#but the only actual Asian actors are just there for jokes and all the leads are white

[tomyo]

Hbomberguy has unfortunately taught me that if I find myself really not gelling with someone it's probably because they're a shitty person.

Like I'm no Cassandra but all this time I remember I would just watch his videos and think "hmmm yeah, I can place my finger on it but I don't like the way he talks about these things." And then I ignored it because I thought I was just going out of my comfort zone.

I can't remember everything I beefed on him with but I definitely hated when he started to take on anime or Asian media. Overall I just think a lot of times westerners tend to assume their values and ways issues are dealt with are universal and he was just another lukewarm dive into the medium. Like its personal to me but I still stand by that Yuri on Ice isn't gay in the sense it isn't made for gay people, it's voyeuristic and pairing stories of incestuous feelings within it's short run time was a horrible choice they could have skipped. It comes to mind because I think he brought it up in one of his recent videos (I've been bedridden all week so my watch later queque has been playing on in the bg between lucidity) and it ticked me off. I hate the way he was dismissive of Heart Stopper for being twee and the whole rant about how it's not just him but other gay men too who think this! Honestly! For real guys! And for minutes I was just there like Alice Oseman is aroace! When he finally gets there it became infuriating how he diminished it's importance. Authors are allowed to let their experience effect their writing! She's not responsible to cater to you. The beauty of Heartstopper is it's release has lived through a rapid change in lgbtq acceptance and is the perfect opportunity to show that romantic and sexual inclination also exist on a sliding scale because that's something we are now widely teaching!! To write modern teen characters, you have to empathize with modern teens. They're not you!! Which is mostly good given the history of our community. It's good to get to see queer teen boys take it maybe infuriatingly slow because they don't have to be pressured for more.

James to me was always just a bit pessimistic and not really good at empathizing which given how much he stole makes sense why what he said and how he acted just felt off. It makes sense when everyone else in "breadtube" started promoting each other's works how it never seemed to happen with him. I don't remember him saying he was the only person really doing this but that's fucking bizarre to hear when the list of people who does what he pretended to was endless. Before I even watched the whole video I already brought up Matt Baume who like Hbomberguy said feels the exact opposite to James. Matt talks forward about progress, genuinely made me realize how we were always here, and the path lead forward to us getting there. Maybe it's not great to admit but there's YouTubers I watch that I know I have to psych myself up to watch, sometimes I don't like their running joke, sometimes they talk too fast multitasking, sometimes they have a habit that gets to me and I just need mental prep. James was like, "sigh here we go" that you'd feel before you were about to talk with that one friend who makes every convo abrasive and combative, I'm coming out a little annoyed and tired by the end of it. With Matt I remember it being a case of getting ready to sit down to hear a part of obscure history knowledge from that one friend who reads a book every two days. Possibly the biggest difference between the two is how much you believe Matt is committed to the material he's making because 1. It also focuses on sitcoms and old Hollywood queerness hence an well carved niche 2. It isn't as easy to churn out material. I've heard a million videos on owl house's queerness or Sherlock queer baiting but fuck all did I ever know how Tab Hunter was. There were so many "weird little funny guy" actors that I could make assumptions were gay but Matt actually gave me their stories and has made my heart cry for how hard they had it even thought I always could have figured that. And maybe that's what sucked, James as a queer man just never seemed to emotionally resonate.

Fuck, man I'm just rambling with all of this but the sheer validation of feeling off all these years paying of is wonderful. I don't really want to celebrate his downfall to much, not worth the energy, and I don't want to put another YouTuber on a pedestal because we have a bad habit of doing that only to have things turn out wrong. The thing is I watched illuminauti and Internet historian too but in the same way where I knew I was getting junk food. I wasn't looking for anything fancy and their sections did not surprise me and if anything maybe just make me feel embarrassed how comfortable I am eating badly made media. But god maybe worse is how happy I am to have someone tell me that it's alright that I don't like one gay dudes well produced videos.

#james somerton #tomyo says shit

[chaos0pikachu]

Your post reminds me of the early 2000s when people were speculating on which Disney Channel and Nickelodeon actors were actually together IRL (which is weird enough to speculate on the romantic lives of children) and how crazy the tabloids were in general back then when it came to actors personal/romantic lives.

I think people in Western culture tend to downplay the prevalence of that behavior nowadays because it’s not as front and center as it used to be but it does still happen and a lot of the time it’s still used by studios to promote their shows. Definitely not a phenomenon unique to Asia.

Omg you just made me remember the Lindsey Lohan, Hilary Duff, Aaron Carter 'love' triangle that existed back then lmaoooo what a time

I do think western fans, particularly ones in BL/GL fandoms, are so hyper focused on those fandoms/sub-fandoms they either don't pay attention to what's happening outside of those fandoms or don't know general media history. I don't blame~~ ppl for this fandom is ultimately a hobbyist space first and foremost, but I do think it can lead to damaging assumptions about non-American/British cultures and a prevalent belief that these types of occurrences only happen in BL/GL fandoms which can - and has in my observations - lead to some xenophobic beliefs about East Asian cultures in general.

This is a bigger problem in general of xenophobia when it comes to consuming and/or engaging with non-white/non-american media like this belief that Korean media isn't horny in general isn't just something I see BL fans saying but also ppl who watch romance kdramas b/c that's their main focus, romance kdramas not Korean media in general. Which is vast and varied, and exists beyond Crash Landing Into You, Guardian, Squid Game and Parasite

(sidenote, everyone knows Bong Joon-ho for Parasite but his filmography is varied and amazing, The Host is such a clever subversive of a B monster movie and Snowpiercer is probably one of my fave films of all time and Chris Evans best on screen performance to date)

Like, I see folks saying "shipping" a lot when it comes to fans believing idk Mew and Gulf were irl dating when in my fandom experience that shit was called "tin hatting" b/c it was a conspiracy. There was a fine line difference between ppl who like just enjoyed and liked Dom and Elijah's friendship and wrote silly (even if it was sexy) fanfic about them and the ppl who literally stalked Elijah to a gay bar once b/c they legitimately believed Dom and Elijah were in a secret romance. Like way to much fandom shit, Jared and Jensen also popularized tin hatting or rather their fandom did. J2 crawled so Larries could fucking RUN. Back in the days of LiveJournal there were anon communities that had threads with 1000s of comments about how Jared and Jensen were secretly in a relationship b/c omg look at the way they act at cons! They're so touch-feely! They make innuendo jokes!

We'd call this "fan service" with a Thai acting pair and I would argue that's what Jared and Jensen were doing, fan service just in the early 00s. Idk if they still do this at cons I don't follow SPN anymore but you saw the same comments about like the 1D members. In my experience I would argue western tin hatters of western celebs are worse than what I see from BL fans even with the "fan service" or whatever b/c there's a sense of heightened conspiracy think involved. And again, it's not just for same-sex couples the actors for Outlander have been harassed by tinhats for almost as long as the show has been on (so like 8-ish years). At the height of the popularity for Scandal tin hats were saying Kerry Washington's baby was gonna come out light skinned "proving" it was her white costars (for those who don't know Kerry is a Black woman and her husband is a Black man, her former costar is a white man).

idk where I was going with all this but like, this isn't something specific to Thailand or Korea etc it's not even something specific to same sex pairings. I would argue Thailand's just learned how to monetize off people's already pre-existing lack of boundaries towards public figures.

#chaos pikachu speaks

[triviareads]

Hiiiii! This is a bit specific but do you know any romance novels (Modern or historical) with Brown leads that aren't about cultural trauma? 💀 I feel a bit tired everytime I pick up a book with a Brown (SWANA or South Asian) lead bc it's always about arranged marriage drama, generational clashes between disappointed old fashioned uber strict immigrant parents who wanted their kid to be doctor and their child, terrible aunties and racism and/or islamophobia related drama. I kind of feel bad for thinking like this bc all the romance books with SWANA or South Asian leads are always written by women who belong to the cultures in the books and I wanna support them whenever I can, but I'm also tired of getting slapped by trauma I personally know when all I want is fun, drama,good chemistry,cute tropes and good spice without pin straight honey blonde locks, ocean blue orbs and milky white skin,you know? 😥

I have literally dedicated my life to finding such books (I joke with a friend that every time she picks up a book with an Asian lead, there's inevitably generational trauma), and it's hard! I feel like only recently have I started to see South Asian authors write in a way that doesn't make me think they hate their own culture or are embarrassed by it. Unfortunately, I can't think of a historical romance that doesn't have some form of racial trauma (I wish more romances set in South Asia existed/were published abroad). But here are some contemporary recs:

Tastes like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma (out on 8/1): My full review isn't out yet, but I loved Bobbi and Benjamin's (dw despite the names, they're both Punjabi) relationship progression (it's sold as enemies to lovers but the enemies portion doesn't last super long tbh). It has solid sex scenes and Nisha even ventures into kink (a rarity for non-white characters). Plus, both Bobbi and Benjamin embrace their culture and you get the sense that they truly love it, and funnily enough, the aunty squad in this book is actually a force for good lol.

The Roommate Risk (previously Wanna Bet?) by Talia Hibbert: Friends-to-lovers but done RIGHT. Rahul Khan has been in love with Jasmine Allan since he gave his virginity to her (the flashback scenes in this one are great). Now, 7 years later, she's living with him because her apartment flooded, and cue all the angst and confused feelings!! Talia writes her sex scenes really well, this amazing combination of emotional intimacy and realness (and a little humor), not to mention they're uniformly hot.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert: So in hindsight, Talia Hibbert tends to make her South Asian heroes daddy types (stern brunch daddy types.... if you will) and Zafir Ansari fits within this pattern. Him and Dani decide to fake-date to help get publicity for his charity. The funny thing here is that Rahul is the romantic (he reads Harlequin romances!!!!!! And having sex without feelings is a STRUGGLE for this man) and Dani is relationship-avoidant, so that's fun for them. Also, Zafir is dealing with grief from losing his father and brother, but it's less "South Asian Family Trauma" and moreso just a genuine exploration of grief and coping with the help of his family.

Claiming His Bollywood Cinderella by Tara Pammi: I think Harlequins might be your best bet if you want to read about Indians in India (fun fact, Tara inspired me to try writing a Harlequin-style romance). This has kind of a Cinderella vibe; The hero Vikram is a Bollywood actor, and the heroine Naina is his grandma's assistant and they hook up at a masquerade party (which was.... very hot even if Vikram is prone to speeches while he's inside her lol), and it goes from there. It's a solid (technically slow-burn I think) romance.

The Secret She Kept in Bollywood by Tara Pammi: This is about Vikram's sister Anya and the adopted father of the child Anya gave away several years ago, Simon (he's brown too), who might also be the DILFiest DILF to ever DILF. Tell me what other man can help you through a panic attack without even knowing who you are, and then immediately proceed to give you the best sex of your life? I'll wait. No but real talk, this one hits a lot of really great emotional notes about family (not to mention a great romance) without being about, like, South Asian trauma.

Sink or Swim by Tessa Bailey: Ft. a Gujarati heroine, Jiya, and Andrew, her friend who's been in love with her since forever. What I love about this book is that the friends-to-lovers aspect isn't too cutesy; it's a bit angsty and the sexual obsession aspect is what really sold me (not to mention the fact that Andrew's a service top and that's shown in the BEST scene, therefore also subverting the "submissive Asian woman" stereotype). I also think I think the book has very reasonable portrayal of Desi parents; they want what they think is best for Jiya, and Jiya actually agrees to meet a guy in an an arranged-marriage set up, but ultimately they come around to Andrew once they understand that he loves her and will take care of her.

Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai: Okay so maybe this has some intergenerational South Asian family drama (namely how Rana's mother views her sex life) but it's too good not to recommend! Like, sometimes you really want a crazy heroine who lowkey stalks the hero (but it's okay, Micah here gets off on it... literally), and Rana ends up being his muse (he's an artist) as they start an affair with a definite end date but obviously, Feelings get in the way.

#book recs #nisha sharma #talia hibbert #tara pammi #tessa bailey #alisha rai #contemporary romance #ask #desiblr #desi tumblr

[6ebe]

Omg that one rapey scene in blade runner I-

#thinking of it now I’d seen it complained abt before but Lord I feel sick #it’s so bad I don’t want to finish this film now sndhdjfkf #like it’s a p good film and then BOOM #i mean it’s also got some weird orientalist angle like set in East Asian feeling city (hybrid culture kind of thing) #but the only actual Asian actors are just there for jokes and all the leads are white #man :/ #nice world building though #🤢🤢

[chrisjake-cp]

History 3 Trapped Filming Diary (full English translation) - Days 1-10

Just before you start reading, a little note of explanation: the author of this diary will frequently use the character’s name when they mean the actor. I have added the names of the actors between square brackets sometimes to avoid confusion. Also between square brackets you will find some words that are implied, so I added them in the translation to make the translation a bit smoother, but they aren’t included in the Chinese text. 

The book’s author will also talk in the first person POV sometimes, refering to themselves as either “I”, “we” or “this little editor 小编”.  So each time you see me write “I”, it is not my own opinion I’m inserting in the text, but the author/editor’s. If I have anything else to add or explain myself, I’ll add it in a note at the end of the text.  

I’ll repeat: I don’t own the book so I can’t post my scans of the pictures that came with every day. So I posted some other pictures of the scenes that were being filmed with each day. These pics belong to LINE TV or Choco Media, or I’ve taken screenshots. 

Day 1-10 under the cut. 

Day 1

The first day of shooting happened to coincide with ‘Li Dong’⁕ but the temperatures of that day soared to 29 degrees. The crew was going sleeveless, but the actors were all wearing sweaters or dress shirts. Tang Yi, who had on the most, was wearing a turtleneck sweater and a suit jacket on top at one point, but he didn’t sweat very much.⁕ Meanwhile A De [Stanley], wearing a shirt and a suit jacket, was [clad] the ‘thinnest’ at the scene. When he got off work and took off his sweaty shirt, the wardrobe department exclaimed: “This shirt is so wet!”

