#“this is a mess” it perfectly sums up his character
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So this is part two of the lines that stuck out to me for Leander so go look at the first one if you haven’t seen it yet 😗🤪https://www.tumblr.com/cacaobean760/735020263224360960/ok-so-this-is-my-first-ever-post-but-i-actually?source=share
So if we are picking up from right where I left off we are still outside talking to Leander and he is trying to get us to touch his hand and so he of course, has to pull this ICONIC line when we say that he does not know what he is asking us
ok bud, hold on, we literally just met you, why the heck would we trust you. It's pretty weird when you think about it especially after you see the next situation.
The next options we have are to touch him or hold back. If you do choose to touch him, nothing happens, everything goes fine. But if you choose to to hold back well.......this happens
Leander fully expects you to touch him and not hesitate, he fully expects you to trust him. Which is definitely weird because well, why would we, we just met him. So Leander must be really used to people trusting him even when they just met which means this is not his first rodeo with this. Also I have no idea what actually happens here, weather our curse actually effects him for a bit or he is just playing it off because I feel like he deff knows he done messed up when he grabs our hand but...
He plays off the whole thing no matter what actually happened to him after touching our hand! He makes it seem all fine and dandy even when it's not because it would be a shock for someone to just grab you like that even if you kinda suspect it happening. I mean I feel like any normal person would remember and take notes of what went down. This kinda goes back to when you consider how if you choose to refuse the flowers when he first offers them to you he just pretends like he did not hear you. But if something even scarier happened to you, for example, Leander getting effected by the curse, you would kinda forget about the fact that he forcefully grabs your hand. And then he touches you AGAIN??!!?! This is meant to be comforting and establish some more trust between the two of you because he seems like a safe space after this.
Then he says this??????
Bro might as well just say that he is the only person you can trust.
Also if we rewind a bit, So far Leander has been very kind, open, and friendly towards us but then he says this uhhhhhh.... very unusual line
This is actually talked about a lot I feel like when it comes to Leander because I feel like it sums up his character with just this line and the one other line about flowers not lasting long but leaving an impression.
When we finally go back inside he finishes off our chat by saying this
By doing this, he is saying that he is a safe space to go back to, he is someone you can trust. Which I feel has been the whole point of this whole conversation, to establish some trust and build up a relationships. And when you look at it from that point of view, one could say that Leander is actually using our vulnerable situation to make us feel like he is the only one we can turn to.
And I think I am finally to the last line, but it is about Leander and his escapades
Listen, I am not shaming, you do you boo, but like I feel that Leander does this for more then just some good ol' fun. First off, even if they are one night stands, there establishes more of a relationships then if they were strangers. I also feel that Leander KNOWS how much of a pretty boy he is and so he fully expects for people to want to.....meet up again lets say. And also this feeds into the illusion that he is a perfectly good, fun loving guy. No one like him could be bad right? It feeds into his act of being a party animal, someone that does not take life to seriously. But I think that is all part of his plan.
So ya, I could just be super overthinking everything but I actually kinda hope that Leander turns out to be the most morally gray or bad out of all of the LI's because I think that would be such a good twist.
#pretty boys#leander#gaming#touchstarved kuras#touchstarved vere#touchstarved mhin#touchstarved game#touchstarved#ts mhin#mhin#kuras#vere#touchstarved ais
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Snippet from the next chapter of Mama’s boy
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During their first language lesson together Spider tested Quaritch on how much he already knew. After a few words Spider was clearly fighting to not laugh at him straight to his face. “What is it!” Quaritch had asked, frustrated.
Spider couldn’t control himself and started giggling, “your accent is shit.”
“Well it’s a new language to me, what do you expect!” His outrage at Spiders mocking only made the boy laugh harder.
“I know I know. You just sound so bad.”
Quaritch growled, “You're supposed to be the teacher here hot shot, if you see a problem then you correct it.”
This sobered the boy. He sat up straighter, ready to take his task more seriously. “Try saying it again.”
Quaritch inhaled sharply through his nose to calm himself before speaking, “sem-pool.”
“You're enunciating the ending too hard. It should flow in one syllable with a soft u sound at the end. Sempul.”
“Sempul,” Quaritch repeated perfectly.
“Good!” Spider was beaming at his triumph in teaching, “that’s really formal though. Most people use the word sempu.”
“What’s the difference?”
“It’s basically saying dad, instead of saying father all the time.”
Quaritch nodded his head, “I see. Can you say it again for me.”
“Sempu”
“Seum-poo”
“Sempu” Spider said slower this time
“Sum-pool” Quaritch kept a poker face, as Spider began to lose his cool.
“No it’s sempu. Listen when I say it. Sempu.”
“Semt pul” Spider groaned, eliciting a chuckle from Quaritch.
“Are you messing with me?” The boy was glaring at him now.
“No,” Quaritch said with an innocent shrug, “I just wanted to hear you call me dad, ‘itan.”
Spider bristled in anger at being played while also blushing with the embarrassment and treacherous thrill of being called, son. The onslaught of emotions turned him defensive, “your accent is still shit.” This made Quaritch laugh, “Skxawng” Spider quickly shot at the recom trying to hide his growing discomfort.
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Is it out of character? Yeah probably. Do I think it’s cute so I’m leaving it. Absolutely.
#spider socorro#miles quaritch#miles spider socorro#colonel miles quaritch#avatar fanfiction#avatar the way of water#my fanfic
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and the thoughts taunt me yet again. its just becoming commonplace at this point to ramble on tumblr before i go to sleep uhhh
theres gotta be like, a liiitle bit of established characterization summed up beyond a mess of multi paragraph behemoth rambling posts in a rb chain to rehash canon properly um,,
^ general idea is of noah knowing chris and chef before TD is even conceptualized and growing up in the industry bc of it, if only ever behind the scenes and watching in < all of the posts are actually more character studies about being Wary of the Cameras than anything else but id like to look at canon if only just to try and puzzle out/outline developments and whatnot.
starting out pre-island and segueing into his little time on island (and still being majorly character study-y):
chris, with TD being a new show and all, has trouble filling out the cast, and being fussy about the specifics of his show, is willing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find those three castmates to pad it out. hence; duncan, ezekiel, and noah
^ duncan and ezekiel both did send in audition tapes, while noah did not, (i'd imagine here something about the TD website having everyones audition tapes release once theyre eliminated as 'bonus content'. everyone, of course, except noah.) cause, you know. up until this point hes only ever been known in The Business as 'that snappy but has surprisingly good insight into the Business kid noah who accompanies mclean', but now hes being asked to join this show he wants no part in. hes perfectly willing to help out behind the scenes, wheres hes comfortable, but chris insists -- and eventually, noah gives in.
the caveat is that he goes into the show both knowing about the resort after elimination and hyperaware of the reality tv aspect. and since, in his mind, hes elimination fodder there to make sure they have a full cast roster, he delegates himself a background character and acts as such.
hes not meant to last long, so he singles out some traits and ideas and detaches his person from them. for the length of the entire show, noah knows he wont be a person. he'll be a character made up of one-liners and quips with no character motivations or involvement in any real plotlines, someone who you see how early they get eliminated and you go 'yeah, that makes sense' and then never think about again.
^ and this is very apparent from his first onscreen appearance -- it takes a good minute for the boat to go back and forth picking up contestants even if most of the spare footage is cut, and as people arrive, even if the camp is a disappointment there's a shared sense of wonder about being the people who made it onto the show they all collectively want to be on. they chat and share excited pleasantries and theres a sense of personality that is immediately apparent to their peers because of it -- except for noah. noah has his one back-and-forth with duncan and then lets himself fade into the background from there on out.
and at first, its a kind of deal where its just like 'alright. hes shy, thats alright!!", but then it continues into when theyre all sent off and distinctly off camera. you try to chat with noah, and he gives you a non-answer or a one-liner than would be great for an audience!...if anyone were watching.
the walk up the mountain for the first challenge is much of the same: no input on the speculation about the challenge, just unnerving blankness. his facial expression is unchanging, not like he was unphased by the challenge, but more like he just isnt there for it. like the plot doesnt demand his presence.
again and again the first impression they get of this guy is a weird, offputting uncanny valley sensation. he doesnt come off as a real person, he comes off as robotic and lifeless. and its weird. i'd imagine in terms of character relationships, a lot of characters would be weirded out by him and completely write him off, while some of the nicer would insist on giving him a chance to get used to everything.
the second challenge comes -- he has his whole fake-faceplant thing that hints at something more, but again. hes a collection of ideas, and one of those ideas could just be potential, overridden by his apathy and laziness; two other key ideas.
noah doesnt touch any of the food provided during that second-first-half bit, just stands blankly off to the side like hes being used for background filler. of course he doesnt, the cameras are right there. (does no one else understand that?)
^ [*]awakeathon comes and goes; noah falls asleep, and that's.... it. no scheme, no strategy, he just separates himself physically from the cast by a few feet, and gets cozy to sleep. and then he wakes up. no insight into the character like with, say, courtney or justin. no plotting like heather. just banal averageness. a play to be overlooked.
and what was he to do? there were no real opportunities for any of his 'collection of ideas' to slot in, so he fades into the background and lets everyone else take up the screentime.
[*there is, i imagine, a kind of alternate version of events where the kiss with cody does happen and can be used as further/a more clear incentive for the events of dodgebrawl to happen.
the reason ive cut it here is because just in the context of noah sticking so hard to his hyperawareness, i would imagine he would know of and preemptively try and take measures against any Sleep Shenanigans that may happen, or may even avoid sleeping for longer because of the possibility.]
and then its dodgebrawl; he sees his chance to really flaunt his non-substance. [*]noah hates physical activity, thats one of his main Ideas in his compartmentalized collection. which better challenge to utilize it in than this one? again, hes elimination fodder. as far as he's concerned, this works out perfectly.
[*this would kind of give you a reason to change his lack of athleticism if you so wished. theres an alternate-alternate version of canon keeping this same noahs background that i might post about on here at some point, but in said AU hes more physically adept bc of his past in behind-the-scenes work. whos to say he hasnt helped carry heavy set pieces or ran around during busy hours?
it could serve to be a) self indulgent to some degree, and who doesnt love that, but also b) further alienate him from his cast, where even one of the barest traits he exhibits is just flat out wrong.
or you could just keep it as-is, and alter his attitude towards anything physical while keeping his unathleticism. or it could just be one of his chosen (truthful) traits that he decides fits with his on-screen character. its pretty ambiguous]
he gloats and inserts his quips where he can, the book hes carrying really just there to really sell it -- in terms of the cast and their thoughts, its again strange.
hes saying Words, but theyre Detached from the character and demeanor. hes putting on a performance and hes selling it pretty well, but its still hard to shake how off something seems about it. but noah does sell it and he gets voted off, off to his long vacation stay which he is absolutely looking forward to.
he arrives at the island, he gives his character interview full of non-answers, and then -- well, thats it. or it would've been it had he not noticed the obscene explosion of popularity the show had from its debut. the general public loved it, and you know what happens to shows that people absolutely adore? they get approved for second seasons.
this is the fact that tips noah straight into barring himself from all interpersonal relationships, as he was already wary simply by virtue of them being his castmates --theyre on screen, on set with him. that changes a lot about your dynamic with someone. -- and that he never really knows if theyre being watched on the playa; it is network-owned at the end of the day. so both the uncertainty and 'confirmation' of a second season lead him to avoid the cast entirely. literally.
nobody sees anything of noah beyond flashes in peripherals, disappearing books from the living area, and dirty dishes -- until theyre called for filming of haute camp-ture. and while its obvious to everyone else that theyre treading lightly around him since they, you know, havent seen him at all, noah acts completely unchanged. no acknowledgement of his absence, just the same dynamic with his castmates hes always had on-screen.
afterwards, someone tries to get his attention, to be like 'hey?????', and noah dismisses them extremely flatly. like npc dialogue. and then he disappears again, until i triple dog dare you, which im going to say they just gather everyone outside and let them do their own things until someone spins them and they have to give a dare. noah sits himself on a pool chair in his swim shirt and trunks with a book and Does Not interact with the cast at all.
^ you could spin it where they get a bunch of dares from the contestants individually and just read off from where theyre listed or whatever but this would be a chance to have alternate povs noting exactly what the characters think of noahs separation from everyone
anyway theyre called on the island for the [*]finale between owen and gwen, and he lets himself fade into the background. his work is done, it has been done, and now he just has to wait for what the segue into the inevitable second season is so he can wipe his hands clean of it (or so he thinks)
[*i think it could be written both ways, one where when the cast cheers he cheers and when they scream he screams, or another where despite the frenzied emotions around him, noah remains unaffected.
perhaps it could be used as a kind of 'well even people like zeke and eva are rowdy about this' contrast where either way it comes off as incredibly uncanny; one way, hes showing distinct emotion where he never has before, while never having shown any emotional investment in the winner. and the other way, hes completely detached from the emotions around him, to the point where he acts like its not even happening; his lack of investment in the winner is offputting, esp when compared to very early eliminated contestants who still do care.]
#is this incoherent?? probably#im sure i forgot about sometbing i meant to write about#im realizing how difficult it is to write about canon since this is a very introspective idea#and therefore doesnt require changes to canon until WT#< which i havent fully puzzled out yet#im sure ill rb this with the tddddi special and more about action as an Entity#and maybe ill touch on chef/chris & noah dynamic then?? idk#ik i want to ramble a Whole Lot about noahs dynamics with the wt cast but#since i haven’t figured the plot of it i cant get into it :(#dramaturgyAU#total drama#td noah#character analysis#< ??? whatever#long posts
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Thoughts I had while reading TCF/LCF chapter 16
Quick note before I begin – the reason I call it TCF and not LCF is because that’s technically what I’m reading. I’m currently reading it on EAP. If there’s an official English version I can read feel free to point me in the direction of it but, since TCF is what it’s called on the site I’m reading it on, that’s probably what I’ll refer to it as. If this is a problem, please feel free to unfollow or block my posts but I don’t really refer to the book’s name at all in the actual posts though I do use names like Beacrox and stuff. I’m hoping this isn’t a huge problem for anyone, but I just thought I’d put that out there. This applies to all posts I make about TCF so I won’t repeat myself. As far as I know, there is no official translation, and it feels slightly wrong to use LCF because that’s not what the version I’m reading is called. This probably won’t change unless there’s an official English version. Just wanted to put this out there for those who care about this. Without further ado, I present to you, my thoughts
That right there, Cale’s “who will go if I don’t” perfectly sums up this character and why he does the things he does. Why does he mess with the white star so much? Who will if he doesn’t? why does he loot so many places? Who will if he doesn’t? why does he save so many people? Who will if he doesn’t? that might actually be one of the most consistent parts of his character. He does these things because, if he doesn’t, who will? No one else is gonna save the Black Dragon, or Paseton. They might try, if they knew but they don’t. so who will if he doesn’t? no one. And that’s not acceptable to him. This isn’t to say he’s the only one who would or could help people, just that, in most situations, he’s the only one who can.
And Venion is officially present. Wish he wasn’t but he is.
The fact that this utter waste of oxygen is considered a typical, authoritative noble is really sad. No wonder their world is doomed if this is a typical noble.
I feel like most villains are at least slightly smarter than Venion, honestly. Maybe not necessarily in this novel, idk about that, but villains in general. Most of them would know not to try and tame a dragon. I feel like that’s pretty basic common sense. You know what, yes, even the villains in this novel are probably slightly smarter at least. Even the bandits I was making fun of last chapter were smarter, though not by much. They had no way of knowing this carriage belonged to a noble travelling with a Choi Han and an assassin and a torture expert. Usually having the numbers game is an advantage. But my point is they didn’t know these things. Marquis Stan and Venion know this is a dragon, that’s the whole point. That makes them a lot dumber than the poor bandits who just chose the wrong carriage on the wrong day, imo.
One thing I do admire about Cale is his patience and ability to keep a calm ead even in front of something like Venion. I can’t call whatever he is a human, but calling him garbage or even human garbage is an insult to garbage and, considering OG Cale is supposed to be considered trash, that just feels more wrong. So Venion is a lot worse than living garbage, but calling him a monster feels like giving him more credit than he deserves and also is offensive to monsters so idk what he is. Also can we just think for a second about the fact that, in this novel, in this world, someone who drinks a lot and trashes places, has a worse reputation than the people torturing a baby dragon and watching it for amusement. Now, I know they’re not exactly adverting that fact but most people know he crippled (am I allowed to say that? Is there a better term? Idk, sorry) his older brother, and yet somehow more people hate or look down on OG Cale than Venion. Again showing that the typical nobles have some serious issue and skewed perspectives and priorities. You can do a horrible thing and everyone know you were responsible but, as long as you have status, power and appear like a normal noble, well, that’s just how it is. All this to say fuck Venion Stan, Marquis Stan and anyone who allies with him. Taylor is the only good person in that family and idc what anyone says about that.
Also I know the man was tortured but I don’t remember Choi Han punching him, and if Choi Han didn’t punch him, I think he should have, as a treat. He deserves it. Both of them do.
And nobles are supposed to have class and care for their people. I guess we’ve both been disappointed today. If someone has clearly fallen and you can see that, you stop. Get your head out of Venion’s ass. You can kiss it all you want, he’s still not going to respect you. sorry, I know he’s like a servant or something but that doesn’t make what he’s saying less asshole-ish. This is why we don’t associate with Venion. We become assholes if we do.
Also I know this isn’t the time but can we just take a second, before Venion or his lackey piss me off again, to admire this relationship, dare I say friendship, between Hans and Choi Han. The way he cares for him and doesn’t want him to get in trouble. I feel like Hans is definitely cheering him on on the inside and agrees with him but can’t say anything due to being a servant for the Henituse family. Hans and Choi Han friendship. I wish we saw more of this. I hope we do as the novel goes on, even if it's just a little. I want them to be besties. Idek why.
You know, I feel like it would be so easy for people to look at Hans and just see him as dumb or something but he’s not. It’s not his fault no one tells him anything. He actually has a decent amount of knowledge on things, like the noble families and what he says about the rock towers and stuff. He’s not dumb, he’s just working with the information he has.
So they were trying to get Choi Han in trouble, right? And it probably would’ve worked, except Cale saw everything and is a generally good person so agrees with Choi Han’s actions… except doesn’t this look worse for Venion? Like, another noble, and someone travelling with that noble, who is known for being trash, shows more care and compassion for this guy than Venion. It definitely reflects badly on the Tolz family, or at least it should, that a noble from another territory, who is known for being trash, is kinder and less intimidating and cares more about your people than you do. Like, I know this is unlikely but I feel like, if ever this bar/inn owner heard someone talk trash about Cale he’d be like idk he isn’t that bad. You know he actually stayed here once, one of his guards saved my life, and would kinda defend him a little, but he wouldn’t do that for Tolz. If a good way to tell what nobles are like is to look at how people in their territory act, then the fact this guy wouldn’t defend Venion or Tolz from criticism but arguably would defend Cale says more about Venion and Tolz than anything really. Especially after Cale becomes Young Master Silver Shield.
I may be wrong but this is the first time we see Cale actually mad/genuinely annoyed by someone right? For all he says Hans annoys him, he’s actually never seemed particularly annoyed at Hans. And everyone/everything else he’s been more surprised or scared than mad. He wasn’t even annoyed when he was brought to this world. On one hand I get it, I’m angry at Venion too. I just think it’s interesting to note.
Cale really thinks about everyone, even this old man.
Idk why but Something about Cale right now, the way he tells Choi Han to calm doen is so attractive to me. Maybe it’s how calm and level headed he is, maybe it’s how in control he seems. Idk. Also not important but in my head I don’t see red haired Cale Henituse, I see black haired KRS and idk why.
You know who I think of when I remember Venion? Years ago, when I first got Facebook I’d stumble across photos of like hunters posing with animals they’d just killed and looking so proud of themselves, and it always just filled me with anger and confusion. Like, I’m not a vegetarian or vegan but something about that just seemed so wrong to me. Venion reminds me of a worse version of those people. So pleased to see an innocent animal hurt and proud of themselves for having something to do with it.
When I tell you that reading this man’s torture/punishment scene will be so satisfying to me. He deserves so much worse than he got.
No he stole the carriage. He’s never even heard of Count Henituse. And those knights are paid actors. Why do people insist on asking obvious questions? To start conversation? There must be a better conversation starter than that. Honesetly how Cale hasn’t rolled his eyes at this amazes me. He doesn’t even think the sarcastic thing. I simply couldn’t do that.
I think Venion has bigger problems than being rude.
It makes sense that most people would just naturally be disgusted by him actually. Humans in general typically have fairly good instincts. We can kind of sense when others are terrible human beings. Obviously it isn’t perfect but it is there. The people who follow him probably either fear him or are just as terrible but if most people hate him, it’s probably not just because he’s rude. Venion would probably be too arrogant to pretend to be someone he’s not, so his bad traits would be fairly obvious and I think, when someone is this horrible, they can’t fully hide it anyway. He may not be advertising the Black Dragon thing but there is so much wrong with him and he has so many bad traits it would be impossible to hide them fully, if he even bothered to in the first place.
I don’t get how he’s convinced himself any version of Cale is somehow worse than him. The worst thing OG Cale did was probably what he said to Choi Han, that didn’t happen this time, so the worst he’s done is get drunk and trash some bars and shops. Meanwhile Venion has permanently injured and plans to murder his older brother, and is regularly entertained by a child, no, a toddler getting tortured. He needs to be smacked back down to, well, not earth, whatever their world is called.
Again, still don’t get how Venion would ever look like the better or superior one in this situation. His carriage nearly ran someone over, his lackey berated the person who saved the guy they nearly hit, and then he randomly tried to start shit with another noble and insulting him in public, when the other noble hadn’t actually said or done anything to anyone. No matter how you put it, Venion is the asshole in this situation, and everyone would see that so idk what superiority he thinks he’s showing here.
See Cale gets it. Why ask something you already know about? Oh so he can point out Cale is trash. pOk the trash is still like the least problematic person in this situation so really it just makes you look worse. Btw not saying Choi Han is problematic or anything, hopefully you get my point, it’s a rare occasion of Cale being the best behaved from the outside. Is behaved a word? If it wasn’t it is now.
