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housewilson · 3 months

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A MASTERLIST OF ALL THE BOOKS I COULD FIND IN TIM'S BOOKSHELVES

As someone who basically sees Tim Laughlin as my own version of Jesus Christ (I kind of wish I was lying but I have a 'beyond measure' tattoo branding my skin so perhaps I'm entirely serious), I simply needed to know what was on those shelves of his. And this was a hard task to achieve, believe me... but I got much farther than I initially thought I would.

(I've got so much to say about all of these books and how they might string together to create a deeper understanding of Tim as a character but I won't go into it here... maybe in a future post or video essay, who knows).

If you wish to help a girl out and attempt to figure out any of the other books I simply can not crack no matter how I look at the screenshots and mess with the adjustments... here's a folder full of 2k sized screenshots of those shelves.

Before I list the books one by one, I want to make a couple observations:

1) Almost all of the books I was able to pinpoint are non-fiction. The ones that aren't are children's books.

2) Topically, we see an interdisciplinary interest in:

History: from a book on a king in 4BC, to a survey of landholding in England in the 11th century.

Somewhat current historical events: books on World War I and II.

Western Philosophers: specially from the 16th to the 18th century.

Aesthetics: there's at least 2 books on the subject matter, but I couldn't find the second one, sadly.

Spirituality: not only christian/catholic; some of these books touch on Eastern practices such as Buddhism and Hinduism.

Fairy tales / children's books.

Psychology: specially in regards to mysticism and sexuality.

Science and scientific discovery/research.

3) A lot of the history, current events, and spirituality books are autobiographies/memoirs.

4) A lot of books (specially those on sciences and philosophy) tend to be more so anthologies or overviews on a subject matter rather than a book written by one specific author on one very concrete topic.

Overall, this all reflects very well an idea Jonathan Bailey himself expressed in a brilliant interview you can watch here if you haven't yet:

"Tim has buddhist flags in his 1980s flat in San Francisco, he has crystals, he is someone who is always seeking other ways to understand human experience. Which is probably tiring for him. Throughout the decades, he sort of appears as completely different people. At the crux of it there's this extreme grinding, contrasting, aggressive duality between feeling lovable and not feeling lovable. There's such shame in Tim. But it's the push and the pull which keeps him alive.”

This desire to understand human psychology, spirituality, and the ways of the universe through as many diverse lenses as possible, as well as a predilection for non-fiction, expresses very much to me that insatiable thirst for truth that defines his character so strongly.

OKAY, THAT BEING SAID. Here's the list in chronological order of publication.

PS. if you decided to click on any of the following titles it'd definitely not take you to a google drive link of the pdf file where you could download and read these books for yourself. Because that would be illegal and wrong.

Journeys through Bookland by Charles H. Sylvester (1901?) (1922 Edition)

I don't know which specific volume he owns, sorry, I tried my best but the number is not discernible (hell, the title barely is). If anyone wants the download link to these hmu because I'm not about to individually download all 10 right now.

10 volumes of poems, myths, Bible stories, fairy tales, and excerpts from children's novels, as well as a guide to the series. It has been lauded as ‘a new and original plan for reading, applied to the world’s best literature for children.’

Pilgrimage by Graham Seton Hutchison (1936)

This book provides a view of the battlefields of WW I through the eyes of the average fighting man.

One curious thing about this book is that it's author, a British First World War army officer and military theorist, went on to become a fascist activist later in his life. Straight from Wikipedia:

"Seton Hutchison became a celebrated figure in military circles for his tactical innovations during the First World War but would later become associated with a series of fringe fascist movements which failed to capture much support even by the standards of the far right in Britain in the interbellum period." He made a contribution to First World War fiction with his espionage novel, The W Plan."

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (1948)

The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age of twenty-six, takes vows in one of the most demanding Catholic orders—the Trappist monks. At the Abbey of Gethsemani, "the four walls of my new freedom," Thomas Merton struggles to withdraw from the world, but only after he has fully immersed himself in it. At the abbey, he wrote this extraordinary testament, a unique spiritual autobiography that has been recognized as one of the most influential religious works of our time. Translated into more than twenty languages, it has touched millions of lives.

This book requires no introduction. It's the one he keeps the Fire Island's postcard in and the one we see him re-reading in episode 8 after Hawk brings it to the hospital with him at the end of episode 7.

Just a little detail I noticed:

Apparently he liked the book so much he visited Gethsemani, which was the home of its author all the way up till 1968.

For all we know, he might have even met its author!

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred Charles Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy (1948)

When published in 1948 this volume encountered a storm of condemnation and acclaim. It is, however, a milestone on the path toward a scientific approach to the understanding of human sexual behavior. Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey and his fellow researchers sought to accumulate an objective body of facts regarding sex. They employed first hand interviews to gather this data. This volume is based upon histories of approximately 5,300 males which were collected during a fifteen year period. This text describes the methodology, sampling, coding, interviewing, statistical analyses, and then examines factors and sources of sexual outlet.

Yes, Charles Kinsey is indeed behind the Kinsey scale that has done so much for the LGBTQ+ community.

Their Finest Hour (1949), The Grand Alliance (1950), and Closing the Ring (1951) by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill's six-volume history of the cataclysm that swept the world remains the definitive history of the Second World War. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable both for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent reconstruction and is an enduring, compelling work that led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953.

The European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche by Monroe C. Beardsley (1960)

In so far as we reflect upon ourselves and our world, and what we are doing in it, says the editor of this anthology, we are all philosophers. And therefore we are very much concerned with what the twelve men represented in this book--the major philosophers on the Continent of Europe--have to say to us, to help us build our own philosophy, to think things out in our own way. For the issues that we face today are partly determined by the work of thinkers of earlier generations, and no other time is more important to the development of Western thought than is the 250-year period covered by this anthology. Monroe. C. Beardsley, Professor of Philosophy at Swarthmore College, has chosen major works, or large selections from them, by each man, with supplementary passages to amplify or clarify important points. These include: Descartes - Discourse on Method (Descartes), Thoughts (Pascal), The Nature of Evil (Spinoza), The Relation Between Soul and Body (Leibniz), The Social Construct (Rousseau), Critique of Pure Reason (Kant), The Vocation of Man (Fichte), Introducciton to the Philosophy of History (Hegel), The World as Will and Idea (Schopenhauer), A General View of Positivism (Comte), The Analysis of Sensations and the Relation of the Physical to the Psychical (Mach), Beyond Good and Evil (Nietzsche).

The New Intelligent Man's Guide to Science by Isaac Asimov (1965)

Asimov tells the stories behind the science: the men and women who made the important discoveries and how they did it. Ranging from Galilei, Achimedes, Newton and Einstein, he takes the most complex concepts and explains it in such a way that a first-time reader on the subject feels confident on his/her understanding. Assists today's readers in keeping abreast of all recent discoveries and advances in physics, the biological sciences, astronomy, computer technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and other sciences.

The Heavenly City of the 18th Philosophers by Carl L. Becker (1932) (1962 reprint)

Here a distinguished American historian challenges the belief that the eighteenth century was essentially modern in its temper. In crystalline prose Carl Becker demonstrates that the period commonly described as the Age of Reason was, in fact, very far from that; that Voltaire, Hume, Diderot, and Locke were living in a medieval world, and that these philosophers “demolished the Heavenly City of St. Augustine only to rebuild it with more up-to-date materials.” In a new foreword, Johnson Kent Wright looks at the book’s continuing relevance within the context of current discussion about the Enlightenment.

I find the particular choice of adding this book very curious and on brand, since it explores the idea that philosophers of the Enlightenment very much resembled religious dogma/faith in their structure and purpose. Just... A+ of the props department to not just add any kind of book on philosophy anthology.

Herod The Great by Michael Grant (1971)

The Herod of popular tradition is the tyrannical King of Judaea who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents and died a terrible death in 4 BC as the judgment of God. But this biography paints a much more complex picture of this contemporary of Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and the Emperor Augustus. Herod devoted his life to the task of keeping the Jews prosperous and racially intact. To judge by the two disastrous Jewish rebellions that occurred within a hundred and fifty years of his death -- those the Jews called the First and Second Roman Wars -- he was not, in the long run, completely successful. For forty years Herod walked the most precarious of political tightropes. For he had to be enough of a Jew to retain control of his Jewish subjects, and enough of a pro-Roman to preserve the confidence of Rome, within whose territory his kingdom fell. For more than a quarter of a century he was one of the chief bulwarks of Augustus' empire in the east. He made Judaea a large and prosperous country. He founded cities and built public works on a scale never seen before: of these, recently excavated Masada is a spectacular example. And he did all this in spite of a continuous undercurrent of protest and underground resistance. The numerous illustrations presents portraits and coins, buildings and articles of everyday use, landscapes and fortresses, and subsequent generations' interpretations of the more famous events, actual and mythical, of Herod's career.

Readings in the Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics compiled by Milton Charles Nahm (1975)

A college level comprehensive anthology of essays written on the arts and the field of aesthetic philosophy.

The Mustard Seed: Discourses on the Sayings of Jesus Taken from the Gospel According to Thomas by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1975)

This timely book explores the wisdom of the Gnostic Jesus, who challenges our preconceptions about the world and ourselves. Based on the Gospel of Thomas, the book recounts the missing years in Jesus’ life and his time in Egypt and India, learning from Egyptian secret societies, then Buddhist schools, then Hindu Vedanta. Each of Jesus' original sayings is the "seed" for a chapter of the book; each examines one aspect of life — birth, death, love, fear, anger, and more — counterpointed by Osho’s penetrating comments and responses to questions from his audience.

(You don't know how fulfilling it was to find some of these books and just sit there like "oh my god, yessss, he'd SO read that".)

A Third Testament by Malcolm Muggeridge (1976)

A modern pilgrim explores the spiritual wanderings of Augustine, Pascal, Blake, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Bonhoeffer. A Third Testament brings to life seven men whose names are familiar enough, but whose iconoclastic spiritual wanderings make for unforgettable reading. Muggeridge's concise biographies are an accessible and manageable introduction to these spiritual giants who carried on the testament to the reality of God begun in the Old and New Testaments. - St. Augustine, a headstrong young hedonist and speechwriter who turned his back on money and prestige in order to serve Christ - Blaise Pascal, a brilliant mathematician who pursued scientific knowledge but warned people against thinking they could live without God - William Blake, a magnificent artist-poet who pled passionately for the life of the spirit and warned of the blight that materialism would usher in - Soren Kierkegaard, a renegade philosopher who spent most of his life at odds with the church, and insisted that every person must find his own way to God - Fyodor Dostoevsky, a debt-ridden writer and sometime prisoner who found, in the midst of squalor and political turmoil, the still small voice of God - Leo Tolstoy, a grand old novelist who swung between idealism and depression, loneliness and fame and a duel awareness of his sinfulness and God s grace - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor whose writings and agonized involvement in a plot to kill Hitler cost him his life, but continue to inspire millions

Portraits: The photography of Carl Van Vechten (1978)

Can't find a file but you can borrow it from archive.com in the link provided.

During his career as a photographer, Carl Van Vechten’s subjects, many of whom were his friends and social acquaintances, included dancers, actors, writers, artists, activists, singers, costumiers, photographers, social critics, educators, journalists, and aesthetes. [...] As a promoter of literary talent and a critic of dance, theater, and opera, Carl Van Vechten was as interested in the cultural margin as he was in the day’s most acclaimed and successful people. His diverse subjects give a sense of both Carl Van Vechten’s interests and his considerable role in defining the cultural landscape of the twentieth century; among his many sitters one finds the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance, the premier actors and writers of the American stage, the world’s greatest opera stars and ballerinas, the most important and influential writers of the day, among many others.

Report of the Shroud of Turin by John H Heller (1983)

Heller, while a man of science, was nevertheless a devout man (Southern Baptist). He viewed his task concerning The Shroud with great scepticism; there have been far too many hoaxes in the world of religion. The book describes in great detail the events leading up to the team's conviction that the Shroud was genuine; last - not least - being Heller and Adler's verification of "heme" (blood) and the inexplicable "burned image" of the crucified man. Although carbon dating indicates that the image is not 2000 years old and that the cloth is from the Middle Ages, there is not enough evidence to disprove Heller's assertion that the Shroud is indeed genuine.

Context for those who may not know (though I doubt it's necessary): The shroud of Turin "is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a man. It has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, and upon which Jesus's bodily image is miraculously imprinted."

