#also yes i rewatched the whole series while drawing this

[azereii]

pumpkin and squib again!!!!

a buddy of mine suggested a mistletoe bc its December :D !!!

watch baman and piderman or else >:)))

(here's the lineart!!!)

[qianqiancandyjar]

Ninjavember 2023!

Here's completed version with a bunch of explaining below each picture! Just scroll down if you don't want to see me blabbering. (I tried to go short as much as possible)

(I have a lot of AUs and headcanons that only exist in my head and my sketchbooks. Forgive me for wanting to spill them out.)

Day 2: Randy was listening to music with earphones so he didn't know Theresa was sitting next to him. Imagine how embarrassed he would get when he knows.

Day 8: Tech-Ninja AU. It's about machinist Randy being set up by Mcfist for murdering the town hero Ninja with his invention, the Tech-Ninja armor. Then the spirit of the destroyed Nomicon travelled to his armor and become an AI, choosing him to be the next Ninja. So Randy accepted it and was determined to make up for what he caused, when nobody except Howard, the boss of Weinerman industries, trusted him.

Day 10: Apocalypse AU. It's about Randy lost the battle at the end of season 2 and became the prisoner of the Sorcerer. The Nomicon was handed to Howard before that, and they later recruited survivors to form a resistance against the Sorcerer. Then Randy was stanked, but instead of turning into a monster, he was brainwashed and given the power of creating his own red and black stank. And- You know what will happen. (Inspired by the Darkness of Randy Cunningham)

Day 13: Elemental trial AU. You can say it's my take on what will happen in season 3. The Carp god was under the cover of a random carpfish as Norisville mascot. After a series of events it was awaken and gave Randy the power of Ice Rage.

Day 14: I think there's more than just the blood of First Ninja's brothers, since nobody knows how to destank people at the beginning...

Day 17: The Warrior might have been living or sleeping there, waiting for some ninjas to wake him up or consult him about his forbidden arts. (Ha, It's kinda like Eclipsa in Star vs. the forces of Evil)

Day 18: Or it can be called the New Generation AU. In the future, Randy took the place of Messager as well as the Ninja Guardian, while Brent became the new Sword Smith and Sorceress became their main villain. I am not really good at designing OCs so there's no next ninja yet.

However, I read a fanfic of another fandom in the form of CYOA, and it gave me new idea: just let the reader be the next ninja, it will be fun, too. (Also, this AU was inspired by an RC9GN fanfic titled from the past to the future, where future Randy became Ninja Guardian. But I couldn't find it on fanfiction.net any more. Has anyone read it? I didn't dream about it, right?)

Day 19: During that time I got even crazier after I read Enter the Nomicon. It's hard to believe I had a crazy period of shipping Randicon, even for myself. Especially weird for me since I now have a completely different view about Nomicon (peek at my Yokai Ninja AU comics). Time really can change a person, wow.

Day 21: Yes, a whole page just for this headcanon. I used the screenshots in the show because it's too hard to draw. The barrier thing is kinda like the one that held Bill's power in the range of Gravity Falls.

Day 23: Danny: the Walking Air-Conditioner. Inspired by a chapter of Secret Quartet. Danny phased his hand through the scarf. Just imagine your friend put a cold hand inside your scarf in winter. *shiver*

Day 25: Besides Ninja vine ball, there are also spike ball, gas ball, sonic ball, rainbow illusion ball, tear ball and so on. I just pick the most common one from my ninja balls headcanons to put in here.

Day 27: You may see I prefer using numbers to refer episodes, because that's how I track and rewatch them. To be more specific, I list some keywords here: NomiRandy, First Ninja, Debbie, Tengu. As fellow RC9GN Fans I'm sure you get it.

Day 30: It's a half-baked AU thing. The flowers I tried to draw are rosemary?

Wow! I actually finished all the prompts! Thank you for holding the big event! @evilspiritweek

(I don't mind sharing more details about my AUs or headcanons. *wink*)

[lividcryptid]

Wish fulfillment timeeee

I’m rewatching Black Butler since the new season is coming out in March, and I wanted to draw my persona (she/they) in the series. I used to do that a lot when I was younger too so it’s kinda nostalgic in a way haha

Some goofy info of my sona in the black butler universe:

Normally, they’d go by the name “Cryptid” since it’s the closest thing to what they are. In this universe, they’ll probably go by an alternate name since they realized that “Cryptid” isn’t a normal name. Maybe they’ll go by Cecilia cause it starts with C

They’re a witch who works in a small medicine shop in one of the smaller towns near Phantomhive Manor. It’s the closest she can get away with magic and potions without seeming too suspicious. Though, time and time again she’ll supply the underground world with powerful potions and posions.

Following up from the last bullet point, Cecilia aligns with chaotic neutral the most. She doesn’t question the reasons why humans would want to buy her poisons, but she finds it pretty amusing. Humans can be so careless with what they want.

Cecilia is a major yapper and will barely shut up. Whenever someone (cough cough Ciel or Sebastian) wants to stay quiet, they just shove candy in her mouth and hope for the best. Along with that, she has a habit of uh- breaking into the Phantomhive manor whenever her store is quiet. The servants are used to it by now and just lets them wander around. They aren’t a major threat anyways.

Their favorite shape is a heart, so those motives are present throughout their outfit. (That’s just in any universe tbh hahshaha)

Her favorite people to be with are actually Prince Soma and Agni. Yes, Cecilia will always follow Ciel around because of his missions, he isn’t the best conversationist. She finds Prince Soma quite funny to be around and enjoys talking to him whenever she can. Agni also helps her out with cooking cause uh,,,,,she has a 50/50 chance of making her food good. Potion making is one thing, but cooking is a whole other science that she can’t handle. They find Agni remarkable and a noble man.

They have stolen Sebastian’s cat once. A gray kitten crawled out of his closet and found Cecilia as she climbed into the manor window. Thinking that the cat distribution system chose them, they scooped up the furball and walked around with it all day. Sebastian found her with the cat and scolded their ear off about it.

The witch sometimes sees Ciel as a younger brother. He’s a traumatized boy with no proper adult figure in his life (Sebastian isn’t a good adult figure tbh 💀💀💀 bro is a manipulator). Yeah sure they sneak into the manor once in a while, but they’ll always keep an eye out for him and try to socialize with him as much as possible. He doesn’t go out often.

Sebastian and Cecilia has an on and off kind of relationship. Sebastian is aware that Cecilia is not human, but can’t put a finger on what exactly is she. He’s also annoyed at the fact that she sneaks into the manor almost every week. On the other hand, Cecilia is jealous at the fact that Sebastian is way too perfect, especially at cooking. He blends in with society extremely well, yet gets to pass off his powers as talent.

Anyways here’s the giant list! More ideas will come to me eventually and I’ll just post it without sketches

[callsigncrash]

Various Characters with an S/O Who Likes to Draw on Them

Thank you @leleouwu again for your request! You really keep my page going and I really appreciate it! I split your request into 2 parts, I really hope that’s alright. Enjoy!

________________________________________________

Tokyo Ghoul

________________________________________________

Yamori

He’s a bit annoyed at first since he likes to keep a clean look going but if you really feel that you “have” to draw on him, then he’ll let you.

He prefers if you doodle on his forearms or upper arms. Hands are a no go for work reasons.

One of the times that he was getting ready to “take care of someone” in his torture room he had a bit of an awkward situation because of it. Essentially, the person in question went from looking mortified to confused as he saw the little doodle on his upper arm from underneath his button up. Obviously this is quickly forgotten when some fingers were taken off but it got him thinking.

He’s used to your doodles that he doesn’t even notice them all too much. That is until one day when he notices a specific one.

He feels oddly proud and happy when he sees it. So, he decides to get it professionally tattooed to surprise you.

He’ll start walking around with his sleeves rolled up and let you draw more. Might even let you draw on his knuckles.

Naki

He’s kind of confused at first but once he sees that you’re just doodling cute designs on him, he wholeheartedly encourages it!

He’ll start carrying pens around when you’re together so that you can draw on him. As this goes on he’ll go ahead and get you those tattoo pens so that your designs will last longer.

He knows that the tattoo pens are better to have on your skin but he loves gel pens. He’s got a drawer full of glitter and rainbow gel pens. There’s an endless supply.

After a while he’d ask to start doing the same to you. His drawings are a little crude but the little smiling figures, flowers, hearts, and swirls are just too cute.

Like Yamori, he’d probably ask you to design him a tattoo. I can see Naki getting a sleeve done with your art no matter what it is. It’s your art and he loves it just as much as he loves you.

He’d also ask if y’all could doodle something meaningful on each other and then get matching tattoos that way.

________________________________________________

Ice Cream Man/Art Brut

I will be posting this to my side blog @lactoseandsuffering .

________________________________________________

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I love Ben and after rewatching the series for the millionth time, have decided to write for him.

________________________________________________

Ben (The Solider)

He’s a silly guy, he likes silly things, he wants to see your silly drawings. Better yet, draw on him. That way, he can see them all the time!

He really likes ones with little animals like dogs. If you doodle a simple lizard on his hand or leg, he rocks his jorts and your drawings, he will absolutely love it.

