#meaning its a true fan thing to boycott even when they do love the thing they boycotting | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

edge-oftheworld · 12 days

Text

okay, it is time we talk about atl

putting this video up here bc i love how she compiled things with a focus on what we know to be true, not just simply anonymous claims. because the 2000s and early 2010s were a really wild time and i hope that we all share in wanting to make the music industry better than it has been. because doing that requires thinking about how we talk and how we call people to account, in a targeted purposeful way that also affirms, where reasonable, their ability to do better and to choose it themselves as well. i hope you manage to watch it through and think about her criticisms of especially their statement at the end, and ponder the question of, how, realistically, would we call them to do better? (also, abigail??? what are you doing here?)

youtube

and also, because from there leads us to the question: do we think it's right to ask ashton to boycott their songs, and if so how hard is it appropriate to push him towards that--or are we channeling our energy in the wrong place, perhaps even causing harm, or 'punishing what we want to see'? because unlike some of their idols, 5sos do have a track record of being respectful to fans, and, if we want to make the music industry better, don't we want to see more of that? i draw some parallels and come up with some ideas under the cut.

I'll admit I don't know a heap about all time low; i enjoy some of their songs, appreciate a (maybe a little cringey) reference to microplastics and I know 5sos looked up to them a lot when they were younger and alex gaskarth helped write some songs off sgfg and showed up in the how did we end up here documentary. I've never been to one of their shows, had no idea about the bras, or that they formed in high school just like 5sos, with a lineup that parallels the instrumental roles of 5sos. in some ways it's like they're an american 5sos eight years ahead in their careers and about that much older than them too. rose to fame alongside bands like panic! at the disco, and like p!atd, made their shows run with energy of sexual liberation that meant saying some careless things, doing some morally ambiguous things that are highly problematic when taken out of context or thought hard about with a critical lens of how some sexual liberation when it has power attached to it, infringes on the rights of those with less power in the name of rebellion, and can even uphold abuse. so, problematic.

does this mean any of them are rapists? not necessarily. but have they taken less accountability than brendon urie? arguably.

and so clearly, the parallels with 5sos stopped a while ago. i've said it before but one thing i do notice about all the music 5 seconds of summer have put out, is that in an industry where it's normal to objectify women/sexual partners in general, in genres that often have a little of that sprinkled through songs i'll sometime overlook or sit through for the sake of the song as a whole--they don't have a trace of that. or if they do, it's playful, humble, not forceful by any stretch, and an invitation to a collaborative kind of sexuality (greenlight), a celebration of an existing relationship with its shared wants (slsp, valentine) or a kind of reflection on experience that went some kind of way (ela, talk fast, iwct, wayf, teeth, a lot of their discography). it's also all really genuine, it feels really safe to listen to--and that's unfortunately a really rare thing that they have.

so, in the event atl are actually looking to do better, not simply reactively to enraged fans and the general public (because for a lot of fans, the morally grey stuff is normalised. and people are loyal) there's a lot of artists they could learn from, where it could feel like a really authentic and autonomous learning process. and who are they likely to listen to?? maybe some guys who have looked up to them for decades, gone along a similar path, reached a similar level of fame, and kept this aura of respectfulness about them while also being cool people who aren't moral purists. 5sos have no obligation to do that, and maybe ashton simply didn't think before playing their song--but think about it. if we want to make any industry better, as much as supporting those who are doing it right (and imo this does include not forcing them into an inhuman standard of perfection) it includes facilitating accountable pathways for people who have done things badly to do better.

that doesn't change the fact that what is alleged is horrible. that as much as there isn't any proof of it, there's no proof it isn't true--how much more of a case they'd have if jack's partners from that time came forward and said they were with him at the time and there was no evidence of there being anyone else. if he came out and said that he's got some standard of how he treats underage fans (even if it is looser than we may like) and after whatever happened with abigail which was 10 years ago when he was still a young adult, he's learning more about who it's appropriate to date. and in the case if the allegations are false, if he's got nothing to be afraid of and they don't need to try strongarm it with the support of the law to make it go away, we actually do have another example (if very much unintentional) of how to transparently respond to false allegations sharing what you know and what you would and wouldn't do from our very own 5sos. (which again, parallels. sometimes reality offers the best irony).

because if it's not true and that can be shown in a transparent and respectful way, they have nothing to worry about. they can take this as a warning to think about their behaviour; we can hear the stories behind the allegations made, all can be put to rest. I hope the lawsuit uncovers the truth; I'm not too confident it will but the truth does have a way of coming out eventually. and the victims of the allegations deserve to have their voices heard, deserve to be respected and validated, even if we can't for the moment say for sure it was one way or another. we have to keep crying out for the truth to be found. for some of us it may mean stopping supporting them until we can do so ethically, but for some of us it may mean keeping them relevant, not stopping talking until we know the truth. some of us may decide this isn't the focus of our activism.

but is it up to us to decide that ashton specifically must choose the method of boycotting them? it's not up to me to decide that for you. but please at least think. is this the best use of my activism energy or is it better directed somewhere else--somewhere that might actually bring some sort of resolution to this?

#all time low #jack barakat #alex gaskarth #ashton irwin #5sos #5 seconds of summer #michael clifford #calum hood #luke hemmings #sa mention #atl #Youtube

9 notes · View notes

seancamerons · 7 months

Text

i hate my voice so i can't do a podcast. i do not know how to make fan videos. i can barely gif, its so complicated so i do edits/artsy and sometimes i do that. play with my strengths (lack there of) i think i have a good idea.

so with that in consideration, would anyone be interested in me being super in-depth about like written reviews like white wedding thoughts, this paige one here or this piece on caitlin ryan, this lil thing about when doves cry here for degrassi on here or

on some side blog? i have a lot to say and idk.

with boycott the caf gone basically (humourous but true insight/peek into the past), broomheads is mostly about fashion aspects (which i like!) and trends of the 2000s and the djh/high persuasion too. maybe people can suggest topics to share opinions. i gotta do something/contribute to fandom bc the show has ended and there's so much to talk about. just an idea. just wanted to see if anyone was interested or it's something i could pursue.

i do make art, write stories. when i feel like it i do post a lot off opinion pieces, prose, the occasional lovefest but i can have neutral viewpoints, universal comparing contrasting, breaking down things, etc. but i never did like the whole review thing, combined with all this. i think it'd be cool. I'll tag people who are frequently in the degrassi tag in the tags or people who post a lot of degrassi even if we all don't have the same opinions, i think we can all have a bit of fun in our investment the franchise that arguably brought a lot of people together. having different opinions open up debates and such, or looking at things from different povs and perspectives. it could be a good thing with connections to be made. who knows? who is interested? if it flops this is dead. i don't want it to be but oh well.

thanks for reading 😊📝 don't be a stranger. if you're not into it cool don't be mean. that's it.

love always, brimi

#degrassi #ask to be tagged #should i??#writing #episodes #reviews #maya-matlin #hydesjackiespuddinpop #charlieconwayy #mutuals?#followers?#idea #💡#episode reviews #writing tag

25 notes · View notes

bohemian-nights · 7 months

Note

one of the things that frustrated me the most about Hotd S1 is how dumbnyra is passed off as "soulmates/one true love" while messing with their other relationships, which I don't know if it's intentional, but it seems to repeat the pattern, and I think that was...lazy. criston and mysaria are the people they have sex with on screen, but "end" in bitter terms (coincidence that criston is a POC and Mysaria played by an asian woman? Hmm) harwin and laena are they long-time lover/wife they flirt in episode 5 and they are together for exactly 10 years (judging by the age of the children, conception probably synchronized🥴) and as if that weren't enough, they both die by fire. the only break in this pattern would be Netty, but now I'm afraid they'll ruin that in dumbnyra's favor by giving netty's agency to rhaenyra and daemon's as well, since he's looking more like Rhaenyra's watchdog than the rogue prince that we know, seriously, his peak in the first season was the fight on stepstones

The show is racist(yeah the way they approached Mysaria and Criston was messed up especially in Mysaria’s case since they took away elements of her story and made her speak in that atrocious accent, but it’s not my culture so I’m not really going to speak on it) and especially anti-Black as hell(which I will speak on especially since they seem to have a problem specifically with Black women; see how they screwed over Laena at every turn by turning her into an unloved unwanted woman the moment they race bent her, and the fandom literally celebrated it because they are anti-Black too), but they passed off Dumbnyra as soulmates?🥴

I have a hard time believing this when Daemon literally choked Rhaenyra out in the finale(which isn’t book canon which means they chose to write this and put it in there when they didn’t have to). Mind you this happened after she just gave birth to lizard and she just lost her father. He also keeps abandoning her every five seconds, and though they screwed over his relationship with Laena they actually wound up cutting down Dumbnyra’s time together(and he was shown to be softer with Laena ironically; yes the bar is in hell, but its something 🤷🏽‍♀️).

Plus older!Rhaenyra and Daemon have exactly 0 chemistry which does matter since a major component of romance is yah know chemistry (which is another reason why their fans are always whining, over-compensating, backtracking after they said Rhaenyra would change Daemon so now they say that they love toxicity, and obsessing over Laena and Nettles even though they are “irrelevant and meant nothing” to Daemon🙃).

If that’s them turning Dumbnyra into soulmates I’d like to see what they would do to show that Daemon doesn’t give a rats a** about Rhaenyra🤣 What have him return from the Battle Above the Gods Eye and un-alive her himself🤣(lol Dumbnyra stans would still find someway to turn it into a win).

With Nettles I’ll remain cautiously optimistic cause if they screw her over it is misogynoir and the second Black love interest they screwed over due to their own biases(and the show would need to be called out and threatened with a boycott for that), but it won’t be because of them making Dumbnyra into soulmates.*

*At least this isn’t the way I’d write soulmates(hell one of my other OTPs, Olitz, had major problems, but even at their most toxic, Fitz never choked out Olivia. Shonda knew not to do that). So if this is the writer's attempt at doing that then they truly are certifiably insane in addition to being racist c*nts.

31 notes · View notes

teaveetamer · 1 year

Note

So many people who get outraged by the "problematic" elements of Fire Emblem, etc get even more offended if we suggest that they should boycott the series/not give the company their money, claiming that they're just being "critical" of what they like and we're gatekeeping them. And I'm sorry, but I don't care if someone is being critical of what they like. If they're getting offended by the problematic elements but still giving the creator/company who's putting said outraged/problematic content their money, they're enabling the creator/company. This is especially true for Intsys, who has time and time again not given a rat's ass about the problematic elements they put, and has at points poked fun at the people getting offended by this.

It's the hypocrisy for me. This is a big enough problem that you're harassing fans (who have nothing to do with the creation of the game) while still providing money to the people who made it (who will make decisions based on the amount of money they receive for a game)?

I wouldn't even call this gatekeeping. It's like saying:

"Hey do you want to go to the club tonight?"

"I don't like clubbing."

"Oh, okay, then don't go to the club. It's a waste of your money because you're not going to have fun. Anyway see you tomorrow, I'm going clubbing tonight."

"How dare you tell me I can't go to the club! I'll go to the club tonight, too! And how dare you continue clubbing when I told you I don't like it!!!"

Like my dude why are you paying money for an experience you KNOW you do not enjoy nor approve of?

