When you say you have thoughts about the 2023 movie, are you talking about the one with Eva Green and François Civil? If so, I would loooove to hear those thoughts :0

that's the one! I fucking loved it. on a technical/artistic note, it's been a hot minute since I've seen a movie understand how to use a wide shot properly, and the way it uses the camera feels so genuinely enthusiastic about the story being told that every minute is a visual delight (my main critique is that I mostly wish that it was more colorful, but eh)

on a personal note, it gave me EVERYTHING. I'm going to be thinking about aramis kissing the crucifix during the torture scene for YEARS

My fellow tgcf enjoyers, what about Aventurine x reader but it's a gambler's den scene huh.

Context for everyone else: reader is extremely unlucky. Like. Phenomenally. The circumstances force them to make a bet with Aventurine: the loser grants the winner's wish. Ofc they think they'll lose but what they don't know is that Aventurine is horrendously down bad for them.

They bet on the highest dice value and reader is about to shake the cup, knowing that they won't beat Aven but suddenly he tells them their stance is incorrect so he stands behind them, takes their hands in his and basically shakes the cup for them. The result has a surprisingly high value but it's not enough to be considered a winner. But Aven says this attempt didn't count since he was just teachings you. And so he does it again and again, until your score value is twelve.

And then he's like "ha ha you did such a good job ~ maybe it's because I'm a good teacher!! just joking, you won fair and square :)" leavin you like this

gene im so glad you said this cause I haven't seen anyone else comparing it to the book as source material for like character and tone but i am So sure that if terry was alive the season would not be like this but i fear good omens fans dont realise how big a factor the lack of terry's influence is?? or like they forget that good omens was never just neilman???

ok before i go any further: i rly don't want to detract from anyone's enjoyment of the season and everything im going to say comes from a place of love for a) the original novel (& season 1 to a certain extent bc it got me back into it lol) and b) tv as a medium so like peace and love on planet let people enjoy things etc etc

but

like u said, terry's influence on the book was enormous – what makes gomens gomens is the balance of his genuine warmth and precise understanding of humanity tempered with neilman's sardonic voice and general like.....savvy approach to storytelling? i guess u could call it? anyway what rly helps the book is that it took them years to write it, passing ideas back and forth and rewriting each other's work until their voices blended seamlessly and a well structured capital-s Story was created. when i praise the book for being self-contained i think a huge part of that comes from the circumstances in which it emerged: two authors with complementary styles writing in a v particular time period where they had both the space to play with their ideas and the constraints of the novel as a storytelling format from which to craft something extremely specific.

adaptations are a tricky business and a tv version of gomens produced literal decades after the book was always going to have some unique challenges, but i don't think that's a bad thing bc the challenges could prove to be creative opportunities to take both the established audience and those new to the story by surprise. my biggest hot take here is that i don't think translating a story into a different medium means it has to follow the original narrative exactly, bc each medium has its own ways of communicating information and these structures, rules and traditions in turn inform what that story is. what matters more than following a story beat-by-beat is capturing what that story is about at its core, what themes and messages and ideas it works through and how.

all this is to say i never expected tv gomens to be a perfect reproduction of the book and if it had it been, it probably would have been worse off for it. that being said, there are parts of the book – like u said, its tone and character – that needed to have some fidelity in order to pull it off, and for the most part s1 did that bc it was still working predominantly within the bounds of the novel & its core ideas. while i did have some issues w how neilman & amazon adapted some details and characterisations, i generally rly liked s1 – it reminded me of why i loved the book and it was just generally fun to watch.

s2 was. not that fun to watch

a few positives before i go ham w the critiques:

the hair & makeup + costumes were fantastic (although i feel like s1 was slightly better re: makeup?)

the sound design & score made some of the more awkward scenes bearable and thats no mean feat imo

david & michael gave incredible performances w what they were given – michael especially managed to salvage aziraphale enough that his complete 180 didnt feel completely tonally dissonant (more on this later)

the detail of the sets is NUTS and i genuinely want to see more of hell bc of how intricate and fun the props look

i actually like gabriel/beelzebub!! their getting together montage worked for me, although they could have spent sliiiightly more time establishing what it is they like abt each other so much + why gabriel wanted to stop armageddon 2.0 so suddenly

the opening scene, although not on par w the novel's & s1's, was visually gorgeous and thematically resonant (although neilman owes me royalties for ripping it off from this shitty fic i wrote back when raphael!crowley was all the rage lol)

now w THAT being said:

like i said yesterday, the pacing was fucking awful. flashbacks are hard to work w at the best of times and the way they were used in this season felt so needless, especially the 40s one in ep 4 that takes up like 90% of the episode. in both flashbacks + present day there were scenes that dragged for no real reason, dialogue that looped back around on itself to stretch out the runtime, and weirdly enough places where there should have been character & plot work where there just,, wasn't any?? for example, maggie & nina's night locked in the café – some parts of the dialogue in later episodes made out that they'd had some rly deep conversation abt how they feel about each other or even that they'd had an affair, but that isn't clear from those scenes in the café. i'm not saying we had to see that conversation in its entirety but that there needed to be more connective details – either in dialogue or direction – that gave that part of the story coherence.

(there were pacing issues w the editing too but i don't want to jump down the editor's throats on this one bc im more focused on writing & direction issues)

the second major problem that i mentioned in my tags yesterday is the protagonist shift, which is an issue that started in s1. aziraphale & crowley are side characters in book gomens – significant ones, yeah, but still somewhat peripheral to adam (& anathema who counts as a deuteragonist imo). this works incredibly well w who they are as characters: they're Just Some Guys who happen to be involved in this epic biblical-level bureaucratic nightmare and importantly, they don't want to be in the spotlight. the arrangement was created so that they could explore what it meant to be themselves away from the Big Narrative; literally any time they get involved in larger affairs is bc the plot is alive and caught them unionising on company time. the last fucking chapter is adam (& god) being like haha u guys are alright keep it sleezy and letting them go. like. hello. neil u let them go.

but then!! tv gomens s1 does something interesting at the end w the body swapping addition that i dont totally hate – it gives aziraphale & crowley the extra bit of character work that brings them slightly more adjacent to their book selves. see i kinda view tv a/c as the younger, less settled versions of book a/c; they're still caught up in the immediacy of being key players and haven't fully realised that earth is their home. i haven't watched s1 in a while but one scene i remember rly clearly is crowley throwing all those astronomy texts in the air and angsting abt when he was an angel; i remember it bc his anguish in that scene feels a lot newer and rawer than book crowley's feelings about falling. when tv a/c do their bodyswap, it gives them the chance to land a blow against heaven/hell in a way that solidifies their allegiance to earth in a way that more closely resembles what book a/c have been abt the entire time (still adjacent, though. not parallel).

the reason why this works is that it does one final pivot to orient aziraphale and crowley as almost-main characters in a manner that makes sense in relation to a) their book selves and b) the position the tv show has placed them in. a combination of factors made tv a/c feel a lot less mature than their book counterparts but at the end of s1 they're sort of facing the same direction the book ended in, albeit through their own flashy late 2010s means.

