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alexissara · 1 year

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Favorite Characters Of 2022

While I've already touched on art that touched me this year, I wanted to talk about some of the characters who I really resonated with. I am a character focused writer, I run character focused TTRPG sessions, I love characters. There is obviously a ton of characters I really loved in a year but I am keeping it to 10 because that is the list standard. Shoutouts to Bridget Guilty Gear who has brought me a ton of a joy in 2022 but doesn't have a ton narratively. Anyway, let's begin!

Zagan [Dead End: Paranormal Park]

Zagan may be a minor villain in Dead End but she stole my little lesbian heart right away. At the end of season 1 she serves as a great villain for a light hearted kids show raising the level of stakes while also not being jarring. Then in season 2 we get some Zagan queerness and we get some depth to her as we start to humanize the demons a bit more at the face of the actually evil angels. I think she is perfectly used and I would love to see her and Norma date.

Shirayui [Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games]

I like it when a girl can get a bit ugly, and Shirayui can get a little ugly in a delightful way. This passionate fighting gamer is a little gamer goblin, she is rowdy, loves destroying people at fighting games and wants a worthy foe. It's great seeing her maintain her image as a perfect lady while then going sicko mode whenever she gets a chance to do what she actually loves, playing a fighting game. Shirayui is charming and is a perfect example of portraying women in ways that just don't really happen in media. Like this kind of personality would normally either be a goof that she like "acts like a man" but she is toxic in lots of great ways that don't feel like a dude character. I love her and as far as I know she doesn't kill her rival and that is sad.

Ashuna [Executioner And Her Way of Life]

We love a jocky lesbian in this house and Ashua is peak shimbo material. She is shockingly smart when she needs to be but is otherwise all about battling and good fights and she is just fun. Sometimes a character is just fun to watch, every time she would show up on screen I'd cheer. Her blooming relationship with Momo is really good and I think it adds more to her character. Ashua isn't deep but she is perfectly executed in her own story.

Falis [Murder Princess]

This was a surprise hit of the year; when I was with April to jam about Thirsty Sword Lesbians: Falling Deeper and stuff we ended up watching this anime she remembered from when she was a kid and it was so much then I had expected and she remembered. Falis is just a very cool character, a woman who is just kinda badass but kind to her friends is rare. She is really well balanced in being a responsible person to having selfish desires to be a badass warrior to being a loyal friend in a way that makes her feel really human. It's rare for women to be written in the way Falis is and I really want to see more badass sword lesbian types in the future.

Also her stuff around the body swap with the princess is great and I think her coming into her own as a princess, kind of proving a commoner should be in charge is fun.

Rae Taylor [I'm In Love With The Villainess]

I thought I would hate Rae with her lack of boundaries but she's really captured me, as if I was a marriage candidate in a yuri dating sim. I think Rae may be on a list again next year, I own vol 3 of the manga and just need to read it, the anime is coming and there is just a lot that I'll be diving into for this wonderful lesbian. Rae went from a woman who didn't really get boundaries to showing her true emotional depths from a hint of her trauma from her previous life and to defining her sexuality and even challenging her crush Clair's homophobia.

Plus she has such a fun imagination watching her plans come out and either fail in funny ways or succeed in amazing ways is a really nice experience. I think she might be one of Yuri's best characters but I'll reserve my judgment until I read it all.

Poison Ivy [Harley Quinn Animated]

Poison Ivy is one of the best villains ever created because she is just a better person in every way then the hero in like 90% of stories the other 10% are like stories where they just decide she is a fash or wants to kill all humans for no reason. Ivy is a really fun character to have around and the more Daria esc version of Ivy works well for the show. Season 3 had her figuring out how she wants to define herself and coming into more of that big time villain side that I enjoy at the face of like the Super Heroes who represent the status quo.

I am really excited to see what Season 4 makes of her and where the future for her character in the best DC universe ever made stands

Sabi Mehboob [Sort Of]

Trans sapphics of color are so rare in basically all media but Sort Of gives of Sabi as the main character. We see a connection to Sabi's culture, to her former religion, her relationship to a family with considerably more wealth then her, her relationship to her best friend, her relationship to her ex, her relation to her own family, all in one season. I haven't started season 2 because I unsubbed from HBO Max but when I get a chance to watch Sort Of Season 2 I am really excited. Sabi is a deeply relatable character and seeing the start of a budding romance with another trans woman took her over the edge to being one of the most relatable characters I've ever seen.

As a trans lesbian of color myself, seeing other queer trans women on TV is basically a thing that never happens let alone a trans woman of color showing desire for other women let alone the glorious power of T4T romance. It is really nice and really great and Sabi is just an amazing mess and I hope her life turns around.

Monica [Fire Emblem: Three Hopes]

I'm a simple girl, I see a woman homosexually devoted to another woman and I stan. Monica is Fire Emblems second canon lesbian character. She is in some ways a character whose sexuality defines her but I really don't care. She is clearly deeper then that, she has her political position, her support for the revolution, her affection for Doretha, her rivalry with Hubert all of which make her a wonderful character. Plus she is just really fun to play as.

Úrsula [Los Espookys]

Ursula is a rare W for me where I see a character and go "She seems like she is a lesbian" and it is totally confirmed at some point. Ursula in season 2 of Los Espooky's is just like so many of my friends. Queer Latnix Zinester indie queer wanting to make the world a better place. Her subdued personality makes for some solid jokes and while she is often the "straight man" to a lot of jokes she is still funny in her own right from her utterly resisting brainwashing to her determination bouncing off the weirdos of the world, I love her.

Suletta [Gundam: The Witch From Mercury]

This little bisexual disaster is one of the most endearing characters ever written. She is so sweet, kind and has such a strong sense of justice. Her bound to Mio, her friends, her mother an Ariel are all extremally endearing and I just want to see her be happy. While we don't know where things will go for her in season 2, season 1 Sulleta brought me joy every single time she was on screen and in almost all her fan art. It's rare to see a darker skin sapphic character in fiction, in particular in anime and that's just a small extra part of the whole package which makes her so perfect. It's amazing to watch her battle and it'll be fun to learn more and more about her over time.

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Do you like top 10 lists, you want me to write some more, let me know what kind of top 10s you wanna see and hey, maybe I'll write some. If you want to see characters I write you can check out my Carrd.

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ineffectualdemon · 1 year

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Hi again...I'm the anon that ask before.....My first ask is about Yuri on Ice....Who are your top 3 or top 5 fav characters from that fandom and why do you love them? What are your top 5 fav moments from the series? Feel free if you want to pick either or answer all the questions....Thanks if you want to answer....

These questions are a lot of fun!

My top 3 characters are the main three. I'm very much a basic bitch with that but!

5. Minami: I just love a good day of sunshine character and I love that he's Yuuri's fanboy

6. Phichit: he is such a wonderful breath of fresh air and such a joy to have on screen as well as Captain of the ship Victuuri

3. Yurio: I was a very angry teen back when I was one so I can empathize with Yurio. I also really like his character arc. The funniest thing for me is I hated him in the first episode but the moment he saw the tiger sweatshirt in Hasetsu and was all "awesome fashion" I decided I loved him and he was my adopted fictional son.

2. Victor: how can anyone not love Victor and how he can be serious and charming one second and a gigantic dork the next? He's such a goof and I love that about him. Plus he's so serious about trying to be a good coach

1. Yuuri: he's my pal, my homeboy, my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good time boy.

Though seriously I just identify SO strongly with Yuuri and his insecurities and self confidence issues and anxiety. He also reads (in retrospect) very autistic to me so I project onto him even harder. He's such a grounded and realistic character to me. Plus his ambiguous relationship with gender is something I also really needed when I started watching it

As for top 5 moments....that's tougher....

Hmmm

I will admit it's been a little bit since I've watched the series (need to break out the dvd)

But! ...I need more then 5

6.. The beach scene were Yuri confesses his fears and asks Victor to be Victor. It's very touching and just such an important turning point

5. The carpark scene in China when Victor fucks up. Because we don't usually see him so out of his depth and panicked and it's a great (and rare) insight into his mind

4 Yuuri telling Victor to leave him at the competition to be with his dog. Even though he knows he'll struggle he wants what's best for Victor and it's a really nice moment

3. The kiss. It was such a shocking (in a great way!) moment because up to that point everyone thought it was probably just queer baiting us and BAM an actual kiss! Even though it was censored it a huge deal at the time

2. The proposal! We were all joking about it being rings but we're convinced it was talking about medals but then we get the rings! The fandom at that point lost our shit! It's really incredible and unlike a kiss they make it clear it's an engagement with "we'll get married when he wins gold

1. The reveal/flashback of Sochi where we learn about Yuuri getting drunk and that he asked Victor to be his coach and just how it reframed the entire series! It's still one of the best twists in media. It changes the context of everything and it's so beautifully done

Honourable mention: the Zombie Hug scene. It's just so fucking funny

#yoi #yuri on ice #i got an ask

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chattahoochiecoochie · 3 years

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Various Storms and Saints Review

I’m alive! As per usual here is my disclaimer. I’m a fan in every sense, though I write fanfiction, and even some personal stories in my free time, I am in no way qualified to actually judge or critique anyones writing. Therefore, this is just a fun way for me to express what I liked about my most recent reads. Without further adieu lets get started.

This story is by @viridianatnight and can be found on AO3.

This is going to be long, so pack in, I’ve got a lot of thoughts. First and foremost, I’m a summary kind of gal. I like to know what I’m getting into, I analyze the tags, fully digest the summary down to the punctuation. VSAS lacked a summary but the reviews were raving so I went ahead and dove head first. Man oh fucking man did she nail it. Maybe our dear author isn’t one for summaries or maybe she planned it. Every chapter had me on the edge of my seat, waiting for that final reveal, the big drop in plot, the crescendo. It was worth it. Through every guess and shot it the dark it was worth it. She delivered.

Every so often you read a story where there isn't a syllable wasted. This is one of those. From that damn pebble in a box all the way to Narcissa’s nickname for her son. My dragon? Are you joking me.

Never before have I felt I have known Hermione. You love her, always, she's a star. But here she is human. Here she is a woman. Here is a character who I know, who I have met, who I will meet again in life. She is drowning and swimming, lost and found. She is me. She is all of us. Self loathing is so deeply tragic and for the first time that I have read, Hermione is tragic. This story is as much a romance as it is a tragedy for the ages. You watch the little girl you loved as a child, who’s character came alive on paper, start to die in front of you. Without becoming to much of a sap, the simple fact is this, if you as a woman want to feel seen go open your web browser and get to reading.

And Draco. What a man. Tall and handsome is to be expected, but multifaceted and palatable is another beast entirely--and yet here he is on screen, all of those things. His relationship with Theo is (I hate to overuse the word) human. They’re boys still, really, who love one another deeply but will never admit it without a fight. They’ll defend one another fearlessly and bite hard when confronted about it. Draco often has passion in the stories I’ve read but not like this. He has a fire inside him that burns for Hermione, for his best friend, for his mother, and even for his enemies. He is completely consumed by his love and his anger. He is almost nothing outside of those feelings. They make him as a man, good and bad. Sure he might be a touch scary but boy oh boy is he the kind of partner (and lover) we all long for.

Before we get into the little things I want to talk about Ginny. What a star. What a friend. In most stories Hermione is cut away from the group, relegated to Slytherins almost entirely. Its wonderful to see her friendship with Ginny thrive, and even more to see it be genuine. There is sisterly love sure but Ginny puts up a fight, as every good friend has.

Molly. You bastard. Her letter to Hermione left me gutted. Especially when she’d been so great at holding Ron accountable in the past.

The cellphone was truly something special. The way it allowed Theo to step further into the light as a main character was brilliant. Speaking of his role, theres a happy ending! Our comic relief and great logician (seriously his wisdom is what held this all together) finally gets an ending he deserves.

That of course launches me into another ramble. Queerness is so rarely written without angst. Seamus and Dean are just in love. There is no hardship or pain written about. They are two young men and they are in love and there isn't anything else to say about it. And the way that Theo feels no shame about being in love with a man, rather just shame that he can’t have him, its just beautiful. It’s simple and plain and perfect.

Okay okay I know I said this was going to be long and I promise I’m wrapping up. Heres a rapid fire round before I sign off entirely. Lavenders death? Crippled me. She is a virtue? I squealed. Peace and love, I’m so sick of having to google French. So sick. So tired. I’ll keep doing it though, till the day a man calls me mon coer.

Honestly my joy is too much for words. This is one of the greats, without a doubt. Viridian, you have a gift, and I pray that you never stop wanting to share it with us.

If you liked this review you can find my others here TRTTD | Manacled | Remain Nameless | Apple Pie and Other Amends Sorry if the links are funny, I completed traded places with my secondary blog a while back and its been weird :/

#Various Storms and Saints #various storms and saints story #various storms and saints fic #dramione fic #dramione story #dramione fanfic #dramione #review #fanfic review #harry potter #Harry Potter fanfic #hermione granger #Theo nott #ginny weasley #draco malfoy #draco x hermione #chattahoochiecoochie review

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shewholovestoread · 4 years

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Birds of Prey (2020) Review

I’ve seen Birds of Prey twice now and both times, it was an absolute joy to watch! Never have I enjoyed myself quite this much, I screamed, I shouted and laughed throughout the film. Birds of Prey was everything I hoped it would be and so much more.

Where do I even start with this film? I loved everything about it, the writing, the cast, direction, the action, all of it.

Now, lets get the negative out of the way, I’ve read some reviews that pointed out that the film has pacing issues and maybe it does but only if you’re looking for it. Birds of Prey is also operating from a place of disadvantage where other superhero films are concerned (predominantly Marvel) Barring Harley, whom we saw in Suicide Squad, the rest of the squad is not very well known. Birds of Prey had the tall task of introducing all of these other characters in a way that made sense and still have a reasonable run-time. Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya did not have the advantage of having their own standalone films. Christina Hodson, Margot Robbie and Cathy Yan did a great job integrating all of these characters and their arcs and the intersection of said arcs.