And that's not to say you can't be critical of things you buy because that's not what I'm saying. I HATE the toxic positivity mentality that you have to love everything you've ever purchased or consumed unconditionally, or you're not allowed to say negative things about something. The whole -100 IQ take of "well if you hate it so much why do you keep talking about it!" as if a thing demands praise for its mere existence and there would never be any reason to criticize it ever.

It's a big problem with The Sims community, where you will deadass have 13 year olds telling you that you should be grateful to a massive company like EA for making you pay $40 for more game content. I can buy a $40 sims pack and criticize it just fine, that's okay. What wouldn't be ok is if I bought a $40 sims pack and then went around to every Sims YouTuber who bought it to castigate them for buying and enjoying it. I mean you shouldn't do that if you didn't buy the thing either, but at least if you didn't buy the thing you aren't also part of the problem you're whinging incessantly about.

0 notes

flusteredmountainman · 4 years

Text

just here to say that more than one statement can be true at a time y’all. Like “nix hydra is a small gaming company” and “nix hydra is using tactics that are likely dishonest to earn money during a time when people are vulnerable” are both true statements.

i genuinely don’t understand this idea that if you like something you’re not allowed to be critical of it or have an educated opinion about things? I love muriel and I’m incredibly invested in him as a character, i hyperfixated on this game hard for like 6 whole months, and i’m sssstill allowed to be skeptical of this company that historically has *not* kept its word, been honest, or even provided consistent updates? their customer care and communication is trash, but that doesn’t mean im gonna boycott them or tell people to do that.

y’all are (hopefully) all adults and can make your own informed decisions about shit. just because i’m choosing to talk about my concerns doesn’t mean im like “boooo burn NH to the ground dont give them your money!”

if you wanna give them your money, knock yourself out. just take a second to think critically about where it’s going and why rather than blindly accepting the word of a company - for which i will add just sees you as a number/profit and not as a dedicated fan - and just. make your own decision and let me make mine without throwing a tanty jeez.

#it speaks #opinion #i see people are chugging their i dont think juice more than usual

37 notes · View notes

jyndor · 3 years

Text

so I was talking to my friend @timelordthirteen about some shit and I decided to just share with you all about the importance of actually explaining shit instead of just saying it. the Left, I am looking at you bitch (ily bitch but)

lol would put a read more but tumblr's being a petty little bitch today ❤

shitposting is fun. dunking on asshat right wingers is fun. you know what is not fun? seeing people not understand the basic terminology that we use in the ~discourse*

but. if we are going to use terminology, if we are going to inject regular old laypeople conversations with (imo) unneccessary amounts of academic terms, then we should try to use them correctly** because in many cases misusing them means we as leftists do not have a full understanding of what the fuck we're on about. this dilutes both the meanings of these terms and their purposes. I know I am wordy as fuck and can be hard to understand sometimes (thanks adhd) so what I am about to say is a little ironic, but clarity is fucking important when it comes to strategy and organizing.

so I am going to examine some commonly misused concepts and terms today. yay.

1. THEORY, PRAXIS AND FRAMEWORKS FOR ANALYSIS weeee yes I am fun at parties tyvm

what is a framework? a structure, in this case, for analyzing some bullshit we deal with irl. that's it lol but I use it a lot so I figured I'd define it here. examples of frameworks are: intersectionality, marxism, queer theory. seriously, if you can think it, it has already been analyzed through the queer lens.

what is theory? ideas, knowledge in the abstract based on looking at shit happen and analyzing that shit. it is useful because it can help us articulate what we are going through in our shitty lives. this is why I often recommend people learn about chomsky's manufacturing consent (theory of why we get the info we get from the media tl;dr), not because I think chomsky is the ultimate leftist grandpa but because this site needs some media literacy lmao. and btw, this clip narrated by amy goodman is a great, trippy little 4:30 min long video that explains the basics of manufacturing consent so you don't have to open a book or use drugs!

theory can help serve as a framework to understand what the fuck is happening to us irl, but imo is kind of an incomplete understanding of shit without lived experience (aka - theory v praxis). this is one reason why we should listen to marginalized groups on their own shit and not talk over them - because all of the research and theory in the world does not make me a Black woman living in Flint (aka - ground up organizing v technocracy). it is not about being nice, or politically correct, although we should be nice and we should care about people just because they're people. if you understand the why of listening to marginalized groups, you understand that it is mainly about communities knowing their own problems best and therefore having the best solutions for those problems.

2. MARXISM, CAPITALISM AND OTHER BUZZWORDS (and leftists need hobbies)

so marxism is a framework for socioeconomic analysis observed by mr kpop himself, karl marx (and his sugar daddy friedrich engels). because leftists love to argue, there are so many kinds of marxism, and if you ever feel like you are shouting into the void too much, just look up some arguments between stalinists and trotskyists. it's just... magical. no, I am not defining tankie here.

as many people smarter than I am have said (read: kwame ture seriously watch this video it's iconic), karl marx did not discover socialism or invent it or whatever, he observed capitalism and saw how shitty it is, like any other sane person would do. the point of marxism is not karl marx (which he would say) or tankies or fuckin guillotines***

things that marxism is:

- an analytical tool for looking at the world

- a theory which was used to develop the basis of different kinds of post-capitalist economic systems like communism and socialism

things that marxism is not:

- a system of economics or government lmao marx did not govern dick

- scary

marx looked at capitalism and said "this is definitely gonna fail someday because it's clearly unsustainable, I mean the proletariat is bigger than the bourgeoisie who owns everything uh yeah so I can do basic fucking math. if I have one capitalist and fifteen hundred workers, eventually that capitalist is gonna lose his damn head because he is gonna hoard all that wealth and his workers are gonna get pissed that they don't have their basic fucking needs met. lmao now put on some kpop, freddy" or something. idk that might not be a direct quote.

what is capitalism? (besides horseshit) a system of economics where industry is privately owned. and yes, this includes publically traded corporations because they are still owned by individuals (shareholders) even if they aren't privately owned by one person or a group of partners. truly a nightmare to live in, and we hate to see it.

what is the proletariat? well, the working class. and the bourgeoisie is the owner class, the capitalist class. the rich.

and this is something else that we need to discuss, tumblr. if you are going to say "eat the rich" please understand who you are talking about. we're not talking about random actors or musicians, or doctors or lawyers, even if they make better than a liveable wage. even if they often have zero class consciousness, meaning they don't ~see class, like colorblind racism for classism.

anyone who has to sell their labor for wages and is not part of the owner class is working class. this includes people who cannot work for any multitude of reasons (disability, can't find work, caretaker, etc) and also white collar workers who might be well off in relatively high paying jobs because they don't own the means of production, or capital that is used to produce shit. so yes, that rich actor who is a part of a union is actually part of the working class in marxist theory. when we say eat the rich, we mean jeff bezos, not john boyega. jeff bezos owns the means of production. john boyega is a working actor who is in a union.

this is important not because we shouldn't get pissed off when actors and celebrities do tone deaf shit like singing about imagining no possessions in their mansions while people starve during a pandemic. they need to put their money to good use, have some class consciousness, instead of asking fans to donate to causes that they could fund. but they are not the bourgeoisie until they start owning the means of production. and there is no doubt that many of them do, which is why we might eat gwyneth paltrow but we won't eat john boyega.

and by the way, eating the rich is metaphorical, a reference to french revolution-era philosopher jean-jacques rousseau's quote: "when the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich." obviously I don't even need to explain it but I will anyway. basically, the people will forcibly redistribute the wealth of the rich if they have nothing else. this is why there are some very smart capitalists who are in favor of reforms and raising taxes, because they recognize the danger to their necks in not providing for basic needs of the working class. no, "eat the rich" does not mean be pro-cannibalism. but there are many capitalists who would prefer to die than lose their hoard so

oh, and one last thing. "no ethical consumption in capitalism" is tossed around a lot and it's a million percent true, but I need all of us to understand that it is not an excuse to support harmful practices but it is also not meant to shame consumers. it is rather an understanding that we as consumers are not responsible for the monstrous impact of capitalism. we live in it, we have no choice but to consume, and sometimes (most of the time) that means we have to buy shit that was produced in unethical ways. unfortunately supply chains being what they are, all consumption causes harm in some way.

it is a reminder that individual actions are not going to have the impact of collection actions. this is why plastic bag bans, though well-meaning, are not going to have the same impact on climate catastrophe as, say, banning fossil fuels would.

I am a vegetarian and I can recognize that I am doing a whole lot of nothing by not supporting factory farms, and when I was a vegan I wasn't doing much either. boycotts without mass support don't have much evidence of working. this is why bds exists - boycott divestment and sanctions. boycott, meaning don't support goods from various conpanies connected to something, divestment, meaning get companies/countries/institutions to remove their money from something, and sanctions, meaning getting countries to penalize a country for their bad behavior until they comply.

this is what the anti-apartheid south africa movement did and what palestinian rights organizers support for israeli apartheid.

do not allow legislators to put the burden of fixing the ills of society that capitalism created on consumers' shoulders.

3. INTERSECTIONALITY (because it deserves its own section)

I don't have as much to say on this as I did the last bit because holy shit capitalism, man.

intersectionality, a term that was coined by law professor kimberlé crenshaw in the late 80s to serve as a framework for people to critically assess how legal structures impact Black women differently due to class, race and gender. it is not incompatible with marxism (in fact marxism has been argued to be a form of intersectionality).

intersectionality can and should be used to examine why the Black queer experience is unique, for example. I also want to acknowledge that professor crenshaw isn't the only person to come up with intersectionality; sojourner truth spoke about it even if she didn't coin the term, for example. patricia hill collins, another influential af Black feminist academic****, created frameworks for viewing intersectionality. also you can read her book black feminist thought here for free.

intersectionality has been used - improperly - by liberal feminists***** to excuse bad behavior from leaders who pretend to care about women while creating and enforcing legislation that harms women. anyone who stans politicians at all needs help. it has also been misrepresented as essentialism, which it is also not (essentialism is the idea that everything has some assets that are necessary to its identity) because intersectionality isn't saying that every Black queer woman has the same experience, just that Black queer women might experience similar issues because of a system that negatively views them as Black and queer and women.

intersectionality does not excuse kamala harris for prosecuting poor moms of truant kids.

okay if you guys have things to add please do because I want us to educate each other instead of always talking shit. both is good.

* I am not calling out people for not being academic enough or not speaking english or not reading enough theory because LOL I am a 2x neurodivergent college dropout who radicalized by working retail and not by hearing karl marx talk dirty to me. also, not everyone speaks english like, I am truly not shitting on people.

** I recognize that language is fluid and ever changing, and that is a good thing. But diluting terms that serve specific purposes is not ever going to be good.

*** and I don't want to dismiss intra-leftist theory discourse (🤢) because I know how annoying it is to hear bernie sanders lumped in with liz warren, or bernie sanders lumping himself in with post-capitalists lmao of course I get it. but twitter discourse is not dismantling capitalism so ANYWAY

**** actually crenshaw built on collins' work (black feminist thought) and the collins built on crenshaw' work we love to see it.

***** I should go ahead and define liberal feminism as well as rad fem and terf and shit because people use them all very very loosely, especially terf (not every transphobe is a terf but every terf is a transphobe, it's like the rectangle/square thing). but I am exhausted with this so next time.

