#like when i say my family is fucking bonkers i REALLY MEAN IT

[gunpowderdtim]

I promise none of you have family drama that even compares to mine

[nevertheless-moving]

binged dungeon meshi anime + manga after numerous tumblr posts and leg injury. thoughts based on fandom > manga> anime ride:

[SPOILERS FOR MANGA]

senshi pantyshot fanservice much appreciated but... should really be more lingering and inexplicably glistening if its gonna match up to fanservice in other animes

no yeah TOTALLY get why toshiro just said fuck it and went home after... all that. days of no food. blase dark magic/you were too late reveal. long repressed slapfight that he probably felt equally guilty and angry about. girl he loved appeared as GIANT MONSTER and BRUTALLY killed HIS FAMILY.

girl he loved STOPPED TO PULL HER TITS OUT midway through BRUTALLY KILLING HIS FAMILY.

i'd go home too

also , Maricelle, all the love in the world, but i get why everyone was mad about the dark magic. i mean it looked bad. WE know that thistle interfered but the situation looked BAD ngl maricelle i would not want you healing me either after falin appearance.

feel like changeling maricelle should have been half half-foot/half-dwarf or something like that. would have been fun half-elf reveal to party. actually bothers me that she wasn't? the more i think about it. i mean itzumi was still cat/kobold.

incredibly belated but looking back at changeling episode...is senshi shirtless the whole time???

okay nevermind did some extensive research and i'm fairly sure he wasn't

also thinking back about senshi — he absolutely knew what he was doing with setting off the traps and pissing chilchuck off...my man was living here for decades.

kabru/laois is both more and less textually present than i would have thought based on fandom.

like on one hand they barely interact. on the other hand they barely interact and Kabru is VERY much obsessed . they have ONE (1) conversation. much hilarity has been observed about that dialogue so i digress

and there is ZERO new information between that interaction and kabru planning on putting the man on a THRONE. at some unclear point his career goal becomes having his lips at this man's ear and a dagger at his neck ???

i cannot stress this enough: he invests SO EARLY in king Laios. willing to sacrifice his life for this to be realized. goal oriented. unhinged. good for him.

you could say it's just him being practical and choosing the best option based on available information but incredibly relevant new information becomes available and Kabru is STILL locked in

i'm crying over kabru 'compressing' mithran's backstory. sure as a meta framing device fine. but in universe? BONKERS. narrative critiquing clinically depressed man's tragic backstory. Super normal move.

so much nuance and different perspectives on fantasy interracial marriages and adoptions and its SO SO GOOD.

gnawing on the walls kinda worldbuilding seriously

so thistle was a teenager when this all started. that's what i'm getting. that's... man there's a lot of layers of tragedy.

wait so if elves and half-foots look ambiguously young do tallmen look ambiguously old?? wrinkly gangly old old wrinkly fuckers??? or burning the candle at both ends terrible looking tall child???

hey i'm starting to think that the monster who controls all monsters... might not be a good guy

'Delgal' holding thistle at the end ... i'm not crying. you're crying.

impossible to say if laois won the final battle on purpose or not

genuinely no idea

11/10 no notes about that fact

[amityahasfanartnowapparently]

That Time Fox's Fat Tits Saved The Galaxy - Chapter 8 - Amity Ax - (INTRO ONLY)

Hello! Chapter 8 is still very very VERY much in progress, but I got inspired to release the first two pages early. Think of it as an early holiday present :D

If you'd rather save it for when the whole chapter is out on ao3, DON'T look under the cut ;)

Also DISCLAIMER: this intro is liable to change at some point while I'm editing everything else. And consider all the tags in my fic applicable to this post too. You've been warned.

DroidBoy6969:

ok, like, I get why everybody is talking about the tits. I really do. don’t get me wrong, they’re great tits!! but that ass needs some appreciation too! Just LOOK at it! the MUSCLES, the ROUNDNESS, the TIGHT AS KARK PANTS—it has EVERYTHING

TallMannSpotted:  @DroidBoy6969 YESSS I want to be those pants <3 <3 <3

whats_love090992:  @DroidBoy69 if this is a non-tits appreciation post, I’d like to give an honorable mention to the arms and back. Hot damn. I want him to pick me up and snap me in half like a 2x4. And that v-line in the front… *chef’s kiss* Perfect. Phenomenal. Breathtaking.

xXx_R4nc0rD3str0y3r_xXx: @DroidBoy6969 get out of here butt boy this is a tit-man only site!!!!

[See 21938451 more replies]

Unfortunately_YourMother:

everyone unfollow me right now this is going to be the only thing I’m gonna post about from now on. fuck. shit. Ohmygawdzzz

kenobis_glistening_abs444:

HUGE W for the war effort that this absolute UNIT be out here serving the people, if u know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

KittyqueeN:

No joke, I just clocked out for like an hour watching this guy run on repeat. the kriffing bounce is like… hypnotic. Literal drool down my face rn. I can feel the heft of those bonkers in my SOUL

dontlookatme.:

b…boobies…

cock_expert_420001:

Look, I’ll pay any amount, PLEASE more content like this @TheRepublic. I could feel myself becoming roughly 50% more patriotic just watching this compilation

ZDprofessional:

YESSS YES YES YEEEAAAS!!! OHHH MY GODS. OH MY GODDSSS BROOOOO!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I ALSDGJDkjfifherALSDGJKHAG GRRRRRR!!!!! GRRRARRAARRRGRGRG! BRGRGRGRaaaAAAAAARRAR!GGRRGAA! I’M CRAZZY IM CRAZY IM CRAZY. YOU HAVE NO IDEAA YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!!! sorry ok. I’m normal now. cool tits.

NautilaRulz:  @ZDprofessional Dude.

TiLeavesComments:  @ZDprofessional somebody get this fine gentlebeing some water. they’re about to die of Thirst

RyurayguYuhahyrrararr:  @ZDprofessional rabies core

[See 103020 more replies]

H00tH00tMutherfarker:

I can’t believe this is real. What are they FEEDING this one to make knockers like that??? He’s got some Enormous Boobs. Absolutely Perfect Pecs. A Rockin’ Pair of Hooters. A Prize-Winning Set of Black Melons. Some Tasty Teats. A Couple of Family-Sized Milk Jugs. Some Bountiful Baps. Some Gorgeous Gazoingas…[read more]

JustSomeGuy:

Listen, I get that everybody is horny about this, but I’d like to say that this trooper is like, actually NUTS. I went back to the OG video and timed it, he was in a dead sprint for like a full HOUR. The next time you’re out of breath climbing the stairs, remember this man’s existence and weep in shame. 

NotMyOrder:

Clones really do be built different…

Drgahamne14156994:

Hello, I’m Dr. Garm Hamne. I’m a doctor from Corellia and earn 600k annually. I’m looking for a sugar baby who…[read more]

TheCommenterrrrrr:

Screaming crying throwing up I need him to choke me

FoShadeDingKing!!:

Damn where do I gotta go to spend the night with one of those

RRoller:

This is fake. You bantha-brained morons are falling for a government plant. This has sphotoshop written all over it.

N3varG0naGiv3:  @RRoller It’s OK bro, just count backwards from 10 while you inhale the copium. It’ll be over in a snap :)

U_Up?:  @RRoller because that’s what I’D do if I was trying to sphotoshop a government-approved thirst trap into looking so good it brainwashes the minds of millions. I’d make the trooper running laps in the back of the vid busty enough to belong in an art museum instead of using editing magic to make the group of buff, sweaty men duking it out in the foreground look like living gods. what a totally reasonable conclusion you’ve come to 

Nvr_Gn4_Letudwn:  @RRoller bruh just grow up and admit you wanna fuck him so bad it makes you looks stupid XD

[See 348079 more replies]

[gffa]

This is still my favorite character arc for Bruce to go through and this was so good for me. The whole experience of Gotham War and everything that's been happening in Zdarsky's Batman comics, with Failsafe, with Zur-En-Arrh, with Bruce's mind fracturing to pieces, with him pushing his family away and trying to retreat into "Bruce Wayne is the mask, Batman is the real person", with the horrible things he's done to his kids--it all comes around to this. Bruce struggles with his humanity because he's so afraid of the hurt that comes with it, because he experiences loss so deeply, that every loss is reliving that trauma that defined his life. He retreats from his family, from his humanity because it feels like the only way to protect his heart, when he feels it so deeply. And he has to learn all over again that that's wrong. That he has to risk the hurt and the loss and the pain, to stay human, to stay with the family that he's built after the loss of his parents. It's only partly about the apology, what this scene is really about is Bruce opening himself back up to being human, rather than the cold, distant Bat. That what his children deserve isn't words or regret, but a willingness to hold them close to his heart again. This is what all the bonkers bullshit that's been going on in comics has been leading up to. What he did to Dick, to Tim, to Damian, to Jason, all of it was bad, a lot of it crossed a fucking line, but what they want from him isn't punishment or anguish in his soul or whatever, they want him to come back to hope, humanity, faith, and the light with them again. They want him to move forward with them again, as a family, to be let back in. Even Jason, that's what he wants, he's done some shitty things, too, and at his core, what he wants is to be able to move forward. I can buy that Jason forgives Bruce about this because he knows what it's like to do horrible things and to want to atone for them, to move forward from them. (Jason's got a lot of other shit to work out in other areas, both as someone who's done bad things and had bad things done to him, but in this instance, I can buy it for this particular event.) It doesn't mean that everything is all solved now, it's the core issue that Bruce will struggle with all his life, there's always progress and relapses, just like any of us sometimes slide back into our worst parts of ourselves and have to claw ourselves forward again. But at the heart of it, this is what Gotham War and Zur-En-Arrh and Failsafe have led up to--Bruce not retreating into the mask, not retreating into excuses about how he doesn't have to acknowledge his role in it, not saying that he'll deal with it alone even when things are rough between them all. He doesn't want soldiers who are only useful when they follow his commands exactly, he wants family. Even with all the pain, the mistakes, the hurt, the fear, it's all worth it for how he gets up every day to do it for them, because they are the light when the darkness creeps in.