The writing was so on point, it felt like the writers had a keen sense of the characters they were writing for and to an extent that is true. Robbie was part of the writing process and helped shape the film and it’s not surprising, I doubt anyone (barring those who write the actual comics) could have had a clearer picture of who Harley is. Cathy Yan does a great job of bringing the words to life and infusing them with an energy that was electrifying. It was cohesive and coherent film, full credit to Hodson and Yan.

I loved that all of the women are badass without exception but the film also gives them time and space to be vulnerable. These are not male characters in a female body. These characters are feminine and lean on their emotions instead of shutting them down. The ass-kicking aspect is amazing, the action set-pieces are fucking fantastic but it was equally gratifying to see the women be supportive and protective of each other. They quickly became a sisterhood once they came together and that was a pleasure to see on film.

Birds of Prey is feminist, explicitly queer, diverse, irreverent, brash, unapologetic and a no-holds-barred female power fantasy, it is wish fulfillment at its finest. It was so gratifying to see the female characters defy conventional, patriarchal expectations time and time again. They are allowed to be messy and flawed, they make mistakes and bad decisions and they are better for it.

Margot Robbie has made Harley hers in a way that I doubt another actor could match in any capacity. I loved her journey, I loved that she was a mess after her breakup and she needed time and space to truly heal, to discover her worth independent of her partner. I loved that she is canonically bisexual in the film. Her action sequences are some of the best in the film and she is amazing in them but I loved that we also saw her pain and loneliness, her desire to be a part of something and be appreciated for who she is. Her act of blowing up Ace Chemicals, while not thought through completely, is symbolic of her beginning to breaking away from the shackles she placed on herself.

Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance / Black Canary was amazing. You can see her feel torn between her need to survive and the terror and disgust she feels for Roman Sionis. Plus the Canary Cry was fucking epic and I wish we’d gotten more of it.

Rozie Perez as Renee Montoya was perfect, she brought dimensions and layers to the role that a younger actor would not have, the film is richer for having her in it and I am glad that both Yan and Perez fought for it. She had the right amount of cynicism and weariness that her role needed, like she’d been doing this for a while and though she was great at her job, she rarely got the credit she deserved. I also loved that she was also explicitly gay in the film and even meet her ex-girlfriend.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli / Huntress was plain delightful! I wish she’d had more screen-time. She was the right amount of socially awkward paired with someone with deep-seated rage issues. But she never loses herself to that rage, case in point, when the women are fighting together in the amusement park, she takes a moment to speak to Cassandra, give her something to ground her, to distract her from the violence and brutality.

Ella Jay Basco was great as Cassandra Cain. I loved her spirit and her interactions with Harley and the gang.

Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis / Black Mask was equal parts spoilt brat and sinister and he played it so well. He was unpredictable and that’s what made him so menacing, you never knew what could set him off (snot bubble) And then there’s Chris Messina, brilliant as the unhinged Victor Zsazs, they were perfect for each other, 2 peas in a pod, each feeding the others’ sociopathy.

The action in the film is one of the best parts of the film, it is beautifully choreographed and you can feel the impact. All of the women get their time to shine, given that each has their own individual approach to how they fight. I also loved the costume design, I loved that NONE of the women were sexualised or objectified. They all looked amazing! But they were practically dressed, the way one dresses in real life but with more flair. Credit to Erin Benach.

Films like Birds of Prey that are written, produced and directed by women, for women are sometimes held to an unrealistic standard, almost as if they need to be perfect films (such a thing does not exist)They are held to standards that films made by men are not, which is why a man can make one mediocre film after another and no one blinks but if woman makes a film and it’s anything short of spectacular then it’s labeled a failure and used as an excuse to dismiss other proposals / pitches by female content creators, that is a deeply misogynistic approach and it needs to change. But we also need people to go out and watch films like Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman so that we can have more diverse voices and experiences reflected on screen. So please, if you haven’t already seen the film, make sure you do, go with your friends, mothers, sisters, whoever and watch it. It is a joy and a delight to watch.

Now, can we please have a Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy team up! Please, I desperately need it And while we’re at it, I need to them to get romantically involved. Pretty please

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flying-elliska · 3 years

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Okay, I'm reading Chap18, and I really hope this comment won't hurt your feelings because I love your fic and I really just want to understand why you wrote it this way, but I have to tell you that for the first time I've been disapointed with Diamants AU. I already felt it was going this way with Daphné, Arthur, Vallès, Emma and Alexia being LGBT, but I kind of felt betrayed with the Yann/Alex thing, and now I'm sensing Manon and Daphné will be together at some point too and ...(1)

...I don't understand why you made all your characters LGBT. I get that they are under-represented in most of the books and shows, but with Diamants I'm kind of feeling like being staight is a bad thing, like it's either boring or you're juste an asshole. I've always loved Skam because it shows that very different people can be friends and help each other no matter their religion, sexuality... and this kind of felt like the only reason they stand together is they're all LGBT (2) and I guess this comes from personal experience but that would have been so much more powerful to have straight people being as much invested in this war as the others. Honestly I don't see the point of Yann, Alex, Emma, Manon or Arthur not being straight, for me it doesn't bring more to who they are. This really feels like they would be nothing if they were straight. So I juste wanted to ask you why you decided this? Again, really hope this won't hurt you... (3/3)

hey anon. So, I’m going to assume this comes from a place of good faith and a sincere desire to understand, and explain my choices. That said, I do have to say that even though it didn’t really hurt me (it mostly made me laugh), it did make me a little angry too, because there are a lot of harmful implications in your messages.

1) First of all, about you “not seeing the point” of making certain characters LGBT. This functions under the assumption that there needs to be a reason for people to be gay, bi, trans, etc - and that straight people are the default. That is...really not great. People are gay in real life, for no reason whatsoever. If you don’t go to writers asking why they made their characters straight if there is no reason in the story, you shouldn’t do this either. Characters can be queer without it being a big part of the story - it’s just a part of them, and the idea that they have to ‘deserve a place’ in the narrative through their gayness (often through a deeply tragic arc full of suffering to Educate Straight people) is deeply heteronormative, and fucked up. LGBT people are not in a story to make a point, they’re there because they exist. Yes, some of my characters have arcs that are deeply entangled with their sexuality and struggles with it. Some are not. When it comes to Yann and Alex, I didn’t think too much about it, I thought it would be funny and unexpected and give some good shenanigans. Sometimes that’s all you need.

2) As for turning a majority of the canon straight characters LGBT : listen, in the end, this is my fic, and I do it because I want to. I’m bi and my life is full of queer people. This is my normal, this is what comes naturally to me, and what I find interesting to write about. I set out to write a James Bond parody with some deep character exploration, it’s meant to be a very transformative fic. I have no obligation to stick to any Skam ‘guidelines’. I am also not aiming to write a particularly realistic story, if the secret mobster conspiracy didn’t tick you off already. The ethos of fic is to make canon your playground and to let your imagination go wild. That said, this trope you’re probably used to, of having one or maybe two queer characters and not more in any given story, I would say is the less realistic one. In real life, LGBT people often tend to cluster together, often before they even realize their sexuality, especially as they get older. But a lot of mainstream media is afraid of that because they don’t want to alienate their straight audience, so they don’t show it. I have no such compunctions. Your message seems to imply that there is a limit to how many gay people there should be in a story and I find that deeply offensive. There is incredible relief, peace and power to be found in community, especially after being struggling so much with your sexuality, like Lucas did for instance. I wanted to show that joy in this chapter, and how it plays a part in him slowly letting his walls down.

3) I notice you don’t mention Imane. She’s straight, she’s super invested in this war, she’s neither boring or an asshole, in fact she’s probably the most important character in the fic after Lucas and Eliott. She’s badass and amazing and complex and if you don’t feel she counts as ‘good straight representation’ I find that slightly odd. Is she too ‘other’ for you that you would dismiss her like that ? Also, Basile is straight lmao. There’s plenty of straight people in this fic. And plenty of people who have incredibly different life experiences ; sexuality not being the main one doesn’t change that.

4) I do find it sort of silly that you reduce the characters’ reasons for fighting to being LGBT after I spent like 400k words proving otherwise. Like - Lucas wants to avenge his mother, Eliott wants to take down his father, Imane wants to avenge her father, Daphné wants to steal jewels, Alex and Emma are bored, Alexia’s a good friend (and also bored lol), they’re trying to stop horrible people from doing horrible things, their trajectories are layered and complex and if you tell me that can all be boiled down to ‘they’re gay’ I kind of wonder if you’ve paid attention to what you’ve read at all.

5) All that said, a majority of my characters being LGBT does have a symbolic point. It’s an opposition to the world of the Shadow, which is deeply sexist, heteronormative, homophobic, and macho. It represents how questioning your sexuality can be deeply liberating and often put you at odds with the general structures of power and oppression in society and lead you to question a lot more and find people who want to fight with you. Being LGBT can (but not always) make you more politically conscious and that’s a beautiful thing that deserves to be celebrated. And in general, being a minority makes you more aware of inequality because it’s simply your daily life. So it makes perfect sense that most of these characters who fight against symbols of horrible systemic oppression would be marginalized in some way or other. Straight/cis/white/rich/abled/etc people simply have less reasons to question the status quo. I have sat through so many action movies where all-straight heroes save the day ; I’m sure you can sit through the opposite for once. If you can’t, maybe it’s a failure of empathy or imagination on your part.

6) Imagine growing up and never seeing, around you or on TV or in books or movies, someone who shares your sexuality. Or if you ever see somebody like you, they will be a joke, a punchline, deluded, instable, doomed, or worse, a predator. Imagine the sort of damage that does. Imagine that when you finally find some correct representation, you have to make do with crumbs for years. Imagine it gets slowly better, but it’s still overwhelmingly tragic, or incorrect, or stereotypes, or only told after the story is over, or you’re always the best friend, always the minority, the point of interest there to educate, always there to struggle, never the epic breathtaking romance, never centered, never allowed community and to see yourself as the norm. In the best of cases, your identity is more or less ignored. In the rare cases where you find good representation, shows get cancelled prematurely, or your faves never get as much screen time as the straight ones, or storylines get botched because somehow writers think showing queer characters happy has no value. Imagine then you decide to take matters in your own hands and write the sort of queer utopia that makes you truly happy - the one where you’re surrounded with people like you and you don’t have to constantly feel isolated and otherized and you’re badass and don’t have to take any shit and your love story is the epic one that gets centered and you have friends who understand and share your experience. And then imagine someone, instead of taking a deep breath and going back to like, 99% of all media ever made, randomly comes to you and tells you they feel ‘betrayed’ because in this one paltry little fic you wrote, their mainstream experience is not centered like usual. Tell me, how would that feel ?

Again, I don’t bear you any ill will, but your message comes across as ignorant and very entitled. I am open to feedback and criticism but writing a story full of LGBT people is one thing I will never feel sorry for. There are a shit ton of fics out of there where those characters are straight, not to mention canon. If you feel ‘betrayed’ by the amount of queer characters in my fic, then I’d say you have some biases you need to examine. It reminds me of all the times I’ve heard people say that they ‘like gay people but only if they’re not too in your face’ (lol that was my sister, so fun) - this implication that queer people should know their place, never show their difference too openly, accept being a minority in all spaces, need to ‘deserve’ their spot, center straight people’s needs, etc etc...is deeply harmful and toxic.

If you can’t understand all this, then my writing is probably not for you.

#diamants!au #lgbt #lgbt representation #fandom #queer representation

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fromthecouch · 3 years

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On Realism and Relationships — Everything that “Sex Education” Season 3 gets right.

Note: This recap and analysis do contain spoilers.

Sex Education Season 3, Episode 3

Over the past three seasons, Sex Education has been a standout portrayal of relationships, human sexuality, and adolescence. Through successful writing, Sex Education beautifully captures its characters’ experiences with the beginning, ending and pursuit of interpersonal relationships. These portrayals are cloaked in real, often messy, painful, and not always rational human emotion and experience. The storylines don’t chase a “happy ending” and we don’t always get what we want and what we expect from the characters we root for.

As a viewer, it can be frustrating to see the way that characters with dynamic, on-screen chemistry can miss each other, look past each other, or reject one another in the town of Moordale. However, as a person, we empathize with these moments. In real life, we know chemistry alone cannot sustain love or relationships. Sex Education isn’t afraid to explore the complexities of relationships, courtship, and of course, sex.

Following the legacies of the teen dramas of the late 90s to the mid-2010s, where most teenage sexual relationships and romantic relationships are idealized, romanticized or dramatized, Sex Education takes the more daring approach — realism.

We love the chemistry of Jean and Jakub, but we acknowledge that they often have conflicting core philosophies and approaches to relationships. As much as we root for Otis and Maeve, they can’t seem to communicate and move beyond their strong connection to something more permanent. We wonder if there is only so much that their connection can endure. Adam and Eric’s romantic relationship starts solid, but as Eric soon realizes that he is more comfortable with his queer identity than his partner, he feels held back. We are devastated for Adam, but understand how the validity of Eric’s struggle. Otis and Ruby were a sleeper connection that allowed us to see Ruby as someone beyond a one-dimensional mean girl. Yet, their feelings for one another were not on equal terms and it was something they were not willing to deal with. (Admittedly, I was devastated we didn’t get to see much more of Ruby after their break up. Ruby Matthews deserves the best.) Similarly, Jackson and Cal, then Aimee and Steve, fall apart and as people all of these instances make sense and resonate with us in a relatable way. (Thinking back to the teen dramas I grew up with, there aren’t dramatic cheating scandals, affairs with teachers, or unexplainable changes of heart used for shock factor in the plot.) Instead, these failings reflect what we often see amongst our peers, our parents, and ourselves.

