#available on youtube

[blacksapphicguide]

Queen of Hearts (Music video film)

2024 Music video film. Streaming on YouTube. Romance, Drama.

Plot points:

Competitors trope

Pageantry

Blackmail

Outing of queer character

Interracial sapphic couple (main)

Queer female director

Black sapphic characters:

Miss Florida (Kyra Green)

Connections:

Miss Florida x Zolita: Miss Montana (interracial lesbian: black biracial x white)

Sex & Nudity - Very Mild

Kissing and making out

Violence & Gore - None

Profanity - None

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking - None

Frightening & Intense Scenes - Very Mild

Blackmail and outing of queer character

[pleasantreviewpost]

Can you get the dog please? Meme

(Available on YouTube)

[kissablelips-desireslure-vol2]

FUERA DE JUEGO (2021)

Directed By: Alejandro Moreno

Synopsis: Popular Jose is team captain and trying to find himself. His sexual awakening leads to unpopular teammate Oscar. Or does his apparent best friend like him?

MARC MORENO (as Jose)

&

VICTOR EMIL (as Oscar)

with appearance by:

JERICÓ SÁNCHEZ (as Pepe)

Review/Commentary: This short film was a mere 6 minutes long and explained very little leaving the viewer to fill in the blanks or just take it at face value. This would be a great film for a full length feature. A boy discovering himself and falling for a teammate, a bullied teammate.

Pepe is Jose's best friend who seems bothered by Oscar and Jose's growing attraction to Oscar. I loved this film short. Definitely left me wanting more...

Stream on: Alejandro Moreno YouTube Channel

[bl-bam-beyond]

A LOOK BACK at Bas & Pete

SCENT OF LOVE: THE SERIES (2022, THAILAND)

3 Episode Micro Series (Approximately 13 minutes total) From Mith Bangkok

More of an extended cologne commercial. Telling the story of a shy freshman Pete (TEERAPAT RUANGRITKUL aka DIN formerly Earth) who has a crush on his senior Bas (CHATCHAWAN JITRAXTHAM aka FLUK)

Unable to approach Bas, Pete join the drama club where Bas is the man. However Pete isn't the only one that likes Bas. A cute girl name Jang also likes him. Though she never confesses she approaches Bas for "help" with her acting.

Jang does a scene with Bas and is applauded and admitted to the drama club, while Pete is dumped from the drama club.

Sitting alone in an empty classroom Pete laments losing his only chance to be near the guy he likes.

Bas suddenly appears with the note Pete left on a piece of cake on Bas' locker. Bas asks if it was from him. Pete can't speak. Bas smells Pete and then smells the paper saying the scent is the same.

Bas figures it all out. Asking Pete if he likes him, that he joined the drama club because of Bas.

Bas says Pete doesn't have to try drama club which he's not good at, because if he can't find away to approach him, that Bas will find a way to approach him (confirming Bas likes Pete as well)

The two smile at one another...the end.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf

This micro series stars FLUK AND DIN who later starred together MY SECRET LOVE. Sadly the side couples ruled that series...well not sadly. Din also played Wayo #2 in 2 MOONS 2

[shesmore-shoebill]

"I had choice paralysis :(" is a KILLER line.

He's such a comedic powerhouse, I'm glad more people are getting exposed to him :'D

[to-be-loved-by-death]

Film Recommendation: 22/11/23

Kaitō Ruby (dir. Makoto Wada, Japan, 1988)

A hidden gem beginning to gain its rightful flowers. Following Hiroyuki (Hiroyuki Sanada), an average blue-collar worker, and his eclectic and beautiful neighbour, Rumi Kaitō (Kyoko Koizumi), the film bumbles through their failed hijinks as they struggle and often fail to become a pair of master thieves. This cult comedy is perfectly silly and delightfully clever, balancing wit, character work and pitch-perfect direction effortlessly.

[franciya]

NIMONA | Full Film | Netflix

Edit: End of an Era

[paunchsalazar]

Zevran offers Alistair a word of advice

[technically-human]

Charles realizing he's in love with Edwin after all, my beloved

[ruffaloon]

Is this how it is? Is this how it's always been? To exist in the face of suffering and death and somehow still keep singing?

Hawkeye Pierce | Free // Florence + the Machine

[bwana-alive]

Bwana Bill McAlister Life desktop

[blacksapphicguide]

the beginning & the middle (Short film)

Available on YouTube. 2020s short film. Romance, drama.

