#i need like 5 new dramas with him in the main role

[having-conniptions]

Me: oh wow the guy who plays Vegas is an amazing actor he has a unique chemistry with everyone and he's great at creating tension and intimacy with his body language and expressions, I better find out who he is and watch everything he's in

*checks his imdb page*

Me: excuse me what the fuck

#context: the only thing listed on his imdb is kinnporsche #i am devastated #i need like 5 new dramas with him in the main role #bible wichapas #bible wichapas sumettikul #bible sumettikul #kinnporsche the series #vegaspete #kinnporsche vegas

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - 2 GREAT Shows but everything else is kinda blah

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top. Happy new year, BLabies!

Jan 2024 Wk 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 9 of 12 - This show is really earning its chops, and these actors are executing beautifully. I think this is a great BL, and it reminds me quite a bit of ATOTS, only the physical comfort between the actors is more genuine and easy to watch. Unfortunately a guitar came out. Nice communication tho.

That was a very lovely romantic sex scene. Very prettily done. Classy boys, very classy.

Gah what a beautiful final scene with Day saying the last thing he wants to see is Mhork. Pure unadulterated romance of the highest order.

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 7 of 12 - If killer, why hot? Poor Tarn compelled to try to rescue everyone else from their fate, because he cannot save himself from his.

Meanwhile Phaya is finally learning that you catch more water snakes with honey lube than vinegar.

Stellar confession from Phaya brutally honest and very fated mates.

And another lovely sex scene, so I guess that was a vision and not a fantasy Tharn had.

Lets be clear those two shows were GREAT everything else this week was kinda blah.  

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 6 of 12 - I find the backstory very odd. Are they twins? What happened to Blue? Am I meant to care? Do I care? 

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 10 of 12 - I mostly just feel sorry for First. He’s so rightfully confused. Zee/Sprite keeps blowing hot and cold because they two different people! The after sex cuddle was cute. 

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 8 of 14 - Love getting more JeffAlan. Also I switch favorite character allegiances in the trash watch happening here.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 6 of 12 - Didn’t air this week and I hardly noticed. 

You and My Stars YT 1 of 2(?) - school kids, love triangle, it’s cute enough.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) 1626 ep 20 of 24 - Just so boring. 3/10 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 8 of 10 - I’m not into the love triangle. Although I kind of like the new suitor, he’s honest and a good communicator. I appreciate these things in a BL boy. But I begin to wonder if triangles should be left for KBL. Also, this should have been an 8 epper, 10 is too long.

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 8 - No ep until Jan 12 

I Became the Main Role of a BL (Japan Sun Gaga) ep 1-3 - AKA BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen - A rising star is paired with an (older) former child actor (doesn’t think he’s good enough) in a BL series. It’s fun, built on a dynamic of off screen paralleling the on screen, so near constantly meta. All the tropes are there but are as a result of the filming process. The star turns out to be obsessed with the former actor and very dorky about it. In fact, everyone in this show is a little gremlin weirdo (affectionate). There’s tons of scenery chewing miscommunication drama, slapstick, voice over head hopping, and eccentric sides characters. “And he comes with feathers” applies to a number of my friends. You know I don’t like stories around fan obsession, but otherwise this was enjoyable. 8/10

A nice start to the JBL year. Keep em coming, Japan.  

It's done I Need to Catch up

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have a spare day.

It's Airing But...

[INTERNATIONAL] Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - yeah Japan put the smack down on our boys. Sadness. You can use a VPN if you like. Read all about it here.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

Night Dream (Sat YT) 6 eps - It’s a pain to track down and I really didn’t like the first episode so… DNF  

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if safe.

Dead Friend Forever (Thai Sat iQIYI) - horror, meh, tell me if it's worth my time?

In Case You Missed it

All my year end round ups (so far) are as follows:

TOP 10 BL Trends of 2023

Top 10 BL Secondary Pairs of 2023

2023 BLs Best Trope Execution Awards! TOP 10

Best Back Hugs Thailand & Elsewhere

BL 2023 - Cute Bits of Domesticity

BL 2023 - Boys Feeding Boys

BL 2023 - BOOP!

All the BLs Announced for 2023 that didn't happen

Next Week Looks Like This

Starting This Week:

1/9 Time the series (Thai Gaga, WeTV, Channel 3) 10 eps - MFlow Entertainment brings us yet another "fix the past" narrative. After witnessing the gunning down of his beloved, a heartbroken actor uses a magic pocket watch to go back in time and discover the truth and maybe fix it.

1/11 Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Gaga) - Soga, who, after a divorce and relocation to Osaka, seeks solace in dining at 26-year-old Sakae's restaurant. Unbeknownst to Soga, Sakae sees him as more than just a regular customer.

More Coming Jan 2024

Beside You (Thai YouTube)

Love For Love's Sake (Korea ????)- based on the Manhwa ‘Love Supremacy Zone’ by Hwacha. A young man is dropped into a game based off a novel he loves. His mission is to make another player, YeoWoon happy. But then the game starts unfolding completely different from the novel.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan ????) - five years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so... probubly not. I won't be watching this.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Yes, you SHOULD apologize!

This was a FANTASTIC moment! Last Twilight

Night Dream referencing the Shrimp Trope.

Some didn't like this bit BUT I love a claiming moment, even in a briefing room... especially there.

I ALSO love a good Grandma Moment in a BL.

Such a good sex scene. The Sign

(Last week)

#two great sex scenes this week! #both from thailand #thai bl #Last Twilight #The Sign #this week in bl #bl updates #the sign the series #for him the series #Twins the series #I Became the Main Role of a BL #Japanese BL #BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen #BL series review #taiwanese bl #PitBabe #Night Dream

[tiny-breadcrumbs]

Unpopular opinion but I'm on my third attempt to watch love and redemption and I still didn't have enough patience to get through more than ep 3 :(

This is actually the main reason why I only go into mysterious lotus casebook around last month. No hate to cheng yi, I enjoy his visual like any other but its the matter of among his past drama, I can never finish one. Love and redemption, I repeatedly push it back, something in that drama trigger my patience. Maybe its the overly naive borderline dumb female lead, maybe its the slow pace, maybe its the colour, I'm not sure! All the same with immortal samsara, except for that one, I probably will never going back to try again. I've seen mysterious lotus casebook's poster since the very first time it released and immediately put it on the middle tier of my watchlist (one that I probably watch if I'm bored enough with my life). Still, the drama just kept popping up into my recomendation but not until my friend say it's "quite good" I finally start to watch. She is a big cheng yi fans tho, so I'm not fully convinced at first, a total big zero expectation. With all her screaming about I will come out of that being a cheng yi fans and will finally have enough mental power to push through love of redemption, I actually watch it with "at least it have zeng shunxi.." mentality.

Well, big surprise, guess who got distracted with di feisheng (and his pretty eyelashes) since the first five minute? Me. It got worse from eps 5 and above. God knows how that man catch my eyes everytime he is on screen. And through him, I actually stay to enjoy the rest of the character. Hell, I even watch through the cringe survival show because apparently I need more xiao shunyao content after that.

So far, I can say li lianhua was the only cheng yi role that I can watch without the urge to write three pages rant. And I'm still not sure about love and redemption. Does it really good? At what point it got exciting? I kept seeing people say its really good, like the best xianxia of the year level of good. Maybe I want to believe that everytime I come back to give it a new try. But I found myself returning it back to the shelf each try too.

#at this point I can only hope for heroes legend #I need that one to be at least bearable if not good #cheng yi collection of drama #mysterious lotus casebook #love and redemption #cheng yi #ramblings

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

1) Harry has previously said that he didn't watch suits and has no idea about Meghan. Now he says that W&k were fans of suits so he knew Meghan/Suits? Which one is the truth?

2) Harry says William forbade him to keep a beard coz he wasn't allowed to have one. It sounds so petty. Did William really do that?

3) Harry couldn't even afford a sofa?? Why did meg had to lay for it?

4) If Harry couldn't even afford such a small item then who was paying for the Cotswold farmhouse that they had rented all through their courtship?

5) Most importantly, what exactly do h&m want in this so called "reconciliation summit"? What are your views Plant? I would be ashamed to show my face in front of my family and friends after such disgrace. They came to jubilee saying they want to honor queen, fine, but they have beef with Charles and William so why come to coronation. In fact if I had so much resentment towards someone I would cut them out clean. No contact ever.

1. No one watched Suits. He’s lying about Will and Kate being fans. He learned of Suits when he googled Meghan. The guy basically watches cartoons, by his own admission.

2. I don’t buy the beard story. Harry flips his narratives about Will several times in the book. First, Will ditches after his wedding and doesn’t my care about him anymore, then Will is over controlling, micromanaging stuff like his beard and wedding location. Both of those can’t be true.

3. Not sure what the deal is with the sofa because they got millions to renovate Nott Cott. Moreover, he has a trust fund Di left him and Meg made money from Suits and marching. They should have been able to buy furniture. Probably they bought a cheap sofa to tie them over until they got the big house.

4. Soho House paid for the Cotswolds cottage. It was a new development where the Soho House owner was an investor and the the Harkles were basically comped their stay in exchange for promoting the development.

5. He wants an official royal connection he can use for merching and reality shows, basically the half-in and half-out he asked for during Megxit. He doesn’t care about his family and just wants to monetize the relationship. He wants this for three reasons. First, they make a lot more merch money with the royal connection, like 200 times as much. The difference is huge. Second, official status gets them onto White House/political events and international events that they can use for their merching and reality shows and Netflix will pay them more money for that. Third, his main product is royal drama and he realizes he’s just recycling old drama now. He needs the reconciliation to create new drama material to sell. Of course, that’s exactly why the family can’t reconcile. They would be trading a five year old fake “royal racist” accusation for new “royal racist” accusations every three months.

His goal is to obtain a made-up post like the Trade Ambassador deal Andrew had that will allow him to set up two/three trips a year he can use for merching and filming. He’ll film each trip for Netflix and he’ll make up some drama about how the family is mistreating him by not giving him royal jewels/private jet/whatever. He’ll also sue the tabloids for some perceived slight. That should bring in enough income to support their lifestyle. Oh, the made-up role should also come with security, and the family should protect him from the tabloids who will be constantly accusing him of corruption and misuse of government funds. Oh, and none of his income should be taxed in the UK. Easy peasy.

[violynt-skies]

Rottmnt Theatre Arts AU

one of my close moots on twitter @/lynngu1n1 created a band au the other day so now im here to add onto it with a rottmnt theatre arts/performing arts au bc now i can’t stop thinking abt it let’s go!

Leo:

This first one should surprise nobody, leo is a born and raised theatre kid. He loves the performance, he loves the drama, and he loves the spotlight. Leo is often lucky and skilled enough to be cast in lead roles however he’s almost ALWAYS type casted into the love interest role. Not that it bothers him though as he takes the role with stride. He loves playing it and he knows he’s good at it.

Off stage however he’s often regarded as a leader type within the cast. people admire him and with his natural charisma he tends to take charge in helping the cast by hyping them up and setting morale high as well as almost always being on top of things when it comes what changes might've occurred when rehearsing scenes and dance numbers.

He’s the one that sets up the cast parties and after show dinners and often leads warm ups within the cast and introduces the new members to old theatre kid traditions. and despite his chill personality he actually takes his acting roles pretty seriously and works hard to learn his lines and choreography.

Things are always fun when Leo's around, you'll find him dancing in the wings when not on stage w other cast mates and pulling the most ridiculous expressions as everyone silently holds in their laughter and is the one thats got the best drama and gossip stories to tell while blasting music backstage as everyone gets ready.

