#then I’m looking for stuff like this throughout my entire rewatch

[ididntwanttohavetohauntyou]

Ik nobody asked but I was rewatching Wednesday and in the first episode there’s the scene where Sheriff Galpin looks at the hiker’s body in the woods, right? The scene that immediately follows that is when Thornhill comes into Enid and Wednesday’s room and says “sorry about the mud” and there’s a shot of her muddy boots. She came from the woods bc she had just been controlling Tyler but the mud comment could easily be ignored bc we find out right after that she teaches in the conservatory.

[bengiyo]

BL 2023 Review

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to write about BL for this year. I was originally going to do a The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly framework for it, but that feels meaner than I actually am about it. Instead, I think I’ll just write out some sections and unpack some things I felt along the way.

I Watched Too Much Again

Last year I engaged with about 92 productions around the world. This year it was 99 (I tracked stuff I completed here). Sure I dropped 18 of them this year, but goddamn. The problem with watching as much as I did this year is that I worked full time this year and also maintained a separate hobby. I also continued my twice-weekly watch sessions with my friend Emily, so there are an additional 100-ish watch sessions in here of rewatching, plus a few other rewatches (Theory of Love and My Ride most notably).

One of my struggles at this point is I’m far too familiar with the genre, and find myself feeling impatient and irritable with shows that aren’t to my taste the way I used to. Throughout the late summer and fall I found myself increasingly grumpier about the genre, and it didn’t get better until I had a holiday and basically slept a day to get some energy back. I also found myself growing apart from fans I’ve known and followed a long time. It’s been a difficult year for me as a long-time fan because my tastes, habits, and friendships in the genre have changed even if the amount I watch hasn’t really.

I Wrote a Lot This Year

I recently converted my watch tag away from my gaming internet persona to just my shortname, so all near-1000 of my Stray Thoughts posts can be found under #ben watches now. I’ve also been going back and adding #ben writes to some of the standalone pieces that I really liked. In reviewing them, the pieces I’m happiest about are my ode to Framboise from Kabe Koji Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to Be Recognized, my post begging everyone to watch La Pluie, my post about what it means to actually like queer men, my SBS ep 10 post that ended up being wrong, my post about the Lavender Scare and Be My Favorite, my Tokyo in April is… post about the breaking of the BL line,

However, the two posts I am most proud of is my half-joking response about why I think tagging each other back and forth across Tumblr in our writing is so important. and The Knowing: Being Queer in BL because I had so much great conversations with folks as a result of both of these posts.

Looking back at my own blog, this is probably the most active I’ve been in my entire time on this website, so thank you to everyone who interacted with me this year, because it really is people talking to me that gets me most inspired to write things down. Big shout out to @lurkingshan who will bug me repeatedly until I blog something that I said in passing.

We Started a Podcast!

After hanging out with @shortpplfedup since Bad Buddy, she got inspired and really wanted to bring something different to the BL podcasting sphere. I had time, and liked talking with her enough, so we started @the-conversation-pod. Now we’re a full year into it and planning out future stuff. It’s been so much fun being able to get things off my soul and break poor NiNi in our recording sessions.

From this year, I think my favorite episodes we did were The Moonlight Chicken Episode, the Eighth Sense episode, the ITSAY Anniversary Episodes,  The Wedding Plan episode, , and The Holiday Clip Show. Huge shout out to @ginnymoonbeam for anchoring the transcription process, and @lurkingshan for editing.

The VIIB Awards will begin airing soontm so look forward to that.

Favorite New Term: Business Gay Performance

Let’s be clear, Bump Up Business is not good. It is an obvious BL cash grab from OnlyOneOf that seeks to comment on the fake nature of BL while doing everything it can to trick the audience into believing that the BL pair is real.

Before we got deeper into this year, I was a big fan of a certain pairing, and then their fans took it too far and it affected the way I engaged with their performances and their work. I like that we have a new term for “fanservice” that communicates that you understand that this is for work. (thanks to NiNi for this comparison) I can look at the latest behind the scenes video from Last Twilight and say that I think Sea really understands the work they’re doing, and he and Jimmy have a very relaxed and mature version of BGP without feeling like I’m feeding into shipping.

Do I think they’re dating? No. Do I like the way they fake it? Absolutely!

I can look at one of @respectthepetty posts about Yin and War having personalized, color-coded mics, and we can talk about the next level BGP between the two and both communicate that we know that this is a performance.

It actually makes the extra PR work fun for me again, because now I can just shout “BGP! BGP! BGP!” and it not feel like I’m giving myself brainrot.

Thai BL Needs to Finish Stronger Next Year

Let’s get into some of the show stuff. This year was defined for me by Thai BL starting strong with good premises and then squandering them by not focusing on the details that mattered or leaning into baseless melodrama. Time for some reads. Some of these shows were generally good, but they failed at these things:

609 Bedtime Story: The world building crumpled in the back half and both endings are flat.

A Boss and a Babe: Cher is a pro gamer who worked for a gaming company and there was no plot point about this at all, or collaboration between the two groups.

Bake Me Please: Why was a show about cake so lacking in flavor?

Be Mine SuperStar: You had a real opportunity to explore a fan and idol romance and had Punn show so little growth. I hope the footage of First’s range is helpful now that Ja is out of BL.

Be My Favorite: You redid that whole amusement park date and muddled so much of what the hell happened on that day.

Between Us: You had years to make this interesting. Why are there five pairs and why is the end of this a JC Penny catalog photoshoot?

Dangerous Romance: What the fuck happened to the Sailom we had in episode 1 and 2 before that gun incident?

Hidden Agenda: Tee, what the hell was this? Twelve weeks of this?

I Feel You Linger in the Air: You may be the most beautiful show, with some of the most impressive performances of the year, but you absolutely botched this ending. Finish the goddamn season next time.

Love in Translation: I love you, but that whole kidnapping plot was so stupid at the end.

Low Frequency: I like your OST. That's about it.

My Dear Gangster Oppa: No examination about how gaming friendships become close quickly because of the combination of anonymity and teamwork (shout out to @twig-tea for this excellent summation).

My School President: Saving your gay commentary for the final episode felt like a conservative choice. I want more from you next time.

Naughty Babe: You retconned your own characters to tell a worse story. Unforgiveable.

Never Let Me Go: You didn’t know if you wanted to be a high school BL or a mafia story. It was difficult to watch.

Only Friends: I cannot believe you did Boston like that at the end. Either give Force’s character a clear personality next time, or keep him enigmatic; half measures make him and Book look worse. Sand was absolutely embarrassing. Boeing was a waste. Ending on all of them paired like that felt so unearned.

Step By Step: You forgot to ground Jeng’s external dreams at the end, so the final two episodes are just frustrating.

I’m glad I got that off my chest. We can go into the next year now.

Korea Put in the Work This Year

I really like the efforts from the various Korean studios this year. I really hope we get a Strongberry joint next year, but I want to acknowledge that we had 18 Korean BL dramas I watched this year, and at least three of them I think are must watches: Our Dating Sim, Sing My Crush, and The Eighth Sense. Beyond that, I think Love Tractor, Unintentional Love Story, and A Breeze of Love are easy recommendations.

It’s really impressive how the complaint for me this year with Korean BL is not about them using their time poorly. It’s more about normal drama concerns, where I think characterization is a little weak, or a theme doesn’t land squarely. This rapid iteration from the Korean studios is really impressive to watch, and I’m excited to see what some of the recognized players do next year.

Taiwan and The Philippines Have Been Quiet for Me

I wasn’t really able to connect with much from the Philippines this year except for The Day I Loved You. I never wrote about The Day I Loved You, but this beautiful and heart wrenching show is one of my favorites from this year. I wasn’t too keen on the Oxin Films offerings of this year, and I’m still chasing down the ones from The IdeaFirst Company.

As for Taiwan, this new BL project from the end of the year just isn’t hitting. Kiseki: Dear to Me also ended up really hurting me with the way they used Wayne Song and Huang Chun Chih. I love that angry little man with the white hair, but I’m still salty about Wayne and the general mess of that show.

Japan was Busy This Year

I watched 16 new shows, a few older ones, and a few movies this year from Japan. We haven’t gotten this much from them ever. I continue to love the Drama Shower project from MBS, and my beloved What Did You Eat Yesterday? returned this year. We had pretty stellar outings with Our Dining Table, If It’s With You, and I Cannot Reach You.

I think a third of the Japanese BL I’ve tracked on MDL actually released this year. That’s huge.

Still, I am going to side eye Minato’s Laundromat 2. You were the show that let me down the most this entire year. More than Only Friends, more than Step By Step, and even more than Kiseki. You absolutely blew it. You were telling a great story about a man with an acute case of internalized homophobia coming out of his shell and learning to love his younger partner and you blew it for stupid amnesia nonsense. I will never forgive you for this.

Where Were All the Uncles This Year?

Really, without Jim from Moonlight Chicken, and without the men from What Did You Eat Yesterday? we had an alarming dearth of older gay characters passing on knowledge and wisdom to the youngsters this year. What the hell happened?

Rare Dynamics Won: Second Chance Romance and Friends to Lovers!

We had so much second chance romance this year. It’s really my favorite version of gay romance because gays don’t always have ideal settings when they’re young. We had Our Dating Sim, Individual Circumstances, Jun & Jun, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, Be My Favorite, Love Class Season 2, and A Breeze of Love. I am satisfied.

Friends to Lovers is actually so rare in romance and we have so many to choose from this year! The best examples are I Cannot Reach You and Sing My Crush, but we also have one of the pairs in Love Class Season 2.

Gay Thoughts

I had a couple of ongoing thoughts this year about queerness in BL.

First, I want to return to my post about Sing My Crush and La Pluie, and how I assert that Men Need to Be Angry Sometimes. More than giving men grace to be righteously angry or upset about things, along with letting them express it in ugly ways, I really want to get into how we engage with these shows. I will stop engaging with moralistic reads on characters in 2024. I will no longer engage with asks, reblogs, or meta gripping the fandom where we're judging the moral fiber of the character.

The question that really only matters for me at this point is: Is this act from the character justified from their characterization, the narrative, or genre conventions; and is it interesting? Whether or not the character is good or bad reeks of the lame arguments about good and bad representation, and I am not watching BL like I’m being graded in Sunday school.

The second thing I really want to acknowledge at the end of the year is that the gay sex is finally getting better again. I watched The Novelist this year, and we have taken so long to get back to the space that show took us on the portrayal of male-male intimacy. We are in the genre about people with dicks. It should feel like it. There should be a masculine component there that feels specific to queer intimacy.

I will acknowledge 2 Cutie 2 Pie, A Boss and a Babe, Be Mine SuperStar, Bed Friend, Candy Color Paradox, For Him, I Cannot Reach You, Kiseki: Dear to Me, La Pluie, Love Class 2, Love in Translation, Love Mate, Middleman’s Love, Naughty Babe, Only Friends, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, and Wedding Plan for your contributions.

