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Adult Swim

We originally planned to talk about Step by Step during Work, Bitch, and Nini hadn't planned to watch La Pluie until the fall. However, because all of us refused to give up on La Pluie, Nini joined us around episode 8. Both of these shows inspired more writing than we've seen since the heyday of Bad Buddy or I Told Sunset About You. Surface-level engagement was all-but-impossible with either of these shows, and honestly wrung us out more than we were expecting.

It's time for the kids to get out of the pool for the grown folks to talk as Ben and Nini open their third eyes and discuss Step by Step and La Pluie.

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Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond to chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

0:00 - Welcome 1:15 - Intro 2:08 - Step by Step 4:40 - Step by Step: A Moment of Simping 8:40 - Step by Step: Big Themes 16:52 - Step by Step: The Romance 25:45 - Step by Step: Story Execution 50:25 - Step by Step: Where are we on Tee Bundit? 53:10 - La Pluie 57:50 - La Pluie: The Soulmate Myth 1:08:22 - La Pluie: Lomfon is Rude! 1:13:30 - La Pluie: Tai Also Deserves Some Smoke 1:18:26 - La Pluie: Tai’s Dad Read as Queer 1:20:48 - La Pluie: The Romance 1:32:06 - La Pluie: Depiction of Male Anger 1:35:50 - La Pluie: Treatment of Nara 1:40:47 - La Pluie: The Side Characters 1:44:02 - La Pluie: Sequel Potential 1:46:01 - Outro

The Conversation: Now With Transcripts!

We received an accessibility request to include transcripts for the podcast. We are working with @ginnymoonbeam on providing the transcripts and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes. When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

0:00 - Welcome

Nini

Hello, hello! Your QL fandom aunty and uncle are here with giant sunglasses, brown liquor in a flask, a folded five-dollar bill to slip into your hand when no one is looking, lukewarm takes, occasional rides on the discourse, deep dives into artistry and the industry.

Ben

Lots of simping! I’m Ben.

Nini

I’m Nini.

Ben

And this is The Conversation. About once a season, we plan to swan in and shoot the shit on faves, flops, and trends that we’ve been noticing in the BL, GL, or QL Industry. Between seasons, you can find us typing way too many words on Tumblr.

1:15 - Intro

Nini

Hey Ben, what are we talking about tonight?

Ben

Tonight it's time for Adult Swim. Kids: out of the pool! This season led to so much more writing and meta than we've seen in a really long time. There was so much to say about both of these shows that we ended up needing to move both of these shows out of separate episodes and just shove them into one.

Tonight we will be discussing Step by Step and La Pluie, and then we'll return with you all at the end with some final thoughts. Nini and I are bracing for this, because we have a lot to say to each other. [laughs]

Nini

This is gonna be round two of fight night apparently, not on everything but on some things. So you guys stay tuned and we'll see you at the end!

2:08 - Step by Step

Nini

Okay, Ben this time I got my eye black on for you. So let's talk Step by Step. Tell the people, what is Step by Step about?

Ben

Step by Step is a workplace drama that centers around a young man named Pat, who is maybe 25 — there was some confusion about that at the end?

Nini

Shade!

Ben

…who is returning to Thailand after completing some of his graduate studies, and is now working at a large corporation inside of an office tower. He is the low man on the totem pole in the sort of digital division of this corporation, and is having a very difficult time. Very early on, he has a kind of flirty interaction with the largest man who has ever existed in BL, and takes a shine to him, but is disappointed when he realizes he's his boss.

Pat eventually ends up in conflict with his new boss whose name is Jeng…slowly the two of them start to work better together. Jeng ends up putting Pat in charge of a BL advertising project in a mostly queer team, and over the course of the show there ends up becoming this huge misunderstanding between the two of them about whether or not they're on a romantic arc, as the show is also unpacking a lot of really huge themes about where queer people do or don't fit in corporate structures that are more than willing to profit off of them, as Pat and Jeng try to figure out what their relationship is supposed to be.

Nini

I think that was a very fair précis of the plot of Step by Step.

Ben

If you're listening to us and you've watched Step by Step, you may be familiar with the fact that…reactions to the last arc of this show were mixed, to put it mildly. Nini and I ended up falling on opposite sides of the fence on this one, so we have a lot to unpack.

4:40 - Step by Step: A Moment of Simping

Ben

I'm [gonna] let you have this part first: I want you to just go ahead and have your little fun before we get into the big stuff. We can begin with talking about Man Trisanu and how much you really enjoyed his performance.

Nini

His performance, yes, but before we get to his performance…I mean we say in the intro that there is lots of simping on this show, and I've been listening to our old episodes: we haven't simped nearly enough? So I'm just gonna do like a quick two minutes of absolute simping for Man Trisanu, because my god that man is large. That man is so large that for like the first three episodes, every time he came on screen, like my brain made like the boinga boinga boinga sound, like I could not actually focus [laughs] on what was happening — I had to watch episodes multiple times…

Ben

[laughs] She’s just posting awooga gifs in the chat all the time.

Nini

If I was the kind of person who would get embarrassed by this stuff I would have been embarrassed by the way I behaved. But I don't get embarrassed by this stuff, so I wasn't embarrassed by the way that I behaved looking at this man [laughs]...throughout, but especially in the first three episodes. I just kept staring at him. And then as we got like further and further into the show it was very clear that he's also a good actor, so I was invested in the character emotionally? But that also did not stop the fwarh noises in my brain. The man is large. And he's large and he's attractive. And he's large and he's attractive and he's talented. That's basically my kryptonite.

That doesn't mean that I cannot be fair about the show—there are things that I'm gonna say about the show that are not complimentary, even though in the end—I'm just like skipping to the part where I score it, I gave it a 9—there are problems with the show, do not get me wrong. But overall, I found it incredibly enjoyable. And I can't lie to you: Man Trisanu was part of why I found it enjoyable. Not just because he is large and attractive but also because he is quite a good actor. Okay, so I got my yah yahs out.

Ben

Solid 20% of the chat is just Nini going: “THAT MAN IS BIG!”

[both laugh]

Nini

He’s a biggun! [both laugh] At one point I definitely just sent a voice message that said “Timberrrrr!”

Ben

It’s like, it would be Tuesday and everybody's in the chat just, “Lorge.” [laughs]

Ben

In terms of simping, I really like Ben Bunyapol’s work in this one. Nini and I tend to fall on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to…the guys we're attracted to in these shows? Unsurprisingly, she was super into Man and all of his work; I really liked a lot of stuff Ben was doing, and I like Nini's commentary that Ben is definitely someone's problem, right now.

Nini

Oh my god, somebody is staring at the ceiling up at night, like, thinking about Ben Bunyapol because that boy is…I mean, not my style, but I can appreciate good lookin’, I can. That is somebody's problem.

Ben

I really like what he was playing with in this. I really—we'll get into this when we talk about the queer themes in this—I really like the specific type of queerness he portrayed in this. And I know that must have been really difficult to hold with everything else he was doing on the show.

Nini

I concur, he also showed some talent. There’s quite a few newbies in this cast, Ben and Man are both newbies, and you see a little bit of that, but mostly they, I think they acquitted themselves very well.

8:40 - Step by Step: Big Themes

Ben

Since we're disclosing our ratings early in this one: as you all know, Nini gives me a lot of shit on this show about how friendly I am to shows with my scoring? I gave this show a 7.5, because I think the problems in this show make it hard to recommend to people. And the more homework I feel like I have to give people, or pamphlets I have to hand out before they start watching, the harder it is for me to recommend.

However, there are a lot of things to talk about in the show I think are good. And I think because it's Tee Bundit, and we have to talk about how much the sort of…irritated version of queerness that he's carrying around in his work comes through in his stuff? Think we should start with the big themes, because that's what he clearly cared about the most. So Nini, as someone who is thrilled with this show: what are the big themes you think that Tee is going for this time?

Nini

I mean, Tee is a guy who, kind of hits on the same themes in most of his work? And the themes that he likes to hit on are around like, queerness and capitalism, or like around the monetization of queerness and sort of juxtaposing it against the way that queer people are just kind of suffocating under this fog of homophobia. So that's like one of the things that he definitely gets into in this show, like all his other shows.

Another thing that Tee is very into is playing with inside and outside, like perceptions of queer people and how queer people see themselves versus how the world sees them? I think that's a big thing. He loves a family dynamic where everybody knows but nobody says anything, that's another big theme that he's playing with in this. These are the things that show up over and over again in his work, that I tend to respond to. I find it really legible, so I quite enjoy it.

What about you? What kinds of themes did you pick up on?

Ben

The big ideas, like core statements that I can read from this is that: corporations are more than willing to profit off of queer people. They absolutely want to use our talents, our social skills, our managerial skills, and our relationships as well as our lives…to sell shit. But they don't actually want us, particularly in positions of leadership.

Another thing that comes through very clearly is that queer people cannot experience queer joy in environments that demand a very rigid form of conformity. And also, that everything that queer people want for themselves, including their joy, is not something you can have on the timeline of BL. It's going to take literally years for you to find your happiness. Which is so sad!

Nini

One of the things that I think we had discussed a little bit but didn't really delve into is that you feel a cynicism emanating off of Tee that you kind of don't like? I don't know if you wanted to get a little bit more into that, because we didn't really, like, discuss that too much.

Ben

Tee Bundit clearly—oh, there's a man I could simp for. [laughs] I think that man is very pretty, and I like how fucking angry he is all the time. [both laugh]

So, Tee is a director who has a really strong eye. Don't know that he's found an editor who works well with him yet. Or has found a really good screenwriting team to hang out with? But he has a really strong eye, and he very clearly hated being on the TharnType set. That comes through so loudly in Lovely Writer, and you can see that this has affected the way he looks at being an adult professional in so many ways.

Pat is so unhappy in this show. He's so stressed. And Jeng is also so unhappy, because he's so bottled up. It gets a little bit lost sometimes, how specifically pissed off Pat is about everything that's being thrown at him and expected of him. And you can feel that with Tee, that he has to…play to the proclivities of shipping culture, which he clearly despises.

Nini

He's made two shows about it now.

Ben

Quick aside about this, Tee leveled some I think fair criticism of BL as an industry, in that it is profiting off of the appearance of relationships of queer people, but they're all inherently fake, and they're meant to be fake. And apparently a certain set of fans did not agree or like that their ship was used as the example of this, and caused such a stink that they were forced to edit the episode and remove that commentary. And I don't know if this impacted later commentary that may have been in the show. I do not think it would have made the show more legible than it is? But Tee is just so irritated about the inescapability of heteronormativity in his professional life.

You see this for Pat, who doesn't allow himself to even perceive Jeng as someone he could be with, because of the age difference, the class difference, the work difference…and the way that they are queer is very different from each other. You see this with Chot, who seems to be an incredibly talented individual, but is not someone apparently considered for middle to upper management in any way? You've got this with Jaab where he's just like ‘yeah I'm not playing that. I got money, I'm gonna do whatever the hell I want.’

It's so frustrating, because in this show towards the end sequence where they ask Pat to come back for one more ride to try and save this stupid department. They assemble a little team together of queers or queer-friendly people and they end up using everyone's queer adjacent skills in some way shape or form to sell, like, fucking gas stations? [laughs] So they end up having Pat's formerly shitty superior write like, a BL story about looking for, like, a specific fucking juice at the fucking gas station, so that Jaab can very publicly run around on Facebook looking for Jen, the side character he's also pursuing. And then to help pimp this out, they ask Pat to call his ex, who he doesn't want to engage with on this, to help sell this shit—who was also forced to go back into the closet so that he could pretend to be gay with his BL co-star. Which is insane.

Nini

Like when you say it out loud it's like, the levels of bullshit, like Tee is very much about piling on the bullshit. And he's like doing it and pointing to the audience and saying, ‘Look at this! Ain't this some shit? This is the kind of shit that we gotta deal with on the regular!’

Ben

I'm not even done! The head of the company baited them by stripping their marketing budget because he knew his son would use his own money to save this: creating a division between the gays because of lack of loyalty and such. And so like, that comes through fairly loudly.

16:52 - Step by Step: The Romance

Ben

Part of where the struggle kicks in for me with this show is honestly with Pat and Jeng. Like, I have really strong positive feelings about Pat as a character, as an individual, and I have an incredible amount of feelings for Jeng as an individual—and I want to elaborate on those—but like Pat and Jeng as a unit, I feel, was super frustrating and really disappointing in this show, in a way that felt kind of pissy from Tee? Like I feel like…they don't feel satisfying on purpose. And that doesn't sit right with me, because of genre conventions and expectations.

I'll let you talk about Pat and Jeng, because I think you feel a lot better about them than I did.

Nini

Yeah, because I think I had different expectations. I definitely took in at the beginning, or before the beginning of the show, some of the stuff around the show where Tee was very clearly saying this isn't a romance. And as we sort of went through the show, I started to understand what he meant by saying that. I think Tee has a, like a complicated relationship with BL, that much is obvious, and I think in a way, the story that he wanted to tell here—he almost resented a little bit, having to use the romance to tell the story. And it, it shows up on a metatextual level in terms of some of the themes and some of the story points and plot points running throughout the show. He's like, can’t I just tell this story? Why do they have to, like, make out?

There is a tension there, there is a dissonance there. So it's not that I don't understand the problem that people had with it; I understand it entirely. But I was just vibin’. Because…I saw all of that as like, yeah, whatever Tee, like I see exactly what you're saying, but you also put this in here anyway, so I'm gonna enjoy the parts of this that you did put in here. That was my way of dealing with it, and that's why I really enjoyed it—because what he did put in there, for me, between Pat and Jeng? It resonated, because at first it was so much about ‘well this thing can't be and here are all the reasons that this thing can't be.’ It's clear that, like, Jeng is just falling deeper and deeper and deeper, and Pat is just like, I can't, I can't even hear that noise—to the point that he literally drowned the noise out in his own head. To the point where like Jeng actually had to tell him basically, ‘hi, I am actually hitting on you.’ And that, like, it came at the end of like a long tail because also Jeng's very aware that it's, like, an ethical minefield to be hitting on Pat because Pat works for him. So it's just like a swarm of things coming together, in a way that I personally enjoy?

And I, I’ll acknowledge that my enjoyment of this show is extremely personal to just the kind of bitch I am. I just like this kind of, like, dynamics? I like this kind of exceedingly complicated and, ‘this actually is kind of a gordian knot, but still, through that all, I feel the way I feel and you feel the way you feel, and if we could just like figure some of this other shit out—and we're gonna fuck up figuring this other shit out for a while—then it would be solid, it would be golden.’ But like I said, I can completely understand why people wouldn't rock with that. It's dissonant, it's incredibly dissonant, I’m fully aware of that. But I was vibin’. That's just how I feel about it.

Ben

My issue is that the show doesn't say that. And we have to take that as the acceptable read to move on. Like, all of the ideas about how corporate life is evil for queer people are loud themes exemplified through the characters. I was consistently frustrated with Tee in this particular outing, because important gay decisions happen off screen, and that pissed me off. So much of his idea is about how queer people don't get to make choices—and he doesn't show the queer people making the choices they can make.

Like for example, they get together and Pat and Jeng don't discuss what being at work is going to look like for them? Which was so irritating for me, because they don't really know each other? And like I'm totally fine with two bitches just being like, ‘let's just fuck about it for a little while and enjoy this ride while we go.’ But like, they don't say that! Like, we have to take that as meaning, and it irritates me, because he's not subtle about his other shit. It feels a little bit tacked on, because you're supposed to just understand this.

Like—I took that Jeng was broken. I wrote a whole fucking piece about it, about how broken Jeng was by being in the closet as he is, because he lives in a big ass closet. Like his closet was so big I didn't even realize it was a closet, I thought it was an exercise room. No, it's his fucking closet. He lives there, that's insane. But like Pat and Jeng get together, and they don't discuss what being at work is going to be like for them. We don't really see their romance function at all, and they don't give us a sense of the two of them functioning as a pair until the story is over? And that irritates me because what the fuck are they fighting for? Like Jeng is explicitly fighting for the idea of Pat, and Pat is explicitly frustrated that Jeng is trying to manipulate him into the version of Pat that Jeng would prefer him to be. And that is not really confronted in this show. I can't be happy about these two getting together because that particular tension point is just submerged. It isn't dealt with, it's just shoved out of the way. That would have been okay, ‘we're just going to bury this’ is an okay choice, but it's a choice that feels like it happened off screen.

It's frustrating because Pat's choice to break up with the MLM big tall, and his choice to break up with Put happen on screen. Pat processing his complicated post-breakup feelings with Put is executed beautifully on screen. We don't really get a functional version of Pat and Jeng on screen, and it irked me, but it low-key makes me sad, because what if Tee doesn't have enough to pull from in himself to do that properly? But he can handle, like, the painful shit and the breakup shit really well. Like that makes me sad for him…but, like, it irritates me as a viewer. If the desire to be a partner to Pat, and to change because Pat asked him to, is literally the driving force that moves Jeng through the plot—that is text—I hate that when he gets together with Pat, none of the talking about that occurs at all.

Nini

See I had a completely different reaction to that, because to me, from the time that all of that, like, wasn't happening, and then I saw the way that the plot was going, I was just like ‘oh it's a false start.’ That all makes sense to me, like the fact that Jeng spent all this time basically sweatin’ Pat, and finally, like okay, he gets somewhere, he doesn't want to confront the problems. He doesn't want to confront the problems, and Pat doesn't really want to confront the problems because Pat is just, ‘this man wants me, I want this man.’ Like, they don't talk about the issues. They get giddy on each other, they get high, nose wide open, and they don't want to confront the bad shit. So they don't talk about it. It's a false start. They don't talk about it, they don't talk about the fact that they don't really know each other, they don't talk about anything that matters…that to me tells me everything. There's a deep and intense infatuation happening there. And they're burying their heads in the sand about a lot. To me that's deliberate, and that's why it ends up falling apart. It works for me on a narrative level.

25:45 - Step by Step: Story Execution

Nini

I think part of the frustration as well—and I think here we're going to start getting into, like, some of the structural issues—because I said that I did have criticisms about this show. And one of the criticisms that I continuously had was that this show feels like it was edited by monkeys on crack cocaine. There is a lack of a certain amount of cohesiveness to the editing, that makes it hard to follow some of what's happening. Like you have to sit with it and like really train your brain and do one, two, three passes at it, to be like ‘oh yeah, that's what was happening, that's what was happening, that's what was happening.’ So I do take that criticism. I absolutely do take that criticism of the show and I agree with it. That the graph of the show, like the way that it was structured in terms of when the pivot point happens—because it happens almost towards the end—I can see where the frustration comes from, absolutely.

Ben

There's so much in this show that is interesting, but is delivered so haphazardly that you have to work for it. Like, the only useful read I got about the hets and their role in this, was to model what showing up and speaking out looks like versus what sitting on your hands and not saying something looks like. With Khanun and Beam, and their attraction to Ae—who has a baby in a hilariously inaccurate birthing scene…

Nini

[laughs] I’m sorry, you said the birthing scene and I had to crack up, like that was the most like, hand wavy like, ‘I'm a gay man, I don't know how these things work’—like ‘she had a baby, like make it like—do whatever you think having a baby looks like, it's fine, moving on’ [laughs]

Ben

She's pushing the baby! And everybody’s screaming! And POP! It's out! [laughs]

Nini

I don't know how the baby came out, because she was still wearing her pants. But eeehh, let's leave that to the side for now. [laughs]

Ben

I'm okay with that, because everything else was so silly, I get them just not wanting to ask Zorzo to take her pants off.

Nini

There's a thematic reason that Ae has her baby where she does, how she does, when she does, like there's a thematic and a narrative reason for that. But the scene itself is like one of the most cracked-out things I’ve ever seen in my life. [laughs]

Ben

That's the whole problem with the show, like there are good ideas here but like, I don't feel them. I hate that you have to think so hard to get to them. Normally I'm okay with subtext for these sort of things, but…you have to basically rebuild the moments that are occurring in the show so that you can think about stuff.

I ended up frustrated with Jeng by the end, because I feel like his arc peters out. Like there's a, a totally fine read on a lot of these things, but it is so…flat for me. It's fine for a show to make you play with the notion of disappointment? But the disappointment feels…petty, if that makes any sense? Like I don't think the disappointment is built into all the thematic structures. It's just built into the effect that the show wants to engender. It feels a little incongruous, and it's really irritating. I don't mind queer cinema making me feel negative emotions and walk out of a theater going ‘damn, bro.’ I just don't like the way this show is going for that, but also pretending that it's not, towards the end.

Nini

Okay, so here's a thing that we don't normally do, but I think would be useful for this show. So, let's fix it. Our mantra around here is generally: you meet the shows where they are. Right? But: is there a version of this show that you like, and what does that version of the show look like?

Ben

A big problem with this show is, they spend way too much time away from the Jian group office environment. The bubble of the Forge project goes on way too fucking long. The reveal in episode, like, 9? That Pat did not know Jeng was gay this whole time? Is really good, but needs to happen, at the very latest, by episode 8. Because it creates this huge compression effect on the back half of the show, that is so fucking irritating for me as a viewer. The Jeng crying and sad shit is great in episode—10, when that occurs? And like he and Pat get together in episode 11, but the gays need a solid ‘we're going to try to make this work’ episode. You have to put us in the interior of these two settling into each other. We need to understand what we have been yearning for for the whole show up to this point, so that we can understand what they're giving up when they've when they sever—it's romance, they gotta break up, you have to put the characters in a position where they have to figure out, ‘can I go back to the person I was and enjoy my life without this person in my life again?’ The answer is no, because this is fucking romance!—But we need to understand what the romance is and what they're going for.

And all of the development of Pat and Jeng as a couple, that we're supposed to be benefiting from in episode 11 when they're trying to save the stupid little BL project they're working on, feels completely unearned. Yes, I understand that the reason we're not getting payoff is because their relationship is fundamentally flawed as a false start—but it doesn't flag very effectively as one, because we aren't constantly seeing the misfires when they're trying to do stuff romantically together. We need to fully confront the fact that Jeng is brainwashed into thinking that work life integration can work for queer people. It cannot. And we don't get that. So like when they break up, the feeling is like, ‘good, because y'all needed to.’ And not in a satisfying way that another show might have done. We need to move all of the beats from the end of the show back a whole fucking episode.

Also, the decision for Pat to go off and start his own thing, take Chot and Ae, all happens off screen. This is a huge set of choices! Why is Chot running off to be with this twink? Like sure, he's playing fairy godmother in the whole show, but why does he choose to go with him? The audience is left to just figure that out. But so much of this show is about the difficult and complex choices that queer people have to make to survive in a corporate world that doesn't want us. So yes, we can infer that Chot was also frustrated with all this drama at work, and is more than willing to go work with the very talented, very successful little baby gay who showed up at his job, and go off and they gonna get this paper together. I get it. It's fine, it doesn't track as wrong for Chot to do that—but Chot's choice also matters in a show about how queer choice needs to be respected! And they don't show Chot making the choice. Like, the gay choices happening off screen are egregious to me. They need to be unpacked. If the show is about how our choices aren't respected, why aren't we showing the interior decision-making of the choices we're forced to make?

Nini

I'll definitely take your point about where the pivot point of the story happens. It's one of the critiques of this show that I completely agree with. The critical path of this show—like the throughline?—to me is so clear. What happens though, is that the critical path is sort of impacted by…like a bunch of these little side quests. Whether it is that the side quest is too present or too absent, the milestones are happening slightly off schedule. The way that it's sequenced works for me, but the way that things like lag behind or in front of each other are a little…squiffy. In terms of the way that the story is constructed, in terms of some of the things that you feel that you needed to see, or that would have made the story better to be able to see, rather than having to conjure up yourself…like, I get that, absolutely. I don't disagree with that, I think that is a valid and accurate critique of this show. I live in my head a lot [laughs] and so that didn't bother me enough to ding it, but I understand why it didn't work for you, and for a lot of other people.

I think it's just for me that…I was fine with getting pulled along by the story, because I was invested, particularly in Jeng. First they got me with Man being, you know, the size of a barn. And then I started actually paying attention, and they got me with Jeng's character. That's where the show, like, managed to string me along the entire way; I got a hook in, and I'm just like ‘okay, this is what I'm going with.’ But none of the things that you and everybody else is saying about the show are wrong. You're all correct. [laughs] You're all correct. I just…enjoyed it.

Ben

I think for me, both places where this show really broke, and where I really disconnected from this show, were in both of the kitchen scenes, which you loved. Like if we could point to two scenes where things break for me as an audience member? It's the speakeasy scene, kitchen scene—throwing food on the ground, kitchen scene—Pat reconciling with Jeng. It ends up becoming a failure point when Jeng resigns from his company—in his Canadian tuxedo —

Nini

Denim on denim y’all!

Ben

[laughs] And he says to his dad, ‘I have dreams.’ And I'm like, ‘girl, what are they? You ain't said shit for the last three goddamn episodes! What are they? Please sir, talk to the camera, I need to know.’ And like we can infer these things, we can project onto him. I can infer that the restaurant is what's important to him. I can infer that food security for the underprivileged is important to him. But for someone who's as plan-oriented as him, it feels a little weird, that this feels like a undercooked and underdeveloped idea for the character, that's just sort of simmering in the back and I'm like, ‘what, did we even put anything in the pot? Is that just water boiling?’

And so we get to these two kitchen sequences. Chot has chided Pat for not properly receiving someone's feelings, which is an idea that's been all over BL recently, that I'm totally into. Like you can reject people just fine, like you do not owe people any booty at all. But if someone tells you that you're important to them, you should at least acknowledge that they made themselves vulnerable to you, and acknowledge those feelings. Fine, good. Go buy a carrot cake and run to that man. But he goes to Jeng and tries to acknowledge his feelings and Jeng's like, ‘okay, we're together now’ and they make out, and I'm like ‘oh okay, sure, I guess? What? No!’

And this is when the not talking portion kicks in, and then Pat breaks up with Jeng, for what I believe are incredibly valid reasons of feeling like Jeng doesn't trust him or believe in him, because he makes choices for them without consulting Pat. And Pat feels like Jeng is always undercutting him, and Jaab makes a point about this in the final episode—when he doesn't talk to Jen at all? whatever—and says, ‘you kind of manipulated Pat the way Dad manipulated you.’ And I'm like, ‘that's a very, very specific idea, that makes a whole lot of sense, that we're just going to walk away from because this is the last episode—roll the fluff!’

