#because i keep rewatching the show &remaking

[derpinette]

applejack’s voice was so much higher at the start ^_^

#SO KAWAII... #i see this as another sign of them aging althoug h it most likely is not but well i like to think of it that way better ^_^ #i think i said this on almost every blog i owned here so far #because i keep rewatching the show &remaking #speaking of which my blog is a year old now this is the second longest i ever owned one ( first being my middle school traumacore blog LOL ) #anyway i think rarity is the oldest because in the flashback of her in sweetie belle's birthday party she looks grown #whereas IIRC in the flashbacks of applejack when applebloom was around she has that skinny adolescent physique #&we know the CMC are the same age #the youngest i think is dashie #or pinkie actually O_O hmmm... #not because of their behavior but i mean season 1 living conditions #+flashbacks #but hmm well with the cutiemark chronicles they all looked to be the same age save for fluttershy... IDK O_O i am not good at estimating

[bambeebirdie]

WAS NO ONE GOING TO TELL ME THEY REMADE TRIGUN OR WAS I JUST SUPPOSED TO FIGURE THAT OUT ON MY OWN?!?!?

#and like it’s 3D too #WTF?? #i have so many thoughts about the new designs but I will keep my mouth shut until I watch the show #if you need to know current I’m utterly upset about how they look #some are kinda cute but like what the hell did they do to my mans Vash hair and coat!?! #again I’ll only complain properly until I’ve actually watched it #(I’m also upset it’s 3D but maybe it looks okay in show. idk yet) #now if you excuse me I have rewatch the original and reread the manga because it’s been years #i refuse to let anything incorrect go #they can’t just remake one of my favorite shows like that!! #can’t believe no one told me #grrr grr #i can’t wait to cry over this show again #i will be raniting if it goes wrong but I’m busy so it’ll take awhile for me to finish all this content #why’d they de-spike Vash’s hair 😩 #Trigun #vash the stampede #please no spoilers #well ig you can’t spoil if I’ve already watched it in a way lmao #i hope they don’t cut all the more filler stuff #as a manga reader I feel like it paces the begging a bit better but I wouldn’t be too upset if they cut a little out #they shows beginning could be a little shorter but the manga really jumps in #ideally it will strike a good balance

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Just finished rewatching Advent Children with bro and wow that explained a lot more than I thought it would. Bro had never seen it and I remembered the white void showing up there and that the 3 villains were sephiroth clones. I completely forgot the other hints towards Remake.

But Spoilers for Remake and Rebirth I guess?

I now understand why everyone insists Remake Sephiroth is Advent Children Sephiroth. Like the exact same monologue about going to space with cloud. And Advent Children was him revealing this new bigger plan to cloud. If Remake Sephiroth was the original VII sephiroth he should still just want to use meteor because it's "mother's" will.

But like all that is old news for folks who remembered Advent Children when playing through Remake 4 years ago.

I think the things Rebirth builds on about the lifestream is more interesting. The pond that forms in Aerith's church in AC is a natural mako spring like the countless ones we find in rebirth. Flowers are able to grow there long after Aerith's death because of this spring just below the surface.

When Cloud "dies" in Advent Children he meets Aerith and Zack in the white void before they decide to put him back. He's released from the lifestream in the natural mako spring now in Aerith's church just like how Tifa is tossed back out when she enters with the whale.

Again for anyone who's recently watched AC it's obvious the white void is meant to represent the lifestream. But that means Rebirth is confirming the Lifestream is a bridge between the different universes. Zack enters the Lifestream and runs into Remake cloud who's also been pulled in. AC is all about how Sephiroth is still in the lifestream and that's how Kadaj is able to be possessed by him once he has enough Jenova cells. Cloud kills Sephiroth putting him back in the Lifestream. The Lifestream that connects all vii worlds.

AC Sephiroth then uses the lifestream to start appearing before a Cloud that has only just reached Midgar. His Meddling summons the whispers which fight back to keep things to the "cannon" timeline. Sephiroth of course tricks team Avalanche into destroying the head Whisper allowing him to take control of them. Again old news for anyone that knew Sephiroth wanted them to break the bonds of Fate.

But if Sephiroth is using the lifestream to mess with other worlds. it shouldn't be a surprise one of the Aerith's also already in the lifestream got involved too. As other's have pointed out the Aerith that gives cloud the not empty White materia isn't remake Aerith. But another Aerith that pulled him into that universe to give him a functioning white materia. But somehow Remake Aerith knew the hand over happened? Because in the white forest she asks cloud for the materia and they swap so she has a functioning white materia. That part confuses me a little. How did our Aerith know the handoff happened?

Also Rufus and Kadaj have a conversation about how everything's a cycle. That Jenova "Mother" will always try to destroy the planet and the lifestream/humanity will always fight back. Made me realize AC Sephiroth wasn't going back on his timeline to make a new one but hopping into the next timeloop. OG VII and Advent Children's cannon is locked in. Remake is truely that a remaking of the timeline made possible by Cloud and Co defeating the whispers that enforce the timeloops. So now instead of one spiral after another and infinite number of spirals are forming while the remake loop is still happening.

That's why Sephiroth waited until the *spoilers* cannon event to appear in Rebirth. It's an all the stars a line situation. All timeloops have that moment, regardless of how it's different in different versions.

But Rebirth's cannon event was just a test run. Sephiroth wanted to see how much power he could gain just from multiple timelines merging at one point.

Sephiroth already told us what he really wants. The Black materia but not the one from the remake universe no the ultimate black materia forged from all the black materia. And what's the next big plot point that could be a cannon event? Cloud's breakdown at the northern crater after handing the Black Materia over to Sephiroth. If there's any point where the timelines would over lap it would be there. We already saw the power boost Sephiroth got. If that power boost happens to the black Materia yeah that's a multiverse destroying meteor right there.

Wow was that a long wall of text about stuff everyone else probably already knows. But I just had to put all the clarity Advent Children gave me about Remake and Rebirth somewhere. Expect a spiral timeline graphic in the future. Cause I feel like i'm forgetting to explain some of it right.