He puts smiley faces on your arm sometimes, he’ll be happy if you do the same.

You might even catch him doodling on himself after a while. Heck, you might’ve kick started a whole hobby!

He loves when y’all can draw on each other or even paint on each other.

________________________________________________

The Boys

________________________________________________

Homelander

He scoffs. Just straight up. Does he love you? Yes. Does he want ink all over his “perfect body”? No.

He thinks it’s pointless but he’ll begrudgingly let you when he’s out of his suit. Even then, it’s not very often.

He wants things like eagles, stars, etc. He’d feel a lot of pride if you went ahead and put his name on yourself though.

He’ll start carrying around a small notepad and pen for you when you ask to draw on him. It feels a little hurtful at first but when you open it you see some very reassuring words.

“Draw on this in the meantime, silly goose.”

Black Noir

He doesn’t exactly take off his uniform, plus he also doodles frequently! Y’all will probably go back and forth drawing on random slips of paper, note pads, etc.

After you notice him drawing some specific characters, you start drawing ones of your own along with his!

This makes him absolutely elated!

He got an invisible marker for you to draw stuff on his uniform with. He’s got a beaver on his gauntlet now, nobody has to know about that of course.

His friends told him to draw you a picture after he found out that he was going to be gone for a lot longer than he thought he would.

You woke up to a handmade card of the both of you that said “I’ll miss you!” In cursive. He even made sure to draw a little heart with the both of y’all’s initials on your hand.

[threewaywithdelusion]

I truly don’t understand people who think Byler is going to be canon. This is nothing against people who ship Byler, because I absolutely see what would draw people towards that ship.

But some people genuinely think it’s going to happen in season 5 and that’s what I can’t wrap my head around. Stranger Things is a show written by, as far as we know, two straight men. It’s a mainstream show and it’s target audience is everyone from teens to adults. A large portion of this audience is going to be straight.

The Duffer brothers are probably patting themselves on the back for their excellent queer rep. They have two whole queer characters in the main cast. I think there’s a decent chance Robin will end up with Vickie, in which case we have three characters who are confirmed gay and one gay couple ending up happily together. The Duffer brothers have been at least exploring the fact that Will could be gay since season 1, when Joyce said that Lonnie used to call him gay slurs. They committed to it in season 4, but also in a very subtle way. Queer audiences saw this coming years ago. I rewatched season 4 with my parents and had to explain to them that Will was crushing on Mike. (I straight-up said those words and they said, “you mean… he likes Eleven?”). Straight audiences are not picking up on some Will/Mike love story. And yes, I don’t think Mileven was super well-written in Season 4. But that’s a problem with the writing itself, not proof that the Duffer brothers don’t intend for Mileven to be endgame.

Also, Mike is arguably The Main Character. Especially with how he was framed in S1. Modern shows might make one (or several) main characters or series regulars queer to show how inclusive they are and appeal to queer audiences. But I truly don’t believe we’re at a point where you can make the main character queer without alienating straight audiences (especially if your fan base is not just younger people). Maybe that’s cynical of me, but I think people want to watch shows with queer representation but that aren’t Queer Shows. And that’s what Stranger Things would be if Byler happened, because both Will and Mike (two of the main leads) would be queer and together.

Even if the Duffer brothers wanted to make Byler happen from a creative perspective (which I seriously doubt), it would be a terribly marketing move. I just don't believe we live in a world (at least yet) where predominately straight audiences want to watch shows with large gay casts. (Of course there are exceptions, but I'm speaking in generalities). So while I totally think there's space for Byler in fan fiction and that it's a fascinating dynamic to explore, it bewilders me that people think it's going to happen for real. I think this comes from being in fandom spaces and/or interacting mostly with queer people.

The majority of the world isn't the fandom and also isn't queer. We're still years away from a time where a hugely successfully, mainstream money-maker like Stranger Things can make two of its main characters queer and in love.

I adore the world y'all are living in though. I don't think we're there -- but I hope some day we will be.

Addendum because I wrote this quickly: I also think Mike/Eleven are a really important relationship that is central to the show. That's not to say that Will and Mike aren't, because I do think they have one of the closest friendships on the show and that there's something special about their bond. But the show, from the beginning, has centered around Mike and El as the protagonists for the kids' generation. Their love for each other and trust in each other has been a huge characteristic of both Mike and El and a huge driving force for the plot. They haven't adequately set up a pivot from that central relationship, and I don't think they could do it in the final season without doing a disservice to the past four seasons, but especially to El, who is the center of this whole show.

[kakusu-shipping]

1, 2, 4, 11, and 18 for the end of year asks? :0

Aaah thankyou Echo!!! This post might be long, please forgive me!

1. Did you add any F/Os to your list this year? Were they from new media or just a newly discovered love?

Here's every romantic F/O added to the list this year, or at least that I can remember adding this year. Years are long and my sense of time is very warped so it may not be fully accurate.

Most are from new media, or just new parts of media, like the end of the Owl House and the New Pokemon Games. The ones that are new loves from re-visits are Heracross, Smeargle, and Keckleon from Monster Mind, Mario and Luigi from Super Mario, Makarov from Fairy Tail, and Jill from The Wayward Children series.

Though Mario and Luigi are also what I consider my first F/Os, they weren't officially on the list until the movie came out, so I'm counting them in the 2023 yearly wrap.

2. Did you reconsume any of your F/Os’ source media this year? How did you feel about the rewatch/listen/read/etc?

I rewatch Assassination Classroom every year in March and it makes me cry every time. I also replay Hatoful Boyfriend and Holiday Star every December for Kazuaki and Hitori, watch Baka and Test sometime around late Summer most years to ease my seasonal depression, and rewatch Mushishi at least once a year.

Other than that, nothing super meaningful. I rewatched a few LPs of Mario games, replayed through Paper Mario myself, watched Romantic Killer again, Reread Manly Appetites every other month or so, watched The Cat Returns once or twice, played more Pokemon, Restarted Monster Mind (still haven't finished it), and skimmed the Ouran Manga at the library while waiting for them to replace the volume they're missing.

HOWever, this latest reread of Down Among the Sticks and Bones is what got me to finally put Jill on the F/O list, so that feels worth mentioning. I love that book <3

4. Was there anything on your blog that you were particularly proud of this year?

No, not really. My drawings were all very incomplete and sketchy this year with long gaps between them, and my writing really flaked off suddenly, I haven't written more than a paragraph at all this year.

I wouldn't say I'm particularly proud of them, but I did really enjoy making moodboards last month and am kind of waiting for my health to settle so I can get back to them. Making stuff for other self shippers is a lot more fun than writing/drawing for myself atm.

11. Was there new media for any of your F/Os this year? If so, what was your opinion on it?

Yes FNaF Help Wanted 2 came out and gave us New Sun Content and I LOVED IT!!!!! He's such a bitch!!!! A shit!!! A snobby theater kid!!! He's so controlling and harsh I LOVE him <3 So happy to know more about him honestly and that he's not all UwU Caregiver that the fandom made him. I like soft characters, but he's a HORROR character he needs to be a little fucked up!!

18. Did you have a favorite trend in the selfship community from the past year?

I'll be honest, I don't pay much attention to what other people in the selfship community are doing. I follow the tags but if there's like a popular trend thing going around, I miss it every time.

My LEAST favorite right now though is the whole "Stolen from an Anti" thing. I have no qualms about stealing posts it's whatever, but I hate when it's says that in text at the bottom of the post. Just tag it as such so I can filter it please

[purplekoop]

also after I saw the turtles movie I saw that youtube had the original Jimmy Neutron movie (and some other Nick movies) for free with ads so I watched that afterwards.

So uh. Gonna make this one a little shorter.

Koop Talks About... (#3) Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius I don't know if this deserved an Oscar nomination but it's funny that it did so it's fine

Very fun, and also very reasonable to deem better than the subsequent show even though I love that jank bundle of insanity that is a children's cartoon. It's a solid story about a solid concept of a character that takes itself a little more seriously than the show itself, while still keeping that cartoonishness with even a bit more "whimsy" to its tone.

I remember thinking the amusement rides turned into spaceships were THE coolest thing as a kid, and even then I think the creativity behind some of them has that really fun sense of childlike wonder that I don't think the show itself quite captures.

Plus also it's just funny, I forgot how many of the show's most iconic lines and bits came from this movie specifically. Personal favorite bit of the whole franchise is the part where Carl shows Jimmy a drawing of a frog and he responds with full sincerity "that looks great, Carl". Comedy doesn't get better than that.

Also I forgot how many pop songs were in this movie, I remember classics like "Hey Jimmy Jimmy", the Bowling for Soup version of the main theme (yes really), and "Kids of America" (y'know like the digimon movie song. not All Star, the other one.), but I forgot how there were like, 5 more. This was more than likely the first place I heard Blitzkrieg Bop and I didn't even remember it. They're not distracting for me personally, honestly they work for this silly movie and make it feel more "grand" than the show itself.