Officer Meng’s scenes for that day consisted of eating from 10 am in the morning until 6pm in the evening. He basically ate from when he got to work until he got off work. All in all he had two large bags of rice and poured 4 liters of coca cola. Junhao [Jake] will start sweating profusely and start flushing when he eats spicy food, so as soon as the director yelled ‘cut’, the crew would immediately pass him a plastic bag so he could spit out the spicy Kung Pao Chicken he was eating.

⁕ Li Dong 立冬 literally means ‘establishing the winter’, so it is some kind of winter solstice in Asian culture. In the Gregorian calendar, it falls on 7 or 8 November. According to the IG stories of some of the cast of Trapped, it was indeed 7 November 2018 when shooting started. 

⁕ Chris apparently doesn’t sweat much, no matter how hot he gets. He says as much in his vlog as well. I envy him, because I’d just be sweating buckets like Stanley. 

Day 2

The first meeting between Tang Yi and Wenhao is also the second time that Chengyang [Chris] and teacher Jiakui [Chen Jiakui, the actor who plays Chen Wenhao] worked together. They cooperated for the first time on a movie. At that time teacher Jiakui served as the movie’s drama teacher. When Chris had gone through make-up in the early morning, he sat alone in a corner with the script. You could easily see that he was conflicted and upset. [For the other movie] teacher Jiakui was Chris’ mentor, but here Wenhao was the target of Tang Yi’s revenge.

In the process of their scenes where they faced each other, the director hoped that Tang Yi could hate Wenhao even more, but Tang Yi’s personality is subdued and calm. So how could he fly into a raging fit and still keep his calm? In a part that was not captured on camera, teacher Jiakui aggravated some lines to make Chris more infuriated. Afterwards teacher Jiakui also said that the role of Tang Yi is not easy to perform. [Tang Yi] is a young mob boss, The hate in his eyes must therefore also carry a bit of youthfullness, which is difficult to experience for normal people in the course of their lives.

Day 3

Today was the first time that Zhaozi arrived on set, and while he was bored waiting for his scenes, Zhaozi started to act as the shop’s clerk to sell suits. Apart from suits, bowties and regular ties, he even managed to sell shoehorns. By oneself, the words just kept on flying out of his mouth which left Shaofei beside him looking dumbfounded (if you want to see Shaofei’s dumbfounded meme-like look, you have to absolutely watch the behind-the-scenes on the DVDs)⁕. [Shaofei] continued to shout “If you buy a shoehorn you get Zhaozi for free with it, please someone take Zhaozi away, Unit 3 can’t stand it anymore.”

Boss Tang was tired, and took a nap in his own shop. ‘Just a little while will do. Shaofei and A De, you two be on the lookout for me, and if the director is coming, remember to wake me.’

⁕ Excellent advice. Please do watch the behind-the-scenes after finishing this book, because a lot of what is written here is visualized in the bts. The bts are arranged per episode though, and not per filming day, but it’s still amazing to be able to see what went on. 

Day 4

The set for the offices of Investigation Unit 3 is actually the office of LINE TV’s Choco Media branch. The contemporary industrial style caused the atmosphere among Unit 3 to be even more lively. 

For Unit 3’s first scene together, the director used a one-shot to have everyone appear on the scene, which meant that the first time all the actors were present, they had to have a ‘chemistry’ test. But apart from the actors, chemistry also had to be there for the whole staff, as the directing crew, the camera crew and the sound crew, really everyone, also had to follow [the actors] along⁕. I still remember that by the 20th take, everyone’s lines ran very smoothly, the shot was satisfactory and everyone was where they were supposed to be. The director and the crew were holding their breath in concentration, and just when they thought they’d succeed, A Zhi [character Zhou Guanzhi, played by Kass Tsai] forgot a line in the very last sentence hahahaha. In the end, this round took 27 takes.

⁕ The author uses a metaphor/reference here. They write 乾坤大挪移 which means something like ‘The Great Shift of the Cosmos’ and is apparently a kind of martial art from a martial arts novel. It consists of 7 increasingly difficult skill levels, whereby the 7th level is almost unattainable. In other words, shooting this one-shot scene required the whole cast and crew pulling off this great cosmos shift, and thus was a big, big challenge. 

Day 5

After we shot the scene where the two idiots from Unit 3 [Shaofei and Zhaozi] got into trouble and received an explosive scolding by Dapao [Shi Dapao, the name of Unit 3’s Captain]⁕, the director told Shaofei that she wanted to add a scene where he sat next to the window thinking about Sister Lizhen, continuing in the same mood [as the previous scene]...Everyone in Unit 3 felt that Shaofei was continuing to set his teeth into a meaningless old case. If there had only been some progress in the investigation...but [Shaofei] not only didn’t find any new leads, but he also got into trouble everywhere. If Sister Lizhen would still be alive, he wouldn’t be like this now...Shaofei really, really missed sister Lizhen. Rather than say that the director added this scene at the last moment, it’s more like she deliberately didn’t tell Junhao [Jake] that she would add this part. 

When they were shooting, the director played the music from the music box through the megaphone and from time to time talked as well, to provoke moody feelings in Jake. In the end Jake grabbed his phone and scrolled through his mother’s Facebook, and to all our surprise Jake started bawling, so much so that even after the ‘cut’ he couldn’t stop, until the director walked over and lightly patted him on the back. To be able to cry like that in a short amount of time, even he himself hadn’t expected that.

⁕ How much fun is it that the name of the Captain of Unit 3 literally means big cannon, when he explodes in anger all the damn time? 😂 I am quite convinced that in the hospital scene where Shaofei tells Tang Yi of his fortune-telling and that only a cannon can strike him down - he uses the exact same wording ‘dapao’ - it’s actually an inside joke and he may not have meant ‘cannon’ literally. 

Day 6

Today’s weather couldn’t be called very fine, and when we were shooting until 3 or 4 P.M., the daylight was almost gone, just when the filming location had large windows in every corner that reached the ground. Our funny director said “Why did the production team run out of light after 3 P.M.? Did they forget to send notice⁕ to the sun?” This caused the crew that was present to not know whether to laugh or cry. But in the end, before the sun got off work, everyone else smoothly finished their job as well.

⁕ the term “to send notice” is quite literal, but the word is indeed an entertainment industry term as well, that means to hire someone for a short amount of time or for a specific show, without there having to be a longer-term contractual agreement. So it could also be translated as “did they forget to hire the sun [to star in today’s scenes]?”

Day 7

It was a day with complicated feelings for Shaofei and little Tang Yi, as Shaofei discovered Tang Yi’s past history. 

Before going to meet the adoptive father of his lover, of course Shaofei had to straighten himself out first and shave his beard to leave a good impression. In the evening, today’s final scene was shot. Before starting filming, the director hoped that [Tang Yi’s] adoptive father could guide little Tang Yi’s mood, because the intensity of this scene needed to bring out the reason why Tang Yi’s feelings for Tang Guodong ran so deep and make everyone feel the warmth that Tang Guodong brought to Tang Yi even more. 

Under the constant conflict of raising [little Tang Yi] through much difficulties, a loud and clear slap came down heavily on little Tang Yi’s face. The silence at the [shooting] site caused the loud sound to be infinitely amplified, and the director and the crew were all shocked. When the ‘cut’ sounded, little Tang Yi instantly started crying, and the director rushed to the room immediately. On every crew member’s face was reluctance and shock. Meanwhile the adoptive father sat with his head down on the sofa, full of remorse. 

An extra tidbit from the same scene: the crew’s love for little gadgets

There are always a few conspicuous toys in front of the director’s monitor. She explained that these were toys that members of the crew who are close to her gave her to alleviate stress. I don’t know which toy is the director’s favourite?

 Day 8

For the setting of the toilets of Unit 3 we actually used the toilets in a department store. Zhaozi, who arrived at the store very early in the morning, was hit on by an older lady who was just coming into work. The lady said: “Aren’t you Zhao Youting [Mark Chao]? You definitely are Zhao Youting!!” Even though Zhaozi went on to deny it, the lady didn’t listen and believed that this handsome guy in front of her was Zhao Youting himself. 

Actually, Zhaozi passed on the above story [to us], and no one actually saw this older lady. Zhaozi often tells bluff stories with a straight face, but I [this little editor] have my reservations about its credibility. But be as it may, after he was told that he looked like Zhao Youting, Zhaozi’s acting skills immediately leveled up. So okay, whether or not the story was real, we thank this lady ‘from the legends’.

Day 9

Can I call you dad after this hug? 

I still remember the story of a friend coming out to his mother. He said to his mom: “I’m sorry if this thing disappoints you. I don’t dare to ask for your blessing. I just hope that you can show some understanding.” Through a chat message, his mother could only briefly reply: “If your other half is a good kid, I will give you my blessing.”

Many people in a same-sex relationship don’t dare to confess to the older generation and they don’t dare to ask for their blessings. Their only hope is not to be hated. It’s like that facing this society, and it’s the case when facing your beloved family. When Wenhao and Shaofei met each other, Wenhao gave Shaofei a hug. This hug must have carried [Wenhao’s] unspoken blessing. 

No worries, dear father-in-law. I, Officer Meng, will take care of everything (pats on the back). 

Wenhao and Guodong together brings its own hint of romance.⁕ The fighting was very intense that day, so much so that the police dispatched a Quick Fight Force team in concern [for the situation]. 

⁕ The term that the author uses is 腐味 (fuwei, the taste of fu). The first character, ‘fu’ is the same ‘fu’ that is used in terms like fujoshi 腐女子 and fudanshi  腐男子 (which are Japanese) but it’s the same pronunciation for that first character. So the author implies that there might have been something more than friendship going on between Chen Wenhao and Tang Guodong. They imply the same thing later in the book as well (day 60, where the two are called a CP). 

Day 10

A Mei [Stanley] who portrays A De, said that he was the expert in getting beaten [in this drama]. I say that Stanley definitely dedicated himself to taking on that role. Many times his head bumped into the wall and the crew told him to take a break, but Stanley couldn’t stop yelling “no no, hurry up, I’m familiar with it now!”

All the way through the end Officer Meng and Vixen⁕ no.1, A De, cheered each other on before ‘Action!’ [was called]. 

⁕ The word for vixen is ‘fox spirit’  狐狸精 in Chinese. I love that and I could probably write essays on this subject. In classical Chinese literature, foxes were most of the time portrayed as (mainly female) temptresses who seduced males for sex and then didn’t shy away from sucking the soul out of them, kind of like a succubus. If anyone is ever in the mood for some academic literature about foxes in late imperial China, I've got you covered  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3237790-alien-kind

So A De and Andy are constantly referred to as these foxes who want to seduce Tang Yi and snatch him away in front of Shaofei’s eyes. 

#圈套影像日誌本 #Trapped diary #history 3: 圈套 #HIStory3: Trapped #translation #my translation #jake hsu #chris wu #andy bian #kenny chen #jack #zhaozi #meng shaofei #tang yi #history3 trapped diary translation #mandarin #mandarin chinese #吳承洋 #徐鈞浩 #卞慶華 #陳廷軒 #孟少飛 #唐毅 #趙子 #趙立安 #飛唐 #飛唐cp #立克 #立克cp #HIStory 3 Trapped diary

[wild-aloof-rebel]

In a candid conversation with the Star, Manji said “Schitt’s Creek” producers did not instruct him as to how Ray should sound.

“It is a very slight Indian accent — somebody who was probably raised in Canada, but probably was born in India or Pakistan,” he said from his home in Los Angeles.

“I don’t regret that because I think it actually works for Ray. He wasn’t like everybody else in that town. He was from somewhere else.”

Manji said he’s OK with viewers questioning his choices, but rather than focus on accents, he said, critics could ask why his character didn’t have a more fully developed story, like a relationship or a family.

“If you want to criticize something, do that,” he said. “We need to have three-dimensional characters.”

[full article text below the cut]

At the start of Rizwan Manji’s acting career in the 1990s, the only roles available to him were those playing convenience store clerks and cab drivers. The parts usually required him to fake an Indian accent — just for laughs.

“We would joke about it. ‘This is so offensive, this is so offensive,’” recalls the Toronto native. “It’s not like we didn’t know.”

More than two decades later, Manji’s grin-and-bear-it perseverance has paid off. At 46, Manji now boasts a long — and diverse — list of TV and film credits. In September, he joined castmates from the hit CBC comedy series “Schitt’s Creek” in celebration as the show nabbed a record-breaking nine Emmy Awards.

That doesn’t mean, however, he still doesn’t grapple with questions about his acting choices.

While “Schitt’s Creek,” about a wealthy family that loses its fortune and is forced to move to a backwater town, won raves for its messages of inclusivity and positive queer representation, a segment of viewers took to social media to criticize Manji’s character, Ray Butani, the town’s bumbling jack of all trades — who speaks with an accent.

What irked them was that Ray, one of the few recurring people of colour on the show, seemed like a caricature — a rehash of the stereotypical, emasculated South Asian male. They also complained that Manji’s accent came across as “cringey.”

“Why go to the effort of writing in a character with an Indian name, played by an Indian actor, whose main personality trait is that he is stupid and has an accent?” Rishi Maharaj, a Port Hardy, B.C., engineer and avid TV viewer, wrote on Twitter days after the show’s Emmy sweep.

Across North America’s TV and film industry, there is broad consensus about the need to fight stereotypes and offensive tropes in casting. But the debate among actors of colour over whether they should fake accents remains fraught.

Some Hollywood actors, such as Aziz Ansari and John Cho, have reportedly turned down roles, citing the history of Hollywood playing up accents for laughs. (Think Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 romantic comedy “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” complete with taped eyelids, buck teeth and cartoonish accent).

They worry that parts requiring them to speak with accents do nothing to help the cause of minority actors who are often typecast in secondary roles or as sidekicks, and who continue to be under-represented on TV and film.

