#a lot of that is on the actors vs the writers tho

[ladylightning]

the way the absence of john winchester haunt sam and dean in ways that are more real than any ghost they have ever faced. the way john echoes so loudly in the narrative even in episodes he’s not mentioned, in seasons where he never appears. the way john possesses dean when he’s angry and sam when he’s grieving. the way john is the one true god of the narrative, the absent father who does not answer prayers or phone calls. the righteous man who does not break in hell but breaks down and hands his child a gun. john and the memory of his holy mary. john the prophet and his sacred text. john and his prodigal son that he knows has to die. 

[carigm]

Today Millie had a fan panel in which she answered that her ideal ending would be Mike and El getting married and Will being happy and confessing to Mike (lol) and ofc the Stranger Things fandom kicked up the old Byler vs Mlvn war once again, regardless of the fact she doesn’t write the show. But I want to break down some points here about things I’ve been noticing today, but also for a while and that I think need to be discussed. Keep reading if you want.

I’ve seen a lot of hostility towards Byler and Bylers on Twitter lately, saying we’re delusional and don’t know what we’re talking about. This always seems to be the go to argument even tho it’s all in the narrative. Today it got really bad after Millie’s comments and even people that were merely disagreeing with her opinions got called everything from delusional to misogynistic.

IF the Duffers suddenly decided to ignore everything they’ve carefully crafted and put into their narrative that doesn’t make anyone delusional, it just makes them terrible writers. Who would be doing a great disservice to all three characters involved in the love triangle.

There’s been an insurgence (on Twitter) of so called “Will stans” who seem to be completely fine with the idea of mlvn being endgame because “Will can just get another boyfriend” Not only is this insulting to what the writers have already established for Will’s character but it’s also a defense and endorsement of the worst kind of lazy/bad writing that could graze our screens.

The Duffers CHOSE to tie Will’s character arc to Mike’s and El’s.

How do you expect them to undo that and create a well fleshed out character that’s deserving of Will, in 8 episodes that we know are not just gonna be dedicated to Will’s supposed love interest, because there’s a shit ton of stuff to resolve?

If this was the route the Duffers were going for, they could’ve clearly given Will a love interest last season (like with Robin) or two seasons ago (like with Dustin) And yet somehow, people think it would be totally okay for Will to get the most meaningless romance of all time as the writers ignore the same story they’ve created.

Another point I’ve been seeing a lot from these people is “Mike won’t come out. Let it go. He’s just a very unlikable character” What does that say about the quality of the writing and content you’re willing to consume then? You’re okay with characters being poorly written? And please someone explain to me how Mike’s actions, especially in S4, make any sense unless he likes Will.

The more people try to simplify this story the more plot holes and inconsistencies it creates.

The funny thing is that a lot of these “Will stans” used to be Bylers themselves but are so deathly afraid it won’t be endgame that they’ve started to use the same rhetoric mlvns use every day to justify what would be atrocious writing.

And this next thing might be controversial but I think it needs to be said.

So many people on Twitter have hit those who disagree with Millie’s opinion today with “y’all are misinterpreting Millie’s words” and let me tell you, no one has. She’s been saying the same stuff for forever and quite frankly she’s never had a coherent thought about Will. Which is fine, at the end of the day that’s not the character she plays. However, I haven’t forgotten how last year (at another panel) she was asked about Byler and said it was just a reflection of Finn and Noah’s friendship and that was what people were seeing…

Whatever the fuck that means, I guess.

Again, I’m not taking her answer today too seriously cause truth be told she’s been saying some version of this since she was around twelve, and has even at times said she was joking about it. If a wedding were actually happening she wouldn’t be able to say it cause I’d literally be a spoiler, even if she doesn’t have the scripts yet or doesn’t know I’m sure there’s things that would be off limits for any actor to say at this point.

But this defense squad that formed today begging for us to not misconstrue her words because “she really cares about Will’s character” is laughable.

Her answers regarding the topic of the love triangle have been anything but nuanced. If she doesn’t want to get into it or address it, that’s fine. It’s her choice.

But of course, mlvn stans are gonna take her answers seriously, as well as those who are now “Will stans” who basically ship mlvn too.

And to me there’s a fundamental flaw regarding the ship wars in this fandom, which these people don’t seem to grasp. At this point, it isn’t so much about “which ship is better” but “which outcome isn’t violently homophobic”

That’s it.

I don’t care how much you ship mlvn, this is the undisputed truth here.

But when your lead actors act like it’s not a big deal, it’s no surprise the fandom doesn’t give a shit.

I can only hope the Duffers were smart enough to see reason and were able to write the only outcome that won’t set television back around 10 years or so.

And hopefully one day, when S5 is out, we can get a more in depth and honest conversation with the actors about all of this.

As for me, I’m gonna lay low and not give much of a fuck until we start getting those Reddit leaks, which were very much accurate for last season. I’ll take a peak at those, and depending on what they look like, I’ll stay around or dip completely.

If you read all of this, thank you.

[mcfiddlestan]

Ship it/Don't Ship it

Frostiron, WinterFrost, Winteriron, Pepperony. (The last I'm grinning evilly at because I will look forward to the angry discourse. LOL)

FrostIron

Ship It (I SHIP IT HARD.)

What made you ship it?

Around the time the first Avengers movie came out, I was just dipping my toe into Tumblr and Twitter fandom. I found and started following a ton of RP accounts on Twitter. And since RDJr is my favorite ever since Weird Science, there was a lot of Iron Man fanart on both of my dashboards. Shippy fanart started to slip in -- and while Stony was very prominent, so was FrostIron. My love for Loki had already started to bloom (plus, I was fascinated that IRL British Ginger Dork could, with a little hair dye, become My New Favorite Villain), and seeing him constantly paired with My Favorite New Hero -- and there was A LOT of very cool art --made me go Ooh. Plus, I befriended this awesome Tony RP writer who had an awesome RP thread with a Loki, and that, plus all the fics I started to read, just plunged me, heart eyes first, into SHIPPING IT HARD. I watched the movie 10x in the theatre, started watching all the interviews with RDJr and Hiddles, and eventually, I read a college au (that I loved) and decided I could totally write them even tho I hadn't written anything in a couple years. Thus, Dark Side.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Besides the whole enemies-to-lovers thing? And besides the fact the ship was comprised of two of my favorite actors (at the time)? I mean, their whole dynamic is not so secretly my ideal relationship. The sarcastic barbs lobbied back and forth that rests comfortably atop the sexual tension the ability to keep up with each other is flamed on by. The intelligence that kind of quipping and humor requires -- and let's face it: someone is always hotter when they can stimulate your mind and your body. Add in the bonding that can happen over the shared Terrible Paternal Relationship and The Trauma That Makes Our Humor So Great and how they can heal each other, the debate between science vs. magic, and how they're much more alike than one would think. The fics that explore how discovering how much they have in common and how they learn to see each other in a different light (whether superhero and supervillain or not) are some of my faves and an element I often insert in my own fics. IDK, I just love them.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not really? Any gripes I have are more with authors' characterizations of them. I don't go telling anybody they can't write them the way they choose, tho. I just nope out of fics that have anything I don't want to read. And then I write my own. :D

WinterFrost

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Similar to FrostIron, I discovered WinterFrost through mostly RP. But probably what made me fall head over heels for this pair was dipping my toe into RP myself. The friend whose Tony Stark I loved mentioned in convos that they wanted to start RPing a Bucky but wanted him paired with a Loki. They asked me if I wanted to try my hand at RP, so I did. This was about 6-7 months before CA:TWS was released, so there wasn't much if any, WinterFrost content yet -- and it was actually still called Lucky at the time. Anyway, Bucky was post-CATFA, and my Loki was post-Avengers (we mutually decided to start there instead of post-The Dark World). They randomly met and organically began to fall in love. The truth is, this ship is special to me bc, as we wrote Bucky and Loki falling in love, we were falling in love. So, it's all kind of woven together with my own love story. Kind of bittersweet now.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

There is a bit of a dark element to WinterFrost that I'm kind of drawn to. The RP was the only place I ever really explored that (kind of) -- although I did have an idea to turn my PWP WinterFrost into a serial killer AU. I eventually abandoned that idea. For a lot of reasons. By dark element, I mean the darkness in both characters potentially being compatible and flourishing. Bucky as the Winter Soldier was almost devoid of emotion (except when he saw Steve, in the movie at least); Loki, in contrast, was highly motivated by his emotions but kind of let himself get battered and embittered by them. At least the way I wrote my Loki. Beyond that, there is a great capability for them to bond over their trauma (again, similar to FrostIron). There is no bigger troll than Bucky (c'mon, he grew up with Steve Rogers, ffs), and Loki would relish in the chaos Bucky would cause with his commentary. I feel like there's a mutual mending they can do for each other. Loki can help Bucky battle his demons -- as a demon slayer himself -- and Bucky can show Loki a love like he's never known.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Nah. Similar to FrostIron, it's down to characterizations. I'll literally read anything about these two.

WinterIron

Ship It

What made you ship it?

I was already into FrostIron and WinterFrost -- and RPing both. So it was kind of like, "I ship Tony and Loki and Bucky and Loki, why not Tony and Bucky?" I RPd that for a bit, too. I haven't read or written a lot of this ship, so I'm not sure what I like beyond it being two actors I love, two characters I love, and liking that they could both find a little bit of happy with each other. Also, it's interesting to think about the internal crisis Tony would endure for falling in love with the man responsible for his parents' deaths.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I honestly have no idea. Like I said, I haven't really dug deep into this one yet, like I have FrostIron and WinterFrost. It's definitely one of my smaller ships.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

No, but I wish people would leave WinterIron shippers alone. Way too much hate flung at this ship and the people who write it. It's annoying.

Pepperony

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

Honestly? It's because of Gwyneth Paltrow. I don't like her, as an actress, as a personality, as a hawker of vag candles -- whatever. I never liked her portrayal of Pepper. And don't come for me, y'all, bc believe me, I know how this sounds -- but I thought she looked too old to play Pepper. Yes, she was only 34, and RDJr was 43, and that's an age gap in itself (and coincidentally, Leslie Bibb was 35, which btw she does not look older than GP and...yeah). I think I felt the way they were portraying Tony Stark's womanizing ways it didn't make sense (to me!) that he'd go for someone closer to his age and stick to younger women. (Blame my brother. He's been dating girls my age and younger since high school. His first son's mother is my age. She was 4mo along when we graduated from hs. He dated a slew of girls near or around my age well into his 30s. His second son's mother was 6yrs younger than me. He's gross, I know. I tell him all the time.) Anyway, I love Tony and Pepper's dynamic in the comics (the few I've read), and when I RPd a Pepper (I did not use GP; I used my idea of a perfect Pepper: Jessica Chastain), I was told the way I wrote her was closer to comic!Pepper than MCU!Pepper, which I gathered was a good thing. People often misunderstand that my distaste for Pepper has nothing to do with the character herself. I LOVE the character. I think she's a badass, and I think she's the best working partner Tony could have -- which is why probably why I always writer her as Tony's closest confidant. But I also think they did Pepper a disservice by casting GP.

What would have made you like it?

A different actress, lol.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Like I said, I love the character of Pepper. She's a great foil to some of Tony's more grandiose ideas and she has a way of handling him without him realizing he's being handled. Maybe I'd ship it if she didn't start out as his secretary? There's something very creepy about a relationship between a boss and a secretary to me. Idk. As Besties, I love Tony and Pepper. Beyond that? No.

