Seen a lot of extremely succinct points about how ofdo falls a little flat when compared to the original series, and asking why that is, and I have so many thoughts about it I needed to make my own post
First, I’m having a great time with ofdo. Don’t get me wrong. I think it’d land a little better if it wasn’t riding on the coattails of ofts. I said this before, but these two shows are about two very different themes. Only Friends explores how different people will have different views about sex— as in, sex means something different depending on who you are. The drama comes from these characters trying to navigate and find common ground despite those differences, and sometimes it works romantically, sometimes it doesn’t.
Dream On (so far!! I know we haven’t seen all it has to offer!!) has been more about how having a romantic/sexual history with someone affects those dynamics. It’s about navigating exes and old/new emotional feelings, which is its own conversation. It’s different to the goal of ofts which I think is why it feels so different!
I think what people loved about ofts is the boundaries within the BL genre it was willing to push. Like, because of the fixed pair system we KNOW which couples are going to have a happy ending, but ofts managed to (at least for me) suspend my disbelief while it was happening. The highs were so high, and the lows SO low at points I wondered how these characters could possibly come back from it. There were real stakes that were so realistic to a messy queer friend group (I’ve had friendships with more convoluted arrows on the chart lol) and cross-pair relationships needed to happen in order to build that sort of immersion.
Dream On, so far, has been more unwilling to push those same boundaries. Idk if it’s because of pushback during the original from fans seeing their faves kiss other people, or the Corporate Branding that GMM has adopted more heavily as a company since the original was made, or some other secret third thing, but to me, the stakes aren’t really there.
Boston is there, being messy ofc, but we haven’t seen him kiss a single person when he absolutely should/would have (again, not sure if that’s Neo’s choice moving away from queer roles, or a decision on GMM’s part to keep the sanctity of branded pairs). His motivations are sometimes strange/unclear to me and he feels watered down. It’s a little jarring. Several times I’ve caught myself going, “WHERE ARE WE?? CHURCH???” Especially the cutaway during the Boston/Tua flashback. Idk that especially felt like #notmyboston. I get he’s more of a plot device than a main character in Dream On, but still.
Another thing is that in Dream On, the conflicts have been being solved so fast to the point I’m not really convinced any character’s motivations are much more than lackluster pot-stirring. Raffy exposing Dean’s host job could’ve (should’ve?) been a way bigger deal than it was. Jack & Dean have admitted they love and need each other over and over and we’re not even halfway through the show. We already kinda know how the Arnold/Tua stuff will go down (once Arnold finally comes around to committing he’s gonna find out about Tua being the one to pay him and it’s gonna be a Big but Ultimately Very Forgivable Betrayal).
Idk. We’re being told about all their character traits but not really shown. Jack is especially nebulous to me. We’re told he’s stubborn and hardworking, which I guess is there a little bit but he’s also folded at every opportunity of even a little pressure. We’re told he’s leading Raffy on, but to me none of their interactions have given me any reason to believe that, or justify the idea that Raffy’s feelings are anything more than a crush.
I guess my problem is that everyone’s allowed to be mean-spirited but not downright mean, sneaky but not conniving, horny but not in a way that takes you out of the branded pair system. It’s like they’re afraid of us hating any one character, which was not an issue with the original, even when we were eventually explained why everyone acts/thinks the way they do.
And one last thing, WHERE ARE THE WOMEN??!! If I remember correctly we only have one woman with a name, and of course it’s Raffy’s Evil Mother. Others have pointed out the irony in Jack erasing Juliet and making a theatre department even more of a boy’s club than it already is. The girls are only there to be the ones gossiping about Dean or being the annoying brainless fujos the boys are soooo much smarter than. In ofts we had Chueam and April, Yo, and Sand’s mom who were fully fleshed out complex characters who actually contributed to the plot without taking focus from the main mlm couples, if that’s what they’re worried about with Dream On. The women of ofts weren’t perfectly written or freed the show from misogyny allegations, but at least they EXISTED lol.
There’s only one thing that can save us from the vaguely misogynistic undertones here, and it’s a Lesbian Voice of Reason. Miss you AprilChueam (ChueamApril? Did we ever establish that?)
That’s all for now. I’ll prob have more to say and my opinions will absolutely change in the future. And again, I’m biased towards ofts and my love for SandRay in all their dysfunctional glory but I’m also enjoying Dream On. I just think they’re different shows, which is fine.
I did a little writing about Finish Your Game Jam 2023 and the game I worked on for it, if y'all are interested.
It's just a little devlog about it including some concept art and screenshots I hadn't yet bothered to gather in one place.
I'm trying to actually tell people about the projects I work on lately instead of just making them and dumping them on the internet without any fanfare... Is it working? 9v9;
While the original TARDIS did have full roundels on some walls, the last few walls just had a wallpaper:
My headcanon is that the TARDIS came with a blank white wall, and the doctor said "oh no no, that won't do at all!" and spent many many hours painting those roundels.
yk I only got into tiktok like. this year. I put it off for so long bc I didn’t see a point and always stayed to tumblr, and then i got insta and then i got tiktok and i didnt come over here as often and i felt kinda bad.
SO IM COMING HOME!!!!!
(ill most likely be more active here too and actually posting rather than me coming onto the app for like an hour, reblogging some shit, and then leaving for a month or two)