Others say it’s important to represent linguistic diversity and see no harm portraying characters who speak in broken English, as long as their accent is not the butt of a joke and in keeping with a character’s backstory.

In a candid conversation with the Star, Manji said “Schitt’s Creek” producers did not instruct him as to how Ray should sound.

“It is a very slight Indian accent — somebody who was probably raised in Canada, but probably was born in India or Pakistan,” he said from his home in Los Angeles.

“I don’t regret that because I think it actually works for Ray. He wasn’t like everybody else in that town. He was from somewhere else.”

Manji said he’s OK with viewers questioning his choices, but rather than focus on accents, he said, critics could ask why his character didn’t have a more fully developed story, like a relationship or a family.

“If you want to criticize something, do that,” he said. “We need to have three-dimensional characters.”

The character that has generated one of the most heated debates in recent years when it comes to accents is Apu, the Indian-American shopkeeper on the long-running animated series “The Simpsons.” Until recently, the thick-accented character was voiced by actor Hank Azaria, who is white.

In 2017, American comedian Hari Kondabolu came out with a documentary, “The Problem With Apu,” in which he pressed the case that the show fomented racial stereotypes about Indian people.

In interviews at the time, Kondabolu shared that, as a kid, Apu was “the only Indian we had on TV” and that he was happy for “any representation.” But then on the playground, he had to deal with kids mimicking Apu’s accent.

In the documentary, he gets Dana Gould, a former writer on the show, to admit, “There are accents, that by their nature, to white Americans, sound funny. Period.”

With criticism mounting, Azaria, who had voiced Apu for three decades, announced he was stepping away from the role, telling the New York Times earlier this year: “Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore.”

There is growing sensitivity among artists, writers, directors and producers to avoid stereotypes and invest in “fully humanized, realized characters,” Steven Eng, an actor and voice and speech instructor at New York University, told the Star.

“There’s certainly been a whole history — that I don’t think any of us can deny — in film and television and the theatre where characters were stereotyped,” he said. “I think there’s so much more awareness, so much more determination to not go that route.”

But even “groundbreaking” shows, such as “Kim’s Convenience” and the recently cancelled “Fresh Off the Boat,” which were heralded for elevating Asian-Canadian and Asian-American visibility and immigrant experiences, have not escaped criticism, accused by some viewers of employing storylines and accents that do not ring true.

Cast members, in turn, leapt to the defence of their shows — and their accents.

“Some people are like, ‘Oh, stereotypical accent!’” Constance Wu, lead actress on “Fresh Off the Boat,” told Time magazine regarding her character’s Taiwanese accent. “An accent is an accent. If there were jokes written about the accent, then that would certainly be harmful. But there aren’t jokes written about it. It’s not even talked about. It’s just a fact of life: immigrants have accents.”

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, the lead actor in “Kim’s Convenience” told Maclean’s his character’s Korean accent is “part of who he is, but it isn’t the joke.”

“Yes, we’re in the entertainment field, and we will mine some of that because it is situational humour. You will get a point where we’ll say, ‘Here’s where some fun can be made, playing with the accent, and his inability and people mishearing what he says.’ But at the same time, that’s not all it is,” he said.

Jimmy O. Yang, who starred in the HBO series “Silicon Valley” and whose character spoke with a heavy Chinese accent, told Huffington Post the key is to portray immigrants with humanity.

“It’s maybe a better thought to change the perception of an accent than to avoid it all together,” he said. “I take offence (when people don’t go for parts with accents) ― it’s like saying, ‘I’m better than my immigrant brother with an accent.’”

Yang added he drew inspiration from his mom and relatives in Shanghai to develop his accent for the show. “It’s not just a (lousy) impression of a Cantonese Bruce Lee accent.”

Still, some actors have declared outright they will not do it.

“For me, personally, any time I’ve been asked to do that, I feel like — it feels like it’s making fun of people that have that accent if I do it and don’t have that voice,” comedian Aziz Ansari told NPR in 2015, years before he faced a public allegation of sexual misconduct.

“It feels like you’re doing it so white people can laugh at Indian people,” he said at the time.

That’s kind of how Maharaj felt watching Ray on “Schitt’s Creek.”

“I did find it cringey. The first thought that came to mind was it reminded me of Apu in ‘The Simpsons,’” he told the Star.

In The Problem With Apu, South Asian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his long-standing “nemesis” Apu Nahasapeemapetilon – better known as the Indian convenience store owner on The Simpsons. Creator and star Kondabolu discusses how this controversial caricature was created, burrowed its way into the hearts and minds of Americans, and continues to exist – intact – nearly three decades later. Featuring interviews with Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn, Whoopi Goldberg, W. Kamau Bell, Aasif Mandvi, Hasan Minhaj, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Aparna Nancherla

“To me what it sounds like is what a person from Saskatoon thinks a person from India sounds like. ... I’m sure he could’ve been a funny part of that show without an accent.”

Maharaj wasn’t alone. Arif Silverman, an actor and playwright in New York, posted a lengthy Facebook post in October sharing his conflicted feelings about the show.

“Schitt’s Creek has become one of my all-time favourite shows. But they did their South Asian characters dirty,” he wrote.

“Especially Ray, who plays directly into the racist South Asian trope of being an emasculated, goofy buffoon who no one takes seriously, not least in part because of his accent.”

Silverman told the Star Ray’s accent seemed “part of the joke” and struck him as a “betrayal” from a show that preached inclusivity and whose main romance was a gay love story.

“I’m half South Asian — my mother is from Bangladesh. … And so I think a lot about representation of South Asians in the media,” he said. “If you’re really going to talk about inclusivity it can’t be at anyone’s expense.”

Manji says he faced a lot of struggles as a brown actor at the start of his career.

Back then, he was often pigeonholed into narrow roles, such as the cabbie or 7-Eleven store clerk. One hundred per cent of his roles required him to fake a South Asian accent.

“It was very strictly, like, the joke was on the accent,” he said.

But he accepted the parts because he needed the work.

He did draw a line with one type of role.

“I’m Muslim, so I was more the guy who was like, ‘I’m not being the terrorist.’”

There was one time, however, when he auditioned to play an Islamic Studies professor on the show “24.” He was given limited information about the character. It turned out he was a bomb maker.

But the money was too good to pass up. He took the part.

“I rationalized it in my head, ‘Oh, it’s season 8, and they have good Muslim characters. … I don’t know if I made the right decision,” he said.

“To be clear, I’m OK with being the bad guy. I’d love to play the bad guy. It’s just when it’s this kind of thing where you’re screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ and bombing people.”

In 2010, Manji was cast in the short-lived NBC sitcom “Outsourced” set in an Indian call centre. He and his castmates employed accents, which some critics derided for lack of authenticity.

It’s fine if people want to criticize the quality of the accents, he said, but it wouldn’t have made sense for these characters not to have accents.

“The show was shooting in America about living in India. I don’t know what the other option was,” he said, adding that he channelled his father in developing the accent for that show.

Another thing to keep in mind is that accents have to be understandable to North American audiences, Manji said. For instance, during the filming of the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” Manji, who played a Pakistani colonel, said he settled on a “sweet spot” where his accent “sounds foreign” but is “not so thick that it becomes comedic or unintelligible.”

Manji said he did not have to audition for “Schitt’s Creek” but was offered the role of Ray, the town’s real estate agent, travel agent, photographer and Christmas tree salesman.

When he went for his first table read in Toronto, he’d had no prior discussion with the show’s writers or producers about what Ray would sound like.

Because most of his demo tape consisted of his work on “Outsourced,” Manji assumed that was the kind of voice producers were looking for. He went with a slightly toned-down version.

“Afterwards, I went up to Dan (Levy, the show’s co-creator) and said, ‘Hey just want to check in.’ He said, ‘I love what you did. It was funny.’ That ended up being the character for six years.”

Maharaj says he can’t help but feel Manji was selling himself short — playing to what he thought “a white audience might expect or respond more favourably to” to get the job. He likens it to job applicants of Asian descent who anglicize their names on resumes.

“I’m encouraged to hear he had agency, that they weren’t like, ‘We need you to do the accent,’” he said.

“I’d feel better if they were asking him to do a British accent or Brooklyn accent because if you’re doing this Indian accent and the character is comedic, it is nonetheless playing into that trope.”

Levy, who is also from Toronto, declined an interview request. Instead, he released a statement through his publicist.

“Ray was conceived as a character of Indian decent which we cast with Canadian-born actor Rizwan Manji, who is of Indian decent. No accent was called for in the casting or specified in the scripts,” it said.

“The thoughtful choices that Rizwan made in his portrayal in the audition room perfectly encapsulated the warmth and the energy of Ray. All characters on our show were created with love, respect and humanity. It has been gratifying to have these intentions reflected through the overwhelming audience support for these characters. That said, I welcome any perspectives that encourage conversations about diversity, especially in entertainment.”

Despite what critics might think, Manji said he has felt more empowered in recent years to make creative decisions about his characters.

Manji, who had a role in NBC’s musical comedy “Perfect Harmony,” which was cancelled this year, said when he was approached about playing the part of a pastor, he was the one who initiated the idea of giving the character a foreign accent.

Because the character was raised by missionaries, it wouldn’t have made sense for him to not have one.

Conversely, when he was asked a couple years ago to read for a pilot for a dramatic series in which his character was a Muslim father he told the casting director he didn’t want to do an accent.

“I said, ‘You know what? I’d rather not. That’s not going to excite me about this part,’” he said.

“I ended up getting the job. I found my voice.” (The pilot never made it to series).

Manji, who guesses about 60 per cent of his roles in more recent years have involved accent work, says remarks by actors who refuse to do accents are “dangerous” because they could end up limiting the types of roles available to minority actors.

His worry is casting directors will go to India in search of authentic accents, overlooking North American-born actors, like him.

“I’m already marginalized.”

Nobody fusses when Meryl Streep performs with an accent, he adds.

Ishani Nath, a freelance entertainment and lifestyle journalist in Toronto, says anytime she sees an accented character who also provides comedic relief, it raises a bit of a red flag.

But she’s hesitant to criticize actors for taking those roles, knowing that opportunities are not easy to come by.

“I’m way more interested in criticizing writers, producers, (and asking): Why are you asking for these roles to be accented? … Is there an actual reason and backstory?”

Nath says she is starting to notice deeper conversations about how different cultures are represented on screen and what nuances can be added to make characters more complex.

She says a good example of this is the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” whose actors exhibited a range of regional Asian accents.

“It’s important to note that the problem with accent roles isn’t the accents themselves — plenty of characters in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ have accents, but no one has the exaggerated or generic ‘Asian’ accent that has historically been played for laughs in Hollywood,” she wrote in a 2018 article in Flare.

Jhanik Bullard, a writer and member of BIPOC TV & Film, a collective of Black, Indigenous and people of colour working in Canada’s entertainment industry, says it is no longer acceptable for characters to have accents “just because.”

“It should actually have an authentic origin as to why this character sounds the way they sound,” he said.

Audiences are also not as forgiving as they may have been in the 1990s if the accent sounds botched or inauthentic.

What is encouraging, he says, is that more doors are being opened for people of colour to tell their stories and there are more platforms for those stories to be to told.

To that end, Manji says he and his partners have initiated a handful of projects that are in various stages of development. One is a show about a Muslim guy who becomes mayor of a major city. Another is a sitcom about a “normal Muslim family” — something that “resembles me more.”

Does the character he envision for himself speak with an accent?

“Since I want it to be closer to me, then I would say not.”

#definitely a good discussion about ray and about riz's other roles and about south asian rep in general #schitt's creek #schitts creek #rizwan manji #ray butani #press #toronto star #long post

[nomoregoldfish]

I Promised You The Moon rant

Just binged it and this was from the episode by episode reaction/discussion with my partner in crime @glossyboy.

First of all, Oab stole the show, singlehandedly, which he's not supposed to. I don't think anyone expected it including himself. In the very top post when I searched his name on tumblr, he said this lol

But the truth is he played one hell of "villain" that required a very nuanced performance and he delivered it in a believable and graceful manner. Jai became the catalyst of the entire season and his rather complicated relationship with Teh was the highlight of part 2.

EP 1

From the very beginning it's clear that part 2 is very much a Teh's story rather than a balanced story about two young people's journey as a couple in the next chapter of their lives. It makes me uncomfortable they made Oh-aew clingy and pessimistic without giving him any character development.

The best part is probably the opening scene where they went paper-rock-scissors to decide who's gonna buy condoms. It felt authentic, the expectation, the hesitation, the mischievous act, all fits their characters well. Other times ep 1 was more like two adult kids playing house, literally in an empty giant ass upper middle class apartment.

EP 2

It's great that they poked the femininity vs. masculinity issue through Oh-aew, but stopped right there at the surface. Missed a perfect opportunity to go head-to-head with the controversial topic, start a debate, crush the stigma of femininity, bring something new, be a real game changer of the BL genre, and most importantly give Oh-aew some concrete character development. Part 1 showed us a gay character that's very comfortable with his sexuality and femininity, that's almost revolutionary in Asia, not as a comic relief but a leading role. Oh-aew questioned his own sexual identity once in that bra wearing scene, it's straight out of comfort zone, BOLD, and transgressive. So I expected more from part 2.

That's it? And they're already sophomores? Can't believe Oh-aew's character has been marginalized like this. It's pathetic.

But I love the brutally honest conversation at the end where Teh vented his rage and despair regarding his frustration of acting. He was acting like a dick because he's disappointed, and scared. Teh again was not afraid of showing vulnerability, making the reconciliation very realistic and touching.

EP 3

Dare I say I freaking love ep 3! The unresolved (partially sexual, but not entirely) tension between Teh and Jai was over the roof! And the built-up to their kiss was very authentic, which paled Teh and Oh-aew's much sidelined storyline, including the long anticipated sex scene (still can't believe it happened right after Jai explicitly instructed Teh to do it after the two spent a whole night bonding, like wow! Totally TRANSGRESSIVE and to some extent, kinky.) Teh looked up to the senior, idolized him, wanted to be good for him and make him proud, thirsted for the validation from him, which was mixed with affections. The workshop diary was a brilliant idea to let them open up to each other and eventually bring them close. This was what a meaningful arc of a story looked like. By contrast, there isn't a single moment between Oh-aew and Teh in part 2 that made me go "Damn it's soooooo hot!"

