#i love to think about them as rebels actually. aspirational

[dudeyuri]

i wish i could stop thinking about bad buddy for two seconds but anyway i Love how pran just cannot resist pat. yeah he playfully resists to flirt with pat, but his eyes (and dimples) are always daring pat to keep pushing his buttons. he may walk away, but pran eventually lets pat reel him into the romcom every time. he's getting courted he's initiating bets/debts he's enthusiastically participating in the "first one to fall in love loses" competition. pat's got every trope in his back pocket but pran's been writing love songs for him since high school. "forbidden fruit is the sweetest" as he says. it was irresistible like happiness was choosing him

the point is pran "we know how it's going to end, isn't it better not to start at all?" parakul played right into the role he knows leads to tragedy because the happiness was too profound to deny. and the tragedy does crash around them, he wasn't wrong. the worst thing that could happen happens (and then it keeps happening, the dull unending tragedy of the closet, shielding their relationship from parents who already know about it). it's a tragedy but it's not the ending. not for pat "we can't let it end like this" napat and the love of his life!! their story ends on a happy note. imagine telling episode 5 pran the honeymoon comes after the tragic nosedive. anyway this post got away from me. love wins

[mxtxfanatic]

Tbh, I think if you read an mxtx novel with the expectation that the story’s hero is meant to learn some valuable lesson that fundamentally changes their character and views on life, then you are reading her books wrong. There’s not a single mxtx protag (currently) in existence who changes by the end of the story. It’s the world they live in that is changed because of their actions:

—Shen Yuan’s Shen Qingqiu transforms a toxic masculinity fantasy into a queer romance in which the unhappy stallion protagonist with a harem in the 100s is given his monogamous happy ending with a husband he actually loves and values with reciprocity. They fuck off to their forever honeymoon after exposing the corruptness of the cultivation world that ruined Luo Binghe’s life to begin with, and all of this was only possibly because Shen Yuan was just a genuinely nice fucking person. The world lives to see another day and a fuckton of people who died (or didn’t even get to exist) in the original stallion novel get to live long, more fulfilled lives in Shen Yuan’s revision.

—Wei Wuxian is killed for sticking up for a condemned clan, is resurrected against his will, and still stands by his actions in his first life while protecting those that continued to wrongfully condemn him. As a reward, the corpses of the people he died protecting save him and his loved ones (and the rest of the bystanders who killed them), he bags himself the most perfect and perfectly matched man in the cultivation world, and he continues to help others and do what he wants to the ire of the cultivation world who are now too embarrassed to fight him. The younger generation look to him as a beloved teacher, protector, and role model to aspire towards.

—Xie Lian rebelled against hierarchy as a beloved prince of a prospering kingdom, then as a beloved god against the older gods, then as a reviled scraps god against the then most popular gods of the present day. He was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it and to never hold resentment even if that kindness blew up in his face (and it often did). He gets to marry the man (ghost) who has seen him at his best and absolute worst and chooses him unconditionally, something no one else has ever done before. At the end of the novel, he is the god that all the other gods look to for guidance and strength.

None of these stories humble these characters for being good people. Even when their morally righteous actions net them unimaginably terrible results, even when they falter in the face of their failures, they ultimately remain true to their goodness. And none of the books humble them for that, because being good is not a character flaw. So in short: please stop talking about how mxtx protags “needed” to learn valuable lessons to “be good people” when they were already good people from the very beginning. These stories are not about how the world changes people but how genuinely good people can change the world just by actively being kind even with no benefit to themselves and especially if that kindness leads to detriment.

[beanghostprincess]

Modern au trans Ace has been consuming my mind lately so I thought I'll just share all of my headcanons or else I'll explode:

• Sabo was the first person he had come out to. It happened when they were around 9. Ace had always felt that something was "wrong" about him. That the way he acted, his interests and past times, and just how he would do things were "unnatural" or wierd". Once Ace became familiar with the conspet of transgenderism he just opened up to him, and was met with instant support.

• Immediately after this, Sabo gave Ace his (trademark) transgender haircut in the bathroom of Dadan's house. She actually entered it while they were there and upon seeing it she cried out of happyness. (Mothers know everything)

• Coming out to Garp was a bit harder for Ace since he wasn't sure how an older person would have reacted, I mean Garp just left there his grand"daughter" and came back to a grandson after all. But we all know that Garp would never discriminate, and plus now he has another grandson to train.

• Luffy arrived in his life after a full year after he had transitioned, so at first Ace wasn't sure how to exacly explain this to Luffy, but he did manage to open up to him after they officially became brothers. Luffy wasn't just an innocent kid, while he didn't fully understood concepts like transphobia, to him Ace is just his brother so if anyone is mean to him or calls him names he'll just kick their asses.

• Ace had been homeschooled for the 5 years that would have been him attending elementary school. Middle school was the first time he attended an actual school and at first he wasn't open or confident at all and was ready to just beat up anyone who tried to shit talk him.

• Surprisingly he made a few friends. They were mostly just Luffy's friends who were older than him or his friends's siblings, but he appreciated it anyway. His absolute best friend ever tho is Kuina. I hd her as non binary using she/they so its just trans supporting trans, and they also have like a million of other reasons to be friends but those were already pointed out.

• His top surgery was payed by none other than his father Newgate. The Whitebeards pirates would be just this one tatoo shop Ace works at that Newgate he opened after "retiring" from biker gangs and stuff.

• Obbligatory T4T Yamace, but we all already knew this, didn't we?

• Ace gets the best older trans guy advice from Franky. Because to me, he is just what every trans guy aspires to be, cool and hardboiled. And who wouldn't want to get advice from the dude who did his own top surgery in his father's mechanic shop at 15?

These are all from me, but feel free to add your own or elaborate on the ones you like.

Trans Ace is so real to me that I quite literally can't imagine him being cis. It's just so,,, Weird to me. And I absolutely love everything you said. I definitely think Sabo was the first one to know and the one who helped Ace the most with his transition, also telling Garp, who actually is way better (if you can say 'better' when something isn't even 'good' but yeah) at raising boys. At least he understands them better. So I think he wouldn't have a problem with it at all even if he's more on the "I don't really get it that much, kid, but as long as you're happy" type of vibe. I agree with everything,, When he was younger he really didn't interact with many people and usually preferred to be alone. Teachers considered him more of a problematic kid than anything, and always compared him to Sabo with the typical "how are you like this when your brother is just so polite and smart!?" but then Sabo always ends up fighting the teachers for saying that shit in front of the class and Sabo stops being so perfect in their eyes (also he starts rebelling himself a lot against the educational system lmao). And not to talk shit about Garp, but talking shit about Garp I'm sure Ace would get in trouble a lot and Garp wouldn't show up to the meetings with Ace's teachers. That only makes Ace feel lonelier and everyone thinks he's extremely troubled. When he's literally a sweetheart to both Sabo and Luffy,, When he meets Luffy's friends, he starts to open up to people. He still gets in a lot of trouble, honestly, but that's just him. I think his classmates find out about him being trans, of course, and not a lot of people are okay with that. He truly wants to fight them but he knows that if he keeps going like this he'll get expelled and he doesn't like the idea of leaving Sabo and Luffy alone ('doesn't like the idea' meaning he almost gets expelled and Sabo had to scold him and tell him that even though he has his own friends he doesn't know what he would do without him in school), so Luffy and Sabo are usually the one defending him a lot of the time since the teachers, even though they're chaotic, don't really hate them (because look at those cutie patooties how could you hate Luffy???? He gets along even with teachers). The Whitebeard pirates accept him with open arms and he finally feels he has a place to belong to. Newgate doesn't even offer to pay for the surgery, he just pays without telling him first because he knows Ace wouldn't have let him do it otherwise. He's so so grateful for them. And his brothers. And his friends. And everybody that has ever supported him. I think that he has lots of issues with depression and self-image and he often has a hard time when he acts impulsively, but Newgate always helps him. He grounds him. Gives him something to focus on. And Franky is soooo fun to be around. Newgate tells him to go see Franky and give him the money he owes him, and that's how they meet, basically. It's obvious he's trans because he goes shirtless all the time and scars are there and everything... And Ace just has to ask about his experience. Franky helps him gladly. And it's not only cathartic but also very comforting. He also meets Robin there!!!! Because married Frobin in this one. And I think Ace would absolutely love her because she keeps being oh so nice to him. She kind of reminds him of Makino, and it's extremely sweet. I think Ace now goes to help Franky from time to time when the Tattoo shop doesn't really need him there or, well, whenever he wants to because he also is extremely interested in bikes.

T4T Yamace my beloved.... Guys being guys. Dudes being dudes. I think they meet because Newgate tells Ace something about this man Kaido (leader of a gang) who owes him lots of money or something or did something very nasty to him yadda yadda Maybe they just have beef from when Newgate was into the gang stuff. And Ace keeps saying he should go and settle things with Kaido and beat him up for that, but Newgate is retired and he really, really doesn't give a single fuck about it. Lmao. Ace says he could take down Kaido himself. Newgate laughs. Ace is too proud. So he ends up looking for Kaido and fighting Yamato late at night in the street and,, Well. You know how it goes. They become daddy issues besties and turns out Yamato does not want to follow his dad's steps. Ace is curious about Yamato's experience because he doesn't seem to want to have surgery or anything, and they keep bonding over their pasts and family and Yamato ends up joining the friend group. And it's so cute. Newgate can see the kid is in love because every day he waits for Yamato to come pick him up to hang out. Or maybe he begs to get out earlier to go see Yamato. He keeps talking about Yamato,,, All the time. Even Sabo and Luffy are done with him. It's endearing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA This is just so good. Modern Au my absolute beloved.

[gunkreads]

S2E3 thoughts:

They absolutely fucking FACEPLANTED. Fully shit the bed. on the pacing for Nynaeve's arch challenges. I'm going to talk about this to distract myself from the loss of My Boy Uno. Let me explain:

The core of the arches is to stare down the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and beat the shit out of them. Aspiring Accepted are meant to look at the regrets, the wrongs, and the joys of a life they could've led and say "No, the ring and shawl mean more to me." THAT is the point. The way out (which astute readers and watchers alike may remember "comes but once") must come when there's a reason to stay in the dream for this to work.

That is not what they fucking did in the episode.

This isn't about divergence from the books, this isn't about my own personal preference; this is about the show establishing a concept and then just drop-kicking it backwards into a wastewater treatment pond.

First dream gets a soft pass. What the hell was she gonna do there? Go upstairs and get killed/kidnapped? I dunno, it was just weird and didn't set up the nature of the challenge very well.

