#I mean not to be Controversial but it actually seems like he's matured More than L in some ways...

[oliwrightofficial]

AOTV spoilers kinda, Oli is legit a funny person in the documentary. Like he's probably more supportive than H when it comes to loving Louis. I wish I have an Oli friend. But yeah, not just that how he speaks about Louis is truly heart warming, also he loves louies sooo much and I think, maybe I'm biased (probably I am) , I think he's kinda annoyed/irritated by #those🍑 people, I dunno, that's what I got from him. Anyways, I hope that docu also diminished the idea that Louis' friends or his relations have no depth cuz some of them are quite interesting and intellectual people.

AOTV spoilers so far: exactly what we would have expected to see of Louis, but OLI REVELATIONS LEFT AND RIGHT! #OliTheseVoices AM I RIGHT?

[ceasarslegion]

I've never watched Beastars but it's like "the furry anime" right? But not actually hentai... I mean it's on Netflix like seemed maybe less controversial than some CLAMP stuff.

Im a big beastars fan and it does have a lot of sexual themes, but its also very clearly labeled as an adult anime and manga. Like its not for kids, netflix rates it as mature and i find all the manga in the adult section of the graphic novels shelf at the library.

Essentially, its about a society where all animals (other than fish and insects) evolved into humanoids with human intelligence, but its still divided along the lines of predators and prey. It plays with ideas of what a society like this would look like, and how carnivores would have to coexist with herbivores despite their very real need to consume animal protein, and if insects and eggs and dairy products would really be enough for them. And how things get even more complicated when you take into account various sizes of different animals and how some need more protein than others, and how some would have more traditionalist upbringings than others. The main character is legosi, a large grey wolf who falls in love with a small dwarf rabbit, haru. They go to a non-segregated high school and are 17 and 18, respectively. Legosi has a very strong sense of justice and is very timid and mild-mannered and gentle, which is the opposite of whats expected of him as a member of the largest canidae species. He does bare his fangs a lot, but really only to protect others.

Theres a lot more in it, like a black market for real herbivore meat frequented not by gang members but respectable office workers and a lion pride mafia family, and the "beastar" that gives the series its name refers to a title given to a young up-and-coming animal who fosters unity and peaceful coexistence among carnivores and herbivores. Beastars go on to become CEOs, politicians, celebrities, etc.

So yes, it is a furry anime, but the narrative is really interesting and well thought-out imo. Theres even moments like when jack, a labrador retriever, is told that he shouldnt be hanging out with hyenas and wolves even if theyre all canidae because his species is not like those other carnivores.

I also really like the first op:

[lasi-nariyoyoreads]

Suho's personality according to tarots

Disclaimer:

My readings are made for fun and you should read them for fun too. So don't take them seriously. 

Core

The star

The star is such a pretty card, I can see why it appeared for him.

He's at peace with the universe, someone who has a positive look on life.

He's a spiritual person and a source of inspiration for the people in his life.

But this doesn't mean he's a hermit, there's a balance between his inner and outer world, he cares equally about both aspects.

Often, someone who cares about looks and popularity can be a bit vain and someone who is introspective might forget about the social aspect, I feel Suho manages to balance his need for self-reflection and his need to be in the spotlight. I think it's such a rare and amazing quality.

He seems like a man who has reached a nice position from a spiritual point of view. He might've struggled in the past, he still struggles probably, but he's mature and he knows how to face properly the challenges that come to him.

How does he see himself?

Rev ace of cups, 9 of cups, rev 4 of wands

He feels that he's holding back his emotions, or he feels blocked by certain things, as if he can't truly break through to get what he wants.

There might be a feeling of "they don't love me enough".

At the same time, he can't really complain.

He knows he's a successful person, he's doing a job he likes, he's able to try new things, he meets many people etc.

He wants to be a positive energy for others and he thinks he manages to do.

Maybe that's why he feels "blocked" sometimes, he doesn't like to open up on his negative feelings, he tends to bury them deep down in his heart, while he only shows his good and happy side to others.

It's possible he feels that he shouldn't complain, that he's lucky etc. so he's ashamed to harbor feelings of unsatisfaction.

As much as he enjoys hic current life, he probably wonders many times if he isn't missing out on anything. A normal childhood, just going to school and hanging out, without having to go to train, a normal young adult life, going to university, finding a job, falling in love etc.

He probably wonders "what if I wasn't who I am today? Would I be happier?"

How do others see him?

8 of pentacles, 3 of cups, rev 9 of pentacles

The general impression is that Suho works a lot, he takes care of a lot of aspects, he's diligent and dedicated to his job and to his group.

But he isn't only linked to his job, people think he's a very sociable person, who likes to party, have fun with others, hang out with friends.

It seems like he does have a great work/life balance 

It's also possible he's the type of person who likes to invite his juniors to eat and pay for them.

They feel that he might lack indipendence, a real self-identity.

He might tend to show off his money/status or to show that he's more than what he truly is.

Positive traits:

Rev 2 of cups, king of pentacles, the hermit

He's extremely faithful to the people close to him

He can have very respectful relationships, with a lot of harmony and balance.

And yes, he's the embodiment of the king of pentacles.

He's a mature man, successful and wealthy, he doesn't try anything risky, he never does anything controversial, he's dependable, he's hard worker, he's solid, generous, almost an old-fashioned man, in the most positive sense.

Despite all this openness, like I mentioned before, Suho is an introspective person. He knows his inner world very well, he probably enjoys to analyse his own feelings and try to not let them become harmful.

As much as he likes gatherings and friends, he also enjoys some alone time where he can take care of his inner world and mental health, allowing him to be all the positive things that people around him think he is.

It's possible he might take actual periods where he enjoys being completely alone and out of touch with other people, like traveling alone.

It might also point to him taking seriously his mental health and attending professional like psychologists etc.

He's not afraid to seek help and take time off if he needs.

Negative traits:

Rev 4 of pentacles, 6 of swords, rev 10 of swords

He might be too generous with his money. Like he might spend too much on himself or the people around him.

His faithfulness might be a weakness if he's dealing with bad people.

He might be too trusting in general and they might take advantage of him.

If he realizes he's being taken advantage of, he might have a hard time to push that person away. I feel he might be prone to end up in unhealthy dynamics.

He might in general have a hard time to let go of the past and move on.

He's faithful but to the point it gets problematic and gets in the way of his growth as a person.

He might suffer in silence and be ok with all sorts of hardships, he has a tendency to self-sacrifice that might be excessive and unnecessary at times.

[solradguy]

GG2OMC (ENGLISH): THAT MAN - ISOTOPE & ISOLATION

Word Count: 1645 Warnings: None Chapter Index & Credits Page・ Mobile Friendly Version Archive.org download page (.PDF + uncompressed art scans)

Having completed the basic theory of the force of law, humanity began researching applications of that theory in various fields without a break. Each country, in pursuit of their own interests, invested heavily in this research and recruited top scientists in rapid succession. These scientists, too, were striving to develop new technologies in this new field in a favorable environment. At the forefront of applied legal research was a semi-state-run research institute in the United States of America where three up-and-coming young minds were gathered.

“Oh my god! He’s smoking in the lab again!”

Aria, who had shoulder-length red hair and a folder tucked under her arm, opened the door and slid into the lab. She was the only woman in the group and was undeniably talented, having obtained a doctorate in information engineering in her teens. Her mature behavior made her seem older than her actual age, but the occasional gesture or mannerism still showed the face of an innocent young woman. 

“Zip it. This ain’t a cigarette.” 

A man who was sitting by a window, looking listless, responded. Frederick was a tall man with a toned physique more like an athlete than a researcher. Two years older than Aria, he held a degree in particle physics and was a leading researcher in the recently established field of force of law energy physics. 

“...Oh! You noticed then?”

“...No, not really… Sure, I noticed.”

“Aw, come on! Aren’t you usually like, “You look good today, man,” or whatever? Ah, as expected. It gives me chills imagining you saying something sensible…” 

With a sniff, Frederick looked away.

“Haha, that’s quite dramatic…” 

A slender man who served as the head of the laboratory appeared quietly, holding a steaming cup of coffee in both hands. He was also a young genius scientist who studied life science at a young age and played a role in the completion of the basic theory of the force of law and its mechanics. He had since shifted his major to bioinformatics, and as the head of the laboratory, he was leading the research on applied forensic mechanics.

“Oh, good morning! It's getting warmer, and the long hours are getting in the way of my work..."

"Mm, you're looking a lot brighter today.”

"Wow! Really?”

"Hmph, looks like you're finally getting out of your schoolboy mood…” Frederick said, bitterly. 

"Haha... Here, Frederick. Be careful, it's hot.”

He handed him the cup of freshly brewed black coffee. Frederick took the cup silently and sipped it.

“...So, were you two up all night again?”

“Yeah, well, I must admit I wasn’t working. We got into a little bit of a conversation…”

“I wouldn't call five hours ‘little’…"

Frederick looked disinterested, and then he said venomously, "Ugh, five hours. I don’t know how you two don’t get bored… So, what were you talking about?”

“We were talking about events that still remain controversial in our time.”

"What a disappointment. That’s not much different than talking about your job…”

Aria sighed. Frederick, ignoring her, continued, “We and science are not all-powerful. There are things we can't understand or solve.”

“I don't deny that, of course. What I am saying is that there is a difference between ‘events we cannot unravel due to our lack of understanding’ and ‘events we cannot perceive in the first place.’”

“What do you mean by ‘imperceptible events?’"

“For example... Yes, the existence of God. Let's put aside religious belief for the moment, but we can understand the concept of God. But we have not scientifically proven the actual existence of God.”

“God is God, and that’s it. Apparently whoever believes in Him will be saved.”