I know Jai/Teh wasn't the endgame but I appreciate the storyline so much. It's a very bold move considering it broke the over-glorified "one true love in one's life" fantasy of its target audience, mostly young cis women. The popular narrative of "you can only love one person through your life/one true love" in romance fictions/chick flicks was totally smashed. And it wasn't written just to stir up things between Teh and Oh-aew, it wasn't a silly fling. Instead, it's meaningful, complicated, natural, and realistic, delivered by nuanced and excellent acting from two young actors. It's hilarious that fans hate Jai with a passion and call him names.

And big news, Jai is bi?! Bravo! He's radiating bi vibes since his first appearance.

I kind of gave up at this point, the season wouldn't do Oh-aew any justice. Like my partner in crime pointed out, the costume design literally threw some "incongruous female fashion pieces" on Oh-aew, made him dye his hair red, without...making any actual point of his personality or his character development. Wardrobe was supposed to make a point in storytelling. Yes, PP wearing pink is cute, and? There's nothing else for Oh-aew. Unfortunately he's reduced to this sulky, crying, and wronged partner in a failing relationship.

EP 4

Oab again was killing it. The tension between Jai and Teh...from the rehearsal in front of Oh-aew to the dressing room pep talk, was incredibly intense and hot AF.

Was it a manipulative relationship after all? Oab was so good at conveying a character with many faces. Jai's a mentor to Teh, also a good friend, their relationship was genuine. He's also ambitious with his own goals, he used, challenged, provoked Teh in a way that benefited them both. It made sense the title of part 2, I Promised You The Moon, was from Jai's script. He promised Teh what the junior wanted the most, a bright future in acting. Teh's unconventional and unspoken feelings for Jai was the best part of the entire season in terms of creative writing, it's complicated, fragile, delicate and completely heartbreaking.

The after talk in the hallway was so well-written. It's funny (Teh joking about playwrights always write about their EXs is gold), intimate yet meticulously controlled, no one lashed out or wept. Both knew what they signed up for and Jai particularly made it clear about his motive and the purpose of the "special workshop" beforehand (or right away.) Yet it's no one's fault that Teh got carried away. He's younger, he's immature, he's more into it, it's totally natural. It's so romantic when Teh's singing karaoke in the bar with Oh-aew, yet he couldn't help but desperately staring at Jai on the floor, knowing he and the man who just turned him down were never gonna happen, they were done, but he's still madly attracted to him and his talent. He fancied Jai, at least the idea of Jai, a playwright, a director, someone knew him better than himself. That hurt beautifully.

EP 5

Teh/Oh-aew endgame at this point was pretty meaningless. Oh-aew as a leading character never got any solid character development over a span of four years. What happened between Jai and Teh wasn't just "cheating", though they surely made it look that way, like Teh's empty promise of "I won't see him again after the show ends". No matter how Oh-aew and Teh eventually reconciled, there's no emotional connection, no sparkle anymore between the couple.

But I knew for a fact they had to. Otherwise it's too much of a risk financially for the series. The creators had to take the easy way out like most traditional romances—one of the most contrived and formulaic trope where the male leading character made a mistake (usually cheating) and realized he's wrong, he deeply hurt the female leading character (Oh-aew was merely a girl substitute in part 2), then he completely changed for hell knew what reasons, started doing every nicest thing in the world to try to "win" the female character back. It has been feeding the emotionally-deprived cis female readers/audience who are frustrated with heterosexual relationship irl for decades. The formula that made romance outsell other genres of fictions combined in the 60s and 70s still sells today, under the name of boys' love. It's pathetic to see Oh-aew confess to Bas that he always "lost" to Teh. Love shouldn't be some kind of game or competition, there isn't winner or loser in love. Love is spontaneous. Oh-aew didn't lose because Teh developed feelings for someone else, and he didn't win when Teh begged him for reconciliation. People change, people move on.

And as predicted, they went for it. The ending was so absurd and tedious.

Overall, Jai's probably the hardest villain to play, he needed to be REALLY GOOD to be "the bad guy", to make his role conceivable. Oab absolutely nailed it with his talent and experience. He's not even my type or extremely good looking yet I'm 100% SOLD. I immediately re-watched the scene of him kissing Teh back hungrily at the end of ep 3 like I used to re-watch Teh/Oh-aew's steamy make out session at the end of episode 3 part 1. Coincidence?

I like some parts of both seasons for the same reason, each challenged and tried to break some outdated/contrived narratives in the BL genre. Part 1 took on the sexuality taboo by showing two same sex characters sexually attracted to each other, no more "I'm not into boys, I just happened to fall for someone of the same gender" or "pure love" bullshit. By staying true to the characters' sexuality and actually showing it with explicit, intense (and beautifully shot) scenes, the gay characters were normalized. They weren't just pure and innocent, no one was. And it created two of most unconventional gay characters in Asian pop culture, Oh-aew, a beautiful boy who's very comfortable with his own sexuality and femininity, not passive at all, taking initiative to pursue what he wanted; and Teh, a sensitive, caring and vulnerable boy who cried a lot, he's confused but also sweet and brave.

Part 2 tackled the "You can only love one person through your life" trope with a very nuanced story of "cheating". Yet neither carried out what they started. Part 1 fell short of a revolutionary piece that stayed true to "adolescent sexual turmoil", dismissing bisexuality and becoming a typical unrealistic BL fantasy in the end. And Part 2, ugh, forced a "happy ending" that almost no one digs. I understand it's extremely difficult and risky to disrupt the established norms of a genre. But sometimes being transgressive and progressive could be the same thing. A story, an artwork, has to challenge something in order to create something new and compelling.

#i promise you the moon #i told sunset about you #ipytm #oab oabnithi #billkin #pp krit #rant post #asian lgbtq dramas #lgbtq #i promised you the moon

[miminiac]

Korrasami had build up, just maybe not one you identified with and that’s okay...

I am tired of the LGBTQ+ community hating on Legend of Korra (LoK) for not being gay enough. The critique that there wasn’t enough build up is (1) not productive at all and (2) honestly, not true. There was build up. It may not be the build up every LGBTQ+ person will like, and it may not relate to the experience of every person’s coming out, but it was there. Korrasami was something the creators had tossed around as soon as Book 1 (not that they necessarily had permission to do anything about it). Take this quote from Bryan Konietzko’s tumblr post after the finale aired:

As we wrote Book 1, before the audience had ever laid eyes on Korra and Asami, it was an idea I would kick around the writers’ room. At first we didn’t give it much weight, not because we think same-sex relationships are a joke, but because we never assumed it was something we would ever get away with depicting on an animated show for a kids network in this day and age, or at least in 2010. (link)

The post also discusses how Makorra was never meant to be endgame after Book 1. Again, the time LoK was airing was at a point where states were passing laws to actively prevent gay marriage (LoK ended in 2014, legalization of same-sex marriage by supreme court ruling wasn’t until 2015––context is important). Did they actively write a romance in Books 1 and 2, no they did not. However, as many creators and writers, they let the characters lead them and they discovered that Korra and Asami were more than just friends. Again, taken from the same post:

The more Korra and Asami’s relationship progressed, the more the idea of a romance between them organically blossomed for us

So what we have with Korra and Asami is not a planned romantic relationship from the very beginning, however, the characters have been leading them there since the beginning, whether they realized it or not. Now, I am a big fan of Barthes’ “Death of the Author”, so I 100% percent think that viewers/readers have the ability to inject their own narratives and that multiple narratives can coexist. However, the point of this post is to explain why a critique of “wish they did more” is not productive when it comes to discussion of LoK of a piece of LGBTQ+ media representation. Therefore, I turn to the creators to show that there was intent and there was subtext and build up within Book 3 and 4 (as Bryan discusses in his post, please read in full when you have time).

A lot of Korrasami was hidden in subtext, and that happened because of homophobia within the industry, which still exists today. Content creators of LGBTQ+ media continue to have to walk a fine line. Take Noelle Stevenson talking about Catradora:

My big fear was that I would show my hand too early and get told very definitively that I was not allowed to do this

And like with Catradora (though a little easier since Noelle told viewers that every character is a part of the LGBTQ+ community by default unless explicitly stated otherwise), people saw Korrasami from as early as Book 2 (if not Book 1 on a rewatch).

At the time LoK started airing, I still thought I was straight; I still thought I was straight when I was watching the third season and telling my then boyfriend how Korra and Asami were going to be a couple by the end (literally, when they interacted in the first episode of season 3 while Asami taught Korra how to drive, I turned to him and said it; he said they would never do that and it was a pipe dream). I continued to see Korrasami’s friendship build into something romantic (even if the characters themselves were unaware of it).  

Come Season 3 Episode 9, where Asami carries away a helpless Korra, mimicking Katara having carried away a helpless Aang. For those who had watched the original series and were big Korrasami shippers, this scene basically made it canon. It could be argued as the point that maybe the friendship switched to something more romantic. The rest of season 3 and all of season 4 only added moments between these two (side note: I came out as bisexual soon after season 4 started airing, though I had been questioning my sexuality probably since the end of season 3).

Now is the Korrasami relationship perfect, absolutely not. Bryke admits as much, but it was a significant step forward. Again, this happened in 2014, so a lot of narrative within media of states passing laws to discriminate against same-sex couples and deny marriage. The hand-holding scene everyone screams about not being enough. Well, they received plenty of homophobic backlash from that.

The critique that they didn’t do enough is not productive. It is a critique that could be said about most main-stream LGBTQ+ media. I get that we are tired of scraps; I get that we are tired of having to read between the lines because creators are still afraid to come out and say it (pun intended). However, to critique LoK as “not being gay enough” ignores the context in which it was created and what that representation meant to many of the viewers (like myself) who were discovering themselves and their sexuality at the time.

Avatar: the Last Airbender (ATLA) was made for 8-13 year olds (from season 1), and I would argue that LoK was made for that same group of people, who would have then been 14-19 years old when LoK first aired. Thus, LoK was being watched by those entering high school and college––a time of self-discovery.

Additionally, a critique that LoK doesn’t do enough leads to an idea that there is “a right way” to create a LGBTQ+ relationship, which I would argue is harmful to the community at large. If you did not identify with Korra’s coming out, that’s completely valid. If you did not identify with the way the Korrasami relationship progressed, that is also valid. But you cannot invalidate the relationship of Korrasami, as a relationship built off a friendship and mutual respect that blossomed by into something more. The relationship was not sexualized with wistful glances and blatant sexual tension, instead, it was built on a friendship and respect for boundaries.

Again, multiple narratives can be drawn given each viewer has a unique set of experiences. One such reading could show that Asami was more in tune with her feelings for Korra than Korra was about her feelings for Asami. And, instead of flirting non-stop with Korra, Asami respects Korra’s space (though we all saw her check out Korra’s back muscles) and recognizes that Korra has a lot on her plate being the avatar, a relationship is not something on the forefront of her mind. It is only after defeating Kuvira (and the healing/growth from a few episodes prior in "Beyond the Wilds”) that Korra is able to truly understand her feelings to Asami, suggesting they take a trip together––just the two of them.

Now, you may not identify with that type of coming out, but other people do. And to argue that “LoK didn’t make Korrasami explicit enough” undermines the experiences of those in the LGBTQ+ who heavily identified with Korra’s experiences and her coming out.

Holding LGBTQ+ media to this higher standard is inherently toxic. I would like to believe that these creators are coming from a good place with good intentions. There is nothing toxic or abusive in the way Korrasami is portrayed. There is nothing unrealistic about the way their relationship progressed throughout the series. It was not a fan service––it was the natural progression of the characters.

And let’s not forget that Korrasami is not only confirming a relationship between two women, but it is also two women of color. Now, it may not seem like a huge deal within the contexts of the Avatar World, but it is important to remember the context of where this show was airing.

There are things we can critique LoK on. It isn’t perfect. We can discuss the hiring of white voice actors (as a way to hold new media that is being created or will be created accountable, not as a way to just hate on LoK); we can discuss the voices within the writers room and the lack of diversity there. These are critiques that can be made of ATLA and LoK and countless of other media produced. This is a valid critique when used constructively. It is not meant to tear down an entire piece of media and everything that it has done for various communities, but rather to point to a flaw within the way media is being produced and the racist, sexist, and homophobic systems in place that determine what and how media is produced.

If we are to critique, we could look to reimagining how we create and consume media, not tearing down media that has already been produced and stands in a pivotal spot of the community. As Audre Lorde says:

For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.

If we are continually operating within the systems of oppression, we will never truly be able to dismantle them. Thus, to operate within the institutions of Nickelodeon, Netflix, Disney, etc. is to be beholden to the rules and constraints of a moderate, heteronormative, sexist, racist society. If creators stray too far from that line too quickly, there will be backlash. The perfect LGBTQ+ representation cannot exist while made within these institutions.

I would like to mention this statement is not to say that we cannot critique or boycott movies or shows that are performative in their diversity. There is no excuse for Hollywood after the successes of Black Panther (2018) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018) (and others) to not fill the crew and writers with the same representation being shown on the screen. We can, and should, hold production companies accountable––and given the internet, it is something we can do even early on in the production process.

I have gotten a little off track, but my point is, think about your critiques. Really ask yourself if it is a productive critique, or if it is critique that actually harms or is toxic to the community. Critiques are hard, I understand that. When we first start to think critically, it is easy to just jump on these “low hanging fruit” type critiques. It takes practice and comfortability learning and expanding your world view to construct a critique that looks at context from various point of views and experiences.

