#Hopefully this all makes sense and isn't cringe lmao

[mitziholder]

apologies for being weird and hogging your inbox like this but i LOVE your thoughts on fandom and i think very few people talk about it in a critical way without completely condemning the entire occupation. in my experience people (not just on this website but in general) tend to take a very black and white view of fandom/fic, probably because it can feel like a very personal thing for many; either they're 'normies' who think all fanworks are 'cringe' or they're the anything goes kind of person. radfems seem to me to be the only ppl who aren't overly defensive of the enterprise but can still enjoy fanworks critically. its nice to see women who aren't like. Fandom Moms talking about these things at length. i think you're one of the few people i've agreed with regarding this subject so far :/ your analyses are very much appreciated and i'd love to read more of what you think (especially regarding the point about navigating trauma). have a good day!

oh and also regarding the whole 'i want women to read better thing' ive always felt this idea that fandom culture is above criticism (or criticising it is inherently misogynistic) is in some ways an extension or at least related to the societal notion that women should be confined to the fluffy feeling aspects of writing and art and aren't as capable of intellectually engaging with things (and of course some 'criticisms' of fan culture ARE misogynistic but i'm not referring to those atm). and obviously there isn't anything inherently WRONG with silly fluff novels or romance (especially romance of course as one can certainly explore that subject in depth and i actually think there's a lack of well written romance out there) but it still feels like a limitation on female growth to normalise women ONLY reading fanfiction or even only certain brands of genre fiction i guess? and i find it sad that so many women seem to almost buy into that idea nowadays or shoot down any sort of criticism with the 'stop shaming female desire' catchphrase. and considering that there is still a dearth of well made original female work for women in pop culture (that act as cultural touchstones in the same way a lot of male works do) it's even more depressing that a lot of fanwork centers men. sorry if this comes off as insufferably pretentious lmao! i'm not even against fanwork i mean this is tumblr i still enjoy things but hopefully you know what i mean lol

like i mean. there's a reason why fanfiction is seen as primarily a female affair (even though a lot of the highly regarded published fanfics are by men. u know the neil gaiman stuff or whatever). its sort of a reassurance that women are 'limited' to writing fanworks. idk. i guess i want women to do better idk if im making any sense

ok, mandatory disclaimer that what I’m describing here is a series of trends, trends I’ve observed within fandom at large including both fanfiction readers/writers and fujos more broadly. obviously, not everyone who reads fanfic or yaoi is a woman (though the vast majority are). obviously, not every woman who reads fanfic or yaoi is a stunted teenager who refuses to engage with any other media. I will also admit that not every fanfic is jimin ABO. I don’t think that fanfic is inherently cringe or low-quality, and there are certainly a lot of respectable published works that have been created with other people’s characters or settings. but, as I’ve said, the vast majority of fanworks in the modern day are essentially pornographic mad libs. I find that disappointing. and there’s no reason it has to be this way… except for all the reasons I’ve outlined in my other posts.

things that are lazy and thoughtless and easy, that provide instant gratification, are generally more popular than things that are difficult or uncomfortable. clearly. but people who denounce all fanfic/fanfic writers and pigeonhole it as low-effort slop are not actually interested in helping the women who write it achieve their fullest potential, because they do not believe those women have any potential. it’s true that some criticisms of fan culture and fanworks are purely misogynistic… but I care about women’s voices, and I do want women to be able to express themselves. I’m not on a quest to stop women from writing or reading fanfic. I’ve been slightly flip about the subject, but truthfully, not everything that is “derivative” is bad, and there’s no reason that fanworks couldn’t be good. it’s just that the culture around them is so intensely sensitive - anti-“shaming” - that women are terrified of saying anything about the level of quality or the potentially harmful nature of most fanfiction because they don’t want to devalue media created by and for other women.

