#seriously though. I have a story in the works and its really finding that balance

[sssusuki]

The real secret to writing? Don't take your shit seriously. Oh! They are the destroyer of worlds? Well, they are also the destroyer of stoves and microwaves get them OUT of the kitchen! Ah, they were cursed forevermore till true love? Well, can they stop shedding everywhere I keep having to vacuum

[ukrfeminism]

A UK academic who has completed a project creating a Wikipedia page for a woman in every country in the world is calling for more women to contribute to the world’s largest encyclopedia.

Lucy Moore, an archaeologist and curator who also works as an unpaid carer, began the mammoth project in 2021 from her sofa in Leeds, completing it last week – “unsurprisingly, perhaps, I got really stuck on Vatican City”.

She has now written biographies of 532 women since 2019, when she first became a Wikipedia editor, including scientists, monarchs, activists, writers and women whose faces are well known but their stories are not, such as Sharbat Gula, the refugee with striking green eyes pictured in the famous Afghan Girl portrait from 1984.

Less than 20% of the biographies on English language Wikipedia are about women, although this is an improvement on 16% in 2014, when “a range of different editors started to get together and say, ‘Actually, we really need to change this’,” said Moore.

She began by making a table of UN member states and partially recognised UN states, such as Kosovo and Taiwan, and worked through the list based on who caught her eye.

She has now also written dozens of entries for women in autonomous regions such as Hong Kong, Zanzibar and Tibet, and those in overseas territories.

There were many women she had expected to find already had pages, such as Julia Chinn, an enslaved woman who was the common-law wife of the ninth vice-president of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson.

“She’s really interesting and I was really surprised no one had written about her before,” she said.

She tended to focus on women who share her interests, she said, such as poets, activists and coin specialists, known as numismatists, which is her own field.

“I find it really calming,” she said. “I can go and bury myself in something that is totally, totally different from my day to day.”

But it has not been easy. She said one of the issues was that Wikipedia required three reliable sources for each biography and, while there may have been a lot written on social media about some of the women, they may not have appeared in newspapers, especially in countries where women’s achievements are not taken seriously.

The reaction to her project has been positive, she said. “No one’s said anything nasty on Twitter, though I expect that will come.”

Moore points to the work of her fellow editor Jess Wade, who wrote a number of Wikipedia pages about female scientists, “and then another editor came along and nominated them all for deletion. It was really nasty.”

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She said there was some general criticism on social media that Wikipedia editors were “making (the gender balance) more of an issue than it actually is”.

“And I find that attitude really annoying, to be honest, because it’s men who say that primarily.”

She pointed to research from 2022 that found there were more Wikipedia entries about football and footballers than there were about women.

However, Moore added: “Some of the most prolific people who work to redress the gender balance on Wikipedia are men and I’m not sure they would all describe it as being a feminist, but that’s what they’re doing.”

Run as a non-profit, open-source encyclopedia that is free to use, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone but only a fifth of its 124,000 regularly active editors are women.

“We do need to get more women to edit, but it’s not just as simple as saying, ‘Hey, women, come and edit’, because we have so much more pressure on our time. There’s all these different studies that show that women have less time to devote to things of interest. And that’s before you even get on to being able to access sources, being able to access particular academic journal articles, which are paywalled.”

Class was also a factor in who contributes and appears on Wikipedia, as was access to education, especially in countries where women are not routinely educated.

“It just gets more and more systemic, the more you look at it,” she said.

Some of the women recognised by Moore

Julia Chinn (c. 1790 – July 1833) was an American plantation manager and enslaved woman of mixed race, who was the common-law wife of the ninth vice-president of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson. She had two children with the plantation owner and congressman Johnson, who inherited her when his father died, though she would fulfil what at the time was considered the role of the wife of a politician. She was never freed.

Sharbat Gula (born c. 1972) is an Afghan woman who became internationally recognised as the 12-year-old subject in Afghan Girl, a 1984 portrait taken by American photojournalist Steve McCurry that was later published on the cover of National Geographic. The portrait was shot at Nasir Bagh, Pakistan, where Gula was living as a refugee after fleeing the Soviet–Afghan war. Having raised a family in Pakistan for 35 years, Gula was deported to Afghanistan in 2017, later being granted asylum in Italy.

Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima (born 12 July 1963, in Bujumbura) is a human rights activist from Burundi. She is the chair and founder of the National Association for Support for HIV-Positive People with Aids (ANSS) and was the first person from the country to publicly admit they had HIV. Gapiya-Niyonzima won the World Food Program prize in 2003, in 2011 addressed the United Nations committee for HIV/Aids in New York and was selected as the Burundian Woman of Courage of the Year in 2012.

Ólafía Einarsdóttir (28 July 1924 – 19 December 2017) was an Icelandic archaeologist and historian, becoming the first Icelander to complete a degree in archaeology. She taught at the University of Copenhagen and published many works about Icelandic sagas and Viking history. Ólafía was awarded an honorary doctorate by the faculty of history and philosophy at the University of Iceland in 2009. The journal Ólafía, published by the Icelandic Association of Archaeologists since 2013, is named after her.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

Context: @bengiyo made a hypothetical queer cinema syllabus for a hypothetical baby gay to watch. I said "fuck it I'll do it," and he said "dear god, there are so many movies on here, pick three from each section" and I said "absolutely not, I shall watch them all. And here i am I think over a year later and only four sections in. Anyway I am working my way through Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley right now which is:

Bent (1997), Strange Fruit (2004),Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Parting Glances (1986),Philadelphia (1993), The Living End (1992), Holding the Man (2015), Jeffrey (1995), and Boys on the Side (1995).

Today I will be talking about

Jeffrey (1995) dir. Christopher Ashley

[Run Time: 1:33, Available: Tubi, Google TV; Language: English]

Summary: A poignant romantic comedy about the quest for love and intimacy in the age of AIDS. A story of a thirtyish gay actor/waiter who decides to become celibate...the risk of AIDS has taken all the joy from sex.

Cast: 

Steven Weber as Jeffrey, main character

Michael T Weiss as Steve Howard, love interest

Patrick Steward as Sterling. Jeffrey’s friend

Bryan Batt as Darius, Sterling’s boyfriend

Content warning: this film very much has some costuming choices and lines that do not age well

__

I love seeing how movies handle matters of grief, and all the little ways the world continues to turn even as you feel like your life has tilted on an axis. I feel like Jeffery does a really great job of showing this kind of push and pull. It is simultaneously absurdity, the comedy, the pain, it’s all there, and it’s real, and I think it balanced it well without ever tipping over the edge in to something so sad as to move me to tears. Which, I think is the point because this is very much listed as a romantic comedy and I am inclined to agree, at least with the comedy part because this film was very funny. 

And it was fun. 

It was so much fun to watch! 

This film is based off of a play and thus the structure of the film is wonky, it’s disjointed, motifs in some ways, it breaks fourth walls left and right, it spirals in to dance numbers and jeopardy style fantasy all the time, and you can tell that the people making this movie had a really really great time doing so. It was bright, it was vibrant, it was full of life. 

And coming to the end of this movie, it makes so much sense, the intentionality behind the ridiculousness of its scenes, the vibrancy of its sets, the colors and the characters. The intentionality behind the seriousness of it too. The fight between Steve and Jeffrey out front of Steve’s apartment, the conversation between Sterling and Jeffrey in the hospital after Darius died. This is a movie about living. Living despite. 

Jeffrey is terrified of HIV/AIDS. So terrified that he goes from fucking as many people as he can to abstaining from sex altogether. So terrified that he pushes away a man that he has hit it off really well with after finding out he’s HIV positive. So terrified that he is going to sublet his apartment and run away back to Wisconsin to hide from it all. Jeffrey is afraid of death, he is afraid of sickness, he is afraid. So much of this unit has been about what we lost to AIDS. The people we lost, the loves we lost, the memories we lost. And while losing loved ones is a part of this film as well, that is not its primary message. Jeffrey focuses on the life that Jeffery lost, the love, the memories he never made because of fear. He hurt Steve time and time again, he didn’t (or wasn’t going to) march in Pride, he yearned desperately for sex but would not engage in it in any form because he was scared of getting AIDS, and he was scared of losing people to it too. 

I feel like “it is better to have loved and lost than to never to have loved at all” is an appropriate quote when it comes to the thesis of this film. Though I might tweak it to something more like… “it is better to live with loss than to never live at all.” 

gif by @ballumville

This film is listed as a comedy, and something that I personally find absolutely crucial to good comedy is sincerity and seriousness. I do not want comedies to be funny all the way through, I much prefer when a comedy reminds you that it knows the world we live in and finds laughter in it anyway. Because that feels so much truer to life. Jeffry, Darius, and Sterling are at yet another memorial, and they are cruising, and it is not that they aren’t sad to lose another person, but there are just so many men there. Jeffrey, Darius, and Sterling are at yet another memorial and Darius and Sterling insult the choice in music, start to talk about Darius’ inevitable death and Jeffrey doesn’t want to hear it. Jeffrey, Darius, and Sterling are at yet another memorial and Darius and Sterling adorn fancy grieving hats they have stolen from the coatroom to lighten the prayer. 

Grief is learning someone you love has died, and the timer for the oven going off because your lunch is ready. Grief is learning someone died while you are wearing a sweater with In Dog Years I’m Dead printed on it. Grief is learning someone died, and still going to the dinner you planned to have with a friend. Death is terrible and absurd, and lives are changed in an instant, and you can’t stop your roommate from making a joking “everyone still alive?” comment when everyone is very much not. Death is terrible and absurd, and like Jeffrey you go to the hospital to visit a friend, and you have a conversation with them for a full five minutes before he tells you his partner died half an hour ago. Death is terrible and absurd and you are able to cry but the ghost of your friend comes to visit in his CATS costume and tells you everything will be fine.

