S3 and “abhauen”

abhauen [coll.] - to run away, to flee, to bolt

Alright, so this post is not going to talk about anything new or revolutionary or reveal anything mindblowing that no one thought of before, I mean we all know that “abhauen” - or running away - is a big theme in season 3 of DRUCK.

But last night I was lying awake because I couldn’t sleep and thought about S3 - you know, as you do - and it hit me just how consistent and prevalent this motif of “abhauen” is, for both David and Matteo. And it is probably all really obvious stuff, but I still felt like just writing down my thoughts in a more or less structured and coherent way.

(Warning: This is just a very long, rambling rehash of things everyone already knows so only read this if you’re very bored lol)

So, it all starts with the title of the first episode, “Einfach abhauen”, referencing the first conversation Matteo and David have, where Matteo says that if he could make a wish it would be that - just run away and get out of there. And it’s a relatable sentiment, I mean who hasn’t wished to just run away from their current life and problems at some point, and it is one that is echoed by David, the exact reasons for which we’re gonna find out later. But for me it hadn’t quite clicked before just how relevant this running away theme actually is for Matteo. Sure, I knew Matteo was sad and felt stuck in his life, so it makes sense that he would want to get away, but in the end “running away” was more David’s thing. But actually Matteo is doing quite a bit of running himself, it might just not always be quite as literal as David’s running away. 

For starters, before the season even officially begins, Matteo runs away from home. Things with his mom become too much for him, so he moves out, setting him on a path of rather evading difficult situations than meeting them head first (I’m not blaming him for this one though.)

Then at the beginning of the first epiosode we have a few more moments of him “running away”, in a sense. When he gets away from Sara at the party or when he dodges the police by saying that Photoship Markus is the one who lives there instead of him and hides the weed in Amira’s bag, or when he runs away from the playfully/jokingly homoerotic moment between Hans and Jonas in his bed.

And then he meets David, or rather just sees him at first, and I would argue - though I might definitely be reaching here - that Matteo’s persistence in trying to get to know him was also in a way him trying to run away from his current life.

I was always kind of wondering what exactly it was that made Matteo instantly so interested in David. Like sure, he’s mysterious and attractive but I personally don’t really believe in love at first sight (at least when it’s literally just a sight) and while something like “soulmate energy” or whatever is a cute concept, I usually prefer something a little less esoteric and more down to earth (at least in ‘realistic’ stories.) 

So, I think, one of the reasons Matteo was so interested in David right away was because David was new. Matteo felt stuck in his life, in his routines and in the image and expectations that everyone had of him, of what he’s like. But here is this cool, mysterious, attractive new guy, who has no idea who Matteo is, who has no preconceived notions of what Matteo is like. And while I don’t really think that this was a conscious thought process that Matteo had, I think the idea that he could basically start from scratch with David was alluring. With David there are no expectations of what Matteo should be like, he can just act how he wants or feels in that moment without having to worry about acting in a way that is congruent with the image David already has of him. 

And that must be very freeing, so it is understandable that Matteo would go after that but in doing so he is also running away from the rest of his life, trying to leave all those bothersome things behind instead of dealing with them and making his whole life more comfortable. 

Rather, he is constructing some kind of bubble with David that he can escape to, a bubble where he doesn’t have a girlfriend and doesn’t have friends who think he’s straight. And David is doing the same.

David already went through what Matteo is going through, but in a more extreme way. David literally ran away from a situation and an environment where his whole identity, his whole being, was actively and deliberatly disrespected, misrepresented and taken apart (unlike Matteo’s case where the dissonance between what people think and expect of him and what he really is/feels like is more due to obliviousness on the part of Matteo’s surroundings and Matteo actively hiding parts of himself) so all he wants is to start over. And being at a new school gives him the opportunity of a fresh start but insead of really using it to build a new life with new people, he tries to keep his head down and to not be noticed because he’s still afraid that what happened at his old school might repeat itself, so he contents himself with being by himself and not making any connections, living this fantasy of being a loner vampire who needs to stay away from the rest of society. That is, until he meets Matteo. Which puts him in quite a predicament, because he WANTS to get closer to Matteo but at the same time he’s so afraid of it, which leads to some pretty confusing hot-and-cold behavior and almost every interaction between David and Matteo ends with David running away in some way (the only times I can remember of the top of my head where he doesn’t bolt at some point is after the almost kiss - but here we have no idea how they actually parted ways so he might have just fled after they were interrupted and when Matteo invites him to the party. Oh, and also after his coming out because while he leaves I wouldn’t call it running away.) 

But even though he keeps running away from Matteo and his own feelings for him, he also keeps running towards him and into the bubble they’ve both created, escaping and running away from all the things he’s too afraid to confront and just letting himself be in the moment with Matteo. In the bubble it doesn’t matter that at some point David needs to tell Matteo that he’s trans if he wants to continue being with him, because that’s future talk. All that matters in the bubble is the here and now. But the problem with that bubble is also that it isn’t real. It’s this fake little fantasy world that they run away to, a bit of escapeism (@evakuality (sorry for the tag and forcing you to read this shlock lol) talked a bit about fakeness being a motif when David and Matteo are together (among other things) in this post and I think it kind of illustrates how David and Matteo are basically running away from reality when they’re together.)

This running away from reality is also underlined by how often they literally run away when they’re together. First they ditch the Abi prank meeting leading to their first conversation. Then they run away from the ticket inspector which leads to them hanging out outside of school for the first time. Right before their first kiss they run away from Sara and Leonie and the party preparations, Matteo literally asking “Hast du Bock abzuhauen?”, and after the kiss, when reality comes crashing in in the form of a security guard they are once again running, after which they spend a weekend hiding in Matteo’s room.

 And all of this running away is actually working out alright, up until Matteo makes the first step towards trying to bring this thing between him and David more into reality by breaking up with Sara (in a pretty cowardly and trying to run from the confrontation kind of way but still), at which point the bubble pops. 

David isn’t ready yet to face reality, isn’t ready yet to take the steps necessary to make this thing between them something real. So, what does he do? He runs away again and tries to burn the bridges behind him. 

And obviously Matteo doesn’t take it well, locking himself into his room, fleeing into a weed-induced haze trying to escape his feelings and pushing away his friends. 

However, things start to look up once he stops running away and starts confronting his issues. He talks to his friends and ‘confronts’ them with who he really is. He 'confronts’ Sara and the mess he made of their situation and apologizes. He even in a way ‘confronts’ his difficult emotions about church and religion and by extensions his mother which later on allows him reconnect with her. 

And even though he’s never actually run away from David, he confronts him, too, with his text, giving David the chance to try to stop running as well. 

However, it’s still difficult for David and he almost runs away again when it becomes clear that this is it, this is the moment where he needs to face his fear and be honest with Matteo. He only stops himself when Matteo literally asks him if he’s gonna run away again. So, he stays and and is real with Matteo, giving them the chance to become a real thing. 

But then something terrible happens and all of David’s fears become reality and David is running again, fleeing both literally, by going to a different city, and more figuratively by delving back into his fantasy of being a lone vampire, ready to sever ALL connections he has to other people, even to his sister. 

Fortunately however, Matteo does’t let him do that. He finds him and basically tells him to stop running. And even when David suggests that they could run away together, offering to make Matteo part of his little fantasy world, he refuses, because Matteo has learned his lesson. He knows now that running away doesn’t solve anything, that it only makes things worse in the long run. So instead he offers to stay with him if only he stops running, tells him that they can face the difficult parts together and that there are even more people who have his back. 

So, finally, David stops running and is rewarded for it with all the things he used to deny himself before, like love and genuine connection to people. 

TL;DR Both Matteo and David needed to stop running away from things to be happy. 

#druck

[two-are-the-trees]

31 Days of Poe Day 27: “The Man That Was Used Up”

This is another very strange satirical story from Poe, but this one, unlike most of his others, has some very particular subjects and a specific commentary on society. Poe uses constant repetition not only to reflect the narrator’s increasing annoyance with the people around him, but also to convey how monotonous many members of society are. Even with extremely strange circumstances, the narrator seems to be the only one who notices anything amiss. 

The story is told from the perspective of our narrator who is very interested in a very renowned acquaintance, Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith. He comments greatly on his flawless physical appearance and his respectable and prim air. Once he hears of his military accomplishments from battles with Native American tribes, however, he is obsessed with the mystery of his persona. Smith apparently has a reputation for being quite fearless and fierce in battle despite his reservedness in society, but every time the narrator attempts to learn more about this enigma of a man, he is thwarted by various societal inconveniences. What truth lies behind Smith’s excellently crafted facade, however, the narrator is not prepared for. 

As I said before, one of the most humorous and obvious examples of satire within the story is the hilariously similar way in which everyone talks. Whenever the narrator attempts to ask anyone about Smith, they go through the same exact dialogue, commenting on Smith’s bravery, the depravity of the tribes he fought, and the excellence of modern invention. It’s so monotonous that each person even gets interrupted at the exact same point in their sentence. This seems to be a commentary on the obvious sameness of society; how members of the public will just say or even think whatever matches the common opinion. 

Another attack on society of Poe’s time is the fact that the narrator is always denied the satisfaction of hearing Smith’s war tales by some common societal annoyance. He is interrupted by a passionate minister at a church service, an actor who is too loud at the theater, and the distraction of a card game at a gathering. It’s as though no one can maintain their train of thought long enough to get to the end of the story, making each time it is denied more and more agonizing. Soon, all the little societal interruptions become massive frustrations. This reflects a sort of flightiness about society; no one is focused on something actually mysterious or interesting, rather, their attention is drawn by simple, trivial things that begin to downright annoy the narrator.

Would I recommend “The Man That Was Used Up”? No, I don’t think so. It was very interesting to me personally and the readings I garnered from it are not particularly profound. It’s a little slow and doesn’t really have a big build up or suspense like Poe’s works usually do, so the artistry of his writing is a little lost here. That being said, are some pretty relatable digs at society and it does provide a clear look into the way in which Poe viewed the topical subjects of his time. It isn’t very long so, if you want to give it a chance, by all means, do. 

