#but these two had ridic chemistry

[gizkasparadise]

fml i just finished ep 11 and i think xiang liu & xiao liu are my favorite ship. because:

shared traumatic childhoods spent in captivity ( 🎵 coming out of my cage and ive been doing just fine 🎵)

"the child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort" is such a fucked up but interesting dynamic they got going on

it reminds me of the vibes i was going for when i wrote a fic called start a war 92840328 years ago -- two immortals, both fatigued and lonely, handling it in very different ways, but the other is the only one who really Gets what they're going through so a type of unique companionship is formed

walk on water date? okay. full moon? okay. handholding? okay okay okay

UNDERWATER KISS im a sucker for it every tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime

17 hasn't had as much screen time in the last few eps lmfao sometimes i really am that fickle

the chemistry/UST is ridic. that bath scene?? OKAY. her force-bonded cousin being like "hey maybe dont be horny when you're dying?" after he felt XL bite her? OKAY.

look i know it's toxic sometimes i just crave the mess of it all

[mermaidsirennikita]

Thoughts on the Golden Globe winners?

I'm really annoyed that Charles Melton and Past Lives lost their categories. Charles easily gave one of the best performances of the year (RDJ, in contrast, gave one of the most "he is desperate for an Oscar and overdoing it" performances.... I mean, really, he was outdone by Bradley Cooper more than anyone) and Past Lives had such a beautiful, introspective tone, script, everything. I can see why it was beaten out in certain categories, but Anatomy of a Fall beating it out otherwise... Nah.

I also find it interesting that both losses involved Asian creatives.

So happy for Lily Gladstone and Cillian, I really believe in those wins. Although the direct of The Holdovers cats a pall over the movie (I didn't realize he had accusations against him when I watched the movie, and though I don't think it should be a major awards contender, I thought it was really sweet and the performances were pretty much uniformly strong) I'm thrilled for Da'Vine. She was so, so good and gave an anchoring performance.

I haven't seen Poor Things yet but I'm a fan of the Yorgos/Tony McNamara team, and it sounds right up my alley. I'm not mad at Emma winning that award. Yorgos and Tony bring out the best in her. But that needs to be it, because Lily is otherwise THE ONE. Her speech was so moving. I also really like the way Leo has been taking a step back for her to be showcased this season. He's got... his issues... but I'd love to see them perform together again. They have a very natural chemistry on and offscreen. Like, maybe we could see them in something mildly less dark together lol (big ask of Leo, I know).

Succession deservers everything it got. I honestly think Jeremy and Kieran gave equally strong performances, but I adore Kieran's talent and I really wanted him to win this year. I hope he repeats it at the Emmys. Sarah Snook supremacy. Matty Mac is always amazing and deserving. Let's gooooo.

Musical/Comedy category remains ridic, especially in TV. Jeremy Allen White is someone where I'm like... aware of his talent, though, so I'm not mad when he wins. Also, I'll be frank, the Calvin Klein ad convinced me that he deserves.

Surprised by Debicki because of the low quality script but she was the one light of those last two seasons and gave a uniformly strong performance. She really did a great job with capturing Diana's mannerisms and voice.

I honestly don't need Oppenheimer and Nolan getting all the awards it has. Killers of the Flower Moon was a much stronger film, to me. Like, I think Oppenheimer is one of Nolan's stronger movies. I like Oppenheimer. KOTFM is a totally different level. Aside from Cillian, I found the performances way stronger (I mean, we really need to stop pretending that Emily Blunt was good in that movie--I like Emily, but Jesus), the visual sensibility was less bOMBASTIC but more beautiful imo, and Scorsese did the thing.

[thisbluespirit]

Endless list of ships: Demelza Carne/Ross Poldark (BBC 1975-1977).

“It won’t be forever.  Nothing is forever.  Take it while we can.  Live it.  Love it.  Laugh it.  Take whatever life gives and call it ours.  What danger, what chance, what love, what happiness.” // “I’m happy now.”