I think that’s a disservice to women as a whole. not everything we write is valuable. I’ve written plenty of crap in the pursuit of getting better - plenty of crap I currently disagree with. and if our work can’t withstand criticism - if we shut down immediately at any hint of a deeper, more unflattering analysis of what’s really going on… then what’s the point? what are we communicating? that female fantasies exist in a compartmentalized bubble far and away from our politics and intellectual pursuits? that we should be able to j/o to rape fantasies without question because it’s not that serious? that the personal is political, except for when it isn’t… and we should all be quiet and let women write whatever they want free of criticism lest we shame them so hard they go into hiding? my standards might be a tad high, but that is setting the bar… dangerously low. it’s also patronizing. since when has “just let women enjoy things!!” ever gotten us anywhere? since when has that been a cornerstone of feminist thought? is that really the best we can do? are we really so fragile?

I’ve seen a glut of posts about how useless and harmful constructive criticism supposedly is. the reasoning is always basically the same:

criticism is mean/toxic/discouraging

maybe I’m too hardened by countless death wishes I got on my old blog, but, in my experience, whenever I have something I want to say or a point I want to make, very little can keep me from doing so. I can’t imagine being so bothered by what random Internet people think. it’s important to remember that being able to determine what criticism is valuable is a skill in itself. disavowing criticism as a whole because some of it is “toxic”/discouraging is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

criticism is pointless; perfection is unattainable

of course nothing is ever going to be perfect. but if that’s your attitude, why bother editing? (rhetorical question. some fanfic authors do post unedited works… just because they can.) hell, why write? why get up in the morning? why make your bed? why try anything new at all? it’s a completely absurd, defeatist attitude. like the first point, it also reeks of intellectual laziness and self-satisfaction.

you could just be nice and say what you liked instead because that’s helpful too

please don’t blow smoke up my ass. in editing, I want to fix things that don’t work and to trim the fat. is it “kind” or “helpful” to let me do something completely stupid because you’re too afraid of embarrassing or offending me to say as much? also, knowing what people like is useful in producing more of what people like - it doesn’t help me do anything new or different. there is nothing less helpful to me than saying “good job!” when I ask you to read my work. it’s certainly nice (as long as you actually read it), but it’s not helpful.

it’s published, the author is through with it, and they don’t want to touch it anymore

I plan to do everything I can to edit and improve my writing before the thing is drawn and published, but I’m sure some flaws will inevitably slip through the cracks. currently, I’m rewriting entire chapters from the beginning because they became incompatible with what I wanted out of the series as it progressed. considering that a lot of people write fanfic on a chapter-by-chapter basis with only a very vague trope-strung outline, I have to wonder why they’re so averse to major overhauls. sure, it’s not pleasant, but don’t you want your writing to be the best that it can be? what is the purpose of uploading it if you don’t want the thing to be responded to as it is, warts and all?

also, not all criticism is limited to the specific work it’s derived from; many things can be extrapolated to future works as well. how are we supposed to correct trends that could lead to a decrease in the quality of future works if we can’t even point them out?

fanfiction is a hobby, and hobbies should be fun

I’m not under the impression that I’ll ever be able to make a living from my writing. I do it as a “hobby” in my spare time simply for the fact that I need an outlet for my thoughts - I need to organize them in some way. writing is an art form that we use to communicate meaning and to make sense of the world around us. your goal as a writer may be to have fun, but it isn’t mine. overgeneralizing and building an entire subculture around the pursuit of mindless fun limits what fanfiction and amateur writing have the potential to be.

you could just go read something else that you like more

actually, no. I don’t like any of it. I’m sorry if saying that is offensive to the 38-year-old she/they whose blog post I grabbed this from. most fanfic is bad. I yearn for the exploration of topics that are categorically not explored in fanfic - because the scope of what fanfic is interested in is constantly narrowing, feeding on itself, like an ouroboros. this problem is only going to get worse over time. why wouldn’t I be bothered? why can’t I say it’s a shame?

mass media and tiktok are worse!

