#2022 edit: one of my better pieces from 2019

[theheightofdishonor]

GL Recs Masterlist

I've watched a couple hundred gls now and so I thought i'd put it to good use and help other people find some. There's not enough gl rec lists anyway

First things first, I'll like to direct you to https://mydramalist.com/list/1xrpwdW3 which is a gl rec list on mdl with more than 200+ titles + links. It's an EXCELLENT resource, kept up to date and even tracks upcoming titles.

Now for stuff that I've watched and thought are decent. I'll link all of these to their mdl page and the links to watch the show can usually be found in the comments. If you're new to gl, be warned that a lot of these are pretty short, ranging from 1-30 minutes.

1 in 10,000 (2018) Korea. This is a soulmates piece told in 3 parts following two girls through different parts of their lives. I think this got more confusing as it went on but I really liked Act I and I think it's worth watching. It's beautiful and angsty and a bit artsy. I'm pretty sure it has a happy ending but don't quote me on that.

Afraid of (2019) Korea. A short film about a girl struggling with her sexuality. Yeah, I know, there's a THOUSAND of these but I do like this one. It's beautifully shot and there's a lot of heart.

Am I the only one with butterflies? (2018) Korea. A girl blogs about falling in love with the manager at her new job. I like part ii better than part one but it's just cute and the pining is very similar to het kdramas.

Anonymous high school girl (2022) Korea. A low stakes love triangle. Good chemistry, low budget, awful kisses.

The Beauty of the Law (2023) China- If you're not familar with chinese gls, I think it's certainly something to get used to. This is like in the top 1% of the category. It's an ad for Adolph Shampoo and i'm going to let you know that they're going to appear often on this list because they make excellent gls. It's a historical about a female unlicensed lawyer trying to help a woman escape her abusive marriage. Makes great points about gender imbalances and women's historical lack of legal rights in China. (f you like this one, Sheng Wei, one of the actresses stars in 50%+ of all chinese gls, check her out)

Beguine (2018) Thailand - It's if the school dancing scene in My School President was a 30 minute sequence with two girls. No plot but adorable.

Cat in the eastern palace (2020) China - Watch this just to have the surreal experience of seeing like 3 whole cdrama arcs which normally take 20ish eps executed in a 7 minute timeframe. Also because it stars laoji who's in the other 50% of chinese gls. As for plot, it's about a cat spirit and a girl pretending to be the crown prince.

Clasper (2021) Thailand - And they were roommates! I liked the production, the dialogue and the acting was pretty decent.

Couple of Mirrors*** (2021) China- Wait to watch this because it will ruin you for everything else. This is like typical thai bl length, like 12 45~min episodes. It's a historical mystery about a wealthy woman who finds out about her husband's affair with her bff and the photographer she enlists to help her. If you watch one thing out of China, watch this.

Dear My Girlfriend (2021) Korea - A group project ft love triangle. It´s pretty classic. A girl starts dating someone who likes her only to realize she might instead be in love with her best friend. The editing is cute. It's a touch angsty as love triangles are and pretty well done.

Dear Uranus (2021) Taiwan. Another school love triangle. Does feature an adorkable female character, you know a bit awkward, a bit cutesy, if you hate this archetype, ignore this one. Personally I think the chemistry for the lead couple was lacking (genuinely shocking considering taiwan tends to be great at this) but both the love interests are hot and I am not immune to hot women

The Demonic lord and the virtuous cultivator (2021) China - Avoid this if you don't like toxic yuri. I personally love it so this is 10/10 for me. Orphan gets taken in by a benevolent benefactor who turns out to be her parents' killer and eventually....you know what go watch it.

Encore Martha (2021) Taiwan. One of the few gls about older women. A tomboy reunites with her first love. This one's only available on gagaoolala so you'll either need a subscription or sometimes they promote it for free. If you can find it though, it's worth a watch.

Family Plan (2016) Korea. This is a bit of an odd one to describe. The first half is two high school girls who are dating. And then the second half is their relationship as adults where they marry guys and use it to have a kid that they raise as theirs. I liked how this examined how two gay people would go about their relationship in in a world where they can't freely be with each other.

Favorite Girl (2022) Thailand. Very standard plot about a girl suffering from a breakup and her roommate but something about it stuck out to me.

Five steps to accept farewell (2016) Korea. Warning for unhappy ending. This is all pure angst, a 9 minute snapshot into a breakup. I like how it's done and the messiness of the situation.

Fragrance of the first flower (2021) Taiwan. A beautifully shot, beautifully acted, slightly too short show about two ex-lovers reuniting ft. all the angst about living in a homophobic society. It stayed in my head for weeks after I first watched it.

Girls Blood** (2014) Japan. A movie about 4 "girls" in an underground fight club. warnings for rape, trauma, domestic assault. One of the main characters is a trans man. There are sex scenes. It's very queer and I highly recommend.

Girls Love** (2016) China. Pre-censorship China had some very wonderful queer work and one of them was this movie It's about a girl who falls in love with her hot butch roommate ft all the tropes AND we get to see them function in a relationship instead of the movie ending when they get together. Warning for both characters being forcibly outed at the end. (nothing bad really happens to them after though). Also do NOT watch the sequel. If you go to mdl, everyone else will also tell you not to watch the sequel and I foolishly did not listen to those people because I liked these girls so much and I suffered for my mistake.

The Girls on Rela (2016) China. It's an anthology of short, I wouldn't say stories, more like moments, sponsored by a lesbian dating app. Each one's really short but the acting and scripts are all pretty good.

The Girls on Rela Season 2** (2016) China. This is sponsored by the same company but it's a totally different format. It's one long show about two girls cohabiting. Pretty well executed if a bit slow.

Graduation, Present + Propose (2021) Korea. A short about a high school girl giving a graduation present to her crush. What it does it does well. It's pretty.

The Handmaiden (2016) Korea. Historical set movie about a conman and thief girl who plot to steal a heiress’s fortune. I make it sound boring but that's only because it's a pretty popular movie and everything to be said about it has already been said.

Happy to have you here (2021) Thailand. Two friends have a sleepover and figure out their feelings. This is definitely in the top 20% for this trope, even though they rushed just a tad into the kiss.

Hello, spring is coming (2019) Korea. I'll let you read the synopsis for this one. What you need to know is that it's pretty, well acted, has good chemistry and is as brightly colored as a lollipop. It's a bit disorienting, parts of it doesn't make a lot of sense but it's a fun time.

I broke up because of you (2023) Korea- A bartender and their client catches feelings for each other. The dynamic is nice, the kiss less so but it can be forgiven.

I’m her weapon (2022) China- It's kinky, it's angsty, it's 3 minutes long and still fits in a separation arc. I would pay money for an extended version.

Kanojo no Kuchidzuke Kansensuru Libido (2022) Japan - two girls fall in love in a hospital. I like the tone of this one.

The L Bang** (2015) China- Another Rela production. It's a 4 episode comedy about a bunch of lesbians + (1) gay man who live in the same apartment complex. It's got queer friendship, queer acceptance and queer love. It's just wonderful. It feels like 2000s American sitcoms but queer and Chinese.

Led Astray by Love (2022) China- Fairly long for a cgl. A girl gets transported to a manhwa and falls in love with the ruler. Sunshine/grumpy. This baby is 52 minutes long and covers like the same amount of plot as word of honor does in 30 something episodes.

Legend of Yunze (2021) China - A human and a half demon vanquish demons from a village. It has a second season and a special that I haven't watched yet.

The Lost World** [Xia Ye Zhi Dao Feng De Tian] (2023) China - After watching as much cgl as I have, I was shocked to see Laoji in a modern piece. This is a college setting running-into-a-childhood-friend trope. The pacing and chemistry are both pretty good. It's one of my favorites from her.

Love in the Tinder Age** (2019) Korea- A black comedy about a bullied lesbian's failed suicide attempt ft psychics, ghosts and a teacher/student relationship. It's not really a gl because the main character doesn't get a romance BUT it's really fun so you should watch it anyway.

Love of Secret** (2022) Thailand- More of a slice of life than a love story but it's cute and fluffy and the main character very much is in a relationship. The actual plot is about a med student who's hiding both her relationship with her best friend and her dreams to be an idol. I found it positively charming.

Lover’s Concerto** (2002) Korea- Calling this a gl is a stretch. It's more just queer? The girls were most likely in love but they don't end up together and the movie itself doesn't really have a happy ending. I did find it beautiful though.

Mayfly angel (2024) Korea- Classic discovers-feelings-for-bestie-after-a-breakup plot. Warning that this is angsty and they don't end up together. But I found it realistic and I liked that they felt like two real people. Take that how you will.

Miss shen and the woman warlord (2023) China- a woman cross-dresses as another young woman's fiance and they fall in love. Despite how i describe it, there's a decent amount of plot and some political commentary.

More or less than 75 celsius (2019) Korea- A tea master and her supervisor fall in love. It's sparse and short but cute.

My Dear (2021) Thailand. A drunk girl confesses to her friend and luckily for her, it's mutual. It's 5 minutes long but it uses its time well and the acting is nice. It feels a bit like gmmtv's confessions. If you like it, the production company ShakeShoulder makes TONS of gl shorts and i'd recommend checking them out.

No distance left to run  (2022) Hong Kong. a 15 minute short film about how fame causes issues in a pop star's relationship. Unhappy ending. The song's a bop though and it's well done.

Nü er hong** (2023) China. I forgot to mention but this one, the legend of yunze and the lost world are all produced by the same studio. They do a lot of fairly long chinese gls. The story is about these two beings from an alien world who crash land on earth and are hunted. One is a healer and the other is a killer, they're in love, the killer goes insane so her lover kills her. Unbeknownst to them, they're immortal so the killer wakes up with no memories 200 years later. The pacing is better than some of their earlier stuff but it's not quite perfect here yet. It is one of my favorites from the studio though and it ends happily.

Our relationship ended before it began (2022) Korea. A barista falls in love with her manager at a coffee shop ft gender roles, miscommunication and the classic "cool one picks on the nice one to show affection" trope.

Pyramid Game** (2024) Korea. This is more gl adjacent like Devil Judge and Beyond Evil. There is a secondary gl couple that's more explicitly canon though. If you've watched other kdramas about school bullying, this is pretty similar except it's an all-girls school and everyone is so gay. It's got so much heart and is one of my favorite shows of the year.

Really, Lily? (2019) Korea. A 6 minute short about two girls who visit a cafe and beats up two men who were making homophobic remarks about them. It's surprisingly comedic and the coloring is bright to match. Features a pretty decent kiss. Watching it, I wished it was longer but what's there is still good.

Secret of us (2024) Thailand. The only longform thai gl that i've liked enough to finish. It's about an idol who comes back to win over her doctor ex. It falters from ep 6 onwards but until then, the show is really good at showing the emotional thought processes of the characters and the way they construct the story is compelling, even though I don't even like second chance romances.

Shackles (2023) China. Another one from the Chinese shampoo ad. The pairing itself is not my favorite but it's so cool that this is basically a warning against nuclear pollution AND features chinese mythology that's used in the brand's marketing. Like a 3 in 1. It's so interesting.

She Makes My heart flutter (2022) Korea. Baby lesbian finds out her aunt runs a lesbian bar and starts working there. It's so goddamn cute but it has this weird relationship with homophobia where everyone in the show is apparently 100% ok with queerness but a lot of the aunt's actions is so driven by her being a queer person in an unaccepting society. A bit like how Moonlight Chicken deals with Jin and Li Ming's different attitudes towards being queer except they don't dwell on why the aunt is the way she is or what she's been through. Anyways, it's worth a watch.

Sleep with me (2022) Philippines. A 6 episode series about two girls who are disabled in different ways fall in love. One of them can only sleep during the day and the other is in a wheelchair and the show does a pretty decent job at showing how these disabilities affect their lives and their relationship

Soshite, Yuriko wa Hitori ni Natta** (2020) Japan. If you follow me, you may have seen me talk about this show earlier this year because I found it and promptly fell in love. It's not quite gl but Mizuki's actions are all driven by the fact that she's in love with Yuriko. It's queerer than you would expect, less queer than you might want. It's a supernatural-adjacent school horror about a girl who's new school has a weird thing where every year, a girl named Yuriko becomes "Yuriko sama" and rules the school while everyone else in that year with the same name mysteriously dies. Yuriko's best friend Mizuki plots to make the sweet innocent Yuriko the newest Yuriko-sama to save her life. It's weird, there's plot holes everywhere by the end, it definitely vilifies it's gays and the ending is weak but it's such a compelling watch.

Stand-in love (2023) Philippines. 2 best friends have a ‘stand in’ relationship where the straight one helps the lesbian one learn how to court someone but they end up falling in love with each other. Like 20 min long and I love it.

