Kalinara

I really enjoyed those guys! Especially when they livestreamed the finale. Very funny!

At best, the dudebros are getting a bit more sensitive and empathetic. At worst, it's a sign that even they realize that hate and toxic masculinity don't sell to as wide an audience as openminded tolerance. And that feels like a really good cultural shift.

Are they as genuinely into the show as they seem to be? Maybe, maybe not. But seeing these guys cheer on Scott Hunter, marvel at Ilya, sympathize with Shane - especially that, because we know the shit that would have been slung at the autistic, Asian, bottom ten years ago... It feels optimistic?

Ten years ago, the straight guys watching queer media would be playing up their revulsion, making gross out noises during the sex scenes, making gay jokes during the whole thing with a heavy emphasis on how hetero they are. They wouldn't be even pretending to be engaged with the story or characters.

So I've kind of fallen down a rabbit hole of watching straight people react to Heated Rivalry on YouTube. And I'm cynical. I know it's basically clickbait. We've all seen it before. But it does occur to me that the clickbait itself is a little different than from what I remember ten years ago.

I remember being kind of ambivalent during that debate. I stand corrected.

Heated Rivalry feels like someone sat through that entire sex scenes in media debate from a while back and went "I'm going to make a show where the sex scenes aren't just important but a completely vital part of the story." Well played.

One thing I do miss from that old place we fled because of the Muskrat fascists is the ability to search a topic and filter by our mutuals. Sometimes I don't care what random people think about a topic, I just want to know what my mutuals think! (If there IS a way to do this please let me know!)

You know if she'd worn cheap walmart shoes, they'd have bitched about her inappropriate wardrobe in the other direction.

I know she's ex-Mossad, but I still feel like the show would have to acknowledge that, yeah, there's still an occupation and genocide going on back home.

I admit to some morbid curiosity about how the show handled current global events given that one of their leads is a Mossad agent. I'm not naive enough to pretend the situation was that much better when Ziva was originally on the show, but I don't think the show's audience had the same awareness.

I missed entirely that the Tony and Ziva NCIS show already came out. I'm still kind of bewildered that was even a thing, tbh. It would have made sense some years back, when both had just left the show. But we're a decade past that. Even the overly-invested shippers have had other ships!

(Wouldn't mind having her money though. That's a nice fantasy. :-D)

Hey, it works/worked for her clearly. But honestly, for me? Not remotely worth it. And fortunately, since I don't have a career in Hollywood, I don't have to even consider it. And honestly, I feel better when I think about that. I am satisfied with my choices, weight and all.

I really appreciate it when celebrities are honest about their lifestyle choices. Whenever I get down on myself for my weight, for example, I think about a Jane Seymour interview I'd read a few years back. (She looks amazing still, of course). But she talked about the meals she eats. And well-

I think maybe the youngest Lawrence brother understood it was a parody? But I'm not sure he told anyone else.

(I'm honestly not sure how I ended up watching Wiseguy as a teenager. I THINK I was watching it because it reran late at night and Joe from Highlander was in it. But it's probably best not to dive down the rabbit hole of "weird shit I watched as a kid".)

(And I liked to pretend that the whole family was some kind of fucked up deep cover con/mission for Roger LoCocco. I find my own amusements sometimes.)

It is probably fair to note that I somehow sidestepped the whole Lawrence brother appeal growing up. I didn't watch Blossom and had gotten bored of Boy Meets World when they were still in High School. (And honestly the biggest appeal to that show for me was I'd just watched Wiseguy - )

The first movie was a mess of "Jesus Christ, get the fuck out of there, lady." While the second involved decisions that no rational human being would ever make and accept. The ladies also seemed far more into each other than either brother, and who could really blame them, tbh.

To be fair, I thought both brothers were fine in their respective roles. It was really weird that their mom played their grandmother though. And I choose to interpret the change in female lead as Holly having come to her senses after Christmas and fleeing for her life from this family.

The last Christmas Rom-Com of the year for me was the double feature of "Mistletoe Mixup" and "Marry Christmas". A Lawrence brother double feature so bad they couldn't even keep the same female love interest through both of them.

I never thought I'd miss the Peter Pan fairies, but at least they had some original characters and plots.

Seriously! Now THAT woman clearly has a story to tell.

I want to blame Once Upon a Time for this, but at least they were focused on the fun, magic fantasy type villains like the Wicked Queen and Jafar.

They could at least give us fucking Ursula. But no, let's go with the most banal, mundane, every day villain characters and try to pretend "rich lady who wants to murder dogs" and "dude bro who can't take no for an answer" have any layers worth exploring.

While I don't agree with it necessarily, I do understand the appeal of villainous backstories. But can someone explain to me why Disney keeps choosing the most boring villains to do this for? Maleficent was fine. Who doesn't like dark fairies and Angelina Jolie's cheekbones? But Cruella? Gaston?

I think there's a lot to say about our increasing dependence on devices, but I'm also a little bewildered because don't most people have GPS on their phone as well? Even if the car's GPS doesn't work, there should be other options...

For the record, I'm absolutely okay with any Billionaire who wants to be dropped anywhere with five dollars to prove they can make their fortune again. As far as I'm concerned, they can keep whatever they earn. But everything before that five dollars goes to taxes and public works. Let's go.

I suppose most movies really require the main character to be the person that they are. But this particular guy annoys me, so there you are.