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waitmyturtles · 6 months

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Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: The Bad Buddy Rewatch Edition, Part 1 -- Where BBS Came From, What It References, and More

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I kick off the first of four (or more, whoa!) posts on Bad Buddy. I'll look today at Thai BLs that preceded Bad Buddy that BBS spoke to, the tropes and themes that BBS reshapes and adds to the genre's existence, and I'll also take a look at singular commonalities among Aof Noppharnach's shows.]

Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4

Since April of this year, I have been watching drama after drama, BL after BL, to get myself familiar enough with the Thai BL genre in order to understand... at least, much more about Bad Buddy than I previously understood when I first watched BBS in January. Today, I'm going to test my mettle, my newfound exposures to the genre, in taking a look at what made BBS so special by way of what came before it.

(Let me quickly note that in no way, shape, or form do I consider myself an expert in the Thai BL genre. That honor is for the people who've been through the trenches for years, people like my dear friends @bengiyo, @so-much-yet-to-learn, and more.)

As usual with my OGMMTVC analyses, here's a little outline for the lovers:

1 ) Some quick additional thoughts on how BBS reshapes Thai BL tropes, building off of meta from the time of BBS's original airing,

2) How I think earlier shows spoke to BBS by way of influence, as well as shared writing and/or directing teams in some instances, and

3) Similarities in the emotional structures of some of the most important protagonists of major GMMTV BLs, including Third, Sarawat, Phupha, and Pran.

Just as a quick reminder from my preamble post a couple of days ago, one of the inspirations for my creating the Old GMMTV Challenge was from a discussion I had with @miscellar regarding the Thai BL tropes that Bad Buddy referenced and reshaped. This post is what I have permanently linked as a means of partly explaining the context of why I created the OGMMTVC, but I also want to direct your attention to this other post by @miscellar regarding from whence BL tropes often stem from -- namely, conventions of reference from the het romance genre.

I want to posit two points to get this started. I think that, fundamentally, the general fandom loves what BBS did by way of both including and reshaping Thai BL tropes. Tropes do indeed give structure to many Thai BLs very often, as @miscellar notes in their second linked post. Even director Aof Noppharnach and the cast of Bad Buddy note this point as a central structural foundation to their show.

I would also posit that us as a fandom (or, at least, just speaking for myself)... happen to love many (but not all) of the tropes themselves, or at least to some extent, particularly by way of nostalgic reference. When I was really getting underway with the OGMMTVC watchlist earlier this spring, I could see in watching, say, Love Sick or SOTUS, the birth of the tropes. Phun and Noh hosing each other down, Kongpob and Arthit not only being engineers in SOTUS, but seeking out careers in the field in SOTUS S. The hubby/wifey language, the strong seme/uke energy in Make It Right, in Together With Me, and so on.

I felt that the Thai BL trope framework, in the course of my watchlist progress, first truly coalesced as a means of a coded and referential artistic infrastructure in Love By Chance. Love By Chance, based on a novel by MAME and written and directed by the longtime BL creator, New Siwaj, had it all. Engineering students in a university setting, rich boy/poor boy, seme/uke/top/bottom dynamics, queer revelations, beach trips, the guitars and the singing, all of it. Back in June, I called LBC the first derivative structured BL -- clearly a BL that came from those that preceded it.

To @miscellar's points in their second linked post: LBC also had, I feel, quite a lot of problematic elements. Before I watched TharnType, I was already calling out a discomfort I felt about homophobia within MAME's material in LBC. I also noted very strong macro cishet romance elements in the way Ae approached his engagements with Pete, romantic and intimate.

We know now that Bad Buddy just grabbed these tropes, and even some of these problematic elements, like the demand for a clearly binary seme/uke dynamic -- and turned them on their heads. Pat and Pran were equals and partners, full-stop. No seme/uke, no top/bottom, no gay for you, no wifey this and hubby that. Bad Buddy took SOTUS and LBC by their shoulders and said -- not today, not on my watch (and BBS AND A Tale of Thousand Stars did it AGAIN in Our Skyy 2!). Especially in closing out Bad Buddy through Our Skyy 2, I love how very specific Pat and Pran were about their verse relationship, with both guys, throughout the series and in OS2, asking each other for each other's ratings of their nightly performances. Yes, it was hilarious and cute and flirty, but those conversations were also very pointed -- and they very much harkened way, way back to themes that Aof and his colleague, Jojo Tichakorn, had explored as screenwriter and director of Gay OK Bangkok (here and here), and in Jojo's The Warp Effect, all of these shows preceding their work in BLs.

I think the turning-on-the-heads of these tropes, within an otherwise classic Thai BL, created an utterly unique fabric by which a new kind of nostalgia for the particular show that is Bad Buddy could be created -- something that almost cannot be RECREATED by the way of the construction of the universe of equality, love, mutual respect, and miraculous communication that Pat and Pran had established between each other. The equitable dynamic in Bad Buddy between Pat and Pran, of the honesty and incredibly open empathic communication that these two had between each other, seems to me to be truly unique -- ESPECIALLY in the face of the massively biased and dysfunctional communicative styles of their parents.

Moreover, now that I'm at this point of the OGMMTVC list -- AND including what I know about his shows post-Bad Buddy, in Moonlight Chicken, Our Skyy 2, and Last Twilight, which is airing now -- we now know that Aof has created HIS OWN SET OF TROPES THROUGH HIS SHOWS. He is the queer filmmaker in Thai BLs par excellence to create a conversation among his shows, and shows made by his colleagues, that speak to each other by way of symbolism, and, I believe, a harkening back both to previous expectations of older queer media AND to older Asian media, particularly by way of either open-ended and/or melancholic endings, as well as general explorations of melancholy and bittersweetness in his shows on behalf of queer characters.

(Before I give some specific examples of Aof's own trope structures by way of inspiration and influence, I do want to note that the aforementioned New Siwaj does this, too, particularly by way of his making references to The Love of Siam in his shows. Love of Siam is known for having a relatively tragic ending between two young queer men. The movie itself is shown and referenced in New's Absolute Zero and My Only 12% -- and the actors who play Tong's parents, who interfere in Tong's relationship with Mew, are reunited as parents in New's Until We Meet Again, where they support Dean's relationship with Pharm. However, I tend to focus on Aof in admiration as his art is generally more consistently excellent.)

So! What are the new tropes that Aof references in his shows -- the new trope frameworks that he's created for himself, to reflect his own interpretation of the Thai BL genre? We have upside-down smiley faces in Bad Buddy -- but we saw them first in Still 2gether! We have picture boards all over the place in Aof's cinematic universes -- in ATOTS, in BBS (TWICE!) (in two different apartments!), in Moonlight Chicken between Alan and Wen. We have scenes of temples, of culturally-rooted spirituality, from He's Coming To Me, to Moonlight Chicken, and now in Last Twilight. From Phupha's internalized homophobia in A Tale of Thousand Stars, to Jim's internalized homophobia in Moonlight Chicken, Aof doesn't shy away from examining the impacts of the pasts of traditional childhoods in rural settings. Call me a cheesy mom, but I happen to love Aof's tendency to punctuate light moments with cute sound effects.

But beyond tropes and trope frameworks, I think the ways in which Bad Buddy speaks to prior shows -- and vice versa, the way that prior shows ended up contributing to Bad Buddy -- were far more impactful by way of larger, macro-level themes.

While we see on BBS the impact of shows like SOTUS (in SO MANY PLACES in BBS besides Pa's gay-for-you reference and the husband/wife reference, including here and here), I Told Sunset About You, and I Promised You The Moon (I'll have more on IPYTM in a post next week about pain, trust, and separation), we also see what themes the future Bad Buddy team was trying out in their own previous shows. Besides Aof's Still 2gether and A Tale of Thousand Stars, the writing team of Au Kornprom, Bee Pongsate, and Pratchaya Thavornthummarut worked on Theory of Love together. Besides becoming a HUGE fave of mine through the OGMMTVC project, I think Theory of Love held possibly some of the most important proto-BBS themes that I saw along the cinematic way to get to Bad Buddy.

Theory of Love, generally speaking, is about how one person can try to change for another person -- and how that other person, and/or the world, accepts that change.

To fast-forward to the end of BBS: we know that the boys take inspiration from Uncle Tong that they will not let the world of their own intergenerational traumas from their families keep them from loving each other, and being in a devoted relationship with each other. Their empathy for their parents dictates that they'll spare their families the pain of being open about their relationship, and they'll keep the somewhat transparent secret that they're together from being discussed in the open.