It is a very controversial subject matter and I definitely don't know that from going to an Opus Dei school since the day I was born till the day I graduated high school.

Mysticism, Psychology and Oedipus by Israel Regardie (1985)

I've tried my hardest but despite many Israel Regardie books being on the world wide web, I can't find a copy of this specific one.

Mysticism, Psychology and Oedipus, from the Small Gems series is one of these mysterious alchemys which Regardie and Spiegelman crafted for the serious student of mysticism. Mysticism, Psychology and Oedipus by Dr. Israel Regardie and his friend, world renowned Jungian Psychologist, J. Marvin Spiegelman, Ph.D. was created to reach the serious student at the intersecting paths of magic, mysticism and psychology. While each area of study overlaps they also maintain their own individual paths of truth. One of Regardie’s greatest gifts was his rare ability to combine these difficult and diverse subjects and make them understandable.

Domesday Book Through Nine Centuries by Elizabeth M. Hallam (1986)

In 1086 a great survey of landholding in England was carried out on the orders of William the Conqueror, and its results were recorded in the two volumes, which, within less than a century, were to acquire the name of Domesday, or the Book of Judgment 'because its decisions, like those of the last Judgment, are unalterable'. This detailed survey of the kingdom, unprecedented at that time in its scope, gives us an extraordinarily vivid impression of the life of the eleventh century.

The following two are a fuck up on the props department part because they were published after 1987 but we'll forgive them because they were not expecting for me to do all this to figure out the titles of these books, I'm sure:

The One Who Set Out to Study Fear by Peter Redgrove (1989)

This book barely exists physically, rest assured it does not exist online... LOL.

The author of The Wise Wound presents here a re-telling of Grimm's famous fairy tales, written in a manner and spirit more suited to the present day. Each story is rooted in the original, but cast in an energetic style that is both disrespectful and humorous.

Essential Papers on Masochism by Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Hanly (1995)

The contested psychoanalytic concept of masochism has served to open up pathways into less-explored regions of the human mind and behavior. Here, rituals of pain and sexual abusiveness prevail, and sometimes gruesome details of unconscious fantasies are constructed out of psychological pain, desperate need, and sexually excited, self- destructive violence. In this significant addition to the "Essential Papers in Psychoanalysis" series, Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Hanly presents an anthology of the most outstanding writings in the psychoanalytic study of masochism. In bringing these essays together, Dr. Fitzpatrick Hanly expertly combines classic and contemporary theories by the most respected scholars in the field to create a varied and integrated volume. This collection features papers by S. Nacht, R. Loewenstein, Victor Smirnoff, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Laplanche, Robert Bak, Leonard Shengold, K. Novick, J. Novick, S. Coen, Margaret Brenman, Esther Menaker, S. Lorand, M. Balint, Bernhard Berliner, Charles Brenner, Helene Deutsch, Annie Reich, Marie Bonaparte, Jessica Benjamin, S.L. Olinick, Arnold Modell, Betty Joseph, and Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel.

Let's not forget another book we know has been present in his shelves at some point:

Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe (1929)

It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a depiction of Wolfe himself. The novel briefly recounts Eugene's father's early life, but primarily covers the span of time from Eugene's birth in 1900 to his definitive departure from home at the age of 19. The setting is a fictionalization of his home town of Asheville, North Carolina, called Altamont in the novel.

And Ron Nyswaner mentioned in a podcast (might be this one? I'm not sure) that he scrapped from the script a line where Tim recommends this poem at some point:

He specially emphasized the line "If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me".

And lastly, if anyone wanted to know:

His copy of the bible is the Revised Standard Version by Thomas Nelson from either 1952 or 1953.

Because why the hell not figure out what specific translation of the holy bible a fictional character was basing his beliefs on — as if the set designers cared nearly as much as I do.

#fellow travelers #fellow travelers meta #tim laughlin #fellowtravelersedit #i know it doesnt precisely fit the tag but hey.. theres a gif right there #this is such a jobless thread... but i AM jobless

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literary-illuminati · 22 days

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2024 Book Review #44 – The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

This was a book I went into with no hand holding or preconceptions, and so I very much dove into the deep end of the pool. This is, frankly, a mess - but a beautiful one. There’s a lot to love, a lot of meat to chew on; but Candon’s reach really does exceed her grasp in ways that show, and I cannot blame anyone in the slightest for finding the narrative alienating or hard to follow. But shoot for the moon and you still end up among the stars, right?

The book follows Sunai, a deeply traumatized drifter and guide, who absolutely never got over the apocalyptic collapse of the AI-governed city he grew up in – quite literally, as he was interfaced with the AI-god at the time, and has spent the decades since hiding his nature as a Relic despite his stubborn refusal to age and tendency to heal from all injuries in a matter of minutes. Should his nature be known, he would be conscripted as the pilot and adhesive for a towering killer mech, and used to protect and oppress the new city now growing in the ruins of the old. Instead he fled half-way across the world and spends his days helping salvagers and refugees and his nights on drunken benders. After receiving a letter from his past he goes on a particularly intense one of those, and wakes up having both slept with and accepted a job from Veyadi, a former Archivist of the same AI who he’s clearly already told too much. Despite his heroic efforts to avoid honest conversations or emotional connections, from there he’s dragged straight back into the world of dead gods and killer science.

This is a book that hits the ground running and never stops, without much in the way of care about whether you’re able to keep up. The setting has both history and politics that are clearly important but are never explained beyond the bits that are directly relevant, with the expectation that you’ll figure the rest out through context clues (or not). There’s all manner of words being used as technical terms and basically none of them are ever actually defined. Sunai spends half the book explicitly trying to head off or avoid revelation-heavy or important conversations and, while he might know what topic he’s evading by turning the conversation into a quickie, I at least did not. Which is something I enjoy, honestly – I felt I had a solid grasp on most things by the end, and the world was fascinating (if occasionally absurd) – but I really cannot hold it against anyone who checks out.

The narration doesn’t help, either. Technically speaking, the entire book is told from Sunai’s POV. He merely has an unusually porous consciousness, and so spends a large fraction of the book being directly spoken at by one of a couple different voices in his head, or else semi-conscious and seeing the world through one of several different people’s eyes. When he’s not just outright hallucinating or trapped in a VR simulation, or spiraling into flashbacks (some of which are even his). This I found harder to adapt to and more frustrating, and in many cases felt like Candon was trying to show off and not quite managing it, but when it worked it really did work (the playing with the narrative voice in the second act, especially).

The book’s most saliently about trauma and (failing to) deal with it. It is not especially subtle about how Sunai’s relic nature is just a literalization of how he latches on to the plans and hopes of others to avoid even considering the idea of what his own might look like, and makes no bones about making him the whole thing’s beating heart. The book, then, depends a great deal on how compelling you find him. Personally I found the broken wreck of a man endlessly endearing, even when he was also deeply frustrating to be stuck in the head of.

The book’s other characters fare less well, sadly. The other major characters, despite (or maybe because of) all the time spent looking through their eyes and ruminating on their motives, still end up feeling opaque and a bit arbitrary. There’s only so many world-shaking revelations you can layer on top of each other before they stop having much impact and you stop being that invested in the characters. Ruhi and Imaru especially suffered here, the former for having so many story beats stuffed into him he ended up feeling more like a plot device than a real character, the latter because she felt like the story highlighted her importance to Sunai and general significance and then didn’t really know what to do with her past a certain point. In both cases (and like, this is clearly intentional) you end up knowing quite a lot of what Sunai think of them and not that much about the characters themselves.

Veyadi does better, if not always consistently. His romance with Sunai (osculating between unhealthy coping mechanism FWBs and all-consuming devotion as the story progresses) is another of the book’s main throughlines and it largely worked for me – Sunai’s wilful refusal to accept either of their obvious feelings was well-done and didn’t last quite long enough to be frustrating, and it was always entertainingly unhealthy in one way or another. ‘adi’s character outside the romance is significantly more opaque. Partly for reasons of plot and preserving tension, but still – I ended the book caring that Sunai cared about it, but not really about him for his own sake.

I admit I feel personally let down by the ending less for what it does than what it teases at then fails to do. All that buildup and ominous foreshadowing about losing your identity and being subsumed and synthesized into a greater hole as the walls come down and in the end they and the remnant AI just end up being able to DM each other’s brains. My expectations of a perfect lyctorhood or even some original examination of codependent relationship realized as the literal synthesis of identities, entirely dashed.

The ending in general was also just, well, messy. Too many plates in the air, too much ambiguity and nuance that then needed to be forcefully resolved to tie things off, too much sublime technology and miraculous agency in conflict for the final result not to just feel arbitrary – especially since the neat resolution arrived at makes absolutely no sense at all unless the ‘AI’ in question was actually just some kind of incorporeal demon the whole time. The emotional beats do work, but the result feels like a bit less than the sum of its parts. But then I may need to accept that my standards for a good ending are just impossible for 99 books in 100 to hope meeting.

Still, mess aside a thoroughly enjoyable read and one I’m deeply sad doesn’t seem to have gotten more attention. Though it also definitely doesn’t need to be the first in a series (many such cases, these days).

#book review #the archive undying #emma mieko candon #sff

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aroaceleovaldez · 2 months

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So, in your last post about the Percy Jackson TV show, I felt you lacked a few pieces of information/points. While it is true that the CGI in the film is pore and not constructed well, please note that while they have a large budget Disney has made a lot of restrictions to the show. In the original scrips there was a significantly larger amount of violence that would have needed more CGI. This was latter edited out of the script due to both restrictions and budget cuts for other parts in the show(sadly). Also to bring into prospective Sea of monsters the movie was made 10 years ago. Inflation has juristically affected the way money is used in films. Another thing to note is typically movie budgets are less than TV shows because they only are filming for one larger block of time. TV however they can take years meaning the acters need to be paid even for the time off set. This is not to say movies cannot take years, but it is to show that TV shows are filmed longer. I would also like to say I am genuinely not trying to be rude or unkind about your opinion and thoughts on the subject. I am just someone who has a different insight into the topic because of the things I know about the topic (I myself, am an actor and for the most part I think this is why the CGI was not the best as well as some of the script work).

I did actually calculate inflation for Sea of Monsters versus the PJO TV show. We know the PJO TV show allegedly had a budget of $12-15 million per episode. For comparison, this is the type of budget Disney+ usually uses for stuff like The Mandalorian. I was doing a generous underestimate for the entire season which comes out to $96mil (12mil per episode x 8 episodes). Sea of Monsters' budget was 90mil. Here's that inflation:

So lil over $120mil. Going for a top estimate for s1 of the show (15x8) that's $120mil. And as far as I'd heard that may also not include stuff like budget for casting for the show. They are still roughly in similar ballparks.

Regardless of this - as an animator, i can tell you there is no excuse for that wonky CGI trident other than it being extremely quickly done. That's literally a transform error, like ctrl+t type stuff. That is a lazy and cheap trident, probably because Disney notoriously overworks and cheaps out with their CGI. The CGI problems in the show are majority because Disney's being cheap about it. This shows in nearly all the CGI in every episode.

If they had to remove violence from the script and so remove CGI scenes with it, then theoretically they should have more room in the budget for more or better CGI where it already is in the show. That money doesn't just vanish. Changing that in the script gives them less of an excuse, actually.

Also, as i mentioned in my previous post - if you don't want to CGI hydrokinesis, don't pick the franchise where the main character's defining power is hydrokinesis. If you can't have much violence, DON'T PICK THE GREEK MYTHOLOGY SERIES WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER BEHEADS TWO PEOPLE IN THE FIRST BOOK AND IT ONLY GETS BLOODIER FROM THERE. You cannot have PJO without some level of violence. It's kind of very inherent to the series. Rick actually talks in his original Teaching Guide for The Lightning Thief about how, in argument against attempts to ban TLT (in this specific instance for "being too violent"), that monsters in the books poof into golden dust for a reason, because then they haven't "died." There is no blood. They can and will come back. Because it's fantasy. That is the excuse for all the violence. Of which there otherwise technically is a lot of.

