#i'm done speaking about this but honestly every time i go online i get so sad

[bisnes-socks]

last post on this i promise.

as my post about how rude certain swedish people are being to finland over eurovision (honestly i still can't believe this is happening over a song contest) is gaining notes, i just wanted to take a minute to say:

i'm sorry about notes and comments in the post that seem to be anti-sweden in general. my intention was not to be hostile towards an entire nation - that would be quite hypocritical of me considering the post i made.

(though i will say, i've seen exactly three swedish people, in official media or on social media, being civil about this. the rest of the loud ones all accuse us of cheating, bc apparently it's possible for 5.5 million people to be in on a scam on sweden)

but for context:

from a finnish perspective, this is just another straw on the camels back, and the back is cracking dangerously. push has come to shove.

because in the bigger picture..

from a finnish perspective it seems that swedes either don't know anything about us or still believe in negative stereotypes about us - see a study made by having 1000 swedes participate in workshop conversations (link in finnish) about what they thought of finland, when finland was celebrating 100 years of independence in 2017.

from a finnish perspective it seems they don't even want us to be finnish - see this article about how finnish speakers in sweden are still told not to speak finnish (link in finnish) and how they've essentially abolished teaching finnish (link in finnish) even though it has an official minority language status.

and since Expressen wants to make it about history by calling us the "former eastern part of the kingdom" (🙃) we could really start getting into how Sweden treated Finns historically, and how, ironically enough, Finns were initally allowed to be more Finnish under Russian rule than Swedish rule. because again, from a finnish perspective, Sweden has never been nothing but rude and condescending towards us.

these are probably things a lot of Swedish people don't know or have forgotten about - i wouldn't be surprised if they didn't teach this in schools in Sweden. the reason i'm sharing these things is that to us, this is the country now trashing us over friendly competition.

throwing a tantrum over the one fucking time we do well in something they consider "their thing", is just another day of them being condescending, mean, stand-offish, superior and even cruel towards us. and this time we've kinda had it, bc they have no idea, no idea, what Käärijä and Cha Cha Cha meant for us culturally.

no. fucking. idea. how much he has meant to us this year.

and that's why we're so mad. we know they're trolling. we know they're being childish and insecure.

but we were so happy. we were so fucking happy for him and because of him. he made us so proud of our country, our culture and our language (none of which would exist if sweden had its way btw) and they just had to try and shit all over it. and make it as cruel as they could.

so yeah we're upset that swedish people keep trashing us but the truth is we're used to it. i guess we just didn't think they would honestly do it over a song contest.

[fairycosmos]

Hello

Long time follower. Big fan.

Umm i dont have any "real" friends and i feel like i have to vent about what happened to me with someone so plz bare with me.

Yesterday I was sexually assaulted. Outside my own apartment building by a man that is an "aquaintance" at most. I managed to get away by stepping on his foot and elbowing him in the stomach before it went any further. What sucks even more is that I live in a super conservative middle eastern country that has a society that loves to victim blame. I cant even go to the police cuz i have no proof and the sad thing is this the THIRD time in my life of 30 years where i get sexually assaulted. The first time was my cousin when I was 13 and the second time was someone who was a close friend when i was in my 20s. I feel pathetic and cowardly for not speaking up every time it happened. I know I cant tell my family cuz they are religious and all they care about is my "chastity" whatever the fuck that is and i honestly dont know what to do anymore.

Thank you for listening

🪽

hey angel,

i’m so sorry it took me a minute to see this, and honestly, i'm just fkn enraged that you're even in this position to begin with. none of this should’ve ever happened to you, and it’s so beyond messed up that you’ve had to go through it, and more than once, on top of everything else. first, i just want to say that i’m so, so grateful to you for opening up about it, especially when you’re feeling so isolated. it takes so much courage to even put this into words, and i’m honored that you trust me with it at all tbh. as much of an eye roll it is to hear, you’re truly not alone in this. and you’re definitely not “pathetic” or “cowardly” for how things played out or for not feeling like you could speak up before. the way you’re feeling is real, valid, and so understandable—especially when support and safety feel so distant.

it’s beyond unfair to be in a place where victim-blaming is such a huge part of the culture. to have to carry that, while being made to feel like you have to hide this, is an awful weight. but please know, this is not on you—none of it. the guilt and shame that the world tries to put on you is not yours, even if sometimes that feels impossible to believe. grounding yourself in the truth—that you haven’t done anything wrong, no matter how often you have to remind yourself—can be a solid step. and if you believe that for other people who've been in your shoes, then you must believe it for yourself too. ultimately, the shame belongs to the people who assaulted you and a world that hasn’t supported you the way you deserve. please don’t let their actions shape how you see yourself. your survival, your resilience, your courage etc that’s who you are.

there are a few places that might be able to give you some support, even if it’s from a distance. rainn.org offers confidential chat options and resources, and while it’s u.s.-based, it could still be useful if you need a safe space to talk. another is pandora’s project, a support and forum site specifically for survivors. they have spaces where people from all backgrounds, including those with similar cultural challenges, can connect. <3

if you’re open to it, a counselor or therapist who specializes in trauma and works online might be a good option, too. there are so many who understand the importance of privacy and safety in environments where speaking out can be challenging. the International Association for Trauma Professionals has a directory that could help you find someone who’d really get where you’re coming from and respect those unique challenges.

just remember, it’s okay to take this one step at a time. if all you can do today is share this with someone who cares, or offer yourself some compassion and grace to cry and breathe and be pissed and hurt and numb and upset, then that’s more than enough. i believe in your right to feel safe, supported, and heard, and there are people who genuinely want to help you get there, however and whenever you need.

sending you so much love and strength <3 if you need to vent or if you just need someone to talk to, please msg me any time. i understand what it's like to have your boundaries violated too and i know how lonely and painful it is to contend with it in your own head. x

[mintyxxie]

I've seen it all - Rating all adaptations of Cherry Magic ✩

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Okay, so I tried to hunt down every adaptation of Cherry Magic! Thirty Years Of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?! and watched them all.....like the chronically online loser expert I am.

THIS HAS SOME SPOILERS.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Ratings:

[If I missed any adaptation lmk and I'll watch it and rate it!]

So here are my ratings (in the order in which I watched/read them):

Manga (The original source material, 2018) [6/10]

Thai drama (2023-2024) [9/10]

Japanese drama (2020) [8/10]

Anime (2024) [7/10]

Japanese Movie (2022) [note: this was a sequel to the J-drama]

Chinese Radio Drama (2019) [8/10]

Important note: I'm not sure if the radio drama and the drama CD are the same thing, just in case I'm going to separate the two. I couldn't find the OG Japanese drama CD with English subs anywhere so if any one knows where to find it then lmk. Not paying 20 bucks because I am below the poverty level (fully embodying the college student aesthetic <3).

: ̗̀➛ The Manga (2018)

My favorite volume cover <3

→ General thoughts:

This might be a little dumb but honestly, I had no idea that this manga was pretty recent. I thought that this was an older 2000's manga. I only found out when I looked up the production year for this blog post LMFAO.

Building on that, the art style is fairly unique and a breath of fresh air from the typical late 2010s manga art style. It definitely gave me nostalgia—but with less secondhand embarrassment. Also my favorite part is MC's emo bangs...when he's an office worker.

I found it fun how they didn't start off the series by glazing the male lead and his achievements (which was done in almost every other version.). This approach made the male lead a lot more approachable in my opinion and lessened the gap between the two.

The manga at the very start is extremely focused on the two main characters. They don't really introduce or highlight other characters until later on. (most notably Fujisaki and with the exception of MC's bestie). Manga is also pretty fast-paced in comparison to the other adaptations in my opinion. This is mainly because doesn't really spend a lot of time building up tension or introducing the characters. If anything it feels like the mangaka was going through every arc/major character interaction as if they were bullet points. You can also argue that the other adaptations are slow-paced in comparison to the manga, but in this household the majority rules.

Not a lot of focus on visual elements (unless it's to show emotion). The background is pretty basic and kept to a minimum which helps keep the focus on the relationship between MC and ML.

At the very start, the focus is put more on the awkwardness between the two characters. It's really light-hearted and doesn't particularly hold any strong tension or emotion. I like that because technically speaking the two of them are experiencing something new, I'm TIREDDD of seeing a character fall in love for the first time ever yet miraculously be an expert at it. The awkwardness of a first love and the inexperience that comes with it is a breath of fresh air when put into the context of two adults.

One thing that I really liked about the manga (and the series in general) is how the MC talks about the ethics of his mind-reading ability and actually feels guilty about taking advantage of it. I appreciate how he also comes clean to the ML. The ethics of these abilities, especially mind reading, is so interesting to me, especially considering how it's usually glossed over.

Also...I really appreciate how the MC doesn't look like a 16-year-old twink. He looks his age, a rare sight nowadays.

The perspective of the male lead is shown pretty early on. There isn't a lot of build-up for the alternate perspective. It felt pretty underwhelming when the ML revealed why he fell in love with MC. In my opinion, it failed to draw out strong emotion from the reader. The part where the male lead gets borderline sexually harassed at work also fell flat. I read it and thought "ok...well...that just happened" and quickly moved on.