Sex Education Season 3 Episode 4

Another Sex Education success that is unique, captivating, and realistic in a way that many other series miss the is mark lies in the portrayal of its characters’ ethnic, gender, class, and sexual identities. The Moordale students’ identities intersecting with their experiences are shown in a manner that feels more organic than many of the teen-led television series of the past few decades; they’re not tokenized or patronized. They are allowed to simply exist with one another, without their identities being explicitly mentioned in every scene they appear. We understand how their identities impact them through the plot, not a constant declaration.

Furthermore, on our television, each character has the same chance to embrace loss and laughter, love and heartache. This is particularly rare for queer characters on television. Unlike many other series, we don’t see queer characters reduced to their pain and trauma; although some of the characters do experience this, we see beyond their suffering. We see their joy and their friendships.

Sex Education Season 3, Episode 2

Despite viewer disappointment in some of the pairings and plots shown through all three seasons, it is undeniable that the lens of realism used in Sex Education is equally as important as it is entertaining. I hope to see more shows that center young people return to reality and the important issues we’ve all felt both in our youth and throughout our lives.

#sex education #netflix #tv #television #otis milburn

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Best of SXSW 2021.

From properly good Covid comedies to an epic folk-horror doc and an Indigenous feminist Western, the Letterboxd Festiville team reveals their ten best of SXSW Online.

We dug out old lanyards to wear around the house, and imagined ourselves queuing up the block from The Ritz (RIP). We dialled into screenings and panels, and did our level best to channel that manic “South By” energy from our living rooms.

The SXSW festival atmosphere was muted, and that’s to be expected. But the films themselves? Gems, so many gems, whether shot in a fortnight on the smell of an oily stimulus check, or painstakingly rotoscoped over seven years.

When we asked SXSW Film director Janet Pierson what she and her team were looking for this year, she told us: “We’re always looking for films that do a lot with little, that are ingenious, and pure talent, and discovery, and being surprised. We’re just looking for really good stories with good emotional resonance.” If there was one common denominator we noticed across this year’s SXSW picks, it was a smart, tender injection of comedy into stories about trauma, grief, unwanted pregnancy, chronic health conditions, homelessness, homophobia and, yes, Covid.

It’s hard to pick favorites, but here are the ten SXSW features and two short films we haven’t stopped thinking about, in no particular order.

Recovery Directed by Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek, written by Everton and Whitney Call

“Covid 19 is in charge now” might be the most hauntingly funny line in a SXSW film. In Recovery, two sisters set out on a haywire road trip to rescue their grandmother from her nursing home in the wake of a severe Covid 19 outbreak. There’s no random villain or threat, because isn’t being forced to exist during a pandemic enough of a threat in itself? If ever we were worried about “Covid comedies”, SXSW managed to flush out the good ones. (Read about the Festiville team’s other favorite Covid-inflected comedies, including an interview with the directors of I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking).)

Alex Marzona praises the “off-the-charts chemistry” between leads Mallory Everton and Whitney Call. Best friends since they were nine, the pair also wrote the film, with Everton co-directing with Stephen Meek. Every laugh comes from your gut and feels like something only the cast and crew would usually be privy to. “You can tell a lot of the content is improvised, which just attests to their talent,” writes Emma. Recovery doesn’t make you laugh awkwardly about how awful the last year has been—rather, it reminds you that even in such times there are still laughs to be had, trips to be taken, family worth uprooting everything for. Just make sure you’ve packed enough wet wipes for the road, and think long and hard about who should babysit your mice. —EK

The Spine of Night Written and directed by Morgan Galen King and Philip Gelatt

Don’t get too attached to any characters from its star-studded cast—nobody is safe (or fully-clothed) in The Spine of Night’s raw, ultra-violent and cynical world. Conjured over the last seven years, directors Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King’s rotoscoped epic recaptures the dazzling imagination and scope of their influences Ralph Bakshi and Heavy Metal. Approaching an anthology-style structure to explore how ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’—a proverb more potent now than when Gelatt and King began their project—the film packs a franchise’s worth of ideas in its 90-minute runtime. Though the storytelling justifiably proves itself overly dense for some, it will find the audience it’s after, as other Letterboxd members have declared it “a rare treat” and “a breath of fresh air in the feature-length animation scene”. For sure, The Spine of Night can join Sundance premieres Flee and Cryptozoo in what’s already a compelling year for unique two-dimensional animation. —JM

Kambole Campbell caught up with Gelatt and King (who are also Letterboxd members!) during SXSW to talk about animation inspirations and rotoscoping techniques.

The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson Written and directed by Leah Purcell

Snakes, steers and scoundrels beware! Writer-director-star Leah Purcell ably repurposes the Western genre for Aboriginal and female voices in The Drover’s Wife. Molly Johnson is a crack-shot anti-heroine for the ages, in this decolonized reimagining of a classic 1892 short story by Henry Lawson. And by reimagining, we mean a seismic shift in the narrative: Purcell has fleshed out a full story of a mother-of-four, pregnant with her fifth, a missing husband, predatory neighbors, a mysterious runaway and a young English couple on different paths to progress in this remote Southern land. Purcell first adapted this story for the stage, then as published fiction; she rightly takes the leading role in the screen version, too.

As a debut feature director, Purcell (Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri) already has a firm grip on the macabre and the menacing, not shying away from violence, but making very careful decisions about what needs to be depicted, given all that Molly Johnson and her family are subjected to. She also sneaks in mystic touches, and a hint of romance (local heartthrob Rob Collins can take us on a walk to where the Snowy widens to see blooming wildflowers anytime). Judging by early Letterboxd reviews, it’s not for everyone, but this is Australian colonization through an Indigenous feminist’s eyes, with a fierce, intersectional pay-off. “Extremely similar to a vast majority of the issues and themes explored in The Nightingale,” writes Claira. “I’m slowly realizing that my favorite type of Westerns are Australian.” —LK, GG

Swan Song Written and directed by Todd Stephens

Udo Kier is often the bridesmaid, rarely the bride. Now, after a lifetime of supporting roles ranging from vampires and villains to art-house muse, he finally gets to shine center-stage in Swan Song. Kier dazzles as a coiffure soothsayer in this lyrical pageant to the passage of queer times in backwater Sandusky, Ohio. “He is absolutely wonderful here,” writes Adrianna, “digging deep and pulling out a mesmerizing, deeply affecting and emotionally textured performance, proving that he’s an actor with much more range than people give him credit for.”

A strong supporting cast all have melancholy moments to shine, with Linda Evans (Dynasty), Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) and Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde) along for the stroll. Surreal camp touches add joy (that chandelier, the needle drop!) but by the end, the tears roll (both of joy and sadness). Writer-director Todd Stephens ties up his Sandusky trilogy in this hometown homage, a career peak for both him and Kier. Robert Daniels puts it well, writing that Swan Song is “campy as hell, but it’s also a heartfelt LGBTQ story about lost lovers and friends, vibrant memories and the final passage of a colorful life.” —LK

Leo Koziol spoke with Todd Stephens and Udo Kier during SXSW about Grace Jones, David Bowie and dancing with yourself.

Islands Written and directed by Martin Edralin

Islands is a Mike Leigh-esque story that presents a Canadian Filipino immigrant family full of quirk and character, centered around Joshua, a reticent 50-year-old homebody son. The story drifts in and out of a deep well of sadness. Moments of lightness and familial love make the journey worthwhile. “A film so Filipino a main plot device is line-dancing,” writes Karl. “Islands is an incredibly empathetic film about what it’s like to feel unmoored from comfort. It’s distinctly Filipino and deals with the psychology of Asian culture in a way that feels both profound and oddly comforting.” In a year in which we’ve all been forced to physically slow down, Islands “shows us how slow life can be,” writes Justin, “and how important it is to be okay with that.” Rogelio Balagtas’s performance as Joshua—a first-time leading role—won him the SXSW Grand Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance. —LK

Ninjababy Directed by Yngvild Sve Flikke, written by Flikke with Johan Fasting and Inga H. Sætre

Ninjababy is as ridiculous as its title. When 23-year-old Rakel finds herself accidentally pregnant, scheduling an abortion is a no-brainer. But she’s way too far along, she’s informed, so she’s going to have to have the baby. The ensuing meltdown might have been heartbreaking if the film wasn’t so damn funny. Ninjababy draws on the comforting and familiar (“Lizzie McGuire if she was a pregnant young adult,” writes Nick), while mixing shock with originality (Erica Richards notices “a few aggressive and vulgar moments [but] somehow none of it seemed misplaced”).

An animated fetus in the style of Rakel’s own drawings appears to beg and shame Rakel into motherhood while she fights to hold onto her confidence that not wanting to be a mother doesn’t make her a bad person. Ninjababy’s greatest feat is its willingness to delve into that complication: yes, it’s righteous and feminist and 21st-century to claim your own body and life, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to turn away from something growing inside of you. It’s a comedy about shame, art, finding care in unlikely places—and there’s something in it for the gents, too. The titular ninjababy wouldn’t leave Rakel alone, and it’s unlikely to leave you either. Winner of the SXSW Global Audience Award. —SH

The Fallout Written and directed by Megan Park

Canadian actress Megan Park brought the youthful wisdom of her days on the teen drama series The Secret Life of the American Teenager to her first project behind the camera, and it paid off. Following the scattered after-effects of a school shooting, The Fallout may be the most acute, empathetic depiction of childhood trauma on screen in recent memory. “It sneaks up on you with its honesty and how it spends time with its lead, carried so beautifully by Jenna Ortega. Even the more conventional moments are poignant because of context,” writes Kevin L. Lee. Much of that “sneaky” honesty emerges as humor—despite the heavy premise, moments of hilarity hang on the edges of almost every scene. And Ortega’s portrayal of sweet-but-angsty Vada brings self-awareness to that humor, like when Vada’s avoidant, inappropriate jokes with her therapist reveal her desperation, but they garner genuine laughs nonetheless.

In this debut, Park shows an unmatched understanding of non-linear ways that young people process their pain. Sometimes kids try drugs! Sometimes they scream at their parents! But more often than not, they really do know what they want, who loves them, and how much time they need to grieve (see also: Jessie Barr’s Sophie Jones, starring her cousin Jessica Barr, out now on VOD and in theaters). The Fallout forsakes melodrama to embrace confusion, ambiguity and joy. Winner of both the SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Narrative Feature Awards, and the Brightcove Illumination Award. —SH

Ludi Directed by Edson Jean, written by Jean and Joshua Jean-Baptiste

When Ludi begins, it’s quiet and dreamy. The film’s opening moments conjure the simple pleasures of the titular character’s Haitian heritage: the music, the colors, the people. Ludi (Shein Monpremier) smiles to herself as she starts her morning with a tape recording her cousin mailed from Haiti to Miami, and listens as her family members laugh through their troubles before recording an upbeat tape of her own. But that’s where the dreaminess ends—Ludi is an overworked, underpaid nurse picking up every shift she possibly can in order to send money home. Writer-director Edson Jean fixates on the pains and consequences of Ludi’s relentless determination, which comes to a head when she moonlights as a private nurse for an old man who doesn’t want her there.

Ashton Kinley notes how the film “doesn’t overly dramatize or pull at false emotional strings to make its weight felt. The second half of the feature really allows all of that to shine, as the film becomes a tender and empathetic two-hander.” George’s (Alan Myles Heyman) resentment of his own aging body steps in as Ludi’s antagonist. Jean throws together jarring contrasts: George throwing Ludi out of the bathroom, followed by Ludi’s memories of home, followed by another lashing out, followed by a shared prayer. The tension is unsustainable. By interspersing the back-breaking predicament of a working-class immigrant with the sights and sounds of the Caribbean, Ludi elegantly, painfully reveals what the cost of a dream can be. —SH

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror Written and directed by Kier-La Janisse

Building on the folk horror resurgence of films like The Witch and Midsommar, Kier-La Janisse’s 193-minute documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched is a colossal, staggering undertaking that should school even the most seasoned of horror buffs. “Thorough is an understatement,” says Claira.

Combining a historian’s studied, holistic patience with a cinephile’s rabid, insatiable thirst, the film, through the course of six chapters, broadens textbook British definitions, draws trenchant socio-political and thematic connections, debunks myths and transports viewers to far-flung parts of the globe in a way that almost feels anthropological. As Jordan writes, “Three hours later and my mind is racing between philosophical questions about the state of hauntology we generationally entrap ourselves in, wanting to buy every single one of the 100+ films referenced here, and being just a bit in awe of Janisse’s truly breathless work.” An encyclopedic forest worth losing yourself in—get ready for those watchlists to balloon. Winner of the SXSW Midnighters Audience Award. —AY

Introducing, Selma Blair Directed by Rachel Fleit

There’ll likely be some level of hype when this intimate collaboration between actress Selma Blair and filmmaker Rachel Fleit comes out later in the year on Discovery+, and that’s okay, because that is Blair’s intention in sharing the details of her stem-cell transplant for multiple sclerosis. There’d be little point in going there if you are not prepared to really go there, and Introducing, Selma Blair is a tics-and-all journey not just into what life is like with a chronic condition, a young son, and a career that relies on one’s ability to keep a straight face. It’s also an examination of the scar tissue of childhood, the things we are told by our parents, the ideas we come to believe about ourselves. “I almost felt like I shouldn’t have such intimate access to some of the footage in this documentary,” writes Andy Yen. “Bravo to Selma for allowing the filmmakers to show some truly raw and soul-bearing videos about her battle with multiple sclerosis that make us feel as if we are as close to her as family.” —GG

Femme Directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping

I May Destroy You fans, rejoice: Paapa Essiedu, who played Arabella’s fascinating best friend Kwame, takes center stage in Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s intoxicating short film Femme. It’s a simple premise—Jordan, a femme gay man, follows his drug dealer (Harris Dickinson, mastering the sexually repressed brusque young man like no one else) home to pick up some goods on a night out. Except, of course, it’s not that simple. The co-directors build a world of danger, tension and electricity, with lusciously lensed scenes that lose focus as the threat rises. Frankie calls it “hypnotizing and brutal and gorgeous” and we couldn’t agree more. A crime thriller wrestling with hyper-masculinity seen through the eyes of an LGBTQ+ character, with a sucker-punch ending to boot, the world needs more than twenty minutes of this story. —EK

Play It Safe Directed by Mitch Kalisa

If you (unwisely) thought that the vulnerable, progressive environment of drama school would be a safe space for Black students, Play It Safe confirms that even a liberal bunch of actors (and their teacher) are capable of being blind to their own egregiously racist microagressions. Mitch Kalisa’s excellent short film explores structural prejudice head-on, in an electric acting exercise that rests on where the kinetic, gritty 16mm camera is pointing at every pivotal turn. At first, we’re with Black drama student Jonathan Ajayi as he receives the assignment; then we are with the rest of the class, exactly where we need to be. “Literally in your face and absolutely breathtaking,” writes Nia. A deserving winner of the SXSW Grand Jury and Audience narrative shorts prizes. —GG

Follow the Festiville team on Letterboxd

#sxsw #south by southwest #sxsw 2021 #sxswonline #SXSW Film #janet pierson #film festival #letterboxd #letterboxd best

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i-am-just-a-kiddo · 3 years

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favourite male fictional characters

Thank you @vishcount for tagging me, this was a lot of fun! 💞 I originally planned to follow your example and put ten characters here but suddenly it became a lot more oops. also i hope you forgive me for following your format, it’s neat

I am tagging @isabellaofparma , @the-cloud-whisperer and @sassyassassy!