If you are doing live action PJO you are going to have to have some amount of violence (and there is absolutely a level that is perfectly suitable for a PG13 audience. The show right now is leagues below that level. PG13 just means parental guidance for under 13 - this majority has to do with concerns about children under 13 replicating behavior on-screen. Past 13 kids know better than to do that, which is why that rating is a thing. There are plenty of film/media/etc that are way more gory and violent and are still PG13). You are going to have to CGI monsters/creatures to some degree regularly (alongside demigod powers like Percy's hydrokinesis even more regularly). And between those two things, characters are going to have to look like they're physically interacting with the CGI at times. Disney is capable of doing this. Disney does have the budget for this for the show. They're not doing it because they're being cheap. Disney has done this before and does it regularly. This is not anything new. It entirely has to do with CGI not having as many unions. They have no excuses. If they didn't expect to run into these problems then they clearly did no planning for what adapting the series would entail and didn't think at all of what the series actually featured before diving into it. And they have no excuse for that! That is step one!

#pjo #riordanverse #pjo tv crit #ask #Anonymous #long post //#listen if a disney exec wants to pull out the LITERAL RECEIPTS and prove me wrong. show me the EXACT pjo tv budget and how they spent it #be my guest! show me! i *want* to see it! i wanna know where all that money went. im interested in that kind of boring stuff.#like cmon having LMM cant have drained the budget that much alone #so either something is up and/or it is HORRIBLY mismanaged behind the scenes. which they have no excuse for.#they have the means to have it NOT be horribly mismanaged #and trust me i am actually familiar with what goes on behind the scenes at Disney. I know how the sausage gets made and etc #like i dont personally work there but i *am* familiar on a personal level with it. this isnt just a I Watched A Documentary #like i have been personally toured around the studios and studio lots and told about all this type of stuff in different departments #ive taken classes from active and former disney employees as well before. i know more about disney than i prob should lmao #i know these things and disney does not have an excuse for what theyre doing here. it's just kind of sad and lackluster.#really though if anybody wants to show me an itemized list of the pjotv finances i will happily take it #disney? disney? pspspsp? i just wanna look

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uniquexusposts · 4 months

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Her || Charles Leclerc

Main characters: Charles Leclerc x OC Genre: fanfiction, fluff Story type: novel Part: 11/? Word count: 3089 Co writer: @mistrose23

Story summary: Matilde Jørgensen, the new Scuderia Ferrari team principal, faced the nerve-wracking challenge of reviving the team's fortunes and aiming for a championship. Leading a historic team as a 'newbie' and separating her work and personal opinions posed a significant challenge. The big question: is she capable to do so?

Previous chapter

Chapter 9. Night Guards

The Ferrari Factory was cloaked in darkness as Matilde's car glided to a halt in the parking lot. The moon hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the iconic factory campus.

With a sigh and a hint of exhaustion, she stepped out of her car. Nerves travelled through her body. After last weekend's situation, she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue her role at Ferrari. However, it didn't feel right to drop everything and leave after only five races. She grabbed her bag from the backseat and locked her car, walking towards the entrance. The factory grounds were quiet at this hour, devoid of the usual hustle and bustle that defined the daylight hours. The parking lot, which was typically teeming with cars and personnel, now held just a handful of vehicles.

Instead of entering the office building, she entered the factory building. She scanned her pass and got in. Matilde exchanged greetings with the guard, who was happy to see her. The man congratulated the woman on the win, and they shared a few words about the race weekend.

After a quick security check, she continued her way to the canteen. Matilde just started to get to know this building. She ran her hand through her hair and yawned. Even though she was still living in the American time zone, she was getting tired because of the darkness outside.

"You are a real warrior," Mario, the manager of the night shift, said when Matilde entered the canteen. The entire night crew looked at the team principal, who was standing in front of them. "I didn't receive a cancellation, but we didn't expect you to still show up for the night shift."

Matilde scanned every person in the room, waiting for their reaction. Would they react the same as the racetrack team? She didn't know it anymore, she didn't know who was genuine and who wasn't.

"You just had a race in America and you are already here," Angelo added, a mechanic.

Everyone looked surprised to see Matilde, but they looked grateful at the presence of the woman. They all were drinking tea or coffee, preparing for their long night at the factory.

A fragile smile came on Matilde's face. "When I say I will be there, I will be there," she said. "I'm still in the American time zone; I will be up all night anyway. Might spend it here as well."

"Well, in that case," Mario said and got up. He made his way to the fridge and took out a white box. "Unfortunately, we cannot pop the champagne now," he said and put the box on the table. "But we can celebrate it with cake." Mario opened the box.

Matilde looked at the cake, and her lips parted. Tears flowed into her eyes when she read the text on the cream. 'Congratulations on your first win!' She looked up and glanced at Mario and then at the team. "Guys..."

"Congratulations, Matilde!"

"Your first win will always be special. We sadly couldn't be in Miami to celebrate it with you, but we will celebrate it with you now," Mario proudly smiled. "It was a perfect weekend for the team, and we couldn't be more proud of everyone."

Appreciation, that was the thing she missed during the entire weekend. How come the track team didn't even bother to ask her to join the celebration, and the night team came up with a celebration themselves? "Thank you," Matilde said. "Thank you for all your hard work, we couldn't wish for a better weekend, and that is because of your dedication and work. Grazie a tutti," she widely smiled. "Grazie ragazzi."

The night team beamed with pride as Matilde expressed her gratitude. Their cheers and applause filled the canteen, breaking the silence of the late-night hour. It was a heartfelt celebration, a sign of the strong bond that existed between the night shift team and their team principal.

Matilde's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she looked around at her colleagues. These were the unsung heroes of Ferrari, the ones who toiled through the night to ensure that every detail of the F1 operation was flawless. And they cared about everyone within the team. These were the people who kept the operation going.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Matilde approached the cake. She took a knife and began cutting slices for everyone in the canteen. The cake, a symbol of their shared achievement, was quickly devoured as the team was insulted by this midnight treat.

"So, tell us, how was this weekend?" Mario asked curiously.

Matilde shared her experiences with the people. She told about the great teamwork, the problems that were quickly solved and how everything felt like they bonded. Matilde had shared before that things weren't going smoothly within the track team, but she proudly told how things changed this weekend. Due to her professionalism, she decided not to share the moment that broke her heart. It was something she had to deal with, she didn't want to ruin their view on the rest of the team.

"And the celebrations?" Angelo asked. "Huge dinner party?"

The team principal nodded. "Yup." Her eyes met the eyes of a mechanic who was also part of the track team, who was also picking up night shifts every now and then. "It was fun." Matilde was hoping that the mechanic wouldn't ruin her reputation within this crew.

A mechanic scoffed. "Fun for the team, yes."

Her hope sank. Matilde's face straightened, and she swallowed hard. She looked down and waited for the rest of his response.

"We had a fun dinner, indeed. Until something happened," the mechanic continued. Everyone looked at him while he looked at Matilde, who was clearly feeling uncomfortable. "It turned out that our people didn't even bother to invite Matilde to the celebration dinner."

Matilde felt a mixture of surprise and trepidation as the mechanic continued to speak. She had hoped that the incident wouldn't come to light during the night shift. As the mechanic's words hung in the air, there was a moment of tense silence. Matilde could feel the eyes of the night shift team on her, assessing her reaction.

"Yes, it is true," she began, her voice steady. "There was an incident at the celebratory dinner. It wasn't the way I had hoped the evening would go. But let's not dwell on that. What matters is that we had a fantastic race weekend, and the team's performance was exceptional." She shifted the focus away from the negative moment, choosing to highlight the success. It was a delicate balance between acknowledging the issue and steering the conversation toward more positive aspects.

"Why was she not invited?" A woman blurted towards the mechanic of the track team. "How dare you say that in front of her? This is straight-up bullying!"

The eyes of the mechanic shot up to the woman. "Hey, I am not saying this to make her feel more bad; I'm saying this because what happened was not classy from our side. I had heard that Matilde couldn't be there, multiple people asked where she was, and everyone said she couldn't be there. But that wasn't true, no one invited her. And I didn't know that," he defended himself, but also Matilde. Ever since he found out that no one had invited her on purpose, he felt extremely bad about it. "The team principal always joins the celebration dinner."

Eyes shot to Matilde, who looked hurt. "I was told no one was celebrating it because of the early flight the next morning," she replied. "I was with Red Bull because my best friend works at Red Bull, and it's my old team. And my flight was leaving in the late afternoon the next day. I wanted to celebrate it," she defended herself.

Silence fell in the canteen.

"But the champagne move... Legendary," the mechanic said. "How did you dare to do that?"

"What exactly did she do?" Mario asked. He looked at Matilde. "What did you do?"

The mechanic smirked. "At some point, we all got served a glass of champagne, telling us we got the compliments from our team principal."

"How did you know that they were there?" Angelo asked Matilde.

"Apparently, I was in the same restaurant," Matilde replied. "Leclerc texted me, asking where I was, and at that moment, I saw the entire team sitting in the back of the restaurant. I already downed two shots, and I had some champagne in my system, so I don't know what I was thinking."

Chuckles and giggles filled the canteen, causing Matilde to smile lightly. Did this mean that Matilde could feel relieved?

"This is a boss ass bitch move; I love it," a young woman said, who sat in the corner of the room. "As you should, Matilde. Show them how shitty they acted. Own it."

Angelo laughed. "I must say, it's not very professional, but I would absolutely do the same if I were you in that situation. Whoever thought that it was okay not to invite you, should get fired."

"Don't give her ideas," Mario said. He thought the situation was funny because of the reaction of Matilde, but he noticed the situation was hurting her and how she lost the trust in her team. When she entered the canteen, she reacted differently. Now he understood why. It was everything but classy for his colleagues to treat her like that. "It sounds like there was a misunderstanding, Matilde. Maybe the message got lost somewhere along the way."

The woman who had spoken up earlier took a deep breath and spoke again, her voice filled with empathy. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that we should have ensured you were included."

"It isn't your fault, Valentina," Matilde responded. "You weren't there."

"But it is our team; they are our colleagues."

"I really appreciate that. Miscommunications happen, and yeah, so be it. I will pick it up tomorrow. I was in my fault, they were in their fault, and we have to talk about it." She acted like it didn't bother her that much, but the fact that these people supported her more than the people she worked with on a daily base...

"I don't like those people anyway," the young woman said. "They all act like they are better than us; meanwhile, they are taking our credits."

"Don't mind Stella. She says what we are all thinking, but we keep it in front of us, and she doesn't," Angelo replied and looked disapprovingly at her.

Matilde politely smiled at the crew. She made eye contact with the mechanic, who stood up for her. She gave him a grateful nod, which he returned with a smile and a wink. "Anyway, thank you all for your concern, but it happened; it's in the past. Let's move forward," she said, hoping the moment would pass. "And this is told in confidence. So whatever is said here, stays here. Unless you think it is inappropriate, then you know where to find the board, and I will happily have a conversation about it." She realised she had lost the authority, she didn't like authority, but she was the team principal after all.

As the night shift began, Matilde felt a warmth in her heart that transcended the exhaustion of her long journey from Miami. She was there for them, and they were there for her.

Throughout the night, Matilde worked alongside her night shift team. They discussed strategies, reviewed data and ensured that every aspect of the past race and upcoming race was discussed. Matilde picked up some office tasks, preparing for the upcoming week with briefings and meetings.

* * *

The next day, the Ferrari office was bustling with activity. The race track team got back to work after their days off after the weekend. The team had gathered for a small inauguration ceremony, a celebration of Carlos and Charles' impressive performances during the previous race weekend in Miami. It was an opportunity to recognize their achievements and boost team morale.

As the team members gathered in the massive hall of the office, there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air. Colleagues chatted, sharing their pride in the team's success.

Charles and Carlos were standing in the room next to the hall, waiting for the ceremony to start.

"Matilde will be here, too, right?" Carlos asked Charles after not having spotted the team principal. She usually was present before everyone else was at the office.

"I don't know." A frown grew on Charles' forehead. "I saw on Instagram that she was in Denmark, for her mum's birthday or something. Perhaps she's still there."

"Weird," Carlos replied.

"But maybe she's on her way."

Finally, the double doors at the hall swung open. Charles and Carlos stepped into the room, greeted by applause and cheers from their colleagues. Their smiles radiated the joy of the moment. They waved at their team.

"Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends, today we gather to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our drivers: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz!" The spokesperson of Ferrari took the task of leading this ceremony. "What a race, boys. Congratulations."

The room erupted in applause again, and Charles and Carlos exchanged smiles. However, when the ceremony continued, Charles and Carlos missed the presence of one person. Carlos was asked to say something about the weekend. It gave Charles the chance to scan the hall once again. There was still no sign of Matilde. It worried him. Did this have to do with Sunday? He still hadn't had the chance to speak with her about what had happened, as he felt extremely bad about it, but had she given up already? Charles thought about the situation a lot, and he wondered if he could have prevented it.