So we get to the second kitchen scene, and I'm trying to accept the emotions of the scene? Of Pat just deciding that he's going to let go of the anger because he really likes Jeng, and he likes what the two of them had together, and he just kind of wants to let it work and figure it out together—the same way I Promised You the Moon ended. And I like that, but it doesn't land here for me? And I ended up really irritated about it. And this is where I get frustrated, like Jeng through episode…10, works for me, but the dead-eyed Jeng of episode 11 and the sad depressive Jeng of episode 12—it feels like he never comes back to life. Which may have been their point, but they went out of their way to try and make me feel like he and Pat are together and they're happy and everything's going to be okay now because they're together in the final episode. It feels unearned, and it feels like they didn't finish the goddamn mission! when it comes to Jeng.

Nini

And for me, it feels exactly the opposite, because those two kitchen scenes are very clearly paralleled, you're absolutely correct: in the first kitchen scene when they're first getting together, they don't talk about anything that's important, they just kind of roll past it. But in the second kitchen scene, they stop, they take a breath, Jeng says, ‘let's talk about this tomorrow.’ He's happy, yeah, but they make a deliberate point of not doing the same shit that they did before. They make a point of saying the things; they make a point of taking a beat; they make a point of taking their time; they make a point of actually talking to each other. And to me that's why it works. I mean it works, as well, for emotional reasons that are just pure, like, me engaging with romantic notions, reasons, and I'll fully admit to that. But to me the fact that those two scenes were so different was kind of the point? And I quite enjoyed that part.

Another problem with the show that I think makes it really not legible for people is the fact that you don't have any sense of the passage of time. Like you really have to work to figure out how much time has passed between any two events in the show.

Ben

And clearly we were on the wrong timeline from the show.

Nini

[laughs] I think they just made a mistake in the last episode. I did a lot of work on the show, but I enjoy that, so I was fine. The timeline is that the first 9 to 10 episodes happen over the course of roughly a year? And then episode 11 is very compressed. I think they do give us a chiron at one point, that you figure out it's like about three months maybe? And then the last episode, it spans years—not just including the time skip, but the actual episode itself.

Ben

It feels like somewhere between three to five years for sure.

Nini

Yeah, the last part of the episode, like maybe the last half hour, is like a series of vignettes? But it's just that the way that it's edited, it doesn't feel like a series of vignettes. It feels like scenes that are happening in sequence, which they're not.

Like I said, the editing of this show, monkeys on crack cocaine and ayahuasca, absolutely. Storyboarding, I'm not sure anybody did any?

I did a lot of work to enjoy the show. But I did enjoy it.

Ben

And I hate that. I hated the sides, like they weren't even in the final episode, they're like ‘yeah we don't care about them, get them the fuck out of here.’ No Khanun, no Jen, just get them out of here. We're gonna be here for an hour and forty two minutes, but the sides required literally zero closure to help stick the landing with the mains? Ugh, man.

Nini

They were there to reinforce thematic ideas, and they leaned way too hard into them as a narrative point when they weren't supposed to be narrative. So yes, completely agree with you, that was a mess.

It's not that I don't agree with you! We're saying that this is a fight night and I got my eye black on, but the reality is that I don't disagree with anything you're saying. It’s just that I was fine with doing that work, and you are not fine with doing that work because you think you shouldn't have to do that work, and that's…yeah, you're probably right about that.

Ben

I'm in the business of recommending things to people because I like enjoying things with people. I will not be showing this to Emily, because I have to explain too much along the way the whole fucking time. And like, I hate that! It shouldn't be this goddamn hard to enjoy the damn show.

I ended up comparing the dissonance around this show to, say, something like 2gether, which I think is remembered fondly because of pandemic stuff, and less because the show is good. Because everybody acknowledges that the show is a goddamn mess, but there's things that they take out of it, they say ‘I really like this.’ And that's how I feel about Step by Step. I loved everything that Man did in this; I think he played a 32 year old repressed gay man really well. But low key…I gotta be honest, I'm a little burned out on feeling a bunch of fucking feelings about sad rich gay boys? Like, the West is obsessed with sad rich gay boys and I am burnt the hell out on it. Like ‘oh no, he's sad, in his penthouse…’ who cares? [laughs]

Nini

I think for me as well, because I've been spending so much time with Turtles’s Asian family trauma lens, that I dug into that side of things, like a little deeply with my brain, and I was kind of enjoying kicking that around to myself as part of this.

Ben

And that’s the thing that sucks! Like Jeng, through episode 10, works so well for me. Like I absolutely loved what Man was doing with Jeng, how he was playing him, how Ben was playing Pat as kind of oblivious to it but unconsciously flirting with Jeng.

We didn't even talk about Up Poompot! Up Poompot was in this show and he whipped ass! Up was so good! Put was an incredible character. So Put is Pat's ex, who was not a great ex to him. This is very clearly a failed first romance on a lot of different levels. Put is ambitious, and he wants a lot more from his life than to just stay in the poor town the two of them grew up in, and he clearly didn't have Pat's skills to go to school…twice, study in America, and come back to Thailand as a highly trained marketing professional who can go into a corporate environment, and even with every goddamn employee in there working on his damn nerves still be the best person that they have on their team. Put doesn't have that: he's pretty and he's charming, and he's an actor. He has to go into BL, and so he can't have a boyfriend. Which is very fucked, that gay people cannot be out in BL. Insane. Put is an incredible character. He is simultaneously deeply unlikable and also incredibly sympathetic. Up is so good in this show.

And I think Ben, who has an incredibly internal character—who really could have benefited from a journal? So that we could hear his thoughts more often—also does a really good job playing someone who is barely keeping it together, and trying to restrain their quick temper. Ben does a good job as a fairly new actor dealing with some really complex internal things that have to be externalized, in a film tradition that leans towards bombastic. That's really difficult to do.

Bruce is in this! Bruce had such a rough character to portray in Lovely Writer, and it was hard to really like that character even if you felt bad for them. So glad we got a character for Bruce that we loved this time in Chot.

Zorzo is in this, she's incredible, we love her. She can do whatever she wants—she shows up on a set and we're just like, ‘hello Zorzo, what do you want to do today?’

It's just so much fun watching this cast work together. Even the new people. Saint had some difficulties with his romantic partner and I think that's because he was new and nervous about doing that right. But he was really really good with Ben: when Jaab was interacting with Pat, Saint was really good, and you can see why he was cast. His chemistry with Ben felt so natural, and didn't read as like weirdly sexual or romantic, which is very easy to fall into in BL when they put literally any boys in the same room with each other.

They did a great job letting queer friendships feel like queer friendships in this show. There's so much that's genuinely good in this show, which is why I feel like I have to give it a 7.5. Like if it had just been kind of bad and muddled? I’d have probably given it an 8 for just pure gumption. But it's frustrating, because it feels like everyone understood what the mission was and the plan fell apart with contact with the enemy immediately, and they did not regroup at all.

Nini

This is sounding like video game stuff.

Ben

I'm kind of pissed! I'm in captain mode right now. I'm assessing the film and going over everyone's screens and we're talking about who fucked up here.

50:25 - Step by Step: Where are we on Tee Bundit?

Ben

The most important thing to ask now is, where do either of us sit when it comes to Tee Bundit and Dee Hup House?

Nini

I am a Tee Bundit fan? I see some of the things that he wants to say. I think that maybe he needs some guardrails? And maybe to lighten up a little bit? Because he has good ideas, and the ideas, he makes them very legible, when he wants to.

I am curious to see how he does with some guardrails. Sometimes an artist needs a few guardrails to really focus themselves. So I am still down with Tee, and I'm interested in seeing the rest of what he's putting out this year. How about you?

Ben

I just want to grab him—like William Shatner in a classic Star Trek episode—by both of his upper arms, and say very clearly: “You got to stop being mean to the audience, bro. They're on your side.” It feels like he's beefing with us the audience, in Step by Step. Like it feels like he resents that the only way he can tell queer stories and get funded is to do queer romance, which I don't know that he's interested in—even though clearly he cares a lot about queer existence. Which is a very complicated space to sit as an artist, particularly with what the zeitgeist is feeling right now?

But I need him to not take that energy out on us as the audience, like we signed up for romance, bro! Stop making us feel bad for wanting that! It just feels like Tee is just mad, and yelling in the room, and we're like ‘I get that you're mad bro, but this is unfun for all of us: we are on your side, and you are taking this out on us.’ He's that friend, who's right…but fuck, dude!

[Nini laughs]

Ben

That's all I've got. It's a chop for me, I'm sorry. [laughs]

Nini

Nah, I mean, sometimes we disagree, my friend, that’s just the way it is. [laughs] For me it’s a 9, for Ben it’s a 7.5, so that works out to…8.25? Yeah, that sounds about right.

Ben

It’s not bad, but it’s not good.

Nini

8.25 for Step by Step, and entry into contention for the Girl You Tried award for this season.

53:10 - La Pluie

Nini

Okay, so we are talking all things La Pluie. Ben, tell us what La Pluie is about.

Ben

La Pluie is a sort of speculative fiction romance, set in a world very similar to ours, where a small subset of the population experience temporary sensory loss whenever it rains as a form of deafness. Of that incredibly small population, an even smaller portion of them, when they come of age—which is 20 in Thailand—they may begin to hear another person's voice whenever it rains. Those people are seemingly tied to each other by this rain-based connection and other people have described them as soulmates.

Our protagonist Saengtai is a 22-year-old who experiences rain deafness. He has three brothers, one older, and both of his parents are what people call soulmates. When he turned 20, his parents wanted him to know that they were getting a divorce, and this shattered Saengtai’s faith in the concept of soulmates, and he spent the next two years actively avoiding speaking to his soulmate at all. Two years later, he happens to run into him in a cafe, realizes his soulmate is hot, and then [laughs] decides to maybe give it a shot. And the show becomes this ongoing exploration of the concept of romance itself, unpacking whether or not the soulmates concept is real, portrayed by incredibly emotionally aware characters.

Our primary four characters are: Saengtai, our protagonist, who's a writer. Patts, his soulmate, who is a veterinarian, and slightly older than him, and very cool. You have Saengtai’s little brother Saengtien, who’s kind of a rascal, who does not have rain deafness but very much believes in the concept of soulmates. And then there's Lomfon, a boy who is also in school with Saengtien, who adamantly refuses to believe in soulmates, and causes his own problems along the way. There's quite a colorful cast of supporting characters, and this is probably…the most legible show that we've ever watched? From the very first scene, this show is nothing but constant payoff.

Nini

Hmm, I don't know about from the very first scene, because as you know, it took me a few episodes to kind of get there. I started and stopped, and then had to be cajoled back in [laughs] and I do not regret coming back in. The line on this for me is that I think soulmates are bullshit. I've never been a fan of this soulmate trope—in the first episode or two, I'm just kind of like, ‘I don't know that they're gonna do anything interesting with this’ and then sometime around…it was definitely around episode 4, and I know it was around episode 4 because isn't that when Tai bit that man? We're gonna talk about this, Ben.

Ben

[laughs] Tai did bite that man, in episode 3.

Nini

Tai, my precious little alley cat, that was when I decided I was in [laughs] and I was gonna keep watching. I mean he literally got drunk and bit Patts, and I was like, ‘okay this is gonna be fucking awesome.’ Who bites somebody??

Ben

Someone unhinged!

Nini

Exactly, that's the point! And you know I love unhinged, so I was in for the duration after that. That was like the end of episode 3 when he bit him? And then episode 4 it just keeps getting better.

57:50 - La Pluie: The Soulmate Myth

Ben

Let's get properly into the soulmate stuff. I stand by my comment that this show begins paying off from the very first scene. We read the blurb, we get our little intro, and he's like ‘we got soulmates in this world; I can't hear when it rains; there's a boy who talks to me when it rains,’ and we were like ‘whoa man, these two are gonna fuck real good!’ And then the show opens with divorce. And I was like, ‘never mind, I am seated!’

Right away, the show is telling you that it is going to challenge the presumptions built into its core premise. It spends the entire time interrogating its premise, with really legible characters. And I think you provided the clearest read on the sort of primary archetypes these characters fit, when you described them in the framework of faith. So, please elaborate on your analysis.

Nini

The key thing all our characters, our key characters are dealing with in the show, is whether they believe in soulmates or not? So you have Tien, who is absolutely a true believer, 100% believes in soulmates, no matter what has happened to potentially shake his faith in soulmates he totally believes in it. Then you have Tai, who I described as an apostate, because Tai used to be a true believer and then his faith was shattered, and so he's sort of gone against believing in soulmates. In terms of their love interests, you have Patts, who is sort of agnostic on the idea? ‘Eh, I don't know, maybe soulmates are real, maybe they're not, doesn't really matter to me. I don't know what to believe but I'm not going to let it affect what I'm doing, and this is the way I feel about things.’ And then you've got Lomfon, who is an atheist: not just an atheist, like a rationalist atheist. He's just like, ‘soulmates are bullshit, I don't buy this, I don't believe in anything that this is happening here.’ And then what the show does with those four viewpoints is sort of, brings them all around to a kind of agnosticism? So in the end, they kind of all get to where Patts started.

Then one of the things the show does towards the end, really at the end, is bring Patts around to being…sort of a true believer? Not necessarily in the sense of the rain deafness connection being a soulmate connection, but believing in the idea of having a soulmate. I don't think that's in any way related to the rain deafness connection at all, but more about choices and the way that he feels about Tai, and the way that Tai feels about him and the relationship that they are building. I found that really interesting, where in the end everybody kind of comes around to the agnostic viewpoint, Patts is the one who moves towards a, a believer, but not in the whole myth.

Ben

I think what works for me really in the show, when it comes to the belief in soulmates or not, is…the show understands that belief without action is meaningless. In the case of Tai and Lomfon, their choices and inaction create immense harm for the people around them that they claim to care about. In the case of Tai, he hurts Patts, for years, with his silence. Like it is totally fine for him to want to work out his comfortability with the rain-based connection privately and on his own time, but he owed it to Patts to say that. Even just, ‘I'm uncomfortable having you in my head, please don't talk to me when it rains.’ That's all he had to say. It's the silence that was really cruel for me. He's hurting Patts and punishing him, because his parents let him down. That's really shitty.

Lomfon glomps on to Tai, for whatever reason, and just determines he's supposed to be with Tai. Actively ignoring the growing relationship between him and Tien, hurting everyone along the way. Whereas Patts and Tien are both actively treating people with immense kindness and care, because of how they believe and how they move through the world. Tien cares a lot about his brother: he knows his brother was hurt by what happened to their parents, and he gives excuses for him and he tries to take care of his brother, he tries to make himself small to take care of his family and the people around them, even if he's a little bit feisty. And Patts, who maybe doesn't care about the soulmate shit at all, sees Tai once: is like, ‘whoa, I am inextricably drawn to this person,’ and pursues him very kindly. The people with the most angst about whether or not this shit is real are the ones doing the most harm to other people. It's the people who are most pissy about faith being the worst in their relationships.

Nini

Look at us here being a couple of lapsed Catholics on the podcast.

[both laugh]

Nini

There is so much that the show wants to say about that idea of faith without works being dead. So much that the show wants to say about the relationship between chance and choice. I think the show itself is agnostic on whether soulmates are real? But I think the show does also say: there is some mix of chance and choice in romance. You ran into this person in a coffee shop—that's chance. But what you do next is choice.

There're little things sprinkled throughout, like Patts and Tai finding out—once they've decided to be together—finding out that they actually had a connection from earlier on, because Patts's grandmother used to live next door to Tai. So when Tai's parents split up and he was like really sad and depressed about it, Patts saw this kid crying, and he just decided to be kind to this kid, and he helped Tai through, like, the immediate aftermath of his parents' divorce. And in return for that kindness, Tai sort of helped him through the death of his grandmother? They never saw each other's faces or anything like that, this was a happenstance. This was a chance encounter, through Patts's kindness and Tai’s kindness in return, that became a connection between them. Again, chance and choice. It was by chance that Patts saw this kid crying, but it was a choice to be kind to the kid next door.

That's threaded throughout the story in different parts, this idea that chance brings you to the table but choice determines what happens when you get there.

Ben

I feel very strongly, as a lapsed Catholic, that none of the beliefs matter if you're just trying to be right. What matters is how you treat people.

Nini

The show is more interested in the choices than the chances, but it does put the chances sort of in there. You know that the show is interested in the choices because of the way that it deals with the parents, and the parents divorce, and how the parents have made it through their divorce and continue to be people who are together in dealing with their children, who still talk to each other when it rains, who have moved out of a romantic phase and into a platonic phase in their lives. To the point where the mom can get remarried to somebody who is more suited to her, and this doesn't affect their friendship.

I really enjoyed the aspects of the show that really harped on the idea of choice, and choosing how you're going to build a relationship with somebody whether it is romantic or platonic, rather than fate putting somebody in your path and that feeling like a predetermination of who that person is going to be to you. That's why in the end, I did come around to La Pluie after not being interested at the beginning. They fucked with soulmates, and I like that.

Ben

I feel the need to rant.

Nini

The floor is yours, sir. Speak directly into the microphone.

Ben

I'm so glad that this show ended by saying that the soulmate stuff was a trap. It was really frustrating to see everybody caught up in the soulmate stuff, and the mechanic of that, as this verification tool. Maybe it's the whole lapsed Catholic thing and having a very complex relationship with faith and doubt? Because I got the whole notion that the purpose of all of this is about choice. It's about what you do with the opportunities you're given, and how you treat the people when you're there.

It was really frustrating to watch so many members of the audience just really struggle with this show, because they needed the soulmates thing to either be bullshit, or to be confirmed. I really like that the show very politely sidesteps answering that, because what matters is how people treat each other. The opening scroll of the show is a happy couple that is a guy with rain deafness hanging out with somebody who is not. Like these things were legible from the beginning for me, and it was so…tedious, week in and week out, dealing with the, like the weather report: “Are the soulmates real this week?” Stop.

Nini

Since we're ventilating the show's take on soulmates so to speak…

1:08:22 - La Pluie: Lomfon is Rude!

Ben

Yeah, let's talk about somebody who clearly got it wrong, in the show!

Nini

[laughs] Let's talk about Lomfon getting that ass beat, and why it was absolutely necessary.

Ben

We're gonna begin where we always sat: Lomfon is rude! And Patts should have punched him harder.

Nini

[laughs] I like just, I heard like a million people just turning the podcast off at this point—but it's, it's true, it's a fact.

Ben

Look, I do not care. Here's the thing: Lomfon is beefing with people for no reason, from the jump. He's beefing with Tien in the store over a goddam magazine. He's beefing with other classmates. He has no goddamn friends.

Nini

He was rude to Bow! He was rude to Tai's boss, and he likes Tai, and he still couldn't muster up like a shred of interest in anything she was doing, or even general politeness to shake her hand and say hi how you doing. Rude!

Ben

He only cares about what he's thinking about, there's no regard for other people. Like yeah, sure. He's like, 20. And like, kids gotta grow up at some point. But also, tastin’ a little bit of fist will reorient your life a little bit sometimes.

Nini

[laughs] True!

Ben

He's just so dramatic! There's this development over the course of the show, where Tai ends up with two different soulmates with connections to him. Lomfon is like, ‘I'm hearing Tai’s voice when it rains.’ Instead of, like sending, like a group text, saying, like, ‘hey, I believe something very strange may have happened to me, I think we should all meet up next Sunday at four o'clock—because I've checked the weather and we should all be together for this.’ And they could have handled this like adults and talked about stuff. No. Lomfon is rude and selfish, and so he needs to corner Tai in the rain, kiss Tai, and be like ‘whoops, my bad!’ And then when Patts rolls up on him throwing haymakers, he's like ‘whoa bro, no, he's mine!’ He's yours? Little boy. Please.

I got a lot of smoke for this motherfucker, I got some notes over here. This dude hung out with Tien at a cast party, cuddled with drunk Tien, calls his brother because Tien needs a ride home—and then while Tien is mostly unconscious, flirts with his older brother? Gross.

Nini

He's in his own zone. He's not thinking about anybody else, he's not interested in whether what he does affects anybody else and how it affects anybody else. And it takes, yes quite frankly, a jaw rockin’, for him to get his head out of his ass. Completely concur that it was needed.

Because I mean, think about this okay? Even if he actually liked Tai—which he doesn't really—does he think that this is the way to go about getting Tai? Let's ponder this for a second, just a short second, okay? It doesn't even make sense. And then, he thinks that maybe he might feel something for Tien, he doesn't know…but instead of, I don't know maybe, hm! going on a date with Tien instead of Tai—like there's so many other ways that Lomfon could have gone about what he went about. He just did it in the messiest way possible. Everybody was already telling him, ‘look I'm seeing what you're doing here and I'm gonna need you to take a step back.’

Ben

Tien picked up on it because they were on that mountain, and he saw Lomfon starting shit and looking at his brother, and he pulled that motherfucker aside, he said, ‘I am a third son, bitch, I will bury you on this mountain! Don't ever look at my brother again! Their relationship is theirs, and if you fuck with them one more time, they will not find your fucking corpse on this mountain.’

Nini

Everybody who saw it told Lomfon, ‘yo, you need to mind your own business.’ And if they didn't tell Lomfon, they told Tai—so Bow told Tai, ‘look, Lomfon’s up in your business. You need to say something and get that kid away from your business.’ Tien told him mind your own business. Patts told him mind your own business—because Patts definitely knew that Lomfon had a crush on Tai.

Ben

And Lomfon’s like, ‘well I heard Tai's voice in the rain, so now it's my business,’ and instead of talking to Tai properly, he's going to go like beef with Patts and be like I'm taller than you, so.

[both laugh] That boy got on my goddamn nerves! Like, he's an excellent character.

1:13:30 - La Pluie: Tai Also Deserves Some Smoke

Ben

Let's talk about how Tai needed that ass whooped too.

Nini

That's what I was about to say, like, we're on Lomfon and Lomfon deserved it, but Tai also deserves some smoke and I'm here to give it to him. Tai, baby boy. Patts carried you down that mountain after you ran up there in the first place offa some bullshit. He had to carry you back down that mountain, y’all come back down the mountain as boyfriends. You looked at that man in the car and told him ‘I want to stay over at your place tonight’ and that man beat land speed records to take you back to his house. You literally got the booty in every single room in that apartment.

And then you decide to go on a date-not-date with Lomfon? I feel like it was a little bit too—like he was slightly flattered?

Ben

Let me just read Tai his rights. [Nini laughs]

This man, after finally getting what he thinks he's wanted this whole time, realizes there may be a situation going on with his brother's friend. He coulda asked his brother, like at any moment: ‘yo what's up with Lomfon, like Bow is already saying dude was sniffing around, and he asked me you to do some sort of thing, and I dunno how I feel about it. What's up with you and your little friend?’ And Tien could have been like ‘oh noooo, I actually like him, why is he doing this like?’ He could have solved this any number of ways that were less dramatic than ‘let me lie to my boyfriend because I'm worried how he's gonna handle knowing that this little dude is sniffing around’—as if he didn't already know.

It is so frustrating that Patts—who is clear from the beginning that his primary concern was Saengtai’s comfort and happiness—for Saengtai to just actively ignore this man's vocalized needs. Man is telling you, he wants you to say the things. And you're like ‘well, don't my actions show it?’ No baby boy, because you're out here with some other dude in the middle of the motherfuckin’ rain, and you need to do better.

And then! That boy is at his mom's wedding. Your dad has said he is happy for her. He likes the guy that she's gonna be with, and he's happy for the life that they're gonna have. And this boy ruins their wedding, making it all about him, because he's mad that his parents’ soulmate thing didn't work out. Oh I was so mad at that boy.

He was so frustrating as a protagonist sometimes, because he just shits on all the relationships in his life. He shits on his mom. He’s low key shitting on his dad. He relies on his little brother too much without really paying attention to him in a meaningful way, and he beats up on Patts. And he does the same thing to Bow, like he works with Bow. She's clearly covering for him at work. Because he works with a bunch of other people and refuses to ever learn their names or really engage with them.

Nini

This is not to say that we do not love my little alley cat Tai, but he is a fucking alley cat. [laughs] He has the predisposition and morals of one, quite frankly. Like he's scratching and biting…in some ways he's just as rude as Lomfon. But like, you see where all this stuff comes from. And you want him to like, just for a second like, dude, retract the claws, and stop making decisions for people that are more about what you want and what you're interested in than what they want and need and have said that they want and need.

Ben

This is what I mean, like, the show being legible and saying the same thing the whole time. Like, as early as episode 2 Tai is like, ‘hey I found my soulmate,’ and Tien says quite plainly, ‘you fucked with love: unfuck it.’ And when he finally has that confrontation with his parents where they show him the complexity of human relationships, where his dad also says, ‘when you have love you need to take care of it.’

It's so funny, like, for all that Tai is obsessed with his dad, Tien is the one who picked up on his dad's, like, core skills. And Tai is so much like his mom, I'm really glad the show finally recognized that towards the end. Tai recognizes that he's doing to Patts what his mom was doing to him: not giving him any information, leaving him to suffer in silence without giving him the context that he's desperately needing. And it showed a lot of growth that he finally got his ass together, and spent the whole episode running around looking for that man, because goddamn.

1:18:26 - La Pluie: Tai’s Dad Read as Queer

Ben

I wanna get this aside in here, how Tai's dad read as queer to me the whole time, I don't know if he did to you?

Nini

He did, but I didn't know if that was the actor or the character.

Ben

I think it may have been both, and I think I like the way the show handled it. I think it was very useful for subtext to show that Tai's dad is queer? And to not confirm it at the text level. Because La Pluie is not interested in structural homophobia. But I thought it was a really interesting premise to consider what happens if a straight person and a gay person think they're soulmates. What happens if a man who knows who he is goes into a straight marriage, loves his sons, loves his wife, but they can't work, because they can't be the kind of partners they need to be to each other. Which is exactly what the show says, without saying it’s because the dad was queer.

And I think I really like the show leaving that as subtext for us to consider? Because the show does such a great job at building emotionally intelligent gay relationships otherwise.

