#like why are you making up such unnecessary unbelievable stories

[louisarmpits]

.

[monkey-d-ezekiel]

I totally understand why manga readers hate the One Piece anime. like, the anime borderline ruins a lot of the important aspects of the show. I see so many one piece anime watchers who are frustrated with so much stuff in the anime, and like. please try the manga. for your own good. it'll take some effort getting used to, but once you get in the groove you won't be frustrated in that way at all. i promise. Oda has created what is more or less a masterpiece, and here's some ways in which Toei botched it and watered down the experience.

1. Art + Animation

the OP manga has some of the most consistently good art compared to a lot of other series. The shading conveys emotions well, the atmosphere is well built, and Oda makes pretty good usage of the 2D page in conveying 3D movement. The biggest difference is that while the women are still not the most accurately proportioned, there's a lot more emphasis on their facial expressions and overall aura and demeanor.

the anime spoils all this by giving us sloppy character design and lazy animation. since the episodes are still weekly and not seasonal, they have to pump out fast and cheap animation, which makes them overuse still frames, motion blur and overall just not give the source material the effort it deserves. the women in the show have zero detail paid to their facial features, and they all seem to have had their breasts artificially endowed to 3x the size of their head by the ever generous toei animators.

Honestly, the One Piece anime is on par with shows like Dragonball Super when it comes to bad art and animation. Especially post-timeskip.

2. Pacing

pacing is always a big issue that anime watchers point out, and at this point bringing up this issue is like beating a dead horse. it's still extremely important though, because the manga is most definitely not this badly paced. 1 chapter worth of content is animated into 1 full length episode. the length of all the impactful scenes is elongated with reaction shots, exclamations of "woah! a very obvious thing is happening in front of us! unbelievable!", as well as stare-offs, wide shots and unnecessary flashbacks that all seem to last for an eternity.

there are 2-5 minute recaps in every episode as well, just in case you lost track of everything that has happened so far in the story you're following with interest. the manga has none of these issues, and the best part is that you can decide your own pace. if something is boring, just read past it quickly. if it's dense or interesting, slow down, take your time and savor it. the emotional impact of scenes is not lost simply because of how often they're repeated/elongated, as often happens in the anime.

In conclusion, the pacing and art quality of the source material is far superior to that of the anime adaptation, and while I do find it very epic when my favorite manga scenes are animated in the show, I don't think it's reasonable for anyone to put themselves through the grueling ordeal of watching the dragged out episodes of this anime simply for those moments/fights.

If you like the anime, that's great, im happy you're following the story of one piece in the way you find most suitable, and i don't wanna demean you at all because these are all just subjective opinions. but if you're an anime watcher who finds themselves to be frustrated with some of the issues in the anime, i think you could give the manga a try. it'll take some getting used to, but you won't have any of the frustrations that will persist as long as this anime is airing.

[mdhwrites]

If Hexside Was Mandated Then Disney Knew TOH's Strengths Better Than Dana

The whole show itself feels much more like plots that can happen at a magical school than it ever does a true adventure show. There are constantly low stakes, very few episodes actually spent exploring the world, and very commonly the obstacles laid out for the characters are inherently non-magical and the magic is only used for flavor.

All of these elements are core to a super school setting (thank you OSP for the term) because, well, you can only make things so dangerous before making them laughable or make the school seem entirely unbelievable. The only times TOH really breaks away from this are commonly in capital P Plot episodes. In S1, there are only 6 episodes that could actually be counted as adventure episodes instead of just being fantasy slice of life/drama like My LIttle Pony or Amphibia was. The focus is never on grandeur but instead just a mundane life thing VERY lightly elevated by its fantasy element.

Of course, that's S1. Low stakes are expected since the plot hasn't really started. It's fine that the head of the Emperor's Coven is doing things like taking a casual walk with her criminal sister or playing mock Grudgby at the same time the school kids are, it's S1! Besides, we have been told by Dana that S1 got meddled with, or at least the first half (neither of the examples I brought up coming from that half) and while we've never had Hexside confirmed as one of those elements, people would argue it doesn't actually count. The vibe changes after S1 after all.

You all know where this is going. Just to demonstrate how completely untrue this is: Luz has, if you REALLY stretch to count Affearances and Eda's Requiem, FOUR plotlines with Eda. Combined, she has about 6, at most, episodes between King and Eda where the focus is on them. Meanwhile, she has SEVEN with Amity. And that's not including the fact that Amity has two episodes where she has plots on her own. If you don't count Falls and Follies, you get 6, which still puts the low stakes, never a part of the plot, love interest who came from the magic school and embodies its elements on par with Luz's 'found family' who are rebelling against Belos.

When the show does ramp up, it's really bad at it. Elsewhere Elsewhen is maybe the most boring time travel episode of anything I've ever seen because it's effectively just a lot talking without any consequence, a twist that's just bad in the grand scheme of things with an unnecessary reveal and the action element is specifically neutralized by not being an actual threat. The finale for S1 has a great action scene but very boring magic we've literally seen before and how Lilith takes out the kids before that is painfully easy and simple. When Luz has to break into the Conformatorium, we don't get to see that. She just... Does it in spite of having magic for maybe a month.

Hollow Mind is a lot of just talking and exposition while people claim there are stakes but the last time people entered a mind makes those stakes a retcon, how they fix it breaks several levels of continuity and the fake out death with Hunter is lame even when just compared with fakeout deaths in general. The combat in S3 is just laughable because it's not actually demonstrably more impressive than in S1 or 2... And even for one of the specials, for a third of its time, the stakes are still ROCK BOTTOM as they deal with a threat they have several times before... For the sake of liberating the school which isn't actually in danger from the threat in question, just mildly manipulated. AND the majority of Season 3, just to hammer this point home, have NOTHING to do with Eda and King, let alone their relationship with Luz.

And why shouldn't this be the case? The show is MUCH more interested in character drama and making social statements than actually telling a story most of the time. It has LOTS of plots that would not feel any different being in Amphibia besides being a kind of boring, toned down episode for it.

All of this is without getting into the logistical nightmare that would have been not having Hexside. Hexside is actually one of the very few efficient elements of TOH. One of the few times TOH doesn't spend an eternity making any progress on something and that actually stays true even into S2. It makes it so a lot of characters can simplify their situation and just move on from introductions than would otherwise be possible.

So yeah, if Hexside was mandated by Disney, A: good on them for doing good work with what was forced upon them since either Hexside episodes, or elements that arose from Hexside, are easily the most popular parts of the show and B: Disney very clearly could tell that Dana was way more equipped to retell Harry Potter's books when it was mostly school drama rather than her ever being able to tell a proper fantasy epic. Not when the last thing I would call TOH, ever, is 'epic'.

It's way too low key for that to have ever been the case.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[cdreambur]

au where dream and wilbur are both actors, set to star in a movie together.

it's the story of the fictional city of l'manberg and its fight for independence, the two of them playing the generals of the opposing sides.

dream is nervous, because contrary to wilbur, who's been starring in big productions since his early teens, the movie is dream's first big role.

but the crew is absolutely wonderful, and the worry about meeting wilbur, whose fan he's been for a long time, is completely unnecessary, because the first words wilbur says to him are, "we're making them gay."

dream can only stare at him, a confused, "what?" all that comes out of his mouth. he's kinda glad that they're alone in the meeting room, sure that he looks like a complete idiot right now.

wilbur just grins.