Final Thoughts

I like how broad the genre felt this year, and I enjoyed how much speculative fiction is entering into the conversation. I don’t know how I feel about there being five vampire stories in the works next year, but overall I’m glad that we’re getting more experimental concepts. I’m burnt out on the college engineering BL, and would like to see more shows about working adults.

Despite how grumpy I was for at least three months, I think this has genuinely been one of the best years we’ve ever had in the genre. I made a lot of new friends in BL this year, and I’m excited to see what comes next. Thank you all for spending some of your time with me this year and I’ll see you in the next one.

[ahhnini]

annihilate - rafe cameron x spider!reader (spider-verse!au)

synopsis - rafe is your boyfriend, but what happens when you find out he's an anomaly in your universe?

warnings - angst, established relationship, violence, implied sex, implied character death, manipulation

(let me know if I am missing any warnings)

word count - 2.5k

moodboard 𓆇🕸️𓆸

a/n - rewatched the spiderverse movies and felt inspired! this is a mix of the sonyverse and the mcu!!

“goodnight, love you,” you tell rafe before hanging up the call. you strip down your zip-up and sweatpants, revealing your spider suit underneath. opening your window, you shoot a web onto a neighboring building, swinging, beginning your nightly duties.

It has been a tame night so far, you would say. helping a little girl get home safely, stopping a couple of robberies, and giving some pre-teens a lesson about fire safety. miguel hadn’t called you in for any missions, so you’d just been swinging around in your universe.

you ordered a slice of pizza (fully in your spider suit) and ate it on the rooftop of a building. no one, not even your boyfriend rafe cameron knew you were the spider vigilante of the night.

you’ve gotten extremely close with rafe over the school year, him being a transfer from north carolina, and you’ve helped him become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of new york city.

so naturally, you two fell for each other

you wanted to tell him about your secret badly, why you would be away from school for a couple of days, and why you would always abruptly hang up on him at night.

at the same time, you knew you couldn’t. telling one person would be the equivalent of telling the entire world.

“we should go get ice cream after school,” you hear his voice, he sets down his lunch tray right next to you. “we should, huh? we haven’t gone on dates in a while.” he smiles at you, grabbing your hand and rubbing your thumb. you appreciated the little touches he gave you throughout the day. “we should have a date at least once a week, yeah? we can explore the city, find different stuff to do,” rafe digs into his food, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“yeah, yeah, let’s do that,” you smile at him, biting into your sandwich.

after school, you two took the subway, walking around the block until you found an ice cream parlor. you both ordered, rafe ordering a single chocolate scoop while you ordered vanilla with sprinkles. “wanna hang at my place?” you offered, licking the ice cream beginning to drip down the cone.

you didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered.

“uh—yeah, would love to. is your aunt may home?” he asks, looking down at the floor. “yeah, she is,” rafe groans. “I don’t think she likes me,” he pouts and you giggle. “she does! she just takes a bit to warm up to.” you smile at him.

suddenly, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and your breathing quickens. something’s wrong. rafe notices, “are you okay?”

“y-yeah…um, I just remembered I left my homework in my locker, you can head to my place—”

“are you sure? you look like you’ve seen a ghost—”

“‘m fine! i’m fine! just, just go!” you shove him aside, running in the opposite direction. you turn back, seeing rafe scratch his head, staring at you.

please don’t follow me. please don’t follow me.

you run towards an alley, quickly putting your backpack on the floor and opening it up. you take out your spider suit and put it on, feeling the material hug your body. you shove your school clothes in your backpack and swing towards whatever is making your senses flare up.

you see it. an anomaly, terrorizing the streets of new york. you see the familiar green uniform, the green goblin. a variant of it. it wasn’t your green goblin, but rather, another universe’s. people flee the streets, hiding in nearby shops.

your attack on the green goblin was a surprise to them. you kicked them right across the stomach and began webbing their torso to restrict movement. thankfully, it worked, you dragged them to a secluded area so you could portal them back to their universe. you tapped on your watch, letting your boss, miguel, know that you’d gotten the job done.

you were so tired. you haven’t fought an actual villain in such a long time. out of all the universes, why’d you have to be in the one that was so boring? after you sent the anomaly back to its universe, you went back to the alley where you’d left your backpack…where someone had stolen it. along with your ice cream. shit. you can’t be in two places at once, right?

rafe still couldn’t be at your apartment after the incident, you thought. it was all over the news, footage of your battle playing out. mr. and mrs. cameron would’ve called him home by then.

they didn’t.

you snuck into your bedroom, quietly opening the window, webbing your way inside, careful to not make any noise. when you made it to the middle of your room, you sighed in relief.

but then you turned around.

rafe stared at you, wide-eyed and mouth agape. he shook his head as if he was dreaming. “what the hell are you still doing here?!” you whisper-shouted. “your aunt may talked to my parents! they wanted me to go home as soon as they heard what was going on but she talked to my parents, convinced them that I had to stay here ‘cus she ‘didn’t want anything to happen to me’” he makes finger quotes in the air, eyes still gawking at you. “I can’t believe you’re the spider-hero I see on youtube. does may know?” his voice suddenly grew. you quickly hushed him, “no! she doesn’t! keep it down!”

you quickly dig through your drawer, finding random clothes. you begin to strip down in front of rafe, not caring that he’s currently seeing you in your intimates. quickly putting on a shirt and shorts, you shove your spider suit inside your closet, along with your watch.

“please, don’t tell anyone about this rafe!” you begged, putting your hands together. “I won’t promise.” “good”

may burst inside, looking disheveled. she immediately runs up to you, checking to see if you're hurt. “no call, no texts, what were you thinking?!”

you bite your lip, immediately coming up with an excuse, “I know, i’m sorry, I got back on campus when it first started happening and everyone there got put on lockdown. and you know how our school blocks phone signals—”

you felt so guilty. may was the only person in your family left and you were lying to her. she pulled back, relief etched on her face. “it’s okay, thank god you’re safe. where’s your backpack?!”

“uh I…lost it…” you reply sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck. may sighs. you hear sizzling coming from the kitchen and gasping, she immediately runs off. you turn back to rafe, his things already packed. “i’m heading off for the night, i’ll see you tomorrow,” he pulls you in for a hug, craning down to whisper in your ear, “your secret is safe with me.” he gives a polite goodbye to aunt may before exiting your apartment.

“c’mon, we’re going out to eat. i burnt the lasagna.” may chuckles as she fans the pan, your little home smelling like burnt food.

the next day, you’re at rafe’s house. he’s asking you all these questions about your superpowers, and you can’t help but giggle in response to some of them.

“do you lay spider eggs?”

“ew, no, that’s never happened before.”

“how far can you shoot your webs?”

“i’m not sure”

“can I see your suit?”

you chuckle as you reveal your spider suit in your bag. during dinner, aunt may have told you she’s had enough of buying you backpacks, so she gave you one of her old canvas bags to use for school.

your watch rings, and you see miguel’s face pop up. rafe’s eyes widen and you chuckle nervously. “that’s uh, my boss…excuse me for a moment.” quickly exiting his room, you make your way to the nearby restroom to answer the call.

“there’s been a reported anomaly in your universe, I need you to hop on it. he’s from universe 664, and he’s highly dangerous. I can’t believe we just found him. we’ve been looking for him for months.” miguel rambles.

“who is it?” you ask, ears perking up.

"we have his file with a picture on it for reference, it should’ve already been sent to you. when you capture him send him right to hq so we could eliminate him.”

“okay, thanks miguel. i’ll get to it asap.” you see him nod at the other end of the call before hanging up. you sigh before pressing a couple of buttons on your watch to bring up the file.

you couldn’t believe your eyes. the anomaly was…rafe?

you reentered his room, silent.

“you okay?”

no.

how were you supposed to do this?

“yeah, duty calls, i’ll talk to you tomorrow,” you say quietly.

this can’t be right. why was your web fluid…watery? you swear you perfected this batch of web fluid, you even tested it out in your locker during lunch. you kept shooting your webs, hoping it’s just the chemical compound of the new formula and it’ll somehow, become sticker when it clings to the building. your optimism was shattered when your canisters became lighter.

you’ve been pacing around your complex rooftop for the past two hours, thinking about rafe. capturing him and sending him back to his universe would’ve been easier as you still could visit him. you couldn’t get the words miguel said out of your mind.

send him to hq so we can eliminate him.

eliminate him.

you shake your head, laying down on the concrete ledge, looking up to the stars, hoping tomorrow you'll wake up and this mission will just be a dream.

the pressure weighed heavy. you couldn't concentrate, your boyfriend noticed. he furrowed his eyebrows as he kissed you all over your body, rough hands gripping your sides. you shoved him aside, letting out a puff of air. rafe turned his body towards you, gently moving the hair that fell on your face. he calls your name, "hey, talk to me." shaking your head, you turn away, facing your bedroom window. he wraps his arm around your torso, pulling you close to him. he inhales a sharp breath, softly speaking, "i'll be here when you're ready to talk, 'kay?" nodding your head, you stare out into the concrete jungle, closing your eyes.

he knows. he knows that the spider society assigned him as your mission. he knows they'd never make you kill him yourself, so they're gonna make you send him to the society so the other spiders could kill him. how considerate.

rafe felt bad, real bad when he bugged your suit. while you were taking your call with miguel a couple of days ago, he broke into your bag and tweaked your web shooters, causing the formula to become less sticky. it was sick, but he had to do everything in his power to delay you from your mission.

of course, he knew who you worked for. miguel o’hara. that name left a bitter taste on his tongue. they do have history after all. how can a man like him not pay the repercussions of destroying an entire universe, and be looked up by so many others, while he’s villainized? it’s just not fair.

in his universe, he was spider-man. he was a hero. that all changed when you came into his life. he fell for you, hard.

then you fell for him. literally.

when your body was flung off the clock tower, his mind raced a million miles per hour. you were gone. the love of his life. he spiraled, falling into obsession with the fact that you were gone because of him.

deep in his grief, he began wondering the “what-ifs.” using his scientific knowledge, he created technology that brought a hologram of you back to him.

but it wasn’t enough.

he needed to physically hold you, he needed someone with true emotions, not just a ghost of you.

then he discovered the multiverse.

universes where you’re alive, where you’re with him.

he became jealous.

he traveled through different universes, coming in contact with all the different lives you were living.

they weren’t good enough. they weren’t you.

he was relentless, finding every universe you were in, not giving a damn about the consequences. that's when he stumbled upon your universe.

and it was like you never left.

taking the life and identity of your universe's rafe cameron was a simple task for him. he had the same family, the same friends, and the same personality. it was a complete parallel of his own.

he gently rubbed your back while you slept. how could the society do this to you? you told him you haven't been getting that much sleep, so being the good boyfriend that he is, he put you to sleep using his signature method. poor thing, there's so much weight on your shoulders right now.

“miguel, stop calling me!” you exclaimed. you were hiding in one of the restroom stalls, unexpectedly running out of the classroom in the middle of a lecture.

he sharply glares at you through the screen, “you need to hurry on this mission, he’s starting to cause problems in your universe,” he sighs before saying your name, “people are starting to disappear, cities are starting to collapse.”

your eyes widen.

