#& she just can’t buy into my scifi shows enough to not make jokes she thinks are quippy but that just take me out of it

[salaciouscrumbb]

run out of long running series that wouldn’t be excruciating to watch with my mother

[project-paranoia]

Live Watch: Guardian  Episode One, Part One

It's Guardian!  The show that got me interested in this genre!  I love spooky things and I love mysteries and fantasy!  I simply adore it so much!  When I can't sleep I just put on a playlist of Guardian in the background.  I was aware of censorship before - every country has some version of it, but to some degree this was my first deep dive into how it might effect a piece of media.  Guardian is exceptionally acted and incredibly written, as well as suffering from obvious dubs where the dubbing voice actor sounds nothing like the previous actor and odd cuts that are disrupted.  In some ways it's the little drama that could fighting its way past their studio going bankrupt while they were filming, reshoots, and being taken down and altered several times.

In some ways Guardian's struggle fits the spirit and aesthetic of the show. Worn in like an old pair of jeans but still making an effort.  Putting emphasis where things count and hoping the kindness of the universe will make allowances for the rest.  Attention to detail where the story really matters.  It has the charm of a community production put on out of love with actors and crew who would not be anywhere else in the world for any amount of money.  That feeling of love comes through, and whether or not I'm barely literate I have so many words to share.

Part of why I love it as well is it has that feeling of 80s and 90s fantasy, like Moomin, Xena or Condor Heroes. Everything feels lived in, nothing's been spit shined except for Shen Wei's suits. It's an old city street of a show, it has history and character built in. 

*After all that I don't know that I have a tonne to say about the intro.  It's very good but it's also full of spoilers.  I think having the intro song be in English does make a difference in making it appealing to English speaking audiences as well as standing out as different and interesting, which the show is. Speaking of Spoilers!  Spoilers below!

* The obligatory beginning narration is beautifully animated, I have another post that will be done some time before the heat-death of the universe talking about the fascinating world building options.  Unlike some Make It SciFi plots, this one has legs and implications.

* Remakes rarely are able to meet the original on equal ground - and I struggle to believe the actors would Fit as well - but part of me really wants to have a chance to have the Dixingren worldbuilding really leaned into.  The writing is good enough we get implication but no real follow through.  I want fifty episodes of how Dixing functions, give me more pseudo-science behind the mutations, what are the biological differences.  I'm hungry for more!

* I love the cameos of later characters, and the way there was some effort to be discrete with spoilers.

* It's Ya Boy!  I love Shen Wei.  With that music cue and that sinister turn around they really set him up as dubious.  I wish they went with something a little different with the intro so his character wasn't spoiled.  The writing, directing, and acting was so good and spoiling who Shen Wei is kind of took the teeth out of that.

* Also cheers to the costume designer who outfitted Zhu Yilong so well and made him look jacked with the fit of those clothes.

* Also you can tell this is a real university because the staff has to sit in tiny student chairs.  I'm not joking, please be warned if you're going into academia.  Unless you have tenure life is An Adventure - and even then.

* Also shout out to Shen Wei's Prized Cabbage and the Queen of our hearts, Li Qian.  Why is this actress not in more things?  She has such an expressive and lovely face and she really goes all the way in with her acting.  I respect an artist that acts from their chest. Also that windbreaker, white skirt combo is chic and fun all at once, it draws the eye and makes her melt into the background all at once - perfect for the character.  I love her so much.

* Here's another one of Shen Wei's coats, it's a lovely color for him but it also is so thin that it looks like it crinkled up just from being worn.

* I'm being distracted by details and missing plot stuff.

* Story of my life.

* I love Li Qian hovering along behind Shen Wei like a duckling following their mother.  A) Mood and B) it quietly informs their dynamic.  Shen Wei has like one person he can trust but no one he can really confide in and it's the same for Li Qian. A ship will find a port in a storm and Shen Wei has Big Da-ge Energy. My fanfic heart hopes they found comfort in the pseudo familial relationship with each other while it lasted.

* Even in episode one we receive foreshadowing, we love and respect some excellent writing.  For those of you who missed it - Professor Ouyang is talking about Lin Jing who I love partially because he's so outrageous large but has the total opposite of intimidating energy.  

* What did they feed you Lin Jing? He is so tall and wide, but they do a lot with camera work to try to make him not quite as big.  Side note, I would really love to see the actor who plays Lin Jing (Liu Minting) both in more dramas but more specifically in a role where he was like a minister or scholar - someone intellectual.  I think the combination of being such a big gentleman and also someone who like plots or plans would be really dynamic if it was written well.  

* Also I like the exchange where without a word Professor Ouyang indicates he has one last thing to say, it's private and that he would like Shen Wei to ask Li Qian to leave. That's What You Can Do With Good Actors!

* Li Qian is just so pretty and the actress emotes so well!

