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Lu’s backstory in Away ep.3 portrayed much more accurate representation of Asian Chinese individual’s duty/responsibility towards one’s family, society, & country, than Mulan(2020) did. That Disney movie is just a lame attempt to show film+cast diversity & playing out Westerners fetish on Ancient China. I am just so mad at how they didn’t bother to put in any effort. The movie’s dialogues are just TRASH. It’s like preschool kids’ skit. Ppl are better off watching old HK movies on Netflix w subs.

Oh, that’s a great point, it’s such a relevant and recent comparison. Such an effective and moving portrayal, as bittersweet as it was, you get that it’s all wrapped up in not just, like…a burden, but an actual sense of wanting to do it. Which, obviously, there are so many nuances and layers to that and I truly do hope that once Lu gets back, she finds a balance that lets her and Mei be together (I’m gonna need all the fic here), but I get her decisions. 

Although, isn’t Away also through a certain lens? Where Emma is the good guy through it all (and I mean, like, I loved her as a character, but stepping back a bit at what she represents) and you have the CNSA so hateable. I was literally telling my friend as I was watching, I’m hating this fictional Chinese woman written by Americans, not sure how to feel about that. Especially because then on the other hand, in real life, it probably WOULD be like that so it’d be a disservice to paint it too differently. I guess we landed on the best outcome being that while the homophobia in China shouldn’t be glossed over, the US’s flaws shouldn’t be either.

Full disclosure, I have not watched the new Mulan at all barring the parts with Gong Li, but I assumed she went because her father is sick? But yeah, Disney really went and didn’t hire a single Chinese writer for it. I guess that showed, from the criticism I’ve been reading.

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to be fair about the writers strike there were a bunch of shows that weren’t canceled because the networks couldn’t replace them with anything (like pushing daisies and terminator) so it wasn’t all bad. likely the opposite is true now where networks will air things they’ve been sitting on to fill time.

Oh, hmm, that is a good point, but they still cancelled both of them too early so hollow victories in the end!

And yeah, now, god, the amount of content out there. I was wondering if covid limiting the number of new pilots being able to shot might save older shows, but Netflix has a ridiculous library at the ready and other networks are importing foreign shows, so…huh.

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Sleeping warrior. Sighs, that was something. I remember liking Ruby/Belle and then I got hit in the face for Aurora/Mulan. How could they did them so dirty?

Yeah, I remember Ruby/Belle being a surprising hit for a while, and they were okayyy, but I really fell for SW too. 

They were just off together on their own, both unsure of how to relate to each other without Philip, almost reluctantly teaming up and then growing very very close together, canonically, to the point of loyalty to each first of all and it was just–it would have been such a good love story of THE KIND THEY WERE ALREADY DOING. It annoyed–I mean, we already know why it’s so irritating it took them so long to do anything same-sex in the context of the complaints about SQ, but these two weren’t even the leads and they clearly WERE about to do something with Mulan and then?? THEN??

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God you’re anon reminding me of sleeping warrior, my heart hurts again ? The potential! Lemme go reread some sw fics

Tsk, OUAT really just wasted so many great f/f dynamics, that being one of the biggest.

Which fics are you reading? Oddly enough, my two best-remembered SW fics are both AUs that still make use of the fairytale world but change Mulan and Aurora’s roles: a story, a tale by maleficently and Could Have Been a Year by thrace. Oh, I like Object Permanence by thrace too, obviously, but it’s a more standard fix-it, of course I was gonna like it.

I didn’t really read too much else, it was hard to separate the actual SW fics from where they were minor to SQ, which, I do like them as well, but it’s not the same, right.

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I really love Devon Hales’ voice. I could listen to her all day.

Omg, right? I was thinking that during yesterday’s live, it’s so clear and melodic.

I remember noticing it during the second half of TBH, when April was suddenly shown in this different light, the light Sterling was seeing her through, and I’ve mentioned the transformation before, the hair and outfits, but the voice too! When she’s not putting on the mean girl superiority, it seems closer to her natural voice, from interviews and stuff, and it’s literally noticeable in how nice it is. I like it a lot.

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I checked the Mulan tag in your blog and I saw the Mulan/Aurora part and I have a stroke. The feels, the open wounds

Awwwww, right? God, they did them so dirty! And Mulan in particular, repeatedly. Just because they were obsessed with their twists and reveals and needing to SHOCK people with a damn romantic relationship?? But in a way I’m almost glad Mulan Rouge didn’t happen so I could go back to SW guilt-free. Possibly there was some pressure to not make a Disney Princess queer but they seemed to be building up to it so I won’t let them off the hook for how poorly they handled it all.

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Why is Sterling so sure everything will be ok with her parents if they found out about her an April? Sorry i found that odd. Just look what happened when she drank. She was kicked out the house. So you mean to tell me Sterling just thinks her parents will be like ok i suppose its ok. Its just oddly placed. What your take on it?

Well, I think the show gets that people, and teenagers in particular, make decisions that aren’t always the most logically sound. They don’t do a cost benefit analysis, it’s often I want this to be true, so I’m hoping it is. We do that all the time, how many decisions do we make that we know we’ll pay for later, but we’re just hoping it’ll magically work out, sleeping late, eating unhealthy, skipping a class, procrastinating on literally anything? It doesn’t make sense, it’s just the best option in the moment. April herself was falling into that in ep 8 and 9, she knew there was no way she could come out safely, but oh, she wanted it. 

But Sterling in particular has led a bit of a charmed life until the last ep. Like, okay, she breaks the rules (sleeping with Luke, drinking) and faces the consequences (school ostracization, mother kicking her out of the house), but the being kicked out of the house was about as gentle as possible, and when her mom found out about the sex it was a bonding moment and the drinking somehow fixed the school situation! So she’s actually come out on top. 

She WAS scared about what to do with April, as she told that lady in the throuple, April could tell her parents, but she went ahead and kissed her anyway because in the moment, she couldn’t do anything else. And then she (rightly) freaked for two seconds until even THAT somehow amazingly worked out, against all odds, as we well know. You surprise the most Christian high maintenance girl in school with a kiss, it’s lottery probability not having that backfire badly. 

There are some people who make high risk decisions again and again even when they turn out badly and they just spiral. This kid is rewarded again and again, like, I would have understood her optimism even if only half those things had worked out. She’ll think, oh, they’ll be fine, or at worst, I’ll spend a night out on the lawn, but honestly? She’s not thinking of the consequences at all, it’ll work out.

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Omg is there f/f in away?? (Spoilers pleeaase :D)

Yes! The main cast are five different astronauts, the actual lead being Hilary Swank’s American mission commander, and also men from India, Russia, and Ghana/Britain, and then a woman from China, Wang Lu. She has a husband and young son but we see in flashbacks how she met the team comms person on the ground, Chen Mei. 

Mei’s in the first couple of eps as mostly a background character but ep 3 is when we really delve into her and Lu, and although she’s sent away and not in the remaining 7 eps (boooo), there’s still hope for them after this three year mission to Mars is over. It’s…really sweet and specific to these characters, who and what they are, where they’re from. I liked it.

As always, All the Lilies did the work and put together their story for anyone who just wants to watch that: 

https://twitter.com/_allthelilies/status/1302607861579567104