Nini

I think there were lots of markers for it, like there were markers in the character themselves, there are markers in the relationship that the father and the mother had, the way that the mother was the breadwinner and the father was the caretaker. There are markers in the father's chosen profession, he's a chef. There is a, sort of a marker in this idea of him being—I think it was a private chef to some ambassador and spending a lot of time with this ambassador? All of these are things that I picked up on, and I don't know if they were easter eggs or if they were just throwaways, but there were lots of like tiny little markers.

Ben

And also him being the one to actually say that they should break up.

Nini

Yeah, there, there are lots of tiny little, like I said, could be read as markers, could just be coincidental, but the show is so well constructed that I am loath to leave it to the idea of coincidence.

Ben

I agree. I think it's well done.

1:20:48 - La Pluie: The Romance

Ben

Tai needed to get his shit together, because as far as I'm concerned Patts is maybe the most perfect romantic interest that BL has ever created. And that also feels really intentional for the themes that they're unpacking.

Nini

La Pluie is a romance novel. Like, if you look at the way it's structured, the way it's organized, La Pluie is a romance novel that is sort of an anti romance novel, almost? And in a romance novel, the love interest is essentially perfect. If they have a flaw, it's something that is, ‘my only flaw is that I care too much’ or some shit like that, you know, that kind of thing? [both laugh]

Patts fits into that mould in a way, but it's also subverted a little bit? So, he's handsome, he's a vet, he is kind to animals, he’s kind to people. He's very sweet, he is a hundred percent into Tai.

Ben

He drives a Porsche. He has a very nice apartment.

Nini

[laughs] He's rich. You know what I mean? All the markers of like the perfect romantic hero.

Ben

He has no family drama.

Nini

None whatsoever…he has a little tragic backstory with grandmother dying…like he’s the perfect romantic hero in a trope sense. Listen, I think sometime around the time that Tai bit that man— and yeah I'm still not over it—

Ben

He did bite that man.

Nini

I remember saying to Ben, ‘oh so like Tai’s an alley cat, but Patts is a literal angel.’ Because after he bit that man and then he threw up on him, still that man took him home, let him, like, lay in his bed. He gave him clothes, left him alone to change his own clothes, and then in the morning when he woke up hungover and couldn't remember shit, he woke up and there was a note because he had cleared out, he didn’t wanna make him feel awkward or anything like that. He cleared out, he left a note saying all the things that he did the night before, because he didn't know if he was going to remember…He was perfect about it. He was such a gentleman.

Ben

As one of the leaders of the Patts defense squad, I'm gonna have to lead a charge for my boy. Because my man is the best communicator. He clearly understands that something is wrong with his soulmate, doesn't pressure him to talk to him; just talks back to him, tries to be kind to him, tries to say nice things to him. Eventually sees a guy who he wants to pursue. He does not know that it’s Tai. But the first thing he does that night is like, ‘hey I don't know what's going on with you, but I saw the cutest boy that has ever existed, and I'm gonna pursue him, so uh, deuces!’

So they end up at this club, Tai gets low-key abandoned by his friends, so Patts takes care of him. Tai bites that man, tries to bite him again. Later that night starts fussing with Patts, accusing him of being a player, and then makes out with him! Like yes, he was drunk, but—makes out with him! Like bro! Patts starts pursuing him earnestly after that, by leaving the note. And then Tai, who does have communication skills and social skills, does the cutesy thing you would do in a movie. He's going to return the fucking clothes to Patts in a cute little bag waiting outside his job. And the two of them go out on the cutest little date, full of all sorts of great stuff.

Also, like, I haven't talked about it that much here: Title is really really good. I love the way Title and Pee both play their characters in this show. The way Title played Tai during that dinner they had? Was so good. At one point when he asks Patts, ‘do you always eat like this?’

Nini

And he points with the knife?

Ben

And he points with the knife, it is so, so perfect! And Patts is so clever. Like Tai wants to hang out and they want to go on the date and he's like, ‘let me not…bullshit about who I am.’ They ride in his Porsche to a fancy restaurant that Patts clearly frequents regularly because the staff recognizes him. He hands Tai the menu and asks Tai what he wants. Tai, who also has social skills and is like ‘I don't know about this, I don't know what the rules are here,’ decides not to make the choice on ordering something, ‘cause he's not trying to hit him up style. So he passes the choice to Patts, and then Patts makes a neutral choice by just saying ‘we'll have whatever the chef’s special is for the day.’ By making the neutral choice to just accept the chef’s special, even though Patts picked the place, he is making sure Tai understands that Patts will not be forcing him to do anything.

I just really love their date, like there's so much there; Patts is really charming, he's funny…and then moving along, the next thing Tai does, which is insane, is introduce Patts to his dad without warning. And the dad ain't shit either, picking on Patts the whole time.

Nini

[laughs] It was funny.

Ben

He hangs out with their dad, and immediately Patts’s instinct is to show the proper respect to Tai’s father. He doesn't get in the middle of their fight. He doesn't ask about it. He just sort of gives them a way to end the fight now, he politely asks about Tai and his other brothers, giving Tai a chance to talk about his family if he wants to. They go back to Tai’s place. Patts, not really thinking about it, walks in on Tai while he's changing, gets to see all the goodies. And then they have this intense moment, and they end up making out on the floor.

I want to make a special note here about La Pluie: La Pluie is one of the first BLs that I can really remember, ever, that when there is a moment of intense sexual tension, releases it. So often these shows just bait us. They titillate us, they want us to get all hot and bothered about ‘whoa, they's ‘bout to kiss’ and then they interrupt it with some nonsense. Or they just don't do anything with it and they tease us and they make bits out of it. And as much as I enjoy these shows, it was so refreshing to see a show go, ‘what if we release it? What if they actually start making out on the floor? What then?’

I get frustrated a lot of times in BL about how they make these boys dickless. And there's this really lovely thing in La Pluie that Patts’s concern was Tai's pleasure. But they stop, because Tai isn't ready. And though Patts was a bit caught up in the moment, he catches himself. And they back off, and they have a conversation about what else is going on. Patts learns a little bit more about Tai—low key they played with some of the yaoi framing in that moment, because as big as Pee is, he crouches himself down and makes himself lower than Tai, and is kind of looking at, up at him in cute ways—because you'd expect Patts to be maybe the seme in this sort of framing—and they do that early on by putting Patts on the left with the date shit when Tai goes to see him, but Patts is queering that narrative by intentionally moving himself to the right when he's trying to get closer to Tai.

When they're on their Chiang Mai trip, one of the most insane things this show does that I will never get over, is…they’re sharing the bed, both of them are awake. They know what's going to happen, we know what's going to happen, but everyone knows Tai is not exactly ready, because we haven't climbed that mountain yet. We haven't dealt with the core angst. We're both two men who are very attracted to each other, and we know we're attracted to each other—so they start to get hot and bothered, but Tai has them stop again, and Patts, our strongest soldier, pulls himself back again. But Tai, listening to his good sis Bow, is like ‘I can't keep leaving this man hanging, I can't keep starting these things and then not finishing it.’ He offers to blow Patts and it was very explicit that that's what happened. We know!

It's so impressive to me that this show presented Tai giving Patts head as a way for him to maintain control over a sexual encounter. The whole notion about giving pleasure as a form of control is something we have not really seen explored in BL this way. I really liked that this show focused on the different ways that two men are going to become more physically and sexually comfortable with each other over time. And even after everything, after Tai has cast him aside, he still chooses to go back to Tai and try and reconcile with him, because he did lose his temper. And that was a scary moment. And I think I like that Patts losing his temper was made as jarring and scary as possible in the show, because I feel like really perfect characters need to have this intense rage about them. Because I have never met a chill pacifist in my life. The choice to be kind is so hard in a world full of cruelty, and I like that underneath the surface of Patts is a temper that he has to manage and maintain. I love my man.

Nini

I can't remember who it is, somebody put this on Tumblr: that Patts is kind but he's not always nice, and Tai is nice but that he's not always kind.

Ben

Exactly.

Nini

Tai seems like, you know, gentle and soft. But when it comes down to it, Tai is the one in the narrative who's actually kind of cruel? It's very interesting to put that on a romantic protagonist. How it ends up getting read is incredibly interesting, because that person is the romantic protagonist, it ends up getting…cast aside, and here I go back into Calvinism and the green flag label [laughs] that I thought I had ventilated with Bed Friend.

Ben

[laughs] As soon as you said that my third eye opened, and I was like—

Nini

Here I go again!

Ben

Where—where's my bat?

[both laugh]

Nini

I didn't get this out of my system the first time, somehow. But yeah, the way that that's received in a protagonist, the fact that the protagonist is kind of a little bit of a bitch boy, quite frankly [laughs], gets glossed over, and then the person who made a mistake has it sort of loom large.

1:32:06 - La Pluie: Depiction of Male Anger

Ben

I got a little bit mad about that with the fandom too like, we got all this bending over backwards week in and week out for Lomfon's rude ass and Tai’s rude ass. Patts loses his temper once, punches a boy, punches a wall, and we're like ‘oh! he's dangerous!’ And I'm like, ‘I hate this!’

And there's a lot more I want to unpack here in the future — this does not feel like the right time to do it, but we really need to talk about that at some point, as a community that engages with romance? Because we have a really fucked-up relationship with violence. Like, Patts, not leaving a mark on Lomfon was seen as egregious. Punching a door in frustration was seen as egregious. But like, Bad Buddy opens up with Pran shit-kicking Pat to the fucking ground, as these boys beat the shit out of each other!

Nini

I think like, it's a lot of things. It's a question of who gets to be angry, and how anger is portrayed, and men's anger, and the way that women—because of the way that we have to be socialized to protect ourselves, the way that we view men's anger that is sort of slightly different from how men will view men's anger? And how being familiar with certain kinds of angry expressions from men is, like, one of the reasons that women shrink from that kind of stuff. And there's so many women in BL fandom.

Like I understood where that was coming from, but at the same time, the show is so legible. It's very legible that this is Patts…reaching the end of his rope, and it's very clear in the show that Patts would never actually hurt anybody. [laughs] He doesn't even really hurt Lomfon. Lomfon is fine! He gets his ass kicked a little bit, but he's fine!

Ben

As our great friend wen-kexing-apologist pointed out, this show has a makeup budget. My boy Tai got his shit fucked up on that mountain, and the makeup crew made sure he looked messed up even in that wet filming situation. They could have afforded to make that boy's mouth bruised the way it should have been for talking the way he was, and my man doesn't. And that's the thing that gets me. Like, everybody else is allowed to be an asshole, but Patts, who I believe deserves to be righteously angry about this shit going down at this point in their relationship—and it's like ‘aw, geez, I don't know about that brah.’

We see, through Patts’s relationship with Nara, that he would never actually hurt Tai. And that's why the intensity of his frustration I think should have been the focus, not the expression of it. I really resented the way it felt like everyone suddenly wanted to regulate Patts’s frustration. I hate the whole notion that he is only allowed to be upset in an attractive, gentle way. Because he's been gentle the whole goddamn time, and everyone has been so rude and disrespectful of him.

Nini

Like, there is room to talk about the expression of Patts’ frustration, but you can't have that room if you're using it in a reductive manner to just completely kick him out the window as a character. I don't buy that, I don't subscribe to it.

1:35:50 - La Pluie: Treatment of Nara

Ben

With Nara, we saw that Patts is capable of dealing with difficult romantic situations. Because Nara is treated so sympathetically about everything that went down with her and Patts. How she feels frustrated about Patts’s soulmate connection with Tai, long before they start talking, I think is valid. Because she felt frustrated. She felt frustrated that anytime it rains, Patts gets moody, and it feels like somebody else is in the middle of their relationship. And you got the sense from them accidentally making out in the rain one time, where Patts immediately cut it off and apologized, that he didn't want to put Tai through that, even before he knew who Tai was. I got that Nara felt frustrated that her intimacy was scheduled around the goddamn rain. She felt an innate jealousy in her own relationship that she knew she was struggling with and couldn't exactly cope with. It wasn't fair to either of them. Patts is like, ‘look if I can get rid of this I would, because I do care about you.’

Nara takes some time. She gets to reflect, she decides to grow. She knows that it's hard out here in these goddamn streets, and Patts is a keeper, and she tries to do the big romantic gesture. And that's why Tai liked her! Because that boy loves big romantic gestures! And Patts lets her down, he apologizes, he's like ‘I'm sorry I may have led you on, I want things to be okay between us. Because what happened between us was real, it mattered to me, and I still care about you even if I can't give you my heart like that anymore.’ Yeah, “we should stay friends” is kind of a cliche, but it feels earned here.

And I also like that Nara got to be disappointed and heartbroken and upset about it too. I liked that people cared about how she felt. They wanted to reintegrate her into the group. The other vets liked Nara, even if she wasn't going to be Patts’ girlfriend anymore. But they understand that in the breakup, they're Patts’s friends. And you know those people respect relationship dynamics, because they didn't just look to Patts to see if Nara was okay to be around, they look to Saengtai, to see how the new person was going to feel about that—particularly because he just ran up a fucking mountain because of her—and he says it's okay, and they were so eager to reintegrate her into the group.

And then she and Dream get to get rolling. And they let us have them at the end! She was like, ‘look, we only got five minutes left in this show, if you going to get this shit you better come correct and you better come now.’ And I loved that! Because the girlies deserved it.

Nini

She said, ‘I'm grown, give it your best shot.’

Ben

I saw some frustrations with the ending, and how a lot of the episode was Tai running around by himself, and meeting some random characters at the end, and…us not spending a lot of time with Patts, like Patts not really talking at the end? But it works for me. Tai had to deal with the silence, for the first time—that he inflicts silence on so many people, and now he's the one who has to sit in the shit that he made.

And I liked him meeting a couple that had challenges to deal with in their relationship, and being told once again, ‘you just got to do the work bro, you gotta talk to each other, you gotta listen to what your partner is saying to you.’ And I like that the final scene with Tai and Patts is Tai not hesitating.

Man! This show was so rewarding to watch because it wasn't trying to trick us.

Nini

The show was wearing its bona fides on the tin. It was very clear where it wanted to go, what it wanted to do. It wasn't playing with us. It wasn't trying to gotcha with us. It was just laying out its central idea, and continually reinforcing it throughout the story and the narrative for the entire way through.

Does that make it, like, unpredictable and exciting? No. But it made it really enjoyable to watch: to watch something lay the path, and then walk the path, was more fun than it, I expected it to be, I have to say.

1:40:47 - La Pluie: The Side Characters

Nini

And, when we're talking about laying the path and walkin’ the path—man, let's just get to it, let's talk about Tien and Lomfon.

Here are the polar opposites, okay, because in Tai and Patts, like you have an agnostic and an apostate, like they're not as far apart as somebody like Tien and Lomfon, who are a true believer and a total atheist. How do they get to the middle? All the shit that happens in the middle, especially, [laughs] how do they get through that and find their way through each other? Basically, Lomfon has to grovel, and I enjoy a good grovel, so I had a great time.

Ben

Here's the thing. My boy Tien deserves so much more than he got. My man initiated a gay pinky touch, and then Lomfon, was like, ‘hm! I don't know what's going on, but I know that I have these special signs from the universe about this stupid key chain, that I need to go kiss this boy's brother, not the one reaching out with the gay pinky touch while taking care of me while I'm sick, twice!’ I'm gonna stay mad at this man. [both laugh]

This man ruined a gay pinky touch. Tien is so patient with both of them. Like Patts is beating up Lomfon, Tai is screaming at the universe, clearly suddenly they can all hear in the rain, Tien doesn't know what's going on—but he cuts through the bullshit right away with Lomfon, it's like, ‘I liked you! Why are you being like this?’ Even when Tai didn't realize what was going on, Tien holds back his own disappointment that his brother maybe didn't necessarily see him the right way, and still says, ‘thank you for always being on my left.’

Ahh! I love that boy so much! He's so good, he deserves so much more. He was dressing like an early 2000s lesbian the whole time, serving nothing but constant looks. He was so fun to watch, especially when he was being kind of sassy with everyone.

Nini

I like Tien as a character, I like his wardrobe…don't even get me started. That outfit he wore to the wedding? Unreal. I loved it so much.

Ben

I loved it. It's so good. Oh my god.

Nini

Un. Real.

Ben

That whole family looked good, like holy shit! [laughs]

Nini

We didn't even talk about Saengnuea! And oh god, we're never going to get forgiven by one of the clowns if we never even bring up Saengnuea.

Ben

He was so awkward and goofy! I, I liked that boy too. I loved Bow, I loved the vets—what's so great about the side characters with La Pluie, is they do their role just enough to help us understand the world in which these characters exist. Like Tai is surrounded by people trying to just pour love all over that boy, and he will just not let them. Patts is surrounded by a community that loves him, that wants the best for him, that wants to make sure that he gets what he deserves too. Oh my god, just—what an excellent show.

1:44:02 - La Pluie: Sequel Potential

Nini

The thing that I think that we want to end up on is, I said before that La Pluie is basically a filmed romance novel. If you are aware of how, like, these romance novels get set up—a lot of the time, it will be multiple stories set in the same universe, where each of the characters basically gets to fall in love. We know at least that the La Pluie people seem to want to get into all of the Saeng brothers and their various romances. I don't know if they will get to, but what do you think about the obvious setup for the Saengtien sequel at the end of the show, and this idea of going into, like, a Bridgerton-esque series of romances using all of the same characters?

How do you feel about that?

Ben

Honestly…I’m a little bit nervous because I just worry that the audience won't respond to it really well. I feel like a significant portion of the audience just actively did not get La Pluie. They were really caught up in the soulmate stuff. And I just feel like a lot of the audience maybe didn't…gel with all the themes?

Nini

So as usual, Ben is the one thinking about everybody else while I very selfishly think about myself. [both laugh] And I'm just like, ‘give it to me.’ I'm ready, I'm here for it. I trust these writers, I trust this director, I think that if they get a chance to delve into this universe in more detail and focusing on different characters, I think that they can nail it? I'm ready to see what happens if they get a chance to do it.

I don't care about whether people are going to get it correctly or not, I don't. I kind of care, but at the same time I don't care. So that being said: Ben, is this a ten or a chop?

Ben

La Pluie is probably in my top five BLs of all time, and it's probably in my top ten shows of all time right now. It's a 10. It's a 10. [laughs] It’s a 10!

Nini

All right? So for Ben it’s a 10, for me it’s definitely a 10, that leaves us with La Pluie as a 10 show!

1:46:01 - Outro

Ben

And we're back.

Nini

Okay Ben, so…lotta ink spilled over these two shows. I don't think I've seen so much meta being written, probably since the Bad Buddy era. We've got a strange combo here: a show that was incredibly legible, and then a show that made you work a little bit harder, and in both instances it feels like people didn't get it? [laughs]

I don't know, what are your thoughts? What do you feel about this?

Ben

One of the big stories of this year is BL maturing as a genre and beginning to genre blend. Like in a lot of ways, La Pluie wants to straddle the line between BL and classic romance, and I think it does a pretty admirable job at it. Whereas Step by Step feels like the BL elements that it's trying to manage are holding it back from what it really wants to be. That feels like the sort of thing that inevitably happens with this type of outgrowth.

La Pluie doesn't really want to say things sort of directly or inherently about queerness, it wants to talk about romance itself. And romance as a genre. Whereas Step by Step really wants to talk about queer stuff in a real world, and that's a whole lot messier to deal with. They both did some things really really well, and the audience connected to that. And what fascinated me so much about it was that the audience felt compelled to talk to each other about it. I felt like that happened maybe more organically on its own with Step by Step? Some of us kind of forced the issue on La Pluie. I know that I was part of it, like very, very directly, and it's been fun seeing people respond to that, by just us saying very earnestly: please tell us what you're thinking. And engaging with what people are writing.

I think it's good for us and the genre to take it more seriously? It has been really fascinating for me seeing people engaging the way they are, but I legitimately feel a bit fatigued by it. And like, the last time I felt fatigue in BL, truly, was at the beginning. I know a lot of you don't watch as much content as I do, like you couldn't possibly do it, it's not healthy for you. I don't know how starved some of you have been for content that you can genuinely connect to, that can help you feel a little bit less lonely about yourself. And like I’d never gotten tired of queer cinema—I’d gotten hurt by it, but I'd never gotten, like, genuinely tired of just being in it that long.

And I feel a little tired from all of the intense writing that La Pluie and Step by Step kind of demanded of us. It's a really fascinating time for me as a fan, to feel like the shows are demanding more of us as viewers, as we watch them, than to just be pleased by them or intrigued by them so that we'll engage and buy merch and stuff. It was really fascinating having two shows this season that really feel like they wanted us to think about things along with them.

Nini

I know that you and I have talked about that feeling of fatigue, like for me, this is the most anything I've watched in years. The level of exhaustion that I felt, and then to have these two shows sort of spring up at the end of the season, and demand—you’re correct—demand my attention…not just in terms of the shows themselves, but then in the reaction to the shows. It's sort of left me a little hollowed out, almost, a little wrung out? I don't know yet if in a good way or a bad way. It's yet to be seen.

I remember saying to you at one point, I was like, I need something mindless to just sit and watch for the next couple of weeks, at least. Or, like, maybe longer, I just need something that I don't need to think about. And that's not a place that I'm accustomed to being in media? Because I am normally the let's get deep into it, let's get into the guts, put your arm in and come back with a beating heart kind of girl when it comes to the stories. And right now I'm just like, eh, I want something shallow and surface that I don't have to think too much about, please, just for a little while. And then I can re-engage my brain later. It's a very strange place for me to be in, I don't think it's a place that I've ever been in? But yeah these these two shows, they took it out of me, I gotta say.

And that's how we end the season ladies and theydies! We are a little wrung out, and we'll probably talk about that a little bit more in the Lagniappe. But yeah! We tired, y'all. [laughs]

Ben

It’s gonna be fascinating, like, getting to listen back over this, because we talked really in the season about how slow it was for me to get into the spring season, coming off of the the winter hangover from Moonlight Chicken, Utsukushii Kare, My School President and The Warp Effect. And it's weird now at the end of the spring season, where…I don't necessarily feel like a tired hangover from it? It's a hard feeling to describe because the winter shows were really good, really hit something in me…

Nini

The winter shows were emotionally intense. There was like a heavy emotional hangover coming off of the winter. I don't feel that emotional hangover now, but I feel mentally drained.

Ben

Yeah, it's a far more cerebral feeling, and like the thing for me is, I grow stronger on that feeling. [both laugh] It's gonna be, it’s gonna be hard for me if these new shows don't keep up! ‘Cause, it's what I want! I do not want to yuck anyone's yums, like, there is absolutely a place for fluff in this genre. I will never, ever vote against the silly and fun shows. I just also really love meaty shows that make me think really hard while I'm watching them. And I love when that feels intentional—like we do a lot of hard thinking on our own about these shows, but damn is it satisfying when it feels like the show itself is in that conversation with us. And I really hope that this isn't the last time we have an Adult Swim episode because we got a bunch of really thinky shows to think about.

Like, I was very harsh to Step by Step when we talked about that show, but I don't want Tee to stop thinking as hard as he does. I want him to stay in the guts of trying to unpack where queer people fit in modern Thai cinema. That's a really important thing to figure out, and queer people should be part of that conversation. And like even if I didn't think this was the best execution of his ideas, I don't want that conversation to get missed because his show didn't land consistently for everyone.

Nini

I'm tired y'all. I'm so tired.

Ben

[laughs] I’m so energized. Keep it coming.

Nini

My brain hurts! And this is the shit that I normally love, but my brain, it hurts, and my brain, she needs a break! And so, a break she shall have. [laughs]

We'll be back at you next time with the Lagniappe, but that's it for us now! We are just going to wrap it up on Adult Swim.

Our first Adult Swim episode: may there be others. We out! Say bye to the people, Ben.

Ben

Peace.

54 notes · View notes

desertdollranch · 2 years

Text

Sariah’s 1984 Skee-Ball Arcade Game

The only thing that will bring Sariah inside during the winter break from school is the arcade at the roller skating rink! You might remember her previous visit the arcade to play some video games after skating. The arcade just installed a skee-ball game, and Sariah wants to get good enough at it to win some redeemable prize tickets. There’s a certain trendy toy she’s got her eye on...

This can be a frustrating game at first, but finally getting a ball into a cup is really exciting! To play skee-ball, the ball must be rolled uphill fast enough to fly into one of the holes. The smaller the holes and the farther away, the higher number of points the player gets.

Sariah pitches it fast enough to get it going up the incline and into the cups. Once all the balls have been thrown, the machine dispenses tickets based on the player’s final score. The tickets can be redeemed for some fun prizes.

Good thing she’s got lots of quarters.... she’s playing until she runs out of money.

Her first attempt wins her six tickets. Not bad!

I built Sariah’s skee-ball game entirely from foam board, using plans I drafted myself. Even the score cups at the top are foam board that I carefully curled and glued into place. The tickets, coin slot, and ticket dispenser are printed images. The balls are regular bouncy balls.

I wish it were an exact reproduction of a life-sized one, but that’s probably not something I can build without the right skills and lots of money. And the physics for an accurate skee-ball setup were not on my side, due to the limitations of materials and the size of it. Keeping the foam board from snapping when it’s curved enough to the right slope for the ball to catch some air, while being long enough for the ball to accelerate to the necessary speed, is just not realistic with what I’m working with.

But the ball can be tossed into the holes, so playing with it is certainly possible! I’ve had a lot of fun with it so far. I put an inclined piece of foam board inside so that the balls roll downward and come out through the opening you can see above, in the bottom left corner below the tickets.

Sariah’s denim shorts, oversized button-down shirt, and Fraggle Rock tee were inspired by an outfit I saw being worn on the TV show Kids Incorporated. I watched some clips of episodes from 1984 to get some ideas for what kids were wearing back then. Fraggle Rock was another TV show that was on in the early 80′s, featuring puppets by Jim Henson. I used iron transfer paper to attach the image to her shirt. Her green button-down was cut from an old shirt of mine that was too worn-out to repair. Her pink jellies are Sophia’s brand.

And of course Sariah is taking home a prize today! She earned enough tickets to get a Care Bear!