The sliding doors of the entrance opened. Charles' eyes shot to the person who had entered the building. He watched how she entered the building and went through security. It looked like she had no idea what was going on. The woman was wearing grey trousers and a blue, oversized button-up shirt, her hair in a low bun. She was carrying two bags and a coat. Once she entered the hall, she came to a halt. Her eyes scanned the hall.

A sense of guilt washed over Charles as their eyes met. He pursed his lips tightly, seeing the emotions written all over her face. Her expression changed from surprise to pain. Her face told stories. Then her face showed a clear message that she didn't want anyone's pity or sympathy. A few other people noticed Matilde's presence as well, being shocked to see her.

Matilde walked towards the podium, between all the people. Anger was playing a huge role in her emotions right now, but she had to ignore it and show who the team principal was. Her eyes met Galileo's, who was standing next to the podium. His eyes widened. Matilde ignored him and dumped her stuff on the ground, next to the podium. She stepped on the podium and stood next to Charles, wearing a professional smile, but her eyes showed a bitchy look. If you were standing close by, you would notice it.

Carlos ended this speech and looked at the spokesperson. His eyes fell on Matilde, who shared a smile. He smiled back, being relieved she indeed was on her way when they were waiting at the beginning.

The spokesperson looked at Matilde. "Well, once again: thank you all for being here," he said. "Matilde, good to have you here as well."

"I was not aware of this celebration," she mumbled under her breath, not knowing Charles heard her. Matilde looked at Galileo; she would have a word with him afterwards.

"Charles, we will go to you in a second, but first, a word from Matilde."

Charles handed the microphone over to the woman next to him.

A smile rested on her face. Over the weeks, she realised how good she became at acting and putting on fake smiles. "Of course, Carlos, outstanding work. It was a faultless race from your side, an almost faultless race on our side. We had an issue, but we managed to fix it in time, so I consider it a faultless race," she said and looked at Carlos. She moved her gaze to Charles. "Charles, your outstanding performances made us all proud. The way you fought with the Red Bulls and defended was just brilliant." Matilde turned to the people in front of the podium. "And you! Each and every one of you is also the reason why the team won. If you were at the track, at the factory or at home, because of you, we put out an amazing performance. It's not just about the victory, but also about the teamwork and determination of everyone. Well done, everyone. Keep up the good work." She handed the microphone to Charles.

"I agree with everything that Matilde just said," he said and chuckled. "We couldn't have done it without the dedication and hard work of every person in this room. This win is yours as much as it is ours."

The hall burst into applause again. Matilde joined in the clapping, showing that she was there for the team. Even though she had a lot of anger in her body, she recognised this moment of unity and celebration, a reminder of what they achieved together, and what they could achieve together in the future.

After the speeches, the team mingled, sharing stories and congratulations. Charles, Carlos and Matilde posed for photos with their colleagues, holding their trophies proudly. The first celebration of the season and as a team with a new team principal were enjoyed, suddenly there were no tensions left.

Matilde stepped down the stage and collected her stuff. It was not even nine hours after the end of the night shift; she wasn't even supposed to be here for another two hours. She walked away from the celebrations, and she wanted to leave the hall, until someone stopped her.

"We have a board meeting scheduled."

Another thing she wasn't aware of. Matilde smiled. "I will be there," she said. She was open to attending the meeting two hours before she was allowed to start working again. "After I have spoken to my assistant."

"Everyone is waiting for you."

"I will be there," she repeated, taking a second to make clear that she would be there. "After I have seen my assistant," she said, looking the man in the eyes, giving him a stern nod and walked away.

Next chapter

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sitp-recs · 9 months

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HP Rec Fest, Day 30

Here we come with more @hprecfest! Today I’m only reccing rare pairs since I couldn’t think of any pre-canon Drarry fics 🤔 I wonder if canon divergent / canon rewrite applies?? I don’t read them often either way, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to boost lesser known fics. I think this is my favorite rec post for the fest so far - there’s something so poetic in reccing these two specific fics alongside each other since Little Compton Street verse was my first (unforgettable, devastating) contact with Prongsfoot and 5 years later here I am reading them again - this time welcoming the pain. More embarrassing emosh blabbing below!

Day 30) a pre-canon fic:

empire builders by shecrows (James/Sirius, E, 25k)

Say, James, he rehearses in his head. Remember that time we were both roaring drunk at the end of term, and you put your cock in my mouth, and I came so hard I still get tingly thinking about it? Was that just a one off, d’you think, or did you want to do it again sometime?

Prongsfoot my beloved 😭😭😭 sometimes I feel like I’ll never feel as strongly about a ship as I feel for them which sounds so crazy because I don’t even read it! or, well. after being utterly ruined by Winter of ‘79 (curiously a fic within LCS verse as mentioned below) I promised myself I wouldn’t look for this ship anymore bc the inevitable tragedy of it depressed me way too much. I locked them away in a secret space deep within my heart and only allowed myself to re-awaken those feelings this year, with the brilliant empire builders. what a fic! a few lines in and I was hooked and completely obsessed with Sirius’ unbelievably spot on voice, the peak friends to lovers dynamics, and the unbearable sexual tension mixing guilt and devotion (my favorite shippy combo btw). fuck, they are so young and so lovable, and so attuned to each other it makes me wanna cry. never before a 25k fic has felt so short, I’ve read it in a frenzy and couldn’t stop thinking about their love for days. the best word to describe my state after this fic is “tormented” which might as well be the best compliment I’ve ever given in a rec.

Play Me Like A Love Song by @writcraft (Minerva/Will, E, 67k)

Minerva McGonagall doesn’t believe in love at first sight, which is why her instant attraction to drag king Wilhelmina ("Will") Grubbly-Plank is so unexpected. War tears apart the wizarding world and as one battle ends Minerva and Will must fight once more, this time for the lives of their friends on Little Compton Street. A love story spanning five decades defined by music, laughter and tears, in which love is not always easy, but it’s always worth fighting for.

truly a masterpiece of lesbian fiction, this fic is more like a religious experience, bold, brutally honest, romantic, eye-opening and necessary. I never thought I’d care so much for a ship like Will & Minerva but they worked their way inside my heart and I’m deeply moved by how their story encompasses everything that’s inherent to the queer experience: love, loss, resistance and hope. there’s so much joy and grief walking hand by hand, and it is our privilege to watch the characters mature and experience life as individuals and as a couple. Writ crafts oh so thoughtfully two stunning character studies (Minerva’s voice omg, please don’t @ me on my competence kink) while taking us by the hand into the magical universe of Little Compton Street, which is so completely irresistible and healing. I adore the atmosphere, the imagery, the soundtrack, and how this seductive setting allows them to explore their queerness in such a free, proud and joyful way *getting emosh* I feel like nothing I add here will make this story justice, it’s such a poignant and transformative fic but sadly deeply underrated like it happens to so many wlw tales. I hope this rec inspires at least one person to check it out and while at it please also check the entire series with a Drarry piece and a Prongsfoot piece, a perfect trifecta!

#hprecfest2023 #day 30 #pre-canon fic

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dekusleftsock · 1 year

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I think if hori wrote toga better more people would like her but he hardly gives a shit about her so her story and personality and thoughts are messy (as in badly written) and nonsensical. I wanna like her but you have to do a lot of leg work to make her interesting and worth the time and love, Hori doesnt love her enough to but a lot of effort into her, unlike the other two male villains who he wont shut up about. Togas always just been (for me personally) an underutilized, underdeveloped waste of what could have been a cool idea. The Anti-toga people are not unfounded in most of their criticisms (MOST), shes the only seemingly queer person and of course shes a lustful blood sucking pervert psycho murderer with no real depth.

(btw you are more than welcome to both ignore this and LOVE toga I am not saying for you shes not worth the time or energy, this is just me reflecting on her and how hori has treated her, i appreciate and value fanon and the effort fans will put into loving her, thats so cool and based, im glad you can find joy in something like that, for people who like her- I wish she was cared for by her writer 💕)

Uh… what I see or believe isn’t fanon broski.

Look Horikoshi has always had a problem of pushing aside the women in his series, the worst of this case has ALWAYS been ochako. Do I think that’s because he wanted to write a gay love story? Yeah, I do. Does that make it okay? Absolutely not. I will be the first person to shout from the rooftops that horikoshi does not write women as well as he should. He has fan service abundant, he makes crude jokes using women that really aren’t all that funny, he’s pushed aside his women and their moments in order to forward bkdk’s development.

But you can absolutely not come into my ask to tell me that she is an, “underdeveloped wasted idea”. Because she’s just fucking not.

People think toga is just “the blood sucking bisexual who likes animals too”, but she’s just fucking not. That’s never been her defining trait or character.

Toga is a subversion of the yandere trope. That sadly means there will always be misogynistic rhetoric because that’s what the trope is. At least BEFORE the subversion happens, which is now! Where Ochako DOESNT FIND HER CREEPY!

She’s going to be creepy and weird and have issues because she’s a villain. She’s a queer villain. Her entire story is one that defies the tragedy of carmilla and refuses to let her identity be anything but “Himiko Toga”. She has always been a character about identity. She’s never been “possessive” or “jealous” over Izuku for this purpose. It’s the reason why she’s bisexual, why she just “has an attraction to blood”. It’s a queer story wrapped in metaphor and it always has been. Why is THIS monster/villain queer story any worse than, idfk, the joker and Batman. I haven’t found a single person able to genuinely voice that to me in a way that is convincing! Horror and unconventional ways of love and ESPECIALLY blood has always always ALWAYS been a part of queer coded stories for a LONG TIME. We are the unconventional. We always have been. And that’s not me “bending over backwards” HER PARENTS LITERALLY CALL HER A DEVIANT AND SHE ASKS WHY NO ONE ELSE STRUGGLES WITH THE URGES SHE DOES.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll fucking say it again, Toga is horikoshi’s most well written and thought out female character. Ochako got kicked over and over again, same with momo, Tsu, Mina, and whoever the fuck else.

And I’m sorry, but writing a queer villain inspired by the lesbian vampire trope isn’t homophobic or bad writing.

She’s HAD depth. Idk if you read her backstory or her feelings on Ochako, twice, hawks, or even Izuku but she’s HAD depth. And I’m tired of pretending she hasn’t.

Normally I wouldn’t engage with shit like this but you reached out to me DIRECTLY. So let me make this clear: you can have whatever opinions you want on toga, and I will not get angry or express anger in any sort of way. But this account? This is not your fucking space and I will ABSOLUTELY meme on you for it.

#togachako #got a little heated there silly me #togaocha #togaraka #sock rages #maybe that should be a new tag just for me

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oncie · 2 years

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why clive is THE ‘tumblr sexyman’ of the professor layton fandom; a short thesis written at 5am.

“descole fits sexyman tropes more than clive does” no he doesn’t. look at my url. this is coming from someone with a long long background of once-ler fandom and sexyman studies (and terrorising the pl fandom with clive/once-ler ship art LOL). SO. im educated in this matter is what im saying. the once-ler, AKA the ORIGINAL tumblr sexyman, SHAPED an entire generation and put the term tumblr sexyman in the internet vernacular which also made this whole competition exist in the first place so you better show some RESPECT to that man’s name.

clive’s polarising personalities: outwardly charming and friendly (future luke), inwardly malicious and spiteful (clive). his story arc: his selfishness and delusion leading to irredeemable destruction followed by his commitment to atonement even if it meant his lifelong imprisonment. he’s even got a weird kind of father figure in his story who tries to save him from himself. and then how the fandom that sprouted up around him was a microcosmic version of the once-ler response: some skinny white villain in a suit who was barely even the main character of their own media, their SINGLE piece of media (not counting precious versions of the same story here re:the lorax), suddenly taking an internet collective by storm to a surprising degree and giving impetus to a fandom-wide legacy of fame and infamy for said character. you see this in the fandom response to clive even today in 2022. look in his tag; you will either get people passionately devoted to him or people who passionately hate him for the chaos he wrought upon a community and also the general annoyance of seeing his face everywhere unjustified for the amount of media he actually was present in. THAT’S the once-ler response.

descole, on the other hand, has been a largely well received character after his four media appearances. you either get people passionately devoted to him or people lukewarm on him. people don’t complain of fatigue and annoyance at seeing descole’s face everywhere, because his appearances in the entire prequel series justifies his popularity. yes, descole fits some of the aforementioned tropes mentioned: namely the polarised personality, the suit, the villainy, tragic backstory. but the term tumblr sexyman is not solely rooted in tropes; it is equal part trope and equal part fandom meta. the term itself was coined by not the fans, but the critics; those in response to the once-ler fandom who had grown fatigued by tumblr’s affinity towards the same flavour of charismatic villain in a suit. when you think of the phrase “i want that twink obliterated” and the people who genuinely mean it, which is the professor layton character that springs to mind first? it’s probably not descole.

a slight digression, but it’d also be wrong to write about the once-ler response without a mention of the absolute avalanche of once-ler OCs and askblogs that unexpectedly flooded out of that ONE kids’ movie. an entire fandom UNIVERSE was made from literal scraps (seriously have you seen the lorax 2012 the once-ler is barely fucking IN IT). these scraps AKA missing information about a character led fans to compensate by filling in the gaps which is what ended up birthing the infamous oncest ship - in its essence, a response to the largely unexplained and sudden jump from ‘nice once-ler’ to ‘bad once-ler’. this was what created a literal ‘once-ler fandom’ as opposed to ‘lorax fandom’. ANYWAY. this is a digression because neither clive nor descole had a ‘clive/descole fandom’ of their own (sadly) and selfcest was not a defining feature of their respective eras (thankfully). but that’s not why i raise this point. i do because THIS was the phenomenon that truly allowed the term ‘tumblr sexyman’ to come to fruition. it was a marker of not only just fatigue, but cringe.