[The flat delivery of the more emotional and "heavier" scenes is a consistent ick of mine. The manga does an amazing job of communicating the awkward and comedic properties of the series but completely fails at drawing out heavier emotions from the reader. This could just be a me thing though. I blame this fact on the lack of proper build-up and transitions. The switch between emotions happens too quickly, and the manga lacks proper transition panels, making character interactions seem inorganic. The series generally capitalizes on the "out of pocket" aspect of the character's thoughts and emotions. Everything is so random and unexpected which is what makes it funny and interesting, this however makes love confessions and more emotional scenes fall flat because, in the context of the series, these scenes are NOT meant to be comedic. Trying to blend serious and funny is generally difficult and something that a lot of mangakas struggle with. ]

Anyway, the ML's perspective is always a treat. Just a poorly built-up one. My man is also a whole green forest, I'm so happy that he didn't end up forcing himself on MC and instead respected his boundaries.

One thing that I noticed while re-reading the manga is how expressive the characters are, especially the male lead (finally out of cold aloof male lead jail). His awkward wink was so adorable tbh, a funny contrast to his extremely horny thoughts.

“But Mimi, isn't this contradictory? you *JUST* said that the manga suffers from sung jinwoo syndrome (A severe lack of emotional build-up which leads to extremely flat emotional scenes)!" Before you crucify me allow me to elaborate....

It’s simple, deeper emotions generally require more build-up, especially emotions (and emotional themes) that deviate from the main genre. Shyness, awkwardness, happiness, etc are all naturally a part of the traditional romcom slice-of-life genre. If the main emotion(s) that the reader gets across is light-hearted then the story naturally builds up to it and is something that the reader expects so they come into it prepared to feel said emotions. If you try to introduce an emotion such as sadness in this context then naturally you would need to properly build it up in order for the reader to properly feel and process it since it isn't expected (Even things done for 'shock' value still need appropriate build-up, it would just be done properly.). The characters here are very expressive in terms of emotions, but character expressiveness doesn't necessarily carry along to the reader.

I also love the side couple. Their mutual love for the cat is the highlight of the entire series tbh. ITS SO CUTE.

Anyway, to save you the pain of me ranting about the side couple ima make it short and sweet (look at how nice I am....I might make a separate post just to have a yap fest about them). The build-up towards their relationship was so well-written (dare I say even more than the main couple?). I'm so happy that they got their own happy ending.

→ Rating ✩✩✩✩✩✩

6/10

Honestly, this rating was a tough one for me to give because on one hand, the manga excelled in many ways and this is the original source material so it felt weird to give it a rating lower than its adaptations. However, I have quite a bit of reasons for my ratings, all of which were mentioned throughout the previous section but I'll summarize.

The manga left a lot to be desired when it tried to communicate deeper feelings, the characters felt awkward and the interactions felt really inorganic and flat during the "emotional" scenes. I don't really think it's an issue with the art style itself but rather an issue with the panel handling and management. There weren't a lot of transitional panels that helped strengthen the main emotional panels. I don't know if that makes sense because I don't really know the proper terminology but I hope that gets my point across. This is honestly a big thing because this is a romance slice-of-life manga where the main appeal and point of it is the emotions and the interactions between the characters. It's a very character-focused genre, and in this case where world-building is near nonexistent all the pressure falls on making sure that the two leads have smooth interactions. Which I feel like it didn't meet.

: ̗̀➛ Thai Drama (2023-2024)

Best Cherry Magic promotional picture in my very humble opinion.

→ General thoughts

This adaptation establishes really quickly the difference between MC's and ML's positions at the company. Not only does it establish this fact pretty early on but it also reinforces it quite a bit.

MC's relationships with those around him are a lot stronger than in any other adaptation. He also seems more well-liked and more socially active in his workplace. The intern is introduced pretty early on which is something that I appreciate. The birthday party was SO CUTE OMG. It was so funny and adorbs to see MC awkwardly giving ML a piece of birthday cake even though they never really interacted much till that point. Also, it helped establish a stronger bond between MC and Fujisaki (since she was a part of this small birthday celebration).

There is also the addition of Mrs. Cupid (I forgot her name so that will be the name that I'll use for her, also I think that this was a cultural addition) was pretty interesting. Her role as a mentor/mother figure to MC helped show that he isn't some reclusive hated loser in his workplace.

There's a LOT of emphasis on the relationships between characters in the workplace, which is a notable change when comparing it to other adaptations. It could be a cultural thing? This is my first Thai drama and delve into Thai media so I could be wrong (please don't beat me up). MC here is way more social. The intern is a lot more relevant here and is the reason why MC had to stay overtime.

The ML here is SO MUCH MORE awkward because the series establishes the difference between their positions pretty early on. It makes the difference between how he acts for the company (super put together and cool) and how he acts in front of MC (eagerly & shyly asking him about getting ice cream after the thank-you dinner) so CUTE. This is also something that differs from other adaptations because in the others they weren't able to choose where to eat.

The personality of Tsuge was so different it gave me whiplash. Like a complete 180. He gives off more playful and childish vibes here, starkly contrasting his quiet and aloof OG persona. He's also a lot more straightforward and bossy LMAO.

This and the rest of the adaptations have an advantage. They can use auditory elements to bring emotion to the scenes which I think is something that helps exaggerate events. For example, when ML was asking MC about the thank-you dinner, MC was listening to his thoughts and was very awkward. The typing heard in the background and the lack of background music help bring the scene to life by 1. making it look even more awkward since both ML and MC stay silent for extended periods of time and 2. Reinforcing the comedic office sitcom feeling (not genre because technically this isn't a sitcom).

There was also this arc of the fake boyfriend trope where MC was egged on to be the fake BF of Fujisaki. Honestly, this adaptation brought more personality and life to Fujisaki as a character and employee. The appearance of her shitty ex was an interesting bonus and helped deepen her character.

Honestly, a lot of scenes here changed, it would take me a lot of time to sit down and break down every scene change individually. I have to say that all the changes changed how the series felt and how the relationship between the characters came across. One thing that I have to mention is that not only have a lot of scenes changed but a lot of things are out of order. I'm not really complaining though because it didn't really stick out to me as nonsensical when watching, it made sense why they made the changes and honestly, I support some of it. I'm mildly upset that the scene where the voucher was expired and this ML had to pay was cut off, but other than that no major complaints.

The misunderstanding also dragged on for a lot longer & the way he dramatically passed out??? hello??? It strays off from the original more and more every episode. It feels like I'm watching a different show.

I'm really happy that they delayed the ML's POV. The build-up here was a lot more intense than the original. I really liked how they portrayed the dismissal of ML's hard work and preferences in favor of his looks, kind of a "stay in your own lane and use your pretty face" thing. The portrayal of the sexual harassment towards ML was also a lot smoother, more emotionally intense, and heavier here, a lot more emotional. These changes made the scene between ML and MC a lot more special in my opinion, and made me feel a lot of sympathy towards the ML. He also actually cried here and the scene was a lot more emotional. This also applies to when ML went into detail on why he fell in love with MC, it was really touching. The problem of the lackluster emotional scenes in the original was fixed here.

The side couple also faced a lot of changes, all of which were welcome in my opinion. The series went into a lot more detail between the two from the start, and the personality of Minato was a lot nicer here too. The side couple felt a lot more dynamic and human.

There were a lot of scenes between Fujisaki and Rokkaku, which was interesting, to say the least. I don't know how I felt about that, it wasn't bad, just weird considering the original.

→ Rating ✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

9/10

I think that the experience of watching this is extremely different from reading the original material. If we’re accounting for accuracy, this series would lose a lot of points, however if you're just watching this for fun the experience is extremely enjoyable.

I really like how this version communicates the character dynamic between the male lead and the main character. My only ick is that it made the main character a lot more popular than he originally was, thus making the male lead have a crush on him seem less surprising in a way? Also in a way that took away the funny, "I hate my shitty cooperate job and all my co-workers" feeling.

: ̗̀➛ Japanese Drama & Movie (2024)

Bunching them together because the movie is a sequel to the drama

→ General thoughts

The J-drama shows you more aspects of the MC's life and general personality before he got his power. In a way, it showed how lonely he is (via the fact that only his mom and long-time friend greeted him on his birthday).

The drama introduced a lot of characters at the beginning, and it made MC's friend, Tsuge, extremely relevant early on. This part makes the viewer more invested in the side couple and the side stories involving them a lot sooner.

Honestly, though, my favorite part is the little shop owner. In the other versions the place where he gets his lunch is at a convenience store and the only relevant interaction is when he touches the cashier's hand and she starts tweaking over how gross it is. Seeing the shopkeeper side-eye him for always ordering double mayo was really funny to me, and in a way, it added more personality to the world around him and the interactions that he has outside of the main plot (this is something to note because the J-drama shows a LOT of his time outside of the office, something that stands out when comparing it to other adaptations).

The addition of the asshole co-worker was an interesting addition/change from the original. In the OG, MC was the boss who was being an asshat, which is why he stayed overtime, in the case of the J-drama it was actually his co-worker and it was MC who offered to take over the assignment. This change made MC look like a pushover & it followed regular office comedy plots.

Many micro-interactions were also added, which added more depth to their relationship. My favorite example was how the drama expanded on how the MC was touched by ML giving him the scarf (because during that scene MC heard ML's thoughts about how mistreated MC is and how much he appreciates him :3). I also love how it revealed that ML specifically made a traditional Japanese breakfast because he knew that MC would like it. It showed how much ML really cared about MC and how he kept track of his likes and dislikes even without interacting with him a lot.