Frankly, the most interesting part about the movie is more just its weird role in the series as a whole. The movie came before the show, expressly because they could use the theatrical budget to make higher-quality character models to use in the show itself, rather than make TV budget models for the show and then make better models for a movie later. The weird part is that... for some reason the assets they reuse in the show are worse than the stuff specific to the movie? Like, the best-looking stuff is all the alien stuff. The Yolkians themselves are especially well-animated and detailed, which is weird because aside from one TV special they weren't in the show itself. The basic human character models look... not BAD, but not exactly impressive compared to who was also nominated for that first ever best animated feature Oscar. It overall looks notably better than in the show itself, likely just due to having more time and budget for quality assurance, extra details, and rendering. If you want more info on the interesting history of Jimmy Neutron's development, going well before this movie's 2001 release, I highly recommend this video by Slow Start. 21 minute watch, won't regret it if you're even just mildly fond of the show. They also have more videos on an array of early 2000's nostalgic topics, which hey that rubs my fancy, so if you're like me then check them out!

Especially compared to the last post I feel I should reiterate that this isn't like, a super fantastic movie I recommend to everyone, but if you have nostalgia for it or otherwise just have 80 minutes to kill on a decent 2000's early CGI kid's movie, then I definitely say to go for it. Or if you have control over what a kid watches and you want to give a cultured viewing experience, here's a suggestion that's not hard to get access to right now.

I maaaayyyy talk more about the show itself, but to be honest there's not much to say compared to other shows I'd want to give time to rewatching and talking about. I saw the whole show a few years back when it was on Hulu, and it was a good time, but I just don't know how much is worth mentioning. There's some highlights, and while it's still probably in my top 3 Nick shows, it's not super deep. Even then, I still think it's aged better than the other early 2000s nostalgic Nick show starring a kid with an "-immy" name who has control over forces no mortal should hold power over. yikes that show is rough even before the part where it's generally considered outright bad.

Anyways uhhhhh

Goodnight Retroville.

[telomeke-bbs]

Get To Know Your BL Mutuals

tagged by @dribs-and-drabbles

Simple, answer the questions. @ some people. Include the tag 'g2ky BL mutuals 2022' on your post so we can find everyone's answers!

What has been the BL that took you by surprise this year?

KINNPORSCHE mostly (and I've listed one more as a surprise bonus...)

Yes, I'm aware it's arguably not even a BL, but I went into it thinking it was BL-ish and came out the other side (of every episode, and also the whole thing) with a guilty smile and brows furrowed going to myself "What in hell even was that?" which I think pretty much sums up the whole experience.

In some ways it never lived up to the (second, post-Filmania) trailer and in some ways it surpassed it. Which is also the KinnPorsche formula of simultaneously giving you so much more than you expected and letting you down at the same time.

I had high hopes for this one, when it came out of the blue and whacked me upside the back of my head with its theme song that encapsulated the series so well and mindblowing action sequences popping off everywhere. And when I was down with COVID earlier this year I had an essay all ready to complete when the names, imagery and set elements together seemed to point to underlying themes drawing from Thai, Hindu-Buddhist and Chinese mythological traditions (with warring nagas, fiery phoenixes and powerful water dragons).

But a few episodes in, it became clear that none of those ideas, firmly embedded in the early writing, were ever going to go anywhere. Sadly, it looks like they were sacrificed for juicier, baser denominators geared for mass market appeal instead.

So yes, KP took me by surprise (not in a totally good way); it was wanting in so many aspects. (For example – as astutely pointed out by @miscellar – where are the women? When they do appear, more often than not they steal the show – e.g., Erika my beloved gun librarian, also the beautiful assassin who tries to off Kinn at the costume soirée, and Porsche's mom as well. But they exist just to further the male leads' storylines, and so KP fails the Bechdel test miserably.) Still, I learnt to leave my expectations by the door and appreciate KinnPorsche for its own madcap, inconsistent merits, whenever they poked their heads out of the torrent of sensory overload. And a lot of the acting was good, even with the first-timers, which is more than can be said for some of the stuff coming out of GMMTV.

My brow is still furrowed, and my smile is still guilty, but at least KP makes me smile.

OK, a side shout-out also to another drama that was a pleasant surprise instead – and that was Heartstopper. Not Asian, not strictly BL either, but oh so well done. 😍 (More on this later.)

What has been the BL that you felt a bit disappointed with this year?

VICE VERSA and THE ECLIPSE

It's the curse of Bad Buddy – little else is going to measure up. I still haven't finished Vice Versa or The Eclipse for this reason I suspect. Both felt a little off to me – Vice Versa was playing it too light while The Eclipse went all dark and heavy (and then started to plod) and I just wasn't ready. It's not that I think they're bad – I'd just rather be rewatching BBS. 🤷‍♂️

I may go back to them again (I should for The Eclipse because it's *important*) but I don't know when.

I didn't put KinnPorsche down here because KP doesn't do things by half-measures – so when it disappointed me, I wasn't just "a bit disappointed", it was roaring disappointment. But that then got drowned out by the bits I did enjoy so much as well. SMH here 🤦‍♂️

What has been your favourite BL this year?

BAD BUDDY!!! OK, also gotta mention HEARTSTOPPER and OLD FASHION CUPCAKE

This whole blog of mine is about Bad Buddy, so I'm not writing up any more about it here, except to say that it's powerful, intelligent, socially aware but also always kind at heart. 😍

Heartstopper was a genuinely excellent all-rounder, but with a gay romance at its heart so I'm calling it a BL. Radiating with positivity, I just know it's doing good in the world (especially for anyone growing into their LGBTQ+ identity).

It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom on the journey to finding your fullest, authentic self, and Heartstopper shows that the path we tread can hold life-affirming moments too, even as it shines its light on the darker corners of the road that takes us there.

Old Fashion Cupcake wasn't on my radar at first but it was everything you want (OK, that I want) a classic BL to be – gentle, sweet and heartfelt with just a touch of pining and angst.

Solid performances from the leads and a masterful restraint with the writing. Plus desserts everywhere, which is also a comment on expectations heaped on masculinity in Japanese culture.

So it still managed to be gently subversive in its messaging if you could get past the fluffy, sweet frosting on the surface. Such delicacy and intelligence in the way it was edited down to the bare, spare essentials, just enough to satisfy the hunger it elicited, but that still managed to deliver moments that somehow also felt sumptuous and indulgent too.

It's a cliché, but that there's just something about OFC, like a meticulously-crafted kaiseki, that feels so very Japanese in its essence. And you can't help but feel blessed and honored (and cleansed) for having partaken of it.

Favourite BL couples (not just of 2022)?

PAT & PRAN, KUROSAWA & ADACHI, MAX & TUL, plus a few more...

PatPran from Bad Buddy of course make my list, and Kurodachi from Cherry Magic too. And the OG BL couple MaxTul! The rest aren't really sticking out too strongly in my mind. 🤷‍♂️

OK I did like Lovely Writer's Gene and Nubsib, and oddly enough also their "straight" side couple Tiffy and Tum (especially when I found out that the beautiful Zorzo is apparently queer IRL):

And I did like Ohm and Singto in He's Coming to Me, but now after BBS that feels a little dated and... adulterous? 😂

Just for spice, I should add that I have some pretty strong non-canon ships in my head involving KinnPorsche's Daddy Chan (the chief bodyguard, played by Peter Knight) and Gun Theerapanyakul (Vegas' dad, played by Ex Piya Vimuktayon), and also Pran's dad (A Passin Reungwoot) in Bad Buddy. 😜

If you had to suggest a BL for someone what would it be?

Bad Buddy tops the list, but would also put forward He's Coming to Me, Old Fashion Cupcake, and Tale of a Thousand Stars. All solid, strong dramas that can pretty much stand on their own and be appreciated in their own right, without needing you to lean too much into the BL genre. Maybe Together with Me, out of loyalty to MaxTul, though the girlfriend/villain is a bit triggering for me. I do like bestie Yihwa though, and she balances out Plern Pleng somewhat.

What's your non-BL favourite for this year?

Ah, that would be 55:15 NEVER TOO LATE. Good performances from both generations, interesting premise and themes tackled.

One proviso though: the BBS curse struck again and I have yet to finish this! (Yes I'm aware it's about as old as Bad Buddy.) I hope it finishes strong. (Would take a lot to screw it up.)

So to move this forward, tagging a few of my favorite fellow bloggers on Tumblr: @miscellar, @jemmo, @narcissusneverknewme, @theheightofdishonor, @7nessasaryevils, @faillen, @non-binarypal7, @lovelyghostv, @monamay.

Apologies if I've left anyone out (all followers are precious, so feel free to join if you wish). Apologies also if I've tagged anyone already tagged previously but these were the first names that came to mind. 💖

[mcrmadness]

Watching educational videos about film making for 3 days in a row has resulted in my watching a tv series and occasionally going "oh so they're using the ZOOM here to emphasize the emotions :oooo" or "ah they're filming the characters from a low angle - normally it emphasizes them being powerful but here it just means they're looking at downhill".

Like. Yes. Exactly why I am watching these videos. But I would also appreciate it if my brain would remember these when I am planning MY videos or video projects for school! But for some reason I don't remember even anything they told us at school. I only remember the stuff about technology, not the actual creative process or mood different angles or lighting and stuff can bring into the video.