Second dream, we see a problem. The way out only appears after we've implicitly established that there's nothing Nynaeve can do to help. What the hell's the point of that? Of course she's capable of walking away! The show used its visual language to explain very explicitly that Nynaeve can't Heal here and consequently can't do anything to help, then uses regular language to tell us she's not wanted there (bearing in mind that she doesn't really even know how to Heal at this point in the books, so it'd be an herb situation anyway). This is mostly how it goes in the books, sure, but because of the placement of the Healing attempt, there's basically nothing more for her to do at that point besides sit by Tam's side and watch him die. This would've been more potent if there was absolutely any inkling that there was more she could do to fix the situation.

Third dream is the faceplant. I'll tell you what should've happened and you'll agree with me: the arch should have appeared as she watched the boys die, then she should've had to go through it as she watched the Trollocs go into the house after her daughter. Waiting until almost everything was lost, then letting her try to carry her daughter to safety, makes it a non-choice. There was literally no incentive to stay.

There's genuinely nothing wrong with Nynaeve's characterization in this whole sequence. I actually love it dearly. I just think they went 0 for 3 on a very crucial part of the pacing of the sequence.

Anyway.

Mat's fun still. It's super weird how much less antsy he is than his book counterpart--or, at least, how much that antsiness is channeled into smaller physical tics rather than large-scale paranoia and anxiety. I haven't gotten a grip on what'll be driving him yet, but the show is doing a good job telling me that they'll set that up soon. They'd fucking better, at least.

I'm getting weirded out by the power dynamics in the Tower--unpopular or not, Liandrin has absolute authority over the girls in the books by virtue of her status, and turning that on its head in the show just so Egwene and Nynaeve can have more effective rebel moments feels super odd. I don't understand why they're doing it that way. Egwene's confrontation with Liandrin at the ring melter was more confusing than, like, cool.

Rand's plotline is wonderfully paced for a whole-ass different show. His whole shit is going so slowly compared to everyone else's (except Mat) that it's just jarring to cut back to him having made next to zero progress. Arguably the most jarring part is that his goals are unclear right now. I'm speaking from my girlfriend's perspective here, who has not read the books: how the hell did Rand track down Logain, how the hell did he figure out this plan, how the hell did Selene get them into that party, etc. etc. NOW I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING because I'm thinking it too. I fucking know how, don't worry. And my girlfriend can wait to find out, don't worry. The problem isn't that these things aren't been spoon-fed to you, it's that everything else is. Rand's arc in this season is creating a lot of pacing dissonance; it's running so much more slowly and steadily than the other characters' lightning-quick plot sprints that it just feels out of place. Great in isolation, confusing in context.

Perrin's plotline was HRRRRRRGHGHGK

We don't talk about Uno. Do not say his fucking name around me for at least three weeks. I need some time.

[lord-squiggletits]

Anyways. For all the aspiring authors out there, if you want to write a really epic and cool story where character agency matters and things happen as a consequence of people's actions, don't have the epic plot twist of your story be "this character who fucking died on screen in a very unmistakable fashion actually didn't die, he just went back in time to machinate the entire history of this story, literally everything that happened including major political/cultural revolutions was his machination, everything that has ever happened ever was his doing and btw he's the antagonist of this plot line again" because it's shit writing and it basically makes the entire storyline pointless.

Like, in a lot of my IDW OP posts I've harped a lot about character agency and how it's better for a character to have agency and be responsible for some bad things happening than for them to be responsible for nothing and be boring as a result, and it's the same principle here.

If you ass-pull such a massive retcon to the plotline of your story, making it so that EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED is the result of One Guy in a convoluted man-behind-the-man-behind-the-man-behind-the-man plot, then you're just going to render the entire storyline pointless to your readers because. Okay so if everything that's ever happened is this one guy's fault, doesn't that render the actions of every other character in the story futile? Like, sure they technically made all of their choices of their own will, but the entirety of history and the circumstances of the planet were engineered by this one guy and they were all just helplessly playing into his plans so like.... Doesn't that basically make everything that happens in the story pointless?

Like. Especially since in the example I'm vagueposting about (Onyx Prime = Shockwave in the OP series), a few of the fundamental themes of the entire story center around things like responsibility, privilege, the way that good intentions =/= good consequences, the way that personal bias can influence the way that people think. Not to mention all of the crazy socio-political things going on and the genuinely touching things like, idk, a miner doing his best to change the system of Fuctionism, or a veteran from Cybertronian pre-history regretting the fact that she participated in xenophobic genocide. The entire story of IDW1 is full of BIG characters with big impacts big responsibility for what happens.

And you're telling me that the best fucking plot twist Barber could come up with for this continuity is "yeah Shockwave didn't actually die (even though he got shot in the chest by two people at once and then sucked into a black hole and got no medical intervention whatsoever) he just went back in time and IN FACT ALL OF CYBERTRONIAN HISTORY HAS BEEN HIS MACHINATION" like. Okay I guess the Primacy doesn't matter because Shockwave machinated that for his own purposes, I guess colonialism doesn't matter because Shockwave machinated that for his own purposes, I guess Nova Prime and Galvatron and the Guiding Hand and all of them just went exploring/colonizing as part of Shockwave's master plan, I guess the corrupt Senate with all its cool/underappreciated evil Senators was just all part of Shockwave's master plan, Megatron's writing and the existence of the Decepticons trying to rebel against functionism was all of Shockwave's master plan, in fact literally every part of Cybertronian history and myth and culture was engineered by Shockwave for his own nefarious purposes!!!!!!!

And his purposes were pretty much....................... "because I wanted to be evil and make people give up on hope because I love chaos" like okay bitch then why did I even get invested in this entire years-long continuity if you were just gonna pull a "actually everything happened specifically because of this one guy" plot twist on me?

Like the Functionist Universe is annoying but at least it's an alternate universe whose existence doesn't retcon THE ENTIRETY OF THE CONTINUITY at the last fucking minute of the entire story years after the majority of the comics were written, come the fuck on.

[blubushie]

So this an analysis of a song as it pertains to Jesse and Mundy and their relationship as of Chapter 13. Warning I get... massively in-depth about this. Blessing of braintrot. I did this instead of writing. 😅

The song is Oklahoma Smokeshow by Zach Bryan.

Go on and put on that dress that all the bad boys like I know your daddy ain't home so ride with me tonight You always wind up here in a puddle of tears

Just them tbh. Jess is staunchly against dresses (and skirts!) but for this one day she says fuck it and wears a skirt (to impress Mundy of all things). Meanwhile, Charles is recovering from his whole incident, so it's not like he's able to stop her. These verses can be seen as Mundy acknowledging that despite his plans for the night and how much he's going to devote himself to protecting Jess, they're still in Vegas, Jess is still probably gonna get pissed, and she's gonna be even more Jess. This can be seen as him saying "Ok, go ahead and doll up, there's nothing in our way tonight, we can have some fun and you can act a little crazy and I'll be there to pick up there inevitable pieces when shit hits the fan."

Them boys are out and they're angry and they're looking for blood In the back of a blue old pickup truck You got nowhere to go although you're all gussied up

Not really applicable unless you consider the Valley Vultures, but that's not that big of a deal and Jess also wasn't dressed up them.

There's so much whisky in his coke it'll make her nose bend

The first hint that Jesse gets that Mundy hasn't quite kicked his alcoholism is when he lets her have a sip of his Hemingway champagne and she tastes how strong it is. Mundy doesn't drink soft spirits--he doesn't do wine or spritzers or light cocktails, though he does like beer. Mundy drinks hard liquor--whisky, bourbon, brandy, absinthe. This man drinks bushshine. He drinks to get drunk and forget. Small vices kill your big dreams.

But she swears that his love is a damn Godsend She's known God since she was a child

Jess is Catholic, was raised Catholic, and is very much of the "everything happens as god's intention" variety. She's also of the "but sometimes shit just happens" variety. She's not sure what category Mundy falls in, but she's happy enough with him that she thinks it's the former.

She used to play in the yard and she would dream of one day Till the world came around and took her dreaming away Told her how to dress and act and smile

100% Jesse. The world that came and took her dreams--her aspirations of a baseball career--were largely things she couldn't control (such as MLB not allowing female players). This, coupled with her mother insisting that Jess be a proper lady, is what led to her rebelling and joining the boy's baseball team and going stealth. Even when she was discovered it was mostly alright, but Donovan persisted and that's where things fell apart.

She's an Oklahoma smokeshow

Ok neither of them are from Oklahoma but let's be honest, they're both smokeshows. For Jess: Mundy especially thinks this when he finally sees Jess gussied up. For Mundy: Jess is just always thinking this all the time.

He's an asshole from back home

For Mundy: "Back home" as in rural Outback NSW. And let's be honest, he is a little bit of an arsehole. For Jess: This lyric actually fits better for her than him. For Mundy, when he says he's from Tilpa, he has to explain where exactly Tilpa is each and every time. Curse of coming from the outskirts of a town with a population of 15 on the banks of the Darling. But for Jess, "back home" is simply saying "New York." She doesn't even need to say the name of the city itself because there's no confusion between the city and the state. Also Jess is an arsehole at times. Most the time, even.

She'll never make it out alive From that small town bar scene Where small vices kill your big dreams

Whatever dreams either of them had--Mundy of being someone his parents could be proud to say was their son, Jess and her baseball career--are squashed the moment these two stepped foot on the paths that eventually led them to Teufort. And they're both trapped in this small town, where small vices--corruption, greed, lust, cruelty, callousness, arrogance, cowardice--have killed their big dreams. And it's Teufort--there's a fair chance that neither of them are ever leaving TF Industries alive. This job's for life.

He'd take you home but he's too drunk to drive

This has two meanings. One, you can look at it from the perspective of chapter 13, where Mundy is quite literally too drunk to make a return drive to New Mexico and so the pair stay in Las Vegas for the night and fuckstart a relationship. Or two, you can look at it from a perspective of Mundy wanting Jess to be happy and how his vices get in the way of that. You can bet that if Jess ever expressed her secret desire to just go home to her mum and leave Teufort behind that Mundy would make the drive to bring her home in a heartbeat--if he could keep the muzzle on his alcoholism for that long.

I've been here, I've been up all night Thinking 'bout a life with you and I One you'll never know cuz you're a small town smokeshow

This applies to both of them. Both Jesse and Mundy are of the belief that things would never work out between them because of their differences. Jesse loves where she grew up, and Mundy can't handle cities. Mundy loves the bush, and it's fair to say that Jesse wouldn't survive out there without constant supervision.

Both of them stay up at night imagining what their lives would be like if they could just find some middle ground that both find acceptable, but Mundy doesn't do well outside of Australia for too long, and Jess seems to have similar luck outside of the States (looking at the Italy incident) in addition to seeing Australia as some mystical land full of dangerous things (she's not far off, but Mundy doesn't appreciate it).

These two both know that they're likely incompatible, and they've both resigned themselves to their affections only being one-sided, but they still stay up at night thinking about a life with each other despite knowing full well that even if they did get what they wanted, in the end they're likely doomed to be star-crossed lovers.