Pat and Pran negotiate the impacts of how their relationship may change the people around them -- and they make an empathic decision to spare the families the pain of the upfront realization of that truth. Remember what they say in episode 12:

While Bad Buddy focuses on how the team of Pran and Pat negotiate how their relationship will change others -- I see in Theory of Love the testing of this theme within the potential romantic relationship of Khai and Third. I see Au, Bee, and Pratchaya playing with an idea of change and saying, hey, this is how it can work, and this is how it may not work, realistically. I think Khai and Third end up being a successful couple because -- unlike Pran and Pat -- they don't have to negotiate a generational divide to allow change to infiltrate their lives. (In fact, Third's own process of change, and his acceptance of Khai's change, reflects Pran's journey to welcome Pat into his heart, and Wai's journey to accept Pat's and Pran's relationship.) I love how we see this getting played with, literally by the Bad Buddy squad themselves, in Theory of Love.

It was @lurkingshan who first noted the similarities between Third and Pran for me, and I want to expand on that conversation for a moment to talk about another importance fencepost in Aof's thematic universes -- what our dear friend @bengiyo calls The Knowing of queer male characters in BL dramas.

Third is not Aof's character -- Third belongs to X Nuttapong as the director of Theory of Love -- but Pran, Sarawat from 2gether/Still 2gether, and Phupha of A Tale of Thousand Stars all belong to Aof, and Third was written by Aof's usual squad of writer homies. Third, Sarawat, Phupha, and Pran are all characters written with The Knowing of their being queer in their bones and existences, dealing with a certain amount of suffering and realistic realizations related directly to that Knowing -- in large part, carrying with them painful assumptions of unrequited love, and/or the inability to live openly in love with those that they pine for, until a happy or somewhat-happy ending meets them at the end of their dramatic journeys.

I've unwound quite a bit in my past writing (namely regarding The Love of Siam and the endings of Gay OK Bangkok) of how it moves me incredibly deeply that Aof doesn't shy away from pain, reflections of pain, and either painful and/or open-ended endings in his works. With Third, Sarawat, Phupha, and Pran, us viewers were treated to detailed and empathic journeys of realization and change as these characters negotiated their own paths to intimate honesty with their eventual partners. But those paths were DAMN hard. Many of us still can't shake Pran walking away in crushed tears at the end of episode 5. I'm forever moved by Sarawat's meditation to Earn about the meaning of his relationship and of his love for Tine in Still 2gether as he and Tine are temporarily separated before their school competition.

As an out, queer man, Aof treats his Knowing characters with the greatest empathy. Not all of them, interestingly, are great communicators. In my humble opinion, Third treads chump territory many times throughout Theory of Love. Phupha's, like, one of the worst communicators ever, and this was absolutely solidified until the very end of Our Skyy 2 x ATOTS. We had to have Pran compete with Pat throughout all of episode 6 of Bad Buddy for them to finally confirm their relationship as boyfriends -- and a huge part of that was about Pat revealing to Pran that Pat's competitions with Pran are really more about getting closer and more intimate. The incredible @telomeke (via their side blog, @telomeke-bbs) has written about Pran's outside façade vs. his inner sanctuary, and how so very often in his external life, Pran feels compelled to be visually far more organized than he feels internally. The stress and pressure of that will naturally cause some amount of dissociation, emotional confusion, and distance of the kind we saw at the end of episode 5.

I'm going to unwind more about this in an upcoming Big Meta on pain, trust, and separation in many of Aof's shows, but I want to highlight these melancholic themes and infrastructures here now, because I really think they lend emotional depth and connections to shows either led by Aof and/or his close colleagues. These are tough themes to think about. The endings can absolutely be interpreted as happy endings in most cases -- even though an Asian viewer like myself, very much raised on Asian content, can read between the lines of these endings to understand their melancholic underpinnings.

Bad Buddy is perhaps the most popular of Aof's dramas, I'd posit, because while the ending of the series is a little sad to contemplate -- it ends, as it began, with utter equality between Pat and Pran as protagonists who deeply care about each other, to the point of establishing what I might term as a radical re-envisioning of the broken and traumatic paradigm that their parents forced upon each of them as children. By engaging, essentially, in radical empathy to each other, they triumphed over the global framework of what was set before them by their own private familial society.

I think this emphasizes the tremendous largesse of the personal changes that Aof's characters undergo in their emotional processes -- whether these characters are Knowing characters, or if, like Pat, they've experienced queer revelations within their shows. To hand to these characters these TREMENDOUS emotional journeys, and to situate these journeys in shows that treat these characters with the utmost respect, lends to Aof's shows -- especially Bad Buddy -- a safety net for us as viewers to trust fully in the journeys we're watching.

Aof takes tropes and problematic themes and reorganizes them, like a Rubix cube. He takes themes that Asians and queer family know of far too well, like intergenerational trauma or social outcasting, and shows how his characters can still find happiness, while realistically keeping these traumas within a character's horizon. And, he's created his own trustworthy frameworks of art that we can depend on as fans. I love and appreciate the patterns in this, and I continue to remain in awe at the power that Bad Buddy had in encapsulating so much of what was percolating in Aof's mind and fingertips as he constructed this show with the influence of others -- making this show a truly legendary one.

(Tagging @dribs-and-drabbles and @solitaryandwandering by request! If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know!)

[First BBS OGMMTVC meta down, and more to come! Stay tuned next week for a Big Meta on Pain, Trust, and Separation in Some Asian Dramas. The piece will hew close to Bad Buddy, but I've got some other GMMTV and non-GMMTV dramas (and even a Japanese dorama BL) in there to analyze as well.

Here's the complete OGMMTVC watchlist as it stands today. Tumblr's web editor is utterly jacking with this list; for a more accurate look at what I've watched, please mosey over to this link!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here) 31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (The BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series is ongoing: preamble here, more reviews to come) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] (watching) 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch For the Sake of Re-Analyzing an Politics-Focused Show After Not Me 39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults) 43) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 44) Wedding Plan (2023) 45) Only Friends (2023) (tag here)]

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il-predestinato · 11 months

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I’m back home now! Omg what an amazing experience it was, watching the Monaco GP in person! Would definitely love to go back at some point. 😊

I’ve partly lost my voice cheering for our homeboy (and yeah, don’t worry Monaco loves him back… the problem is Ferrari and always has been) and honorary homeboy (Max counts, right?). Charles WILL win Monaco one day and it will be all the sweeter.

Also Maxsplaining taking place a few hundred feet away from me? 🥹🤣 Beautiful, fucking beautiful.

The rain was wild on Sunday. Absolutely worth getting drenched. My grandstand was on edge for every lap as the real show started. 😜

Monaco is beautiful (and tiny!) as well! Loved how they opened the track every evening so you can walk around all the places they drive and hang out, say a prayer at Saint Devote, etc. 🤭 Walking around town and collecting Lestappen fic inspiration is a bonus.

❤️❤️🏎️💨

Okay, now time to rewatch the race weekend “properly” at home! 😝

#elle.txt #monaco gp 2023 #and yeah witnessing sainz and perez’s absolute clownery all weekend was something else too 🤡🤡#omg we need to talk about HOW BAD these two were!!#and lol i managed to capture the moment sainz blocked charles during q1 on my cellphone camera lmao

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inconsistentlywrittensoul · 2 months

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Buffy Season One Review

I’m on my first Buffy rewatch in a long time - I think over a decade? I have watched the entire series enough times that the episodes are all still kind of burned into my brain, but I’m curious what my reaction will be now I’m a bit older.

Anyway, I’ve finished Season One, and I thought I might do a quick review of each season as I go. Can’t promise I’ll be able to keep it up, but I’ll give it a go. So…

Season One Review

S1 is… fine. It’s okay. It’s not as good as later seasons, but it’s not bad; it’s shallower than later seasons, but having expected that I found there’s a surprising amount of depth here. (Partly because I’m watching after reading @herinsectreflection’s excellent analyses, which inspired this most recent rewatch.)

I actually don’t think there are many bad episodes in S1 - the problem is, there’s hardly any good episodes either, and none that rise beyond just being ‘good’. They’re mostly just perfectly serviceable - the metaphors are a bit blunt, the humour’s a bit broad, the MIDI soundtrack kind of sucks, the vibes are kind of cheesy and immature, and overall, it’s just…

It’s Power Rangers. It’s a bit deeper and scarier, and the action scenes are worse, but basically, Season One is Power Rangers. And that’s not bad - I kind of like Power Rangers, and it’s not a bad season by those standards - but it’s not what Buffy is trying to be, or what it will become.

