#if romance makes sense and is logical and i can understand then it is enjoyable | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cleverhottubmiracle · 2 months ago

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I’ve always been an overthinker, making mountains out of molehills long before I’d even entered the dating world. I worried about homework, quicksand, accidentally swallowed apple seeds. Some brains are simply built that way: spinning tops that don’t stop spinning, computers that can’t ever be fully powered down. Not all overthinkers are born, though; sometimes they’re created – forged from difficult past experiences and relationships that didn’t turn out the way you’d hoped. Overthinking can often feel like a sensible move in today’s culture of ghosting, breadcrumbing and 64-part TikTok series about truly shocking relationship behaviours. It’s an understandable attempt to predict the future and gain a sense of certainty in dating. In reality, it yanks us out of the present moment and disrupts our ability to find enjoyment and excitement when putting ourselves out there and meeting new people. A little crush transforms from something fun and hopeful into something spiral-inducing and all-consuming. A great first date sours by the following morning if they don’t follow up to immediately plan the second. You interrogate their punctuation, the length of their messages, their fluctuating emoji use, the volume of their laughter at what you’ve always considered your best anecdote. And just like that, all the things that make romance exciting and life-affirming transform into opportunities to overthink. Frankly, that’s no way to live, laugh or love. As badly as we might want to know all outcomes and keep ourselves protected from pain, there are certain things we simply can’t control in dating. Their feelings, our feelings, their availability, their desires, chemistry, and timing. Overthinking may offer an illusion of control, but an illusion is all it’ll ever be. You cannot predict the future and fixating on the possibility of being hurt down the line or scrutinising their facial expressions or any potential rejection hidden in their words will just keep us from enjoying the magic of the present moment, the wonderful adventure of getting to know someone new. As badly as we might want to know all outcomes and keep ourselves protected from pain, there are certain things we simply can’t control in dating If you’re a person who overthinks in dating, then the first thing I’d like you to do is be kind to yourself about it. You didn’t choose this and you’re not making dating difficult on purpose – it’s an admirable attempt at self-protection and a deeply human impulse. Secondly, identify the ways that your overthinking manifests and see what soothing actions you can take. Worried about the frequency of their messages? Discuss your expectations for communication, ask them their preferences and tell them what would put your mind at ease. In the early days of my last relationship, I laid it all out for the person I was dating, telling them that while I didn’t need or want to be in contact 24 hours a day, checking in every day was a non-negotiable. And guess what? We made time to talk every day, fell in love and had a great time. Had I held my tongue, who knows if things would have turned out so well. Bringing up your overthinking with the person who you’re currently overthinking about is, of course, pretty scary stuff. But good relationships are built on an ability to communicate healthily, find solutions and support and reassure one another through the tricky times. You don’t need to disclose every single panicked and catastrophic thought that crosses your mind, of course, but if you’ve been seeing one another for a while, you can absolutely let them know that sometimes your brain takes you to some strange and not altogether logical places and you’re working on it. The right partner will not back off when they hear this – they will instead make space for you to discuss your worries together. Also, don’t bring it up as though you’re confessing to something terrible and unforgivable (like sticking your gum to the underside of bus seats or not saying ‘wow, big stretch!’ when a cat does a big stretch). This is just helpful and true information about who you are and how you process things – not a grenade that, when thrown, will explode all your chances of love. You’re a person who cares deeply, loves hard and can occasionally feel anxiety as a result. Say it without shame and give them a chance to rise to the occasion or not. And remember, overthinking is not a rare phenomenon! It’s very likely that the people you date are also trying not to spiral, worrying about things they did or said and wondering whether you like them or not. Creating a safe space to communicate more openly, be clear on your feelings and intentions can make dating much easier for all involved. You’re a person who cares deeply, loves hard and can occasionally feel anxiety as a result. Say it without shame You can also practice de-escalating your thoughts with a trusted friend or, if you have one, your therapist. Sometimes just speaking your fears aloud or writing them down can remove a lot of their malicious power, so talk things through, share stories, and try to neutralise your panic with facts. Overthinking can also go the other way, and you might find yourself deciding way too soon that this person you’ve literally just met or matched with is utterly amazing, a perfect catch, an unbeatable potential partner that you can’t bear to lose. Come back to reality when this happens and remind yourself that you must give people a real chance to show you who they are and what kind of partner they could be to you specifically. This takes time and can’t be determined within a few hours or a handful of conversations. Overthinking about your dates can also be eased by directing more care towards other important parts of life like your friendships, hobbies, work and your relationship with yourself. In other words, if you get busy living, you’ll have less time to obsess, analyse, and overthink. When you’re spiralling and can’t turn your brain off, your body suffers too. You tense up, you second guess yourself, you obsess, your palms sweat, your knees feel weak, your mother’s lovingly-prepared spaghetti stirs in your stomach. It may seem silly, but breathing techniques and other somatic exercises can really help to bring your body back to a state of calm and in turn break the circuit and soothe your racing mind. There are plenty of different techniques that can help – so have a look online and give some a whirl. Ultimately, dating is not an exact science, and overthinking is a totally normal response to all of its ingrained uncertainties. To keep it from taking over you must learn to lean on your support network, investigate your own truest wants and needs, and keep adding to your toolbox of strategies to help bring yourself back down to earth when you find yourself floating off into uncertain territory. Remind yourself too that most of us are prone to nerves, overthinking and worry. You’re never alone in it, but the rewards of pushing through and opening up can be so worth it. Open and patient communication and permission to be vulnerable in relationships doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with us. !function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq = function () n.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments) ; if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded = !0; n.version = '2.0'; n.queue = []; t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s) (window, document, 'script', ' fbq('init', '357833301087547'); fbq('track', "PageView"); Source link

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norajworld · 2 months ago

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chilimili212 · 2 months ago

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whinecrate · 1 year ago

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Things I like about him ig

Warm

The thing when he's holding my hand and squeezes it inbetween

Twirls me and if Im convincing enough he'll twirl

Pulls me towards him randomly

Stops me from swinging hands

Kisses and yk..

Makes the interest obvious no mind games

Respects boundaries

Not yk possessive etc

Respectful

Comfortable safe space kinda feeling

Is nice to me which doesn't sound like much but it's about treating me right as a person atleast>>>romantic gestures which btw he would probably do if I were into it

And is fine with me being difficult like this

And if I point out like I'm not fine with this etc doesn't get defensive esp over minor stuff or take it badly can apologise and make an effort

I can tell him almost everything without judgement per se and in confidence and the talks are long and enjoyable and silence is also fine

Not too bad to look at actually and the curls are grabbable and decent body and we do work physically ig and he's also pretty invested in pleasing me so yay?

Voice and way of speaking

Considerate ig?

Sensitive topics etc does know to handle it with class?tact?

Peaceful dramafree life

Let's me bully him and bullies me back but I'm always fine with it cuz mutual understanding and i need to be able to call eachother bitch etc

Communication we have it and it's good and we both put in the effort for it

Not too emotional or egotistical can think things through logically and ig agree with me that us as individuals has priority over the relationship

Loyal fssssss ngl the cheesy romance stuff isn't completely lost on me

Confident enough in his masculinity ig? I mean he'll suffer through nailpolish and he's sensitive enough etc not much for appearing all macho his fav colour is like lilac ffs

Sense of humour matches

Doesn't expect too much from me and wouldn't push for anything idw or am not comfortable with

Hopeless romantic actually wants to do cute boyfriend things but isn't overbearing about it it's kinda adorable

Good with words i might take it for granted sometimes but god that's so attractive to me

Getting the extra chair for me to keep my legs on

Randomly gushes about me being pretty or my eyes or yk typical hopeless romantic stuff

Let's me put flowers in his hair and nail polish etc just deal with me put up with me

Small touches etc to just have some contact makes me feel wanted

I do not like that he tried weed when he knew it was a hard no for me but i like that he was honest about it tho

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bludhavents · 4 years ago

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things that each greaser struggles with:

these are mostly headcanons i came up with. also, this gets pretty angsty.

content warning: alcoholism, addiction, anxiety.

darry:

- maturity. he thinks everybody looks at him like the “dad” of the group instead of just another friend, and he loathes it. he misses whenever he was able to skip work to catch a movie at the drive-in or take ponyboy and sodapop up to the dingo for lunch.

- accidental intimidation. his build is very large and strong, which is good for his job and for when he’s actually trying to, well, intimidate people, but other than that it just makes him feel guilty for being so unapproachable.

- relationships. specifically, darry is very insecure in his relationship with pony. he especially hates it whenever pony dogs on him for forgetting things or accusing him of not caring.

- emotional intelligence. he knows he comes across as cold. and he hates it. he has lots of emotions and he doesn’t air them out in a healthy way, so he tries his best to cut all the emotions off altogether in hopes that the negativity will stop, but it just makes him feel even more insecure.

- social skills. in high school, it was all much easier for him, but now that he’s working full-time and running the household, he’s fallen majorly behind in the social scene. he never goes out to the drive-in or to the dingo, and at first it was because he was too busy, but now, even if he doesn’t have a shift, he’ll make up some excuse because he’s too nervous to go and have to talk to people again since he feels like he’s gonna mess up.

- identity. darry was just starting to feel comfortable in himself and in his role in the world right before his parents died, and when they did, he stopped trying to figure out what made him happy. it has made him insecure of the emotional stint that is centered around his ego and sense of self.

sodapop:

- smarts. it’s canon that he’s insecure about this.

- growing up. while everybody else moves on to new things and grows up, he feels like he’s stuck in the same place watching everybody else progress while he stays behind. this was especially true after sandy left, because marrying her was going to be this huge exciting step in his life and when she left, he didn’t have that fulfillment anymore.

- reassurance. he feels a constant need for approval, and he will take it wherever he can get it. there’s a sort of pride he gets whenever he sees a girl checking him out, but there’s a deeper feeling telling him that she’s gonna run away once she finds out about how ‘stupid’ he is.

- authority. soda has a really hard time talking to people who are in a position of power. he gets all nervous and his hands get sweaty and his face goes sheet white in panic. his charm and social skill is enough to satisfy a conversation with a person his age, but he feels silly trying to be confident in front of an adult. he feels like they look down on him and will laugh.

- fatherhood. he’s very insecure about having a family in the future. he feels like he never appreciated his dad’s skilled parenting while he could, and since then darry has been a sort of fatherly figure in the house, but it’s hard for soda to see it that way. he grew up for 16 years with darry as a big brother and for him to suddenly be forced into a father role is troubling for soda. because of this complicated dynamic between soda and fatherhood, he feels like he won’t be able to be the best father possible for his children.

- legs. he hates his legs. you will never see soda in a pair of shorts, not even when he’s swimming. he doesn’t like the way they’re shaped and thinks that they make the rest of his body look odd, so he wears loose jeans to hide them. he’s also embarrassed of being embarrassed about them, so nobody knows, not even steve.

dallas:

- emotional intelligence. his lack of emotional intelligence is something he battles with a lot. he understands what people are feeling, but he has a hard time understanding why they feel that way. he says it’s because he’s too tuff to deal with emotions, but deep down he knows it’s because he was thrust into a traumatic childhood so early on that he never had time to build emotional bonds with people that would strengthen his empathy and understanding.

- his past, another canon take. he hates talking about it, even the good stuff, because when he thinks about new york all he can picture is 10 year old dallas watching a man being covered in a white sheet by the paramedics on the side of the road. he thinks about his friends from there and knows they’re all either locked up or dead, and it ruins any enjoyment he gets from reminiscing on the good times.

- health. he definitely has crohn’s or IBS or something else that makes his stomach hurt whenever he eats, and it embarrasses him to no end. he’s always anxious that his stomach is going to start hurting when he’s with the gang and is going to have to find some excuse to leave. he smokes so much while he’s out with them to keep from getting hungry until he gets back to buck’s place.

- his friendships. the shepherd gang is close-knit. then, the curtis’ are brothers, steve has known them forever, and two-bit is outgoing enough to make himself fit in to the group. johnny is the closest person dallas relates to, and it’s the friendship hes the most secure in.

- his smile. he knows smoking ruins his teeth, and he knows they’re crooked all over, and he knows that when he smiles his lips crack and stretch out.

johnny:

- his appearance, canon insecurity. he looks young for his age, and when the gang found him in the lot after he was beaten by Socs, they all started treating him like he was young too. he didn’t think the scar on his face was tuff, it just reminded him of being attacked.

- his voice. this is less about how it sounds and more about him not being able to speak over the shouting at home. he hates yelling, and he won’t stand in to speak up for him cause he’s too afraid of being told to “stop yelling”.

- being average. johnny feels painfully average in everything he does. he’s tried to find a skill that he truly loves and wants to take time to be good at, but he always gets frustrated and quits before he can improve.