Don't come at me yall. @mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea made me say all these things. LOL (jk ily!)

Thanks for asking!

Ship It/Don't Ship It

[jrueships]

what are the best wire ships?

YALL SHOULD NOT HAVE ASKED ME THIS LMAO 😭😭 i am so not serious to be the header on the wire fandom resurrection front but here we go 😭 i guess 😭! I HOPE URE READY CUS IM NOT LMFAO

FYI this post might contain some spoilers to the show but if u want a nonspoilerly version, just asked! it's pretty old so if yall haven't seen it i 10/10 recommend!!!

im painfully trying a rewatch of the show, i say painfully because my attention span watching a show vs a movie is KAPOOT! i can't stream 30 hours of a show but i can sit thru a 3 hr movie (if i haven't seen it before. Ill still have to get up and stretch sometime in the middle of it but ill be attentive nonetheless). LIKE... sitting thru a long movie holds more accountability to my mind i think. If i can't binge thru multiple episodes and end on a comfy, even number like episode 10, i can't bring myself to sit thru one without checking my phone 😭 BUT IT IS A GOOD SHOW! i just suck at watching shows in general, especially past the 1st season.. idek why.. it's like i get thru the 1st season in a happy binge breeze then BOOM! no more motivation... BUT WHAT I MEANT WITH THIS IS!!!!

This 1st post will mainly just kinda lightly touch on general knowledge from season 1 then expand in detail the more seasons i rewatch (with more ships too probably). This is mainly my fav ships i noticed now or back then

TO BE NOTED THO!! the wire isn't a really shippy show tbh, it's mainly about dynamics thru relationships contributing to story/effect on the story rather than romantic relationships. Every plot point has to have an eventual purpose for the story, every interaction, etc. It has like one will they won't they mainly for angst, and it's for Detective McNulty who has a general 'will he won't he' beat the Irish drinking gene or whatever lmao. If u wanna ship, u gotta really take the few nuggets the show might give u and REALLY turn them to gold. Cus they are gold in general, but it's up to you to make them really profit! IN CONCLUSION.. u gotta be. A little delusional. Hence our first 'ship' introduction..

🩵 stinkum & bird 🩵

... i told you we had to be a little unwell to really indulge. Sorry.

this is a totally biased list so please excuse me. Stinkum n Bird are two of Avon's muscle in the game and they both get outta it pretty quick. Involuntarily, of course, because they're the typa freaks that love it. With these two, you need context clues n connections. Almost EVERY scene Stinkum is in, he's GOT TO bring up his boy Bird. Hell, it might just be every. This is mainly due to the writers knowing the actor of bird is a big shot cameo, so it'd be too expensive to have Bird in a lot of scenes, especially in a TV show budget. And they also knew Stinkum wasn't made to last long so why not just use him as a substitute introduction to Bird's character so we don't have to pay that much for personal appearance in prologue? Bird's supposed to be the 'unhinged' one in the crew, the Crazy Guy. Crude, rude, cruel, & ruthless. Don't have the budget to show it, cheaper to tell it instead. Stinkum's just the hype man to Bird, essentially. Also he has another thing going on that leads to his early demise, but besides that, that's pretty much it. Goes to show how the show wants every dime spent for a strategical reason. Good TV shows need Causation, not 'and then's, but 'therefore' 'so' ETC.

... doesn't mean we can't have fun with it ourselves though. See, The Wire brings you quality entertainment, & it's up to us what we make of that quality to be entertained. Up to our love of the show to keep coming back to it and exploring the prime time possibilities it presented/hinted/hid. Which is a lot since practically every part of it is practical. The beauty of Stinkum n Bird to me is Stinkum being some wide-eyed doe eyed obsessed little freak who woobifies n glorifies n babygirlifies Brutal As Fuck bird because? He's insane. I guess? They both are! This is evidenced in the show, on purpose for plot! But this purpose can be made even better if we make something accidental out of it. Take the gold and spread its profits through smaller amounts, cut the product for bigger prices! LISTEN LIKE.. they made stinkum's character constantly bringing up Bird's name for plot... but him always yammering on about Bird can mean other things...... dare i say... gay things 😈. WHY does he always talk about Bird? For cheap character intro to get us ready when Bird makes his short appearance eventually yea but WHAT ELSE? they're giving us an ELSE without rlly GIVING us an else! Stinkum, who's a bit of a dopey lil goon guy, might have been unknown to a certain shooting danger one night when BLAM! He turns around, not filled with lead, but with awe for the guy he just saw skin a man alive... save HIS skin by dealing with his unforeseen assailant. Stinkum sees a softer side to the craziest, cruelest guy in their group, and has his respect eternally earned. Does Bird ever return it?? We don't know.... Bird never mentions Stink. Which creates more fun for us cus we get bounce off that with whatever the hell we want. It always goes back to the source! IF YOU WANT.. i recommend looking up 'the wire stinkum' / 'the wire bird' and ull find their scenes that show more of their character. I can elaborate on a single ship in more detail if u want, just ask ! trust me, id be MORE than happy to lmao!

🩵 Bird n Omar 🩵

Apparently, thanks to Stinkum, we know Bird n Omar jailed with each other. And STINKUM heard from BIRD that Omar was gay?? Which is like.. ok. Thanks stinkum/bird??? That's a bit.. what do u mean by that... have you, Bird, man whose little scenes he's shown is spewing same sex sexuality slander 99% of the time, Experienced that info Firsthand? Are you. Perhaps. Were you... One of Omar's whole stable of boys he had while locked up at Jess Up 🤨? ...the public needs to know 😈. Is all this talk you have against the lgbt.. perhaps... coming from a bit of internalized Rage 🤨? hm 😼? AND THIS ISNT JUST MY SPECULATION EITHER!! Other wire fans thought this!! They were sus on stinkum n Bird's relationship too!!! hell i GOT that idea from one of the wire's youtube COMMENTS!! yall we see it.. we do. Also Omar is 5'10... Bird is 5'3 at worst (says he's 5'5 but trust me. That is a definite lie.) .. Bird's also Omar's type too (which i find hilarious).. lightskinned. some may say, even, a little bratty BUT HEY! HEY!! im just usin my context clues given to me from THE SHOW ok! dont shoot the messenger bird... Omar looked like he was enjoying Bird getting his comeuppance a little Too well in that police interrogation scene.. i wouldn't be surprised if there was a deleted scene of him saying 'oh what a mouth'... BUT FROM THE SCENE GIVEN TO US THO.. what do you Mean 'bird really knows how to bring it out of people', Omar 🤨? What do you. What do you Mean by That 🤔? something.... explicit 🫣?

ANYWAYYYSS... smthin Bigger.

🩵Avon & Stringer 🩵

u rlly do have to see the show for all of these to rlly land with u tbh, the bigger ones especially bcs when the show has two characters they keep close for long... u know they're gonna be in pain. And u are too. I love avon and stringer man they make me so 😭😭!! One bleeds red the other bleeds green... ones all for family, the other for profession but DAMN IT! He thought he was family too, isn't it? Aren't i... Avon ? If the other ship types were doofy tongue out loyal to the bone tail wagging dumbly following dog Stinkum x asshole cat with claws who Maybeeee has a Slight soft spot for the dog where only HE can scratch it sometimes Bird, or elegant silk n clever streetcat with a semi bitten ear who steals fish with class Omar x rowdy rabid orange tabby cat who jumps at windows trying to eat other cats Bird..... this one is . Opposites attract. Unlikely friends to the end. Unlikely betrayal in bonds. Unlikely.. Unlikely. I don't wanna speak on it too much incase u haven't seen the show. It's just so good, it needs a justification thru watch. Avon and stringer together.. u can just feel the connection. Like these two Were childhood friends and now all this shit is happening to them.. this rift. It sucks!! It makes u wish the old days with them!! It makes u feel like an old head! Makes u feel what they're probably feeling but can't express cus they don't have the power or the pride rn!! I love them. They make me miserable. Avon and stringer were THE powercouple on the wire. They were THE girlboss malewife powercouple takeover. THE adhd bf Autistic bf romance. OKAY??? I just have to tell u the terms, it's up to u to see the show explain it. Watching stringer infodump about whatever smthing new he learned in his community college econ's is so cute. His finance bro business bro interests 😭 Avon acknowledging it and helping him indulge in it!! Making it a giant part of his organization!!! Avon the hardworking son from a long line of feared bad blood incorporating his businesstime consigliere godfather type shit ! Seeing avon get all excited at the bball game, jumping up n stomping the ground when he's winning or losing Lmao. Stringer roasting the competition, joining in on the pettiness. I love them. They're my petty powercouple and I GET TO SAY THEY DESERVED TO KISS EACH OTHER!! And GET MARRIED and LOVE EACH OTHER!!! okay!!! In another life avon is the prideful n stubborn basketball coach for their cc's poor basketball team and stringer is the sexy rich new econ professor who got demoted for being too harsh on his past private college students. D'angelo the spoiled nephew hates going to Stringer's class and hates Stringer even more when he becomes his strict new stepdad thanks to googly eyes at Avon. The coparenting comes with its troubles..

Another big crime dealing (literally) powercouple on the newer side..

🩵 marlo & Chris 🩵SHUTUP ABT CHRIS'S HAIR I TRIED OKAY IM NOT TRYING THAT HARD OKA

this one is mainly dynamic, there are some works for marlo/chris, but it's mainly dynamic exploration or relationship hinting if u squint but kept kinda dim under the surface. What's interesting abt these two is that.. They're just so interesting. It's like.. how Did they meet? WHY is chris so loyal to marlo? Also it's on misinterpretations too cus people might look at chris and think he's the ruthless killer who takes joy in his killings since he's big muscle for marlo's group... but actually he's a very chill (unless ur crime is Bad.) kinda kind n polite guy with a butler-like professional nature in his affable behavior sometimes . VS everyone thinking marlo is some emotionless, bug-eyed freak who just watches from the dark. And he is LMAO. Just like how chris CAN be ruthless, marlo CAN be hauntingly apathetic. But he can ALSO be very petty. I mean, half his Google images are of him looking disgusted LMAO. He's almost always vaguely annoyed, impeded upon, or intrigued. And chris n him Both know the other should not be messed with when pissed. If avon and stringer are the more kind of 'front and center' powercouple at the party, Marlo and chris are the two lonely assholes sitting in the dark corner (uninvited btw) of the party, vaping and judging people. Marlo doesn't drink, so he's just sipping ice water out of a red solo cup telling chris to kill whomever marlo finds insignificant (so everyone) while chris stares at the weather app on his phone, not knowing what to do. I love them in the goofy sense. They're just so awkward. Bruh girl 4 bruh girl. When two mfers with social skills where u can tell it's ok Except there's just smthin kinda Off about them, keeping them from being normL, find each other... the world burns. And it Did. They both have insane trauma and i think they should kiss. Ill def reblog with more abt them when i get to the later seasons rewatch..

