#Great Off Screen War (trope)

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

If the Infinity Knights have the technology to stop time whenever or wherever they want to,

why didn’t they do so to prevent the Blorgons from invading Kayaclasch during the First Great Spacetime War?

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Ginger Rogers (Swing Time, Top Hat)—Look I’ll level with you, I’ve never seen her in a musical and I know that she’s an amazing dancer and she’ll be even hotter when I finally watch Top Hat but I’m not submitting her as a dancer I’m submitting her as an ACTRESS. Her comic timing is impeccable!!!!! She’s full to bursting with life and in every role she seems to be having FUN, you can practically feel the twinkle in her eye. With her natural warmth it’s like she’s letting you in on the joke, y’all get to have this fun together! Making me laugh is hot!!! [If you'd like to see Ginger dance, videos below the cut]

Dorothy Lamour (The Jungle Princess, Road to… movies)—Ok, to be honest, I get if no one wants to vote for her--she's kind of like my ~problematic fave~ because she started in the Road (Singapore, Bali, Hong Kong, etc) movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, which are full of all sorts of exoticism tropes and usually have her playing very side-eye type roles..island princesses and things...yeah. also she banged J. Edgar Hoover. not very hot. but your honor i still think she's pretty despite all that she's pretty please look at her and tell me she's prettyyy

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Dorothy Lamour propaganda:

She started in jungle and South Seas movies and became famous in the Road series. She learned quickly to improvise when facing Bob and Bing. Road to Bali almost has her character marrying both of theirs, since she's island royalty and nobody had a problem with it - a nearly poly relationship, an epiphany for a viewer who didn't even know that that could happen! She was a popular pinup girl during World War 2, and was the first singer for the popular standard "It Could Happen to You". She sang often in her movies and has a lovely voice!

Ginger Rogers propaganda:

She needs no introduction! An undeniable powerhouse on the dancefloor, and no less talented an actress. I once watched a compilation of cinema's greatest dance scenes and one of her and Fred Astaire's dances was featured, and one of the talking heads said he pitied her for 'having to keep up with him' - or something to that effect. Bullshit, I cry. Ginger Rogers was his absolute equal, and underplaying her incredible skill is downright criminal. I want the 'Cheek to Cheek' sequence from Top Hat to be permanently burned into my memory.

"Backwards in high heels", as the saying goes (though the pedant in me must point out that she in fact spent her fair share of time leading or dancing side-by-side). One of the earliest twinkle-toed ladies of the silver screen, and in terms of acting/persona, her balance of wide-eyed cuteness and movie-star glamour has never quite been replicated.

we all know her beloved string of musicals with fred but ginger also has an extensive and varied non-fred filmography that she's great in! a few ginger moments that are important 2 me personally ginger singing “we’re in the money” in gold diggers of 1933, complete with a verse in pig latin bc this whole movie is kinda mocking the concept of anyone actually being in the money in 1933; ginger and una merkel singing a verse of “shuffle off to buffalo” in 42nd street, providing some statler & waldorf-esque commentary on newlyweds from the upper berth of a railway car (interesting that belly was apparently a risque word in 1933 - maybe its bc the lyric is innuendo-ing about out of wedlock pregnancies - and that panties was a term for men’s underthings!); a favorite fred & ginger number

Ginger Rogers could do everything! She could sing, dance and act. She was hilarious in comedies, moving in dramatic roles (she won an Oscar for Kitty Foyle in 1940) and absolutely gorgeous!

Listen, no shade to Fred Astaire at all, but she both kept up with him step for step and then later went on to WIN AN OSCAR FOR ACTING. (which he did not.) truly a double threat!!!

One of the best dancers in Hollywood! Her work with Fred Astaire is just incredible.

ONE LINE: "Everything Fred did, Ginger did backwards and in heels" AND THEYRE RIGHT! Rogers was a total dance badass, and a lot of movie buffs know the story, but the Never Gonna Dance number from Swing Time took almost 50 takes, and allegedly by the end of filming it her white shoes had been stained pink because her feet were bleeding. As a note, she looks crazy gorgeous in this number. Watching these two dance is insane. They match up to each other in a way my mom describes as "divine" and she's right. DANCE NUMBERS!

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (Shall We Dance, 1937, dancing starts at 3:14, they're in ROLLERSKATES)

(Ginger Rogers is the hottest woman ever to live in this number. seeing this as a teenager altered my brain chemistry)

(also watch her feet and how she moves opposite Astaire in this one. We all know our boy Freddie had that precision demon but jesus christ Miss Rogers, let a girl live!)

Pick Yourself Up, Swing Time 1936 (Everyone's seen this one but by god you are going to see it AGAIN!)

Shall We Dance, 1937 (duet begins at 2:34)

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Roberta 1935 (There's just something about Ginger Rogers in a slick black dress man)

The Continental, The Gay Divorcee 1934 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjv6nmF7wdk God she's MAGIC in this one.

Gay Divorcee's Ending Montage 1934The infamous table and chairs spin happens at about 0:49. Pay CLOSE attention to her in this bc it looks like witchcraft and I feel lightheaded whenever I watch this movie bc shes THAT awesome.

She is a miracle to watch. Sorry for the sheer amount of clips. My entire family is like madly in love with Ginger Rogers.

[villainintern]

🕱🕱 At UNDERHAND INCORPORATED, the world's leading supervillain corporate conglomerate, networking opportunities are many. Recruit henchmen, make enemies, forge tenuous friendships, and always be sure to collect blackmail. Just in case. ____________________________________________________

YOUR FELLOW INTERNS:

PETER HYDE interns for human resources, although he might not be totally human. Your cubicle neighbor is a geeky slack-off who (unlike you) doesn't really want to work here, but for some reason he's unable to quit. Laid-back, conflict avoidant, and generally easy to manipulate, he’s easy minion material- but his attitude belies a volatile, monstrous secret. Which can be a great asset or a major risk, depending on if you can maintain your control over him.

Appearance: Pale skin, black hair that always escapes his gel, earnest brown eyes rimmed with the harrowed look of someone who stares at screens all day. 6'5" but embarrassed about being tall, so he leans on stuff and slouches in chairs. Usually wearing cheap office attire and a novelty tie.

🫀Likes: Cozy furnished basements. Free flash computer games. Taking on a whole rotisserie chicken solo. 🚫Dislikes: Working overtime. Falling behind on payments. The bottomless, gnawing hunger.

"Tropes": Codependent coworkers, boss-henchman. Genuine friends somehow? More?

REID/RENEY SULLIVAN (gender selectable) is your nemesis, or at least they think so. An interning hero (at the rival hero company) with impressive telekinetic powers, they are nonetheless as much of an amateur as you, and so you find yourself on even footing with one of the most promising superheroes in the business. Earnest and witty, they genuinely just want to help people. Eventually, they become fixated on “figuring you out”, which can lead to them getting sucked into your schemes. That, or their meddling could be your downfall. Worst of all, they might even succeed in reforming you.

Appearance: Black skin and hair, styled into many twists that fall at different lengths around their face. Lithe, stringy runner's build. Expressive brown eyes, a wide, endearingly uneven smile.

🫀Likes: Doing good in the world. Veggie pizza. Playing smash bros with siblings. Maybe you, despite all their better instincts. 🚫Dislikes: You. The level of control their employer exerts over them. Skinny jeans.

"Tropes": Enemies to worse. Reluctant allies, bantering. Intimately charged hand-to-hand combat. Suddenly realizing your sworn nemesis is the most important and constant figure in your life.