CRINGE is an important and defining factor to what TRULY makes a tumblr sexyman, and those in the tags this past week dunking on clive for being embarrassing and wearing kneesocks and being ‘the sexyman of the past’ (AKA a teen girl’s crush) is only proving it. that thirst that brought about the once-ler fandom from literal scraps was created by the most important demographic in internet history: neurodivergent teenagers circa 2007-2014. THIS was the one demographic with the POWER to make the most unexpected characters and media popular with their sheer passion and creativity, and yet the characters and media loved by this era specifically became the first subjects of cringe culture. cringe culture itself is a topic for another day; why it matters here is that there is an unmistakable element of cringe today surrounding clive as a character most of all. there are far too many examples of this to count but see this post for one example. this one post is really important because OP really gets it; the insane fandom response to one unlikely character, the main era of his popularity (cited 2013), and a question of cringe from a 2022 fandom perspective - why DID he inspire such lust and loathing when he looks like that? it’s because the neurodivergent teenagers wished it so, and thus it came to be.

to most people, thanks to current tumblr’s over-categorisation of the term in an attempt to “cringe” at its past in a self-aware manner, “tumblr sexyman” has been watered down to mean “any character conventionally attractive and popular enough who sometimes skews towards the morally grey.” seriously, look at that sexypedia wiki, there are hundreds of these characters now. ANYONE qualifies if they had a sad backstory and had a reasonable fandom following. but this is only a cheap imitation of what the term really means. a majority of these characters haven’t actually earned what truly makes a “tumblr sexyman”, which ultimately boils down to the factors of tropes, unlikely fandom response, and their following notoriety based in cringe culture. in only a short time, we are forgetting the history. we’re forgetting where this phenomenon came from, WHO it came from, and how this essentially defined an entire era of the internet.

anyway im going to bed so what i’m saying is that voting clive represents and respects what the term “tumblr sexyman” really, actually means at its core and origin, because in the end, the character has earned it. descole on the other hand may very well be the ‘sexyman of the modern age’ - a cheap, watered down imitation only replicated by those who have forgotten their internet history.

#professor layton #clive dove #me: descole f*ckers write too many essays also me: writes an essay #anyway posting this because idgaf what the layton fandom thinks of me like yeah yeah im cringe #yeah im that one weirdo who draws clive/onceler shipart (feel free to enjoy btw)#but the tumblr sexyman is my academic area of expertise so. respect it <3

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beevean · 9 months

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Cecile: Annette do not hate the Belmont boy: after all we all run away at some point in our lives...

Annette: Well I guess you're ri-

Cecile: Not that those fucking whiteys over in France would ever understand or care about what we've gone through!

Annette: Hell no!

I'm 100% convinced that Nocturne overall was a first draft because jesus the flow of dialogue in that scene is atrocious

Cecile literally undermines her own point. She starts off with an attempt to make Annette sympathize with Richter, subtly reminding her that she too used to be afraid...

... then she also calls her out for not listening to her ancestors, which is also a good point, as Annette has been shown to be brash and stubborn...

... then she says more or less "your entire character life has been defined by your past as a slave,", which is just funny...

... then she says "your past as a slave is what makes you so angry, but slavery is not the source of your power, because despite what they say slavery is not the natural order," which yeah! Good! It's the usual mentor stuff, you know, "power shouldn't come by anger and hatred," but it's something Annette needs to hear. Cecile is being a good mentor so far.

... then something about how "petty devils" like Vaublanc will convince her that slavery is normal which is not the case, which is meant to give her hope...

... and then somehow we end up with "AMERICANS FRENCHIES DON'T CARE ABOUT US! THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT OUR PAIN!!", and this only proves Annette and her sense of superiority over Richter right.

Annette started off by saying that her running away from her slave over is completely different from Richter running away from his mother's killer. She was justified because she suffered, he was "useless as fuck". Cecile basically said "well no, but actually yes".

the absolute bruh. This can only be compared with Lenore flowing mid-speech from "I can't let you go, that would be betrayal to my sisters" to "what my sisters are doing is wrong, we can flee together". Can you guys please proofread?????

(as a bonus point, saying that "humanity did not enter this world dragging armies of slaves" is kind of an idealistic view point: while slavery is not good, certainly shouldn't be what a society should be based on, it is sadly an ancestral part of human culture, and it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with conquest. Saying that humans aren't born in chains is a different thing and it's true.)

#anti netflixvania #this show is so bad

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carewyncromwell · 9 months

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Hii!! I got a question! What would Carewyns life be like if she wasn't forced to involve herself in the cursed vaults?

Oh gosh! Considering how much searching for Jacob and the Vaults and fighting R defines Carewyn's entire character journey, this is kind of challenging to answer...but I think the single biggest change would've been that Carewyn would have been an active member in the Frog Choir, the Dueling Club, and the Slytherin Quidditch team for her entire time at Hogwarts.

Arguably Carewyn's most passionate core interest has always been music. It's actually kind of a "thing" for Carewyn's entire maternal family (the Cromwell Clan), to both have a talent for and love of music. Carewyn's mother Lane was even a member of the Frog Choir herself when she was at Hogwarts. So Carewyn dreamed of being part of the Choir too ever since she was little, and she worked really hard at her audition with every intention to earn a position on it just like her mum did. Ultimately, though, she sacrificed the position she'd earned to Merula, largely because our poor paragon Slytherin felt she couldn't give the Choir all of the focus it deserved while her brother was still missing. And sadly this thought process also prevented Carewyn from formally joining the Dueling Club or rejoining the Slytherin Quidditch team after her eventful tryout and first match alongside them in her third year. I also reckon, if Carewyn had been allowed to play on the Slytherin Quidditch team from third year onward, everyone in Slytherin house would've shipped the hell out of our favorite Prefect Mama Bear and resident Quidditch Papa Bear Orion, rather than people on the Hogwarts Quidditch scene just questioning now and again if Orion kept inviting Carewyn to rejoin his team because he fancied her.

On a more personal note, though...I could actually see Carewyn not becoming close with Penny, Tonks, Tulip, Jae, Diego, Cedric, Beatrice, or Mad-Eye Moody as she did in her canon, as those friendships were largely built due to circumstance rather than similarities in personality or interests. Carewyn and Merula also would've had less reason to have to work together, which means they probably would've never been given the opportunity to bury the hatchet either. Even Carewyn's friendship with Ben I don't think would've been as close or developed either of them as much as it did, without the Vaults and especially Rakepick's betrayal sparking such dramatic changes in both of them. One constant, though, would definitely be Bill and Charlie Weasley quasi-"adopting" Carewyn as a surrogate sister (hey, a brave redhead girl Charlie's age from a poor family who honestly acts a bit like a Slytherin Molly Weasley? No way are they not claiming her as one of their own!!), and I can't imagine a Hogwarts-related universe where Carewyn wouldn't have befriended Rowan, Talbott, Chiara, Andre, and Barnaby.

The best part about this kind of an AU, though, would've been that Jacob would've been able to support Carewyn all the way through her Hogwarts journey through both visits and frequent letters, with his committed boyfriend/eventual husband Duncan Ashe at his side, playing as Carewyn's just-as-overprotective brother-in-law.

#ask me #carewyn cromwell #about carewyn #opinion #analysis #my mum who partially inspired carewyn was BIG into sports when she was younger #she was in choir played volleyball and other sports and was even a majorette for a year #so yeah carewyn would've wanted to do EVERYTHING if saving jacob and defeating R hadn't eaten up all her focus

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justatalkingface · 2 years

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Do you also think that the image of the crying child impoverishes the story ?

The fact that the MC wants to save that crying child inside "his" villain bothers me. It is a form of infantilization which seems to only benefit to the heroic figure and prevents the villain from being a great villain. The past symbolized by the crying child echoes to the MC's own past and is adressed to our nostalgic feeling, the reader remembering Izuku who cried in chapter 1 when he was told that he cannot be a hero. Izuku will enable Tomura/Tenko to act like a hero too by making him side with him, but what do we do with the villain Tomura Shigaraki himself ? What about the feeling of awe ?

Same for Dabi : the crying child is always inside him (little Toya appears when Shoto "beats" Dabi, he wore the same clothes he wore while he waited for his dad who never came), but it is only significative for Enji : it means that he has to atone for his sins by being there for his child. Endeavor isn't even scared when he sees the horrific and alarming state of Dabi, he just has to be the dad who didn't come to see his little boy who was always crying (where is the tension between life and death?)

So... instead of being fascinating threats who force a society (in which the individuals define their own self by the nature of their quirk) to face its most harmful consequences, the villains' infantilization turn them into tools so that the heroic figure can shine by saving an innocent child. It's just what I think, and in general I find it quite problematic that this symbol of the crying child seems to mean - in the story - that one can be saved only on condition of crying, but it's another issue

Oh yeah.

I've said it before, but my biggest frustration with Shigaraki's story (once they finally started it properly, anyways) is the way they pivoted from his fascinating growth as a villain for that.

For so much of the story, Shigaraki stagnated, being built up, theoretically, as the future ultimate villain, but shown as this ineffectual man-child too incompetent to really be a threat for Izuku the way he was supposed to be. Then, finally, he actually, genuinely starts to grow as a villain, as a threat. He suprasses his fading mentor, mirroring Izuku again with how he took on All Might's torch, only twisted villainously with Shigaraki actively rejecting his old mentor for his old views.

Then AFO just... turned it around on him, after Shigaraki explictly rejects/destroys his influence/presence in his mind, and it's capped off by Deku, the MC, seeing the crying child.

The last couple of arcs before that had all had a major focus in building up Shigaraki, like I said, not only as a villain and a threat, but as a character in his own right, finally showing his independent ability to stand on his own as a threat, and just like that Hori destroyed all that work like a child toppling a tower of blocks.

Suddenly, Shigaraki wasn't a threat, wasn't a man out to destroy the world, wasn't Izuku's equal and opposite. All of a sudden, Tenko was just a crying little boy, helpless to do anything to stop Mean Old AFO from using his body to perform his dastardly deeds. It turned him, as you said, into a victim, against all his development, against everything Hori had been building towards.

It was part of a shift Hori had thrown at us suddenly, taking the story from a story of shades of grey to simple black and white: Izuku, Deku, was good, simply, primitively good, without any other motive or characterization than native goodness. AFO, who throughout the entire story had been a mystery turducken hinting at depth and excitement, suddenly was revealed to be perhaps the most one dimensional character in the story, who was evil... just because.

And Shigaraki turned into nothing more than a victim, sadly abused, too helpless to actually do anything to decide his own fate, and thus being viable to save. And yes, I know that Hori did another turns table twist on us, and Shigaraki has suddenly revealed to be the 'true villain' yet again, but since one-dimensional Deku keeps insisting he needs to be saved, it's only a matter of time before Shigaraki is revealed to only be Tenko, only a victim, once again, and everybody's hate will be reserved only for AFO, thus robbing Shigaraki of all the agency he had been building up throughout the series, taking away the depth and serious of all the crimes he has committed, of all the lives he has killed, because he's no longer allowed to be responsible for them.