"come on, the part where i straddle you, the scene where you pin me against a wall, telling me to surrender? people are gonna ship these guys anyway, the least we can do is give them some good material."

he accompanies his words with a little wink, light brown eyes twinkling with mischief.

it makes dream laugh, the last bit of tension melting from his shoulders.

he smirks back at wilbur.

"why the fuck not."

later, he thinks that might've been the moment where his tiny celebrity crush turned into something more.

-

filming is amazing. the crew is one of the nicest dream has ever worked with, and he makes fast friends with a lot of them.

there's sapnap, tommy, tubbo, and george, their co-stars, niki and karl, two of the writers, and the director, phil, and the producer, sam.

but the person he spends the most time with is wilbur.

he has no idea if it's because they're the leads, they actually get on that well, or a mixture of both.

all he knows is that ever since their first encounter in that meeting room, they've discovered that they not only share a love for stupid jokes and geography, but also that the chemistry they're able to show on screen easily translates into real life.

dream is honest enough with himself to admit that none of it helps with the adoration he has for wilbur, making the butterflies in his stomach and the warmth in his chest stronger with every smile, every compliment, every hug he gets from the brunet.

he never realized how serious it got though.

the day he finally does is the one where they film one of the scenes wilbur mentioned at that fateful first meeting.

they've been doing what they were talking about then for weeks at this point, every scene between their characters charged with unbelievable amounts of tension.

it's fun, and no one has told them to stop yet, so dream doesn't expect anyone to do it now.

which is exactly why he's not holding back at the moment, hands wrapped around wilbur's wrists, pinning him against a brick wall that one of their set designers, foolish, built in the studio two weeks ago.

his breaths are deep and deliberately controlled, face just the tiniest bit closer to wilbur's than it has to be as his lips quirk into a malicious smirk.

"just give up. you know you can't win against me. you're not good enough."

he meets wilbur's eyes, the brunet's gaze the perfect mixture of defiance and fear, and not for the first time, dream is hit with the thought of how amazing of an actor wilbur is.

he tries to free himself from dream's grip in a way that probably looks much stronger on camera than it actually is, allowing dream to follow the script and continue to hold him in place.

when he falls still again, dream lets his expression shift into a triumphant grin.

"we have no mercy for you. we will burn down your houses, we will kill everything inside your walls, and we will take back the land that is rightfully ours, if you do not surrender."

with a sneer, he brings his face even closer to wilbur's before delivering his last line of the scene with a vicious tone.

"i wanna see white flags outside your base by tomorrow at dawn or you are dead."

spitting out the last word, he watches as wilbur flinches, eyes fluttering shut for a second before they open again.

when they do, dream is suddenly overcome by the urge to kiss him.

it comes out of nowhere, slamming into him like a freight train, and he's just barely able to stop his eyes from flitting down to wilbur's lips.

"cut!"

phil's yell pulls him back into the present, and he lets go, stepping away from wilbur.

"guys, that was a perfect one-take! you were fucking incredible!"

dream barely registers phil's compliment, mind stuck on the way wilbur's breath was fanning over his lips, how the only thing he wanted to do was surge forward and kiss wilbur.

it's horrible. he can't fall in love with a co-star. especially not wilbur soot, beloved sweetheart of hollywood and the public.

he glances over at the brunet who's straightening out his clothes before meeting dream's eyes, smiling brightly at him.

dream's heart flips and he sighs inwardly.

looks like it's already too late.

-

the rest of filming goes wonderfully. dream's pretty sure that some of his scenes with wilbur were some of his best ones ever, even phil and sam mentioning that their energy together is stellar.

it makes both of them grin shyly.

when the movie goes into post-production, dream allows himself a few weeks of rest before he's out again, meeting with his manager and visiting castings.

he stays in contact with wilbur and the rest of the crew, even encountering tubbo and sapnap at one of the auditions.

the ten months until promotions start fly by like nothing, and soon, dream finds himself in interviews about the biggest movie he ever worked on.

it's exciting, and fun too, especially since most of them include their whole cast, always talking and joking and laughing.

dream missed them, and it's nice to be in the middle of the chaos again, bickering with sapnap and goofing off with tommy and tubbo.

but he also enjoys the quieter moments, talks with phil or george and especially the bunch of interviews where it's just dream and wilbur.

his feelings for the other haven't disappeared in their time apart, something that only gets more obvious now that he's around wilbur pretty much 24/7 again.

still, he gets through promo completely fine and without blurting out every emotion he experiences in wilbur's presence.

he guesses the acting career was the right choice.

when it's over, six weeks of games, interviews, and two press conferences done, they get a few days off.

then, the premiere rolls around.

it's happening in new york, and their team rents out the whole floor of a hotel close to the cinema for all of them to get ready.

things are hectic, but the tension in the air isn't a negative one, filled with excitement, joy, and pride.

dream, who's been one of the first ones to be done, is wandering the crowded corridors in his search for wilbur, a grin on his face.

the last person to see his fellow lead was eret, telling him that wilbur's in the suite at the end of the hall, waiting for the rest of them just like dream.

when dream wanders in, the room is empty, but he only needs a moment to catch sight of the open balcony door, leading out onto the private terrace.

stepping outside, he's met with wilbur watching the city skyline, turning and smiling at him when he sees dream.

tina, one of their stylists, has put him in a dark blue suit reminiscent of the uniform he wears in the movie, pairing it with a crisp black shirt and perfectly polished black dress shoes.

thin silver rings adorn his fingers, matching the delicate silver necklace around his neck, a small pendant in the form of a star resting against the hollow of his throat.

hair messy and the tiniest bit of color on his lips, he looks absolutely breathtaking, and dream almost feels a little boring in the simple green suit hannah gave him.

"hey."

wilbur's voice pulls him out of his thoughts, eyes finally flitting up to meet wilbur's.

reciprocating the greeting, he steps up to the railing to stand next to wilbur as the brunet asks, "nervous?"

dream nods.

"a bit, yeah. biggest premiere i've ever been to, since, you know, biggest movie i've ever worked on."

he chuckles, a little anxious and mostly happy.

wilbur grins and gently nudges his shoulder.

"understandable. but i think you don't have to worry so much. it's gonna be amazing. and if it really isn't, just come find me and the two of us can go to subway or something."

brown curls fall into dark eyes that shimmer with sincerity, and dream, overwhelmed by the genuine offer and the soft curve of wilbur's smile and all the things they did together in the last two years, lets so much more honesty slip into his next words than he originally wanted.

"nah. i think i'd rather take you to a nice restaurant for our first date."

wilbur's lips part, and before dream can even properly register what he just admitted, he breathes out, "are you serious?"

he sounds so hopeful, completely different from anything dream expected.

it's everything he ever wished for.

so, he simply replies, "i am."

it seems to be enough, because not even a second later, they're both moving, their lips meeting in a chaste, sweet kiss.

dream's heart races as they pull each other closer, bodies pressed together when they part with matching smiles on their faces.

their fingers interlace.

(in the end, they don't ditch the premiere, but they do get dinner at wilbur's favorite sushi place a week later.)

[abs0luteb4stard]

To my friend Niko. 💙🩷🤍🩷💙

I'll never know if it was an accidental OD or intentional suicide or what... I was lucky a friend of his was kind enough to tell me that he died. I was too afraid to ask anymore of a stranger. It had been weeks or months of inactivity before I was told. My suspicions were confirmed. Utterly shocked.