#historicaloc #sariah solomon #doll crafts #handmade doll clothes

56 notes · View notes

gra-sonas · 3 years

Note

Hi friend. Thank you so much for your offer!!!! I am torn because I would honestly love a rundown of the vlamburn live, but I again don’t want you to put yourself out too much. Knowing you even spent an hour on the Vlamis one makes me feel bad!!! Maybe if you get bored haha, I would love it but please please don’t put yourself out and please also take as much time as you want, no hurry at all IF you decide to do it. Thank you again for everything 💗💗

Okay, nonnie, this took a tad longer to transcribe, but it’s done, now.

youtube

Putting the transcript behind a READMORE bc it got quite long. Hope this will help you (and maybe others, too). Sending much love your way, and I hope you get to watch the live. Happy Sunday! ❤️

Vlamis: *goes live* *opens can of Mountain Dew* “I’m gonna thirst my quench. Because I am thirsty for Malex. That’s what I’m thirsty for.”

“Where you at Tyler” (waiting for Tyler to request him)

Vlamis notices a few of his friends have joined the live (a girl who gave him his first hug in 6th grade, and Parker Seaman, famously responsible for pranking with SunBum)

“What’s up, Vlambase?” Makes sure to differentiate between *the* Vlambase (that’s us) and Vlambase (the merch company).

*spots Jeanine in the chat* “Jeanine’s the Real Vlam. We had fun shooting together today. They said they needed to get better focus on Vlam, and nobody knew which one they were talking about because Jeanine and I had a scene together.”

“Tyler? Guys, does anyone see him? Get in here, Tyler.” *looks straight into the camera*

“Oh, he requested, there he is.” *keeps walking around his house until Tyler pops up on screen eventually*

V “Ohhhhh, there he is!”

T “I was listening to you saying ‘where is he?’ And I was like ‘I’m here, I’ve requested you already’.”

V “A lot of people requesting. You’re very popular.”

T “Yeah, that’s why.”

Both zoom in on the merch they’re wearing. Vlamis the black MALEX hoodie, Tyler the black COSMIC hoodie. Tyler’s also wearing a MALEX hat tho.

V “Whose handwriting do you like better?”

T “Honestly, yours reminds me of the writing from FRIENDS, the show, FRIENDS.”

V “That’s right, you told me that before. I love that.”

T “I don’t really have a favorite. I think we’re unique in our own way.”

V “I like yours.”

T “You do?”

V “Yeah, like it’s prettier, dude.” *drinks more Mountain Dew

T “No, yours is nice.” *nods to show the MALEX hat* “That’s yours, right?”

V “Yeah, that’s me.”

Vlamis explains, that they both tried different versions of MALEX and COSMIC in their respective handwriting and ultimately settled on what’s been released (with the help of Jesa).

V “3 minutes in, do we have enough people? Oh, lots of friends here.”

T “Jeanine!”

V “We love you, Jeanine!”

V “Oh, Tanner’s up in here. What up, Tanner? Big brother Greg!”

T “Big brother Greg?”

V “Yeah, Tanner’s in there.”

T “All the hearts. Oh yeah, Tanner, my buddy! I thought that was one of your friends from Chi-town”

V “[girl who hugged Vlamis in 6th grade] she says ‘love me some Tyler’ She’s getting in there.”

Vlamis says they have a list of questions, and they want to answer some of them before they talk about anything else.

V “Sounds good?”

T “Hell yeah .”

“Each of you, describe S3 Malex in one word”

T “You go first.”

V “I’m scared to go first.” *another sip of Mountain Dew*

T *perks up* “You’re literally drinking Mountain Dew right now?”

V *cracks up*

T “You remember what I said about your health? And I was like ‘you don’t really drink that shit.’ And you were like *impersonates Vlamis* ’no, no, no’”

V *cracks up some more* “You thought I just got it for the photoshoot.”

T “Yeah.”

V *drinks more Mountain Dew*

T “That’s disgusting!”

V “I know, dude.” *laughs* “You’re like a health freak. But man, it’s diet. It’s diet.”

T *mock relieved* “Oh, good.”

Back to answering questions.

T “So, S3 Malex.”

V “The reason it’s hard is because we only know up to episode 3x06 as of right now. So we don’t even know fully S3 Malex.”

T “Exactly, yeah. I mean, thus far, I would sayyyyy— tension.”

V “Woooow. Okay. I agree. You know what I’m gonna say?”

T “What?”

V “With the tension, I think there’s a hopefulness. So I would say hopeful.”

T *ponders* “Okay. Okay. Now is that you talking about your feelings about Malex?”

V *laughs*

T “Like you’re hopeful?”

V “Yeah, dude. Sometimes I feel bad like just being so about Malex. But— give me Malex or give me death, man. I love Malex.”

T “Hell yeah. I think we’ve gotten some great scenes and then people really respond to them whether they are themselves queer or not and it’s like. If you can speak to people universally like that? That’s incredible.”

V “Yeah, dude. Speaking of that. I think it’s important that we tell everyone… Usually we don’t— I don’t know, guys, if you’ve been paying attention to it in previous drops but we always donated a percentage of our proceeds to a charity. We don’t really announce that because we do that not to tell you guys what we’re doing but because we like to do it. But this drop specifically, it’s important because we’re donating to one of our favorite ones. And I know you’ve worked with them in the past before. So yes, it’s going to be the Trevor Project.”

T “Yeah.”

V “—for this specific drop. They have no idea, it’s not an official partnership or anything but that’s—“

T “That’s our plan.”

V “Yeah, that’s what we’re gonna do.”

They’re moving on to the next question.”

V “What has been our favorite part about putting this merch drop together and whose idea was it?”

T “It was yours.”

V “I think it was Jesa Joy’s idea.”

T “It was Jesa Joy, but between the two of us, it was you coming to me.You and Jesa. Because you’ve been like killing it with all the Vlambase merch and stuff. So it was kind of like the next best thing.”

V “Duuuuude, you— you’re an inspiration for a lot of things, man. A lot of things that I do and Roswell, and like clearly even before this drop with Boys Will Be Boys or just any of these other designs. So this is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Jesa Joy has been wanting to work with you since… I think you commented on a vintage t-shirt she was wearing at a premiere of yours like six years ago. She was like wearing a Nirvana vintage tee and you complimented her on it.”

T “Wait, why is it that this is the first time I’m hearing this story?”

V “I think… I don’t know.”

T “You never told me this.”

V “She probably asked me not to because she’s probably very embarrassed.”

T “No, I love that story! So I commented on a vintage Nirvana shirt.”

V “One of her shirts from her company Blank Clo.”

T “And she was wearing it?”

V “And now you’re making merch with her which is just so sick.”

T “Honestly, she’s truly just the best.”

V “She is a beast. I don’t know how. She doesn’t sleep. I bought her a Nespresso machine for Christmas to keep her—.”

T “You’re enabling her!”

V “I have to, man, someone’s gonna get the work done!”

Both laughing.

V “But yeah, I think my favorite part’s just been working with you, collaborating with an outsider. It’s always me and Jesa so working with you, doing feedback and then probably because we’ve spent so little time with each other - or anyone - during this pandemic, I would say the photoshoot was… We don’t do that anymore, you know.”

T “I know. No, I know. That really was fun. And I just feel like it’s actually kinda— my favorite part is like more general. You and I have been working together as actors but it was fun to work on like a different kind of creative endeavor together, you know what I mean.”

V “Yeah, definitely.”

T “Going back and forth about like colors and like what kind of writing should be on this merch and what about this photo, and you hearing a lot of like ‘no, I have three chins in that photo, so you’re not gonna use that one, buddy.’”

V *cracks up*

V “Nah, dude, you look beautiful, man.You always look good.”

V *pretends to getting hot, fans himself*

V “Jesus, man, every time I talk to you I just get a little worked up. I gotta—“

V *takes off black MALEX hoodie, reveals pink MANESQUEEZE hoodie underneath*

T *laughs and shakes head* “I hate you.”

V “It’s true, I get so hot and— oh, I didn’t realize I have more merch on. I get so hot and bothered every time I’m talking to you.”

T *laughs* “It’s not that cold here. It’s only like 40F(4C) degrees here and you have layers and layer and layers.”

V “Well, the heat’s out, man, the heat’s out, you know.”

T “Oh, in your house? Nice.”

V “No, no, no, it’s not out, dude. You’re just that hot.”

T “Aurora!”

V “Oh, Aurora’s here!”

T *reads from chat* “Malex forever. Tyler’s handwriting!”

T “She likes it better? Is that what she’s saying?”

V “Yeah, she’s a fan.”

T “She’s gem.”

V “She watches Roswell for you to be honest.”

T *laughs*

V “Which is a little weird but that’s fine.”

Next question is also about the merch making process, and they decide they’ve answered that.

V “The collaboration of it all.”

T “Yeah.”

V “What did you say?”

T “I said yeah.”

V “You blowing me a kiss?”

T *cracks up* “No!” *giggles*

V “Man, I’m seeing things that I wanna see.

Next question “What is your favorite thing about each other?” from a fan from Argentina.

“I went to Argentina last year. Well, 2019. Big fan.”

T “I’ve never been, I really wanna go.”

V “Oh, you’d love it, dude. Good steak, good wine.”

T “Hell yeah.”

V “It’s all you need. It’s all you need.”

V “Okay, favorite thing about each other? Do you wanna go first or should I?”

T “Ooooooh, that’s a tough one. There’s not a lot to like.” *cracks up* “No, I’m just kidding.”

V “Yeah, right, dude.”

T “No, honestly, I feel like I’ve said this before, actually, in like actual interviews and stuff. But I think like you’re very multi-dimensional. I feel like you can get along with any type of person but it all comes from a very genuine place, and I think that— it’s very familiar and comforting, I think you’re like a really well-rounded guy who’s in touch with every emotion in a very healthy way. In a good way, you know.”

V “I really appreciate that, man. That means a lot to me. I definitely pride myself on being able to connect with people and I enjoy meeting all sorts of different people. Sometimes to the point where I’m like… I feel like we’re so quickly to judge people nowadays. And don’t get me wrong, I judge, too, it’s hard not to. You look at something and you have preconceived ideas, but staying open through the process to meeting them and getting to know them, that’s something else. And the more as I get older, I realize that, dude, like we all have a ton of faults. So we got to be open with that person even though they may believe something that we don’t like. There’s like fifty other things you might like about them, you know?”

T “Totally.”

V “So that’s—“

T “Absolutely. I mean, you don’t have to like everything a person to *like* them, do you know what I mean?”

V “Yeah.”

T “And I feel like, the things that we don’t like in other people, are usually things that remind us of the things we don’t like about ourselves. So, in a way it’s like a mirror, you have to kind of look at that.”

V “Dude, yes. So, I will say two things I love most about you. I would say number one: your openness. And that goes with: you always say what you’re thinking - at least to me, right?”

T *nods*

V “Like, you always say what you think, you always say what you feel. And I think that goes along with how much of an empath you are. I mean, dude, I’ve said that before but that’s why some of our scenes are my most favorite is because one of the most easiest people I’ve ever worked with. Dude, I look inside you, I know you’re *genuine*, man. And that comes with you being open and available. And, I don’t know if a lot of people know it, they must, but—“

T “I’m nervous.”

V “You have a sick, twisted sense of humor, just like me!”

They’re both cracking up.

V “A lot of people might not know that.”

T “I accept that, I accept that. I do feel though that you bring it out in me. I feel like we can just “bro down” a little bit. As lame as that is to say. You bring it out in me. It’s obviously there, not everybody sees it, but you can bring it out in me.”

V “There’s nothing wrong with a little bro-ing down, dude, we’re not that pretentious where you can’t be a little bit of a bro.”

T “Nah.” *changes topic* “Ashley Benson just did these hands [in the chat].”

V “Wow, is she trying to come for our love right now?”

T “Probably. But dude, our love was first. Haleb was first before Malex. So step down.”

V “You can never beat a first love. So—“ *raises Mountain Dew can* “Ashley, this Mountain Dew’s to you. *guzzles down fluid toxic waste* “Thanks for joining!”

T *smiles* “Yeah. I love you, Ashley. Miss you.”

V “Okay, so one more question. Oh, this is a good one. From aimz_623, what up, aimz... Oh, I know who this is! Because I did a meet & greet last year with her, and she was hammered at like 11 in the morning in Australia.”

T *cracks up*

V “Drinking like a blue slurpy drink. It was awesome! Okay, she said ‘Are the meet & greets joint or individual?’”

Neither says anything for a moment, waiting for the other to talk. Vlamis breaks first.

“Well, joint!”

*both cracking up*

T “I was like ‘am I gonna answer that?’ Yes, they are joint. We’re gonna be together.”

V *nods* “We’re gonna be together.”

T “Not even like this [in two separate places like during the IG live]. We’re gonna be in person together in the same room.”

V “You’re gonna be next to me in bed. Oh, well, next to me.”

T “Yeah, yeah. In the bathtub.”

V *cracks up* “In the bathtub. No mask?”

T “With mask, but that’s it.”

V “You like it with the mask?”

T “We’re gonna do mask and nothing else.”

V *cracks up*

T 😏

V “See, dude, you are sick!”

T “Maybe a few rubber duckies to hide some things.”

V “Dude, all this talking, man.I’m just so hot.” *takes off pink MANESQUEEZE sweater, he’s wearing the MALEX FOREVER t-shirt underneath* “Sorry about that.”

T “I just want everybody to know that he told me he was going to do this shtick.”

V *doubles over laughing*

T “I just want everybody to know that this is pre-planned. He’s a great actor but he just wants to show off as much merch in one live as possible.”

V “Sorry, dude. You know how it goes.” *pretends to take off t-shirt* No, no more!”

T “Nooo!”

V “I can’t put anything else under here. Oh guys, I’ve been messing around with one of our MALEX LOVE INTENTION candles. I’ve been messing with people and how it smells on Twitter, saying that it smells like vanilla bean and just basically you, and your body, you know.”

T “Me?”

V “Yeah, and your armpits. But what it really smells like is crème brûlée with a hint of jasmine.”

T “So, my body. 😏”

V “Basically your body. After a good wash, dude. Not my body. My body’s disgusting.”

T “You have a good smell, actually, I’ve told you this before. You have a good smell, and I don’t know if it’s like the shampoo you use, it’s *something*. But there’s like a natural— like, I’ve never smelled that on anybody else, and I don’t know what it is. But you do have a good smell.”

V while Tyler’s talking: 😊

V “You mean it’s good?”

T “Yeah! Yes, absolutely.”

V “My guy, dude.”

T “You never even had bad breath during kissing scenes in the past, I don’t understand. You look homeless a lot, but you like you don’t smell it.”

V “My character is homeless, basically.”

T “Yeah, he is. He’s literally always dirty. Physically dirty.”

V “One time I ate like a chicken salad before one of those scenes and then we had to do a quick scrub but most of the time we’re pretty good.”

T “Oh yeah, but we put a mint or some shit like that in the mouth.”

V “Remember when I was doing keto, though, and I was eating all the bagged tuna?”

T “First of all, never talk about that again. That was disgusting.”

V *cracks up*

T “That was disgusting. You ate *bagged* tuna.”

V “Yeah, that was messed up, man.”

T “My doctor told me that tuna has the highest level of mercury in it and we shouldn’t eat it.”

V “Well, that’s what— I mean. Jeremy Piven, I heard he got mercury poison one time, from eating too much sushi.”

T “Probably.”

V “Too much tuna, man. If you wanna be like Jeremy Piven, eat a lot of tuna, guys.”

T “Hell yeah.”

V “No, nobody wants to be like… Anyway. So, another question. Do the sweatpants have pockets? Believe it or not, this is very hard.”

T “Hi, Carly! My cousin Carly just came on. Remember, you met her on set that one time. ”

V “Oh, she came and visited.”

T “Yeah, she just said hi.”

V “When your mom was in town, too.”

T “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

V *waves at camera* “Hi, Carly!”

T “Was that last year? Yeah, that was last year. Anyway, sorry. Sweatpants!”

V “No, no, it’s good. We have to say hi to the people that support us. I appreciate that. But no, sweatpants, do they have pockets.”

*explains why it’s hard (and expensive) to offer sweatpants with pockets, so sweatpants from this drop don’t have pockets, but they’re working on offering that in the future*

T “But like a lot of these sweatshirts have pockets. Like this has—” *shows his COSMIC hoodie’s front pocket*

V “Oh yeah, we got those. One hundred percent. And there’s a big mix and everything. Uhm, also because it’s a pandemic, it’s a lot of the colors, the sizes, they’re so hard to find. And normally, we don’t really buy—in the past, we hadn’t bought a lot of merch upfront, we waited to see what kind of things you guys ordered and liked and then we made our orders. Now, I’ve been putting money upfront to purchase merch, that’s why stuff’s selling out so quickly. So a lot of it is really “limited edition”. So tomorrow at 10.30am PST when it launches, if you want something, grab it, because it might go quickly, and I’ll feel bad, if you don’t get it. Okay, and the last thing, this isn’t even a question, I just have a note for it because I’m excited about it. Everyone who’s ordered before knows that the first hundred who order, always get a little surprise in their package. And this time, it’s a picture, a Polaroid of us, and we will both be signing it. Isn’t that right?”

T “We will.”

V “I’ll have a lot of them and put them up in my trailer, around the candle.”

T *cracks up*

V “It’s gonna be real nice.😏”

T “Yeah.”

V “Okay, what do you think. Should we tell everyone how they can win a meet & greet?”

T “Yeah.”

V “I don’t think we missed anything, right? I think we did it all.” *guzzles last sip of Mountain Dew*

T *ponders* “Yeah, I think we did. I think we’re good.”

V “Okay, meet & greet time, guys.”

Vlamis explains how people can win a meet & greet. Find a pic on the Vlambase account and a comment that says “Meet & Greet” and the first person to reply to that comment with the name of the band and the song that was playing during Malex’s first kiss at the UFO Emporium in 1x06 wins.

V “[The song] It’s a favorite one of mine.”

T “Oh, it’s so good!”

V “So good!”

T “So nostalgic for me, too.”

V “A hundred percent, man. I actually just watched that scene right before we jumped on here. Is that strange that I watch scenes of us all the time?”

T “I got to go.”

*both cracking up*

V “Ashley, you still here?”

T “Yeah, I gotta hit up Ashley. No, it’s not, I think it’s cute. It’s cute and that’s sweet.”

V “My guy, dude.”

T “So, that was kind of a lengthy scavenger hunt [for the meet & greet].” *explains once more how to win a m&g*

T “We’ve been on this for a while now, and we still have over a thousand people here.”

V “I know, it’s really cool. That’s definitely the most people I’ve ever spoken to live.”

T *laughs*

V “I think so.”

T “Maybe.”

V “Find the photo, find the Vlambase comment. You’ll know the comment when you see it, you have to search through. Comment, name the band, and then name the song that played during Malex’s first museum kiss. We were so nervous, dude.”

T “🤨”

V “We were so young.”

T “Oh, you mean in real life or in the show?”

V “In the show.”

T “Oh yeah. That was fun, though. That was fun bringing up those emotions, though.”

V “Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between real life and the show.”

T “I know. We’re just *that* method.”

V *cracks up*

V “Dude, so, yeah, 10.30am PST tomorrow. michaelvlamis.com, everything’s going to be live. If you guys have any other questions, I don’t know.”

T “I’m also gonna have the link in my bio of my instagram.”

V “Oh yes, I will do that, too. I always have it in there, though. I’m a narcissist.”

T *laughs*

V “So, anyway, people are saying “I’m confused”. No, they’re not. I think people understood.”

T “Someone else says “what does the comment say”?”

V “The comment says “Meet & Greet”.”

T “And that’s all that it says? Just “Meet & Greet”?”

V “And it says “Be the first to reply”.”

T “Oh, okay.”

V “So, you have to reply directly to that comment, and you got to say the name of the band, name of the song playing during Malex’s first kiss in the museum. Find the comment on one of the random pictures of clothing that was posted today on the vlambase instagram.”

T “We couldn’t let you guys get off easy, you know.”

V “Oh my god, the other vlambase account just said it’s already answered.”

T “😮”

V “So, it’s over guys, sorry. Aww, littlecupcake just said “I lost already.” Sorry, littlecupcake.”

T “Is that someone you know?”

V “No, but I know littlecupcake because I did a live once, and she tried to request to come in and talk to me, and it said that for everyone else who’s seen her screen it said that she was waiting for me to accept but on my screen it wasn’t showing up, so I feel bad about littlecupcake.”

T “Well, we shouted her out big time. Are we sure it’s a she? Maybe it’s a he?”

V “I think it’s a she.”

T “Okay, well, either way.”

V “Dude, you’re working tomorrow, aren’t you?”

T “Yeah.”

V “Then I’ll see you next week.”

T “Yeah, you will.”

V “We’ll be on set together.”

T “Yeah, we will.”

V “Gonna be nice.”

T “Next Tuesday.”

V “I gotta do extra Covid testing because it’s a close contact.”

T “*inhales* I know. I did mine today.”

V “Ooof, we’re gonna be so close.”

T “So close, yet so far.”

V “Alright, dude, get some rest. I’m excited for tomorrow. I love you, man, talk to you later. Thanks everybody for joining!”

T “Thanks so much for coming on, guys!”

V “Alright, see ya.”

T “Bye!”

V “Bye, guys.”

#tyler blackburn #michael vlamis #vlamburn #malex #vlambase ig live 2021 #nonnie asks #tjb interviews #mgv interviews

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stayskrunchyinmilk · 2 years

Text

Stays Krunchy in Milk Episode 419: Ectoplasm, The Ultimate Lube?

We dedicate this episode to Maximillian, a good boy who left us too soon. Safe passage across the Rainbow Bridge. New bill is being put forth to legalize cannabis on the federal level. Y’all ever watch the movie Hardware? Texas’s mask ban may run afoul of the ADA. Disney+ Day was pretty fruitful. Ant gave the Hulu version of High Fidelity and figured out the he really enjoys the song Come on Eileen and its interesting history. You super have to watch your kids when they are watching YouTube as Ant found out. This of course led to an entire discussion on YouTube. Box won’t be on the show next week as he’s going to check out the new Ghostbuster’s movie so we had to talk about the infamous ghost blow job scene from the original movie. Box is considering cash over nostalgia as he checks out items from his childhood. NFTs, what’s up with that? Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, the inspiration for GRR Martin’s Game of Thrones series has been made into TV series and Tee is super pumped for it. Brand new this week and hopefully whenever he can’t be on the show, it’s Issue One of On The Road with The Real ODP Presented by Stays Krunchy in Milk. Gabe and Wife tell us about their early adventures at the beginning of their RV’n journey. As always, we head to the mean streets of Reddit for heaping helping of Am I The Asshole. In the realm of Video Games, The GTA Trilogy is available digitally and it’s missing some music and features if the originals. Tee got back to Deathloop and continues to chip away at what is most likely his game of the year. We discuss the remaining blockbuster film releases of the year and discuss some of our recent movie viewing experiences. Tee has upgraded his phone which means we talk phones for a bit.

Alternate Title: Could not think of a pithy alt this week

#Cleveland #Ohio #Podcast #LiveFromThe216 #OrganizedKonfusion #Stress #StressTheExtintionAgenda #Canabis #BBCWorldNews #TexasMaskBan #ADA #CripCamp #Netflix #DisneyPlus #Hulu #HighFidelity #ComeonEileen #YouTube #Algorithm #Ghostbusters #Nostalgia #NFTs #NBATopShot #Travelogue #RV #Reddit #AITA #VideoGames #GTATrilogy #Deathloop

#Cleveland Ohio Podcast LiveFromThe216 OrganizedKonfusion Stress StressTheExtintionAgenda Canabis BBCWorldNews TexasMaskBan ADA #CripCamp Netflix DisneyPlus Hulu HighFidelity ComeonEileen YouTube Algorithm Ghostbusters Nostalgia NFTs NBATopShot Travelogue RV #Reddit AITA VideoGames GTATrilogy Deathloop

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thanialis · 4 years

Text

Imagine (Ethan x MC)

| Ethan x Willow | PG 13 | 1,400+ words |

| Inspiration: Imagine by Ariana Grande | After chapter 8, they have a redo |

thank u, next

Stayin’ up all night, order me pad thai

Then we gon’ sleep ‘til noon

Me with no makeup, you in the bathtub

Bubbles and bubbly, ooh

This is a pleasure, feel like we never

Act this regular

“Trash!” Willow threw a crumpled napkin to Ethan’s tv. She angrily took a bite from her egg roll.

“Hey, I would appreciate if you didn’t trash my apartment.” Ethan side-eyed her while he walked over his coffee table to place the napkin back on the table.

“Ethan, you have very long legs, you could’ve just used your feet,” her voice muffled with rice and chicken stuffed in her mouth.

“Please, keep your mouth closed when you eat,” he groaned, picking up his glass of scotch. “I can’t believe you watch this show, you know all of this is bull, right?”

“Let a girl dream, giraffe,” Willow nudged him with her foot, a teasing smile plastered on her face.

“Giraffe? What the hell?” a chuckle escaped his lips, grabbing his chopsticks and his box of chow mein.

“Yes, giraffe. Everyone calls you a giraffe. Obviously we say it in safe proximity from you,” she giggled, “Not gonna lie, that softball uniform only made your neck stick out even more than before.”

“People were staring at my neck?” he cocked an eyebrow while he chewed his food, keeping his eyes trained on the tv.

“Yes, but I was distracted by something else... those pants were awfully tight on you.” She felt a rush of heat take over her cheeks, avoiding his eyes while picking at her food.

“They were... uncomfortable,” he replied with a slight smirk tugging at his lips.

“Those pants made it look packing,” she shrugged, “Not that I should be surprised, I have seen it.”

“Willy,” he whispered.

“Shhhh! McSteamy is talking,” she shushed as her eyes glued to the tv, “How is someone able to look that good?” Willow said in awe at the actor.

“McSteamy? Was McDreamy not good enough?” he asked.

“Well, this McDreamy is trash, I prefer my McSteamy if I’m being honest.”

“And who’s that?”

“You,” she simply stated with a smile on her face.

Imagine a world like that

We go like up 'til I'm 'sleep on your chest

Love how my face fits so good in your neck

Why can't you imagine a world like that?

“I think the mom dies and the baby is saved by Dr. Karev,” she mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter on herself.