I also love how ML defended MC when asshole co-worker berated him for 'being unreliable'. He was so passive-aggressive it was so cool honestly. Also for some reason, Rokkaku was shown to be around ML a lot more often and was shown a lot earlier (though he didn't outwardly have major parts till later). Also here MC was given more overtime work, this time because ML heard about it when MC was first given the task he immediately was able to compile data and help MC from the get-go. I really liked this small change because ML improved MC's work-life quality, which was pretty shit. Also here there was no dinner coupon, instead MC did it of his own free will (went to ML running to ask him to get dinner with him, though he was inspired by his co-worker bringing it up first).

Similar to the Thai drama, their dinner date got interrupted by a company dinner :(. Though they never had a chance to be 1 on 1 here which made me (and the ML) sad.

For some reason here MC never gave Rokkaku medicine? Rather it was Rokkaku who offered to go and get some for MC from the convenience store.

The biggest interactions that changed in my opinion were the interactions between MC and his friend, Tsuge. For example, instead of meeting at Tsuge's house they instead meet at a restaurant. His advice to MC was also different, telling him to ignore ML and that what matters the most is MC's feelings, contrary to the OG where Tsuge suggested that MC take advantage of ML's feelings. I feel like this small change in how Tsuge approached advising MC helped reinforce the idea that MC tends to be a pushover who puts other people's feelings above his own (since he felt the need to specifically tell MC to focus on his own feelings). He was also so iconic for telling MC to not fall in love with someone, instead, MC should just get a cat if he's lonely.

The side couple here was also introduced a lot earlier.

Although small, these additions help add more character depth to the main character which makes the experience more enjoyable IMO.

Just like the other adaptations, a lot of the ending scenes were left out, though in this case, they produced a movie to act as a sequel to the drama for the sake of including the left-out material (ML meeting MC's parents, etc). I feel like because of that the movie is a must if you truly want to get the true feel of the ending. Also, a lot of scenes were skipped or smushed together (kind of a 3-in-1 type thing).

They kept edging us with the kiss scene low-key. I'm not even a big fan of them; I just got annoyed by how I felt like a pig on a stick.

→ Rating ✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

8/10

Overall, pretty lovely.

I found it pretty interesting how they added things and expanded on pre-existing scenes while simultaneously skipping over and combining original material. I don't really understand why they picked certain scenes over others, well to a certain degree I kind of do but at the same time, there was tons of original material...why add/expand on things unnecessarily when you already have long and expanded upon scenes.

Rokakku's interactions with MC changed a ton here, which is mildly sad.

I like the added mico interactions outside of MC's workplace.

: ̗̀➛ Anime (2024)

→ General thoughts

Out of every adaptation this stayed the closest to the original material. Honestly writing the analysis for the anime was really hard for me because there really isn't much for me to say. It fixed a big issue that was in the manga, and that is the lack of proper panel transition. The reason why I'm mentioning this point here rather than under any other adaptation is because this stayed the most loyal to the original material.

There really weren't any big changes so there isn't much to comment on. However, I set up a split screen between the anime and manga JUST so I could analyze things piece by piece and this is what I found:

After the conversation with Tsuge, it shows MC's walk home his contemplation about this whole thing, and his reaction to his friend being a virgin too. There are also some micro-interactions between the two (MC & ML) that were added, but nothing too different for me to specifically point out.

The scene with the cake guy was slightly changed here in the anime. The anime added an interaction between MC, Fujisaki, the boss, and other employees who were trying to find out what happened to cause the cake guy to get mad at ML prior to MC officially stepping in, something that didn't really happen in the manga. On that note, there were a lot of added micro-interactions between MC and Fujisaki.

A minor change that could simply be attributed to translation is that in manga MC said that he didn't hate the kiss while in the anime he said that it didn't bother him, just a small detail that made me a little sad TT.

There are some minor setting changes here and there, for example, MC originally gave Rokkaku medicine on the bus because he was car sick, in the anime he gave him medicine during karaoke because he was having stomach problems due to being drunk.

Dare I say that I HATED Rokkaku's voice actor, it's the same sound someone makes when they're nose is stuffy/they're not breathing through their nose. It got on my nerves. On a similar note, I feel like this shows how important voice actors are. I'm used to Rokakku having a younger, playful, and generally softer voice which gave him a carefree "he was the popular easy to get along with guy in high school". In the anime though because of his voice actor, his personality came off as "The really simple-minded comedic relief guy that secretly has lore". So interesting to see how even the smallest changes can completely change the impression of a character!

I kinda wish that the hot springs scene remained intact instead of it getting changed into a sauna because the concept of "Water conducting intense thoughts" is really funny. Though it was changed to steam to better fit the setting, I feel like it was an extremely unnecessary change.

The sexual harassment scene stayed really close to the manga but with greater emotional impact, specifically his facial expressions. Though the background music didn't really match the seriousness of the scene, his facial expressions and the general mood of what he was conveying (Since he was talking about how his character and hard work are reduced to the fact that he is good-looking), it's still a marginal improvement. This made me upset because the anime could've utilized more appropriate background music or just not add it at all. My ick with the background music was quickly resolved with the following scene where MC consoles ML after the whole ordeal. This makes me really happy because it, for the most part, achieved what the manga failed to do. Also, I find it funny here how ML specifically thought that the MC is a pushover because he lacks tact.

Flashback/ML's POV also came later than the Manga, thankfully a running theme between all adaptations. The selfie scene also changed, it was a lot less 'appropriate' here (not in a to the reader way but in a context way) because in the original they took the selfie on a company trip while here they took the picture in a random park.

The side couple comes here a lot later too, I think slightly later than the manga, which is weird but it also makes sense and flowed well here. I don't have much to complain about, I did like their interactions here a lot more though. I should also note that their relationship is slightly faster-paced than other adaptations.

The sound effects and OST were awesome though and really helped reinforce the emotional aspects of scenes. This also helped with the abrupt emotional changes in the scenes.

I do have to say that I had very high hopes for the anime because out of every adaptation, this has the most freedom in terms of properly communicating character dynamics and plot points. It can use a range of effects without looking out of place or weird because this is animated. This did NOT disappoint thankfully.

→ Rating ✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

7/10

Oof, this was a hard one to rate, I saved it for last.

I don't know, out of every adaptation this was easily my favorite, but lets be honest...there are quite a bit of issues. I think that the main one is the background music for the sexual harassment scene.

"Mimi, why do you care so much about it?" Well, it's not necessarily because sexual harassment is a serious topic (which it is, but not the main reason why I'm so bothered), rather it's mainly because the male lead was venting about how all of his hard work is dismissed just because "he's pretty". I feel like this was a perfect example that encapsulated his main complaint about his workplace and the main reason why MC's actions really touched him. It's really important to his character so seeing the scene not be portrayed properly really grinds my nerves.

: ̗̀➛ Chinese Radio Drama (2019)

→ General thoughts

THIS WAS SO DIFFERENT. Take a seat because a yap fest is about to take place.

To be honest, this is my first time listening to a Radio Drama (yes a lot of first times here, I'm a sad media virgin, all I do is read shitty manhwa, manhua, manga & fanfiction and read the occasional web novel). I didn't know what to expect since the medium is pretty limited since the plot can only be conveyed through voices. This did not disappoint. The voice actors are super expressive and effectively communicate character emotions.

This starts off strong with an appointment with a psychiatrist. MC really thought he was going insane and honestly? I too would shove myself in a psychiatrist's office the second I started hearing people's thoughts. I loved this approach, super realistic. My usual ick of characters randomly manifesting powers in an otherwise non-fantasy setting is how they immediately accept it and adapt to it.

The first change is how he finds out about his ability, by far this is my favorite (touching a co-worker and hearing her cuss out your fellow employees and boss). We unfortunately didn't escape the ML glazing session (yes I get it he's so alpha in the company,,,,I heard the same sentence 10 times already from 10 different sources my brain is FRIED). GOOD NEWS though because MC also got a mini glazing session...ha you thought...the sec mc touched his boss he got brought back to reality (heard a bunch of insults about how dull he is).

The drama CD really REALLY enforces the fact that MC isn't liked by his fellow coworkers, for some reason everyone and their moms take pleasure in insulting him, which is my biggest fear. Imagine you develop the ability to hear people's thoughts only to find out that half of your workplace hates your guts? I'd immediately cease my oxygen dependence.

Also, we're back with the shitty co-worker. Honestly, it's hard for me to tell what is going on because many names changed which would've been fine if the OG plot was completely preserved except it's not. I don't have visual clues so I'm kinda tweaking.

Anyway, now on to the major plot changes:

Rokkaku is now a poor intern getting pulled into random tasks via MC's co-worker friend. For some reason, most adaptations tend to mess around with Rokkaku's character. Also, the elevator scene slightly changed, instead of MC trying to guess ML's crush he immediately reminded himself that he's experiencing a hallucination (which happens quite frequently throughout the radio drama. I think that I can safely attribute this change to the fact that he went to see a psychiatrist the second he noticed his newfound ability. Generally, it takes MC 10 thousand business days to come to terms with his new ability.

MC here is a lot more of a realist, not that he was particularly lacking in the realism department before. It just seems like a more prominent character trait here.

Here MC stays late because of his co-worker friend (maybe I should change his nickname to asshole #2). Also, MC here takes an obvious role in helping teach and instruct Rokkaku. We also get more character background info on Rokkau which I think is pretty interesting. Rokkaku here is a lot more responsible too. Also here instead of simply helping MC finish his work, ML instead offers to do the whole thing himself.

