#but there's something extra funny about non-shippers looking at something and saying “yeah no that's gay frfr”

[rosemaryreality]

So like, either there are WAY more itafushi shippers than you would think in jjk reddit or that chapter really WAS that gay because

[oncloud999]

More ramblings and thoughts i need to write down

i might put down my thoughts since i don’t talk to anyone about this irl and they’re swirling in my head. 

let me preface this by saying i was a jungkook stan before i was a jikook supporter by a good year and so i obviously notice his interactions with all the members more than some interactions between other members. I also am not here to debunk anything since i’ve had these thoughts for a while and recent events may have triggered and sort of reaffirmed my thoughts more than anything else. also yes i’m also aware that what we see through a camera lens doesn’t always tell 100%of the story, but it certainly gives you SOME insight into what their relationship is like, esp in the behind the scenes footage. 

now lets start with everyone else and circle back to tae and kook. 

i know certain people like to say that jimin and junkook are like best bros and how can we think otherwise? but to me, there’s a difference. because if we want to see jungkook interacting with someone he considers a super duper close hyung, you need not look further than jhope. jhope dotes on jk like a baby even to this day (see BV4 where they’re in the car talking about snoring and Jhope jokingly says, “we’re playing down your snoring cos we think it’s cute cos you’re so cute cos you’re our maknae...”) he has also felt up jk’s boobs and has had his whole head shoved up JK’s shirt to check out his abs. so yes they’re physically close and jhope was the other member mentioned to have spend any time with jungkook during their break. makes sense cos they live in the same building complex but yeah. dudes are close. (jhope and jimin are also very damn close. esp because they’ve been roommates for years. but their dynamic is very different to jhope and jk. jhope i think sees jm as more of a brother in arms rather than a little brother if that makes sense...)

next is jin. they’re really like those bros that play fight constantly. they do it less now and they actually seem like they’re more genuinely brotherly than before. the recent cooking episode is interesting because i can’t think who kook would’ve picked up cooking from than jin... and maybe yoongi (but we’ll get to him). and it’s also funny to me that every time jin an jungkook are in a competitive team together, jin just keeps shouting jungkook’s name. for whatever reason. he clearly trusts jk a lot but he also sees him as a little brother who needs guidance. and back to BV4 where jungkook was complaining that he didn’t see anyone else ovr the break other than jimin and jhope. jin was like “ive tried to invite you, you little...” and then later on, after they’ve gone fishing with yoongi, jin said to jk “next time i invite you to fishing, you had better say yes, and i know you’re still going to say no few months from now...” sounds like he tried to invite jk to fishing (maybe with yg) and jk turned him down and maybe didn’t get another invite. LOL

yoongi... i have a hard time figuring out their relationship. Yoongi has a HUGE soft spot for JK, but to me, their relationship hasn’t really progressed all that much. like JK definitely admires yoongi for his work and as a person, but to this date, he still talks about the lamb skewers with yoongi, which was years ago... which maybe tells me that that was the highlight of their (more personal, one on one relationship) up till now. and when YG and JK went out together during BV3, they went and had irish bomb... and it was... awks. JK likes to learn from YG but i think he doesn’t have that comfort he feels with some of the others. i think it makes sense based on their personality. Yoongi is kind of introverted and likes to keep to himself. he liked jin as a roommate because he’s quiet (from memory...) and he doesn’t necessarily put himself out there to show his emotions even though he cares a lot (see he apparently wrote a long ass text to both tae and kook declaring his love for them). and jk is shy by nature and i think if he doesn’t see someone reaching out to him to be friends, he won’t really feel comfortable reaching out either. (on a sidenote, i think yoongi and jin are much closer than people probably give them credit for. they’re less popular with shipping, maybe) 

Namjoon is JK’s role model in many ways. he has qualities that jk wants, i.e. his brain and probably his english. but NJ is a very professional dude as well. while he loves and cares for all his members, i feel like he’s also not as free to express himself as some others and i’m sure being the leader and the bridge between management and the team puts extra pressure on him to maintain a certain boundary. but JK admires the shit out of him. 