T9-670 is a seven-foot tall ex-war machine, now interning with UnderHand's tech support department. Once a military member conscripted to the company's private security decal, its contract didn’t end when it died- the soldier’s brain was transplanted into a humanoid steel frame. T9 is doing some soul searching- it’s not totally sure if it even has one left, but it would like to have a purpose beyond fixing printers and mowing down UnderHand’s enemies with its plasma gun.

Appearance: T9's new mechanical body is imposing but graceful, seven feet of smooth interlocking steel. Its "face" is a rounded plate of dark glass. Small tubes connect to the back of its neck, carrying fluid to the brain through its artificial spine.

🫀Likes: The beautiful, almost organic curves of highway overpasses. 🚫Dislikes: Being unable to eat. It misses carbs.

"Tropes": Big huge strong shiny robot.

ELAINE FOSTER is an up-and-coming mad scientist interning as an assistant in the tech support laboratories. Although a genius prodigy, Foster otherwise has no superhuman abilities, which causes her to be overlooked by your superiors- as a result, she's become fixated on getting that elusive promotion. Exacting, calculating, and a little maniacal, Foster doesn't dole out her respect easily. But if she sees you making smart moves, you'll find her a very competent collaborator.

Appearance: Pale skin and frizzy, near-white blonde hair. Sharp, elegant, shrewd face. Grey eyes behind narrow cherry red cat-eye glasses. She usually wears her lab gear: the signature high collared white coat, black vinyl boots and gloves.

🫀Likes: A strong cup of green tea. A well-tailored pair of dress pants. Mugler, her pet lab rat. 🚫Dislikes: Temperatures above 68 degrees. Willful imbeciles. Being condescended to.

"Tropes": Icy exterior, rivals, lab partners in crime, the chemistry that comes from bonding over your obsessive shared career passions.

BLINK is technically unemployed, a rogue villain or vigilante, depending on who you ask. Completely anonymous, they wear a unique suit of tactical gear that allows them to turn completely invisible, the first of its kind. Quippy, chipper, and sauntering, Blink is an invisible superhuman that loves the spotlight- a walking contradiction. Their motives are as obscure as their identity, but they sure seem to interfere with your missions a lot. Are they sabotaging your goals, or do theirs align? Do they just like following you around? ...are they following you right now? You're pretty sure you're alone. The hallway is dead silent. And yet...

Appearance: There's no way to know. Even when they're visible, Blink is covered head to toe in tactical gear, and they seem very cautious about keeping their face concealed. It's almost like they have something to hide from you, personally.

🫀Likes: Assassinating crooked politicians. Steel-toe boots. Invisibly entering people's houses just to see what it's like in there. 🚫Dislikes: Motion sensing doors.

"Tropes": Secret identity, watching you through their sniper scope and kicking their feet around like a schoolgirl.

[satorugojjo]

I don’t think there’s a single book BookTok has promoted in the last couple years that’s turned out to be an actually good “you cannot miss this read” which now makes me and so many others I know avoid it as a whole.

A lot of BookTok books seem to be specific for very young or very new readers who haven’t cut their teeth on fanfic or haven’t been reading from a young age. The writing style is either a really profound Instagram metaphorical caption kinda overwrought and over flowery language, or it’s trying so hard to be edgy and sardonic and ends up being completely tell and almost zero show. This Is How You Lose The Time War is a PERFECT example of this - where the flowery and poetic language actually takes AWAY from a scene and distracts you from it rather than adding anything to it in the moment, and for those who do like poetic fiction this will be up their alley but if you don’t and you pick it up because of badly marketed hype when you normally wouldn’t, it’s gonna turn you off reading in general!

There’s nothing wrong with starter fiction to help get readers engaged and then find their way into actually good books, but my gripe is that it’s never ever marketed as that and as if it it’s just generically good fiction. Nothing Colleen Hoover has ever written is objectively good - the writing style is mediocre and she romanticises taboo topics which will seem spicy to the average population who doesn’t READ. And yet she takes up every bookshelf which I promise you will end up turning many readers who ARENT on booktok away from reading altogether.

YA is another genre that has declined a lot in recent years because it’s full of marketers trying to fit all the buzzword tropes into their books and getting young readers to buy it because it’s “enemies to lovers pirate cyberpunk found family” or whatever - and it feels more like focus group fiction rather than actual writing. I LOVE YA but nothing that’s been released post 2020 has had any depth, plot, character development or any style to it.

A great example is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros - i tried reading 2 chapters as a sample and it was shocking to see how illogical, overdramatic, overedgy and exceptionally “this happened then this then this then that” it was. There was absolutely zero nuance and it felt so “I’m telling you all this but I’m not gonna prove any of it”. And yet it’s rated either 5 stars or 1 star. I’m sure it’s a great starter middle grade/teen book but it is definitely not deserving to be on the same pedestal as other YA books like Hunger Games or Six of Crows. I used to think that perhaps I’ve just outgrown YA but considering I can pick up YA from 2018 that I haven’t read before with no problems, it’s so specific to BOOKTOK YA.

It’s getting to the point that if I see a book that’s being overpromoted on tiktok, I’m more likely to believe the bad reviews because there hasn’t been a SINGLE book where I’ve disagreed with them, and then go find a different book in the same genre that hasn’t been on booktok - it’s getting hilarious actually that the books that are actually incredible get zero screen time and traction on booktok because they aren’t just cheap easy airport reads. Once again - nothing wrong with an easy airport CH book or YA book, but we aren’t going around parading a Lee Child book as peak literature no matter how enjoyable they are.

I don’t even have a conclusion to this entire rant - I’m sick of books like Babel getting steamrolled because it was “too sad or too hard” in favour of the latest SJM book, and getting even more sick of the decline of media literacy due to books getting easier and more spoonfeedy. When they aren’t? They mistake flowery metaphors for complexity and depth.

[thescriptorium]

Thinking about the great implications of Jinx’s arc ending with her final battle against Warwick. Having Vander be this monster she created, the reason she thinks Vi must hate her, the reason she hates herself, returning as this one very real ghost from her past. This final trauma that she has to face. It all sounds so perfect on paper. But the way it was translated on screen still seemed off, or lacking some kind of emotional depth. Something I couldn’t put my finger on.

Then I watched schnee’s video, where he basically points out the heavy use of tropes in that self-sacrificial way, and how none of that scene felt new or unique in the arcane-standard we’re used to. aka, Jinx’s tea party massacre where character and plot and lore all converge—into one spectacular explosion.

And then I realized, maybe you can’t beat perfection. Maybe it really was impossible to beat how incredible that scene was. The season 2 finale was good but it wasn’t great like season 1. I won’t pretend to act like I could think of a better way, but maybe I also think we really were missing that one last conversation between the sisters where Vi wants to run away with Jinx again, like in the tea party. Both of them being caught up in a war that has nothing to do with them, with the arcane and overwhelming politics, and saying fuck it, fuck zaun and piltover, it’s only ever been us.

and then, having Jinx be the one to tell Vi “No.”

In a way, that’s what the prison cell scene was, but it’s premature. If this rejection came after Jinx faced Warwick, saving Vi meanwhile (and living), it would show such strength from her. It would reinforce how Vi needed to view Jinx as an adult and not her baby sister. It would insist on both of them growing up, out of their oaths and obligations to each other. Having Jinx, out of the two, insisting that they’re not healthy for each other, that they need to find the strength to walk away and accept not being in each others lives. It would be Jinx breaking not only her cycle, but Vi’s as well, through mature growth and adult conversation.