Go on and put on that dress that all the bad boys like I know your daddy ain't home so ride with me tonight You always wind up here in a puddle of tears

These verses are repeated but there's a hint of resignation in the singer's voice that I think fits Mundy's mood well in the first two scenes of chapter 13. He knows full well what tonight is going to consist of, knows that Jess will be gussied up, knows that he's going to have to suffer through people staring at her and that he'll be angry at that because they don't know her like he does.

He's worried about something happening to her, about her getting too drunk, about the car, about people flirting with her, worst he's worried about the idea of her leaving with someone who isn't him. There's a level of possessiveness here. But he's resigned, and he's deciding that whatever happens, it's alright. He'll be there to pick up the pieces if she needs it. If she needs him.

Those boys are out and they're angry and they're looking for blood In the back of a blue old pickup truck You got nowhere to go although you're all gussied up

This whole song fits well with events of Jesse's birthday, but I think these verses, the last in the song, fit better with the aftermath. This is Mundy acknowledging that once BLU learns of what happened in Vegas they'll be out for his blood--Charles and Liem in particular, with Liem owning that blue ute--but it's also Mundy acknowledging that he'll do Vegas a million and one times until it inevitably catches up with him. You're all gussied up, so let's go somewhere. Even if it kills me.

[hyunsoolgc]

(    >    Hello, it’s Sera ( @lgcseojin ) and I would like to introduce you to aspiring actor, Lee Hyunsoo! With him, I would love to fill in the gaps with people I have not yet gotten the chance to thread/plot with; especially if you think that he could have an interaction with your muse! He’s a bit of an interesting character with quite a few eccentricities, so please feel free to check out the TLDR about him below! I don’t have a twt but you can reach me on discord if you ask for it. If you're interested in plotting, shoot me a message or like ♡ this post and I will get back to you if I can think of something!  )

>    𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆  /  𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓  /  𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔

BACKGROUND !!

Came into this cursed world February 2nd, 2002 (020202).

Born in Seongnam. But they lived in Honolulu for about 5 years until he was 9 or 10 years old before moving back. Mother had a bit of a breakdown and decided their old house was cursed after Hyunsoo fell and broke his arm. She had a mansion commissioned that took years to build.

His mother, Hwang Jiyoon, is a traditional Korean (Pansori) singer, and his father, Lee Minjae, is a renowned piano prodigy and the only member of his family who he feels has been kind to him.

Has an older brother that’s a professional composer and violinist who he's been at odds with since childhood ( mother's doing ) and a younger sister that’s interested in studying fashion.

He often feels like the forgotten middle child.

His parents ( okay, well mostly mom ) pushed him to sing & play piano from a young age and he just ran with it after a while to passively please them.

In middle school he "rebelled" by joining a youth baseball team, despite having no previous interest in sports. Ended up quitting when high school came around but continued to idly go to batting ranges or played soccer with his few friends.

Went to Hanlim out of obligation to his parents but ended up not minding it ( especially since he ended up meeting some friends there! ), and it was a lot better than just being forced to do piano recitals.

However, he was bullied pretty badly by this one group of guys ( specifically one of them ) and kind of hasn't recovered from how traumatic all of it was. It changed him a fair amount and someone who was more meek and generous became closed off and aloof.

To top it off, his mother is a... pretty horrible person. Kids with narcissistic mothers, please stand up.

OTHER STUFF & PERSONALITY !!

Thinks he doesn’t deserve to be an actor because he’s convinced his parents used their money to help him get into the company. ( Despite it not being true. )

As of January 2024 he has repaired his relationship with his brother and gone no contact with his mother after an especially bad fight during chuseok.

Major imposter syndrome alert.

Often buys things for his friends without much question; however, he keeps a very detailed list of those who owe him and how much. ( Does he expect them to pay him back? Nah, but it's funny to pull up randomly. )

Although he puts on more of an act "on stage", he finds value in being sincere in who he is and not changing his personality, even if he comes across as a bit cold and awkward at first.

Has a difficult time making friends and being social but he is trying his best.

Aquarius sun, Libra moon, Pisces rising

Looks like a cinnamon roll, is probably one. He seems warm and approachable because of his appearance but is actually quite composed and polite.

Tends to be more stoic (in a soft way) but the more you get to know him, the more talkative he becomes.

That being said, he has the tendency to "fact attack". He is very honest with his opinions though not necessarily about his feelings or other things.

Pretty noncommittal as in, fickle and not interested in relationships over his career. Has had a few somes than an actual relationship.

When he’s not doing schedules, he’s playing video games, especially on the computer he built and customized himself. Obsessed ( and I mean obsessed ) with video games in general. Good luck trying to get him away from Elden Ring, he's still on that train.

If he wasn’t aiming to be an actor, he would be in a field that deals with computer science and technology.

A notable and open fan of multiple girl groups; especially Twice and Oh My Girl. Crystallis and Fabula, too, obviously. He didn't forget about the boy groups either. He is something of an idol connoisseur.

He did not know how to dance when he was accepted into the company.

Claims he intends to friend-zone his fans. ( And everyone else, probably. )

Still not comfortable with some of the stuff celebs have to do. He doesn’t seem to like acting so close to actual strangers, and the crowding some fans do make him pretty anxious. However, he's good at acting cute.

Believes aliens and ghosts are real.

His favorite fanservice is making finger hearts in creative and strange ways.

His acting idols are Kang Haneul, Do Kyungsoo and Seo Inguk.

Has a panic disorder and will often self-isolate when things are not going well.

Wears glasses and can’t see that well without them. He can technically afford Lasik but he thinks the glasses give him a certain charm.

Afraid of heights; will basically physically shut down and cry if he has to go up somewhere too high.

Certified lover of cats. He wants to adopt a kitten when he gets his own place. UPDATE: He has adopted a 14 year old cat named Cocoa Bean.

[yessadirichards]

Billy Idol talks upcoming pre-Super Bowl show, recent Hoover Dam performance, working on a new album

LOS ANGELES

Billy Idol normally takes advantage of riding his motorcycle on the open road knowing there’s hardly any traffic because millions are usually glued to watching the Super Bowl.

But this year, Idol’s bike won’t be leaving his garage on game day. Instead, the legendary British rocker will be strolling on stage to headline a pre-game concert in Las Vegas ahead of the big game on Feb. 11 just outside Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL’s two best teams face off.

Idol, 68, is expected to perform some of his biggest hits including “Dancing with Myself” “Mony Mony” and “Rebel Yell” during a 35-minute set on two different stages at On Location's Club 67 and Touchdown Club in front of nearly 9,000 anticipated guests. It’s the second time the singer has taken part in a pre-Super Bowl show after he rocked out with Miley Cyrus three years ago outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

In a recent interview, Idol exclusively chatted with The Associated Press about his Super Bowl halftime aspirations, the inspiration behind his Hoover Dam show, if he would ever consider doing Broadway and looking to soon release his first studio album in a decade.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: What will be your mentality heading into your show hours before the Super Bowl?

IDOL: It’s about adding excitement to the event. You’re pumping people up. That’s a fun feeling. You can tell the people are excited, what’s going to happen and you’re entertaining them in those moments before it really happens.

AP: Would you ever want to perform during Super Bowl halftime?

IDOL: That would be incredible. But I don’t know. It would be fantastic, but I cannot imagine me being asked to do it. It would be great. I’d love to do it. It would be amazing if it involved some other artists or a combination of people. That would be great. It would be one of the craziest things in the world to play. Everybody in the country watches it. Playing the pregame for me is good. Pumping people up before it and getting them ready is kind of a fun thought.

AP: You celebrated the 40th anniversary of your album “Rebel Yell” and had a five-night residency in Las Vegas last year. How does it feel to have your music still resonating today?

IDOL: When we were starting out, I couldn’t have imagined the effect of (our) music. We were living one day at a time. The songs were for that time period. They were just for that moment. You weren’t thinking about any long-term effects. You’re just thinking right now. But the songs have legs. It’s like “Wow, people have really embraced this crazy idea I had years ago.” They’re still enjoying it, and I am too. Who would have thought that 40 years later? I’m still pinching myself.

AP: You released a couple EPs and recently rereleased “Rebel Yell.” Will you drop any new music soon?

IDOL: We have a new album coming out in October this year. We’re still carrying on and enlarging what my music is about. I enjoy doing it. Me and (guitarist) Steve (Stevens) are still finding ways to excite ourselves. We’re not out there going through the motions. We’re actually out there taking prisoners. That’s how we feel.

AP: How far along are you in the process?

IDOL: We’ve got most of it recorded with just some finishing touches. We’re doing a cover. We’re thinking about videos and all the promotional things that go along with it. There’s a lot of stuff we’re going to be thinking about this year. But. .... playing at the Super Bowl, that’s pretty fantastic.

AP: You have a built-in fanbase. With your new album, have you taken a different approach musically with your upcoming project compared to past works?

IDOL: Not really. We’re bouncing off our last album “Kings & Queens of the Underground.” We did that in England and had strings on it. With this, we tried to make a lot more of an up-tempo album. There are nine songs and six of them are up-tempo. Three of them are kind of slower. It’s more of a youthful sounding record. I think it’ll allow our audience to have a lot of fun.

AP: What inspired you to perform at Hoover Dam?

IDOL: It was something like I would see in movies when I was a child. There was an Alfred Hitchcock movie (“Saboteur”) that referenced Hoover Dam. There was another film “711 Ocean Drive” that ended on the Hoover Dam. You know, it had a shootout. For someone like me, growing up in England, I saw this iconic place in movies then I got to play in front of it. Hoover Dam was right behind me with my logo on it, which was insane.

AP: Are there any other locations like Hoover Dam where you would like to perform?

IDOL: Mount Rushmore. I couldn’t have ever imagined Hoover Dam, so now the world is my oyster. There’s the incredible Crazy Horse statue that’s carved out in the Black Hills. We can play anywhere. Nothing can stop us.

AP: Have you ever thought about doing Broadway?

IDOL: Of course, we have. We haven’t quite worked out our direction. We’ve had several different ideas we’ve sort of fielded. Nothing has come to fruition yet. As you can see, they’re doing Prince’s “Purple Rain” on Broadway, so it’s not out of the question that we would do one. It’s just been sort of trying to work out how to do it. That’s what’s fun about having a catalog. It does resonate with a lot of people and there are possibilities like that in the future.

[spark-lapis]

@just-some-guy-joust general propaganda, because i love them both, im sorry

In Greg's favor (my original propaganda as his submitter!):

he is a not-very-successful musician who dresses plainly, lives out of his van, and overall has a pretty happy mediocre life. his last name wasn't even originally Universe, he chose that one himself because he liked it (good for him, but also accentuates the fact that any deviation from the "just some guy" template was his own deliberate decision).