“layla told us if you don’t bring him to headquarters by tonight, your entire universe will collapse,” he replies, abruptly hanging up the call.

your breathing quickens, chest rising up and down. you clutch your shirt, trying to calm yourself.

you storm out of the building, heading towards who knows where.

after long hours of pondering and anxiety building up, you approach the cameron house, getting ready to ambush rafe. seeing him take a nap from his window, you stopped in your tracks.

was this worth it?

killing your boyfriend for the sake of the universe sounded like the unique ultimatum. but what would happen if…you didn't send him to miguel? yeah, your universe would meet its end but…you get to be with rafe. besides, letting the society kill rafe would become an endless cycle. you'd look for him in every universe, ultimately destroying them as well. then you'd become the anomaly, and then you'd have a target on your back.

they'll kill you too.

but at least you'll be with rafe, right?

climbing the rooftop and propping the window open, you sneak inside, tiptoeing to his bed, you hold your watch out, preparing to send him through a portal.

you turn over to his nightstand, seeing his lamp glitch with vibrant colors.

tears brim in your eyes as you put the watch down, and gently wake up rafe.

"hey…" you softly say, gently shaking his shoulder. he turns around, smiling.

"why do you have your watch on?" he mumbles, pulling you closer to him.

you don't respond, instead laying down on the bed, facing him. he smiles and tucks your hair behind your ears. "did you miss me?"

"yeah"

this is the last time you'll be seeing him, anyway.

looking at the wall behind him, colors start phasing in and out.

rafe buries his head in your neck, relishing your scent. you pull away, taking one last glance at him.

it felt like nothing. the world you grew up in was quickly disappearing, but the world you've known to love was still in front of you. you hold rafe's face, pulling him for a kiss as you both disappear into nothingness.

divider credits - sseuda on tumblr

[exy-conspiracies]

over-analysing anon from before here!! I saw some of the responses (Andrew Minyard REBLOGGED GUYS) and I don’t think I phrased my other ask correctly (probably because I was high on coffee that day and was sleep-deprived) but I’ve been making note of the previous Exy games.

Disclaimer that everything I say is alleged and I don’t have concrete evidence to back up all my claims so take my conspiracy with a grain of salt. Thank you.

First off, I’m aware Coach Wymack wouldn’t allow Andrew to play off his medication because of all the legal bindings and stuff but honestly? I still like to think it’s a possibility—although slim—that he might have.

I mean. When you compare the previous games from the newest ones don’t you see a stark difference in the way Andrew plays? Before after a few hours in the games he’d look VERY tired and fatigued (more so then the other players who had been RUNNING) and then would be benched for the rest of the game. I assume it could be withdrawal but I honestly don’t have enough evidence to make a solid proposition. Remember the game against Balmonte (if I’m not mistaken. I am still so sleep deprived so apologies if I forget team names) after Seth’s death (RIP) Andrew had to stay in as goal keeper throughout the whole game?

Now compare that game to his latest ones. See any differences? There are many. First of all, he’s more perceptive and hyper-focused in his newest games (various reasons why) but he can hold his own against a team for the entire game without acting as fatigued or tired as he previously was. You could argue that it was due to the fact that he hardly tried during other games and thus he never had the endurance before but I don’t think that’s completely true — there’s no way that even after a small match (be it them losing or winning) why he always always got tired by half-time. Every. Time.

Argue all you want but the fatigue he showcased in those previous games were not normal symptoms. No way. I could never get a good look at his face (thanks Exy helmets) but something was definitely off after my fifth rewatch. Especially when you watch the matches side by side (and I did) so honestly? I think he WAS off his meds before his rehab. Not all the time of course since there’s still a very legal contract binding him to them but he was off them during games (allegedly).

And even if I’m wrong? Even if I’m just too sleep-deprived for my own good and I should go take a walk? I don’t care. This was a fun little thing I realised after I decided I wanted to finally understand what the hype over Exy was about and hey, my university has an Exy team so why not watch their games? It was a fun experience but I honestly need some sleep so good night y’all.

.

[myheartalivewrites]

A VERY INCOMPLETE LIST (PART 1)

I set out to make an ACD style incomplete list of things I loved about the RWRB movie throughout my third rewatch. I should've known better, because I'm not an Alex, I'm very much a Henry, and what you get instead is a VERY VERY thorough list of the things I loved in the film.

(This will have to be in two parts because I had to pause every few minutes to write shit down and it took me so long to get halfway through the film that it's bedtime now)

Alex being bratty in the limo (yes, opening scene)

Drunk Alex at the wedding, rubbing someone’s fur, chucking a canapé behind a sofa

Alex in a leather jacket 🥵

Mutters, “…you don’t wanna hear from me today”

“…article nothing of the US Constitution”

“No one in their right mind would ever give you a gun”

“You know I have a shitzu named Jonathan” and “That’s my son you’re talking about”

Shaan shoving Alex through a tree

“Hey Shaan, you think maybe I could get a little…” and Shaan's, “You’re fine”

Henry’s fake expressions, smiles, etc for the interview being so distinctly different than what we see later on are his honest ones

Alex mimicking one of Henry’s freestyle raps

“Vicky. *fists* Classic”

“Santal 33.” “It means you got good taste, Alex.”

Alex’s entire posture in the hospital closet

The way Henry laughs when he says “Oh my god it is!”

“Later, Shaan” and ✌️✌️

Alex’s flirty looks in the coffee shop (and his eyelashes)

Henry’s use of stickers on texts bc he’s a massive nerd

“I’m blocking you for the rest of the night” over Byron

Alex + orange shirt + grey shorts + thighs

Mexican textiles everywhere

Alex in a woolly grey jumper

Alex really wanting to help ❤️

Henry looking up through his eyelashes early on at NYE

“Loosen up!” and Alex drunkenly motorboating the air in front of Henry

The whole Get Low dance sequence, from Henry’s awkward dancing, to Alex’s much hotter stuff and the slo-mo, eyes meet moment

How you can SEE the moment when Alex leans in to the kiss and THAT’S when Henry panics

All Nora’s chats with Alex

Alex in a tux

Henry in a tux (lord rid me of the double breasted suits and big wide ties)

Alex pulling one of Henry’s legs up against the table in the Red Room

Henry poking at books when Amy walks in

Amy’s “Oooh God” as she runs away

“Like Stonehenge”

Henry’s smirks after “The night is young, Ma” and all the way through that scene 

The whole “Just to put it out there…” sequence

The vulnerability in “I wouldn’t mind doing this again…” and how Henry's so soft and then almost instantly pulls back 💔

The way Henry looks when he’s leaving, like he can’t believe his luck in getting to have Alex but also that he’s sure it will set him on fire and destroy him

Alex lifting Henry onto a table in the tack room

Henry hitching his hips up so Alex can pull his trousers down

“Which other famous boys have I shagged…?”

“Not here” 💔

“It’s just… who’s gonna do what?” 😂

“Hm… rigid” and the way Alex tugs on that shirt

All the little details in the Paris sex scene: Henry’s hand pushing on Alex’s back, reaching in between their two bodies to lead him in, his hitched leg… and then their expressions throughout; all the deep breathing Henry does while he adjusts

Alex’s white henley 🥵

OK, it's bedtime now! More whenever I manage to watch the second half! G'night!

(Update: here's part 2 ❤️)

[kittyprincessofcats]

RWBY Volume 9 Episode 7 - The Perils of Paper Houses

Long story short: I’m so on Ruby’s side here that it’s borderline making me angry. I’m seeing a lot of “Ruby and Jaune are both right/wrong” takes and on this one I have to say no. While I sympathize with his trauma, I still think Jaune was 100% out of line here.

[tw for mentions of suicide]

I really can’t stand how some people are like “Why is Ruby yelling at people uwu?” as if we didn’t all want her to snap? She shoud have yelled more and gotten even angrier, tbh. She’s been suffering the entire volume and the others barely checked up on her. Of course she’s pissed at them for not noticing and just expecting her to pick up Cresent Rose and be fine.

Yes, Yang tried to ask if she was okay a few times throughout the volume, but it was always in a brief “Hey, you okay?” way, but not in a really meaningful “let’s sit down and talk about this, you’re clearly going through a lot” way. When Ruby passes out after hearing about Penny’s death, no one asks if she wants to talk about it. “No time.” (To be clear, I’m not blaming Yang for any this, the “Yang’s a bad sister” people need to shut up. Sometimes we have our own stuff to deal with and don’t notice that someone close to us is hurting. It happens. I’m just saying that from Ruby’s distorted, depressed, grief-ridden point of view, it might feel to her like Yang doesn’t care, even though that’s not true.)

Weiss tried to talk to Ruby about Penny and have that conversation, but after Ruby shut her out, there were several moments were that consideration didn’t come through. When Ruby couldn’t get to nose hairs on time, Weiss was the one to say “Ruby, come on. We got everything else.”

And in this scene Ruby is clearly torn up over Penny’s death, talking about how she was drawn to her sword, and no one talks to her about it or comforts her. Instead Weiss complains about how it’s “raining on just us” and then the team proceeds to talk about how to get back to Remnant while letting Ruby just sit there.

Heck, none of the others even commented on Ruby giving away her emblem!

And really, this might be my Nuts and Dolts shipper googles talking, but I think a lot of Ruby’s anger at her friends boils down to her grief for Penny. Penny was Weiss, Blake and Yang’s friend, too and yet none of them (from Ruby’s point of view) seem to be grieving for her. (Of course Ruby doesn’t know what happened after she passed out in episode one. For all we know WBY could have had a really long and deep conversation about Penny right there that we and Ruby missed.) But what Ruby sees is that they just all lost a mutual friend who meant a lot to Ruby in particular and the others seem to just be fine with it. Weiss is more busy mouring for a piece of land rather than a living person, a friend. Blake and Yang have are happy and sorted out their mutual romantic feelings, which Ruby sees as a betrayal because a) our friend just died, how can you think about romance and happiness right now? and b) she’s jealous that Blake and Yang get to be in love and together while the girl she loves just died. (Yes, that is my shipping googles talking, but it’s what makes the most sense to me.)

And then let’s look at this episode:

Right of the bat, Ruby’s not sleeping. How long has she not been sleeping for? Has anyone noticed that she’s always tired? Has no one noticed that her usual cheerful attitude has been completely gone for the entire volume? (Seriously, just rewatch bits of a older volume and the whiplash will hit you.)

Blake: “Ruby, where’s your weapon?” (translation in Ruby’s mind: You’re supposed to just be fine and fight like everyone else now.)

Ruby: “Oh, sorry, still waking up.”

Weiss: “Hurry! People are counting on us!” (Yeah, really not helping there. None of them noticed that she doesn’t want to pick up Cresent Rose or have the responsibility of protecting people.)

Blake: “He’s obviously been through a lot.”

Yang: “Yeah...”

Blake: “We can be frustrated later. Right now, Jaune needs us.”