“I used a bad metaphor. Let's talk about something more familiar. Our bodies are composed of about 60 trillion cells, whose roles are determined by DNA. In the 20th century, we finally figured out how this worked.”

“You're the one with the expertise..."

Frederick nodded arrogantly then sipped his coffee.

“But we don’t truly know by whom or even how this mechanism was constructed.”

“Who said that..? It was the result of trial and error woven by nature, wasn't it? If you fail, you start over. If you succeed, you move on to the next step. Of course, there must have been mutations.”

"Aria... Do you think that all of this, including the mutations, is an accident of nature?"

“I don't see how it could be any other way…”

“That's far too stochastic. Though, probability theory is your area of expertise.”

"Probabilistically, you're right. But what else is there?”

An impatient Frederick urged him on.

“Sorry, Frederick. Let's jump to a conclusion. What kind of being has the power to direct the course of events in a single direction? A being that defines in detail the course of every event in the world.”

“Alright, so that would be a god, then?”

“It is close to that concept. Let's call it ‘God’. And if ‘God’ is something we cannot perceive fundamentally..."

“Even if it did exist, what’s there to be worried about..?“

“Do you know what a 'missing link’ is? It’s a term used to describe a significant gap in the expected continuity of an event when a discontinuity is observed. To use a simple biological analogy, it’s a situation in which the existence of Species B, which should have occurred during the evolutionary process from Species A to Species C, is completely missing. So, how does the missing link occur? I believe that this phenomenon is a control error by ‘God’. In other words, ‘God's’ definition of events does not always work as it should. So… why then does a control error occur? Is the mechanism itself flawed, or is it encouraged to mutate by a third party..? I believe it is the latter. That is to say, a "third party" intervenes in the evolution from Species A to Species B, which was determined by ‘God’ as the natural course of events, and suggests evolution to Species C... or eliminates the possibility of evolution to Species B. In any case, the original evolution was to evolve to Species C via Species B, but the "third party" rewrites the program to evolve directly to Species C. I call this third party ‘divine revelation.’”

“W-wait a minute! That’s not easy to understand at all…”

Aria pouted. Frederick saw this and followed by folding his arms.

“It isn’t necessary to increase the length of a 1-meter giraffe's neck from 2 meters to 3 meters to 4 meters to make it 10 meters long. Make it 10 meters all at once. Rewrite its DNA. However, he's saying that this rewriting of DNA is not the work of a god but some kind of ‘revelation.’”

“I get the logic, but it's a bit far-fetched. Besides, if it's a being that encourages successful evolution, then what's the problem?”

“No, that's not always the case. There are a small number of extinct species among those for which the missing link has been identified. The ultimate goal of biological evolution is the perpetuation of a species. Therefore, extinct species cannot be considered an evolutionary success story. This is also true for us humans. If ‘divine revelation’ intervenes and forces us to evolve in the wrong direction while we are trying to evolve properly, we are doomed.”

The tone grew more serious and the color drained from Aria’s face.

"...Aria, it’s all bullshit. Don’t take it seriously.”

“Haha, that’s a heartless thing to say, Frederick. Call it a hypothesis.”

“Ok, so what do you really think, Fred?”

"It's best if you find your own way. I couldn't stand it being decided for me... That's all." 

“I’m glad. We’re on the same page, then…”

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Beep. Be-beep. Beep. Be-beep. Beep. Be-beep.

An electronic warning alarm echoed in the darkened room.

"Oh my, I've exceeded the overflow limit again..."

A tall man dressed all in black clicked his tongue loathsomely. He tapped the console to stop the device. Then the man walked to the end of a terminal, a huge coffin-like structure, solemnly as if he was approaching an altar. 

With a flick of a switch, the lid of the device was removed without a sound. A few moments later, a pale, slender boy rose from inside the device. The structure’s interior was filled with a colorless liquid, blocking interference from the outside world. This highly viscous liquid clung to the boy's naked body.

The boy's brain plasma was connected to over hundreds of tiny metallic threads. The procedure involved reattaching memory data to the hippocampus. More specifically, it was the process of receiving backups of stored memories from the HPC server and restoring lost memories.

The procedure to rejuvenate the body had the fatal flaw of causing a high rate of memory clouding and loss. For that reason, the boy temporarily stored his memories in advance in preparation for permanent memory loss.

“How are you feeling?”

“My senses feel fresh and finely honed. The restoration was completed without any problems.”

“Though, rejection of juvenile hormones is troublesome..."

“It is not originally a human bioactive substance. In the meantime, these memory data will continue to be backed up in advance.”

“...Hm”

The man in the black cloak with the word “raven” written on it, bowed his head reverently.

“Incidentally, how are you doing? You seemed to have had subtle brainwave disturbances during the session..."

“...Indeed, I was reminded of a memory from long ago. Perhaps my emotions got the better of me.”

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Chapter Index & Credits Page・ Mobile Friendly Version

[daisythornes]

initial thoughts on tua s4 (after watching it once, a week ago) PART 1

first of all, i liked a lot of it. not all of it by any means! but i had a better time than i did with s2 and s3. i'm very aware that's a controversial take, so:

why did i (kinda) like it?

i felt like it started off strong! when i watch stuff, i prioritize story, character, tone, and dialogue above pretty much all else.

like, are meaningful things happening at a satisfying pace? how much do i care about what happens next? does it feel like the characters are being written consistently, but also being led toward realistic changes? is every decision in harmony with the established tone? is the dialogue shit, or is it good? and straight up, the beginning of s4 was hitting all these marks for me.

STORY: pacing-wise, it wasn't a slog like s3, and i was super invested in a lot of elements of it. the umbrella effect conspiracy, the brellies getting their powers back after dealing with still feeling Wrong in their more 'perfect' lives, the creepy fake christmas town (!!). even some weird detours that didn't really go anywhere, (eg. the diego and luther at the fbi/cia/whatever scene) were fun to me just because they did interesting things for the...

CHARACTERS!: at first, i was super on board with so much of what they were doing with everyone.

luther got to experience extreme body confidence and being perceived as sexy for... really the first time in the series, only to have it taken away from him all over again. he was functional and happy, but he was living in the gutted bones of the academy, and that hurt little child in him was still asking diego if he's a bad leader. beautiful stuff. he needed to make peace with his body and confront reginald (but not played for laughs this time) and learn to love every part of himself, even the failures and imperfections. it really seemed like he was being set up to do this over the course of the season, but... alas.

diego... well. i actually wish they'd done way more with diego, but i do think his and lila's relationship was never as compelling or right for these characters as i wanted it to be. them realizing it's just not working, and coming out the other side as friends who still love each other would've slayed. it could've been some kind of parallel to diego and patch, but this time diego's mature enough to handle it really well. i think him being a dad (and one of his kids being named grace) is incredible. there was a LOT there to explore, but. i guess i didn't notice how uninterested the show seemed to be in actually doing that until after watching it. still, i guess i appreciate the basic ideas they had here. AND his much-needed bonding with luther.

allison trying and failing miserably to succeed and match up to her old rumored-perfect life?? literally so sexy and agonizing and fitting for her. like, can't you imagine her wondering if she really did need her rumor to be happy? if allison on her own was in fact, never good enough? and then, yknow... overcoming this, after confronting all of her worst fears head-on? i loved watching her be a damn mess, and i think the choices to have Ray walk out on her, and Claire not always get along with her, and Klaus call her out for her toxicity were GOLD. just... wish they would've given her some kind of... yknow, resolution to all this.

klaus' storyline had me worried from the previews ngl – i was so scared they'd sort of cartoonify and make fun of health anxiety/ocd through it – you know what i mean. but idk... it felt a lot more natural for his character + grounded in reality than i expected it to. he just traded out one addiction for another. he knows the afterlife is miserable, and he'd do anything to avoid it. makes all the sense in the world. i loved how deeply caring he was, but i also love that he got to be angry and complicated and unpalatable this season! he was the furthest thing from flanderized, and he felt fully like himself in a way that he hasn't since season 1 imo.

i always did kinda want them to do the klaus + his powers being exploited storyline from the comics, buuuut.. idk. as much as i'm glad they went there without pulling any punches, it felt super late in the series to have him deal with it now. and i was waiting desperately for him to save himself, as claire said he could, by yknow... his powers evolving to the point where he could raise an army of the dead and have them do his bidding. everyone else got their powers to s2 intro level but him. it felt SO much like that was where they were going for klaus too, and i'm MAD about it.

i do think this storyline as a whole ended up feeling like a retread of his s1 arc in a lot of ways, but... again, at least klaus felt like klaus all the way through. and i'd rather have a dark arc that knows it's dark than whatever klaus' s2 was.

five... hmm. i do think five would find something to be weirdly intense about after living his life the way he has, but yeah, i don't know that he'd do it by working for any government. he's too antagonistic toward authority, right? i can, however. see him getting into double-crossing and/or conspiracy shit, which they do play with a little in s4! and that was probably my favorite five solo plot stuff of the season ngl. i wish we could've seen more of it. also i fully believe five's condescending ass would make sure he gets treated like the world-weary old man that he is while he looks like a babyfaced intern, 100%.

i did find it super fun to see him as an adult, simply because we've never really known what a 'normal' five would be like until now. and the answer is pretty solid in several ways, i think. 'normal' five is still wildly ambitious, constantly looking for ways to stoke a little chaos in his life because he really doesn't know how to function without it, and like?? also kinda just a nice brother and uncle? him solemnly nodding and saying "good effort" to diego's kid when she fails to hit a piñata was a stroke of genius.