And it's almost worse what's happening to Dabi, for all that Shigarki's change is far more sudden and drastic on the face of it.

You see, I'm angry at Shigaraki because Hori did this sudden U-turn and undid all the work he did on the man; Shigaraki's story could have been spun as a, 'poor brainwashed sap' kind of thing, is the problem, but Hori decided to build him up as the villain ascendant in his own right instead. Then, suddenly, he switched it almost violently into the role of victim out of nowhere and ruining all Shigaraki's hard fought growth. Shigaraki spent almost his entire life under AFO's thumb, ignorant of so much of the real world, so isolated that he didn't even know how to be a real person, which made his actual choice to be a villain so big, and Hori taking that away from him so shitty.

Dabi, though? Before the story had even started, Dabi had already made his choice. Shigaraki stumbled there blindly, while Dabi walked there with eyes wide open. He blames Endeavour, but he doesn't excuse himself, he doesn't say he should be rescued; he admits freely that he is a terrible person, a villain, a monster, even. Dabi has no illusions about who or what he is. He doesn't want to go back. He doesn't want to be saved.

And the fact the story is going through so much to set him up to be saved, no matter what he actually thinks about, is honestly tragic.

Dabi is, fundamentally, Endeavour's wrong doing made manifest, the monument to his sins. He's the dark mirror to Shoto's story, if Izuku hadn't saved him, the twisted reflection of Hawks; all of these characters and more are orbiting around Endeavour, and all of them sinking as the SSS Endeavour's Original Story sinks into the sea, dragging them down with it.

It gets even worse because if Hori infantilizes Dabi like he did Shigaraki, like he's shaping up to do... who is he going to blame? The entire point of doing that is throw the blame, the karmic burden of what that person has done, onto someone else to make to make them seem better. It makes sense for Shigaraki because AFO is bad, is supposed to be, and there was a way that could have made sense awhile ago, but Dabi? If Dabi's crimes were going to be blamed on someone else, it would naturally be Endeavour (even though Dabi's firmly insistent that he's doing this of his own will), but Hori has made it clear he doesn't want to blame Endeavour for anything. So who is going to take the blame so Shoto can have soba with his big brother, without having to subject anyone to any complicated questions of things like, 'should Shoto forgive him?', or 'does Shoto's insistence on saving his brother just because he's his brother actually damage his growth and/or make the world they live in worse?' or anything like that?

AFO, I guess. He's already been randomly inserted into Debi's back story, so that's the natural option, to blame AFO for what Dabi did just like they're trying to blame him for what Shigaraki did. That way Endeavour can be redeemed without issue, Dabi can be 'saved', somehow, and Shoto can have that soba at last.

Sigh. Hori's sudden and almost bizarre insistence in trying to redeem all the fan favorites instead of just letting them be bad people is one of the biggest flaws of the story, and turning them into pure, helpless children is just an insult to them, as characters and as people.

#ask #bnha critical #mha critical #endeavour critical #turning people into children doesn't magically resolve them of their crimes #i'm sick of Tenko and Deku #give me back Shigaraki and Izuku #let shigaraki be bad #dabi is a monument to endeavour's sins #endeavor's recon is ruining the entire todoroki story #and hawks while he's at it #let dabi be unsaved #let endeavour be hated #please stop making AFO responsible for everything wrong ever

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lazerv4 · 2 months

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Thoughts on Exhuma

Just my raw thoughts not a review or anything

This movie getting an international theatrical release puzzles me greatly, for one the film expects you to already be familiar with Korean shamanism to a certain extend which was incredibly confusing but thankfully my date knew the basics and explained plus I know some Feng Shui that seems to have some crossover at least from what I could gather but I think it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of people don’t know either and won’t have the privilege of their date coaching them through it. There is also no other way to put this but the movie is incredibly average, it’s a very by the numbers horror flick that doesn’t do much new or innovative besides the Korean shamanism but maybe that’s been done and I’m just not familiar because I’m not Korean and my experience with Korean cinema is sadly limited to maybe a few dozen films. Then there is the fact that the movie’s big ghost payoff involves you knowing about the relationship between Japan and Korea which while I do know, I also think it’s fair to assume a lot of westerners simply aren’t familiar which is not a knock against the film because it’s primary audience is it’s own country of course but that’s why I find it so bizarre that it gets an international theatrical release.

Now for the actual movie I don’t have much to say, the acting is pretty solid and well done, the cgi is honestly not bad at all and the score is decent enough to do it’s job, the main problem here is the script. The script early on is fine-ish, the parts about the family being from the US and just Korean descendants feels like padding and unnecessary details that we spend a long time on just to justify the weird tomb that can be justified so much easier by just making it that way for literally no reason as the basic suspicion of disbelief would be enough for something as benign as where a tomb is located. The film continues into introducing the second set of shamans but really only introduces the geomant who is the only character to go through significant development and is well defined enough to be recognizable as more than his actor. Then we spend a long time with rituals which is kind of neat to learn but then it’s just a long set of vague possession and ghost scenes followed by a burning and when you think the movie is done because they burned the casket the entire movie was written around then the movie starts again and there is a second casket which they take and blah blah it awakens a sort of Oni samurai monster and it is unleashed into the world, but then the movie starts again and now they have to fight it and man this is like an extended version of just the ending in Return of the King, just let it be over. Then it also has the balls to have an epilogue and surprise surprise no one dies because everything always felt incredibly safe even with it being a horror movie and the cast fighting actual killer ghosts and an Oni.

Movie is fine, no need to watch it unless you have a special interest in Korean shamanism.

#exhuma #movies #rambles #ramblings #rambling

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episodicnostalgia · 1 year

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Star Trek: The Next Generation, 102 (Oct. 3, 1987) - "The Naked Now"

Written by: D.C. Fontana (as J. Michael Bingham) Directed by: Paul Lynch

The Breakdown

The entire Enterprise crew get infected by space-drunkeness, which results in everyone acting like horny teenagers, except Wesley who just continues to act like a ten year old, but even more insufferable. Thankfully this isn’t the first time something like this has happened (as fans of the original series will know), and after a few hiccups Dr. Crusher is able to manufacture a cure, just in time to stop Wesley from killing everyone on board.

Oh and Tasha Yar has sex with Data, which is sadly the most famous thing her character is remembered for. Well… the second most famous thing. The writers really did waste the potential for this character.

The Verdict

I can’t honestly say I thought this was good, but after the pretentious melodrama of the pilot I have to admit ‘the naked now’ is at least amusing in a so-bad-its-good kind of way. The major draw back here (aside from the sheer ridiculousness) is that the episode relies on all the characters-acting-out-of-character before the cast have had an opportunity to define what being IN character even looks like. Although seeing Picard transition into his horny schoolboy persona is pretty funny, and if that’s not what Star Trek is all about I don’t know what is.

2 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Picard is still such a grumpy asshole.

Tasha Yar needs to chill a bit. I understand why she would want to keep her rendezvous with Data private, but just explain that to him. For that matter, considering how literally Data takes things, abruptly telling him “it never happened” without any further discussion seems like a pretty good way to just confuse the matter.

Two episodes in and Wesley nearly destroys the Enterprise. Off to a great start there bud.

The characters are supposed to be acting drunk but they’re acting more high than anything. I have to assume the writers were doing so many drugs, that they couldn’t remember what being drunk-on-it’s-own felt like. It was the 80’s, after all.

#star trek the next generation #The Naked Now #tng season 1 #star trek #scifi #tv shows #star trek tng #st tng #tng #denise crosby #space drunk #dc fontana #paul lynch #episodic nostalgia

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watching-pictures-move · 1 year

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Movie Review | Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (Little, 2004)

Stray observations:

There's a cute little monkey, who spends the movie doing cute little monkey things and getting a lot of cute little monkey reaction shots. This is the best character in the movie, by virtue of being a cute little monkey and the other characters being largely terrible.

Most of the characters suffer from being defined in either the blandest or most annoying terms, and being played by actors who are too... smooth, too conventionally attractive for this material. The actors all look like they're from a network TV pilot that was never picked up. Actors in jungle adventures should have a certain texture, look like they're barely keeping together under the humidity, like their diets consist mostly of liquid lunches and they've seen some shit, like they've spent all this time squatting in the bush, not staying in their hotel rooms. Only Andy Anderson has anything resembling these qualities, and let's just say he exits the movie before he really enters the proceedings.

The character played by Salli Richardson-Whitfield spends the entire movie being a Negative Nancy and gleefully predicting the failure of the mission. This character is initially quite shrill and off-putting, but the second the mission goes south and she suggests they get the hell out of the jungle, she becomes the most sensible character despite becoming no less shrill.

I mostly felt bad for Morris Chestnut, who went from playing one of the leads in Boyz n the Hood to being the villain in a Steven Seagal movie and getting fourth billing in this, despite putting in more effort than the bulk of the cast.

Without spoiling too much, this makes the same observation about human nature as some of the Italian cannibal movies, that the jungle is an unforgiving place but also an amoral canvas, and that man is not necessarily evil but can be freed by such an environment to unleash his worse nature, provided he isn't first killed by one of the many things that can and will kill you at the earliest opportunity.

A choice bit from Ebert's review: "The jungle where the blood orchid blooms is inhabited by giant anacondas. In fact, although they are solitary creatures, the snakes congregate in this very place during the rainy season, to form (or attend, perhaps) a "mating ball," so that the river and the jungle seem to be teeming with them. We have heard about salmon swimming upstream to mate and birds flying thousands of miles to their summer nesting homes, and perhaps that explains why the anaconda, which is a native of the South American rain forests and is unknown in Borneo, makes the arduous journey across the Pacific Ocean and up the river to the precise location of this movie."

I watched this because it's directed by Dwight H. Little. I understand he has a background in directing horror, and you can see that horror movie energy manifest in the lurid bonecrunching sadism of Marked For Death, which is the only other film I'd seen of his. Sadly, little of that quality is present here. The anaconda attacks are nowhere near vicious enough, nor frequent enough, and when they do happen, the proceedings are not exaggerated enough to overcome the dodgy CGI. That being said, the movie is attractively shot and coloured by a nice rainy, humid, overcast atmosphere that carries a sense of dread that the movie doesn't make good on.

#film #movie review #anacondas: the hunt for the blood orchid #dwight h. little

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languidlotus · 2 years

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2023 Watchlist

Current Watchlist // 2022 Watchlist // 2021 Watchlist // My Favourites / My Art These are all the dramas I finished in 2023. They might not have been released in 2023, but this is when I watched (and finished) them. (Updated 25/09/2023.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beware, here be spoilers!!

(Everything is subject to change and just personal opinion. My ratings and opinions don't reflect on the quality of the shows at all. Tastes vary!)

----------------------------------------------- Dramas I finished in 2023. (Alphabetical order.) Number of dramas watched so far: 69

3 Will Be Free (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 7/10 I've heard a lot of good things about this show and I do get it. It's fun and there actually being three people in love is fascinating and awesome. However, I was just...not into the plot. I wanted to see more about them and their relationship, not so much the murder and stuff.

609 Bedtime Story (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 6/10 Much like Oh! My Sunshine Night, this show started out looking like fun and I was curious about how all the issues would resolve, but at the end I didn't much care and was just confused by the choices that were made. And, much like O!MSN, I liked the side couple more than I did the main. Which is unfortunate, because I like Ohm and especially Fluke. Alas.

Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow (Korean Drama)

Final Rating: 9/10 I both liked this season more and less than the first one. I loved the conflict in season 1 more and thought the original actress was amazing, but I enjoyed the plot and character chemistry more in the second. Excellent storytelling, a world I'd love to spend more time in, and some gorgeous, colourful characters. (Also, I got to see Minhyun from NU'EST act in such a big production, which made me happy.)

A League of Nobleman (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 8/10 A story that was a lot of fun and didn't involve any romance. (Well, except for one of the main characters basically having a harem of cute men around him. He was popular as hell!) Had this been a BL, it'd been 10/10 because it involved interesting characters, an interesting plot with lots of puzzles, and gorgeous cinematography. Had they gone with the obvious tension and love between one of the main character and his closest friend, it'd have been perfect.

