#being an actor lol

[rifki16]

At 25:00, in Akasaka Pilot Episode

Photo credit: At 25:00, in Akasaka Twitter Promotional Account | https://twitter.com/25ji_akasakade/status/1781276637855883719?s=12

A very sweet vanilla cake with strawberries

Okay, so, the long anticipated live-action adaptation of the manga is finally here. And I’m absolutely here for it. I was very pissed off that when GagaOOLala said that the episode would air on April 18, they didn’t say that it would air on that date in Japan. Hence, now every Fridays, we will have a grand feast of TWO Japanese BL LA shows, instead of only one.

I have A LOT of thoughts about the Pilot Episode, so let’s get right to it !

Of course, SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!!

Make it for Vanilla Audience

As I have said in the last section of the manga review, I do not expect anything at all from the live-action show, in terms of how the hot scenes can be adapted. My beloved Tokyo in April is… is so far from being hot and sexy from which they originated, yet I still love them dearly. This pilot episode really set the tone, as to what I will expect from the series.

They did not have the scene where Asamiya and Shirasaki went out with the whole cast and had a Japanese-style afterwork hang after which one of the coworkers became black out drunk and needed to be escorted by one of the attendees. After which, Asamiya had a non-penetrative sex with Shirasaki at Shirasaki-san house, with no consent from Shirasaki. I think by not having this scene it’s very funny to me. Based on A Man Who Defies the World of BL, it’s a very common trope in BL that this black out drunk afterwork hang is used, hence kudos to the LA screenwriter and showrunners to have avoided that trope. This is also what’s bugging me. I think the LA show really wants to avoid a lot of unnecessary discussions about their work. In Living with Him, Kazuhito’s life altering, and according to the manga, disability-affecting injury was a cause of a sore subject and Kazuhito was not seen playing baseball at all afterwards. It seems like the production team doesn’t want to talk at all about disability in their main character. In this show, it was all dandy. Nothing of taboo happened. It was just Asami offering to be Shirasaki’s sex partner, and that’s it. I’m not advocating for a sexual assault scene, but what happened in Shirasaki’s apartment was quintessentially a way for us to know how “wild” Asami is and knowing his boundaries. Asami’s portrayal in the show was almost like an aloof cool guy. He seemed not to be involved at all with the cast or the production crew. The afterwork hang established that, how sociable Asami is. Asami seemed to play it cool with Shirasaki, despite the supposed burning ember that he has with Shirasaki. I’m not trying to tell people how to act with their love. My understanding of the plot logic from the manga is, Shirasaki found out that Asami liked him  Shirasaki needed a pointer on how to be a gay lover  Asami offered to be his lover, but Shirasaki refused because, one of the reasons is, he knew how Asami felt about him. I guess making it more vanilla gave them more options as to how to approach the Shirasaki asking Asami to be his sex partner.

When I watched Milk, after many attempts, and finally could watch the film fully. There was a scene where Harvey Milk was confronting the No campaigners for the Briggs’ initiative about the pamphlet that the campaigners were sending out to the voters. The pamphlet overly emphasized how the Briggs’ initiative intruded the privacy and human rights of the voters. Milk was, rightly imo, angry that the pamphlet did not mention at all whom the initiative was impacting most severely, the homosexuals. That’s what I felt the second most in the pilot episode. The reason why Shirasaki went to a gay bar, specifically, was because he did not know how gay men fall in love, have sex. The pilot episode really did not mention at all about gay love or gay sex. When Shirasaki eventually went to the gay bar, it was about how he doesn’t know how falling in love is in general. Asami never really teased Shirasaki about Shirasaki-san’s sex history with women, a scene which in my opinion really affirmed Shirasaki-san’s very apparent queerness and his internalized homophobia which made him unable to admit his joy in having sex with a man, with Asami. The omittance of the scene in the show really made me felt like the show was just about an actor really trying to method-act, whereas the manga is about an actor method-act while figuring himself out sexual-orientation wise.

