#i do think it's extremely cool that they got the movie's cast tbh :)

[daz4i]

watching spto and

1. I'm having so much fun. I'm so happy this show exists

2. you can very easily tell which actors have done voice work before and which took their skill in film acting and put it into voice acting akdkflhj it's interesting!

[boringkate]

Here’s a bunch of junk for you trans girls to watch

Update: there used to be a link to a mega folder here, but it got taken down.

///TGIRL FEATURE FILMS (alphabetical order)

Adam (2019) it's about a cis boy who's mistaken for a trans boy and rolls with it. Big cast of trans characters including a tgirl played by a tgirl who everyone wants to fuck. Directed by a trans dude. Highly legit. If you're still hung up on pre release speculation based on the novel then you're the most annoying person alive.

Assassination Nation (2018) The first half is Euphoria and the second half is The Purge. ONE OF THE BEST TGIRL MOVIES OF ALL TIME.

Bit (2019) Lesbian girl power vampire movie where the main character is a tgirl played by a tgirl. It's solid. I find it frustrating that they hint at her being trans without explicitly acknowledging it (and she's passing as fuck, so it's easy to not notice), but I know that's what some of y'all want.

Boy Meets Girl (2014) Cis dude for trans girl love story. Pretty normie, but also you see her fully naked (gock out) at the end.

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) Extremely 60s. Cool as hell.

Lady Daddy (2010) South Korean romcom about a trans girl played by a cis girl who tries unconvincingly to back pass when she finds out she has a kid. Very cute.

Lingua Franca (2019) written directed and starring Isabel Sandoval. An undocumented trans woman immigrant in New York deals with a cis dude partner being a cis dude. Which is also the plot of The Garden Left Behind (2019).

Myra Breckinridge (1970) Raquel Welch is a trans woman and her goal is the destruction of the last vestigial traces of traditional manhood! It's Fight Club! It's Hackers! It's divisive, but it's probably my favorite movie!

So Pretty (2019) Literally the first scripted feature length (non pornographic tho it does have cock) film to feature two trans women played by trans women kissing eachother.

Something Must Break (2014) THE OTHER BEST TGIRL MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Drugs. Crimes. Gock. Slow motion pissing. Slow motion park Fucking. Genuinely the most beautiful sex scene I've seen in any movie. And she makes it to the end still alive and more sure of herself and at peace than ever.

Tangerine (2015) Groundbreaking and also a bunch of the secondary characters are real life pornstars (which I think is neat).

The Garden Left Behind (2019) This and Lingua Franca (2019) really are tgirl twin films, but (like with Antz and A Bug’s Life) the vibes and details make them distinct (I assume tho tbh I’ve never watched Antz).

///TGIRL DOCUMENTARIES

Bambi (2013) about a trans girl showgirl in 50s/60s paris

Paris is Burning (1990) basically it's Pose.

Shinjuku Boys (1995) Trans dudes working in a tokyo club that caters to tboy chasing cis girls. There's at least one trans girl in the mix too.

///FORCED FEMINIZATION

A Reflection of Fear (1972) They raised her as a girl and it made her do murders! It drags in places, but the girl in it is so ethereal and it has ageplay vibes and daddy issues.

Memory Run (1996) A very fun direct to video scifi action flick about fighting fascism by blowing up your pre transition self with a rocket launcher + it's based on a novel written by a trans woman.

She-Man A Story of Fixation (1967) Notable for being such a cliche sissy maid fantasy while also coming out so early + it was Bob Clark's first film lol.

Sleepaway Camp (1983) A more famous version of Reflection of Fear.

Surrender Dorothy (1998) A MUST WATCH. I personally bought a physical DVD and made an ISO of it for you because I was unsatisfied with the quality of the only copy that seemed to exist online. I ALSO PERSONALLY CREATED MY OWN SUBTITLES FOR IT BECAUSE EVEN THE DVD DIDN’T INCLUDE ANY! WHICH TOOK HOURS TO DO!

The Skin I Live In (2011) A rapist is kidnapped and turned into a girl by a mournful vengeful plastic surgeon. Which was also the plot of Victim (2010). I never really vibe with Pedro Almodóvar movies, but I recognize this is the preeminent forced feminization film.

///SHORT FILMS

Gender Troublemakers (1993) Some 90s Toronto trans girls fucking and discoursing. Explicit tgirl on tgirl action. This is the only one on the list that I haven’t actually watched yet. I’m hyped to watch it tho. Seems mindblowingly rad af.

Happy Birthday Marsha (2018) It's about Marsha P. Johnson.

I don't Know (1971) I'm obsessed with the trans girl in this one she just keeps popping up in all kinds of early 70s stuff. Directed by Penelope Spheeris (who is the sister of the cis gf in it).

Mesmeralda (2019) AN ABSOLUTE BANGER HOLY FUCK THE VIBES ARE OFF THE CHARTS! PLS WATCH THIS! I refuse to apologize for it being 15GB. It’s worth every byte.

Pat Rocco's Changes (1970) It's that same girl again!

Queens at Heart (1967) I can't get over that hairdresser girl thinking she's back passing. Most adorably weak boymode ever.

Shangri-La (2021) Another Isabel Sandoval joint.

The Yellow Wallpaper (2021) Freshly post op girl with a supportive boyfriend goes unhinged.

Undress Me (2012) Jana Bringlöv Ekspong did a few short films. Give janabringlove a google after watching this.

///JUST LIKE BTW

Some of these would be tough to find elsewhere, but most of the movies are also watchable on fmovies and/or can be torrented in higher quality.

After you've worked your way through the folder then just start doing Google searches for trans films. Look at IMDB keywords and letterboxd lists. There are so many more out there. These are just like my personal picks.

[postgameroutesix]

💕👗🍿💿 for the scooby ask meme!! :D

THANK U!!!

💕 - favorite relationship in the Gang?

fred + velmas friendship means SO much to me u have no idea like numero uno blowout beach bash is my best friend for what it did for them but its just how the crux of their relationship is how theyre able to relate to each other most - like while that element of relatability between them is obscured or more implicit in some iterations (sdmi for example) i think its SUCH an important facet of their relationship. they are two sides of the same coin u know. they bounce off of each other SO well whether its them putting their heads together or lightheartedly teasing the other. the whats new era + be cool did so much for the velma + fred bestie truthers

👗- favorite outfit(s) worn by the Gang?

tbh im a certified Fan of their outfits in frighthouse of a lighthouse + loch ness monster like theyre not the MOST different outfits in the world but i think theyre silly….loch ness monster more specifically actually bc we get bucket hat velma there

i also love like. all of their snow outfits like u cant go wrong with those tbh!!! be cool in particular has great subtle variation throughout which i enjoy. also also like EVERY scrappy outfit ever i do not care seeing them put him in these absolutely MINUSCULE outfits makes me tear up…..hes so baby….

🍿 - favorite movie?

AUGHHH its SO hard picking b/w my top 2 so ill say both: cyber chase + the sword and the scoob!!!!! the former i think while couldve benefitted from a larger cast i still love so mucb like it reads like such a love letter to the franchise to me its hard to articulate why i love it so much!!! it just makes me feel warm n sometimes thats all u need. wrt the latter i really really love the character + relationship writing in it!!! it feels so deeply GENUINE to me that i can even brush over one of my least fave aspects of the modern character writing (extreme skeptic velma) bc i have so much fun with it. like man when im watching this movie im kicking my feet througjout purely bc of the characters n their relationships….i dont even care about the mystery hugely though i think the idea of them being in a performance is cool i think it coulda been executed better (and they shouldve been in wales not england smh smh) but tbh whatever. the sword and the scoob is my best friend <333

📀 - favorite tv show?

SO HARD AGAIN BUT gotta be equally whats new, thirteen ghosts + be cool

whats new IS partly bc its the one from my childhood (even if i wasnt actually a scooby fan back then + was actually scared of it lol…can u imagine) but it radiates comfort for me. the theme song alone is to make me just feel purely happy u know….but anyway besides that i love the overall character writing in wsnd!!! its the last show we got with casey kasem + ill always love the snark he brought to shaggys character which is very apparent in this show. daphnes resourcefulness takes center stage which is always just super funny and endearing like girl i dont think thats supposed to work but <333 velma is portrayed as sarcastic but its never meanspirited like its made CLEAR how much she loves her friends. theyre just all so silly and love each other sooo much….

thirteen ghosts i havent actually finished yet BUT despite that its literally already at the top for me lol like firstly i love the premise - its a breakaway from the traditional scooby formula but honestly by the structuring of the episodes u wouldnt think so!!! that different take is executed VERY well imo. the cast of characters r all so very endearing like they r family…. ive always loved the decision to place daphne in a leadership role esp considering what its since engendered. flim flam is SUCH a little guy. hes a witty kid who gives great balance to the cast n his relationships w vincent + scrappy are SO!!! good honestly. vincent is funny like his entire predicament reminds me of thay thing like “found family but its a group of kids who adopt an old guy instead of the other way around” u get it….

be cool is absolutely the funniest scoobh show like no question AND its got great writing to boot!!! ive talked about character + relationship writing a lot and thats just bc thats what really makes or breaks scooby media for me lol. for be cool it BEYOND makes it!!! their dynamic is so well done like bro they r teens. they are stupid 18 year olds with thwir collective dog bestie travelling around the united states and shenanigans occur. there are so many be cool episodes just stuck to my brain bc of how genuinely great they are. and its a show where yeah its goofy and silly and comedic but it can alsp be sooo genuine i love it <333 be cool my absolute beloved

[master-tonberry]

Mbbdarling <3

Your answer filled me with such softness, you can't imagine! My best friend lives far, far away from me. Two years ago was the last time I got to see her. He had a week-long sleepover in an Airbnb in her city, and one night, we grabbed the newest CD from our favorite (non-kpop) band and hit the road for a midnight drive. We drove until we hit the wide open country and pulled over on a deserted highway to stare up at the sky. It was the first time I had seen the Milky Way, and we cried together. Then on the way back, we sang one of the new songs together that has since become "our" song, and I secretly recorded it, and it's one of my most favorite memories ever. Thank you for helping me relive it again. <3

And you'd better believe I'm spending fat cash on their next US tour. I'll dip into my kid's college fund! lol ;)

I will switch gears today and go 90s email questionnaire style (back when the only things to do on the internet were catfish in chatrooms and do chain email surveys lol).

