pines-pantheon

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2023 Edition

Part: 1 | 2 | 3

[horistans]

what are some other good bisexual het romance series?

Honestly, I wasn't quite sure how to answer this! You likely didn't mean anything by it, but "bisexual het" really threw me for a loop 😭 😭 I would refrain from using that phrase in the future!

Anyway, I'm assuming you are looking for something like GSNK ❤️ Since I'm not sure what it is you like about GSNK, or who you are and what you usually read, I'll just recommend a bunch of stuff :p

I worked at a bookshop last year, so I'll start with my usual recommendations on LGBT+ manga/graphic novels (that are officially licensed in English). They're mostly coming-of-age stories. Linked is the instagram post with more recommendations, explanations, & summaries!

Also in this rec are: Manga with characters like Kashima (and relationships like HoriKashi)

I was gonna include a lot more, but this list is already pretty excessive 😅 This is scheduled to post tomorrow evening, but know I finished this at midnight!!!!!!!!!!!! (Happy Valentine's Day!!!)

Main Recommendations

My usual rotation of recommendations from back when I worked at a bookstore

Blue Flag by KAITO

8 volumes. My favourite series!! I have so many thoughts about it. Simplest way to summarize the theme of the series is in the first sentence, "Your best friend... or your lover. You can only save one." (implied: who would you choose?). Love triangle between the main character, Taichi, a shy female classmate, Futaba, and the main character's popular, childhood friend, Toma.

A lot of western fans complain about the ending, but I thought it was very fitting for the series. I might be biased because it's my favourite, and I can't necessarily justify myself without spoiling it >.<;; CW for homophobia & outing as a major conflict in a later volume.

Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

4 volumes. Beautiful visual metaphors. Main character comes to terms with being gay & overcoming his internalized-homophobia. CW for attempted suicide & homophobia.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

1 volume. Focuses on gender identity and presentation!

Skip & Loafer by Misaki Tamamatsu

8 volumes (7 English localizations), ongoing. Has an anime coming out soon! I reread it recently and joined their fan server, but I'm just lurking ^^; I feel like people who enjoy GSNK would also enjoy this series.

Although it isn't explicitly queer unlike the other two recommendations. It's still very charming! I really like the main character and her aunt. Even though her aunt is a supporting character, the chapter that focused on her made me cry a lot. My favourite characters are actually the aunt and the drama club president (a side character... but given his role, it tracks LOL /hj) I remember when I first read it and didn't understand why people would call it WLW representation (I still enjoyed it though!) After my recent reread, I get it now >u< Even if it's not canon, I ship two of the main character's friends together. I'm very curious to other people's interpretations~ My wife doesn't really read the same things I do, so I have to wait to watch the anime with her when it comes out before we can discuss it together.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

1 volume. Focuses on gender identity and presentation! I picked it up because I liked the cover and I wanted to read more things by Asian American authors. I remember telling my sister it reminded me of Miraculous Ladybug (likely because the main character is a dressmaker)

Manga with Ikemen Girls (like Kashima)

Most, if not all, can be found on mangadex. Not all of them are HoriKashi-esque, but half of them are

The Story of How I Went to a Mixer and There Were No Women There

Only scanlated up to ch. 8 unfortunately 😢 I've started buying the Japanese volumes but my grasp of the language has gone downhill since I graduated lol Pretty much as the title says! Some guy gets invited to goukon by a female classmate, but he and his friends find 3 ikemen when they arrive. Turns out his classmate and her friends work at a crossdressing bar! And they just didn't feel like changing back after work!

Story About How My xx Girlfriend Dotes on Me

Also known as The Androgynous Girlfriend is Doting on the President. A cute short series (with short chapters) about the class president (unnamed until the 2nd "vol") and his super handsome, cool girlfriend, Natsuki. Under her stoic exterior, she's a little spoiled and very forward about her love for the president! I thought this series was really cute! I want more chapters of them!!

Cigarette Kiss / Refrain Kiss by Yorumo (part of the Resonant Blue—Girl's Best Time collection)

2 chapters of a cute GL collection by the artist Yorumo! Kobayashi knows she's cute, and she flaunts it with the intention of hooking up with handsome guys! And to her luck, she was just assigned to work with the cool Akira. But it turns out Akira's a girl! The only GL in this recommendation list...

Ikemen Dansou Reiya ni Koishiteru!! by Yunoki

AKA I'm in Love with a Handsome Cosplayer Dressed as a Man!! Another title summary lol... Only 1 chapter has been scanlated so far. Is a remake of another series by the author with a (slightly) different title, but I recommend this version (restarted in 2022). The main characters have a lot of similarities to HoriKashi! Assistant cameraman Kippei is invited to attend a cosplay event for the first time to get practice photographing people. He is immediately captivated by cosplayer Makoto. Makoto is equally interested in Kippei (he has muscle from lifting heavy shooting equipment after all!), but, not wanting to disappoint him, she continues to pretend to be a man in an attempt to get closer to him.

Tonari no Kinniku Joshi by Ano Amesuke

A short series about a muscular girl and a tsundere boy Ruby (the muscular girl) isn't technically an ikemen, but I love their dynamic (maybe I just like tsunderes?) I also have no recollection on how I found this series but it was saved on my mangadex. Some parts of the scanlation read weirdly, and since it's a short series, the writing isn't the best, but I still enjoyed it!!!!!!

Not a manga but will include it anyway: the Taiwanese drama Bromance would also fall under this category! I remember when older HoriKashi fans and I would talk about how well it would suit them as an AU ^^

--

There's so many more I wanted to recommend for one reason or another (like My Crossdressing Senpai... I wanted to make a whole section about exploring gender identity or featuring trans characters... And then there's some that barely have any relation and I just think people should pick up like Ruri Dragon) but I've been working on this for the past 4 hours LOL

Anyway if you took the time to read all this, thank you ❤️ If you've read any of these, feel free to reply ur thoughts or which ur most interested in!

[asiandramanet]

[ID: a gif from the thai drama "bad buddy" showing the characters pran and pat. pran is holding up a spoon trying to feed pat. the text in the middle of the gif says "asiandramanet valentine's day event" /end ID]

Asian Drama people!!!

Valentine's Day is coming up and we want to celebrate it with this event!

What's the theme?

» This event is all about love languages! Don't feel restricted to the 'classic' ones, we want to know what your favourite pairing's very personal love language(s) is or are!

» This event is explicitly aromantic/queerplatonic/friendship inclusive! The pairing(s) of your choice do not have to be in a romantic relationship in order to get reblogged.

How does it work?

» Create any visual content that applies to our general rules!

» Mention us (@asiandramanet) in the caption and use #adnvalentines in the first 5 tags to make sure we don't miss your posts!

» Post your creations anytime between the 11th and the 17th February!

» Create as many posts as you like!

Who can participate?

» This event is open, you don't need to be a member to participate!

Please reblog this post if you want to participate, we want to reach as many people as possible!