[mautadite]

september book round up

17 books this month! almost done with my goal for the year, pretty excited about that. don’t know what i’ll concentrate on after i am... probably more schmoopy romance lol. my job broke my contract for the month so i’ll be home for a while with lots of time to read hopefully. or listen, i should say. all of these (other than kaiju maximus) are audiobooks!

society of gentlemen series - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️ victorian m/m series that deals with politics, democrats vs tories, sedition. thought provoking material in a light enough package, and the romance is the main focus. i liked all three books and all three couples, though each book had its issues. in the first, it was that one of the protags was somehow comfortable to settle into the life of luxury that he criticises, and in the third i was a little bewildered by the dynamics. the second was probably my favourite. but still, a good series.

everything between us - harper bliss ⭐️⭐️⭐️ sweet f/f romance. i liked that it dipped into feminism and fat acceptance and other topics that romance books generally just never address. really appreciated that. and i really liked the main character! i just sometimes felt like characters would speak as if they were reading from a textbook, especially when talking about sj issues. it was kinda awkward.

zero visibility - georgia beers ⭐️⭐️⭐️ f/f... not quite enemies to lovers. awkward acquaintances to lovers? and there was a lesbian ice queen who was literally an ice queen, she used to be a skiing champion lol. this was good, well written and had a nice small town romance vibe. moved pretty slowly, which i can appreciate in a romance. there were multiple povs, other than the two main characters, which i didn’t like, and there was one super biphobic character who never got taught a lesson. otherwise: pretty good!

bear, otter and the kid - t.j. klune ⭐️⭐️⭐️ very very cute romance/coming of age. guy falls in love with his best friend’s brother while taking care of his little brother after their mother abandoned them. it got very melodramatic never the end (a la misunderstandings and forced break up, it just made me annoyed) and the story was honestly very predictable. but it was funny and sweet and well written for the most part.

trapped - sally bryan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ now this is lesbian enemies to lovers... but it wasn’t great. seriously, the speed at which they went from hating each other and maligning each other to declaring their ilus was ridiculous. i know the premise is that they were in a life altering situation, but come on. :/ that said, this book was a giant ‘cuddling for warmth’ trope and i was here for it.

orlando - virginia woolf ⭐️⭐️⭐️ one of those classics that i wish i liked better than i do. and i mean i do like it. but it moved so slowly in the beginning, i was so impatient for the gender stuff and the queer stuff to start happening. things picked up when they did, and i adore virginia woolf’s writing, i did soooooo much bookmarking... but idk, just never got immersed in the story. this would benefit from a second read, but idk if i’ll ever drum up the patience to do so.

the horse mistress chronicles - r.a. steffan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a poly romance series set in a fantasy world against the backdrop of an invasion by a larger empire. the main character is a gender fluid horse tamer who falls in love with a eunuch werewolf priest and the strongest warrior in her tribe, and the story follows the course of their triad relationship and their personal developments and the war. i feel like it had a serious pacing problem, especially near the beginning, wrt how quickly i was asked to believe that they fell in love. the world building, while good, fell flat very often. i left the series satisfied, but also kinda underwhelmed.

too bad about your girl - saranna dewylde ⭐️⭐️⭐️ short story, f/f friends to lovers. cute, and i knew what i was getting into with a short story, but as soon as it ended i wanted more. they were solid characters, and i felt like a bigger story could be told about them! but it was still cute.

the music of what happens - bill konigsberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️ m/m ya romance that made me kinda... eh. bill konigsberg is one of those ya authors who always gets recommended but idk that i’m a fan of his style of writing. this had an unbelievable premise, very little chemistry, an irritating passage against ~~~pc culture~~~ and a scene involving forced exercise that made me very uncomfortable. but it was well meaning and the characters were cute. the narrators saved this for me.

truth will out - k.c. wells ⭐️⭐️ m/m murder mystery romance that was very sweet... but a pretty bad mystery! i figured it out so fast! and as i am NOT particularly clever or any kind of sleuth... :/ yeah. it’s always a bummer when you find out whodunnit miles before it’s revealed. especially annoying in this case because the author made it obvious by having EVERYONE BE A POTENTIAL SUSPECT... except the guy who ended up doing it lol. the romance part was nice tho.