Ti Shen** [The substitute] (2017) Taiwan. The mdl synopsis can describe the plot better than I can but it's a romance between an idol and a normal girl that's split into two parts. The first half is about them meeting in high school, the second is when they reunite later on a movie set where one of them is the other's stunt double. I think the first part could've been a bit longer but it's a great movie.

Transit Girls (2015) Japan. Stepsisters. Happy ending though and it's fairly long. I liked this mostly because I like Japan's moody stuff. I also liked how they handled the male love interest.

Truth or Dare (2022) Korea. A 10 minute short about two girls who like each other playing truth or dare. It does a great job at building tension and revealing things without saying it.

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna** (2022) Japan. A woman who loves to cook comes to an arrangement with her neighbor who loves to eat. Japan does food-centered dramas better than everyone else and this is no exception. The romance itself is slow and you watch how their dynamic changes through this and the season two that came out this year.

The Twelve flower gods: Camelia (2020) China. A xianxia romance about a girl falling in love with a flower but it's a minute twenty so I promise you're not watching for the plot. You're watching to witness the ridiculous amount of innuendos that they manage to fit in under two minutes.

Twin souls of destiny (2023) China. Xianxia romance between two elves, one who is made from the memories of the other's past life. I want someone else to watch this so we can discuss whether or not this is selfcest. The color combination is interesting because I very rarely see lovers in red and purple. The time travel is confusing but it's a good time and laoji is in it.

Until Rainbow Dawn** (2018) Japan. Movie about two deaf girls falling in love ft homophobic parents. The director is a deaf lesbian herself so the movie does a wonderful job in how it depicts deafness and their relationship. It's really well done

When the light pours (2022) Korea. A girl's boyfriend wants her to sing him a song so she enrolls in guitar lessons and ends up falling in love with her teacher. The girls don't get together and I really wish they had! So if you watch this, don't watch the ending and pretend that they did end up together.

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: KinnPorsche, and Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist Edition (Part 2)

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I conclude a two-part series on my thoughts on KinnPorsche, my very first Thai BL, and the impact that I think KP has had on the Thai BL industry since 2022.]

Top of the morning (or whatever time zone you're in) to ya! Yesterday, I ruminated on KinnPorsche's foundation in regards to how the show wasn't as innovative as newbie members of the Thai BL fandom, like myself, may have thought in 2022 -- but was rather a great example of a show that derivatively used a lot of excellent past Thai BL influences in order to make a newly stylized show that I think, for the most part, worked well.

Harkening back to the outline for these two pieces that I laid out yesterday, this post will concentrate on:

3) How I think KP has impacted how other studios approach, market, and write Thai BLs now, and 4) A quick passing thought on BOC's own continued influence on the Thai BL genre and industry since 2022, particularly by way of Dead Friend Forever.

Before I get fully into point 3, I wanted to take a second to offer one more thought on an element about the KinnPorsche series itself that I didn't unwind on much yesterday, and one that'll connect with point 3 in a second. I mentioned yesterday that I personally (in my own opinion, I am accountable here) don't think that some of the VegasPete elements of the show helped the show's flow and continuity at all times. After my rewatch, I think the show could have stood for more episode editing to better its flow. I very much know how beloved VegasPete are in much of the KP fandom (thanks so much to dear friend @wen-kexing-apologist for the conversations about this during my rewatch!), so I don't want to pooh-pooh very hard, because at the same time, I think Bible as an actor was valuable to the show regarding Vegas's interactions with Porsche -- that side storyline offered intrigue and depth particularly into Porsche's mindset at the end of the series. At the same time, I think the VegasPete scenes contained enough questionable takes on trauma and attraction that I think now contribute to the show's legend and status as a uniquely heaty drama, but (in my opinion, people, I own this!), I think some of those takes could have been removed, smoothed, or tamped down for editing's sake, vis à vis those questionable takes in particular.

Taking VegasPete's trauma-and-kink-driven storyline, and KinnPorsche's romps and unravellings, into consideration, along with the show's excellent use of comedy as a plot driver: I think that KinnPorsche has clearly had an impact on how subsequent "heat" BL dramas have been created and marketed since KP's run. I'm thinking in particularly of some big ones (heh heh), including 2023's Only Friends, and 2023-24's Playboyy (which I did not finish, FYI).

Heat -- and the increasing use and management of it -- has long been an important element of the Thai BL industry. Like I said yesterday, MaxTul (my beloved) were pioneers of it in Together With Me and Manner of Death, and MAME consecrated episodic heat in 2019's TharnType, and even introduced enough of it notably in 2018's Love By Chance by way of those awesome spicy AePete scenes. And the WONDERFUL Lovely Writer offered meta commentary about the dependence that the Thai BL/Series Y industry has on heat in order to drive in fans, oftentimes to the detriment of more interesting and/or fulfilling and/or emotionally complicated plots.

KinnPorsche's lengthy marketing, from its Filmania days in 2020 and 2021, to its eventual 2022 premiere through Be On Cloud, certainly helped to drive interest and intrigue in the show, from the debut pairing of MileApo, to the clear use of heat that the show was promising before its airing. (Red Peafowl could never.)

Looking at the moment we are in right now -- early spring of 2024, with the ability to look back on the conclusions of both Only Friends and Playboyy -- I see the influence that KinnPorsche had on these shows being HUGELY marketed as cutting-edge-entrées to a high-heat and high-interest slice of Thai BL, particularly for Only Friends, which was GMMTV's own first step into really high-heat territory.

Both of the shows ended in meh territory (and both shows were written by the same writer in Den Panuwat, who may very well have a monogamy kink). Both shows ended up putting pure monogamy on a pedestal, and seemed to judge extra-monogamous sex as a "mistake" that was worth rectifying through "true," i.e., monogamous, love.

I posit, and I'm glad, that KinnPorsche did NOT go this route. Extracurricular sex wasn't even in the show's genes anyway, but -- the heat that KP marketed at the time of its premiere was solely associated with the centralized romances of the two main pairings. KinnPorsche didn't have to get extra-monogamously messy in its bones (huh huh) in order to be hot -- and it makes me curious to wonder why shows like Only Friends and Playboyy felt the need to promote relational messiness as a way to hype up their heat, all of which kinda putzed out in the end run of both of those shows.

Of course, we've still had heat in many other shows since KP's premiere, including in directions that roundly surprised the larger fandom, such as Pit Babe's take on omegaverse, and maybe even the vets Earth and Mix getting hot and heavy in Moonlight Chicken, a direction that Aof Noppharnach has been known to not take for the sake of keeping the ratings on his shows kid-friendly. But I do find it interesting that the heavy promotion of Only Friends and Playboyy led the fandom to think that these shows were going to have progressive takes on sex and sexuality, when they ultimately did not (I'd even argue that both of these shows ended up being judgemental of sexual experimentation). And while I don't think KinnPorsche's takes on heat were necessarily progressive, I do think the marketing of their actors getting into that, particularly as compared to Apo's previous career path in leaving acting for a while, was notable -- and as well, the care that the show took to depict heat scenes with excellent cinematography makes many of those scenes so memorable today.

I want to make one final note about KinnPorsche's and Be On Cloud's general influence on the Thai BL industry, in that I'm impressed by their investment in generally good-to-great writing and directing. As I overviewed yesterday, KinnPorsche heavily featured veterans from across the BL landscape, and Be On Cloud's latest serial offering, Dead Friend Forever, continued that trajectory, having an OG BL director in Ma-Deaw Chookiat partly take the helm of that show. Very importantly, Ma-Deaw Chookiat has been the screenwriter and director of a number of seminal Thai queer films and shows, including 2019's Dew, and more impactfully, 2007's The Love of Siam, which is considered a harbinger of the television Thai BL industry, and a film that has notably influenced important Thai BL creators, especially New Siwaj, who doesn't hesitate to include references to LoS in many of his shows, including Until We Meet Again, My Only 12%, and more. Chookiat has also screenwritten and/or directed three shows written by the notable Thai Y novelist, Sammon, in DFF, Manner of Death, and Triage. Sammon has been on a tear recently, as she will be the screenwriter for BOC's upcoming drama, 4 Minutes, as well as Spare Me Your Mercy, the hugely anticipated BL drama starring Tor Thanapob and singer Jaylerr.

Going back to my thoughts earlier about big marketing of big BLs: we've seen some duds recently from shows that were marketed at a big tip, from OF, to Playboyy, to Idol Factory's The Sign. From what I've gathered from the Tumblr tag regarding The Sign -- it seems that show suffered mostly from a lack of editorial context and plot sensibility and tightness, and that there could have been a good show, if the show had spent less money on CGI, and more money on the script.

Be On Cloud seems to mostly be putting its money where its pen is. I say "mostly" as a caveat. Was the ending of DFF fantastic? No, and I totally admit as much: while the show mostly stuck to its slasher genre conventions (thank you so much to @lurkingshan, my genre guru, for explaining this to me), the show seemed to poop out in the end by giving us a PheeJin BL ship, instead of Phee's and Jin's gruesome deaths. Womp womp. The pull of BL, and the need for clean-ish endings for the fujoshi crowd, may still be too economically enticing for studios, including Be On Cloud itself.

But I'm optimistic for BOC's upcoming shows, with the talent and money they're putting into scripts and directing. And we know that BOC's first film, the non-queer Man Suang, was an important artistic point for the studio as it continues its investment in MileApo and experimental content to market within and outside of Thailand. It was important enough that Dead Friend Forever, emanating from the Thai BL world, took on an entirely different genre instead, and literally presented that back to BL fans on a silver platter. I hope 4 Minutes can tread similar experimental territory. And I'm glad to see Be On Cloud being able to invest in high-quality writing and directing after the publicly major obstacles the studio experienced last year during the Build Jakapan scandal.

From the time I discovered Thai BLs in 2022, to now: I would not have expected KinnPorsche and Be On Cloud to start such a journey in my personal drama fan life. As well, considering how many damn shows I've now watched from Thailand, I also didn't expect this rewatch of KinnPorsche to be so much fun. AND, I truly didn't realize I had this much to say about it -- but there was a lot of say, especially by way of how referential the original KinnPorsche series was, which touched my little nerdy BL heart.

With that, I say ta-ta to my entrée to this fun world of Thai BLs, and move on to the next one!

[OKAY! We are kind of back of the grind, although my ability to watch dramas has really been hampered by real life obligations and schedules. BUT: I'm trucking along through War of Y, and I have some fun rewatches coming up in The Eclipse (my first-ever GMMTV BL), as well as two new-to-me dramas in GAP (the first GL on the list, WOO!) and My School President, which I can't wait for.

I've made a few tiddly adjustments to the list below, including adding Dead Friend Forever as an important addition, and I'm deep in my giggles with 23.5, which I am LOVING. ONWARDS! For more details about the ongoing list, please checkity-check here!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here) 31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: preamble here, part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) (review here) 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here)  36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist (part 1 here)

...interrupting the OGMMTVC list here to watch War of Y (2022) (watching) in chronology to decide if it gets listed...

37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine “Genre BLs” and Internalized/Externalized Homophobia in GMMTV Shows  39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 43 La Pluie (2023) (review coming) 44) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 45) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 46) Only Friends (2023) (tag here) (not technically a BL, but it certainly became one in the end) 47) Last Twilight (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as Thailand’s first major BL to center disability, successfully or otherwise) 48) Cherry Magic Thailand (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as the first major Japanese-to-Thai drama adaptation, featuring the comeback of TayNew) 49) Ossan’s Love Returns (2024) (adding for the EarthMix cameo and the eventual Thai remake) 50) Dead Friend Forever (2024) (thoughts here) 51) 23.5 (2024)]

[leviathans-watching]

Hi! I really like your content, and I've been following you for a while but never done one of these before.