#marxism #word vom #intersectionality #kpop idol karl #truly apologize for my mess

3 notes · View notes

killian-whump · 5 years

Note

(I wanna preface this with a trigger warning for mentions of rape) Hey, I was scrolling through my twitter feed and saw some people being nasty about season 7 (and the cast) but something that stood out to me was the fact that there's a couple of people who are accusing Wish!Hook/Rogers of being a r*pist and accusing him of admitting to it. I'm currently rewatching s7 and was wondering if there was something I missed, either explicitly or implicitly stated 😅

OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

Are these people STILL going on about that shit???

I’m going to fucking rant about this for a bit, so hit the jump. Or don’t.

Okay, refresher for Nonny and those who are new to this ShitShow:

A bunch of people decided to opt out of S7, because Emma Swan was no longer going to be on the show. Now, not watching a show after your fave character/actor leaves it is absolutely understandable. There’s nothing wrong with it. However, hate-watching that show, campaigning for it to be cancelled, attacking the actors, writers, show-runners and crew who are continuing to work on that show or join the show after your fave’s departure... That’s all completely shitty (and absolutely batshit CRAZY) behavior. There is NO excuse for it. Ever.

And that segment of batshit crazy assholes is who we’re talking about here.

Now, most of these motherfuckers haven’t even watched S7. They base their crazy-ass opinions on synopses of the episodes, and heresay from their similarly sanity-impaired friends. So most of the time, it’s useless to counter their rantings with facts and canon interpretations. They’ll simply repeat, “Well, my friend Janet said it, and I believe her.” or some other nonsense.

So. With all of that in mind, Episode 2 of Season 7 re-introduced Wish Hook to viewers and revealed that he was Detective Rogers, set up Emma as his “savior” as a respectful nod to the idea of every Hook being “destined” to be saved by Emma Swan, and also established his primary and singular drive as a character - reuniting with his daughter. THOSE were the main points of the episode.

However, the fuckwits I spoke about above decided to focus, not on any of the important aspects of the episode, but on his cockamamie plot to score a True Love’s Kiss from Emma in order to cure his poisoned heart. The plot entailed using magic to de-age himself, returning to Storybrooke with Regina, getting a kiss from Emma to cure said heart, then returning to his own Enchanted Forest to reunite with Alice. It is this last part that the nutters refuse to believe. They prefer to believe that Hook intended to stay in Storybrooke, take over OG Hook’s entire life, and in so doing - engage in sex with Emma under the pretense that he is “her” Killian. And that is where the rape claim comes in.

Now, for those of us who actually watched the show, it’s painfully (and embarrassingly, for those nutters) obvious that Wish Hook would never have stayed in Storybrooke for even a second longer than necessary after curing his heart (or finding that his plot didn’t work). His entire impetus as a character was to reunite with Alice, his daughter. Remaining in Storybrooke, a realm far away from where his daughter even IS, and maintaining the charade of being someone else, someone without said daughter, and bothering to keep up that pretense... doesn’t suit his character’s main goals whatsoever. It’s ludicrous to think he would. It’s literally insane and one has to be awfully dedicated to besmirching the show and the character to even maintain it.

And yet, they do. Their ONE “ace in the hole” is that they managed to get one of the writers (Adam Horowitz, I believe) to answer a question about what Wish Hook intended to do with his plan with an admission that Wish Hook intended to take over Hook’s life. Now, I’m gonna come right out and say it: That answer, regardless of who it came from, also doesn’t fit the narrative of S7 or Wish Hook’s main drives as a character. And I’m also gonna say that sometimes even the people who should know best about a show don’t... and also, sometimes people mis-speak or are trying to emphasize one thing (in this case, how “bad” Hook was going to be to get what he wanted, and how “in need” he was of Emma’s saving him and setting him right) instead of the more important thing (that these fuckers had no interest in Wish Hook’s redemption and only wanted to bait Adam into saying something they could use as “proof” of their claims).

But regardless, it’s the ONE thing they have to “back up” their insanity, and they use the fuck out of it. Mind you, these same people will summarily throw out any and all claims that there wasn’t rape involved or intended there as factually incorrect, regardless of where they come from. Instead, they will simply trot out that ONE well-worn screencap yet again and insist, as always, that they are right and Everyone Else is wrong.

So... Long story short, it’s absolute apeshit, and the people who argue it’s true are so asinine and obsessive that they’re not worth arguing with. You can’t change their minds or make them see sense, because they desperately want to cling to their belief that S7 Is Bad and Wish Hook Is Bad and that they were/are right to boycott, campaign against the show, and attack those who took part in creating it, because it is clearly Bad and does Bad Things. This is also the entire basis of their claims that Wish Hook, Rogers, and S7 itself are “triggering” to them and deeply disturbing. They use this claim to try to essentially erase S7 from existence by complaining whenever the S7 exclusive actors are involved in “Once” events, or whenever S7+ actors refer to S7 events or Wish Hook, himself. Colin has even been directly accused by these assholes of “approving” of rape and being “insensitive” to his fans by wearing clothing he got from Rogers’ wardrobe to conventions. It’s absolutely batshit, toxic, and rude.

I suspect this is all rearing its ugly head yet again because Jen is scheduled to appear at Enchanted 3, and some of these crazies (who are all Jen fans, incidentally) are already trying to get Starfury to not invite anyone who exclusively starred in S7. Which, considering the only other announced star is Tiera Skovbye, I sincerely wish them all the luck in the world with XD But regardless, the SANE fans are all pretty much telling them, “Hey, what? That’s rude? Why are you being a dick?” and I’m assuming the jerks quickly resorted to “but rape is bad!” arguments to derail all the legit complaints about their shitty-ass behavior.

SO! My advice to you, Nonny, and to everyone else... is to mute those assholes and not engage with them in any way, shape or form. Like the comments of those poor fools who try, because their hearts are in the right place, even if their brains are doomed to be scrambled by the illogical reaches they’re about to be subjected to. It’s good to show support for the sensible people in our fandom(s). But I don’t recommend actually engaging with them, yourself. They’re hateful, toxic people... and your entire life will be better off for steering clear of them. Also, there’s only about 10-20 of them in their entirety, so once you weed them out and mute them, it’s like they don’t even exist.

And, hopefully, if they’re ignored by enough people for a long enough time, they’ll move on to something else. I guess that hasn’t happened yet, but here’s hoping it happens eventually. If not for our sake, then for Jen’s. I can’t imagine getting a reputation for having fans who literally harass and stalk her co-stars, employers and even people who simply continue to work on a project after she voluntarily leaves it will actually help her career at all.

Don’t get me wrong here, working with Jen on Once was a huge step up for Colin’s career... but the crazies in her fandom are literally following him into his next projects, naysaying them, criticizing and insulting him, attacking his fans for supporting him and his projects, and insisting that nothing Colin does will ever be as good as the work he did with Jen... and that’s just fucking NUTS. And it’s not limited to Colin. Remember the fervor when Josh Dallas dared to call another actress his “Tv Daughter”? Yeah, that was charming. If this keeps up, it won’t be long before Jen’s earning herself a reputation for being “lovely to work with, but comes with a cloud of toxic fans who will make her co-stars sorry they worked with her for YEARS afterwards.” And, I mean, color me weird if you want to, but I think that’s generally NOT a good plan.

#fandom drama #this shit again #are you serious #wtf guys #anonymous #kw ask box

17 notes · View notes

0poole · 5 years

Text

Honestly, this is getting ridiculous

This whole Dexit thing is not NEARLY as bad as people as making it out to be. It’s actually gotten to the point where you can’t talk about Pokemon without someone bringing it up. It’s legitimately annoying, since it seems like 90% of people are overreacting and spreading misinformation.

Here’s exactly what IS happening:

You will not be able to transfer Pokemon to Sword and Shield from past games/GO if they are not already in the Galar Pokedex.

First of all, no one with half a brain thinks this is a good thing. No one. I don’t think it’s a good thing either. My problem is the people reacting to it.

I don’t remember how credible the information was, but there’s talk that there will at least be 1000 models for Pokemon in these games. That’s including forms. Again, since this is just some random tumblr post and not an essay, another possibly less-than-credible number: There’s maybe like 250 total alternate forms of existing Pokemon. Pokemon like Spinda and Silvally probably take up most of those, and most of the others are legendary Pokemon. Megas are gone, so subtract how many of those there are. Now, think about how many of those Pokemon will actually be in Galar. Legendary Pokemon seem very region-specific, so they probably won’t be in there, and we haven’t seen Spinda or Silvally yet, so unless there’s a new Pokemon with a ton of extra forms...

That’s a shitton of Pokemon. There’s about 800 as of Gen 7, and if they introduce like 100 more, that still leaves 100 extra spots for forms. There’s talk of special Dynamax forms, but still who knows. Assuming there are, in fact, 1000 models of Pokemon, we will be getting a ton of variety anyway.

“Oh, but what about the few left behind? What if someone had a special Pokemon that just so happened to not be in Galar?”

Don’t forget, this is Sword and Shield we’re talking about here. Galar will only be relevant to these games and whatever sequels they churn out after them. After that, there will be a new region, and guess what? They will have the opportunity to have the leftovers in that region. Hell, maybe in the sequel games, they’ll swap out some of the Pokemon that didn’t make it with those that did. Kinda unlikely, but who knows? It’s not like they’ve just straight-up erased the Pokemon that didn’t make it in. There’s always the future.

Here’s the biggest thing, though: Pokemon Home. Your Pokemon will have a place to go. And, if you don’t want to pay for that, then you can still keep them in Sun and Moon. If it’s free there’s no excuse, of course, but you will be able to keep your “hard work.” You’ll just have to wait another generation (or maybe not even one generation, assuming DPPt remakes are coming) to use them in a main series game.

Plus, Home might even have a Showdown-esque feature to it, letting us do graphically simple battles with the Pokemon we already have. We don’t know.

And that’s another thing: We don’t know. Hell, maybe, in lieu of having all Pokemon, there will be a much larger story and post-game. Literally the only argument against that is the generic “lul but its gf” pessimeme shit. Sure, the main series could literally be better, but that’s no excuse to act like the games are in any way bad. If you’re going to get angry, get angry when we actually know what these games are like. If they do have the same scope as SuMo with a new coat of paint, then you can actually get angry. But, looks like it’s definitely not going to be like SuMo.

Also, for the love of God, stop using that stupid fucking Double Kick “””Animation””” to try and prove a point. Literally like 99% of all other moves have animations. It’s the definition of cherry-picking. Claiming they’re lazy because one move doesn’t animate means jack shit.

But, you know... Maybe it’s just preference, or whatever. Maybe everything’s just pent up anger for things that’s happened throughout the series. But, there’s one thing that is objectively and morally wrong about this whole discourse:

Masuda is NOT the issue.