Donnie:

Donnie is on crew, he helps build the sets, hang the lights, watch for cues, handles mic checks and sound and controls everything from the booth during shows, wearing headsets during the show is one of his favorite things ever, it’s makes him feel like the guy in the chair.

Donnie doesnt interact with the cast that much as he’s constantly busy with the tech side of things but everyone on the cast knows him because he’s e v e r y w h e r e . And while he tends to keep to himself when working, people quickly learned to stay out of his way when he’s doing so

He absolutely loves his job though and enjoys all the intricacies that goes on behind the stage that makes the show run smoothly. Will absolutely infodump to you about certain tech aspects if you ask him about it tech week is absolute hell tho. nobody bother him.

There’s still so much to be done before opening night and trying to get these damn theatre kids to work with him can be such a nightmare sometimes. he likes them most of the time he really does, but not right now especially during mic checks, of which leo is CHRONICALLY late too

Raph:

Raph is a stage manager! though over time has quickly been adopted as the cast and crew mom. While he does everything the stage managers typically do, watching cues, helping move set pieces, keeping track of props, he’s always extended himself to helping even more backstage.

Raph's got whatever you need at all times. throats sore? come on he’ll show you where we keep the throat coat. want a mint? here you go. yes call time is at 5:30. you blanked and forgot ur line before ur scene? here’s the script u got this bud

instead of getting into the tech aspect like Donnie during the rehearsal periods, raph actually goes to help with the costumes instead! he’s making the alterations to help make ur costume fit better and finding you the right accessories for it.

In his spare time he’ll go to the shop and help build sets under donnies guidance, being able to easily move heavy pieces from place to place as well as painting them the main reason raph works so well as a stage manager tho is that he CAN wrangle the wild antics of theatre kids. and while it mostly isn’t an issue as the majority of people already respect him for his kindness. He knows how to deal with them when the chaos starts to set in where donnie couldn’t. when he needs people to get out of his way they MOVE. and while raph usually has a handle on things, the cast has seen him snap at times and have since then avoid it at all cost. When raph tells you to do something you do it.

But otherwise he’s pretty chill! he helps you with quick changes and fixes ur costume if it rips on stage. just dont touch the props, that PISSES him off

Mikey:

Mikey is an ensemble kid. He enjoys theatre but hes totally content just being part of the group and experience and doesnt need to be in the spotlight. Mikey’s the kid that gets along with everyone, cast & crew, he comes to the after parties and is thoroughly engaged in warm ups

However! His skills for dancing are no joke, having previous experience with it before joining the theatre fam. as a result he ends up with a role as a dance captain! quickly picking up the choreo and then relaying it to his fellow cast mates and helping anyone who needs it

He’s the one that ALWAYS remembers the steps. and his the kid that helps remind the choreographer what came after this segment and yeah we go right then left! he’s also the one that tends to do a large amount of the stunts within the big dance numbers. Yes he can do a round off backhandspring! Need someone who can do cartwheels? He’s ur guy. Can anyone do a triple turns? That’s him.

As a result he ends up becoming well known among the cast which eventually lands him some small supporting roles in following shows as well! Not to mention he's the one that everyone goes to for help with makeup. That kid's eyeliner skills are def on another level.

April:

April is part of the yearbook committee at school, which as a result has her coming in during hours of rehearsal to take some pictures for it as well as the show. However, with the combination of this and also being friends with the guys, which led her to start working with them more.

This ends up with her taking an unofficial role as their marketing committee. April is the one who promotes the show on social media and is also the one that puts together the programs for the show and takes the cast headshots as well as their bios.

She and leo tag team the ticket selling, with her passion and his natural charisma they make an extremely compatible team when it comes to encouraging people to go see the show. She’s the one that helps set up the concessions at intermission and is the one who records the show and takes plenty of pictures for it for their social media.

OUTSIDE of musical theatre season:

These boys got some other electives they’ve got lined up (which sometimes overlaps with theatre which makes things a little stressful but it’s all good)

I thoroughly believe leo is that one kid that does sports within the cast, and while ik he’s big on basketball, he also gives me some major soccer vibes- the kid def has the speed and agility for the offense position, and while he knows it’s not, half the time playing the game feels like putting on a whole ass performance and he thrives on the adrenaline of it all

-

Now don’t think i forgot about donnie’s overly big dramatics because i didn’t. Donnie DID actually audition for theatre, and while he’s got a huge passion for musical theatre just like leo, he later found out that he did not inherent the same talent for acting rip.

Therefore! he found something else to fill his need for dramatization and ended up in harmony show choir! a group that involves both singing dancing and performance with no need for much skills in acting, a perfect fit for him.

ofc he was a little awkward when he first joined and he’s not the best in the group but he thoroughly found himself enjoying it as a side activity and found friends in the group as well.

-

Raph is a choir kid! Initially he didn’t have much interest in it and ended up taking the class as a needs for an art elective but after a semester he found that he really liked it! fitting in the bass section extremely well and actually found stage managing through choir. (since half the choir kids overlap with theatre) and many of his classmates encouraged him to try it out! Especially since tech was a little short-staffed at the moment

Raph kept up w choir after a while and started auditioning for all state each year! He sometimes has some difficulties with reading the music but donnie always helps him out when he needs.

Outside of arts though, Raph is also an og sports kid like leo and is on the wrestling team

-

Now mikey as the arts kid of the group obviously has been in plenty of art electives that change from semester to semester, ranging from 2D and 3D drawing to sculpting and painting. Outside of those however he also found himself on the drill team!

Mikey has been in dance for a long time and quickly impressed his coaches with his dance audition which resulted in him being able to jump straight into the varsity team., and after a while he was eventually able to build himself up to becoming the team captain too

Mikey only ending up in theatre after some poking and prodding from leo who encouraged him to join in knowing he’d end up liking it which he did

-

As for April, outside of theatre/yearbook she also works for the school's news reporting team as well as helping w morning announcements, practicing her journaling skills in hopes of one day joining an actual news station.

#rottmnt #save rottmnt #rottmnt leo #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt raph #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt april #rottmnt au #rottmnt theatre au #theatre

[tobyfoxfacts]

SHOULD TOBY FOX BE PRESIDENT??

Heres the pros and cons

Pros

1. He made a game all about befriending your enemies.

He's a natural at building bridges so he may be able to repair any hard feelings between countries that the US cut off in the past.

2. He's a business man

Toby is self employed and has people who works under him. He started from the bottom. He worked on his first game in someone's basement. He earned his success.

3. He's great at money management and project planning

He made undertale pretty much on his own and organized any assistance he needed. He's great working on teams and had done many collaborations.

4. He likes the girls and the gays!!

Toby would let us all be trans and queer. He has 2 lesbian couples in his games, a non binary main protagonist, and is a total mommas boy. He wouldn't wanna take away her rights.

5. He doesn't hate drag queens

Toby has been seen wearing skirts and dresses as costumes or cosplays. He's worn makeup and dresses for costumes.... so he wouldn't hate someone for doing the same.

6. He supports the environment

Toby has a degree in environmental science. Why would he get a degree in that if he didn't believe in global warming? He would help repair the environment and make our country more echo friendly. As a science major he knows vaccines aren't fake and would be a great role model.

7. He slips under the discrimination radar

This is cynical, but based on Toby's appearance, he has advantages in the political world. "Straight looking," pale skinned, rich, Christian, cisgender man who went to a prestigious college. So, heck... he'd get a chance even if he genuinely sucked because politics are rigged. Even if he thought Hulu was part of Hawaii and they made a streaming service... he would still make it to the finals.

Don't let anyone find out he's a dress wearing autistic furry that makes songs about mpreg.

8. He has a great education

Toby went to a college that focuses on law and business. There's a chance that he took some classes on the side about those subjects.

9. He's a level headed guy and stays out of drama

Toby's never gotten caught up in drama and he's not a trouble starter. He'd never initiate a war.

10. G-n outlaws

We already know that Toby isn't enthusiastic about violence and believes in thinking before hurting. He would totally make more anti g-n proposals

11. He loves animals

He'd totally help prevent animal cruelty and k1ll shelters. Toby literally thinks he's a dog...

12. He hates taxes

He grew up in New Hampshire so moving to Boston must have been a shocker. He might be able to make taxes more reasonable, or do something useful with the money.

13. Japan loves him

His buddies in Japan (zun, sakurai, etc) have said Toby blends right in with the people in Japan. He's very polite. SUPER important.

14. He's young

He's level headed and isn't fucked on dementia medication while making life altering decisions for the next generation. He's involved and up to date with modern culture, and knows what people want.

15. He's a cutie

Must I say more?

16. He's a cultural icon

Gen z would vote for him cause they already know Toby's great. Plus everyone who doesn't care about politics would find it hilarious to see toby in the white house.

Why toby shouldn't be president

1. He's too short to see over the podium

2. He's stage fright

3. He'd eat the declaration of independence

4. He doesn't want to be

5. No more delrarune :(

#toby fox #toby fox facts #indiedev #undertale #gamedev #tobyfox #tobyfoxfacts #headcanon #funny #deltarune #hypothetical #toby fox for president

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

BL Wishes

My List of things and Plots that I Would Like to See In BL

FIRST: Rapid Fire Specific Drama Edition:

Big Dragon S2: I need it, I need it now and I need at least one kinky scene with MossBank because I have not forgotten about the lack of kinky sex in s1. I know it's going to focus on a new couple but I need at least one sexy kinky time with them please and thank you.

I need Minato Coin Laundry s2 not to break them up, or have stupid cheating plots. (The bar is in hell)

I need both Domundi (The Next Prince, Naughty Babe, Love Upon a Time, Middleman) and Taiwan (I forgot the names of announced shows but it's in my blog somewhere) Line Ups to come to me and I need it now. Especially Taiwan.

I need Make A Wish to be more available, I could only find it with Italian Subs, I didn't watch it yet, but the ending seems to be hinting at a season 2 and at the possiblity of a poly ending (or at least a love triangle) so I need other people to be able to watch it as well.

The HIstory franchise needs to get its shit together and start producing more and better shows. Like for all of it's fault I did like History 4 and History 5 was fine. But I need more, I need them to do 2 shows again, I don't want them to "fine" I want them to go all out. Go Crazy. Just don't kill gays again.

Now More Generic BL Wishes:

VAMPIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just give me vampires, maybe even some werewolves. I need it, I know that we have Mafia BLs but I want Vampire BL god damn it!!!! The main four actors of Cutie Pie would be great a Vampire-Werewolf BL. And I know Fluke Natouch would be great as a Vampire as well (he was in 2015 movie playing a human to vampire co-lead). I also think Earth Cooheart would be great as a Vampire. And MossBank, they would be great in a werewolves pair.

Speaking of Fluke Natouch and Earth Cooheart I need both of them to get more adult and darker roles. I need Cooheart to be allowed to be a little sexy, and I know Fluke would do a darker powerful role justice, I want him to be in a role where he bringes "bigger" man to their knees. I want to see him covered in blood (I say this with love)

POLYCULE with the main four actors of Cutie Pie. This is entairly @respectthepetty's fault. I saw the MaxZee posts on her blog and and It send me down a rabbit hole. By the way did you know there are no true polycule fanfic of the four of them, there is something, but not true polycule and never with Lian and Yi as a pair. Truly no one knows these characters they way @respectthepetty knows them.

Also @respectthepetty's fault for putting this in my head: Domundi Line Up Mash Up. Bad Friend and Middleman Ship meet Cutie Pie and Naughty Babe's ships. In one big BL. The idea is now in my head and it's glorious. Let's Do It!!

Choco Milk Shake Thair Remake but Poly this time. Not sure what trio could do this, but I need it.