good to know - d.w. marchwell ⭐️ a romance novel about a gay cowboy adopting his nephew and falling in love with his nephew’s new teacher should be really cute, right? alas, this was bad. constant pov switching, meh writing, ridic sex scenes, entire conversations in different languages and characters who were frankly unlikable. skip this.

kaiju maximus(r) - kai ashante wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a short story by one of my faaaaaaavourite writers that i read in an anthology years ago; had an urge to read it again. in a post apocalyptic world, a mighty hero and her family search out a new threat. told from the husband’s POV with kaw’s beautiful beautiful prose. always a treat.

that’s it for september. it’ll be more of the same of october probably; lots of queer romance. currently reading poison kiss by ana mardoll.

[ktlsyrtis]

Berena! Unless someone else got there first, in which case, Helen/Nikki for you too. Or both! ;D

I’m avoiding work, so I’ll gladly do both ;)

Berena, aka the ship that ruined my life:

I was just coming off three really tough years in grad school and was leaning into a depression hermitage. I was on tumblr a little at the time, but only lurked, didn’t interact with anyone especially. I had seen these two pretty ladies kissing on my dash from time to time over the previous months when I didn’t have the headspace to look any further into it. And then one day a “how to start watching Berena” post crossed my dash. It was a Thursday afternoon, I had nothing to do, so I clicked over to youtube.

I watched the Berena-only playlist straight through. Then the longer playlist. Then the next day I started watching all of Serena’s scenes. I was entirely hooked. Not since Picard/Crusher in high school/college had a ship grabbed me so hard so quickly. I was just instantly enamored with both of them. With their dynamic, their intelligence, their passion for what they do and for each other. I love nothing better than a best friends in love story and they hit every single note for me. Not to mention my instantaneous, soul-destroying crush on one Serena Campbell.

There are a couple of things I will always be grateful to this ship for: first, the incredible friends I’m made through it. Seriously, I’ve found people who complete my heart and my life would be so much less without them. Second, they are the ship that got me back into writing. I wrote a lot of fic in high school and college, but fell out of it and almost none of my ships since that time really inspired me to start up again. Until Berena. Once I got over the nerves of posting (seriously, you can ask my rl friend about the ridic warning message I sent her), I fell in love with writing all over again.

Basically, they are my ultimate OTP, the fictional loves of my life. The fact that they are real and canon and that we’re going to see more of them makes my heart go pitter pat. I’m never gonna be over these two and that’s a fact.

Helen/Nikki:

This one I honestly just stumbled into. I was just out of college in the early ‘00s and was putting my degree to good use as a waitress (thanks liberal arts education!), so I worked weird hours and was home a lot during the days, which gave me the opportunity to watch a good amount of daytime tv. I have no idea why, but there was a US tv station that was showing Bad Girls in syndication, a few episodes a week. I’ve always been a bit of an anglophile, and when I stumbled on it one day I got sucked in.

And then Helen & Nikki showed up and my baby bi self was i n t o  i t. This was right around the time I was also obsessed with Kerry/Sandy on ER and a lot of those fans were also into Bad Girls. Again, they just had that chemistry that jumps off the screen and pulls you in. While I never had the pull to write for them, I’ve always had a great deal of affection for them.

[send me a ship and i’ll tell you my relationship with it]

[please-dont-hurt-me]

Mchanzo rec

The cooking cowboy by SadakoTetsuwan (wip at 30 chapters right now, 77046 words, and has a mature rating)

“It had started simple—he just needed a good recipe for matcha cake to surprise Genji on his birthday, and so he’d started clicking around for tutorials on YouTube. But now Hanzo is in deep, and is officially part of ‘The Chuckwagon’; the mostly middle-aged, mostly female fan following of YouTube cooking sensation Jesse McCree, the Cooking Cowboy.How had his life come to this?“

I think I should make it obvious that I love this. I love that Mccree cooks and is so good at it, I love how Hanzo picks up a hobby. I especially love that mishaps happen because of a lawyer email. Genji is both a little shit and a good brother, like a realistic sibling. Hanzo’s anxiety feels kind of similar to my own in a sense.  It’s got good and realistic pacing, having them learn of each other, making the interact, start to flirt, have them meet, have hesitations, meet eachother halfway, and follow through. The only thing I’m not particularily fond of was the Gency but it was minor and was mostly just side fluff which is all right by me. 