For more analysis (which contains spoilers!!!) please read below the cut!

The motif of human body parts is frequent in this tale, forming the first large chunk of the story and the climactic ending. The narrator begins his account by describing each part of Smith’s body in detail. He notes the shine and color of his hair, the well-formed proportions of his legs, his broad and heroic shoulders, and so on. It seems very odd to begin the tale this way and for the narrator to focus so much on Smith’s physical appearance. When first reading it, it appeared almost homoerotic. The narrator has nothing but praise for Smith’s appearance and mentions several times how appealing and handsome he is. He even claims to be a connoisseur of men’s bodies and finds Smith’s to be the very best. 

After thinking on it more and how these descriptions might relate to the end of the story, however, I also theorized another reading. We know that in the end, the narrator is able to see Smith being formed out of all separate human body parts, like a mannequin, until he is a full human. Smith lost his limbs and body parts in battles with the Native Americans, hence his nickname “The man that was used up.” The narrator also learns something about Smith’s personality; it appears to be true that Smith is a lot more tenacious than he lets on in public, as in private, his primness is completely gone and he throws around insults and racial slurs. 

I believe that the narrator’s compartmentalizing of Smith’s various parts in the beginning of the story not only alludes to the fact that Smith is made up only of spare parts now, but also the fact that the real Smith is not the carefully constructed Smith that appears to the public. The societal Smith appears physically perfect and very respectable, however, behind closed doors, the facade falls apart and Smith becomes a ferocious hothead without even a complete body. It’s implied that his brashness is what led to him being “used up” in the first place, as receiving that many injuries can only mean that he rushed into battle without thought. This serves as a representation of how many people “build themselves up” each day in order to present some kind of perfected image to the world. 

So, what do y'all think? Do you think the narrator is attracted to Smith? Is Poe making a commentary on society’s use of technology as a gauge for superiority? If you have something to add, please comment on this post or send me an ask! You can also use the tag #31daysofpoe to create your own response post!

#31daysofpoe #edgar allan poe #gothic literature #gothic #halloween

[tessatechaitea]

Black Condor #5

Five issues and five pure cheesecake covers.

Crud-for-brains? I'd wager my life savings that Brian Augustyn was an early Adventures of Pete and Pete fan.

The guys on the cover are just four young dude-bros stealing from drug dealers. They burn the drugs and take the money to give toward good causes. And probably also to buy cool shit for themselves. They're only human! Probably. I haven't read far enough along to know what they're really doing with the cash. Black Condor will find out after he beats the shit out of three of them. Sorry. I've been gone for awhile. You wouldn't have noticed since my long absence fell between writing the previous paragraph and this current one. And unless you ran off to take a desperate shit right at the same moment, the time between these two paragraphs was negligible, minuscule (I decided to use both words because I'm so proud of my ability to spell my native language (I considered misspelling "native" and "language" but decided that was a boring old joke which has carried more water than Capri-sun (that's a new joke and it's not very good because it doesn't make sense. But at least it's new))). But I was caught up in playing a stupid computer video game about dungeon delving dice trapped in a horrific game show. Spoiler: the dice never get to fuck. But I'm back now because this is blog is the only thing that keeps me sane anymore. You might think that because this blog was my link to sanity, I'd be more earnest. You might think I'd want to be grim and serious and discuss political, social, and environmental matters with the gravity and seriousness they deserve. But that's all the stuff that's doing my head in. So I'd rather pretend that I'm angry at comic books. Here's a secret for the few of you reading this who made it to this specific paragraph out of all of my paragraphs: I wish I were friends with Scott Lobdell. I bet he's kind of an asshole but he's the kind who, if he was getting his ass kicked at a bar for being smarmy and pretentious and smug (smug because he's a rich writer whom a lot of thirteen year old boys (and men with thirteen year old boy minds) think wrote some of the seminal X-men stories), he'd completely understand if you didn't step in to defend him. He feels like the kind of guy who knows what he really deserves (a righteous ass beating) and wouldn't think the world unfair should he ever receive it. Then he'd probably buy drinks for the people who beat his ass, and I'd look him in the eye and shrug, and he'd laugh, and we'd continue to not mention that time we jerked each other off when we were fucking wasted on single malt scotch and peyote. Black Condor and Ned decide they need to find the girl with humongous afro before she hurts people who don't deserve it the way the color changing white supremacist Nazi rapists did.

What does he mean by "completely autistic"? In 1992, I'm guessing that meant nonverbal with loads of stimming and maybe the ability to play any piano concerto immediately after hearing it once.

Karin was experimented on by Black Condor's grandfather's Society but she failed to gain the ability to fly. She did, however, gain mental abilities as powerful as his own. He's concerned that, being autistic, she'll hurt people with her mind rage. Please. She almost certainly just wants to be left alone by everybody in society expecting her to think and act in a specific way that she can't think and act, nor would she want to if she had the ability. Just leave autistic people alone, normals! They don't need help. Just because your autistic kid isn't giving you the kind of unconditional love you were looking for when you decided to have a kid that you would eventually love only conditionally based on how they loved you doesn't mean the kid needs to change. That's on you and your needs. Maybe just find a way for the kid to express themselves (or not! Who knows sometimes?!) and let them do and act as they please. Unless what they want to do is fuck the dog. I'm not saying autistic people fuck dogs but I am saying we're all individuals, you know? Use your common sense! And if your kid is fucking the dog, autistic or not, don't let them near the dog! The Merry Men on the cover (oh hey! There were Merry Men in the Sky Pirate issue! Brian Augustyn either loves old tales of daring adventure or LSD) have been robbing drug dealers to help fund a homeless camp run by a priest named Gamble. The priest isn't involved in the theft; he chastises them about their plans to get money illegally. But they assure him the money isn't tainted and he decides to believe them when they dump thousands of dollars on his desk. Doing the right thing is hard when doing the wrong thing will solve all of your money issues. If you're a weak minded jerk, that is! I totally would never sell out for thousands of dollars so hopefully nobody embarrasses themselves by offering me loads of money to write positive comic book reviews for their publications. Father Gamble refuses the money because he just can't be sure it was honestly come by. I would be less suspicious of the money and more suspicious of the white college kids trying to donate thousands of dollars to a homeless camp. What's really going on in this camp?! Why are these young men so interested in keeping it funded so it doesn't get shut down? Four probably rich white boys risking their lives to help the downtrodden? Sorry but this is the most aggressively fantastic comic book I've ever read. And I'm not using the informal definition of "fantastic."

"Which member of this organization could possibly be giving all of this information to these white boys and why am I exposing my plan to kill them before plugging the leak?!"

Maybe that's racist suggesting that the white guy in the gang is giving the information to other white guys. But this comic book has already asked me to believe too many fanciful plot points so I'm glad Augustyn decided the white guy was absolutely the inside man. The white guys name is Herbie and his boss, Mr. Soto, already knows he's the leak. I'm glad Mr. Soto is as smart as I am. Or as racist. Probably smart though! They follow him as he's trying to meet up with the college Merry Men to warn them that they're in danger. Luckily for Herbie, Black Condor happens upon the scene as he's searching for Karin. And even though Black Condor doesn't give a shit about this guy and his problems, he figures even a reluctant hero wouldn't just stand by and watch some jerk get what's coming to them. After Black Condor saves Herbie, he has to take him to the hospital because he was pistol whipped. Meanwhile, the rich white kids aren't warned that they're about to die so they drive off into the trap to steal more money that Father Gamble won't be accepting for his charity.

What a dumb asshole! Even the most ignorant of ignorant jerks knows there were only three musketeers! Unless he's so familiar with the book that he's including d'Artagnan along with Porthos, Mythos, and Harpos.

I never read The Three Musketeers because I was born in the late 20th century and exciting stories to thrill young boys wasn't a popular genre anymore because we had Batman and Green Lantern. Although I did once play the text adventure version of the book. When I did that, I poked fun at the idea that the author of it was writing the game so that people would remember Alexandre Dumas and yet it's the only reason I know anything about him! Although now I know a little bit more about him because I Googled his name to make sure I was spelling it correctly and now I know what a fancy lad he was!

Now I want to listen to an audio version of his book where every few sentences, the person reading it just says, "Oooooooh, my!"

The Musketeers (maybe I was wrong to assume they were more like the Merry Men?!) manage to get away with only one of them shot in the ankle (the others weren't shot at all, if that wasn't clear). They decide the best way to save their own lives is to lead the gun men on a chase through New York back to Father Gamble's homeless camp. They already know he doesn't want any trouble so why are they taking this gunfight back there?! What is Father Gamble's hold over these young men?! Luckily for everybody in the homeless camp, Black Condor is there still searching for Karin. He'll save everybody's lives reluctantly! Unluckily for everybody, Karin is also there and the gunfire and chaos freaks her out so much that she has a mind-storm! That's the thing she had before that killed four of her attempted Nazi rapists. And that's where the comic book ends! Lucky for older me, younger me bought the next issue so I wouldn't be stuck with this cliff hanger! Lucky for younger me, older me doesn't have a time machine so that fucker has gotten away with some pretty abhorrent behavior which I couldn't correct by going back in time and punching him in the nose. Unlucky for him, he's going to be a virgin for a long, long time! Ha ha! Take that! Ow. Older me just hurt older me's feelings. Black Condor #5 Rating: B. A solid rating that I probably wouldn't have given this comic book back when I was twenty-one. I don't think I understood just what this comic book was doing and wound up only remembering it as a comic book about a reluctant hero. I didn't realize how much of it was Black Condor trying to live his now much more complicated life while also continuously doing the right thing. Even when he just wants to hole up in the woods and say "Fuck it!" to everybody and everything, he still shows the heart of a hero when he's needed by people nearby. And he's fucking sexy hot too.