That's what happens with long-distance internet friends sometimes. He fucking died just months before my dad's series of medical events that put him into vascular dementia. Now It's been 7 years.

He felt like a soul friend sometimes. So much fun little things in common, coincidences, sadnesses. He got me into TØP, which I can't bring myself to listen to anymore. 🫤 It's not the same without his joy about new songs.

He was the sweetest person. I wish he'd have been able to make his trip here to visit his friend or s/o. My mom and me would've tried to make the trip a few states over to at least say hello give him a hug. He had new yellow suitcase and everything. 😢 It's still unbelievable.

He even liked me enough to tell me his 'dead name'. I forgot it, because Niko was who I knew.🤷🏻‍♂️ But I realized it was a very special trusting thing.

This will never not bother me. It haunts me.

He was always open to talking about being trans, transitioning, and taught me a lot. He cleared a lot of purely innocent misconceptions and ignorance about being trans that I had.

And My dad, who was probably 75ish when I started talking to Niko. My dad had a meager education in 1940s Europe. He was still very accepting and interested in his life, his safety. And was even hurt when I told my dad Niko had been bullied at school like me growing up. Even before his realization that he was transgender. He had a stutter and was smaller than the other kids. That really bothered my dad.

And my mom always asked about him. She always feels motherly for my friends. But Niko had some less than perfect relationship with his mom. And my mom felt heartbroken by that.

So I felt like Niko made a difference for our family just being an open book and a sweetheart. I wish I had the chance to have long in person talks with him one day and share more pictures of our families. Sadly, that'll never come. And I've already forgotten a lot of our texts and things.

He left a hole in my life right when things got incredibly difficult and dark and painful in a lot of horrible ways.

I had support, but he had a special sort of way about him. As shy and anxious as he was, he was a social butterfly through our penpal friendship.

He had his top surgery. He had to wait almost a year. We were so happy.

He sent me this nice picture of him smiling at the hospital with the sun's rays flowing in onto him. It's almost like a dream now.

I guess if there's an afterlife, my dad and uncle are looking out for him from any bullies. And Niko has the body he was meant to all along.

But I often wonder if the difficulties with acceptance didn't contribute to his death through medicating himself. Again, I'll never know. But his death was unnecessary in my eyes even if I didn't have the full story. Because not being unconditionally loved and accepted kills people too. Not being concerned in healthy, helpful ways kills people, too.

But I think he should be remembered today too because he contributed to the change he wanted in the world by being who he was to me, and I would also learn how he was to many other people.

At least I know he changed my world and my parents' world. He is why we don't just accept transpeople in a closeted backseat way.

He is why I am openly vocal for acceptance and caring about transpeople, being their friends. And protecting transgender people.

It was such a strange coincidence again that his favorite band TØP would make a song with his namesake just 2-3 years after he died. It was poetic and sad.

I hope you found peace. 🖤🏳️‍⚧️

[rin-and-jade]

would y'all happen to know how to handle a persecutor-gatekeeper? our system has one who can force dormancy & switches and trying to find resources on what to do about them hasn't been fruitful. it's not a regular persecutor situation due to their executive control over other alters, and even if it were they're too emotionally closed off to attempt the "appeal to emotions" route. any advice?

(this is rather lengthy but i promise everything i wrote here is important,, as surface leveled, short answers will not cover everything i want to convey)

I'd consider myself a gatekeeper with persecutive tendencies (its the better way to say keeper + persc role for my comfy-ness) and anger issues/holder. As a logical keeper (ISTJ) and ex persc who is also not easily appealed by my own people's 'puppy eyes' and begs, though can be influenced by rage,, I feel qualified enough to tell you my story from how i came up with persecution, what i did in that moment of life, and how i overcame and changed my overall view which renders myself as docile, where i pursuit functionality and etc which made me open this blog for the better of others.

Back then i was a really rude person, though not necessarily causing harm to anyone,, till something sets off the fuse and made me go wrecking some havoc (for short, i've seen how badly my people are doing/coping and as i was never exposed to healthy ways to fix things back then, i resorted to this in order to 'fix' things). I'd hog all the time i had outside at front and never let any friends see my other people, they can beg me how many times they want to and i never let it happen but if i was being nice i'd only give a whole day and back at it again. It's as easy as not doing what i say to push someone to dormancy, creating an environment where there are no such thing as mercy until i achieve the 'ideal' results that's wanted.. or is that what i actually wanted?

Slowly yet surely i begin to notice that my strict and forceful actions did not grow any results,, on this section i don't remember much but got the gist where this is the time i actually tried to loosen the 'ropes' i invincibly tied to my people because i was curious enough if that will generate results. It did. I also shunned down anything they say to me but at that same time i actually took it to consideration. Things are going smoothly because i decided to stop adding unnecessary pressure and ACTUALLY telling what i find troubling and talking it out instead of just bashing their head without a word, not even telling what they did wrong. It took me months to regain everyone's trust because i did an unbelieveable amount of damage that was irreversible,, thankfully i was forgiven. From that period on i dedicate myself to unlearn some nasty ways of doing things, then you can guess the rest from here.

IN CONCLUSION.. If using emotional ways don't work, then opt for logical reasoning. We all have something we care about that contributes to why someone does this or that, the good or bad way. The last thing i wanted to be is being wrong so factual proofs and basic common sense (that punishment doesn't breed better results, things like that) might help. There's one thing that could change me sooner at the past, possibly by asking "why are you doing this?" because i was villainized right off the bat (which was fair) even though i had good intentions. I think showing friendlier ways to achieve the same thing would help putting a stop to the current actions too,, but i want to emphasize that your keeper can't be forced and need to make it's own decision, pushing it is also counterintuitive. This work requires you (your people) and the keeper in need of change, this does not work in one direction/way/party.

If you feel like needing extra help/guidance and get in touch with me to do this step by step, come to the DMs and i'll be happy to provide you with anything, i assume you can take matters in your own hands as i don't want to meddle unless consented, hope it was a-ok day for you!

- j

[vendetta-if]

Just finished reading chapter four and I love it! The talk with Yvette was very aggravating! (The fact that she came asking for help from the child she abandoned) But it was satisfying at the same time, I chose to still hate her, and I’m glad we get the chance to give her a piece of our mind. Couldn’t give her a second chance. Especially knowing that at Viktor’s funeral, Luka gave her a chance to take MC and acknowledge him, and she refused! And the fact that her only reason for abandoning her child is protecting her career and fame. And every time she says this excuse and brings up Belladonna, it makes me nauseous. She didn’t even deserve the chance Luka gave her at the funeral, but fine, she was the only parent left for MC now, so it makes sense for Luka to give her a chance in case she wants to raise her child now. But she still REFUSED! UNBELIEVABLE! I’m just very thankful for Uncle Luka and think he has all the right to prevent her for visiting MC at all. Anyway, I’m rambling 😂 because I’m so angry at this mother! XD I still chose that I agreed to the arrangement to help her too though. Even though I hate her, I don’t want her dead because then I won’t be able to hate her anymore.

Now Santana

DAMMIT SANTANA !

HOW?! Just.. how?