#final fantasy vii #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy vii rebirth #ffvii #ffvii rebirth #ffvii remake #final fantasy vii advent children #ffvii advent children #rebirth spoilers #cloud strife #sephiroth #douglitheories

[raeynbowboi]

I couldn't Finish One Episode of Netflix's Avatar Reboot

I went into this show optimistic. I really hoped it would be fun and enjoyable. Instead, what I ended up with was just tedious. I got about 37 minutes into the first episode before I'd had enough, turned it off, and decided to rewatch the animated version instead. I get that this show wanted to be a gritty dramatic version of the show, but it didn't really succeed. Okay, actually seeing the Air Nomad Mass Unaliving was certainly darker than anything the cartoon showed. But in the process, everything else about the original was scrubbed away. Every single actor was wooden and stiff. Aang and Gyatso's teasing around is said with as much emotion as Zuko uses when scolding his crew. There is no emotional weight to any character's dialogue. And the jokes are horrible. There's a moment where Aang just repeats the word 'Sky Bison' over and over again. Which seems like very juvenile humor. I thought this was supposed to be the gritty dramatic adult version, so why the juvenile humor? Pick a tone and butcher it. And Gramgram really put the nail in the coffin. She just starts reciting the show's opening monologue, Aang runs out of the room, and Gramgram keeps expositioning to the Waterbenders in the room like Aang didn't even leave. And then Aang talks about how heartbroken he is with the exact same tone of voice he used when joking with Gyatso because tone is dead, apparently. At which point, I promptly turned the show off. I expected it to be different, but I was just bored. In its attempt to be darker and more mature, the show missed the human core that made the original so charming, which was the warmth of the characters. Without it, it just feels soulless and lifeless. At the same time, the original actually feels more mature than this version because there, emotions had weight and value. Worse still, it wastes so much time expositing so many things that the original got across painlessly and seamlessly through natural dialogue. Honestly, if Netflix had just done the effortless braindead thing and just made a shot-for-shot line-for-line remake, it would have at least been entertaining. The actors would have at least shown an ounce of emotion. I'm certainly not impressed. I'd rather watch season 2 of Legend of Korra on repeat than episode 2 of the Netflix reboot.

#netflix avatar #avatar netflix #avatar live action #avatar 2024 #atla netflix #atla live action

[absolutebl]

Hey Abl, trust you are well. So I took a month off bl to deal with life stuff and upon my return there's a lot of new shows and I'm feeling overwhelmed and need to prioritize. What should I start with that started airing in late October/November? Spanx!

BL Quick Picks - End of 2023 Releases

That finished its run? Sorry I don't keep that close track of things ending but stuff I loved that ended relatively recently as follows. (I'm giving you a range of styles to suit your mood.)

Felling light and fluffy?

Jun & Jun

(Korea Viki)

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. Others boys are sniffing around too. Operative word being "sniffing" as much of this romance involves smell. With a snappy (sometimes even raunchy) script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and descent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching. With tons of rewatch potential (especially the last few eps), my only caution is this is for fans of the BL genre only, I don’t think it’ll work for anyone else. 9/10

Feeling complex and drama llama?

I Feel You Linger in the Air

(Thailand grey, YT for some)

I truly loved this time travel romance. IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL… from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show should easily have earned a 10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls. Argh. Whatever. 9/10

Feeling odd and chaotic?

Why R U?

(Korea iQIYI)

Korea decided to remake, of all possible Thai BLs, Why RU? And that is exactly what we got: a short form, clean & pretty, slightly confusing, uneven chemistry, all the same tropes KBL that kind of cliff-noted the original but with none of the heat or complex relationship dynamics. I just … what world is this? Because it is BOTH bizarro land, and EXACTLY what I expected. How do I rate it? In the end I have to go back to simple questions: did I like it, would I rewatch it, and would I recommend it? Yes. Probably. And probably not. What the actual hell? 8/10

Feeling dark and complex?

Tokyo in April is AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa

(Japan Viki)

Two young men with a shared tragic past reunite and fall in love all over again, but the past will not stop hunting them. Based on a manga, this office set reunion romance is GREAT… damn it. It’s Japan in full on soft focus which means it gets emo, abusive, and chewy. These two characters are giving parts of their souls away in a desperate attempt to shape themselves to the expectations they have of each other. Japan gave us the Bed Friends that Thailand could never even imagine. But here’s the thing: I don’t enjoy my BL this heavy and cutting. I know that for The 8th Sense crowd this is peak BL and I can’t argue with the fact that the romantic devotion, domesticity, script, and acting IS all on point. It’s just not my personal preference for that point to be so damn sharp. I appreciate that this being 2023 I have the luxury of consistent quality (especially from Japan) and thus the ability to say… I acknowledge that this SHOULD get a 9/10 but I can’t emotionally go higher than 8/10

Feeling sappy and in need of comfort?

Stay By My Side

(Taiwan Viki)

This show was an interesting take on the "ghost boyfriend" trope. About a boy who is tormented by hearing the dead, except when he is around one other boy - desperation+proximity = love. Unfortunately, the story was erratic and waffled about. While the leads turned in solid performances and the sappy domesticity was off the charts, it never really had the strength of the narrative convictions such a strong concept should have supplied. Highly rewatchable and enjoyable for that sappy domesticity but not a whole lot more. Still I always give extra credit for the diabetes-inducing sugar content and rewatch capacity. 8/10 

Feeling sexy?

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho

(Japan Gaga)

I liked it a lot and it's classic yaoi of the kind that really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but both are so repressed they actually don't realize they're in love. It's higher heat from Japan and well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" trope which is only exacerbated into undiluted frustration by the fact that they're already fucking. It's good, but watching requires more patience than usual, even from Japan. 8/10

Feeling sweet and earnest?

Sing My Crush

(Korea iQIYI)

This a cute coming of age drama around music and 2 kinds of self acceptance and actualization journeys. This was basically Korea’s version of About Youth, and was perhaps a bit too soft and ungrounded by comparison, like a marshmallow sculpture. Sweet but somewhat lacking in discernible flavor. 8/10

If you want to know what I'm enjoying that's airing right now, I'm mot yet caught up this week but I have time today so the weekly ranking will drop in a few hours. But I can tell you with confidence that very little is likely to unseat...

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thailand iQiyi)

from my affections right now. I love it unconditionally and it's airing on iQIYI.

#asked and answered #2023 BL recomendations #end of year only #ouch burn on GMMTV none of theirs made the cute #stop fuckign up GMMTV #thai bl #japanese bl #korean bl #taiwanese bl #my dear gangster oppa #Sing My Crush #my personal weatherman #Stay By My Side #Tokyo in April is #Why R U? Korea #i feel you linger in the air #Jun and Jun #viki #gaga

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch: 2x11 Look at the Princess Part 1

This three-parter is one of my fave eps and I think classic Farscape: taking the usual scifi trope and remaking it into something unique. On the surface, the set-up is something that has been done before, not just in scifi but in adventure lit of Victorian era: our brave Earthling (or Big Game Hunter, or Aristocratic Englishman) ends up having to pretend/be the groom of local royalty. Because he is so awesomely superior and attractive, of course. See Prisoner of Zenda and 8 million other titles. But this is Farscape, so this is not the case at all. When John is being chased, it’s never anything good  (I keep thinking of the fact that when Farscape finally decided to do the good old ‘hero must have more than one woman’ thing, they had Crichton raped by Grayza. In general, Crichton’s uniqueness brings him nothing but misery.) Here, the ‘other culture’ is far superior to the Earth one in its advancement, it’s powerful and needs no favors from anyone. Moreover, there is no ‘love’ or ‘he is so attractive’ on the part of the ‘natives.’ The reason Crichton works is, precisely, because in this world he is the genetic screw-up so he works as a mate for Katralla whose DNA has been messed with.

