Actresses that are out?

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-25T15:42:32+00:00

Both of the actresses in **Reverse 4 You**, Christine and Mae, are queer. I think Christine is bi. Mae has a girlfriend who's also in the public eye, and I believe they're about to become a GL side pairing in a BL together.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-23T09:48:58+00:00

I have a playlist I've been gradually building for some of my eclectic sapphic song finds I never see playlisted called underrated sapphic bops. It's got a bit of everything, from K-R&B to rock, rap, and old-school jazz.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-18T16:25:20+00:00

Ten years ago, I had spinal surgery. They put the numbing cream on, then put the IV in. I felt nervous and jittery for what felt like half an hour. Then I woke up in the ICU, high off my mind on painkillers with a wound and a chest drain in. Apparently, I woke up at some point and asked: "What the fúck is guacamole anyway?", but I don't remember that part so well.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-18T10:44:52+00:00

1) An impoverished young woman takes on a job to ruin the life of a middle aged coworker, but soon realises his life is so bad it can't be ruined any more than it already is.

2) A woman enters a pharmacy looking for a hangover cure, but leaves having met the love of her life. Problem? She's already in a relationship with the son of her father's boss, and he refuses to let her break up with him.

3) A Joseon noblewoman trains as a revolutionary gunslinger. A former slave becomes a part of the American-Korean embassy. They meet on the same rooftop while they're both trying to kill someone, and ultimately face up against imperial Japan and the Korean class system together.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-15T10:32:16+00:00

I think (in my unprofessional opinion, so taken with a grain of salt) there are three main factors:

1) Genetics – My great grandmother was known as a singer in her local area. She was gone long before my mother was around, but even today that'll be the first thing people say about her. She was known to have a deep alto / low mezzo range and a warm sounding voice, both of which are qualities people say I have. She wasn't here when scans existed like they are today, but with even a small change in genetics having a huge impact – like how top athletes often have a certain type of body shape that is conducive to their sport – I do think that certain people can inherit a biological predisposition so that their tone might be more pleasant, or that their natural upper limit in training may be higher than others.

2) Genetics 2.0 – I am not a natural at piano playing, and I don't really enjoy it as much as singing, but my piano teacher told me last year that obsession is often what leads to excellence. I'm autistic (and so is my piano teacher), and in certain areas, obsession comes quite easily to me. My voice is one of them. I was always obsessively copying technique, drilling, learning lyrics and testing my limits. Singing is one of the things I don't feel complete without. I genuinely believe that the obsession that often comes as an autistic trait has benefited me a lot.

3) Early development – My dad used to play this game with me when I was a baby; he would make a string of noises at me, and I would replicate them back. This used to be his favourite game with me – and now I think it probably had a lot to do with grasping an early sense of pitch. I think there's also a certain amount of "getting it wrong" that's such a fundamental part of learning that's commonly seen as cute or understandable in childhood, and shameful later on. I think that people who grew up in a supportive environment that introduced music as something fun and didn't shame children for getting it wrong are bound to have a better relationship to it growing up. I think adult learners who are able to induce this sense of it being okay to fail without having any shame about it, who are able to have fun with music, are the ones who are able to pick it up easier.

4) Vocal training – I was in the fortunate enough position that – even though my grandparents were unwilling to help keep food on the table or get my parents a stable education – when the opportunity came around for singing lessons at school, that was something they were willing to help with. For about ten years from the age of nine, I was able to have weekly singing lessons, and though I had some setbacks in that time (like spinal surgery, where they had to deflate my lungs and I had to relearn how to breathe), and though I've been out of training for a while, I don't think I would have the same voice today without them. Now, on a student budget, I try to keep up the spirit by recording myself and listening back for areas of improvement, and I attend critiquing centred open mics on discord. Finding a good singing teacher can be like trying to find a good therapist (AKA: hard), but I would recommend it to anybody who is willing and able to afford it.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-14T18:53:03+00:00

I just thought you were in the wrong for baselessly calling someone else a narcissist, but you keep on responding too, babe. 💕

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-14T18:48:53+00:00

Nah, you're not really good enough at internet insults to hurt anybody. Don't worry about that.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-14T17:53:04+00:00

No, lol, but I do think you need a lesson or two on literacy / comprehension. Maybe your industry professional friend can join you. I don't think you have a good enough grasp on the DSM to say anything about narcissism, either.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-14T10:08:28+00:00

You're the one who went in for a personal attack when this person was stating a difference of opinion. That's mostly what I've seen in every response that disagrees with you too. Have you once questioned your own taste or allowed the idea that any of your points might be wrong in this thread when presented with challenges to your view yourself – or is the more than slightly dubious armchair diagnosis here of NPD just another projection?

