#....guardian and xena are so similar they might be the only passes of actual first love i can tolerate

[mejomonster]

knew each other in childhood to lovers is always a trope on thin ice for me because i hate the idea of first love being the only true love when like, often in life luck isn’t perfect and we are messy and might need to move on from messy imperfect relationships in youth and learn to make healthier choices and not settle for ppl mean to us like. generally we are not often lucky enough for our 9 year old, 12 year old, 15 year old crushes to actually care the same way back (or us to even care lol) or anyone be mature enough to care about anyone for 2 decades. like if we get lucky some lifetime best friends, if we get Real lucky maybe first love works out. but i like a lot better in stories when its X times of love and finally cause people found good fits who choose each other actively and it works out. i’ve only seen a few shows where that trope has some rights for me lol (tho if you enjoy the trope have fun cause there’s a lot of i imagine good thorough stories with it) ToT:

Till Death Tear Us Apart: money man sugar daddy was deeply in love with childhood friend. Other friend moved on from friendship that had regular value to him, became a spy, only is interacting again cause rich man is so desperate to reconnect and adores him and the spy mess kind of draws them together. they basically fall in love in real time since its the first time knowing each other As rich shady businessman and teacher/SPY. since they changed a lot. also only really a childhood crush on one side. Also the side couple just brand new met each other so even if i had hated the trope in this, it gave me something else too lol

Guardian: BARELY fits into this category, and only for the same reason as above. I realize i’m ok with the young-first-love trope IF and only if it was one sided and basically is still starting from scratch in the present. Shen Wei fell in love with Zhao Yunlan 10k years ago, presumably his first and only love (does he get a pass since he’s an immortal? no but it does make it a bit more cute). But by the time he meets Zhao Yunlan again, he’s GRIEVED and now he’s a new person basically. He’s suspicious and doesn’t know if this even is his lost love (in which case Kunlun used and lied to him and abandoned him), or if its a stranger with his face (ripping his heart open by reminding him of his lost love). For both of them its a cat and mouse of figuring out who each other are, and for Shen Wei its really falling in love anew with this ‘Zhao Yunlan’ for the first time who just happens to bring up complex emotions about his loss - later its an added benefit this is truly Kunlun. (At least in the show, in the novel I think he knows its always Kunlun? Its just still falling in love with a new incarnation). Also very fun that their story is basically an exploration of always one falling in love for the first time, and one already deeply in love for a while. Which is more like chosen soulmates running into each other in any time and place rather than childhood crush to lovers. Feels more like watching Xena/Gabrielle than a childhood crush to lovers. Only applies on a technicality since Shen Wei is sappy and refused to ever try to love besides Kunlun which... I understand, bro is extreme And went through a lot. Like. In a way yes Shen Wei only ever has one first love. But also for him, the process of falling in love with Zhao Yunlan in the present IS him risking falling in love with a new stranger, so its still kind of second love and all the caution of what being hurt/having lost something in the past leaves with you. And of course Zhao Yunlan has had many failed searches for love (in the book baby .... ;-; .... Zhao Yunlan i’m sorry you have such bad luck finding love ... honey). 

Bromance: thin ice ToT. I love this show a lot but was kinda mad about it when i realized the two leads ran into each other as children because one saved the other’s life. Truly the only thing in the show’s entire writing that wasn’t my jam lol. It would’ve been fine if one had just saved the other, but our romantic lead feels kind of like he just imprinted and always wanted to find the person who saved him. While this is mitigated by our lead wanting him to give up looking, letting him know his rescuer feels repaid, and generally both of them just falling in love in real time as adults. So like, its not that bad. Assuming it doesn’t dwell in their childhoods too much more. I get why they wrote it in - one its a super common trope in these shows, two it gave our romantic lead a reason to be INTENSE about trying to find the childhood identity of our other lead (which needed to be happening for certain angles of this plot that aren’t even romance related). So I get it. This show is definitely also given a pass because its setup is so unique and explores some issues romance shows rarely do regarding identity (I think Bureau of Transformers is one of the only other shows I’ve seen do this much regarding exploration of one’s gender identity). also like a bonus our romantic lead is bi, thank you taiwan. You gave me history 3 trapped and now Bromance, i appreciate more bi guys in media. (Bureau of Transformer also managed to give an explicit bi guy lead despite being a cdrama so again, shout out to one of my fave shows!)