Taehyung and JK used to be really close, they played rough with each other and enjoyed pranking people together. but somehwere along the way, maybe because of growing up, maybe because of certain things that happened, they drifted. i don’t know how people can’t see this. yes they’re still very friendly, esp in group settings, but they don’t seem to interact much outside of group settings anymore. idk why, but when jk is with jm, they tend to baby tae a bit together. they think he’s cute together and they like playing with him. but when jk is with tae by himself, it becomes harder to note that playfulness. there have been more jk and tae “moments” since end of last year and while it’s good to see, it’s also interesting to note they tend to keep a distances still. even the cuddle they had during gda, it looked really... uncomfortable because tae’s head was essentially resting on jk’s chin and jk had to lift his head to not get in the way. (note i wasn’t a shipper when this happened and i still remember those were my thoughts). the recent run bts cooking episode and the vlive were interesting. for two people who have known each other for 7 years and just spent essentially 1.5 hours on camera, there was decidedly a lack of interactions. some people will say it’s because they were concentrating on doing other tasks. true, but so was minimoni and they interacted far more during their episode. jhope and namjoon were also doing something artsy and they had no trouble maintaining a comfortable atmosphere. now i think a large part of the vlive being so awks was because it was jk’s first non group vlive in like a year and i can understand he’s nervous because he’s been through a lot of shit in the last six months or so and we know that some fans just have no boundaries. like things you don’t say to your friends... don’t say them to the idols. it’s that simple. and tae has previously said he gets awkward on vlive by himself cos he doesn’t know what to say. so yeah they’re both quiet for their own reasons. but for like a while it looks like they were sitting faced away from each other. that’s super weird. what am i saying? are they still friends? most definitely. are they still close? sure. are they as close as they used to be? no... I think tae’s genuine 4D personality (which is rare, a lot of people pretend to be 4D, but i think Tae actually is that quirky) no longer mashes well with jungkook’s quieter adult personality i guess. 

i’m not going to write about jimin and jungkook because i’ve written about them a lot already... they’re close. and not the same close as jimin with tae or jungkook with jhope. they’re that little bit extra and that little bit more intimate. jk’s random thought of the day which made him smile was apparently about something that jimin said 2 or 3 years ago, which he still thinks is hilarious. 

[i-can-get-extra-with-my-ships]

A Slice Of My Love. Chapter 5. What Did I Miss Last Night?

Hello children!! I am sitting at the kitchen table today. Now, if the title didn’t tell you who’s POV it is then you’re either new, not paying attention, or just can’t take a hint.

Also, because I had no clue as to what I wanted to happen at the end of chapter 4 this is a le time skip to the next morning.

Parings: This whole book is the glasses gays show people, platonic Prinxiety.

Tw: Cursing, (I mean what did you expect. It’s normal for my writing to be littered with curses), Pat and Lo being shippers, the boop™ my own personal opinions shoved in through Roman, Roman being a shipper, floof. (Or fluff for those who are new here.)

Roman’s POV

----

I woke up this morning feeling great. I had already determined that today was going to be an amazing and productive day.

Once I had made it downstairs, I turned against my original opinion on today.

Patton, Logan, and Virgil were sitting at the kitchen table, there was tension in the air, so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Very unusual. 

Logan and Patton were sitting at one end of the table holding hands. They were staring at Virgil and looked like they were about to give a parental lecture of some kind. Their expressions matched. Concern, and anger.

Oh damn. Virgil must’ve done something really bad.

I don’t think my presence had been made known. I cleared my throat, which alone caused everyone to look at me.

“Ahh. It appears that I have missed some crucial information. Care to tell me what’s going on?”

Patton let go of Logan’s hand, sighed, and then pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I forgot that Roman wasn’t awake during last night’s events. Both of you,” He gave both Logan and Virgil the dad look™. “Shut up and don’t interrupt me. Especially you Virgil.”

Oh god. Patton told them to shut up. Shit must’ve went down last night.

“Ok. So at like 2:45 ish I heard someone’s bedroom door open. I didn’t want to get up, but you know me, I had to check and see who it was. It turns out that it was Virge. He was making coffee. I went to take the cup away from him, but he looked like death and like he hadn’t slept in days.”

I looked at Virgil in surprise. He looked back. We locked eyes for less than a second before he averted his eyes to the counter.

Patton pinched the bridge of his nose once more. He started mumbling. I believe he said “I love my dark strange son” a good 200 times in the span of about 30 seconds. Logan started to rub Patton’s shoulders.

