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#group: the troubletones

hopefulobjectmiracle · 2 years

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trios only work if every individual pairing in the group is genuinely close, and glee did not do a good job of that with most of its trio friend groups (kurtcheltana being the sole exception)

#this is why the UHT and the troubletones don't work for me #quinn and brittany were not shown to be close friends and neither were mercedes and brittany #in both groups santana was the glue holding it all together #anti unholy trinity #anti troubletones #gleethoughts

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chrispaulcolfer · 6 months

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you were so real for your rant on your latest post. i always feel so icked out when schue is credited for having any part in the larger aspects of kurt’s happiness. schue represents the club and he did fuck all to protect kurt from literal harassment and death threats. santana and blaine did more for him in that respect than schue ever did. kurt was treated like an accessory in the club most of the time, and the few times that he had the opportunity to shine, he was sidelined.

Right?!

No one grouped together as a club to build Kurt up. The girls sent their boyfriends to "talk" to Karofsky and that didn't do anything. Schue didn't pull Karofsky aside to find out what was going on. It was a simple shrug off. And Kurt was left to defend himself by himself (which in the end is fine, it proves how independent he truly is and has to be to get shit done).

The one time they group together for Kurt it's for religious reasons which he makes quite known how uncomfortable he is with that and they do it anyway.

He had to transfer schools to feel safe.

He always feels like he has to scream to get noticed, otherwise he's overlooked and sidelined. He and Mercedes joined the Cheerio's because they were tired of playing in the back! I swear if Kurt wasn't Rachel's lap dog in season 3, he wouldn't have stayed in the new directions and would've gladly transferred to the troubletones but I digress.

Even in the Warblers. Blaine only gives him a duet after catching feelings at long last - with a weird duet as it is but whatever, that's my own personal ick. So the Warblers may have been safer than the New Directions in terms of safety from personal attacks, but he wasn't rallied for by any club. But still, why does Blaine have to realize Kurt is the love of his life before Kurt is granted a duet? Yeah yeah the writers suck I know

THE BOTTOM LINE IS: Glee club didn't save Kurt Hummel. Kurt Hummel saved Kurt Hummel with building his own support system since no one was going to do it for him. And I will die on this hill because Kurt Hummel deserved the best and got the worst but he made the best of it and made it work in his favor nonetheless. Kurt Hummel decides his fate and happiness, no damn club.

But thank you for reading my rant, I didn't know if anyone still read them. 🤭

#answered #i have a lot of grievances I guess!#but also #anti-glee #or #lol glee #because hmmph

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askthingone · 12 days

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meet madison, auditioning with what was i made for by billie eilish.

“when did it end? all the enjoyment. i'm sad again, don't tell my boyfriend. it's not what he's made for. what was i made for? cause i don't know how to feel, but i wanna try. i don't know how to feel, but someday i might. someday i might.”

wait, is that MADISON MCCARTHY? they kinda look a lot like KATHRYN NEWTON, don’t they? i heard the TWENTY year old is known as the THING ONE around mckinley. it seems like they auditioned to be in THE TROUBLETONES which is so lame? people at campus have said they’re OPTIMISTIC, but don’t be fooled since they’re also CONTROLLING. rumor has it, you can find them at CHEERIOS, GAY/STRAIGHT ALLIANCE, DIGITAL MEDIA CLUB when they aren’t belting show tunes. their entire vibe revolves around PERFECTLY POINTED TOES DURING A HERKIE, A COLOR COATED DAY PLANNER WITH THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS SCHEDULED, A CRISP RED AND WHITE UNIFORM IRONED JUST THAT MORNING but no one pays attention to that here in ohio

BASICS

full name: madison danielle mccarthy

pronouns: she/her

hometown: tba

birthday & sign: tba

age: twenty

relationship status: single

sexuality: pansexual

occupation: student at mckinley arts college

clubs: cheerios, gay-straight alliance, digital media club

glee club: the troubletones

major: communication

HEADCANONS

since her parents were part of a traveling performance group, they were able to see the talent within their children at a young age. madison has been competitively cheering since she could remember and that seemed to be the ticket into college. now that she’s in college and realizing that the likes of becoming a professional cheerleader once she graduates is unlikely, she is having a minor midlife crises.

madison is very much a TYPE A person. she plans her life down to the smallest detail and often doesn’t stray from those plans. she believes there is a need for order and control and often blames it on her busy schedule. but, some small subconscious part of her wonders if that is just an excuse to cover her fear of change and spontaneity.

when the glee clubs were announced, madison had dreams that she and mason would become co-captains of the new directions and the school would finally see their talent shine outside of the cheerios. but when mason decided to join the duly noted, madison felt everything shift. never has she competed against her brother before, and its definitely an uncomfortable feeling. currently, she is apart of the troubletones, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t set her mind on being the first girl ever allowed into the all male glee club. she just has to prove to them the asset she could be.

madison and mason were not raised in lima, ohio. in fact they are at mckinley on a cheerio's scholarship. cheer is supposed to be the main focus, but madison prides herself on being a great multitasker and knows she can easily balance cheerios, glee club and school.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

truly open to anything!

best friend

friends

enemies

exes/past hook up

competetors

TAKEN CONNECTIONS

bree brown: madison and bree have become close friends through spending time on the cheerios and troubletones.

dottie kazatori: madison and dottie were paired up as roommates last year, and when dottie mentioned at the start of this school year she had an open room in the house her parents paid for (?), madison took up the offer. although, she would rather be rooming with her brother and she does make that know.

kitty wilde: madison and kitty have a very cordial relationship and madison is working hard to get on kitty's good side. maybe even help ease the tension between her and bree.

rachel berry: competitive rival. madison can't stand rachel and her i'm the best mentality. sure, madison can be confident too, but that doesn't mean she isn't okay with sharing the spotlight. she was so turned off by rachel's need to be the star, that she joined the troubletones over the new directions.

sam evans: madison wants in on the duly noted. she is having some separation anxiety from mason and has realize sam might be a good way into the group. or at least she might be able to get him on her side and one more vote in favor of her being the first girl let into that stupid boys club.

mason mccarthy: mason is feeling smothered by madison's overbearing nature and she is none the wiser. with his decision to join the duly noted, she has made it her silent mission to be the first girl accepted into the group

finn hudson: madison does pretty well at school and finn needed a tutor, so she has begun to help him out with a few of his more troublesome classes.

tucker atkinson: they met at a party and it wasn't long before the two began to flirt. the flirting has yet to evolve into anything more but madison is not opposed to having a hook up on speed dial.