Not to mention, her killing Warwick to save Vi (and not die) would’ve been her putting those ghosts to rest. The tragedy of Jinx having to kill Vander again, in front of Vi, would have been heartbreaking, but afterwards it would’ve given the chance for Vi to speak her forgiveness, to heal not only Vi’s perception of her, but Jinx’s perception of herself for what happened that night. The way Jinx could’ve been terrified that Vi would’ve hated her for killing Vander again but this time Vi hugs her, thanks her, and proves that she still has faith in her. It doesn’t punish Vi for her love, but she still gets to break her cycle by deciding to let Jinx live on without her, to trust her decisions as an adult and be the person she was always supposed to be—a whole person, without her codependency on her big sister.

Maybe it would’ve been too on the nose, but I think if anything had to be explicitly said in the ending, it could have been this. Giving Vi and Jinx this choice of sisterhood, this conversation of Zaun vs Piltover vs Family, and allowing them to make this decision together. It would’ve pivoted season 2 from being so plot-driven back into being as character-driven as it was season 1.

The sister’s deciding to split ways after fighting so hard with each other, simply for each other, would’ve mirrored Piltover and Zaun’s constant need for divide so perfectly. That separation isn’t terrible if it means they get to heal individually. It doesn’t mean the end of forever, but it means a new beginning for everyone. It could have helped us understand how the theories of Vi being the savior would not have worked, if she said, “I don’t care about the badge, or Zaun, or any kind of agenda. I care about you. I care about the people I love.” That individual need to find family and love despite where it comes from. It could’ve converged Jayce & Viktor’s storyline of ascending all political conflicts to share the love that they have. That way, the lore can be at rest as well.

Vi can live guilt-free in Piltover, and maybe Jinx can return to Zaun one day, after her adventures, leaving little graffiti jokes to Caitlyn and Vi, while also raising a little hell along the way ❤️‍🩹

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I Gave a 10/10 to a BL... me!

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Nov 2023 Wk 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thurs iQIYI) ep 4 of 8 - I love this show. I adore Tew's the simple backstory. No frills. No fuss. He got dragged in the way many do and he can kill so they kept him. They aren’t trying to make it needlessly complicated (which is rare for Thailand). That said, the pacing is way tf off, the emotional arc is rushed and then sappy out of absolutely nowhere. Before you ask, the kiss is not at issue, we halfway through they should be kissing, but the romantic life changes - too soon. But I don’t care. Finally, they left us this ep reminded of 2 v important things,

this pair kisses beautifully

in BL all mafia be gay

Fun fun!

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 2 of 12 - It's official, I love this. It’s a classic caregiver/bodyguard trope where one of them is opening the other one up to the world, but sweetly. I’m enjoying the softness of JimmySea's take and I hope GMM TV takes its cues from the success of My School President and doesn’t push this particular show into rough or edgy territory. Stay on target GMMTV. Don't mess with my bias again!

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 3 of 10 - Finally, our adorable side couple has emerged! This show remains engaging without losing pace (despite the main couple being slow burn), which is all I want from a Thai pulp, and more I could ask for currently from a sports BL. 

(Note: when I dictate the computer always puts "Thai pope" instead of Thai pulp - this is hilarious to me.)

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 1 of 14 - I guess they didn’t strip the omegaverse out of this. Unfortunately, I’m not an omegaverse fan, so I find its presence extremely off putting. (But it’s kind of amazing that somebody finally put one on our screen.) Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot of alpha posturing and hyper masculinity, because that’s what this kind of worldbuilding is an excuse for (lazy writing and lazier characterization). This means I don’t like Babe AT ALL except that he’s smell orientated and a bit verse. Way is lovely tho, because Nut is a great soft screen presence amongst the testosterone haze. 

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 2 of 8 - I’m not gonna lie (when have I ever bothered to lie to you all?) I’m struggling with this show. The sound effects are getting worse. That is not allowed. Still I found this installment slightly more bearable than the last last, probably because there was more of the cast in play and less of Jade being too cringe to live. 

Absolute Zero (Weds iQIYI) ep 8 of 12 - AKA temporal paradox of pain.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Friends Forever ep 13 of 24 - Ooo it’s a bit of a teacher/student (coach/player) thing. Linguistic negotiation and kinkification of phi. Also actually kinky. But not consensually. Gonna get dark. Bummer. 

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 1 of 14(!) eps - Whines. Must I? Gaga doesn’t have a skip ahead button. Sad sack main characters really do not work for me. But this was better than I expected. I wasn’t expecting much. 

Look: This is helmed by Cheewin (shudder) with screenplay by Den (Only Friends - shudder the second) under Copy A Bangkok (they deserve not my shuddders). It's gonna be a shizz show people. It's Thai dark War of Y style - my least favorites. Apparently, there is meant to be a "plot" but when has Cheewin ever bothered with plot?

On a completely different note does the blond look like that Korean actor/idol from At a Distance Spring is Green & Wanna One to anyone else? Or is it just me? (Park Ji Hoon)

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

A Breeze of Love (Korea iQIYI) eps 3-4 of 8 - I like it a lot. Dongwook is so obtuse and socially awkward and reserved and needy and Dohyun is so gay over and simultaneously wildly confused by this behavior. Fantastic. A bit stiff, even for Korea, btu I'm okay with it since everything else I'm watching right now is decidedly NOT stiff.

I finished it!

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru AKA Aki wa Haru to Gohan wo - Japan BL movie 1.5 hr

Best friends life together during university - cheerful sunshine loves to cook, grumpy tsundere loves to eat. Aki is a bit manic pixie dream boy for me (not my favorite archetype) but they’re cute and it’s one of those Japanese slice of life pieces like Our Dining Table that isn’t really a romance in fact it’s barely a drama. This isn’t friends to lovers because they’re basically already in a relationship (which everyone around them knows) they just aren’t fucking. I did spend a lot of time worrying that they weren’t eating any green things whatsoever. In the end this isn’t my thing when there’s no kissing at all, and this was a bit too dull even for JBL. Sorry Japan, one cannot trade on cute and cheese alone. I know, you want to. But that's not a BL or a personality. 6/10 

I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan, maybe coming to Netflix) 8 eps - This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

I LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS. IT'S SO GOOD.

10/10

Let me be perfectly clear: I have watched 646 BLs and only handed out nine 10/10s.

I talk more about why this one made the cut, here.

It's Airing But...

One Room Angel (Japan Gaga) 6 eps - adaptation of Harada’s manga (which I did not like) about a clerk who's stabbed, nearly dies, and returns home to find an angel waiting for him. With only 5 eps and a good chance this won’t end happy, I'm gonna wait and let you tell me how it goes.

SHADOW (Thai Gaga) 14 eps - I'm not wild about Thai horror (or horror at all) even one featuring Singto and Fluke. I'm holding off on this one and if told it's good I'll binge later.

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed. Waiting to be told if I should bother.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until it completes its run.

Next Week Looks Like This

STARTING

11/20 Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 1 of 6 - trailer here, stars Ohm (of OhmFluke) opposite Guide (bestie from IFYLITA). This looks like an actually gay version of Antique Bakery (play it again, BL). I'm intrigued, it looks HELLA pretty.

11/22 7 Days Before Valentine (Weds ????) ep 1 of 10 - trailer here, horror-esk. Adapted from y-novel of the same name, directed by Tu (180 Degree) stars Jet (Why You… Y Me?). When you want your old love again, but fate sends you a reaper instead. All he can do for you is kill people. I'll likely give this a pass and wait to binge if safe.

11/24 VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Screenplay by Lin Pei Yu (WBL) about a chef who courts a shy writer with spicy beef noodles.

11/25 The Sign (Sat ????) ep 1 of 10 - trailer here, horror-esk, but with a suspense and adult characters. Special investigators who loved each other in previous lives reunite in new bodies. Stars Billy Patchanon (BillySeng) & Babe Tanatat (new). Includes other SCOY favorites as a special investigation team. I may give this a try (depending on distribution) because I'm into the non-horror bits.

