Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: 55:15 Never Too Late, and Integrated Queer Storylines in Thai Het Dramas Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I delve into the queer storyline of 55:15 Never Too Late, an ensemble het drama that featured two phenomenal actors in Kob Songsit and Khaotung Thanawat as older and younger versions of the same person.]

55:15 Never Too Late: this is not a show that I think the majority of the Thai BL fandom is aware of, unless they're particular stans of Nanon Korapat (RAISES HAND) and/or Khaotung Thanawat (RAISES OTHER HAND). In part, let me just say upfront that 55:15 Never Too Late features significant het storylines with middle-aged adults, and -- one's assumed BL audience may not be so into that.

However. I picked this show up for the OGMMTVC after discussions with a few dear mutuals (in particular, the wonderful @chickenstrangers -- thank you for engaging me in conversation on this show!) about queer storylines in GMMTV het dramas. I had a thought early on in this project that I should touch upon this, as I was impressed with my earlier-this-year watch of GMMTV's 10 Years Ticket, and that show's inclusion of a wonderful queer storyline was woven with intergenerational trauma, which is a theme that I appreciate seeing in shows when it's done well.

In considering what might have been seminal for GMMTV regarding queer storylines in het dramas before shows like 10 Years Ticket aired: two shows kept cropping up in conversation, 55:15 Never Too Late being one, and The Shipper being the other.

I wanted to think on this because... man, for me, as an old Asian-American, to think about Asian het shows/dramas/primetime dramas that would have integrated queer storylines -- not even just a passing queer character who's used for cringe/comedy -- strikes me as remarkable. I certainly didn't see these kinds of storylines in the romantic or slice-of-life K-dramas and J-doramas of my youth.

Of course, this was territory that had already been crossed in pre-Thai-BL ensemble shows like Love Sick and Kiss/Kiss Me Again (which preceded Dark Blue Kiss). While The Shipper (I think -- I haven't watched it) was more of a coalesced storyline, 55:15 Never Too Late had a little bit of that ensemble feel to it -- but all the characters of this show were affected by the same supernatural phenomenon, which ended up bringing all their individual storylines together as one in the end. And after 55:15 Never Too Late, we have 10 Years Ticket, and hopefully more het dramas will follow suit in including impactful queer storylines as well.

I was encouraged VERY strongly to NOT watch The Shipper for the ways in which it treated issues of transgender identity (big ups to @so-much-yet-to-learn, @bengiyo, @shortpplfedup and more for helping me to avoid that disaster). And 55:15 Never Too Late was described to me as having a BL storyline that featured a cameo with Earth Pirapat and Mix Sahaphap, and that offered critical feedback about the wider BL industry.

All of that is true, and I deeply appreciated the feedback and direction. What I didn't expect was to receive a storyline that also treated elder queerness and coming out at a later age with empathy and tenderness.

Before I get there, let me set up the show and describe all the different storylines, and then I'll focus on Khao's turn, as he played the younger version of our main queer protagonist in Songpol.

55:15 Never Too Late starts off with five middle-aged individuals: San, a washed-up voice actor who is drunkenly robbed by two women; Jaya, a washed-up former teen idol; Amonthep, a washed-up former boxer whose boxing academy is about to default in debt; Jarunee, a despised high school teacher who receives a devastating cancer diagnosis, and Songpol, a restaurant owner who harbors a long-lived love for the pianist in his restaurant, a man named Mathee.

All five of these 55-year-old adults wake up one morning -- after all having visited the same photocopying shop -- as their 15-year-old selves, with their adult minds still in tact. All five of them use their newfound youth to address longstanding issues in their lives, and to hopefully find clarity on the problems they face as adults.

Where our queer storyline lives is with Songpol, and shit if I did not yelp when I saw who was playing the adult Songpol: none other than one of the best and most-seen dads in BL, Kob Songsit -- Kinn's dad! Dean's dad! Kawi's dad! And he's also a dad of a gay son in the movie Love of Siam as well. (Khun Kob is also a legendary Thai actor and singer in his own right -- cc @wen-kexing-apologist for the heads-up!). I squealed because this was the first time that I'd see Khun Kob play a queer man himself. I'm almost positive that he's likely taken on other queer roles, but -- Khun Kob's characters are usually the accepting dads! This time around, we get to see him embody a queer role holistically.

The adult Songpol was closeted his whole life. Upon his mother's approaching passing, he whispers in his mother's ear, as she lays in her hospital bed -- "I'm gay." The line on the monitor goes flat. We can surmise as much, that her household would not have welcomed such an admission in Songpol's earlier years.

Songpol is also a fan of the aging teen idol, Jaya. After his mother's passing, he takes it upon himself to decorate his room fully with all the fan memorabilia he collected over his teen and adult years.

Before his transformation into his teenage self, he meets with his fellow queer friend at a gay club -- likely Songpol's only outlet to be out in private (and his friend is played by the FABULOUS Shaowanasai Michael, who just OWNED the time he had on screen as a fully-out, decked-out older gay man. WE NEED MORE ELDER QUEER UNCLES IN OUR SHOWS!). Songpol's friend encourages Songpol to finally admit his love to Mathee, the pianist. As Songpol finally screws up his courage to make his admission -- Mathee reveals that he's getting married.

And Songpol goes to bed, devastated. And he wakes up as his 15-year-old self, played by Khao.

Of the times that we see the adult Songpol on screen, we see Kob Songsit do the most amazing delicate balance of a kind of presence struggle that older queer men VERY often have to do, by way of tamping down a peeking-out, a shimmering of femme characteristics, that often needs to be traded for a carriage of more masculine characteristics in everyday life (what movie better captured this than The Birdcage?) (cc @wen-kexing-apologist). Throughout the show, when Khun Kob was on screen, he carried himself like... like a het Thai uncle, slightly worn in his years. But when he was able to flourish in recognition of his queerness -- we saw that slight shimmer, the little twist in his shoulders, a little gleam and sly smile in which he knew he was safe to be out and gay.

Dudes, if you're a completist nerd like me, taking a moment to watch Kob Songsit embody a queer role ALONE made this show worthwhile for me to watch.

But! And! What did Songpol learn about himself as his younger version in modern times?

