ariana grande has us in shambles
plus, our shared humanness
welcome to brb crying, a weekly newsletter where two thirty-something teenagers talk about what made them cry. laugh along as we dive into what moves us to tears (movies! books! personal stories! tbh anything is fair game!) and why crying helps us connect with ourselves and each other. check out the pod for more.
💌 dear diary reader
in this week’s episode—026: ari, can we be friends? / stand-up dramedy—we explore the pain that every single one of us faces. in doing so, we realize that—surprise!—we’re all human. famous people? human. trans people? also human. who knew???
🔮 a glimpse into this week’s stories
✨NINS AMBUSHES ARNS WITH ARIANA GRANDE MUSIC VIDEO
this week, nins finds multiple meanings in ariana grande’s song and music video “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)”. as you can see, the real-time sobs were brutal.
a snippet from nins’ segment:
i know it’s hard to empathize with someone who is rich and famous and beautiful and a global star. and even as i try to understand the feelings ariana is expressing in this song, i am not going to pretend that i will ever know what it feels like to be ariana grande living through the highs and lows of celebrity and the ever-changing opinions of the masses. i have no fucking clue what that’s like.
but i know what it’s like to want so desperately to be loved.
to be accepted.
to chase approval and affirmation.
to feel understood.
i think we can all relate to that, at least. i think that’s what everybody wants, no matter who you are.
✨ARNS CACKLES THEN ABRUPTLY SOBS AT ALOK’S STAND-UP SHOW
this week, arns watches gender nonconforming and transfeminine artist alok vaid menon’s (@alokvmenon) stand-up show, “Biology!”.
fair warning: the pivot from laughter to grief is jarring. (for a 10-minute snippet, start around the 22:29 mark.)
a snippet from arns’ segment:
the injustices marginalized people face are cerebral. all of this suffering stems from constructs created by people whose hearts are full of fear.
within all of us—even those whose hearts are full of fear—is the feeling that Alok evokes…this humanness that transcends labels and categories and binaries.
because all of us know pain, and loss, and grief. there’s no room for bigotry when we’re united by the universality of our feelings.
thanks for reading brb crying :’) subscribe for free to cry along with us every week.
🙉 other stuff
✨ THANK GOD—THE GIVEAWAY IS FINALLY OVER
thank you to everyone who showed us love! our lucky winner katelyn will now be donning a super stylish hat :’)
that’s it. that’s all we got. we can’t wait to hear from you. ok bye love you!!!
in shambles,
nins & arns