I chose the characters that impacted me deeply on a personal level throughout my life (often shown by how long my love lasts over the years and if i was inspired to write for them).

In no specific order under the cut:

Legolas

The Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien.

I think it’s only fitting I start off with this magnificent guy. Maybe I gotta admit, i’ve just had a crush on him ever since I was like, nine years old? He’s the character I will fight tooth and claw for (though I guess he doesn’t need me to do that). I love Orlando Bloom’s portrayal of him, eventhough he is vastly different from the books. Book Legolas is such a delight as well, he feels so whimsical and playful and his banter with Gimli is just gold. I was sad when The Hobbit trilogy came out and I was so disappointed by how they butchered his character, it just did not feel authentic anymore (maybe I am also just bitter about the forced hetero storyline for him. makes no cents, this elf is GayTM your honour. and he will meet his soulmate Gimli in a few decades). Either way, Legolas is the love of my life, thanks for coming to my tedtalk,

Peter Pan

Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie

Another childhood crush of mine. The gif I chose if from the 2005 movie because we always used to watch it and it is to this day one of my favourite movies. It’s so dreamy, so magical, yet also incredibly sad and sweet. I have this very strange fascination with Peter Pan. There is something incredibly unsettling about him, especially in the book. He represents something every child wants - who doesn’t want to escape their bedroom and fly away to experience magical adventured far from the adult world? And yet he also represents the impossibility of it, the curse he carries around with himself because he will forever stay alone, no matter how many lost boys he gathers around himself. And Wendy - it’s a love that was never meant to grow and mature, it’s a fleeting dream for the both of them. I have seen many different adaptations of Peter Pan and I have my favourites, though I want to give a special mention to the book Peter Darling by Austin Chant. It’s a retelling of the story how we know it, in which Peter returns to Neverland after having finally grown up BUT the main points I want to highlight is trans Peter? Heck yes. Gripping and compelling gay love story with our favourite original lost boy Captain Hook? YES.

Snufkin

Moomins, Tove Jansson.

I have discovered Snufkin for myself only last year, and yet I know he will stay with me forever. In short - I vibe with him, he vibes with me. His anxieties about being with people and longing for solitude? His fear of being loved and being important to someone to a point he doesn’t know what to do with himself? This man just wants to roam freely with his own mind and yet he always returns for something that captures him. Mum, I love him because I have rarely felt this seen before. Also, Snufkin said ACAB.

Prince Jing - Xiao Jingyan

Nirvana in Fire (2015)

This too is a darling I have only discovered recently. I watched Nirvana in Fire this year and let me tell you, it’s the best show I have seen in a long while. It’s absolutely amazing and it also ripped my heart out. All the characters are absolutely amazing and I am still not over it.

To be honest, I contemplated between Xiao JIngyan and Mei Changsu, because character-wise I think the latter is a lot more interesting and compelling. He makes for a fantastic heartbreaking and flawed protagonist.

However I have to admit - it was love at first sight with Prince Jing for me and I’m still lowkey mad abt it rip. Seems like I am not immune to Pretty Prince Propaganda. But apart from that, I adore him for his genuine

goodness,

his almost naive drive to be better and seek justice. He lost everything, and for the longest time did not have anything to fight for. So alone and lost and bitter, it makes me sad how much it hardened him. He is heartbreak and clumsy kindness hidden under a skin of scars that was inflicted by his father and many others. I see his sad cat-eyes and I cry, that’s just how it is.

Edmund Pevensie

The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis

I grew up with these books and movies - they have always been part of my life and it will probably always stay that way (only last night I rewatched the first movie and sobbed). Imagine my surprised when I finally watched the last movie about five years ago and was incredibly impressed by how they adapted the book; also imagine my brain suddenly going CASMUND in bold letters at Skandar Keynes’ and Ben Barnes’ performance in that movie. From there, I rediscovered this story completely anew for myself. My favourite Pevensie sibling has always been Lucy (and still is, because I identify with her so much and she feels like home to me); however this new discovery of Edmund’s character was overwhelming. It’s interesting to see characters you’ve grown up with from a more grown up point of view. I don’t want to lay out all my thoughts here, just know I am so heartbroken for him, and so so proud as well. His character arc is amazing and maybe that’s how the last movie makes me even more emotional. Seeing Edmund and Lucy still holding on to Narnia but knowing that that door was closing for them? Not to mention what happens in the later books (we don’t talk about that). Also did I mention Casmund. Here, have my incredibly emo and depressing take on Edmund’s character that I started writing four years ago and which will forever stay a WIP.

Nie Huaisang

The Untamed (2019)

My son. My soul. My bane of existence. The tragic thing about him is, that he does not really exist in canon as I have created him for myself. He’s a secondary character in the show, always so relatable yet still brings the ultimate twist of the story, yet he still remains this incomplete shadow. The movie

Fatal Journey

gave him a lot more and I cried tears of joy and devastation. I don’t know why I latched on to him so much, but apparently he is the one that I project on, the one that feels like he sits somewhere inside my chest. I don’t know what else to say - this year he has been everything to me. I spend a lot of time in his head while writing, and maybe that’s how he’s there forever now. Nie Huaisang saw my brain and went it’s free real estate. All my love for you, you dramatic art hoe.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Ah, another lifelong companion. There are many adapations that I adore - starting from the origin of it all, the books and stories which I have all devoured; the 80s adaptation with Jeremy Brett which was incredibly wonderful; to BBC Sherlock which shaped and traumatised me (I still like the first three seaons but I am too hurt to think about it); to the numerous movies - but by far my most favourite performance is Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Somehow he manages to capture the Holmes I see in my head when I read the books, the sharp yet polite eccentric detective, who loves his companion so much and who has desire to help others. Sherlock Holmes will always stay special to me, in so many different ways. He shaped my youth and I know he will stay with me. (also what would you say when I told you he helped me discover that I can, in fact, be queer AND ace at the same time? thanks pal). What else is there to say? Sherlock Holmes is a universe that you can dive into and find many amazing treasures.

Isak Valtersen

SKAM (2015)

There he is, the boy that changed my life. SKAM changed my life. All of the characters did. However, Isak is special for many, as I imagine. I remember winter 2016, when tumblr was flooded by these norwegian white boys kissing in a pool and cuddling and I was like ‘nah’, this doesn’t look convincing. I don’t know what changed my mind but I remember sitting down at last and watching all that was released of season three and it was only downhill from there. I remember starting to follow the real life updates religiously while watching the other previous seasons in between. The one clip that completely wrecked me was when Isak went to the school nurse about his struggles with sleep - it felt like for the first time I saw someone on screen that could understand me on so many different levels. The entierty of seaons three is so personal, I would tell you to go watch it if you don’t know what I mean. The entire show in fact. It’s a masterpiece and it feels so real. This show impacted my life in a way that no show has managed to do before. I miss it so much. I miss Isak too sigh.

Shang Xirui

Winter Begonia (2020)

Technically, for me personally, Shang Xirui is the nonbinary, gay and ace representation I need in my life (or at least that’s my own personal take on him), but since that is not official, he’s still here on this list. Of course he is because wow, it’s been a long while since I’ve seen such a compelling character on screen. I went from disliking him to being absolutely heartbroken over him. I don’t think any other character in this show captured me as much as he did. There are so many layers to him and discovering all of his sides is a wonderful, heartbreaking, painful and also beautiful journey. I’m not sure I understand all of him yet, but I am willing to try and dig and just ponder his existence. This too, is a perfect example for a flawed yet authentic protagonist. Also he is the most beautiful thing on this planet, or at least that’s how I have been feeling ever since I watched this. I wish to write more of him in the future.

Aang

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)

I grew up watching ATLA and my favourite characters have always been Toph, Zuko and Uncle Iroh. In recent years however, I completely fell in love with Aang all anew.

I think especially in the past, I had these prejudices against main characters and found them all the most boring personalities ever. In recent years this changed a lot and especially Aang is a prime example for that. Watching him from the perspective of older me, I find so much wisdom in this young boy. Somehow he represents all I wish to be in my life but at the same time he shows his flaws, he carries this sadness with him that will accompany him all his life. This inner battle and chaos that he has to face day to day and in the end - he is just a young boy. So much has been taken from him and yet he learns how to not let it overtake him, that anger and hurt. He tries his hardest to be better than the day before, even if sometimes the world crashes down on him and he gets overwhelmed. He is a child recruited by adults to manage their mistakes and play into the hands of predestined fate and in this essay I will -

Harry Potter

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

I am surprised myself. I thought I would put Fred and George here, or Remus and Sirius, however I realised that none of them quite capture this feeling of lifelong change, of personal, deep impact that Harry had on me.

As with Aang above, I used to think Harry was the most boring protagonist, yet my opinion took a 180° turn in the past years. Many of the things I wrote for Aang apply to him too - the fact that he was a child, that lost so much, and was always faced with challenges that a child should never have needed to face. Something I want to address is how my favourite book, The Order of the Phoenix, lays all of this out. Harry is just as flawed, just as vulnerable and angry as anyone else. I know some people did not like his ‘emo behaviour’ in the fifth book but for me it just showed how human he is, how he was just a teen like myself at that time. As for many, this boy shaped my entire life, shaped a generation, and I will forever be grateful. I’m sad and angry at how J*R behaves, and how she puts us in the position of doubting our love for these stories. I know I will always love them, but I will not turn a blind eye on all the problematic shit is carries with itself and what the author piles upon us.

Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian

The Untamed (2019)

I will try and keep this short, because if you want to read my thoughts about Wangxian just go to my ao3 and find the over 70k i wrote for them. I decided to put them here together because I can’t seperate them and I can’t choose between them. Each of them carries something I recognise in myself, and each of them is the opposite of me. They each own my heart and soul and I know there will never be a fictional couple like this for me ever again. They’ve snuck their way into my heart and have never left. They deserve to be here, together, because my love for them is indescribable. Bless them. + Bonus:

The Doctor

Doctor Who (1963/2005)

Technically, the Doctor doesn’t count as a “male” character, but since he has been presenting as male up until recently, I needed to include him. I chose the Tenth Doctor because he is the one that broke my heart the most. I adored Nine but he was there too short, and I do love Eleven and Twelve a lot, and Thirteen absolutely owns my heart, Ten has just always been the one that made me cry the most. I loved this era of Doctor Who, I loved how sad and hopeful he was, how heartbroken and yet determined to help wherever it was needed. Doctor Who is always that show, when I return to it, I am reminded that maybe, humanity and the universe isn’t all that bad.

phew, this took ages damn. but i had so much fun! i decided to leave out honorable mentiones because we would be sitting here until tomorrow lol.

#gosh this was nice #a lot of incoherent rambling here #thanks dear #tag game #personal

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queermediastudies · 3 years

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Call Me By Your Name: A new attempt for queer movies

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Call me by your name is a queer film directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Timothy Chalamet, Amy Hammer, and Michael Stuba, in January 2017 It was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States on the 22nd. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Andre Acimon, and tells the story of a 24-year-old American doctoral student Oliver who met 17-year-old Elio in Italy, and the two developed an ambiguous relationship. In November 2017, the film won the Best Picture of the 27th Gotham Independent Film Awards; on November 29 of the same year, it was selected as the top ten films of 2017 by the British "Empire" magazine; in December of the same year, it was awarded the 2017 Tenth Film Institute Best video. On February 12, 2018, the film won the American Screenwriter Guild Award for Best Screenplay in the category of film; on March 5 of the same year, it won the 90th Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. The story takes place on the Italian Riviera in the 1980s. The sudden love is like a wild beast running out of the forest, grabbing the body and mind of 17-year-old Elio. He fell in love with Oliver, an American doctoral student who was 6 years older than him and came to Italy to travel. The two were fascinated, hesitant, and tempted towards each other, allowing their passions to burst out, and they achieved a first love that lasted only six weeks. This beautiful summer love left an indelible mark on the hearts of the two. The performance that really stood out in the film came from 21-year-old Chalamet. He played Elio has many "firsts" in the film. He doesn't have too many lines, but Chalamé uses his own facial and body language to transform this character into a character that everyone can understand at a glance. people. The last few minutes of the film without a line of dialogue is a rare close-up shot of Elio in the film. This shot is very attractive. The chemical reaction between the men is obvious, but more importantly, the two actors can convey the complex feelings, expectations, and ideas between the characters without opening their mouths. This movie is one of my favorite movies all the time. After learning some queer theory and LGBTQ knowledge, I think I can analyze and deconstruct this movie from a more professional perspective.

