#i just... love combiner identity issues drama

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Idk if you already discussed this but how do you feel about Adrinette being canon when there wasn‘t a reveal yet? Because I think the show just took all the exciting aspects of the love square away by making one side canon and the others strictly platonic.

Sure, they‘re cute and whatnot, but I don‘t think they‘re exactly interesting without the identity shenanigans and stuff? Especially because (to me at least) Adrinette always felt like the weakest side. It‘s a school crush romcom type of love, which is great and all, but like…. You have superheroes in your show?? Hello??? Why not combine the two elements more effectively???The others are either badass superhero couple (I loved the Ladynoir dynamic in the movie for example) or one superhero hangs out with the civilian and they bond. That‘s literally all of fanon Marichat, and I personally think it works with Ladrien too. There‘s different aspects of those relationships that can be explored and create problems that they have to overcome (like the power imbalance with the civilian x hero ships, how do you handle that while dating?)

I wish the writers would use the square more effectively

I'm not against pre-reveal dating, but I agree that Adrienette is the worst side to chose from a story telling perspective because - as you so rightly pointed out - it's arguably the side with the least identity shenanigans and the side that has the least ties to the superhero stuff that's supposed to be the show's main focus. Adrienette is the side you chose if you're focusing on civilian drama which, to be fair, was season five's main focus even though Gabriel had stolen the miraculous and we were all expecting that complication to be the focus of the season five plot.

Instead the focus was "will Marinette ever have the courage to say a kind word to Adrien's face instead of just telling others how much she loves him even though she knows that he explicitly returns her feelings, making this plot kind painful on every level" which was... a choice.... Five seasons and we're still doing this shit? Really?

This may mean that the writer's plan in season six is to continue to focus on civilian drama or it could mean that they didn't think further than season five and we're about to get a lot of awkward writing. Who knows? I have no idea how they're going to handle civilian dating plus secret identities for long since the writers chose the only side of the square where running off to fight akumas isn't a given thing that the couple-in-question knows will happen. My best guess is that the writers will probably just avoid putting Adrienette in the type of situations Adrigami and Lukanette were put in, I guess?

No matter how they handle it, I don't expect major identity shenanigans because the show has never done much with identity shenanigans probably because quality identity shenanigans require you to be able to draw out plots over multiple episodes and then resolve those plots. This show cannot have that kind of plot progression given it's formulaic nature and the "there must always be a secret between Adrien and Marinette" rule, thus the identity shenanigans being so limited.

This means that the side best suited to the show's writing is probably Ladynoir. Still room for the minor identity shenanigans that the show limits itself to, baked-in-yet-low-stakes tension from having to keep the relationship a complete secret, and a much more logical result of the writing in the first four seasons. While Adrien is far from perfect and has issues to rival Marinette's, his crush always felt like the stronger one given that he actually spent time with Ladybug and had a true relationship with her.

Marinette, on the other hand, barely talked to Adrien because the show literally has a rule that she can never successfully confess her crush, so they needed to keep her and Adrien from becoming close to make those continued failed confessions somewhat plausible. Given all that, it's hard for me to buy that Adrien's crush flipped to this girl that he barely knows. Meanwhile Ladybug's crush flipping had a pretty strong setup given that Chat Noir has been her loyal support in her darkest hours.

But that's not what they went with! Instead of having the secret be the low-stakes identities secret, the secret between them is, "Your father was a super villain whose minions killed you on multiple occasions and whose death you were arguably involved with. While were on the topic of your messed up family, you're an artificial being whose creation killed you mother. Oh, and we're also hero partners, which feels like a minor thing compared to all of that, but we might as well mention that, too."

...choice were made folks. Choices were made. This is so not how you write a formula show! You never go this serious!

Since you mentioned the Civilian/hero pairings, let's talk about those both to end on a lighter note and because that's where my personal favorite lies as I am here for identity shenanigans. That's right, folks, I am once again here to sell you on my Ladrien supremacy agenda.

While I have nothing against Marichat, it is not a good fit for canon. It's simply too limiting because Marinette is not a celebrity. There's a reason that of Marinette's canon hangouts with Chat Noir (and almost all Marichat fics) start on her balcony. That's really the only place they can meet up without drawing attention, which should be a major concern for them.

I physically cringed when the show had them go to the movies and on an ice cream date because Chat Noir was being so irresponsible! He cannot be shown to have a close relationship with a civilian, which is the excuse he should have given at the end Elation since that the episode included Gabriel discovering their relationship. The excuse Chat Noir actually gave feels pretty dismissive of his canon relationship with Marinette. She has canonically spent more time talking to Chat Noir then she's spent talking to Adrien and the same actually goes for the amount of time Ladynoir spends talking about non-hero things, so this feels off:

Cat Noir: I’m sorry about what happened, Marinette. You’re right, you have the right to love anyone you want. Even a superhero. But it’s easy for a person to mistake idolization of a superhero for love. So, even if I like this person very much, I could be taking advantage of the situation, and I just can’t do that. It would be wrong.

Evil Illustrator, their heartfelt talk in Glaciator, the movie date in Glaciator 2, and a bunch of other little moments add up to somehow make Marichat the deepest side of the square, which is painfully bad writing given how little screen time this side gets, but it's still what canon gave us. Marinette is not just a fan who only knows him from a distance. They are friends and even occasional teammates. The only reason this pairing doesn't work in canon is because there's nowhere for the relationship to go until a partial or total reveal happens.

Prior to that, it's just these two hanging out on her balcony or maybe going on secret dates around the city. Cute, but not suited to a silly superhero romcom aimed at kids where every story needs to be told in about 20 minutes. It's best left to long form fan content that is allowed to be more about drama and romance than the actual show and also a little more spicy than the actual show because - let's be real here - those rooftop dates would not just be talking. I don't know how you'd write this pairing in a way that's both genuine and well suited to the intended audience. It's simply way more suited to a teen drama than a kid's show.

Ladrien, on the other hand, could work if canon wanted to go there. I don't think it would be a good fit for more than a season*, so Ladynoir is still the better pick for canon's format, but Ladrien could be a nice bit of pre-reveal padding to draw out the reveal and add some fun comedy if the show were allowed to have a reveal.

Because Ladybug and Adrien are both celebrities, you can have them interact in diverse settings without anyone thinking twice. This allows for a good amount of hijinks where Ladybug is trying to protect her boyfriend at public events without revealing their relationship while Adrien is trying to get her to let him run off and transform.

You can also do things like the public seeing them together, thinking they're a couple, and having them both deny it because they aren't, leading to Ladynoir comedy where Ladybug cries because she wishes they were and Chat Noir is like, "Wait, what? You what? ...My Lady, as your loyal partner who is here to support you in all things, I will get you your man even if it kills me!" The thinking-they're-a-couple thing could also be solved via Ladynoir by Ladynoir going public while Adrien remains "single". There's just a lot of potential for the show's style of absurdist humor here.

*Ladrien does eventually fall into the same issues as Marichat where it feels like the reveal needs to happen otherwise you're just repeating the same plots or going too spicy for a kids show via bedroom-based meetups, thus me saying that it's only good for about a season. There's also the problem that Akuma fights and supervillains are endless fodder for Ladynoir issues, but the only issue Ladrien could possibly address is Gabriel and Marichat's got nothing save for maybe Lila? So if you don't want to let a reveal happen, Ladynoir really is the best pick by far. Adrienette can work, but it's way less fun since they have to keep all these secrets while Ladynoir really only has one major secret or, at least, Ladynoir should only have one major secret (the identities). Canon has really dropped the ball on this one.

Now that I've written all this out, maybe the spicy issue is why canon went Adrienette? It's a lot easier to limit their alone time than it is to limit the alone time of any other side. I maintain that you could get away with it in pre-reveal Ladynoir by just ignoring the issue and giving them things to fight any time they try to have a date. You could also end episodes on them starting their date, leaving everything to the imagination but also keeping the setting relatively public (rooftops and the like) unlike the civilian/hero sides whose dates are going to be way more private. I fully understand why a show aimed at 5-to-12-year-olds wouldn't want to go there. That is far more suited to the teen drama Miraculous so desperately wants to be based on the ill-suited plots the writers keep going with.

[capegloam]

I used to be a close transmasc friend of yours but you have genuinely made me (and others) sick with your fake top surgery tattoos. It's disrespectful, it makes fun of and trivialises a symbol of progress/pride that relates nothing to you. Binding is damaging and painful, you have no idea the pain actually transmasc people go through daily, hourly, by the minute or second to bind. You have no idea the pain of personally growing up transmasc. It's layered and it's complicated and it is Not yours. It will never be yours. You are appropriating our pain. Its disgusting. You are going to lose many friends and make many enemies for this. Hope you have fun faking being transmasc, I see half of Twitter already believes you. I don't want drama with you, or want you to publicly share this or talk to me. I'm just sharing this with you because it has made me sick to my stomach ever since I saw it. And this is an action you need to seriously rethink. You need to publicly come clean on those posts that you are not transmasc. I can tell you've worded it so it's hard for people to tell. You are lucky I haven't publicly made a statement.

woke up today to all of these anons. unsure if they are all the same person but I'm going to treat them as such.

the fact of the matter is, my gender identity is more complicated than "i want to be transmasc". twitter is a horrible place to explain myself because of the character limit, and because i don't like justifying myself to people i don't know. Seeing as i've now been kicked/banned from a specific discord server i used to be in, i know exactly who this is, and i finally feel comfortable explaining myself fully. i know you, i care for you, and we're here on tumblr where i can actually sit down and write a proper essay. Thank you.

i'll break down my responses specifically to what you said, because I want this to be a good conversation.

(under the cut because its long, lol)

"it's disrespectful, it makes fun of and trivializes a symbol of progress/pride that relates nothing to you" — I derive no comedy from the tattoo. I didn't decide I wanted it lightly. saying that it "makes fun of" that symbol is categorically a misinterpretation of my earnest & sincere intent. I wear my heart on my sleeve, always.

saying that my experience "relates nothing" to the transmasc experience is a true statement. I started with a body I should've been comfortable in. The truth is—I was not—I am not comfortable with my body. I don't want a binary body. But my transition experience? was not anything like the transmasc one. I grew out my hair. I bought skirts and dresses. I began collecting earrings, all of them gifts from friends who love me. But when I approached HRT, I realized I wasn't happy with being a woman. I didn't want to get closer to a newer, different binary body. I wanted to be both, trans man and trans woman, simultaneously. I am bigender and nonbinary. to boil me down to "just wants to be transmasc" completely ignores the other half of me that wants breasts, that wants a feminine chest. my next step with my transition is, honestly, purchasing a breast form.

the issue now becomes, why get the tattoo if thats how i feel? if I still want a chest in some form or another?

because, I don't want my bare chest to be a source of dysphoria for that part of me. Remember, at the same time that I want breasts, i also don't want them. at the same time that I want long hair, i want short hair. at the same time I want masculine clothes, i want skirts. I am all of these things and MY PAIN is not being able to be everything combined all at once. It is, frankly, an impossible transition goal.