elephant in the room time: i loved the idea of a five/lila romance. idk if i loved how it happened, but yeah! i think lila needs someone that will constantly challenge her meanness, and five's nothing if not a challenge to lila. five having a romantic storyline as one of his last character beats makes sense, guys. we don't have to be weird about it. let the man grow up, just like s1 implied he would eventually do. five's literally been an old-fashioned romantic from the beginning (re: delores). diego and lila were all chemistry, no warmth. five and lila had both. so... kudos to tua for taking the risk and exploring something fun here!

ben's storyline... i didn't care for. this was a maaajor weak link, and maybe the worst possible character plot to pin the overarching story to. i really dislike the instalove trope, and ben and jennifer went from being kinda cute with a bit of chemistry to being ride or die devoted to each other in like what... two days? bullshit. i think literally everything about the durango existing and having a nuclear reaction to the marigold, and ben being killed by reginald because of it was a whole load of stupid. i always just kinda. thought ben must've died because his powers eventually ripped him apart, or because someone fucked up on a mission and he got killed by a villain or something. no need for... any of the desperate nonsense they actually came up with.

ngl, i also straight up never agreed with them killing off umbrella ben in s2 like. it was WAY too early for that. i didn't want to see sparrow ben resolve his issues and go through an arc or whatever, i wanted to see umbrella ben through to the end. all that said, i actually thought it was smart and quite sweet to have viktor be the last person to give up on a world-ending ben, because yeah, it should always have been the case that any hargreeves is capable of doing that. the apocalypse is a metaphor for them unleashing the pain of their childhood on the world around them, etc. viktor actually succeeding in saving ben and saving the world would've been gorgeously full-circle. so... there was probably a good idea buried in here somewhere. sucks that it remained buried!

viktor! oogh, viktor. so, i was a little charmed by the initial introduction that sees viktor as kind of a shitty guy that's 'gone through every woman in town.' like, again, we're playing with opposites. the brellies getting their dream lives, but still not finding fulfillment in them, because they have yet to actually complete all the difficult work of healing. viktor is now a confident player that owns a cool bar with his name on it. i get what they were going for (and i liked it!), but i wish they would've actually gone somewhere with it.

i did really like viktor's dynamic with reginald in this season, purely for the fact that it actually acknowledged all the pain he caused viktor for the first time since season 1. it felt kinda weird and last minute for sure, but i chalk that up to how long of a time this has been coming, and yknow, better late than never. it felt soo good to see the depths of viktor's fury again, and this time fully directed at the man who incited it. fuck. yeah.

i loved reg growing a conscience and showing a completely unnecessary moment of kindness to viktor. shocking, i know. but the way the show didn't use this to try and redeem reg, or to guilt viktor into offering him forgiveness really landed right with me. like how tragic is that? at the very end, reginald learned something of humanity. but the damage had already been done. much like in the construction of tua as a tv series. :')

uhm. apparently posts have a text limit, so tbc in part 2! ;)

[toldbytendo]

"no more microphones: how misogynoir continues to reveal itself — it’s time for podcast licenses." 🙄

Hey lovelies,

I’m tired and I wanna talk about it…🤦🏾‍♀️

Podcast licenses should most definitely be a thing. Honestly, if this is the kind of content that "free speech" allows, maybe we need to rethink it altogether. Imagine the peace we'd have if people (men) needed approval before being handed a mic—because right now, it seems like anyone (men) with an internet connection and a bad opinion gets a platform. If a little censorship could keep this kind of nonsense rubbish out of our ears, it may be worth it!

Watching the recent controversy unfold with James and Fuhad from Shxts and Gigs has actually really irritated and annoyed me. James and Fuhad’s comments about Black women weren’t just offhand or "jokes." They were rooted in a long-standing pattern of dehumanising, belittling, and degrading Black women in ways that are too familiar to ignore. I saw their apology, if you can even call it that, and I was left wondering—do they really believe they did something wrong, or are they just trying to calm the storm? When Andrew joined in, laughing at their apology on his own platform, it only made it worse. This is the circle we keep going around in. Men laughing at other men for even attempting to apologise for their wrongdoing, while we, Black women, are left sitting with the pain of being torn apart by the same people we would naturally expect to come to our defence.

First and foremost, it’s absolutely nobody’s place besides Black women to tell us how we should feel about this controversy. We were the ones disrespected and degraded, and it is entirely our right to process and cope with that in whatever way we see fit. Whether that means speaking out, stepping back, or holding onto our anger for as long as we need, it’s not up to anyone else—especially not Black men or those defending these actions—to dictate how we react. We are the offended party here, and we deserve the space to feel, grieve, and respond on our own terms.

My initial thoughts were simple: we (Black women) need to stop expecting Black men with microphones, who *very clearly* do not like Black women, to run to our defense. I’ve spent too much time hoping for the men in our community to step up and recognise the harm they perpetuate, but the truth is, many of them simply won’t. They don’t have the emotional maturity, nor the desire, or mental capacity to understand the nuances of what it means to be a Black woman in this world.

But my perspective has since shifted. It’s not just about expecting them to be ‘pro-Black’ or ‘pro-Black women’. That’s too idealistic at this point. It’s about speaking up against blatant racism and disrespect, especially when it’s directed at women in their own community. This isn’t about policing preference. I truly support and encourage anyone, Black men included to love who they love, wholeheartedly. It’s literally not about who you’re attracted to. It’s about the line that gets crossed when Black women are made to feel inferior, unworthy, and less-than in the eyes of Black men who have been indoctrinated with the same anti-Blackness that white supremacy relies on. You can quite literally see it playing out in this situation, Andrew (a known misogynist, racist and white suprematist) is quite literally getting exactly what he hoped out of this situation.

We’re not even talking about accountability anymore. At this point, it’s about survival. We truly deserve better, but I personally can no longer waste my energy demanding something that feels like it's constantly being denied. I feel so defeated. It’s such a debilitating and depressing experience opening social media and seeing your community, Black women, being dragged, laughed at, bullied and degraded online. We’re only human. We keep calling out the harmful rhetoric. We keep showing how deeply it affects us. Yet, there’s always a flood of Black men defending their behavior, telling us we’re “too sensitive” or that “it’s never that serious.” They show up to silence us rather than holding their brothers accountable.

Would it have been “not that serious” if they had spent an entire podcast episode dragging Black men instead? Would Andrew have laughed and mocked an apology if the target wasn’t Black women, but someone who looked like him? There’s no question that they would have had something to say. But when it’s about us?

Crickets. 🦗

I don’t have the energy to argue anymore. We’re in 2024. If Black men haven’t unlearned their internalized racism by now, then they never will. Anti-Blackness runs rampant within our own community, and it breaks my heart. I’ve said all I can, and I know many of you feel the same—tired, heartbroken, and utterly defeated.

The truth is, we don’t need validation from these men, and we don’t need to keep begging for respect. We’ve seen time and time again that some of them just aren’t capable of giving it. But what we do need is to recognise that our hurt is valid, and it’s okay to feel disturbed by what’s happening. It’s okay to be bothered when you see these “apologies” that do nothing but laugh in the face of accountability. It’s okay to disengage, to stop pouring your energy into a well that doesn’t run deep enough to support you.

At times like these, the importance of looking to one another, to other Black women, for a sense of community is more crucial than ever. We need to uplift one another because, as painful as it is, controversies like this reveal some dark realities that come with being a Black woman. But it’s just one part of the experience—it doesn’t define us. Unionising and speaking out when disrespect like this occurs is essential, not just to raise awareness but for ourselves—to make it clear that we see what’s happening and we will not forget. But once we’ve spoken up, we also need to remind ourselves to move on from these moments of disrespect.

This ridiculousness will never define Black womanhood, because only we have the power to define who we are. Black womanhood is not aggression, manipulation, or whatever else they try to paint us as. We know better. It’s a multifaceted, beautiful experience that can never be reduced to the tired, harmful stereotypes these men keep pushing. We don’t need to rely on podcasts hosted by racists, misogynists, and anti-Black clowns to tell us who we are. Our sense of self, our strength, and our beauty is something only we can shape, and we do.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not about expecting better from them anymore. It’s about demanding respect for ourselves—whether they give it to us or not. And sometimes, that means stepping back to protect your peace.

Just had to get that off my chest, feeling a lot at the moment. 🫠🥴

[btsugarush]

I don’t wanna present as mean but i kinda dislike the mc in gangsta. Girl could wait a lil longer without getting hotheaded with jk over not having sex. Like, imagine a guy throwing his female love interest out in the middle of the night because she didn’t wanna sex. Pretty sure I'd be tearing the guy a new asshole. So why is it okay for mc to do so? Also, her better judgement is pretty much based on kdrama, no other explanation for sassing a bitch ass mafia guy, other than that she's just a dumbass. Funny how she's giving maturity lessons to Mina lol.

All things aside, you're an excellent writer because otherwise i wouldn’t get such a strong reaction about mc. You portrayed her so well, she seems like an actual person and not just an mc in a fanfic. Kudos to you, my girl. ❤️ Advance happy birthday and congrats on the baby. https://ibb.co/vYphXNN

Thank you! 🩷 Your opinions are greatly valued here. I wouldn’t say she simply throws jungkook away because she hasn’t done anything with yoongi as of yet in the story, but will slowly find herself being more attracted to him the more he pursues her. She is a bit of a hypocrite and I kinda do write her in a way that people act in the real world. I kinda wrote her how my real life best friend is because she’ll give me advice and then go and do questionable shit herself LMAO. I do believe in karma for people that cheat or do wrong by others, which is why mc will ultimately end up regretting her decisions as the fic goes on and she see’s that Yoongi’s track record isn’t for show and that he is a very brutal person. I wrote the mc in a controversial way where you want to like her but she’s also pisses you off because like girl wtf? I also write her sassing Yoongi a lot because she’s a bit clueless where she acknowledges the bad stories she’s heard and his records online but he hasn’t shown her how truly reckless and dangerous he is yet so she sees him as a guy that uses the bad publicity to look like this scary bad boy, and yoongi is aware that she’s not into the bad boys so he’s playing the “don’t believe everything you hear” role, and will show this sweet, caring side of him until she falls for him. Like a manipulation tactic. If that makes sense LOL.

