#no but seriously one of the most incredible performances I've ever seen | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

idreaminmugiwara · 5 months

Text

Major Spoilers for Whole Cake Island Arc

Turn back if you haven't gotten into the 800s!!! I'm about to give a TED talk about episode 808, which is arguably one of the most emotional episodes of One Piece.

I FINALLY have my computer back!! Which means I can finally get to the myriad of posts I've been wanting to make over the past few days. I've been able to go from Zou to the beginning of Wano in record time and I have SO MANY THOUGHTS.

Starting with this episode right here.

I had heard some hype about Sanji v Luffy but until I actually watched the episode, I hadn't been terribly excited. I (like many others) have very complicated feelings about Sanji. I loved him before Thriller Bark, after which his predatory nature became impossible to overlook and made the majority of scenes with him uncomfortable to sit through. I've had relationships with guys that seemed amazing save for the fact that they refused to acknowledge and appreciate boundaries around women and femmes, and I've watched those guys get away with their bullshit over and over because no one takes it fucking seriously. Sanji can be borderline triggering for me with the kind of abuse history that I have. With that out of the way....

Whole Cake Island Sanji feels almost like a different person than he did in Thriller Bark and Fishman Island. He ceases to be the token perv and becomes an extremely emotionally complex character in a way we haven't seen up until this point. Normally incredibly sarcastic and stoic in the face of drama and tension, he begins to crack at the seams. Being around his abusers brings out a side of him that I hadn't even imagined up until now. His fight with Luffy is EXTREMELY challenging to watch because this isn't about someone flexing their strength or winning a contest, it's about fucking trauma.

It was difficult enough watching Luffy get the absolute shit kicked out of him by one of his dear friends. Then Sanji had to go and shatter Nami's heart. We've seen Nami (rightfully) slap the shit out of him before when he acts a fool towards women, but this literally hit different. The tears started falling for me after that "Sayonara." It felt so definite, so devastatingly conclusive. I don't think we've ever seen Nami angry like this before, not towards a crew member. As a viewer, I hadn't felt this uncomfortable since Luffy's falling out with Usopp.

I could be wrong, but I think the only other time we've seen Sanji cry was when he was saying goodbye to Zeff at Baratie. One of the things I've always loved about One Piece is how little Oda holds back when it comes to allowing his characters to FEEL. Crying is normalized in this world, no matter what one's gender is. But Sanji is typically presented (much like Zoro) as the stoic butch, the cool as a cucumber James Bond type who doesn't seem nearly as affected as the rest of his compatriots by the crazy shit they go through. Seeing him break down as Luffy cried after him, reminding him of how much he cared about him and how he wouldn't give up on him was fucking powerful and gave Sanji some much needed development after over 800 episodes.

Lastly, I just have to commend all the voice actors in this episode, particularly Hioraki Hirata and Mayumi Tanaka. The amount of nuance that went into these performances gives me goosebumps and cemented this as one of the most powerful episodes of One Piece for me. I wish this was the Sanji that could have stayed with us in Wano, but alas and alack. Watching this arc play out in Live Action is going to be absolutely insane.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

youtube

#one piece #one piece anime #one piece luffy #monkey d. luffy #one piece sanji #sanji #whole cake spoilers #whole cake island #whole cake arc #sanji vinsmoke #sanji vs luffy #was not expecting for Sanji to be the one to break my heart in this arc but here we are #Youtube

16 notes · View notes

arcplaysgames · 1 year

Text

If the Fortune Arcana is literally a fortune teller, I am going to slash some tires. Especially since, like, the point of the fucking Wheel is that you are not in a position to see where it will turn.

Some journalist I've seen for like five minutes makes a deal with Reverie. She'll give a name of the criminal running the scams in Shibuya but she wants access to someone at Shujin who suffered under Kamoshida's abuse.

Which is a shitty deal, so calling it: Devil arcana.

Morgana suggests Mishima for the deal, so, uh

I hate Mishima but this feels terrible. 8C Come on, he's gonna think it's a date and instead someone is gonna ask him about the volleyball coach beating him. This sucks, Persona 5 Royal!!!! I hate this!

And Ryuji gets accosted by... drag performers??? Or are they just queer people? I am literally looking through my screencaps of this scene and I frankly don't get what it's trying to imply here???? I feel like it's a joke at my people's expense but I'm missing context, so. SHRUG.

Kaneshiro's palace seems to be the entirety of Shibuya's central street. Which made me think they just didn't want to make new assets but I'm proven wrong in a bit.

Seeing people as walking ATMs doesn't make sense to me, like, you withdraw from your own account with ATMs, not from the magical ATM fairy. I don't get this metaphor. Whatev!

TURNS OUT THE ACTUAL PALACE IS A FLYING BANK. Alright. That's sure a thing.

I feel like this was an incredibly valid question. Unfortunately, Morgana cannot turn into non-car things. Which really begs a lot of questions about why he can become specifically a van.

Ryuji when was the last time you were useful, homes, you are the one who got us into this fucking mess with Makoto because you kept screaming about being a Phantom Thief, you absolute dunderfuck. Don't insult Morgana.

Dinnertime at the Nijima Household.

This is a totally inappropriate reaction but I started laughing in disbelief because like. This turn is SO hard and SO sudden and came out of nowhere???? Sae, bruh, what the fuck, are you having a bad day?

OH MY GOD SHE IS LMAO THAT'S HER EXCUSE. And then she says she's going to stop coming home for dinner from now on???? Holy shit?

lmao as the main caretaker of a very frustrating person who drives me batshit, I am judging Sae so fucking hard right now. Remember the halcyon days when we first met Sae? God, I barely remember. Now she's interrogating our card collection and making Dojima look like Parent of the Year.

The Thieves meet up to talk about how to reach the Palace and Makoto just invites herself along again, and Ann happens to call her "useless" and oh my god is this like her trauma trigger?

ATLUS

WHO THE FUCK WAS YOUR SCENE COORDINATOR FOR THIS SEQUENCE

AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY?

YOU JUST FLASHED BACK TO A SCENE THAT LITERALLY JUST HAPPENED 40 SECONDS AGO.

Makoto completely loses her shit and is like "okay fine I will go find you Kaneshiro" and storms off

Gets shoved into the back of an unmarked car by two thugs

Everyone very reasonably flips their shit too and chases after her, including Ryuji throwing himself into the path of a speeding car to make it stop

which: is the most Chariot shit any Chariot has ever Charioted, but also if he got hit doing this, I would have deleted the game in a rage-blackout, i'm so furious with Makoto

and oh she leads them to Kaneshiro! and he immediately snaps a photo of them all for blackmail purposes. he wants 3 million yen in 3 weeks.

HEY YUSUKE?

THANK YOU

Everyone gets a shot of sympathy for Makoto because she's like super sorry that she flipped her shit and ran off and confronted some mafia dudes and got in their car and wound up needing a rescue and then got everyone on the hook for 3 million yen, which is about what I make in a fucking year (roughly)

whatever, they bring her into the Metaverse, she pops her Persona, it's a motorcycle, which is way more fucking cool than she deserves

you know what, same here. same here.

I think I feel comfortable saying, yeah, this is worse than Ryoji. If anyone is hoping I turn on Makoto later, do not hold your breath, because this is a staggeringly bad prolonged introduction to this character. I am to a point I want to sit down with the writers and just ask them to explain to me what impression they intended to leave on the player, taking a character who has thus far only been a stalker and harasser of the protagonists turned outright blackmailer turned into oh now someone else is blackmailing us bc of her? and then handing her off like "here's a new teammate"

what

the actual

fuck

thank you and good night. I'm going to bed.