The scars take my natural chest and they turn it into something new that acknowledges my hypocrisy, that its not just the body of a man, that there is room for more, here. Just because it looks flat doesn't mean thats all it could be, or thats all it was. I want that symbol of transformation because I wish I got to transform. What is more "trans" than wanting to transform?

I will never be transmasc. That just doesn't properly describe my experiences, and it doesn't even fit my feelings about myself. But, at the end of the day, top scars don't belong just to transmasc people, they belong to nonbinary people too. AFAB people who don't seek being gendered one way or the other get top surgery, too. That's the group I feel closest aligned with, (except I want to be gendered both ways, simultaneously, rather than not being gendered at all).

ANYWAYS. thats the deep and thorough explanation of my gender i've been holding back from sharing on twitter. I don't even want to begin to imagine how many tweets long that thread would be LMAO.

back to breaking down your responses, sorry for the tangent. I felt that it was pertinent to illustrate how this tattoo is still a symbol of progress and pride to me, and how I relate to it through my experiences, so you can understand me. I still care about you. you will always be a friend in my mind, so you deserve it.

"Binding is damaging and painful, you have no idea the pain transmasc people go through" — I am well aware of the side effects of binding. They are the reason I didn't pursue HRT to obtain a chest, with binding as a solution for me still wanting a flat chest simultaneously.

That being said, I am living with the consequences of binding. My partner cannot breathe normally, and I constantly feel concern for his wellbeing whenever we need to do something physical (move furniture, walk uphill, etc.) BECAUSE of his history of binding. I know the damage it does.

"You have no idea the pain of growing up transmasc. It is not yours, it will never be yours" — this is true, though I could similarly say that you have no idea the pain of my strange feelings either. Just because we don't experience each other's exact pain doesn't stop us from feeling empathy for each other, for wanting better for each other.

The difference between us is—when I see someone in pain, i want them to do whatever they need to do to relieve that pain. when YOU see someone in pain—with MY pain, my strange pain that you don't understand (that you THINK you understand, but you don't)—your instinct is to use YOUR pain as a justification for hurting others. The fact that you're hurting is an awful one, and I am sorry I can't help you relieve it. But when you see another person happy because they've found a way to relieve some of THEIR OWN pain, it makes you angry. It doesn't make you happy that I found a way to transform my painful, dysphoric relationship with my body into a euphoric one.

as a community, we should rejoice and be happy when other trans people successfully make steps towards defeating their personal struggles with their body. We should be empathetic to each other's experiences. I understand your anger, but its not justified.

"You are going to lose many friends and make many enemies for this" — so far the only friend I've lost is you. all of my irl friends have been supportive, my partners are supportive, my online friends are supportive. Do all of them understand my complicated gender identity? No. I think maybe a lot of them think its a little stupid, honestly. But they're still happy for me. I'm very lucky to have friends who love me. I love them a lot, too, and they know it.

The enemies I've made from this don't know me, and I don't know them. They're not worth my time. You're different—YOU, anon, are worth my time. I know you. I care for you. Long after you have buried me in the ground for being a horrible person (in your eyes), i will still be thinking positively of you. I will still be rooting for you. That will never change.

"I don't want... you to publicly share this" — I'm sorry but you can't control what I do. If you wanted this to be private we should've had a private conversation about it. I was waiting for you to DM me and you never did. I wanted to have this conversation, and this is the place we have to do it, now that you've sent me these anons.

"I can tell you've worded it so its [hard to tell that you're not transmasc]" — This is true. I don't feel like spending 2 hours typing heartfelt responses to people I don't know on x dot com. (Thats how long its been, btw. I've been writing this for 2 hours now. Hopefully that stands for something—to help you understand how much I believe you deserve this explanation. I believe you deserve a lot more than what i've given you.)

I did not obscure my AGAB on purpose. I just think it doesn't matter and is not important enough to disclose. I'm nonbinary and I want a nonbinary body. That should be the end of the story, as far as the greater trans community should be concerned.

"You need to publicly come clean that you aren't transmasc"

quite frankly, its a little uncomfortable for you to assert that I should have to "come clean" about my AGAB. An interest in the genitals of trans people is something transphobes are particularly keen on. I think you should consider the parallels between your arguments and theirs. You still have some internalized transphobia to unpack.

I was there once too. I've already forgiven you.

Anon 2

I feel like I've already addressed your arguments here. I don't care what people who don't know me have to say about me. They don't know me.

You should consider your status as a popular furry artist, anon. Its not unreasonable to assume that people agreed with you purely because of your following. I've received supportive messages from several people I met in your discord server about my tattoo, so I can assure you that not everyone in your circle feels the same way you do.

Anon 3

I'm not lying about being transgender. Nonbinary is a transgender identity. Your interest in my AGAB, asserting that I need to come clean about it, is a transphobic assertion. Attacking a nonbinary person because you feel that they aren't being trans the right way is textbook nonbinaryphobia.

Anon 4 — "My binder made me sick today, i couldn't eat i felt faint and ill" — i'm genuinely sorry to hear that. No one deserves to have to endure that kind of pain for so long. You deserve better. You deserve to look at your body and feel happy. Everyone does.

"I felt sick remembering what you did. That you don't take transmasc pain seriously, or respect us" — I do take your pain seriously, and I respect you as a person. This long thoughtful post is evidence of that.

I understand the disgust you feel at the thought that someone would want to feel the pain you feel. But thats never what I wanted. Thats what you believe I wanted.

The truth is I have my own pain too. my own, personal, complex pain, which i've attempted to explain above. I shouldn't have to be burdened with explaining it to everyone who asks. I don't owe them my soul. I owe my soul to my friends and my partners, and I give it freely when asked by them. You asked. on tumblr dot com, my friend.

If thats not respect, then I don't know what is. Respect is a willingness to meet another person where they're at. I know that when you're hurting its hard to see the hurt you're inflicting onto others. Please trust me when I say I've been there, too. I've hurt. I've hurt others because my pain said that it was justified. I'm healing from it, from the guilt and the shame. I'm finally stopping the cycle of pain and self-hatred within myself. I hope you can get here with me someday, too.

I meant it when I said you'll always be a friend to me. I hope you take my words to heart.

have a nice day, thanks for reading 💛

[pynkhues]

I feel like this show is too smart for most of it's audience. The fact that people take Claudia's remark meant to hurt and manipulate Louis as a fact of his personality when the show has been playing out Louis's struggle with his internalised homophobia, misogyny and toxic masculinity all this time. I swear to God, I stumble upon gender essebtialist, homophobic posts in this fandom every day, especially when it comes to Louis's relationships. The reductive discussions about who is top/bottom or dom/sub in his sexual relationships are truly disgusting to me. Because they are clearly "who is the man, who is the woman" discussions cloaked into sex talk. Sorry for the rant, I am triggered today too. I actually want opinion from you about the reasons for Loumand's dom/sub dynamic, everyone always talks about how it's because of Armand's trauma but I actually think it happened because of Louis's internalised homophobia, misogyny and toxic masculinity combined with trauma. I think he's not a person that actually needs or wants to be dom permanently. I think he convinced himself that this is who he is because it allows him to tell himself he's a real man even if he's gay. I'm rambling too much, I'm sorry!🙈

Ah, anon! Please don't apologise, and I'm sorry it's taken me a couple of days to reply after my own annoyed rambling, haha. It's just been a busy week, and it's often quicker and easier to send a reply to asks that, well, ask a bit less (and please, that's not a criticism, I love longer, more provocative asks, and I have a lot more in my inbox I want to get to!).

I don't know if I think the show is too smart for people. I think everyone and anyone can and does have the capacity to engage in a show like this - it's not that clever or pretentious - but I do think the current state of fandom and social media means that a concept gets floated and people get swept up in it.

We're living in an increaingly disconnected society and people seek community through things like fandom and so it becomes natural to lean in, to not question, to consume media as a part of something as opposed to as an individual. I think it's too easy to become a BNF in that sense (I know, I've been one previously, and while I love having chill convos with you guys and writing fic, I don't want to be like - - a known entity in this fandom, haha), especially if you know how to write an argument, and that the result of that is a blog / user becomes a meeting point for fans who are just hungry for engagement and the more-more-more pipeline that's a byproduct of the era we live in.

It's the same across the board, right? Whether you're arguing Louis' 'woman-coded' on tumblr, or being dogmatic about an interpretation of - - I don't know, a TSwift song, i think it all comes from the same place, and I don't think intelligence plays as much of a role as perhaps social skills and personal investment in the actual source material. Is it the art that matters to you, or the community/fandom? Because that's going to motivate your engagement in very different ways.

In regards to your actual question though:

I talked about it a bit in this post, but I think Louis stepping into that role with Armand was hugely about his own issues of identity at that point in the story. Claudia asking him who he was without her or Lestat was basically the set-up for Louis' arc across the season, and Louis tried and failed to do something on his own which left him searching for something familiar - "running things".

I think the d/s dynamic with Armand though worked two-fold - it positioned Louis closer to power, made him feel he had a purpose in guiding Armand through the theatre drama, but I also think it probably helped him to regain a sense of romantic control. We tend to focus a lot on Lestat's abuse of Louis as being what wrenched Louis' grip on himself away, but the reality is that was just a part of that. The point is that Louis and Lestat never feel clear-headed when they're around each other, they're never rational, even when they're at their most loving, which Louis knows because he's hearing and feeling it through Dreamstat.

That dynamic in the relationship with Armand is, to me, about a lot of things, but a huge part of that is just about Louis feeling like he's in control of both the romantic dynamic and, I'd argue, himself again. And I agree, I don't think Louis wants to be a dom permanently by any stretch of the imagination, but I think he understood Armand, at least that part of him, and saw a way they could be symbiotic. Which they were for a chapter! They just lasted probably 70 years longer than they should have, haha.