I was wondering if you had any tips for creating a writing blog?

thank you so much for the support! hopefully what I include is at least somewhat helpful!

first, i think it's important to note that a lot of my success comes from the circumstances surrounding the startup of my blog. i began to write for obey me during 2020, with my first work getting posted around may. this is important for two reasons: not only we're we in lockdown, leading to an insane increase in engagement from 2020-late 2022, but also since the game released in dec 2019, I was one of the first people to write for it, thus meaning I was filling a niche that had in increased demand. my point in this is to say that I attribute a lot of my success to these factors, and not necessarily to any actions that I took or inherent talent lol

also note that these tops are based in my experience and experience only, not in any science or data!

general tips:

don't expect to blow up overnight! i've been writing fanfiction since 2018 and i only started gaining traction in late 2020 haha. and in that time, don't be afraid to just throw stuff at the wall until you find something that sticks. set boundaries! if you get to a point where people are being demanding, unkind, leaving hate, asking for too much, doing anything to rub you the wrong way, shut it down. thankfully I've only had to do that like twice (as usually my followers are lovely and understanding), but it's important to remember this is your blog and your rules

writing tips:

play around with style, tone, themes, elements, etc until you find your groove. my works do span stylistically, thematically, plot-wise, etc, but commonly they're lighthearted and sweet, as I find that's what I like to write the best. find what you like to write the best! edit edit edit! once you're done writing, read through it once or twice to find typos/stuff you don't like, then when you move it from wherever you're writing (as I do not suggest writing in tumblr) look through it again as the new format and sizing will allow you to catch more. then, if you're still unsure, wait overnight and look through it again the next day before posting. but it's also not the end of the world to have typos if you get constructive criticism (given in a kind way ofc)... it's in your best interest to at least evaluate your work before deciding to take it or not. don't just dismiss it. reflection leads to improvement! when I first started writing I didn't even put dialogue into different paragraphs and without some nice comments who knows how long that might have lasted lol if you're struggling with writing block or can't seem to finish up a piece, give it a break. don't keep kicking a dead horse. I've had pieces that I start and don't come back to until like 9 months later lmfaooo

technical tips:

blogs that are centered around 1 (to 2) fandoms tend to do better. this is because ppl don't like to follow creators if there's also a bunch of random stuff appearing on their dash in between works. this is why I utilize sideblogs (i tend to post obey me and haikyu (to a lesser degree) on this one, and i have one for batman, one for another book series, and one for more personal poetry and stuff) a good and aesthetically pleasing layout is going to really go far. if you're blog and works look professional and attractive, they're going to pull people in. what this means is to come up with a blog theme/layout that is unique and fits the vibes of you and your writing, have a unique pfp (so not one of the of tumblr ones), and make sure your works are organized with a clear layout that's standard across your blog (this also helps create a 'blog identity'). feel free to look at mine for inspo obv or as you scroll through popular blogs/tags try to pick out elements that you'd like to incorporate. tagging is your best friend. i always start with the most important/broad ones (i.e. #obey me, #obey me game), then go into relevant relationships (i.e. #mammon x you, #mammon x mc), then characters (i.e. #mammon obey me, #obey me mammon), then anything else. this order can be changed if you have trigger warnings, which i'd say to put first. also, do not spam tag or tag thing's that aren't related in an effort to gain viability as that will actually make people less likely to engage. as with layout, try to standardize your process/blog specific tags so they create a 'blog identity' (such as my #leviawriting or #from: levi tags) be kind and interactive! if people leave you nice comments, respond to them! answer asks, have conversations, make new friends! this will make your experience much more fun and bring a lot of joy, and also make people want to talk to you

that's really all i can come up with right now! obviously if anyone has more tips feel free to tack them on and if you have questions send them my way!

[greensparty]

This Month In History - October Part 2

This month there’s so many pop culture landmark anniversaries to the point where I needed to do a 3 parts. Here is part 2 of what I celebrate this month in history:

Oct. 11, 1974: Texas Chainsaw Massacre opens

In Oct. 1974, one of the scariest low-budget horror movies ever was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2014 after attending a 40th anniversary screening. Happy 50th TCSM!

Oct. 11, 2019: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie premiere

In Oct. 2019, the sequel to Breaking Bad about Jessie Pinkman's epilogue premiered on Netflix. Following the phenomenal anti-hero TV series Breaking Bad (AMC 2008-2013) and being released during the run of the prequel Better Call Saul (AMC 2015-2022), creator Vince Gilligan unleashed this made-for-TV movie (that got a limited theatrical release and AMC broadcast in addition to Netflix) that follows Jesse after Breaking Bad's finale. Much like some of the best episodes of Breaking Bad, it was complete with the trademark set pieces and “how will he get out of this” moments! Happy 5th EC!

Oct. 14, 1994: Pulp Fiction and Hoop Dreams both open

In October 1994, Quentin Tarantino’s Magnum Opus was released. Still a shot of cinematic adrenaline to the heart! Here is my piece I wrote in 2014.

On the exact same day as Pulp Fiction's opening, Steve James' documentary Hoop Dreams was released. The doc following two teens in Chicago and their dream of becoming pro basketball players was nine years in the making. Whenever you see a list of the best documentaries of all time, this is either #1 on the list or in the Top 5. I would have to agree! You don't even need to be a sports fan to find yourself fully on-board with this. James has swing it out of the park many times since, but after re-watching it with the commentary on the Criterion edition, I realize this is his magnum opus!

Happy 30th Pulp Fiction and Hoop Dreams!

Oct. 15, 1999: Fight Club opens

In Oct. 1999, David Fincher powderkeg of a movie was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2014. This is Jack wishing Fight Club a Happy 25th!

Oct. 19, 1984: Stop Making Sense opens

In Oct. 1984, one of the all-time greatest concert films ever made was released. Jonathan Demme in his prime captured the Talking Heads in their prime as they performed over the course of 4 nights in Hollywood. In 2015, I was at Noise Pop with my V66 documentary and I caught a special anniversary screening of Stop Making Sense on the big screen with excellent sound system and the whole audience was dancing the whole time. In 2023, I attended the IMAX re-release and the satellite TIFF reunion of the Talking Heads. Earlier this month I saw it again at the Brattle! It is still the Gold Standard of concert movies and one of Demme’s best docs. Happy 40th Stop Making Sense!

Oct. 19, 1994: Clerks opens

In Oct. 1994, Kevin Smith's micro-budget indie comedy was released. It was a highly influential film on my, that "I can do this" kind of movie. Here is my piece I wrote in 2014. And here is my interview with stars Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson from 2022. Happy 30th Clerks!

[aspenisabelle]

I'm in My Twenties and I'm Tired

An opinion piece I wrote for my Journalism 101 class at Los Angeles City College. It could use some editing but thought I'd post it anyways:

I shouldn’t be saying this every single day, but I find myself muttering those words under my breath as I sit in traffic, blasting metal music on my way to my second job, thinking about the assignments due in the coming week, how much money I’ll have to pay the bills and how much will be left for cat food. Am I the only one going through this?

In an article from The Economist titled: Generation Z is Unprecedentedly Rich, “The typical 25-year-old Gen Z-er has an annual household income of over $40,000, more than 50% above baby-boomers at the same age.” Maybe it is just me. I make a little over $15,000 a year with two jobs and school part-time. According to the article, at 26-years-old I belong in the Gen Z category (Anyone born between the years 1997-2012). According to my 15-year-old cousin, I’m a Millennial (Anyone born between the years 1981-1996) and old. Even though I’m on the cusp of both generations, I consider myself just a working young adult trying to survive.

Something else in the article caught my attention. “In 2022 Americans under 25 spent 43% of their post-tax income on housing and education, including interest on debt from college—slightly below the average for under-25s from 1989 to 2019. Bolstered by high incomes, American Zoomers’ home-ownership rates are higher than millennials’ at the same age (even if they are lower than previous generations’).” Great. Even though there’s higher wages, it’s still too expensive to own a home. But the article makes a point that this is “in the rich world”. I guess they didn’t study “the poor world”, but maybe that’s found in a different article. 

Although this is an opinion piece, I consider it my version of sending out a flare, a signal to others because I can’t be the only one who’s going through this. I can quote statistics all day long, but a graph doesn’t tell you how it feels to be in constant fear of foreclosure, overdue bills, or election results. It doesn’t tell you how frustrating it is to be told “Just get a better job,” from people of a different generation who has no attachment to the problems our generation has today. It doesn’t tell you what the future holds, so I’ll have to go back and keep working until things get better. If you’re like me, just know that you’re not alone.

[tilbageidanmark]

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS WEEK (#191):

2 BY ELEM KLIMOV:

🍿 THE GROOM, my second film by Elem Klimov (after 'Larisa'). This is a sweet early film (1960) about a boy who helps a little girl pass a math test.

🍿 First watch: His tragic epic COME AND SEE (1985), long considered one of the greatest anti-war movies ever made. I'm not big on movies that deal with genocide, cruel atrocities and brutal suffering, so I avoided it until now, but the time had come.

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, "Come and see!" And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

It ranks as #41 on the ‘Sight & Sound’ 2022 list of ‘Directors’ 100 Greatest Films of All Time'. (There are still 14 on this list that I haven't seen, and I'm going to watch them soon).

🍿

BLADE RUNNER, THE AQUAREL EDITION was an obsessive labor of life project, made by one Anders Ramsell. He painted 12,597 aquarelle paintings of 'Blade Runner', shot by shot, and edited the entire film down to 35 minutes. it took two years of painstaking work, all done in his spare time after work each night. (Screenshot Above). The video made some impact on the internet in 2012, but after a while, all copies of it disappeared from the web. Now it suddenly re-surfaced again. For fans of the original Rick Deckard.

🍿

2 BY BRITISH DIRECTOR BENJAMIN CARON:

🍿 SHARPER is a new, old-fashioned and 'sharp' crime mystery with a changing prospective. It lays out as good of a 'Confidence Game' as Stephen Frears's 'The Grifters', David Mamet's 'The Spanish Prisoner' and David Fincher's 'The Game'. It starts building slow, and ends with a somehow-predictable conclusion, but the many twists along the way are done with verve and smooth hand. And now I want to continue on a bender with similar con-men and women. Where should I start?

For anybody planning to watch this, please approach it without expectations, and don't read anything about it in advance. 8/10.

🍿 The spectacular slight-of-hand in 'Sharper' is probably born out of director Caron involvement with British 'Mentalist' Derren Brown! He directed many of his filmed performances, f. ex. DERREN BROWN: ENIGMA. No idea how he does his impossible tricks!

I used to watch many of his "Magic" shows, and enjoyed him tremendously. I wonder why he's not more popular (except maybe in England). By now, he also posted 740 of his events on his YouTube channel, including this 2019 Ted Talk.

“Darren Brown walked, so that Derek Delgaudio could run…”

🍿

ZAMA, my second opaque, exhausting hallucination by Lucrecia Martel. Like her debut 'La Ciénaga', which is considered to be "the greatest Argentinian film of all time", it's a low-key, mysterious fable. A painful Kafkaesque period piece, a descent from dark helplessness to final hopelessness. A 18 century magistrate is suspended at a remote colonial post, waiting for a letter from his superior, hoping it will announce his transfer so that he can reunite with his family. But nothing good will happen to him. It's humiliating and poetically bleak. The trailer doesn't translate the ennui. [*Female Director*]

🍿

SOME DUDE NAMED JIM CUMMINGS X 3:

🍿THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY is a new, indie fun thriller, which could have been so much better, if its director was not so young. It has a stylized, powerful opening, telling of 2 Arizona bank robbers stranded in a desert diner with no gas in their car. It turns into a dark black-comedy after the first act, and ends with an all-out 'Mexican standoff' that leaves every single character in the movie dead (except of one crying baby). Gene Jones repeats his role as the Gas Station Proprietor from 'No country'. The best review I read was only 3 words: "Tarantino from Temu".

🍿 In FOLLOWERS (2023) two stereotypical LA-women meet randomly as they walk their dogs and start getting into each other personal lives. But maybe their chance encounter wasn't that random... It's seldom you encounter such super-irritating people, so unbearably-cringe from the very first uncomfortable line of dialogue. Their small time conversations and creepy mannerism were anxiety-inducing. [*Female Director*]

🍿THE LAST BRUNCH, directed by this Jim Cummings, is a terrible, cringey parody of Tim Robinson' "I Think You Should Leave" sketch, if you can imagine that. 1/10.

🍿

LOVE ME TONIGHT, my 2nd Rouben Mamoulian musical (after 'Silk Stockings'.) It opens with a creative sequence of a Parisian street as it wakes up to life, and it's from here that the song 'Isn’t It Romantic' originated [after which it re-plays it about 10 times...] But the class difference trope of a lowly tailor among the powdered-wig aristocrats, and fruity Maurice Chevalier as a romantic lead, were cheesy and conventional. 1932 was still pre-code, but already deep into the Great Depression, so Paramount dished out a fairy tale about princesses, and palaces, and footmen, where every door was 10-15 meter tall.

🍿

MARSHAL CURRY X 2:

🍿 I've seen his 'Street Fight' doc before, about Cory Booker's election. His THE NEIGHBOR’S WINDOW won the 2020 Oscars for short films. A New Yorker couple with 3 kids watch with envy their new neighbors across the street, having sex, and having fun - until they don't. Kind of like 'Rear window' for our times, but without the murder.

🍿 A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN featured powerful archival footage from February 1939, when 20,000 Nazi-Americans rallied in Madison Square Garden to celebrate fascism. It was produced by Laura Poitras and was offered without comment. In 2017, when it was made, it must have been revelatory to many, who didn't know about this before. The shock from Trump's ascent to power forced the world to realize that he did not invent his vile worldview, it's been there all alone.