#p5 #persona liveblog #can i just skip this palace #she is permanently on the bench i want nothing to do with her #holy SHIT

31 notes · View notes

sakebytheriver · 7 months

Note

What did you like most about everything everywhere all at once?

Oh god 😭😭😭

How can I even begin to answer that question? I mean there are just so many aspects in that movie that are absolutely incredible, from the cast to the costumes to the special effects it's all a bunch of exceptional pieces of a puzzle put together to make a work of art that is possibly one of the best films we've ever seen

But if I was forced to pick just One Thing about the movie I like the most, I would definitely have to say the writing

The script and the writing behind it are the main reason this movie is as good as it is, without it this movie would have been nothing, I mean there's a reason why it took the Daniels almost a decade to write this thing. They started coming up with the premise and doing research all the way back in 2010 and there is no doubt in my mind that those years taken to perfect the script before ever starting production are completely responsible for this movie being so incredible.

They didn't put their first draft on the screen. They put their 50th draft on the screen

How many movies can you think of with great premises that have absolutely shit execution? And it all begins in the writer's room. The writing process is so important to making a film or TV show successful and the reason why Everything Everywhere All At Once is so good is because the Daniels took that process seriously and took their vision seriously, unwilling to press record on the camera until the script was as perfect as they could possibly get it and be proud of their work

It took the Daniels 8 years to write this script, and then they filmed everything within a production schedule of only like 30 days (before reshoots) and then about a year of editing and post production before the film was in theaters. That is a ridiculously fast turn around for a movie and without those 8 years of perfecting the script there's no way on earth the production schedule would have been as easy and as fast as it was

I could wax poetic about basically every aspect of this movie till I'm blue in the face, but the writing is the framework and the solid foundation that allows every other bit of the production to stand as tall as it does and I will forever be chasing that kind of brilliance in all of my own writing for the rest of my time on this planet for sure.

I mean there's a reason why this movie doesn't have just one singular overly famous quote, but in fact has like 20, from "In another life I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you" to "No one is unloveable there is always something to love" and "You think because l'm kind that it means I'm naive, and maybe I am. It's strategic and necessary. This is how I fight." and "Please be kind, escpecially when we don't know what's going on" and "We can do whatever we want. Nothing matters" and "Right is a small box invented by people who are afraid. And I know what it's like being stuck in that box" and "I'm useless alone. We're all useless alone, it's a good thing you're not alone" and so on and so forth, there is line after line of dialogue that reaches straight into your chest to physically touch your heart with their words. How many movie quotes can do that without the actor's inflection and performance backing it up? How many lines can break you just from reading them the way half the quotes from this movie do? How many movies even have a singular line that can hit you the way ALL of these lines in EEAAO hit you? The cast and their deliveries are absolutely incredible and 100% aid and elevate the source material, but these quotes were already powerhouses when they were just print on a page, putting them into the talented mouths of the movie's cast only elevates them even further

Actors are taught how to make shit writing sound like good writing, the amount of actors I've seen having to fight an uphill battle to make garbage dialogue work is basically every film put out these days, but the writing in EEAAO isn't forcing these actors to fight with reality to make their lines sound like words a real human being would say, it's already so incredible that the actors can play and discover a different kind of truth within every word instead of forcing themselves to find the truth within words no real human has ever passed through their lips

Bottom line, I suppose to me, the best part of EEAAO is the writing behind it, because without good writing, you would have absolutely nothing

#ignore me #everything everywhere all at one #eeaao #anon #ask #answered #anonymous

7 notes · View notes

aurosoulart · 1 year

Note

I feel like you've definitely done this before, but I can't find anything so I thought I'd ask. Do you know any other cool vr artists I can check out? I know it's a rare specialty on Tumblr at least, but I've never seen someone do the kind of stuff you do and I'd love to see some examples in different styles

OH MAN DO I EVER...... hold on to your hats cuz this will get long. none of these people are on tumblr but they're all worth checking out!!

anyways here's the prominent XR artists in the world right now that I know off the top of my head (note: I'm bound to miss some people, also some sell NFTs, some don't, just a PSA):

Rosie Summers - UK VR artist & one of my personal fav inspirations. if you like space and whimsy, you'll like her art!

Giant Swan - Australian VR artist. his work with color & texture is some of the best I've ever seen

Goro Fujita - prominent art director who was born in Japan and who now does VR animations in a VR animation program called Quill! really worth checking out if you are at all interested in learning 3d animation.

Piyo Master - Japanese VR artist who makes some seriously cool mech designs - among other things!!

Emma / The Spatial Canvas - US-based artist with a whole YouTube series on teaching VR art! her environment work is SUPER good.

Minhang - Vietnamese VR artist who makes INCREDIBLY detailed painting worlds

Anna Zhilyaeva / Anna Dream Brush - French VR artist and probably one of the most famous VR artist/performers in the world.

Suk - Korean VR artist with a wonderful traditional ink art style

Kudo Albus - Japanese VR artist with a VERY cute art style

Kevin Ang - US-based artist and MY GOOD FRIEND!! 💖 his work is very storybook-vibes and nature-inspired

Vaidehi / Ozymandias - UK-based artist (and also my friend!) with a crazy abstract, cubist, occasionally even dadaist art style

Yamakeiart - Japanese VR artist - and a tattoo artist as well! her tattoo design work really shines through in her VR art

SaRaN - Japanese VR artist. super detailed and magical worlds

Gaston Carballal - VR artist based in Argentina with a really unique style - his worlds look like they're made entirely of wicker and clay

Julius Kleberski - French VR artist who is very underrated - he makes detailed worlds and these gorgeous filigree-style 3d sculptures

Angeles - Spanish VR artist who is extremely skilled at creating animals and human faces!

Lucy Boyd-Wilson - US VR artist with beautiful abstract & nature-based work.

Sabby Life - US-based VR artist & educator, and a lead of the VR Art Live community! I could list even more artists at this point BUT you could also just find them yourself by joining the VR Art live Discord - it's a main hub for XR art and there's tons of community events and resources available there!! 💖

#auropost #I HOPE THAT GIVES U A LOT TO LOOK THRU EHEHE #if you want to find even more vr artists they're all in instagram #just go through the tilt brush or vrart tag #or gravity sketch/open brush/quillvr #the vast majority of the artists listed above use tilt brush/open brush #you can also search youtube for tilt brush/open brush tutorials! there's a good amount nowadays #but yeah i also retweet many of these artists on my twitter as well #i keep trying to get people to join tumblr but no one thinks it's worth it LOL #someday though....... i'll get kevin to join 😂#he'd fit in just fine here

23 notes · View notes

lyrical-lovely · 11 days

Text

Anime Review - Idoly Pride (S1)

Idoly Pride. Idoly effing Pride. Where do I even begin to describe the emotional journey that this thing took me on? If you're here, you know that I LOVE idols, so do take that bias into account...

Watch Idoly Pride if: - You want to experience a state of true catharsis - You love idols and music - You have a sister

Do NOT watch Idoly Pride if: - You are not emotionally prepared for it - You don't like women??? - ??? It's 12 episodes you can do it

MILD SPOILERS below the cut- I'm only gonna spoil episode 1 plot points though so

Oh my GOD. Where do I even start? I guess we can begin with a summary. A young man named Kohei becomes an idol producer after being asked to do it by his acquaintance (at the time) Mana. Over the years, Mana goes on to become a legendary idol, but passes away in an accident just before the finals of the Venus Something competition. A few years after that, Kohei begins scouting for a new idol group, and he meets two girls of importance- Sakura, who has a voice that sounds just like Mana's and a heart that told her where to go; and Kotono, Mana's younger sister who took up idol training to follow in her sister's footsteps. The anime follows the story of the two girls discovering their own truth as idols and what the profession means to them. Ultimately, though, this is a story about forgiveness- both of others and of ones-self. That said, there are a lot of lessons to have pulled from this heart-wrenching story, and this is just how I interpreted it.