🩵 Omar's og crew with him, Brandon, n bailey 🩵

i loved Omar's og little Robin hood crew so much 😭 it's a shame the wire back then didn't know how successful it'd be, so they introduced n had the other members live so short for story. They shouldve had more screen time fr! Doing shenanigans!! i just love the dynamic of Omar n Brandon being best bfs... Omar simping for Brandon n letting his mistakes slide bcs hes down bad for the lightskin.. and then there's lone wolf John bailey who just has to third wheel with them. Bailey is known to just go wherever the money goes, do whatever to get whatever, mix with whatever for whatever, so gotdammit if he has to spend time stealing money n drugs with gay people, he'll spend time stealing money n drugs with gay people!! i guess 😭. he definitely will be using that time to side eye them tho 😭😭. The funny gay couple and the straight man (literally) doing stealing shenanigans.. smh. We were robbed 😭 from their robbing!!!!!!!! i wish we saw more of them (dont get it twisted from all the praise the wire gets, it does have its faults, every show does!).. got to explore them more! We barely get to see Brandon before he dies n we don't even get to see John bailey's end result! Just hear it passing by! SMH!!! they were a cute lil ragtag group and i wanted to see them successful!!! also.. just saying John but... if u stayed n had a threesome instead of going to see ur 'mom', you wouldve lived longer...... probably not that long when you've got avon n his muscle minions after u... but still. You missed out big time bro. It's time to consider switching sexuality sides, methinks !

AS CLOSING SINCE WE'RE RUNNIN A LIL LONG!!

🩵 gay ppl.. everywhere

🩵 The Baltimore fuzz can also be poly excluding kima as platonic <3. Herc n Carver have too many sus conversations to be just bros at this point ... but ill talk more abt them later probably! They're rlly cute tho! And bunk n McNulty have their buddycop banter that's very domestic and assholic because they are domestic assholes. Bunk made lester bow-legged. Bunk ALSO outside of police stuff, has some childhood lore with Omar, of all people. Perhaps Omar had a schoolgirl crush on THE JOCK bunkster, feared star of his... school's game with the stick or whatever lol it sounds cute though! I'll talk more abt the fuzzy side of the show if u want, but they're pretty big so ull see more of that for urself with less explanation needed if u watch it !

🩵 avon's barksdale crew could be a poly powercouple gang takeover !! As could marlo's! With obvious platonic pieces as snoop probably has her own gf n such. Wee-bey is just so beautiful he needs to be a bf!! he needs someone to listen to his fish facts!! Him and stringer probably trade fish facts n finance facts! Avon and his gang kiss <3

🩵 bodie/Wallace have some fans! The stubborn kid playing tough guy to survive trying to steel his heart and the smart kid who's a little too soft and a little too supportive.. it's sweet and sad :( .

🩵 Bodie n poot are cute too. The second coming of girlboss malewife. Lil Kevin had to be in a poly with them or smthin cus there's no other reason why they should keep him along 😭 he was so shit at being muscle. It's not even funny LOL. Poot was also kinda shitty at being muscle too. Lil spoon headass, desperately debilitatingly declining hairline headass. Fuckin poot 😭.. bodie rlly spent his whole life carrying the team tbh. No wonder he's always such a crabby Lil guy! Yall make him do too much! By the time he was 26, he felt 86 probably !!

🩵 there's also cutty n slim charles, n other people that show in the later seasons that i can address later in a reblog, but yea! So far those are my favs mentioned n can be elaborated later! thank u SO much 4 asking, this was SUPER fun n appreciated 🩵🩵🩵 i doubt many ppl will read this n i don't blame yall but TRY if u can.. to watch The Wire if ure ever bored n have some freetime!! it's so good 😭

[wutaijiemei]

only media commentary i can make atm watched the new newsreader trailer yesterday it really is sad every time i see dale jennings tho cause i just think of how he's a lesser shadow of joe macmillan you will never be him i do think someone should show the hcf guys the newsreader though so they feel better about their contributions to television history after having to deal with the joe being a lesser shadow of don draper allegations bc i dont think those people understood what was happening in that show at all the character prototype the hcf writers were building his draper similarities were quite superficial relative to the exploration of how internalized homophobia can turn you into a shell of a human being whose metrics of success and security have been so warped by insecurities that you become unrecognizable to yourself and incapable of genuine connection and how do you cope with that and is it worth it and can you change and you know the saddest thing is i dont think that is actually what they set out to write in halt and catch fire this just became an underlying reality of the character that becomes more apparent w time partly owed to acting decisions by a talented gay actor who put a lot of thought into playing him vs conversely i literally think these things were one of the main conceptual ideas behind the newsreader and yet they still execute it worse lmfao

[adriancatrin]

initial thoughts in conclusion:

first ep is bad, in retrospect. ep 2 is only marginally better. i think they shot themselves in the foot somehow along the writing process for those two, and a lot of ppl won’t watch further to see what the show turns into, which is a pity, because i think it actually does a lot of really cool stuff.

i liked almost all the changes, honestly, even ones i thought never could’ve worked (like the updates to zukos backstory). the characters with one notable exception were all well fleshed out and better articulated than i ever could’ve imagined, especially sokka. the exception: katara. what happened to her? she’s completely defanged. hurts to see honestly, and i’m worried about what kind of arc she’ll have in the future (if any) given how little she was given to work with this entire season.

highlights: zuko is 100% where the show shines most for me. dallas put his whole ass into it and it’s phenomenal. his fight scenes were so frickin good, the best each time except for maybe the jet vs firebenders fight in the woods, which really stood out to me too.

lows: katara, obviously. maybe iroh, too, though he did have his moments, esp the ones played for humor between him and zuko. and unfortunately, aang. a combination of the writing, acting, and editing really stood together to make aang seem stilted and disconnected from others. he feels more reminiscent of shyamalan’s aang than the animated show’s, albeit at least a bit livelier. i wish we could’ve seen more of a fun loving kid. instead he’s bogged down in the pain of his past, the pressure of the present, and worst of all the writers’ knowledge of the future, and i think a lot of the time it really held back the tone. his best moments were ones where he could bounce off of the more experienced actors (sorry katara, & sokka too).

very intrigued on where zuko and azula will go. feel like we’ve set up an entirely different season 2 where they’re concerned. esp regarding azula and her relationships w mai and ty lee.

over all, it felt like a fanwork rewrite of season 1, which is absolutely fine by me, because that’s what it Should be. people who love the show adapting it into something different. the differences to me are where it really shined. tho i really could’ve done without 1. witnessing the air nomad genocide and 2. witnessing katara’s mom’s death. first one feels insensitive and the second was just ouch ouch ouch

and lastly, ima let myself be spiteful for a moment: everyone who said taking out sokka’s sexism would ruin his character owes me a dollar. you’re so very annoying and i’m laughing at you in media literacy

i’m excited to rewatch, especially excited to see zuko freak out about his diary being missing again. this is absolutely all i’m gonna be thinking about at work today lol

episode one may have first draft vibes but the first 15 seconds of episode two has me HOOKED

edit to add: i’m just gonna reply to this post w my first watch thoughts in general cuz i don’t wanna spam but i Do wanna talk @ something

[booksandpaperss]

The fact that a lot of people are being so pressed and homophobic about byler *possibly* being canon when Robin x Vickie are practically canon onscreen already and no one is batting an eye tells me that

1) Straight ppl (and a lot of queer ppl too tbh) don’t take sapphic ships seriously bc there is a culture of literally ignoring lesbians and how special and equally queer wlw love is, so homophobes don’t see it as that much of a problem

and 2) The difference between having a queer ship as part of the main plotline between two crucial main characters, vs having a cute but relatively unrelated side queer pairing just for the sake of giving an LGBTQ character a love interest MATTERS when it comes to representation. There are so. Many. Cishet ppl who claim to be “allies” or just “okay” with the queer community until suddenly it looks like a queer ship between two MAIN CHARACTERS is going to be endgame *instead of the het ship*. A few minutes of screentime for Robin and the character put into the show specifically to be her love interest that showed up a grand total of three scenes in the entire season? Yeah, sure, that’s fine, but as soon as it becomes apparent that one of the main young teenage characters is in love with his best friend who is also a major character might actually be reciprocated? Ppl throw a goddamn FIT.

It is so telling that people are coming up with all of these excuses for why byler could never and shouldn’t happen, and why they’re adamantly against it:

“Mike has to be straight cuz he’s with el!” (bi ppl and comphet exist 🤨)

“It’s just not realistic, they’re just friends it came out of nowhere” (it’s canon that Will’s had feelings for Mike since season one so idk wtf ur talkin abt)

“M*leven is the main ship you’re just delusional” (they’re not tho??Are u forgetting abt lumax? Cuz they got wayy more attention and love in s4 than m*leven did. Also jopper and jancy exist)

“Mike isn’t obligated to like Will back” (literally no one said he was? It’s not that he’s “obligated” it’s just that he’s acting pretty fuckin fruity)

And ofc my personal favorite: “It’s the 80s it’s just not realistic for so many ppl to be gay” (if u rlly think gay ppl didn’t exist in the 80s I beg u to open a proper history book)

Translation? “I simply cannot bring myself to believe that a queer character on a show this big would be essential and well loved enough by the writers and actors to get a happy ending. This show was never stated to be strictly abt the queer experience (as opposed to something like heartstopper) so obviously my het ship will be endgame over the queer one, bc a major endgame relationship couldn’t possibly be queer. That makes me uncomfortable.”

Basically, straight people are getting upset about byler bc they’re used to queer ships being sidelined or just put there for clout.

They’re ALSO just used to seeing the main female protagonist end up in an endgame with a guy, bc god forbid a female MC gets to finish her arc single 🙄

We can acknowledge the difference between a queer side ship with one insignificant character and a queer ship between two major characters that is essential to the plot, while also talking about the fact that Robin and Vickie being relatively ignored both by homophobes AND the fandom is bc sapphic ships tend to get sidelined to mlm ships.

Sincerely,

Your local lesbian byler shipper

[absolutebl]

BEST OF 2021 - BL Edition!

Hella subjective utterly erratic awards of little import and no impact. But I love them, okay? Only includes shows that completed their runs in 2021. 

BEST KISS 2021 

THE WINNER: TharnType 2

There were some killer kisses in BL this year, but basically no one on earth (let alone in BL) can beat out MewGulf in this category. I’m a big fan of the soft sweet candy kiss in the final TT2 episode, but really any of them were great and there were A LOT. (Episode by episode trash-watching recap here.)

BEST DEBUT KISS 2021

THE WINNER: We Best Love

For first timers, this category goes to SamYu of We Best Love, who did a magical job at first kisses in a short run series. (The shorter the run, the less chance the actors have to establish intimacy and become comfortable with each other. Although, Taiwan is generally better at enabling actor intimacy than any other country, possibly because it’s a queer-friendly culture with good workshopping techniques.) 

Anyway, tears running down their faces, post baby’s agro shouty confession, on a bridge (another trope) who doesn’t love this kiss? Plus they breathed into each other (how to act a kiss 101 that so many BLs don’t do.

I have to say, the contentious drunken sobbing kiss Sam gave us in season two almost took this whole category, if it weren’t for the struggle beneath all those tears and passion and consent... But really, THAT KISS (and you all know which one I’m on about) wasn’t so much romantic as it was pained and desperate, and it didn’t take this category because that kiss wasn’t about love, it was about loss and failure and regret.

It was, possibly, one of the best kisses in all BL, but it’s not the right kind of kiss to win a romance trope category.

I hope that makes sense.

I’m gonna throw a little love Thai BL pulps way, they gave us a number of charming kisses this year, but I was most taken with Second Chance’s PaperFah. 

To My Star’s very final kiss was also in contention (Korea, who knew?), but We Best Love beat that one out because I’m a sucker for tears and SamYu... just GAH. 