- romance. almost every aspect of it terrifies johnny. he doesn’t know what a healthy marriage looks like, what he does know was from Mr and Mrs Curtis, but seeing them die together warped his sense of love. he doesn’t understand why you would want to love somebody so much if you didn’t have to. he doesn’t like the “til death do us part” aspect of marriage, because it makes him feel trapped. he’s not afraid of commitment, he’s afraid that he will end up in a marriage like his parents’ and not be able to leave.

two-bit:

- alcoholism. he’s an alcoholic and he knows it, but he’s been stuck in the vicious cycle of addiction for such a long time that the only way he knows how to cope with the emotional baggage of addiction is to drink more.

- social awareness. as of now, he’s very self-aware and extremely skilled in reading a room, but he didn’t used to be. he used to crack jokes at the wrong time and get scolded for it, and it made him feel horrible. like he wasn’t able to experience all the same sad feelings as everybody else because they reacted differently to the sadness than he did. they wanted to process the sadness while he wanted to ignore it.

- being absent at home. he knows he spends the majority of time at the curtis house, and he also knows that his mother spends the majority of her time at work, which leaves his little sister at home alone. he has a good relationship with her, but he doesn’t like for her to see him drunk, and as his alcoholism progresses, that gets to be more and more often. he knows this, and it’s one of the main reasons he’s so insecure about his addiction, because she’s the one who let him know that it wasn’t a one-way street. his problem affected him and her.

- commitment. two-bit is young, but he feels old enough to know how relationships work. he saw his dad walk out on them, and he was never able to process how you could go from marrying someone to leaving and never looking back. at first, he thought that his dad was just a selfish jerk, but when he met johnny and saw that his parents were also married and simultaneously abusive, he convinced himself that all marriages were bound to end up that way. he believes that if the curtis’ lived longer, they would have eventually gotten bitter and tired of each other, because in his mind, that’s just what couples do.

ponyboy:

- confidence. he has a lot of insecurities, and they’re shared pretty evenly between physical and non physical. he doesn’t like his body or his eyes. he doesn’t like how impulsive and dramatic he is.

- security. not in himself, but in life. he’s permanently on edge, feeling anxious about who’s going to be around the corner and what would happen if he got jumped and how many Socs he’d be able to fight off in case anything happened. his parents’ sudden deaths did not help this. he feels like life is constantly tossing him around, and he never feels completely safe.

- emotional outbursts. this isn’t exclusive to ponyboy, but he struggles with it the most. he hates getting upset with people, and he hates hurting other people’s feelings. when he’s feeling too many things, he starts to speak without a filter and gets mad at the littlest things, and he knows that it makes everybody around him feel bad.

- fitting in. in contrast to johnny’s insecurity, ponyboy wants nothing more than to fit in. he’s tired of being the only greaser in his classes, he’s tired of his isolated taste in movies and theatre, he’s tired of being a track star, and he’s tired of all the pressure put on him since he isn’t average.

steve

- masculinity. his dad always enforces an unrealistic standard of being strong, independent, and logical. steve is inherently all of these things, but the pressure he feels to keep it up weighs him down.

- comparing himself to others. it started in middle school when he noticed all of the people liked sodapop more. from then on he couldn’t help but feel like soda was more attractive and charming, darry was stronger and smarter, two-bit was funnier and cooler, dallas was tougher and unbothered, johnny was more likeable and down-to-earth, and ponyboy was more creative and well spoken.

- addiction. there was a time in steve’s life where he was getting high every day. at first it was fun, but then he had to quit track because he wasn’t as athletic as he used to be. it ruined his health and motivation. he started working on cars more to keep himself busy, and it helped a lot, even got him a job.

- hyperindependence. steve’s biggest character flaw is that he can’t ask for help. whether it’s asking for help in school or asking for soda to hand him a tool in the garage, steve can’t bring himself to do ask. it makes him feel like he’s not good enough to do it on his own.

#the outsiders #steve randle #the outsiders headcanons #dallas winston #dally winston #ponyboy curtis #ponyboy x reader #steve randle x reader #dallas winston x reader #johnny cade #johnny cade x reader #two bit mathews x reader #two bit mathews #sodapop curtis x reader #sodapop curtis #darry curtis

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featherquillpen · 3 years ago

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Books I Read in 2021: Science Fiction & Fantasy Edition

This post got long, so my most favorite books are bolded. Any books I started to read and didn't like are omitted from the list, so all of them have something to recommend them, in my opinion. For the record, if a book is on this list, rest assured that the main character is LGBTQIA (except Planet of Exile, which was, after all, written in 1966.)

Spellhacker by M.K. England

A fun little action fantasy romp, but nothing groundbreaking.

Foundryside and Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

This series is fantastic, especially in worldbuilding and magic system. It's a form of magic that's heavily based on programming, with equivalents of if/then logic, software libraries, and server stacks. And the main character is a thief who does magic heists. What's not to love?

Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night by Katherine Fabian and Iona Datt Sharma

A magical little mystery with an incredibly relatable cast of characters. The two main characters are metamours whose mutual boyfriend goes missing, and they team up to rescue him. Every character in this book felt like someone I've dated or had drinks with.

Dreadnought by April Daniels

A book about a trans woman superhero. It was very color-by-numbers standard superhero stuff, and I really only enjoy this genre if it does some serious trope subversion. Which brings me to...

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

HIGHLY recommend this book, the most subversive superhero book I've read yet (and I've read a lot of trope-flipping superhero fiction.) The main character is a henchwoman working in the gig economy on temp contracts with supervillains, and her superpower is her accounting and mastery of spreadsheets. If this doesn't make you want to read it immediately, I fundamentally do not understand you as a person.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Sarah Gailey always has really interesting worldbuilding, and then populates these cool worlds with plots and character arcs about as subtle as a brick to the head. I will continue to keep an eye on their work, as I feel it has a lot of promise, even though it's not quite there yet.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Nghi Vo is an astonishing new voice in fantasy. She communicates a very strong sense of place in the Singing Hills Cycle, a series of histories and folktales that evoke all the ambience of a Chinese period drama.

Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

We all know by now that Murderbot Diaries is amazing, right? If you haven't read it yet, just do it. I particularly enjoyed Network Effect because it had ART in it and Murderbot&ART is my OTP.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

The romance was fairly standard fanfic fare, enjoyable enough. The worldbuilding had holes you could drive a truck through, as far as the space empire was concerned. The gender-related worldbuilding was quite nice, though.

Planet of Exile by Ursula K. LeGuin

No work of LeGuin's, especially in the Hainish Cycle, can be considered bad, though this is one of her earliest novels and it shows. Her omnipresent themes of cultural difference, gender, and the terrible price of violence are here, but still finding their feet.

Persephone Station by Stina Leicht

This book had promise - the whole premise of the found family of tough mercenary ladies was definitely appealing - but the execution was rather poor, with thin and shaky sci-fi worldbuilding. Hopefully Stina Leicht will do better in future books.

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

A worthy follow-up to A Memory Called Empire, with some new sci-fi elements that felt like they were written for my interests specifically. Really enjoyed the Stanislav Petrov theme. I did feel like the anti-imperialist critique was not as powerful as it could have been, which was frustrating.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

I'm so glad I gave Roanhorse another chance after I read her previous work and didn't care for it. Black Sun is fantasy set in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, with totally fresh and fascinating worldbuilding. I hope this book is vanguard to a wave of Indigenous voices in high fantasy, because this story felt epic and mythical in a whole new way.

Where I End and You Begin by Preston Norton

This book made me laugh in pure delight all the way through. It's a YA comedy about two high school frenemies who suddenly start body-swapping at random, and it's every bit as awkward and wacky and ridiculous as you could hope for.

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

Set in the same universe as The Goblin Emperor, this book had the same quiet feeling of tight focus on one man who just wants to be kind in a cruel world. I enjoyed it, but Addison has to give me some non-tragic gays next book or I will riot.

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K.J. Charles

Not K.J. Charles' best work, but even a mediocre K.J. Charles is miles better than a romance by almost any other author. The book is very, very horny, more so than most of her work, but resolves in a sweet and homey way.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

So this was my very first wuxia/xianxia (Chinese historical fantasy genres) novel, and it got me absolutely hooked. This book was written in English by the Malaysian author Zen Cho, which made it a very accessible entry into the genre for me as a Western reader. This book is a pure fun romp about a nun who joins up with a crew of bandits. It made me smile a lot.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

After enjoying The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water so much, I decided to try another Zen Cho novel, and WOW am I glad I did. This book wrecked me with queer diaspora feels. It's about a Malaysian-American lesbian who moves back to Malaysia as an adult after spending most of her life in the US. She begins to be haunted by the ghost of her grandmother and gets drawn into the world of gods and spirits. The ending of this book had me weeping at its beauty.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Pure feminist catharsis. If you've ever had one of those days when you have wanted to tear off the face of every man who has ever abused or oppressed you (who hasn't?) this story about Wu Zetian, giant mecha-wielding avatar of female rage, may be the balm your soul needs.

魔道祖师 | Mo Dao Zu Shi | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by 墨香铜臭 | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

This book came for my life. Since I read it, not a day goes by that I don't think about it. I know no peace. Mo Dao Zu Shi is a xianxia novel that has an official translation coming out next week (you can follow the link above to order it.) It's an extremely compelling gay romance that made my heart explode. More than that, it's a beautiful fantasy epic, with flawed and complex characters, villains you can't help but love at least a little, and grand themes about morality, grief, class, and internalized homophobia.

人渣反派自救系统 | Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong | Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by 墨香铜臭 | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

After I enjoyed Mo Dao Zu Shi so very, very much, I knew I had to read other works by MXTX. This is an earlier novel, and not as good, but still very fun to read. It's a satire of the isekai/transmigration genre, in which the main character is transmigrated into a poorly written erotic novel as the scum villain, and has to try to not get killed. Very metafictional and laugh-out-loud hilarious.

#book recs #book review

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millennialzadr · 3 years ago

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K-K-KISS?!?!?!

heck i wanted to work more on this today but im busier than i thought id be-- a few days ago i started writing a first kiss scene 😳😳 ITS NOT AT THE KISS PART YET LOL BUT I SHALL SHARE ANYWAY IN HONOR OF THE DAY

hey!

*leans in to kiss cheek**turns head to look over**awkward one sided kiss on the mouth*

OH GOD, sorry-- *dib quickly looks away, his kneejerk reaction to overreact despite knowing zim doesn't have the same ideas about kissing that he did*

*curiosity gets the better of him* have you ever kissed anyone before?

*snorts incredulously* no? have you?

no? *almost chuckling at the thought, a mix of humor at the hyperbolic degree of unlikability he exuded growing up and shame and embarrassment over that same fact*

... *blinking, can sense the conversation isn't over but doesn't know where it's going*

*can tell zim is waiting for him to make a point, he tries to think, to make a logical decision, but he was gripped by the impulse not to let this moment go* uhhm... so, like... i know the idea that "a first kiss is special" is a made up thing and a weird standard humans set for themselves when they decided romance was a contest, but um. that-- *nervous laugh* even you can agree that was a pretty terrible first kiss, right?

*visible confusion* dib, it wasn't a big deal. it was clearly an accident. i don't feel bad about, do you feel bad about it? *gestures to himself and then dib, genuinely trying to understand what dib is trying to communicate*

*surprised* no no! no! uh, lemme rephrase. *runs a hand through his hair, embarrassed over the miscommunication but he was determined to get the question out* i just had the thought, kissing on the mouth is pretty much the only form of affection we haven't tried. and there's no real reason for that, we just didn't get around to it. on my end at least. *doing his best to keep eye contact* it's totally okay if you don't want to or you think it'll make you feel weird, just thought I'd offer the idea.

...oh! *understanding dawned on zim's face and he stared for a few more moments, before looking up to his right and tilting his head as he gave it some thought. remembering the nuances of earth romance was difficult; he had previously thought mouth-kissing was reserved only for those pursuing romantic relationships, but all that seemed to have gone out the window judging by all the behaviors he and dib had been practicing. still though, he could sense dib's nervousness*

*squints* would that make you feel weird?

*speaking carefully* i... appreciate the concern, but you can trust that if i didn't want to do something or thought it would go badly, i wouldn't ask to do it.

*skeptical* not true. how many times have you had bad ideas and did them anyway cus you were too fixated on finding out what happens?

*exhale* okay yeah, you're right. i'm trying to be better about that. but for this time at least, i don't think it's a bad idea. *gesturing* i genuinely feel that kissing might be something enjoyable we could try. if you wanna try it.