#Black Condor #Rags Morales #Brian Augustyn #DC Comics #DC

[go-diane-winchester]

Misha Collins is not the Professor of Slash Fiction

What Misha Collins has done to Supernatural slash fiction, has ruined slash within the fandom and added fuel to the fire of hatred that gay men are starting to have for slash fans.  I feel very sad for the teen destiel shippers in fandom, who have fledgling sexualities and instead of letting them explore these things organically and healthily, via slash fiction, Misha wants to school them on slash, a subject he has piss poor knowledge of.  Because he is a well known figure, in SPN circles anyway, they assume that he knows what he is talking about.  Actors and characters are merely muses, not the foundations blocks for a shipper's  happiness mansion.  You don’t need their permission or blessing.  You don't need their validation.  What Misha did was, he made destiel his personal brand.  Anything for popularity.  And he did it, despite knowing that the other half of the pairing is disapproving of it.   

A slasher's sexuality is being exhibited through the stories she writes.  Slash fiction is not about an actor, show, character or other external parties.  It is internal.  It has everything to do with the girl writing the story, and is a reflection of her sexual expression.  Once upon a time, women wrote only what they like.  If they didn’t like something, they steered clear of it, because that is what people with common sense do.  I, for example, can’t read fellatio because it doesn’t do anything for me.  I guess its because I am not a man, don’t have a penis and therefore don’t know what it feels like, so I don’t appreciate it.  In my stories, my characters don’t fellate each other.  If I read a story that is really enjoyable and fellatio makes an appearance, I skip that paragraph.  However, I don’t berate the person for writing something I personally don’t like.  She wrote it perhaps because she finds it enjoyable. 

Today, women are not really writing for themselves.  They are writing homosexually appropriate sex scenes, just so that their gay male readers, that are not the majority, don’t scoff at them and go “that’s not how we do it”.  Yes, the gay friends in this bubble are happy, but the majority of the slash fans that are mostly heterosexual women are left feeling lackluster.  Perhaps that is why there is a general trend for women to “grow out of slash fiction” and even mass media is seeing slash fiction as a teenage girl’s pass time.  Women, who are fully grown, and fully aware of their sexuality can’t pretend to like the stories because the stories are no longer appealing.  Of course, some Misha fans are A-OK with that artistic injustice because “Misha would love it because he is not a bigot”.  It has nothing to do with bigotry.  Sometimes, it is best to leave out the sex scene rather than make a select few happy.  Slash sex was never meant to be realistic sex.  It is, after all, written generally by straight females for straight females.  Throw in the bi females as well.  Its fantastical, as it should be. 

In early slash stories that I read, back in the lord of the ring days, ukes came the way women do, without a hand on them.  Why?  Because that is how women usually orgasm.  They write what they know.  However, young sexually inactive girls, listening to Misha and his LGBT slash tirades, endeavor to make stories “accurate”.  So now we have lots of young girls, growing up with a better understanding of gay sex than of straight sex.  I have even heard a few saying that they wanted to be gay men.  Misha is interfering with a natural process and confusing teenagers, which bites because as it is, sexuality is so confusing for young people.  Proper slash or classic slash is an artistic manifestation of straight sex.  The drivel that we have now is political correct, inclusive nonsense that gay men didn’t ask for and women don’t feel overwhelming enthusiastic about.  I don’t know what the ramifications of that is going to be other than women deserting slash fiction. 

I would like to point out at this juncture, that as far as SPN is concerned, Misha is a culprit.  But there were one more culprit.  There was one who communicated with general slash fans around the early 2000s.  His name was minotaur.  And he tried to school slashers on how to write gay sex correctly because they weren’t doing a good enough job for his liking.  He had no business doing that.  It has nothing to do with him.  Slash fiction is for woman.  Gay fiction or bara is for men. 

For Supernatural, I like J2 alternate universe.  There aren't very many other people left to love on this show.  They are all back stabbers.  If I write a story, Jensen is always the baby.  Baby is the word I used to use during my Lord of the Rings days, before I realized that the word uke existed.  Its not the correct way to write Jensen.  It is my favorite way of writing Jensen.  I like Jensen as the baby.  When I write a story where I need the baby to be a kidnap victim or abused stepchild or ethereal unattainable prince, I like to see Jensen in that role.  It has nothing to do with him.  It is how I like to write.  Its about my perception.  He is just a muse.  

I like seeing Jared as the daddy.  Go ahead and laugh.  I still smirk about this embarrassing word that I used before I know seme existed.  I like when Jared as the savior.  I cant see him as a baby because he is so fricking huge and tall, with the rippling muscles, expansive torso and broad shoulders.  Its is, for me at least, too easy to write him as a ferocious warrior, then as an abused baby locked away in a dungeon. 

P.S.:  THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE JARED GIFS. 

The Jensen and Jared in my stories are mere avatar of the real actors.  They are manifestations of my sexuality and what I like sexually.  They have nothing to do with the real actors.  That is what hellers fail to understand.  They think that whatever they read in a destiel story is a manifestation of the truth.  That is why destiel and cockles stories are not imaginative.  J2 stories are so diverse because the actors themselves, despite being slash friendly, have never interfered with the genre.  They allowed the art form to grow at its own steady pace, organically.

Only the destiel fans do that now.  Because Misha turned an innocent art form into a drug, and he is their only dealer.  And you know how druggies love their dealers.  Reader opinions matter but not about who should be the baby and who should be the daddy.  You can't tell others how to navigate their sexual expression.  That is what Misha fails to understand.  Misha tries to show that he is an alpha.  So he is, essentially telling his fans what to write.  That is why Cockles stories are one trick ponies.  Artistic growth is completely stunted.  They are mostly High School AUs with the Jock Dean and Nerd Cas falling in love.  Even Twist and Shout was like that.  Except that Cas died in the end.  From AIDS.  No wonder gay men hate slash fans.  AIDS has no place in a slash story.  Its not a trope or a fetish.  Have some respect.  And who made hellers think slash was a gay thing?  Misha.  So blame him. 

Mpreg is proof that slash is a female art form.  The only other people who write mpreg now, write it as a creative exercise.  I used to feel embarrassed by mpreg especially if men found out about it.  But now I am fiercely protective of it.  Because its one of the last remnants of female sexuality in slash fiction. You don’t see mpreg popping up as frequently in bara, because gay men don’t fall pregnant and therefore don’t have a natural maternal desire.  Mpreg is big in SPN.  The brothers, Cas, even Kevin have gotten knocked up.  SPN is like a regular maternity ward.  I realize that Misha might not know anything about mpreg because he hasn’t spoken about it in his panels.  If this is true, then I hope it stays that way.  I don't want Misha to ruin mpreg, because imagine poor Jensen dealing with that. 

I was under the assumption that Misha doesn't know what tin hatting is.  I assumed that he thought Cockles is just an RPS pairing.  His talks about Cockles has started to make me think otherwise.  Misha doesn't realize that he is playing with fire.  And the day the penny drops for Jensen, he is going to be furious.  He is going to realize Misha is the reason his and Jared's reputation are completely tarnished.  He is going to realize Misha is the reason he and Jared get so many threats.  That is why, I wish Misha will stop talking about Cockles.  Just his interference, by itself, has turned his destiel shippers into a militant group.  Notice how his sastiel fans don't do that.  It is because he doesn't indulge sastiel.  In other words, he neglects the expendable fans, because he assumes, incorrectly, that destiel gives him more clout. 

Because he is schooled hellers for the past ten years, they are brainwashed into making slash fiction something it isn't.  It is not an expression of gay rights.  Its not a sexuality and its not about making the writers do what you want.  Even having a civil discussion about slash fiction is hampered because the answer to anything, from that camp, is usually “Well, Misha doesn’t have a problem with it”.  Misha is not your father.  You don’t have to see slash fiction or anything else through the Misha Collins lens.  Use your own common sense.  Normal destiel fans understand this.  Why cant hellers?

You don't need actor validation to enjoy slash fiction.  In fact, in my ideal world, I would hope that the actors never heard about slash fiction.  Personally, I find it mortifying.  The actors [decent ones anyway] are not there to fulfill your sexual needs.  They are not sex dolls.  They are only muses because you love them.  That doesn't mean they have to approve of your fetishes.  The proper definition of slash fiction should be:  Slash fiction is an escapist fantasy platform showcasing stories and artwork, by women for women, about male subjects in a romantic setting.  Leaving out the words “homoerotic” does away with multiple confusions, because slash is not gay porn.  This is what Misha believes and his own shipper fans got angry with him for calling destiel pseudo-porn.  Misha researched slash fiction on Wikipedia, like the complete idiot that he is, and it gave him biased, incorrect information.  It is the first time I actually saw destiel fans questioning Misha about this subject.  Even they acknowledge he doesn't know what he is talking about. 

Misha Collins is singlehandedly ruining something he had no business getting involved in.  I don’t really bother about what minotaur did to other slash fans, because originally it didn’t disturb my little corner of the internet.  Misha had ruined slash in this fandom.  When slash was true to itself, in the classical sense, women were still honest with themselves about their sexuality.  Bullying was infrequent and slash fiction was not ruined beyond repair.  Gay men weren't getting infuriated because women were fetishizing their lifestyle.  Now the hellers are bleeding into other fandoms and influencing their thought processes.  Misha's rotten influence has had a domino effect.  I really wish he would read this and stop.

#misha #jensen ackles #destiel #cockles #jenmish #jensen and misha #deancas #casdean #dean x castiel #castiel #cas #bi dean #dean is bi #dean and cas #jenmisheel #dean winchester #destiel headcanon #jdvm #misha collins #sam winchester #sam and dean #jensen and jared #wincest #supernatural #jared padalecki #padackles #performing dean #sabriel #sammy winchester #j2

[mst3kproject]

415: The Beatniks

 While I am, it must be admitted, as old as dirt, I am not quite old enough to have any firsthand experience with Beatnikery.  I am nevertheless under the impression that it involves black turtlenecks, round sunglasses, unkempt facial hair, and bad poetry.  None of these make any sort of appearance in The Beatniks.