BEST DOCUMENTARY 2021

THE WINNER: Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko  AKA A Man Who Defies The World of BL 

Honestly tho, it was also the only entrant in this category (unless you count Call it What You Want and Lovely Writer). Look, this was a work of genius. A meta commentary that can only really be thought of as Japan taking itself to task for its own tropes, pulling them out, examining and gently mocking them, but still bucking under the weight of expectation and history. I hooted with laughter. It’s insightful, charming, and AMAZING. (Full review here.) 

BEST THEME SONG 2021

THE WINNER: Light on Me 

A.C.E’s song Spark for Light On Me wins OTS. I have to say I also really liked both of Color Rush’s 2 entrants and Wish You’s cute little song, but as a K-pop enthusiast I was really happy to see an actual K-pop song sung by a legit group in a Korean BL. It legitimized all K-BL in a weird way, ya know? 

BEST CASTING, DIRECTING & SCRIPT 2021 

THE WINNER: A Tale of Thousand Stars 

The story and execution were great, but the cast really elevated this show into something special. Everyone seemed to perfectly suit their roles and GMMTV made the most out of its stable. Combined with excellent production (and post production) values, 1000 Stars is without question GMMTV’s most mature, charming, and smart BL series. I think it should go down as one of the top BLs of all time. You should feel safe recommending this one to friends and non BL watchers. 

BEST USE OF BL TROPES 2021 

THE WINNER: Light On Me 

Light On Me who drops multiple BL tropes with its two different seme’s for expert love triangle reasons but also uses them for pristine pacing, plot, and character development. Korea is the most strategic user of tropes and I love that they deploy them explicitly to serve narrative a not just to tick boxes. Light on Me is a master class in this technique. (If you write fanfic or romance you should study this show.) 

Their best versions included (but were not limited to:

Minister the Artful Injury (for the love triangle) 

Meet Me in the Library (for the love triangle) 

Crash Into Me (for the love triangle) 

That’s MY BOYFRIEND - Public Claiming (to show character’s seme traits and attractiveness of identity ownership and honesty) 

Put Your Head On My Shoulder (to show seme character’s pining traits and softness) 

Boys on Phones (to advance plot and tension) 

Symbolic Gift Exchange (as a twist to show interest and call-back coupledom)

and Touch My Face (that subverted version of the ADORABLE squeeze thing they did to each other)

2021′S MOST UNEXPECTEDLY SOFT SERIES

THE WINNER: Be Loved In House: I Do 

By far Be Love In House: I Do’s best quality was that the tsundere uke’s tsundere-ness was entirely sympathetic, he was utterly likable from the start. This BL cleverly leaned on great acting and beautiful trope execution to carry a rather weak story, but the two leads being impossibly soft with each other in the home absolutely slayed. Grumpy/tsundere is HARD to execute well, so I was impressed, especially from Taiwan who, let’s be fair, doesn’t really specialize in soft or clever BL. BLINID was both. 

Honorable mention to Golden Blood. 

Only Thailand would DARE be this soft with a bodyguard romance. I didn’t expect SunSky and their side dishes (PitchBank) to be so tender and sweet with each other.

BEST MICROFILM 2021

THE WINNER: A First Love Story 

Look I adore Hey Rival: I LOVE YOU! but it was still very Vietnamese and so rather flawed in execution. Korea’s Strongberry, on the other hand, have been perfecting the BL microfilm genre (and, let’s be fair, kind of OWN it) since 2017. They are true masters of their craft and yet A First Love Story is still one of the best things they have ever produced. It’s two episodes of about 8 minutes each that manage to perfectly portray the sweetest friends-to-lovers confession ever. It’s joyful, and gentle with its characters, and a little hot. 

How on earth do they manage to leave us yearning for more yet completely satisfied at the same time? It’s like the perfect amuse-bouche, that one finger food at that one cocktail party that you will never forget. You are a ridiculous human if you haven’t spent 16 minutes with these two boys. Go watch it now. Or go watch it again. It’s time VERY well spent. 

BEST UNIVERSITY SET BL 2021

THE WINNER: Nitiman

This Thai BL pulp had sympathetic characters, a solid tsundere uke redemption arc, and a fantastic pining seme who yearned without bullying, grooming, or gaslighting. Plus when they were together, they were ridiculously soft. But it also had a realistic portrayal of university life, bisexual awakening, and friendship groups. Bummer about the ending. (Full review here.)

BEST HIGH SCHOOL SET BL OF2021 

It’s a tie! 

THE WINNERS: Light on Me & Kieta Hatsukoi

Korean BL Light On Me managed to portray the angst of high school, social media, and coming out in a refined almost elegant way with all credit given to the uke character for honestly and brutal communication. It had a great friendship group, good teacher character, and even managed to treat Plot Device Girl with integrity. Also the white blue color pallet throughout was very pleasing and classy. 

Japanese BL Kieta Hatsukoi AKA My Love Mix-Up! snuck in under the wire to tie Korea’s gem at the VERY end of the year. It was also all teen angst and dramatic crisis over haircuts and text messaging but it was so Japanese slapstick extreme about it. It was a one-show meme-generator and Aoki’s face was a picture of comedic mobility. It was charming origin yaoi in a way that represented for the manga roots of the genre where as LoM was basically showing us how far we have come. Also Kieta Hatsukoi was so Japan’s style where LoM was so much Korea’s, it’s fun to watch two countries separated by the same genre. These two shows exist in equal, if opposite, flip sides of the same coin. How could I decide between the two? The award goes to both. 

BEST QUEER REP 2021

THE WINNER: My Lascivious Boss

While it did have pacing issues and some questionable content at the beginning, MLB’s unabashed queerness carried it though and ultimately elevated it with camp. It never felt like mockery or punching down, it felt joyful, and very new wave BL. It’s as if Vietnam is starting a process of handing out HEAs to all the letters of LGBTQ+ in BL style - I love this look for them. (On YouTube - full review here.)

BEST WARDROBE 2021 

THE WINNER: We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd 

Mostly I’m classifying WBL as one series aired in two parts, but for this category the second half really takes the gold. THOSE 3 PIECE SUITS on Shu Yi. How Liu Bing Wei always coordinates his tie to Shi Zhe Yu’s suit. It was an absolute pleasure to watch. I never winced once. 

BEST HISTORICAL 2021

THE WINNER: Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding 

A historical setting allowed this BL to use some seriously old fashioned romance tropes (arranged marriage and evil step-sisters) but also modern BL stylings like fake relationship and secret identity (drag) plus some cute gay panic. It was a lot more gentle than any historical BL to date, which is Korea stamping the sub-genre with its mark and standing up to China’s darker traditions. It reminded me of 12th Night more than anything else which just happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play. For all these reasons, I adored it. (Full review here.) 

Most Honest to BL’s Roots 

THE WINNER: Utsukushii Kare

Given, Utsukushii Kare, and Kieta Hatsukoi all could have released in 2015 as live action yaoi and absolutely no one would have been surprised. They were seriously old school in a PTSD flashback kind of way (if reading yaoi and watching the first live action versions gave you PTSD, which it certainly could have if you were young enough.) 

But Given and Kieta Hatsukoi leaned slightly softer, and therefore felt a touch more modern, because Japanese BL is so rarely soft. On the other hand, Utsukushii Kare was harsh as all get up, angry with us and itself, reminding us about whipping boy, and attack dog, and spoiled prince. 

This is what an entirely unreasonable tsundere really looks like. 

This is what a weird obsessed stalker seme really looks like. 

This depicted the collateral that any relationship involving these archetypes causes to everyone around them. 

It was exactly as weird and as messed up as any 2000′s yaoi: emo af and hella warped, entirely true to itself with no attempt made to modify its POV for modern sensibilities or current BL fandom. It didn’t pander to us in anyway, and I fucking loved it for that. This is not just live action yaoi in its purest form, it’s Japanese cinema, uncompromising. 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 

MaxTul

Starting with Bad Romance in 2016, MaxTul are one of the longest running, funny & game, and apparently healthy actor pairs in Thai BL. Never once did they sail their ship astray, miss a port (or a pun), or fail to raise the rainbow flag to honor the queer community (for queens and country).

We are deeply grateful for their service to fandom. 

We of the BL navy salute you. 

(I’ll stop now.) 

BEST BL THAT WASN’T A BL 2021

THE WiNNER: The Devil Judge

For a show that was meant to be a dystopian court thriller, these two gents got awfully domestic. Is Korea taking its tips from China’s bromance tradition now?

Anygay, these two were husbands by about episode 3. 

Everyone agrees. 

Even them. 

MOST CHARMING BL 2021

THE WiNNER: To My Star 

This little series was quirky as all goddamn getup, but so cinnamon roll adorable out the other side I forgive it all my initial confusion. The grumpy chef and neurotic actor (human puppy) pairing really worked for me. Both actors were great, the kitchen and cafe settings were lovely, and the ending was a peach. Utterly charming.  

MOST REWATCHABLE BL 2021 

THE WINNER: We Best Love

We Best Love is amazing, just the chemistry alone holds up to multiple rewatches, and THAT drunk scene in part 2! There’s some pretty epic pining in BL, but Gao Shi De pines for Olympic gold, and I happen to love watching a seme suffer. Again and again. 

The story is weak but the performances are so good they entirely sweep away a flawed plot, thin narrative arc, and time jump character development. It’s rare for me to like a show DESPITE the story, We Best Love stands with To My Star as one of the few. All told this series is GREAT, I am probably rewatching right now. I want a Viki movie version yesterday. (Full review here.) 

BEST BL 2021

THE WINNER: Color Rush 

In a surprise upset Korea stole the gold from top contenders Taiwan (my beloved) and Thailand (the power house). Under STRONG competition from We Best Love, To My Star, Lovely Writer, and 1000 Stars, Color Rush took the top spot. 

What can I say? I absolutely LOVE this BL. 

What really won it for Color Rush was the brilliant allegory and the ultra clean concept, not to mention Korea’s pitch perfect production values and a heavy dose of classic yaoi filming technique. 

Color Rush managed to be both ground-breaking, nostalgic, and charming all at once. I could write a thesis on it. I kinda did. 

Winners based on my definition of BL. 