If anything is unclear, send us an ask! Happy creating 💜

— ADN Team

[tmtica]

LOSER LIKE ME, aka jordan joins the new directions

so essentially this is mostly for fun but also a reference point for my glee au that I only write with like 3 people in but I’m pretty much married to at this point. I’ve organized the majority of this playlist in order of what jordan tackles in the glee club for the weekly assignments + the in-between numbers she folds into her repertoire for fun / for assignments that we never saw in the show but could easily exist.

SEASON 2

episode 1, audition:     mustang sally, wilson pickett

I know roderick auditions with the same song in season 6 but here at traumantic productions I do whatever I want and I want jordan to pull off an unexpected audition song that secures her place among the underdogs within new directions, thank you.

episode 2, britney/brittany:     what u see (is what u get), britney spears

it’s one of jordan’s favorite britney songs and speaks to how she’s determined to stay true to who she is no matter what peoples’ perceptions of her is (even though she’s still young and finding herself)

episode 4, duets:     you really got me, the kinks/cherry bomb, the runaways

pre-determined mash-up for the breadstix dinner for two duet competition with @nostlgic‘s john bender; it’s like pulling teeth at first but eventually the two end up seeing eye to eye and pull off a performance with jordan rocking the electric guitar and channeling her inner joan jett; they don’t win but they do a damn good job regardless.

episode 7, the substitute:     crushcrushcrush, paramore

holly holiday said the glee kids can do whatever the hell they want and jordan wants to do more pop punk. also, any excuse to bust out the guitar is a good one.

episode 8, furt:     stand by me, ben e. king

one of jordan’s favorite love songs and one she pulls out for carol and burt’s wedding.

episode 12, silly love songs:     take a chance on me, abba

jordan (and this totally isn’t me projecting) really wanted to tackle abba for the “sing love songs for valentine’s week” assignment, so what?

episode 15, sexy:     froot, marina and the diamonds

I know this song came out in 2015 and the episode aired in 2011 but this would be the least terrible infraction the show has ever had with continuity, also it’s a banger of a song, also I already know the staging goes from jordan starting out singing in the choir room for the assignment and by the chorus shifts to her singing in the auditorium in full old hollywood glam, as it should be. I’m a genius, thank you.

episode 17, a night of neglect:     kiss me fool, fefe dobson

I fell down a rabbit hole of music I listened to in middle school and fefe dobson is severely underappreciated and neglected as an artist, and kiss me fool is the perfect combo of soulful and rock that captures jordan’s taste in music. she’ll shred through the hecklers..... until sue unplugs her amp/the mic/something to that effect.

episode 19, rumours:     the chain, fleetwood mac

I picked a song off the album that wasn’t covered in the episode since it has to be rumors-specific but hey...... this actually works really well.

episode 20, prom queen:     i want you to want me, letters from cleo; DONTTRUSTME, 3OH!3

jordan performs two songs (possibly more) for the prom; i want you to want me is a duet with @nostlgic‘s john bender once again, and she pulls out DONTTRUSTME because it’s a great party song.

SEASON 3

episode 1, the purple piano project:     trouble, p!nk

jordan wanted to do more p!nk and figured this would be a good recruitment song for the glee club, to showcase the different music they do

episode 3, asian f:     fame, irene cara

her audition song for the musical; she’s going for anita and rightfully gets stomped out of the running by santana (I will never stop simping for santana) but she enjoys being one of the shark girls all the same.

episode 7, i kissed a girl:     nineteen, tegan and sara

it’s the gayest song I could think of that would be in jordan’s wheelhouse. I’m doing this for the lesbians.

episode 10, yes/no:     your song, elton john

I know ryder covers this later but once again I do not care. it’s another favorite love song of jordan’s and one she would present to mr. schue for his proposal to emma.

episode 11, michael:     the way you make me feel, michael jackson

michael jackson tribute week? she’s bringing the energy, the vocals, and the dance moves, as she should. also she’s ready to kill sebastian but that’s beside the point.

episode 12, the spanish teacher:     como la flor, selena

yes I am biased but also how the fuck can you do a week dedicated to latin artists and not cover the queen of tejano? enter: jordan. everyone say thank you.

episode 13, heart:     fall to pieces, avril lavigne

love song themed episodes = more favorite love songs from jordan, this one being a more alternative/pop punk one. who doesn’t love old school avril?

episode 16, saturday night glee-ver:     she works hard for the money, donna summer

this isn’t on the saturday night fever album but donna summer is the queen of disco in jordan’s opinion and she, like me, does what she wants.

episode 19, prom-asaurus:     heart of glass, blondie; tell it to my heart, taylor dayne

I might change this/add more but jordan went through an 80s mood that month and just felt like the two above would be solid for prom (and she’s right!).

episode 22, goodbye:     don’t you (forget about me), the simple minds

yes this was covered in later seasons but I do not care it’s iconic and she’s gonna sing this to the seniors come hell or high water.

SEASON 4

episode 2, britney 2.0:     what it’s like to be me, britney spears

another empowering britney song for britney week, take two. pretty much same deal as before.

episode 7, dynamic duets:     SOS, ABBA; you don’t mess around with jim, jim cocre

this episode was superhero themed with the duets and I think both songs fit the theme and are also in jordan’s reach; she probably picks ABBA but that could change.

episode 11, sadie hawkins:     still into you, paramore

once again this is specific to @nostlgic‘s john bender but in general...... such a good love song. I guarantee you if you sing this at your crush they will instantly fall in love with you.

episode 12, naked:     maneater, nelly furtado

truthfully I can’t remember why I thought this would fit into the episode theme but once again, I do what I want and so does jordan.

episode 13, diva:     if i could turn back time, cher

I realize that the network probably couldn’t afford the royalties to cover cher’s music but is that gonna stop me from proclaiming that jordan does exactly that during diva week? of course not.

episode 14, i do:     everywhere, michelle branch

this doesn’t fit the rest of the episode so this is probably gonna change but hey, michelle branch is underrated and I’m doing everyone a favor here.

episode 16, feud:     1, 2 step, ciara ft. missy elliot/disturbia, rihanna

ciara and rihanna had a very brief feud that mostly happened on twitter and was resolved with little drama but since the episode is about doing music/mashups incorporating two artists with beef, this works. and it’ll fucking slap.

episode 17, guilty pleasures:     before he cheats, carrie underwood

did you know jordan actually really loves country music? well, now you do.

episode 19, sweet dreams:     sweet dreams, eurythmics

the assignment was about dreams and jordan decided to slack off that week with the music. she still pulls it off. will schuester is probably still a dick.

episode 20, lights out:     edge of seventeen, stevie nicks

power goes out at mckinley and the glee club is challenged to perform music stripped down and acoustic; could you imagine how hard an acoustic version of edge of seventeen would be? you’re welcome.

episode 21, wonder-ful:     sir duke, stevie wonder

it’s a stevie wonder tribute episode and you best believe jordan’s doing his best (my opinion) song

SEASON 5

episode 1, love, love, love:     it won’t be long, the beatles

beatles tribute episode 1/2; it’s a song they didn’t cover and one she could handle. also it’s just a good song.

episode 2, tina in the sky with diamonds:     can’t buy me love, the beatles

same as above, performed at prom, most likely with help from fellow glee-clubbers. she might even don a suit for the performance. she’s absolutely playing guitar.