It takes a while for there to be any mention of his 30th birthday. The reason why MC slept over at ML's place also changed. Also I can't get over the scene where ML admits to the fact that he bought a set of PJs JUST BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THAT MC WOULD LOOK GOOD IN THEM???? No matter how many times I watch it I still find it wild LMFAOOO. Also for some reason ML undresses in from of MC and MC points out ML's muscles which is so different from the OG because originally it was because of the hot springs + MC never loudly commented on ML's physique. MC looked like a pervert LMFAO. Also, ML never mentioned that he worked out/kept up with his body for MC, so it made the scene a lot more awkward IMO. ML's house is also different, in here he has an extra bedroom while in the other adaptations, MC slept in the living room.

It was so adorable when ML came over JUST to cover MC with a quilt. Also, my guy was battling demons trying to stay a green flag.

They expanded a lot more on the BBQ scene, which was so nice! I loved seeing the two of them have a normal conversation for once, both gushing over their favorite manga. I feel like this made their relationship progression a lot smoother because in the other adaptations they never really had the opportunity to actually engage in a long and meaningful conversation. Most of the time conversations are very one-sided and awkward since MC is reading all of ML's thoughts thus decreasing the amount of naturally born conversation between the two. Not only do I like it because of their conversation but also their interaction flowed very naturally. This time ML was the one who held on to the vouchers (mildly similar to the Thai ver), thus when it was time to pay it was more so an act of responsibility rather than altruism. They also added a movie date after the BBQ, except MC dipped and ruined the whole moment.

Just like the Thai drama, it would be easier for me to list all the similarities than differences to the manga. I think that in this case, the many changes are easily justifiable because this format (radio dramas or any audio-only mediums) is really limited. Typically creators can rely on visual clues and/or descriptions to enhance character dynamics and interactions. Thus it's natural for the producers of this drama to drag out character interactions and add some to get the same feelings and character dynamics across. You can argue that audio-dependent mediums have an advantage compared to novels but there isn't a novel for cherry magic. You're adapting an audio-only drama from a written-visual medium, which is pretty different. You can easily translate written words to spoken audio but visual cues are lost to translation.

One problem...the sexual harassment scene here was portrayed very similar to the anime. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. The background music wasn't as bad but cmon.....

THIS HAS FIRE OPS AND EDS. I love the songs, honestly just listen to the radio drama for the music.

→ Rating ✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

8/10

I really liked this one, again if we're going for accuracy then this would get a low rating, but we're not yahoo!

I really liked how the characters were portrayed, their relationships, etc. I feel like this version really perfected the characters.

I kinda wished that there was more focus on his life outside of the office and that there was more character background info.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Conclusion:

Honestly, my favorite part of doing this whole thing is seeing how culture impacts stories and adaptations. The two that changed the most details were the Thai and Chinese adaptations so it's pretty neat to see how Japanese cultural details were switched out. I think that the office worker environment and interactions between co-workers and the differences between the Japanese version, Chinese version, and Thai version are the most interesting. (yes repetitive but we're not in English class now are we?)

Every version is different, and I loved comparing and seeing how every medium communicates the story a bit differently. There are benefits and negatives to picking a specific medium, looking at Cherry Magic was an interesting case study (I know that I haven't gone into detail on how the specific medium caused changes and instead just talked about the changes but trust I was thinking about it.). I might do an analysis in the future solely focusing on that, but who knows.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

THANK YOU @mil0nes FOR EDITING MY GOD AWFUL WRITING. Hmu whenever you need a kidney I WILL give you mine (if we're incompatible then I'll sacrifice someone for you babe..Just don't quote me in a court of law xx)

If you read the whole thing then tysm !!

I'll probably make one for Semantic Error soon. ^^

[misc-obeyme]

i am here to enable, as always, so do you have any macaron headcanons? Maybe? 👉👈 I love them together too 😭 such a fun ship as well, can't get over that name bc it's so fun to say

I'm trying to brainstorm solomams headcanons, and there's something in the fabric aisle. Everything happens in the fabric aisle, I'VE SPENT AN ENTIRE WEEK FIXING THAT THING. ADJUSTING PEG HOOKS TO HOLD UP THE BOLTS AND FOLDING THEM CORRECTLY AND MAKING SURE THEY'RE IN THE RIGHT ORDER AND NOT FALLING OVER AND AAA

it made me a little crazy bc I'd come across some patterns that i was like "ooh this reminds me of *insert character*" and that's when i would step away to go do an online order

but it was like. A 'no thoughts head empty' activity, so i got to brainstorm ideas. Vividly imagining Mammon in his demon form flying outside Solomon's window trying to convince him to come outside (or better yet, just jump into his arms. "The Great Mammon will catch ya!") ((and then when Solomon *does*, Mammon is giddy that Solomon trusted him, but in the same breath is partly flustered because he's holding his boyfriend so close and he's so warm))

Like Solomon can use his own magic to fly I'm sure, but something about Mammon carrying him anyway makes me asldkwjdj !!!!!

Mammon wrapping his wings around Solomon to pull him closer....... hugging Solomon from behind when said sorcerer is deep in research, maybe trying to make a potion, but Mammon wants attention. Purposely trying to distract him or even rile him up (mammon better prepare for the consequences)- I'm 😭 !! going crazy about them, why do they have such a chokehold on me aaaaaAAAA

okay okay im done BYEEE

- ✨ anon

askldfj I still can't believe the ship name macaron honestly. It's like extra funny to me specifically because I made macarons Arrie's favorite food, so now I'm just over here having an aneurysm about Arsenios/Mammon/Barbatos lolol.

BUT ANYWAY.

Yes, I have too many thoughts about macaron at this point. It was always just a crack ship but I just... they're so... I can't... ?!?!

I'm always Barb obsessed, but sometimes I really get into a Mammon phase and when that happens, they live in my head rent free.

I really like the idea that everything kinda starts out because Mammon can't stop sneaking into the Demon Lord's Castle to try to steal stuff. And at first, he's genuinely just trying to get away with it, but Barbatos catches him every single time. And instead of like locking him away in the dungeon or bringing him back to the House of Lamentation for Lucifer to deal with, Barb makes him tea every time. His "punishment" is to sample whatever Barb is baking at the time. Eventually Barbatos figures out what his favorites are and starts making those deliberately.

Inevitably, it takes Mammon a long time to figure out what's happening because of who he is. But he always says he's actually trying to steal stuff, but really he's just faking it because he knows he's gonna get caught anyway.

I like them because they're so opposite of each other. Mammon is a troublemaker and he's loud and he always says what's on his mind. Meanwhile, Barbatos is the one constantly working but never speaking. I like to think they balance each other out a little.

Once they're more aware of what's happening, they start doing things together and everybody else is just like ???

Mammon drives Barbatos out to remote market places to buy rare teas. He actually listens when Barb tells him about them because he starts to hear the slight excited tone of Barb's voice when he talks about tea.

Barbatos goes with Mammon to the casino because we all know that demon is a walking good luck charm. He sits quietly beside Mammon, not participating himself, but just watching. Mammon notices that if they're touching, the luck increases, so he's always trying to hold Barb's hand. Barb indulges him for the most part.

Mammon convinces Barbatos to take more breaks. He goes all out planning a vacation for him so they can go somewhere nice and relaxing together.

Barbatos always defends Mammon when Lucifer is after him or hides him somewhere or even sometimes portals him away.

OH NO. Enabler indeed, look at all this nonsense I'm spouting alksdjfdkjf. Moving on before I write another freakin' essay.

AHH I'm glad you got brainstorm a little bit! I loooove the idea of Solomon letting Mammon catch him, that's precious!! 'Cause not only does that seem like a thing Solomon would do, but you're right Solomon can use his magic to fly. But it's so much better to be carried about in Mammon's arms, right??

Man just us out here shipping Mammon with everybody lol. Normally I do that with Barb, I've basically thought about him with every character and every OC I've ever created because I have a PROBLEM.

But Mammon is such a sweetheart too now I'm shipping him with everybody too 😭

[baravaggio]

actually story time

when I was in college I had a period of time where I would hook up with this guy every once in a while, it was the worst kind of situationship where there were like. a lot of heavy family issues involved and we weren't really friends, he definitely saw me as a convenient source of emotional support with a side of pussy lol...I was like, riding all the way out to coney island late at night to meet him so he wouldn't hurt himself, that sort of thing. at the time I was going through my own shit wrt starting to understand my sexuality, won't rehash how agonizingly drawn out & painful that was for me, but I got to a point where I thought I had a little clarity on it and had decided to tentatively call myself bisexual (for like a week lmao). and - very very stupidly - I told him this in the interest of reciprocity, because he had shared so much with me about his situation and at the time I saw that more as an honest display of vulnerability than like. him indiscriminately using me as an emotional crutch

looking back the 180 he did on me was pretty awful, it started with like, gross fetishistic curiosity, which I cautiously tolerated within limits because it was new for me too and I was honestly grateful to speak openly about things after a lifetime of keeping it all padlocked in a secret compartment in my brain. he wanted to know where I was & what I was doing all the time, which annoyed me because we weren't together or anything, and even if we were that wouldn't be cool. he even outed me to some people, usually when I ignored him for too long, and tried to convince me it was no big deal

sex was obviously where shit really hit the fan, I won't get into details outside of saying he suddenly would get physically rough with me without asking after having never done that before. again, no details but one of my worst memories was when he started saying disgustingly homophobic things to me about me in bed. I ghosted after that. shortly after he started spam texting me with homophobic slurs & rape threats until I blocked him. I was very lucky that this coincided with the end of the semester and his move & transfer, and that it didn't escalate to physical stalking or anything.