Favorite MX MV:

Favorite MX b-side:

Hobbies:

Are you a morning person or a night owl:

Last book you read:

Drink coffee:

Spicy food or not:

Pizza, burgers, sushi, or 7-course French feast:

Favorite season:

Favorite Christmas movie:

Current love right now:

Current hate right now:

Dream vacation:

What songs do you sing in the shower:

At heart, are you a small-town girl or big-city:

Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible:

-----------

Thanks for having fun with me, mbbdarling! I love our chit-chats. I hope you are having a great day and that you have taken good care of your health and your self. :D

xoxo mbb Secret Santa

Aww that sounds wonderful!! I'm glad that we have similar ideal days haha 💗 Sorry this has taken me so long, I got SWAMPED at work and was just able to sit down and pay attention to it!

I used to love doing these chain email surveys back in the day, so this will be fun!

Favorite MX mv: Love Killa. I love the choreo and Hyungwon looks lowkey sleazy and that does it for me lol

Favorite MX B-side: MERCY omg I will listen to that song on repeat. The chorus goes so hard, Kihyun is insane.

Hobbies: knitting, reading, making gifs, playing video games

Morning Person or Night Owl: Definitely a night owl lol, I don't usually go to bed until 3:30am and I would stay up later if I could.

Last Book: I'm about to finish Gibbon's Decline & Fall by Sheri S. Tepper for probably the 100th time. It's one of my comfort books.

Drink Coffee: Every single morning and occasionally in the afternoon.

Spicy Food or Not: I adore spicy food but I have to be careful bc my stomach is very sensitive. :(

Pizza, Burgers, Sushi, or 7 Course French Feast: tbh it depends on my mood but 98% of the time sushi is my #1. Pizza is it the other 2% lol

Favorite Season: Fall. I prefer the cold but I hate driving in snow. Plus fall is extremely pretty where I live.

Favorite Christmas Movie: Home Alone. It's such a classic lol

Current Love: I'm really really enjoying the new Willow show. It was my favorite movie when I was a kid and the show is great so far. Also His Dark Materials. EXCELLENT show.

Current Hate: hmm. Hate might be a strong word for it but I'm really disappointed with the Wheel of Time series. I was super hype for the casting and the previews looked good but man they really did not understand what made the series good.

Dream Vacation: I lived in Iceland when I was a kid and I would love to go back there. I remember just enough that I think it would be a really cool trip.

What Songs Do You Sing In The Shower: I usually listen to podcasts in the shower lol, but when I do sing its whatever comes up on my shuffle. So a whole lot of Seventeen lol

Small Town or Big City: I've always kind of wanted to live in a big city like New York or Atlanta but I know I'm happier in a small town.

Fly or Be Invisible: This is a conflict between my desire to zoom around and never have to drive again and my desire to be nosy. I think I'd have to go with flying though.

Thank you for the fun little quiz!! Can't wait to hear from you again 💗

[obeymehasinfluncedmythoughts]

Brothers as New Parents

Featuring Poly!Mc.

Guess who decided to finally finish this oneeeeee. I used my parents for inspiration for some of these. Sadly my getting knocked out by a carpet story didn't qualify 😔

Lucifer

Despite the name and the whole demon thing, Lucifer is actually a pretty decent father.

In the beginning though, he's really lost.

Like, the only baby he's ever raised is Satan and technically that doesn't count, so he's kinda confused here. Which really freaks him out.

Things get easier once the kid can finally walk, but don't expect Lucifer to really understand babies too much, or to like them either. They're way too noisy and dirty for him to actually enjoy. 

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good dad.

Sure, he's not amazing, no parent naturally is, but he isn't reckless with your child and genuinely makes attempts to keep them alive. 

He just, kinda waits till the kid isn’t spitting up daily or wearing diapers to actually like their company

Before that it just feels like another job. Or like he’s watching his brothers. 

He loves his child but, uh, he’s going to be the type of dad to forget which baby is his if we’re being honest. 

Mammon

He's really good a keeping babies entertained. Like, really good.

(Who would have known babies also like shiny things that jingle?)

Also loves to spend money on them. Like, legit any baby left under his supervision will be dressed in absurdly priced outfits. It's a little frustrating to wash these clothes, especially considering how dirty kids can get.

But besides all the spoiling and the playing, Mammon is clueless.

Like what do babies do?? What do they need? Are they supposed to sleep for that long??

He regrets not reading the baby books Satan recommended.

He's extremely clumsy as a dad, but in like that way where only he gets hurt but your child never does.

(Despite being so young, you're pretty sure the kid laughs every time he face plants.)

Likes to watch TV with the baby. The kid's probably seen every action movie known to man (and demon) by this point.

Leviathan

Levi isn't good with pregnancy, but he is pretty decent with kids.

Something about his personality really draws them to him

(Which is a great examination as to why most children must have to be taught how to share. Leviathan is a bad influence)

He kinda only ever takes over the "fun" parts of being a dad. Not because he doesn't try though. He does, really, but he often finds himself at a loss when it comes to dealing with spit-up or diapers or the little quirks babies develop.

Levi's the third oldest. He didn't have to deal with that stuff. None of them really had to, as raising angels is kinda a community effort. Seeing as Lucifer wasn't exactly the maternal type, he'd spent his years with his brother watching over kids. Never being beside them.

I think he's especially freaked out if he has a daughter. Like, he doesn't know what to so for the most part with any child, but girls are even more foreign to him, seeing as he's only ever had brothers. Well, besides Lilith, but she's a different story.

It's not really bad, he's just new to everything, but you'll probably give Lucifer an earful for not at least giving more responsibilities with Satan.

Most definitely gives his kid toy weapons and costumes to play with. They can't even walk yet but he's got a chest with princess dresses and lightsabers ready to go.

Satan

Satan is pretty much the most normal dad you could ever ask for.

Yeah, a normal demon, spell-casting dad, but norm nevertheless.

He's always the one to offer to take over your shifts in the night (He will not sub for his brothers though. They can fuck right off).

Buys you your first mother's/father's/whatever you choose to call your parental title's day gift because everyone else most likely forgets amongst the stress of baby.

Most DEFINITELY tries to do that whole "all natural" baby thing, but probably realizes a few days in that breastmilk is not only hard to obtain in the Devildom, but most demons don't really give a samn about cruelty free items (Mass produced cotton included).

^Asmo and him did this together btw. But Asmodeus did it for clout whilst Satan did it for the baby's health.

He'll dress his kid up like him. The clothes are still ugly as sin.

Asmodeus

Your kid will be internet famous before they turn five months old.

Asmo does not understand the word "privacy" or the concept of "not plastering his child's life for everyone to see"

But, you must admit, he does dress your baby up in the most adorable ways.

She might just be the only person he puts above the two of you, both as individuals, and as a couple.

(^I don't think all the brother's would think this way. Some probably still internalize their angel backgrounds or have even formed their own opinions onto where a kid places in a relationship. I might get into it more if asked but I'm leaving this here for now)

He does everything with the kid, when he has them, and if the child is biologically his (which will be extremely apparent), that kid will be with him all the damn time.

He wants his baby to be beautiful like his parents, but most of all, he wants his baby to be happy.

Will most likely turn into the exact definition of "the cool mom" from mean girls but that's far off from now.

Until then, he'll just stroll around the mall, showing his baby all the sparkly things they'll eventually love.

Beelzebub

Beel would have been a pretty normal dad if not for his more older-brother mentality.

Like, the guy has never really been around kids. He's been around Belphegor. Which isn't a huge age gap but there's still that looming protective older-sibling trait there.

He kinda sees the kid, no matter who or where it comes from, as just another sibling.

After what happened with Lilith though, he's more prone to be more protective over girls. He doesn't even recognize he's doing it tbh.

(There's actually a lot of open wounds regarding Lilith that show up in his parenting skills, but they develop a lot later)

He always has to know where your kid is at, but he doesn't necessarily need to be with them.

Like, he's afraid of something horrible happening, but he trusts his brothers, and you, to be able to handle it. He just needs the constant reassurance.

Very insistent on keeping a feeding schedule through, and is known to freak out when they refuse to eat, or get an upset stomach, or something along the lines of the digestive process goes wrong.

Beel is probably the best at bath time. Man can make some awesome rubber duck voices, and the plotlines he thinks up are very interesting.

Belphegor

The one the most scared to have a baby is the one who loves to spend the most time with the baby.

Why? Because babies sleep most of the fucking day. This is a great bonding experience.

And for some reason, you suspect it's due to his powers, the kid will sleep through anything when the two of them are together.

The minute they sleep in their room, or in a cot next to your bed, they'll be waking up hourly for some reason or another.

And it's like, you can't have the baby sleep with Belphegor all the time because if the kid genuinely needs some attention, he needs to wake up and make it known.

But damn are you tired.

Like you some how think raising a child with seven partners is harder than one, because no one should feel this exhausted when they are allowed to take at least three naps a day.

Outside that conundrum, he's a very quiet dad. He'll just sit by the baby and play with them, usually via rattle, enjoying the cute little noises they make and the faces that grace their features.

He'll miss this when the baby starts crawling.

[zalrb]

What’s a movie or show that everyone loves that you don’t think thats good

Those are a lot of movies, lmao.

I remember when everyone was gushing about The Town and I was like, it's a typical bank robber movie, why is this getting lauded?

Honestly, kind of anything from Guillermo del Toro, which I know is blasphemy but every time I watch a movie of his I'm like, I expected to be way more moved than I was, the only movie that has stayed with me was Pan's Labyrinth but I remember everyone going OFF about Shape of Water and I was like .... I guess? I just feel like it's pretty.

I haven't spoken about this in years because it created this whole thing on my blog but I really fucking hate Frozen and I think Tangled was better.

I expected Brave to be much better.

Any Marvel movie that isn't Black Panther, Ragnarok and even though most of the cast is shitty the first GotG.

I didn't think American Hustle was that great and I was disappointed because I went in expecting to love it.

In the Jennifer Lawrence vein, I don't dislike Silver Linings Playbook, I just think it was way overhyped for something that was, at most, decent.

OK this one is different because unless you're racist, you don't love Birth of a Nation but I'm including it because I'm tired of film school/cinema programs including it in the syllabus. I had to watch that movie at least once a year in undergrad because every film class played it.

I found Inglorious Basterds to be pretty forgettable tbh and while I actually do like Christoph Waltz's performance and his other performances, I think Hans Landa is an overrated villain.