when s2 was announced i was.......apprehensive bc to me, that felt like a satisfactory ending. i get the impression that amazon saw how wildly successful the adaptation was and was like oh shit we could make way more money out of this and neilman, having all those undead darlings that he and terry killed in the process of whittling the book into a workable novel, jumped at the chance to resurrect all those half-realised ideas. but not only were those ideas probably discarded for a reason, they've either been laying in wait for years unworked or they're new inventions, which means they weren't molded in the way that the book had been. like i said before, book gomens underwent years of rewrites and creative collaboration, and i think that process was what made it so good; s2 didn't have that. even if some of terry's ideas made it into s2, his influence is still missing bc he and neilman weren't in dialogue the same way they were in the book (and in some ways s1 bc i know terry was involved in the process of adapting gomens to screen before his death).

i don't think it's a case of newer fans forgetting terry so much as it is the context of terry's involvement being so removed from the current circumstances that certain aspects & discourses (i.e. is the s2 finale queerbaiting (no), does binge watching change the viewership experience (yes), etc etc) about the show overshadow other discussions that would usually be taking place. and before anyone says it's a case of neilman forgetting terry, i definitely don't think it's that either bc thats. yknow. wildly disrespectful. but also there are larger systems and structures at play than one writer no matter how much beef i have w him and his decisions, bc ultimately he's just one guy (a powerful and wealthy guy, but just a guy) and there's a wider cultural shift happening rn towards rehashing old stories without understanding what made them successful in the first place, and that same culture just doesn't allow for much, if any, constructive discourse analysis

so yeah

Imagine a poly relationship w/ geo and crowe just to spite sol 😹

The More the Merrier (Crowe + Geo x MC/Reader - Relationship HCs)

I'M NOT DEAD I SWEAR I'M JUST WORKING ON 4 ONESHOTS SIMULTANEOUSLY!!!! (2 of them will be out by the upcoming Tuesday I promise <3333)

Anyway, to the two anons who requested this, I pray you'll enjoy. I actually kinda cooked on this one muahahaha. >:]

- Signed by biggest-geo-oogami-enjoyer T.W.: Mentions of sex, nothing explicit.

The more the merrier: a proverb indicating something is more fun with more people.

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

This is your formal reminder from me as to how lucky you are to have scored both of these pretty tumblrsexymen.

Crowe is essentially the furnace of you three. He’s warm, fuzzy and comfortable. and hot

He basically serves as the mediator for conflicts, and his charisma often means he gets people to like you lot more (because he’s nice af plus rich)

Geo’s the cold one, and he is often the ‘bodyguard’ of you and Crowe, he often looms behind you both with the most ornery side eye anyone has ever seen. He’s also your #freepass. Literally anywhere he goes, he gets VIP (and so do you and Crowe muahaha)

Did I mention rich? 

As in…both are so fucking wealthy it gives you a brain aneurysm????

AS IN BOTH CAN AFFORD PRIVATE JETS AND IT NOT MAKE A DENT IN THEIR ACCOUNTS?!?!??!?!?!!?!!?!??

It’s actually crazy.

Unfortunately, being rich means you’re all targets, mostly you though, because you’re the most financially ‘average’ of the trio.

Geo often has his bodyguards supervise you and Crowe 24/7.

This guy will set rottweilers on his enemies if he must, preferably the ravenous ones. <33

Crowe and Geo (especially Geo) are the type to wear extremely stylish things if needed, so you know your fashion sense is in good hands.

However, they both also have extremely comfortable homeclothes (imagine Geo being stuffed into an oodie or smth that’d be so funny…someone draw that right fucking now)

I headcanon that Crowe knows French and Italian, so you’ve got him rizzing you up in European romantic languages and then Geo lovingly dissing you in Japanese.

They’re opposite extremes on the spectrum. And you got the best of both worlds, so.

Remember that.

>:]

Anyway, when it comes to domestic life Geo is the cook, he just chills in the kitchen and prepares the most elaborate fancy food anyone’s ever made in the history of the universe (Geode powers activate!!!)

Geo also knows how to do makeup extremely well, while I’d say Crowe is more skilled in the hair department (they’re both magical when it comes to cosmetics).

Crowe would be the one to do shopping and get surprise gifts for you both.

Geo would only really buy fake plants for himself (real quick shout out to past me for coming up with the #bonsaibaby term for the eventual tree child Geo and I will have), so the home will be opulent and fancy (because of Crowe), while maintaining a somewhat minimalistic and naturistic appeal (because of Geo) and just being a generally comfortable residence (because of us >:})

You are kinda just told to not do anything except exist. They both feel obligated to ensure you’ve got the best life possible, and you bet your attractive ass you’re getting a banger life.

Oh also, just a quick heads up, if you and Crowe are having sex, make sure Geo is far away. You do not want this man to be projectile vomiting for the next two thousand minutes, it’d be very ungraceful for someone like him.

Speaking of sex, you and Crowe just kinda have it when you both feel like it.

You both sleep together I’d feel, Geo’d sleep elsewhere. Not because he doesn’t like you both (he loves you both lol), it’s merely the cultural differences between Asian and most Western/European nations and the fact that you and Crowe can just have sex whenever and he doesn’t wanna be involved or remotely nearby if that happens.

If you and Crowe solemnly swear to never fuck however, then Geo may or may not spawn inside your bed at some point and just squish you both into his much taller frame (usually you). he may or may not make you sign a contract on celibacy /hj

At this point you’re trapped between a living refrigerator and a breathing heater.

omg temperature play!

You'll hang out whenever and wherever it’s peaceful. Like y’all can just be stu(dying) and/or nonchalantly reading together and it’d be amazingly serene.

Geo will also be drinking tea 24/7. This man breathes…no, inhales that shit. He also will totally not blare Scaramouche's boss theme around your residence.

Geode is a Scaramouche kinnie I refuse to hear backlash on this.

He also is the most knowledgeable when it comes to medicine, so if one of you three gets sick, he’s gonna be the doctor (he is his own doctor ffs this man is too based to be lying in bed and dying).

Crowe is essentially the emotional support for you three, like he and Geo are polar opposites but that’s okay. One's weakness is the other's strength and vice versa. Whatever they both lack (having and being a pussy), you make up for.

At this point you don’t even know if you’re the hinge or not, you just serve as the ‘hearth’ of this relationship.

And frankly, good for you. Like that’d be fucking awesome.

And just a final thing…

Did I mention that they're rich fashionistas?

Man you know what i would really want. Kind of like a site that could compare all duck media (or hell, all disney media would be cool too) and how much people like them. Like put the ducktales finale against a barks 10 pager and see which one people prefer, which one has a higher score. If the entire top 100 would be dominated by comics or if a few animated things would slip in too.

And you cant like compare imdb scores to inducks scores because 1 inducks has a weird rating system, and 2 the people voting are completely different audiences. It’s never gonna be a fair logical comparison. But imagine if there was like a site where they had both and where everyone was equally fan of everything and then they would fairly vote i just want to knowww.