LET GUN KISS SOMEONE WHO IS NOT OFF. Listen I realize that OffGun are probably GMMTV best pair branding, and I know that both Off and Gun are going to bank on this pair and be settled for life. I don't even need Gun to be in an endgame ship with another actor, I just need him to kiss another male actor. Not Me would have been the best scenario because of the twins situation. But they didn't go there, and I will never forgive them for that.

Related to Number 5, I had this idea for a plot with an OffGun endgame ship, that started with Gun's character being in a relationship with Sing (because I am still mad about ToddBlack - Listen they have baited us twice with GunSing kiss I need this now) who cheats on him and Gun has to move out and finds an appartmant with Off's character and maybe another roomate played by Tay because I love the Tay/Off dynamic. We would get scenes with Gun and Sing together, showings us flashbacks and stuff but also an OffGun endgame. WIN WIN!!

I need more shows with parents that are in the murky gray area between full acceptance and abusive, I need them not to change their mind at the end and I need a realistic exploration of what it means for a queer person to have parents in that gray area, I want them to question if it's worth it to have to be one that is keeping that realtionship alive. I am also loving the trend of dramas dealing with homophobia and I need to see more of it. I don't want it in all my BLs far from it, but I do like when BL goes there.

More disable characters in BL, preferably by disable actor's but this is a streach so, I just need more disability in BL.

And more actually fat characters, not like Jao in SCOY (which I Love, but calling him fat, felt like a bit of a strech)

And Obviously more GLs and more masc women in GL

I think that's it. Those are the major ones. Feel free to share your thoughts on your own wishes or if you agree or disagree with any of my ideas.

#bl wishes #bl series #bl actors

[feng-huli]

The Blood of Youth sequel predictions and analysis

To preface this, I have not read the novel and am going mainly based on my knowledge of season one. Thus, there are spoilers at least for season one (and possibly season two, if my suspicions are correct).

This will probably be a bit unhinged and won’t focus on the main cast outside of the parallels there may be between them and the characters that I’m focusing on. The characters I’ve selected are the ones that I suspect of playing a larger role in the second season.

1. Marquis Lanyue

If he isn’t revealed to be a villain, I’ll be shocked. The way his supposed lack of ambition is pointed out numerous times is remarkably suspicious. He has a big scary sword that was hyped up but barely used. He outright threatens one nephew, only helps another because he decided he wants to protect the healer taking care of him, and is pretty antagonistic in his internal dialogue towards the other nephew. There is definitely something weird going on between him and Prince Chi early on that seemed to fizzle out at some point, right around when Marquis Lanyue started helping out his other nephews. Anyways, this might be a crazy guess, but I kinda wonder if he’s going to work with Ye Ya the Night Crow to reanimate Prince Chi (at least, I think the Night Crow is still alive, unless I missed something). As a less crazy guess, I think he’ll be the main or major villain.

2. Mu Chunfeng

He has some interesting parallels to Marquis Lanyue that may become more prominent in the next season. Both characters are defined by their lack of ambition, but in Mu Chunfeng’s case, it seems more genuine. He actively goes on a quest to make sure his older brother can inherit the responsibility of leading the wealthy Mu family, which otherwise wouldn’t happen due to the older brother’s implied medical condition that renders him unable to produce heirs. This shows Mu Chunfeng’s disinterest in seizing power rather than the telling that accompanies the question of whether Marquis Lanyue is ambitious. Both Marquis Lanyue and Mu Chunfeng form an attachment to the healer Hua Jin, albeit of differing natures (father-daughter vs student-master). Mu Chunfeng, like Marquis Lanyue, also has a powerful sword that is hyped up but barely used. It should be noted that Emperor Mingde, who isn’t known for his ability to trust the right people, directly accused Mu Chunfeng of having ulterior motives. Anyways, my more measured prediction is that Mu Chunfeng’s older brother will die. For a more intense prediction, I think Hua Jin will end up dying, likely by accident, culminating in a battle between Mu Chunfeng and Marquis Lanyue.

3. Xiao Chong

The main thing with him is that it’s easy to forget that he’s very much a player of the game of thrones, so to speak. With all that Xiao Se does to earn his trust later in the show, it can distract from how Xiao Chong was making alliances with Wushuang City and how he was able to safely waltz in and out of a conversation with the fearsome Dark River. Even now that he’s risen to the throne, Xiao Chong will likely continue pulling strings. The point of the first season was that Xiao Se wouldn’t make a good emperor, but I do wonder if his arc in the second season will put him into conflict with Xiao Chong.

4. Bo Yong

This one is a bit of a stretch, I admit. His actor was one of the first I saw sharing the news about the sequel, but even before that I had some suspicions about his significance. In the scene where Jade Deity hides Jin Yan from the Director, he is notably absent. Could he have ratted Jade Deity out to the Director? He seems to have been involved in the plot to sneak Wuxin into the palace, which the Director appears to have known about. Anyways, given the events of the first season, the Five Eunuchs need their ranks replaced. Ling Jun and Bo Yong seem to be the most likely candidates, and will likely be involved in any palace drama.

5. Jin Yan

Honestly, I’m terrified for Jin Yan’s safety. Xiao Se and Jade Deity kinda have mirror arcs. Jade Deity longs for the Martial Arts World, and Xiao Se validates that. Xiao Se needs to learn what loyalty to his friends means, and Jade Deity shows him that. This, I think, is the reason Jin Yan needed to survive the first season. However, hints were dropped throughout that key episode that he’s done far worse things than some fun treason, and I have my doubts that the plot will continue to be so merciful to him. If he does die, the most heartbreaking and likely possibility is that it will be by Jade Deity’s own sword, as he is currently responsible for Jin Yan’s actions. If anyone else kills Jin Yan, that sword would definitely get covered in vengeful blood—given how many people Jade Deity has already lost, losing Jin Yan would surely cause him to snap. Less likely but still tragic, perhaps Jade Deity dies protecting him or has the injury Jin Xuan gave him act up, in which case Jin Yan may go mad with grief. Or maybe they travel together and live happily ever after… which could actually fit Jin Yan’s arc. He initially lacks meaningful connections, where he isn’t being manipulated/used. Jade Deity counters that as risking everything to protect Jin Yan. It is possible that Jin Yan could have a positive arc where he turns his greed towards building genuine relationships.

Well, it was certainly fun organizing my thoughts about parallels between the characters and exploring ideas related to the sequel. I’ve been resisting thinking of the future of The Blood of Youth for so long, but the announcement of season two has opened the floodgates to some surprisingly clear water.

#shao nian ge xing #sequel #predictions #The Blood of Youth 2 #the blood of youth #少年歌行2 #少年歌行之南明离火 #少年歌行 #media analysis #character analysis

[candikin]

Hi, weren't really in the THSC fandom in 2020? Here's some stuff you may have missed! (Mostly Drama Lol)

(some of this are from 2021... but SSSSH)

1. Henry x Charles Drama

When Fleeing the Complex released, some people were shipping Henry x Ellie. Now going to Completing the Mission, even more people were shipping Henry x Ellie, but there were others who shipped Henry x Charles. For some reason, people started attacking people to shipping them because "Ugh, why ship stickfigures out of all things?". It was very annoying and stupid, and barely anybody attacked Henry x Ellie even though they could fit into most of the points Henry x Charles haters gave

2. Ellie x Dr V Drama

Now I don't know how this started, as I never really cared for Ellie x Dr V, but this ship started getting popular when Henry x Charles drama started to cool down. Many people started attacking people who shipped this because they thought it didn't make sense. To be honest, I agree, but nobody should attack someone for shipping two people who have never met. Plus, most people who shipped Ellie x Dr V at the time did this because they shipped Henry x Charles and didn't want Ellie to be alone

3. Characterization of Terrence Suave

Many people in the fandom who actually started to care for background/side characters started to gravitate towards Terrence, as he is one of the past leaders and is known to be the worst of them all. Many people started portraying him as villain, as many people liked the Toppats but the Toppats... are the main villain of the story. So they needed a new one, which Terrence was perfect for. A lot of people started portraying him as terrible then to pure evil, expect for one thing... some weren't very happy with this. Terrence's bio never stated any actual negative traits about him, expect for the fact that he was reckless. This led to a huge fight, as far as I know it never really stopped, it just cooled down.

4. Charles x Galeforce...

This time I know who actually started it. There was this girl, I won't say her youtube name but I will say it is of a actual person who is dead. She was already in drama for that and a lot of other things, but she also started shipping Charles x Galeforce. She actually got very "popular" for this but was widely hated. Many people started making reaction animations/gacha videos to her content and stated they hated Charles x Galeforce more then anything so people know about her and don't support her. She eventually "apologized" but in reality it was just her saying "Well I don't care about age of consent, they're cute together". I know 100% they are a troll, so do not try to find them

5. The "Player"

A lot of Undertale fans started liking THSC, and thought there was a player controlling Henry Stickmin to do all of these actions. There were quite a few videos (that were basically just gacha) of Henry crying and blaming the player for their actions. Nobody ever explained why they thought there was a player, they just thought there was. For some reason, I have not seen the player since April of 2021

6. Yandere/Insane Charles

I have no idea who made this popular but someone did sometime in October to December of 2020 since I kept seeing it then. But remember those Toppat! Henry x Charles comics/books that were abusive as hell? Well just swap the roles and that's basically what it was. Some comic dubbers dubbed some okay comics that weren't gloriflying yanderes and abuse, but some people made... very horrible content with this idea. I won't go into it but I'll just say it was worse then those Toppat! Henry x Charles comics/books you probably read at least once

7. Ellie's Backstory Fangame Hate Train

There was a fangame for Henry Stickmin named Ellie's backstory. It was about... Ellie and her backstory. It was very short and poorly made, I'll admit. It was made by someone who was clearly new to art and coding, but people instead made fun of them. They insulted the game and starting personally attacking the creator. I don't know where they are now but I hope they are doing well

8. Comic Dub and Writer Burnout

A lot of comic dubbers and comic writers/artists for THSC starting get burnt out in uhhh... I forgot but it happens all the time because of how much work they just did. But THSC fans apparently back then do not think they were humans so they kept pressuring them to make more content. I have nothing to really say about this other then what the hell guys

9. One Very Specific Guy Being Gross

There is one guy on youtube, will not mention the name because I can't remember but I also do not want to find it due to the nasty stuff I'll have to be recommended afterwards. He still exists, I do know though as I have seen him a month ago. He makes weirdly s-xual content with THSC characters (mostly Triple Threat) then markets them for children. He has existed since Completing the Mission came out. One of his most popular videos is about Ellie and the "special" stuff she does on Halloween. If you somehow find him, please report him I beg of you please I don't want to see him ever again

10. Lovely Creators

Though this fandom can be hell, I love it very much. I probably wouldn't be here (legit) if it wasn't for this silly little game and their fans. Remember to support your fandom creators, old or new and do not insult them for their artwork or writing skills like the fandom did to Ellie's Backstory. And just because someone left the fandom, DOESN'T mean you can insult them! Plus every fandom has their errors, so do not hate a whole fandom just because of the past <3

#henry stickmin #thsc #thsc fandom #the henry stickmin collection

[imaginary-wanderer]

What's interesting when you binge-watch a show with several seasons is to immediately see how things changed over the years, how the writing evolved, the narrative choices they made, and the character development.

I've been watching 9-1-1 everyday, currently in the middle of season 6 (yes I'm fast, I have no social life and a crochet sweater to finish using size 2 yarn and it feels like it never ends) and seeing how the writing really improved around season 5 was interesting. Something definitely changed, the tone is a bit more neutral (I was talking about how religious the show was), and it's actually more impactful to have religious characters who show their faith in crucial moment instead of bringing it for every minor reason.

