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undertale-data · 3 years

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[Image Description: An Undertale chat box that has “WHY FANS LOVE UNDERTALE” at its center. Next to it are a line chart and an Egg from the Dating Hub on its left, and a CRIME measurer (also from the Dating Hub) on its right. End I.D.]

[Image Description: a pie chart titled, “LEVEL OF LOVE FOR UNDERTALE.” The textbox on the top right reads, “On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the least and 10 being the highest, how much do fans enjoy Undertale?” From the top going clockwise, 12 or 0% chose 5 and below; 23 or 1% chose 6; 98, or 4%, chose 7; 325, or 12%, chose 8; 529, or 20%, chose 9; and 1664, or 63%, chose 10. End I.D.]

It’s clear from all of the data analyzed so far that fans who took the time to answer our survey love Undertale. It is unlikely that they would have taken the time to answer so many questions if they had not, and even less likely that they would have come across our survey in the first place. Naturally, it comes as no surprise that 63% of our responders gave their love for Undertale a score of ten out of ten. 95% gave their love for Undertale a score of eight or higher, and only 12 responders responded with five or below, a number so small that their responses had to be lumped together to be visible on the pie chart. Of those, only 3 responders gave their love for Undertale a score of 1, and based on those responders’ other answers, it is likely that they were only intending to troll. We are very fortunate that the vast majority of responders took the survey seriously, enough so that responses like this are barely a blip in the data.

Now, for our final analysis post of the event, we will delve into the reasons that fans love Undertale so dearly.

(Essay and highlights under the cut.)

There have been countless essays on the impact that Undertale has had on people’s lives. I can hardly add more on the subject than what has already been said, but I hope this summary can provide a brief overview of what stood out among the over two thousand answers given in response to this survey. That said, due to the sheer volume of answers, I could not read every single one in depth—however, I did skim all of them, and some that stood out or were representative of several responses have been highlighted below. If you would like to see what every fan who consented to share their response had to say, you may view the full list of responses here. Note that these responses have not been edited in any way. This document may take a long time to load, as it is over 100 pages long.

(Warnings for mentions of suicidal thoughts in the following essay.)

Several responders loved the theme of choices mattering in Undertale. Whether people played the pacifist, merciless, or neutral routes, they enjoyed how the game reacted to their actions. For some, it even made them consider their own morality. One touching response explained the impact that the theme of mercy made on them. “I realized that Mercy isn't something that's given to those who deserve it. Flowey didn't deserve it. I don't deserve it myself. Shoot, we ALL need Mercy in our lives.” Many fans left similar comments about how the themes of Undertale made them better people.

Undertale changed how its fans treat others, and it also changed how fans treat themselves. The theme of staying determined and the messages of hope in the game were a light to a very large portion of fans. I cannot list all of the fans who said that Undertale helped them out of a dark place, or that they would not be alive if not for Undertale. “DETERMINATION became a metaphor for not killing myself at a really rough time in my life and I’ll always cherish that. Undertale isn’t afraid to go to really dark places but at the same time holds on so tight to its hope.”

Undertale brought fans together in unexpected ways. Some said they met friends or significant others through the fandom. “I wouldn't have met my now husband without Undertale,” one fan said. A different fan who is non-native English speaking mentioned that the game and the fan community helped them to learn English.

It would be impossible to discuss Undertale without mentioning the fan community. Whether for good or bad, many responders mentioned the fandom in their responses. Overall the feelings towards the fandom seem positive, though many made references to “toxic” parts of the fandom without specifying which parts they consider toxic. Others rejected the idea of toxicity in fandom. One response said: “[SLAMS FIST ON DESK] I KNOW MOST PEOPLE SAY THE FANDOM IS TOXIC AND CRINGE OR WHATEVER BUT OH MY GOD. The Undertale fandom, both the UTMV and the actual UT fandom, has been so much fun to be a part of. I've met countless friends because of our shared interest in something related to the game! The art people create can be breathtaking and so inspirational, and the fanfics are so so good!! I've seen people write incredible things for this fandom and it's what made me continue writing!”

One thing that makes the Undertale fandom unique is the way it embraces various AUs. Some fans are tired of AU content, but the majority of responses show a love for the creativity behind AUs. “Roll your eyes at the 50th AU Sans all you want, it's encouraging people to step outside the boundaries of fanart and pushing people to make their own ideas! I mean, hell, it was how I gained the confidence to start making my own original content.” The lack of a judgemental atmosphere seems present in the AU community, according to the responses we saw. There is an interesting balance between AU and canon (sometimes referred to as “classic”) content that another responder pointed out: “The fandom helped keep the game alive all these years, with all of its AUs. Although personally, I always enjoyed AUs that kept characters as close to the classic material as possible (dancetale, outertale) I do appreciate the creativity of the fandom. They almost created entirely new stories with new characters of their own! If it weren't for those people, the Undertale fandom would have probably not been as active as it is now. I do feel like we're getting a resurgence of classic content now too! (In 2021)”

Regardless of the many AUs the fandom has created over the years, the original game of Undertale still feels like home for many fans. They wished they could reclaim the feeling of playing the game again for the first time, but even though we can’t reset time in real life, there is still a special feeling for fans each time they play Undertale. One fan said, “Even the best fics I've read can't capture that feeling of nostalgia/almost-"coming home" that comes with hearing the music and talking to the characters.” This feeling is one that can be cherished time and time again. In the words of another responder: “It always feels welcoming like home or like comfort food that I never grow tired of no matter how many times I go to it.” Others pointed out the strength of the found family trope in Undertale, which likely contributes to this feeling of “home” as well.

As mentioned briefly earlier, the music is part of what makes Undertale feel like home for fans. Even when responses focused on other aspects of the game, many would throw in a comment about the soundtrack at the end. One comment focused on the music said “IT'S SO GOOD like I will literally go through the entire thing over and over and not be bored with it. It makes my monkey brain so happy you have no idea.” Like with the game itself, the music has incredible replay value, an amazing feat considering most of the tracks use the same few motifs. “I think what I like the most about Undertale is how the music attaches you to the story,” another responder said. “They're simple melodies that stick with you throughout the whole game, and they can remind you of both good and bad times.”

If the music sticks with fans in their hearts, then the game’s lore sticks with fans in their minds. Even six years after the release of Undertale, fans are still creating new theories and digging up new secrets. The way the game breaks the fourth wall in particular intrigued many fans and has stuck out through all these years. The awareness that the game shows for the RPG genre makes it memorable. The game plays with the player’s expectations and turns them on their heads, all while reminding the player that they’re in a game. There are few other games that do this on such a large scale, so it’s no surprise that fans cite this as one of their favorite things about Undertale.

Lastly, the LGBT+ representation in Undertale has been a huge draw for fans. Especially in 2015, the sheer volume of non-cishet characters was unprecedented, as one fan pointed out: “It's practically unheard of to see so MANY from just one source, especially during its heyday in 2015-16. Hell, you can't even GET the true pacifist ending without helping two gay couples hook up. It's really nice to see all of them being accepted for who they are and not judged for their sexuality or gender, at least in-canon.” The LGBT+ cast including Frisk, Chara, Napstablook, Monster Kid, Mettaton, Alphys, and Undyne each connected with fans in unique ways. It’s clear how important this is from responses such as: “There are canon nonbinary characters 🥺. i have never seen representation of myself before.” “It made me gay and trans so thanks for that.”

Once again I am overwhelmed with just how much there is to say about Undertale. One responder really understood when they compared Undertale to an iceberg, explaining that there are so many layers to the game that there is something for everyone: “everyone can find something to enjoy in the lore/game regardless of what kind of fan they are! Being able to appeal to various types of fans—from simple happy shipper people to deep dive lorediggers—is the mark of the coolest games!” I would have to agree with them.

It’s been six years, and despite everything, it’s still you. Thank you for reading, participating in this survey, and above all, staying determined.

Highlights:

DETERMINATION became a metaphor for not killing myself at a really rough time in my life and I’ll always cherish that. Undertale isn’t afraid to go to really dark places but at the same time holds on so tight to its hope.

I think the coolest thing was having the opportunity to watch the AU community grow from its bare roots. It's nearly insane how big and complex it's gotten, unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Roll your eyes at the 50th AU Sans all you want, it's encouraging people to step outside the boundaries of fanart and pushing people to make their own ideas! I mean, hell, it was how I gained the confidence to start making my own original content.

i love how the lgbt rep is so naturalized... there are just gay people! and its nobodys business!

The music is my go to answer, but what I really really REALLY love is how the minor characters have so much personality to them when you talk to them. They aren't incredibly important to the overall story, but they're all so likeable and diverse that you just can't help but like them immediately!

I think it was the first videogame I have played that broke the fourth wall that much. Of course there has been other videogames that broke it but just for one or two tongue-in-cheek jokes. The guilt of killing mama goat was also something intense as well that I appreciated as an experience and that I didn't think a videogame could cause on someone.

I love how no character can be seen as completely bad! Everyone builds up Asgore as some horrible villain, but he turns out to be a 'fuzzy pushover' who's broken and just wants his family back by the time you meet him. Then you think Flowey's an irredeemable killer who engineered the suffering of the monsters across many timelines, and he is... but he also used to be the kind and beloved Prince Asriel Dreemurr, traumatized by his death and subsequent rebirth, projecting his best friend onto you.

The fact that choices matter in the game. Your first playthrough and getting the golden ending for the first time. I can never replicate those feelings again, wish I could erase my memories and replay the game from the start.

I wouldn't have met my now husband without Undertale.

(Toxic parts of the fandom aside) The community is possibly one of the kindest I've ever met. Cringe culture is completely dead, and I feel like I can be myself. I felt a very close connection to many of the characters, and I loved consuming content about them when I was in a rough patch in my life.

just everything, the whole game has just impacted my life so much. i know it sounds really lame, but when the game first came out, i would purposely put my hands in my pockets and sway slightly, like sans' idle animation. of course i dont do that anymore haha, but undertale still really impacts me to this day, and i wouldnt have it any other way :)

it made me gay and trans so thanks for that

I realized that Mercy isn't something that's given to those who deserve it. Flowey didn't deserve it. I don't deserve it myself. Shoot, we ALL need Mercy in our lives.

The thing I love most about Undertale is no matter how many times I play or watch a playthrough it always makes me genuinely happy. It always feels welcoming like home or like comfort food that I never grow tired of no matter how many times I go to it. Toriel still makes me feel all warm and cozy in her home, the Skelebros always make me laugh, and I still cry on the inside watching Frisk comforting Asriel. And on the flip side the No Mercy run still invokes the negative emotions in me as well. In short Undertale just feels like a second home to me and I always wish I could stay.

The reader inserts are my favorite way to decompress after a hard day

I think Undertale helped me discover my love for 8-bit games, and made me realize how IMPORTANT music is in video games.

the worldbuilding and character design are my favorite parts of the main game apart from the music! I’m also a huge fan of the random AU music- not for like underswap or underfell i like the stuff where someone makes a megalovania for a random au where gru from despicable me replaces sans as the character. i think its funny

Just... the vibe, honestly? Even the best fics I've read can't capture that feeling of nostalgia/almost-"coming home" that comes with hearing the music and talking to the characters.

there are canon nonbinary characters 🥺. i have never seen representation of myself before.

[SLAMS FIST ON DESK] I KNOW MOST PEOPLE SAY THE FANDOM IS TOXIC AND CRINGE OR WHATEVER BUT OH MY GOD. The Undertale fandom, both the UTMV and the actual UT fandom, has been so much fun to be a part of. I've met countless friends because of our shared interest in something related to the game! The art people create can be breathtaking and so inspirational, and the fanfics are so so good!! I've seen people write incredible things for this fandom and it's what made me continue writing!

There's a scene where Frisk (the player) is going towards what is presumably going to be their death. They will fight Asgore and he will use their human soul to break the barrier and free his people. The music, despite the player's impending doom, is... triumphant. You are not the triumphant one here, and yet, the score invites you to experience the monsters' joy and happiness as they tell you the tale of their subjugation. The monsters are going to be free. This is their victory, but they don't hate you or want you to die. They're just... happy. That scene has always struck me very deeply. I feel it represents the best parts of Undertale.

I loved how well thought out the Geno route was. It really made me feel like I was doing something horrible, and the characters were very obviously reacting to dire circumstances.

I dunno? I like Undertale for it's characters, story, music, secrets and many more. I am not good with Headcanons but I also like the neutral endings and how different they can depending on who you spare and kill

I was very bad at english before, i thought i couldn't progress because i was very shy and not confident. But my sibling and i wanted to have the best experience with this game so we wanted to play it in english. It's this game and the fandom which helped me to make huge progress in english !

THE SOUNDTRACK. IT'S SO GOOD like I will literally go through the entire thing over and over and not be bored with it. It makes my monkey brain so happy you have no idea.

to avoid writing an essay i will say one word. Mettaton

It is like Toby specifically made the games to fit the iceberg meme and it's awesome, everyone can find something to enjoy in the lore/game regardless of what kind of fan they are! Being able to appeal to various types of fans - from simple happy shipper people to deep dive lorediggers is the mark of the coolest games!

I love almost everything about Undertale as a game on its own. The music, the art and especially the characters and how they interact. They made me feel at home. Undertale means a huge amount to me. (I even got a tattoo of the castle when you and MK walk together!) The fandom helped keep the game alive all these years, with all of its AUs. Although personally, I always enjoyed AUs that kept characters as close to the classic material as possible (dancetale, outertale) I do appreciate the creativity of the fandom. They almost created entirely new stories with new characters of their own! If it weren't for those people, the Undertake fandom would have probably not been as active as it is now. I do feel like we're getting a resurgence of classic content now too! (In 2021)

the mystery. toby fox refused to give answers to anything and i think thats very sexy of him.

I just feel guilty for liking it so much when I'm in my 30's. But I recently got diagnosed with ASD, so I guess it explains things a bit. Many ppl consider Papyrus to be neurodivergent, and some adult fans are too, so seeing that makes me feel a bit better.

i think about "Despite everything, it's still you" everyday of my life.

I like how it's just as funny as it can be serious. All routes are this way. I laughed as much as I cried when I played the Pacifist route and then once I opened the game again and Flowey was telling me to let them be happy, I immediately turned off the game. I somehow felt bad.

The Found Family Trope

The True Pacifist Ending is just...man. And the fanworks about saving everyone even when the game doesn't let you? MANNNNNN

I think what I like the most about Undertale is how the music attaches you to the story. They're simple melodies that stick with you throughout the whole game, and they can remind you of both good and bad times.

there's honestly a LOT to love about this game, but i think one of my favorite things about it is just how many lgbt+ characters there are??? i can think of alphys, undyne, frisk, chara, mettaton, napstablook, monster kid, asgore, mad mew mew, the dress lion, the royal guards, and arguably even papyrus off of the top of my head, but im sure i'm forgetting a few from just undertale alone (there's even MORE in deltarune)!! it's practically unheard of to see so MANY from just one source, especially during its heyday in 2015-16. hell, you can't even GET the true pacifist ending without helping two gay couples hook up. it's really nice to see all of them being accepted for who they are and not judged for their sexuality or gender, at least in-canon.

[Image description: A wordcloud in the shape of the capitalized word UNDERTALE. The text is white on a black background, and uses the font found in the game. Some of the most visible words are: Game, Love, Music, Life, AU, Store, Friend, and Feel, which represent the most common words in the essays people wrote about their love for the game. End of ID]

#undertale #analysis #results #undertale fandom census

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glowyjellyfish · 4 years

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For some reason, despite not having watched the show in roughly seven years according to when I last wrote thoughts about it, I decided last week to start listening to a podcast about Buffy the Vampire Slayer because October. The podcast turned out to be amazing, and despite being thoroughly disillusioned with Joss and worried that would change how I see the show too much, I started watching along with the podcast. Well, really I’m playing catch-up. I just started the Reptile Boy podcast episode, and I just finished The Pack in actually watching. My perception has changed, but mostly in a more mature/woke direction, I’m seeing more problematic stuff and wanting to deconstruct it, but it’s not hampering my love of the characters. I am trying to use death of the author to try to deconstruct and watsonianly explain things, but sometimes it’s better to just go “the writers fucked up” or “yup, that’s a weird and creepy Joss fetish” and let the characters off the hook and be a Doylist.

Here are the thoughts I’ve had so far, which as you can see cheerfully spanned the entire range of the show, because season one doesn’t give me personally a lot to work with.

-Xander is borderline Nice Guy in season one, and I don’t like it. I am enjoying deconstructing him and figuring him out more than I ever did before, though, despite an uneasy feeling that doylistically it started from Joss’ idea of how a average dorky teenage boy would act when surrounded by awesome girls and then reasons for it were added later. It’s really genuinely interesting that Xander’s the heart of the team and has all the feelings about everybody and wears his heart on his sleeve, crushing a lot because of that leaving him vulnerable in addition to hormones, and that growing up in an abusive and neglectful household led to insecurity and overcompensation and poor coping skills. And it’s a really fascinating idea that he despises vampires because he lost one of his best friends to them, and can’t handle the idea of any being capable of redemption or good behavior because he semi-accidentally staked Jesse while trying that concept out and if they can be redeemable then he can’t forgive himself, but of course the show didn’t want to talk about Jesse and preferred to heavily imply if not outright say that Xander’s feelings about vampires were mostly about jealousy over Buffy, which is the most Nice Guy angle they could have possibly chosen. (I... can’t say I totally mind, as Jesse’s behavior was objectively worse than s1 Xander, but still I think it would have been better to not ignore his impact on Xander.) I’m glad Xander more or less gets over his crush after season one and doesn’t wade any further into Nice Guy territory, if I recall correctly, and I’m not claiming it’s unreasonable for him to have had it in the first place, it’s just so much of his behavior regarding it is so uncomfortable, and it could have been handled loads better.

-weirdly, The Pack is the first episode of season one that I found I still thoroughly liked. I did enjoy the show deconstructing/dealing with some of the Xander problems by cranking them up to eleven, and part of it is that I am a sucker for werewolf and werewolf-like stories, and also a sucker for supernatural things happening to the Normal Harmless People in media, but I honestly think a big part of it is how little the episode uses terrible s1 special effects to play the story out. It’s all in the acting, and there was some really convincing and good acting going on.

-I discovered that the last time I watched seven years ago, I concluded that despite his general attitude, Angel genuinely likes being around fun and lighthearted people. I want to bask in that concept for a moment before I turn it around to an earlier point, and say that if Xander wasn’t constantly openly hostile to Angel, they could very well be bros, and I am bummed the show never tried. I mean, jealousy or not, Xander’s vampire issues should still be a problem. But I like the idea of Angel just silently enjoying Xander’s dumb jokes and his naivety, and logically Angel would also super appreciate Xander being adamant about killing him when he’s gone evil. In fact, even if they never became bro’s in canon, I’m going to declare it headcanon that Angel quite liked Xander as a person, and just did not take kindly to constant jabs at his nature. Although, honestly, Angel probably would be a little jealous of Xander regardless for being the most emphatically human person around, (especially considering what a disaster Angel was when he was Liam? He wouldn’t see Xander and think “what a foolish child”, he’d think “is this what I could have been if I was alive now? if I had a couple good people in my life to protect me and help me grow into a better person?”), and wouldn’t really enjoy Xander constantly reminding him that Xander is human and Angel is not. So here’s the revised headcanon: Angel likes Xander as a person, and would quietly consider him a friend if Xander wasn’t openly hostile to him. Angel does not super enjoy spending time with Xander since it means constant needling and reminders that Xander has what Angel never got, but he does appreciate that Xander never lets his guard down and by extension reminds Angel not to let his guard down, either. I will have to see if that holds up as I rewatch; I am still mired in season 1 and I haven’t gotten up to them even sharing a scene yet.

-I have been thinking a little about the escalation of Willow’s heartbrokenness over the course of the series, and… I know there’s a good topic there but it just makes me sad to think about.

-on willow: I think she’s bi and the show/joss is just bi-phobic. Watsonianly, she just never had a full education in the nuances of sexual orientation, and emphasized her gayness to reassure Tara and to embrace a label to define herself. However, while I think she’s bi, I would describe her as having more attraction to women than men, and might even argue that all her attraction to men is demisexual—Xander’s obvious, and Oz did all the pursuing and showed all the interest early on. I think Willow was excited to be desired and to achieve the milestone of not only “boyfriend” but “cool boyfriend in a band” that helped distance herself from nerdiness, and it took a little while for that to build up to attraction and love. Not super long, but long enough for her to doubt her attraction when thinking about it in hindsight.

-speaking of Oz I have so many Oz thoughts. Oz, I love you, but where did you get the idea that you need to solve all your problems yourself and not talk to anybody about it? Stoicism is cool and all but use your words, Oz. You would solve so many of your problems if you learned how to communicate! WHO TAUGHT YOU TO BEHAVE THIS WAY. I haven’t gotten up to him yet but my fandom brain’s already there, he’s my favorite and I can’t wait to try applying this perception to him in action.

-I would love to peek into the alternate universe where Oz didn’t leave. Hell, I want to know what would have happened both if everything else was basically the same but Oz was still around as a main character (say, he wanted some distance to work on control but didn’t leave town; Willow was very upset about it but perhaps not to the same degree, and still met Tara while looking for a way to train/practice magic and developed feelings for her; New Moon Rising happened similarly but Oz doesn’t leave town at the end; alternately he did leave but just for the first stretch of episodes and he stays after NMR), and also in the different scenario where because Oz isn’t leaving, Xander is picked to be The Gay One. I mean, he’d have to be bi, too, and my mind honestly boggles at the hurdles the show might have had to leap to make it plausible, but I would like to see it. What kind of boyfriend would the show have given Xander, and why am I thinking of Schitt’s Creek when I wonder what a gay romance for Xander would look like?

...but I’m reeeeally getting ahead of myself now. I did not expect to have so many of my thoughts be about a. the dudes and b. Xander, but what can you do? Soon I’ll have material to talk about, for example, how amazing Cordelia is, but for now...

(and yes, I have been pinging from one fandom to the next in order to find The Right One, and doing one or two thought-dumps before I find myself moving on to a different one without finishing the first. I do not control the hyperfixation. I might go back and forth when the newest one loses its shine, but I am really enjoying the concept of revisiting Buffy for October, and might proceed to do the same with Teen Wolf when I’m done if only for a fascinated comparison between the two and what inspired what and what was improved upon or done worse. Might. Hyperfixation, remember.)

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs

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genderless-consul · 4 years

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Top 5 glee ships?

Straight to the live wire, huh?

Ok, so:

1): Brittana - The fact that I really struggle to write them doesn’t change the fact that this is the one they got right, and I can still barely believe it to this day. The original joke in Season 1 was so obviously a throwaway lazy gag from a writing staff that consistently wrote women with absolute contempt, but Naya pushing them to take it seriously changed the course of the entire show. Their arc in Season Two is Glee at its absolute best (they even made Gwyneth Paltrow tolerable!), they have some really beautiful moments in Season 3 even if that whole season and Santana’s coming out arc in particular is kind of a disaster, and as much as we love to make fun of Santana’s gay panic in Season 4 (don’t act like it’s not highly relatable) even their break-up is legitimately beautiful - Naya turning Mine into a breakup song with nothing but her voice is the moment that cemented her as the GOAT Glee vocalist in my book (also Hand in My Pocket/I Feel the Earth Move is my second ranked mash-up of all time and I’m so angry the awful Santana/Kurt scene right after overshadowed it). And I have....complicated feelings about A Wedding as an episode (and we’ll get to that) but their part of it is absolutely everything it needed to be. “I would have suffered it all, just for the tiny chance to be standing up here marrying you.”

2): Faberry - No surprises here, except maybe that it’s not number one (canonicity was the tiebreaker, sadly). My favorite thing about Faberry is that there’s a million ways to ship them and all of them are great - obviously I’m more than onboard for an alt-version of Glee where theirs is the slow burn unlikely love story, but I also really love the tragedy you can read into them just from the canon, especially spinning out from the Quinntana one-night stand: that Quinn probably does have feelings for Rachel but either realizes it too late or just buries it out of self-loathing, and by the time she’s comfortable with herself the chance for storybook romance has already passed her by. Like seriously - if they had made that characterization explicit instead of retreating to the laziness of the Biff/Quick disasters in the anniversary episodes, I would have been just as happy with that as a Faberry endgame, both because the latter was always probably impossible given the centrality of Finchel to the show’s core structure and because Sad Flameout Lesbians deserve representation too, goddammit! And of course they’re a gold mine for fanworks, because there are so many “could have been” moments where their story has the chance the take a different direction, the best being their confrontation in Original Song: “you can’t hate me for helping to send you on your way” is the best use of Glee’s existential sadness since the Pilot. Oh, and their one and only duet is a fucking Red/Blue sequence and also one of the best songs on the entire show - enough said.

3): Finchel - My ultimate hot take, at least as someone from the Faberry side of the fandom, is that Finchel is Good, Actually. Keep in mind, I never watched Glee as it was airing, so I never experienced the frustration of Finchel’s inevitability; I knew from the very beginning that they weren’t going to get their happy ending. And as irritating as some of the on-again/off-again drama could be and as choppy as the pacing was at times, it really was one of the few relationships on Glee to be developed with consistent care and effort. I love that they have a genuine friendship and push each other to be the best versions of themselves (however inelegantly) even when they aren’t together, and the dynamic where the guy is the willing sidekick to the female protagonist and knows what they have might only be temporary was really refreshing to see, especially in a high school show. I’ll always be heartbroken that they couldn’t end it the way they were supposed to even if I wouldn’t have liked it, and they’re the reason the final scene of Season 3 makes me sob every time.