episode 7, puppet master:     since u been gone, kelly clarkson

from what I remember, the glee club is just going through ideas of what they could do for a setlist for their next competition and jordan would prepare this banger for consideration

episode 9, frienemies:     cruel summer, bananarama

I honestly can’t remember this episode beyond the rachel/santana stuff but it’s a good song, let her do it

episode 10, trio:     follow me, uncle kracker

see previous

episode 12, 100:     how will i know, whitney houston

the aforementioned song was such a good cover in glee and one of the new directions performances jordan would absolutely want to revisit.

episode 14, new new york:     dancing in the street, martha reeves & the vandellas

I just think this number would be fun to see with jordan exploring the city with her friends in NYC and with literal dancing in the street (because that totally happens in new york without motorists getting pissed)

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

AndromedaWatch 01 - first reaction to the series

So, it’s been a brief break from my Farscape first watch/reaction series (which you can find entries in HERE or HERE), and during the off period, I’ve decided to do something a little different! By chance, I came across another late 90s-early 2000s sci-fi/space opera show I’d never seen before, Andromeda, so I decided to do a first watch reaction to it as well!

Without further ado, here’s my thoughts on Andromeda 1.01 ‘Under The Night’!

1.01 UNDER THE NIGHT

Spaceships! and a written brief intro. Semi conspicuous CG.

A crew! Lots of people. Red and blue uniforms. Antigravity harnesses. Andromeda is the ship and our lead is the captain, fun.

Everyone running about! But seems like it was a drill.

First leads appear to be two white dudes, one with the look of Buffy's Riley, the other Firefly's Mal. Longer haired dude is getting married. As this is the first episode this is probably going to be horribly wrong.

Also, the ship Andromeda has a female voice.

We are far future or maybe just alien; there's robots and lots of tech. We're leaping STRAIGHT into action too! Great opening.

Right, they're off to rescue a ship from a black hole after a distress call and we're less than 5 minutes in. Hyperspace jumping too, gotta get those tropes in.

Side characters we've seen so far include a black technician guy, feminine robot and a smallish green alien guy. Andromeda has hologram avatar too, an Asian woman.

Captain makes the call to try and save as many as possible, evacuation...but they're firing on them! Andromeda says that it must be a trap!

OPENING CREDITS time. There's a voiceover, and now an instrumental futuristicy theme with credits introducing our characters. There's the lead, male-bob-haired Captain Dylan Hunt, a blonde badass lady, dreadlocked black dude, a purple skinned Chiara-looking expy, and some others. Quite a big cast from the off.

Into the episode; now everyone actually IS running to battlestations, no drill this time. They're under assault right away, imperfect shields. They face 10k ships. Second in command guy suggests deploying extreme destructive bombs, but Captain refuses, aww, he's a good guy. (How long will that last?)

Second in command guy (Starscream?) notes that the attackers are his...race? ethnic group? nationality? so, as a precuation, recommends that he and all others aboard of that trait should be locked up just in case. Seems a little odd tbh.

Captain concurs and a bodyguard looking guy does it.

They aren't doing too well in the battle; outnumbered and can't maneuver. Also next to a black hole, they can't do their hyperspace jump again due to gravity pull.

Well, damnnn. 9 minutes in and the black guy dies. Eep. There was an explosion in Control, hull breach apparently. They're still pinned down for the next ten minutes too.

Captain orders that everyone abandons ship on escape pods. Ah, this will be the cast paring down, good, I hope they don't all die. The green alien elects to stay with the Captain in Control and may be female? Androgynous looking and shamefully I assumed it was not female.

Shot of everyone abandoning ship through some appropriately sci-fi +/ 90s style pods and passageways.

Well daaaang. We cut to Starscream and he kills the guards sent with him; a double-bluff! Ask to be locked up so he can get away from the captain and co, and just after offering his congratulations to the captain on his upcoming marriage too. Utter bastard. That's some Kill Bill shit.

He has a plan. Cutting between him and Control, where a female robot has stayed too. Captain decides to go INTO the black hole, fine, okay.

They're not strong enough to fight their way free, they need to use the black hole's gravity to slingshot themselves free... now, I'm not sure when this aired, but that sounds a LOT like the resolution of the first episode of Farscape. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a straight AU rerun.

Bug lady is the pilot. She does seem to ACTUALLY be an alien bug, and I quite like this. I hope she doesn't die. (She probably will, characters I like rarely last long, RIP PK lady lieutenant in Farscape). She speaks a bit of her langauge which Andromeda translates (her avatar's still here), good touch, saying that she's willing to sacrifice and risk herself for the ship's survival.

Oops Andromeda's frozen, avatar dropping out. Power freezing. Starscream is still doing things, Andromeda has noticed now but he blows out the camera. Andromeda is able to alert the captain to sabotage just as Starscream walks in and... yup, bug lady gets (quite graphically) killed, her chest front explodes out when she's shot (or blasted, didn't get a good look at the weapon). Eesh.

Captain spins around to engage. Starscream reveals his people are designed to be perfect. They all live within a Commonwealth, but Starscream's people want to take it over now. There's an issue with the Magog, who seem to be horrible people, who the Commonwealth have made peace with. Starscream's people want instead, revenge.

FIGHTSCENE. Starscream is a bit of a karate boy, this is more phyisical than I anticiapted, not just a shootout. Captain holds his own too though, flipping off a wall in slow-mo, which is revealed to actually be a time distortion, nice nod to the Matrix surely given the time this was made.

The two run back for their blasters and the Captain is hit first, but returns fire as he falls and may hit his opponent more critically.

He runs over to him, possibly saddened, and there's a 'what have you done' moment. Then they all freeze in time, Starscream possibly already dead on the ground, and we cut to the ship, already on course before its power was cut, dipping straight into the black hole.

Cut away. We open on blonde lady from the credits. We;re on another ship now, presumably. Blondie is a Captain too, Captain Valentine. Her coworkers are a wookie-faced dude and an expy of Wash from Firefly and Oz from Buffy in one character. They've found the Andromeda, but it seems a looong time has passed, years at least.

Seems we might have another Starscream situation here as Mr Wookie already is proud that HE - uh, THEY - have found the ship. Not a happy family, methinks.

More new characters! A scabby faced grumpy dude from the credits and purple lady, something bad might be about to happen to Wookie because I didn't see him in those credits and all these characters will be sticking around. Ms Purple has a tail too, because why not, it was the 90s, we didn't have weaboos yet.

So it seems these guys are salvagers - thieves, essentially. Already I can see this potential clash, immoral guys vs Mr straight and narrow. They were after this ship as a prize haul with big cash value and big rewards for them all.

The guy on Team Valentine is very much A Dude, we get it. He wants to spend his money on slave girls! Lovely. Neither Valentine nor Purple are impressed.

Valentine is apparently pretty strongly in debt, so that's what she'll use her share of the money for.

So, I'm slightly reminded of Alien, the original 1979 film now. These guys all work together, but don't seem to particularly LIKE each other and are just in it for the money. I actually quite like that, coming off watching a few shows where everyone ends up bonding unreasonably fast to an unbelievably close level.