I was so set on romancing Ash. I had no doubt that I WILL romance Ash and Ash alone. But THEN SANTANA CAME! And now I don’t know anymore! How can there be such a character in this book? He’s too pure for this world ;; And I thought no one can beat Ash in adorableness 🥹

So, I was thinking. My MC is ruthless but for some reason Santana makes me not wanna be ruthless. He’s so pure and I want to protect him so he stays that way. I want to help him and give him hope that he can succeed in this city with an upright moral compass. So I was wondering if we can maybe.. have Santana talk with ruthless MC about… their ruthlessness XD and then have a counter for when we pick merciful choices after that. Or when we avoid unnecessary killings and such. And have it acknowledged by people around MC that they changed after meeting Santana or something 🙈 I dunno why I want that it’s just Santana makes me want to be nice 🥺 You might have a totally different approach in mind though! So I’m so sorry if it sounded like I’m imposing what I’d like to happen. You can just totally ignore my suggestion. 🤣

Oh, one last question, during the mission after killing the police commissioner. We encounter five people. We kill four of them while one (their leader) escapes. Does she always escape or does it depend on our choices? (My ruthless MC don’t wanna leave loose ends 😈)

That’s why I released the Luka & Yvette Funeral Talk side story first; because I think it is quite important. Although, for now, I’m planning to also add an option for MC to ask Luka why he wouldn’t allow Yvette to visit in the next chapter, and he would basically tell the short of what happened in the side story.

Also, I’m glad that your MC still doesn’t want her dead, although for a less than ideal reason behind it 😂 Hey, Yvette will take it, alright.

As for Santana… Does this mean that Ash has been dethroned from your and your MC’s heart by Santana? 🥺🥺😆

As for your merciful suggestion… Hmm 🤔 It’s interesting, but also, could complicate some things. I’ll see once we’re nearing there and as I ruminate more on it 😄 If I were to implement it, I might implement similar thing with Skylar too, considering Skylar is the one who has the ���I can fix them” mentality when dating Ruthless MC 😂 Thank you for the interesting suggestion! I’ll keep this in mind ❤️

[goongiveusnothing]

so my policeman came up on my streaming service the other day and i figured it's now so far out from when it was released that i could watch it with fresh eyes and let me just say, this is a fucking terrible movie.

first thing is, everything about this movie is a tired cliche. from the opening scene where we see old people staring at younger photos of themselves, old timey music singing about nostalgia, flashback sequences, the whole thing felt like a special flashback episode of a soap opera tv series.

i remembered that the reviews had mentioned that the whole premise of harry's character getting married to corrin's while having this gay affair and that it seemed unnecessary and cliched. when reading those reviews i was a bit confused and gave the author and writers of this movie leeway because this was in the 60s so obviously gay guys were more likely to settle down with women and fake being straight while having affairs.

but having watched it i totally get what they meant, because the entire premise of this movie with harry deciding to make this a threeway relationship and get married made absolutely no sense. it would've been way more interesting for harry's character to already be married and then to catch dawson's character in the act of something and then become fascinated and obsessed with him in that way. anything to make these relationships to feel urgent and interesting. there didn't feel like any real pressure for him to do all of this. no pressure from his family, no pressure from the policing agency, nobody almost catching them forcing him to need to do this. once again, instead of creating urgency or a genuine reason to care about this dilemma, it came across forced and stupid and you just didn't care about it, because why should you.

also his whole interest in art and how they first meet feels really dumb. like i said, it would've been way more interesting for them to meet because dawson was caught with dudes or committing some type of offense. but having them sort of know each other casually because he's a cop even though his character obviously hates cops and then they start talking about art is just boring. why not have harry's character be interested in art and be pursuing it on his own and making mistakes and not really knowing what he's doing and maybe he then meets dawson and then sees him in an art class or vice versa. have this interest feel real. have harry's interest in him feel like something he's needed for a while. every piece of this story could've been made more compelling and instead we got the most trite unbelievable narrative instead.

harry styles is a terrible actor. when i saw people describe him as "just being there" in a scene i assumed they meant that he was sort of a background presence and didn't detract from the air in a scene, but he fucking punches the oxygen out of every scene we see him in. it's like he gives every scene covid oxygen depletion. i cannot believe there's anyone who gave him any positive reviews on his acting. he has zero screen presence. zero charisma. he's a vacant black hole of personality. there's no body language, no facial expressions, you will find soap opera actors who give more and feel more tempered when they're walking in the background of a scene than in this.

but the absolute worst thing about him is his voice acting. he reads scripts like the kids in class would read out shakespeare when they could barely read. it's all just chunks of dialogue and there's zero emotion, zero passion, zero nuance. he says everything in the same flat way. he is a fucking disaster of an actor. so many moments that were meant to be serious and you have to laugh because he's so fucking diabolical. that first blowjob scene between them where harry says "i don't know what's happening" just fucking hilarious. i cannot believe it's possible to say those words in a supposed passionate tense sexy encounter where we're meant to feel propelled into their chemistry and he's sounding like a child called up in class to explain quadratic equations. every romantic scene in this movie is a disaster when you can see his face and hear his voice. everything becomes hilarious. that other scene of him being drunk and yelling. it's all so fucking goofy. "don't. please". how did anyone on set just let these things keep happening?

HARRY IS A TERRIBLE KISSER. we've seen him giving three major kisses so far in public or onscreen and they're all fucking terrible. the first kiss he gives here is that weird face devouring one. it's like he thinks trying to demonstrate huge passion will create sexual chemistry and a beautiful onscreen relationship. instead he's like some alien character trying to deskin other living beings. and that would've been a way more interesting movie. the first sex scene in bed and he does his face devouring thing. he doesn't let kisses build up, he doesn't let this seem shy or timid or awkward, he doesn't know how to engage and respond and flow with the other person which we saw too with emrata, it's just full on face devouring and this rapid passionate stuff that doesn't feel like it goes with the vibes of the characters or scene. the kisses are always about him and him acting like he's trying to win some type of contest. the other person barely exists to him. it's another moment where you either cringe or laugh.

i also get why all the reviewers critiqued his queerbaiting in general in this and how it perhaps explains why he's incapable of showing any undercurrent or complexity or turmoil or second layer to his character in any of this. there's absolutely no credibility to the idea he relates to this character or to any part of this storyline. he really doesn't even pretend to struggle in this movie. you never feel any sort of complexity or yearning or undercurrent. this man just walked into the scenes every day and sat there and got paid and went home. the fact he thought and was told by so many people he could become a famous actor is symptomatic of how nothing fucking matters anymore in society. your connections and industry swagger is all that people need.

anyway, it's not a good movie. don't know why anyone even took part in it outside of the value they knew it had in queerbaiting harry's fans. i also get why none of his fans even obsesses or talks about it to this day the way people did with great movies like call me by your name or other queer tv shows. there's nothing about this movie that any normal person would ever rewatch again or feel interested or in love with these relationships or characters.

[adamwatchesmovies]

John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum features some of the series’ most inventive, most satisfyingly kill-happy scenes. Its plot also tends to get in the way, particularly during the middle. At 131 minutes, this relatively straightforward story is far too long, though the sequel - set to be released in 2023 - could change that. If all of the new characters introduced throughout pay off later, this film may seem less bloated than it does now.

Excommunicated from the secret society of assassins whose operatives are everywhere, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is now on the run with a $14 million bounty on his head. Seeking to escape the innumerable mercenaries on his tail, he begins cashing in favors from his former allies. Unfortunately, even those only take him so far.