Nor is John someone who falls for the exotic Princess, or heroically rushes to the rescue of the kingdom out of noblesse oblige. He fights being married tooth and nail and then ‘unheroically’ surrenders to it when faced with threat of being turned over to Scorpius, and then saves everything only out of desperation and at the end, he is confronted with loss: his inability to kill Scorpius, the fact that he will never see his future child.

You know, I’ve forgotten how sharp the dialogue in Farscape is and how easily is can alternate between heart-breaking and completely funny. I keep thinking of the scene with John and D’Argo where John talks to D’Argo about hope and how “I have hope or I have nothing” and it’s an utterly heartbreaking scene:

(D’Argo pointing out his alternative is brain dissection by Scorpius is so very on brand - there is never an easy out or a good choice and a bad choice, just a bunch of bad choices.)

But anyway, it’s heartbreaking...

But it segues right into the bit of cultural misunderstanding about what ‘best man’ means and it’s now funny.

(Side note - will always love that D’s objection to what he thinks is John is propositioning him is “I am in a relationship already” and not anything else.)

D is a really good friend to John in this. They’ve come a long way since s1. Only a good friend would tolerate being constantly interrupted in his activities with Chiana (I love that John is so freaked by his future he merely registers her there and continues talking). John needs a friend badly at LATP. He doesn’t know it, but his insanity breakdown has began for real (he tells Aeryn he hears Scorpy in his head and she shrugs it off as paranoia. It must be pretty awful for John to have the one person you fear and hate the most always present). It’s a shudder-inducing scene in retrospect as it would be bad enough if it were PTSD but as is (Aeryn’s asking if 80 years as a statue is better than Scorpius here shows how much she does not yet get just how damaged John got by all of this; she will by the end of s2 but the price will be horrific.)

He is trapped by the Empress (whom I am not a fan of. I understand the necessity, but people who have no problems using other people as pawns are not a fave. And the whole setup is seriously proof as to why monarchy is a bad form of government - they are one bad ruler away from disaster). And then there is Scorpy. I love that John’s reaction to Scorpy is purely visceral, unreasoning. He is terrified and the way he uncontrollably flashbacks to his torture is evident on his face, and he tries to jest and put bravado but it all falls hollow.

He cannot control himself. I don’t think anyone else, not even Crais or Grayza, comes close to eliciting such a reaction out of him. Crais did a number on him physically, Grayza raped his body, and both hunted him assiduously, but Scorpius raped his mind and that’s his most important faculty in the mad world he’s thrust into. (But I love that even with all of that, he still asks Katralla what she wants not just as a last ditch hope of escape but because he does not believe in forcing people.) And now, I want to discuss my favorite stuff: John and Aeryn. I find myself both very frustrated with Aeryn through these eps (until the end of ep 3) and understanding completely where she comes from. She might deny that her wanting this marriage off is jealousy but Chiana can see it. I think in a way Crichton can too, but he needs her to give him something, anything to indicate reciprocity, that she would one day want to have something with him. The worst is when she says she won’t come to the wedding. She pushes a lot and wants a lot but tries to give nothing in return and yes that is very unfair but she is terrified, being with John would be the first real relationship she would have and she cannot handle the exposure, not yet. She can deal with the sex but she cannot deal with feelings. Her ambivalence is totally encapsulated in the first scene: she scents her hair so John would notice and tells him so later but when he does, she freaks and pulls away. He leans in for a kiss and she kisses him back but then breaks off. No wonder John is going insane.  I always die a little of swoon when they discuss the hair oil and she says that she will tell Zhaan he found her oils pleasing and he responds, both frustrated and trying to convince her desperately: ‘It’s you I find pleasing. Oh boy. She desperately needs to make it all about sex (something she is used to and familiar with). Crichton only wants her for sex, he is a walking horndog on legs etc etc, because she wants to deny any of her own feelings and any of his.

After having seen the entirety of Farscape, I melt a little when she sees Crichton interact with the simulacrum of his child and she realizes that he would want a child, that children are important to him. But also - as I mentioned, this is one child Crichton will never meet and he just has to live with it, there are no clean victories (side note, I loved that John was the one who wanted the emotions and the marriage and the baby and Aeryn had to think long and hard; such delicious reversal.)

P.S. Rygel/Aeryn kiss will never cease being funny. But also extra hilarious in light of his becoming her baby’s surrogate later, heeee.

PPS Ain’t it the truth

#farscape

[elliesgaymachete]

Watched ep 1 of the new avatar show, i was going in with low expectations and it still did not meet those expectations. It wasn’t bad necessarily. There were some entertaining and funny moments. Some of the effects were decent but some of them were not great. It was just relatively boring. All the characters felt very watered down. Like they had their basic traits but nothing extra. It’s clear they want to make it a show for adults but also adults love the lightness and humor of the original series. I especially don’t appreciate the choice they made to actually show the air nomad genocide, like, i get they want to make an edgy grimdark remake, but also it was incredibly tasteless and pointless imo. It’s like they were thinking “hey, i know the airbenders are supposed to be dead, but we really want to make a fight scene with the airbenders. What if we show some genocide for a cool fight scene?”

Anyway i may keep watching just because i’m curious, but i haven’t decided yet. It really just made me want to rewatch the actual show

#the last airbender spoilers

[skamenglishsubs]

This is a long winded question, but I promise I’ll get to a point.

I love Young Royals so much, and one of the things I think about is that I will never experience it for the first time again. Of course it is wonderful to go back and rewatch for other little details, but the way it hit so hard in the feels the first time is not something that I find can be replicated.

I was talking to someone about this recently (experiencing things for the first time and enjoying them and never being able to do that, exactly, again), and they told me the closest approximation they found was watching/reading something in their native language, and then watching/reading it again in English. Partly because of course, with translation, the meaning is always a little different.

So - two things: one, thank you, because I realized having the subtext and culture posts for YR gave me a piece of that experience. Getting a breakdown of some of the more nuanced translations in particular gave me a whole new perspective.