One of my favorite parts of this fic is that it has a recipe at the end of each chapter

Hanzo, Denial is Not a River in Egypt by SadakoTetsuwan (complete with 1/1 chapters, 5787 words, and has an explicit rating )

“Jesse likes Hanzo.

He's glad that Hanzo likes him back.

There's only one problem.

Hanzo doesn't think he's gay.”

I remeber one day I was scrolling through the Mchanzo tag when I remebered that this fic existed, for two scenes only. “It’s not gay if the dicks dont touch” from Hanzo and the last bit with Hanzo yelling out the window. I remebered these two scenes and I started franticly scrolling through the pics for that one comic that has a link to this fanfic. Its a good fic but you will have your hands in your palms for most of with how ridicously in denial Hanzo is. 

Just fyi, theres a lot of kinky shit so the explict tag is on there for a reason

A faithful companion by kaijuborn (complete with 1/1 chapters, 10195 words, and has a rating of teen-and-up)

“Hanzo is a wanderer, always on the move after leaving his home and his duties. However, when winter comes and he finds himself in an abandoned town, he decides to stay for a while. A large, three-legged wolf accompanies him, though the animal appears to be more than what first meets the eye.”

This fic is very beutiful. like the begging captures calmness and serenity, the second captures the feeling you have in a warm bed, late at night after drinking tea, and the final beat is the fluttery feeling of attraction and affection and it’s amazing.

Five Times Hanzo Shimada Lost His Composure by leoandlancer (complete with 6/6 chapters, 31856 words, and a Teen-and-up rating)

“When Hanzo first arrived at the Watchpoint, he wasn't expecting anything like Jesse McCree. Already shouldering the responsibility of pursuing his redemption, and trying to reconnect with Genji, Hanzo is determined to make his new arrangement a success. However, the gunslinger has an irritatingly thoughtless way of making Hanzo loose his composure. (Five Times + One fic of Hanzo increasingly loosing his cool over all the little things that come easily to McCree because help me I need more fluff.)”

Okay this is straight sugar and it’s great. Also in other news: Hanzo is super gay.

The 85th Annual King County Bake-Off by venvephe (wip that 4/5 chapters complete, 37995 words, and has a Mature rating)

“It’s October first, and it’s all come down to this.

The cake is perfect. He’s been waiting for this moment all year, since the previous baking competition. This is his chance at redemption, at reclaiming the crown of the best baker in the county. It’s a title only the winner of the county fair can hold. He’s waited a year and spent hours upon hours at work. Early mornings and late nights, scrapped ideas and tons of flour and sugar went into his masterpiece. It’s all led to him to standing here, awaiting the announcement of the winners.

This year, it’s going to be Hanzo. Last year’s winner - his rival, his nemesis - is going down. Hanzo’s not going to let his mortal enemy take the crown for a third year in a row.

What kind of name is Jesse McCree, anyways?”

Hanzo is a very bitter baker who is angry that a “soccer mom” beat him. Hot guy whose his type approaches him at the competions. Turns out “soccer mom” is the hot guy, he wins. Hanzo’s pride is seriously bruised and litterally broke the fucking eggs at the goddman supermarket.... hanzo wtf is wrong with you. I mean this is perfectly in character but god this is why i can relate to mccree more in social situations. He’s such a stubborn guy and this stupid prideful man makes so many mistakes aaaghhhh.

Willing to lie by Ilyen (wip with 6 chapters, 58434 words, and an explict rating)

"It's Thanksgiving. Want to skip that long, insulting conversation about how you're still single? About how your parents really want more grandchildren? Well, look no further!

I am a 28 year old felon with no high school degree and a dirty old van one year younger than me painted like Eddie Van Halen's guitar. I can play between the ages of 20 and 29 depending on if I shave. I'm a line cook and work late nights at a bar. If you'd like to have me as your strictly platonic date for Thanksgiving, but have me pretend to be in a very long or serious relationship with you, to torment your family, I'm game."