Love Live walked so Idoly Pride could run. Seriously, Idoly Pride does EVERYTHING right that Love Live got wrong. For example, character development. Sakura and Kotono are, of course, joined by a cast of fun and quirky side characters, who each get a somewhat significant plot point around them. For example, the sister relationship between Chisa and Saki is touching, and Rei's intensity being misinterpreted as cruelty helps her develop as a character, too. All the side idols are really great, and I think that in a second season there'd be a lot of potential for good plot points there.

Idoly Pride also succeeded in that things actually went right. Unlike Love Live, not everything goes wrong for Hoshimi productions, and as a result, the anime is a happy one, not frustrating to watch at all. The characters, for the most part, act as reasonable human beings would and usually make good decisions. They're a bit unrealistically emotionally intelligent- I mean, have you MET high school girls? That aside, I also enjoyed the balance of "filler" to "plot." There's a ton of cute little moments, like Suzu falling asleep and rolling off a bench while waiting for laundry, or Shioriko doing "ego surfing" on her phone between shows. I think this mundane aspect of it gives the characters a bit more realism and makes them so much more likeable.

Just to dote on this show a bit more- the 3D animation was like nothing I've ever seen before, and there were times when it was actually hard to tell what technique the animators were using. There were even times when you could tell they had rendered in 3D, then drawn over the idols in 2D to get an incredible 3D sweeping background with a 2D character overlay. A lot of love was put into repeatedly drawing the intricate costumes on even the side characters, and I really respect that.

The only crime this anime committed was not being long enough! Well, and there were a LOT of loose ends, and I wasn't completely satisfied with what happened at the finals of the Venus Something cup. The solo song performed at the end was absolutely beautiful, but the outcome of the cup as a whole was kind of confusing to me. Well, whatever. Fix it in season 2!

I'd like to bring up two more things before I go. 1, this anime portrays sisters really well. I love the way the relationships between the two sets of sisters are explored. And 2, the handling of the power dynamics between older, male idol producers and the young, often underage, female idols. I think this was presented rather well, and it's something I'd like to see them discuss more in the next season, specifically with Rui.

Overall, it's a 10/10 for me. I cried the last four episodes. Something about this anime knows exactly how to punch you right in the gut. It's beautiful.

#anime #anime review #anime reviews #idoly pride

2 notes · View notes

destinyc1020 · 17 days

Note

Can I believe that Kevin and Amy didn't know Z? Yes.

Can I believe that no one from the casting team found out or said anything? No.

This is Amy Pascal, she loves headlines and big words - I don't really believe her words - they deliberately cast Zendaya as a popular actress. We all watched her audition and saw the films - Zendaya plays well and Michelle herself is an interesting character, but I can’t say that the performance of this character is incredible and amazing, this is an ordinary love interest, any other good actress would also be suitable for this role

I'm just shocked they had never even seen her before lol 😆, but I guess I have to keep in mind their age, and the fact that before the Spiderman franchise, Zendaya had never been in a film before.

So, maybe it's believable lol.

But yea, I can't imagine that nobody on their team had ever seen this girl before lol. She obviously got the chance to audition for such a role in a large film in the first place because of the type of agent that she has lol. 😅

Re: Your Latter Point....

I mean, honestly, that's what most roles made for women in Hollywood are tbh. The love interest. 🤷🏾‍♀️ You also have to keep in mind the film genre.

Spiderman isn't a "deep" film. It's a fun, popcorn 🍿 film based on a comic book character, and it's Marvel Disney for goodness sakes lol 😂 You're not gonna get some really well fleshed-out character development from a role like this.

But it serves its purpose, and Z makes a great MJ. 😊 I wouldn't want her replaced by anyone!

I'm hoping they give MJ more to do in the future franchise, but even if they don't, it's okay. I've made peace with it by now.

Those films are what they are, and they're fun to watch. They're not supposed to be taken that seriously anyway. And not every film has to have all this amazing character development. That's why we have OTHER films to watch that have more of that. You can like both. 😊 It doesn't have to be either/or in other words.

4 notes · View notes

shimamitsu · 2 months

Note

Hi! I hope ur doing well, but in honor of akane banashis 100th(!!!) chapter I just wanted to add how stunning the art is? Especially in the rakugo scenes, where the style changes to that ink brush kind of style? it’s so incredibly creative and one of my favorite parts!!

YOU ARE SOOOOO RIGHT akane banashi's art is incredible seriously. the expressions!!!!!!!! it has some of the most mind-blowing pages i've ever seen. it's crazy. the change of style for the rakugo scenes is a great choice, and i loved how in the last chapter akane kinda crossed the boundary between styles and how when she interacted with the characters of the story she was performing the ink brush style changed to the regular manga style to show that she has a deeper connection with rakugo now. so good. everyone read akane banashi. btw this page changed my life forever

#i miss hikaru :(

2 notes · View notes

battyaboutbooksreviews · 7 months

Text

🦇 Stars Collide Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❝ "You’re more than your sexuality. So much more.” ❞

❓ #QOTD Who was your celebrity crush growing up OR favorite artist as a teen? ❓ 🦇 After her divorce, pop star sensation Eden Sands' latest album lacked the spark fans and the industry have expected of her after 20 years. Meanwhile, Anna Moss, her fellow Grammy nominee, is beginning to rise, though people in the industry don't take her as seriously as she hoped. To rekindle that spark, Eden invites Anna to join her on stage during her Grammy performance, only for fans to focus on the spark between them. Following the unexpected popularity of #Edanna, Eden invites Anna to open her upcoming tour. The more time they spend together, the more they realize that chemistry exists off-stage, too. Is there something more to what they're feeling?

[ Find my full review below or on Goodreads | Storygraph | Literal ]

💜 Rachel Lacey does a wonderful job at exploring topics of self-discovery and identity. Eden and Anna's love story also gives a respectable nod to many realities of life as a celebrity. As a young star, Eden is forced to mature quickly. Allowing the adults in her life to make major decisions on her behalf stole Eden's control, leading her to claim that control in extreme ways as an adult. Fans have mobbed Eden, tugging at her hair, getting in her personal space, and claiming some unspoken right to flash cameras in her face, leading Eden to further seclude herself under the guise of safety. So much of her young life was controlled that she lost the chance to explore her identity beyond the pop star on stage. Meanwhile, Anna is forever seen as a teen character she played (while in her 20s), prompting no one to take her seriously. One of the things I loved most about this book was the mentorship between the two women. While Eden helped Anna recognize the control she could have over her career, Anna helped Eden recognize who she was and the life she could have outside of the spotlight. A lot of the conflicts in this story were internal; Eden's self-discovery and sexual awakening, the words of a controlling and toxic ex haunting Anna. Eden and Anna helped one another through their self-growth.

💜 In my favorite scenes, Anna coaxes Eden to talk through her thoughts (finally, a sapphic book that avoids using miscommunication to simmer the story in tension). Anna reminds Eden, "You don’t have to label yourself before you’re ready . . . or ever, if you don’t want to. How you identify is so personal, and you’re under no obligation to share it with anyone.” For many people, recognizing who they are--labels or not--is a lonely process. Anna never pushes or rushes Eden, but she does help Eden work through her concerns. You're never too late to decide who you are. I didn't navigate my own sexuality until after college, but I wish I'd had a friend to help me understand it, the way Eden had Anna. Even when their relationship blossoms into more, their friendship never wavers. Rachel Lacey does an incredible job at describing how out of tune you can feel for so much of your life, only for the static to clear because of an event, a realization, or a person. I've met that person and I can say with certainty that it can change everything.