Literally the only reason why people are hating on him specifically is because he broke the news. Ohmori was there too, and is also a pretty big role in these games, but no one’s focusing on him. While he is the director of Gamefreak, that doesn’t instantly mean he wants to steal happiness away from Pokemon fans. People are acting like if they pester him enough, he’ll change is mind, like he WANTS this to be the future of Pokemon. Like I said, no one with half a brain thinks this is a good thing. If it were so easy as to just press a button and have every Pokemon in every game, he’d do it. But, people think that making a game is just that easy, thinking they can make better models in 5 minutes. Sure, it can take that long to make a shitty model, but then give it 10+ true-to-form animations, approved by the higherups, and then implemented. It’s not that easy. Don’t forget there are animations for the human characters and environments. Even apart from that shittily textured tree everyone’s passing around, you see that giant fucking city in the middle of the map? Model THAT in 5 minutes. Hell, model that in a day. Have fun working 24 hours straight on something that isn’t good enough anyway.

Literally the only possible place to throw your anger is The Pokemon Company, assuming they press Gamefreak to do things in such a way or in such a speed that means they can’t get all Pokemon in in time or in a good enough way. But, even then, we don’t know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes. There’s nothing I hate more than people making up shit like they know what the exact issue is. There’s always more than what’s shown to us.

Then, the last thing that I hate to bring up but I legitimately believe: It is, in fact, just a game. Unnecessary happiness brought up by anything, no matter how petty, is always welcome. Unnecessary anger and hatred brought up by petty things is just stupid. This change won’t affect the experience nearly as much as people are making it out to be, especially because the vast majority of people don’t even go out of their way to “catch ‘em all,” or transfer in a specific team of super specific Pokemon in a game filled with plenty of new faces to use.

Obviously, you can just not buy the game if you don’t want to support this sort of thing. Personally, I think it’s physically impossible for that to make such a large impact that Gamefreak will actually change anything for monetary purposes, unless you literally boycott every single ounce of Pokemon related content for the rest of your life. Just stop whining, and let the people who don’t care enjoy what they can.

Plus, maybe the massive response will force them to try extra hard to fix the issue in the future. Just because Sword and Shield will be like this doesn’t mean it has to be permanent forever.

I’m still going to buy the games and enjoy them, since I’ve yet to not enjoy a Pokemon game, and I like everything else about these games so far. One bad decision and some less-than-perfect graphics will not sour my opinions on these games.

I will say that I’m enjoying all the “Pokemon disguising as a Galar mon to get past the border” memes though. They’re actually pretty funny.

*** Also if you’re going to respond to this post, message me instead so I can actually respond. ***

#pokemon #sword #shield #galar #gen 8 #masuda #junichi #gamefreak #dexit #bringbacknationaldex #contraversy #poole #opinions #e3 #treehouse #rant #rambling

17 notes · View notes

ckatmyla · 5 years

Text

Elsa’s Girlfriend and the Bottom Line [an essay]

It is safe to say that – even nearly six years on from its release – Frozen is still a phenomenon. Despite its over-saturation and the backlash it inevitably faced because of it, Frozen is still a strong film from Disney with great characters, beautiful songs, and a lovely core theme about the power of familial love.

(its only real stumbling block in this blogger's opinion would be its case of 'twist villain syndrome' but we'll just gloss over that for this post.)

Although it is certainly true that this is a film for every age group, it continues to strike a chord the most with kids. I work in a daycare with children ages three to five (most of whom were not even born yet when Frozen was released) and it is still one of the most requested movies for me to show them. They argue over who gets to play as Elsa and Anna during dress up time, and I have even encouraged some of the young boys that it is perfectly fine to like a 'girl movie' if you like the characters so much.

Even though both sisters in the movie are integral to the plot, and I tend to speak about them as a unit, for most of the kids in my class it's all about Elsa. Literally, they don't even call the movie Frozen, they just call it 'Elsa'.

It brings back memories of that Christmas season in 2013 when I went to the Disney store and all of the Elsa dolls were gone, leaving most of the Annas still on the shelf (which made me quite sad, since I tend to relate to Anna more myself).

It's not a stretch to say that Elsa is not only the breakout character of her movie, but a huge part of its crazy popularity. Everyone knows her, knows her powers, and knows her iconic song (whether or not they like it.)

She is an icon to so many people across the world, and as such thee are certain aspects of her future in the Frozen sequel that many people would like to have addressed. Will she continue to harness her powers or perhaps learn from where they came? Will she continue to break down the walls she built up around herself to let her sister closer to her? And possibly the biggest and most controversial question: will she ever find romantic love and if so, will it be with a man or a woman?

While there is something to be said about the fact that Elsa is a strong, independent queen who don't need no significant other of any sort (and as previously stated there are other aspects of her story that need to be addressed just as much if not more so than who she's courting), there is merit in the theory and/or hope a good portion of her fans have that she just might be into girls.

While researching for this post, I read two of the children/middle grade Frozen chapter books: A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick and A Warm Welcome by Erica David.

In Frozen Heart, we follow both Anna's and Hans' perspectives during the events of the movie, and during one of the portions from Hans' point of view we learn that Elsa has not only done what we have seen her do (close the gates of the castle to her subjects and isolate herself as much as possible) but evidently turned away any potential suitors looking to court her.

And in Warm Welcome, Elsa an co. travel to the kingdom of Eldora where they meet the queen of that land named Marisol and we see from Elsa's point of view that she finds the queen's name beautiful. Now, one could take that however they wanted, but when I showed that part to my friend she said 'Wow Elsa, how very gay of you.”

Then of course there is the queer-coded subtext of Elsa's story. Being told that she should hide her powers and conceal her true self from the world until she is finally able to accept herself in the now forever-ingrained-in-our-brains earworm.

Now the production team of the movie could have spun her story another way to make the powers more explicitly nothing more with no perceived allegory other than 'being different is okay'. BUT one exchange Elsa has with Anna after they meet up again post-Let It Go makes one wonder. She explicitly says that she left Arendelle so that she could 'be who she is without hurting anybody'. That alone colors her powers in a different light, and makes them far much more than a simple magical ability and closer to the same type of vibe one gets from the subtext of the X-Men.

So, there is definitely some evidence to support the hypothesis that Elsa could be sub-textually queer, but this blog post is centered around the big question: Should it be overtly canon?

While this blogger would be perfectly happy to continue her headcanon that Elsa is asexual (possibly aromantic) and will make it through the entirety of Frozen 2 with no love interest whatsoever, I can also see the other side of the debate.

Most would agree that a female-led animated film hardly ever has a protagonist not fall in love by the end. And when they do they are usually children and so don't need a love interest (Moana and Coraline to name a couple), but they do happen occasionally. Elsa would still be an amazing paragon of female empowerment if she were to remain single, leaving the romantic love story to that of her sister and Kristoff.

BUT what is also abundantly clear is that we have yet to see a main character in an animated film fall in love with a person of the same gender. It would be a game-changer in the worlds of animation and family entertainment, for sure. And while some would say that that type of thing is unsuitable for children to see, most of those people are perfectly fine with the plethora of heteromantic pairs so abundant in animation. (If the argument is that kids shouldn't see romantic love between anyone that would be a different thing, but I have never heard any outcry about that.)

Were Disney even to approach it, there is also the question as to whether or not Elsa is the right character to make that particular story choice. Yes, she is a prime candidate, but as she is one of the most beloved Disney characters possibly ever, there would inevitably be some backlash to her and with that to the Frozen brand (because remember, Disney is foremost all about making money).

The other option some have some up with -to create an entirely new animated film where we star a same-sex couple – has merit as well. It could potentially introduce not one but two new princesses to the Disney Princess lineup and do all of the things that the LGBTQ community and its allies want out of Elsa while giving us a brand new, possibly totally original new story.

This blogger would be completely on board for that as well, but there is also in this idea the possibility of a backlash, or even a boycott. And if the first same-sex animated feature doesn't do well at the box office or in the merch sales, there might not be another one for a long time - if ever again.

Frozen 2 on the other hand – however the quality of the film ends up being – is almost a guaranteed hit before it even comes out. It is sure to rake in both ticket and merch sales by the boatload, even if they do decide to give Elsa a love interest of any gender.

So, the concluding statement should be in favor of giving Elsa a same-sex romantic plotline, right? If they're going to actually do it, doing it with this movie would pose the least risk to the bottom line.

There is one more thing to consider, however: The story.

One of Disney's adoptive child Pixar's founding rules is that 'story is king'. That means that whatever will make the story as a whole stronger and the best it can be is what should be done for any film.

(However you feel about Pixar's latest outings, that's still one of their philosophies).

So, the real final conclusion of this post/essay is that when it comes down to it, Elsa should have the storyline that best fits the overall plot and make Frozen 2 the strongest movie it can be. They could always just throw in a girlfriend for her with no real thought other than 'they want representation'. That is what inevitably failed the attempt of ABC show Once Upon A Time when they decided to introduce a same-sex romance.

If the very first female-female romance in an animated film is going to happen with Elsa, it needs to feel natural and integral to the story. It can't feel tacked-on just for the sake of having it.

The same could be said of giving her a male love interest, or allowing her to remain single. As long as it fits the story and Elsa remains the wonderful character that so many have fallen in love with, any outcome would be fine.

I'm all for Elsa opening up her heart to new experiences like romantic love, as a fan I want that for her. I want her to stay close to her sister and become more confident in her powers, and if the story supports it, find love with whomever her heart desires.

In this blogger's opinion though, anything other than a male love interest for her would be preferable. We already have so very many of those stories told already (even in the same franchise). Elsa deserves something different, something as groundbreaking as she is.

Whatever is in store for our Queen of Arendelle, I can tell you I will have my ticket to the first screening I can find of the sequel in order to find out.

#frozen #elsa #queen elsa #disney #disney animation #lgbtq #give elsa a gf #asexual #homosexual #gay representation #give elsa a girlfriend

102 notes · View notes

wolfgabe · 5 years

Text

Nintendo, Super Mario Maker 2, and the problem with outrage culture

So recently it has been stated that Super Mario Maker 2 will not allow to play online with friends. Now yes I find this somewhat odd but I myself never expected to see so much vitriol and outrage erupt over the lack of a single feature. People are literally cancelling their pre orders and calling for a boycott of a game simply cause you cannot play online with friends as far we know.

As easy as it is to just once again proclaim Nintendo as incompetent and clueless when it comes to online I can’t help but feel this highlights what I see as the biggest problem of what I call the outrage culture which I can’t help but notice has become a bit of a problem with various games companies including Nintendo in recent years. While yes at times I can come off as somewhat apologetic towards Nintendo and many of their decisions I am not against criticism at Nintendo at all. The problem in my opinion is that most people in the realm of the internet either don’t know how to express their criticisms in a civilized rational manner or they just complain to Nintendo in all the wrong places. I have heard how Nintendo does monitor their various social media sites as well as forums like Reddit for feedback but just screaming into the void on Reddit or flooding their youtube videos with dislikes and whiny comments doesn’t really help at all really. In fact with the Nintendo Switch subreddit a lot of what I see isn’t exactly what I would call constructive criticism. A lot of it is just people complaining about how Nintendo can’t seem to do anything right or how Nintendo should do X thing.

Now lets take a moment to talk about the online of Mario Maker 2 itself. Most of the outrage of course has been directed at the lack of the ability to play with friends online and randoms only but most people don’t seem to be considering perhaps why that may be. According to a statement from a Nintendo Treehouse rep the lack of friends is primarily to avoid potentially causing conflicts with the matchmaking on global leaderboards. This statement feels like a departure from Nintendo’s past statements in that they have actually offered a somewhat more detailed explanation on why online with friends is not possible. One thing I have been curious to know is how exactly Mario Maker 2′s matchmaking algorithm works. Does it work like in Smash Ultimate and find players based on your location or does it consider things like ranking or connection quality?