Idk I think Cale’s doing pretty well at being a noble and this type of talk. If that was me I’d just be rolling my eyes every time Venion spoke.
Also fuck Marquis Stan. He’s just as responsible for Taylor and The Black Dragon and is a shit father and noble. He should’ve been tortured just as much as Venion. Idc.
Is the three other children including Taylor? Because if not 3 siblings and either none of them know or none of them care about the dragon being tortured. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt but idk if I can.
Ok so it doesn’t include Taylor.
And none of them care that the oldest brother was crippled by their other brother? Not one? Man, what is up with this family? Why do they all suck so much? Taylor deserves batter.
Imagine if KRS was transmigrated in the Stan family instead. He’d hate them so much but I feel like their downfall would come even quicker, and he’d still help Taylor and Cage because he doesn’t want to be the Marquis. He could even tell them about the black dragon to help Taylor take down his family. And he’d still be in the capital so be able to help with the plot. Can’t decide how he’d get the Shield, but idk, could be fun.
Kinda love how he refers to it as our family already. That’s cute.
Tbf I don’t think nobles not wanting to Take / associate with Deruth’s territory has much to do with it being greedy, because even if it would be greedy, what are the chances the other nobles would all care. It’s probably more to do with the Forest of darkness. Whoever’s responsible for Henituse territory is responsible for watching the Forest of Darkness and, let’s face it, most nobles won’t want that responsibility. Like looking greedy might be some nobles’ concern, but at least one noble family wouldn’t care about that.
This bitch really had the audacity to try and compare himself to Basen? Please those are two completely different relationships. Basen isn’t a complete psychopath/narcissist. And for that matter Cale isn’t Taylor. And did he really just try to call Taylor the trash eldest son and himself the pretty smart younger brother? God he’s delusional. It’s so much worse than I remembered. Delusional, arrogant, dumb, pathetic, horrible. There’s not a single good quality about this guy. Also claims he’s smart but doesn’t realise that Cale dislikes him, dare I say hate him, more than he hates Cale, but that could also be arrogance so idk.
If Venion didn’t like me and compared me to Taylor I’d take that as a huge compliment actually.
Hate to point this out again but he failed to appear as a proper noble when his carriage nearly ran someone over and his lackey blamed that person. Doesn’t seem very proper to me but what do I know? Maybe that is proper behaviour.
Also all these people just heard you call this man a waste of time and an obstacle. I know that some rich people do see poorer people like this but surely this is one of those things that, as a noble, you’re supposed to think but not say out loud? I know they’re not your people but it still seems wrong. Also wouldn’t it appear to most outsiders that he only told his lackey to stop because he realise another noble was there and he wanted to look good in front of him. Again, there’s no way Venion actually realistically comes out of this looking morally better or superior in any way to Cale.
You can practically hear the disgust in Cale’s thoughts. That’s truly impressive.
Don’t worry Venion. Cale did a very good job of teaching his people that distinction. Although his idea of people who have a right to walk this earth may differ from yours. Also again he just very publicly stated that this man, who hasn’t actually done anything wrong, doesn’t have the right to walk the earth or whatever… because he’s not a noble I guess? Honestly, can you imagine a noble in our world saying this shit like in present time? I mean not much would happen lbr but everyone would at least be like we hate you, that’s a disgusting thing to say.
Also is now a good time to admit I have no idea how nobility actually works and therefore have no clue of the hierarchy? Ok so google has informed me that Marquis is higher than Count and now I’m sad that a dragon torturer has a higher rank than Count Henitus, and say what you want about him, but at least he actually cares about his people to the best of his ability with the knowledge he has.
That’s offensive to dogs. At least sometimes when they yap it’s for a good reason, usually not but sometimes. (I’m not hating on dogs, I love dogs, I have two dogs, but they do tend to bark for no reason)
I don’t think there’s actually a word for how much I hate this man. Hate and despise come close but feel too weak a word. loathe maybe but every time I think of the word loathe or loathing I think of the song from Wicked, and that song could so easily go the complete opposite direction. Maybe abhor but again these words feel too weak. They don’t fully capture the anger, the disgust, the complete inability to find even one good thing about him.
What I’d give to see Choi Han punch him, just once.
The Tolz family also seem like idiots but they also seem too pathetic to actually hate? Like they just go along with keeping a dragon on their territory and letting the Marquis torture it there? Dumb, dumb as hell. I’d feel sorry for them but they brought it on themselves and so instead I look about them in about the same way I imagine most people look when they see Florida Man in the news, just a why would you do that? Confusion but still more angry than I probably would be at most Florida men or similarly stupid people in the news. A more confused version of the anger I feel when there’s a child abuse story in the news and one of them is like oh but I didn’t abuse them, when there is proof they knew it was happening and were fine with it/amused by it/encouraging it or just didn’t care. You know what I change my mind I do hate the Tolz family, just less than Marquis Stan and Venion. But yeah fuck the Tolz family too. Being pathetic and dumb is no excuse honestly.
Cale needs a reward or something purely for not punching this man.
Also can we tak a second to discuss the difference in anger and how it’s expressed by Choi Han and Cale. The best way I can put it is Choi Han’s anger is like fire, right? It’s heated, passionate, comes on and spreads quickly and suddenly, is very destructive, hard to stop and contain, though it can be, and is harder to hide. Cale’s anger is like water, like the ocean. It’s cold, he looks very calm on the outside, so you don’t realise he’s angry, but under the surface he’s raging. I’ve always thought the ocean was beautiful and at the same time thought it was one of the most terrifying things there is, and not just because I can’t swim. With fire, the danger is there, it’s obvious, you know it’s dangerous, you know if you touch it you’re gonna get hurt, you’re gonna get burned, and that leaves a permanent mark. But the ocean isn’t like that, the danger isn’t as obvious, at least if you can swim, you could go in the ocean a million times and be just fine, and then one day you get stuck in the wrong tide, and you try to fight against it but you can’t. and there’s so much we don’t know about the ocean, so much mystery surrounding it, a lot of stories, some true, some not true. And the most dangerous thing about the ocean is how peaceful it looks, how calm, how it lures you in. even though I know I can’t swim, I still feel the urge, when I see the ocean, to just jump in, even though I know that would be a very bad idea. A lot of this applies to Cale, there are a lot of stories and rumours about him, he looks more calm than he is, he draws people in, a lot of those people survive and are just fine, but some get dragged away by the tide. The thing is fire and water, with all these differences, still have similarities: they both can hurt/kill you, and they can both be suffocating, and they’re both pretty to look at but can hurt you if you’re not careful. And that just feels so similar to Choi Han and Cale to me. Plus Cale managed to calm Choi Han down, a bit like water can douse a fire and put it out. Cale is water, Choi Han is fire, they’re both forces to be reckoned with and Venion pissed both of them off. He played with fire multiple times but he also earned the ocean’s fury, and an angry ocean… well, we all know how terrifying, how dangerous, that can be. This turned out more poetic than I intended so I’m gonna go ahead and move on.
Again he’s awfully judgy for someone who gets his kicks from torturing a 4 year old.
Cale subtly messing with Venion by purposefully using the hand he helped the old man with to shake Venion’s hand. Also the fact Cale is more disgusted to touch Venion and Venion doesn’t realise it.
also is the lackey a servant? I thought they were but idk. Oh well, not important
Cale’s ability to say these things without giving away that he’s lying is truly impressive.
Oh good, Venion’s gone. I apologise that this one is more angry/less positive. I just can’t stand Venion or people like him.
Cale: lowkey rants about everything wrong with the interaction with Venion
also Cale: I’m not that angry though
maybe not angry necessarily but he is very much disgusted. Even then he is a little angry, which is fair
again don’t get how exactly Cale would look bad in this situation, especially when compared with Venion
honestly Choi Han and Cale’s conversation here is actually great. Cale almost comforts Choi Han, and shows that he understands how Choi Han feels and where he’s coming from, and he agrees with him. He validates Choi Han so much but his plan to destroy Venion is different. Choi Han could and would beat Venion up, maybe even kill him, but Cale, Cale takes the things he and the Marquis care about the most, their status, their power, their image, their money. For people like Venion and the Marquis that’s much more devastating than a beatdown they could recover from and use as ammunition. And then he doesn’t even really ask or demand Choi Han helps him, he offers, gives him the chance to decide or agree to help on his own, and it’s such a subtle difference, but an important one nonetheless. Also don’t think either of them realise but they’re already besties at this point.
Choi Han is such a delight
Here’s the thing, Cale was already pissed at Venion before they even met and now he’s made him even angrier. i don’t think anyone can help him now. Like he was already beyond help but, now, it’s not just I’m going to punish you for what you did to Raon. It’s I’m going to do that and I’ll enjoy every second of tearing you apart and watching you be clueless I’m responsible until it’s too late. God I love that version of KRS Cale. Kinda want a dark Cale fic now. Not necessarily a villain but also kinda. Same Cale, just wants his people safe, but if anyone regardless of the side their on messes with his people they get the same treatment as his enemies, whether they’re a hero, villain, neutral. And where he enjoys bringing them down as well. Idk the idea of dark KRS Cale is so interesting to me. And slowly the characters around him become just as dark. Like he simply can’t lose anyone else so if anyone poses even the slightest threat to his people, they’re very quickly dealt with. Anyway not important
#tcf novel#tcf#trash of the count's family#lcf#lout of the count’s family#cale henituse in denial#oblivious cale henituse#cale is precious#cale is a little shit#beginnings of calefam#original cale henituse#cale henituse#kim rok soo#choi han#choi han needs a hug#calefam#venion stan#marquis stan#viscount tolz#taylor stan#the black dragon#raon miru needs a hug#raon miru#ron molan
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Welcome Back My Boyfriend!
AND WE'RE BACK!
It's finally time to discuss Our Skyy 2! We were playing hurt this night: Ben was still recovering from dental surgery (please forgive his voice during this episode) and Nini was nursing a headache. Still, it didn't stop us from discussing all eight shows and talking about the crossover for an hour!
Nini and Ben assess the entirety of Our Skyy 2 and rank the offerings from worst to first.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
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Timestamps
The timestamps will now correspond to chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.
0:00 - Welcome
1:15 - Intro
6:07 - Vice Versa
14:23 - Star in My Mind
19:20 - Never Let Me Go
28:00 - A Boss and a Babe
36:45 - The Eclipse
49:50 - My School President
1:00:24 - Badd Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars
1:59:13 - Overall Score for Our Skyy 2
The Conversation: Now With Transcripts!
We received an accessibility request to include transcripts for the podcast. We are working with @ginnymoonbeam on providing the transcripts and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader.
We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes. When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.
Please send our volunteers your thanks!
0:00 - Welcome
Nini
Hello, hello! Your QL fandom aunty and uncle are here with giant sunglasses, brown liquor in a flask, a folded five-dollar bill to slip into your hand when no one is looking, lukewarm takes, occasional rides on the discourse, deep dives into artistry and the industry.
Ben
Lots of simping! I’m Ben.
Nini
I’m Nini.
Ben
And this is The Conversation. About once a season, we plan to swan in and shoot the shit on faves, flops, and trends that we’ve been noticing in the BL, GL, or QL Industry. Between seasons, you can find us typing way too many words on Tumblr.
1:15 - Intro
Nini
Hi, Ben. How are you tonight?
Ben
I'm battling my own body's slow recovery from dental surgery but it doesn't matter because we have so much to record so we're sticking to the schedule!
Nini
But, we're gonna be okay. You've got meds, I've got meds—a.k.a. beer—for this headache. We're gonna be fine. We're doing it live. So, what are we talking about tonight? We are talking about Our Skyy 2… What a journey. Ben, explain to the people the concept of Our Skyy.
Ben
Welcome back, my boyfriend! That's it.
Nini
[laughs]
Ben
Jojo started this off and summed it up perfectly. Our Skyy originally served as a sort of epilogue project for the initial run of GMMTV BLs.
In the first run we had the Puppy Honey crew with OffGun, the SOTUS pair with Krist and Singto, the InSun pair from My Dear Loser: Edge of 17, Tay and New from Kiss the series—before Dark Blue Kiss, and Drake and Frank from My Tee a.k.a. ‘Cause You're My Boy.
Nini
So, that's the concept of Our Skyy. So, when GMMTV put out its 2023 offerings last year: Surprise! Our Skyy 2. They are giving us epilogues for 2020, 2021, and some 2022 shows. We're gonna dive into these.
Ben
With the original Our Skyy it was kind of chaotic. So, every crew kind of just did what felt right for their characters.
Like, Pete and Kao basically went on a date that was mostly uncomplicated—something their characters needed.
OffGun did a body swap which was just so they could let Gun pick on Off for a bit.
In and Sun got closure—unsurprising, Aof was on that one.
‘Cause You're My Boy: they just kind of did just a hot mess that was weirdly endearing, which is exactly what their show was.
And SOTUS did like the the next most logical thing for Arthit and Kongpob, which was them kinda saying goodbye as they were heading into a long distance form of their relationship because Kongpob was pursuing higher schooling outside of Thailand, if I remember correctly?
In a similar vein, this particular Our Skyy run that we're going to be talking about very much captured what I think the core spirit of the original work was, and each team came back to it—for the most part—with something to say that was consistent with their original offerings.
Nini
Yep.
Ben
We went Never Let Me Go, Star in My Mind, The Eclipse, Vice Versa, My School President, A Boss and a Babe, Bad Buddy? and then A Tale of Thousand Stars.
Nini
I also think that the airing order was very interesting and maybe we'll get a little time to talk about how they chose to air what they did when they did. This Our Skyy, I think, wanted to lean a little bit into the crack. Every single outing had a little bit of a crack element to it—and I quite like that. I enjoyed that. I had fun with that—for the most part—and we'll get to the ones where I did not enjoy that.
Ben
I do think that the Our Skyy project leans into fan service, and not in an inherently negative way? They want the people who enjoyed this show to have fun coming back to the show, and it’s been notable for me that, for the most part, I found that if someone really liked the original show they also really liked their Our Skyy outing. So like, for those of you who've listened to me or followed me, you know what shows I didn't like or despised when they aired and—unsurprisingly—my takes are fairly consistent.
Nini
Maybe it's the corners of the internet that I've been perusing, which you always tell me to stop looking at…I feel like the more that people liked the OG show the more upset they were with the Our Skyy. Maybe that's just the people are being wrong on the internet corners of the internet that I like to occasionally look through. [laughs]
Ben
[laughs] I don't go there.
6:07 - Vice Versa
Nini
Let's delve into it. Let's start talking some specifics. So, if we're going from worst to first my worst without a doubt was the Vice Versa Our Skyy. I am on record as not having watched Vice Versa because I was not interested in Vice Versa. I have tried and failed so many times with Jittirain stories that I knew that I was not going to enjoy this one, and so I never watched the original. But, for the sake of the podcast, I watched every single Our Skyy including this one, except I did not finish this one. [laughs] I started watching it. I was mostly annoyed, and then something happened that just… I just said, “Oh, absolutely not,” and I stopped watching it.
So, the trope—the, the crack trope—for the Vice Versa Our Skyy; the fan fic-y, fan service-y trope is: Add a Kid. I think it's Puen? Puen and Talay have been together for a while now. They're working hard, working a lot. They don't have as much time for each other. And so Talay comes up with the idea of doing a month of special days where they pay very close attention to each other and they do special things together. And it's a really sweet idea and honestly if that had been it I would have been fine. There would have been no problem.
But then they add a kid, and the way that they add a kid is what pisses me off. One of their friends… essentially delivers his nephew into the care of these strangers… so that they can play house? But it's also like a trick that Puen is playing on Talay. Because this kid just shows up at the house and Talay thinks that it might be his kid. Like, the, the setup of Vice Versa has always—as I have said before—every time I think I know what Vice Versa is about, Ben lets me know that I don't actually know what Vice Versa is about. But there's some way that Talay thinks that this kid is his somehow.
Ben
Would you like the context for why he believes that kid is his?
Nini
Sure, hit me with it!
Ben
So, they basically spend two years in the other world with Nanon and Ohm’s characters in their bodies. Ohm's character, Tess, is an asshole who absolutely ruined Talay’s life for the two years he was in his body. He sabotaged and ruined every personal and professional relationship that Talay had.
When he got back to his own body he had to spend years fixing his own life. Which sucks, because while he was in Tess's body he basically fixed Tess's life. It's really upsetting for me that Puen, who claims to love Talay, who watched him suffer for all of the things that Tess did to his life would genuinely let Talay believe that Tess saddled him with the responsibility of an unplanned kid… because he thinks his boyfriend doesn't pay enough attention to him… like he makes his boyfriend work outside in a tent in Thailand to do graphic design on an iMac.
Nini
You were really really mad about the tent. [laughs] I remember when we were watching this. You were really pissed about the tent.
Ben
I'm—I'm not over it.
It's humid in Thailand! Why would he be outside with a Mac? Oh my God—
It's frustrating because… On the one hand, I understand the impulse of, like, how do we get these guys to consider a new form of domesticity together? But, like, why do we have to use an actual child? Why can't we use, like, a dog, or a cat? Not coercing a child into letting strangers bathe him, and treat him like he's their son, and sleep with him in their bed. It’s so, so weird… and really unhinged… and it made me like a bunch of characters even less than I already did!
It was aggravating. It's frustrating because Puen did this through the whole show. Like, he doesn't trust Talay. He lies to him. He manipulates him. Talay and he are both in entertainment and Talay was against a huge deadline the night of Puen’s birthday, and he couldn't take a break from his work to meet his deadline to go do flirty, boyfriend things with Puen.
Puen expressed this frustration directly the next day in a way that I thought was totally valid and then Talay goes, ‘You are correct. Here is the plan I've come up with for us to make sure that we don't take our own relationship for granted, and keep working at it.’ And they have a really great month doing cute boyfriend date things while trying to maintain their careers. And so the whole secret baby felt completely unnecessary.
Like, we need something to happen for the plot to justify Jimmy, Neo, Aou, and Sea hanging out together. So, we have to introduce a secret baby, I guess?
I hated it…[laughs] Like, people joke that I don't often give low scores because I don't usually watch crap. Like, if something is, like, really really bad out of the gate I am like, “Oof! I don't have time for this!” and I'll usually drop it these days, because I got too much to do. But, like, I gave the show a 3 because I was deeply put off by the coercion of a child and the audacity of it all. Because, like, you know what your boyfriend went through because of Tess.
Why would you pull on that really traumatic thread from five years ago and make him believe that Tess had done this to him as well—knowing that Talay has a strong sense of responsibility, and would of course try to do right by a potential child.
Like, it's hard to even talk about, like, any of the cute relationship things that may have come out of this because, like, they should divorce.
Nini
I did not enjoy this when it was revealed that the kid was…tricked. I turned it off, and I did not watch the end.
For every special of Our Skyy, I gave it a drama score and a crack score. My drama score for this was a -5, because I was entirely unamused—like wholly unamused. This is not what I came to see in any way. I don't care if the kid is cute. I don't care if they're all cute together. They're literally using a child to fix their relationship—
Ben
And, explicitly, the child's parents did not know that this was happening.
Nini
—which makes it worse! So, I gave it a drama score of a -5, which is of course an overreaction but it's still getting a 0. Crack score, I gave it a 10, because it is actual crack? Like, this is probably the crackiest thing that happened in all of Our Skyy. But…it's not enjoyable as crack! So, let's give it a… 5 for crack… So, 0 for drama, 5 for crack gives it a score of 2.5, which sounds about correct.
Ben
Yeah, not good.
Nini
Yeah.
Ben
Pass.
Nini
Not good. Tens or chops? One chop!
Ben
Two chops!
[both laugh]
14:23 - Star in My Mind
Nini
Let's leave Vice Versa behind in the dustbin where it belongs and let's move on to the next on the list: Star in My Mind. Hoo!
Ben
[laughs]
Nini
Ben, I can't even remember what happened, I was so bored watching these episodes, like, dead bored. Star in My Mind is also a show that I did not watch the OG show. So, I had no idea what it was about and was going in blind. And, I think that I was correct to not watch the OG show, because… if it was anything as boring as this, I didn't need to see it.
Ben
[sighs] So, the Star in My Mind special is basically just the gang going on a little vacation together, and then New tries to subvert the “You're together now. Let's throw in a jealousy element bit.” Like, you put a note on here that the trope for this one is “trick your friends into going on vacation.”
So, their friends try to tease Daonuea into believing that maybe Kluen has eyes for some girl, and Daonuea gets jealous about this, and then a fight ensues and the friends get all upset. But we in the audience know that the guys are faking this fight. They knew what their friends were up to, but they were kind of flaking on this vacation. So, he uses this fake fight to force them to go on vacation with them.
Whatever.
Like, I think the part of this that was cute was New just throwing away the whole jealousy trope for BL, and then having the gay characters just be like, ‘Yeah, this is stupid. Anyway, we're going to absolutely use this against them because these bitches will not buy their tickets and I'm [gonna] force them to.” And, like, that part was kind of fun.
I'm in my breakup era with New right now. I can see, again, him trying to do something here. New is currently over BL. He’s tired of it. You can feel that in Star in My Mind. Like, he's completely bored with all of this. And so what could have been, like, at least a cute trip, just looks like five straight dudes hanging out in the woods for like an hour.
Nini
I think my notes say “it's two hours of a bunch of dudes vibing without vibes.”
Ben
Yeah, like, it wasn't great, and I don't really like coming for actors like that. But, Dunk is still uncomfortable with on-screen intimacy—or at least it feels like he is—particularly compared to Joong, who does not suffer from being camera shy when it comes to this kind of work. And so while I've seen them in behind-the-scenes stuff, and their variety stuff, and Joong and Dunk are great bros, I'm still struggling with Dunk as a romantic lead because he doesn't kiss well.
Nini
New didn't even phone this in. Like, I think he sent an email? Maybe it was a snail mail.
This was just—it was boring, which I think might be worse than bad? What do we even say about it?
Ben
Nothing! There is nothing to say! Like, Pawin was there. He didn't kiss anybody. [laughs]
Nini
I mean… that's really all that you can say about it. It was a waste of Pawin, like.