But thank you so much! 🥹🫶🏾

I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far and it’s touched you this much because it tells me I’m doing something right. 🩷

[gingerylangylang1979]

Why Is Sydney “Too Young” for Carmy?

I keep seeing this brought up across many platforms and I’m confused. 

1. We don’t know how old these characters are supposed to be. We just don’t. The original script had Carmy as 25 and I believe Sydney was 35. Tina was also a man named Tito. Changes were made but we don’t know what the current ages are and why those changes were made which brings up many questions. Things that make you go, hmmm.

2. If our closest educated guess is the actor’s actual ages and we assume Carmy is 31 and Sydney is 26 is that a “huge age gap” as I keep seeing people say? When did a five year age difference become scandalous between legal adults? Most women prefer a man a few years older because it usually means more maturity. And men do tend to prefer a woman a few years younger because they are generally (don’t come for me I know it’s not everyone, but it’s the norm) attracted to youth. When I was 24 I was dating a 29 year old. He did not seem too old for me. Recently, I’ve dated men up to 12 years older than me. Currently, I prefer a five year difference either way because that seems to be the most familiar to me. 

So yeah, why is possibly a five year gap suddenly bizarre. Seems like an artificial hangup. Side note, I never see people balk at this age difference between Sydney and Marcus (Lionel is also 31) and sometimes, but rarely, when people mention Sydney and Richie where there is an obviously bigger gap. So what is it about her with Carmy that is age inappropriate?

3. Is it just because Ayo looks young? As a 42 year old petite dark skinned Black woman, I look extremely young for my age. I regularly get hit on by twenty somethings that think we are peers or much older men who think I’m super young. Does this mean who is actually appropriate for me to date should change because I look really young? This bothers me in my own dating life (men my own age range don’t think I’m in theirs) but to see it influence how people perceive a character’s sexuality and prospects is interesting and a bit reductive. Looks are looks but the truth don’t lie. 

But to be really controversial, so what if her looking young is a thing? In my fic I kind of play around with her looking young as being sexy, because hey it is a thing, she’s legal, it can be a subconscious appeal there. Who cares? As long as Carmy isn’t a pedophile why can’t a youthful appearance be attractive? It’s human nature and she’s kind of adorable. Does she need to look “grown” to be a suitable mate for him?

4. Why do people think Sydney is a teenager? I also keep seeing this and I’m like, are we watching the same show? Do teenagers go to the CIA, work for UPS, and have catering businesses? She even mentioned having her own place at one point and having a credit score. I’m confuzzled. 

5. Do people really think Carmy looks that damn old? I think he looks his age or not depending on the scene. In the pilot I think he looks the oldest. I kind of think this is on purpose. Notice he has the biggest eye bags, the wildest hair, etc. in that episode. It’s before Sydney shows up. He’s the most frazzled and then this perky fresh eyed girl appears and he’s stunned. Like why is she in this hell hole? I think this was on purpose. but throughout the rest of the season sometimes he looks like a kid, definitely like a little brother, and sometimes he looks like he’s at the end of the road and could have a coronary. But he still never looks “old”, maybe just run ragged and overly tired. 

Anyways, just me rambling. I would love to hear thoughts. I just think of all of the reasons one may not want to see them together Sydney being “too young” is weak sauce and fake news. 

Bonus: I think a relationship with Carmy would help her mature and get “grown”. I have no problem with that and think it’s actually kind of hot. 

[kpop-tarot-predict]

welcome to the k-tumblr (tarot) community, outsidereveries here! (this is my main blog so yeah)

i saw your post for bambam and haerin and honestly i also saw that he was misunderstood but since you were more curious of the last question you asked (was bambam actually attracted to haerin), i’d like to share my interpretation of your cards.

personally i think your interpretation isn’t wrong at all. 9 of cups rx is all about some sort of blocking, delaying, repressing even some sort of happiness (because cups is all about emotions) including emotional fulfillment or achievement of something depending of the question and topic itself (it can be about other things too but these ones seem to be the main keywords). since you asked about bambam’s interest towards haerin before his controversy, i personally think (because of your first card) bambam himself has repressed his actual thoughts on her until that moment when someone asked if he has to choose between her and nayeon (from transit love, korean dating reality show) and he allegedly said that if he actually says haerin, it’ll be dangerous. bambam initially chose haerin but he rethought his answer because he was aware of what could happen if he says her name without thinking, so he talked while thinking about it, which although it’s better in my opinion, i see why it can be controversial. some of the international fans of the genre expressed their opinions and thoughts after he said it on bam’s house on yt, poongja was guest, and this video made interesting buzz for bambam. most of the fans were disgusted, while some of them said that the translation from korean to english was misleading, so that’s why i said allegedly at first. there’s more information when you search on google about it so i think this is the basis information about the controversy that happened??

ace of wands is an action card and it’s all about the excitement surrounding appreciating the younger girl from his point of view, so your second card can be “a breath of fresh air”. therefore, i understand why ace of wands is yes to you.

however, the star’s meaning depends of the actual intention when you asked if bambam was attracted towards haerin in the past: like literal attraction, in a romantic way OR as a fan. if you asked generally without any further thoughts, the star can be accepted literally as bambam might see haerin as a literal star, possibly an it-girl factor in the future, these things, and after that the joy, the hope and optimism come. if you asked “was bambam attracted towards haerin romantically?”, then the star’s purpose of being in your question is changing in my opinion, therefore 9 of cups rx can be interpreted as repressed feelings towards haerin in the past because of their age difference (he is 97 liner, she’s 06’), of their maturity, of their personalities and/or another thing.

also, in my opinion your cards compliments the situation bambam was in at that time: he said he was a fan of her, so he might’ve listened to newjeans and bias her which is fine as long as you’re respectful (the lovers). however because of the controversy he might’ve learned to shut his thoughts and possibly repress his emotions towards younger, possibly under 18-year-old girls (death). bambam’s thoughts about the controversy could be too naive and he might be still stubborn about it because in the end his intentions were actually good from your question about how he feels about the controversy that happened (page of cups). it’s completely normal that he felt he was misunderstood because of the current society (justice reversed). therefore, he decides to repress his opinion about younger girls than him because he’s actually aware of what could happen (6 of wands rx). even though he knows his audience and how sensitive they are, he tried to be as respectful as possible nonetheless. however he might saw another side of k-pop fandom that they will mistranslate everything, possibly or not on purpose to sabotage you, so therefore, it’s completely normal and possibly even expected that his disappointment lead to him not talking about at least fanboying and ideal types.

considering the controversy, the cards weren’t messy at all. in my opinion, they were expected to be shown in a similar way. depending on the intention when you asked that question, it can be yes in all ways, at least that’s what i think. rely on your intuition the best.

since you will probably see my ask when you wake up, i hope you slept well!

-outsidereveries

First of all, thank you for sharing your precious perspective, I always appreciate it when tarot blogs come to my page and share what they received asking the same question. It seems like we got very similar answers

I wanna emphasize something that I forgot in my previous ask, this is an issue that involves many korean men, bambam (I know he’s Thai but he’s based in Korea) has just been “caught” for it, because he’s a celebrity

If you guys went on many Korean forums, you would see that Haerin despite being 16 is very popular with guys, and don’t you expect all of them to be even remotely close to her age

She constantly goes viral for her youthful, refreshing, cat-like visuals, her ‘healthy’ body, her cuteness, she has lots of fanboys, and just look at the amount of new jeans male fans, they’re all twice their age! (just like with many other ggs, but the problem is new jeans are mostly minors)

And you wanna know why? Because Korean beauty standards place great value on looking cute, pure, innocent. And who better than a kid has all of these qualities? There was a YouTuber who went around in Seoul asking men what their ideal type was, they would all say the same thing. A group like new jeans, or twice during their debut years, is basically an eye candy for Korean men. Unironically most twice fanboys have moved on to new jeans now.

I think this issue has led BamBam to reflect on his words, opinions and preferences. Do I believe he never felt a romantic attraction towards Haerin like his fans said? No, because when I checked the energy before posting the reading as I always do, I drew one card and it was the page of cups. I just believe that the controversy has caused him great turmoil and he’s now very conflicted, repressing his feelings like you said

No male idol in that industry is innocent, I want fans to understand this. They’re all, in the very end, just men.

[bakurasilver]

Mathieu spitting incident roleplay???

So after the spitting incident I knew I needed to do something with this, it just did not feel like I could ethically ignore it. Provoked or not, and he very clearly was, spitting at people is just not a great thing to be doing (now all I can think of was that this was an unenriched and stressed Mathieu demonstrating a natural threat response 😭). It was probably a spur of the moment dumb decision, but I just didn't feel as though I could pretend it hadn't happened. Definitely not saying anyone else could or should have to write about it, but for me at least I needed to write him accepting the fact that it was Not A Great Decision (tbh I imagine I spent far more time angsting over this than real Mathieu, who usally seems to sail through controversy) before I could go back to writing him being emotionally mature enough to look after Wout.

Anyway so I'd just written that fic where he wants to play on the swings because he never got the chance to as a kid, so I was still thinking about the idea that Wout had worked very hard through the years with his therapist to ensure he stayed mentally well-balanced, and Mathieu just... hadn't.