11/26 The Whisperer (Sun ????) 1 of 10 - trailer here. Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). He has dimples (My Ride) but I don't think even that gives me the will. You can tell me how this goes.

11/26 Cooking Crush (Sun YT) 1 of 12 - OffGun are back, trailer here. Adapted from the novel “Love Course! เสื้อกาวน์รุกเสื้อกุ๊กรับ” by iJune4S this is about Prem who runs a not-so-popular restaurant with 2 friends. About to go on a cooking competition with a huge reward, Prem gets involved with Ten, a stressed-out med student who wants Prem to teach him to cook.

Still Coming November BL

11/30 For Him (Thurs ????) ep 1 of 10 - high heat trailer, I suspect iQIYI will scoop this one up. From the people who brought us Unforgotten Night (please no) based on a y-novel, man nursing a heartbreak has a one-night stand, but the other boy didn't want it to end. It looks terribly trashy so I'm in! Maybe I'll do a trash watch?

Nov 2023 line up with screen caps here. Not kept updated.

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

To be fair this was last week but I did get the screen shot until now. (You are Mine)

I Cannot Reach You serving all Japan's favorite tropes plus some very un-Japan decent kisses.

(Last week)

[chevelleneech]

I hope non-Black and non-Asian fans who might also ship Reylo quickly come to understand that while Reylo did get a lot of push back for both valid and bullshit reasons… Oshamir shippers do in fact get to celebrate some of the hypocritical arguments working on our favor, because Black/bi-racial femme presenting and Asian male actors are almost never the leads in popular television and film.

They are either paired off with a white partner or they themselves are the sidekick to a white lead, and usually only date people within their ethnicity. The latter of which is neither bad nor wrong, but adds to the misguided belief that Black women and femmes and Asian men are not bankable or attractive outside their own demographic.

So I’m sorry to say, but if you are a Reylo shipper who feels slighted or even frustrated, that’s fine. Feel how you feel, I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t make posts about it, but white people being in corruption arc romances or etl is not a rare occasion. Meaning, when yet another one exhibits traits that are toxic or not so great, it is fine for people to not like it. It’s fine for people to call it annoying or repetitive, because it is. When it comes to non-white characters who either match ethnicities or are in an interracial relationship without a white partner, it automatically becomes something new.

Why? Because we do not often see it play out that way on screen. And no, Osha won’t be dealing with anti-Blackness or misogynoir on screen nor will Qimir deal with Asian stereotyping, because race and ethnicity aren’t played the same in Star Wars as far as I know, but that doesn’t mean their casting matters less in reality. At the end of the day, it’s all fiction, but that doesn’t change the fact that Black people and Asian (Filipino men to be exact) people shouldn’t be allowed this opportunity to seem ourselves reflected back on screen in the same genre based shows white people get.

Star Wars, science fiction, and fantasy in general is so overwhelmingly white and creatured/alien, that people don’t even realize how uncommon the tropes and cliches they’re tired of seeing, really are. Osha and Qimir would kikeky still work yet not be as thrilling if either one of them were white, because a white woman being corrupted by the evil man of color has very racist connotations, and a woman of color being corrupted by a misunderstood white man is very common on screen. And if they’re both white… then it’s just a Reylo do over, isn’t it?

So like I said, I understand people will be frustrated and want to know how Oshamir is different regarding the character journeys themselves, but it’s not always just about what’s on the written page. The Acolyte needs fine tuning in terms of the writing, but it’s not the worst show on tv by far. And the fact that Oshamir is interracial and non-white in the classic sense, is a huge part of why they work and why people are more interested than what may have been for Reylo.

[trekmupf]

"We're all mad here" 🐇👸🔫🐯

Pro

The famous massage intro

Sulu and McCoy taking a lovely little walk together

Sulu is such a botany nerd; I love these small character moments

McCoy thinking he's loosing his last marbles

Spock literally thinking that humans go on shore leave to run up and down meadows like dogs

The way Kirk smiles when he thinks Bones is pranking him is lovely

Kirk's facial journey when he realizes McCoy and Spock played him

The first time Kirk calls McCoy Bones

The way the running is filmed and the way they run – and boy do they run in this episode

Sulu, gun enthusiast

The easy friendship between Kirk and McCoy- the way they joke and laugh with each other is so beautiful

McCoy is so beautiful in this episode, I could screenshot every second. He smiles so much and is so at ease, I mean

Continuing what we know from E3 Kirk wasn't the super cool Bro at the academy but actually the bookworm people bullied

Kirk saying that Ruth hasn't aged a day since they last were together ages ago, and the actress being the same age as Shatner when we see her... canon Kirk being into older woman okay.

McCoy rolled a natural 20 on charisma

me @ yeoman Borrows being super into McCoy's flirting: same girl same

Also I actually like that for once McCoy is the one having a little romance and getting to flirt / be desired, which is rare (because he's older and not the leading man; Tumblr, of course, disagrees)

every time the tiger is on screen I remember that Shatner literally wanted to fight it and it makes me laugh

fake character death trope! (also Bones is a beautiful corpse)

Spock like no offence lady, I'm to gay for this, Spock out

“Did you have fun guys?” “Yes we did Mr Spock” wink emoji implied, like you guys know it sounds like you had group sex right

the setting and scenery is beautiful and a nice change

the score underlines the whimsy and lightness of the episode

the premise is so silly but works well. I miss episodes like this on modern TV, just some downtime with no large scale danger, war or plot, just silly crew shenanigans that gives us more time to spend with our guys

sometimes Sci-fi has great special effects, and sometimes they just hold an antenna really close to the camera and call it a day and I love that

I'm Yeoman Borrows; Look at him being all happy

Con

McCoy's death has no lasting impact on anyone, it's just a short time plot device and then gets shelved for more adventure / silly time; Even though he does come back, I wish it wouldn't have been so trivialized here

weird wind chime sound effects of the planet

Finnegan as a character is super obnoxious and too over the top (which is saying something in the episode with Alice in wonderland)

especially the second confrontation takes ages, especially as we now have more pressing matters in the narrative

treatment of yeoman Borrows (We already know weird things are going on based on what McCoy saw, yet Kirk doesn't believe her and shows zero empathy towards her distress), also her main purpose is damsel in distress

Kirk is a bit slow to unravel the mystery and almost stupid at times? It might be excused by him using the opportunity to let go of his responsibility and being with Angela / letting out his anger with Finnegan

the amount of references and jumping between visions is too jumbled and all over the place, which is why the pacing is off. some bits are so short, they'd better be cut (Rodriguez side adventure) and some just go on (Finnegan)

Counter: Shirt rip Kirk

Quote: "You've got your problems, I've got mine. But he's got ours, plus his, plus 430 other people" - McCoy about Kirk Moment: Opening Scene, where Kirk thinks Spock is massaging him and being super uncomfortable when its a female crew member

Summary: Silly and light episode with no deeper meaning but some great character moments, funny scenes and further development of the interpersonal relationships

In another universe this is a classical painting

Previous Episode - Next Episode - All TOS Reviews

[jessequinones]

Writing Advice: Resurrection Trope

I was reading a story where the main character dies but gets brought back to life and this is such a common trope I shouldn’t be surprised when I see it but yet I still am. I’m not sure if this is a good trope, but I guess many people like it enough that it gets included in everything.

Here’s why I don’t really care for this trope if you can bring a character back to life, then death has no weight. The moment you do this, you’ll have to explain to the reader “No, seriously, they won’t come back again, trust me.” But how can we trust you after the first time?