maybe, but so what? at least the majority of people who spend their time watching tiktok videos and bad TV don’t act like it’s a suitable replacement for real literature. and at least there aren’t tiktok compilations being listed on goodreads(?)

anyway, more to the point, fandom is full of technically competent writers. but if they continue to insulate themselves within fandom or fandom-adjacent offshoots, they will never be great writers, because great writing requires tight editing (the elimination of things that are pointless and redundant), syntactic fluency, organizational skills, and, most importantly, an individual voice - an artistic vision - interpreting individual ideas… things that are born of criticism and a diversity of influences that are not present or valued within fandom in its current state. great writing cannot be made in a vacuum. great writers don’t allow themselves to be broken or stifled by criticism they disagree with.

sure, no one has a responsibility to be a great writer, and mediocre writing isn’t a moral failure… but I’m certainly not going to be happy about it, especially when the prevailing attitude is “fanfic is art… but I make what I want for myself and sharing it with you is a privilege and therefore you can’t criticize it!” how boring! how utterly conceited! my god. throwing a temper tantrum because you’re not 100% in control of how others perceive or respond to your creation. put it in a diary and not on a public forum if that bothers you so much… (but then, of course, you couldn’t count kudos.)

I do have a plan to touch on some of my other gripes since you asked so nicely. but this response is, once again, getting too long, and those things have little to do with what I was complaining about here. I’ve got an outline for a post I’ll develop and publish later as a final note on this convo, since at that point I really will have said all that I have to say… thanks again for writing in :-)

[trenchcoatsbi]

this is 🦁🏔️ anon, answering the ask game!! hopefully it doesn't get too long

Share your memories!

Where we live now, there isn't any snow or a big temperature change during the winter, but in my source it SNOWED. SO MUCH. And I remember hitching car rides home from the station with some of my coworkers/partners and hopping in the back seat to turn on the heater... And I miss everyone from the station. No one was perfect and we all kinda got caught up in some crappy stuff but I miss the friendships I had. Also I think a lot of us miss snow in general. - raoir

Is there any foods from your source that you can't have anymore/miss? (Big Q asks for your favourite ice cream flavors)

nope! I think for most of us, everything we liked in source is here. also I LOVE chocolate peanut butter ice cream. dick likes vanilla or pecan stuff, luke likes chocolate, redd likes birthday cake, and ronan likes peanut butter (he is so dog-coded /j) - fritz

What was/is your favorite thing about Minecraft? (If youre from an MC-based source.)

none of us are sourced from minecraft stuff but i really like the farming. like i LOVE farming. start up a server with us on it and there will be a huge wheat farm in no time. i think that ties back to how in both my sources i was raised on a farm??? i'm only making that connection now lmao - macdon

Who do you miss the most?

I miss my partners. Things got really bad in source, and I lost one of them and never got to apologize to the other. I wish I could see them again and make everything right. - raoir

i miss my girlfreind,,,,, so much,,, where is she /silly - redd

i miss my kids!!! my little troublemakers !! i need someone (NOT my husband) to cringe at my dad jokes /j - ro

What’s the best thing about being kin/an alter for you?

i love that we're like a big family. granted that doesn't mean we don't get on each other's nerves a lot lmao. but it's nice to never be alone. there's almost always someone looking over your shoulder or idly chatting with you, and it's really comforting. - m

same as above. also i love buying things i know someone else will like and saving it for them. (our etsy favourite list is a mess LMAO) - ronan

If you could swap your kins/who you’re based off, would you?

uhhhh technically i would. but i would switch my source to like. the version of me that actually ended up introjecting? if that makes sense? because Canon Me is a NIGHTMARE. he's a creep. but i literally only have two things in common with the guy. i look like him and we both played baseball in college. lmao. (also i literally just realized that i was falling back on. old habits in those other asks i sent. source's name is luc. i tried changing my name to luke. aaaugh. fuk /silly) - luke

What’s your favorite music? Additionally, do any songs help you get into shift/front?

completely breezing past the first question sorry fdhgkldfj. gonna dump some of our front trigger songs here (i'm always around so this isn't applicable to me lmao). come get some free music recs /silly - m

TC: BUTCHER VANITY - pann ver. (by pann) (TW: gore/cannibalism)

Dick: Inertia (by AJR) (both the normal and acoustic versions!)