So it starts off with them agreeing that they'll roleplay this out with Wout pretending to be some sort of therapist that young child Mathieu's been sent to talk to (Wout is reluctant, because he's not an expert, but he knows Mathieu won't talk to anyone who's actually qualified. Mathieu is blithely confident, sure that they'll faff around for half an hour and then Problem Dealt With, he can move on.)

But as soon as they begin, things begin to go off the rails. As soon as Wout comes back into the room, it's obvious that despite his I Don't Care I Was Right front, underneath it Mathieu's terrified that if he isn't perfect then he's flawed and only worth discarding, and that only when he's successful does he have any value. The two of them start building a house out of Lego, but Wout doesn't know how to help Mathieu deal with what is at its root the product of being praised and feted when he won a race, and being told to use disappointments to push himself harder... and neither did I.

Now I absolutely need to say I really don't think real Mathieu is angsting every time he loses. I just don't think he does! I think he's annoyed about it for a day or so maybe, but like he said in that recent Matt Stephens interview, he sleeps pretty well. I'm sure he doesn't lie awake thinking about all the might-have-beens if he'd lived a less gilded life, and even if he does, it's none of my business what goes on between real Mathieu's ears.

But, at least in the land of fanfiction, he's got such a tantalisingly narrative shape that you can shine a light on him from so many angles and get an intriguingly-shaped shadow. You can project almost any reading onto Mathieu and think, oh huh yeah I can kind of see that making sense. He's so plausible in so many scenarios because there really aren't any inner depths visible. Whether or not they exist in real life, it's so tempting to give in to the urge to give him some thematically-appropriate ones.

Anyway, there it sits, waiting for Wout and me to work out how to convince Mathieu that making a mistake does not mean he's an irredeemably bad person. Which I would very much like to do, because as it ends currently Wout is having a one-sided discussion inside his head about how Hitler isn't a helpful example, and Mathieu is curled up in a ball with his face buried in his knees having a cry. I can only hope that at some point I'll work out what comes after this:

“That was a good choice you made just now, telling me how you’re feeling,” said Wout, gently rubbing Mathieu’s back. “I know it isn’t easy, but I’m really proud of you for coming to see me today. Sometimes we all make bad choices, that’s part of being human, but

(Mathieu feels he's disappointed Wout, it ends in a note to myself at the bottom, as though I didn't know that!)

[charlunday]

Which The Hunger Games characters :

1. Do you relate the most?

2. Do you think missunderstood by fandom?

3. Do you want to know better?

Please give reasons for your answers. And you can pick more than one character for each question.

Thank you :)

@curiousnonny

First of all, thank you for the ask! I don't get many, as you can see, so I really really appreciate it whenever I do!

1. This is a tough one.. I'm not sure I exactly relate to any THG characters in the way I do with other things (ex: Ben Hanscom from IT is me and I am him and it makes me cry), so to satisfy your question I will now take a quiz to see which character I am.

There's your answer! (Why did this actually kill me? "Always trying to see both sides of a situation." I've actually been doing this thing where whenever I'm annoyed by something, I try to think of how it could bring someone joy 💔)

2. I could talk about this one forever, and it's kind of a controversial opinion, but I think Gale isn't given all the credit he deserves. Don't get me wrong, sometimes his actions are questionable, but I think he's an angry 18/19 year old kid that had this rage over his own oppression that was easily manipulated by a regime to funnel him into the war machine. It happens so often in real life, and we clearly see this channel in the books! So I don't hate Gale. I think he's a complex, heartbreaking character who deserves time to mature and heal like everyone else.

3. I also haven't thought about this one much, but if I were to pick someone to know better... well, there's so many tbh. But I think the one I wonder most about is Katniss' father. He seems like such an interesting character. I don't mean I want a whole book on him or anything, just more tidbits about him and his relationship to his family. I have actually drawn him a couple of times, which is funny because he doesn't even have a name.

Thank you for this ask! I had a great time answering it and really thinking about all these things.

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL - Lots of comfort hugs & car kisses

June 2022 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Triage (AISplay Mon) Ep 5-6 - This is not just a time loop show anymore. The way they’re unfolding this narrative is more like a mystery. And so far that aspect is working better for me than the actual mystery did in sister-show Manner of the Death. This drama keeps improving every new ep, which I didn’t expect from a groundhog day premise, they usually get more dull not more exciting, it’s smart, I like that. Also Fiat blond is v cute. 

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul (iQIYI Weds) Ep 11 - Metha is finally on their side to uncover the sins of the past and expose the bad guy who defamed daddy. Redemption arc! Meanwhile, side dishes got an “around the back of head not at all a kiss” kiss. I haven’t seen that from Thailand since Make it Right! Retro “we not gay” camera action used because the actors aren’t comfortable with each other. Tut tut. 

Sky in Your Heart (Fri YouTube) Ep 1 - Is it derivative? Yes. Do I care? No. There’s so much Thai stuff these days, that I think we’re going to get more & more works that derive more & more plots from previous successful shows. So, yeah, this is basically Tale of Thousand Stars only shorter run and faster paced. And I’m not mad about it. So far I like this 2nd installment in the series a lot better than Star. I think this story is cleaner, the characters better portrayed, the conflict more understandable, and in general it feels more mature. Also I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective? Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. 

KinnPorsche (iQIYI Sat) Ep 9 - Big is my favorite best boy, but he's getting so much screen time for so little plot-use payout there’s a good chance he’s the mole. Meanwhile, Pete is sent into the viper’s den. I liked that this episode was mostly manipulations and plot. I think Tawan is a good character, well cast. So for me this was one of the better episodes we’ve had. On Wik & Chay as a couple, I’m going to be controversial with this statement: It was a mistake to switch out Gameplay. He and Jeff just have MUCH better chemistry together. I suspect they did it because they wanted a younger, more innocent looking actor for Chay, but these two just aren’t working for me as a couple. I get nothing from them and they don’t seem much connected to the rest of the show, either. I never thought I’d say this about a Jeff plot line, but, its boring me. 

Close Friend 2 (Viki Thur) Ep 5 - Pierce finally comes out, and it goes as smoothly as expected. Workplace homophobia and further conflict still abound though. It’s fine, well acted and directed, just not really my kinda plot. 

My Secret Love (YouTube Sat) Ep 2 - Being forced by a university to be a BL couple is ABSURD, but it is giving them permission to lampoon tropes which I kinda enjoy. Otherwise it’s VERY awkward with poor chemistry across the board. I do not like the lead couple, tom/jerry is one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean spirited). I already have 2nd lead syndrome and he hasn’t even really been introduced. So far the leads remind me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike). I prefer the sides. Specifically the closeted LTR couple (Longa & ?) they use rao/ter together, which I find VERY cute. (Look, the names are hard since what I am seeing in captions isn’t in the MDL listing.) I’ve watched worse BLs for better side couples before (cough cough Brothers), so we shall see how this goes... 

Thai BL - Finished this week! 

La Cuisine (GaGa Sat) Ep 13fin - Honestly, I enjoyed it but it is awful slow. Thank goodness GaGa has 1.5x speed option. It also takes the faen fatale archetype to the next level of extreme evil. Everyone got a cute couple ending, even characters I didn’t really recognize, couldn’t remember, or showed no chemistry. But hey, shrug. Also, Sky & Phai = unexpectedly great kiss. Why did we not get their thread (and Kitty’s for that matter) throughout the show? It would’ve helped with the pacing a lot. (Honestly, these two actors probably should’ve played the leads, IMHO). In the end, la cuisine is sweet and kind of pure and like Thai desserts perhaps a little too time-consuming for the Layperson. Because of the pacing and the focus on the bad girl character, I did dock it a point. But if you like stuff in the Oxygen vein, then this show is for you, and far better than most Thai BL pulps. However, I suspect that I enjoyed it more than many would. Full review here. 7/10 RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

That’s My Candy (Viki Tues) Ep 6 - Amnesia trope. Sigh. And then I guess a reboot for the romance and because they are older they can make it work this time? What did I just watch? This was terrible. Full review here. 3/10 NOT RECOMMENDED 

Meow Ears Up (GaGa Tue) Ep 8fin - I liked this BL and found it sweet, I’m not opposed to the catboy (pet) trope, but I guess it was trying to be too Japanese about it while the set up was all sweetness and Thai style, because they fudged the ending. For me, that’s a fatal flaw, 4/10 NOT RECOMMENDED (full review here)

Cupid's Last Wish (YouTube Sun) Ep 10fin - This is one show where I didn’t mind the one year time jump at the end it contributed to a very very strong final episode. In fact probably the best ep of the series. It wasn’t enough to save it for me. But it certainly did excel. EarthMix gave a really good final kiss too. Still I never liked this show nor really enjoyed myself mostly because of Win’s character, no full review, 6/10. WORTH WATCHING FOR SOME, BUT FLAWED

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! AKA Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss! (Japan GaGa *rec*  & Viki Fri) Ep 7 - Is this turning into a tradition, where we get the opposite POV in the penultimate episode of a Japanese BL? Regardless, it was really nice to get Naoya’s perspective. I’m still really liking the show, I’m not sure if it has a story arc at all, but that’s Japanese romcoms for you, quite frankly. 

Plus & Minus (Taiwan Viki *rec* & GaGa Fri) Ep 9 - This one is waffling a bit, I think I’ve decided to think of it as more of a soap opera - Taiwanese style, then an actual show with a proper story or anything. It seems very episodic. I actually like the main couple a lot more than the side couple, which is not normal for me.

Love in Spring (Korea grey) Ep1-4 - It’s very Korean historical comedy, much more so than the historical KBLs we’ve had so far (Tinted with You, Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding). It is, unfortunately, also a bit over acted (especially the whipping boy trope driven “bad guy.”). To be fair, there is a lot of scenery chewing going on. The cross dressing is definitely played for laughs, and there is a Cindefella element as well. Bad wig warning. There’s a lot of voice over thoughts, people explaining what is going on to the viewer (we KNOW), and also talking to themselves as exposition. None of this is good. But it’s a big cast and high production values for such a crappy script. I will stick with it if I can and definitely watch if it gets picked up for distribution. 