Ratings are cool, but cross media ratings are even cooler. How does episode 3 of the this duckburg life podcast/audioplay compare to Paperino skipper from Giorgio Pezzin. I need to know. Has chapter 5 of totem decapitato a higher rating than the first ever episode of dt87? Do people like the ducktales lost lamp movie more than the solving mysteries and rewriting history book? Has the first story of PKNA more historical significance to the fans than Donalds first ever appearance in general? Will they go as far as rate Evroniani higher than The wise little hen?

These ridiculous questions about things that are impossible to compare but I just want to because it’s fun i need that. Because Duck Avenger: Shadow of venus is completely different from: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: mickey gets sick (or whatever i dont actually remember any episode titles) or Mickey Donald and Goofy go on a roadtrip (whatever that cartoon was with the trailer its a fun one) but they’re somehow also all the same ‘mickey and friends’ franchise. I just think it’s interesting and i will probably now not rest until these questions are answered oh help

How does the Scrooge McDuck and money cartoon compare to the kingdom hearts manga? Is Donald Duck going quackers better than episode 7 season 1 of darkwing duck? Is Donalds appearance in who framed roger rabbit better than his orange juice? Is the Toontown in Disneyland Epcot a better experience than The Dark Side from MMMM? Would you rather be stuck in a room for an hour with only a donald duck colouring book from the zeeman or disney crossy road? Do the fans like the donald duck clock more than an extremely goofy movie? Is the Scrooge McDuck boardgame a better experience than that Donald Duck’s birthday childrens book? Did people get more enjoyment out of Sora’s super smash bros ultimate trailer or the Daisy Duck lego brickhead?? IS THAT BOOTLEG DONALD DUCK UMBRELLA FROM CHINA I GOT AS A KID BETTER OR THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO I WATCHED YESTERDAY ABOUT MICKEY MOUSE COPYRIGHT??? (both those last two things did not happen to me im sorry)

going a bit far there but thats because the general idea without all of the insanity just seems so incredibly fun to me. Even the brickhead and trailer comparison. Yknow what who cares about unfair voting. Just compile all the normal unweighted inducks scores, all imdb and letterboxd and rotten tomatoes and whatever more exists ratings, amazon reviews, to videogame ratings that you always see on wikipedia and just put them all together and see what the result is and also implement the inducks ratings because its a very easy and handy rating system and let people rate on the site on too of that.

Okay no dont do that that would be stupid but like all the cartoons and comics and audio things and games and boardgames and books and maybe not boardgames but everything that is a story and see which stories people like the most i just think that would be so cool.

I dont think im making sense i think Im going to bed now lmfao.

EA's Catholicism Simulator

I have found the uncanny valley that has ruined EA Sports games for me.

They've turned their sports games into a religious sim.

They're influentially scripted. This sounds stupid, and I only have observational data, and am absolutely not a game dev, but here's my evidence.

As you play through the "individual player career" mode, the games follow one of a handful of scripted plots (they're the same regardless of difficulty, what changes is how well your player and your digital teammates and opponents do their thing), and it un-subtly rewards or punishes you for pulling off a specific action that you are ostensibly being taught to do (a trick move, for instance)... and the game will blatantly set you up with opportunities to do it.

Pull the move off adroitly, or a couple of times in a row? You're gonna be rewarded with a better chance of scoring a goal or otherwise have your performance boosted for the next few seconds.

Decline to try it, or fuck up? Play is going the other way, with the other team having a boost to their skill for the same few seconds.

It is absolutely not realistic once you notice it. And once seen, it can't be un-seen. You can predict when the opposing team is going to take an un-avoidable run at your character. You can watch the opposing goaltender become an unbeatable highlight show. You can tell when your avatar is going to fail a challenge issued by the coach if you make the wrong choice during an in-game inflection point.

But there are set events (in the game! during gameplay! which is supposed to be dynamic! because it's a sports game!), where it's clear that the script engine ends up on a branch where, unless you do something absolutely perfect, you absolutely cannot score, and you are almost certainly going to wind up taking a penalty for something that is extremely nominal, if you even performed the penalty-taking action at all.

It feels, honestly, excruciatingly Christian in the reward/punishment mechanic, and has frankly ruined my enjoyment of the game, because I am no longer playing a sports sim, I am playing a database decision tree with a snazzy GUI that will fuck with your input sensitivity to get its way, regardless of the player's skill or choices.

You can literally watch your player get shoved around by the engine when there are no NPCs in the vicinity.

This has gotten increasingly prevalent and obvious in their newer titles, which is more of an indictment about their reuse of shitty code than anything else, because I first began noticing it in their NFL title a couple of years ago, then it was much more obvious in a more recent vintage, and it is beating me over the head in the current iteration of their NHL franchise.

There's a solution, of course, and that's to remove the forced narrative, and let the player's play determine the outcome. But giving all the NPCs that extra splash of autonomy in lieu of this clumsy predestination is apparently too expensive to code, and they've already cut the budget by re-using audio clips from the last decade of VA work.

Loving dinosaurs is so Jewish fr (love seeing another prehistoric planet soundtrack enjoyer out here, so sorry your inbox has been clogged lately!) Extremely fond of the Nanuqsaurus score myself- the leitmotif that they have for the tyrannosaurs is SO good.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will be watching and listening to this show for years to come.

Snowed In

Severus Snape x Fem! Reader

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 1.2k

“For your sake, I surely hope not.”

“The snow isn’t going anywhere, my love. You might as well get some enjoyment from it.” Severus called to you, not once looking up from the newspaper in his hands. 

It wasn’t uncommon to experience multiple days of snowfall during the late/early months of the year. It was an annual occurrence, and one that you had become accustomed to over the course of your life. It wasn’t that you didn’t enjoy the wintery flurries and frost. As a matter of fact, you always welcomed the initial snowy weather with open arms. The snow and ice brought all kinds of activities that the spring and summer couldn’t offer – sledding, ice skating, hot chocolate, snowmen building competitions, you name it. 

The part that you didn’t quite love was the cabin fever that often came with it. 

At this point, the snow had packed together and accumulated to the point where it was too dangerous to venture outside, leaving you completely snowed in. This was day three of being stuck indoors, and you were beginning to feel the starting point of insanity. It was maddening to know that you literally could not leave for any reason whatsoever. There wasn’t enough entertainment in the world to appease your boredom – and there was no end to this snow storm in sight. 

Severus was faring much better than you were. Severus, being the extreme introvert that he was, found this to be the perfect scenario. He had been as happy as a clam over the last few days. He was relaxed, at ease, and satisfied. It wasn’t lost on him that you were struggling to find the positive in this situation. It would be at least another few days before it would be deemed safe to return to the outside world, so he was doing his best to keep you content. 

You didn’t step away from the window that you had been staring out of for the last 10 minutes, thinking that maybe the snow would magically stop fluttering down from the endless gray skies if you stared long enough. It didn’t work.

“I feel like I’m going to explode.” You stated, continuing to stare out over your backyard that was unrecognizable due to the blankets of pure white snow.

“Oh, wouldn’t that be a shame?” Severus remarked plainly.