[aeraspais]

I also joined after bi Buck and I also get the sense that I'm watching a different show than half the fans - and I think that about the fans that were jumping on BuckT/ommy endgame after two episodes (just absurd) and those who love Eddie but think anything bad happening to him is a punishment. The set-up for Buddie seems extremely obvious to me once I tune out the fandom noise. They're not switching from a queer Eddie plot to a queer Buck plot that quickly if there weren't plans for both of them. Eddie being compared directly to Tommy multiple times was not an accident, neither was Eddie being all over the coming out plot, Maddie's bonkers "if there's something you need to tell Eddie" line, Tommy not wearing a costume while Buddie are matching (pure romcom shit), Eddie not wanting to fuck either of his female love interests (like he says it out loud not subtext), Buddie being presented as a family unit with Chris right from episode one, them being joined at the hip all season - I could go on. Them unpacking Eddie's delusions about his relationship with Shannon could not come at a better time. Yeah there was a PR shift after 706 but if they had really shut it down, they wouldn't be allowed to ask about it in interviews at all. And Oliver being so emphatic about not wanting to bait and being a Buddie warrior all season also speaks volumes. It's a soap opera, let it cook.

Here I thought I would regret allowing anons after such a long break without them, but I digress��thank you. I've grown so frustrated by the Eddie fans who've spent the past couple weeks arguing that he's being punished by the narrative. Like I fundamentally disagree and cannot really understand how they got there. I get having doubts or concerns about how everything might get resolved next season, but the complete write-off is just insane to me. Just listening to (or, rather, reading) Ryan's answers shows how much care and pride he has for Eddie's storyline. There is a lot of thought behind Tim Minear's intentions and the choice to do the Vertigo homage. At no point does the show asks us to laugh at Eddie. Frankly that's just all audience projection because the show was asking, no, outright begging us to empathize with him. Eddie is terrified of living for himself and prioritizing his emotional needs, especially now that Christopher's growing up and becoming more independent. It makes sense that Eddie, the character that we've seen over the course of six seasons, retreat to a fantasy. Even though neither he nor Shannon happy, their marriage was the only time he feels like he provided Christopher everything. Like everything else you pointed out is also completely true. The season open and closed with Eddie asking Buck for his assistance, which I cannot stress enough, he'd never directly asked of Ana or Marisol. The Tommy of it all. Literally the only reason he isn't getting the filler girlfriend treatment from this fandom is that he's white man. Maddie's baffling reactions, lol.

Like the PR shift can even be explained because I don't think LFJ was supposed to say this:

My friend and I go back and forth by the meaning of "that fell through," but either way, it's still been very clear that dragging Edmundo "Eddie" Díaz out the closet is still very much in the works for 9-1-1 now on ABC. There's zero explanation for Eddie's current storyline, they're capitalizing on some things that had been set into motion last season when he started his Shannon idealization while still only connecting her to motherhood. Oliver gets a lot of attention for being a Buddie Warrior, but lol Ryan Guzman is right there with him. The only difference is that he clearly got coached because even when he calls Eddie heterosexual, he's still answering with enough fluidity that creates doublespeak and causes doubt. Every single interview Ryan has done post midseason hiatus is the most circular bullshit I have ever read or listened to, but for whatever reason that shit is given more respect than him openly saying this after 705.

Basically, long story short, I AGREE thank you for giving me this platform to be insane, I wish I had turned it back on earlier lol.

[nitewrighter]

I think one of the reasons dc/warner bros like to push Batman (other than “cool/dark/edgy”) is ironically, it’s the easiest hero to sell toys of. As a character with no powers, he has to make do with tech, that means accessories! He can’t fly and doesn’t have super speed, ergo the Batmobile or batwing, or a bat jet pack! He needs different suits for different jobs, so that justifies variant figures! With other heroes, you’d just get the figure and that’s it. Why would the flash need a car? Why would Superman need power armor? If you’re old enough to remember, or research back enough, you’ll know the stupidity of the Superman mobile, or the just sad justice jogger. You could have a super figure’s eyes light up to show heat vision, but that’s about it. I guess you could have a green lantern toy line with construct accessories, but clear green plastic might be flimsy or too expensive, I don’t know. I’d think this was why they gave Wonder Woman a sword and shield, cuz they thought the lasso was lame, if not for BoYz DoNt LiKe GiRl HeRoZ! (Convo for another time, but even as a kid I hated that, and I was a boy)

So tldr, one of the reasons dc pushes bats is once upon a time they saw dollar signs at the idea of bat ji Joe.

Also the fact that you can make Batman Merch out of anything just by making it black and/or gray and just slapping a Batman logo on it--it's just probably a lot easier than finagling around other hero's color schemes.

Thinking about the Batsketball again...

But on a lore level, yeah, Batman is basically the "Cool Toys" superhero. You pretty much have every person in the DC universe commenting on how many "Cool toys" Batman has, or how much of a manchild having all those "Cool Toys" makes him. Like, I hate hate hate Frank Miller and of course I would fight him any day of the week, but the one thing All Star Batman and Robin had going for it was the GIANT BEAUTIFUL JIM LEE ILLUSTRATED BATCAVE PULLOUT MULTI-PAGE SPREAD. Like I need you to picture me in bed, giant glass of ice water on my nightstand, absolutely fucking miserable as I trudge through the worst fucking Batman characterization of my goddamn life, and then, AND THEN-- I go, "Oh, this is a pull-out," I carefully unfold it because library book, and then my jaw drops. I literally felt all the 8-year-old boy parts of my brain activate, and then you have young Dick Grayson's voice narrating it with five little words: "And it just. keeps. going."

A thing I really do like about all of Batman's tech and toys is they're all very tactile, and one of the things that's making Arkham Knight very fun as I'm playing through it is this factor of figuring out which of your little gadgets to use in which situation, and you're so proud of yourself when you figure out when the game expects you to use a certain gadget without the game cuing you to do so, or when you get a new gadget and then go back to all the parts of the map you previously weren't able to access without it (Baby "Square shape goes in Square hole" brain activation...) and the game also has very fun sound and vibration design and camera work to make using the various doodads feel very tactile even as it's happening in the game, but okay, let's take all those factors and pivot to Superman.

Superman doesn't have the Batcave, he has the Fortress of Solitude, and the Fortress of Solitude is not a Toy Chest like the Batcave is. The Fortress of Solitude is not a teenager's basement room to brood. The name itself is very intentional: It's Superman saying, "Yes, I save humanity, but I need breaks from it, I need a space to contemplate my work and my heritage, as well as get some distance from it for perspective, or else I will go fucking bonkers." And it's not just a house or a trophy room, either, it's a museum, it's an archive. I think about the Grant Morrison commentary about the bottle city of Kandor being a family heirloom like a snow globe or a music box--beautiful and yet distant, and that also sets a lot of the mood for the Fortress of Solitude: If the Batcave is a big toybox full of robot dinosaurs and a batarang target range and a lot of tactile stuff, then the Fortress of Solitude is a lot more, "You can look but please please please do not touch unless you really know what you're doing." You touch one crystal in the Fortress of Solitude and Jor-El's giant hologram head pops up booming 'KAL-EL, MY SON, THESE ARE THE PRECIOUS RECORDED HISTORIES OF OUR PEOPLE--' and you're like "Oh Jesus fuck how do I turn this off---"

One of the things I've come to really like in recent comics is how, as Superman has embraced having a family, that the Fortress itself feels warmer and more dynamic--Lois is using it as a space to research and write a book about Krypton, Kara tinkers with Kryptonian technology, Jon spent stints there as a toddler in Superman: Space Age, Krypto is there... It's actually kind of reflected how museums have become a lot more dynamic and kid-friendly in recent years. It's still clearly a space they all respect, but there's a much stronger element of enrichment than, "Look at this thing behind glass."