... *zim continued staring as he processed dib's words and assessed his expression and body language. dib stared back, and couldn't help a tiny internal flinch as zim's gaze dropped slightly, presumably looking at dib's lips and ohgodthisisreallyhappening. after a few seconds zim was satisfied and shrugged* okay.

okay?

yeah. let's try it. *moves closer to dib*

oh! *definitely not flustered* okay! cool! yeah! um-- *the air caught in his throat as zim tilted his face up and moved it close to him, staring at him with huge, expectant eyes. dib's feelings were difficult to decipher as the blood started rushing to the surface of his skin; happiness that zim was comfortable enough and trusted him enough to agree, a panicky feeling from all the overexaggerated romance media he'd been forced to consume all his life putting such pressure on this moment, an equally intense thrill caused by that same media causing his heartbeat to stutter and dance, his head beginning to feel light, almost dizzy--*

"Dib."

Zim's cool, hushed voice snapped Dib back to reality, and he realized his eyes hadn't been focusing. He blinked down at Zim meekly.

"It's just another form of affection, right?" Zim's expression remained the same, while Dib's lips parted slightly and the blushing creeping over his cheeks began deepening. His tense posture slowly relaxed as he nodded silently, and his hands found their way to Zim's sides, gently resting his palms against the bottom hem of Zim's sweater, where he could feel a thin stripe of warm, velvety soft skin. "Yeah," he breathed. He felt warm, not the prickly, creeping warm of anxiety, the kind of warm that made him go quiet and soft and made him want to wrap his arms around his precious friend and smoosh his face against him and pet him and smell him and bite him and squeeze him and never, ever let him go. He wanted to do this, for sure, no matter the cultural connotations, they were doing things their way, and no one knew. Exactly like Zim said, it was just a kiss.

Zim wasn't... Exactly sure what he meant when he said that. Perhaps he wasn't so immune to earth propaganda, he'd been exposed to it for well over a decade now. He felt a strange happiness at this proposal, this, gesture, that humans seemed to find so important, so... Desirable. Special. It was special to them. He remembered now. And yet he'd said that... Surely it was just to calm Dib's nerves. Surely he wasn't trying to give Dib reason to follow through, because he did want to try kissing, very badly in fact, because humans only kissed humans who they liked very much, usually, most of the time, the majority of the time, they kiss someone who's important them, always, exclusively, all of the time, very important, very, extremely important. His spooch was beating faster than it had been a few moments ago. He ignored it.

"Then just do it."

#my post #zadr #fic #invader zim #soft au #WIP

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pollenat · 4 years ago

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ITZY and 5 ways to say I love you

YEJI

Her hands resting on the sides of your head. Fingers caress, rub and play with where face meets hairline. Though Yeji’s small smile is one of soft feelings, you think the feelings inside your stomach possess none of her delicacy. They’re violent, twisting your insides, because the woman in front of you is way too much for your poor heart. And though your own touch isn’t telling, you’re worried she will learn it from a stray line on your skin. Why else would she be taking in the sight of your face with so much attention?

The feeling of being alone in the world, save it for Yeji’s warmth by your side. The night sky is dotted with stars, the forest is overflowing with leaves, animals are singing their evening ballad. You should’ve left a while ago, but lying in a field, just a few meters away from the forest’s edge, doesn’t feel half bad. And you’re here with Yeji, her embracing arm a pleasant reminder she’ll protect you if she has to. After all, it was her idea to stay back so late to enjoy the privacy and the sight of a clean sky.

Everyday objects you find in the pockets of your clothes. They may consist of tissues, old packs of gum, hair ties, or anything, really. What makes them so special, is the fact that each has a memory attached. A memory of Yeji. Whether she’s borrowed a jacket and forgot her lip balm, or lost a ring while hiding her hand in a pocket of your coat. Even the tissue she’s made a comment about – everything has her invisible name attached.

An abandoned teacup. It’s empty, lying on a coffee table filled with junk food. Plastic packages and crumbs mix into disgusting mess. TV plays in the background, characters of some teen movie have just started an unpopular musical number. A foot lies on your thigh. Its owner puts a chip in her mouth, eyes taking in the choreography. You couldn’t be any less interested in cliché songs about the power of friendship, but your better half? She’s that one hobby you can never see yourself giving up on. Yeji trashes in her place, doing her best to escape your tickling fingers, meanwhile laughing like a maniac.

The fact she’s never mad. Just disappointed. Her eyes, instead of endearment, offer you that damned sadness – a pointy arrow at your head, saying it’s all your fault for causing her gloom. If it wasn’t for your presence in her life, none of this would have ever happened. How dare you exist next to her when all you personify is the wrong? How dare you stab and claw at her heart when you were meant to heal and embrace it? And then the allusion that if you had tried, the things would have been better. But you never try, right? You’re the villain, right?

LIA

Face hidden in your neck. Arms tight around your body. Feet tucked in the space between yours. Soft noises of content. Hair basically pushed against your mouth. Despite the overwhelming presence, you feel happy. Your face hides in her hair. Arms lock on her back. You sigh from the very same sense of content. The hair on your tongue doesn’t annoy you. If anything, it brings another reason of enjoyment - the familiar smell of Jisoo’s favorite cosmetics.

Sudden grip on your hand. A look back at her pale face and uncertain eyes that scan your closest surroundings. With the night above and most people asleep, streets feel sinister. The individuals that are out and about bring a sense of danger, like they’re all mad from bloodlust. Like they all have only the devil’s doing in mind. Keeping the thoughts to yourself, you put out a brave front of indifference. If it’s what it takes to bring Jisoo a sense of comfort, you’ll make it a show to be remembered. Maybe even you will be fooled into peace.

A little kiss. Fingertips locked on your chin. Wide smile she adds as a bonus. And just like that, a moment later, she’s gone. You’re watching her back distancing itself from you with a little spring to Jisoo’s step. Are you the reason, or just an effect? Only when she stops and turns around do you realize, that you’re supposed to be accompanying her. But that’s Jisoo to you – so show-stopping you could forget to breathe even with throat tight and itchy. She doesn’t laugh, just smiles, as if she was aware that she, in fact, is the effect.

Hiding beneath a rainbow colored umbrella, with Jisoo stuck close to your side. You promised her a walk, but sneaky rain clouds have decided to make their surprise entrance. The weather forecast was so sure in their predictions of a sunny weather… Never again will you so blindly trust technology. Irritation clear on your face, you take a look to the side at Jisoo. Her head is leaning against your shoulder. Green and yellow clash on her features. Despite the uncomfortable sight of dark locks glued to her cheeks, she’s smiling. You’re not sure what is there to be happy about, but no comment breaks the rhythm of rain.

Read glaring at you from under your last message. It’s been like that for a while now. Every message read, but none answered. The silence is maddening, causing you anger, but no matter how much you want to do something, the compliance from your inner self never comes. Because in reality, Jisoo’s silence hurts as much as it angers. Why are you the only one trying to save a drowning ship? Why does she care so little about the pain her passiveness causes? Why is everything about it so unfair to you only?

RYUJIN

The suddenness of fingers hooking at the edge of your trousers. Their pulling has you turning around in confusion, stopping mid-sentence. Ryujin’s gaze is dark and meaningful. You’re worried she may not be feeling well, but observing her, you notice doubtful gazes she passes a person you were talking to. Nobody to be scared of, not when Ryujin’s herself. But even the warmest of stares you have reserved for her only aren’t enough to calm the storm brewing behind beautiful features.

A word idiot pressing itself at your lips. Of course, in the most lovable tone possible. Even if Ryujin’s “special” jokes are super unfunny and you’re cringing inside, you’re still enjoying them, or rather her own amusement. Does that make sense? Not really. But in the face of romance, logic is a rarity. Watching her as she laughs at herself, you’re reminded of a cold bath during a hot day – awakening, pleasant, somehow wrong, but also so right. Thanks to Ryujin, you can focus on things other than everyday struggles, even if the result has your face twisting in disgust.

Train jumps in its trails, shaking every passenger awake, including you. For a moment, you’re uncertain – what is this place you’re sitting in? A robotic voice announces next station. It’s an obscure name for a village, you don’t remember from the timetable. Have you missed your stop? Terrified, you attempt to sit up straight, but another head weighs you down. Ryujin is somehow still asleep, her cheek resting on your forehead, her hand carelessly abandoned on your lap. Even a loud conversation between two women sitting behind you doesn’t awaken her. And though your neck hurts, you stay in place so she can rest better.

A knock on a doorframe. A break in a train of thoughts. A look up from your phone at Ryujin’s awaiting silhouette. Her small pout is a picture of tiredness only your attention can cure, or at least so she thinks. Questions are answered with shakes of her head, a smile earns a smile in return. Before long, she climbs your lap and pushes you back to lie on bed. Like a pet missing their everyday companion, Ryujin sinks into your embrace. She’s a plush sensation to lean on and trust with your unconscious self. That is, if you manage to fall asleep with her weight crushing your lungs.

Either ignoring you, or staring with ridicule. Ryujin cannot decide on one, maybe because she’s just as conflicted when it comes to feelings. To detest, or to miss? She said the things were over, but how come you’re still in each other’s presence so often? It’s as if you were celestial bodies gravitating towards one another, unable to go alone, because all there is to your being is her. It may sound dramatic, but watching her back, with heart open and bleeding, you feel useless in your existence. You don’t know the now without Ryujin in it, and you don’t want to. So despite all the hurt, you still await her return to your side.

CHAERYEONG

A shy smile that causes you the feeling of warmth inside. A little embarrassed by your own body’s reaction, you try to laugh it off. But Chaeryeong doesn’t know what caused you so much fun. Her hands embrace you from behind, questions are fired as she tries to join your fun. Self-conscious smile looks like a blinking lightbulb. Avoiding her expectant stare, you play with the fingers locked on your abdomen, warmth now not only inside, but also outside.

An evening you spend lying on your back. There’s no motivation to get up and be productive. It’s funny. If anything, your heart’s understanding of productivity is watching Chaeryeong’s asleep profile. Hot air blows at a loose strand of hair, raising it into the air, only for the lock to fall back in its place. You could correct it, yes, but one of your hands is under Chaeryeong, while she weakly grips the other one. Pulling your limbs free would mean the possibility of waking her up. The result? Guilt, because you’d ruin a bubble-like moment that you should’ve taken the most out of. So you decide - the world can wait.

Cold autumnal wind blowing at your cheeks. Ice cold fingers warming themselves up in thin pockets to no use. Ache in your frozen toes, no amount of steps can melt. Finally, pharmacy’s door open. Chaeryeong’s return makes you shift attention to her winning smile. All the happiness because of a lip balm. She doesn’t waste time unpacking it to then spread gloss over her lips. You don’t know why you’re watching the interaction so closely, but it’s a distraction from the cold. She notices, giggles and – huh? – kisses you. To share the lip balm, apparently. Because it’s so cold, apparently. Because she cares about your well-being, clearly.

A snarky remark you can’t help, but laugh at. To others it may sound a little insulting, but you actually have to applaud her for a good one. Sarcastic, but funny – Chaeryeong’s unsure bite on a lower lip widens into a proud smile. She couldn’t help herself and you don’t mind. Still, maybe one day you’ll attack her the same way. Strike with sarcasm she’ll have to laugh at. In the end, all’s fair in love and war. Chaeryeong should see the revenge coming. Once you come up with a genius remark, that is.

Frustrating no’s she won’t stop using against you. As if they weren’t already driving you insane, she adds strong shakes of her head. There’s a no to every word, sigh, groan and wild gesture. Then there’s her posture – closed in on herself, making her appear smaller than she really is, so your resolve may weaken. In a way, it’s a gun pointing at you, forcing into compliance. Hidden behind a mask your knees may feel weak for, but a gun.

YUNA

Freezing in place when the world disappears from your sight. Warm palms cover your eyes, their touch comfortable and delicate. Their owner rests her head on your shoulder. She smells of freshness, best described by the (one would think) unexpected word home. You’re not scared. Surprised, but all fine. Yuna’s laughter joins yours when you take her palms into your own hands. Together, they slide down to rest on your sides.

A sudden look of bewilderment you’re given by friends when you laugh for no obvious reason. They’re not aware you haven’t been listening to them for the past few minutes, too taken by Yuna’s playful faces from across the table. You try to cover the laughter with a fake cough, but nobody’s fooled. They have so many questions to ask, meanwhile Yuna is acting oblivious to the entire scene, avoiding both your gaze and speaking up. Just she waits for the right moment, you’ll have your revenge.