I’m not talking about fake-out deaths where we think a character is dead but they’re just off-screen preparing to emerge from under the rubble of a fallen building. Gandalf is a great example of what I'm talking about where we only see him fall but never the body until after he comes back. The kind of resurrection trope I’m talking about is where the heart stops beating their soul is gone just for them to come back for round two a few pages later.

I understand these scenes are very emotional for the characters, but this trope is so common that if I see the main character die halfway through a book, I don’t feel anything because I know they’ll come back on the next page. Honestly, I’m more shocked to see someone not come back. I’m like, “Damn...they dead, dead...wasn’t expecting that.”

You might be asking yourself “How can I write a scene where a character dies, but later comes back to life without losing any of the emotional weight? Also when I do kill off the same character, how can I convince the reader they won’t come back?”

And honestly...that’s a pretty big question because it’ll depend on your setting, lore, and world.

In most cases, if the hero gets murdered and comes back to life, that’s to be expected. However, if the hero sacrifices themselves, then they stay dead. I’m not entirely sure why most of these death scenes are written this way but that’s typically how it plays out and if you’re creating that, you’ll need to convince the reader that a sacrificial death is different than getting murdered. Most of the time these sacrificial deaths have to deal with the hero turning into balls of light, but that also doesn’t mean they won’t come back because I’ve seen balls of light bring characters back. (Pokémon Mystery Dungeon)

You can inform your reader that a higher being said the next time the hero dies, they won’t come back, however, I’ve also seen the same higher beings go back on their word. There’s nothing you can say that’ll convince me, yup the hero won’t come back this time, because I’ve seen it so much that like I said before, I’m more shocked when the hero stays dead.

I’m not saying you can’t do this trope, but I will say it’s very hard to do right. Dragonball, God of War, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Any superhero comic, Tangled, Warriors, Mass Effect 2, Bio Shock 2, Teen Titans, Avatar The Last Airbender.

I don’t think any of these are bad stories...for the most part, but I also don’t feel anything when a character dies just because I’ve already seen them come back to life so death no longer holds any weight.

I’m not saying you can’t write the resurrection trope, just understand having a character come back to life, might lessen the impact of when another character fully dies in the future. I would suggest, before you bring someone back, just create a version where they don’t and see how your story continues after the characters stay dead? What’s the tone after said death? Just an idea to think about if you’re thinking about bringing someone back to life.

[lord-squiggletits]

For your MegOP conundrum:

What are your thoughts on MegOP romance in forced truce situations eg. Quintessons attack, or everyone on the battle feild was taken by slavers type thing. Do your thoughts vary on continuity TFA vs Prime vs IDW, etc?

Hope this helps

Bookwyrm

I think Forced Truce as a trope is probably one of the easiest/most convenient ways to create an alliance/eventual reconciliation between the factions without just sidestepping the issue altogether. I think it's especially cool to have there be a temporary truce BUT the issues between the factions are still messing up communication, causing trust issues that make units work together less cohesively, etc. It's really great because it forces the factions/Megatron and Optimus to work together, EXCEPT if they fail to cooperate, it doesn't just mean a continuation of an endless, tedious war, but it could spell out the end of their species altogether. There's a ton of stakes inherent to it; if we're talking MegOP romance, then what's at stake isn't just the emotional pain of their bad relationship/breaking up because they can't make it work, but the physical consequences of them failing to defeat a greater foe. It lends the romance/truce particularly heavy symbolism-- that this temporary truce isn't merely a convenience, the blooming love isn't merely an emotion, but that both of these things could be the key to life itself. And I'm always a big sucker for that kind of theme where reconciliation/hope/cooperation/etc save the day.

I can really only comment on IDW since that's my bread and butter, but it's an interesting discussion because there's actually at least three times where Megatron and Optimus (and their factions by extension) did a forced truce where, obviously, it wasn't enough for them to reconcile afterwards:

Autocracy: Orion and Megatron team up to beat Zeta, ends with Megatron shooting Orion and the Autobots being imprisoned

Stormbringer: Mostly kept off screen, but the Bots and Cons have to keep up to try and defeat Thunderwing(?), who's basically a walking natural disaster created by all the environmental devastation of the war

Dark Cybertron: Teaming up to stop Shockwave from putting the whole universe in a singularity. Famously the series where Megatron became an Autobot. Has a really underrated/never talked about scene where Megatron and Optimus actually speak together in a quiet moment before going out to face everyone (and presumably Megatron is taken into custody in preparation for the trial).

Stormbringer is actually the most interesting one to me, because I love it when TF stories in general explore the environmental devastation of the war. I love it when Megatron and Optimus are punished for their war by the very planet dying, or in this case, creating a monster that both of them combined can barely stop. They disagreed on whether to basically bomb the whole planet to ash to stop Thunderwing (Megatron) or to keep the planet intact and hope to beat him some other way (Optimus), which I think if it were the focus of a story, is a really interesting example of what I mentioned above where differences in faction/philosophy don't vanish simply because they're temporarily working together.

One of the biggest reasons I love MegOP is because the two faction leaders are kind of like the King Arthur of their respective factions: whatever befalls the commander/king is a reflection of what happens to his army. So forced truce + unresolved tension (political, personal, romantic) is fucking fantastic because it means that whatever Megatron and Optimus do trying to deal with each other could fuck over their factions as well. And I really like the idea of MegOP struggling together in a relationship NOT because of personal differences or even emotional issues, but because they have some sort of obligation to their factions (fulfilling their goals, bringing their idea of justice) that means that coming together romantically would be betraying their factions.

Sorry for the rambling answer; hoped this had at least a few interesting ideas in it!

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is: fivecenturiesverse! @fivecenturiesverse has 64 fics posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 45 of them are in the Steddie tag!

@spicysix recommends the following works by @fivecenturiesverse:

i'm feeling devious (you're looking glamorous)

shape it up (get it straight)

chuck me a bouquet after the show, babe

just like a rainbow (you know you set me free)

drag him back to the meeting place

"Fives has a way with words that I don't think anyone else can compare to. More than one fic tagged as "faves" on my bookmarks are theirs. No matter what AU, what setting, whatever way they write a fic, the characterization will always be on fucking point. The way they always include Robin, and the party, and other characters (and also manages to make them so in character, too) always warms my heart. I feel like they truly understand the characters, and in the same way she views them, I view them too, and so Fives' works are always perfect for me. It's like that comfort food, no matter how many times I eat it it always makes me happy." -- @spicysix

Below the cut, @fivecenturiesverse answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

After watching s4 I was mildly annoyed that the show didn’t expand further on Steve and Eddie’s dynamic (not that I ever thought they would be canon) which I found to be really fun and different from a lot of what we see on the show. I also really wanted to explore Steve’s bisexuality and how it relates to his friendship with Robin and Eddie was a great vehicle for that (sorry Eddie lol)

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

There was only one bed… might be basic but it’s always been my favourite. Friends to lovers, fake dating, and forced proximity are also going to have me with my eyes glued to the screen.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Sharing a bed also is number one here, though it’s usually far more platonic than it is in stuff I read haha because non-sexual intimacy is like crack for me to write.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

Lovesick in Loch Nora by redoaktree for the perfect Eddie characterisation but also looking at my bookmarks I think I need to read more steddie and stalk this blog for some recs lmao

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Maybe a genderbending fic because I really enjoyed writing this trope for Star Wars but honestly I’d be excited to writing anything rn, writer’s block is smothering me

What is your writing process like?

I have an idea somewhere between midnight and 3am, then I sit down and write it until it’s finished. Almost every single fic on my account was written in under five hours, I think (outside of my few long fics and series) the fic that it took me the longest to write was “our house (in the middle of the street)” which took me about 10 hours right through the night.

Do you have any writing quirks?