Scabface wants to make amends with his share of the money. "Trying to buy absolution" as he puts it. He plans to build a hospital on a world he - or his forbears - killed many people.

Team Valentine are all technicians, nice, another nod to Alien.

So it reveals that Valentine, despite being the captain, was hired by Wookie. He's come along with them for this salvage mission. The Andromeda is stuck in time still, so Valentine will need to retrieve it without getting HER ship stuck in time too.

Valentine wishes to jettison their existing cargo before beginning the operation so the ship is more maneuvarable, but Wookie objects and has to run down to 'check' something in the cargo hold first; second Starscream confirmed. We don't get to see what he does but music cues are shifty af.

OooOoo seems his 'cargo' was people - some of original Starscream's kind of people, it seems, identifiable by their spiked arms, again, a nice visual cue to save them spelling out expository text the way many shows in early episodes find themselves having to do or resorting to. We get a shot of them emerging from fridge-like coffins (or coffin-like fridges, I guess) with THE MOST ominous music.

Right, operation go. Nice parallel right away to the other ship as Valentine intiates the operation with "okay everybody, just like we practiced", given the Andromeda's crew were practising too before the real thing. Valentine so far seems competent, no-nonsense and determined, with a wry sense of humour and strong sense of duty. I would expect nothing less from the female lead.

The irony as well that the Andromeda went to rescue and is now itself being 'rescued'.

So instead of going in, Valentine is very sensibly hooking it and reeling it in with grappling hooks.

Operation seems to be successful until three of the hooks seem to fail. Wookie immediately advocates cutting the cables and letting the Andromeda go, which Valentine laughs off and turns to Purple and Dude to see what solutions they might have.

Despite some of the cables failing, Valentine with Dude's help (focusing the engines into one blast of energy) is able to retrieve the ship and tow it away tractor-style.

Unfortunately, nothing lasts that long, one of the engines starts to fail off the bat. Dude seems to have it under control though.

RIGHT, cut back to the Andromeda. Andromeda's avatar is checking Captain Hunt too. Andromeda is immediately aware they MAY have experienced severe time dilations.

Annnd there it is. They've been frozen for 300 years. That'll be our main drama between Captain and our new characters, makes sense because I was feeling he and Valentine were actually quite similar despite the devil-angel dichotomy. Also... RIP Hunt's wedding, and I guess everyone he knew. That's gotta suck in the worst way. 10/10 for getting me to feel empathy for this guy in under 30 min, show.

Right, Valentine and co are all off to board the ship, leaving Wookie on board their own ship, presumably. Purple is the newest crewmember, it's revealed.

Donning space hazmat suits, they board. Dude appreciates the ship like an art form.

Cut back to Captain and Andromeda. The acting is good here and the music helps. They are in mid crisis given how much the world will have changed, maybe everything they were fighting for has gone. Andromeda detects Valentine and co, intruders!

Oops, it seems Wookie has boarded too, or are they back? (Ships look a little similar). He insists they have a deadline and need to work faster, while Dude maintains it will take weeks to get the ship going (presumably up to their future standards, too).

Valentine's crew split up (with comms) to search the ship for more clues about it and how it works. This will end well.

INTERESTING. So within Valentine's crew we have humans and the evil - in Hunt's time Magog, though, who can say which one of the aliens that is, Dude and Valentine are probably out. Andromeda has started to snoop on them through cameras and other concealed computers and comms and brings them up for Hunt to see.

So seems the Magog is Scabby. Andromeda also notes that Dude seems to be sick - with an easily-curable disease from their time. She wonders at the implications of that, a kind of reversal of progress perhaps? I should take the time to say that I do like Andromeda, despite her roboticy AI nature she has a charm to her and her competence and intelligence and calm are all positives to humanize such a character.

Hunt decides to engage the new team. He comes upon Dude first and calmly engages, quickly overpowering him without needing to fight, and addressing him measuredly.

Oops. So Dude doesn't seem to even be aware of the Commonwealth, three guesses says they lost then?

Nope, there's no High Guard, no Commonwealth, they lost, and not recently - 300 years ago! Possibly even straight after that battle, oooh we're going to have DIRECT angst then, that's an interesting direction and element to give your (presumably?) lead.

Additionally, having Andromeda here to talk to saves us having monologues, thought intrusions, or (the trope I disliked a lot in early Farscape) the lead, fish out of water, near-immediately latching on to someone he's just met and telling them everything about his feelings, using them as a sounding board and emotional support. Because honestly, who takes that from a stranger?

Andromeda and Hunt decide that they will search for remnants of the Commonwealth, even though its 300 years on. Back with Valentine, they are debating what to do. Purple advocates just asking Hunt to give them the ship. Valentine feels he owes them something anyway for pulling it out of the black hole. Scabby feels they don't deserve anything.

Hunt addresses them over comms; an ultimatum, he will not give it up to be looted, so they can leave, or he will bring force upon them. Valentine and co are still aboard Andromeda. They move to engage, then, Valentine doesn't like to be threatened, but Wookie intercedes. He's brought backup, and it's our dreadlocked Saracen warrior from the opening credits, along with a small army of extras, notably, none with the telltale arm spikes that we saw earlier, so what's his game? Was it a double-bluff? And that's where it ends, on a cliffhanger!

--

Well, I have to say, that was actually VERY good, by the standards of the time especially. Some obvious flaws due to tropes and what's become standardized over time passing in between this airing and me first seeing it, but in general, a very well written and acted pilot that established world, plot, tensions, potential tensions, character inter-relationships, and, impressively, seven main characters with an eighth just out of focus, a primary antagonist, and possible secondary antagonist, while also worldbuilding TWO timezones and political setups. Not too shabby for 42 minutes!

Other points; great character design and costumes - though I'm 75% sure there'll be a coincidentally justifiable reason why Purple has to be wearing a sports bra and hotpants and nothing else. Interesting spread of lead characters, two white guys, two women, a female AI, a black guy and a non-humanoid alien, just about what you'd expect from the time. The character archetypes are a nod to others in the genre and broadly into fantasy as well, and sketch out broad strokes for where I can see later characters being sourced from, e.g. the characters from the later Firefly and rebooted Battlestar Galaxica, even the Dr Who reboot which came several years after.

Valentine is, predictably (if you’ve been following my other review series), my favourite off the bat. Andromeda second, Hunt probably third - he's a very typical hero archetype, but convincing. The others come together in a bunch right now, Dude seems to be a Chaotic Neutral, Purple probably a Chaotic Good, and Scabby perhaps a Neutral Good, these are good balance for what may be a Lawful Good and Lawful Neutral lead - although Valentine shows potential to veer into True Neutral territory.

All in all, a great opener. I'll give it an 8/10, really starting strong.

What did you think of the show? Should I keep going? Let me know in comments or reblogs ;)

[romcomathon2016]

Crazy, Stupid, Love (USA, 2011)

Predictions: We had both already seen this film. It is better than one might fear from the title.