#intro #wmacintro

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askbree · 2 months

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wait, is that BREE BROWN? they kinda look a lot like RYAN DESTINY, don’t they? i heard the TWENTY year old is known as the UNTOUCHABLE ICE QUEEN around mckinley. it seems like they auditioned to be in THE TROUBLETONES which is so lame? people at campus have said they’re +INTELLIGENT, but don’t be fooled since they’re also -RUTHLESS. rumor has it, you can find them at CHEERIOS, DECA, MATHLETES, DANCE/BALLET AND FIGHT CLUB when they aren’t belting show tunes. their entire vibe revolves around FRESHLY MANICURED NAILS, GLOSSY LIPS , PERFECT SKIN AND LAYED EDGES, MEGA RESTING BITCH FACE JUST BEHIND A FAKE ASS SMILE AND THE RED AND WHITE CHEERIO UNIFORM AND SLICKED BACK PONY but no one pays attention to that here in ohio.

BASIC INFORMATION

full name. bree biance brown

nickname. bee

pronouns. she/her

sexuality. grayromantic pansexual

age & birthday. twenty & april 13

zodiac sign. aries sun, aquarius rising, virgo moon

clubs. cheerios, deca, mathletes, fight club

glee club. the troubletones

major. music performance (voice)

minor. music theory & composition

HEADCANONS

growing up her parents demanded absolute perfection out of her because what purpose was there in doing something if you weren't going to perfect it. she has spent her whole life pushing herself beyond what an average person could handle and it has built her into a gifted and brilliant young woan but it has also fostered impossible standards that have made her cruel and judgmental toward other and herself.

despite her impenetrable and untouchable fortress of an exterior, she is a deeply sensitive and insecure person who is most insecure about her inability to nurture meaningful and positive connections to other people. she always feels she's on the outside and that she is alone, no matter how many teams or groups she joins, there is everyone else and then there's here. it's ade her the kind of person who pushes people away before ever really getting close to them.

given all of the pressures and exppectations thrust upon her every second of everyday by her parents, her coaches her professors and herself, it's not surprising that she is filled with anger and while she has tried a hundred things to quell the rage she feels nothing worked. not until she found fight club. the other women she fought made her feel less alone in her fury. for once she could feel all of those negative thoughts and feelings she had toward herself melt away with every punch she threw and every hit she took and even when she lost she still felt strong, still felt like she was truly a part of something.

it is worth noting that her is not an easy person to get to know, she is not an easy person to love, she will test you in a million different ways rooting for your failure while sercretly hoping for your success. however, if you manage to gain her trust, her loyalty and her love there is mountain she won't climb and no ocean she won't swim for you.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

@askhunterclarington the picture perfect couple to their parents and used to be close friends to each other

@asksmythe the only man she would willing admit to being friends with

@thejbi very unlikely friends, like very unlikely. like, who would have thought? no one, that's who.

@mckinleyjake now no one is saying in high school that Bree had a pregnancy scare but if she did he might have been the other half of that equation

@brcdsweston the ex, the reason she truly believes you can trust no bitch

@askdottie surprisingly they have a lot in common and this seems to be shaping up into a beautiful friendship

@goldenkwilde they don't get along, never have, probably never will and everyone knows it

@askthingone an actual bestie, even if Bree has no one else she's got Madison there already making a plan to fix it!

( honestly i'm down for anything, just send me a dm if you're interested in plotting or forging a connection with Bree! )

#wmacintro

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mckinleyrp · 12 days

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CONGRATS THING ONE. i mean MADISON MCCARTHY. you better start warming up your voice, you've made it in the club. if you're ready to start belting out some notes, you better send your account in within 48 HOURS. don't forget to give a look at our CHECKLIST before you start singing. good luck getting around campus, i wouldn't be surprised if a slushie comes your way. ( brie, she/her, 31, cst )

LIST ABOUT 3+ HEADCANONS ABOUT YOUR CHOSEN CHARACTER!

since her parents were part of a traveling performance group, they were able to see the talent within their children at a young age. madison has been competitively cheering since she could remember and that seemed to be the ticket into college. now that she's in college and realizing that the likes of becoming a professional cheerleader once she graduates is unlikely, she is having a minor midlife crises.

madison is very much a type a person. she plans her life down to the smallest detail and often doesn't stray from those plans. she believes there is a need for order and control and often blames it on her busy schedule. but, some small subconscious part of her wonders if that is just an excuse to cover her fear of change and spontaneity.

when the glee clubs were announced, madison had dreams that she and mason would become co-captains of the new directions and the school would finally see their talent shine outside of the cheerios. but when mason decided to join the duly noted, madison felt everything shift. never has she competed against her brother before, and its definitely an uncomfortable feeling. currently, she is apart of the troubletones, but that doesn't mean she hasn't set her mind on being the first girl ever allowed into the all male glee club. she just has to prove to them the asset she could be.

#wmacaccepted #madison mccarthy

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lesbiancerseilannister · 5 months

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when the new directions sing tonight by fun. and the troubletones come in and mercedes, brittany, and even sugar have someone to come and pull them into the group but santana is left standing alone…… and then rachel comes over…… i have things to say but i cannot speak.

#y’all KNOW i’m faberry through and through ride or DIE but ……….#rachel and santana should’ve [the sniper takes the shot]

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tuiyla · 2 years

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Ranking Santana’s solos based on importance to her character, part I

I can never make up my mind when it comes to ranking GCVs based on taste. On most days, I can’t even do a solid top 3 because it changes all the time. And in the case of Santana solos, where it’s banger after banger that task becomes even harder. So like I’ve done before for Pezberry duets, I’ve decided to do a different type of ranking. One where we’re not judging the song itself or the vocal but rather the role it plays in Santana’s journey as a character. Does it represent a huge character moment? Is it more subtle in showcasing one of her traits but symbolizes an aspect of her nonetheless? These are the important questions.

Of course, just as ranking based on how much I like listening to the songs, this one will be subjective as well. It’s according to how I see Santana and what beats in her story I deem more important than others. And it’s also all in good fun and more so a semi-serious overview of all her solos rather than an exhaustive character study through song. The girl is in 99 episodes and sings in 108 songs - can you imagine how long that analysis would be?