🦇 Though I loved the internal conflicts both MCs had to navigate to mature and develop, the lack of strong external factors seems unrealistic. The major external factors are the mobbing fans and Anna's ex; the latter of which creates the only major blow-out scene in the entire novel. While we see Anna mature throughout the story (both in how she treats Eden and in her career growth), her maturity unravels in that scene. Eden, who is usually steadfast in her composure, steps beyond the professional veneer she wears in a moment of immature jealousy. That scene, presented in the last few chapters, felt like a rushed, inserted source of conflict before a HEA ending. Even Anna's ex felt out of character in these scenes, jumping from one extreme to the next, brought in as a last-minute trigger for Anna's insecurities about her relationship with Eden. There were other external conflicts to explore that would have strengthened the story. For example, the media is never posed in a negative light (as if the media wouldn't distort the truth or paparazzi wouldn't mob both popstars). What if Eden was only enamored by the situation (a concern that could have crept alongside Anna's other doubts)? During the second half of the novel, Eden and Anna were surrounded by so much BLISS that I kept waiting for a real problem to challenge their relationship. The strongest relationships navigate problems and survive, all the stronger for it.

🦇 Recommended to anyone in need of a warm and fuzzy romance read. Ideal for fans of sexy slow burns, workplace romances, and celebrity romances.

✨ The Vibes ✨ 🩷 Bisexual / Pan Leads 💙 💞 Sapphic Romance 🎤 Workplace Romance / Forced Proximity 🎙️ Dual POV 🎵 Slow Burn ⏳ Age Gap 💗 Friends to Lovers 🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender Rep ❤️‍🔥 Sexual Awakening 🌶️ Spice

#books #book lovers #book blog #sapphic books #sapphic romance #queer book recs #queer fiction #queer books #queer #book reviews #book review #batty about books #battyaboutbooks #book: stars collide #author: rachel lacey

4 notes · View notes

talkingbl · 1 year

Text

ZeeNunew = MewGulf

Now that I've gotten your attention, let's talk about shipping and people who talk about shipping. This is a long post so, if you don't want to read the whole thing, skip down to the TLDR instead of reading it anyway then complaining about the length.

The problem with BL pairing shippers

Many critiques about shippers are extremely valid. Shippers can get out of hand and do things like bring Gulf porn of him and Mew to his solo event or follow Joong around calling him "baby~~~" b/c that's what he allegedly calls Dunk despite that he clearly doesn't want them to. I've seen shippers beg actors to physically touch, to kiss, to perform unwanted sexual acts on each other, etc. Straight up gross behavior.

Like, when did it become okay to essentially bribe people into fulfilling your fantasies, unprovoked? I could see if they were okay with this (see below), but most of the time stans are doing these things out of nowhere while the actors either refuse or look clearly uncomfortable. At best, it's cringey when shippers cross the line like this, at worst it's criminal.

That said, I personally believe that not all shippers are inherently bad. There are lots of normal shippers who simply like the moments, eat it up, and play along with the actors when it's clear that the actors are okay with it. So, I'm sorry to the non-shippers out there but I just don't care about the normal shippers, I don't think it's wrong, and I'm not gonna call the these types of shippers delulu (but I will bully tf out of the group mentioned above). It's not really my cup of tea to get invested in ships to that level but to each their own.

With that, I think it's a good time to turn to the problem that no one EVER addresses. And that is the problem with non-shippers.

The problem with non-shippers

We all know the non-shipper greatest hits. BL shippers are harmful because:

no ships are real/it's all fanservice and I won't believe otherwise until I see a marriage certificate (unless both actors are conveniently feminine-coded)

all BL actors are straight until proven otherwise, so shipping = bad

all BL actors have girlfriends until proven otherwise!!

shippers are delulu straight women who don't care about gay rights

also, it's none of our business

Also, we need to protect actors from the ~harm to their image!!!

Did I cover everything? Probably not but there's a point here. Not only are every single one of these critiques not necessarily true or coming from a genuine place, but some of them are incredibly harmful??

Like...all BL actors are straight when over 10% of the population under 30 identifies as something other than non-het? And being straight always means you're in a long-term committed relationship with a member of the opposite sex? Are y'all out here seriously saying that only straight women consume BLs and ship actors? In 2022, the year of our lord? Come on now...

The funny point about the het allegations and the whole 'y'all don't care about gay rights' sentiment is that a lot of the time it's coming from actual straight women who don't wanna believe their favorite BL guy might actually like boys. Actually, I have a theory about this...have y'all ever noticed that the more feminine-coded or not conventionally attractive the actor is, the more folx are willing to concede he may be queer? But the more masculine-coded or conventionally attractive the actor is, the more staunch non-shippers are that he's straight? Yeah, I'ma need y'all to unpack that...

And let's talk about the reality of ships. I personally don't believe that any actors are currently dating IRL outside of the confirmed ones. But I'd be lying if I said I don't think some of them have dated in the past, are messing around/have messed around, or are about to be dating lmao. I mean believe what you want to believe (that's what I do) but like...don't be weird about it. What kills me is the lengths the girls* go to to prove their faves are straight/can't be dating. It's just strange to me.

For the 'it's none of our business crew', I agree a bit but like speculating about a celebrity's dating life in a fandom space is something inherent in fan culture. This is a tough topic for me that deserves its own post, but suffice it to say, I think that to some extent, gossip about who is dating who is relatively normal. But it can get out of hand and I don't condone that.

Finally, the biggest problem I see with non-shippers is the absolute cock-gobbling that goes on amongst them. When it comes to these BL actors, all of a sudden the girlies* are ready for war and will "do anything to protect [their faves'] image." Like...this is not only homophobic on so many levels but also he's a grown ass man??? If the shippers are not crossing the line, why do you care?

*girls/girlies is gender neutral here.

Off, Tay, Mew, Zee, Tul, Mile, Max K., are all 30+. New, Gun, Seoham, Singto, Earth P., Earth K., Boun, Fluke N., Apo, etc. are all 25+. Most of the industry is 21+. Gentlemen*, these are GROWN men. They DO NOT need your protection. You don't, on these men's behalf, need to bully people for liking their fanservice or for the mere thought that one of them could be dating a costar. Stop trying to "protect their image" in other ways too. If he's 27 and made rape jokes, that man is GUILTY!!! Get him and your dumb ass justification of his behavior off my timeline!!!

*Gentlemen is gender neutral here.

The only actors y'all need to worry about ~protecting are like... *checks big ass Tumblr post w/all the actors ages* the The Tuxedo boys. That's it. The rest of these hoes* are grown and can take care of themselves.

*hoes is a term of endearment here.

Let's be clear here. I totally get it if shippers are crossing the line (pushing their fantasy in the actor's faces). I don't, however, get it when shippers are just acting in line with what the actors encourage. But this gets into another problem around shipping and that is...

The problem with BL pairings and their agencies

BL pairings go to extreme lengths to promote their ships and encourage delulu behavior. Why? Idk, money bouquets maybe? Luxury clothes? Expensive electronics? Food support? These actors fully understand that part of their job is to sell their ship. They go into these situations knowing what makes money, and most of them don't complain nor do they seem uncomfortable with all the adoration for their ship.

