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: Critics at the New York Times highlighted the "Fresh" streaming company meeting as a sharp satire of the tech industry’s exploitation of Black youth culture. The sequence features painful microaggressions, such as an audio engineer asking Al to sound "more cool" (code for "more Black").

: Fresh off house arrest, Al is robbed by his dealer of ten years—a scene described by Den of Geek as a "hilariously awkward and polite hold-up". This sets a tone where Al finds himself "too big for his old life and not sculpted enough for his new one". Atlanta_2x02

In the second episode of Atlanta: Robbin’ Season , titled "," the series explores the various ways success and social performance can lead to being "robbed". The episode maintains the dark, surreal tone of the season premiere while leaning into the theme of code-switching . Performance vs. Reality : Critics at the New York Times highlighted

The core of "Sportin' Waves" is the friction between authenticity and the performances required by different social "bubbles". This sets a tone where Al finds himself

: The episode mocks the trend of "waspy, annoying" acoustic rap covers, showing how outside cultures dilute hip-hop to make it sound "poppy". Characters and Conflict Atlanta Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Sportin' Waves

About the Author

Elaine Chiew is a fiction writer and visual arts researcher. She is a two-time winner of The Bridport Prize, amidst other prizes and shortlistings. Her debut short story collection, The Heartsick Diaspora, will be coming out with Myriad Editions (U.K.). She is also the compiler and editor of Cooked Up: Food Fiction From Around the World (New Internationalist, 2015), and has had numerous stories in anthologies and journals. She also writes flash fiction (named Wigleaf Top 50 twice, along other honours). In October 2017, she was the Writer in Residence at Singapore’s premier School of the Arts. She received an M.A. in Asian Art Histories from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2017. In addition to writing freelance on Asian visual arts for magazines like ArtReview Asia, she also blogs about contemporary Asian writers at AsianBooksBlog and the visual arts on her blog, Invisible Flâneuse.

About the Artist

Fanny Cammaert is a digital artist living in Belgium. She adopted the stage name Lizzie Stardust as a member of the electro group Velvet Underwear. Since recording and touring with that group, she began working in visual media. Drawing on the kilim weaving that is part of her Ukrainian heritage, her art explores the interplay of digital patterns and electronic glitches. Thematically, her work brings digital infinity into connection with human emotions.

This story appeared in Issue Sixty-Three of SmokeLong Quarterly.
SmokeLong Quarterly Issue Sixty-Three
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SmokeLong Fitness – The Year-round Community Workshop of SmokeLong

Atlanta_2x02In September 2022 SmokeLong launched a workshop environment/community christened SmokeLong Fitness. This community workshop is happening right now on our dedicated workshop site. If you choose to join us, you will work in a small group of around 15-20 participants to give and receive feedback on flash narratives—one new writing task each week.