of course I literally never told anyone this, I compartmentalized it for a long time (10 years LOL) when I started IDing as a lesbian because I wanted so badly to make it irrelevant to my life and frankly was very embarrassed by how I let it go that far. but it's really been haunting me since I reassessed all that. it can make figuring out how I go about navigating certain types of sex and even platonic relationships painful and complicated. aside from logistics & other preferences, it's a big reason why I feel the need to keep things casual and unromantic, even as I've managed to work through some of this & have healing and transformative experiences with specific people. last year I had a terribly hurtful argument with a younger gay woman in which I was told the stuff he did to me would've hurt even more if I didn't have the capacity to be into him at all, which has thrown me back into a place of deep angry silence about all of this yet again.

idk. I try to not be so sensitive about dumb bullshit I read but it's very hard when I've experienced the dismissive attitudes and callousness irl. I do my best to hold my head up and do my thing but the routine dehumanization & lack of sensitivity upsets me. I'm angered by the way so many people think they have nothing they could possibly learn from our experiences and thoughts about how these systems affect us, that there's nothing we could share that they don't already know. it hurts my feelings that so many people automatically take our attempts to share these thoughts as an attack on them, regardless of how carefully we phrase things. and on a personal level it hurts to currently have nowhere irl or online where I feel like I can talk about the pain of what I've shared here (or even the healing moments I've experienced) without someone telling me off for not behaving the way they think I should lol.

anyway. I really do wish I was strong enough to let this all slide off my back just for the purposes of my own well-being. I'm trying to limit what I see about these issues so I don't feel tempted to mentally engage. when I see sentiments that clearly want to make me & those like me feel like less than nothing, all I can think about is how there are girls even more raw and vulnerable than me seeing this stuff and it makes me heart ache. even so I know there are people out there who will understand me, I hope to find them one day so I can move through everything with more grace

[dadstarkk]

So I work for the US government, specifically the Dept of the Air Force. I'm not passionate about it. In fact. I'm morally opposed to most of the work I'm doing, but I needed a paycheck and had set my life back 7 years by joining the Air Force and had pretty much no skills outside of the job I did in the military.

As would be expected, I work with a bunch of conservative white men and honestly, at this point, I contemplate quitting every day. Before the election (and even up to the inauguration), it wasn't too bad. The occasional shitty opinion was shared, but I could mostly ignore it and just do the job and go home. Now with a new *Shitty Thing (TM)* happening multiple times a day it is literally impossible to ignore. I got an email yesterday with the subject "Defending Women." It told us that paperwork or pretty much anything that mentions gender is being reviewed and changed to only reference biological sex (which is funny since the people I work with couldn't even define biological sex and are too fucking stupid to know genetically we're not all xx or xy, but they don't care). What bothered me more about this email than the others (no more DEI, the 1 week ultimatum to quit and definitely be paid for work you're not doing..., etc) is that this one came directly from our boss. The others had come from OPM. The wording was clearly not his, but I can't get over the fact that he personally sent it (I know this is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things right now).

Also, I do usually speak my mind especially when people are spouting bullshit, lies, and propaganda. But I'm in a very precarious position, because I am still in a probationary period until June, meaning I can be fired for just about any reason, and I am truly afraid I will be fired if I dissent from our new Führer's insanity.

I am not really in a situation where I can quit. I need the money and truly do not have the skills or experience to get a different job paying nearly as much. But hearing the talk of impending war (with whom, I have no idea) and essentially the celebration at the loss of our rights and the descent into fascism (though no one I work with will admit that) is overwhelming and I fear I may just up and quit on a random Tuesday with no plan. I am going to try to start an online masters, and I intend on quitting pretty much as soon as I'm done. My undergrad degree is not worth much at this point

[meraki-yao]

RWRB Movie Thoughts: Emails

The emails are my favourite part of the book, partly because that is how I show affection: I write lengthy letters to my friends during their special occasions, and I keep every message of love they send me in a cherished chest. The emails detailed their growing relationship and love not only in a wonderfully written way but also in a way that speaks true and is personal to me.

That being said, I went into the movie knowing they can't do the full extent of what's in the books out of practicality: the audiobook takes like fifteen minutes to read an email, and with visual media, there has to be something on screen, and long montages don't work. I've accepted this and just was curious about how they were going to deal with it.

And I liked that part of the film! It wasn't as innovative as how the texting scene was done, but texting allows that since texting is a conversation, basically talking online, while email is not that, and is something closer to continuous monologues, so it can't be presented in the same way. What we heard was less poetic or epic than the book emails, but it was soft, sweet and adorable in its own way, and I loved the book quotes we did get: "When we’re apart your body comes back to me in dreams" & "I'll be damned but I miss you", and I do wish it was longer and we got to hear more.

But with that being said, two things I noticed:

1. From the middle until the end of the email scene. I think starting from Henry's "Wait don't they have napkins in Texas?" line, there are actually at least two overlapping audios of their emails playing, it's just one is louder and subtitled. All I could pick up from the other audio is

Alex: Dear Henry, I miss you too Henry: Dear Alex/ Affectionately

but there's definitely more, I just couldn't pick the words up. So what is the other audio??? What are the other emails ??? Are there more that was recorded but wasn't even put in the movie??? I NEED to KNOW!!!

2. We may not get a lot of emails in the movie, but when the emails were leaked, the newscaster who questions Miguel says there's 72 emails, and the British newscaster still calls them "the Waterloo letters", which means in universe, the "Hometown Stuff" email thread, with “memories are difficult", " I thought, it someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire", and my favourite:" A INCOMPLETE LIST: THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HRH PRINCE HENRY OF WALES" with certain changes to fit the movie canon, EXIST IN UNIVERSE, even if we don’t see/heard it.

If I'm gonna stretch this point a bit further, since Henry looked so damn broken (applause to Nick here) and Alex mentions “most private and intimate thoughts", "fear and truth", and honestly as sweet as it is, I don't think the emails shown in the movie reaches the level of "most"," I imagine most if not all emails in the book still took place and were written between movie Alex and Henry with certain changes: "Paris?" during the time jump between polo and Paris, “You are a dark sorcerer” maybe after their night in Paris, "A Mass of fools and Knaves" maybe a little earlier than where it is in the book, or have the "Dear Henry, so I just came out to my mom” be the last email in that thread, "Bad metaphors about maps" between runway goodbyes and the email leaks...

I literally don’t know if this brain rot made me happy about the potential cross-universe point that is their emails or even sadder that these were the bleeding words that fucking asshole Miguel leaks to the world. Henry’s face during the whole scene breaks my heart into pieces.

But there you go, something to think about.

P.S: Also I really really really want to hear Taylor and Nick read the book emails :D

[golbrocklovely]

you know, I thought i might of been annoying with the amount of asks i send you, and that still might be true but people apparently love me… so im sticking around 😂 gotta build this aussie anon fandom… buy the merch (its just a tshirt with koala ears on the anon icon and ‘xplr me daddy’ across the shoulder blades)

also absolute fkn ditto to your post abt snc needing a villain era. especially colby. I learnt just the other day that apparently he goes thru this m drama every time he’s snapped with a girl. like every time, for years. that’s gotta be so horrible. like imagine being the constant reason your friends or dates get harassed online just for being around you. you’d feel like poison. i truly hope he finds someone who couldnt give two flying quacks abt that stuff. heck, if it were me (lemme dream, alright) and i knew this wasn’t just a once off thing… i was going to say my acct would be private and i’d have ‘message from strangers’ turned off… but i already have all that… Colby, I’m ready!!! lmao i jk i jk (or do I 👀)

anyway, back to colby fighting in the clubs. you said he’s possessive… im curious about that. like in a protective way over the people he cares about, or actually like “this is my person, back off” type? either way, hella shmexxyy

- aussie anon

omg this is such a long response so i'm sorry in advance lol

haha no you're totally okay to keep sending in asks. no one has a problem with it, especially me :)

and omg an "xplr me daddy" shirt would be hysterical and i'm surprised they haven't done one (even jokingly) before lol

and yes, it's not just girls colby is interested in either. it's EVERY girl - date, friend, stranger - it doesn't matter. if fans can find out who she is, they will send her hate. or at the very least bombard her with questions as to how she knows colby, what's he like, ect. it's honestly very embarrassing to be in this fandom sometimes strictly bc of that type of shit.

i've talked about how i've felt on colby's love life ad nauseum on here, but i don't mind speaking on it more. i genuinely believe this fandom needs a HUGE reality check. bc there are too many ppl in this fandom that believe they have a say in what he does with said love life. and now it's bled over into sam's.

the golden child apparently can do wrong now lol

like on xplrclub, they literally APOLOGIZED (half-heartedly, but still said sorry) for the pics of them with the girls leaking over new years. and that's just fucking bonkers to me. there is no reason two 27 year old men should be saying sorry to a bunch of random girls they have never met before and don't even know exist bc they are going out and having fun and dating. and what makes it worse is snc felt the need to do this. they don't need to explain anything to us, especially about their private lives.

and the amount of fucking fans i saw saying "well if you wanted to have a private life, keep it private. don't post things." and it's like…… idk how many times i have to say this, but SNC ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. them not telling you about a girl they are fucking with is not a betrayal. they don't know you. they couldn't even pick you out of a line up of two ppl. stop thinking your opinion is neccessary, especially when it comes to their personal lives. you aren't owed an explanation. idc if you've been in this fandom for years, given them tons of money, have a fan account dedicated to them on every site, repost their content all the time - NONE of that matters. you are a random person, you are a statistic. a view count. and while yes, snc care about us, that doesn't mean they KNOW you or that your opinion is VALID.