...by contrast, his son is half alien and is raised by a group of extremely competent alien rebels as a result. they go into battle to destroy alien threats constantly. the alien whom Greg had his son with was the leader of a rebellion and runaway royalty, and her death left interstellar socio-political ripples. sometimes he even explicitly feels insecure about how normal and useless he is compared to all of them, and gets left behind and out of the loop of information more frequently than his kid, who is like, maybe 8 years old.

Greg Universe is really just some middle aged guy from an extremely plain and regular background. His biggest achievements are 1) managing to woo a big space lady and 2) writing enough corny space themed music that one of his songs ended up getting reused for a commercial jingle. he ended up getting a lot of money for the commercial jingle and immediately didn't know what to do with it. the most expensive thing he could think of to buy was "college for my son"

In Mob's favor (hiii shigeo my blorbo ever):

i actually think this is an incredible matchup because Shigeo is actually almost Greg's exact opposite. While Greg is born a completely normal guy and tries really hard to follow his dreams and pursue his individuality and interests (but ultimately remains just some guy in his heart), Shigeo is born one of the most powerful espers and internalizes early on that he is different from others, that he's estranged from them, that he'll never be really human like anyone else.

While Greg is a side character who wants to help and be important in his own son's life, Shigeo is a main character against his will. His primary aspiration is to get physically fit and impress his crush. Aspiring to be physically fit when you have telekinesis strong enough to crush buildings is really one of the most some guy things you can do.

Shigeo is a main character, a powerful and encumbered protagonist, burdened by all the things that come with it. Evil organizations targeting and kidnapping him and his loved ones, altercations with violent and frightening ghosts, stumbling into and unintentionally disassembling a cult, other espers seeing him as a threat or a challenger, everyone looking up to him and treating him differently for his skill.

Until Reigen doesn't treat him differently. Until Reigen sits down with him and tells him that his psychic powers are just a skill he has, just like anyone else. Just like someone who is born super strong, or super smart, or super beautiful, it's just the luck of the draw and it's what he does with it that matters. He doesn't have some kind of destiny to live up to, he can just be.

So in conclusion Greg Universe is just some guy that wants to be acknowledged and appreciated for his (slightly mediocre) talents, and aspires to live authentically, and Kageyama Shigeo is just some guy that wants to be seen as a normal kid instead of being exclusively seen for his talents. And aspires to live authentically.

the guy who is just some guy down to his core and at least wants to have fun with it, versus the guy who is so inherently unique and is a Plot Events Magnet but just wants to join the body improvement club and do decent in school.

the mundane guy who wants to be unique and the unique guy who wants to be mundane.

Just Some Guy Joust - Side B: Round 2

Rules you must follow or you will be blocked:

do not diss on any of the characters. hype characters up, don't bring them down.

do not be mean to any other voters, either on a personal level or in general. if you are trying to joke around, you must clarify because we cannot tell the difference.

do not claim a character does not deserve to be here. this includes claiming a character doesn't count as just some guy. if you hate it that much, make your own tournament.

if i genuinely fucked something up and did not notice please GENTLY poke me about it. passive aggressiveness will be ignored.

if you are posting propaganda you have to @ tag us, including if your propaganda is in the reblogs. it is difficult to tell when something is or isn't propaganda. anything not tagging us will be missed.

we see practically everything you put in the tags. don't say some shit that you wouldn't say to our faces. be respectful.

[elevatormusic]

bl recommendations boys

alright so i’ve never actually posted any of my recommendations for bls on here so that’s what we are gonna do today.

just gonna do like my top ones from each country because there are so many that i’ve watched and forgot what happened so like here we go. this does contain a lot of spoilers so read at your own risk.

top 10 thai:

i was gonna do just top 10 in general but as there are so many fucking thai ones i think it’s best to just give them their own category. i haven’t actually watched many lately just because they have all been pretty repetitive and i got bored but whatever.

sotus. warnings: hazing. i won’t even lie to you, this isn’t even the best thai bl however idk what it is but i absolutely adore the singto/krist pairing (in the show, plz don’t ship real ppl). so here we are. classic enemies to lovers trope (my absolute favorite). so engineer students. one is a popular freshman (kongpob) and is getting hazed by the upperclassmen. the other is the leader of the hazing team (arthit) and ngl a bit of a prick at first. kong simply does not give a single fuck tbh and i truly love that for him. think like the perfect honor student decides to rebel against the system and ends up falling for the person he is rebelling against. they do have a second season (sotus s) that’s like working in the real world. it’s not as good but i still like it. and the one episode of our skyy which is extremely domestic and i very much love. you can watch on youtube (gmmtv)

until we meet again. warnings: suicide, death, homophobia. like it is very heavy in the plot so please be in the right headspace to be watching this one. nonetheless it is so so good. kinda complicated to explain but i’ll try my best. okay so it focuses on two different couples. korn and intouch are from the past and pharm and dean are from the present. so when korn and intouch were around it wasn’t accepted to be gay and their fathers were not having it (straight up homophobic af). basically a bunch of bad shit happens to them and after they die they are like reincarnated into pharm and dean. so basically pharm and dean like unravel everything of the past. but yeah the bitch is crazy good. also pharm is so adorable and i would die for him. you can watch on youtube (studio wabi sabi)

ingredients. okay so this is actually like an ad series. like they are straight up promoting a supermarket lmao. but it’s actually so so cute and soft and domestic and god i love it and them. also jeff and game have such great chemistry it’s beautiful (honestly my favorite thai ship). so tops (yeah my mans was named after the grocery story lmao) is a future chef and win is an aspiring singer. and they were roommates (plz know the meme thank you). yeah so they are roommates and the entire series they slowly fall for each other. and it’s just like so many good tropes shoved in there and man i love it. be warned the episodes are super short. also the acting skills on these two? bruh they are like the complete opposite of their characters irl and you would never know. trust me go look up interviews of them and you’ll understand. you can watch on youtube (centralfoodtv)

my engineer. i’m putting this one on here solely for ram and king. goodbye. no but okay so i’m not gonna lie i find one of the main actors in this kinda creepy lmao but it’s fine i can look past that. the show is actually good. duen is basically punished to bring bohn a flower everyday for a month. at some point bohn’s friends call him out and he finally tells deun he likes him which in turn deun turned that boy down so hard. but ya know bohn doesn’t give up until well he does and boom deun has feelings bitches. one thing that very much pisses me off about it though is that deun’s friends like forbid him to date bohn unless they agree which is like fucked? and actually none of their business but whatever. the real reason i put it on here tho is my boys. firstly i would straight up die for king. they are a side couple but by far my favorite side couple in any bl. king is outgoing and ram is a quiet boy. pretty much king tries to get ram out of his shell the entire time and he drunk confesses (you love to see it). we are supposed to be getting a season two that focuses on them so. you can watch on youtube (my enigneer official)

why r u. this would have been higher on my list if covid didn’t fuck with their filming time. basically zon and saifah were supposed to be the actual main couple but they couldn’t film all of their scenes and so it kinda became the tutor and fighter show. which don’t get me wrong the tutor and fighter storyline is really good too. i just love my soft boys better and wish they were the main as intended. yeah so the two main couples all hate each other lmao. tutor and fighter hate each other and zon and saifah hate each other. hey look another enemies to lovers. do we sense a pattern yet? it’s actually funny because they are actual sweethearts to everyone else besides each other. they pretty much all deny their feelings besides saifah (a king). the main reason i wasn’t as fond of tutor and fighter is because them mf are horny af and well i’m asexual and not into that. very angsty and like sorta love triangle which i also hate but it wasn’t really in your face so it was okay. zon and saifah become friends because sai has to teach zon how to play guitar. it progresses from there but as i said they didn’t get all of the scenes so we were cut short on how they actually fell for each other but they did do a special (three episodes i think) of just them two to make up for it. you can watch on the line tv app.

a tale of a thousand stars. warnings: death, heart transplant (idk just in case), guns. this one was a very refreshing one in the aspect they weren’t university students anymore. like finally dude. so this guy tian is a rich boy and he needs a heart transplant. he gets the heart from a teacher (from a poor village) that died. basically he finds out that she was the one that he got the heart from so he wanted to make up for it by going to teach at the village she was at. when he gets there the chief forest officer phupha is assigned to take care of him. they don’t get off on the right foot at first but eventually become friends. and they actually flirt so much like no hiding that shit. also they actually go about this by not freaking out about liking a dude which is super chill because so many thai ones love to say they don’t like guys just this guy as if bisexuality doesn’t exist but anyway. you can watch on youtube (gmmtv)

love by chance. warnings: blackmail, being outed sort of. saint my baby boy is dynamic af okay. but in this one he plays pete, the very polite and quiet rich boy. cute cinnamon role of a person will fight everyone for him. his pairing is with ae, the mf is a chaotic outgoing boy. pretty much complete opposites. there’s a scene where ae says he doesn’t think he’s too short just everyone else is taller than him and i think that sealed it for me. this one is very nice because they both caught feelings at the beginning of this bitch so like aye don’t have to wait until the end besties. did this one even actually have a plot except everyone being gay and jealous? idk i mean it was honestly just pete and ae being boyfriends so it doesn’t matter we stan. the side couple in this is a cute enemies to lovers thing. actually tin is a dick to everyone except pete. i think we are supposed to hate him but i refuse. i love that man so much and he deserves only good things. you can watch on youtube (studio wabi sabi) and the linetv app.

he’s coming to me. warnings: death, indirect(?) murder. alright this one is like sifi shit which is not exactly common for thai. won’t lie it is very impractical being that mes is a fucking ghost but. who comes up with this shit and makes me enjoy it? in all honesty it’s probably because of singto. alright so mes couldn’t go into the afterlife when he died because his family is fucked up (you’ll see). so this guy thun can see ghosts. he starts as a little boy which is kinda weird but whatever we get the actual guy (college boy). so he takes mes out of the cemetery and basically they are roommates (again the meme). it’s actually pretty platonic for a good bit because again mes is a fucking ghost bro. and like he can’t really touch things all the time especially people so it’s very difficult. but they have this weird ghost human relationship but it works. i know i sound like i’m talking shit but i promise i’m not it is actually good. you can watch on youtube (gmmtv)

2gether. warnings: so many fucking straight people. okay so this one is pretty light hearted. tine starts off obnoxiously straight (lol okay). and so basically this other guy has a crush on him so he tries to higher a girl to act as his girlfriend and it just doesn’t work. so his only logical solution is “hey let’s get the hottest dude in school to be my boyfriend instead” like sir straight??? and you couldn’t find another way to turn him down? okay. so yeah fake dating trope begins for like the first half. and then plot twist sarawat has feelings for straight boy tine. so he tries to get him for real but tine’s friends are super annoying like i will swing at all of them mf. obnoxious straight friends don’t want their friend to be bisexual pretty much. anyways very good and they do have a second season that is very domestic we love. you can watch on youtube (gmmtv)

second chance. warnings: mention of death, serious injury. this one is actually a fairly recent one. i usually tend to stay away from high school ones just because like i feel weird watching them and they just usually aren’t good imo. however i gave this one a chance fully because of tong. he’s played side characters before and he finally got his lead role so i had to. anyways he plays paper. his character is just idk he’s a nice boy and he’s a smart honorable dude. his best friend is thong fah. basically he lost his father and he just has been having a hard time and paper has always been there for him (they are childhood friends). tbh thong fah liked him from the very beginning. i think paper did too but refused to admit it for a bit. they honestly are just vibing together as besties and then one day were like nah we are something more. idk it’s not all dramatic and shit like the other ones. it’s just very soft and pining and idk i really like it. fair warning there are not many episodes in this. you can watch on the linetv app.