The Harry Potter movies are like, it's not that I don't love them because I have so much childhood nostalgia wrapped up in them and me and my friends were kind of a mess about the last movie coming out because it meant the end of something for us, but after I would say the third movie, they're not good movies and I feel like we should be honest about that. There was a slight return to form in Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows although people got bored with the camping sequences but yeah.

I didn't see La La Land but I just know in my bones that if I ever did see it I would just be like, oh.

I haven't watched much Hitchcock but I feel like I'm just not a fan based on what I have seen i.e. North by Northwest, I wanted to riot in my class. That stupid fucking plane.

I should rewatch Black Swan but I remember when I did watch it I was like THIS is what everyone is freaking out over? Anyway.

I concede that Mad Max Fury Road is a visual spectacle but that's all it is so everyone freaking out about it had me like, it just does some cool things here and there, why is this an AMAZING movie?

Avatar is just a horrible movie.

Crash is so extremely racist while pretending not to be racist and it was SO lauded.

I think Spencer was a pretty film but I think people overhyped Kristen's performance in it, so much work seemed to be trying to sound like Diana and it just became a breathy mess imo.

And finally, Encanto. I went back and forth with a lot of anons about this one, but the structure and narrative of this movie was a complete mess.

And just in case this becomes another Frozen incident, I'm just linking the back-and-forths I did with anons here so people can read them if they want:

[kpopmakesmequestionmylifechoices]

Kingdom EP 3: The FAVORITISM starts showing.

I'll only shortly talk about the stages, because man, I need to rant about this ranking.

1. ♛ ATEEZ: Hongjoong watching pirates of the carribbean as research omg this man is amazing. I usually dislike remixes but my god they chose Dvorak?! ATEEZ x orchestral stuff = eargasm. Loved the arrangement. Loved the pirate concept. The stage was simple but effective, besides the ... Huge Kraken arm ...

2. SF9: What differed them a lot from all others was the fact they included women in their performance, and it had an extremely sensual vibe ... Loved the outfits, love the arrangement, loved the interactions with the dancers. I think the camera work was low-key off at some points, for example when Dawon danced in the center between the dancers, he was covered by them a lot ... Idk if that was on purpose. I also would have highlighted Jaeyoon's jump with better camerawork tbh but well.

3. Stray Kids: Honestly I had no idea what's happening there, there was even more going on than in the tbz stage before, totally not my cup of tea. Felt super messy and overwhelming to me, and EXTREMELY long.

Now to the voting. This ugly favouritism pls stop it.

Expert rankings were: ATEEZ • SKZ • TBZ • SF9 • iKON and BTOB (tied)

1. I low-key have a problem with the budget allocation. It is absolutely clear that ATEEZ for example got a huge budget. Do you know how insanely expensive an animatronic is (the arm of the octopus, a robotic puppet)? Such a thing costs thousands, even ten thousands of dollars, usually they are used in amusement parks or movies. Remember the old Jurassic Park movies? Those were animatronics. They mostly are custom-made and hence cost a shitload of money. Idk it doesn't seem fair to me, considering MNET even admitted that sth went wrong with budget communication ... [Edit: I have no proof for it being an animatronic, because the only other opinion would be an inflatable and it looked too controlled to be an inflatable. But again, I can't guarantee.]

2. The expert votes clearly show one thing: dancing and singing alone literally has no value in that show, and I find this pretty ridiculous tbh. Did you freaking hear BTOB's highnotes and vocal stability? Well it's apparently not of much value in the world of kingdom. In that world you get rewarded for putting together a musical stunt show... I wasn't aware that this is the genre of the show really. Like don't get me wrong. It's cool. But if your program clearly is about a freaking action show, then it isn't surprising that those groups who perform that way anyways will always win? This is literal favoritism and it shows. The groups that did movie-like stunt shows are placed 1-3 and the rest, who performed in more traditional style, is ranked below? What a coincidence ha. ha. ha.

Ya know. That crap already started in RTK. TBZ kept coming up with full stunt shows and huge stages, and ALWAYS placed first. And it'll be the same way here. The bigger the stage, the more props, the more fire and stunts, the higher you'll rank. I find this all so ridiculous that it's funny again. Hear me hysterically laughing because I KNEW it'll be exactly like that.

That show literally favors the recent generation of groups and I find this quite saddening. Everyone should get a chance, but they casted the participants in a way that it was clear from beginning on that some groups would look utterly pale in comparison. Not because they can't sing. Not because they can't dance. But simply because they don't act as if they are the lead roles in an action movie ... or game of thrones lol. Every single group there works super hard, but it's simply not fair that a certain concept gets favoured. Like MNET knew that beforehand ... Why didn't they just give them the official mission to do a musical/movie-like stage? Then everyone would have had the same chances.

3. Due to the groups' voting, SF9 dropped to rank 6. I only had to hear their rank and I already knew how the rest of the ranking looks. It's incredibly predictable. The groups rated mostly for the huge stages (ATEEZ AND SKZ). BTOB has immense seniority so they probably got votes due to respect and politeness. SF9 and iKON are the youngest out of the "traditional stage" club and consequently are not impressive enough and rank last. iKON debuted a year before SF9 and has some sort of status due to their origin in one of the (former) big 3 aka YG ent. I'm low-key sad that SF9 got 0 votes holy crap. I don't critisize the groups for voting how they did tho, it's obviously their own decision. This was just my take on explaining why it turned out that way.

Conclusion: The ranking literally consists of the first 3 groups being ZZZ with their stuntshows, followed by the "traditional stages" ranked according to their seniority.

I have the bad feeling that this entire show will be a battle betwee ZZZ and the other groups will have no chance.

My Personal Round 2 Ranking:

1. ATEEZ - top-notch arrangement/performance and I'm a sucker for pirate stuff. (however bitter side taste because of budget ...)

2. BTOB - unique af because slow-paced x vocals.

3. iKON - perfect song mix for me, simple and clear story. (tied with SF9)

3. SF9 - majestic and sophisticated, great interaction with dancers (tied with iKON)

4. TBZ - too much drama, didn't get the concept, dislike the song. Yes it's that easy. (tied with SKZ)

4. SKZ - too messy for my taste, too many scenes, same vibe like tbz (tied with TBZ)

[nautilusopus]

tbh the 2001 version of ocean's eleven is better than the rat pack version (and ocean's 8 too from what i've heard don't @ me) but the dumb subplot with tess is easily the weakest part of it

they could've cut the tess thing and lost absolutely nothing and the movie would've functioned the same, except for maybe the metaphor about the lose half the money or try to keep all of it and lose all of it thing. which wasn't really a terribly strong or compelling theme anyway so

but like julia roberts is acting so goddamn hard and there's just nothing for her to actually do. like never mind the fact that danny's plan to win her back is fucking stupid because that is just not how people act??? like no one in their right mind is gonna go "oh well my current husband is a piece of shit so i guess i'll go back to my ex, who went out of my way to show me what a piece of shit he was while robbing him (which is the reason i broke up with him to begin with because it kind of ruined my life) because our relationship was just that loving prior to the being arrested thing and the movie keeps vaguely alluding to that, even though we never actually see that at any point at all."

like, even in a wish-fulfillment movie, the idea that she'd take him back because of all this stuff is batshit moon logic at best. except then she does. the problem is, a movie like ocean's eleven is already purely style over substance in the biggest way possible, and i mean this as a positive. it is extremely stylish and it is there to BE stylish. it has nothing deep to say to you, but it wasn't trying to do that anyway. it's a popcorn movie, and it is here to show you some people stealing things in a really fucking cool way. the director even outright admits this in an interview, claiming he set out to make "just a pure piece of entertainment" and i think he fucking nailed it, and i especially love shit that knows what it wants to do at the outset and then does it without fucking around and with a high degree of competence. this movie knew what it wanted to do and then set out to be the best version of itself it could possibly be and absolutely knocked all the goals it set out of the park

this is especially important given that it's still not a brainless movie despite being a turn-your-brain-off movie; it's a heist movie. there are a lot of moving parts, and that shit is very hard to do well without it feeling dumb and contrived (just look at ocean's 12). knowing how much to show the audience so they can follow what's going on/the reveal is hard! knowing what to hide so there can still be an air of uncertainty around the plan is hard! maintaining suspension of disbelief for a movie that specifically is calling attention to logical inconsistencies, meaning it has to keep its narrative even more tightly wound than normal, is hard! all these things are difficult, and ocean's eleven does all these things really, really goddamn well. it is genuinely a brilliant piece of filmmaking. (maybe i will get into how at a later date but for now i want to encourage you to watch it yourself by bitching about it shhhh don't question me. all i'll say is that brad pitt was actually fucking spot-on casting.)

tess is a fucking lamp, though, and her existence only serves to detract from the experience. i am only this mad about her because the rest of the movie is so good otherwise (hell, even her individual one-on-one scenes with danny, all fucking two of them, are well-acted and well-written), so it REALLY sticks out how awkward it is as a whole package.

and i know why they put the damn thing in, they needed an emotional core of some sort to the movie s it wasn't completely fucking shallow, because even in a popcorn flick there has to be something for the audience to care about. but like..................................... the heist crew is right there

like a huge chunk of the dialogue in ocean's eleven (mostly the banter, which is again one of the strongest parts of the movie) is ad-libbed. the cast all have excellent chemistry with one another and play off each other extremely naturally, and all the time in behind the scenes footage all anyone talks about is how genuinely well everyone got along, to the point where they'd just hang out on set with each other instead of going back to their trailers between shoots. and you're obviously invested in the heist, which in turn helps you get invested in the crew, and the actors work well together. and the sharp banter is the other reason besides the heist that you're watching the movie anyway and just

why not make THAT the emotional core of the movie why not build on that? it's right fucking there

why does nobody see these things

did they really think they needed a romance to sell this thing THAT BAD when the core cast already had such great chemistry. not to mention like a solid third of the movie is just danny and rusty exchanging Knowing Looks between one another and i absolutely buy them as friends that go way back a lot more easily than i buy danny and tess as a couple that were truly happy with each other a long time ago, in part due to them actually fucking getting screentime together. c'mon man

that isn't to say I think a Danny/Rusty romance subplot would improve the movie or is anything i particularly want to see, but the point is that the main cast already has a lot of chemistry together that is in turn written INTO the script already and they could've just worked with that lkdflhsdkslhhgssg.

or like, if you must have tess, maybe you could actually incorporate her into the heist properly beyond Existing as a weird mafia cuck subplot? this is actually something i think ocean's twelve did do right (just a shame about the heist in question but whatever, credit where it's due). as mentioned, roberts's perfornance isn't bad either and she also plays off clooney well in the brief fucking moments they're onscreen together.

i dunno. i feel like there were better options than what we did get. the tess subplot is a black spot on an otherwise really fucking good experience.