But anyway, yeah, Superman's stories are really more, like, fantastical than Batman's, so it goes to reason that Superman-play is more daydreaming and broad imaginative concepts while Batman-play is more physical and tinkering. So Batman in general is more likely to have lots of toys.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - All the endings

March 2023 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Bed Friend (Sat YT, GaGa & iQIYI uncut) ep 3 of 8 - Only one of them is in a fuck buddy relationship, and it’s not King Moon-eyes Husband-material. This show is so damn good. I love it when high heat is used to serve the characters and the narrative, as well as us fans. (In other words, take away the sexualized part of this relationship and the whole story would fall apart.) I suppose we should pay attention to Uea’s rules since they will all be broken. Uea has a bit of a demanding spoiled prince thing going and I’m not mad about it. This may be the most neck-kissy couple ever, I’m so happy for them! Yet another  installment in “Thailand, please get that boy to a therapist.” This ep likely has lots of extras so I might watch IQ as well. Child abuse trigger btw. 

Moonlight Chicken (Weds YT) eps 7-8fin - It was a good last 2 eps, and I ended up actually liking the complexity of the messiness more than I thought I would - disaster queer authenticity isn’t usually my thing. (Japan taught me that lesson the hard way). All in all, a stellar a little offering from GMMTV, in the Not Me or ITSAY vein of “I question whether it’s actually BL but like it anyway.” Full review and rating below.

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) ep 12fin - The climax was rather predictably climatic (as it were). I love that Chopper shot his dad. Better aim next time, sweetheart? The cousins making up was sappy. Chopper & Ben were fine. Frankly, I’m not sure about PerthChimon’s chemistry, a bit nervous for their series now. And then Kdrama separation nation strikes again. Yawn. Question: Did the cute girl at Palm’s bar ever get her coconut juice? Full review and rating below. 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 1 of 10 - ForceBook in an office set boss/employee highly camp rom-com. Babe is a bit too slapstick for me, boss is a bit too creepy, and Book is def over egging the pudding. Well meaning chatterbox idiot is not my fav archetype. Bathroom meet cute? Huh. I don’t know. I don’t hate it, I guess?  

The Promise (Thai WeTV & YT) ep 1 of 10 - Popped into my YT feed so I gave it a try. Unexpectedly good! Phu & Nan are childhood bffs from middle school through college (almost lovers). Phu disappears just after graduation. After looking/waiting for him for ages, Nan gives up and self isolates, and the actual story takes place 10 years later. The arbitrary slapstick elements are unnecessary, disjoined, and rough. The show should have had the strength of its convictions just to be a serious drama. But it’s way better than expected (it’s about coffee, I love coffee) and no need to have watched the prequel miniseries Phupha | Nanfah. Phu’s granny and cohorts are THE BEST. Also elder queer rep. There better be a GREAT reason why Phu didn’t reach out to Nan or I will be seriously displeased. 

Chains of Heart (Sat iQIYI) 3 of 10 - I kind of love Ken’s slightly idiot gay couple friends. (I do love all of the queer family we are getting these days.) They better not betray him! Still, this is one of those shows where, despite his competency, we haven’t really been given a reason to like Ken all that much. I’m not super invested in his grief or his new romance. The captions are BONKERS but the sex scenes are good. I hope LueKen deliver as well as DinKen. Gotta say, despite my grumbling, I did enjoy it more this week. 

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - I am not a huge fan of the tsundere seme, especially if they are the older character. But this is a really good cast and for a pulp it’s actually okay acted and captioned. It’s cute. Campy. Old school Thai. I do like a flirty uke who knows what he wants. Lots of very prototypical tropes. Is it good? Well, no, but I’m still gonna watch it. 

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - Terrible subs again. They a hot couple but Itt is a revolting character, asshole rather than brat. Day is VERY sexy tho. This one is messy and rough and will likely involve cheating AND the amnesia trope. I might put it onto the binge pile. 

Our Winter (Thai & Korea YT & TikTok under ThaiMiniSeries) eps 8-9 of 14 - TutorYim are cute. And nice to have decent music with Thai actors for a change. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

All the Liquors (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) ep 1-2 of 8 - Oh my God, breaking up with a man because he picked the wrong restaurant for a holiday meal is v relatable, but the reaction ”how can you break up with me before we’ve eaten?” is the best thing ever. I may identify with our baby party boy hedonist more than any other BL lead ever presented. I adore how Korea is leaning into “out gay boys” these days. Love love love the gay bestie. This is on the New Employee end of the KBL spectrum, no bad thing. Not sure about the alcoholism angle tho. Still, this is a fun show! I don’t even mind the crash into me trope when combined with baby is a floppy drunk trope. 

HIStory 5: Love in the Future (Taiwan Weds Viki) ep 10fin (or 19&20) - Not at all surprised that Vincent (Sam? How many names does this man need?) was pulling a double cross, because from the credits we knew the pairs get along. Couple’s necklaces and a sweet make up sequence for the sides. Nice sex scene and manufactured drama for the mains. Ultra cheese fest ending for all including random H4 couple. Full review and rating below. 

Jack o’Frost (Japan GaGa) ep 3 of 6 - The first time sex scene from the past was sweet and well done. That said, a traditional BL romance is not what this story is doing. It’s about 2 people at different points in a romantic journey, one of whom has memories of a failed relationship (and associated baggage) and the other who does not (so is starting at fresh). It’s using high concept to explore this, but that means (this beaning Japan) HEA is on shakey ground. Also, still running a bit low energy for me. 

It’s Airing But ...

Blue Sky Complex (Japan ???) 5 eps for VR - Kei Ichikawa's manga is getting a JBL adaptation. Weird distribution though, it started Feb 27 sequentially on 360 Channel (SHOCHIKUch) a VR video distribution service. Will inter-fans ever get to see this, and if it’s filmed for VR will it adapt without being overly dark and fuzzy? I have questions. But as usual, you do you Japan and we will wait (im)patiently to see if you remember the rest of the world exists. This is my preferred kind of live action yaoi, so fingers crossed: 

Boyband (Thai) ep 2 of 10 - Stopped airing on YouTube, and only available in Thailand & Japan. Not sure if they’re working a distribution deal or just fucking with us.

Cafe In Love (Thai ???) 10 eps on Ch3+ - Thai pulp, about trying to save a coffee shop. FairyGodBLer came through for me, but I’m collecting to binge just in case. It’s my new policy with the grey stuff.

Destiny Seeker (Tues WeTV Thailand) 10 eps - it’s not on any WeTV I can get ahold of. Bad Buddy the pulp rebirth meets Japanese handsome host club action. Same as above.

Heesu In Class 2 (Korea Thurs unknown, I check Viki Gaga iQIYI) - A gay(er) version of Sex Education. I’m still not sure this one is actually happening.

Finished This Week 

My Beautiful Man 2 AKA Utsukushii Kare Season 2 

These two have such a great DS dynamic. Only Hira would apologize for fucking and wanting to fuck his own boyfriend, but doing it anyway. Talk about a service top with a humiliation fetish. Sheesh. The masochism is strong with this one. (Since I do not deal with humiliation fetishists well, the cringe factor got to me a little.) Still, pouty jealous Kiyoi is the cutest. [One flaw: The photographer dude should have been played by Kenta. Just a little joke.] 

SUMMATION 

All in all, this 2nd season didn’t blow me away the way the 1st did. It was quieter and more uniform in its narrative and messaging - thus more predictable. The basic relationship misunderstanding remained the same - all about value and self worth and how that’s assessed. The result is a dialogue between imposter syndrome and a parasocial relationship. If these 2 only had the language and framework of BDSM to understand each other, than they would, but they don’t so the story is us watching them suffer for it. But that’s part of the fun. Part of their fun too, I think, as if the fighting and misunderstanding is just another one of their many kinks. An engaging and solid second installment that was so consistent, I’m going to keep the rating consistent too. 9/10 

HIStory 5: Love in the Future 

High concept of a man from the past traveling to Covid times and getting involved with a spoiled rich kid soon to be CEO that ultimately made for a dull story. Sides were stellar but intentional miscommunication as a narrative driver never works for me. Good chemistry, nice sex scenes, and a cheesy ending (90% of the time) is Taiwan’s BL brand. I expected nothing less. But there is a little part of me that hoped for something more. 7/10 

Never Let Me Go 

Bodyguard romance where poor boy must watch over rich boy for family obligation reasons. Simple premise well executed with a few bumps that made it feel like it was trying to tackle too much (when it wasn’t). Still, an enjoyable show that benefited from being handed to PondPhuwin who did a stellar job with their roles and chemistry. Is it going into permanent rewatch rotation? No, but a solid GMMTV offering. 8/10 

Moonlight Chicken 

I enjoyed this complicated little show, even though it’s spectacularly messy gay with lots of shrapnel and authentic pain. I thought EarthMix turned in their most compelling performance to date. But it was GeminiFourth who stole my heart.  That said, the most interesting central relationship was that of Jim & Li Ming, their father-son angst mixed with evident affection made me tear up. This was more slice of life than it was BL, but it ended happily so I’m not mad at it. 8/10 

Gossip

Apparently Pavel (my love) has been added to the cast of Pit Babe, a Thai BL series I thought was defunked (it was supposed to be out in Jan). So I’m happy. I also put it back on the 2023 tracking sheet. 