“Goodness! How much did I miss last night?”

Logan looked up at me with a sympathetic look. “A lot.”

Once Patton finished his mumbling he looked up at me once more. “Then I was telling him how unhealthy it was and how he needed to sleep. You know. Standard serious dad mode. He wasn’t listening to me. Then he said that there was a person sitting on the counter when there was only the bag of bread. I went upstairs to get Logan’s help. Then we came downstairs to see a piece of bread on the couch and Virgil quoting that one musical that you two quote together sometimes.”

I stood there trying to figure out which musical Patton was speaking of. I quote several musicals with Virgil.

“Virgil, which one of our musicals is he speaking of?”

He tried to turn his head away from me further. It wasn’t possible, but he tried anyway.

“Patton, do you remember what Virgil said, by any chance?”

Pat looked at Lo with pleading eyes.

“Virgil said, if I’m not mistaken, ‘Don’t just quote Heathers at me and then walk away’ or something similar.”

I over-dramatically put my hand over my heart and cried out.

“VIRGIL!! How dare you quote Heathers without me!! How in God’s name did you even quote Heathers without your JD?”

The whole spectacle was supposed to be a joke to lighten the mood. However, I could tell that it was not taken that way.

Virgil had tensed up and looked at me very guiltily. My heart broke at that sight. I practically ran over to him and hugged him.

“Look, Virge, I was being overly dramatic and failed at being funny. I’m sorry.”

I pulled away from the hug, Virge still looked guilty, but not as guilty as before so it was an improvement.

I stood up to go get breakfast when I saw Patton clinging onto Logan’s arm. He looked like he was trying to suppress a squeal. Logan looked rather amused. I rolled my eyes and went to go get food.

“Padre, would you be so kind as to continue with last night's events? If it isn’t too much trouble, of course.” I wanted to move away from the subject that Patton was about to bring up.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. Then Virgil said that there wasn’t a piece of bread sitting on the couch and that there was a guy sitting there.” Patton turned to his boyfriend. “Logan, am I forgetting anything?”

Logan thought for a moment. “Well, there is a piece of information that you forgot Patton. But I’m not too sure that it is necessary to the recap of last night’s events. 

Did I care if it was 100% necessary? No. No, I did not. 

“Logan, just tell me. I don’t care if it’s all that important. I just need to know what went down whilst I was sleeping.”

Logan hesitated for only a second or two. “If you so insist, Roman. Now, if I’m not mistaken, Virgil said that the supposed ‘guy’ that was sitting there’s name was Alonso.”

I stood there trying to fully comprehend what I had just heard.

I just turned around and asked Virgil a simple question.

“Virge, you ok buddy?”

He looked at me like I was the insane one then responded. “Like I told Patton last night, I’m never okay.”

I looked at Pat. He looked like he was about to blow a fuse.

“I WILL PHYSICALLY FIGHT YOU IF YOU KEEP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!!!” Pat was talking as if Virgil was from a different planet. Slowly annunciating each syllable.

Logan put an arm around Patton’s shoulders and with his other hand he lifted his chin up.

“Someone sounds like they still need more sleep.”

“No, I don’t!! I need to worry about my kiddo.” Patton yawned.

I snickered, That didn’t help your case much.

“Patton, if Freakonomic is condoning extra sleeping then, you need to sleep.”

Virgil didn’t look up from staring at the counter, he just joined our conversation.

“Yeah, I’m with Princey and Lo on this one.” He didn’t look at anyone of us. He just kept staring at the counter.

I really shouldn’t have said what I did, but I couldn’t stop myself before I said it.

“Hypocrites say what?” As always, Virgil fell for it.

“What?”

Patton and Logan gave me the look™. At the same time too!! If Patton is like our dad, then Logan is our mom. CHANGE MY MIND!! 

They’re so cute together!! Have I ever mentioned how much I ship them?

You realize that you’re about to get lectured right?

Oh right!! 

I always need to pull myself out of a shipper train of thought.

“Umm, Logan! Doesn’t Patton need more sleep?”

“Ahh yes. He does. Come on Pattoncake. We need to get you,” He booped Patton’s nose “to bed.”

That right there, ladies, lords, and non-binary royalty is Patton’s weakness. The boop™.