All the Liquors (Korean BL)

Final rating: 6.5/10

I was really into this drama the first few episodes. It was quirky, the characters had clear motivations (and contrast!) and it was fun. However, at some point it went downhill for me. The restaurant owner went from rigid and set in his way to completely accepting of the initial conflict. He was completely anti-alcohol and his entire life was impacted by it, yet the moment he sees a pretty face he capitulates and now not only accepts it but happily drinks it and serves it in his restaurant. I dislike characters changing their convictions on a whim just because they meet their love interest, especially when it's been established that their family, friends, and the passing of time hadn't been able to change them for a long time. It feels very plot convenient. So, sadly, I didn't feel the same at the end as I did the beginning.

Ameiro Paradox (Japanese BL)

Final Rating: 7.5/10 Really cute little show with an interesting premise and well developed characters. It's short, but cute and I wish it'd been longer. I would have loved seeing these two figure out more mysteries and drama.

A Shoulder to Cry On (Korean BL)

Final rating: 8/10 This show hits all the right spots for me. The characters are well defined, contrast each other nicely, and it's obvious that there are layers to both of them. It's definitely an 'enemies to lovers' drama, though, and one of the main leads is absolutely not likeable at first. I love asshole, broken characters who end up redeemed, though, so it's not an issue for me. However, if bullying and unequal, unfair beginnings to a relationship bother you then maybe skip this!

Bed Friend (Thai BL)

Final rating: 8.5/10 This show surprised me. Initially I thought it would be your average 'friends with benefits turn into something more' story, but it's a lot deeper and darker than that. I love it a lot more than I thought I would, mostly due to the fascinating characters and the ridiculous amounts of chemistry the two leads have. King, especially, just exudes love and green flags. He's exactly what a person as broken as Uea needs. And they're beautiful together. It is very dark, though. So if subjects of abuse and trauma upset you, please be careful about watching this one.

Being Me (Korean BL)

Final rating: 7/10 Very cute and right up my alley. Best friends of many years don't realize they have feelings for each other until a girl and imminent separation force them to. Short, but sweet.

Be My Favorite (Thai BL)

Final rating: 7.5/10 This show was super cute and told a great story about letting go and not being able to control your life. Kawi wants a lot of things and the time travel device allows him a second (and third and fourth) chance at getting the dream, but he eventually realizes that's not what he needs. I'm not 100% sold on either of the two main actors, but they were cute together and it was an enjoyable watch all the way through.

Between Us (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 9.5/10 One of my absolute favourite pairings got their own show and it was amazing. Well written, well acted, with enough callbacks to UWMA but not relying on it too much. Win and Team continued to be amazing together (as are Boun and Prem) and I was excited for every episode. There were a lot of couples and a bunch of new characters, but I didn't hate it at all and ended up very fond of most of them. (WaanTul own series, when??) The depth to their story and the fact that we've waited years for this made it an even better experience. I'm so happy for everyone involved that it turned out so well. <3

Destined (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 7.5/10 This is a show I didn't expect to love, but I ended up super invested and I binged through the first half like it was nothing. It's actually one which I kept up to date with, which is not something i often manage to do with Chinese dramas. The premise seems common - a woman is forced to marry a womanizer and they eventually fall in love - but the chemistry between the characters is so good and the story has just taken a turn for the dramatic. It's fun and while it dropped it a little towards the end I really enjoyed it.

Destiny Seeker (Thai BL)

Final rating: 6.5/10 I think it's cute, but also a little confusing at times and not super high quality.

Future (Thai BL)

Final rating: 6.5/10 Adorable little show. Not groundbreaking, but super, super cute.

Gone With The Rain (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 7.5/10 This was a show I tried watching when it first aired, but gave up after one episode because the main character is so full of herself. (She badmouthed a woman who'd ended up on the street and had to beg for money to feed her kid because 'you should just work harder' and I turned it off immediately.) However, after some gifs and word of mouth, I gave it a second try. It ended up being a fun story, but not necessarily because I liked the romance in it. I don't think they were a good match, honestly. And that's sad, because the premise of their romance sounds super fun. (Woman is in love with upstanding warrior but ends up married to a rogue, who she eventually develops feelings for after loathing him for ages.) Idk. Good, but not as good as I wanted it to be.

Happy Merry Ending (Korean BL)

Final rating: 7/10 I gave it a 7 because it's still good, but this is probably the Korean BL that I was least into. I doubt I'll be going back to rewatch it. It's just...meh. Fun enough to watch, but not enough to fangirl over it.

Heroes (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 9.5/10 Gosh, this drama was painful. I had kind of been spoiled about one of the main characters dying and it was very clear from episode one that another was going to die too, but it still hurt. Excellent drama with great characters and a lot of tearjerker moments. The only reason this is not a 10/10 for me is that I thought the 'powerful evil guy does evil shit behind the scenes' plot was a little weak and that I'd like to have seen more episodes of them developing the brotherhood between the two male leads and big brother Su Mengzhen. That way I would have cried even harder.

HIStory5: Love in the Future (Taiwanese BL)

Final Rating: 6.5/10 Messy, messy, messy. Fun couples with good chemistry, but holy shit the plotline was all over the place. I was waiting for the angst of one of the main characters having to decide between love or family, but that was fixed neatly by the family member already being dead and next to no attention being paid to it. The couples are fun, but don't expect expert storytelling.

Hit Bite Love (Thai BL)

Final rating: 5.5/10 It was a confusing, disjointed show for me. Like many, I was mainly there for Burger and King. They had great chemistry and a nice story, but the rest of the show I wasn't really into. It felt off beat to me, but that could also be because I eventually just fast forwarded to the Burger and King stuff.

House of Stars (Thai BL)

Final rating: 6/10 This show is such a mess. And I'm not just talking about the subtitles. It reminds me a little of War of Y, but a little more confusing in writing and acting. (And subtitling. Did I mention the subtitles are a pain sometimes? They are. Some characters have had like 10 different names according to them.) I was kind of curious to see where it went, though, and I actually liked the Gun character. That actor did his best and is one of the shining lights of the show for me. Also, the messy Korn/Pawin relationship was fun to follow along to. I kind of gave up trying to keep track of what was happening, though, so I'm not sure if the final episode was an actual ending or a sign that there'll be a season 2.

Individual Circumstances (Korean BL)

Final rating: 8/10 A very soft, well produced show about close friends who are torn apart by misunderstandings and feelings they don't think are returned. Which leads to one of them running away. (2023 is full of shows like that, for some reason?) I am a sucker for 'longtime friends eventually realize there's more there than friendship' and 'angst leads to longtime separation', so this drama was perfect for me.

Island Part 2 (Korean Drama)

Final rating: 7.5/10 I felt a little disappointed by this drama, because the plot and characters had such potential and the first few episodes had me very excited. Unfortunately it didn't quite reach up to the potential I saw. It's well shot, the cgi is great, and still really fun, but not quite what I had in mind. It might be because I didn't find the main male lead very interesting and I questioned his chemistry with the female lead. It's hard to enjoy a show that banks on the starcrossed lovers theme when you don't really feel like there's anything there. Still fun and nice wordbuilding, though!

I Will Knock You (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 7.5/10 Look, this drama is silly and takes a while to actually BL, but it's so cute and I warmed up to this pairing gradually but strongly. At first it may seem overly weird, but in the end it was worth it for me. They were super cute.

Jack o' Frost (Japanese BL)

Final rating: 7.5/10 Holy shit, this show hurts. In a good way, though. It perfectly showcases how painful relationships can be when both parties don't communicate and consider each other's feelings. And what can happen when these things aren't fixed. And then, just after they break up, one of them loses their memories and they're given a second chance at falling in love. However, is it really love when one party is clueless and the other lying through his teeth just to keep the person he initially fell in love with?

Jun & Jun (Korean BL)

Final rating: 7/10 Look, it was cute and the leads definitely had chemistry, I just...didn't find one of the main characters all that appealing? And the other main lead had so many guys fawning over him that I got fed up with it. Add that I was super into the second (hinted at) couple that then barely got any time towards the end and was just haphazardly thrown together and... :(

La Pluie (Thai BL)

Final rating: 9/10 This show!!! I was very hesitant going into this, because I'm not huge on soulmates and someone being predetermined for you. (Or predetermined things in general. I hate Chosen Ones for the same reason.) However, this show is so good and unlike some other shows it went just as I hoped it would. The message was that it's not who your soulmate is but who you choose that matters and <3 <3 <3. Tien, my boy. He's so good and he's suffered so much, but eventually he got what he deserved and it was a blessing.

Laws of Attraction (Thai BL)

Final rating: 8/10 Really good show with a fun plot and the main leads definitely have chemistry. (But we already knew that.) The only reason that it didn't pass the 8 mark for me is that I thought they could have had more and longer animosity between them. Their begrudging attraction was fun. I think the show was a little short to put all that in.

Love Between Fairy and Devil (Chinese Drama)

Final Rating: 7/10 Gorgeous story with gorgeous characters, a great plot, and very good cgi. I absolutely loved some parts of it - especially some characters, such as RongHua and ChangHeng - and would definitely have rated it much, much higher if that wasn't countered by some characters I absolutely didn't like. Orchid was way too obnoxious and clueless for me to handle in the beginning and I really had to power through. Also, the secondary couple didn't do it for me. Probably because I couldn't stand JieLi. The stories in my head are 10/10, though. The world itself is worth revisiting.

Love Class Season 2 (Korean BL)

Final rating: 7/10

Super, super cute. The only reason I have it listed so low is that I wasn't feeling one of the main actors and so was stuck fastforwarding through one third of the show.

Love Syndrome III (Thai BL)

Final rating: 6/10 This show is a fucking mess. From the storyline to the messed up relationships (plural!), the characters being terrible friends, and the amnesia plot, I was just stuck skipping huge chunks of every episode just to say I finished it. I like Lee Longshi as an actor, but this was just not the show. For him or anyone else.

Love Tractor (Korean BL)

Final rating: 8/10 For a show that started out feeling like it was going to include murder - what was that first introduction?! - it's incredibly adorable. It's a feel good show with beautiful scenery and beautiful men. And our little (well, big, his shoulders are huge) farmer boy is the cutest. I always felt happy after watching episodes, so I'm sad that it's done.

Low Frequency (Thai BL)

Final rating: 6.5/10 Look, I really liked the premise and thought the first episode was cute, but I just couldn't really get into it later on. I didn't really see the chemistry between the two main leads once they got together and while the plot was fun I didn't like the execution. I also didn't really see where/when/how Mon fell for Thames.

Marry My Dead Body (Taiwanese Movie)

Final rating: 7/10 An amazing premise, but the slapstick/humour side of things just isn't for me. Still fun and touching and it made me sad, but it didn't live up to what I had in my head.

Midnight Museum (Thai Drama)

Final rating: 7/10 It's fun, combines my love of fantasy with suspense, mystery, and otherworldly characters, and has fascinating characters. (With actors who have a lot of chemistry.) It feels like a BL but isn't 100% confirmed to be one and has lots of funny cameos by various GMMTV actors.

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japanese BL)

Final rating: 7/10 I hate having to rate it this low, because I loved the first season and was really into the second season and then... They added an amnesia plot that completely halted any progress Minato had made. (Only for them to 'makes it easy!' fix it in a few minutes and give him yet another way out later on.) We're back where we were at the start. At least the secondary couple remained cute throughout.

Moonlight Chicken (Thai BL)

Final rating: 10/10 This is one of the few dramas I'd confidently give a 10 out of 10 to. EarthMix are always a comfort pairing for me and they definitely delivered here, as did the entire cast. The show felt rich, comfortable, and had plenty of layers. As an older queer person, it resonated with me a lot. Jim, with his painful, difficult past, felt very relatable. It was great to see his walls come down throughout the show. The excellent side pairing of Heart and LiMing also provided a hopeful, positive, and sweet iteration of (a first) queer love. Apart from the cast, the show was well written and beautiful to look at. Worth checking out!

My Blessing (Thai BL)

Final rating: 4.5/10 I very recently watched this and already don't remember most of what happened. I know it's low budget and I should give it some slack for that, but it just felt...all over the place and confusing. Meeting a supposed angel who turns out to be your one true love sounds like fun, but I just wasn't into it?

My Journey to You (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 7/10

Beautifully shot and acted with some compelling characters and a really exciting premise. Unfortunately I just ended up predominantly into the secondary characters. The mains did next to nothing for me. The main female character was badass but mostly just there, speaking quietly and completely forgiven for being a spy and assassin there to kill them all (through the power of love). (Which somehow spread to everyone around the main character too? They trusted her just because she got his dick hard? Idk man.) And then you have the main male character, who became leader through a fluke and just made the wrong decisions and was a completely incompetent leader throughout the entire show, yet was somehow redeemed in the last few episodes and loved by all? Over the dedicated, qualified, competent older cousin/brother? The poison brothers were right all along, is all I'm saying.