🍿

My first political film by British Peter Watkins PUNISHMENT PARK [Also, definitely, my last one]. It's a 1971 mockumentary, done in a Cinéma vérité style, about two groups of counterculture types. One group is being hunted down in Death Valley by a fascist team of National Guards, and the other hippies are being tried in a makeshift kangaroo court for exercising "Un-American" values. On the background of the resistance to the Vietnam War, it's the 'Pigs' and the 'Establishment' vs. the liberals and the feminists. So the political bent had everything I believed in myself during that time: Radical, revolutionary, anti-capitalistic, pacifist. But as a searing piece of agitprop it was unwatchable: Didactic propaganda, amateurish, jerky, rambling, but mostly: boring. 1/10.

🍿

Not a huge fan of the Adam Sandler (I don't think I've seen half a dozen of his famous comedies over the years), but his latest stand up, LOVE YOU, was enchanting. Directed by one of the Safdie Brothers (I still did not finish their 'Uncut gems') it's sweet and laid back, with a stray dog running into the stage, lots of juvenile humor, and absurd stories, about blowing a balloon, a 1-foot man, Etc. The most enjoyable parts however were the funky musical bits, especially the Elvis Impersonator, and the brilliant Ode to Comedians which wrapped it up.

🍿

YouTube film essay pioneers 'Every Frame a Painting' is back! Everybody's favorite Tony Zhou (and Taylor Ramos!) posted a new essay THE SUSTAINED TWO-SHOT, and a trailer for their first film The Second! How exciting! When they suddenly stopped producing terrific videos 8 years ago, they penned a thoughtful 'Postmortem' piece (which included many samples of how they made them, included this The Spielberg Oner.) Looking forward for more.

This is in contrast to the average YT video by less talented essayists, for example, How Ralph Fiennes Perfected Amon Goeth in 'Schindler’s List'. I mean, it's all there, just not very good.

🍿

A BUNCH OF SHORTS:

🍿 FOR THE FIRST TIME is a 1967 Cuban documentary about a mobile projectionist who travels to an isolated mountain village and sets up an evening of cinema. They chose to show Chaplin's 'Modern time', the first movie that any of the villagers had ever seen. Some of them say that they have no idea what 'a movie' is. It's similar to the later Spanish drama 'Spirit of the beehive'.

🍿 BREAD (1918) is another tragic story of an unfortunate woman exploited by men because she's desperately poor. Like the Lois Weber's 'Shoes' that I saw recently, it too was made by a woman pioneer, Ida May Park, and like it, it was selected for the NFR, (even though only a 1/3 of it remained). [*Female Director*]

🍿 NELLY'S STORY is a sad German short about a little girl who locks her mom out of the house on her 9th birthday, as the mom tries to shoot an Instagram story of that celebration. Painfully personal... 8/10.

🍿 THE HERO (1994) is an award-winning Mexican animation about a man who sees a girl in a crowded subway station that he believes is trying to commit suicide. Dark Bill Plympton style.

🍿 MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD, my first art-documentary by Canadian Guy Maddin. It is more of an Isabella Rossellini homage, in that she wrote it and discusses her father's life and work. It made me want to see more of Roberto Rossellini movies, not necessarily Maddin's.

🍿

THROW-BACK TO THE ADORA ART PROJECT:  

Happy birthday, Adora.

🍿  

(ALL MY FILM REVIEWS - HERE).

[lyrsui]

currently working on a poetry manuscript,

and that's been true for the last four years. but around this time in 2019, i had a handful of poems, and i had some vague ideas of what i was writing about--at first i thought i was writing a satirical commentary on internet culture, but then as i wrote more and more, i had these other pieces that were like... sadder. in early versions of the book, i tried to tell a straightforward sort of "story" but the poems didn't work quite that way. so, i found other ways to sort them.

so, what have i accomplished since then?

in the fall of 2019, i probably had like 6-8 poems tops

then i signed up for a yearlong writing program at the start of 2020. it was costly, but it helped me a lot. it was a crash course in poetry. i read books. i wrote new poems. at the end of the program, mid-2021, i had something like 20-25 poems, but i was not yet at a full-length count.

i spent another year writing poems on my own. i joined a writing workshop or two but mostly i wrote in solitude. i finally got to about 35 poems by the summer of 2022. i felt hopeful.

in fall 2022, i submitted my manuscript to first book contests. i had done a lot of revising on my own. i asked a person or two to be my beta-readers. i felt good about most of my poems, as i had been diligently revising the 2019 drafts to their best, and i was nervous about the newer pieces but happy to have them included.

i received a lot of rejections. but i had two poems published online, and a third included in a horror poetry anthology. i was also named a semifinalist for one of the book contests i'd entered. these were all small wins.

i took a break from the poetry stuff to focus on school, then on job hunting. now things in my life have settled down and i am back to thinking about poetry.

i signed up for a poetry conference this weekend, where real live editors offer their genuine feedback and talk craft with us. i'm excited by the opportunity. i was given the first ten pages of notes and some of it was cutting, but goodness it's been so long since i really had sharp feedback on my work, and i am appreciative of it nonetheless. the conference runs till Monday morning. the notes are truly invaluable.

i plan to pursue an MFA in 2025, which would only be an extension of the $$$$ i am invested in my writing already. the yearlong workshop was several thousand, the conference a couple thousand as well. the manuscript consultations i plan to pay for will also run me a few hundred each, and the submission fees add up quick. truly, no one is lying when they say that writing is a pursuit mired in privilege. I am grateful to work a day job that makes a lot of all this easier, but it's cushioned work, isn't it? i recognize that more and more lately.

i am not mentioning the price tags to brag, but really just to highlight that money has felt so necessary in lieu of organic connections or inner networks. money isn't buying me placements in top tier lit mags but i feel like it is buying me the notes and feedback to guide my revision towards stronger poems that may one day be lit mag worthy.

i am excited by the work ahead. invigorated by the energy of knowing i have work worth launching into the world. i plan to use october to edit and refine, as there are many upcoming contests and i want to have better drafts to send along than i sent last year.

i plan to sign up for more paid workshops that will help me with drafting my fiction. i only have one short story under my belt, and i'd like to slowly round out that list too, eventually having three then five then ten, all in rotation to lit mags submissions too. i want my name to hold weight eventually. to become familiar.

it feels really good to have clear dreams and a clear plan for my writing career. my goal is to work on these poems and continue trying to place them. to partake in writing programs that may help me get exposure to other editors and mentors, etc. i hope that by the time i am ready to apply to MFA programs that I will be able to ask for a reference or two out of these workshops. by the time i apply for a poetry MFA, i hope to just use the published poems and an unpublished one or two as well, to feel confident about my abilities. then i'll generate a second book of poetry, who knows about what, and publish that too.

it's all fun to think about!

[t00thpaste33]

Art progress on ibispaint from 2019-2022! I had to delete the app and reinstall it bc it wasn’t letting me use it anymore so i compiled my art onto a doc

it would probably be better to use a computer/laptop bc it was formatted on one lol

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c9yBUVQ1vsiQATLZvV1d8QOrM_ZDI6tBmkbM86Owqh4/edit?usp=sharing

[omaiiee]

childhood friend tropes are my absolute favs

[chimchiri]

Art Improvement

I've wanted to post some improvement for a while and with the recent art asks I think it's a good timing. Unfortunately I couldn't easily find art before 2007 so it's 2007 - 2022 now.

Detailed/Yearly examples below (long post, contains partial non-explicit nudity):

2007 - Started with ultra anime style. I always liked coloring and put lots of time into that. All art was still on paper, usually with pencils and copics.

2008 - Got into digital art, including drawing websites (I forgot the name of the one I mean - will update if I remember. kinda miss those) because my brother gifted me his old Wacom tablet. Still very anime but quickly getting somewhat away from it. Mostly because my fave artists weren't anime.

2009 - More digital art. Nothing special to say. Still mainly drawing headshots and 3/4 portraits. Honestly just drawing for fun and because I enjoy the media. Bully/Canis Canem Edit and South Park were the first fandoms I stayed long time and drew lots for.

2010 - More tries and focus on painting and rendering. Style is slowly gearing towards my current style I think.

2011 - ??? I dunno why but I couldn't find any art dated from this year lol. Maybe just not organized well enough?

2012 - Trying to get some anatomy practice done. Slowly starting to focus on actually improving because I couldn't get what I head in my head on paper.

2013 - 2014 - Still lots focus on painting. Also getting a liiiittle out of my comfort zone with poses - not a lot though. For some pieces I put in a lot of effort which definitely shows (I still like them to this day). I think this is where my improvement actually started.

2015 - 2016 - I think this is where my current style really begins showing through. I'm getting more comfortable with anatomy, clothing and painting.

2016 - 2017 - Start of active improvement and looking things up. I'm big time in the DC fandom (especially Halbarry) and draw tons for it. Starting to draw people interacting instead of just headshots. Starting here is my biggest improvement I think. Body language and emotions are becoming a key focus since I value this the most.

2017 - 2018 - More focus on bodies interacting. Anatomy definitely improved here. I'm starting to get away from painting lots and draw more simple colorations or just lineart. Definitely helped getting better at anatomy more quickly.

2019 - 2020 - didn't draw much. Mostly easy lineart stuff. South Park is still showing through ahaha. Didn't improve that much during this time.

2021 - not much to say. Also didn't draw much. 2022/today - drawing a lot again thanks to Sally Face. Currently focusing on special posing, angles and just people interacting.

Aaaand that's it! :)

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: He’s Coming To Me Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I’ll cover He’s Coming To Me, how this show centers Thai-Chinese/Asian culture, shipper culture, and the brilliance of Ohm Pawat and Singto Prachaya. THIS IS A LONG POST.]

I’m gonna have to hold myself down for this one. He’s Coming To Me. This kind of show. HCTM is ABSOLUTELY the reason why I created this project watchlist in the first place -- to watch this kind of show. This show cements my utter respect and passion for the work of Aof Noppharnach. This guy’s work needs to be taught in schools. 

I’m like -- after days of finishing HCTM, and furiously and hungrily rewatching episodes, I am still shaking my damn head at this show. I knew it was great, but y’all didn’t prepare me for ITS GREATNESS. (And to be watching it the same week as Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars -- it’s been an Aof-themed moment, and I’m a touch overwhelmed by EVERYTHING I’ve absorbed.)

I am actually contemplating -- I’m seriously contemplating this! -- if I like this show better than either Bad Buddy or Moonlight Chicken. I know, I KNOW. I’m not talking about the story, the structure, the filming, the writing and direction. I’m literally just talking about my own damn preferences. I might just LIKE this show better, for what it held, what it told, and how the show showed so much respect for its story.

And there’s a lot I want to touch on in this piece, so as usual, a little list for myself:

1) Where this show came from vis à vis the watchlist, and what I think it meant by way of previous BLs 2) The Asianness of the show and how it transcended the usual BL tropes 3) A celebration of Aof’s favorite themes, and how cool it was to see them being born in HCTM (including the theme of young/first love that I haven’t seen before in his work) 4) A hopefully brief and not angry reflection on shipper culture, homophobia, Ohm, Singto, and how that affected HCTM in the annals of Thai BL

Without having seen his My Dear Loser work, or his screenwriting for Gay OK Bangkok 1 and 2 (which I plan to watch after the OGMMTVC is over, in preparation for Only Friends): HCTM is the first full Aof vehicle to enter my watchlist. So just quickly looking behind me: I’ve had shows like Love Sick, SOTUS, Together With Me, Love By Chance -- shows that began to toe the line, then define the line, then sharpen the line of what BL was. As I wrote in my Love By Chance review last week, I felt that LBC was the first show on my watchlist that felt like a true derivative BL, complete with tropes that had been born during Love Sick and SOTUS, and sharpened over those first few years of the Thai BL industry growing.

So it’s 2019 now, and we get He’s Coming To Me, both written and directed by P’Aof. Tropes? No tropes. What a flip from LBC.

Instead, we get an absolute head-first dive into many of the themes that we see Aof continued to play with in his later works. For me, HCTM evoked Moonlight Chicken the most, especially for what I call the Asianness of this show -- Aof’s unabashed focus on Asian cultural themes and threads that create structure and movement for his characters.

Before I get ahead of myself, I want to thank @telomeke very deeply for chatting with me about how I could learn more about Thai-Chinese culture, because themes and behaviors related to Thai-Chinese demographics are clearly common in Thai BLs, and I’ve felt that it behooved me to learn more about the culture (or as much as I can from the internet) as I continue to review these shows. But @telomeke reminded me that a lot of the assimilation of Chinese cultures and populations mirror the cultural mixing that took and takes place in Malaysia, where a part of my family hails and where I’ve spent a good portion of my life. So I’m relieved that I actually understand more about Thai-Chinese culture than I gave myself credit for, BUT -- that’s only a caveat, because I still have so much more to learn.