In fact, more often than not, I feel like they weirdly egg it on when they do things like concerts/tours/photoshoots where they sing love songs to each other, pretend to get married, pretend to be trying for a baby (??? wtf mew lmao), and use suggestive language that would lead a logical person to conclude they're dating.

And some don't stop there. Some actors will even do these things outside of clear fanservice contexts, which makes it seem even more plausible. You cannot possibly tell me that if 2 straight people did these sorts of things, people wouldn't rationally conclude that the two are dating... It's just not realistic.

There's also the very real fact that actors who are confirmed to be dating do sometimes use their relationship for financial gain. And I'm not even saying this in a nefarious way. Like Both and Newyear had an entire YouTube channel then turned around and acted in a BL opposite each other. You can't tell me they didn't want to commodify their relationship. Of course, that's not saying that shippers should be able to cross the line. That shit is never acceptable, warranted, or excused. But merely thinking they look cute together or discussing their moments online does not make a person an evil fujo (notice it's never a fudan accusation though 😉, but y'all not ready for that convo).

TLDR

My entire point with this post is that shipping can be bad and should not be tolerated when it is. When it's not bad, non-shippers can stfu w/the annoying ass holier-than-thou bs that often comes from a place of wanting to fuck the actors in question. Plus, of-age actors themselves need to tone it down if they don't want people thinking they're dating. But they also don't deserve to put up with the bullshit from obsessed shippers who probably should be criminally prosecuted for non-consensually bribing them into uncomfortable situations. Everyone just be normal lmao.

#thai bl boys love korean bl #shipping zeenunew mewgulf #joongdunk offgun taynew suamchan kristsingto singtokrist bounprem #santaearth ohmfluke ohmnanon pondphuwin neolouis neomark #maxnat netjames bothnewyear armporsche mileapo

17 notes · View notes

assbutt-casbutt-ii · 2 years

Note

I agree with you, seriously we are talking about Misha, he has done a lot for this world, and he has helped a lot of people. We know he's a good person, and he clearly never intended to hurt anybody.

Yes is super valid to feel hurt over his mistake, but he owned to it and he apologized.

I think people is being a little bit unfair to him, because i don't think he was queerbaiting all along or pretending to be someone he wasn't, i think that all this time what he was trying to do was to create a safe space for everyone, where everyone could feel acepted and important. And he's sexuality wasn't suposed to be more important than whatever his favorite color is, or any other of his preferences.

He was just treating everyone as equals, and he was entertaining us also, because breaking news! he's the performer artist and we are the fans.

(warning I do have a lot of run on sentences and most of this will probably sound very repetitive. I am writing this at 6 in the morning when I should be getting read for school)

Yes!!

Even though Misha made an incredibly small mistake that had practically no impact on others, he still has a better apology than any social media influencers who has said a racial slur, or made an offensive joke.

He said that he felt awful, and sincerely apologizes for his mistake.

you could chalk it up to him wanting to give an incredibly sincere apology to everyone due to the fact that people have called him out for queerbaiting before, and that might be true, but who cares??

We need more people giving out apologies like the one Misha gave! He was making sure that he didn't want to offend anyone, so he gave out probably one of the best apologies I've ever seen.

Also, when you mentioned the fact that he was trying to make a safe environment, this brings up a really important point. Part of normalizing the LGBTQIAP+ community is reminding others that we aren't this niche little group, and people who are straight might still have 'homosexual tendencies' (for a lack of a better word. I'm sorry for anyone who found this triggering). Literally my GUIDANCE COUNSELER told me that we are all a little gay. Jensen admitted that when he heard some Jared dude got the role of Sam, he had never heard of him, so looked him up. Jensen said that he found Jared to be so hot and attractive, that he thought that he wouldn't be able to play as Padalecki's brother. Despite this, we know that Jensen is straight.

Normalizing this kind of stuff, and reminding one another that everyone has moments like that is one of the best things you can do. You can still find someone of the same gender attractive/ hot, and be straight.

I think we should thank Misha for all of this 'queerbaiting'. He is a walking reminder that people just are the way they are, and getting pissed at it really isn't the way to go about expressing your confusion and lack of understanding about these topics. It's all around you. Embrace the gay :)

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk lmao

#Misha #Misha Collins #Spn #Supernatural #Misha is bi #Misha is straight #Castiel #spn #spnfamily #lgbtq #Bisexual #Normalize LGBTQ+#misha collins #dean winchester #sam winchester #jared paladecki #jensen ackles

23 notes · View notes

desertsquiet · 2 years

Text

Album of the month - August 2022: Dublin Blues - Guy Clark

The title track of this album first started sneaking around in my daily shuffle quite a long time ago. When I was still on Spotify, that is, and I was much more used to just let the alghoritmn take me on a random journey from time to time. I loved it right away, with its peaceful yet desperate vibe and the way it ironically blends European “high art” with “simple”, every day life pleasures typical of the state he was born in, with music obviously being at the center of it, a theme that is very dear to my heart: “I have seen the David, mmm/I've seen the Mona Lisa too/And I have heard Doc Watson/Play "Columbus Stockade Blues". This was soon after I’d first discovered Guy Clark’s music, with two amazing records that absolutely blew me away on first listen. His second, Texas Cookin’, and especially his debut, Old N.1. After that, however, I feared he might suffer from the stellar debut syndrome, as in those artists that were able to so completely blow me away with their first album(s) - or the first I heard - there was no way another album of theirs could capture my imagination quite as well. Yet about 9 months later, his 1995 release Dublin Blues was thankfully able to prove me wrong.

Guy Clark is an impossibly underrated and overlooked songwriter, one so obsessed with the most meticulous aspects of the craft of songwriting (without ever losing sight of autenticity) that when it comes to his best material, he really can do no wrong. There’s nothing even resembling a filler track on this album, not even a word or a line out of place, just 10 wonderful songs that like only the best country music can do, make simplicity feel so very complex and in depth. I’m completely in love with the way it sounds, too, (definitely his most cohesive sounding record since Old N.1), but what drew me in most of all was the realness and honesty both of the lyrics and the performance. He’s always been very much an instinctive singer, not so much concerned with the technical aspect of it, more as a way to fully convey his unique personality. The way he half sings half talks his way through songs, the way he starts laughing or humming mid sentence, or strongly emphasizes every little Texan inflection. Every song really seems to scream “this is who I am”, but never in an arrogant way. He’s also just pouring his heart out left and right. He puts it all on the table and there’s no chance you won’t have a clear idea of who Guy Clark was at the end of this album.

Picking favorites from it is an incredibly hard task, but the way he confesses his endless devotion to everything and everybody that is already part of his life and he intends to keep around in Stuff That Works is constantly moving to me: “I got a woman I love, she's crazy, paints like God/She's got a playground sense of justice, she won't take odds/I got a tattoo with her name right through my soul/I think everything she touches turns to gold”. As well as the impossibly humble and heartfelt love declaration of Trying to Try, where he realizes the only promise he can keep is that he’ll never stop trying to make things better for himself and the woman he loves and that’s a promise he will never break no matter what happens. I could keep naming songs from it, because they seriously are all amazing. I hope whoever reads this decides to give this album (or other Guy albums) a shot because the truth is he deserves a lot more attention. He’s one of the finest songwriters you can hope to hear.

#a little late but whatever lol #album of the month #dublin blues #guy clark #susanna clark #outlaw country

7 notes · View notes

mermaidsirennikita · 2 years

Note

did you go see top gun maverick is that what your mustache love is about plz discuss

I could answer this privately so that only you know my shame, but alas, I am going to go ahead and share with the entire class, as I can tell that this is what you want me to do, or you would have DM'd me on one of multiple channels in which you can do so, Olivia.