That's where Khao steps in, and of course -- Khao is Khao, right? One of GMMTV's best actors, Khao as the young Songpol (in body, not in mind) takes himself on a journey of recognizing that the world (at least the world that the younger generations live in) has long moved past the prejudices of his mother's generation.

Young Songpol looks on in wonder as two boys hold hands at the high school that he's returned to. He listens in wonder as his niece -- who is now the same age as him, LOL -- tells him about BL series. And he's agape when a school project on BL shows is proposed to him by a fellow classmate.

That classmate (played by Win Pawin Kulkaranyawich) is none other than the son of Mathee -- the pianist that the adult Songpol is in love with. [NOTE: this post was published before domestic violence accusations were levied against Win Pawin in early 2024.]

I was talking with @chickenstrangers a bit about this -- that the one wrinkle (no pun intended, HA) (listen, I get to make that joke because I'm an old mom) that 55:15 Never Too Late faces is that we have actors playing 15-year-olds who are all tackling adult problems... often with the other age-appropriate adults of their past lives. Meaning: age gaps, both externally and internally.

(Very namely, Nanon's character, the young San, interacts with his former high school love interest. Now, Nanon can pull off almost anything, and I'd argue that he was fabulous in this role -- as long as you were comfortable watching a 20-year-old Nanon express a long-lost love for a 55-year-old woman. He did it exquisitely, but the age gap could give some folks the jibbles. This also happened with the young Jarunee, played by the AWESOME AS USUAL View Benyapa, who confirms her love for a 30-year-old man, who was actually in love with the original 55-year-old Jarunee, so we're dealing with TWO age gaps there, okay, confused yet? ANYWAY.)

In this age gap case, Pawin's character, Phiphu, begins crushing on the young Songpol. The young-bodied and old-minded Songpol is like, wut. You're Mathee's son. Phiphu even goes in for an acted kiss as he and Songpol audition (AUDITION! LOL) for a BL series.

It's Khao and Pawin kissing -- but it's an older character that Khao is embodying. Khao did not lean into the kiss, and made it seem plenty awkward, which -- good job, Khao/Songpol. But I'd say the show overall didn't quite address the age gap issues frontally, which I do think was a miss.

(KhaoPawin, btw? Yet another reason why I want to ban branded ships. Pawin's never been better than when he was paired with Khao! Pawin was great! They were great together! Pair more randoms together!)

I think the show did a responsible job at indirectly addressing the age gap issue at least between the old/young Songpol and the only young Phiphu, when Phiphu finally admits his attraction to the young Songpol. And remember! They're living in an age -- an age that the adult Songpol isn't familiar with -- where Phiphu can feel comfortable making a queer admission to another teenager.

The young Songpol knew he was kinda in the shit when Phiphu confessed to him. Between the time that the young Songpol received this confession and the end of the series -- the young Songpol had transitioned back to his present elder self. In that elder self, played by Khun Kob, the young Songpol left a letter for Phiphu to explain his departure -- and to urge Phiphu, a loner, to be hopeful for a more loving future. A kind of future that, prior to his trip to his younger self, that the older Songpol may not have ever imagined for himself.

All while this is happening: the elder Songpol's love interest, Mathee, is getting married. And: Mathee confesses to the adult Songpol that Mathee knows that Songpol was in love with him. Mathee addresses it head-on, and explains how important Songpol is in Mathee's life as an elder uncle, a familial presence. It was empathetic as anything, wonderful to watch.

Again, repeating myself from the top: these topics are extremely adult topics. Not by way of explicitness, but by way of maturity and and growth. The way this show touched me as an adult -- there aren't a lot of BLs that do that, simply because I'm much older than your average BL audience member. This show really gut-punched me, simply because it was a drama (it just so happened to be a het drama) about reckoning with the highs and the disappointments of adult life, ones that, especially as a parent of young children, I am learning far too fast and all too well. To see an adult Songpol's mind -- channeled through Khao's brilliant acting -- coming to terms with a new generation for which queerness is far more accepted, was utterly moving. Even for myself, a het woman who was raised with a culturally embedded sense of bigotry for anyone "different," watching young people just accept queerness, as an everyday part of life -- and watching an elder mind try to process that, and realize that he could live safely and publicly, as he finally did, as an adult, at the end of the show, totally got me.

Most of the storylines of the rest of the characters ended beautifully, with a little tragedy mixed in. If you're a fan of dramas that feature the GMMTV stable outside of our beloved group of BL actors, I would definitely say to give this one a shot. (If you're a BBS girlie like me, keep in mind that this was airing at the same time as BBS, so Nanon had two shows airing at the same time -- and I do be believing that there was a little BBS reference in 55:15 because of that timing.) Sea Tawinan in particular, who I have no familiarity with (I didn't watch Vice Versa) was fantastic as a devoted and thoughtful son to one of the time jumpers. View, Kay, Arm, Piploy, Marc Pahun, and ESPECIALLY PRIGKHING (WHAT A DELIGHT!) were all fantastic.

Some of the latest het dramas out of GMMTV -- UMG, The Jungle, etc. -- seem to me to be post-pandemic leftovers featuring cute dudes in weak storylines that not a lot of folks really got excited about. 55:15 Never Too Late was a pandemic-era drama that was very much rooted not only in nostalgia, but also rooted in addressing regrets -- the exact kind of mental exercise that a lot of folks had time to work on during the pandemic. 55:15 held a queer storyline in its hands with tenderness, it featured two phenomenal actors in Kob Songsit and Khao Thanawat to treat it with compassion, and the result was eye-opening and fulfilling. This was a wonderful show, and it makes me very glad that there are GMMTV shows, outside of the Jojo Tichakorn universe, that consider queerness as inclusionary of storytelling. If this theme can continue at GMMTV, I will be ever more glad about it.

[So! WITH THIS! I'm going to be doing a slow rewatch of Bad Buddy and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars, along with a robust, if not heavy, slate of currently airing shows, including Absolute Zero and What Did You Eat Yesterday?, all of which will be taking a chunk of time of meta writing away from my generally middling level of sanity.

That being said, I'll be doing plenty of liveblogging of BBS, and I have at least two OGMMTVC posts planned for the show, so stay tuned in the next few weeks, as I sharpen my pencils and take notes on Aof Noppharnach's very best drama.