He continued to read his copy of The Daily Prophet despite your irritated reaction to his sarcastic comment. In all honesty, you knew that you were driving him crazy. The stress and anxiety that you were releasing into the air was putting a damper on his idea of a vacation. 

“This is torture. I can’t do this.” You groaned, pulling away from the window and turning back to face the interior of your living room. 

Severus noted the genuine distress in your voice, and opted to try a different approach rather than being a smart aleck.

“Darling, why don’t you draw the curtains and come sit? You won’t feel any better by watching the storm go by.” Severus took a long, buffering sip from his cup that was in his free hand. 

He was right after all. There wasn’t a single thing that you could do to improve this predicament. If you were patient enough, then you might actually get some recharge and relaxation from this. You shuffled to the sofa, crashing onto the open spot next to him with a sigh. He set his beverage on the coffee table in front of you, and used his open arm to pull you into him. He could feel how stiff you were from being so uneasy, and he couldn’t help but feel sympathetic. 

It bugged him that you weren’t comfortable in his home. He had worked hard to create a safe, inviting space for the both of you. Now you were clearly uneasy, and that wasn’t what he wanted.

“Would you like me to read you the Quidditch scores?” He offered, looking at you with genuine kindness.

“Please.” You recited. 

He chuckled when he pressed a kiss to your temple, and he worked his arm around you to turn the page to the sports section of the paper. The two of you enjoyed following pro-Quidditch, and he found that this would be a great way to take your mind off of your cabin fever. He paraphrased as he skimmed through the column.

“Last Saturday’s match between the Magpies and the Cannons….” He trailed off to find the scoring chart. “The Magpies won with a final score of-”

“Do you think that we’ll have another snow storm this winter?” You blurted out suddenly, and almost in a bit of a panic.

Taken aback by suddenly being interrupted, Severus missed what you had asked.

“What?” 

“Snow storm. Blizzard. Do you think we’ll have another this year?” You repeated.

“Potentially, I suppose. I don’t rightly know,” Severus answered. “For your sake, I surely hope not.”

That hadn’t been a very definite answer. You needed to know if you were going to be forced to endure this universe punishment again so you could prepare. You didn’t say anything else, and Severus went back to reading. 

“The Magpies won against the Cannons with a final score of 148-110,” He read. He turned to the next page to read the next set of scores. “Also from Saturday, the Catapults came through with a neck-in-neck score of-”

“Severus!” You screeched abruptly, causing him to flinch at your sharp tone and swift movement.

His heartbeat reacted to the alarming stimulation by speeding up in his chest. 

“Darling, what is the matter with you?” He questioned, discarding the newspaper completely.

“What if the storm lets up right before the weekend?” You ignored his question and posed one of your own.

Severus blinked at you. You had really lost your mind this time. 

“What about it?” He brought his hand to your face to brush a few stray hairs away from your eyes.

“If the storm ends before the weekend, then we’re stuck here for another two days because it’s the WEEKEND!” You wailed.

Severus couldn’t help but laugh. This had really started to get to you.

“I promise that I’ll take you to Hogsmeade for a drink if that’s the case. I won’t allow you to be subjected to any more of this,” He assured. “Come on. Sit back.”

With hesitance, you joined Severus once again in settling back against the cushions. You couldn’t fathom how a seemingly never ending snowstorm could get you so worked up.

 It was fine. This was fine. A roof over your head? Yes. Plenty of food and other basic necessities of life? Check. The love of your life at your side? Absolutely.

Everything that you needed was present and right where you needed it. As long as the two of you were safe, that was all that mattered. A long exhale from your chest physically released the tension from your muscles. One second at a time, and you’d be calmed down in no time. Severus didn’t speak again until you were snuggled up next to him, and he was sure that you weren’t going to have a complete breakdown on him.

“Are you alright?” He asked, turning his body slightly to get a better look at you.

“I’m okay. I think I’ll make it.” You answered, meeting his gaze.

“Are you absolutely sure, my love?” He double checked.

You pressed a kiss to his cheek, causing a hot blush to creep onto his face. You couldn’t hide the amusement in your tone as you spoke next, hardly even remembering the frightful weather outside.

“Yes, I’m sure. Now let’s hear those Quidditch scores again.”

BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen Final Thoughts

Watch It Or Drop It Challenge

Three episodes of cuteness, misunderstandings and laughs sprinkled with a pinch of childhood trauma and ponderings on stan culture.

Strengths

This is, without a single doubt, an incredibly cute show with plenty of heart at its centre. The cast is small and the run time is compact but it did a lot with what it had; the characters felt like they had lives outside of and beyond the boundaries of the script (and this includes the supporting characters, who can run the risk of feeling like props in short dramas like these), the pacing was solid, the chemistry was there (for both couples and the head canon lesbian couple I've added for my own enjoyment), and the show even managed to touch on some deeper themes in amidst the comedy.

I had a genuinely great time getting to know both Akafuji and Aoyanagi and as cliche-filled and rom-com tropey as their story was (yes they have to live together, oh darn there's only one bed, wow would you look at that they'd actually already met, etc) those clichés and tropes were done well enough (and an integral part of the drama's main theme enough) I bought it hook-line-and sinker. There is something extremely satisfying about a show that is self-aware enough to play with its own tropes after all.

A final strength: hats off to Akafuji for being such a healthy stan, that man said no to the traps of parasocial relationships and drew some firm lines for himself.

Weaknesses

As I said in the strengths section, BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen certainly didn't need a longer run time to successfully and effectively deliver it's story (in fact it's probably a good thing it wasn't longer) but, as with all short dramas I watch, I still find myself wishing it was a little longer. I would have loved the show to have more of a chance to explore some of the deeper themes it touched on (Kuromiya and his own experience with stan culture VS Akafuji's boundaries as a stan, the trauma of being a child actor) but at the same time I can fully accept that that wasn't what the show was setting out to do and that it didn't need to do it in order to tell a good story.

A final weakness: The crime of cat-bating, you can't tell me one of the characters has a cat he adores AND THEN NOT GIVE ME A SCENE WITH A CAT IN IT (and no a picture is not enough)

Conclusion: An excellent introduction to the world of J-BL that has me excited for whatever I watch next. It was short and sweet and, while on a conceptual level I wish there'd been more time to explore the darker themes it touched on, it absolutely did not need to and it's probably best that it didn't.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something light, fluffy, and funny and which also won't bury them under a heap of second hand embarrassment but instead warm the cockles of their hearts!