“Who’s Dr. Karev again,” Ethan asked tiredly, he stifled a yawn and tried his best to pay attention to the dramatic tv show.

“Him, he’s the cowboy doctor,” her finger pointed to the young actor. She lowered her hand and gently placed it on his chest where her head laid.

Take out boxes where left on the coffee table, leaving a whole mess which was driving him crazy, but Willow was laying on top of him and he didn’t dare to move from where they were. He had his arms wrapped around her tiny waist, holding her tightly, wishing, hoping, praying for nothing to interrupt them.

And it seemed like someone was listening. No spam of text messages, no worried roommates, no nosy co-workers, no having to pretend that there was nothing between the two. Finally, they were allowed to have a night to themselves.

His attention was now focused on the small, fragile woman laying on top of him. Her brown highlighted was spread all over him, some strands of hair tickling his nose while he could also pick up the coconut-scented hair.

“God, Denny, and Alex deserve so much more than Izzie. She gets on my nerves,” she grumbles, her head turning to look at Ethan who seemed lost in some sort of daze. “You okay?”

“Hmm?” he snapped out of his head, “Yeah, just thinking about every single medical error this show is committing,” he said, his eyes flashing towards the tv.

Her child-like hand cupped his cheek to bring his attention back to her. She scanned his ocean eyes, seeing them soften at hers. There were times where she knew it was best not to think about it, but couldn’t of how their kids eyes would be. Her light brown eyes were dominant, but she remembered how her brothers had blue eyes like her mother which is rare to see in a family of Latinos from Central America.

Ethan’s hands captured her face as he stared at her eyes while his index fingers barely brushed her cheeks. Slowly he pulled her into a soft kiss.

Knew you were perfect after the first kiss

Took a deep breath like, "Ooh"

It started out more slow and gradually grew more intense as emotions began to pour in.

Passion, desperation, longing.

It had only been a day since they last kiss when Willow was returning to her apartment, but they spent the last couple of months doing their best to find a way around the awkward tension they had around each other. All of the built up tension was finally being released as they laid in each others arms.

“God, I was so wrong about everything,” he mumbled, catching his breath. Willow giggled in response, nuzzling her nose with his.

“Well, finally you’re able to open your eyes. It took you about almost four months, but at least you’ve realized how much of an idiot you are.” Ethan released a low chuckle, shaking his head, pressing a kiss on her nose.

“You’re lucky I’m capable to see past at as I am very deeply...” he paused himself.

Her body froze from what he almost let slip out, “Very deeply...?” she raised an eyebrow.

They looked at each other intensely, knowing well enough he wasn’t going to say the next three words. Instead they decided to return their focus to the show, ignoring what could’ve happened.

It was too soon, way too soon. They spent last year ignoring what they had to only resurface at the end when they... Either way, they crossed a line that no two employees should do, especially if one was their boss and mentor.

The things that people would say about them. Ethan couldn’t give a single damn of what others think of him, but it was more of Willow he was afraid for. She was already on thin ice with the board due to the hearing last year, finding out she was with her attending would be even worse.

If it meant protecting her and her waiting future of success then he would do anything to make sure she saw it. Even if it meant cutting himself from her life.

Right now, he was being selfish and caving in. They couldn’t deny to each other of how much they cared for one another, and the chemistry between them was only growing. Maybe he was meant for her and she was meant for him. Just maybe.

The concept of soulmates was something Ethan could not wrap around, but thinking he might have found someone to complete him wasn’t though not much of science did back this up.

A couple of more episodes played before the usual ‘are you still there?’ finally popped up. Ethan carefully nudged the young doctor who had the control in her hand, but when she didn’t click continue watching, he knew she had fallen asleep.

Carefully, he removed her from on top of him as he quietly picked up the trash and moved it into the garbage can. He turned to the tv on, and cautiously picked up Willow from the couch and moved her on his bed.

Willow stirred a bit in his arms when he placed her down.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” he soothed her, planting a kiss on her temple.

“Mmm,” she nodded before shaking her head in discomfort. “Can I borrow something to wear?”

Ethan gave her a pair of sweats and a white tee and let her change while he went to his bathroom.

He stared at himself for a very long time, wondering what was the next move.

I cannot break her, not this time.

Finally parting from the mirror, he joined Willow who was now deep asleep under the silk bedsheets. Ethan wasn’t quite tired yet, deciding to just watch her sleep peacefully, running his hand gently on her arm up and down to soothe her. In the darkness, he was able to catch a lazy smile on her lips.

He could get used to this, her sleeping in his house, sharing kisses, embraces. That was further in the future though, but for now he could only

Imagine

| It’s a bit of a messy chapter, but things will get better... I hope. I really do hope y’all enjoyed. Okay, I love y’all ❤️ |

| Tags | | PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED OR DROPPED FROM MY ETHAN X MC TAGS |

#ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan ramsey fic #Ethan jonah ramsey #open heart choices #open heart #choices #iaminlovewithafictionalcharacter #playchoices #pixelberry

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sonicringbond · 3 years

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Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 49

Well, now, believe it or not, but there are only three more weeks/episodes left of season 1 of The Journey. There will be several big changes coming once Season 2 gets underway so I’ll have a lot of work to o getting ready behind the scenes, but hopefully it is worth it. Anyway, let me stop babbling and let you dive into...

“It’s so good!” Rosy swooned and held a hand to her face and held up the soft serve ice cream cone she had. “I love festivals! And this one is such a big party! Ooh~! Why couldn’t we enjoy this one without having to crash it Sonic?”

“We’ll just have to blame our purple friend,” Sonic remarked, though there was little humor in his mood.

~I feel really bad for Sonic. He doesn’t usually let anything get him down, but Claymore the Purple really hurt his pride when we met him. That and he kidnapped Tails, Mighty, and Draw. I don’t know what happened to Mote, but I hope they’re with Draw still. It’s a shame they can’t enjoy the festival either. Tee-hee! Maybe I shouldn’t be letting myself have so much fun either.

~Tower Point, it’s not just a small community like I’ve mostly seen in the lands under Yolk, it’s one of the largest cities I’ve ever seen. Its name comes from all the large towers, but it’s crazy! From the cobbled roads there isn’t anywhere to go but the towers. It’s like being walled in with a spiderweb roof of bridges up above. And there are vendors and food stalls everywhere. Bands are playing in the streets and over a radio system that you can hear everywhere in the city. And the sky is full of confetti too! It’s just one massive celebration. But Sonic and I can’t enjoy it, well not as much as I’d like too. We have to face Claymore and rescue our friends. It’s such a waste of a good party too.~

“Stay sharp kid. We’ve got company coming.”

~Well, maybe not a total waste, tee-hee~♥

~As Sonic and I made our way deeper and deeper into the maze of towers and bridges, more and more autogolems started showing up. There were a lot that just looked like suits of armor built on clockwork skeletons, but there were also helmets with wings in the sky, and even more of the helmets with spider legs that were with Claymore when he attacked us. But none of them were going to get me! I could outrun them if I really tried, and Sonic could bash them to bits super easy! But Sonic did one better. Eeee! He held my hand to discourage them from coming after me! Ooh~! It’s so romantic~♥~

Enthralled as Rosy was by Sonic making sure she didn’t get separated in the crowds, Rosy couldn’t help but taunt one autogolem, a Squire Legs as it stared at her with glowing yellow eyes from its black knight helmet. If it could have developed an exasperated bead of sweat, it would have as Rosy pulled down her eye lid and stuck her tongue out at it. As her free hand was being held by Sonic, she managed to get ice cream in her eye and yelped out in surprise.

“Your rascally antics are going to make this harder than it needs to be,” Sonic warned her before pulling her into a bridal carry.

“Eep! S-Sonic!”

“You seem to be enjoying yourself, but I think it’s time we take things up to my pace.”

Not wasting a moment longer, or bothering to explain to Rosy, Sonic suddenly speed off and right up the sides of a tower. His speed assured most people wouldn’t get a good look at the cause of the commotion and bouncing from tower to tower and bridge to bridge, it was impossible for the average person to keep up with Sonic. He wasn’t just bouncing about aimlessly either. Though such maneuvers would have easily confused the autogolems trying to watch him and Rosy, his destination was a massive clearing in the forest of towers.

The city of Tower Point was not just home to seemingly countless towers and spires, but it was also the home of the Ring decrying religious group known as the Preservers. As such, most of the architecture looked as though it was fashioned after gothic style cathedrals merged with a steam work pipe system. There were several actual cathedrals mixed into the forest of towers, from their bases and peaks alongside observatories nigh everywhere, to even underground and within some of the larger towers. There was one cathedral though that was a series of towers itself, with the largest in the entire city at its center. It was that complex and the only massively open plaza in the city that Sonic aimed for.

To call the plaza massive however, was an understatement. It was several miles wide and several more long. Canals and parks littered the venue, and the most massive of crowds Rosy had ever seen gathered in it for the Banquet of Claymore the Purple. A celebration in open defiance of Yoluku, the small planet hanging in the above watching the festivities from below the permanent red lightning bolt that arced across the sky from horizon to horizon.

Asides from the main tower itself, the best view of the plaza was from any one of the plethora of airships that filled the skies above. Leaping between several and putting the best distance he could between himself and any and all flightless autogolems, Sonic eventually set Rosy down on the deck of a tadpole shaped one of a coral red hue.

“Sorry, about coming aboard uninvited,” Sonic laughed off his intrusion and offered a wave to the people on the deck of the vessel. A deck that looked familiar to Rosy as it ran back from the main body to the tail of the vessel under and above several propellers and sails.

“Hey, Sonic, isn’t this…” Rosy started, but the variety of people on the deck were all wearing badges with a wrench super imposed over a gear wheel, the symbol of the Engineers. “Uh-oh…”

The sweat drop that ran down Rosy’s cheek and her nervous smile told Sonic something other than what his nose did. As it wasn’t itching, or hinting at a coming sneeze, he was sure they were fine, but put a comforting hand on Rosy’s shoulder anyway. “No sweat kid. A bunch of mechanics aren’t going to be much of a threat to me.”

“We could still push you off,” one of the people on the deck warned and stood up, before stumbling back as Sonic was in their face.

“You really, think so? You’d have to catch me first. And I don’t think you, or you, or…”

Faster than anyone outside of Rosy, who was laughing at the display, could follow, Sonic introduced everyone on the deck to his speed. But even with his speed there were things that could surprise him.

“…or you, or–?!”

“Sonic!”

It was not Rosy who called out Sonic’s name, but the young fox girl who did was nonetheless familiar to both hedgehogs.

“Zooey!” Sonic asked in surprise. “What are–”

Sonic never finished the question. Zooey, not prepared for Sonic was even less prepared for Rosy, who tackled her in a crazy mixture of a bear hug and full-on nuzzling session. “ZOOEY!! It’s really you! I can’t believe it! I’ve been trying to catch up with you forever!”

“I thought I made it easy enough to follow me,” the yellow fox in the red dress stated her efforts to be found, and Sonic could only offer her a shrug and an awkward smile.

“What can we say, these lands are a mess. Great for adventuring and running, not so much for meeting up. But what brought you to this big party, Zooey?”

-|-

“I see,” Zooey sighed. “So, it was Mr. Gill who caused us so much trouble. And if I understand, you’re relying on him to cause even more now.”

“Not quite,” Sonic corrected Zooey as he leaned over the deck railing and looked at the plaza below. “I’m actually going to be the one causing trouble. Think I can use my plane to do it?”

“I’ve been using it and Tails’ X-Tornado for my races you know, Sonic. But I suppose it is yours.”

“You’re a real pal Zooey. Shame I can’t leave Amy with you though.”

“It’s Rosy!” Rosy corrected Sonic and earned a laugh from him. In response she puffed up her cheeks. “Ooh~! I don’t mind you using my real name Sonic, really! But we’re on an adventure! I’d rather go by Rosy while adventuring!”

“You’re enough of a rascal without calling yourself one,” Sonic teased Rosy and made her puff her cheeks up even more. He could have easily toyed with her all day, but he knew he didn’t have that type of time and turned his attention back to Zooey. “So, think you can have the Tornado ready to launch before Sir Buckethead makes his grand entrance?”

“It won’t be a problem at all,” Zooey sighed and earned a questioning look from Sonic and Rosy both. Their questioning eyes on her, Zooey forced a smile and explained herself. “It’s just, well… We finally meet back up and everyone is in this awful mess. I can’t believe Tails got captured too.”

“What can I say Zooey, Sir Buckethead is more trouble than he’s worth. But you leave the rescue operation to me and Rosy, and Gill and Blister too. Though, be ready to run, things might get dicey.”

Scene 49 · CLEARED Party Crashing, to be continued

-----

ZOOEY!!

XD Yes, Zooey is back just as we reach the end. I can’t say how involved she’ll be at this point as I only have more scenes to work with, and as of the time I wrote this, this was the only scene I had written. Can you believe it’s the 10th of March or later while you’re reading this, yet when I wrote this it was February 3rd? It’s amazing stuff.

For now though though, I’ll leave everyone waiting for Scene 50! What a milestone! I hope everyone is as excited as am =D

-----

Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – Cheers! – Tomomichi Takeoka – Final Fantasy XV Original Soundtrack

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fan fiction #sonic au #sonic au series #sonic ring bond #the journey #classic amy #amy rose #rosy the rascal #au amy #amy redesign #zooey

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jojotichakorn · 4 years

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Upcoming 2020 BL series (+ full info & personal rating)

For having nothing better to do and also thinking of what interesting new BL series the new year might bring to me this time around, I have compiled a list of all BLs that I could find that are supposed to come out in 2020. I’ve only added those BLs that are definitely coming out and are in production, and I’ve ranked them based on how interested I am in them, adding some useful information about them as well. Some key information is missing from a lot of the shows, and the farther we go into the list, the more mysterious the BLs become, but I will update, when new information becomes available. Mind that Why R U? is not mentioned since it’s already airing, but keep in mind that it’s also a series that exists this year, if you haven’t payed attention to it yet. In total, there ended up being 16 BL series (17 counting Why R U?). 2020 promises to be a rather fruitful year for BLs!

[All info on the series under the cut]:

2gether: The Series

Network: GMM One (Thailand)

Airs: February 21 - Unknown (On Fridays)

Synopsis: A student named Tine wants to get rid of an admirer. His friends suggest getting a pretend boyfriend – Sarawat. At first, Sarawat plays hard to get, but eventually he agrees. The two become close and intense emotions soon erupt. Are they just pretending or do they actually have feelings for each other? (Trailer)

Familiar faces:

Despite the main couple being played by two unfamiliar faces, there is a lot of background characters played by actors that you are likely to have seen before. Frank and Drake, who have played a couple in My Tee and OurSkyy will return to play lovers once again. You might also know both of them from Blacklist.

Others you might recognize are: Sarocha, who was in both OurSkyy and He’s Coming to Me; Toptap, who has played background characters in many dramas, among them Love Sick & Love Sick 2, Sotus, WaterBoyy, 3 Will Be Free and Blacklist; Mike, who is best known for his role of Bone in Theory of Love, and who was also in OurSkyy; Guy, who was in Sotus S, OurSkyy, He’s Coming to Me and 3 Will Be Free; Gun (Korawit), who played Cherry in Sotus S; Pluem, who is best know for his role of Rain in Kiss Me Again and Dark Blue Kiss; and JJ, who was in the Gifted, He’s Coming to Me and Blacklist (not to be confused with his twin brother AJ). (Cast)

My opinion: The amount of familiar faces this BL has is very comforting. I’ve wanted to see Frank and Drake play a couple somewhere apart from My Tee for a very long time, since that show wasn’t very good, and they finally will! Another background couple is going to be played by Mike and Toptap, which I find super exciting. The main couple also seems to be really great, and they do look like they have some good chemistry. Apart from that, I gather that the show is pretty fun, though rather dramatic as well - in the best traditions of GMM. The only thing that really worries me right now is us once again having “girl problems”, though where would the fake dating trope be without jealousy? Speaking of fake dating, it’s one of my favorite tropes and I’m very happy we are finally seeing it on screen! A bonus point for this show is also a couple of really reassuring LGBTQ+ supportive comments Bright, one of the two main actors, made - it’s always nice to know upfront that the actors we are supporting by watching the show are good people. So, in general, I’m most excited for this series and I hope it won’t disappoint!

My Ride: The Series

Network: Unknown (Thailand)

Episodes: 8

Synopsis: Tawan is a doctor, Mork is a motorcycle taxi driver. Tawan often hires Mork to drop him at his boyfriend's apartment, and so has gotten closer to the motorcycle driver. One day, when Mork knowingly makes Dr. Tawan late for his date, Dr. Tawan finds out that his boyfriend has been cheating on him. After the doctor breaks up with his boyfriend, he and Mork begin to get closer. This drama is about friendship and love that began as a passenger and a rider. (No trailers or teasers available as of yet).

Familiar faces: Out of the actors, you might recognize Fame, who played Guide in My Dream: The Series, and Mild, who played Techno in TharnType. It’s also interesting to mention that the person, who adapted the novel this series is based on to screen, is none other than everyone’s beloved Fluke (Teerapat) that is best known as Wad from Sotus. (Cast)

My opinion: This is on of the BLs I’m most excited about. The premise is interesting and unique, and it sounds promising, but honestly? Fuck all that noise, when we know that the series is based on a novel that was written by Patrick Rangsimant, who is a gay man! Now if that doesn’t sound exciting, I don’t know what does.

My Engineer: The Series

Network: Tencent Video (Thailand)

(It seems to be some sort of a Thai branch of Tencent Video, since it is originally a Chinese network that has brought us, among other things, The Untamed).

Airs: March 14 - Unknown (On Saturdays)

Synopsis: Despite coming out quite soon, there is no proper synopsis for this show. All we have for now is the short summary of how the story begins. One day, Duen is sleeping in the University Park. Bon sees him and soon spots an animal nearby. He tries to wake Deun up but Deun accidentally punches Bon in the face, sending him to the hospital. After the incident, Bon asks Deun to bring him a red rose every morning for a whole month as an apology. (Trailer)

Familiar faces: Do you ever watch a BL about engineering students and think to yourself: “So I guess this is another one of those Sotus-inspired ones”? Well, this time around it is definitely very much Sotus-inspired, since the director of the show, Lit, was also the director of Sotus. And before you start worrying, he had nothing to do with Sotus S, so whatever he’s done with this one - it should be pretty good, I think. As for the actors, the only face that might be familiar to you is Cooper’s, who plays a main character here and who played a main character in My Bromance. (Cast)

My opinion: I am also really excited for this one! It seems to have a total of three backgrounds couples, all of which are very different and have their own cute little storylines. But, that doesn’t mean that the main couple is not interesting! It very much is - you can clearly see that the actors have chemistry and, though the storyline seems fairly simple, it’s great nonetheless. Also, it seems that Bon is really sure and confident in his feelings towards Deun and spends the whole show proving them and trying to win him over, which is rather refreshing compared to most other BLs that have their mains spend most of the time in confusion and denial. Besides that, the jealousy trope is also quite involved in the show, but it seems like it’s executed well, in which case it can also be rather fun and exciting! Plus, it’s quite reassuring that the director was also behind Sotus, because I do love that show, and though it is comforting to see familiar faces on screen, seeing new actors makes for a really lovely new experience.

A Tale of a Thousand Stars

Network: GMM One (Thailand)

Synopsis: An idealistic young teacher, Torfun, volunteered to educate young kids in a far flung and rebel-infested Thai village. There, she met and fell in love with Phupha - a military officer who was protecting the place. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident. However, she happened to be an organ donor - after the accident her heart was given to a young man called Tian. Upon his recovery, Tian returns to the village and eventually meets Phupha. Will love spring between these two young men under such unlikely circumstances? (Trailer)

Familiar faces: The director of the show, Backaof, might be familiar to you, since he is responsible for OurSkyy, He’s Coming to Me and Dark Blue Kiss. You will most likely recognize one of the mains - Earth (Pirapat), who played in WaterBoyy, Kiss Me Again, Love by Chance and Theory of Love. You might also recognize White, who is best known for Love Sick & Love Sick 2, as well as WaterBoyy, ReminderS and Theory of Love. And Nammon, who previously appeared in WaterBoyy, Sotus S, Kiss Me Again, 3 Will Be Free and Blacklist. (Cast)

My opinion: So far, this series seems pretty fun and cute. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of the whole idea - I’m neither fond of new characters getting attached to their supposed past selves or some form of this trope, nor of the whole “he is him, but he is also this girl” thing. According to the trailer, this BL might also have a bad ending, which I definitely won’t be thrilled about to say the least. However, I do trust Backaof entirely, I have wanted to see Earth play a main role in a BL for a very long time, and seeing Nammon once again after last seeing him in Sotus S years ago is really heartwarming - but so far those are the only reasons why this show is so high on my list.

2moons3

Network: Mello Thailand

(It’s unclear if Mello is an actual network, but I couldn’t find any more information on them. It could also be Channel 3, since some things that Mello posts on its YouTube channel do belong to Channel 3, but don’t quote me on any of this).

Episodes: 12 (around 50 min. each)

Synopsis: Nothing is known, but the fact that it is a continuation of the 2moons2 story. (No trailers or teasers available as of yet).

Familiar faces: All six main actors are returning as their respective characters. (Cast)

My opinion: Since nothing concrete is known about this show, apart from the fact that it is the second season of 2moons2, there is not much to say. However, since I do love 2moons2 quite a lot, I am already excited for this one. And I do think it’s going to be more successful than second seasons of beloved BLs usually are, simply because they did really seem to rely on having another season to finish the story and they are not simply dragging it out by having this new season - this continuation is not only logical, but also undoubtedly necessary for the story to feel whole.

Oxygen: The Series

Network: Uknown (Thailand)

Synopsis: Orphaned at a very young age, Gui has had to work hard and provide for himself for as long as he can remember. But he still has a soft demeanor and a smile on his face. Solo can get anything he wants with a flick of his wrist. Money, fame, good looks - the boy has everything, except his smile. One day Solo sees a smiling boy (Gui) working at a cafe. They instantly connect, and Solo finds himself back in the cafe every night. They meet at the same spot, at the same time, until they soon come to realize that they have become each other's breath. A necessity. Just like oxygen. (Trailer)

Familiar faces: The director, Jane, is also responsible for Sotus S and OurSkyy. The only two actors you might recognize both play supporting roles - one of them is Prince who played Oak in Sotus, Sotus S and OurSkyy, the other one is Kan, who played Todd in Sotus S. (Cast)

My opinion: It does look and sound pretty cute, but according to the trailer there is some drama. Solo seems to have a fiancee which (I’m pretty sure) is like a rich people thing rather than him actually being in a relationship with this woman, but the drama aspect of it is still there. I’m also very worried about the fact that the director’s most prominent work is Sotus S, because we all know how bad that one went. So basically, I am looking forward to seeing what it’s made of, but I am very cautious of it too.

Friend Zone 2: Dangerous Area

Network: GMM One & LINE TV (Thailand)

Synopsis: We know nothing, apart from the fact that it’s a continuation of Friend Zone. (Trailer)

Familiar & unfamiliar faces: Since this is a continuation of a series, I’m switching this section up a bit to also note the unfamiliar faces and/or those who haven’t made it into the second season from the first one. Jojo is returning to direct Friend Zone once again, and it’s also important to note that he is responsible for 3 Will Be Free as well. The entire main cast from season 1 is coming back, along with Safe, who also becomes one of the main characters this time around. Safe is played by Joss, who is best known for his role in 3 Will Be Free. It’s unclear if the rest of the supporting cast is coming back as of now. The main cast is also joined by two people, who haven’t previously played in the show: Arm, who was in WaterBoyy and OurSkyy, and Pluem, who was in My Dear Loser and OurSkyy. (Cast)

My opinion: I haven’t watched Friend Zone, so I don’t really know what’s going on here. So far, I’m just really interested in watching something queer that has both Singto and Arm in it (because yes, finally Arm is also playing an LGBTQ+ character). This series is clearly super dramatic, which is kind of concerning, but it’s also very different from what we usually get in BLs, so I might give it a try. Right now, I’m kind of conflicted, but will probably give it a watch when it eventually comes out.

Love By Chance 2

Network: Most likely LINE TV & GMM 25 (Thailand)

(I assume those are the ones, since LBC belonged to them, but there is no clear information on whether LBC2 does as well).

Synopsis: So far, the whole synopsis we have is rather short and sweet. This series is a continuation of LBC with TinCan as the main couple. (Trailer)

Familiar & unfamiliar faces: So far the only one we won’t be seeing for sure seems to be Saint, though Cherreen, who played ChaAim, is also not on the cast list as of now. Otherwise, Perth is returning to the show, the actors (Mean, Plan, Gun, Mark, Title and Earth) of the three other couples (TinCan, TechnoKengkla and TumTar) are all returning, and along with them Yacht (Pond), Best (Good) and Samantha (Bow) are returning as well. The director of the first season, New, also remains the same. (Cast)

My opinion: I am rather conflicted about this new season right now. On the one hand, I do love TinCan and I do want to see the continuation of their story. On the other hand, I certainly don’t want to see the other two couples again. And, of course, the lack of Saint (or rather Pete) is the most important and disappointing part. I don’t know how they are going to go about it, but AePete is a crucial part of LBC - be it as a background couple or not - and not having them at all is just a terrible thing. Basically, what I’m trying to say is fuck Perth’s management and I hope they deal with this problem tastefully and appropriately. Either way, all this doubt is exactly why LBC2 is closer to the bottom of the list of the shows I’m interested in this year.

Motor-Cycle: The Series

Network: LINE TV (Thailand)

(Always nice to know that sometimes GMM just isn’t involved at all, and we do know that LIVE TV has given us some really good BLs before - Love by Chance and Until We Meet Again among them).

Synopsis: A high school kid named Run loves to sneak out of his house to ride his motorbike. He drives around and feels exuberant by the ride and the freedom to do what he wants. When his bike breaks down, he meets Mike who quickly fixes it for him. Mike is an introverted, open-minded individual who works as a mechanic. But he’s no ordinary fixer. He has a lot of secrets. Both fall for each other but do not push further, since both of them are in a relationship. Will they end up pursuing each other, or will they remain with their current boyfriends? (No trailers or teasers available as of yet).