There is a future after my BBS rewatch, namely Cheewin Thanamin's Secret Crush On You, which I'm really looking forward to watching later this fall.

Here's the latest info drop on the OGMMTVC watchlist. For a more clear picture of what I've watched, please click this link!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here) 31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry)  33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (watching) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch For the Sake of Re-Analyzing an Politics-Focused Show After Not Me 39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults) 43) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 44) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 45) Only Friends (2023)]

10 Best BL Self Referential One Liners from 2022

1. The Eclipse 

2. Ghost Host, Ghost House (personal favorite) 

3. Cherry Blossoms After Winter (the written dig) 

4. Absolute BL 2

5. Choco Milk Shake 

6. My Secret Love 

7. Our Days 

8. Mr Cinderella 

9 & 10. Both from Ai Long Nhai 

BONUS: 

55:15 Never Too Late (not a BL but a BL sub-plot) 

One of my trends of 2022 (post incoming) was how meta and self referential BL got. Cheek boys. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 💖🥳🌹I hope this year is full of kindness, warmth, strength, hope and positivity for you ✨

i can't believe it's been only a little more than an year for me on this hellsite. i already love all of the people here 🥺

i grateful that that we had @badbuddyweek @badbuddyrewatch this year!!! most definitely the highlights for me 🫣

i loved everyone's edits/gifsets/creations (y'all are so talented), and the meta posts and the fics (the brains!!!!!), and they truly made my year!

i discovered ton of different shows this year, and watching them along with everyone here talking about it definitely made me like those shows more!

some of my favourite shows/movies that i saw this year were: the gifted series, cherry magic movie, fathers movie, semantic error, vice versa, enchante, the eclipse, 55:15 never too late, baker boys, kieta hatsukoi, light on me, the player, not me, everything I'm currently watching and definitely bad buddy!

tagging some blogs/people who made my year 10x better! @justafriend-ql @gooseras @dramavibes @naravits @telomeke-bbs @singharit @prans-pat @piningintrovert @ardentlytess @tutontawan @deshimango @dimpledpran @talays-portkey @i-got-the-feels @billlkin @actually-yikes @7nessasaryevils @phukaoapologist @grapejuicegay @cankersoregirl @lovelyghostv @surajmukhis @pranpats @tipsyjaehyun @pranparakul @freensrcha @icouldhyperfixatehim @ghostvalleymasters @laowen @lanzhans @machikeita @tachineko @seeking-moonscapes @dribs-and-drabbles @absolutebl @airenyah @maggiecheungs @wahgifs @baifengxis @smittenskitten @dangermagnetstrand @ahxu-laowen @oldfashioncupcakes @casualavocados @cubedmango @spicyvampire @heretherebedork @kaonoppakao and literally everyone else (the tag limit 😡)

i can't wait for this new year to bring a lot of great shows to us so all of us can collectively lose our minds over them yet again (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

something below the cut for people who didn't have the best of 2022 and some dose of hope & strength.

so, i did not have a particularly great 2022. i could only get through it safe and sane because of the loveliest person that my mother is.

she wrote something for me for the new year's, and I'd love to share it with everyone who had a difficult 2022. (consider it a bearhug from my mom & i).

मैं प्रार्थना करती हूँ, अपने बच्चे के लिए, वो आने वाले साल को, जी भर जियें।

जो रोष मिलें हैं जिंदगी से, उसे स्वीकार कर आगे बढ़े।

दुखद स्मृतियों को भुला पाएं, सुखद समृतियों को हँस कर याद करें।

कठोर ना बने, पर कोमल भी ना रहें।

चलना ही है सर उठा कर, ये बस याद रहे।

दुख उन्हें तोड़े ना।

जिंदगी का एक पहलू लगे, कोई ना हो, उनकी माँ है साथ, ये भी हमेशा याद रहे।

अपने जीवन को धिक्कारें ना, उस से जी भर प्यार करें।

रास्ते खोजें उस पर बढ़ें, और जीवन को स्वीकार करें।

translation: i pray for my child to live the coming year to the fullest. accept whatever hardships & pain this life has given you and have the strength to move on. have the strength to forget the painful memories, and remember the happy memories with laughter. do not become cruel, but do not remain tender either (so that people walk over you). remember, that you should walk with your head held high! hope that the pain doesn't break you. if it ever feels like there's no one for you, always remember that you have your mother (parent/guardian) with you. i hope you don't curse your life, love it to the fullest. find & explore your way/path, move forward on it, and accept your life.

skksksk the translated version seems a lot like toxic positivity bs but i swear its not, it full of love and strength and hope and respect.

The Eclipse Index Page

In my attempt to organize all my posts related to The Eclipse for easier access for myself when I wanted to make a final thought post later, I decided to make this index page. As I plan to do a rewatch soon and write the episode’s notes and reviews, this index post might still be growing to list those. In any way, this is a very belated post, but just in case someone still going through the tag. I classified my posts into six categories based on the content, with each category sorted chronologically (at most), as listed and described below: 

Shorter Text Posts: Brief thoughts and observation of certain scenes, instances, elements, or characters. 

Wondering about what are the Suppalo’s rules.

Hermit.

Ayan leaving his belongings and Akk found them.

Akk can't say no to challenges.

Akk and Ayan: the rule keeper and the rule challenger.

A different side of the three good friends: Akk, Kan, Wat.

Ayan on Akk, and his revenge board.

Personal space. 

That first kiss: the cheek kiss and a snapshot.

Akk, Ayan, and Singto.

That comfort spaces.

Wat and his interest in indie filmmaking.

The story behind the World Remembers. 

Ayan on Akk’s questions about Dika.

Akk and Ayan’s hoodie. 

Reflecting back to episode 1.

That (imaginary) first kiss.

Ayan being vulnerable with Akk at the beach of Akk’s home. 

About the backstory of Dika.

Wasuwat’s drunk confession about studying film.

The hugs and the kiss.

Ayan and sleeping Akk.

About that first real kiss.

Things I love from episode 10: Part 1, Part 2

Favorite scenes from episode 10.

Akk and his status as the head of student prefects club.

About Namo.

Favorite scenes from episode 11.

Favorite final quote: “I love you. And I want you to love yourself too.”

Incoherent thoughts prior to the finale.