I guess if I have any it’s that I write everything in order all at once and if I get stuck on a scene I cut it and try something else entirely. I also rarely listen to music but if I do it has to be something loud where the words aren’t too distracting.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Alwaaaaayyyys after I’ve finished writing. I used to write on wattpad where I’d post as I wrote and all it meant was that nothing got finished. My problem is that I am fuelled off of interaction and if I’m getting interaction my brain doesn’t understand why I need to write any more. Like, we’re getting the dopamine hit so why bother giving them anything more. My brain is a silly goose, basically.

Which fic are you most proud of?

I’m not sure there’s any fic I’m most proud of. There’s definitely fics I’m less proud of, either because I know how little effort they took me and I think they’re kind of rubbish or because they just didn’t come out the way I wanted even though I put too much effort in. I guess the two series I’ve written for steddie— “of rags and silk (a costume)” and “your love is standing next to me” —are my favourites, I think they are my most imaginative and creative creations :)

How did you get the idea for shape it up (get it straight)?

Honestly a lot of what I wrote in 2023 and the thought process behind it is as much a mystery to me as it is to you but I think I just wanted to get into Mike’s head, dabble in Byler, and I love writing outsider POVs.

When writing i'm feeling devious (you're looking glamorous), what was something you didn’t expect?

That people would like it so much, to be honest. I was just having fun and writing something silly, I guess people do think I’m funny.

What inspired just like a rainbow (you know you set me free)?

I really wanted to add something to the Robin/Vickie tag but it was difficult because Vickie was so character-less in the show, so I focussed it mainly around Robin and Steve’s friendship which I have always loved and their single braincell fake dating plans (a trope I love for them, if anyone has recs… hmu)

What was your favorite part to write from chuck me a bouquet after the show, babe?

The goodbye scene and the reunion scene, I love angst.

How do/did you feel writing chuck me a bouquet after the show, babe?

I was deep in the trenches watching Succession, so I felt like Shiv Roy and I wanted to make Steve into Kendall.

What was the most difficult part of writing drag him back to the meeting place?

The song lyrics for this whole series was definitely the most difficult, fun, and rewarding experience, but for this fic in particular I think getting into the mindset of a 2014 tumblr user reversed any development of my frontal lobe.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

“Carol climbs up, wrapped in a sheet, and yanks up the door to yell at whoever the fuck — But it’s Robin and she’s crying. It’s not even a thought, Carol just reels her into a hug. They’re not friends but it doesn’t matter. They’re something more. They’re Steve’s, they belong to him like luggage he’s left going round and round and round in an airport baggage claim.” – from “let’s make some music, make some money”, my favourite because I think it accidentally described the way I write all ST fanfic like the world is revolving solely around Steve, he’s my little guy I can’t help it.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I wish! I can only say that I hope there’s more coming to an ao3 page near you soon! Thank you for reading B)

Thank you to our author, @fivecenturiesverse, and our nominator, @spicysix! See more of fivecenturiesverse's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

It’s been mentioned a few times, especially during the Revival, that the Circuit Chaps

fought a great off-screen war against humanity at some point, and that the Circuit Chaps that appeared on screen were the survivors.

[mar-of-musing]

15 Day BL Challenge

Doing this Day-By-Day will probably be too much for brain so I have decided since it's relaxed I will be doing this 1-5 days over 3 days. I just want to also add on that I am an avid watcher of many different kinds of dramas, and I embrace different countries also. But I will probably go off of mostly Thailand here. This will get more complicated if I invest in my JBL and TaiwanBL pools and Growing KBL. I may do honourary mentions to those couples though I choose to use some of those pairings as my faves.

(Mom Life..) Also final beginning note: All original screen grab/posters/gif makers are given credit in the image descriptions. Day One: Favourite OG Actor Pairing My choice is Boun Noppanut Guntachai and Prem Warut Chawalitrujiwong (With Honourary Mentions: Billkin & PP Krit, Both Nattapong & Newyear Kitiwhut, Max Kornthas & Nat Natasitt and Ja Phachara & First Chalongrat) I will say I didn't know who to choose because I don't know who would be considered "OG" so I went with like a comfort couple of mine that has been continuously a comfort couple. I can't put into words how much I love them but really, if it's BounPrem I'm there and I'm watching it. I love how both of them are "comfortable" in their own way and they have shown us that they can be supportive of one another even when working on their solo activities. Boun has also put people in their place a few times for misconceptions of himself and Prem. As for Prem I just have always enjoyed his quiet nature. Also his quick responses that come out of nowhere and surprise Boun. (Example: Saying I love you when Boun told an interviewer he would love someone to say it genuinely to him one day.. Or that he'd donate his heart to Boun if he needed a replacement. Actually my husband and Boun have the same condition! It's something that can be helped when they're older.)

Also. Boun has one of the best laughs in all of Thailand oh and his earrings~! Come at me if you disagree. I am vibrating in anticipation for The Vampire Project.

Day Two: Favourite Rookie Actor Pairing Oh boy. Uh. There are so many but I think in the circumstances that both of the actors were rookies when they did their first series together? Tutor Koraphat Lamnoi and Yim Pharinyakorn Khansawa. Although Yim had been in the business since he was a teenager he didn't have a successful drama until he was paired with Tutor in Cutie Pie as NuerSyn. (Honourary Second Place: GeminiFourth Honourary Third Place: DaouOffroad Honourary Taiwanese Coupling: Tseng Jing Hua and Peng Cian You~. And shush! They were SO A COUPLE OK. ).

I just enjoy these two so much, their aesthetic is of course off the charts with Yim's ethereal alien looks and the fae-kind creature we know as Tutor. I consider them my comfort couple. The moment Yim entered Cutie Pie as Syn I knew he'd be my favourite character. After I finally got more into CP due to War, I got smacked by them a second time years later.

Also don't tell Zee and NuNew or Max and Nat but they were my favourite land for DMDLand2. Poker Land slapped so hard and both of these men are super talented. Yim was even sick when he performed and Tutor kept taking glances to check in on him. They are my comfort couple, I enjoy their relationship (whatever it is offcam) dynamic that we get to see. They admit to bickering a lot at the beginning of their promotions as a CPL. I love how daring they have been since the beginning too, our poor Kla and Ker working hard to maintain their and our sanities with these two. I can't wait for "Battle of the Writers"! Day Three: Side Dish That Should've Been the Main Course Warning to those who are heart broken like me: NetJames Incoming.

This is going to hurt my heart. This drama was not a BL but the side dish was our same sex relationship trope in the drama. The main coupling was two amazing actors who I love dearly I just felt that the director did NOT use Great and Four's actually-there-tension at all. The side couple is: Net Siraphop Manithikhun and James Supamonkon Wongwisut as Captain and Foei in Catch Me Baby. (I advise for people's sanity to never read MDL comments on dramas though. They have a weird hate for Thai actors..) I am not going to sit here and explain how I feel about NetJames since the news. I respect them, and I think NetJames fans need to learn to respect their boundaries and what they are going through right now. Cause ISTG if I read another: WHERE IS ___!? in their IG lives again I will explode and take everyone out. Also, I will forever support them individually or together.

That said Captain and Foei had that frienemies to lovers trope and chef's kiss. Just. I started this drama before I got back into the Thai BL scene again and it was what made me anticipate and watch Bed Friend every week when it aired. I have honourary mentions but every one of these I loved the main couple just as much or a little more than these side couples so I didn't choose them. Or they were the second half of their show's main couple or they got a spin off or show of their own (LOOKIN AT YOU YIDIAO~). GeminiFourth as Heart and Li Ming in Moonlight Chicken, JeffBarcode as KimChay in KinnPorsche, TutorYim as NuerSyn in CP and CP2 and NB, AyaKate as YiwaMarine in Wedding Plan (This is GL couple~), PealSee as TheeThai from Laws of Attraction and you can argue this with me but if you saw MoD you know this is canon: GreatMD as Inspector M/Dr. Oat in Manner of Death. Oh one more. Sorry. I love myself a good Side Couple: Xiao Kaizhong and Gao Han as MaoK in Falling Into Your Smile (they're a couple ok. AS READER OF THEIR WEBNOVEL YOU CAN NOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.)