Getaway (Singapore Mon YouTube) Ep 2 - didn’t drop? Or I didn’t catch it, but then again I don’t know what their schedule is. Weekly? Every other week? Monthly? 

Gossip

Korean production studio Silkwood (Peach of Time) announced 3 new BLs: 

PT is Love: friends of 10 years who’ve been hiding feelings for each other enter the same university. Plus MURDER.

Love is like a Cat: A new star, called the Cat Prince for his cold arrogance, goes up against a charismatic puppyish director. 

Space Bakery: A spaceship crash-lands into and destroys a small bakery shop. Of course this means the alien and the baker end up living together. At the same time, other aliens-in-hiding all around the city start hunting for them. 

That last one tho. Woah. 

Casting finally announced for Japan’s long awaited (by me, anyway, it’s AGE GAP!) Wash My Heart AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry (manga by Yuzu Tsubaki). It’ll star Kusakawa Takuya (Rokkaku of Cherry Magic) and Nishikagi Sho (bit part in My Love Mix Up! also in Muchuu-sa, Kimi ni). Premieres on July 6 on TV Tokyo, no word on international but irozuku is going to sub it!!!! 

Plot: Middle-aged former corporate drone, Akira, now peacefully runs his grandfather’s beloved coin laundromat. One day, high-school student, Shintaro, stumbles in and despite the age difference they became friends. Then Shintaro finds out that Akira is gay...  

New Taiwanese Bl announced My Tooth Your Love (from Result Entertainment - We Best Love series) with script by Lin Pei who loves VERY traditional yaoi tropes, she’s the writer of HIStory1: Obsessed, HIStory2: Right or Wrong, HIStory2: Crossing the Line, HIStory3: Trapped, WBL, & See You After Quarantine?!! Stars Andy Wu (Amensalism), Yu Jin, Michael Chang, and Alex Chou (composer/musician and the other bartender in WBL). 

In Case You Missed It

Japan’s movie adaptation of Miso's Koi Kogare Utae AKA Sing In Love released in theaters, no word on international distribution. About a teacher who encounters a mysterious man from his past, who is strangely obsessed with him. 

Love Mechanics is coming to WeTV end of this month (?) but they are pretty bad about English subs and international distribution, so we are hoping GaGa saves the day (like they did with My Ride). But it’s Viki who has the original En of Love Series. Who knows where it’s going. Fingers crossed. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

All three midweek shows end their run next week. Much anticipated Thai BL Check Out is about to start. Rumor is it will release to their YT channel but the eng sub version will be behind a paywall. I’m willing to bite, but it better be REALLY good and I intend to watch without subs first. We already KNOW the chemistry is on point with these two, though. 

This week’s best moments?

I love how practical and bureaucratic the reaper business is in Thailand. I bet they have spreadsheets. I feel very seen. (Dear Doctor) 

When a show reviews itself (Mr Unlucky). 

Plus and Minus the head cradle hug, a favorite of mine. 

Truth bomb on Close Friends 2. 

Look I just find sweaty gym bunnies coming out relatable, okay? (Close Friends 2) 

Well, La Cuisine, that couple and kiss CAME OUT OF NOWHERE. But hey, we’ll take it, while simultaneously feeling like WE WERE ROBBED. 

(last week)

[proship-ghost]

⚠️ TW for SA, EDs, SH, Suicide, mentions of ableism basically the main points of things that could and can be triggering ⚠️

This is a rather controversial take that- and I may be wrong- I'd love to hear you're opinions and ideas

Honestly, I don't really like the Boyfriends webtoon OR Heartstopper either or one more than the other, as an MLM, poly and trans person

In my eyes at least, I think with Heartstopper a lot of the issues that were brought up we're not given enough time to be properly settled without it feeling rushed. Topics of EDs, SA, and similar behaviors are rushed and even in the show with Ben specifically, it's used as a plot point to get the main characters together, it feels tacky in a sense. Everyone seems to praise it for amazing LGBTQ+ rep (which it does have mostly everyone under the umbrella which is nice to see) but at the same time when it's hard to see characters beyond their label and spin-the-wheel interest in my eyes it's rather flat.

Boyfriends isn't that much better by any means, but it's a different reason. While people like to shit on and constantly slander the webtoon, (creator aside) they never seem to bring up the proper reasons.

USUALLY it's : Nerd is a proshipper (whoopty fucking do), it's cringy, the ads are bad, infantilizing sexualized characters, stereotypes, etc etc.

First off, Cringe culture is shitty and constantly placing something you don't like as cringy is shittier. Stop.

Second, the ads ARE bad in a lot of cases- the voice acting is odd and doesn't really fit the characters in my eyes- especially for Goth.

Third, Nerd isn't infantilized by any means which definition speaking "treat (someone) as a child or in a way which denies their maturity in age or experience." It's weird to see people claim he's infantilized because he's short, likes bright colors, and gets hyperfixated on K-pop, cartoons, anime, the similar ideas. It feels almost ableist in a way since (again, my opinion) Nerd feels very neuerodivergent.

•The entire point of them being Goth, Nerd, Prep, and Jock is to make fun of the stereotypical Disney-esque cliques in highschool/college settings. That's the entire point, it has little to no correlation to their queerness point blank period.

The only GENUINE criticism outside the authors behaviors (which, you can easily seperate the content from the creater) is that the characters who are of Japanese and Asian race all look like white men, which I do agree- it feels as though the author added their races to add more rep than they did to actually make those characters that race.

TLDR; Boyfriends the Webtoon is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be and Heartstopper is not as great as everyone praises it for- they're both good but they're not perfect by any means.

[catboygretzky]

best stucky fic recs pwease

Okay, disclaimer, these are all like five+ years old (which is the best Stucky era, imo) and definitely not the only ones I enjoy; these are just a few in my bookmarks on ao3.

In no particular order besides the order I bookmarked them and under a read more because there's a shit ton of them (really, it's a lot):

- hold me until we crumble; Not Rated, 23k

“Sam told me you were watching Antiques Roadshow,” Natasha says, shaking out her hair. “I assumed it was a national emergency.”

- despite the threatening sky and shuddering earth (they remained); Explicit, 72k

“They really didn’t want the mask to come off.” Hill thumbed through the scans, and pulled out a film that she then handed over to Sam, face mostly expressionless but for the flat line of her pursed lips.

Sam accepted the film and held it up to the light, angling so both he and Steve could see it, squinting at the outline of the Winter Soldier’s skull, and the blips of unnatural white that showed up, God, in his brain, not to mention about half his teeth, plus the mask, with its thin protrusions—

“Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.”

Hill’s face was as unmoved as ever. “Like I said. They really didn’t want it coming off.”

- family means no one gets left behind or forgotten; Teen, 11k

“Why did you think I wouldn’t like you for being gay?” Steve asks gently.

“You’re Captain America.” Eli’s got his teeth clenched and is resolutely looking ahead. “You stand for truth and justice and the American way. You stand for American morals. You stand for…” he shrugs awkwardly. “Not people like me.”

Steve blows the air out of his cheeks slowly, trying to figure out how to keep the anger out of his voice so Eli doesn’t think it’s at him.

Or, Steve comes to terms with his new world, and gains some children in the process.

- Mistake on the Part of Nature; Teen, 1.3k

Steve takes in Bucky's betrayed look and Sam's confusion, follows Sam's gaze to the pile of mangled fruit in the trash can. Sudden comprehension fills his face.

"Oh," he says. "Bucky found out about bananas."

In which an American icon is mourned. But probably not the one you're thinking of.

- Swear Jar; Teen, 1.5k

Bucky isn't the only troll in the future.

OR

Steve has a Swear Jar and he makes the Avengers pay up every time they cuss.

- Barnes & Rogers and the Goddamn Truth; Not Rated, 19k

There are three well-known facts at Shield High:

1. The history teacher Mr. Barnes is a stone-cold terror, and it’s not even because he only has one arm. 2. The other history teacher, Mr. Rogers, is a mysterious enigma, and it’s something to do with the body of a Greek God and contradicting stories of his past. (They’re all rumours, anyway.) 3. Mr Barnes and Mr Rogers hate each other.

Bucky wouldn’t have it any other way.

- perfectly right wrong number; Teen, 32k

It all starts because Steve is too dumb to handle his smartphone.

A wrong number AU in which Bucky Barnes doesn't enter Steve's life (meaning: Bucky wasn't born until the eighties, but Steve is still Captain America) until Steve accidentally dials the wrong number. Wherein there is a lot of texting, some advice via Natasha and Darcy, a bit of pining, and a first date in an amusement park. Oh, and on top of being a disabled veteran, Bucky is a professional catwalker. Literally.

- The power of the right shirt (a.k.a. God bless America); Teen, 1.2k

"He just…" Phil trails off, mouth gaping. He is staring at the field outside the house, eyes glazed.

Clint sighs. "Yeah, he just ripped a log in two with his bare hands."

- To fill it up with something; Teen, 21k

A fateful encounter with Dr. Strange leaves the Winter Soldier transformed, and Bucky Barnes reunites with Steve Rogers in a most unexpected way.

“Steve brings the puppy inside, into the apartment that doesn't quite feel like home no matter how much he's been trying. He isn't used to being alone. Before the war, he always had Bucky, and his mother until her death. During the war, Bucky was there, too—and the rest of the Howlers, of course—but Bucky always meant home. (And well, maybe Steve's already got a name for the puppy in mind)."