Jeffrey is scared to have sex, he is scared to acquire HIV, he is scared to lose those he loves to the disease. And he strains against the confines he’s put himself in, all these old parts of himself slipping hands through the bars of their cage. But Jeffrey has trapped himself in a hell of his own design and he’s slapped the label AIDS overtop of it and resigned himself to a boring, meaningless existence away from his life and his friends and all the potential lovers he might find because of his fear. 

This film was funny, it gave you as many reprieves as it could, it held resolute in its sincerity when it needed to, and eased up on the gas before things could go to far. It was funny, it was whimsical, I had a lovely time seeing all the little ways they took a stage play and adapted it for the big screen. I lost my mind at how many truly phenomenal, A-list actors were in this film, most in small guest roles. I’m talking: Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Najimy, Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski, and quite a few more. 

I had a great time watching this film, I loved it alot. Mother Teresa smoking a cigarette and playing piano and all. 

Favorite Moment 

God there were so many good ones. I think my favorite moment is actually the scene during Pride with the newscaster, all these gays crowding around him as he tries to give his report. Getting interrupted by Steve and Sean and Sterling and Darius, the narrative to get straight to the point of Jeffrey’s character in that moment by having the reporter ask Jeffrey what he planned to do during Gay Pride and to have him answer “I’m running” (fucking brilliant), and then of course the moment to end all moments. Sterling telling the newscaster that Angelique was going to get her penis removed after Pride, and seeing her mother proudly exclaim “it’s coming right off!” 

It was such a tight and effective way to show the dynamics of the main characters, how much life and excitement Darius had in being on the news in that moment, the way that Jeffrey was standing apart from everyone else, that he was described as someone who ‘could be anyone’, that he was so visibly outside of the celebrations.

Favorite Quote

“Of course life sucks. It always will. So why not make the most of it? How DARE you not lunge for any shred of happiness?"

A strong contender for my favorite scene of the film, I really loved the push and pull of the scenes with the clergyman. Nathan Lane is a brilliant performer, as is Steven Weber and it is really fun watching moments where you stick two talented people in a room together and let them just cook with gas. I have probably said it too many times at this point that there is a very smart balance between comedy and drama in this film, and the entire scene between these two is one of the clearest examples of that. This line is said to Jeffrey by the Catholic priest as they leave the confessional where the priest has just been talking about how God is in musicals. And Jeffrey is just “what about”ing his way to the endless, miserable spiral of a man who cannot see the joy that rests just beyond his fear. 

I love this line because as someone who has had a non-zero number of lows in their life, I have gotten through those periods of fear, of doubt, of misery by reaching for the smallest joys. In some of my worst bouts of stress, depression, whatever I kept a journal where I forced myself for months, just before bed to write three things I was grateful for that I had experienced that day. So that I might end my day on a positive, and so that I might look back when I needed to to see that no day is wholly good or wholly bad. 

So I appreciate seeing characters get beat over the head with something preachy like that, like grabbing for scraps of happiness wherever they are. 

Score 

9/10 

There were so many great moments, there were so many beautiful lines. It was expertly balanced, and I will never look at balloons the same way again.

[askew-d]

Can I ask, who are your top favorite romantic couples (can be canon or non canon) of all time from any media? Why you love them? Thx :D

here i go with another grand list that i was very happy to write! i’m in love with these asks, really. i’ll mention all of them, but at first i was in doubt if i could include one that isn’t ‘canon’, but rather rpf. either way, i added bonus couples for good reasoning! let’s go.

1. wangxian (lan wangji x wei wuxian), from mo dao zu shi — they are THE moment, they are THE couple, they are THE goals. who ever could have imagined someone would come up and write a troublemaker who falls into demonic arts and gets reincarnated to fight together with a sucker-for-rules expressionless man and make it work? they fit into any au as well, this fandom rocks. my lovely cultivators!

2. kagehina (kageyama tobio x hinata shouyou), from haikyuu!! — i dont even play volleyball. i dont even like sports! why do i love this anime and this duo specifically so much? they are so passionate about their hobbies, the rivalry and frenemy relationship? the POTENTIAL. the STORY they have. the "someone better will come and find you" promise. sheer beauty. they are silly and fresh and cute and i dont think i'll ever get tired of it.

3. yizhan (wang yibo x xiao zhan), from the untamed cast rpf — i know all the problematics about writing real person fiction. i KNOW, okay?? but people, let me like them and support them in peace?? 😔 i have so much love for these men, and its overall hella fun following their life unfold, even if they are not working together anymore. nonetheless, they are my dose of serotonin when i need it.

4. daiharu (kambe daisuke x katou haru), from fugou keiji: balance unlimited — i will not scream for a seson 2 here. i will scream for more FICS of them here! there ain't enough! its not even about the 'sugar daddy' appeal, its more about the 'partners in (solving) crime' appeal. oh and also the 'i hate you you arrogant prick but i WILL do anything for you' part. everything and every detail of this show.... seriously though: gold.

5. hilson (gregory house x james wilson), from house m.d — oh, my sweet stupid and repressed doctors, i would do unspeakable things for you. wilson has been through every hard moment of house's life. you can name them, he's been there. through every ridiculous situation of his too. it is overwhelming, honestly. the ending couldn't have been more reasonable and fitting for them, in my opinion.

6. hannigram (hannibal lecter x will graham), from hannibal — this gif alone of them with scratches and smiling conspiratorily to each other sums up their entire dynamic. they're toxic and no one's doing it like them. like, yeah, no shit, who would even dare, right? murder husbands can do anything and eat the rude as much as they want, i will be sipping on my drink and watching intently. (man truly looked at this detective he framed for murder and said he would remember their moment together forever??? just dont throw him in jail then???)

7. shiguang (lu guang x cheng xiaoshi), from link click — these pretty boys traveling through time invented the concept of yearning, and i will not explain more to not give season 2 spoilers. i fell in love with them as soon as i saw the first shot of the anime. it doesnt help that they have the same dynamic as wangxian, too. cheng xiaoshi, my beloved, you would never do anything to harm anyone (not purposefully) and i (as well as lu guang) worship you 🙏

8. renga (hasegawa langa x kyan reki), from sk8: the infinity — let's be true tho, can they never do a sports anime without pulling up homosexuals?? not that im complaining at all. please continue, in fact. every couple in this story is valid (adam does not exist), and i love this spirited, young concept of redescovering the beauty of a hobbie. lovely, all of them, but most specially my langa and his admiration for reki. their dynamic has no complications, its just so sweet.

9. moshang (mobei jun x shang qinghua), from the scum villain self-saving system — i will not share a pic of moshang official art because i find shang qinghua appearence too much childlike and annoying, meanwhile i find him much more interesting in the book and fanarts. in any case, i love this couple more than the main couple simply because our airplane-bro can make everything so hilarious. there are fics of them out there which are peak entertainment (check this one!). mobei's tsundere attitude and shang qinghua's shamelessness are a great combo.

10. hualing (hua cheng x xie lian), from heaven official’s blessing — the longing is unbearable. hua cheng loves this man so much, for real. waiting 800 fucking years?? being his most devoted believer? can you believe the audacity?? my man, though he has low self-steem, does anything to protect his god. he doesnt care about any realm. he only cares for xie lian, his dear god. they are the cutest couple.

bonus: aziracrow, johnlock, tododeku, victuuri, blackbonnet, mafuyama, redblue (from this is how you lose the time war).

these are my favorite ships ever! they are what i scream about alternatively, and when i say so, i'm not joking. one week i'm freaking out over new link click content and in the other one i'm reviewing house m.d episodes. my life's a circle with my favorite ships in it and i ain't regretting anything.

thank you for asking, by the way! big hugs! 🤍

[t4llhum4n]

So. It's time to fulfill my promise about Porter lmao.

Theory (and spoilers for Vincent and Sam's playlists as well as Sam's bonus scene) will be below the cut.

Well, at least we know now that he isn't Hush's brother.

In all seriousness though, I had no idea how to approach a theory about this guy that hasn't already been shouted from the rooftops on tumblr. So, I started with the bonus scene, and upon relistening, I heard something that I found.. odd.

Why, and how, was Porter the one texting Sam?

Everyone that I've seen is talking about Vincent and Porter's history (which is something I ended up doing too whoops), so with this, I want to theorize about Sam and Porter's (potential) history. Bear with me, I kind of lost interest in the Solaire's storylines in light of things like the Balance and Carpe Deus, so I might mess some things up lmao.

I've seen, and agree with, the "Porter is Alexis' progeny" theory, at least at its basic level. I do think that Porter was potentially turned by Alexis, hence the "Solaire," but I'm wondering if his situation wasn't closer Sam's than we originally thought. Let me cook real quick.

We don't know how old Porter is. We don't know when Porter was turned. Hell, we don't even know if this guy was empowered or not (different can of worms, I'm putting that aside). All we have is that he uses the last name "Solaire" and that he has Sam's contact information. Admittedly, we don't know much about Alexis past her age, but for the sake of this theory, that's all we really need.