Tia51 announced upcoming sampler pack Thai BL My Universe. Normally I don’t report on Thai announcements, as they are pure speculation, but this one is reported to feature 22 actors, 11 couples, 12 stories, and 24 episodes in August 2023. STOP OR YOU’LL GO BLIND. (FB page BLUpdate2020 has a full rundown of the 12 stories.) No MDL listing that I can find. Giving the War or Y peeps a run for their money? Or just epic Thai BL lever pulp-tastic insanity?

New Pinoy BL Stay announced, 6 eps featuring boys who unexpectedly meet in Los Angeles. More here.

In case you missed it 

Jeff Satur is leaving BeOnCloud. Honestly, who tf didn’t see this coming? He just dropped a MV with SHAUN (Steal The Show). Jeff is one of the biggest Thai indies and Shaun is legacy Kpop indie. Jeff was and is always more focused on singing and that’s busted a pair before. Frankly speaking, he's ambitious and doesn’t need BeOnCloud. I’m a big believer in breaking from an agency if you have the platform to go it alone. And just because he’d not repped by them doesn’t me he can’t still work with them, sheesh calm down KP fandom. (Honestly this seems to be my mantra since that damn show aired.) 

Next Week Looks Like This:

03/08 - Pastsenger (Thai Gaga) 12 eps- Stars Marc (My Gear & Your Gown) and Cooper (My Engineer) both formerly paired with others, in a time travel paranormal that smacks of HIStory 5. Sunshine 90s kid travels to 2022, goes to university, encounters grumpy nerd.

03/09 - Our Dating Sim (Korea unknown) - What happens when two men, friends since schoo, meet again at work to create a dating simulation game together.

03/12 Future (Thai YouTube & Gaga?) 5 eps - Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love - yeah I didn’t know that was based on a novel, either). About, you guessed it, an engineering student and a dentist. Maybe this will be the FOTS we were all hoping for? Fuse (the engineering student) is played by Boom from the En of Love and is kinda the same character (Field). I think we can expect this one to be soft, it’s from the 21 Day Theory people. (maybe March 19 international)

Full list of upcoming in March 2023 is here.

2023 forthcoming BL master post. (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This Week in Subs of Qua?

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I liked this scene in Moonlight Chicken so much I did a whole post about it. 

Chains of Heart the past relationship. can’t wait to see if they do as well with the present one. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Peacemaker by P1Harmony (I’m considering stanning this group because their rap line is insane, everyone can dance, Theo is beautiful, and Keeho is an adorable nut job with a great voice. Talk about a boy who should do BL, and probably would without a care in the world. Stop him though, these boys are gonna be the next Monsta X.) 

[power-chords]

Some Miami Vice Thots*:

Big Screen, I Notice More Stuff: That club is called MANSION. Linkin Park (from Agoura Hills, or what seems to me to be the Westchester, NY of the San Fernando Valley — Californians please correct me if I'm wrong), mashed up with Jay-Z (a Black billionaire from the mean streets of Bed-Stuy, the New New Gatsby/Big Joe Turner). Relevant to bullet point immediately below.

According to Michael Mann Miami in the mid-aughts is Age of Discovery (Digital Edition) meets Crime Family Feudalism in recursive recurrence, multiple timelines and identities inhabiting the same geographic vectors (everyone is always forever in motion). The very first interaction Sonny has with someone who is not a team member is a bartender who says she is from Lisboa, to which Sonny replies, "But you got your tan in Miami." This is what I read: She's the "reformed" Portuguese equivalent of the character in this Butch Walker song. She came from money, she lost it perhaps, but she's been since... repossessed? There's a more sinister interpretation under the surface, since she is under the roof of a powerful (and possibly related) employer whose business operations require unwavering loyalty + utmost discretion in exchange for protection (which in this case is also exploitation). Tan, in other words, as a form of Midas touch. Sacrifice to a sun(/SON!!!) god (or is Sonny more of a defecting Samson figure, speaking to an inert "Neon" Delilah who will only feign at seduction/betrayal, moving through the moves?). So already these two characters are speaking in code to each other, which is an amazing storytelling device on Mann's behalf, and you can shake so much out of that.

Derived from the above: "My Mommy and Daddy know me," hilarious line btw, becomes double-doublespeak, quadruple-speak! Not only is he pretending to tell the truth under a fabricated fundamental, the statement itself is yet another subtextual lie. His parents don't really know him, they just thought they did, which is why he's run off to become what he's become. Rico is the partner who acts out of duty first, love secondarily; Sonny is the Byronic inverse. Diaspora southern gothic. I like to think this is the mythic re-interpretation/inspiration Mann wishes a certain American population would draw from, in lieu of... current political/pop cultural figureheads.

Gina tenderly comforting the injured Zito... this shot is seconds long and yet captures my heart every time! Where is the backstory fic for these two!

Once again, the Rico/Trudy sex scene is a definite contender for the most affectionate, respectful, and sensual one in Hollywood history

Oh, Isabella. My girl Isabella. I overheard someone in the lobby call this film "such a guy movie." I don't know what drugs these people are on. Especially when counterpart to the hypermasculine satirical camp is the sensitivity and sympathy with which Mann portrays the situation of women, how we are exploited either way/anyway, deprived of romantic trust/human partnership by being put at risk by men and also by them denied the agency of taking risks for ourselves. There's both heartbreak and hypocrisy in how she attacks Sonny at the end, screaming "Who are you!" (The audience's heartbreak is: We have an instinctive uneasy sense of the systems that force her, and the rest of us, to live as hypocrites. Who are any of us, anymore, really!)

I was like MICHAEL DO THE GARMENTO CRIME DRAMA W/ ME and he was like "I made Miami Vice already, dummy! Pay attention!" Me: "OK!!!" [Pays a visit to Auerbach's Keller in Grand Central Terminal and then stays up until 5 AM playtesting West Village: Walpurgisnacht/watching the Chicago & Miami Postmodern Pseudepigrapha about Non-Recourse Factoring]

The "color coding" in this film is bonkers. More on that eventually, I'm still chewing on it.

The duality of Man(n)ager: the tragic pathos imbued to Alonzo vs. the vaudevillian coercion of Nicholas. "Why is this happening to me?!" cracks me the fuck up. This most powerful, literally biblical quandary of them all, the whole of Mann's filmography boiled down to its most singular and direct (I.E., truthful) expression, in the form of a persecuted exclamation, and it's played for laughs. Because what can you do except laugh! It's Job(/lowercase job) as circus performance, as a cabaret act. Job's poetry parodied into factional slogans and Shandyan-American dick jokes. I can't believe people think this is a stupid movie, it's pretending to be stupid!!!

*The appropriate spelling for this film in particular

[latenightsundayblues]

Melanie Martinez songs from the Crybaby album Billy would definitely relate to

-Dollhouse cause let’s be honest here he would and feel like the song is so him in some ways

-Mad Hatter due to the fact he just embraces his psychotic tendencies and would just say as he listens to the lyrics “this is so me”

-Pacify Her I mean everytime I see him looking at Stu everytime he’s with Tatum I play this song in my head everytime and not only would he make this song about his and Stu’s relationship we why he planned to kill Tatum. I know that boy was foaming at the mouth just cause she breathed a millimeter near Stu

-I Scream yes I know not released on her album specifically but you can’t tell me this isn’t a Billy coded song based on the fucking lyrics

Dollhouse is very billy loomis coded i think. Melanie secretly made it about him and just doesn't want to admit it i swear

"Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dolls, we'll be a perfect family

When you walk away is when we really play

You don't hear me when I say "Mom, please wake up, Dad's with a slut" ITS HIM YOUR HONOUR!!!!

"You think I'm psycho, you think I'm gone, tell the psychiatrist something is wrong

Over the bend, entirely bonkers, you like me best when I'm off my rocker

Tell you a secret, I'm not alarmed"

he's listening to this and congratulating himself on just how quirky different from all the normies he is lmao

YES. YES. YES. LITERALLY HIM. I really portraying a certain possessiveness Billy has over Stu due to the gravity of their connection with the little 'secrets' they keep together and seeing parts of him nobody else has. He doesn't feel like they're both one and the same, he feels like the entity encapsulating Stu's existence.