Familiar faces: A large part of the cast is unknown as of now - the only person who we know stars in the show for sure is also unfamiliar, since he is a newbie in the industry. (Cast)

My opinion: So far, it sounds kind of interesting. I love the new theme with motorbikes and leather jackets and whatnot - we haven’t got anything like that in BLs yet. It also sounds kind of promising that they are not pursuing each other, while in a relationship, but knowing BLs it’s probably handled much worse than it sounds. Also, it’s not clear if Mike’s age is close enough to Run’s age to be appropriate, since Run is specifically described as a high school kid, while Mike is already a working mechanic. Overall, I’m curious as to see where this goes next and can’t wait for new updates on this one. It could be something - whether that something is bad or good, we shall see soon enough.

Your Voice, My Heart

Network: Unknown (Taiwan)

Synopsis: Su Ye Xin left his parents to live on his own because they were furious and unsupportive after he told them he was gay. He is a huge fan of a famous dubbing artist Sheng Sheng and has a crush on him. Since he fears that Sheng Sheng is homophobic, he is using a female profile and is known among the fans, because everyone strongly supports his crush. Coincidentally, he has the chance to do private coaching for Sheng Sheng in real life, whose real name is Xie Xiao Sheng. Apart from his excitement to be able to get to know his crush in person, Su Ye Xin also realizes something bizarre about Xie Xiao Sheng. Xie Xiao Sheng’s occasional emotional outbreaks and his hate towards his cousin Gu Fan and his lover Shen Hai all point towards an incident that happened in his childhood… (No trailers or teasers available as of yet).

Familiar faces: So far not much is known about who was cast - most likely because, as it often happens, all of the actors are newbies and no one knows them or has interest in getting to know them right now.

My opinion: So far, it sounds kind of interesting. Taiwanese BLs are known for having more unusual themes and plots, and this one doesn’t seem to be an exception. They also seem to really be trying to tackle a number of LGBTQ+ topics, different kinds of homophobia included, which could either be a disaster or a refreshing new BL experience. I’m looking out for some news on this one, so I could see if it is indeed a disaster or not.

En of Love

Network: LINE TV

Airs: March - Unknown

Synopsis: So far, all we have is that this series follows three couples made up of engineering and medical students. (Teaser 1 - Teaser 2 - Teaser 3)

Familiar faces: New, who is responsible for Make it Right & Make it Right 2, Love By Chance, ReminderS and Until We Meet Again, is the director of this series. So far, the only familiar actors are a part of the supporting cast, and they are Yacht, who is best known for playing Pond in Love By Chance, and Best, who was Good in the same series. You might also recognize both of them from having a couple of small appearances in Until We Meet Again. (Cast)

My opinion: The teasers don’t really give us much, especially because two of them don’t have subs (which might be a worrying prediction for the future of how quickly and efficiently the subs for new episodes are going to be coming out). It seems kind of cute overall, and also slightly dramatic. The fact that New is responsible for it kind of makes me appreciate it a little more, but otherwise my interest has not been piqued even a little bit. I am looking forward to finding out more about this one, though.

Gen Y: The Series

Network: Unknown (Thailand)

Synopsis: We don’t have much of a concrete description for this one yet, all we know is that it tells the story of the love of teenagers who always seem to be so busy. (Trailer)

Familiar faces: New, who is responsible for Make it Right & Make it Right 2, Love by Chance, ReminderS and Until We Meet Again, is directing this one. There is also a lot of rumors going on about Copter and Kim of SBfive, who are best known for their 2moons roles of Kit and Ming respectively, being in this show. However, I haven’t seen them say anything about it and they are not in the trailer, so I don’t know how true those rumors are. (Cast)

My opinion: So far, the only promising thing about this show is the face of New being plastered on it. Otherwise, it really doesn’t interest me. However, if Kimmon and Copgi are indeed in the show, I might give it a try - and I certainly will, if they play a couple.

Puppy Love: The Series

Network: LINE TV (Thailand)

Synopsis: This is a story of a young man, who dreams of becoming the next Steve Jobs, and another young man, who is addicted to a game. Suddenly, both of their destinies change and they turn back to being children again. What will they do in this peculiar situation? (No trailers or teasers available as of yet).

Familiar faces: So far, the only person you might recognize is Oreo, who was in What the Duck & What the Duck 2. (Cast)

My opinion: There is very little that we know of this BL. The synopsis doesn’t sound very promising, though. Honestly, all we can do now is wait and see. So far, I am not interested.

Because of You

Network: Uknown (Taiwan)

Airs: February 14 - June 26 (On Fridays)

Episodes: 20

Synopsis: The story of three half-brothers from a large corporate family and the way they deal with the struggle of familial love and facing all possible situations associated with the feelings of “no way”, “impossible”, and “cannot”. (Trailer)

Familiar faces: Unsurprisingly, this being a Taiwanese show, there is no actors that we have seen anywhere before. (Cast)

My opinion: The trailer is very short and doesn’t really give us any info at all, and everything seems to clearly hint at at least one incestuous storyline between brothers. Overall, I don’t think I’m going to be giving this a shot, unless I hear something really good about it when it starts airing, which is really sad, because usually Taiwanese BLs are far more mature and solid than Thai ones.

The Shipper

Network: GMMTV (Thailand)

Synopsis: A fujoshi, who is a hard shipper of two of her classmates, gets into an accident and her soul gets trapped in one of their bodies. So she takes advantage of it, attempting to make her ship sail while in this boy’s body. Meanwhile, the boy’s brother notices that something is wrong. (Trailer)

Familiar faces: One of the main characters is played by Ohm, who was in Make It Right & Make It Right 2, He’s Coming to Me and Blacklist. Jennie, who was in Friend Zone and 3 Will Be Free, plays a background role as well. (Cast)

My opinion: This show makes me feel incredibly conflicted. The thing that stands out the most is the fact that the whole thing is based on a fujoshi’s inappropriate shipping, as well as the weird plot of the boy’s brother instantly realizing that it’s not his brother before him, but then starting to like this person that isn’t his brother, but that is in the body of his brother. At the same time, if it does a lot of mental and plot gymnastics, it can make this better, and there is some potential. Besides, the fact that Ohm and Jennie are in this series really makes me want to give it some sort of a chance. But, for now, I shall just wait it out and see what is going to happen further down the line. So far, I’m definitely staying away from it, though.

Your Star

Network: Uknown (Thailand)

Synopsis: The series revolves around a homophobic young man, who finds out that his younger brother is in a relationship with another guy. The situation becomes quite heated, but when his good friend begins meddling with his feelings, he starts to change his views, opening his heart up to his brother, his friend and himself. (Trailer)

Familiar faces: Lots of people would be excited to know that Fluke (Teerapat) has joined the cast as a background character - he is best known for his role as Wad in Sotus, and he was also in My Bromance. (Cast)

My opinion: The whole thing is quite confusing as of now. The last time a trailer came out was a year ago and it makes absolutely zero sense. Because there is no further explanation with the trailer, the synopsis really doesn’t make me hopeful about this one at all. And since I’ve never really been as in love with Wad and Fluke as everyone else, even his presence doesn’t save this series in me eyes. So far, I am absolutely not interested.

--------------------------

(Resources used: youtube.com - mydramalist.com - psycho-milk.com - facebook.com/LazySubber)

#archer speaks #archer's bl corner #2gether the series #my ride the series #my engineer the series #a tale of thousand stars #2moons3 #oxygen the series #friend zone 2 #love by chance 2 #motor-cycle the series #your voice my heart #en of love #gen y the series #puppy love the series #because of you #the shipper #your star

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stevenuniversallyreviews · 5 years

Text

Episode 91: Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

“That’s me, the nice one.”

Considering Steven’s entire personality revolves around putting others first, I’m amazed that it’s taken this long for a “it’s great to help out others, but remember to take care of yourself” episode to come along. The closest thing we’ve had so far is Sworn to the Sword, but even that was more about Connie learning the concept of prioritizing others too highly above herself than actually practicing it.

It’s a tricky subject, because we should be kind and helpful when we can, and taking time for yourself is something that can come across as selfish or unfeeling in a culture where selflessness is virtuous. Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service handles its lesson beautifully by leaning in hard on the importance of balance, rather than suggesting that focusing on the needs of others or the needs of yourself are the only options. And while I’m sure this is a moral that could be taught with the Crystal Gems (Pearl or Ruby in particular) I think our human protagonist is a terrific choice for two reasons.

The first reason is that Steven’s problem of overextending himself to help others usually involves helping the Gems, the people that should be helping him. This is a whole can of worms that will be talked about way more come Steven Universe Future, but if the Gems were able to see that Steven needs to cool it and take care of himself, they would’ve taught him that a long time ago. It isn’t until What’s Your Problem? that one of them realizes that they maybe shouldn’t be putting so much pressure on him to comfort them, and it’s sad but not surprising that this revelation comes from his sister instead of one of his moms.

The second reason is that giving this lesson to a minor character like Kiki allows Steven more leeway to ignore it. So he does.

I've been Kiki. I’m sure a lot of us have. My go-to instinct is to try to help people (I mean I ended up a librarian) but it took me a while to realize that it was exacerbating my own depression to put all the worries of others on my plate. It didn't mean I stopped caring about people, but I had to learn healthy boundaries to keep my own head above water. Having similar friends means I've also been Steven, trying to help others who don't know how to stop helping others, without realizing until later that we had the same problem.

In that sense, this episode about pizza dreams becomes monumentally important to the series, because it’s Steven’s entire problem in a nutshell. Kiki learns the episode’s lesson in a running sequence that evokes Stevonnie's joyous sprint in Alone Together, but the ending is undermined by cutting back to Jenny and Steven for one last joke. I hated that cut when I first watched Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service, because the episode was funny enough that it was okay to end on a sweet moment instead of shoving another gag in at the last second, but watching it again I'm struck by what it forebodes. Kiki is running free, but Steven is asleep on the boardwalk, because even though he helped Kiki figure out that she needs to stop overwhelming herself with the needs of others, he has overwhelmed himself with her needs. And he’ll continue to try and help everyone he sees no matter what. And the further we go, the unhealthier it gets. We see in the very beginning of this story that he understands the value of me-time, preparing a nice dinner for one in his room, but you get the sense that he stops thinking he deserves it right around the time he hears that his mother shattered Pink Diamond.

Let’s talk about Kiki for a second, because she’s such a perfect lead for this story. We don’t know much about her coming into her debut focus episode, especially compared to her twin. She’s nice, but a lot of people in Steven’s universe are nice. She seems to have a stronger work ethic than Jenny, which may or may not be why we don’t see her as often in social situations. She enjoys wordplay enough to not just tell puns but provide commentary on them, which makes her a winner in my book. And most recently, we saw she was willing to pretend to be in love with Ronaldo to help out in Restaurant Wars. I’m not quite mean enough to say feigning attraction to Ronaldo is a sign of true altruism, but I will say she’s way more open to doing whatever it takes to help others than he was.

It isn’t the deepest background of a recurring character, but it’s enough to make it understandable that she’d do Jenny’s work for her. From there it’s a simple matter of going overboard and bringing Steven with her.

It's a little weird talking so much about huge character arcs and intricate plotting in Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service, because the episode itself is super silly. The dream sequences leading up to the finale are hilarious, showing once again how good this crew is at capturing the wacky nuances of dreams, but this time without the tonal interruptions of Lion 3 or Chille Tid. Steven is an expert dreamer by now, and relishes helping his friend while being a huge dork. This is the second episode in a row where a distinct anime influence is felt, this time evoking more specific inspirations, from the title to the absurd Evangelion reference at the climax, with plenty of shonen gags in between. Steven is ostensibly a consumer of children’s media, and while I hope he hasn’t watched Evangelion at his age, it makes sense that his dreams would reflect that in the same way his story in Garnet’s Universe references the likes of Chrono Trigger and Usagi Yojimbo.

Silliness also pervades the editing; the early cut between Steven beginning his meticulously prepared dinner to snoring on the couch with pizza dripping everywhere is my favorite, but I like that we mix it up with actually seeing Steven immediately fall asleep after declaring himself a dream warrior. The dramatic music and intense closeup on Kiki as she explains that she has the same nightmare every night is a funny way to reveal how bad her problem really is while showing how she’s repressing it,.

Then of course there are the jokes. Steven Universe is no stranger to comedy, but rare is an episode with with this many jokes told by characters, rather than situational humor common to television. This is another reason why I appreciate Kiki’s presence, because again, she’s all about that wordplay, capping Steven’s series of pizza-based gags by pointing out that “time to cut the cheese” isn’t a pun (which is debatable; if you define puns as jokes that exploit homonyms, she’s right, but if you include alternate definitions of identical words in that definition, she’s wrong). The highlight, of course, is “pepperanhas.”

I actually think this much humor sort of hurts the message, though. I understand why it’s so prevalent in a dream episode like this, but Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service has a solid message that can be hard to absorb when there’s gag after gag to keep you laughing. The message isn’t hard to understand—the episode has subtlety, but the lesson itself isn’t subtle—and I don’t think any show should preachily value the moral over the plot, but it makes for a tonally imbalanced outing. I still like this story, but it’s just off enough that despite its many strengths and its surprisingly solid place in the overall story of the series, I don’t love it.

That said, I have no complaints about the character work: this is the second episode with just two voice actors (after Open Book), even if one of these actors is voicing for two, so it makes sense that we get a little extra focus on the characters than usual. I’ve already talked about Kiki’s people-pleasing and inability to quash her self-sacrificial tendencies, but this is also a fantastic snapshot of Steven at this point in the show. He's still a goofball, and he's still a good friend, but he's dealing with more nuance than he’s had to in the past. I love his instinct to panic and apologize for going into Kiki's brain without permission, considering his good intentions hurt another friend in The New Lars. And I love the tiny taste of teen attitude when he's exhausted and exasperated and snaps at Kiki with bitter comedy instead of childish anger (which he also apologizes for). For all the silliness, he’s maturing.

Plus, we don't even get that clean of an ending for Kiki, despite her running free in the last scene. After the big confrontation with Pizza Jenny (full name Pizza Jenny Pizza) clears Kiki's mind up, we see that her problem isn't fully gone. While looking around the landscape of her brain, she has to follow up "All the cheese is gone!" with "...well, most of it." You can't snap your finger and fix everything, and Kiki is bound to have lingering issues when it comes to helping herself versus helping others. It’s truly challenging to overstate how prescient this small townie episode ends up being to Steven Universe Future.

This is Jenny’s third episode in a row, and it finally addresses a strange character beat of hers that’s been mentioned, but never seen: that she’s “the evil twin.” She’s more social, a Cool Kid who bends the rules with the freedom that comes with her car, and she apparently conflates liking metal bands to being bad (come to think of it, it’s weird she doesn’t bring any metal influence to Sadie Killer and the Suspects’ sound), but none of those traits qualifies as “evil.” She’s dismissive of Lars at times, but who wouldn’t be? And remember, Jenny was the one who stepped in front of Garnet’s fist to save Steven in Joy Ride, and Jenny was the one whose instinct was to help Stevonnie when their car stalled in Beach City Drift. So it’s about time we actually get some evidence that she’s any sort of bad twin.

It’s pretty tame, which I appreciate given her consistent depiction as a good person. At worst, she’s taking advantage of her sister’s nature, but seeing how the situation resolves it’s more likely that she’s just being selfish and thoughtless than cruelly manipulative. Which isn’t great, but she’s a teenager, which explains not only her behavior here but her desire to exaggerate how bad she is to define herself, especially as a twin who’s bound to be compared to her kind sister. And when Kiki stands up for herself, Jenny is fine picking up the slack (despite the perfect teen reasoning that Kiki likes running so there’s no reason not to run and deliver pizzas).

Was Kiki named so that this episode’s title could eventually work? I have no idea. But I wish we saw more of her than we do: it took ninety-one episodes for her to get a focus episode, and she won’t have another speaking role until Pool Hopping, which is an absurd fifty-two episodes away. Townies in general are intermittent figures in the show’s balancing act of the magical with the mundane, but she’s a remarkably ancillary despite her similarities with Steven. They both work hard, care hard, and joke hard, and I feel like there are more stories to be told from their friendship. Kiki ends up going to the prom with Stevonnie in the non-canon comics, but I wish these kinds of stories had more room in the show. Do I prefer Gem shenanigans? Sure. But Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service is a fine example of how Beach City shenanigans are still worth exploring, and ends up being perhaps the most important townie episode in the series when it comes to sheer thematic resonance.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

Again, the tone here is a little too varied for me to like Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service as much as I wish I did. There are a ton of great elements to it, but in terms of just being an episode I enjoy rewatching, this doesn’t quite make the cut. I obviously don’t hate it, but my feelings aren’t as strong as my gushing about its individual strengths might lead you to believe. Thematic resonance can only do so much!

Top Fifteen

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

When It Rains

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

No Thanks!

5. Horror Club 4. Fusion Cuisine 3. House Guest 2. Sadie’s Song 1. Island Adventure

#kiki's pizza delivery service #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

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psifitopia · 5 years

Text

late liveblogging

I’ve decided to go ahead and do a “live” blogging of Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc. Hurray for CBS All Access! I just have so many reactions to this and I notice more stuff as I keep rewatching. lol This is actually the fifth or sixth time I’ve watched this episode. I can’t get enough of it.

To be fair to him, Mac did lock his door, after coming in. Not that did it did him much good, of course.

I gotta agree with Murdoc. They really need to get rid of the George Washington mask.

Owch! That’s gotta hurt. Mac is TICKED! Haha Murdoc, you’re winded.

Do you really care if the water is filtered, Murdoc? It’s no wonder Mac gets impatient with you.

There it is he USED to admire Liu for being dangerous and violent. Maybe it’s different, when it’s aimed at Cassian...or Murdoc’s heart is changing. MacGyver is so unimpressed right now, even when giving credit where due. Apparently, Murdoc is better at hunting than rescuing.

“I care about you so much...” And you do such a crap job of showing it, Murdoc. Honestly.

Mac’s hot, when he’s angry. He’s cute, when he’s annoyed.

Murdoc, what is up with Bozer? Be nice to him! I love how he greets them with such fondness. I also love Jack calling him “Doc.” There’s just something cute about there frenemy relationship. Poor Nasha.

Honestly, Murdoc, do you not realize you can’t just demand inspiration? A little patience is called for here. I love Murdoc’s weird speech patterns. “Hashtag disappointed.” “Evil before beauty.” His accent does such an interesting thing right there. It’s cute.

And, evidently, Murdoc does not have a nose like a bloodhound.

Defensive much, Murdoc? Mac, that is not the first time Murdoc has displayed human emotion around you. Far from it.

Wife, ha! That was a shocker.

Poor Nasha. And dayum, Murdoc does clean up pretty! I love it, when Dastmalchian’s characters wear a suit.

Jack, Jack, that is not helping, dude. Yeah, fine, go be action man.

No, Murdoc, it is not surprising that you lied. Of course, I’m personally not surprised you convinced someone to marry you. Good looks and intelligence will get you places.

Wow, Mac, you’re hitting below the belt today. Of course, it’s justified, but it’s unusual for you, bud. Try not to antagonize the stressed out, homicidal parent, too much, though. Heh I love Murdoc’s appreciation of sarcasm in others. It’s good to know he mostly can take what he dishes out.

Christopher Robin! hehehe Does that make Jack Pooh Bear?

What’s scary is Murdoc, murderous as he is, really doesn’t have a temper. He gets impatient and mildly annoyed, often enough, but rarely angry. Him with a temper...yeah, let's not leave Cassian with his mom. Bad idea.

And, wow, she really does not want to discuss custody. Poor Cassian. At least he knows his dad loves him. Macgyver, come on. I know you’re ticked, but the kid really is in a bad spot, here.

Murdoc, you told him to shine. Let him! You know he does stuff for reasons.

That’s one determined woman. Of course, given how the episode ends, maybe she had others take turns doing it. And, again, he USED to admire that about her. Murdoc. Any chance you’re finding better people to admire now? Hmmm?

Reese’s Piecies. LOL Murdoc, you are so strange. Again, give MacGvyer a chance. Does he look like he’s given up? I’m not sure if Murdoc's jealous of Nasha or just reacting badly to everything, because he’s worried about Cassian. Probably both, but I think his worry is fogging his head. He usually keeps up with MacGyver better than this.

“Waste removal.” Rude, Murdoc. I really do love that. “How’s your day going to far? I mean, besides this part, of course.” The banker’s reaction sells that so well. He just does not know what he should say. Humor the lunatic, not humor the lunatic?

Yes, MacGyver speaking Spanish is beyond hot. No, Murdoc, you are not the fun team. To be fair, though, he did handle that sarcasm about the mirror really well. Poor MacGyver just cannot stop with the remarks. I do love the way Lucas Till portrayed him in a state of slowly simmering rage.

Mac, he didn’t kill you, because 1) he never does and 2) you had quit the Phoenix and weren’t a problem for him. I have to say, though, that whole “You’re asking a sociopath his motive for committing murder? That is so cute! Next question!” thing? That seems pretty evasive to me. I’m wondering why Murdoc didn’t want to actually answer. Murdoc just refuses to take this seriously and I don’t think it’s solely because he’s psycho and doesn’t care.

“I want to be your Mona Lisa.” That line is gold, because it can be taken SO many different ways.

And, again, Murdoc saves MacGyver’s life. If he does that one more time, saving Mac’s life is going to outnumber the times Murdoc’s tried to kill him. (I don’t count the kidnapping in X-ray + Penny. I don’t think he intended to kill MacGyver. It was all a ruse to get Fletcher into the Collective.)

This fight scene is so good. Like, Amber, why are you trying to kill your husband? Why so angry? Then, again, this might be a standard greeting between them. Murdoc doesn’t seem especially surprised. And, wowza, that boy is strong. It’s gotta take some strength to swing her around like that into a table!

Yeah, Murdoc, isn’t your wife a better player than that? To just leave the kid unattended and miss that she’s been tailed? Poor MacGyver, having to play referee.

Did they spend an hour just staring at each other challengingly? Ah, the lovely couple snark!

I will always die laughing over “cookie” and “cupcake.” So adorable!

Um, Amber? You don’t get to criticize Murdoc’s parenting skills. Cassian seems like a great kid and he at least has been trying. LOL Poor MacGyver trying to keep two assassins from metaphorically being stabby.

Thirty-five aliases! Ding dang, Murdoc. Okay, really, now you have no excuse to not retire. Also, that comedy au of Murdoc being a landlord with quirky residents makes a bit more sense now.

I have never heard a golf tee called a golf pencil. Murdoc. Hon. You really shouldn’t call other people scum. I mean, you are a paid killer, y’know.

I don’t think Murdoc expected you to be this angry at him. You actually surprised him. And MacGyver’s expressions during Murdoc’s story about meeting Amber is just so much win! Damn, though. I don’t expect MacGyver to care, but I do wonder if he realizes he’s succeeding in hurting Murdoc. I’ll give you dollars to donuts that Murdoc is hiding a world of hurt at being told his son is better off without him. He loves that boy.

Ah, I do love Jack. His skills really are under-rated. Jack, are you taking Bozer’s shoes as compensation for the loss of your cellphones?

Murdoc is such a contradiction. The whole pumping out the air thing is awful, but it really does seem he wanted it to fail. After all, Nasha probably would have died, if he hadn’t put that warning on the rifle mechanism.

Oh, ouch. That little muscle twitch in Murdoc’s cheek! I mean, wow! Dastmalchian is such a fabulous actor and you can just see Murdoc heading for a meltdown. MacGyver, that comment was really unkind, even if it is Murdoc.

I love that except for one comment, MacGyver just lets Murdoc have his little tantrum.

Talk about being made of iron! That’s a messy way to catch up to people. You have to give Murdoc credit for bravery. The dude is badass! He can barely walk, but he takes out three other assassins. Four, if you count that he could have killed Amber.

How many times has Jack or someone asked Murdoc what was wrong with him? Now, it’s Murdoc’s turn to ask someone that. No, Amber, you def were not cut out for motherhood, but, uh, were you betting Murdoc wouldn’t kill you?! You took a heck of a risk, girlie.

Murdoc’s expressions. That wince. You can almost see his brain chewing on itself. He’s so close to a breakdown. At least he had the sense to clean up a bit, before getting to Cassian. I love every time Murdoc and Cassian interact. There is so much love and concern between them. Poor Cassian seeing his dad injured! And Murdoc assuring him and holding his hand. This gives me so many feels! Honestly, I think this is where MacGyver really begins seeing humanity in Murdoc.

Seriously, Murdoc just looks so honestly pleased that Nasha got rescued.

He’s going to jail for the sake of his son. I love that they’re developing his character beyond merely walking evil. I hate that trope. It’s boring, imho. I prefer complexity.

I really think he means it, when he says Matty and MacGyver are two of his favorite people. And, I do wonder. What kinds of preparation are being made to his cell? I have a feeling she means a lot more than just putting out some sheets.

Matty is being so kind, here, really. She’s not cutting him slack, exactly, but she’s being compassionate. I think she gets how hard this is for him. She really is a great character. Oh, Mac. Of course, he’ll get the address.

Uncle? Brothers? Murdoc, you can’t hide forever.

Ah, Mac, you’re finally catching on. Don’t shoot him down too quickly. I have a feeling you’re going to need him and you’re the best influence he’s ever had.

Murdoc, it would really help if you didn’t hide your advice and warnings behind sarcasm.

Oh, Nasha, you don’t know how Mac’s life works. It’s never over and Murdoc will never be gone...I hope.

#macgyver #murdoc #macdoc #murdoc + macgyver +murdoc

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amandajoyce118 · 5 years

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season One Easter Eggs And References

I so greatly enjoyed Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, and I’m really interested to see what they do in season two, which is almost done filming. I still maintain that this show is like if Riverdale and Supernatural had a baby. It’s definitely creepy and not for everyone, but I found it fascinating.

I’ve got Easter eggs galore, though I didn’t go through and explain who every comic book character is like I would normally do with a superhero show. And yes, the Netflix series is based on the 2014 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic, which in turn was named after another comic from decades earlier. Sabrina Spellman is an Archie Comics character, but it’s not clear if her show is set in the same universe as Riverdale or not.

There are spoilers here, but as usual, I’ve broken this list down episode by episode for those who want to read while they watch. Enjoy.