I think I also need to focus more in the whole concept of this... I think it's "Freytag's pyramid" in English. In Finnish it's known as "the curve of drama". Basically it's just the main frames of a plot and how a plot of any story or media should go in order for the idea to be interesting for the viewer. And I have such hard time grabbing on this concept. I cannot really compare this to anything I have seen, I can't see where's the complication or climax or anything in a work. I feel like I get excited by things that are not meant to be those to get excited over. I feel that I enjoy more of plots that are complex and don't follow this in the exact manner, also plots that are difficult to understand and need you to rewatch the movie at least 2-3 times before it opens to you fully.

I can't review my own writing or videos and compare it to this pyramid, I don't think I have any of the elements there. It's either rollercoaster or a straight line. And I don't know how to even add those? Mostly because: I often don't even want to. It's cliché to always have a plot have this same frame, it's boring to me. But maybe that is why people have a hard time grabbing on my creations cos they are bizarre and might not make sense for others than me, or maybe they feel like they lack something because I have my own way of writing my stories. Maybe one of my newest might slightly follow this pyramid, I'm not sure, but it definitely was not intentional if so. It just happened on its own.

This is, also, a problem of someone who is self-learnt. Maybe this Freytag's pyramid is kinda similar to musicians who make music but have never studied music and don't know the music theory, but just do what they like and for some people it slaps and it's what matters. Kinda feeling this with my drawings because despite being to art school as a hobby as a kid, and having art classes in regular school, I don't remember ever actually studying arts and drawing. It hit me just last or previous year that wait, you can actually study arts and drawing. It was such uncanny thought that had never crossed my mind before??? I just learnt to draw on my own, using my own methord, making sketches in ways I came up with cos I didn't know about anything else. I still don't draw human heads with circles and lines. I find it confusing. My comic book characters start with shapes only to make it easier to see the size of the finished piece so I know it fits the paper. My photorealism starts with me just drawing the outlines without making any helping lines apart from the grid. I just find the regular way of drawing humans, difficult. I did try one way to do that a while back but nothing really came from it. I still don't know how to use that in drawing and just do that how I used to do with my art.

So in a way when we learn about all this at school, I kinda have these... mixed feelings over what we are taught. We are taught about technical stuff, but I'm someone who likes to break the norms. I like to add weird stuff, add easter eggs, do things that feel obvious to me but maybe not for the viewer. There was once scene in a group video where the camera shakes a lot, and teacher mentioned about it that it didn't look that good, so we pointed out it was on purpose because the person in the video talks about challenges in the studies. Handling the camera is one of the challenges and we decided it fits it well cos it just shows the challenged on the video, just not in the hands of the person who was talking. Altho the teacher didn't say it's bad, but that it's understandable and an artistic choice. So things like these, I like doing stuff like this and I think they are often considered unprofessional or bad or plain unskilled, when I have made a conscious choice to do something that looks very unskilled even when I'd have the skill to either make it invisible (such as cut the shaky camera bits when editing a video) or to not do it in the first place (such as drawing straight lines without the line looking shaky, but I just happen to like the shaky-looking lines that give a more relaxed mood). But I can understand that it can be difficult to sometimes tell apart it when someone's just unprofessional and/untalented (or just in need of more practice), and when something was an artistic, conscious choice. And the latter definitely usually has a smaller audience, but often a very loyal audience. I think Tim Burton is a good example here, since I also am a fan of his works but I also know he has quite a lot of haters, too. And for what? No idea.

[excusethequality]

My 2024 in Film: March, part. 2

I keep pulling open this draft, making a couple changes, then getting cold feet and deciding to finish it later. But not anymore...

I'm gonna finish it right now, goshdarnit!

It would appear that in the back half of March I was watching some really random shit. So I feel compelled to mention that if you see me watching a large string of movies that make you question my sense of taste as a whole, it's usually a sign.

When I'm working on projects like drawing, or editing images to make stupid jokes, or inputting data into lists, I like to put on a little movie to help me stay on task.

Since I do need to pay attention to what I'm doing as well, I'll usually put on something I've seen before, or something a little silly that I know won't demand 100% of my attention, lest I miss any subtle nuance or stunning cinematography.

Similarly I also put them on when I'm having trouble sleeping, because when you're sleepy but not sleeping your brain can't keep up with the big league players and needs something simple.

So while I do watch weird and obscure movies for fun and sport, I'm not just living in the sewer. There's some good things in here too, I swear!

In other news, while I tag my original posts, I feel like I should also have a specific tag to use for these movie lists. So if you have a good suggestion of something fun to use as a tag for them, let me know.

And with that shopkeeping out of the way: onto the movies!

* = rewatches

58.

Wishmaster

(1997)

— Fantasy Horror Directed by: Robert Kurtzman

An appraiser accidentally releases a Djinn trapped in a gemstone. If she wants to be free of its terror she's going to have to find a way to beat it at its game before it can force her to make three wishes, freeing itself to destroy the world.

I'm pretty sure I have never seen this before, BUT a friend did once tell me the plot and have me watch the opening scene. So for a brief bit after I started it had me wondering.

To my friend's credit the opening scene is truly something. They just unleashed the practical effects team and seemingly told them to make whatever weird shit they could think of. If I remember anything from this movie years from now, it'll probably just be that scene.

The rest of the movie is not nearly as epic, but it has it's moments.

File this under ridiculous movies to watch with friends.

59.

Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies

(1999)

— Direct-to-video Fantasy Horror Sequel Directed by: Jack Sholder

A robber steals the Djinn's gemstone and now... That's right! If she wants to be free of its terror she's going to have to find a way to beat it at its game before it can force her to make three wishes, etc, etc.

A fair bit worse than the first one. It has some fun and wacky moments though.

Even more so than the first, it's not something I'd recommend watching without a friend to laugh at it with.

60.

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell

(2001)

— Direct-to-video Fantasy Horror Sequel Directed by: Chris Angel

A college student comes across a Djinn trapped in a gemstone and, well, you know the rest.

In case you were wondering, yes, there does come a time when I regret going down certain movie rabbit holes.

For the Wishmaster movies, this was the point that I knew I made a terrible mistake. Especially since I knew I was going to have to watch the next one. Because I just can't bring myself to quit when I'm so close to the finish line! I've gotta finish the series off, right?

Are the first two movies great? Not especially.

But they have their own weird charm.

To be specific they have two things going for them: Andrew Divoff's oddly weird yet memorable performance as the Djinn, and the spectacle of the crazy wish granting.

This movie has neither of those things.

I'm not even sure that the filmmakers are aware of what an ironic wish even is, because so many of the wishes don't even make sense. Add that with the fact that they have no budget to speak of resulted in even the wishes being dull.

I will give it this, while I'm pretty sure I'll forget most everything about this movie by the end of year, there's one part that I can't unsee. At one point the protagonist makes a wish so absolutely bonkers that I had to pause the movie and walk away from it for a few minutes to digest what just happened.

61.

Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled

(2002)

—Direct-to-video Fantasy Horror Sequel Directed by: Chris Angel

A woman comes into possession of a gemstone housing a Djinn. But what happens if her third wish is something the Djinn can't grant?

I'll say this about it: Michael Trucco is a way better actor than the dude they got for 3. He's still not up to par with the original guy, but significantly better than the previous one.

I don't even know anymore. I think it's better than 3? But mostly because it's just profoundly weirder? Like, I don't wanna do spoilers or anything, but it's a weird idea for a plot that somehow gets weirder as it goes on.

But it's the same director as 3 and I believe they were filmed immediately after one another, so don't expect it to be too different.

Also if all the Djinn need to do is grant someone three wishes to free themselves, then why do they do this monkeypaw shit at all? When you fuck someone over right out of the gate it makes them significantly less inclined to make more wishes. Just grant the people their stupid whims, then destroy the world or whatever, you dummies. No wonder you got your dumb ass trapped in a stone.

62.

Freaky

(2020)

— Slasher Comedy Directed by: Christopher Landon

A serial killer's attempt to kill a high schooler goes terribly wrong when they wind up switching bodies instead.

A movie I was excited to see, but never got around to because it came out during COVID. I'm a big fan of the director's previous movie (Happy Death Day) so I had high hopes for this.

I dunno, it's fun. It's nothing I'd write home about, but if I had seen it in the theater I wouldn't have left with any regrets. It definitely relies more on performances than plot. But both Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn are doing a great job. It's a fun premise competently done.

Also, was my high school just poor or do most high schools not have cryo-freezing gym pods? Because that part confused the hell out of me.

63.

Magic

(1978)

— Thriller Directed by: Richard Attenborough Based on: Magic by. William Goldman

A magician turned ventriloquist on the verge of a big break has a breakdown and must figure out if a life with the dummy is what he really wants.

This movie has a bonkers cast: Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith, and Ann Margaret? Obviously I had to watch that.

It's kind of exactly what you'd expect from a thriller about a ventriloquist dummy? Apparently it had a theatrical release, but it has serious made-for-tv vibes. I mean, it's hitting all the beats on the made-for-tv checklist.

Small cast of big-name actors whose names will catch a viewer's attention? Check.