4): Tike - The ultimate “THEY DESERVED BETTER” ship. And yes, I know it’s off-brand for me to put two m/f ships on the list, and yes, I know RBI basically had to make Tartie endgame as a courtesy to Kevin and Jenna for sticking it out until the absolute bitter end, but I’m still mad. Tina was always used as a joke, and Mike was never used at all, but when they were together they got the briefest taste of actual storylines, and they were so. goddamn. cute together. Sing! and L O V E aren’t the first Glee duets that most people think of, but they captured the magic of just being straight up in love with someone better than a lot of the more over-the-top numbers from other characters. And look, I don’t actually need my ships to stay together forever on a high school show (or any show), but given that they had the longest run as a continuous couple on the entire show I will never forgive RBI for using them as the one “no”in A Wedding in a disingenuous attempt to pretend they were at all interested in realism and weren’t just throwing bones to the fanbase. Like, I don’t know how to explain this to you, Ryan Murphy, but it’s not subverting expectations to kick the shit out of Tina one more time because THAT’S LITERALLY ALL YOU’VE EVER DONE WITH HER (Sorry, what was I talking about?)

5): Klaine - my ultimate love/hate ship, and the ultimate victim of Glee being consumed by its own hype machine. The initial arc - the staircase, Teenage Dream, Blackbird - was magical even at its corniest, and beats like the GAP Attack and Blame it on the Alcohol were desperately necessary moments of complication that kept Blaine’s character more interesting than “Kurt’s perfect boyfriend” (also, real quick, fuck Ryan Murphy’s biphobia). But the second Blaine transferred in Season 3 it became clear that they didn’t really have a plan for Klaine in the same way they did for Finchel - Blaine gets a different personality every single season, Kurt gets to a completely different place in his life that makes his inability to move on from Blaine really hard to buy, and Blaine as the New Rachel in 4/5 is every bit as insufferable as that conceit implies. Even with all that, though, they kept winning me back, because Darren can sell the hell out of over the top cheese and Chris Colfer is the world’s greatest exasperated Straight Man (thinking especially of Teenage Dream Reprise and that absolutely batshit Beatles proposal, both of which worked for me way more than they should have). I also weirdly like the messiness of late Season 5 Klaine - the episodes aren’t good, but I appreciate their willingness to confront how much of a terrible idea them living together at that stage of their life actually is, and they even managed to win me over to the idea that they would find a way to make it work anyway. But the Karofsky thing in Season 6 was just one reversal too far, and to get them back together again after that in the most contemptuous, smug, “nothing matters so just give the shippers what they want I guess” insincere way possible (I really hate The Hurt Locker, can you tell?) was the last straw for me, to say nothing of how disrespectful it was to Brittana and Klaine to have one couple’s wedding coopted at the last moment by another so that it was no longer about them as characters but about how much Ryan Murphy has done for The Gays. So yeah, Klaine: My favorite canon ship that I wish didn’t actually end up together, at least not the way they did. But they were at their best when Glee was actually relevant and changed a lot of lives as a result, and that timing alone earns them a Top 5 spot.

#Glee #top 5 anything #long post

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reversemoon255 · 4 years

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Fifth Review: Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger

Controversial take: I think this is a good series. Not the best, but certainly not bad. And there are some people who read that and question what I'm talking about because they either love the series or think it's terrible. Well, for the first half of this series' run, most of the people I talked to did not like this series, to the point that I stopped talking to people about it. Now, I didn't stop because I thought their opinions were invalid, or because I was mad, but because hearing all that criticism was negatively impacting my opinions. I'd come off episodes feeling good, listen to what other people were saying, and suddenly my opinion would lessen. Ryusoulger does have some issues, but I feel like they were ballooned out of proportion to the point that the shadow they cast prevented people from seeing some very positive things this series had to offer.

The Good: This is a very trope heavy series, with both the goods and bads that come with that. And that does make sense, as this series was supposed to be a ratings grab season to bring in new fans. I know we all enjoy when Sentai breaks its standard tropes, but you have to establish what your tropes are before you can break them. And this checks all the boxes: having Red and the sixth getting the most focus, Red getting power-ups, big robot combinations, (Dino Sentai specific) having an important character die. It doesn't stray very far from the typical formula. But that's ok. Part of the reason we like Sentai is because we like the tropes, and to criticize the series for sticking to its foundation means you have an issue with Sentai as a whole, not Ryusoulger.

The series itself was also structured to help draw in new fans, which seemed to rub some people the wrong way. Episode one was extremely bombastic, with a few decent humorous and dramatic moments, and some over the top fighting. Following that, the first half plus of the show was very episodic, with not a lot of connecting elements. This was probably done to not alienate new viewers and make it feel like they could come in at any episode without missing much. The second half of the show had more connecting plots, like Gaisorg, Pricious, and Heras, to reward people who had stuck with the show and raise the stakes moving into the final acts. While I do prefer more threads and build-up, especially early on, I can appreciate what the writers were trying to do.

And Ryusoulger had a decent cast, if a little underdeveloped because of the aforementioned Red/Six trope. I'm not a big fan of Koh. He's fine when it comes to the goofier episodes, but he was hard to take seriously. Still like him more than Daigo. Melto felt like he might make a better Red, as he was a serious character whose nature easily lead him to being the butt of a joke. His relationship with Oto was actually cute and funny. I normally don't like the "legal loli" trope, but as everyone was far older than they appeared it helped to underplay that issue for me. Asuna had a lot of good moments throughout the season (being the first Pink since TimePink to defeat an enemy general) and had a great actress, but suffers from being the only female Ranger. In my opinion it's always better to write at least two female Rangers since it forces the writers to give them distinct personalities. When you only have one, like in Asuna's case, you normally end up with "girl in a boys show." Yes, she has quirks, like a bottomless stomach and super strength, but quirks a personality does not make. Towa is probably the least developed character, but felt like he had a lot more planned for him (like how he was able to summon Haya Soul's power without a RyuSoul in the final episode). Bamba is a darling, and I love him. The episode where we meet his ex-girlfriend says it all: a tough but kind man who has become better through his interactions with the other Ryusoulgers. I also don't like Canalo that much. His personality feels very responsive to the fact that Toei seems to be trying to subtly push having kids as a good thing to help with Japan's population crisis (which is much more evident in Precure if you pay attention to the fairy designs in recent years), and the fact that said higher-ups seemed to force retconned straight relationships on possibly gay characters over the last three season (which I think is more to do with the population agenda than anything else as Chocolate Macaroons is very much a canon thing). It just feels like he was written that way as a jab from the writers at the Toei big wigs (meaning he's purposefully annoying).

The design work in this series is also excellent. While I would have liked a little more armor on the main costumes, like shoulder pads, the armor given by the RyuSouls was nice, the villain and monster designs were great (as were their personalities, I just don't want to make this longer than need be), and the Megazords had much sleeker designs that allowed for a lot more movement (which seems to be carrying over to Kiramager). I also love the designs of the Kishiryu. Giving them a fossilized look helps set them apart from the dinosaurs that have preceded them, as well as helps with the ever shifting issues of how much feathering any particular species had. They also get huge credit from me as a toy guy for the amount of interplay and non-robot combining present within them. SpinoThunder, Pteramigo, CosmoRaptor, there were a lot of Kishiryu that could combine into other dinosaurs.

Episode to episode, as that's how most of the show was, was hit or miss. I typically loved anything that heavily features Tyramigo (as he was also a great character). Thankfully nothing was as bad as Pitch Cock from Lupin. As for ongoing plots, the Gaisorg plot had a few hiccups, but lead to a good death scene, a cool looking power-up, and some lasting impact on Koh. Pricious, after s/he showed up, easily demonstrated themself as a force to be reckoned with, and the pressure s/he put on the other generals lead to some great moments from the villain cast. The Heras plot had some neat twists to it, but I wish the ending resolved with Heras admitting that she was wrong before her death (since the current generation had overcome the long-standing feud between the two RyuSoul Tribes and had shown willingness to work with the Druidons, both things she criticized them for).

The last thing I'll go into is themes, as Life and Death were two very prevalent themes that were the focus of some of the best episodes. They went full ham on the downsides of the extended life of the RyuSoul Tribe, such as the episode where we meet Bamba's 60-70 year-old ex-girlfriend or the episode where another member of the Tribe wants to commit suicide because she's outlived too many people she's loved. The episodes with Shine and ShadowRaptor were probably my favorite, particularly the parts with Ui and her mom. It felt like a better version of what they tried to do with Kotaro in Kyuranger (which was, coincidentally, my favorite episode of that season).

The Bad: I already brought up a few issues. Focusing on Koh and Canalo isn't bad, but focusing on them too much negatively impacted everyone else's development until the last 10ish episodes of the show. Bamba got a decent amount because he had a backstory, but Towa got almost none and Asuna got little outside "team's girl." Going into power-ups, that is again not inherently a bad thing, but how you use them can be. This was a big issue I had with Lupinranger, as that series focused on two teams, but one of them stopped getting power-ups half-way through the show. Power-ups can be a physical representation of a character's growth, and if only Koh is getting them that means only he is growing. Bamba, Asuna, and Melto all eventually got to use one, but Towa wasn't seen using one until the second-to-last episode.

The Kishiryu are an offshoot of this problem. Koh essentially owns every Kishiryu outside the ones everyone started with. Furthermore, the Kishiryu were designed to be modular, but that was severely underutilized. There were no interesting combinations after they gained access to Five Knights outside of the final episode. Kishiryu-Oh's ability to move his parts around for specific attacks isn't seen outside the first few episodes. There was so much more they could do that they didn't. And I understand that part of that is costume design and budget, but you shouldn't bring forth that idea of modularity if you're not going to use it.

Then there's the aforementioned death scene, which, while I like it, highlights some of the issues with pushing all your plot threads to the end of the show. There were some writing hiccups involving Gaisorg and his relationship with the Druidons. In the death scene itself, it happens the episode immediately after they break the curse of the Gaisorg armor. There is no time to build up Nada's relationships, how grateful he is, how his dynamic might shake up Koh's with Melto or Bamba or Canalo; he's gone before any of that. And it's by a one-off villain. What should have happened, in my opinion, is Nada should have lived through that fight, proven his worth to the team, and then in the following episode died to Pricious. It would still be quick, but it would increased Pricious' threat level, given Nada more time with the team, and might have helped how they tried to nerf Max RyuSoul the episode after it premiered.

Overall, Ryusoulger is a popcorn series; one that is easy to pick up and watch, but isn't something that will blow your mind and you'll be talking about for years to come. It's a good show that is hampered by some sizable issues, but those issues serve as a benefit for the series as a whole and aim to keep it on the air for years to come. If we have to sit through a Ryusoulger every couple of years, I don't have a problem with that. It's not the best, but I still had fun.

#Super Sentai #Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger #Ryusoulger #review #dinosaur #Power Rangers

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natsspammityspamspamham · 5 years

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Dino Watches Anime (Oct 26)

Recently Completed!

Tokyo Godfathers

Score: 10/10

There’s a reason why I gave this such a rare high rating. When I was watching it, I was internally like, “*excitement noises* I have not been this excited over an anime in such a long time, let alone for an anime movie. EVERYONE SHUT UP SO I CAN WATCH THIS EVEN IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.”

It’s not often that you come across really good movies, let alone masterpieces like this movie. The art is so good, the story made me feel like it was Christmas in October, and the characters really made me connect.

I know the subtitles used a whole lot of gay slurs and things like that, but Hana (the trans character in this tale) is treated well if we get past that huge hurdle. She truly owns up to herself. She doesn’t care what she’s called. She gets mad at people who misgender her. She gets mad if she’s forced to go to a men’s facility. She wants people to call her “an old hag” rather than “an old coot”. She just wants to be a mother even if she isn’t “biologically a woman” who can bear children. So when she comes across this kid, she thinks, “I will finally be a mother!” These are issues that real people face. These are issues that cisgendered people take for granted.

Madhouse really knocked it out of the park. Satoshi Kon is one of the biggest creators and directors in anime history. He’s known for horror and psychological works like Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Millennium Actress. I never expected him to be this good at making a movie that could move my soul like this. The characters were so far from perfect, yet I wanted the best for each of them. The way it handled everything was masterful. The dialogue worked so well and was witty, the voice actors (despite the main three not being in anything else for the most part) were so good at giving life to their characters, and the art blew me away in 2019 even though this was released in 2003. The only thing I didn’t quite like as much was the score during some parts of the movie, but it was subjectively good and just wasn’t to my taste (the Noragami soundtrack wasn’t a fav of mine either).

Just... watch the movie. If you can watch it around Christmas. It’s good for you.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Score: 7.4/10

Yes, I binge-watched all 39 episodes in two days, what’s it to ya?! In reality, I just boosted the speed of the video.

Me throughout this show: Why do you all have triangle heads? What’s with that?

Okay, it’s the art style, and a lot of shoujo anime go with the concept that it looks good. Once you get over the art hurdle making me believe this was created in the early 2000s despite it being 3 years younger than Tokyo Godfathers, this turns out to be a really nice show. I just can’t believe they’re BOTH from Madhouse.

Remember Snow White with the Red Hair? Remember Akatsuki no Yona? If you liked those shows, you’re going to like this one... except it relies more on the political plot. It’s mostly about a woman wanting to pursue her dreams of being a politician in a male-dominated world. She’s entasked with helping this mess of a king to get his act together, and as much as I can try to prove that it’s surprisingly progressive (given the art and genre), I think that’d be spoiling it a little. The only character that actually bothered me was the prince who was voiced by Tomokazu Seki who honestly was a bit annoying and sounded so fake for me. However, this anime made me appreciate Hikaru Midorikawa’s voice as well as Houko Kuwashima who I’ve only heard voicing dead moms and only a few good characters here and there. Seriously, both of their voices are great. Toshiyuki Morikawa sounds good too, but we already knew that. I don’t like the OP or ED (or a whole lot of the music), but that’s the case for a lot of these 2005-era anime. Just like a lot of the anime on MAL, I do think this is an underrated show, but it does have its pitfalls if you’re just craving for a quick shoujo without any politics.

Full Metal Panic: Second Raid

Score: 7/10

I binge-watched this entire season while my parents were out for dinner and something else. It only took me a couple of hours because I boosted the speed.

I wanted to get a gif specifically from this season, so this one will have to do. So much wasted potential will this character (who’s one of two twins). I know they were trying to play the whole “twincest” thing, but I’m personally not a fan. They provided some cool fight scenes even at a certain cringe cost. The fact that Kyoto Animation animated this bumped the art from a 3 to an 8. It’s crazy how much the quality jumped after a new studio took over. Unfortunately, they didn’t take care of the next season. I know the main ship in the series is pretty clear, but this season made it closer to canon (too bad it took around 13 years to make the next season).

Kara no Kyoukai (movies: 5, 6, 7)

Score: Part Five: 7.5/10 Part Six: 5.8/10 Part Seven: 8.2/10

Not gonna lie, I watched the first four movies over a year ago and retained nothing. I had to read the Wikia to assist me and to begin with, I watched this to get into the “Type-Moon” universe (which consists of this and the Fate nonsense stuff), Yuki Kajiura’s score, and Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura voicing a couple. The score would probably change if I’d watched them regularly, but I digress because I watched movies 5-7 in one afternoon. Ufotable was pretty good at animating this and the voice acting worked really well. Yuki Kajiura’s music didn’t hit well at first when I was first watching the first few movies over a year ago because it wasn’t what I envisioned the score being, but once you get into the mood and mindset, it adds so much to the story. Although, I still really didn’t like part six. I thought it was a complete flop because I just want to get rid of anyone who believes i*cest is an okay thing. This isn’t Alabama. Go home. Not else to say here because this took so much commitment that I doubt anyone would watch it.

Paranoia Agent

Score: 8.6/10

With spoopy month coming to a close (already?!) I watched this anime earlier this month, but I forgot to write about it. That’s partly because there’s so much to unpack here. This was a thriller, psychological, horror anime by Satoshi Kon. That’s right, the first anime above was also done with him in the director’s seat. This anime was smart. There’s a reason why Robin Williams likes it! It was scary in the best of ways. It revealed a part of society that we see all the time but don’t talk about (especially in Japanese society where emotions are better kept concealed). Just the opening alone made me feel uneasy. The OP and ED were simplistic yet worked. I binge-watched the whole series because it was that gripping.

It was a little confusing at times, but that’s also because that’s just a common thing with horror anime. That suspense keeps us going. It keeps us on the edge of our seats. Who’s going to be the next victim of Shounen Bat? Episode 8 came out of nowhere for me, and I liked it. There were several scenes that sent shivers down my spine in the best way possible. It isn’t always “scary”, but it gives suspense.

Aoi Bungaku

This one is going to be reviewed a little differently. Since it has specific arcs, I’m going to review them as such!

Ningen Shikkaku: 8.2/10

We start off with a bang. Osamu Dazai was a man of suffering. This story really shows that. In this story, we see a man who’s desperate to know what makes him human. We see this through the eyes of a fictional character, but I personally view this as a semi-autobiography.

The art was chilling. The voice acting from Masato Sakai was surprisingly good. A lot of the time, voice acting from live-action actors just aren’t that great. Every time you think this character will get back on his feet, he falls deeper and deeper. It truly did make me wonder what made me human.

Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita: 3.9/10

That moment when the only thing that saves this arc is Nana Mizuki’s singing. Seriously, her jazz songs were awesome. Can’t say that about the rest. I mean, the art is good, but it’s Madhouse so most of their stuff is already good. The story wasn’t that original. Mind you, this was probably during a period where foreign influence was strong, and I haven’t read the original story, but... this is basically Salome (the opera) with some differences. Both have a crazy woman with a fixation over lifeless decapitated heads. Both have men that are captivated with her beauty so they give her what she wants because of that reason alone, they both murder religious people (monk/shrine maiden and a prophet), and both eventually realize that women can be crazy when they demand a lifeless head because you know, that’s just a red flag. Above all, it suffers from tonal shifts. You can’t have a woman turning moe then demand you bring her another head to play with. You can’t have Masato Sakai playing another main character that doesn’t fit him! Seriously, he doesn’t have the voice of a brute and just couldn’t do it. Overall, this arc was a mess, and I’m glad it was one of the shorter ones.

Kokoro: 7.6/10

This looked like a masterpiece compared to the last arc. I haven’t read Kokoro, but this made me go, “Huh, I don’t remember this happening.” That’s because they chose a certain part of the book (near the end apparently) and just went off that and created its own anime-original episode. Despite that, it was pretty good! There were some screaming discrepancies which did hurt its impression (because it made it feel out of place to the point where even I, as an uneducated anime viewer, could clearly see).

(I think this is from Kokoro but I might be wrong)

Hashire, Melos!: 8.9/10

Would you look at that? It’s the best arc of the series. Hashire, Melos was great. It had me going from beginning to end, and it’s the only arc that doesn’t have Masato Sakai playing the lead character. The art, the pacing, the storytelling, the story, the sound, the voice acting, and the art direction complemented each other so well. It made me far more interested in the original.

The Spider’s Thread: 6.6/10

If you look really close, you’ll notice that the creator of Bleach took over character design for this! It was okay. I found that it was a little cliche and lacklustre. Mamo is around so much that you probably have to do more than that to keep my attention, and this had the art going for it too. It just wasn’t that interesting. A heartless murderer is sent to hell after being executed. Moral of the story: Don’t be an asshole. Alright. Nice. I do understand that Ryuunosuke Akutagawa was one of the main establishers of the whole “Japanese Short Story” thing, but after seeing it so many times, I just didn’t get that same chill.

Hell Screen: 6.9/10

Another Akutagawa short story! This one had far more of an impact because this one hit closer to Akutagawa’s heart. Knowing the history of this piece of writing, you can see his desperation to stay relevant and true to his craft. It’s about a painter who wants to paint the town but finds out the city isn’t the bright light he sees in his mind. Everything goes ablaze. The art for this is stunning. I probably would’ve enjoyed this story more if it was placed in the middle of the series run rather than being the last story.

Recently Started

Africa no Salaryman

The animation for this is terrible. There is no way around it. However, at least it’s funny. Still, close to being on the chopping block. It has the papa lion who’s played by Akio Ohtsuka, the straight-man middle lizard played by Kenjirou Tsuda, and the scumbag toucan played by Hiro Shimono. Yes, they all play Hero Academia villains. The jokes are pretty good for me.

youtube

Given

Oh, would you look at that? It’s a music anime. *inhales* Music anime is a double-edged sword for me. I like having music interpreted and portrayed through one of my favourite mediums, but I don’t like them playing off music as some sort of easy gimmick and a joke. It’s like a shonen montage. “Let’s just have this guy train for two minutes and become a demigod”. But when you put an instrument into someone’s hand and demand the same, it sends me to another plane of angriness. So far, the romance is kind of cute... but Mafuyu kind of annoys me since his role in the BL dynamic is so clear just by his voice. Same with Uchida. You can only play so many thugs a season. Kyou? Good. Chika? Good. This guy? Good, but don’t do them all back-to-back! I don’t like the BL dynamic being so basic. However, my mind can be changed if done right.

Shinsekai Yori

Very interesting premise, their eyes are cute, and I’m a sucker for these so I’m gonna stick with it.

#dino watches anime #given #shinsekai yori #aoi bungaku #dazai osamu #natsume souseki #akutagawa ryuunosuke #ango sakaguchi #full metal panic #kara no kyoukai #saiunkoku monogatari #tokyo godfathers

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blxckdamask · 5 years

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Trashcan’s Fic Rec

So since it's the end of May, I thought it would be nice to rec some of my favourite fics I've read throughout the month. Most of these are BNHA since that's what I’m into now lmao. I’m doing this instead of writing the 5 fics I have planned and I havent posted in like 3 weeks oops.

Bakudeku Fics:

Izuku and Katsuki, better known to the world as the Wonder Duo: Deku and Kacchan. The married hero couple finally adopted their first child together, a bouncing baby boy. Luckily, they're on paternity leave for one year (thank god), so they can bond with their son as much as possible. They're going to be the best damn daddies and go beyond PLUS ULTRA!

Alternatively titled: The Entire Goddamn School Gives Up On Trying To Understand These Two & Aizawa is Really Tired.

Izuku and Bakugou had a long and complicated history, but most of the school was pretty sure that they understood where the two currently stood as rivals. Then Izuku's dad showed up on campus and everyone's preconceptions were mercilessly thrown out the window. In which Bakugou tries to murder a man, has a soft side and convinces his entire class the twilight zone is real.

Ft. Part 2: Turns out Izuku and Bakugou will work together willingly if given proper motivation. Endeavor showing up for a training exercise apparently qualifies. Aizawa is really tired of these children not asking for help and everyone else is absolutely terrified (and secretly very glad these two don't work together more often).

In complete honesty, no one who knows the Class 3-A should be surprised anymore. Izuku is asleep.

In which Izuku is hit by a ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Quirk, Class 3-A tries to find his True Love and get them to kiss him, and Katsuki’s very angry about it all.

Izuku is hospitalized after a nasty fight. Katsuki finally visits.

In which Izuku worries that his and Katsuki’s relationship has become too domestic, and Katsuki proves him right. Not that either of them are complaining.

Todobaku Fics:

Everytime his doorbell rings at 3am, Todoroki knows exactly who is it.

Bakugou brings home a stray box full of kittens for his and Shouto’s one year anniversary.

Shouto’s eyes light up in a way that rivals every star in the galaxy, and the past year falls to pieces. “You’re Katsuki.”

With staggered breath, he replies, “You remember me?”

“Of course I do,” Shouto says, “You’re my boyfriend.”

---

Todoroki Shouto gets amnesia and remembers only two things: 1) his name, and 2) that he's dating Bakugou Katsuki.

The only problem is, they broke up a year ago.

“Katsuki, your soulmate is someone who will always be by your side. They will be someone who completes you. Together, you will make an unstoppable force.”

AU where Bakugou and Todoroki are soulmates and Bakugou is in denial.

Shouto is looking at the damn vent like he’s about to make a break for it. “It’s not, um, what it looks-” “It’s exactly what it looks like,” Katsuki cuts across, his voice losing its bite. Shouto flinches, and silence spreads between them like the frost on Shouto’s fingers.

- - -

Shouto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo are tired of their marriage.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you go. I quite like being in my own body.” Todoroki's next breath comes out icy cold, and Katsuki leans as far back as their joint hands will allow.

“Are you fucking hearing yourself?” he sputters, feeling heat crawl up his neck to his ears.

(or: bakugou and todoroki get hit by a body swap quirk, and physical contact seems to be the only answer to their predicament)

The first time Bakugou told Todoroki he was in love with him, he thought he’d die.

“What would their relationship have been like, if Bakugou’s pride hadn’t stood in the way? Would they have been friends, or would things have mostly stayed the same? Would Bakugou have been happier, more open and honest about his feelings and wants and needs as a person? Would he have accepted and even appreciated the comfort others offered him, rather than always keeping people at arm’s-length in an effort to maintain an image of independence and strength?

Todoroki didn’t know.

He didn’t know. But he wanted to.

Abruptly, like a bolt of lightning, he realized he actually had the chance to find out.”

(Or: that one where Bakugou has temporary amnesia and Todoroki is tasked with caring for him until his memory returns, but ends up falling in love with the part of Bakugou that Bakugou has always kept hidden away instead.)