Probably the only thing that I enjoyed about this was Joong's several pissy faces when Khabkluen is salty because all his straight friends keep interrupting his gay couple time to hang out when all he wants to do is make out. And, like, the pissy faces that he makes are delightful, and they're the only reason this has a score.
I give it a drama score of 3, because what was it even about? And I gave it a crack score of 4, and all four of those points are for Joong's pissy faces which I thoroughly enjoyed. So, It was a 3.5 for me not because it was bad but because it was boring.
Ben
I think a show has to be offensive to me in some way for me to go lower than 6 and Star in My Mind is not. It's just boring and because I've been in these gay streets a long time, I've been offended. A lot. And, I will accept boring. It's a 6. It's forgettable. We don't have to talk about it anymore.
Nini
And we will not.
Ben
[laughs]
19:20 - Never Let Me Go
Nini
We're going to move on to the actual fun and interesting ones now. [laughs] There's a definite quality bar in Our Skyy 2. There are Vice Versa and Star in My Mind, which are below the quality bar. And then there's everything else, which is above the quality bar. Now, we're talking about games of inches here.
Never Let Me Go. So, the Never Let Me Go fanfic trope for Our Skyy was they did a time travel story that was also a—.
Ben
Fated mates.
Nini
—that was also a fated mates, and also a role reversal, and also like a body hopping. Like, there were—there was a lot going on here. It was not boring. Everybody was clearly having a fabulous time making this. And, I actually really enjoyed it. It was two episodes. I could have watched maybe four to six episodes of this no problem.
This was actually incredibly interesting. It was a lot of fun. Pawin, and Pond especially, clearly had a great time.
Ben
That's true.
[both laugh]
Nini
Pond had a fabulous time. So, the plot of the Never Let Me Go special… You go ahead.
Ben
All right. So, it's been a couple of years since we left the boys in Never Let Me Go, and Nuengdiao has been studying elsewhere. He's coming back to Thailand, and Palm has quietly been setting up shop in Bangkok so that when Nuengdiao comes back to Thailand he can be closer to him. He doesn't want to just stay out by the beach because he wants to see his boyfriend more.
[Cat begins wailing in the hallway near Ben’s mic]
Nuengdiao was a little bit caught off guard by this, and didn't like him making decisions for them. They run into a fortune teller who tells them that if they don't fix what was originally broken, they won't make it in this life, either. And then the fantasy hijinks kick in, where they are sent back in time to their original pairing… into the bodies of their past selves. And in their past—in their first past together where they become a couple—Palm is the rich lord, and Nuengdiao is essentially sold to him as a slave. Also, Pawin is there in an earlier version of his character.
And so they have to play their roles. Palm is having way too much fun bossing Nuengdiao around. And also just trying to have sex with him in the past. Over the course of this they end up realizing that they have to help Pawin’'s character hook up with Mark Pahun's character, and so all of the girlies who've been waiting for that ship to reunite were fed.
Nini is correct. Like, this ended up being really fun, because we got to see Palm and Nuengdiao kind of become like the gays who have it together for other gays.
Nini
It had that crack story but there was also another story going on alongside the crack which I really enjoyed—building on Nungdiao and Palm's actual OG series story—which is that Nuengdiao believes that Palm should make his life about himself, that he should make his decisions about the things that he wants to do without considering Neung. And that they can still be together but Palm shouldn't plan his life around him. When he comes back to Bangkok, it's to tell Palm essentially that he's decided that he's gonna stay away for a longer period of time. He's gonna do graduate school as well.
And, this is actually a conflict between them that sort of leads into the whole time travel thing, but it's actually a really interesting conflict between them because it builds on their series story in a really interesting way. I enjoyed watching them navigate it and figure it out while they were also navigating and figuring out how the hell to get out of the past. I mean the internal logic of the story just about holds together. It's fun. It's enjoyable. It's emotional.
Ben
If he looks at you for seven seconds he's into you and we're all like rooting for this under an umbrella.
Nini
It's fun. It's cute. It's got a little bit of a message to it. It's enjoyable. The characters feel like themselves. At one point we get a little montage of smash cuts of Nueng and Palm: they alternate crying over each other's dead bodies through the ages.
Ben
One of them definitely felt like a nod to Aof’s work where Jojo was poking fun at him.
Nini
They were actually dressed like Jim and Wen in Moonlight Chicken complete with Phuwin wearing sunglasses, his corpse wearing sunglasses at night when he's dead and Pond crying over him. It was really funny. It was delightful. That little smash cut montage was really fun and actually upped the crack score a little. Time travel is crack, no way about it. I was fully going to give it a good crack score anyway. But that little sequence upped the crack score by at least a point. It was just very funny.
And then watching Pawin overexaggerate his “khrub’s” and fall in love with Mark Pahun's character, who's like a jewelry seller at the market. And then when they come back to the present and he's Phum again, they meet Phum at the house—which has been maintained—the lord's house has been maintained throughout the ages.
Ben
Because it had been passed down to his ancestors’ family now because they were all, like, gay besties together.
Nini
Yeah, and like, Phum and Mark Pahun's character are together in this life, too—and they're really cute—and Phum's like, “Yeah, I was a shit to you in high school. I'm sorry about that.” [laughs] It was nice. It was fun. It was enjoyable. I gave it a drama score of 7.5—I think that's reasonable for it. I gave it a crack score of 8.5 so it works out to an 8 for me, which I liked. I liked it.
Ben
I really liked a lot of this. I liked how much fun Phuwin and Pond had in the traditional garb that they were wearing. I like how much fun they had with how often they had to be shirtless. I really enjoyed them writing vows to each other in the past because they didn't know if they would be able to escape. Basically fully committed to each other. That was really beautiful, and not something I expected from Jojo. I was really surprised that Jojo did something that genuinely tender. That really worked for me.
I gave it an 8. It's one of those 8’s where it's, like, if you liked Never Let Me Go, this is going to make it feel a little bit better because the idea that the drama of Never Let Me Go is yet another instance of these two characters trying to be with each other across space and time is super romantic—and that's the kind of shit I love in my big dramas. And I was not expecting this particular show to make me go, “Wow,” [sighs] and look back at the, the original show and go, “Okay. I can see that.”
It was deeply enjoyable. If you liked Never Let Me Go enough, and you feel mildly dissatisfied by it, and you just kind of want some closure to walk away from, watch the special. I felt very good about Palm and Nuengdaio by the end of that, because they felt a little bit more grown. And I kind of like where they left the characters with Palm just being like, “Whatever, I have a rich boyfriend and I've worked very hard. I'm just gonna go hang out with you in Germany for a little while, and then we'll figure it out from there.” And I'm like, more power to you, bro.
Nini
It seemed like yes that they were just going to vibe and enjoy each other, And, after everything that those two went through? Sure! That seems like a great place to leave them.
28:00 - A Boss and a Babe
Nini
Also in the, for me, 8 category—so there is a tie here—A Boss and a Babe. This kind of…surprised me, because I ended up, with the OG show, being really disappointed by where we landed with it. But I really liked the Our Skyy.
Ben
This is a little bit weird because I think in terms of whenever the rest of you hear this. We're actually, I think releasing this before the episode where we talk about A Boss and a Babe. So, spoilers, a bit, for that particular episode, but, uh, we were…less than impressed with A Boss and a Babe.
Nini
For sure.
Ben
However, we actually had a decent time with their Our Skyy outing. Nini why don't you walk us through the setup for this particular outing.
Nini
So, the fanfic trope for the A Boss and a Babe outing of Our Skyy is, I guess, “walk a mile in my shoes” kind of thing? Gun and Cher are happy together. They're sweet loving boyfriends… but the office is in shambles. Because Gun is stressed out and he's stressing everybody at work out. And because Cher knows everybody at work because he used to work there, he has been hipped to the fact that his man is stressing everybody else. And so he goes on a mission to try to get his man to stop stressing everybody at work out.
So, trying to make him understand that he needs to dial it the fuck back. And the way that he eventually comes up with after trying a few other ways, is that they are going to spend a day walking a mile in each other's shoes. So, he is going to spend a day being the boss, and Gun is going to spend a day being the intern so that Gun gets an idea of the stresses that his employees go through. And Cher is just like whatever I'll just be the boss, and Gun is like, “Oh, it's not as easy as you think.”
And it actually turns out really fun and interesting to watch them do this. Of course it's a weird, horny sex thing because everything is a weird, horny sex thing with these two. But [laughs] it's, it's fun. It's light. It's interesting. It's…enjoyable. It's a strong conflict. It's a stronger conflict than we get in the actual OG series. It works. I think it's that because it's so short New doesn't really have time to fuck it up.
Ben
[laughs] So, like, I was frustrated because Gun’s being kind of a difficult boss, but being fairly reasonable about why he's a difficult boss. He's like, “We work in a difficult industry where we spend a great deal of time working on something, and then we release it to the public, and then it can flop. And so I have been funding people's jobs for anywhere from two to 12 months working on a project, and we really need strong turnaround for this because these people's jobs are riding on the success of this. So they do need to take their jobs seriously, and when they are given feedback or are given specific directives, they need to accomplish those directives.”
There's like really interesting tension there between, like, the boss's perspective of, “Y'all can be mad at me, but you want me to cut your checks, right?” versus, “Bro, we are not going to work well under these fucking conditions.” Like, that tension was delivered really well! Gun's perspective comes through in a way that doesn't feel pandering to anyone, and I was like he is a little bit off base in the way he talks to people, but the things he's concerned about are valid for where he sits.
It just pissed me off low-key because, like, we never figured out what Thyme’s whole deal was in the original show. Like, his friend who used to be part of the company. And it feels like that was his job here—was to be like the bridge between Gun and the team. To translate Gun’s directives and frustrations into directives for the team so they could accomplish them and to keep the team motivated. And, like, Cher was helping with that for a while but now that Cher is, like, doing other stuff, like, that has gone away. That's the biggest thing with this one. Like, this was such a solid concept that it made me even more annoyed at how the OG show just sort of fumbled every thread that they were holding.
Nini
Yeah, I have to agree. Like, the workplace conflict on this was really strong and solid, and the workplace stuff in the OG show was kind of weak. And part of the workplace stuff that was great in this was showing that, yeah, Gun does need a balancing force at work. But also, aside from that, surprisingly, Cher is not an idiot. [laughs] Like, Cher is actually pretty competent. He's not, like, ready, clearly, to be the boss of a place like this. But he's not an idiot.
Like, one of the things that happens is that Gun tries to set him up a little bit by having, like, a client come in and try to, like, have a discussion and talk to him about, like, partnering on a game or something and like talking about ideas and all that kind of stuff. And at first you think that Cher is going to blow it. But then he delivers. He comes into the meeting. You know, he takes a minute to get his bearings and understand what's going on, but then he has actual good ideas? And he can speak to the people in a way that works for the business.
So, it shows they could probably at some point in the future after Cher has learned more, they could probably run the business together. Because I think that they bring the different perspectives that's required, but, just like Ben said, that also makes me, like, really mad that we didn't get more of the Thyme stuff in the OG series because, to me, that feels like this was what Thyme’s role was. And that just completely got cast aside. So, on the one hand, I thought this was actually pretty good but, on the other hand, it made me think even less of the OG series and I was already struggling with the OG series.
Ben
[sighs] And that's where we are. It sucks because, like, again, like, Force and Book are good. And the cast of this particular show? Very good. They hold together an otherwise weak show but, man, you just really want to see what that cast looks like when they have a really good show under their belt.
Nini
Yeah, and this gives you, like, a kind of an ‘in’ to that. So my score: this was drama score of 8 because I thought it was a solid conflict. Well executed. I give it a crack score of 8 because, quite honestly, once the whole role reversal thing started. Like, if I worked for Gun’s company, I would have taken, like, vacation until that was over because it was just…It was a little too “bring your kinks to work” for me personally.
[both laugh]
I would have been like, yeah I don't need to see this. I'm gonna take a day off, and tomorrow when I come back, hopefully everything will be normal. Combined like drama score 8 crack score 8 average 8. What did you give it?
Ben
I gave it an 8, and we were joking with some of our other friends about how most of us gave it an 8, and I think it was ginnymoonbeam who was like, “We all gave it an 8, but these are all very different 8s.”
[both laugh]
Nini
Yes, that is definitely true. These are different 8s that we are giving it. My 8 is like, “Damn it. Now I got to go back and revise my score of the OG series and put it even lower.”
36:45 - The Eclipse
Nini
Moving along from the 8s and now we're starting to get into the top of tops. The top top top tops of the Our Skyy pantheon for me. And next up is The Eclipse. Ben, I'm [gonna] need you to give the people what we're talking about here.
Ben
The Eclipse picks up, it feels like, the summer after the boys have graduated from high school. So, they're away from Suppalo—we're not going to deal with any of the Suppalo nonsense anymore. It's just the two couples, Wat, and…Pawin's character for some reason, because he's always palling around them. They're getting together to help Wat shoot for a film project that he wants to submit to a competition. But we pick up, originally, with Akk and Ayan who were doing boyfriend things, and we are seeing the ongoing deprogramming of Akk continuing. And over the course of the filming for this, we see that Akk and Ayan are basically stand-ins for Golf's very complex ideas about the way our private and public lives inform each other, and how both are inherently political.
Akk and Ayan over the course of this are having a struggle about whether or not they should care what other people think. Akk thinks that to be part of a civil society you do have to care about how your actions and behaviors impact other people. Ayan, who has seen what a civil society does to people, thinks that that is bullshit and that he should be more concerned about himself and the people he cares about, and not the nebulous feelings of others. And then calls Akk directly out at one point about how his concern for others turned him into the worst version of a cop possible.
And it gets really ugly when they're working on Wat’s film project. These two are having a truly fundamental struggle about whether or not the two of them are even compatible because they do not see eye-to-eye politically. You get the sense that Ayan hoped that, once freed from the Suppalo prefect thing, Akk would start to see things more his way. And Akk hoped that Ayan would stop fighting with him so much, because Akk really just wants to do soft, cuddly things with his boyfriend. But Ayan gets off on fighting with Akk. [laughs] So he is always antagonizing him for sex reasons.
Nini
It's one of those early relationship conflicts when you're still figuring out how to be with each other. When you're dating at the beginning, you put your best foot forward. In this case, with the two of them, they put their absolute worst foot forward when they were getting together. But there's still that thing about the version of you when you're courting is…different, somewhat, than the version of you when you're not courting. For them, the issue is the version of them when they were courting was exactly who they are, but they didn't think that that was who they were.
So, like you said, Ayan really thought that out of the pressure cooker of Suppalo, Akk would be a different person, and then he's, like, coming to realize: No, this is really just who he is. And Akk is having that same realization about Ayan. They have to decide essentially—and they do decide via Wat's film—whether what they are to each other is worth bridging that gap between them. The answer that they come to is: yes it is—in a really phenomenal scene that I enjoyed so much.
Ben
Let me tell you. First and Khaotung are just really, really good together. Like, it's amazing how they can play these two characters coming to a precipice of fundamental political disagreement to the point that they looked at each other and they're like, “Is this really who I'm going to be with?” And you can see this almost weird resignation as they turn to face each other and embrace, where there are no easy answers to this.
They don't see eye to eye politically on a lot of really fundamental things, and yet they still want to choose each other each time. And that is delivered so well. Like, it's hard to watch The Eclipse with your brain off. I watched a lot of people try to do it during the original show and they struggled, because it is not a brains-off show. Golf has a lot to say about the state of their country and is using whatever platform they have to voice some of these ideas, most notably about how sitting on your phone writing mean tweets is not action. That you need to get into the work. That you have to get into the streets with other people. You have to participate in the work. Even if it's just in the support of getting the people who do do the work the tools and food they need to do the work.
And it's really fascinating that even in this little two-part special, which as far as some people thought, was just First and Khaotung making out for two hours because these boys kissed a lot in this special, they managed to say a lot. Golf managed to express their deep love of Thai cinema with the references that Wat was playing out.
It also managed to get across how much these two boys really like each other, and it was kind of fun to see Akk and Kan working their way out of their internalized homophobia. Like it was not surprising to me that Akk and Kan wanted to do a lot of touching with their boyfriends.
Nini
I really liked how it all came together: how Golf used their love of not just Thai cinema but queer cinema to sort of pull the threads together of the fight that Akk and Ayan were having. The petty fight and the serious fight, because they were having a fight on two levels. They were having a petty fight about—well, maybe not petty—but they were having a surface level fight about Ayan paying attention to Akk and being lovey-dovey and soft with him, versus Ayan wanting Akk to be tougher with him because that's what he likes. And then that going to the deep level of the political, and then, on top of that, that being pulled together by the concept of film. And then even throwing in for us a little side story about Wat and what film means to him, and how he's not necessarily supported by his family—but he kind of is a little bit but mostly not—and how he has things to say and he feels strongly about those things
Like, they managed to do a lot with very little in this special and I really, really enjoyed it. It was very deep for what it was. Very thinkable piece. I really liked it. And then on top of that, they also get to have a little bit of coming-of-age nostalgia moments about leaving high school and moving into the real world. There's so much packed into those two hours. I was really impressed with how much they managed to get in there and have it feel organic.
Ben
I was incredibly impressed by this entire outing.
Nini
I liked the special on its own. I liked it in connection to the OG show. I liked it as a continuation of the OG show. I liked the things that it had to say and the way that it carried through its themes. I was impressed by how much it managed to fit in. I gave it a drama score of 9.5. I really thought it was very, very good.
Ben
But there was singing so she took half a point.
[both laugh]
Nini
I gave it a crack score of 8. The trope really was I guess “secret surprise” because the frame that this is all put in is Ayan preparing a surprise for Akk’s birthday, but it's a secret surprise where he's pretending that he doesn't remember and he's not going to celebrate Akk’s birthday, which is a little weird which is why I took the half point off really, because I hate that secret surprise trope.
Ben
It's one of those things where I don't really like it for Akk, but if fits with Ayan’s sort of, like…Ayan is the queer kid who reads too much theory. Like, he knows more than you. And so he doesn't always see you, specifically. Like, he outs Thua in the first show thinking he's helping him. Like, he kind of is but, like, he outs Thua and oversteps, and it's the same thing here with Akk. Like, he wants to surprise Akk. Like I don't think you should be surprising Akk, because so much of his Suppalo experience is about being guided by the things that are not being said that he's supposed to just interpret.
If you're trying to deprogram him, you need to not do that to him. And the reason why, like I—I mostly let it go is because, as dense as Ayan can kind of be because he's too fucking smart for his own good, when Akk admitted in, like, the first fifteen minutes of the show that he hoped that they were gonna do cute boyfriend frolicking in the fields and taking pictures together, and Ayan was like, “Oh, I thought you were just kidding about that.”
And Akk was like, “No! I was serious.”
It's like, “All right? Well shit! Grab your camera!” And they frolicked!
Nini
[laughs]
Ben
He gave his boyfriend the cute boyfriend shit he wanted to do, even if he teased him a little bit about it first.
Nini
I did like that too. I like that they don't have it together yet but they're willing to listen, and they're willing to do what it takes, I think. But, like I said, I'm knocking out a half a point for the secret surprise because I hate that trope. The crack score is an 8 because there's these set of dream sequences which are homages to Thai film and queer film, and I thought they were delightful. There's the Brokeback Mountain one and then there's the Golden Eagle one which is a Thai film then there's the Ong Bak one which is another Thai film and then there's another—
Ben
If you have not seen Ong Bak and you like action film, please go see Ong Bak.
Nini
I have not watched Ong Bak. Of course, Ben has because he's a boy.
Ben
I am a boy! Tony Jaa is amazing!
Nini
[laughs] I really liked that Golf gets to throw that in there as well. And it's fun. The Golden Eagle one especially is delightful. [laughs] It really is. So that's 9.5 and 8. Let's call that an 8.75. Ooh the maths is coming back! It's coming back! An 8.75 for The Eclipse.
Ben, what’d you give it?
Ben
I gave it a 9 because it's really coherent and that mattered a lot for me, because we had watched a lot of—I don't remember the exact order—but I remember just not being, like, necessarily, like, great at this point because a bunch of them were kind of…stuffed…or boring…and this wasn't. I was fully engaged the whole time, because Golf has such clear ideas in their work and they're all working together at various levels that they really wanted us to not miss.
49:50 - My School President
Nini
Moving on from The Eclipse onto the next rung on the ladder up: My School President. So the My School President fan fiction trope was AU, alternate universe, for all of the characters. I had a fucking blast with this. Ben, explain to the people what happened.
Ben
I'm gonna pre-react to the criticism, unfortunately.
My School President is a high school story about pursuing your long-term crush and the final year of your high school experience. There was no way My School President was going to get an epilogue story. So instead they flipped the seats of a bunch of the characters.
So, in this version of the My School President story, Gun is the school president and Tinn is the member of the school band. This time named Lion instead of Chinzhilla. Instead of Tiwson being the school president's best friend, they keep Por, who is his bestie in this. Tiwson is a member of the band. Sound and Win switch positions in this, where Sound is the long-term member of the band. Win is the new hot boy who shows up who they recruit. They also decide to flip Yo and Pat in the story with each other, even though they're still both in the band. Gim becomes the principal, and Photjanee becomes the operator of the milk ice cream bar.
And in the process of this, like, the same beats from the show. We still hit them, but they play out very differently because the core characterization of these couples don't shift. Which forces us to reckon with certain aspects of the characters that kind of get glossed over in the idealism of the original My School President run. For example, Tinn is so much braver than Gun. Gun is kind of a coward who is gripped by an intense sense of self-doubt, and it starts off almost immediately. Like there's some political commentary with the way Gun is selected as the school president. 250 votes were cast by parents to make Gun the president instead of going through the school voting process instead, which works as a quick shorthand for the show, but also works as a commentary on Thai parliamentary politics.
And so like he's not the school president because he wants to help Tinn. He's just sort of pushed into the position by his mom, and so the moments that they hit along the way, like the dancing together scene. That plays out differently because Gun backs off and ends up dancing with someone else. The whole Questions thing they did to get close to film the thing goes differently because Gun won't ask Tinn directly, but Tinn does ask him, but Gun backs down.
It was interesting because, like, everyone still chose each other. But, like, in a weird way Tiwson and Por were the strong couple of this outing, anchoring for the rest of them.