Fion: Lavender Forever (by Jake Wesley Rogers)

Redd: Transylvania Mania (from Young Frankenstein)

Fritz: HEAVEN SAYS. (by chart)

Galloway: Sleeping in the Kitchen (by Madilyn Mei & Addison Grace)

Luke: Literal Monster (from Nerdy Prudes Must Die)

Macdon: Eat Your Young (by Hozier)

Raoir: 25 or 6 to 4 (by Chicago)

Ro: Shivers (by Ed Sheeran)

Ronan: it boy (by bbno$)

Tommy: The Lotto (by Ingrid Michaelson & AJR)

WOW that was a lot lmao. uhhhh (youtuber voice) if you reached the end, drink some water, stay hydrated, take a stretch break if you can (writing this from our shrimp artist position,,, oough. spine.)

also we saw people talking about pokemon and our favourite pokemon is skarmory!! it used to be another pokemon but then we did a shiny hunt for skarmory in ORAS and it took like 600+ encounters. we named it macduff after the shakespeare guy lmao.

- 🦁🏔️ [several of us lmao]

EATS UP THE MUSIC REQS

also skarmory! i dont see much skarmory love around, thats awesome! they suit you guys :3 /pos

also.... snrk..... the name dick... /T /SILLY

[iamapoopmuffin]

So, uh, is there more on the wasps and moths and bees thing you would want to share?

I'd be up for hearing more. 👀👉👈

*Unfurls scroll* I would be more than happy to share.

This got long though so under the cut we go!

So so so, there's been a long history of disputes between these three groups of peoples. Before the current day in the games, there was an all out war. It is fair to note both the wasps and wax moths wanted the land and abundance of resources and wealth present in Golden Hive as well as to settle this festering hatred, but neither group could ever defeat the bees.

Eventually, Eggman invades and destroys Golden Hive instead, leaving only Charmy and Saffron. Now, I've never read any part of the comics where this actually happened, I've just been doing my own thing here, and for several reasons this is moved in my canon to having happened shortly before Charmy first met the Chaotix in the Newtrogic High Zone. It was an Eggman base for a time before he eventually abandoned it, and the wasps and moths moved in to take over, were in dispute over the stuff there (now not just land and resources but also leftover Egg tech) before building the wasp-moth alliance.

So current day, we have the wasp colony, ruled over by Queen Camelia. Queen Camelia is a perfectionist and obsessed with winning. She's very very charismatic, excellent at convincing her people and Silkfoot's that 'this needs to happen for the sake of our people and our countries', and can rally people into a frenzy. Though so far the least seen villain of the piece, Camelia is definitely the mastermind, the overarching villain. The only other seen member of the wasp monarchy is Camelia's younger sister, Princess Veronica.

Camelia's pride and obsession makes her especially enraged that her people never legitimately won their war against Golden Hive.

Veronica is noticeably more open about her rage. She's stronger, meaner, with a shorter temper and will actually fight on the front lines if needed. This makes her a significantly dangerous enemy during the story. She also wields a spear coated in poison. She has enough physical strength to be classed as a power type.

The bulk of the wasp army is female, and like Veronica, typically use poisoned weaponry (though Veronica's is far more potent and deadly - it's one she developed herself).

Then ofc we have our military thing that is the wax moths, who, outside of Silkfoot and Candle specifically, haven't gotten much attention, but we do know Silkfoot agrees with Camelia's ideals, is aggressive when trying to gather information, wastes no time in calling others out on lies and does not accept criticism. Despite considering himself a strong, incredible leader, he and his people are easily swept up by Camelia's words. We also know Silkfoot puts a lot of trust in his fellow moths, and commands a great deal of loyalty.