Alas, out of 108 we’ll only be considering the 14 solos Santana had in the series. This excludes Santa Baby as it was a cut scene and frankly, is a can of worms on its own. Also not included is Silent Night, the album-only solo that would have made Glee, Actually much more bearable. Before we get started with the 14, I wanted to shout out the two songs that, had they been Santana solos, would surely be high on this list. The first is Constant Craving, which by all accounts should have been a solo and, in-universe, even was one. But because this is IKAG and we can’t have nice things, Santana shares the spotlight in her own coming out story with student-fucker Shelby Corcoran. The other song, one that does an even better job of capturing the tension of Santana’s story is the Troubletones classic Rumour Has It/Someone Like You. This one’s perfect as is and wouldn’t work unless a group number, but I wanted to shout out what a tremendous character piece it is anyway. But you don’t need me to wax poetic about that particular mashup because I already have.

So, without further ado, the bottom 7 of said list. Only half of it because part two is coming to you very soon with even more reaching and more to say on each and every solo.

14. Science Fiction Double Feature

Starting us off is the obvious choice for last place. SFDF might be Santana’s very first solo but it’s also one that barely even exists in-universe, only acknowledged as something that truly happened in a throwaway 3x04 line. The song has so little to do with Santana that the confusion about who was even singing was (Entertainment) news-worthy back in 2010 and that should tell you about how inconsequential Science Fiction Double Feature is on a character-level. Don’t get me wrong, the vocals are on point but this is not about that. And it’s not like it’s unique in that on this list full of Santana solos, as vocal excellence is just the universal truth of every one of her songs. As far as character beats are concerned, though? The Lips will have to contend with 14th place.

13. Back to Black

I consider this to be a severely underrated Santana solo so it pains me to rank it so low on here but audition songs are what they are. Now, we’re far from the zero importance of the previous entry but there’s no denying that Back to Black as a solo has little to do with Santana’s character. The song choice itself anyway; it’s little more than an opportunity to capitalize on the immense success and popularity of Valerie. And don’t get me wrong, giving Santana another Amy Winehouse song to sing was the right choice and I’m grateful for it. But does Back to Black have much to do with Santana Lopez as a person and her character development? That’d be a no.

With this song I can at least make an argument for the context, which is to say that the song itself might not be important but its existence is. In the context of 2x21 Funeral and the race for a Nationals solo, Back to Black has a rather big importance and it’s something Science Fiction Double Fiction couldn’t deliver. Santana is in-universe acknowledged as a great soloist on par with the previous big three of the Glee Club, Rachel, Kurt, and Mercedes. And if we consider her growth from Sue’s spy to someone who grew to care about the club, or the out of universe importance of Naya’s increasing role in the show, that’s huge. Not only is Santana an actual voice within the club they consider and count on, but she’s among the now big four who are even considered for a task as big as a Nationals solo. True, Santana’s had a Sectionals solo before, much like Rachel before her, but you’ll see in my section on Valerie why that’s somewhat diminished in my eyes. Here, however, through her performance of Back to Black Santana’s acknowledged as the powerhouse she is and officially enters the ranks of the Glee Club’s best. The ones with the voice and, importantly, the ambition to want more.

12. Nutbush City Limits

Everyone’s but Tina’s favourite diva delivers on this one, no doubt no doubt, but much like Back to Black, Nutbush CIty Limits is little more than a song chosen because Naya Rivera had proven she sounded amazing covering the artists’ tracks. Like Back to Black, most of what we can take form this solo in terms of Santana’s character comes from context rather than content.

Nutbush being a Glee Club performance rather than an audition wouldn’t automatically put it one place higher but the emotional stakes of 4x13 Diva do. Nutbush gains its narrative relevance not from being Santana’s big return to Lima - after all, girl returned every two weeks for a while there in season 4. Though this particular return carries a similar status symbol to being part of the big four as it is Santana the Glee Club invites back for diva week and Santana who blows their minds. But that aside, the real selling point of Nutbush is the reason behind Santana’s return.

Granted, even with the Bram drama and Santana’s jealous scheming this solo isn’t all that juicy. Yes, it’s essentially her way of making Brittany jealous and an entrance worthy of Santana’s dramatics but Nutbush as a song is divorced from the episode’s storyline. As a song, it has nothing to do with Brittana or Santana’s journey in season 4. If we tried really really hard we could maybe reinterpret the lyrics to fit Santana’s Louisville life, which she says permanent goodbye to here, but even I think that’s be a stretch. So as is, here we have Nutbush City Limits coming in at 12th. Some contextual relevance thanks to the drama of Diva and an opportunity for Santana to further showcase her talents but not much else going for it.

11. Valerie

I debate each and every ranking with myself and the placement of Valerie is no different. See, if only it wasn’t so iconic and so obvious when we talk about Santana’s solos I’d have half a mind to place it lower. The same thing I said about the previous two entries can be said here and in fact, even what I said about Science Fiction Double Feature not being acknowledged in-universe save for a throwaway line in 3x04 kinda applies. Granted, Valerie absolutely is performed diegetically and also referenced in 5x12 100 when Brittana reprise the song. But still, I can’t help but feel like Valerie isn’t as appreciated within the world of the show as it should be and that fact keeps it out of the top 10.

Look, Valerie is obviously a big deal for Santana. I’d be willing to bet that if you asked fans, causal and hardcore Gleeks alike, what Santana solo comes to mind Valerie would be it. In the top 3, at the very least. And with good reason, as not only is Valerie the first proper Santana solo (sorry, SFDF) but also among if not the most iconic one. Everyone knows and with good odds loves Valerie. And it is significant that Santana becomes the second ND member to sing a competition solo with it, preceded only by Rachel and followed only by Tina. That’s a short and significant list to be on. And, since Sancedes were snubbed during 2x04 Duets, it’s the first time Santana’s singing talents are truly appreciated in the club. If her auditioning for a solo with Back to Black was a big deal then actually getting one certainly is.

But… we never talk about it. Not in the show we don’t, save for those very small references. A big deal is made out of Fabrevans getting the duet and even Bike’s dance showcase, but Valerie comes and Santana knocks it out of the park without so much as a “wow, Santana!” Or, “thanks, Santana,” or, “you’re getting the solo, Santana!” And really, Santana’s or rather Naya’s strange utilization throughout season 2 is a separate topic I could go on about, but you get what I mean. The song itself doesn’t even have to have significance because a competition solo is a big enough deal on its own and doesn’t need to have further meaning - Rachel’s DROMP being the outlier. But the thing with Valerie is, it gets so much more recognition beyond the constraints of the show than within it. For that reason, I cannot in good conscience place it any higher.

10. Love You Like a Love Song

I haven’t yet attempted to read much more into songs that were mostly there for performance value rather than character significance but I think it’s time we change that. And what other song to do that with if not, Love You Like a Love Song, the Santana solo everyone… just kinda forgets about, if I’m honest. In fact, you might be thinking: there’s no way this song is more integral to Santana’s character than freaking Valerie. Hear me out, my friend.