It’s hard to pick which of this film’s many action scenes is the best. There’s one set in a library where John uses a thick tome in a way you’ve never seen before. This man really can use ANYTHING to fill another grave. If I were to choose, I think I’d have to go with another sequence, however. It’s set in a museum full of knives, axes, and other edge weapons. The choreography as the glasses cases are broken and the weapons are taken out is unbelievable. It’s so good you can’t turn away, even when someone gets their brutal comeuppance.

There’s more to Parabellum than just seeing John execute wave after wave of killers, however. There’s a plot that digs deeper into the world of the High Table. We learn more about who John was before he met Helen. More of the inner workings of the society are shown through “The Adjudicator” (Asia Kate Dillon) and several assassins who want to take down John… because they’re huge fans of his. It confirms our suspicions: the Continental is merely a piece of this huge society that operates as a world of its own. From the tattoo-clad Operators to the Concierge of the Continental Hotel (Lance Reddick) to the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) and his legions of turncoats dressed up like vagrants on every street corner, it makes so little sense it makes perfect sense.

One of the defining features of the series has been its New York location. John is always on the run - either chasing or escaping from someone. This means we’ve visited many of the city’s landmarks and several have been given a new identity within this world. This is one of the reasons why an extended sequence where John travels to Casablanca is off-putting. Though Sofia Al-Azwar (Halle Berry) is an interesting character with a fighting style all of her own, did this movie really need to travel all the way to Morocco? In the end, you know John’s business will have to be settled back in New York anyway, so all of these meetings he has with the Berrada (Jerome Flynn) and with the “Elder” (Saïd Taghmaoui) seem unnecessary. It’s cool for the movie to have aspirations to be more than an action film but some of this feels like it would fit better in a spinoff movie. I’m saying this because this road through the desert brings us to a movie pet peeve of mine: someone loses a finger. This sort of injury creates a wall between the story and the audience. We know they didn’t REALLY chop off the actor’s digit so in every scene from then on, your eyes always drift back to their hand to see if you can spot a gaffe. The finger is taken off as a display of fealty but it could’ve been done a thousand different ways. Why this?

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum may be the least of the series but it also contains action scenes so good they make what we saw earlier seem like nothing. Those opening moments, in particular, will knock your socks off, so much that even if the film drags towards the middle, you’ll still be entranced by this ballet of blood and bullets. This is an ambitious film with spectacular martial arts set pieces, the likes of which most other action franchises could only dream of. (June 24, 2022)

[torotornottorot]

Books read in 2023:

The secret life of bees (Jan 6) 4/5 (probably would have enjoyed it more when I was younger. Great overall but still the mammy stereotype. Don’t like it when poc women are portrayed as ~divine creatures~ we are just normal people and we just wanted to treated like normal people. Nothing more, nothing less. Too flowery and cliche at parts but still good overall.) 

I’m glad my mom died (Jan 15) 5/5 (funny and thrilling. Reading this would probably help a lot of people with toxic parents think through their own trauma) 

Evil Under the Sun (Jan 17) 4/5 (simple and entertaining. Not a masterwork of literature but satisfying nonetheless. A bit slow to get started but great overall) 

The hunting party (Feb 4) 4/5 (found hard to get into it/get invested because of unlikeable cast of characters but stil high rating for unexpected ending. I was bored a few times in the beginning and middle parts but it really picked up in the end and made up for it. Would make a great movie) 

Sparkling cyanide (audiobook) (Feb 20) 3/5 (good to listen to while doing other work around the house. Probably not worth it to take separate time out to read) 

Last bus to Woodstock (Feb 24) 3/5 (hated the main detective and how he went about the investigation eg. relying on instinct and chance discoveries. But the side characters were super interesting and the ending was unexpected. Would have liked it better if inspector Lewis was the main character. No decent female characters. Only wh*res or the "shrill wife." But the crime itself was interesting and I liked the writing style). 

And then there were none (audiobook) (Feb 26) 5/5 (Omg. I was in thrall throughout. My favorite Agatha Christie book I’ve read so far. I actually thought there had to be a supernatural explanation lol) 

The dark remains (feb 26) 3/5 (not bad. Just boring. Can tell it was written by a dude. Not one interesting character despite being set in the gang world. Very cliche type of noir) 

The Falls (Ian Rankin) (March 1) 4/5 (great buildup but disappointing payoff. Loved the concept of the quizmaster. Very likable the main detectives and very interesting plot. Sustains you throughout despite being so long. But yeah. Didn’t quite like the solution to the murder) 

Wire in the blood (March 22) 5/5 (excellent. Gory but excellent. What a plot!) 

The distant echo (March 30) 5/5 (omg. If someone asks me what’s your favorite crime fiction book I’d say this one! Very suspenseful and unpredictable loved it loved it loved it!!!!) 

The Guest List (April 13) 6/5 (this surpasses the distant echo. This actually made me feel things. The amount of gasps I gusped could have powered the state of Texas for a year. Absolutely loved it. ) 

East of Eden (May 15) 100/5 (what kind of genius do you have to be to write such a book?  

In Cold Blood 4/5 (May 30) maybe bc I already knew the story, I kinda had to force myself to finish this 

Macbeth 5/5 (June 14) iconic 

Northanger Abby by Val Mcdermid 4/5 (June 17) fun modern retelling. Expected a crime and twist but it was faithful to the original. Enjoyed reading. 

Gone girl 6/5 (June 24) omg her mind. Will definitely read more by her. Wish I hadn’t seen the movie before so I could have been fully surprised. Liked the ending. 

The Pearl (5/5) (July 3) not a page turner but a good depiction of reality. Very sad. 

Age of Vice 3/5 (July 7) great beginning but I didn’t like the ending. I think the author tried to put too many stories and perspectives in one. That whole bit of Sunil was unnecessary? It just slowed the story down at such a crusial moment. And Sunny’s backstory with Vicky too. I don’t think it was necessary to have an unbelievably tragic backstory for every character and he already had his deal with his dad. Some things are never clarified like what happened to his mom, his true relationship with Vicky. Why Ajay agreed. Ajay turns out of be such a loser in the end. Maybe it’s “realistic” but lots of things that happen in this book are not realistic so I don’t know why only the ending has to be realistic. I wish I could have followed Ajay’s journey to a good ending. 

Milk fed 2/5 (August 12) only read bc of booktok. Good seeds here and there. didn't realy like it.

The club (5/5) (august 19) excellent, gripping. A bit longer than it needed to be though. 

The grownup Gillian Flynn (4/5) (October 19) great short story. Great writing. So engaging. Perfect length for getting back into reading 

Emma by charlotte Brontë and another lady (5/5) (Nov 2) love. Mr. Ellin needs to be played by Simon Baker in a movie. 

A room of one’s own by Virginia Woolf (Nov 11) (1000/5). This has been on my to read list for ages. I see quotes from this everywhere and every time I’m astounded by how she just she gets it and knows exactly what to say to express it perfectly. The essay was everything I imagined it would be. Forever grateful to that Destiel fanfic for introducing me to this. 

Villette (4/5) (Dec 29) lovely 

Girl, interrupted (5/5) (Dec 31) made me ponder about a lot of things. Her youth was really kind of stolen from her. Made to freeze just like that painting. what is the right thing to do? What is helping and what is hurting? What does “crazy” even mean? I think I tend to be very judgemental about this kind of stuff. But this book made me realize that people are people even if you do not understand why they act a certain way. They feel the same as me. 