Longer Text Posts: Analysis, description, or reviews.

Context: Ayan’s (and Akk’s) names.

Visual symbolism - symmetrical composition and formality.

Context: grade school scholarship system vs. student prefects’ position.

Analysis: The Eclipse and the School Curse.

Analysis: Suppalo, Uniforms, and (Assumed) Equality.

Visual symbolism - colors in Thailand. 

Visual symbolism - the double flags of Suppalo: blue and white.

Halfway thoughts (Part 1) - the eclipse, the curse, the story told.

Halfway thoughts (Part 2) - Uniform Regulation & Student Welfare Department.

Halfway thoughts (Part 3) - being a teenager, self-acceptance, and mental health.

The effect of authoritarianism in the education system on people.

Posts about Wasuwat. (I decided to make a separate section for him.)

First thought about Wasuwat.

Second thought about Wasuwat.

Wasuwat and Sani: student - teacher understanding and camaraderie.

Third thought about Wasuwat.

Fourth thought about Wasuwat - or basically just my declaration of love of him. 

Fifth thought about Wasuwat.

Sixth thought about Wasuwat.

Seventh thought about Wasuwat.

Notes: Through Wat’s Lenses - a very personal favorite from all my posts about this show, because to me Wat’s lenses are the meta of this show :)

Reaction Posts. (Just shoutout and non-senses but still need to be documented.)

Reaction post on Ayan’s revenge board.

Reaction post after episode 6: Part 1, Part2.

Reaction post on the (imaginary) first kiss.

Reaction post of me watching The Eclipse: the actual series vs. the behind the scenes.

Reaction post on the pool kiss. 

Reaction post after episode 10.

Reaction post after episode 11: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Reaction post after episode 12.

Posts not (really directly) related to the show but still important to me.

First and Khaotung as Akk and Ayan.

The crossover about school’s rules: The Eclipse X 55:15 Never Too Late.

Casts crossover: Khaotung Thanawat and Leo Trai in Tonhon Chonlatee and The Eclipse.

Cast-related post: The Eclipse Series RECAP (from GMMTV Twitter).

Music - background music during the confession scene in Akk’s bedroom.

Still Sets. (Sets of edited shots, in black/white and in colors, from the show - my commentaries, if any, are on the tags.)

The Eclipse Special (2022) 

Ep. 01.1 | Ep. 01.2

Ep. 02.1 | Ep. 02.2 

Ep. 03.1 | Ep. 03.2 | Ep. 03.3

Ep. 04.1 | Ep. 04.2 | Ep. 04.3

Ep. 05.1 | Ep. 05.2 | Ep. 05.3

Ep. 06 Preview

Ep. 06.1 | Ep. 06.2 | Ep. 06.3 | Ep. 06.4 | Ep. 06.5

Ep. 07.1 | Ep. 07.2 | Ep. 07.3 | Ep. 07.4

Ep. 07 a random 2X2 screenshots of Thua watching Akk and Ayan.

Ep. 07 a random portrait screenshots of Akk and Ayan.

Ep. 08.1 | Ep. 08.2| Ep. 08.3

Ep. 09.1 | Ep. 09.2 | Ep. 09.3 | Ep. 09.4 | Ep.09.5

Ep. 10.1 | Ep. 10.2 | Ep. 10.3

Ep. 11.1 | Ep. 11.2 | Ep. 11.03 | Ep. 11.4 | Ep. 11.5

Ep. 12.1 | Ep. 12.2 | Ep. 12.3 | Ep. 12.4 | Ep. 12.5 

The Eclipse (2022) | Our Skyy 2 Promo Trailer (2023)

If you happen to see/read any of my posts, I hope you enjoyed them :)

Intro/tracking post

Last updated April 25, 2024.

Older queer white cis dude in California, pronoun he.

Love music.

Enjoy QL, mostly Thai, mostly series. Here to read and comment on posts.

If a series puts me off in the first episode, I will often abandon it, sometimes within the first few minutes. I'm less likely to abandon midway. If I'm considering abandoning a series I've otherwise liked up to that point, I'll often read the reviews on MDL or look up posts on the series, at risk of getting spoilers, to decide whether to go on with it (and it's gone both ways).

Not a fan of spoilers, but recognize it as a risk of engaging so I don't (usually) spoiler-shame. Please don't put them in comments to me, if you would be so kind.

Okay with sad endings if they're earned or otherwise inevitable.

Incomplete watchlist (which I will update from time to time):

Top Ten (in order as best I can, ask me on another day and stuff might move):

Not Me (best QL series ever for plot, acting, cinematography, and music, content warning for violence) (1 re-watch)

Bad Buddy (lots of fun, new discoveries on every re-watch) (3 re-watches)

He's Coming to Me (heartwarming, delightful coming-of-age work. I didn't care for the library raid part and skipped it once on rewatch and there seemed to me to be some inconsistencies with the ghost rules.) (3 re-watches)

Cherry Magic (Japanese version, delightful, looking forward to the Thai remake if they ever settle the rights issues)

To Sir With Love (could get me to try lakorns)

Semantic Error (enemies to lovers comedy that hits all the right notes)

A Tale of a Thousand Stars (fine series, not sure why I haven't rewatched it, need to rewatch after Our Skyy 2)

55:15 Never Too Late (not QL but has a QL subplot, notable for having an older semi-out gay character) (1 re-watch)

Gaya Sa Pelicula (Like in the Movies) (odd couple thrown together, fall in love, hit limits)

Eternal Yesterday (re-watch episode notes) (not usually into high school QL but the plot got me and it blew me away, achingly sad throughout) (1 re-watch)

Much as I love them, I don't automatically recommend every one of them to everyone. The right rec for the right person!

In progress

23.5

Cherry Magic (Thai) (on apparently long-term hold pending rights issues)

I Promised You the Moon (but not actively watching)

Considering

Okay, this is a really long list and I'm probably not going to watch all of them, but a fan's gotta dream, right?

Although I Love You, and You?