Limited set locations? The vast majority of the movie takes place at a remote cabin, so definite check.

Based on a book? Check. Made-for-tv things LOVE being based on books. It's easier to adapt than create fresh, and you get name recognition from the book to entice more viewers.

I was gonna say it had a low budget, but apparently it actually had a pretty decent one. I don't know where it all went, but I'm gonna assume the majority went to getting those actors.

I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone who's not a film nerd though. It's fun seeing such big time actors in roles likes these, but I can't say the plot is anything to write home about.

64.*

Mad Max: Fury Road

(2015)

— Post Apocalyptic Action Adventure Directed by: George Miller

A man on the run from his past and a woman with her eyes on the future must team up in order to escape an evil warlord.

I was just watching this at home, but if you've never seen it before and you come across a chance to see it on the big screen? Take it. It's a movie that thrives on the big screen.

I was never big on the Mad Max franchise, but my gosh, this movie just goes so hard.

The effects and cinematography are top notch. And unlike so many action movies, it actually has a great story and really interesting characters.

Plus can we talk about Charlize Theron? She's so good! I know this surprises no one—because she's always good—but the emotional weight she brings to the movie is what really takes it into the upper echelon.

65.

Hell Comes to Frogtown

(1988)

— Post Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Action Adventure Directed by: Donald G. Jackson & R. J. Kizer

In a world where fertile humans are a rare and treasured commodity, a fertile man is forced into indentured servitude on a mission to free a group of fertile women from a group of mutant frogs so that he can impregnate them for science.

Somewhere between Cult Classic, 80s Cocaine-fueled madness, and Soft Core Porn, we find Hell Comes to Frogtown.

I'll give it this: it takes a brave group of people to dare to make a movie this deranged.

And yet, for something so incredibly weird, it's also incredibly forgettable.

I don't have anything much to say about this. It is exactly what it sounds like...except both much weirder and much duller than you're expecting it to be.

Think Super Mario Bros. (1993), but with more scantily-clad ladies, less manic energy, and less ambition.

Definitely the sort of thing to watch with a friend, because you'll want someone there to verify that the things you're seeing are real and not just a fever dream.

66.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

(1986)

— Slasher Horror Sequel Directed by: Tobe Hooper

A radio DJ becomes the target of a family of cannibals.

I'm starting to feel that every Texas Chainsaw movie has to have a character I hate SO MUCH that it taints the whole movie for me. In the original it was Franklin. In this one it's Chop-Top.

I no longer remember what I thought this movie was going to be like, but this is not it. No one is going to get this reference, but this movie has some shocking similarities to Nothing But Trouble (1991). If that movie was inspired by this I would not be surprised.

(Nothing But Trouble didn't have Chop Top and did have a cameo from the Digital Underground, so clearly it improved upon the formula.)

I really wish I liked this more, because I quite like Stretch as our lead character and I was actually having a great time in the first third. But then Chop-Top showed up and I blocked out most of the rest for my own mental health.

67.

Sharks of the Corn

(2021)

— Trash Directed by: Tim Ritter

There's sharks in a corn field...because of reasons!

I cannot properly express to you the pain it caused me to have to replace Tootsie as the worst movie I've seen this year. But it truly forced my hand!

Quite possibly the worst piece of writing I have ever seen. I don't even want to believe that a human wrote this. If you told me AI wrote this and they just went with it without making a single change? I'd believe it.

Actually, I'd be thrilled to know that that's how this came to be.

I have seen literal small children write stories more coherent than whatever this was.

If this isn't the worst movie I see this year, please pray for me, because it would take something truly monstrous to take this out of last place.

68.

Next Friday

(2000)

— Comedy Sequel Directed by: Steve Carr

Deebo has escaped from prison and Craig goes to live with his Uncle and cousin in Rancho Cucamonga

Overall I didn't like this as much as Friday, but I still had a good time. I definitely missed Chris Tucker though.

69.

Zapped

(2014)

— Sci-Fi Comedy Directed by: Peter DeLuise Based on: Boys are Dogs by. Leslie Margolis

A high school girl whose mother's marriage has just given her a new set of brothers lucks out when her phone gains the ability to control boys.

I...I don't even know what to say.

Disney channel movies are crazy.

Definitely something to watch with a friend...unless you grew up with Disney channel movies, then you're probably desensitized to their specific brand of oddness and are fine to fly solo.

70.

It's a Boy Girl Thing

(2006)

— Body-Swap Rom-Com Directed by: Nick Hurran

Two high schoolers wind up switching bodies after making a wish in front of an ancient relic.

The hunt for experiments in gender continue!

And the results are in: this is not one of them.

This is once again a Freaky Friday scenario. And also another one where both actors are playing a gender as opposed to playing the other character.

This just strengthens my theory that Rom-Coms are the most unhinged of all genres. Because some parts of this get so much crazier than I was ever expecting.

71.

The Music Man

(1962)

— Musical Rom-Com Directed by: Morton DaCosta

A grifter's plan to scam a small town into investing in a town band hits a snag when he catches feelings for the local librarian.

Right off the bat, can I mention that getting towns to invest in a fake marching band has got to be the world's weirdest con job. Like...what? There has got to be easier ways to con people out of money.

After loving Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria I wanted some more of him. And while I have seen a school production of The Music Man, I've never seen a film version.

This might be a weird take, but having now seen this as a film, I think the only way to properly see this musical is to watch a Middle/High School production of it. It just works better that way.

I can't properly explain why, but trust me on this. Go see a school production and then try and tell me I'm wrong. It's just got a weird sort of energy that can only be properly captured by youths playing adults.

72.

Promising Young Woman

(2020)

— Drama Thriller Directed by: Emerald Fennell

A woman plagued by regrets from the past is forced to confront what her mission of revenge means for her future.

I was curious about this one, but if I'm remembering correctly it came out right at the start of COVID...so I never did. And then I heard people saying it was too heavy handed and I never wound up seeing it.

But when I was working at the theater a coworker's praise for it made me want to give it a watch. And they were right, because it's not what I was expecting.

Anyone who says it's heavy-handed or a one-note story were not paying enough attention to character beats. I can see how someone would watch this and come away thinking it's just a Rape Revenge movie about a woman on a mission to get back at men.

But if you look a little closer you'll see it's actually the story about a woman who lost her best friend to the patriarchy and the confusion and guilt and horror of that drives her to self destructive acts.

She's compelled to try and do something, anything, to fix a system that one person just can't fix. And her inability to affect meaningful change on her own compels her towards increasingly dangerous acts.

It's not a story about justice, it's a story about living in a world where justice is impossible and no one wants to talk about it.

I dunno. There's so much going on under the hood of this one. I'm definitely going to have to see this one again.

73.*

Long Shot

(2019)

— Rom Com Directed by: Jonathan Levine

An internet journalist is hired as a speechwriter by his former babysitter (aka the current U.S. Secretary of State) in her bid for a Presidential run.

Oh, friends, this one has me conflicted!

Charlize Theron is phenomenal and makes the film. I'm still not a huge Seth Rogan fan, but I'll admit that I like him more in this than usual. June Diane Raphael is always superb. O'Shea Jackson Jr. was a delight until his character came out as a republican.

I really want to love this one, but I can never seem to suspend my disbelief enough to really get into this. American politics long ago killed any sort of hope or trust I could have in the political system. So the whole movie I'm just thinking that either she will cave in to the myriad of forces trying to stop progress or those forces will conspire against her and destroy her career.

But you know me, I'm a sucker for Charlize Theron, so I'll definitely wind up watching it again at some point in the future.

(Also, this is neither here nor there, but Todd McFarlane sucks. Of all the comic artists you could choose from, why would you choose him? Did he bribe you with baseballs or something?)

74.

Hey...Stop Stabbing Me!

(2003)

— SOV Horror Comedy Directed by: Josh Miller

A recent college grad desperate is forced to take a chance on a shady housing opportunity.

I always feel compelled to explain myself when I have to mention to you all that I watched things like this, lest you judge my tastes too harshly.

I watched it because I saw it on a list of movies that were filmed in Minnesota and it sounded weird and it was on Tubi.

I had a number of things I thought I'd talk about as I watched it, but then it started making some statutory rape jokes. So why waste my time discussing it?

Fuck this movie. It's stupid.

The two guys who made this went on to write the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Which just goes to show that the world is a truly strange place.

75.

Friday After Next

(2002)

— Christmas Comedy Directed by: Marcus Raboy

Christmas time is right around the corner and Craig and Day-Day have to come up with a way to pay their rent after they're robbed by a man dressed as Santa Claus.

Would I have decided to watch this one if I was aware it was a Christmas movie? Probably not! But you know what? Sometimes you just gotta play the cards your dealt.

Still not as good as the original, but I still had a good time.

76.

Luca

(2021)

— Animated Fantasy Adventure Directed by: Enrico Casarosa

Two young merfolk take to dry land in search of friendship, adventure, and freedom.

On my list of actors I just don't like you will find Jacob Tremblay. I usually don't like to throw child actors under the bus, but Tremblay seemingly made a name for himself by portraying kids with various mental and physical disorders? (Ones he does not have mind you.)Room (2015), Burn Your Maps (2016), Wonder (2017), The Predator (2018).