Season Score: 5/10 - It’s fine.

Big Bad - The Master:

In some ways, the Master is perfect. It makes sense that Buffy’s first villain is this kind of ancient and powerful vampire - he’s not as interesting as later villains, but it feels appropriate that Buffy has to beat this more generic Big Bad to move on to them. And he has a strong enough presence that he can actually bear the mythic weight that is placed upon him - it makes sense that he’s the one that killed Buffy, that he sired the Bisexual Vampire Squad; it never feels inappropriate that he has this important place in the mythology of the series, and he can carry that weight in his rare later appearances.

Unfortunately, in this season, he’s a Power Rangers villain. He sits in his lair, sending out minions and screaming in frustration when they fail. (Even finally facing the hero directly in the finale, beating them easily before they get a power up and return the favour - classic Power Rangers villain stuff.) He spends most of the season both trapped and sickly - while at full power he’s a compelling, intimidating presence, for most of the season he seems weak and kind of effete, like a homophobic Bond villain. At his best, he's montrous yet civilised, brutal but witty; in his weakened state, he lacks the contrasts that make him compelling.

Still, he is charming, he does work well in the finale, and he’s always a delight in his rare later appearances. So…

Big Bad Score: 5/10 - He’s fine. (... and not in that sense.)

Rewatch Reevaluations

The biggest change in my perspective since my last rewatch is around Angel. When I was younger, I didn’t really think much about the age difference between him and Buffy; now I’m older, I’m extremely aware of it, but also, it seems like the show is too. The episode where he shifts from ‘random mysterious stranger’ to ‘potential love interest’ is Teacher’s Pet - an episode about an older sexual predator preying on teenagers. Then in ‘Angel’, we don’t just see him creepily staring at Buffy, we see him lie to her about it afterwards, in an episode where the age difference is a major topic of discussion.

In general, his obsession with her comes across as way more creepy and pathetic than I remember, and while part of that is just my interpretation, I do think think the series is aware of it; I think him following her around and staring at her from afar is meant to be kind of offputting. I’m curious how I’ll feel about their romance going forward - I remember on previous watches I thought their breakup in Season 3 was unmotivated, and I suspect I’ll feel very differently about it this time around.

I’m also generally more aware of some things after reading @herinsectreflection’s essays. In particular, I’m noticing Buffy’s relationship to death - from her ‘seize the day, because tomorrow you might be dead’ philosophy in the first episode, to her rebelling against and accepting it in the last… and her Faith-like smile as she enjoys mortal combat with vampires at the beginning of ‘Prophecy Girl’. I’m also much more aware of Giles as a very flawed figure torn between paternal affection for Buffy and sending her to her death - which is explicit in a few episodes, but I’m more aware of it as an ongoing arc, rather than just some isolated emotional beats.

Other than that, one thing I’m noticing is how much weight the show gives to the death of minor characters. It’s easy for an action/horror show to start treating death casually or flippantly, but so far the show is careful to give each death an emotional impact, to make every death matter… at least ‘til the end of the episode, at which point they’ll be promptly forgotten about. Sorry Jesse.

And unsurprisingly for a 90s show, I am finding the sense of humour a little mean and kind of misogynistic, especially towards Cordelia. That said, though Xander is often the face of this meanness, I honestly don’t dislike him, even in S1. The thing is, either the show is aware that he’s being an asshole, in which case it’s an intentional character flaw, which is good; or it isn’t, in which case I tend to blame the show itself rather than the character. Maybe that’s a little generous, but it lets me enjoy the character, so I’m willing extend that generosity. I am curious how I’ll feel about him going forward. I'm glad at least Cordelia gets to be more of a character towards the end of the season - it does make the jokes around her feel a lot less mean.

Honourable Mention Award for Underrated or Forgotten Characters Who Deserve to be Mentioned Honourably

3. Zookeeper Furry from ‘The Pack’. Just a really solid one-off villain performance, in an era where performances tend towards the broad and cheesy side of the spectrum.

2. The Black Cat from ‘The Witch’. Looks like stock footage, never shares a shot or even a set with another character, and achieves nothing except slightly startling Giles, after which he just continues as if nothing happened. Yet despite doing basically nothing, it achieves greatness by earning a place in the opening credits. Truly an inspiration.

1. Principal Flutey. With how much he gets overshadowed by Principal Snyder, it’s easy to forget how great Flutey is as a character. From tearing up Buffy’s permanent record and taping it back together again in front of her, to being eaten by Hyena-possessed students, Flutey is a delight whenever he’s on screen - he’s genuinely a highlight of Season 1 for me. Principal Flutey, I salute you, and hearby mention you as honourably as I can.

Episode Rankings

Might not do this for every season, but hey, it’s a short season, so why not. Starting from the top:

'Prophecy Girl' - Obvious choice, needs no explanation.

'Angel' - Strong character work, introduces a bunch of ideas that’ll be important for the rest of the series, and solves the problem of making a single vampire a threat by giving her guns, which I respect.

'Welcome to the Hellmouth'/'The Harvest' - A solid introduction to the series; I wouldn’t call it great by most standards, but it competently introduces everything the setting, characters and the premise of the series, which is impressive in its own way. Luke is perfect in his role - he’s a compelling presence that feels like a genuine threat, but he’s not so interesting that he distracts from the important things.

'The Pack' - A solid guest performance from the zookeeper, Principal Flutey’s last stand, and some juicy thematic and character goodness makes leaves this Monster of the Week episode at the head of the pack. (… I am so terribly sorry.)

'Nightmares' - Character! Themes! Imagery! This episode has it all, at least by the standards of Season One.

'Out of Mind, Out of Sight' - The first episode that treats Cordelia like an actual character. Also, invisible assassin school! Everybody loves invisible assassin school.

'The Witch' - A perfectly competent MOTW episode, this gets a boost for featuring the cat that accomplishes nothing.

'I Robot, You Jane' - Yeah, the 90s hacker schtick is goofy, but this ep’s not bad - I like the goofy robot demon and the surprisingly good demon prosthetics for its non-robot body that barely appears in the episode. I like the idea that scanning a magic book can summon a demon into the internet itself. Also, Jenny’s here.

'Teacher’s Pet' - Another MOTW episode that does its job adequately. I’m inclined to think of this as the Most Typical Season 1 Episode - it perfectly represents the season at its baseline.

'Puppet Show' - I kind of like some of the ideas in this episode, but the puppet’s a creep and parts of the plot feel contrived. (Why are they sure the demon will leave as soon as it has the organs? Why would Giles get into a guillotine under any circumstances?) Overall… Eh, it’s fine.

'Never Kill A Boy on the First Date' - There’s some good stuff in here, especially around Buffy’s relationship to Giles and to her own Slayerhood. Unfortunately, the plot just doesn’t work - even this early on, one vampire just doesn’t feel like enough of a threat to build an episode around, and generic serial killer vamp is no exception - he's certainly no Luke. It’s a plot entirely concerned with setting up the larger arc around the Anointed One, and that would leave this episode feeling empty and boring even if it was for an arc that was actually, you know, good.

So that's Season One. I enjoyed it fine, but... I'm definitely looking forward to the series really getting good. If somehow you've actually read this far: Thank you for putting my words into your brain. I take it as a great compliment, and hope you liked them - or, failing that, that they invoked in you a great fury, such as only the worst opinions may conjure.

In any case - and regardless of whether I can be bothered to write any more of these - I will continue my rewatch into the Actually Good seasons of Buffy.

#i'm actually a couple of episodes into s2 #and honestly #even Some Assembly Required is a significant improvement #it's not great Buffy #but it IS Buffy #the show has arrived #it's become itself #btvs #btvs rewatch #review #meta #btvs S1 #long post #really long post #maybe went a little overboard on this one

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clay-cuttlefish · 7 months

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All of Vic's cartoon appearances.

DC Showcase: Blue Beetle

A 60s-styled short using the Charlton incarnations of Vic and Ted, plus Captain Atom and Nightshade.

I'm on board with Vic being an objectivist for the sake of a janky throwback. There is no Rorschach energy here, this is entirely a parody of Ditko.