“Fine!” he mumbled in a failed attempt to be mad at the fact that he was being sentenced to bed.

What can I say? The boop™. It works wonders.

Logan walked Patton up the stairs. I heard a door, presumably Patton’s, open and close. I expected that the sound of Logan coming back downstairs would follow. It didn’t.

Perfect!!

Now I have time alone with Virgil. To get to the bottom of this Alonso? Was that the name? I think it was. 

The Alonso thing.

Now. How do I bring up this delicate subject?

“You wanna ask me about Alonso, don’t you?”

Well, there we go. That is one less thing to worry about. 

Virge, you’re my best friend and all, but you just interrupted my train of thought. (Interrupted By The Storm, anyone? Roman can’t stop being interrupted. I am so sorry I’ll go now) 

Now. How do I ask about this delicate subject without offending the emo nightmare?

----

Ok. Let me just say. I FUCKEN LOVE WRITING ROMAN’S POV!!! It gives my extra bitch self a chance to be an extra bitch without being considered extra!! 

This chapter was sooo much fun to write!! I hope it was worth the wait. (I’m still incredibly sorry for making you guys wait so long.)

I was going to end at “You wanna ask me about Alonso, don’t you?” but, but, but, I had to end the chapter with a good place to start the next.

WHO THE FUCK AM I KIDDING? I’m gonna go back and start the next chapter slightly before “You wanna ask me about Alonso, don’t you?”.

I mean… the ending I gave this chapter gave me the chance to bring up Interrupted By The Storm. And yes, the extra bitch ending was necessary. I wrote this whole chapter with my extra bitch. I had to write the end with the extra bitch too. 

(Side note, this chapter is also over 4 pages long on google docs.)

(Side note take 2, I didn’t have to do much editing for this chapter. I’m proud of myself)

(Side note take 3, I don’t care that at the moment it’s 8:03pm. At least where I live)

                          The random internet human who fails at writing,

                                         Em

----

Taglist, please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed: @winterswishing-reblogs @thetomorrowshow @iixclementine @just-some-gt-trash 

[mattandsaraproductions]

A Rant, or, problems with Supergirl season 2

Why I’m writing this I’m sure I don’t know, since thoughtful discussion seems never to occur on this website. But I think lack of discussion is terrible, so here’s me, wading into the morass of shipping (specifically, regarding Supergirl season 2, yay).

Firstly, you can like something and recognize it’s problematic. I suppose this isn’t too obvious of a point, or I wouldn’t be writing this whole thing. There exists a block list, of all the damn things, for anyone saying anything construed as anti-karamel. That’s ridiculous. I’m not claiming that everyone’s points are equally well-expressed, but there are problems with the way Kara and Mon-El’s relationship is written. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy watching them. I’m not saying you shouldn’t like their relationship. I’m saying you shouldn’t ignore the problematic tropes and toxic relationship norms at play merely because you ship them. Those are two different things.

My problem with the show is therefore largely extra-diagetic. That is, I think the writers err by presenting as unproblematic relationship norms that are in fact toxic. I have nothing against Mon-El as a character, except that his name should be Lar-Gand (but that’s another writing fail, and let’s leave it alone). So the “wah wah you hate the hot dude” – yeah, this is why I detest shipping. Also, ���supercorp” isn’t canon either, so let me piss off the entirety of tumblr while I’m at it.

Still here? Let’s talk about Monday’s episode. The lesson that Kara is supposed to learn from Alex and Winn (and the power of musicals) is something like, “You should forgive him, I’m sure he has good reason for lying to you.” This fails for two reasons: 

1. As somebody who’s written a little bit on forgiveness (check out More Doctor Who and Philosophy for my essay on self-forgiveness in “Day of the Doctor.” Shameless plug, huzzah!), I can’t recall that much disagreement there is in the literature about owing someone forgiveness. Probably some philosophers do think that there comes a time when forgiveness is a duty, but that’s a minority opinion. Forgiveness is almost always seen as supererogatory. It’s not a duty; it’s above any beyond anything you ought to do for someone. So forgiveness isn’t something you owe to someone. Even someone who’s done far worse things to me than Mon-El has done to Kara, and redeemed himself far better, would not deserve my forgiveness. Why? Simply because forgiveness is not a matter of duty or desert. So it’s not that Mon-El doesn’t deserve forgiveness – It’s that he cannot deserve forgiveness, because that’s not how forgiveness works.