If Alexis has been a vampire for over fifty years, and Sam has been a vampire for under twenty, then that leaves a little over thirty years where Alexis' could've been fucking around and finding out. The thing that people (including myself) tend to forget when thinking about Sam's turning is that Alexis knew how to do it. Sure, it was done to her by William, but we know from the timeline that she was badly injured when she was turned, so she probably didn't learn it just from that first instance. Furthermore, considering that she has been described as "difficult" and "a hellion" along with the fact that she was apparently so awful that William swore he'd never turn another person again, I'm guessing that she didn't study up on vampires and how they work.

So, what else is there? Hands-on experience; the best teacher. Enter, Porter. I'm not going to give an estimate of his age beyond "older than Sam," because an exact number doesn't really matter for this. I am, however, going to do what I do best, and point out parallels that I've noticed. Namely, the parallels between Fred and "Bright Eyes'" turning, and Sam's own experience with turning.

Time for a quick run-down for those who aren't too familiar with the Fred/"Bright Eyes" storyline! Basically, Quinn leaves both Fred and "Bright" on the brink of death. Sam sees Fred, turns him to save his life, and then tells Fred how to turn other people so he can save "Bright," which he does. From there, Sam takes on both vampires as his own, seeing as Fred is too inexperienced with, well, everything, to be a proper Maker. He teaches them for a couple of years, and then lets them go off on their own once he thinks they're ready. And at the end of it all, Fred decides to take Sam's last name.

Cool, great recap, but why am I bringing it up? Well, let's look over to Sam's story real quick. He was turned, though against his will, by Alexis, someone who we can infer isn't responsible enough to be a proper Maker. We know that once William caught wind of the full situation, he took matters into his own hands, separated the two, and set Sam up in a cabin on his own, as per his request. Knowing William, he most likely offered more help, but knowing Sam, he probably declined, and opted to live alone comfortably on the edge of the territory. In both situations, we have someone who can't or isn't a good Maker, and said vampire's Maker taking responsibility for their progeny's progeny.

What if this isn't William's first rodeo with caring for one of Alexis' progeny? What if Porter was one of Alexis' first progeny, with circumstances being similar to that of Sam's turning, and William took him under his wing? The difference this time, though, is that Porter accepted William's offer of more help. Now, this could be because William heard about Porter's situation sooner after it happened, or that Porter was unempowered and had no clue about anything -- either way, this next claim stands. What if Porter took the name "Solaire" from William, not Alexis?

If this is true, it would explain two things; 1) why Porter has Sam's number, and 2) why Porter and Vincent were at odds. The first reason is kind of self-explanatory. If Porter heard about what happened with Sam and Alexis via someone else in the clan and he empathized with it, then he probably would've reached out to offer support. What became of him reaching out could be a number of things, but it ended with the two of them exchanging contact information, and that's why Porter has Sam's number.

Now, on to the rockier claim. Let's start with this: I'm going to say that Porter is older than Vincent. If we run with the assumption that what I said earlier about William and Porter's relationship is true, Porter would've seen William as his true Maker, despite William not being the one to turn him. So, when Vincent gets turned, and William starts devoting his time to him, we can assume that Porter might get a little jealous. And that jealousy grew over time, especially because Vincent kept refusing the help that William was offering. He had the privilege of actually having a good and competent Maker, and he was spitting in his face? If what I theorized about Porter's past is true, then it's natural that that would irk him.

He kept it under wraps, though, and it got easier to tolerate Vincent; especially when he put his pride away and stopped being so difficult. But part of him was always stewing with jealousy. Now, I'm not saying that jealousy is the only reason why Porter and Vincent got into a fight that almost resulted in their deaths. I think that there was something that initiated it. Maybe it was something one of them said or did to the other -- I'm not sure. That being said, whatever it was brought all that jealousy to a head, and that's why they fought.

I don't know though! And I'm more than open to other interpretations. I have a few floater thoughts if we look at Porter in a more sinister light (e.g. Alexis and Porter are close and he got the number from her right before he sent the text), but I hadn't seen anyone make him out to be more sympathetic yet, so I decided to go that route! I hope you enjoyed this mess of a theory, and as always, if you notice any plotholes or have any evidence that contradicts this, please let me know :)

[loopy777]

I wonder whart older Zuko is like with Izumi and Iroh II...

(yes this is a plea for more headcanons)

Zuko has a real problem with his daughter and grandson. They don't believe a word he says.

Well, okay, that's an exaggeration, and he'll admit it if you press him. They're actually very attentive and respectful, and are always looking for lessons in what he says, always asking him for advice. One time, just to test them, he tried the 'silver sandwich' speech again, or at least what he could remember of it, and they accepted it with eager nods. He had to persuade them not to have it written down in the Annuls of the Fire Lords.

What they don't believe is that he used to be an imperialist bully who took his anger out on the rest of the world. Oh, sure, they claim that they understand this, but as the discussion goes on they'll talk about how Zuko was raised in a different society where aggression was encouraged and imperialist racism was normal. With low, even voices to convey the seriousness of the matter, they'll talk about the abuse Zuko suffered from his father and what that does to a person, and how fortunate he was that he was able to find his way out from the negative emotions it buried him in. They'll even talk about the war and how children in the Fire Nation were prepared to be warriors and soldiers starting as toddlers.

Izumi, at least, needs these excuses in order not to really think that her father was A Bad Dude at one point. It's not that she's in denial or anything, or can't handle her father making mistakes. To her, Zuko is a doting father, a true and proper simp of a husband, the stiff awkward member of a heartwarming friendgroup, and a righteous leader who complains about corrupt politicians and inefficient meetings like any proper Hero King. Sure, he gets angry like any person, but she just does not have an imagination expansive enough to really picture him betraying Uncle Aang and Aunt Katara under Ba Sing Se. If she really tries, she imagines a confused, regretful look on his face. She just cannot properly meld Her Father with these facts that sound like an antagonist in a children's fantasy story.

With Iroh II, he just does not know his Grandfather well enough. He never saw Zuko in a truly angry moment. He has to picture some kind of noble, knightly figure with a furrowed brow from trying to work out the thorny, contradictory honor system of the old Fire Nation. If you told him that his grandfather once screamed, "I DON'T NEED ANY CALMING TEA!!" he would challenge you an arm-wrestling duel for spreading such filthy lies about a hero.

Zuko has tried to convince Izumi and Iroh that he could have become like Ozai, had it not been for some fortunate interventions in his life, and they nod appropriately, but he can see it's not landing. It's all theory to them, some philosophical stuff about the dichotomy of man. They don't get it. But, he supposes, they don't really need to. Izumi is a master of politics and has a firm grasp of how hazy morality can be sometimes, as well as a good sense of the delicate balance required of the Fire Nation given its power and legacy. If she can't quite believe he was as bad as he was, that's fine. And, he ha to admit, it makes him feel pretty good, that he really has gotten better.

Iroh II, though, is more of a problem. Or, at least, Zuko thinks he is, intellectually. On the practical side, Iroh II has done so well in his life that Zuko isn't sure his grandon needs to understand this stuff. Zuko is a bit worried about how well Iroh II will do as Fire Lord, but he admits that maybe he doesn't really understand his grandson, either.

Especially that part where Iroh II is such a fan of coffee. Zuko is no tea fanatic, and still believes it's basically hot leaf juice, but he thinks that's far more appetizing than hot bean-dirt stew.

[atomra]

oh~ ! We can ask about Neuro too? Nice! My question is! How much do you love Neuro and what made you like him so much! Go nuts! Gush as much as you want!

Oh. Um well... a lot. To say it simply. LMAOOOO!!!! But Ill answer the specific question first before I ramble on and on.

I got into majin tantei nougami neuro from the anime first, fell in love with the macabre, psychological horror aspect and needed more! I started to read the manga and noticed how different it was from the show, and how bad the show was in comparison. The dark humour is hilarious, I love the looney tunes style vs the dark subjects of the plot. And the ending of the manga is one of the most satisfying ends of a story I have ever seen in media!

I didn't actually get that attached to Neuro right away, but he grew on me like a cancer and now hes stuck there forever. I also love the main MC Yako! She's an absolute delight of a character and matches with Neuro perfectly. I need more of their weird sadomaso relationship <333 (I love most of the characters actually)

Ultimately I fell in love with this work because it's incredibly unique. I haven't read anything that comes close to the balance Matsui was able to make of the crazy, silly, dark, and story of personal growth that comes out of MTNN!

Okay now under the cut I will ramble about Neuro Nougami in particular because it will probably be long:

-

Neuro Nougami I didn't actually like as much before, because back when i first read mtnn i didnt know i was into bdsm and stuff. I also wasnt that okay with his tortures, because I used to be uncomfortable with liking villian-ish characters before I went to uni and learned more about the world.

Oh, how that changed.

On the face of his character he is silly, OP, selfish, arrogant, and a fucking asshole that hurts people for fun. And even when you get into his character, he is still all of those things, BUT I like him particularly for a few key features.

His curiosity and willingness to fail at something new. Neuro has basically no shame + all the confidence in the universe. He doesn't see anything wrong with failing or looking stupid. Its very endearing. You don't see that... if ever in other overconfident/intelligent sided characters. His pride never gets in the way of learning, because he loves to learn!! He's a bird!! Birds love to learn and often look like idiots doing it. (I love birds)

His want to find use in people, even if he only sees them as pawns. Don't get me wrong, he is an asshole and is MEAN on PURPOSE, but he does like to see the best in people. He wants them to be better and pushes people to become better. Neuro also puts respect in people that show this growth. Just like how he HATES when people give up.

His trust in people despite his need for control. Seriously, like this man is controlling as hell, but he still can put trust in people to do certain jobs for him and deliver.