Day Four: Fave Ship Dynamic Oh my gods. Do you know how hard this question is for me? I'm like.. "Yes?". As a character artist and avid role player I like most ship dynamics. Wardog would tell you it's "Side Character Plots". So if I had to choose only one it'd be Character with Trauma x Green Flag. I love it even more if the Green Flag learns to be one through trying to be there for their love interest. They could also just both be people with trauma and both be green flags who heal each other. I am extending an invitation to view this gifset by Pharawee in its entirety because it's my fave part of LITA. And I have a lot of fave parts in LITA.

And here are some couples that fit here: FortPeat as PrapaiSky from Love in the Air, JaFirst as LeoFiat from Don't Say No, Okura Takato and Hyuga Wataru as Kaido Amane and Yamasuga Ryuji from Kimi to Narakoi wo Shite Mite mo, Tseng Jing Hua and Peng Cian You as Pu Yi Yong and Cao Guangyan from Oh No! Here Comes Trouble, NetJames as KingUea in Bed Friend, JimmySea as MhokDay in Last Twilight, PavelPooh (PoohPavel? ekeke) as CharlieBabe from Pit Babe and I could be here all day listing this trope.. So one more and I think this ship works on both sides: BillyBabe as PhayaTharn from The Sign.

Day Five: Biggest Flop Uhm. The problem is I like lower-income-shows but I think because of the lack of ethics behind this show: For Him and not because of the cast. I really enjoyed the cast, I just feel awful they had to work with so little to get at least decent content out. And that Tor had been harassed and stalked by one of the production members. I enjoyed the first few episodes, though the decline in quality of script and shots the cast had been given is very evident each episode you go through. The chemistry of the couples was chemistrying even with scenes like stepping on a new tattoo... For more information about this I would view befuddledcinnamonroll's 15 Day Challenge and pharawee's (wow we're on that tumblr a lot in this) coverage of the issues: here and here. Also reading through some of the casts' Twitters and

Another "Possible Flop" right now, hopefully not forever, I would say is Red Peafowl. Which is such a shame since their pilot slapped so hard.

TBC tomorrow~.

To do your own 15 Day BL Challenge Go Here!

[chronicmusicnerd]

On the mediocrity of Harry Potter

*NOTE!! This is not an attack to HP fans. I also enjoy reading/watching HP, but I can simultaneously bring light to why it isn’t perfect or even very good*

enjoy and pls reblog i’d really appreciate it

I should hope we all know that JK Rowling (JKR) isn’t a very great person. She’s a blazing transphobe, borderline Holocaust denier, and she isn’t this wonderful feminist either. In fact, it’s quite clear that she dislikes women in general.

On that, the first obvious bit of evidence pointing to HP not being super duper brilliant is how JKR writes girls/women. First off, it’s clear that to JKR, the perfect role for a woman is a mother that sacrifices herself (physically or otherwise) for her child(ren). Take Narcissa Malfoy, for example. She makes the unbreakable vow with Snape to protect her son, as she’s certain Draco cannot at the moment kill Dumbledore. To refresh your memory, if the unbreakable vow is broken, the members in the vow die.

Another example is Lily Potter, Harry’s mum. While as an isolated incident, her death and protection of Harry via love would be fine and dandy, however, coupled with how nearly every other woman is written, it seems in very poor taste.

May I note now that out of the top 100 HP characters by mention, only 28 are women. Those 28 include, but are not limited to, Pansy Parkinson, Olympe Maxime, and the corpse of Bathilda Bagshot. These characters are still barely mentioned, except for influxes in singular books. Take that all in, in the top 100 characters by mention in HP, only 28 are women.

Now, we can move to the “shoving under the carpet” of our beloved MC’s trauma. It’s obvious that Harry would have loads upon loads of trauma based on his parents deaths, the literal war he fought in, one of the most evil wizards constantly hunting him down each year, witnessing his friend (Cedric) die via an unforgivable curse, living with the Dursley’s in a cabinet under the stairs, I could go on. However, Harry seems to be mostly fine. Sure, he was spooked after Cedric’s death, and sure, he has his scar pulsing and hurting whenever Voldemort is near, but he seems to have virtually no trauma expressed in the books. Now, this was the 90’s, but still. However, the next bit is truly insane.

Finally, we can get to the goblins. The goblins, that run Gringotts wizarding bank, are hook-nosed, greedy, and not to be trusted. In history, the cruel caricatures of Jewish people are also hook-nosed, greedy, gargoyles and evil creatures alike.

Many watchers of HP expressed shock when they say the goblins on screen, some thinking along the lines of, “Did they really just put these guys in the underground bank??” and the die-hard defenders simply said, “It’s fantasy. It’s wizards.”

However, being fantastical and based around wizards gives no one the right to put harmful stereotypes against the jewish people into children’s, or any, media. In fact, it was mostly adults who picked up on the antisemitic values of the goblin’s portrayal. Racism is not something one is born with, it is something one is taught. The kids who saw the HP movies may have seen the goblins and thought, “Ew, those guys suck,” and then later in life meet a jewish person who has the features of the goblins and say, “Ew, these people are real? You all suck.”

Racial stereotypes are never okay, and paired with JKR’s borderline Holocaust denial, make for a very suspicious situation.

Finally, the writing is mid at best. The most interesting character (from a writing standpoint) is Dumbledore, which is insane. He’s got the most depth, as a truly morally grey character. Most of the characters serve one purpose and then are killed off, or are just extremely flat. The plot is a copy-paste YA line, which is fine, but it makes one visualize a connection between these over-used plots in YA and the over-used tropes and characters in modern “dark romance” (which now, is mostly badly written smut).

Again, this is not an attack to anyone who likes HP or dark romance or popular tropes/character personalities/plotlines. Personally, I love the grumpy x sunshine trope, or friends to lovers. However, HP is a bit more controversial than a trope, and while I enjoy it and it is nostalgic, we have to tear down and really look at these flaws and moral wrongs in the story.

To truly eradicate these stereotypes and bring in more awareness to writing, we have to talk about them. They cannot be shoved under any rugs (like Harry’s trauma) and have to be slowly unraveled from writing and the world altogether.

Summary, JKR bad writer don’t use racial stereotypes on characters and try not to write mid stories that don’t like women.

PS I wrote this in one go after talking about why HP is mid with a friend and it inspired me so this is just the convo with less emojis and more backstory 🤑 pls reblog or like or comment gangalang

[randomnameless]

To continue the woobified view of the Elites and my comparison of them to the Black Eagles :

Same for me regarding the BE, especially because they also literally fought Edelgard's troops in WC when you choose their house, and even if you don't, they definitely still would know that Edelgard dus nasty shits in WC.

The idea that media literacy is dead is quite fitting, because the idea that even rotten persons have loved ones/that having loved ones doesn't mean you're not rotten is a known thing, yet the Eagles and elites get a pass solely because "they genuinely believe in the cause" and "they love and care for each other"

Probably Fraldarius was as devoted to Nemesis as Ingrid to Dimitri, Lamine very well may have been as sassy as Dorothea, perhaps Goneril was as brave and endearing as Caspar, or Maurice was as loyal to his clan's interests as Petra to Brigid's happiness (through a strong bond to the Empire) but like the BE, they are butchers, who relished in the destruction of everything those against them hold dear, lap dogs and rabid curs of someone they definitely know have crushed innocents and scorn the very idea of peace except under their domination.