[halfbakedreviews]

Half Baked Review: Miss Night & Day

Length: 16 episodes | ~ 30 min/episode Half Baked Jury: It's fun Emotional Investment Level & Binge Degree: Grill Cheese Sandwich Overeasy (Low to Medium) + Serial Murders FL: LOVE! ML: We love a strong lead 2ndML: He exists Genre: Rom-Com, Fantasy/Supernatural, Murder Mystery,

Characters Ingredients:

☀️: FL day time, ~ 50 years old 🌙: FL night time, ~28 years old ⚖️: ML, tall prosecutor 🎤: 2nd ML, kpop star with anxiety 🔪: murder, murderer 🚨: police

Plot Synopsis Instructions w/ a Dash of Spoilers

Okay so... 🌙 is an unemployed 28-year-old, and it's not because she hasn't been trying. 🌙 lives with her parents and becomes the victim of a scam and that's how she meets ⚖️. It's a really cute meet cue in all honesty. Anyway, 🌙 meets a magic cat and falls down a well and magically inherits a body that turns 50 years old in the daytime and then 28 years old at night. At first, 🌙 upset but then she gets over it and then finds a job at the ⚖️ office when she is ☀️. Her parents freak out though. ☀️ takes the name of her missing/deceased aunt as an identity. ☀️ is great at her job, she is really excited that she can land a job as an older woman and finally fulfill her dream of working as a civil servant (sort of). ☀️ is full of stamina and eventually gets promoted. ⚖️ is a bit ageist (just a heads up). Anyway, ⚖️☀️are chasing a drug/murder case by day, while ⚖️🌙 are catching feelings at night.

This is a fun light-hearted drama with a really interesting murder mystery in the background.

Recipe Hiccups

It seems that drug addiction is something that is being shown more and more in South Korea. Interestingly, there is a juxtaposition that is explored here -- drug addiction that is part of a societally rejected subculture vs. drug dependence that is a result of mental unwellness. Personally, I think this is a really sticky issue to be black and white on because everyone has their own story and struggles. I just hope that the portrayal doesn't result in continued misunderstanding. K-drama writers, what is it with dismembering bodies?!!! I will say this particular serial killer's approach is different & weird (hint it includes drugs and hacking of body parts). The only thing I can't wrap my mind around is why the two were combined. Are they making a case that drugs and heinous crimes are correlated? Is it an attempt to create a unique psycho? did the K-drama generator insist on the two?

Beware of the hideous CGI cat and some annoying people who thought beating up a cat was a good idea. There is a special place at the bottom of earth's broiler for people like that.

Baked till Golden

I love love love love love it when k-dramas explore different stories. This k-drama we get to interact with older folks in such a delightful way, it's almost like sitting in a high school cafeteria. The title sequence is so cute. It's a mashup of Sailor Moon influence & comic books. super cute 🥹✨💕

Jung Eun Ji APINK queennnn is our FL so obviously it's wonderful and so is Lee Jung Eun one of the Greatest Actress of All Time (prove me wrong).

If I said it wasn't chef's kiss I would be lying, these ladies really carryyyy the story and I am eating it up. The pace of this drama is nice. This is a gimme the recipe kinda of drama. I recommend it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ happy watching! 🍪

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on Pretty Cure Dream Stars!

Precure requires a lot of concessions on the grounds that it is a children's franchise, but this film felt like it skews even younger than usual. Let's get the usual out of the way first: the light sticks play an even bigger role than average, and this time the characters even jump out of the movie and directly address the movie audience multiple times, instead of the usual where they give the "support the Precure with your light sticks" speech to side characters who act as audience surrogates.

Overall the film also had the same issues as the other crossover movies, in that it just throws in way too many characters who all either feel the same (the typical generic hero who instantly befriends everyone and jumps into rescuing every troubled bystander they see), or if they're lucky get one moment where they get to display their one individual personality trait. I was looking forward to seeing Haruka again even in this flattened form, but even she felt like a complete nothing of a character. This combined with the main story being pretty weak made the whole film feel even more of just a product than usual.

Then some assorted complaints:

The villain had the kind of annoying monotone voice that instantly made me think that he must be voiced by a manzai celebrity and that turned out to be the case.

The movie-exclusive kid character is kind of annoying

In the emotional climax of the film the kid character's friend has forgotten about her due to magic (oh no!) but actually nevermind, she just remembers her like 10 seconds later, what was the point of those few seconds of drama?

No new powerups or even civilian clothes for anyone. Or the movie's idea of a powerup was stamping some barely noticeable sakura flower symbols on their Cure outfits.

All was not bad; the CG fantasy land parts had really nice colours, the Japanese-themed visuals give the film its own identity, the new girl's design is fine, the CG animation isn't awful and Akira kabedons Yui. They also play the "funny and upbeat stuff happens" classical music during an action scene and it pisses me off that I can't remember the name of the piece, and it wasn't even in the credits (I think).

The best thing about the movie was this end card with these lovely kimono:

Still in the end this is very much a children's movie, so if the 5-year-olds like it I guess my opinion doesn't matter and I really should have spent my evening on something else than bitching about it for 300 words. But I would still say that the 5-year-olds deserve better.

[mirageofadesert]

C-Drama Review: Only For Love

Broadcast: Hunan TV, Mango TV, 2023, 36 Episodes Genre: Romance

My Rating 4.5/10

A drama that stays a bit too true to its source material, ultimately failing to translate the charm of the web novel into a TV adaption.

Acting: 6/10 World-building: 3/10 Production: 5/10 Storytelling: 4/10 Pacing: 4/10 Re-watch Value: 3/10 

Summary with minor spoilers

Zheng Shuyi (played by Bai Lu) is an ambitious reporter for a financial newspaper. In order to write another cover story, she wants to interview the well-known entrepreneur Shi Yan (played by Dylan Wang). The only distraction in her ambition comes in from of her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, who is cheating on her with another woman. Zheng Shuyi vows revenge by focussing even more on her career - and seducing the rich uncle of her ex's new girlfriend. A series of misunderstandings lead to her inadvertently mistaking Shi Yan for him. And then there's Shi Yan's real niece Qin Shi Yue (played by Shen Yu Jie), who soon starts working as an intern at Zheng Shuyi newspaper under a secret identity. Follow their tangled love story through 36 episodes of misunderstandings, awkward car rides and boring business talk.

My review - spoilers ahead!

While I never have high expectations for modern cdramas, the combination of Bai Lu and Dylan Wang made me excited. There were quite a few scenes that made me giggle like a teenage girl, and some of the tension arced made me come back to the show every day. However, there are a lot of things wrong with this show.

The main problem is the failed attempt to transfer the charm ad humor of the web novel directly to the drama, without making adaption based on the different type of media. There were many scenes that had the typical web novel/manga elements - frozen characters, puppy eyes, awkward silence. As drawings, these are usually expressed with additional text or symbols. Since those kinds of edits are only done in variety shows, all we got were the character staring at each other or making awkward facial expressions. The show also failed to make use of music to deliver the meaning of these scenes.

This left us with a drama, that lacked chemistry between the leads ad made the acting feel wooden and boring. And that in a drama with the queen of chemistry!

On top of that, the show failed to have an interesting secondary plot. Nearly all the exciting scenes and awaited reveals were linked to the niece, who became my favorite character. The work-related scenes were incredible badly written. At times, it felt like they had just used place-holder lines instead of writing actual dialogue.

All of this contributed to a disappointing performance of every actor in the cast. I personally don't think that Dylan Wang's dubbing was an issue because of his higher voice, but I think the line delivery from the whole cast was not well done. It took away the little emotions the story allowed in the first place.

The first couple of episodes, I was waiting for the drama to switch tone, based on Bai Lu's usually choice in scripts. However, Only For Love stayed true to its storytelling style from the start to the unremarkable finish. It had its cute and funny moments, but overall it's the weakest drama I have seen Bai Lu star in so far. Maybe after all the angst, it was time for something light! I would recommend watching this Only For your Love for the actors!

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall

5/5. Releases 4/11/2023.

For when you're vibing with... Queer romance, gender nonconformity, general hilarity and hope, found family vibes, and people who rarely get shine from historical romances taking center stage.

Peggy is in a tight spot: Arabella, her childhood friend and the woman she's in love with, has asked for her help to woo Orfeo, the famous castrato soprano visiting London. Unable to deny Arabella anything, Peggy complies--only to find that rather than resenting Orfeo, she's captivated with them. Just like Peggy, Orfeo is doesn't conform to gender norms, living on the edges of society. And in them, Peggy could find more than just attraction--but a soul-deep connection.

Man, this one was fucking something. Really daring, hilarious, sexy, and emotionally touching. Alexis Hall keeps making me happy as a reader, and I wholeheartedly adore this book.

Quick Takes:

--I've always been fascinated by the history of castrati, in part because there is a lot of ambiguity in the subject. Most (?) castrati were forcibly castrated or coerced into castration as children. While stories of accidents and illnesses were often given to justify the castration, usually the choice was not theirs--but undeniably, there were doors open to castrati, some of which, like Farinelli (who's referenced in this book) became famous, wealthy, and adored for their incredible voices. They also lost the ability to sire children, became seen as freakish or odd to some, and lived in this sort of... gray area of a very binary (on the surface) society. Alexis Hall doesn't shy away from all that Orfeo has suffered, and there's a lot of trauma going on, clearly. But he also doesn't make Orfeo this sob story of a character, this self-loathing nonbinary person. Orfeo is gorgeous, physically and emotionally, and they love their art. They clearly didn't have a choice about it--but that doesn't make the love any less valid, and Peggy does not pity them, does not turn them into some "half-man". She adores them, as she should. And they adore her.

--Peggy's gender identity is (though she uses she/her pronouns) fluid. The connection that she and Orfeo make, neither one of them a man or a woman, is really profound and something you don't often see in fiction. It's that camaraderie they have, not only with each other but their entire circle of friends (not a straight person in sight) that makes the novel so magical... Aside from the absolute gut punch of a romance that lingers between Orfeo and Peggy. Their connection is instantaneous (Peggy literally faints when she hears Orfeo sing for the first time, and Peggy is not a swooner) but it's not insta-love. Their bond grows over time, and even after it becomes physical, there's some real emotional work that has yet to be done.