Eddie Crane is the leader of a small gang of very stupid criminals.  I assume they chose him for the position because he’s the only guy they know who actually started seventh grade.  They’re celebrating their latest robbery when forces beyond Eddie’s control, in the form of a talent agent who looks weirdly like Sir Ian McKellan and a TV station manager who looks worryingly like Arch Hall Sr., conspire to propel him to stardom whether he likes it or not!  Eddie doesn’t want to be That Guy who let fame go to his head and forgot about his friends, so the gang tags along, looking for places to vandalize and people to murder until Eddie just can’t keep the charade up any longer.

I wonder if names like Bud Eagle and Eddie Crane are meant to suggest that these guys can sing like birds.  If so, it would have behooved them to choose birds that are actually known for singing.  Then again, I guess Bud Nightingale and Eddie Sparrow wouldn’t have sounded nearly as tough.

The Beatniks is actually a fairly engaging and watchable movie.  It moves along at a good pace, never allowing the viewer to get bored, but it’s full of contrived situations and awful dialogue spoken by barely-competent actors, so it’s perfect for MST3K.  It’s also got a fair amount going on below the surface for me to analyze, and the songs are… uh…

Well, they’re not good.  They’re not very memorable (except the first one, which sticks in the mind not because of the tune but because of the refrain my sideburns don’t need no sympathy. What the fuck?), they sound more like Glenn Miller than anything that would have been popular by 1960, and the lyrics are maudlin and predictable, but they’re nowhere near as awful as anything sung by Arch Hall Jr.  Tony Travis has a decent set of pipes and I can see him being the Clay Aiken or Josh Groban of his day, enormously popular with little old ladies and middle-aged gay men.

That’s not what we're shown in the movie, though.  If the writers had tried to make Eddie’s meteoric rise to stardom as ridiculous and implausible as possible, they couldn’t have done much better than this (‘meteoric’ is a particularly apt description of Eddie, who shines very bright for ten seconds and then hits the ground real hard).  His success is so sudden and so total, from small-time crook to household name in no more than a few days, that it feels like at any moment we’re going to see a bunch of people stand up and shout, “April Fool!”

I don’t know how these things worked in the fifties, of course, but I seriously doubt talent agents just wandered the wastes signing random people they got into car accidents with.  Most actors and singers have to put in years of work before anybody notices them – Harrison Ford was George Lucas’ carpenter and Demi Moore was a girl of the week in Master Ninja!  With Eddie, everything is just handed to him, and it’s really rather detrimental to his character.  We don’t see him as somebody who deserves success, because he wasn’t depicted as having any ambitions or any desire to reach beyond what he is.  He’s just some jerk who had a stroke of good luck.

This is topped off by the movie’s I Accuse My Parents-like unwillingness to really depict Eddie was a criminal.  The gang’s store robbery at the beginning seems to be something they’ve done so often that the owners are expecting them – the man asks, “don’t you guys ever rob anyone else” and seems more resigned than terrified.  Eddie issues some mild threats but the actual stealing is done by his friends, and as soon as stardom knocks on Eddie’s door, he abandons violence entirely.  It’s his buddies who trash the hotel room and shoot the barkeep, while Eddie begs them not to, as if putting on a suit and tie has suddenly transformed him into a grownup.

Like many 50s and 60’s Rebellious Teens movies, The Beatniks is intended as a warning.  It’s a little more subtle about it than things like Reefer Madness, but not too much.  The message here is that someday, even the angriest of teen rebels will grow up, and when they do, they may find that leaving their pasts behind is not as easy as they thought.  It turns out to be particularly difficult for Eddie, whose bad decisions are embodied in his reckless and violent friends and follow him in a very literal sense indeed.  He wants to leave that past behind for a new career and a more adult relationship, but they catch up with him every time.

I guess this is why Eddie’s rise has to be so sudden – so that he can’t have any opportunity to ditch these people from his past.  That sort of makes sense, but it’s still lazy writing and leaves Eddie with almost no character whatsoever.  Throughout the film he appears mostly as somebody being manhandled by destiny, both his rise and his fall so entirely out of his own control that he’s still basically a victim even when good things are happening to him.

The single most confusing thing in the movie is Eddie’s romance with Agent Magneto’s blonde secretary, Helen.  It’s easy to see why he likes her: Helen may not be what is usually considered beautiful (the Brains compared her to “Donald Sutherland in drag”) but she’s clearly intelligent and sophisticated, well-dressed and good-mannered.  What you find yourself wondering is what she sees in him. He’s not witty or charming and the movie suggests he’s quite a bit younger than she is.

Of course, you’re not supposed to ask that because the women in this movie are not characters, they’re symbols.  Blonde, glamorous Helen represents the glittering world of stardom that Eddie is being ushered into.  Clingy, criminal Iris is Eddie’s past, with its obsession with money and good times.  She still lives with her mother, making her also a representation of childhood, while independent Helen with her own apartment is an adult.

Is this misogynistic?  Eh, maybe, but the rest of the gang are more symbols than characters, too.  The one who stands out most is Mooney, the guy who actually kills the fat barkeep and stabs Agent Gandalf, and then insists he did it for Eddie, since these men would have gone to the cops if he hadn’t. The movie makes it clear that his two victims said no such things, and Eddie is pretty sure that Mooney is lying about it, but the audience may get the impression that Mooney believes it.  He’s terrified of being caught and sent to jail and lashes out at anyone who might be a threat.  Claiming he’s doing it for Eddie is just a way of telling himself that he’s not really being selfish and impulsive.

Some have seen this as homoerotic – that Mooney is in love with Eddie and tries to protect him for that reason, while he’s actually just lashing out at the things that threaten to take the object of his love away from him.  I can definitely see that, but I think what the writers may have been going for is that Mooney represents selfishness.  The movie is saying that the things juvenile delinquents do are out of selfishness – the group robs the store for money and booze, drive the other restaurant patrons out as they seek a good time, and kill the barkeep out of fear.  The same fear selfishly keeps them from seeking medical help for Red.  They spare no thought for their effect on society as a whole, but society is something we are all part of whether we like it or not, and so our selfish acts will eventually come back on us, as they do on Eddie.

The love stories in the movie fit in with this theme, too.  Iris’ love for Eddie is about what he can provide her with – money and songs when he’s just a criminal, and furs and fame once he becomes a star.  Helen’s love for him, and his for her, is unselfish: each wants the other’s happiness, even if there is a personal cost.  Eddie tries to distance himself from Helen when he fears he’ll drag her down with him, she tries to encourage him to do what’s right even if it means she loses him.  If we believe that Mooney loves Eddie, then this love is also selfish.  He wants Eddie to himself, and destroys the things that threaten to separate them.

This is a really bad movie but like a number of other MST3K features, including Manos and The Magic Sword, it’s got a lot for me to get my analytical teeth into.  It makes a great episode not only because the movie is so entertainingly terrible and the riffing so good, but because enough of its seventy-seven minutes made it into the theatre that you can pick out all this stuff and chew on it.  It’s not a movie I would have watched without MST3K, but I’m kinda glad I did.

#mst3k #reviews #the beatniks #60s

[gosherlocked]

Sherlock and The Merchant of Venice

Yesterday I watched a production of “The Merchant of Venice” at a German Shakespeare festival. It was the first time I saw the play after watching Sherlock and I think there are some interesting parallels. Today many scholars see a homoerotic element in the story and I agree. 

The story basically is this: Antonio, a Venetian merchant, borrows money so that his friend Bassanio can court a woman. In doing so, Antonio risks his own money and status and, in the end, also his life. Of course there is much more to the play but this is where I see the Sherlock parallels. Because throughout the performance I kept thinking of Sherlock in TRF sacrificing his reputation, his home, his work, and even his life to keep John Watson safe. And in TSoT he goes out of his way to ensure that John can have a happy wedding with the woman he has chosen. 

At the end of the play we get three happy couples - while Antonio remains alone. Remember, this is a Shakespearean comedy where usually all the heroes get a wife or a husband. But not here. On the outside for Antonio nothing has changed: he is still wealthy and successful, he does not have to fear for his reputation or life anymore. 

To me, the strongest proof that Antonio is in love with Bassanio is the very beginning of the play. Antonio starts by declaring:

In sooth, I know not why I am so sad: It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself.

The classic embodiment of melancholy. He is asked if he is worrying about his ships carrying valuable freight the loss of which might endanger his business. Which he clearly denies:

Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it, My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad.

Upon which clever Salarino draws a conclusion:

Why, then you are in love. 

Which Antonio counters with a short:

Fie, fie!

The Shakespeare Dictionary says about this expression: “to express annoyance or disapproval – ‘shame on you!’, ‘rubbish!’ etc.

Well, methinks the lord doth protest too much. Because then Bassanio enters the scene and after some comic exchanges with other characters Antonio quickly comes to the point:

Well, tell me now what lady is the same To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage, That you to-day promised to tell me of?

Now this is quite logical: Antonio is sad. He denies that he worries for his business. He gets angry when someone alludes to love. Then it becomes clear that he has been thinking about Bassanio who is in love with a woman. 

While in Hamlet right from the beginning there is an explanation for the melancholy, Antonio’s disposition is never clarified. He is not in love with a woman, he does not fear for his ships, but he is willing to sacrifice everything including his own life to the happiness of his bosom friend Bassanio. Portia calls Antonio “the bosom lover of my lord”, i.e. Bassanio. And these are Antonio’s words while expecting to be killed on the spot:

Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you well! Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you; (…)

Commend me to your honourable wife: Tell her the process of Antonio's end; Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death; And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love.

Tagging some people and anyone who is interested please feel free to discuss. 