Watch or Drop: WATCH

Final Score: 8/10

Would I Rewatch It: Yes! Maybe not straight away but I can definitely see myself coming back to it if I want a quick fluffy watch or a pick-me-up

Watch It Or Drop It Masterpost

as a hunger games and shadow and bones enjoyer, thoughts on a malina thg au, where they’re both tributes for 12?? mal is so peeta “boy next door, boy with the bread” energy

please just the thought of malina in the games makes me sob 😭 alina wouldn’t volunteer because honestly the only person she would volunteer for would be mal (and vice versa). i think at that point alina is just praying to anyone who would listen that let it not be mal let it not be mal not him please not him. but then d12’s escort calls out, “malyen oretsev” and her world crumbles before her eyes.

one of the big differences from everlark is def that malina’s romance dynamic is switched, on the surface at least. alina’s love for mal is so so so evident in the beginning of s&b but you don’t really get mal reciprocating that love until the latter half of the book (mal has been in love w her since he was literally a child.. peetacoded fr but he didn’t like act on it until he realized that he lost her … katnisscoded 🤭).

anyway everyone in d12 knows that they’re in love with each other but the other doesn’t know so the star-crossed lovers angle could still be played. mal is DEFINITELY charming and handsome enough to get the capitol eating off his hand (that one quote in s&s that’s like if you put him in a fjerdan camp he’ll come back on their shoulders etc etc). i think what spark’s the capitol’s interest in them is their closeness. that spark gets fanned into a flame when the tiny slip of a girl from district 12 got a high training score and idk if there’d be any grisha power in this au so use ur imagination. when the interviews roll around, i think alina would talk about mal in a way that makes the interviewer’s eyes gleam but they run out of time before they get to the Big Question. then mal’s interview rolls around and he charms everyone in the audience and when the interviewer asks, “and alina? you two are childhood friends, you grew up together. what was it like being reaped together?” and mal gives everyone a sad smile and says instead, “let me tell you a little story. i was never a brave kid.” and he laughs, self-deprecating. everybody’s attention is on him, their dissent rumbling through the air because there’s no way a d12 kid with a relatively high training score (i’m shooting for a 9 maybe. peeta’s 8 would be good too) wouldn’t be brave. “alina would argue with me just like you all are doing, but i swear it’s true. i was weak. afraid of the dark. the orphanage ran out of candles once during a storm and i couldn’t sleep and even though she was in a completely different part of the building, she knew that i had a fear of the dark, so she ran out in the middle of the night and traded some of her old clothes for a single candle. she slipped into my room, all wet from the rain but i didn’t care. alina lit the candle and all i could think was, ‘she’s so much braver than me.’ she gave me light.” mal locks his gaze with the interviewer. “she is my light.” anddddd time’s up!

the capitol’s abuzz with mal’s declaration. they feel like he’s def in love with her (he is) and she doesn’t know it (she doesn’t—probably thinks he’s playing it up for the camera for sponsors) etc etc. the games start idk they’d try to stick with each other and the gamemakers have sick fun trying to pull them apart just so that a reunion would boost ratings. mal keeps finding extreme ways to help alina and keep her safe and she’s doing the same, but mal is a good soldier. he probably downplayed his skills in training to everyone, even her because he’s a damn good shot and a damn good hunter. the 2 winners from the same district announcement gets made and they run with more vigor to find each other but when they do, they obviouslyyyyy need to have The Cave Scene so mal is injured by a mutt or something idk. the story that mal tells in the cave that gets them a Feast would probably be the similar one that peeta gave (“your hair was in two braids instead of one” blah blah) but mal’s version of probably an amalgamation of something similar to alina cutting up her hand and when baby mal said “i’m going to marry alina” and he definitelyyyyyy tucks alina’s hair back and whispers, “i wanted more for you. a white veil in your hair. vows we could keep.” and they Kiss blah blah u get it. they risk their lives for each other again, at the end mal grabs alina’s hand and positions the knife to his chest but alina throws the knife away and blah blah nightlock or whatever it could be something else. regardless they LIVE and boom. end of book 1 🙏

or you could have a thg malina au with grisha powers (but they’re hidden/not in the capitol maybe or idk) and mal does shove the knife into his heart and alina like Bursts into light and they get miraculously saved by her light and d13 rescues them idk

My thoughts on Red, White, and Royal Blue the movie(spoilers for the book and movie)

I'll start with the good parts:

The casting was very good. I loved Uma Thurman as Ellen Claremont-Diaz.

The main characters had excellent chemistry, and the scenes in which they were intimate were well directed. They genuinely seemed to desire each other.

Building on that last point, I appreciated the fact that the movie didn't dial down the fact that they were extremely sexually attracted to each other. It didn't try to desexualize(yes that's a word now) them in order to make it more palatable for people who are still homophobic. Granted, it's unlikely that very homophobic people would watch the movie, but I can imagine people who are at least somewhat homophobic getting persuaded to watch it by someone they love. This movie didn't cater to that audience, and I think that's great.

The movie did a good job at showing us their texts and emails in a way that's more enjoyable than just having us see their texts. It effectively made them cinematic.

It was very funny when it wanted to be, and moving when it wanted to be.

The score was excellent.

Now onto things I didn't like:

They shouldn't have gotten rid of Alex's sister, June. She was a significant part of his life and I think the movie suffered for not having her there.

While I understand changing the fact that Ellen got divorced made things simpler, and wasn't relevant to the main plot in any way, I still would have preferred it if that had stayed the same.

I wish they hadn't gotten rid of Rafael Luna. I totally get it, he was an expendable character, and the movie was already two hours long. They didn't need him figuring out that Richards was spying on Alex and Henry to win the election. That plot point could be tossed aside. I still didn't like it.

I absolutely hated the fact that Alex didn't fly to England asap to see Henry the way he did in the book, and emotionally supported Henry for quite a bit.

I also disliked the fact that Henry's mother wasn't there to support him. It was inspiring to see the way her son's distress drove her out of her depression so she could be there for him. The way she stood up to her mother to protect Henry was one of my favorite scenes in the novel, and I was crushed that they just tossed that to the side.

I detest that Alex gave a speech confirming their relationship without consulting Henry. In the novel they made that decision together and Henry was right by his side. The movie made it seem like he was outing Henry without Henry's consent, and that's a big no-no in the queer community. We don't out each other. Ever. For all movie Alex knew, Henry was planning on calling the emails a hoax. The movie did Alex dirty.

"History, huh?" In the book, that was something that got said in one of their emails, and people took that quote and made shirts about it. It made me cry. I hate that they changed it.

I also feel like they should have included more emails. In the novel, Henry and Alex grow more and more verbally affectionate with each other even before the "I love you," so it felt a lot more natural in the book when Alex was ready to say it.

It's hard for me to grade this movie, because I'm comparing it to the book, which I know is very often a bad idea. But still. This movie was a lot of fun. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it didn't feel like I was watching the book on fast forward with some of my favorite scenes cut out. If you haven't read the novel, I do recommend it. They did a good job adapting it to the screen, despite what they cut out. For the most part, the things that got cut weren't crucial to the plot, so the movie didn't feel incomplete. My biggest gripe is about Alex giving the speech without Henry. It made him look bad. In the novel, Alex was very, very cautious about making sure that Henry was entirely ready to come out to the world. He was encouraging without being overtly pressuring. So to have him confess to the world without talking to Henry first...it was deeply upsetting.

Still, overall it's a good movie. I'll probably rewatch it at some point, though if I do it with other people I might be the obnoxious person going "ACHTUALLY, IN THE BOOK--"

I will say, I think the movie was too short for the novel. It should have been three hours long, so they could have included all the events and people that were cut out. But honestly I tend to think that in general movies are too short. It's probably why I prefer television series.