- build it bigger than the sun; Teen, 10k

“Yeah, because nothing says heteronormative like living in Dupont Circle for two years and wearing skin-tight shirts to hit on hot airmen when you go running in the morning.”

“Look, I know you’re being sarcastic but I really don’t get how no one picked up on that.”

Steve and Bucky try to work out their relationship. The Avengers keep getting in the way.

- Memories Circle (Like Birds of Prey), Teen, 32k

Everything seems to be going right, Steve's fighting with his Commandos, they've saving lives-- until Steve falls from a train, is taken prisoner, and turned into the Winter Soldier. Meanwhile, Bucky takes up Steve's mantle as Captain America, and thanks to Zola's experiments, he gets dropped into a whole new time, only to cross paths with a Steve who doesn't know who he is anymore.

Essentially, the events of CA:TFA, mild mentioning of Avengers, and CA:TWS but with Steve as the Winter Soldier and Bucky as Captain America

- The Gentleness That Comes; Mature, 9k

Steve Rogers never really views the things he had to do to get by before the War with any sort of shame or embarrassment. People ask him for his opinions on modern issues in interviews, but Steve has gotten good at talking around those types of questions. Fury insists that there's no way to answer them without casting a shadow of controversy across the reputation of the Avengers, and that's the last thing Steve wants.

But then a sex tape is released featuring Tony Stark in bed with another man, and Steve can't stay quiet any longer.

- salt for the sea; Mature, 7.5k

Natasha comes home with intel regarding the fate of the Winter Soldier; Steve leaves to go and avenge Bucky Barnes.

“It's a list of everyone who was involved in his death, and a rough timeline of everything that happened beforehand,” she tells him.

“And the notebook?”

“I explained what they did,” Natasha says, “The blank pages are for you to explain what you do to them.”

- Lone Cat and Samurai; Teen, 8.4k

"We lost Kitten America sir!" Junior Agent blurted out. Then turned an unlovely shade of purple. "I mean, Captain America. Who’s a kitten. Because magic. Sir."

- Waiting To Prove You're Not Alone; Explicit, 41k

Months after he woke up on the banks of the Potomac, when a reporter mistakenly assumes Steve would disapprove of homosexuality being as accepted as it is in the modern day, Steve accidentally snaps and unleashes his real opinion on the matter... and with that, a secret he's hidden for over eighty years.

When that secret comes looking for him in New York, Steve can only hope that he can get a second chance at saving his best friend, even if it means keeping his heart in check.

“Yeah, back in my day it wasn't tolerated, and because of that I knew from the minute I figured it out, that I’d never get to tell my best friend that I loved him, and sure enough, he died without knowing that I’d been in love with him for a decade."

- I'm Not Sick (But I'm Not Well); Mature, 30k

Steve Rogers doesn’t meet Bucky Barnes in the 1930’s. Instead, Steve meets him April 17th, 2012.

Well…sort of meets him.

In actuality, Bucky had almost hit him with his truck.

Or: The fic where millennial Bucky Barnes nearly runs over a freshly thawed national treasure, and what Steve Rogers did to adjust to modern NYC during those two weeks before the events of The Avengers.

- pure as the driven slush; Explicit, 11k

He should have worked it out sooner. But then, Steve always was a sneaky little bastard—had to have been, just to survive this long.

For the SteveBucky Fest prompt, "Steve is quite experienced while Bucky's never gone beyond second base with anyone".

- Let's Be Exposed and Unprotected, Explicit, 5k

Bucky’s pretty sure he should be into getting fucked through the floor while walls explode around him like in that Mr and Mrs Smith movie that Clint loves. But he likes it like this. He likes being on his back with Steve looming above him, big and naked, blocking out the rest of the world.

- Man of Steel; Explicit, 6.7k

It’s like Steve looked at his metal arm and thought ‘Challenge Accepted.’

- 5 Times Steve Got Arrested and 1 Time They All Did; Teen, 4.9k

What it says, 5 times Steve Rogers ended up in jail (with and without Bucky) + 1 time all of the Avengers got arrested with him.

- the best of you; Teen, 16k

Bucky is on a mission when he gets the call.

They tell him that Steve has been compromised.

[The story wherein Hydra captures Steve to create a new weapon. Bucky, alongside the rest of the Avengers, come together and work through the fallout.]

- pull apart the dark; Teen, 79k

Steve's unending faith in his best friend was beginning to look less like hope and more like fantasy. When they'd caught the Soldier – in a fire fight that still gave Sam nightmares – the only thing the man seemed to recall was how to hit exactly where it hurt.

Four months later, Barnes still refused to speak English. Refused to heed anything but Steve's voice.

So, all in all, it was not a great time for Hydra to attack New York. All in all, Sam really wished they'd just killed him, instead of turning Captain America into a baby.

- Not Another Supersoldier Fantasy; Explicit, 8.9k

Bucky finds a popular sex toy modeled on Captain America's own anatomy. Well, isn't this just perfect? Because even after all this time, he still hasn’t seen Steve’s supersoldier cock. But apparently in this day and age anyone with $29.95 can get a decent replica. The unfairness of this is of galactic proportions.

- the blood of the covenant; Teen, 7.5k

Steve has a "thing" for hot water.

Or, Sam Wilson adopts Steve Rogers.

- Mighty like Love, Mighty like Sorrow; Teen, 19k

After freeing himself from the Russians' mind control, Bucky is left at loose ends, drifting through the decades. Still, he's in no hurry to take up Nick Fury's offer to once again fight the good fight -- especially not when Fury has the nerve to put some imposter in his best friend's old suit and send him out to fight against Chitauri.

- Read Me Like a Book; Gen, 1.5k

In which Bucky accidentally becomes a book collector, because when the universe gives you a million biographies about your boyfriend, you go bookcase shopping. And then he finds out about The Grenade Incident, and the boys actually talk about it like actual adults. (Somewhere, Sam sheds a proud tear.)

- the broadest stroke of color; Gen, 16k

Sarah Rogers always loved Steve's hands.

"Your hands will do a lifetime's work," she'd say. "Remember to do the work you can for those you love."

Almost a century later, Steve does just that.

[The story wherein Steve draws comics for Bucky to help him recover his memory. Through a series of events, the issues are leaked, and Steve finds himself reviving the Captain America comics. He still isn't sure how that happened.]

- If You're Loved By Someone (You're Never Rejected); Teen, 9.4k

You’re fifteen when you realize why you stare at Bucky’s lips more than normal when he laughs and when he says your name. You lean into his shoulder when you walk next to him and when you’re sick you don’t fight off his soft hands. You tease him, he teases back and being around him is so easy you forget what it was like to live without him. You can’t remember life pre-Bucky and it scares you.

- Unusual Weather; Explicit, 8.7k

Bucky’s been at the Avengers Tower for three weeks before he finally gives in to Steve’s gentle coaxing and Stark’s cheerful waving of fistfuls of circuits, and lets them scan the arm.

It doesn’t go well.

- this city bleeds its aching heart; Explicit, 35k

The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.

- Good Boy; Explicit, 13k

Bucky is still adjusting to life with the Avengers, and Steve is willing to do whatever it takes to make him feel comfortable. Increasingly, though, what seems to make him comfortable is strangely intimate.

Surprise, Steve! You're a gentle dom and Bucky wants to be your pretty pet!

- Brooklyn; Teen, 8.8k

"Captain America, what's your stance on gay marriage?"

Everyone knows that, by now. Everyone but Bucky.

[stickandthorn]

Seen some people airing their C1 and 2 controversial hot takes in preparation for C3, so here’s some of mine. Be warned my filter is gone on this one:

Beau’s fanonization is absurdly horrible. I see her constantly characterized in fics or in posts as a swearing, bumbling, socially inept, awkward, sometimes even dumb woman who can only punch and fight. And that’s so far from how she is now, it’s even far from how she was originally portrayed. Beau matured so much, she talked them out of so many complex situations no one else could’ve handled, was insanely smart in both a role play and mechanical sense, did so much emotional development and introspection, etc. Her fanon characterization is frankly insulting.

A huge amount of shadowgast headcanons annoy me to no end because they feel like the exact opposite of those characters. I mean to each their own, but some of them really irk me. I’ve seen Caleb getting his ears pierced headcanon when he legitimately said multiple times he didn’t want things under his skin like piercings or tattoos due to trauma. Caleb and Essek call each other nicknames like “schatz” in almost every fic I read, when Caleb rarely called anyone by a nickname, and Essek never did, in fact his terms of endearment seemed to be people’s full names? Caleb and Essek being married and living together despite Essek’s story specifically saying her was usually traveling abroad in disguise to evade capture? Let alone life span type stuff. In the end that’s not something that really matters because it’s just not for me, but the prevalence does annoy me sometimes because I can’t often find things that appeal to me.

Jester and Yasha got used as set pieces in Beau’s romantic life in Beauyasha and Beaujester and Bashter more than people like to admit. I love Beau so much, and I don’t think those ships in and of them selves are bad, and I actually quite like Beauyasha, but I’ve seen a shocking amount of discussions for those ships (less recently but still) that centered Beau and nothing else.

Laura’s characters get their agency removed at every turn and get very infantilized while being held up as the greatest, coolest, sexiest, etc. 

Taliesin’s choices surrounding Molly/Kingsley were never treated with the respect they deserved.

Scanlan is one of the most well developed characters across the arc of a campaign, his growth from the person he was is wonderful. 

Liam’s characters faced so much biphobia and bi erasure, some intentional and some not, that I wonder if this fandom needs a crash course in what being bisexual is and how to treat it with respect.

That’s all for now folks, but I probably have more I’m not gonna share because I don’t wanna be too negative. 