Cut for spoilers and long post.

I really like some of the choices they made with the character development. Like Eddie and the fact that he's a single dad and doesn't feel the need to "fill the empty place" after his wife died. He tried with Ana but it didn't feel right. They show him enjoying a video game at night (very relatable lol) while still being a professional and a very good dad. It also makes me feel like he could be demi and as a demi, I'd love that.

Buck also has a great character development. Since it's a positive show, of course he took the "right path". I just finished S6E11 and it was nice to see him come to terms with himself. He's such a raw character with a good heart, and a real dumb dumb, seeing him putting himself in shitty situations where he knows he'll end up getting hurt, physically or emotionally, made me roll my eyes with despair so many times lol

I also like that they don't make Chris a beacon of will. No "if he can do it, anyone can do it" bullshit. Cerebral palsy isn't even the main trait of the character, he's mostly here as the kid of a single dad, also made for Buck to project himself on him. We also have great domestic scenes with the three of them thanks to that, thank you very much.

I really enjoyed seeing Hen deciding to go to medical school at 40. Once again, very relatable and not something we usually put forward. At this age, society expects you to have a job and stick with it. Seeing Hen having ambition, and a big one at that, at 40 was refreshing. Of course everyone was supportive, because again, it's a positive show, but her wanting new things in her life for herself was nice.

It's also crazy that they didn't have a protocol to replace Bobby in case of absence. Like, how is that even possible? I have no idea how firefighters stations work in the US, but there has to be a protocol, you can't just be "I have to leave but who will be in charge of the station?" lol Especially knowing captains are not at the top of the chain of command. They have superiors, there's a whole system. I know that's a detail but seeing Hen struggle for the sake of drama because she accepted (and wanted) the role was weird.

Not a fan of the whole "family at work". Well, I like it in fiction because we're absolutely here for that, and I know this is the kind of job where your coworkers become significant people in your life or it just can't work. But the constant narrative of "my family is where my job is"... yeah, better be careful with that knowing how wide the target is for this kind of show.

Not a fan either of the early "not all police is bad" with black people directly involved. I know they tried to show both sides, and I know how it feels on a personal level, but still. Nope.

I know some of what will happen in season 7 thanks to gifsets all over my dash (and this is what made me watch the show, after years of seeing gifsets of Eddie and Buck, knowing there was nothing between them lol I'm here for the real queer), so I can't wait!

#911 #i'd have so many things to add #watching a show like that while not being fully invested; as in super fan; is interesting #also oliver stark is british?? lmao #looking up some of the cast to find where i saw them before was fun #i knew i saw kenneth choi in other movies/series but couldn't find what #also can we talk about how he acts when his character is sad? #i have to say the scene when he talks about maddie with the ER doc was something #it really felt like he was going through all this personally #really heartbreaking acting

[hotwheelschili]

Hiii!! For the book ask i need to know #3 and #13!! Pretty pleasee🥺🫶

Ow thanks for asking!

So top 5 books is weird bc I don’t think i read truly amazing books, last year was better but

1.- notes on an execution. This is so good and engaging although a bit on the fantastic side while the autor really tried to make it realistic. It’s about a dude that’s on death row bc he’s a lady killer, he’s truly terrible but the interesting bit is that his story is told through the voices of the women around his life. His mom who gave him up, his childhood foster home fellow resident, his girlfriends sister. I do recommend this one!

2.- cursed bread. Weird little book about the life of the main character, Elodie, the baker’s wife in a dull little town until a new couple moves in, the ambassador and his compelling wife Violet, elodie becomes involved in their lives in a game of prey and predator full of erotism but it’s unclear who plays what role until the very end when the whole town is caught in a hysteria induced fever dream. This is a retelling of the unsolved mystery of the mass poisoning o f a French town in 1951

3.- drive your plow over the bones of the dead. This is the embodiment of I support women’s wrongs. The story of Janina in a small polish mountain town, she had a pretty uneventful quiet life with the reputation of being a recluse and loving animals a little too much, until one of her neighbors dies and it quickly becomes a murder investigation. She’s trying to help solve the murder but is cataloged as a batty old woman, this becomes a story about her training to validate herself in accepting her weirdness and how that doesn’t mean she’s less reliable that anyone else and by like 3/4 of the book the twist settles in and you know what happened but it’s pretty satisfactory. I really enjoyed this book and it made me want to read more books by Olga Tokarczuk.

4.- Elena knows. A small book that explores morality, family relations and what comes with being female. Rita is found dead hanged on the church and her mom Elena is adamant that someone killed her, she has mobility issues and everyday is a struggle but she’s moved by the passion to clear her daughters name, she goes on a journey, taking the matter of investigating Rita’s death on her own hands. A truly uncomfortable read but so good and the themes Claudia Piñero explores in a subtle yet compelling manner.

5.- do androids dream of electric sheep?. Classic sci-fi novel. When earth is finally spent and humans have to leave they create androids as inferiors to them, to use as companions, slaves, unpaid workers. Rogue androids scape back to earth where Rick Deckard a bounty hunter in charge of exterminating them, only being able to identify them with an empathy test as humans are the only ones able to have that feeling? begins to question what really is humanity and what makes us really different from this beings that we created. The book from which Blade Runner was based.

Honorable mention to the shining which is one of my favorite books and reread at least once a year!

What were your least favorite books of the year?

I guess it has to be Foundation by Isaac Asimov, people are so gonna come for me but I just thought it was meh, lots and loooots of exposition, very little action and I’m aware that the centre of it was to build the broader foundation universe and criticize the politic power of the dominant nations and explain how they attain power and control and that was interesting but idk I guess it’s my fault for watching the tv show first and thinking I would get as much drama.

And Rebecca bc it was so underwhelming and I was screaming my little feminist ass at the new ms. De Winter to leave that pathetic sorrow of a man!

Oh man this was so good, thanks again! Let me know if you read bc I’m so interested in asking you some of this questions too!

#Alecs answers #man I love books

[noperopesaredope]

SvtFoE Rhombulus Rewrite (Pt. 4)

You know the drill. Go to here if you don’t. So, this post is gonna be a bit different. I was working really hard on the Season 4 rewrite, but it was ridiculously long. At one point, it was twice as long as my previous posts, if not longer, and I was only about halfway through! This was because Season 4 will have the most changes from canon, as well as some new scenes and maybe even new episodes. Some episodes will go through major changes too. In order to get this part out sooner and also not rush myself among other things, I decided to split this post in half. So this post, Part 4 of the rewrite, will be the first half of my rewrite for Season 4 (not including the final few episodes since I have a special plan for those). I will post Part 5 of the rewrite when it’s finished, which might take a few days (though I’ve made a lot of progress on it). So I hope you like this and sorry for the wait. Warning: Super extra long since I am going to add in some new episodes and rewrite other ones completely.

Season 4 (Part 1):

- We start off not during “Swim Suit”, but earlier in the season, because Rhombulus is getting his arc this season and I am promoting him to major character. He isn’t quite gonna be a part of Star’s main friendgroup, but he is going to play a more important role in the story and, as I said, he is having an arc (unlike most people here). 

- I will ignore episode constraints and maybe even pretend to take out stuff involving shipping drama in order to throw in the actually important/interesting stuff. Rhombulus needs more screen time and this is his season to really grow, and I will make that happen, no matter how many shippers I have to kill to do it.

- Also, one final thing is that Hekapoo probably won’t be getting her whole poorly done “redemption” in this rewrite. One reason can be summed up in this video, while the other can be briefly explained as: the writers probably only redeemed her because she is a fan favorite and not because it is in character for her. Also, they definitely switched out Rhombulus and Hekapoo’s roles in the story. I am simply switching them back.

- It doesn’t mean that I don’t like Hekapoo or that I’m gonna be completely villainizing her and think that you should hate her. I just think that her role in the story is not the same as the role Rhombulus deserved. One of my endings does give the whole MHC a redemption arc though, so there’s that.

- Anyways, here we go.

- Rhombulus will make a short appearance in “Butterfly Follies” when he and Star accidently run into each other in the palace. Rhombulus is very awkward around Star, mainly due to the fact that they haven’t really had a proper talk since the trial, or even gotten to talk about the trial. Rhombulus is about to ask if he and Star can talk, but Star picks up on this pretty quickly and asks if they can talk sometime later. 

- Rhombulus agrees, but first asks her if she can talk with Eclipsa about the whole “no imprisoning monsters” law. He’s not sure how to approach Eclipsa about it, but a lot of the people in his crystals are monsters, and he “can’t free all of them! There would be anarchy!” Star says she’ll try, and they part ways.

- The next episode he’s in is “Swim Suit”, which will be the same as before and yet very different, but mainly, very important. I might rename this one “Crystal Prism Prisoner” as well. The episode will not start out with Star prepping for beach day, as that can happen in another episode. 

- Instead, it will start out with her getting ready to take a nap, when she is suddenly woken up by a panicked Eclipsa, who leads her to the room where Globgor is imprisoned. Inside is Rhombulus in hypnoslumber.

- Star also panics at this, and asks what happened. Eclipsa quickly explains that she tried asking him about maybe having him free Globgor, and he denied doing so, and they got into a small arguement. Then he started to leave out of frustration, and she panicked and cast hypnoslumber on him.

- Star, exasparated, tells Eclipsa to undo the spell so she can help them work things out. Eclipsa undoes the spell, and Rhombulus wakes up completely p*ssed off.

- He starts yelling at Eclipsa, saying that that was really messed up and that he thought things were okay between them, but Star cuts him off and says that he’s allowed to be mad, but they would be all better off if they worked things out.

- Rhombulus reluctantly agrees, and Star sits the two supposed adults down to work things out. It’s kinda like preschool. She makes sure Eclipsa says her side, then Rhombulus says his side. Star then asks what they might be able to do to fix this problem. Rhombulus childishly says that Eclipsa can find something better to do then harrass him about freeing Globgor, and they start arguing again.

- Rhombulus ends up saying a few legitimately hurtful things in a moment of frustration, and Eclipsa responds in turn with another spell. This starts a physical fight.

- Star has had a long week, and this isn’t helping. Completely fed up, she drags the two of them into a room in the castle, takes away the wand, locks both Eclipsa and Rhombulus in the room together, and tells them that they can work it out themselves and that they’re not gonna come out of that room until they sort things out. To reenforce this, she puts a spell on the whole room that makes sure they won’t get out any time soon.

- After a few minutes of silence, Eclipsa gets back into the Globgor thing, and this immediately frusturates Rhombulus. They start arguing again, and it eventually turns to whether or not Globgor is actually evil.

- Eclipsa finally shouts “YOU BARELY KNOW HIM! WHY DO YOU THINK HE’S SO EVIL?!”

- Rhombulus snaps back “Because I’ve seen what kind of person he is! The damage he’s done! I was there during his rampage right before I crystalized him! I’ve the ruins of the villages he’s destroyed!” He gets less angry and more sad and upset (and a little bit scared?). His voice gets softer and quieter as his eye starts to stare off, remembering things from hundreds of years ago.

- “I’ve met the soldiers who went to battles against him and didn’t come back. I’ve heard all the horror stories and eye witness accounts. I know that he took no prisoners. I’ve had to defend villages against his wrath. I’ve seen him fight. I’ve fought against him.” He wraps his arms and tails around himself. “It’s terrifying.”

- Eclipsa is slightly shocked that he would open up to her like this, and she isn’t sure how to react. She says that she’s sorry that he had to go through all that when he was still pretty young, and that she understands why Rhombulus wouldn’t want to free Globgor.