[mejomonster]

Justice in the dark, ep 3, (and ep 4) was so good:

I'm just beyond mindblown still. I had big fears of expecting anything. Instead I'm not just having my expectations exceeded I'm also just being completely spoiled with exactly the kind of choices id make and I couldn't even have let myself Hope for this. Did this show have a big budget? Did it make a deal to get everything it wanted? Idk but its unbelievably more than I wanted and I am in love. Just. I'm so happy with how the show is.

Opening scene ep 3 in Fei Dus dream/mind? Love it. Love it visually, love seeing the mental state in that kind of scene, I love all the memory flashbacks, and also just. Absolutely ridiculous to me how this show must have gone: yes we need a cgi budget, a good one. Good cgi team please. Why? Even though we're just a psychological thriller and murder mysteries don't need special effects? Don't worry about it. We need special effects for dreams and flashbacks to look super cool. uvu it's completely necessary. It's completely unnecessary they could've told this story with no cgi for anything except (if desired) some setting establishing shots, and the action scenes (many of which action scenes that they could have simply cut most of from the writing). Instead tjis show was like you know what? No, we NEED cgi for Fei Dus internal pov. They're so valid for that. I love the choice. It's not needed but it's very cool and I think improves the feel of the show. I loved the opening scene.

The action scenes with Luo ep 3? WOWZA. I know some people are going to dislike them for being too action hero/unrealistic, others may dislike just cause they don't like action scenes. And then others may dislike just cause the lighting being heavily relied on for set design is also relied heavily on for action scenes - I am cool with lighting being used so heavily and unrealistically, because for me I enjoy the mood it creates. For some people it's very unrealistic to an undesirable degree in what they'd wanna watch. I personally LOVED the fight scene. It felt like a pov of how Luo sees himself, and us the audience seeing him as the "superhero" extreme talent his friends, team, Fei Du see him as. Also the whole car chase highlights how "super talented" both Luo and Fei feel like compared to other characters in the novel. But also? He's injured in the end. Luo is bleeding, limping, and it all eventually builds up to ep 4 (which I just also watched) and him collapsing after hours of insisting he Tough and Fine (and Fei Du noticing he's not and noticing he probably learned to lie like this about himself FROM Luo). Luo is NOT a superman, he IS human no matter how "good" he is in a crisis, he is just a flawed person who can be injured too. I loved how he looked as super-skilled as Deadpool almost (I love me trashy fun action scenes and this show is doing GREAT) and like Hard Boiled. I also love how that fantastical unrealistic dramatic fighting is later compared to how weak and vulnerable he actually is as he's injured and hiding it from others so he can remain their rock to lean on until the case ends. Basically though: LOVE the action scenes. Loveeeee. Guardian did not have the budget for this stuff.

Love the scene in ep 4 where Luo admits he suspected Fei of hurting his dad and of investigating Fei as a child, Fei caught having hired people to tail his dad and responding by bristling and acting like WHO CARES IF I TRIED TO KILL HIM MAYBE I DID and Luo says "sorry." Fei says he has no empathy and he's like any cruel person who'd hurt another, but his actions themselves (as Luo says sorry for) are helpful to others at the expense of public weakness exposed to everyone and he thinks Fei Du is a kind person inherently who wouldn't choose to hurt others. (Also loved the earlier ep 3 car scene where Fei contemplates running over the motorcyclists and Luo insists fei is too important to sacrifice himself by killing others - aaaaaa). Luo suspecting him in ep 4 I appreciate. Lashing out saying such cruel things - it's human and flawed to buy into Fei Dus act of being cruel when he lashes out, and this whole chunk has been about Luo acting wiser than others and stronger but really just as weak and flawed in that he can be so injured he needs a hospital and so bad at judgement he almost gets sucked into Fei Du lashing out and he has to realize he's being cruel to Fei Du by making assumptions and prejudices about him and apologizing about his own wrong judgements. I also liked Luo grabbing him and teasing him immediately after, destroying the barrier Fei was trying to create by implying he Could be as Awful as Luo accused him, dragging Fei back into messy warm connection of a safe intimate relationship where he's not alone and not feared and where Luo Will Not push him away. It's Luo responding to Fei testing if he'll be "abandoned" for being who he is, and Luo passing that test by dragging Fei Du closer and showing by his casual reaction (and sincere apology) that Fei is accepted and safe and can't easily destroy this relationship. It's stable. It's here for Fei Du. It won't run away if Fei Du makes a mistake or acts awful or lashes out in fear.

I loved a little scene where Luo smiles after Fei Du at the station and Tao Ran looks at him like !!!????!! And Luo drops his smile and pretends Fei didn't make him smile and happy. I LOVE Tao Ran in the show (as you know) but wow when he's constantly visually on screen it's much more obvious how constantly he's actually present in the story. He's not the leader like Luo and not Feis most vulnerable intense connection. But he is a critical part of solving the crimes, keeping Luo functional, grounding Fei Du in reality with the rest of society, and in generally showing through his presence the other twos personalities and duo interactions with Tao Ran as a participant. Obviously that's the structure, since in book it's almost a love triangle. But in the book once they realize Tao Ran won't like them it almost feels like he falls to the background a bit. Visually on screen though, it's more obvious he's a consistent stable presence in both of their lives and a person they both don't really know how to live without. He is a third part of this "family." Luo needs Tao to scold him, to notice what Fei Du isn't shown and what Luo would refuse to confront or admit if Tao ran wasn't involved. Tao helps him think through his theories, process his own guilt when he fails, helps him be strong and motivates him to try to be "like a superhero" to others when he is weak (and Tao ran is one of the people who sees through that act - along with Fei Du who probably learned to see through it from Tao Ran). Tao is the one who smooths out the interactions between Luo and Fei so they do realize it's lashing out due to guilt on Luos end and fear of abandonment on Feis end, so that both of them don't actually end up Permanently separated and drowning in their own guilt/fear. Tao Ran is so story critical and it's way more noticeable when he's visually on screen so much.

Anyway yeah like I said, I love when Luo smiles after Fei Du and Tao ran catches it. I love when Fei Du notices early af that Luo is injured after the car accident and Luos hiding it. (And it's on 1 level of course care for Luo and concern, showing his act of not caring and hating him is a front, but also 2 its clearly a trait Luo has that Fei Du picked up and emulated growing up lol).

I loved the apology scene. And the shrimp peeling scene. And the car scene where they both did SUCH GOOD ACTION HERO jobs in sync! Really reminded me of them being So Great in the novel they're matched, but also vulnerable in their own moments (in these episodes Luo physically and in making assumptions, Fei Du emotionally in being afraid he'll be abandoned and just emotionally less healed and self aware then older Luo Wenzhou). I loved all the scenes who am I kidding.

TAO RANS SCENE ADMITTING A BLIND DATE HOW COULD I FORGET. Oh my god. That scene. I think the shows really barely showing the Luo crush on Tao backstory (but I don't mind because by the book start Luo is aware that crush will never be reciprocated and treats Tao mostly like a platonic partner/best friend he just acts a bit Extra fond of and takes extra shit from and critique because Tao Ran knows him too well, and that part of the relationship is all preserved in the show). Anyway Tao Ran says he has a blind date. And Fei Du actually says :c I guess I have to give up on you now. Idk how they were allowed that scene (but I remember saying that to myself nonstop with Word of Honor) but I'm so happy it was so nice. The little arc of Fei Du doting on Tao Ran, hoping to be with Tao Ran, Tao Ran letting both Luo and Fei know he's not going to be single anymore and can't be Fei Dus projection crush or Luos stand in for a romantic partner in his life (so they both need to look elsewhere like say Each Other). Fei Du in particular had this nice scene that feels like the book, and also like the book regularly calls girls pretty and compliments, so I'm going to stretch and just say he's bi enough established for me to be happy (and related to explicit bi characters in cdramas I again say Please Watch Bureau of Transformer it's as bi as Jack Harkness in Torchwood).