 The Guest: ?!!!! Shockingly this ALSO did “knew each other in childhood” as a trope! It has rights though, because NONE of these kids fell in love at the time! They literally just ran into each other during a big murder disaster, got traumatized, went their separate ways. Then as adults minding their own business by luck happen to run into each other and all get mixed up again with the same monster who was responsible for that awful murder night. More a case of ‘coincidence in childhood.’ So not annoying at all. I get why they did it. Also this show is Not romance, so can’t fall into said trope. Though if you see inherent romance in found family, or like me kind of pick up some priest/psychic vibes, then well the trope is just the slightest touch visible lol. 

Word of Honor: Now, apparently lol??! Again, not that annoying, since based on scenes no one had time to fall in love. It was more a case of both kids getting traumatized by having a moment of calm safety then people died (so kind of the Guest vibes but over a period of days/weeks instead of one really sucky night). at a stretch, it might be slightly like Guardian just because Wen Kexing definitely extends more trust than he normally would due to recognizing familiar Four Seasons Manor fight moves and having fond memories of the place. Then having safe memories of kid Zhou Zishu. Likewise to Shen Wei having so many fond memories of Kunlun’s face he cant help but want to do anything to keep Zhao Yunlan alive even when he’s not sure yet if ZYL would kill him/kill his people/if he’s got malicious intent or not in this life or the past in retrospect. Unlike Shen Wei, neither Wen Kexing or Zhou Zishu fell in love in their younger days. Which is why they’re both so excited and over the moon they click so well with someone (considering Who they are and how hard it is to find someone compatible to that). And how they’re both CLINGING now that they think they’ve found a soulmate, and how bitter they are whenever each other’s actions make choosing to be soulmates harder. Oh you know like Wen Kexing going off the rails - Zhou Zishu like fuck can i really decide to make a life with this time bomb, or Zhou Zishu admitting he’s dying - Wen Kexing like damn even if i get my revenge i might not have my new soulmate long and he wasn’t even gonna tell me. Clearly they fell in love as adults, all the childhood stuff is just ICING on the cake of Wen Kexing’s “he already is who i wanted now you tell me he was also the HONEY in my sucky childhood he was that kid i played with the few days i was safe? god really hates me i have to lose this safety TWICE” and Zhou Zishu like “wow not only did i not manage to protect like i was told, thank fuck he is the ONLY disciple i didn’t get killed, i’m even more greatful i didnt destroy him too fuck me i CANNOT lose him he CANNOT get destroyed not even by himself i have ONE good thing and its him please” just some added nails of angst to add to the pain these bitches were already going through circa ep 13. They’re each others hopes and dreams, and to realize they also might be the only things that SURVIVED of their naive childish hopes and dreams as symbols, just makes it that much more terrifying they could lose each other who are literally the Epitome of Hope for decent lives for themselves. With of course their kids. Who are also intensely tied to their hope for a better life and the ability to be good.