And I know you can't really blame a kid for taking such roles in the way you'd blame an adult. But still! I think he's nearly 20 now. Maybe I'll feel better about the cringe of his career if he is ever like, "You know what, looking back on it, I wish I hadn't played an autistic character in The Predator." But until then I reserve my right to dislike his performances and general career path.

Anyways, this is just a really long way of saying that I had to switch it off English, because I have no desire to listen to Jacob Tremblay for an hour and a half.

It would have been nice if the disc had the Italian audio track, given that it's set in Italy, but both the French and Spanish dubs were superb.

Overall it's cute. Not sure I'll remember much of anything about it a year from now though. It approaches some bigger themes, but never fully commits to fleshing them out.

In The Little Mermaid they really establish Ariel as a character and get into WHY she yearns to break out of her status quo and stand on her own two feet. And here, it's more or less just some kids being kids and liking to explore and get away from overbearing parents.

Which is fine and all, but I've seen that storyline 1,000 times before, so unless you really do something new with it, it's liable to get lost in the crowd of my brain.

77.

The Colony

(2013)

— Frost Punk Horror Directed by: Jeff Renfroe

Humanity's attempts to control the weather have resulted in the planet being blanketed in a permanent Winter, driving the last remnants of civilization into underground bunkers to survive. But if you had a chance to set everything right, what would you be willing to risk?

I spent a lot of this movie wondering where I knew the main dude from and I finally broke and looked it up. He was familiar because he was the main guy from It's a Boy Girl Thing way back up there in movie #70.

And speaking of actors I just don't care for, let's add Bill Paxton to the list. I wasn't sure about it until this movie, but I've decided that I just don't care for his performances. I don't think he's ever pretended to have autism for a role though, so let's put him somewhere above Tremblay.

Laurence Fishburne is in this and the highlight of the movie. I hope he got paid a lot of money for it, because dear gods, he is way too good for this movie.

I don't even know what to say. It's not a good movie. It's just a bland sort of thing that floats halfway between Sci-fi and Horror and is too afraid to plant its flag anywhere solid.

I don't really see any reason to watch this unless you're trying to watch Laurence Fishburne's entire filmography.

78.*

The Other F Word

(2011)

— Documentary Directed by: Andrea Blaugrund

The followers of the Punk movement believed in living fast, dying young, and challenging authority at every turn. But how have those ideals changed now that some of those men are now fathers?

I had seen this in theaters back when it came out and I liked it then and I still like it now.

The main criticisms I see are ones that say that it tries to do too much, and I'd actually agree with that. It never really picks a lane. It could do a deep dive on how the ideals of a punk movement that never expected to live this long have changed now that they've gotten older. They could do it on what does parenthood itself mean to these older punks and how their pasts have influenced their parenting style. And more.

The film kind of does a little bit of everything. I wouldn't say it does anything poorly. I just think it has stumbled onto a fascinating topic that I want more from. So I love it for showing me what it could and leaving me wanting more.

I think it's a really great documentary.

I really only have two criticisms:

The Jim Lindberg bits were the only parts I'd really change. Some of them felt like a different kind of documentary altogether. I get it's because the idea for the movie comes from his book "Punk Rock Dad," but still. Those parts sometimes veered more into a biography style of documentary at times.

I don't think there was any real reason to have to be solely focused on fathers, instead of looking at parents in general. And it's especially weird to me that the framed it that way but then prominently feature Laura Jane Grace's song "I Was a Teenage Anarchist," even though their framing won't let them interview her, even though she is a parent too! I'm a fan so I've read her memoir and seen interviews with her and I know she has a lot she could add to the topic of punk icons who are now parents. As could lots of other punk parents.

But as a whole, I think it's a great documentary that both gives you a lot to think about and a desire to seek out even more information about these people and the history of the punk movement.

79.*

Weekend at Bernie's

(1989)

— Comedy Directed by: Ted Kotcheff

An opportunity for two low level employees at an insurance company to get in good with the big boss goes wrong when the boss winds up dead. But...what if no one knew he was dead?

I haven't seen this since I was in high school and going through a phase where I was renting all the classic movies that I had always heard about to see what they were like.

My thoughts about it then are the same as my thoughts now: they had about 20 minutes of good ideas for the premise and then stretched that shit out into a 97 minute movie.

The result: weirdly forgettable considering the premise. There's some memorable scenes, but the plot is just there to service the concept. The characters are there to just service the concept. And because of that there's never any real stakes.

Not really something I'd recommend unless you're like me and are interested in seeing something that's been referenced quite a lot over the years for yourself.

80.

Gun Crazy

(1950)

— Crime Drama Directed by: Joseph H. Lewis Based on: "Gun Crazy" by. MacKinlay Kantor

Two gun lovers find acceptance in one another, but their relationship is put to the test when dreams of a grander life drives them to risk everything.

Some movie-loving friends had great things to say about this one so I figured I'd give it a shot. And I'm glad I did because it really surprised me.

I'll give you this warning though: don't judge it from the beginning. Just trust that it'll get significantly better.

Honestly my only real complaint with the movie is that some parts felt entirely superfluous. Like, I think if they cut out like 30 minutes I would have been singing this one's praises.

Part of that 30 minutes would be the entire beginning set up bit. Not only is it weirdly hokey, but nothing in it accomplishes anything that couldn't have been established with a line or two of expositional dialogue in a different scene.

The whole thing is beautifully shot in black and white. Great performances. Some just banger bits of dialogue. Just a real gem. Highly recommended.

——————

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March Stats

——————

Movies watched this month: 44

Rewatch percentage: 12.6% (6/44)

Favorite new movie of the month: Dick Johnson is Dead

Least favorite: Sharks of the Corn

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Previous Months' Posts:

JAN | FEB | MAR.p1

[youreaclownnow]

And so with that, I've completed my rewatch of the earthian OVAs. I loved them, as always.

I still have to wonder though. why they decided to go with a whole new anime only arc for the last 2, it's always confused me a tad. OVA 1 and 2 def feel far more in line with the manga than 3 and 4. It's a good thing I like messiah so much otherwise I'd probably hold a different opinion here, mostly over the wing ripping scene (the OVA it's just kinda hot, not a lot more. and in the manga? Well let's just say I cry everytime I read it. Due to the context in which it happens, and yes that entire manga arc gets skipped over in the OVA and not addressed. Because they were COWARDS [actually it was probably just time contraints tbh]). I also feel like some of The House drama isn't as.... impactful in the OVA, at least as far as how it ends. The themes and such are overall a lot weaker in the anime, but honestly? I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily. What the show does wrong is easily forgivable, and what it does right is simply fantastic.

I gotta say, my main draw for the anime rendition of earthian, is the gorgeous art and absolutely awesome soundtrack. Plot holes and wacky choices aside, it's fun to watch and i believe that's very important in an anime, and is something a lot of shows lack.

While the manga is certainly better than the OVAs, I feel the best way to experience the series is in fact, to consume both.

[jupyyter]

Spooky covered everything about me -A

Angel

A 3am analysis

WHAT IS ANGEL?

Angel is a mask, something I use to hide from or disassociate myself with reality. Angel is a coping mechanism. Angel is closer to a roleplay than a whole other personality but when Angel is in control, Angel’s choices are not very rational or thought out compared to mine

ANGEL’S IDENTITY

Angel doesn’t care what pronouns are used for Angel, but Angel uses no pronouns for Angel however is rarely comfortable with people doing the same as repetition of Angel’s name from others can overwhelm Angel. Angel is just Angel. Angel commonly speaks about Angel in first and third person fluctuatingly. Angel does not identify with any species, and Angel does not care for gender and sexuality labels (although the best description for Angel’s gender would be non-binary or a trans man)

ANGEL’S APPEARANCE

Angel appears as a 5’4 incredibly skinny version of Offender. Angel is based around my fictionkin for him, hence the name. Angel is not a fan of canon Offender and prefers a lack of mention, which severely limits the content he can view relating to Creepypasta

ANGEL’S TRIGGERS/PHOBIAS

Obviously because Angel is me, Angel shares my triggers/phobias but certain things only upset Angel and not me (eg name repetition, mentions of sex/sexual acts/sexting, playful arguing, alcohol etc)

ANGEL’S STIMS

Angel is stimmed (calmed down) by the omen doll , a selection of songs that I will eventually put on a playlist, Rabbits of any kind, HABIT himself, drawing operator symbols, Squeezing things, being able to jump and swing where needed, curling up and listening to comforting audios, fire (not too close if direct as the smoke can cause claustrophobia). Angel is also distracted from fear and stress with dice.

IS ANGEL THE ONLY MASK?

At the minute yes, but I have had masks in the past. Cassidy (fnaf) was my mask for a long time before I slowly grew out of fnaf and started feeling gender dysphoria while pretending to be a girl

WHAT DOES ANGEL NEED FROM PEERS?

The most notable thing is for peers to speak to Angel as though Angel was a child, as Angel is not psychologically mature enough to cope with the language level of a 12-16 year old and so can’t comprehend a lot of what is being said around them

ANY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE THAT CAN HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ANGEL?