S1E01 “Chapter One: October Country”

Opening Credits

The opening credits feature the artwork of Robert Hack. Hack is the artist who actually illustrated The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic book. A lot of his art inspires the look of the show as well.

The Episode Title

October Country gets its name from a collection of stories by Ray Bradbury. They were all considered pretty dark, and the volume mostly reprinted stories included in a different anthology, only adding a few new pieces, king of like this show.

The Very 70s Aesthetic

The show kind of has a weird timewarp thing going on like sister series Riverdale. There’s a lot of cars, furniture, and even clothing that seem to be inspired by the 1970s. That’s likely because Sabrina made her comic book debut in the 70s. It’s a way to give an homage to the original books as well as the newer series the show adapts.

Cerberus Books

Cerberus was a three headed dog who guarded the gate to the underworld in Greek mythology. We’ll discuss him more in a later episode.

Dr. Saperstein

My guess is that someone on staff is a Parks and Rec fan. This is Jean-Ralphio’s surname, and his father, was, in fact, a doctor. Of course, it’s also the name of the doctor in Rosemary’s Baby, so… pick your reference.

Sabrina’s Thermos

You’ll notice some characters on Sabrina’s thermos. Those happen to be a musical group named The Archies. Yep, they’re Archie and the gang from Riverdale, which does make you wonder if the two shows are in the same universe or if one is the fictional version of the other or what.

Sabrina Makes Harvey Forget

She does it with a kiss here, but in the 90s television sitcom, she made him forget she was a witch a lot of times. This made me wonder if she might have to do it a few more times over the course of this series, or if the next time he finds out, it sticks.

Her Parents Were Flying To Italy

This is an awfully interesting destination. Why? Because what’s in Italy? That would be Rome and the Vatican, home of the Catholic Church, which is interesting in and of itself. It’s both a very romantic and a very religious destination for a witch and a mortal to be traveling to. It also happens to be where the first Sabrina The Teenage Witch movie was set, if I remember right.

The Weird Sisters

These three get their nickname from the trio of witches in Shakespeare’s MacBeth. There’s a lot of Shakespeare references throughout the show, but I think that’s really just because writers like their Shakespeare.

Salem

The show’s take on Salem is interesting. In the Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina comic, he was Sabrina’s familiar, but that’s not became he was a goblin. Instead, he was cursed by a witch in Salem to become a cat. He was a mortal man named Samuel who got her pregnant and, because he had nothing to offer her, he didn’t want her to have to marry him. She took offense, Satan ate their kid and she cursed him to become her familiar. When she died in the witch trials, Satan renamed him Salem as a nod to what happened.

The 90s sitcom had Salem as a warlock who was cursed to cat form by the witches council after committing a crime. It seems like Ambrose on house arrest is filling that role this time around.

S1E02 “Chapter Two: The Dark Baptism”

“...a movie star like cousin Montgomery.”

I like the idea that this is a nod to Elizabeth Montgomery, the star of the series Bewitched, which followed a witch named Samantha who married a mortal. Samantha’s evil cousin on the show? Her name was Sabrina.

A Riverdale Mention

So, Riverdale is likely just across the river from Greendale here since we hear the town named.

Black Narcissus

The name of the goat snagged for Sabrina’s baptism is also the name of a 1947 film. There’s actually a ton of classic movie references, posters, etc in the show, just like in Riverdale. I probably won’t point them all out because this would be a list of nothing but movie references.

S1E03 “Chapter Three: The Trial Of Sabrina Spellman

“Conserve water. Plug it up, plug it up…”

This is a sign on the bathroom door in the high school It’s a nod to the horror movie Carrie, which was based on a book by Stephen King. The movie also inspired a musical episode of Riverdale in season two.

Daniel Webster

The lawyer is named after a character in a pretty famous short story about a farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is then defended by a talented lawyer.

Archie’s Madhouse

Another comic from the Archie world of comics. One of its covers is on the wall in Harvey’s room. He’s clearly a fan of many different types of comics.

Ravens VS Bulldogs

We get another nod to the fact that Riverdale exists. About half way into the episode, there’s a kid putting up a flyer for a bowling match between the Baxter High Ravens and the Riverdale High Bulldogs.

Dr. Specter

I just thought it was funny that an eye doctor has this name. It’s not really an Easter egg, just cute.

Side note: Ambrose asks Luke if he’s a vampire. So, I’m going to go with witches aren’t the only supernatural beings the show will eventually introduce. Vampires, werewolves, there is no limit to what I expect now.

S1E04 “Chapter Four: Witch Academy”

Gehenna Station

“Gehenna” is an old biblical term that means hell-like. I kind of think it’s fitting that the school is disguised as an old train station as well since a lot of artists imagine purgatory as a train station. Hell-like purgatory seems like a good training ground for witches.

Nick Scratch

Old Scratch is a common slang, or at least it used to be, for the devil. Here, I think it’s just a nod to the fact that Nick’s a warlock. (Also, Nicholas Scratch was the name of a Marvel villain once upon a time, but that’s a whole different publisher.)

Valac

One of the names seen in a book is that of Valac. I think fans of The Conjuring franchise will recognize it as a demon there. Another movie reference in this episode? The “light as a feather, stiff as a board” chant used by the harrowed kids. That’s courtesy of The Craft.

S1E05 “Chapter Five: Dreams In A Witch House”

Batibat

Her makeup looks pretty reminiscent of The Witches (movie based on a Roald Dahl book), but that’s actually all I’ve got for this episode. Unless we count Sabrina using the children’s string game Jacob’s Ladder as her way to get the spiders’ webs going, but I think that’s just a result of that particular game being a prevalent one in the 90s, and thus, amongst the writers.

S1E06 “Chapter Six: An Exorcism In Greendale”

Harvey As Johnny Depp

Harvey with his headphones on in the #10 tee? That’s am almost exact remake of a shot of Johnny Depp in A Nightmare On Elm Street. (Side note: I kind of feel like this shot should have been in the previous episode, the one that actually focused on nightmares.)

Apophis

Apophys is a death metal group. Apophis is the name of an asteroid, but also a derivation of the name of an Egyptian ruler, as well as an Egyption entity of chaos. Apep was drawn as a giant serpent and was an enemy of “the light.”

The Exorcist Homage

Okay, this episode really just plays as a loving homage to The Exorcist. There are so many shots that echo frames from the film. I’m not going to even attempt to list them all.

The Witches That Came Before

Okay, Sabrina calls on the power of a whole lot of historical figures as she names “witches” during her exorcism. My personal favorites? The goddesses Artemis and Luna, the queen Anne Boleyn, and the mythical first wife of Adam, Lilith. She also calls on Morgan Le Fay of the famous Arthurian legend. She actually appeared in an old Archie comic involving time travel called Jughead’s Time Police. Yeah, even Archie comics got weird back in the day.

Afterlife With Archie

This is the more supernatural version of the Archie comic book universe. Luke actually has a copy of an issue in his hands while he’s in Cerberus. It’s funny because this comic book storyline was created by Sabrina trying to bring Jughead’s dog back to life… we’ll call that foreshadowing for a future episode.

S1E07 “Chapter Seven: Feast of Feasts”

Grandpa Kinkle

TV fans might recognize Grandpa Kinkle as Michael Hogan. He’s been all over genre shows for decades. Most recently though, and where Sabrina’s target audience will know him from, he played a hunter on Teen Wolf. There, he came from a long line of werewolf hunters. Here, he’s from a long line of witch hunters. Coincidence? I have a feeling it’s not.

Ben

Poor, tragic pizza delivery boy. Okay, so the most recent season of Riverdale also featured a character named Ben. Specifically, Ben Button. Ben Button was played by Moses Thiessen. Guess who this Ben is played by? That would also be Moses Thiessen. And, guess what else? They both (spoiler alert for Riverdale fans who haven’t watched yet) died in weird ways. What does this mean? I have no idea.

Side note: The only witches in the coven who don’t seem to partake in the feast are Sabrina, Zelda, Nick, and surprisingly, Prudence. (And Hilda and Ambrose, but they aren’t invited) There’s a part of me that wonders if that will be significant in season two.

S1E08 “Chapter Eight: The Burial”

1693

Above the entrance to the mine, we see that the Kinkle’s took over, or created, the South Line in 1693. I’ll admit, my first thought was, oh, that’s when the Sanderson sisters originally died in Hocus Pocus. It’s also the year that the Salem Witch Trials took place, providing a nod to the history the show pulls from. The Von Kunkles hunted down witches and stole their land while the trials were going on in Salem, which also indirectly led to the hanging of the original Greendale witches. Yikes.

American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares

A comic book published by Vertigo, this happens to land on Harvey’s bedside table. Another vampire reference, eh? I hope we see one eventually.

S1E09 “Chapter Nine: The Returned Man”

Dr. Phibes

He’s named for a Vincent Price character. If you don’t know who Vincent Price was, he was pretty much the face of horror in American cinema for a while. Do yourself a favor and look him up.

Pop Culture Nods

I have no idea why someone who claims to be as dark as Zelda chooses a song from The Sound of Music for the Church of Night’s choir. Your guess is as good as mine. Susie tries to shoplift Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I’ve never read it, but it’s certainly the type of novel Susie, or even a witch in Greendale would be interested in. It follows a poet who changes sex (male to female) and lives for hundreds of years.

S1E10 “Chapter 10: The Witching Hour”

Mr. Loomis

This is likely a nod to the Halloween franchise, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that it was also the last name of Sidney’s boyfriend in Scream, but that was a nod to Halloween in and of itself.

Riverdale

Again, a Riverdale nod. Harvey’s dad had the funeral home in Riverdale take care of Tommy instead of the Spellman’s. But is it in the Riverdale we know on TV? Who knows?

“Let Greendale cast a spell on you…”

This is the town motto on the sign at the edge of town. (I’d like to point out the sign is designed just like the one of CW’s Riverdale, so nice consistency in set design there.) It’s cute, but I’m also wondering how the town got this motto since everyone seems bent on rewriting the towns witchy history.

Cerberus

The owner of Cerberus books? His eyes flash yellow after getting a kiss from Hilda. I’d like to think he’s something canine to go with his name, and perhaps his store stands over an actual gate to hell. Whether he’s a real hellhound or a werewolf, or the show pays off on its vampire nods with him, remains to be seen.

Madame Satan

She reveals her real name. She also reveals she’s Lilith, first wife of Adam. I find it funny that Sabrina actually invoked her during the exorcism.

Comic Book Look

Sabrina gets her comic book accurate hair in the end here. You know, I don’t think she needed it, but it’s a nice nod that there’s been a transformation in her power level.

Bonus Motifs

These things showed up a lot, and I didn’t want to have to write about it every single time.

Pop culture has got 13 as being unlucky and associated with magic, so I like that the show embraced it. A witch’s pregnancy lasts 13 months, 13 minutes is just enough time for a soul to leave a body, and 13 hours is how long Sabrina has to wait to see if her resurrection spell worked.

Cain And Abel

These two brothers were the sons of Adam and Eve, for those who know their biblical stories. They represent jealousy and murder, etc. We’ve got Hilda with her Cain pit in the garden, but there’s actually a lot of more subtle references to them. Cain was a farmer (Hilda) and Abel was a shepherd (Zelda, leading the way), for example. There’s a lot of focus on sibling relationships considering the show’s main character is an only child. Harvey and Tommy, Hilda and Zelda, the Weird Sisters, etc.

Suspira

A lot of the set design (windows and ceilings, specifically) are nods to the horror film Suspira. I’ve never seen it, but it got a lot of notice from horror fans on social media, so I figured I should add that here.

Real Spells

According to interviews and set visits, the crew wanted the set to be authentic, so that had practicing witches cast protection spells on the set and used real symbols around the Spellman house. The Spellman house even has a German protection spell carved into the floor.

Jughead

Also according to set visits, one of the shelves in the Baxter High library has a shelf where you can see a crown and “Jughead was here” carved into it. I don’t think it’s actually visible while watching the show though.

So, what did you guys think about the show? Love it? Hate it? Did you spot more Easter eggs?

#chilling adventures of sabrina #sabrina on netflix #sabrina season one #chilling adventures of sabrina spoilers #easter eggs

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ssadropout · 5 years

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The Contest

This bit of silliness and OOC-ness is based on the Seinfeld episode “The Contest.” I have no idea why I wrote a fic based on that episode (well, maybe because I love it), but I know that I could never get close to that episode’s perfection. If you haven’t seen it, you are really missing out.

Havoc is caught doing something very private, and the incident prompts a competition among the Mustang Gang plus Rebecca.

0-0-0-0-0

Happily for Havoc, it was Breda who found him. Sadly, it was not the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him (but that's another story for another time.) Jean had gone into the men's locker room to shower after his workout. He'd felt tired until he noticed the magazine. The issue of Guns! Guns! (Guns!) was open to a page showing a brunette with long curly hair and a blond with short hair. They were skimpily clad and holding new rifle models. Maybe, if they hadn't looked so much like Catalina and Hawkeye, it wouldn't have happened, but they did sort of resemble the two best friends. And he did have a thing for one of them- the one that he was a little less afraid of.

He figured that he had a few minutes before anyone else showed up, since the others had just begun their workouts when he'd left.

He hadn't taken into consideration the degree of Breda's dislike of exercise (which rivaled his fear of dogs.) Havoc was so close when his cohort walked in, but that was that. Havoc was caught in the act, and Breda regretted that the seen could not be unseen. The red head did not say a word. He really didn't need to. They showered, and as they left the locker, Havoc whined, “You're not going to tell anyone, are you?”

“Hell, yes!” said Breda with an evil grin.

Hawkeye noticed that Havoc wouldn't look her in the eyes. He seemed to be avoiding looking at her at all. He just sort of looked beyond her. She also saw that Breda's attempt at a nonchalant mien was sure to fail. She realized that it was one of those times where she didn't want to know what the problem was, so she just went back to work.

Breda sauntered over to Fuery's desk with a mischievous look in his eyes. He spoke lowly. First Fuery's eyes grew wide, magnified by his thick lenses. Then, his face grew beet red. Then he started giggling nervously, averting his head from Havoc's direction. That was about when the Colonel stepped out of his inner office.

His gaze took everything in: Hawkeye diligently working, Breda talking to Fuery, Fuery trying to control himself, Falman working, and Havoc working... Havoc working when something was going on? The Colonel instantly analyzed the situation. “Master Sergeant Fuery, I need you in my office.”

Breda paled, and Havoc nearly fainted. They knew that Mustang would break Fuery like a marshmallow-roasting twig. He had gone right for the weakest link. Breda mouthed , “Sorry Hav,” across the room.

Mustang preceded poor Kain into the inner office and had him shut the door. He sat at his desk and feigned interest in his paper work, saying nothing. After about five minutes, he said, “Sergeant?”

“Sir?”

“Do I really need to ask?”

“Please don't make me tell you, Sir.”

“I'm afraid that I can't grant that request.”

“It's really not my story to tell, Colonel.”

“It is unless you want the rest of the team to stay until 2200.”

“That's not fair, Sir!”

The Colonel just stared at the poor communications officer who finally sighed. “Okay, Sir,”

0-0-0

Mustang called the men into his office. Hawkeye rose, too, but his look sent her silently back to her seat. She really did not want to know.

The Colonel was trying to look serious, but there was definitely a twinkle in his eyes. Havoc looked sick, and Breda was trying not to snicker. Poor Fuery looked abashed, and Falman... well, you know. Mustang, usually not at a loss for words, seemed to be mentally formatting a sentence. Finally:

“What the hell, Havoc? What if it had been anyone not from our team? What were you thinking?”

“He wasn't,” Breda whispered but was silenced by Mustang's I want to burn something look.

“If you had seen the magazine, Sir... Do you want me to go get it?” Havoc ventured.

“You've got to be kidding me!” However, Mustang was curious. “Did you see it, Breda?”

“The models did resemble the Lieutenant and 2nd Lieutenant. However, they didn't have enough clothes on to show whether they were military or not. They didn't exactly hold the rifles like they were professional... shooters.” Breda was looking at Havoc as he was answering Mustang.

The Colonel turned to Havoc and asked, “And which lady did you find more attractive?”

Nearly choking, Jean replied, “I think that brunettes are really hot!” It was the truth, but more importantly, it was the right answer. Mustang seemed to relax a little.

“I can't believe that you could not control yourself!”

“C'mon Colonel! Didn't you ever just have to... take care of business?”

“It's not what you did as much as it's where you did it.”

“I bet you would have done the same thing, Boss!”

Before Roy could reply, Breda cut in. “I think that I have an idea.”

0-0-0

Whoever held out from spanking the monkey the longest would win the pot. Each of the five men would ante up 2,000 cenz. The Contest would begin the next Monday so that the men could prepare for it. Falman would handle the money. Reporting of failure to master ones lapse would be on the honor system.

And that's how the Contest would have proceeded had Havoc not run into the darker model's doppelganger. What ensued was emblematic of why he had problems with the ladies. While he had the presence of mind to not blurt out the incident that had inspired the Contest, he did tell her about the Contest.

“I want in!”Rebecca yelled as she poked him in the chest.

“You're not part of our unit, and, anyway, you're a girl,” explained Havoc.

“What about Riza? She's a girl?”

“Lieutenant Hawkeye is not part of it. She doesn't know about it, unless Mustang told her.”

“I see!” Catalina snapped and stalked off. Right to talk to Hawkeye, of course.

0-0-0

Ten minutes later, the men were called into the Colonel's inner office. Catalina and Hawkeye had clearly double teamed Mustang, who did not appear to be pleased.

“The participation in our Contest is being expanded. The 1st and 2nd lieutenants will be joining us.”

“Wait a minute!” interrupted Breda. “That's not fair! Everyone knows that women don't have the same need for relief as men.”

Havoc added, “Plus, Hawkeye wouldn't...”

“I wouldn't what, Havoc?”

“Um. Nothing.” If she kept looking at him like that, he'd win with ease.

Falman suggested that it would be fairer if the women put in 3,000 cenz each. Everyone agreed, and they piled their hands to seal the deal.

Tuesday 0830

“We have 2000 cenz in the kitty,” monotoned Falman.

“Already? Who... is not a Master Sergeant?” quipped Roy.

“Was there a new Wonder Woman comic book, Fuery?” asked Breda.

“Not me!”

A sigh came from Falman's desk. “I'm the one who's out.”

“You, Falman? How?”

“My lady friend called from South City. She said some things. I said some things. When we hung up, I did a thing.”

“This calls for a moment of silence,” said Breda.

Tuesday 1215

Riza decided to go to the gym for a workout and just heat up some soup to eat at her desk later. She changed into her shorts and tee and trotted to the gym. She was still standing in the doorway when a grunt drew her attention to the Boflex. There, glowing with the sweat of effort, was her commanding officer, clad in shorts and an A-shirt. She stared, mouth open a little. One could easily forget what a desk jockey might be hiding under his uniform. She gazed at his biceps, bulging in an un- Armstrong but alluringly strong way. He was clueless of her presence, lost in the zone. After a few seconds, she backed away silently.

Wednesday 0850

Fuery emptied his pocket onto Falman's desk

“The new Wonder Woman comic came out.”

Wednesday 1030

Everyone watched as Hawkeye rose from her desk chair and placed an envelope tidily onto Falman's desk.

“Et tu, Lieutenant?”

“Hawkeye? I had a side bet on you for the win!” Havoc moaned. “What drove you to... No! How exactly do you... tune up your equipment?”

The look that Hawkeye gave may have been her most intimidating yet.

The colonel abruptly turned and retreated to his office. It wouldn't do for anyone to notice his bobbing Adam's apple or his dilated pupils.

But, Hawkeye had noticed. She may have looked like her mind was 100% on her work, but she was grinning evilly inside. She was sure that her plan for revenge would work.

Wednesday 1830

Only Mustang and Hawkeye remained in the office. They would have been able to leave on time had Mustang not sat at his desk staring much of the day.

“I think that you should just go home, Sir. You are mostly caught up. You can make up the rest tomorrow morning.”

“That's a good idea, Lieutenant. I'll drive you home. Let's go!”

“Is it okay if I stop in the Lady's Room for a minute?”

“Sure. I'll meet you at the door to the parking lot.”

He listened to the soft thud of his boots echo in the empty hall. All he could think about was the lieutenant. He would give anything to know whom she had found so irresistibly seductive. He thought that she was the hottest, smartest, prettiest, everything good-est woman he knew. He knew that she liked him and was pledged to follow him, but she seemed to think of him as a bit of an idiot. He was not the kind of man that she would fall for.

He heard steps, and a moment later, she turned the corner into his sight line. He smiled. As she got closer, he realized that she had let her hair down and put on some lip gloss.

He opened the car door for her, and she put her hand on his arm liked a lady being helped in. He shut the passenger door and got in himself.

They always had had good communication, both silent and not. She told him a cute story about Hayate and her neighbor's cat. He pulled up in front of her building.

“Don't forget that you still have work to make up, tomorrow, Sir.”

“I wo...”

She grabbed his jacket lapels and pulled him into a kiss. Her breath was fresh. The kiss was not too soft. Not too hard. Not nearly long enough. She jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and glided into her building. Had she actually swayed her hips a little? He banged his forehead on the steering wheel.

Thursday 0800

Havoc walked in whistling a jaunty tune and looked around at everyone diligently working. “Is the Boss in?”

“He's in his office,” said Fuery.

Havoc shrugged and plopped into his seat.

Thursday 1650

Mustang showed his face in the outer office for the first time that day. He reached into his pocket and counted out 2000 cens that he handed to Falman.

“Just now? In your office?” cackled Breda.

Mustang's glare rivaled Hawkeye's best. “No! Last night at home.”

“What... triggered it, Boss?”

“Just shut up,” mumbled Boss.

Riza's smirk rivaled Roy's best.

Friday 0820

Breda paid his 2000 cenz. He had gone to a topless bar alone, because Havoc had been otherwise engaged.

“Looks like it's just Havoc and Catalina. It doesn't make any sense.”

Havoc smiled and whistled.

Later, Breda passed Catalina in a hall. She looked more mellow than he thought was possible for the excitable woman.

The following Friday 1450

“I can't believe that you and or Catalina are being honest. You've caved, haven't you, Havoc?” Breda was turning a shade of purple. “ I even put that pinup calendar in your desk.”

“I can only speak for myself,” stated Jean. “I have not spanked the monkey since the contest began. Lieutenant Hawkeye, has Catalina said anything to you?”

“She said that she's been good. Then she said 'Really good.' She refused to explain what that meant. She was... preternaturally- for her- calm. Also, she canceled our dinner plans. It's very strange.”

Friday2300

Havoc put his arm around Catalina and kissed her cheek. She slid onto his lap and tipped her wineglass to his lips.

“This contest is the best thing that ever happened to me.” He kissed her mouth. “I think that I fell for you the first time you called me 'jerkhick.' You made up a name just for me.”

Catalina kissed his neck. “Yep. We might never have gotten close if it weren't for this stupid contest, you jerkhick. You're not half as dumb as I thought you were. And your body is twice as hot. And I even like you. How long do you think we should wait until we just ask for the money?”

“I don't know, but I do know that you don't have to wait for...”

“Then don't make me wait.”

#fullmetal alchemist #the mustang gang #seinfeld #fan fiction

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asfeedin · 4 years

Text

LSAT prep, DJ sets and virtual golf

4:30 PM IST

Ohm Youngmisuk

ESPN Staff Writer

Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University. Follow him on Twitter » Ohm’s chat archive »

Malika Andrews

ESPN Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Joined ESPN in 2018

Appears regularly on ESPN Chicago 1000

ON APRIL 18, instead of concocting a game plan to possibly defend Giannis Antetokounmpo on the opening day of the NBA playoffs, Garrett Temple was locked in on antithesis passages in his online LSAT prep course.

With the 2019-20 NBA season on hold since March 11 due to the coronavirus, the Brooklyn Nets wing has been putting in the hours studying, listening to law podcasts and talking to professors as part of his weekly preparation for the Law School Admission Test.

While some players have tried to fill the basketball void with video games or training routines, others have taken on new challenges to stay sharp. From mastering a second language to becoming handy around the house to diving into a Lego world, players are finding ways to stay engaged.

And one might even be law school-bound, with sights on a perfect 180 LSAT score.

“I can’t let — what’s-her-name on ‘Legally Blonde’ got a 179 — Elle Woods [beat me],” Temple said. “I really want to do it and get a great score.”

MORE: When will the NBA return? Latest suspension updates

Garrett Temple has been spending his time away from basketball with LSAT prep. “It’s providing structure. I’m really enjoying it,” he said. Courtesy of Garrett Temple

BEFORE THE SUSPENSION, Temple had long been contemplating life after basketball. The 10-year journeyman graduated from LSU in 2009 with an undergraduate business degree and considered getting his MBA. His father, Collis Temple, told him that a law degree would be more beneficial.

Collis is an entrepreneur in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was the first black varsity basketball player at LSU after Temple’s grandfather, Collis Temple Sr., was not allowed to attend graduate school at LSU because of his skin color.

Temple’s interest in pursuing a law degree was further piqued after watching a TED talk by Adam Foss, a former assistant district attorney in Boston and advocate for criminal justice reform. The final push came when Temple met Bryan Stevenson, the nationally acclaimed public interest lawyer and social justice activist depicted in the 2019 film “Just Mercy.”

“I think you can create a lot of change in your own community,” Temple said. “Help change the prison industrial complex and school-to-prison pipeline in my community, the black community.”

Temple has immersed himself in science podcasts and magazines with help from his fiancée, Kára McCullough, a scientist with a concentration in radiochemistry.

She has also often forced Temple to take breaks from hours of studying. The veteran guard just can’t help himself.

“It’s providing structure. I’m really enjoying it,” Temple said.

“I mean, we ain’t got nothing else to do. So I’m studying, man. Just trying to better myself.”

CODY ZELLER KNEW next to nothing about carpentry before the season went on hiatus. But a month and a half in, the Charlotte Hornets center can now build a closet befitting a 7-footer. (It’s a skill that has been quicker to learn than playing the guitar, which others such as Antetokounmpo and Patty Mills have also picked up.)

Zeller’s brother Tyler, a free agent who most recently played with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, purchased a home in Indiana, and Cody has been helping with do-it-yourself home improvement projects.

“I took responsibility for [Tyler’s] master closet,” Zeller said. “I had no woodworking ability before. I’ve learned how to use a miter saw, a table saw. We put it together.”