you wouldn't like a random person coming onto your account and bitching at you about your life choices, right? so why do you think snc deserve that? bc they're public figures? NOPE, not a good enough reason. you want to bitch at them about content and the choices they make on that? that's fine. but private, personal shit they do is none of your concern or business.

and i know there are plenty of fucking ppl that will call me a hypocrite bc god forbid i talk about snc's love lives - but reality is i know my opinion isn't worth shit. i'm not coming up into their comments, @ ing them every chance i get, just to give them my two cents. i do my best to keep it light hearted and silly. none of what i talk about is serious or direly needed info. which is also why i do it on a site they aren't privy to. they're not on here. me complaining into the void doesn't effect them. and i'm also extremely aware of the fact that i don't know everything. i don't know the full story, never will, and i'm not OWED it either.

sorry, that was a really long rant. but i'm just…. so done with the fandom rn lol i've been reading ppl complaining for too long about shit they don't deserve to complain about and it's just annoying at this point.

but to bring it back to your ask - i hope colby, and sam too, find a girl that fucking PARADES that she's dating him. of course, with colby or sam's consent. if i was dating one of them, i would rub in these fans' faces, and i mean that wholeheartedly. aww, you're upset i'm fucking your man? TOO BAD WOMP WOMP lmao

and as for colby being possessive, he's said it in some tweets in years' past. he's tweeted out before "Im such a protective, jealous person wow" and "I'm overly protective" followed by someone asking him "so that means if you had a girlfriend you'd protect her a lot" and he replied with "protect her with my life". so, i see him as being a very loyal person, who is protective of the ppl he deems as "his", so to speak.

in a relationship, my guess is that while he's not obsessive or demanding, he is very much like "you are my girlfriend". i don't see him to be the type to say you can't talk to this guy or be friends with these ppl, nothing like that. but he reads to me like the type to keep his arm around you while at the club, that way any guy that sees you know you're taken by him.

also side note, i know as a woman i should be like i'm my own person, i'm no one's but my own, blah blah blah. but a guy that's just a twinge bit possessive is hot. i'm sorry, it's my red flag and i know it is sksksks

[runthepockets]

Honestly, as a man, I think most of my greivances have been with online leftism and the attitudes the queer and feminist spaces have towards men in them have been more damaging than almost anything else in my life. I've stopped thinking about my middle school bullies, and everyone knows my abusive mom and ex girlfriend are insane, but the attitudes I'd been faced with on the internet as a teen still seem to sit with me.

It's the constant judgement. The perpetual social hierarchy of how men are only ever oppressors and be wrong in situations. "Never trust a man who says all his exes are crazy, be wary of men who speak poorly of their mothers" while women who say all their exes are crazy and speak poorly of their fathers are only ever met with sympathy and the usual "lol yeah men are trash". Masculine hobbies and modes of presentation being put down to uplift feminine ones, "when you see a 10/10 girl with a 4/10 guy" comments just cus the guy looks like a dude who works at Target rather than a goddamn movie star, penises and facial hair and deep voices are yucky disgusting, The Ick, "hate when big groups of men are laughing, what's so funny, rape and misogyny?" Videos of dudes crying and talking about how they're having a hard time is just met with ridicule and emasculating commentary from both men and women who posture themselves as kinder and smarter than the status quo, "weh weh raise the male suicide rate they're all rapists and abusers anyway", other dudes siding with women who do this shit cus they're more concerned with being One Of The Good Ones than they are having a fucking spine or a sense of individuality, not realizing they're just the male equivalent of pickme girls.

Idk man it just hurts me. I've been abused by a lot of women, had my sexual advances blown wildly out of proportion because the women in question either regretted engaging with me later or wanted to keep running with this narrative that they have no agency and are perpetually victims in their own lives even though I haven't really done anything to make them believe this, and all it gets me in these spaces is blank stares and awkward silences, when I know if the genders were flipped I'd get nothing but endless support. I'm not as upset about one of my exes making false rape accusations against me as I was as a teenager, but I'm sometimes nervous around bringing it up in leftist spaces at all because I figure folks are just gonna find a way to warp it and make me feel like I imagined the whole thing and that my ex had every right to be a shit to me because she's a girl and girls doing anything is Girl Power, even when it's actively harming others.

I'm sure me being black and trans plays a big role in this too, but again, 1) I'm not a fan of putting emphasis on my marginalization for brownie points, 2) I actually am straight, masculine, gender conforming despite those marginalizations, so there's really no identifiers for me to hide behind and claim "false comparison" over, I actually am all those things that online queer and feminist spaces take issue with and it still sucks and has actively done damage to my self esteem over the years and 3) I've seen other men-- cis, white, whatever-- of all backgrounds talking about their frustrations with this too. It's just another form of socially acceptable bullying and I kinda hate it.

People ask why I go stealth irl, why I don't go out of my way to befriend a ton of queer and liberal people my age, and why I'm adverse to communities that pride themselves on being diverse and all accepting and shit, well this is why. Cus every time I talk about a problem or criticize reactionary sentiment in those spaces, I'm met with me just being ~a pathetic man who's too sensitive to letting marginilized people vent~, I'm told that I'm part of the problem, I'm told that if I stopped being so rape-y and entitled and if I just fell in line like a good little man that I wouldn't have any of these problems, no actual solutions or sympathy, just condescension.

Yeah, of course I identify with bro culture, speak highly of masculinity, and entertain playful douchebaggery after years of that. That stuff saved my life and isn't hostile to my existence or my desires. I'm loud, energetic, assertive, with a hazing / controversial sense of humor and morality, there is no timeline where I'm going to be defanged and docile and see it as acceptable to walk all over someone for things they can't help, no matter how "privileged" they are. These subcultures let me be a man in a way a lot of online (and honestly, irl) leftist spaces aren't really willing to allow or deal with.

[theflyingfeeling]

give up before you suffocate (literally) ✌️

tried to get a doctor's/nurse's apppointment for my throat because it's been aching since Sunday and I haven't been able to speak properly since Wednesday and I can't sleep at night because the pain is unbearable and NOTHING HELPS but the nurse I was talking with online said 'nah just try this painkiller mix and some disinfective tablets and warm honey water' (okay fair enough I haven't tried that) but I don't have those exact painkillers at home and the tablets I've been using haven't done shit so I'd have to go to pharmacy but I'm scared because when I tried to do that earlier today I ended up having to turning back home (the pharmacy is like 50 m from where I live) because I got a terrible coughing fit that brought tears to my eyes and sometimes these coughing fits even alert my gag reflex which kind sucks you know because it's as if I'm about to throw up but nothing actually comes out 💀 but I also can't order the stuff from the online pharmacy that offers consulting online because I've already ordered from them yesterday and today (when my trip to the pharmacy failed) and I'm just too embarrassed to order from them AGAIN?? 😭🙈 (yes this is a problem shut up)

so yeah, when BC said give up before you suffocate I took that personally because lol everytime I try to speak (just to see if I'm able to yet), every other syllable is just wheezing while every other syllable is completely soundless, and I can only speak until I either run out of breath or get a coughing fit, so even if I made it to the pharmacy alive, I'd have to either write down what I need or idk fucking pantomime it I guess 😑 the throat situation is even worse because during the day it doesn't bother me that much because I don't pay attention to it (I can feel the most pain when I swallow) so I THINK it's getting better, but then the night comes and I go to bed and have too much time to focus on the way and how often I swallow and how much more it hurts every time and 😩😩😩😩😩

at least I don't have fever anymore and my leggies haven't been achy since Wednesday, but I've got a runny nose, which is honestly the LEAST of my worries right now, although my right ear being completely blocked because of it is a bit of a bummer (btw is it normal to hear your own pulse in your ear? been too scared to google this ahaha if it's something serious pls don't tell me I want to go swiftly)

welp, since I can't do anything useful like prepare for my upcoming new job (🙃) or write my fic (😭), I'm gonna project the remains of my sanity on rant posts like this I guess lol I hope you enjoyed I'm off to die on my way to the pharmacy now 💅

[firelord-suki]

Heyyyy, Bianca!!! Happy Valentines!!! 💚💜💚💜

I was wondering here: which ships are your Top OTP? (And the reason you put them so high if you want to share!)

Heyyy! Happy late Valentines Day 💝 💘

Thank you for the question. At first, I struggled to come up with more than two ships, but then, once I started thinking back to old hypefixations, I couldn't stop lol to keep it short, I selected only four.

Here they are:

1. Levi and Hange

I mean, they gotta be on top, right? This is the ship that brought me back to fandom life and made me want to start writing and sharing my fanfics online. What first caught my interest was their interactions, their bickering, their bright & energetic/calm & annoyed dynamic. But now I think what I like the most about their relationship is their friendship, how much they trust and can count on one another. Considering how fucked up their world is, it's nice to know they have each other's back. AND the tragic element keeps me chained to them 😢 (I'll stop here otherwise I'd keep going on and on forever...)