#korrasami #in this essay i will #let's talk about critiques #korra #asami sato #asami #legend of korra #tlok #lok #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #bisexual #lgbtq community #lgbtq representation #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #bisexuality #women loving women #sorry for the wall of text #i had to remove links because tumblr marked them as spam but you can message me if you want links

[sextonsharpwinhalstead]

Okay, so I’m a slut for medical dramas but I also get frustrated when there’s a lack of diversity or when queer/PoC/disabled etc characters exist solely to suffer at the hands of writers. Could you rank the current medical dramas from best to worst in terms of diversity?

 HO’S UNITE! 

I completely understand. Not only in the lack of diversity but also a lack of the KIND of diversity. I have a weird theory about television and often movie casts. Of course this ranking is only of the shows I watch. Worst to Best.

The Resident

The Good: 

The show begins with the audience following Devon Pravesh, a Gujarati and South Asian man. He’s on of the most realistic characters considering most medical shows seem to gloss over the fact that most people in medical school as well as working practitioners look an awful lot like Devon and less like Conrad. They have the shoot-for-excellence-at-all-times Nigerian immigrant surgeon and all around bad-ass Mina Okafor, and of course The Raptor, AJ Austin who was adopted by a Chinese man and a Black American woman. The newest edition of Dr. Barrett Cain adds another bit of chocolate goodness to look at too.

The Bad:

Aside from Mina’s poorly cast mother Lynne Whitfield and the introduction of Devon’s parents the show hasn’t figured out how to weave in the different ethnicity's and backgrounds of their characters of color. No one speaks in their mother-tongue, celebrates any holidays or traditions tied to their respective cultures and religions and of course the most obvious. EVERYONE here is straight and able-bodied. And there are only TWO female leads, with most of the other recurring female characters being sent away or killed off.

The Good Doctor

The Good:

Although not the first medical drama to introduce a character with Autism it is the first to have one as the lead and his autism is a focus of the show. In the beginning there was the English born Dr. Jared Kalu, we know he comes from money and is assumed to be Asian, the actor is actually Nigerian and white, after he left the show Dr. Park was introduced. The Good Doctor has had the most Asian representation on a medical show I believe EVER in the history of prime-time television. Allegra Aoki, Dr. Aurdrey Lim, and Dr. Jackson Han round the out the Asian representation on the show.  Carly Lever, Dr. Claire Browne, and Dr. Marcus Andrews are represented as black or mixed-race Black Americans. Dr. Neil Melendez is the only Latino or Hispanic character he really doesn’t lean into it. Dr. Glassman and his wife are both Jewish.

The Bad:

The Good Doctor is doing something different having an autistic character as the lead, and although Freddie Highmore is a talented actor, he isn’t autistic. Also it would’ve been even better if Shaun could’ve been Shauna. A chance was missed here by taking a look at the often under diagnosed sect of girls and women who are autistic. The show has a lot of women on it both recurring and regular but ALL of them, just like the men,are straight. And a missed opportunity too considering the actress who plays Carly has been married to a woman since 2013. Also, Carly and Claire can pass the paper bag test, NO ONE is bilingual, and if they are they don’t show it or any of the other aspects of their cultural differences it’s very “American.

Chicago Med

The Good:

Out of all the One Chicago Shows, Med has the most racially diverse cast as well as diverse recurring characters. They have four black women on the cast. April Sexton whose real surname is Suassuna is Afro-Brazilian, who speaks both Spanish and Portuguese, attends family functions based on her heritage and has even shared a few anecdotes and beliefs from her culture which also include her brother Dr. Noah Sexton. Ditto for the recurring character Dr. Isidore Latham. He has Asperger’s, is Jewish, and observes all aspects of Judaism including wearing a kippah, and sharing some Jewish based jokes. Dr. Ethan Choi is believed to be Korean and Iranian born Dominic Rains has been added to the cast as Dr. Crockett Marcel rounding out the leads of Asian descent. 

The Bad:

Ethan’s ethnicity and race has only been brought up when it was being demeaned. Other than that the show leans heavily on his military background to give him depth but gives zero basis for any customs or cultural traits he probably had growing up. Nary a mention is given about Crockett’s race only his southern New Orleans heritage leaving us as an audience wondering if he’s Creole? Spicy White? No idea. Also April is Brazilian but almost exclusively speaks Spanish when not speaking English to her brother which is by far the strangest considering I have never met anyone who chooses English if they are raised in a multicultural household, and definitely not in conversation with their family members. But never Portuguese. All of these shows fail at representing Black American cultural, which leaves Maggie and Sharon with very little to share. And of course the most obvious. There are no LGBT characters on the show. None are leads and it doesn’t appear as though they are adding any or thinking about opening any new doors within the characters.

New Amsterdam

The Good

New Amsterdam does a lot of things right. My dear Vijay Kapoor who’s Indian identity is very wrapped in who he is, from his accent, to his prayers, mannerisms, and discussions of his past he isn’t just a token he’s a full character. Although the show has yet to address it Dr. Helen Sharpe who is obviously black is played by Freema Agyeman who is not so obviously half Iranian on her mothers side. But she is English and her disposition, her language and slang are represented in that regard. Lauren Bloom is a neurodivergent character with ADHD and a struggling addict. Dr. Floyd Reynolds is Black American who has Sunday dinners at his mothers. And Dr. Iggy Frome is a gay married man with 50 bajillion Pakistani children and aiming for one more. Recurring characters, Dr. Valentina Castro, Dora, and Casey are all  Latino and Evie Floyd is mixed race, white and Black American. Not to mention this show has plethora of diverse peripheral characters, little people, hijabs, turbans, kippahs,everywhere, you name it you’ve probably seen it. The show has to be diverse because it’s in New York and it’s supposed to be an international hospital. The place is MASSIVE. 

The Bad:

All that diversity, all the difference, cultural richness, ripe stories running amok and the entire show is centered on a cis-het white man. Not mention Casey and Dora don’t even have last names. Maybe that’s why the actress isn’t on the show anymore and is now on Emergence, New Amsterdam’s rival at that time slot. 

Grey’s Anatomy

The Good

Where do you start with the longest running medical drama on television.

They’ve had it all and still do. They constantly have LGBT characters, who are shown to get hot and heavy the same as their het-counterparts. Where other shows have two men bird-kissing like they don’t even want to touch, Levi and Nico are rolling around in ambulances and hooking up in on-call rooms. Ditto for the women, I stan Callie x Arizona especially their golden years. Nothing will ever touch the way Arizona used to say “Calliope” when they first started dated, it still makes me smile thinking about it. They’ve had addicts, alcoholics, neurodivigent characters, every race you could think of, Muslim, Christian,Jewish,and atheists. All kinds of socio-economic backgrounds. If you can think it they’ve had it and there really isn’t much reason or room to list all the characters both recurring and regular who have checked damn near every box.

The Bad:

It’s time for more brown Asians. And a regular neurodivergent character although there is more than enough room to diagnose a few of the characters if they wanted to. I’d be happy with a deaf doctor too. Also Carina DeLuca is currently the only Bi-character and she’s been kind of only used as a bed warmer which is...well, yikes. 

#ask sextonsharpwinhalstead #The Good Doctor #new amsterdam #chicago med #grey's anatomy #the resident #the resident on fox

[curious-minx]

An Overview of Fox’s Animation Domination Block

Burger of the Day: A purple font on top of a purple font

Seriously? Is that all it takes to be a graphic designer is deciding to change yellow to purple?

Since one of the leading pop culture websites on the web, the DMV Club, has stopped paying attention to Fox’s Sunday night animation block I figured I’d swoop in and check in on the largely shrugged off Animation Damnation Sunday night programming. This article will function as a State of the Animated American Nation, which continues to frustrate and underperform when it could be booming with a couple of tweaks.

For someone who grew up on ungodly amounts of screen time and pop culture consumption the Sunday night block has a chunk of my adult animation loving heart. Which is why i should just shut just bless my heart already and enjoy this mostly lost opportunity. So much endless potential offered by the animation medium and yet Fox execs bankrolled projects like Napoleon Dynamite, Cleveland Show, Sit Down Shut Up, and Allen Gregory. And what have these shows to offer outside of ironic Werner Herzog and David Lynch cameos in Cleveland and Hollywood Handbook heads can giggle at the Allen Gregory connection.

In order for an animated sitcom to succeed you need to have both a strong auteur-like vision seeing over the project from inception like your Mike Judge or Dan Harmon or more preferably a less obnoxious white guy. Remember when Donald Glover and brother Stephen Glover were tapped for the animated Deadpool show? Tyler, The Creator has been trying to get a decent animated vehicle going for awhile and Boondocks’ Aaron Mcgrudger has another reboot in the wings, but despite these efforts the animated sitcom remains a largely white male focused medium and that’s probably its biggest hurdle.

The second element an animated sitcom needs besides an overarching artistic voice(s) is voice talent. King of the Hill out of any of Fox’s animated sitcom probably has the most stacked and varied cast of any show on the line-up and a distinct animation style that still shows how hard cartoon realism is to pull off. Yes, King of the Hill commits the cardinal sin of having a white man voice a Laotian character. The only meager defense I can provide is that Kahn Souphanousinphone is at least a high status character and the rest of the family is actually voiced by Asian actors. King of the Hill also offered substantive roles for its female cast:Pamela Adlon, Kathy Najimy, Brittany Murphy, Ashley Gardner, and Lauren Tom. All of these women characters (and one boy) were more complicated and well defined than most live action roles for women in sitcoms throughout the 00s. The fact that King of the Hill was canceled as a means to make room for the Cleveland show is all you need to know about Fox’s mishandling of what could be a potent block of programming.

The 2010s have not been a kind decade to Fox which for a Murdoch owned company is probably for the best. The decade found the Simpsons and Family Guy continuing to exist out of spite, but Bob’s Burgers and to a lesser extent American Dad offer glimmers of what quality adult animated sitcoms can look like. The one main botched experiment the lineup took was the Animation Domination High-Def otherwise known as the groan inducing ADHD acronym to emphasis the short 15 minute or less format. Despite aging horribly Axe Cop and the other web series import Golan the Insatiable are mostly fine, but I don’t know what happened with Dino Stamatopoulos’ High School USA, which felt like one big troll move. Maybe Stamatopoulos hate created this completely brain dead and ugly “bad Archie” series as payback for the mishandling of his claymation projects (the brilliant Moral Orel and less brilliant but visually stunning Frankenhole).

All three of the current Fox mainstays are entering ripe double digit seasons but there still has yet to be another hit the size of Bob’s Burgers. A series that was supposed to be debuting a movie this year but be saved the Simpsons movie curse and continue working at its own pace.

Netflix feels like they were the closest alternative to recouping the failed promise of Fox’s Sunday night, but then they completely mishandled Bojack and Tuca Bertie and seem settled on betting the South Korean animation farm on Big Mouth and sub Big Mouth Hoops instead of creative storytelling. Hulu has a Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland passion project which feels like a weaker spin off than American Dad, but not as worthless as Cleveland Show. And of course there’s the CBS animated Star Trek and Apple TV’s Central Park, which are probably only being viewed and talked about by people paid to write and talk about tv.

////////////

I will continue to check in with Bob’s Burgers and the Simpsons because they are old friends that are circling down the drains at different rates. At least the animation on both shows have a distinctive personality and don’t look like rejected small town grocery chain and real estate advertising. The animation quality of current Simpsons is probably the only reason to watch ever since Meghan Amram tweeted that one shitty joke it’s hard to drum up much more enthusiasm for the series. Bob’s Burgers enters its 11th season with a literally sleepy but charming season premier featuring well financed animation sequences and a fever dream of a B-plot involving handclap dancing. My theory for the B plot is the show attempting to assuage audience and critics fears that the show would somehow feel fundamentally different without having the voice talent recording in the room together. The episode also gives a chance for Bob to be alone with Bob, which is a fun ironical situation for such a family and ensemble focused show.

The second episode of Bob’s Burgers is going to be its Pandemic episode that the series creator and showrunner Loren Bouchard swears was written well before Covid (https://deadline.com/2020/07/bobs-burgers-creatives-season-11-pandemic-episode-comic-conhome-1202994341/). The Simpsons and Family Guy’s main returning gimmicks is that they are attempting to recast the people of color characters (a tactic Big Mouth is also using to drum up enthusiasm for another season) and while I won’t be watching a single second of Family Guy I will add a brief Simpsons review to my upcoming coverage of Bob’s Burgers 11th Season.

More to come.

#tv #fox #bobs burgers #the simpsons #king of the hill #animation

[mysticdragon3md3]

Reacting to last few episodes of Nippu Sentai Hurricanger.

4:07 PM 8/1/2020 Nippu Sentai Hurricanger ep49; last scenes.

Why is this tragic music playing during Shurikenger's battle scene?  

Oh no...I just remembered that Super Sentai Hurricanger is a "ninja story".  We know what's the most common trope in a story about ninja...  Ninja sacrificing themselves.  ;~~;   . . . 4:13 PM 8/1/2020 ep50

Wait.  Is Gozen dead too?  Why did she appear in that flash of remembering Shurikenger being dead?  Is that why Shurikenger sacrificed himself?  Gozen was already dead?  

I think I remember these antagonist ninja girls from Gokaiger.  Ever since I started catching Hurricanger on Tokushoutsu, I've been wondering how these 2 kunoichi end up either surviving or defecting away from the villains' side.  

And of course the villain in a ninja story is the one who betrays their master.  Sandaaru.

Wait.  Why did Ikkou and Isshu's mecha blow up?  Did they do that cliche where you stab through yourself to get the enemy?  Haven't seen that since Jin.  I guess we gotta have more ninja sacrificing themselves before the series ends.  ~.~;  I want to go on about how "cliche" it is, but only to blunt the blow of the tragedy.  Because honestly, these tropes really do hit me in the feels!  ;o;!!!  

Oboro and the Headmaster god killed to?!????  Jeeze, how much tragedy does this story need?!?  ;O;!!!  ...Oh, yeah, I forgot:  This is a "ninja story".  Tragedy and everyone dying is kind of the prerogative.  