And his way of learning where people's lines are despite his need to torture, harm, and push information out of people. Neuro never truly puts Yako in real harm (debatable) and he eventually learns where her loyalties lie and how to adjust to them. He learns to be good with people even though he has no understanding of human emotion. (so he says, he still feels emotions he just doesnt GET it)

THAT HE'S STILL SILLY AND NEVER BREAKS HIS COMPOSURE!! I LOVE THAT HE NEVER YELLS OR GETS SUPER MAD IN THE WAY YOU WOULD EXPECT A PERSON WITH OP POWERS TO GET!!! It makes him... so fucking scary. You never see where his limits are. You never see how much power he really has. You never get to see how far he will go to hurt somebody that wronged him. You only get tastes and its so fucking effective. I wish more characters were like this. Make me wonder!!

And of course, I love neuro for his weird use of bdsm. Its clear in Matsui's other work that he's done research, despite how comical and looney tunes it is displayed in MTNN by neuro. But my second read of MTNN when i was older now, I realized just HOW MUCH of neuro and yako's relationship is just... an odd bdsm thing. LMAO!!!

And I didn't realize how much that really engraved into my brain when i was younger until i read it over again. It made so much sense. For all the previous facts I mentioned, neuro is the only anime character who's threats I can actually take seriously. Because he is genuinely scary to me. That 'discomfort' as a kid made me realize stuff nowadays. Whoops!!! I love him because he freaks me out!!

Alucard gets so close, but not as hard hitting as Neuro. And I also like that he has a level of morality, and isnt just all fucking evil or gross. He's just a weird demon who eats mysteries.

Sighs, anyways I could go on but Ill leave it there for now. Thanks for asking!!! I love him!!!!!!!!!!!! He's so fun to dissect as a character!

Oh, and I hate his fucking suit. Burn that shit off. He's a weird goth and everybody knows it.

[eliziarts]

It really gets me how you can't say shit about Helluva Boss (or Hazbin Hotel for that matter) to actually critique without fans getting buthurt, and the only people agreeing with you people who just hate Vivzipop (for the record i dont lol). But here are my gripes that I wish people were actually talking about (btw I really *want* to love Helluva Boss and none of this is mean-spirited, just things I've noticed that I wish the team would fix, or I believe are beyond fixing):

1. The very confused tone. I know a lot of people deflect any criticism from the show by saying 'oh but it's a comedy you shouldn't take it too seriously'. Here's the thing- it's literally taking itself too seriously. There's a balance that a show can have between dark elements and humor, but Helluva Boss consistently tries to tackle very, VERY heavy subjects. This combined with the Brandon Rodgers-essque d!ck joke comedy doesn't.. work. At least not in the way they're attempting. I think the most egregious example of this is the scene in the latest episode when Moxie's dad is literally threatening to kill him if he doesn't follow through with an arranged marriage... immeadiatly followed by Moxie walking though a hall of wall d!ldos. It kind of says, 'hey, we were taking this really seriously 2 seconds ago, but jk actually now you should laugh!'

Juxtaposition doesn't work if it actively confuses its audience on what to feel. I'm not sure how much influence Vivzie and Brandon have on the outcome of the show vs the rest of the writing team, but it seems like Brandon's humor and Vivzie's tendency to write melodramatic soap opera scenes just aren't really meshing together quite right. I wish it had more similar pacing and tone shifts that HH had, because it felt more sudden in a purposeful way, rather than 'we're too lazy to find a good transition between these two scenes.'

2. Why does Vivziepop never write interesting female characters? I know this is talked about a bit more, but it's growing increasingly prevalent in Helluva Boss. We still haven't gotten an episode focused on any of the female leads that's actually about *them*.

Millie is practically nonexistent without her relationship to Moxie. Even the episode where we meet her family, it doesn't give us any insight about her. Every time she goes feral(tm) it's either to save her husband or it's part of a group fight. The only backstory we got for Loona was there to service Blitzo's character, and show us *his* reaction. The only things we've seen with Octavia were put there to help us learn more about Stolas. Even in the scene where they only had Loona and Octavia on the screen, it didn't feel like it was about them at all. It didn't feel like the scene existed to show us them bonding about their shitty dads. It felt like the scene was there to once again ask the audience to give Blitzo and Stolas pity points. Which- brings me to my next problem.

3. Its justifications of abuse. I know they're in hell. Most of them should be shitty people, and they are! But I wish the story would stop trying to pretend they're not. Helluva Boss keeps doing this thing where it draws a line between 'good' abuse and 'bad' abuse. And this kind of completely changed Stolas and Blitzo's relationship. Ik some people may like this change but I personally don't.

Earlier on, we were made to believe Stolas kind of fucked up by cheating on his wife. Not only did this affect Stella (tho ofc we later learn it's due to image reasons) but his daughter as well. It's just generally an uncomfortable and tricky situation. And I liked it! It was interesting and had levels of nuance. However, now that we know that he was basically being abused by Stella this entire time, and met Blitzo when they were kids (which is a WHOLE OTHER UNCOMFORTABLE CAN OF WORMS LMAO) the audience no longer feels like Stolas did anything wrong. Now his actions feel justified.

As much as I loved his confrontational scene with Stella the first time I watched it, as I know many people did, I also know that it kind of ruined any sense of nuance that whole situation had. Now, Stolas suddenly has been absolved from any previously implied mistakes. And, Stella is portrayed as this 1 dimensional cruel monster.

Which brings me to the point of abuse in this show. It's a very prevalent theme, and it's a heavy one for a show branded as a sit-com to portray (hard, but not impossible). But it fails on the end that it doesn't stay consistent in its condemnation of it. Every time a character does something 'bad', as soon as we find out there is a reason for this bad behavior, the show suddenly makes it seem like we should feel bad for them and that their actions are justified because they're a broken person. See: the narrative around Stolas' affair suddenly being changed as soon as we find out he was being abused by Stella.

Inconsistent emotional consequences in writing is lazy for sure. But the real problem is when it gets to the abuse side of things, it can actually become harmful. It's implied that Blitzo had an emotionally abusive relationship with Verosika. But ohh we know he had a fucked up childhood and has fear of forming emotional bonds so! Geuss it's okay! But when it comes to Stella, she's just downright mean, 1 dimensional, and literally says she's doing things for no reason other than to make Stolas suffer.

It's important to note that every single time a character gets a *reason* for their assholery, it becomes a *justification* in the way the show frames it. But whenever a character doesn't have a reason for being as asshole, like Stella (at least not one that's shown), that's where the show then draws the line.

This is harmful! Hate to break it to you but the bulk of abusive people out there were abused themselves. They have multitudes of reasons for why they are the way they are. But that doesn't excuse their actions! And I really hate that this is the standard of framing Helluva Boss has set up for their show because now, no matter how bad a character's actions are, they can slap on a sad backstory and suddenly make that character a sympathetic one.

Yeah but anyways idk. If you read all of that I thank you for taking ur time to listen to my 2 cents. The last episode I really enjoyed was the Ozzie's one and I'm just kinda bummed at a lot of this stuff I mentioned.

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Comeback Celebration: Current Top Ten Sunmi Songs

I noticed, while I was working on this, that I talk about Sunmi the way orbits talk about Loona--I think you'll see what I mean as we go down the list! I think it's the admiration I have for how creative & well-crafted her releases are. "Heroine" was the song that got me into Sunmi, though her most recent comeback at the time was "Lalalay" (I remember because the ponytail dance was EVERYWHERE). My admiration was secured after her 1/6 album--even though her discography is still small, I think that album really fleshed it out, to the point where I finally felt like I could understand her as an artist. Happy Sunmi comeback to us all!

1. pporappippam

This is my "Butterfly". I remember when this song came out, I remember when it changed the world, it's all things divine, it's my conduit to a romanticized version of my teenage years, it's a supercut of all the most wonderful colors you've ever seen in the sky at sunset. In all seriousness, though--I really don't get how people find this song boring. It manages to be a soft, ethereal track and an addictive pop hit, a perfect balance of peaceful atmospherics and unrelenting pace. This one is really special to me!

2. 1/6

This is my "Loonatic". I got dream pop with this song--okay, "1/6" might not exactly be dream pop, but it's soft and dreamy in a way that made me finally see the appeal of that type of song, like why someone would want to get lost in that hazy sonic world.

3. Siren

"Siren" is a piano crashing into you from a third-story window. Like, I don't know how it's ever possible to be emotionally ready for this song. Its brute-force approach is just so goddamn memorable, especially because Sunmi doesn't overuse it in the rest of her discography--she usually goes for subtlety, but her vocals carry a powerful chorus like this one just so well.

4. Narcissism

This one's also in the brute-force category, especially because the production takes this really messy, maximalist approach--and fuck it, it works. I love this song a whole lot: the soft intro; the weird schoolbell-through-intercom-static sounds; the way the chorus hits; the way Sunmi navigates the song's rapid rises and falls. If you miss old-school EDM (read: if you obsess over Dreamcatcher's "Can't get you out of my mind" like I do), I think you'll really enjoy this one.

5. Call

Yeah, no surprise here, I always love club music. But this club classic is particularly intricate, built on a really interesting contrast: Sunmi's gritty vocals over an exceptionally pristine house beat.

6. Black Pearl

This song is just cool. Like, that saxophone solo is just really, really cool. Like, I want to be a guy who has this song at the top of his most-listened list. Maybe one day!