Like, in the original show Tinn and Gun are so obviously together that the force of their mutual attraction sort of just creates opportunity for the rest of these relationships to bubble up. This time around, Tiwson and Por are working together in the background to help Tinn and Gun get together because they want to come out as a couple. Which I thought was an interesting switch-up as well.
Nini
I really enjoyed that, despite shifting the characters around in terms of their positions and roles, that the cores of the characters remained exactly the same. And you see how the same people living a different life would become a different person. Like you talk about Gun being kind of a coward and he is kind of a coward even in the OG show. Tinn’s the brave one, and Tinn has to be the brave one because Gun's the one who's gonna back down. But also the Gun of the alternate universe—the multiverse of cuteness as it is called—the Gun of the alternate universe hasn't spent his whole life on stage being judged and knocked back. And developing that thick skin that he talks to Tinn about in the OG series, so he is much less resilient than the Gun of the OG series. And that makes a difference in how he navigates his crush on Tinn.
Similarly to that, Tinn in the AU has not had the strictness of the OG Photjanee forced on him the whole time. The strictness and the straight lace-ness because things are a little looser for him. And so he feels more able to take the ball and run with it when he realizes how he feels. They redo the scene of them spending the night at the school and walking around, and this is where Tinn turns the Gun and is like, “Look, do you like me?” which is something Tinn wouldn't necessarily have asked in the OG series.
But then Gun, faced with the opportunity to actually lock it down with his crush. He says no and he runs away which is not a thing that Tinn would have done. If Gun had ginned up the, the actual courage to ask Tinn if he liked him Tinn would have been like [inhales] taken a deep breath and been like, “Hell yell, let’s date.” It's really interesting watching how they take the same characters and, just by moving their positions in the story, they create a story that's different.
Ben
And yet all the people still choose each other. They basically state the big idea at one point. The Gun character says maybe in another lifetime things would have gone better, and the Por and Tiwson of this universe slap that idea down and go, “Yeah, but you're not in those universes. You're in this one. Make the most of the life you have.”
Nini
I really enjoyed this outing. I enjoyed what they took the opportunity of the Our Skyy special to say and to do. I agree with you. I don't think that an epilogue would have worked. My School President is so of its setting. I do not think that moving the boys into college and following them there—I don't feel like I would have been interested in seeing that because that's not the point of My School President.
My tagline for My School President was “perfect high school romance” and I think that's where it should stay.
Okay, so my drama score for My School President was 9.5, and I took off a half point because nobody made out. And, I'm sorry, I am shallow. I wanted somebody to kiss in this special. I didn't care who. Just somebody. So I took off half a point. But the crack score is a 10 because I mean it's an AU. There is nothing crackier than that, so that works out to what, like a 9.75? Yeah, I'm good with that.
Ben
So, I gave this one a 9 because it was a little heady and My School President is not a really heady show for me. But the whole AU concept was. Now, I liked it, but in terms of, like, recommending it to the people who liked My School President, it's kind of hard because they wanted more of what they loved in My School President and this is not exactly that? So, I gave it a 9.
But I'm also with Nini, like nobody kissed in this one. And, again, young actors. I'm totally fine with them not kissing, but…their characters in the original show have really specific kisses, and, if they were more experienced and veteran actors, we would have gotten a different type of kiss from these characters because they are coming at each other very differently. And we don't get to offer that particular comparison here. So, minor knock for me as well.
Nini
We didn't even get to talk about the best part which was them doing a fake music video for a fake Aof song that incorporated Aof’s top three hits in the music videos, which are He’s Coming to Me, Bad Buddy, and A Tale of Thousand Stars.
Ben
We didn't even talk about that.
Nini
Tiw and Por got to do A Tale of Thousand Stars. Sound and Win get to do Bad Buddy. And Gun and Tinn get to do He’s Coming to Me. So they, they paid homage to their granddaddy in "Aof" Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon. Three of the greatest GMMTV BLs, and also the ones that sort of set the stage for My School President.
1:00:24 - Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars
Nini
Onto the main event, and the main event of Our Skyy 2 was "Aof" Noppharnach giving the finger to GMMTV and saying, “Fuck you, I get four episodes to talk about what I want. And what I want to talk about is queer elders coming to terms with themselves, and I'm going to use anybody I want to talk about that.” AKA the Bad Buddy - A Tale of Thousand Stars crossover event.
Ben, break it down for the people.
Ben
Whereas every other one of these projects except for My School President was in many ways an epilogue this is a mixture of…it's an epilogue or a post-show story for Tian and Phupha, but for Pran and Pat it's set between Bad Buddy episode 11 and Bad Buddy episode 12. It's the senior year for Pat and Pran. They are still closeted and having to keep up the architecture-engineering rivalry, though it looks like they've tried to smooth things over over the years because most of the beef is about who's bringing…brooms to…the charity project now. [laughs] But they're having some consternation because both groups need to put on a play as part of their class president activities, and after the normal Bad Buddy hijinks kick in, Pran reveals that he wants to adapt Tian's diary A Tale of Thousand Stars into a play for the architecture school.
And once they decide to follow this route, their teacher says that, because they don't have permission from the people whose story this actually is, they need to go find them and get said permission. Pran decides that they're going to go to Pha Pun Dao to talk to them directly, tell them how important it is that they want to tell this particular story.
Before they can leave, Pat is forced to hang out with his engineering buddies and, because he has to pretend like he doesn't like Pran, he says something akin to, “That Pran guy. He'd be useless without me. I'm always having to help him.” Pran felt some kind of way about that and decided to leave Pat behind and go to Pha Pun Dao himself—much to his own chagrin—because he loves that boy, and got so nervous when he was walking around by himself without Pat.
And over the course of these four episodes, Pat and Pran learn a little bit more about themselves and their dynamic—but mostly they really help Tian and Phupha work past some really fundamental struggles that they were having as a couple that Pat and Pran realized that they had moved past a long time ago.
This crossover really elevates both works because Aof is obsessed with the idea that queer people make each other better and, by the end of this, we as a fandom seem rather split about it because those of us who liked both A Tale of Thousand Stars and Bad Buddy were able to appreciate how both stories impact each other. But, it seems like if you were really only into one of those stories, you resented the crossover in one way or another.
Nini
I think that's one reaction to it, but, I mean, we've seen among the clowns even people who were really into Bad Buddy but not so into A Tale of Thousand Stars really coming around on Tian and Phupha by the end of the special. I don't think we have like a Vice Versa situation in that, and we can discuss all the reasons that might be, but I think that definitely the crossover has made people who maybe didn't appreciate A Tale of Thousand Stars as much really appreciate A Tale of Thousand Stars and Tian and Phupha more now.
Ben
So where do you want to pick up with the beginning of this discussion?
Nini
I think I want to start with the idea one of our fellow clowns first espoused, and really sort of set me off on this thought process, that this special—this whole crossover—is all about Phupha. Because, of all four characters in the OG shows, the only character who didn't really get an arc was Phupha—this is Phupha’s arc. How do you feel about that as an idea—as a concept?
Ben
Since we're gonna start here, I'm gonna come out swinging.
Nini
Do it.
Ben
If you hate that Phupha is the focus character of this particular special, I need you to examine whether or not you actually care about gay men.
Phupha is a poor, hyper-masculine, closeted gay man, who's older than the other characters. He's about 35 at this point. There are so many queer people out there that you're never going to know about because they cannot live their lives loudly.
We're recording in June right now. Pride month. Phupha’s not gonna show up at Bangkok Pride because 1) he's not coming to Bangkok, and 2) that's just not the place where he feels safe. It's not the place where he feels seen. It's not where all of the quiet gays are gonna go, or where the gays who have to be closeted for one reason or another are going to be. And it's easy to forget them because they're boring or they're less fun.
I like that the story ends up being about: “How do we help Phupha break out of his own shell a little bit and let Tian love him just a little bit more?”
Nini
Phupha is this sort of stoic, very stern, character. I mean they lampooned that a little bit in the OG series for A Tale of Thousand Stars, and they lampoon him a little bit in the beginning of the crossover here, deflating him a little bit—kind of puncturing the whole stoic seme thing. But this is kind of who he is.
This is, as you say, he's older. He's got real responsibilities. He's got a community to protect. He's…got people that he cares about that he needs to take care of. He is not the kind of guy who is going to, like you say, go to Bangkok Pride. He is the kind of guy who maybe has some internalized homophobia that he's dealing with—definitely has some internalized homophobia that he's dealing with. He is that guy who is trying to do the right thing all the time. And so often the right thing means him subsuming his actual desires in some kind of idea of him denying himself being what's best for the community.
And one of the things that the crossover brings forward, particularly in the person of Pat, who is diametrically opposed to the idea of subsuming himself for anybody. He only does it for Pran, and only, like, grudgingly. But, to put somebody like Pat, who is just loud and proud and just completely does not care about any ideas of masculinity or propriety or anything like that, and put that character in conversation of any kind with Phupha. It's so delightful to watch that happen because, of course, Pat immediately gloms onto him. He follows him around like a duckling—he imprints on him.
He's like, “Oh, yes, Stern Daddy. I really, really like this vibe that you're givin’ off here. I'm just going to follow you around and bother the fuck out of you.”
I think it was wen-kexing-apologist who said that Pat's entire job in the special is to terrorize the local elder gay. I Love it.
Ben
Pat and Pran. They both looked at Phupha, looked at each other, and then both said at the same time ‘WOULD.’
[both laugh]
Nini
I did see that. That was funny because it's true. They hang a lampshade on it at two points 1) when Pran runs into Phupha for the first time—him really having, like, a gay boy moment. [laughs] Like, the whole, like, slow-motion, turn-around, like, gasping gay boy moment.
Ben
He's read the, the diary and he's like “I get it.” Immediately!
[both laugh]
Nini
And then, to have Pat's moment come, where—because Pat's flirtation language is competition. So, of course he basically challenges Phupha to a duel in the form of a drinking contest. And then they wake up shirtless next to each other and think that they might have maybe…done something—
Ben
They definitely did some stuff.
Nini
They made out. Just a little bit. They kissed a little bit.
But I—I loved that! I loved that they were both really into him. Like it was clear that they were both attracted to him. It was very gay and very fun. But also they're just like, “No, I get it.” They—they both looked and they were just like, “Tian, I get you. I understand why you live in this village with [both laugh] no running water, and you have to sleep under a mosquito net every night. I get you! I understand you because, for this man, I would do these things.” Like, they get it.
It's kind of delightful.
Ben
I like how, when Pran first gets to the village, and Phupha passes out, Tian runs up and Pran’s like ‘who are you’ and Tian's like, “No. Who the fuck are you?”
[Nini laughs]
Ben
And, like, if Tian had been allowed to have a knife…
Nini
Pran would have been stopped at that point—fully stabbed. “Like, who the fuck are you and why are you talking to my man?” [laughs] Like, Tian lives in the village because he doesn't want anybody else to see Phupha.
[both laugh]
Nini
Because he knows the minute any of these whores take a look at his man, if it's going to be a problem.
Ben
In terms of the serious stuff. So, they've shown up to convince them to sign these papers. Going into this Pat and Pran are fighting a little bit because Pran feels guilty, and part of this journey for him was maybe seeing, like, if he actually needed Pat as much as he does. And he learns very quickly that he is not at his best without Pat.
It's funny because Pat always knew this. Pat seemed to know already. Like, he says it in like episode 5 of Bad Buddy that he was not at his best when Pran was gone.
But Pran wants to prove he doesn't need Pat's help, and when Pran shows up to try and convince him to sign Tian's like, “Fuck yeah! I wrote the diary so people would…maybe want to become teachers and appreciate what I have out here. Absolutely!” Phupha's like, “No, y'all not going to present me as some lovesick fool on your little stage.”
And then Pran tries to talk to Phupha a couple of times and fails massively at it. Tries to lie to Phupha. And then Pat blocks the shit out of that by calling out the bullshit right away, because he's pissed at Pran for running off without him. So he's sabotaging some of Pran's efforts. And it isn't until the two of them start working together that they actually start making any fucking progress because…that's who they are.
Nini
But I think there's also, like, a really valid point to the fact that Pran—he tries to talk to Phupha about it at first and Phupha is not having it. You're right. But one of the reasons that Phupha is not having it is because he's looking at these kids and he's thinking, “These kids do not understand me. These kids have no idea of what my life is like. These kids have no idea of what our lives are like. These kids have never faced any kind of serious challenge. These are two dumb kids. I'm not gonna give them time of day. They don't get to tell my story.”
And then, by the end, the thing that actually gets Phupha to agree to let them tell his story…is Pran actually dropping the bullshit—as you said—and saying to him, “You think I don't know what it's like to feel insecure? You think I don't know what it's like to feel like my partner deserves better than me? You think I don't know what that feels like? Oh, believe you me, I know what that feels like.”
And, because at this point Phupha has spent an enormous amount of time with Pat, he's like,
“Okay, yeah, maybe you do understand what I'm going through.”
And the way that that works out in the end—and I mean we're kind of skipping back and forth through the story at this point—but the way that that works out at the end is Phupha saying, “Okay, you get to tell my story, but you have to tell my story because you understand me.” His condition for signing off on them doing the play is that they play the roles of him and Tian, because they understand him. I thought that was really—a really great way to follow that thread through the story. I really enjoyed that part.
Ben
I like the subtle way Aof played with our expectations about who would identify with who. Like, they made Tian and Pran resemble each other. Tian was like, “Fuck this twink,” right away as soon as Pran showed up.
[Nini laughs]
But then, like, Pran helps him. Pran helps him in the class and Tian softens very quickly to Pran.
Because of how physically macho Pat is—like, there's this expectation that he and Phupha are gonna be super similar to each other—and there's an interesting subtle commentary that Aof does there in that it's the more creative one, who's way too close to his mom, who's more like the hyper-masculine dude, because both of them are masking in their lives.
Like, Phupha is hyper-masculine because that's what's expected of him. And like people pick at Phupha about this a little bit, but he is trying to live up to the role that he is told he's supposed to fulfill. And Pran also suffers under the expectations of who his mom expects him to be, and it's interesting for me that Aof, over the course of these three episodes when they're all together, Aof says Pran and Phupha have more in common because they are carrying so much homophobia on their shoulders, and that's why the two of them probably understand each other best.
Nini
Using the yaoi tropes again, a talk about who is the seme and who's the uke in the story in terms of who's the pursuer and who's the pursued, and…if you look at it, like, then you can clearly see that it's Tian and Pat who are aligned because Pat pursued Pran and Tian pursued Phupha. They are the semes even though it seems that Tian would be an uke. He's not. He actually pursued Phupha.
So in the narrative sense. He's the seme. It's just very fun, this playing with the idea of what is a seme and what is an uke. And, again to use the yaoi terms—which you know I don't like to use ‘cause I don't really know the yaoi or rock with the yaoi. But, that idea of who is…pursuing the relationship, leading the relationship—like that's Tian and that's Pat.
And in terms of who is being pulled along by their partner in a kind of a way that's Phupha and that’s Pran. So, I do like how Aof leans into this…because again, it subverts expectations in a particular kind of way. But also it makes so much sense.
Ben
There's two subtle things that I really want to point out, and I want to talk about them a little.
First, Pat and Pran use titles for Tian and Phupha the whole time. And the other thing is about how nobody really knows anything about anybody in this. So, like, we're gonna call them Tian and Phupha, Pat and Pran, because we're inside of these people's stories with them. But it's interesting to me that Pran and Pat never cross a familiarity line with Tian and Phupha in the brief time they're with them. They refer to them as Teacher and Chief only the entire time.
Nini
I like that because it's a nod to their roles as adults because Pat and Pran are still kids. They're still college students, and Tian and Phupha are adults to them. But, in some ways, Pat and Pran have progressed much further in their relationship than Tian and Phupha have because they've been through more—just from the nature of their whole history. And they've crossed barriers and boundaries and, and parts of their relationship that Tian and Phupha are just confronting or haven't even confronted yet. And I liked that.
I liked, also, that interplay of the younger ones being the ones to teach the older ones something. I really like that because I feel like that's what's happening now not just in—not just in queer circles—because that's definitely happening in queer circles. But also just in terms of generalization. Like, if you're not a complete douche and you're our age—well I say our age. I'm about 10 years older than Ben. Not ten, but…when you've crossed a certain Rubicon in the adulting game. Let's put it that way.
Right now. The kids are teaching us like a whole bunch of stuff as long as you're not a dick, like, and you remain open, the kids can teach you all kinds of shit that you never thought was possible to learn about yourself at this stage in your life. And I really like that Aof played with that because Aof’s about my age, and I like that he is the kind of person who understands that the young uns have things to teach us as well. Like, we have things to teach them—clearly and obviously—and we want to make a better world for them—clearly and obviously. But also, there's so much shit that we can learn from them when it comes to just fucking unclenching, because that's what happens here! Like, all of this is in service of Phupha just fucking unclenching.
Ben
And this is what I mean about having other queer people, like it isn't just about your boyfriend. You need queer friends. Like, Tian blossoms almost immediately when he realizes that Pat and Pran are a couple—that they're not just friends. As soon as Pat flirts with him a little bit at breakfast and Pran shoves a spoon into his mouth, you can see Tian instantly relaxes and it's like, “Okay” and is more receptive to what these two are here for. And for Phupha. Like, yeah, it's one thing to just be into Tian and that be a thing, but to have someone like Pat roaming around actively flirting with him all the time, that also forced Phupha to reckon with who he is.
And it's funny, because, like, Pat and Pran are actually closeted. They basically, like, admit it to Tian and Phupha as a sort of a de facto thing. But, like, the two of them are away from the world where they have to hide. So they're on top of each other. They're constantly touching each other. They're flirting constantly…
Nini
They're fucking in the tent twenty feet away from them. [laughs]
Ben
We'll get there in a second. We’ll be there in a second. [Nini laughs] But they're so obviously obsessed with each other. And like Nini said, like during the rescue bit, Kampung is not in the tent with them where he's supposed to be. And so the boys are like, “Oh, I guess the kid decided to go stay with Phupha and Tian. Great! My foot is hurting me because I twisted my ankle, but let's get it in!” And then in the morning Pat limps to breakfast asking, “What's my score for last night?”
Nini
I love that they just fuck their way through all their problems. It's delightful. I enjoy it.
Ben
One of the sad things with Tian and Phupha is…they have to keep waiting for the other person to be asleep to be affectionate with them, and that's one of the big things that I'm really glad that they start to work through towards the end of this. Like, I'm really proud of Phupha for listening to the man who he loves, and the person who is inspired by the man who he loves.
Like, it’s so fascinating. Like—like Pran ran on this whole trip thinking he was Tian, met Phupha, realized he was Phupha, and was able to reach across that gap and say, “Please trust me. We got you.” And Phupha said, “Okay.”
There's a lot of consternation in the fandom right now about taking score between Pat and Pran about who sacrifices more, or what should or shouldn't be said. I'm not particularly interested in that particular conversation. Pat and Pran love each other. They're adults. They've committed to each other. Sometimes you're gonna be with other gays and you're not going to understand how they work, and you just have to accept that their dynamic is their dynamic. It's not about who wins. It's about who cares for you—and they clearly care for each other.
Nini
I think part of what it is, as well, is—it sounds bad, but go with me on this right? I am a great proponent of therapy. I believe in it. I am in therapy. I have been in therapy for years. I recommend therapy to everybody. But there is a certain level of therapized that I think is not necessarily good for us…And that is as somebody who believes in the power of therapy to change and save lives. I think that this idea that everything is pathologized, that you always have to be on the lookout because somebody's trying to get you in some kind of way—I think that it can be harmful to relationships and to our understanding of relationships in certain ways, because not everything that is unbalanced or imbalanced is harmful.
And I think that one of the problems that I'm having with…not so much the show, but the fandom reaction to it is…that yes, Pat and Pran’s relationship looks unbalanced from the outside. It probably is unbalanced in certain ways. But that doesn't mean that it's harmful. But there's this idea that because of—again this is a, a therapized lens that unbalanced equals harmful, and I don't think that's necessarily the case.
One of the things that I really don't grok onto and, to be fair…I am very…I am a Bad Buddy fun. I am a Pat and Pran fan. I am a fan of the characters separately and together. And one of the things that…I am really personally sticky and icky about is this idea in certain parts…that Pat and Pran do not love each other equally, or Pran does not love Pat enough, or Pat loves Pran more—all these ideas of particular kind of imbalances between them. And my whole thing is—Who are they and what do they need and what do they want from each other? What does Pat actually need from Pran? Is he getting it? He absolutely is.
So this idea of keeping score between the characters—or keeping score in relationships in general if you, if you broaden out to the idea of relationships—I feel like it doesn't serve. I feel like it's…reductive. And I feel like looking at these characters through that lens is not the way that Aof is portraying these characters, or wants the audience to look at these characters. Because I think that Aof is a person who is…very tuned into certain ideas that he wants to portray—certain things that he wants to portray about queerness and queer community and queer relationships—and…I think that to reduce probably the greatest queer relationship that he has put on screen in Pat and Pran to score keeping, when score keeping is a part of their history that they have deliberately stepped away from because they were forced into it. I feel like it misunderstands what he's trying to do and say with these characters…
And that's just my opinion, and I will admit a hundred percent that I am very precious about these two particular characters. I'm very precious about a lot of Aof characters because I feel that Aof writes characters in a way that I understand them intrinsically. But these two characters in particular I feel very precious about. And, I feel like to see them like that in the context of somehow keeping score between them is to not see them at all.
Ben
Pat only cares about one score and he asks Pran for it directly every morning.
Nini
And that's a fact. [laughs]
Ben
And that's the big thing for me! Like, they were kind of having a fight and most of it was Pran’s insecurity because Pran is a little bit embarrassed about what he's asked Pat to do for him. And they get over that almost immediately. They get to Pha Pun Dao. They see Tian and Phupha and they're like, “Oh, man. These guys are older than us, but they're like…four episodes behind us. [laughs] So, we got to catch these gays up quick!” And they—they instantly get over whatever their beef is and they start playing out their kinks the way they always do. They start cosplaying as Tian and Phupha…and flirting with each other.