Context is key and for the first time on this list I can argue that the particular song choice is, too. Okay, maybe not as much as later entries will be but Love You Like a Love Song fills the purpose of, well, a love song. Crucially, and I’m kinda building my entire argument on this, it features one of Glee’s handful of pronoun changes. In Santana’s version, we can hear “constantly, girl you play on mind like a symphony” and that single change is elevated to a new level in the context of the performance itself. That being, Santana singing this solo at prom, that she went to with her out and proud girlfriend and where they’re up for prom king and queen.

I did tell you I would read into it but we have nine more songs to go, of course there will be a little reading into things. I’m aware that the significance of Love You Like a Love Song beyond being a generic prom performance exists solely in my head but, hey, maybe it exists in yours now too. Because isn’t that beautiful to think about, in terms of Santana’s journey? That she went to junior prom with her beard, miserable and deathly afraid, that she couldn’t dance with the girl she loved. And now here she is, a senior who might have been forcibly outed but survived and kept her head high, and now she’s proud and full of love. She wholeheartedly enjoys her senior prom with Brittany by her side and doesn’t even really care about prom queen anymore because she has love. A love she can sing about, with her girlfriend doing backup and with her changing the pronouns during a school performance because that’s who she is and who she loves. Girl, now that plays on my mind constantly.

9. Trouty Mouth

Yes, the joke song comes in at ninth. You think it should be lower? I think it should be higher but I didn’t dare. Even ninth place feels pretty audacious for an original song that was purely meant to be a joke, a joke about a cast member’s physical appearance at that. But Glee’s shittiness aside, I’m here to defend Trouty Mouth as a Santana solo. Put some respect on its name? Maybe not, but grabbing the shovel and giving a little depth to it at least.

So Trouty Mouth, in Santana’s own words, is an awesome heterosexual song she writes for Sam. How genuine she thought it was is another matter but we all know that at this point in the story, 2x16 Original Song, she’s fresh off from a semi-rejection from Brittany after she poured her heart out. So Santana, defensive as always and lashing out, doubles down on her own heterosexuality by writing her assigned original song to/about her boyfriend. And yes, sure, it is a joke. The joke here is that Santana is making fun of Sam’s mouth like she makes fun of so many people’s attributes, physical or not.

But here’s the thing, if we were to consider Trouty Mouth in earnest and examine why is it, exactly, that this was the best Santana could come up with, I think we reach an interesting answer. That being, that beyond insults being Santana’s MO she also has a history of making fun of guys’ physical appearance, particularly after being involved with them. Less so with Puck but her way of asking Finn out is already by insulting him and then she spends the rest of their interactions in the series really hammering the point home. And like with Sam, it’s the writers being asses about a cast member’s actual body and appearance, but putting that aside it’s Santana other MO of doubling down and going way too far. She makes a point of not only exaggerating Finn’s features but of highlighting just how unattractive she finds him. And though what happens with Sam is slightly different, it’s Santana hyperfixating on a physical aspect of a guy she’s involved with and making fun of it.

The way I see it, there are two main ways of looking at it and both circle back to the idea of comphet. One, Santana’s being genuine in her hyperfixation, at least with Sam because she’s desperately trying to make herself be interested in any part of this man. Even in this genuine attempt, if it turns into comedy then so be it, Santana does love insults. And if she’s being deliberately mean about it from the get go, like she is with Finn, then we can see it as an attempt to put these boys down in order to justify her own lack of attraction. See, no one could possibly be attracted to Finn, it’s not her fault. See, Sam’s mouth is ridiculous and therefore her own lack of feelings towards him despite dating is justified. So raw and confused immediately after the event of Sexy, Santana is reaching and coping in her own harmful ways. And if she makes fun of Sam in the process of trying to make herself feel better, so be it.

I told you we were gonna reach and I fully acknowledge this is way, wayyy more thought than the writers ever put into Trouty Mouth or indeed any of Santana’s body-shaming comments. And I’m not trying to exonerate her with this interpretation because she clearly made Sam uncomfortable and her relentless shaming of Finn was never okay. But doesn’t this make for a more compelling narrative, where it’s not just a joke? It’s Santana’s inability not to turn her attraction to men, or lack thereof, into a joke, because maybe then she’d have to contend with the fact that she is in fact gay. But no, she must still be straight because it’s these boys that are the problem, see. And so we have Trouty Mouth placed so high, relatively. But since I know this is a wild wild reach, I’ll contend with relatively high.

8. Don’t Rain on My Parade

Remember a few entries back when I said Rachel’s DROMP was the exception to the competition solo significance rule? Well, that comes back to bite us, bite me at least, as I struggle to place Santana’s version. This was originally not at the halfway point but placed fourth on my list that I jotted down back in April. Why for, I could not tell you now.

Well, I mean. There’s an argument there that DROMP is significant to Santana’s character, even if not as significant as it is to Rachel’s. But maybe that comparison and Santana’s complicated relationship with Rachel are the key to understanding Santana’s version. Season 5′s Don’t Rain on My Parade is an imitation of season 1′s version, where Santana basically retraces Rachel’s steps and, I’d argue, recaptures the Sectionals solo’s magic but does so by reinventing it. This more pop-sounding arrangement makes it clear that this is Santana’s version now and she’s going to leave her on mark on Rachel’s signature song.

Based on this, DROMP signifies several things for Santana. One, it’s an extension of Back to Black in that it firmly grounds Santana as one of the big players, now not just at McKinley but out in the real world, on Broadway. She makes an entrance and she does it well, matching Rachel’s talent to the point of scoring the understudy position. Two, because it establishes a potential career path for Santana, in a somewhat contradictory manner it also highlights how lost she truly is in the New York era and how desperate for a firmer sense of identity. Auditioning comes off as a rash decision and one she makes knowing full well it can jeopardize her relationship with Rachel. But Santana feels so stuck, so unwilling to be known as the Yeast Girl for the rest of her life that she barges in and barges in with DROMP, of all songs. Which leads us to three, Don’t Rain on My Parade (Santana’s Version) representing her intense and precarious friendship with Rachel.