Plot: Steve Carell and Julianne Moore are a married couple who have hit a rough patch. She wants to get a divorce, because she's been sleeping with her coworker Kevin Bacon. Needless to say, Steve Carell does not take this well. He leaps out of a moving vehicle and then spends the subsequent weeks loudly declaiming his misery to anyone who will listen in the nearest bar. Ryan Gosling, the local cad-about-town, eventually takes pity on him and transforms him from a sad sack into a better-dressed middle-aged womanizer. Cool. Cool, cool.

Meanwhile, Steve Carell's thirteen-year-old son is in love with the teenage babysitter, who is in love with Steve Carell, but he doesn't know all that. He also doesn't know that Ryan Gosling will soon fall in love with his older daughter, Emma Stone. So much is going on in Steve Carell's life behind his back! Guess what, he's not going to be psyched. Nor is Julianne Moore psyched to discover that, post-divorce, Steve Carell has been hooking up all over town, including with their son's English teacher. Drama! But, in the end, all of these unfortunate truths are revealed, and people manage to cope with them. Steve Carell and Julianne Moore get back together, Steve Carell finds it in his heart to cautiously approve of Emma Stone's relationship with Ryan Gosling, and Steve Carell's son finds renewed hope for love. Although, maybe he shouldn't. :|

Best Scene: The scene where all of these storylines collide, of course. Steve Carell has set up a lovely mini-golf course in the backyard, hoping to surprise Julianne Moore and win her back. Unbeknownst to him, Emma Stone is showing up with Ryan Gosling, who has mentioned to Steve Carell that he's meeting a girl's mom for the first time, but alas, Steve Carell DID NOT KNOW this girl was his daughter. An unpleasant shock. An even more unpleasant shock follows when his best friend, the teenage babysitter's dad, shows up to attack him because he has found his daughter's naked photos and thinks that she is sleeping with Steve Carell. (DON'T WORRY. SHE'S NOT.) Hilarious backyard violence ensues.

Worst Scene: Oh god. So one of the more unfortunate themes of this film is that Steve Carell's son, a young romantic, believes that he should pursue love, no matter how unwilling the object of that love is -- and is encouraged in this by his father. Which...okay. Steve Carell may not know how bad the advice he is giving is?? Because, context. There is some value to "fighting for your soulmate," if that means trying to work through things with your wife. Not so much if it means harassing somebody who does not have any interest in you, in hopes they will change their mind. This storyline is resolved kind of, with the son apologizing to the babysitter for making her uncomfortable, but a lot of the stuff leading up to it is Not Great. :|

Best Line: “Fuck! Seriously?! It's like you're Photoshopped." -- Emma Stone, upon seeing Ryan Gosling shirtless for the first time. "Seriously?!" is right. Get it, girl.

Worst Line: "He's not going to give up on my mom, like I'm not going to stop sending Jessica messages that make her uncomfortable!" -- Steve Carell's son, defiantly, at Kevin Bacon. Ummmm. Within the context of Steve Carell and Julianne Moore's obvious mutual feelings for each other, the first part of this is fine. The second part, however, is DEFINITELY NOT. Kid needs to stop sexually harassing this girl and equating it with love. :|

Highlights of the Watching Experience: Pretty much everything except the storyline with Steve Carell's son. We hadn't seen this movie in a while, and it was fun to rewatch. Steve Carell and Julianne Moore give us the feelings, and so do Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Also, WHAT is this house that Ryan Gosling lives in?!?!?! Discuss.

How Many POC in the Film: One. Emma Stone's Asian friend, who seems to have nothing better to do than encourage Emma Stone to sleep with Ryan Gosling. Womp, womp.

Alternate Scenes: Really, if this movie just didn't hit the "pursue at all costs" message so goddamn hard, it would be perfect. We'd love to see Steve Carell, say, sit his son down and talk to him about appropriate boundaries. Like, hey kid, you should express your feelings (respectfully); but if they are not reciprocated, you should stop. Also, in this specific situation: are there no girls this kid could be into who are his age?! Sigh. Move on, kid.

Was the Poster Better or Worse than the Film: Worse. The poster isn't...bad, per se, but it sure is happening. You're like, is this a Valentine's-Day-type movie, with a million characters? Is this a movie about Steve Carell exploring his sexuality, first with strippers and then with Ryan Gosling and Kevin Bacon? We could be open to either of these films, considering the all-star cast, but it does seem like a lot for one poster...

Score: 8 out of 10 incorrectly, punctuated, smooches. CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT THE FACT that this movie is stylized Crazy, Stupid, Love as if "Love" is an additional adjective?! Or as if they were three items in a list, which they cannot be, because two are adjectives and one is a noun?!?!

Ranking: 18, out of the 123 movies we’ve seen so far. Though, frankly, it should get a demerit for these crazy, stupid, commas. D:

[marriedtothescreen]

New Series - Love Knot: His Excellency’s First Love

Also known as Moonshine and Valentine ( 结爱•千岁大人的初恋), is a Chinese fantasy romance about a young reporter who meets a man from another world. Unknown to her Guan Pi Pi (Victoria Song), has been cursed and just like in her previous lived it brings her misfortune. He Lan Jing Ting (Huang Johnny) is a 900 year old diety of the Fox People, an alien race who came to earth long ago and he has loved and tried to fight Pi Pi’s curse since he was young. 

 He Lan renters life in public to find his first love in her new lifetime, a young reporter names Guan Pi Pi. Stuck in a relationship she has no idea where it is going but still caring deeply for her boyfriend she is a bit off put when she keeps running into He Lan. She learns that he is blind during the daylight but can see by the moonlight. Centuries ago we learn that he was fully blind and his relationship with her was tied to him being able to see. In the modern day he is assisted by two Foxes who in their human life run a plastic surgery practice. With Pi Pi’s job at an entertainment magazine wanting to investigate more into this mysterious rich man, she is thrust even more into his world and slowly more is revealed about their centuries long love and his battle to end her curse. 

Following a popular theme right now in Asian dramas about deity's and destined for centuries romances, this is a cute and entertaining one. Impressed by both the lead actors so far as even though they do not have a lot of work to their names they are selling me on this romance and destined curse more than others. For fans of Asian dramas or even newbies I would add this to a recommendation list.  Airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays, subtitled episodes can be found on Viki or DramaFever services, Viki seems to be more up to date with episodes aired though. 

[biofunmy]

10 best shows, from ‘Locke & Key’ to ‘Little Fires’

CLOSE

TV is starting off its new decade with “Little Fires,” primetime karaoke and the one-and-only Al Pacino. 

Broadcast networks, cable channels and streaming services are debuting new TV shows to try to start the year off right, and in the glut of content, 10 rose to the top right away. Some have A-list stars (Pacino, Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Daniel Radcliffe), while others feature young kids you’ve never heard of before. Some are comedies with elaborate musical numbers, and another focuses on the trauma incurred by the Holocaust.

Their common theme: Even remakes or adaptations feel like something we haven’t seen before. And considering that the new decade will bring us more TV than ever, it’s always refreshing to find something that genuinely surprises. 