Ruby’s thoughts: “Oh great, so when it’s Jaune, you recognize that he’s been through a lot and you think taking the time to be there for him is more important than moving on right away and trying to find a way out of here. But where was that energy for me? When I was suffering alone with Penny’s sword in my hand, you only talked about getting out of here asap and didn’t care to be there for me or take time for me. There was no ‘we can be frustrated about being stuck in a fairytale later, right now Ruby needs us’ for me.”

(And again, only Little notices that Ruby’s not okay.)

Weiss: “Then who does that leave us with? It’s obvious we need someone to guide us or we could end up getting thrown back in time, or killed by the tree or worse.” (Translation in Ruby’s head: “We can’t count on you to lead us.”)

^Everyone’s expression when listening to to purple paper-pleaser. (Ruby’s thoughts: “Oh great, they have compassion for someone they just met but when I’ve been low-key thinking of wanting to ascend and be someone else the entire time, none of them even picked up on it.”)

Jaune: “They don’t know what they want! Afterans are all either too smart, too stupid, or too crazy to trust!”

So Jaune not only doesn’t respect what the paper pleasers actually want, from the way he’s talking about them he doesn’t even seem to genuinely like them. The way he’s frantically trying to keep them from ascending is him coping with his own trauma of not being able to save people, but it’s all about him and how this makes him feel, not about them. Yes, Ruby was out of line calling them Jaune’s “make-believe friends”, but I don’t quite buy people’s “she insulted his family!” takes when Jaune himself doesn’t seem to really respect them.

“Wanting.” ... Yeah, there’s something here that Ruby’s not okay with and not over, I can’t quite put my finger on it.

God, I want to slap Jaune so hard right here. Accusing Ruby of “standing around” and telling her to help her teammates... Dude, first of all, who are you to give Ruby orders and snap at her? Last I checked you weren’t her boss or her team leader. And if you were observant enough to see Ruby not help her teammates, how did you miss the part where she didn’t even defend herself? She’s the one who just almost got eaten by a Jabberwalker becasue she was having panic attack and you’re blaming her? Shut up.

Yang: “Ruby? Are you o...”

And again, Yang tries to ask if Ruby’s okay but gets interrupted.

And this to Ruby must have felt like a betrayal in a way, too. Yang was about to ask her if she’s okay, they were all about to finally listen to her, but instead the village got destroyed and now everyone’s off comforting Jaune instead. (And the problem isn’t that they comfort Jaune, it’s that Ruby didn’t get this sort of comfort over Penny’s death. The paper pleasers aren’t actually dead, they’re getting reborn like they wanted. Penny - as far as we know - is actually dead and Ruby must be thinking “Where were my words of comfort? Where were all of you with your compassion when I needed it?”

So yeah, I 100% get Ruby snapping here, it was about time. And to me  “Oh, I’m sorry, should we be mouring Jaune’s make-believe friends?” definitely had the undertone of “I’m still mouring for my very real friend over here, who had her whole life ahead of her and was tragically murdered and who all of you seem to have just forgotten about.” (Of course Jaune did absolutely not forget, but Ruby doesn’t know that.) Also, given her friendship with Little I’d read this less as “they’re make-believe because they’re not real people” and more as “they’re your make-belive friends becasue you weren’t really being a friend to them.”

And also yeah, sorry, I’m not usally a Jaune hater, but he was 100% in the wrong here. I’m seeing some takes that “they both had some valid points” and no, they didn’t. “The walkers came for you because Neo hates you!” How is that Ruby’s fault? How is a crazy criminal being after her Ruby’s fault? “And let’s not forget the reason we’re in the Ever After in the first place: It’s becasue of your plan that didn’t work!” Jaune, did all those years here make you lose your memories or some shit? Because as I recall you all made that plan together. You all sat around that long table at Schnee manor and came up with this plan together. You, Ruby, WBY, Oscar, Ozpin, Penny, Emerald, Ren&Nora, Whitey, etc. But now that it didn’t all work, it’s suddenly just Ruby’s plan? Nah, shut up. And what else would you have suggested, Jaune? What other clever, better plan did you have up your sleeve? Ironwood was going to blow up Mantle if you all didn’t come up with something within an hour and you’re seriously blaming Ruby? Fuck all the way off.

And even in his apology, Jaune makes it all about himself. He doesn’t even really apologize to Ruby, he directs it more at WBY and then starts talking about his own pain, again taking the focus away from Ruby’s feelings. I do sympathize with Jaune, I really do. He had to do something horrible, had to deal the killing blow to a friend at her request and he’ll never be over that. Then he got transported back in time, had to spend all that time alone with his guilt and grief, couldn’t (as far as he knows) save Lewis either. I know he’s been through absolute shit, I’m not trying to not be compassionate here - but none of what he’s been through was Ruby’s fault in any way and blaming her when she’s already in such a fragile mental state was 100% unjustified and uncalled for. So yeah, I’m gonna say it: Shut up Jaune, she should have punched you.

“On that bridge... I was the only one that could do it, I was the only one!”

Yeah, about that... Ruby still doesn’t know what exactly happend with Penny. She and Jaune had their fight and that still didn’t even come up. I saw some people say that we’re supposed to assume Jaune told them off-screen, but I really don’t think so. The writers wouldn’t leave something that big that Ruby should have a huge reaction to for off-screen, imo. And if they did that’s terrible writing. (Still, Blake and Yang look like they know what he’s talking about?? Idk, this left me confused. I really hope we’re still getting our scene about that.)

Their faces when Ruby tells Blake to shut up. I think (or at least I hope) it hit everyone here that Ruby’s really not okay and needs more than just a little pep talk to be okay again. (No amount of trying to stay positive is going to bring Penny back. I know I’m looking at this through a shipper lense, but like...)

[fancy-a-dance-brigadier]

This is your invitation to ramble about 'Through The Trees' (or any other fic you'd like to more!)

(In response to this post)

Aww thank you friend! I shall gladly take you up on that invitation :D

So, Through the Trees is a Discovery oneshot I’ve been working on that focuses on the early days of Stamets and Culber’s relationship, spanning from their first meeting pre-canon to Culber’s death in season one. One of my favourite things about their relationship is the recurring motif of distance - there are so many instances throughout the show of them being apart from each other somehow, whether that separation is physical or emotional - and I’m using this fic to explore that theme. And since I feel like their relationship was at its most interesting in the first season (and the second, of course), I decided to focus on that era of their lives. Their relationship always struck me as kind of one-sided in the first season, with Culber almost always taking a backseat to the spore drive - and I don’t think it’s malicious on Stamets’ part, he’s just kind of obsessive and socially awkward, and I think he’s always felt more comfortable dealing with science than with people. The fic is from Stamets’ POV, and I’m trying to capture that sense of disconnect, of obsession, of unwittingly taking Culber for granted and just not realising it because there are So Many Other Things Happening. And because I love an immersive POV, I want to weave his distraction so thoroughly into the narration that when Culber’s eventually murdered, it’ll hit both Stamets and the reader in a way that’s kind of intense (only time will tell if I can pull that off!).

As far as progress on it goes, I’ve got all the pre-canon stuff pretty much written - I’m just stalling on rewatching the season one episodes I want to include as part of the story lol. One day I’ll get around to it, and hopefully soon because I really like how this one is turning out, and I’d love to finish it! Anyway, to close out this ramble, here’s a wee extract below the cut:

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard of the panspermia hypothesis-”

“That’s the idea that all life comes from microorganisms,” Hugh says - he’s not seeking confirmation, but proving that he can keep up. Paul raises his eyebrows, impressed, and Hugh picks up on the meaning behind his expression and grins. “I’m not as dumb as I look, you know.”

“I never thought you were. Dumb, I mean, or dumb-looking-”

“It’s alright.” Hugh’s grin does not drop. “Go on. Tell me more about panspermia.”

Paul does just that, not skipping a beat now that he is in his element. “According to my findings, fungal spores are the progenitors of panspermia - but they’re more than that too. They make up all the energy in the universe. So, if you understand the biology of spores, you understand what holds our entire existence together.”

“So what, at the end of the day we’re all made of fungus?”

Despite himself, Paul laughs at that. “I wish. It’d make people so much easier to deal with - I understand fungi better than anything.”

“You don’t understand people?” Hugh asks. A barely perceptible change comes over his soft expression - a slight knitting of his brow, a narrowing of his eyes.

“It’s never been my specialty.” His nerves creep up on him again, and he balls up his fists in the fabric of his trousers. “Can we go back to the spores?”

But they cannot go back now. Hugh has seen his vulnerability, a crack in his armour, and Paul can do nothing to erase his memory of it. And there is something about his stare - the gentle gravity of it, the piercing kindness of it - that frightens Paul to death.

[jadelotusflower]

Stargate rewatch: 1x20 Politics

We pick up right where the last episode left off, Daniel getting his shoulder wound treated and trying to explain the alternate reality to his sceptical team.

It’s funny to see the team not really believing Daniel because it’s still early in the run, whereas later on any of them could say the weirdest shit happened and the rest of them would just roll with it no questions asked.

Jack: “And you were there, and you were there, and there’s no place like home.” Daniel: “As a matter of fact, you were there.” Heh. Is Daniel just frustrated or did he not get the Wizard of Oz reference? Works either way.

I’m curious how the team thinks Daniel got shot by a staff weapon if it was all a dream though.

“Yes but the defining event, the death of Ra, took place in both worlds.” A bit of a logic leap by Daniel but hey, it’s what he does.

This is a clip show. I give SG-1 a lot of credit for actually making an effort with their clip shows, always building them around an in-universe plot to give context and cause. They’re still annoying to watch in these days of binging, but they’re as successful as they can be.

Written by Brad Wright (not including excerpts) and directed by Martin Wood.

“How’s our boy?” I find this very cute? Hammond really is the mama duck to SG-1’s ducklings, the epitome of restrained affection.

His absolute and obvious disdain for Samuels is also a real treat. He rolls his eyes!

Samuels is played by Robert Wisden, who was also briefly in Smallville as Chloe's father Gabe. Both shows were based in Vancouver, and both ran for ten seasons, so there's quite the guest star crossover.

In a private meeting with Jack, Hammond goes from “this is what I look like when I’m not laughing, Colonel” to almost laughing when Jack cracks another joke. I love Hammond so much.

I think Ronny Cox as Kinsey is actually the longest running villain in the entire show? Apophis finally bites it in season 5, but Kinsey makes it all the way to season 8.

“And this must be the drain through which the money flows” is such a great line for a pontificating blowhard politician, as is his hypocritical speech. You immediately know who Kinsey is, and you hate him even though he’s actually right about a lot of stuff.

“Oh you’re right, we’ll just upload a computer virus into the mothership.” lol, the shade at Devlin/Emmerich here.

We get a date for the Chulak mission - 10 February (presumably) 1997. The computer in the previous episode indicated it was December 1997 so assuming time was the same in the alternate universe, it's been approximately 11 months since the pilot which seems about right.

The purpose of the mission is described as “to rescue both Dr Jackson’s wife and her brother, and determine the Goa’uld threat” which is the first mention we’ve had of Sha’re and Skaara in a while.

lol, Jack looking to Sam to give the correct pronunciation of Goa’uld because he doesn’t want to.

