#sarah watches tv

[sarah-yyy]

姐姐你好！I was trying to find a new c-drama to start and your blog was the first place I looked at for inspiration! Are you watching any new dramas jie jie? Do you have any recommendations?

i've got like 4 cdramas open in tabs 😂

are you the one (amnesiac heroine + fake marriage + enemies to lovers) - i started this before all these new shows dropped and am enjoying it for now! i've only just reached the part where she regains her memory so am not sure how the plot is going to hold up, BUT the bits before were cute. nice easy watch, maybe a 7/10 for now.

dawn amidst hidden clouds (childhood sweethearts + amnesiac-ish heroine (do y'all see a pattern) + 杀父之仇不共戴天-related misunderstanding + jianghu physician/dali-si chief crime solving combo) - i decided i wasn't getting enough chang huasen content in are you the one so i went and fixed that by starting this short drama. plot-wise probably nothing new, but i found these two to be super cute together! also a nice, light watch. chang huasen is very pretty in this. 8/10.

fangs of fortune (big bad demon redemption arc + super cute group of demon hunters + found family vibes) - most of my mutuals are !!! over this but it's a bit darker than all the other shows i'm watching so i think it's taking me a bit longer to get into it?? it's a guo jingming drama and the AESTHETICS are mmmm good. cgi is good. costume department went All Out for this. chen duling is very pretty in this. hou minghao is good in this. soft 7/10 (remember i'm only like 4 eps into this!!!!).

love game in eastern fantasy (transmigration + demon hunting + enemies to friends to lovers) - this is perhaps my favourite out of everything i'm watching!! also a v pretty drama, but it's a different aesthetic to fangs of fortune. this is the kind of drama that's so fun to watch? yu shuxin and ding yuxi's chemistry is *chef's kiss* in this. (side bar: i haven't actually liked anything dyx has been in since tiger and rose, but this is good!) yu shuxin is super pretty in this. cgi also good. 9/10 so far.

all of these are still airing btw!!

(i also do want to start the story of pearl girl because ahhhhh that liu yuning/zhao lusi combo is making my hao du/le yan feels come back, but i just don't have the time sldkjfdkgfd will probably do this once i've knocked 2 of the above dramas out)

[agrownupgeekgirl]

So I started watching Criminal Minds a few days ago.. I'm on season 3 and if Morgan and Garcia don't get together and be super cute I will riot. That is all.

[julykings]

summer’s end

[becomingbuffypodcast]

Who get the biggest passes from Buffyverse fans and can you give examples of the worst things these characters do?

Well this is a juicy question.

Spike, and Cordelia.

Interestingly, at some point, both characters were given the role of calling Buffy out on her "crap." James Marsters even talks about how he was brought in as a replacement for Cordelia in season 4, but then was replaced by Anya when they decided to do something else with him.

With Cordy being the mean girl, and Spike the soulless vampire, the writers had the freedom to use these characters to say and do some incredibly cruel things towards Buffy in the name of "brutal honesty," while also excusing their behavior because they weren't meant to be the hero...at least initially.

This worked a little too well, as Charisma and James were amazing in their roles. Each character is charming, beautiful, multifaceted, and extremely funny.

The problem is, you can't keep your characters stagnate, so the writers were forced to give Cordy and Spike character growth, but also find a way to retain who they are. This is incredibly difficult when your character was literally written to clash with Buffy, and is popular for saying mean, biting things in the name of "tough love."

-Cordelia-

While Queen C is more than the resident mean girl, her cruel words and selfish behavior are praised as "truth" and confidence, with her belittling nearly every member of the Scooby gang. She is constantly pitting herself against Buffy; (Homecoming, Halloween, etc) demeaning and belittling her when Buffy has personally saved her life several times. She begins to show signs of character growth in season 3, but once Xander cheats on her, reverts right back to blaming Buffy for everything. Instead of holding Xander accountable for his actions, she makes a wish that Buffy never came to Sunnydale, and then never sees the consequences for her own actions.

Even after her move to LA, she calls Buffy a cry-Buffy, blames her for turning Angel into Angelus, emasculates Wesley, victim blames and shames a SA survivor (Untouched), and is generally just careless about what she says or does, with no thought about how her words effect others.

Personally, while I do see some growth over her time on Angel, I do not buy her characterization in the later seasons where she is drastically changed to become a Champion, and then shoe-horned into a relationship with Angel. On top of that, she never atones for or even recognizes her need to change for her awful behavior, and that makes it very hard for me to forgive her for her past sins, let alone root for her.

It's possible that with better writing and without Joss being a horrible person, that her transition would have been more organic and believable.

-Spike-

For a show about feminism, the writers really spend a lot of time on this man. He steals Buffy's underwear, stalks her, makes a sex robot that looks just like her, attempts to kill her multiple times, boasts about killing and torturing other slayers, justifies it by saying they wanted it, ties her up, then spends a season belittling her just so that she'll sleep with him. THEN when she refuses sex with him, attempts to force himself on her.

And for those of you who say, "oh he just didn't have a soul yet." Fine.

After he had a soul, he boasts about assaulting her, shames her for using him for sex when he knew she didn't love him, shames her for not loving him, and blames her for the reason he's tortured with having a soul. (Beneath You)

He nearly kills Robin Wood, and then mocks him for not being loved by his mother (which is proven to be false in "Damage"), all while wearing the coat that he stole from Robin's mother after he killed her.

Not once does he apologize to Buffy or attempt to hold himself accountable, even after he has a soul. It is not until "Damage" on Angel that we see any sort of unselfish remorse.