Jane Levy as Zoey in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” (Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)

‘Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist’ 

NBC, preview Jan. 7 (10 EST/PST), premiere Feb. 16 (Sundays, 9 EST/PST) 

This sweet musical comedy has a slightly out-there premise that somehow works. Zoey (Jane Levy, “Suburgatory”) weathers an earthquake in an MRI machine and comes out the other end with the ability to hear other people’s thoughts through song. Someone who needs help? He or she sings The Beatles’ “Help,” complete with coordinating dance moves and instrumentals that only Zoey can see and hear. Levy’s charm – with help from an angelically-voiced supporting cast including Skylar Astin, Mary Steenburgen, Lauren Graham and Peter Gallagher – helps sell the concept, and there’s plenty of potential for the series to grow.

Sidney Parker (Theo James) and Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) in “Sanditon.” (Photo: Simon Ridgway/PBS)

‘Sanditon’

PBS, Jan. 12 (Sundays, 9 EST/PST) 

Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel is brought to life in this miniseries, created by Andrew Davies, who brought us Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 TV version of “Pride and Prejudice.” Based on just a few dozen pages of the author’s writing, “Sanditon” introduces a new Austen heroine, Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams). Miss Heywood learns her own naïveté after arriving at the burgeoning seaside resort of Sanditon, a place full of capitalist intrigue and romantic scheming. As usual in an Austen story, Charlotte has a male foil worthy of her wits in Sidney Parker (Theo James), and a trusted female confidante, Miss Lambe (Crystal Clarke), Austen’s only black character. 

Ben Mendelsohn as Ralph and Cynthia Erivo as Holly on “The Outsider.” (Photo: HBO)

‘The Outsider’

HBO, Jan. 12 (Sundays, 9 EST/PST)

Stephen King’s 2018 novel is the basis for this horror murder mystery series starring Ben Mendelsohn as a detective investigating the horrific murder of a young boy in a small Georgia town. All signs point to high school baseball coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) as the killer, but other evidence indicates he might have been miles away during the attack. The traditional detective/murderer narrative quickly gives way to a much creepier, more layered supernatural story. The cast also features the great Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”), whose character offers a more nuanced take on the case. 

Eshan Inamdar and Priyanka Bose in “Little America.” (Photo: Apple TV+)

‘Little America’

Apple TV+, Jan. 17

This episodic anthology series from the husband and wife duo behind “The Big Sick” (Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon) revolves around the lives of American immigrants. Each episode tells a different immigrant story, all based on real people featured in articles in Epic magazine. The short, subtle installments cover issues surrounding immigration, from deportation to undocumented status, but it’s not just about political buzzwords. The series paints deeper portraits of its subjects’ lives, which include the world of competitive squash, baking chocolate chip cookies and taking an Alaskan cruise. That all the episodes are based on true stories lends the series an emotional punch that only sometimes borders on mawkish.

Awkwafina as Nora in “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens.” (Photo: Comedy Central)

‘Awkwafina is Nora from Queens’

Comedy Central, Jan. 22 (Wednesdays, 10:30 EST/PST) 

If you’re missing “Broad City,” Comedy Central has found another millennial-themed series to fill the hole in your heart. Awkwafina, a standout in comedic films like “Crazy Rich Asians” who earned rave reviews for her more dramatic turn in last year’s “The Farewell,” brings her considerable talents to this sitcom about a listless woman in her late 20s living at home. If you’re not a fan of Awkwafina’s comic style, this isn’t the show for you. But her brash, raucous humor feels like a natural fit for Comedy Central. 

Daniel Radcliffe and Karan Soni in “Miracle Workers: Dark Ages.” (Photo: TBS)

‘Miracle Workers: Dark Ages’ 

TBS, Jan. 28 (Tuesdays, 10:30 EST/PST) 

Swapping a corporate version of heaven for the stink and swords of the Dark Ages, this sequel to last year’s “Miracle Workers” puts the same cast in new roles and a new setting. There’s not much relating “Dark Ages” to the original series other than the sly comedic tone (period and modern jokes about medieval executions, nuns and worthless college education abound). But the actors, including Steve Buscemi, Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan (“Blockers”), are so good together that it doesn’t matter. 

Connor Jessup as Tyler and Emilia Jones as Kinsey in Netflix’s “Locke & Key.” (Photo: Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix)

‘Locke and Key’

Netflix, Feb. 7

Despite its roots in many different fantasy and horror stories, “Locke and Key” – based on the comic books by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez – is its own distinct beast. Three siblings move to their family’s creepy, ancestral house after their father is murdered, only to find it filled with supernaturally powered keys and a malevolent force. Part haunted house story, part family drama and part murder mystery, “Locke” is instantly gripping, with a downright deliciously cackling villain and compelling kid actors trying to be heroes.

Rob (Zoë Kravitz) in “High Fidelity.” (Photo: Phillip Caruso/Hulu)

‘High Fidelity’

Hulu, Feb. 14

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Hulu offers a gender-flipped adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel (previously made into a 2000 movie starring John Cusack) starring Zoë Kravitz as Rob, a New York record-store owner who recounts her top five heartbreaks. The series retains the film’s narration, but spins things forward to expand the story. Changing Rob’s gender and making her bisexual also gives the series more relationship dynamics to explore and drama to chew on so it doesn’t feel like simply a rehash of a perfectly good movie.

Al Pacino and Logan Lerman in “Hunters.” (Photo: Christopher Saunders/Amazon)

‘Hunters’

Amazon, Feb. 21

Al Pacino comes to the small screen for this hugely ambitious series executive produced by Jordan Peele. “Hunters” follows a diverse group of Nazi hunters in 1970s New York City as they uncover a network of hundreds of the war criminals living in the U.S. who are conspiring to bring about a Fourth Reich. Also starring Logan Lerman, the series is gorgeously and evocatively wrought and devastating to watch. “Hunters” swings between thriller and horror show, and is as gruesomely violent as its concept would indicate. But it also doesn’t get lost in that violence, and finds emotional truths in its depiction of the long tail of trauma from the Holocaust.

Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) and Elena Richardson (Reese Witherspoon) in “Little Fires Everywhere.” (Photo: Erin Simkin/Hulu)

‘Little Fires Everywhere’

Hulu, March 18

Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington anchor this series based on Celeste Ng’s best-selling novel about two families in 1997 Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Witherspoon is perfectly cast as Elena, the ultimate 1990s-era working mom, with rigid, conservative ideas about what she wants from her kids, her husband (Joshua Jackson) and her seemingly idyllic community. When wandering artist Mia (Washington) and her daughter Pearl (Lexi Underwood), move into Elena’s rental property, the two women’s lives (and their children’s) intertwine. Their cultural values clash instantly, and the audience is left wondering how they might relate to a crime committed in the very first scene. The series brings its picket-fence world to life in excruciating detail, and pits two heavy-hitting actresses against each other, to great effect.

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[tomorrowedblog]

An interview with Brianna Lei, creator of Butterfly Soup

Butterfly Soup is a game about high school, baseball, and falling in love. I sat down with Brianna Lei to discuss the game and how it came to be.

Tomorrowed: For those who don’t already know: who are you? And what is Butterfly Soup?

Lei: I’m Brianna Lei, an indie game maker, artist, and dessert enthusiast! Butterfly Soup is a free, baseball-themed visual novel about girls falling in love with each other. It’s a 3-4 hour long memefest and coming-of-age story told from the perspective of four Asian-American girls.