#rant #u genuinely can like this trope i just dont #if u dont like this trope then this is a rec list?? lol #i just. so many people have young love where someone was abusive #or they dated a cheater or a liar or someone who simply wasnt fair to them and moved on whenever they saw a new hottie #and like that is fine. thats how young crushes go! people are rarely mature or dedicated or even know what love is #and people dont know what they don't need to put up with. love is supposed to be kind and mutual and respectful #and obviously young love Even well intended sometimes has to figure it out #even if they do end up together forever #so like. i prefer to just see people whove loved and failed fall in love #i prefer those stories where i can imagine the protagonists dated enough to know they WILL NOT put up with being #insulted or bullied or used by a lover #where protagonists know what they value in a relationship and wont tolerate #and thats much easier to run into in adult love stories. versus young love where if they're lucky it never comes p #also just like so many ppl stay in bad relationships too long thinking if ur in love its always worth it when no u are more important than #staying w someone else if they hurt u. even if they say they love u back. #and i think more adults who leave bad situations in media makes it feel hopeful like YES you can leave hurtful people and still find a #relationship that has love and treats you well eventualyl #....guardian and xena are so similar they might be the only passes of actual first love i can tolerate #and gabrielle had another crush. and shen wei basically had to start from scratch so they both had a bit of #awareness of what they really wanted/how much they valued love etc. #anyway i just get annoyed by the trope cause its SO common and i hate if its a shortcut for actually writing #good character arcs and love based on no prior foundation #like. if u really wanna write childhood crush to lover? then i want it to start AT childhood and see them crush and then see that crush #apparently date other ppl if they didnt get together until age 20 or 25 or whatever. #show me how it was messy cause otherwise they would already be together in ur story. show me their GROWTH as people #but instead a lot of stories will just show kids in love then some reason separated then reunite and REALIZE they used to have crushes #like no wheres the 'these people get crushes based on who each other are NOW' #like Begin Again with gong jun? on THIN ice cause it does this TOO #but what i like about how it handled is. its ling rui's reason to want to know if this woman changed/is the same. he doesnt assume she IS

[wbwest]

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New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/08/25/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-82517/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 8/25/17

  In movie news, there was quite the controversial casting this week, as the color lines blurred for some comic book adaptations. First up, it was announced that English actor Ed Skrein would be portraying Japanese character Ben Daimio in the upcoming Hellboy reboot. Now, according to what I’ve read, Daimio’s Japanese heritage heavily influences the character, so this whitewashing of the character doesn’t seem to be in the best interest of the character. I mean, after the problems with whitewashing in Doctor Strange, Ghost in the Shell, Aloha, The Great Wall, and Ni’ihau, you’d think Hollywood would avoid shit like this. Yes, movies are made to make money, but it’s not like Skrein is a bankable star worth slotting into the role, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Usually this is done for the film’s STARS. Damon, Johansson, Stone. This is a secondary character, so it really wouldn’t have hurt them to seek out an Asian actor. Normally I’m just like “Well, Hollywood’s gonna Hollywood”, but this decision just doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Next up, 24: Legacy’s Anna Diop has been cast as Starfire in Warner Bros’ Titans series, slated to air on DC’s upcoming digital service. Some folks are saying they should’ve cast a Latina, but she’s gonna either be painted or CGied in orange, so it’s not like it’s gonna matter at the end of the day. Personally, if they wanted authenticity, I think they should’ve cast an actual orange alien princess. Right now there are just too many unknowns for me to get excited about this. I mean, DC announced the digital service without a lot of information. What’s gonna be on it? What will it cost? How much of the DC library will be available to be housed on it? As for Titans, this is the show TNT passed on. Ya know, the home of such illustrious shows as The Librarians and The Last Ship. I mean, they’re basically just about a notch up from what we got in the 90s from Universal’s Action Pack lineup. If Titans couldn’t fit anywhere on that schedule, then it probably just isn’t “ready for primetime” yet.

Speaking of aimless Warner Bros decisions, they announced 2 different Joker movies this week. First up is an origin tale, directed by Todd Phillips of Old School fame, and produced by Martin Scorsese. Hmm, one of those things is not like the other. I mean, why would Scorsese touch something helmed by the dude who gave us Road Trip? And who even WANTS a Joker origin story? First of all, it’s reportedly not even going to be part of the DCEU, so why confuse the audience with a story that won’t even really “count” in the grand scheme of things? Nobody needs a standalone origin of a take on a character they’ll likely never see again. This is just as foolish as Sony’s Don’t-Look-For-Spider-Man-To-Appear Venom movie. Next, the guys behind This Is Us (SO hot right now!) and Crazy, Stupid, Love are working on a Bonnie & Clyde-style Joker and Harley film, with Jared Leto and Margot Robbie reprising their roles from Suicide Squad. Since this would sort of negate the empowerment that Harley gained by the end of Squad, it’s believed that this actually means that the planned Gotham City Sirens film, also slated to star Robbie, is now dead. Honestly, I could do without either of these movies. I found Leto’s take on Joker to be…interesting, but Less is More with that character. Plus, I don’t really think the DCEU would be strengthened by this sort of movie. It’s not the world-building they need to be doing right now, as they haven’t even figured out the core of their star characters like Batman and Superman yet.

