Furthermore -

bana05:

Saying Mercedes “gracefully” accepting a background singing gig shows continuity when in the pilot episode she snarks she’s Beyonce not Kelly Rowland doesn’t neatly follow, mainly because 1.) she learned humility (probably too well; hence all the railing certain factions of fandom did whenever she tried to get her spotlight opportunity) by the end of S1; and 2.) she accepts a background with the explicit upfront knowledge that she’s, for now, a background singer - and a paid one at that - instead of being told repeatedly she’ll get her opportunity to shine, and she’s only singing “backup one time”, and then proceeds to have the entirety of her high school career never getting the shine in the group in which she’s the first to audition and is every bit (and more so) talented than the girl who keeps getting it despite whatever shenanigans she throws and the folk who were trying to sabotage it ot the onset (the “unholy trinity”).

Paid backup singing gigs are an excellent way to get your voice into the ears of the people who can help you launch a solo career. You get studio time & you tour & the money is excellent while you make connections. I mean…how do people think so many careers get started? A whole lot of headliners were backup singers first.

Saying Sam is the first person to say he believed she can achieve her dreams is not the same as saying Sam is the first person to tell her (or show her) that she is a great singer.

bana05:

i-live-on-rileystreet:

amuzed1:

There is a difference. Sam is the first person to say it, unprovoked by a competition with Rachel, in canon. People don’t just constantly reaffirm that she’s destined to be a huge star. It doesn’t happen.  

Ugh are people saying Shane did it first? No. Shane was all talk and Sam actually DID stuff to make Mercedes feel like a star. Putting her name up in lights. Putting her video up on youtube. He took ACTION.

Shane still said it; still supported her by being there for her audition for Maria; still believed it. That’s not for nothing, when she rarely heard it from ANYONE - irrespective if it was because of a “competition” or not. And Sam waits until S3 to say all this himself, even though he’d known her for a year and had definitely heard her sing during it.

We don’t see Sam say it until then, but we also don’t get to see a lot of Mercedes or Sam’s interactions until then either. Just saying, we have no idea what happens with them since they got so few scenes until recently.

Another thing about people who try to say Mercy has no ambition/vision

bana05:

amuzed1:

She tries out for solos, she did it in S1 for Sectionals and WON according to her peers, she only gave it up because the set list was given to the competition by Sue. AND she’s the only senior that we know for sure applied to multiple schools, I’m sure the three named weren’t the only ones she applied to, EVEN THOUGH she knows she wants a recording contract. She auditioned for a solo again last year for Nationals, but lost it because Jesse was trying to rig it for Rachel and then Will decided not to go with the people who actually AUDITIONED and just do the same tired shit he always does.

Mercedes didn’t sit on her ass and wait for someone to give her something, she’s been TRYING since early on in S1 to get her spotlight. I find it interesting that she still considers herself to be the “cream” in ND (and that Will had the nerve to tell her “the cream always rises to the top”, well you STILL haven’t put her on top, asshole) when Will has been treating her like she’s the skim milk.

What someone white (and male) says Mercedes does (not do) »»»» what Mercedes actually does.

bana05:

There seem to be many people confused as to why there is such dismay among some Mercedes Jones stans that she sounds as if she doesn’t have a plan - or more accurately, a goal - in that promo clip, particularly since there are all these headcanons and ficlets (and even some spoilers) about Will and/or Sam “helping” her figure it out. The dismay is because she, as Quinn and Rachel, has been consistent in what her goal is - to be a Grammy-winning artist, a star; therefore, this sudden perplexity she has is jarring and disconcerting. It reeks of sacrificing a woman’s progress to give a man a storyline, whether it’s Will so he can actually be a quarter-competent teacher to everyone else not named Rachel or Finn or for Sam to now move from the romantic suitor to the supportive boyfriend (since he’s already had his major arc…ironically before several other series regulars, bless).  Further, as “colorblind” as Glee wishes to be, it also shoots itself in the foot because it is highly unlikely the talented black daughter of a middle class, professional black family with a brother already off in college would ever be that lost.  There is a difference between not knowing and not wanting - she could not want a traditional plan of higher education and a “safe” career (me all day), but she wouldn’t be confused; rather, she’d be frustrated.  Mercedes didn’t sound like that in the clip at all.