(source)

[osmpalliumduo]

Dream smp actor au my beloved

First season

Dream is a very famous actor, his movies got recognition very quickly regardless of being a pretty new actor, the most popular out of all of his movies being “Manhunt” an action movie that has a lot of improv and fighting scenes

After his second movie of Manhunt he decided that along side with some of his close friends and co-workers to start a tv-show called the Dream smp

It took a really long while to get all the actors for the first season, a lot of planning and getting people to work on sets and props

Some of the actors Dream got to participate were his close friends Sapnap and George who were in the cast of his last movies “Manhunt”

Tommyinnit was a kid Dream found in a small community of actors called “Hypixel: Sky Block series” he went ahead and literally snatched him from that serie and added him as one of the main leads of the storyline of his serie

Tubbo was kind of a addition out of the blue, Tommy after joining the cast decided to take Tubbo with him, a fellow friend and co-worker in the Hypixel series. Dream didn’t had a problem with it after realizing that both kids were insanely talented

Wilbur was, in Dream’s words, the best addition to the cast he could had ever imagined, Wilbur had been in the past in several other popular shows like “SMP Live” and “SMP Earth”

Wilbur not only did an excellent work as an actor but also added so much into the story, helping Dream several times with the storyline and script, eventually becoming a co-writer of the script over all season one

Making the serie itself was hard, but getting everything together and editing was a whole lot of work

But the most difficult thing was actually acting, the thing was that the whole cast of the serie got along so well, that when it was the time to actually act, getting in character was kinda impossible

Even for Dream was difficult to get in character

The whole war declaration took at least five shots because Dream kept breaking character or Sapnap kept wheezing

Eret’s betrayal was one of the last scenes to be recorded because it was just really really hard for the cast to actually act hurt or not joke between lines

The Tommy vs Dream duel was so funny to the cast, even more when Tommy was done with makeup and he literally had an arrow inserted in his stomach

So many memes, so many

The L’manberg era was one of the most difficult to act and write, the cast being new and not used to the whole atmosphere

But when the election and pogtopia era hit in, it was much more easy for the actors to take everything much more serious

Jschlatt and Technoblade were added to the cast and it was insane for everyone, both actors being really close friends of Wilbur because of their old projects together (SMP Live, SMP Earth, etc)

The election arc was, described by the whole cast, as one of the best parts of the whole season

Quackity would pull this insane improvs moments between shots and everyone would just have to run with it, getting a lot of extra but very cool scenes

Tommy and Tubbo would just pull the strangest faces in shots whenever they knew that the camara focus wasn’t in them just to try to make each other laugh

Niki and Awesamdude would sneak food into the set all the time, bags of chips, coffee, chocolate, sometimes even cake

Wilbur, Schlatt and Quackity had this whole competition between them where they would literally live inside the set and whoever stayed the longest would win 100 dlls

The pogtopia era was more easy to record, but much harder to act

Wilbur had lots of trouble being actually mean to Tommy and overall acting as an antagonist

When recording sometimes he would just stop and ask Tommy if he was okay and make sure to let all of the cast know he didn’t meant what he was saying

Tubbo Schlatt and Quackity had overall a very good time recording, most of the time laughing after hard scenes and joking around

Not Schlatt and Techno collectively suffering cus they got at least three hours of makeup prep because of tusks and horns 😭✋

The pogtopia set was one of the hardest to archive, this one having legit stares and buttons on the walls

Tubbo and Wilbur fell down those stares at least five times, Techno almost convinced Dream to use a harness on set

Technoblade revealing the vault full of weapons and stuff for the revolution was such a difficult scene to make because everyone kept messing around with the cool props

Schlatts death was easy to act, as soon as he died he made a peace sign and screamed “I’m outta here!” And proceed to walk out of the set😐

Moving on, Philza’s addition to the last episode of the season was something most of the cast wasn’t aware of, most of the reactions (besides Philza and Wilbur) being completely genuine

Philza is known for his famous serie called Hardcore and a couple of appearances on others people’s series

The end of the season was something hard to do, people had to use harnesses and when explosions occurred they had to be literally thrown into the air getting a lot of genuine screams

Tommy was supposed to be the president of L’manberg but he decided to pass the power to Tubbo in a moment of improv, Dream and Wilbur liked that scene a whole lots

The cast made Wilbur a funeral party after the last shot, lot of people got drunk while Phil just took care of the minors and made sure they didn’t get in trouble <3

Second season

The second season was something that all the fandom awaited eagerly, wanting to see what had happened with L’manberg and the beloved characters, so Dream and Wilbur made sure to make everything perfect, everything connecting points on the story

Ranboo was one of the new additions, a new actor that worked on his own going from place to place, the well known place like Hypixel, Bedwars (Invited by Purpled) and in his own side of TikTok

Dream found out about him and decided to add him just on a go, he of course wasn’t ready for the big impact the boy would have in the story at all

Now, Ranboo is one in the suffering gang, every morning having to spend hours in makeup along side with Tubbo (horns) Wilbur (ghost) and Tommy (exile appearance)

By the way, Ranboo’s storyline was supposed to be separated from the whole L’manberg and Exile story, but Tommy and Tubbo liked him a lot so decided to add him on their storylines

Tommy was supposed to burn down George’s house alone, but the same day they were recording he asked Dream to add Ranboo. And Tubbo decided to make Ranboo his minutes man out of the blue with simple improv and Ranboo went along with it

Oh, talking about Exile

If the cast thought Pogtopia had been hard to act??? Wait for the Exile arc

Literal pain, for literally everyone involved

Tommy is a lil shit but it was legitimately difficult for Dream to be actually that villain and manipulate and ahg, pain

Tubbo and Tommy had so much trouble recording the whole fight scene at the wall, it took at least three days to get the shot right because Tommy and Tubbo couldn’t stop breaking character or laughing

Oh yeah, it was difficult to this kids to stay away from each other, they were so used to working together that it was legitimately difficult to not be together

Which caused for Tommy and Tubbo to sneak into eachother sets and try to chat and just vibe together which would end up with Ranboo dragging Tommy away from Tubbos set and Quackity doing as well with Tubbo

New L’manberg was nice to record, Tubbo tells when he is asked about it, it was a really nice change for the dynamics, including Ranboo and Fundy more, tho he missed Tommy dearly during the recordings

At the very end of exile, one of the last shots, most exactly when Dream has to blow up Tommys stuff, he accidentally tripped with one of the props and ended up breaking a leg

The recording went straight to Twitter where people lost their shit over the scene, mostly because Dream tried to continue the scene with improv but Tommy lost his shit and they had to take the whole shot again after Dream got checked up

Technos execution was planned to happen really early in the season but Techno kept forgetting that he had to get on set so they had to move it slightly at the end, the end of exile and the execution hitting at the same time

The butcher army cast had the idea of the bloody aprons, Dream had this whole thing were they would have this really cool uniforms but they just went “nah, bloody aprons”

Ranboo was supposed to have one as well but he tried to use his character’s morals to get out of it, he succeeded, no bloody apron for Ranboo :)

The whole execution scene at Technos house was so funny to record, things without effects are extremely hilarious

Quackity kept messing up his lines, Tubbo kept falling and tripping when he had to run, Ranboo just didn’t knew what to do, Fundy kept blocking “hits” that he was supposed to take

Techno just wanted to be finished already, he was so tired 🥲

Moving on, the whole death scene where Techno uses the totem of undying was mostly made with editing, the anvil was a green square made out of foam, and the totem was just a green stick

Really funny without effects, really badass after editing

Moving on! Tommy living in a hole was literally not planned, Tommy was supposed to try and hide inside Technos room but he said fuck that and made the team make another entire set for something that would last tops a week 😐

Techno and Tommy had a blast doing the whole “Welcome Home Theseus”. The scene was taken perfectly the first shot because the both of them were so excited for that scene

Finally Tommy can leave the suffering makeup gang cuz his character is healthier now 😌✌️Techno is now taking his place suffering in makeup prep because of his scars and tusks

The day of the Festival was so important to the storyline so everyone was extremely nervous before recording, but it was okay, the whole episode came out really well

Tommy and Techno had to use green capes between the invisible shots and it was just hilarious for everyone on set

Tubbo accidentally forgot his speech and had to improvise in front of all the crew

Dream fell at least twice when he was “building” the walls around L’manberg again

Tubbo and Tommy kept laughing or apologizing to eachother while in the fighting scene

Tubbo accidentally slipped and the disc Mellohi accidentally broke when he was about to give it to Dream 😬

The whole Doomsday deal was something really really hard

A lot of what happened was made with editing so most of what happened on set was just green screens and sounds out of computers to let the actors know what was happening

Technos dogs were actually from a fan! This fan had this whole adoption establishment and decided to let the cast use em for the recording! They even got a tour :)

Technos and Tommy’s whole exchange during doomsday is supposed to be heartbreaking and sad to watch, but Techno and Tommy have such a good relationship that they just, kept laughing, Tommy kept making faces and Techno’s voice wasn’t genuine while saying his lines

Ghostbur’s exchange with Phil almost didnt happened because Wilbur kept refusing to spend five hours in makeup prep lmfao

The whole cast did sang the L’manberg anthem after it was blown up, even Dream and Techno. The clip of the cast just singing will forever stay in Twitter

The aftermath of doomsday was a good change of things, much more calm recording sessions for at least a few weeks

Snowchester was something that Tubbo came up with as pure improv, he liked the idea of some kind of retirement place so he decided to add it after doomsday

Ranboo moving in with Phil and Techno was complete improv as well from Phil’s and Techno’s part, Ranboo literally had no idea what was happening when Phil invited him to live with em

Ranboo literally got snatched lmao

Endgame or the final disk war was surely something

The prop team had to make bout four new sets in the matter of a week, the most hard one to make being the mountain one

Tommy and Tubbo knew that the whole episode would be hard to record but they were still extremely hyped just because they got to record together again as besties

Makeup time at the end was about eight hours, Tommy suffered a lot while Tubbo was just used to it at this point

THE WHOLE PRISON SCENE WHERE ALL THE SERVER GOES THROUGH THE PORTAL??? PAIN.

Everyone is lost, no one knows when to cross, people are missing armor, no one knows where the fuck George is, Punz keeps breaking his sword accidentally, everything is falling apart

Quackity wanted to play a prank on the cast by appearing shirtless in the super intense scene but everyone was so tired of recording that Quackity was actually shirtless in the final shot

Dream stayed in his obsidian box at least half an hour because Tommy kept messing up his lines

At the end of the season, where Dream is finally taken to prison Wilbur makes his appearance to Tubbos and Tommys surprise

Their reactions were genuine because only Dream and Wilbur knew that part of the script

Overall, the end of the season was amazing and the fandom went insane with it

Extra stuff <3

Nobody knows if Skeppy and Bad are actually dating or not, it is a mystery for everyone

Most of the pets used in set were borrowed from fans :)

The Drista saga are used as comedic relief or filler episodes, Drista being actually Dream’s lil sister who insisted in wanting to appear in the show as a god

Michael is actually Technos little brother who went to the set a couple of times cus Techno was babysitting him. He made his way into some of Ranboos and Tubbos shots, after that they decided to adopt him and make Michael canon just cus they liked the kid a lot

Dream decided to give Karl the chance to have a spin off of the show called Tales of the smp after realizing his talent at storytelling. Karl had the possibility to get new actors for the serie but he decided to use the same cast and just make them act differently, the fandom loved it

Wilbur and Tommy had this cool idea between them and after a while of writing and planning they decided to start their own show called the “Origins SMP” featuring some of their friends from other shows, not only the Dream smp

[thanks for reading lol, I think I got slightly carried away]

[timingmatters]

Yeah there’s tons of those articles that are like is Taylor gay/straight and they all say he is bi with no evidence which is strange.

To me having two queer actors would have been better just cos it is important to the community but I don’t get viciously hating on them. Also, apparently Casey went on about don’t assume people sexualities which is a weird thing to say if they are both cishet 💀

Yeah that conversation goes beyond this movie and it has a lot of nuance. Again, I’m personally not against straight people playing queer characters, for many reasons. One being people who come out after playing those roles (which happens a lot). But it is weird to have one straight person continuously playing a lot of queer characters and not be too involve as an ally either (like nicholas seems to be). But I don’t agree to hating on them for it either. As long as the story is done well that’s what matters. In terms of representation what matters is people seeing their stories on display (which is on writing). At the end people’s sexualities are a personal thing and shouldn’t be public if they don’t want it to be public. And alex and henry are gay cis men like shdhdhd let’s be honest here they got tons of representation on it on screen unlike others in the lgbtq community. BUT all of that is complicated and I understand and respect people who disagree with those sentiments. Which is why i don’t often talk on this topic. I get all sides. And it has a lot of nuance (look at the heartstopper cast with people constantly trying to get connor’s sexuality even tho he is barely 18 and doesn’t wanna talk about it).