@sherlocks-salty-blog, @ebaeschnbliah, @sagestreet, @sarahthecoat, @tendergingergirl, @tjlcisthenewsexy, @possiblyimbiassed, @raggedyblue, @someovermind, @the-7-percent-solution, @shylockgnomes, @sherlockshadow, @221bloodnun

#sherlock #shakespeare #the merchant of venice #antonio #bassanio #homosexuality #renaissance #theat

[archivingspn]

“Fandom At The Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships” By Katherine Larsen and Lynn S. Zubernis

(217-222 pg) Of course, the people most often starring in fanfiction, both in character form and “real person” fiction, are Jared and Jensen. Fans spend a significant amount of time worrying about what the actors think of this particular fannish practice, as we’ve seen. Padalecki was surprised by how many fans liked to think about him and his costar together in a more than friendship way, but more amused than scandalized.

Padalecki: I was not expecting that. It’s so abundantly clear that we are not homosexual, that there’s anything wrong with those who are, but it’s so strange to me. … Platonically, I know they enjoy that we are great friends, because we ARE great friends, and that comes across, and that I can understand. I think you can tell when someone’s having fun on camera. That’s why Oceans 11 did so well, because it just looked like they were having such a fun time. They’re goofing around and it’s fun to watch and see people really laughing and having a good time. The other part, I don’t really understand so I have no theory other than, I don’t know, maybe boredom?

What about the analogous stereotype that guys find the idea of two good looking women together hot?

Padalecki: Sure, oh sure. I see. I can see that, but I think the reason it’s so funny is that it’s so far from reality. I’m just like what? But sure, you know, of course, yeah – to me it might be bizarre, but whatever floats their boat. I’m glad y’all asked me about that, because it’s one thing I don’t really understand, and not having any experience with the human mind, or the ins and outs, it’s bizarre, it’s one of the things you go “alright…”. I guess I will choose to take it as flattery.

It seems to be just that. After all, a significant number of SPN fans are bisexual or lesbian women, and they refer to Jared and Jensen as their 5% exception, which is a certainly a compliment.

Padalecki: I’ll take it (grinning). It makes a lot of sense if there are a lot of bisexual or gay or lesbian fans that they would sort of turn it into their world.

There followed a discussion of the difference between believing something is factual versus a nice fantasy, which is how most fans enjoy their version of J-Squared – a distinction that Padalecki understood completely. For example, the fans loved that Jared and Jensen were, at the time, living together.

Padalecki: (laughing) I guess I figured they would. And it’s great, we’re pretty similar guys. After a long day it’s like hey man, you want to go like grab a beer, or go to sleep? He’s a good buddy. When times are hard for me, or I’ve got something I’m going through, it’s nice to be like hey man, can I just rattle with you for a little bit, rap about some stuff, and he’s like sure, and vice versa.

Ackles was also amused and slightly mystified about why some fans love to imagine him and Jared as a couple. Like Padalecki, he recognized the “subtext” present in their real life friendship, and talked about the genuine affection the two have for each other.

Ackles: (laughing) It’s strange, because you know, being who I am and being who he is, it’s like, it’s just hard to kinda wrap our minds around. I mean, I’ve had, I need two hands to count the number of roommates I’ve had. Guys I’ve spent a lot of time with, like my best friends. I may not work with them, but we’re together at home and we’ll go out together, all the time and share each other’s problems. It’s affection, it’s a friendship that, for Jared and I – God, it’s a good friendship. I think with Jared and I, we knew right away it wasn’t going to work if we didn’t get along. The first season, I forget what episode it was, but we got heated on set and got in each other’s face and I mean, we went toe to toe. There were no fists thrown or anything like that, and he ended up taking a walk down the street and cooler heads prevailed, and when we got back to our trailers, I knocked on his door and sat down and I was like listen man, that can never happen again because if that’s the road we choose to go down, we are going to be living a different life. And it wasn’t just me, he was like actually on the same wavelength, like I’m glad you came by, I need to get this off my chest, we need to come together if we are going to make this show work, because we’re gonna be spending way too much time together to not have a friendship. And that’s the last fight we’ve ever had. We’ve got each other’s backs and I support him in the decisions he makes and will give him advice when he needs it, and he does the same for me. He went through a rocky thing this summer with his fiancee, and I was there for him for that. It almost turns into art imitating life, or life imitating art, we play brothers on screen but we’re kinda brothers off screen as well. It’s a brotherly love that he and I have.

Ackles too is well aware that fans can distinguish between fanfiction and reality, and don’t necessarily believe the costars share a sexual kind of love as well as a brotherly one. Like Kripke, he understands the existence of Wincest as a consequence of the passionate investment fans have in Sam and Dean’s relationship, and extends that to fans’ investment in the relationship he has with Jared in real life.

Ackles: I know they don’t (think it’s real) – it’s a hot fantasy. But I think, and you can probably help me out with this, that it might stem from their love of the two characters and how much they have invested in Sam and Dean, and there are really no other characters that they want coming into that realm. I think it’s their love for these two characters, they don’t want anyone to interfere. They want it to be just the two of them, all the time, and I think that’s where it stems from. I don’t think they really think we’re gay. So I really think it’s just the fact they are left with no other option when thinking of these two characters, and of course these guys are together. Though I wish that two guys can just be heterosexual males and still have a brotherly love. But that’s why it’s called fiction!

We asked Misha Collins about the other popular slash pairing in the fandom – the first Dean/Cas slash community was created 42 minutes after the character appeared.

Collins: (deadpans) Why do you think it took so long? Maybe the servers were down or something.

Collins is fine with the homoerotic vibe of parts of the fandom.

Collins: I certainly try not to be too homophobic in my real life and this is fiction on top of that, so it’s one degree further removed, so it’s easier.

Like the other actors who negotiate the boundaries between fiction and real life on a daily basis, Collins had no trouble understanding fan fiction as fiction. He would, however, like to turn the tables and incorporate fans, as he and his fellow actors have been incorporated.

Collins: I’ve been thinking about writing a story of my own about Dean and the fans and then I could post it out in the community.

(225-226pg)

Padalecki: I think the big thing that has drawn fans to the world of Supernatural is that each has turned it into their world. It’s no longer about guys on the road or hunting demons, it’s connected to some part of them that they might not even know exists. They’re like oh, it’s kinda like this! That’s one of the great things about mythology - the point is to reflect some part of your own life. So you start going Oh, Luke Skywalker kind of doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be, he’s kind of struggling, kind of like me, I’m having my own struggles.

The reading and writing of fanfiction as therapeutic resonated with Jared.

Padalecki: That makes plenty of sense. There’s no other logical reason. I don’t think any movie or show is that good to be so committed to it unless it’s sparked something in you.

In fact, Padalecki identifies the same desire for some healthy escape on the part of cast and crew as within the fandom watching and participating in the Show. That’s why so much laughing goes on between takes on the SPN set.

Padalecki: It’s almost like the same escapism that our fans are enjoying when they are watching, we are enjoying when we are filming. So it’s nice for them to call action and you just lose yourself for a minute.

[source]

#2011-Nov #2011:November15 #*CCTOF #Jared Padalecki #Jensen Ackles #Misha Collins #Fandom At The Crossroads: Celebration Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships #author: Katherine Larsen #author: Lynn Zubernis #*books

[the-desolated-quill]

Dark Water - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

We’re finally coming to the end of another series and I for one will be glad to see the back of Series 8. The only thing that elevates this series slightly above the dire Series 7 is Peter Capaldi, who I found to be far more tolerable than Matt Smith was. Apart from that, this really hasn’t been a very good series, and now Moffat is here to finish it off.

I occasionally glance at what the so called ‘professional’ critics had to say just out of morbid curiosity, and I was amazed by the number of people praising the opening few scenes for being shocking and emotional. I personally thought it was a load of utter twoddle. Clara is trying to tell Danny something, and there are loads of post-it notes on the wall for some reason, when suddenly Danny gets run over by a car. Shocking? Tragic? No, not really. I think I’ve made it perfectly clear by this point how much I dislike Danny, so I didn’t even so much as feel a slight twinge when he got turned into roadkill. But what really undermines the supposed tragedy of it all for me is just how utterly random it is. The Moffat fans may love to keep kissing their precious auteur’s feet and proclaim how much of a genius he is, but the truth is he’s never been very good at plotting his bullshit series arcs. Just look at how Amy’s pregnancy and River Song were handled in Series 6. It’s as though Moffat is just making this shit up as he goes along, and this couldn’t be any more obvious here in Dark Water. In order for the Doctor and Clara to start paying attention to all the Promised Land bollocks, Danny needs to die now. So he just dies. He might as well have had a grand piano fall on top of him or something.

And then we come to one of the most insulting scenes I’ve ever seen in New Who. Clara threatening the Doctor. Again, loads of people praised the fuck out of this scene to the point where I’m beginning to question their sanity. This whole volcano scene is really emblematic of just how rubbish a writer Moffat really is. Rather than having the Doctor and Clara actually talk this out, relying on the emotions of the characters and the performances of the actors to carry the scene, Moffat has to resort to stupid, over the top tactics in a desperate bid to wrong foot the audience. Not only does it strip away any potential emotional impact Danny’s death could have had on their relationship, it also makes Clara come across like an arrogant brat. I could be more forgiving if Clara was driven to do this out of desperation because the Doctor wouldn’t listen to her, but no. She goes in there with the intent to threaten the Doctor. There’s no buildup or anything. She just immediately goes for the most extreme method. She doesn’t come across like an actual human being who’s grieving and in pain. She’s more like a spoilt child having a temper tantrum because she’s not getting her way. Then it’s all made utterly pointless thanks to the Doctor’s powers of plot convenience, revealing that the whole volcano sequence was just a dream state, which just underlines the fact that Moffat is more concerned with pathetically proving to everyone how clever he thinks he is rather than getting us to emotionally connect with Clara. Seriously, what does the volcano sequence do that a simple conversation between the two characters couldn’t?