And two: what do you think? Do you feel like you’re getting a new experience when you watch something in Swedish and then English (or vice versa, or whatever)?

First, thank you! I'm always happy to provide people with more perspective.

Second, tough question! I so rarely watch/read things in more than one language, it's been a long, long while since I read anything translated into Swedish where I could read it in the original language, and Sweden as a country subtitles everything except TV shows or movies for small children, so I'm pretty much always experiencing things in the original language from the start.

But I do like watching reaction videos, because they sometimes capture a little bit of that feeling of watching something for the first time, because you get to see someone else having that experience. And it's also a lot of fun seeing people filtering things through their cultural lens, for good or bad.

Another thing that can provide this kind of experience is if a show gets remakes in other languages, for example like SKAM did. A good remake shuffles things around just enough to keep you guessing a little bit, and can enhance aspects of the original that wasn't as developed or as good.

But yeah, I completely understand the sentiment of wishing you could go back in time and experience something for the first time again, it never hits quite the same afterwards.

#asks #young royals #skam

[dotthings]

Some Star Wars Rebels rewatch thoughts:

There’s just something about how there is this idea for the Jedi to manage feelings carefully, and how Ezra breaks down sobbing and Kanan holds him

Rewatching this series for the first time since The Mandalorian has me noticing things. Sabine has cultural traits and even personality we might associate with being Mandalorian, but she’s also got her own independent Sabine type thing and her attachment to the Ghost crew, and she’s an artist. And how any time Sabine gets near other Mandalorians, she becomes the most Mandalorian to ever Mandalore, which now I realize is true of many Mandalorian characters. On The Mandalorian, all that in-fighting, and how intense they are about their various cultural beliefs, yet proud of their overall shared identity, but they fight each other so hard, and Rau pushes all of Sabine’s buttons, hard. She’s furious about Hera getting hurt. The Mandalorian of Sabine intensifies.

Sabine is Clan Wren of House Viszla. She’s also Clan Ghost crew.

Similar to how Hera’s Ryloth accent re-emerges during the argument with her father. Her first family and her heritage are an important part of her, but her current identity is very much tied to the Ghost crew.

Or Zeb. Who has lost his home but is proud of his heritage and keeps Lysat culture alive. Child of Lysat. (Legends of the Lasat is one of the most spectacular eps the animated series ever made btw. It’s stunning).

Ezra who is an orphan and chooses the Ghost crew as his family yet he feels attachment to Lothal

It’s like the Ghost crew are a family of no nation (planet) and yet their respective heritages are very important still.

Kanan is the only Ghost crew member with no strong lingering affiliation to an origin culture or planet. He’s a Jedi with a very big heart who loves his chosen family deeply. He breaks and remakes so many Jedi order rules, he has to create his own rules for this era he’s in. The Jedi without a Jedi order. And in the process Kanan embodies so many of the best ideals of the Jedi. Because it’s not about dogma or rules, it’s about what’s in the heart of a Jedi that makes it work (and that’s what the sequel films were getting at too)

SPACE WHALES!!!

Ezra, who started the series taking care of only himself and putting himself first in order to survive, who then opened himself up to his chosen family and caring about others first, being so disappointed in Cham Syndulla, muttering that nothing matters more to him than family was a Moment. Ezra’s all the more disappointed because he was where Cham got to, out of desperation, to survive. Maybe he shouldn’t judge so harshly, because he’s been there, but it’s heartbreaking that Ezra has such a strong reaction, because he knows. He’s been through it.

Zeb and Kallus in The Honorable Ones. Steve Blum and David Oyelowo went next level with the voice acting and I love this ep so much. Actual seismic change moment for the show that doesn’t seem like it yet. Thinking about Kallus in his lonely cell-like Imperial quarters at the end and how he keeps the glowy warm rock Zeb found for them, that helped keep them alive. Zeb found and re-awoke Kallus’ heart, symbolized by that rock. Kallus always had a heart but he buried it and rationalized what he was doing, what the Empire was doing, he froze it over, Zeb melted it. With his glowy warm rock. These two…absolutely outright murderous towards each other when the series begins. And it ending where it does. Legendary.

#Star Wars Rebels #Star Wars Rebels rewatch #Star Wars Rebels meta

[demon----dean]

I COME TO PROCRASTINATE. What's a movie/tv show/game that you feel actually deserves to be remade?

Hello there! Excellent question. A few years ago I really wanted to rewatch the Highlander series, because I was a huge fan as a kid and it for sure influenced my interest in fantasy and darker story arcs. But for the love of FORCE I couldn't tolerate all the cringe. I know there are some great storylines in there, but it is absolutely the product of its era and I really wish they would remake it and keep the main plot but just shave off the 90s aesthetic and disgusting editing. 😭 (And also they need to keep all the awesome Queen soundtrack because that is the origin story for my good taste in music. :D)

(Also an Obikin AU idea: Anakin as the young troubled immortal, who wise and old Obi-Wan has to teach and guide? Y/Y? 👀)

#Higlander #nostalgia #shows that deserve to be remade #Also from more recent and more controversial selection -- #the witcher #The books and games were character based but of course they HAD TO make the series Game of thrones like political intrigue #ugh #Yes I am salty

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Soooo,, that one piece live action huh?? Thoughts? Headcanons? If lucky were in there how would she fair??

I have so many thoughts about it, I'll say some spoiler free stuff first and keep the spoilers under the cut.

I have genuinely never cared for live action remakes and saw them as pointless, so no one is more surprised than I am that I wound up loving this one so much. The amount of heart and passion that went into it was insane, and I am praying for more seasons because I want to see what they'll do from here.

I loved that it was different enough to stand on its own because it helps to keep people from trying to compare the anime/manga to it. The more mature theme is interesting, and I do like how the Straw Hats were depicted in this. Nami was probably my favorite because Emily Rudd killed that role oh my god. It handles the emotional scenes well, but I will say that it hasn't made me cry as much as the anime did.

Other things I liked was the sound track that I've been listening to a lot. The thing they did with the bounty posters was so charming I loved it. The opening scene was literally perfect, and so were the sets and costumes. I also love that they got the japanese voice actors to dub it and have been rewatching it in that language just for that experience.

I give the series like an 8/10 overall. I have some gripes, but they're all minor and mostly boil down to feeling a bit rushed which was inevitable with the number of episodes given. I really want at least one more season because I NEED to see live action Ace and Robin.

Spoilers from here on out

All of my issues with it count as spoilers so here they are:

No Loguetown Arc, which was really frustrating since they already had the set built. Maybe if we hadn't of spent what was honestly too much time with the marines they could have included it.