The Eighth Sense

Ex-Morning

The Heart Killers

Leap Day

Mama Gogo

Midnight Motel

My Strawberry Film

Old Fashioned Cupcake

Oh! Boarding House

1000 Years Old

The Player

Revamp

Shadow (although probably not)

Stay Still

The Spirealm (this ones an unlikely stretch - censored and 38 x 45 minutes equals over 28 hours)

ThamePo

Unknown (to binge)

Us

First episode watched but not committed to

Our Dining Table

Also Completed:

A Cut Above (in alphabetical order):

Near misses for my top 10 - there can only be 10 - but bubbling under that line. Highly recommended.

Anti-Reset (episode notes) (speculative fiction on the future of AI, in a robot and a human who fall in love, quite emotional)

Formula 17 (campy and fun) (2 or 3 rewatches)

History 3: Trapped (very funny and enjoyable

I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama (feel-good comedy)

The Great Doctor (episode notes) (not QL) (medical/historical/time travel mashup, content warning for violence and gory medical stuff)

Kiseki: Dear to Me (watch notes) (top notch crime drama with a lot of humor - content warning for violence - includes an older gay couple) (1 rewatch)

Lovely Writer (very meta about the QL industry and quite funny)

Moonlight Chicken (touching and fun)

Once Again (touching time travel, sad throughout) (1 rewatch)

180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us (intelligent and a good watch, melancholy, feels very much like a stage play)

The Sign (deeply flawed but wild and enthralling deep dive into northeastern Thai mythology disguised as a cop series - content warning for violence - yeah, it's a mess but it's a glorious mess)

10 Years Ticket (episode notes) (crime drama about two warring families, bittersweet ending - not QL, but there's a QL subplot)

3 Will Be Free (review link) (wild ride with great twists, content warning for violence, yeah I'd call it QL)

Until We Meet Again (fine contrast between the ghosts of the past and the world of today, deep story, but has a few problematic scenes that I cringe at, theme music got repetitive; content warning for suicide) (1 or 2 re-watches)

The Warp Effect (not QL, but some queer characters)

and a fanfic:

What's in Your Head (Bad Buddy zombie fic) (content warning for violence, requires AO3 login)

Others I enjoyed (in alpha order):

I enjoyed these enough to be happy I watched them, but not enough to consider them classics and in no danger of breaching my top 10.

Be My Favorite (fun time-travel fantasy with a strong political viewpoint and good twists, one of the mains is a bit hard to take)

Bed Friend (not sure enjoyed is the right word, has some triggers, but worth seeing, loved the cat role-play)

The Boy Foretold By the Stars (fun, sweet comedy)

Choco Milkshake (fun, touching pet fantasy)

Cupid's Last Wish (fun body-swap plot, insane amount of food and landscape porn, rural settings, content warning for gross cow veterinary scene)

Dark Blue Kiss (pretty good, creepy interloper)

Dear Tenant (enjoyed isn't the right word, and had to pause and walk away from it partway for a major cry, but an excellent film)

DNA Says I Love You (review link) (sweet, sad, interesting gender minority rep)

The End of the World With You (mix of SF and fantasy, good story and relationships)

Eternal Summer (Taiwanese film about youth discovering their identity - bisexual love triangle - well done if a bit melancholy)

Ghost Host, Ghost House (nice supernatural treatment)

Gift Shop for People You Hate (not QL but has two minor gay characters making guest appearances, one evil and one harmless) (horror, with a very dark sense of humor) (this one doesn't show an English title on YouTube, but if you search YouTube under that name you'll find it) (1 rewatch)

Jack O'Frost (melancholy and sweet)

The Man Who Defies the World of BL (very funny after watching several series and becoming aware of the tropes)

The Man Who Defies the World of BL season 2 (okay, maybe a joke can go on long enough)

Me, My Husband and My Husband's Boyfriend (bittersweet poly-ish story)

Midnight Museum (not QL but has a major bromance that could go full QL if there's ever a sequel) (a mess, but a glorious mess)

Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss (quite enjoyable)

My Ride (enjoyable comedy with dramatic moments - includes an older gay couple)

Naked Dining (good fun, lots of misunderstandings and food porn)

Neverland (web series from India, well done and too brief)

Our Dating Sim (fun series about the courage to correct your mistakes from the past, set in the video game workplace - a few cringe moments, but generally a very kind series)

Rainbow Prince (campy and fun, not enough songs for something that's supposed to be a musical, you have to be okay with cheesy)

Rak Diao (funny, very silly, although the harassment jokes got old fast and didn't stop)

Sleep With Me (review link) (sweet lesbian romance, kinda slow for such short episodes, great disability rep)

Something in My Room (the abridged-episode version) (good, not great, ghost story)

Stay By My Side (review link) (fun ghost story version of Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss)

Tale of the Lost Boys (movie) (friendship story between a visiting straight Filipino and a gay Taiwanese aboriginal in Taiwan, heartwarming story)

Tinted with You (a way too short, fun time travel fantasy involving a painting and a mystical art lover that bring an art student together with an ancient deposed prince)

Twilight Kiss aka Suk Suk (fine, bittersweet Hong Kong film about an affair between two heterosexually married men who are actually closeted gay men)

Twins (Thai pulp, fun, not too deep)

Your Name Engraved Herein (not sure enjoyed is the right word but it's fine work)

Zero Photography (from Magic of Zero) (most entertaining product promotion vehicle I've seen in QL, even better than Pran & Pat's product placements in Bad Buddy)

Torn about:

These all had some kind of major issue that prevents me from recommending them.

Fish Upon the Sky (appalled at the racism/punch-down humor in episode 4, otherwise loved its play with form)

Last Twilight (entrancing series, but the characters didn't grow, the ending was poorly set up - needed a few more episodes - and it ultimately fumbled on disability rep)

Mr. Cinderella (nearly abandoned this one because of a supporting toxic character, but kept with it after reading a post about the traditional Vietnamese story it was tracking)

Secret Crush on You (cringed for the first half, considered dropping it, read the defense by trans reviewers, watched the rest, and suddenly it got really good)

Together With Me (mix of great content and really problematic content)

Lukewarm:

I'm more glad than not that I watched these but in retrospect would have been okay if I had missed them:

Bagan Beginning (Not-bad early Myanmar QL, lots of food and antiquity porn, content warning for violence in the last episode)

Color Rush (interesting concept, okay)

Enchanté (not as bad as people say it is, but also just okay)

Gay OK Bangkok and Gay OK Bangkok 2 (definitely gay and, er, okay)

Nitiman (okay enough)

Only Friends (episode notes) (a sex farce with too much toxic behavior for my taste and a last episode choice that left a bad taste in my mouth)

Our Skyy 2 Bad Buddy x Thousand Stars (counting the four episodes as one series even though they have different names, didn't love this but didn't hate it either, very pale compared to the original two separate series)

Our Skyy 2 Vice Versa (was just okay with a really bad idea at the base of its plot)

Star & Sky: Star in My Mind (not great, not bad)

The Tasty Florida (cute enough, just so-so)

Vice Versa (brief notes) (good concept, product placements became way too intrusive for my full enjoyment)

Ones I wish I could watch:

I only watch legit sources, both so the creators get money for it and to reduce the hacking risks that watching gray presents.