Plus it’s hard to believe that Clara would go to such lengths for Danny considering the way their relationship has been portrayed over the course of this series. Moffat is desperately trying to convince us that this is a love for the ages and that the two can’t survive without each other, even going so far as to imply that Clara has some kind of death wish, except it’s hard to take it seriously because, due to Moffat’s own incompetence as a writer, this has got to be one of the most dysfunctional relationships I think I’ve ever seen. Danny is a controlling, insecure arsehole who thinks anywhere outside of London is too dangerously exciting, and Clara is a spoilt, arrogant thrill seeker who constantly lies to him for virtually no reason. These two have virtually nothing in common, and their relationship has been so toxic and so unhealthy that it’s hard to really be invested in it at all. I’m not saying Clara shouldn’t be sad that Danny is dead. I just don’t buy for a second that she would be prepared to die for him if she can’t get him back.

So the Doctor and Clara are off to find Heaven. And very briefly, can I just ask, can you imagine any other Doctor doing something like this? The Doctor may be open minded, but he’s a man of science first and foremost. Scientific evidence simply does not support the existence of an afterlife, and considering how dismissive the Tenth Doctor was towards the idea of God or the Devil in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, it’s hard to imagine that Twelve would be willing to try and find Heaven just to save one person. Why hasn’t the Doctor tried to find it sooner? It’s like Listen all over again. Clara is Moffat’s very special creation and everything has to revolve around her even if it means bending the Doctor’s character completely out of shape.

Considering how largely secular the Doctor Who fanbase is, I imagine I can’t have been the only person with raised eyebrows the moment we arrived at 3W. But it’s not just that. Did anyone honestly believe this was the actual afterlife? Again, reading the reviews, I was surprised by the amount of controversy surrounding the ‘don’t cremate me’ scene. Not only did I think that was just plain goofy, the fact that this is a Moffat script does unfortunately undermine the credibility of all of this. Have any of these people ever actually watched a Moffat story before? He’s basically the televisual equivalent of M Night Shyamalan. The man is so desperate to surprise the audience and show off how much of a genius he is that he’s prepared to shove any random bullshit twist into his stories even if it comes at the cost of the characters, the integrity of the narrative, or the audience’s trust in the show. And that’s the problem with trying to constantly pull the rug out from under us. Do it too many times and eventually people will wise up and stop giving a shit about what’s happening. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me constantly and I’ll never trust anything you say to me ever again. So rather than be intrigued by the 3W facility and the prospect of an actual afterlife, I’m just impatiently drumming my fingers on the arm of my chair, waiting for Moffat to get the fuck on with it and tell us the big twist.

And what a treat we’re in for this episode. Turns out there’s not one bullshit twist, but TWO bullshit twists. We’ll start with the most painfully obvious twist. Missy is the Master.

I mean who the fuck else could she have been?

Yes the Master is back and, even with a sex change, the character is still just as rubbish as before. The Master has always had about as much depth and complexity as a pantomime villain, and Michelle Gomez seems to be going the same route John Simm went down by portraying the character as boringly insane (a gimmick so old now, it’s practically been fossilised. Not even the Joker can get away with that motive anymore). But it gets even worse when you factor the sex change into the equation. You’d think I’d be all in favour of a female Master considering how long I’ve been campaigning for a female Doctor, but unfortunately Missy is a Moffat written woman, which means she ends up falling into the same sassy, kooky dominatrix role that every single one of his female characters fall into. (even with a non-romantic Doctor, New Who can’t resist shoving in a pointless snogging scene. It’s pathetic). Moffat constantly boasts about how he paved the way for a female Doctor, but I honestly think Missy is more likely to put people off the idea than encourage it. At this point Moffat just comes across as a clueless, sexist bastard who doesn’t have a single original thought whizzing around in his peanut of a brain.

Also, Missy? Fucking Missy?! Why Missy? Why can’t she just call herself the Master? What, does this mean Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor is going to have to call herself Nursie?

‘But Quill, women can be doctors too.’

MY POINT PRECISELY!

Doctor and Master. As in a doctorate and a masters degree. Get it? Moffat doesn’t seriously think that Master actually means... Sigh. Of course he does. The moron.

And then there’s the Master’s sexuality. You may have occasionally heard the odd fan theory floating around that the Doctor and the Master were... well... more than just good friends. A fan theory not entirely without weight. There are some very discreet hints in the classic series if you look hard enough (whether they’re intentional or not is another matter altogether), and RTD didn’t exactly downplay the homoerotic subtext during his tenure. Series 8 is really the show’s first official confirmation of this. In Deep Breath, Missy refers to the Doctor as her boyfriend and in this very episode she says the Doctor’s hearts belong to her. All very progressive... except the Master is a woman now. So when they’re both men, any mention of the dreaded gay must be kept to a minimum, but now one of them is a woman, suddenly they can be as overt and explicit as they want? Not only is the homophobia blatantly obvious, it also adds to the regressive sexism of Missy’s character, implying a male Master has more self control but a female Master is overcome with lust and can’t help but throw herself at the Doctor. It’s like I’ve always said. Moffat is more concerned with looking progressive rather than putting in the effort to actually be progressive. To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement and a fucking half.

The second twist I actually didn’t see coming, but only because of how fucking stupid the idea is. It’s the Cybermen. But that doesn’t make sense. Cybermen convert living people. They’re not zombies. They can’t convert the dead. It’s been previously established multiple times that they have no use for the dead. And part of their motive is to save people from death. Converting the dead directly completely contradicts their motivation. Also how do the Cybermen manage to convert people like the soldiers from Into The Dalek or the policeman from The Caretaker? Weren’t they disintegrated? What is there left to convert? And why wait for people to die in the first place? Why not just convert living people like they usually do? It just doesn’t gel with what we know about the Cybermen. And that bloody Nethersphere is just beyond daft. Before the Cybermen would just remove your emotions whether you want them to or not. Now they politely wait for you to give permission first. (Just when you think Danny couldn’t get anymore pathetic. Is he seriously considering erasing his emotions just because his girlfriend effectively dumped him? Isn’t he supposed to be a grown man? Get a grip, you spineless bell-end).

Well that was utter rubbish. But don’t worry. I’m sure Part 2 will put things right. After all, Moffat always writes satisfying conclusions to his series arcs, right?

#dark water #steven moffat #doctor who #twelfth doctor #peter capaldi #clara oswald #jenna coleman #the master #michelle gomez #cybermen #bbc #review #spoilers

[cult-of-kai]

Doubters Get No Cookies

Thoughts on episode 9, ‘Drink the Kool-Aid’:

We start with slumber party story time. Kai tells his drones about three historical cult leaders that led their followers into mass suicides. While David Koresh’s holy ejaculate is undoubtedly intriguing to Kai, Jim Jones- “the Kanye of leaders”- is clearly the one he is meant to echo. This is somewhat ironic because Jones was a socialist, but otherwise there is definitely some overlap. Jones had sex with both male and female followers, he was a paranoid pill-popper, and he had his followers rehearse mass suicide before doing it for real under duress. The make-up and prosthesis from these vignettes have gotten well-deserved praise, but Evan’s vocal mimicry skills are legit as hell. Try listening to that montage again with your eyes closed. Applewhite, Koresh, Jones, and Kai all sound like different people. But why is he even telling the drones about those guys? We’re given an explanation, but it doesn’t make much sense. Why are they so loyal to him, anyway? I don’t know, but I do know that their G.I. Joe names are pretty funny. Also, Kai having a crowd of fit dudes hanging around in their tight white longjohns and not masturbating per his orders is sort of homoerotic.

Winter continues to confuse me. What, exactly, is the end game she seeks?

Beverly has been having a hard time in the hole. The scene where she begs Kai for death and then breaks down when she doesn’t get it is a little sad despite her history of evil deeds. Their relationship has been among my favorite aspects of this season.

*Finally*, we get a showdown between Ally and Ivy. I believe that Ivy is genuine in the initial discussion, although she fails to bring up the blackmail situation for no discernible reason. “It felt so good to take my hands off the wheel” is about abdicating responsibility, the idea of which can be powerfully appealing to people who feel overwhelmed by life. It gives Ivy a cult-joining motive beyond the blackmail and her feelings toward Ally, but she also admits to seeing Ally as a sacrifice she was willing to make. They talk plans to escape for a while and then- Ally poisons Ivy? I’m torn about this, honestly. On the one hand, it’s a great revenge. On the other, it seems out of character. How do you go from bawling and clinging to your son’s other mom because you’re scared to smirking over her dying body? I can get how Ally might be angry enough to kill Ivy, but her pleasure in doing so seems off. Kudos to both actresses, though. I’d like to see Alison Pill in further seasons.

I like how they used our own suspicions regarding Oz’s paternity against us. It’s obvious that Ally is doing to Kai what Kai does to others. She’s telling him what he wants to hear, that he’s special and smart and cosmically chosen for a purpose- and his messiah complex compels him to believe it. (He also essentially likens himself to the legendary English king Henry V after the Kool-Aid fakeout.) Is there commentary in there? Is it about how some people will believe the absolute most ridiculous shit so long as it speaks to their biases? Maybe. I’ll note here that Ryan Murphy made it clear in interviews before the season ever started that he thinks of cult leaders as dangerous idiots, which also helps explain why Kai is eating her nonsense up. His ranting at the city council meeting is a blizzard of blather that doesn’t conceal his lack of an actual cohesive political viewpoint, but his bullying is even clearer. Brookfield Heights’ Internet service today, the U.S. Senate tomorrow!

#american horror story #AHS: cult #7.9 'drink the kool aid' #fandom thoughts #episode recaps

[knightofbalance-13]

A talk about Shipping, Aspects of it and “Queerbaiting”

http://invested-in-your-future.tumblr.com/post/158720729690/heres-something-that-has-been-lowkey-bugging-me

Sure it is cool to see a fandom that actively enjoys the setting enough to immerse themselves into it and create original characters, original pairings, original stories etc. Remnant is a world that relies on the community for it’s existence and Rooster Teeth’s main source of income is the community actually supporting them, so this speaks miles about the strength of the setting that is dear to so many people. Dozens upon dozens of people found it interesting enough to create and imagine things beyond the “canon” story. There are dozens of fanon pairings, pretty much every character with every character has ship name and some sort of fanon fiction - even if those characters never ever met. There are backstories and headcanons for almost every character.