-Jesse McCree probably

A story 110% based on this craigslist ad - http://cdn.foodbeast.com/content/uploads/2014/11/craig.jpg

This is ridicouslous. It pulls no punches with its comedy and its tradgety. Its great in how despite being put in a fucking miserable situation because of the shimada’s, Mccree is still so sweet to them and I live for how all of them interact. I love how shimada family dinamic works (or doesnt) because it show how toxic their enviroment and how they cope in diffrent ways. 

The Hunter and the Demon by WinterOcelot 

This one is a series which is great and I’ve commented on each of the fics in that series. the lore is amazing and so is the relationships. its definately worth the read. 

Here’s the summerary of the first fic:

“A violent creature has been murdering people in the small Japanese village of Hanamura. When nothing is done about it for a whole month, veteran monster hunter Jesse McCree decides it's time for a professional to be called in.What he happens to stumble across is far from what he was anticipating.“

but my favorite of the series’s summary is:

“Jesse gets a call about a vampire coven in Australia. He agrees to investigate, which means another lengthy flight for Hanzo the grumpy (but snuggly) demon.“

Sweet as Honey by Batkatbrown (wip with 12 chapters, 37516 words, and mature rating)

“Maybe.” Jesse’s voice rasped at the end, rising sharply. “But … um… if you did want… you know… a bed would be nice.” Jesse lowered his eyes to the ground, the slightest tremor running down his body. “Mabel’s asleep and your car’s just outside…”

Hanzo’s heart plummeted into his stomach, revulsion coiling into his throat like a living thing. “Jesse.” He paused to draw in a calming breath, fighting to control the beast inside. It raged in his eyes, and he curled his hand into a fist in Jesse’s shirt. The room felt too small, the air sucked away.

“When I take your mouth, you will be begging for it,” Hanzo’s voice growled in his throat. “Not a cheap offer to buy affection or kindness from me,” he drew Jesse down and tilted his mouth to his ear. “But because you can’t stand being parted from me for a single second more.”

It’s a beautiful fic full of realistic veiws of America; assholes, poverty, shitty care of vetrans, ptsd, and unfourte situations. Mccree is scrapping by and the cake he got for his sister’s birthday is smashed by an asshole and Hanzo swoops in and not only buys him a fancy birthday cake but multiple toys.

it seems like a sugar daddy au but it isnt. They might be attracted to each other but it is an exchange of sex for money.

Happiness is a Warm Puppy by murgamurg (complete with 2/2 chapters, 5170 words, and gen rating)

“Hanzo finds a ball of fur that waddles to him immediately.It is -- a puppy. He doesn't know what to do with a puppy.“

Its as pure and sweet as it sounds. Its amazing and theres 101/10 chemistry and I love how deep they are in pining. The last scene is amazing and 100000/10.

[teawithnobiscuits]

La La overrated Land??

Film: La La Land

Genre: Musical comedy-drama

Directer: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and John Legend

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (for Chazelle), Best Actor (for Gosling), Best Actress (for Stone), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, two nominations for Best Original Song (“City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)”), Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Jeeeez, now that’s a long list!

Okay!

So I saw the big hit, the favourite, the best and the greatest: La La Land. That everybody has been talking about. And I have to say I’m impressed. When I saw the beginning, I thought this is definitely a love/hate kind of film, and I’m most definitely going to love this! The first scene with the song “Another Day Of Sun“ is truly spectacular. The precision of the dance routine is perfect. People are jumping around on cars, a dude is on a skateboard on a car! And everyone is in-sync! The whole scene is taken in one take, it’s impossible not to smile. Everything is great. But then we meet Mia (Emma Stone) and she’s preparing for an audition. My first impression is that she seems like a very likable and fun person to hang out with. Mia is passionate about her dream of becoming an actress. She meets Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and their chemistry is really good and flirty. Seb wants to start his own jazz bar, he’s a pianist himself, and he loves jazz. Naturally they both fall in love (shocker), and the film is all about the two of them fighting for their dreams.  