Since this was more serious, I can understand killing off Merry, but why did Kuro get away??? The marines were there, there was literally no reason for the writers to let him get away with it.

No Hachi. I get that he would have been difficult to depict, but leaving him out entirely was a bad call because he makes several reappearances and is kinda important. It also makes me a little nervous for future seasons because if they aren't even willing to show Hachi my god do they have some much bigger problems ahead of them.

They really didn't need to spoon feed Garp's motivations to us, it was self evident enough without Koby stating it. Also rather than letting the world building speak for itself, they had Garp openly discuss the corruption. Show, don't tell.

All that being said, none of these ruined it for me, I still really enjoyed it!

As for how I would fit Lucky into it... I'm not sure? As much as I enjoyed the live action, I can't say that I feel motivated to write for it. I like the anime/manga characterization better. Sorry, this probably wasn't the answer you were hoping for!

#one piece #opla spoilers

[princesssarisa]

One of the arguable weaknesses of 2022's Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, yet one of its most interesting aspects, is how much it derives from other adaptations of A Christmas Carol, both major and minor. Having just watched and rewatched so many versions, I can name a long list of inspirations that this version draws from others.

I'm not counting the parallels with Scrooge (1970), because this version is officially a remake of that one. But it draws considerably from other versions too.

*Scrooge has a bulldog, Prudence, who serves as his constant, often comic companion. – The 1997 animated version, where Scrooge has a similar bulldog companion named Debit.

(Note: While I think it's out of character for Scrooge to own a dog no matter what, I do think Debit is better utilized than Prudence. In the first place, Scrooge keeps him for practical reasons, as a guard dog to scare away unwanted visitors, and he acts fierce because Scrooge has trained him to, even though he really wants to be friendly; Prudence is just a pet, without a scary bone in her body. Secondly, Scrooge treats him shabbily at first, always snapping at him and insulting him; only after his transformation does he treat him with kindness. 2022 Scrooge is reasonably kind to Prudence from the start, which is more politically correct but detracts from his character arc. I like Prudence's role in Christmas Yet to Come, though, where she sees future-Scrooge's coffin and tries in vain to convey the bad news to present-Scrooge, and where her future self is the only creature who mourns at Scrooge's grave.)

*Tiny Tim has a chronic cough. – The Muppet Christmas Carol and Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001).

*Marley's Ghost (and Scrooge's ghost in the future) has coins for eyes. – Disney's 2009 motion-capture film, with its prologue that shows Marley's body in his coffin with coins placed on his eyes to keep them closed, which Scrooge steals to recompense himself for the undertaker's fee.

*Marley's jaw accidentally comes unhinged as he speaks to Scrooge, and the moment is played for laughs (unlike in the book, where he purposefully lets it drop to scare Scrooge and it's played for horror). – Again, Disney's 2009 motion-capture film also does this.

*The Ghost of Christmas Past is a living candle, with a wax body and a flame on her head. – Again, Disney's 2009 motion-capture film, which also gives the Ghost a candle-inspired design.

*Scrooge's childhood is rewritten to resemble Charles Dickens's childhood, so that instead of being abandoned in boarding school by his father, he's forced to work in a boot-blacking factory after his father is sent to debtor's prison. – A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), which makes the same change.

*In the past, Jacob Marley is portrayed as much older than Scrooge and an established businessman, whose apprentice Scrooge was before he became his partner, whom he left Fezziwig to work for, and whose influence slowly corrupted him. – The 1951 Alastair Sim version, where an original businessman character named Mr. Jorkin plays much the same role that Marley does in the 2022 version.

(Note: I like the fact that this version uses Marley in a Mr. Jorkin- inspired role. I've often thought to myself that the 1951 film could have easily used Marley in that role instead of adding a new character. After all, the fact that Marley is dead and that his ghost's hair and clothes are 18th century in style could well imply that he was much older than Scrooge.)

*Scrooge's sister Jen died in childbirth, which is why Scrooge despises his nephew. – Many adaptations, but the first that I know of where Fan died in childbirth was the 1951 Alastair Sim version.

*Isabel sees Scrooge and Marley sending a poor baker (Bob Cratchit's father) to debtor's prison, and this becomes her catalyst for ending her engagement to Scrooge. – The 1935 Seymour Hicks version, where Belle sees Scrooge being merciless to a poor debtor couple in his office.

*Scrooge sings to his younger self in "Later Never Comes," begging him not to let Isabel go. – The 1999 Patrick Stewart version, Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001), and A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), where he shouts at his younger self to go after Belle.

*The Ghost of Christmas Present is portrayed as a black man – A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), where he's also a black man, and the 1997 animated version, where she's a black woman.

*The Cratchit children include identical twin girls. – The Muppet Christmas Carol's Belinda and Bettina.

*The Ghost of Christmas Present clutches his heart in pain when his time on earth comes to an end. – Disney's 2009 motion-capture film (although there the Ghost dies, decays, and tuns to dust, while here he transforms into the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come).

*The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come has glowing eyes. – The 1999 Patrick Stewart version.

*When Bob is mourning at Tiny Tim's grave, Tim's crutch is propped against the grave marker. – Mickey's Christmas Carol, where Mickey/Bob places it there, and A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), where Mrs. Cratchit places it there.

*Scrooge sees his own burial, carried out by two cheerfully disrespectful men. – Again, Mickey's Christmas Carol.

*Scrooge sees his own ghost rise from his grave in Christmas Yet to Come. – The 2006 animated film, where he sees his own ghost wandering with Marley.

*Instead of pleading for himself at his own grave, Scrooge resigns himself to his damnation, but begs to be allowed to save Tiny Tim. – The 2019 miniseries with Guy Pearce.

I could probably find of even more influences if I rewatched the movie a second time. But even just watching it once, I noticed this formidable list. I guess this sort of thing happens when a book has been adapted so many, many times.

#a christmas carol #scrooge: a christmas carol #adaptations #influences #parallels

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #79: “Please Do Not Notify Our Contractors” | September 13, 2009 - 11:30PM | S04E18

I have to finish a Jeopardy board for my “online friends” game night tonight, so I’ll make this as brief as I can, which is usually not very. Four longish sketches for me to comment on! 

One is a parody of the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I think. I only saw that movie once ever in my entire life. I don’t think I like Indiana Jones, like, at all. Anyway: This is about the knight that is guarding the holy grail, and how he got along for all those years before Indiana Jones got there. It also explains why there were so many other grails there to confuse him; they were fast food cups from him ordering in. I don’t hate this premise, I just hate hearing Breckin Meyer doing a British accent. It just sounds like a high school drama student approximating Monty Python sketches to me. 