Thanks for reading!

2023 Year in Review

In celebration of the coming New Year, I decided to do a re-watch of every drama I gave 3 or more stars in 2023. Only 15 made the cut, which given the number of dramas I watched (I started well over 200, although I dropped at least a third of those) is not that many.

(My rating system is pretty simple: 1 ⭐ = terrible/don't recommend/waste of time, 2 ⭐⭐ = pretty good/enjoyable/would recommend to others but probably never re-watch, 3 ⭐⭐⭐ = good/likely to re-watch, 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ = practically perfect/would re-watch frequently. As you can see, it's more about what I personally enjoy than what's objectively great. So some objectively good shows aren't on this list, like La Pluie or Wedding Plan or Our Dating Sim or Doctor Cha or King the Land or Call it Love, because they got a lower score from me because I'm not that likely to ever re-watch them even though I'm glad I watched them and I'll happily recommend them to others. Of course, my ratings are subject to change over time too because I often surprise myself with what I re-watch. Some shows that I originally gave 2.5 stars have eeked out 3.5 stars over the following year or two just because they grew on me and I kept re-watching them.)

As such, my plan to ring in the New Year is to re-watch:

Lost/Human Disqualification - ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ - (IQIYI/Amazon Prime, kdrama, slice of life, healing journey, slight romance, a 42yo woman pushed to the breaking point by life crosses paths with a 27yo man who is mourning the loss of his friend, outstanding dialog, killer A+ acting, tw: infidelity, miscarriage, and suicide BUT DON'T LET THAT SCARE YOU AWAY)

Hit The Spot ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, kdrama, romcom, 2 women begin hosting a sex advice podcast, funny, sex positive education, extraordinarily relatable, high heat, 8 30min eps)

The Glory ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Netflix, kdrama, 36yo woman patiently takes revenge on her childhood bullies, slight romance, incredible dialog, A+ acting, excellent pacing and powerful reveals, tw: the highschool bullies are evil little sociopaths who do some extremely horrific shit)

The Eighth Sense ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, gay romance, kdrama, incoming freshman who is a rural-transplant to Seoul meets exiting senior and joins his surf club, gorgeous production, healing past trauma, A+ acting and insanely believable physical chemistry, good OST)

Love Tractor ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, gay, short kbl, big city law student with musical ambitions hides from his responsibilities in the countryside and meets a younger himbo farmer with a heart of gold)

Sing My Crush ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (IQIYI, kBL, a talented but heartbroken young man is about to give up on his musical dreams when he is adopted by an eager wannabe manager, best friends to lovers, cohabitation, pining, good plot and chemistry)

Moonlight Chicken ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (YouTube, Thai, gay romance + BL, one night stand between a struggling chicken diner owner and a recently promoted office worker turns into more, HS student and lonely deaf boy become the cutest couple to ever cute, A+ writing and acting, themes of: found family, making a home, love matters even when it doesn't end well, class inequality, queer generational divides, letting go of the past, a radically compassionate look at first love, last love, lost love, and unrequited love)

Bed Friend ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, Thai, gay office romance, enemies to FWB to lovers, healing past trauma done right, ridiculously pretty leads, consent kings, high heat, A+ lead chemistry and acting, soft landing in the final 2 eps, tw: sexual assault)

My School President ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, Thai, BL, high school boys singing their feelings [well!], wholesome, gentle, sweet and funny, A+ production values, peak low-heat BL with well-executed tropes)

Be My Favorite ⭐⭐⭐ (Youtube, Thai, BL, repressed and fearful boy travels back in time to his college days to woo his crush and falls in love with his supposed rival instead, themes: living each moment to the fullest so you won't have regrets, kindness as a catalyst for character growth and positive change, bravery in the face of uncertainty, telling people you love them can only be a good thing)

Laws of Attraction ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, Thai, gay, mystery/romance lakorn, evil unhinged babygirl lawyer and the heroic idealistic taekwondo instructor who falls for him work together to solve the mystery of his niece's death, loveable granny, A+ lesbians, happy endings all around, great acting and lead chemistry)

Jack O'Frost ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, Japan, gay, amnesiac young man and his co-habitating ex begin their relationship again, short 6 ep, A+ acting, excellent production values)

Hold my Hand at Twilight ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, jdrama, twenty-something city mouse meets country mouse and they begin the journey towards making their dreams come true, cohabitation, warm-hearted, angsty 3rd act, A+ acting, excellent banter, post-credit epilogue)

Kiseki: Dear to Me ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, Taiwan, gay, hardworking med student falls for the gang member he secretly treats, insane plot includes time skip and amnesia [2 tropes I usually hate, but actually done well in this case and not annoying], domesticity, cohabitation, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, short total runtime)

Fake It Till You Make It ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, China, romance, 🔥 lead chemistry, snappy banter, disarmingly honest and vulnerable leads, this couple wants to eat each other for dinner AND dessert but constantly chooses not to because of other life priorities and fears, friends with killer UST to lovers who communicate shockingly well, all the characters feel like real people instead of caricatures)

Wild Wild Reviews

The Night Of The Deadly Bed

Overall Score

Story: 4/5

Dame: 4.5/5

Villain: 4/5

Gadgets: 5/5

Disguises: 4/5

Bonus Points: Gay Subtext: 2.5/5

The Yikes Dated Factor: 0/-5

Score: 25/25

Tier: S (100%)

Previous Review

FULL REVIEW UNDER THE CUT

The Story

This episode is up there as far as quality, it almost feels as though THIS should’ve been the pilot as opposed to TNOT Inferno. It’s finally got all of its limbs (meaning Artemus has his proper characterization which is what was missing in the pilot) and doesn’t have the same racist trappings as the previous installation. All the major elements pay off, the mystery isn’t sloppy, the villain and lady of the week are well written. The biggest drawback is that stupid unnecessarily complex death trap that gave the episode its name. Why does the hotel even have that?!Why didn’t Jim get sedated enough for that to even be an issue?! It’s so dumb that it borders on Batman series levels of comically avoidable. It’s just not quite a 5, gotta reserve that for the best of the best.

The Dame

Our lady of the week is Barbara Luna! Whom I know as Marlena from the Star Trek TOS episode Mirror Mirror!

Say it with my y’all, I. Love. Gatita!! She’s so awesome and one of the best female characters this show has ever had. Which is WILD cuz we’re like 2 episodes in and there’s a 102 more. She’s intelligent and brave, she’s got her own personality and motivations. She is working for the baddie to protect her people who’ve been enslaved by him. She even fights back in her own way by giving his girlfriend food when he’s trying to starve her, not to mention attacking one of the guards! The relationship she develops with Jim feels genuine and relatively well developed. The only reason she’s not getting a perfect 5 is because she gets treated and written as “exotic” in the first half of the episode but that’s not a fault of her as a character.

The Villain

Our villain of the week is played by JD Connor!

What a great and hateable villain, he is cruel to women and minorities, he’s got an overdeveloped sense of class, and he’s got delusions of grandeur. Also he’s idea of a train killing train to take over the US with is extremely unhinged and silly which is exactly what we need in our Wild Wild West villains. He’s not perfect though. He lacks a certain uniqueness that would have him stand out amongst other egotistical traitors and invading powers that frequently pop up in this show.