But more, there are those who don’t understand why it’s such a big deal that Mercedes doesn’t know what she’s doing, especially when it appears she has Sam back (and we admittedly don’t know what Sam’s doing, either).  Well, I’m not as concerned about Sam because Sam is a white dude who is conventionally attractive. He will be given breaks and advantages and benefits of doubt Mercedes couldn’t even imagineobtaining. Between Sam’s face and Sam’s body, he could do local print ads in Lima (or wherever), suddenly blow up, and now he’s a model making bank; or he could do an online artist course and start a Web comic and become famous like that.  He has a veritable cake walk ahead of him compared to Mercedes - that’s how white cismale privilege works. But more than that, it’s the placing of Sam as a “grand prize” Mercedes has won that’s making me personally screwface. I’ve been following Mercedes’ journey before Sam even existed, and my triumph for her isn’t “getting a guy or the guy, but rather attaining her dreams and goals that sheused to know as recently as 3x11 (and, yes, fully supported and spoken into the universe by Samand Shane). So, basically, Mercedes hasn’t “won” anything yet; and until she gets her Grammys and her multiplatinum records and her empire a-la Mariah and JLo and Beyonce, she is still fighting that good fight.  Her attaining her goals in the face of a glee club, a school, and a society against her, is her victory - her cake - Sam Evans is the icing.  THAT is what makes Mercedes the independent young woman I’ve supported and loved; and I bet that’s the woman Sam fell in love with himself.  THAT is why I cheered Mercedes on when she took time for herself instead of running from one relationship to the next, even if the next is the “love of her life”.

However, I fully recognize it was a clip - a promo clip at that. I know there is context that needs to happen to fill it in; but they stay giving Mercedes and Tina out-of-asses lines just to move someone else’s plot along (usually a man’s), and frankly, I’m tired of it.

The only way Mercedes not knowing what to do makes sense is if she’s choosing between going to college & a record deal. That’s the only storyline I’m allowing into my brain.

Proof GLEE writers actually know NO black people -

bana05:

There is no way in the HELL Mercedes, the daughter of a dentist and a mother who gives a damn about her, would NOT have plan together post HS graduation. That’s just not how middle-class black families work.  Their son is in college; do you really think they’d allow their daughter - their very talented daughter - to leave that house without some sort of plan in place? Naw, son, naw.

And now Will (and possibly Sam) gets to play white savior for her. So gross. Mercedes wants Grammys; you don’t think she wasn’t looking up schools and programs that would help her get them? Fall back RIB+, fall back…

She would be applying to performing arts programs in NYC & LA. Like, that’s just the basics of successful black life.

So I’m reading Samcedes fic (as you do when you’re not a Glee fan, but really like a pairing), and I’m running into those “Shane’s abusive & Sam saves Mercedes” fics. And I’m…confused. Like, really really confused. Because I just read a fic where Shane is this near Machiavellian super villain (complete with spies all over the school) who verbally, physically, & sexually abuses Mercedes regularly. Regularly. In public & in private and yet…no one notices the bruises, the weight loss, the PTSD responses, or the flinching but Sam. Like, I am all in for a good cheesy romance. Really, I can even try to put aside the racial aspects of painting the black guy as the brutish villain for a second, but when your story hinges on everyone seeing her fading away while this dude bosses her around like a puppy & no one steps to Shane including Santana & her parents? Yeah…no.

Can’t suspend my disbelief that far. Now when Santana has cut motherfuckers down to size because she felt like it. Making Mercedes cry & hide & puke would have her calling cousins & buying shovels not sighing & shaking her head a lot. And that’s before we get to Mercedes’ parents who have always been spoken of as being loving & supportive & involved & protective. Her daddy would have shown Shane the error of his ways with the help of her uncles (and her mama, because let’s be honest I get the sense she has the kind of mother who will cut you up & feed you to something before she goes to get her hair done), the first time he noticed bruises on his baby’s arms. If you must write abuser Shane fic, can you at least put in the effort to make it semi believable? Please?

Let Shane be emotionally manipulative or whatever, I’ll even accept the idea that his friends tell him what they see Mercedes doing. But Mercedes is not going to be drifting through her days crying & shaking while everyone turns a blind eye to the bruises. Much less, spending most of her time convincing herself that a dude that treats her like a human blow up doll/punching bag loves her when he never actually shows her any real affection. The girl is conflicted between two decent guys, not between Satan & Sam. I mean damn, I don’t even watch the show regularly & I can see where the characterization in these fics is taking 976576585 left turns. Also, Sam is dyslexic. That doesn’t mean he can’t comprehend information, or that he isn’t skilled in other subjects like math or that he can’t learn in other ways so can we also stop writing stories where he’s about to graduate high school with the reading comprehension of a 3rd grader?

bana05:

fabbrevans:

i dont ship samcedes because mercedes will never look at sam the way she looks at tots 
im a totcedes hardcore shipper 

That moment when Sam serves Mercedes tots while they’re naked and post coital and he knows she craves them after epic orgasms - the kind only he can give her. And he feeds them to her with his mouth because Sam-flavored tots are her favorite. Besides,the sustenance is important since they’ll need their energy for round #8…

;)

I can’t breaaaave….