After watching this movie, the first thing I thought of was the intersection of culture and queer issues. Sexuality does not exist alone. It is integrated with society, culture, religion, education, etc. It involves different content of knowledge and social factors. Intersectionality helps us understand the diversity and complexity of identities, and allows us to examine issues more comprehensively. Just like Ahmed mentioned in 2006: "After all, both queer studies and phenomenology involve diverse intellectual and political histories" (p.5). Although the whole film does not describe how homosexuals are discriminated against, Struggling with one's own sexual orientation, there is no race, and the shackles and constraints of the social system need to be broken, but the cultural background that the director vaguely expresses through the lens language is differently ignored. One of the most direct is that Oliver wears a six-pointed star pendant around his neck: a symbol of Jews. Here, the freedom from the United States collides with the conservativeness of Italy. As we have shown, the queer problem is impossible to put aside everything that exists independently, even without political and social factors. In addition, the film also incorporates the question of queer into the discussion of the family framework. In the film, Elio has a pair of enlightened parents. The mother's understanding and father's enlightenment made this ignorant and beautiful relationship not a shadow in Elio's heart, but a treasure in his life. I like his father’s words at the end of the film the most: "How you live your life is your business, Just remember our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once." Elliot is happy, and his mother knows what he wants, What he likes, his father knows his inner struggle and suffering, and he lives in an open family. In the previous class, I remembered that in the video Mia showed us, it was mentioned that many queer groups lived carefully in the last century and did not dare to let friends or family members know their "secrets". From this point, we can compare the importance of family in the queer problem, which is an issue about understanding and tolerance.

Another point I want to focus on is not the content of the movie itself, but the market and audience that the movie faces. "However, within television, audiences matter – a lot. In particular, the imagination of audiences matters because demographics determine which advertisers might be interested in shilling their wares in the spaces between the narrative" (Alfre & Martin, 2018, p.1) The film is a sophisticated work. The director has mastered his own high-speed editing and eye-catching close-up style. The rhythm of the film is very suitable for the hot Italian summer in the film. The details of the film are very special. The trust and power of the characters in the film will make ordinary audiences who are not familiar with it feel very rich. It is this kind of film craftsmanship that will let people know that the film can create resonance from an almost spiritual perspective. According to Doty (1993), "Queer" is a practiced mass culture, which is accepted and shared by different audiences to varying degrees (p.2). This film is not limited to LGBTQ groups, it is more like a movie of the same kind A new attempt to allow a more diverse audience to find a microcosm of their own life from the emotional development of the protagonist to the regretful ending. It is not only that the audience group is not defined, it is a diversified process from production to presentation. "'Queer'" can be used to describe an authorial voice, a character, a mode of textual production, and/or various types of representation practice. Filmmakers, forms, and audiences-not necessarily identified as gay or lesbian-can rather be understood as queer" (Benshoff & Griffin, 2004, p.2). As this sentence says, this movie is no longer a queer main movie in its own sense. What it wants to present to the audience is just a paragraph A beautiful and slightly regretful love story.

And in the following part, I would like to share some of my personal views and comments on the film.Before I saw this film, I only felt that the title of this film was very sentimental. Although I knew it was a story about the same sex and had won numerous awards, I was not particularly interested this time because I was disappointed in Carol first. I thought, alas, maybe another film won the award by relying on the same sex stunt.But after watching the movie, my heart was calm for a long time.Should this relationship in the movie be called sweet or regrettable?It's sweet because you have a wonderful and romantic time together.Sadly, it was clear that the relationship was not going to last, as Oliver's holiday was over and the couple were likely to be separated for the rest of their lives.Alas, sad romance ah.In the scene at the train station, the director handles it with great restraint. The two men don't even speak, just a deep hug. Then Elio smiles and watches Oliver get on the train.Elio struggled, and his grief manifested itself when he finally called home, crying and asking his mother to come pick him up.Seeing this paragraph, I already shed tears.People in love generally hope to be together all the time, but separation, often bring is tore heart crack lung pain.In the film, Elio's pain was also restrained. Maybe in front of his mother, Elio had to restrain his emotion, but because of the pain of separation, he could not cry, but could only twist his face into a lump. I have to say that the director showed the character's emotion perfectly.I want to say, Elio was still very happy, he came back home, my father said to him the meaning of a passage, it is the world 90% of the parents could not have said, he told Elio, do you have a wonderful friendship, perhaps more than friendship, you may now pain, sad, but don't let this feeling disappear, not to mention there have been happy.What a waste it is for us not to feel in order not to feel.I think it was a great comfort to Elio that their relationship was validated, that it was real, and that even though they weren't together, the joy they had would make this summer memorable.This reminds me of a sentence we learned at that time: "Het Culture think of itself as the elemental form of human Association, as the very model of inter-gender relations, as the indivisible basis of all community,And as the means of reproduction without which society wouldn't exist "(Warner, 1993, p.21).This film shows us that the beauty and simplicity of relationships should not be mixed into the so-called mission of reproduction.Love this abstract thing is unrelated to gender, just a warm attraction between two people.

"Do you mean what I think you mean?" The tone of the whole film is like these dialogues, full of ambiguity, whether day or night. Two shy people fell in love and started a classic couple life. However, there was no banquet that would never end. Oliver had to go. The night before parting, Elio saw Oliver dancing with the stranger on the road, squatting down and vomiting violently. Vomit is not only because he is unable to drink, but also because he is about to part with you. He sings and dances with strangers to his heart's content. You are like an outsider. The person you love deeply, like Mount Fuji, doesn't belong to you, and then the miserable heart quickly vomites out. The next day, the platform whistle, two people smile goodbye, the train left, take away your favorite person, you finally can't help but wipe a tear, crying in the place he can't see. At this time, he called his mother to pick her up. His mother comforted him in the car. When he got home, his father boiled chicken soup for him to drink. He felt sorry for his parents. Father's several bowls of chicken soup, the child immediately stopped crying, and even lit up hope, the professor is really not a fuel-efficient lamp. Two years later, on Hanukkah, it was winter in the small town. Frozen ponds, withered fruit trees, and heavy snow all implied the tragic fate of the hero. Elio received a phone call from Oliver, like an old friend, "I'm going to get married." then there was a classic blessing. I was numb to see. I didn't know that the screenwriter even asked Elio to say "Elio" six times. I admit that A few words almost tears, and then Oliver's soft call "Oliver", I knew the story began to point. There was a light in the eyes of the boy by the fire, but I believe he was happy at that moment because I felt the same. "Queerness is not so much a stable, clearly defined sexual orientation as it is a way of seeing and experiencing the world" (Ruberg&Phillps, 2018). This film gives me a totally different way of experiencing and seeing events. If Jack in Brokeback Mountain is warm and cheerful, and Ennis is is silent, two people forced by life fall in love on Brokeback Mountain, and eventually Yin and yang are separated. This is the real world. Then Call Me By Your Name is more like a hazy poem in the sunshine. It is a new attempt to integrate queer and the film industry. It makes people ignore the cruelty of reality and social system, and only devote themselves to the beautiful world brought by movies.

References:

1. Ahmed, S. (2006). Queer phenomenology: Orientations, objects, others. Duke University Press.

2. Doty, A. (1993). Making things perfectly queer: Interpreting mass culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

3. Alfred, L. & Martin, Jr. (2018). Pose(r): Ryan Murphy, Trans and Queer of Color Labor, and the Politics of Representation. LA Review of Books. URL: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/poser-ryan-murphy-trans-queer-color-labor-politics-representation/

4. Benshoff, H. M., & Griffin, S. (Eds.). (2004). Queer cinema: The film reader. Psychology Press.

5. Warner, M., & Social Text Collective. (1993). Fear of a queer planet: Queer politics and social theory. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

6. Ruberg, B., Phillips, A., Pozo, T., Stone, K., & Youngblood, J. (2018). -Queerness and Video Games Not Gay as in Happy: Queer Resistance and Video Games (Introduction). Game Studies, 18(3).

#call me by my name #queer #queer movie

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gunterfan1992 · 6 years

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Episode Review: ‘Come Along with Me’ (S10E13-16)

Airdate: September 3, 2018

Story by: Ashley Burch, Kent Osborne, Adam Muto, Jack Pendarvis, Julia Pott, Pendleton Ward & Steve Wolfhard

Storyboarded by: Tom Herpich, Steve Wolfhard, Seo Kim, Somvilay Xayaphone, Hanna K. Nyström, Aleks Sennwald, Sam Alden & Graham Falk

Directed by: Cole Sanchez & Diana Lafyatis (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

In August of 2012, I had just moved into a university dormitory to begin my second year as an undergraduate. On one of the last days of the month (the date escapes me), I was relaxing in the hall recreation room with my roommate. To my left sat another friend, watching something intently on his laptop.

His focus was remarkable, and so I was intrigued. “What are you watching?” I asked.

He glanced over and responded, “Adventure Time!”

I’d heard of the show, and seen a few clips. At the time, I was taken aback by its combination of high brow and low brow sensibilities. But I saw how much joy it gave my friend, I put down my guard and decided to give it a watch.

He tilted the screen towards my face, and what was I greeted to? Why a geometric space-god with a flaming blue sword attacking a green individual in a bright yellow jacket. Suddenly, a boy and his dog were in the picture. What was going on?

As it turns out, I was watching season four’s “Sons of Mars”, one of the show’s wackiest episodes. In time, I was enthralled by the bright colors and the silly jokes. There was Abraham Lincoln. There was death. By the end of it, I was won over.

I still think fondly of that day (as readers of this blog might be able to attest), for it was then that I was introduced to my favorite show, Adventure Time.

For years, it seemed like Adventure Time was just an omnipresent facet of popular culture. From t-shirts to Happy Meal toys, Finn and Jake were everyone, blending into what Marshall McLuhan would call the “beaten paths of impercience.” When we all learned that the show was ending in late 2016, it was sad, but because there were dozens of episodes left to air, this reality never really hit me.

But this week, it finally hit me. The end was nigh.

At 5 pm today, I sat nervously on my couch as the intro started, and we were off to the races.

The episode opens 1000 years after the lives of Finn and Jake. We are greeted to two new heroes: Shermy (voiced by Sean Giambrone) and Beth (voiced by Willows Smith). The two are heavily implied to be Finn and Jake reincarnated, and the latter is likely a descendant of Jake himself. After an encounter with the Prizeball Guardian (last seen in “Grabyles 1000+”), the two discover Finn’s robot-arm. They decide to journey to Mount Cragdor (where the Enchiridion was once kept) to find the all-knowing King of Ooo.

Once our new heroes make the journey and reach the top of the mountain, we the audience learn that the King of Ooo is not our favorite charlatan, but rather BMO. After Shermy and Beth present our little robot with Finn’s arm, BMO begins to tell the story of the “Great Gum War”:

1000 years prior (that is, during the show’s normal timeline), Princess Bubblegum and her Uncle Gumbald had each amassed armies to take one another down. Just before the battles are to commence, Finn devises a plan to stop any blood shed: He calls one last meeting between the Candy Kingdom and Gumbaldia, and then, using the magic, nightmare-inducing potion given to him by Nightmare Princesss in “Orb”, he knocks everyone into a subconscious world, where he hopes that they will make nice.

Everything goes a bit haywire, but in the end, Bubblegum and Gumbald realize that their is no real reason for them to fight one another: they each want different things, and are rightfully ticked off at one another, but through dialogue they can likely work things out. Finn and Fern, too, realize that they share the exact same fears that they have locked in their collective “Vault”. Putting aside their differences, they team up and kill the grass-curse spider that has held Fern a prisoner for so long.

At this point, our heroes (and villains) wake up and decide to make amends. Gumbald, however, is tripped by Aunt Lolly, and after being splashed with dum-dum juice, reverts back to Punchy. Lolly, however, vows to maintain the peace with the Candy Kingdom.

Just then, King Man crashes out of the sky and reveals that he, Betty, and an unconscious Maja donked up in a major way. He and Betty were trying to use magic to summon the primordial space demon/god Golb so as to undo the magic of the Ice King’s crown. However, their magic was too effective, and they accidentally summoned Golb to this plane of existence.

Golb begins to use his chaos magic, mutating candy kingdom and Gumbaldia citizens alike into grotesque monsters. Ice King is summoned by King Man and told to try and stop Betty from completing her ritual, but in the commotion (which sees Maja literally explode) they, along with Finn, are accidentally swallowed by Golb, where they start to get digested.

Things start to go downhill fast. Golb’s monsters are extremely effectively, and decimate Bubblegum’s forces and those of her ragtag allies. As Bubblegum is standing on a rock, one of the Golb-monsters lunges at her and seemingly crushes her!

Marceline turns around and seeing the death of her past paramour, loses it. Unleashing both the beast and magic girl inside her, our favorite vampire turns into the Dark Cloud, last seen in Stakes and absolutely wails on the Golb-monster, tearing it to bits. She is absolutely furious that her best friend has been smooshed.

But luckily, it turns out that Bubblegum’s advanced battle armor had a handy shield, and she was saved from any danger. Marceline is overjoyed, and flies into the candy monarch’s armies, weeping tears of joy. The two hug.

And then comes the Bubbline kiss.

As Marceline and Bubblegum were holding each other close after the latter was very nearly squished, I knew it was now or never.

I was on the edge of my seat, as a tearful Marceline tells PB: “Even back when we weren’t talking, I was so afraid that something bad would happen to you and I wouldn’t be there to protect you and... I don’t want to lose you again!”

There’s some cute back and forth, and then the two quietly, effortlessly kiss.

The debate online as to whether or not the two were in a relationship has raged on- and offline since “What Was Missing” first aired years ago. As the two’s friendship evolved over the years, I came to believe that a romantic relationship was the next logical step for both the characters and the show itself to explore. Marceline and Bubblegum are unique in that they are two strong, intelligent, and emotionally complex female characters who often spend time exclusively with each other; the two ace the Bechdel test, a fairly rare occurrence in modern media.