2. This sort of advice is gaslighting. It refuses to acknowledge the validity of Kara’s feelings, being hurt by what has happened, and angry at Mon-El. The writing does not let Alex or Winn accept Kara’s feelings, instead, the characters are subtlety written as telling her that she is wrong to feel this way, that there’s something about the situation she doesn’t understand, and that she would feel differently if she saw things “correctly.” No, none of this is explicit. But compare the scenes we get with someone saying, “You’re angry at him for lying and sad about breaking up with him? Yeah, it sucks. Here, have a donut.”

So is this abusive? I don’t think that’s a well-formed question when asking about the writing. In the real world, is stuff like this part of a system of relationship norms where women are supposed to accept men’s bad behavior? Yes. Does it contribute to a lack of self-reflection on the part of people in abusive relationships? Yes. Does watching fictional characters go through this teach women and girls watching to accept these sorts of things in their own lives? Yes.

The rebuttal from Karamel shippers is about how Mon-El grew up as prince of an awful place (a society where the queen laughs at things like treating people as people), and he’s learning how to be a better person (how to be a hero, even). Now, I think the characters are underwritten. I don’t know if we’re supposed to think Mon-El had problems with the system back on Daxam, if he’s reconsidering everything now that he’s on Earth, or if he’s faking being a better person to get into Kara’s pants. Any of those would be a likely scenario. Really, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, because it is not Kara’s job to help him along that path.

If he wants to be a hero, or redeem himself, or even just do better, it’s on him to self-correct. His every screw-up thus far has led to Kara dragging Mon-El back on the path. That isn’t her job. Have him go to Metropolis and shadow Clark for a while. Have him thrown into the future and train with the Legion. It’s not that I don’t expect people to see this as normal. Women are expected to do most all the emotional labor in a relationship, so of course people are going to see this as normal. Television reflects our lives, and in turn our lives are shaped by storytelling tropes. But our lives, and the stories we tell, are poisoned by sexist norms that tell us how people are supposed to act. Is Supergirl showing us these norms at play in the characters’ lives, as a way to inoculate us in real life?

Well, no. I have no faith these writers are aware of what they are doing. If this were written to teach, to show how these sexist relationship norms function, and that their subtle insidiousness can infect the relationships even of the Maid of Might herself, that would be one thing. But these are the showrunners who’ve given us Arrow season 3 and nonsensical time travel shenanigans in The Flash. They are not writing a complex show here. They aren’t capable of it.

No, what the writers are doing is writing relationships the way they now how. And what they know is the way relationships function both on television and in real life. On television, where complex functional relationships between adults is non-existent, instead giving us romance that lurches from one drama to the next. And in real life, where women are expected to do the lion’s share of emotional labour in romantic relationships, aren’t supposed to introspect, and are supposed to be forgiving to their male partners’ every failure.

That’s why, for example, they didn’t write that Valentine’s Day episode to show us how stupid Mon-El’s jealousy was and how his actions are the exact opposite of what someone who likes somebody else should do in that situation. No, we were just supposed to accept that the metaphorical dick-measuring between him and Mxy is what any guy in that situation would do. It’s also the reason I stopped watching Buffy halfway through season 1, because the writing wasn’t presenting Xander as someone whose behaviour needed to be called out as misogynistic crap; we were supposed to find it funny, typical guy stuff. Is this sort of behavior normal? Sure. But it’s not a fact of the universe that things are this way. It’s not because of gravity; it’s because of sexism.

I loved how in season 1, being angry didn’t negate Kara being Supergirl. It was such a breath of fresh air compared to the moronic New-52 comics (a Red Lantern, seriously?!). It served to flesh out the character as her own person (her anger being an expression of survivor’s guilt), instead of the gender-swapped Clark they started with. It’s apparently a bridge too far, though, to allow her to be angry at her boyfriend for lying about his past and ignoring her instructions in the field, at least for more than an episode at a time. Lately, however, it seems like all the characters, and Kara especially, do not have inner lives. They act, but they seem incapable of questioning their own motives and desires. I have no idea why she and Mon-El like each other, aside from “straight white people.” It’s not that I don’t buy that this is psychologically realistic. I know it is; I’ve seen friends go through this, and in more straightforwardly abusive relationships besides. People can be drawn to each other, and be stuck in a cycle of breaking up and getting back together. It isn’t healthy, but it happens. 