Let me tell you about my Top Gun history.

My mother would've been like... 16 to the dot when Top Gun was originally released. She saw it minimum 5 times in theaters, but "it could have been up to 10, I wouldn't know" in her own words. As she is a Cool Mom TM, I therefore saw Top Gun... throughout my lifetime. I think Top Gun is the movie that made me realize that people really enjoyed putting tongues in each other's mouths.

Of course I was going to to see Top Gun: Maverick. Even if I think Tom Cruise probably has ordered some seriously fucked shit due to him being like, the second most powerful Scientologist in the world; even if I was Team Katie in Divorce: Impossible; even if I roll my eyes whenever he's like, "A TOM CRUISE MOVIE IS ONLY TO BE SEEN IN THEATERS".... I was going to see Top Gun. One of my best friends, who commandeered my presence over the past two days, is also insanely into Top Gun, so it was like. Me in the middle seat, my mom (who proclaimed prior to Top Gun: Maverick beginning, "I think this will suck but I'm here for fun") on one side, and my friend on the other.

I should also add that. I don't think I necessarily viewed the men in Top Gun the way many people did. I've never really been attracted to Tom Cruise. Not because he's a Short King, but because he gives like, very hyper energy, and I am not... about that life. There is one movie, and one movie only, where I am attracted to Tom Cruise. It is Jerry Maguire (his best performance, fight me) and it is specifically the scene where Renee Zellweger tells her sister that her boss, Jerry Maguire, is coming over to their house unexpectedly, and her sister knows there's definitely some kind of sexual harassment situation going on here (which also leads to the immortal exchange of him apologizing for kissing her and her going "I might not sue", in what is a GOLDEN line reading) so the sister says, "he better not be good looking" and cut to her opening the door to INCREDIBLY SLEAZY SPORTS AGENT!Tom Cruise with his sunglasses on, clearly wasted, going "HI. I'M JERRY MAGUIRE."

That is the one time I have ever been attracted to Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

Rather, I was attracted to the blindingly blond, gum-chomping, homoerotic serial killer presence of Val Kilmer, aka "Iceman" (who does in fact appear in Top Gun: Maverick, and it is very emotional). But secretly... In a manner I was not confident to admit to until I reached full adulthood... I was also super attracted to Goose. As in, The Mustache, "talk to me, Goose", the ONE GUY who FOR SOME REASON is not shirtless in the Immortal Beach Volleyball scene, who is married to Meg Ryan and has an adorable child named BRADLEY BRADSHAW because I guess Goose and Carole are sociopaths, who performs a truly rollicking rendition of Great Balls of Fire.

It's not so much the appearance of Goose, but like... The average guy virility vibe? Like the vibe that he doesn't care about being pretty like Maverick and Iceman, he is not here to pick up girls, he's a happily married father, he's got a bit of an adrenaline issue as any elite pilot would, but overall he's just a deeply good man, with the level of Good Guy Masculinity that signals to me "surprisingly great in bed".

So of course, I must see Top Gun: Maverick because Maverick (who has somehow never progressed beyond the rank of captain for THIRTY YEARS, "by choice") is training this elite group of Top Gun graduates for A Super Secret Mission, and Jon Hamm (CALLSIGN: "Cyclone") is like "fuck you, Maverick, I know the law" but he also has to give Maverick this job because Iceman runs the Navy now or something. I appreciated the nepotism. And anyway, one of these Top Gun pilots is JUST ONE Bradley Bradshaw (CALLSIGN: "Rooster"), son of Goose, who did in fact die in the original in what is a legitimately super sad scene, and of course Maverick is all twisted up about it because that's his best friend's (who he did lowkey kill by accident, I know the Navy cleared him of wrongdoing but I never did) only kid.

I also need to interject in this moment to add that I am not attracted to Miles Teller. I'm not. I don't think he's a bad actor--I think he was good in The Spectacular Now, but I haven't seen many other movies with him in them besides the Divergent movies and Whiplash, all of which I did not like but cannot blame on him. I know very little about him as a person, and I don't wish to know more. He is not my type.

But I will fucking admit. He did sweep into that bar in a Goose Outfit (mustache, aviators, open Hawaiian shirt over a white wife beater) in what is clearly the best shape of his life, and I did sink in my movie theater chair thinking "God, this is going to be embarrassing to me". Because while my mother and my friend had no preconceived notions about him and were therefore not ashamed about being attracted to him. I have a brand to uphold. And sadly, I knew immediately that I was going to let myself down and thirst over Mustache Miles Teller for this entire fucking movie.

I will not be googling him. I will not be watching a single interview. I will just let this incredibly deep and abiding desire to fuck him live in that movie, and that movie only.

But also, he's legitimately really good in it; I will not lie. Rooster is all Mustache and Kicked Puppy Energy, and he has great chemistry with Tom Cruise in a father/son way, and Tom didn't even wear shoe lifts, he stands there looking a full foot shorter than Miles Teller and by God, if that didn't make me MORE ATTRACTED TO ROOSTER??? He does emotional pushups. He does plane stuff. As you know, I have a No Military rule, but like... fighter pilot shit.... is cool.

Are there hotter men in that movie? Yes, for sure. I would've liked to See More of Them, specifically Reuben Fitch (CALLSIGN: "Payback"), Mickey Garcia (CALLSIGN: "Fanboy" ... I have questions), and Javy Machado (CALLSIGN: "Coyote"). I hate to say this, but I was also very attracted to Glen Powell, a man who I would also never be attracted to in the wild, purely because he did in fact embody the Messy Bitch Who Lives for Drama rival of Rooster, Jake Seresin (CALLSIGN: "Hangman"). Mostly because he basically exists to have unresolved sexual tension with Rooster (and also the only lead girl pilot, Natasha Trace, CALLSIGN: "Phoenix", who also has a Vibe with Rooster, and I get that they want us to take women in the military seriously but I could've done with a celebratory threesome scene, whatever) and to be like, vaguely sexist to Phoenix and mean to the pilot with GLASSES??? DO WE LET PEOPLE WITH GLASSES FLY FIGHTER PLANES NOW??? I do love a problematic bitch.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, yes the general TOP GUN-ness of this made me want to fuck everyone (besides Tom Cruise), but you know what?? Let me live. Let me have this!!! Everything fucking sucks, and I should be able to have two hours of testosterone and people stealing planes (this happens multiple times in the movie) and soulfully saying "Talk to me, Goose" because Goose is God. Let me bask in the glory of a truly fabulous slo mo beach football scene, in which they thankfully kept the shirtless Tom Cruise to a minimum. (Rooster at one point does that BRO THING BULLSHIT jump into the air chest bump thing with Coyote, and I audibly groaned in shame at how much it delighted me.)

Is this a perfect movie? Nah. There are more interesting white guys they could've cast, if those roles had to be white guy adjacent; they could've just... had more diversity in the True Leads in general. Why is there only one main girl pilot? I would've cast someone other than Jennifer Connelly in the Replacement Love Interest role for Maverick, though I did appreciate that she was age appropriate.

But in terms of capturing the kind of non-superhero, fun as fuck action movie with like, Manly Tears Emotionality at its core, which is what the original Top Gun was... yes. This did that. I am sorry Katie and Nicole; I am on your sides in the divorce(s) but your cult leader ex husband did a good movie here. It was easily some of the most fun I've had with a movie in a whiiiiile.

And yes, I was devastated by the bit where Rooster unplugs the jukebox, sits at the piano, and does a rendition of Great Balls of Fire, because I am not made of stone.