The only meaningful difference between Edelgard-following BE and the elites is that we can know more about the BE and we are forced to dislike cutting them down even as they refuse to let northern Fódlan alone.

Honestly I need a fanfiction where the BE are called out for that bullshit.

Yep!

That's the tone deaf feeling I got from Nopes, the Deers are hunting someone bcs their leader wants her dead for no reason, but Raph only comments on how hungry he is.

Uh, sure Raph, you're not the most thoughtful character in there, but come on? Some commentary or exposition on what you're doing? Hello KT? Can we have characters be challenged or even react to the events of screen instead of wondering what's for dinner/teatime?

No??

I wouldn't say it's an issue of media litteracy being dead, but more something in the lines of people being more and more "all or nothing" nowadays, without any nuance and conflating liking a character with the idea/image that might project on you : if I like ASOIAF's Cersei, I don't think everything she does is "justified", but modern fandom, I feel like some people would categorize you as a "good" or "bad" person based on the characters you like, and it's just... not what fandom is or was supposed to be imo, I'm here to nerd and gush about favourite characters, not write litteral essays about the Geneva Convention.

Corollary is what, imo, made the Fodlan fandom hell : some people really take "criticism" against a character personally - sure the way FE16 was written invites projection, but at the end of the day, making a Berning Fire Joke is, just, making a joke about a bunch of pixels, nothing more.

Back to the BEs, they can have a sense of camaraderie and genuinely support each other... as they tear apart "people because Supreme Leader told me to" and fight side by side with Bob the Carpented who was turned into Waldi the demonic beast.

Ferdie can skewer Flayn on her father's lance because she is "a creature that has plagued humanity for ages" even if they reached a C support before shit hit the fan - and still protect Mercedes and Bernie from their abusing Fathers. Does that make him a great guy? A nuanced guy?

I think the trope is called "even evil people have loved ones" or something like that?

I don't think so, but he is no random one note villain sycophant either - now, what is the more annoying with the Fodlan games is how this dichotomy is never called upon : everything is just a giant blob or Hresvelg Grey ("morally grey" but only applied to Supreme Leader) where no one really is angry at her, and all the "sacrifices" she's making are off-screen while the characters on-screen always moan about her "ReFoRmS" and "IdEaLs" without talking about the cost bar some milquetoast "but war bad". And no one, in the game, will ever throw this hypocrisy to their face - Gallant Ferdinand will dream about the Opera as he wipes off the blood of a young woman who just wanted to return to the only home she had.

Yay.

FWIW, some mutuals and I have nothing but pure lols about Doro's line in the non-CF routes being "we killed Ferdie professor :'(" because, hey, why should I care more about Ferdie than about random loldier 55 ? Rhea? Felix? Claude? Ignatz?

Maybe the Elites were really friends and became """"nice""" persons with time, to their families and loved ones ?

Does this magically erase what they did before? Will that "good" they did erase all the "wrongs" they have previously done? Will theyr forever escape the consequences of their actions?

In a game that depicts Flamey as a terrorist for 11 chapters only to drop that plot point by the window to moan, again, about her "IdEaLs", "consequences" are maybe something you can eat as a snack, or throw in a trashcan.

So following the rules of this verse, given how Supreme Leader never receives flak for her Flamey stunts, why should the Elites receive any for what they did? Look, Maurice calls Daphnel his friend, surely he is not that bad of a man? Well yeah, he might have seduced women and planted a lot of wild oats here'n'there, but he cares about his friends!

Jeritza likes ice creams and cats! Surely it's more important to paint him as a cat lover than to deal with all the consequences of his stunt as the Death Knight, kidnapping and implied rekting young woman while he was in GM, under Flamey's orders, right?

Calling it now, after eviscerating Seteth's older brother, Goneril might have melted in front of one of Rhea's kittens, and adopted the cat asap. Surely that makes Goneril a "good" character right? And forget the entire "genocided a bunch of hippies living isolated in their village" stuff?

I don't have fanfics recs where the BEs are called hypocrites, but I confess I don't read a lot of fanfics in the FE16 fandom because of all of the aforementioned issues.

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/forgotten-fossilised/755642012938747904/the-h0td-writing-is-so-bad-how-can-they-go-on-and?source=share

I really can't understand why someone hates the targ so much that you just want to see them muddied, forgotten and destroyed and watch a show centered on them as protagonists while they get offended because *checks notes* They are treated as protagonists 🙃

These people realize that Arya being "AA" was a hole the size of the sun, right? Do they realize that Arya's girl boss moment was great on screen but it was done for shock value?

Martin can play and subvert tropes but he never breaks with the meaning and structure he is building 🙄

this stupid prophecy pissed me off on so many levels. "he called it the song of ICE and FIRE" ok but why tho. did it change its meaning over the years or what. I wonder if it's gonna be explained at all or did they just throw it in bc its the lazy convenient way to justify Rhaenyra's actions.

"Song" refers to war...as "dance" does. It's poetic language about the movement of swords in the air "singing" used almost like a metonym for war. And it refers to that final war b/t dragons/Dany/Westerosi against the unnatural figures that are the Others, or that person may know them as the "whitewalkers". This is something that has been known for literal YEARS before either show popped up from what I learned. This is what ASoIaF has always been about and what it's leading up to, ya dunce!

And Rhaenyra's actions? Why not Aemond, who was the one to truly end all possible means of peace by killing his own nephew...HER SON. For God's sake, he's known as the Kinslayer for all time in Westeros just as Cole is known pejoratively as the Kingmaker! Aegon is known as "grasping" by a highly respected and agreed-with Grand Maester in his tome called Lives of Four Kings. Aegon dies poisoned by his own council members, wanted a "better" Sunfyre, raped at least one girl, etc. PREWAR. He was always going to be bad locally and "nationwide". Meanwhile, what has Rhaenyra actually done to others unprovoked pre-war? Give it a rest, already!

The greens collectively, not her, triggered & enabled this war so they can disrupt the already established transfer of power. This is not a lie, but what happened.

if they really wanted to include it the great way would be to tie it with Cregan and Jace somehow? (their alliance being literally called Pact of ice and fire...) but nah apparently they just cut out the whole northern storyline.

...The Pact of Ice and Fire only exists and can exist bc the Song of Ice and Fire exists...it's meant to refer back to the Song and say the Starks and their northern MAGIC (direwolves, warging, greenseeing) will all be instrumental in the fight against the Others. No, the Starks are still not the main protagonist of this series even if they appear first and are focused on as one of the houses that has enjoyed the most privileges that now is divided and split due to bad decision making internally and out. The "whole northern stroyline" only matters within THIS context...otherwise GRRM is writing them to writer them. F&B is meant to contextualize Dany and her dragons; that includes all the Targs' purposes.

on a side note, as far as I remember the prince that was promised prophecy isn't inherently tied to the targaryens at all, and it definitely doesn't originate from Aegon, so I wonder if they changed that in the show canon (like Dany's dragon eggs coming from Syrax) or do the targs just believe that bc of course who else would be the chosen one if not them.

Already noted how this was a stupid ass take. Where else would the Song of Ice and Fire originated when it's been constantly tied to various Targs from Dany to Aemon the Maester to Aegon V to Brynden Rivers to the Dance to DRAGONS?! Who has dragons? The Targs.

Aegon is said to be the only source of this Song through his motivation to conquer Westeros, where does that person think elsewise the Song came from?

People really be sacrificing their already-paltry literacy skills for sexism, classism, etc.