I'm King of the Tao Ran fan club sorry Fei Du. Sorry Luo Wenzhou. My heart soars when my guy is on screen. <3 I hope whenever Justice in the Dark finishes airing (idk maybe April considering rumors), if people like it, then I hope like Word of Honor or Guardian it gets popular enough for some memes and that there's some people out there niche loving Tao Ran as much as Ye Baiyi or Da Qing.

Its just personally funny to me that in both Guardian and Silent Reading novels and shows, the first case is a person jumping off a building they have to save by catching, that person jumping due to a relationship between caretaker/child. If this also happens in any other priest stories it SURE is a trend.

If I had any real personal specific critique of the show based on my own tastes? I think the script adapter could have written some dialogues on the murder mystery portions of the plot clearer. I think when Golden Triangle was brought up, then the other drug cases Luo was investigating, I was a bit confusing dialogue wise as to where they initially were told to audience. I read the novel like over a year ago so my memory is fuzzy, but from what I Can remember this show case plot is following the novel plot so I recognize actual plot itself will be priests case for better or worse. But I just think the way the script brings up new clues/developments could be a bit clearer. That said it's getting better over time so maybe it'll smooth out? The cigarette and business card clues were done well and fun to click into place for the audience as the characters do. But again the Golden Triangle and other drug cases mentioned feel like they're added from nowhere into dialogue then suddenly part of the plot. I still prefer this mystery script over Detective Ls since I loved that show but the mysteries were very simple, but at the same time I think shows like My Roommate is a Detective communicated case development details more clearly.

[popcornpages]

Goodbye to the Good Bad Mother

After 14 heartwarming episodes, "The Good Bad Mother" concluded today. This one has been one of my favorite dramas released in 2023 so far. If you review this show piece by piece, you might be disappointed because you won't find much depth in terms of content. However, it was purely an entertainer, and I think that's why I loved it. It was a very good entertainer.

When Korean dramas touch on childhood traumas and strict families, they tend to be a bit too much or too cruel, making me feel uncomfortable watching them. When it comes to power struggles and political crimes, they become overly dramatic and overshadow all the other good things happening in the show. In that aspect, "The Good Bad Mother" succeeded in creating a balance. Nothing felt overbearing or overly uncomfortable. Despite everything happening, the drama was able to do justice to its theme and overall atmosphere.

Lee Do Hyun and Ra Mi Ran were the soul and breath of this show. Their acting and unbelievable chemistry as a son and mother were so nice to watch, sometimes heartbreaking too. All the other characters also performed well, especially the kids. Almost Every character had a story to tell and a part to play in the life and relationship of Kang-Ho and Young-Soon.

The last few episodes felt a bit unrealistic considering the plot of the drama. Within days of Kang Ho regaining his memory, he was able to gather all the evidence needed for the end. Some things just fell from the sky. Still, the writers were successful in hiding this inconsistency. Even though after Young Soon destroys all the existing evidence, Kang Ho risked his life to gather more, it felt too hollow and rushed. Since the drama is not a crime thriller, it is forgivable.

There were some characters that felt unnecessary and, at some point, even annoying. For example, the songwriter. What was the point of that character? Even though he created some chaos surrounding the farm and the mother, it just felt so random. Also, the detectives. Why did they keep coming again and again? The first two times were reasonable, but after that, they felt like some jobless characters popping up for no reason.

Despite all this, it was an authentic and refreshing ride.  This Korean drama is a must-watch.

[imminentinertia]

A Very Personal Best (And Worst) Of 2022

I'm not really one who does summaries at New Year's but this has been A Year so.

Long story short, I have a depressive disorder and crashed quite a bit in the spring, and I usually self-medicate with obsessive re-reading of classics (don't ask me how many times I've read Persuasion) and watching TV. Yes, I also do proper medication and such. Anyway. The last time I was getting myself through a depressive episode I watched unbelievably many hours of various restorations (even some Baumgartner, who's painfully unprofessional) and history shows. This time I apparently opted for things with a narrative instead.

I.e. live action BL.

Oh lordy lord, it's been A Year for certain

Biggest surprise

Back in April I went "Oh, it seems Thailand has managed to make a live action BL that looks fun. Maybe I should watch an episode"

...the first episode hit me about as hard as Porsche kicks, I'm still not okay in the slightest

Is KinnPorsche The Series full of flaws? Sure. Is it nonetheless the most fun I've had watching a TV show since, oh, 2010 or so with BBC's absurd Robin Hood (featuring biker aesthetic Guy of Gisbourne and a delightful sheriff of Nottingham)? Is the acting gorgeous? Is the cinematography gorgeous?

Oh yes.

Since live action BL evidently had come some way since I last had a look I dipped further into it. Which lead to:

Best TV show not necessarily airing in 2022 but that was when I watched it

We Best Love. And it really shouldn't be. On paper, it ticks so many of the boxes that made me rage-stop reading BL years ago: unmotivated rivalry, pissy hothead uke, the page boy trope, the i-saw-you-years-ago-and-we-are-meant-to-be trope (this is one I absolutely hate), unnecessary conflict, you name it it was in there.

And it works.

It works partly because director Ray Jiang doesn't work everything into the ground. The unnecessary conflict grows much less unnecessary. The unmotivated rivalry finds a bit of motivation and it gets resolved, which also handles the uke trope. The meant-to-be shit doesn't get rubbed into the audience's faces (okay, my face specifically). It's elegant. It's well paced. There's none of the clobbering the audience with the trope sledgehammers. It's a gentle trope massage where you (well, I) end up losing quite a bit of your (well, my) loathing of the tropes.

The rest of the reason why WBL works so marvellously well is Sam Lin and Yang Yu Teng, whose chemistry puts most other screen couple chemistries in the history of screen couples to shame. They electrify the show, in every scene they have together.

Extra kudos to WBL for underwater scenes that aren't threadbare kisses.

and also

Best throwback to when the world was fresh and new and I hadn't tired of the classic yaoi tropes

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry. I just liked the colours on the posters I saw before it started airing, thinking this looks like it has a cinematography I tend to find very beautiful, so I gave it a go.

The script is basically a list of tropes I don't enjoy, though. Including "I have loved you at a distance for a fuckton of years so clearly we're supposed to be together", fuck off already, the only thing worse than that shit is "we were lovers in another life so clearly we can't go looking elsewhere but have to be together in this".

I loved every minute of it.

That almost annoys me, but everything is just so toned down beautiful, the kind of colouring where you can almost taste the air, and I'm so easy when it comes to appealing cinematography. I'm also evidently terribly easy when I really like what the cast gets out of annoying characters. I'd like to punch Minato for being a waffling wibbling overgrown child but I adore him because Takuya Kusakawa does an amazing job playing him. I'd like to punch the seme looming out of Shin but I adore him because Sho Nishigaki does an amazing job playing him.

I'll reluctantly admit that it dragged on a bit, but it was pretty all the time.