In TV news, Christopher Sebela’s comic Heartthrob has been optioned as a TV series by Felix Culpa – a production company launched by actress/Elvis’s granddaughter Riley Keough. Now, comics are optioned every day, and the final product never comes to fruition, but I hope this series sees the light of day. I’m actually a big fan of the comic, which is published by Oni Press. Set in the late 70s, it focuses on Callie, who’s received a heart transplant while the process is still in its infancy. Given a new lease on life, but still told she’s basically living on borrowed time, she decides to change her life when she meets Mercer, a charming guy with a shady side. She immediately falls for him, and he teaches her how to be bad, like rob banks and commit other crimes. She gets off on the rush. Pretty soon, however, she realizes that Mercer isn’t real. No, he’s actually the ghost of the guy whose heart is now in Callie. So, it’s a Bonnie & Clyde story where Clyde’s calling the shots from the afterlife. The book is published in “seasons”, so the first 5-issue miniseries wrapped up back in early 2016, while season 2 is hitting stores now. If you’re looking for a new comic not from the Big Two, I highly recommend it.

In music news, Taylor Swift did a whole social blitz to announce that her next album would be called Reputation, and would be released Nov 10th. On top of that, the first single was released last night, with rumors that the video will premiere at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. Ya know, the same awards hosted my Taylor’s enemy Katy Perry. Yeah, that should be pretty interesting to watch. Anyway, the new song is called “Look What You Made Me Do”, and I’m not too impressed. It lacks a real hook, while the chorus itself is basically spoken. I feel like it has all the ingredients for a great song, but it’s not living up to its full potential. If this is an indicator of what to expect on Reputation, though, I’ll admit I’m curious. It can’t be worse than Perry’s Witness.

Speaking of Katy Perry, we got the premiere of her video for “Swish Swish”, which was reportedly her diss track against Taylor Swift. After a lot of backtracking and sucking up, though, it seems Katy wants to put that feud behind her. That’s why this horrible video does everything it can to take the bite out of a song that was never really that biting to begin with. I mean, just look at it – Molly Shannon? Terry Crews? Even Nicki Minaj was clearly CGied in, as I’m sure she didn’t wanna be anywhere near this shitshow. The sad thing about the Perry/Swift feud is that Katy bailed on it the minute she realized the Swifties were a more powerful lobby than she had thought. Nobody was feeling her SNL performances, and Witness didn’t exactly fly off the shelves. She realized that she can’t really survive by making enemies, so suddenly she became conciliatory to save her ass. Plus, it’s kinda lame that this blood feud started just because Taylor stole a few of Katy’s dancers for her tour. Anyway, you’ll never get those 6 minutes back. You’re welcome.

I had the pleasure of joining my buddy Zac for his new podcast, The Zac Shipley Show. He’s treating these first few episodes as pilots for ideas he’s wanted to try, so our ep was called Streaming Pile, where we talked about the worst things we could find on streaming services. I talked about a Star Trek: Voyager episode where formerly perky pixie Kes returns all middle-aged and bitter. You should check it out, and give a listen to his other episodes while you’re there!

Song of the Week

I’ve been a big Maren Morris fan since she released “My Church”, and I was really into her next single, “80s Mercedes”. With this song she continues not to disappoint, as I love the groove on this thing. Listen to the bassline. It’s not a dance song, yet you can do a MEAN two-step to it. Hell, I think you could even do a casual version of The Hustle to it. This will definitely go to #1 given time.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

NBC’s planned reboot of Xena: Warrior Princess – which would’ve featured a full-on lesbian relationship between her and Gabrielle – is officially dead, as they said “it didn’t warrant a reboot”. Man, if only other studios would realize this about some of their projects…

Director James Gunn mentioned in a Q & A session that the 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film would set up the next 10-20 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yup, you’re just now realizing your own mortality. I’ll give you a minute to deal with that.