Nini
And they do in the end have a little bit of a resolution to their…really not much of a fight, fight. And, there's two resolutions, really.
The first resolution is the resolution they get in Pha Pun Dao which is, “Look, I can't fucking live without you, and you can't fucking live without me, and we agree on that. So, let's dead the shit.” And they did! And it was fine, because the shit was never really live in terms of a fight being live in the first place. They were fucking their way through that whole fight…and that's how they deal with things, and it works for them, and it's fine.
And then they get a second resolution that Phupha gives them—a gift—which is, “I get to be in the open with you, even if it's just on stage. I get to be a lover in public.” And it works for me.
Ben
They even tried to redeem Wai a little bit.
Nini
It's still fuck Wai forever in these parts.
Ben
[laughs] He doesn't drop the curtain this time. Instead, he's like, “Give the people the kiss they need!”
Nini
It's still fuck Wai forever in these parts. [laughs]
Ben
And it's interesting, too, in terms of that particular gift. It works out in a couple of ways because Phupha gets to see a bunch of people react to their story. People are loving it. Lesbians are crying over them. One of the lesbians is moaning, “Why don't they just fuck already!”
[both laugh]
Ben
He gets to see people love them through this play, and then this gives Pran something that he's wanted: Pran his on socials after the play seeing people making fanvids about him and Pat. Which is something that he wants. He wants to be in the open with Pat because he knows that's what Pat wants, and this is the closest they're gonna get for now. And he is relieved to just see that.
But again, Pat is not worried about that. He's like, “Oh good, good. Did you get what you want?” and he's like, “All right. Let's stop fucking around with all this other stuff. Can we kiss as ourselves now?”
And they do!
Nini
We've talked a lot about Pat and Pran here and we've kind of scratched the surface on Tian and Phupha. But I really want to get into Phupha because the main thing that the special is doing is unlocking Phupha for the audience, because—like I said—all the other characters have had their arcs in the OG series that we're looking at. Only Phupha has really been holding the line, so to speak.
And this is Phupha's unveiling. It's his opening. This is Phupha getting harassed by a baby gay. Terrorized, actually, by a baby gay. Realizing that, “Oh my god. The baby gays came to town, and they fucked in a tent twenty feet away from us, and the world didn't fucking end. So maybe…I, too, can fuck my man and the world won’t end.”
[both laugh]
And then he proceeds to do just that.
Ben
I really like the way Aof went about doing it. Phupha primps himself up, rents an expensive vehicle, picks up Tian, and then goes with Tian to a cute cafe and lets Tian show him off a little bit, even if it made him a little bit nervous to be fawned over.
Nini
He let Tian, like, dress him up! Like, he let Tian take him shopping! He let Tian babygirl him a little bit. He let Tian spend a little money! It was nice!
Ben
That felt like a big deal because he mentioned it. He's like the money on one of these dishes could feed the village for a week in Pha Pun Dao, but he lets it go. Tian is actually a rich kid. This is part of what Phupha knows Tian gave up to be with him and so, when they're in Bangkok, he relents. He lets Tian dress him up like a Ken until Tian is satisfied with the look. And unsurprisingly, Tian chooses something very sleek, masculine, and comfortable for Phupha.
And then Phupha shows up and meets the parents. This is a huge deal too because Phupha was nervous about this because he feels like he took their son from them, and that he overstepped because Tian's dad was once a superior in the military. And all they say is, “We're gonna give you the thing that's most important to us. Take care of it.” And they acknowledge his filial piety to his father when Tian—when Phupha—admits that the reason he's a forest ranger is because his dad loved that mountain and felt a need to take care of it and the people who maintain it. And they were like, “Respect that.”
And then he proposes!
Nini
Okay y’all know how I feel about the BL weddings and the BL proposals. Y’all know that I am usually kind of, like, sitting in the corner, like, with my hands over my eyes. But this one, y'all, I was deep in my feelings. The tears came out. It was beautiful. I fucking loved this proposal. It was perfect.
Ben
I think I liked it because it wasn't a grand gesture in front of a bunch of people.
Nini
That's exactly why I liked it. [laughs]
Ben
It was for them. It was Phupha finally saying that he wasn't going to hold back anymore, and then they had loud obnoxious sex in the hotel room.
Nini
I just like that the loud obnoxious sex started like way before this. Like, the loud obnoxious sex started—like the idea of loud obnoxious sex of course was started by Pat, because that's Pat's entire brand. When he was walking around in the forest with Phupha, like, pretending to worry about Pran when he knows Pran is gonna be fine, and telling Phupha, like, “I mean I'm just going to sniff him out and, like, what do you mean you're not going to sniff out your man. Like, don't you know what he smells like? He smells so good.”
[both laugh]
Ben
You know, I don't think that's underlined really loudly in the show but like Pat says it quite plainly to Tian. He's like, “We don't need to go roaming around. Phupha’s experienced and good at his job, and Pran's really smart. We should really just stay here.”
[both laugh]
Like, nobody believes in Pran more than Pat.
Nini
Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Pat is like, “Listen. He's gonna be fine. I'm not particularly worried about him.” Like, both times. Both when he was wandering around in the woods with Phupha and when he was trying to get Tian to sit his ass down and be a heart patient like he's supposed to be. Both times he's just like, “I am not worried about Pran. Like, can we just focus on what the real problem is here. The real problem here is that your man is going unsniffed. Y’all are having a fight that y'all don't need to be having.”
I loved Pat’s whole energy in Pha Pun Dao. He was just like, “I'm just gonna vibe. I'm just glad to be here. I like being able to be out in the open with Pran. We are literally a million miles away from Bangkok. I can just be out here and just love on Pran the way that I feel like lovin’ on Pran—”
Ben
“I'm here to test the structural integrity of the teacher's house.”
Nini
All of that! “I'm here to fuck in a tent and ask the next morning if I did good.” He was just vibing the entire time, and then he got the bonus vibe of running into Phupha who he has—I'm sorry—a major fucking crush on. He does. It’s canon. We're gonna leave it at that. He brought the sex pest fairy godmother energy to Pha Pun Dao, and he's just like, “Listen, y'all are having a fight. Have you tried fucking about it? I have found that to be a very—”
[Ben laughs]
“—I found that to be very helpful method of solving problems. Y’all should just fuck! Give him a good old sniff. He smells real good. Have you noticed that?”
And it works! Like, Phupha at first is like, “Oh my God, get this kid away from me.”
Ben
Pat said, “Dick is not magical. It doesn't fix you. But! You look like you could use a little bit of a stress release.”
[both laugh]
Nini
And he's not wrong. And I love that despite the fact that Phupha spends the entire time being like, “Oh my God, child, get away from me. You are so annoying.” The minute Patt leaves, he's just like, “Okay. I'm [gonna] try what the kid said.”
And he does it!
Ben
He goes back to all of their most romantic moments that he downplayed previously and gives them to Tian. Tian doesn't even know what to do with it at first because they've been so cold for a while.
Nini
He takes Tian back to the waterfall, and he's just like, “You said that I sneaked to look at you and I did but I ain't sneaking now! I'ma look.” And then he goes further than that. He said, “Not only am I going to look. I am going to make sure that you get a good look.”
Ben
[singsong] Take a good hard look!
Nini
And like, like you said at first Tian is like, “What is happening here?” because Phupha is being so open, which I don't think he's ever been before.
Ben
And, like, Phupha was kind of manipulative about it because he made Tian relent and so Tian thought he was being, like, punished at first. Like, Phupha was teasing him because Tian's never made his attraction really quiet.
And then they finally get the stern dicking they've been needing. And Phupha…steals a line from the kids: “What's my score for last night?”
Nini
It was so fun. And Tian is just like, “Your what?” Like, Tian is fully enjoying this and I love that for him because one of the things I think people forget throughout the course of A Tale of Thousand Stars is that the Tian who starts the tale—he's sexy! Tian at the beginning of the story, he's got this edge to him. The sexy edge, and that kinda gets whittled away a little bit in Pha Pun Dao. But, that's still who he is.
And I like that at the end of the tale when we get here to the epilogue that he gets to be that again. He gets to pull out that sexy edge that is part of him and use it on his man. Like, he babygirls him, he takes him shopping, and then, when he lookin’ all nice, he leans into him and he be like, “You're real handsome. Do you have a boyfriend?” And I'm just like this is Tian! This is Tian that I remember!
Ben
And then he pushes Phupha in that bed, and he's like, “I've been waiting for five years. I'm ‘bout to get what's mine.”
[both laugh]
Nini
Phupha’s like, “What are you doing?” He's like, “Don't worry about it.” [laughs]
Ben
He’s like, “Don't worry about it, babygirl. I’ma take care of you tonight.”
[both laugh]
Nini
And I love that. I love that so much. Phupha is, like, panicked about it for a minute, and he's like [sighs]. He's decides. He's like, “Let go, let flow.” He's like, “All right. This how you want it?” and Tian's like, “Uh-huh,” and he's like, “All right, let's do this!” [laughs] I loved It. I loved it so much.
I love that at this stage of his life Phupha just learns to like—you know what? He's like, “Sometimes you just gotta un-fucking-clench.” And he just, he lets it all go.
Ben
I don't usually like talking about sexual positions around here because…of the way people project onto them, but I really like the implication in the final scene that this might be the first time Phupha really switches with Tian in a way that's also him emotionally… because you do have to unclench if you want to enjoy that particular act.
Nini
[laughs] In more ways than one!
Ben
It works really well because of the proposal. Like, Phupha's putting it all in the line. He's actually putting himself on the line. And he's going to be a complete partner to Tian, and is also going to relent and let Tian have some of the things that he wants.
Like Tian is happy in Pha Pun Dao. He doesn't hate their lives there. He just says, “I want you to come home and see my parents once a year. It's important to me. I just want you to come down for that. And when we're here, let me treat you nicely.”
Like, even if their lives aren't gonna always be there—like Tian may someday have to take care of the responsibilities of his parents getting older. But, I feel better about them facing that now as two people who are fully committed to each other than Phupha’s whole waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop thing all the time.
Nini
I just…really liked…getting to see…Phupha just…be… We never get to see him just be. Once he internalizes what Pat and Pran say to him, at every point from then what we see is him getting to just be. Yeah, in a slutty way—which I personally enjoy. But also just not worrying so much about what the things he's doing say about him. And yeah, there are, like, moments of that, like, when they get to the play and the curtain goes up, you see him starting to, like, freak out a little bit. But as the play goes on he relaxes.
I like that he leans into both the relaxed energy and the slutty energy, because I feel like the slutty energy is incredibly important. Like, one of the things that I really enjoyed about the final episode of the crossover was that mosquito net moment because—
Ben
Oh my God…finally.
Nini
That's so many things! That's Aof acknowledging that he was maybe slightly too precious with their sexuality in A Tale of Thousand Stars. That's Aof acknowledging that, maybe yeah, they should have kissed there. That's also Phupha acknowledging a bunch of stuff. That's also Tian getting to recast those moments in his mind.
Ben
I also love that Aof basically gave them the Bad Buddy post-credits scene.
Nini
Now, everybody’s saying that, but to me I just remember that the A Tale of Thousand Stars post-credits scene wasn't sideways either. Like, they wrastled in that A Tale of Thousand Stars post-credits scene. Like, Tian had to ask for the dick but he got it.
Ben
I'm just very satisfied by the outing this time.
Nini
I really, really enjoyed it, and I think that a lot of the Sturm und Drang around it is because of these ideas—again once again—these ideas about balance, and feeling like it was maybe unbalanced between Pat and Pran, and Tian and Phupha. But I don't think those ideas of balance are relevant to what Aof was trying to do here. I think that using Pat and Pran—who are a solid, established couple who we know are pulling through anything because we've seen their future already—using them as a conduit, or a catalyst, or a support to pull Tian and Phupha through a hurdle that could break them. I was fine with it in the end.
Like, I went through a lot of like—you know. I mean, you know because you were in these discussions with me and you and the clowns, like, sort of pulling through, like, how we feel about this.
Ben
Everybody else is having a difficult time. I was vibing so hard for like—[laughs] for like two weeks! Everybody else is like, “Oh I don't like this episode!!” Like, everybody was mad after episode 3! Me…I thought that episode was great. They're like, “I hate how long they were lost in the woods.” I'm like, “Well, that was the whole point.”
They were lost in the woods. They were all circling around an issue, and the issue is really simple. Like, just sit still and let other people find you. Because that's what you need to do, baby gays, sometimes, it's sit still so we can fucking find you! And help you!
[both laugh]
Ben
All right! Let's talk about the actors.
Nini
Watching these four get to vibe together. I want to see it. And not just the four of them vibing together, but…the…pairings because they gave us like a mix and match. So, they gave us every single pairing that you could get out of these four actors, and everyone was delightful and delectable. And I enjoyed every single one of them, but I particularly enjoyed pairing Ohm with Earth.
Ben
I really liked… the pairing of Nanon and Mix, and I don't know what we need to do to see those two work together again, but I would like to see the two of them take on meaty characters together.
Nini
I mean they're gonna be in The Jungle together.
Ben
Are they? Well well well…
Nini
Yeah, maybe you might have to watch The Jungle. [laughs]
Ben might have to watch a straight show!
Ben
No…we just did that! It sucked!
[both laugh]
Ben
I loved Mix in this. Like, we've seen MIx and Earth together a couple of times, and you talked about this during episode two. Their drunken walk home together felt like Phupha and Tian, not Jim and Wen.
Nini
They made it feel so different, even with similar framing, even with similar camera work, even with the same actors, and the same director. They made that moment feel completely different from Jim and Wen's moment doing the same activity, and I—hats off, I bow down. I appreciate actors—y’all know that.
Ben
I like how all four of them managed to make their dynamics feel lived in.
Like, Pat and Pran felt settled. Like, they have some long-term difficulties to deal with—some of which are never gonna go away—but it was kind of interesting for me knowing that they're rock solid by the end of BB 12 that you can see them starting to get there now. Where Pran is nervous that this can't work forever because Pat is too loud. He…needs to be loud about stuff.
But, like, you can see the signs here of them giving themselves openings. Here, like with the play, with Pat going home to his dad later and giving him the liquor that Pran got in Singapore, loudly climbing through Pran's window when he comes back to Bangkok…to go play with his guitar in his room.
Nini
Pat needs to be loud. Pran knows Pat needs to be loud. And the journey that they're setting off on through the special—I can't even say that it culminates in Bad Buddy 12 ‘cause it doesn't. It continues in Bad Buddy 12, but it culminates at some point in a future that we don't get to see. And there's something to be said about Aof putting that way-way off…and the things that he wants to say to the baby gays and the elder gays.
Hoo! Man, I've been feeling Aof lately. Like, Moonlight Chicken, like, unraveled something in me. And going back to some of his earlier works in the light of Moonlight Chicken because part of the whole point of the crossover—and of crossovers in general—but in this particular crossover is intertextuality. When we were talking about Bad Buddy. When we were, like, thick in the things of Bad Buddy. We're talking about text and subtext and metatext working together to tell this story, and the thing that didn't become a part of that story—there were hints of it, mostly in the Pa and Ink storyline—but the thing that was hinted at, but not really fully grasped onto, was intertextuality.
Like, the conversation that different pieces of art are having between themselves. And one thing that this special—that the crossover delves into now—is the intertextuality.
Ben
I particularly like it because you have two leads interacting with each other and I find that sometimes we can get a little too archetypical about the leads of shows. By forcing the audience to consider who Pat and Pran are relative to Tian and Phupha, it forces you to revisit how you've been viewing them the whole time. Like, Pran thinking that he was Tian, and us maybe getting a little too caught up in that. Because, like we called it at the end of the first episode! We're like, “Why does he look so much like Tian? That feels off.” And it was off!
Oh. I wasn't trying to make a pun there.
He's not like Tian. Like, as soon as I saw them I was like, “Why would they compare him to Tian? He doesn't feel like Tian to me?” I was right! And so, we get to the end of this whole shebang, and I am having a blast. Like I'm watching people having to sort themselves out like “Did I like this? Did I not like this?”
I was drinking a mojito, having a good time, after this ended. I was drunk at the reception hanging out with some lesbians.
Nini
I mean in the end is it not the place that you want to be? I feel like it all worked out super well, and one of the reasons that it worked out super well is that these two stories had to be in some ways told together. And yeah, one got a little subsumed to the other. But that's the way that it had to be at this point in time.
Ben
I think it was pragmatic.
Nini
Yeah, I think if we had caught up with them and done this crossover at a different stage in each of their relationships a different problem would have come to the surface, and maybe a different arrangement of the two couples might have happened. And that's also something that we need to think about in terms of the specifics of when in the story narrative and the timeline of the stories that Aof chose to set this particular crossover.
When it comes to Aof I'm always thinking about what he's trying to do, because one of the things that has been very clear to me throughout his oeuvre, but particularly in Bad Buddy, is that…he is always going to tell the story that he wants to tell. He's not overly concerned about making it fit into certain narrative structures. He's not overly concerned about making it fit into audience expectations. He wants to tell certain stories, and that's what he's gonna do. And that was made very clear to me with Bad Buddy 12, because that defied every narrative expectation—every audience expectation—to speak a truth that Aof had on his spirit.
Ben
The other thing for me—this is the part where I’m gonna get a little bit grumpy again. It is expensive to make television. Like, the biggest thing that stands out to me with all of Our Skyy is how stripped-down all of it looked.
Like they filmed in like one or two locations at most it felt like half the time, and they had really short filming schedules, and everybody had to be good very quickly. There's not a lot of runup time. It feels like people just brought whatever they still had left from the last performance and they just ran with it. Everybody had to be really good, and it's expensive to film on that mountain. And so Aof needed to justify that particular crossover, by using the most potent talent he had.
Like, there's a huge Bad Buddy fandom. There's a pretty solid contingent of people who like A Tale of Thousand Stars. And for A Tale of Thousand Stars to get something good, he needed to merge the Bad Buddy budget with the Thousand Stars budget.
But also, they didn't want to touch their ending, which is why he sets Bad Buddy before its ending, but Tian and Phupha only at the beginning of their romance when we leave them. They have more work to do, so they can have an epilogue story that really hammers into some really interesting stuff, which we just spent the last hour or so talking about.
But it's done really efficiently! Like for the most part we all seem to enjoy Our Skyy, and they manage to do that with their limited budget. Like Pat and Pran are in a different room because it's probably cheaper to use this room. There's less people in Pha Pun Dao this time. Au is running around in the background as an extra! Wasn't he the damn director of the Kwan and Riam play? [shushes] Don't pay attention to that. A bunch of guys are running around with masks on—that's probably just crew members!
Nini
I did sort of love that chewing gum and string energy these productions can bring that is really sort of the heart of the Our Skyy franchise. I feel like I like that because to me that means it's for the art. If you're going to do this on chewing gum and string it's because you really fucking care. Like if you're going to do a story like this on string and chewing gum, it's because you really want to tell this fucking story. And in the end that's where I land on the vast majority of Our Skyy 2.
Ben
So what's our final verdict on Our Skyy then? Worth it? Not worth it?
Nini
Before we get to our final verdict on our Our Skyy, we didn't give our final verdict on the crossover.
Ben
Oh, it's a 10. [slams desk and laughs]
Nini
It's a 10! It's a 10! It's a 10! Let's just—let's just—let's let it go. Right? It's a 10 for drama and a 10 for crack because what is more cracky than a crossover? And so it averages out to 10. Have I got quibbles with it? Yes. Do they, in the grand scheme of things, matter to my enjoyment of it? Absolutely not. It's a 10—point blank period.
Ben
It didn't waste my time. They set out a really interesting premise: what if Tian published his diary? What if “lonely queer looking for meaning and community” Pran found it? What if he met them? What do they do if they meet each other? Like, they follow through on that in a way that gave us so much to talk about for two weeks.
And it was fun seeing the whole fandom come alive and see people revisit characters! It was fun seeing people change their opinions on Phupha, and even Earth and Mix as the result of watching this. That was so much fun.
Nini
It was delightful. It was enjoyable. It was meaningful. It was narratively enjoyable at least for me, it was a 10. I loved it and one of the things that I love most about it is that Pat gets to lick Pran's finger this time.
Ben
Oh my god.
Nini
I mean, it's just the slutiness of it all! Pat gets to lick Pran's finger. Phupha gets to touch his titties in a sexy kind of way. They get to make out with that damn mosquito net, and I enjoyed every single second of it. I laughed, I cried, I…felt warmth deep inside.
1:59:13 - Overall Score for Our Skyy 2
Nini
All that said, in terms of the overall—let’s give an overall score for Our Skyy 2. Ben, what do you think?
Ben
With the caveat that you should only really engage with the Our Skyy content if you liked the original show, it's a 9.
Like, I didn't like Vice Versa and I didn't like Star in My Mind when I watched them the first time, and so everything I didn't like about those shows was present in their Our Skyy offerings. I don't think it's very fair of me to be especially mean about their Our Skyy offerings when they are in line with what the audience has been taught to expect. If the audience likes that more power to them. But for the six shows that I genuinely liked, I had a good time with these.
Like, the weakest shows in this that I had a hard time with on the front end were A Boss and a Babe and Never Let Me Go. And I really liked what Jojo did with Never Let Me Go, and I thought that A Boss and a Babe actually had a really interesting story this time. But I loved The Eclipse and I thought Golf was great with this outing. I thought the cast was great in The Eclipse outing, and I felt like that about Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars, and I felt like that about My School President.
I had a great time! It gets a 9 overall. Like, there are quibbles—it's not always the best thing, and it forces you to maybe look back at a show and alter the way you felt about it. And if you'd rather lock the show in a mental prism of where you last left it, maybe don't watch these offerings? But if you grow and change, and you kind of want to imagine what your characters are like if they also grow and change, then maybe it's worth checking out for you.
It's a 9. Highly recommended.
Nini
For you, the score is always about a recommendation. For me, it's always about do I like this? How much do I like this? And for me, for the vast majority of Our Skyy, I fuckin’ loved it. So I also give it a 9. I don't have any caveats about recommending it to anybody or anything like that. I just had, for the most part, a whale of a fucking time. And so, it's a 9! I enjoyed myself!