--One thing I was concerned about going into this book was whether Orfeo's status as nonbinary (I've seen them specifically referred to as agender in other reviews, but I'm not 100% sure about where Alexis stands on this) would feel.... clumsily-done. In other words--is Orfeo only NB because they were castrated against their will? My interpretation, ultimately, was no; but the conflict this causes Orfeo is not avoided. They ask these questions themself. Were they always meant to be this way, or are they this way because of what happened to them? Does it matter? I personally saw Orfeo's identity as something that was a very literally a combination of who they are within (their soul) and how society has shaped them. And I think Alexis Hall confronted that conflict and reality very sensitively. But I say all of this as a cis woman, and I would be interested to see how people who aren't cis feel about it.

--I have an issue with how the romance community sometimes deals with past relationships and the conflicts they can naturally cause. You often see reviews that give actual trigger warnings for "OW/OM drama" and that just... It's fine to not like that, but acting like it's a trigger is a bit much--and I think that if we shun past loves and the conflicted feelings they can give characters, even when the relationships were toxic, we lose a lot of nuance.

Something Spectacular is a great example of why that kind of past can be important in romance. We see past relationships as issues for both Peggy and Orfeo, and they deal with them in very different ways. One of the most heart-clutching, gut-wrenching moments of the novel involves this kind of "drama". I think there's a lot of emotional honesty in this book, testifying to the chokehold that exes--or not-so-exes--can have on us, whether the relationship is healthy or not. And this drama does lead to one of my favorite romance novel reunions ever. There's RAIN DRAMA.

--The world of the book is delightful, consciously anachronistic and fun and full of cool people lazing about, seducing each other, attending operas like they're rock concerts, and having rather hysterical poetry slams that turn into.... other things. Alexis Hall writes with zero sense of pretentiousness or self-consciousness, and I think that's what we need more of in historical romance. I imagine it would be hard to come away from this book without wanting to read more of Alexis's novels, and certainly Something Fabulous.

--Not to spoil anything, but... This book confronts the concept of queer families, especially in the context of its world, in a way that I didn't expect and don't see a lot of in romance. I fucking loved it. That's all.

The Sex Stuff:

This is a sexy book. (She ain't called Peggy for nothing--name is destiny.) As soon as Orfeo and Peggy begin interacting, the sparks are real, and their sex life is quite literally bangin'. Alexis Hall does a really good job of writing sex scenes in a way that is explicit and romantic without getting bioessentialist or describing bodies in a way that is super gendered. Peggy is sensitive about her body and goes back and forth about how she feels about her breasts, and that's brought up. There's a wonderful scene of dialogue around how Orfeo, with their somewhat unique body makeup and history, experiences pleasure and how they've often been expected to "serve" rather than taking fulfillment themselves. (Peggy's reaction to this is gorgeous.) It's also just really hot. And the final sex scene in this book? Is crazy good. Hot hot hot. Something I have quite literally never read in a romance before, not in this exact form.

Here's the thing--you can write romance novels about marginalized communities and people who've experienced trauma without depriving their love stories of joy and humor and sex and swoony romance. Alexis Hall underlined that with A Lady for a Duke last year, and he did it again with Something Spectacular. Read it.

Thanks to Montlake and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. My opinions are all my own.

[wutheringmights]

I finished reading the second book in the Broken Earth Trilogy: "The Obelisk Gate" by NK Jemisin. I am happy to report that after a general "meh" feeling with my reread of the first book, I am back onboard with this series.

My absolute favorite part of this book is the plotline about Essun and Schaffa. They were both wildly underused in the original, and pairing them up together is a stroke of genius. I was hesitant about Schaffa's memories being warped from the get-go, but Jemisin pulled it off perfectly.

And I can't even begin to brush on Essun's relationship with Jija and Nassun, because, wow. Jeminsin can write great character dramas and studies.

That being said, Nassun's plotline was... meh. Nassun is such a fascinating character, but her storyline doesn't do much to show off everything about her that is fascinating.

Really, my issue is that I never once felt as though the Castrima plotline had to happen. Nassun pauses her quest to find her daughter to help with comme, and it's just not interesting. Sure, there are reasons why she is there, but it mostly feels like we're here because we needed to pad out the plot for a bit.

And that continues to be my problem with this series. It shouldn't take 200 pages to answer the question that was the cliffhanger ending for the first book. Alabaster shouldn't have to spend five pages verbally summarizing events that could have warranted giving him his own perspective. The pacing is slow, and some of the ways the story is told is near baffling to me.

Which leads to my mixed feelings about the way this series handles perspective. In theory, I love how Jemisin plays with perspective and identity. So far, the first and second book have used perspective to further their thematic elements. But sometimes, the perspectives get in the way of the story.

Honestly, I feel as though the first and second book could have been combined into one. Would that ruin the themes of identity in the first book and the themes of family in the second? Sure, but it would serve to tighten the plot and leave little space for the blotted mess that is the Castrima arc.

As a side note, Jeminsin's prose irks me in a way I'm not sure how to articulate yet. It's not bad, but the neutral narration as a style that I'm not sure I like. I need to think about it more.

Overall, 4/5. I'll get to the next book before the end of the year, but I'm going to break to read a different one first.

[ordonianhero]

Today I am just sitting by the pond, with some coffee and just existing in nature. With everything going on, it’s making me sad. I come to my fandoms to enjoy art content, stories and sharing it with people who like the same thing. The fact that people felt like disrupting the peace for their bigotry- like I know the fandom has face many a drama issues. However what happened and the proof we have of what’s actually going on in the group and it’s intentions. It’s a server filled with dangerous ideals on top of combining fandom content. Makes it hard to scroll through tumblr.

I love this fandom, I love the artist, writers and people I have made friends with. I do t want to feel like I can’t engage with others because I don’t know if me as a person is safe to be me. A Non-binary, asexual, panromantic. I want to feel safe to show my content without being told I am “predatory” because of me my gender identity and sexuality. So, please. Leave your bigotry and use of religion to harm a whole community of people off tumblr and no even in discord. Cause your ideal are dangerous and you are apart of people who start things that could end up with someone getting hurt or worst.

Religion is not about hating or judging others. If your religion does so- that is not a religion. That just you trying to justifying your ideals and ignorance. Think anyone who think the way folks in the server do, should do some serious soul searching and educate themselves. But I doubt they will. That is all.

[miraculousmusing]

So this got too long for the tags, and then I rambled into text-to-speech for a half hour drive to produce 15(!) pages of barely coherent notes app transcription, then I started writing this out longhand in a full size-notebook, and 6 pages and a hand cramp later started transcribing to notepad, and then dumped 2500 words into a Google Doc to get it to my phone, and now here we are.

Whoops.

Anyway.

MariChat. Always MariChat. I'm extremely fond of particular scenarios involving the other sides, but I'm always more excited for anything MariChat in general. For example- the way LadyNoir haunts the narrative of any post-canon no-reveal reunion stuff, even when it's the last side to actually be shown? Exquisite, even in briefer or simpler executions than Bakery Enemies AU.

But MariChat has my love for three primary reasons:

1) Most interesting interactions with least amount of required suspension of disbelief

2) Simultaneously the most honest and dishonest side

3) As a result of 1 & 2, intoxicating amounts of a specific kind of dramatic irony.

Absurdly long breakdown under the cut.

As a foreword note, I know OP asked to avoid talking about why your fave is better, but comparisons are necessary for explanation. I don't intend anything below to be disparaging. All sides of the love square have their charms, but MariChat just excels in the particular aspects I appreciate most.

For 1, note that there are two axes here- antics vs feasibility. MariChat combines the two most chaotic faces, incentivizes them to be stupider at each other, and does so in a way that requires the least set up for the widest array of results.

Adrien is free to be as dumb a catboy as he likes, or to dramatically play up the hero angle. He craves Marinette's attention, and has no reason to hold back once he knows she's seen through the posturing. Mari has no urge to impress this idiot, or reason to play team leader/guardian. It's just Chat, and she's off the clock. She'll play the clueless normal girl card until he catches on, but after that she's free to be as weird and passionate as she wants. Weirder even, if she's trying to hide a Kwami or a dozen.

And if this is a balcony scene based relationship? Out of the public eye, at night, in her own space? All bets off.

I think the balcony stuff is so popular because the set up is so so easy. Why is Mari on her balcony? It's her bedroom! She's got plants and a comfy chair up there! Why is Chat there? Adrien is escaping for a bit. Why talk to a random girl as Chat Noir? Well, they know each other, of course. And that works for other situations as well. Why is he giving her extra attention during an Akuma attack? She's in the middle of it somehow and he knows she can handle herself. Why risk being seen together in public? Well, butterfly bastard has already targeted her several times, she's friends with the ladyblogger, and he's seen her willingly dodge crazy fans. If she's okay with it, he's fine with it.

Contrast Ladrien. Why is LB sneaking into his closed room? Why would either of them risk being associated? How/when is Bunnix going to bail them out of endgame "Gabe was momentarily an attentive parent" scenarios? How relaxed can either of them really manage to be with the object of their affection, who they have no casual dynamic with while using these faces? How convoluted does the scenario need to be to overcome these issues? (Note that if you enjoy this kind of awkward dancing around and ice-breaking, that's a different matter.)

On the other axis, how much can Adrienette get up to? They're teenagers. Teens with big secrets, but not with secrets that (they're aware) directly relate. The identity drama and anonymity based dynamics are absent, so pure Adrienette is a high school sitcom/drama.

LadyNoir allows for most of the same rooftop privacy considerations, but at the same time limits how casually open they can be about their private lives. They're both transformed as superheroes, but that also means that they're both also, always, the heroes of Paris. They fight and die together to carry the weight of the city, they're the most important people in each other's lives, but they're also coworkers in a job they can't fuck up.

This rolls right into item 2. LadyNoir is the most honestly un-honest side, at least on the interpersonal front. They both have entire secret lives, but they both also know this! The secrets are not secret. The bounds are known, even if they sometimes get pushed. LB and CN both know their partner is deliberately hiding their personal life, if not occasionally lying outright in order to misdirect. The depth of the dynamic arises from how critical their connection is, while at the same time being so very shallow.