“English tea, right?” He asked. The man in front of him stared, unsure of how to interact with the handsome, blonde man. This, of course, annoyed Bakugou. “Speak, moron.” He said harsher. Todoroki continued looking at him. He probably doesn’t speak sign language. He reached towards the left end of the counter and grabbed a paper menu. Searching quickly, Todoroki found the English tea, and pointed to it.

Kacchako Fics:

Her hands found his. She breathed out. Her breath smelled like Listerine, it made Katsuki wrinkle his nose at her.

“I’m pregnant.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened and he stared at her, his mouth opening. “Oh shit. Shit, whoa, okay, wow.” His hands unclasped from hers and traveled down to her stomach. “Ochako, wow.” Not even an hour ago he was convinced his girlfriend was breaking up with him. His mind couldn’t completely wrap around what was happening, but he couldn’t stop looking at his girlfriend in awe. He kissed her forehead, a smacking kiss with a “mwah” sound that had Ochako rolling her eyes and cuddling closer to him. “You’re pregnant.”

“I am.” Ochako agreed, her voice steady and confidant.

Katsuki licked his dry lips. His mind was racing. “Cool.”

Broken down and humiliated after her crushing defeat in the Sports Festival, Uraraka just wants to sleep off her injuries in the infirmary. She didn't expect to get a very loud and very angry roommate for the night.

(A Kacchako one shot that turned into a love story.)

Other Fics:

Five times Hizashi feels like a burden to Shouta and one time he finally snaps with Shouta by his side to pick up the pieces.

Hizashi is all too aware that they’re polar opposites, Shouta being the calm to his storm, the quiet to his loud exuberance. Shouta, who’s at his most content curled up on the couch in their shared living room, or anywhere, really, napping or idly playing with their two cats while Hizashi’s busy going through his ever-growing music library, bothering Shouta for his opinion before adding the songs that have gained his friend’s grudging approval to whatever new playlist that he’s working on.

No matter how hard he tries, he can’t leave him alone and, miraculously, Shouta’s been tolerating him for fifteen years.

He hopes to God that it hasn’t become an obligation.

Morgan doesn’t really know Captain America.

What if Remus and Sirius realised Harry was being abused? What if all Dumbledore’s careful plans were pulled apart by the power he relied on most of all?

After the Triwizard Tournament, a traumatised Harry admits he can't go back to Privet Drive. Sirius and Remus refuse to submit to Dumbledore's plan and take him back to Grimmauld Place with them, where they must learn how to live together, how to care for one another, and how to trust one another. After so long, can they build a family together? Will they even have a chance when a war rages outside their door? And can the prophecy ever be fulfilled?

#fic rec #monthy fic rec #bakudeku #todobaku #kacchako #erasermic #stony #wolfstar #drarry #bnha #mcu #Harry Potter

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niceprophecies · 5 years

Text

“[…]the characters who get much more of the spotlight are unarguably the most adored by Good Omens fans—the demon Crowley (played to hissing, sashaying perfection by David Tennant) and his angel co-conspirator Aziraphale (an utterly cherubic Michael Sheen). Having said that, the execution of the duo’s story was something of a shock for a fan like me, who will freely admit to shipping the heck out of the pair for ages, and even reading and writing fanfic to that end. A bunch of it. And also to dressing up as Crowley and Aziraphale for Halloween with my partner. It’s well known that Crowley/Aziraphale shippers are a sizable contingent of the Good Omens fandom, to the point where both Gaiman and Pratchett had made note that they were aware of it, with Gaiman recently noting that fanfiction and its ilk is also Making Stuff Up, which is the same as all writing—though they did say that making the duo a couple was not their intent when they wrote the book.

Which is fascinating because this miniseries is emphatically a love story.

I know, I know: They say they’re friends, what’s wrong with friendship, you friend-hating fiend. But there are endless stories dedicated to platonic friendships between two male friends. (Or male-seeming in this case, as they are truly an angel and a demon, which then ultimately begs the question of whether conventional sexuality or gender should even apply for the two of them, and it likely shouldn’t, but that’s a fairly long digression…) While modern fiction seems to have a hard time understanding that it’s possible for men and women to “just be very good friends”, the precise opposite can be said for queer people. We’re always presumed to be “just very good friends” and nothing besides. Having said that, it is entirely possible for people of the same (or similar) gender to go from being true best friends to being in a relationship of some sort. It is also possible to say “you’re my best friend” and actually mean “I love you” or even “I’m in love with you.”

Exhibit A, when Crowley is making his way to Aziraphale’s flaming bookshop (he doesn’t know about the fire yet), the Bentley is playing Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend”—which is not an ode to frienship in general, but in fact a love song written by Queen’s bassist for his wife. Immediately thereafter, Crowley arrives and opens the doors to the bookshop, and being unable find the angel, promptly has a complete breakdown over the what he assumes to be Aziraphale’s death. It’s not the shock or disbelief over losing a friend that we can see in Crowley’s face, but utter desolation. “Somebody killed my best friend!” he screams, slumped on the floor in anguish. (Again, I remind you, John Deacon’s friend in the song that served as the cue for this whole scene was his spouse.) Crowley then immediately goes to a pub to get trashed, forgetting his plans to escape the Earth before the true Final Countdown because he’s just lost the most important person in all of creation to him… wait sorry, that’s Creation with a capital ‘C’.

The point is (as Crowley would say, drunkenly, before beginning a long-winded aside about dolphins), the entirety of the Good Omens miniseries unfolds with all the beats you’d expect of a romantic comedy/epic, and that is very much the hinge on which its enjoyability swings. It’s not just the song selection—“Somebody to Love” starts playing when Crowley exits the bookshop, believing that he’s lost Aziraphale; violins swell when the demon reveals to the angel that he has saved his beloved books from a bombing during the London Blitz in 1941—but the entirety of the plot. These alterations to the story seem to reach some sort of zenith during the deep dive into Crowley and Azirapahle’s “Arrangement” in episode three. The opening half hour of the episode works hard to create greater context for their six-thousand-year partnership, tracking them through the ages, and finally closes out in 1967 with the angel handing over a thermos of holy water to his dear friend, saying sadly “You go too fast for me, Crowley.”

He’s talking about Crowley’s driving. But of course he isn’t, because there is no context on this earth in which the words “you go too fast for me” are about being in a car, friends.

This is the part where the usual suspects roll their eyes because culture has endlessly enforced the idea that queerness is conditional and that “slash goggles” (i.e. viewing not-canonically-comfirmed characters as queer) should be derided and that the only person who should get a say in the sexuality of characters is the author—unless the author flat-out says their characters are queer, in which case, they should have made it more obvious if they expected anyone to believe that.

But this pairing is pretty damned (sorry, blessedly) obvious. It’s obvious in the way the Aziraphale bats his eyelashes at Crowley and grumps about the fact that his pristine old jacket now has paint on it, then smiles beatifically when the demon vanishes the stain by blowing gently on his shoulder—both of them knowing full well that Aziraphale can remove the stain himself with angelic will. It’s obvious in how angry Crowley gets when Aziraphale claims he’s “nice”, and Crowley shoves him up against a wall in a standard intimidation tactic that the angel barely registers as fury. It’s obvious in the way that Crowley sits across Aziraphale with a drink every time they’re out, and simply watches the angel indulge in rich foods. It’s right there even at the start, when the Angel of the Eastern Gate shelters the Serpent of Eden from the world’s very first rainstorm with one of his wings, through they both have a perfectly functional set to themselves.

We’re at a point in time where more and more writers and creators are perfectly aware that fans will see characters as queer whether they are written explicitly that way or not. Being aware of this—and not having anything against queer people—many of them say something to the tune of “you can view this relationship however you like, we’re cool with that”. It’s very nice. To some extent, it’s even incredibly helpful, because being okay with the queering of characters goes a long way in telling homophobic people that their vitriol toward queerness isn’t welcome. But when a huge swath of a fandom is queer, and certain characters are commonly rendered as queer to most of those fans, and then we are given a version of the story in which interpreting those characters as just great buddies is honestly taxing to one’s logical faculties… well, it’s hard not to wonder at what point the “straight” view of said characters is likely destined to become a minority interpretation one day.

Which is precisely where I found myself while watching Good Omens.

This clarity kept turning up and tuning in, even in the terms of their dear Arrangement; after Crowley suggests that they start doing work on each other’s behalves during a run-in in the 6th century, another meeting at The Globe in Shakespeare’s day sees Crowley bringing it up again, only to have Aziraphale try and shoot the idea down. “We’ve done it before… dozens of times now,” the demon wheedles, and he might as well be saying “But we’ve made out a lot lately, I think it’s time to accept that you like hanging out with me.” To make up for sending Aziraphale to Edinburgh, he agrees to infernally intervene to ensure that the Bard’s latest play (Hamlet) is a rousing success—and again, the angel offers up that ethereal smile and Crowley takes it as his compensation, as though it’s all he ever wanted in the world.

People may cry, stop shoving your sexuality in other people’s faces! (They always do, like a reliable clock striking the hour with a very irritating chime that you can’t seem to turn off.) But that’s hardly the point, is it? Because I didn’t say anything about sex, I said they were in love. And I’m having a very hard time finding any evidence to the contrary.

Critics and most of the internet have noticed how romantic the show is. The actors did as well, and talked endlessly of it in interviews. The series gives us longing glances and a messy breakup and drunken mourning and a canonical bodyswap (the stuff of fanfic dreams, my lovelies) where Aziraphale strips Crowley’s body down to its undergarments for the purpose of taunting Hell. At the point when everything threatens to blow up in their faces, Crowley asks—sorry no, he begs—Aziraphale to run away with him. And then when it’s all over, he invites the angel to spend the night at his place, and Aziraphale’s response is “I don’t think my side would like that” which is basically divine-speak for “I came out to my family and they’re not cool with it, so I’m not sure this is gonna work.” This has all the markings of the sort of Shakespeare play that Crowley appreciates: the funny ones where no one dies. And it ends on our couple having a lovely lunch in a fancy locale while a swoony love standard plays on in the background.

It’s odd to think that the fact that it took over two decades to produce a Good Omens series is part of the reason why the romantic aspect seems more unabashed than ever; in the book, plenty of people think Aziraphale is gay and that the angel and demon are a couple, but it’s done with that wink and nudge that was common around the turn of the century. These days, teasing at the idea that your core duo might seem a little gay to onlookers doesn’t constitute a ready joke because there’s nothing particularly funny about that suggestion when queer folks are fighting so hard to be seen and represented. And the lack of those winky moments, the way the story simply takes their codependency as a sweet given, makes Aziraphale and Crowley read even more genuinely as a pair. But if you had told me this was the version of Good Omens that I’d see in 2019, I’d have never believed a word. I was ready for extra background, more story, different jokes, but not this. Not confirmation that there are other angels and demons exchanging information and working together in Crowley and Aziraphale’s reality, but Heaven and Hell have a specific problem with their partnership because they clearly love each other too much.

And sure, you can read the story differently. You can choose to ignore those cues and enjoy a story about two very good friends who help to avert the apocalypse. I’m sure for some, that’s a more enjoyable take. But I’m more curious about whether or not, in twenty or thirty years time, people will think of the Good Omens series as anything but the story of an angel and a demon who spent six millennia figuring out that they should probably buy that cottage on the South Downs together.”

#good omens #review #spoilers #love this

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tangomango2017 · 5 years

Text

Thoughts on the Chinese DotA Animated Series, The Tower Will Go On, and its two main characters

It’s been five years since this animated series based on Warcraft 3 Dota was made. The fan forum is still alive, and it’s amazing to witness the fan dedication to this work, in the form of essays, debates and even a ridiculously detailed second-by-second analysis of the opening theme.

But I barely got a glimpse of those essays before they were removed, apparently to be scrutinized by their internet police for objectionable content. The series itself has also been taken off all China websites, such that China’s fans themselves can’t watch them even if they wanted to revisit. Which makes me so glad that I have all the episodes in HD.

Anyway, on to the show itself. It’s divided into two parts:

Season One is about Crystal Maiden forming her rag-tag team of Radiant/Sentinel heroes. It’s light-hearted and full of jokes. The heroes die a lot and revive at the fountain every time. Sniper’s death count reaches above 300 at one point.

Season Two (titled Death for the Reborn) is darker as the team clashes with the Dire/Scourge and the war intensifies. The plot gets more complicated with internal factions, spying and conspiracies. The rules change: the river that revives dead heroes gets corrupted, so deaths are permanent.

One’s reaction to this show would likely be: “No! This isn’t Dota. This isn’t Invoker at all! What travesty is this?!”

But first, let’s consider these two things:

Firstly, the story is set in the game map. All hero skills and items stay faithful to the game. There is no ‘lore’ to speak of, as this series came out before Valve took over Dota. During that period, ownership of Dota was attributed to Ice Frog, who’s referenced in episode 2.

Eul’s Scepter in the show

Old Eul’s Scepter in Dota 1

Secondly, it’s fan-made. And as with all fan creations, anything’s possible.

For example,

It’s possible for Bloodseeker to be gay with a jungle creep(centaur) and foster a baby centaur.

Bloodseeker X Jungle Centaur in the show

Old Strygwyr in Dota 1

It’s possible for a carry to be so fed, he’s ten times the size of another:

Daddy Doom and his Little QuoP

Love it or hate it, this fan tribute to Dota is in a class of its own. It’s entertained me for hours, made me laugh, sigh, cringe, think; it was one hell of a nostalgic ride back to Warcraft Dota days. And it will always have a special place in my heart.

And now, on to the main characters…

The protagonist - a tribute to Support Heroes

‘Little Ice’ (China’s pet name for Crystal Maiden) is a fan-service kind of character whose appeal is mostly sexual and emotional. I won’t talk much about her but I won’t write her off completely either.

So Little Ice starts off with a dream to rise above her destiny as a position 5 support. She’s left her team carry (Dragon Knight) as she resents him for being overbearing and overly task-oriented. (It’s unclear what’s the relationship between the two, though they hug a couple of times). She tries to carve a career for herself, forming her own rag-tag team. But reality is a wet blanket, and like her role in the game, her impact on the story is limited and she ends up having her heart broken several times.

Old Crystal Maiden from Warcraft 3 Dota

In the show, she is depicted as a klutz with a bad sense of direction and is sometimes impulsive, casting Freezing Field at the most ridiculous, anti-climactic moment and generally doing stuff that would be considered ‘bad decision making’ in the game.

But despite her limitations, the girl has a mind of her own. She stands firm in her beliefs and is courageous enough to try to protect her male teammates. Even when said teammate is the Dragon Knight being bashed up by Roshan.

She is also fiercely loyal, refusing to abandon the dying Bristleback and instead managing to persuade DK to risk a Roshan fight to get the Aegis.

Overall, I’d say her character serves two purposes here: as a shoutout to under-appreciated Support players, and as a symbol of innocence. This trait of hers is seen as a weakness and is used to comical effect, yet, at the same time it is also something to be prized and guarded. The Queen of Pain (portrayed as a man-hater with lesbian tendencies) mocks her several times for her naivety, yet she admits that CM represents the innocence that she’s lost and that she needs to protect.

From Zero to (Anti) Hero

The central character, Kael (pronounced Ka-er, I’ll refer to him as Carl since it matches the Chinese pronunciation) appears in the second episode and drives the entire story with his zero to anti-hero arc. The title of Season Two refers to him being reborn from the ashes (he was Doomed and almost killed in a fire). He is the only one besides QoP to have a backstory (both underwent the trauma of having their entire homeland and families destroyed).

Invoker from Warcraft 3 Dota

Invoker from Season One of the show

Invoker from Season Two

While this Invoker is as OOC as he can get, there’s no denying the detail that has been put into his design. For example, in Season 2 his orbs are actually faces, perhaps representing the connection of Invoker’s volatile temperament to his elemental powers.

Just as the two parts of the show are divided into a dichotomy of light and dark, there are two different depictions of Invoker in each part.

Season One Invoker

If you’ve ever played this hero, Season One will remind you of how it felt the very first time you tried him in a game. Clueless, powerless, the butt of your teammates’ jokes perhaps.

Carl first appears in episode two quoting that famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It sounds really pretentious (not that surprising for Carl), but considering that Hamlet killed someone by accident in the play, it’s also a kind of foreshadowing of what will happen later on.

So Carl is introduced as a depressed guy trying to hang himself. In a comically tragic manner, he tells his story as a former prince who lost his home, sought refuge with the Dire/Scourge but is constantly scorned for being useless as he hasn’t figured out his spells.

With a background like that, who wouldn’t be damaged for life? But CM sees him as even more vulnerable than her, and he brings out the encouraging and protective side of her. Of course, the naive part of her ignores the fact that he is a defector from the enemy side.

Carl is of course extremely grateful, having found the acceptance he’s always longed for, and one can see the beginning of a pure, somewhat platonic love between the two.

In China, Invoker/CM are almost regarded as canon pairing, with roots going back to Kael’thas/Jaina from Warcraft.

Initially, she brings out the good qualities in him, such as courage and self-sacrifice. Noob Carl is actually quite lovable, even willing to take one for the team by ‘donating’ blood to the Bloodseeker. He forges a strong friendship with the gang and they have a lot of fun fending off their one enemy in Season One.

Although he’s harmless at this point, his uselessness repeatedly emphasized by all characters, there are glimpses of his more complicated self, such as when he uses his knowledge and cunning to get the team out of trouble. More foreshadowing of who he is to become is given by the Queen of Pain, who tries in vain to warn CM about his potential for evil.

Meteoric Rise to Power

Two events serve as catalysts to the awakening of his powers. First there’s the excessively bloody whipping that Queen of Pain gives him, just because she feels like it. This happens in the middle of a team fight and in his state of desperation, it is his thoughts of CM (whose nickname is literally, Little Ice Ice) that unlocks his first skill, Ghostwalk. At the same time, the sinister side of him awakens as he turns the tables on the Queen and blinds her in one eye before burying her alive.

And then he gets punished by Doom, who’s rather high up in the hierarchy here. Doom (whom everyone calls ‘Daddy’) is furious to find out that his beloved god-daughter, his Little QuoP has been hurt. He finds out about this in an interesting manner - by devouring the jungle centaur that witnessed the incident.

Doom: WHO ATE THE COOKIES?

Tiny, CM, etc: (keeps quiet)

Doom: Very well, I shall find out the truth (devours jungle creep).

(everyone watches on nervously)

Doom: …CARL!

Carl: Yes Daddy?

Doom: How dare you eat my cookies!

Carl: I don’t get what you’re talking about, Daddy

Doom: You’ll get THIS, you little shit.

Season Two Invoker

After being doomed and running into the forest in agony, Carl goes missing for a while. A flashback later shows Dazzle’s saved him and bandaged him up like a mummy. By chance, Windranger finds him when her Powershot arrow accidentally hits him. Probably out of guilt, she brings him home and cares for him for three months. When Ogre Magi harasses WR and sets her house on fire, Carl rises from the ashes with a complete makeover, a costume change, full mastery of magic and a marked change in personality. The change feels really abrupt and I’d have preferred something more gradual. But the writers probably wanted a striking contrast between the two seasons.

So he helps her fend off the Ogre and she falls in love with him. But he stays true to CM.

Despite what this shot in the opening theme suggests, WR doesn’t force herself on him. She’s really cool.

In Season Two, Carl’s personality becomes much more conflicted, longing to return to CM yet afraid to endanger her with Doom hot on his heels. While she thinks about him in her quiet moments, he watches over her in invisible form. The next triggering event is when the Dragon Knight beats him to rushing to CM’s rescue. He is consumed by jealousy and the fire element comes to the forefront. From then on, his emotional instability deteriorates further, and with some goading from Dazzle, he forms a plan to destroy DK with Ancient Apparition’s Ice Blast dealing the killing blow.

However that plan goes tragically wrong when his old friend Bristleback walks into the Sunstrike spot. One mistake leads to another, and he ends up killing QuoP as well. That confrontation between the two is one of the most dramatic scenes I’ve ever seen. When the Queen threatens to reveal his bad deeds to CM, he starts grovelling and begging her for forgiveness, but it turns out it’s all an act allowing him to get close to her for a tornado. Despite the cringeyness there is a special kind of satisfaction in seeing one’s favourite video game character display the whole range of emotions, just as it’s satisfying seeing him perform the whole shebang of spells after being abused for the first ten episodes.

Carl’s final move is one that completely breaks CM’s heart. He steals the Aegis meant for saving Bristleback’s life. However, his motivation isn’t very clear and was the topic of much debate and speculation among the Chinese fans at that time. But going by his character’s trajectory, it’s highly likely he’s doing it for self-preservation. After all, Doom’s absolutely livid that he’s killed QuoP and the Aegis is his only chance at standing against Big Daddy Doom. But the ending leaves questions unanswered. Now that he’s pissed off both sides, what’s to become of him? Is his character totally irredeemable? How will the war end? Season Three was supposed to be in the works, but never materialized.

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preserving-ferretbrain · 5 years

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Totally Awesome

by Viorica

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Viorica finds a Potter-related bit of media that actually deserves the hype

Oooh! This is in the Axis of Awesome!~

Parodies are a tricky thing. If you've got too much of a hate-on for the source material, you end up being too bitter; if you love the source material too much, you can't effectively make fun of its flaws; and if you just don't care either way, you get something like this. It's a difficult tightrope to walk, but when you're lucky/talented enough to get it right, you end up with A Very Potter Musical. Written by college-aged fans of the Potter series, it combines the best of the original series with the talent of the actors and writers involved, and ends up eclipsing the source material entirely.

The story takes place in Harry's second year, and encompasses the events of all seven books. Harry and his friends (with Ron's sister Ginny in tow) arrive at Hogwarts to discover that the new teacher Professor Quirrel has R

resurrected the House Cup (which is basically a one-school Triwizard Tournament) as part of Voldemort's plan to capture Harry Potter under a bumbling Dumbledore's very nose. It's hard to describe the rest of the plot without going into spoilery detail (which I'll be doing in the next paragraph anyway . . .) but suffice to say, problems arise, relationships are formed, and Team Potter must go up against Voldemort and his Death Eaters- though ironically, Voldemort's ultimate fate owes more to the "love conquers all" theme which the books neglected and the musical effectively puts into use.

When I said in the first paragraph that the musical is an improvement on the books, I meant it. The plotting is much more streamlined (for one thing, the Trio doesn't spend months sitting in a tent, and actually condemns the seventh book's plot as "stupid") the characters more likeable, and the biggest problems with the book-

tokenism

Dumbledore's lecturing

,and the

delusions of grandeur

are removed in favour of canonical gay characters (the main couple is, in fact, gay, and Voldemort's redemption comes about from his affection for Quirrell- quite a divergence from Rowling's choiceless choices) a Dumbledore whose stupidity and blindness is repeatedly mocked, and a pervading knowledge that this is, in fact, a very silly story. For instance, Malfoy's conviction that there is a wizarding school called Pigfarts located on Mars and presided over by a talking lion turns out to be true; after all, how is it more ridiculous than the main concept of the franchise? The musical also addresses such all-important questions like:

How did Quirrell sleep with Voldemort on the back of his head?

Why did Dumbledore trust Snape, anyway?

What happens when two people who share one stomach get drunk?

In addition to lampshading the flaws and inconsistencies of the original series ("I just put anyone who looks like a good guy into Gryffindor, anyone who looks like a bad guy into Slytherin, and the rest can go wherever they want." "Can anyone tell me what a Portkey is? . . . Well, can anyone tell me what

foreshadowing

is?") the musical can stand on its own as a creative product. The songs are entertaining and catchy - the fan favourite seems to be "Granger Danger", but my own is "Gotta Get Back To Hogwarts:"

We're sick of summer and this waiting around It's like we're sitting in the lost and found Don't take no sorcery For anyone to see how... We gotta get back to hogwarts We gotta get back to school We gotta get back to hogwarts Where everything is magic-cooooool Back to wizards and witches, and magical beasts To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts It's all that I love, and it's all that I need at HOGWARTS, HOGWARTS I think I'm goin' back!

But of course none of the material would be entertaining without good actors to support it, and the cast rises admirably to the task. The three leads - Darren Criss as Harry, Joey Ritcher as Ron, and Bonnie Gruesen as Hermione - all bring the right balance of likeability and flaws to their roles, but it's the secondary characters who steal the show. I suspect that Joe Moses (Snape) is familiar with the Harry Potter fandom, because his Snape is a perfect parody of the fanon version, right down to his exaggerated purr of a voice. Joe Walker makes a truly hilarious Voldemort, especially given that he has to deliver lines like "Get me some Nasonex, you swine!" with a stright face (though I am surprised that his voice held out through five performances, given the amount of growling that was involved.) with Brian Rosenthal serving as his quieter, gentler (but no less funny) counterpart. Lauren Lopez as Malfoy steals every scene she's in, with her exaggerated accent and habit of rolling around the stage. Even Goyle, who barely has any lines, cracks the audience up every time he opens his mouth. While Britney Coleman, who plays Bellatrix, has caught some flak from YouTube commenters for being "irritating" she didn't really get on my nerves. The worst you can say of her is that she didn't leave any impression at all- and with a cast this good, less-than-perfect performances can easily be buried in their better counterparts.

All in all, the musical is recommended to anyone who has a passing familiarity with the HP canon. Honestly, it's a shame that this show can't make any money, being an unauthorized parody. It's really the only thing connected to Harry Potter that I wholeheartedly enjoy, one that actually earns it's tagline of "Totally awesome"Themes:

J.K. Rowling

Theatre

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Wardog

at 11:03 on 2009-10-14Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, this is, in fact, *totally awesome*.

The hot female Malfoy is making me go wibbly.

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Andy G

at 13:01 on 2009-10-14This is brilliant! I love every scene with Voldemort and Quirrell in particular.