They made the bar a popular gay bar, compared it to the quiet and almost very intimate one in the manga. I’ve never been to a gay bar, not even the one in Singapore, but I really thought that an intimate and quite gay bar would be a better venue for you to find an NSA sex partner, no? Knowing that the popular gay bar is filled with mostly popular cliques and usual customers. Wouldn’t a quiet gay bar be a more suited place for two celebrities to be undercover and method-act? Again, I’ve never been to a gay bar, but I just don’t think making Shota’s bar a popular gay bar is the right choice. It seems like the show just wanted some stereotypical image of a gay bar and plastered it in the show. Side note: Shota is not that androgynous in the show, not that I’m saying that I’m entitled to Shota’s androgyny, I just had hoped to see a gender nonconforming character in a Japanese BL show, besides the one in The End of the World with You. Also, Shota is nice in the show, compared to the one in the manga.

Shirasaki’s dignity.

I really love that the show actually has a class-struggle perspective. Shirasaki needed to be a server, because he had never got a gig in acting. This made it easier for the TV show to make Shirasaki to go to the gay bar because Shirasaki really doesn’t want to mess up his first ever TV gig, a big budget one, nonetheless. However, the problem with this characterization is that Shirasaki made really vulnerable to Asami. It seemed like Asami is high up in the clouds and Shirasaki is just some dirt particles that the clouds never bother to notice. I understand that the show wanted to make it vanilla, hence, why Asami actually asked first before their first sexual encounter. Hence, why Asami and Shirasaki were seen in the teaser for the second episode to go ON DATES? GO ON DATES? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This show is about a TV show production, probably very crunched on time and budget. WHERE ON GODS GREEN EARTH DID THEY FIND THE TIME TO GO ON DATES? You know what, sure, they become lovey-dovey lovers, go on dates and fall in love first even before they share a bed together, but it really shifts the dignity of Shirasaki.

It was such fun seeing Shirasaki demanding sex from Asami to make sure that Shirasaki-san’s acting prowess is bettered, the reason why the scene made sense in the manga is because Shirasaki had played in plays, smaller roles in TV shows, he knew what appreciation from the director meant. He had a standing in asking for sex because he’s not some amateur actor, he had done the job before, and having sex with Asami was the only way he knew that he can better his acting. Now that Shirasaki’s motivation became only not to be poor, his actions in asking sex from Asami from this point on becomes nothing more but desperation, however it’s just my opinion.

I really like it when Shirasaki acts not out of desperation but to actually horn his craft. The way the show portrayed Shirasaki really made me angry. He’s a proud man, with high dignity, hence why having sex with Asami really felt and seen really out of place for him. Maybe, I’m just down bad for Shirasaki so much.

Despite it all, I really enjoyed the pilot episode. The show was really easy to follow with their vanilla shift. It didn’t really have plot holes, despite making it vanilla. I’m glad that the managers of both Shirasaki and Asami were really present, unlike in the manga where they only emerge after the joint show of the two has become popular. If the show really wants to slow walk the pace, despite making the third volume a part of the show, they better make it right. I swear to Ra, I will metaphorically burn something if they don’t make the show a proper 12-episode-run show.

[anna-scribbles]

emma dupain cheng on the brain😽🎀

more:

[theabigailthorn]

"Good" Acting

i have a theory that a lot of people say acting is "good" when they're emotionally moved by it, and a lot of cishet white people have a lifelong habit of not listening or empathising when minoritised people speak, so minority actors get called "bad" even when they display some pretty fucking amazing technical skill

[tampire]

"Give me Coffee or give me Death"

[certifiedlibraryposts]

Protip to Libby users, if there are titles you're interested but none of your cards have it, make use of the Notify tag! Libby will tell your libraries there's interest in that title, and you'll get a notification if its added!