The comedy's not super inspired but hey, it's 15 minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome. Look at these losers go.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Mystery in Space!

Vic is so shaped. Just a little guy.

Most of these teasers are meant to show off who the guest hero is and what they do, but not Vic. He's just chilling. Zero explanation of what his deal is other than "guy who is Around."

BatB - The Knights of Tomorrow!

Of all the heroes who have been on BatB, Vic is probably the least qualified to go to Apokolips. Why did he agree to this.

Unsurprisingly he falls in lava. Sad. Well there are other heroes.

BatB - Darkseid Descending!

And then he singlehandedly saves the world from Darkseid while most of the Justice League International blows up. King.

I love BatB's commitment to weird little dudes. It plays fast and loose with characterization (it's a kids show that's mostly about Batman and does it with everyone, I'm not gonna nitpick it) but it's got a lot of interesting randos.

I think this is the only time Jaime and Vic appear together? Actually appear, not just as nonspeaking cameos in a big event.

Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold

I watched this while babysitting and I had a great time. It's a kids movie, but hey, I have Scooby-Doo nostalgia and a soft spot for campy Batman, this does both very well.

Vic shows up, is annoying on purpose, and gets his shit rocked and his identity stolen. Extremely Vic behaviour.

Justice League Unlimited - Fearful Symmetry

I know this is a beloved portrayal. Jeffery Combs' performance is well regarded for a reason. It's the biggest adaptation Vic's ever had. It acknowledges his comic connections to other characters. I get it. I just do not enjoy him as the baseless conspiracy theorist and it drives me up the wall that it's the best he's got.

Like I'm sorry but he would not fucking say any of this. He's annoying and bad at superheroics for many other reasons but he is extremely aware of the real roots of corruption, he's not going to be repeating antisemitic conspiracy shit. Even when he genuinely sucks he sucks in very specific ways.

JLU - Double Date

Points for being partly based on Cry for Blood.

It makes me so sad that I don't like this take on Vic and Helena's relationship. I wish I did.

JLU - Question Authority

I do actually like Vic getting deeply upset by the thought that the bad future is predestined and trying to throw himself under the bus for it. That feels fitting to me even if the details aren't.

There's a version of this story that lives in my brain where Vic is more of his stubborn, no-nuance early reporter self, and he breaks into the secret government facility to try and leak everything to the world only to get his ass kicked instantly by Captain Atom.

JLU - Grudge Match

This is the world's dumbest nitpick but Vic fucks. It's the one part of being in a relationship he doesn't suck at. I have no real problems with this sequence, it's funny and does the conspiracy bit better than his main appearances, but I discovered while rewatching that this is a thing I have opinions about and where else am I going to put these extremely stupid thoughts.

JLU - Destroyer

It's just rude that Vic is in the suitup montage but has his mask on the whole time. Let him transform.

I liked his JLU episodes a hell of a lot less this time through than when I first watched them. It's generally a good show, but knowing that this version of Vic is the most accessible one is incredibly frustrating, and the overall strength means that I'm annoyed about missed potential. BatB was never going to be the serious showcase of his nuance or whatever, but JLU could have been an incredible adaptation, and it just isn't for him. Sorry JLU fans.

#clayposts #clayreads #the question #vic sage

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leffee · 2 months

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szmxkld,.ds..m, for the fourth time (yes, yes I am once again on lps rewatching marathon, it's my comfort show). On today's agenda: Bake it til' you make it episode, aka Sunil pretending to be a doctor to fool his parents episode

You guessed it, it's all about Vinnie as always, a lot to talk about today. So most importantly, I just love when Sunil's parents arrive, they do the whole talk, and then at the end Sunil's mom (love her btw) is like "My son, future film-maker". But like, Vinnie's the one who who made this movie, he was the director, as far as we know he assigned the roles, wrote the script, maybe more, but anyway he was the director. Sunil did not do it, he was the main actor, but not the maker. But Vinnie didn't say aything about it, he didn't try to be the "Well, actually 🤓☝" dude, he let Sunil have all the glory because he's a good boy.

And he was so willing, practically ready on the spot with a genuinely good plan to hop in and help Sunil and somehow coordinated others to join in too.

I also love the detail (?) of why Vinnie was the director, so not an actor in the movie. It might be obvious, but I only realized it now, of course he couldn't be in the movie, Sunil's parents knew him, and as far as it can be read from the context they previously didn't know the rest of the pets so they could be actors no problem. Vinnie on the other hand, could not.

Oh oh, and he watches some medical show! Random thing? Maybe, but it seemes more likely that at some point after he learned that Sunil's parents wanted him to be a doctor he took interest in watching such things. Cause I mean, Vinnie and medical shows? Sounds completely disconnected otherwise unless maybe you consider that he at least partly most likely watches it for the crisis and excitement.

One more thing, idk if everyone who wanted to already realized that, but this is the episode which inspired my "Vinnie is afraid of fake blood (but not real one)" headcanon, this is literally what he said in it, so the first part is not a headcanon because it's just straight up true for him.

All around, he was just really smart this episode and so helpful, I love him, I swear there were two types of writers of episodes with Vinnie, ones who made him the butt of the joke and absolute moron and then there were the ones who made him a helpful little fella who still had that Vinnie charm, without being an annoyingly stupid character.

#lps 2012

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luna-rainbow · 2 years

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Something that your lastest post w Matt Damon made me think about something. I’ve recently rewatched a bunch of Christopher Nolan’s movies, including the dark knight trilogy & it just…knocks me on my butt to look at how well those movies have aged, not just from a visual standpoint, but from a story too. Nolan’s is KNOWN for insisting on practical effects whenever possible (the man had an entire spinning hallway built for inception) & it SHOWS. It’s amazing to look at these movies that were made now over 10 years ago, & they’ve aged better than some of the movies marvel has released in the past 5 years. This isn’t even a dc vs marvel argument to me, but an artist vs corporation. Nolan is extremely serious about the art of filmmaking & you can see the love & devotion & meticulousness that goes into his films (again. The man took 10 years to make inception bc he wanted it to be done right) but with marvel you can just see & feel that the love is gone.

I love Nolan movies (although *clears throat* I wasn’t a huge fan of the Batman trilogy). His movies are constructed to be revisited. You know that quote about how a bad plot twist just makes you go “wtf” and a good plot twist will make everything fall into place? His movies are the latter.

I have to say it’s been a few years since I last watched his movies so my memory of them are a little vague, but there is genuine craft going on. Regardless of whether you like his intentional ambiguity or his style, you can tell he has a strong vision of the story he wants to tell and the message he wants to convey. Whether it’s The Prestige where competition for fame and recognition drive the main characters’ progressive deviation from ethics, or Inception where it asks what defines reality and whether that is important. His movies are also built so that the first time you watch it, the twist is unexpected (but still fits into the characterisation), but on each rewatch you discover more that fits into the puzzle.

The other thing about Nolan is the humanity of his stories. You can call it melodramatic (partly the reason I didn’t love the Batman trilogy) but he has a very classical appreciation of tragedy and pathos, whether that’s the tragedy of someone gifted being dragged to their downfall by their flaws (The Prestige and some of the Batman movies), or the tragedy of being unable to overcome forces beyond one’s control (Interstellar), or the tragedy of the loss of self and identity (Inception).

One of the problems with some of the newer franchises coming out of the MCU is this unwillingness or inability to engage with human tragedy. This isn't about making MCU glum and dreary like the Batman movies, but rather - one of the reasons why Pixar had such wide appeal is because at the heart of every Pixar movie, there is a human tragedy. It might be as small as gaining sentience and a sense of loneliness after being left on a planet for centuries as in Wall-E, or it could be as devastating as losing your lifelong beloved in Up. The rest of the movie is about moving forward and living with that tragedy until happiness comes around again.

Early MCU movies were like that. Each of the MCU heroes are burdened with immense tragedy (yes, even your blarfo), and the tragedy shapes their actions until they can make something heroic and good out of it. New MCU franchises tend to introduce tragedy on the fly, and then make a joke about it to tell you "they've gotten over it".

The problem with that approach is that tragedy is an inseparable part of human experience, and taking that dismissive attitude is how you quickly lose the emotional investment of your audience. Happiness isn't about ignoring the tragedies or the absence of any sadness. It's the idea that we, as humans, have the strength to adapt and carry ourselves through tragedy and find something better on the other side, and that's where the hope and inspiration comes from.