Just recently Nintendo came out with their own official statement on the matter “This is true. As the game is now, you cannot create friend lobbies online. You can only play online with randoms." Note the phrase “As the game is now” which probably means we could see friend lobbies added in post launch. Now a lot of people often love to give Nintendo shit for being so limited or restrictive with online in their games and paint them as out of touch and incompetent. However I think its highly premature to think Nintendo never considers or actually tests with these sorts of things. This is really the first time I can think of where I have heard that the ability to play with friends online was omitted due to concerns involving the matchmaking itself. This leads me to my main theory which is that Nintendo or someone on the Treehouse team discovered a major bug in the lobby system which could severely impact the matchmaking as well as perhaps make it easy for players to cheat the system. By the time The Mario Maker 2 dev teams was notified of the bug it was probably too late to go back and fix it without risking a potential delay and throwing off their whole release schedule especially now that Mario Maker 2 has probably gone gold.

I think people seem to forget we now live in an era where games are no longer kept in their final state at launch anymore. This holds true even for companies like Nintendo who has developed a good track record in recent years of giving their games relatively extensive post launch support even for games where online multiplayer is not really the focus. Of course it’s also important to remember Nintendo as a company also has to worry about satisfying their investors in addition to their fans. As an example lets look at Super Smash Bros Ultimate for a moment. It’s fairly impressive in terms of size and scope but of course one can easily make out where sacrifices probably had to be made. It wouldn’t be too surprising really that certain features either had to be cut(trophies) or put on the backburner until post launch(stage builder) so they could focus on the game balance especially with how large the roster is. I have seen people argue that they should have delayed the game so they could have some of these features in day 1 but of course that would be an extremely risky move business wise as it would have left Nintendo in a potentially bad spot during Holiday 2018 especially considering that they were no doubt intending Smash to be their big tentpole game for the Christmas season.

The biggest problem with outrage culture though as it usually means jack shit as there are probably millions of other people who will still buy Mario Maker 2 regardless as the internet often is mostly just a giant echo chamber that generally reflects very little on the general public. Also imagine if Nintendo does announce they do intend to add online with friends in an update post launch or maybe even in a day 1 patch. In that case people will have pretty much wasted their breath and energy getting so worked up over a problem Nintendo was aware of and planned to address from the beginning.

#nintendo #super mario maker #super mario maker 2 #nintendo switch #thoughts #frankly I don't really consider it a deal breaker

20 notes · View notes

syftkogtech · 5 years

Text

Slinger Francisco ORTT CMT OBE, better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist.

The Interview ...

Mighty Sparrow: the king of calypso on freedom, Windrush and oral sex

He inspired Bob Marley’s political awakening, survived a coma, and has sung about everything from sex workers to Khrushchev. And at 83, the calypso great still wants to turn the news into song

~ Vivien Goldman

https://youtu.be/PhxQmzR0Yzc

Can you put on the TV news?” asks Slinger Francisco, AKA Mighty Sparrow. While the photographer sets up in my living room in Queens, New York City, the 83-year-old calypso originator scrutinises the screen, where the US midterm elections offer gold to this instinctive satirist.

Watching Sparrow watch the news, eyes narrowed in concentration, is a reminder of the decades of conflict he has processed into poetry – from the impact of US naval withdrawal on Trinidad sex workers, on the infectious 1956 song Jean and Dinah, to the space age and cold war on 1963’s Kennedy and Khrushchev. More recently, he has hymned a pre-presidential Barack Obama, and railed against Russian oligarchs on

. “If you have time to look at the news,” Sparrow observes, “you see where most of those songs’ inspiration comes from. There’s no question about it.” The concept of fake news is anathema to him. “Certain people are telling the audience: ‘Don’t believe what you see, don’t believe what you hear or what you read.’ But I do believe.”

Rather like today’s verbal argy-bargies between rappers such as Drake and Pusha T, early 20th-century calypsonians also elevated barbed banter into a showbiz art called

, and locals would gleefully look forward to calypsonians’ response to every scandal and row. The rivalry between Sparrow, Lord Kitchener and Lord Melody, for example, gripped the calypso fans known as Bad Johns and Saga Girls, edgy dressers who danced the reel and quadrille in the carnival tents and were Sparrow’s constituents. “We used to put on a show!” he chuckles.

According to the Trinidadian writer and broadcaster Isaac Fergusson, “Even politicians were afraid of Sparrow and what he would reveal about them in a song. Until he came along, most calypsonians were semi-professional. People paid them with rum and food – a treat, rather than a salary. They survived on the gratitude of the people. Sparrow changed all that. He wore a suit like a businessman and insisted on being paid. He could be demanding, but musicians loved to play with him, because he treated them the best.”

Despite conflicts with the establishment behind Trinidad’s fabled carnival (

1957’s Carnival Boycott

documented his strike for fairer pay for male calypsonians), Sparrow is nevertheless an eight-time winner of each of the carnival’s Road March and Calypso Monarch awards, and is often dubbed Calypso King of the World.

The lyrical sting of calypso and the instrument associated with it, the steel pan, may be pop’s most embedded form of resistance. Starting in 1740, the legal banning of the African-style drum (made of wood and animal skin) under slavery and colonialism encouraged the invention of the steel pan. Hammering industrial metal into tempered scales, steel pans were made out of oil drums from the island’s chief export; this was music made by any means necessary, to defy those who benefited most from the island’s resources. Calypso’s lyrics, too, became a forum for thrashing out the issues of the day, reporting on anything from industrial disputes to sexual peccadilloes.

Colonial-era education and studies of the English poets remain foundational for Sparrow. “We always wanted to belong to the English side of things, because that’s all we knew,” he says. “As we grew up, America became a second part of us. But going to England felt like going home.” Throughout our conversation, Sparrow sings to make a point. “Remember this?” he asks, before breaking into Rule Britannia: “Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.”

When his mother Clarisse brought the 18-month-old Slinger and his elder brother on a small boat from their native Grenada to Trinidad, they were moving from one UK colony to another. Though both islands like to claim him, his ancestors were involuntary immigrants. Sparrow’s gripping track

, from the 1964 album True Life Stories of People, Passion and Politics, set a template for how Caribbean music could interpret its bloody history. Fergusson recalls his friend Bob Marley confiding: “When I heard the Mighty Sparrow sing The Slave, I knew what I wanted to do with my music.” Over a propulsive afro-cuban jazz rhythm, Sparrow’s pointed enunciation and swelling attack on the chorus build a narrative that presages Marley’s Redemption Song. “I got to make a brilliant escape / But every time I think about the whip and dem dogs / My body starts to shake.” As Sparrow soars into the line, “Lord, I wanna be free”, the track stops so abruptly that it feels as if the listener is leaping from a cliff into the ocean to escape the slave-catcher’s dogs at their heels.

Sparrow’s life since has reinforced these creative imaginings. Few people have survived a coma to perform again; in 2013, he hovered between worlds for two weeks. Even fewer have teased those writing them off, as evidenced by 1970’s

. And not many descendants of stolen Africans have managed to make the return journey, but Sparrow did. Inspired by a visit to Nigeria in the 1970s, he has recorded in Yoruba, as well as Creole French, Spanish and Dutch. Despite the military regime, Sparrow found Lagos a paradise. “I never thought I’d reach there – it was like the garden of Eden. They basically did everything like we do in Trinidad.” Sparrow met the firebrand Afrobeat creator, Fela Kuti, and was honoured with a title, Chief Omo Wale of Ikoyi.

But he had already toured Africa in song, taking a fantasy trip on one of his most beloved numbers, 1964’s hilarious "Congo Man "

. Opening with a lusty chuckle, it finds Sparrow revealing his envy of a cannibal who has enjoyed eating two white American girls, one cooked and one raw. Despite the song’s popularity, it was banned from local radio till 1989. In my lounge, Sparrow sings the familiar verses and even enacts a typical audience reaction: “I never eat white meat yet, except” – a beat, eyes twinkling – “all right, just one time in Canada!” Cue the audience, corpsing. Well-versed in calypsonian double entendres, they understood that he was skewering not so much racism or cannibalism, but another taboo: oral sex.

The reason for today’s interview, however, is more serious. Sparrow has been called to England to perform at the

London jazz festival

Windrush

celebration, curated by Anglo-Trinidadian poet and teacher Anthony Joseph, and featuring Calypso Rose, Cleveland Watkiss, Gaika and others. It is a strategic reminder, after the recent scandal in which some of those Caribbean immigrants were redefined as illegal by the Home Office, of the defining contribution that Afro-Caribbean artists have been making to British culture ever since Sparrow’s frenemy Lord Kitchener walked off the Windrush in 1948 and sang “London is the place for me” into a Pathé News microphone – a catchy line that heralded the arrival of multicultural Britain.

Contemplating Brexit, Sparrow mutters: “I wonder why that happened?” He has confronted such divisions and dashed dreams of solidarity before, in 1959’s Federation, his comment on the crash of the post-colonial ideal of a united Caribbean. “We were trying to benefit [from independence] and we wanted to get all these islands together, create a federation where we could bargain better and benefit by all being together,” he says. “But once individual prime ministers in the

had tasted power, nobody wanted to give it up. Suddenly, before you could really get together, it’s all broken up. What do you do? It was terrible.

“In a way, it was similar to the scandal around the Windrush,” he continues. “Suddenly you are told you are a non-person, not to be treated with any respect. They say they don’t want you.”

Sparrow has succeeded in translating his witty island authenticity to the world, in a one-man demonstration of the role that culture plays in uniting humankind. Having seen and heard so much and compressed it into so many searing songs, as he anticipates performing to symbolise the beleaguered, resistant Windrush generation, how does Sparrow think we should approach the future?

“What would I like to see? People get together and get involved with fixing things instead of just having everything severed,” he replies. “We have to just hope that the younger ones step in and get involved as early as they can, to make things better. You know, singularity is not a thing that we want too much. We don’t want to be singular, as time goes on. We want to be together.”

Windrush: A Celebration

, at the Barbican, London, tomorrow, as part of the EFG London Jazz festival

~The Guardian

Dec. 2018

#mighty Sparrow #calypso #westindian #trinidad #calypsoking #tentoone

4 notes · View notes

ruthdu · 6 years

Text

This is a post about Sports

I am my Mother’s daughter and my Father’s son. I grew up doing ballet, religiously practicing the piano, and appreciating a detailed skincare regiment while playing rec soccer, going to basketball camp and watching sports. Sure, you can argue that my Chinese immigrant parents were very ambitious and “forced” me to participate in these activities when I was younger, but because of their stern suggestions, I became a dancer, I fell in love with music, I will always look like I’m 25 and I have a mild obsession with Sports.

If you’ve worked with me during basketball season, you know that I will be streaming the game on my computer in the production office or suggest going to a nearby bar to catch tip-off. If you’ve had the privilege of being a friend of mine during the Olympics, we will have never ending text message chains about the crazy triple toe-loop or how blurry Usain Bolt on television. If I’ve dated you during football season, you probably know that my very first poster that I put up in my room was of Troy Aikman. I was 5, barely understood English but I thought he was such a hearthrob.