2. Artemis and Wally (Young Justice)

These two... Honestly, Young Justice is probably what got me into the DC Universe and it was also my first contact with fandom spaces (I still remember the fics I used to read about this couple on ff.net back in 2012 lol). I think their relationship was so well constructed throughout the first season that it's impossible not to fall in love. The "I hate you but we're forced to work together" trope is one of my favorite and it excels with them! The annoyance and mistrust at the beginning slowly fading as they work together and finally learn to care about it each other as more than just teammates, but friends too? Peak romance 😭 Artemis' individual storyline was also very well done, and I love the angst coming from her past trauma, how it caused her wariness of the team and doubt their true intentions towards her. She's been mistreated her entire life but finally learned how to trust and love again, and Wally was a part of that <3

3. Vincenzo and Cha Young (Vincenzo)

This is a relatively new one. Granted, I'm not as obsessed with them as the other ones, but I still think they deserve their place here. Again, these two start off not really liking each other but end up on the same side, so they set their differences aside to work together (this seems to be a theme with my ships Lol). I just think they built a beautiful friendship and partnership. Cha Young was probably the only person Vincenzo could fully trust in that scenario (being in a new country, away from his subordinates and all). I liked how they learned how to rely on and trust the other. Yeah, Vincenzo was a Mafia consigliere but that didn't really made their relationship unbalanced? That was my main concern going through the series, considering that Cha Young is not as physically strong as him. But she's still just as smart, witty, brave and stubborn as him.

4. Kat and Patrick (10 things I hate about you)

Ahhhh, there's always a place in your heart for your first love ship. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love how Kat was always so abrasive and Patrick just wasn't put out by it. Of course, he was paid to take her out, but I know he secretly liked having her fight him all the time and always speak her mind. And I love that it didn't change towards the end, her character growth didn't involve her getting calmer or sweeter, just learning how to be vulnerable. Do I think that these two would've stayed together in the long run? Definitely no, but I still like the enemies-to-lovers situation going on here.

Honorable mentions that didn't make the cut: Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle (in basically every universe, lol), Shikamaru and Temari, Suki and Sokka, Kaz and Inej, Mulder and Scully, Koyanagi and Kabakura, Ash and Eiji, Ava and Beatrice, Anne and Gilbert, Jaime and Brienne, Monica and Chandler, Jiwon and Sungming + Yina Yeeun (both from Age of Youth), Keith and Lance (happily, I outgrew my Voltron fase), Howl and Sophie, and last but not least, Ymir and Historia.

Thank you again!

[ladyanetta]

On behalf of my trans family

**warning: angry swearing and some not so great comments. No apologies in advance, Thank you**

As a trans woman, growing up where I'm from has been pretty rough. To an extent, all of us can relate to dealing with that rough upbringing, but it can be unique as a trans individual. Honestly, I don't feel the need to go over the pain, the hurt, the struggles and the fight of the trans and gender-nonconforming persons. You all have heard about that before, we've been speaking about this for as long as I could remember, and more! Some of you just don't care, just don't want to care, or just need to be wrong every single time. So let's forget about our sadness for a moment, and have a taste of my anger.

FUCK all this shit and FUCK those responsible and aiding in this ridiculous transphobic shit!!!!......

Oh, I'm not done. See I was thinking about ending it there, short, sweet and to the point. But I'm going to say more, because I can. Fuck the idiots that make me feel like trash for being trans. fuck the person that called me a girl as an insult, you guys really don't like women and girls or see them as people, yikes (also ass wipe, yes I was a girl, and I am a woman 💗). Fuck the trans jokes, these transphobic dummies use and get mad if you tell them they're not special, or different, someone lied to them several times. Fuck the people that wish trans folks harm, I hope you fall and spill all your food multiple times, because unlike you, I see no need to wish death on a stranger nobody. Fuck the persons on their forums picking at the looks of trans people, you're sad.....like really sad. Imagine telling someone your hobbies is bullying people online.....YOU SPEND TIME ONLINE CALLING OTHERS NAMES, sad. Do you have a life, family, friends you could talk to, so you get some air? Sorry, I just find that situation fucking weird, should really think about it for a bit, like for real. Oh, fuck the collection of shit stained underwear that actually go out into the world and do harm to trans persons, what the fuck is wrong with you! Are you really serious about life, how the hell take someone's life and feel great that your only reason is because....' I don't like them'? FOR REAL!!! that's it? I don't like frogs, but I don't go kill a bunch of them. I know it's not the same thing as transphobia, but is it really..... I would advise looking up what a phobia is and the symptoms, It might surprise you. Fuck the people that promote a standard to being transgender as if it's a job offer and not someone's life, fuck fools. You know, the idiots that do that shit ; 'you have to be absolutely binary, you need to have surgery, you need to be diagnosed, you need to try'. Not everyone wants to do those things, and that's fine. My gosh, there is so much more fuck you's I want to say, but I'll cap my anger off by saying these fuck you. Fuck myself for my transphobic shit, for my internalized idiot actions that hurt others. Fuck the fact I saw myself as not valid, and not deserving of better, not deserving of love. Fuck not being able to exist truthfully and without fear meanwhile hearing people in power pretend there is no problem at all, it's all fine. We're doing the right thing, this is good, this is fine. Lastly, fuck this society, you know what you've done.

It is hard not to get angry, not to be mad when you live in a world like ours. It sucks, and it should be normal to say fuck this shit. To me, anger is an emotion valid in its own way to feel, to have, especially when people like you don't get to live often. I could go on about my anger, but I think it's just ash now. We really have a lot to do, I really have a lot to say, but I think that's enough, I should rest. Take some time, have some trans joy......

With love and anger, Alix Anetta A

[blazehedgehog]

Hello, I have a strange question to ask

I've been having some existential crisis about my understanding of art, but mostly when it comes to Sonic

I'd like to belive that there's no valid answer or approach to enjoying something that speaks to you and partaking in it no matter what, if folks have a better time relating to the musical side of the series and not many other aspects of it, that's fine, like a different era and aesthetic, no problem and I'll encourage it in practice. And I find telling someone "you have low/high standards" offensive honestly, it's way too assumptious.

But I'd be lying if the sea of criticism and hot tales online doesn't get to me, making me question maybe I'm wrong, maybe some opinions are more valuable than others. Like I know my preferences, but what if it all comes from ignorance, or me being lenient on others experiences is some sort of creative failure. Maybe the people who want their specific vision of what they love are onto something and are owed that, even tho it would put folks at even more odds.

I find it very disturbing, the idea of an absolute truth and aiming to find it is very comforting but I just hate the idea as well. It would mean disregarding voices that never had the chance to be heard, perspectives and experiences that don't fit within a coherent vision.

Like I'm from a country that was sanctioned to hell and my first language isn't English nor japanese so Sonic was never accessible for me, so I'm inherently biased against someone telling me something I enjoy is not for me.

A bit of followup to that ask: What I'm trying to say is that while I want to support artistic integrity and respect authorial intent, I just the idea of art being treated like a religion and words of artists (and in sonic's case forgotten manuals sometimes lol) to be treated like holy scripture with a specific "vision" or "direction" everyone should follow Also sorry for lengthy ask

This is definitely a hefty subject to be sure.

I spent 12 years as a paid critic. I wasn't paid very much, and the site wasn't very big, but I still took the job seriously enough that I developed a sense that at some point, you just have to plant your feet and establish your own opinion. You can't walk on eggshells around everyone forever. Battle lines have to be drawn for you to be who you are.

Avoiding conflict with strangers is one thing. But you have to express yourself, your intents, and your feelings at some point. By its very nature, that means you are going to be dismissing someone, somewhere. I don't think that can be avoided. Somebody out there will love the thing you hate, and that WILL generate a conflict.

What really and truly matters is how you are prepared for and handle that conflict. Not every disagreement has to be thermonuclear warfare. And sometimes you might want to defuse, and the other person doesn't. To me, that's just part of life. Have opinion, will argue.

I realize this is easier said than done, but if this kind of stuff bothers you, then... don't let it. It's the internet. If something is bothering you, it's easy to get away from it. Nobody is making you remain in the same argument for days or even weeks on end. Maybe this is just something that comes as you get older, but at some point I realized I valued my time more than just yelling at other people online all the time.

So I... stopped doing that. I put my thoughts out in to the world through places like this blog or my Youtube channel, and if people have a problem with the way I express my opinions, I try to express them better. I don't attack back, I just try to identify what they aren't understanding. Rarely does it start arguments anymore. Does it mean my opinions are right? Probably not. Not entirely, anyway. What even is right and wrong in this context? It's all just perspective.

And once you realize that, the idea of drawing a line in the sand, planting your feet and expressing your opinion, all the arguments and disagreements it may generate just become different perspectives. It doesn't mean you're wrong, it doesn't mean they're wrong, because nobody is wrong. It's all just from where you're looking at the thing from.

Given that we're just talking about Sonic the Hedgehog, and there are no guns, or knives, or real violence happening, ultimately you have to realize: who cares? Find your own happiness. This isn't the fate of the world. It's a cartoon hedgehog. And though you may have started an argument today, the sun will still rise tomorrow. Free yourself and enjoy it.

[beelzebby666]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

tagged by @madnessmadness <3

How many works do you have on AO3? 174 total.

What is your AO3 word count? 359,842.

What fandoms do you write for? Currently just Trigun. But I've bounced through quite a few.

What are your top five fics by kudos? SL (old fandom) and horror show (Trigun) are in the top 5 but that's all I care to mention. Not shame just. Kinda don't like looking back at some fics for personal reasons.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! Sometimes I take a while but I love responding to every comment.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? That one ficlet I did about Wolfwood experiencing death and hearing Vash begging him not to go was pretty rough.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? How To Dig A Grave is very sweet and I like it.

Do you get hate on fics? Had someone try to start beef with me once for writing dudes showing emotions? That was weird.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yep! And uh. It varies. Whatever I want all the time.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I've thought about many but never properly written one lmao.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Again, not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? Yeah! Currently have a fun AU project with @madnessmadness and @what-immortal-hand-or-eye as well as the Wolfwood's Poor Peets fic project with @whatever-you-can-give-me <3

What's your all-time favourite ship? Oooh anything where Wolfwood feels loved and cherished. But I'm a Vashwood/Mashwood/Polyguns ho. Also honestly? Crimsontrip is way up there now. I care them.