#asks #anti mcu #chris nolan

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thevibraniumveterans · 7 months

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REBELS REWATCH

S1E11 — IDIOT’S ARRAY

In the Ghost’s main cargo hold, Ezra sits atop a few crates, levitating his helmet and likely practicing his focusing skills. Nearby, Sabine sits on green and off-white speeder bike, receiving pointers from Hera. Zeb walks in, looking guilty; Hera is just as confused as Sabine.

Zeb explains his side of the story, while Ezra looks on, surprised at the revelation at Chopper being betted on, and to Lando, of all people.

Zeb and Ezra are hanging out by the holochess table, keeping an eye on Lando and Chopper, who are standing in front of a large mural of a phoenix that Sabine has painted.. Zeb notes, “Can’t believe the little bolt bucket’s actually waiting on that guy.” Ezra is entirely too smug at this turn of events, leaning back with one hand behind his head. Grinning, he says, “I can’t believe you lost Chopper. Good thing I wasn’t there. You’d have bet me.” Zeb replies, “Mmm, nah. You wouldn’t have covered the pot. Besides, I think Calrissian cheated.” Ezra tells him, “You’re just a sore loser. Lando seems nice enough.” Zeb, however, disagrees: “I’m telling you, I don’t like that guy.”

Sabine approaches Chopper and Lando, who greets Sabine and says, “I understand this is your work.” Ezra, however, becomes suspicious and leans forward, a frown replacing his grin. Lando continues, “Reminds me of Janyor’s protest paintings on Bith.” Sabine, being the Ghost’s residential artist who takes pride in her various pieces of artwork, shows that she understands historical and art-related references, something she likely got from her dad. She responds, “Janyor of Bith is a major influence.” Appreciative of fine art, Lando compliments Sabine’s artistry: “Well, your work is even more stunning in its simplicity.” Ezra gets up from his seat, telling Sabine, “Hey, I told you your stuff was good months ago.” Sabine frowns, and responds, “Yeah, but you didn’t know why.” This is curious because while Sabine is much more art-inclined, Ezra isn’t too much into the arts. He’s only said that because he might be a bit jealous, as Lando is a bit of a ladies’ man himself. However, it should be noted that Sabine told Ezra he “didn’t know why”, as a reference to how he didn’t know the specifics of what or why she was painting, who she was inspired by, and so on, but Lando, having pointed out a historical fact, understood the finer points of fine art, and complimented on the technicality of Sabine’s artwork. Lando notices this exchange, and says, “That’s hardly fair.” Sabine looks away. Lando continues, “He’s just a child with no experience of the galaxy.” (Which, in a way, is true, and as a result, ends up becoming something of an unintended backhanded insult.) Zeb, watching this whole interaction go down, tries to cover the fact that he’s laughing at Ezra’s expense. Ever proud of her artwork, and partly because hosts should impart a good impression upon their guests, Sabine asks, “I don’t suppose you’d like to see my more impressionistic pieces?” Sabine uses a technical term to showcase her knowledge and skill, not because she’s a showoff, but because it’s a good thing when an artist invites someone who is appreciative of their artwork’s specific technicalities. Lando replies, “I happen to be an impressionistic connoisseur. That means—” In the background, Ezra remains standing, hands on his hips, none too pleased. He looks away but interrupts: “I know what it means.” But he doesn’t. Sabine walks away. Ezra turns to Zeb and asks, “Hey, what does that mean?” Zeb replies, “A lot less than he thinks.” Having changed his mind, Ezra notes, “I don’t like that guy.” Yes, Lando is shady, charming, and a smooth-talker, but it’s less so about those and more so that it’s most likely, and pretty evident, that Ezra is jealous that some stranger is talking to his crush. It should also be noted that jealousy is not a good look on Ezra.

After some time, Sabine says to Kanan, “Quite a day you’re having. First, you lose Chopper, now Hera.” Sabine looks away, but interestingly, the shot stays on her just barely a second longer than is absolutely necessary.

The Ghost leaves. Inside, Ezra is tinkering with the speeder bike that Sabine had previously been checking out earlier this episode. Zeb, Lando, and Chopper approach with the cargo as promised. Ezra wonders what is inside, but Lando lies. Ezra is a bit suspicious, and Zeb is confused. There seems to be something alive in there.

Hera escapes the other ship in an escape pod as discussed, and Sabine heads to the airlock with Lando to intercept Hera.

Ezra and Zeb discuss whether they should open the crate; it is opened anyway, and a puffer pig comes out. Ezra thinks it’s “kinda cute” but doesn’t know what it is. The creature, however, sees Zeb and flees up the ladder, and Ezra and Zeb pursue it. The puffer pig bounds past the pilot’s bay where Kanan is sitting. Kanan is bewildered, and Ezra shrugs and continues chasing the poor animal. He and Zeb continue running around trying to catch the puffer pig, and pass the corridor where Chopper, Sabine, Hera, and Lando are standing. Sabine is surprised, as is Hera. Lando, unhelpfully, states, “That’s what was in the crate.” The puffer pig bumps into Chopper but continues running; Ezra takes advantage of that and tries to grab the creature, but falls down. Lando advises that the best course of action is to not scare the creature, but that is exactly what Zeb inadvertently does.

The puffer pig, well, puffs up. Sabine and Hera are astonished.The puffer pig scared stiff, blocks the hallway, momentarily separating Ezra and Kanan from Sabine, Hera, and Lando. On one side of the poor creature, Ezra overhears Lando on the other side suggest that he’d like to purchase some of Sabine’s artwork. On a surface level, this could mean that the Spectres get paid either way, which could benefit them. However, Ezra isn’t too pleased with Lando’s phrasing. Sabine asks Lando, “Really? My work. You’d pay?” Ezra clambers up the puffer pig, stating, “Oh, he’ll pay.” The creature gets scared further and expands again.

Of course, the Imperials discover the Spectres’ ploy, and fires upon them. Sabine, stuck on one side of the Ghost, fires back at the Imperials from the gunner’s bay.

Hera confronts Lando: “All right. Enough with the divide and conquer. You think by setting us against each other, you’ll keep us off-balance enough to get what you want. But what you want depends on my crew working together in sync. Is that clear?”

The Ghost touches down on Lothal, puffer pig and Lando in tow. The crew exits the ship, and Ezra tells Zeb, “This time, try to keep it calm. We don’t want you inflating it again.” Zeb protests: “Hey, it wasn’t my fault.” Half amused, Ezra responds, “It’s your faces fault.”

A shootout ensues, and Ezra and Kanan take cover behind a few crates. Ezra reaches for his newly constructed gun/saber combo, and Kanan immediately disapproves of Ezra using the saber. Ezra says, “You worry too much.” He takes aim, and downs a guard with an energy bolt. Kanan is surprised, amazed, and a little zealous: “Hey, mine doesn’t do that.” Ezra replies, “Nope. I might not be able to sword fight yet, but I can shoot.” Kanan grins: “Kid, you continue to impress.” Ezra notes, “…Just not as much as Lando.”

Taking advantage of the puffer pigs distractions, Sabine leaps onto a landspeeder, and jumps onto the other side of it, catapulting herself into the air, bounces off the puffer pig, and disappears to the other side of the building. Illuminated by the night sky, she takes aim at two assailants, and shoots twice, her shots scaring them enough to run.

Post shoot-out, the Spectres walk back to the Ghost. Zeb and Chopper head up the ramp, followed by Hera and Kanan. Ezra and Sabine are the last to board. Kanan and Hera have a little discussion. Hera says, “Well, we got Chopper back.” Kanan replies, “I”m looking for a positive here.” Hera tells him, “There are a lot of things we couldn’t accomplish without him. You should appreciate that more.” Behind them, Sabine and Ezra walk up the ramp. Evidently, Ezra has been paying attention to the conversation, because he proceeds to admit, “I always appreciated you, Sabine.” Note that here, the statement is completely DEVOID of any flirtatious intent and tone, and it’s only expressed with honest admiration. Sabine takes off her helmet, closes the ramp, smiles, and responds with, “Yes, Ezra, I know.” As Hera and Kanan continue their conversation, Ezra follows Sabine into the ship. Hera turns around to head back into the ship as well.

Sabine stops before a pile of crates, and grins: “Oh, hey, Chopper stole Lando’s fuel!” By the landing bay, Ezra watches the conversation, and smiles.