I’m not very outspoken about my social, political and world views. My first presidential election was Obama and I didn’t quite understand the 2008 Recession until much later in life (I was 20 years old). Race was always an issue and I supported the occasional Tiger Mom articles on HuffPo, or essays about a HAPA and every once in awhile engaged in some Twitter conversations about “Yellow Fever” but it wasn’t until recently that there was truly a platform to be Chinese Born - American. That didn’t mean that I didn’t support racial justices in general, but it meant that I hid behind those big trendy topics. Of course, it wasn’t until we were in a disaster of a political situation where I even considered watching a Senate hearing nor cared about our local Congressmen / woman. With that in mind, these kind of public posts are far-in-between and very delicate for me. But after what I watched + experienced this weekend, I was compelled to share because it all coincided with Sports.

This past weekend I watched 20-year-old Naomi Osaka conquer and overtake tennis Queen Serena Williams, who I believed acted poorly against the (yes unfair) Umpire at the US Open Finals. I was severely disappointed in Serena, especially after learning so much about her journey to motherhood. I had a new found respect for Serena not only as a phenomenal athlete but also a Superwoman that overcame the most difficult time of her life. I sat there, jaws on the floor when Serena consistently bashed Carlos Ramos. I was disappointed, watching her take the argument even further with officials when all I wanted for her is to take that energy and refocus on the game. True athleticism is mental and sure, we cannot help the way we feel, ESPECIALLY when we are losing. But those athletes who can outplay and outlast, the “GOAT”s, the champions, should be able to take a few breaths and make a comeback.

I’m not saying that what Serena was fighting for wasn’t valid. YES, the umpire was probably intimidated that a strong black woman was yelling at him YES, he should have given her a warning and YES, I’m sure he’s been told many terrible things on the court without giving a penalty point but felt that he needed to keep his masculine power by ruling an unprecedented action. Even with all of that potential wrongsay, there’s a time and place to object to rules and there’s a time to suck-it-up and play the game.

I sat there and cried during the awards ceremony because Naomi Osaka apologized for winning. My tears were for her family who was so proud of her but knew there would be this heavy cloud of doubt over her for the years to come. I cried because I saw a part of my little sister in her, awkwardly holding the trophy and not sure if she was representing her country as well as she would have wanted. All I wanted is for her to feel joy, pride and strength. I cried even more when Serena told the crowd to stop booing because I knew that at that point, perhaps she felt that THIS was the repercussions of her actions. I love sports because I also love sportsmanship. Much like Serena thought that Carlos owed her an apology, I think Serena should apologize to Naomi for the bittersweet outcome of the tournament.

Naomi Osaka IS a champion. She played the best game of her life. She trained hard and she has that tunnel vision that transforms a player from great to the Best. I ask that you all take some time to learn more about Naomi Osaka. She’ll be on the tennis radar for years to come and I cannot wait to watch her play next.

This past weekend, I also witnessed the epic return of the greatest QB of all time. I claim this with extreme bias but am not alone in this statement, especially after his tremendous game on Sunday night. When Aaron Rodgers was carted off in the second quarter of the opening game vs. the (new and much improved) Chicago Bears, a little part of me died. I’ve been a Rodgers fan for years. He was the QB Hearthrob: insanely attractive, hilariously respectful and probably the best ice-cream eating companion. My adoration escalated when I started a diehard, bleeding-green Packers fan who claims he looks like a slightly petite version of Aaron. Last year’s collar-bone injury led to a sour fall season but made our relationship much stronger. There was a lot on the line this football season with Aaron’s return. When Aaron was lying on that field, grasping his left leg, it became deeply personal.

The Packers came back with a limping Aaron Rodgers and won the game 24-23. We yelled and screamed with joy. We drank tequila and celebrated. The cats (Starks and Jordy, named after former Packer players) were annoyed but we didn’t care. THIS was sports. THIS was athleticism at its best and even with the controversial hoopla of the NFL, THIS was football.

I understand why there was a boycott against the NFL. I know that Roger Goodell is a Trump supporter and I know that behind many of these massive teams are corporate millionaires who voted Red. The League made a decision this year that if players kneel during the national anthem that they would subject to fines which arguably means they are charging players fees against their freedom of speech. Yes, I do believe that this is a harsh rule, but I do believe it was a rule to take politics out of the game.

Last year was the only time I remembered watching the National Anthem in any regular season football game. It truly didn’t matter to me but it became such an issue that of course I “fell’ into the trap of curiosity. This year, I am not boycotting because I am watching football for the players. I am watching to see the unexpected comebacks, to see that crazy 75-yard run to the end zone, to see that near interception that nearly gave me a heart attack. I am watching not because I am supporting our idiot-president Trump, but because I respect the bellies of the defense linemen and the sprint of the wide receiver. I am watching because I believe in will power and strength of mind, which is how Aaron Rodgers came back ferociously, playing football with one good leg.

Remember when Kerri Strug won an Olympic Gold ‘96 even though she was severely injured? Did we protest the Olympics because there was probably some weird underage and illegal shit going on? Do we still support team USA even after the corporate probably knew the actions of their disgusting coach? The answer is YES, because we support the players. We support what they want to accomplish and what they’ve tried out their entire lives to accomplish. Yes they are millionaires and this is their “job” but I guarantee that if they had the choose between a massive paycut to play, most everyone would 100% choose the paycut. An athlete doesn’t just train their bodies 365 days a year for a big paycheck (that’s just the bonus) but talk to those former players who didn’t make the cut their third year, or the former player turned coaches of their local highschool - if they had a shot to play on the green, they would do it no question.

I will watch the NFL until the players decide not to play anymore. The game is changing and I’m happy to hear of new strict hit rules to the QB and new technology for player protection. I will yell and scream and jump in disappointed and joy and I will eventually earn that Rodgers jersey that I desperately want from my new Packer partner.

For those who actually read this post, thank you for time out of your busy day to do this. Why am I so passionate about Sports? “Ruth, you make movies! You sit in front of a computer all day long and you do budgets! And you write! Why do you care about sports?” I consider myself an athlete. I’ve been in competitive sports the majority of my life and I know what it feels like to lose. I used to rehearse 6-8 hours on weekends out in the hot sun, practically running close to 15-20 miles a day.

As a dancer, I trained like an athlete: slow push-ups, squats, abdominal conditioning, the whole damn thing. And in my now adult life, I go to challenging HIIT/ Boot Camp / Strength classes to make sure that I have the ability to survive a zombie apocalypse, or be fast enough to run to shelter during the Big One. I attribute my film career to my athletic training: play smart, play hard, follow the rules and always thank your teammates. These are skill sets that now engrained in me. So this is why I am passionate about sports: because its about survival, mind over matter and it’s about those you play the game with.

#sports #troyaikman #michellekwan #damonstoudamire #trailblazers #dallascowboys #naomiosaka #serenawilliams #usopen #tennis #nfl #NationalFootballLeague #AaronRodgers #GreenbayPackers

1 note · View note

headlesssamurai · 6 years

Note

Your thoughts on the new Star Wars?

[Disclaimer: The following is sarcasm targeted at social trends and contrarians the world-over. If it offends you, buck it up and have a fucking sense of humor.]

A Completely Serious Breakdown OfStar Wars: The Last Jedi

by Anita Sarkeesian & Rachel Maddow

To begin, let’s just say the best format in which to write anything on the internets is by breaking it down into a comprehensive list for no goddamn reason, other than maybe the idea that lots of people like to read lists or something because it feels a lot less like reading, and lots of people dislike reading. Right? Right.Thus, the following is a list of reasons why Star Wars: The Last Jedi is an atrocity bordering on Nagasaki levels of horror.WARNING: The following will contain spoilers and angsty disappointment.

1. Not enough transgender charactersThis one is clearly a no-brainer. Every respectable sell-out of a Hollywood screenwriter ought to know by now that their movie should contain at least one transgender, one gender-fluid, one gender neutral, and one tri-sexual character, if not more. And this is especially true in bombastic, overblown blockbusters. It disgusts me to see them disregard such a large percentage of their viewership. I know they tried to placate us with the pink-haired drag queen admiral who takes command after Leia is incapacitated, and the Asian kid who is running around with Finn the entire movie, but these characters seemed more like afterthoughts than anything else. To see them be so cavalier and conservative with their dramatis personae is just shameless.

2. It supports animal murderRight off the bat, we’re treated to a horrific scene in which Luke Skywalker, previously a shining beautiful example of a peaceful pacifist Zen master, is shown violently murdering an innocent fish with a barbed spear, then casually carrying the poor slaughtered animal back to his hut like a caveman. If that’s not enough, we later see Chewbacca, previously the most non-violent and docile character in the entire franchise, roasting a poor decapitated penguin on a spit over an open fire like some uncivilized neanderthal. Did he skin the creature while it was still alive? Perhaps we’ll never know, but it was clearly murdered with an intent to eat, and the Wookie carelessly roasts the creature’s remains in full view of its mournful cousins who must be wondering which of them will be next for bloody execution. This blatant disregard for the lives of the magical, peaceful animals of nature is truly horrifying. I can’t imagine how the filmmakers could be this vulgar. For achieving such advanced levels of technology, the people of this galaxy sure behave like feral savages.

3. Not enough wacky comedyI know there was a scene in which a confused elderly woman plays the general of an army, a riff on Karate Kid, an awkward reference to deep throating, a robot doing its best Solid Snake impression, a little kid getting mercilessly whipped by a character from a Pixar movie, Yoda acting like a weirdo again, furry anime creatures making cute noises, a guy getting unexpectedly electrocuted, enough bad dialogue to fill a Star Destroyer’s cargo hold, a fucking prank phone call scene in a Star Wars movie, and Benicio Del Toro’s face; but still. This movie could’ve used more comedy. This is made by Disney, after all, the same studio who gave us Guardians of the Fallacy, I mean every gag in that movie is just such a fucking knee-slapper, you know? Goddamn.

4. Too much explicit sexualityI was very glad to see that in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Disney decided to completely sever all of the vulgar and explicit sexuality depicted in every previous Star Wars film, particularly making certain this new portrayal of the galaxy was as sterile and sexless as a Dominican cloister. However, they’ve decided to flush that newfound dignity down the fucking toilet with this film. You all know what I’m talking about. There is a single scene in this movie where one character kisses another character on the lips. I know it’s just a little peck, but that’s just too much. This movie is vulgar, kids should not see it. Don’t even get me started on Kylo Ren’s sexy shirtlessness, Snoke’s pervy sex offender vibes, and all of Rey’s wet t-shirt scenes.

5. Not enough Han SoloHan Solo isn’t in this movie. ‘Nuff said.

6. Female heroine needs a manRemember Rey? That amazing, strong feminist icon from Episode VII who could do anything, fix a ship, fly a ship, shoot a gun, wield a laser sword, speak any language, and conquer anyone who stood in her path? Yeah, that girl decided to take a nap in this movie. You guessed it, she’s all fire and energy, yet the moment she sees Kylo Ren’s sweaty shirtless abs this new Rey can’t resist and falls head-over-heels for a guy who tried to slice her in half the first time they met. I mean, nothing comes of it, thank god! But seriously Disney? This is just lazy writing, and feminists everywhere should boycott this movie and fire-bomb any theater still showing it, along with all the homes of those who buy tickets to support it.