7. Heroine

Yeah, the beat drop is kind of wimpy, so that part didn't age all that great. But Sunmi's PERFORMANCE here?? That prechorus is one for the ages. Five years ago, the emotion of this song absolutely captivated me, and it still resonates with me today.

8. Lalalay

In contrast, this one aged wonderfully! Now that I'm not being constantly overloaded with beat drops in every other song (thank you, 2019 Twice & 2021 Olivia Rodrigo!), I can really appreciate how interesting "Lalalay" is! I used to think this one was boring and lacking inspiration, but now that I'm revisiting it, I think the dynamics of the chorus are pretty compelling (yes, I think the beat drop is compelling, sue me)--like, do you hear how the weird note thingie is fading in and out? how the volume shifts? I love it so much!! My favorite part is the bridge, though--the flight attendant bit remains iconic, and the segue into the final chorus is breathtaking.

9. Heart Burn

This will forever remind me of a song from my childhood--the melody of the chorus is vaguely reminiscent of Taylor Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart", which my mom used to play in the car--so this song hits unfairly hard for me. Like, it's already a reserved, mysterious summer hit, but to me it sounds like a half-formed image of your old living room, or the voice of an elementary-school friend whose name you can't quite recall speaking from the void. Cloudy, surreal, a bit unsettling, but altogether sweet. Also, the color scheme of this music video is super striking, so "Heart Burn", despite its simplicity, gets a LOT of bias points from me.

10. What the Flower

This is like the evil twin of Red Velvet's "Good, Bad, Ugly". They both go for the lounge-singer vibe, but Red Velvet have really pure, sweet-sounding vocals, while Sunmi's voice, and her work as a whole, have always been very savory (like, anti-saccharine?). Both songs are great, and I especially love how both allow for some wonderful piano appreciation (shoutout to the guitar in "What the Flower", too!). The singalong bit at the end of "What the Flower" is really striking, so this one has stuck around in my head over the years, even before I could really appreciate its quieter sections.

Honorable Mentions: 24 Hours (obligatory), Who am I, Curve (also obligatory), Tail (Sunmi's charisma wins this one), Call my name

[evieismol]

Accidents - One Shot

A/n: another one shot featuring my oc Easton as well as the humans he previously befriended before going to work on Earth. Chronologically set a couple of years before the main story

Word count: 1041

Content warnings: language, fearplay (unintentional), angst, potentially dangerous situation (no one hurt)

“Hey,” Easton said as soon as the door to his room was closed. Larissa looked at the giant as he entered from her place on his table. He looked even more exhausted than he had that morning - his usually shiny, platinum blonde hair was more of a dull, limp mess, and dark circles were obvious under his eyes. Still, he offered the three small humans a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes.

“How are you guys doing?” He asked. He looked over at Ruby, who was sitting up on the makeshift bed he’d made for her. “How’s your leg?”

“It’s doing a lot better,” Ruby said.

“I’m glad,” Easton said. “We should get the bandage changed again tonight. What do you guys want for dinner? I can see what’s in the fridge or go get something at the gas station - I know those aren’t super luxurious options, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, we’re just happy to have food at all,” Kyle said. “Seriously. Thanks for all of this…for helping us.”

Easton shrugged. “Of course. Helping people is kind of my job anyways.”

“Speaking of your job, how was your day?” Kyle asked. Easton sighed as he sat down on his bed, careful to not bump into the table the three humans were standing on that was next to it. “Long,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Ruby offered.

“It’s fine. I’m just tired,” Easton said. Larissa felt a pang of guilt at that - she felt sure that her and her friend’s presence couldn’t be helping with that. Over the week they’d been staying with Easton since he’d found them after they’d gone through the portal, he’d gone out of his way to make sure they were as comfortable as possible. And Given that they were stranded in an alien world where they were comparatively only a few inches tall, that was quite the task. It had so far included not only making beds for them, but also figuring out a way they could “shower” safely in the sink, bringing them 3 meals a day, and even trying to find ways to keep them from getting bored while they were mostly confined to his desk. Among other things.

We really need to figure out how to get back through that portal, she thought. Of course, given who was looking for them back on Earth, that wouldn’t be without its risks either.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Larissa asked.

“I swear every entitled person in a hundred mile radius picked today to come to the park,” Easton sighed. “And then right when I was getting off work my dad called to tell me he’s marrying his fourth wife next month and I’m still a disappointment. So. That was fun.”

“He sounds lovely,” Larissa said. “That sounds like a shitty day.”

“Yeah, well, that’s life,” Easton said, annoyance faintly present his voice. Larissa wasn’t sure if it was at her or the general situation, and she shifted uncomfortably.

“Sorry,” she said.

“It’s fine,” Easton said, and for a moment, she thought she might have been wrong about him sounding annoyed. Maybe more sad. He looked away, and she was pretty sure she saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes.

“Are you sure? I’m really sorry if-“ she started. Easton cut her off, this time definitely sounding short.

“I’m sure,” he said, standing up abruptly. A little too abruptly, as this time he did hit into the table. Had he also been human - and human sized - the mistake would have been minor. He was decidedly neither of those things, though. Larissa lost her balance, letting out a sharp yelp as she fell forward - and off the table. In a split second, images of the cold impact of the floor below flashed through her mind. It had to be at least a 70 foot drop. It was easily high enough to severely hurt her, and likely kill her. Instead of the wood below, though, Larissa felt herself land on something soft and warm almost as soon as she’d realized she was falling.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, are you okay?” Easton sounded frantic as she realized he’d caught her. Still stunned, she gave an uncertain nod.

“Larissa!” Kyle had hurried over to the edge, looking as concerned as she felt. She looked from him to Easton, seeing the panic and guilt swirling through the giant’s eyes as he held her. He sounded close to tears when he continued.

“I-I’m so fucking sorry, I should have been more careful-I wasn’t thinking-oh my god, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Um it was just an accident, it’s fine,” Larissa said, wincing internally as she realized her voice was shaking. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Easton obviously hadn’t meant to scare her, let alone almost hurt her - his instant change from annoyed to worried and concerned seemed to make that much obvious. That still didn’t entirely help, though.

“Okay-I swear I didn’t mean to-I was just tired and I-I don’t know, frustrated with everything going on and my dad and-I could have hurt you. Or worse. Shit, I’m so, so sorry.”

“I get it,” Larissa said. “I’m just kind of freaked out still I think.”

“Yeah, of course. Um, here, holding you probably isn’t helping,” Easton said, lowering his hand back to the table. Larissa was a little surprised at how relieved she felt climbing off of his hand - she didn’t think he was going to hurt her at this point, but having her life literally in someone else’s hand was still a surreal feeling.

“Thanks,” she said. “And for catching me.”

Easton swallowed, guilt washing over his face again. “I shouldn’t have had to-I’m just really sorry. And probably not helping. I’m just going to go see what they have at the gas station, I’ll be right back. I- I’m sorry.”

Larissa felt Kyle’s hand on her shoulder as Easton quickly left.

“Seriously, are you okay?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah. Just shaken up,” Larissa said. “I’ll be fine, though.”

When Easton returned later with food for them, once again apologizing profusely, Larissa couldn’t help but notice how red his eyes were as well as the tears staining his cheeks.

[carriagelamp]

I had an impulsive July! Some of these books are continuations that I more or less expected to read, but I sure did just grab some random books this month. Most of which pleasantly surprised me! A couple of which just simply surprised me...

A Marvellous Light

A Marvellous Light was probably my favourite book this month and it was one of my random impulses! I saw some fanart that intrigued me so I grabbed it from the library on a whim -- by now I have bought my own copy because it was just that well done. I am always a sucker for a well executed period adventure, especially when it can work in magical elements (I’m looking at you Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue) and this did everything I could possibly want from this sort of novel. It’s set in the Edwardian period and was such a perfect blend between action, tension and mystery, comedy, and romance; I was completely invested in both of the main characters the whole way through. Oh, and it felt like it fit in the time period, that the dialogue, narration, manners, stage dressing were all appropriate. There's nothing worse than a historical novel where the writing feels painfully modern.

The story starts out with baronet Robin Blythe who is having a no-good very bad day at work. He holds a civil servant position in the government and was just demoted to a shoddy little nothing position that he’s never even heard of by someone with a grudge against his parents. He quickly realizes how in over his head he is though when he finds out that the “special” part of “Special Liaison” actually means “magic”. Something that definitely doesn’t exist, except apparently it does, and now he has to navigate this strange new world with a very exasperated magical coworker, Edwin Courcey. His day only gets worse from there...

A Rover’s Story

A charming little novel told from the point of view of a fictionalized Mars rover. I admit I’m not a very science minded person, but from my inexpert opinion it seems quite well researched, with their Rover being heavily modelled after the previous rovers that were sent to Mars. I appreciated the author's note at the back that discussed some of the research that went into the novel, what was and wasn't accurate, and what was changed for the sake of narration.

It is a very neat journey that starts with Resilience still in pieces in a lab, as it gets to know the scientists around itself and what its eventual mission will be, and how its life goes from there. Though it can't communicate with the humans, it is able to communicate with all sorts of other electronics in the lab! The story is counterbalanced by the daughter of one of the scientists who writes to the rover as a sort of journal to deal with her mother so rarely being home. It was a quick read but very sweet.

American Girl: Meet Addy // Addy Learns A Lesson // Danger at the Zoo

I have continued to read the American Girl books after being pleasantly surprised by the Kit book I read last month (Kit Saves The Day). Their strongest point is definitely what strong historical fiction stories they are! At least from the ones I’ve read so far, the time period is never just a backdrop, the authors do take the time to ensure that the novel’s plot and problems are directly tied into what makes that point in time unique, and even as an adult I found myself learning interesting tidbits of information. The little “looking back” nonfiction section at the end of the books is especially neat! 