It’s a bummer that the show waited until the very end of the series to canonize their relationship, but perhaps that makes it all the more rewarding? We have worked towards this culmination, and now we have a fully-acknowledged lesbian relationship between two major cartoon characters! How ground-breaking! Furthermore, regardless of when this canonization happened, the confirmation that Marceline and Bubblegum are “more than just friends” will inevitably help to undo some of the erasure that queer communities have faced since the dawn of media (if not time).

To sum up my feelings, let me just leave you with a (heavily) modified quote from Virginia Woolf:

“‘Marceline liked Bubblegum...’ Do not start. Do not blush. Let us admit in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes half-demon vampires do like sentient pieces of Bubblegum.”

(Of course, I am curious as to what their future holds. We seem them together snuggling in the epilogue, but they are not around one thousand years in the future. This is, honestly, the biggest question that will bug me about the finale!)

Despite taking a literal pounding from Marceline, Golb’s evil creatures pull themselves back together and march towards the Tree Fort. Jake gives chase, but is not able to reach them in time: they smash Finn and Jake’s beloved home, and seriously injure poor BMO.

Jake is beside himself! His house is gone! But then, BMO comes over to him, and lovingly calms him down. BMO points out that Finn and Jake have long been a parent to the little robot, and now it is time for BMO to be the parent. And then, BMO begins to sing a tune “for his son Jake”, entitled “Time Adventure”.

"Time Adventure", written by storyboard artist extraordinaire Rebecca Sugar herself, encapsulates the best of the series: it's sad but uplifting. Melodic but rough-around-the-edges. It celebrates the wonders of life while also admitting that we can't really see all there is to it. Some people online criticized it for being too obvious (yes, the song’s title is just a flipping of the show's title), but in some way, I find that it's the most poetic and philosophical thing that its ever done.

When I was 11, I had my first real panic attack. I was out with my family when I was struck by a thought that has not left my head since: I'm going to die. Not that I can die, or that death might hurt. No. I am going. to. die; presumably, my consciousness will disconnect and I will not exist. I want to believe in an afterlife, but it’s an idea that seems oh so very hard to accept when faced with what we know about nature (but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion). These revelations horrified me, and it has taken years to really process what death actually means—and I’m still not there. None of us really are.

But as I’ve aged, I've been comforted by some rather Stoic ideas, like the idea that what will be will be and we should not stress about things that we simply cannot change. I also like the idea that we are all part of the cosmos, and while we will die, we don’t cease to exist: we just merge back into where we came from.

These musings are adjacent to another comforting idea: the fourth-dimensional view of time that BMO sings about:

Time is an illusion That helps things make sense So we're always living In the present tense ... Singing, will happen Happening happened [...] And will happen Again and again 'Cause you and I will always be back then

It’s true. Perhaps my “arrow-of-time consciousness” will be blasted into nothingness once I die, but I’m not ceasing to be. I eternally am. What happened is happening will happen. “Time is an illusion/That helps things make sense.” While this idea might not extinguish a fear of death, it’s a nice thought. And just like Adventure Time, when you combine enough nice thoughts, you often get something beautiful.

And beauty is all that was really needed for our heroes. It turns out that Golb is a creature of chaos, meaning that the only weapon that the citizens of Ooo can effectively use is concordance—harmony in music. It might seem a little silly that “beating the baddie with music” is how Golb’s minions are defeated, but considering the sort of magical role that music has played in the show, it’s not too much of the stretch. It also remains me of how the show used (and subverted) “defeating a baddie with heart” to great effect did in Stakes.

BMO (who hilariously declares, “My art is a weapon!”) is joined by Marceline and Bubblegum, and soon by Jake and the rest of the crew. Their combined harmonizing weakens Golb, allowing Finn and Simon to escape from his belly. However, Betty decides to remain behind. She realizes that the singing has also reset the ice crown’s phantasmal magic. Putting it on, she wishes for the power to ensure Simon’s safety, which entails her transforming (in a stunning sequence that IndieWire writer Eric Kohn refers to as “straight out of Don Hertzfeldt”) into Golb him(her?)self. Golb promptly leaves this reality, dropping the crown onto the ground. Gunter grabs it, and—despite Jake’s warnings that the naughty penguin will wish to become Orgalorg once again—Gunter merely wishes to turn into the Ice King (or, “Ice Thing”).

Finn and Jake return to the ruins of their tree fort, where they plant Fern’s seed. A new tree immediately sprouts from the ground, with the Finnsword embedded within it. Bubblegum arrives on the scene and thanks Finn for directly disobeying her. She gives him an appreciative kiss on the cheek and then muses that he is getting taller.

We cut back to Ooo 1000+, where BMO wraps up the story. Shermy and Beth still have questions (just like the audience!) about ‘Phil’ and Jake, and Marceline and Bubblegum. BMO shrugs these questions off, saying, “You know, they kept living their lives.”

Shermy and Beth set out to find the “Ferntree” to verify BMO’s story; they eventually realize that the large tree reaching up to the heavens near their stomping grounds is almost certainly it.

We cut back to Finn and Jake, who are sitting around the Music Hole from the episode of the same name. The hole tells our heroes that she has a new song for them, and she begins to sing “Come Along with Me” (which every Adventure Time fan knows is the show’s closing number).

While the Music Hole sings, we see Shermy and Beth climb to the top of the tree. We are also greeted to a montage of what happened to all our friends in Ooo:

Lumpy Space Princess is crowned a bonafide princess (or perhaps even a queen)

Ice Thing and Turtle Princess get married

TV becomes a private detection (just like his grandparents!)

Sweet Pea graduates from school and eventually becomes a super-huge hero, who carries Finn's Nightosphere-sword

Aunt Lolly and Bubblegum seemingly make up and learn to love each other as family members

Lemongrab gets one of Jermaine’s paintings to hang above his bed, which brings him peace

BMO blasts Moe's harddrive into space with the help of Banana Man

Flame Princess and NETPR get popular and perform at Hamburger Hills Cemetery to a huge crowd

Magic Man is the happy King of Mars

Simon spends quality time with Marceline and Bubblegum, and seems to try and summon Betty back using Prismo’s wish magic (sadly, it doesn’t work)

Marceline and Bubblegum, meanwhile, are shown snuggling on the couch in the former’s house; it is implied that they are raising Peppermint Butler, who once again is showing an interest in the dark arts

Humans return to Ooo, and Finn is likely reunited with his (digital mother)

We also see what the Jiggler, Tiffany, the Crabbit, Susan Strong/Kara and Freida, the Candy Kingdom citizens, Tree Trunks and Lemonhope are up to

The episode ends with Shermy and Beth finding the Finnsword in the Ferntree. After Beth pulls the sword from the (metaphorical) stone, Shermy holds it up, just like the show’s title card.

So now let’s talk about what worked and what didn’t. The last half of the finale, if I do say so, was wonderful. Nothing to complain about here: we got arc resolutions, emotionally touching moments, and a nice sense of closure. In regards to this latter point, I specifically like how the show gave use an ending but emphasized that this finale was not really the full-stop end of the characters that we know and love—it was just the end of the story that we’re privy to. As BMO says, everyone kept living their lives and the world kept on spinning. That’s a very nice way to end a show like this, and it feeds into the existential ideals of Adventure Time: there is no grand, overarching story that has to have some big punctuation at the end. Finn and Jake are heroes, but long after they’re gone, the world will still be here, and there will be other great heroes to take their place.

With all this said, I must admit that the finale’s first half is something of a missed opportunity. Opening with Shermy and Beth was a totally inspired move (and the new intro is gorgeously animated, courtesy of Science SARU Studios), but I believe the show lingered on their introduction for just a little too long. Likewise, the weird trippy nightmare portion of the finale was about 15 minutes too long. We did not really need 1/4 of the episode to be devoted to wacky dream imagery that both “King Worm” and “Orb” did more effectively. And given that the show chose to linger on these sections—sections that, in the grand scheme of things, are not super essential—the final portions of the episode came across as a bit rushed. The storylines are all satisfying, but it would’ve been nice if we had gotten a little bit more focus on Betty, Simon, and Finn, or Simon and Marceline, rather than Bubblegum and Gumbald’s wacky nightmares.

And speaking of Gumbald, his ending was a total cop-out. I’m not too torn up about this, given that he was never the main baddie in this episode (that was Golb), but his deciding to make peace and then accidentally reverting to Punchy was contrived and anticlimactic. To go back to a criticism I had of “Gumbaldia”, if the show had been given just a little more time to flesh his character and motivations out, I think his role in the finale would’ve been much better served.

But like I said, I wasn’t too torn up about this, because the main focus of this episode was on Golb and the horrors that such a being could unleash upon Ooo. And the show did this wonderfully. Indeed, it was quite exciting that the show finally had a villain that Finn couldn’t just punch a lot until it died (remember, he beat the Lich this way). Golb was, arguably, invincible. It was only the extremely broken magic of the ice crown could do anything.

Speaking of satisfying, “Come Along With Me” also gives Fern an excellent conclusion. The poor grass-doppelgänger was never evil, just confused. By finally coming to terms with his existential crisis of a life, he and Finn were able to patch things up. Sadly, this came at the expense of his dying (the scene in which Finn and Fern kill the grass-curse spider was quite fun). But even in death, there is life, and Fern’s demise allows a new tree to replace the old tree fort. How sweet is that?

Finn coming to terms with his disability was also a nice touch. As I mentioned in my review of Islands, Adventure Time seems to have a somewhat pessimistic view of technology. With this episode, Finn loses his robot arm once and for all, and instead of having PB build him a new one or dabbling in arm-magicks, he decides to let it all be. This is a very important lesson for the show to emphasize. Finn is still Finn with or without his arm. By constantly trying to ‘fix’ himself, Finn was trying to fill a hole that didn’t need to be filled. After experiencing all this Golb biz, it seems that Finn has come to terms with his essence and who he is as a person. And arm or no arm, he is still Finn.

But as satisfying as I found the episode to be overall, I still have some lingering questions! What happened to the Candy Kingdom that resulted in it getting totally razed in the future? Why was the Prizeball Guardian built? What happened to Marceline and Bubblegum, given that they, in their own ways, can evade death in various ways? These of course are questions that will likely never be answered, and they certainly can be filled in in the minds of fans, but these quandaries are probably going to bother me for awhile! (Heck, I just want to know what Marceline and Bubblegum’s future looks like: I don’t really care too much about that other jazz!)

As I write this, I’m both happy and heartbroken: I’m happy because my favorite show of all time has just aired perhaps the most satisfying finale that I have ever seen. I’m heartbroken because the story is now over.

But hold on.

Like BMO and Co. sing in “Time Adventure”, just because the story is over from my point of view does not mean it has slipped away into the ether of oblivion.

It’s comforting to think that in the fourth-dimensional view of existence, I still am in that rec room with my friends, watching “Sons of Mars” for the first time. In a way, I’m eternally laughing and smiling at the jokes. I’m eternally still realizing what a wonderful program Adventure Time really is.

And in that way, it’s true what they say: the fun will never end.

Final Grade:

Season Grade: Were this a standard season, I would probably have been a little harder on it. The Gum War, having been developed two or so episodes, really came out of nowhere and needed more time to be properly developed. It also seems a little odd that the series finale is at least partially focused on an antagonist who was only introduced this season. But these issues were not the fault of the production staff; they were problems with the show being cancelled by the network and the staff having to tidy-up everything before it was all over. Muto et al. honestly did the best they can with the hands they were dealt. And make no mistake, the result is pretty good, even if things are rushed. Yes, there is a lot to love about season 10. It’s got humor and heart, action and adventure, and plenty of romance! It’s not my favorite season by any means (that’s a tie between season 4 and 7), but its episodes are definitely in the upper-tier of the series, as far as quality goes.

Series Grade: Do I even need to say this?

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stopandimagineloveforever · 5 years

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There's nothing like Schitt's Creek—in the real world nor elsewhere on TV. In this fictional town, there's universal tolerance and equality. It's a town where lifelong residents and recent transplants co-exist in near-perfect harmony, and a show viewers have flocked to for comfort.

The show and its fictional setting were designed by father-son creators Eugene Levy and Dan Levy to be a place for everyone. This TV haven has been embraced by legions of fans, picking up numerous awards and nominations along the way. Now in its fifth season, the show is more popular than ever—and it's getting ready to say goodbye.

"I think that was just a happy coincidence," Dan Levy told E! News about the show's heightened popularity coinciding with the upcoming sixth and final season. "It's strange because I think in a way, the commerce of television really affects the creators. I think for us, it's never really been about that. For us, every season, sure it means we're employed for one more year, but really what it means is that we get to continue telling these people's stories."

The series follows the Rose family, father Johnny (Eugene Levy), mother Moira (Catherine O'Hara), son David (Dan Levy) and daughter Alexis (Annie Murphy). When viewers first meet them, they are literally clinging on to the remnants of their once vast video rental fortune. By the close of the show's first scene, they've lost everything except the deed to a small rural town purchased as a joke because of its name. Enter Schitt's Creek.

Forced to relocate to Schitt's Creek and create a new life, the Roses eventually became intertwined with the town. David began a new business and embarked on his first serious—and stable—relationship with his business partner Patrick (Noah Reid), Alexis finished school, started a business herself and also found a loving relationship with Ted (Dustin Milligan), Johnny began working with Stevie (Emily Hampshire) on improving the business of the motel they call home, and Moira got involved in local politics. When they first arrived, the family did their best, but strived to get out of their presumed dire situation. As they spent more time there, Schitt's Creek's overwhelming goodness started to worm its way into the Roses—and viewers along with them.

"I think the audience, the fans of the show, have really come to rely on it as like a safe space in a dark time. And the thought of pushing that past its expiry date [Laughs.] for the sake of just being able to do another season—I care too much about our viewers and about our characters to risk taking them farther than they need to be taken. So, it was always planned that this was going to be the end. And I really had no interest in pushing that any further and potentially compromising a good thing," Levy said.