- But Eclipsa also finally decides to open up to Rhombulus about why she’s so desparate to free Globgor. She explains that she never felt like anyone ever really understood her as a person, but Globgor was someone who was always willing to listen. He changed and evolved as a person, going from violent and cruel to kind, loving, and well meaning.

- They grew together as people, and he was very important to her. So when she lost him, she didn’t know what to do with herself or how to move on. And now she’s in a whole new time period trying to be a good queen and raise a baby all at once. She begins to tear up, ending with “I don’t think I can do all this without him. I need him.”

- This strikes a cord in Rhombulus, as he remembers losing Lekmet, the grief he felt, and the grief he still feels.

- Eclipsa says that this is the last time she’ll ask, and if he says no, she won’t bring it up again, but she just wants to ask one last time if he will free Globgor.

- Rhombulus becomes very indecisive. After a few moments of thinking very hard, he finally says “I’ll...think about it.” Eclipsa says that that’s all she needs, and Rhombulus, head full of thoughts, leaves.

- He runs into Star, who was waiting outside, and she smiles at him knowingly. She says “sooooo, I’m assuming you guys worked things out?” Rhombulus says yes, and thanks her for her help. He then takes this chance to properly talk with her about the trial.

- He apologizes for lying and says he wants to make up for his past mistakes. Star says that while he and the MHC really messed up in the past, she’s glad that he revealed the truth and he’s clearly trying to make up for it. They agree to become friends again. End of the episode.

- I’ve decided to replace “Yada Yada Berries” with my own episode because it was very easy to add in the important bits and it was also very expendable. Sorry if you liked that episode. I don’t really care about it though. This new episode is called “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” because it fits and I’m basic.

- The first minute will be dedicated to introducing the idea of that episode, complete with the Eclipsa assasination attempt, but we won’t get to see the big mystery solving stuff. This episode is actually about Rhombulus and the MHC.

- Basically, the premise is that Rhombulus is still thinking about the thing with Globgor, and he decides to reach out to the rest of the MHC for advice. This will be used to help explore the different dynamics/relationships Rhombulus has with each member of his whole family.

- First is Hekapoo, who is the one he feels closest to (besides Lekmet but you know...), and she feels pretty close to him, despite their disagreements. Unfortunately, closeness does not prevent a lack of communication.

- In this scene, Rhombulus is clearly trying to talk with his older sister about the Globgor thing, but she keeps on accidentally brushing him off and ignoring what he’s trying to say. Hekapoo clearly cares a lot about him, but has a tendency to be dismissive of his feelings. She also sees him as a little kid (he kinda is, but his concerns should still be taken seriously), and ends up patronizing him.

- Eventually he slightly lashes out at her, saying that she always treats him like a little kid, and Hekapoo immediately gets annoyed, snapping back that outbursts like that are the exact reason she treats him the way she does. They start arguing, and eventually, Rhombulus shouts that he was going to ask her for some advice, but she’s clearly not going to be helpful to him, before he storms off.

- This conversation shows the tensions in their relationship, and a bit of how Rhombulus is ignored even by those closest to him.

- The next person Rhombulus goes to see is Omnitraxus. Rhombulus and Omni aren’t particularly close, but Rhombulus still kinda looks up to him, seeing his older brother as really cool and powerful, but also intimidating.

- There conversation is the shortest, as Omni is pretty dismissive of Rhombulus as well, but less in the way some might dismiss a little kid, and more him trying to redirect the conversation to more bureaucratic stuff.

- They basically have a very distant relationship. But this conversation does tell us a few small things about Omni. First off, he is the most formal, and prefers to focus in on things related to their jobs. He follows protocol and orders to a T, having full confidence that what he and the rest of the MHC are doing is right. This can clash with the others, as some are more focused on emotions and the like.

- Omni also isn’t really a huge bigot, as he doesn’t despise monsters the way some Mewmans do. After all, in the Magic Book Of Spells, he does sometimes advocate for peace. He’s simply more…apathetic and neautral. Still racist, but not super extremist. Honestly, he does express that his main problem with Eclipsa is her use of Dark Magic and how she abandoned he duties.

- He will even say this to Rhombulus, stating that he doesn’t have a problem with monsters, he just wants to follow the system and keep the balance.

- Omni isn’t very helpful to Rhombulus, but the crystalhead doesn’t really say this, he just reluctantly leaves.

- Getting slightly frustrated, Rhombulus decides to visit someone he hasn’t seen in a long time: Reynaldo. This scene is...sad.

- There’s also a lot of pauses and silence in it. I might not even add much background noise. While the other scenes have more movement and white noise in them, this one won’t have much of that.

- Reynaldo and Rhombulus’ greetings to each other are slightly awkward, and as I said, there will be quite a few awkward pauses in the conversation. I’m not going to do rhymes for Reynaldo’s dialouge right now because I don’t feel like writing out that stuff right now.

- Reynaldo asks Rhombulus why he’s here, and Rhombulus says he needs some advice. Reynaldo asks him why he doesn’t just go to Lekmet about it. Rhombulus is quietly forced to admit that Lekmet passed away a few months ago.

- Reynaldo’s reaction is not said, and changes very quickly over the course of a couple of seconds, all done in one still shot, but it tells a bit of a story. He first looks shocked, freezing up with an almost blank expression on his face. Next comes an extreme wave of grief and sadness. He then looks almost angry. Nobody told him. He wasn’t even invited to the funeral. 

- He looks almost as though he is ready to lash out, before he glances at Rhombulus for a second and looks sad again. Despite being the youngest, Rhombulus was arguably the closest to Lekmet, and it’s likely he was absolutely heartbroken about his death.

- Lekmet changes the subject by asking what Rhombulus wanted to talk to him about. Rhombulus chooses to be slightly vague, saying that he feels like he might have misjudged someone and really messed up someone else’s life and family by crystalizing certain people.

- He’s considering setting a person free, but he also is wondering if that will make things even worse, whether they deserve it or not. It’s almost like no matter what choice he makes, it will always be the wrong one, and he’ll always end up disappointing someone. Just like all the time. Maybe this is why he’s Glossaryck’s least favorite child.

- He starts getting a little self depricating, when he is suddenly wacked on the head by a paddle. Reynaldo tells him that that’s not true. Rhombulus argues “but Glossaryck-” but Reynaldo tells him that he shouldn’t let Glossaryck’s opinion shouldn’t determine his self worth. Rhombulus grumbles that Reynaldo cares about Glossaryck’s opinion of him, and before immediately regretting this and apologising.

- Reynaldo doesn’t have a response to this, and it’s quiet again for a few seconds as Reynaldo continues rowing down the river. Then he speaks up again and says that giving someone a chance couldn’t hurt, and if it turns out to be a mistake, he can always recrystalize the person later.

- Rhombulus thanks him, and Reynaldo drops him back off. Before Rhombulus leaves, Reynaldo asks him if he could visit again sometime, to at least tell him how it went. Rhombulus says yes to this.

- At the end of the day, Rhombulus really wants the rest of his family to take him seriously, and there’s a sense of loneliness to his character. I was going to add some other scenes to this episode besides the next one coming up, but the scene with Reynaldo honestly spoke more than the others could, and It’s my favorite in this episode.

- Rhombulus then decides to talk to Hekapoo and Omni again, and chooses to call a small meeting between the three of them. He’s about to pitch his idea, when one of the other two interrupts him and tells him they have something they need him to do.

- Hekapoo and Omni have a lot of duties they need to fulfill outside Mewni, and they might not be able to check in quite as often. This will leave Rhombulus as the only member of the MHC still in Mewni. That’s why they would like him to low key spy on Eclipsa for them. End of episode, probably. Unless I feel like extending this final scene. But I don’t right now. So yeah, end of episode.

- In this video by Sarcastic Chorus (at timestamp 8:12), he points out that part of the problem in the later season of Star Vs. is that basically almost all the Mewmans are unlikeable, one particular example being the family in “Down by the River”.

- I decided to remedy this by having the family in that episode not be annoying jerks and instead focus the episode less on some people annoying Moon and River, and more on the flaws in Eclipsa’s new policies. The Mewman family is actually pretty nice, and they start the village with Moon later on. 

- But, though they weren’t originally particularly racist (at most, they were ignorant), the family’s experience being kicked out of their home did have an affect on them, and it’s implied that it’s caused them to slightly resent monsters. This makes them easy to radicalize.

- But enough about that.

- I’ve decided to add an episode between “Surviving the Spiderbites” and “Out of Business”. This full length episode will be important not only to the Rhombulus rewrite, but it will add more to Eclipsa and Globgor as well. This is because it is a bit of a flashback episode for both of them.

- The episode is called “What Remains of My Family” and is a flashback to a series of events; Meteora being switched out, Shastican being eaten, and Globgor/Eclipsa being crystalized. These events will be told from 3 POVs: Rhombulus, Eclipsa, and Globgor.

- But they will all be in the form of dream sequences. Or maybe not. I’d need to decide. But I think the dream sequence idea could capture some of the feelings of each event and the hazy POVs. It might be slightly like Beatrice’s dementia sequences from Bojack, in the fact that most of them are technically correct retellings, but also a bit twisted and exaggerated. It will also help us see how each of the characters view things the way they do.

- First, we start out with Rhombulus’ POV, and get to see LITTLE RHOMBULUS. He’s not super little, but clearly a bit more of a child, as he is only about 100 years old in this flashback. He physically and mentally about 7 years old in this. In Rhombulus’ version, he’ll seem a bit more mature, but still pretty young, and act a lot younger than usual. Because it was his POV, he views himself as more mature, but his actual actions say otherwise.

- Rhombulus is outside playing a game with a couple of figurines he made out of crystals. In his power set, he will have some mild control over the shape of the crystals, but he practices size rather than shape, so he doesn’t often make things out of his crystals anymore. Besides, he’s out of practice in the timeline of the show.

- In this episode though, he’s using his figurines to reenact his most recent battle, and it is very cute. At this point in time, Rhombulus has been fighting on the battlefield more than anyone else in the MHC, and never really had a proper childhood. He’s been exposed to the horrors of war, and isn’t completely innocent. But he still has some of that child-like wonder and playfulness.

- Despite the war, Little Rhombulus doesn’t completely understand the nuances of the Monster-Mewman conflict, and will have a very black-and-white view of the world. He also full trusts the adults around him, and only doubts them when it’s extremely obvious that something is wrong. But that doesn’t happen often, and his lack of understanding causes him to half the more impulsive opinions, such as “lets go to war.”

- Lekmet comes over to him and tells him that the MHC is having an important meeting about something. For the first time, we actually get a chance to understand what he is saying, which is through subtitles. Rhombulus quickly melts his crystal toys away and holds Lekmet’s hand. As the two walk towards the meeting room, Rhombulus tells Lekmet all about his day, and how he’s been practicing his crystallizing a lot lately. Lekmet congrats him on this and pats him on the head.

- They arrive at the meeting room, and sit with the others. Rhombulus is seated next to Hekapoo, who he whispers hi to, before asking if she knows what their meeting is about. She whispers back that she has no idea, but that she’s already bored, causing Rhombulus to giggle.

- Yet another sidenote: Because this is a dream and from Little Rhombulus’ perspective, everyone’s features are slightly exaggerated. Hekapoo’s hair is really long and fluffy, Lekmet’s wings are really big, Omni is even bigger than usual to the point that you can’t see his face, and Reynaldo’s neck is just, like, super long.

- Moving on, Shastican comes into the room and says that he has some news. Spies have managed to capture Eclipsa and Globgor’s newborn baby. The MHC are to do three things: 1) get rid of the baby (he doesn’t care how, just get it done), 2) find a replacement heir, and 3) erase any and all traces of the Monster-Mewman baby’s existence from the records.