[nitrateglow]

Favorite films discovered in 2020

Well, this year sucked. I did see some good movies though. Some even made after I was born!

Perfect Blue (dir. Satoshi Kon, 1997)

I watch a lot of thrillers and horror movies, but precious few actually unsettle me in any lasting way. This cannot be said of Perfect Blue, which gave me one of the most visceral cinematic experiences of my life. Beyond the brief flashes of bloodletting (you will never look at a screwdriver the same way again), the scariest thing about Perfect Blue might be how the protagonist has both her life and her sense of self threatened by the villains. The movie’s prescience regarding public persona is also incredibly eerie, especially in our age of social media. While anime is seen as a very niche interest (albeit one that has become more mainstream in recent years), I would highly recommend this movie to thriller fans, whether they typically watch anime or not. It’s right up there with the best of Hitchcock or De Palma.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (dir. Sergio Leone, 1966)

Nothing is better than when an iconic movie lives up to the hype. Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef play off of one another perfectly. I was impressed by Wallach as Tuco in particular: his character initially seems like a one-dimensional greedy criminal, but the performance is packed with wonderful moments of humanity. Do I really need to say anything about the direction? Or about the wonderful storyline, which takes on an almost mythic feel in its grandeur? Or that soundtrack?

Die Niebelungen (both movies) (dir. Fritz Lang, 1924)

I did NOT expect to love these movies as much as I did. That they would be dazzlingly gorgeous I never doubted: the medieval world of the story is brought to vivid life through the geometrical mise en scene and detailed costuming. However, the plot itself is so, so riveting, never losing steam over the course of the four hours it takes to watch both movies. The first half is heroic fantasy; the second half involves a revenge plot of almost Shakespearean proportions. This might actually be my favorite silent Fritz Lang movie now.

Muppet Treasure Island (dir. Brian Henson, 1996)

I understand that people have different tastes and all, but how does this movie have such a mixed reception? It’s absolutely hilarious. How could anybody get through the scene with “THA BLACK SPOT AGGHHHHHHH” and not declare this a masterpiece of comedy? And I risk being excommunicated from the Muppet fandom for saying it, but I like this one more than The Great Muppet Caper. It’s probably now my second favorite Muppet movie.

Belle de Jour (dir. Luis Bunuel, 1967)

I confess I’m not terribly fond of “but was it real???” movies. They tend to feel gimmicky more often than not. Belle de Jour is an exception. This is about more than a repressed housewife getting her kicks working as a daytime prostitute. The film delves into victim blaming, trauma, class, and identity-- sure, this sounds academic and dry when I put it that way, but what I’m trying to say is that these are very complicated characters and the blurring of fantasy and reality becomes thought-provoking rather than trite due to that complexity.

Secondhand Lions (dir. Tim McCanlies, 2003)

The term “family movie” is often used as a synonym for “children’s movie.” However, there is an important distinction: children’s movies only appeal to kids, while family movies retain their appeal as one grows up. Secondhand Lions is perhaps a perfect family movie, with a great deal more nuance than one might expect regarding the need for storytelling and its purpose in creating meaning for one’s life. It’s also amazingly cast: Haley Joel Osment is excellent as the juvenile lead, and Michael Caine and Robert Duvall steal the show as Osment’s eccentric uncles.

The Pawnbroker (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1964)

Controversial in its day for depicting frontal nudity, The Pawnbroker shocks today for different reasons. As the top review of the film on IMDB says, we’re used to victims of great atrocities being presented as sympathetic, good people in fiction. Here, Rod Steiger’s Sol Nazerman subverts such a trope: his suffering at the hands of the Nazis has made him a hard, closed-off person, dismissive of his second wife (herself also a survivor of the Holocaust), cold to his friendly assistant, and bitter towards himself. The movie follows Nazerman’s postwar life, vividly presenting his inner pain in a way that is almost too much to bear. Gotta say, Steiger gives one of the best performances I have ever seen in a movie here: he’s so three-dimensional and complex. The emotions on his face are registered with Falconetti-level brilliance.

The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder, 1960)

While not the most depressing Christmas movie ever, The Apartment certainly puts a good injection of cynicism into the season. I have rarely seen a movie so adept at blending comedy, romance, and satire without feeling tone-deaf. There are a lot of things to praise about The Apartment, but I want to give a special shoutout to the dialogue. “Witty” dialogue that sounds natural is hard to come by-- so often, it just feels smart-assy and strained. Not here.

Anatomy of a Murder (dir. Otto Preminger, 1959)

I’m not big into courtroom dramas, but Anatomy of a Murder is a big exception. Its morally ambiguous characters elevate it from being a mere “whodunit” (or I guess in the case of this movie, “whydunit”), because if there’s something you’re not going to get with this movie, it’s a clear answer as to what happened on the night of the crime. Jimmy Stewart gives one of his least characteristic performances as the cynical lawyer, and is absolutely brilliant. 

Oldboy (dir. Park Chan-Wook, 2003)

Oldboy reminded me a great deal of John Webster’s 17th century tragedy The Duchess of Malfi. Both are gruesome, frightening, and heartbreaking works of art, straddling the line between sensationalism and intelligence, proving the two are not mutually exclusive. It’s both entertaining and difficult to watch. The thought of revisiting it terrifies me but I feel there is so much more to appreciate about the sheer craft on display.

Family Plot (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1976)

Family Plot is an enjoyable comedy; you guys are just mean. I know in an ideal world, Hitchcock’s swan song would be a great thriller masterpiece in the vein of Vertigo or Psycho. Family Plot is instead a silly send-up of Hitchcock’s favorite tropes, lampooning everything from the dangerous blonde archetype (with not one but two characters) to complicated MacGuffin plots. You’ll probably demand my film buff card be revoked for my opinion, but to hell with it-- this is my favorite of Hitchcock’s post-Psycho movies.

My Best Girl (dir. Sam Taylor, 1927)

Mary Pickford’s farewell to silent film also happens to be among her best movies. It’s a simple, charming romantic comedy starring her future husband, Charles “Buddy” Rogers. Pickford also gets to play an adult character here, rather than the little girl parts her public demanded she essay even well into her thirties. She and Rogers are sweet together without being diabetes-inducing, and the comedy is often laugh out loud funny. It even mocks a few tropes that anyone who watches enough old movies will recognize and probably dislike-- such as “break his heart to save him!!” (my personal most loathed 1920s/1930s trope).

Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho, 2019)

This feels like such a zeitgeist movie. It’s about the gap between the rich and the poor, it’s ironic,  it’s depressing, it’s unpredictable as hell. I don’t like terms like “modern classic,” because by its very definition, a classic can only be deemed as such after a long passage of time, but I have a good feeling Parasite will be considered one of the definitive films of the 2010s in the years to come.

Indiscreet (dir. Stanley Donen, 1958)

Indiscreet often gets criticized for not being Notorious more or less, which is a shame. It’s not SUPPOSED to be-- it’s cinematic souffle and both Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant elevate that light material with their perfect chemistry and comedic timing. It’s also refreshing to see a rom-com with characters over 40 as the leads-- and the movie does not try to make them seem younger or less mature, making the zany moments all the more hilarious. It’s worth seeing for Cary Grant’s jig (picture above) alone.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (dir. Joseph Sargent, 1974)

This movie embodies so much of what I love about 70s cinema: it’s gritty, irreverent, and hard-hitting. It’s both hilarious and suspenseful-- I was tense all throughout the run time. I heard there was a remake and it just seems... so, so pointless when you already have this gem perfect as it is.

They All Laughed (dir. Peter Bogdonavich, 1981)

Bogdonavich’s lesser known homage to 1930s screwball comedy is also a weirdly autumnal movie. Among the last gasps of the New Hollywood movement, it is also marks the final time Audrey Hepburn would star in a theatrical release. The gentle comedy, excellent ensemble cast (John Ritter is the standout), and the mature but short-lived romance between Hepburn and Ben Gazarra’s characters make this a memorably bittersweet gem.

The Palm Beach Story (dir. Preston Sturges, 1942)

Absolutely hilarious. I was watching this with my parents in the room. My mom tends to like old movies while my dad doesn’t, but both of them were laughing aloud at this one. Not much else to say about it, other than I love Joel McCrea the more movies I see him in-- though it’s weird seeing him in comedies since I’m so used to him as a back-breaking man on the edge in The Most Dangerous Game!

Nothing Sacred (dir. William Wellman, 1937)

I tend to associate William Wellman with the pre-code era, so I’ve tried delving more into his post-code work. Nothing Sacred is easily my favorite of those films thus far, mainly for Carole Lombard but also because the story still feels pretty fresh due to the jabs it takes at celebrity worship and moral hypocrisy. For a satire, it’s still very warm towards its characters, even when they’re misbehaving or deluding themselves, so it’s oddly a feel-good film too.

Applause (dir. Rouben Mamoulian, 1929)

I love watching early sound movies, but my inner history nerd tends to enjoy them more than the part of me that, well, craves good, well-made movies. Most early sound films are pure awkward, but there’s always an exception and Applause is one of them. While the plot’s backstage melodrama is nothing special, the way the story is told is super sophisticated and expressive for this period of cinema history, and Helen Morgan makes the figure of the discarded burlesque queen seem truly human and tragic rather than merely sentimental.

Topaz (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1969)

Another late Hitchcock everyone but me seems to hate. After suffering through Torn Curtain, I expected Hitchcock’s other cold war thriller was going to be dull as dishwater, but instead I found an understated espionage movie standing in stark contrast to the more popular spy movies of the period. It’ll never be top Hitchcock, of course-- still it was stylish and enjoyable, with some truly haunting moments. I think it deserves more appreciation than it’s been given.

What were your favorite cinematic discoveries in 2020?