But this is Supergirl, for pity’s sake. I don’t want realism. I want someone we can look up to. That has always been the point of these characters. A better show, with better writers, would be able to deliver a Kara in relationships still being the emotional and psychological center of the show. Between the CW, the writing staff, and sexism, there’s no chance of that.

TL;DR – I don’t give a rat’s ass about Mon-El. I care about analyzing and ending oppressive social norms that prevent people from living well.

Maybe if I keep punching real hard, something will break. It always works in comics.

[manoharis]

A Year in Review: Telugu Movies!

You can’t pay me to watch these (aka watch me roast them in 10 words or less)

Dictator - a Bala Krishna movie without animals in the title!

Krishnashtami - wyd Sunil.

Terror - the title aptly describes my feelings about this movie.

Guntur Talkies - lets just not. more like gun-to-ur head after watching this.

Attack - this wins for having a director and actor that Idc about!

Edo Raakam Ado Raakam - edho raakamaina torture.

Thikka - ee cinema choosaka vacchedi adhe

Jaguar -  just when you’ve thought twood’s exhausted the possible feline comparisions

I really really dont care:  Savitri, Raja Cheyyi Vesthe, Abbayitho Ammayi, Killing Veerappan, Express Raja, Naruda Donoruda, Hyper, Speedunodu, Garam, Nayaki

Nenu Sailaja -I had a lot of expectations for this movie because it was said to be “fresh” but there was really nothing new here. I loved Ram’s look, some of the comedy and most of the songs. Worth a watch but nothing ground-breaking. 

Nannaku Prematho -  A for effort? I just couldn’t connect to the film because I felt like the emotion was kind of artificial and didn’t really pull me in. I couldn’t get behind a lot of the “logic” in this film. Also there disruptive bgm in every scene which made it really hard to focus on the film. 

Soggade Chinni Nayana - I feel like this movie was targeted towards middle aged aunties lol. I love Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishna but there were one too many scenes where I was hiding my face from embarrassment. On the plus side, all the sarees in the movie were gorgeous !

Lacchimdeviki O Lekkundi - messy because of all the back and forth plot twists. Horror comedy is literally my least favorite genre so I didn’t like this.

Seethamma Andalu Ramaya Sutralu - below average; I don’t have much to say about this. If I hadn’t watched it, this would belong in the ‘I really don’t care’ list.

Krishnagadi Veera Prema Gaadha - I think I was drowsy when watching this (not because of the movie) so I honestly don’t remember anything but the beginning portion which was really funny. I need to rewatch this.

Malupu - I always love a good thriller but it could’ve been better. Aadhi Pinnisetty’s voice tho !!

Kshanam - FAVE !!! This was so good! again always down for a good thriller. Super gripping and just the right pace. I loved how in this the love story was relevant to the script. It was very well written, acted, and taken as well in terms of technicalities. I can definitely see it getting awards next year.

Kalyana Vaibhogame - The first half was loud and messy which made me almost stop watching it. With a premise like this, the story is extremely predictable, as in you knew the lead pair would fall in love eventually, it was just a matter of when. I thought the second half was pretty cute though.

Shourya – I know this is biased of me but I can’t remember the last movie of the Manchu brothers that I’ve seen because the kind of movies they make are just so not my type. However, when this movie came out I did hear some positive talk for it on twitter. But then it wasn’t talked about at all after like a week? So I’m not exactly sure how successful it was. I may watch it eventually but I’m not dying to see it lol

Run- This was the remake of Neram by Sundeep Kishan (side note: I really like Sundeep, so I was annoyed that he was doing a remake). I didn’t hear much about this either after the first week so I don’t think it did that well. However, I do want to watch it because I’ve been trying to watch Neram since forever but I could never find it with subtitles so I guess this is my chance to watch it, but a lesser version ofc. Although one of the main reasons I wanted to watch was for Nivin and Nazriya so this doesn’t really do much more me lmao

Oopiri – I haven’t seen the original so I really liked this! S/o to Nagarjuna for realizing fairly quickly that its time for him to more age appropriate roles (take notes @ chiranjeevi). This is why the Akkineni’s are my fave! (my bias is showing so much in this post but do I really care). anyways, I loved the chemistry between Karthi and Nagarjuna cause lbr their bromance was the real love story in this. Shriya’s appearance made the childhood shipper in me super happy. Overall, an enjoyable film with some great performances. 