"Tired, blue boy walks my way holding a girl's hand

That basic bitch leaves finally, now I can take her man

Someone told me stay away from things that aren't yours

But was he yours, if he wanted me so bad?

Pacify her, she's getting on my nerves

You don't love her, stop lying with those words"

THE JEALOUSY. THE ENTITLEMENT. THE ANGER. The gangs all here youre so right for this

I just wanted to highlight this real quick

"I may be smaller than you

But I’ll get my platform shoes

And then I’ll push you to the curb

And stomp right on you"

Ok thats him alright LMFAOOO

[zeroducks-2]

CW: me complaining about comicbook takes and being generally a bitch.

I have no problem with "bad comicbook takes" in the sense that I'm all for leaving the interpretation of what happened to the readers. That's part of why I tend not to argue with people that say shit like that Jason is wrong to be angry at Bruce. Like, ok. I disagree with you, and I will roll my eyes back into my skull, but that's still just an opinion you know?

Like imagine tomorrow someone said that Joker was right for killing Jason and maiming Barbara because Jay and Babs are annoying, and they deserved it anyway. It would be a batshit nonsense take but still someone's opinion, and I don't... Really argue with opinions? Or anyway I try not to. Think what you will, I have my bonkers opinion on things as well so yeah I get it. There is no "correct way" to experience a story anyway.

What really gets me is when someone reads a comics in which Thing happens, and then will go around saying that "actually Thing did not happen yall are just stupid lol lmao".

You want an example, I know you do.

"Dick is not the person who made Damian Robin, so Tim should not be angry at Dick for that. He should actually be angry at Alfred."

Do you are have stupid. What in the reading comprehension why is this something people are saying. I genuinely don't understand if everyone's just trolling or what.

Yes, Alfred very gently suggests that Damian should be Robin. But:

1 Alfred does not make decisions for the "family", he never has, that's not his role. Alfred exists to babysit and provide a wise word of advice to Batman (and Dick at that point in time IS BATMAN). Alfred has no decisional power over who gets to wear this or that mantle, that's Batman's decision when it comes to his sidekicks (save some exceptions of people doing whatever the fuck they wanted to like Steph or Red Hood Jason, but they still had to fight Batman's autorithy anyway).

2: Alfred suggests this and then Dick is the one who agrees, implements and enforces it. Dick takes away Robin from Tim, because it's on him as Batman to rule over these things. If Dick didn't want to do this he would have simply said "no Alfred the kid can't be Robin" and left everything as it was, but Dick instead heard the suggestion and decided to follow it.

ALFRED DID NOT MAKE DAMIAN ROBIN AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS NEEDS TO BE SAID.

"Tim's parents are not abusive, it's a fanon thing"

Okay this partially goes into the opinion category but it needs to be said. Tim's parents were absent for the most part of Tim's life, and that is pretty fucking abusive. Tim wasn't beaten down within an inch of his life by his father or whatever, but dude still ignored him, squandered the family money and then demanded to have a relationship with his son where Tim was emotionally open and available to his father, only then he found a new partner and went back to treating Tim like shit and ignoring him.

All of this is hella abusive and yall need to learn that abuse doesn't only mean beating someone up. Stop fucking say Tim's father was an angel I am going to set shit on fire.

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

s hello have any brainworms for roleswap dmvn formed in your mind yet....... bc im gnawing at the bars of my cage thinking about them

ALL RIGHT i've let this collect dust for long enough, I think.

Worldbuilding things!

Dimitri's parents are alive. Rufus is the equivalent of Miklan in this story, and I think he steals Areadbhar during month four of school. TBD.

The tragedy of Duscur doesn't happen, because Matthias' methods are the low-and-slow type rather than Lambert's "let's go have peace talks right now actually."

What DOES happen is the very beginnings of an armistice between Sreng and Faerghus, which is just as much a ploy by the slitherers now as it was in Duscur, and results in the incapacitation of Matthias as well as the death of the Queen and Miklan (and the usual cast and crew that got done in in Duscur, like Glenn).

Dimitri was there, but things play out a little differently. Still has absolutely bonkers levels of survivor's guilt. Why did Glenn have to lose his life instead of him? The queen and prince, too?

Felix's feelings on Dimitri are far more mixed because of it, I think. But that's another discussion (fic?).

Matthias shuts down on all attempts to make peace with other countries. He does put everything he has into trying to restabilize Faerghus, but his mind kinda snapped watching his son and wife die before his eyes. Sylvain straddles the line between hating him and feeling bad for him.

I'm sure I could have reworked this to make sense to include Duscur the way they have been, but brain running on fumes, so we'll take what we get. Feel free to imagine a character with a similar narrative role coming from Sreng instead. Maybe it's the son of the chieftain they . . . captured/took in/who the fuck knows.

Onto the dimivain of it all <3

Every hangup Sylvain has about people thirsting after his Crest and not him is cranked up to eleven, because now the chances of someone wanting the prestige of being his spouse (and by extension, a monarch) are ridiculously high.

Gautier territory is where it is, but the royal family lives in Fhirdiad. Because Blaiddyd territory is so close to where they actually are, the family charged with keeping them safe is pretty obvious. (Their monster of a Crest certainly doesn't hurt.)

Sylvain tries to poke Dimitri's buttons about this. "Doesn't it bother you? That you're stuck with me because of something you didn't choose?"

Dimitri doesn't have a real answer right away. He says something about being honoured, not caring to know another manner of life, same old same old. There's something in it about making your circumstances your own rather than fighting them tooth and nail that's at odds with Sylvain's perpetual "I know what I'm headed for but that doesn't mean I've gotta like it!"

Dimitri tries to tell Sylvain that bedding random women is not a great image for the crown prince. Sylvain loses his brain cells and asks if it'd be a safer rumour to have the crown prince be in love with his retainer.

Dimitri doesn't take him seriously for even a second.

Sylvain has never been more serious in his life.

"Dimitri, come on, you haven't ever said my name! I think you came out of the womb being all 'Your Highness' this, 'Your Highness' that." "I'm not sure what you mean, Your Highness." "You're so full of it! Just once? Please?" "I'm afraid not, Your Highness."

Sparring = flirting? Dimitri loses his composure whenever Sylvain really gets into it and tries to win, but it's a 50-50 chance on whether he actually succeeds.

Sylvain refuses to make the first move, when it's like that. Dimitri's heart's too big, and Sylvain doesn't want to know if he's being placated or pursued.

Unfortunately! Things get blown to bits during the timeskip. Dimitri damn near loses his life trying to prevent Sylvain from being captured by Cornelia's men, but he manages it. Unfortunately, he's still got a hell of a lot of wounds to lick while the Gautiers regroup in Gautier territory. The surrounding lords are skilled enough at diverting search parties before they can stumble upon a humble-looking cabin in the woods that houses Faerghus' most important people.

Sylvain's heart breaks when he sees his best friend, the boy who'd been sworn to him since the first time the sun came up, looking like hell now lived inside him.

"What are you doing? You've done your share, Dimitri. You don't have to do this anymore." You don't have to hurt yourself for me anymore. Please don't hurt for me. If you die for me, I worry that I couldn't even hate you for it.

Dimitri hasn't let go of Areadbhar since he returned. Maybe once, because eating had required it. But he sets it down in that moment and approaches so that there's no more than a handful of inches between them.

"You asked me if I was bothered by having to stay by your side. Do you think I would not have fled, across the sea or over the mountains, if I didn't want to stand where I've stood all these years?"

"But you--" But you didn't have a choice.

Dimitri looks off in the distance. "Does a hound choose to be a carnivore? A flower, to flourish in the sun?"

"Those are bodily functions, Dimitri. Don't think that counts."

"Ah. I haven't made it clear then."

Sylvain loses it a little when Dimitri leans closer.

"I breathe, and I wake, and I think of you, and if there was ever a moment of doubt that you're the cornerstone of my heart, Sylvain, I'm afraid that was an error on my part."

Sylvain wants to say something about how Dimitri could have easily had the entirety of Garreg Mach's student body chasing after him like a pack of wolves after prey, but Dimitri has willingly walked into the trap of his arms, so Sylvain is in no mood to spook him away (read: irritate him in the way Dimitri never admits to being irritated).

They have rings, Blaiddyd-silver and gems coloured Gautier-teal, that are always there under gloves and gauntlets.

People say that King Sylvain never married because he grew tired of the women that cycled through his chambers. Dimitri doesn't particularly like listening to people run their mouths that way, but protecting Sylvain from prying eyes and centuries-old expectation has always been more important than defending his honour.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Please do give us all your underrated romcom recs!!

For sure! Here are some I remember right now.