Lt Colonel “secondary objective” Samuels being the one to read from Jack’s report about Skaara being chosen really twists the knife.

“Because what is right cannot be measured by strength.” Great Teal’c line.

Argos gets discussed and it’s mentioned that SG-2 made recent contact with them - a nice little background aspect of the show that they do check in on the worlds they’ve visited from time to time.

Much is made of the lack of benefit to the Stargate program - guess that wonder drug from Emancipation didn’t pan out? Or maybe everyone just wants to forget that episode happened.

Sidebar - with all the clips it’s obvious that Daniel’s hair has been getting longer throughout the season - irl because Michael Shanks’ hair was shorter and was growing it out as filming progressed to get that Daniel look, but my headcanon in universe is that Sha’re used to trim it for him on Abydos, and since her abduction he can’t bring himself to get it cut

There’s an ongoing metaphor by Kinsey for the Stargate being a Pandora’s Box that’s kind of apt, the box (jar) being a gift from the gods intended to punish mankind after Prometheus gifted them fire, with humanity as Pandora, eternally curious and unable to resist peeking inside.

The show never had a Goa’uld character who took on the persona of Prometheus, Epimetheus, or even Pandora, which was kind of a missed opportunity.

Samuels the slimeball is “sorry it had to end like this” and Hammond rightly tells him to gtfo.

Nice crossfade, Mr Wood.

The Stargate shut down, the threat of an imminent attack - all in all, a good setup going into the season finale!

[gothicbarbie]

MY TOP 15 BL’S OF 2020

WOW, 2020 was A YEAR. This was hard ranking these but I'll try my best...

1. Where Your Eyes Linger [Korean] - One of my all time favorite series, I think because I really felt the chemistry between the actors in this one. I love the whole bodyguard sort of trope as well and the writing in this was so well done imo. I loved the tension filled moments and build up between the two. I just wanted moreeeee.

2. I Told Sunset About You [Thai] - Season 2 was iffy but season 1 was AMAZING from start to finish. I felt like I watching a movie. The writing, the scenery, the build up for the main pair... it was all so well done.

3. Color Rush [Korean] - The storyline for this BL is just so fun, I really loved the entire premise of this world. The chemistry between the two was nice and Korea does such a good job of building up the connection between their pairings. I'm sad that season 2 dipped a bit in quality and that season 1 felt a tad unfinished, but I still really enjoyed it.

4. Why R U [Thai] - This was a well done BL that was fun, I enjoyed the chemistry between Saint and Zee and I didn't find the drama or the angst overwhelmingly frustating. Plus it had a nice side ship and I liked the love scenes too.

5. 2gether [Thai] - I know people love this one, and I really enjoyed it too. It's perfect for those with a sweet tooth. There are some really great affectionate/sweet moments betweeen the main pairing. It was also the first BL I ever watched (if you don't count waterboyyy way back in the day lol) so it has a soft spot in my heart. But I do think it was a tad too safe for me. I prefer my BL's to have angstier/hotter moments throughout. The ending kiss made up for things, but it was unreastic to not have a proper kiss beore that. JMO.

6. Manner of Death [Thai] - I saw a gif of maxtul from this on tumblr and it's what originally got me into BL's. It spiked my interest. I see those two as the grandfathers of BL because they have been in so many things together, and their connection is so strong. I enjoyed this one a lot because it was a more mature series, and had it's own vibe/feel to it that I really appreciated.

7. TharnType Season 2 [Thai] - Season 2 wasn't as strong as season 1 for me but it was still enjoyable. I was really into Mew/Gulf and their chemistry when I first started watching BL's because it felt so genuine to me, and T+T was one of the first shows to really push the boundaries with the intimacy. Solid season.

8. Your Name Engraved Herein [Taiwan] - This was such a beautiful movie, with a positive ending, and I really loved watching it. It was depressng at times, but overall I just think it was so well done.

9. Mr. Heart [Korean] - Recently rewatched this series and it was so good! So fun and enjoyable. Loved the storyline, it felt pretty unique. I enjoyed the connection between the main two. What brings it down for me a bit is some of the physical moments in the series, like when one of them would hit the other... not for me. But overall, I could look past some of things because I enjoyed the rest of it.

10. Cherry Magic [Japan] - Such a cute and fun series, and definitely one of the most memorable ones for Japan. I had a bit of an issue with the intimacy stuff (they really couldn't even peck on the lips once??? It felt too platonic to me at times) but that aside, it was well written and a great watch.

11. Boy’s Lockdown [Filo] - This is actually my favorite of all the "quarantine" related series we got after Covid. To me, it was cute and fun and we got to see the main two come together in a nice and organic way. It was a good mix of different content.

12. Gaya Sa Pelikula [Filo] - Some cheesey/annoying moments for me, mostly regarding the sister character, but the rest of the series was nicely done. It also sort of felt like a mini movie. It has a slightly different vibe for me from other Filo series. I enjoyed it a lot.

13. Wish You [Korea] - Not my ultimate favorite series from Korea but it was well done. Wish I had more to say about it haha. But it was good.

14. Hello Stranger [Filo] - Another quarantine related story, and for a "web series" where the characters never really met til the end, it was really enjoyable. It was a great depiction of what students were going through during covid and I liked the way they went from scene to scene and did different interactions.

15. Because of You [Taiwan] - Def. some low/cheesey moments in this one as well but it was the first Taiwan series that I saw, so I enjoyed how different it felt compared to the other countries. Taiwan definitely has it's own style too. I liked that there were three couples in this one, and I enjoyed all three storylines.

Honorary Mentions: I'm not going into details with any of these series, overall I found parts of them enjoyable, but there were things I didn't love overall. But still worth checking out.

Korea: Craving You

Japan:Life: Love on the Line, HIS

Filo: My Day, Gameboys, Quaranthings, Cheat the Series

Thai: Gen Y, Present Still Perfect, Ingredients, En of Love, My Engineer, Saifahzon, My Gear Your Gown

Also check out my lists from other years! https://gothicbarbie.tumblr.com/post/705678223200174080/my-top-bls-of-2019-and-earlier https://gothicbarbie.tumblr.com/post/705227666795741184/my-top-15-bl-series-of-2021 https://gothicbarbie.tumblr.com/post/705139242020618240/my-top-20-bl-series-of-2022

[total-drama-shark]

Slightly little bit more spoilers from TD2023 and more spoilers from the other following thing contained in it

Hey Hey guess who rewatched SU and got dreams from that but TD SU (I slightly got emotional damage from revisiting the lore but feel lazy to rewatch Future jeez)

Well TD SU AU coming right up Alright boys now that I think of it, basically from what I think for this one but except the fact the plot gets darker with it’s progress throughout it and along with some subplots with it (atleast I think less amount of subplots) (I really would wonder who would be Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, Jasper and the others since I’m getting confused into some complicated plot points tho but you can decide!) No seriously like literally I had this one dream and it was TD2023 but it’s the movie but except it’s entirely different from the movie (I am sure having wild imagination fever dreams these days more like hyperfixation) Well here is what I think (TD2023 cast but according from what I’m thinking also, basically og cast gens 1 to 3 and I guess RR gen too) 🩰 | Julia (???) - Pearl (I have no idea how the hell this would work out but this is a AU after all, I mean I significantly feel like Priya and Pearl have similar vibes but nothing much I guess) 🍬 | Nichelle - Garnet (I feel like this is really accurate but from what I think generally it doesn’t really match in perspective but when it comes to stuff, this is fine but this is really would be cool from what I’m thinking tho) 🎭 | MK - Amethyst (like as said from Shark / you, but from what I think this is a cool match like very accurate to say) ⭐️ | Daimen - Steven (Okay okay I don’t think a short person like him being started as their mother reincarnates into them having literal trauma throughout slightly late / the near end of the series then get slightly tall, as I said again this a AU we could do anything we want as long it goes well with the element with it or anything idk I mean I guess this is fine too but gonna say I have no damn idea who the hell is Rose Quartz like ???) 📚 | Priya - Connie (I think this is good in my perspective like she also has those vibes I think of she might not be but I think it’s good as I think it should be but I think it would go well in my opinion) extra: 🥀/🌷Scary Girl / Lauren - Spinel (calling it, true, for real, going crazy, this is super accurate in my perspective literally it is LIKE same vibes would go with it really well) AND that is what I could think of so far andddd also here take this AU gift while I go on a acid trip from thinking this as a dream Also feel free to think about characters in your own perspective and your own opinions! :D

I may or may not have gone through a season 5 + Movie binge to answer this ask 😅 I’m gonna look at this as a general SU au instead of just a SU movie au I hope that’s alright!

—

🩰 | I also don’t really know how Julia as Pearl would work, I suppose they have similar physique and color palette, but their personalities are very different, I think if we were to try and compare Pearl and Amethysts dynamic with Julia and MK’s dynamic we could start getting somewhere... but in my binge this came to my head, hear me out: Julia as Peridot. They give me similar vibes, specially post ep 5 Julia to Peridot, like just imagine Julia calling people buttknuckles like Peridot calls people clods!

🍬 | Garnet is a difficult one, because not only is she her own character but she’s also the combination of two separate characters. Nichelle as Garnet is a cool idea I agree, like if Nichelle was a girlboss instead of a girlloser lmao. But there’s also a different way we could go about this; Make one character Ruby, one character Sapphire, and make a literal fusion of both be Garnet, I think that’d be really cool and If so I propose either Raj (Ruby) and Bowie (Sapphire) or Axel (Ruby) and Nichelle (Sapphire)

🎭 | Glad to know you agree with MK as Amethyst! 👍

⭐️ | Damien as Steven is a very interesting choice! It very much made me realize Damien does have that main character energy to him and I think I can definitely see it, specially with Priya as Connie! (I also don’t know who Rose Quartz would be but like we can figure this out eventually I believe in us)

📚 | Both Priya as Connie or Pearl are such 1000 IQ ideas because they both fit so much, She fits Connie as a socially outcast girl that values her one friendship so much and has a natural knack for battles, and she fits pearl as a strictly trained, battle trained person who does everything she does not for herself, but for someone else.

🥀/🌷 | REAL x2 Scary Girl as Spinel so true!!!

——

Some extra thoughts/ideas!!!

So I remembered about the “do it for her” song I and imagined the possibility of Millie as Connie and Priya as Pearl, seeing as Priya trained Millie in the show like Pearl trained Connie. But something I think would be interesting though too is Millie as Pearl, idk why but like it makes sense in my head.

Idk why but I Can very clearly imagine Julia as Peridot, Nichelle as Lapis, and Axel as Bismuth, opinions?

I also think there’s high potential for Emma to be part of this AU somewhere, I just can’t immediately tell what character she’d be. Emma as Sadie could be neat! Which I guess would make Chase Lars? But like I want her to have a bigger role in this au though because she deserves it.

[weekend-whip]

Hi! I wanted to say I LOVE your fic, and how you characterise the ninja - they’re so realistic in how they act and they have such unique ways of thinking! I also love the way they all interact with one another - the shenanigans never fail to make me laugh. I’m trying to write something myself atm, and I was wondering if you have any tips on how to do consistent characterisation/character arcs? It’s something I struggle with lots and I think you do it really well! Tysm

Thank you!!