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? I have... so many... tons will never see the light of day sadly.

What are your writing strengths? I've been told I use descriptive words well. Especially in icky contexts. And in general I do good making impact with a small amount of words.

What are your writing weaknesses? I have so much trouble figuring out pacing on longer pieces.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I do it very rarely and usually for particular purposes. But I don't speak another language and I don't want to use online translations so I tend to lean away from it.

First fandom you wrote for? Dragon Age? I think?

Favourite fic you've ever written? Not sure if she counts since it's a ficlet collection but I'll never not be proud of what I've done with to have a body is to be a horror show. I'm going to start updating her again soon, I swear.

[txemrn]

Hii Em 💖

I wanted to ask you for some advice for one of my stories - it’s the story where Luna gives birth to her twins. But it’s the first time ever that I write a birth story though I won’t reveal any gross/weird details 😅

But since it’s twins, do you have any tips regarding timing the contractions? I’ve went online but…umm…let’s just say I’d rather ask my friends on tumblr 😅 I don’t know I fell more comfortable to ask you 🥰

I just don’t know how to put that into the story. Do I let Meilani Luna’s ob/gyn say okay this one lasted 30 seconds of something like that? 😅 Hope it’s okay I’m asking, and it’s not a too touchy or sensitive question for you 🙈

Thanks so much in advance Em 🥰💖

Eep! Is it time for our sweet babies to arrive?! I'M SO EXCITED! And I am so honored that you'd ask me about this! I'm kind of a nerd about this stuff... 😉

But before I dive in, remember this is fanfiction! I totally understand wanting to get things right (and I think it's our responsibility to do at least some research on things before we write about them--which you are doing), plus not to mention... the actual process... IT'S SO FRIGGIN COOL! 😍 But you're also not writing a textbook, so even if it's not medically perfect, NO DOUBT it's going to be a beautiful story. So, I don't want you to worry yourself too much about what's actually correct. 😘 BUT I am here to help where I can!

*This info is for fanfic purposes ONLY and should not be used for medical help; if you are ever concerned about your health and/or pregnancy, please contact your doctor

We measure contractions from the start of one contraction to the start of the next contraction (there are a lot of contraction apps that can help with this, and it's a great distraction for nervous dads/moms/partners). Generally speaking, labor contractions (painful, rhythmic tightening of the muscles in the uterus that cause the cervix to open) are 2-3 minutes apart (we tell our first-time moms to come to the hospital when their contractions are taking their breath away, lasting for a minute, 5 minutes apart for at least an hour [5-1-1]). As labor progresses, the contractions become shorter (relatively than at the beginning of labor), but are a lot more painful.

During the actual labor process, women are left on their own to... well, labor. lol As a nurse, I am there to ensure you and your baby are safe, so I will intervene when appropriate. Doctors are usually in and out as their schedule allows (and depending on the location, they're not even in-house). A lot of patients ask, "When is so-and-so coming?" and honestly, it's when you're baby is just about to crown (but we keep them up-to-date through phone calls and secure text messages. The doctor-nurse relationship in the ER and L&D is fairly tight; tons of trust).

Because a woman can feel the pain sensation SO MUCH better than anything we see on the monitor, there really isn't a need to tell a patient how long their contractions are (THEY KNOW lol, they don't want a reminder).

I think one of the most important things the healthcare team can do for each patient is to create a calm, positive atmosphere that empowers a laboring woman. Speaking can be so distracting, so I (personally) think the only times a voice should be used is to either give vital information, or to be used softly for encouragement, like, "Uh-huh," "That's it," "You are so strong," "Feel your body relax," "You're doing great, Mama."

Just in case you're wondering... a lot of doctors are on a time crunch: get that patient delivered. The prudent doctor, however, will allow a woman to labor. First babies usually take a while (the body has never done this before) and the cervix should be changing about 0.5 cm-1 cm/hr. A cervix should only be checked to assess labor progression (I recommend every 2-3 hours or if a woman complains of needing to push).

You probably already know this, but there are three main pain management options (pharmaceuticals) for labor (here in the US): an epidural (continuous infusion of medication in the epidural space in the back), patient-controlled nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and IV Pain medication. IV pain medication should be used sparingly because the only medication that will even touch labor pains are the same medications that can cross over and make for a sleepy baby (BUT they are safe in small quantities). Laughing gas is designed to help take the edge off the pain that burns out of the system very quickly, safe for mom and baby. Moms are able to stay mobile. Epidurals are designed to get women more comfortable, more in control with labor pains, but she is now committed to staying in bed.

Twins. Oh, twins. LOL Twins are an interesting breed (literally, it's "freak" thing that happens!). Contractions are the same. The only difference between laboring a single baby and multiple babies is where you deliver. As a mom goes complete ("10 cm"), it's important she is in a room that can quickly convert into an operating room (simple solution: transfer her to an OR to push). The reasoning for this is to prepare for Baby B. Just because Baby A comes out smooth-sailing does not mean Baby B will be easy peasy. Sometimes the baby can turn. Doctors are specially trained in various maneuvers to prevent this or even correct this, but in L&D, seconds = lives. Just to prepare, it's a good idea to have your anesthesia team and OR team ready for an emergency section. Also, a doctor will highly recommend an epidural for twins (the meds for a c-section can be used through the infusion line).

Whew... Did I answer anything you were dying to know? LOL Hopefully so. But seriously, if you need me to read over anything or if you have ANY specific questions, believe me, I'm not uncomfortable talking about this stuff. I would love to help sweet Luna (and Bryce) through the birth of their babies!

Just let me know! Happy writing! 💚

[bonetrousle]

ok nobody asked but here are my feelings on good omens 2 (contains spoilers, obviously, though i doubt there is anyone on this website left who hasn't been spoiled.) but anyways. This gets a little long too haha I just have a lot to say

Well first off I just wanna say that it was so bad. So so bad. I honestly thought I'd come online after my spoiler-avoiding absence to find people posting about how terrible it was - not the case, it would seem! I was so bored and frustrated by the pacing, directing, editing, the score and the acting. Oh, and of course the writing. lmfao. There were multiple moments where we laughed out loud watching it because the edits/acting/directing were so bad. My general reaction was "that whole season was just like a fanfiction :/" and then I came online to find everyone saying "that whole season was just like a fanfiction!! 😍" like. I don't actually want my professionally-produced with a budget of more than $5 shows to be like a fanfiction, actually, thanks!!

The Beelzebub/Gabriel thing fucking blindsided me so bad and felt like it came out of nowhere. I hated it!!! I also hated the recast of Beelzebub! Like, no hate to the actor, but they were WAY too pretty to be playing Beelzebub. Why is it that they started a romantic plot with them and they also conveniently got more conventionally pretty. :/ Look how they massacred my boy!!! HATE!!!!!! This to me was the most fanservicey feeling part of the show, and I did not care for it :^) I could go on about this for quite some time in more depth, but I won't haha. all im saying is they did not do the mahi to get the treats. i'll leave it at that!!!

Sorry I hated the lesbians too. They were so annoying. Why did they have to be in every scene. shout out to neil for making me actively dislike a gay pairing, it's not easy to do!! Again, I could go on; I won't right now though!

TO THE POSITIVES: (spoilers ahead obvs) The last 15 minutes were genuinely so good, to me. So here's the thing. I was unwillingly spoiled for the fucking leaks by people posting on here about them without giving any warning at all. I had to unfollow a few accounts, but the damage was done. At least I didn't have any context for what was going to happen, but having avoided most promo, my assumption was this- there was only going to be a season 2, that was going to be the end, done and dusted. Aziraphale and Crowley would assumedly get together, and they'd all live happily every after, blah blah. Ok, fine! Great! I was super ready for that. My favourite experience of the show was the dawning realisation of horror during the most emotional part of the show that season 2 was not the end, and it was about to end on a fucking devastating cliffhanger. Like I was flabbergasted. In shock. THAT'S GOOD SHIT RIGHT THERE!!! It also explained why the whole season felt like a bad movie 2 in a series of 3, in that nothing really fucking happened at all. Seriously. the plot felt so paper thin, there was really no need for every episode to be 45 mins +. Some tighter editing and it could've been 30 mins an episode. there just wasn't enough there to justify the run-time, to me!

Generally speaking of course, I loved all the aziraphale and crowley interactions, though some of them were unbearable (what was that shit with the laudanum in scotland, so cringe, auughh). In general I felt there could have been a bit more... subtlety in the acting and writing as a whole. It all felt very OTT, all the time. We went back and rewatched the cold open of season 1 episode 3 and it felt like it was emmy-winning in comparison in terms of pacing, directing, writing etc. SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Anyway, the setup for season 3 was delicious, so I have higher hopes for that season potentially actually being good. But I'm not going to get my hopes up TOO high after that. General consensus to me is that that season was so bad, but no one cares/wants to acknowledge it because of the gay shit, and everyone's gonna pile neil up with applause and commendations, which he still doesn't deserve, imo!!! I'm a hater from the rave to the grave! he shouldn't have got in a twitter argument with my partner online!!! He made it personal!!! I'M IN YOUR WALLS!!!!!

Anyway, maybe after a rewatch I'll find more to enjoy. HAH! expect me to reblog gifsets about it anyway.