And yet I have seen this person attack the fanbase directly and have seen this person directly attack the setting and environment in the show and not once say it’s their own personal opinion. And as well see, this seems more like their covering their own ass.

So get ready, I am about to delve into some very complex stuff here.

But there’s a downside to that. And the downside is that it is so damn easy to use the existence of fanon to discount the possibilities, implications and pairings within canon. And it does not take long to realize how that happens - after all the most common way to try to “downplay” a pairing is to question its canon status. Its a VERY common problem with homophobic people literally ignoring a pairing existing or claiming “people are just seeing things”.

Oh boy, this isn’t good. Okay, let’s dissect this and show off the problematic points:

A.) Canon is canon, it is fact. Implications are not canon until they are confirmed to be so and even then they just becomes fact. Implications are so wide and varied that accepting them all of as canon will cause a lot of confusion like the implication Raven gave a shit about her kid or the implication that Qrow’s Semblence was just shapeshifting.

B.) The only time a pairing exists is when they are canon, when they are in a committed relationship. There are only three canon ships: Taiyang X Raven, Taiyang X Summer and Ghira X Kali. That’s it. As heavy hinting that Blake Sun in going to become canon, it’s not canon. And that’s fine. Shippers shouldn’t be aiming for a ship to become canon because sometimes what we ship isn’t for the best, most of the time it’s wish fulfillment. Even I don’t ask for my ships to become canon and I ship people who I find to be healthy for each other (White Rose, Black Sun ect.)

C.) You are seeing things. You’ve admitted it in the past and you show all the signs of a rapid shipper: attacking people for miniute reasons, using buzzwords like “homophobia” misinterpreting friendly connections as shipping  ect. I’ve seen ot all before in my previous experiences in the Pearlshipping community, minus the homophobia thing but I’m going to return to that. n truth, for someone who doesn’t give a shit who Blake or Yang end up with (or anyone: might be best for those two considering Blake’s abuse and Yang’s probable abandonment problems) let me say: I haven’t seen that much ship tease between them. No more than any other pairing in fiction: this isn’t Moka and Tsukune levels of ship tease-at best it’s Tsukune and Mizore. (Look them up with “Rosario Vampire manga” SPECIFICALLY the manga!)

D.) I don’t want to hear you talk about Homophobia when you have attacked Sun and Jaune and people who disagree with Bumbleby: In all reality, you display a case of Heterophobia than they do. people can dislike a homo pairing but not be homophobic. I don’t ship Bumbleby but I do ship White Rose so....what’s you’re answer to that?

And that is EXTREMELY easy to do in a community where fanon aspect is so big. Its so easy to discount RT baiting Blake and Yang(AKA the biggest ship in the fanbase), Weiss and Ruby(lately way less than usual, to be fair) or even Neptune and Sun(which the writers love to bait during interviews and stuff almost as much as Blake/Yang). Its so easy to NOT SEE the said baiting and write it off to all the fanon - to the idea that people “got tangled up” in all the fanon being created and mistook that fanon for canon. What’s worse - its easy  for such a line of though to appear to those OUTSIDE of the RWBY fandom, which can easily lead to the issues present in the writing and RT behavior overall being downplayed or taken for “misunderstanding”.

Again, let’s dissect this:

A.) The reason why Bumbleby is so popular I the fandom isn’t due to them Ship Teasing Blake and Yang (I will go into why the concept of “queerbaiting” is an  honestly counterproductive one later) but rather because Monty confirmed that there will be an LGBT character in the show which drew in that crowd and Yang and Blake are the most sexual characters in the show. Ruby is way to innocent to be shipped all that much as people have trouble thinking of her that way and Weiss was ahted for a while so people would gravitate to Yang and Bake. I also don’t find it that unusual that the two more attractive characters in the show are the ones shipped together. Again, wish fulfillment.

B.)  You need to provide links to support these so called arguments because some of us don’t watch the interviews or anything of the such. Without them, your argument falls completely flat.

C.) Again, you have stated yourself that you are looking at things that aren’t there with the Korrasami and Bumbleby parallel and with all the symphtoms you’ve displayed, you are doing it for Bumbleby in general. They teased the shit out of Arkos despite Pyrrha’s fate because i9t was popular and ut got people watching the show. They would be doing the same for the other popular ships. yes, it is manipulative but it’s so common place now that you just have to accept it: Ship Tease is a athing, doesn’t confirm your ship to be canon.

D.) Here’s the thing about Queerbaiting: it definition is as follows: “when people in the media (usually television/movies) add homoerotic tension between two characters to attract more liberal and queer viewers with the indication of them not ever getting together for real in the show/book/movie“ Does this definition sound familiar? Change “Homoerotic” to “romantic”, “Liberal and queer” to “romatics” and you have Ship Tease. That’s all it is: Ship tease specific to the homosexual. What this tells me is that homosexual people believe that they belive their ships should become canon because they are queer or their ship is. Because there has been hetero-baiting before: Using Avatar, I have no doubt in my mind that the writers knew Zutarra was a huge ship so they kept hinting at it to get people who would like Zutarra to keep watching. Same thing with Rosario Vampire in which Kurumu X Mizore was hinted at a lot but they never got together, just as Tsukune never got with Kurumu or Mizore. It’s a common writing technique: put in some romance for romance fans. All writing  by definition is emotionally manipulative.  I see no difference between the two expect for sexuality and that should never be a factor in a ship becoming canon. Just as a hetero ship should become canon for the sake of it being a hetero ship. the same goes for homo ships as well. You want equality? Don’t go around demanding stuff beyond equality because of your sexuality.

Hell I already saw arguments in line with that and how “fandom is trying to force a pairing upon the writers”. Which is silly because in reality it is RWBY writers who added all those scenes and clues and subtext for Blake/Yang. Bumbleby fandom did not just somehow “will” it into existence via fanon. Beauty and the Beast references, interactions, THE WHOLE VOLUME 3 FINALE, etc - its all in the show. Its all there. Yet many will use the fanon argument to try to downplay the scenes that already are in the canon.

... Can’t believe I have to bust out this music but:

A.) People do force a ship on the writers. Just as I have seen people yell out “MAKE BUMBLEBY CANON ALREADY!” I have heard the same number yell out “MAKE BLACK SUN CANON ALREADY!” There is no difference between these two besides one partner.

Just because you have ship tease of your pairing that does NOT give it an absolute right to become canon. It never has and never will. Learn it, you’ll be much happier. I know for a fact.

“Beauty and the Beast” Yang is not beastly at all and it’s clear ADAM is the Beast of them all. Even if he isn’t, as a Fanaus, SUN is the next one in line for that.

“The WHOLE VOLUME 3 FINALE?” What, that one scene of Blake crying about yang losing her arm which is just her being said that someone she cares about (NOT loves, cares) is hurt because of her or that Yang is being abandoned yet again? Because that’s two scenes and only one is focused on Blake. It keeps sounding like you only watch RWBY for the ships and that’s just disgusting.

No, they are probably saying that is JUST ship tease and that DOES NOT make Bumbleby canon. Same for Black Sun, WHite Rose, Lanacaster ect.

And then again - whats wrong with writers accepting something fandom wants?  What’s wrong with that? Narrative of any works is fluid. Things change, things develop, writers gain new ideas or change their minds all the time. Usually story is a fluid concept with only certain plotpoints set in stone. Unless there’s some huge plotpoint tied to a romance(which would be stupid in the first place), there’s literally no downside in writers capitalizing on what fandom likes.  After all Korra and Asami chemistry was first noted by the FANS and then writers recognized it and made history.

Because it’s pandering in that Yanga nd Blake don’t have the best chemistry between them, Blake and Sun do; Blake could be a bisexual but attempting t tel me Yang isn’t straight and didn't hit on the four attractive females she was around all the time is dumb and there are people who DON’T want that thus you are excluding them. LGBT people were excluded for so long and now you want to exclude straight people? This is sounding suspiciously like the white Fang: Reverse discrimination....

yeah and their sexualities are pretty defined. Ruby is he only one who isn’t defined by her not being sexual yet. It makes sense for Weiss to hide that considering her jackass of a father and maybe Blake considering her abuse but Yang has no problems thus she should have been shown to be a bisexual early on. She doesn’t gaze over girls like she did guys so I have no reason to see that. You complain about retcons..then demand a retcon.

Yeah and here’s the thing: A LOT of people got pissed off by that. I didn’t watch Korra but a guy who did explained the feeling to me and explained the feeling. So unless it was hinted that Korra herself was bi and noyt straight, that was a terrible move.

Yet its so easy to use fanon as an argument, as a defense, as a shield, as a tool. Its so easy for Miles and Kerry(or less tolerant parts of fandom) to hide behind the huge existence of RWBY fanon - it gives fuel when one feels the need to defend against allegations of queerbaiting and it gives an extra defense from negative press due to reasons I outlined above.

.... SO the fandom is bad for tehw riters when they won’t do a homosexual ship but it’s good if that forces them to do it...

*Sigh* Fuck this bullshit. Also, I think queerbaiting is going to be one of my Berserk Buttons from now on.

Final Thoughts: this person needs to chill. there’s being dedicated to yoru ship and then there’s being obsessed. I have seen this person attack people with SUn Avatars for having SUn avatars, demands their ship become canon despite it being counter productive to equality and contradicts themselves. In essence: your average rabid shipper. Nothing more, nothing less.