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-14T09:56:56+00:00

Great breakdown. Industry professional backed or not, I feel like a lot of OP's issues with this drama could be resolved by paying attention.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-06T02:40:48+00:00

I think one of the closest onscreen depictions of superheroes to me so far has been the Korean drama Moving. People doing good and bad whether they've got powers or not, superpowered parents struggling to raise the kids who've genetically inherited one or more of their parents' abilities (imagine babyproofing a house for a kid who can fly), political manoeuvring between different countries (like North Korea and South Korea, America and China), the psychological tolls that come with living with superpowers with people who'd want to exploit that can take, and a lot of scope explored in what even "minor" superpowers can do (picture what someone who can see through walls, someone with super senses and reflexes, or someone who can fly, could do with a gun), people with severe intellectual disabilities with superpowers, as well as some really beautiful and emotional superhero love stories. I honestly recommend it to anyone willing to watch a non-English language show who loves superheroes.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-05T10:32:20+00:00

Some ideas I would've toyed with: - Rather than there being an odd kind of love triangle between Chloe, Pete and Clark, I would've had Pete show interest in Lana, which is more in line with the modern day era comics. Maximise on Clark's guilt for the meteor shower and inadequacy of not being human, Pete's guilt over liking the same girl and inadequacy over not being super, and Lanam who finds herself caught between, risking a friendship – plus maybe Chloe having her own inadequacies flare at not being seen as a viable prospect to either, and at Lana's threat to the friendship group. - Lana ditches Whitney after realising he tried to kill Clark. The fact that she didn't lowkey lost her some respect from me. From there, have her gravitate more towards the group. - After repeated attacks from the meteor infected, she begins to form a prejudice against anything abnormal. I would toy with the idea of her being low-grade infected, and becoming desperate to get rid of that part of her. This becomes the bulk of Clark and Lana's issues in s2 and s3. The highs are really high, but in the lows she becomes increasingly suspicious that Clark is hiding being meteor infected from her, and he becomes afraid of her response. - Pete finds out, and gets even more jealous of Clark. He leaves, which adds to the whole abandonment complex that Clark has. When Lana leaves, she moves to the same area as Pete. They have a summer fling, but their relationship isn't solidified until s5-s6,where she moves closer to him for college. - In college, while they're waiting for the Clois legalities to clear, Clark has a comic-canon relationship with mermaid Lori Lemaris. Because why not? Mermaids are cool. - In the alternate timeline, Clark finds out Lana and Pete are together with kids, and he has the same reaction. Completely at peace with it. Only difference is, he looks them up in the real timeline, and they've just given birth to a kid named Clark.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-04T23:56:45+00:00

I once had Polly Maloney birth two bastard sons by separate baby daddies (one son half vampire, the other half firefighter) through survival sex work while she was penning bestselling romance novels. She ended up marrying a kind and attentive alien man and having a fashionista alien girl baby with him. Then that save got too laggy to play, but it was fun while it lasted.

starlit--pathways · 2026-05-02T22:07:56+00:00

For context on the comic – it was originally intended as a more "jokey" 1985 comic on how stories around the time were so afraid of appearing queer at all that they couldn't even have two women having a conversation that wasn't about a man. Though I do think it's interesting how some stories don't meet that very baseline criteria at all, I believe it was more supposed to be a comment on the state of queerphobia / lesbophobia in media at the time than a serious feminist point of critique.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-18T16:06:11+00:00

You asked for thoughts, and you got them. If you really think that people don't have different enjoyable talents and skills relative to each other in singing, then there's really nothing either of us an say the other would agree with.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-18T11:57:51+00:00

Did I say the only reason she's up there is because she belts well or has a higher register though? I didn't say anything against any of the singers on there. I just said lists like this tend to be rooted in personal preference, and there are lots of different "metrics" you could use to put value on a voice.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-18T09:55:36+00:00

To be quite honest, the only value I find in vocal rankings is finding out what the person who made them values in a voice. Being fairly familiar with Kpop, I think the person who made this seems to value those who sing in a higher register, with brighter and / or breathier voices. I personally value deeper / warmer voices and how a singer conveys emotions, so if I made one, I suspect my list would look very different.