Tomorrowed: What were your inspirations for making Butterfly Soup?

Lei: Sports anime like Free!, Oofuri, and Haikyuu were big inspirations to me, along with teen dramas like Skins! Because their settings are so mundane, they rely on the sheer force of the characters’ personalities to make the ride entertaining, and I wanted to try something similar.

Tomorrowed: And Butterfly Soup is actually related to your previous game, Pom Gets Wi-Fi. Is that something you’re interested in continuing as a series?

Lei: I’m not really interested in continuing Pom Gets Wi-Fi directly as a series, there’s too much other stuff I want to make first! So if I ever return to Pom Gets Wi-Fi, it’ll be after I’ve crossed all the other things off my bucket list. I like putting little nods to my previous works in my games, though, so I’ll definitely at least be continuing that tradition.

Tomorrowed: Making things is obviously incredibly difficult. What challenges did you face while making Butterfly Soup?

Lei: The sheer amount of time it’d take to draw all the characters and backgrounds was so demoralizing that I found myself procrastinating because I didn’t want to tackle it. Also, because I’d never written a story this long before, even finishing it was a rocky struggle! I had this really bad habit where I’d suddenly get an idea for a brand-new scene and add it in, even though it wasn’t in my original outline. So I suffered a lot from content creep. Eventually I put my foot down and wouldn’t let myself add any new scenes no matter how much I thought it’d improve the game. If I hadn’t done that, I’d still be working on it to this day…

Tomorrowed: How did Butterfly Soup change while in development? Was it just a gradual process of getting everything the way you wanted, or was there a single point where everything came together?

Lei: There were a lot of major changes! Akarsha and Noelle were originally supporting characters, but their personalities were so strong that they clawed their way up to being main characters. Also, my initial vision of the game was in Diya’s point of view the entire time. Once I decided to split the story into the 4 main characters’ POVs, everything really snapped together.

Tomorrowed: I’ve praised the writing in Butterfly Soup before, and I aim to do it again: Butterfly Soup is one of the funniest and most incredibly well written games I’ve played in years. Do you think you could talk about your writing process a little bit?

Lei: I didn’t initially set out to do this, but a lot of the writing is personal experience mixed with fiction. I started with an outline with bullets for the major plot beats and main themes. A lot of the plot was written like “They talk a bit” or “Min takes Diya somewhere cool,” and whenever I ran into those I’d have to come up with something. Naturally, my own experiences would come to mind, and I’d end up use them as a jumping-off point. For instance, my high school friends really did do the Valentine’s Day prank on a friend every year, and I really did unexpectedly go to a dog park with someone before.

Also, going through daily life, I often hear things that make me think, “That’s a great quote!” and save them for later. For example, one of my coworkers complimented another, leading to this incredible exchange:

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me!”

“Really? Then I take it back.”

I wrote those two lines down on my phone, and when I eventually worked on Butterfly Soup, I made an unrelated joke lead into it. It was like piecing a jigsaw puzzle together. Occasionally I thought up good lines all on my own, like “Don’t worry. I looked it up on Yahoo Answers,” but if I couldn’t think up anything on the spot, I used ones I saved like that.

Tomorrowed: Adding on to that, is there a consistent design or storytelling philosophy that you think defines your work? Or do you try to bring something new into everything you make?

Lei: My main consistent philosophy is that each game I make is catered specifically toward me. This might sound like a ridiculous philosophy since almost every white dude indie dev makes completely self-indulgent games, but as a minority I actually had to unlearn my impulse to make my games palatable to people unlike myself. For example, I originally had Quicktime Events in Butterfly Soup. I eventually took a step back and was like, I don’t even enjoy QTEs in games. I was adding them in to placate some other type of person! I was so used to settling for games where I’m a secondary demographic (if even considered at all) that even I wasn’t making a game where I was the primary demographic.

So now everything I make is unabashedly tailored toward me because I care about myself, and if I don’t do it, no one will.

Tomorrowed: Butterfly Soup has already built a considerable fandom on places like Tumblr and Discord, is that something you expected? And as a creator, is embracing fandom something you think is important?

Lei: My first game (Pom Gets Wi-Fi) had a short-lived fandom when it first came out, so I actually saw it coming for Butterfly Soup! As a creator, I have a lot of power to nurture fandoms, so I definitely think it’s important to embrace them. For instance, before settling on the game’s title, I checked Tumblr and Twitter’s “Butterfly Soup” tags to make sure they were mostly unused, making it easier for people to find fanworks if they searched it.

Tomorrowed: I feel that you easily could have charged money for Butterfly Soup, but instead you’ve made it available for free. Why is that?

Lei: It’s free because back when I needed a game like this in high school, I know I wouldn’t have been able to buy it. Not having a credit card or Paypal, I would’ve had to ask my parents to make the purchase. It might’ve been awkward if they found out it had LGBT content and touches on parental abuse!

Tomorrowed: So, now that Butterfly Soup is out, what comes next for you? Are you working on anything now?

Lei: I’m planning on making a sequel to Butterfly Soup once I’ve got a bit more free time! It’s still in the super early brainstorming stages. After that, I want to make a horror game, a pet-raising game, an exercise app that’s also a love story, and a bunch of others, not necessarily in that order. Hopefully, I’m just getting started!

Tomorrowed: And lastly: Is there anything you want to say that I haven’t asked about?

Lei: Thanks for the interview, and to any friends and fans of the game reading this, thanks for the support! Please watch Baccano and play Ghost Trick! And if an alligator attacks you, go for the eyes!

And with that, the interview came to a close.

Download Butterfly Soup

Watch the Butterfly Soup episode of our biweekly video series, ICYMI

[joiedecombat]

100 Days of Writing: the List

Since it seems there is some interest, why not? List of works (nominally) in progress, old unfinished fics, and Stuff I Want To Write below the cut. Feel free to ask about any of these.

Works (nominally) In Progress

Fanfic

"Reason or Rhyme" (Time Princess - Gotham Memoirs). The Vittorio expansion/fix-fic, because I will be forever disgruntled at how little romance content was actually included in the Mafia romance route.

Galactic Date Night Shenanigans aka "The one where everything is Balkar's fault." (SWTOR - Theron Shan/Jedi Knight). Theron "disaster spy" Shan is goaded into trying to take his wife out for a nice date for once, and it goes like every other plan these two have ever had anything to do with.

#3: [I] trusted [you] (SWTOR - Theron Shan / Jedi Knight). A post-Nathema prompt fic I swear I will finish one of these days.

Original

super secret short story/novella project - Okay it's not that super secret, but it is something I'm mostly keeping under my hat for now as I work on it because of reasons, and is actually (inconveniently, for 100 Days of Writing purposes) the main thing I've been working on lately. I expect to be able to say more about it later. Maybe even within the 100 days! We'll see.

southern gothic urban fantasy procedural romance - Faerie Animal Control Warden meets FBI Elf during investigation of a suspicious death out in the kudzu. A little bit of Bright, a bit Mushi-Shi, a drop of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Stuff I Want to Write

Distinct from works in progress in that I have not actually gotten past the planning stage on any of these - if that. A few of these have been rattling around in concept for long enough to have gone through several distinct evolutions without ever getting any writing done on them. Still, hope springs eternal and ideas are never wasted.