Rather, the song choice represents it. The conscious decision Santana had to make to not just audition to be her roommate’s understudy, but to do so with a song that Rachel has such heavy baggage with. And look, I’ve seen several different interpretations of Santana’s performance. Some say it was meant to be insulting, intimidating towards Rachel. A call for war, even, since we’re talking about these two dramatic bitches. Some say imitation is the highest form of flattery, and it’s not like Santana’s attempts at bonding haven’t been misguided before. Some say she didn’t give the choice and indeed the audition itself much thought at all. I disagree with the last one and won’t decide between the other two today. The point is, it’s a layered choice and a layered situation between Pezberry. Throwing in the big question of what Santana should do career-wise, an arc throughout the New York era, we have a song that contributes… something to our understanding of Santana Lopez as a character. What, exactly, I’ll leave it to you to decide, but there is something there that’s worthy of closing our list of the bottom seven.

End of, for now

Aaaand that’s the list, for now. I promise this won’t be another situation where there are months and months in-between parts, I’m planning on doing part two this weekend. I just felt this post could use a break between the first and last seven entries as it’d be a looong long post all in one. If you agree/disagree with the bottom 7, feel free let me know, and I’m taking bets on the order of the top 7.

#glee #santana lopez #santanalysis #brittana #science fiction double feature #back to black #nutbush city limits #valerie #valerie s2 #dromp s5 #love you like a love song #trouty mouth

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imogenlefay · 2 years

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anyone ever thought about how shady the whole Troubletone thing must have looked from the outside? from other show choirs’ perspective?

so New Directions splits into 2 groups right before sectionals, and comepte with each other and one choir. so basically, they get to plan 2 different performances, and do them not against 2 but just against 1 rival choir. So not only do their chances rise from 1/3 to 2/3, and they get to try out different performances. and once one of their 2 groups wins, afterwards they immediately merge together again. sounds like a pretty good plan to get around sectionals, no?

(and all that after one year earlier, one of them transferred to a rival school, stayed until regionals were he was featured and that choir lost, and immediately afterwards transferred back to ND? just saying, i know those weren’t the motives, but wow do ND look shady af from the outside)

#glee #musings from my late shift #season 3 #troubletones #new directions #show choir politics

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ramblingaboutglee · 1 year

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I'm bored and ranking New Direction performances

Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals, all members. My personal taste only. This is going to cover song choice, performance, and general build-up and context. Worst to best. Also I ramble about why I like or dislike each. Because hi, if you’re new here, I ramble.

S4 Sectionals - Gangnam Style - Ahahaha. No. Like, can we all just agree Glee should never do contemporary meme songs? (Especially when they never do Never Gonna Give You Up, like, that is the meme song and we were robbed of Santana going to the front of the class saying she wanted to perform, only to rickroll everyone. Thank you. Yes that's unrelated I just don't want to talk about this song) This should not have been one of Tina's biggest in-universe performances, for all kinds of reasons. Full props to Jenna for learning the whole song phonetically and performing it well, but. No this should never have happened. And then, what really earns this a place at the bottom, is the fall-out. Marley faints on stage because of her ED. Honestly, the first time I saw that, I was interested - EDs can be horrifying, and having it take a real toll on a lead character felt like a worthwhile storyline to do. It had felt like the show was being a bit flippant with the topic, but having it build to the New Rachel pass out mid-performance, with genuinely disturbing foreshadowing, and the New Directions losing sectionals for the first time as a result? That feels like it's going to good Glee-dramedy directions. Spoilers: it does not. NDs are back in the competition with minimal hassle, Marley's ED is cured via magic, and it's never brought up again. It didn't matter. So with a poorly handled Glee storyline on one hand, and Tina's character again being reduced to Asian on the other, yeah this is. Not a good one.

S5 Nationals - More Than A Feeling - America - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Okay there's a lot about this episode that bugs me and I am going to take the opportunity to vent. This is when the S4 newbies were shoved to the sidelines, and the S1-3 characters still in the NDs took centre-stage for a last hurrah. It's also framed as a memorial to Finn, singing his favourite songs as a goodbye. Okay, screwing over the S4 cast rather than trying to make them better (which, after all, is the Glee staple - it's not like the OGs were everything they're known for after just one season, for the most part) that's a bad look for Glee, but given the show's switching gears to NY soon, fair enough I guess. They go out with a whimper rather than a last hurrah, which is dumb, but whatever. This is the last remains of the OG Glee Club putting on a memorial to Finn. And they lose. They don't even lose to Vocal Adrenaline, but to some randoms that never appear again. (And it's not even like VA are written out, they get mentioned in the next couple of episodes when Will's convinced to coach them). It's one of the most baffling decisions Glee ever makes. The New Directions losing, that's not inherently bad - it was where Glee began - but having the goodbye to the S4 cast and the last big performance in the spotlight for the characters that played second-string, their promised chance to showcase themselves, that gets no meaningful follow-up... Yeah, no. And even if we ignore all of that... these aren't good performances? Which is no slight on the singing, for the most part. Most of the best blocks in the show use solos, little things to help distinguish each number and add a sense of pacing to the performance - none of that's here. Instead, the songs just kind of blur together, not helped by the show's insistence on having Blaine, Tina, Artie and Sam all share spotlight-duty. One of the points I'm going to get into ranking my faves, is variation. Especially in S3, we got a Troubletones performance, a group performance, and then something that was much more of a solo. All that to be said, the songs were given a lot more to make them distinct. These, however, are all full-cast New Directions performances. Give Tina a solo, give Blaine and Sam some poppy song with dance back-up, have Artie lead the third. Do something to give each song some sense of identity, and have some better pacing. And have them win. For something that seems like it's trying to showcase the characters, it completely fails to play to their strengths. As it is, this is at the bottom of all the full performance sets for good reason. It's just bland. A last, storyline note - one of the things that does bug me with this episode is how much the NDs are focused on winning. Like, before they explicitly played up competition as friendly, rooting on their rivals. They completely lose that here, and it goes unremarked on. There was a time I thought they'd win the competition and the the NDs would dissolve because it had stopped being fun, but nope, it's just. There.