top 5 korean:

okay let’s do korean next. i pretty much love all of the korean ones so yeah let’s do this. i do recommend to watch the movie versions of these if you can. they just flow better than the episodes do imo. but the shows are fine too like it’s the same thing. you can watch all of these on viki. 

to my star. warnings: fighting, blackmail. this is my baby. my favorite bl out of all of these. extremely domestic with a bit of enemies to lovers (my favorite two tropes). kang seo joon is an actor that gets in trouble for “fighting” and he has to hide out until everything blows over. his manager gets him to hide out in his rental place (that he is in fact renting to someone). that someone being a chef named han ji woo. hey look they were roommates. anyways they are complete opposite of each other too. seo joon is very outgoing and friendly. will talk to anyone and overall just a big puppy. ji woo is stern and very much keeps to himself. so ji woo pretty much hates him at first but my mans seo joon is persistent af and forces them to be friends. and then he gets drunk and kisses him which in turn makes him realize he likes him. and then shit goes down and things get a bit rocky but then the dummies figure out what’s going on and they make up and they are super cute okay. i love them with my entire being.

color rush. warnings: attempted suicide, death, and kidnapping. in this world a portion of the population can only see color in different shades of grey. those people are called monos and they can only see other colors when they meet their probe. so yeon woo is a mono that moves schools a lot when people find out (they have bad reputations for killing their probes). when he moves schools again he meets yoo han who turns out to be his probe. enemies to lovers baby. i use that loosely. basically yeon woo tries to avoid yoo han as much as possible because he never wanted to meet his probe. he doesn’t want to get obsessed with him and murder the dude like other monos do. but eventually with yoo han’s persistence they start to become friends and eventually date. and he teaches yeon woo about all the different colors while fully knowing it can be extremely dangerous. some dark shit does go down but for the most part it’s pretty upbeat.

where your eyes linger. warnings: fighting, homophobia. this one is cute and domestic. god idk how many times i said they were roommates in this list but they are fucking roommates. actually more than that, they share a bed. so rich boy han tae joo (i honest to god have no clue what his dad is a ceo of but whatever that’s a thing). he has a bodyguard (gang gook) who is also his best friend that is his age and goes to school with him. basically people aren’t exactly supposed to know he is his bodyguard but honestly everyone knows. so uh it has like a lot of sexual tension between them. anyways they don’t exactly admit it at first (especially gang gook). and then he starts dating this girl to prove them both wrong that they don’t have feelings for each other. which just backfired so hard and got tae joo jealous af.

wish you. oh my fucking god yeah i’m saying it again. they were roommates. why am i like this. so kang in soo (he’s pretty much playing himself) is a singer who gets discovered off the streets by a boy that works for a record company. said boy is yoon sang yi and he actually plays keyboard. basically he recommends him to his boss and the company takes him on. since he’s a rookie the company makes him stay with one of their people (yoon sang yi). so they live together and work together everyday and just hang out together like friends would. then yoon sang yi gets drunk and kisses him and it kinda freaked kang in soo out. and then shit goes down about his music career and they end up being all cute and making music together instead. very wholesome.

mr heart. warnings: blackmail (well like a loan shark but). yeah this one is def last on my list. don’t get me wrong it’s still good and i like it but def not as good as the rest. sang ha is just a smiley puppy dog in human form. his life is actually so hard too man i feel for him. he’s actually a runner (a sprinter to be exact) and he gets hired to help another student. jin won runs marathons and has a bunch of records but he starts to struggle so sang ha comes along to help him maintain his running. jin won hates it at first and is kind of a dick to him. but they eventually get along and like sang ha is very forward with his feelings towards him so it’s nice to see.

my little disclaimer on this. i haven’t watched you make me dance yet (but have heard it’s great). and light on me ( i’m not sure if i will because love triangles and i hate them). peach of a time is airing right now (it’s a crossover with a few thai actors). honorable mention to nobleman rye’s wedding (it wasn’t bad but i got a little bored).

moving on to other random ones that i wanna talk about. i’ll group them by country but these are just like ones that i’m not as invested in (meaning i don’t watch every bl these countries put out, i just kinda watch at random times). but i still have a few that i very much enjoyed. 

taiwanese:

we best love: no 1 for you. warnings: blackmail (but it’s like for a good reason). back to college students boys. so zhou shu yi and gao shi de are mortal enemies. and by that i mean zhou shu yi considers gao shi de his mortal enemy. and gao shi de is simply in love. they have been going to the same school their entire lives and gao shi de beats him in literally everything. plot twist he did it because that’s the only way to get zhou shu yi’s attention. it actually takes place in college tho. and basically gao shi de “blackmails” him into being his servant. but they actually end up forming a weird friendship out of it. gao shi de accidentally confesses. zhou shu yi turns him down but then realizes lol he’s in love with that man. yeah so they have a second season (fighting mr 2nd) it’s good very different from the first. they do have a questionable scene in one episode but um yeah it’s pretty much a big load of gao shi de being trash at communicating. honestly who would’ve guessed zhou shu yi would be the good communicator. you can watch on wetv (but i think i watched them on dailymotion or something)

be loved in house: i do. it’s centered around a group of coworkers and friends in a design studio. the head employee that is pretty much over everyone is shi lei. he’s such a soft ball of sunshine that will fight for what he believes in and i love him so much. until the new director (yu zhen) comes along and takes over the shop. he brings with him a single rule which yeah is what it sounds like. they all gotta be single or they get fired. two of the coworkers are actually dating (were gonna get engaged literally that day lmao) so of course they have a problem with it. welcome enemies to lovers. and wait for it. roommates!!! yeah so they end up living together and they give each other a lot of shit. but then they start to get along and oh my god so many bed scenes. it’s literally just them sleeping but they share a bed so much in this series it’s very cute. but yeah they are quite bad at communication. and yu zhen’s ex boyfriend shows up. a bit chaotic at the end there but yeah very good. you can watch on viki.

history 3: trapped. warnings: guns, death. listen the history franchise is very problematic but this one actually isn’t bad. now i personally like the side couple more than the main but the main are still cute. police officer (meng shao fei) and gang leader (tang yi) fall for each other. i guess yeah another enemies to lovers. basically both of their mentors got killed at the same time years ago and they are both trying to find the murderer. and they get kidnapped together and have to work together. and yeah feelings and stuff. the side couple are of another cop and one of tang yi’s subordinates. they literally never hated each other. they were just vibing the entire time. i refuse to put history3: make our days count because of the ending but feel free to watch if you want to get your heart broken. you can watch on viki.

filipino (pinoy):

my day. warnings: non con sex tape (by a third party). you don’t understand how much i love sky. nothing bad should ever happen to him okay. him and ace are actually super cute together. so sky interns at this food company that ace is the boss of. and like ace is literally so mean to everyone especially sky for no reason like idek why. there is sort of a love triangle which i didn’t like with a girl. tbh the girl was super annoying the entire time there wasn’t a need for her but i guess for the story. anyways yeah it actually isn’t that great of a plot but i look past it because i love ace and sky together. it used to be on youtube but i’m not sure where to watch now sorry (maybe try dailymotion)

gameboys. okay how do i explain this one without completely roasting them. okay it’s cute for sure but it’s also really cringe imo. it’s cringe to the point that you have to watch it. it is straight up two dudes that stream themselves playing games (think twitch irl). they literally set it in covid times so they never get to meet because of that so it’s long distance and the entire show has them talking to each other over video calls. in the least offensive way possible gavreel is the definition of a fuckboy idc what anyone says. honestly cairo lowkey is too but moving on. it’s very different so if that’s your thing go for it. you can watch on netflix.

like in the movies. warnings: internalized homophobia. how do i say this.. they were roommates. basically karl is forced to live in his uncle’s condo alone (family tradition thing idk). and he’s supposed to pay rent to said uncle every month by himself. he eventually can’t make a payment and gets his neighbor (vlad) to move in with him. he actually doesn’t like vlad at first because he makes a bunch of noise and gets drunk a lot (mans is just heartbroken okay). they definitely pretend to date in front of his sister so vlad doesn’t have to go back home to his homophobic mom. to be clear karl has the internalized homophobia. vlad is out and proud. you can watch on youtube (globe studios) 

japanese:

seven days: monday- thursday. and seven days: friday- sunday. yeah this is a two parter. they are actually films instead of tv shows (i think i only have watched as a film). my favorite of the japanese bls by far. there is very little heat (probably why my asexual ass likes it) but they do have a few intimiate scenes. so sieryo is a popular freshman and he is known for dating whichever girl confesses to him first on monday morning. shino yuzuru is a popular upperclassmen that always gets dumped because he doesn’t turn out to be what girls imagine him to be. so he decides to give it a try with sieryo. shino basically thinks it’s kind of a joke and straight up thinks they are literally only going to date for one week. sieryo does it to find a person he can fall in love with in a week. they both catch feelings and get jealous so that’s fun. you can watch on youtube. 

given. i won’t lie i haven’t actually watched the live action of this yet but i’m sure it is good. i have watched the anime if you’re into that. so it’s about a band. everyone in said band likes a boy. queer band supremacy. satou is a quiet boy that keeps to himself. chance encounter with ritsuka uenoyama has him teaching satou how to play the guitar. turns out satou has the voice of an angel and he joins their band as the lead singer. and yeah they spend a lot of time together so ya know. you can watch on crunchyrole. 

his- i didn’t think i would fall in love. it’s a super short one. i think like five episodes. nagisa is literally a high school student that lives by himself. straight up man moved to the beach so he could surf. he’s pretty quiet and keeps to himself a lot. shun goes to visit his dad at said beach and ends up being left alone there for spring break. they meet and become friends eventually. so nagisa teaches him to surf and they hang out a lot and yeah turns out nagisa just liked this boy the entire time. very wholesome and cute. you can watch on viki. also this is based on the movie his which i haven’t actually watched yet but also on viki.

vietnamese:  

had to include one or two of course. i actually haven’t watched a lot of these. mainly because i haven’t found many that i like so plz leave recs if yall would like.