7. Too much talkingAgain, this movie was made by Disney, right? So why the hell is all the talking filled with so much boring character-driven dialogue, and not a goofy joke or lyrics in a sing-a-long? I cannot imagine how they expected to tap their drooling Marvel MCU fanbase with this many narrative-relevant scenes of people talking which don’t include funny gags or nerdy references from a Tony Stark-esque character. What a disappointment.

8. Not enough racial diversityI know there’s a Spanish-Puerto Rican man, a black man, a Guatemalan man, two Vietnamese women, a few white people, another black guy, a Wookie, the previously mentioned drag queen, a Mon Calamari, some other aliens visible when they go to Monte Carlo, and whatever alien that one dude was; but still. That’s only representing a few out of, like, hundreds of thousands of other ethnic groups all over the planet, not to mention the millions if not billions of alien species throughout the galaxy whose children have no characters to look up to in this movie. The distinct lack of Jews was most jarring for me, and I wouldn’t hazard to call this film anti-Semitic exactly, but it does make you pause for contemplation.

9. Glorification of violenceDo I really need to say this out loud? Holy shit. There is so much violence in this movie it makes me nauseous. People blowing people up, decapitation and dismemberment, savagely beating each other to death with clubs, animals being whipped, children being whipped (even if it’s funny, it’s still violent), casino patrons being violently trampled to death by stampeding anime creatures, bodies being engulfed by fiery explosions, explosions engulfing explosions, and at least two cases of fanatically intentional suicide which result in the violent death of hundreds if not thousands of others. All told, it’s one of the most violent movies released this year, with a body count that likely surpasses Man of Steel and the first Avengers film combined. How can audiences be this bloodthirsty? It’s just, I don’t know, sickening. You fandom kids should renounce yourselves and practice self-flagellation, as far as I’m concerned.

10. It supports child slave soldiersIn the very first scene, the character Poe Dameron supports a group of Resistance bombers who are trying to destroy a First Order dreadnought. We see the flight leader protecting the bombers is a young girl who couldn’t be older than twelve piloting an A-wing fighter and mercilessly blasting TIE fighters out of the sky. Forgetting the fact that war is already traumatic for fully grown adults, how is the Resistance okay with putting a child in harm’s way like that? I’m astounded. This is so controversial, I can’t believe it isn’t being hotly debated by mouthbreathers all over the internets.

11. Not enough lightsabersLikely the film’s biggest transgression of all. It’s a well-known fact that the mindless drooling fans who attend the cult gatherings known as Star Wars Celebrations and sew their own costumes to wear to premieres (only to turn around and hatefully review the film later on YouTube) only really want to see one thing: lots and lots of lightsaber battles. That’s the only thing Star Wars has going for it these days, after all. And this time nobody bangs a lightsaber against another lightsaber even once. Not once in the entire movie! Jesus, Joseph, and doggy-style Mary! What pointless drivel. I’m considering petitioning the studio for a bid to get my money back after seeing this farce. Don’t they know anything about what makes Star Wars great?

Parthian shotsDespite all of these many, many flaws, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is not entirely without merit. There are some cool CGI effects in almost every scene, for one thing. Throughout the film we also learn some very valuable life lessons, such as:- Anime creatures have invulnerable faces that can smash through anything without the slightest injury.- Shields work best when gunfire is coming from very far away.- Any man in a position of power is either irredeemably evil or an impulsive and weak-willed incompetent fool.- All roads lead to failure.- The best way to be good at something is by sucking at it.- It’s okay for bystanders to be violently trampled to death so long as they’re rich.- All law enforcement officers are evil corrupt bastards.- Freeing captive animals is more important than freeing the slave children who tend to them.- And the only way to win a war is through the magical power of love, even if the enemy is in the process of blowing up your friends while you’re deliriously saying so.

youtube

Huzzah.

侍 headless

36 notes · View notes

superleeleehipster · 6 years

Text

Caryl Speculation S8-9

After the episode last night, and after reading the few interviews Melissa had done for the episode this morning, I kind of felt prompted to speculate about what this season and next season entails for our favorite couple.

This is simply pure speculation under the cut with some SPOILERS from last night and possible spoilers for the future. It’s a bit long (nothing new there XD). I’m sure ppl will agree as well as disagree. Feel free to comment your opinion.

Okay, first of all, I am a die hard Caryl shipper. Just like the lyrics to that 90′s song (can’t remember the name), ‘I will go down with this ship’ b/c it gives me joy and it is something I love being a part of. Now unfortunately we haven’t had many filming spoilers this year b/c much of the filming has happened at the studio, so no one has any clue as to how much Daryl and Carol have filmed together this season. Keeping a few things in mind, I’ve decided there are two outcomes that could happen for our Caryl ship in season 8 and 9. I’ll tell you what the variables are that we have to keep in mind before I say my theories:

A) First thing to think about is what the actors have said about the ship itself. I know quite a few caryl fans were disheartened by Melissa’s comments on one of the interviews last night. Personally, I wasn’t necessarily surprised by what she said, nor does it bother me. You can tell her patience for these kinds of questions are sort of running thin. In fact, you can tell by both actors that these questions are starting to become annoying to answer b/c they really have no answer that would give us 100% satisfaction and stability. Now granted Melissa shows her annoyance more flawlessly than Norman (foot in mouth disease), but you can tell that both are starting to struggle with this question. Keep in mind that both actors have been asked this question arguably since season 2, so 6 years. The first couple of years they were fine with answering, and in fact I’d say those first few years were the years that Norman had the best answers about the Caryl ship. Then the shipping wars happened and they both seemed to become more reserved about answering... then 4 more years of answering the same question over and over again and you’re left with two actors who both seem to be at their wits end about it.

There is only so much you can say after all these years. They have literally said anything and everything you can about the ship without actually flirting that they will go canon, or, “oh hell yeah they’re romantic, and I guarantee they’re gonna fuck in the next episode.” Both actors have said that they’re each other’s person, they do love each other and care deeply for one another. Daryl is the most important person to Carol and vice versa. Both actors have also said that there’s always a possibility of a romance between them. In fact one of my favorite answers that both actors have said before is that it goes beyond romance. The bond is beyond a friendship, a familial relationship, a romantic relationship, which is how I feel about them. They’re the epitome of soulmates in my opinion.

Melissa’s answers last night, I feel, is exactly how both of them feel about these questions. “I don’t know what else to say about it. It’s basically whatever ppl want to see”. In other words, Mel has said practically everything she’s allowed to, but she herself doesn’t know. So what else can she say after all this time? I don’t necessarily think she said Caryl won’t happen, I just got the impression that she just kind of threw her hands up and said, “Look, I’ve said all I can say. I understand ppl ship them and I wish I had a better answer, but I don’t. I’m sorry.”

B) Second thing to keep in mind is AMC and their promoting shenanigans. Now part of me feels like there’s no way Caryl won’t happen this season simply b/c of all the promoting they have done during the pre-season and even the low key promoting during the season so far. I mean, let’s be honest, they have never promoted Caryl this hard before. But another part of me is side eyeing it b/c it coincides with the HUGE rating drop from the season before. So I’m not sure if they’re promoting it simply to get ppl excited and watching TWD again and that’s it, or will they give us more.

We also have to keep in mind that no matter what, there will always be a fraction of the GA that won’t like Caryl going canon. It’s unfortunate to admit, but they know that part of the appeal with Daryl is that he’s the “hot bachelor” of the show. Every show has them, and every network knows that once you pair the hot dude with someone, there’s a good chance not as many ppl will tune in. Same thing with simply shipping a couple. Once they’re together, the show becomes less appealing. It sucks, I don’t like that they’re possibly thinking this way, but it happens all the time. AMC will lose fans no matter what, no matter how small, and right now, they don’t want to lose any more than they got. HOWEVER, it would be a very dumb move on AMC’s part to flirt and promote Caryl and not give us anything. They can’t afford to lose the die hard Carylers, so they HAVE to give us something.

Now that I’ve bored you all with a bunch of hoopla, I’ll tell you the two scenarios that I’ve been speculating for our Caryl ship:

1) First theory is the less likely of the two. I call this theory my “compromise” theory b/c I feel that its a “meet me halfway” between AMC, Caryl shippers, and the GA who don’t necessarily ship them (Not including the haters/ageists or ABC/D’ers). Whether you ship these two characters or not, you cannot deny the fact that they have an incredible bond with amazing chemistry. Even though we’ve never seen them become romantic, and even though their dialogue has been shit sometimes, Melissa and Norman steal the screen with their natural chemistry. AMC knows that, hence all the promos and the 8x01 hug and the ‘Carol hear’s Daryl’s bike and smirks knowingly’ (I’ll admit, I squealed out loud when I saw that). So what AMC might do is meet us halfway. As in, at the end of the war, Daryl and Carol do live together/near each other, and are always together, but the possible romantic/intimate side of their relationship is never disclosed.

In other words, give what the vast majority of the entire audience wants, which is Caryl scenes, and Caryl hanging out together and just being near each other and happy together. But all the while still keeping Daryl as a lone wolf so that they wouldn’t lose part of the DD fanbase that is all about the “hot bachelor”. In fact, I could see them creating both Daryl and Carol as the lone wolves of their group, and they naturally just stick together after the war but don’t take that final intimate step. B/c, honestly, I do believe that in regards to both Carol and Daryl, it’s either them together, or no one. That’s not a biased Caryl shipper opinion on my part, that’s from a writer’s/character’s perspective. There is no one else Daryl would be able to have a romantic relationship with other than Carol, and vice versa. It just wouldn’t work with anyone else, especially after their similar, harsh backstories.

Now, personally, I think it would be a horrible idea for AMC to dangle Caryl as much as they have without giving us something. And I also think it would be bad taste for them to have them ‘together’ but not intimately together, so my second theory is still not only the better option, but also the more likely option. Season 8 is the perfect time for them to go canon, even if it is by the end of the season. I want more than anything in the world for Daryl and Carol to be a couple, and I think it could be an incredible new character arc for both of them. AND US CARYLERS DESERVE NICE THINGS!!!... ehm... But unfortunately, I have to take into account the ppl who actually write, produce, and run the show... b/c we’re stuck with them and not these beautiful writers I see on tumblr.

2) This is a no brainer, Caryl goes canon by the end of the season. I say “by” b/c I really am not sure how they would go about it. Would they mirror the canon moment like Richonne, where they would have them kiss during 8x10 (like 6x10)? Would they have something happen during the mid season finale to keep people tuned in? Would they have it at the end of the season after the war’s over? I’m just not sure yet b/c the filming spoilers have been sub par at best.

But there are two ideas that I’ve fiddled around with that I like (although to be honest, I like any kind of Caryl canon ideas. I’m not picky AMC!!). The first one is the idea that we see the first steps in Daryl and Carol’s relationship after the war in the season finale (intimate hand holding, a shy first kiss, etc). At the same time, we’ll get flash forwards again, except Rick will see how Daryl and Carol’s relationship has blossomed after all the years that have passed by. Maybe we could see Daryl kissing Carol passionately in front of everyone like it’s no big business, or maybe even a sex scene in the future and showing how confident they both are b/c they’ve made love before (sigh).