Sardaar Gabbar Singh – The amount of hype this movie had, jfc. Tbh I don’t have anything major against Pawan Kalyan. He’s just not one of my favorites, and ngl I liked him in the early 2000s phase (i.e. before Gabbar Singh which is when his fans went to piccha peaks). His fan base is literally one of the worst. I just think they’re super extra and very disrespectful, esp at audio launches. So yes, I was happy that it flopped because one it put the pk fans in their place who were hyping this to no end. Also he wrote the story and screenplay for this and reading some reviews about that gave me life lmao. If you want to hear something good about this movie, Kajal looks stunning in all her princess-y clothes and a few of the songs are pretty good. 

Sarrainodu – I actually haven’t seen this yet but I do want to. Here I go being biased again lol. If this starred anyone I didn’t care for, I would have no interest in this movie but because it’s the fave, Allu Arjun, I have to watch it. I like a lot of the video songs and the music actually grew on me when I was forced to listen to it A LOT in India over the summer. Also he looks hella good, I’m sold, bye. 

Supreme – Ok this movie was huge in India over the summer. Everyone loved it and ngl I used the phrase “its amazing zing zing” about a thousand times among my cousins without even having seen it. I tried watching it once I got back and it was just too much loud comedy for me to handle and I never finished it. 

Brahmotsavam – oh lord. TOO SOON. Jk, I’m over it. Easily the biggest disappointment of 2016 in terms of what was promised and what was delivered. I literally followed this movie since it was even rumored to be happening because Mahesh and Sreekanth Addala. Then Mickey J Meyer was brought on and then Samantha and I was just so hyped. I think the fact that I was dying to watch this in theaters and then I didn’t even want to watch it once it was online, says a lot. I was just really shocked that everyone, fans and non-fans alike panned it especially when it involved sooo many people. The second hand embarrassment is too real. But I did eventually watch it and what the actual hell. There was literally no story, no coherence, and way too many irrelevant characters. Mahesh has a pattern of delivering blockbusters after massive flops so here’s hoping the best for his next!

A…Aa: I have so many feelings about this movie. Trivikram is one of my most favorite directors/writers and has been for a long time. With Attarintiki Daredi, I was pretty disappointed that he went full on commercial and I thought he lost some of his touch. That changed a bit with Son of Satyamurthy (but I feel like a majority of the reason that I liked that movie is bc of Allu Arjun lol). But yeah anyway, A…Aa is still a very commercial movie, its not in any way niche. However, I think Trivikram finally struck the balance of substance and commerciality which made it an entertaining movie while also leaving you with something to think about. The story was actually very simple and something that’s definitely been done before, but the screenplay had Trivikram’s name all over it. It was apparent in every single dialogue. He also pulled out some spectacular performances that were subdued but well done. I remember Samantha saying in an interview that because this is Trivikram’s third movie with her, he knows when she’s reusing an expression which forced her to improve her performance. When the movie was announced, I was kind of disappointed that Nithiin was in it because he’s never been a favorite of mine but I fell in love with him after this. I think in a lot of his movies he tries to do the typical commercial hero act and its obvious that he borrows heavily from Pawan Kalyan’s style. But in this his characterization was very subdued and painted him as  a common guy which made him a lot more likable. It was also easier to ship the lead pair because the star aura tends to overshadow the chemistry but here I was really able to see the characters instead of the actors behind them. I just wished the story was more unique but otherwise a really good movie!

Okka Ammayi Thappa - Sundeep really needs to promote his movies more because they always seem to go under the radar. I was actually really excited for this because Sundeep & Nithya as the lead pair. I’m pretty sure its one of those movies that takes place in the span of a single day which I love bc if you can stretch a day into a full film, its gotta be one hell of a day. Not sure if this was a hit or not but I definitely want to check it out once its online.

Gentleman – (Spoiler Free). This was pretty good! A nice balance of romance and suspense. The story was intriguing and the performances were well done. I didn’t like the comedy though. The situational humor was fine but I hated the comedy track and I felt like it made the movie so much slower than it needed to be.