stage of love. this was actually my first one i watched and i very much loved it. bear with me because it’s been a while. but basically nguyen is like the perfect senior. he’s actually really straightforward with people and so a lot of people are a bit scared of him. but they also like him at the same time. bao is a freshman that is just trying to have a good time honestly. so he gets cast as the lead in the university’s play. nguyen basically comes around to help out and make the play good because he’s like super into theatre. and they rehearse with each other and one thing leads to another. they’re super cute together. i hope i accurately described that, it really has been so long. you can watch on youtube (ab studio).

you are ma boy. i feel like this one is pretty popular actually. am i making that up? idk but i’ve seen people talk about it. enemies to lovers again hello. it’s actually super cute like nothing extreme. just soft boys in a cafe. i really hope i’m getting the names right here because it is so hard to find how to spell the names without going to yt so uh. bach duong works at this cafe and one day nhat nam barges in to hide from his fans. basically they keep running into each other and eventually fall for each other. the plot is like idk was there a plot? they literally just found each other every episode and lmao that was it but it was still good. you can watch on youtube (dgtv)

chinese:

as we know china has government censorship so these are bl but they also aren’t. like they don’t kiss or anything like that and they are referred to as friends. tho they did sneak in soulmate since you can use it as platonic lmao. so like don’t get your hopes up for a bunch of romantic shit. because it’s not in here. however if you read the novels (and all of them do have novels) you will get the actual gay shit.

the untamed. my beloved. warnings: so much death. i watched this 5 times in a row (5o fucking episodes okay) when i first found it. okay so it follows the story of wei wuxian and lan wangi. guess what? enemies to lovers. you will be confused by the first two episodes if you don’t read the novel first like most of us did. i recommend watching the show first actually because the novel is very confusing to follow. so it’s set in historical china. at the time wei wuxian and lan wangi are two of the best young cultivators in the world. they meet when they are teenagers and lan wangi immediately hates the man. he pretty much doesn’t speak to anyone besides his brother and uncle. like mans straight up hates the world. until wei wuxian comes along and forces his way into his life. complete opposites again. lan wangi is an honor student, goes by the rules, a model cultivator if you will. wei wuxian is actually good in school but hates it, is in fact the worst trouble maker, but is a fantastic cultivator. so it shows there progress to friendship of them fighting side by side and then big ass plot twist: wei wuxian dies and comes back to life uhh 13/16 years later (diff in novel and book). that’s when they actually start to go more towards the romantic side. like i said the novel is super gay and the show is toned down but iykyk. you can watch on like anything (youtube, netflix, viki)

word of honor. warnings: yeah bunch of death again. okay so it’s honestly the untamed but gayer. actually the novel is less gay than the untamed novel but god damn idk how the fuck this ever got past censorship. so it focuses on two kinda evil fuckers. zhou zi shu is the ex leader of an assasain group and wen ke xing is the leader of the ghosts and is in fact trying to get everyone killed. they meet and zhou zi shu immediately hates the man. but like wen ke xing falls hard and fast. zhou zi shu is basically hiding out for the rest of his days until he meets wen ke xing and his unofficial adopted son. they go on a quest to basically bring down the actual evil mf of this story. and it’s found family along the way and god i love it. the amount of times they said soulmate and wen ke xing just straight up openly flirting with this man is astonishing. it’s like one big i’ll die for you constantly happening. you can watch on anything too (youku, youtube, netflix, viki).  

heaven official’s blessing. warnings: yup death. this is anime. idk if the live action is gonna come about because the chinese government is cracking down on bl again so um yeah. the novel is super gay too. but okay it’s the world of gods and demons. xie lian is the scrap collecting god that keeps becoming a god and honestly everyone makes fun of. i, like hua cheng, would simply die for this ball of sunshine. hua cheng (aka san lang) is one of the main demon kings. pretty much everyone including the gods are scared of him except xie lian. he actually befriends him fully knowing who he is. meanwhile hua cheng has been in love with him for like his entire life. he literally waits 800 years to see him again. um anyways yeah they fight together because hua cheng lives to keep xie lian safe which is so hard. xie lian is lowkey the most powerful god fight me. you can watch on netflix.

these next few are shows that have bl couples in it but they aren’t the main couple. but i have to add them because i love the couples. and if you’re like me you can just skip to their scenes only.

skam (norway). warnings: bipolar, depression, homophobia, more warnings for the rest of the show so look them up first. how it works is each season focuses on a different couple. the characters are in every season but the bl couple’s story is in season three. i’ve watched the first and second season of this as well and you don’t need to watch them to understand season three if you don’t want to. but if you do wanna watch, it actually is a really good show. they bring up real life problems people have. so isak is gay but he kind of refuses to admit it to himself or anyone else. he tries to fit in by having a girlfriend until even comes along. even is a very chaotic bisexual pretty much does whatever tf he wants all the time. they meet at a club event hosted by their friends. and they keep meeting because of their mutual friends. they both have girlfriends at the time but they eventually break up with them and get together instead. so their story revolves around yeah homophobia but also on even being bipolar. and the effects of that to an individual, relationship, and his loved ones. it’s a deeper one so like be prepared. there are also other countries that made adaptations of the show as well if you wanna check those out. i only watched the bl seasons in these but i very much like the france and belgium versions. i won’t lie it took me so long to find how to watch these the first time so just like google it. update: even is actually pan which i did not find out until recently so yeah

love is science (taiwan). warnings: slight homophobia but not terrible. i will tell you right now i have no fucking clue what the plot of this show is outside the bl couple. straight up i have skipped every scene that doesn’t involve them. but their story doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else. so mark starts as lowkey homophobic. not in the sense that he was saying a bunch of rude shit. but in the sense that he’s never been around gay people before and straight up did not know how to act. like thinks of gay people as stereotypes sort of way. and yeah that’s how he meets ou wen. they meet because of clients and they end up seeing each other like every other day. mark does apologize for how he acted at first and they do become sort of friends. then mark finds out who ou wen’s boss is and tries to get ou wen to help set them up. ou wen agreed because he’s straight up in love with the man and hates seeing him sad. later on mark is over the whole boss thing and realized nah he actually has feelings for ou wen. the show is still going on right now so like idk everything but i applaud mark for skipping the whole gay panic and just accepting the fact that he’s bisexual. mark- clueless straight to confident bisexual. ou wen- confident gay to panicked gay real quick. you can watch on viki.

alright besties that’s my list for now. i tried to put everything i remembered in this but i may have forgot some good ones idk. i’ve watched most of these a long ass time ago so like. as for all the warnings: i tried to remember as best as i could but i may have missed some warnings so please do look it up before actually going into any of these if you need to. 

but yeah these are obviously all my opinions so don’t take it to heart if you disagree with it lol we all have our own opinions. i may add more or do a part two later on but idk this is it for now. this took me so long to do btw so lmao i hope some of yall actually watch them.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I love reading through the Twilight meta on this blog. It's amazing!

I'm not sure if you've already written about this before, but I was wondering if you could give your thoughts on how Edward feels about Jasper (and the other Cullens if you want to write that), and how that differs from what Meyer wanted readers to see?

Don't worry if it takes you a while to respond, I know you must get a lot of asks.

I actually have not.

And oh boy, let’s go there, shall we.

I’ll just say up front that Meyer obviously intends none of this. In her eyes, Edward is not only a gentleman but the best and brightest of the Cullens. What difficulties he has with family members is mostly on them (i.e. Jasper and Rosalie) and he’s certainly not contemptuous of anyone.

Alice

Alice is the one Edward is closest to by far and I’d say the one he comes closest to actually liking (we’ll get into this). He feels a strong sense of kinship with Alice, sees her as the resident fellow Cullen freak and supernatural protector of the family. Alice scans the futures for their protection and Edward... hears people thinking about cats miles away.

Clearly, Edward is just as important as Alice.

Regardless, if Edward has friends in this world then that friend is Alice. He trusts her implicitly with his secrets and, in general, values her opinion. Of course, when she doesn’t fall in line with what he wants (i.e. keeping Bella human) he rebels, rebels, and rebels and will very much go against her wishes.

It’s Edward’s way or the highway.

Despite this she is a trusted ally and confidante for him.

Carlisle

Edward is... weird about Carlisle. I’d say, to him, Carlisle is far more of an ideal than an actual person. Carlisle is what Edward aspires to be, the perfect man, and one he’s terrified of disappointing. Edward has very little in the form of a conscience, what usually stops him from committing any horrific act on any given day (murdering the Biology classroom, sneaking into Bella’s bedroom to devour her, murdering Saint Marcus’ Square in Volterra, murdering the entire Quileute Tribe for Jacob Black blabbering to Bella Swan) is the question “what would Carlisle think?”

Deep down, Edward knows there’s something wrong with him, and he is desperate Carlisle, above all others, never see it.

Carlisle also stands in as a replacement father for Edward, though this is really mostly on Edward. He generally doesn’t go to Carlisle for advice or guidance, only when it suits his interests to do so, and instead gleefully basks in Carlisle and Esme as his Stepford parents.

Beyond this, there is a part of Edward that thinks Carlisle is a naive fool in need of his protection. Carlisle likes to celebrate Christmas, Edward is beyond such petty things and humors him. Edward is a protector of the family, Carlisle is a hopeless pacifist who could never fight a day in his life.

Edward both thinks himself above Carlisle Cullen and hopelessly unworthy of him in the same moment. If you asked him though, Edward would say that Carlisle Cullen is a father to him.

Emmett

Emmett is a loveable fool to Edward. No one to take seriously, but Edward appreciates that he lightens the mood. Though he has no comprehension of why Emmett would choose to be with Rosalie of all people and is very contemptuous not only of their relationship in general but the fact that they actually have sex.

(Edward is very approving of Carlisle and Esme’s relationship, in which it’s strongly implied no sex ever happens. Edward, naturally, doesn’t realize most of the relationships in his family are on the verge of collapse).

Regardless, Emmett’s just one of those easy going people that everyone likes, including Edward. Emmett’s a bit crass and dude bro for Edward, Edward will only agree to wrestle once in a blue moon if ever, but he appreciates the levity the guy brings to the house.

Esme

If Edward is Son to Esme then Esme is Mother to Edward. They’re the perfect pair. Edward appreciates, Esme’s maternal softness, her mother ideal, which is what had him shipping her desperately with Carlisle in the first place. Esme will come and comfort him in times of trial and can be counted on to unconditionally support him and the family (but mostly him). 

Edward adores Esme for that and sees her as the emotional heart of the Cullens (though notably he acknowledges that Carlisle is the one with actual morals, but nevermind that).

Jasper

Edward is extremely contemptuous of Jasper. Extremely. He opens Midnight Sun musing that there’s no point in Jasper even trying to resist blood because he’s such a failure.

To him, Jasper is a waste of space, someone who has no business being a member of the Cullens except as an extension to Alice staying. He appreciates Jasper and Alice’s completely dysfunctional relationship but mostly for what it means for Alice.