I think Taylor not being straight is a word of mouth, which maybe shouldn’t be dismissed. Especially with Casey saying “don’t assume it”. And if he doesn’t wanna label it or talk about it i respect it. If he knows he’s straight that’s diff, but if he doesn’t quite know I understand not wanting to talk about it. He’s an actor but the public isn’t owned an explanation of his personal feelings or journey. With Nicholas is diff because I’ve been told he has called himself an ally, meaning he seems to he straight?

All in all, I personally care more for how the movie is done, and how they depict the characters. As long as that’s done well and they pour love into the characters and their performances that’s all that matters to me personally. And that’s something i can’t judge without even a trailer out.

Edit: let me be clear. Queer out of the closet people are important for representation too. But that goes beyond casting on movies. I UNDERSTAND and respect people who wanna see these movies told by queer people, but i just PERSONALLY (feel so free to disagree) think that the story itself matters much. This is only in sexuality tho. Gender is different. I will NEVER be okay with cis people playing trans characters. And my hesitation of disliking “straight” people playing queer characters comes a lot from people who come out AFTER playing queer characters. Often saying playing those characters helped them understand themselves. It just as a lot of nuance, but i also understand and agree with arguments of people who dislike it. And this is all on acting, my opinions are diff with writers and directors. People who PRODUCE queer movies or write them SHOULD be queer. My opinion is 100% diff for straight actors on queer roles vs straight people writing and directing queer stories.

[omegawolverine]

Plesse tell me about queerness in the get down!!

okay okay queerness in the get down let's fuckn goooo

disclaimer: I havent watched this show in full for like 5 months at least, probably gonna get something wrong and/or forget some more important bits. also this wasnt proof read I just word vomited

tws: period typical homophobia, abuse mention, f slur use, bury your gays trope, overdose mention, mention of a creepy possible age gap (the age gap hasnt been confirmed so that's why its possible), cops

going from least to most prominent queer characters, let's start with mylene cruz!

so, from the beginning of this show she has an established romantic relationship with ezekiel (although the status of their actual relationship changes frequently throughout the show) and though this was a relationship she was hesitant to pursue, it is clear that she does have romantic feelings for him and if not for them both having growing careers in very different music genres (zeke specifically working in a genre that she repeatedly labels as bad because she thinks they're ruining records + that it isnt real music because they're using someone elses piece and rapping over it, that's not really important here tho lol) they probably wouldve had a much healthier, smooth sailing romance. that being said theres a few things that happen in the show that, while not explicitly clear, or even really good coding at that—to the point where you wont catch if you really arent looking for it (and trust me, I always look for coding, hers was just so little that it flew over my head until I saw someone else mention it)—are still cool to think about!

so, for starters, I wanna mention the toy box performance, which was performed by mylene and regina, who are best friends. that's all cool and shit, and you dont really think much about it...until you hear about the fact that the show runners purposely colored a lot of the scenes in that performance with the bi colors. like. the writers after the show ended basically said "oh yeah there was plans to make her coding more explicit, but our shit got cancelled soooo" and then dropped the fact that she was gonna be bi (or at least implies bi) in the series, which puts a new twist on a few things.

now, besides the bi coloring in the background of the toy box performance (which was mostly on scenes with her and regina, which involved a lot of uh,, lowkey lewd dancing. with each other. in very revealing outfits. wooooo), there's her music! I dont tend to read too much into this one bc, like I said before, her coding is fucking light and the writers themselves said they didnt really get to do much with it, but I think some stuff with her music is interesting. specifically how her, yolanda and regina's song set me free blew up because dizzee, resident (lowkey enby coded) bicon, got their song played in a queer club. also that the song was majorly important to dizzee and started playing literally right as he kissed a boy for the first time and realized "oh shit I like boys that's bonkers". also that the song can be taken in a gay way since literally the entire thing is about becoming your true self, fully and unapologetically, which is what both dizzee and mylene's entire character arcs are about. dizzee (and a lot of other queer people, apparently), heard this song about being set free and it resonated with them so much that they got that shit most of its popularity.

speaking of dizzee and mylene, they parallel each other a lot in the way that their arcs are about them realizing who they are, coming into themselves and no longer just letting people treat them like shit in a sense (dizzee starting to tell people essentially that they can call him weird all they want, they can make fun of how he acts, what he likes, how he dresses, etc. but he likes how he is and quite literally saying "it's okay to be an alien" as he has consistently compared himself to one throughout the show vs mylene learning that if she wants to be a disco singer she needs to put her foot down, not let anyone, not even the love of her life, not even her abusive father, stop her from achieving her dreams, etc. and continuing to pursue her career with or without their support). one more little parallel that I think is interesting is during I think s2 towards the end of the show is when dizzee and thor are shown together having fun with each other, painting all over the building and each other and are basically just being happy and in love together and then they have these clips of them being interspersed with clips of mylene at a party where she is starting to realize that if she wants to get anywhere she needs to be her own main priority and that she needs to put her career and her dream, which is what makes her the happiest, above all else if she wants to succeed. idk I just think how the show made these two into a weird parallel, accidental or not, is neat. maybe not an explicitly queer parallel, but I think at least how her music and whatnot helped dizzee, the main queer character in this show, blossom, is important.

moving on we got shaolin fantastic also known as "oh no your internalized homophobia is showing-"

so, heres a quick list of...interesting shao facts:

Consistently referred to as fag/faggot (shaolin fanfaggot is my personal favorite); he gets really defensive about this despite nobody actually thinking he's queer, it's just people being assholes to be assholes, and he is the only character consistently referred to using a slur, especially a homophobic one, especially for a "straight" character. dizzee, a canonically queer character, is called a fag less than shaolin is even though dizzee actively goes to gay clubs, has a not so secret dude he "hangs out with" and wont let anyone properly meet, paints his nails, wears less than straight clothes even by the 70s standards and is just all around the definition of fucking queer (and I mean like in the weird way, not the gay way). in fact theres only like once I can remember him being called a fag and it had nothing to do with him actually being gay it was literally just like thrown out there the same way you would call someone a bitch.

Has only shown sexual interest in women, yet refuses to have deeper relationships with women in general (possibly because of trauma but who knows) but takes his relationships with his "brothers", specifically zeke, very seriously

Tells zeke and zeke ONLY his real name when zeke was planning to stop being his friend bc shao more or less got boo boo, a like 14 year old black kid, arrested for selling hard drugs; he was clearly scared and trying to do anything to keep zeke around, literally chasing him down the street and hounding him until he got zeke to stop and argue with him

Kept threatening to beat up zeke in the end but couldn't actually bring himself to do so, instead saying that zeke is "fucking lucky" before walking away

Let's zeke get away with things that nobody else can, in general just has a weird soft spot for ezekiel that he shows with nobody else

when shao found dizzee with thor in a vaguely compromising situation (like they were just shirtless covered in paint sleeping next to each other but shao had also seen everything they painted on the walls ((which some of it was sus)), it was clear they had painted on each others bodies and dizzee had been routinely disappearing with this guy for weeks now yet not producing nearly as much art, at least, as far as we audience members know) he didnt judge him but instead, waited for him to get cleaned up and then told him something along the lines of "theres a reason why im so secretive blah blah blah [not everyone needs to know everything about me]", which, in context, kinda implies that he might be a lil. a lil homiesexual. jus a lil.

whenever even the possibility of zeke leaving him comes up he absolutely loses it. he has literally cost ezekiel life changing opportunities because he thought zeke would just up and leave him for them. this could be abandonment issues bc he's a severely traumatized character, and that probably does contribute to it, but it also is just not a reaction he has to any of their other friends just randomly dipping in and out of his life soooooo

generally speaking, this mfer has got either bisexual with a big hard on for zeke coding or homosexual with terrible internalized homophobia and still a hard on for zeke coding. either fucking way, that nigga gay. he gay as hell. gay as fuck man. there wasn't really much to analyze here tbh bc the coding is just so fucking obvious if you look for it or you are/have been a gay person who's dealt with at least a little bit of internalized homophobia.

also, just a sidenote, idk how fucking old shao, but I'm praying hes like at max 19 bc I'm pretty sure zeke is a minor in this show and shao definetly is not so the whole him being heavily implied to have a crush on ezekiel thing is kinda. oof. not oof if zeke is like 17 but any younger than that? OOF.

edit: apparently the characters are only supposed to be a year apart in age but i had no clue about that before writing this post and since shaos age was never actually stated in the show i naturally assumed he was an adult since his actor Looks Like An Adult. this is definetly on me to a certain extent, but i also never saw anything about this when trying to find our their ages so 🤷‍♀️ maybe i just didnt look deep enough, sorry!

now moving on to the main event...marcus dizzee kipling :]

so, first things first, let's talk enby coding bc him being bisexual was already confirmed!

um, to start off, I just wanna say I dont think this enby coding was intentional or even really coding, it's just moreso me being a dizzee kin on main and knowing as a transmasc enby he has very transmasc enby vibes. for example:

cool, gender neutral nickname that everyone calls him

paints nails various different colors

the whole wardrobe is just a transmasc enby heaven...fishnet shirts, jean overalls, jackets and cuffed pants galore, the big colorful pins, etc

gender neutral hairstyle (when I had my fro it was very sexy and made it easy to transition between hyper masc and vaguely fem, which is pog)

comparing himself to/representing himself consistently with an alien character (though this is meant to represent his sexuality, it could also double as a gender thing too, not neccesarily bc of the whole nonbinary alien trope but bc an enby who likes aliens might heavily identify or compare themselves to whatever their idea of an alien is, whether that just be a genderless entity or a motherfucker with fly style and no need to be perceived as anything other Wacky As Hell)

moving on from there, let's talk about how his queerness is presented to us and how, while it may be a really good piece of representation, especially coming from netflix, it still lacks in A Lot of places.

so, let's start with good things!

i personally really like the get down's queer rep with dizzee bc it's (for the most part) nonsexualized and very very soft, about dizzee figuring himself out and realizing there is a place where he fits in, and about two teenagers in the 70s falling in love over their shared passion for street art. it also features an interracial couple where both boys challenge stereotypes both about queer men and men of color, which is epic poggers and very sexy. this piece of rep specifically is very important to me bc I am a queer black person and even tho interracial relationships are mostly normalized now, I've still had people give me shit for primarily dating white people in a town that is...primarily white lol

mm anyways, I can also appreciate how in the get down, dizzee being represented by rumi the alien is not a thing specifically related to gender (as it often is) and instead is about his sexuality and just in general weirdness and how it has led to him being alienated amongst his peers, poc or otherwise. him seeing himself as an alien is not about just his queerness, which is important, it is about him being a queer black man who talks different, acts different, dresses different and is "soft"—he isnt a walking black male stereotype and he wouldnt have been seen as masculine back in the 70s by any stretch of the imagination. this can be relatable to a wide spectrum of queer poc, from queer black men currently who still have to deal with this shit or to people like myself who are afab neurodivergent mixed race enbies that have always been signaled out as weird and alienated for it. dizzee is god rep bc while he has a small part in this show, his parts are very impactful, hard hitting and show queer poc of all ages that they arent alone and that it's okay to "weird", you just need to embrace it because somebody will love you for you, as thor did for dizzee.