My School President (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 9/10 Such a cute and charming drama. You'd think that a high school romance story would be overdone and boring by now, but MSP shows that if done well it's still amazing. The main pair is adorable and the side characters diverse. Definitely worth watching. Only negative is not enough TiwPor.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 10/10 Congratulations to Mysterious Lotus Casebook for making it to my very limited list of shows I think are worth 10/10. Excellent storytelling, great riddles, beautiful scenes and people, and a huge amount of engaging, fun characters that I grew to love. That ending was painful yet super fitting and just open ended enough that all the characters I adore can live on happily inside my heart and mind. (And no one can convince me that this entire show is not one huge love story, even if China would never.)

Naked Dinner (Japanese BL)

Final rating: 7/10 The premise is so weird, lmao. And towards the middle and end the premise about him eating naked doesn't even feature into anything. However, the actor playing Mahiro remains adorable and great (I went into this super excited because I remembered him from Cherry Magic) and the story is cute.

Never Let Me Go (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 6/10 As much as I wanted to love this show, I just...didn't. The premise was good and I really enjoyed the first few episodes, but then the hype just...died out. I'm not sure if this was due to me not vibing with the actors or the story, but I just...didn't love it. I spent most of the time wishing we'd get back to Chopper and Ben, whom I did like. It's a shame.

Oh No! Here Comes Trouble (Taiwanese Drama)

Final rating: 8.5/10 I'd heard a lot of good things about this drama and I get why. It has interesting characters, a good plot, and some really nice stories being told. I think I'd watch a second season if they made one.

Our Dating Sim (Korean BL)

Final Rating: 8/10 This is everything I want in a fluffy, light, fun show. Best friends who develop feelings, but then misunderstand each other and don't see each other again for years, only to reunite and finally realize they feel the same way. It's simple, but it's my kind of angsty happy ending and I love it!

Our Skyy 2 (Thai BL)

Final rating: 7/10 Had this just been the Bad Buddy x ATOTS crossover, it'd received much higher, but unfortunately I wasn't super into some of the shows or scenarios they presented for the other ones. Like I've said before, I'm not usually into established pairings, so I have to have a really strong connection to them or enjoy the storyline/drama that ensues. Also, Pawin's character in the Star in my Mind episodes deserved a romance. (I felt like they hinted at it with Typhoon and then it didn't happen? I was so sad! XD)

Rak Diao (Thai BL)

Final rating: 6.5/10 The writing is silly, the laugh track obnoxious, and one of the main leads is the most obnoxious individual I've ever met. If it hadn't been for my headcanons being so good, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it.

Remember Me (Thai BL)

Final Rating: 6.5/10 This show was such a shame. I was super excited about the first episodes. They were amazing and the show felt comfortable. It felt like things were going somewhere and I was especially fond of the pairing of Em and Name. A boy who didn't speak, but who had a friend who didn't care and understood him completely. Boys who would eventually realize it was not just friendship, but something more. I was so ready for all that. And then they completely ruined both that friendship and how they handled Name. I almost felt personally insulted with how that was done. He doesn't speak, but if you guilt trip him hard enough by ignoring him he'll talk and eventually even thank his mother for her treatment of him? Nah, fuck off. Such a waste. :(

Sing My Crush (Korean BL)

Final rating: 8/10 I went into this knowing nothing about this show, because I just randomly stumbled upon it when all episodes were already out. It's super, super cute and hits all my favourite 'friends find out there's more to their relationship than just friendship' tropes. Not particularly original, but still super cute and worth a watch.

Star Struck (Korean BL)

Final rating: 7/10 The premise was, once again, friends realize there's something more. Complete with the 'one realizes their feelings first and pulls back in fear the other will notice' scenario. Sadly, there have been better shows that told the exact same story this year. Still cute, though.

Stay by My Side (Taiwanese BL)

Final rating: 7.5/10

Is it the best acted series ever? No. Is it a little slow paced and clearly low budget? Yes. Is it adorable as hell? HELL YES. They're cuties and this was cute.

Stay With Me (Chinese BL/Bromance)

Final rating: 7.5/10 Look, this story is a lovestory, okay. Don't tell Chinese censors. It's such a good story and they main characters are so sweet. I really hope we get a second season.

Step By Step (Thai BL)

Current rating: 7.5/10 A great show with great representation, great conversations about queerness (in the bl industry), and actual mature characters. (And immature ones, but that's Jaab's charm.) It's so good! Look, I have to admit neither of the main characters are 100% my type, but they're fun and the fact that the older, stoic one is the one breaking down because of feelings is just amazing. He cried in his baby brother's arms!! I want more shows like this, even if it's not 100% for me. (It is for about 75% though, lol.) My only gripe is that they seemed to completely give up on the Jaab/Jane relationship towards the end? What happened there??

The Blood of Youth (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 10/10 One of the few shows I've given a 10/10 to. This show gripped me from the very beginning and unlike most Chinese dramas, I never felt like fast forwarding through scenes. (Chinese dramas are long, okay.) All the characters were distinct, gorgeous, and had very clear convictions. The main character was interesting and his relationships with the other characters seemed genuine. Also, some of the side characters were amazing. I especially loved the jade diety and the main character's oldest brother. Watch this if you're into adventure, subterfuge, and colourful, amazing characters.

The Day I Loved You (Pinoy BL)

Final Rating: 7.5/10 Super, super cute. I saw it compared to Heartstopper and I totally get what they mean. I binged this and enjoyed it immensely.

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (Korean BL)

Final Rating: 7.5/10 I think if given a bit more time and meat to it, this BL could have been everything I like in a drama. It could have been a perfect blend of fantasy, historical drama, and BL. As it was, it wasn't given more than 10 episodes but it was still really cute and I enjoyed it.

The Eighth Sense (Korean BL)

Final rating: 8.5/10 Wow, was this show a ride. It started out dark and gritty and real and continued that way throughout the show. Excellent storytelling and chemistry with some painful backstories and some equally painful episodes. The ending was mostly satisfying and one of hope, though. I could have done without the one dimensional, jealous, conniving female antagonist, though Also, warning, if things like depression and death upset you then please be careful about watching this.

The Journey of Chong Zi (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 7/10

This drama got a lot of criticism and I feel conflicted about that. On the one hand, I get it. The main actress tries very hard but doesn't quite live up to the setting (and her co-stars) and it is quite annoying that every man who so much as looks at her falls in love with her, but on the other hand I enjoyed the story, the broken male love interest, and pretty much all of the (evil) side characters.

The main male lead starts out as a beacon of righteousness. A rolemodel and leader of the good side. But gradually you start to realize that the good side has just as much evil and subterfuge in it as the demon side does and that the main male lead isn't this paradigm of light either.

Throughout the story he unravels and breaks and turns into quite the dark, fascinating character. (Even if the show doesn't always portray him as such? I think they still see him as in the right at all times.)

Apart from that, the show has some amazing side characters. (Especially the ones by fan favourites Li DaiKun, Gao Han, and Wang ZhouCheng.) And they're all stunning to look at.

The Legend of Anle (Chinese Drama)

Final rating: 9/10 Holy shit. Not only does this show have Dilraba as the main actress, you have Gongjun and Liu Yuning to back her up? I'm in heaven! Add to that a badass female character with a fun plot - so far - and lots of scheming and I'm sold. This show had several relationships that broke my heart - LinLang, AnNing, you both deserved better!! - and while it's a happy ending overall I thought about the pain and those characters for a long time after.

The Luminous Solution (Thai BL)

Final rating: 5/10 This show isn't for me. I finished it because I might as well finish, but I wasn't into it at all and as a result I felt confused and skipped sections I didn't care about. It was supposed to be somewhat supernatural or something? I just...didn't care enough to pay much attention to it. I'm sorry.

The New Employee (Korean BL)

Final Rating: 7/10 Cute and set in an office. Included queer representation and a main character who is older yet new to dating and romance. It was a fun watch. Nothing spectacular, but still cute.

The Warp Effect (Thai Drama/BL)

Final Rating: 7/10 I wasn't as hyped about this show as a lot of people were - I thought it was a bit messy and all over the place - but I can't deny that it had great diversity and representation. I may have skipped some scenes, but most of the pairings were great together and the chemistry great.

The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity (Chinese Movie)

Final rating: 9/10 A really good movie and a really good love story. (That wasn't explicitly written as a love story because, lol, China.) Excellent plot, characters, cgi, and actors. Everything was beautiful and while some of it went too quick and was too obvious (because of time constraints) I still really enjoyed this.

Till The End Of The Moon (Chinese Drama)

Initially this was everything I like in a show. Painful, tortured characters with equally sad storylines who eventually (hopefully?) have a happy ending. The worlds they inhabit are stunning, so is the cgi, and every single character is beautiful. Look, if you have Bai Lu and Leo Lu as your main actors you can't go wrong. (Also, how gorgeous are Sun Zhen Ni as Pian Ran and Deng Wei as Xao Lin? I'm way too bisexual for this show, I swear!) Could have done without the show killing off so many of my favourite characters, though. (Some repeatedly.) Also, towards the end the show becomes a little repetitive in the 'they are forced apart and have to reconcile again' sense. (And you might want to pretend episode 35 is the last.) Current rating: 8.5/10

Tin Tem Jai (Thai BL)

Final rating: 7/10 Look, is this a very good show? No. It's a bit all over the place and a bit (a lot) silly and the actors try very hard but it's not always enough. It's a mess and I shouldn't enjoy it. However, I just love the kind of pining that the main character does. (Even though that's not really portrayed in the show, as he's always happy and smiley.) How painful is it when everyone knows how you feel about your crush and you've made it so very clear, yet he doesn't feel the same way and barely even acknowledges it? Tin is just tragic to me, okay. He's silly and loud and very obvious, but realistically speaking it must be painful to not even be considered. He's literally called 'son' or 'kid' by the person he's in love with, who he's always around, and everyone knows. It's an open secret. It's probably going to turn out even messier and end up a terrible show, but in my head the storylines and characters are good, at least? Edit: it ended up messier and Park out of nowhere realized he has feelings for the guy he's been turning down for years. But, hey, my headcanons are still great! As is the side couple!

Tokyo in April is... (Japanese BL)

Final rating: 6/10 Going in I assumed this would be a cute, feelgood stories about estranged friends reconnecting and finding out they liked each other all along, but it turned a lot darker. Sadly I'm not as into it as I thought I would be. Be careful about dark, triggering subjects, my friends!

Unintentional Love Story (Korean BL)

Final rating: 8.5/10 Such a fun, eventually heartwarming story. You could see the two main characters fall in love - one aware of it, the other completely oblivious - from the very first episode and it was both exhilarating and painful because you knew about the secret one of them was carrying around with him. This is everything I like in my Korean BLs and it was just lovely. And, hey, if they want a second season the secondary couple is right there! That's the only thing I missed about this show, a clear resolution for them. (And maybe a kiss?)

Utsukushii Kare Season 2 (Japanese BL)

Final rating: 7.5/10 It was a blessing to see these two characters again. Their unconventional, fascinating relationship is just as good in this season as it was in the first. However, in general this season doesn't live up to the first season for me. It was never going to, though, because I love angst and the struggle of falling in love, not so much the happily ever after. (Not that you could call what they have perfect, of course.) Established relationships aren't my thing. I'm there for the journey, not the destination. (If that makes sense at all.) That doesn't mean this wasn't great, though. The actors have great chemistry and Kiyoi remains one of the most interesting characters out there. (Also, that pout!)

Wedding Plan (Thai BL)

Final rating: 7/10

One of the most unlikable main characters in ages. The only reason the grade is so high is because their chemistry was amazing and the other main character was so cute. They somewhat redeemed Lom towards the end of the show, but not enough to make him anything other than an asshole. Just explain the situation, man, for fuck's sake.

Why R U? (Korean BL)

Final rating: 7.5/10 Really cute show. One or two of the actors were a bit stiff, but other than that it was a cute remake and I really liked the secondary couple. The main couple was fine too, though. <3

#arcana's watchlist #arcana's 2023 watchlist #thai bl #korean bl #japanese bl #cdrama #kdrama #chinese drama #korean drama #thai drama #bl series #bl dramas

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