Then to add insult to injury, season 7 has Buffy spending so much time taking care of Spike, rescuing Spike, training with Spike, reassuring Spike that he is a good man...all to the detriment of her other relationships. People like to blame the Potentials for why season 7 is as clunky as it is, but I blame the focus on Spike.

Even worse, the show doesn't seem to want Spike to change, as there's hardly a difference between pre souled and ensouled Spike. And that goes against the show's core tenant of choice and growth.

From the very beginning, vampires represent the opposite of adolescence in that they are stagnate and do not change. "Fool for Love" very clearly establishes that Spike's persona is created to compensate for his lack of an identity. Cecily's rejection of him deeply wounds him and he is shown to create a facade to mask his insecurities. So he takes from powerful women and forms a false identity around them to prove that he is not beneath them. The episode emphasizes this pattern with Cecily, Dru, and the two Slayers, continuing in present day with Buffy.

In order to be consistent with the lore and message of the show, ensouled Spike needed to look a lot different from un-ensouled Spike, but the writers knew he wouldn't be as popular.

And so we're left with a half baked season where we're supposed to believe that Buffy is distant from everyone but Spike, who looks the exact same as he did the season before when he tried to force himself on her.

It's just icky. It's the opposite of empowering. It blurs the lines of the lore. And it sends the wrong message.

We can like these characters and even root for them, but we need to be honest about their flaws, and not justify awful writing and problematic characterization.

[reyswiftwalker]

What's the most painful scene of television that you have ever watched? I'll start.

[I still cry every time I see this scene]

[guiltypleasure-art]

summer with his lil bestie

[amazingspidermans]

watching the last of us is just thinking "thats the saddest episode of tv i've ever seen" until the next week's episode when you "thats the actual saddest episode of tv i've ever seen" until the next week's episode when you think-

[aclaywrites]

While ‘lesbian themed’ is making me laugh, this one is a no-brainer.

Carol by Todd Haynes is the best lesbian movie ever, adapted from an excellent book. I love period dramas, happy endings, and Cate Blanchett.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. I was randomly at Borders books one evening, when across a crowded room I saw a purple book cover with two bare bottoms on it. Not being a fool, I went right over and investigated and could not believe my eyes. A book about Victorian lesbians who work in the London music halls? It may as well have been subtitled ‘A book for Amanda’. I took it home and read it in a day and it’s still the best ever.

And though they didn’t ask, Season one of Gentleman Jack is the best lesbian rep ever on tv. It came out at a vulnerable time in my life and I cried so hard at every episode, wondering if anyone would ever really love me. I’m not as strong as you think. Well, I am, obviously. But sometimes I’m not. ::swoon::

[alexalblondo]

Percy Jackson kinda fake for not having Percy ask what Ares did January 6th, though

[fandomloverangel]

Doctor Who (2005): Watch Order and How/Where to Watch

This is an in-progress (but mostly complete) spreadsheet of every episode and spin-off ever made for the 2005 reboot of Doctor Who. I am continuing to update and refine this, but this is almost complete right now. I made this for @blue-beauty-butterfly as they are finally watching the show, and I figured I'd share it in-case anyone else wants to see!

watch times for each piece of media (not including k9! or podcasts atm)

watch order

where to watch each thing

podcasts

the main series

torchwood

sarah jane adventures

k9!

class

how long it would take (in hours, minimal breaks) to watch the entire thing (podcasts and k9! not included)

how long it would take (in days, minimal breaks) to watch the entire thing (podcasts and k9! not included)

the third page is color coded

links I used to compile this (feel free to tell me if i missed anything (other than the books, i haven't gotten there yet))

ENJOY!

[lifewithaview]

Mädchen Amick, Kyle MacLachlan, Peggy Lipton, Everett McGill, and Wendy Robie in Twin Peaks (1990) Rest in Pain

S1E4

Cooper meets with Audrey, who confesses to leaving him the note about One Eyed Jack's. Cooper tells Truman he can't remember who the killer was in his dream, but insists the dream is a code to solving the crime.

*The episode introduces Sheryl Lee's second role, Madeleine "Maddy" Ferguson who is the niece of Sarah Palmer.

[sarah-yyy]

jiejie, I'm already watching love game in eastern fantasy (WHAT a title, why did they do that), should I also be watching fangs of fortune??? so far I don't feel like I know much about it other than a) hou minghao (he's cute, but no strong feelings about him, only seen him in one dmbj show), b) it's VERY pretty, and c) ...............vampires? probably?????? help, tell me more, what's the Vibe

okay okay okay so look i'm not that far into fangs of fortune yet, but ROUGHLY it's about Evil Demon (who might not be all that evil after all) trying to Make Amends for his actions in the past by helping a ragtag group of demon-hunters (consisting of two v pretty meimeis, a didi masquerading as an adult, an actual CHILD) solve crime, with a side serving of "i will teach you how to use your powers correctly if you promise me you will kill me once you master them". i foresee The Sads.

it's a guo jingming show, so you're right that it's v pretty!! the worldbuilding is p good, and the plot is (so far???) holding up, but i'm only like 4 eps in so idk for sure. BUT!! it has held my interest so far, and this is p much the best i've seen hou minghao act so that's a plus.

i think vibes-wise, i'm leaning more into love game in eastern fantasy (cdrama productions please let me name your shows for you) because i like lighter shows, but the premise of fangs of fortune is interesting!! try maybe an ep or two???

[deep-sea-gigantinism]

the temptation to write a chuck fanfic and add to the fandoms that i write for on archive

[lazzarella]

Heartbreak High continues to have a stellar soundtrack

[becomingbuffypodcast]

Buffy vs Dracula analysis video

[soupforsoup]

That time of year when I need to rewatch the lost boy and die inside (pos)