Fanfic

the rival bands AU / the rock opera playlist fic (Sailor Moon - Makoto Kino/Nephrite). Currently exists entirely as an incomplete playlist.

space opera Pride and Prejudice retelling - exactly what it sounds like on the tin. Do y'all know I have yet to encounter a futuristic/space AU? Surely there's one out there somewhere, but I have yet to see it. If you know of one, for the love of God don't tell me.

"Ten of Swords" - (Archer EMIYA/Minako Arisato). fate/stay night + Persona 3 Portable crossover what's even wrong with my brain.

Original

the Regency fae story - a Regency-era fantasy in which a lot of the needlessly complicated and restrictive social rules followed by the upper classes are actually an attempt at defending against the Fair Folk. Sort of Pride and Prejudice vs Changeling: the Lost vs Labyrinth. Could turn into a whole Pride and Prejudice retelling, I guess?

drinking games - fantasy imperial court intrigues involving a romance between a court poison taster and a master spy/assassin.

untitled - East/southeast Asian-inspired Beauty and the Beast retelling in which the Beast is a mountain god whose appearance is based on a tiger. I'm probably too white to write this.

untitled - Private investigator hired to investigate local bad-boy-made-good for insurance fraud, turns out it was actually an ill-advised teenage deal with the devil coming due. Might fit in with that other southern gothic urban fantasy idea, I am not sure.

the ciphered letter - This one started off as a combination of a Mage: the Awakening campaign and a really, really weird spam email I got one time. Orphan gets mysterious ciphered letter, meets snarky Welsh mage, awakens to magic and maybe almost gets made a human sacrifice to an eldritch abomination.

Forfeit - Regency/Victorian-esque fantasy involving reincarnation, a race of immortals, and a half-immortal teaming up with a mortal who sacrificed his future reincarnations for pseudo-immortality to uncover and stop the sinister secrets that power a colonizing empire. It makes more sense in my head... probably?

untitled - Slow burn enemies to lovers between the world-conquering emperor and the rebel leader who's opposing him, over the course of a time loop. AKA Lord of Heroes Kartis/Monarch with the serials filed off. Or I guess I could just write Lord of Heroes fanfic?

low fantasy Magnificent Seven Samurai - Farming village scrapes together a group of starving mercs to protect them from marauders, drama ensues. That's it, that's the whole idea.

Unfinished Fics

Distinct from works in progress in that these are all old enough I can no longer claim I intend to finish them. Some of them I may come back to, especially the few that had substantial progress made before they fell by the wayside. Most will probably be left abandoned, either because I have lost interest in continuing to work on them or I have just plain forgotten what I was planning to do with them.

dreameater - A very old, loosely Forgotten Realms-inspired concept involving an aging half-elf, his fully elven partner, and a mysterious magical threat that's devouring people's dreams.

"Fortune Favors the Brave" (Baccano! - Luck Gandor/Eve Genoard). The Luck/Eve shipping fic.

"Intermezzo" (Blood+ City of Nightwalkers). Follow-up fic to an obscure manga prequel/side story for the vampire anime Blood+, involving Hagi and the Hong Kong cop who semi-adopted him that one time.

"The Art of Losing Everything" (Dragon Age: Origins - Alistair Theirin/f!Cousland). An Alistair/f!Warden fic with themes of loss, duty, and sacrifice.

"In Pieces" (Dragon Age II - Fenris/f!Hawke). A terrible horrible no good very bad AU where Hawke actually turned Fenris over to Danarius and then came back to try to fix her mistake, which I can never finish because I can't make that initial decision make internal sense no matter how hard I try.

"Pas de Deux" (Final Fantasy VIII - Squall Leonhart/Rinoa Heartilly). Exploration of how Squall and Rinoa's relationship could develop after the events of the game.

"With Good Intentions" (Final Fantasy VIII - Squall Leonhart/Rinoa Heartilly). An AU in which Rinoa discovers that technically you can change the past, it's just that if Squall has an actual decent childhood the world ends. Way too ambitious for me to ever actually finish, probably, but I can't quite give up on the idea.

"I've Loved These Days" (Gundam SEED - Mu la Flaga/Murrue Ramius). One of several partly-written Gundam SEED fics kicking around in my files.

"The Last Night of the World" (Gundam SEED - Mu la Flaga/Murrue Ramius). Another Gundam SEED fic, one that began as a prompt in ye olde LiveJournal days. "I've Loved These Days" might have been a prototype, though they don't appear to have any text in common. Could in theory still get finished, maybe.

Valentine's ghosts (Gundam SEED Destiny - Andrew Waltfeld/Murrue Ramius). I'm just saying, Andy/Murrue would have been so much more interesting than the whole Neo thing in Destiny.

"Lion Passant" (Kingdom Hearts). Something something Leon as a failed Keyblade Bearer. The Kingdom Hearts franchise has rewritten its own lore at least three times since I originally had the idea, I can't imagine I'll ever continue it now.

"Vigil" (KotOR - Carth Onasi/f!Revan). Carth/Revan retrospective somewhere around the tomb of Naga Sadow on Korriban.

"Semper Fidelis" (KotOR/KotOR II - Carth Onasi/f!Revan). Post-Sith Lords Carth/Revan resolution fic.

"Clarity" (KotOR II). Atton Rand backstory study from the POV of that one nameless Jedi.

"A Simple Game of Cards" (KotOR II - Atton Rand/Jedi Exile). Spoilers: it is never a simple game of cards. Turns out someone already did it with more or less the same twist I had in mind.

the besieged base fic (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). A fic rendition of the "Besieged Base" mission from the first Mass Effect.

"Get Up, Jonah" (Mass Effect). I woke up thinking about Turkish drummers. Didn't take long; I don't know much about Turkish drummers. Virmire, before the other shoe drops.

"Long Night" (Mass Effect). Ashley on Virmire.

"My Heart Dances" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). Liara POV of Shepard/Kaidan.

"No Way Out" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). Heading up the Citadel during the ME1 endgame.

"Right Here, Right Now" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). An ME1 epilogue / pre-ME2 sort of fic.

"While the Night is Still Young" (Mass Effect - f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko). Shepard/Kaidan en route to Ilos.

Apparently I had approximately a million little Mass Effect shortfic ideas I never finished and in some cases never started. Apparently they're all for the first game. (I think there was a Thane idea or two for ME2 that I just never started on at all. RIP.)

"To Absent Friends" (Tiger and Bunny). Sad, sad futurefic of an elderly Pao-Lin reflecting on the deaths of all the other heroes over the years.

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2023 Edition

Part: 1 | 2 | 3

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2023 Edition

Part: 1 | 2 | 3

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2022 Edition

Part: 1 | 2

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2022 Edition

Part: 1 | 2

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2021 Edition

Part: 1 | 2 | 3

[misunderst0od]

Asian Drama Themed Valentines: 2021 Edition

Part: 1 | 2 | 3