re: season 2.
Alison's post reminded me that I hadn't cleaned this up and tossed it up yet.
THE SHORT VERSION: Glee's second season has ended! Jesse had some stuff! I am not updating for various reasons, although I will incorporate some of the information that S2 gave me into my play since that is canon.
The reason(s) why I don't plan on updating ever! It's mostly because Jesse's path has branched off. Things in camp happened over the past year (see: Road)! He had to grow and adapt by necessity, whereas this hasn't been forced in canon (yet? oh RIB). This actually wouldn't be an issue if the show's writing wasn't terribly inconsistent for a number of characters. It was kind of bad over the first season, but reconciling that with just "Prom Queen" is a bit of a nightmare. "Funeral" at least keeps with the whole "he has no social graces, he knows what he's talking about but he's not coach material, etc" thing. At least. And he was, on some level, purposely being useless in that. Consistency: what is that. Like I told Alison, S2 just doesn't give me enough consistent material to work with. It's mostly for comedic effect, which I'll bring up later.
On the branching off, though! The problem is that in the second season, Jesse is still very immature while in camp, he had to mature. The Road incident in particular forever pushed him out of his cushy comfort zone. It didn't make him a better person - he's still a jerk and closes himself off to a lot of people and maintains an air of superiority at times. But he's also come to understand the importance of some things that he'd previously shut out.
His life pre-camp (c. mid-S1) was definitely cushy and didn't involve things like having to deal with actually growing up and having adult problems or feelings and relationships, social and otherwise, in general. Vocal Adrenaline was full of robots! They had everything served to them on a silver platter, so they didn't need to worry about anything other than being perfect at everything related to the performing arts. Additionally, Jesse's family was wealthy, so he didn't really have any concerns. Life was easy!
But last summer, there were several kicks to the face (the cult attack, having people actually be concerned for him, dealing with some long dormant feelings), culminating in the Road incident, that forced him away from that. The "Road incident" in question is from July! Road Kamelot came to camp, Jesse met up with her while heading somewhere, struck up a conversation with her, and she proceeded to be Road at him and tormented him to the point of stabbing him several times and then leaving him in a cornfield for someone to find. Nnnnot something a seventeen year-old boy obsessed with musical theater would ever have to deal with on a normal basis, really.
Road attacking and actually injuring Jesse to the point where he honestly believed he might have died for a bit there opened his eyes. It rattled him out of that heightened sense of superiority because no matter how good he was, that still happened. For awhile, he wasn't even certain if his hands would fully recover from it, which would have meant massive reprecussions in terms of his future with performing et all. It's around then that Jesse started taking things more seriously. He had some friends, but not a lot, and it was nothing he took that seriously. The only one that he really felt any actual friendship towards was Finn, and that was because they'd already been through a bit - Finn was concerned about him during the cult attack when he had no reason to be, he helped him out after the Regionals/update debacle, and he was, on some level, fun. They had an interesting back and forth going. He also realized that, yeah, he still loved Rachel.
Before that particular incident, Jesse was sort of coasting in camp and not really thinking about things. He was dating Rose Tyler - well, more like they were in a super close "friends with benefits" relationship - he idly hung around with Finn Hudson but didn't think too hard about things like friendship, and he never, ever really let people in past his shallow facade. He flirted a bit with everyone! He'd get annoyed at the drop of the hat. Mostly, he didn't think too much about things unless they were immediate.
Jesse did several things after the attack. He almost immediately ended things with Rose due to his feelings for Rachel, after he'd realized that nothing was really going to change that. Finn was someone he also started looking at differently - this was when his interest in him started to shift a bit, into murky and unfamiliar territory (which didn't really solidify until the end of October). They'd been friends, he liked him on some level and acknowledged that, but this period was really when Jesse actually started treating Finn better, in his own way. And then, he started letting a few more people in and opened up to them. A lot of his major relationships never really came into play until after that event with Road at the end of July. Ouka and Teito were casual friendships at best - the only person he had really let in was Kururu, and that was more due to her being an exception to the rule. A lot of people he met and hung out with before the end of July? He's since drifted from.