Oka Manasu - I was so hyped for this cause I love Naga Shourya and Niharika but apparently this was very slow and boring. I hope this doesn’t discourage Niharika from doing more movies because tollywood really needs some actual telugu actresses. (Side Note: Allu Arjun’s speech at this movie’s audio launch !! He basically called out the PK fans in a long 10 mins lecture and it gave me lifeee)

Pelli Choopulu - FAVE!!! Truly a new age rom com. I watched this in a theater in India and I loved it! The story was fresh, engaging, and hilarious. I loved how the characters were very realistic and reflective of actual youth and not hero-like at all. Also s/o for the strong female characterization !! You go Chitra! I think it did an amazing job of combining comedy, romance, social issues, and emotion into a very believable and enjoyable film. And not to forget the music which is so so good. Also, I’m gonna quote this movie in my grave. 

Manamantha - I looove movies that have multiple inter-related stories. The four characters and their respective stories were written well with each character tackling a unique situation. Overall, I liked it, but it definitely could have been better.

Srirasthu Subhamastu - I watched this in India and it was nice to see it on the big screen because the best part of this movie was the grandeur of production. Starring in a movie produced by your father clearly has its perks. I don’t really care about Allu Sirish but he’s still pretty new so to be fair he was pretty good in this. The story is very very routine and predictable but I remember liking the dialogues

Babu Bangaram - I don’t think this was a hit? But fiiinally, Venky in a movie that’s not a remake, which ofc didn’t last long cause his next is a remake smh. 

Janatha Garage - This movie was apparently the biggest hit of 2016 in terms of box office and imo its not deserving. The trailer for this movie made it seem really good but it was a disappointment in the end. The thing with Koratala Siva’s movies is that he always has a good social message but then commercializes it way too much. I understand what he’s trying to do but I wish he’d cut down on the violence and focus on the actual issue. This couldve been a really amazing movie about environmentalism but it turned into something really routine. Im also annoyed that a stellar cast of NTR, Mohanlal, Samantha, and Nithya was wasted on such a mediocre movie.

Jo Achyutananda - This was pretty good. As per the director’s style, it was very simple with life-like characters. The story was very interesting but I thought it was pretty anti-climactic and definitely could have been taken to another level. S/o for Nani’s cameo towards the end which sadly was the only male eye candy (sorrynotsorry).

Majnu -  Even though this is Nani’s movie and I usually have high expectations for his movies, I didn’t expect much from this. The movie didn’t offer anything spectacular. The plot started off pretty interesting but then went the routine rom- com path. It gets a fair share of laughs and the music is fabulous but otherwise underwhelming.

Abhinetri - I haven’t seen this yet and I don’t really care tbh but I’ll probably watch it eventually.

Mana Oori Ramayanam - This seems really interesting from the trailer. Definitely a niche film and I don’t think it did well commercially but I want to see it.

Premam - What do I say about this that won’t get me hate lmao. I haven’t seen this yet but it received pretty good reviews as well as commercial success. I don’t support remakes ofc but I know I’ll end up watching this eventually. I’m glad that Naga Chaitanya is back on track again ?

Saahasam Swasaga Saagipo - I really want to watch this because romance + thriller is my faaave. I don’t think this was that big of a hit but Im still excited to see it. The album is amazing and I assume the bgm will be as well. Also s/o for Naga Chaitanya’s look in this movie which is his best yet imo. Is it just me or has he become so much more attractive now that he’s unavaible lol.

Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada - I haven’t seen this yet, but heard that it was really good! Seems like another Karthikeya-type movie? Who would’ve guessed that Nikhil would be most successful actor from the Happy Days gang (besides tamanna ofc).

Jayammbu Nishchayambu Raa - same as above ^, haven’t seen, heard it was good.Other than that, I’m glad a small film got acclaim.

Dhruva - How much credit can you give to a remake ? I haven’t seen this or the original but I know I’ll probably like it. 

Overall I think 2016 was a pretty good year for movies with many of the successes coming from small budget films which seems to be an increasing trend in Tollywood. The fact that Sardaar Gabbar Singh and Brahmotsavam were total box office disasters even though they starred arguably the two biggest stars in TFI shows that the majority of audiences crave content over star power which I’m all here for!