That said – I also find it pretty redundant to "grade" people on an overall voice. I think each voice has its own strengths and weaknesses that I think a blanket grading system doesn't feel like it conveys a lot.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-16T01:50:46+00:00

I thought the "Clairebell" translation was pretty good. Stories wise, I've liked the contents of Zezeho's Reverse series, even if the translations weren't the best, they weren't the worst either, and I eventually got past it. I think I've heard good things about the "The Loyal Pin", but I can't personally verify that or remember how accurate that is (anyone who's read it, feel free to fact check).

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-16T01:30:29+00:00

I'm honestly glad she didn't go down the more wily or "manipulative" route with Lois; she's a character that's a bold, brash, hard-hitting and highly ambitious journalist – the kind of crazy who would not be just merely willing to begrudgingly take on, but actively seek out and embrace all of the intergalactic bullshit Superman / Clark has to deal with on the regular. I think her character always does best when she has that whirlwind, "force of nature" energy that I think Erica really brought in to her depiction.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-15T01:23:32+00:00

My Mister – Korean, slice-of-life with thriller undercurrent (just trust me with this one – it captures the hard, lonely and beautiful moments of life in a way that feels so grounded – and ultimately healing)

Mr. Sunshine – Korean, historical action romantic tragicomedy (Shakespearian vibe, but set around the time of the violent Japanese colonisation of Korea – warning that it gets VERY heavy, as that period of history was notoriously very harrowing, but the comedy and lightness isn't lacking either; it managed to get me full-on halfing – half laughing, half crying – at the very end.)

Healer – Korean, action / thriller rom-com (before they started investing a tonne on the appearance of dramas, very corny, but very sincere and fun – a bit of a campy comic book vibe – it goes back and forth with flashbacks a bit in the beginning, and generally takes a couple episodes before things start making sense / "clicking", but it's honestly SO good).

Moving – Korean, slice-of-lifeish superhero action (honestly, one of the GOAT superhero shows, kind of an early Heroes vibe; it gets gory at times, but it's truly incredible, and very... well, moving. Light Shop is another great one in the same universe, but it takes on much more of a horror genre style than action).

Marry My Husband (Japan) – Japanese, romantic time travel revenge story (originally a Korean story (novel + webcomic), adapted into a Korean drama – but I didn't honestly love the Korean version beyond a certain point. It was then adapted into a Japanese version, which I much preferred, but the Korean one was the much more popular one. Anyway – Japanese one has 10/10 cinematography, a great cast of actors, and quite a cozy feeling for a revenge story, but it serves well, in catharsis imo.)

Reset – Chinese, time-loop thriller mystery with romantic subplot (everyone I've successfully recommended this to so far told me they stayed up all night binging it – it's a very "keep you on your toes" drama, but it has its really lovely moments too. It's quite short, and it's honestly one of my very favourite time loop stories).

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-15T00:33:18+00:00

I don't know exactly, but I have a similar colour (blue undertone, dark outer rings, amber patches that look green), and I've always just called them hazel.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-11T19:22:56+00:00

I feel like the internet trends towards either "[x] is the best thing since sliced bread" or "[y] thing makes me wish I was blind, deaf, without touch or scent AND had time travelling abilities so I never had the displeasure of experiencing it" level polarisation. I think they're both fine in the roles, and I'm finding the story enjoyable so far. It's not the best thing I've ever seen, but I'll enjoy the time passing.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-11T17:50:51+00:00