#rwby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #sun wukong #bumbleby rwby #bumbleby #black sun #shipping

[mvsicbookfrxndom]

OKAY, LISTEN UP, EVERYONE, 'CAUSE I HAVE THE BEST MOTHERFLIPPING STORY EVER TO TELL YOU!!!

Here's a mental image to paint in your mind:

A socially impaired, lonely teenage girl is hiding in the bedroom she shares with her younger sister from her parents, reading fanfiction on a device she isn't supposed to be using because she's a rule-breaking savage. It's spring break, which should be really fun and awesome, but it isn't because her home life isn't really all that great. Which is why she's hiding in the bedroom she shares with her younger sister from her parents.

She isn't just reading any old fanfiction, either. She's reading Monsieur George deValier's Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfics. They transport her to a world of ubiquitously inclusive homonormativity and give her hope that true love always wins in the end, because its love. No matter what gender anyone happens to love.

Her parents would pass out if they knew what kind of scandalous stories her eyes gobble up while they converse suspiciously about whether or not their rogue daughter is slitting her wrists upstairs.

Which she isn't. She's doing something almost more painful - imagining what it would be like to come out of the closet. To openly admit to the whole world that she isn't monosexual - in fact, she's the furthest thing from it. To have more accepting parents, to have more accepting people around her in general. To not be judged, to be safe in her home instead of being cast out, abandoned. To find her one true love and be devoted forever, whatever gender they might identify as, because that couldn't matter less to her.

George deValier's works have brought to her life a new dimension she never imagined she'd discover. She wishes she could meet him - who knows if he's even a man at all? - and hug him. Tell him he's changed her life forever. Thank him for existing. If only anyone knew who he was so this could happen.

TL;DR: I love George deValier more than my own family.

There's my "setting the scene" portion of this post. Now here comes the crazy story portion!

So I'm reading Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart, the first deValier work my eyes have ever had the blessing of experiencing, and there are no words - in any of the multiple languages I am fluent in - for how much it's affected me (not even French, the most romantic language on earth).

I've probably read half of the works on fanfiction.net and AO3 combined, but nothing has come even close to this. At all. The writing is sublime, the plots intricate beyond belief, and the character development positively shocking in its detail. The dedication and talent spent on this is almost scary to think about, not to mention the research that must have taken years to complete, so the stories could be as historically accurate as humanly possible. What's the point in writing fanfiction if this is what you're up against? I'm close to giving up one of my favorite things to do in the whole world because of how shook I am, but if this is how I go down, I'll be going down happy.

Though I've been reading for hours, I've only reached chapter 5, since my eyes have been taking their time to lasciviously devour every letter and fully grasp the meaning of each delicious sentence before allowing further conquest. However, I am no less enamored by the magnificent, captivating story than when I just started it at what seems like a lifetime ago.

As I near the end of ch.5, I almost screech out loud when I read the conversation between Feli and Ludwig about the latter's fighter aircraft Greta. About a quarter of the reason why is because Ludwig just confessed that there is no special girl of his, and my angsty soul is ripping me apart because I need one of them to confess their love for the other RIGHT NOW OR ELSE I'LL DIE.

The rest of the reason is because of who appeared in my mind when I read this scene. The worst person on the planet to think about when you're reading a homoerotic fanfiction is your female ELA teacher, but that's what happened, but not for the reasons you're undoubtedly assuming.

You see, my ELA teacher's name is Mrs. Schmit.

I lose my utter shit. I'm going insane, absolutely bonkers, over the fact that my freakin' ELA teacher's name is in this book, discounting the extra T. Of all the places to find her name, of all the things to remind me of her...

So I come up with the most bloody brilliant idea in the history of the world. I screenshot this section of the book, taking way longer than needed so I can be positive there's no evidence of two men lying next to each other in a field of flowers and tall grass having a "no homo, I'm just wondering, I'm not interested in you at all" chat about their lack of girlfriends to each other by making the font super big and swiping the page up so the dropdowns can conceal Feli's obviously masculine name. By the time I'm done working my magic, the conversation is cutesy and innocent, and, most importantly, there's no mention of anything scandalous. All that's left of the passage is the Greta Schmitt joke, which I consider adorable, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny. At the very least, it's mildly amusing.

Then I send her a picture attachment with the screenshot, along with this exact message, through my school email:

"Hi, Mrs. Schmit!

"I really hope you are having a fantastic spring break so far!

"I'm just sending you this email because I was reading a story and a little part of it brought you to mind immediately (for reasons that will become obvious if you look at the file I attached). This scene was also funny, so I thought it would be something interesting to send you. Maybe it will be a source of amusement for you during this leisurely time off from school.

"Have a great rest of your break, and see you on Monday!"

And then, of course, I sign off the email with my name.

The file I attach to the email is the original screenshot I took. The picture I've attached to this post is a screenshot of that screenshot as it appeared to my teacher. It's pretty meta and rad since I screenshot-ed the screenshot at the same time of the original screenshot one day later.

They're also the same except in the picture in this post, which is the latter picture, the portrait orientation lock is on and in the bottom left hand corner the previous page arrow isn't glowing. I feel the need to point these discrepancies out because they wreak havoc on my perfectionist OCD and if they are destroying you inside as well, I want you to know that I'm aware of these mistakes and I'm incredibly sorry.

On a lighter, less soul-crushing note, what about proposing a fun drinking game? Throw back some liquid every time the word "screenshot" appears in the paragraph before the one above. You'll be sloshed by the third sentence.

Oh yeah - and if you were wondering why my phone says 1:17 WD instead of AM or PM, that's because my device's preferred language is Oromoo. WD is ante meridiem - AM.

At first I hesitate to send the email immediately, because of the indecent time of day it is - i.e. not daytime at all - and the fear that I'll really piss off Mrs. Schmit by sending her a completely unnecessary email at 2 in the morning in a week when she shouldn't bother dealing with anything having to do with her students. It's break, after all.

And if there's one thing I don't want, it's Mrs. Schmit to be annoyed by me. Even though she's very intimidating and I can't help but be extremely scared of her, she's an absolutely fantastic teacher (though I don't think she'd believe me if I told her so) and I like her a lot as a person. Thus, I don't want her deductions on me to be negative, especially since I'm pretty sure she finds me very book smart with good grades, but flighty and scatterbrained (which I am, but not in a cool way). If this rather risky email backfires, it won't improve her opinion of me at all.

Another possibility also occurs to me - what if she finds out what kind of story the picture is from? Or the story itself? It wouldn't be hard at all; it would take me two milliseconds to locate that story. I could be in deep shit, but... In that moment, it doesn't matter to me. I'd probably laugh my ass off. She'd die of shock. It would be hilarious.

To be completely honest, I don't even enjoy the story more because of the gayness, or the lust, or the sex. Meaning, it seems more taboo that a presumably straight girl is reading a mildly erotic gay fanfiction as opposed to a straight one, presumably to get a sexual high from all the possibilities and fantasies manufactured by manipulated attraction, but for me that isn't it at all. The sex isn't even a bonus. I don't mind it, but it isn't the reason I love the story so much. If anyone saw me reading it, that's what they'd automatically think, but I'm not drawn to that. I'm asexual anyway, so I'm not even planning to ever have sex. It just doesn't have that allure or even stigma for me. An example: I occasionally watch porn, but it doesn't turn me on in the least, contrary to what one might assume. I just find it fascinating and laughable, not to mention disgusting and more proof of the downfall of humanity.

When I read books like George's, I adore them because of the writing prowess and talent. The plot twists. The characters. The worldbuilding. That's the shit I'm obsessed with. Not the literary porn in the least! Although it does provide amusement and intrigue.

I feel like I should just clear that up. I wish the story was more... ahem... appropriate, or my motivations for consuming it more ubiquitous, so I wouldn't have to worry about sending an appropriate snippet of it to my teacher, but it's George motherflippin' deValier, so nothing else needs to be said. It's perfect. (Just like you, dear beloved darling reading this!) No further explanation needed.

Also, I'm fairly certain her curiosity wouldn't be piqued enough to actually track the story from my email down, which is a comforting thought. Then again, every time I'm left alone with my thoughts, they conjure up an image of Mrs. Schmit sitting at a computer in a dark room, the artificial blue light illuminating her face as if she's some deep web underground black market Anonymous hacker, Googling the transcript of the fated snapshot, her green eyes widening as she begins reading.

I fucking hate my brain. It hates me too.

So before I can change my mind, I hit send and continue through the glorious Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart, a devilish, Alfred F. Jones-type smile spreading across my face. There's no going back now. It is done.

Exceeding my highest expectations regarding a response, I don't even need to wait a full 24 hours before my unread emails total increases by one.

To anyone who's gotten the far, it's been an unjustly long post in the making. The moment you've all been waiting for with an anticipation that rivals that of a beat drop in a particularly lit dubstep track. Don't get too excited, though, because I have this frustrating habit of letting people down and I have a feeling this is no exception. You know, since you're all the way down here, you deserve a treat. What'll it be? Tea and biscuits? Nachos? Poutine? It's up to you. Ask and you shalt receive. I am your humble servant, friends.

Here is her response to my groundbreaking, world-changing email:

"Hi __{my_name}__,

"Yes, that was cute and made me smile!!! I hope your Spring Break is going well.

"Thank you,

" "Messerschmitt" "

DID YOU SEE THAT, GUYS???

SHE PUT THREE EXCLAMATION POINTS AND SIGNED OFF AS "MESSERSCHMITT".

I HAVE WON LIFE! I'VE SUCCEEDED! I AM A CHAMPION!!!

Mon Dieu, she liked the deValier excerpt. She made a fucking reference to it. She's got to be my favorite teacher now.

Don't know how to end this, so I guess...

...y'all, we need to start an international manhunt for our Lord and Savior George deValier. If we find him I can do all the things I said I would. If I get cancer, that's what I'll ask Make-A-Wish.

HIS STORIES NEED TO BE MOVIES I SWEAR TO HIMA-PAPA OR ELSE...

ok I'm done now

#hetalia #fanfics #anime #original post