There’s a sketch where a father hides in his young son’s closet to prove to him that there’s no such thing as a bogeyman. It backfires, because he learns that his son is domming his teddy bear and now he’s trapped in there as to not confront this terrible truth. I’m not sure if I missed the full joke of this sketch; there were key phrases that seemed to suggest that the kid was playing out some role playing fantasy he has or reenacting a trauma from a previous living situation? He does say the teddy bear is adopted? Like, I’m honestly not sure if the joke is that the kid is planning to rape his adoptive father or something, I genuinely feel like i missed a key detail. NOT SPENDING MORE TIME ON THIS TO FIGURE IT OUT, SORRY.

There’s a very long sketch where it’s Beast from Beauty and the Beast on a dating reality show where he fucks and sucks various beauties of various backgrounds. Technically this is a new idea, I guess, but the tropes of reality shows have been fodder for comedy for so gosh darn long, and none of those jokes seem particularly inspired. The funniest joke in this is the running gag of the angry mob that keeps interrupting it, but then I remembered about January 6th and instantly got PTSD from it :( 

Okay; the best sketch of the night was Montage, about a superhero of sorts who helps people by showing up an enacting a montage. There’s been comedy about the montage trope for years, but the part where he does a montage to age up a house thief so that he becomes too frail to complete his crime is pretty inspired. And the ending was really good, where Montage’s nemesis End Credits man shows up, for both being a clever joke and also letting me know that the show was about to end. 

EPHEMERA CORNER:

The Office (UK) (September 19, 2009 - 12:00AM)

I recently watched a video where a British man defended the post-classic era of the Simposns. It only solidified my personal theory that as outsiders to American culture, British people are less likely to be able to discern the very clear difference between good and bad episodes of The Simpsons. But this is a two-way street, mostly resulting in Americans not realizing Ricky Gervais sucks until he became the most cartoonishly awful version of himself. 

Did I love The Office back then? Yes. I haven’t tried to watch it in full in probably 20 years or so, so I don’t know if it “holds up” (I mean that in the least obnoxious way possible). I only got into the American Office after exhausting rewatches of the British one, after being told how much better it got after it’s first season (of which I saw the first episode, a remake of the first British episode, and hated).

The Office airing on Adult Swim is one of my favorite bits of Adult Swim lore. Because it was promoted for weeks with Ricky Gervais being, for it’s time, funny and cheeky in promos. You got the impression he riffed them all out, letting his naturally-amusing arrogance drive them with inspired one-liners. The show’s odd runtime meant that Adult Swim had to air it in 45 minute time slots with extensively long introductions with Ricky Gervais talking about the episode for a few minutes before letting it play. 

The difference between the promos he cut and the intros, despite being the exact same camera setup, was stark. Ricky would pretentiously prattle on about how David Brent was (I used to do an impression of this and it made two people laugh really hard, so I consider it one of my greatest bit) “huuurrtiiing”, almost like we’d failed as an audience by this character buffoonish. Ricky was basically preparing us for watching a Ken Loach film, and not an above-average BBC Sitcom. It could very well be the first instance of me thinking “this dude seems like he sucks”. 

Surprisingly, these intros seem to be missing from the internet. I keep teasing the fact that some day I’ll dig out my DVD-Rs and try and find this stuff to post somewhere, but who knows at this point. I genuinely don’t know where they are and I have so much fucking shit I need to purge just to get to the pile that MIGHT contain them. But maybe some day. Enjoy the one promo I found, which doesn’t really illustrate what I’m talking about almost at all. Sorry.

MAIL BAG

The Boondocks pilot got leaked online archive DOT org/details/boondockspilot

Nice!

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #robot chicken #Youtube

[mttbrandgender]

ATLA Netflix thoughts

Okay, I am going to break down my very strong feelings about what little information we have on the ATLA live adaptation because I cannot physically keep this to myself. I am throwing this together pretty last minuet so it is less structured than I would like but this is what I’ve got time for right now.

A few things that I feel are important to know about me before we start. Firstly, I do not believe that any visual media should be adapted to another visual media, especially animated media into live actions. There has never been anything animated that has been made better in a live action adaptation. Animation is a sacred media to me, specifically 2D animation. Secondly, I adore Avatar: The Last Airbender. I watched it as it aired when I was super young and have rewatched it countless times since then. It is legitimately my favorite show. Thirdly, I am a hater, I love to tear into things and dissect them so this will be a lot of that. There will also probably be a lot more when the show also comes out. Alright, anyway!

As soon as I heard there would be a live action remake, safe to say I was not excited. I heard the original creators of the show were involved and I still did not feel good about it. ATLA really was perfect in my eyes. It was done in a perfect medium and was a perfect story with characters that felt REAL. How would remaking it in live action add to this nearly untouchable show add value? My partner has urged me to keep an open mind and not hate it entirely before we could watch it. So, I put it in the back of my mind and didn’t think about it too much for a while.

Until, suddenly, articles started to come out about what liberties the new showrunners decided to take with the show. I knew I should probably not have read them, usually I don’t even watch trailers for things I want to watch but I decided I had to know what was being said, I was painfully curious.

The first thing that I saw was that Sokka’s sexism was ‘iffy’ and ‘didn’t hold up’ so they decided to take it out of their version. I was completely shocked. Sokka’s sexism in the series WAS iffy but it was called out as such WITHIN THE NARRATIVE. That’s how they found Aang in the first place, Sokka was being sexist and Katara got angry about it. We are introduced to Sokka as a flawed character who holds these misguided beliefs about women because of the circumstances he was raised in. It is not a glorified concept within the show. Throughout the three seasons, we as an audience not only get to watch him unlearn these concepts but we also get to watch strong female characters speak out against sexism without being brushed off. It is essential to the plot and instills in its audience that it is okay to have to unlearn these ignorant beliefs, it doesn’t make you a bad person. Sokka is not a bad person or a bad character because he holds these beliefs. We get to explore why he feels that way while also watching him learn to be better. Why would you want to take that out? Because sexism is problematic, and we don’t want our show to be problematic! Look how progressive it is! You are robbing this character of the ability to change and grow because from the jump they are not flawed.

This leads to the next issue. They are writing Aang to be more responsible and ‘driven’ leaving less time for fun side quests. What? I’m sorry I must have misread that; you want the 12-year-old boy who froze himself in the ice originally because he did not want to do Avatar stuff to come out of it and immediately want to get straight to business?? That just rubs me the wrong way. In the original show, we get to see Aang slowly come to terms with his responsibilities while also acting in a way that is realistic for someone who is 12. I also saw someone say that nearly every shot of Aang in the trailer was him with a serious face. The charm of the show and Aang as our main character is that he’s a kid! He acts like a 12-year-old kid and matures as he goes through more experiences with his friends. Where is the integrity of these characters? It seems like these showrunners are so afraid to showcase any of the characters as flawed and how can you have perfectly responsible unproblematic characters that are also children?