Now let’s look at the nominations this film has received: Best picture, best cinematography, costume design, original score, song, sound mixing, directing and a bunch of others. Also, both Gosling and Stone has been nominated for best actor and actress. hmmm… So, both Seb and Mia are kind of bland characters. Is this because of Gosling’s and Stone’s interpretation of the roles? Maybe! And this is where my worries begin. I thought I would absolutely love this film, and that it would be life-changing as many people has said. But! Again! Stereotypical characters acted out by good but not great actors. Now, don’t get me wrong. I really like Emma Stone as a person, and she’s actually a really talented actress. Her timing, her chemistry with other people, she is convincing with every single line she says. But I still just don’t believe it… I have to admit that I have not seen Ryan Gosling in more than maybe one or two other films. So I don't have much of his earlier work to compare with. However there is something I do miss in both of them. They do everything right, but there’s something missing! I feel like it is some sort of vulnerability in both of them that is left out. I just want them both to have a breakdown and cry when things don’t work out for them. Like a good long quality session with ugly-crying! “La La Land” is about, love, passion for art and broken dreams! Mia do show us some I’m giving up on life type of thing. However she’s always so calm… Again I feel like I’m looking at two perfect people. They’re funny, flirty, cool and confident. And their chemistry is perfection! I mean wtf! Chemistry is so important. And, I think that’s the reason why Stone keep choosing the same kind of dorky, fun manic pixie dream girl roles. She’s really good at it. But in the long term it becomes so boring. I can’t tell all her earlier roles apart from this one. It’s a shame really. Cause I think acting is all about taking chances. Have some self irony, do something different, take a risk (read: Eddie Redmayne in “Jupiter’s ascending”, the film is the most hideous, ridic thing I’ve ever seen, but hey! Kudos for trying out something that could go horribly wrong!)  Anyways, back to La La Land, I’m rambling!

Another thing about the characters. They could’ve made it a bit more now if the Jazz dude was black… I mean… It’s jazz, and Seb wants to save it… It feels a liiiittle awkward. I was very happy that there is a lot of poc extras. I keep seeing poc in every crowded scene. And John Legend is an important supporting-character. But why not as one of the main characters? I mean, jazz is for everyone, but it had been refreshing with a multi-cultured couple. This is a good opportunity to do that! I’m kind of sick of all the straight white couples. And it would’ve been excused if Gosling and Stone were like unreal, absolutely amazing. But they’re kinda bland so… blah

It sounds like I really hate this film now dosen’t it? Hahah

Guys, there is a lot of great stuff in it. Let’s take a look at the other nominations. Best music, cinematography and directing. Now this is truly something. I’ve been listing to the soundtrack so many times since I saw the film, there is some really classic, jet catchy songs in there! I can imagine in a month or so, there will be many videos of people covering the songs that’s going viral. Also the cinematography is amazing. You can just pause the film, print it out and put it on the freaking wall. There you go, art! The bright colours are beautiful. I haven’t seen such a colourful film in a long time. When it comes to the directing of the film, I think it is very Oscar worthy. It’s sharp and precise, just like in Damien Chazelle’s previous work Whiplash. I really loved Whiplash and it’s one of my favourite film. I have to say the directing is one of the reasons why. The good directing continues in La La Land, Chazelle keeps making such smart chioces. And as I said, all the musical number are so precise and in-sync! It’s insane! There’s so much going on, on the screen, but it’s never chaos. I think Baz Lurhman would’ve loved this film lol, but maybe he’s more on my side? Thinking that it needs way more heartrending and emotional feelings?

Overall, to quote Nina Garcia (I’m such a Project Runway nerd ;) “It’s clever!” the film is really clever! It has everything to become a classic and it’s probably gonna take home many awards from the Oscars. The music, cinematography and directing is so good! I really love that scene when Seb is on this photoshoot, and the photographer tells him to do these weird things. It’s hilarious! However, the characters could’ve done so much more to me emotionally. I missed the look up in each others eyes, look down, smile and blush moment! I didn’t get that fuzzy, warm, adorable feeling that I wished it had. Plus point for the ending tho, it actually did tear me up. It was a little surprise that I actually didn’t see coming since it’s such a traditional film.