#star wars #star wars rebels #rebels rewatch #ezra bridger #sabine wren #hera syndulla #kanan jarrus #lando calrissian #sabezra #ezrabine #ezra x sabine #sabine x ezra

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lover-of-mine · 4 months

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For a show with some AMAZING platonic relationships they really seem incapable (at least recently) of keeping platonic relationships platonic 😅😅

Jolink annoy me partly because they both told alex there was absolutely nothing romantic there, only for it to be revealed years later they both had crushes on each other years ago?????

Oh yeah I'm not saying the 19x20 scene would work perfectly for buddie, but it's all I can think about when I watch that scene 😅😅

Oooooh I agree! That Jolex arc would work so well for buddie!! (also Jolex deserved better)

That is the upside of greys having so many 'best friends to lovers' couples, is that so many of them feel buddiecoded. There are Towen scenes in the earlier seasons (s6 or 7) that I've rewatched and immediately wanted to write a buddie fic using 😅😅

Honestly, lately they really said no platonic relationships allowed, which is a shame considering they have Mer and Alex and I'm legit obsessed with how close they made them and the way that even tho both Alex and Meredith sleep around, they never considered each other a possibility and we need more of that in media.

I have many feelings about jolink, the way they pushed Amelia and Link just to have it end like that, the way they insisted they were just friends all the time, the way they had such a nice friendship that didn't have to become romantic to stay interesting (also i hate what they did to Link overall, the cute orthopedic surgeon who cut his hair with surgical scissors for a kid on the peds floor is not whoever he is now)

And I totally feel you, that scene needs very little adjustments to work for buddie, it would be epic to get something like that for suuure, I will need to get my hands on some exasperated love confession in the rain fics lol

That jolex arc could be so good, and I agree, they have so many best friends to lovers, it's hard not to watch it and get ideas. I feel like with the amount of season you have a little bit of everything in there, so there's so much inspiration hiding there.

(i dont like talking about how jolex deserved better because i never thought i would see the day i would be mad greys didn't kill a character and i pretend Alex died so i wont have to think about what happened, but they deserved so so so so much better)

#seriously when alex left i spent half an hour pacing my apartment yelling at nobody over how dumb that was #the only other time i was that mad about something was watching the 100 season 7 episode 13 #that one can still send me into rage #but youre absolutely right the urge to write buddie fics inspired by greys is real sokasasokasa #sam 💜#i really need a tag for asks

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userlaylivia · 1 month

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it's been so long since I watched a gg episode so I'll probably start over gilmore girls because I can't stand going so long in between episodes and it's been so many years since I watched idk if I'll like rogan now I just can't see it because they were such a huge notp for me, like I quit watching because of them and I'm older but I just can't see myself liking them like I'll give it a chance and we'll see but even if somehow I do I'll always be team jess and rory/jess are my bbs forever and one of my biggest otps so I don't think I will like rogan like I'll watch s5 and see but it's har to see it and also as much as I love matt I also couldn't stand logan that's partly why I couldn't ship rogan, he cheated on her multiple times, he turned her into someone who did things she never would've, he never took accountability or changed imo like you can say what you want about jess - no he wasn't perfect yes he treated her badly at times but he was a messed up teenager who was pretty much abandoned by his dad and even his mother he didn't have it easy but he grew and matured and became a better person and imo without rory I don't think that would've happened, he literally wrote a book because she inspired him!! amy said once that r/j were supposed to be endgame but then she left and milo didn't come back and the revival happened but milo/alexis used to date so that would've been awkward probably but my point is jess/rory are my babies and even if I like rogan a little more than I used to when I rewatch it'll never ever come close to my love for j/r!!

#this was a random rambling but lmao #anti Rogan #anti logan huntzberger #to be safe!!#jess mariano #rory gilmore #jess x rory #rory x jess #gilmore girls

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philhoffman · 1 year

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This week’s Monday Philm (delayed to Tuesday) is God’s Pocket (2014), dir. John Slattery. Watching a movie with a main character named Mickey that takes place partly in Florida the day I get back from a trip to Disney in Orlando... fate.

It’s been a while since I’ve revisited God’s Pocket but I decided to watch with John Slattery’s commentary tonight. It wasn’t that enlightening, mostly just technical talk about locations and casting smaller parts and deciding which takes to use, but I get that recording it was probably kind of awkward and sad in the aftermath’s of PSH’s death. Still, he spoke very highly of working with Phil as an actor and a fellow producer:

Another of Phil’s gifts was [working] technically. He could do everything he could do emotionally while knowing exactly where the camera was all the time. And then after the fact, he would know which take was the most effective take... He remembered every single take, which is surprising given how deeply into it he was while shooting it. He remembered everything.

Slattery also mentioned that God’s Pocket, which premiered at Sundance on January 17, 2014, was one of the first of Phil’s films that he’d watched with an audience in almost a decade—which Phil talked about at the festival as well.

I like this movie but I understand why some people don’t but I also think many of the critics are a bit too harsh. Slattery’s adapted screenplay is rough and feels all over the place at times, even after hearing him explain his writing and directing decisions. But for a quiet little independent film, I think it delivers. One of the best parts of rewatching PSH’s filmography is the opportunity to see who else stands out on repeat viewings—I was pretty laser-focused on Phil the first time (and sometimes a few times after that), but now I can appreciate a lot of the other performances in his films. John Turturro and Christina Hendricks are both so good here—especially what she communicates with so few lines.

You can feel the weight and worry in Phil’s performance as Mickey Scarpato. He’s never felt at home in this community and Leon’s death forces him to look around and confront it, how little control or happiness he has in his life, and decide whether or not to walk away. As a dark comedy, it almost reminds me of The Savages in that the humor is more based on the funny, strange things people really say and do rather than contrived laugh-out-loud jokes (aside from dragging a body around in a meat truck, I guess). Mickey does what must be done, but at times he can’t hide his exasperation—he just cannot believe this is his life.

There’s one scene toward the end of the film, a simple shot of Phil’s face, that made me smile so much just because of how familiar it was—the cut of his brow, that sharp look in his eye, how his lip curled around his toothbrush. I love that face and the mind behind it and how comfortingly familiar he is to me now. Next week’s movie, A Most Wanted Man, will complete my second watch of Phil’s entire filmography, this time in chronological order. Not sure what I’ll do next but I am just. so glad and grateful to have Phil in my life in all the ways I do—as an artistic inspiration and mentor and comforting presence and more. And he is so so so cute <3

#also slattery said they had to use a double for the truck bc Phil didn't know how to drive stick shift... relatable king #monday philm #god's pocket #philip seymour hoffman #psh #*#they shot for about a month and it was 100 degrees for most of those days. you can tell.#mickey sleeping and waking up dazed and sweaty in a white tank top u r everything 2 me...

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waitmyturtles · 6 months

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Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: The Bad Buddy Rewatch Edition, Part 0.5 -- The BBS Meta Series Preamble

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I'm preambling a series of posts that I'll be publishing throughout November and December about my OGMMTVC rewatch of Bad Buddy and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars.]

After nearly a month of rewatching Bad Buddy and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars -- TWICE, holy shit! -- I'm finally putting pen to paper on a four-part series of BBS meta that I've been looking forward to writing nearly all year.

Before I start the series, I'd like to offer a not-so-quick preamble of how I got here. Before the birth of this Old GMMTV Challenge project, I was flitting and floating, enjoying a dalliance with Thai BLs here and there, while still mostly watching Japanese BLs, my entrée into overall Asian BL content. I started with KinnPorsche in the late summer of 2022, picked up The Eclipse after that on the recommendation of a dear mutual (@the-nihongo-adventure, I hope you're well!), and then picked up A Tale of Thousand Stars in order to prepare for my first live GMMTV fandom experience on Tumblr in early January with Moonlight Chicken.

That was the exact order by which I came to Bad Buddy, which I watched for the first time in January and February of this year, after MLC ended. I was so blown away. I thought I was a drama girlie before Bad Buddy, but it was like Bad Buddy had made me see facets of drama-making that I had never known or appreciated before. The act structure of episode 10 alone just sat me the hell down, let alone the brilliance of the overall story arc vis à vis Pat, Pran, the themes and motifs of intergenerational trauma and filial piety that I related to, down to my bones and bloodstream, and the millions of layers on this show that we could spend a lifetime parsing.