So, it's assumed that peace between the wasps and moths came about because Camelia and Silkfoot fell in love and got engaged and were able to come to some agreement in sharing the land and power and whatnot. Camelia then comes up with this idea that they can still win a symbolic victory over Golden Hive. Yes, they've already moved in and messed everything up, but they didn't get this on their own power and never settled that long schism and that burns them up. They fought for years and in the end someone else did it and then just abandoned it all. That's not a victory, not to Camelia, not to Silkfoot, but they do find out that the crown prince of Golden Hive is still alive. So, symbolic victory, take out the prince, ensure he and any other survivors out there can't take it back and force them back out again. Strike the final blow. Makes publicly executing this child sound like a true victory against a threat that doesn't actually exist any more. Hypes everyone up for the hunt. Makes a huge spectacle of it. It'll take place on a big stage with everyone watching. And they will happily take out anyone who gets in their way.

Charmy's gonna call them all cowards. There on the stage, he tells Camelia he's not scared of her, because she's not scarier than anything else he's faced before. Not the Metarex, not the Black Arms, not the metal virus, she's just a lady who never wins about to take all her anger out on a child, except she won't even get to do that because Charmy's friends are here to save him.

With everything still in its base planning phase and primarily existing as a bunch of scenes that don't fit together yet, everything established about them so far is the bare basics of what's relevant to the established story parts lol

[tuiyla]

Blaine apologized but used him being drunk as an excuse. Like hey dude, sorry I sexually harassed, which is legally by term what it was if not sexual assualt (we don’t see enough to determine) you but I was drunk, my bad. I don’t hate Blaine for it but that scene makes me uncomfortable, he mocks Kurt for wanting his first time to be special and if you watch the scene Kurt says no over 10 times. Yikes. Not the worst thing to happen on the show at all, but if anything it’s not talked about enough in the fandom as I’ve seen it dismissed as Blaine being able to do all that because Kurt is his boyfriend.

It was a very Yikes thing but I don't think "not talked about enough" is ever an accurate thing to say about fandom tbh. Fandom isn't a tangible entity where we can see everything so chances are we can't gauge these things accurately. Based on my personal experience specifically on the subreddit, it's talked about plenty.

I think it's totally valid if the scene makes you uncomfortable, me too. It's a shitty thing that happened, but just personally I see it being a stupid thing rather than a malicious one. Using being drunk as the sole excuse is shitty though. Like I said I think the show could have handled it better if they must include it in the first place, but this was still one of the better-handled instances of someone's sexual agency being violated - barely, but the bar is low. I got an ask about that topic so we'll be covering it more when I get to that. In a couple of hours hopefully.

Sorry I just saw your other ask now as I was about to publish:

<< Just to clarify I do understand he was drunk, but that’s not an excuse and using it to clear your actions is an asshole move. Drunk and young or not, don’t sexually harass and touch someone when they tell you to stop over and over. That’s my main issue with the apology, how the fandom eats it up as a real one, had he not used the drunk line, it would’ve been better. Then they had Kurt apologize and diminish the situation by saying Blaine making out with Rachel was worse… Sigh..

I honestly don't remember the episode well enough, but based on my memory I do agree. Again I can only say it could have been handled better even if it wasn't The Worst. I think he was right to acknowledge he was drunk but you're right that it's no excuse. Sometimes you just gotta say: I'm sorry, I was wrong. Without looking for a "yeah but in my defense..."

And yikes lmao bringing BIOTA into it. I think the apology still counts and intentions do, too, but my bottom line is that the whole ep is cringe and I don't get why people would like pretty much any of it. I mean the premise is that Artie flat out tells them to get laid to ~give a better performance~? What bs is this thanks I hate it

I guess the controversy of this scene and episode is rooted in people being willing to forgive/dismiss it to varying degrees. Which makes sense with a topic so sensitive and it being, you know, a popular couple. Again just based on my experience, people talk about it plenty and everyone is gonna have their own perspective.