So kind of in our own form of intertextuality harkening back to our Season 2: Electric Boogaloo episode of the Spring Series, and talking about sequels. So, Ben, after Our Skyy 2, how are you feeling about sequels?
Ben
Enthusiastic? [laughs] I mean, come on, man, like, this was fucking good. We need to think about how these characters stay together. That can be so rewarding to think about and it's good for the audience to think about it.
I hope we see Pat and Pran in 10 years after their little sprout has blossomed, and maybe they're considering something else. I'm totally down to return to characters every couple of years for check-ins. That totally works for me, and I think that there is value in transitioning the types of stories we tell with characters over time, because they're going to face a variety of situations over time, so it can be so, so rewarding for us as viewers to go on those new journeys with them.
Nini
How do I…feel about sequels? Again, it's the same way I always feel. I feel like when there's story still to tell, I'm ready to see it. I'm ready to hear it. And if I feel like there isn't anything left to say, then I'm not interested. That's largely where I landed with the Our Skyy episodes for the most part where I felt like there was story left to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed getting that story and then those, like Star in My Mind, where I felt like there was no story, I wasn’t really interested.
So, do I feel pumped about sequels and the whole idea of following these boys into the “staying together” part of things? Yes, that's something that I'm always going to enjoy, and if that means conflict, I am fine with that. I enjoy watching them navigate that, whether the conflict is minor or major, I am having a blast with that in my mind.
And…I can't wait for Our Skyy 3.
That is going to wrap us up on the Our Skyy 2 episode. Y'all are going to hear the edited version of this, but I just want you all to know that we've been talking for three hours, and we've been having a great time. See y’all in the next one. Say bye to the people, Ben.
Ben
Welcome back, my boyfriend!
Nini
[laughs] Bye.
#podcast#our skyy 2#bad buddy#a tale of thousand stars#my school president#the eclipse#vice versa#star in my mind#never let me go#a boss and a babe#thai bl#bl series#ben and nini's conversations#the conversation#on art#season 3#summer 2023#summer series#Spotify
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I'm kinda curious,do you have any headcanons about kosovo's personality? ( and any headcanons about his relations with other balkan countries?)
KOSOVO:
2008 he moves out of the house shared with his brother in Belgrade, sacrifices comfort and prestige for own respect and independence: lives in a 10m² interesting flat in Pristina with high-end communist interior.
The type of guy who chronically doesn't care for anything, we have a word for it in russian - "похуист".
He seems twisted, evil, but once you get to know him you realise he is simply a loser idiot.
Ironically very co-dependent, cannot function on his own. (I take this from the fact that USA rules over him, it is basically a colony, Kosovo will never be fully independent as in: free from any foreign influences)
Since the flat is... peculiar, he spends most of his time at Bondsteel, but travels to other places more lately, because his big brother tends to call there too often. He can't run away from him, though. Ever. (everyone has that one aunt/uncle...)
About the edginess of Kosovo that is generally agreed on: I think it is not based on anything. The "albanian organ dealer" trope is a bit old and used up, in my opinion. Basing an entire character on just that is lame. Kosovars are not albanian mafia which makes up a really important part in Germany, Italy etc. I sincerely doubt Kosovo could run anything on his own, and crime is a very hard business. He is very disorganised, hence he doesn't have organised crime. Only mess-crime.
"Edgy - something or someone trying too hard to be cool, almost to a point where it's cringe worthy.". Yeah now that I read the definition I agree, that sentence sums up Kosovo's history perfectly.
Pushes the family away, but a simple "no" to his big brother never works. His nerves can't take it anymore.
Fights back to his brothers "nazi" and pathological love in a teenager way: window breaking, graffiti, car trashing, pranks, writing angry songs, cyber bullying, smoking cigarettes, drinking. Arson.
Never spends more than 48 hours in jail. His big brother always gets him out of there and he never thanks him.
The attention he gets from both his superiors (NATO and Serbia) actually compliments him and he feels special.
Since he is 18, he tried to get a drivers license but never passed the practical exam. He's driven a car since he was 9 years old, he could pass it easily, but he always comes to the exam intoxicated (Ozzy Osbourne syndrome). Gave up after the 5th time and now drives his lawnmover to the parties.
The parties he visits look like this: four cars in a parking lot, people sitting in the trunks, drinking cheapest beer/anything containing % and it's always only guys. Someone blasts chalga from the car speakers. He has gotten 29 tickets for public drinking, and Vuk pays for every single one of them.
Cuts goat throats with Enis, then films the blood flowing from the neck slowly. (it's a muslim thing) Shares the videos to his american friends and they hate it.
Vuk insisted for him to attend a prestigious officer high school. Needless to say he traumatised the entire school, failed every grade, inflicted damage to property and to people and only graduated because his brother is a powerful man. 4 of his teachers quit teaching. He attended with Ilija in the same school. Ilija still attends it since he is 2 years younger. Everyone hates both of them.
Got his hot-headedness after Vuk. He is antisocial and paranoid after Albania. Also isolated a bit for that reason, but not as much as Albania itself. His resentment and how he exhibits it is a product of both of these nations.
KOSOVO RELATIONS:
Serbia - die
USA - God bless (even though he is fully used by them no better than Serbia, just a marionette. He couldn't even keep his original flag)
Albania - God bless
Bosnia - Does not give a fuck about
Croatia - Does not give a fuck about. NATO collegues
Etc
He is a loner with issues. Just like Albania. Albania doesn't even like having him around because of his many, many problems. Hence he doesn't have many relations. Blindly submits to anyone in NATO.
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In defense of Garp. And his establishing moment.
(Contains Spoilers up until Marineford and some for after the time-skip, read at your own risk)
I know a lot of people don’t like Garp and they are not without reason for it. But I feel that he gets too much hate for originally choosing to side with the Marines over his family.
It’s an intended moral dilemma in the story and just because we would have done differently doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. In fact, from where he was standing there may not have been such a thing as the “right one”
Garp has been in the Marines for decades and betraying your own as well as your convictions was established from the start as one of the worst crimes you can commit
What’s more, Garp isn’t just “a marine”, he’s THE Marine. He understands that when people think “Marines and their justice” he’s the face to first pop up, that’s what his convictions have led to.
And unlike us, he doesn’t have the benefit of a story told from the perspective of good natured pirates and knowing the way into a new era. (He likely won’t be there to see the world and the Marines change as much as it will and he knows it.)
What he does have is years of persecuting unrepentant criminals who are mostly unlike Luffy and Whitebeard. This great pirate era does have the potential of being “romantic” if you have Luffy’s disposition for wondrous adventure and freedom. But that’s because he is unique and redefines what pirates can be, every fantasy has to contend with reality.
It should also be noted that this is not the kind of pirates that inspired Luffy to be one but Shanks, who is also considered an anomaly. Most of us wouldn’t have such an unconventional role model and instead have the Marines to look up to if we were regular people in-universe.
Garp was stuck in a place where, no matter what side he took, he would be betraying someone; his family who took their choice feeling it was the right one, or his lifelong comrades and friends in the force with whom he shared some ideals.
In the end he couldn’t completely choose one and tried to take a middle ground to allow Luffy to reach Ace without dishonoring his position.
He’s also not the only marine who has his doubts regarding them and most of those who do still choose to stay with them because it feels like the right thing. Like Smoker, Koby and Kuzan, who took years to decide to leave even after Ohara. And his decision to side with Blackbeard is also questionable.
Now don’t get me wrong, as much as I love Garp, he’s still reprehensible for some things like his “tough love” and abuse to his grandsons, which traumatized Luffy and played into part of his choice to be a pirate.
At the same time, there’s some true affection for each other and Garp took a route most others in his place wouldn’t when faced with the son of the Pirate king, which is why Roger told Garp specifically about Ace.
Garp is just like his relationship with Luffy, messed up, complicated and self-contradictory. He’s a D. on the Marines, that alone should be enough to tell you how much of a contradiction he is by design.
One of my personal favorites moments with Garp is one that’s not talked about a lot, the moment his character is established.
It’s put as a comedic moment but it perfectly sums up who Garp is, he’s impulsive, irrational and even violent and inconsiderate in the worst cases. But the fact his subordinates address him this casually shows he doesn’t consider himself above others and prefers to address everyone as an equal. He’s also not completely unreasonable and ultimately takes responsibility for what he does.
You’re welcome to disagree with me on this, but remember to keep it civil.
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My theory for what is going on in S1 of IWTV (and what could happen in the next seasons)
So I was re-reading the last few pages of IWTV to grab inspiration for a drawing and I realised I have forgotten something very important: that it was actually Armand who wanted to get Louis (who was already done with Armand and with life in general) back to NOLA, so that Louis could feel "alive" again (and maybe don't abandon him) by remembering all the passion and rage he felt once back then. Now, I think this situation mirrors perfectly the one we have going on in Dubai in the present day. If so, it would make sense for Armand to make Louis revisit the interview and manipulate his memories so his resentment and anger against Lestat would grow stronger (re: episode 5) not just for the sake of jealousy but like in a messed up way Armand thinks is helping Louis out of his apathy that is slowly dragging him to his own destruction ("the vampire is bored"). This is actually something so in character for Armand to do. Let's not forget that this is the same vampire that cut Nicolas' hands off just because, acording to Lestat, he thought he was helping him recovering his sanity. Nevertheless, Louis feels guilty for whatever he did or happened to Lestat (he's convinced that he's dead, probably) ("am I the man you came to kill? I did a terrible thing once, it wouldn't surprise me"), and no amount of dreadful memories would make Louis hate Lestat, he just doesn't allow himself to ("are we the sum of our worst moments?")
That being said, I do think Louis is accomplice, at least in some extent. I believe that Louis, with his natural passivity (aggravated by his emotional state), just let Armand do whatever he wanted (I like to think there's some sort of agreement too anyways). But at the end of the day Louis is just determined to do what he wants, that is, put an end to his existence ("you're chronicling a suicide", "what do you think will happen when you publish this book?" etc.)
However, Louis didn't expect Daniel's questions to be able to tear down the carefully curated narrative he had built to both, keep Armand satisfied and achieve his own purpose: to die as someone who wasn't hated by his daughter for having failed her, basically. After all, he remembered Danny as a rather mediocre journalist. Funny enough, the moments when Louis reaches the state of rage Armand could probably be trying to induce by disturbing his memories, are actually because of Daniel and it is then when Armand has to intervene to soothe him so he won't hurt Daniel. Armand is juggling between keeping Louis by his side and also keeping Daniel safe from Louis's anger.
The thing is, this whole situation is 100% compatible with Devil's Minion: once Armand knew of Louis's intentions, he could have easily asked Louis to repeat the interview so he could finally turn Daniel ("this time I won't save your life") and take him as a companion once Louis was gone (don't get me wrong, I believe Armand wants Daniel genuinely but I think it's just the perfect excuse to set it all up). They could also have an agreement for when it was the right moment for Armand to stop being Rashid ("please, stop Rashid"). I love the little game the writers layed out for us with the dialogue in Dubai, when we can't be sure who Rashid is actually talking to (if Daniel or Louis) or the sentences that lead to equivocal interpretations ("please, stop Rashid" again, or " are you awake? "I can be".) I believe most of this season's inconsistencies hide in those little exchanges. Their conversation could still be ambiguous in S2 though but in another sort of way, maybe taking advantage of Danny's growing confusion having to face his own memories.
With this, we would have the penthouse sort of fixed up. We would still have the basement left and whatever it's going on with Lestat. If things go more or less like I wrote, it's not hard to imagine that Lestat will appear just in time to save Louis at some point in S2 and from then on, he will proceed to tell his story to Louis in S3. If Louis gets injured, they could make them have Their Own Conversation while Louis is healing an Lestat is taking care of him. As for the basement, I do believe The Groan are Those Who Must Be Kept and that Louis and Armand are the ones in charge of keeping an eye on them now. Danny could take Louis' place in S3 so he and Armand could have their own plot doing this task, maybe Marius could join them too somehow or even introducing the Talamasca. I also believe (it's more a really really strong hope tho🤞) that we won't have to wait till S3 to see actual glimpses of Lestat's past. If the writers are generous and smart enugh they could make Claudia and Louis bump into Gabrielle while in Europe. And there will be plenty of opportunities for them to know more about Nicolas in the theatre: from finding his written plays, a portrait of him or even reading a member of the coven's mind for actual vivid pictures. This would make an hypothetical conversation between Louis and Lestat way more rich and interesting.
#interview with the vampire#iwtv theories#iwtv speculation#pinning this here so I can hold onto something when I feel like I'm losing my mind and nothing makes sense 🙃#iwtvamc
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Yesss ask game time: 25, 41, 78
Thank you so much for your patience Vex!!!! Here’s the first round of answers for you:
25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?
My favorite parts are probably the ones that feel the most good, and for me there are two main ones: the first is when I start the writing process on new a project (often I’m pantsing so no outlining here baby) and I’m brimming with ideas so oftentimes I’ll end up writing 2-3k in a day… the prose I write at this point usually only ends up requiring minimal edits because it’s all so clear in my head and I feel powerful & accomplished haha. Of course that tapers off eventually and then the rest of the draft will be a lot of messy throwing spaghetti at the wall and will require a lot of tedious editing to clean up and it’s the worst. But then that’s where that second favorite part of the process comes in: once I finish untangling the rough draft and I have a second draft done, that’s when I start to feel much better about the project again, since usually that first pass involves a lot of cringing 😂 So being able to see that light at the end of the tunnel and watching it all finally click into place feels GREAT! Finishing the thing? Best feeling ever!!
41. Who’s your favorite character you’ve written?
In the last meme I answered a similar question, but I think I’ll be more specific this time:
I really loved writing Erwin in The Upper Hand because it was fun to depict him calmly going along with all this weird fucked up shit but since he’s such a cool badass and has a guy like Levi who trusts him intrinsically, all he has to do to win is watch his opponents fall on their own swords. It’s fun to write such a cunning character (even if I just do it for dumb horny shit so in this instance cunning mostly just means shameless haha.)
I said last time I love writing Achilles, particularly his complex emotional state in Where The Dead Forget, but I also enjoyed making him more awful and self-centered in Closest To My Heart. Writing Patroclus & the unstable, erratic mess that he is in Closest To My Heart was probably my singular most fun writing experience to date, period 😂
78. What motivates you during the writing process?
Knowing that the downs will be followed by ups if I keep at it with patience and persistence. Reminding myself that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Early on in my writing endeavors, a friend of mine sent a graphic that perfectly sums up the process, and I keep it on my phone home screen and it’s my “hang in there, baby!” motivational poster equivalent 😂 For my longfic specifically, my dream is to make a bound copy of the finished work for myself, just so I can have something physical that I Made on my shelf… so hopefully that’ll be the carrot that will entice me to make it all the way 😤🔥
Here’s my motivational graphic btw:
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So,
I’d like to talk about Zero. Major Zero. Just as I threatened said, I would. Zero absolutely fascinates me on so many levels.
My headcanon essays aren’t rants. I do want to make that clear. I write them because I adore these characters. The good, the bad, the confusing, and all the messes in between. If nothing else, these can all largely be summed up as: LOOK HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS. LOOK HOW MUCH FUN I’M HAVING.
Anyway.
Given that every MGS character gives me an ungodly amount of brain worms, that’s not hard. It’d be so easy to say he’s ‘a well done villain’ and leave it. But I’m the sort of person who sorta treats MGS characters like this, even the most mindlessly evil ones.
Because to me personally, I see them as complicated in motivation, in personality. They are not good people *save a genuine handful throughout the series*. I don’t believe they were written, nor intended to be, and I genuinely appreciate them in all their grey and black glory. I like that you aren’t hand-fed characters personalities, that they change and alter over time the way people would adapt to their situations, their worlds. And that at the end of the day, their war criminals in a war machine and (save for maybe Huey) willing to admit or at the very least somewhat understand.
(I’d also note that a story protagonist does not have to be a good, nor innocent person, but I already think that MGS handles that perfectly well in general) Regardless, my focus here is still on Major Zero. Who I think managed to end up being one of the most terrifying characters in the series. Which is saying a lot, considering the rooster of people we’re dealing with. Also pretty impressive considering the man is essentially comatose after 1976. Right up until Big Boss pulls his life support in 2014.
But that doesn’t negate the system he created, the projects he invented, and the intense sway he had over both people, and information for decades before that. It’s also worth considering that he was working with people like, Skull Face. Sure, Zero makes some claims about not knowing how off the rails or dangerous Skull Face was, but I’d also like to point out that the Vocal Chord Parasite wasn’t originally Skull Face’s creation.
It was Zero’s. Or, to be more specific, the will of his predecessors.
Essentially, Skull Face ended up taking an already pre-existing entity his superiors had created, and turned it into a beast beyond which they’d comprehended themselves. Skull Face also poisons Zero around this time with the fake pin badge. Something disguised as a gift, as Zero’s paranoia had him in deep hiding himself. (All messages via cut out, after all).
In the MGS Fandom Wiki, Cipher is defined as follows:
Cipher is responsible, in series for the following:
Les Enfants Terribles
Peace Walker
Ground Zeroes (I will note here that this was not Zero himself, but Skull Face after having gone rogue. Any incidence after that had nothing to do with Zero himself, I’ll note them only for the specifics of the organization at large)
The Phantom Pain (Vocal Chord Parasite, Attempted Annihilation/Genocide of Humans via biochemical warfare)
And by the 2000′s, Cipher is largely AI controlled alone.
Zero’s real specialty is in controlling information, I pointed it out here, but I want to go into much more detail in this post. Because while it might not seem like much, there’s a great deal of implication to information control, and it has a very real component in society today. There is no stretch to believe governments can control information, and while MGS is fictional, the things Zero does certainly have some real world basis.
He covers up the Ground Zero’s attack, and freely admits not everyone bought the story. (Sorry for using links here it’s too easy to hit image limit on this website). When speaking in the tapes to Skull Face, he’s fairly candid since, at this point, he trusts Skull Face as his XO and we get some general insight into how he views people and their own beliefs.
There’s a quiet arrogance to this statement I personally can’t fathom, but can imagine someone who truly believes himself in a position where he’s got people all figured out. Seems to believe that the world operates on a hive-mind that he can feed provided he and his network are in charge of that hive mind.
Now, I don’t feel like Cipher’s desire to unite the world is inherently a bad thing. A world where we are all equal, regardless of country, birth, status, race, sexuality. In this Zero is not so different from others. The MSF, Diamond Dogs, FoxHound. All of these entities surpass the ideology of nations being borders, and take people as people.
Where it gets out of hand and out of control (much as Big Boss himself would later in life with the concept of Outer Heaven) is that in Zero’s perfect world, someone is still in charge. People are told what to do, how to think, how to behave and how to operate. So people are united under a single banner, but that banner has people like Zero at the helm, and within that helm, are a bunch of suppressed people without free will.
THAT is where the issue arises. Interestingly enough, I don’t know if I can cast Zero in the light as some power-hungry dictator. What makes Zero so complicated (and by extension so scary) is his desire isn’t driven because he wants people bowing and kowtowing at his feet, but because he seems to honestly, genuinely believe he’s doing what the Boss wanted. Because, as it is with Big Boss, Zero seems to have held some mild obsession with her (and his own obsession with Big Boss), to have her dream carried out. Even though, much like Big Boss, Zero misunderstood it entirely.
It’s also telling that, for as immoral as Ocelot is, and as ruthless, there is one distinction he can make from Zero. Ocelot, fundamentally understands and even seems to value that people are people.
That machines breed nothing but trouble in the long run if they are going to think FOR you. (MGS4 turns a lot of this into a more muddled mess, but that’s a different post and more complicated than I can sum up here, but I still believe Ocelot was intentionally bringing down the system in MGS4, so, anyway).
For all Zero’s talk, his desires, he seems to fail to recognize that humans are going to be humans. Messy, complicated. Confusing. Does Zero over simply humans? Hard to say. But I don’t think he values them very much.
Like Ocelot, however, this is also something Skull Face understands as well.
Skull Face.
Something something “worst person you know made a good point’ meme here.
Because whether Zero likes it or not, people are going to think for themselves. In a larger scale, that is part of what separates humans from animals. We have the brain power, the capacity, to think and behave for ourselves.
Humans do appreciate structure, but they do not appreciate that structure being mitigated by someone who denotes himself as being able to speak for others. Because in the end, what gave Zero that right? It isn’t like the Boss said, “Here, Zero, carry out my legacy.” he apparently came to these conclusions, these decisions, on his own.
There’s something so strange about Zero’s world view. He wants, essentially, to end individualism entirely. Blank faces, blank slates. Utterly meaningless. A gathering of NPC’s. And that will somehow bring the world peace. Again, uniting people is not a bad thing, but people can be united AND have free will. and their own individualism.
I mentioned it in my Les Enfants Terribles post, but again, I’ll expand here. Going on what was said above, Zero seems to have little regard for people overall. But he’s not nearly as docile as he presents himself. He speaks in an even, cordial tone that’s very symbolic of the ‘classic British upper crust’ that became stereotypical of British elites at one time or another, but he makes it very clear that the politeness only goes so far.
He’s incredibly manipulative, to start with. But what makes that fascinating to me is it’s subtly. A lot of what Zero says has a thinly-veiled threat behind it reminding you that for all his posh words and hand-painted tea cups, he’s a combat vet (SAS), an intelligence agent, and intellectually on the same level of manipulation as Ocelot.
See this post for the Ocelot tapes. (I’m already running out of image limits here)
How many people can genuinely claim, within the series, to be able to manipulate, much less threaten, Ocelot?
Kaz doesn’t get off scott-free either, but Zero is far more condescending with Kaz, and less willing to toy.
Not entirely sure how many ways someone could take that, but. Ok.
Except I’m not sure how truthful Zero is being here. as he knows the attack was Skull Face and was, up to this point, working with Skull Face. I COULD argue that he’s keeping Kaz safe from Skull Face, but I’m not sure about that. Mostly because of this conversation from the Skull Face and Zero recording:
I can feel your brimming confidence in Kaz from here, Zero *sarcasm*.
So what is the truth? Honestly..not sure.
Returning to the Kaz and Zero recording:
And Kaz and Ocelot start working together because Zero said so.