How small she always attempts to be next to you. Doesn’t matter whether you stand higher, or lower than Yuna – she needs to be the one embraced, looked at, appreciated. If you’re not living thanks to her bright shine, who else could be your Sun? If your orbit doesn’t surround her, what’s the point of seeing one another? If gravitation doesn’t pull you towards her, how can she be sure you’re a planet made for her? Yuna needs to be both told and shown that she matters to you, and in case she notices the attention isn’t enough, she’ll be sure to remind you that she is the Sun to your Earth.

Her wild gestures as she attempts explaining her favorite things. Yuna’s arms flail in the air. At one point she’s pointing to her right, at another she has hands clasped on her left. Her eyes widen and close, to prove just how serious the case is. It’s amusing, but you don’t dare a laugh. Not when she’s so eager to share a part of her life with you. Not when she rolls her eyes at some silly thing that’s bothering her so much. Yuna’s hard work is adorable, but admitting aloud how heart-melting instead of heart-clutching she is would create a rift in the moment of happiness, so you let the little lie live.

The distance. As if terrified you may stab her, Yuna stays away. She won’t look you in the eye, answer a simple yes or no question, or even react to your words. As if you were a mare she shouldn’t look at. As if just a glance in your direction could hurt her. In your eyes, Yuna’s childish choice of action is despicable. So much that you don’t even attempt burying the hatchet. To every single act of avoidance, you respond with indifference. Every dejected sigh on her part meets a roll of your eyes. It’s an ongoing war that has no sense for it, other than destruction.

➛ pollenat’s list of headcanons

➛ pollenat’s list of shorts

➛ pollenat’s list of scenarios

#sorry for taking so long #been really stuck on Yuna here which is weird since she's usually the easiest for me to write #i know some of these scenes are super lacking :(#itzy fanfiction #itzy imagines #itzy scenarios #itzy fluff #itzy angst #kpop fanfiction #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fluff #kpop angst #girl groups #pollenat's scenarios

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 5 years ago

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Star Trek: The Characters

Storytelling, especially where it regards movies and television, is always evolving.

Whether it’s in deeper themes, better effects, different genres, or evolving archetypes, there is always something that is changing, except, perhaps, where the importance of characters are concerned.

Characters are an integral part of storytelling, particularly where it concerns television. When it comes to television, the setup is everything, and the characters are part of that setup, that ‘home base’ that the audience returns to at the start of every episode. The characters are the people that the audience gets to know, who star in each adventure. Characters are what holds the audience’s investment, the reason fanbases tolerate bad episodes and praise good ones. In the end, the main characters keep an audience’s attention, making each episode, even the bad ones, enjoyable.

In short, characters can make or break a television show. It is vital that they be likable, or at the very least, interesting, lest the audience utter those eight deadly words:

I Don’t Care What Happens To These People.

Once those words are uttered, it doesn’t matter how gripping your narratives are. The viewers will start to leave.

See, while a film can get away with some lesser characters by distracting with an interesting concept, set-piece or a fast-paced story, television can’t. Thanks to a smaller runtime and a smaller budget, television, by necessity, tends to be character based. As a result, the main cast of a television show has to be able to work in multiple stories of different kinds.

This means that writing for characters on television can be pretty difficult.

The best television characters tend to merge two ideas together: That of relatability and entertainment value.

You see, television, like all stories, tells stories of exaggerated versions of reality, especially in the cases of science-fiction adventure shows like Star Trek. The only way to make an audience buy an unbelievable world is to create believable characters to place in that world, that relatability in the stories and characters. When we see McCoy’s frustration, or Kirk’s boldness, or Spock’s reservedness, we see elements of ourselves, our own personalities and lives. It is vital to make characters seem real, if not realistic.

The question is, does Star Trek manage to do that?

That’s the question we’re going to be answering today. Let’s take a look, starting with the Captain of the Enterprise Crew: James Tiberius Kirk.

Kirk truly was The Captain in every sense of the word. A Reasonable Authority Figure who did far more adventuring than realistic counterparts would have, Kirk was an Action Man, level-headed, dutiful, and always loyal to his ship and his crew. A Bold Explorer (it’s in the job description), Kirk, while not fearless per say, took the Chains of Commanding quite seriously, and would often face down hugely powerful beings, power-mad computers, or other forces beyond him in order to save his crew. A Determinator to the last, known for his interesting ways to think outside the box and refusal to accept a ‘no win scenario’, he is the unquestionable Hero of the show, the Leader, who often throws the rules aside to do what he feels is right, in a constant battle To Be Lawful or Good. He was a Charmer, an expert fast-talker, and very smart. In later installations of the franchise, Kirk would become a Living Legend, much as he became in our own pop culture.

All that being said, the common cultural image of Captain Kirk isn’t quite right. Allow me to adjust it, as best I can.

More than any other character in Star Trek, or perhaps the history of television in general, Captain Kirk is possibly the most misrepresented character of all time. Since the ‘60s, Kirk has evolved into an icon of heroism, machismo, and brash boldness, with even the recent Star Trek reboot depicting, not Kirk, but rather, the distorted, separate idea of Kirk in the modern light.

This idea, quite frankly, is just not right. While Kirk did have his share of romances, he was no womanizer, often entering into dubiously consented-to relationships reluctantly, in order to save the ship. The relationships he did actively pursue, he threw himself into wholeheartedly, and he was just as crushed as the other party every time they fell apart (for proof, watch City on the Edge of Forever or The Paradise Syndrome). Kirk was no player. As a matter of fact, he was a deeply compassionate man who respected the women in his life as much as he respected Spock and McCoy. It just so happened that the women in his life tended to not stick around, unlike his one true love: The Enterprise.

Even his reputation of the ‘Cowboy Captain’ isn’t accurate. As I mentioned before, Kirk was defined by compassion. His moments of ‘rule-breaking’ wasn’t to impose ‘the way he thinks things should be’, it’s because Kirk cannot bear to watch helpless people in trouble. The few times where he does break the famous ‘Prime Directive’ (To not interfere with less developed races) is to help. Kirk was a deeply moral character, determined to not stand by while people were taken advantage of. He wasn’t rash, either. While it may be accurate to say that the ship’s doctor, Leonard McCoy, was a bit on the hot-headed side, it is entirely inaccurate to accuse Kirk of the same. Kirk was an extremely smart man, a level-headed captain who was an expert at thinking fast. He trusted his instincts, but he trusted his advisors too, often finding a balance between McCoy’s impulsiveness and Spock’s cold rationality. Kirk’s intelligence and competence is often lost, overshadowed by his more extreme companions, and some audiences have forgotten the truth of Kirk’s character: a cunning problem-solver capable of saving the day under enormous pressure, whose decisions are far from based in irrationality. He is a romantic, duty-bound to protect his ship and crew, greatly exaggerated and mis-characterized in the years following his captaincy.

As such, Kirk was a well-rounded, balanced character, far more three-dimensional than the modern idea of him tends to give him credit for.

That’s all well and good, sure, but how does he fit as a main character in a television show?

As a matter of fact, absolutely incredibly.

Kirk serves as a wonderfully effective lead, compelling, entertaining, and interesting. Infinitely more developed than most leads of his time, and even more modern examples, Kirk was a game-changer, a revolutionary kind of protagonist who just worked. The perfect balance of the main trio of the series, Kirk is the perfect face for Roddenberry’s ideals: a hopeful pragmatist, an idealist who proves the best of humanity: compassion mixed with intelligence, boldness combined with understanding. A man of action surrounded by True Companions, Kirk was an extremely gripping protagonist who felt intensely, a perfect person for the audience to connect to and be invested in. He drove the stories, opposed the villains, and always saved the crew, as a hero should, but it’s important to note that Kirk was hugely human, possessing many of our greatest attributes, but some of our failings as well. He wasn’t perfect. Sometimes he made the wrong choice. In the end, though, he was us, or us as we should strive to be: always learning and helping, and always reaching for the stars.

But of course, Kirk wasn’t alone in his position as the ‘lead’ of the show. It’s doubtful the show would have survived in the popular culture as well as it did if it weren’t for his support team, his True Companions: Dr. Leonard McCoy, and, more famously: Mr. Spock.

If Kirk represented the best of humanity, Spock represented the critique of it. In a previous article, I pointed out that Spock exists as a very unique character: a half alien, half human crewmember who, while equally valuable to the script and the characters as Kirk was, served a different purpose: to point out and explore humanity from the outside.

Like I’ve mentioned before, Spock is a different sort of character than Kirk is. Where Kirk is a demonstration of the best of humanity as we see it, Spock is a demonstration of humanity as someone else might. He served as a criticism of the human condition, a character at war with himself and his heritage, split between the emotional humans, and the rational Vulcans. Spock is the Number One, almost Comically Serious as he eschews his more illogical half and chooses to embrace the stoicism of the Vulcan people. A Gentleman and a Scholar, Spock has Hidden Depths, a heart of gold and deep emotions that he usually succeeds in hiding.

Most of the time. More on that in a minute.

Spock’s role in the show was The Smart Guy, the Stoic who had all the answers, all the statistics. He was the champion of impartial logic, of cold rationality. His job was to give Kirk the hard answers, to bring to him the facts and give him their options, especially the unforgiving ones. He is the cold to McCoy’s hot, a stern-faced, cold-blooded computer.

Or is he?

Much like Kirk, there is a lot more to Spock than meets the eye. While the cultural perception of Spock has often mutated into a parody of itself, much as it has done to Kirk’s reputation, Spock remains a much deeper character than he, or a brief skim of the series, lets on. As I said earlier, Spock is at war with himself, uncomfortable in his own skin. He insults humans for their humanity, but has strong, deep friendships with them. He is not above expressing frustration and their emotional natures when pushed (usually by other forces that knock his guard down), but isn’t frustration a human emotion?

Spock is a bag of contradictions, a supposedly emotionless master of sarcasm, a man without feeling who invites his close friends (emotional humans) to a private Vulcan ceremony, a cold-blooded creature with undying loyalty who occasionally makes ‘illogical’ decisions that would make Kirk proud. A lover of music and a sympathizer to space hippies (Not one of Star Trek’s better episodes, admittedly), Spock was an outsider who fit neither fully as a Vulcan or Human, a person who was struggling to find his place in the universe.

At first, this seems incongruous with the ice-cold exterior he projects, however, rather than being an example of inconsistent writing, it’s a shining example of development and nuance.

You see, Spock never gives up his following of logic. He just begins to approach it differently.

Spock’s style changes slightly as Star Trek progresses (most notably in the films, released ten years after the show’s final season), from cold, ‘computer’ logic to something else: human logic.

One thing of especial note in the original Star Trek show is that you could see characters visibly affecting one another. Kirk, Spock and McCoy all influenced each other in the ways they thought, reacted, and planned, and worked best as a unit. In this, the humanity of the main cast affected Spock in his slow, reluctant appreciation of human merits. In time, Spock began to make one or two decisions based on human logic, intelligence and emotion. In episodes like The Menagerie or The Galileo Seven, Spock makes decisions that seem out-of-character for him, based in emotion.

Spock is, in many ways, Star Trek’s best known and favorite character. The most visibly recognizable, as well as the most distinct, Spock is given more episodes exploring him than any other character, with installments like Amok Time and Journey to Babel, (the latter of which we explore his parents, and discover why it is that Spock has such a hard time with his human half) helping to examine Spock as a character.

The end result was a beloved science fiction icon, Kirk’s right hand man, an analytical, fascinating character as well-crafted and loved as Kirk himself.

Spock and Kirk are often remembered fondly, and are typically considered the most memorable and iconic characters of the franchise, but they don’t work alone. Their dynamic is as effective as it is because of balance. Spock is one extreme, and Kirk is the middle, but it’s no good without the other extreme: Dr. Leonard Horatio “Bones” McCoy.

McCoy is all hot-blooded human, the third of the main Power Trio. An old-fashioned competent doctor who wasn’t entirely thrilled with deep space, McCoy is a deeply emotional character, duty-bound to follow his morals. He clashed with Spock regularly, routinely criticizing him for his perceived lack of emotion. Despite the fighting, McCoy respected Spock greatly, counting him as a close friend, despite their arguments and different perspectives. A cantankerous pacifist (though not above getting into the action when needed), McCoy is a Super Doc and a Sarcastic Devotee, a Grumpy Old Man who serves as the Heart to Spock’s Brain (hah!), a man who values Honor Before Reason who values the Good Old Ways. He’s a Determined Doctor who does everything he can for his patients, and a Deadpan Snarker to the point where he can match Spock in verbal sparring.

Bones represents the unpolished rawness of humanity, getting carried away with his emotions sometimes, but always with the best intentions. Another Jerk with a Heart of Gold, McCoy’s gruff nature accompanied a deeply moral man, very concerned with human empathy and doing the right thing. No philosophical discussion was complete without McCoy’s two cents, telling Kirk what he thought the right thing to do was. He was the quintessential Knight in Sour Armor, who would follow Kirk to the ends of the earth, complaining the entire way.