Well... That’s it! 

-Angelica

[mermaidsirennikita]

what did you think of crazy rich asians? was it all you hoped it would be?

I really, really loved it.

Spoilers Below:

I won’t say that it’s ALL I hoped it would be, because there is one thing I wish they’d expanded on more--Charlie and Astrid’s relationship.  Honestly, I get why the subplot was largely written out, but a couple of hint-y scenes versus on mid-credits eye contact scene was warranted.  They didn’t know if they were getting a sequel when they made this, I get it--though I have a feeling that this will make enough money to warrant the other two books being adapted.  And Charlie and Astrid’s relationship becomes arguably more central than Nick and Rachel’s, as Nick and Rachel are SO stable.  I think it’s less that they cut out Charlie and more that they resolved (seemingly) the Astrid and Michael conflict.  Charlie buying Michael’s company just to make him feel like a man so that Astrid would be happy was so... much.  I love that Astrid put Michael in his place, but she did that anyway in China Rich Girlfriend, so... Idk, to me, the subplot would have been better downplayed and largely pushed into the sequel.  Give Astrid an unhappy marriage and end her subplot in the first movie on her reconnecting with Charlie at the wedding.

Otherwise...  I could have done without Awkwafina.  Did she have funny moments?  Yes.  Were they tainted by the fact that her humor is partially based on her pantomiming black people?  Yes.  So I’d rather have her out.

It wasn’t as SAVAGE as the book, but there were so many lines I loved.  “There are starving kids in America--EAT YOUR NUGGETS.”  The additions, to me, were largely good--Nick and Rachel getting engaged at the end of CRA rather than in CRG makes sense, and adding in the backstory with Eleanor’s ring was amazing.

Everyone was perfectly cast, again, besides Awkwafina.  Constance Wu was my dreamcast Rachel, Michelle Yeoh was my dream Eleanor, the MAHJONG SCENE WAS AMAZING.  God.  Michelle Yeoh was truly impeccable in this movie.  Her look, the way she acted, her chemistry with Constance and Henry...  Btw, Henry made Nick much more swoony than he was in the book.  So many hot guys in this movie?  Colin Khoo was so sweet and again, much more “full” than he was in the book.  His tears when he saw Araminta?  UGH.

Actually, the entire wedding scene made me a little misty which is weird for me, but I just love the books so much and seeing Colin and Araminta (and the amazingness of her dress and the scenery) make eye contact and Nick mouthing “I love you” to Rachel while she cried...  IT GOT ME MAN.

The music was fabulous.  I actually didn’t think that the first scene in the book with the hotel would make it to the movie, which was a bummer as it’s a favorite of mine...  But it did.  And then the musical cue as little Nick smirked at the racist hotel owners as he held his rich mom’s hand....  perfect.

The opulence was so well done.  I love that the new money vs. old money dichotomy was expanded on too.  Like, yes, there was ridic grandeur everywhere... But to me, you really saw the wealth of the Youngs and even Astrid in contrast to the more new money characters.  Astrid had ridiculously expensive shit, but it didn’t necessary scream money, it just screamed the impeccable.  (And Gemma, btw, WAS that “Audrey Hepburn of Singapore” character the book described.)  Eleanor dresses in stately clothes and is clearly rich beyond imagination, but participates in the family tradition of making dumplings.  I wish the movie had included that detail of Eleanor and her friends buying nice knockoffs of designer bags for appearances--it just was this eccentric little detail underscoring how the APPEARANCE was more important than what their money could buy.

“We’re Methodists; we stop at 20 million” was pretty great tho.  And so many little things did make it in, like Ollie becoming Kitty Pong’s upper class Obi Wan, guiding her towards Bernard.  Kitty was PERFECT, which is great since she becomes a much bigger character as time goes on.  The bit where Araminta arrived dressed down with glasses to meet Rachel at the airport was also true to the book.  There were just little bits that I loved.

Listen, it’s not like this movie was made for me.  I’m white.  I can’t critique any bigger issues.  I just know that I love the books and I loved this movie.  And I would die for Eleanor Young.

I need the sequels, man.