The Gadgets

They knocked it out of the park again with the gadgets this episode. Particularly the explosive coal which was such a fun Chekov’s Gun this episode, with satisfying high stakes pay off. We also see our good friend knock out gas featured, and the first but not the last instance of Artie accidentally getting KOed by his own invention lol. The ring was also a neat gimmick and I’m kinda disappointed we don’t really get to see it again.

The Disguise

Artemus’s disguise in this episode was fun, well thought out, and useful. He successfully infiltrated the labor camp where Jim and Gatita’s village were being held. He used it (and a drunken rendition of one of my fav Spanish folk songs “Malagueña Salerosa”) to rescue Jim, and he also exploited it as means to start a revolt while Jim planted the bombs! The only reason it’s not a 5 out of 5 is because he didn’t really do a specific character, he was just trying to blend in which isn’t as insane or enjoyable as his more fleshed out personas.

The Gay Subtext

(Don’t ship it? Skip it!)

A joke could be made about Artemus giving Jim a specially made ring and to “wear it in good health”. There’s also a moment where Gatita feels like she could be making a joke about Jim being bi when she talks about “looking for a girl, now you’re looking for a man” which I think is hilarious even if it wasn’t intentional. Then of course we have our regularly scheduled story beats of Artemus looking like the world just fell out from under him when he thinks Jim is dead, and looking bitter (or dare say jealous) and exasperated when Jim makes out with the woman of the week at the end of the episode.

The Yikes Dated Factor

When I put yikes dated at 0 that does NOT mean there was nothing problematic in the episode. However there was very little that was straight up cringeworthy that made me embarrassed on behalf of white people or made me wanna turn the episode off. There were microaggressions and casual nationalism for sure, but no shoe polish or wildly inappropriate caricatures. For the time this show was made it was very respectful and for that I will give this episode props!

FFVII: Rebirth Review!

This review does contain spoilers!

★ Score: 11/10 ★ Date Finished: March 15th, 2024 ★ Final Thoughts: This game is a beautiful remake and reimagining of my favorite portions of the original FFVII. The purists probably hate it because its not the exact remake they might have wanted but this game might be the best game I have ever played. The story in this game feels brand new, despite being fairly the same as the original. I was constantly filled with wonder and excitement to play even though I technically knew everything that would happen, a feat that is rather impressive when creating a remake. The devs blew it out of the water with the character and party interactions, making them even better than before. Each character not only feels important to Cloud but also other party members such as Red XIII and Aerith having a close friendship, Aerith and Tifa having fun with one another like teenage girls, Tifa and Yuffie acting like siblings to one another, and Barrett and Yuffie having an adorable father/daughter like bond. It makes the course of the story even more impacting and sometimes gut-wrenching as you realize that not only you as the player adore these characters, but they also adore one another. Cloud's characterization in this game is also phenomenal and his personality constantly shifting as he slow loses his identity over the course of the game was chilling to watch. I could ramble forever about the characters in this game, as I find that each one of them holds a deep place in my heart. The gameplay of this game is also phenomenal for many reasons. The open world is extremely expansive and can be rather rewarding, though occasionally overwhelming. It was hard to balance story and exploration but once I figured out the best way to do things, I found both rather enjoyable and they balanced out well. I ended with about 84 hours on the game and still have a lot of content to explore. A new mechanic is also introduced so that the player can track their bond with each party member, something that I enjoyed as I was attempting for a specific character for the dates. The side quests in this game are also really fun for the most part, I didn't love all of them but there were plenty that made me laugh, smile, and sometimes tear up. Finally for gameplay, the combat is much like remake's but it only gets better as each character unlocks new abilities and can be played in many different ways thus having the potential to make characters very strong! The music is also crazy, hearing my favorite tracks from the original game be remade was such an enjoyable experience but the new music in the game is also really nice and I am eagerly waiting for the OST to drop online. Overall this game is a gem among modern day games and the devs did a perfect job both remaking and reimagining all of the segments of the game, if it tells you anything, I cried about 16 times while playing through this game. Many of these being at the endings as the devs created such a beautiful, heart-wrenching, unique yet familiar ending to this installment of the trilogy. I found myself reaching moments that I had looked forward to seeing in the game and whispering to myself "No no no I don't want to do it" I was terrified and I loved it. There are things in this game that I could nitpick if I wanted to but it doesn't feel worth it because the overarching final impression is that it is truly perfection, while I wasn't happy with everything it was all so minute that its not worth trying to remember and mention. I'm probably bias about this game but I think I just witnessed perfection.

Roundup of manhwa I've been catching up on and/or rereading recently. These are unfortunately mostly on Asura Scans, so linking or bookmarking them is useless. I really hate that about their site.

The scores are in regard to what I expect of the overall genre, not general quality per se. I'm not expecting deep, profound writing here. The range is A to F, with A being an easy recommend, B having some flaws but also having some really strong points that make it worth reading, C being extremely average, not terrible but not really doing anything well enough to recommend, and D being largely a waste of time. F is for outright offensive. But there won't really be many failing grades on this list because I just drop them and forget lol. Plus minus is based on my personal enjoyment.

Return of the Disaster-Class Hero, ch74 - Rank: B+. I really enjoyed it, but it's just that the different aspects are overall passable to good (art, humor, battles), plus it has some presence given to supporting characters (Hugo, Sungjae) and relationships, which I happen to enjoy. Additionally, the story actually advances, which can't be taken as a given lol... Unfortunately, the manhwa has been on hiatus since Aug 2023 due to the artist's health and later passing. It's unclear whether it will continue, or how it will look or progress if it does.

The Novel's Extra, ch93 - Rank: C. I was initially going to rank it higher, but while the art is nice and the characters are passable, the pacing is a mess. I genuinely couldn't tell you what the direction of the story is even supposed to be, despite how many chapters it's been. Have we even advanced at all here? I sure don't know.

The Protagonist's Younger Sister, ch33 - Rank: B, though this notably has the lowest chapter count here by a wide margin. Cute story and I like the protagonist family. It's just that it has always updated very slowly, and I'm not even sure it's still updating, so the pacing feels dragged out even if it's actually fine as a whole. But like I mentioned separately, the story has only just passed basic setup, so I don't even know for sure where it's going in the long term.

SSS-Class Suicide Hunter, ch113 - Rank: A. If I have to pick a manhwa I consider most overall impressive among those I've read, it would probably be this one. It has a very strong sense of its protagonist and what it wants to say, and it uses very distinctive arcs with strong supporting characters to do it. The murim arc was obviously a standout, but I think the romance genre arc that is wrapping up was impressive in what it dared to do. They really said "yeah, the protag falls in love and gets married, this is part of his growth as a person." I genuinely did not expect that they would go through with it and let him actually stay married. That's a thing they did. In general, this is just a very solid story, and I hope they are able to adapt it in its entirety, though that will probably take years to come.