Your mileage may vary here, but I put a Notify tag on an audiobook yesterday and it became available today. I can't say for sure if it was all because of me or if there was other interest in the title and I just hopped on at the right time but I'm honestly amazed at the responsiveness there.

[rakiah]

SO 🙏 MUCH 🙏 FEELS 🙏 AND 🙏 YELLING 🙏

[mochela]

alll-mer and sulfur if they were girls

[thrilling-oneway]

when people infantilise emu it's literally a self report because if you had read like. any of her events + wms + her fes you'd know she's more of a businesswoman than a performer. you don't actually engage with the game's story do you

[hauntedorpheum]

I mean, we all, we all play a part. But you, It's like... It's like you like it

[addicted-to-the-knife]

I finally had the chance to watch the Boston panel.

and I'm starting to think that a lot of you either haven't watched it yourselves, or were so set on specific opinions you personally have, while also having clear expectations of what their answers will be, that with their answers (or what are talked about as their answers) made you so unhappy that now you're just bashing them; especially Hugh.

why, though? none of the things I've seen people complain about were actually said like that or fully implied. so... what? doesn't make sense to me why some of you are so upset about this panel. it was so much fun and just lighthearted entertainment. panels like that are the reason these things exist and are usually so much fun in the first place.

[wiihtigo]

non canon to casey official lore but what if she did get that son of a bitch

[fukutomichi]

Shimmer Lake (2017) directed by Oren Uziel Benjamin Walker as Zeke Sikes

[in-kyblogs]

Devil’s Minion hints - Part II // link to Part I

Part II Ep 8

- what to say of the whole ‘disregard’ debacle, well. Why do you have such an antagonistic relationship to the former house servant Daniel? What is it about him that makes you even more uncomfortable than Louis, the vampire you actually remember attacking you and almost killing you, does? Arguing as foreplay, as you say. Also clearly the memory wipe doesn’t totally erase feelings: he is angry at him even if he doesn’t remember the psychological torture, but at the same time there’s no fear. Only a need to rile Armand up. (Also Armand are you trying to look extra slutty for Daniel sitting like that? What are you doing with the unbuttoned shirts, really.)

- Mr. Molloy count: 3

- Armand is so sick and twisted btw for that little smirk when Daniel says he’s ‘a bright young reporter with a point of view’. No remorse in sight none. He’s like ‘yes you are. Do you remember who said that to you? Because I do’. My favourite sicko

- When Armand says that journalism is Daniel’s drug, wow he did really clock him. Have you seen that post about Daniel chasing an high from the adrenaline of interviewing dangerous people? Yeah. Armand really does understand him on an intimate level, like the comment in the season 2 finale also reveals. Probably too good an understanding for a superficial-I tortured you once-acquaintance. On the other hand torture sure is an intimate experience to share with someo[gunshot]

- the little wistful smile he has when he talks about ‘the boy we met in sf’.

- the way Armand can’t help but smile at Daniel’s sassy comments directed against him. Like he should want to kill him for the disrespect alone why does he seem almost fond of this insufferable human?

- I am so impressed with this episode by the way. Before seeing this season I was like ‘one hour of ww II Europe? Grim.’ I though I wouldn’t like this one and in the end it ended up being one of my favourite episodes. It’s really a character study and I loved that. Also great job at woveing in European politics (the soldiers saying ‘speak Russian’ and Emilia refusing and speaking romanian, the complex intermixing of cultures in Eastern Europe with the whole urss situation is a big thing we still see the effects of today). Usually I don’t trust at all US shows to talk about eu politics and history without making it usa centric in some way but they proved me wrong here. 9/10 episode all in all

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[goldlightsaber]

This is so good.

[c-kiddo]

(about cr2 rewatch again) i litrally love tmn so much i will frow up. theyre so good. the cast are so good at embodying them. they dont sound like people trying to be characters sm of the time they sound like just (weirdo) real people it makes me crazy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!