In contrast, MariChat is wide open as far as either of them knows. Chat is some random boy entirely disconnected from the rest of Marinette's life. Why shouldn't she show him her hobbies and her family and use him as a sounding board for issues with her friends? Mari is a girl that Adrien knows to be discreet, and he trusts her advice. She's largely outside of miraculous drama, but with enough experience to have context. He knows she's not judgmental, but even if he does something wrong and messes up, he can't lose her entirely. If he stops visiting as Chat, he can still see her as Adrien.

And she's just a normal girl! He's just her Chaton! She doesn't have anything to hide from him! He's wearing a mask, but what does the boy under the cat ears have to do with her?

Except. Well. She's Ladybug. He's in love with her, or pretends to be, but whatever else, no one in the world is as close or familiar with who she is in spots. If she knows things she shouldn't about Miraculous or Akuma battles, or says something that she's said to her partner as his partner, then the world will literally end.

And he's not just Chat Noir visiting a random girl. He's Adrien Agreste, her classmate and friend, who pays closer attention to her than even he realizes. He's enough of a closed book as Adrien that he can be surprisingly open- if vague- about his private life while he's Chat Noir, but he knows so much more about Mari's day-to-day than he has any way of explaining. If he says the wrong thing, or reacts the wrong way, he has very few justifications to give.

I don't buy into the true selves stuff. They're the same kids in and out of the masks, but context determines what parts of themselves they showcase and what parts they suppress. I think that the MariChat dynamic shows the most relaxed and comprehensive versions of them both. Marinette gets to be more Marinette around Chat Noir than she gets to be around Adrien, and Chat Noir gets to be more Adrien than he can be to Ladybug, and more Chat than Adrien can be to Mari. And in many ways Marinette gets to be more Ladybug in front of Chat Noir than she can in front of Adrien. Chat Noir knows she can face down an Akuma without a Miraculous, and that she's absurdly talented with one. [Side note: CatMouse is also an extension of MariChat, so] Chat Noir gets to see confident, casual Marinette, while Adrien only catches glimpses. Chat Noir knows that she's willing to argue with him and treat him as neither a statue on a pedestal or delicate crystal.

But at the same time they're both constantly, actively, intentionally engaging in deception, to hide secrets that are actually secret! So tasty.

This brings us to item 3: Dramatic Irony.

Dramatic irony is, of course, the secret sauce that makes Miraculous so damn addicting. It's the source of tension in all the identity shenanigans, the supports propping up the corners of the lovesquare, and the bomb wrapped in a bow in the middle of the overarching plot.

As the audience, we have all the pieces that no single character possesses. Nobody knows that Marinette has a crush on the boy under the cat ears. Nobody knows that Adrien is both Chat Noir and Hawk Moth's son. Nobody knows that Chat Noir is a Senti. (Except Tikki, but she's not sharing.)

And all of these secrets are so tightly interconnected that knowing only some of them can cause more drama than knowing them all. In the best moments of the show and the best kinds of fan works, characters make perfectly reasonable (or at least understandable) choices based on what they know, and those are still the wrong choices! They play perfectly, but can still lose. A casual, harmless remark can undo the world, because it's made to someone who knows more than they should, or who has just the right pieces of the puzzle to suddenly snap everything together into a dangerously wrong picture.

And MariChat dances on those knife edges even in the silliest moments.

There are so many things that Marinette would never tell Adrien, but who is Chat going to tell? She'll dance around the name because she's embarrassed (and the plot would end too early), but it's not like he knows everyone at her school anyway. And Chat Noir can admit things to Mari that he'd never tell Ladybug, because he's trying to keep up appearances, or he doesn't want to hurt her, or he thinks she's overwhelmed and needs to be supported and not asked to provide support, or he thinks she already knows. It's fine! Marinette and LB don't talk, and Mari would never betray his trust like that. And some things stay between superhero partners, and LB would definitely never spill. So Marinette is safe.

Except. Well. She's Ladybug. He may not be managing to communicate how he's doing to LB, and she may be too blinded by her own assumptions to figure it out, but he'll spell things out in detail to Marinette. And Marinette can't speak for LB to reassure him, but now LB can't act on it either.

And Marinette and her stray catboy may be increasingly close, but Marinette and Adrien are as distant as ever. Or is she drawing away, no longer so desperate for that particular blond?

Or Marinette and Adrien may be closer than ever. They're friends, real friends, closer than friends. But why does she still seem closer to Chat. What is he doing wrong as Adrien?

And while Chat doesn't know why bakery girl is so automatically comfortable with the leather-clad superhero, Marinette has no way of knowing how much of his behavior is actually specific to her, with or without the mask. Adrien doesn't even know for the longest time. If Chat is goofy and touch obsessed and occasionally startlingly sweet or romantic with both girls she's seen him in private with, how much of it means anything?

And later, as things get really knotted up, and Marinette has all of the pieces except the most important one but can't let anyone know that Marinette has any idea there's even a puzzle, while LB thinks that Chat Noir is actually in the dark about everything and doesn't have a personal stake anyway:

How is Chat supposed to know what Marinette knows about what he is and isn't supposed to know? If he admits he's used the snake then the whole house of cards topples, but what if he admits to smaller things, like knowing other identities? What if he's a bit too familiar with the Agreste situation, in a way that might be expected of LB's partner from the outside, but which LB knows he shouldn't be? What if he says something about what happened to him during the final fight, expecting Marinette to have no way of knowing about Adrien's circumstances?

How dramatically can an avatar of destruction unravel, if nobody knows there were threads to catch?

Anyway. I'm going on too long.

The real key to picking a favorite side of the love square is that you're doing it in comparison to the other sides. That's easy if you're a salty hater, but if you like the whole polygon (and all the other dimensions that continue to emerge) then you've got to weigh the merits.

So in brief:

LadyNoir is really fun. You've got the superhero partner thing, there's a beautiful kind of bounded honesty. They know there are things they can't talk about, they're on the same page, but within that they can talk about whatever. They get to the real deep life-or-death kind of stuff, because that's the reality of their situation, but there's not the same kind of irony. There's no "okay, I've gotta actively mislead because I don't want to say something I shouldn't know about", they're just superheroes. They know each other as deeply as possible in these faces, and they don't have any reason to suspect they know each other in other faces. So they get on with it, and they can get zany, you've got the mask stuff, but there's not anything so casual as there is in Marinette's bedroom, in that kind of vulnerable private space.

Ladrien is really the inverse execution of the honest dishonesty thing MariChat has. For me, the key to really good Ladrien is vulnerable Ladybug, right? But they're both at peak awkwardness here, which is really the painful part. Adrien's really trying to put himself out there and be honest, to make a connection, but he's also got to be quiet. He can't be Chat Noir. He's got to be vulnerable. And Ladybug is either trying to be vulnerable or she's trying to look strong and confident, but she can't get too personal because if she gets too personal Marinette peeks out. And if Ladybug gets too personal with this model boy she has no reason to be so open with, it comes across as a betrayal of Chat, which is always awkward.

Adrienette is good, really. It's cute, and it’s relatively straightforward. For the most part it ends up as a foil to the other relationships though, you know? Or it's just a school romance, which has its own charms. It just doesn't hit quite the same way as other sides of the square, because while it's a keystone part of Marinette/Ladybug + Adrien/Chat Noir, in isolation it avoids most of what makes Miraculous uniquely engaging. I've really deeply enjoyed some purely Adrienette works that never include a transformation or a Kwami, but the very best of those are very dependent on how Chat Noir is part of what Ladybug is, and Ladybug is part of what Chat Noir is, and how Ladybug is central to who Marinette is and Chat Noir is central to who Adrien is. Even in no Miraculous AUs, where Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't superhero alter egos, they're still key parts of characterization.

What this poll is: A place for you to share why it is, your favorite lovesquare ship is your favorite! To share what exactly about that particular drew you to it (feel free to include in tags what your favorite ship is if you'd like)

What this poll isn't: a place for you to salt on the ships you don't like, or talk about why your favorite is better than others. Please and thank you! 😊

[pashterlengkap]

Greek minister blasts Netflix’s Alexander the Great series for depicting same-sex relationship

Alexander: The Making of a God, Netflix’s new docu-drama about Alexander the Great, is causing controversy in Greece, where some commentators and far-right leaders have slammed its depiction of the ancient Macedonian king’s same-sex relationship with one of his generals. As The Guardian notes, one recent editorial in the Greek daily newspaper Eleftheros Typos described the six-part series, which combines commentary from historians with dramatic reenactments, as “a distortion of the truth,” and cited director Oliver Stone’s 2004 film Alexander for starting “a propaganda campaign about Alexander’s homosexuality.” Related: Conservatives are outraged that Netflix’s Alexander the Great docuseries “turned him gay” “I don’t think it was Netflix that made him gay.” Dimitri Natsios, founder and leader of the far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Niki party, went so far as to question Greece’s Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, about the series in Parliament. Natsios said the series aims to “subliminally convey the notion that homosexuality was acceptable in ancient times, an element that has no basis” and described it as “deplorable, unacceptable and unhistorical.” Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our daily newsletter. In fact, the ancients would have had no concept of homosexuality as an identity category. But same-sex relationships were tolerated and even encouraged in certain contexts, notably in the “Sacred Band of Thebes,” a troop of elite soldiers consisting of 150 pairs of male lovers. While sexual relationships between adult men were likely frowned upon in many ancient Greek cities, some modern scholars like Thomas Hubbard have suggested that the Macedonian court may have been more tolerant. Mendoni, though, seemed to agree with Natsios’s assessment, describing the Netflix series as “replete with historical inaccuracies” that demonstrate “the director’s sloppiness and poverty of scenario.” She went on to address the show’s depiction of Alexander’s life-long relationship with Hephaestion, a childhood friend who went on to become a general in his army and his personal bodyguard. “There is no mention in the sources that it goes beyond the limits of friendship, as defined by Aristotle,” Mendoni said. “But you will know that the concept of love in antiquity is broad and multidimensional. We cannot interpret either practices or persons who acted 2,300 years ago by our own measures, our own norms and assumptions. Alexander the Great, for 2,300 years, has never needed, nor does he need now, the intervention of any unsolicited protector of his historical memory or, even more, of his personality and moral standing.” Mendoni may be right in her assertion that there are no known descriptions of Alexander and Hephaestion’s relationship as explicitly sexual by their contemporaries, but many modern historians believe they were more than just friends. They were frequently compared to Patroclus and Achilles, who were also believed to be lovers, and historians like Robin Lane Fox believe their sexual relationship may have continued into adulthood. While Alexander did marry and produce an heir later in his life, historian Peter Green argues in his 2007 book Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age that there is little evidence that he had much interest in women. This is not the first time a pop culture depiction of Alexander the Great has caused an uproar in Greece. In 2004, a coalition of Greek lawyers claimed that Stone’s depiction of Alexander as bisexual in his 2004 film starring Colin Firth was defamatory and threatened to sue the director and Warner Bros. In the U.S., Alexander: The Making of a God has already sparked outrage from the usual anti-LGBTQ+ trolls on social media. Earlier this month, influential rightwing X account End Wokeness posted that Netflix had “turned… http://dlvr.it/T3FfMc

[suranet]

though, upon thinking it over, i’ll make an exception to the “the Enigma is a boring plot device” stance that i hold and i’ll say that i thought its usage in the 2021 annual issue for the new comics w/ the Technobots had the potential to be... mildly interesting?

because in there Scattershot (the Technobot leader) falls into a kind of fake Enigma core and basically absorbs it into himself by total accident, and that’s what gives him the ability to combine w/ the other Technobots into Computron.

and then it just stays inside him afterwards. no removal, no using it for anybody else. it seemed permanent. at the end of the annual, Scattershot’s hinted to be having identity issues about what it’s doing to him?

now, i seriously doubt the comics are going to take it in the direction i want (full-fledged identity crisis) or explore it much but... i could see ways to spin that into a few fun plot threads.