Speaking of Gunn, he’s attached to write the pilot for (and possibly direct) a reboot of 70s series Starsky & Hutch. This adaptation is supposed to be similar in tone to CBS’s upcoming S.W.A.T. and not comedic in tone like the 2004 Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson movie.

Surprising every critic in Hollywood, Netflix has renewed the maligned comedy Friends From College for a second season.

Known for controversial publicity stunts, Alamo Drafthouse is reportedly organizing a Clowns Only screening of the new adaptation of Stephen King’s It.

We got a new poster for Thor: Ragnarok. So many colors!

Michael K. Williams has reportedly been cut from the Star Wars Han Solo film, as Ron Howard’s reshoot schedule conflicted with another role that Williams had accepted.

There are, like, 8 different Knight Rider reboot treatments floating around Hollywood, but the latest rumor is that one of those productions is looking at John Cena as Michael Knight, with Kevin Hart as the voice of K.I.T.T. Of course, it would be a comedic adaptation, a la the popular Jump Street franchise.

Super Troopers 2, the sequel to one of the most overrated films I’ve ever seen, will hit theaters April 20th, 2018.

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson will star in Nasty Women, which is a female-led reboot of the Michael Caine/Steve Martin classic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Independence Day: Resurgence‘s Jessie T Usher will star in Son of Shaft, with Samuel L. Jackson potentially reprising his role as John Shaft (from the 2000 reboot film), the nephew of the original John Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree, who is also in talks to join the movie. Man, that gave me a headache.

Always on the cutting edge, here’s Sesame Street’s parody of 2017’s song of the summer, “Despacito”

According to the creators, the Netflix series Stranger Things will most likely end after its fourth season

The actress formerly known as “Andrea Zuckerman”, Gabrielle Carteris, has been re-elected to a 2-year term as the President of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)

Ryan Gosling will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Jay-Z, on Sept 30th.

Jamie Bell is developing a Jumper TV series, based on the 2008 film about teleporters

Suicide Squad 2 is reportedly being fast tracked, but I hope they fast track it right into the garbage. I mean, I enjoyed the first one, but I don’t need a sequel.

I like Nick Kroll, even though I never saw even a second of Kroll Show. Anyway, he’s got a new animated series about puberty called Big Mouth coming to Netflix and after watching this teaser I am ON BOARD!

We’re a month away from the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, and it was revealed that it will be rated TV-MA, for Mature Audiences. Now, it doesn’t mean there’ll be tits and phasers, but it does mean they can tell more complex stories. That said, I still feel like they don’t truly understand the source material.

After a scathing essay from his ex-wife went public, accusing him of adultery and other generally shitty behavior to women, Joss Whedon went underground and the fan site, Whedonesque, shut down after 15 years.

We got a new teaser for Netflix’s The Punisher. With the rate I’m getting through these Marvel shows, I’ll probably get to it just before Evie goes off to Hogwarts.

There was a national solar eclipse this week, which was the first occurrence since 1918. I’m sure you might’ve heard something about it. It was kind of a big deal. Folks were pimping out special cardboard glasses on Craigslist for insane amounts of money, and the American President made news by looking directly into it. It seems that it had a strange effect on different folks. For example, Netflix viewership went down 10% as people went outside to view the phenomenon. Not everyone understood what was going on, bless their hearts. At work, a frantic parent called in and said “Y’all watching the news? You hear about this eclipse? Is it serious?!” Apparently she thought it posed some sort of danger to her kids and the school. No, ma’am. It’s just a beautiful sky ballet. Anyway, the eclipse was EVERYWHERE. I didn’t get to see totality, but it was still nice to stand outside for a bit on a nice day. What am I saying? I hate the outdoors! Well, it was nice to not have to work for a few minutes. You couldn’t escape the Eclipse Fever at the start of the week, so that’s why the Solar Eclipse of 2017 had the West Week Ever.

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