......................................................and YES OKAY FINE obviously i'm fucking biased for wanting more found family crime squad nonsense but that doesn't meant i'm wrong either.

[floralovebot]

Helia is your favorite character right? Do you think he's overrated?

Yes and no. Fanon Helia is completely overrated, but canon Helia isn't. Fans don't even pretend to look at canon Helia.

Guessing this is about the ask bitchatcloudtower got though so, yeah I agree with mostly everything she said. Helia wasn't in the first season aka the season with the most specialist bonding and character building. He only got introduced in S2 to be Flora's love interest and he wasn't already a specialist so any screen time was him saving the day or flirting with Flora. Helia was just straight up nonexistent in S3, which is actually kinda funny cause that was the perfect season for them to make him One Of The Boys. S4 onward his characterization got dunked and that's often when fans stop watching.

So you have this weird combination of him being added later and his characterization being very bland in the seasons people actually watch. I don't want this next part to sound mean or petty but, unless Helia is in like your top three favorite characters, you probably don't actually like him. You like fanon Helia. Or the version of him you made in your head. The thing is people who really like him are more likely to go searching for his content. We can't stick with just one version of Winx Club media cause he barely gets screentime so we have to actually go looking for his content. It's easier for Helia stans to piece together a relatively solid personality and even backstory for him because we have to look everywhere. That's why I always suggest reading the comics if you like literally anyone that isn't one of the main Winx, because there's so much more content there.

Like,, there's a reason why every single rewrite or au for Winx all have wildly different versions of Helia that don't actually align with canon. He's either the Ex-Specialist Pacifist That Rejects Red Fountain or he's the Really Chill Perfect Boyfriend Artist. Meanwhile, every single Helia stan has some version of the exact same backstory and personality guide for him (because we actually Look at his content and are more likely to See what rainbow barely put out). And again, I'm not trying to be mean. But fanon Helia is a culmination of him barely interacting with other characters in the first three seasons, people sticking to the few descriptions of him by characters that didn't know him, and him being very easy for people to just,, look past and/or project onto. So yeah, TLDR fanon Helia sucks ass and is extremely overrated, meanwhile fandom drives past canon Helia at 300mph.

This next part isn't necessary to read I just want to rant.

I do genuinely think canon Helia is actually interesting and fleshed out enough for a guy that got forced into the main cast mid-season. What we've seen from the show, comics, and movies are enough for people to know what kind of a person he is and what kind of backstory he probably has. Unfortunately, fanon Helia has completely ruined that. People are so stuck and uncharmed by Perfect Pacifist Artist Fanon Helia that pretty much anything canon Helia does is going to be looked at under a layer of "ugh". There's a reason why people are so critical of him while also wanting nothing to do with him.

Like, if Helia wasn't a comfort character for me, I'd probably think the same thing that most of the fandom does. That he's just a boring pretty boy with absolutely nothing interesting going on except he's dating Flora so that's cool. But like, it's because he's my favorite character that I can look at that and know it's the complete opposite. And tbh I don't think there's anything wrong with that? If Riven stans can write fifty metas about how Riven is actually a good guy, I don't see why we can't do the same thing? This isn't directed at anyone here but over the years I've seen plenty of people get annoyed at people who like Helia just for,, liking Helia. Especially if we say anything that goes against fanon Helia.

Like idk I just think it's super weird that people get annoyed when we say "hey fanon helia isn't actually accurate. it's cool if you still like him but here's what canon helia is actually like :) he's a lot more interesting and the complete opposite of fanon helia! i genuinely think you'll like him more but still, it's okay if you don't!" and like, people get mad at that? it's so weird to me.

I know I sound petty right now but the fandom has literally ruined Helia and his image. Fandom brought fanon Helia to a throne, then got pissed at him, dumped him in an alley, and now refuses to look at canon Helia. Like. Fanon Helia has ruined canon Helia and how fans look at him and like yeah it pisses me off that other fans can notice the exact same thing about their favorite characters and get understood and praised by the fandom, but when we do its us "holding on to a boring character/just projecting/etc". Like. it's super fucking weird to me.

I don't know it's just weird that people can see helia stans having convos where we say the exact same thing and come up with the exact same headcanons and backstories for him and still think it's just projecting. like idk man maybe you're the one that's mischaracterizing him? just a thought?

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2020 - My Thoughts

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy these are fun to do. I’m gonna preface this by saying it’s arbitrary as fuck that Beastars has to be nominated for awards in a year it didn’t even air just because of western licensing or whatever - all that does is dismiss the value of anime if they can’t be legally consumed in the west which I think as stupid and reductive as all fucking hell. So I’m just not gonna vote it in anything as like, protest I guess? And so this is a bit less one-sided since Beastars would sweep a lot of these categories lol. Also I’ve not seen Great Pretender which got nominated for tons of categories so don’t worry about that.

Starting with the big one, I’m obviously picking Eizouken. Dorohedoro and Appare Ranman are good but don’t really compete imo, and I think I’ve made clear that I find Jujutsu Kaisen boring, so yeah process of elimination lol. Gochiusa Bloom is my personal winner but just of the options available, yeah Eizouken takes it.

This one was hard since I’ve only even seen the left half lol. Natsume’s not so much the protagonist as Kaburagi is so it didn’t feel write voting for her, and tbh Yuji’s not a bad pick but he’s barely even in his own show so. Asakusa is really delightful but I think Eizouken works best on the strength of all 3 of its protagonists rather than any single one. But evidently I still voted her as a process of elimination pick so. Genuinely surprised Subaru didn’t make it into this category, he’s beyond worth it in Re:Zero s2 so it’s weird that he was passed up on. Honestly though I think I’d give it to Nana of Munou na Nana, she’s an absolute showstealer of a protagonist with amazing relationships with the world around her and the people inhabiting it and she’s just, mad fucking endearing and has brilliant development, really love her.

Haven’t seen Fruits Basket, Overhaul was Ass, Rachel sucks, Sukuna’s barely present enough to really be thought of as the main antagonist in my mind Echidna’s pretty nice but she’s never even really outwardly antagonistic with her worse moment being more morally bankrupt than directly antagonising, really these are just shit picks lol. En’s also honestly more of a protagonist since Dorohedoro jumps between its casts a lot, but he directly antagonises Caiman and more so Nikaido towards the end of the show so I guess that’s good enough for him to win, and hey I do really like the dude so like, you know. Not really sure who to go for as alternate picks though, this year was pretty weak on villains. Hugin from Deca-Dence was fun, primarily thanks to Takehito Koyasu’s performance, but not really a like, standout antagonist of the year type thing. Fuckin Mahito would’ve been a better pick for the JJK antagonist too, I might have even chosen him over En just for fitting the role better. Yeah idk man.

So like I only even have 3 options here because of shit I’ve not seen and rules I decided earlier. Khun is really boring and forgettable, Gojou’s cool and funny but not really much else, Caiman is actually really charming and based and I greatly enjoyed him, he’s an easy pick. Weird to me that Legoshi gets best boy but not best protagonist, also Demon King Academy which I haven’t seen probably wasn’t worth being nominated in both, yeah. Movies seem excempt so I can’t vote my actual boy of the year of Bondrewd, so I’m gonna nominate Ishigami from Kaguya-sama since tbh he was super based this year and I’m kinda shocked he’s not an option.

Very Easy Breezy pick given the options. Kanamori, Noi and Kaguya are the only ones I’d even consider, and Kaguya didn’t really shine that much in s2 compared to the rest. Noi is an extremely based pick and I wouldn’t mind voting her but eh, bias. I’d have put Asakusa over Kanamori here because I like her more but hey. Surprised Princess Connect isn’t here with girls as good as that show has. My personal pick is of course Setsuna Yuki from Nijijgasaki.

Daddy Daddy Do is great but this was between Easy Breezy and Kaikai Kitan for me, and tbh I just find Easy Breezy to be the more memorable song, so. Pretty confident in just that tbh, though Gomakashi from MagiReco and Aruite Ikou from Koisuru are both extremely enjoyable too.

I honestly thought LOST IN PARADISE would absolutely be my lock-in here but NIGHT RUNNING is so fucking good that this was extremely hard to choose. Honestly though with both songs being about as good as the other musically, I think LOST IN PARADISE has to win with its visuals - NIGHT RUNNING has pretty colours and one good sakuga moment with the lip sync but LOST IN PARADISE is kinda just all very colourful and clean animation with lots of bounce and personality. Don’t have alternate winners this time, I’m pretty happy giving Jujutsu Kaisen something today.

Kanamori isn’t my favourite VA performance in Eizouken, I found myself more wowed by Asakusa especially since she was voiced by a newbie. I love how Yuichi Nakamura sounds and he manages to make Gojou sound both convincingly cool and funny when the scene calls for it, but he was never really outright impressive as Gojou at any point. I adore Megumi Ogata’s voice and I liked her in Hanako-kun too, she makes Hanako sound convincingly like a shounen badass or a funny comedy character or a sadistic weirdo or just a vulnerable child depending on what the scene calls for and it’s really great, but maybe it’s on the show not being super memorable to begin with but I don’t think I was really impressed in the long term by her performance here. Yusuke Kobayashi is maybe the best male seiyuu in terms of acting and he didn’t fail to deliver with Re:Zero s2, Subaru goes through the fucking wringer and you can tell from the vocal performance alone how much that hurt the dude - “I can return by death” is a moment that reverberates through my soul with the sheer painfully emotional relief of it all. I have nothing bad to say about his performance. However, while I was blown away by it, I wasn’t necessarily surprised. I expected great and I got it. But Riho Sugiyama as Minare Koda in Nami yo Kiitekure is, quite possibly the most fucking BASED pick in any category in the history of this entire awards show. She will not win. She just won’t. She can’t. Her show wasn’t all that great and went under the radar to begin with, she doesn’t stand a chance against the absolute tanks she’s up against. But fuckin damn does she put up a fight. I called it “her” show for a reason - Riho’s performance literally makes the show. Minare is already such a charming and infectiously balls-to-the-wall exciting character to watch, and Riho was clearly absolutely thrilled while she was in the recording booth, getting to play that character so perfectly fit for her. Literal perfect casting and being an absolutely shocking force to be reckoned with in an otherwise pretty tame show is making me feel I have to vote for her. She deserves it. 