I say this because I’m using this word, “Asianness,” to describe in part at least one impression I have about HCTM, which is taking seriously the theme of ghosts and what role ghosts play in a human’s life. We see very often in Japanese doramas the practice of praying at an altar honoring past ancestors -- ancestor culture and worship are big in Japan, and the doramas don’t shy away from that. We see temple trips all the time in doramas and BL doramas -- especially during New Year’s. (Our Dining Table being just the most recent one.) We see Buddhist temple culture in Thai BLs often -- in KinnPorsche, in Bed Friend, in Big Dragon, and very especially in Moonlight Chicken.

I think what I want to point out here, if I can say it eloquently, is that a Western viewer might find more notable in an Asian drama, than in a Western show, the inclusion of practices of spirituality. In the West, spirituality might be indicated by a trip to a church, or prayer. But it strikes me -- and maybe this is because I’m a first-generation Asian-American, my eyes open to ALL the differences between my culture and America -- that Asian dramas incorporate the practices of spirituality more seamlessly, because practices like lighting an incense stick and giving a quick prayer before breakfast is more culturally embedded in places like Japan or Thailand. The practice is there, and you just do it, because that’s what you do for your culture. (I often see a stick of incense lit and burning next to a plate of fruits in the early mornings when I jog past Thai restaurants. It’s just -- what you do.)

It struck me, and I still wonder about it, if Western viewers may have thought that Thun was going overboard with his interest in Thai-Chinese Buddhist practices, including being so diligent about offering alms to the passing monks, going to the temple for merits, and keeping electric incense sticks on him to make sure that Med wouldn’t disappear. An auntie on Whatsapp might cock a curious eyebrow, but also regard Thun as a “good boy” who’s devoted to the temple.

In any case, this struck me particularly deeply, because I think, if P’Aof had been a little more abashed, that he could have toned this theme down -- the theme of the everyday practice of Buddhism.

And he didn’t. He didn’t tone it down. He leveraged it as THE major theme of the drama: that ghosts exist in Thai-Chinese-Buddhist culture and practice, and that some people can communicate with ghosts, including both Thun and his mom. 

The ABSOLUTELY wonderful @telomeke​ affirmed this for me, writing so eloquently: “Underlying HCTM is an unshakeable belief in the spirit world, and it's also a given ... for a majority of people in SE Asia and Thailand in particular that the spiritual realm is as much a part of the everyday world as much as the physical reality of what we can see and touch.”

The reason why I’m hammering on this in particular is because it categorizes the show as one that is utterly representative of A SPECIFIC CULTURE -- just like Moonlight Chicken, with its commentaries on spiritual and economic practices of the particular place of Pattaya. @telomeke​, I know you have specific feelings about the ending of HCTM, which I’ll get to in a moment, but I think for me, the ending of HCTM is deeply satisfying BECAUSE of this connection to Thai-Buddhist culture, what it says about ghosts and spirits, and how they continue to be incorporated in the ongoing life of a young Thai adult like Thun. AND, I appreciated that the ending skirted, just slightly, what we might have expected about someone losing their lover (à la Eternal Yesterday). Thun only temporarily lost Med... but Med still doesn’t quite exist. And I think there’s layers there that I’ll hopefully get to teasing out, either here or in a future post.

Going back to BL tropes and structures... I mean, HCTM was just like, yo, I’m gonna play in another ball field. I’ll have more thoughts on this after I watch Dark Blue Kiss, but at least, as far as I’m aware WITHOUT having seen DBK yet, that it’s not until late 2021 that P’Aof begins playing in the BL sandbox, takes his toy dump truck, and turns the tropes upside down in Bad Buddy.

And I see, in HCTM, P’Aof laying the groundwork for the themes that he DOES love, that I happen to love, and that get repeated in his oeuvre:

- The theme of community: the need for young and old queer individuals to interact with other queer individuals (most recently depicted in OS2/BBS/ATOTS) - The theme of NOSTALGIA: Med having never left his moment 20 years prior, listening to the same music of Thun’s mom’s generation (nostalgia being most recently depicted in Moonlight Chicken) - The parable of 1,000 stars: what it means to be the last star on which to make a wish (most recently depicted in ATOTS and OS2/ATOTS) - The anguish of coming out: Thun, Uncle Jim, Li Ming, Pran coming out to Dissaya -- all heavy, all impactful, all different stories that carry heaviness and their own meaning to each of these incredible characters

And there’s so many more. But what I really want to do, to get up on the rooftops that P’Aof loves so much, and YELL TO THE AIR is:

THE GENIUS, THE SHEER GENIUS, of linking these themes -- many of these as ASIAN themes! -- to specific issues that face the queer community, such as coming out, and being invisible (like a ghost) in a majority cishet society. 

GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH. Oh, the pain in my heart. This is exactly what I wrote in my notes while rewatching the show: “This is the first time we get Big Cultural Themes outside of issues with the queer community -- and Aof LINKS the Big Cultural Themes WITH queer issues -- the brilliance of it all.” Just like he did subsequently in Moonlight Chicken.

What was so beautiful to me about He’s Coming To Me -- and how it was channeled with GENIUS TALENT AND GRACE from Ohm and Singto -- is that, unlike Moonlight Chicken, this was the story of one young man who needed to sort out his feelings. And there was another young man, a young man who was killed, who HAD begun realizing his feelings, but was trapped by station (from a rich family) and role (the only son in a family). Med even said, it would have been impossible for him to come out as the only son of his family.

As far as we knew, Med had only come out to Kwan, Thun’s mom, before he died. Med may have very well been attracted to other men before he died -- but we see him VISCERALLY attracted to Thun, and vice versa, and that burst of first love for both young men, IN THE CONTEXT OF Thun’s spiritual practice and abilities to BRING Med to “life” in Thun’s life -- I mean. I’m shaking my head. It’s a parable for manifesting what you want in your life, and making it happen. 

And yet, what HCTM also touches on, is that many times, you DON’T get what you want in life. Med WILL disappear one day. He will be reborn. It wasn’t his time at the moment of the ending, but it will be his time one day. Thun only has Med temporarily -- we don’t see the WHEN of that. 

BUT. I would posit (and @telomeke​ and @wen-kexing-apologist​, I wonder what you think of this), à la OS2/Bad Buddy, that P’Aof is OKAY with us not seeing this, and not necessarily considering the ending of HCTM to be a happy ending for Thun and Med. Because he knows -- and he knows that his Asian viewers know -- that Med WILL leave Thun one day. Not yet, though. Thun still has a little time to grow wiser and older and stronger. But Med WILL disappear one day. He had been hinting at it all throughout every episode of the series. He will have to leave Thun’s side. 

I think the way the show ended was graceful. It leaves that door open for Med to find his rebirth, because was a good kid and deserves to be reborn in a happy life. It allows Thun time to grow through his first love -- first love being such an important theme to this show. It’s COMPASSIONATE to Thun, very similar to me to the kind of compassion that P’Aof showed to Uncle Jim throughout Moonlight Chicken, and just now in OS2/ATOTS to Phupha. But it’s also rooted in the SPIRITUAL REALITY that Med WILL leave -- just not yet. And P’Aof is saying, I didn’t need to show y’all, because y’all Asians already know, Med’s outta here one day. 

The other thing to note about the ending is that P’Aof had already shown a tremendous amount of Thun’s pain. Thun wasn’t necessarily HAPPY in this show. He was curious, exploring, and loyal to Med. While Thun is clearly a young man who DEMONSTRATES happiness -- MY GAWD, the 19-year-old smile of Ohm Pawat!!! -- I wouldn’t say that he was a happy child. He lost his dad young. He was SCARED as hell for potentially letting his mom down. And: he had a lot of secrets to keep. The secret of being gay. The secret of being able to see and talk to ghosts.

“He’s coming to me.” Thun comes out, twice. He’s gay, and can see ghosts. 

Even though others can’t see ghosts, I can. Even though others aren’t gay, I’m gay. Mom: I’m different. 

When Thun sobs for Med while holding onto the jar of stars in his bedroom. When Thun spins around, looking for Med on the rooftop in episode five. When Thun calls for Med and Med isn’t there. Thun is alone. He is alone with his secrets, and Med is not there -- he is NOT coming to Thun in those moments -- and Thun is left alone, different and unique, as he has been his whole life.

I’d posit that that uniqueness is particularly difficult to deal with in collectivist Asian societies as in Thailand -- which led, in part, to Thun not knowing the language of his feelings as he came out to Med in episode five on the rooftop, and being SCARED, to his bones, to come out to his friends and his mom in episode six.

For 2019: I see this show as being ahead of its time, way ahead of its time. I have lots of theories as to why this show isn’t considered a more striking part of the canon of Thai BLs, and the incredible @bengiyo​ and @shortpplfedup​ have helped me to understand the magnitude of the impact that P’Aof made in breaking up the KristSingto ship to pair Singto with Ohm -- and how the fan shippers came for HCTM, and pushed GMMTV to hide this show for years before finally releasing it on YouTube with subs.

But besides that fucking bullshit, which I’ll return to in a second, I also want to note that maybe -- considering that we have more years now, after 2019, to consider the massive trove of Thai BLs that exist now -- the skirting of the still-nascent BL tropes framework was too early for many when this show came out. As I’ve demonstrated here in this piece -- this show’s complicated. There’s A LOT A LOT. I mean, I’m in love with P’Aof’s work because I LIKE HAVING A LOT in my shows. But you go a flip side and you get Together With Me and MaxTul with love bites and throaty kisses (in the words of Seinfeld, not that there’s anything wrong with that). 

HCTM is heavy. It carried a lot that wasn’t overtly sexual by nature, like many BLs at that moment in 2019 and right beforehand (randy Perth, randy MaxTul, etc.).

I understand from @bengiyo​ and @shortpplfedup​ that, because Ohm needed to move on from Make It Right and the OhmToey ship due to Toey leaving BL after MIR, and Ohm joining forces with Singto, that Ohm received massive criticism, and continues to be a subject of criticism and bullying today (some of which I’ve seen on this site). And that Singto was also the subject of online bullying as well.

With all of this in mind -- Ohm, Singto, and the unique nature of HCTM -- I’m continuing to mull over the issue of homophobia in shipper culture. If BLs are reduced down SIMPLY to the pairings that lead these shows -- and that there’s an EXPECTATION that the shows NEED to depict certain acts of queer sexuality, SPECIFICALLY among actors who identify as straight -- that seems straight up homophobic to me.

I can see HCTM being too ahead of its time to begin shifting that paradigm. I’ll see what Dark Blue Kiss does next in the Aof oeuvre from this purview, but what I want to get at is:

IT IS CRIMINAL THAT HCTM ISN’T MORE WIDELY KNOWN. This show is affecting me literally at the same level as Bad Buddy and Moonlight Chicken.

What HCTM HELD by way of Asian culture and spirituality, by the RESPECT IT HAD for the experience of first young queer love, by LEVERAGING the ABSOLUTE BRILLIANCE OF ACTING OF OHM AND SINGTO (omg, AND SINE INTHIRA, are you kidding me?!?!?), and, oh shit, by BRINGING THAT ALL TOGETHER? To TELL a story of queerness and spirituality in Thailand?

Fuck. I’m just shaking my head. If it’s too much for the shipper folk, then... okay, go off. Leave the good stuff to me and the fam that GETS IT — the fam that gets that what we’re watching is ART, and not intended vessels for fantasy and fetish.

Last notes. I just want to say that in my SOTUS reviews, that I theorized that Singto would be brilliant when paired with a really good actor, and HCTM proved it to me. If it weren’t for this fucking shipper bullshit, I would have liked to see Singto and Ohm paired again.

Ohm is probably the most prevalent actor on my Thai BL list. I get that he was nicknamed “the king of BL,” and that he’s been the target of bias for that label and his predilection for being utterly brilliant in telling queer stories (thank you to @bengiyo​ and @miscellar​ for helping to fill me in on this).

Let me just say that this man is a goddamn MASTER. @shortpplfedup​ nailed it in her Ohm appreciation post.  @absolutebl summarizes why Ohm is singular in this BL space. Shippers who want to bully the mans, bring him down or whatever, spread misinformation, I want to say, angrily and rudely -- fuck off, and be afraid of talent in y’alls lives. 

With the tangle of homophobia and cyberbullying that seem to have an overstated impact on the Thai BL industry, it is a damn shame that Ohm doesn’t get more of his flowers, because he makes shows better. I mean: this guy OWNS ROOFTOPS. Episode five of HCTM?! Episode five of Bad Buddy?! Get this guy on a rooftop and he will SLAY. Pair him with people -- Singto? Nanon? Perth? OHM MAKES THESE GUYS BETTER ACTORS than they ever were previously.