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Wardog

at 13:50 on 2009-10-14"Your plan to infilitrate Hogwarts on the back of my head is going swimmingly, my liege..." BEST LINE EVER!

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Melissa G.

at 23:23 on 2009-10-14Loved it! Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

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Viorica

at 01:54 on 2009-10-15Have you gotten to Voldemort's big tapdance number yet?

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Jamie Johnston

at 21:28 on 2009-10-16Fab. Those kids deserve to go far.

But can someone explain to me the thing with Malfoy falling down and rolling around all the time? Bear in mind all I know about

Potter

comes from three of the films (1, 2, and 4, I think) and anything I've picked up from conversations and

Ferretbrain

articles.

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Viorica

at 22:41 on 2009-10-16Honestly, I'm not really sure. I think it's just the actor being goofy.

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Andy G

at 10:15 on 2009-10-17I saw it as being a bit of a spoof of femme fatales or female villains writhing round the stage in dance shows/musicals, rather than anything based around the books.

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Melissa G.

at 16:54 on 2009-10-17I don't know. I kind of saw that as an exaggeration of how over the top Malfoy can be. It seemed somehow fitting to a caricature of his character.

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http://mmmarcusz.livejournal.com/

at 23:57 on 2009-10-17I think it's meant as a reference to how Malfoy is always described as striking a pose ("lounging", "preening", etc.) and this is just an over-the-top extension of that. Also, was I the only one who found the Draco actress incredibly cute?

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http://tabaquis.livejournal.com/

at 06:49 on 2009-10-19I adore a VHPM, which is great because I too have become completely tired of That Woman and Those Books being touted as any kind of coherent literature.

I do think the guy playing Snape was totally channeling Kevin MacDonald's "Simon" from Kids in the Hall though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC4PjXNt2gw

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Wardog

at 11:14 on 2009-10-20

I think it's meant as a reference to how Malfoy is always described as striking a pose ("lounging", "preening", etc.) and this is just an over-the-top extension of that. Also, was I the only one who found the Draco actress incredibly cute?

Yeah, that's what I thought as well.

And, yes, she is amazingly, wibble-inducingly hot. Me likey.

Also I notice the musical has a delightfully arch relationship with the fandom - so I think purring, rolling, lounging Malfoy was a nod to both the books and his typically depicated fandom persona.

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Montavilla

at 01:58 on 2009-10-21So glad to see appreciation for this musical. I just loved it.

It's hard to say what makes Lauren Lopez so perfect as Malfoy, except everything. The ponchy accent, the constant posing, the way she's always trying (and failing) to get Harry's attention. Somehow Draco just *is* a 12-year-old girl.

And I liked Bellatrix. She's somewhat annoying with the screaming, but that is Bellatrix, and I love that they aren't being coy about her and Voldemort having a sexual relationship. It's only one of the ways in which the musical trumps the books.

I crack up everytime I think about her face when Voldemort sits on the desk. You can see that she's still trying to make it work--but she's kind of catching on to what he's really up to.

But *everyone* is so excellent. I showed this to some of mine and we all kept remarking on how perfectly perfect Cedric Diggory is. I love the entrance of Cho Chang and just that look that the Asian actress gives. It's almost her only moment in the whole show and she makes the most of it.

You can tell that the entire cast is having a great time playing their parts--and the audience is loving it as well. And that's what makes a great live performance.

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http://for-diddled.livejournal.com/

at 21:08 on 2010-08-08Just thought you chaps might be interested to know that they've made a sequel, which can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OepW-AG-Ris&feature=PlayList&p=86C718AEE71C9DE9&playnext=1&index=7

#Ferretbrain #Harry Potter #A Very Potter Musical #Viorica #J.K. Rowling #Axis of Awesome

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warstorys · 5 years

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season 2 commentary (after 201) i’m sticking to frank-centric stuff but boy! i have so many opinions about everything but i want to focus on frank for the sake of my blog.

i want my initial thoughts from over the course of the season down first, which is what this is, and then i’m gonna hammer out any canon divergences ... or if i’m even gonna bother with this season’s existence at all apart from amy lol

i’m not ... actually enjoying season two much. there are snatches here and there that i really like, and concepts in here that i think are really tasty, but then the rest of it isn’t sitting right with me and i’m not really enjoying watching it.

the two storylines - amy’s storyline and billy’s storyline - are both impressively weak and the moreso for the fact they don’t cross over at all. the trailer implied these things would be meeting up and marrying together but they don’t and it’s ... i really enjoy the individual characters - amy, curtis and dinah having a tonne of screentime with frank is awesome - but i don’t care for the story itself. it’s weak and disinteresting and crucial things like billy being a fucking fugitive have their important dropped after a couple of episodes and its just, it’s not an interesting season, sharon.

i was really unimpressed with the fight scenes so far but the sequence at the end of 203 finally brought things up ... closer to the standard that i’m used to ... a good use of music meets some impressive shots and a bunch a good atmosphere and for the fights to be well-choreographed, that’s what i want out of Every tps fight and it’s what s1 gave me and i just don’t quite feel that from season two

i don’t think frank is necessarily appreciating how scary he is to a 16 year old girl even if she is a smartass and it’s bugging me a little considering he’s usually pretty good at making girls comfortable and interacting with them ... ? i wouldn’t mind if he just eased up a little. just a drop. just a teeny tiny bit. obviously he does as the season goes on but then he does shit like hold amy at gunpoint and like - not in my canon thanks

“a man's got a right to defend himself and those who can't” is probably my favourite concept because of the way it pivots frank away from vengeance and more towards being a true antihero but here’s the thing — the rest of the season isn’t following through on that? frank’s temperamental and self-destructive - in part because of his tbi - but. i don’t like the direction the season is taking with him, particularly from about mid episode eight onwards. curtis pointing out that frank is very, “he doesn’t want to feel for you because he’s scared of getting hurt ... and he’d rather stay mad at the world than risk being a part of it” is dead on, but ... um ... like, frank unlearning his shit and starting to move on was the entire point of the end of season one. i wanted season two to be about him reconciling that crap whilst finding a way to exist as the punisher, too. i think there’s negative character development and there’s just ... idk, a complete breakdown of frank as a person. i want him to care about himself and the people around him?

frank constantly being an asshole to curtis pisses me off also; “way to go curt” are you serious? curtis doesn’t have to do any of this or be involved in any of this and to my mind ... it doesn’t tally, again, with season one. frank being shitty to curtis literally makes zero sense and makes me so angry. the flip-flopping on this is crazy, too; you can’t have frank treating curtis like shit and then going “yeah you don’t owe me anything” with no apologies in between. i’d rather frank is just, decent to curtis, given that curtis one of his oldest friends and someone he trusts so completely

and i don’t care if s2 tallies w the comics, i’m not writing comics frank

i’m kinda trying to work out how i feel about the kastle stuff; largely i Don’t want frank to keep shutting himself off and acting like he doesn’t or can’t care, but at the same time karen suggesting they just ... run away together was never going to fly. frank can love people and be the punisher and that’s what i want; if people’s lives aren’t compatible with frank’s choices then they need ... to stop. it can’t be all or nothing. frank has to learn how to strike a balance, you can’t ask him to give it all up. and that’s something i appreciate about amy and dinah and curtis? like they know frank can’t just wholesale Stop, even if they’d like him to, so they live with frank as he is, and they (i believe) know their own limits for when they’re done with him.

i feel like ... this whole thing has just culminated in driving everyone away from frank and i might be repeating myself as per previous bullet points but that is the exact opposite of what i want...? i feel like he’s successfully driven curtis away and he pushed karen away and ... they’ve done this thing where, they’re balancing out frank letting some people live, people with families or people who aren’t “worth it”, letting frank’s moral code evolve into protecting the innocent and. yet. he’s just isolating himself? even when he says “i’d do anything for amy” they’re still letting frank be driven apart and isolated and made alone - they send amy away, they sent micro away, curtis is ‘done with frank’, etc - and i don’t ... want that, i’m powerfully disinterested in frank being alone forever.

uhhhhhh lmao the flash forward at the end of 213 was literally horrible like are you - serious the last shot we have of frank castle is him contextless murdering a bunch of minority youths? you really cannot be real???? FUCK OFF thats so cancelled

whatever i do with this mess of canon, i want the scene where dinah and curtis are napping together on the couch to exist forever. esp with, as amy called it, The Punisher Pity Party, gndfkgfd. just a bunch of people sat around being mad that they love frank castle. what a mood.

finally: why doesn’t netflix/marvel know that curtis hoyle is gay?

anyway the tl;dr is that i’ll probably toss the majority of season two out of the window because i didn’t like it. and it doesn’t matter anyway bc in a couple of weeks they’ll cancel it ✌️

#tps s2 spoilers

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theclaravoyant · 6 years

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Changing Stripes - Ch.5

AN ~ I am very pleased to announce that after LITERAL YEARS I am raising this fic from the dead to give it an ending. I got caught up in trying to make it perfect and as canon got darker I wasn’t sure how to balance it out, but some of my recent prompts about bi fitz have given me opportunity and inspiration too perfect to pass up so I am FINALLY finishing this fic! The 6th chapter, which I plan to be the last, will be released in the coming days.

For those who are not familiar, this a bit of a bi!Fitz retrofit, in which Fitz encounters and slowly comes to terms with his bisexuality. As it is intended to integrate with canon, there is a fair bit of the FitzSimmons relationship in its platonic/pre-relationship stages, as well as discussions of romances & crushes with various characters. However, the ending will be left deliberately ambiguous in terms of endgame ships, and as such I welcome readers to follow things through to their canon conclusions or to divert with ships of your own. Enjoy x

This chap, we jump forward to S3 canon. Joey pays Fitz a visit.

Read on AO3 (this chap, ~1400wd, whole fic, ~4700)

Changing Stripes - Ch.5

Joey wasn’t typically one to get involved in other people’s lives, especially the intimate parts, but he saw something of his old self in Fitz sometimes, and for some reason - maybe it was Daisy’s sense of mission rubbing off on him - he felt like he should do something about it. Nothing too elaborate, just a nudge in the right direction; just a little something like the push he got, when he had needed it, to look at his life and his heart and his mind and line it all up for himself. So he set himself a little research project, until he had enough observations and anecdotes to back his instinct, and to hold Fitz’s attention if he shied away; until he was sure, at least as sure as he could be without being Fitz, and until the only question left was when to broach the subject. With Fitz so focused on Jemma’s rescue from the mysterious rock situation, it sometimes felt almost cruel to contemplate intervening, but Joey knew more than most, that sometimes the threat of a spiraling, all-consuming depression presented a man with a prime opportunity to take stock of himself.

So it was that Joey decided to simply seize the day.

“Hey, Fitz,” he greeted, inviting himself into the lab, where Fitz was frowning at his work, pencil shavings littering his desk, a cold tea only half finished sitting nearby. He shook his head and looked up as Joey approached, belatedly pulling himself out of his own head.

“Hey, Joey,” he greeted. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted. Can I help you?”

“Actually,” Joey began, “I was thinking maybe I could help you.”

“I’m… not sure that’s a good idea,” Fitz replied, as reluctant to think about the fruitlessness of his mission as he was about the possibility of having a volatile heat source at his side in the vicinity of several combustible chemicals. “Don’t Daisy and Coulson want you on something- something else?”

“I didn’t mean in the lab,” Joey clarified. “I meant something personal.”

“Oh.”

“And judging from that look on your face, you already know what I mean.”

Fitz cleared his throat, and mumbled along the lines of I don’t know what you’re talking about. He turned back to his work, and picked up the pencil, but seemed to have lost his train of thought. And forgotten that the nib had long since snapped off the pencil, and he’d given up on it hours ago.

“I think you do, though,” Joey continued calmly. He sat down in the chair beside Fitz, his own nerves starting to shake his hands and claw at his throat. But he could tell that Fitz was listening, and so he pushed on. “Let me put something to you. Some feelings you might relate to.

“You grew up in a conservative household. Hopefully one full of love, but one where you weren’t exposed to a lot outside of the norm in terms of love and marriage and family structure. You never knew any queer kids growing up – none that you knew of anyway – and you never saw it as a possibility until one day, later in your life, maybe at college, something happened. You felt something, maybe some guy just winked at you, and something inside of you asked a question.

“You ignored it. You had another one-off. An inconvenient boner, maybe a sex dream, and you thought, it must be the stress, the strangeness, the objective aesthetic appreciation – anything but ‘that.’ Every time, you told yourself it was an anomaly, even though, while I’m talking about all this right now, you’re counting how many anomalies there have been, in your head. Aren’t you?”

“I…” Fitz’s lips moved around nothing. His mind felt strangely clear, and yet, he had no answer for Joey other than to marvel at the accuracy. He put down his charade of a pencil and turned in his chair. “How did you know?”

“A lot of guys go through this,” Joey promised. “LGBT people, in general. Even if we’re not in a particularly hostile environment, we don’t have the resources to- you know, to recognise our feelings. It takes longer, it’s messy. With guys, there’s all the macho-fairy stuff to deal with too. And for you it’s probably different again, right? I know you’re in love with this girl, Jemma. I had help like, I didn’t like sex with girls, and I kept wishing the girls I thought I was interested in, were more like the guys I actually was interested in. Being bi, maybe you didn’t have that, I don’t know. Maybe that made it more confusing. But I’m not wrong, am I?”

Fitz frowned. Joey was not wrong, that much was true, but was he right?

“Bi,” Fitz mused. “You think I’m bisexual?”

“You know about it?”

“Not much. Not well,” Fitz explained. “I’ve heard about it, I guess. I did a couple Google searches. Chickened out of following it up every time, of course, but you probably know how it goes.”

“Right.” Joey snorted. “But actually, it’s interesting you say that. A lot of people get hung up on the concept of being attracted to more than one gender. They think they’ve gotta be gay or they’ve gotta be straight, and those are the only two options. If you’re open to a third, that’s gonna make life much easier for you.”

“Do you think that’s what I am though? I don’t- I don’t even really know if what I’m feeling is… you know…”

“Gay?” Joey teased, a smile touching his lips. “Okay, let’s put it this way. There’s a difference between appreciating how much a man can lift, and wanting that man to lift you.”

The furious blush that arose in Fitz’s cheeks at this, told both of them as much as they needed to know.

“Point taken,” Fitz conceded.

“In all seriousness, though,” Joey insisted, “I can’t tell you who you are. There are a couple more labels that might suit you better, and some people don’t want to label it at all. You don’t have to, either, and you don’t have to let it change anything about your life out here.” He waved an arm through the air, gesturing around the room. Then he gestured to his heart. Swallowed his nerves. “The change is in here. It’s a beautiful thing, whatever happens. Whatever you decide, labels or no labels – but, you know, speaking as someone who’s been where you’ve been, or somewhere close to there, I think the most important thing is recognising it for yourself. Recognising your attraction to men, and having a relationship with it. Of some kind. I don’t wanna tell you how to live, but just… think about it, okay? I think you’ll be surprised what good it does.”

Voice trembling, Joey stood up and took a deep breath. He had to stay calm these days, and he was getting good at it, but every now and then things risked getting just a little too real. This time, crisis was averted - the metal lab bench was safe - but not a moment after he had jumped to his feet, a couple of lab techs filed into the room. The conversation was over, then, at least for now. Joey gave Fitz a nod and a look that promised he wouldn’t tell anyone. Fitz nodded back, a promise that he would at least think about it, and Joey took his leave.

Fitz turned back to his work, but his mind was still distracted. What good was another vague promise, after all? Apparently, he’d been thinking about this for a decade already, maybe longer. All those not-so-one-offs. Watching Joey leave, he recalled that day at the orientation fair, when he’d found the queer guild table and hadn’t dared approach it. Looking back on it now, he wondered how he might have felt within himself, or in his relationships with Hunter or Mack or Trip or Ward, or even with Jemma or Daisy, if he’d dared to resolve that question when he’d had the chance. Well, now he did again, and apparently, he had someone personally cheering him on along this awkward personal journey. And he’d had some growth along the way in his lifetime too, in other ways. He’d learnt to start trusting himself, most of all, and to take pride in and stand up for who he was; not who he was expected to be. With this in mind, he picked up a fresh white pencil and, on another blank blueprint sheet, carefully wrote out the word:

Bisexual?

He sat back and looked at it, and blew the air out of his cheeks.

Then he scribbled the question mark out.

#leofitzfic #leo fitz #bi!fitz #leofitznet #thefitzsimmonsnetwork #aosficnet #aosteam #clara's fic tag #fitz #agents of shield #bisexual headcanons #lgbt headcanons #aos headcanons

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surflove808 · 7 years

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All things “queerbait”, “so gay”, cranky shippers, etc ad infinitum. Here’s my long-ass essay on why I think it’s destructive to this show and fandom mentality in general. Part 1 :D

This is going to be sooo long. Because I am sooo fed up with the bullshit I keep seeing on here. So, I am going to break this into 2 parts. Part 1 deals with the show and its FICTIONAL characters. Part 2 will deal with the actual actors involved in making this show. I'm pissed because what could have just been supposition and discussion among fans took a wrong turn somewhere, and turned into a forum for bullying and scandalizing the actors/show. And seeing that even when they try to have a sense of humor about it, or be ingratiating to the fans about it, it always backfires on them....and ultimately, something that should be harmless (a ship) has become a toxic force of nature.

I'm going to give my 2 cents on the most annoyingly common misconceptions that I've seen being used as more can(n)on fodder because if I post and get this reblogged enough, maybe, just maybe... more people can be exposed to a more balanced interpretation.

My problem is not with the possibility of Dean being gay/bi. My problem is not with Dean and Cas possibly exploring a romantic relationship. Not at all. My problem is with the dedicated and rabid group of people that have gone over the top with their harassment on public forums regarding these characters sexuality, and linking it to the real, live human beings that portray them. Both crossing and blurring lines in a very destructive way, on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, you name it... This show has so many incredible themes and messages regarding friendship, love, loyalty, trust, perseverance and family and THAT'S your takeaway? An unhealthy obsession with Dean's sexual preference??

Dean, by virtue of his looks, charisma and personality, has chemistry with almost EVERYONE. Have you noticed?? The character of Dean is written and portrayed as a naturally charismatic, flirtatious and sensual person. He wholeheartedly dives into anything that he enjoys. Eating, hunting, fucking, drinking. He doesn't seem to really appreciate boundaries or restrictions. So, what's stopping him from exploring his sexuality with men?

As far as I can see, the character of Dean as originally conceptualized and executed brilliantly by his frigging creator, Eric Kripke, was then, as you see him now, many things. But also hetero. He's also accepting, scarred, goofy, resilient, co-dependent, loving, protective, the list goes on and on.

But what he is NOT and has NEVER been written as, is gay or bi. And if you have a problem with that, that’s not a flaw in the program you’re watching. That’s your problem. If he undergoes character development that radically redefines not only how he sees himself, but how the viewer sees him, after 12 years? That's a delicate task that I don't envy the writers having to undertake, considering, the only reason they would do that so late in the game, is because they caved to pressure from the "fandom". And I use quotation marks there because, if you want an iconic character to represent your views? Write them yourself. Create them. But don't try to bully your way into another persons creation. Here's the kicker. Out of 264 episodes that have aired so far, and countless canon instances of Dean being hetero.... here are the handful of examples that certain people have latched onto as gospel:

1. Dean and the Siren, season 4, episode 14, Sex and Violence: I can't tell you how many times I've seen some Jr. detective go "A-HA! Deans siren was a MAN! Therefore, he is GAY!" If you use just a smidge of deductive reasoning and pay attention to the season leading up to this episode, and the description of a siren that was helpfully included in the episode, you could easily and reasonably deduce that because a siren's powers of seduction come from the ability to be ANYTHING to ANYONE and be that persons greatest desire.... that it makes sense for the siren to take the form of a cool, non-judgemental, trustworthy younger brother-type who has the same taste in and love for music that Dean has. Someone he can relate to. A peer.

What do you get the man who can have almost any woman that he wants?

Not a stripper, folks.

And what does Dean really want? At this point, he wants a brother who trusts his experience and instincts. A brother that he can trust. A brother who doesn't feel like a complete stranger. A friend, for fucks sake. It's not implied. It's not a theory. It's literally written and discussed IN THE EPISODE, people. Move on.

2. Dean and Gunnar Lawless, season 11, episode 15, Beyond the Mat: If you know any guys who are into sports or bands, and have never seen them go batshit fanboy over one of their sports or music heroes...then you just haven't spent enough time with them on their turf.

3. Deans "gay thing", season 8, episode 13, Everybody Hates Hitler: If you've never been hit on when you weren't expecting it, especially by someone you weren't expecting it from, I could see why you couldn't comprehend his behavior. If you HAVE, you were probably flustered by it. Probably didn't react as smoothly as you thought you would, amiright? I know I haven’t.

It seemed he was flattered, but didn't know what to do with himself. If he were bi/gay, and attracted to the possibility of a no-strings hookup with a willing and anonymous stranger... a blow-and-go in the mens room, for example... I think Dean could/would have easily pursued it, based on his hit rate thus far. The one area in which he has 100% confidence and zero shame, is sexual conquests. Sam wasn't around. There was nothing holding him back. So, aside from being uncertain of how to extricate himself from an awkward situation, and being flustered, I got nothin’.

4. Dean and Dr. Sexy, season 5, episode 8, Changing Channels: Not much to say here. Dean clearly had a man crush on Dr. Sexy. Would he have boned him if given the chance? Maybe. Maybe not. Ask a guy friend who idolizes Aaron Rogers or Eddie Vedder (for example) if he'd let them stick it in his pooper based on principle alone. Chances are, that guy friend would probably say "Hall pass!" If the situation actually presented itself though? He might just gush over the guy and call it a day. Who knows? WE don't.

5. Dean and Crowley: Again, ask a guy friend if he would share a room and triplets with a buddy if there were no consequences (girlfriend, things getting "weird, etc), and see what he says. The answer may surprise you. Maybe I just know a lot of uninhibited, sexy bastards!

6. Dean and Benny: Brothers in arms who go through intense combat together can and more often than not, DO form close bonds. There was nothing in this friendship that even intimated at these two having any sexual or romantic designs on each other, yet.... people still try to make it work. Bless their hearts.

7. The Big One: Dean and Cas: Dean has had countless opportunities over the years to make a move. And I DO believe he loves Cas, very much. Cas clearly loves and admires Dean. They have been through some serious shit together since day one, that neither Sam nor anyone else can compete with. But some very good advice I heard once, applies here (and this is why the 10-year crush turning into romance in rom-coms is such bullshit): If someone likes you - you WILL know. They will make a move. Or you will. And neither of you will take 10 + years to do it if there are no barriers (significant other). And if a move is made and not reciprocated? It's not because they or you is holding something back. That's just a lie we tell ourselves. SOMEONE is just not interested.

Though I love their dynamic, I'm not a Destiel shipper, but I'm willing to go either way with this one. I will say, I don't by any stretch of the imagination think the writers, actors or directors are 'queerbaiting", though. That's like accusing a crush of leading you on when it was really in your head the whole time. Their chemistry is incredible. But from what I've seen with my eyes, in the actual episodes, his relationship with Cas does not say unrequited love, sexual attraction or romance. However, if I went by the slowed-down, out-of-context gifs that are prevalent on Tumblr, I could see where people get the idea. And because these are two men who love, admire and respect each other and sometimes bicker like an old married couple, I suppose that makes them different than us and our best friends, somehow? This makes me sad, because this is a unique show, in that it deeply explores mens relationships with one another (because they're human beings too), and they just can't do that without a group of immature people giggling behind their backs in the hallways because intimacy is so intimidating that it must be mitigated by making fun of it or spreading nonsensical theories about it. Right?

Small wonder that heteronormative men, as a general rule, have so much social conditioning and shame to wade through when it comes to expressing love and care for their same-sex friends and family. (Yes, men have problems too. Not as many as us, by a long shot. But this is one of them)

You see, menfolk are expected to behave in a manfolk way, and if their behavior isn’t within the traditional and narrowly defined parameters as “hetero male”, they face the perceived stigma that accompanies “coming out”, which involves the very real fears of supposition, persecution, politicizing, backlash, gossip, undermining. etc.

This show has taken many chances. And they’re not afraid to write for and represent LGBTQ characters. But Chuck forbid that emotionally resonant, well-written, vulnerable and emotional male characters exist AND allow them to be straight. Unthinkable! And that snarky, gossipy, “tee-hee” mentality is just what enforces rigid gender roles on men and women in the 1st place. Every post I see that giggles about Cas and Dean being gay for each other because....gifs...just throws us back 50 years. Your words do have meaning, people.

If you want to know what you can do to pave the way for LGBTQ representation in entertainment and the world at large? Take the small step of acknowledging that same sex characters can feel the same range of emotions that you do for your same sex friends. Can have sustained eye contact. Can love one another, and can tenderly care for one another without you sexualizing it, fantasizing about it and policing it. I’m asking you to think about this, because this way of thinking affects everyone. Gay, straight, etc.

Season 1 Sam and Dean: Hetero. Sam in an LTR at beginning, Dean with potential to re-enter his relationship with Cassie.

This show was marketed towards males in the 18-24 demographic, but curiously, more women are interested in these boys and their story. Because they’re allowed to care without judgement. Ahem.

*As seasons go by...* Clearly, judging by the polls and hate mail...neither brother can ever have or sustain a romantic relationship with a woman. EVER again!* And it as been widely acknowledged by the cast and producers that the fans don’t want to see the Winchesters spend too much time with what they deem as a threatening female.