At this point, Venom Snake has already been created. A large part of this set up apparently is to get Kaz..to Venom. So not only is Zero manipulating him, but he’s convienently leaving out that the Snake Kaz is going to return to, is going to be another man. The double.
Played like a damned fiddle indeed.
He’s more blunt and talks to Kaz like he’s a whiny child (using his full name, threatening to hang up and then attempting to appeal a bit to his humanity to pacify him). I do regret that again, screen caps are unable to convey tone, but all of these tapes are incredibly well voice acted and you get the message very well.
Anyone can threaten, anyone can make all the statements they please, but Zero is fully willingly, and able, to carry those threats out. Enough so that Ocelot and Kaz are both aware of this, and behave accordingly.
Thinking about that, and how Zero has enough power to keep even Ocelot under thumb (at this point in the mid 1970′s at least) is a very good symbol of how strong, all seeing and all powerful he is. It worries them because it SHOULD worry them. That is the kind of unfathomable control Zero has at this point in time. Even though he knows it’s going to slip away, hence passing control over to Donald Anderson (Sigint). So while Zero himself won’t be in charge, he’s left enough instructions that what he wants to have happen in the world will continue, because that’s the sort of influence he’s got.
And ability.
When Zero was attacked, he was able to escape and take over New York, temporarily.
I think what ends up being further insidious is that Zero’s reach extends far beyond all this. Even after Zero is left virtually comatose from Skull Face’s attack, it hardly matters. Because programs put forth long before any of that happen play out exactly as he planned it. Sigint is able to take over Cipher under the AI’s and eventually the third Les Enfants Terribles child, Solidus Snake, George Sears, is made President of the United due to the will of the Patriots/Cipher.
That same program of course ends up ousting him later on. And responsible for large portions of the MGS2 story. And it’s that same program that eventually becomes the very web-controlled information network that has created the absolutely bleak setting of MGS4.
All because a man with a seemingly unfathomable desire to unify humans under the faceless, the controlled in the belief that he was following the will of a another, and could never accept that he was not only wrong about that will, but that his friend, his buddy, was still a human being. And that he too was a human being.
Obviously, we’ll never get any true insight into how Zero was thinking in regards to all of his motivations. And I do think that his feelings for his friends, and people he did care about *when he could even consider them people in the first place*, was genuine. When he says ‘Wake up soon, old friend” I do think he legitimately does see Snake as a friend. In whatever twisted, bizarre way that may be.
i think he was clever, arrogant, a touch naive and a well done antagonist. I think that the snippets and bits and pieces we get did work well for the purpose of the story, as it would be easy to overuse him and make him cartoonish. So the balance is achieved pretty well. MGS can go over the top sometimes, but in this case, I don’t think they did. I think that there’s much to chew on with Zero, because for all that he is polite, he’s deadly, dangerous, and someone you fervently would never, ever want to cross.
A bit on the nose, but Ocelot sums it all up pretty nicely here, doesn’t he?
#mgs#major zero#nates headcanons#oh look another essay from me#at idk like 11pm or w/e#i largely used MGSV caps for this if not entirely because that's honestly where 90% of the zero info comes from#hes not really mentioned in peace walker#and he's an ally in 3#theres more in mgs4 but tbh it largely restates what mgsv states already#of course 4 came first but ANYWAY#i started to get tired as i did this but I HAD TO FINISH I HAD TO#this is of course another HOT MESS but i LOVE complicated characters SO MUCH#character posts: major zero
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Character ask game! To spice things up a bit, Mads? with 1, 2, 12, 15, 18, 29 and 30?
Awesome!! You know I love Mads!! :D LONG POST AHEAD.
My first impression of them
Ok, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to go with canon Mads instead of your 2017 version (even tho 'The Mad Ducktor Thingie' was one of my first introductions to the character through fanfiction, but I didn't really know who the character was until I actually read the comics via scanlations- that helped me to appreciate and enjoy your version even more).
I read the comics with Mads in order all in one sitting (you'd linked me to the scanlations), starting with 'Friendly Threat' shortly after I began reading MDT. And I was absolutely intrigued!! He was the most dramatic/theatrical, flamboyant, queer-coded, insane character I ever had the pleasure of knowing (and I immediately connected him to your version- while acknowledging the distinction, ofc- which only increased my delight of those exact same traits and quirks in your Mads)!! His outlandish outfit, his hair, his dialogue, his movements/poses/body language, his creative variety of expressions (all which vary so much from panel to panel, and it's so creative)... he's just so INSANE, so much fun, and you can tell the artists and writers had an absolute blast with him. Something you've affectionately said a few times about him is "WHY IS HE LIKE THIS?" and I believe that's the very thing to perfectly sum him up! XD
From the very first panel I saw of the Mad Ducktor, the first voice I heard was Vincent Price, and I can't unhear it! It just suits his dramatic, queer-coded self!
When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)
His next appearance 'The Return of Mad Ducktor'! This was the one that REALLY established his zany personality, which is appropriate because he got his own body by then. And it was the first comic to hint that his ulterior motives for holding Gyro prisoner were not only to have him out of the way while he carried out his vengeance against Duck Avenger and Scrooge for his defeat when he still was part of Gyro, but vengeance on Gyro's behalf (because that's how the Mad Ducktor was originally born- from purely negative emotions buried deep in Gyro from Scrooge overworking him with no pay, which exploded in this desire for revenge against everyone who wronged or took advantage of Gyro, and it was established in 'Return of Mad Ducktor' that even Duck Avenger was just as guilty as Scrooge of not paying Gyro for his services and for calling on him at any hour that was convenient for him). Even tho he now had his own body, gaining Gyro respect was still Mads' goal, and he knew Gyro was too much of a naïve goody-goody to appreciate or understand that he was trying to make his life better (tho he probably hoped Gyro would understand that in due time), so he'd capture him in each comic to have him temporarily out of the way for his own good.
And it was the first comic to explore the complex relationship between them. The first to imply that even though he kidnapped him and gloated about his vengeance plans and mocked him and implied that he was his weaker half, he still cared about him because he was still set on gaining him the respect he deserved from others. It was literally the only way he knew how to show him he cared, because he was born from those negative emotions and those are all he knows (and in other comics, maybe 'Protocol' I think, he says something about how he's not capable of affection- even though he doesn't consciously recognize that getting revenge for Gyro is how he expresses that for him- and that only once his revenge is finished will he know true joy).
Sexuality hc!
Gay and trans (argh, I realized I forgot to list 2017 Gyro as trans in your ask about him; I'll have to go edit that).
Worst storyline they had
'Paperinik and Nik Paper Vs. the Mad Ducktor'. WTF WAS THAT HOT MESS? The artwork, the dialogue (Gyro called him an ignorant slut, WHAT??), and everyone so out-of-character... ARGH.
How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)
You know you're asking what Gyro was like as a kid, right? XD Gyro was a little on the shy side, a bit of an introvert, and the odd one out among other kids for his interest in science and inventing for being so intelligent, but he was full of curiosity and a desire to make the world a better place with his inventions (tho they didn't always go to plan, which made him a laughingstock among the kids), but his dad Fulton was always super encouraging; I can see him wanting to follow in the Gearloose family tradition of being a great inventor!
How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)
He'd definitely let his kid do whatever the hell they wanted with no limits or rules, and would encourage them- nay, raise them- to be bad. They'd bond by committing crimes and causing chaos together. :D With other kids that weren't his own, I can see him having a soft spot for kids instead of tormenting them, with a particular soft spot for the underdog-types like Gyro; he'd encourage them to get revenge if they were being bullied, and would even help them do so!
The funniest scene they had?
SO MANY CONTENDERS, AUGH. XD
Buuut...
From 'Friendly Threat'. No dialogue. His expression and frenzied button-smashing says it all. XD WTF is he on??
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Filippo for the character ask? and also Odabella because I've been thinking about her lately
Filippo:
favorite thing about them: one of the most complex, vividly human characters to have ever graced the operatic stage.
least favorite thing about them: PLEASE LEAVE THE FUCKING FLEMISH PROTESTANTS ALONE (also uh. be nice to your wife)
favorite line: *insert entirety of “Ella giammai m’amo/Elle ne m’aime pas”*
brOTP: honestly idk
OTP: therapy.
nOTP: Elisabetta? idk? this whole thing is just a MESS
random headcanon: he has Cocomelon songs stuck in his head constantly. this stems from never having a proper childhood
unpopular opinion: I don’t know? we all agree he’s Sad And Horny And Needs To Make Better Life Choices
song i associate with them: …see favorite line??? or “million years ago” by adele. sort of. although i associate that one more with violetta valéry. but i digress.
favorite picture of them:
sad boi, the one true king, Ferruccio Furlanetto <3
Odabella:
favorite thing about them: not only is she an utter badass, she takes time to connect with and understand her own emotions. she’s badass, she’s vulnerable, she’s strong, she’s self-aware, we fucking love to see it.
least favorite thing about them: WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DATING RANDOM TENOR NUMBER 463
favorite line: “Ma noi, donne italiche, cinte di ferro il seno, sul fumido terreno sempre vedrai pugnar!”
(“But you will always see us Italian women, with our breasts girded in steel, fighting on the smoky earth!”)
brOTP: Ezio.
OTP: Amelia Grimaldi from Simon Boccanegra. think about it.
nOTP: Attila (for obvious reasons) and Foresto (GIRL YOU CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER THAN HIM)
random headcanon: she was that one really awkward kid growing up, but only because she Had Not Figured Out Her Badass Power Yet
unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have one?
song i associate with them: me cheating again but both of her arias. just sum her up so PERFECTLY.
favorite picture of them:
#opera#opera tag#opera asks#once again EMBARRASSINGLY LATE sorry lmao#don carlos#don carlo#attila#verdi#giuseppe verdi
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Blame The Editor Masterpost
Index
| Current Projects
| Five Nights At Freddy’s
| Bendy And The Ink Machine
| Miscelania Fandoms
| Special Projects
| Tober Collections
/|\
| Current Projects
Prompt Roulette | Bingo
The Rules | B1 | M1 | L5 | M3 | A1 | A5 | B3 | L2 | L3 |
Terms Of Agreement
The monster under your bed, the one in the closet, and your sleep paralysis demon fight for custody. g/t, FNAF bois
Original | Rewrite Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |
To See And To Hear | Ghost Jeremy AU
Fazbear Corporation has a dark past full of death and murder. On one hand, it'd be safe to assume at least one unrestful spirit would haunt their last resting place. On the other, if they knew the plans William Afton had in store, any reason to stay should immediately be replaced with moving on as soon as possible. FNAF bois
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |
/|\
| Five Nights At Freddy’s
| Chaptered Stories
Character Introductions Canon Under FNAF bois
Eggs Benedict | Jeremy Fitzgerald | David Harrison | Scott Cawthon | James Stiller | Caleb White | Vincent Wright | The Beginning Of It All
Give An Inch
The saying of ‘give someone an inch and they go a mile’ sums up David’s life perfectly considering it has and always will be in other’s hands. Literally. g/t, FNAF bois
Part 1 | Part 2
Heart Of Gold
The lesson of the day is to not shrink a thief. g/t and FNAF bois
Part 1 | Part 2
Hand Held
Isn’t everyone supposed to be able to shrink and grow at will? No? Just Mike? g/t, FNAF bois
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
G U I D E
Jeremy in the same room as his parents never worked out well when his ‘stuttering phase’ started. And after everything he’s decided, it’d be even worse of a decision. Not to mention at a social gathering. One where he’d have to go against everything he believes. All the while knowing he’ll be tortured if he goes, or declines. In short terms Jeremy can never win. g/t, FNAF bois
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
On The Fritz
David agreed to take care of someone named Fritz. He did not sign up for being the guardian of the physical embodiment of the word ‘fritz’. g/t, FNAF bois
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Night Guards For Sale Complete
Everyone says the world is a cruel place. That if it turns its back on you, you turn your back against it. Something that’s extremely hard to do when it’s essentially impossible to escape. Not that Mike won’t fight as hard as he possibly can. g/t, FNAF bois
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8
In The Palm Of My Hand
The population of the world has reached its carrying capacity. In the need to ensure resources won’t be completely diminished, a solution was found in the form of a virus. The only true question lies in being an individual society would chose to have, or to get infected due to having no desirable traits. g/t, FNAF bois
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Mike Messed Up Complete
Mike was just another night guard waiting to be killed by the end of the week. No more, no less. The thing is, how exactly are you supposed to react to your victim never hearing Phone Guy's messages, and instead is assigned to clean the dining room long after the clock strikes midnight?
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9
Interlude
Jeremy Messed Up
Mike was just a night guard waiting to be killed by the end of the week. Now, he is the proud, and soon to be sole owner, of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Business is booming, animatronics are teeming with life, and Foxy is back in the spotlight after so many years. Even so, the dark past of Freddy's is slowly encroaching upon them. One with more ties than they could ever imagine.
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8
| Oneshots
Promise
A case study of Scott and Vincent. FNAF bois
Got Pocketed
one of the normally giants gets shrunk down by William and they have to navigate the pizzeria during a special adult only event. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
How To Care For Your Sick Scott
a thank you story featuring a feverish Scott. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
The Finer Things
Someone shrinking and just getting hit with hella enhanced smell. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
The Enigma Known As Scott
A giant manhandling a tiny, like grip too tight and inspecting everything, and putting the tiny in their pant pocket. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
Stress Ball
David needs to finally follow up on his threat on using a tiny as a stress ball. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
Animatronics vs. Tinies
THE ANIMATRONICS MUST INTERACT WITH THINE TINIES. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
David Appreciation
iam infatuated with davids character. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
Ignorance At Its Finest
Wouldn’t the smell of the giants be amplified for the smalls? Everything else is amplified. David’s cologne would be overpowering to anyone unfortunate enough to be near him. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
Getting Underfoot
you know that little gap in dress shoes… what if a tiny was under an unaware giant with dress shoes on in that gap… and they were tapping their foot. g/t, FNAF bois, ask
Unadulterated Chaos
Can we have a child (or human) beat the ever loving crap out of a big animatronic and down an entire saltshaker’s worth of pure salt ask
A New Year
To continue the tradition, a special New Year drabble to kick off 2024, curtesy of Scott. g/t, FNAF bois
To The New Year
In lieu of a new year, do you think we can have the FNAF Bois and the BATIM Bois celebrate? g/t, FNAF bois, ask
Walking Backwards
No, Scott isn’t a true giant living in a giant only district. Yes, not telling anyone he’s human is admittedly a bit dangerous. No, he’s not telling anyone. Especially Vincent. g/t, FNAF bois
The Hunter Tamer
No matter who you talk to, there’s always ways to get what you want. Bribing with money, power, or…toaster waffles. g/t, FNAF bois
And Why Not Trust Yourself
In which they learn a powerful lesson of why they should listen to Jeremy more often. FNAF bois
Beggars Can’t Be Choosers
There’s not enough of Mike torturing Scott. This is to make up for the lack thereof. g/t, FNAF bois
D To The D
You need three things when you start a D&D campaign. 1. a dungeon master. 2. a couple of friends. 3. and a few more friends you shrink to use as miniatures. g/t, FNAF bois
Fighting Lessons
A giant doing a surprisingly well job with teaching a human to fight. g/t, FNAF bois
DnD Backstory
How a cleric became loyal to the God of Favors. g/t, FNAF bois
Halloween
Halloween means a newly shrunken Jeremy who’s been hiding demands candy. Jeremy’s can’t survive without candy. g/t, FNAF bois
David’s New Pet
In which David by law adopted someone to be their guardian. It’s not his fault it sounds like he’s adopted a pet. g/t, FNAF bois
Cupaphobia
Jeremy gets trapped under a cup. g/t, FNAF bois
Family Secrets
The shortest of short size-shifter oneshot ever. g/t, FNAF bois
Give And Take
Borrowers aren’t supposed to adopt humans for obvious reasons. Yet David did. g/t, FNAF bois
Followed By A Shadow
Being apart of the second generation doesn’t automatically make everyone love an adore you. And while Lefty will do anything for Fritz, he still doesn’t know how to feel about his son. FNAF bois
To Anger A Father
Five teenagers, with four being giants and one being human, all attending a night out on a Friday unsupervised, might not be the best combination. g/t, FNAF bois
Excuses, Excuses
The fear of giants and what they’re capable of leaves most humans to live in districts only the smaller species can. Eggs grew up without interacting with their larger counterparts. Now that he has met the other, he’d like his family to at least meet one good egg. g/t, FNAF bois
Karma
Meet the Wright Brothers. FNAF bois
Aftermath
If the time-lines weren’t so ‘twisted’. With James thrown at a storyline a bit more close to how ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ is. With Marionette being a girl, and William Afton being killed by the springlocked suit. FNAF bois
Crossing No Man’s Land
Scott Cawthon didn’t have a choice. His life had been pre-planned. He never had a way to stop it. To reverse it. But he was never prepared when it started traveling in the direction he truly wanted it to. FNAF bois
F Is For Friends
A giant learning how to properly treat tinies. Even if they are evil little bi- HE MEANS angels...demonic angels. g/t, FNAF bois
Dveon
If a certain egotistical business man was faced with his head-strong wife about holding their newborn son. Who’s human. And looks fragile and absolutely microscopic...David’s going to have a heart attack. g/t, FNAF bois
Bedtime Stories
Mike Schmidt with his incredible charm tells a story that may or may not be traumatizing. To ensure you enjoy it to the fullest extent: night = knight, ‘Golden like powers’ = wizard, and the sentences completely in bold is Sir Fredbear speaking. Thank you for taking the time to listen to the wonderful tale of David the late king. FNAF bois
Nightmares Are Born
The ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ fanfic that reverses what this particular blog usually portrays them as. A.K.A. no purple Vincent and an extremely not so innocent Jeremy.
Driving Lessons
David thinks he’s the best guardian in the world. You can’t hold anything against him when his charge is smaller than his finger. g/t, FNAF bois
What Are Best Friends For?
This is what best friends are for, and for no other reason. g/t, FNAF bois
Shoulder Angel And Devil
Introducing a ‘new’ kind of tiny. g/t, FNAF bois
Blood On Our Teeth
David is a vampire. Fritz is superstitious. The realization doesn’t go well. FNAF bois
/|\
| Bendy And The Ink Machine
| Chaptered Stories
Character Introductions Canon Under BATIM bois
Henry Ross
Bendy vs. Henry
A long string of shit-posts based upon ‘Bendy And The Ink Machine’ what-if’s
Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4
5 Time Grant Pulled A Dad
Don’t ask him how it happened. g/t, BATIM bois
1st Time
| Oneshots
Where We Stop No One Knows
This has always been his loop, creating a giant mess and having Henry clean it up. Not even the power of a demon could ever break him from it. Yet here Henry is, to do the impossible all over again.
Redefined
The definition of perfection is impossible to reach. But that doesn’t mean the want to be it vanishes after realizing. It just means you have to work harder. BATIM bois
Angels Don’t Cry
This was a challenge piece to write a prompt based upon a random phobia given. Meet Alice Angel's phobia, ranidaphobia, the fear of frogs and toads.
Gift From The Seas
He knows what you’re thinking, sirens have a bad reputation. But Joey can promise it doesn’t apply to him.
Outside The Studio
Sammy Lawrence thought he left the studio and everything that happened inside behind the day he escaped. Now with his past attempting to make itself known, making him fear of what happened having a truth behind it that he’s not ready to face, he’s unable to avoid it any longer. Not with others wanting to ‘help’. Personally, he thinks they should just mind their own business. BATIM bois
Cryptic Coworkers
Henry Stein always thought his coworkers in Joey Drew’s Studio were...interesting. He never thought be just might not be human. He should’ve when a challenge to make at least one employee a cryptid using edits, art, or writing came up.
Micro Managed
Henry agreed to be the first ‘test subject’ for the experimental invention Gent created after Joey requested something that help reaches high places in an instant without requiring a ladder, and makes it easier to animate without going outside fine lines. g/t, BATIM bois
B R E A K I N G
A bit of an ‘Alice In Wonderland’ take of what made Henry leave the studio.
Piano Keys
Sammy Lawrence has his own way of letting his frustrations out. Most people should let him do what he needs to do. And most people don’t take sound advice. BATIM bois
Time, Rhyme, Line, Mine
A BATIM inspired poem
/|\
| Miscelania Fandoms
| Sanders Sides
Anxi With A Side Of Ety Complete
In conclusion, the ‘what if’ scenario of Anxiety shrinking to about three inches in size when he first transferred over to the dubbed ‘light sides’. g/t
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Incorrectly Correct
Logan doesn’t want to admit that it seems to be an apparition who’s been talking to him in Morse code. Good thing he’s incorrectly correct about it. ‘Correct’ because Roman certainly thinks of himself as a ghost...for the most part. g/t
| DreamSMP
Dadza vs. Giant Sons
You should, uh, totally to a DreamSMP 800 word fic. g/t, ask
| Misc
SContainP
Anxiety has been apart of the foundation for multiple years. This was supposed to be a simple job for a field agent. The job description for ‘containment’ is supposed to rely with the containment specialists.