At this point, it feels like what they need is a character integrity team to help them make these decisions because they are striking out so far. Why are we robbing these characters of their arcs? By taking away any issue or flaw, you’re taking away so much potential. This takes me back to my original thought which is why the hell would you want to take something that is so highly acclaimed and beloved and remake it? You are setting yourself up to fail no matter what. This is not a story that needs retelling in my opinion. I would much rather they take all this creative energy and resources and use them to write something else in this world. Why retell the story when you could write a new one with new characters that people haven’t spent nearly 20 years watching and loving?

The most recent thing I read was that they wanted to ‘solve’ some of the ‘gender issues’ Katara faced in the original show. Like the earlier bit with Sokka’s sexism, I take huge issue with this. These two things play into each other. Katara is not nurturing and motherly because she’s a girl. She and Sokka lost their mom when they were very young and almost immediately after, their father left for the war. Sokka and Katara were made to take on these roles at a super young age because of this conflict. Sokka is attempting to be the man of the house, trying to imitate his dad as best he can in order to fulfill that role. We know from The Waterbending Master that the water tribes hold some sexist beliefs, as Master Pakku will not instruct Katara because she’s a girl. From that, it’s not a crazy notion that Sokka might hold some of those beliefs from his upbringing. It is also critical to Katara’s character because she was fulfilling that motherly role after her mother passed. She doesn’t do it perfectly; she has a lot of control issues and can have a bit of a temper. Neither of them are bad nor outdated character because of these things. It’s a realistic reaction to the situation they found themselves in. Through their experiences in the show, they learn and grow into better and better versions of themselves. Why would the showrunners want to take that all away?

There are also so many bigger pictures issues I have thought about as well that we don’t have an answer to yet. The pacing, what they plan on fitting into the first season, how long are the episodes, etc. I am still attempting to stay open, but it is really getting hard the more I hear about it. Thank you for reading my rant and I’ll see y’all in 20 days for the premiere, I will be taking notes. :)

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar netflix #atla #atla netflix #mine #personal

[sapphoshands]

ik u were probably joking but. talk abt ur thoughts on moraine and/or siuan pleasss?

literally almost always willing to talk about moiraine and/or siuan!!!

i have been rewatching the season (i say that like i'm not always rewatching this show, good grief) and just hit episode seven, so tonight i am thinking about what it means that lan says to moiraine 'it's not like you to dwell on the past'. like. really thinking about it. this person who has spent almost every day of the past twenty years with moiraine, working towards the same singular goal; who knows moiraine more intimately than anyone else; whom others see as a match for moiraine in reticence, although we know that's not entirely true, that they do have incredibly meaningful conversations. and he says she doesn't like to 'dwell' on the past - which means, what, she doesn't like to talk about it at all?

(what do they talk about over their dinners?)

and then i thought, 'dwell' has such negative connotations, doesn't it: it feels closed off, unproductive, repetitive, regretful. is this lan's word? is this how lan feels? we see him spending time this episode with people from his past and they seem to be a bright spot in his life, plus we see earlier that he keeps the rituals of his people as a form of remembering. he certainly has a complicated past, but i don't think he sees revisiting it as dwelling.

so what does it mean to moiraine, to dwell on the past. is that how she sees all thinking about her past? as dwelling? as something that makes no difference now, because it's over and done with, and she just has to move on and not look back, because it's nothing but regrets? all that time she spend not finding the dragon - does she see that as nothing but failure?

i think moiraine has spent a long time looking only at the immediate future - the next step that's right in front of her. because she (and siuan, and lan) do have a long-term plan, but they, and especially she, have been stuck on one specific step of it for ages. find the dragon. there has been no next step because moiraine has failed over and over again to find the dragon. so the process has become so rote. go to the next village. go to the next city. go to the next town. go to the next village. again and again.

(has she had any good times on her travels?)

and so looking back is just a long litany of the places she's been where she hasn't succeeded. and it's a chance to regret all the time she didn't spend with siuan, isn't it? ('to stay at home, love the people you love') no wonder she doesn't like to do it: the weight of all of those years must be almost as crushing as the future (she thinks) she's plodding towards ('whoever comes between the dragon and the dark one will die.').

(and if i can lean on book knowledge a bit here, i expect this is something she learned very early, when she came to the white tower and left so much of herself behind, and was not at all unhappy to do so, and was able to remake herself anew.)

all this time moiraine has disciplined herself not to look back, only to look forward. until she reaches fal dara, reaches what she thinks will be her last night in this life. and then she spends it regretting. dwelling.

and she still goes to the blight the next day.

because it's what she's spent her whole life planning to do. because it's the right thing to do. and also because, if she doesn't, all that failure and all those regrets, all those lost years... what will they have been for?

and then she fails. again.

#anyway there is a thought on moiraine for you! #hope that was what you were looking for :| #this is where we get her at the start of s2 isn't it #and i WANT TO KNOW where she goes from there #it is just destroying me every time i think about this entire story through moiraine's pov #for the msot part #the tragedy of moiraine!!! #(i want it desperately.) #talk to me #anon #moiraine damodred #wheel of time

[feuqueerfire]

July - November 2023 Movies/Shows Wrap-Up

A little monthly (spoilery!) wrap-up of all the shows, movies, and shorts I’ve watched or am watching in July, August, September, October, November 2023, general thoughts, and ranking of them all.

Recommendation of the month(s): Stay With Me or Our Dating Sim

Ranking

Enigma = Stay With Me = Our Dating Sim

Love Tractor 

Be My Favorite

Sing My Crush

Skimmed: Addicted Heroin

Average Rating: 5.9/10

MDL Updates - Added to Watchlist:

A section because I’m curious about how many shows I decide to add to my Watch List a month and also the ratio of watching them:adding them.

Love Tractor

La Pluie - tentatively adding this. Apparently it's really great until ep 7 and then there are some good scenes between eps 8 - 10 but it's mostly just frustration

Enigma

Stay With Me

Oh No! Here Comes Trouble - wanted something thriller that had a bromance/BL but romance wasn’t at the forefront and was recced this

Merry Queer - I probably removed it a couple months ago cuz it seemed like I’d never watch it but I saw a few tiktoks again that reminded me that I do want to

Sing My Crush - just found out about its existence (apparently it came out all together on Aug 2) and saw ppl say this was another good kBL this year, hopefully it’ll be good

Laws of Attraction

Love Class Season 2

Only Friends

Midnight Runners 

A Breeze of Love

To Watch List At Start Of Month: 49

To Watch List At End Of Month: 49 (idk how... should be like 53 or smth)

Removed from To Watch List:

Removing these on June 30 because now that I’m getting into kpop as well, my interest in watching dramas isn’t as high and I know I’m probably not gonna get to these. 