* Shen Wei totally understanding what's going on with this shady research immediately and wanting to stay as far away as possible.  We see one of the first examples of him being aggressively polite to remove himself from a situation.

* "i'M jUST aN oRDINARY sCHOLAR." No one buys it Shen Wei.

* Angy Thinking Face

* One thing the show is really good at is using establishing shots really well so you always know where everything is and everything is going

* Guo Changcheng, all around good boy and angel.  We stan a nervous legend

* Zhou Yunlan Arriving.  Why is everyone on this show an Absolute Legend

* Guo Changcheng protecting himself with his certificate is too cute.  This young man is trying his best and I support him.

* Also that coat is Young, Pure, Stylish; I love it

* Zhao Yunlan, what's wrong with you? You are amazing!

* His irreverent style and disregard of usual policy makes him fit in really well with his band of misfits and special cases

* Guo Changcheng's OO face is too good, elastic face

* Da Qing my love!

* Jin Ling, I think he has an all seeing eye on his hoodie thing. Illuminati Confirmed.

* Also they filmed the shots so well, so you always know where everyone is in relation to everyone else

* Our Prized Cabbage!  I love her!

* Great handheld work: shaky and unhinged, but not migraine inducing

* Foreshadowing in the form of a shadow and reaching for the necklace

* Da Qing's cat behaviours. I really want behind the scenes of the actor discussing how cat was he going to cat

* We get our first real example of how Zhao Yunlan doesn't feel safe emoting negatively and so he uses a super sunny mask to hide his feelings, except with Da Qing who he lets his anger show with because he trusts him.

* I'm not even halfway through and I've written so much, peace and blessings to the readers of this.

* Zhao Yunlan's swagger, after his childhood having a little power must feel comforting and good

* I love how Da Qing is talking as a cat less than a meter from the medical examiner.  Does the examiner not care or does he know?  Is he deaf?

* Harassing Guo Changcheng is the new team sport

* Zhao Yunlan Realises Something Music

* Also, Lollipop Measurement

* It's nice to see Zhao Yunlan just being himself with Da Qing, he's able to really be honest and genuine with him

* Slow Look Moment

* This moment is so fascinating!  Shen Wei doesn't know what's going on yet.  He just sees an old friend who winces when he sees him and disappears.  We mostly see things from Zhao Yunlan's point of view, but from Shen Wei's perspective this is a first part of just some Odd and Confusing Happenings

* This cat though!  I love him!

* The delicate way they’re both feeling each other out.  This must be so confusing and startling for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is trying to figure out if this teacher is going to bust him or what.

* He forgot to let go, way to set off Zhao Yunlan’s suspicions

* “Mark Stewart” Is he though?  Who picked out that English name?

* Li Qian!  I love her and I love that striped blouse. Fashion.  Got to look good when you’re resisting a mental break. *Also she hears a meow and looks around at eye level, I love that for her.

* Zhao Yunlan!  You can’t take pictures of young ladies without their permission.  What is wrong with you!

* I love Da Qing’s very cat attitude of I Will Have Vengeance for These Wrongs

* Two for one! Shen Wei meets two faces from his past.

* Also, I get a little frustrated about people making a big deal about the 10,000 years versus 1,000 years age thing with Da Qing.  a) He has amnesia and b) the thousand years refers to the amount of time needed to cultivate to a certain stage in Chinese mythology - usually by absorbing energy from the sun, moon, or depending on the animal other sources.

* I feel so bad for Shen Wei, who knows what he thinks.  Were his friends brainwashed?  Did they forget?  Can they not say for some reason?  What is happening?

This review is getting a little long, so join in tomorrow for Part Two~~!

[twyella]

To be honest I get rather upset around Father's Day

Not because of my dad - he's lovely, he does his damn best, and I love him so so much - but both, like....for him, on his behalf, and just related to the holiday?

Because this is the time of year when I most dwell on how much bullshit he deals with from our mother, and to some extent, from us.

This is when I most wonder how unhappy he actually is, and how I can make him happier

This is also when it again becomes abundantly obvious that he has so few opinions on what he likes or does not like, (and I remember every time in the past he said he did not like something, and my mother got angry, every time my dad was doing something harmless and fun that made him smile and she snapped at him or insulted his interests or 'joked' about it), and that out of the very few things I know for a fact that he likes, he does not mention them, and I feel upset and indignant that he can't just say "Hey, I'd like x please" because my mother bitches about it

My dad's a dork, all right. From what I know of his likes and interests, which as mentioned previously, not as much as I'd like...he's a bit of a dorky nerd. He likes scifi and fantasy and litrpg novels. He reads books about maths for fun. He likes Doctor Who and vanilla fudge and roleplaying games and he likes sitting down to attempt to play one with myself and my sibling or playing one of those shooting video games. Alright?