Despite the fact that he’s not as well-known as the other two members of the Power Trio, Bones was a vital component to the True Companions dynamic. His Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with Spock made up one of the most interesting and compelling dynamics on the show, serving as perfect counterbalances to one another. However, although his most famous role in the show was arguing with Spock (and delivering phrases such as ‘He’s Dead, Jim’), there is another, equally important position that he held in the trio.

McCoy served as a foil to Kirk, as well as one to Spock, a confidante, a close friend, providing perspective. While Spock was focused on the logic, Kirk on the best thing for the mission, McCoy’s focus was purely on the ‘patients’, the people, the right thing to do. No matter the situation, McCoy was the closest to empathy with the people involved, and provided the audience with another surrogate, saying the things that the viewers are thinking.

While not being a terribly big fan of space (and liking transporters even less), Bones was the epitome of the Frontier Doctor to the stars, taking care of every patient, even if they weren’t humanoid (Devil in the Dark) or a heavily pregnant woman who refuses to listen (Friday’s Child). McCoy was painfully human, reminding us of our most problematic traits while also holding onto that wild, fiery compassion that made him so incredibly humane, relatable, and understandable, making him just as vital to the Enterprise and her crew as Kirk or Spock.

The trio worked best together, providing a perfect main cast for an audience to follow. The formula was an interesting one, allowing the audience to hear separate viewpoints and ideas, listen in to the philosophical banter, and truly feel the strong friendship holding the leads together. The dynamic between them was powerful, an extremely vibrant bond that connected all three very different characters.

The result? Extremely dynamic characters that remain iconic and memorable even to this day.

But the cast didn’t stop there.

The other characters of Star Trek, while not quite possessing the pop-culture iconography of the main trio, still hold their own rather impressive cultural footprint.

None more so than the chief engineer, Montgomery Scott.

Scotty’s job was to be a miracle worker, solving impossible problems in impossibly small amounts of time. Whether it was the transporters, the phaser banks, the shields, or the engines, Scotty was the man for the job. Nobody had a better understanding, or love for the Enterprise than Scotty (except maybe Kirk). He was the king of outside-the-box solutions, and had the Enterprise jury-rigged to push her past her limits more times than can be easily counted. As the name implies, he was also Scottish, and extremely stereotypically so. Kilt, whiskey, haggis and all, Scotty was extremely proud of his heritage (though not quite as much as Chekov). Fitting the traditional stereotypes, Scotty had a fiery temper, with a Berserk Button triggered by any insult to the Enterprise. A Gadgeteer Genius (and the inventor of Scotty Time) as well as a Genius Bruiser, Scotty was both the brains and brawn, more than capable of holding his own in a fight, or thinking of a new, creative way to push the Enterprise past her capacity.

Scotty also held the distinction of being third in command, routinely taking the Captain’s chair when both Kirk and Spock were in the landing party. He was also the focus of a few episodes, making him a rare character with a Day in the Limelight, with episodes such as Wolf in the Fold, The Lights of Zetar, By Any Other Name, and The Trouble with Tribbles giving him a little more screen time and story than is typical. Scotty was an indispensable member of the crew, a life-saver on more than one occasion, and another of the legendary, iconic characters of the original Star Trek.

But it didn’t stop there.

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura was another prominent character. As the ship’s communications officer, she codified the term ‘Bridge Bunny’, although she proved herself far more useful than she’s typically thought of. Whenever given the chance, Uhura is a capable Action Girl, intelligent, witty, and good at her job, being extremely fluent in multiple languages. She too got her days in the limelight, with episodes such as Mirror Mirror, The Gamesters of Triskelion, and The Trouble with Tribbles giving her more to do than just sit at her station and say ‘hailing frequencies open’. Uhura was Silk Hiding Steel, not typically in the heat of the battle, but tough as nails when she had to be. (I’ve talked about Uhura’s extensive influence on the real world in the Legacy article, but even that doesn’t scratch the surface of what Uhura’s impact has been.)

There were others on the bridge crew of equal importance, including the ship’s helmsman, Hikaru Sulu.

Sulu was a level-headed officer, amiable and cultured, with an extensive knowledge of botany, fencing, and antiques. Yet another Deadpan Snarker (it must run in the cast), Sulu is another Genius Bruiser, as skilled in fighting as he is in his piloting, with a great sense of humor. He is given special attention in episodes like Mirror Mirror and The Naked Time (Albeit as evil, and Brainwashed and Crazy), but often got great character moments in multiple episodes (especially Shore Leave). A reliable officer and loyal to the core, he made an interesting character by himself, although he did end up forming a fun ‘Those Two Guys’ dynamic with the youngest of the cast, Pavel Chekov.

Chekov was introduced in season 2 as the navigator of the Enterprise. A bright young man with a fierce, passionate loyalty to Mother Russia (which evidently invented every good thing known to man), Chekov tended to be at the receiving end of a lot of the embarrassing agony in the series (mostly because Walter Koenig had a great scream). Also serving as a relief science officer, Chekov was plenty smart, if a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander, and the king of Cultural Posturing. Reckless and impulsive to balance Sulu’s calm good humor, Chekov’s temper tended to get the better of him. Like the others, he’s given a bit more screen time in episodes such as Mirror Mirror, The Trouble with Tribbles, The Way to Eden, The Deadly Years and Spectre of the Gun, but got to shine in plenty of other episodes, demonstrating his capabilities (despite being ‘The Intern’ and the Plucky Comic Relief) as a competent officer. Unsurprisingly, he was yet another Deadpan Snarker, lending his style of jokes well to bounce off of Sulu’s drier humor.

But there was more to the crew than the bridge.

Another crew member of note was Christine Chapel, one of the nurses who operated in the sickbay. Chapel was notable for having an attraction to Spock, as well as being another in the long line of Enterprise Deadpan Snarkers. One of the most caring of the Enterprise’s crew, Chapel was given larger roles in episodes like The Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made Of?, Amok Time, and Plato’s Stepchildren.

Arguably though, one of the most important characters in all of Star Trek was the Companion Cube: the Enterprise herself.

The Enterprise was one of the most powerful ships in Starfleet, a character in her own right. The epitome of the Cool Starship, the Enterprise was well known for Explosive Overclocking, and always coming through in the end (with a little help from Scotty). A Lightning Bruiser of a ship, the Enterprise became as legendary as her captain and crew, as beloved as the characters themselves to the point where one of NASA’s shuttles was named after her.

The characters of Star Trek are legends, both in and out of universe, and they are for a reason. No member of the crew is useless. Everyone has a purpose and a job to do, and each was distinct and unique. No two characters were the same, and each brought their own special personality and abilities to each episode they appeared in.

And that’s what made the drama of the show work so well.

Each character felt real, memorable and genuine. We as an audience worry for them with each danger, and cheer with each victory. We liked these people. We cared about what happened to them.

And they worked.

In each scenario and situation, the characters found new and interesting ways to deal with the circumstances, while never losing the core elements of their personalities. That’s important, hugely so. These characters were loved, and still are, for a reason. They work very well as characters, both in main and supporting roles, providing entertaining and compelling figures for the audience to invest in. The balance between relatability and entertainment was hit perfectly for every single character, allowing everyone to shine in their own ways in each episode. They felt real, and in the end, that’s the point of a character.

After all, one doesn’t get to be some of the most iconic television characters of all time by being boring.

Thank you guys so much for reading! Join us next time as we discuss Star Trek’s place in the times and the culture. If you have anything you’d like to say, don’t forget to leave an ask! I hope to see you all in the next article.

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sevensided · 5 years ago

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re: your post about mike singing to el vs steve and nancy. when i watch s3 i can't help but think how much the writers nailed down that mike and eleven don't understand each other and, logically, are much better as friends. all the scenes with them are obvious as fuck. but then i look at the fandom eating it up as soul mates and.. yikes.

Very great message. I like this very much.

I’m torn on Mileven. Don’t get me wrong: I do not ship them, at all. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’m new to the fandom but even I know that Mileven stans can get heated, and I generally deplore any online harassment over something like a television show ship (it’s very childish to me). That being said, I do understand how, in canon, Mileven came around and how Mike believes he’s in love with her. The hints are right there in S1. They could have made anyone - Dustin, Lucas, or even Will - interested in El, but they didn’t. It was Mike. And, in a way, it’s because Mike has the most change to go through. He’s the one who has the most to lose (as he perceives it). I agree totally with other people who have talked about Mike’s comp het. In this sense, it’s completely believable that he would attach himself to El and enact the type of relationship he’s led to believe - by society and his family - that he should want.

In terms of Mileven fans... It’s probably naive of me to admit, but I didn’t realise just how young ST fans are. In a weird, meta kind of way, they’re living S3. Right? S3 was defined by seemingly out of character actions, conversations, a running thread of superficiality, pop culture, etc. Both Mike and El overreact and respond according to how they believe they should act (Mike, because he’s gay; and El, because she’s learning to be a person). Having Mike and El be endgame fits a neat, prescribed narrative of boy-gets-girl. ST is a lavish love letter to 80s tropes. If ST was made in the 80s, Mike and El would end up together. But we’re not in the 80s - it’s 2020. I think the Duffers did write a love letter to the 80s. But they’re also subverting those tropes and reinventing them in an entirely contemporary and fresh way. Mike and El being endgame doesn’t work for the story, one, and two, it’s not, I believe, the Duffers intention to reinvent the wheel(er) (ha ha) (sorry).

Probably the biggest piece of evidence that flies in the face of Mileven is El’s behaviour in S3. Logically, it should be when she and Mike are happiest. They’re finally together, they’re being “normal teenagers”, it’s a summer romance, et cetera. But they’re coming at it from different places. For Mike, it’s two seasons (years) worth of onscreen pining for a girlfriend to make him “normal” and to fit in. For El, it’s the very first time she’s experienced society. Of course she’s going to demur when Max eagerly asks if Mike is a good kisser - she not only literally doesn’t know, but she’s hoping he won’t be the last. El is at the start of her journey as an individual, and Mike believes El completes him as an individual. They’re not on the same wavelength. Another thing I’d draw on is the canon fact that El watches a lot of television and therefore consumes a lot of pop culture. The way she acts is, in many respects, shaped by television characters and storylines. It’s all very romantic and dramatic, because that’s what she thinks/believes romance to be. It reminds me of romantic comedies, like the genre, in general, and how in growing up young women are led to believe that this is what love should be. But then you do grow up, and you realise that love isn’t dramatic and crying and arguments at three a.m. (or whatever - I have not watched rom coms in a long time). It’s a specific, sanitised version of love that is easily consumable and designed to model women’s expectations in (heterosexual) love and relationships. It’s fantasy.

El is living out her fantasy. It’s not malicious and we shouldn’t look down on her character for, well, acting like a teenage girl. I disagree with Byler fans who hate El. I actually think she’s a marvelous character. But she is learning to be herself, and it’s evidenced that she doesn’t grow healthily with Mike. Her friendship with Max is extremely positive and I’m so happy they devoted a lot of time and sensitivity to that connection, because it’s so important to El’s development. I agree totally with you in that Mike and El would make much better friends. And while I highly doubt Mileven will remain canon, if they ever decided to make it so, the show would need to prove that Mike and El have a strong enough friendship to be a foundation for a heathy, mutually enjoyable, respecting relationship. And, I mean... two seasons isn’t a lot of time to do that in. It’s not impossible. But in my personal view it is unlikely that will eventuate.

This so got away from me... I didn’t realise how many feelings I still have about this! But thank you for your message. I agree that it is doubtful Mileven will stick around. I don’t advocate for ship wars or fandom fighting or whatever. I just think you have to look objectively at the show and think more broadly about what messages, large or small, are being told, and what hints have been dropped along the way. When you do that you do, at the very least, realise that Mileven won’t be endgame. Whether or not you then believe in Byler is something else!

#answered #byler #i won't tag this as mileven because otherwise i'd be a hypocrite #thank you again for your message!#Anonymous

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lecliss · 5 years ago

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Yeah so just finished Omniverse for a second time. Forgot everything half way through season 6 so that was all pretty much new to me. I feel, I dunno. Maybe cuz my brain does recall that I've gone through this before so I wasn't all that emotional about it. I'm usually such a crybaby when I finish shows. But I do rarely rewatch them so I guess I don't know what my usual reaction is to that.

I dunno. I think it's more that I didn't really... care? The Maltruant plot is, meh. Probably because he's an entirely new villain so for him being the 'final boss', it didn't mean much. It being surrounded by a season of content that I was about halfway disappointed by too? Made it much more meh. So it wasn't all that emotional.