Bird Boxed
If the premise around ‘Bird Box’ had a much different ending, and with g/t as a major player. g/t
Over Your Shoulder
A comment was made on Jacksepticeye’s channel of his ‘Resident Evil’ playthrough about Ethan screaming for his life, and all the while with Jack being a voice in his head, being incredibly happy when Lady Dimitrescu was torturing him. I couldn’t help myself. g/t
| Collaboration Posts
The Power Of Frogs And Kisses
Sean’s favorite story is ‘Princess And The Frog’, and even without his dad’s reading it to him, there are traditions that must be followed. Or else beware the sad puppy-eyes. g/t, FNAF bois
Double Date
The double date that had been promised despite all parties not knowing. g/t, FNAF bois
Husband And Roommate Unite
Talking about raising children, and being the best husband and roommate possible. g/t, FNAF bois
Fool Me Once
One of the many reasons why Eggs needs supervision at all times. g/t, FNAF bois
Ask And You Shall Receive
Trying to be there for the person you love comes in many forms. And sometimes being thoughtful isn’t always completely thought out. g/t, FNAF bois
April Fools, Hunter
The outcome of having your pranksters gain a new partner in crime, and a way to shrink down a giant for some good old fashioned payback. g/t, FNAF bois
/|\
| Special Projects
| SCP AU
SCP-8092 | Incident 8092-16 | SCP-8000 | Incident 8000-1 | SCP-8889 | Incident 8889-1 | SCP-8266 | SCP-8787 | Incident 8786-1
The Expense Of Trust Part 1 Complete
In the instant of a site-wide containment breach, there are only a few protocols available to follow. Know the right people, hope to be at the right place at the right time, and whatever you do, don't trust anything.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4
/|\
| Tober Collections
| G/tober 2019 g/t, mostly FNAF bois
Day 1 Hug | Day 2 Change | Day 3 Technology | Day 4 Rage | Day 6 Sweets | Day 7 Dread | Day 13 Chaos | Day 15 Break | Day 16 Smile | Day 24
| February Prompts g/t FNAF bois
2 Dare | 26 Collect
| Discord Contests g/t FNAF bois
February | March | April | June
| Inktober 2021 mostly g/t, FNAF bois, BATIM bois
Day 1 Crystal | Day 2 Suit | Day 3 Vessel | Day 4 Knot | Day 5 Raven | Day 6 Sprit | Day 7 Fan | Day 8 Watch | Day 9 Pressure | Day 10 Pick | Day 11 Sour | Day 12 Stuck | Day 13 Roof | Day 14 Tick | Day 15 Helmet | Day 16 Compass | Day 17 Collide | Day 18 Moon | Day 19 Loop | Day 20 Sprout | Day 21 Fuzzy | Day 22 Open | Day 23 Leak | Day 24 Extinct | Day 25 Splat | Day 26 Connect | Day 27 Spark | Day 28 Crispy | Day 29 Patch | Day 30 Slither | Day 31 Risk
| Voretober 2022 g/t, FNAF bois
Continuing Plotline 1
Day 1 Villain | Day 2 Hero | Day 3 Hunt | Day 4 Depths | Day 5 Moonlight | Day 6 Blanket | Day 7 Path | Day 8 Karma | Day 15 Adventure | Day 17 Lure | Day 18 Silence | Day 19 Star | Day 20 Show | Day 21 Stalk | Day 22 Love | Day 23 Cruel | Day 24 Hoard | Day 25 Performance | Day 26 Desire | Day 27 Charm
Continuing Plotline 2/Change My Mind
Day 9 Ancient | Day 10 Rage | Day 11 Offering | Day 12 Frozen | Day 13 Jam | Part 6
Two Parter 1
Day 28 Awakening | Day 29 Nightmare
Two Parter 2
Day 30 Game... | Day 31 ...Over
Oneshots
Day 14 Guest | Day 16 Bubble
| Voretober 2023 g/t, FNAF bois
Day 1 Welcome | Day 2 Admiration | Day 3 Sin | Day 4 Hole | Day 5 Support | Day 6 Competition | Day 7 Costume | Day 8 Sudden | Day 9 Wheel | Day 10 Stock | Day 11 Regret | Day 12 Pressure | Day 13 Gambit | Day 14 Fans | Day 15 Beauty | Day 16 Sweet | Day 17 Drink | Day 18 Wish | Day 19 Replica | Day 20 Gather | Day 21 Slippery | Day 22 Captive | Day 23 Stranger | Day 24 Harvest | Day 25 Ethereal | Day 26 Rumble | Day 27 Experiment | Day 28 Stuffed | Day 29 Hazard | Day 30 Double | Day 31 Trouble
last updated: 4/20/2024
#Masterpost#BTE Masterpost#BTE writing#FNAF#round 2 completed!#and it took about...3 hours#worth it#hopefully a little bit more easier to read and access#and fixed links so they stay in the app while on mobile#thank you for stopping by!
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I dunno what to post on tumblr yet so I’m just gonna write about my favorite games
There’s a reason I’m posting this, but I’ll get to that at the end. Formally, I consider this my top 10 games, despite the fact that there are more than 10 in it.
1. Celeste. What can I even say? This is a single player game that, while filled with content, I’ve still put way more hours into than I should have, short only of speedrunner numbers. The gameplay feels perfect and the level design is legendary. So many other platformers might be comparably difficult, but the physics just don’t feel how I want them to feel. Multiple times, I thought I was done with the game... only to return to grind for more deathless levels, because I just love playing it so much. I’m not normally someone who plays mods, as I like to move on to the next experience. Celeste changed that. And I haven’t even gotten to the story. It’s such a relatable yet powerful experience of overcoming mental hurdles that has genuinely helped me become a strong person. Along with tying into the feeling of the gameplay perfectly.
2. Outer Wilds. Again, I feel ill-equipped to even talk about this game, for how much is genius about it. The insane thing is that in concept alone, it’s already revolutionary, and yet it still goes above and beyond in the execution. There are a thousand different angles to take on its beauty. The interconnected lore of its world, how coming to understand the world doesn’t complement the gameplay but is the gameplay. How you can’t draw lines between the worldbuilding and the puzzle-solving and the story progression and the navigation because all those things are united as one. I’ll never forget how playing this felt, especially as I did so with one of my best friends.
3. Disco Elysium. I like to sum it up this way: How many games can you say have fantastic prose? I don’t think DE is the only one, but it might be the best. A trend in my favorite games is that a lot of them use the medium creatively, to varying extents. Not all of them are meta (though they’re coming up), but they do something, even if it’s as simple as Celeste tying in the feeling of the gameplay and story well, or Outer Wilds innovating what can be done in the medium. What Disco Elysium does is tie the way you make dialogue choices and define an rpg character in with the main character’s struggles. In processing his amnesia, your choices as a player define the way he tries to reinvent himself while still remaining in-character by nature. I’ve rambled upon this one aspect, but the game’s writing is incredible, from the deep character study to the insane political worldbuilding. This is the only game I’ve played where talking to NPCs feels like talking to real people, simply because the depth of how long and nuanced conversations can go. Most of these games don’t really have writing to match the best novels, because they don’t need to, as they use the medium of games to convey depth in other ways. Disco Elysium says fuck it and does classic novel-quality things anyway.
4. The Beginner’s Guide. It’s a walking sim. That might trick you into thinking that it has to be a straightforward non-meta narrative. And that’s part of the beauty of it. The idea of meta has, in some people’s minds, been pigeonholed into games where the villain deletes the save file, where you mess around with the game files to beat the enemy, or where the game acknowledges the different choices you can make from an outside perspective. But The Beginner’s Guide shows there’s really no limit to the creative things you can do with meta storytelling. There are no choices or branching paths, but simply by being a game and presenting itself in a certain way, the game tricks you into coming into things with certain assumptions that could only be accomplished because it’s a game. You might wise up to what it’s doing early on, but that doesn’t matter, because it has so many twists to throw at you that make it one of the most thematically nuanced things I’ve experienced. It’s been analyzed by smarter people than me so I won’t say much, but the game has so many interpretations that are simultaneously enlightening and foolish, and that’s genius.
5. Undertale. It’s crazy that it’s grown into such a massive beast that you might forget how incredible the base game is. I don’t care about whatever hot takes people have about the fandom ruining something. I love this game. It’s filled with incredible humor, the choices are insane, and it’s made me so emotional I had to stop playing and disengage because of how overwhelmed I was. The narrative is elegantly constructed and builds up great twists, the characters are some of the most iconic ever. Lately, I keep thinking about how blessed we are that Toby Fox exists. Because god damn. Deltarune might end up on this list too, when complete.
I have to admit, I just crossed a threshold. Those top 5 games are different. They’ve stuck with me, changed my life. I constantly think back to how incredible it is that they exist at all, how blessed we are. The next games are a bit different to me. They’re great, but I wouldn’t put them on the same pedestal. Maybe they have comparatively good qualities but flaws that bother me more. Maybe they aren’t really that revolutionary, but just mean a lot to me. Either way, let’s get into it.
6. Chrono Trigger. I just hyped up how I was stepping down from revolutionary games, and then I name this classic? Suffice to say, it still blows me away. Chrono Trigger is another game that has, in so many ways, “correct” design, but still cares enough to push things further. The combat is the perfect example of how you don’t always need complexity — you just need mechanics that have inherently interesting decisions to make. The plot is genius in how well-constructed it is. I think a lot of people who haven’t tried writing might not realize how difficult and impressive it is to construct something that flows so naturally with perfect internal consistency. There’s always an interesting goal coming up, always something to aim for, and always something that will surprise you. And to this day I wish more games had battles simply take place where you find the enemies instead of having a scene transition away. I think the only reason this is as low on my list as it is is that my tastes have grown to find even more specific, unique experiences, compared to Chrono Trigger’s generalist quality.
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Honestly, there was a time this was #1 on my list, and it’s still crazy to see it this far low down. I can’t fight against the flow of time. The game hasn’t aged perfectly. Way too much dialogue is overexplaining simple things to the player so kids will understand. And I can’t truly say the twists and reveals are the best ever post-Cosmere entering my life (and a lot more things). Still, the turns the story took is a big part of what defined my taste for those things. I love narratives that start simple only to gradually show you they can become so much more. Which applies to a lot of other games on my list. Stories that expand your perception of what the possibilities can even be. Also floating islands. Yeah, there’s a reason this game is a cult classic. It taps into something that sparks the imagination.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Another game I’m shocked to put as low as I am. Yes, I admit it. This game is flawed. Sure is a lot of Discourse TM around that! Half of what people criticize about it I don’t give a shit about, and the other half I begrudgingly admit could be improved. That doesn’t change how enthralled I was about exploring this world. There’s something to be said about a game that makes the intrinsic fun so engaging that I don’t care about whatever extrinsic issues it has. The world design is like nothing else. Something about the look and shape of the landscape just tickles my brain and makes running around it and finding things immerse me in the world like nothing else. You can call it a copy of other open world games. I’d like to see any other open world game capture me like this. From the look of them, most won’t.
9. Bravely Second: End Layer. This is the most flawed game on my list by far, like holy shit there’s so much wrong with it, and I don’t CARE. I love the characters. I love Yew and Edea. I love the batshit plot twists it puts you through. I mean, talk about games that expand your perception of what is even possible! I love that the game trusts the player enough to hide foreshadowing in the silliest places. I love the combat system more than any other JRPG I’ve played. This is a flawed game, but god damn is it one with ambitious ideas.
10. Portal 2. Honestly, the game is fucking hilarious. The characters are great. The puzzles are fun. There’s not much to say about it beyond that. Valve, what happened to you...
11. Half-Life 2. You know, I’ll admit it. The story is nothing special. It’s fun and exciting but it’s not that deep and certainly not that experimental. But this makes it here from gameplay alone. I feel like this game ruined me. I see other shooters, with cover mechanics and aiming down sights, and I feel zero desire to play them, because the way it’s done here is, imo, exactly what it should be. The level design deserves mention as well, of course. It’s not like it’s the gunplay alone. Half-Life 2 flows, and that’s what makes it something I’ve replayed so many times.
12. Hollow Knight. There’s an element of spite here. I don’t think this game is perfect. I also can’t deny it a place in my top 10 list (ignore that there’s more than 10 here). But it gets the bottom spot. Yeah, I’ll nitpick the platforming mechanics and the pacing and the number of kinda mediocre bosses, but fuck it, it’s still an incredible world to explore with insanely fun combat and progression. Yeah, no shit, you all know Hollow Knight fucks.
Honorable mentions: Particle Fleet, for capturing the fun of the Creeper World series without the micromanagement. Divinity: Original Sin 2, for not having the best writing but having so many interesting encounters in one of my favorite combat systems ever. Ocarina of Time, because while I don’t think the traditional Zelda formula makes for the best games ever, it makes for damn good ones. Kentucky Route Zero, for being so deep and interesting that it probably deserves a spot on the top list, but I’m not smart enough to understand why yet. Ikenfell, for a great story and another of my favorite combat systems. OneShot, for the vibes, and for Niko. The Stanley Parable, for being funny and smart. Into the Breach, for the most elegant tactical design I’ve seen. Factorio, because even though I’ve only put 36 hours into it, I know that this could easily turn into thousands. It’s my alternate timeline favorite game. Sekiro, because Fromsoft finally made the game I wanted Dark Souls to be. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, for doing things I wish Kirby would do again. The Messenger, which I haven’t finished yet as of right now, and though it probably won’t make it onto the main list, you never know. Kirby Air Ride, because that’s actually the greatest game of all time, I was just joking around with this list haha.
I’m mostly posting this so I can actually have it down as a concrete list, even if the placements will likely continue to vary. I think about this too much but never put it down in a place I’ll remember. But I’m also writing this to think about exactly what this list is because there’s such a strong chance it’s going to get shaken up soon.
2023 is coming, and holy shit. Earthblade? Silksong, potentially? Sea of Stars? Tears of the Kingdom? Who knows, maybe even a few more Deltarune chapters? Basically, 2023 is a year with the potential to completely shake up what I think of as my favorite games. I can’t wait. At least Davey Wreden’s next game will probably take longer than that. I can only handle so much.
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And now we all desperately need to know, darling Mads! So what songs remind Trystan of home (from that playlist you have mentioned)? 👀❤️
I AM SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS ASK AAAAAH
Okay I spent a couple of days curating a roster of songs that would remind Trystan of his home - but it isn't the "oh man, being a future king is hard", it's Trystan trying to be a teenager. It's the grieving over a lost childhood - one that was never his to begin with, but at the same time, mourning over a life he could have had, if he'd not abdicated. Originally my thought process equated Trystan's tastes in music shaped by what he listened to as a kid, but the more I gauged his character (wasting even more of my time sloppily getting through Crimes 2), here's what I came to conclude:
kad sam bio mlad (when i was young) // riblja čorba
This is one of those songs that remind Trystan of his years where he went rogue, "out of control" and how he was constantly beaten up emotionally, worn down, how he felt like he was going actually insane because he had no idea and he was sluggishly getting through one day after the next, hoping the next day might offer him a direction as to where he's going and give him some road signs as to if he's meant to do this. If he's meant to be the next king. The more he explored things on his own, the more he began asking questions, he was equally battling scepticism and learning of his country's corruption and this is one of those songs where it exemplifies how defeated he felt at the moment.
It was a massive turning point in his life, because even though he felt so worn down, he still had that hope to continue, which is exemplified in this song,
dzemper za vinograd (sweater for vineyard) // miladin šobić
This is Trystan wishing if he could do something good with the power that came from being a king. He'd wish to focus more on the simpler things - maybe ensure a school gets their funding to start their own newspaper club or his mother turns a barren piece of land into a nice garden. As a kid, he'd write all those down, envisioning what his Drakovia would look like. And even as an adult, it resonates this message where he doesn't need to bring about a drastic change in his life if he can just control the parts that make up the sum.
bohemian rhapsody // queen
This is the first Queen song he heard and it is something special, because you didn't get a lot of English-language music broadcasted and sold in Drakovia, so it was also, in my hc, Trystan's first exposure to English language music. Also probably the only song he can hit all the high notes perfectly after listening to it so many times.
jsem tu sam (i am here alone) // mandrage
This especially resonates with Trystan in the longest and loneliest moments throughout his life. From being accused of Juliana's murder, getting exiled - having to go through a whole new life, leaving behind his home, his identity, what made him, him, miles and miles away - it really messed up his perception of the world. This is sort of a homage to those times, because while he was beaten down and grieving, he allowed himself to truly shine in those moments and display a lot of mental courage and harbour about a positive change in his life. Paired up with..
mozek (brain) // mandrage
As a kid, he found himself having to fight with his siblings - to compete and stand out, just to get in the limelight. But soon, he got tired of fighting. He hated how he antagonized his own siblings, how a messy family environment can't be his excuse to villanize the people he wants to share his life with. It's a turning point where he stopped viewing them as such and tried to foster good relations from his end.
He taught a reluctant Bas to get away with shenanigans. He helped Lydea, giving her advice on joining the Royal Guard - guidance he could have used at that age. Vasili and Trystan were siblings-in-crime - helping the other deal with life. He'd hang out with his younger siblings and would help them out with school and teach them things he'd know - that's where he developed a special bond with Mags.
It's part of the reason why he's still in disbelief that his brother, Vasili could be capable of murder. He still sees him as when they were kids. He's truly tired of fighting back.
cudzinka v tvojej zemi (a foreigner in your country) // xindi x and mirka miškechová
This is Trystan losing his Drakovian, and constantly yearning to find it back again. He's a stranger to both Drakovia and the United States - not American enough to be quippy with his English, but not Drakovian enough to be blunt and say it like it is. This song and this feeling means so much to him. Everyday he tries more and more to connect back with his roots. Sure, it is difficult with his family now, but he tries to remember the things he were as a kid and everyday's a constant battle with trying to recover from the past, but being afraid of what the future might hold for him. But language is a good place to start.
parapet // kryštof
This is a bit of a personal song for Trystan, dealing with his own mental health struggles after being ostracized by people he'd really counted on and how he feels like he's constantly falling, thanks to the trauma he endured. It kind of perfectly puts to words how lost he'd been all these eight years and how much change he had to deal with, plus the grief, the loss and trying to move on.
specjalnie dla tv (especially for tv) // cool kids of death
This is a bit of a "fuck you" to Drakovia lmao and their stupid judicial system. Everyday he's like "I know I might be the worst person ever, but at least I'm not a politician encouraging a broken system."
we will rock you // queen
The second Queen song he's heard. Also it's catchy. He's a sucker for catchy tunes.
an după an (year after year) // sfinx
This is a song for healing. If Parapet's a memory wanting to bury down, this is an ode to a better future.
walking on broken glass // annie lennox
This was a hard-hitting song when Trystan was finally able to move on from Juliana. It was a pretty slow process. He felt a lot of complicated emotions, because Juliana was no longer a 'person' but an 'entity' and he felt truly betrayed and let down at some parts, but he still considered Juliana to be important. This is him just putting it all to rest and simply taking the first step to move on; letting himself grieve but at the same time allowing himself to feel betrayed. Emotions don't always have to be this-or-that and if the journey gets him where he wants to go, so be it. It also indirectly makes him move on from "home" and what it stands for.
Something that has supported him for so long, something that did him dirty, the things he did wrong - it makes him want to forgive. It makes him want to stop doing this to himself - keep walking on broken glass and hurting every step he takes; he wants to take ONE initiative without feeling like an absolute failure, a monster or whatever adjectives. This also seems to be a good place to start.
***
thank you so so so much for this anon ^-^ I really want to do one for Nora, but I know she pretty much sees everything in everything. A newspaper article can make her go, "Ugh. Dad." and start going full John Wick on everyone else.
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Watch Free Full 101 Dalmatians
Release Date : 12/13/1996 (GB)
Category : Family, Comedy
Production :
Country : GB
Rate :
Cast : Glenn Close,Jeff Daniels,Joely Richardson,Joan Plowright,Hugh Laurie,Mark Williams,John Shrapnel,Tim McInnerny,Hugh Fraser,
An evil, high-fashion designer plots to steal Dalmatian puppies in order to make an extravagant fur coat, but instead creates an extravagant mess.
An evil, high-fashion designer plots to steal Dalmatian puppies in order to make an extravagant fur coat, but instead creates an extravagant mess.
Published by The Massie Twins
Release Date: November 27th, 1996 MPAA Rating: G
Director: Stephen Herek Actors: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright, Hugh Laurie, Mark Williams, John Shrapnel
oger (Jeff Daniels) is a video game creator in London who struggles with creating an engaging villain for his child-oriented animal project (with animation blatantly resembling that of a certain Disney cartoon). Anita (Joely Richardson) is a talented fashion designer for the House of De Vil, a cold, black-and-white mansion of a building, riddled with harsh corners and sharp sculptures. They bump into each other when their perfectly matched pet Dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita, respectively, cause them both to topple into a pond. When Roger and Anita dry off at Roger’s flat, they notice their dogs cuddling by the fire – and do the only thing they can think of to prevent the separation of the Dalmatians. After a proposal that very night, and a swift marriage to follow, all four of them can live happily ever after.
But Anita’s boss, Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close), an insultingly brusque, obnoxiously loud woman garbed in pitch black, blazing white, and piercing crimson (magnificently grand costumes by Rosemary Burrows and Anthony Powell, which change from scene to scene while maintaining the animal-print color scheme, and wild, Two-Face-like hair to match), comes to visit the family when they learn of the upcoming arrival of both a baby and puppies. Caring nothing for human children, Cruella is instead overjoyed at the thought of a litter of young Dalmatians, with their soft, spotted skin – which could make a sensational coat for the fur-obsessed woman. When Roger and Anita refuse to sell the newborns (even for the outrageous sum of 7500 pounds), Cruella hires scruffy thugs Jasper (Hugh Laurie) and Horace (Mark Williams) to steal them when the nanny (Joan Plowright) is alone with the lot.
Now that the Dalmatians are live action, they’re unrealistically intelligent – which is a daring stretch considering the creatures from the original 1961 animated film could speak English. Pongo can work a computer, turn on a coffee pot, start up a shower, and open the door to grab a bottle of milk. The fa
imal faces round out the adventure in this mildly entertaining twist on a classic Disney animated masterpiece.
– Mike Massie
Watch free movies and tvshows on VidooTv
Watch Free Full 101 Dalmatians
Watch Free Full 101 Dalmatians
mous “Twilight Bark” scene is still effective, but the story is adapted differently to accommodate the lack of direct communication between the various animal actors. Extensive barking and visual cooperation take the place of dialogue; despite the momentary bits of awkwardness (which will seem very farfetched to viewers unfamiliar with the source material), it’s amusing to see real animals working together, sans language (and equally as hilarious when plainly visible puppets or shoddy CG are employed for particularly challenging dog undertakings).
But it’s Glenn Close who is easily the most notable element of the production, looking the part about as ideally as imaginable. Unfortunately, her acting is so exaggerated that it’s difficult to admire the character – one whose deviousness and mercilessness can’t come across as anything but comically insincere when Close cackles maniacally with a wide grin and a brightly painted face. It’s still a great part for the actress, even though she screams most of her lines – as well as for sidekicks Laurie and Williams, who closely resemble the roles of Harry and Marv from “Home Alone,” bumbling ineptly as they give chase to fleeing puppies while combating borderline lethal booby-traps. Slapstick, stunts, and plenty of cute an
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