Why do you think Castiel was even allowed to make it this far? Sure, he’s an amazing character. But if it were Anna who dragged Dean from Hell and ultimately stuck around? Yeah, no. That was never gonna happen.

Basically, these fuckers can’t win. If they’re hetero and stay hetero, that’s a bad thing. If their characters do a 180 to please the most vocal (unfortunately) fans - then they’re caving in to pressure.

Either way, I think it's safe to say, us fans are ultimately invested (I hope) in these characters achieving happiness, wherever they find it. And personally, I'll be happy either way. But seeing this hyperbolic, over the top bullshit online that this crew are queerbaiting, etc...and that "If Destiel isn't made canon, I'm gonna do X,Y,Z..." is disgusting to me.

The musings, wishful thinking and conspiracy theories are one thing. And that's perfectly fine. I’ve got nothin but love for fanficiton writers! But drawing parallels and conclusions from some of the flimsiest crumbs available, and using that limited intel to cajole, threaten, bash and attempt to shame the actors, the crew, and the producers who work their asses off to bring us this amazing show, is pretty fucking shitty in my opinion.

These aren't public servants, guys. We're not paying them to make this show. If you want to know how a show on the CW gets funded and made - google it. If you want to know how much of a time crunch/pressure cooker situation the writers are working in, not to mention the entire team in order to produce 23 episodes per season....again, google it. And then tell me how they're able to not only craft compelling episodes and cram so much storyline, exposition, dialogue, character development, arc support, scheduling, casting, art direction, stunt coordination, set design, etc ad infinitum into each and every week, and STILL have time to drop easter eggs, and "queerbait"....

Just. To. Fuck. With. You. And undermine LGBTQ efforts at representation? They are very kind and loyal to their fans. And we DON'T OWN THEM. If you don't like what you're seeing, don't watch. But for fucks sake - do the fandom and yourselves a favor and direct your crusade towards ACTUAL threats to LBGTQ freedoms and rights.

Here's a list of places to lend support (to name a few): Family Equality Council Human Rights Campaign GLAD PFLAG Transgender Law Center Your local congressman, FFS

Rant over. If you made it this far, thank you. I owe you a fruit basket! And feel free to engage, put me on blast if you want. Let's have a discussion. But if you agree with me at all, please reblog this.... just to give some folks another point of view.

Blanket statement for those who are offended and have already called me an “asshole”, etc on their own tags:

1. This is NOT by any stretch of the imagination an anti-shipper or anti-Destiel post. I clearly stated that I don't have a problem with either. And if it happened organically in the show, as opposed to under pressure? More power to them. And I do adore Castiel.

2. This is NOT an anti-LGBTQ post. Again, clearly stated throughout the post.

3. This is NOT and never was anti-headcanon post. We all have headcanons to some degree. And If anyone wants to step up and tell me not to support an organization that's doing good work, just because I sunk their battleship... they can suck it. I also belong to some of these organizations, and I'm pretty sure they're not as invested in your headcanon as you are. And thejabberwock, I still admire your insights and posts, but am bummed that you missed the damn point of mine entirely. Per your request, I have removed your association from the original post.

4. This IS an anti-harassment post, directed at individuals who have taken this ship so far, that they've tainted the word and the concept for almost everyone else with their shitty, pushy behavior. If this describes you? I'm happy to have offended you.

5. This IS an anti-ignorance post, directed at individuals who are presented with facts and reliable data from the writers, the actors and the episodes themselves, yet refuse to acknowledge anything out of their own headcanon. Who insist on "knowing the truth" and using that arrogance to try to *Out* the characters, *Out* the actors and use threats and insults towards anyone who disagrees. If you thought I was talking to you directly, after reading that? I probably was.

6. This IS an anti-misinformation campaign post aimed at clearing up some common misconceptions.

Lastly, reading comprehension is really crucial here. I know it was a lot to read, I apologize for that. But if you're skimming through and picking and choosing something to be offended over, and continuing to feel personally persecuted regardless of whether or not that's the reality... rather than reading and understanding the entire message? Well, there's nothing more I can say or do.

#destiel #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel #crowley #supernatural #spnfamily #spnfandom #Jensen Ackles #Misha Collins #fedthefuckup #queerbaiting #fuckingwafflehouseidontcare #wafflehouse?#cockles #imcomingforyounext

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ajoraverse · 3 years

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And here’s the FFV version of the meme I’m sure no one will ask me about. This includes characters who were technically bit npcs (that one joke pirate in love with Faris, the queen of Karnak) but had little in the way of characterization apart from a few lines and tantalizing hints in the books.

Fun fact: I’ve had these OCs for 20+ year and am reusing them for Dragondance and other current FFV works, but they’ve gotten a bit of a modern polish now--Ridha is no longer related as closely to canon characters, Ben’s interest in Faris wanes because he’s gay and Faris says she’s a woman, Yllesia Karnak is now Polymja Yllesia Karnak and a bit more hot-headed than she used to be due to some statements from the books.

* Note: because Ridha is intersex and nonbinary, and always has been, their pronouns are often fluid. Usually I’ll use they/them, but also he/him. I should note, for the internet concern trolls, that not all intersex people identify as nonbinary, and not all nonbinary people are intersex. Ridha just hates being pressured to conform one way or the other, especially given who his parent originally was before I realized how fucking mary sue that was.

What OC has the biggest family? How do they get along? Polymja has a Habsburg-grade extended family, which she doesn’t always get along with. The one exception is Lenna, whom she adores.

What OC has/is a mentor? Expecting any of these people to be mentor-grade is a tall order. Ben’s fairly good at being quartermaster, though, so he might work out as one. Ridha, being a young cousin on the Highwind side, wants to be a dragon scholar for a family that lost all its dragons and most of what they can do is lecture from books they absorbed.

What OC has a huge group of friends? Ben is probably the friendliest of them, which makes him great quartermaster material.

What OC has a small, close group of friends? Ridha gets on best with smaller groups of people and would be at home in the Ancient Library

What OC has, like, one friend? Polymja is a queen who had to fight sexism to get her way and is not very inclined to trust people.

What OC is the Mom Friend? Ben, haha.

What OC really needs the Mom Friend around? Ridha, being a young teen in a family that mostly went insane after the Dragon War slaughtered the dragons 50 years before, could really use anyone attentive. So, naturally, they cling to Lenna once Lenna adopts them.

Which OCs are an old married couple (literally or figuratively)? I’m cackling over any of them being with each other. Ben’s gay, Polymja’s lesbian, Ridha is still trying to figure themselves out, and Merrick hates everyone and is old enough to be Ben’s father.

What is your favorite platonic relationship between your OCs? None of them are really that connected.

What is your favorite familial relationship between your OCs? Given that Ben was Ridha’s father in the original, um... that, I guess? But they barely know each other in the revamp.

What is your favorite romantic relationship between your OCs? None of them is ever going to be into each other.

Which two OCs are the most different from each other? Polymja and Ben. Polymja likes to go her own way, Ben is always going to be a quartermaster at heart and think of himself as one of the crew.

Which OCs complement each other the best? Given that Ben used to be Ridha’s dad, er... them, I guess.

Which OCs get along the best with each other? Ironically, given that Merrick often borders on being a cantankerous bastard at the best of times, that would work well with Polymja’s distrust of everyone who isn’t family. However, they’ve never even met.

Whch OCs get along the worst with each other? Merrick is such a crotchety old pirate captain that he would never get on with Ridha, who’s largely independent.

Which OCs don’t know each other, but would get along great if they did? Polymja and Merrick. They’d appreciate each other’s distrust.

Which OCs don’t know each other, but would hate each other if they did? tbh they all have better things to worry about.

Which OCs would make the worst couple? Not to worry, they’re all such different ages and orientations that it won’t happen.

What’s the strangest way two (or more) OCs have met? The only two to have actually met are Ben and Merrick, and Ben was a deck hand on Merrick’s ship up until Merrick had a heart attack. My OCs tend to serve the story.

Which non-related OCs have known each other the longest? Ben and Merrick

Which OCs knew each other the shortest time before becoming close friends? New version: Ben meets Ridha postgame and kinda adopts him

Which OCs spend the most time together? Ben worked on Merrick’s ship for about 10 years

Which OCs have fought with each other the most? None, really? Of the two that actually knew each other for very long, Ben knew his place on the ship and it was to follow the captain’s orders, and Merrick was the captain.

Do any OCs have friends they haven’t met in person? Pre-internet society. Nope.

Do any OCs have imaginary friends? Except for Ridha, they’re all adults

Does OC have a hard or easy time making friends? Ben has the easiest time making friends because he knows he has to go along to get along.

How did OC meet their best friend? A nice lady in Tule told Merrick that Faris needed a companion her age, and Merrick’s pilot had an available nephew. And yeah, 5-year-old Faris did not want a babysitter, but she and Ben did get to be friends eventually.

How did OC meet their worst enemy? King Gelon of Tycoon decided to marry his daughter off to some country bumpkin instead of Polymja, who was princess of Karnak at the time. She met Alexander during the meeting over how to punish Gelon for conquering Walse and disliked him for being chosen to marry her crush since.

How did OC meet their significant other? If OC does not have a SO, do they want one? Merrick met his husband in a pub brawl over... who even knows anymore.

How does OC get along with their parents? Version 1 Ridha worshiped his parents. Version 2 doesn’t get the parenting he needs, so he latches to his cousin Lenna.

Does OC have siblings? Do they get along if they do? Do they wish they had some if they don’t? Merrick lost his much-loved siblings in the conquest of Carwen by Gelon Tycoon and has hated the royal family since. Polymja used to have a brother she didn’t like very much, but he died of mysterious circumstances (mysterious as in: please look up Charles II of Spain, because I find the Habsburgs fascinating in a trainwreck way)

Does OC have or want kids? Ben might want kids, but he’d have to adopt. Merrick considered Faris his child and gloated over the fact that he managed to steal a child of Tycoon and claim her as his own.

Is OC/Would OC be a good parent? Ben would actually be a great dad.

What is something unusual OC has bonded with someone over? Polymja encouraged Lenna’s tomboy streak as a child, as she was one herself

What is the most important relationship in OC’s life? Merrick actually did get to become slightly less of an asshole with Faris in his life. Something about having responsibility for someone who had no options.

How has OC been affected by their friendships? The only reason Karnak and Tycoon got along at all was because Polymja was willing to set aside her animosity with Alexander for the sake of his wife and their daughters. Maybe Polymja may have never consummated her love for Lessandra Tycoon, but they were always very close before Lessandra died of complications from Habsburging.

How has OC been affected by their family relationships? Ridha vs2′s parents being distant because intergenerational war trauma is a hell of a thing, they’re a very private person and has trouble trusting people until they’ve proven themselves.

How has OC been affected by their romantic relationship(s) or lack thereof? Ben’s love for Faris is, yes, a running gag in the game. But even after it fades, he’s still a loyal friend and will follow her to the ends of the earth.

Who does OC consider they have learned their most important life lesson from? Merrick learned not to be such a bastard from Faris, so there’s that. He might blame her family for his family’s death, but she had nothing to do with it.

Who motivates OC? Lenna moves Ridha to open up and accept people into his life

Who would OC do anything for? Polymja would have done anything for Lessandra. She will do anything for Lessandra’s daughters, Lenna and Faris.

Who would OC do anything to not have to deal with? Merrick wants absolutely nothing to do with any sort of royalty, thank you. Royalty’s nothing but trouble.

How does OC meet most people? Generally, Merrick meets them either in a pub or when he’s boarding their ships to assess his winnings.

How long does it take OC to open up to people? Most of them, very slowly. They’ve all got a bit of trauma, but Ben is probably the quickest to open up because he recognizes the need for community.

How much do OC’s friends know about their private life? Merrick kept the fact that he was a trans man to himself, his husband, and Faris. That’s it. When he died, Faris took charge of dressing the body to keep anyone from finding out.

How does OC act differently after they know someone better? Ridha can be very talkative and friendly when they finally get to open up with someone. Ask them about the Highwind clan’s dragon lore and they’ll go on for hours.

Who is OC’s favorite person? Lenna is Ridha’s favorite person, because she’s so sweet to them and gives them the attention a teenager really needs from a parental figure.

Who is OC’s least favorite person? Polymja absolutely loathes the king of Walse for being a little shit when they were kids and dismissing her love for Lessandra as something she’ll grow out of once she finds a man. Actually, the quickest way to get on her shitlist is to ignore that she’s a lesbian and suggest she find a man.

Is there anyone OC used to be very close to, but no longer is? Polymja and Faris used to have a whirlwind affair that died quickly.

What aspects of OC have, consciously or unconsciously, come from someone else? Ben gets his ability to stand up for himself from Faris’ frequent adolescent clashes with Merrick.

#fic:dragondance

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some-flyleaves · 6 years

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when I pick up a book called What the #@&% is That? I know I’m in for a ride, for better or for worse

conclusion: inconclusive, but you can get quite a variety outta the prompt “a character has to say or think the phrase ‘what the [fuck] is that’”

So this book came in the library a few months ago; checked it out, read one or two stories, drowned in schoolwork, returned it, and have since read it on and off when things are slow and I got nothing better to do. (Yeah, I get paid to sit around and read sometimes. It’s a good gig.) Finally finished it tonight and, well. It’s a thing!

Aside from the titular phrase, none of the stories are connected - different authors, different writing styles, hell even different genres. Have some bullet-point thoughts.

“Mobility” by Laird Barron is... weird. I vaguely remember reading that the guy is a master of cosmic horror, and if this is how the genre usually works then I’m in no rush to read Lovecraft. Surreal imagery turns into pretentious metaphors turns into torture porn turns into surreal pretentious metaphors. Not a fan.

“Fossil Heart” by Amanda Walker is, uh, gay? I think?? I’d need to reread this one to get a better grasp on it but I’m in no rush. From what I remember, it’s about a woman who’s literally haunted by her past (got her girlfriend killed or drowned or something?) and then... changes that. somehow? I guess??? The prose is dreamlike, present tense, and while I’m all for not spoonfeeding the audience, I feel like I don’t remember this one as well because I didn’t really understand what was going on. It was one of the earlier stories I read, to be fair, but I also recall other early stories much more vividly.

“Those Goddamn Cookies” by Scott Sigler is clever as hell, and while the progression is a tad predictable post-twist reveal, I was definitely not expecting a little space scifi out of this book. There are some nice characterization touches throughout, the intersection of thoughts and narrative gets intense when needed, and honestly? Would not have called the ending when the intro has the protagonist smelling fresh-baked cookies.

“The Sound of Her Laughter” by Simon R. Green is apparently forgettable enough I needed to skim it again just now to remember what the hell it was about. There’s a couple. Unreal stuff happens, I guess. Characterization was alright...? Uh. Yeah. No dislike but not impressed.

“Down and Deep in the Dark” by Desirina Boskovich is at least memorable, albeit for mixed reasons. Narrated by a snarky teenager(/young woman? I forget the age) whose brother is getting married, the story finds narrator whatshername in charge of babysitting her near-future nephew. It doesn’t seem particularly horrific until ~things go wrong~, something with animals turning up dead by the hotel the family’s staying at and rooms in the hallway that shouldn’t be there.... The first-person and initially casual tone were a nice change of pace, but once the buildup started, it kinda just seemed like creepy stuff for the sake of Creepy Stuff. And of course the aforementioned nephew gets to be a creepy child, because of course he is. I have a habit of reading spoilers before actually getting into a piece of media, which in the case of short stories means skipping to the end before reading from the start. Sometimes the buildup and resolution is very clever, and at least one story later still caught me off-guard once I knew the context of the twist! But sometimes, as with this story... Stuff Just Happens.

“Only Unclench Your Hand” by Isabel Yap is mildly haunting with an ending that, while not exactly thought-provoking, sports just the kind of... not bittersweet, but it’s got a hesitant, uncertain vibe that I can’t quite put into words but always appreciate. Also narrated in first-person by a youngish gal whose name and exact age I forget, the story finds her studying abroad in a small village where everyone knows everyone, for better or for worse. The family she’s staying with has a couple daughters, one around the narrator’s age and the other younger but thankfully not in the “obligatory annoying sibling” way. And then Shit Goes Wrong(TM), but in a less random way than the previous story, and from what I remember it’s not even that heavy on the supernatural stuff until later! Overall a good read with an interesting twist. Also canon gay, I think. There’s a pleasantly surprising amount of Gal Pals(TM) in this anthology.

“Little Widows” by Maria Dahvana Headley also has gals who are friends (not romantic though), cults, and... dinosaurs, I guess? Its premise is interesting enough - “sisters” raised in a cult encounter their “Preacher” and Comeuppance Ensues - in a way that begs to be taken seriously but... can’t, really, imo. Weird Religious Cult(TM) is already asking or some suspension of disbelief from me, since while of course they exist they’re a lot less common than their prominence media would suggest, but fuckign. dinosaurs? when the story up until then has been grounded enough?? Yeah, nah, ya lost me.

“The Bad Hour” by Christopher Golden is BRILLIANT. That thing I mentioned about skipping to the end first? applies here, and this is the story that still floored me once I finished it. An army veteran visits a closed-in town for reasons that aren’t revealed upfront but make for some great fridge logic, and I can’t say much else without spoiling but it’s very much worth a read. Great atmosphere, interesting characters, holy shit.

“What is Lost, What is Given Away” by John Langan is another story I had to skim just now to remember and even then Iiiiii got nothin. The narrator attends a high school reunion and eldritchy stuff happens to a guy or something. I vaguely remember thinking some moments were clever when I was reading but apparently not too clever. V: Also, it’s long. Next.

“Now and Forever” by D. Thomas Minton is about a father protecting his family from a mysterious Fiend in a vaguely post-apocalyptic setting. Until he isn’t. Can’t say much else without giving it away but while it does its job, I wasn’t a huge fan. Spoiler alert: unreliable narrators aren’t my favorite trope, though I appreciate that we didn’t learn right off the bat the guy wasn’t actually doing his job as well as he thought he was. Or was he. For obvious reasons, the circumstances are left vague; presumably you can pick up a few more worldbuilding details on a reread, but I think I’ll pass.

“#ConnollyHouse #WeShouldntBeHere” by Seanan McGuire is creative as all hell, and even if the scares given are kinda flat, I gotta give it points for format alone. As the title might suggest, the entire story is told in a series of tweets from @boo_peep, including timestamp, hashtags, and retweets from @friends as they, as part of a regular haunted house exploration gig, delve into the titular Connolly House. The format makes for a breezy read, and a certain twist will probably have you rereading just to catch some fun little details. Which is impressive, considering character limit is (presumably? I ain’t counting) obeyed throughout. And when Boo Peep isn’t SCREAMING about the hell she’s seeing, there’s an awful lot left to the imagination. #FunTimes

“The House that Love Built” by Grady Hendrix is also forgettable. There’s a guy. He dates women. People die. Wheee. Actually, it was this or the other one with the couple where I at least liked a couple characterization tidbits. Maybe both? But yeah, not my favorite. Movin’ on.

“We All Make Sacrifices: A Sam Hunter Adventure” by Jonathan Maberry is, on one hand, a cookie cutter story about a cynical vigilante-ex-cop, and honestly I kinda regret looking up the author’s other work after reading because it pointed me towards reviews calling out his writing for being so tropey. Because while reading? Might be that I’m not too familiar with the mystery genre, but it was a heckin fun ride. Great characterization, both on behalf of the titular protagonist and the various side characters, even if the antagonist being described as (paraphrasing) “pretty much your typical entitled rich boy” gets a little grating. The story is cliche but shamelessly so, and eh, I usually don’t care for that but it got me anyway. Also, Hunter is a werewolf. That’s fun and it spoke to my old flame of werecanine appreciation but shhh.

“Ghost Pressure” by Gemma Files is... kinda all over the place? a bit? Horror, now at a senior home. I wasn’t entirely clear on who the narrative was following, and while the means of Supernatural Horror is interesting, it leaves a lot to be desired. Ah well, shout out for being about the older among us, I guess? Come to think of it, it could’ve done something thematically with the whole “no one wants you anymore/the people who take care of you are dead” idea, but it... didn’t. discernibly. to me.

“The Daughter out of Darkness” by Nancy Holder features a misogynist unreliable narrator, presented as a sort of case file. Does its job I guess, but lost me at the “letter from an asylum” setup.

“Framing Mortensen” by Adam-Troy Castro is one of if not the favorite story of mine in here, because holy SHIT, is it vivid in all the wrong ways. The narrator has a hellish grudge against Mortensen, for reasons I don’t quite remember and that aren’t terribly important anyway. The real horror (and call for suspension of disbelief) is in what he does with the guy, both in terms of “murder” because of course he does and subsequent, er, treatment. It’s dawning on me this makes it sound like a necrophilia nightmare but it’s not torture porn I swear. Also, if the opening story failed at eldritch abomination-type horror, this one more than compensates by the end. Another good read, would definitely recommend.

“The Catch” by Terence Taylor also features a rather despicable narrator, and while I’m tired as anyone of ~ooh no serial killer who has no feelings what a [insert outdated psychology buzzwords here]~, I gotta say this surprised me. It’s... weird. Not really pornographic but because of Reasons it may raise some eyebrows. Can’t say more than that without giving away the big twist, but I’ll admit the ending threw me for a loop and not for unforeshadowed reasons. Bonus points for fridge brilliance in the title!

“Hunters in the Wood” by Tim Pratt is gay, now with dudes, and also trying really hard to be a hunger games spinoff while lampooning the very premise of the hunger games and dystopias like it. (Side note: I have not actually read or watched The Hunger Games. Writing style didn’t catch me, not too interested in the movies.) Take the self-aware commentary from the Sam Hunter story, boost it way up in some expository worldbuilding, throw in some vague eldritchy stuff, and you get this. Mind, it doesn’t last, but it was just annoying enough to me while it did that I wasn’t too invested in the rest of the story. Ah well. I just wish it was bigger on the eldritch and smaller on the totally-not-social-commentary.

“Whose Drowned Face Sleeps” by An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky is, for lack of a better word, haunting. Like “Fossil Heart,” it’s got an almost dreamlike narrative style while the actual events are... sorta down to earth? more or less? Except not really, but once the weird stuff starts happening, you’re in the appropriate mood. I found the execution much better here though, between most events being much less vague & more grounded characters. And while exactly what happens and why is unclear, it blurs that line between psychological “haunting” and real life disaster in a way that reminds me of Paranoia Agent. Mind, I read this one tonight and the earlier on months ago; to really compare/contrast I’d have to reread both in one sitting. (Also, could have done without the allusions to sex scenes but At Least It’s Lesbians(TM).)

“Castleweep” by Alan Dean Foster is the closing story of this anthology and boy is it a “love, hate, or love to hate” narrative. A rich tourist and his girlfriend are taking a trip through the ~jungles of Africa~ and he’s about as entitled as you might expect. The narrative doesn’t bend over backwards to condemn the guy because it pulls no punches letting his thought process speak for itself, whether he’s talking his guide into a side trip to a forbidden castle or sticking to his pride when the detour soon proves less than worthwhile. By the time the horror kicks in, you may or may not want the fucker dead anyway - the story seems aware of this and lavishes on the grotesque details. Which... I found unnecessary, and the reasons for the castle being haunted as it was were decently foreshadowed but heavy-handed as hell. Decent enough read if you wanna see a snobby dude and his girlfriend (the latter of whom deserves better, tbfh) get brutally mauled...!

Overall, for a cover and title that promise top notch eldritch horror, the actual stories range from generic spooky shit to really clever but not necessarily scary plot twists and story developments to... what the fuck did I just read. Seriously, a good amount of the phrase drops weren’t even at some big moment of Monsterening - there weren’t even monsters (in the nonhuman creature sense, blablabla ~humanity is the real monster~) in like... half of these? So if that’s what you expect, back out. Also, none of these are gonna keep me awake at night, and I wouldn’t say I have a particularly high tolerance to horror (good ol’ fashioned creepypastas and jumpscares can and have given me all-nighters), but YMMV on that.

However!! Despite my middling reviews on most of these, there are a few that really stand out, and I’d say the anthology is worth checking out just for those. Not a read I regret, overall. And everyone didn’t even die at the end!

(Oh, and did I mention it’s pretty gay? I counted like... at least three Gal Pal duos and one #YesHomo couple, and while I’m definitely not about to get into a story just because it has ~representation~ and the m/f couples probably outnumber 'em by a long shot, it was still a nice surprise. Just sayin’.)

#tonight on 'I need a tag for spontaneous media reviews'#.rtf #this is partially for my own reference because I wanna revisit some of these stories #but like hell if I'll remember them by name alone

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takaraphoenix · 7 years

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Shadowhunters?

I feel like that show is like nearly unfair to ask because I feel like I already put all the thoughts into the A/Ns of my Shadowhunters fics. Like, if you’d go through them chronologically, you’d probably get the answer. But sure, I got a couple hours to spare to do it in one go :D

And sorry for the long wait, but I knew from the moment I got this ask that this one was going to be the longest. Gotta find the time to write that down too.

I, quite obviously, love the show. But it might also be one of the most flawed shows I’m currently watching.

The thing is, when I started watching it, I binged the first season after it first aired and then turned my back on it because it was just Not Good. Like, at that point I was 100% convinced I would not tune in for season 2.

About nine months later, my parents were interested in watching it - we have those family TV nights, it’s a tradition - and I figured, oh well, won’t kill me. And what can I say? I actually liked it more.

That is a hundred and fifty percent thanks to Amelie Plaas-Link.