Main thing that comes to mind is ‘Vati’. Vati is a German (informal) way to address a father, directly translating to ‘Dad’ or ‘Daddy’. Vati refers to Slenderman, and things in relation to him are one of Angel’s main sources of calming. Other things include the nicknames Angel gives people, when with a person or group that brings Angel comfort and/or security, Angel will label these people as ‘Dweller/Keeper’, ‘Watcher/Other’, or ‘Dreamer’, the name being decided by the roll of a dice.

WHAT CAN TAKE ANGEL AWAY FROM A STRESSFUL/UPSETTING SITUATION?

Angel is quite easily upset or stressed out, so commonly needs taken away from situations. One that is used commonly/most often is rewatching later EverymanHYBRID episodes. Others include playing ‘the Angel’s game’ (Ludo, as that was the board used for it in the series) or letting Angel hide (finding Angel isn’t a smart choice. Pretending you cannot find Angel despite Angel’s location not always being invisible is extremely entertaining to Angel and makes Angel feel safe). Allowing Angel to record is a safety tactic aswell, or letting Angel do anything that makes Angel feel near HABIT really.

ANGEL’S BEHAVIOUR

Angel acts like a child, and expects to be treated as such, hence not getting on with many people. Angel treats most things as a game, and can often commit alarming acts with realising (eg running away and hiding, making people believe Angel’s mad/upset at them, trying to attract people Angel knows has an interest in me etc) most of these are done as a need for attention or a feeling of want, as Angel embodies most of my insecurities.

WOULD ANYTHING HELP ANGEL THAT HE DOESN’T CURRENTLY HAVE?

Angel would be overjoyed to meet someone with a HABIT fictionkin, alter or someone who roleplays him often, and would be willing to take Angel on. Same applies for Slender, but less as his character can be difficult to interpret identically to other’s interpretations.

HOW DOES ANGEL REFER TO ME?

Angel refers to me by any of my preferred names (Francis/Charlie are used less as they are irl names, Offender/Jupiter/Al/Forest are all much more common) Angel has also given me the nickname Spooky for some reason. Angel occasionally calls me Verdi/Verkio but won’t do that around anyone else so it isn’t something worth noting

DOES ANGEL LIKE NICKNAMES/PETNAMES?

Angel doesn’t mind either, and has preferences. Nicknames Angel aren’t as fond as, but still accepts. Preferred nicknames would be Angie, Fendy (Offender nicknamed) and Rosie. Petnames have him weak but if you aren’t close enough to him or use a bad pet name then chances are you’ll freak him out. He adores nicknames connected to being small, flowers and being called any names connected to bunny/rabbit (only ones out of bounds are Little Rabbit/Little Bunny) he accepts generic nicknames such as darling/dear/honey etc but more flirty/stuck to relationship names (Babe/baby etc) he doesn’t like as much

DOES ANGEL ACCEPT THE SAME RELATIONSHIPS AS ME?

Angel acknowledges who my friends/partners/siblings are but doesn’t have the connection I have. Obviously Angel will still accept them in those places but the attachment is different; Angel has Angel’s own siblings/partner/friends but knows they are only fiction here and so won’t refuse or ignore my relations, Angel even enjoys making little companions for when Angel is needed here

DOES ANGEL BELIEVE THAT THE FICTION HE COMES FROM IS REAL?

No, to put it simply. It’s not easy to explain in detail, but Angel is aware none of Marble Hornets or Everymanhybrid happened and that Jeff and Jane and everyone are stories. Angel still considers them friends/family and will often speak of memories shared with them or events that happened with them regardless of their existence to canon. Angel becomes agitated when corrected on their existence

DOES ANGEL LIKE DIFFERENT PEOPLE TO ME?

Angel is attracted to men and enbies just like me. If I have a crush, Angel technically shares that crush but gets uncomfortable when faced with sexual talk/actions/images. Angel is technically in a relationship with HABIT however obviously Angel cannot be with HABIT as he is fictional, so my current partner still stands significant

IS ANGEL PART OF A SYSTEM?

No, I am still fully conscious when Angel and am capable of pretending I’m not Angel (I have done it many times) but it causes great distress and I prefer not doing it

WHAT DOES ANGEL LIKE TO TALK ABOUT?

When not venting, Angel enjoys all the light hearted conversations that I would. Angel is also ecstatic when talking about Slenderverse. Angel hates talking about death, certain gore, and doesn’t cope well with others venting to Angel. Angel despises talking about families (unless Angel’s brothers, not mine though) especially parents

IF I’M DEALING WITH ANGEL IN PERSON, HOW DO I INTERACT WITH HIM?

All of the latter points still apply, also I highly recommend taking Angel outside provided it isn’t too cold or wet as Angel loves being out, I also recommend you don’t touch Angel unless Angel explicitly states Angel wants touched by you or Angel initiates/asks for a two sided contact (eg a hug or holding hands)

[the-kings-of-games]

Hiya! I've been a follower for a while but I never introduced myself so I'll do so now!

I'm Sunchaser (or just Sun) and I'm a relatively recent Yugioh fan (some time last year or the year before is when I started watching). To be completely honest I've only watched some of Duel Monsters but I've had the entire plot of it explained to me, plus I have basic knowledge of the premise of GX and 5D's. I watch the dub for DM although I do have plans to rewatch subbed, I'm just enjoying the glorious campy nature of the dub. My favorite character from what I know of the story is Kisara and the Blue-Eyes but I'm scared to actually meet her in the show (Dark Magician is a close second favorite).

I do write and make art for yugioh although I don't really post my writing since most of it is self-indulgent crossover shenanigans.

This is an icon I made for a friend of mine! I really like drawing the characters, they're all so unique and just so friend-shaped!

One thing I have done art for and do plan on writing and sharing is my World of Duelcraft series (name still pending). It's a World of Warcraft AU for Yugioh and I adore all the designs I've drawn for it with the exception of Atem and Yugi since I need to redraw them.

I hope this wasn't too long and that you have a fantastic rest of your day <3

Hi, @sunchaserwings! And yes, you're a very familiar face. ^^

That's so funny, being a fan on DM but only knowing about the plot and not having seen the whole thing. xD What a way to go about getting into something. And I did assume you watched at least the parts with Kisara just from your icon, lolololol. (If you haven't watched it yet, you should get to 5D's. 👀👀👀) And yes, the dub—I watched all the series in the dub (if they have been dubbed) because I also enjoy the campiness. It's a great experience if you know how to enjoy yourself, and I'm glad to see very little sub supremacy in this fandom.

And oooh, a writer and an artist? Nice, very nice. u_u I don't share my writing here either; enjoy all the self-indulgence, Sun—you deserve it. 💖💖💖And your style is very cute! ^^ Yugi does go :P lololol.

Good luck on your AU!!!! It sounds exciting! ✨🍀✨🍀✨🍀

This wasn't long at all, I'm happy to hear about my neighbors. ^^ Hope you had a fantastic today and tomorrow!

[snurtles-iteration-snlogsnentral]

MY TIME HAS COME.

12 year old snackugaki would have given TNM an A, no question. It was right up there with Power Rangers (going through the In Space series at the time in 1997 which is the series it crossed over with, I trailed off PR around Lightspeed Rescue.)

Like at the time, ninja craze aside, a lot of children's programming had martial arts and (child) martial artists casted in shows. tl;dr I was a fighty, bitey little thing and while my father would have preferred I study wing chun which... at the time I wondered why I didn't and ended up studying aikido (It was convenience, a school club opened up because a teacher was offering TKD, Aikido and Tang Soo Do and just straight up no wing chun teachers were in the neighborhood). Suffice to say, Trini Kwan and Mei Pieh Chi chilled me the fuck out by being their level-headed selves. Lead by example at its prime.

Granted I was starting to skew on the older side of the target demographic when TNM was airing but, y'know, I love my funky li'l green dudes. And considering the tone set by the 87 cartoon (barring the red sky episodes) and the veering away from the Mirage tone in the subsequent 90s movies, TNM being as goofy as it was is simply following Turtlemania to its logical conclusion (to me, looking back as an adult; preteen me was just enjoying that squeaky chicken punching sound effect)

But 12 yo snack isn't taking this poll, 39 yo snack is, so.

I would give it a very loving C. C+ if there was an option. The Chiodo brothers did an okay job making the suits, the plastons were interesting minus Venus' sculpted little A-cups. For the time, the facial animatronics were pretty good, baby snack didn't see any difference between how TNM's faces moved than the movies. Though there are shots where eyes aren't lining up and knowing the people in the suits barely had any field of vision to work with which resulted in mishaps like

Good thing they weren't related. Which.... I waffled on whether to bring this up because I could very well write a whole goddamn thesis on this point alone but.

Yes, I know one of the big wanks over TNM was not just Venus being a fifth turtle, that Laird was adamantly and vehemently against, it was that she was explicitly stated in-show to not be related to any of the others (and also that none of the four were brothers by blood either). That it was lame she was "reduced" to a love interest. Which for that tidbit alone? Barely fuck all was paid to that point. If I had to recount it on the spot because I have and do rewatch TNM?