Ibiza--a Netflix movie, half "female friendship celebration", half romcom, the source of my URL. About an overworked uptight marketing girl (lmao...... real) who goes on business trip to Barcelona; her two best friends tag along and convince her to go to a club, where she has a chance encounter with celebrity DJ Leo West (Richard Madden at his best), after which she becomes convinced to follow him to his next show in Ibiza so they can hook up before her business meeting back in Barcelona. Unhinged, sexy, hilarious, everything people say Bridesmaids is, I love everyone in this movie and somehow none of the women are ever in true peril which is fabulous. Will leave you wanting to fall in love in a club/do something insane with your friends. Encapsulates the feelings of life changing travel better than anything.

Laggies--coming of age romantic comedy with some REEEEAL hits for MILLENNIAL MALLAISE, imo. Keira Knightley dips after freaking out when her boyfriend proposes; she has no life direction and ends up crashing with this teenage girl she just met. Teen girl's lawyer single dad (Sam Rockwell, sooooo sexy for some reason) quickly susses out that Keira is not a fellow teen but lets her stay anyway because she's got good vibes, his daughter clearly is desperate for a maternal figure of some sort, and he wants to bang Keira. Has a GREEEEAT impetuous makeout where he grabs her and she has to be like "I don't think you should fingerbang me in the street".

Down with Love--an early 2000s romcom satire starring Ewan MacGregor and Renee Zellweger at the height of their powers (fact: this movie is the sexiest I've ever found Ewan, as he's generally hit or miss for me). Honestly one of the smartest movies I've ever seen? Satirizes the Doris Day/Rock Hudson sex comedies of the 60s in this hyper-vibrant, gorgeous 1960s New York (the costumes and set design are insane). Puts Catcher Block, the slutty man reporter, in this Battle of the Sexes deal with Barbara Novak, the author of a huge hit book that basically tells women say down with love and prioritize their own pleasures (including sex), during which Barbara trashes Catcher specifically. The plot is iNSANE, I can't even really get into it. But there's also a genuine love story? If you like watching a slutty man get completely Stockholm Syndromed into falling for a crazy woman, this is it. Also, Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce, literal gay icons, play the best friends who also fall in love.

Mrs. Winterbourne. Another fucking bonkers movie that has a bit of drama but also sexy uptight lusting-after-his-brother's-widow-but-not-really Brendan Fraser. This girl, who we're supposed to think is 18 but it's Ricki Lake and she's not, gets abandoned by her boyfriend after she gets pregnant. She ends up on a train with this nice couple, including a woman who's just as pregnant as she is. She admires the woman's wedding ring and the lady is like omg try it on because she's nice and also weird, and then THE TRAIN CRASHES. Our heroine wakes up and she's had her baby and the baby is fine but the nice couple is DEAD and she was wearing the ring and was pregnant so everyone thinks SHEEEE is Mrs. Winterborne. The dead guy's rich family never met his wife, so they welcome her and her baby with open arms and she kinda has to go with it? Anyway, Brendan is the dead guy's IDENTICAL TWIN (which means he was also the dead guy) and he immediately is like "this bitch is lying" but he's also falling for her against his own will??? Truly this movie is reverse Gorilla Twins.

Blast from the Past--another Brendan Fraser movie you kinda have to see to believe. Basically, Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken are a couple in the early 60s and Walken is a scientist who believes the earth is going to devolve into a nuclear armageddon, so he's built this bunker for him and his pregnant wife underground. He thinks nuclear war has begun, and rushes underground with said wife, and their son is born and raised into this perfectly preserved 1962 world. He's Brendan. Anyway, 30+ years later, he surfaces into the real world as 90s era Brendan Fraser, which means, hot, and is completely naive and gets led around by jaded girl Alicia Silverstone, who falls in love with him and wants to take his virginity REAL BAD.

My Fake Boyfriend. A truly wacky little gay romcom about Keiynan Londsale creating this ideal fake dating profile and his best friend living vicariously through it, which becomes complicated when Keiynan meets a guy he actually wants to be with.

Fire Island. I don't know how underrated this is? Maybe at large. Anyway, it's just a really fun modern queer Pride and Prejudice retelling with multiple super good couples and a greeeat Mr. Darcy.

Bros--I know that Billy Eichner is annoying and went all headass about this... but tbh, though it's not without issues, this is a very fun romcom with a sweet love story at the core that doesn't fuck around with adult issues like questions re: monogamy

Imagine Me and You--again, I don't know how underrated this is, I feel like it's Thee Lesbian Romcom in some circles, and it's imperfect, but I dooo love it. It's one of the few movies that sells love at first sight. It's dated but it's fun. Also. Lena Headey.

Always Be My Maybe--has everything I want; attractive people having sex, drama, childhood friends to "forget my number" to lovers, Keanu Reeves playing hIMSELF. I feel like this got decent recognition, but nowhere near what it deserved. If you haven't seen it, Ali Wong and Randall Park are childhood friends, his mom dies and he becomes super depressed when they're teens, right after they lose their virginities to each other (or she loses it to him? at least one is a virgin and neither knows shit about sex) and then feelings are hurt immediately after and they come back into each other's orbit years later when she's a celerity chef and he's like, her HVAC repairman lol. They rekindle the friendship but there's mooore.

Love, Rosie--I have my quibbles with this one, but I also have a soft spot for it because... childhood friend drama. Sam Claflin and Lily Collins are best friends since literal toddlerhood, he's clearly got feelings for her in high school but she fucks a random on graduation night and gets pregnant and doesn't tell Sam because she doesn't want him to stay behind and help her as he has a scholarship to Harvard med. Sloooow burn with lots of tension and angst and some charming found family vibes.

Palm Springs--again, debatable on how underrated it is because it's very much critically acclaimed, but this movie is never in the conversations Set It Up is waved into and it's actually excellent, so... Cristin Millioti (SHOULD be a romcom queen by RIGHT) is at her sister's wedding and goes off to hook up with random stranger Andy Samberg because she's a messy bitch. After a series of wacky events, she gets sucked into a time loop that Andy has been in for literal years, where they're reliving the same day over and over. A lot of crazy shit happens, hijinks are had, and they fall into (complicated) love. A chaotic favorite.

P.S. I Love You--I feel like this dog has had its day to an extent, but it was actually dragged when it came out, and I remember this because I remember going "why?? It's great". The only Gerard Butler movie worth seeing besides 300, probably, this stars Hilary Swank as a young widow whose husband (said Butler) recently died of a long term illness and left her a letter per month, telling her what to do in the first year after his death. The supporting cast is GREAT (Kathy Bates made me weep), it's both very funny and incredibly sad and uplifting and raw, Hilary fucks Lucky Charms Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the Irish accents in this are Bad but it's much better than Leap Year) and the ending subverts expectations in a great way.

Brown Sugar--This is obviously a very popular movie (MY DIVOOOOORCE) but I don't think it's upheld to the same status as The Best Man franchise and I always see Love & Basketball recommended over it and that seems wrong. Taye Diggs and and Sanaa Lathan play childhood friends who now work in hiphop adjacent industries and struggle with both authenticity and how badly they wanna bone each other. THEN HE GETS ENGAGED. This one is messy, with cheating and hurt feelings and real adult issues, but it also has one of the funniest scenes committed to celluloid so.

Music and Lyrics--a Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore CLASSIC that actually reads like a romance novel onscreen. Hugh Grant is a washed up 80s pop star who wants to land a gig writing a bop for a pop princess, but he can only do the music, not the lyrics. He finds out unexpectedly that the weird chick watering his plants (Drew) is a good little lyricist and they begin working together, which leads to... love. Has a genuinely great grovel, I gotta say.

Just Like Heaven--cheesy, but the spot I have for it is soft (weird). Mark Ruffalo is a sad widower who's moved into a new apartment, only to find out that it is haunted by the GHOOOOST of the woman who was in his apartment beforehand (Reese Witherspoon) (there is a happy ending). It's of AN ERA.

Moonstruck--should not be underrated because Cher won an actual Oscar for it, but many people don't seem to talk about it today? Probably because of the hero, but OVERLOOK THAT. Cher is a widow who's just gotten engaged to this one dude who's Just Fine, and she wants to make sure his brother, one-handed Nicolas Cage, goes to the wedding. Except oops, she ends up fucking him right after they meet because one-handed Nic Cage has the juice, I guess? He gives this big speech, she says he's a wolf, it's great and verrrrrry Eyetalian American.

Faraway--I just saw this and it is PURE. GOLD. A middle-aged wife and mother loses her own mother and finds out her husband is having an emotional affair at the same time. So she goes to this little house in Croatia that her mother secretly owned, without telling ANYONE. Except oops, there is a squatter in the house, and it's a MAAAAN. Funny, sexy, a great example of two attractive middle-aged people who look like attractive middle-aged people falling in love. A real "find yourself at any age", uplifting movie that made my heart so warm.