S2 Nationals - Pretending - Light Up The World - The one word I can think of to describe this performance, and frankly most of this episode, is 'pointless.' One of the flaws of S2 was that the singing competition often felt like a formality, rather than the big deal it was in S1. Gearing the whole finale around something that didn't seem to matter anymore, especially when it ultimately just ends on a repeat of S1's loss, feels ultimately meaningless. It doesn't actively aggravate me the way the above two sets do, it just bores me. The songs aren't bad, but I am grading on a curve when it comes to competition performances - these feel like typical Glee songs, while I expect the competitions to stand out more. If I'm judging a competition, part of the metric is how significant it feels. Here, it feels like something that happens because they couldn't get away with not showing it. The episode feels much more like it's about being in New York, than it does the Nationals performance. This isn't something built up to, this isn't a resolution, it's just something that happens. Like, I could be picky and criticise them coming to New York without their songs written, but that's just Glee. The bigger issue for me is that it's what the build-up is replaced with. It also doesn't help that this is the second competition to be centred on original songs, so it lacks that unique flourish, and as far as a realisation goes, it feels ultimately inferior, to me, to its predecessor. While before, the contents of the songs were built up to as continuations and summations of the show and characters, we very much lack that here. Ultimately, it feels insignificant - it’s set-up, where its only purpose is to make the next season’s nationals a big deal. In of itself, it lacks impact, in my opinion. The songs are fine. Pretending is an okay number, a good Finn and Rachel duet and I can imagine shippers loving it, and it has some character potential. Light Up The World though just feels like a fairly generic song, not what an original song ought to be. For my taste, they lack energy, though I can't put my finger on why - it might be that they feel so consistently at more or less the same level of energy and intensity that there's too little contrast to make much stand out. What we end up with is, ultimately, fine. But for a season finale, fine just isn't good enough.

S4 Regionals - Hall of Fame - I Love It - All or Nothing - The S4 cast deserved better. That's getting to be a theme. This episode has some issues. It's the S4 finale, heralding this storyline continuing into season 5 in a manner that undeniably feels a little overstretched. As a finale, Regionals are going to feel a little unsatisfying after two seasons of Nationals in a row. On top of that, the episode feels regeared at the last minute to serve as a goodbye to Heather Morris as Brittany. So it has issues going in. Acknowledging that it was in a bad place, though, doesn't make the problems go away. Marley has a fantastic voice, along with decent range. Jake is one of the best all-rounders the show's ever had, holding his own in both song and dance. And on top of that, season 4 genuinely, in my opinion, has some of the best choreography across the whole show - that's whether we're talking Jake's dance numbers, or something like Heartbreaker that turns into a full-on music video. Which brings us back to the comparison problem - these songs are fine, but a lot of the performances across the rest of the season took a step up, taking full advantage of New York for staging, so the competitions either needed to do the same, or they suffer. So they suffer. I think if it were in any other season, this would maybe be ranked higher, but surrounded by the general quality of S4 staging and choreography, the competition ends up less impressive than Jake having a solo in the classroom. It’s a similar issue to S2′s Nationals ultimately seeming like a downgrade from that season’s regionals. Hall of Fame is a decent opener, a good atmosphere-builder, but I Love It suffers in my opinion - it's a song that's perpetually at the same level of intensity, so for a competition performance it feels like it stalls. The highlight honestly is just Sugar just doing her own thing in the background. All or Nothing is probably my favourite of the set - it showcases two of the strongest voices, but it feels like it's too little too late. This does double for Marley. Ostensibly, Marley feels guilty for them losing sectionals - her ED isn't her fault, but she deserved a triumphant moment to show herself coming out from that. The fact said triumph is a duet is fine, mitigates it a little, but it could still be solid. The number just ends up feeling too understated for its own good. Some of this likely is the episode's problems - I can imagine it was more Marley-focused before they needed to write in Britt's departure - but it still hurts the story. It's not uncommon for the big performances to cut away from the stage to show reactions of Will/a teacher, and sometimes parents or characters in the audience, people having some actual reaction to what happens on stage. This mostly lacks that. It robs the performance of context that would elevate it to more than, well, ordinary songs. They're good songs, and good performances, but if I'm ranking these as competition performances, it has to end up lower. But this is the last of the performances that are more milquetoast to me.

S3 Sectionals - Survivor/I Will Survive - - ABC - Control - Man in the Mirror - Yes I'm including the Troubletones fight me. (And honestly, yeah, for this particular ND set, the Troubletones should have won so they are giving this a little boost). It's a fun set-up. The NDs have a new set of rivals, as opposed to just the Warblers, led by Mercedes and Santana and Britt (and Sugar Motta just. Making facial expressions in the background). And then Rachel's suspended for the duration of the competition, so the New Directions lack all of their tried and tested powerhouses. It's something of a redo of the S2 sectionals (spoilers for later), but it's a good way to showcase the whole crew. Tina carries ABC, with decent choreography from Mike (We've seen him do fancier, but for a team number, it's good). Control belongs to Artie and Quinn doing the dialogue. And then Finn, Artie, Blaine, Puck and Sam bring it home. There's none of the usual stage-filling ballads that were something of a mainstay before this point, and it's a more low-key affair made by harmonies and timing and it's cosy more than powerful, but it helps exemplify the strength of the team. Also best costumes the New Directions ever get thank you. And then on the other side are the Troubletones. I've seen some people rank it as one of the best performances on the show, and while I wouldn't go that far, the transition from one song to the other is absolutely a spectacular moment that would be up there. For me, the choreography feels a little hectic at points, but there is still a lot of recommend it. Anchoring more is the context of the episode. We have the fantastic idea of all three show choirs being, to one degree or another, known - something Glee really does too little. Harmony begins with Buenos Aires, and then we go to the New Directions and Troubletones with their built-up rivalry. And then there are smaller ongoing story beats - Quinn's dynamic with Shelby comes to a head this episode, and the opening of 'Control' comes with perfect subtext, and it's something of a showcase for Mike in an admittedly very cliche plot. Still, it delivers on actual character for someone that was usually just a minor background character. These aren't my favourite performances, certainly, but it's a damn good set.

S2 Sectionals - I've Had The Time Of My Life - Valerie - This is where we really start to get to the good ones, for me. So let's talk skill. I've seen too many takes that seem to view singing talent as some number from 0 to 10, someone being either good or bad, and I don't think that's true. Every genre of music takes a different skillset. You take someone like Finn - he inhabits old school rock songs, the She's Not Theres, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights (spoiler for later), while he's not as adept at some other genres. That happens, there's a reason singers are often known by genre. Rachel Berry is the best singer on the show. That's not because she's always the best pick for a song - Mercedes will give her a run for her money and often oust her on some - but because she's pretty damn good at almost anything she's given. Over the show's run, she goes from Barracuda to Celine Dion. What makes Rachel stand out is as much versatility as voice. So then we get Sectionals where Rachel doesn't lead, and rather we get Quinn and Sam in a soft, mellower melody, followed up by Santana in an upbeat dance number. And rather than be a set that plays up Rachel's absence, it perfectly depicts the strengths of the rest of the team. Quinn's voice is perfect for the number she has, and her dynamic with Sam is remarkably sweet, and then Santana follows it up with her first real time in the spotlight and her sheer stage presence is impressive, especially alongside Mike and Britt's energetic performance. One of the criticisms I had for songs lower down the list is that they don't feel like events. They felt obligatory, with little time spent making the competitions feel like they matter. S1 handled it the best, with the competitions being at the core of Will's arc, and Will being more central on the show - when the kids took over, and their drama obviously mattered more to them, competitions could begin to feel secondary. This episode might not totally fix that, but it does significantly more in making the event have a point - it shows that everyone in the New Directions has value, and gives the character reactions of the rest in the lead-up. These sectionals existed to showcase the unsung heroes of the New Directions, as it were, and wow did it succeed.