Amelie lends her voice to Clary in the German dub - and she completely saved that show for me. Like, there’s a lot of plot that bothers me a lot about this show - and I will get into that in a moment - but my rule of thumb is “If I can’t stand the main character, I’m not gonna force it” (that rule was established when I finally managed to give up on Grey’s Anatomy after too many wasted years of trying to watch it for the sake of everything else).

Now, in the German dub I realized, she’s not that bad, it’s Katherine McNamara. Like, yeah, she’s a cutie and she looks good in the role. But she does not act well in that role. At least not in season 1. Season 2, she’s gradually getting better at acting, but oh dear, her performances in season 1 are downright painful. Her constant flat whining and the line-deliveries were so nerve-grading that not even the gloriousness that is Dominic Sherwood could have saved season 1 for me.

But Amelie Plaas-Link gives Clary a more grown-up feeling. She delivers the same dialogue, but with more conviction, more feeling and definitely less childishly high-pitched whining.

Where Katherine’s line-delivery makes Clary feel like a whiny, entitled brat, Amelie gives Clary the feeling of a traumatized, scared girl, which she should be.

So that rewatch in German? That was what ultimately got me hooked and made me watch season 2 in English - and yes, Katherine does get better in this season, thankfully enough.

Now let’s talk plot.

Season 1 forced the “Love at first sight” trope way too hard. Between Clary and Jace, as well as Magnus and Alec and even to an extend Simon and Isabelle gave the same vibe for like the first half of season 1. It’s like the writers instantly decided that to write a plotline that includes characters falling in love would be too exhausting to write?

I’m very grateful - but also confused - about the turn Simon and Izzy took. Where the first half really made it look as though he was instantly hooked on her and she was interested in him, they didn’t push that. I think they could have, you know, still let the two have screentime with each other in 2A because completely dropping all interactions between them was also not the best move, but I appreciate that they took 2B and have the two now slowly inching closer together again. To make this one love-story maybe an actual falling in love slowly thing instead of the love at first sight.

I don’t have the malice to get into why I dislike Clary and Jace as a couple. I just do. And that Jace instantly was so obsessed with her that he basically threw everything else over board for the sake of helping her just made the “hook” for that couple really awful for me. Like, you do not treat your family and friends like shit just because you’re busy mooning over a chick you literally just met. And yes, Jace is my favorite character, but his behavior in the first half of season 1 in particular was just not good.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do love the show and I had my “hook”. My hook being Jalec. That’s also the reason I started watching this show. If I’m going to repeat everything I said in A/Ns before, I’ll also repeat that part.

I watched the movie, back when it came out, and instantly adored Jalec and was hyped about it. Then there was no second movie. By the time the show rolled around, I only have vague recollection of two things - there was a female lead who seemed badass and there were a dark-haired grump who was canonically in love with a very cute blonde twink.

Show!Jalec are just such an improvement to movie!Jalec, to be honest. And yeah, every single parabatai-magic scene in season one had me at the edge of my seat squealing with OTP feels. When even Clary commented that that looked awfully intimate, I wildly agreed. They were just so precious, I loved it.

And then there was Malec. I was aware of its existence - after watching the movie, I went to the fandom sure that it must be flooded with Jalec, but instead there was only Alec with this guy who had like five minutes screen-time in the movie and wait what? So yeah, bit disappointed when I read online that Jalec was not endgame. And thus I also knew what to expect in the movie.

But it was, again, this love at first sight thing. At least on Magnus’ end. I do like how it took Alec some convincing, but generally their plotline was what I disliked the most about season 1 - not due to my personal feelings about the ship but due to how badly it was written.

It was the cheapest rom-com plot of all rom-com plots. “Let’s invent a female OC just for the sake of drama! And oh, let’s squeeze a wedding in here even though we are waaay too busy with actually important stuff!” and that Magnus literally came in the “Speak now or forever hold your piece” moment and Alec dashed over to him to kiss him.

I’m pretty sure this fandom would have at least a 100 better Malec fanfiction of how they could have gotten together, but the show just turned it into such an overused rom-com trope that was also so poorly executed.

Let’s be real, the “Malec” episode was a giant Malec fangirl using her old fic plot. It was so over the top, they should have gotten together on a private level and not in public literally in front of the whole Institute. It was way too rom-com… as Simon even points out afterward and yes, Simon’s reaction was exactly what I picture the writer must have squealed like when pitching the plot.

I really wish they had given the ship a more dignified way to set sails instead of such an over-the-top squeaky fangirl fanfiction way. And yes, I’m aware I’m hitting a stone-wall with the shippers there because they’re just happy their ship sailed, but what I’m saying is there could have and should have been a better written way to make them sail.

Not to mention the reactions. I’m sorry, but… Robert and Maryse took that shit like fucking saints! Like. Seriously. This isn’t even about Alec being gay, this is about Alec being the one to propose to someone, Alec being the one to try and better their family’s image by doing so and then Alec kissing someone else in the middle of the wedding with everyone watching.

As a parent, I would have been furious. It was Alec’s idea to rush this proposal. Yes, a political marriage was the idea of his parents, but Alec chose Lydia and Alec was the one who decided to rush this whole thing.

And then they have this glorious wedding where I’m assuming everyone with a name and who is important was present because the whole purpose of the wedding was to better the Lightwood name and to do so you gotta show off. And then Alec just rans off into the arms of not just someone else but a male Downworlder.

And even without that “male Downworlder” part, this would have already been a publicity nightmare for the Lightwood family, but considering their society and what we heard and learned of Shadowhunters to that point, the “male” alone would have been an outrage but the “Downworlder” part on top of it should have like… caused at least some outrace? A little bit? But it was all totally polite. And yes, the Lightwood parents expressed their distain but let’s be real for a second, that was justified.

If my kid came out to me like that and then introduced a centuries old guy to me with the word “No, no, we’re not dating, it’s love” - because it wasn’t at that point, it wasn’t about the true love get together but about Alec admitting to his own sexuality and I do like that addition and that they acknowledged it instead of looking at it through pink-tinted glasses, but honestly that must have been such an additional blow? Like, “Okay, you just ruined our reputation. For a guy. Who’s a Downworlder. But at least it’s True Love, right?”, grasping for straws but then to have your son essentially laugh in your face?

Holy shit, during that whole scene, Robert and Maryse were saints, in my eyes. I mean, this could have gone down way different. On a homophobic level, on a racist against Downworlders level, on a ruined reputation level. There were a lot of angles that could have been used to have either or both Lightwoods lash out and for Alec to face serious reprecussions, but instead he just got a mild warning about how he should watch out because the guy he chose had quite the reputation. And like? Wow, you had more luck than brains there, Alec.

So yes, as someone who loathes rom-com movies because they’re brainless and have the most ridiculous excuses for loads of drama that could be avoided if people talked to each other, the way they handled Malec’s getting together was just not satisfying to watch.

On that note, I want to talk about Magnus for a moment. I love the guy! Magnus was literally my biggest surprise in this show, because going in, I was semi determined and sure Magnus would end up being a character I wouldn’t like because he gets in the way of my OTP and I get very protective over my OTPs. Instead, he became my second favorite character within the first season.

His flourish, his charms, his wit, his smirks, his outfits, his magic, his personality - literally everything about him. Magnus Bane is amazing and I love him - and Harry Shum Jr only makes him all the better. He plays him so brilliantly, I was baffled. I only knew Harry from Glee and he didn’t get a lot of chances to really act there because he was such a background character, but oh boy, that guy can act.

And thus my OT3 for this show was born, because is Jalec is OTP and Malec is canon, let’s just throw them all together and see how Magnus and Jace work (spoiler: they work so well and Jagnus fast rose up to become my second favorite pairing for this franchise).

So, as you might have noticed at this point, this particular review is a bit of a mess and all over the place, but let’s stay with the characters for a while.

Simon didn’t really do enough to get me interested in him until season 2. Like, he was just… there. Like in the movie (I legit do not remember a single thing about him in the movie). And while the same could be said about movie!Izzy, she did really get me hooked in season 1 already.

I love it when the gorgeous, sexy girls are also smart and can kick ass. It’s normally either only one of those three very amplified or a “You can have two out of three”-kind of deal. Very rarely *cough* Buffy *cough* do you get all three of them. And boy, is that woman gorgeous and deadly.

Let’s circle back to Lydia for a second. I know she’s a show OC and she was really literally only created for the above mentioned rom-com drama, but she shot up to become my third favorite Shadowhunters character. Particularly due to the “Malec” episode, because she took that was so much grace and kindness.

I would have slapped Alec in the face? Like? No matter that it’s a political marriage and neither of them are in for the fuzzy feels. If I get a wedding dress and got important people watching me… and then my groom-to-be runs off with the High Warlock? Wow. That woman definitely has more understanding than imaginable. The way she handled and took that made me admire her for her strength and kindness and it really made me headcanon very hard that Alec and Lydia would become the best of friends (Lydia needs to return to the show).

Since we’re circling through characters here; Luke. Luke was the first thing that really got my attention in the show, because Oh my gosh, it’s the Old Spice Guy! I love that guy! And his voice! *squeal*. Which, yes, that was exactly my reaction when Luke first showed up. I really like Luke and I love the change they did from the book, that he’s a cop here. It just… fits really well, to get them involved with those cases, to have an in into all the supernatural attacks through the cop investigating them.

I just wish that, down the road, that would have been a bit more fleshed out. With Luke and Alaric being partners, both being wolves, I kind of assumed that the precinct was crawling with Downworlders and that they were… organized. Which would just make so much sense, world-building wise. You infiltrate police, hospitals and fire departments with Downworlders, you have a network of them to control Downworlder business leaking into the mortal world. But if they’re not aware of each other, or end up partnered with a mundane, that’s just… chaos. And aren‘t Downworlders really around long enough to actually organize this?

I would have expected the captain to be a Downworlder, who keeps track on the Downworlders on his force and specifically asigns them the Downworld-related cases and keeps the mundies busy with mundie stuff. That is what would make sense, to me. And that is what’s lacking. They started the police-thing with a good idea behind it, but they didn’t flesh it out in a way that would have made more sense in the context of this world.

Now, the last character I want to get into is Camille. Camille doesn’t make sense to me. She’s the powerful leader of the vampires of New York, which sounds like a good deal. She’s been around for a long time so she must know how to survive.

But… still she just randomly decides to turn a totally random mundane into a vampire, even though she must have known the price it’d cost her? Why would she risk that, aside from “We need it for plot because we need vampire!Simon”? That was one of those writing decisions again that just happened for the sake of plot.

Other things about season 1 that bother me and were poorly put together/written out (to wrap season 1 up and move on to season 2):

Circle members frolicking outside of cells. This is a point that will be proven by season 2 again and again too, but we already encounter it in season one with not just Hodge but also the Lightwood parents. They’re essentially the Shadowhunters equivalent to Nazis and terrorists, Circle members I mean, but… they get off with a slap of the wrist? Because they… changed? Imagine real life news about someone involved in the Third Reich and who pleads he got better. Yeah, no, you going to jail for crimes against humanity, man. That those three not just didn’t get thrown into the City of Bones, but also get to walk around freely and that, on top of that, the Lightwoods seriously are the heads of the Institute? Like? Imagine that. I mean, really truly imagine that, former terrorists get to basically work in the White House. Something just doesn’t feel right there. And yes, the Lightwoods did change… but Hodge didn’t. And if they had fucking thrown their former terrorists into cells to rot in, then the entire thing about the Mortal Cup wouldn’t have happened. It’s just, and we’ll get back to this for season 2A, the juridical system of the Shadowhunters is juridiculous.

The fact that no one questions anything in this show, if being oblivious fits the plot. Like, when Clary and Jace went to that parallel world where they were dating and then moments later, learn that they’re siblings. And neither of them pause and think “Mh, how utterly strange that Valentine was a good guy and good dad to Clary in that alternate reality, but that Jace wasn’t raised as her brother then? And that they were dating and neither Jocelyn nor Valentine had any problem with that? Mh. Maybe that is worth investigating. Maybe we should like make a blood-test to see if the sociopathic manipulator really told us the truth.”. I mean, science exists in this world. How does no one make a test but instead just take the words of the genocidal maniac at face value? How is that a thing? Aside for the purpose of plot and tension.

Same goes for the reveal of Michael Wayland being alive slash not alive. Like. “Oh, wow, we found a guy in a closet in Chernobyl where we were brought to find Valentine and changing faces is A Thing Shadowhunters Can Do Easily, but we won’t question it at all” - even without the thought that Valentine could have been Michael Wayland all along.

Which brings me to the first time I legit was impressed by Clary. Because she actually didn’t buy it and she didn’t let Valentine fool her into giving him the Mortal Cup and I was Very Relieved by that because at that point, the story-telling was just too many convenient closed-eyes and turned-aways to allow plot to continue. It wasn’t clever writing, it was forced writing - and I’m not a fan of that.

If you have to force your characters to do Stupid Shit that doesn’t make sense if one were to use at least half their brain, just for the sake of creating obstacles and making the plot last longer, then I got some bad news about your writing abilities. They are not good. Because a good writer would be able to achieve those things in a natural flow and create tensions that fit the plotline instead of forcing a square through a hole, so to speak.

So yes, all the things I just mentioned as badly written character and plot decisions in season 1 were the reason I decided that I wouldn’t put up with season 2, topped off by my dislike for how Clary being played.

Then I rewatched season 1 with a superior dub for Clary and that improved the show a lot - seriously, the main character is a very important key-figure and it’s supposed to hold the show together if that falls flat, then the whole show might come apart by the seams. I also really fell even more in love with Jace when rewatching it and by the end of season one, when he sacrifices himself to keep his friends safe, I was left thinking “Okay, I really wanna know what happens to the puppy and if he’ll be safe”.

So I watched season 2.

I genuinely feel like they switched writers for that season, because season 2 has an entirely different feeling than season 1.

Where season 1 had a lot of awkward writing, it at least did have better pacing. Season 2 had more evened-out writing, but awful pacing (particularly in season 2B).

Season 2. Let me start off by what I said earlier I’d get back into; the juridiculous system of the Shadowhunters. The above mentioned unpunished terrorists aside, they throw Jace in jail. Like. He got abducted and tortured - and you see the torture on him when he arrives, he was not having a fun trip with daddy dearest. But they just… torture him even more and then throw him in jail? A society that fails to punish its own terrorists throws a victim into jail? And something just really went very wrong there.

And let me stay on the note on how ridiculous the Shadowhunters’ society and particularly their politics really are.

They change leaders more often than some people change their socks, for fuck’s sake. We started season 1 out with Robert and Maryse in charge. By 1x08, Lydia Branwell arrives and takes over. By 2x01, Victor Aldertree is the leader. But that changes when in 2x11 Imogen Herondale takes over, but no worries she passes on the mantel to Jace in 2x13, who instantly passes it on to Alec.

They have a total of seven leaders of the New York Institute within two season. Seven. That’s pathetically ridiculous. Whenever one thing goes wrong, their immediate solution is “put a new boss in charge” and their preferred method of doing so is “get someone who has no idea about the NY Institute”, like Lydia or Victor or Imogen. I mean, holy shit, how is that a thing? They’re in the middle of a war and instead of reinforcing their troops and helping out, they just change the leader to confuse everyone and make their own troops even more unstable? Wow.

Not to mention that, while personally I think Alec is a very good leader, he should have never gotten the position? I mean, Jace was more of a stand-in appointed by Imogen and how did neither she nor the Clave have any protests when Jace appointed Alec Lightwood, after the entire point of this game of musical chairs was to remove the Lightwoods from their position in power? Within two episodes of him being head, the Clave should have come knocking at their doors and, considering their track-record so far, put a new envoy to the Clave as the head instead of Lightwood Junior.

Moving on. Let’s get back into characters, because another major player is introduced this season. Maia Roberts.

I’m inclined to say that I don’t like Maia’s character, but then I feel like I can’t really say that because she doesn’t have a character. She is the single best example of this show’s inconsistent writing. It baffles me. I want to like her and I like the idea of her and I like how fanfiction interprets her, but her show version?

It’s ridiculous. She is introduces as “I don’t give a fuck about laws, I will downright murder you even though I have no proof at all that you’re actually the killer of my friend and even after it’s revealed you’re innocent, all you get is a lot of shit from me”. Then she changes into this cool character as a friend of Simon’s, who’s understanding and sweet. And then she flips the switch back on as she goes onto “I don’t give a fuck about laws, I will downright murder you because you could potentially active that Soul Sword and I don’t care that you’re my Alpha’s daughter, essentially, and that we could look for a better solution”. And then she switches right back to Simon’s friend who is cool. But then she goes back to being a total bitch toward Jace once again and acts like she really hates him - which, okay, I could live with because not everyone has to be friends with everyone - but then she sleeps with him.

Most of the time, show!Maia feels like they should have invented a second character and split her plotline up into the homicidal maniac bitch OFC and Maia, the good friend of Simon and loyal pack-member of Luke’s. Because those two characters squeezed into one? They clash. Trying to murder Clary clashes with being absolutely devoted to Luke, as she has been at literally every other instance of this show. Sometimes, I’m convinced show!Maia might be bipolar or schizophrenic, because those manic phases and mood swings kind of remind me of that.

Let’s talk about Victor Aldertree. While not being a Circle member, he’s is not a good guy either and he should have never become head of the Institute to begin with.

From his questionable methods of torturing one of his own soldiers who got abducted by the enemy, to randomly torturing Raphael a little later and best of all, getting one of his soldiers addicted to drugs.

I mean. There is? No fucking way? That Victor didn’t know how addictive Yin Fen is? He literally warns Isabelle about it, but he warns her in a “This stuff is addictive, watch out. Here, have the entire jar of it, I totally trust you not to get addicted and use it moderately even though it would have been ethically correct to order you to come to me or the infirmary once a day to have it applied”-kind of way that’s just really not right? And I have literally no idea why. If he were a Circle member and if this was a method to sabotage the good guys - getting her not just hooked on drugs but preventing her from entering the citadele - that would have made sense. But Aldertree isn’t a Circle member, so what exactly was his motivation behind this…?

And while we’re at it, let’s talk about Jocelyn.

I do not like Jocelyn. I mean, that woman is a walking Bad Decision after the other. From the moment she decided that having her daughter’s memories wiped instead of telling her truth would be a good idea? Even if she never introduced Clary to the Shadowhunters, she could have at least taught her that it was real and that Clary needed to watch out. Particularly as a child, Clary was vulnerable to attacks and she would have been safer if she too knew what to look out for. Not to mention the incredibly invasive decision to wipe Clary’s memories.

But hey, at least she’s a bad mom to all her kids, so there’s that. I mean, in that brief time she thought Jace to be her son, she shot him with the intention to kill him. Not based on anything Jace - or Jonathan - did recently, but solemnly based on the fact that baby!Jonathan had the ability to kill plants.

Based on something a toddler who couldn’t even talk or walk or use the potty did, she decided that her son was irredeemable. That he never learned how to control his powers - just like he never learned how to talk or walk or use the toilet, right? Because we have completely reached our full potential as toddlers and can not be taught anything anymore, right? Especially not control, of course.

Even if Jace had been Jonathan, there was a huge chance that he could have learned to control his powers over the past eighteen years. Because I actually believe that if Jonathan hadn’t been raised by the cruel, soulless and heartless Valentine, he too would have had a chance to learn how to control his urges and powers.

Not to mention, killing a couple plants is not exactly evil incarnated. If he had used his powers and accidentally killed like… the neighbors. Oh yeah. Heck, even just the neighbor’s cat would have already been more justified. But it were just a couple flowers that a baby who could not even control his bladder yet had killed.

Holy shit, you’re the worst mother on this planet. A good mom would have tried talking to her son first, would have clung to the smallest chance of hope that her son wasn’t the Antichrist. Instead, she doesn’t take any of the very valid doubts that sprung to my mind instantly even remotely into consideration and immediately decides to kill her own son.

Yeah no, I’m not sad that they killed her character off.

Let’s move on to happier topics, because I’m already getting a headache here.

Jace moving in with Magnus will forever be the best decision this show made and I will always cherish it and to my dying day, Jace is living with Magnus at the loft in all my fics and no one will ever take that away from me.

Ithuriel looked pathetic when we first met him. Like, I get that he was run down and exhausted, but his wings were the cheapest props I’ve ever seen. You can literally go to any convention ever and you’d find at least two cosplayers who made more convincing and realistic wings than that cheap shit and I am quite frankly embarrassed by what the show pulled there.

Not to mention, those angelic powers are Really Plot Convenient. Once again.

Clary and Jace share the same angelic blood. But the angel only calls out to Clary. Because if he’d also call out to Jace, then we might get suspicious that he doesn’t have demon blood, so conveniently that only works on one. And conveniently, Jace’s angelic blood powers only kick in after he is told that he even has them - and never-ever before in his entire life. Sure.

I do not support the show’s decision on making Raphael feed on Isabelle. He is old and experienced and asexual enough to deny her. And yes, that last one also plays into this, because if Raph was just a straight horn-dog, then I would have bought the old and experienced vampire being tempted by young, gorgeous, sexy Isabelle into feeding her and then also having sex with her. But since that angle falls flat, I really don’t see why that old and experienced vampire would have been weak enough to be tempted into that.

Robert and Maryse. Oh gods, I’m so angry about this, I don’t know if I have the energy to type it out.

I hate Maryse Lightwood and fuck you, show, for attempting the cheapest, flatest, dumbest redemption-arc in the history of redemption-arcs! Just fuck you!

Maryse Lightwood is Not A Good Mom and Not A Good Person.

She made Isabelle’s life a hell so far by emotionally abusing her. And yes, I see the way Maryse treated Isabelle as abuse. She has hugs and warm smiles for her sons while she treats Isabelle like… Cinderella, essentially. She has nothing but coldness and disappointment for her daughter and I’m sure that emotionally crippled her.

Maryse told Alec, when Jace was still on board of the Morning Star, that he should abandon his parabatai. Not just his adopted brother and best friend, but his parabatai. She, who she adopted Jace and should view him as her son, tells her biological son to cut all ties. She also can’t make the time to be at her son’s bedside when he is literally dying because he’s trying to use the parabatai-bond to find Jace.

Maryse repeatedly tells Max that Jace isn’t his brother, because a child that age doesn’t pick shit like that up after only once. She said it often enough to warp Max’s mind to the point that Max flat-out tells Jace to his face that he isn’t his brother.

And after Jace’s fears manifested thanks to that demon at Magnus’ loft during the runeing party, and he actually apologizes as though he has done something wrong, she needs to be arrogant about with that high-and-mighty “No, stop. I don’t want to hear your apologies”, visibly deflating Jace just to continue as though it’s a grand gesture “I’m the one who should apologize to you”. Fuck yes, you should? You gave up on him when he was abducted and tortured, you didn’t stand at his side when he was thrown in jail and you told both his brothers that he’s not their brother like he’s not even part of your family.

And then the show puts the weakest excuse ever up as a reasoning? A sob-story on how Robert cheated on her? Oh, if you know me a little you know where I stand on cheating - cheats are the scum of the Earth. But being cheated on does not justify that kind of behavior. Fuck, it doesn’t justify any of it and even though cheating should not have been the solution - a fucking divorce would have been - I completely understand why Robert sought out love from someone who, I don’t know, doesn’t have a heart of ice? Yes, he should have gotten divorced from her and cheating is Not Okay, but just because your husband cheated on you, that doesn’t make you as The Victim all of a sudden a good person? The whole “Something bad happens to character and suddenly everyone coddles character and everything is forgiven”-plotline is the most pathetic cop-out imaginable and neither of her four children should have that easily forgiven her past wrong-doings just because she sobs a little.

It is not a justification for child neglect or child abuse when your husband cheats on you. It is not.

Robert, I don’t give a flying fuck about. Like, in season 1 he was set up to be the better parent of the Lightwoods, but now he’s sorted into the category of scum of the Earth, so yeah. I vote for Luke to adopt the Lightwood kids and be done with it.

The reveal that Jace is not Clary’s brother was, again, so forced and awkward. Like, touching the sword makes you say the truth but only if you’re actually asked something and Valentine essentially blurts out all the things even though he doesn’t have to? Just for the sake of reassuring Clary and Jace shippers that their ship would still be able to sail? Really?

The entire eleventh episode of season 2 is just one giant fucking mess, if I’m being honest. Like, if you’d ask me to point out the most flawed episode of the show? This would be it. “Mea Maxima Culpa” even beats “Malec”, because that episode was only messy due to an overdose of forced rom-com elements. This episode however is a total mess.

First we got Isabelle, who’s trying to get over her addiction but still Alec leaves her unsupervised in a fit of Very Bad Withdrawl, which was already Bad Decision 1.

Then Isabelle goes out to find vemon, is attacked by the demon and decides to go home with total stranger Sebastian Verlac, Bad Decision 2. For all she knows, he could have been a Circle member, for heaven’s sake. His story was so shady and that odd coincident of “Hey, I was addicted to Yin Fen too!”.

Sebastian offers her a wonder-drug that’s supposed to help her overcome her addiction faster, but she never heard of it - and she still takes it. She takes a drug from a total stranger that’s supposed to speed up recovery. That is literally how her Yin Fen addiction started, for fuck’s sake. Bad Decision 3.

Isabelle stays with Sebastian instad of immediately returning, or at the very least instantly calling her brothers to let them know that she was alive and safe. After all, she was attacked by that greater demon so she knows there’s something dangerous going on and she should have known that Alec would notice she left. Bad Decision 4.

They don’t track her fucking cellphone. She disappears and they don’t track her cellphone - which regular mundanes can do, for heaven’s sake - and we see her having her phone at Sebastian’s. Bad Decision 5.