I don't really do things halfway so I've been catching up on the last few years and various milestone BLs. In some cases it was a slog, in others a delight (Between Us, The Eclipse, Color Rush, Choco Milk Shake, Old Fashion Cupcake, Utsukushii Kare, I Told Sunset About You, Semantic Error, A Man Who Defies The World Of BL, Big Dragon, do I count His or is that too arthouse? and more).

Which brings me to

Worst realisation as I looked at my Completed list on MDL just now

MyDramaList says I've watched 240 hours worth of BL/queer films and shows in 2022. I'm. What. How. Okay, I often watch a 45 minute episode of something before going to bed, and there's been a binge watch or ten, but. HOW.

Aaaand I still have some catching up to do and it would be really nice to find time to watch the second season of Alice in Borderland too.

[sunshine-arcanine]

(@waving-at-the-breeze) Oh my! 😮 Only 14 and already a champion! You have quite a lot of talent! ✨

It makes me rather curious about questions 32 and 9!

ahh!!! thank you!!! ^+^ it’s really all help to my amazing team and my bestfriends who never let me give up!!!

9. my battle strategy!!

my strategy is very specific to my team! the first thing I do in any battle is inflict status effects ; usually i send raichu to paralyze them. both my clodsire and chuunie have abilities that give status ailments when they’re touched, so it’s always a good start! from then on i assess my opponent … it’s important for me to always be quicker than them to avoid unnecessary damage if i can dish out a finishing hit in my turn before theirs; so Sunflower and Persian are really good for that because they’re incredibly fast. finally french toast and small pie are always responsible for whittling down the health to the last bit ! Since gym trainers in my region run on theme rather than type, you never know what to expect and that’s why I rely on status effects :3

32. have I ever encountered any rare or unusual Pokémon!

Yes!!! this is an unbelievable story for some, heheh ^^*> but there was a bad group of people in my region not too long ago who created two Pokémon by doing something funny with pc boxes? im not really all that great on the tech stuff but they pretty much took advantage of the system and used it to create two new super powerful pokémon … one of them was like a walking garden and I think they called it Hieroconas? the other was super cute weird and kind of glitchy like it came out wrong , i don’t remember the name !!!

but yeah!!! i have !!

[middle-eastern-queen]

It's literally 5:34 AM here, and I have officially caught up on House of the Dragon... and idk...

On one hand, I LOVE that the sexual situation is toned down A LOT in comparison with GOT... the original show went overboard and it was heavily unnecessary most of the time. So the fact that I can actually watch the show without feeling heavily uncomfortable... I like.

The pacing of the show though... kinda bothers me. Idk. I feel like they could've gone more into Rhaenyra and Daemon's relationship. I think it went by a bit too quickly.

My main gripe is the casting switch. I HATE IT. Listen, the new actress is great at acting. But it's not HER. I don't understand why ALL the male actors have remained the same, but the had to switch the female Cast? Like??? Daemon hasn't aged a day meanwhile she has gone up 10 years. Or the king went up a good 40, yet still same actor. Make this make sense?!? Why? It's so unnecessary and stupid and dumb. You basically disconnected your audience from a ship you were building up, cause the chemistry that had your ship going was with the other actress, not the current one. I HATE IT. Such a unbelievable stupid move. I don't know WHY and HOW they thought this would be a good idea.

What I also hate? Being reminded and therefore triggered about the GOT finale. Specifically how they RUINED AND DESTROYED Jon's character arc and story, just so they can "subvert expectations" (f u). This entire thing reminds me of how they freaking ruined it and went off and did their own thing, while ignoring the books and the story. Since they keep mentioning the prophecy and Jon, which literally did not happen in the original show cause the dumbass writers went haywire and Rogue. it PISSES ME OFF. That prophecy should've been fulfilled and Jon should've sat on that God forsaken throne. But here we are

Needless to say, a good show on its own. Has pacing issues, but good. In context though, ANNOYING AS HELL TO ME. Reminds me of things that probably should not have been reminded of😩

[ghostswillunderstand]

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

What a film. And I mean that in the most complicated of ways.

On the one hand the film is just full of cool, great shit. Elizabeth Olsen is perfection and the portrayal of her(on a filmic, non-story level) as this unstoppable villain is fantastic. The rest of the cast is aces as well. It has the best superpower stuff in anything(the dueling music is an obvious standout). The climax is straight and to the point and it doesn't feel either drawn out or perfunctory.

But on the other hand...wowzers is this one massively unintentionally sexist film. Even ignoring the way that the Wanda we saw at the end of Wandavision doesn't at all match up with the Wanda here(a big thing to ignore), the way this film explicitly draws a line between:

'Sorcery'

logical

ordered

male-coded

GOOD

'Witchcraft'

emotional

chaotic

female-coded

EVIL

It sure is something. The film even gives Wanda a couple of lines pointing out this bullshit(the line about how Strange does shit and gets to be a hero, Wanda does it and gets vilified, and her pointing out Strange's hypocrisy when he Dreamwalks and drives his own multiversal-corpse with demons) but it never interrogates this view.

The storytelling decisions surrounding Wanda throughout the whole film feel like the writers/producers picked the worst option every single time, with them seemingly hoping that the Darkhold just being there will be enough to paper over the turn they've take her character. She is so wonderfully kill happy that it is unbelievable that Feige and co. let it happen(oh and I saw you film, trying to show that a lot of people survived Wanda's attack at not-Nanda Parbat. Please, she slaughtered those fools.)

I mean just for simplicity...why wasn't the villain of this film a Wanda from a different universe? It covers the same story, it allows you to have your rampaging monster Wanda(lover her) and also gives you the 'real' Wanda getting to talk her down at the end, win all around. One other simple change that would've helped would have been for Strange at the end to actually try to take America's power for himself, having him fail this test of character would've done wonders for balancing the scales. Having America run from Strange to Wanda takes us back to the opening of the film and America bringing Wanda to other-Wanda without Strange's go-ahead would help remove the unnecessary paternalism that the film accidentally creates.

But having Strange himself falter at the end as a learning moment wouldn't have been a neat enough bow for Marvel, I guess.

Despite the numerous problems with the film, this is still easily one of Marvel's best. Raimi brings a pulse to the film, well except during the Illuminati sequence which feels tepid compared to the rest(until Wanda meets Xavier at least), and enough can't be said about Elizabeth Olsen's performance. She has turned the finger-tensed, spell gesturing into basically an artform at this point and even when handed this 1.5 note character(on the page) she single-handedly makes her the entire heart and soul of the movie. Strange fixes his watch at the end like it is some big symbolic moment and feels like the most hollow thing compared to *gestures at everything Wanda*

I won't go into a big thing here but the response to this film was interesting. I kind of obliquely touched upon this in a previous post about Eternals but I feel there is something really disheartening being bred in the Marvel machine(though it certainly isn’t unique to them). I feel that Marvel's adherence to its own 'house style' has created a problem where now a sizable chunk of the fanbase will always be unhappy if a Marvel film strays even for a little bit from said 'style'. Multiverse of Madness, Eternals, Iron Man 3, these films aren’t that far from the Marvel rulebook, more minor variations on a theme than any grand reinvention, but just the tiniest deviations have sent waves of apoplectic nonsense throughout segments of the ‘fan’base.

p.s. Not really a flaw with the film but it bummed me out that America was basically a completely different character.

p.p.s. Oh, and a bonus negative 100 points for not having Doctor Mordrid anywhere in the film. All the multiverse shenanigans, all the different Stranges, and you don't do one where he is Jeffrey Combs?