that being said theres um. some minor problemas here,,,

namely:

dizzee and thors first kiss

the lack of development this pairing got

the way dizzee was confirmed bisexual off screen, he never said the words himself, just showed interest in both genders

the way dizzee and thor were never even confirmed boyfriends or just fwb so most of the fandom just calls them boyfriends bc Why Not

dizzee was implied fucking DEAD??? AT THE END OF THE SERIES?????? AND THOR WAS IMPLIED ARRESTED?????????????

now, these might have been things that wouldve been fine had the show been given it's full run but it wasnt which is why we are now left with probelms.

so, from the top, let's go over these: dizzee and thor's first (and only "on screen") kiss was one that was shown in a montage of other queer people making over and doing other vaguely romantic/sexual things, one of those things being a whole ass naked titty being mouthed at, but the actual kiss...was just not shown? like they really did just say "yes they kissed <3 you know this from the context clues of it being in a montage with kissing, hickey giving and titty sucking <3 but no we will not show it <3" LIKE HELLO? I SAW A NAKED BOOBIE BUT NOT TWO MEN KISS??? HUH????????

also, dizzee and thor were both fucking high as hell during this bit like this isnt a terrible thing but it's also like sometimes you do shit when you're high that you wouldnt do sober and they just never kissed again on screen so like?? like idk that's not that bad but it does kinda irk me since they deadass got no other on screen intimacy after that unless you including painting on eacher other or sleeping next to each other on a shitty mattress but not touching at all during it bc they were both at opposite ends of the mattress like half way off it

so yeah, that was trash. then we got lack of development, which kinda goes with the "dizzee being a bisexual but he never says it in canon" thing cause like...okay dizzee was already sort of a side character from the get go like he wasnt the mc by any means, but he became way more of a background character as things continued until we basically only saw him for performances or when he was with thor, yet they got no fucking development as a pairing other than "dizzee realize he gay, he like thor, he and thor spend time together and ig probably do some gay stuff but we dont really know bc we only ever see them do graffiti together now" like?? tf am I supposed to do with that shit. answer. quickly. and then theres dizzee not being confirmed bisexual, which is just a running problem with shows literally doing everything to say a character is bi except for having the character just...say they're bi? which would be so easy? like a good way dizzee and thor couldve had some development is by thor teaching dizzee things about the queer community that he didnt even know existed, thor couldve helped him understand what being bi meant and helped him label himself and whatnot but instead we got an off screen confirmation that the writers had bisexual in mind when writing him. which is garbagé.

the whole thor and dizzee never having a confirmed relationship status is also a development problem cause like literally nobody knows if they were just friends who made out, maybe fucked, who knows, or if they were dating bc dizzee does give a love confession but a love confession doesn't mean there is a relationship, especially since thor didn't say he was in love either (as far as I remember, I could be wrong, plus whether or not that really happened or was apart of dizzee literally overdosing during a performance is unclear so 🤪)

and now for the biggest issue...bury your gays trope.

during the season 2 finale, dizzee and thor are chased by cops after they are found doing graffiti, one of the cops is able to catch thor while the other chases dizzee into a train tunnel and there is a train seen headed straight for him before the show cuts to black on a train horn. the show writers claim that if they had gotten another season, dizzee wouldve been alive but since they didnt and since that's essentially super fan trivia knowledge, most people dont fucking know that and instead had to watch a black queer teenager chose death over being fucking arrested by a white cop. on top of that, thor didnt see any of that shit because he was caught and the cop started hauling him off while dizzee was still being chased so thor literally has no clue where his friend/possible boyfriend fucking is or that he's likely dead in a goddamn tunnel all alone, unless you count the fucking pig that chased him in there who wouldve died too. this shows rep was so fucking good as far as most shows go on not having major fucking problems, on not being toxic and over sexualized, etc, etc. and then they just. killed a black queer teenager for no fucking reason. like it was literally the last episode ever, it would add nothing to the plot, it would just devastate fans and devastate it fucking did. I dont cry easy but seeing a character I identified with, who I had hyperfixated on, die because he'd rather that than be arrested is terrible. it fucking sucked.

so yeah. that's my all too extensive thoughts/analysis on the get down's queerness. theres definitely stuff I missed, or misinterpreted, or looked too much into, etc, etc., but this was a fun thing to spend time writing sooo yeah!! thanks for the ask anon, sorry this was just a big rambley info dump, but hopefully you get some enjoyment out of it since it took like 3 hours at least 😭😭 feel free to ask clarifying questions lol

[plan-d-to-i]

Xz and yb saved cql by being pretty. And i do not mean that in a bad way. The two main characters are the only ones who did non cringing acting. Also I know I will be criticised for saying this but lxc's and jgy's actors and (script writers maybe) did a bit too much for their ship, book lxc and jgy were not that deep and tensioned at all. If they showed some sort of undescribable tension between nmj and jgy than i would have accepted but lxc and jgy was unneeded lol

Alas, I have to agree with this. I basically just kept watching it for Xiao Zhan...& then Yibo floated in and I was like ok FINE I'll spend 50 episodes being tormented by bad writing, plot holes & inconsistent characterization ... I would add Wang Hao Xuan, Song Ji Yang, & Ji Li♡ to that incentives list tho!! Wang Hao Xuan at least rocked in so hard as Xue Yang, talk about having fun w your role & understanding the assignment. I think his portrayal VS. wzc/ (jiang cheng) illustrates perfectly how even a villain role can shine in the right hands VS. being unbearably tedious & irritating in the wrong ones.

I didn't mind Zhu Zan Jin & Liu Hai Kuan that much but I do agree that there's a lot happening between JGY & LXC & not just from the actors. The editing/camera cuts in the gift handing over scene in the Cloud Recesses where they first meet has everyone in that room feeling like a third wheel! I still find JGY less irritating & obnoxious than jc. I find him especially interesting in the novel extra where he's chilling w Xue Yang. Now that seems to be the person he's most himself w/around lol. I wish JGY stans would stop w the metas where they try to exonerate jgy tho, or try to drag WWX in a weird attempt to make jgy look better? or equlal??! It's starting to make me dislike him... (눈_눈)

[deonideatta]

hi hi i heard you like chief kim and i'm here to get all the intel on why it's a good drama 😊 and what you love about park jae bum's other dramas 😊 pls let me know if there's romance bc that's the oxygen i breathe when i watch a show 💕

Hello!!! Thank you for asking me about Chief Kim!!!! I can go on about it for ages lol. This got a bit long so i’m putting it under a cut

Chief Kim (aka Good Manager) is a comedy office drama with 20 eps, and it aired in 2017. There isn’t a main romance plotline, but don’t let that put you off! It’s an incredible drama in so many ways. (tho there is a subtle romance side plot, but it doesn’t involve the main character and it’s never the main focus, though it is cute). It does feature a bromance that was so great that the two actors literally won an award for it tho lol, so there’s also that!

In a way, the general premise is somewhat similar to Vincenzo in that it’s the main character and an unlikely team of others fighting a big corporation. The comedic tone is also more or less the same. The drama follows Kim Seong Ryong (the titular Chief Kim, played by Namgoong Min), a man with a talent for handling numbers who goes from running a seedy accounting firm to quite accidentally becoming a champion of employees rights in one of the biggest corporations in the country. He originally joins the company with the goal of embezzling a lot money and moving abroad, but he gets swept up in office politics surrounding high executives and the sinister goings on surrounding the position he was recruited for, as well as the shady things the higher-ups want him to do and the suspicion of the other members of his department. Eventually he starts to work alongside them to fight the corruption of the higher ups, and quickly becomes the bane of top management’s existence by being so incredibly annoying that they begin to regret hiring him.

It’s the kind of drama that really gets you to laugh, while still being incredibly heartwarming. The main character is so unashamedly funny, and the character dynamics are all so warm, and none of it ever seems forced. The first tag for the drama on MyDramaList is “character development”, and that says a lot! There’s so much growth that goes on for all the characters, even some of the villains! It’s especially funny because to begin with all the good things Kim Seong Ryeong does are completely by accident, and he’s annoyed but also pleased with all the attention it gets him. Over time he begins to own it, and begins to actively try to stand up to the corrupt people at the top of the company. The other highlight for me besides the humor is definitely the characters. From the eccentric main character, to the no-nonsense second in command in his department Yoon Ha Kyung, to the aggressive finance director Seo Yul who is always eating (one of my all time favourite characters, played by 2PM’s Junho), to the janitor lady who always roasts everyone, there isn’t a single dull character, whether good or bad. And Seo Yul gets one of the best character arcs I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. You get to watch the characters struggle and triumph, and you feel for them because their struggles feel so real, and the drama really gets you invested in them. You see the ways in which they fight to survive as normal working class citizens and you want them to win.

It differs from Vincenzo in that the main character isn’t considered evil and loses his less savoury traits over the course of the drama (his character arc is one of becoming a more upstanding citizen), and the message is one of fighting against corporate greed using the corporate system against itself in order to make things better for the average working citizen. But there’s the same plotting, and the same feeling of rooting for the protagonist team to win as you watch them plot and plan. I never rewatch things, but i’ve rewatched Chief Kim twice already and i’m looking forward to rewatching it again soon (just writing about it is making me want to rewatch it right now lol). It especially hits well for me because i love office dramas, and the humor and the bromance are just right. (Also, not entirely related, but it’s the first drama Kim Seonho was in!)

Another Park Jaebum drama i can definitely recommend is The Fiery Priest! It’s also a comedy action drama with 20 eps (released in 2019), and it follows Kim Hae Il (Kim Nam Gil), a catholic priest with a real temper, as he works to solve the mystery surrounding the death of a senior priest. No romance there either, but it’s got the same humor as Chief Kim and Vincenzo, and the same overarching found family trope (that really shines for this one). It’s darker than Chief Kim, but not as dark as Vincenzo. The plot is very intriguing, and it’s the kind of drama you feel compelled to keep watching to see what happens next. And the host of characters in that drama is still one of my favourites to this day. Every character was incredibly written, and they all played vital roles in the overall story. Again, lots of character development all round, and great character arcs not just for the main character (even for a few of the villains!). Plus it was lovely to watch the various characters interact, get closer, and build relationships. Such an iconic squad. Not to mention how funny it is?? And the fight scenes??? In fact, I enjoyed it so much that when I checked Park Jaebum’s page on MyDramaList after watching it around June last year and saw Vincenzo as an upcoming project, I added it to my plan to watch list immediately even though there was only a single line of synopsis lol. It’s also got an absolute banger of a soundtrack!

When you think about it, all three (Chief Kim, TFP and Vincenzo) can be simplified to “guy with dubious past sets out to fight corruption and creates a great support circle in the process”. All three are dramas of finding people who care about you and are willing to fight alongside you, and fighting for your convictions/what you think is right. Each main character starts out as a somewhat solitary figure, and you get to watch as they each find people who are willing to fight alongside them and support them. What exactly those specific convictions are varies in each drama, but Park Jaebum writes the character development arcs incredibly each time, and the relationships between the characters are so real and so satisfying to watch. And yet the integrity of the main character in each drama is never compromised either, it’s shown that they can grow and become better without losing themselves. The growth is also in the way that they learn to work with and rely on others, because teamwork makes the dream work. And then to cap it all off he lets them have victories, and he makes it SO satisfying??? There are highs and there are lows, and you feel all of those right there with the characters, which makes the victories feel so so good. In each we see the ensemble cast get involved with the fight and the plotting, and we get to see all their epic plans and their execution, and the victories they win that build up over time. And it’s so satisfying to me! I love it a lot, just thinking about it is making me smile lol. It also shows how well humor and darker/more serious plotlines/events are balanced in the dramas, neither is compromised in favour of the other, but it always works so well that the humor never feels forced or out of place. As someone who doesn’t like overbearingly dark shows, I really appreciate that. They all give you lots to laugh at, while not losing any of the plot to the funny.