However, I got super teary eyed when Ben was rapidly transforming through all his aliens and I recognized it was in the order he first transformed into them throughout the entire series. That was powerful and I was trying not to breakdown, lol. Also the universe creation scene was pretty so I felt emotional from that too, but otherwise not much else came from me aside from laughs about the funnies.

Sorry this is gonna be long and kinda ranty, but I just feel like I need to get it out. Season 8 did not feel powerful. It was the final season and they obviously knew that since they were wrapping up loose ends with Vilgax and Charmcaster. That was nice and all, but I feel like, to me at least, because I could recognize that and the episodes didn't feel so dramatic and meaningful about it, it didn't matter much. Like, 'okay time to wrap everything up and get it all in its place to end this show' and it didn't feel like anything more than that.

I also have problems with the way Rook was handled and Skurd kinda ties into that. Rook got great development and once I recgonized that I feel like he became an even better character than before. But because his relationship with Ben was now so close, it became harder to use the 'we don't get along but we have to work together anyway' type antics. Skurd was introduced to create more alien toys to sell, that I've read before and am pretty certain that's confirmed(and I also don't mind that since I understand selling toys is a big part of the franchise anyway). Ben and Skurd now have that 'we don't get along but we have to work together anyway' type relationship. And I noticed Rook seemed to talk a lot less in season 8, barring his final focus episode with Kundo and Fistina.

Therefore, Skurd became, in my eyes, a replacement for Rook, and Ben started to, sort of, bully Rook. Like, obviously in a way friends do, but also in a way that friends do when one friend is being harsh and doesn't recognize that what they're saying is actually bothering their friend. And that really bothered me. Rook became a target for Ben to bully for fun and I'm not gonna blame Ben, because I think that was just a shitty writing decision.

I also have a problem with "The Secret of Dos Santos", not only because of Ben's bullying of Rook in that episode, but because of the severe romance problem the entire show has and is shown off very noticeably in that episode. I just can't understand bickering with a guy and then you think he's gonna apologize but he doesn't but he does show you a cool helpful thing and then... you kiss him??? Even tho he didn't apologize?? I'm not cishet and I do know how to write women so, okay then. Go ahead and make no logical sense I guess.

And I'm sure all of us are bothered by the romance writing in OV(in varying ways of course), so no need to make people see the hundredth rant about it or whatever, but Imma just say a bit anyway about generalness of it.

I've never liked romance in Ben 10. I don't remember my opinion on the Benwolf episode from the original series, but I know I liked 10yo Kai at least a bit. I also liked Julie. I just, didn't think she was a great romance choice for Ben. And there's the thing. Little crushes are fine by me, but full on dating and romance getting involved in an action series bothers me. I never felt like Ben needed a girlfriend, and I'm in camp 'if he has a girlfriend, a completely normal human one isn't a good choice for a superhero'. The trope only causes unnecessary problems in my eyes. Getting kidnapped and making plans that have to be ruined when hero duty calls, those are things that happened in UAF. We didn't need that kind of stuff imo.

And I'm fine with Gwevin since they both were always involved in the hero work, but the drama annoyed me, especially that particular Charmcaster incident in UAF. Actually, thank you OV for not doing that with them this time. But, Ben 10 never needed romance. I have ships I like anyway tho, but the unnecessary-ness of it in UAF and the poor writing in OV was not needed. Also, I'm the kind of person that hates harems. Ben Tennyson, a 16yo, did not need a harem.

Otherwise, I love the show. Removing nostalgia from the original series, OV is definitely my favorite series(cue me getting shot). I love Kenny too, so it's not like I despise that Ben ended up Kai, just how it was written that they did not get along at all and even seemed to have that same bickering as adults. It just was not enjoyable.

I keep going back to that, but anyway, still, I treasure the show and everything good it did. It gave us Rook, Ester, and my favorite alien, Ball Weevil, returned many character designs to their roots of the original series, brought back Lucy, the two part season finale with the other Bens made me cry, and so did the season finale with Malware. I will forever stand by the statement of Ben talking with younger Ben and getting Feeback back being the greatest scene in the entire show.

Oh, right, and about the Rooters. Fuck Servantis. I will slaughter the man with my own bare hands and I will make it slow and painful. Anyway! The show put in effort to make these retcons related to them make sense. I'll give them that credit. But the problem lies with UAF and its decision to make Kevin an alien and all the Devin backstory stuff. The original intention in the original series was for him to be a special kind of human(basically a mutant iirc) and UAF made him an alien instead. OV wanted to go back to the orginal intention, but needed a way for that to make sense.

It was a mess, but I understand what the point of it was. Something had to be done to make it make sense and there was no way it would be a situation that didn't bother at least some people. I find 'your memories were a lie the whole time' as a form of retcon to be such a bad trope, but what else was there to do? For the decisions they made to handle it, it was perfectly fine. I just wanna torture Servantis is all because the Rooters got off way too scott free. They essentially had no punishment and I want to see the blood of child abusers spilled on the floor. Immediately.

Anyway, again. I love the show. Will always love it. I thank OV very much for all the joy it gives me and at the end of the day, it's a fucking cartoon. I love it, I hate some things in it, but I can put it down and go care about something else if I wanted to. I'm not gonna let the parts that bother me actually ruin my day or anything. Cuz again, it's a cartoon and I may not feel like it, but I do have a life. And I'm gonna spend the limited time I have in this shitty life by enjoying the things I like, which is the parts of OV that make me happy. 💚 Mainly Rook. And Ester. And the Evil Bens. And many more things, actually. Okay, I think the emotions are finally setting in. Oh god, I want it all back already!!! 😭😭😭😭

#ben 10 #ben 10 omniverse #long post #child abuse mention

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sifeng · 5 years ago

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What Makes a Guzhuang Drama Good?

As someone who has watched an adequate amount of guzhuang dramas, I feel like I’ve realized a pattern between the highly rated ones and low rated ones. Be warned, this is not an objective analysis, this is just my thoughts on what makes a guzhuang drama enjoyable and good.

The Two Types of Guzhuang Dramas

Loosely generalized, there are two different types of guzhuang dramas - epic dramas and what is called 沙雕剧 in Chinese which could be translated as comedic dramas (technically its more of a combination of silliness, stupidity and cuteness but comedic works.)

You can generally see a different between these dramas just based on a synopsis or one look at the first episode but here are a few differences between epic dramas and comedic dramas:

Epic dramas are usually longer. They typically have above 30 episodes because it is almost impossible to fit all of the storyline in such a small amount of episodes; with comedic dramas there isn’t really a plot so they often have 20-30 episodes.

Epic dramas usually have higher budgets. This is not to say they have to have high budgets, but unlike comedic dramas which almost always have lower budgets, epic dramas often have higher budgets.

Famous actors usually only act in epic dramas, never comedic ones. This is not true vice versa though.

Epic dramas usually have more characters.

Epic drama usually have more original songs.

Epic romances usually have these kinds of scenes:

Romance comedic dramas have scenes like these:

For some dramas the lines blur. For example, it’s clear to see that Eternal Love (双世宠妃) is a comedic drama and The Eternal Love or Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (三生三世十里桃花) is an epic drama. But take a drama like The Legend of Yunxi (芸汐传). It’s long so that belongs to “epic drama”, but the budget is low so that puts it with comedic dramas. It has relatively smaller actors and less characters, but has good songs and an epic storyline. It’s also not comedic. So where does it belong? I’ve decided it belongs to epic dramas.

Let’s just take a look at the guzhuang dramas that have just broadcasted and categorize them to make this more clear:

To rate these two types of drama you have to make different criteria, as there is something fundamentally different about comedy and drama.

My Criteria for Epic Dramas

Plot - 50%

Acting - 40%

Cinematography - 10%

Plot contains the plot, characters and script. The plot is obviously very important as epic dramas have 30+ episodes and if the plot sucks no one will dedicate all that time to a drama. Characters need to be realistic for the era the show is set in, or the genre it belongs to. The script is also important because if you’ve watched epic guzhuang dramas you know that the characters in those dramas don’t speak like people in modern day.

Acting contains mostly acting ability but also chemistry between actors. Acting ability is extremely important in epic dramas because epics are often dramatic and tragic and even if the plot is amazing, if an actor cannot correctly portray an emotional climax, the entirety of the storyline is broken. Chemistry is very important in those epic romances like Goodbye My Princess (东宫), but as these shows don’t live solely on chemistry and cuteness, it isn’t nearly as important.

Cinematography is also very important. In some of the best epic guzhuang dramas, the scenery is beautiful! It helps add to the realism.

My Criteria for Comedic Dramas

Plot: 25%

Acting: 45%

Comedy/Cuteness: 30%

Plot here contains the plot, characters and script again. Even though these dramas are supposed to be simple and easy to watch, I still need it to have some sort of logic so it at least makes basic sense. Characters are also important because you actually want to root for them. The script here is not really important at all. As comedic dramas are geared towards the modern viewer, the jokes are much more modernized and there is much less historical speech. For example I actually need subtitles to watch stuff like Nirvana in Fire (琅琊榜), but I can watch The Romance of Tiger and Rose (传闻中的陈芊芊) while multitasking and still understand it. But, the plot does need to make the lead couple believable, so the script can’t be actually horrible.

Acting contains mostly chemistry but also acting ability. Romance comedic dramas require us to want to ship the main couple and want to see them be in scenes together. But, if they have horrible acting ability, it also won’t be believable and we can’t really root for them.

The comedy and cuteness is obviously very important because we watch these types of dramas for that.

So What Makes a Guzhuang Good?

Obviously it would be best if plot, acting, characters etc were all good, but I think many dramas give up one certain aspect in order to make time for others. Guzhuang dramas need to stop using basic tropes for their females. Obviously starting out characterization with a trope is fine, but you have to build up their positive and negative traits, give them goals, a brain, a personality, and a reason for us to want to root for them. Why is Young Blood (大宋少年志) so successful despite low budget? (Well yes plot and acting but also) Good female characters! What about The Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略)? (Besides cinematography and acting) Good female characters! Of course this isn’t the golden rule. An epic drama can be good without good female characters, but this is one aspect that (when done well) can instantly raise a dramas rating. (On another note, I really want to see that hero rescues beauty trope be reversed. I really want to see a beauty rescue a hero okay? I just feel like it has so rarely happened in guzhuang dramas but every single show has to have at least five shots of hero rescues beauty).

For comedic dramas it’s not very easy to make it unanimously loved. I think the highest rated comedic drama on douban is an 8 (which is quite high but considering the highest epic drama of last decade was 9.3 there’s still some way to go). But, so long as actors are cute, chemistry is good, and romance is shippable, it’ll garner viewers and good ratings. But, many comedic dramas are often too trope heavy (one of the reasons why Tiger and Rose was so enjoyable for me was because it was surprisingly light on using tropes and clichés) which makes watching many in a row unbelievably difficult. When making comedic dramas people ought to try to create more interesting characters that aren’t so basic.

This also applies to epic dramas. I want to see more epic dramas try to dive deeper into morally grey characters. I loved Goodbye My Princess (东宫) because of many reasons, one of which was the complicated character of Li Chengyin which was really fun to analyze. As epic dramas are usually very long, they should take some time to focus on character development. Also for epic dramas, or dramas in general, scriptwriters really need to learn how to make sure the entire drama is good, not just a certain part of it. It’s too often to see a drama start out amazingly, but end with a less than satisfactory ending.

For wuxia dramas: the fight scenes need to be good. Who is going to believe these are the strongest people on the jianghu if they can’t even hold a sword right? Stop using so much slo mo! One or two slow pans of a fight scene are super cool, but slow mo for everything is just lazy.

Last piece of advice for epic dramas. The pacing for certain dramas need to be faster. Producers have to ask themselves: “does this drama really need 80 episodes?” Unless the answer, “most definitely yes” there is no need. Make the first episode at least somewhat interesting for I am an impatient person. I cannot get into a drama in which nothing occurs for the first ten episodes. But, don’t rush a drama too. I am currently watch Love a Lifetime (暮白首) and in the first two episodes I am so confused. Too much is happening without explanation.

#cdrama #cdrama analysis #wow I thought this would be a good idea but it really isn't #some thoughts #kinda got annoyed with cdramas the last few days #wow this kind of sounds like a long rant

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blackjack-15 · 5 years ago

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The Puzzle is Just the Italian Language — Thoughts on: The Phantom of Venice (VEN)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it. Like with all of the Odd Games, there will be a section between The Intro and The Title called The Weird Stuff, where I go into what makes this game stand out as a little strange.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: VEN, RAN.

The Intro:

From the French-inspired streets of New Orleans, Nancy jumps on a plane to Venice and is caught up in international espionage, theft, a mafia ring, and a cast of hostile suspects living in the same house as her.