He's still snarky, he's still a jerk, but Jesse in camp has matured over the year, whereas Jesse in canon is sort of stuck in that same general immature mindset. Jesse in CFUD at this very moment has remnants of the shallow theater kid and spats of immaturity, but at his core, he's ... grown. So! I am sticking with the end of season one as his canon point. I am down with season two stuff coming up, but Jesse will just handwave it. He's quick enough to figure out that that stuff would only have happened if he hadn't come back right after the Regionals debacle and dealt with all of it. And other stuff happened! Things have happened differently here. Whatever.
Also, honestly, Jesse's season two appearances are mostly comedic ones. The thing with Glee and comedy is that it will often go for what's funny and not necessarily what's consistent. Humor will almost always trump what's been established! See what I said in the first few paragraphs. Finn in particular ricocheted all over this season for the sake of laughs; ditto Sam and Mercedes, although they actually got some good stuff towards the end! In any case, it is usually an exercise in pain. Maybe three characters are genuinely consistent. In "Prom Queen," Jesse is super dumb. In "Funeral," he aspires to be Simon Cowell and took a class at UCLA on reality show judging and the art of being useless, apparently. It is PRETTY DAMN FUNNY, but not something I can really play with since it's mostly a caricature rather than anything with any actual substance. There are snippets of actual stuff! Buuuut not much. I mean, with this show, you suspend your disbelief sometimes, but this bordered on the ridiculous. The finale in general was like whiplash. They apparently didn't have a script for it? Good times.
... and to be really, really honest, Jesse is probably getting more action in camp than he is in season two, which has helped mellow him out immensely and toned down his crazy somewhat.
TL;DR, Jesse is still super immature in season two, whereas Jesse in camp has had both the time and the influences to grow as a person. He's still a total dick with some pretty terrible social skills and a complete infatuation for all things music and theatre-related. He's an ass! But he's an ass who has grown a bit. Jesse St. James isn't a good person now; he has, however, softened and become more willing to listen and consider things.
And now for some general bullet points on things I'll incorporate from season two. Or things I just want to ramble on! Whatever.
THE SHORT VERSION: Glee's second season has ended! Jesse had some stuff! I am not updating for various reasons, although I will incorporate some of the information that S2 gave me into my play since that is canon.
The reason(s) why I don't plan on updating ever! It's mostly because Jesse's path has branched off. Things in camp happened over the past year (see: Road)! He had to grow and adapt by necessity, whereas this hasn't been forced in canon (yet? oh RIB). This actually wouldn't be an issue if the show's writing wasn't terribly inconsistent for a number of characters. It was kind of bad over the first season, but reconciling that with just "Prom Queen" is a bit of a nightmare. "Funeral" at least keeps with the whole "he has no social graces, he knows what he's talking about but he's not coach material, etc" thing. At least. And he was, on some level, purposely being useless in that. Consistency: what is that. Like I told Alison, S2 just doesn't give me enough consistent material to work with. It's mostly for comedic effect, which I'll bring up later.
On the branching off, though! The problem is that in the second season, Jesse is still very immature while in camp, he had to mature. The Road incident in particular forever pushed him out of his cushy comfort zone. It didn't make him a better person - he's still a jerk and closes himself off to a lot of people and maintains an air of superiority at times. But he's also come to understand the importance of some things that he'd previously shut out.
His life pre-camp (c. mid-S1) was definitely cushy and didn't involve things like having to deal with actually growing up and having adult problems or feelings and relationships, social and otherwise, in general. Vocal Adrenaline was full of robots! They had everything served to them on a silver platter, so they didn't need to worry about anything other than being perfect at everything related to the performing arts. Additionally, Jesse's family was wealthy, so he didn't really have any concerns. Life was easy!
But last summer, there were several kicks to the face (the cult attack, having people actually be concerned for him, dealing with some long dormant feelings), culminating in the Road incident, that forced him away from that. The "Road incident" in question is from July! Road Kamelot came to camp, Jesse met up with her while heading somewhere, struck up a conversation with her, and she proceeded to be Road at him and tormented him to the point of stabbing him several times and then leaving him in a cornfield for someone to find. Nnnnot something a seventeen year-old boy obsessed with musical theater would ever have to deal with on a normal basis, really.