Plot points:

Childhood best friends.

Reuniting.

Debating a relationship.

Queer sexuality.

Interracial sapphic couple (main).

Female writer and director (Alexis G. Zall).

Black sapphic characters:

Grace Genneya Walton

Connections:

Grace x Olive (black x asian sapphic)

Sex & Nudity - None

Violence & Gore - None

Profanity - None

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking - Mild

Social drinking.

Frightening & Intense Scenes - None

[tritoch]

i know a lot of people (very understandably) dislike the paladin job quests in ffxiv, particularly HW, but i do think it's fun that, now that the pre-ShB MSQ revamp is complete, paladins now have a very cool and thematic in-game storyline that happens without a word being spoken: the development of passage of arms.

none of the below is directly stated in the script, but imo it's a fairly obvious gloss on what the game presents, if you assume a paladin warrior of light. spoilers for all expansions through the end of 6.X.

in the new version of steps of faith, as vishap breaks through each ward protecting ishgard from attack, lucia mounts a final desperate effort to hold him back, with a very familiar looking animation:

but even lucia can't hold back vishap's flame alone, so the temple knights surge forward to assist her. their efforts make the shield visually more powerful and larger. the temple knights here band together in defense of ishgard, and their knightly resolve to protect their home is the difference between victory and defeat.

lucia and the knights do ultimately succeed in defending the last ward, as you have to defeat vishap before their shield falls or you lose.

later in heavensward, obviously, we will get ffxiv's most famous (failed) attempt at blocking something with a shield.

this moment can be read as fairly impactful on the warrior of light's development; as i've noted elsewhere, after the trauma of watching haurchefant bleed out in their arms at level 57, at level 58 paladins learn to channel their magic into healing (and it's called "clemency," or mercy. mercy for whom? who was guilty?), and as someone pointed out on that post, at level 58 dark knights used to get "sole survivor", letting them heal in response to a marked target's death.

for a time, you literally carry haurchefant's shield with you, and 3.3 very much literalizes in genre fashion the idea that even when you are standing alone, your fallen friends stand with you. you don't need to call any allies to stand at your side and raise their shields with you because they are already there, in spirit.

stormblood marks a pretty important turning point in the warrior of light as a combatant, in my opinion, and the text makes this clear in several ways. first, in pretty much all your jobs, you've now far exceeded your trainers and are pioneering new techniques. this is no less true of paladin, which for 60-70 abandons any trainers at all for you to show off your peerless skills in a tournament.

second, stormblood is straight up a story about you getting stronger. at level 61, zenos kicks your ass. at level 70, you kick his ass. why? because you fought and got stronger and developed incredible new techniques and became a one-man army.

for a lot of classes, this story lines up nicely with the big rotation changes or flashy new finishers on the way from 60 to 70. SMN is now busting out bahamut and casting akh morn; RDM gets verflare and verholy; DRG starts harnessing nidhogg's power directly through dragon sight and nastrond.

the tanks are divided in two: warriors and gunbreakers get huge damaging upgrades at 70 in the form of inner release and continuation, each of which lets them hit the same button many times for lots of damage and satisfying animations. paladin and dark knight get more protective abilities; dark knight gets the blackest night, and there's been plenty said about that already by pretty much everyone.

paladins get passage of arms. instead of a relentless new attack (and you get requiescat at 68, which is a way bigger deal for your dps rotation), your big reveal at 70 for zenos in your fight in ala mhigo is a superior way to protect your party, a shield that lets you stand for your allies so they never have to fall for you again. it's lucia's same shield, except you need no allies' shields to reinforce you, proof of your martial prowess and your ability to transcend limits, and perhaps in truth a reminder that you never really stand alone.

in many respects passage of arms should really feel like a paladin signature move to you now if you are playing it at this point, because you should be popping it in pretty much every fight (you are using your mits, right...?). basically every FFXIV fight has at least one big AOE with downtime that warrants passage of arms usage, usually after the mid-fight add phase with slowly filling bar. since that AOE usually drops during downtime, there's no reason not to pop passage of arms (which otherwise restricts your movement and actions), and even on normal, sometimes every little bit counts on a damage check even if it means dropping DPS (thinking here of harrowing hell P10N on release, which was...less consistent for a lot of roulette parties than you might hope).