My first piece about Bad Buddy, published in February, is the post on Tumblr that I am the most proud of writing, my first post (as a relatively new Tumblr-ite) that I took days and drafts to work on. In that post, I worked out what I saw as the major theme of intergenerational trauma dominating the story landscape of Bad Buddy, framed in what I interpreted as a reflection of David Hegel's thesis-antithesis-synthesis modality of change in philosophy and art, as most poignantly reflected in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.

In other words, y'all: I became a BBS girlie, lol.

And, partly in conversation with @miscellar, and partly by way of the just TREMENDOUS, TREMENDOUS amount of meta on Bad Buddy on Tumblr (whew, the MASTERS, @telomeke, @grapejuicegay, @dribs-and-drabbles, @airenyah, @dudeyuri, @dimplesandfierceeyes, oh my gosh, so many many more, I can't list them all!), I came to learn that Bad Buddy was a home to so many other themes, motifs, and references that honestly, my mind was blown.

For me, personally, it was ABL Sensei's original post on the newer landscape of GMMTV BLs answering to Thailand's seminal BLs, as well as @miscellar's post on BL tropes referenced and reshaped in Bad Buddy, that served as the original inspiration for the creation of the Old GMMTV Challenge project.

I needed to watch older Thai BLs to understand the landscape of how this genre was born and how it's changed and developed over time, to truly and deeply understand the impact that Bad Buddy had on me personally and artistically, and how it stands in the echelon of the Thai BL genre today, particularly by way of the influence of BBS's director, the brilliant Aof Noppharnach. I needed to know about the food that fed Bad Buddy to make Bad Buddy what it was as its own seminal drama.

So, after 32 shows and movies watched on the OGMMTVC list, I get to this moment -- my turn, my time, to pound out some BBS meta, knowing what I know now about the history of the Thai BL genre up to 2021-2022.

My four-part series of BBS meta will focus on the following:

Part 1: A look at how previous GMMTV BLs spoke to Bad Buddy in their own development, and to Bad Buddy itself. I'll take a look at the BL tropes that Bad Buddy references and reshapes. I'll touch upon Theory of Love, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Still 2gether, and many more older shows. I'll also take a look at themes in BBS that I didn't touch upon in my first BBS thesis from February 2023.

Part 2: In conjunction with my Big Meta series on themes of pain in Asian dramas, I want to take a look at the themes of pain, trust, and separation (sometimes voluntary, sometimes forced) in some Asian dramas, including Bad Buddy, Still 2gether, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Until We Meet Again, and I Promised You The Moon.

Part 3: I have had the extremely GREAT luck to engage in lengthy discussion about Bad Buddy with a number of Asian Tumblr bloggers, to discuss how we related to BBS as Asians, and what themes we could analyze from our culturally attuned and lived-in perspectives. In this meta, I'll take a look at Asian cultural touchpoints including inherited and intergenerational trauma; competition amongst one's peers; the nature of secret-keeping and what's "acceptable" to explicitly talk about in Asian family systems; and much more. (I may need to split this post into two, we'll see!)

Part 4: I'll offer some thoughts, based off of the Pain, Trust, and Separation Big Meta and the BBS Asian Cultural Touchpoints meta, on Pran leaving for Singapore, and how Thai vs. international audiences may interpret his decision to leave Thailand for two years.

I'm late to the BBS meta game, but there's no time like the present to catch the hell up. I'm happy to celebrate Bad Buddy's two-year anniversary this way, and I'm really excited that the OGMMTVC allows me to do so.

Part 1 drops later this week. Meet me at Wai's bar for a chit-chat -- and thank you for reading along!

(Tagging @dribs-and-drabbles by request! If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know! <3 )

[Here's the complete OGMMTVC watchlist as it stands today. For a more accurate look at what I've watched, please mosey over to this link!

31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (watching) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch For the Sake of Re-Analyzing an Politics-Focused Show After Not Me 39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults) 43) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 44) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 45) Only Friends (2023) (tag here)]

#bad buddy #bad buddy the series #bad buddy meta #the bbs ogmmtvc meta series #turtles catches up with old gmmtv #turtles catches up with thai BLs #turtles catches up with the essential BLs #the old gmmtv challege #ogmmtvc #backaof noppharnach #aof noppharnach

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catelyngrant · 4 months

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2, 8, 10, 15 - for the writer asks! XD

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!) Oh man...I have notes and little bits of two paragraphs here, a page or five there, but most of those will never go anywhere and I'm sure I've forgotten most of those ideas already but for knowing that they're in the depths of my Google Drive.

I published 10 (which is way more than usual for me!) and I've worked on/started four that I feel committed to finishing and posting eventually, as well as one more that I'll either write in the next week or watch it disappear into the ether (pretty sure there's not gonna be an in-between option for this one). This has been a year of hyperfixation whiplash, which, combined with ADHD, has had me spiraling all over the place with ideas and then promptly getting distracted and losing the momentum.

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year? You know, I didn't—this was actually the year of me returning to some very, very old roots! I've written and posted my first 24 fic since, Christ, idk...2006? And then my first BSG fic since 2011, my first Doctor Who fic since 2012, and my first Star Trek fic since 2013. I wasn't expecting this but it's been pretty wild and fun! The TNG cast reuniting on Picard and then having David and Catherine back as the Doctor and Donna on Doctor Who were extremely inspiring external factors, but BSG and 24 were basically whims. I signed up for a BSG exchange in honor of the 20 year anniversary because I thought it would be fun to dip my toes back in that pond and then absolutely panicked when I realized I had to actually write BSG fic in the year of 2023, and then I started the 24 fic during a rewatch awhile back and @starg8rocks reminded me of it a few months ago and inspired me to finish it.

So, in short: no new fandoms, but lots of old ones!

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? I mean, the blood sacrifice (aka the Succession yacht vs. orca crack fic) was pretty entertaining to me personally. I'm also just having so many feelings about Doctor Who deciding that the 2023 message is "rest, recover, and reconnect with all of your friends". So, while it was quite bittersweet and partly the result of me actively rejecting the premise that Sarah Jane Smith is dead in-universe, it was mostly just lovely and cathartic to write what falls away is always and offer two characters I adore a soft, quiet moment of care and connection.

15. Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023. The two fics that I agonized over most this year were let your faith die, bring your wonder (BSG, Laura Roslin gen) and we even flew a little (Succession, post-s3 but pre-s4 Roman/Gerri). Between one being in an older fandom and being gen vs. shippy and the other being posted just before season four of Succession started and catapulted the entire fandom, me included, into a new era of fic, I'm not shocked that neither of them got as much love (comparatively) to others I posted this year, but I like them. They're both fics I'm a bit self-conscious about and felt unhappy with when I posted with but I think that's largely because they took so long and stressed me out more than anything else I wrote this year—I liked them more upon revisiting.

my fic from this year send me 2023 fic questions!

#my fic

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zimshan · 8 months

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august braindump: on the state of tv and heartstopper

the last year has been such a strange time for me and tv. i honestly cannot remember a time i watched less new tv shows. it’s not for lack of trying but every show/season i started, i was just dragging my heels to finish. some of that is because they’re older shows that aren’t as good as their earlier seasons. stranger things s4 took me an entire year to finish. the pacing was just wildly off to me, and that’s disappointing after the incredible structure of s1. some of that is because of subject matter. i haven’t been able to work myself up to watch outlander after the s5 finale because i just don’t have the mental bandwidth for a sexual trauma storyline. babylon berlin i stopped watching because they were threatening to kill another kid. i’ve noped out of so many shows because of the ratcheting stakes, something that i'm so so tired of seeing done just for the hell of it.

of all the shows, i probably watched the great s2 quickest because it was just so off the wall and the tone of s1 still fascinates me. but even that dragged and was partly guilt tripping to justify my hulu subscription, and i could never let my guard down because it was always going for the most outrageous grotesque thing. i’m stalled on s3 now that they’re killing off characters left and right.

i watched shadow and bone s2 like 15-20 minutes at a time in july because i just found it a snoozefest compared to s1. i legit just wanted to finish it to cross it off my list. how terrible is that? the moment i finished, i started the fame game, a bollywood show, literally because of one gifset on my dash. and watched that 4x faster than anything else i’ve seen all year. cementing my idea that the best of netflix is their international shows. but that shit was pretty dark too.