I really enjoyed both of the Addy books I read. These stories take place in 1864 during the Civil War. Addy’s family are slaves on a southern plantation, and the first book is about Addy’s escape from captivity with her mother, while the second book looks at the continued hardships and inequality that even free black people in the North suffered. They did a good job balancing the intended age bracket with the seriousness of the subject matter, and it didn’t feel like it shied away from making its point. 

The Kit Mystery book, Danger at the Zoo I was less impressed with, which disappointed me because I really enjoyed Kit Saves The Day. It wasn’t bad, per se, just rather middling. A fine read, but not dazzling. Maybe I had overinflated my expectations; given that it was a bigger book, I had hoped that it would up its game a bit, but it felt rather the opposite. It was a fine story, it dealt with historical details well, but it did a poor job creating the sort of tension I would want from a proper “mystery” novel. It often felt like we were treading water, where a quicker pace would have helped.

Doctor Who: Deep Time // Silhouette // Mission to Venus

My Doctor Who kick is still going strong. Relentless. Silhouette and Deep Time were both fine, basic examples of a decently written Doctor Who novel. Deep Time was rather forgettable... the side characters never really succeeded in interesting me, and it often felt like it suffered from pacing issues. It was about the Doctor and Clara on a doomed space mission that gets stranded in deep space, but I enjoyed listening to it in the background while I was doing other stuff. 

Silhouette was actually pretty great, probably because I’m a total sucker for the Paternoster Gang. It was a fun mystery set in a ~mysterious carnival~ during a frost fair on the Thames. It had the characters splitting up and exploring different avenues to solve a set of murders. Lots of good Vastra and Jenny stuff, and Strax was absolutely hilarious, he stole the show every time he was featured. Love him. The whole thing was a pretty solid plot, pretty funny, and I thought both The Doctor and Clara got pretty decent characterization throughout. Would recommend this one if you want a solid Doctor Who read.

The last one, Mission to Venus, was hands down the funniest though, albeit unintentionally. Did you know there were really trashy Doctor Who Choose Your Own Adventure books written in the 80s? I didn’t, but I do now and obviously I had to get my hands on one. It is Exceptionally Bad but in the funniest possible way. I had a blast reading through this and I really don’t know what to say about it besides look at the cover. Look at it. Amazing. The Doctor, Peri (and You!) wind up on a spaceship that is trying to transfer dangerous by highly nutritional plants to a stricken colony, but is very soon imperiled.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation v4

I creep every closer to finishing the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation series! Not much I can say about it that I haven’t said about the others that wouldn’t enter outright spoiler territory, so I’ll just say that this was another great volume. Some of them have felt overly bogged down by some of their flashbacks (like the entire back half of volume 2 and the endless Yi City arc. I'm not saying it wasn't interesting but my god this was a Victor Hugo level diversion) but this one went at a great pace and it’s nice to feel like we’re actually making progress in the main plot even if, romantically speaking, WWX and LWJ continue to be two of the dumbest human beings alive. Bless this slow burn, I’m gonna kill them both. Also enjoyed the side characters we got in this book — I loved how great the Juniors were, loved my dear, cranky, miserable Jiang Cheng, loved Wen Ning Doing His Best. Great book. I’m dragging my feet about reading the fifth book because I don’t want this to end.

Love Beyond Body Space & Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology

A really neat anthology of short stories written by Canadian Indigenous authors that are all focused on queer sci-fi stories. It’s way too easy to box Indigenous stories into the singular genres of “historical” or “contemporary” so it was great having an entire book devoted to various Indigenous perspectives on science fiction. Like any anthology there were some weak stories and some phenomenally good stories. I picked this one up specifically because Cherie Dimaline (author of The Marrow Thieves) wrote for it, and she did not disappoint, but all the stories were so different and so interesting that I can’t recommend it enough.

Short story collections like this are especially good for people without a lot of time or who are trying to revitalize their reading attention span imo because it gives you fully formed, bite-sized stories that put a lot of care and detail into their telling.

Nimona

Obviously I had to finally read Nimona. It’s been on my TBR for ages, and, like absolutely everyone else I think, I figured I had better read it now that the movie is out. I enjoyed both the comic and the film very much! It was interesting to see two slightly different takes on the same narrative, and I think both expressed the point they were trying to make very well. I honestly couldn't say which version I enjoyed more. I doubt I have anything to say that someone else hasn’t said much, much better, so I'll leave it with that.

Torchwood: Skypoint

One of the better Torchwood books I’ve read so far, I think! It had some pretty solid characterization tbh. The story wasn’t anything mind blowing, but a survival adventure in a high tech apartment was a fun setting, and I am literally never going to say not to a fake marriage plot line 👀 so a story about Owen and Tosh going undercover as a newly-wed couple in a sinister apartment building that might be eating its residents was just plain old fun.  It also delivered me some truly delicious Tosh/Owen angst. Mwah. It was all around a pretty darn good Owen book, which he deserved after being slandered so badly in Something in the Water. Though I was a little disappointed by how Tosh was handled — I kept expecting her to have a bigger role than she really got by the end.

 Yuri Bear Storm v1

…I have no words. I bought this one on a whim because the description on the back made me laugh:

Every night, 16-year-old Kureha has a strange dream involving lilies, storms, and... her classmate Ginko as a bear?! At school, Kureha's unassuming personality and looks render her practically invisible. Sometimes, it feels like no one notices her at all... until cute and energetic Ginko asks Kureha to talk privately one day during lunch. Maybe she really is a bear... or maybe she's just got a crush on Kureha!

but frankly there were too few bears. I thought I was getting a bear-themed magical girl book with lesbians. I have no idea what I actually got. You can tell there’s some sort of metaphor at work here — and I’ve got an Honours Degree in English Literature, dragging bullshit metaphors out of the text kicking and screaming is like my whole thing — but I’ll be damned if I could actually tell you what it is. It’s either wildly inconsistent and deranged, or genius. Or maybe there's no metaphor at all and the authors just really wanted to draw bear ears and panty-shots *shrug* I cannot emphasize enough how little sense this book made. Every time I thought I maybe had a handle on things it got progressively more inscrutable, it was actually rather impressive.

May get the second book, we’ll see how weak my resolve is not to waste my money.

[samijey]

I always wonder about Roman's sudden turn on Sami. Like we know, it was about Roman's paranoia, but I always wonder if it was about Sami/Jeys bond too. Like Roman seemed almost DELIGHTED that Jey didn't like or trust Sami and rubbed Jeys face in the fact that Sami was sticking around. The t-shirt segment, having Sami watch Jey, etc. Like he loved abusing Jey, but at the same time, Jey was clearly his favorite, so the game wasn't fun anymore, and now Jey was happy and paying attention to someone else.

Honestly thats something they really glossed over with this SS match. They made it more about Jimmy, the family and Roman and less about Jey and what Roman did to HIM personally and its probably because it would make the story TOO powerful and we can't have that when they are trying to FF to their new toy.

Seriously, it was ALWAYS about messing with Jey as much as it was about constantly questioning and humiliating Sami - it was a 2 for 1 special and Roman had way too much fun tormenting Jey while at the same time keeping Sami on that edge between acceptance and rejection. But oops, guess what! Sami managed to work his way through the walls Jey put around himself and now they love each other??? Suddenly Jey is ecstatic about having Sami join the family for real??? Time to dash both their hopes by using Kevin as a scapegoat! Oh, what's that??? It didn't work and they're closer than ever?? Time to put Sami on trial! Oh shit, Jey defended him with really solid arguments while having actual tears in his eyes and I had no choice but to find Sami not guilty??? Time to set up a fucked up "test" for Sami at the Rumble!!

This version of Roman was always in the impossible situation of wanting to be loved BUT feared at the same time - a balance that is impossible to achieve without manipulation. He clearly enjoyed having Sami around acknowledging him, taking kicks to the face for him, and trying to prove himself at all times while Roman never quiiiiite really gave him the full validation he wanted. The fact that he was an annoyance to Jey was also a nice bonus.

After WarGames though? When he realized that after fighting it for so long, Jey ended up becoming the biggest Sami fan in the group? When Roman saw neither of them were as focused on respecting/fearing him as they usually were because that was now a burden they were sharing instead of taking on individually? Roman SAW Jey stick his neck out for Sami at the trial - he KNEW Sami disobeyed him the very next week when he showed up on Smackdown to meet Jey in the parking lot and then AGAIN when Roman confronted Sami about it, Jey jumped to defend him again.

His two favorite victims now had a close bond and had become more fearless than ever because of it, disobeying him out in the open and getting away with it because they were now protecting each other and that was NOT something Roman was ever going to allow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[warningsine]

A UK academic who has completed a project creating a Wikipedia page for a woman in every country in the world is calling for more women to contribute to the world’s largest encyclopedia.

Lucy Moore, an archaeologist and curator who also works as an unpaid carer, began the mammoth project in 2021 from her sofa in Leeds, completing it last week – “unsurprisingly, perhaps, I got really stuck on Vatican City”.

She has now written biographies of 532 women since 2019, when she first became a Wikipedia editor, including scientists, monarchs, activists, writers and women whose faces are well known but their stories are not, such as Sharbat Gula, the refugee with striking green eyes pictured in the famous Afghan Girl portrait from 1984.