I've gone into a few details on my approach to writing overall right here, but for specifics relating to your question:

Characterization:

Revisit the source material often! It can be easy to forget some of the more nuanced aspects of a character the longer you go without directly experiencing it (and being influenced by ~fanon~ which is not always a bad thing), but that right there is the foundation for consistency and for finding ways to expand on the character too!

A few examples of things to pay attention to when doing so are a character's dialogue/infliction (what phrases they say, how they say things, etc), how they react in average situations vs extreme ones vs personal ones, the ways they act/stand/look when not saying anything or aren't the focus, or trying to imagine what might be going through their heads, whether they're speaking or not!

Plus, it can even serve just as a quick refresher! Even I still go back and do that once it a while, especially when I need to figure out how to write a fresh character's voice (totally not as an excuse to rewatch ninja pfft what)

Read fanfiction! Yes, I know I just said we can get a little too buried in ~fanon~ sometimes, but something that can help your understanding of a character is to study how other people understand a character! Maybe they do things with Kai you agree with! Maybe they handle Cole in a way you disagree with! Either way, that does help sort out what you want to do when you write, and help you come up with idea you might not have considered otherwise!

It can also help you with the "filling in the blanks", for stuff like character dynamics for people that haven't ever spoken/interacted at all, or how a character would react in a situation they've never been forced into in canon and you're not sure where'd you start with it otherwise. If nothing else, it gives you a nice place to jump off from! And something to talk about with other fellow writers!

I just personally think it's important to remember a character's base foundation before pushing them outside of their establish box—bending without breaking, so to speak

Character Arcs:

Sometimes development can happened within a single chapter. Sometimes it's something that is contested across the entire story! One of the first things to determine is how big of an impact a character's arc is going to have on the overall plot. Is their development the plot itself? It is developing at the same time as the plot, or because of it? Is it something that happens on the side but works in service to the plot? Or does it happen independent of the plot entirely?

After asking these questions, you can then determine how important the character arc is going to be, and from there sort out how much focus you want/need to put into it. Does it all happen throughout the story as whole, just when the timing is right, or do they get a subplot dedicated to it? Those types of questions can help you decide how you want this development to unfold too.

The way I generally do it (primarily in my rewrite) is to block out the main events of the overall plot, and then detail where each character would be at in their growth corresponding to the event and/or the point in time, that way I can pace things a little easier, and figure out how potential changes can/will ripple effect down the line. Of course, this may not work for everyone or for every story, but it could be something to try!

Always!! Write!! It!! Down!! Maybe you've got it so well planted in your head and you'll only ever glance at it once, or maybe you'll make a bunch of changes to it in the future, but write out your overall plan(s) for the character(s) at least once, and then go from there. It's just good to have for a reference, and having it all in front fo you can help you visualize some of the finer details down the line (since you don't have to waste brain power constantly recalling the order of events or whatever—you can start digging deeper into the fun stuff!)

Remember it's okay if a character is static too! Depending on the plot/setting, there's going to be characters more situated for the plot at hand than others, and it's okay if everyone isn't going through something at the same time. A character might not need to undergo some astounding personal revelation; but whatever they can contribute can still be important!

So, if some of your struggle is that you can't figure something out for a character to do/learn, it's okay to put them in the backseat until they are needed, or give them smaller, less dramatic goals to overcome! That way there's not as much pressure to cram everyone into the spotlight, and gives you more breathing room to write their moments more naturally, rather than forcing something that might not even be necessary!

Anyway, hope that helps somewhat! ^-^)/

[gremoria411]

Alright, given that I haven’t rewatched Gundam Narrative yet, let’s talk about something I did watch this week.

*Spoilers ahead*

Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight Axis: Red Blur, an 26 minute ova which adds new scenes to the original Twilight Axis, making it actually coherent in the process. The plot of Gundam Twilight Axis concerns three main characters:

Mehmet Merca - Earth Federation special forces commander, who’s been tasked to investigate the remains of the Axis Asteroid base to recover any evidence of psycho-frame or other newtype weaponry. IE the wreckage of the Sazabi. Despite what you may think, he’s actually a very nice and reasonable guy.

Arlette Almage - Formerly Char’s personal mobile suit mechanic throughout the One Year War and Char’s Counterattack (Second Neo Zeon War), though she did not join him in the AEUG. Also a Newtype from the Flanagan Institute (though apparently not a patch on Lahlah, the star pupil of the Flanagan Institute). Char personally handpicked her from Zeon’s Flanagan Institute when she was a young girl, so she views him as something approaching a father figure (honestly it’s a little unclear). This translates to her wanting to know what happened to him, which is the reason she helps Mehmet Merca to help navigate Axis.

Danton Hyleg - Formerly Char’s personal test pilot. Happily retired with Arlette, and is mostly along to support her. As he’s significantly older than her (at least ten years), he has a more realistic view of Char, outright telling him around the time of CCA it would’ve been better if he hadn’t come back to them. A very good pilot, but unable to actually pull the trigger and kill someone.

Overall, I’d say it’s pretty good, it does just enough with the time it’s got for you to be invested in these characters, and it’s got some good action scenes. It can’t disguise the fact that it’s got a very low budget (there’s a lot of scenes where you can’t see people’s faces, so they don’t have to animate lip movements), but it knows where to prioritise. I do like how even though it’s technically a set up for a later antagonist, it keeps focus on the actual characters first. Twilight Axis was originally a light novel and was adapted into an OVA and Manga. I have read a translation of the Light Novel and found it very good, since it fleshes out a lot of stuff missing from the OVA (IE Birnam’s motivations), to the point where I could honestly consider twilight axis a very good advert for it. The Manga adaptation, which I haven’t read, also looks very good. I’m given to understand that Arlette and Danton also cameo in MSV-R: the Return of Johnny Ridden, which is neat. The reason I’m pairing it with Narrative is that I view them both in similar lights - after unicorn showed off how utterly ridiculous psycho-frames can be in the right hands, we’re left with the question of what happens between now and F91 onwards for it never to be used or spoken of again. Both Narrative and Twilight Axis deal with the fallout of Psycho-frame mobile suits such that we can understand why it was sealed away and not further developed. Or, as I like to think of them, they’re curatorial works, made to answer some lingering questions.

However, I have two main non-ms design criticisms of the story - The First, and most forgivable, is that we’re not really given any information on the enemy pilots, the Fermo Brothers. I’m more forgiving of this because I think the manga fleshed them out more, and you don’t really need that much information. The Second criticism is both petty and bothersome to me, because it’s entirely likely it’s borne from my own assumptions. The Flanagan Institute, where Char headhunts Arlette, is shown to be performing inhumane experiments on children, with one of the bosses explicitly mentioning “disposal”. What bothers me about this is that to my knowledge this is basically the only piece of evidence that ever shows the Flanagan Institute to be abusive. Why does that matter? Because central to Zeon’s stated philosophy is that of the newtype, a new type of human adapted for space with the ability to sense, communicate and emphasise with others over long distances. The Federations’ refusal to recognise the newtype is synonymous to their refusal to recognise the autonomy of the colonies. The Federation refuses to recognise the capacity of mankind to evolve past it’s need for the Earth, since (as many characters are fond of saying) their souls are still bound down by gravity. So the revelation that the Flanagan institute, Zeon’s shining beacon of Newtype advancement, needed to resort to the mass death of children for its newtypes just completely undermines that. We know newtypes can naturally awaken in combat, but nowhere is it suggested that they *need* to, with both Challia Bull and Paptimus Scirocco basically just showing up, with no indication of harrowing battles beforehand. Furthermore, it also completely undercuts another notable organisation in Gundam, the Titans, who actually do resort to the kind of inhumane practices shown here. Why? Because they view Newtypes as nothing more than weapons, further demonstrating their utter contempt for spacenoids, having twisted one of the central facets of spacenoid independence into just another tool of oppression, with all the dehumanisation that implies. But if they’re just following off Zeon’s playbook for the “production” of newtypes, then it implies that newtypes aren’t actually a development for humanity at all, simply a reaction to large-scale trauma. I know Victory and other later UC shows went back on the Newtype philosophy a bit, but they (Zeon) knew from essentially day one that it wasn’t it? It just throws into question why a lot of the success stories of the Flanagan institute would even stay with Zeon, if that’s how they were treated (and it turns newtypes into the whole “super soldiers through trauma” thing, which…. I see a lot in fiction, and I bothers me a little that this is the route they decided to go for).

But enough quibbling about a whole 14 seconds of animation, what do I think of the mobile suit designs? These are arranged favourite to least favourite (though to be honest I’m not particularly crazy about most of the offerings here), and do not include the R-Jarja (I’ll cover it if I ever talk about Neo Zeon/Axis Zeon or the Gyan). Given that most of these suits are variations, I’ll typically discuss my feelings on their original counterparts as well. I’m using the Novel Artwork, since I generally prefer it (and image limits), but this applies to both versions of the designs.

First up, the AMX-011S Zaku III Custom. Straight-up my favourite mobile suit here (though that doesn’t mean a whole lot….) I like the Zaku III because it’s chunky, well armed and proof that even Neo Zeon is not immune to nostalgia. True, it gets outclassed during the First Neo Zeon War by all the 4th-Gen mobile suits running around, but it’s still a very solid design. I like how the Zaku II-to-Hizack-to-Zaku III-to Geara Doga-to-Geara Zulu line plays out too, with each one having slightly different characteristics. I have a very mixed views on Char’s custom mobile suits - which I like, because I enjoy judging the suits mostly on their own merits, rather than on who’s piloting them (key word being “mostly”). That said, occasionally one of Char’s suits can end up being a really baller design, which I just adore. Sadly, the Zaku III Custom shown here is not one such design, though I do like the idea of Char Piloting a Zaku III for whatever reason, hence it’s inclusion here. It’s actually quite nice, since it’s a relic of Char that the two characters attach value to, a momento of their time together, that nonetheless must be left behind on Axis. Just like Char.

Note: GB02’s decision to spit out a Byarlant Isolde at me is essentially the reason for this entire post, since I was forced to actually formulate an opinion on the blasted thing, having been utterly apathetic towards it until now.

The Original Byarlant is a suit I’ve gone back-and-forth on over time, disliking to tolerating to (generally) liking. It’s got a very unique silhouette to it, and I like how it essentially ended up a high-mobility suit with so much of its body devoted to thrust, and you can believe it’s high mobility, since it’s so many thrusters that can move and swivel to precisely direct the suit where it needs to go. The head’s pretty gorgeous and I like how inhuman it is, along with the Byarlants hands and feet. It’s got a very minimalist armament - just two beam sabers and beam guns (strong beam guns, mind), but I find this only adds to its sleek feel. It looks like someone wanted a war machine that was also a race car. The colours are both villainous, appropriate for a Titans machine, and eye-catching, with the yellow drawing your eye to the face, and the red highlighting either thrusters or limbs, again emphasising it’s mobility. I do like how the feet look both delicate and weighty at the same time - they’re both designed for high speed and yet don’t look like they’d struggle to hold up the suit itself.