But pretty much all of those except doctor who, and scifi or maths books, are things my mother would complain about. And as much as he likes doctor who, as far as I can tell he disapproves of merchandise and gimicky stuff. And he says he never has time to read paper books, (cue moody grumbling thoughts of how maybe, perhaps, possibly, this is linked to how he is expected to do so much in our house and be on everyone's beck and call as well - no matter if we don't actually really care, if my sibling asks for a favour and he says he'll do it in a minute because he's busy right then, even if they say it's fine our mother will get pissed. Which is unfair) and unfortunately it's not possible to buy kindle books for people

This meant I eventually agreed (admitteddly a little begrudgingly) with my dad's suggestion of getting him an amazin giftcard so he could buy his own kindle books

.........Then my mother started having a go at me about how a £10 giftcard was too much and if they didn't have ones for a fiver I should get something else or just put my name on [present she got, present my sibling got] and call it a shared gift, or not bother because "he wouldn't mind" (yes he fucking would. He wouldn't say it because you're a bitch and he doesn't want to make us unhappy either but it WOULD make his eyes turn sad) and said I didn't need to commercialise the holiday! But...in a really accusatory way, like I absolutely was commercialising and it was a crime?

Excuse me, bitch?

I am not fucking commercialising jackshit.

My dad does not often seem to be veey happy. I want him to be happy, I love him veey veey much, and frankly, as a family, we do approximately nothing to show him how much he is appreciated day to day, and I don't know about YOU, but I'm aware I underappreciate him, and I'm aware I'm super fucking bad at being consistent enough to, ya know, just show that day to day, so i want to get or make him something ONE THING on this one occasion.

And if you're gonna complain that I should make it and not buy it then - Father's Day is TOMORROW. I didn't think to make anything before now, and there's no time to do it fast enough now - and I know you'll bring up that i could give it to him later....But how about no? We all forgot his birthday this year. He was not expecting me and my sibling to remember, and he said so, but I think he was disappointed we didn't, and he looked just fucking miserable that you didn't remember because he still loves you for some bizarre reason. I AM NOT GOING TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE I FORGOT FATHER'S DAY TOO

I don't want to buy him something really expensive! I am not trying to buy him a lot of things!

I am trying to buy him ONE thing, from ME

I don't care how impatient you get from me taking a scarce ten minutes trying to think of something for him - I'm not going to just slap my name on a gift you or mý sibling got for him and call it a day! For one, my dad would then KNOW I hadn't had any hand in getting the gift because you just...talked about what you guys were getting him right in front of him, abd even if he didnt know, I WOULD. And I don't want to know that I just slapped my name on someone else's gift for him because I couldn't be bothered to make even a vague attempt at showing I care by just thinking about him for half an hour or so. I fucking refuse. And frankly I find it quite offensive that you'd get so huffy with me taking ten minutes to think instead of giving me the time to think qhat my dad would like - it's his day, I love him a lot, I don't show it enough, /this is very important to me/

.....And stop telling me once I have decided on something he'll like, that I should do something cheaper and or more time consuming. "Oh you don't need to spend taht much" no but i want to, and it's literally only a tenner, it's the minimum for this giftcard! "Oh he wouldn't want you to" Don't you fucking put words in his mouth you bitch, I know it's a nasty habit to break after more than a decade, but DON'T DO IT. "Oh that will take a while, are you sure?" Yes. Yes i fucking am. That's why I've been arguing with you about it - well, as non aggressively as possible disagreeing - (speaking of, I really really should not have to argue with someone about a gift that I am getting with MY money and MY time for someone that is not the person talking! It's my gift for my dad - so guess what, only my dad and me get an opinion on it), and also?? It's the weekend? I literally have nothing but time - unless you deloberately try to reduce that time by suddenly giving me stupid tasks, chores and dragging me to cafes like you did last year in which case I may just fucking punch you. Just.....stop fucking cheapening what I want to do for my dad! "You should spend less time on it you should spend less money on it, it should be less important" - the most I've ever spent is 12 pounds and the most time I've ever spent was like, one afternoon. Fuck off. Stop trying to make this seem insignificant when to me it's fucking important that I do this

Like it's just.....Urghhhhhhhh

I get really sad for my dad

My mother distresses me and is generally a bitch about it, and then swings to being over the top praising and affectionate (because she wants the spotlight to be on how caring she is, not on him) and then back again

And then my dad gets upset because he seems to, I don't know, feel like it's somehow his fault when I get upset!

It's not, dad! You are literally the last person at fault, literally the main reason I am upset is because I just love you, because you're such a good dad, and YOU DESERVE BETTER, alright? Please don't be sad. I love you so so much

I hope you have a good Father's Day, even if I am being stupidly emotional about it

I hope I don't ruin it for you

I love you

I can't speak for her, but we both love you, me and my sibling, we both....You're a really good dad

I love you

Happy Father's Day