Wait.  Why aren't they getting into their mecha to fight?  Oh yeah.  First gotta have the unmasked character introduction kata/mie pose sequence at the start of the series' last battle.  I loved that in Gokaiger!  (I'm going to refer to Gokaiger a lot.  It's the only Super Sentai series I've finished.  I barely started with Shinkenger before my source for episodes dried up.)   . . . 4:30 PM 8/1/2020 ep51 "Final Scroll: Wind, Water, Earth".  

Oh, yeah.  Even though the lead Sentai is red like fire, there is no Fire in the Asian fundamental elements set---noWaitaminute!  Yes thre is!  Wind is the one that's missing!  If anything, Wind is considered Ki.  If Fire is there then why isn't the red Sentai representative of Fire?  Is this a ninja thing?  Ninja and the wind?  Probably.  lol  

Tau Zant is back?!  O.o?!  Well, I guess building him up as the final boss, all season, and not giving him the final battle would've been disappointing.

Oh, wait.  He's a conglomeration of all the villain's evil wills?  I thought that trope was only for yokai stories...  But I guess ninja stories do use a lot of magic and blur the line with the yokai genre.  

I like that they won the mecha battle by pretending to be beaten.  They used both the tropes of "an enemy is the most dangerous when about to be killed with a final blow" and "a ninja's primary weapon is deception", to get to Tau Zant's forehead weak spot.  And I also like the trope of "the villain makes an obvious fatal flaw" during battle tactics, rather than just the plot.  I know all these tropes are cliche in Japan, but I re~ally like them~!  ;u;!  It's so weird that at the hint of a cliche trope from American/Hollywood media, I get kind of bored, but I love all these Japanese pop culture tropes from anime, manga, and tokusatsu.  ^.^;  But I guess some things just speak to you, and some things don't.  lol  

The villains have a combined attack "canon" now?  lol  "Falling back from the exploooooooooooooosions!"  LOL    

WAit.  Ikkou and Isshu are still alive?  Well, it is nice to soften the blow of death for a kid's show.  ^.^  And more importantly, they get to fight in the final final battle.  If a series finale battle lacked in fanservice, like the fanserive of seeing all the main characters fighting together, then I'd be disappointed.  

Now that they're doing their poses with minimal costuming, I can see more clearing that they're doing actual kabuki mie poses.  ^o^  I love it!  ^o^  

Of course, Oboro and her dad turn out to still be alive.  LOL  I'm sorry, but I feel RELIEVED!  ;u;!!!!!!  All those tragic deaths, from the previous episodes, all at once, was too much.  ;o;!  I mean, it was really effective for The Feels at the time, but damnit, I watch fun kid shows to get away from my anxiety/depression!  Later, some jerk always comes out of the fandom woodwork to complain about "undoing character deaths is cheap" or "it cheapens the story".  Blahblahblah.  I'm sorry, but if you can't retain the lessons/emotions/revealations you learned when you *thought* tragedy happened, unless the tragedy stays, then I've got to question your ability to learn from events and not take stuff for granted!  All these crybaby fanboys complaining about the effects of a death not staying unless the death stays...I don't think they even got the important effects of a death.  I don't think they really learned what's important.  When a character dies, it's supposed to bring to mind all regrets left unresolved.  And then, more importantly, the surviving character(s) is supposed to resolve to change themselves to not make those same mistakes.  Not the mistake that specifically got the other character killed in their death scene, but the mistakes of all those everyday things that were left unresolved, out of an assumption that there would always be more time with that killed character.  I personally think that striving everyday to guard against making those same mistakes is a whole other, brand new battle, that needs to be taken on everyday.  To me, that's a whole new world of tension and drama that doesn't get erased when the "killed" character returns from the dead.  When the "killed" character gets resurrected, that's the START of a brand new battle, a battle that the surviving character has already proven to have LOST BEFORE.  That's why it became a regret---Though a regret unnoticed until the "killed" character died.  The "killed" character's resurrection inherently has drama because the surviving character might fail again, might prove that they either learned nothing or more tragically, are unable to overcome their everyday flaws, to avoid repeating that same regret.  That's a whole lot more tragic to me than a character staying dead.  (When [spoiler] returned from the dead at the end of Kamen Rider W, I ranted so much against those fanboys complaining that his resurrection "ruined" everything.  Urrrrgh!!!  https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/111356254057/spoilertastic-rant-warning-for-kamen-rider-w)  

But yeah, Gozen and Shurikenger remaining dead works.  I didn't watch many episodes of this season, but there was a lot less connection between the audience and those 2, compared to with the other Hurricanger.  

Is that a persimmon?  He better be eating a persimmon!  ^O^  Can't have a ninja story without eating persimmon!  LOL  

Wait.  Did PlutoTV just cut off the last scene of the last episode?!?!?!  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Oh, good.  Tokushoutsu came back.  I wonder what all that back to back loading was all about?  

I just realized "Ikkou" and "Isshu"...  Doesn't that mean "Let's go together"?  ;U;!  

Aaaaahhhh!  Another trope I love!  Catch something from the master to complete your training!  ^o^  

Are they seriously intercutting between this graduation fight and their future careers?  lol  I guess it makes more sense

Big Shurikenger cameo at the end.  lol  Nice to get all the actors together.  I did like that joke about never really know what Shurikenger's real face was.  

Ah~  I didn't watch the full season, but Super Sentai finale episodes are always satisfying.  ;u;   . . . 5:02 PM 8/1/2020 I guess PlutoTV/Tokushoutsu is starting again with episode 1.  

It was a persimmon in the final episode!  ^o^

Wait.  So the only reason this trio became Hurricanger was because they were the slackers playing hookie while everyone else was attacked?!  LOL  I love that trope.  lol  

But wait...  So did all the other students DIE??????????????  ;O;!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!  O~O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Omg.  They just rushed into battle, all at the same time, with no cover, and all obvious moves...  They really are idiots.  lol  I love them.  ;u;  Well, I love knowing how much they're going to grow from this low level. . . . 5:28 PM 8/1/2020 So I went on YouTube to try to find Power Rangers Ninja Storm episode 1, just to compare how they handled their character introductions.  And OMG.  I'm sorry, I hate them.  ~_____~;;;;;;;;;;;;  Everyone is snarky, disrespectful in ways that imply a lack of common compassion, and they're too much dialogue like "dude, I don't get this because I'm totally stupid".  Uuuuuuuuuggh~  ~o~;;;;;;;;;;;;;;  See, this is what I mean by how astonished I am that get sick of American fiction tropes so easily, but inexplicably just eat up those J-pop culture tropes.  ~_~;   . . . 5:31 PM 8/1/2020 Hurricanger ep2

Oh, these are the jobs that tied into the final episode's montage.  I like the lesson about not forgetting the "important Fight in your heart" even while you're doing everyday mundane life.  

Sorry, I'm not paying attention, but I've got stuff to do.  ^^;  Well, looks like Tokushoutsu is ending their Hurricanger marathon block, so I'm going to switch to some studying concentration ASMR.  

Wait.  Gotta listen to Kamen Rider Ichigo's opening theme!  ^O^!!!  "Rider jump!  Rider kick!  Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider!  Rider!  Rider!"  ^U^!!!  

#reactions #md3 watches hurricanger #nippu sentai hurricanger #super sentai #tokusatsu

[cockbiteproductions]

Hi, this was the most amazing weekend of my life, so I’m gonna make a continuation of this post. Click on the photos for captions. 

Me screaming about everything is going to be under the cut. And it’s going to be VERY long. I have a lot of words and I’m going to say a fraction of them, but in case you don’t want to read all that (because this post is honestly 99% for me) here’s a TLDR:

I met Jess (@noneeyewithleftyork) for the second time and hung out with her and Kt (@seelieflies) in New York for the first time and saw The Prom, Be More Chill, and Hamilton and cried uncontrollably and went to NY pride and Felt the Gay energy in the air and walked around the city and rode the train and took a million pictures and got blisters on my feet and ate some amazing food and slept a ridiculously small amount and took everything in and did fun things with fun people and had the time of my life and it can literally only go downhill from here!

Had 3 WILDLY different experiences seeing these shows since my experience with these shows were all different. The common thread between all of them was that I had a FUCKING BLAST.

The Prom

Saw The Prom on the Saturday matinee of pride weekend and the audience was AMAZING. Everyone in the audience was here and queer and LOVING it.

It was cold as SHIT in the theater and I was freezing my ass off the entire time but it was still so fun. 

I have never seen or heard any music from The Prom and only knew a vague synopsis of it going in (girl wants to bring gf to prom with her, can’t), so my reactions to everything in the show was a lot of genuine first reactions to the material. The Prom was funny as FUCK and the audience was laughing and clapping and cheering along. 

The dance numbers were incredible and I loved the choreography a lot. Caitlin Kinnunen can SING, holy shit. Like absolutely WOW. Just WOW. She was amazing.

I cried at the end of act 1 from how fucking mean spirited those students were and how the meaning of “tonight belongs to us” changed and it was just so brilliant. And the staging of the two proms on the each half of the stage with the different lighting and the two girls back to back was fucking BEAUTIFUL and part of the reason I started crying too. 

I cried also at the end of the show when they kissed because it was so sweet. I cried when Alyssa’s mom told her she just didn’t want her life to be hard. The actress who played Alyssa’s mom did SO well that for a Brief Moment, I felt sympathy for her. It was very brief but it happened. 

Be More Chill

Saw Be More Chill on the Saturday night show and it was so fucking cool. I saw Will Roland with my own two eyes. Like wow. Wow!!! 

The seats in the Lyceum balcony were slanted as FUCK it was almost funny. And because we had been so cold during The Prom, between shows we went and all literally bought jackets/something to wear to keep us warm during BMC but BMC was not more chill. In fact, it was hot as Satan’s anus. We melted to death but we still had fun.

A lot of the time I laughed in BMC was because of how actors delivered certain lines different from how I had heard them in the soundtrack/off broadway boot I’ve seen. Being familiar with the show made this experience really different from The Prom, but also I’ve only know about BMC’s existence for a bit over a month and only really gotten into it in the past few weeks, so the show hasn’t really really sunk in with me yet, which is probably why I had such a muted emotional reaction to it. It was definitely amazing but I didn’t cry nearly as much as I thought I would. 

I also cried during Voices In My Head when they kissed and during the na nas when they do the wave over their head. I just love that one very specific bit of choreo. 

Though the night before I went up to LA, I was in call with @noneeyewithleftyork​ and @seelieflies​ and Jess was talking about places we could visit in NY, and she mentioned the M&M store. I said to myself under my breath “but Eminem is dead!” and laughed because of how dumb the joke was. She wanted to know what I was laughing at and I told her I’d tell her after we saw BMC and so then the entire day when we kept walking past the M&M store, I was hyping up the joke/talking about it. 

By the time the show came around, we had talked about the stupid fucking M&M/Eminem thing like maybe 10 times since I initially made the joke so it was really hyped up. And then the Squip goes “buy that shirt” and Jeremy hold up the shirt and I’m already looking at them for their reactions and they turn to me and I laughed to the point it hurt. It was a lot of “are you kidding me? Is this it??????” looks and it was just the funniest fucking thing to me. 

And then the second Eminem scene happened and I laughed EVEN HARDER than I did before. They were also losing it next to me and turned to look at me and I was nodding and laughing and had tears in my eyes from how hard I was laughing and it was just magical and so incredibly stupid. The “did you kill Eminem” line was particularly funny. 

@noneeyewithleftyork in the M&M store before we saw the show. 

Cried a little bit during Loser, Geek, Whatever. Because you know. It’s lgw. I’m going to NOT cry, watching wrol sing his heart out on stage. He held that last note for like 7.5 measures and it was impressive as SHIT especially considering he’s been on stage for like an hour and this is the end of a six minute solo number. Fucking incredible. 

Will Roland’s delivery in the first bit of the show is incredible. It’s so LOUD and shouty and awkward. His speech is very halting and rushed. It sounds like Jeremy is taking a leap every time he chooses to say something and he always says it at the very last moment as if he deliberates over it for a long time. And then the transition from his character pre-Squip is incredible. Also he sounds even more nasally in person if that’s possible. I’ll post more about the performance later on my sideblog.

Hamilton

And then I saw the Sunday matinee performance of Hamilton. Holy FUCK, I saw Hamilton. The bottom row of pictures is every time I started crying/felt a fresh wave of tears come. It was 66 times. I had to keep taking off/putting back on my glasses because of my tears. Highlights of times I cried/times I full on sobbed include:

Crying around ~4 times because the guy playing Hamilton was asian (and he was SO insanely good)

Crying at the line “everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree” just because I know how much @noneeyewithleftyork loves that line

Before the show started started, I was just staring at my playbill and I started crying very subtly because I didn’t want the people next to me to see that I was crying before it even began.

I cried so hard leading up to/during Wait For It that by the end my arms had gone numb and I was almost hyperventilating. 

Sobbing at the second time the first verse of Hurricane is repeated and the lights go blue/purple and the entire company FREEZES as if they were caught in the eye of a hurricane and it was fucking beautiful.

Full sobbing during best of wives and best of women the MOMENT the violin starts to play because again it was so fucking beautiful and I knew what was about to come.

Full on sobbing during intermission and after the show. 

As soon as lights went down at intermission I was bawling. I talked to the people beside me about how I became good friends with @noneeyewithleftyork and @seelieflies years ago because of Hamilton and now we’re all seeing it together. Then went to talk to Jess and Kt and cried at them for a bit. Pulled myself together for the beginning of act 2. 

Then as soon as the lights went down at the end of the show I started bawling AGAIN and the woman beside me pulled me into a hug as I sobbed.

And then I ran down to tell the conductor (still full on sobbing) and the pit that I love them. Here’s how it went: “hi pit I love you oh my god I love you so much you guys were so good I love you so much.” All while these words were barely comprehensible because I was still crying too hard. I think a pianist waved at me but there were too many tears in my eyes for me to be sure. 