Basically: yes, I do want to fuck Mustache Miles Teller, SPECIFICALLY AS ROOSTER, NOWHERE ELSE, I'd probably have sex with any of the young pilots in the movie, with the exception of the guy with glasses because I don't believe he can possibly actually be a pilot, they had him a plane but I did not buy that for a second, and I would argue that this movie is somehow... Similar to Magic Mike: XXL in vibe, while also being deeply different? More movies like this, basically.

#i was literally so full of self loathing in the scene where all these pilots sweep into the bar #like FULLY MILITARY and p much all of them waving their dicks around being like #LET'S BREATHE IN EACH OTHER'S FACES AND TALK ABOUT CONFIRMED KILLS #i WAS NOT GOD'S STRONGEST SOLDIER IN THAT MOMENT. I WAS NOT GOOD.

13 notes · View notes

cosmicfurby · 2 years

Text

Judging the songs that made it into the final #2 because I'm a pissed off little cockroach*

*not to be taken seriously

Belgium - meh. literally meh. don't get me wrong i love his voice but this is literally the most generic pop song I've heard tonight (plus Ireland, but as a hibernophile i literally can't admit Ireland does anything wrong ever). bit bland. the performance didn't add anything to it, it was,,,, there. you ever feel like something made it because of jury votes? yeah. definitely this case. i love jérémie though, and I'm sure he'll do a great job. shame that the song is so bland

Czech Republic - why. whyyy. this song sounds like it would play as ambiance music in an h&m and i don't mean this as a compliment. it's generic oontz-oontz it's so boring!! sleep inducing!! I'll give them something, at least it's sort of different to what we usually see and they performed very well, save the deadly stroboscopic lights that made me have to take my eyes off the screen. BOring.

Azerbaijan - i thought there was NO way this was going to make it into the final, but it seems i underestimated the power of national juries. it's giving mans zelmenlow: the sweater, the dance. i love the idea of the stairs, though, one of the most elaborate things we've seen tonight. his voice is dreamy. but I've said it once and I'll say it a million times: BALLADS NEED TO DIE. no one wants to tune in to watch a group of people standing and crying, Eurovision is for fun and escapism. at least they did a good job making the performance a lot more dynamic than other ballads this year, so kudos to them for that.

Poland - fork spotted in kitchen, ochman spotted in the final. I'm not surprised, the first time I heard the song i instantly knew it was going to be a hit with the juries. i actually kind of like it if i squint, his voice is very impressive and he sells it very well. the performance though,,,,, i hate it with a passion. not because of anything ochman or his backup dancers do, that's good, because of the realization. i don't know who is behind it but they need to be STOPPED. i get that the song is called 'river', we've got a water theme going on... but there's a moment where they put this water drop filter and that did not, i repeat it did NOT look like water. you get what I'm saying right. (cum. it looked like cum.) there's also a moment where the camera like shakes and a lot of thunder comes on screen and like. i know i said that it's very important for a ballad-ey song to have something compelling going on on the stage for it to be engaging, but this may perhaps be a bit much. the song doesn't bother me in the finally at all, so i wish the best for ochman actually

Finland - i cannot believe this made it into the final. i actually can't. they came out 1st! there's NO way someone who performs 1st in a semifinal makes it. look at ronela last Tuesday. i disliked the song and just assumed they'd go straight home after seeing they were 1st in the running order. in any case, kudos to the rasmus for selling that drag of a song so well, you could tell they're used to a stage and seasoned performers. the singer did an incredible job. i may not like the song, but I'll give them that. i think they earned their spot in the final, despite the song being atrocious. maybe less balloons next time

Estonia - haha cowboy go brr. what can I say, i love stefan's voice, the performance on his part was great and the lyrics of the song give me a lot of working class proletarian euphoria. i think it's fair he's in the final, he's worked hard and it shows. also the MV for his song was filmed in Spain so i have a contractual obligation to cheer for him. jokes aside i love his voice and i think he has a lot of magnetism on the stage, he deserves to be in the final. good job as mostly always, estonia

Australia - okay i know i said ballads need to die but. we can allow ourselves a little sad song to wave our lighters at from time to time, and that may be just that. sheldon has a voice for the ages and the lyrics get me in my autistic little heart. the song is actually one of my favorites, just maybe not for Eurovision, because repeat with me: ballads have to die. the performance was lacking, though, so they might want to take a look at that if they want to place well in the final. in any case sheldon is pretty deserving of this spot and, if any ballad is going to be in the final, I'd rather it being this one. idk something about a ballad that appeals to my childhood experience and realizing you'll never be like the other kids despite you're all playing the same games,,,,, that appeals to me I'm sorry but it's true

Sweden - SAD GIRLS RISE of course Sweden made it. Sweden always fucking makes it. this song is great actually, a ballad but with rhythm and spice. i love her voice, she's giving Bonnie Tyler in the best sense. idk maybe it's because I'm gay and sad and very much in love that this hits me like a knife thrown to my chest. i really really like this song. also for all the ace attorney brainrot affected people out there: this is asoryuu-core, klapollo-core and narumitsu-core all at the same time. how can that be. it's about the yearning innit. in any case as a Sad Girl™ this song has me on a chokehold and it definitely should be in the final

Romania - the scream of joy that came out if my throat when they said wrs had advanced,,,, i don't think you understand. is the song insufferable and earwormy? yes. have i been complaining when my friend played it since it came out? also yes. do i listen to it on my free time and dance the whole "hola mi bebebe"? perhaps. you have no evidence for that. but it has something that i think makes a Eurovision song what it is: it's FUN. Eurovision is committed to diversity and FUN. wrs ate that stage as soon as he stepped on it and performed absolutely excellently he did it for the girls and the gays. oh I'm so happy he made it. that way we won't have to sleep through a big chunk of the final. I'm genuinely so happy for him and will have a blast singing llámame on the final, thank you very much

Serbia - GODSTRAKTA GODSTRAKTA GODSTRAKTA GODSTRAKTA i could go on for ages SHE MADE IT. Y'ALL. i assumed we'd lose her when she came on third in the running order but. the way people clapped during the biti zdrava with her,,,,,, the performance was so unsettling i have watched it a million times since yesterday. I'm SO happy. oh I'm elated. i get it's not for everyone, it's a little weird, but it's performance art! it's supposed to make you a bit uncomfortable! also the lyrics are so ironic and funny, the way she just stared at the camera deadpan 'i don't have health insurance' I'd die for konstrakta and i will be cheering like a monster for her at the final. now if you don't mind *yells*

Bonus: Big Five songs part 2

Spain - you know what? i think "the Spanish national selection was rigged and fraudulent" and "chanel is a spectacular entry that's going to make us all proud" are statements that can and SHOULD coexist. i had NO faith in her whatsoever at first: generic song, generic voice, boring act. that has changed. chanel has won me over because she's working very very hard and it shows in how the quality of her performance has improved since the national selection. she doesn't choke while singing anymore, which she used to and she did in benidorm. as much as I love Tanxugueiras and Rigo, they wouldn't have been as good as chanel is proving to be. the dance is spectacular, she has a lot of energy and charisma, and it's not boring!! i have to say that i don't like the new arrangement they did: those stereotypically Spanish-sounding trumpets at the beginning make me want to throw my entire stomach up. very tired of exporting this image that Andalusian culture and sounds are all of Spanish culture and sounds, but anyway. that's literally the one and only complaint i can make. my biggest congratulations to the Spanish delegation for putting in an effort for once. i know chanel will place well and it's thanks to how hard she's worked and rehearsed. chanelazo is incoming 👀