I say the following, in all honesty, with a touch of disdain, of condescension, and sadness, for the people who don’t watch this show because it doesn’t have pectorals or hot make-out sessions, and because it features actors that many fans might want to bully:

HCTM does not have the reputation that it deserves. It’s not just a good show. It’s an HONORABLE show. For me, it pays homage to Asian cultures and practices that I relate to. It features a story of queer revelations and love that is written with passion and respect. It features probably the best acting I’ve seen so far on my watchlist. And it features two actors who were willing to subvert expectations, at the risk of their own careers, to tell this story, as written and directed by one of of the most brilliant, subversive, experimental, and creative filmmakers I’ve ever watched in Aof Noppharnach.

I want and need BL fans to appreciate Asian culture more in these shows. And I want and need BL fans to appreciate human behavior development as well. Because P’Aof is telling stories out here, stories that can enrich our lives. I wrote in my Bad Buddy thesis that BBS will be required viewing for my children. HCTM joins that list. HCTM makes me want to be a better Asian mother, and to make a world for my children where the experience of first love and coming out can be regarded not with pain, but with celebration and joy.

[It’s going to take me a while to get over HCTM, but I’ve already begun Dark Blue Kiss, and am having a FABULOUS time with it. That opening theme! P’Aof and JOCKS! Yum. Another frappé, please.

Here’s the updated list! Much to the chagrin of everyone-I-know-on-Tumblr (I’M SORRY @shortpplfedup​), I’m adding a VERY fast rewatch of ATOTS. Blame it on Our Skyy 2. I’ll want to watch ATOTS after the cinematic affair that is ITSAY, and after I’ve seen P’Aof do his thing on two existing series in DBK/Kiss and Still 2gether. ATOTS was my very first P’Aof series, and I want to rewatch it in chronology.

Here we go. As always, I’ll take recs, comments, etc.!

1) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 2) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 3) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 4) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 5) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 6) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 7) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 8) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) 9) He’s Coming To Me (2019)  10) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (watching) 11) TharnType (2019) 12) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (I’m watching this out of order just to get familiar with OffGun before Theory of Love -- will likely not review) 13) Theory of Love (2019) 14) Dew the Movie (2019) (not an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but I want to watch this in chronological order with everything else) 15) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) 16) 2gether (2020) 17) Still 2gether (2020) 18) I Told Sunset About You (2020) 19) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) 20) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 21) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS 22) Lovely Writer (2021) 23) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 24) Not Me (2021-2022) 25) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 26) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 27) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 28) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 29) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 30) My School President (2022-2023) 31) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 32) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults)]

[kelyon]

(fanfic ask meme) 8 and 18!

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

The issue right now isn’t so much bravery as it is time. Golden Rings is my priority and every other fic (except for Nephila and Her Angel and maybe some one-shots) is going to have to wait its turn.

That being said, I don’t know what my major project will be after Golden Rings (which is to say, what fic will premiere on the first Friday of 2022). One of my major ideas (Dark One Belle deals for Spinner Rumple to be her plaything) doesn’t require a lot of bravery. The other two (an omegaverse/sex trafficking AU and a fic where a crossdressing Killian Jones is the third party in a Rumbelle bdsm throuple) would both require a bit of bravery on my part.

But that’s a question for next year.

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method?

So Golden Cuffs was the first major fic I’ve ever ever written, and the first piece of any writing I’ve put out there for the public. I pre-wrote that fic for a year before I posted the first chapter to AO3. My original goal was that since I’ve got a whole first draft already written, I can just post a chapter a week without actually writing anything new--maybe a little editing, but nothing too intense. 

That didn’t work out. 

As it happens, writing a story for a year makes you a better writer! Early on, I made changes that I would then have to follow through on, with ripple effects that spread across the whole fic. I knew “draft zero” was a starting point when I began, but now I look at it as mostly a glorified outline. From the first chapters of Golden Cuffs, I knew that I would have to re-write every chapter that would come after that. And the fic is better for it. 

Several thousand words later, drafting is a lot easier. I find myself going into writing traps but then correcting them while I’m drafting. I used to get my wife to beta for me because I didn’t know if what I had was really working. Now I mostly use her as a seal of approval. There’s a lot less division between drafting and editing. 

(Still some separation, because you need to have that time of just letting your brain pour out onto the keyboard. And you also need that time of “Okay, but what are we really doing here?” It’s just that overall, with Golden Rings, it’s a lot easier for me to know “what I’m really doing” and then let my brain pour out the good stuff.)

As for my posting schedule... I shifted from posting every week to every two weeks about halfway through the original run of Golden Cuffs. It was pretty grueling to go through the drafting and editing process over the course of just seven days. (That was also when I decided I needed a part time job on top of my full time job--2019 had some very dark moments for me and my wife.) 

With Golden Rings, I almost think I could crank out a chapter in seven days. The big problem is that it wouldn’t be seven consecutive days. Keeping my posting schedule at every other week allows me to do TMI Tuesdays and do family stuff on the weekends (in the Before Times, of course) and just have days where I stare at the screen for two minutes and then shut my laptop. 

And posting biweekly gives me a chance to get ahead of schedule, which is good for the ego. Like, I posted Chapter 8 today and I’ve already got seven pages of Chapter 9 drafted. Hopefully, the perceived extra time will eventually lead to me working on my side-fics or some other project. Even if it doesn’t, it will gave me time to be a person--and I really needed that in 2020. 

[meggannn]

the Into the Spiderverse #QuarantineWatchParty on twitter yesterday revealed a lot of neat stuff about the film. a lot of the creative team (directors, writers, producers, composer, editors, animators, and Shameik Moore) participated. 

there were also a few tidbits about the sequel I found interesting. no plot stuff was revealed, but I found confirmation that certain names that are back on the team, which I found reassuring (especially since I am a little wary of Joaquim Dos Santos being on the sequel, but that’s just me)

behind-the-scenes ITSV

Co-Producer Chris Miller: “We pitched the Sony brass an ambitious tag involving Spider-Ham, Tobey [Maguire], Andrew [Garfield], and Tom [Holland]. They felt it was “too soon””

the Spider-Verse edit suite (during the final crunch weeks)

ITSV stuff:

Visual effects/computer graphics supervisor Michael Lasker: “We built about 140 uniques buildings for Manhattan and Brooklyn, and every building had a night and day variation. We build skyscrapers, residential, modern, industrial, pretty much anything you'd find in New York!”

Co-Director/Scriptwriter Rodney Rothman: “We recorded Shameik Moore singing "Familia" too. The movie almost opened with that.”

Peter Parker would order a latte from Foam Party “and that's what we love and hate about him.”

Co-Producer/Scriptwriter Phil Lord: “[Miles’s science teacher] is based on my cousin @ceciliacallero5 who is very funny and inspiring science teacher.”

“Pine recorded a lot of very silly ad libs with us in London and I will never forget him for it.”

During the death scene, Chris Pine had to “lay down on the ground for a few minutes because he was breathing so heavily. He got light headed.”

Associate Editor on ITSV/Film Editor on ITSV2 Andy Leviton: “An early version had Miles breaking the USB on the train tracks.”

Phil Lord: “The movie started with this scene [introduction of Peter B. Parker] at one point. at the end of the opening sequence. And we zapped Peter B we went to Sunflower.”

Other ideas for animals that Peter B would be crying over (instead of seahorses) included albatrosses and gibbons

Doc Ock’s desktop was based on Phil Lord’s desktop

Michael Lasker: “Doc Ock's villain costume was the most complex outfit that we created. Her tentacles have fx wire geometry published on a per shot basis, and her suit has subsurface scattering, chrome and other metals and translucent materials.”

“Turning Doc Ock into a woman was a Bob Persichetti idea. He and Katherine Hahn are friends through their kids. In earlier drafts she was a Big Lebowski type dude.”

“A whole lot of really good stuff in the movie came from the comics” (this image he shared is from the Spider-Men mini-series, where Peter meets Miles)

Andy Leviton: “We often ask all actors to give us some efforts (such as laughs, yells) whether we need them or not at the time. We asked Nic Cage to laugh. He gave us a small one. Then we said, make it bigger. HE WENT FULL CAGE! The most insane laugh I have ever heard. Sadly, Not in the movie.“

John Mulaney improvised an entire Spider-Ham theme song called “Spider-Ham, the most handsome Spider-Man.” Andy Leviton said on Twitter that he would try to look for the theme song to share it. He also confirmed that everything John Mulaney said in this interview with Jimmy Fallon is correct and not made up.

Rodney Rothman: “There was a moment Mahershala Ali didn't want to perform the death scene again -- the way he explained that to us taught me a lot about how to handle oneself at work. He is an amazing performer and person.”

Tom Rothman (Chairman of Sony Pictures) was behind the scene with Jefferson at the door speaking to Miles. originally it was going to be Aunt May but then Tom basically said "you guys are dumb."

Chris Miller: “Whether Spider-Ham was allowed to say that legally was a real question for several months but thankfully we have a good relationship with our friends at Warner Bros.”

Phil Lord: “There were many versions of Gwen's goodbye where she and Miles kissed. None of them felt right. This [ending] is so much better”

Phil Lord: “Directors felt really strongly that Miles needed his own one on one with Kingpin after everyone left... and they were really right”

Chris Miller: “On the last day of animation I forced Josh Beverage to reanimate the Kingpin punch of Miles with only one hand because the two handed punch killed Peter”

Chris Miller: “This final Miles V.O. Was a real 6-person team effort written during the final mix by the directors, Phil, me, and editor Bob Fisher. It was the last piece of dialogue written and recorded for the film”

Rodney Rothman: “My 4-year-old was really upset Peter B. Parker never got to eat a bagel and he made me storyboard a post-credits scene where he got to eat one at home, it's in my sons room and it really should'vee been in the damn movie”

behind-the-scenes ITSV stuff

The team was inspired by Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama’s work

Composer Daniel Pemberton, Dec 2019: “Last month I went back [to Sony Animation Studios] for the first time since finishing #Spiderverse. The whole building was now covered head to toe in everything spiderverse. It was genuinely quite a moving moment for me...” (Megan note: I happen to have a wonderful friend who works at Sony Pictures and showed me pictures of these cut-outs a few months ago, and now that someone “official” has shared them, I think everyone should see them because they’re delightful)

behind the scenes photos from Rodney Rothman one / two / three / four / five. One interesting photo:

Rodney Rothman shared a lot of photos, one of them a text convo with Phil Lord when they were back in production stages

stuff about ITSV2

Phil Lord is working on the sequel. in what capacity, he didn’t say, but presumably a producer. Producer Chris Miller is also apparently returning in some capacity but I couldn’t find hard confirmation; it’s probably a good bet he will also be a producer, since they are a creative team. On the sequel Lord said on May 6 2020: “worked on it all day yesterday and had a ball. Watching this got me pumped for all the surprises in store for 2022″

Michael Schroeder, who animated the opening logo for ITSV1 and also did the ITSV2 announcement animation, is also working on the sequel, apparently on and off. Someone asked if he was going to [do] a similar variant to the first film’s opening logos for ITSV2 and he said “I believe so”

Japanese Spider-Man will be in the sequel, or at the very least, he has been designed (I know that’s an old link but it was news to me!)

[clevercatchphrase]

2019 year in review

So… The 2010’s are almost over. Huh. What a decade it’s been. Hard to comprehend how much has changed in 10 years. I can barely believe that I was in high school at the beginning of this decade, and now I’m a college graduate with 2 degrees who’s been working at the same job for the last 3 years. But trying to summarize the past 10 years in a single post is a good way to give myself an existential crisis, so let’s not do that! Instead, let’s just focus on 2019 because there has been more than enough shit that’s happened to me in this year to talk about.

PART 1 OF 2: 2019 AND 2020 GOALS AND RESOLUTIONS

Huh, looking back through my archives, I apparently didn’t make a tumblr post about my goals this year. I definitely had some, though. Lemme list ‘em off real quick, and then we’ll go through them point by point.

1)      Pay off all my student loans 2)      Finish some song comics 3)      Make art for my Redbubble account 4)      Finish the first rough draft/script of a game I wanted to make 5)      Practice ASL 6)      Sew some stuffed animals 7)      Finish some fan fictions 8)      Work on Ghost Switch 9)      AMVs 10)   Do some original writing 11)   Make illustrations for my fan fictions

Okay, first off, the student loans. I was actually SO CLOSE to successfully completing this one bUT THEN MY CAR HAD TO BE A WHINEY PISS BABY AND HAVE ITS ALTERNATOR DIE ON ME WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND THEN A BLOW OUT THREE WEEKS LATER.