Those were the crying highlights. Onto other stuff.

The seat I had was fucking INCREDIBLE. Jess and Kt sat together in the 2nd row because Jess won the lottery and I sat in the 9th row because we had to buy a third ticket but the view was still absolutely AMAZING.

Here’s the view from my seat. I could see the entire stage with minimal movement of my head and it was AMAZING. We had sat super far left in the balcony for The Prom and BMC so sitting in the orchestra was SUCH a cool experience because we could actually see the actors faces instead of just the top of their heads. Jess and Kt sat so close they could SEE the tears on the actors faces. 

Similar to BMC, a lot of the laughs I had in Hamilton were from how certain actors delivered the lines different from the soundtrack I was used to hearing. However, they were different people from the ones on the soundtrack unlike BMC, so it really felt like seeing different takes on a character I had already known. I’ve also been a Hamilton fan for over 3 years now. I was WAY more emotional during this show than the other two for that reason I guess. Hamilton’s been with me for a while. And also the subject matter is just sadder.

The guy playing Burr was so fucking GOOD. Like there were a few times I teared up just because of how fucking incredible his vocals were. The guy playing Hamilton was also so indescribably fantastic.  

We stagedoored after and I showed some of the actors my cry arm and their reactions to it were great. Got my playbill signed by them too!

Not Broadway Stuff

We didn’t JUST see Broadway shows this weekend, though we did see a show in every possible time slot lol. We did other stuff!

Friday afternoon we went and saw Jess’ cousin’s dance recital which was holy shit. Those kids can DANCE. Like I wasn’t expecting that level of performance from them for some reason and I was blown away. The people behind us were very very very angry that Jess was Loud and being Jess, but then they left so who cares.

Saturday morning we got up super early and took the train into the city. On the train ride there Jess got an email that said she WON THE FUCKING HAMILTON LOTTERY. And we all just sat there in shock. When we got to the city, we just walked around and I took pictures of a bunch of theaters. We passed by the M&M store many times. We basically walked down the same like 5 streets a bunch of times and then we ran around like idiots trying to get tickets to the matinee show of The Prom, which we eventually did. We paid an astronomical amount of money to buy a third ticket for Hamilton. We went to a melt shop and they spelled my name in an incredible way.

Look at that. “trese-”

Fucking amazing. I had no idea there was a dash in my name but I guess there is now. Or actually, according to a girl we met on the subway, my name is Katrina. We just randomly started talking to some people we met in the subway station and continued talking as we packed like gay sardines into the subway to go to the pride festival. It was an Experience. 

I also saw this fan at pride and had to take a picture. I don’t take normal tourist pictures according to Jess. Which is true. I just take pictures of dumb shit that makes me laugh. 

And on that lovely note, it’s time to wrap up this post. I’m not kidding when I say this has probably been the best weekend of my life. But also I have memory problems so who knows what other weekends I’ve forgotten. But hey! That’s what this post and photos are for! To remember all this shit. This has been something incredible and I hope I get to go back soon because NY is honestly an amazing city and I love the energy of it so much. 

To steal a line from BMC, everything about this weekend was so wonderful.

#teresa talks #not rt #friend tag

[thefilmfatale]

Always Be My Maybe and How to Ruin a Rom Com

There is an art to a good romantic comedy.

Let me preface this post with a confession: I am a rom com enthusiast. Go ahead, turn your nose up at me, you snobs! But I unabashedly love romantic comedies. Yes, I’m aware that the genre is much maligned for being painfully predictable and vapid, but it would surprise you how tough it actually is to produce a solid rom com that hits all the right notes.

You see, there’s a formula. Boy Meets Girl (yes, I’m being deliberately heteronormative for this example, put your pitchforks down). Girl plays hard to get. Boy persists and wins her over despite how much the lady doth protest too much. A conflict introduces tension and separation (”Gasp! This was all part of a bet?!”), throwing the relationship into jeopardy. Boy performs Grand Gesture™ to win back Girl’s heart. Girl forgives Boy and the two gallop into the sunset. Cue Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” as the credits roll.

The formula works, but only if the filmmaker can trick the audience into believing that this on screen romance has real stakes. To do that, you have to have a script that at least pretends to explore an interesting relationship which, as it unfolds, gives the audience butterflies and makes them want to root for the star-crossed lovers. Without audience investment, you have no rom com.

To get the audience to invest, you need likeable leads who have great chemistry and just enough tangible sexual tension to create that air of “Will they or won’t they?” After all, no one ships a couple who are devoid of personality and lack chemistry. Most of this sexual tension is physical—in the way the actors interact with each other—but what can really help establish this is verbal, by way of witty repartee.

Think of some of the classic rom coms, like When Harry Met Sally. Why does it work? Sally is a Type A personality. Prim, proper, particular, and uptight. Harry is more laid back, casual, and candid— unafraid to tell it like it is. He’s also a bit of a troll who enjoys getting a rise out of someone. Throw the two on a road trip together and you have a recipe for romance (or disaster—however you want to look at it). As a viewer, you begin to root for them because we’re told that opposites attract and complement each other. Harry softens Sally’s rough edges, Sally helps Harry realize he needs some maturing.

And you all know the Big Gesture™. A New Year’s eve confession that inspired a thousand sappy rom-com speeches.

What makes When Harry Met Sally successful?

Harry and Sally are different enough from each other that there is enough sexual tension and push and pull to make their interactions interesting.

Each half of the couple has their own personality that feels authentic to their character. They have their own ambitions and goals. They also have traits and quirks that uniquely position them to attract each other.

The relationship does not seem guaranteed—the audience has to have a moment of doubt or uncertainty that makes them will the couple back together.  

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal have fantastic chemistry.

It seems pretty straightforward. Follow the formula, and you’ll be fine. In fact, it’s hard to screw up a good rom com if you just imagine unconventional ways to put two individually interesting but opposite enough people together then lean back and watch the sparks fly.

So all this to say that nothing could have prepared me for the soul-sucking awfulness of Always Be My Maybe, the Netflix flick starring comedian Ali Wong (know for her Baby Cobra Netflix special) and Fresh Off the Boat’s Randall Park.

The story follows Sasha Tran (Wong), a renowned chef and restauranteur, who rekindles a romance with her childhood best friend Marcus Kim (Park) when her marriage engagement suddenly falls through. Tran is portrayed as ambitious and driven, while Kim is unmotivated and immature, using his widowed father as a crutch to not follow his dreams. In its purest form (this summary), the gist of the story seems fine. Nothing to write home about (certainly not novel), but this is romantic comedy and the bar is more of a footstool so no one’s begrudging sticking to convention. But Always Be My Maybe takes that convention and, in true Asian fashion, approaches it with textbook diligence that just sapped the joy and life out of what should have been a fun, light-hearted romp. So much for subverting Asian stereotypes!

Now I’m a fan of Ali Wong and Randall Park’s, but this movie was so mind-numbing, it made me physically ill. Ali Wong? Hilarious! Randall Park? Extremely likable and has great comedic timing! Together you would think they would be dynamite. Fireworks! An explosive affair of epic proportions! And for those of us who’ve had a hankering for a rom com with Asian leads (and God knows we’ve waited a long fucking time—thank you, Crazy Rich Asians) we know about the demand for one.  

Alas, what a disappointment. A telephone pole and I would have had more chemistry than Ali Wong and Randall Park. As much as it pains, I have to say that Always Be My Maybe just might be one of the worst romantic comedies I have ever watched.

Not only did this movie put two leads together who had zero chemistry—or at least enough sexual tension to help the audience suspend their disbelief that these aren't just actors—but the story unfolds in a fashion that actually makes the audience keenly aware of the formula. I know I said if you just follow the formula you can’t go wrong, but Jesus they didn’t have to make it so obvious! It’s like Fight Club, you know? The first rule of making a good rom com is YOU DO NOT MAKE THE AUDIENCE AWARE THAT THEY ARE WATCHING A ROM COM. I mean, at least try to approach it like it’s actually an interesting story about two people.

Instead, the movie followed story beats that seemed to exist for the sake of moving the story along instead of actually selling us on the relationship. The beats were so obvious that you can actually pinpoint where they begin and end because they were helpfully (and often unnecessarily) bookended by old school hip hop songs. Cue music! Here comes the conflict, the part where Boy and Girl rekindle their romance only to find that the years apart have made them different people. Boy judges Girl for being pretentious and obnoxious. Girl judges boy for being immature and unmotivated. A big fight ensues! Insults are hurled at each other that are so truthful they hurt! But it’s only a sign that they are meant to be with each other because they can trust each other to be this honest!

You know your movie is bad when your story beats are so obvious that they take the viewer out of the movie. You know your rom com is bad when Boy’s Big Gesture™ felt like a very clear When Harry Met Sally rip-off with dialogue that makes you want to get a lobotomy. There’s certainly nothing wrong with being referential or, even better, deliberately parodying romantic comedies. But Always Be My Maybe wasn’t really trying to be either. It was just stuck in this weird gray area of trying to be a romantic comedy and failing.  

Always Be My Maybe’s biggest problem is in its turd of a script. It was so cringeworthy, filled with inauthentic lines and tired Asian jokes (the joke about Asians hating tipping was played out to the point of exasperation). Even their attempts to make fun of woke culture (which is an effort I wholly endorse) felt contrived and flat, which is such a bummer because that would have been a cool differentiator. Even the promising jabs at the pretentiousness of haute cuisine were awkwardly executed. Most of all, it didn't do its lead actors any favors, turning them into cartoonish cardboard cut-outs that were designed to follow the formula of a rom-com without putting in the work to earn the audience’s investment. Performance-wise, Wong did a passable job, but there were times when it felt like she was reciting a line that was clearly more apt for a comedy skit rather than a piece of dialogue that a character in a movie is saying. Park’s attempt at faux awkwardness, on the other hand, was excruciating to watch. Couldn’t he just be a dude in a rap band who happens to live with his dad? That's a decent enough back story. There really wasn’t a need to give him a personality quirk that seemed put on rather than authentic.  

The film’s most promising moment was a Keanu Reeves cameo. And it’s only because Reeves was so game at poking fun of himself and the pretentiousness of celebrity that it worked. But just like the tired Asian jokes, at a certain point the humor was played out to the point where it became unwelcome. I also want to give credit to the film for portraying an Asian American upbringing that wasn’t the Fresh Off the Boat variety. While there isn't anything wrong with that portrayal, it’s also a treat to be able to see a different dimension of Asian culture, one that shows how typical and relatable it is to the average American’s upbringing. Premarital, promiscuous sex! Rap music! Being into pretentious food! Much as I hate to admit it, the whole “Asians—we’re just like you!” approach is kinda needed in film and television because it removes this layer of exoticization that can be restrictive to Asian characters.

While not tokenizing Asian characters is a positive, it still doesn’t make Always Be My Maybe a good movie. While I did watch it all the way to the end (despite my body’s vehement protests), it hurt my soul in ways I didn’t anticipate. How did they ruin this rom com? First, and most importantly, there was a shocking lack of individual character development. You don't get a sense of who these people are individually. Instead, they just seemed to be characters created for the sole purpose of putting them together and contrasting them enough to where they should have some sort of chemistry. But you can’t manufacture that. Each actor has to go through the work of making their characters likable. If I like the characters individually, I like them even better together! See how that 2+2 worked? But without dedicating the right amount of time and space in the story to showing their inner lives and what makes them tick, you’re setting them up for failure.

Second, and on a related note: there were no real stakes to the relationship. because setting up Sasha and Marcus to be together just seemed like a given from the get go. There didn’t seem to be any real jeopardy to their relationship, even once the conflict was introduced. The forced repartee between the characters came off like lines of dialogue instead of natural conversation, not to mention the very apparent lack of chemistry between Ali Wong and Randall Park. So much so that you didn’t really want to see them make out, let alone root for them to end up together. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you ruin a rom com.

If you, a friend, or family member just watched Always Be My Maybe and are experiencing similar symptoms of nausea and misanthropy, may I direct you to a Netflix original rom com that is actually good? Go check out Set It Up, if you haven’t already!

What did you think of Always Be My Maybe? Am I full of shit? Did you like it? What are some of your favorite romantic comedies? Sound off in the comments below!

#always be my maybe #movie reviews #Ali wong #Randall park

[waywardnerd67]

Tragic Visit

Summary: While (Y/N) is visiting her boyfriend during the week of Halloween something tragic happens.   Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki (mentioned), Reader Pairing: Jensen x Reader Warnings: Angst/Fluff Word Count: 1569 Prompt: “It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare.” – Halloween (1978) A/N: For @thing-you-do-with-that-thing Supernatural Halloween Challenge. As always this is unbeta so all mistakes are mine. Likes, comments and reblogs are splendid and I will love you doubly for them! Enjoy! Special Note: This is a work of FICTION and should be enjoyed as such. I mean absolutely no disrespect to the Ackles family as I truly adore and admire them.

The plane ride from Austin to Vancouver was an all too familiar trip for (Y/N). Every other weekend she would travel to Vancouver to visit her boyfriend, Jensen Ackles, who filmed his hit TV show there. Dating an actor was difficult with his crazy schedule, but Jensen and (Y/N) had made it work for the last five years. As she looked out her plane window watching the clouds pass by she thought back on how they met.

Halloween 2013

(Y/N) walked into the house party with her best friend in Los Angeles. Her best friend had convinced her to attend in order to make a good impression on some big shot producer. Where she was as a sexy nurse, (Y/N) had decided to go with a more conservative look going as a nerdy librarian.

There were a ton of people in the large house and after losing her best friend in the crowd (Y/N) found a spot out on back patio that was quiet. Where they were she could look out over downtown Los Angeles. She was mesmerized by the blur of lights and sounds of the city.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a deep voice from behind her startled her.

She turned around to see a strikingly handsome man dressed as Hansel from the fairytales, “Yes, it is Hansel.” She answered trying to keep from giggling.