[misterbitches]

some thots. having a bad time so this is rougher than usual. oh well

....

i guess he really does know hiim best cos if that was my mans (man specifically cos if anyone else did that id take it more srsly) i would be like oh my god ur singing me a love song? i would love it but i woudl SCREAM in embarrassment. UNLESS it was a really deep love song that's about us dying together.

like i want to eat ur skin type of thing (drain u nirvana) lmaoa but i really like this song it reminds me of that velvet underground song (the only one i know cos of juno lmao) and nico or whatever 'i'm sticking with you)

my adhd would be out of fucking control i had to spend my time listening to this looking around i kept getting distracted by a tissue and thinking "wow this song is nice but i wish it would end bc i am getting distracted" and lo and behold i paused it and i have to pee and i know it's gonna take forever to undo this

ok about 12m later i turned it back on and they kissed and then he bit the corn then that night li chen also lost his virgin teas after watching gay porn and being like "hm interesting" and he'll be like "i see, ur dick is not medium sized"

i'm honestly gagging i cannot at this 12 year old marrying his mom

beautiful theyre beautiful

ayea you fucking psycho we do too because he was 17 and we had to witness it (or well, other people did cos i didnt watch the show even tho wayne song is [BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEP] and i want him to [BEEEEEEEP] and ppl even liked it which is fine like i get it in theory but they put this in my eyeballs so i'm gonna make fun of it bc it's fuckin DUMB lmao like i can't I CANNOT and he said "u were so persistent" BITCH UR 30??!?!???!?!?!?)capi hve it on mute and i tried to get a screencap of li chen and mu ren like together and not just his face but i cant find the timestamp and seeing their faces as they get married is literalyl traumattizing i'm like scremaing at my screen going "HE'S 5 HE'S 5 HE'S 5" and every time theyre like "we acn live forever together" like no bitch ur bones rae creaking

also is the officiator white? if anyone knows why or if that's common i'd love to know more. EDIT: HE ISN'T I JUST THOUGHT HE LOOKED LIKE MOBY FROM THAT ANGLE

anyway here

i'm almost done with this fucking bullshit and i am in a really ould mood and usu they make it a bit better but imo it's kind of....annoying i guess balancing all these story elements and introducin gother couples (even in the periphery) since the story in itself can't focus. i feel like all in all the time spent with these two is a lot more limited and we get the feel for the rship because of their chemistry as actors, irl chemistry as friends and colleagues, and hopefully being happy and working on a good set. so it isn't the strength of the writing or production.

for some reason they get like less dynamic ways of being together which i think is part of their charm, they do things their own way, but the writers really should have substantiated this more. it's really just the way everyone in the show has managed to deliver these AWFUL story lines and production decisions (like seriously who the fuck was on costume? lighting?)

like maybe hot take but all the moments that are cringe and insane in the show are not pleasant, per se, because they aren't thought out clearly. so they're not a joy to watch in the normal sense but the actors are good enough to pull it off. i didn't cringe at the talks they had because it felt like actors like acting these lines out instead of us being embarrassed for it and you CAN TELL theyre embarrassed.

this is a huge kudos to the casting director and the actors and whatever crew that actually did a good job. i don't particularly like watching bo xiang and his grandfather husband not because of the content but because i feel like, to me, they're so awkward even though they have chemistry. i don't have that issue with xing si and his rapist brother boyfriend because watching them is actually really pleasant, it's intimate. this isn't to do with the story though because when it hits you how devoid this other person is and how stupid the situation is it changes (for me, for me, for me, this is all my opinion think whateverrrr u want im not telling u 2 ok!)