[testudoaubrei-blog]

Well, it’s not quite a master’s thesis, but this is (the first of) a series of posts on why Catra and Adora are the best love story in the history of kids TV animation and maybe the greatest love story in the history of TV. This may in some ways be faint praise - romance on TV is generally not very good compared with books or movies. Often it’s just some will they/won’t they sexual tension that is defused by getting characters together and re-heightened by breaking them up. TV is full of nearly shark jumping pointless dramas like Sam and Diane (Cheers, holy fuck am I dating myself, though that was technically before my time), Ross and Rachel (Friends, which was no Cheers) etc, but also some less annoying couples like Ben and Leslie (Parks and Rec) or Amy and Jake (Bk99) who are mostly just kind of cute and fun. Other shows, like the X-Files, teased viewers for years with unresolved sexual tension. In kids shows most romances are, appropriate for their target viewers, mild, sweet relationships based more on self-conscious flirting and blushing than on complex and conflicted feelings or deep passions - which is pretty realistic when the characters are young teens or even mid-teens. Some of these relationships are really well done - Finn and Flame Princess, Dipper and Pacifica (yeah I ship them), the early stages of Katara and Aang (before the showrunners imbued this childhood crush with cosmic significance), Steven and Connie, etc. Catra and Adora, though, are different. Their love story is not a side plot or a sub plot, it’s the heart of the show. It isn’t a childhood crush, it’s a very messy and passionate relationship between two young adults. She-Ra is an emotionally complex lesbian romance just as much as it is a thrilling action/adventure show. Everything about their relationship is baked into the show’s plot, its themes, hell even its musical score. The dramatic tension between Catra and Adora is not the result of stretching out a flirtation for ratings, but a coherent dramatic arc that runs through the entire show. As Noelle said, he made Catradora so central that execs couldn’t take it out without ruining the show. And the show is better for it. In this series of posts I’m going to try to show why, as well as showing why She-Ra is such a fantastic love story.

First off, let’s talk about how Catra and Adora’s character arcs are foils for each other, and how they come together and apart through the series. This is actually a post that I’ve been working on for a while but I keep summarizing the show rather than cutting to the chase, so I’m not going to recite many plot points so much as sketch out what’s going on with the dramatic structure at the time. But also, let’s talk about what each character’s arc is saying, and how they are commenting on each other. Spoiler alert: Catra’s arc is a subversion and critique of stories of empowerment through ruthless self-assertion and revenge, while Adora’s arc is a subversion and critique of chosen one narratives and stories of self-denial and self-transcendence.

When the show starts, Adora and Catra are shown as rivals and friends - their first scene starts the recurring motif of them reaching out for each other as one of them dangles above an abyss, as well as establishing their flirtatious banter and easy camaraderie. We quickly learn that these two young women plan to conquer the world together. These scenes and later flashbacks show Catra and Adora as deeply enmeshed in each others lives, to the point where neither of them (but especially Catra) have clear identities outside of one another. There is so much genuine love on both sides before Adora leaves, but also resentment, envy and fear, especially on Catra’s side, as well as a protectiveness on Adora’s side that deprives Catra of her autonomy. They are both being abused by Shadow Weaver - Catra physically  and emotionally, Adora emotionally. It wouldn’t be too much to say that Shadow Weaver holds Catra hostage to control Adora (this is why critiques that Adora abandoned Catra to be abused are actually kind of messed up, since they accept Shadow Weaver’s premise that Adora is responsible for what Shadow Weaver does to Catra). In addition, Catra and Adora actually see the world incredibly differently. Adora already sees the world in terms of right, wrong and her destiny to right wrongs - this is why it’s important for her  to accept the Horde’s obvious lies - she couldn’t keep living if she didn’t. Catra, on the other hand, sees the world solely in terms of survival and personal loyalty - everything for her is about preserving herself and the person she cares about - Adora.

Then, when Adora finds the sword, she leaves because it’s the right thing to do. Catra doesn’t even have a concept of ‘the right thing to do’ being something she should care about, or perhaps, something she can care about as an irredeemably evil, awful fuck-up. So at Thaymor neither one understands where the other is coming from, and Catra and Adora begin to part. This is the first turning point in their relationship. Adora chooses duty over what she desires, Catra chooses to protect herself (such as she sees it) and nurse her sense of betrayal and abandonment.

Their relationship until Promise is a kind of weird Frenemy thing that is fascinating to watch and sold me on the show. Neither one wants to fully admit to themselves that the other is now their enemy, neither one has given up on changing the other’s mind. Each is furious at the other, and desperate to see her again at the same time. There’s a lot of heartache and just as much sexual tension, especially at Princess Prom. Both of them come alive when they fight each other (more about that in a later post). But they’re already growing apart - Adora embracing her destiny as She-Ra, Catra rising in the ranks for the Horde. Adora now has the purpose she always wanted, plus other friends and a sense of being chosen to do something great, while Catra now has power - the means to protect herself from people like Shadow Weaver as well as the vindication she had always been denied, and even the opportunity to beat Shadow Weaver at her own game.

The next turning point is Promise. Holy fuck, this episode. It’s an episode that is even more heartbreaking after you’ve watched the show because you know just how much worse things are going to get, and yet, it’s a necessary part of both of their character arcs. Even through season 1 Catra and Adora had remained very much enmeshed in each others lives in an increasingly fucked up way as they grew apart but refused to turn away from each other. Even though they aren’t -exactly- a romantic couple (Adora doesn’t recognize and acknowledge her feelings until the last episode of Season 5), Season 1 of She-Ra is one of the worst breakups I have seen on TV. As I said in a couple of previous posts, this is the kind of shit that the Mountain Goats write songs about. Everything that was poisoning their love for each other even before episode 1 bubbles to the surface and combines with them fighting on opposite sides of the war to make a truly fucked up situation. In the end, it’s Catra that makes the choice to turn away from Adora. This isn’t a -good- decision. It’s spiteful, and destructive, and based on an outright deluded understanding of their relationship (inspired by Light Hope’s manipulations and her own issues), but it’s in some ways a necessary decision. Catra has been so wrapped up in Adora for so long that she isn’t going to be able to figure out who -she- is without cutting Adora out of her life. And the same is true of Adora.

But each of them do this in about the worst way possible. Catra embraces destruction, ambition, manipulation and outright cruelty, turning the tactics of her abusers against them and against everyone around her. She first triumphs over Shadow Weaver and manipulates Entrapta into trying to corrupt Etheria itself. Meanwhile Adora ‘lets go’ and commits herself to the self-denying mantle of She-Ra. Over the next several seasons, their respective paths will nearly lead both Catra and Adora to their deaths (in the Season 4 finale).

For the next season (counting season 2 and 3 as one) Catra and Adora are still closely linked, but as enemies. Still, there’s more than enough flirtation between them (that ‘Hey Catra’ in the first episode of Season 2 is something else), and especially on Adora’s side we see her hold back with Catra, and often take responsibility for the harm Catra inflicts, just like she had when they were kids. Yet they still drift apart - after facing off every other episode in Season 1, they spend less and less time on screen together through season 2 and 3. Catra continues her ascent to power and descent into villainy while Adora becomes more of a stressed out mess as she takes the fate of the world and the wellbeing of everyone she cares about on her admittedly broad shoulders. Catra’s one moment of vulnerability is rewarded by Shadow Weaver’s betrayal and her exile, then Catra triumphs in ruthless badass fashion through sheer desperation and aggression. In the Crimson Wastes, we see Catra at her most independent, and she almost seems happy. But once Adora shows up and Catra hears about Shadow Weaver, she’s sucked back into the worst of her resentments, and she makes very clear that being happy is less important to her than making sure Adora is miserable.

This changes everything. Catra completely breaks with reality and tries to kill Adora, herself and the world rather than lose to Adora and Shadow Weaver (I do think it’s important to remember that she does that after Shadow Weaver nearly kills her). Catra betrays everyone around her when she exiles Entrapta, threatens Scopria and lies to Hordak. Then she flips the switch. When Adora tries to fix things, Catra fights to her own death to make sure that the world disintegrates with her. For her part, Adora fights first to understand what is wrong with the world and then to fix it. Finally she tells Catra that destroying the world is her choice and she has to live with it, decks her, and then sees her off with a death glare once the portal is closed. With this, Adora writes Catra off even if, as she says later, she never never hated her. By doing that, Adora casts off the guilt that had dogged her and takes responsibility for her own life rather than someone else’s - this is actually a huge step for her, and one that will become more important in Season 4.