Jasper came from a background Edward doesn’t like, struggles with thirst which Edward doesn’t like, and is also far more intimidating than Edward which Edward doesn’t like. Edward has a clear complex about his physical prowess, Jasper aggravates that as this makes him and Emmett the de facto fighters of the Cullens. 

After New Moon, and Jasper nearly ruined everything by eating Bella, his contempt becomes near loathing I imagine. 

Rosalie

The only person in the family that Edward is more contemptuous of than Jasper is Rosalie. Edward loathes Rosalie.

She ruined the nuclear family dynamic he had going on with Carlisle and Esme, he’s horrified and upset that Carlisle would go and turn that shallow bitch Rosalie of all people, never mind her horrific gang rape. Edward, is, in fact, so upset that he clings to this fantasy that Carlisle only turned her to be his bride (yes, this is worthy of a post, but given Edward in every other situation I think it’s highly likely Carlisle had a stray “wouldn’t it be nice” thought one time and Edward jumped on it. Finally, a sane explanation of why Carlisle would ever turn stupid Rosalie)

To him, Rosalie will always be a vapid, self-centered, vain, shrew who is unworthy of him and the family in general. He resents though grudgingly acknowledges her incredible will power, that she has a better record than him and carried a bleeding Emmett miles down a mountain at such a young age.

Even this, he will only acknowledge as “pigheadedness”.

I imagine, by the end of the series, he loathes her even more. He blames her for the Volterra incident, never mind that she was the only one willing to tell him Alice’s message and that the fault’s more on Alice for saying the vision was a certainty before checking. She also protects Bella when she’s pregnant, which yes he ultimately comes around to Renesmee, but she stood in his way and I don’t imagine he’ll forget that any time soon.

Some part of Edward is always ready to lay into Rosalie. When they’re discussing the van, Edward can’t wait to bring up that one time Rosalie murdered her rapists. It’s barely in context and mostly comes across as a desperate attempt to seize the opportunity to point out her heinous flaws.

[excaliburssword]

Unpopular Shian opinion (major spoilers ofc)

This is going to be an insanely unpopular opinion, but am I the only one that thought Sophie should have ended up with Rhian in the end? Supposed he still lived, of course.

Some people may already know that I said in my ship opinions post that I rated this ship a pretty high rating, and know I am one of very few people out there who would actually defend Rhian (not just for Sophie, but for how I truly felt sorry for him before he...ahem, died.)

Just....HEAR ME OUT.

I'm pretty sure that possibly the only reason I ship this is because my nine-year-old dumbass read A Crystal Of Time as the first book in the series, because I seriously thought it was the first one 💀

That reason is probably why it's influencing me to be rooting for these two, but oh well.

Y'all Hophie shippers ain't gonna like this, but I was so infuriated when Sophie chose Hort as her (ig???) Never After.

If you read my opinion on these two in the ship post, you'll know why, which is why I'm also not writing a whole-ass paragraph just to waste my energy 😍

But a brief summary is because Hort literally annoyed Sophie all throughout the first three books, and she literally became jealous of Nicola in the fourth book for "being too close".

Like......what?

Girl you need to make a choice??

If you've made it perfectly clear to Hort you don't like him, then why act so overprotective for???

Now onto my Shian opinion (which, if you're slow like me, is the ship name for Sophie and Rhian).

Listen, I know how intensely manipulative and toxic their relationship was, but think about, so was Tagatha in some ways, and yet people ship them wholeheartedly.

And take a look at the individual characters in Shian??

They had so many similarities both as kids and as their present selves??

The both of them had mother issues, probably father too, and thought they were the favourite of their mother in the process.

They both thought they were destined to be good, and aspiring towards similar goals.

In depth of the second note, Sophie believed she was good, yet became a Never instead. By becoming this, it shows the Woods of her physical attributes, but never on what she's intending on.

Agatha had even stated somewhere in the fifth book to her that she was a good witch, too:

"You're a witch! Supposedly a good one!"

As if she were questioning Sophie's very core.

Hmm... maybe Soman's trying to hint something out??

Now for Rhian, he confessed to Sophie in chapter 24 of ACOT that his devious actions were "in the service of good, to raise people up."

I honestly don't know if he's bulling on that or he's actually being serious, but to the reader, and the "rebels" of the story, he is one of the main villains in "the Camelot years".

Whilst to his fans, who think they know his story, he was probably a more devoted Ever, and a hero to Good in a way even more than the Lady of the Lake ever was.

3. They're both vying for power, even if they're cowards to admit it.

Respectfully, anyone who says Rhian didn't become king just for power can feel free to never talk to me again (joking I love you 😭).

He was a coward to admit it, and even said he was doing it for love, but ofc we know better.

And then there's Sophie, which is just downright obvious.

For goodness sake, she literally became engaged to an Evil sorcerer just to become Evil's queen (okay, that and Rafal's love).

4. They're both entitled brats

These two are literal suck-ups to their leaders, in other words, side-kicks.

In Sophie's story, she was literally Agatha's number two, and she knows it very well. She may have the award for biggest air-headed prat of the year, but she knows it deep down that Tedros will always come first. For god's sake, her best friend's literally married to him.

(Sorry but) As much as I stan Rhian for takin Tedros' spot as a leader, he was just as a suck-up to him too.

5. LASTLY, I PROMISE... They both savoured their deeds for an inch of love too.

Sophie sacrificed sh just to find her true love, whilst Rhian did everything, and anything in his endeavour to bring Evelyn back.

That is touche crap on a cracker, ngl.

Irrelevent, but Sophie literally tells everyone she's done with her love life and that she's focusing on herself, when suddenly Debra Sue comes walking out of nowhere two chapters later.

Like, honey. Are you okay?

What happened to a healthier lifestyle?? Just because I love love LOVED her dynamic with Rhian, doesn't mean it wasn't toxic asf.

He was literally abusing her physically, mentally, and perhaps almost sexually violating her too, (yeah, remember that one scene where he was "dolling her up" in his mothers clothes in chapter three of ACOT??)

Brief summary:

To be fair, Rhian never did anything for Sophie to ensure protection. He didn't even keep her truthfully happy, or even vice versa.

He took her out on "dates", and said he would hardly have called it "dating".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but am I forgetting to mention he literally didn't know if he was more loyal to her or his own brother towards the end of the book? His own brother??

Are you serious?? Those are some serious standards I wish I could've seen 😭

Either Rhian didn't love Japeth enough, or he loved Sophie so desperately he was willing to ditch his brother just for her.

And do you guys remember at the beginning of TLEA when Tedros and Agatha were driving each other delusional over their love for each other?? I seriously wish that Rhian was still alive so he and Sophie could go through a similar situation 😩

And the more realistic idea as to why I would've been okay for them to be together is because he was the last love interest for Sophie (Istag if someone says it was Japeth, I'm actually gonna-)

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is probably not the end of this ship. 🤪

Please feel free to disagree, as all opinions here are respected. 😋

BUT,,, please take mine in advance 😉

[princesssarisa]

Unpopular "Little Women" opinion

I have mixed feelings about Amy March.

In general I like her. I think the hate she's gotten over the years is ridiculous. She's a good person, her character arc as an aspiring artist deserves more attention, and she deserves all the good things that happen to her, not least her marriage to Laurie. But I can't bring myself to jump on the bandwagon of giving her pure adoration and calling her "the best March sister" and "better than Jo."

Not because she burns Jo's manuscript. All children sometimes do thoughtlessly cruel deeds like that and then regret them. I actually like her better in Part I than I do in Part II. 12-to-13-year-old Amy is a funny, adorable little showoff whose flaws only humanize her and who grows so much by the end.

But as a young woman, she becomes too close to being perfect. Even her one remaining "fault," almost choosing a loveless marriage for money, is easy to defend because her motive is to provide for her family. Of course all three of the March sisters who survive – and Laurie – have character arcs that revolve around conquering their flaws and maturing into model adults. But Amy seems to complete her journey long before the others do. While her older sisters and her love interest are still making relatable mistakes, she does almost everything correctly, and is eventually looked up to as a role model and advisor by both Jo (for her ladylike manners and social skills) and Laurie (for her resilience in the face of disappointment and her disgust at his laziness). Maybe this is fitting, because she was the most objectively flawed of the sisters in Part I, and because she arguably went through the most life-changing struggles during Beth's scarlet fever: not only fearing for Beth's life, but also facing the risk of contracting the disease herself and having to leave her warm, loving home for the stern environment of Aunt March's house. But to me at least, she becomes harder to relate to, and it's easy to share Jo's envy of her.

There's also the fact that Amy is rewarded for being a proper lady, while Jo is punished for failing to be one. I'm thinking mainly of the trip to Europe. Yes, Jo is rude in the chapter "Calls," but Aunt Carrol doesn't just choose to take Amy to Europe instead because Jo was rude, but because Jo is too "independent" and Amy is "more docile." While of course it's oversimplifying and unfair to Amy to say "Jo deserved to go to Europe and was robbed of it just because she's a tomboy who speaks her mind," it seems too far in the opposite direction to say "Jo didn't deserve to go to Europe because she was a stubborn brat; Amy deserved it because she was the mature one." Jo's fans might idealize her and erase her flaws too often, but she's a beloved character for a reason: she's made countless young readers who relate to her feel seen and validated, and sends the message that it's okay to be clumsy, outspoken, creative, independent and gender non-conforming. The recent trend of Amy-praise might be worthwhile in response to all the unfair hate she's gotten over the years, but too often it seems to cross the line into shaming Jo for failing to be "an ornament to society."

"Amy is awesome because unlike Jo, she knows how to play the game of social graces." "Amy is better than Jo because she knows she'll benefit more from following the rules than from uselessly trying to rebel." "Amy is selfless because she's willing to marry a man she doesn't love to provide for her family: Jo is the selfish one by trying to earn money with her measly writing when a rich husband would have provided so much more." "Amy is the real feminist heroine because she excels at life while being a girly girl; glorifying Jo is just internalized misogyny." How are women and girls whose temperaments are naturally more like Jo's supposed to feel about all this, especially if they're often pressured to be more like Amy, and sincerely try to be more like Amy, but always fail?

Of course there's nothing wrong with liking Amy best of all the sisters. Just like there's nothing wrong with liking Jo best, or Beth, or Meg. But when I read the unabridged novel for the first time last year, I went into it expecting to love Amy, yet while I do like her, I find myself empathizing with the Jo fans who don't care for her more than I thought I would.

[papirouge]

I love you, but I'm going to arm myself one day against men. I could never fight anyone as well, I hope you can understand, friend.

Well do what you want, but my statement about the folly over armed retaliation was addressed to CHRISTIAN. If you're actually Christian anon, you should seriously reflect on what the Bible says about violence.