That good thing, that safe space, includes a diverse supporting cast and LGBTQ representation. Levy's character is pansexual, he has relationships with both men and women, but it's never treated as a "thing." David is not defined by his sexual orientation, that's just who David is. Nobody blinks at his relationship with Patrick. When Patrick serenaded him with an emotional cover of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" in front of a packed store, no one cared or noticed. It was just a sweet moment of public affection. And in the season five episode "Meet the Parents," written by Levy, Patrick, who had previously never dated a man, struggled with coming out to his mom and dad. He was accidentally outed, and the only reason why his parents got upset was because Patrick was too nervous about how they'd react to come to them and be open. All of this was done by design.

"I sort of feel like as human beings, we learn through experience and what we see. And I'm only going to speak for myself in this capacity, but I don't really take in a lot when I feel like I'm being taught something," Levy said. "I think for me, when it came to the show, I thought, ‘Well, let's not try and make this sort of a lesson show.' I don't want these characters to be, you know, a lesson for people to learn about queerness. I think that the better lesson, what will resonate deeper is just showing people in love. It's really hard to turn away from two people who are falling in love.

"And so, as a result, it was really sort of a mandate from day one that we were never going to paint these characters with a brush that was different than what we were sort of painting our straight characters with," Levy continued. "I think for a long time I was watching nothing but tragedy befall queer characters on television, and the idea of creating a world where, in this particular case two men were falling in love with absolutely no push back, and to be able to depict how much joy that can bring, not just to the characters who are falling in love, but to the community itself who gets to watch it, was important."

Levy said he's received letters from viewers around the world who write to say they've been watching the show with their families and it's had a profound impact.

"Their relatives have been able to understand their lives with a little bit more clarity because they're able to see the minutia of a relationship and not just sort of an after-school special depiction…or stereotype. So, that to me, at the end of the day, it has become one of the most meaningful elements of making this show," he said. "To be able to change a conversation in someone's home just by, you know, writing some comedy, and occasionally the rare emotional, scene is a wonderful thing. And I think just again speaks to how people, when they sit down in front of their televisions, they are their most vulnerable. They're in their homes. They don't have their protective shields up that we put on when we leave the house to just walk down the street. [Laughs.] People are their most vulnerable in front of their television screens. And if you can shine some light and some love into those living rooms, I can't see how that won't help. So that's been our motto, and from what I've read and the feedback, it really seems to have helped people. So, I would love to see more of it."

While Schitt's Creek has turned out to be a safe place for viewers in a fractured world, that's not what Levy and his father initially set out to do.

"I don't think it was that specific, but I do know that we wanted the show to be a family show. We wanted the show to be a show that people could watch with their families, that spoke to people of different age groups. And I think when that's your goal, there are certain sort of universal, not mandates, but just things you need to consider," he said.

Levy looked at the shows about families he loved growing up, like The Beverly Hillbillies, Roseanne, and the Ross and Rachel dynamic on Friends, and saw a common thread in all of these beloved shows. "These stories were all rooted in love. That the conflict, the comedy, any kind of disagreements, ultimately, we're rooted in a place of love and not anything dark," Levy said.

"So that really was our mandate going into this, that this family sort of being put into this, what they considered a terrible situation, will learn that this is going to be quite worthwhile in the end," he said. "And that sometimes the things that you don't think you're going to enjoy will ultimately bring a deeper, richer sense of satisfaction."

Once landing on the story he wanted to tell with the Rose family, Levy said they knew there would be no "major conflict" on Schitt's Creek, aside from the episodic tensions.

"I think from my own experience watching TV, I want to know that at the end of the episode everyone's going to be fine. Unless I'm watching The Americans, and then I don't want to know that at all. But when it comes to comedy…I think I've just been so turned off of really mean comedy. I think there was a chapter for a while where there was sort of this sociopathic, cruelty to comedy and comedic characters on television, where the joke was that you're not supposed to like them in any possible way. And I never understood it and I never liked it, and I never watched it. So, when given the opportunity to sort of create our own thing…It was always sort of—top of the list was that by the end of every episode, let's make sure that our audience knows that everyone's going to be OK."

After five seasons and counting with Schitt's Creek and the Roses, audiences will be more than just "OK."

Schitt's Creek airs Wednesdays, 10 p.m. on Pop and will return for a sixth and final season.

#schitts creek #dan levy #DAVID X PATRICK #LGBT #E ONLINE #APRIL 2019

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jezfletcher · 2 years

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1000 Albums 2021: Albums #30-21

Greetings friends! And welcome to yet another year of my 1000 Albums project. This year, we heard a total of 1,172 albums in fact, plus an additional 506 singles not as part of an album or EP. As usual, music is excellent, listening to music is excellent, and I’m here to share with you some of my particular favourite music I’ve heard in the last 12 months.

Posting schedule will be Albums this week, leading up to Xmas, and then Tracks next week, leading up to the new year. I’m writing up my top 30 of each, which I’ll follow with a more exhaustive list of my Top 100 Albums and Tracks of the year, for the sake of completeness.

#30. Grace Petrie - Connectivity (queer folk)

This is a great album, and a great way to kickoff my writeups of the week. Petrie does a wonderfully cynical line in lightly comic folk, backed up by some good country-adjacent instrumentation. This runs from the trad-folk sounds of Storm To Weather, to the bittersweet love song to your straight best-friend The Last Man On Earth ("You won't choose me/Over the last man on earth"). The key thing here though is that it's great folk music at its heart. It's taking some of the quite staid tropes of English trad folk and really claiming them in another space entirely. A clever, amusing, and often quite touching album.

Recommended Track: The Last Man On Earth You'll like it if you like: subverting traditional musical genres

#29. The Fratellis - Half Drunk Under a Full Moon (indie pop rock)

The Fratellis are in a wonderful afternoon period of their careers right now. After the excellent In Your Own Sweet Time in 2018, they've followed up with another album that shows they can still put together a catchy rock tune with the best of them. But more than that, there's a sense that they're very comfortable, and willing to just do the things which bring them joy. One of the best tracks here was released in 2020, Six Days In June, and made my top tracks list last year, but there are plenty of others that bolster the album, and show that 2018's effort was not a surprising bolt from a formerly famous group.

Recommended Track: Living In The Dark You'll Like it if you like: The Fratellis; and who honestly doesn't like The Fratellis?

#28. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore (indie rock)

I'm really pleased to see this album up so high on my list (remember, I listened to something like 1200 albums this year, and screened probably 10 times that many, so #28 is very high). The War on Drugs did a great abum in 2017 as well, and this was an excellent follow up. It channels the early alt-rock movement while still feeling current and novel—there's a lightness to the introspective indie rock that suggests almost a kind of pop hook to everything. On top of this there's something about the way the songs perfectly embody the essence of the songwriting—it's as though you get the sense that the versions of these songs you get on the albums are their ultimate representation, as though there's never going to be a version of these songs that better connects to the core of what they are. This is honestly pretty rare, and to have it so consistently done across an album is rarer still.

Recommended Track: Old Skin You'll like it if you like: perfectly crafted songs in their pure forms

#27. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Butterfly 3000 (psychedelic rock)

I don't know at what point I became a happy little King Giz Boy, but I sure do love what they do now. This is one of two (2) albums that they released this year (another is scheduled for release on New Year's Eve), and this is the more approachable, poppier one. Which isn't to say that they've given up on the deep grooving psychedelia—here, though, it's laced with a dusting of synths and often a beat that you could imagine as much on the dancefloor as the moshpit. There are a couple of standout tracks here, resting on their groove and providing a very chilled out psychedelic experience. My pick goes to Catching Smoke which gives absolutely the best embodiment of everything that's good about this album, and moreove what sets this album apart from King Giz's many other albums.

Recommended Track: Catching Smoke You'll like it if you like: grooving psychedelia, but also getting down on the dance floor

#26. Passenger - Songs for the Drunk & Broken Hearted (folk pop)

It wouldn't be an end of the year list without a Passenger album on it, and the years in which he doesn't release anything feel like they're missing something. This is another fine album from the master of folk pop—catchy, well-written pop songs, done in a pared-back unpretentious way. It's simple in some ways, but he manages to draw out many melodies and moods from the same basic formula. Passenger's distinctive vocals aren't for everyone, but if you're hooked into his songwriting, like I am, the slightly raspy, lispy pronunciation functions the same way as Pavlov's bells did to his dogs. When it comes down to it I like his voice—it's got personality and uniqueness, while still being evocative and true. Again, there was plenty to like in this album, including a long line of leading singles, but I'll go with a classic sounding track that could have been from any moment in his career: Tip of My Tongue.

Recommended Track: Tip of My Tongue You'll like it if you like: easy singer-songwriter pop, and you'll love it if you already like Passenger

#25. Sandhya - Innocent Monster (vocal jazz)

This kicks off with a (ahem) monster of a track (Monster); a raging jazz-rock tune in 15/8, heavy on the bass-end of the piano. It's the grab and pull that draws you into the album. Sandhya's vocals are a competent kind of warbling jazz in the middle register, but get personality and punch when she lets some of the ragged edges show. It's hard to go past Monster as my pick from the album, but there's also the wonderful dirge-like All Purpose Lament, which seems to channel Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun to close it out. All up a great album—not a traditional jazz album by any measure, but one that takes barbershop in strange new directions.

Recommended Track: Monster You'll like it if you like: jazz influences in your rock, or rock influences in your jazz

#24. The Lathums - How Beautiful Life Can Be (indie rock)

The Lathums do some really wonderful throwback indie rock—it feels at one moment that you're back in the era of 80s Cure, but also part of the British Invasion, even with elements of classic heartland rock. But all this adds up to is a band which feels surprisingly apt for right now. There's a sense of nostalgia, perhaps twinged with a hint of disquiet—but the overall effect is quite uplifting. It's a kind of weirdly pure album, and does feel in some ways like a debut: it's open and honest. But it needs to be built on strong foundations for that to really work without seeming twee or self-conscious. My pick is the opening track, which really sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Recommended Track: Circles of Faith You'll like it if you like: any era of pop rock from about 1964 onwards

#23. Ross Gay - Dilate Your Heart (spoken word poetry set to various music)

Here's a new genre that has had a surprisingly strong year (there's another album which we called "spoken word poetry set to various music" in the #30-40 decade, which I'm not writing up). Ross Gay is an American poet who brings a genuinely wonderful performance style to his evocative, heartening poems. He speaks with passion, potency and rhythm, bringing alive his words in a way that maximises their impact. Each of the poems features a guest artist who sets about providing accompanying music. And they are certainly impactful poems, including the meditation on thankfulness Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, to reflections on his father's death and his final resting place, Burial. This latter one is my pick of the album, which is tenderly augmented by atmospheric harp from the great Mary Lattimore.

Recommended Track: Burial You'll like it if you like: spoken word poetry. To be honest, you do probably need to be on board with the idea on some level to love this album

#22. Pale Waves - Who Am I? (90s pastiche alt rock)

There is a certain burgeoning nostalgia for the 90s at the moment, and one of my favourite examples from this year is this album from Pale Waves. Following along with a pop punk kind of aesthetic, but a more classic 90s pop sound, Pale Waves bring some tuneful lyric-forward bangers laced with a reminiscence of the era of emo. For some reason, though, it feels brightly reinventive at the same time. It goes beyond having a same-sex love ballad (although this would have probably torpedoed a commercially released album in the 90s)—there's something that its doing in synthesising the cynicism of the post-grunge alt-rock with a kind of Gen Z optimism. I think it's a style that's due for more attention.

Recommended Track: She's My Religion You'll like it if you like: femme punk, but want it more tuneful and more radio-friendly

#21. Horsey - Debonair (hardcore jazz punk)

Ah, Horsey, what a wonderfully bananas album. It finds itself somewhere between easy jazz rock and highly aggressive punk, and although it's whiplash erratic at points, it always seems to rein it in (pun intended). There's a sense in this album that it's barely containing itself from becoming grindcore—as though it could devolve at any moment into jagged screams about stabbing people. And this is despite the fact that much of it is based around light jazz piano and syncopated but light drum patterns. It's honestly a wonderful sense of tension across the album that provides its own sense of fraught balance—it's not a judicious sense of "everything in its place". It's more like "everything is in the wrong place" which somehow equates to the same thing.

Recommended Track: Lagoon You'll like it if you like: ice cream and bacon, together at last.

#1000 albums #albums #best of the year #1000albums

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thecinephale · 6 years

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Magic Mike XXL: Masculinity Worth Appreciating

I saw the first Magic Mike with my sister the summer before I left for college. I remember this day the way I remember just about everyday I’ve spent alone with my sister. I remember the day we spent visiting her favorite “spots” right before I started high school. I remember when we got into a hip NYC club because she looked like her even though I looked like me. I remember the difficult lunch we had my first visit back after coming out as trans. I spent most of my life with my sister, usually our parents were there or nearby. But once she learned to drive, the days alone, I remember all of those. This day, in June, in 2012, we were seeing Magic Mike.

There were two men in the theatre, sheepish looking boyfriends whose body language and facial expressions tried to make clear that they were just being good sports. Otherwise it was all women, ages ranging, ready to express their sexuality in public, an experience rarely allowed. My sister commented several times how weird it was to be seeing this with her little brother. I deflected with discussion about Steven Soderbergh and his varied filmography, abuzz with the comfort and confusion I’d always feel when in majority-women spaces.

The movie was fine. Soderbergh knows how to shoot and edit, Channing Tatum knows how to dance, and Matthew McConaughey knows how to chew scenery. But in making two films about the sex industry, Soderbergh failed to understand the difference between what men and women audiences are regularly given. It’s subversive to send a bunch of horny guys into The Girlfriend Experience wanting to see Sasha Grey fuck and then giving them a cold film about economics. But doing the same to a bunch of horny women wanting to see Channing and the gang is just… disappointing.