They don’t track her runes. In a later episode, we learn that the Clave can track all their Shadowhunters via their runes. So how do they not use her runes to track her? Bad Decision 6.

No, instead of any those things, they of course decide to go and as Valentine for help. That sounds like it should be more than just Bad Decision 7, really.

But it’s instantly followed by Bad Decisions 8 and 9 - because both Clary and Jace, out of everyone, think that listening to Valentine of all people is in any way or shape a good idea. Out of all the characters in this show, those two should really know best not to trust the manipulative asshole, who also happens to be locked into a cell so why should he know anything about what is going on outside.

Bad Decision 10 goes to Magnus for actually helping the idiot Shadowhunters in summoning a Greater Demon. That in itself sounds like such a bad idea, but considering that idea was suggested by Valentine, how in the world does the High Warlock not nope out of that and whack them upside the heads?!

So, yeah, I consider season 2 episode 11 to be the lowest point of the show, because its writing has more plot-holes than is justifyable for an entire season of a show, much less for one episode. It comes off as so forced due to the bad writing and they should have worked through this in a way that would have made at least a little sense.

How exactly is ‘Sebastian Verlac’ not instantly thrown into the City of Bones? He literally abandoned his Institute. Isn’t that high treason? Like, the exact same thing Jace got thrown into jail for? At the very least they should have questioned him? A lot? About why he abandoned his Institute and why he came to New York. And if not the Clave, at the very least our Shadowhunters should have been so much more suspicious.

But what I legit hate is how they reveal from the first episode on that he’s not a good guy. I haven’t read the books so when this new character came dashing in, saving Isabelle, he could have been a good guy. But they had to ruin it - in episode 11 already - by showing how Sebastian burns his own hand over the stove and you instantly know “This guy ain’t sane or good. Something’s seriously wrong with him” and that just… it completely ruins the reveal of him being not a good guy. Sure, the show caters to the book-readers, but couldn’t we like pretend that a lot of people actually have their first contact with this story through the show? And it would have been an amazing reveal later on, if we had Sebastian introduced as just this random new good guy, in the same way Lydia had entered the show later in season 1, to just join the cast. If we came to trust him like Isabelle did.

But instead, they instantly ruin the surprise and then they just… don’t really use Sebastian? I mean, he really doesn’t do a lot in the whole infiltration thing? They could have really used him better, made him actually a part of the team, have him properly befriend - or more - Isabelle, have him properly try to get to know Clary and Jace. But he just… awkardly stands in the background and then pushes himself onto the missions. The entire Sebastian-Jonathan plotline could have been written so much better so it’d have been an actual huge surprise.

I really don’t wanna get into the racism debate of 2x13, to be honest. It was handled and written so poorly. The message was clear, but… it felt so entirely out of place and forced. If those killings of Shadowhunters would have started a couple episodes before then already and we’d have build-up to this, but to squeeze it all into one episode and have the Shadowhunters instantly snap from “We’re supposed to protect mundanes and Downworlders” to “Let’s racially profile all the Downworlders and also right away start chipping them like dogs” was just… too much. It would have come off as a slightly more… believable reaction if the panic about the attacks had been looming for a little longer, but this way it was just far too forced and came off as a very strong over-reaction from them and not as something those characters would believably do.

I dislike how Aline was treated like such a throw-away character. They introduce this new Shadowhunter and have her barely be in any scenes before she leaves again. The lack of recognizable non-main character Shadowhunters on the show is one of my big problems with it, actually.

I mean, Isabelle, Alec and Jace grew up in that Institute. But aside from Raj… there’s kind of no Shadowhunter who actually gets a speaking role? Did they never make any friends? Like? I want to see casual interactions between them and other Shadowhunters, I want reoccuring faces with names. I want Alec to send not just the main characters on missions, but like have nine people on the meeting and Alec assigning teams and us seeing other Shadowhunters being sent out there too. Because the show mainly feels and comes off as “We have Alec, Jace, Isabelle and Clary. They handle All The Missions, while all other Shadowhunters just aimlessly walk around in the background”.

And when they introduced Aline, I thought we’d get another reoccuring Shadowhunter who is friends with them and who has, even if just brief, interactions with them. Instead, she’s right away sent off again.

The Seelie Court was also painful to watch. That Clary was doe-eyed enough to let Simon tag along, I’ll buy. But that Jace can’t stand his ground was just ridiculous. And that Simon was actually dumb enough to think that being vice-class-president in middle school qualifies him to meet a millennia old supernatural queen is pathetic. That episode would have been more believable if they hadn’t written in that clause about how only Jace and Clary were supposed to go on a mission. If they had just set it up as a regular mission and Simon as part of the team would have made this feel so much less forced.

Also, that episode and what followed was what officially made me dislike Clary. In season 1, she just annoyed me due to the actress’ shortcomings. In the German dub of it and then in season 2A, I actually grew very fond of Clary.

But Clary dating Simon, who has been pathetically in love with her for so many years, just to try and get over her feelings for Jace, but then failing and still being hung up on Jace, but not enough to actually give him a chance, was just… a sign of bad character, really. And I mean “personality”-character here, not “fictional character”-character.

How she had to tell Jace that it meant nothing and then just… avoided him from there on out was so childish and annoying. And the return of season 1′s whiny, entitled Clary when she kept bothering Simon and trying to cling onto Simon and force herself back into his life was just so not appreciated by me. Like. You just broke his heart? And you expect him to right away be okay again and be there for you? Holy shit, you really are an entitled, self-centered brat, no, stop it, I had grown fond of you, damn it, keep it together, Fray.

I feel like I should also mention Dot before I get closer to the end of this. Her character doesn’t make much sense too. Like, to me, she already died like four times. Every single time she appears, I am literally surprised because I thought she died the last time we saw her. But still, she always returns and it confuses me so much? Because if she keeps living, how is Clary not more determined to save her from Valentine?

And then she finally is freed and suddenly, she’s… Magnus’ ex-girlfriend? Whut? That was a really weird moment to me, personally. Because the two of them felt more like old acquaintances, certainly not like friends and especially not like former lovers, back when we saw them first interact in season 1. When she nearly kissed Magnus, knowing he had a boyfriend, she completely fell through for me. As before mentioned, cheats are the scum of the Earth - and that goes for both parties. If you tempt someone who’s in a relationship and you know that other person is in a relationship, you’re a fucking asshole who’s deliberately hurting the person the cheater is actually dating so fuck you too. I’m really glad that Magnus pulled back before kissing her, that his integrity was preserved there.

I hate that it even got that far - because Magnus can’t talk to Alec at all. Like. Malec is an unhealthy relationship in the sense that they completely lack communication and that is the key element to a healthy relationship. They don’t talk about anything. Ever. It takes Alec far too long to push Magnus about the body-switch trauma. Magnus never voices when something is bother him - like how Alec was seriously rude and unfair to Magnus when he learned about Isabelle’s drug addiction, or how Magnus was obviously not a fan of separating their work and romantic relationships. But instead of talking to Alec about these things, because Alec has never been in a relationship before so a few guidance pointers would be appreciated and communication is key to a healthy relationship, he just swallows everything Alec says and does with a sharp not of the head, until it all becomes too much and he explodes and breaks up with Alec. Which, yeah, everything considered and topped off by the lie about the Soul Sword, totally reasonable conclusion to be honest.

It was obvious they’d get back together because they’re canon’s endgame, but I don’t think they should have gotten together before the end of the season already. That should have been one of the hooks for season 3. “Stay tuned to see them get back together again!”, because you can not tell me that any Malec fan watching was seriously heartbroken in the sense that they believed this to be the end of their ship. Of course will they get together again, but I’d have preffered for it to be a slower process of actually talking about their feelings and mending that they broke in the course of season 2B, because both of them made mistakes. Instead, it’s again a rushed mess of “And they’re back on track! No worries!”, even though there really was never anything to worry about, because everyone knew they were going to get back together.

And on the note of rushed things toward the finale, let’s talk about the Mortal Mirror.

This show and its characters have an amazing track-record of missing the obvious. It took them decidedly too long to figure out where the Mortal Cup was, it took them way too long to realize the Soul Sword was not “in the citadel for cleaning purposes” (what the fuck kind of bad lie was that anyway? Like? How did not everyone instantly know that while Valentine had been captured, the Soul Sword had been stolen by a third party?”.

But Clary instantly knows that not only was the pocket-mirror a ruse, she also right away realizes that the real Mortal Mirror is a lake - and she even instantly figures out it’s Lake Lyn?! Particularly that last one was downright unrealistic for her to already realize. That was, really, an act of “We’re on episoe 18 of 20 so we need to make something happen that moves plot forward because we don’t have the time for them to slowly and realistically figure out where the Mortal Mirror is”.

Personally, I think the entire second season had the potential to be two seasons, if you had stretched it to twice the size and for that, slowed down the pacing and had the twists and turns more realistically. It’d also have given for more character interactions and sub-plots, like for example on Luke because until the last fourth of the season, him being pack Alpha and having wolf-problems really fell flat.

Okay, three more things and I’m done.

First of all, the Seelie Queen. Her obsession with Simon is just creepy. And Simon is a total moron for not just provoking her and thus leading to Maia’s abduction, but for then striking a deal with her to free Maia instad of consulting Magnus and Luke and literally anyone else for help first.

The main characters believing that Sebastian|Jonathan died when he was stabbed and pushed off the bridge was just embarrassing. I mean, not to sound like Simon, but do Shadowhunters not watch movies? At all? The bad guy never dies when pushed off a bridge, they always manage to crawl on land. Not just did the show use such an overused trope here, but they also didn’t have scouts out to find said body? Really? Really?

And the very last thing is Jace’s death. The death itself was good. I liked how he was literally stabbed in the heart by his father-figure. All the angst. Love that.

Clary has a serious problem with letting people stay dead though. Let’s turn Simon into a vampire. Let’s owe a shady warlock some kind of unknown favor so she brings back mom. Let’s ask the angel to bring back Jace.

Not to mention that I find it nearly baffling that, considering unlike in the books, the show killed Jocelyn first, Clary wouldn’t wish for her mother to be back. Or, at least phrase the wish differently “I wish those I love would be back”, or something along those lines.

Way too fast. Jace’s death, just like Malec’s reuinion, should have been left hanging for season 3. It should have ended with a cliffhanger as Jace lays dead and we see Alec’s reaction to that death.

Because - and say it with me, children - it was obvious that he wouldn’t stay dead. As obvious as the fact that Magnus and Alec would get back together. He’s literally the male lead of this show and that kinda status keeps you safe from permanent death. Especially with a franchise taking place in a supernatural world where virtually everything is possible.

Instead, Jace is brought back like three minutes after dying. And it’s such a let-down. Those would have been two huge hooks for viewers to keep them on their toes for season 3, without being risky hooks, aka hooks that run the risk of chasing viewers away and making them stop watching out of protest. Because everyone who seriously thought Jace would stay dead or Magnus and Alec wouldn’t get back together, well, I marvel at their ability to completely turn off their brains while watching a TV show. Safe but suspenseful hooks for the next season.

And that, to sum it all up briefly, is one of the show’s biggest problems. It doesn’t know how to handle suspense. Every time something happens that is potentially suspenseful, they ruin it somehow - by the instant reveal of Sebastian being not a normal guy, by instantly bringing Jace back, by rushing all of their big reveals all the time.

I am praying so hard for the pacing of this show to be better in season 3. For them to take things slower and stop rushing them, keep suspense to give it the chance to properly build up.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this show. I truly do. Among all the shows I watched, it easily climbed up to my number 5 spot of favorite TV shows. But I don’t believe in the concept of blindly loving anything. I need to be able to see its flaws even if I love it. And this show is very flawed.

#ask me a show and I shall rant #TV Rants #Fandom Rants #Shadowhunters #I love it but it's flawed #it's so flawed #comet13

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themostrandomfandom · 7 years

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Hey JJ, I was wondering what is your opinion on Klaine and the relationship between them and Brittana. Also I have a friend whose really obsessed with you and your blog and she reads it religiously so that must mean that your stuff is good ;) hope your day is going well :)))

Hey, @ruskinino!

First off, thank you forthe sweet message. Sorry it has taken me so long to post a reply.

Second, in response to yourquestion:

While both TPTB at Glee and fanon might like toimagine a close and straightforwardly friendly bond between Brittana andKlaine, I think that, in reality, things are much more complicated, and,unfortunately, less positive.

The two couples don’t hate each other, but thereis certainly a degree of caution in the way they interact, with both sides having been burned in the past.

We can break the issues down after the cut.

WARNING: I am writing this response as a fan of Brittany Pierceand Santana Lopez and a Brittana shipper. Though my intention isn’t to bashKurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, or Klaine, there are elements of my analysis thatare critical of their behavior and which discuss some negative views which I believethat Brittany and Santana hold towards them. If you ship Klaine, proceedcautiously. What follows probably won’t be your cup of tea.

___

Brittana, Klaine, and Glee’s Writing

First, let’s talk aboutBrittana and Klaine on a production level.

In terms of Glee marketing,Brittana and Klaine were very important. For a show that prided itself on itsdiversity and forward-thinkingness, having two same-sex teen couples at itsfront and center was a big deal. While a lot of the critical praise for Gleedied off before the first season had even ended, the show continued toaccumulate awards from GLAAD, the Trevor Project, and other LGBTQ organizationsthroughout its run thanks, in no small part, to Brittana and Klaine’sprominence.

For PR purposes, Brittanaand Klaine were often paired together in promotional materials and paralleledin episode structures. RIB loved putting them side by side because when they did,it got everyone’s attention. If having one same-sex couple getmarried on TV was a huge thing, then having two same-sex couples get married onTV at the same time was an even huger one. It was all about doubling up, and thepowers that be at Glee took the opportunity to put two and twotogether when they could.

That said, Brittana +Klaine was often better executed in idea than in practice.

The truth is that asidefrom being LGBTQ and participating in show choir, Brittana and Klaine were twovery different couples, and Brittany, Santana, Kurt, and Blaine were four verydifferent characters. While in theory there exists a fictional universe wherethey all (or at least most of them) could have been friends—a point which manyexcellent fanfics well prove—the canon Gleeverse wasn’t it, mostly because thewriters never put in the work to really establish those interpersonal dynamics.

Brittana and Klaineran in the same circles and frequently orbited around one another in terms oftheir storylines and character development, but the narration never truly allowedthem to get to know one another or to form stable bonds.

Despite various comingstogether, at the end of six seasons, shared wedding notwithstanding, one nevergot the sense that Brittana and Klaine were actually very good friends. Sure,they didn’t hate one another, but there was also no deep love between them.Klaine were still questioning Brittana’s motives. Brittana were still mockingKlaine’s clothing, mannerisms, and relationship status.

Glee had failed to provethat these kids actually liked and related to one another on any special level.It was just another instance in which Glee kept trying to tell us that thesecharacters were friends, but they never showed us that such was the case (see here).

For as much as fanon lovesto imagine what might have been, canon shows us a much more convoluted—and muchless pretty—picture, one in which, due to a history of bullying and hijinks,Klaine never got comfortable enough to drop their guards around Brittana, andso, after years of repeated rebuffs and rejections, Brittana eventually grewfrustrated with Klaine’s distrust of them and emotionally disengaged.

So now let’s talk aboutthese relationships “in universe.”

Kurt and Brittany

The truth is that KurtHummel, like most of the characters on Glee, never really gets Brittany Pierce,and his view of her doesn’t change much between S1 and S6 (see here).

To Kurt, Brittany is simpleand strange—“a girl who thinks the square root of four is rainbows” and talks openlyand unironically about unicorns.

He tends to accept what hesees from her at face value, buying into the early stereotype she perpetuatesfor herself, namely that she is slutty and dumb, in some ways unaccountable forher own actions because she doesn’t understand what she is doing (see here).

Because Kurt’s initialimpression of Brittany is that there is not much to her, he never really thinksto look at what might be going on beneath her surface, and his opinion on hercharacter remains generally static. Consequently, he has trouble comprehendingher more nuanced behaviors, and he oftentimes patently misunderstands herbecause he is unaware of what her true motivations are and where her emotionalstakes lie.

Initially, the fact that Brittanyis one of the most popular girls in school is somewhat intimidating to Kurt, andespecially because she and the rest of the Unholy Trinity don’t mesh well withthe New Directions. For a long time, he doesn’t understand Brittany’smotivations for joining the glee club and so doesn’t entirely trust her. Whenshe is revealed as a spy in episode 1x13, he feels his distrust of her hasbeen validated (“You leaked the set list! You don’t want to behere. You were just Sue Sylvester’s little moles!”).It is well into S2 before he begins to trust that Brittany really wants to bepart of the glee club and that she isn’t just out for herself.

As time goes on andBrittany becomes more integrated into the group, Kurt tries to be nice to her inthe same way that people try to be nice to infants and pets, but oftentimes hispatience with her shenanigans wears thin, which is something that we see fromhim both when she serves as his beard in episode 1x18 and when she becomes his presidentialcampaign manager in episode 3x02.

When the things she saysbaffle him or when her behavior comes across to him as particularly nonsensical,Kurt has a tendency to snap at Brittany and drive her away. Lack ofunderstanding and patience for Brittany notwithstanding, Kurt does seem togenerally like her and is sometimes even protective of her. If asked, he wouldprobably say that he considers Brittany a friend, albeit not his closest one. Attimes, he even calls her by an affectionate short name, “Britt.”

Kurt and Santana

Kurt’s dynamic with Santanaover the years is similar to his dynamic with Brittany, in that it is alsopredicated on an initial poor first impression and the inability to advance thoseinitial views, even given an accumulation of new evidence.

To Kurt, Santana is thequintessential mean girl, motivated largely by malevolence and spite.

When she initially joinsglee club, he doubts her loyalties, just as he does Brittany’s. However,whereas the biggest fault he finds with Brittany is that, in his view, she isstupid and has a bad taste in friends, with Santana, he finds that she isvicious and even dangerous, particularly as she has a tendency to makehomophobic comments towards him (K: “Can we talk about the giant elephant inthe room?” S: “Your sexuality?”).

While there is some debateas to whether or not Kurt realizes that Santana is gay prior to her S3 outing, thefact is that, no matter what he knows or doesn’t know, he remains fairly alooffrom her throughout S1 and S2, and, in the few instances when they do interact,he is openly wary of her intentions.

In his mind, Santana isinherently selfish, so the idea that she would put herself on the line forsomeone else without expecting anything in return just doesn’t add up to him. Why does she protect him from Dave Karofsky? How come she goes out of her way to get him back to WMHS from Dalton? What gives with her suddenly using her prom queen campaign to protect him when for the lastseveral years she has taken every opportunity to bully him for being gay?

His cautious attitude towardsher continues into S3, when he doesn’t know exactly what to make of herattempts to be nice to him and behaves towards her as one might a cat that hadpreviously attacked him but is now purring. Though after her outing, he has abetter idea of why she does some of the things she does—such as going with him,Blaine, and Brittany to confront Sebastian Smythe after Dave Karofsky’s suicideattempt—much of her behavior still remains a mystery in his mind.

Why, for instance, does shenot appreciate his and Blaine’s attempts to serenade her during Lady MusicWeek?

In S4, when Santana becomeshis roommate in NYC, Kurt finds her behavior invasive and at times infuriating,though he generally gets along with her better than Rachel does.

In S5, he feels forced to choosebetween his loyalties to Santana and his loyalties to Rachel, and he inevitablychooses the latter.

In S6, he regards Santanaas a friend, though he still struggles to reconcile her behavior with what hethinks he knows about her basic motivations, which is why it so surprises himwhen she seemingly “out of the blue” decides to share her wedding day with himand Blaine.

As I discuss elsewhere,

Santana spends much of S1 and S2 making homophobic comments aboutKurt, so, to him, Santana is a mean girl, and he never really allows her togrow out of that role in his eyes.

Though in later seasons she becomes his roommate and tries tobecome his friend, he always keeps her at arm’s length and will side withRachel over her in a heartbeat, even in situations where Rachel is in thewrong.

At best, Santana is his fun, bitchy lesbian acquaintance. Atworst, she is his caustic, bitchy lesbian acquaintance.

He seems convinced that she is an awful person who sometimesmasquerades as a sweetheart rather than a sweetheart who sometimes masqueradesas an awful person, and he treats her accordingly, for the most part—though, infairness, he seems somewhat more amiable toward Santana than is Rachel, on thewhole.

Kurtand Brittana

As stated above, Kurt’sopinions of both Brittany and Santana remain fairly static throughout theentire series. When he first gets to know Brittana, he observes that Brittanyis a ditz and Santana is a bully, and his views on them don’t much change overthe course of the next six years.

If he encounters behavior fromthem which deviates from what he thinks he knows about their characters, then hecounts that behavior as aberrant and doesn’t shift his schema to allow for thenew evidence.

In other words, if Brittanydoes something undeniably clever, then he is likely to suppose it was anaccident—an exception rather than the rule. Ditto for if Santana does somethingcertifiably nice.

By S6, he knows enough torealize that, generally speaking, he and Brittana are on the same side.However, he continues to doubt their intentions, and, even up to the pointwhere they are graciously sharing their wedding day with him and Blaine, hestill questions their characters, failing to understand that they have grownand changed a lot since they were fifteen years old.

Overall, he does notunderstand Brittana’s dynamic. He either assumes that they function like he andBlaine do (see episode 6x03)—which they don’t—or else just plain fails to wraphis head around how they behave and what they feel for each other,underestimating the strength and depth of their bond. At his core, he can’t seewhat they see in each other. Why would someone like Brittany want to be withsomeone like Santana? Why would someone like Santana want to be with someonelike Brittany? What do they have in common? How do they make things work?

Brittana really are amystery to Kurt, but one he doesn’t spend too much time trying to unravel.

The fact that he soadamantly opposes their engagement even after six years of knowing them showsthat he doesn’t really get what they’re all about because, if he did, he wouldrealize that through all the ups and downs and changes with them throughout thetime that he has known them, they’ve always been each other’s only constant,and their bond with each other is strong, deep, and mature.

Brittany and Kurt

In S1, Brittany primarilyseems to pity Kurt Hummel—and especially because she very much understands hisunderlying motivations at that time.

Brittany is out long beforeKurt is, and she seemingly never wrestles with her own sense of identity in theway that Kurt does (see here).However, she does still feel for Kurt, and particularly as she recognizes thathe and Santana are essentially in the same boat.

Though at this point in theshow, few people would see similarities between an unpopular, virginal gaychoir boy and a popular, slutty “straight” cheerleader, Brittany knowsthat Kurt and Santana actually share much in common, albeit below thesurface.

Both Kurt and Santana carrya secret that that they’re desperately trying to suppress. Both Kurt andSantana worry that if they are honest about their identities, they will losethe love of their family members. Both Kurt and Santana perform socialgymnastics in order to maintain a sense of equilibrium in their lives, tryingdesperately to balance who they really are with who they think they need to bein order to survive.

Brittany is aware longbefore Santana says it out loud that Santana looks to Kurt as thequintessential canary down the mineshaft and that anything she sees happeningto him, she fears will also happen to her. Whenever Kurt faces homophobia orsuffers a setback as he negotiates his outness, Santana takes note, andBrittany, by extension, does, too.

In my view, that is why throughout S1 we see several instancesin which Brittany helps Kurt to interact with his father on his own terms, suchas in episode 1x04, when she and Tina convince Burt that Kurt is on thefootball team so that Kurt can save face (see here),and in episode 1x18, when she acts as Kurt’s beard so that Kurt can prove toBurt that he is “straight” (see here).

At this point in herdevelopment, Brittany is still very much in the business of helping Santana tomaintain the illusion of their straightness, and she essentially does the samething for Kurt. While she may not personally feel the need to hide her same-sexattractions, she knows that Kurt and Santana do, and she doesn’t hesitate toplay along in their schemes to convince the world that they are “outstandingheterosexuals,” no matter how overblown and ineffectual said schemes may be.

It is only as Brittanystarts to change how she relates to Santana during S2 that her relationshipwith Kurt also changes, and she becomes less about trying to help him obfuscate his true self and more about helping him to celebrate it.

Nowhere is this attitudefrom her more apparent than in episode 2x20, when she acknowledges how strongKurt has to be in order to be himself and encourages Santana to stand by him inhis time of trouble (“Go back out there and be there for Kurt. This is gonna bea lot harder for him than it is for you”).

While there is an element of self-service to Brittany’s actionsin this situation—Santana helping Kurt to feel comfortable with himself in turnhelps Santana to feel comfortable with herself, and a comfortable Santana isone who will be able to date Brittany—there is also some genuine pride andappreciation underlying them.

Brittany is glad that Kurt has gone from being someone who wouldlie to his father about having a girlfriend to being someone who can takeownership of a shitty situation by saying, “I’m proud to be who I am.” She seesthe progress he has made, and she applauds his real bravado.

Though she hasn’t said so out loud, to this point in the show,Brittany has considered herself to be in a position to “help Kurt up.” While hehas struggled to accept himself and later to forge his identity as an out gaykid at a conservative school, Brittany has already been there, and she has beenquietly watching him, lending him help when she can, and rooting for him fromthe sidelines.

Come S3, she feels that Kurt has finally peaked and that theyare now on equal footing in terms of being comfortable in their own skins.

That’s why she turns to him as an ally in her quest to make WMHSa safe place for other, potentially still-closeted LGBTQ kids, includingSantana—because she assumes that she and Kurt are both in a position to helpothers reach the point they’ve gotten to and that they’re on the same pageabout the importance of activism in their community (see here).