United Kingdom - the UK sending a GOOD song to Eurovision???? what's next? the UK sending someone with CHARISMA- oh. they did just that. the song is not one of my favorites but it's so fun and good and the singer (James? Sam? it's Sam) is SO nice he's adorable!! i only wish the best for him and his voice made in heaven. he's literally the last nice person in England (/j), they found him and sent it to Eurovision. this song is giving Elton John and i know i don't like Elton John that much but i mean it as a compliment. it's fun! i like it! it's sure to be a blast at the final

Germany - there had to be a bad one in the big five this year, isn't it. sigh. Malik does very well, but. something about the song is so DATED. like, it sounds 2010s. 2010s inspirational christian pop about growing old. i don't need to be reminded that I'm growing old!! I'm turning 20 this year i already know my best years are behind me MALIK. MALIK YOU'RE GIVING ME EXISTENTIAL DREAD- in any case, not that good of a song. i haven't watched the entire performance, but i hope Malik can bring something else to the stage because if he doesn't this is going to follow Germany's steps these past few years and crash and burn. it's sad, but you know I'm right.

anyway justice for san marino

#eurovision song contest #eurovision 2022 #eurovision #im actually so upset achille lauro didn't make it through #it was the gay kiss on stage innit #anyway he's my winner i love him #so excited for the final~

11 notes · View notes

rawwkfingers · 5 months

Text

Planet of the Spiders

Wow, what a way to go. I think, if I hadn't already seen the regeneration scene a few times in various compilations so was already aware of it, this would have been the second time Classic Who made me cry

While I don't think you could say this was the best written of Pertwee's serials, it was a perfect fit for everything that I enjoy in movies and tv from this time period. The show's first serious deep-dive into the New Age movement (elements of which had been touched on in past serials but never to this degree) combined with a pulpy scifi planet and some absolute peak 70s fashion (I never found Yates attractive until this serial showed him in civilian clothes but damn he's hot)

Unfortunately, all that good also comes with some extreme bad; namely the racism and ableism inherent in so much fiction of this time. The yellow-face Choje was a horrific stereotype and the way that they referred to Tommy as being "fixed" once his mental disability was magically erased was so incredibly offensive. Its a shame that Pertwee's final serial ended with so many negative elements because his era was, largely, the most progressive in Classic Who so far

Sarah Jane was in top form though. I love that her job is always relevant whenever we have a story set on Earth. It's one of those little touches of writing that does so much for a story; it's a tool to get her into places she otherwise wouldn't have access to and it's a way to help move the plot forward without needing to come up with a reason why UNIT is involved. I loved Jo but it took awhile for that love to grow; Sarah Jane is truly shining right from the get go and I am loving it

I'm really sad to see Pertwee go. While I'm sure I'll love the future Doctors, there's certainly an energy to his performance that no other actor matches. He reminded me a lot of Capaldi, who is my favorite Doctor as a whole by a HUGE margin, so that's high praise. He was kind and charming when needed but he never took shit from the bureaucratic nonsense he so often had to deal with. I love that his Doctor was the first to really begin selling the pacifist nature of the character. Having his final moments be begging the "Great One" to stop her plan, not because it was evil but because it would result in her death, was the best possible way for his character to go

Ranking his companions is made easy by the fact that I'm not counting Sarah Jane since her story isn't over yet

Jo Grant. As I said before, it took a while for me to love Jo but I really, truly did by the end of her run. Her departure was one of the saddest moments in Classic so far (and from what I've seen online, in general.) To me, she began as another Susan surrogate, written mainly to be a screaming damsel with some hints of a parental nature in her relationship with the Doctor but not given much room to explore. But they actually put the work in to show how she grew in her time with the Doctor, so that when she finally left you really felt like this was where her story would always go. I love her and I'll miss her so much

Liz Shaw. It's a shame that she only got one season because the writing team proved with Jo that they knew what they were doing with long-term character growth. I'd have loved to see where they took the scientist, arguably the first companion the Doctor took seriously and treated as an equal, if she'd been given more time. But, unfortunately, that's not what we got. That isn't to say she was bad though. Liz was fantastic, it's just that she never stood a chance compared to a character who was on the show three times as long as she was

My season 11 ranking:

Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Just, one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever imo. Unlike Silurians, which I also say is one of the best, I hesitate to say this one is a piece of scifi because its so specifically Doctor Who. Silurians could have come from any scifi mag, but you couldn't get a story like Dinosaurs anywhere else

Planet of the Spiders. A really fantastic sendoff to my favorite Classic Doctor (so far) and also my third favorite of all time (so far.) It really *felt* like a story made in the 70s, both good and bad

The Monster of Peladon. Had lots of things that I loved, but also lots of things that felt cliche and predictable. Perfect for a story in the middle ranking I guess

The Time Warrior. Had some good moments, but the historical writing is just bad in Classic Who and was a huge detriment to what could have been a great introduction to the Sontarans

Death to the Daleks. I just don't like when Daleks are used in comedy, sorry :(

#rawwk on #classic who watch #planet of the spiders

1 note · View note

yuuana · 7 months

Text

youtube

Music Monday #229: aespa - Better Things release: August 2023 genre: Kpop cw: little bit of flashing, an "it's complicated" body image warning *

Oh I know, it's been a hot minute since I did one of these, hasn't it? You know you missed me and my Kpop nonsense. ;)

Sure, it's way too late to declare a song of the summer, at least up here in the northern hemisphere, but if you were looking for a light summer bop, you could do worse than this light late-summer release from aespa. That up-tempo beat combined with fairly simple lyrics offered in mellow 2-4-part harmony means this requires an earworm warning - gods know I've caught myself humming this at all hours and often can't resist singing along when it comes up on my stations and playlists.

The official music video has a definite tropical vibes flare, even when they're swallowed by the giant fish. The whole thing is a bit lush - from tropical plants to decorative costumes to special effects to fun dance moves, every watch-through I find myself getting caught by something else. The short skirts, the long nails, the acrylic puzzle Ningning's playing with and that we've seen before, the whale sounds at the end. How any of them are supposed to seriously do anything with those decora nails is a whole ass thing all right. XD

From the start, aespa has been a lore group, although this video feels less like story and more like rest. The song is self-referential rather than anything to do with the hero version of aespa or their virtual world counterparts, although considering they step through their fridge into another world, one could perhaps argue the fact that the video is indeed about their hero personas. It's a dream, of course, complete with being swallowed by a giant fish whose insides are ... a ball pit? Well, no one's ever said dreams have to make a whole lot of sense. A fancy goldfish is perhaps a strange choice of avatar to call the girls back to work, but then again....

In addition to the music video, there are also two official performance versions (performance video and performance stage), the latter of which in particular puts me in my gender feels. And then, if that wasn't enough, last week they released an animated version which is drawn in a different style than previous animations, but just as full of magic or maybe just virtual reality.

"Better Things" and its remixes are out now wherever you like to get your Kpop fix! This is no longer their most recent release, but ZOOM ZOOM is going to have to wait a bit. ;)

* here's the thing - body image is a huge problem in Kpop as idols are held to sometimes ridiculous beauty standards. Women especially must be beautiful - slender body lines, long hair, flawless skin - but it's an incredibly thin line between acceptable and not. Aespa in general and Karina in particular have a history of getting a lot of shit from fans for being on the wrong sides of the line and while I feel a certain way about warning about body image when the girls are just being themselves, Karina feels especially tiny in this video. Believe me, I'm well aware that outward appearance is not a way to measure health, but I also know body image is a whole tangled Thing, so do what you need to do to take care of yourself, lovelies. Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot or sponsor a throwback for a Thursday feature! But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks. DW | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch

#music #music monday #kpop #aespa #Youtube

0 notes