so beginning of august, i opened up netflix sleep deprived and looking for something to get my mind off my impossible deadline and fuel some writing inspiration. someone on my dash was recently talking about Heartstopper, and it reminded me i missed watching it last year when everyone was talking about it. so seeing it pop up on my netflix screen, i absentmindedly thought, "what the hell let’s see what the fuss is about" and started the first episode. and you know it did the impossible. it grabbed me from the first few frames, and i looked up 2 hours later like oh right sleep. and now i just want to analyze it like a bug. what the hell makes it work where others have failed?

the binging culture inherent to streaming tv is fascinating to me because i almost never do it. if there is one anti-binger out there, she is me. i miss the era of one episode a week on a certain night every day for years. my patience maxes out at 45 minutes every time. i think it’s terrible that shows need to be so bingeable millions of people have to watch an entire season in a weekend to get renewed. because even the best shows i can't commit to doing that for. where does anyone find the time or brainspace, idek.

i know most of the coverage and reaction to the show seem to be about representation and i agree. but there’s something about the elements of Heartstopper that just work where other tv shows lately have faltered and i want to break it down for parts. because on paper it does seem so simple. some of it really is just basic storytelling in tv. those first three episodes are key and the pacing is excellent, every second counts and the acting, editing, and music really drive the show and keep it compelling. on rewatch, i can see how the addictive quality is very much in the editing, in the music, to keep it punchy so that you never think to stop watching. but it’s also in the white space, the moments they give to the lead actors to let a moment breathe. i've been beating this drum for decades now but this show gave so many good examples of it.

several 5-minute sequences caught me thinking god that so compelling why how. the one that stood out on rewatch is the texting sequence in 102 after nick’s interception of the assault scene. there’s zero dialogue but the editing, acting, and music work together to feel the weight of the moment and then lift up from there.

all these essentials combine with something unique like the animations as visual representations of emotions and attraction and create some kind of magical alchemy. it’s been a long time since i’ve thought about it but “lightning in a bottle” describes the best seasons of tv i’ve seen: where it feels like everyone on set, all the actors, every one of the crew, writers, directors, care about the story and are working on all cylinders to do their best job. in the age of streaming, this seems to be more rare than ever and learning about mini writing rooms during the WGA strike has helped to understand why. so has seeing those checks to send home the overall state of residuals in the streaming era. to do the best job people need to be paid fairly. full stop.

so i started Heartstopper and watched 4 episodes in the blink of an eye. the next day, 6; the last day 4. then i did a thing i almost never do anymore: i looked up the soundtrack. music has always been a driver for me, a tv show that nails a score or soundtrack is always gonna get under my skin more than one that doesn’t. it’s part of the necessary ingredients for a good show for me. all my forever tv loves, music plays a central role, music that defines and sets the tone for the show and then becomes forever married to it. you can create a list of the songs and play it back and see the show unfurl again in your mind. its my favorite way of revisiting a show without actually watching it, after a good vid that is. but it works best when the music is a dead lock for the scene or character and typically this is sound driven more than lyrically driven. this show uses a 2012 era style sound i already have a strong affinity for, i have multiple work playlists from the last decade to drive me through a deadline with Foster The People, Fitz and the Tantrums, et al.

but it also did a thing i haven't seen in a long while: the lyrics were used as an extension of the script for internal character POV. in the first episode alone you have the following lyrical-visual pairs: -i'll go anywhere you want to go on charlie getting ben's text to meet -i wanna get lovesick with you on nick watching charlie run and asking him to join the team -right before i'm swallowed by my mind and cursing at the sky on charlie out of place on the rugby field before nick pulls him in to the group -what's the point of looking at the view? cause every time i do i just see you on elle and tao missing each other -the world ends it's you and me/in my head if we can be together/maybe we'll live forever on nick tackling charlie and the leaves animations around them -i see the signs of a lifetime on nick getting charlie's thank you x text paired with the flowing bird animations roll to the credits

this is vidding happening here.

so i spent a good two days listening to the soundtrack and related albums as i got through my deadline. and then i started getting some more questions about the timeline on the story (the soundtrack is of a style popular circa 2012 that i associate with 8tracks playlists even though the actual songs are a bit later, 2015 onwards) and looked up the books the show was based on. i started Solitaire after seeing it was the author’s first book and wanting to read tori’s POV after the glimpses in the show got me thinking about her elder daughter role.

then i looked up the comics when i realized the timeline of Solitaire was a year later and wanted to fill in the gaps. and wow, i’m in awe of how much of the show was already here, how much detail went into the show to match certain frames. the comics are basically acting as storyboards for the show. i used to do the most basic storyboarding for vidding a lifetime ago. i’ve recently gotten the storyboarding itch again the last few months after watching some BTS docs on TCM about storyboard artists and remembering how fascinating and underappreciated the skill actually is. there's some beautiful storyboarding out there, but it doesn't have to be beautiful, it's just got to be functional. at its heart, it's about the frame, the shot, the visual that tells the story. and a lot of that is already done in the comics and translated straight to screen.

i’m inspired learning about alice oseman’s story as a young author, how she started and finished Solitaire before graduating high school, writing the story she wished she saw on the shelves. then how she was taken with her two secondary characters and started teaching herself how to draw to visualize and bring to life their own journeys. it’s such a great example of how storytelling takes on a life of its own and how you are not defined by only your current skillset. there are no boundaries on creativity and curiosity but the ones we self-impose on ourselves.

the last few years, i’ve been thinking a lot about why some works fail to resonate while others succeed, especially in regard to book to screen adaptation. it probably started with the absolute fail that was GOT S8 and rereading THG next to the films and grown from there with my TCM pandemic focus. obviously it’s a gamechanger when the author is the showrunner and that alone is rare. the whole nature of Heartstopper as a webcomic first and driven by subscribers and kickstarter donations is unique as well. alice has built up a passionate audience to create for that helped promote the show and that makes a lot of difference.

but the streaming element is an added issue. by the time i finished season 2, my one overriding thought was wow, imagine society if this had aired 20 years ago. i couldn't help but think of the kids this show could have helped, seeing such an sincere example of queer community on screen. but interrogating that further, i know it’s a silly thought. it wouldn’t have gotten made at all. in 2000, dawson's creek kicked up hate over one gay kiss that amounted to almost nothing. my best friend at 15 came out as gay and felt like he had to pirate QaF asap as the only piece of queer rep around but something far outside of our age group. this story is age appropriate for the age that needs it. in 2023, homophobic parents are waging wars on the school board and libraries in our area for carrying books with queer representation including those of oseman's. no network would greenlight 22 episodes of a queer tumblr webcomic. netflix gave the show 4 hours for its first season in the middle of the pandemic. it only gets made in the streaming era. it is a product of the times, even if the story originates 10 years earlier.

[]

the picture of queer community and lifting up and supporting others is essential for the age this is targeting. i know i'm 20 years older than that target and am mindful of that. this show is not for me. but it's been a while since i've watched a teen series, probably skam, which is a big outliner in teen shows. i think from my dash i assumed the show was going to be pure teen fluff but instead was surprised how much texture it has. the love story is the focus of the gifsets, but it does sell the show short imo. the world doesn’t ignore the dark parts---homophobic bullies, abusive partners and clueless parents, trauma and its long tail, anxiety and eating disorders, the ways love and community can uplift and support but not cure. reading Solitaire i can see where it’s coming from, a dark story that starts the verse. the darkness is there not ignored but part of the journey. its presence makes the light more powerful. but its best virtue is that despite its dark parts, it’s at heart a comforting story. and i think this is an overarching reason why it succeeds as a show. the comic does right by each character and in turn cares for the reader. so everyone working on it saw the story as a comfort themselves and did right by the story. that care shows on screen.

the way Solitaire ends is a thesis statement of sorts for the osemanverse: support and lift each other up, you’re not alone and stronger as a community. it matches skam's thesis, and heartstopper continues it. that reminder is a balm to these times. it's the ethos of organizing but it got lost in isolation of the last few years. its simplicity is part of its power. part of lightning in a bottle is timing. i know some people have lived with this story for years, but after 4 long plague years, its sincerity speaks to me. i can’t think of a reminder i needed more than this story at this time. sometimes you really do stumble on the right story right when you need it.

anyway, this verse has gotten in my brain now so fair warning. heartstopper/osemanverse posting ahead.

#heartstopper #ive been stuck in bugs grief narrative for too long #this is a balm to my soul #i love it but im also breaking it down for parts #my txt #RB off #2023 #sometimes youre just running on empty and dont even realize it til a fandom blindsides you #havent done a tv braindump in ages #this is why #long post #pulling together all of my tag thoughts into one post

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