Less than 20% of the biographies on English language Wikipedia are about women, although this is an improvement on 16% in 2014, when “a range of different editors started to get together and say, ‘Actually, we really need to change this’,” said Moore.

She began by making a table of UN member states and partially recognised UN states, such as Kosovo and Taiwan, and worked through the list based on who caught her eye.

She has now also written dozens of entries for women in autonomous regions such as Hong Kong, Zanzibar and Tibet, and those in overseas territories.

There were many women she had expected to find already had pages, such as Julia Chinn, an enslaved woman who was the common-law wife of the ninth vice-president of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson.

“She’s really interesting and I was really surprised no one had written about her before,” she said.

She tended to focus on women who share her interests, she said, such as poets, activists and coin specialists, known as numismatists, which is her own field.

“I find it really calming,” she said. “I can go and bury myself in something that is totally, totally different from my day to day.”

But it has not been easy. She said one of the issues was that Wikipedia required three reliable sources for each biography and, while there may have been a lot written on social media about some of the women, they may not have appeared in newspapers, especially in countries where women’s achievements are not taken seriously.

The reaction to her project has been positive, she said. “No one’s said anything nasty on Twitter, though I expect that will come.”

Moore points to the work of her fellow editor Jess Wade, who wrote a number of Wikipedia pages about female scientists, “and then another editor came along and nominated them all for deletion. It was really nasty.”

She said there was some general criticism on social media that Wikipedia editors were “making (the gender balance) more of an issue than it actually is”.

“And I find that attitude really annoying, to be honest, because it’s men who say that primarily.”

She pointed to research from 2022 that found there were more Wikipedia entries about football and footballers than there were about women.

However, Moore added: “Some of the most prolific people who work to redress the gender balance on Wikipedia are men and I’m not sure they would all describe it as being a feminist, but that’s what they’re doing.”

Run as a non-profit, open-source encyclopedia that is free to use, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone but only a fifth of its 124,000 regularly active editors are women.

“We do need to get more women to edit, but it’s not just as simple as saying, ‘Hey, women, come and edit’, because we have so much more pressure on our time. There’s all these different studies that show that women have less time to devote to things of interest. And that’s before you even get on to being able to access sources, being able to access particular academic journal articles, which are paywalled.”

Class was also a factor in who contributes and appears on Wikipedia, as was access to education, especially in countries where women are not routinely educated.

“It just gets more and more systemic, the more you look at it,” she said.

Some of the women recognised by Moore

Julia Chinn (c. 1790 – July 1833) was an American plantation manager and enslaved woman of mixed race, who was the common-law wife of the ninth vice-president of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson. She had two children with the plantation owner and congressman Johnson, who inherited her when his father died, though she would fulfil what at the time was considered the role of the wife of a politician. She was never freed.

Sharbat Gula (born c. 1972) is an Afghan woman who became internationally recognised as the 12-year-old subject in Afghan Girl, a 1984 portrait taken by American photojournalist Steve McCurry that was later published on the cover of National Geographic. The portrait was shot at Nasir Bagh, Pakistan, where Gula was living as a refugee after fleeing the Soviet–Afghan war. Having raised a family in Pakistan for 35 years, Gula was deported to Afghanistan in 2017, later being granted asylum in Italy.

Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima (born 12 July 1963, in Bujumbura) is a human rights activist from Burundi. She is the chair and founder of the National Association for Support for HIV-Positive People with Aids (ANSS) and was the first person from the country to publicly admit they had HIV. Gapiya-Niyonzima won the World Food Program prize in 2003, in 2011 addressed the United Nations committee for HIV/Aids in New York and was selected as the Burundian Woman of Courage of the Year in 2012.

Ólafía Einarsdóttir (28 July 1924 – 19 December 2017) was an Icelandic archaeologist and historian, becoming the first Icelander to complete a degree in archaeology. She taught at the University of Copenhagen and published many works about Icelandic sagas and Viking history. Ólafía was awarded an honorary doctorate by the faculty of history and philosophy at the University of Iceland in 2009. The journal Ólafía, published by the Icelandic Association of Archaeologists since 2013, is named after her.

Gloria Meneses (1910 – 1996) was a Uruguayan performer and activist who lived openly from 1950 until her death as travesti – a term used in Latin America to designate people who were assigned male at birth and develop a feminine gender identity. Highly unusual in Latin America at the time, Meneses’ life has been widely honoured in films and exhibitions since her death in 1996.

[alyjojo]

Love Reading 🤼‍♀️ - November 2023 - Virgo

Singles:

Overall energy: 6 Wands

How you will meet: 9 Swords

How they will treat you: 4 Pentacles

Long-term Potential: The Empress

You’ve got a Twin coming in, it could be rekindling an old flame or even meeting them for the first time, either way it’s a very intense connection full of PASSION 🔥 heat 🔥 probably conflict too 🔥 You can’t seem to have one without some of the other with these. This person could have player ways about them, or you do, or that’s the experience you’ve had with them before - there are other people in the background creating competition and it’s being entertained = conflict.

You could work together, or be friends initially, maybe both. Or these are the people causing problems. The heat & attraction definitely makes its appearance before the emotions do, it’s more of a rip each other’s clothes off sort of connection, than a love letters & flowers kind, at least initially. They treat you in an emotionally closed off way, could be holding grudges or just protecting themselves, depending on which side of this conflict they’re on. Either they’re trying to get over hurt you’ve caused them due to other people, or they’re guarding themselves from the conflict & backlash of you being pissed at them for doing the same thing, hoping you’ll heal from this. One of you could be pretty possessive and combative, with good reason - Knight of Wands being immature and following their wand wherever it gets excited today, as opposed to yesterday and the day before that. Again, could be a player. Or a flirt.

If you’re reuniting, it’s more hopeful for the long term. If you’re just meeting them or newly involved it’s…kinda cringe, they’re really immature and not ready yet. Or you’re not. Long term potential is a possible pregnancy and single parent life - Queen of Pentacles, that could be you. This can also be growth in career, making a name for yourself, receiving all of your rewards and growing beautifully, but pregnancy is the most obvious story. Could also be them. Be very careful 🙏 A runner is going to run, if they haven’t already, or if not a Twin then they’re the type to move along quickly, or one could be returning.

Messages -

Their side:

- Sexually Driven

- Quietly Observing

Your side:

- You’re the perfect person for me ❤️

- OBSESSED 🤩

Oracles -

Their side: Twin Flames 🔥

- Yin/Yang Balance

- Union & Duality

- Complement

- Polar Opposites

Your side: Phoenix 🔥

- New Phase & Rekindle

- Renew & Growth

- Changed Mind

- Rise from Ashes

Signs you may be dealing with:

Heavy Capricorn & Leo, earth/fire

Couples:

Overall energy: 2 Pentacles

Current: Ace of Cups

Challenge: King of Pentacles

How they feel about you: 10 Cups

How you feel about them: Knight of Swords rev

Outcome: 10 Wands

You two are on totally different pages 💯 It’s looking like you’re the problem, though you may have a valid reason for that, I don’t think it’s being expressed in the healthiest manner. There could be squabbles going on about who is doing what, relating to chores even, who is busier, what roles each person should have and who contributes what. Your person seeing you as 10 Cups shows you’re the one with the issue, and you make them nervous because you hesitate, stay to yourself, keep yourself busy, and they never really know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking of what’s got to go and what can be tolerated or worked around, where necessary tasks are involved, because 2 Pentacles shows you’re extremely busy as it is, juggling 20 different things and can’t seem to find balance - Justice, that’s the goal. Fairness. If they don’t help enough, they need to.

There’s a new beginning here, could be a hobby or some passion of theirs, they’re really enjoying themselves and to you it’s gotten to the point of selfish. They aren’t doing as much as they could for the home, the kids, seriously getting chores, dishes, laundry. It’s like you support this person in their interests, you may even like what they like, but it’s a really busy time and there is a lot to do so can we please turn off the 15 hour tv binge and get the house in order before people show up? Like, THEM, specifically, because you’re busy. Could be switched too, apply however. The challenge is probably work ethic, someone is daydreamy and coasting along with no motivation and it’s driving (I assume you) mad. Could be you too, and you’re dealing with another earth sign.

They’re over the moon for you, very happy, they see you as everything they’ve ever wanted. I’m assuming you haven’t spoken your frustrations out loud, because they seem to be oblivious to your concerns, this is showing they don’t even know you’re mad at them. It can also show they’re enjoying themselves and aren’t sure how to direct or lead in the way you want them to. Basically, if you’re acting like everything is fine, why would they think otherwise? If you think they’re just going to wake up and realize it on their own, no. This could also be referring to a child too, maybe you want them to do more chores or be more responsible and your partner lives in lala land. Could be their child.

You feel like you have to be a dick to get your point across and you really don’t want to. You could see them as argumentative and would rather not deal with that side of them. Or you just don’t communicate well, it could be something that’s a real challenge for you, like why should you have to ask for help, they should just be helping? It’s just going to keep building, you feel like you’re doing it all. Outcome for mid-Dec is more of the same 😑

You’d rather pull teeth than speak up. Or you’ll just do everything yourself and feel victimized, frustrated, let down, as you continue juggling everything for everyone. To them it’s like wow I have the perfect person, and to you it’s like ffs, because you need balance. It’s a giant elephant in the room this person doesn’t pick up on, is that on purpose or not, I’m not sure. You don’t want to be mean and you don’t want to get yelled at if you say something, but fair is fair and you can’t keep up this energy forever. Gonna make yourself sick, you know it too 😷

Messages -

Their side:

- I CAN’T CHANGE ⚠️

- I love you ❤️

Your side:

- I want to approach you but don’t know how.