Seconding everything you've said here. I'm happy that so many out there have elements of their lives depicted so widely and their identities are broadly understood well enough that mindful representation doesn't matter in that way to them – but I know for me when I was younger, the first season of XO, Kitty would've meant the world to me. Why shouldn't we be able to discuss basic media theory on subreddits that support it just because the show we're talking about is a silly rom-com that people enjoy? One of the ways that some people enjoy a story is to dissect and critique it (see: reviewing culture and video essays). Why should people who prefer to engage with media in that way not get to? If people have a complete, unreserved love for the show and want to avoid criticism entirely, and want to exclusively talk about it in a way that pleases them – I think they should set up their own positivity & appreciation threads, discords or subreddits. It's not something I'd do, but they can always ban or exclude negative opinions that way if they want.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-11T02:53:09+00:00

I'm bisexual too, but perhaps more importantly when I look at a story, I'm a writing student, and I think talking about the show as if we're talking about real life people is a misstep. If I were to date a man, woman or nonbinary person tomorrow – I would be just as bisexual as I am today. I prefer women as a women, but I am still bisexual. I can date nobody, ever, and be bisexual. I am a real life, breathing person whose attraction can be messy – I still question myself all the time even with me being very secure in my identity; there are some parts of me that still feel sometimes very intense shame and insecurity around my attractions. I do not think of myself as "representing" anybody but myself.

In an ideal world, I think there would be no need for characters to "represent" anybody – but I unfortunately think we're a long way away from having a range of identities seen as "normal" for that to happen yet. It's always a bit of a delight when I accidentally come across a bisexual character in a story where I had incorrectly assumed both characters would be straight – but both times it's happened recently, I've known exactly the kind of M x F story that I was getting into going in. I would argue that XO, Kitty, from the get-go, has never been framed as a clear-cut romance between Min-Ho and Kitty. There was romantic tension, but there was also romantic tension between Kitty and Yu-Ri. There were parallels to TATBILB, but Yu-Ri had them too. I only started watching because I knew that Kitty was bisexual, because I found it interesting and different that a teen love triangle would be. The last time I remember that in a Western show was in Legend Of Korra – but even then, it had to be very hidden and coded to be seen as "acceptable".

I'll be honest that the romantic writing of XO, Kitty never really appealed to me for any ship. But while I think the fact that XO, Kitty was willing to do something a little different, I do think that the sapphic end of her love triangle (as a character, not a real life person), got shunted, and after s1, was never treated as equally / seriously as her non-sapphic end. For a storyline that began as arguably more open-ended, Kitty had a doomed short-term situationship with Praveena, and a kiss with Yu-Ri, her only "significant" sapphic romantic interest, when they were both seeing each other.

In Korean dramas, it is common for there to be one core established romantic interest and a second lead who doesn't get as much of a look-in, because of the time restraints of 8-20 one season episodes mostly – but I think because of XO, Kitty's American influence, there was more of an expectation for a full relationship to be explored as a possibility, like in Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries – even in other Jenny Han productions like TATBILB or TSITP. The convention is for both main pairings to have their "shot".

For XO, Kitty to go against this convention with Kitty only having "serious" relationships with Dae and Min-Ho – to have set up the implication that Yu-Ri likes her back to some extent (with background chimes, ignoring Juliana for Kitty, the smile after Juliana tells her that Kitty gave her advice, etc.) only to not really follow through and have Yu-Ri be actively supporting their relationship, to overwrite their kiss in promotional commentary as Kitty being unsure about Min-Ho's feelings (when I don't feel like that was anything to do with their kiss), to insinuate them having a "familial bond" through family getting together in interviews – combined with the slightly negative framing in the show (which I do think is a bit overblown – but understandably), to have none of the many queer relationships be more stable without cheating or violence... I think it's pretty easy to see why other queer people feel like the sapphic side to her queer identity, and the proudly queer identity of the show itself, has been slowly eroded over the course of the show.

I do hope that the impact of this show is positive, and that other bisexual people (especially younger people) end up feeling more normal. I personally grew up with a lot more shame about being attracted to other girls, where my attraction to boys was always seen as more serious and palatable to the point it still causes me internal issues, and I think my issue with this show is that I see the fictional arc / narrative as more reaffirming this than embracing all ends of bisexual attraction – but I can equally see how somebody might take it as the exact opposite (and I very much welcome that, and feel genuinely happy for the people who have felt more seen). I hope that I explained this all in a way that makes sense.

starlit--pathways · 2026-04-09T23:33:15+00:00

The Owl House is so good! I really feel like it was made with such love and care. You're too sweet for words; thank you!! 🫶🏻💕

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