Unintentional Love Story (2023) - probably wouldn't end up watching it

Gameboys (2020) - I keep putting off watching it, so I likely won't

Kingdom (2019) - I was on the fence about adding it in the first place and now I don't think I'll watch it

September

D.P. (2021) - don’t think I’ll watch it

La Pluie - lol already removing it

July

I got into zerobaseone and it took over all my free time, so I barely watched any shows this month.

I randomly skim-watched Addicted Heroin eps 10 - 15 on July 15 and yeah, it's deranged lol but I do kinda get why it took over people's minds, esp when there wasn't as much live-action BL. Also, foot kiss ep 13 at 14 minutes in and the guy asking "what if it hurts?" "well then I can bottom, idc" but him lying down again despite the offer anyway are uhh very good. There's a Chinese bromance remake, right? Maybe I'll watch that if it gets good reception.

July 29: Watched the My School President: Super Special Episode. It was cute, Gun and Tinn are cute as expected, even if nothing revolutionary.

July 30: Rewatched Malec scenes because I suddenly wanted to and missed them.

I didn't watch much this month, so I'll combine August with this as well.

August

A bunch of shows I wanted to watch are ending, like Enigmal, Stay With ME, and Be My Favourite, and there's some shows that I've been wanting to watch like Love Tractor and Boys Planet. Since my internship and summer semester is ending soon + ZB1 YITS promotions are over, hopefully I can watch some of these.

Completely Watched

Love Tractor 

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Jun 7, 2023 - Jun 21, 2023

Watch Via: iQiyi (paid, so :>)

Watch Dates: Aug 4 - 5, 2023

Rating: 6/10

Overall Impression: Ah, the dynamic is so delicious. Older, colder, richer, more jaded Seoul city man and younger, cheery, puppy-like new adult. Also, ummm I liked how much Yul scolded Yechan, ah + that one time Yechan apologized by kneeling. Yechan is cute, esp his antics after the sexy dream he had about Yul, but I do think he's a bit too childish sometimes, so that's meh. Overall enjoyable but I didn't super connect with the story or the characters and likely won't be thinking about them again.

Enigma

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Aug 4 - 5, 2023

Watch Via: GMMTV Youtube

Watch Dates: Aug 7 - 8, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: I wish the wrap-up/ending was done better/explained a bit more like what was that Ajin possession thing? No Ajin past? Why did we redeem mother so easily? Who was the blurry girl in ep 1 (maybe Yiwha?)? I wish the horror aspect continued on cuz I think it was strongest in the first episode but not much after that. It's had me hetshipping and lesbian shipping (Fa/Namsine were literally soooo) and that's a good mark. Good after credits scene to pique interest for a larger story, hope we get a good follow up next year.

tags: enigma

Live Blogging: Enigma Live Blogging

Stay With Me

Country: China

Release Dates: Jul 7, 2023 - Aug 12, 2023

Watch Via: Viki (paid, so :>)

Watch Dates: Aug 11 - 14, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression:  Well, this is really as close as BL you can get without saying out loud that they are dating but there are innuendos galore and it's pretty clear (there was lube on their bed, like...). The family aspect was the best, I love that we got to see Su Yu's situation so much and his blended family and the way they were always there together. You can understand why Wu Bi prefers the warmth of their home over the coldness of his, though we got to see progress on that end too. Duoduo sooo cute, little munchkin. The ending is... an ending, that's for sure. Hope we get a season 2 next year but who knows.

tags: stay with me

Live Blogging: Stay With Me Live Blogging

No more BL this month, it’s Boys Planet time! Well, an exam first, then boys planet!

Boys Planet (Aug 19 - 30): I’m not logging/tracking this on MDL bc it’s a survival show, not a drama but whew, I don’t know how people manage to watch survival shows, especially live. Also not rating it because idk how I even would.

Many weeks of not watching a new drama, though I started and stopped watching a few 10-20 minutes in

October

GMMTV 2024 Part 1 Showcase (October 17 - 18)

This makes me want to actually watch something, even if it’s a short kBL or kGL

Completely Watched

Our Dating Sim

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Mar 9, 2023 - Mar 30, 2023

Watch Via: Viki (free)

Watch Dates: Oct 19 - 20, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: The pacing of this was so good, they managed to give everything needed and timed it well within 2 hours. Well written, well acted, well planned, well shot, nice. I liked and understood the main characters and even the side characters had distinct personalities despite not being fully fledged. I loved how Gi Tae and Wan were so playful with each other, whether it be with the teasing they did and playing hard to get but also the easy affection they often had whether it be kisses, pecks, tickles, hugs, hand holding, just regular romantic touching - a good balance between being strangely chaste and very raunchy. Was cute and I’m glad this is the show that I watched after not watching anything for a while but I won't think about them again, probably. 

tags: our dating sim

Live Blogging: Our Dating Sim Live Blogging

Sing My Crush

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Aug 2, 2023

Watch Via: iQiyi (paid, so :>)

Watch Dates: Nov 18, 2023

Rating: 4.5/10

Overall Impression: It was... fine I guess, the plagiarism subplot had me invested because it was so frustrating (as it was meant to be) but I really didn’t care about the main couple. Their relationship and interactions did nothing for me. Also I’m shallow so either they needed to have more chemistry or needed to be more attractive to my tastes for me to enjoy watching it rip. I literally skimmed so much of Ep 4 - 7, especially skipped over the main couple interactions and watched to see the plagiarism issue get resolved.

Be My Favorite

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: May 26, 2023 - Aug 11, 2023

Watch Via: Youtube (free)

Watch Dates: Nov 23 - 30, 2023

Rating: 5.5/10

Overall Impression: It is such a tragedy that despite looking forward to this show for so long and enjoying some aspects and moments, ultimately, it fell flat for me. I feel like a lot of this show was objectively done well like the character arcs and acting and stuff but I'm not attached to any of it. The romance didn't make me feel giddy even though I really wish it had like it's strange that I didn't care at all about all those cute moments Kawi and Pisaeng had or the established relationship montages when usually they're some of my favourite aspects of a BL. agh whatever ig at least the show didn't treat Pear terribly.

tags: be my favorite

Live Blogging: Be My Favorite Live Blogging

#tracking #general bl #enigma #stay with me #our dating sim #be my favorite