Triage (I don't have a Thai phone number to log in to AISPlay, and even if I did not sure if it would have English subtitles)

Manner of Death (I need a WeTV subscription and will check that out) (thank you to @lurkingteapot for this info)

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Peach of Time (supernatural plot) (supposedly I can watch this on WeTV using VPN but I'm not yet ready to make the leap to VPN)

Series I abandoned:

Accomplishment of Fundoshi Bartender (episode 2 when he screamed offstage about not dating married men - I know this series isn't intended to be realistic but I still need the other characters to react to his behavior - this series has gotten entirely too silly for me)

Candy Colored Paradox (bored by episode 2 or 3)

Cooking Crush (a few minutes into episode 1 [2/4] as it is getting way too silly for me, plus we're going to have to put up with hazing/bullying as comedy - at least they had some new sound effects)

Cutie Pie (hated the infantilizing, left by episode 3 or 4)

I Told Sunset About You (left in episode 1, not loving the high school content)

Love by Chance (had someone fall on top of someone else in the first 30 seconds, left immediately)

Love Stage (apparently without most of the music - I'm guessing there's rights issues - but I abandoned it after 2 episodes because one of the lead's acting felt flat and I didn't enjoy the humor)

Lucky My Love (first segment didn't engage me)

Meow Ears Up (lost interest in the first episode with the fangirls in the store incident)

My Secret Love (first segment didn't engage me)

One Room Angel (dropped after episode 3 because it's so depressing; open to returning if it cheers up)

Playboyy (a new record - I got scared away by the content warning before the episode even started - however, based on various posts I might reconsider in for a binge watch once it's over)

SOTUS (not a fan of hazing)

Star & Sky: Sky in Your Heart (abandoned around the time of the outhouse incident)

Theory of Love (abandoned when nearly at the beginning Gun's character was crying in the shower)

VIP Only (failed to engage me in the first episode)

Un-favorite tropes:

Falling on someone

Heavy seme/uke dynamic

Northern rural Thai loan sharks

Evil ex

Boss/Employee

Stuff that I've written as opposed to reblogged I've tagged #pandasmagorica so I can find them easier.

30 questions meme thingie... tagged by @autumnalserenade sort of ehehehe

(1.) name / nickname:

kester / kes

(2.) gender:

oh haha no thank you :)

sometimes i think about how im both a transgender bisexual and a bigender transsexual and how thats so epic of me

(3.) star sign:

aries but i think astrology is stoopid i don’t like it. watch as that turns out to be an aries stereotype or something though

(4.) height:

5′9

(5.) time:

6:37 am EST

(6.) birthday:

04/17

(7.) favorite bands/groups:

oh fuck i’m definitely going to forget something important but

mother mother, metric, the decemberists, alt-j, echo & the bunnymen, x, pixies, hole, nirvana, clipping., my chemical romance, blondie, mindless self indulgence, studio killers

(8.) favorite solo artist:

again i’m definitely gonna forget someone important here

emilie autumn, amanda palmer, fiona apple, patti smith, marina & the diamonds, yungblud, poppy, slayyyter, hozier, mika

(9.) song stuck in my head:

i’m so sorry to have to say this but. dr3 despair arc ending theme

(10.) last movie:

genuinely no idea. i try not to watch movies if i can help it

(11.) last show:

it was either hannibal or better call saul, i don’t remember which of those i watched most recently

(12.) when did i create this blog:

sometime in late 2019, i think? don’t remember exactly. i know i announced i remade in early 2020, but i’d been active on this blog for maybe about six months beforehand

(13.) what do i post:

all kinds of stupid and gay shit

(14.) last thing googled:

“in a world where clowns are real” (i was trying to find a particular tumblr post)

(15.) other blogs:

@catboyebooks (liveblogging; we’re playing dr1 right now) @sexytesting (portal sideblog)

also. i did hoard a url the other day to use as like, a danganronpa sideblog maybe? so i don’t have to be unhinged on main maybe? so i can turn search engine indexing off and hide from the fandom at large maybe? it will probably be like some percentage shitposting some percentage sloppily written meta posts i don’t really know. might drop the url if i do anything with it

(16.) do i get asks:

not often, but from time to time! i think most of my followers are mutuals so when we talk it’s mostly through DMs or something rather than asks

(17.) why did i choose this url:

no deep reasons, it’s just nya + adversary although my lovely mutual litzo junkheaded did point out it could be read as “NY adversary” which also fits, i like that too

(18.) following:

92. i’ve never been one to follow a lot of blogs, as long as my dash isn’t super slow i prefer to keep my following count low — i think most of the blogs i follow are mutuals actually

(19.) followers:

116. again i think the majority of these i’m in mutuals with

(20.) average hours of sleep:

i have bipolar disorder so no

(21.) lucky number:

1, 4, 9, 11, 17, 55, 69 (nice), 93, 95, 101, 417, 420 (nice), 428, 666 (nice), 4673

(22.) instruments:

i’m mainly a singer but i used to play fiddle (would like to pick it up again sometime), i know some very rudimentary piano/keyboard (i can do basic chords), i’m trying to learn ukulele and i’d also like to try learning guitar

also my school did force us to play the recorder but we got sort of hardcore with it, broke out the alto/tenor/bass recorders and all that. i used to play alto and tenor mainly but i’ve played like every type of recorder probably lmao

(23.) what am i wearing:

shrieking shack t-shirt with a really deep fried image of harry holding dead dobby on it

black and white checkered pants

boxered shorts

(24.) dream job:

i don’t dream about having jobs simply <3

but no ideally i wind up being some sort of author i guess?