Don’t watch dubs so I checked out clips of these characters. Bam sounded fine but not amazing. I didn’t like dub Echidna’s voice. Hawks was actually just good and well cast, seems to fit the character fine. That’s it.

Tough one, I kinda want to give it to Sunghoo just because Jujutsu Kaisen is not only as visually great as it is but mr director had just gotten off of making a similarly strong looking show in God of High School. However, Eizouken is so visually inventive and striking and memorable that I just have to vote it. Don’t even have any alternate recommendations, this is just kind of a clean sweep for Eizouken.

Was really confused to see Princess Connect here until I remembered that the special effects animation was really damn good and some of the regular action could still be pretty sakuga so. But nah, God of High School. Few productions I’ve ever seen have reached that level of animation quality, yet alone for such a large majority of its runtime, it really was dummy impressive how hard the show went for its animation. Eizouken and JJK both have stronger just raw direction I’d say but God of High School made up for that by having animation so fucking strong that it made me actually invested in its unbelievably bland and messily paced shounen narrative. Like, it deserves this.

Not even hard at all lol. Eizouken’s designs are so stupid memorable and communicate so much about the girls and are really cohesive amonst themselves and their world, plus it’s great seeing very unconventionally cute yet still cute girls that have like, different builds and faces lol. BNA is a strong contender to be sure, but not really because the only design that really stuck with me is Michiru, because she has nice colours and better fashion, but she looks kinda stupid when she’s not furry too so, yeah. Gochiusa and Love Live and Princess Connect are also great choice that I might go for since cute girls, but Eizouken really do be hard to beat. Surprised Deca-Dence didn’t get nominated here too but whatever.

This Akudama Drive fight scene was literally the only one for which I was inested in the emotions any large amount at all lol. Gojou vs Sukuna and Jin vs Jegal are only really visual spectacles, Bercouli vs Vecta and Jin vs Daewi are too but with slightly better emotions though still not enough, Deku vs Overhaul is honestly shit, and Brawler vs Master is a visual spectacle with very strong emotions and great setpieces and a resolution I gave a fuck about - I gave several fucks in fact. Yeah, easy winner of the whole year for me.

Yesterday was boring, Japan Sinks should be in comedy, Somali was just actually a very compelling, emotional, and raw drama - the drama may not be what most of the runtime is but it’s certainly present enough to be valid imo, so I’m pretty happy to vote it for first.

Where’s Japan Sinks? Anyway Eizouken’s more exciting than funny and Kaguya s2 was better at being emotional, while Kakushigoto’s comedy is good and enhanced by Kamiya Hiroshi but the mystery is what really made that show for me. Maoujou though is just actually extremely funny for literally its entire runtime, which is really hard to do, so I’m happy to vote it. Though honestly Dorohedoro should be an option here too - don’t know if I’d vote it over Maoujou but it’d be a really strong competitor.

This was one of the hardest categories for sure. Already I feel weird voting against Kevin Penkin, but I guess his work on Tower of God, for as genuinely great as it was, just didn’t really stick with me like some of his other works. Eizouken should be a shoe-in but honestly it suffered from repeating some songs too much, which isn’t a huge flaw but it is a flaw nonetheless. Now, actual show quality aside, Kensuke Ushio’s work on Japan Sinks 2020 is fucking brilliant. It’s so evocative and emotional and really highlights the dramatic moments the show actually has. I especially love the piano track that plays in episode 1 over the massive POV shot of Japan getting fucking destroyed. Something about emphasising the serene beauty of this chaos and destruction makes it hit harder than if the music was more chaotic. Like we’re in hell, but the track is so calm. It’s really powerful, it’s like you’re watching a car crash - obviously horrible but you can’t look away. That’s the feeling the soundtrack gives. I really respected it. If insert songs are included in OST then my pick is obviously Nijigasaki because fucking duh but otherwise tbh I’m fine letting Japan Sinks take this.

So because of my own roles plus what I didn’t watch or dropped, literally my only options are Kaguya-sama and Kanokari. I didn’t like Kanokari and the total lack of relationship development afte episode 5 in favour of introducing different flavour harem girls that Kazuya JuSt MiGhT fAlL fOr was really annoying since you know they’ll lose. Whereas Kaguya and Shirogane are like, you know they’re fine, I like them, more so as individuals than as a couple but they’re endearing. I can take it. I have 2 alternate suggestions I’d rather vote for though. Yume and Asahi in Mewkledreamy because they’re very cute and have great chemistry. And Adachi and Shimamura who are some very glaring exclusions, holy shit. Love those two and they not only deserve to be nominated but to win.

Hi, uh, fucking hello? Deca-Dence is sci-fi you dumb fucks! What’s that doing here? Also Re:Zero si technically fantasy but actual fantasy elements make up so little of what the series is that I can’t take it seriously as a pick. Where’s Princess Connect? That actually does belong in here! Or how about Somali, also a pure fantasy through and through that would be a very easy pick! Maoujou de Oyasumi as well? God why fucking fantasy of all other genres, all that really tells you about a work is some iconography you might associate with it but nothing else, not the type of characters or storytelling or tone you can expect, even just seeing Dorohedoro and Dragon Quest in the same caterogry should tell you that much even if both are fantasy! Fucking, horrible job Crunchyroll! Anyway Dorohedoro is solid dark fantasy and a great show too so it can win, alternate winners for me are those other shows I recommended, not sure how to narrow it down to just one.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

AIGHT Y’ALL I wasn’t tagged but I’m doing this anyways because f u c k  i t

It's the year 2021 and you're obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?

Deadasss weird as fuck, my dude. Like...out of all the things I could’ve predicted happening in our lord’s year 2021, it definitely was NOT getting hyperfixated on a hammy gay ship with a punk and a nerd from a goddamn karate soap opera. And yet...here we are??? I will never understand hyperfixations, my guy. But I’ve met a lot of really cool people in this fandom, so I can’t really complain.

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?

I have never seen a single Karate Kid movie in my entire life. When I was a kid, it looked kinda dumb so I never got into it XD But then I saw my roommate watching Cobra Kai on Youtube Red one day (he has every streaming service known to man) and I was hooked. And...here I am!

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:  

Literally EVERYONE except for Kreese, Yasmine, Kyler, and Tory, sorry stans

Okay but if we gotta pick, Johnny Lawrence is my Problematic Fave. Also I love my boy Daniel, he’s trying his best!!! And Amanda LaRusso, we stan a queen!!!

Among the kids, definitely Miguel, with Demetri as a close second. I also love Sam, Aisha, Moon, and Hawk (pre- and post-Bastardization Arc, anyways XD)!

Favorite ship:  

Take a look at my username and take a WILD FUCKING GUESS lmao Yes it’s Eli/Demetri because DUH, every interaction they have is so fucking gay and Eli fucking saved him!!! And came back to him!!! And betrayed the world’s most terrifying dojo with a WAR CRIMINAL SENSEI all for Demetri!!! And how Demetri was willing to forgive him for everything at the drop of a hat because he always had faith there was still good in his best friend??? That’s TRUE LOVE motherfuckers. Please let them kiss in Season 4. I will sell you all of my limbs. Sam/Miguel is a close second because they’re cute as shit and it’s just so lovely to see two people so unapologetically smitten with each other. They are in LOVE, and I will RIOT if they break up again!!! Keep Sam and Miguel together 2k21!!!

Underrated character:

SAMANTHA LARUSSO!!! The amount of hate my girl gets for acting like a normal teenager and fucking up occasionally JUST like the rest of the cast makes me want to start punching things. She cares SO MUCH about her friends!!! And she loves the shit out of Miguel!!! She hasn’t always been the best friend but you know what??? Neither has Hawk, and we still forgave his ass!!! Also LET HER BE FEMININE but also kick utter ass, my god!!! Femininity should not be synonymous with being weak, y’all! ALSO DEMETRI, like yes, he likes to complain and occasionally run his mouth, but guess what else he likes to do??? Never give up on the love of his life his best friend Eli Moskowitz and refuse to lose faith in him no matter how much of a little shit he’s become, and I for one think that’s very badass of him. Also the way he takes care of Eli pre-Cobra Kai in his own snarky bastard way makes me absolutely Weak and needs more appreciation. Like the dude has charisma and COULD have probably made other friends and left Eli behind if he wanted, but did he??? No, he wants the weepy loser with the lip scar in the polo shirts and dorky sweaters and will protect him as much as his wimpy ass is able!!!

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):  

Among the adults, Daniel/Amanda!!! Like maybe I just don’t watch that much tv, but it seems kinda rare to me to see a happily married hetero couple, and it’s just nice to see a married couple who genuinely love each other and where there’s not like...lingering resentment or some shit. I feel like this ship gets overshadowed by Lawrusso a lot (which like--okay, fair!!! Daniel and Johnny do have a ridiculous amount of chemistry, and the gay undertones are undeniable, so I get it), and it makes me kinda sad. I do love Lawrusso, but I don’t like when Amanda has to get her heart broke for it to happen, you feel? Among the kids, honestly YasMoon. Like I really love the idea of Yasmine trying to better herself because of Moon’s influence on her and because Moon like...inspires her to be a better person, I guess? With their pretty strong friendship, it just makes more sense to me for Yasmine to get a redemption arc through Moon than through Demetri. ALSO girls DO often pull the whole “mean girl” shtick to cover up being closeted lesbians, and Moon IS canonically bi, so it could work!!! I just think this one could be a really interesting Friends to Lovers take, and could make a really nice coming-out arc for Yas. And MoonPiper too, honestly!!! Like they only got 5 seconds of screentime so I understand WHY it’s underrated, but I still love what we DID get and loved that there was a canon gay ship (even if only for 1 scene lmao). I’m really excited to potentially see more of them in Season 4!!! Please, I’m begging!!!

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?

Sweep the Leg because it will always be deeply hilarious to me how Demetri took note of the first move Eli ever used on him and spent presumably weeks perfecting it OUT OF SPITE just to get him back with it at the soccer game MONTHS later. Just goes to show how OBSESSED Demetri is with Eli and their little karate rivalry which is just NOT straight, I’m sorry

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?