You had...

Leo holding Venus in a classically tender pose after she called upon Shredder's inner child self to call him cringe and one shot him in the scene

A moment where Leo slung his arm over the couch while Venus sat beside him

Leo professing wanting to learn her prism illusion techniqu/chi manipulation

Raphael being Fig 1 Exhibit A tsundere tsupreme in behaving coldly to her, calling her she-demon, jabbing at her "shinobi" training.

Raphael basically drawing fanart of himself riding a bike with Venus backpacking.

Raphael being overprotective to the point of boorishness when Venus tries to befriend a defecting dragon soldier. "DoN't wALk aWaY whEn i'M taLKinG tO yOu!" Yuck.

Mikey pulling his "I work out every day!" shtick, calling her bodacious, making a silly little song about finding her cute, all of which happens in Venus' intro episodes

Mikey and Venus play-waltzing as they fight Dragonlord's henchmen.

Donatello, and Venus, sniping at one another's field of expertise. Was barely sniping tbh because "Magic Girl" is barely insulting, it was just a fact. The second actual snipe was on her status as a fledgling "shinobi" trying to defeat a 2,000 year old vampire with special scrolls she couldn't decipher.

And depending on your stance on enemies-to-lovers, the one actual fight Donnie and Venus had because... he was playing his music too loud while she was trying to meditate.

Like for all the griping about her being "just" a love interest there was effectively fuck all in evidence for it. Those listed above are moments you could attempt to make the argument from. But only those. She fought with them the same, goofed up the same, got into shenanigans the same. She was out here with her little braid, minding her business and being a fifth turtle.

...Lemme move on because this IS becoming longer than I intended but to reiterate: Venus wasn't related to the boys in TNM, isn't related to the boys in IDW. Now she can be related to them in any of y'all's little headcanons. It doesn't have to be and frankly isn't a big deal, work out your own issues before making it everyone else's.

The characterization was sort of shallow sure, barring a few of the hallmark traits showing up during downtime for the turtles in-show. For that I'm attributing it to the Monster of the Day format they had for most of the episodes on top of there only being one season. There were only a few little threads that could've found fruit had there been a second season like originally planned. Leo and his finding a New Way to live as ninja, Shredder escaping with the golden shuriken, the Good Dragon who's still out there albeit back in the mirror trapped with the other, apparently good, dragons. Donnie having been brainwashed. Quease doing anything really.

I loved the things they tried, a whole new roster of antagonists minus the staple like Shredder. Starting the show with them being on the cusp of adulthood. Splinter having a life outside his sons and a cute friendship with a guy he plays chess in the park with. That Venus was from a different discipline than ninjutsu, and the entire worldbuilding that implies.

Sure childhood nostalgia is doing a loooot of heavy lifting in my positive attitude about the show but liiiiike everyone knows the show wasn't great, from a variety of points. It's as close to objectively bad as you can get for a show.

So like, and? Nothin'.

Like panning for pretty rocks, not necessarily gold with this show. I fucks with Next Mutation, and Venus is a bonus.

Acknowledging the fact that quality waxes and wanes, and even if you only watched the series partway through…

[dailycupofcreativitea]

Do you think Gohan has impacted you in your everyday life?

OoOoOoOOOo juicy question! 👀👀👀

The short answer is yes, but for kind of a weird reason. This is totally a word vomit/stream of consciousness type overshare so I'm putting it under the cut:

So I've loved Gohan ever since I was a kid. I never had a crush on him as a character or anything, but man I really, REALLY liked his character. Like I remember being 4 or 5 and kneeling on the ground in front of the TV, half-eaten cereal in front of me, staring at the TV in a trance as Goku teleported Cell away and Gohan started yelling. The Cell Saga was the first time I was introduced to DBZ, and in that moment Gohan became my favourite character ever and a huge comfort character.

He kind of fell on the backburner for a bit while I was indulging in other media like Inuyasha and Yu-Gi-Oh, where characters like Inuyasha and Bakura and became my comfort characters (oh god I even wrote tons of Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction, all in a little private physical notebook), but in late middle school/early high school I was reintroduced to DBZ via the abridged series, then I rewatched the actual series a few times. And Gohan came back as a prominent comfort character for me.

Whenever I'm daydreaming, drifting, need to totally dissociate from the world (my childhood wasn't a good one and I dissociated often), I'd just make up DBZ fanfics in my head where Gohan was the main focus. I'd also write TONS of fanfics in little notebooks. I filled 3 whole notebooks with Gohan fanfiction!!! Exploring his character and his relationships to all the other characters in the series (which, as fanfics go, meant I also had to get good at writing each individual character and their relationships with each other, sans Gohan) was my way to destress after a really bad day. Like a little slice of normalcy (as normal as DBZ characters can be, anyways!). "Role-playing" those little healthy interactions between characters taught me a lot about how to have those interactions in my own life because it's a safe place to explore them. Aside from destressing though, it's also just incredibly fun. A way to make any day, good or bad, better!

Currently, I use Gohan (and other characters) to practice different artstyles and stuff, but also I've legitimately used these characters as a proxy for sorting through tough emotions for me to the point where my therapist even recommends I explore certain themes by drawing Gohan in different ways, and I even constantly show her my art and we pick apart the emotions that went into it XD Because I have a LOT of trouble drawing self-portraits of myself, but drawing Gohan comes really easily to me, and I constantly project a lot of my own experiences onto Gohan. So I can explore those feelings without having to draw pictures of myself. I think some people might consider this "kinning" but I don't associate with that term and don't consider myself a "Gohan kin" (since Gohan is simply lines on a piece of paper).

It's also just really fun to have something to obsess over. I really look forward to coming home and making a cup of chai so I can relax and draw. It's a prominent part of my day-to-day. If I DON'T draw DBZ characters doing stupid shit for a while then I definitely feel the difference.

So yeah, you can say that he's definitely impacted me in my every day life this way!

[viscountessevie]

I was turned off from the hype of Brigerton early on (idk I wasn't feeling it) but I've been seeing gif sets of Kate and Anthony and I'm kind of obsessed. Would I need to watch season 1 for me to get it or can i skip right into season 2 for the kathony canon content?

Ohmygod hello! I'm so flattered you regard my opinion highly enough to ask me about this! Honestly you're so valid and I'm SO happy that Kathony is drawing in people who were never interested in Bridgerton before S2 dropped. More under the cut because as always this got LONG: 

Okay so this is tricky and really depends what you're into as a romance fan? S1 is about Simon and Daphne and they are a fake dating trope which was really fun and wholesome to watch! S2 is of course Kate and Anthony and they are PEAK Enemies to Lovers and are very HOT. While the romances each season are stand alone - S1 does have a storyline for Anthony which acts as a prequel for his story in S2 I'll talk more about later in this post. 

Honestly as much as I adore Kathony but their season was all over the place as a cohesive story - at times it felt like I was watching two different shows because there was an annoying plotline that didn't connect to the main story and romance AT ALL. (Honestly I always skip their scenes on my rewatch feel free to do the same).

It was shit as an adaptation which is why I'm currently an S2 hater like I love the Kathony of it all but the rest of the season can get fucked - and its mainly because I'm a huge fan of their book. So I would recommend just watching S2 and then reading their book for more of their scenes together - for all her flaws Julia Quinn really FED US with the Kathony content. Also Kate's family is featured more and they are so wholesome! Kate even gets a fully fleshed out backstory (minor spoiler but we were robbed of that in the show) My friend did that and she said the book after watching S2 first felt like a comfort cos you got more scenes. Whereas a book reader, we felt robbed of a lot of pivotal book scenes.

If you have the time and are up for it, I would definitely recommend watching S1 because it was a solid adaptation of Book 1 and Anthony's arc in it is so compelling - yes he was a dick and everyone thought he was annoying af (not me though I've always loved my hot mentally ill eldest sibling clown) but really it's a shield to protect himself from his past trauma - no spoilers but it gets covered in S2! So to see his development from S1 to S2 is very satisfying if you want the whole picture.

Simon and Daphne are cute until their main conflict which was pretty fucked up and going to try to keep it vague but spoilers for S1EP6 at timestamps 47:15 to 49:40 there's a sex scene that turns into an assault at 48:50 and it just soured the rest of the series for me because the perpetrator never atones for their actions. If that's a trigger for you I would suggest just skip that scene all together and come up with a conflict of your own for the couple lmao.

Other than the SA, it was a pretty solid first season, a good introduction to the main family and characters and a cohesive story, the side plots actually worked and the main characters were actually connected to most of them so it didn't feel as disconnected.

Storytelling aspect aside, I will say Kathony is the superior couple just because Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey have INSANE CHEMISTRY and that's what you're seeing in the gifs so I'm not surprised you're hooked! And honestly ignoring the issues I had with the season itself, all their scenes are HOT and amazing and I love these two fucked up clowns in love so much.

Do let me know if you end up watching it and what you think of the show! Honestly if you would just prefer reading, then I recommend just reading the books only (Kathony's book is Book 2 named The Viscount Who Loved Me) I wouldn't bother with the show (it's slowly becoming my new PJO movies/ATLA live action)