The Byarlant Isolde takes several features from the later Byarlant Custom - chiefly the shoulder thrusters and back fuel tanks, creating the sense that Birnam was able to get their hands on some new parts, but not enough to fully upgrade the Byarlant. I will say that I absolutely adore the new colour scheme - I didn’t expect to like a lilac and white mobile suit this much, but somehow the Isolde makes it all work. I should note that the Byarlant is similarly outdated to the rest of the mobile suits present, however, The Titans and Neo Zeon didn’t have that much of a tech gap, chiefly since Neo Zeon declared war basically right after the Titans defeat. They undoubtedly had an edge in Newtype weaponry and heavily armed mobile suits, but from a practical standpoint, a high performance suit from the latter days of the Gryps War is probably going to stand a better chance than a Grunt unit from the Neo Zeon war. The Byarlant was always a fast suit, so this makes even more sense. This is why it slightly baffles me that the Tristan is considered Birnam’s best unit, but I’ll talk more about that later. Though I do like the original Byarlant’s head, I find the Isolde’s Gundam-style head to be growing on me. It’s likely a more advanced head than the original Byarlant, and likely better suited for its environment of a dense asteroid base (in UC, Monoeyes tend to be better at range, whereas Twin-eyes are better in close quarters (it’s to do with target tracking at differing ranges), though it’s not a large enough difference for it to get called out). It was likely also chosen for the lingering psychological effects it may have on any former Zeon or Neo-Zeon personnel they might run into while investigating axis - appropriate, since the Titans also dabbled in that. I will say that the new head gives the Isolde and absolutely wonderful silhouette - the sunken red-on-white eyes make it look very imposing and it reminds me of some of the head designs from Gundam Sentinel (the geometric nature of its V-fin also helps with the intimidation factor in my opinion, though I’m not really certain why).

The Ahava Azieru is a weird one. I know basically nothing about the design or it’s origin, and even it’s general form is unclear. It’s a mobile armour that I can only assume is patterned after the Neue Ziel, but when I first read the novel, I assumed it was some sort of prototype to the Alpha Azieru, so I’ve no idea what it could be a derivative of. It’s very well armed, and it seems to have at least some common design features of Late-UC Mobile Armours. I do like how it can essentially afford to sit back and throw beams at its opponents, but it seems remarkably slow for a MA (though that could be down to the pilot). It seems to have the design of a dragon, with its large winglike shields and funnel tail, which is an odd decision, since it’s ally, the R-Jarja is mentioned multiple times as being a “Knight”, an enemy of a dragon. Yet Arlette uses it to communicate with the enemy pilot, so they don’t come into conflict? It’s an odd thing. I do very much love the head (perhaps I have a thing for inhuman head designs in Gundam, though it’s awkward to see in relation to the rest of it).

The Jegan (Birnam Type). It’s a purple Jegan with a custom visor and rifle, used by Birnam. While it’s nice that it’s giving us a preview of what the Crossbone Vanguard’s suits will eventually look like (it’s rifle resembles a shot lancer somewhat), it honestly doesn’t do anything. It could have been replaced with any other grunt suit and it would have been the same (I’ve gone off the Jegan’s design a touch as of late, so forgive me if I’ve little to say on this one).

Finally, the Gundam AN-01 “Tristan” (typically just called the Tristan) and Kurwenal. Since the Kurwenal is an add-on to the Tristan, I figured I’d cover them together. This is also because although the Kurwenal is my least favourite design, I have more to say on the Tristan itself. I find the Kurwenal to just be boring honestly. It’s a bunch of missiles and Newtype tech bolted to the Tristan, relying on overwhelming firepower as opposed to anything else. I don’t like it’s colour scheme or it’s form at all, it feels too much like a toy with its blue and red colours and blocky psycommu claws. While it’s 5-tube beam pods make for a good visual, I can’t really appreciate them because they’re just a box that shoots scattering beams. There’s no design or artistry to them like there is with funnels, those agile and adaptable little attack drones. Lastly, when it gets broken up the Tristan just sits there. I’m not saying I expected it to leap out and continue the fight, it just looked so very goofy that I couldn’t take it seriously as a weapon. Onto the actual Tristan then. The novel art does help it a little but……. It’s just so boring. It’s the NT-1 Alex repaired with parts that make it look more like the MK-II. Performance-wise, the Byarlant Isolde was probably better-performing than it. It looks very generic, especially when compared to other Gundam-type mobile suits. Part of it might be that it exists at a time when 4th-Gen MS are all the range, while it’s only a 2nd gen at best. But the way it’s presented as Birnam’s big trump card is just silly when it’s roughly two wars out of date. It almost got taken out immediately by the Zaku III custom and only survived because the pilot couldn’t pull the trigger. I guess it’s supposed to represent the Gundam’s legacy in the same way that the Zaku represents Char’s legacy? But it’s basically the only Gundam that neither Char or Amuro had anything to do with, so that line of thinking falls a bit flat. It’s just overall dull.

Oddly so, even, because despite it changing very little, I find that I prefer its predecessor, the Gundam NT-1 “Alex” considerably. Part of it might be the older style of design, the well-defined place that the Alex has - it’s a nice piece of Late-OYW design, being cutting-edge and (spec-wise) able to give pretty much anything of the same time period a run for it’s money in the right hands. It feels like something between the RX-78 and the Gundam Development Project (Gp01, etc) and I like how elegant it feels, without losing any of that all-important weight. It feels like a space-specialist Gundam, counterbalancing the Gundam Ground Types from 08th MS team, with its extra ambac thrusters, compact and powerful backpack and general blue colourscheme. It’s well-used, since it shows the Federation moving to capitalise on their strengths and how desperate Zeon is at that stage of the war to stop things getting any worse. It also further demonstrates the massive power disparity between a Gundam and many of Zeon’s mobile suits, only being destroyed through great sacrifice and luck. That might just be it, the Tristan has too many recycled elements for me to look at it as it’s own thing, and it’s missing all those finer details from the Alex, so it just looks lesser by comparison. It’s little more than a charismatic grunt, compared to the absolute terrifying monster that was the Alex.

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 7: The Expanse 1x04

Why would you introduce my beautiful wife Captain Yao just to kill her one episode later??? I will riot in the streets.

Seriously, I really was like immediately attached to her, in a way I haven’t been to any other character in this show yet, and I was all ready for her to be a fave and now she’s gone. Truly a disappointment. Also it makes me kind of annoyed that Cop 2 is still alive because while I had no particular issues with him, having him be surprise alive in the same ep as another, worse, more definitive death… so sad for me specifically.

Second thought: my favorite parts of this show are the world building sections and my least favorite are the action sequences. All the tense life-or-death-situation scenes are really boring to me still. I mean admittedly action is not my genre in general but something about the action scenes in this show just seem particularly… flat, for some reason? I just feel no intensity and no urgency about them at all and I honestly kind of zoned out through them. In this ep, I’m talking specifically about the crew stopping up the wholes in the prison cell, and the run to the escape ship during gunfire.

But the world building is exquisite. I’m really into all the information we’re getting on Mars and how they see Earth—and themselves. Every new bit of information is simultaneously exciting and surprising and unpredictable, and also fits in perfectly with all of the other information, providing an overall picture of the society that feels coherent and real. And this even though we’ve seen very few Martian characters and not yet seen their home world at all.

I was also really excited about all the tech in the dead guy that the detectives were examining (as a side note, probably shouldn’t get attached to her, and I still don’t entirely get what she does, but Octavia is growing on me a lot). It sort of reminded me of Dollhouse in its future episodes except the tech was spread throughout the body instead of being mind-focused. Like, body mods, even data storage as part of the body mods, isn’t a NEW idea but it’s an idea I LIKE and I appreciated how they were developing it here. Also the term ‘gear head.’

I did not really get what was happening with the shootout in the corridor of the Donninger, which ended with that guy getting his arm blown off and then it just healed itself. Part of this is that as soon as the shoot out started I zoned out entirely because as I said, I just cannot care. So I probably missed important information. I think…he was one of the people who boarded the ship? One of the mystery antagonists? His space suit was different than the red-faced Martian ones. But they also called him a mole? Maybe? And something about a weapon that wouldn’t be able to fire. I probably should have rewatched the scene but I wanted to keep going. I also don’t know what it meant that his arm healed itself right away but based on the expression on Holden’s face, I think that’s supposed to be a mystery.

As far as I can tell, the mystery antagonists are OPA-aligned (based on the scene where the guy kicked all the Mormons off the ship he was building, and also the stuff with the guy being tortured in the first couple episodes) but there’s something Extra about them. The arm-healing thing, for one. Maybe it’s Mormon tech? LMAO.

Oh, just remembered. Another thing I like about the world building on this show is how normal Earth looks. Like clearly this is far in the future and there’s a lot of new tech and so on and so forth, and Earth from a distance looks quite different as well, with the degree to which it’s been built up at least in major cities—but it’s not all sleek futuristic houses or minimalism or just sweeping amounts of shiny new advanced entertainment etc. The houses are just houses, the clothes are just clothes, the people still read books and talk about dinosaurs. It makes everything feel more real and believable, and sort of helps ground the (sometimes very far out) worlds of this possible future with the actual world.

I was surprised by the insta-jump to found family among Holden and the crew. His insistence he needed to get back to ‘his people’ was a little meh for me, which I KNOW is completely unfair. The show has objectively earned the right to have him be protective of them, after their recent adventures and given that they’re the last survivors of their ship. But most of what we’ve seen from them has just been infighting… it’s hard for me to feel yet like they actually like each other and would be so deeply loyal. Meh. I don’t know. At least the most annoying of them has bitten the dust. I am not sad about it.

Also WHY are there so many Mormons? Are they like really important or is this just an extensive riff off a sort of joke (even in the future and even in space, white men in suits will try to evangelize you)?

[mttbrandgender]

ATLA Netflix thoughts

Okay, I am going to break down my very strong feelings about what little information we have on the ATLA live adaptation because I cannot physically keep this to myself. I am throwing this together pretty last minuet so it is less structured than I would like but this is what I’ve got time for right now.

A few things that I feel are important to know about me before we start. Firstly, I do not believe that any visual media should be adapted to another visual media, especially animated media into live actions. There has never been anything animated that has been made better in a live action adaptation. Animation is a sacred media to me, specifically 2D animation. Secondly, I adore Avatar: The Last Airbender. I watched it as it aired when I was super young and have rewatched it countless times since then. It is legitimately my favorite show. Thirdly, I am a hater, I love to tear into things and dissect them so this will be a lot of that. There will also probably be a lot more when the show also comes out. Alright, anyway!

As soon as I heard there would be a live action remake, safe to say I was not excited. I heard the original creators of the show were involved and I still did not feel good about it. ATLA really was perfect in my eyes. It was done in a perfect medium and was a perfect story with characters that felt REAL. How would remaking it in live action add to this nearly untouchable show add value? My partner has urged me to keep an open mind and not hate it entirely before we could watch it. So, I put it in the back of my mind and didn’t think about it too much for a while.