- The MHC have a variety of reactions to this, but they all say “yes, your highness,” anyways. Immediately after Shastican leaves, Lekmet protests against doing something like this, but only Rhombulus understands him, and in those days, he sometimes forgot to translate. Rhombulus, who is completely confident in the king, tries his best to reassure the goat man that this is the right thing to do, but it doesn’t fully work.

- We cut to an extremely low angle shot (basically looking straight upwards) of the MHC looking down at something. Omni looks neutral, Reynaldo looks unsure, Hekapoo looks very conflicted, Lekmet looks sad, and Rhombulus just looks confused. We cut back up to see that they are standing over Meteora’s crib.

- Reynaldo asks everyone “are you sure we should do this?” and Omni answers with “well, the king ordered us to, so it seems we must.” They all then start discussing who should do what task, except for Rhombulus, who starts entertaining the baby. The adult discussion is slightly muffled in the background as Rhombulus is completely focused on the cute baby.

- Lekmet tells Rhombulus that they are about to leave, and Rhombulus follows him out the door, but not before looking back one last time.

- He slightly wonders what Meteora’s mama must be doing now that her baby’s missing, but pushes it out of his mind and goes into a training room to practice his magic.

- We then cut to Eclipsa’s POV (the changes in POV are indicated via zooming out of the eye of the new POV character). She are walking through the forest, and then we, the audience, get to meet Globgor here rather than in “The Monster and the Queen”, though this is admittedly a slightly romantisiced version of him since it’s from Eclipsa’s POV.

- Eclipsa expresses her concern for Meteora, but Globgor tries his best to reassure her, and it makes her feel slightly better. This smallish conversation is meant to show the audience Globgor’s more soft, caring side, and his more positive traits.

- It also shows a bit of why Eclipsa and Globgor work together so well as a couple. She encourages him to improve as a person and stands by him when he needs it, and clearly cares about him, and he in turn protects her and supports/encourages her, boosting her confidence when she starts to doubt her capabilities.

- The next scene is the two of them spying on the palace and forming a plan to rescue Meteora. This scene also shows them working together, as well as their respective skillsets in terms of planning and strategy.

- In both these scenes, they are clearly very much in love and a power couple and I love them so much together.

- They decide that basically, Globgor will be a distraction while Eclipsa will look around the castle for Meteora. They separate and put the plan into action.

- We then cut to Globgor’s POV, who sneaks into the palace to inact the plan. Globgor’s POV is the most accurate and least dreamlike, and he essentially reliving a memory. Of course, there will be a couple dreamlike, metophorical moments that show how he remembers it and the emotions he was feeling at the time. This is also the part where we see a bit how he sees himself and his internal thought process rather than what others see.

- He starts causing havoc and running around through the halls, and eventually arrives at the throne room, which he barges into. On the throne is Shastican.

- Globgor leaps over the guards and lands in front of Shastican, and with a fierce look on his face, demands to know where his daughter is. Shastican, quite cruelly and with venom in his voice, tells Globgor “I got rid of your little half-breed brat. She’s gone, and you’ll never see her again.”

- Globgor freezes in horror at this, and we see his world shatter around him as Shastican’s words echo around him. The artstyle slowly shifts into one made up of more abstract sketches, very mess and almost frantic. We can vaguely hear Shastican still talking in the background, but his voice is muffled and begins to get completely drowned out by a high pitched noise like a flatlined pulse.

- All color slowly becomes one violent shade of red, and Globgor’s twists into an angry snarl. We see him roar with fury as he pounces at Shastican and menacingly shouts “YOU’LL REGRET THAT!”

- Everything cuts to black, with only the sounds of Globgor’s carnage to be heard in the background.

- We cut back to Rhombulus’ POV, where he is running around the palace, earthquakes caused by Globgor’s stomps shaking everything every few seconds. The halls are dark and everything looks both too big and too small at the same time. As he runs, we flicker back and forth between the hallway and a battle before resettling on the hallway.

- Rhombulus runs into Hekapoo, and he asks her what’s going on. She tells him that Globgor is attacking the palace, before pausing in the middle of her explanation and staring at him with a contemplative look on her face. She tells him to come with her and that they have no time to waste.

- She leads the very confused Rhombulus to the Monster Temple, and they arrive to what is basically a hellscape. Rhombulus looks around in confusion and fear, before he sees it: a giant beast straight from a nightmare. This is how Rhombulus remembers seeing Globgor during his rampage.

- Other members of the MHC are fighting him, but he is getting close to winning. Lekmet flies over to where Rhombulus and Hekapoo are, and Hekapoo goes back out to fight Globgor. Lekmet turns to Rhombulus and tells him that he needs to crystallize Globgor. Rhombulus is unsure, but Lekmet encourages him, saying that they all believe in him, and he is the only one who can do it.

- This empowers Rhombulus, who walks in front of the still rampaging Globgor.

- We cut to Globgor’s POV, which is very hazy and confusing looking, but one figure becomes clear: a little crystalheaded monster type thing. Rhombulus looks much younger in Globgor’s POV, a lot like an innocent little kid with a determined look on his face. He starts flickering back and forth between himself and Meteora, but when he raises both arms and gets ready to fire, he suddenly looks like a shadowy, slightly evil looking figure. Rhombulus fires, crystals appear at the edge of Globgor’s vision, and we cut to black.

- We switch to Eclipsa’s POV, where she is searching through the deepest pits of the castle. A lot like in Rhombulus’ POV, the castle walls are eerie and nervewracking. She opens a door and steps inside another room, which has her wand inside. She grabs it and sighs with relief, when she suddenly feels a presense behind her. She turns around to see Hekapoo standing behind her, dual wielding scissors.

- Eclipsa points her wand at Hekapoo threateningly, and Hekapoo gets into a defensive stance in response. Hekapoo tells Eclipsa she should probably just give up, and reveals that Globgor ate Shastican and has been crystalized by Rhombulus. Eclipsa isn’t quite sure how to process this information, but she decides to suddenly blast one of the scissors out of Hekapoo’s hand and summons it towards herself. Eclipsa takes the scissors and quickly opens up a portal before Hekapoo can even react, and it closes behind her.

- Eclipsa arrives in Rhombulus’ dimension, and starts looking around for Globgor. She stumbles upon two paths, one which leads to crystalized POWs (it’s pretty practical: you don’t need to feed them, they can’t escape easily, they don’t age or really experience their imprisonment, so there’s no trauma or anything, etc.) and one which leads to “Really Bad Guys”. She sighs and goes down the bad guy route, and continues looking around.

- Then, she turns around to see Rhombulus standing behind her. He looks at lot younger in her POV in comparison to his own. “Rhombulus,” Eclipsa says as a greeting, though it isn’t friendly. She then says that he better tell her where Globgor is, or he will regret it.

- He says that Globgor was crystalized at the Monster Temple, but Eclipsa won’t be going back to him, because she has been declared guilty of crimes against Mewni and is sentenced to crystalization.

- Eclipsa says that she’d like to challenge that, and attacks. What ensues is an epic fight scene that shows off more of Eclipsa’s really cool fighting style and the variety of techniques Rhombulus uses to fight.

- Eclipsa’s moves are refined, elegant, almost as though she is gliding or even dancing. Her spells, on the other hand are much more dangerous and sharp. Everything is very strategic and focused more on precise but powerful blows.

- Rhombulus’ fighting style is surprisingly well tuned. Then again, he does have the most fighting experience out of the rest of the MHC, and part of his purpose is being strong and a fighter. His attacks are more blunt and broad, designed to land across a wide area. He also relies on the terrain, which makes sense since he can change the terrain. And in this AU, since he has two pretty long snake tails, he also partially crystalizes the ends of those, then using each a bit like a scorpion tail. The final major aspect of his fighting style is a mixture of defense and capture, using his bigger crystals to both defend himself and trap his enemy.

- The fight ends when Rhombulus manages to get a lucky hit on Eclipsa’s hand and knock it away from her before he quickly crystalizes it in mid air.

- Eclipsa stares defiantly at Rhombulus, and tells him that he and the rest of the MHC won’t get away with all this. Rhombulus doesn’t respond, and in one big, beautifully animated moment (that Tom Barkel will animate hopefully), he crystalizes her.

- There is a short, somewhat concluding scene for the flashbacks. It’s from Rhombulus’ POV in which he is looking at the ruins of Spiderbite Village and watching as some other members of the MHC help out the villagers. Lekmet walks up to Rhombulus and congratulates him on saving everyone. Rhombulus says he feels like he didn’t save anyone. Lekmet is quiet at this, before remembering something.

- Lekmet reminds Rhombulus that, as much as he hates it, they will have to keep the Meteora conspiracy a secret. Rhombulus looks reluctant to do this, but he says okay.