There’s something so funny about this pretentious little fuck walking around in fancy suits once he becomes a #SuccessfulBusinessman, and still occasionally trying to do karate in a full-ass suit (take THAT, Tom Cole’s boba!!!) I’m also a big fan of how he looks in his gi with his little headband. Still killing that look as a 40-50-something!!!

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver:

Tbh I have still never seen a single Karate Kid movie (they took them off of Netflix, RIP), so...I don’t really care if they bring anyone else back??? I’m invested in the characters we already have in the show, I don’t need some rando from the movies to make a cameo to have a good time XD The only character I really wanted them to bring back was Ali, and they already did, so like...I’m good??? That’s all I really needed, I can die in peace now XD

Scene that lives in your head rent-free:

Basically any fluffy Elimetri scene, but 5 in particular: ~Miguel first meeting Eli and Demetri at the lunch table, and Eli looking at Demetri like he hung every goddamn star in the sky ~Demetri going off at a terrifying, “unhinged” karate sensei on the first day of Cobra Kai because he made fun of Eli’s lip and Demetri is not about that shit ~ELI STEALING DEMETRI’S NACHO AND SMIRKING AT HIM, LIKE EXCUSE ME SIR PLEASE BE A LITTLE LESS HOMOSEXUAL IN FRONT OF YOUR GIRLFRIEND ~Eli yanking Demetri onstage during Valley Fest to hold a board, and Demetri being visibly like...extremely turned on when Eli breaks said board ~ELI SAVING DEMETRI DURING THE CHRISTMAS FIGHT, ELI APOLOGIZING, DEMETRI AND ELI KICKING COBRA ASS TOGETHER AKSBDCUWYVCBU

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?

I hope not! He’s kind of a funny meme character to pop up now and again but I don’t think he deserves a serious plotline when there are so many more interesting characters to follow.

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join?

Miyagi-Do because Cobra Kai would eat me alive. Also I’d probably straight up get stuck and die in that cement mixer, if I even made it that far XD Besides, being salty that your friend who you have a crush on likes martial arts better than you and starting martial arts to impress them but also being too lazy to join anything TOO intense is a Big Mood and I am certainly not speaking from personal experience here, no sirree

What’s your training montage song?

"Shut Up and Drive” by Rihanna for a weight-training and bicep-flexing montage, “Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons for a more intense punching-and-kicking-shit montage. I don’t know why this is, I just feel it in my heart.

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?

*Briefly panics because I don’t actually watch that much TV and most of the stuff I do watch is fantasy/sci fi shit that absolutely would not work for a CK crossover*

Hmmmm okay but ACTUALLY

You know what would be fucking funny as hell would be an It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia crossover. Allow me to elaborate: ~The Gang goes to LA on vacation during the height of the Karate Dojo Wars. They literally can get barely anything done without all these goddamn karate-fighting teenagers getting in the way. ~They are all very annoyed by this. Even the most obscure of tourist attractions is eventually intercepted by karate fights. ~Mac tries to join Cobra Kai because he sees all this karate fighting on, and wants to unquestionably prove both his badassery and masculinity. Both Johnny and Kreese are like “Wtf are you doing here? Aren’t you like 30?” ~Mac gets a planet-sized crush on Johnny after all of 5 minutes and endlessly gushes to the gang about him. The gang mercilessly roast him about this and about how much of a pathetic loser with his life together in no way whatsoever Johnny sounds like. They proceed to have exactly 0 self awareness about this. ~The Waitress is in town visiting family or something, and Charlie is stalking her, as per usual. However, every time he’s about to go up and talk to her, a pack of battling Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais throwing punches and kicks everywhere blocks his path. One times, Mac is among one of these packs and Charlie is like “???? He didn’t get kicked out of that teen karate dojo yet???” ~Seeing how much the Kids These Days seem to like fighting, Charlie drops by a local high school to try and sell Fight Milk to the kids doing karate. Only Kyler and Brucks buy into it, and subsequently get the entire West Valley High wrestling team sick. Charlie is inevitably arrested, as Counselor Blatt thinks he’s selling the kids drugs. ~Dennis makes a plan to have sex with every hot chick he can in Los Angeles. He meets Ali on a dating app post-divorce, and inevitably tries to bang her. It doesn’t work. ~Frank crashes the rental car, and inevitably the gang ends up at one of Daniel’s dealerships. Dee quickly takes a liking to Daniel and is like “Watch, assholes--Imma homewreck this guy’s marriage.” She starts frequenting the dealerships to attempt to flirt with Daniel, until one day she walks in on him having sex with Johnny in a back room and she’s like “Is that the guy from Mac’s goddamn dojo?!?!” ~Dennis, of course, tries to sleep with Amanda. Amanda is not having it, and rebukes him in the most snarky, Amanda-esque way possible. Dennis is just like “Oh not AGAIN--the women in this goddamn diva city have too high of standards!” ~Later on, the gang is at the beach and Dennis spots the blonde lady he went out on an ill-fate date with, and decides to give it another shot--that is, until he sees her go up and kiss another woman and he’s like “IS THAT THE LADY FROM THE CAR DEALERSHIP??? STUPID-KARATE-KICK-COMMERCIAL’S WIFE?!? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.” ~Dee complains to Dennis about her lack of luck getting laid, and Dennis is just like “Oh come ON, is everyone in Los Angeles gay???” Smash cut to Hawk and Demetri having sex, Moon and Piper making out, Bert and Nate holding hands, Chris and Mitch doing oral, and Amanda, Ali, and Carmen having a threesome. ~Frank tries to scam Kreese into buying cheaply-made karate equipment for his dojo. The gang ends up having to leave LA because Kreese is quite literally plotting all of their murders.

For tagging, uuuuhhhhhh @jackonthelongwalk @soe-leo @max-eagle-fang @cc-tinslebee @backawayfromthegay @asphodel-storm do the thing, if y’all haven’t yet!

[smallcrystals]

What are some things you would have liked to see explored more in eqg?

you're not in for that much of a surprise, buddy (maybe you are at the end but definitely not at the first few)

1. flashspruce on screen interaction.

this is self explanatory. their dynamic would have been so interesting to see on screen. like. they seem to get along fine from that one screenshot of them in the background but i wanted them to actually talk, actually help develop each other through.

one big thing abt character is how they interact with other characters. especially with characters extremely similar/different to them. i really feel like timber and flash would bounce off each other well and provide some really entertaining content.

2. flashset's lovers to exes to friends relationship.

all im gonna say is that we were ROBBED.

it would have helped develop flash much better as well as give more insight as to how sunset used to be like when she wanted power. it's just really interesting and i wish we got more than just "sunset used flash to become more popular" and "flash sentry broke up with her a few weeks ago".

i liked what they gave us in legend of everfree but i feel like the jump between the final movie and the shorts were a little.... eh. i get it was mostly a background thing and we do see them hanging out and stuff but i wanted more ::sighs::

it really just seems like the writers put flash and sunset's relationship in there for no reason at all like, if you're gonna start something, finish it off properly!! but maybe the writing team did want to but bc of hasbro cancelling eqg before the team found out, they couldn't.

3. sciflash talking abt princess twilight.

i wanted to see what sci twi felt abt princess twi. maybe she didn't feel anything and that's fine! but it would have been cool to see that! it'll humanise sci twi a little more past the flaws we expect her to have (or flaws we know she has).

and for flash, it's just closure, honestly. we see a bit of it in legend of everfree but it would've been nice to see them bond over it in different ways. mulling over the impact princess twi left on them and help each other deal with it, i suppose.

and sciflash do seem like friends so far in eqg!! they had that maths tutoring thing at pinkie's workplace and then they're comfortable with being fictional parents in a school play?? so true, i want more of their friendship, they're adorable.

4. delve into all the students' trauma.

i talked abt timber here but i won't brush off the fact that all the students definitely have trauma, especially the mane 7. sci twi's trauma was shown, again, in legend of everfree but yeah, again, not that much. and for sunset? girl hasn't shown any trauma as far as im aware and i know she probably has it bad.

i wanna see how this affects the humane 5. sunset and sci twi are obvious enough but i'm sure the mane 5 experience shit too but we don't see a lot of it, if not any.

flash and timber, i want to see how their trauma affects them bc they are probably two of the most important side characters of the show, and i do want to see how all this magic business affects them too, being on the sidelines and not being able to help.

the show can talk abt trauma, they've done it sutbly in the main show, they could do it in eqg. it's not like they can't just bc the show is "for kids".

5. more mane 5 without sunset/sci twi in the main plot.

the only proper special we got from eqg that developed the mane 5 without sciset is rollercoaster of friendship, yet ppl did have mixed views on that. spring breakdown was abt rainbow dash with sci twi and sunset's backstage pass was sunset with pinkie.

i'm definitely not salty over fluttershy not getting a special for herself. (i am).

i feel like because of mlpfim, people assume we've seen enough of the mane 5 but i don't think we have. the humane 5 are different from the mane 5, even if it's slightly and i wish we could've seen more of that.

6. human sunset shimmer.

this is self explanatory.

7. more dazzlings

bc why tf not. and plus, they're, i think, the only villains who haven't properly been redeemed yet but aren't truly bad. it's a really nice change of pace from all the other villains.

i love the dazzlings tbh. i could go on and on but i think you get the idea.

8. the wonderbolts

this reason is self indulgent, mainly bc i wanted human spitfire to exist and human soarin to be besties with flashspruce. plus, rainbow dash geeking out is adorable.

9. SPIKE

i have a soft spot for spike and i just want him to get love bc i personally think mlpfim did him dirty ::sulks::

—

all in all, i really wish that we got an ending at least. as a writer, i do like how open ended it is so i can let my fanfiction brain go wild but i did want some closure. the eqg cast are my babies :( but yeah i hope i answered your question ! i may have other things but i can't think of them rn lmao

[restless-dreamz]

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Review (No Spoilers):

The Good:

Main character: Shang-Chi portrayed by Simu Liu is an absolutely great protagonist. He's a likeable guy that struggles with his past and family history. He's an extremely down to earth character and it just makes him feel relatable. I've never seen this actor before, but with his performance here he definitely because one to watch.