S2 Regionals - Get It Right - Loser Like Me - Original songs are a mixed bag. They're not going to be songs where you already know that people love them, and you're only going to have so much time to work on creating lyrics and instrumentation from scratch. On the other side, you get the ability to have them reflect the characters more than another artist's song ever could. Get It Right is phenomenal. I swear, you get Rachel to stand up and just belt out a ballad, and you've got me. Pair that with the original song making it feel more personal, and it's a gorgeous moment. Loser Like Me is less my thing - lyrics can be a bit clunky, and the put-on voices are clearly a genre-reference which is just distracting when it's an original song, but it's still a good, upbeat melody to round it out. Also, this marks the first time the New Directions actually start on the damn stage rather than at the back of the auditorium. I swear, it took them four tries, but they finally managed it. As alluded to before, original songs come with a lot of potential. In this case, the show delivers - Get It Right feels like Rachel pouring her heart out, and Loser Like Me is something on an encapsulation of one of the show's themes, building on from an ongoing dynamic. Plus the Warblers. Taking the time to build up a rival group was something S1 did with Vocal Adrenaline, to a limited degree, and it's surprising that it isn't done more frequently. Having Kurt on the rival team, too, makes for a good dynamic - it's the same thing I praised the Troubletones for. Everyone involved is a quality singer, and by the internal logic of the show there are competition winners on all sides. Bonus points for the only proper use of props the New Directions do.

S1 Regionals - Faithfully - Any Way You Want It / Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' - Don't Stop Believin' - Yeah. All about the build-up. Journey were part of the show since the first episode, and Don't Stop Believing closed out the pilot. It might be something of a cliche, but it is a good song, and never underestimate the strength of a good callback. The songs were all selected for a reason, bringing the show full circle in a way that never really happens again, and realistically never could. Faithfully is a slower, powerful build. Finn and Rachel enter, sing a number that fills the auditorium with just their two voices. Then, midway through, the curtain raises and all the New Directions suddenly join the number in a glorious moment. Then, from slow and powerful, it transitions to an energetic, upbeat mash-up so quickly it's almost dizzying. And then, rather than cutting away as S1 did, or ignoring it as S2 did, for the first time we see the full set of three as it rounds it out with DSB, the pilot callback. They're good songs. They go well together, and were arranged wonderfully. The only real criticism I can give is that it's still very much the Rachel and Finn show - though that's more forgivable in season one where most of the cast were less in-focus. Even then, a few get spotlights and moments in the latter two songs. And, yes, I like just seeing Will (at a competition for the first time) just kinda dancing along off-stage. They're cute cut-aways, and it really sells this as what the series has been working towards. And then you add Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban in the audience and?? What the heck is Glee. This was a spectacular way to close out the season. A deliciously galling loss, a bittersweet kind of closure from Sue, and a medley that makes it clear that if Glee had ended here, it would have gone out on a high. Also, Quinn was minutes away from giving birth that whole performance so. I mean. Gotta respect it I guess. I'll be honest, I generally think a lot of the "Will Schuester is a terrible person," stuff can be overplayed by fandom, but. Okay yeah you have a point here WHY IS SHE ON STAGE

S3 Regionals - Fly/I Believe I Can Fly - Stronger - Here's To Us - The escalation. Fly is a more mellow number, which kicks into a high energy Stronger, building up to Here's To Us and that moment where Rachel holds the note while the instrumentation cuts out still gives me chills. It's a solid set of songs with a fantastic arrangement. And all of that in the episode On My Way, doing what Glee can do so well - juxtaposing the happy and the sad, using the bad to make the good matter. Undeniably, this episode begins as one of the most serious in Glee's run, certainly up to this point. And as a counterpoint, we end with a Regionals with the theme of 'inspiration,' going to a dark place and generally handling that plot well, but replying to it with the firm insistence that people are worth it and there's hope. It's a wonderful thematic conclusion to the episode, using tragedy to uplift. And if we're going to talk Stronger, we have to talk the Troubletones - I love that sense of the New Directions coming together over the seasons, and having that group-within-a-group is a great way to do that. It makes the episode feel earned, feel like a continuation. The same way as earlier episodes that offer more of a build in order to make the competition feel like a culmination, here we have the Troubletones getting a number from within the New Directions, showing the group willing to showcase all their talent. And we have Sebastian's development, on the side of the rivals, as a result of the events of the episode - the competition becomes a genuine celebration on all sides. Also Sugar Motta ignores her team when they win and runs over to hug a vampire. Which is adorable.

S1 Sectionals - Don't Rain On My Parade - You Can't Always Get What You Want - (Somebody To Love) - And here we are in the top three. This may partly be fond memories talking, but this is a heck of a first performance. In a lot of ways, this is the episode that really got me into Glee. I liked some characters, some storylines etc before this point, and there had been good songs before this, but this was the episode where I was first genuinely wowed. And it's got a good build-up. Season 1 of Glee showed each character slowly come to the club, and find their place, and this allows them to all be spotlighted. The episodes begins with Mercedes knocking it out of the park, and Rachel in a bit of character development due to be forgotten about in half a season's time willingly stepping back to let Mercedes sing the ballad. As much as this is the first performance, it's treated as a story in its own right, not just a stepping stone to reach - the last minute hectic planning of the cast figuring out what they want to do, improvising their second number, and off-screen redo of Somebody to Love (the first song they ever sang as a full group), all kicked off by Rachel bursting into the auditorium with her by-now iconic Don't Rain. Like, we're all agreed that's the perfect song for Rachel right? I swear I was just cackling as soon as I heard the opening notes, just for how well it fits - something the show just goes in to prove again and again with the repeated acknowledgements of Funny Girl and use of similar beats. It feels like a finale. Which, honestly, was likely intended, it's hard to imagine a musical TV show being a long-runner, so they really pull out all the stops. So we get a pair of triumphant performances, juxtaposed with Will missing the performance because he took the blame for them an episode prior, and say what you will about Will but Matthew Morrison acts the hell out of him just in tears of pride while listening over the phone. Honestly my only criticism is that it needed Somebody to Love because I'm a sucker for a Queen song.