so from 70 onward, passage of arms is in a sense a paladin warrior of light's signature move, and certainly the one a player gets to most actually enjoy (since if you're using it, you're by necessity not doing anything besides moving your camera and admiring your sick animation). it doesn't have any competition in terms of spectacle until confiteor, and those you're usually throwing out in the middle of movement.

it's such a signature, in fact, that the only other person shown using your one-person version of passage of arms is your greatest admirer, who studied your legend for over a century.

and it's when he fails (should've popped arm's length, bud) that the warrior of light decides they can't let their friends fall for them, and sends them away with the transporter beacon. this is all wrong: you were meant to die for them, not the other way around. yours is the shield that stands between your allies and defeat. it is you who will win this passage of arms and break your opponents lance. and you do.

and then later, when they need to quickly establish zero's domain as a place of fallen grandeur, the home of someone who once believed in heroes but is now a cool and cynical vampire hunter d, what do they use? a decayed statue of someone in the paladin endwalker gear doing the passage of arms animation, of course.

from a visible instantiation of knighthood as a joint effort to defend what is sacred, to a tribute to the fallen friends whose memories stand by you and animate you, to a symbol of the wol's power as emulated by their allies or darkly mirrored in other shards.

not bad for a mit button you hit once per fight and otherwise never think about!

[kissablelips-desireslure-vol2]

THE CHADWICK JOURNALS (2019)

Directed By: Deondray Gossfield & Quincy LeNear Gossfield

Written By: Deondray Gossfield

JEMAR MICHAEL (as Oren)

&

SKYH BLACK (as Darnell)

[linghxr]

Why you should watch 乘风破浪 and 披荆斩棘 to learn Chinese

What are these shows?

Both 披荆斩棘 and 乘风破浪 follow the same basic format: 30+ celebrity contestants, mostly actors and singers ages 30+, form teams and compete in singing and dancing over several rounds. Viewers vote on their favorite performances and contestants, and 1-3 contestants are eliminated each round. The top contestants form a temporary "group" and appear on a follow-up reality show.

Why you should watch

1. Exposure to different accents

Contestants come from all over the Chinese-speaking world: Dongbei, Sichuan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even Malaysia. I can personally say that watching these shows has vastly improved my ability to understand the Hong Kong Mandarin accent.

2. Pop culture knowledge

Because the contestants are celebrities, you'll be introduced to dozens of famous actors, singers, etc. Also, you'll hear the many iconic songs that they cover. I've impressed several native speakers with my with knowledge of pop culture and music.

3. Branch out to new media

These shows serve as a gateway to Chinese music, movies, and TV. if you really like the contestants who are actors, you can check out their shows and movies. If you enjoy a certain song or like a contestant who's a singer, you can explore more music.

4. Casual and formal registers

You’ll get to hear casual, unscripted speech while watching the behind-the-scenes and rehearsal clips. But you’ll also get to hear more formal speech when they’re announcing rules and also from the MC who hosts the actual live performances.

5. Incredible talent

Also, you should watch for the awesome performances and general fun. I love seeing the contestants' friendships, and I’m also obsessed with the amazing sets. There are some incredibly talented performers on these shows, and I love getting to see them shine.

Where to watch

All seasons are free to watch on YouTube! Sometimes clips may be muted or missing, probably due to YouTube's restrictions. But the vast, vast majority is available, and when a clip is missing, you can usually do a separate search and find it. I also pay for a Mango TV subscription, which is $1.99 USD/month.

乘风破浪 full episode playlist links:

乘风破浪的姐姐1

乘风破浪的姐姐2

乘风破浪3

乘风2023

乘风2024

披荆斩棘 full episode playlist links:

披荆斩棘的哥哥1

披荆斩棘2

披荆斩棘3

披荆斩棘4

To help you get started, below is a YouTube playlist of my some of my favorite performances (5 per season, except for the most recent season of each). Cause why not! Also, below the cut I'll put more details along with direct links to my favorite performances.

And if you're a fellow fan emotionally preparing for the 披荆斩棘4 finale 🥲, feel free to message me and commiserate!

See similar posts: I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway) Tips for finding Chinese-language media you like

Sisters Who Make Waves

Chinese title: 乘风破浪的姐姐 (S1-2) / 乘风破浪 (S3) / 乘风 (S4-5) English title: Sisters Who Make Waves (S1-3) / Ride the Wind (S4-5) *I call it Sisters for short

This series is the original, having started in 2020. The focus was on female empowerment, particularly of women 30+. A lot of the celebrities had slowed down in their careers, and the show served as their reintroduction to audiences. While female empowerment is still a theme today, I do feel it has lessened in prominence.