Sounds a bit like my first semester of college, honestly. Minus the whole “Venice” and “international espionage” parts.

Coming directly after CRY, VEN isn’t quite as thick with atmosphere, doesn’t have any of its philosophy or thematic elements, and is really only famous for being set in Italy and for the fact that they hired four voice actors for our main cast sans regular characters (Colin, voiced by our good ol’ boy Jonah Von Spreecken, counts as a returning VA), but hired 6 distinct VAs for the singing gondoliers, most of whom the average player will never hear.

Yeah, VEN is kind of that type of game.

There’s a lot that makes VEN the trippy experience that it is – more on that immediately below – but nearly none of that makes VEN as confused as it is. Nancy’s hired by a foreign government – sort of – but there’s also a love line – sort of – a roommate story – sort of – and some touristy stuff like overpaying for flowers and gelato.

Taking place overseas, VEN might have been mistaken for a Jetsetting game if it weren’t for the fact that every bit of the game is permeated with the sense that nothing was quite thought out, nothing quite flows together, and there’s no emotional response in anyone – including the player.

That’s not to say that there’s nothing enjoyable about VEN; it’s one of the most highly memed games, in fact, with a catsuit, horrific fashion choices, and little laser roombas all making up the most memorable meme material (and that’s not even touching discount Justin Timberlake and his slides of seduction). It has strongly-painted characters (even if there’s a touch of the caricature about them), the return of recurring characters, the first appearance of a semi-recurring character, poisoned chocolates…it’s almost like someone tried to do STFD, but with a sprinkling of spies and Italy thrown in for good measure.

VEN can be a lot of fun, but it’s also a grind a lot of the time; the required puzzles can be ridiculous, for example, and, in a twist for Nancy Drew games, there’s a puzzle for everyone to hate, no matter if you dislike stealth games, card games, speed-reaction games, or even language puzzles.

Which brings us to the biggest problem with The Phantom of Venice: the common puzzle thread, the thing that keeps recurring, the ‘mission statement puzzle’…it’s just the Italian language. The game hinges on the idea that the player won’t know any Italian (or any Romance language, honestly), and that’s where the majority of the difficulty in the game (barring bad hand-eye coordination) comes from. It’s not a good thing at all, and it brings the entire game down with it.

Well, it has a little help. Let’s talk about the Roomba in the museum, shall we?

The Weird Stuff:

There’s a lot of things that are weird about VEN, no getting around it. But there’s one solid thing that makes it…well, Odd in the way that the other Odd games are qualified, and that’s this one simple fact:

This is a Hardy Boys mystery, with Nancy clumsily inserted in instead of Frank and Joe.

Think about it; called in by a foreign government, espionage, nearly drowning, contacts in the government and police force, an Italian crime ring…these are all things straight out of a Hardy Boys novel, not a Nancy Drew novel. There is a Nancy Drew book titled The Phantom of Venice, true enough, but this game doesn’t bear any resemblance to it besides, well, Venice itself. You could swap out Nancy with the boys and the whole game could go on, minus the whole ‘keepsake necklace from Ned’ thing, and depending on what you ship, even that might fly under the radar.

And no, I didn’t forget the dancing in a catsuit thing. Pure comedy right there.

Nancy’s a homegrown detective; most of her cases are ‘small thing spirals into bigger thing’. It’s not that she doesn’t deal in espionage, at times in foreign places, or stumble upon a crime ring. It’s just that that’s not the type of thing Nancy’s called in for, it’s the type of thing she trips over halfway into a lower-stakes mystery.

The Hardy Boys, however, because of their father’s contacts (in the novels) and their position in ATAC (in the games) are exactly the kind of people that work with police chiefs and security experts and foreign spies and the like. It’s very nearly their bread and butter. Which is why I have a wild but not out-of-the-way wacky sorta-serious theory. Bear with me:

This game was designed as a Hardy Boys game, and Nancy really was clumsily inserted in with a few weeks to spare.

At this point in history – the far-behind time of July 2008, as the Great Recession was descending, the fury of an election year was coming to a head, and you couldn’t go to a supermarket or clothes store in America without hearing OneRepublic tell you that it was just a little too late to apologize – HER wasn’t doing badly, per se, but they certainly weren’t doing as well as they could have been. They weren’t that far from having had to majorly upgrade their engine for a rapidly changing technological world, and there seemed to be no end in sight. HER had plenty of staff change-ups coming because of new sponsors, but weren’t making enough simply with what they had.

Put simply, they needed a carrot. And what better carrot than the fan-favorite Hardy Boys?

There are two Hardy Boys games put out around this time: The Perfect Crime and The Hidden Theft. While neither one was done by Her Interactive, there was a HER Hardy Boys game in the works: the DS masterpiece Treasure on the Tracks. The audience for a Hardy Boys game was meant to be young boys/teenaged boys, but the side audience expected was fans of the Nancy Drew books and games.

So while I know logically that Phantom of Venice was just the latest in a line of ‘adulted-up’ Nancy Drew books (and games), in my head it makes much more sense to say that it was supposed to be a Hardy Boys game meant to promote Treasure on the Tracks and HER got nervous and pulled the plug, stuffing their erstwhile teen detective in instead.

The Title:

As far as a title goes, The Phantom of Venice isn’t a bad one; you can tell it comes from the ‘hotter and sexier’ Nancy Drew books, and as a collection of words, it works rather well. It’s an evocative title, giving us our location, our crime (‘phantom thieves’ are common as a type of thief), and doesn’t say too much else, so as to not spoil the mystery.

As a title for this game, however…well, so little of the actual game deals with the Phantom that it’s rather non-indicative as a title. By the time you’re 16 Scopa games deep and are wearing a sparkly red dress with a cat mask and sneakers around Italy, you’ve pretty much forgotten about the Phantom and are more worried about exactly what happened to the pigeon you used as a messenger and why exactly flowers and gelato cost so much for 2008.

The Phantom of Venice just…deserved a better, more cohesive, more…well, phantom-y game than it got. That’s all.

Now, onto the mystery!

The Mystery:

Nancy’s been called in by the Secret Italian Police because a thief has been stealing art.

No, really, I’m being serious.

Sure, Prudence Rutherford has a hand in getting her called in, but basically Nancy goes from small-time cases, sometimes getting her name in the papers, to called in by the Italian Secret Police.

Caught up at a house where no one likes her (understandable, given that she just Appears one day, forced on the Ca’s owner, Margherita Fauborg, and her residents at the Ca’), Nancy soon becomes embroiled in a mystery most foul when she discovers ties to the art thief – or thieves – right around the Ca’, poisoned sausages and message-laden chocolate boxes, and shades and shades and shades of tiles offered by the Ca’s resident nerd.

Soon, Nancy is juggling police contacts, heists, Scopa games, and the impersonation of a world-class spy just to give the Italian police a hint as to who might be stealing Venice’s greatest artworks. It gets personal, however, when the Phantom Thief himself shows up, stealing Nancy’s locket which she’s just been given by Ned.

Oh, and did I mention that the whole thing is told in media res? Yeah, very, very weird choice right there.

Honestly speaking, the mystery isn’t…bad, per se. It’s got solid bones – art theft, mysterious thieves, romantic location, interesting-seeming suspects, some spy shenanigans. The problem with VEN’s mystery, largely, is that there just isn’t any cartilage to connect those good bones. Without something to hold it all together, it just kind of falls apart – exactly like a skeleton without cartilage.

Simply put, there’s a lot of mystery, but no plot to carry the mystery along.

The Suspects:

Beginning with Margherita Fauborg, the tanning-obsessed matriarch of the Ca’ Nacosta, seems like a good place to start. Dismissive of Nancy, tourists, and Nancy being a ‘tourist’, Margherita prefers to stay on top of her house tanning the day away rather than take part in any shenanigans.

Having Margherita not be a member of the ring was almost as inspired as having Helena lead it; she’s not nice, does suspicious things, is entirely self-centered – but she’s not a villain, nor does the game really pretend that she is for more than a second. I really like characters like this in the Nancy Drew games, who are honestly just People not enamored with the teen detective, but aren’t villains just because of that.

Also, the story of her husband’s death is just incredibly hilarious.

Her half-ward, half-employee Colin Baxter, on the other hand, is anything but dismissive of Nancy. He’s part of the ‘kinda crushing on Nancy’ club, but is Far less beloved than any other member of that club. It comes from his inherent creepiness, criminal record, and love for tile slides, I think.

Colin, as a suspect…well, he’s just there to make the numbers add up. It’s a shame that his largest utility is to show Margherita’s slightly unscrupulous nature, but he should have been kept as perhaps a figure that Nancy could call to get the story, rather than an in-person suspect.

The other person staying at the Ca’ is Helena Berg, fulfilling the HER mandate for having a German villain in their European games. Having Helena be the mastermind of the ring is a pretty good plot point, honestly, as I expected the first time for her to just be part of it, and to have that be the Big Surprise.

She’s also one of the few villains who promises revenge on Nancy and/or is still out there. I know it would have been Way too soon to have Helena be the returning culprit in RAN rather than Dwayne, but honestly she was a better candidate for it. While any hope of a good ND game (and mostly any game, honestly) is pretty far from me, I always hoped one day Helena would return in all her platinum blonde glory.

Enrico Tazza is our most encountered (kind of) and outwardly suspicious suspect, but he’s not exactly…well, scary. He makes Nancy-as-Samantha play a card game with him, then disappears, despite being the Preeminent Villain Face for the first half of the game.

I do love Tazza, however, just for his presence in the game. He’s cartoony, fun, well-acted…he’s just great. And as a potential villain, he’s great too! You’re never meant to doubt that he’s a ‘baddie’, you’re just meant to go along for the ride. Excellent.

Finally, Antonio Fango is the most prominent suspect that you’ll ever completely forget the name of, due to his lack of screen time despite being the Italian Police’s favorite suspect. He has a whole convoluted backstory involving multiple colleges and degrees, but really he’s just the communication go-fer for Helena’s theft ring.

As a villain…well, Fango does his part, but due to being a nigh-unseen suspect, he’s really just not very memorable. He’s like most of the ring – necessary to establish the numbers, but other than that, a non-entity.

The Favorite:

Despite the plot holes wide enough to steer a gondola through, there are a few things that really make VEN stand out.

The first is Samantha Quick; originally a stage name suggestion from Simone in FIN, she shows up as an actual character in VEN, albeit only by phone and shadow. Her pissed-off phone call to Nancy is a highlight of the game, especially as she ends with the vaguely threatening line “say hi to Ned for me”. Her shadow at the end in Colin’s window is the final clinch to make SQ a personal favorite of mine, and her presence (and the feeling of her presence, which is sort of different) is a high point in the game.

The location of the game is another plus; not so much Venice, but the Ca’ Nacosta itself. It’s a wonderful ‘home base’ location for any Nancy Drew game, filled with light, staircases, and pretty impressive stonework given that just a few short games ago, everything looked like it was animated out of melted gummy bears.

My favorite puzzle(s) are the chess puzzles, honestly. I just kind of like chess puzzles to begin with, and it’s a nice respite from forcing pigeons to do your bidding and avoiding various foods.

My favorite moment in the game is honestly the Samantha Quick shadow, but if I had to pick another moment, it’s where Nancy implies that she’s stripping for money, and Ned just replies that he’ll be really glad when she’s back home safe in the States. It’s such a random, hilarious thing to happen, and Ned’s complete underreaction to the idea of Nancy earning money in such a way (as she makes it sound way worse than it actually is) is what really sells it.

The Un-Favorite:

There are some un-favorites as well, however, that drag down the game to the place it currently resides.

The first is…well, the location and the means used to get Nancy there. As much as I have no problem with Venice, this attempt to open up the world makes little sense when you consider that there’s no way the Italian Secret Police would hinge their hopes on a small-time 18 year old American detective, no matter how highly Prudence spoke of her.

The jumbled plot (when there is a plot, at least) is another point against VEN; the writers just didn’t know what to do with Nancy being in Venice, and so just…didn’t do anything with it.

I also dislike that this game happens in media res. There’s no real reason to do it – and it makes any actions that the player takes that’s slightly apart from the ‘main plot’ – gondola rides, ice cream, looking at slide after slide after slide – seem incredibly out of place and borderline inappropriate. At the very least, if the Hardy Boys were part of the game, they could be yelling her name as she began to drown, which would give a sense of urgency that’s missing from the confused opening.

My least favorite puzzle…well, that brings me to a huge problem: every puzzle in this game is based around the fact that it’s in Italian, and they expect no one playing this to even have an idea of Italian (or any romance language). It boils down to this: the puzzle is just the Italian language, and they have nothing else up their sleeves. I don’t have a least favorite puzzle, because apart from a select few, they’re all the same puzzle, wrapped in slightly different clothing.