S6 Nationals - Take Me To Church - Chandelier - Come Sail Away - This might be unpopular. Oh well. One of the strengths of the S6 cast, with how they were much more secondary as characters, was that they got to spend their time singing the genres they were best at - so given a spotlight like this, they nail it in a way few other performances do. And for good measure, there's that thread I keep talking about - how the performance feels like a culmination, from the blazers to the Warblers dancing, to Spencer's injury. The competition matters again. I didn't expect much, honestly. When the S4+5 competitions were all on the lacklustre side to me, and the S6 kids being more secondary as characters, I figured this would be the same, a season that peters out with a mediocre performance before Glee ends. Then Roderick walks out with confidence gained over the course of the season, and fills the stage with a ridiculously good voice, and gorgeous use of a translucent curtain for staging. My jaw was on the floor. The harmonies with Jane are downright heavenly. Then, onto Chandelier, we get fantastic choreography making full use of the more experienced Warblers to show off, Myron just kinda doing Myron stuff in the audience, and Madison getting a chance to show off her voice. And to top it off, Spencer who was injured in rehearsals, and likely unable to join in, appears via getting tied to an actual chandelier and swinging in overhead because why the heck not. Glee is a lot of things and subtle is not one of them. And we finish off with Come Sail Away. It begins quietly, doing the same trick with pacing that so many of my favourite performances do - the first song gets people into it, the second is upbeat and energetic, and here they take a breath to pause - with a wonderful double-act from Mason and Madison - before the song kicks into high gear after the almost reflective moment, and it's just pure celebration. All that paired with Rachel, Kurt and Will in the audience just beaming, and it's easily one of my favourite performances. If I was going to criticise, Jane deserved a number. She killed Tightrope in her debut and then got little else - technically she only really got one song less than the average for the S6 kids, but hey, she had a great voice and stage presence. So, let's talk about how the season built to this. My favourites will always be the performances that feel like culminations. S1 could handle this the easiest, though we saw shades of it elsewhere - but like S1, we got more focus on each of the Newest Directions as they joined, saw the show choir be built up piece by piece. And then the Warblers joined up, offering an extra piece to the performance, and bringing more developed choreography with them. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it fun? Still yes. And just for the heck of it, the New Directions head out with Warbler-inspired blazers in McKinley red, and it's a good look. I don't always talk that much about costuming, unless it really stands out, but it does here. They bring a splash of colour without resorting to the stock suits and dresses that the more average costumes do. And speaking of the Warblers, the choreography feels like the elephant in the room. I see a lot of criticism of the dancing of the NDs, which is justified, but also unavoidable for meta reasons - the lead characters sing a heck of a lot of songs. That’s a lot of rehearsal time. The reason their rivals get better performances is because people that are only singing a few songs can rehearse them exclusively, rather than hurrying from one episode to the next. So having more minor characters, with such names as Super Gay Warbler, who can afford to dedicate time to just learning the moves, it really helps play up the feeling that this is the finale, and is one of the best performances the New Directions ever do. It feels like the whole season built to this point. And then we have Vocal Adrenaline, under Sue, performing Hey Mickey (am genuinely amazed it took Glee so long to get to that song) and firing students out of cannons, and they're really just throwing everything at the wall. It's pure ridiculous cheesy fun, but backed up by a set of fantastic performances and arrangements. Which, I mean, it's Glee, what more do you want?

S3 Nationals - Edge of Glory - It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Paradise By The Dashboard Light - I feel like this is a cliche first place but eh. Cliches exist for a reason. Just, wow. So let's talk about the build-up. Graduation is soon, this is the New Directions’ last chance to win, Rachel’s chance of getting into NYADA rides on her performance for Reasons... This is, in many ways, the last hurrah of the original cast. Jesse is back as a rival, coaching Vocal Adrenaline, who are led by Unique who’s already proven herself to be a spectacular performer. We get a little drama, overcome by Sue of all people helping the team. And it begins. The Troubletones take the stage with the aptly named Edge of Glory, serving both as a Gaga callback and a chance to showcase more members of the group, and you know by now how much I love having that piece of the performance set up. They set the scene, and we get to Rachel belting out Celine Dion like her life depends on it and it’s one of the best vocal performances in the entire show. Whoopi Goldberg shows up. With Rachel feeling a sense of hope, things feel resolved, and it closes out with a triumphant Paradise By The Dashboard Light - a song that suits Finn’s voice, and that the whole New Directions manage to nail. Even with their limited choreography, they do a lot with the contrasts of their costumes to stand out. It just builds and builds and it’s wonderful. Each song is distinct, each helps build up the larger set, and each one is a fantastic number in its own right. And all of this in an episode that makes it feel like a culmination of everything. They have good rivals, good build-up in the episode proper,and a spectacular performance. I’ve criticised previous entries for feeling like they leaned on Rachel and Finn too much. I understand it in S1 by the nature of the show at that time. Season 3 in general avoids this, though - the first performance lacks Rachel completely, while the remaining dedicate one song to the Troubletones, showcasing the other performers. While the other two do lean much more on Rachel and Finn, Paradise is enough of a group number, and it feels earned to me by the context of the episode. Plus, all else aside, these are spectacular enough performances for it to be forgivable. Mind you, I do have to wonder if anyone read the lyrics of Paradise before picking it. It’s either a not-so-subtle bit of foreshadowing for later drama, or accidentally hilarious. (I like Rachel more than a lot of people seem to, but also building to someone singing to her “I’m praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive, because if I've got to spend another minute with you I don’t think that I can really survive,” is. Um. I mean I get it, but still).

But anyway yes, that’s where I fall. This is admittedly partly down to my music taste, but hey. Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong!

#Glee #rambles

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askthefuturegleeks · 2 years

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For the closing ceremonies, all of our characters were invited to join a group performance and sing It’s About Damn Time by Lizzo. Everyone got a solo line and the chorus is all together. The Warblers sang this clean/live version of Montero by Lil Nas X. The Troubletones sang this mashup of songs by divas, mostly stuff released recently. Every big artist in the video is a new solo for one of the girls. Haverbrook did an ASL cover of We Don’t Talk About Bruno and each new person in the song is a solo. The New Directions sang Rainbow by Kesha.

Feel free to continue paras and posting social media posts for this event, I know I still have stuff to get up. But the event is officially over. I encourage everyone to send anons asking festival related questions.

#atfg event

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