- I will surprise you.

Oracles -

Their side: SELF-INDULGENCE 🕯️

- Self-Worth & Value

- Time to Heal

- Shadow Work

- Self-Appreciation

Your side: SUNGLASSES 🕶️

- Watching/Looking

- Perception

- Stalking

Signs you may be dealing with:

Strong Pisces, Libra, Capricorn, Sagittarius & Gemini

[drama-pop]

Dramas I Watched in 2023

There was a lot more time between dramas this year and except for 1, all of them were new to me this year.  I ended up watching 9 dramas again, like last year.  Here are the dramas I watched this year and I what I thought of them!

Dream High (7/10)

2nd watch – My sister and I watched this through winter break and finished early in the year.  It wasn’t as fun as I remember it being in my first watch, but I still enjoyed it a lot.  It took several episodes for my sister to be convinced that this was going to be worth watching.  The fashion, camera quality, and acting hasn’t aged that well, but the music and desperation of youth still endures.

Hometown Cha-cha-cha (6.5/10)

1st watch – I have a love-hate relationship with this drama.  I liked it a lot at the beginning and end, but once Hye-jin started on her whiny “Hong Banjang,” I kind of stopped caring about her character.  The townspeople are quirky, yet lovable.  I thought they did a good job fleshing out the character of the second male lead as well.  I cried a lot in the final episodes of the show though!  It’s worth a watch.  “Romantic Sunday” is an excellent driving song on a sunny day, just throwing that out there.

Little Women (7/10)

1st watch – I had to watch this one in small doses because it was quite disturbing at times.  The acting was very strong all around.  If you’re like me and developed a crush on Wi Ha-joon after Squid Game, I’m happy to report that he’s looking as fine as ever, even though I wasn’t sure if I could trust his character (or anyone else, for that matter!).  Had the show been the traditional 16 episodes, I would not have made it.  12 dark episodes was enough for me!  If you like mystery thrillers, I recommend Little Women!

Crash Course in Romance (7.5/10)

1st watch – I liked a lot about this drama.  Jung Kyung-ho and Jeon Do-yeon were fantastic and it was refreshing to see a cast with older leads (despite my initial hesitation).  Sure, there were a few twists that felt a bit contrived, but it’s a K-Drama!  What was I expecting? This is one where I couldn’t wait to start the next episode and find out what would happen next.

Mystic Pop-Up Bar (9.5/10)

1st watch – This was the highlight of the year for me.  I loved the characters as individuals and as an ensemble. The casting was perfect, in my opinion. The overarching story was mysterious and the cases that Wol-ju had to solve were touching.  One episode in particular had me bawling my eyes out.  This drama is one that you can enjoy casually or one that could inspire you to reflect on your life and the people in it that you love.

King the Land (7/10)        

1st watch – Sadly, I can’t recall much about this one.  I remember that I liked the characters, especially the lead and how hard she worked.  It had a nice balance of silliness and touching moments.  One thing that I thought this drama did well was develop the female lead’s friends.  They had their own side stories and shared a genuine friendship.  And this show has a vacation episode, which I live for!

Crash Landing on You (7.5/10)

1st (full) watch – My mom and I tried to watch this one in 2020 and completely gave up on it after the first episode.  I know in my heart not to judge a K-Drama by its first episode, so we gave it another try this year.  It was really well done and the ensemble is fabulous.  Seriously, if you only watch it for Captain Ri’s soldiers (or for Captain Ri…what a handsome guy), I wouldn’t blame you! While I had a hard time warming up to the second female lead, I thought that the way she was written had some refreshing twists. She's not the confident woman you'd think she is from her appearance and ice. The show made some choices near the end that I didn’t agree with, but it was an overall great watch.  I’m glad I gave it another try!

Touch Your Heart (7/10)

1st watch – I loved seeing Yoo In-na and Lee Dong-wook back together again and with a happier ending than in Goblin!  The drama was a little silly at times and took a while for me to get into, but I grinned a lot at their cute relationship.  If you like seeing your leading male looking confused and lovestruck, this is a good one!  Lee Dong-wook makes the most endearing faces.

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (4/10)

1st watch – I’m so sorry.  I wanted to like this drama a lot and kept watching episodes hoping that it would grip me, but it just didn’t.  There were a lot of plot elements that I couldn’t get behind and some that I flat out said, “that’s it, I’m not watching this show anymore.”  Of course, I did finish, but it took everything in me not to give this drama up. I personally know someone who puts this as her top drama, but it just wasn’t it for me. Mimi the dog is too cute to be real.

And that’s it!  I hope that you have a happy new year and that 2024 brings good things for you!  Feel free to send me any drama recs!

[contrarynonsense]

I felt like sharing my thoughts on the gmmtv 2024 lineup (so far) since I ended up watching the livestream last night. Without further ado:

My thoughts on the gmmtv 2024 (part 1) line up! (Dramas only)

My Precious: Congrats to the cast but I did not watch the movie (which like literally just came out it feels like) and I don’t have a high interest in watching the drama adaptation.

Ploy’s Yearbook: I was slightly confused on the plot but as long as it’s not time travel I might give it a try. The girl lead ensemble cast seems real enjoyable.

We Are: Not gonna lie, I have some mixed feelings on this one. I love all the pairings but four couples in one series with low plot is far too many. I don’t think the screen time balance will be good and this feels like they are wasting some strong talent. Best I can phrase it is they are using the popularity of the couples to carry the show rather than have it be a story that can stand on its own. :/

The Trainee: I will always love OffGun and I’m most likely going to watch this, though I find it a little silly to announce another show for them when Cooking Crush hasn’t even aired yet. They really do need to let Gun spread his wings a bit more though imo. Also people keep saying there were no subtitles on the trailer but there definitely were??? So I don’t know what that’s about.

Only Boo: Love the fresh faces and the cast seems pretty good, but I have a very strong distaste for idol dramas. So unless this gets some seriously good reviews I’m probably going to give this a pass.

Pluto: A GL!!!! I’m not super sold on the plot, seems reminiscent of Not Me with the whole “pretend to be your twin while they’re in a coma” thing, but the girlies be stunning and working, and we need to show gmmtv that there is a market for this! So I will definitely be watching and supporting. 😤

Summer Night: They had me in the first half, I really thought they might be mixing couples and giving us DunkPhuwin. I was sold on that in seconds. But alas, it’s a messy heterosexual love square… thing? Honestly I got very lost on what was happening as the trailer went on. Love triangles/squares are overdone and really not my cup of tea, so I’ll skip this one and dream about what could have been.

Peaceful Property: I’m really, really excited for this one!!! Idk if it’s BL or Bromance but honestly I don’t care. The found family with ghosts and slapstick had me sold, the casting is incredible and TayNew with a dynamic swap is sending. Probably one of my favorite offerings on this list.

Ossan’s Love: while I love and respect the original for what it did for normalizing a lot of lgbt+ media in Japan, idk how I feel about them doing a remake. Even if neither Earth or Mix play the Ossan (which I doubt they will), they are still a bit too young for the other roles. I doubt doubt their skills, but these two are my age and they keep casting them (especially Earth) as these older aged characters. Like, these guys aren’t even 30 yet. I know they are very popular in Japan but… I will wait and see on this one. We didn’t even get a trailer so maybe it will surprise me and surpass my expectations.

My Golden Blood: This one I think caught ALL of us by surprise. Gawin bringing back a retired BL actor in a new pairing for a cheesy vampire romance? Amazing and honestly a little hilarious. I’ll be giving this one a watch most likely, mostly because I think the premise is very amusing.

Kidnap: While good for Ohm (possibly? little unclear on if this is BL or not, it might just be strong friendship) being in a new pair after the mess that was the fan base for Bad Buddy, I cannot stop laughing at the line “for some reasons, I have become a kidnapper.” I’m not supremely interested in the plot, but I hope it turns out good for people who are excited for it.

High School Frenemy: Apparently this is a remake of the Korean show School 2013, but I have not seen the original so I didn’t notice. Lots of gangs and fighting, as well as new faces. Don’t honesty have a strong opinion on this? Again, not my cup of tea. I lean more into comedy than I do angst and high drama.

Wandee Goodday: Yo this one was a ride. I had to get out of my chair and squat to the side for several minutes to recover. I’m not into high heat but damn were they committing and very unabashed about, like, anything. I also love the comedic timing of a lot of it. I don’t know if I’m personally going to watch this one but God I hope it succeeds and goes as good as the trailer.

My Love Mix-Up: GemFourth are back! Little sad that it’s not an original story but I love Kieta Hatsukoi and I know they will kill it. And they have (as far as I can tell) clarified that this is a new adaptation based on the manga, and not a remake of the Japanese drama. As such, I will not be comparing the two and waiting to see what their take on the story will be. Hopefully they will adapt further into the story than the JBL did (though no shame on that version, they did spectacular).

Enigma Season 2: I did not watch season 1 and I will not be watching season 2. Sorry.

Those are my thoughts on the lineup from part one! Missing some big names like FirstKhao and ForceBook, but honestly they are probably gonna be in part 2 in December so I’m not too worried. Overall the announced shows are kinda… meh? Like there is some standouts but overall not super sold on a lot of them. Plus a lot of them probably won’t even make it into 2024 with how behind schedule they are with this years shows. (Where is 23.5 gmmtv? Where?) We shall see what the offerings will be in part 2!