Road attacking and actually injuring Jesse to the point where he honestly believed he might have died for a bit there opened his eyes. It rattled him out of that heightened sense of superiority because no matter how good he was, that still happened. For awhile, he wasn't even certain if his hands would fully recover from it, which would have meant massive reprecussions in terms of his future with performing et all. It's around then that Jesse started taking things more seriously. He had some friends, but not a lot, and it was nothing he took that seriously. The only one that he really felt any actual friendship towards was Finn, and that was because they'd already been through a bit - Finn was concerned about him during the cult attack when he had no reason to be, he helped him out after the Regionals/update debacle, and he was, on some level, fun. They had an interesting back and forth going. He also realized that, yeah, he still loved Rachel.
Before that particular incident, Jesse was sort of coasting in camp and not really thinking about things. He was dating Rose Tyler - well, more like they were in a super close "friends with benefits" relationship - he idly hung around with Finn Hudson but didn't think too hard about things like friendship, and he never, ever really let people in past his shallow facade. He flirted a bit with everyone! He'd get annoyed at the drop of the hat. Mostly, he didn't think too much about things unless they were immediate.
Jesse did several things after the attack. He almost immediately ended things with Rose due to his feelings for Rachel, after he'd realized that nothing was really going to change that. Finn was someone he also started looking at differently - this was when his interest in him started to shift a bit, into murky and unfamiliar territory (which didn't really solidify until the end of October). They'd been friends, he liked him on some level and acknowledged that, but this period was really when Jesse actually started treating Finn better, in his own way. And then, he started letting a few more people in and opened up to them. A lot of his major relationships never really came into play until after that event with Road at the end of July. Ouka and Teito were casual friendships at best - the only person he had really let in was Kururu, and that was more due to her being an exception to the rule. A lot of people he met and hung out with before the end of July? He's since drifted from.
He's still snarky, he's still a jerk, but Jesse in camp has matured over the year, whereas Jesse in canon is sort of stuck in that same general immature mindset. Jesse in CFUD at this very moment has remnants of the shallow theater kid and spats of immaturity, but at his core, he's ... grown. So! I am sticking with the end of season one as his canon point. I am down with season two stuff coming up, but Jesse will just handwave it. He's quick enough to figure out that that stuff would only have happened if he hadn't come back right after the Regionals debacle and dealt with all of it. And other stuff happened! Things have happened differently here. Whatever.
Also, honestly, Jesse's season two appearances are mostly comedic ones. The thing with Glee and comedy is that it will often go for what's funny and not necessarily what's consistent. Humor will almost always trump what's been established! See what I said in the first few paragraphs. Finn in particular ricocheted all over this season for the sake of laughs; ditto Sam and Mercedes, although they actually got some good stuff towards the end! In any case, it is usually an exercise in pain. Maybe three characters are genuinely consistent. In "Prom Queen," Jesse is super dumb. In "Funeral," he aspires to be Simon Cowell and took a class at UCLA on reality show judging and the art of being useless, apparently. It is PRETTY DAMN FUNNY, but not something I can really play with since it's mostly a caricature rather than anything with any actual substance. There are snippets of actual stuff! Buuuut not much. I mean, with this show, you suspend your disbelief sometimes, but this bordered on the ridiculous. The finale in general was like whiplash. They apparently didn't have a script for it? Good times.
... and to be really, really honest, Jesse is probably getting more action in camp than he is in season two, which has helped mellow him out immensely and toned down his crazy somewhat.
TL;DR, Jesse is still super immature in season two, whereas Jesse in camp has had both the time and the influences to grow as a person. He's still a total dick with some pretty terrible social skills and a complete infatuation for all things music and theatre-related. He's an ass! But he's an ass who has grown a bit. Jesse St. James isn't a good person now; he has, however, softened and become more willing to listen and consider things.
And now for some general bullet points on things I'll incorporate from season two. Or things I just want to ramble on! Whatever.