Jesus literally healed one of the men who came to arrest him that Peter had just wounded (cutting his ear). The same Jesus who told us to show the other cheek, and be like lamb. You can't pretend aspire to be like Jesus, and act like the opposite ; if anything you are like the pharisees resorting to threat and violence (they several times tried to stone Jesus) to get their way.

I have yet to see one single armed Christian insurrection that ever worked throughout History. They inevitably failed because God wasn't with them. Just like when the Israelites started to lose wars as soon as they rebelled against God.

Look at the book of Revelation and realize that the antichrist is going to be wounded......only to be resurrected and come back even stronger. You cannot defeat evil with worldly weapons for satan himself is the god of war. The only weapons God gave to us are SPIRITUAL. You will NEVER defeat demons with a machine gun. By killing sinful humans, you put yourself in the position of God. You too was a sinner at some point ; don't you think you deserved to be killed too? Humble yourself.

So yeah, have fun indulging in this murderous circus when you'll end up being killed yourself. By killing with the sword, you'll die by the sword.

[mejcinta]

The (government) guy that betrayed Sam's wishes for the Shield (when Sam gave it up) is the one that should be getting the hate, right?

He did something called 'compartmentalisation'. Intelligence received the Shield, kept Sam's/Steve's wishes for it secret, went to find soldiers to replace Steve without telling the soldiers (who all adored Steve as Captain America) about Steve Roger's wishes. They (the government) hated Steve, after all. He was a rebel. They needed and always wanted a pawn that they could control as Captain America.

John passed exceptionally over all other candidates (someone who actually aspired to be Captain America and looked up to him like all other civilians) but they NEVER told him about Steve's wishes nor Sam's (for the Shield to sit on display), did they????? Nope!

John was fangirling around Bucky and Sam because he had no idea he was the embodiment of the government going against Steve's personal wishes for the Shield. He actually thought they'd like him, that he'd get a chance to fight beside them (just like a child getting to meet their fave Avengers).

I doubt Sam and Bucky knew John was in the dark about it, so they treated him with hostility. Both sides PLAYED by the government.

Sam and Bucky are driven by their loyalty to Steve and his final wish (although Sam was lax with realizing it at first). Bucky was all of us: "Get the Shield, Sam!" I like to think it was the fear of letting Steve down that drove them to treat John the way they did. It was less of who John is and more of what he represents (a stolen wish) that they were against.

John, on the other hand, was driven by his eagerness to serve and protect. As he'd said before, he loathed the wars he'd fought abroad. He loathed the medals he and Lemar got for causing mostly harm to otherwise stable foreign nations that fell upon the US army's invasions under the guise of providing saecurity. As Captain America he felt he could serve and protect his country in a way that being a soldier abroad never did. It was the righteous path for him.

On top of that, his family, friends and the public (don't pretend you didn't notice all those people at the parade and how they were all over him), did want a symbol of safety and security in the wake of the insecurity that the Bleep had brought. A role that he technically earned (without Sam and Bucky being notified by the government) and that he promised to honour by Lemar and Olivia's encouragement. So to him, the Shield is just as personal a symbol as it is to Bucky and Sam. Both sides SEE a loved one and their promise to them through that Shield.

So when John takes the serum (something he thought he'd be a more effective hero by), loses his cool after the murder of Lemar and messes up to the point of losing the Shield, it becomes personal. In fact, he creates a Shield of his own seeing as he's lost the symbol he owed to Lemar (Lemar was proud of him for being Cap) and his wife.

Sam and Bucky fight because the Shield IS Steve's final wish. More so than because the Flagsmashers will need tackling using it.

Both these sides were played by the government. If you paid attention to John's trial they ordered John to return the Shield to THEM, to which John walks away without saying a word.

The government sees the Shield as their possession and want it back. They don't care about Sam. They don't care about John.

I hope they get the defeat they deserve. And should Sam be forced to work with them, he should tread lightly around them.

This show is about government control Vs free agents. Both Sam, Bucky and John (who's now taking up his anti-hero mantle as the US Agent) have succeeded at being free agents in episode 5.

[whydoeseverythinghurt]

Someone tell me Lower Decks gets better

Edit: So I am hearing good things from very angry people, and I think that means that it’s fine.

I know that a lot of people like Lower Decks, and I think in isolation, I would be one of them, but this is supposed to be Star Trek, right? I like Rick and Morty’s particular brand cynicism, and hopelessness, and I know a lot of the people working on Lower Decks come from there, but that just isn’t Star Trek.

Disclaimer: I only saw the first episode, so most of this can be discounted if that isn’t an accurate depiction of the show as a whole.

Star Trek started off as a ‘perfect’ utopian future, that was about what its creators thought we should aspire to. But from the get go we are shown that there are many issues with it, and that it is a utopia because someone is always fighting against the bad actors, working to improve life, and deal with all those issues. Star Trek is about reform from the inside.

Kirk and Spock both think the Admiralty, the Starfleet Code of Conduct and even the Prime Directive are needlessly restrictive, so what do they do? They find loopholes.

Spock tells Commodore Decker that he won’t stand for the endangerment of the crew, and if he wants to call it mutiny he can do so the second they get back to civilization, where Spock will be allowed to plead his case. Kirk is told that all the Court Martial business can be swept under the rug if he’s willing to give up his pride, and he says no. He forces them to have to go through the process, so that he can plead his case, but also to demonstrate that the system should work, it shouldn’t ignore issues.

Picard and River find out that the Admiralty are being controlled by worms, and take it upon themselves to stop the damage that they are doing. (Such a Star Trek sentence, I know.)

Deep Space Nine as it progresses makes the show about how the ‘utopia’ is based on colonialist ideals, and leaves behind the most vulnerable in society. In the beginning this is done with the justification that if they help the people suffering and being discriminated against, then they may lose a potential ally, or gain an enemy. The government decides that it isn’t worth the risk, and let’s people suffer.

But Deep Space Nine is not just as amazing as it is because of the Holocaust metaphors, its also because it pushes at the moral fabric of the Federation. It asks the question “What happens when push comes to shove, and your perfect society descends into war?” And it shows the fallout, and it shows the toll on people’s lives, and it shows that even when you aren’t living in a perpetual state of war it’s very difficult to go back.

Voyager asks “What happens when no one is looking? What happens when all you have are your ideals and morals that come from a society you are no longer attached to (that we as the audience know, no longer exists)? Do you sacrifice your morals so that you can get back to your utopia? In fact, do you sacrifice your ideals for your utopia as a whole. Or would sacrificing them make it something other than a utopia?”

Haven’t seen all of them yet, so: Discovery says “What happens when you make the wrong moral judgment (or depending on interpretation, the right one, but no one allows you to go far enough)? What happens when you are the scapegoat that they blame an entire war, on? Even one that has brewing since before you were born. What do you do when they place the blame squarely on your shoulders, and solely at your feet? What do you do when the one person who gave you a chance to prove yourself turned out to be lying the entire time, and actually wanted you to be what everyone else thought you were? 

“What do you do afterwards? How you trust someone again after that kind of betrayal? What do you do when some goodie two shoes, who has never seen the horror that you have, comes waltzing in and trying to apply their morals to your life? How could they possibly win your trust?” That one gets a definitive answer, they show their convictions, even when no one is watching, they say, “we have to do the right thing.”

It goes on to ask several others, (from what I know) which are in some ways similar to later seasons of Deep Space Nine, “What do you do when the utopia you loved and fought and bled, and that people died for, is gone? How willing are you to fight to get it back?”

Lower Decks introduces a character who sees the moral failings of Starfleet, shows them to other people and then encourages them to give up, and not try to make the situation better. They have influence, and could easily seize power, but what do they do? Nothing. They watch as people who should not be in charge remain in power and do nothing about it, and discourage anyone who wants to try. They don’t want things to be different, they want to rebel against their parents. And that’s it, not corrupt institutions, not bad protocols, or worse people in charge. They want their parents to notice them.

That is not Star Trek. Star Trek is about hope in the most dire of circumstances. It’s about persevering and going against the odds, even when you know you’re probably going to die anyway, but you still have to try. 

It is about not just fighting for yourself, but for your family, your people, your crew, caring about the faceless and the nameless, the ‘lesser’, those that cannot fight for themselves. Standing up to and against the institutions which did the wrong thing, which did not protect the people they should have. (The waters get muddy with the different framings of the maquis, but you are meant to be sympathetic to their ideas, and morals, if nothing else.)

Nihilism has its place in Star Trek, (a cynical outlook can be seen as one of the most common character traits across series.) Existential dread has its place too, but it has to be tempered with that hope. And that hope isn’t unwavering, in fact most characters at one point or another lose it, briefly or for longer periods of time, but in those moments they rely on those around them to keep the faith. They continually pass the torch of whose responsibility it is. One of the most important things is that there is always someone who has hope. 

And I would probably like Lower Decks if it seemed at all willing to explore the idea, “Well, what do you do when hope is completely lost? What do you do what there is no one left? And the thing you love is a shell of either what it used to be, or what it aspired to?”

Instead, all that is left of a green character who has never encountered that adversity and has their ideals forcefully beaten out of them. The central authority in their life tells them how they are wrong to cling to them (and then that person is demonstrated to be right.) I would be interesting to see the story if they wished to explore a slow dawning realization that hope is really lost, or even asked, “What do you do when there is nothing to hope for? And no one left to have that hope?”

To me it seems like they heard about Star Trek from parodies, and wanted to make jokes, so they set its central themes on fire, and then didn’t want to explore the implications. Just play in its dead carcass, and don’t you dare think about what it once was.

I know that Enterprise had its issues, but most people say that it improved greatly with the last season (besides the last episode), and say that it could have done more and been better if the network would have just kept it around a bit longer. People have their criticisms of Discovery and Picard, but I get the impression that they truly are labors of love.

Lower Decks gives me the feeling that it is just a blatant cash grab made by people who didn’t know, or understand the property and just had to do something with it. I know that their is diversity in the series, but I wish that I could say definitively that that the woman in the burka was actually meant to show the same sentiments as Chekhov in the Original Series. (As I remember seeing someone suggest as a viable option for how the New movies could handle Anton Yelchin’s death.) My thoughts right now is that it’s just an attitude of “Well, Star Trek is about diversity in thought, culture, and race, so we should make the characters diverse, because it’s a utopian future, right?” With no intention to to continue the way of dealing with current issues through allegory.

I hope I’m wrong. As far as I know it is a good show, but right now I don’t think it’s a good Star Trek one. 

(Although again take that with a grain of salt, because I have seen so little, and I didn’t particularly like the Orville, or what I’ve seen of it. Mostly, because it felt clunky, unnatural, boring and like they took half remembered plot points/storylines and placed new characters into them. The heart was there, but the thought didn’t seem to be.)

Tl;dr: Can someone tell me if Lower Decks has the characters fight back against Starfleet, or the bad elements in it? Or even if it explores why that isn’t an option? Why they have lost all hope?