“Everybody and their mother is gonna have a podcast when we are done with this quarantine.”

Georges Niang

Lack of experience? That was nothing a few YouTube tutorials couldn’t solve — almost.

“I will say, full disclosure, I had to [build] it twice,” Zeller said, “because the first time I messed up.”

Zeller cut, sanded and painted all the wood and built a seven-tier shelf rack. But when he went to fasten the frame to the wall, he had forgotten one tiny yet crucial detail.

“I realized I hadn’t accounted for the space between the closet rod and the shelf above it, so there was no room for the hangers to hang on the closet,” Zeller said. “So it was back to the drawing board.

“That was like three days’ worth of work down the drain. Anyway, long story short, it looks great now.”

THIS EXTRA DOWNTIME has given John Collins the chance to master a second language and get more in touch with his family heritage. Collins, whose mother is part Puerto Rican, has been taking Spanish lessons via Rosetta Stone and the Duolingo app.

The Atlanta Hawks big man took Spanish classes in high school in West Palm Beach, Florida, before continuing courses during his two years at Wake Forest.

“I never had a chance to finish — obviously I left school early,” Collins said. “But it’s always been something that I’ve wanted to finish just ’cause I have been around it so much, and I want to learn.”

Monday through Friday, host Mina Kimes brings you an inside look at the most interesting stories at ESPN, as told by the top reporters and insiders on the planet. Listen

Although he could grasp what his grandfather and other relatives were saying during conversations, Collins found writing in Spanish to be difficult. After the first few weeks of quarantine, Collins wasn’t sure how much his Spanish was improving.

“I’m better than where I was,” Collins said. “To get real growth, I got to go over to a Spanish-speaking country.

“Hopefully one day I will get the opportunity.”

USED TO MAINTAINING a strict in-season schedule, Utah Jazz forward Georges Niang found the extra free time jarring.

The team dropped off a stationary bike and weights so he could keep up with daily exercises, but video games have grown boring, Netflix has provided only so many hours of entertainment, and sleeping in has lost its appeal.

So he started the “Drive & Dish” podcast and video series with help from the Jazz.

“Everybody and their mother is gonna have a podcast when we are done with this quarantine,” he said.

After an unsuccessful foray into Instagram Live — “It was horrible content,” Niang said — “Drive & Dish” debuted on March 31 and has delved into quarantine life with Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell, the Olympics postponement with two-time soccer gold medalist Amy Rodriguez and the Michael Jordan Game 6 winner with former Jazz player Bryon Russell.

Niang even has his own theme song and logo.

#DriveAndDish Episode 𝟐 is LIVE!

@GeorgesNiang20 interviews @spidadmitchell about that night in OKC, what he wishes he’d known as a kid & his strangest superstitions

#NBATogether 𝘍𝘜𝘓𝘓 𝘝𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘖 » https://t.co/7uQk59B8Po pic.twitter.com/MCY4rAUsaj

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) April 3, 2020

The podcast’s name is inspired by his team nickname. In the Jazz locker room, Niang is known as “the minivan” because he likens his teammates to Ferraris while thinking of himself as a less luxurious vehicle.

“I need a couple laps around the block before I get warmed up,” Niang said. “Hop in the minivan and drive and dish.”

KENT BAZEMORE HAS been teeing it up at some of the best golf courses in the country. Virtually, that is.

The Sacramento Kings swingman has been regularly retreating to the basement of his Atlanta home, honing his skills on a golf simulator that would rival Tiger Woods’ personal setup. Video cameras and sensors track Bazemore’s every hook, slice, chip and putt.

“It is about as in-depth as I can get without being a professional golfer,” said Bazemore, who earlier this month took down former teammate Stephen Curry in a virtual match at Pebble Beach.

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Now the lefty has a chance to get serious about his golf game. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, Bazemore takes virtual golf lessons with his instructor, Jon Tattersall, the 2014 Georgia PGA Teacher of the Year.

And Bazemore still drives to a real golf course once a week — Georgia is one of a handful of states allowing courses to stay open.

“I am on a quest to become a scratch golfer,” Bazemore said. “My handicap right now is at 8 and I need it to be down to 0.”

To get over the next hump, Bazemore said he plans on working with a sports psychologist.

“There’s a lot of things that go into becoming [a scratch golfer],” Bazemore said. “I’m on the fringe. This is the closest I’ve ever been.”

THOUSANDS HAVE FLOCKED to social media over the past month to listen to DJs such as D-Nice spin sets on Instagram Live.

Now Andre Drummond has joined the wave.

On April 20, the Cleveland Cavaliers center kicked off “Drummond Quarantine Radio,” which features Drummond with DJ Drewski from the center’s Miami home.

Last week, Drummond hosted a “ladies night” set, when viewers could make song requests. And he put on “Talent Show Thursday,” which featured an appearance by actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, among other special guests.

Andre Drummond, also known as DRUMMXND, has been busy on Instagram Live during the NBA’s suspension. David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

Drummond’s no novice. He goes by the rap name “DRUMMXND” and is planning on releasing his second album, “FYI 2,” soon.

He won’t be the only NBA player releasing new music during quarantine. Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon dropped his Dwyane Wade- and dunk contest loss-inspired diss track “9 out of 10” on Monday.

On Tuesday, Gordon made a guest appearance on the seventh episode of “Drummond Quarantine Radio.” Drummond pointed out that for as long as they’ve known each other, he never knew of Gordon’s desire to put out rap songs.

“I mean, we got a lot of time on our hands right now, ya hear me?” said Gordon, who started making music before this season and is working with Grammy Award winner Austin Owens, also known as Ayo The Producer.

“I get to tap into my creative side,” Gordon added. “Get in touch with emotions and express myself.”

Gordon then gave DRUMMXND his next quarantine endeavor — to deliver some new rap hooks.

“We putting together a project, [with] athletes, with Ayo,” Gordon said. “We need you on the project.

“We need a couple of verses for the project. Please.”

LOCAL GYMS SHUT down after Dallas County issued a shelter-in-place order on March 23, but Myles Turner had to find a way to get in weight training while staying in the guest house of the Texas home he built for his parents.

So the Indiana Pacers center jumped online to find the nearest squat rack — more than 100 miles away in Waco.

“In Texas, that’s nothing,” said Turner, who embarked on the four-hour round trip along Interstate 35. “That’s just an easy drive, right down the street.”

Turner then built the multipurpose squat rack and bench press in under two hours with help from friends. It’s now the centerpiece of a once near-empty garage he’s converted into his personal gym, complete with medicine balls, adjustable dumbbells and a padded floor.

“I gotta improvise,” said Turner, who last week shared his passion for yoga via a live class on the NBA’s Instagram page. “I’ve always kind of been into just putting stuff together.”

And when he didn’t have a screwdriver or wrench in his hand, Turner was still busy building. He assembled one Lego set, and his latest creation — a 2,000-piece Star Wars jigsaw puzzle — was completed in about a week.

“I am about to go to Target right now,” he said, “and get a basketball hoop for outside.”

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thehooliganhangoutspot · 6 years

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Bruno Mars’ and Cardi B’s new Finesse video is a tribute to 90s hip-hop, with choreography, clothing and a sound straight from the decade. It’s dedicated to 90s sketch series In Living Color which, he says, is “one of his favourite shows of all time.”

He recreated the show’s hand-painted intro credits, dance routines and love for clothing brand Cross Colours. Mars has directed the video which got 13 million views in the first 48 hours of release.

Fans, celebrities and the cast of In Living Color have also been sharing their love for it.

In it, Mr Bruno Mars rocks a striped shirt and long sleeved white tee from Cross Colours, who provided a lot of the clothes that helped give Bruno’s favourite comedy its iconic look.

Designer Carl Jones launched the label from his house in Los Angeles in 1989. It became a cult brand worn by stars including Will Smith, Snoop Dogg, Tupac and TLC.

“My partner and I sat down and created this concept from a piece of African fabric. That’s where all the colours originally came from,” he tells Newsbeat.

“Our oversized silhouettes came from youth on the streets of New York, who were buying tops and bottoms four or five sizes bigger. This was the hip hop culture,” he says.

The brand’s slogan is ‘clothing without prejudice’, which Carl says was inspired by race riots and gang violence going on at the time. “We just wanted people to come together,” he tells us. “It was a very colourful brand, all about mixing colours. "Being African-American and being from the streets we thought it was important to have a social message in our brand.”

It didn’t take long before the message caught on and artists and TV shows wanted to be decked out by the brand. “We had a marketing person who went and knocked on the stylist’s door for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. "Will Smith saw the product and loved it. Two or three days later and they had already included us in some of the episodes.” They were soon asked to provide wardrobe for In Living Color too.

After relaunching two years ago, Cross Colours is now being sold on the high street and was already being worn by celebs such as Drake and Chris Brown. Carl says: “I’ve watched it [the Finesse music video] about five times. It’s so fresh, clean and colourful.” It came as a surprise because he had no clue that his brand was going to be included. “We never know. Our product has become a cult. It’s the type of product that’s sold on eBay and in vintage stores,” he tells us.

“As a black person, it was a great time to be black, the 90s. It was a proud time,” he says. “You saw so many popular famous black television shows and music videos. All of a sudden, as a black person, you felt accepted. "Here we are 25 to 30 years later and it’s become fashion again. Those kids who were born in the 90s are now artists like Bruno Mars.”

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movietvtechgeeks · 7 years

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/kim-rhodes-briana-buckmaster-talk-supernatural-waywardaf/

Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster talk 'Supernatural' and WaywardAF

When one of our Movie TV Tech Geeks family members has something new out, we love to help promote it, especially when it’s something that every Supernatural fan will want to get their hands on. Lynn Zubernis, who writes some pretty in-depth and intense Supernatural recap reviews, has her latest book hitting on May 9 Family Don’t End With Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Has Changed Lives (You can order it here), has interviewed nearly everyone from the show, and we’re happy to run her ‘best ofs’ leading up to her book launch. If you want to attend her Los Angeles book launch check it out here. Her latest book features With contributions by Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Mark Sheppard, Jim Beaver, Rob Benedict, Briana Buckmaster, Osric Chau, Matt Cohen, Ruth Connell, Gil McKinney, Rachel Miner and Kim Rhodes, and a Dozen Passionate Fans! Check out her classic interview with Misha Collins and Jim Beaver. Check out when we interviewed Lynn on her own Supernatural experiences. Check out exclusive excerpts from Lynn’s upcoming book! Now for Kim and Briana – Here’s a joint interview we did with both Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster, which as you can imagine we couldn’t print all of it, but suffice it to say, we had FUN! And were Wayward AF. Both Briana and Kim wrote about the Wayward AF phenomenon in their chapters in FDEWB, and how their experience with this show and this fandom has changed them… This interview was so huge, we had to put it into two parts. You can check out part 2 here if you want to jump ahead. Life has been crazy, both for me and for Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster – let’s just say they’ve been #WaywardAF and the fandom has embraced them every step of the way. I hope you got your tee shirt and sent your support, because if there was ever a slogan that fit our fandom, this one is it. The campaign was a tremendous success, both doing good in the world with Random Acts and inspiring all of us with the reminder that being #WaywardAF (and being REAL) is a very good thing. I had the pleasure of chatting with Kim and Briana at Houscon this spring to talk about their Season 11 episodes (Plush and Don’t You Forget About Me) – I’d call it an interview, except it was at least as much off topic and off the record as it was interview – but here are the printable parts of what we had so much fun talking about. Or in other words, Kim and Briana and Lynn all get #WaywardAF. And are pretty damn happy about it. I’ll pick up where I’m going on about how much we love having them at conventions. Because we do! In fact, I can’t wait to see them at Pittcon next weekend. Lynn: What people like so much about you two, I think, is that we finally have women who seem like us! Briana: Representation, yay! Kim: [laughing] Yeah, they’re tired and they’re angry and they cuss and they love people and they hate people… Briana and Lynn: [laughing] Kim: I think one of the things I so appreciate – because Briana and I really complement each other – but one of the things I think we both have in our strong wheel house is that we aren’t afraid to let an ugly truth show if it’s the truth. Like truth trumps pretty for both of us. Briana: Yeah, agreed. Kim and Briana (and Ruth) get real onstage: [gallery columns="2" size="medium" link="file" ids="46022,46023"] Kim: And that is, I think, how all people feel. Like they wanna move through the world but it’s gotta be pretty hard. I can imagine – and I’m only imagining this – but if I really respected someone’s work and their work meant a lot to me, and then when I got to meet them, they had a wall of perfection up, I’d be like oh, I can’t relate to that because I’m not perfect, I’m imperfect and broken and flawed and ME. And it would just create distance. Briana: Mm hmm. Kim: So I think something that we both consciously do, because it’s a part of us, and also because it’s important to us, is we’re like “Ah, broken, isn’t that awesome?” Kim and Briana: It’s just like yeahhhh, yep, here we gooooooooooooo! Lynn: It’s so funny, I just flew here from an academic conference, where I chair the Stardom and Fandom area… Kim and Briana: Oh cool! Lynn: So it was two days of academic papers and there was a panel comparing the old model of stardom, which was like manufactured perfection… Briana: Right, 1940s Hollywood, right? Lynn: Right, even when they were sitting by the pool, they had full makeup and hair done and so people couldn’t relate, but that’s what the publicity machine wanted. But that’s not powerful! Kim: Not anymore. Lynn: No, it’s changing, even if you’re a ‘celebrity’ you can interact with fans in twitter, or in person at conventions, so that barrier is different. But on the other hand, when you first started doing cons and let the F word fly, Kathy and I looked at each other and were like, oh, can a woman get away with that or only Sebastian? I felt like it was iffy in the beginning. Kim: Oh it was SO iffy, my character hadn’t been consistent on the show, and if I hadn’t had a twitter following… Lynn: But they also saw the fan reaction, and it was so positive. Kim: They had women who represented their concept of what they should be, and then I came in and I’m like, I’m old, I’m angry, I’ve got a kid, I’m tired, WTF is up with this? Lynn: You were real. And fandom welcomed that – obviously! Okay, so we should talk about Supernatural. Briana, your last episode, Plush. Briana: [laughing] That feels like a century ago! Lynn: I know, but it was such an interesting episode. And it bodes well for your character that the boys actually called her a hunter. Briana: I know! We were just talking about that, that they made her a hunter. And how some characters are just assumed and some are proclaimed a hunter. I think it was necessary for Donna, and it’s a bit like, okay, so what are they going to do with this character? Because they could have just ended the episode with bye… Kim: Yep, okay, see ya soon… Briana: But they said, you’re a hunter now, so there’s a reason they did that, but I don’t know anything, I’m not alluding to that. But it seems like they do have a plan for Donna. Lynn: At the very least, they left the door open. Briana: Right? That was probably my favorite part of the episode. Lynn: Did you have that strong reaction to it when you read the script? Briana: Oh yeah, yeah. [caption id="attachment_46027" align="aligncenter" width="535"] Hunters! Cap S_Verasani[/caption] Kim: We always are like, what’s in your script? What’s in your script? The first thing I asked her, I was like – you would tell me if you died, right? Briana: Oh yes, but [to Kim] you tweeted something that said guys – and you did the right thing , you were protecting yourself – but you said I’m not in charge of whether I live or die, ever. And I said that to my husband and he was like NO, and I said, I think she would have told me! But maybe she can’t or won’t, and I was like please don’t kill her off! Lynn: We were ALL like that! And for Donna too. Kim: Yeah, Donna’s not only the call in sheriff now, so you can travel anywhere, but she’s also a hunter. Lynn: I think this is the first time they’ve introduced a character that is not a hunter and then pronounced them a hunter. Briana: Other than Claire now Lynn: Right, just with the last episode she was in. Briana: But what about Jody? Kim: Jody is very specifically not a hunter. I teach hunters. Briana: I don’t think you’re not specifically not a hunter, I think you just haven’t been proclaimed a hunter… Kim: I think Jody was like, meh, that’s fine, I’ve got other shit I’ve gotta do. I don’t think she’s upset about it. Briana: Yeah, no. Kim: It’s not like I’m sitting there waiting to be anointed a hunter. Lynn: No, but she’s been proven a badass many times over. Briana and Kim: YES. Briana: And if the boys went ‘what? OMG I’m so sorry,…’ I think that’s totally what they’d do, like ‘OMG you’re totally a hunter! OMG OMG’ – I think that’s what it would be. Kim: I don’t think Jody is sitting next to the phone, I think she’s like I’ve got enough shit on my plate, if you need me I’ll be there, but right now, I have 50 million other things I’m trying to deal with. Briana: Exactly. Kim: Just with the human world. Briana: It’s so funny, we were just having this conversation in the green room. I think Claire amd Donna are like ‘Let’s go, what are we waiting for? Let’s go hunt!’ In different ways, Claire is like AHHH I’m gonna get ‘em! Kim: Well she’s young and she’s kinda emo about it. Briana: And Jody kinda wants to rein them in, she is the teacher about it a little bit…In different ways, but I think that’s kinda the fun thing about Jody not having to be called a hunter is that she can bow in and out of that because she is busy. She’s like, you guys are good? Ok I’m gonna go over here and save this town. Kim: Exactly Briana: But I think she’s the ultimate hunter, she’s the one that’s been around the longest. Lynn: I mean, she is a hunter, she just hasn’t been called that. But I feel like it made sense with Donna – that whole episode was about Donna’s evolution into independence and being aware of her own strength and her path of healing from all that shit, and that kinda fits with – like the next phase of my life, I’m gonna go kick some ass! Briana: That’s a good point, they did kinda like button up that part of Donna, so they made her a hunter at the end of the day and had her come around to Doug and say I’m sorry I was acting that way towards you. And then, that feels like it’s done. Which is a relief for Briana the actress. Lynn: Say more. Briana: I just want – but this is just me, the writers have a plan for the character, but me as an actress and also as a fan and an audience member, I just don’t want to watch women talk about boys all the time. Lynn: Then it would stop passing the Bechdel test. Briana: I know that damaged goods can influence your future and your present, but it doesn’t have to be talked about all the time. Lynn: Or in a relationship way always. I mean, Dean is damaged goods, but… Briana: And we all know that, but we don’t talk about it every episode. Lynn: Right. Briana: So I get that they need to get all that stuff out. Lynn: That was a lot of character development in one episode. Briana: I know, I know. In Kim’s episode too. Lynn: Briana, you and I have talked about this before – because Donna was introduced in an episode that was sort of about her weight, they’ve kind of kept that going, and I was a little put off in Plush when she pulled out the salt and said oh my diet secret, I pour it on my food… I mean, I’m not sure anyone in the fandom was laughing. Briana: I know, I know. I thought maybe, did they have to comment on the fact that I was slimmer, or that they needed to find an arc for my character, I don’t know why… Lynn: I think they did feel they had to comment on that, but was it really relevant right there? Briana: Right, who cares? Exactly. I think sometimes audiences are smarter than they think. Kim: There’s two levels there – on the one hand, it’s offensive to think that anyone’s validity and existence needs — that anyone has the right to comment on a character’s weight, that weight is at all a part of a person. But the other thing is, did the fans think, ‘was that Donna?’ Did they know she’s lost weight? Lynn: Right, like everyone was watching going omg Donna’s lost weight! Or wait, is that Donna?! Briana: Like what’s her diet secret! Is she exercising? No, you’re 100% right. I’m very grateful and I love my character, but Kim and I talk all the time about why is it so hard to write for women? Why not just write a script and go well, a woman can say that and a man can say that. Why are the words not interchangeable? Lynn: They should be. Although, it’s really interesting, Jenny Klein wrote the episode that Richard just directed, Just My Imagination, and there was a reference in that episode to a male character’s weight, which is also unusual, but they did it in a positive way, like the fat saved my life. Briana: In a loving way Lynn: And I love Jenny Briana: Me too, and I think that was a smart thing to do. [Kim comes back with throat lozenges and water, since they both were coughing] Briana [laughing] We used to be all cookies and coffee and now we’re all lozenges and water! [Everyone hydrates] Briana: I guess I like the fact that Donna likes food – I like food, and I think that’s a great character trait. But I don’t think it needs to be something she battles, that’s the unfortunate part of that. Lynn: The whole episode was about Donna’s independence, both psychologically and physically, her being strong, doing CrossFit, and the rest of it was so on point. Briana: And you know what’s funny? Some of the writers were like, oh, I really hope people ship Donna and Doug and I was like, really? Lynn: Umm, nope, people are probably not gonna do that. Briana: And it was cute, the whole conversation was cute, and Brendan who played Doug is lovely, we had a great time together. But it was just like, really? That’s what you get from the script? That you hope Donna shacks up with somebody? [caption id="attachment_46030" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Tweet @OfficialBrianaB – with the delightful Brendan Taylor[/caption] Lynn: Not really what the episode was about. Briana: I feel like men don’t know what to do with women sometimes except pair them with men. Kim: And, well, people don’t know what to do with bodies that aren’t a stereotypical perfect body other than assume someone’s suffering inside. Briana: Exactly, exactly. Kim: Like, this is the size 12 who’s battling with it. And you know what? When she’s a size 12, she’s fucking hot! It’s novel to think that people can accept who they are rather than assuming that like – I had someone be like, “You’re 46? Well that’s okay, I don’t mind”. And I was like, you know what’s funny? I don’t either! Lynn: You know what’s even funnier? Why the hell would they mind? Or why would you? Kim: Yeah, I don’t need your permission to be okay with being 46. So yeah, just that idea that if something isn’t the stereotype of perfection, then there must be an internal struggle to attain that something. Lynn and Briana: [are nodding vehemently] Kim: But again, I think that goes back to why we’re presenting a truth to the audience that isn’t necessarily seen. Because in our society, if you aren’t that Thing, capital T – which, by the way, isn’t REAL – but if you aren’t that Thing that isn’t real, you somehow must be suffering and either trying to become that Thing and failing or not trying to become that Thing and really sad about it. But you know what? That Thing isn’t real. And here’s the funny thing – I am. I’m trying to be me. Briana: People are also uncomfortable around confident people. Especially confident women. Lynn: Ohgod, yes. To what both of you said. Briana: People are always trying to put you down – like, how can you still be standing? Nobody likes you… Lynn: This is what Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls is largely about – that fandom is all about celebrating what it means to be a fangirl, and that includes being REAL. That’s so much of what fan communities are about and why they’re so powerful, because you can’t do that in the rest of the world. Especially not women. As a psychologist, I see so much of the stuff that happens when you can’t be real and your emotions aren’t validated – shame, guilt, eating disorders, self harm. Then I discovered fandom, where people weren’t trying to put people in perfect boxes, and that’s what’s so wonderful about it. And that’s why you both click so well with this fandom! Briana: And that’s why I love the panels, they’re always my favorite part of the con. Because, like Kim said, we speak truths, I don’t know how to speak any other way. And we often – I often put my foot in my mouth, more often on twitter than at a con. Usually there’s at least part of the audience at a con that’s gonna be cheering you on. It feels like such a good representation. I feel like the fans represent me just as much as I represent them. Lynn: I think that’s absolutely true. Did any shenanigans go on during the filming of your last episode? With the boys? Briana: Well, Jared’s always trying to bust you. But only on your coverage! Lynn: Of course. Briana: And if he can’t – if he does something and you don’t laugh at it, he’ll go like this – pffffff – like he’ll make you laugh by laughing! [caption id="attachment_46032" align="aligncenter" width="540"] Plush[/caption] Briana: There were always those scenes. You can read them [Jared and Jensen] pretty well, like sometimes they’re talking business and they don’t wanna fuck around right now, so then we won’t. But then there will be scenes where every time I’ll be holding my sides they would just wind up and smack them down, and then Jensen would kick them out of the scene and they’re just like –they’re toddlers! Kim: They’re like little boys. Briana: I said to my husband, when I was reading the script – Every single one of my scenes is with those boys, I don’t know how I’m gonna make it through! Kim and Lynn: [cracking up] Briana: It’s like with the three of us? It’s not gonna happen. Jared is the worst though. Kim: When they’re together is the worst. Briana: That’s very true. Jared alone, I had some trouble with, but when he’s with Jensen? Oh man. Nothing crazy though, just the usual shenanigans. Just like them teasing me. I feel like they treat me like a sister. [caption id="attachment_46033" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Tweet @OfficialBrianaB[/caption] Lynn: Well, they know you well now. The people who do the cons, you all get to know each other really well. Briana: That’s so true. Lynn: I was just chatting with Shoshanna Stern, who was a guest star on Supernatural this season… Briana: Oh, she was fabulous! So good, that was a great episode. Did you watch it, Kim? Kim: I did. And I was actually there when they were shooting it. Lynn: I loved Shoshanna, I thought Eileen was a great character. Briana: She’s done a lot of stuff too, eh? Lynn: [silently] I love it when Briana’s Canadian comes out… Lynn: It was interesting to hear her view of the boys, because she observes very keenly – and she said, I didn’t know, when they started goofing off, like am I allowed to laugh? Briana: Oh of course! Lynn: And she gave me this run down of how the crew reacts, the director, how she’s expected to react, and the unbelievable way they play off each other. That when it’s one of them, it’s fine, but as soon as the other walks in, they light up and their ages seem to drop by 30 years. Briana: Hilarious! Kim: It’s like the difference between having one puppy in a room and having two puppies in a room – like it really is, they increase exponentially! [caption id="attachment_46034" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Tweet @OfficialBrianaB[/caption] Briana: [nodding] Mm hmm. Lynn: That’s really true. Briana: But you know what? Actually, we’re the same way. Lynn: [laughing] That’s true! Briana: You find somebody that you really mesh well with and then you’re just more of yourself when they’re around. Lynn: Exactly! That’s why I thought it was funny when people hoped fans would ship you with Doug, because you know who most people ship you with. Briana: [grinning adorably] Yes! Her! Kim: [also grinning adorably] Meeeeeeeeee! End of Part 1 of the Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster interview. Part 2 can be found here. We will continue through the launch of Lynn’s book with some of her best Supernatural interviews. Check out Kim and Briana's chapter – along with many other cast and fan chapters – in Family Don’t End With Blood. You can pre-order it here.

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#Briana Buckmaster #Featured #Interviews #Jared Padalecki #Jensen Ackles #Kim Rhodes #Supernatural

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