- The episode end with Rhombulus and Eclipsa waking up in the present time, revealing that the whole episode was a dream, though their reactions to said dream, reveal that it was also a memory, just a weird interpretation of the past. They both also tell themselves that all that is over, and they want to forget about it as soon as possible. But then we cut to the still imprisoned Globgor, whose eyes flash omniously. He will not forget, and he is still remembering. Cut to black.

~~~~

Aaaaaannnnd, that’s the end of Part 1 for Season 4! As said above, I had to cut these into parts, since the OG post was getting so long and I wanted to pace myself. Stay tuned for Part 2! Hoped you liked this one!

#rhombulus rewrite #nr rhombulus rewrite #svtfoe rhombulus #rhombulus #svtfoe #svtfoe rewrite #svtfoe mhc #star vs the forces of evil #star vs #star butterfly #svtfoe star #svtfoe salt #mild salt #not too much #globgor #svtfoe globgor #eclipsa #eclipsa butterfly #svtfoe eclipsa #character rewrite #rewrite #svtfoe season 4 #angst

[deng-yi-deng]

CDramas I watched 2022 edition

I thought this would be my shortest cdrama list ever (+ 1 kdrama) because the year started out so slow, but it picked up dramatically towards the end. Still, this year was more about excellent English language shows (OFMD, WWDITS, Sandman) and dropping dramas when they did not spark joy, which was often.

Surprise shoutout to NRTA for doing one (and only one) thing I agree with - trying to cut down on the overall number of episodes per drama. I do think this is improving overall quality, forcing dramas to tighten up writing and pacing.

I had zero interest in watching this year's hits (Love like the Galaxy or Love Between Fairy and Devil) because of petty personal preferences so here's my 'best of the rest'. Fave of the year goes to Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, the surprisingly well-done costume-buddy cop-mystery-dramedy that I didn't know I needed. Honorable mention to New Life Begins (adorable) and Side Story of Fox Volant for favorite wuxia.

If you want to read a very thorough review of Strange Tales, check out the top review on my drama list (for once I agree with mdl ?!).

*Indicates that the drama was dropped - not an indication of lack of quality, just that I didn't finish

Luoyang

Bad and Crazy (kdrama)

Sword Snow Stride*

The Wind Blows from Longxi*

Heroes*

A Dream of Splendor*

The Side Story of Fox Volant

Light Chaser Rescue

Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty

New Life Begins

see below the cut for my insightful complaining biased reviews

Luoyang (风起洛阳 ) (2021) 2.5/5🌶

I finished this in 2022 so it's on the 2022 list :)

Fun fact: WYB's character is not the main character despite the 217,876 gifs you may have seen. I had high hopes for this one as the novel it was adapted from was written by the same author of Longest Day in Chang'an which I liked. TL;DR version: it does not come even close to Chang'an in terms of the level of screenwriting, directing, art direction, or production. Acting is also weaker on average, but some actors weren't given much to work with.

Huang Xuan is very good, as are many of the actors in minor roles (Old Carrot!!) - I may try to check out some of his other dramas, and would LOVE to see him work with LYX but alas probably never gonna happen. (they're both dancers! and can act! and are handsome! haha, that makes me sound so shallow.) WYB looks like a block of wood through the majority of the drama. Even if (like me) you interpret him as being autistic, it doesn't work. Song Yi's character might win for worst writing for a female character ever! Which is really saying something in cdrama world. Literally the most epic fail of the Bechdel test - she can't even mourn her father for a minute before refocusing all her attention on Erlang-bae. The romance - for either couple - was completely unnecessary to the thriller plot. Erlang and Liu Ran are on my NOTP list for sheer gag-inducing pointlessness. Huang Xuan and Song Qian tried to have a little chemistry but the sparks failed to ignite (see plot) and...sorry Victoria, after seeing you in Broker and then this...not impressed.

Sets & costumes were supposedly expensive (though the ghetto/Unwelcome Well set looked as fake as an old Shaw Bros set) I think most of the $ was spent on hiring lots of extras which - good to get people employed but ? Action scenes - well, you may have already read about them. If not, go ahead and do that I won't pile on. Pacing was brisk but the plot holes. Oh lord. The plot holes. Ending has a completely unnecessary twist (of the knife). Like Chang'an it got progressively weaker after the big mid-way shocker and ended not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Bad and Crazy (kdrama) 4/5 🌶

This was one of the more entertaining things I watched this year - actually looked forward to a new ep each week. Good acting, lots of action, satisfying ending. I was a little uncomfortable with how they characterized mental illness, but once I gave up and told myself (10 times before each ep.) that it's just a drama, was able to enjoy it.

*Sword Snow Stride (雪中悍刀行) 2/5 🌶

I wanted to like this SO MUCH. Finally some wuxia! With actors I like! The plot is ok, the characters are fun and interesting. Lots of really good actors, many familiar faces. There was humor! And some original ideas but... it was s o o o o s l o w. I lost interest during each episode (sometimes falling asleep) and had to force myself to watch the next one - there was just no momentum episode to episode. I gave up around ep 20. Fight scenes could've been better, which for wuxia is kinda important ya know? (I won't even comment on the cgi since others have already done that - it's not great). I really can't emphasize enough how much I wanted to like this. It's like all the ingredients were there for an amazingly satisfying dish but it was served lukewarm and watered down? I'm also getting a little tired of Zhang Ruoyun playing an all-knowing smartass.

*The Wind Blows from Longxi (风起陇西) 2/5 🌶

Acting: fine. Music: too loud in spots. Sets/styling: good. I didn't mind the dark palette, it seemed appropriate for 3 Kingdoms spy drama. The problem? I found myself wandering away to get snacks or looking at my phone too often, then having to go back and see if I missed a crucial bit of dialog. There was no momentum, nothing felt like it was at stake - which for a slice of life drama might be ok, but this was a spy/political thriller! Chen Kun and Bai Yu were ok (but just). I've heard the dialog is disconcertingly modern in spots, which is not a problem when you're using eng subs. The big red flag for me was the guy at the end who explains what just happened. Like. No. If you have to do that to your film/drama you have FAILED storytelling 101. I should be able to enjoy the story knowing only the basics of history (which I do) and then you fill in the exciting bits. Dropped this mostly because the ending was spoiled for me around ep 16 by a mutual who reblogged a gifset that gave away the identity of the double agent and had NO TAGS AT ALL much less a 'spoiler' tag. And this was before it wrapped for non-VIPs. Uncool. SO UNCOOL. TAG YOUR POSTS PEOPLE.

*Heroes 说英雄谁是英雄 3.5/5🌶

Another wuxia! Maybe...please...maybe? Pros: Baron Chen doing the most dramatic cape flipping, blood coughing, suffering stoically performance ever. And he wasn't wearing a wig - it was. his. own. hair. Just inject that sh!t directly into my veins. Good pacing, decent acting and characters (at least for the guys). Trope-y but it's the tropes I like, so yay!

Cons: fight scenes were of the comic-book pose/quick-cut type rather than actual fight choreography. Which is what you get when you cast actors and not martial artists so yeah, but man, it really makes me want to just watch some old HK movies. And surprise, surprise: tissue paper thin female characters particularly Wen Rou (and her costumes - ugh just no to the western-style ruffles.)

Though I was eating this with a spoon for the first 24ish episodes, I ended up dropping it (probably not forever) because it turned into a smorgasbord of angst and I wasn't in the mood. So if you are looking for angst with a side of suffering, then that would be a pro, I guess?

*A Dream of Splendor 梦华录 3.5+/5🌶

What? Well written female characters? In a female-centric historical drama? For me? Aw, you shouldn't have - no, actually you should have, and you should do it again!

Dropped this because I had English language shows to watch (hello Sandman) and it sort of lost steam for me - somehow the way it's shot made it a bit more of a slice of life than plot-driven drama? and NGL I was also tired of reading my tv, but I will try to finish someday.

Pros: production, costumes, pacing all pretty good. Aforementioned prettiness. The plot revolves around the women supporting each other, with the romance being sort of second? kind of? which I love, but also the FL & ML have great chemistry.

Cons: both the FL and ML are a little toooo perfect - too pretty, too smart, too accomplished (the ML was the #3 scholar, passing the test when he was young yet also is a master at wushu and swords? ah, ok) but this is a minor quibble since this is a cdrama.

Fun fact: was watching this and Heroes at the same time and Sun Zujun is in both and plays...a rich, hot, sexual predator in both. Um, hope you don't get typecast my dude. (his acting is pretty good so best of luck to him.)

The Side Story of Fox Volant 飞狐外传 4/5 🌶

Yay! More wuxia this year! please let this be the one....

The first few episodes are movie-quality: sets, action, art direction, sound, acting are all fabulous. Towards the middle it settles down into more typical cdrama territory. Based on a Jin Yong novel, it's what you would expect, and I think has been adapted before. Since I haven't read the novel or seen other adaptations I can't compare, so perhaps this wasn't as well received because it diverged from the novel?

Unlike the other wuxia this year, did not suffer from bad writing for the female characters! Full of tropes, but everyone was pretty well written - despite immediately loving Miao Renfeng, I also loved the 'bad guy' (who's character name I always forget, so will be referred to only as Peter Ho - he did a great job of making a bad dude sympathetic.) Qin Junjie was giving me Chen Kun vibes all over the place - I may try to watch Listening Snow Tower just for him.

Not really sure why this didn't do better. I assume because it's yet another Jin Yong adaptation, and the competition (LLTG and CJL) were more appealing to a (female) audience.

Pros: good acting, great actors, solid wuxia story with a strong start and well done (if tragic) finish

Cons: weak middle - pacing and overall quality dipped a lot. like they put the B team on all the middle eps for cinematography, editing and direction

Light Chaser Rescue 追光者 3.5/5 🌶

Finally a Luo Yunxi drama I can watch, though I'll admit if he weren't in it, no way I'd be watching. Though some of the marketing makes it look like a cp drama, it is in fact an ensemble cast, with the focus being on the diverse people that make up volunteer rescue squads. It's very politically safe and tbh was not surprised they chose to air it during the party congress.

Surprisingly for the moralistic/didactic theme, all the couples were really cute and well done, so if you want romance, there is some. The effects and sets were realistic, and everyone's tragic backstory was tragic. You may need tissues for this one if you're a crier. It wasn't without some super cringe moments (spoiler: the little orphan would be doubly scarred for life by their attempts to help him 'heal') but in general was ok.

Wu Qian (Janice Wu) was really good - I'd only seen her in two things when she was much younger, and she really is a mature talented actress. I'll say it - even better than Xixi, who did pretty good but still can improve, especially in shouty scenes where his emotion looks a little forced. (see, see, how I can critique my fave?)

Pros: Luo Yunxi and Wu Qian

Cons: not enough of the cute dog, didactic and moralizing, weak plot that is barely credible half of the time, often felt more like a bunch of 'how to survive x disaster' instructional videos strung together rather than a coherent drama due to choppy editing

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 4.5/5 唐朝诡事录

Please cdrama gods consider blessing a season 2 of this because it was so much fun! Even though Su Wuming is a disciple of Dectective Di, I think I liked this even more than the Detective Di movies I've seen (!) because as much as I love Su Wuming, the genius detective trope is a little played out for me, and giving him a great foil in Lu Lingfeng made the whole thing more enjoyable.

The writing for and acting of the two leads was so enjoyable to watch. They had great buddy cop chemistry that really elevated the whole drama. Female characters were pretty well written and realized, and some of the villains were downright enjoyable (creepy ghost guy, you looked like you had so much fun!) Production values were fairly high across the board - sets, visuals, costumes, sound, for what could have been a very cheap drama. Everything seems to have been done with care and attention to detail. Though the plots are a little silly sometimes I didn't mind because they were entertaining. Also tw to people like me who are sn*ke phobic - uh there are lots of scenes you will need to skip in the second mystery.

The drama starts at the end (!) which was an interesting way to wrap the whole thing up, but also an odd choice because they ended up basically reusing most of the first ep for the final episode? In between there are several loosely strung together 'supernatural mysteries' that our guys find themselves solving in different places all across the country. Each mystery is only slightly more difficult to solve than your typical Scooby Doo plot, and similarly any supernatural element is soundly debunked by the end.

Pros: writing, acting, chemistry between leads, production values, almost no romance (a pro for me)

Cons: easy 'mysteries', almost no romance (a con for many people it seems)

New Life Begins 卿卿日常 4/5

I hadn't planned on watching this, but I like Bai Jingting ok and needed something to watch after Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty and this looked cute. Spoiler: it is pretty darn cute.

If you're looking for an angsty palace/harem type drama this won't be it. Instead, they use the conceit of 9 vassal states sending a bride for the princes of the Xin kingdom to explore the different ways a society can treat women. It's a very very girl power drama. As such the female characters are pretty well done and acted, but the male characters aren't reduced to being caricatures - all have reasonable personal failings.

Is it realistic, even for a costume drama? I don't care. Sometimes a work of fiction is to show you how things could or should be - in this case the jerks get their comeuppance and the ladies get to succeed. Sure, sometimes the girl power message is a lil' too heavy handed but I'll take it for the overall message and the humor.

Just realized I rated this higher than Dream of Splendor and I should justify myself - Dream of Splendor is overall a better drama, but this was more tightly paced and because it had a larger ensemble there was more going on to keep my interest. That and the fact that this had humor pushed it up a little notch for me.

Pros: cute, mostly light and funny, well paced, decent plot

Cons: I didn't really feel any of the cps (I came closest to shipping Li Wei and Yuan Ying) but YMMV

#cdrama review #what i watched 2022 #wuxia #strange tales of tang dynasty

[bear-of-mirrors]

So thank you to @sal-absinthii for tagging me in this list of 10 characters in 10 fandoms.