Season 1

The original, iconic season. You can tell they had a limited budget and not a ton of space, but it doesn't detract at all thanks to the incredible talent and energy of the contestants. And they had no idea what a phenomenon the show was going to be! Many of my most rewatched performances come from the season.

得不到的爱情

大碗宽面

相爱后动物感伤

FLOW

新物种

Season 2

This season has a special place in my heart as the first one I watched! It's the only one I've seen twice (when it originally aired and rewatched with friends). Compared to season 1, you can definitely tell they had a bigger budget and started to refine the format. Also, some of my all-time favorite contestants are from this season.

现在不跳舞要干嘛

归零

快乐宝贝

给自己的歌

我

Season 3

This season was the first with the show's "modern" and fully-developed format, which remains to this day. For example, they started to include more complex sets and recruited more diverse contestants, such as dancers, an athlete, etc. Also, my favorite performance of the entire series, 雾里, is from this season.

雾里

梦中人

山海

孤独颂歌

有吗炒面

Season 4

This season was the first time I felt there wasn’t improvement over the previous season. I think the stage design took a step backward, and I didn't love the international focus. It was hard to identify my favorite performances because I didn't feel strongly about many. That being said, my friends and I still enjoyed this season.

从头

千里万里

下个，路口，见

归途有风

I'm Not Yours

Season 5

Though this season has already ended, I'm not done yet. I watch with friends, so we move at a slower pace. So far, it seems largely in line with season 4. I'll update this post after we finish.

Call Me By Fire

Chinese title: 披荆斩棘的哥哥 (S1) / 披荆斩棘 (S2-3) English title: Call Me By Fire *I call it Brothers as a nickname

A show about female empowerment gets a male spin off? Out of skepticism, I did not plan to check out this show when it premiered in 2021 (after Sisters S2). But at some point I changed my mind, mostly because I had to run out of other shows. Little did I know I would arguably become a more devoted fan of this show than the original!

Season 1

This season had too many iconic performances to count, and in particular, the Hong Kong contestants really took the world by storm. Due to scandals, they edited out 2 contestants (Huo Zun and Li Yundi), which admittedly does make for an awkward viewing experience at times, but you should totally watch anyway.

凄美地

MMA

飞云之下

达拉崩吧

如果还有明天

Season 2

Looking back, season 2 did not have as many stand out performances as season 1, but it does boast my favorite performances of the entire series, 新地球. It also features a fantastic group of contestants, probably my favorite overall cohort of the show.

新地球

袖手旁观

私人生活

理想

凤毛麟角

Season 3

This was the first season to air after I started watching, though I didn't watch it live because I was still on season 2. While it's probably impossible to top the iconic status of season 1, I think season 3 was an improvement over season 2 in terms of memorable performances. We also got the iconic 0713 (2007快乐男声全国13强) contestants.

行走的鱼

爱人错过

Joker

走麦田

有没有一首歌会让你想起我

Season 4

This season is sadly coming to an end, although I have not started the finale yet. I'll start this weekend and update this post in the future after I've had some time to gather my thoughts.

Now I have to go finish 披荆斩棘4 episode 11 so I can watch the finale. Bye!!!

[mewharley]

After rewatching Trolls World Tour, I just realized the relevance of the high five at the start of Trolls Band Together <3

It means they have a strong connection!

On the second movie he failed to talk with Poppy about their relationship and then she called him a friend. He got so caught up on that, that they failed to make a connection and having a good high five.

Failing miserably.

Just look at him, he feels so bad

Also I love how easy the confession was at the end

Just so casual

"and I love that we are different"

"And I love you Queen Poppy" the way he says it, so simple yet clear

"And I love you too Branch" and Poppy and her little smile, that was the smile she used to give Creek before the whole fall out, she´s now smitten with Branch :) and she loves him too, what else can you ask?

the love was always there, they just needed to have a better connection, you know, the whole thing where she wasn't actually listening to anybody because she was too focused trying to be a good queen

Also I love seeing Branch happy, it´s so tender

And they finally have their perfect high five!

Wait, did she hug him at the end? 🥺

I hadn´t noticed

I love their relationship, since the first movie and how it evolved

it´s just so tender and wholesome