Austenland--not super underrated, but fun. Keri Russell is a Jane Austen lunatic who goes to an Austen-themed resort and ends up encountering her own Darcy type.... But is he just playing a part??? Jennifer Coolidge is also in this. Being excellent.

[cienie-isengardu]

My RepCom Musing: The use of “psycho” and “crazy” and similar terms

Not sure where my research will ultimately lead me as I’m still collecting data how RepCom book series treated the potential mental illness and/or the perception of the “psycho” characters - something I've been meaning to write for some time in regard to Walon Vau and Sev, but for now I would like to share a few observations made so far:

There is a visible difference in how Walon Vau and Kal Skirata approach the topic of potential mental illness of their clone commandos, which I think fits their introvert and extrovert natures well. As far as I can say, Walon in general is not talking with outsiders about his men’s mental state - he acknowledged (think) Sev is “psychotic” and lacks “the most basic social graces“ [True Colors] or confronted Scorch about his breakdown [Order 66] but we don’t see him revealing much of their traumas or how horrible was their training to anyone who wasn’t already a part of said training program (and we know that Vau and Skirata argued about that a lot). In contrast, Skirata talked surprisingly a lot to other characters about what happened to Ordo/Nulls or occasionally to Omegas, usually to explain why his sons act in this way. This happened with Etain and Obrim and even Fi, though how Ordo feels about his trauma being talked with “outsiders” is not really brought by narrative. 

Granted, both men are using different frames from what they count normal (good) - Vau is operating in the good soldier zone (as being a soldier has a special meaning for him related to his own fucked up childhood) while Skirata focuses on family life (something he failed at once and many clones may never have a chance to experience) but that is a topic for another time.

Similarly, Delta Squad and Atin(?) are rarely seen calling other characters as the psycho, especially in a negative way. Scorch did use that name for Sev, but either Deltas were in their own company or Scorch made an observation about his brother’s behavior as he was worrying about him a lot in Order 66. Frankly, as far as my research showed, Deltas did not call Walon Vau the “Old Psycho” but they did at least twice called Skirata “crazy” (True Colors and Order 66). Interestingly, the majority of “psycho” and “crazy” terms - in context of mental illness / dangerous behavior - used by clones alone in the books comes from Omega (those members originally trained by Kal) and Nulls. 

Old Psycho, as a nickname for Vau was used twice (or so I assume) by Fi and once by Mereel. Bonker Squad as a nickname for Nulls was used by Fi and Darman/Niner and Skirata who coined this term. 

  "Your buddy ... ," Darman teased.

    "Rather have him for a friend than an enemy."

    "Ooh, he likes you. Hobnobbing with ARC officers from the Bonkers Squad, eh?"

    "We have an understanding," Fi said. "I don't laugh at his skirt, and he doesn't rip my head off."

    Yes, Ordo had taken a shine to him. Fi hadn't fully understood it until Skirata had taken him to one side and explained just what had happened to Ordo and his batch on Kamino as kids. So when Fi had thrown himself on a grenade during an anti-terrorist op to smother the detonation, Ordo had marked him out as someone who'd take an awfully big risk to save comrades. Null ARCs were psychotic-bonkers, as Skirata put it-but they were unshakably loyal when the mood struck them. [Triple Zero]

 There are also variations of the “All Nulls are psychos / crazy” statement, quite often coming from Omega, Kal or Nulls themselves. Interestingly, Vau at the beginning of True Colors described them simply as hooligans (rather than psychos) and it was put in contrast to Sev and Vau’s men in general (the good soldiers) while Vau seems to be more prone to call Skirata the crazy one than Nulls. 

Also, it seems like most of the psycho/crazy statements or rumors repeated(?) started with Skirata and was adapted by his men at some point? Like:

mentioned Bonker Squad for Nulls (used solely by him and Omega)

the not best opinion about ARC even if Nulls are the psychos themselves? (“but an ARC who'd gone AWOL was-impossible. Jango Fett had raised and trained them personally, with an emphasis on absolute loyalty to the Republic. Sergeant Kal said that Jango was an unhinged shabuir, but he always stuck to his contract, and that contract had included creating a loyal, totally reliable army. Darman had heard rumors to the contrary, and the Nulls were living crazy proof that a clone soldier could be as eccentric and wayward as any random human, but nothing had ever been confirmed.) As in “Jango was an unhinged shabuir and because he trained ARCs, they are like that too” kind of logic?

And considering that Deltas do not call Walon Vau as the Old Psycho but Fi and Mereel used that nickname, I think it is safe to assume this comes from Skirata too?

Additionally, I made a working diagram - it's not fully correct, as for now I focused on looking for specific phrases (psycho and crazy, bonker or those specific moments that I remembered), but for curiosity's sake I'm posting it in regard to Nulls, Vau and Sev as they are the most prominent characters in regard to “psycho” nickname.

[xstarkillerx]

*let me do this again my dumb ass couldnt find the ask lmao*

dude i saw you reblogged my brian o'conner crash fanart, i was about to plug my A03 (i can't really post my delirious fantasies here since this is supposed to be a blog for my art collective 👀) BUT THEN i saw you already posted my shit here BUNNIE IT WAS YOU ALL ALONG insert iasip meme ILY <3 <3 <3

BASSE-FOSSE YOU ARE SO FAMOUS TO ME HELLLOOOOOO!!!!! It is me, you found me! I definitely should've put two and two together that the person posting art of Brian as Gabrielle and the person writing wild crash-f&f crossovers was one and the same lol. Although, as I've come to learn through your awesome recommendation that led me down a bit of a podfic rabbit hole, there are some bonkers, fantastical fics for f&f with super out there concepts but are really really well realized, which was pleasant to discover. I'm gonna keep blabbing under the read-more, because I'm so happy to have found you on tumblr, but I'll end off by saying I can't believe you posted to ao3 twice in July and I didn't know, I'm literally about to feast rn.

Anyway so nice to see you!!!!!

For anyone curious about what we're taking about, here you go!

I should take this time to say crash blew my mind, you were so right about the final scene being extremely similar to the end of the first f&f, to the point where my friend and I's reactions when we did that double feature were pretty much identical, it was so funny! We watched Crash first, and there was something about seeing that Miata finally get knocked off the highway, that was soooooooo... Like, I may be reading too much into this and I definitely don't understand the movie entirely yet, but MX-5 Miatas are one of the most personified cars out there because of their eye-like headlights and mouth-like vents, they literally look like 😃 it's so cute. Miatas are almost always portrayed as innocent, Friendly, and childlike, so to see the destruction of one (which the movie was def building up to), AND TO WATCH JAMES FUCK CATHERINE IN WRECKAGE , like it's such a good image to end on… it really drives home the irreparable effect being introduced to Vaughn's "world" had on them, like they basically went through the a fucked up version of the hero's journey and were left on the other side of the threshold not knowing how to cope, my jaw was on the floor!!! The unattainable fantasy of ultimate orgasm because of the resiliency of both cars AND human bodies, it was so good. "Maybe the next one, maybe the next one," still gives me shivers.

So watching F&F afterward was hilarious because my friend basically had the same reaction to its ending, that truck impact hit her real hard (she too wanted them to ugly fuck on the busted charger lol). I had told her that this was essentially the most blood we would ever see in the rest of the franchise which is not a lot, and we ended up having a whole conversation about comparing the fantasy set in place by both movies. The fantasy of F&F is essentially 1) the characters' inability to die/stay dead or get injured and 2) the seemingly omnipotent ability of cars to take down larger and larger vehicles, starting with 18-wheelers and progressing to yachts, trains, Humvees, planes, it's endless!! Whereas the fantasy in the world of Crash IS to die, to be scarred, marred, for every dent and scratch on your car to be mirrored on your skin until you're one and the same. It's the next evolution of man, to be melded with machine in a way that's gorey and sexual. Both works involve little family institutions, people who get it, people who have your back, and a fearless leader running the show. Where Dom Toretto literally can't die, or even lose, because it's in vin diesel's contract, Vaughn was fated to! What kind of example would he be setting for the others if he couldn't achieve the nirvana of dying on the toronto freeway.

Ugh I totally did not mean to give you an entire book report but I've been sitting on all of this for so long and I figured you of all people would understand being immensely effected by these two movies being put together lol. Anyway thanks for reaching out! I'm around if you ever wanna talk f&f, I loveeeeee the way you view that universe. Much luvvvv 🫶🫶

[ciaossu-imagines]

💙 + homra for that connections ask meme - shoheiakagi

Of frigging course! I do love me a chance to write about this dysfunctional little group/family and this was really fun to do up! I hope you enjoy!

SEND ME 💙 + A CONNECTION AND I’LL TELL YOU…

Who orders takeaway?