The Fix:

So how would I fix The Phantom of Venice?

Coming off of CRY, we’ve now had two games with two (or three) player characters, so that’s what I’d start with doing. Include the Hardy Boys, who have been called on by the Italian Secret Police because of their work with ATAC. They’re helping the mystified police track down this ring of thieves when Nancy mentions offhand that Prudence Rutherford is recommending a stay at a Ca’ in Venice whose owner owes her a favor (as a treat/vacation). Upon hearing this, the Hardy Boys ring her up and ask her help, as they’ve stalled out. They’re not allowed to come into physical contact with Nancy (to save money on animating them/Nancy), but they want her to investigate from her end, as she won’t be suspected at all.

The real reason the Italian Police let the Hardy Boys get her involved, of course, is that they need someone to impersonate Samantha Quick, and they’re having a rough time with their Joe-in-a-wig tests. They need an American who can convincingly pull off the act, and the brothers mention Nancy’s stints undercover. Desperate enough to grasp at anything, Nancy’s officially in.

That along would help beef up the plot, as suddenly we have an actual police plotline with the Hardy Boys (playing as one or the other, it doesn’t matter, or maybe both with different ‘jobs’ to do as one or the other). Diving the suspects is a good idea too; Nancy would take Helena and Tazza as her primary suspects (of course, only Tazza would be the ‘primary’ at the beginning), while the Hardy Boys handled Fango and his side of the ring.

The final puzzle (with the flashlights and such), especially, makes more sense as a Hardy Boys sort of thing. Nancy can snoop around the market and the Ca’, discovering clues as to Helena’s guilt and such. The Hardy Boys take down the ring, but Nancy takes down Helena.

I would also give Nancy a better reason to be undercover at the dance club. It’s a weird little minigame to be sure, but if it’s gonna exist in the game, there should be a better reason. Even better, take it out and have her solve puzzles – something other than the Italian Language, mind you – in order to get money from the police or something.

(Even better, take out the money thing, as someone helping the Police and pretending to be a spy should not be or appear to be short on funds.)

The last big change I’d do is to take Ned out (sorry, Ned, but there’s really no reason for you to be in this game) and swap him for Carson. Carson really should be in a few more games than he is as it stands, and this is a great way to bring in the fact that…well, Carson can’t be entirely Comfortable with the direction that Nancy’s life is going, even if he is proud of her.

Most of the time, Nancy’s family and friends are just used to say “and she’s ‘normal’ and loved and supported even though she’s never home”, and I think using them to establish her character and the stakes is a far better use of these pre-existing characters.

#nancy drew #clue crew #nancy drew games #VEN #phantom of venice #video games #nancy drew meta #long post #my meta

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probablyobsessingovertv · 5 years ago

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My Opinions on Varchie, Bughead, and Barchie’s Chemistry

I know a lot of my fellow Varchie/Bughead shippers strongly dislike Barchie. One of their biggest arguments against the pairing is that they lack development over the past four seasons and that seemingly, this cheating scandal has come out of nowhere with very little warning or sense attached, which I agree with. It does feel like Betty and Archie’s (especially romantic) relationship has been very minimally developed over the last few years, making this seem sudden, unexpected, and in my personal opinion, not logical. Especially considering how good, strong, and healthy Betty and Jughead’s, and Veronica and Archie’s relationships appeared in S4. I didn’t really think that we were headed for infidelity or dishonesty, secrecy or betrayal. Not at all. I understand and respect why, from a drama and entertainment standpoint, it was done, but within the story, to me, it just doesn’t really make much sense. I hope most Varchies/Bugheads/ maybe even some Barchies or “on the fence” Barchies at least, could agree with that.

Another major argument for the anti-Barchies is the lack of chemistry shared between the characters and even more so, the actors, KJ and Lili. Now I don’t totally disagree with this, however, I believe there are different forms of chemistry that actors can display.

(Before I begin, this is entirely my opinion, with my terminology and categorizations, my ideas of where each fits, etc. All me, no actual research done other than looking at scenes of Riverdale to find examples. It is 1000% okay to disagree with me or to think about this differently. This is just my interpretation as a long-time teen drama tv watcher and someone that spends way too much time analyzing fictional characters, actors, and relationships of all kinds. I have no expertise or credibility in this. I’m just doing it for fun. Also, I believe this can be true in all industries and all relationships, not only in entertainment or on a fictional tv show/movie.)

First, there is Working chemistry. As in two people or a group that just make sense when they are together. There is a natural ease and comfortability between actors that makes those scenes flow well and makes the actors’ portrayal of the friendships/relationships their characters have a lot more believable and enjoyable to watch. KJ, Lili, Cami, Cole, Mads, Vanessa, Casey, etc, all possess this chemistry with each other. It’s obvious that they enjoy working with each other. They enjoy each other as people and that comes out on screen very well I think. Their irl close friendships and trust between each other definitely make this a lot easier and more authentic in the show as well as in interviews and promos for sure, which is one of the reasons I’m really drawn to this show. (Examples: Core 4 scenes at Pop’s, group scenes in musical episodes, the family groupings, the romantic pairings, one on one friendships like Betty and Veronica, Archie and Jughead, Kevin and Betty, Cheryl and Veronica, the list goes on.)

Emotional/Relational chemistry is similar to working chemistry, but I think it’s a level deeper. This can occur between short-lived romantic relationships, such as a character’s rebound or fling, along with family members, friends, neighbors, etc. I most commonly associate this kind of chemistry with primarily words and sometimes actions or deeds. Childhood best friends are a really good example of this to me, such as Betty and Archie in my mind. This chemistry means that actors/characters deeply trust each other and this trust has usually been built up and developed over the course of many years. The people involved are usually very comfortable with each other, again, trust one another in scenes, and depend on each other. A huge characteristic of relationships that include emotional chemistry is the ability of these characters to be vulnerable with one another, to have deep, meaningful conversation, know how to comfort one another, and the desire to protect, be there for, support, and look after each other. I like to call these brother-sister relationships sometimes.

Though most serious romances possess a large amount of emotional chemistry, a relationship that contains solely an emotional bond cannot progress further, such as a lasting, healthy romance. In my opinion, this is where Barchie’s relationship can be categorized.

Consequently, I greatly disagree with anyone who says KJ and Lili don’t have any chemistry with each other whatsoever. In nearly all of their scenes since S1, we can see that Betty and Archie care deeply for each other. They really trust each other. They feel safe and comfortable with one another and feel the need to protect the other from any kind of harm or danger. They have been there for each other through some very painful and difficult circumstances and have been constant sources of comfort and safety for each other since they were children. They grew up together. They know so much about one another and have been through so much together. KJ and Lili do a fantastic job with this kind of chemistry. Very emotionally driven scenes, scenes of saying what the other needs to hear, being a shoulder for the other to lean or cry on, giving advice to help each other through the trouble they face in their lives, having a good time together, being emotionally vulnerable and honest, showing up when the other needs them, and occasionally letting their emotions get the better of them and, in Archie and Betty’s case, believing that chemistry is a different kind than it really is. (Ex. Archie helping Betty calm down after the Black Hood and breaking up with Jughead for her in S2, 3x5 Archie’s escape when Betty gets him out of the pipe and hugs him, Betty working with Mary and Sierra on Archie’s case to prove him innocent, the glances out their windows. Look, they have good emotional/relational chemistry is what I’m trying to say.)

However, Betty and Archie have only ever kissed while broken up with or in a fight with the character they are most associated with romantically. (And the plan to help Jughead in S4, but that doesn’t count since it didn’t really have any romantic intention and was purely (at least initially) a ploy to distract everyone from the truth of Jughead being alive.) KJ Apa and Lili Reinhart have amazing emotional chemistry. It’s obvious that they care about and trust each other as real life people as well as their characters. They are clearly close in real life and have a pretty similar relationship to Betty and Archie from my observation. KJ and Cami also have phenomenal emotional chemistry with clearly a very deep trust or at the very least, the front of one, between each other as people and scene partners. Cole and Lili obviously do as well, and I could argue that the majority of actors on Riverdale share this emotional chemistry with many of their costars.

What I believe KJ and Lili, not particularly to fault of either of them, lack, is Physical, Sexual, and/or Romantic chemistry. I believe this is the only kind of chemistry that can’t be forced or faked. Physical chemistry is most often displayed in serious, long-term dating relationships and marriages, but can also show up in various other relationships in some circumstances. This usually comes in handy when actors/characters are kissing, hugging, holding hands, innocently touching like rubbing hands, holding faces or playing with hair. This can also be in the forms of heart eyes, certain smiles or flirty glances, etc. I see this as very intentional and almost second nature to most actors portraying couples. Actors with a lot of physical chemistry have to be incredibly comfortable with and trusting of each other. As has been said on countless occasions, lots of romantic scenes in films and tv are very very staged so making them look authentic, unplanned, attractive, and believable is a whole nother level of talent and trust in my opinion.

Most pairs of physically compatible actors tend to come up with their own ideas and improv some “coupley” gestures or ways of showing affection towards each other’s characters in ways that make sense for the story, those characters’ individual personalities, and the relationships between them. The first couple on Riverdale that I think of with strong romantic/physical chemistry is Archie and Veronica. KJ and Cami being the actors that portray them, of course. They have incredible physical chemistry and Varchie are also often seen as an overall very physical couple, constantly wanting to be near and touch each other. Yes, they also kiss, make out, and even have sex often on the show, but their physical chemistry really shows in the little things if you ask me. The overall show of physical affection displayed towards each other is truly so beautiful and looks so real and believable on screen. It’s especially obvious when actors are so comfortable and so invested in their characters that they come up with their own little moments for their couple that they know fans will enjoy. For KJ and Cami, they seem to find 100 different little ways to hold hands or to be very affectionate by touching each other’s hair and having specific movements or gestures they do every time they kiss that real life couples would definitely have, and overall using pretty simple facial expressions and body language to portray the love and the very believable (to me) relationship between Archie and Veronica.

Cole and Lili’s portrayal of Betty and Jughead is also very physically authentic, such as when Cole kisses Lili’s forehead or how she was laying on him in the season 4 Halloween episode. Vanessa and Mads and Choni have great physical chemistry too, due to how much they trust each other and how comfortable and close they are with each other in real life as best friends. Some of those little moments could be suggested by the director, but I know many of the small things are not scripted or directed. I do believe that genuine, physical chemistry is natural and cannot be fabricated. It sure can be exaggerated or diminished by good actors, but it really can’t be entirely faked without being very obvious in my mind.. All this to say, I believe that Betty and Archie lack that physical/romantic connection and I personally think KJ and Lili just don’t naturally have the same level of that chemistry as they do with Cami and Cole. Again, that is not remotely a diss to either actor. Some pairings just don’t work like others do and that’s not because the actors are incapable or “not talented enough” to portray it.

The casting team struck gold with KJ and Cami’s and Lili and Cole’s chemistry and that is very rare to find, especially for an entire cast to be so authentically compatible with each other. In conclusion, I am not completely against the idea of Betty and Archie as a couple, but I’m just not a huge fan of it because I don’t think it would be as realistic or believable as Varchie and Bughead are, solely based on the natural, romantic chemistry the actors have with each other. Not to mention the story and what makes the most sense in that regard.

TL; DR: I don’t blame you. This is my mind at 2am. Basically, I believe there are three major levels of chemistry between people, especially actors and the characters they portray.

1) Working Chemistry: pretty much people (actors) that genuinely like one another, get along, and make the relationships of their characters believable and enjoyable on screen. (aka the entire cast of Riverdale)

2) Emotional/Relational Chemistry: Kind of similar to working, but a level deeper. I refer to these as “sibling/family-esque” relationships. Usually expressed through words and sometimes actions or deeds. This is where I personally believe Betty/Archie’s relationship is.

3) Physical/Sexual/Romantic Chemistry: Everything from flirty glances to making staged romance scenes look authentic, to coming up with sweet little gestures to show affection. I believe this cannot be faked/forced entirely. Physical chemistry is something I believe Veronica/Archie and Betty/Jughead display incredibly well. In my opinion, this is what Barchie lacks. Both the characters and the actors that play them. Not dissing either of them, they’re obviously phenomenal actors and KJ/Lili have amazing emotional chemistry, I just personally think the romantic chemistry between them isn’t as strong as KJ/Cami, Cole/Lili, Madelaine/Vanessa, etc.

*If you made it this far, you’re also in too deep with this show. I’m kidding, I love you. Thank you for reading all of this. I would absolutely love to hear what you think.*

Also, thank you Freya @loverofthor-2 for proofreading and encouraging me to post my brain dump yet again. ❤️

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