To start off, gotta go with the Big M:

1: Megatron - Transformers (IDW1.0 continuity as the best incarnation to date, but I also really love both the Fall of Cybertron and Prime versions of him too)

At close second is:

2: Fëanor - The Silmarillion (I don’t care what you say, he did nothing wrong cause no one else was trying to stop Morgoth. The Telari should’ve given him those damn boats.)

3: The 8th Doctor - Doctor Who (I tended to waver back and forth on which of the revived Who Doctors were my favorite [not counting 11] while always wondering what the show would’ve been like had the TV movie actually worked at reviving the series in the 90s. But then I found out that Paul McGann and his silky honey voice reprised the role of the 8th Doctor in audio dramas from Big Finish well before the show returned on BBC tv. And yeah, without a doubt 8 is the best Doctor and has phenomenal writing, and also has the honor of being the first Doctor to have a trans companion played by a trans actor in the recently concluded Stranded story arc series of stories. 8’s just the best and always needs a hug cause he’s basically what would happen if you took all of the Doctor’s hope, love, joy, enthusiasm, excitement, and curiosity and made a person out of those emotions.)

4: Jaina Solo - Star Wars (yes, I know she’s not technically part of the current canon anymore but Jaina is just the absolute best and I love her and she deserves the Galaxy. I’m still waiting for them to finally let her book trilogy be uncancelled and get written.)

5: Benjamin Sisko - Star Trek (in the debate of who is the best captain, it always unjustly becomes a Kirk vs Picard kind of thing, but while Picard is indeed better as a captain than Kirk, Picard is the kind of officer you want to serve on while inside the Federation. Once you’re out on the frontier or beyond? You need someone with the flexibility and morality/lives over Starfleet regulations, duty, and honor. Besides, he’s the Space Dad that keeps the DS9 polycule alive cause he’s the only one with a brain cell.)

6: The Rookie - Halo (well before Doom got revived in 2016, Halo had already made a game where your silent protagonist had beautiful characterization purely through his body language alone. Halo 3: ODST is a beautiful game with an amazing environment and a really great player character that you can just feel the loneliness through his body language as he works his way through an alien occupied and dead city trying to find his unit, while also seeing sparks of exasperation and playfulness at times without a single word being spoken. I will never forgive 343 Industries for killing him off in a flashback in a book instead of giving him the sequel we all wanted.)

7: Isaac Clarke - Dead Space (Dead Space is the kind of game I never expected, horror in space while allowing you to live your starship engineer dream. Like, yeah dealing with the terrifying cosmic horror truth of the Necromorphs and Brethren Moons is my kind of story, but I found I really really loved the parts where eternally tired engineer Isaac Clarke comes up with on the fly ways to keep space ships and space stations going and in the sky while fighting hordes of monsters. Especially that 200 year old derelict fleet section where you get to fly through like four or five different ship wrecks getting what things you can turn back online, well, online lol)

8: William Adama - Battlestar Galactica (what more can be said about Commander-turned-Admiral Adama? Sometimes you gotta roll a hard six and he did so every time. Not many people could lead the survivors of humanity through the stars to build a new home and future after a twelve-planet-wide robot induced nuclear apocalypse, but he sure did)

9: Loghain MacTir - Dragon Age (oh boy this is a character. You meet him as the main human antagonist in Dragon Age Origins as you try to unify the nation of Ferelden against the Blight and its Darkspawn hordes. He seems a typical fantasy bad guy human but the more you learn about him the more complex and tragic he becomes. He was once a peasant during the imperial occupation of Ferelden by neighboring Orlais and its fantasy French people, who rose up and joined the rebellion of the deposed prince and helped liberate his homeland from truly barbaric oppression. And that oppression scarred him for life. At one point he had to sacrifice a whole army to rescue said prince, his best friend, but was forced to promise to Maric that he would never again sacrifice an army to save one person not even if that person was a king. This places his retreat from the field of battle at the start of DAO in a different light than what you initially are led to believe. Cause his leaving the field allows for the current king, Cailan, son of the deceased Maric, to die at the hands of the Darkspawn in what was a hopeless battle. Loghain keeping that promise to Maric saves the lives of his part of the army, but is viewed by everyone else after as betrayal of the crown. He also comes to fear that Orlais will return and so instead of fighting the Blight he tries to solidify his regency against a hypothetical return of the imperial occupier. And so he has to be beaten and humiliated by you as you topple him from power less his actions doom the nation. After doing so you have the choice to kill him or recruit him into the Grey Wardens which is a life long sentence of protecting the world from the Darkspawn. If you do that, he returns in the third game as the only Warden not corrupted by the magic of the big bad and who can either sacrifice his life in battle to atone for the Wardens being overcome, or you can sacrifice someone else and keep Loghain alive still so he can continue his penance for what he did in Ferelden during the Blight. You also learn from his daughter that when his wife’s roses died he rode to the other side of the country to buy her a new rose bush but didn’t know how to safely transport it on horseback so he silently held the thorny bush in his bare hands for the whole ride back home, thorns piercing his hands all the way, simply cause he loved his wife and wanted her to have her flowers.)

10: Tali Zorah - Mass Effect (what else is there to say about Tali other than that she is the Space Wife? Nothing else need be said cause that says it all)

Tagging @cblgblog @fantastic-fantasy-fanfics and @thefingerfuckingfemalefury for this.

[unnursvanablog]

The Uncanny Counter, season 2 / kdrama review.

This is just my opinions on the season two of the kdrama The Uncanny Counter, pretty much spoiler free.

I've often felt that one of the charms and appeals of kdramas is that there is only one season. There are emotions, there is plenty of quiet character moments, angst, and a beginning, a middle and an end all in one season that American show would stretch out over 5 seasons. It's not really in the kdrama formula to have a season two. It just doesn't seem to work all that well (although series like Kingdom or Age of Youth have managed it or series that are independent continuations of each other like the Reply series). And I think this second season of The Uncanny Counters sort of proves that. The story was over. It had a beginning, middle and end. It doesn't need more.

The plot here is predictable and there is nothing there that adds to the narrative of the first one. There is a lot of room for character development, but the drama doesn't use its time well at all instead giving us rather silly, fluffy moments between the characters and overall, it just feels rather poorly done. As if the people behind this didn't really care or didn't feel like it needed to bother with the plot all that much.

Instead of giving us more time to delve deeper into the characters they give us a cardboard cutout of them and a few romantic moments between some of the characters that are totally cute or sweet but add nothing to the story itself. Nothing that happens really matters. There are no puzzles to solve or mysteries to uncover, backstories to explore (like why the bad guys are bad) which pretty much takes away a lot of tension from the narrative. Everything is easy. There is no real desperation or intensity in the story. The struggles they had that made them interesting in the first season are no longer there. There is no battle going on here.

Many of the characters don't work the same as before and neither do their superpowers. The character who struggled in the first season doesn't struggle now. So Moon seems almost invincible and way too rugged and cold when he was the soft heart of the story last season. He doesn't even feel like the main character here or the sensitive as the heart of the series and we are not following him learning more about his powers. But there was still no decent successor to him to fill that main character, fish-out-of-water role so the story has no anchor or focus.

Our characters have nothing much to do but try to fight some very dull and colorless bad guys. They are not being given time to grow organically so they will change with the narrative. They have changed, without us getting to see it as it all happened off screen between the two seasons, to serve the oh-so-generic, bare-bone plot that this new series has to offer.

While the plot of the first series felt like a story that has been retread a little too often, it also managed to find some fresh and exciting angles on the very common underdog superhero story with some good tension and humor along with a great lovable cast and characters. And although the actors and characters are still lovely, the story here doesn't really nothing to say here. Not about human greed or corruption or humanity. At least not in an exciting new way. Everything is a little too simple or convenient to hit it's mark properly.

On the surface, the series is cool, flashy, with funny moments and some really cool special effects and fight scenes, but that was never really what made The Uncanny Counters, or any sci-fi for the matter show fun to watch. People may start watching genre shows for the setting; dragons, swords, superpowers and all that but people keep watching for the plot and the characters. The character struggles, seeing those less fortunate stand up for something bigger than them, people coming together and working together using their powers makes for an exciting narrative and hopefully a good story. It's so much more than just some superpowers. The previous series seemed to understand that, but this feels very much surface level to its approach to a story.

This series seems rather dull. The story is missing something and both the old characters and the new ones we are meeting do not have the same charm and depth as in the previous season. There isn't really any story going on, very little momentum or character moments that move the story forward. It just sort of tugs along. Everything is too easy, too predictable and there is very little real conflict going on, apart from cool fight scenes, or characters growth which makes it really boring to watch because nothing really happens. Or matter. There is nothing about season two that stays with you after watching it. If you have nothing to add to a story, don't make season two.

#the uncanny counter #uncanny counter #kdrama reviews #kdrama review

[rotblut]

GOD im gonna miss yj and hs SO MUCH they were thee main slayers, the only ones that mattered, created romance, etc 😭😭😭😭

.

not saying shit about friends to lovers anymore they healed my aversion for that trope because normally i find it really lazy and boring but they made it extremely personally interesting and fun and emotional

have a lot of thoughts about them that makes not really any sense but anyway........ first of all food is one of their love languages.... all the parallels they had over the 16 eps........ the way they are different yet similar in what they crave and that they are really lonely people but show it in different ways. also, 80% of the time their outfits matched each other. from the colors to the fabric and outfit choices like it's so on point.

LIKE I NEED A PRE AND POST-FINALE 400k+ fic of them??????????? WHERE IS IT YOU ALL WHERE IS MY LONG FIC OF THEM?? I need it so badly like i need to read about the 1 year time skip and the few weeks before the time skip and i need an alternative scene of him barging into the room and hugging her while she's sobbing and him sobbing with her and them being together and falling asleep tired as hell over crying the whole time in holding onto each other. and the awkward first few moments and i need the whole mind map that went into them dating and what kind of dates they had and what they did and what they talked about. the wedding and them being married and having babies and they're gonna make like 5 babies because the more the better. (also, it would have been cute if we had gotten a tiny lil flashback scene with younger YJ+HS like that would have been cute but.......... )

like before CIL i was a big S**gJ**n anti like i disliked his ass because he was always playing assholes that are just massive dicks but in a shitty kind of way........ i did not give a single f about that guy i watched him in a few dramas/ movies and he was always MEHHHHHHHHH boring and uninteresting to me (mostly because he was miscast in all his roles) and CIL literally made me a believer. like the fucked up and dry bleached tips of the hair and the messy all-around persona?????? SEXI to me i want him i need him?????? pathetic loser calm guys that are just there and don't do much???????? and him working a regular normal job in CIL???? that mattered.

also, CIL was such a consistent banger drama from start to finish because of them. it also ended so fast normally the period of a drama airing feels annoying long and I'm mostly exhausted by the end of it, but this one i ended it refreshed and well-fed all around. and not to mention watching a drama just for the side couple and skipping everything else is such a power move in a way??????? like the feeling is just different from watching a drama normally or watching a drama for the leads compared to watching a drama just for the side couple????? like the energy is so all around better if the side couple is getting treated well. and the quotes????????? the words that they said????????? our loud????????? MLN kind of healing poetry. like normally i complain a loooooooooot about random shit and about all kinds of things but i was not complaining about anything. that's so crazy to me i was so in tune with everything sure they could have gotten more screentime and the drama could have been 20eps long or maybe it could have been a weekend drama because it had all the ingredients of a weekender but like???????? i was well-fed. also don't ask me what was going on between the leads and their moms and the cheater dad and the lil bro and the other side characters and hani because I do not know in full detail and still it was soooooooo well written???????? CIL writer my new best friend. like di*ney+kr needs to do those 1 ep special eps like i need a whole ep dedicated to them post-wedding and them doing random stuff and all that just being silly together and all that omg. like they could have so much out of it ahhhhh

also fuck the immature people on twt/mdl/a few on here who are misogynistic af. the moment a woman gets something to say about the situation/relationship of the leads that's kinda negative or judgemental and has valid reasons to say so they are getting called all kinds of words??????????? immature people. especially because the stuff she said wasn't that bad like it was valid and at the end, she did give them her okay and even if not like????????? it would have been weird if she did not react to the news at all....... and it was in line with her character so like....... what did they expect?????????? that's that on that.

...anyway, this makes no sense also hugs

#frage