I think most people would assume it would be Rikio, due to his love of food, but I honestly do think that Kamamoto prefers to sit and enjoy his meal more often than not, so he doesn’t order takeaway as much as you would think. I think both Bandou and Chitose are horrible for ordering takeaway though, half because they find the idea of eating a sit-down meal in public all alone kind of depressing and half because they’re normally too lazy to make anything to eat for themselves and have no other choice but to buy something to eat.

Who has the more adventurous love life?

Chitose’s a whore…a very handsome one, but a ho nonetheless. We all know, via canon, kind of why he ended up that way, but to say he has an impressive body count and that he’s slept with some absolutely bonkers insane women who did not take it well that he never called them back? It’s a given, honestly.

Who is better at keeping secrets?

I think I might surprise everyone here and go with my first instinct…it’s Anna. Anna all the way, honestly. I know I’ve mentioned this in previous talks about HOMRA, but Anna really does hear a lot more than most people assume and she’s privy to a lot of information and secrets that she probably shouldn’t have to know and handle. But the thing is, nobody would guess that she’s heard or that she knows because Anna is the furthest thing from a blabbermouth, and it never really occurs to her to tell anyone’s secrets. In fact, even though she knows the information, it’s not really something she dwells on or thinks too much about, which is probably why it doesn’t occur to her to tell secrets, her own or other peoples.

Who knows every rumor?

Of course, it’s going to be a given here that it is Kusanagi. It’s kind of canonically hinted at or maybe even outright stated that he’s an information broker of sorts, that part of why he’s as high up in HOMRA and doing as good in business as he is is because of everything he knows and all the information connections he has. However, I will say that, when Totsuka was alive, I do think he almost rivalled Kusanagi in that department, with his charisma and approachability meaning that Totsuka could charm most people into telling him just about anything…and when that charm didn’t work? Well, it’s been shown that Totsuka was actually quite strong in his own manner and that he wasn’t really someone to casually fuck around with.

Who suggests a movie night?

Okay, but I do have some HOMRA movie night headcanons done up right over here, but in turns of who suggests it? I really don’t think there’s any one member who does it more than the others – it just kind of comes up and someone will suggest doing it and the others jump on the suggestion and it just happens.

Who tries to convince the other to try skydiving?

Skydiving? No one really. Honestly, while these boys like to live a little dangerously, with a little edge to everything, I don’t see anyone really being an extreme sports junkie. I do think Shouhei would enjoy rock-climbing and Dewa’s actually pretty cool with white-water rafting, having done it exactly once, but overall, their yearning for danger is solved by motorcycles, fast cars, fights and fast living.

Who is the holiday planner?

Honestly, much like the movie nights, I do see most holidays with HOMRA being kind of a collaborative effort. Like, one person might mention something about an upcoming holiday and the topic kind of spins from there, with most members chiming in with their ideas. Everything does get run by Kusanagi or Totsuka and nothing goes ahead without approval from them, but everyone does kind of get their say in things.

Who spams the other with memes?

Bandou shares the most depressing memes. Shouhei has a habit of sharing really old ones that everyone has seen. Chitose doesn’t get half of what those memes actually mean. Dewa has turned off group chat. Kamamoto saves the memes on a folder in his phone and forwards them to other friends he has. Yata likes trying to make his own memes, which normally aren’t that great. Fujishima shares any meme with an animal and Eric’s phone bill is usually not paid so he’s without service a lot.

Who has never enough money with them and lets the other pay for things?

Honestly, it’s Eric. The boy does try really hard to manage his money well but he’s really financially illiterate, mostly due to how he grew up and his penchant for partners with expensive tastes. He’s normally broke as fuck all the time, in debt, and without the money to really pay for a lot if he’s out and about, and the other boys normally end up treating him, knowing his situation.

Who wants to try a classic sleepover?

Anna is honestly the only one who kind of wants to try this. Most of the boys have absolutely zero interest in sleepovers, as they’re all really too old for them, and Anna kind of instinctively does pick up on this, which is why she’s never brought the idea up before.

Who answers their phone at 2 am?

Honestly, it’s a toss-up. Depends on the night, who’s calling them, what they’re up to…it could be any of them. Well, except for Eric, for aforementioned reasons, for Anna, who doesn’t really have a phone and who tends not to take it to her bedroom when she sleeps, and for Mikoto, who will just sleep through your phone call.

Who plays pranks?

It’s not who plays the pranks, but who is good at the pranks. Mikoto generally doesn’t play pranks nor does Kusanagi. Totsuka was a stealth ninja at pulling pranks, almost guaranteed to get his target but all of his pranks were really light and good natured. Kamamoto has a lot of trouble thinking up good pranks, and Yata has no poker face, so the way he acts really gives away most of his pranks before the person gets hit with them. Shouhei is really pretty great at thinking them up and pulling them off, but he has to work with Bandou to pull any really good ones, as Shouhei’s pretty lousy at the actual work and hands on set up of the elaborate pranks his mind comes up with. Chitose’s pranks are all kind of dick moves and a little mean-spirited, not going to lie, while Dewa has a reputation of being unprankable. Eric’s pranks can be a little mean-spirited too but are very rare, while Fujishima is the absolute easiest to prank but gives very little reactions when pranked.

Who initiates dates for the other?

Honestly, Chitose does it, but not in a really great way. It’s more like he’s out with someone he wants to hook up with and they have a friend with them that they don’t want to leave all alone, so he calls up one of the boys and is like ‘I have this smokin’ hot chick and I really want to get her alone for a bit, but she’s got that uggo friend with her so I need you to fall on the sword for me, bro, just this once.’ He’s that kind of guy, at least for a lot of the series, though I do think he slowly gets a little better, especially post series. Shouhei is a better wing-man though and he’s genuinely happy to try to hook his friends up if he thinks his boys and whichever female friend of his will actually hit it off.

Who is more chaotic?

Everyone. Like, to me, HOMRA really is just this very chaotic neutral force, where they’re definitely not the good guys, but they’re not really bad guys either. They’re just punks, who like fighting and brawling and stirring up a little bit of danger and trouble, but who do have all these wonderful qualities and really don’t go out of their way to fuck with innocent people.

Who has the more bizarre quirks?

Mikoto is a truly bizarre creature to most people. He’s hard for people to really understand, to just figure out or connect with. All of HOMRA have a really strong respect and admiration for him, but I don’t think any of them, with the possible exceptions of Totsuka and kind of Kusanagi, ever truly understood him fully.

Who spends the most money on unnecessary things?

Eric. Especially since, as mentioned, he has no financial literacy and has a taste for high-maintenance people/gold-diggers.

[mummer]

went down the rabbit hole of my own ao3 today and decided to reflect upon my works ye mighty and despair as an exercise in self understanding:

it chapter two time travel fic - this one has problems in that i was nineteen and a shut-in at the time and didnt know how real life worked and wasnt funny. but it also has some very good things such as the theme is good. good bev stuff. i was so MAD at this movie lolllz... overly sappy and sentimental.. gets real weird and fantastical for no good reason but i dont mind that. STOP SWEARING SO MUCH.. not "well" written but not poorly written either + has its moments 7.4/10

the fool - unfortunately i will never in my life be able to top this due to it being a product of an early pandemic induced fugue state and i just have to accept that. it fucks so severely hard i't's difficult to comprehend. fully formed like athena. deserves 10 million billion hits. sometimes ill have bad self esteem and then i'll chance back upon this and be like Nvm im a genius...... there are like two bits that could use some revision but honestly thats it. "me being stupid is a foundational literary lens" - i remember saying this at some point. 9.5/10 i was so real for all of this

noli me tangere - i dont like this anymore. it really suffers from following the timeline so closely and retelling a bunch of boring administrative shit and has too many threads. the writing is not very good either frankly apart from the beginning. bland. too long. i had a lot of Ideas but.... 6.1/10

the body is a blade - honestly the thing about this one is that it should be 800x more fucked up and evil about everything. i should have let it be scary and fraught and less overtly romantic. i think i struggle with that in fic tbh i always come at it with too much of a wish fulfillment lens stfu bitch i want them to drink each others blood and throw up everywhere. writing is mostly good though and the structure works even tho there is no plot. 7.8/10

random ass stranger things fic from last year i dont want to talk about - i was having a bad 6 months when i wrote this but you cant tell because it does hold up mostly. i mean it's completely bonkers and has major plot conveniences but it's trying to emulate stranger things so you must allow it. i think the duffers could learn a lot from me personally (insane). dusty my best friend dusty. one thing about me is thtat there's gonna be a damn road trip. the writing? IS GOOD. i love BANTER. will also never get recognition due to rarepair problems.. im used to that. i like that i was basically like And fuck found family too btw. theres nuance in this and hard complicated feelings! neat! why was i doing all that for this? i didnt have to. REAAALLLLY didnt have to. 8/10