so truly kudos to this cast. idk if i'm misremembering here but imo the most cast appropriate series in this was crossing the line and close to you. one is a decent atmosphere and execution (yes even with that brother story line, notice the major key differences though because that's a sincere false equivalence. they try to execute power imbalances soooo badly and then fail every time but here's one meant to shock too and it was just likelmao ok girl?)

it may not make sense to say either in a writing way or for the character to do it but i believe that whoever the characters these people are supposed to be especially those super not well written on the page still get that message aacross (yong jie's actor is a good ex. not sure if i should ccongratulate him for having the worst job on earth and the worst character and his character is flat but. ostensibly they should let their actions speak for themselevs but what they do is they back themselves into a ccorner with unsuretyabout their characters or a dilemma that pops up they just want to excuse it. well guess hwat u couldnt do enough legwork. but to some extent the disposable side couple works here on a um "our eyes see them and get it" way

also to me it seems like they chose this story just to have this specific wedding. like it's a timely topic and i'm pretty sure like another provision? (correction? idk) was made WRT taiwanese same-sex marriage so it's topical but it isn't like a "papa and daddy" situation where they're interacting in it and there (for ex: the pride parade) and there being like real life terms and consequences. here it seems like they were like ah yes wedding ah yes dumb couple from modc bc we kiled off the other one sooooo (then outsource them to life love on the line u__u) then hamfisting in some fucking message which is funny bc

- despite the hints peppered in and the clear attraction they both acknowledge ur like ~not gay just him~ even tho...i mean i just. again they dont read over what they write i don't think considering. but wahtever.

- the only gay dude (verbally said) is with his rapist brother with an awful power dynamic oh or IS a rapist (gao) (or his brother but i think it was just a "im a psycho so it's him" thing unless they said it. in which case idc cos i wasnt paying attn but that's also not great) or i guess the wedding but like....that's also a ridiculously inappropriate and dumb relationship taht it's built on. i mean i don't really see much respect her so i dont particularly want to hear abt gay weddings being important when they didn't even utilize it in the story beforehand and have we ever. this is a huge indication to me that it was a reverse engineered chosen story beforehand (if it was one) or thought of

soooooo

so reversal of that....it didnt give us enough time to breathe with these two at all but for both of the actors they can capitalize what's on the page and the writers didn't. like their dynamic is very i give/you give like taking car eof each other etc that's why

again, no artist worth their salt will ever say their work meant nothing. that's a cover up. i'm sick of lazy production and then getting away with it claiming being subversive or attacking an issue by not doing anything. we show crazy shit all the time but it has a POINT and ur point is "i like the gays" then girl.....i mean it's not great

but the acting really carried it. i have a feeling if this series continues it might continue to use more experienced actors cos maybe the budget goes up but they also have less inhibitions now when it comes to acting. i like the way li chen expresss himself and teng teng too. i like anson a lot and there's some angles that did not do any favors and i think eh has to get more control of his body movements (bc he's SO LARGE and thin) but he wasn't bad at all and there were real human tears. of course i, personally, favor charles tu. he has more control over his body because he has...less to work with and he's a bit bigger and he was really great in this role. he's a himbo a bit of a meathead but you like him. you like them. there's some things i think they had them say and do that they wouldn't let happen if they stuck to the characters and the story (mainly liking that dumb idiot rapist)

what i notice is that the reprehensible actions people criticize others for in the show and in real human life lalways gets turned around. teng teng being surprised that this boy's grandfather boyfriend met him when he was a junior in high school and he's 12 years older and him apologizing for being shocked and then whatshisface going "ur better at it than most people" and then the convo about gao with whatshisface and then rapist brother comes to pick him up. they are admonishing gao but thinking that rapist brother is noble for doin gwhat he did (and oh rapist brother shows up) like the hypocrisy and the decisions are immense. so now it's like "guys see he's a great guy" like girl STICK TO SOMETHING but whatever so i live in this universe where muren and li chen do everything right and have lots of different interesting fun seex with all their friends. i would write this but i cannot i am dying