Supporting Cast- The supporting cast in this movie works will. Shang's best friend Katy, played by Awkwafina, comes off very well as the comic relief character that actually has layers and a purpose for being around. You also buy into their friendship. Shang's Xialang also feels like character that, while she may felt left out of big emotional arcs in this movie, is poised for larger roles in the future. A few other side characters really stand out, but without spoilers I can't talk too much about that.

The Antagonist- Wenwu played by the astonishing Tony Leung Chiu-wai was an absolutely brilliant villain. Wenwu is actually a mash up of two comic villains, Fu Manchu and The Mandarin. Wenwu comes off as menacing, ruthless, and terrifying, but also caring and heartbroken. It's a character with so many layers and it was brought to life so well. Wenwu will be one of marvels most memorable villains and tbh, makes this movie work.

The action- The choreography in this movie was absolutely amazing. You can tell that everyone on screen knew what they were doing as far as martial arts goes. Some of the best fight scenes MCU was going to bring to you.

The tone- Shang-Chi actually managed to get down a very distinct tone. Don't get me wrong, it does feel like an MCU movie, but it has its own voice and its own direction that's going to make it very unique to any other MCU movie. Watching this movie I got very much old school Jackie Chan movie vibes. I think it really worked well for the overall tone of this movie.

The soundtrack- Very unique soundtrack that did not feel out of place. I'm very big on how movie sounds and if the soundtrack is off I notice it immediately.

The Bad:

The final set piece- I felt like the final fight in this movie, while gorgeous, definitely fell short for me. It I'm not too big a fan of big CGI spectacles. So if you have that same mindset you probably won't complete the enjoy the ending fight. It was gorgeous and very well done but not my cup of tea.

Supporting Antagonist- I felt like the supporting antagonists were just there to be henchmen. For instance if there's one character that you can tell was very traumatic in Shang's childhood and I felt like you didn't get a payoff with that character. We got a cool action singer too with that character but I felt like they fell short on that villain. This movie was clearly the Wenwu shown everyone else was just there to back him up.

The runtime- I didn't think the movie needs to be as long as it was. There's some down time in moments and they're important but maybe we ahouldn't have spent so long during certain sequences.

Additional info:

There are two after credit scenes, it's a marvel movie duhh. Stick around for those because they've got some big story elements to the futures of certain characters in this movie.

Lots of Easter eggs for certain comics or even past MCU movies.

The verdict:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a very well done action adventure movie with layers and nuance to it. The movie shines the most when it has something to say about family, and culture, and needing to accept all parts of your past in order to make yourself whole. It was an extremely enjoyable watch and I would definitely recommend it to friends and family.

8/10

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

[battlestar-royco]

here is part 2 of my sci fi recs masterlist! again, i could’ve gone on with even more recs but i decided to draw the line here. this set for the most part errs on the darker side, thematically, visually, conceptually etc. i personally find it super thought-provoking and intriguing but that’s just me. i highly recommend reading the tw under the cut if you’re thinking of watching, especially the matrix and space gothic slides. please view at your discretion <3

part 1/2

If you like WLW (um idk why I only made this slide based on identity; it just kinda happened lmao but I think it works):

Siren: (tw: parent loss, grief, thalassophobia) a mermaid surfaces in a cove town looking for her lost sister. Polyamorous relationship between a man, a black/indigenous woman, and the mermaid!!!! Environmentalism! As a person who has thalassophobia, I didn’t find this too hard to watch. There aren’t that many underwater scenes, thankfully.

Black Mirror: San Junipero: (tw: grief, but otherwise none that I recall; it’s pretty lighthearted) two women meet in a beach resort in the 80s and fall in love. Interracial wlw!

Orphan Black: (tw: suicide, infertility, rape implication, VB, language, drug use) a woman realizes she is one of several clones and uncovers an elaborate corporate conspiracy. This is one of my personal favorites with great rep of complex women of all ages and bodily autonomy. Several central queer characters and a black male secondary character!

Starfish: (tw: grief, a few jump scares and brief monstrous imagery, blood) after the death of her best friend, a young woman breaks into the deceased’s apartment and discovers a chain of music tapes that could save the world. Weird, subtle, and experimental. Not to sound like a surfer but you kinda have to allow yourself to be in the vibe. The main character and her friend were definitely a thing imo.

Annihilation: (tw: body horror, VB, disturbing imagery) a team of women scientists explore an anomaly that rapidly mutates genes. There are canonical and coded wlw and multiple (light-skinned) POC in this but the rep is short-lived. I put it on because although it should’ve been more ambitious with the casting, I think it breaks *some* ground for Hollywood sci fi with the all-woman team and more than one WOC. Wack ending though.

Mad Max: Fury Road: (tw: rape implication, violence) I think everyone knows about this one but: in the apocalypse, a woman breaks 4 younger women out of a harem. A badass car chase across the desert ensues. A bit light on plot/worldbuilding, but sooooo cool-looking and very thematic!!!!

If you liked STRANGER THINGS:

It: (tw: VB) don’t actually watch this lmao I’m serious. It’s really stupid, and not in a funny way. But I do think Stranger Things was inspired by this story overall. The modern It films are better but they’re also really kjslsklskls stupid? Stephen King in general is obsolete imo.

The Thing: (tw: VB) an alien that can take the form of others wreaks havoc on a scientific facility in Antarctica. It’s dark and vibey, but I feel like it’s just Alien in Antarctica with truly terrible special effects tbh?? Others feel differently. It’s also classified as sci fi/horror, so stay away if you’re easily scared! Not too good on representation.

Super 8: (tw: some language) a group of preteens witnesses an alien-caused train crash as they’re filming a home movie. Not diverse but I definitely think it inspired a lot of sci fi for the 2010s, ESPECIALLY Stranger Things. Not too scary either!

ET: (tw: it’s been a really long time since I watched so I don’t remember but it’s rated PG) I think everyone knows what this is about!

Alien: (tw: VB) truckers in space discover a deadly evolving alien. One of my favorite movies of all time! I love the aesthetic and the mood and worldbuilding so much. Ellen Ripley is one of the first Final Girls in the horror genre. I personally found this more of a sci fi than a horror movie but I’d say stay away if you’re nervous!!

Terminator: (tw: VB) a deadly android is sent to kill a woman who’s destined to birth the man who saves the world. Terminator 2 is way better imo because it centers on Sarah rather than the dudes saving her and trying to kill her. But it’s still worth a watch, you know, for the culture.

If you liked CONTAGION:

War of the Worlds: (tw: blood) pretty straightforward aliens come to Earth to take over. Sorry to rec another T*m Cruise movie but I really like the alien design and the apocalypsey feel of this one. Baby Dakota Fanning is in it too!

Falling Skies: (tw: VB, body horror, rape) alien invasion yada yada but the alien lore gets more interesting as it goes on. It’s kind of cheesy and yeah maybe I did discover it by looking up the iCarly boyfriend (and what about it??) but it’s nice to have on in the downtime. An Asian woman co-stars.

Knowing: (tw: blood) school students unearth a time capsule that contains a sheet from a girl who predicted all the tragic world events between 1959-2009. This is NOT a good movie but it’s SO hilarious to me because of the acting and contrivances. Fun to group-watch!!!!

10 Cloverfield Lane: (tw: VB, emotional abuse) a woman wakes up in a bunker to a captor who tells her that the world has fallen to alien apocalypse. I think this movie elevates the original Cloverfield in pretty much every way. Again, super tense and moody. The conflict revolves around whether or not the captor is being truthful.

Train to Busan: (tw: extreme VB and disturbing imagery) a man and his daughter are on a train when a zombie hops on at the last minute. It’s Korean with an all-Asian cast; Choi Woo-shik co-stars. I definitely wouldn’t watch if you’re scared of blood and gore. It’s very gross and violent.

12 Monkeys: (tw: ableism, violence) a man from the 2030s is sent back to the 1990s to prevent the plague that will end the world. I think the aesthetics of this are really cool but otherwise it’s not a favorite. But I think it appeals to people who like apocalypse and time travel stuff!

If you liked THE MATRIX:

Strange Days: (tw: rape, sex, nudity, VB, racism, police brutality) memories can be saved to hard-drives and sold on the black market for exorbitant prices. Very problematic and triggering presentation of rape, but young Angela Basset stars and there’s a condemnation of police brutality that’s still relevant 20+ years after its release.

Upgrade: (tw: ableism, VB, fridging) a disabled man installs an AI in his spine to help him move and investigate the murder of his wife. The premise is glaringly ableist and I feel weird even recommending it tbh but it’s got great visuals and a few good twists.

Altered Carbon: (tw: VB, weird interracial body switching, uhhh I haven’t finished this one IDK) in a society where human bodies are interchangeable, a man wakes up in a new body after 300 years of his mind being dormant. A Latina woman co-stars, two Asian characters in a subplot, a few other POC here and there as well. I think season 2 stars a black man.

eXistenZ: (tw: VB, anti-Asian racism, general weirdness? IDK it’s hard to describe. There are guns made out of bones and weirdly sexual visuals.) after someone tries to assassinate her, a video game designer and her bodyguard must play through her virtual reality game in order to save the only copy of the game.

Minority Report: (tw: VB, eye removal/insertion) all crimes are predicted and criminals reported before they are committed. The main character is preemptively accused of murder. This one is really white but it was one of the first movies that got me into sci fi. Early 2000s Colin Farrell <3.

If you liked WESTWORLD:

Humans: (tw: uncanny valley, objectification) androids are household helpers and public assistants throughout Britain until one day they start developing consciences. It hits a lot of the themes of Westworld without all the unnecessary pretentiousness, “edginess,” and “grittiness,” and it stars Gemma Chan and Colin Morgan!!

Blade Runner 2049: (^) an android is ordered to find and kill a human/android hybrid. It’s not without its issues but it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, right up there with Alien. So beautiful, so thematic, so thought-provoking (to me, anyway. I know a lot of people thought it was way too slow).

Ex Machina: (^) a man is invited to a private estate to help test the intelligence of an android. It’s kind of predictable imo but you know Oscar Isaac and Sonoya Mizuno are in it so we have to stan, and so is Domhnall Gleeson, for the SW fans! I like how isolated and quiet it feels.

I Am Mother: (tw: blood, gaslighting) after an extinction event, a young woman is raised by a lone android in a human repopulation facility until one day a woman knocks. It starts off slow and a bit generic, but I’m obsessed with the 2nd and 3rd acts of this movie---good acting, dialogue, and fantastic visuals. It has that same isolated feel as Ex Machina with only three characters, all of which are women/woman-coded!!!