GOD, if I had to summarize this year in two words, for me it would be “Car troubles”. I swear I spent more on auto repair in the first third of this year than I ever have just freakin’ OWNING a car. All four of my tires had to be replaced, my alternator failed and my car literally just SHUT OFF while I was driving, and I was barely able to coast into a gas station. Both my front breaks and rear breaks were worn down the metal and I only learned this when my car was barely able to stop after I had to slam the petal down full force!  I went in for an oil change, and they found some problems and then I didn’t get my car back for three days! I don’t even like owning a car! I hate driving! I hate my country’s refusal to provide universal, free public transportation! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!

Oh-kay… number 2. Finish some song comics. I didn’t finish any. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work on them. I have made tiny progress, but that’s certainly better than no progress. One of these song comics I hope to be realizes is going to be a collab with one of my friends. It’ll be a long-time coming as it’s pretty low priority for the both of us, but if anyone else out there was disappointed with KH3’s ending, we’re gonna have ya’ covered… With SONG!

3. Make some redbubble art. I actually did this one! Not in the way I expected, but I added (technically) 3 new designs to my redbubble in the middle of the year. If you like butterflies and dragons, I got some product for you~!

Number 4, finish a script for a game I want to make. I… thought about this. I thought about this a lot, but I never put pen to paper, so… oops. It almost happened! I debated making this my main writing project for NaNoWriMo this year, but ended up having more inspiration for another story. Maybe next year? (god, I hope not. I don’t want to wait a full year just to write something)

Number 5, practice ASL. I just straight up didn’t do this and I only have myself to blame. Still keepin’ up that Danish Duolingo streak, though. 4 years going strong and not a day missed yet.

Number 6, sew some stuffed animals. Again, another one I just straight up didn’t do, but I have an excuse of trying to save money while my car crashed and burned in every other sense except literal this year. Hopefully 2020 will be different. I’ll definitely be able to pay off this last loan within the first half of 2020, and then I can start saving for whatever I want to buy.

Finish some fan fictions was number 7, and I did this! Well, I only finished, 1, but it was a story I’ve been working on for over 3 years, and it came out to over 200 THOUSAND words long, which is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I’m quite proud of myself. Now that the big story is out of the way, and I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of working on Ghost Switch, maybe I can squeeze in some short writing sessions more frequently. (either that, or just wait for my car to break down again and then go on a writing spree in a pepboys. The lord and the fan fic discord know that’s solely why I finished my other fic this year)

Speaking of Ghost Switch, working on it was a goal this year too, and I did that! I kept it up all year and took a vacation in November and it was wonderful. While the major plot points have been in place since before I started drawing, I still need to script each arc beyond Snowdin, but hey, by the time we get there, it’ll be 2022 so I got time. (Note, don’t do this, kids. Script your stories and comics thoroughly before publishing. The road I’m on is paved with misery and pain and it will only end in tears unless I change lanes soon)

Number 9, amvs. Do people make AMVs anymore? Idk… the last one I made was... Jesus, 5 years ago? (it was a gravity falls/fall out boy crossover, if you were curious) I’ve been wanting to do 2 more for just as long, but in order for me to do that, I’d have to spend time re-watching the shows to find the footage, and then actually edit them together, and I just don’t…. feel like it. Maybe someday, but not any day soon.

10; do some original writing. I did this! For nanowrimo! I wrote the first draft of some original fiction I’ve been planning for a year or two now and it completely sucks! But it’s on paper now and I’m happy. Will I revise and edit it? Sure, but not for a while. I want to let it sit and forget about it and look at it with new eyes months from now so I can be sure I can make it better when time comes to rewrite.

11, make illustrations for my fan fics. Now that You Monster is done, I want to go back and add pictures to it. I didn’t do any this year, but I did keep a list of scenes I wanted to draw, so I have plenty of ideas to do as warm up sketches next year~ I kinda want to stream them~

So, that was 11 goals, and I successfully fulfilled 4 of them! That’s! Not a very good ratio… QmQ So, goals for 2020. Some I’m gonna keep from this year, some I’m gonna drop and some I’m gonna add. In short I would like to,

1)      Finish paying off that last student loan 2)      Put more stuff on my redbubble 3)      Illustrate my own fan fics 4)      Sew at least one stuffed animal 5)      Make an enamel pin 6)      Read one new book a month 7)      Write one page a day/Complete at least one new fan fic 8)      Learn Python or C# for the game I want to make 9)      Finish fully scripting Ghost Switch 10)   Boost my patreon

Most of these I think are pretty self-explanitory, but I’ll go into detail just a bit because I’m on a roll and typing my thoughts helps me feel less alone in the middle of the night when you’re super tired and you know you should probably go to sleep, but the toddler in you is throwing a tantrum and doesn’t wanna go to sleep just yet, but you can’t fight the progression of time either way.

Number 1- I should be able to reach this goal by the end of March. End of June at the absolute latest. Once that goal is met, my secret new year’s resolution will be unlocked as well!

Number 2- I want to put more art of my OCs on redbubble. These OCs are tied to the game I want to make. There’s already some art of them up there, but I want at least one piece for each character.

Number 3- Mostly for You Monster. Embrace the cardinal rule of fan fic and apply it to fan art. If you want to read about see art about certain ideas, scenarios, or what-ifs, you gotta make it yourself.

Number 4- I have 3 potential ideas to sew. One is definitely leagues easier than the other two and will probably be chosen if/when I have the time and materials.

Number 5- This year I got really, REALLY into the idea of making enamel pins. Unfortunately it’s a pretty big investment (like, $350 to make 100 pins you  might not even sell). If this happens, it’ll probably be towards the end of the year, and if I get enough interest. I’m currently torn between making an original enamel pin and one based off Undertale. We’ll just have to see where this goes.

Number 6- Back in 2018 when I paid off one of my many student loans, I rewarded myself by spending over 200 dollars in used books. All these books had a theme; they were focused on dragons because I have a problem. I have not yet read a single one of these books I have bought, and I would like to fix that. I have, like, 20 unread dragon books, and even if I only read 12 out of 20, I would consider that an amazing accomplishment and money well spent.

Number 7- I currently have about 8 different WIPs I could work on. (well, I don’t know if I can even call them wips. More like, a general idea and a title written down.) I want to build good writing habits, and if I can write just 200 words a day, hell, even 200 words a week and just one of my 8 stories done, I would consider this goal met.

Number 8- I’m torn between making my game in unity or ren’py. I know jack shit about both. Ren’py is more user friendly, but unity will allow me more customization. (Lol, can you guess what kind of game I want to make yet?)

Number  9- I really just want the full story to be done and written incase anything goes horribly terribly wrong in my life and I find myself unable to continue making ghost switch in comic form. Then at least I can finish the story by other means, you know?

Number 10- It always surprises me every month when I get that patreon email saying I got paid. Sure, I don’t even make double digits on it, but it still awes me enough to know that people out there like my work enough to throw me a tip. I can’t thank my patrons enough for supporting me and I hope to one day be in such a good place I can update my comic/song comics/writing frequently enough without need for goals or milestones. But until that magical day arrives, money is always a great incentive for anything, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 ALRIGHT. PART 2 OF 2: SHIT THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2019

Cheesus crust what a year. This year started off great! Back in late January Kingdom Hearts 3 FINALLY released, and let me tell you a little story. Back in the summer of 2006 I was a 13 year old middle schooler with no way of making money other than by doing house hold chores at a rate of 25 cents a task. A few weeks ago, I had a sleep over at a friend’s house and they let me play this weird game called “Kingdom Hearts” and god, I was instantly hooked on it. That summer, I did over 800 chores, enough to earn myself 200$ and buy myself a playstation 2 (just in time for the ps3 to come out, gg me) The only games I had for the ps2 were KH1, 2, Re:CoM and Okami, and I beat them all… except Okami. Miffed that the PS3 wouldn’t allow for backwards compatibility, little 13-year-old me made a promise. I looked myself in the mirror and said “I will not buy the next playstation console until KH3 comes out, AND BOY that was probably a good choice for me to make with my level of gaming. I’m even less of a casual gamer than the average casual gamer, but I have been waiting 13 years for this piece of closure, and I even told my friends and family that “the day Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out is the day I will buy a playstation 4”. My dad apparently thought this was the funniest shit, because he literally took the day off from work that Friday to drive me on base to get the game and console (he thought it would be less crowded than a regular walmart, I suppose). I paid $400 on a ps4 pro while he bought me the game. Again, I have an impecible sense of timing seeing as the PS5 is now right on the horrizion, but just like before, I’m not buying a new console until the next KH game is released. See you in 2045, sony~. While I was at the gamestop on base, I also picked up Okami HD and The Last Guardian. For all of February and even early March, I took my time playing through KH3. And…! It was the best disappointment I’ve ever played. After a month away from gaming, I started The Last Guardian and finished it in a couple weeks. I love trico and would die for him, but trying to get 100% completion on that game is udder insanity. Okami, HD, however… again after a month break after finishing TLG, I started replaying Okami. I think I had only managed to get about halfway through the game before I just… stopped playing it on my ps2 version. I am currently SO CLOSE to getting a 100% on the ps4 version. In fact, I’ve beaten the game. I only (techinically) need 2 more trophies to be done; 1st, escape the water dragon without being eaten, 2nd, I need to beat that dumb stupid race with Kai, in order to get the last bead on my rosary, as well as the top dog trophy. I hate her so much. I hate this race so much. It’s awful and bad.

Flash forward to December! Earlier this month I was at Barnes and Noble, buying myself a planner for 2020. I exit the store and notice that there’s a gamestop across the street. For shits and giggles I go inside to look at their game selection, and I find KH 1.5 and 2.5. Now, my PS2 died a few years back (it just won’t read my discs anymore, I don’t know why) and I haven’t been able to replay any of my other kingdom hearts games since. If you had seen me the day I finished kingdom hearts 3, after the ending credits rolled, you would have heard me say “Man…. I wish I could play kingdom hearts 2 again”. AND NOW I CAN, ALONG WITH BBS which I had never even played yet, but knew the story of. I’ve restarted playing kh1, and I was so happy to hear that familiar music when I booted the game up for the first time. While at the game stop, I also picked up Rime and Tearaway, two games that had looked interesting to me. At the time of writing, I’ve finished Rime and am 25% done with tearaway. Rime was…. An interesting experience. I learned about it through Jacksepticeye’s channel a couple years back and thought the art style was enticing. For a super casual gamer like me, I found the puzzles just the right level of challenging and exploring was a blast! The music gave me VERY strong Princes Mononoke vibes, but the overall story left something to be desired. Overall I had fun, and enjoyed completing this game to 100%. Now for tearaway. Can I just say this game is super fucking adorable? I know the original was on the ps vita and the gameplay there was arguably more diverse and imaginative, but this game is just so fucking cute I don’t care?? ALSO, this game’s sound track is ABSOLUTELY incredible and I’ve only heard the first fourth of it! Listen to The Orchards, Pig Riding, and Gibbet Hill Pilgrimage for a taste of their wonderful beats and fantastic use of string and woodwinds! God, I’m so excited to get some more games in 2020. I’m proud to say I currently own more ps4 games than I ever did with my ps2 (and now the majority AREN’T Kingdom Hearts titles!), and I’m still hoping to play Journey, The Witness, and Abzu before everything becomes ps5.

What else happened to me this year. Oh, I went to a doctor for, like, the first time in seven years. I also had my blood drawn for the first time ever, and the nurse said the most disturbing thing to me while she did it. Now, whenever I get shots, I refuse to look. I did that here. So she thought it would be appropriate to say to me “Can you feel your blood leaving your body?” Lady… You can clearly see I am uncomfortable with what is happening here. Why, of all the things you could say, did you choose to say that. Unfortunately, while my doctor is nice, she keeps wanting to run tests on me, that I just cannot afford with my current salary, and my monthly insurance is about to go up to 200$ a month, so I’ve cancelled my next appointment with them, and don’t plan to go back until it’s absolutely necessary. Capitalism is fun, guys. Preventative healthcare is for wusses.