(25.) dream trip:

anywhere. ahaha. let me out <3

(26.) favorite food:

some favorites no order: soft pretzels, like all pasta but my fave is tortellini, virtually all seafood honestly but especially crab, mussels, salmon, and anchovies, udon, ramen but not instant ramen i’ve had enough of that for one lifetime probably but will continue to eat it bc money, cheesecake, pizza but specifically like really good italian style pizza (new york style is also pretty good), garlic bread, really anything with garlic, salty foods in general

(27.) nationality:

american 😔

in terms of more specific cultural background, just for funsies: mom’s side is irish catholic mainly, her dad’s family is from county tipperary, i’m 3rd gen. she grew up on staten island and most of her family lives (or did live) in the tristate area. dad’s side is scots-irish with left welsh and has been here a while, since i think the mid or late 1600s? my paternal grandparents ended up settling and raising their family in socal (san diego) but both their families are from the southern appalachian region (grandfather on that side grew up in rural northern alabama, F to pay respects, and i don’t remember specifically about my grandmother)

(28.) favorite song:

i cannot pick. uh. the most played song in my itunes library is infinitesimal by mother mother, so, whatever that says about me

(29.) last book read:

does... does the komaeda manga count

(30.) three fictional universes you’d like to live in:

Three??? most of the fictional universes i like / am invested in are horrible nightmare realms. the only one i can think of that seems like an overall good time is pokemon and i don’t think i need to explain why that would whip ass

i tag: the girl reading this <3 or, like, whoever, you can do this if you want and say i tagged you, no obligation

Oh boy.

[Pacebreaker]

Because I’ll have to keep bringing it up otherwise, let me start out by saying that the pacing in this episode is atrocious. I’ve seen some bad pacing in Miraculous before but this is close to the bottom of the barrel if not the bottom of the barrel.

Let me run down how this episode breaks up its scenes:

Fighting/Resolving Gigantitan: 2 minutes and 18 seconds (0:30-2:48)

Setting up the plot: 1 minute and 7 seconds (2:48-3:55)

Establishing characters feelings and waiting for Chat to arrive: 4 minutes and 35 seconds (3:55-8:30)

The most awkward get-together in Miraculous history: 3 minutes and 45 seconds (8:30-12:15)

wErEdaD, i Am hAwK mOtH: 1 minute and 25 seconds (12:15-13:40)

That Scene With Chat and Sabine That No One Wants to Talk About: 45 seconds (13:40-14:25)

Weredad Brings the Dupain: 3 minutes and 40 seconds (14:25-17:30)+(18:00-18:15)+(18:20-18:40)

Marinette Saves Herself: 55 seconds (17:30-18:00)+(18:15-18:20)+(18:40-19:00)

Ladybug Saves Chat and Tom: 1 minute and 15 seconds (19:00-20:15)

Resolution: 1 minute and 47 seconds (20:15-22:02)

This episode wastes time on scenes that don't have value so that scenes that should have value get no time at all. This episode serves to be little more than a Tom akumatization episode, yet Weredad doesn't even have 4 minutes of screen time.

And for what? By the 7 minute mark, I was officially bored. Everything drags on and on despite the fact that it's blatantly obvious where things are going to go. The timing for some scenes even sound correct at a glance, but then the scene itself shows up and it's all over the place. In the scene with everyone having treats, Tom just jumps from awkward topic to awkward topic.

And the scene with Gigantitan didn't need to be anywhere near as long as it was. The episode spends too long re-establishing Ladybug and Chat's relationship when one or two lines would've been enough. The pacifier was an extra detail that not only isn't resolved, but that didn't need to exist.

Marinette got a giant lucky charm jammed through her room; Chat could've just wanted to check on her and found it weird that she was on her balcony so late at night (unless she'd been watching the action, which gives him the idea that she's a fan of his). The episode even tries to run with the idea that Chat would always be there for Marinette and always check on her, but he certainly wasn't concerned when her room had been destroyed late at night when she was likely inside of it.

And then the episode spends so much time establishing how characters feel about the situation when it's already been made clear. Adrien talks about it to August (I've noticed that this show doesn't care to have characters just think to themselves instead of talking out loud) about it first, then talks to Plagg, then talks to Plagg again the next day.

The pacing doesn't just need tweaking. It needs an entire makeover.

[Dia-slog]

The dialog in this episode is so contrived. It's so stilted.

Let's start with the very beginning of the episode, since that's where a huge pacing issue is. Because the episode wants to re-establish Ladybug and Chat's relationship (which it already does later in this scene and verbally by both leads later), it has Chat flirt with Ladybug mid-battle and wastes a scene of Ladybug slamming into an Adrien billboard just so she can fawn over him.

Put bluntly, it feels like one of the chibi shorts with dialog and the show's models, right down to the fact that everything is a lot of "jokes" (Chat trying to kiss Ladybug before she gets flung off so he misses his chance, the billboard, Ladybug's giant lucky charm that was apparently useless since it's in the same place during Miraculous Ladybug which means it was just a gag of Ladybug holding something heavy and also a reason for Tom to rush to Marinette's room despite the fact that an akuma being near their house at all is more than enough reason, etc.).

And I have to talk about that scene with Chat finding Marinette because there are so many things wrong with it. Not Marinette even, because I get that she's anxious and panicking and went for the first thing that came to her mind that would distract him enough, but there are serious issues with Chat's dialog.

Firstly, Chat sees Marinette on Marinette's own balcony and somehow finds that suspicious. Chat has been to Marinette's house multiple times as both Adrien and Chat; there's no excuse for this.

Secondly, Chat starts out mentioning Ladybug's de-transformation. The scene is very clearly set up for Marinette to think that Chat's about to suggest that she's Ladybug. It's not, "This isn't the first time I've seen you near a fight," or "This isn't the first time I've caught you right after a battle." If Chat is trying to imply that Ladybug isn't around but Marinette is so Marinette must be one of his fans, it still makes no sense because, again, Marinette is at her own house.

This episode already had pacing, dialog, and character problems, but even the setup was inherently flawed.