“Yeah, yeah I know I’ve heard the line all night.” He said sighing.

She looked up at him confused as he walked towards her, “What line?” she asked.

“Hey there Hansel…” he said rolling his eyes. (Y/N) tried to remember if that was from the fairytale or not.

“I don’t think that is a line from the fairytale.” She said as he looked at her slightly stunned.

“It’s not. It’s a line from an episode of Supernatural in which I wore this god forsaken outfit.” He explained sitting down next to her.

(Y/N) shrugged her shoulders slightly, “Sorry, I’ve never seen it. If you don’t like it then why did you wear for Halloween?”

The man chuckled bringing the most charming smile on his lips and (Y/N) could feel heartbeat accelerate. “I lost a bet with my co-star and former best friend. He’s the big guy in there dressed as a Storm Trooper.”

(Y/N) snickered remember seeing the obnoxiously tall Star Wars guy, “I’m (Y/N), by the way.” She stuck out her hand to him.

His large hand gently grabbed hers shaking it, “I’m Jensen, it’s nice to meet you.”

Present Day

She walked off the plane with a carry-on bag and looked around for Clif, the guys’ bodyguard. When she spotted him the look on his face was grim. A sinking feeling came over her as her stomach started to churn.

“Clif, what’s wrong?” she asked as he led her out to his car.

He did not answer her until they were on the road, “Jensen had an accident on set performing a stunt and he is in the hospital. He was knocked unconscious.”

(Y/N)’s heart dropped to her stomach as she tried to take deep breaths to keep herself from freaking out, “W-Will he… will he be alright?” she asked her voice strained from holding back her emotions.

“The doctor says he should be fine once he wakes up. There was a little swelling on his brain, but it was going down as of an hour ago. Jared is at the hospital now, but I need to take him back to set once I drop you off.” Clif explained as (Y/N) nodded not trusting herself to say anything without opening the dam of emotions within her.

Clif led her into the hospital and straight to Jensen’s room where they found Jared sitting in the waiting room. He immediately pulled her into his arms, “The doctors are in there now. You know how stubborn he is, so he’ll wake up soon.”

She nodded as tears slipped down her cheeks. This was not how she wanted to spend her Halloween weekend with Jensen. Clif and Jared left as (Y/N) sat in the waiting room for the doctors to come out. The thoughts of last year’s Halloween popping up in her mind.

Halloween 2017

“I can’t believe you are actually home for Halloween this year.” (Y/N) said as Jensen drove them back to their house from the airport. He was humming to a song on the radio as his eye looked out to the road in front of him.

“We should get away this weekend. Just pack a bag, drive in no direction particularly and see where we land.” Jensen suggested as they pulled into their driveway.

She chuckled thinking he was joking until she looked over at him, “You’re serious?”

He nodded, “Yeah. I know we usually go to Jared and Gen’s house, but I would like to spend this weekend just with you.”

She eyed him suspiciously nodding slowly, “Alright. I won’t turn down a weekend alone with you.”

He leaned over kissing her briefly before they went into the house to get a few necessities. Soon they were back on the road, radio up loud and windows down. After a few hours of driving, (Y/N) had fallen asleep only waking up when she felt the car coming to a stop.

“Hey sleepy head, we’re here.” She heard Jensen’s deep voice as she slowly opened her eyes.

They were parked outside a small cabin that looked out over a lake. Getting out of the car she was amazed by the beauty that surrounded them. The trees were gorgeous reds and oranges that were only made brighter by the glow of the sun setting.

“Jensen, this place is beautiful.” She said as he slipped his arms around her waist.

He pressed his lips against her temple, “Yeah it is, but not as beautiful as you are.”

Present Day

It had turned out to be one of the best weekends they had together. Sleeping in late, taking walks, and spending quality time together. (Y/N) looked up as the doctor came out of Jensen’s room. “Miss (Y/L/N)?”

“Yes, how is Jensen?” she asked standing up.

“He’s awake. He’s a little groggy but as far as I can see he will be perfectly fine.” It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.

(Y/N) took a deep breath, “May I go in to see him?” she asked as he nodded leading her to his room.

She walked inside, and her hand went over her mouth. (Y/N) was so used to Jensen being vibrant, strong man she fell in love with. Seeing him lying in a hospital bed hooked up to several machines and his face was pale with his dark circles under his eyes.

His eyes were closed as she moved to the side of his bed sitting down. He slowly opened his olive eyes looking around until his eyes landed on her. A weak smile crossing his lips, “Hey beautiful.” His voice was raspy.

“Hey handsome, not exactly how I wanted to spend our weekend together. You really scared me.” She said tears welling up in her eyes.

Jensen reached out for her hand and pulled her towards his bed to lay down next to him. She carefully wrapped her arm around his narrow waist as he held her close. “It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare.”

She chuckled as Jensen quoted her favorite movie, “Well now we can marathon through the Halloween series as you recover.”

“Anything you want beautiful. Will you do me a favor?” she looked up and nodded, “Will you grab something out of my front pocket of my jeans, please?”

(Y/N) got up reaching into the bag holding his clothes from set and she pulled out a small velvet box. Her hands began to tremble as she walked back over to Jensen sitting on the side of the bed. “Jensen… is this…” she started to ask.

He pushed himself to sit up then took the box out of her hands, “When I woke up all I could think about was seeing you. I had the whole weekend planned out kind of like I did last year. I wanted to take you for a walk in Stanley Park and have a romantic picnic. Get down on one knee to do this properly.”

(Y/N) sat perfectly still hardly believing that Jensen was holding a small box containing a promise to be with her for the rest of their lives. She could not take her eyes off the box in his hands as he continued to speak.

“Where I wanted to make this moment perfect, I don’t want to waste any more time. I want us to live our lives together. To have a family together and be able to call you my wife. (Y/N) (Y/L/N), will you do marry me?” She finally looked up at him as he asked the one question she had wanted to hear for the last year.

A wide smile spread across her face as she nodded, “Yes, Jensen Ackles, I will most definitely marry you.”

He opened the box to reveal a beautiful solitaire ring that he slipped onto her finger. “Alright, future Mrs. Ackles, let’s call Clif to bring your laptop over and we can begin our Halloween movie marathon.”

She leaned over kissing him before grabbing her phone and dialing Clif’s number as she snuggled back down onto the hospital bed.  

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

My Nerd Herd: @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @carryonmywaywardcaptain @anotherwaywardsister @ladywinchester1967 @dwgrl1903 @akshi8278 @ericaprice2008 @mirandaaustin93 @spnbaby-67 @time-travel-bouqet @1967-essentialghoul @fandomskaz-2y5 @dean-winchesters-bacon @destielhoneybee @-lovepeacenhope- @destiel745 @carribear31 @srsllydunnodoncare @whimsicalrobots @starstruckzonkoperatorbat @adoptdontshoppets @mrswhozeewhatsis @bella-ca @drakelover78 @imascio08 @linnyrero7-blog @pisces-cutie @mannls @the-salty-asian @winchesterprincessbride @thisismysecrethappyplace

#kari's supernatural halloween challenge #waywardnerd67 #one shot #tragic visit #jensen ackles fanfiction #jensen ackles fanfic #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles fluff #jensen ackles angst #fluff #angst

[clarespace]

oh god, i just saw the official mv and my heart is screaming. it’s also 2am and im gonna gush about pete and ae with quick and dirty gifs, so watch out: 

ugh, i love these scenes so much. wait, i love every scene, but these first ones are so important. ae is presented as the typical confused guy but get this, he’s so soft and expressive with his feelings, and he’s. not. ashamed. of. it. quite a contrast with pete, whose been internalising his shame. the wonderful thing with ae is that he’s so honest and direct. he says what he feels and thinks. more importantly, his actions coincide with what he says. often, that just doesnt happen in bl stories. the guy feels something for another guy? he goes out with girls and avoids the guy, etc. not ae. the boy just dives right in after a few moments of self-reflection. what an awesome dude. 

and pete. our sweet, shy pete is saying, while looking into ae’s eyes, that he’s liked ae from the beginning. how cute is that? but more than cute, there’s the impression that he’s reached the point where he feels really safe and secure with ae that he can openly say this. wasnt it only a few episodes ago where he was still worried about bothering ae, and ae has done so many things to affirm pete’s trust in him that they’ve reached this point. which episode this will be, who knows, but they get here, hopefully with as little fuss as possible. 

look. at. THAT. that’s one of the cutest things i’ve ever seen and it just screams ‘couple in love’. i gotta say, the body direction in this drama has been SPOT ON by the director and the actors. they’re horribly in love and it should SHOW. they should have their own couple language, their sweet gestures. see how tender ae is, and how content pete looks, especially with the way he closes his eyes when he finally rests his head on ae’s shoulder. just...the way their bodies are positioned is so so so good. boys sit like that! and the way they are subtly turned towards each other shows openness and interest...hear me heave my biggest, happiest sigh. 

idk what happens in this moment except i want more of it. study date? sleep over? moving in together?? okay, the last one is too soon but i have a weakness when my otp spend time sleeping with each other and doing their nightly routines and just living life in love. also, ae, dont be extra. pete is really cute when he’s asleep but that’s no reason to look at him as if he’s literally doing cartwheels and you’re so proud of him...ugh, fine, i take it back. look at him with love ALL THE TIME.

ok it’s so hilarious to me that pete was smiling his dumb ‘ai ae’ smile and then the next frame he’s all serious as ae pushes him down slowly on the bed. also. fooling around in broad daylight? i approve because it’s so ridiculous when dramas only seem to portray that sex happens at night, in the dark. definitely not. also, they could just be cuddling here and i wont object to that either. ae just really dives into this whole thing, huh? 

once again, no context except that ae is so happy and pleased to see pete. get you a man who looks at pete the way ae does. look at the fondness in those eyes. he’s so expressive, i love it. kudos to the actor for his portrayal! also, pete looks...hesitant? surprised? that ae is waving at him? and like he’s leaving in a hurry? hmmmm also i love a guy in a football kit so much

wow guys, just show off your love, huh? like i said, one of my favourite things is watching a couple actually be a couple. what they do, how they act, their own gestures, their rituals and it looks like ae and pete are the kind of ridiculously soft, touchy feely, sweet af couple who love to spend as much time as possible...and that happens to be my all time weakness, my ultimate goal. it’s like, pete is either making a joke or telling him something funny and ae gives that little huff and everything is smothering me with joy. 

i am surprised, though, by the implication that they spend a lot of nights sleeping together. it’s something i dont come across often in asian dramas. western, yes, when they’re dating and spend days and nights in their own world, and this is what i see happening with ae and pete. it’s modern and new and accurate. or am i just surprised because in kdramas they dont even hold hands and they flinch whenever they look each other in the eye? maybe. 

they’re so freaking DOMESTIC and i am so here for that shit. who sleeps on what side of the bed? who wakes up first? do they sleep all cuddled up?(remembering ae sleeping on top of pete, that’s a big YES) who makes breakfast? who fixes the bed? I NEED TO KNOW

hands down my favourite moment. not only is it a great shot, it’s just so...normal. they’re just ordinary boys with an extraordinary love that they’re not afraid to show. look at that body language. the familiarity, the softness, the smoothness of the action. is this the end where they’ve fully accepted each other? told each other all of their stories? cleared away the misunderstandings and are now just basking in the joy of being together?

also, it’s quite telling that ae is being presented as the top. now, i do have my own preferences for top and bottom but i dont really care who does it, tbh, and it doesnt matter. you could have your own headcanons about it and that’s fine as long as you’re not being toxic. i’ve seen so many people refuse to read/watch something if this or that person is placed in a specific role. on that note, i like how they’re showing that the one who’s physically larger isn’t the top, as is the case most of the time. they’re going there. 

there are a few more moments but now it’s 3:30am as i type this, my eyelids are getting heavy (even though my heart is still going kyaa kyaa) and im gonna end this with the two biggest things that the drama is going right with pete and ae: 

1. you dont have to be a jerk and use tricks to make someone fall in love/pay attention to you. 

2. being soft and in love is nothing to be ashamed of. 

i hope that there wont be the usual misunderstandings with the girl, or unnecessary, or break ups. i’ve noticed some people say that pete and ae dont have a complex story and therefore their love isnt complex or strong, and i’d just like to correct that assumption. just because a love story isnt full of angst and bloodshed doesnt make it a lesser love, just like a love story full of hardship and pain makes it somehow more worthy. there is nothing romantic about pain or break ups or messy love triangles. yes, these things happen because the characters are idiots and make such choices that lead to these things, but ae and pete seem to make choices that are good and healthy for them and there is nothing wrong with that. there is nothing wrong with falling in love, getting that person, and living a happy life. it’s so rare to get this sweet, soft gem of a love story between two sweet, soft boys. let’s enjoy it and not wish them to break up or go through silly misunderstandings. if that happens, then it happens logically and not just to throw unnecessary angst in there. 

happiness is not boring. we’ve (or at least, i have) been waiting for so long for a main couple who gets that smooth-sailing love while the secondary ones go through all the mess and have that role model of good, healthy relationships as the focus. again, not saying they should be in a perfect, conflict free relationship but the meddling third parties? the miscommunication? nothing in their personalities makes those things possible long-term, tbh. ae would just be blunt about it and tell the truth. pete would probably agonise a little bit and then ask. if you find dark, angsty love stories as your thing, good for you, but dont wish for that to happen just for the sake of it. 

please let them be happy. look at these adorable children! they should only know happiness and cuddles and sweet kisses.

come talk to me about ae and pete! i am so down with talking about them!

(seeing as there are several volumes of the novel, it would seem that pete and ae do go through some stuff but they remain steadfast and true, as much as i can gather. just no avoidable bullshit, please.)

(also 4am. if you read all of this word regurgitation, thank you and im sorry lmao)

#love by chance the series #love by chance #ae/pete #pete/ae #they are the cutest #sweetness #most adorable couple #PLEASE PROTECT THEM #they are too precious for this world #dont fuck them up dont fuck them up