If you liked ALIEN (space gothic):

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2008 reboot): (tw: genocide, war, colonization, VB, uncanny valley, rape, infidelity) space opera that follows humanity as it fights the ever-evolving and powerful enemy of their own creation: androids named Cylons. Um? I  L O V E  THIS SHOW SO MUCH and I truly do think it’s everything sci fi should be. There is a really unfortunate Miss Saigon-esque romance plot in season 1 and a lazily-written love triangle involving a black woman in season 3, but otherwise it’s one of my all-time favorites and I highly recommend. It’ll spin your mind and tug your heartstrings for years.

Black Mirror: Men Against Fire: (tw: genocide, war, nudity) soldiers in the near future protect citizens from mutant zombies, but one soldier starts experiencing strange hallucinations in the field. This is such an underrated Black Mirror episode starring a black man. There’s brief objectification of a black woman but it’s very anti-military and it has an interesting sterile aesthetic that reminds me of Alien.

High Life: (tw: rape, black holes/space anxiety, very disturbing) prisoners are given the option to join a space expedition and serve as experimental subjects en route to a black hole. Please please stay away if you are triggered by sexual violence of any kind. There’s almost no physical violence in this movie but it’s psychologically haunting imo.

The Faculty: (tw; VB, drug use) high schoolers discover their teachers are being possessed by an invading alien race. I LOVE THIS MOVIE LMFAOOOO. The cast is SO wild---Elijah Wood, John Oliver, Usher, Salma Hayek, Josh Hartnett??? And I’m probably forgetting more. The combination of the cast, the terrible dialogue, and shitty special effects is PEAK comedy imo. But bear in mind it’s bloody!!

Prometheus: (tw: body horror, VB, uncanny valley) a crew of scientists heads on a deep space mission to find the aliens who created the human race. A prequel to Alien, but I kind of view it as its own thing. Despite the plot holes, I love this movie too! It was one of my sci fi gateways and the visuals are stunning. It’s pretty gory though so if that’s not your thing stay away.

Life: (tw: extreme VB) a lesser Alien, but it provides all the space gothic tropes (jokey crew, shots of space, really pretty spaceship, everyone dies, creepy alien) with a well-known cast---Gyllenhaal, Reynolds, etc.

The X Files: (tw: a few episodes contain 90s racism, sexism, queerphobia etc but you can skip them) a lot of people have watched this so I barely have to explain, but it’s one of my favorites. Two FBI agents investigate multiple aliens and get involved in government conspiracies along the way. A good gateway!

A Quiet Place: (tw: child loss, VB, tension) I think most people know what this is about too. Alien apocalypse with aliens that hunt by sound. The daughter in the family is deaf, and so is the actress who portrays her. The representation of deafness was critically acclaimed.

[thisisthehardestthing]

wait r u fr? tumblr ate the ask? pls i’m so fuckin mad i literally typed paragraphs about how much i loved it so here we go i’m gonna try to be more coherent this time:

this mafia fic is my favorite haikyuu fic i’ve ever read and one of my fave fics in general. like the amount of hard work and research u put into it is so clear and it shows in the amazing quality of the fic. ur pacing, the flow of ur words, ur characterizations of tanaka and val, the way u pull off that last scene. everything is so well done and all of those things are super hard to pull off on their own so props to u for being able to do all of those. like wow i really am in awe of ur talent and i’m so thankful for ur hard work and the fact that u posted this like u rlly took me thru an emotional ride and gave me such a good piece of writing to enjoy and i love that.

okay so: details. i love the way u include the little things in the fic. stuff like the name of the designers and the names of organizations and stuff in the fic helps me picture the scenes so much and it just really adds to the extravagant feel of the fic.

with symbolism, i could literally write paragraphs about how well u included symbols in this fic. like i deadass gasped when the viper necklace was crushed in the final scene at the end right before tanaka did it. the parallels!!!! god ur so good at writing and obviously ur brain is huge to have thought of that and seamlessly included it into the fic.

okay so idk what the proper term for this is but like, the way that action happens in the fic is so well done and not predictable but still in line with what you’ve revealed to us about the characters. like ofc tanaka would pull the necklace out of his pocket at just that moment as a way to reveal to daichi what he felt. it’s just so perfect and so true to the person he is in the fic. about his characterization, god i love it so much. all of the pain and yearning and sheer want in his person were clearly conveyed thru his perspectives and his actions. like that boy just wants to be loved and that’s why it made such good narrative sense to have daichi ask him who he loves more in the scene right before the ending. like i saw the tag for death and expected a million things but u somehow managed to surprise me and yet still stay true to the world and characters u created and ugh, it’s all so perfect.

speaking of, the pacing of this fic is so good. like u manage to take us thru a whirlwind time period that doesn’t feel fast or drawn out or anything other than perfect. u have such a good awareness of pacing that it makes me so jealous and yet so pleased as a reader. like nothing about their love confessions or trysts felt rushed or forced. it felt so natural and true to the people they were and the world that they live in.

also i said before in the other ask how i love the way u utilize sex scenes in the fic. u sprinkle them in at just the right moment and they manage to be hot but they also reveal so much about the characters involved. like i’m specifically thinking of the scene in tanaka’s home where she asks why he won’t touch her and he says that she didn’t give him permission. like the love and devotion in that way of thinking felt so true and yet in the end he still did it and ugh that breaks my heart in the best way bc i know my pain as a reader is nothing next to his pain as a character. i would actually love to pick ur brain about how u decided on the ending. did it come to u in the moment or did u set out writing the fic knowing it would end up like that? so many questions rlly bc u created a world and a cast of characters that are so interesting like i would literally read books about them. (esp val. i loved how headstrong and proud she was but also how weak and emotional she could be. her ending made me sad but u kno, it made sense) and i’m especially curious to find out how tanaka copes after. like i can’t imagine that daichi would just accept his loyalty again but u do manage to surprise me in the best way so who knows. but i also mourn for him which is a little odd for me bc after finding out that he knew about daichi’s affair i felt betrayed and it hurt for some reason which is so interesting bc i trusted him and felt like i knew him, but u still managed to keep parts of him hidden, which is so cool.

oh and despite the tragic ending, u fed us so good with scenes of the two everywhere. like i love how we got to see tanaka and val in their own homes and at parties and we truly got to see how they act when they’re alone and when they’re comfortable and when they’re playing the part of loyal bodyguard or loyal wife. ugh it’s all so good and tbh i only finished it like maybe half an hour again but i already want to read it again bc it was so fucking good and the way u write emotions like yearning and heartbreak is so good like ugh. everything about the way u wrote this fic was so amazing and fuck tumblr for eating my ask but i hope i at least manage to repeat the majority of what was in the og ask lol.

hello anon <3

It is the weekend so I finally have enough brain power to reply.

I wanted to be selfish and keep this in my inbox forever, because this might be the kindest, most appreciative thing everyone has ever said to me about my writing. Toska is a piece of my heart and my soul in written word, and to have received something like this? It’s... indescribable. You have picked up on so many of the small details, symbols, and more that I littered throughout the fic, and you’ve called out the things that I was excited about people reading and reacting to.

Fic Spoilers below the cut.

everything is so well done and all of those things are super hard to pull off on their own so props to u for being able to do all of those.

Thank you so much. I constantly worried that it was too long, too boring, that there wasn’t enough smut in there to be sexy, or that the plot ultimately didn’t make sense. This means everything to me. Pacing is one of the most important things in a fic to me, because I am the kind of person that easily loses interest when I read. 

details. i love the way u include the little things in the fic.

ahhhhhhhhh!!!! I’m glad this helped you to picture everything! I actually used real life dresses, shoes, locations (google Villa La Vigie, it is STUNNING). I was a fashion student, and I now work in the fashion industry so small details to convery luxury is extremely important to me. I love that it made all the difference to you.

i could literally write paragraphs about how well u included symbols in this fic.

fuck, wow. this. This is what I was truly hoping for. I love figuring out foreshadowing in movies, in books, in tv series. I try to write things that foreshadowing what going to happen in the end throughout of every one of my fics, but this is the first time someone called it out, and I am truly grateful for it. The viper necklace thing is a moment I was very proud of. and when Tanaka tells Val to stop talking about Daichi when they’re alone on the bed together: that’s the first instance where we see his guilt that he knows. Also, when Tanaka says “why dont i finish what I started,” is another thing I linked to the ending.

the way that action happens in the fic is so well done and not predictable but still in line with what you’ve revealed to us about the characters.

kasjsdfhksjdfsd I always thought people could see right through me and how I was going to end it!!!!!!! This means so much thank you! I kept thinking, “fuck people know he’s going to kill her, this is so predictable, all these extra scenes are so boring, is it even worth it?” so AH thank you!

thank you again for the pacing comment <3

i love the way u utilize sex scenes in the fic. u sprinkle them in at just the right moment 

hehehehehehe this makes me very happy. tbh, I wasn’t expecting there to be SO MUCH PLOT when I wrote this fic. I had mapped everything out and planned for it to be about... 5k? words? It ended up being 21k all together lmao. I actually thought there wasn’t enough smuttiness in the entire thing, so thanks for letting me now that it was just the right amount. I was worried because the only time I actually describe them fucking with Tanaka’s dick inside her, is that measley one paragraph at the Monte Carlo Casino. When I realised that, I was in utter shock. I was texting @mindninjax in the discord server like “FUCK. I can’t believe I haven’t actually written sex sex.” Then I went into thinking how disappointed people were going to be and phew, it was a whirlwind of a night.

i would actually love to pick ur brain about how u decided on the ending. did it come to u in the moment or did u set out writing the fic knowing it would end up like that? so many questions rlly

ask away, send in questions. I built this world beyond what I’ve written. I have character layouts and plans for every person I introduced, and have ideas for fics on all of them.

To answer your question, I knew exactly how I wanted it to end before I began writing. That end scene is what I thought of first. Exactly like that, with it being cut off mid-sentence to represent her being shot. That sort of “boom” or feeling of shock where you just stare at the screen is the exact reaction I wanted to get when I finished writing, so I hope that is what happened.

So just, thank you so much anon. For everything, for taking the time to write out this ask a second time after Tumblr ate the first one. It has kept me going since the day you sent it. I really appreciate you, and please, chat to me anytime x

Thank you.

Spasiba x