- Iiii'm a little iffy on a bunch of the school stuff, because I think people at McKinley would have noticed if Jesse was suddenly bombing all of his courses or, at the very least, not performing well or ditching. I think there were "perks" re: Vocal Adrenaline at Carmel, and I think it's fair to say that Jesse's grades were definitely boosted and they probably did get some kid to take the SAT for him. But this is a guy who came off as being fairly intelligent, even if he was a jerkass. It just doesn't make sense for him to not have done some of his other courses, especially with the McKinley transfer. He was there for at least a month or two, man!
Jesse is definitely the type to coast in classes he just doesn't care about, though, and him bombing college because he didn't care about his non-major courses does make a certain amount of sense. - He doesn't really care about the world at large or the economy or things like that. It sort of flies over his head, particularly with his (presumably) well-to-do family life. I feel like a lot of this was dumbed up for comedic effect, but it's still consistent with the "whatever!" attitude he has towards things at times. Jesse is probably vaguely aware of things and if they don't affect him immediately, he waves a hand and dismisses it fairly quickly.
- A retcon! Since I finally got some more canon on his family - he has siblings. He's his parents' favorite, apparently. His brother has an addiction to whippit and his sister has bulimia. I am not sure how much of this to take with the usual grain of salt, plus the fact that this is coming from Jesse which makes it a bit dubious. Retcon on the family situation - it is even more screwed up than I imagined. I'm going to assume he's the youngest. If Jesse ever told your character that he was an only child, scratch that. He doesn't talk about his family much, though.
- Jesse thinks that Finn dances and sings like a zombie that has to poop.
never serenade him, finn hudson
This hasn't changed much in camp, although Jesse views it as an opportunity to practice his teaching skills. Artistically speaking, to him, Finn is a project, a work-in-progress. And Jesse does love to give back. It's just so important. - He is completely brutal when it comes to music and criticism. With that said, season one at least showed that he was somewhat capable of being constructive with all of that - and by "constructive," I mean "harsh but there IS a point in there" - so I'm going with that. Add to that the fact that in "Funeral," Jesse was actively trying to be useless and blistering at the same time, and said as much. He definitely seemed into at least Mercedes' performance! In camp, he's at least aware now that he's brutal, but he'll never offer any apologies for it or water it down. SORRY, VANYA! When he is genuinely giving critique and not just screwing around or being crazy, there isn't any real malice to it. Jesse isn't trying to be mean or brutal with his crit, he is just generally very ... very blunt when it comes to that sort of thing, and lacks the social graces to cushion it in any way.
He is also really good at not paying attention when he just doesn't care and scribbles cats on notepads. - Jesse's knee-jerk reaction is to go for the practical choice over the emotional one. In camp, he's realized that this does shoot him in the foot - like when he ditched Rachel for Vocal Adrenaline and his fourth title, which he canonically admits is his greatest regret - so he does at least try to consider the emotional aspect. Again, he's matured a bit! He has a hard time understanding it, though, and his gut tends to tell him "do this! it makes more practical sense!". Talking about his feelings is the worst thing ever for him. Those times during the winter when Finn forced him to and he refused to flounce on principle were terrible for him. Terrible.
- With all of that said, love (Rachel) is now definitely more important than fame to Jesse in canon. Fame is still something that's big in his mind and he wants it so badly, but on some level, despite his immaturity and everything, he understands that how he feels for Rachel and just feeling that in general is much more important than being super famous and having a billion national titles. This pretty much falls in line with how I've been playing it in camp! Jesse has only a few things that he holds dear to him - but the things that he does, he holds onto tightly and will do crazy and stupid things to keep them.
On that note, Rachel has changed him on so many levels. No matter how angry or upset he may get with her, she is probably the one person that could get away with anything with him. He'd rage, he'd run off, but Jesse would always get over it because it's Rachel. He will always, always come back for her. Period. - If Jesse loves you, he will do stupid things for you, like practice his reality show judge routine to get you solos. He is also the most obvious person ever when fishing for something related to feelings, mostly because he is terrible with them and still doesn't quite understand them.
- Jesse is Simon and Schue is Paula.