Season 4 is in many ways the nadir of their relationship. They only see each other once during the entire season, in Fluterrina, when Adora tries to blast Catra, much to the latter’s shock. There’s a sense in that scene that Catra is trying to have the same flirtatious enmity she used to have with Adora, and Adora is having none of it. Catra almost seems hurt by this, which is an early hint at how isolated Catra is beginning to feel. Catra spends the rest of the season at her highest and lowest. On the one hand she spends most of 12 episodes winning by every standard she has ever claimed to care about, besting Hordak himself in single combat and making herself co-ruler of the Horde and coming within a day’s march of ending the Rebellion. In many ways it is the ultimate empowerment fantasy - the abused young woman has defeated her abusers, showed up everyone who doubted her and forced everyone to respect her. But I think it’s striking that the show starts with her and Adora dreaming of conquering the world together and in Season 4 Catra nearly succeeds in conquering it alone, almost like she was trying to live out her old shared fantasy while proving she didn’t need her former best friend. 

At the same time, Catra is clearly miserable. She’s always been unhappy, but in Season 4 we see her completely isolated and lying to herself and everyone who will listen in a desperate attempt to justify her actions. Turning the tactics of Hordak and Shadow Weaver against them to gain power and then against Scorpia and Entrapta to maintain it haven’t vindicated Catra, they’ve made her more and more alone as Entrapta is exiled and Scorpia drifts away. Meanwhile Catra reaches out to Double Trouble, and her interactions with them reek of a kind of desperate desire to have someone in her life (the feeling of their interaction is of an unhealthy casual relationship where one partner becomes emotionally invested and the other takes advantage of that while denying the other the closeness they desire). As people leave her, one after the other, it becomes clearer and clearer that Catra doesn’t want power at all - she wants connection, friendship, love, and power is a very poor replacement. As I said in my long Catra rant, Season 4 is both her ‘Walter White as a Catgirl’ season and the beginning of her redemption. Everything comes to head when Sparkles destroys everything Catra has tried to achieve, Double Trouble delivers those harsh truths and Horde Prime shows up and makes it all irrelevant, just highlighting how futile all her struggles and sacrifices and crimes have been.

Meanwhile Adora spends Season 4 becoming her own her and her own woman. After telling off Catra, she grows more and more disillusioned with Light Hope and critical of Glimmer (though the latter has more than a shade of her old habit of taking responsibility for others - Adora’s development is not linear). She’s gained the courage and confidence to strike out her own path, not just follow a destiny. At the season’s end she once again breaks with her best friend to do what is right, and discards the destiny that she was being prepared for. But in this case she isn’t chasing one packaged destiny for another, instead she’s making her own choice and literally shattering the thing that she thought gave her life purpose. It’s badass, and heartbreaking, and along with decking Catra and jumping after Catra into the abyss (see below) it’s the perfect Adora moment.

In many ways Season 5 starts with Catra and Adora farther apart than they have ever been. They aren’t even enemies anymore, they’re completely out of each other’s lives. And both Catra and Adora are lost at the beginning of Season 5 - Catra is useless and alone on Prime’s ship, completely defeated despite ostensibly being on the winning side, and she goes through the motions of her normal plotting without any particular conviction and none of her normal flair. Meanwhile Adora is even more miserable and self-destructive than usual, throwing herself at Horde Bots and working herself until she drops of exhaustion. In a very real way they both stay lost until they have a chance to help the other. Catra takes responsibility for what she’s done and what she can do, saves Glimmer (at least partly for Adora’s sake), apologizes to Adora, and sacrifices herself. Adora only seems to come alive when she decides to turn around, face Prime, and save the cat. And when she does, Catra and Adora’s arcs, which had separated so completely in season 4, come crashing back together to end the series.

Adora during Save the Cat is such a contrast with the uncertain, hesitant and self-destructive wreck we’ve seen so far in Season 5. This is possibly her craziest plan in 3 years of mostly cazy plans, but she never wavers or questions herself. Even when Chipped Catra appears and we see Adora’s heart break while we watch, Adora doesn’t back down or relent. She keeps at it even as the tears stream down her face. She fights better trying to save Catra without She-Ra’s powers than she fought at the Battle of Bright Moon with them. Catra’s just about as desperate - we see her cry and plead, and now is probably as good a time to any to point out how amazing a job both VAs did throughout the show, but especially in this episode, and how good a job the board artists did. 

Seeing each other for the first time in a year, and only the second time since Catra blew everything up, Catra and Adora are probably the rawest and least restrained we’ve ever seen them. There’s barely any banter, no bravado, and no pretense that they are anything other than two women who desperately need each other (Prime doesn’t help with ��You broke my heart’.) Then Catra is flung to her death, Adora jumps after her, breaks both her legs in the fall (we see her crawl to Catra, as though she couldn’t walk) and becomes the real She-Ra. It’s such a triumphant and deeply queer moment seeing a woman transformed into a warrior goddess to protect the woman she loves, and it’s the reason that, as dark as it is, Save the Cat is my Comfort Food episode.

Let’s not sleep on Taking Control, though. This episode is like a microcosm of what this show does best, especially the A plot with Catra and Adora. Catra’s reversion to lashing out at everyone and her refusal to be open to Adora shows just how much of a struggle this whole ‘being good and trying to connect to people’ thing is. Catra’s outburst gives Adora a chance to stand up for herself and refuse to be Catra’s punching bag, while also not trying to control her. Adora’s ultimatum gives Catra a chance to reach out to Adora (quite literally), and allow herself to be vulnerable. In this episode, we see just how far Catra and Adora have come since the messed up stew of their relationship in Season 1. Adora lets Catra be responsible for her own actions; Catra lets herself be vulnerable to Adora and takes responsibility for her actions. They’re both better people and better friends and better partners than they were, and the show has shown this in a strikingly nuanced and realistic way. 

The important thing to note in the next few episodes of Season 5 isn’t just how much closer Catra and Adora get to each other and how much they flirt (So much. So much, y’all) but just how -happy- they are. We see both of them transformed in the other’s presence. Basically, since they’ve parted, both Catra and Adora have been defined in no small part by how miserable they often are. They have both had their triumphs and their lighter moments, but there’s been a sense of melancholy dogging both Catra and Adora since episode 1. And now that they’re together again, that lifts, somewhat. Catra’s verbal barbs have lost their venom, and she can openly show how much she cares for Adora and even Bow and Glimmer. She’s still herself - snarky, cynical, somewhat devious - but she’s not engaged in a self-destructive zero-sum struggle with everyone around her. Meanwhile Adora has spent 4 seasons being a neurotic and sometimes nearly joyless mess who takes responsibility for everything and often doesn’t let herself enjoy anything other than the odd BFS group hug (exceptions include trying to uh...impress Huntara and reveling with the butterfly ladies of Elberron in Flutterina).  Around Catra, though, she’s a cocky, swaggering jock who gives as good as she gets. It’s a side of Adora we’ve only seen hints of before, and one that’s so much more confident and joyful even as the world is ending around her. Apart, Catra had tried to protect and vindicate herself with power and conquest, while Adora had tried to forget herself in duty and sacrifice. Together, they can be themselves again. This dynamic is crucial to the show’s portrayal of Catra and Adora’s romance because it doesn’t just show how much they love each other, but how they’re -good- for each other now that they’ve grown as people, and that they are so much better than they were when they were apart.

Until Shadow Weaver shows up. Their old abuser reintroduces tensions but even then things are different than they were. Now Catra isn’t just resentful of how Shadow Weaver prefers Adora - she’s  protective of Adora, which is clearest in Failsafe when she calls Shadow Weaver out for being willing to sacrifice Adora. And while Adora takes the Failsafe, it isn’t to follow her destiny or because she has a death wish - it’s because she loves her friends, and she is the only one who has any hope of doing this and living (though Catra’s suggestion that Shadow Weaver take it is a good one). And finally, when Catra leaves Adora, it isn’t because she hates Adora, nor, despite what she says, is it because she really thinks that Adora chose Shadow Weaver. At least, not exactly. It’s because Catra loves Adora, and can admit that to herself, and can’t stay around and watch the woman she loves sacrifice herself rather than choosing Catra. Before Catra leaves, she asks Adora ‘What do you want?” It’s a question that echoes Shadow Weaver’s speech in Episode 1: ‘isn’t this what you always wanted since you could want anything?’ As much as Adora has grown as a person, and defined herself and stood up for what she thinks is right, she still has never answered that question - it’s never been ‘what do I want’ but ‘what do I have to do?’ and that’s how Adora answers Catra’s question. This is Adora’s last gasp as a self-transcending hero, letting go of what she wants (not that she ever dared articulate what that was) in order to do what must be done. And it nearly kills her and dooms the universe, because Adora can’t be the hero that she needs to be by being anyone less than herself.

But it’s losing Catra that inspires Adora to tell off Shadow Weaver for good (not that she’d ever really warmed to her after season 1). And it’s love for Adora that inspires Catra to stand up to Shadow Weaver and demand that she do the right thing. In both cases, Catra and Adora aren’t just standing up to their abuser, but holding her to account for the harm she’s caused, and it’s the love that they have for each other that inspires them to do this. In Catra’s case in particular her refusal to let Shadow Weaver weasel out of finding Adora is a much greater triumph over Shadow Weaver than beating her up and breaking her mask in Season 1 - it’s proof not so much to Shadow Weaver but to Catra herself that Catra really is better than this and that she deserves better than this. It’s not turning her abuser’s tactics against her, but truly holding her to a moral standard and demanding that she do the right thing.

And then there’s Catra and Adora together at the heart. Catra has already come back for Adora and stayed to the end, choosing to die with her even if she can’t share a life together (not out of some death wish, but because Adora needs her). And Adora, who’s been avoiding answering the question for three fucking years, finally let’s herself want Catra when Catra finally confesses her love (breaking the last of her self-protective shields) and asks Adora to stay -for her-. And by admitting what she wants, Adora can truly be at peace with herself and be the hero she needs to be, lesbianism saves the universe, The End.

So anyway, that’s how Catra and Adora’s stories are woven together and how they compliment and comment on each other. Narrativiely, Adora and Catra start together, come apart, find something of themselves, and truly find themselves and each other when they are reunited. Thematically, they are critiquing seemingly opposing narrative tropes - empowerment narratives and narratives of self sacrifice. But by showing the flaws in both types of story and showing how neither self-seeking empowerment nor self-negating self sacrifice can actually make us happy, She-Ra asks and answers more profound questions than most prestige dramas for adults do. I’ll get into how the show sells the idea that the power of love can bring us happiness (and save the world) in a future post. But next up, I’m going to celebrate just how much Catra and Adora’s relationship revels in ambiguity, complexity and contradiction and so tells a grown up love story in a kid’s show.