Of course there are differences, notably the romance, and the fact that Vincenzo is bad vs bad rather than good vs bad like the other two. They deal more with redemption (especially The Fiery Priest), but that works for the stories that are being told, and it’s very well executed.

It’s worth noting that Park Jaebum also wrote Good Doctor and 4 seasons of God’s Quiz. I haven’t checked those out yet, but I’ve heard good things about all of them. He also wrote Blood, I haven’t seen that one either but opinions seem to be split on how good it was. All of those are medical dramas (which is the reason I haven’t watched them lol, i can’t stand medical dramas) from before 2017, when he wrote Chief Kim. It seems he’s been on a roll since then, good for him and good for us lol. You can see everything he’s written on his MyDramaList page.

Overall I enjoyed the Park Jaebum dramas I have seen for first and foremost the comedy, but also for the warmth of the character relationships and for how well developed/written each character is. And I love how he balances the humor with more poignant/darker moments, I laughed a lot watching all three dramas, but I’ve cried over each of them as well. It’s a good balance to have, it gives you a good plot to be interested in, but doesn’t keep you stressed and sombre the whole way through. I’ve seen people say that Vincenzo wouldn’t be as good if it wasn’t so wacky, and I fully agree. It’s the same for both TFP and Chief Kim, and that balance is definitely what I appreciate most in Park Jaebum’s dramas. I know I will laugh, but I also know I will get an incredible plot and incredible characters, and that’s really important for me. Plus I know I can trust that there will be a good ending because the writer cares about his characters.

I definitely recommend checking out both TFP and Chief Kim after Vincenzo is done, especially since they’re so similar in terms of comedic tone and basic plot direction. If you ever get to watching either of them feel free to hmu to chat about it!! There’s lots of plot stuff that can be can discussed.

lol this got v long (i have lots to say about how much i love these dramas haha), but I hope it’s helpful!!!

[thetaoofbetty]

@cosmicblue36, i’m going to save us all by not posting that picture, ha, but you’re not wrong. 

anons, it’s all under the cut:

(for the record, no, i’m not answering the ones that sound concern trollish, so if yours isn’t answered and it was in good faith, i apologize) 

I wish I was someone who had more time to dedicate to this, but if someone out there could time how many scenes B/A has had since the shower™️ where they’re NOT hooking up (pre and post hookup too) or discussing hooking up, I bet we’d have less than 5 minutes of content.—honestly, yeah. i think that’s why they’re being so aggressive lately. and it’s why bughead working together and actually being around each other without it being sexual has them gritting their collective teeth because bughead always gets what they want for b/a they just don’t want to own up to that fact (the whole archie and betty as a new detective duo was particularly transparent tho). because then it’s like, well, why not just ship bughead (you know, how they say to us about b/a all the time). 

my best guess is that they just like archie. or kj. or hate jughead, ha. 

That’s not a love story being told.—it really doesn’t seem like it, does it? i’ve already seen lots of goalpost moving. it went from they’re already in love and they’re going to date right away and be engaged by the end of the season to they’re fwb who are going to fall in love to archie is going to make betty jealous with chad and veronica to betty is the one who called it friends so archie is pining for her and she’ll realize what she has when it’s gone and they’ll have that slow burn for 5b or s6. 

what have bugheads said consistently? betty and jughead are going to reunite after the time jump once they start spending time together because they’re still in love with each other after all this time, despite all of their obstacles in the past and present. 

i believe varchies have said the same thing. but two totally different groups of shippers are totally off base and the ones who made grand declarations every season much to their own disappointment are the ones who are on the money, yeah? 

but we’re the ones who can’t read media, right? 

i feel like one of us has a more consistency with reading narratives vs the other. but that might just be me. 

That’s trying to get softcore p*rn on the CW to enjoy KJ and Lili’s hotness! That’s why I side-eye the people who say they are “really enjoying B*rchie this season” like bitch where? You’re enjoying two hot actors being semi naked and sexy around each other? Ok then just say that and leave.—if people want to enjoy the actors hotness, that’s fine with me. all the time jumps in teen shows (or when it starts as adults) have more explicit sex scenes. they’re really not special in that regard. lots of people who are just watching pretty people do sexy things aren’t nearly as invested as the other shippers so i’m sure a fair few of them won’t actually mind when it ends, tbh. they’ll probably awww at the reunions along with the rest of us. 

                                            ************************

It's funny how the BAs don't understand what the writers are doing. They are not exploring BA on any emotional level, so the only thing they can do to keep BAs hooked is sex scenes.—mood. there seems to be no actual plot moving around their hookups other than it being used to introduce something else and hanging over their heads as a dramatic chekhov’s gun. 

The only thing that I really don't like about that scene is that one of my headcanons was that Betty didn't want to have sex at the Cooper house because she didn't want to do it on what used to be Jug's room. BUT, I still have *some* hope that she won't go through with it, but I'm probably just kidding myself—i’m sorry the show is ruining that headcanon for you. they’re really not as sentimental about some things the way we are. it’s really just betty’s childhood room in the frankest sense of the words, you know? they’re probably just there for plot; the way the car was or the shower was. they’re not thinking past that. 

i’ve discovered that there are things in my own writing that people take to a deeper meaning that i randomly do or say with no intention of it being taking as anything other than at face value. you really can’t predict who’s going to find something deeper in something when you put it out into the world, you know? 

maybe the whole thing is a fire hazard for a reason, ha. i have no idea what the show’s obsession with candles is, but i’m starting to think they’re all boxed up and labeled “sex candles—pairing optional” when they’re not being used on set. 

[astralectric]

WOT ramblings

I’ve been enjoying WOT on Prime but first I had to change my perspective on it. It’s not an adaptation so far it’s more like a retelling. A transmutation as it went from one form to the other, rather than a transcription. I won’t get my favorite scenes and many of the characters are going to be changed or cut or combined. That’s actually fine by me once I let go of the desire for specific things and started watching the show as it’s own thing, apart from the books.

But I was happy that they weren’t afraid to make the most necessary changes and I’m still happy w that even if it means more was effected than just what I think is necessary. I’m also glad that they’re showing that you don’t have to even pretend to try to match the source material, I think the tv/movie world can do with a lot more creative freedom atm.

But it’s not the best show coming out this year by far. I don’t know how much of it is their tiny budget vs how much of it is the director/writers. I love the actors so far so I don’t think it’s them. I guess we’ll see next season when they don’t have to put so much of their money into the initial overhead. I hope they get a little sharper/exciting with the scenes.

One thing I keep thinking abt tho is how everyone wanted LOTR level production quality but LOTR had triple the budget and many years between just a few hours of screen time. WOT is just as high fantasy and high fantasy worlds are really difficult to put on screen without it looking cheesy.

ALSO as an aside I like that the actors are not model pretty. I don’t even care if that was because of budget I hope it was a purposeful choice tho. It’s like a breath of fresh air that they all look like normal people. Theres no plastic surgery or eyeliner on these farmer peasants and it’s great to see.

[kirschkid]

Destiel - Misha and Jensen in the middle of chaos

It's all about perspective and context. The last few weeks have been a wild journey and I'm still not done traveling. While I have my own point of view I like to look around and see what other people have to say when it comes to supernatural, the finale and some actor's behavior. Today I wanna talk about how they denied us destiel because Jensen is homophobic vs. Misha queerbaited us all - My view (this is just me rambling).

They didn't give us destiel because they were too afraid! Cowards!

Yeah, maybe. Maybe they were just too afraid to make Dean kiss Cas on screen. Or maybe they never intended to do so. To be honest I never believed in canon destiel (Both in romantic love with one another in the show). And when Jensen or other crew members told us "This is not what the show is about", "It's not there!" a lot of people got angry. Like "Yeah, sure. Did you watch your own show? Cas and Dean are in love, are you blind?" And believe me, sometimes I feel the same and it frustrates me because I feel like they are gaslighting us. Maybe it's queerbaiting,- you know, do everything for the views to go up. So many destiel fans, let's give them something to cheer while the others don't get scared off. Everybody wins, but don't tell! Maybe it was like this. Maybe it was different, like small bread crumbs lying around as a present to the fans.

I don't think Jensen would approve queerbaiting of any kind. I guess that is why he always insisted destiel isn't real, isn't canon. Because he didn't wanna queerbait people. And what did he get in return? Being called homophobic. Is he tho? (Let's talk about this later)

So, Misha did the queerbaiting then,- is maybe what you think I'm going with next. But let me tell you: No, I don't think so. Misha has another perspective of the show than Jensen does. Jensen had his character (and a strong image about who Dean is) for 3 years when Misha came into the show and we all know it didn't take us long to feel the dynamic between the two. And more important: Misha is a different person, with a different point of view. It didn't take long and Misha was onboard the destiel ship, right!? For me, what Misha Collins loves most, is seeing people being moved by something. That is why he has done so many things in the past that make a difference. Movement is change. He is a do-gooder, a dork, he provokes people. All he does, he does to move others. And we were moved by the idea of destiel, right? What a mess we are since then. That is something he couldn't just kill off by telling people they are delusional. I think Misha saw the beauty in it. And I guess he just can't deny the dynamic he has with Jensen. For Misha it fits. So why not ship it?! So he does. Sometimes in a silly, not very serious way. He seems to like the idea, to dream a bit, to provoke. And in the end, he was supportive of his character being in love with Dean. I never felt baited by him in any way. And it's important we see that because otherwise, we risk to misinterpret him.

And while the fans are fighting over the canon in the show, because both actors are very different on the topic of their character's relationship, we have a writer's room full of people, with diverse views who write different episodes and try to figure out what is best for the network, the show, the actors, the fans and the storyline. Good luck... It's a mess.

Back to Jensen! He has every right to have his own view on Dean, no matter how illogical this seems to be for some of us. If he sees Dean as straight, that's fine. It's not like the script says "And Dean is in love with Cas." and Jensen is like "Nah, I don't like this, so no, I will not do this, too gay for ME." When the writers make it so vague, he can take from it what he thinks fits best. Like we all do, by the way. That is the reason we were told in fanfiction that we all are kinda right, we all can do with the story what we want, it's fine and valid. I guess this was a peace offering. Not sure it worked. Not sure it was a good one. But at least they tried?!

In the end they knew there was no good way out of this. So they did all they could and gave us Cas - canonlly in love with Dean. And Dean - canonlly ... nothing. It's open for interpretation. And I believe no matter how nerve-racking this is, and believe me, it is!!! - it's the best they could give us. I want an answer too! I want Dean to say "Sorry Cas, no." If that's what is canon, I want it! But I have to accept that they didn't give me any canon reaction from Dean. Sometimes there is no right or wrong answer.  

What we should learn from Jensen and Misha is that you can still be friends although you sometimes disagree. So I guess if you want to judge someone for this mess, don't choose the actors. They are very clear in their opinion. On the other hand, the story written by the writers is not. But in the end we have to accept that too.

As heartbreaking as it is, it was their story to tell.