Still there were enough abs to keep the audience relatively happy, and I left the theatre with the excited feeling that I’d gotten away with something. The same feeling I always had when I’d hang out with my sister and her friends, the same feeling I’d have any time I managed to be around groups of girls, conversations, car rides, karaoke rooms. While I never felt fully relaxed, I did feel more comfortable. It was as much about being near women as it was about being away from men.

***

We talk a lot about trans women’s relationship towards femininity. Every corny movie with a trans femme youth has her trying on makeup, heels, painting her nails. My experience was certainly filled with a lifelong admiration towards girls and women that fluctuated between envy and lust, admiration and resentment. I obsessively loved women and then turned on them when I felt dissatisfied. I convinced myself that relationships needed to be romantic, because I confused the deep desire to consume their bodies, their fashion, their entire being as a sexual impulse rather than one of imitation. I ruined so many friendships this way.

But what we talk about less is how much of my life was spent with masculinity, immersed in it, confused by it, desperate to understand how to embody it. I know some trans women have clarity from a young age that they are girls and it’s just a matter of others accepting it. But that was not my experience. My discomfort with boyhood and attraction to girlhood never seemed like something I could embrace. Instead I felt a pressure and desire to adjust those attractions, to be a boy and then a man to the best of my ability.

I’m fortunate to have a father who is sensitive and kind. I’m also fortunate to have a father who coached my baseball and soccer teams throughout most of my childhood. Sports became something that was undeniably masculine but that I also loved. I may have watched my sister’s dance classes with envy, but I also found genuine pleasure in being on the field, being physical and focused and competitive. It helped that my dad always prioritized sportsmanship, team spirit, and fun over winning. The league recognized this and rewarded him with the absolute worst players they could find. Our team of misfits may have frustrated me at times, but it also allowed me to think of sports as an exercise in empathy rather than a terrifying world of standards and punishments. I wonder now how many other boys on those teams were queer. I know at least one.

My positive experience with sports allowed me to navigate my early childhood fairly unscathed. I was bullied incessantly by other boys (and even some other girls) probably picking up on something about me. And my “crushes” (as I’d wrongly call them) on girls were intense to the point of all-consuming obsession. But my immense discomfort towards masculinity didn’t really start until middle school, until puberty.

I couldn’t figure out what masculinity even was. I knew certain expectations placed on me and felt like they were all terrible. I was supposed to objectify women. That was the most obvious. The grosser I could get when talking about the girls I “liked” the more I’d be accepted. I was also supposed to be aggressive. Physically. I was not supposed to cry. Or show any emotion. It wasn’t enough that I liked sports. I was supposed to only like sports. If someone was my friend that meant they made fun of me in front of our other friends and the proper response was to make fun of them back. Or hit them.

Some of this is just middle school. But a lot of it carried over into high school and beyond. My new friends cared more about theatre than sports, but if you’ve ever watched two 17-year-old boys fight over who gets what part in Julius Caesar you’d realize it’s all the same. *** The summer before I came out, the greatest sequel of all time graced our movie screens: Magic Mike XXL.

This masterpiece of masculinity is a modern-day Old Hollywood musical. Blah blah La La Land blah blah. Go watch On the Town and it becomes clear those musicals are about 1) hot guys, 2) tight pants, 3) great dancing. XXL is pure, sex-positive joy from beginning to end. It abandons the thematic and narrative overwroughtness of the original and makes a new statement: Celebrating female sexuality and non-toxic masculinity is what’s truly radical.

As a lesbian, I’ll leave discussions of the former to others (now that The Toast is gone I’m not sure where Roxane Gay’s review went, it’s really worth hunting down). But as a trans woman, who spent my whole life trying to understand masculinity, this movie was a goddamn revelation. The way the men celebrate women is lovely and sexy and new, but the way they celebrate each other is what really stood out to me.

The men in Magic Mike XXL are masculine. They embody so many of those basic, oversimplified middle school traits I listed above. And yet. It looks good on them. They’re physical, they rag on each other, they trade crude remarks about women. But they also support each other. They discuss their goals and varied interests. They talk out conflicts. Their discussion of women is crude but not objectifying. And they’re comfortable enough in their sexuality and gender to participate in a drag show. Watching XXL, I didn’t feel any closer to masculinity, but for the first time I found it something worth aspiring to. Social pressure was no longer the only thing pushing me towards it, and, as a result, it soon became clear I was never meant to achieve it.

Since coming out, I’ve had the good fortune of befriending some trans men and non-binary individuals who align with certain elements of masculinity and manhood. In these people I tend to see this same sort of Magic Mike XXL version of masculinity. I see it in my dad. I see it in a few cis male friends. I spent my life hating masculinity, but now I see its potential.

***

Last week I went to Thirst Aid Kit’s screening of Magic Mike XXL at the Alamo Drafthouse. Thirst Aid Kit is a podcast hosted by Bim Adewunmi and Nichole Perkins and is really a must-listen if you’re a person who enjoys lusting after men (and if you aren’t it’s still a good time). They provided fake money to throw at the screen and bingo cards with squares like “Mike grabs his crotch.” Cocktails were served throughout and we were encouraged to hoot, wallop, and moan as we saw fit.

It’s been about six years since I sat in that regular movie theatre with my sister cherishing what felt like girl time. And here I was, again in a majority-women space, watching Channing Tatum grind. This time I felt comfortable, and also, finally, relaxed.

As a trans person, I’ve been forced to examine my gender, to wrestle with masculinity and femininity and ultimately decide what elements of both appeal to me and who I personally am. In a time when cis men are feeling increasingly confused about their place in the world, I wonder what might happen if they also had to ponder their identity. I wonder what might happen if they had to reconsider their own definitions of masculinity. I wonder what an all cis straight male screening of Magic Mike XXL might look like and what it might achieve.

Some need to thirst. Others need to learn. This movie does it all. <3

#Magic Mike #Magic Mike XXL #masculinity #toxic masculinity #femininity #trans #transgender #LGBTQIA #Channing Tatum #Steven Soderbergh #Thirst Aid Kit #Alamo Drafthouse #Bim Adewunmi #Nichole Perkins

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tellybuddies · 4 years

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Élite has it all: rich students with a hint of a murderous trait within, a queer romance that will have you reaching for the tissues, sweet interracial couplings, a taboo that will make your jaw drop, and mysteries you will not be able to get your head around.

What is the story behind Élite?

S1: Three working-class teens (Nadia, Samuel, and Christian) are given scholarships to study at Las Encinas, an elite school when the roof of their school collapses. Thrust into the world of Spain’s richest and their children, both worlds collide when a student is murdered.

S2: Three new students arrive at the school, and Las Encinas finds themselves entangled in yet another incident: the mysterious disappearance of a student.

First Season:

I didn’t really know what to expect while watching this, I don’t watch too many teen dramas but I had a feeling it was going to be a typical drama filled with cliches and stereotypes. That was not the case.

The first episode was so explosive, I couldn’t just stop there and not see this through to the end! There were moments where humorous lines were thrown here and there, but overall this has to be the most dramatic high school I have ever been to - I felt like that quiet student who sits at the back and just watches as the drama unfolds one by one - it was that deep.

Racism is one of the themes explored within Élite and there were times where the racism was subtly injected into a conversation: Christian meets Nadia for the first time and calls her beautiful, he retracts his statement seconds later saying “Shit, sorry. You won’t blow yourself up because I said that, right?” He laughed while saying this, showing how easily people can turn their racist comments into a joke when it is something very serious.

Eleven minutes in, Nadia begins her school day with being called into the principal’s office, the topic being her hijab. The principal begins by telling Nadia that “as per our rules, no accessories are allowed”. Watching someone be discriminated over their cultural choices sparked some disappointment, the ignorance was unreal. A teacher tried to sympathise by saying that they understood why Nadia was against this and her response gained a round of applause:

“If you understood, you wouldn’t ask me to give up my culture or religion.”

For the duration of the series, Nadia goes from strength to strength: she deals with her strict parents and the pressure they put on her to bring pride to the family while also dealing with her feelings for Guzmán, leading them into a slow-burning romance.

Christian, in my opinion, was shown to be this character who played the clown role within the trio. He could be a little bit cocky, didn’t particularly study, liked to have a drink or two and smoke a few joints, he was crazy about another student, Carla, and wanted more than a little taste of the fancy lifestyle he was exposed to. Throughout the season, he showed that there were times when he could be serious too, whether it was to do with his friends, Carla and his feelings for her, or himself -- when he got serious, he was determined to let people know his exact feelings and thoughts before going back to his humorous antics.

Samuel seemed like a decent guy, he wanted no trouble, just wanted to get through the school year, and battled with his studies and his job as a waiter. The moment he locks eyes on Marina, a cute girl who gave off a rebellious vibe and sister of popular boy Guzmán, that’s when trouble knocked on his door. He was infatuated with Marina and their relationship went from a one-sided crush to a half-boyfriend, half-girlfriend situation. When he finds out about Marina’s pregnancy, he starts to act paranoid and goes on accusing everyone around him, including a teacher; this made me dislike Samuel but then I realised that he was only acting this way because he was looking at her with rose-tinted glasses, she was his first love, and finding out who she was really in love with did nothing to stop him from loving her.

As stated in the beginning, the show includes the murder of a student and so episodes have snippets of the main core group being interviewed by an officer on the case. The intertwining interviews give an insight into the characters’ relationships and thoughts but you also begin to notice that there are too many twists and turns which made things confusing, however, it all made sense in the end.

Halfway in season one, the students (privileged and unprivileged) start to form relationships with each other - both friendly and romantic - and because they have to share classes and projects with each other, they begin to grow a sense of personal development. It was really interesting to see the elite students bring out their vulnerable side, you start to see them as more than a person who was born with a silver spoon in their mouth but as a real person with feelings and internal issues that a “normal” person deals with.

Despite the students starting to warm up to each other, there was a clear divide between the rich and the poor. The working-class students were not seen as equals and are instead seen as pawns in a wretched game they didn’t want a part of. Christian really takes this to heart and lets his feelings be known, he says “I am fed up, Carla. I want you to see me as an equal [...] I don’t want to be your gigolo, or your thief, or someone you use.” In reality, it’s a dog-eat-dog world and it is something you can’t control. People are used left, right, and centre and while some see this as a normal thing, others don’t understand it.

This season touched on a lot of issues that are reflected in reality, ranging from social pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual relationships, racism, sexual identity, and a whole lot more.

The finale revealed the last moments of the murdered student and uncovered secrets that left you wondering what was next to come.

Highlights:

#OMANDER (obviously) I loved seeing Ander and Osman, Nadia’s brother, start a relationship. The thing with queer relationships in television is that it is often thrown into your faces and it is either displayed as over-the-top or very sexualised or in some cases, both. Thankfully, the most amazing queer relationship I have seen in a series was done so beautifully and realistically. Nothing was forced, the characters took their time with coming to terms with their sexuality and their newfound relationship, and it was cute, healthy, and heart-warming.

Nadia + Omar’s sibling love Although they both lived in the same house, walked home from parties or school together, and were even in the same room together, the two rarely spoke to each other but as the series advanced, we see the Shanaa siblings form a bond that wasn’t there at the start of the series. They spoke more, confided in each other, and had each other’s back.

All things QUEER Ander’s mum found out he was gay when she came home to find her son kissing Omar and rather than deny what she saw, she accepted it with a smile. Like any other teen who is in the closet, Ander was worried about coming out but receiving a warm reception from his parents and best friends Polo and Guzmán, the latter who was confused why his friend didn’t feel comfortable confiding in him about his sexuality, gave him the freedom to own his queerness and he wasn’t shy about letting people know his sexual preference.

Carla and Polo were the IT couple (other than Guzman and Lucrecia of course), as they have been together since the age of twelve, and the arrival of Christian changed their whole relationship with the three of them engaging in a sexual relationship, solo and group, and this also gave Polo the opportunity to figure out his own sexuality.

The characters in Élite had sexual freedom that is slightly frowned upon in real life and usually met with confusion, denial, and/or offensive remarks. The show really made it clear that times have evolved and people like to kiss men, women, have relationships with either gender or engage in open relationships, fwbs, or NSA and that was OK.

Second Season:

Personally, I didn’t enjoy the second part of Élite. It seemed a little bit too messy with the number of secrets and lies that were circulating around. There was nothing that gave me an oomph and the drama was a bit unnecessary and boring. While I was intrigued in the first episode, the anticipation died down quite quickly but I did find that it picked up in the last two episodes.

I did somewhat like the introduction of the three new characters that popped up, although there wasn’t much of their backstory that really got me interested which simply made them look odd and out of place.

I do have a favourite quote from this season and it pretty much summed up the whole show.

“In the end, the one you’d least expect... turns out to be the worst of the monsters.”

Highlights:

Omar - QUEER ICON He really embraced his sexuality in this season, such a pleasure to see! He smiled more, had a positive outlook, and let out the rainbow within.

Final thoughts:

There was a really nice representation in this show; PoC actors, queer characters, and religion and culture were explored. It’s not every day you get to see a person of colour on your screen - it was refreshing - and the queerness was a joy to watch.

I feel that the characters were well-thought-out during the first season and although they went in a different path in the second, I enjoyed watching them evolve and go through their journey of self-discovery.

Would I recommend it? Yes. The second season was a bit of a letdown but it has been renewed for a third so there is clearly some potential there and I hope the thrill and energy that was in the first season is brought back.

If you want to watch a show that has good character development, this is one to watch. The character arcs were really well-thought and planned. The writers of Élite managed to include a good couple of seasons worth of development in just two seasons which is a feat in itself.

There are eight episodes in each season which makes it the perfect series to binge-watch- I managed to finish both parts in two days; it’s not too long to bore you and not too short to have you groaning in annoyance.

Overall, it was a good watch and I am a little intrigued to see what comes next in season three which will be dropping in March!

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