I started going to a chiropractor on a monthly basis. Story time- I don’t know when it started, but sometime late last November I began to notice that I had a headache that just... wasn’t... going away? And each day it was starting to get a little worse. It made it hard for me to find a comfortable position to sleep, it made it hard for me to be in bright areas or move fast. So I said to myself “Okay, if this headache persist through the month of december, then something is proooobably wrong and I should go see someone about it. And hoo-boy were thing wrong with me. By the time this January rolled around, I couldn’t even stay on my feet for more than a few hours without it physically hurting to just BREATHE. So I started going to this chain called The Joint (A+ name, I know). THey aksed me “How are you doing?” I said “I’m in pain” and they said “We can help fix that!”. I’ve only been to a chiropractor once before in my life a few years back after my freshmen year of college because I began to notice my hips weren’t able to support me? LIke, I would lie on my back, and I couldn’t push my hips up when my feet were flat on the floor. I also couldn’t climb anything steep, because my legs just couldn’t push me up if my knee had to bend more than 90 degrees when I lifted my leg up. (Turned out both my hips were apparently out of place). This time only one of my hips were out of place (which they fixed. they said one of my legs was an inch “longer” than the other because I had been leaning all my weight on one leg when I stand). But two of my ribs were apparently “Stuck” which was why it was hurting for me to just breathe, and one of my shoulders was missaligned too, causing one of my trap muscles to constantly be streched, which was pulling on my skull, and causing the headache. Anyway, after they popped all my bones back into place, I still felt terrible, but by god, that night was the first time in weeks I was able to sleep without a migrane. A chiropractor can’t magically heal your arthritis, or fibro, but I definately think they have merit to keeping your posture good and helping your body with things like circulation. 10 outa 10, would recomend. It’s all the fun of getting your neck snapped without the dying!

Earlier this month I got together with two of my friends and we baked Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. A member of my family has a gluten allergy, so we used rice flour for most of the cookies. We learned this is a bad idea! The cookies will just fall apart! A few member’s in one of the friend’s family have nut allergies. Other friend and I knew this and were careful to avoid cookie recipes with nuts, bUT THEN COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT ALMOND MILK AND ALMOND EXTRACT COUNT AS NUT. IN FACT, ALMOND EXTRACT IS PURE CONCENTRATED NUT JUICE AND WE FELT SO BAD FOR ALMOST ACCIDENTALLY POISONING THE FAMILY.

Earlier this year me and these same friends took a field trip to Hobby Lobby and just dicked around the store for a couple of hours. It was super fun, 11 outa 10, would recommend, a great date idea for your artsy S.O.

Back in May I went to a wedding for the first time in my life. (well, not true, but the first one I could remember) we left at 5am, drove 5 hours to get there, hung out at a zoo and spent the night in a la quinta before the wedding day. I slept on the bathroom floor because my mom was snoring too loud in the main room and keeping me awake, and the rest of the day was just spent me trying to keep myself together because I was pissed off and tired.

Other than all of that, nothing really major happened to me this year. I guess one more thing I’ve tried to do this year is started the process of breaking certain internet addictions so I can use my free time for more personal projects. Seriously, I found myself watching way too much youtube and following blogs that didn’t even make me happy. I had a personal intervention with myself where I sat down and asked myself, “why do you watch these videos and youtubers? Why do you follow these blogs? Do you really enjoy their content? Do you really care? If you stopped watching/following them, would you even notice?” After critically thinking it over, I’ve found myself unfollowing several channels and blogs and suddenly I feel so much happier. I thought I would miss it, but I realized I didn’t really care if I saw their content or not. I wasn’t missing much. And now I feel like I have more time to draw, read and write. If you think you spend too much time consuming and not enough time creating, I suggest you try and de-clutter your internet habits as well. It’s done wonders to un-fuck my headspace.

And… well, that about sums up my year. How are your holidays going? Anything fun, exciting, dramatic happen to you this year? I hope your new year is warm and safe! Good night, everybody!

[violetandstarlightgirl]

My Favorite Songs I Discovered in 2022

Hoo boy, haven't done this in three years. Thought I'd start doing this again especially since I found some really good songs this year!

As with the previous entries, nothing's in any particular order, and not everything was released exclusively this year. There's also a bonus list at the bottom of some of my favorites from 2020 and 2021 as well, since I still wanted to mention them.

Here's the old lists I've done so far: 2017 , 2018 , 2019

Honey I'm Home- Ghost (Honey I'm Home, 2019)

This is definitely the black sheep on this list this year.

I found it through a beautifully made Hollow Knight animatic by Icelandin, and something about the spooky insectoid imagery and intense instrumentals stuck with me. Not to mention the lyrics and the story they tell! (the artwork in the original music video is gorgeously disturbing)

Once I can find the peace of mind and the free time, I'd love to make an animatic with this song!

Windy Summer- Anri (Timely!!, 1983)

Since I found out about Dress Down, I have been fascinated by what I now know is the "80's City Pop" subgenre from Japan. I found a whole playlist of songs near the start of the year, and I fell in love with Anri's Timely!! album. This song in particular is featured because it's my favorite from the album, with Remember Summer Days being a close second.

I absolutely love the summer vibes from this song, and I like listening to it while driving. I even set it as my wake-up alarm for when I'm having a nap or my routine-app alarm isn't on for whatever reason. It's just a lovely upbeat song great for when you need to get stuff done!

Not Your Father's Son- JT Music, featuring Andrea Storm Kaden (Not Your Father's Son, 2022)

I received Hades as a birthday present last year and I have loved every second of it. The artwork is stunning and I'm captivated by the story, but one of my favorite creations related to the game is this fan-song made by the same talents behind the Elden Ring fanpiece, Solo.

I love the Greek inspired instrumentals that play throughout and the message in the chorus; you might be divine but you'll find you're not your father's son. Zagreus is his own person and needs the opportunity to forge his own path, and the chance to learn the truth about who his mother was.

On the Nature of Daylight- Max Richter (The Blue Notebooks, 2018)

A really somber instrumental piece here, I love the gradual addition of each instrument as the song progresses (kind of like In The Shape of Longing, one of the songs from my very first songs of the year list!). I don't know a lot of the context for the piece, but it makes me think of a tragic event that inspired a person to change for the better.

Desert Rose- Peter Hollens and Alaa Wardi (Covers Vol III, 2017)

As a young kid I've always been fascinated by the original version of this song by Sting, but at the start of this year I also found out that one of my favorite cover artists, Peter Hollens, had covered the song within the last few years.

Peter's acapella style adds something new to an already stellar masterpiece and keeps to the Middle Eastern roots that inspired the original with the inclusion of Alaa Wardi (a gifted singer in his own right!). It's a neat reminder of the beauty that can come from collaboration between cultures to make new things.

Judas- Gemyni (Judas 80s ver., 2020)

I've discovered a fun genre of cover styles this year, where people take pop songs from the 2000s and later and turn it into dark synth 80s (go check out Izzy Perri's cover of Toxic you won't regret it), but I wanted to highlight Gemyni's absolutely haunting cover of Lady Gaga's Judas on this list.

I enjoy that the tempo is slowed into something sensual (it's been used in a couple of thirst trap edits for a good reason) but everything still nods to the original. Even Gemyni's vocals are reminiscent of Gaga but it is still uniquely her own.

Dark Seeks Light- Yui Ninomiya (Dark Seeks Light, 2021)

My husband is a big fan of the isekai subgenre of anime (reincarnating with some or all knowledge from a previous life and achieving great things in the new life) and a favorite of both of ours is The World's Finest Assassin (Gets Reincarnated in Another World as An Aristocrat). One of the biggest selling points for both of us is the opening theme and the title sequence it plays in (check it out here!!)

It's a gripping and fast-paced song that keeps your attention and gets you pumped for the action. The lyrics even hint at the themes of the story; seeking light in darkness by snuffing out corruption from its festering source.

Brutus- The Buttress (Brutus, 2016)

As with a few of the songs on this playlist, I discovered this one while I was searching for stuff for a character playlist. I hadn't listened to anything by The Buttress before, but I'm definitely a fan of this piece.

I can easily feel the vitriol and rage pouring from the character as the song plays, and I love the touch where eventually their voice raises from a whisper to a shout. The character is psyching themselves up to commit fratricide, motivated by many things none the least of which is envy ("please know that my actions are not motivated only by envy", "I don't want what you have, I wanna be you").

It's a powerful piece and I love the detail of the nonsensical words spoken by the chorus in the background.

Devil's Backbone- The Civil Wars (The Civil Wars, 2013)

This was a song suggested to my by a friend for another character playlist. As a lover of folk music, I love the strings and the vocals in this one! The lyrics are also emotional and powerful; a woman praying for the soul of a man with a dark past whom she loves dearly. It's short, but absolutely sweet.

The biggest pull for me is the connection I made to this song with my Monster of the Week character, Tabby Green. Tabby is in a romantic relationship with Julian Darling, a troubled man with a checkered past. Without going into too much detail, I feel like the lyrics adequately describes her feelings about the situation.

Under the Heavens- Tony Anderson (Under the Heavens, 2022)

One of my best friends has sent me a few of Tony Anderson's pieces over the years, and this one is definitely one of my favorites he's ever done to date!

It's kind of a weird way to describe it, but it feels like you're listening to a sunrise. The sound that those first morning rays feel on your skin as the day begins.

Bonus!!! Stuff I Discovered in 2020 and 2021

In Dulce Jubilo- Mike Oldfield

A beautiful Christmas instrumental that I'd love to use in an animatic someday, introduced to me though a YouTube video by Caddicarus where he talked about his first videos on the site.

Wishbone- nervous_testpilot

A funky tune that gives me ENA vibes, overall just a fun song to chill to and have in the background when I'm doing things.

The Foyer- Drab Majesty

Something I found when looking for things to put in a character playlist for a Goth vampire who was turned in the 80s. Listening to it makes me feel this intense nostalgia even though it's less than a decade old.

Song for a Siren- The Jane Austen Argument

A beautiful modern sea shanty I used as major inspiration for my triton rogue (whos campaign concluded in July!)

Sleeping in the Cold Below- Keith Power, Alan Doyle, Damhnait Doyle

Space-shanty that I fell in love with when I got to that part of Warframe.

Drown in Pale Light- Andreas Vollenweider

An absolutely serene piece of harp music that puts my soul at piece. Worth mentioning because it was my #1 song played on Spotify this year (in the bonus segment because I discovered it in 2021)

[code-x]

Elevator Pitch an Asteroids-Like Game

This week for IGB220, I have to create an elevator pitch revolving around the mechanics of the classic game Asteroids. Asteroids contains only a few fundamental mechanics, but for such an early game, it really captures the feeling of moving through space. So, looking back at my earlier post, "Evolution of an Elevator Pitch", I want my Asteroids-Like to have a feeling of constant motion, how one might imagine flying through space would feel. Then I would like to add some enemies and power-ups to my game to create tension and conflict. Finally, would like to change the gameplay by adding a fetch quest to give a little storyline and a goal to the gameplay.  

Movement: I would like to take some inspiration from the game Asteroids and the side note by Steven Swink, "Prototyping for Game Feel," in the book The Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton. In his side note, he explains how controlling a game should feel intrinsically pleasurable, and to achieve this, you should focus on the input, response, context, polish, metaphor, and rules. So, I will need to get the feeling of moving a vast void with little to no friction right.

So, focusing on that and thinking about the classic game Asteroids.

What is my gameplay?

I will be focusing on the feeling of moving through space. Then I would like to add a mechanic where the player needs to break the asteroids into smaller pieces so they can collect them with a tractor beam giving a feeling of mining in space. Then have them return them to a spaceport to unload their hall. With this, we can add the element of space pirates attacking to steal the mined asteroids leading to the opportunity to add power-ups and upgrades and exciting gameplay. 

Why will it be compelling?

As the player plays through the game, they will come across harder and harder enemies and zones. However, they can counter this difficulty by upgrading themselves through salvaged parts and power-ups.

Who is the target audience?

Target audience: ages 10+; however, it may have to have a rating of PG as the content will be mild, but younger audiences may be confused or upset by it.

What is the players' role?

The player will take on the role of a space miner who needs to mine asteroids by breaking them into small pieces to capture with their spaceship.

How will you motivate the player? How will you reward them?

Motivation will come in the form of basic "fetch quests" and the lure of better parts for their ship, as well as the desire to protect their hall of mined goodies. They will then be rewarded with a currency, parts and power-ups for achieving milestones.

What genre is the game?

This will be a Space Action-Adventure game.

What is the setting of the game?

The game will be set in the distant future, where travelling, living, and working in space is common but not easy. The threat of dying in the vast emptiness of space is ever-present.

Now bring all that together, my elevator pitch for my Asteroid like:

'Mineasteroid is a Single person Space Action-Adventure game. The player is a lonely asteroid miner just trying to make a living. But with the vast emptiness of space and the constant threat of asteroid collisions, space pirates, and spaceports trying to underpay you. Life is not easy. The player will have to do their best to battle these elements through the help of upgrades and power-ups to make it to the next day.

The game's rating will be PG as the content will contain abstract violence and mild themes that younger audiences may be confused or upset by. That said, the target audience will be 10+ due to the content (e.g., working for a mining company and dying in space) and the difficulty of the gameplay.

Sources:

Tracy Fullerton. (2018) Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fourth Edition. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/reader.action?docID=54776988

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. (2019) 1,000km Cable to the Stars - The Skyhook - YouTube. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqwpQarrDwk

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. (2020) Unlimited Resources From Space – Asteroid Mining - YouTube. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8XvQNt26KI