[limetimo]

RAB fics I read 14-20 March

the salt and the sea by WizardGod I'm not usually one to read "James Potter' little sister this and that" fics, but boyyy am I glad I gave this one a chance. It's their NEWT year and Theresa (Teddy) Potter is paired up with Regulus Black for Prefect Patrols. The disinterest/disdain they feel for each other is whacked all out of balance when they fuck against a wall. Evan ships it :D

Best Friend's Brother by zeppazariel this is!!!!!!!! fantastic!!!!!! I know I've been reading a lot of Jegulus/Wolfstar identity porn lately but this one *chef kiss* stands out. Regulus and Sirius didn't talk or see each other since Sirius run away from home, and Regulus run away at 18. Regulus and Remus are coworkers at a café. Regulus starts dating James, not knowing that James is his beloathed brother's best friend. Remus starts dating Sirius (and he doesn't even know Regulus HAS a brother until later). Eventually Remus and James realise that their boyfriends are the infamous hated brothers and they're kinda in deep shit: because Black Brothers are petty, bad bitches that should not be fucked with. Mind the tags for hardcore past child abuse and other trigger warnings.

a shrike (to your sharp and glorious thorn) by nyxveuss the author announced they were rewriting this glorious story, so I re-read the whole thing for my pleasure. I'm sad to see it go but eager to see nyx's new vision of the "Regulus dies and is yeeted to his fifth year"

Dripping With Sin by ScreamingFae I! Bartender!Regulus catches Vampire!Barty's eye who simply must make him his. Doesn't matter Regulus is already dating Guitarist!James.

Silent Screams by Izumi284 semi-dead Regulus gets tossed to OotP! Also who's the white and gold cat? O.O

I see you in the stars by Bibliosmia0 James is having nightmares about Regulus drowning which makes him approach the younger Slytherin... and I mean ofc he accidentally falls in love with Regulus. Feat a really good friend Remus!

Finders Keepers by jeggie_toast a slowburn Jegulus that starts when Regulus signs up for the Quidditch team, just checked the tags and it's canon COMPLIANT :( as I said, slow burn, and pretty long, I'm currently about 1/5 way through :D

Follow In Her Paw Prints by Erica45 Regulus gets offered a helping paw... hand... from Mcgonagall :D AKA Regulus gets adopted! And fuck Dumbledore! All my homies hate Dumbledore! I hope he gets stabbed honestly

when you were mine by battlehamster our most beloved "secret high school sweetheart turned single parent and a criminal on house arrest" AU Regulus and baby Harry are SO CUTE I'm gonna die

Drugs and surgical scrubs by anauro another most beloved! Doctor!Regulus and addicts!Marauders! Slowburn Jegulus! Black Brothers drama! Battling one's demons! Platonic Bartylus subplot that makes me smile! And much more on Drugs and surgical scrubs~

My Own Private Blackpool by LadyVisenya an OC from Percy's year makes friends with a deeply traumatised man who lives in a villa in her town... turns out his name is Regulus Black. When Harry Potter claims Voldemort is back, these two set of Horcrux hunting! And accidentally fall in love but it's super slowburn and pretty organic and doesn't give me creepies despite the age difference.

The Horcrux Hunt by Keysie I can't believe there's only two chapters left of this beauty ugh. Regulus comes to the conclusion Voldy is a little bitch, goes to Dumbledore, Dumbledore hooks him up with Remus to do some Horcrux hunting; Remus wants to date Sirius but Sirius is a dummy with attachment issues; Remus and Regulus develop a friendship only two men who almost died together numerous times can develop. Their combined snark makes Dumbledore want to retire :D In short, Voldy's going d o w n ♥

As The World Caves In by reylo_is_canon Hermione/Theo Nott time travel with Regulus as the head cockblock :D

Professor Black by FaithlessBex Regulus teaches History of Magic, yay. (Quick thought, did anyone think of Astronomy!Professor Regulus? I think it'd be very sexy of him.)

Born to Run, Break the Mold by agentofreedom Regulus goes to cave and survives and ends up on Sirius' couch, time to fuck some shit right up :D

glimpses of heaven by lunahunt !!!!!! So good!!!!! After the Prank, James is all off his groove. Euphemia signs him up for a Quidditch course with Wronski, the Seeker who invented the Wronski's faint. But guess who else got enrolled in the course! Yep, you guessed right, Regulus Black! Them boys gonna be seeing each other once a week for the rest of the summer :D

Harry just can’t wait to be a big brother by anauro for battlehamster what it says on the tin! super cute dometic Jegulus ♥

Lion's Roar by Seralyn semi-dead Regulus to OotP

and we're gone by blackkat the night Sirius run away

Black Madness by LimeOfMagicLimo Regulus is Tired and when Walburga hexes Kreacher over a minor mistake, he snaps and kills her. And then he becomes and alcoholic and kills Voldemort too.

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Strike a Pose by Anonymous okay so this is Ron Weasley/Draco Malfoy PWP but it's??? so good??? and the first time I read this pairing so I'm just going to leave it here as a treat for ppl who want to broaden their horizonts

[kabutoraiger]

double... whatta tv show!

wowow is usually the place to go for more Artistic dramas but the vast majority of those are like. about crimes or political conspiracies. very interesting to see something like this which has no mystery to solve, no deaths, no corporate sabotage, just a slice of life about two Are They Gay Y/N theatre homies doing acting gigs,

except the presentation here actually isn’t dissimilar from a murder mystery bc the main characters are SO dramatic about their emotions and occasionally unmoored from reality. i would love to see more dramas like this get made where “will these 2 men ever fuck each other” is treated with the same sort of gravitas as finding the killer would be in another show.

i mean just on the basis of production value i’d recommend this show to most people - it’s very atmospheric, well-shot, i especially loved the music used in it which made me feel some kinda way.

it all combines together to really capture the strange mindset of these two people who exist in this like dreamy borderland between their real lives and their entwined identities and their acting. certain scenes actually reminded me of my favorite movie of all time millennium actress, so. bonus points there. i do kinda wish double had leaned into the “boundaries between reality and fiction blurring” angle a little more; i think it could’ve done some wild stuff with that. but as is i still enjoyed what it was going for.

if it has any issues i’d say... the end does feel a bit abrupt. you expect some big final confrontation about their relationship but it all happens inside takara’s weird headspace without the real yujin being present and you kinda feel like you missed a step in the finale and wish you had more of yujin’s actual perspective on all this. but perhaps it makes sense that you don’t get it. maybe even he will never know how he really feels since it’s so wrapped up under layers of Acting Hyperfocus.

i’m still not totally sold on chiba yudai in this. he’s very good as takara, especially his cuter, naive moments, and he is a good crier i’ll tell ya what, but takara is also supposed to be this like enchanting magnetic stage presence in every role he takes and. that part just doesn’t really come across in yudai’s performance. i’m not sure it ever could have come across bc that’s just not the vibe yudai conveys. it does take you out of it a bit.

the other minor problem is the fansubs which are good enough for your average jdrama but. this is not your average jdrama. it’s laden with parallels and subtext and complicated exchanges that even if i was fluent in the language might give me pause, but as someone reliant on subs there were several times when i just couldn’t really grasp what was being communicated at all. (some weird turns of phrase used by the subber too and they get one character’s name wrong every time it’s spoken which was driving me up the fucking wall.)

so maybe only really recommendable to people who don’t mind being a bit confused by media. in the end i found the nebulousness to be more of a pro than a con, honestly. it’s a fun show to sit and think about after you’ve finished an episode. like me going “damn.... being a theatre person seems exhausting”

[ihopesocomic]

Is it true that you don't like Helluva Boss? I really don't like it because I find the humor very dull and I'm not a fan of demon/hell stuff lol, but what's your reason? :0

tw for helluva boss mention

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Our views on Helluva Boss are essentially the same as My Pride: we like the sheer amount of effort that goes into it as an indie project completely done via Discord but we're not fans of the writing.

Mainly because we're confused on whether we should be rooting for these characters or not. We're meant to feel sad for Blitzo but he's an ableist, abusive and generally unpleasant character? Yes, it's set in Hell but when you're giving prompts for your audience to feel any emotion for him other than disgust or second hand embarrassment, that kinda interferes with the setting and atmosphere a tad.

The same goes for Stolas. The show portrays him as somebody who doesn't respect Blitzo's personal space and outright intimidates/frightens him sometimes but oh, we have to have feelings for him because he sings lullabies to his daughter and he's going through a messy divorce (which is entirely of his own making, arranged marriage or not - which is also not even clear nor developed enough for us to sympathise with him) and he actually legit loves Blitzo even though it's a bit late in the hour to turn it into an healthy relationship when you tried to portray it as creepy and inconvenient to Blitzo at the beginning for what appears to be comic effect?

We love the relationship between Moxxie and Millie, however. If the show had been purely about them and had been a sitcom where they're loving couple with an adopted hellhound daughter who also happen to be be professional assassins, we would've been all over that. Blitzo just seems to be there to be as obnoxious and rude as possible (an Eric Cartman-esque figure, if you will) and we just don't think him being the main protagonist with protagonist problems fits into that very well.

It appears to have the same issues as My Pride where it doesn't have a very good sense of identity. While it's entirely possible, it's very difficult to combine genres like comedy, musical and drama, especially when the comedy is very obviously adult-based. Because what can happen is that the genres can collide and conflict with each other if you're not careful and that's what we feel has happened with Helluva Boss. It started out as an adult comedy series but it also tries to be a complex, emotional drama whenever it simply feels like it and, unfortunately, that is not how these sort of things work. There has to be structure for these sort of things, or the characters and their motivations can come across as confusing and inconsistent.

Not saying these things should never be combined ever. They totally should and they can work together. It is possible to have an adult based comedy drama that's also a musical but you still have to have an identity first. Like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend kind of does that and it does have its more serious moments but it is still ultimately a comedy. It's like they we're trying to do a South Park/Ren and Stimpy combo but make it a musical but then try to pull it off as Bojack Horseman (which, based on a cameo of Bojack's heroin in Hazbin Hotel, is probably an inspiration) and Charlie's Angels at the same time.

There's also the fact that it's also only the first season and we've had six or so antagonists with their own storylines so far? It just feels kinda crowded at this point. Like the whole set up with Striker is interesting but then we completely forget about it for two whole episodes? It's a shame because him and his motivation as a bad guy has been the strongest of what we've been presented so far.