Her assumption is a mistake not because Kurt doesn’t care aboutLGBTQ causes but because he doesn’t understand her and her motivations.

For one thing, like most people at the school, Kurt doesn’t seemto think of Brittany as bisexual, her openness concerning her orientationnotwithstanding (see hereand here).Particularly given that Brittany and Santana are not yet openly dating at thetime when episode 3x02 takes place, Kurt doesn’t get that Brittany has theproverbial dog in this fight. In his mind, she is an ally at best, so it’s nother personal safety, comfort, and wellbeing that are going on the line in thiscampaign, just his. He is the out gay kid, so he’s the one that will have to facethe backlash, not Brittany, who, according to his understanding, is ostensiblystraight.

For another thing, because Kurt views Brittany as naïve, he believesthat she is wildly oversimplifying the matter at hand and that she doesn’tunderstand the grander implications of her own actions. He assumes that shethinks that running a campaign of this nature will be easy and that no one willpush back against it because her world is all rainbows, puppies, andbutterflies. He doesn’t realize that Brittany has been watching how peoplereact to him for as long as they’ve known each other. He also doesn’t get thatshe is smart enough to know what happens to anyone who dares to be toodifferent at their school.

While Kurt is finally to the place where he is comfortableclaiming his identity as a gay man and publicly being in a relationship withBlaine, he isn’t eager to become the face of the gay rights movement atWMHS—and especially not after being driven to Dalton the year before. The waypeople react to him is different than the way people react to Brittany andalways has been. While she may be comfortable associating herself with ProjectUnicorn, he isn’t, and so he and Brittany butt heads.

Whereas in the past when Kurt has snapped at Brittany (see episodes1x18 and 2x02), Brittany has typically backed off and done as Kurt says, in S3,Brittany actually stands up to Kurt, and the fact that she does so isreflective of her own personal growth during the Back Six of S2.

That said, it is also reflective of her changed view of Kurt nowthat he is out and more at ease in his own skin. In the past, Brittany viewedKurt as delicate, so she was all about being gentle with him and going alongwith things at his pace so as not to spook him. Now she knows that he isconfident in himself and that he can handle tough love. In her mind, that meansthat she can take the kiddie gloves off with him. So she does.

When Kurt says he doesn’t want her to run his campaign for thesenior class presidency, Brittany comes back swinging. Though she initiallyshows shock and disappointment about his decision, after a pep talk fromSantana, she tells Kurt that she is going to continue the campaign without him,becoming a candidate herself. While she isn’t mean about what she says, she isfirm, and she doesn’t back down.

This action represents a major shift in the way Brittany relatesto Kurt. No longer does she pity him or look at him as someone she has to baby.

—and that point is important, because going forward into S3,Brittany really seems to take off her rose-tinted glasses when it comes toKurt and how he treats her.

Brittany has always been aware that everyone aside from Santanathinks she’s stupid. Some people are meaner about it, like Finn, while somepeople are nicer about it, like Mercedes. It’s the difference between outrightdisdain and condescension versus “being too gentle” with her. Kurt was alwayson the nicer end of the continuum. Brittany knew he didn’t think of her as anintellectual equal, but she was willing to let it slide because at least mostof the time he was kind.

But as their political campaign heats up, Kurt starts to getannoyed with Brittany’s antics—and particularly as she gains over him in thepolls—and his interactions with her become noticeably harsher. Whereas beforehe always at least tried to hide the fact that he thought she was as dumb as abox of rocks, now he is much more open in his patronization, and Brittany isn’thaving it (see episode 3x03).

Between the disrespect he shows Brittany as a political rivaland his participation in Santana’s humiliating public outing experience (seeepisode 3x07), Brittany starts to get a bit passive aggressive towards Kurt. Ofcourse, it’s not that she outright hates the kid—she still likes him wellenough—it’s just that she is no longer giving him a free pass in how he treatsother people.

That attitude is the one she carries into S4 and S5, as Kurtgraduates and moves to New York, where Santana eventually becomes his roommate.While Brittany doesn’t have much direct contact with Kurt during this time, shehears through the grapevine about how he is treating her girl, and, honestly,the reports leave her troubled.

That Rachel and Kurt would kick Santana out of first the Loftand later Pamela Lansbury when Santana wants nothing more than to be theirfriends doesn’t sit well with Brittany. That Santana always seems to have tobeg for Hummelberry’s acceptance and friendship even though she freely givesthose things to them hurts Brittany’s heart.

In episodes 5x12 and 5x13 especially, Brittany sees just howmuch of a toll it has taken on Santana to constantly have to be on her guardaround Hummelberry, and she feels frustrated because things didn’t have to bethat way.

If Kurt had just dropped his guard, Santana would have been hisfriend to the end. Couldn’t he see?

Again, Brittany doesn’t hate Kurt for his behavior, but she alsodoesn’t entirely excuse it. In her mind, Kurt can be a nice guy when doesn’thave his head up his ass. It’s just that Kurt does have his head up his ass alot, and particularly when he is caught up in the constant drama that seems tosurround Rachel and Blaine.

Honestly, Brittany is never a big fan of Blaine, a point whichwe’ll discuss in more detail later.

Come S6 when Brittany starts interacting with Kurt on theregular again, her m.o. seems to be that she wants to remind him to be true tohimself and to heed his better impulses. She goes about doing so by behavingpassive-aggressively towards Kurt when he fails to toe the line (see episode6x02) and calling him out when he crosses it (see episode 6x03). Throughoutthis season, we see her use more tricksy troll!Brittany behavior on him thanshe ever has before, usually with the intent to take him down a peg or two whenshe believes he is getting too full of himself (see here).

At this point, Brittany knows that Kurt will probably neverfully get her and Santana and that their relationship will never be superclose, even given their shared history at WMHS. Still, she wants to be ondecent terms with him, and she wants him to show her and Santana basic respect,even if he doesn’t understand them or their dynamic at all.

As for Brittany’s push to share her wedding with Kurt andBlaine, suffice it to say that there’s a lot more to that story than meets theeye, and, despite what she professes, Brittany is no Klaine shipper (see here).Brittany has her eye on a prize in that situation, and Kurt is just in thedetails. She is on her way to a happy ending, and if she has to let him mooch herwedding venue to do so, then so be it.

Her attitude in that episode is indicative of her overall attitudetoward Kurt to end the show: She feels like she and Santana tried to connectwith him, but it never worked out. At first, she was hurt by the fact that Kurtnever came to understand her—and especially that he never came to understandSantana—but now she’s over it. She can be friends with him on a superficiallevel as long as he’s nice to them, but she’s not going to sit back and let himtreat her or Santana badly anymore. She knows they’re worth more than that,whether Kurt sees it or not. In the end, Kurttany has become a fairly neutralrelationship, and Brittany’s m.o. with it is to do no harm and take no shit.

Brittany and Blaine andKlaine’s Relationship

As I discuss elsewhere,

While Brittany doesn’t hate Blaine like she hates Rachel, she alsoisn’t his number one fan. In general, Brittany doesn’t take well to anyone whobelieves that they’re better than everyone else, so Blaine going after everysolo and role and class presidency with aplomb, regardless of whom he steps onto do so, doesn’t sit well with her. Brittany believes in being a team player,and, the way she sees it, Blaine isn’t one. He will always put himself in thepoint position, even if he isn’t the best person for the job.

—which brings us to his treatment of Kurt.

Historically, Brittany has been protective of Kurt, as she cansympathize with him (see here, here, and here).Brittany likes to see Kurt succeed because she likes the idea that someone whomarches to the beat of his own drummer can make it in a world that tries tomake everyone conform—hence why she helps Kurt with his campaign and why sheacts as his background singer for his NYADA audition and why she is generallynice to him, even though they’re not necessarily close friends.

Of course, just because Brittany generally likes Kurt and wantshim to succeed doesn’t mean she always agrees with him and his choices or willrefrain from giving him a little bit of tough love should she feel the need todo so.

Enter her “advice” to Kurt in episode 6x02 “Homecoming.”

Brittany has watched Kurt’s relationship with Blaine from thestart, and, honestly? I don’t think she likes most of what she sees.

For Brittany, a real partnership is about two people supportingeach other and helping each other to fulfill their dreams, and from Brittany’sperspective, I don’t think she sees Blaine doing those things for Kurt, thoughKurt often does them for Blaine.

In her eyes, when Kurt and Blaine both want the same thing—i.e., asolo in glee club, a role in the school play, a prestige spot at NYADA, acertain rule to be honored in their relationship—Blaine almost inevitably endsup getting whatever the thing is, with Kurt stepping aside or bowing out inorder to allow him to have it.

Add on the fact that Brittany has undoubtedly heard all about the“Klaine can’t live together without fighting” fiasco from Santana, and,frankly, I think Brittany probably views Blaine as a negative factor in Kurt’slife rather than a positive one.

That said, Brittany is all about respecting the choices peoplemake for themselves, so for as passive-aggressive as she may be about and eventowards Blaine, she isn’t going to stand in Kurt’s way once he decides he wantsto be with Blaine forever.

If Kurt loves and wants to be with Blaine, then Kurt loves andwants to be with Blaine, and Brittany will accept that Blaine is Kurt’s person,even if she doesn’t understand the appeal (see episode 6x03 and 6x08).

Santana and Kurt

Santana’s relationship with Kurt follows a similar trajectory toBrittany’s.

However, while Brittany runs through the cycle of sympathizing withKurt, wanting to befriend him, realizing that a deep friendship with him is notpossible because he never makes an effort to understand her, and then gettingover it mostly over the course of S1-S3 (at least on her own account),Santana’s cycle runs over the course of the whole series, and it runs on higheroctane than Brittany’s does overall.

Santana is the more emotionally reactive half of Brittana, so shetends to take things with Kurt harder than does Brittany on a whole, and especiallybecause her relationship with him is wrapped up in her own sense of identity asa gay person and in her dynamics with Brittany, Rachel, and her feelings abouther future, and it is marked by insecurity from start almost to finish.

As I say elsewhere,

Santana’s relationship with Kurt iscomplicated.

On the one hand, she spent much of high school wishing she couldbe him: i.e., the out gay kid who persisted in being himself no matter whatopposition he faced.

On the other hand, she spent much of high school terrified to behim: i.e., the out gay kid who got thrown into lockers and roughed up andtossed into dumpsters and hated on and threatened because he was gay (“I mean,you know what happened to Kurt at this school”).

Kurt was simultaneously an object of both devotion and fear forSantana. In spite of herself, she identified with him very strongly. She sawhis successes as successes she could possibly have and his failures as failuresshe could potentially experience (see Santana intervening to save Klaine fromKarofsky’s wrath in 2x18 and Santana’s panic after Kurt becomes prom queen in2x20).

That’s part of why she worked so hard to make WMHS safe for Kurtin Season Two, long before she herself came out (see here).

During Season Two, Kurt was more of a symbol to Santana thansomeone with whom she had an actual relationship, but during Season Three, shemade her first overtures of real friendship to him, reaching out to him whenSebastian and the Warblers tried to hurt him and Blaine (“Today is your luckyday, because Auntie Snixx just arrived on the Bitch Town Express”).

In her mind, Santana had done Kurt several solids by thispoint—i.e., forming the Bully Whips on his behalf, bringing him back to WMHSfrom Dalton, singing to him at prom despite her own fears, taking downSebastian after Sebastian hurt Blaine, etc.—and the fact that she had done soplus her and Kurt’s shared experience of being out gay kids at WMHS should havebeen enough to make them friends.

We see Santana operate under the assumption that she andKurt are friends throughout Season Four, answering his summonsto stage an intervention for Rachel in 4x12 and bringing him Christmas presentsin 5x08 (the events of whichtake place during Season Four chronologically). Though Santana stillcalls Kurt names, she assumes he knows that she only does so because she likeshim.

That being the case, she fully expects him and Rachel to welcomeher into the Loft with open arms (and particularly as Rachel actually invitedher to live in the Loft during the events of 5x08).

Unfortunately, that’s not what happens.

From the very first time Santana does something nice forKurt—i.e., forming the Bully Whips in 2x18—Kurt questions her motivations in sodoing. Why is the girl who openly mocked him and attempted to sabotage the gleeclub during their sophomore year suddenly buddying up to him in their junioryear? Surely someone as selfish as Santana can’t have altruistic motives. Shemust have either lost her mind or stand to profit from helping Kurt somehow.

Even when he learns that Santana is gay come Season Three, Kurtstill views her largely as an outsider, and his distrust (andmisunderstanding) of her continues well into Season Four, when she moves intothe Loft.

To be fair, navigating the Hummelpezberry dynamic is trickybusiness, and particularly for Kurt, who often finds himself in theuncomfortable position of mediating between Rachel and Santana, both of whomget up to some pretty wild hijinks and who often butt heads with each other.

Kurt is a natural peacemaker, and he dislikes having contention inhis home, so he will try to counsel Rachel and Santana through their disputesas much as he is able.

That said, at the end of the day, Kurt is Rachel’s best friend, notSantana’s, so while he may try to maintain his neutrality concerning theirdisputes, when push comes to shove, he almost always sides with Rachel in theend, as per what we see during the Pezberry Funny Girl disputeof early Season Five.

As I say elsewhere:

While there is certainly no shortage of wittybanter and fun musical numbers between roomies Kurt, Santana, and Rachel, thereis a shortage of “relationship-building” scenes—or at least a shortage oflasting “relationship-building” scenes that the Glee writers don’t subsequentlyrescind, ignore, or negate.

For every one friendly gesture Hummelberry andSantana make towards one another—such as, for instance, when Santana helpsRachel through her pregnancy scare in episode 4x15 or when Rachel encouragesSantana not to give up on her dreams in the first scene of episode 5x09—thereare at least two or three scenes that then show how very unstable their dynamicactually is—such as when Hummelberry kick Santana out of the Loft in 4x16 andSantana and Rachel are at each other’s throats throughout most of 5x09 and5x10.

Just as it was always the case that the UnholyTrinity broke down into units of Brittana + Quinn, it is also the case thatHummelpezberry breaks down into units of Hummelberry + Santana, with Santana asthe odd one out.

Not only do Kurt and Rachel frequently form ranksto outvote Santana, but their bond as Hummelberry can exist independent of her,whereas her bonds as part of Pezberry and Kurtana are largely dependent onHummelberry’s bond with each other—i.e., Kurt serves as a necessary peacemakerbetween Pezberry, allowing their friendship to exist, while a common interestin and exasperation with Rachel and her antics is what keeps Kurtana united.

Santana’s bond with Kurt is more stable thanSantana’s bond with Rachel, which is to say that Santana and Kurt are lesslikely to fight than Santana and Rachel are. However, Santana’s bond with Kurtis also weaker than her bond with Rachel is, which is to say that Santana hasless in common with Kurt than she does with Rachel and also that Santana feelsthat Kurt needs her less than Rachel does.

Of course, both Santana’s bond with Kurt ANDSantana’s bond with Rachel are relatively weak compared with Kurt and Rachel’sbond to each other.

If it comes down to it, Hummelberry’s tendency isto have each other’s backs. Though they like Santana to a degree, she is extraneousto them.

And the thing is that Santana knows it.

Santana knows the difference between a secureattachment and an insecure one, and she knows that while Hummelberry aresecurely attached to each other, they are, for the most part, insecurelyattached to her. Santana knows that Hummelberry will tolerate her as long asshe is on her best behavior, and she fears the implications of theirtoleration.

Frankly, Santana is terrified of stepping one toeout of line, lest Hummelberry kick her out of the Loft again—because for asmuch as Santana says that she needs her job at the diner, she needs her placeat the Loft equally as much.

So while Santana ultimately fights less with Kurt than she doeswith Rachel, her relationship with him is just as tenuous and one-sided as isPezberry’s.

She ultimately never achieves the kind of intimacy and secureattachment to Kurt that she craves.

So cut to Season Six, when Kurt objects to Santana’s proposal toBrittany (see here):

Santana is angry that she tried for years toprove to Kurt that she was his friend, and he responded by evicting her fromthe Loft, questioning her intentions in auditioning to play Rachel’sunderstudy, kicking her out of his band, making her feel like a stranger in herown home, being ungrateful when she saved him from his high school bully anddefended Blaine against Sebastian Warbler on his behalf and scored him a job atthe diner and brought her girlfriend into his band and participated (graciouslyand quietly) in his proposal to Blaine and spent time socializing with andgetting to know him, being kind to him in his down moments, giving him soundadvice in a way that no one else was honest enough to do, etc.

Santana is angry that despite her trying herdamnedest to show Kurt that she was not the same girl he knew in highschool—that she wasn’t wrathful anymore, that she was generous, that she waswilling to share her heart in friendship with anyone who would treat it withcare—he never believed her. He always thought the worst of her. He kept her onthe outside, when she so desperately craved (and worked hard to earn) histrust.

Santana is angry but mostly she is hurt.

Santana is hurt because she genuinely cares aboutwhat happens to Kurt, but he has just shown her that he doesn’t give a damnabout what’s most important to her in return.

She showed him her precious things, and hetreated them like they were garbage.

Kurt was supposed to be Santana’s friend, and itbreaks her heart that he isn’t.

So while Santana’s capacity to forgive is muchgreater than most people generally give her credit for—and often even greaterthan those who wrong her might deserve—she does inevitably reach a point whereshe just can’t take it anymore.

And so when Kurt fucks up something that isimportant to Santana, that is sacred to her, that’s supposed to be beautifuland happy and pure, by lecturing her about learning from his mistakes? Sheloses it.

To Santana, it’s just another example of howeverything about the Kurtana relationship has always been about Kurt.

It is no coincidence that Santana spends the months that herrelationship with Brittany is at its most tenuous chasing after Kurt’sapproval. Throughout S4 and early S5, she is desperate for a place to belongand something to hold onto, and she keeps hoping that Kurt will take pity onher. She has always envied the courage he has to be himself, and now that sheis scrambling to figure out who she is outside of high school, she seeks toally herself with him, thinking that maybe some of his self-determination willrub off on her and help her find her direction.

It takes until episode 6x03, when Kurt objects to her proposal toBrittany, for Santana to realize that she should stop killing herself to winKurt’s love and approval, as, in the end, she is probably never going to getit. Going forward, she doesn’t bear Kurt ill-will. She just isn’t as hung up onwhat he thinks of her, largely because she has found where she belongs and shehas a better sense of who she is, regardless of what anyone might think. Thesecurity she feels in her relationship with Brittany makes up for the insecurityshe feels in her relationship with Kurt (and also Rachel). She’ll be friendlywith them on a superficial level, but when they inevitably do something todisappoint her, she isn’t going to take it personally—not anymore.

This attitude towards Kurt is the one that Santana carries intoher wedding day, and it is what allows her to offer up her nuptials for Klaineto take part in as well. Everything that has happened between Santana and Kurtover the years is water under the bridge now, so if Brittany wants Klaine toget married at her and Santana’s wedding, then Santana is cool with it. She’sgame. She can be altruistic, and if Kurt notices, then awesome, but if not,that’s his deal. She doesn’t need his validation anymore. She is just going tobe herself.

Santanaand Blaine and Klaine’s Relationship

The central dynamic between Brittana and Klaine is always mostlybetween Brittana and Kurt, as neither Brittany nor Santana has much of apersonal relationship with Blaine beyond his being Kurt’s boyfriend/fiancé/husband.

To this end, Santana and Blaine don’t often interact on a one-to-one basis, andmost of their exchanges center on and are filtered through Kurt.

On the few occasions when Santana does take notice of Blaine forreasons not directly related to Kurt, her interactions with him are notnecessarily positive.

In episode 2x12, Blainetana get off to a bad start when Blainesingles Santana out at BreadStix, singing to her that she may never find loveat all and compounding her already horrible, awful, no good, very badValentine’s Day by drawing attention to her loneliness and (inadvertently)playing on her fears.

Things get worse in S3 after Blaine transfers to WMHS from Daltonand immediately starts grabbing up solos left and right, exacerbating Santana’ssense that there is no place for her in an already crowded New Directions (seeepisode 3x04).

That said, though Santana does not have much love for Blaine on apersonal level, she is willing to tolerate him for Kurt’s sake.

In general, Santana follows the same rule as Brittany when itcomes to how she treats Blaine and his relationship with Kurt, which is to saythat, though she may not personally see Blaine’s appeal for Kurt or think that Blaineis a particularly good match for him, she acknowledges that if Blaine is Kurt’sman, then Blaine is Kurt’s man, and so treats him like a friend for Kurt’s sake.In her case, “treating Blaine like a friend for Kurt’s sake” translates to hersnarking at him as she does at Kurt but also protecting him like her own whenneeds be.

The place where this behavior from her is most apparent is inepisode 3x11, when she “goes to battle” against Sebastian Smythe after hethrows rock salt in Blaine’s eye, sending Blaine to the hospital. Her musicalduel against Sebastian and the reconnaissance work she does against him is allfor Blaine’s benefit, a way to prove that Sebastian is guilty and get him backgood for what he’s done.

To Santana, that’s just how one treats a friend’s significantother—and it’s what she would expect Kurt to do for Brittany were the situationreversed.

Note: Santana’s expectation that friends should respect theirfriends’ relationships even if they don’t necessarily like or “get” themunderlies her hurt when Kurt objects to her proposal to Brittany in S6. No matterhow she feels about Blaine, she would never undermine Kurt’s right to be withhim or place her objections over Kurt’s feelings.

Overall, Santana seems to view Blaine as conceited and feelannoyed with him for his grandstanding, but she still accepts that Kurt loveshim, and that’s good enough for her. The only time she ever truly “goes after”Kurt and Blaine’s relationship is in episode 6x03, after Kurt objects to herproposal to Brittany. In that case, she is lashing out to hurt Kurt because hehurt her first. In her mind, he broke the “your friend’s relationship is sacred”rule, so she’s punishing him for it, plain and simple. The fact that she laterforgives Kurt enough to let him and Blaine share in her wedding proves that herdiatribe was mostly a nervous reaction and that, underneath everything, shebears Klaine no real malice. Again, she is over it, and if Kurt wants to marryBlaine, then that’s his business, and she’ll respect his decision.

Blaineand Brittana

As stated above, Blaine doesn’t have many individual interactionswith either Brittany or Santana, as he knows them mostly through Kurt (and, inBrittany’s case, through Sam).

That being the case, his views of the girls andtheir relationship seem mostly to fall in line with Kurt’s: He thinks Brittanyis dumb, Santana is mean, and Brittana is somewhat inexplicable. In general, heseems to be amused by the strangeness that is them, and he doesn’t really gettheir whole “thing,” but he plays it off because, well, why not?

On the few occasions when Brittana do nice things for him—such as when Santana protects him and Kurt from Karofsky in episode 2x17 or when Brittany invites him and Kurt to share in her and Santana’s weddding in 6x08—he is grateful, if befuddled, as he doesn’t really understand where the niceness is coming from.

Following Kurt’s lead, he never really pushes for a deeper or more intimate friendship with either Santana or Brittany or with Brittana as a couple. He seems mostly fine with the pleasant but superficial status quo and with Kurt being closer to the girls than he is. Whatever history is there, he’s not going to poke at. There is nothing that really personally compels him about Brittana, one way or the other.

Conclusion

Brittana and Klaine end the show as neither friends nor enemies.

Santana’s early bullying and Brittany’s seemingincomprehensibility put Kurt off on them early on, and Kurt’s inability tochange his opinions put them off on him later. Though over the years, they singplenty of songs together and show occasional care for one another, ultimately,they fail to achieve true understanding. To Kurt, Brittana are still asimpleton and a mean girl. He doesn’t recognize Brittany’s cleverness orSantana’s ooey-gooey center. To Brittana, Kurt is impossible. They feel theyhave tried to win his friendship to no avail, so now they’ve given up. Their relationshipstops just short of real intimacy. They have shared history, but they don’tbare their souls to one another.

In the end, Brittana and Klaine represent a failed experiment bothinside and outside of their fictional universe.

The writers tried to make “two same-sex couples as buddies” fetchhappen, but they never truly allowed the groups to overcome their rocky startswith each other. Their inability to scaffold and build up this friendshipcorrelates to a larger failure on their parts in the way that they wieldedSantana as a character—namely, that they never quite knew what to do with heronce they could no longer just straight up treat her as a villain following herdevelopment in S2.

They knew that Santana could be nice, but she made such aconvenient heavy that they were reluctant to label her a hero. Their attitudetoward her is reflected in Kurt’s treatment of her, and it accounts for many ofthe starts, stops, and stalls that she and Kurt experience over the years.

The same is also true to for Brittany and Kurt, as the writerswere never able to gracefully transition Brittany between what they had firstenvisioned her as in S1 and what they eventually made her into from S2 on, and,consequently, Kurt was never able to advance his views of her, either.

Since Kurt’s attitudes eventually became Blaine’s, the wholeBrittana and Klaine friendship stalled from the onset. For every one bondingmoment they experienced, there was always a fight or a misunderstanding or agrudge that prevented them from truly drawing close. Klaine keep their guards up. Brittana have hurt feelings and eventually move on.

Of course, none of this analysis is meant to discourage peoplefrom enjoying the idea of a Brittana and Klaine friendship in fic and fanon. It’sjust to say that, in canon, I think that the Glee writers choked in theirexecution and that the whole situation is a lot more complicated than itappears on the surface.

As for my own views on Klaine, I don’t personally ship them,though I respect those who do.

Sorry this answer turned into such a monster piece.

Thank you for the question!

#Crazy Brittanalyst answers #ruskinino #Also @dive-right-into-you: I got your question and I'm working on a response

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