Now fair warning on this second idea. I won’t say the spoiler, but I will be hinting at a MAJOR UNCONFIRMED SPOILER in this theory. Again, I won’t blab, but I will refer to it, so skip this paragraph if you don’t even want to hear references to it. Another theory of mine is that Caryl will go canon during the mid season finale b/c there’s a very big event that happens in the mid season finale/premiere. This event (if true) will shock TWD fandom to it’s core, and it’s something that AMC I’m sure knows would cause an uproar (again, if true). It’s so big that I seriously doubt Daryl or Carol will die this season b/c AMC wouldn’t be able to afford it. So for AMC to save face, they might have to give the fans something to cheer for the second half of the season b/c there might possibly be a boycott for TWD after mid season finale... yeah, it’s that bad.

Now like I said above, no matter what, I do believe that Daryl and Carol are soulmates and that they will stick together after the war no matter what. Everyone can agree that they should be together (whether in a platonic way or romantic). To me, just like with what both Mel and Norman have said before, Caryl is beyond a romantic or friendly relationship. You can’t label what they have b/c it’s one of the purest relationships I’ve ever seen on television. It has every type of relationship in one. The only label I would put on them is soulmates, b/c they really are each other’s half. They don’t feel complete without the other, and they feel at ease when they know the other is safe. Both of the actors agree that they’re the most important persons in their character’s lives, as well as the closest.

I know many ppl have gone over this but both Daryl and Carol have shown that they are each other’s exception. Daryl had the same fierce revenge during the 2nd half of season 7 as he does now in season 8. But the only time he was not willing to take an opportunity to kill the saviors was when it put Carol’s life in danger. Vice versa, Carol shooed everyone away from her creeptastic house... everyone except Daryl. He was the only one she invited in, the only one she hugged without hesitation, the only one that was able to make her laugh and smile for the first time in god knows how long. I know we’ve said this before, but 7x10 happened for a reason. It didn’t progress the main story line whatsofuckingever, yet TWD was willing to spend money to give the audience Caryl for basically half of an episode. Gee I wonder why.

I can go on about 7x10 and the significance of it but I’m pretty sure we’ve beaten that dead horse enough.

Does my first theory mean that I’ve lost hope in the Caryl ship? Of course not, it’s just speculation. I know others have said this before me, and I agree, I will not stop the hope for Caryl to go canon until one or both is dead. There is always a chance, and honestly, I think season 8 has the most potential for something to happen between them by the end of it. If one thing gives me comfort, it’s that Gimple does like Caryl. He knows it’s a big ship, and he plants easter eggs for it all the time. So if anything, he may even want Carol and Daryl to go canon too.

Also, after watching last night’s episode, it’s pretty much confirmed to me that Carzekiel isn’t going to happen. The sound of Daryl’s motorcycle gave Carol more joy than any time she was around Zeke. The mere rumbling of the motorcycle caused her to smile like she just got her favorite toy at christmas, despite just being shot at ruthlessly, and the threat of being eaten alive still looming over her. I’m sure Carol and Ezekiel will develop a good, close friendship, but in regards to romantic? I don’t think so.

Anyways, these are my thoughts. I still very much believe that Caryl is endgame, and that season 8 still looks promising to me. I think my first theory is still more likely to happen. Either way, I believe Caryl will wind up living together after the war, and I cannot wait for them to have nothing to stand in their way between them. No matter how intimate they become, they deserve to grieve, to heal, and to finally be happy again. And the happiest I have ever seen these two is when they are together.

Caryl on guys!

#caryl #caryl positivity #twd spoilers #carol peletier #daryl dixon

106 notes · View notes

timeagainreviews · 5 years

Text

The Panopticon Conundrum

Hello friends! It’s been a full week for me. How about you? My wife had surgery and is still in hospital. (It’s a good thing though!) Last weekend was UK Pony Con in Nottingham. I went dressed as a Jodie Whittaker "Doctor Hooves." A few people got it. Most everyone else wanted to know where my tie was. I also did a Doctor Hooves art piece that sold at £80 for the RDA. It was a great weekend. My boyfriend is on the committee for the convention, so I go every year. There's a lot that goes into putting on a convention, oftentimes it's like a second job for him. Lots of time and effort is put into a successful event of such magnitude. It's really gone to help me appreciate other cons out there.

If you've been paying attention to Twitter, there's been a slightly trending hashtag “#boycottpanopticon.” It's not exactly blown up, but people like Gail Simone and Paul Cornell have both tweeted about it. For those of you not in the know, Panopticon is an old school Doctor Who convention that stopped running around the beginning of the 2005 series. However, they recently decided to reboot the convention. This past weekend was a sort of test run with "Panopticon Lite," which featured an impressive guest lineup of Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, and India Fisher. It was a regular Eighth Doctor affair and I'm sure went off without a hitch. So why the boycott?

Enter Panopticon's website. Hoo-boy is it a mess. It was a tweet about their stance on cosplay which piqued my interest. According to their website, cosplayers open themselves up to getting "a custard pie in the puss," or doused with water. I'm not joking. Or rather, they aren't. This has something to do with Comic Relief, as cosplayers are given the privilege of donating £20 for an immunity badge. One might feel like this is a clear way of saying "cosplayers aren't welcome," when the alternative is "pay up, or get assaulted." Their stance against cosplay is further solidified when further down the page they mention that some cosplays will have to clear the rights with the owners of their IPs. Specifically Daleks, Cybermen, K9 and other full-body costume monsters. I've never heard of a con doing this. This isn't like Disneyland, where costumers need to "Disneybound," to avoid association with the company.

Why so much hostility toward cosplay? A majority of Panopticon's newfound critics seem to agree that it's a hostility rooted deeper than cosplay. To many, this hostility is toward the new fandom, which scans when viewing the evidence. The website reads like a bunch of the old guard fandom griping about younger fans. It's very "Old Man Yells at Cloud." Let's start with the basic fact that the con stopped around 2005. That may seem insignificant, but to me, it sounds like sour grapes. You've been keeping that Doctor Who torch burning for years, and you stop just as it bears fruit? Not to put too fine a point on it, but that sounds gatekeepery. Feeling ostracised because a new generation didn't have to live through the wilderness years is a weird reaction to your favourite show coming back.

In comic book conventions, you see a lot of hostility toward cosplay from the old fans as well. Walt Flanagan from AMC's "Comic Book Men," went through the growing pains of cosplay acceptance throughout the run of the show. You saw him go from a guy who thought it took attention away from the creators, to a guy who dressed in cosplay several times. It's an expensive, arduous, and stressful process to put together a successful cosplay, I should know. It's a labour of love on par with organising a convention, running a fan club, or writing fan fiction. Furthermore, it's here to stay. You may as well be yelling at a cloud.

It goes even deeper than cosplay. I mentioned that it's difficult to run a convention. I've had lonely evenings watching TV while my boyfriend was stuck working on the rota for Pony Con. Panopticon's organisers are not unfamiliar with running a convention. They know how hard it can be. Why then do they hate their stewards so much? In their section about stewards, they go on to tell potential attendees not to expect the stewards to know much of anything other than where the bathrooms are. They don't expect them to even know what day of the week it is. Now I get it, sometimes volunteers are just in it for the free ticket. Some people are morons. Some people are just plain helpless. But one of the things I learned from one of my favourite Pony Con volunteers, Tom, is that some of them are incredibly hard workers. The fact that the organisers seem to have such disdain for their workers isn't just crass, it's downright cruel.

Those of you who know my blog know I can be a snarky bitch at times. It's me having a laugh. I can get behind a convention trying to come off as a little bit more personable by infusing some humour. But as Twitter user drwhofan_194 said "It's unprofessional to joke about stuff which makes your attendees feel unsafe or unwelcome." Which is absolutely true. You can't assume everyone who isn't laughing has no sense of humour. Because for some, being in a giant room full of strangers is hard enough without also having to worry about a custard pie to their face. It's your job to maintain a safe environment, and if you can't take that seriously, why should anyone entrust their safety with you?

I would love to say that the website stops at custard pies and decrying the help, but it doesn't. Of course, it doesn't. This immaculate train wreck is still careening off the side of a cliff. You can also count on a good old fashioned bit of sexism. In a now edited section about seating, there was a comment made about how everyone wants to good seats so they can bask in the glow of Tom Baker, or even sneak a peak up Katy Manning or Frazer Hines' skirts. Twitter users well versed in being deliberately obtuse were quick to point out that Frazer was a man, meaning it wasn't sexist, because equal opportunity. Now I get it's a joke. Katy is sexy and Frazer wears kilts, I get it. However, I also get what it feels like to be a female fan of Doctor Who. I know what it's like to cringe every time you hear a male fan slime on about the companions' bodies. To have to hear male fans call Jenna Coleman a stuck up cow because she doesn't want to be casually assaulted by fans. I know what it feels like to be worried that every male fan I meet will eventually come onto me, like so many have in the past. Comments about looking up Katy Manning's skirt aren't just childish, they're alienating to women.

One has to wonder if that's not slightly the point. Was the language used by the organisers meant to push certain groups away? On the homepage, they go on a bizarre rant about morality and common sense. The words "traditional values," are even used. There's a vagueness like a man having an argument with someone over the phone. You can somewhat piece together the conversation through context, but who he's yelling at is a mystery. It reads like a person who has gotten into one too many flamewars online. They seem to see themselves as white knights, here to put the fandom right. Which is funny because I wasn't aware it was broken. Furthermore, I'm always very suspicious of anyone who seems to attract so much drama to themselves. If you're getting into heated arguments about Doctor Who, you need to reevaluate some shit in your life.

I could go on about the website, but at this point, I'm curious to see Panopticon's reaction. Other than the minor edit here or there, they've been shockingly blase about the whole thing. Reportedly going as far as to say it was “a form of market research to see who had a sense of humour.” This could be particularly damaging as I've already seen users saying that even with an apology, they "wouldn't let [their children] near this event in a hundred years." It's amazing that a convention that was well established as the go-to Doctor Who convention for years, can squander so much goodwill with such a stupid website. At best, it's a PR nightmare. At worst, it was done on purpose. The fact that someone had this much power to take the concept and run with it, suggests that whoever wrote this dribble is rather high up in the organisation. It's one of those "Who watches the Watchmen?" kind of scenarios.

If the organisers have nobody higher to answer to, perhaps the last bastion against their smug minded drudgery is Twitter user walsallmatt's proposed boycott. Has Panopticon killed itself mid-regeneration, or can they come back from this fiasco? They've already situated themselves as the kind of people who will decide the real fans from the fake ones. Would any kind of apology make that ever seem fun? Will they lose potential guests like McGann or Manning due to this bad press? I'm sure there will still be a devout following that will come regardless, but is it enough? Even a convention with a rich history like Panopticon cannot simply rest on its laurels. Doctor Who didn't justify its return by banking on nostalgia. It built upon what came before and moved with the times when it was necessary. At this point, it looks like the only way we'll see Panopticon return to its glory days is with a time machine.

#doctor who #panopticon #fandom #convention #whovians #whovian #panopticon lite #tardis #cosplay #paul mcgann #india fisher #twitter #daphne ashbrook #frazer hines #katy manning

0 notes