Until, suddenly, articles started to come out about what liberties the new showrunners decided to take with the show. I knew I should probably not have read them, usually I don’t even watch trailers for things I want to watch but I decided I had to know what was being said, I was painfully curious.

The first thing that I saw was that Sokka’s sexism was ‘iffy’ and ‘didn’t hold up’ so they decided to take it out of their version. I was completely shocked. Sokka’s sexism in the series WAS iffy but it was called out as such WITHIN THE NARRATIVE. That’s how they found Aang in the first place, Sokka was being sexist and Katara got angry about it. We are introduced to Sokka as a flawed character who holds these misguided beliefs about women because of the circumstances he was raised in. It is not a glorified concept within the show. Throughout the three seasons, we as an audience not only get to watch him unlearn these concepts but we also get to watch strong female characters speak out against sexism without being brushed off. It is essential to the plot and instills in its audience that it is okay to have to unlearn these ignorant beliefs, it doesn’t make you a bad person. Sokka is not a bad person or a bad character because he holds these beliefs. We get to explore why he feels that way while also watching him learn to be better. Why would you want to take that out? Because sexism is problematic, and we don’t want our show to be problematic! Look how progressive it is! You are robbing this character of the ability to change and grow because from the jump they are not flawed.

This leads to the next issue. They are writing Aang to be more responsible and ‘driven’ leaving less time for fun side quests. What? I’m sorry I must have misread that; you want the 12-year-old boy who froze himself in the ice originally because he did not want to do Avatar stuff to come out of it and immediately want to get straight to business?? That just rubs me the wrong way. In the original show, we get to see Aang slowly come to terms with his responsibilities while also acting in a way that is realistic for someone who is 12. I also saw someone say that nearly every shot of Aang in the trailer was him with a serious face. The charm of the show and Aang as our main character is that he’s a kid! He acts like a 12-year-old kid and matures as he goes through more experiences with his friends. Where is the integrity of these characters? It seems like these showrunners are so afraid to showcase any of the characters as flawed and how can you have perfectly responsible unproblematic characters that are also children?

At this point, it feels like what they need is a character integrity team to help them make these decisions because they are striking out so far. Why are we robbing these characters of their arcs? By taking away any issue or flaw, you’re taking away so much potential. This takes me back to my original thought which is why the hell would you want to take something that is so highly acclaimed and beloved and remake it? You are setting yourself up to fail no matter what. This is not a story that needs retelling in my opinion. I would much rather they take all this creative energy and resources and use them to write something else in this world. Why retell the story when you could write a new one with new characters that people haven’t spent nearly 20 years watching and loving?

The most recent thing I read was that they wanted to ‘solve’ some of the ‘gender issues’ Katara faced in the original show. Like the earlier bit with Sokka’s sexism, I take huge issue with this. These two things play into each other. Katara is not nurturing and motherly because she’s a girl. She and Sokka lost their mom when they were very young and almost immediately after, their father left for the war. Sokka and Katara were made to take on these roles at a super young age because of this conflict. Sokka is attempting to be the man of the house, trying to imitate his dad as best he can in order to fulfill that role. We know from The Waterbending Master that the water tribes hold some sexist beliefs, as Master Pakku will not instruct Katara because she’s a girl. From that, it’s not a crazy notion that Sokka might hold some of those beliefs from his upbringing. It is also critical to Katara’s character because she was fulfilling that motherly role after her mother passed. She doesn’t do it perfectly; she has a lot of control issues and can have a bit of a temper. Neither of them are bad nor outdated character because of these things. It’s a realistic reaction to the situation they found themselves in. Through their experiences in the show, they learn and grow into better and better versions of themselves. Why would the showrunners want to take that all away?

There are also so many bigger pictures issues I have thought about as well that we don’t have an answer to yet. The pacing, what they plan on fitting into the first season, how long are the episodes, etc. I am still attempting to stay open, but it is really getting hard the more I hear about it. Thank you for reading my rant and I’ll see y’all in 20 days for the premiere, I will be taking notes. :)

[iemconfused]

⚠️WEDNESDAY SPOILERS!!!!!! ⚠️

and also disclaimer i am not big on analyzation, reading into subtext, or anything like that, so if not properly analyzing things peeves you, just skip over this. also also i’m very unfamiliar with tim burton’s work, all i know is he does creepy stuff. okay on with my opinions.

can i just say i knew tyler was the hyde from very early on purely because of the hair?? from the MOMENT we learned it was human too, i tried to look for traits that might translate over from a human to a monster. kinda like how eda still looks like herself as the owl beast, she maintains some of her human traits, yknow? and the most standoutish human thing about the hyde was its ratty brown curly hair, kinda short in length. who had that hairstyle as a human? tyler.

additionally, he was way too loyal to her from the very beginning and consistently throughout, despite her every attempt to shake him. definitely too loyal to be just a love interest. oH bUt ThAt’S tHe PoiNt Of a LovE iNterESt- no, see, my friend, that’s where you are incorrect. the point of a love interest is to make the story more interesting, and it’s not fuckin interesting if it’s SIMPLY undying devotion from day one. in only the first episode, already willing to help wednesday skip town.

oh and this will be one of the vaguest parts of this, because i don’t feel like rewatching it right now, but the ENTIRE investigation of the gates mansion was incredibly off. especially the part where tyler tried to make it seem like the hyde attacked him. it seemed so separated, the timing of his agony versus the actual attack? again, going based on sleep deprived memory, but it did stick out to me.

NOW for the vaguest part of this mini essay: all of tyler’s scenes were just a little bit off. all of them. in some way or another. his and wednesday’s date in the crypt? could’ve had an even more romantic soundtrack backing it. after he was injured by the hyde (himself) he was just a bit too, uh, how you say… not traumatized enough. he wasn’t paralyzed with fear or anything, “nO dAd, wE’rE aLL fIne, iT’s oKay,” BUDDY YOU SUPPOSEDLY JUST SAW THIS TERRIFYING ASS MONSTER AND YOU’RE FINE WITH IT JUST BECAUSE YOU’LL PHYSICALLY RECOVER?? no.

anyway i’m tired and i actually still need to watch the last episode. night night.

[rocksrntpeople]

Rewatching Iron Man

I hadn’t read or seen much comic book stuff when I was invited to watch Iron Man with my friends at the movie theater back in 2008. I’d seen and enjoyed the DC cartoons as a kid and of course I knew of Iron Man, but I didn’t know anything about him except that he looked like a rubber chicken version of Dr. Doom.

All this to say, Iron Man launched me into the world of comic books and superheroes. I was hooked from then on and I still love comics today. This movie quite literally changed my life, even if the change wasn’t as profound as most life changes.

Obviously, I’m biased.

But then something genuinely surprising happened.

Somewhere along the line I’ve forgotten how to put down my critical analysis of media and not only was I pleasantly surprised at the great writing still hitting the mark, but I was able to notice the superb cinematography, something I’d missed through no less than 3 rewatches. I mean, of course there’s the surface-level awesomeness like the entire opening sequence with its fluid transitions or the perfectly tense scene where Pepper is collecting data from Obadiah’s files, but even beyond this facade lies near perfection.

That moment when the missile lands next to Tony in the desert, the camera does a short, quick zoom with a zshooom sound and it’s just so reminiscent of comics and the idea of being hyper-aware in a high-stress moment.

When Obadiah has Tony paralyzed and is giving his evil monologue, everything is perfect. The angled shot, the lighting, RDJ’s violet veins, Bridge’s cartoon-villain dress and demeanor. It all comes together in this scene and despite the minimal camera work, the room seems to be spinning as the monologue goes on.

These are still pretty surface level things, but throughout the film there’s just a masterful execution of every element — lighting, costume & makeup, camera angles — just everything is absolutely seamless for 99% of the movie. It’s kind of insane to think about a blockbuster superhero movie being so technically well-executed!

One thing in particular that caught my attention and stayed pretty true throughout the movie is the fact that this movie doesn’t follow Tony Stark. In almost every scene with Tony, the camera is following another character. This does two things: it lets the audience know things that Tony doesn’t, which helps build tension, yadda, yadda; and it makes a distinction between Tony Stark and Iron Man. Because when Tony Stark is in his suit, then the camera begins to follow him. Even the final shot of the movie plays to this, finally — finally — focusing on Tony Stark and Tony Stark alone, as he declares he is Iron Man.

Fucking chef’s kiss. Are you kidding me?! This movie was so fucking good; that’s why it’s one of my favorite MCU movies of all time, despite being the first. (We don’t talk about Hulk in this household.)

Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect Tony Stark. I found it a bit funny that at times the makeup crew tries to harken Downey back to his teen acting days with the extremely glossy eyelashes, but other than that it holds up overall and I would even go as far as to say that we probably haven’t had a stand alone superhero movie that was as good as Iron Man since Iron Man. 

It’s just so damn unique; I can see exactly how it gripped the world with its melding of humor and action and reality and just everything we were all feeling at that moment, without shoving it down our throats that this is what we needed. Like, god, can’t one of these rich guys turn good instead of evil for once? Can’t someone get fed up and save us already? Are we finally getting a superhero movie as good as what’s on WB Kids??

And then Iron Man swoops in, dripping in sarcasm and long-lost teen lust, acting as though it’s the most natural thing in the world for him to be a rich guy in a mech suit, and ultimately delivering us unto a new age of entertainment.

.

.

.

The elephant in the room

Okay, yes, let’s talk about Rhodey. I remember when he was replaced; I was so upset. I felt that Terrence Howard was the absolute best choice for Rhodey and that he did an impeccable job opposite RDJ. Rewatching the film…god damn it, it’s still very true! Why’d you have to do it, Terrence? Why?! You were beautiful as you soared so high…

Listen, I like Don Cheadle as much as the next person, and did back in 2009 too. But he is not a good Rhodey. I feel like there are many other black actors who would have done the role better and I half-remember people throwing around Denzel Washington’s name as a “better” suggestion. Personally, I’d have gone with someone closer to Howard’s look, like maybe Jamie Foxx or someone.

The fact of the matter is that while the character is a military guy, one of the main reasons he’s friends with Stark is because he’s a progressive, more laid-back and approachable kind of military guy; he’d almost have to be for his work as a liaison with civilian organizations. Both Cheadle and Washington have such stern looks…it just doesn’t fit. (To be clear, I think Cheadle has done a good job with the role; I just think Howard would’ve done it perfectly. God it hurt to hear him say, “Next time, baby.”)

I mean, this is just my opinion and I know that Cheadle has millions of fans for his role, but I just don’t see it and never have. Terrence Howard is part of what makes the first Iron Man so great. But, c’est la vie.

.

.

.

So, Iron Man — Great Success! 

I guess I should rate these but I’m afraid there’s going to be a trend…

10/10 for Iron Man!!!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Next week, I’ll see The Incredible Hulk, which I am only watching out of respect for the timeline.

But actually, I liked this movie well enough and thought Edward Norton was a great casting choice. We’ll see if it holds up because it’s been probably a decade since I last saw it.