I’m a Martial Art Villainess but I’m the Strongest!, ch92 - Rank: B. This one has a female lead (and thus a prominent romance) but it also does a lot of fight scenes and training and stuff like that. The fairly unusual (in my experience) combination of elements works well for me, though the actual contents are fairly average, nothing amazing or terrible, just okay enough. I think my biggest take away aside from the genre combination is the ML's big boobas. I seriously want the MC and ML to bang, they deserve it.

Ending Maker, ch56 - Rank: B. Actually, this one hasn't had any progress since I caught up on the TLs a while back, but I wanted to note it. I like how much focus is given to the relationship between the MC and his love interest, and I don't really have any major complaints. However, I hope they're able to flesh out the plot going forward. It's been very "go to a place, get a thing" without really giving any major weight to anything that's happened, and the supporting characters haven't really left an impression either.

The Duke's Redemption, ch50 - Rank: B-. This one also hasn't updated since I caught up on it a while back, but adding here. Pros: strong focus on the relationship between the MC and the duke, setup for potentially interesting conflict with Serpens not being chosen as the hero per the OG plot. Cons: art is kinda mid, the actual story so far has been largely filler or not very interesting in and of itself. They've built up the foundation of Shion and Serpens as a relationship, but the stuff around that could have been done a lot better.

Doctor's Rebirth, ch150 - Rank: C+, though that's being generous tbh. It is the definition of extremely mid. However, it does make me lol at least somewhat regularly about how gay the entire supporting cast is toward the MC. Truly peak shounen experience. Whether it's his master, his master's assistant (love triangle), the original novel's demonic hero protag, secondary novel villains A through D... they all want him so bad. It's very funny to me personally.

The Extra is Too Strong, ch50 - Rank: D+. I'm adding the plus purely because I spend a lot of time lolling about how buff absolutely everyone is. This includes the one notable female side character and background female characters. That aside, I'm curious what they're going to do with the original novel's protag. He's mentioned several times and with quite a bit of detail about what his deal was, plus he has a non-standard design, so I feel like we will eventually meet him and something is planned for that.

Return of the 8th Class Magician, ch81 (complete) - Rank: C. I know there's other series with a very similar title, so to be clear, this is the one where the MC has long light brown hair (lol) and regresses uses dragon tongue. A complete story that has no particular flaws, but tbh I don't think it has any particular strengths either. The thing I remember most about it is that, around chapter 60 or so, there is a note from the artist that directly says they're about to start deviating from the novel they're adapting. Immediately the main villain is introduced, dragon lore gets updated, and the MC's father is brought up, so you can just tell, yeah, his father is going to be a dragon. And he is. I didn't have any issues with the manhwa-original (presumed) ending, it was done more smoothly than I would have expected, but the whole story just didn't serve anything to make me really excited. Fine read tho, if you've got some time to kill, and the MC is quite pretty.

Trash of the Count’s Family, ch121 - Rank: C. The art is nice, and I liked the initial sections, but the pacing is a mess and nothing meaningful seems to happen. The biggest issue is probably that the MC is just not a type I care for, and the supporting characters don't feel like they're fleshed out enough to stand on their own. The entire story, with over a hundred chapters, has been just endlessly picking up power-ups in preparation for the supposed war, but 120 chapters in and we're still not to the actual war, so... I do think that I'm finally seeing the appeal of the crown prince, so there's that.

The Newbie is Too Strong, ch90 - Rank: C-. This is also a pretty basic series, but the popoi are cute, the MC doesn't annoy me, and I am legitimately interested in the plot mysteries. Also, it does seem to be promising to introduce some recurring side characters in the future, so there is some room to grow.

Overpowered Sword, ch88 - Rank: C. It's a shounen, functionally. I enjoy it in a brain off way, and I will say that I first shipped Leon with Eclid, but now I keep thinking that Karen is good, I ship Karen. However, it has a weakness in that the arcs aren't particularly interesting in themselves. Not enough emphasis on fucked up backstories for the villains and new allies, I guess. Shounen runs on fucked up backstories.

Of All Things, I Became a Crow, ch107 (complete) - Rank: C+. This is a female lead transmigration romance. It's cute! I like it well enough and it's complete. Not really a lot else to say.

‘W’ IS FOR WEIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

MICK SCHUMACHER

Road & Track Sept/Oct 2022 Interview by Travis Okulski and Photograph by Cayce Clifford 

IN HIS SECOND SEASON with Haas F1 Team, Mick Schumacher seems more comfortable driving out from under his dad’s enormous shadow [fig. 1].

           ROAD & TRACK: This is your second season of F1, and you have thrived in the second season of every series you’ve raced. You’ve scored your first points; the car is great.          

MICK SCHUMACHER: My second year has been pretty good most of the time. But I would say that usually my first years haven’t been awful.

           R&T: No one’s saying they were awful!          

MS: Unfortunately, I was sometimes unlucky [in the first season], and that made it look like the second year was extremely good. Last year was quite special. We had a bad car and still managed to get into Q2. We got close to points at times, and obviously this year is very different in terms of the overall situation. It’s very hard to compare them. Imagine how the third year will look!

           R&T: There’s more interest in F1 now than ever. What do you think of how the sport has grown?          

MS: The demand is huge at the moment, the biggest it’s been in a long time. Partly I would say it’s because of Netflix making it much more of a fan-friendly environment for people who maybe don’t understand the sport or haven’t been in the sport for long. They are now able to watch the sport without having to wonder what we are doing. I think we’re on a very good wave, and hopefully we’ll be able to stay there for a long time. I think everything comes to a moment where it changes. And I think we’re set to anticipate that moment, to keep growing, and keep making it interesting—and maybe not overkill it by throwing 40 races at it—and try to make it enjoyable for people to watch and bring a suspenseful moment to it. Formula usually has that by nature, because you have humans racing in machines against each other.

           R&T: Have you watched Drive to Survive?          

MS: Every episode I wasn’t in.

           R&T: Why’s that?          

MS: Well, most of my friends that watched it said I wasn’t in it much. That’s all right. I don’t like seeing myself on-screen. I don’t see myself as a celebrity or whatever. I feel like I’m still 12 at times.

R&T: F1’s regulations are going to change in 2026. With free and full control over what the next car is, what’s your dream machine?

MS: Don’t do that. It’s going to be completely different. It’s going to bring my hopes up. I’d probably make it as light as I could. So, early-2000s-type weight, which is like 250 kilos lighter compared to right now. And make it still a ground-effect car. Probably put a V-10 into it or a V-8, depending which one’s more efficient. And I’d try to get more tire manufacturers on board—at least three—and try to have more engine manufacturers as well.

           R&T: So you want a 2004 car with ground effects?          

MS: Something like that.

           R&T: With second-generation drivers, fans naturally want to judge the current driver by the standards set by their father. How do you keep comparisons with your dad in perspective?          

MS: I invite it. I am more than happy to get compared to my dad. He’s obviously the best, and he will always be the best. I always want to be compared to the best. I’m fortunate to be able to be compared to him. So yeah, I definitely take it onboard, cherish it, and take it as a huge compliment and something that motivates me. ■