It didn't have to be about a big misunderstanding. If it had to be about Tom getting akumatized out of anger for Chat, the episode could've had Tom seeing Marinette and Chat together multiple times (whether that's because Ladybug de-transforms and runs into Chat, who takes her home, or a meta joke on how a lot of akumatizations tend to happen around Marinette), which then leads Tom to think that Chat must love Marinette (if the episode wants a misunderstanding so badly, it can be a small one: maybe Tom does talk to Marinette, but she thinks he's talking about Adrien when he refers to her love life), only for Chat to explain that he loves Ladybug and incur Tom's anger because it's as if Chat is leading Marinette on. That even brings up the fact that Chat has an issue with mixed signals.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, but the narrative needs to stop pointing out Marinette's lying as the core issue without offering solutions. Tikki does it all the time and she never learns. Marinette rightfully argues with Tikki that she had a reason for doing it and, once again, Tikki deflects and keeps focusing on what Marinette caused. Instead of offering solutions and instead of offering comfort, Tikki waffles around the issue and leaves all of Marinette's arguments hanging without a proper answer.

Tom isn't safe from poor dialog choices either. In fact, he might be one of the worst examples, whether as himself or his akumatized form. To keep the plot going, Tom has to constantly brush off what other characters say, except when it's relevant to the plot they're trying to tell. This means that Chat and Marinette can't be blunt until the moment where Tom is meant to be akumatized.

This also means that Chat has to sit there while Tom rambles for eternity and asks Chat pressing questions. Chat sits there eating sweets they offered him when he knows that he's about to reject Marinette. It pads out the episode because the writing is panicking to build up the big moment and it's the same thing with Marinette's big reaction to Chat: a big setup.

The episode doesn't even know what it wants to be either. It seems to want to establish Marinette and Chat's feelings on each other at first, but there's a complete 30-second derail of dialog re-establishing Adrien’s issues with his father just so it can come back for a 35-second scene with Weredad later.

And because of poor pacing, the dialog in that scene with Weredad is rushed beyond belief. Tom's whole reason for getting akumatized was a want to never let any boy near Marinette again, but a 10 second speech from Chat suddenly has him like, "okay then actually--"

And speaking of Chat's speech, it's completely ineffective from a comparison standpoint! Adrien wasn't even isolated in this episode. In Season 2 "Glaciator" or "Captain Hardrock", MAYBE, but the problem is rarely isolation nowadays; it's Adrien's dad being so rarely there for him.

That's the difference. Tom was actively caring for Marinette and Adrien's dad is just too strict. Fixating on the over-protectiveness would've been so much better.

And...isolation? Weredad has specifically said that he was going to be there for Marinette. Gabriel isn't there for Adrien, but Tom would be for Marinette. The comparison between Gabriel and Tom isn't invalid (honestly, I appreciate a little nuance ignoring the fact that humanizing the main villain might not be a great idea), but it boils down to little more than something only established for Tom in this one episode.

Here's a thought: maybe instead of the episode focusing on something that's here and gone, it can focus on something that can be slowly improved and has already been a thing.

How often have Tom and Sabine comforted Marinette? How often does Marinette have to go to someone else for comfort? Heck, the only scene in this episode of one of the parents comforting anyone is Sabine comforting Chat (and trust me, we'll get there).

Maybe the parents learning about listening to Marinette? This could've addressed the fact that Gabriel and Tom+Sabine are on opposite sides but have similar problems.

Gabriel is very absent and doesn't listen to Adrien. Tom and Sabine are very attentive (or at least they think they are) yet don't pay attention to Marinette's feelings unless Marinette makes it clear (whether verbally or otherwise).

"Gamer" was Tom and Sabine constantly interrupting Marinette and Adrien's time together despite Marinette's clear discomfort, even going so far as to talk to Adrien about the fact that Marinette talks about him all the time.

When Marinette got home in "Lady Wifi", looking wholly exhausted, Sabine asked no questions and was like "oh hey Alya brought your bag home go get some exercise to help work on your forgetfulness ya scrub."

"Simon Says" had them ground Marinette as if that would solve all her issues (disregarding the fact that it's a ridiculous consequence when the place she was absent from were school activities which they can't stop her from trying to go to) instead of looking at things emotionally and worrying about why Marinette is missing classes.

It took Marinette having her privacy invaded and sobbing hysterically in "Troublemaker" before Tom and Sabine actually do anything of value and, even then, they fight off the people running the show instead of one of them being upstairs to comfort Marinette.

Even disregarding the fact that "overprotective father" has already been done (both in the show and done to death out of the show), it's aggravating that Tom and Sabine both have actual issues that could be addressed but the writing pushes them in a different direction. Sabine rambles about how she always tries to calm Tom down, but she made very few attempts and most of them led to her just smiling and letting Tom go about things.

The dialog feels wrong because it is wrong. It's not natural or flowing because the episode is holding this tightrope of a plotline as all the characters desperately try to walk across it without falling.

[Fairy Tale of Woe]

I'm keeping this one simple. From my calculations, this episode has, at most, six minutes of screen time on Weredad and his vine prison.

Six minutes is not anywhere near enough time to mash together multiple fairy tales so it’s a jumbled mess. It's nothing more than a set piece.

Fairy tales rarely mesh well together. That's why they're their own self-contained stories. I see what they were going for with Marinette being trapped and saved and fairy tale romance and whatever, but it just doesn't work.

And why fairy tales at all when it comes to Tom's character? Tom might dream of Marinette having a fairy tale romance, but Tom doesn't explicitly reference fairy tales or act like he's a huge fan of them. He's obsessed with baking for the episode instead.

"Reflekta" gave Juleka a very vibrant and attention-grabbing appearance to fit with her want to stand out. "The Evillustrator" turned Nathaniel into the hero in his story. "Stormy Weather" made Aurore into a weather girl who could force all her predictions to come true.

"Weredad"...why would Tom want to be a wolf creature? Powerful and quick on his feet, I can understand, but why a wolf? He's a baker and talks about it often in the episode, so this just doesn't fit at all.

[That Scene With Chat and Sabine That No One Wants to Talk About But We're Gonna Talk About It]

Oh, Chat. Chat. Chat. Chat.

I really hope this isn't a trend. I'd prefer to not go into each episode of Season 3 worriedly wondering, "Is Adrien/Chat going to do [the thing] again?"

So...the scene.

There are a total of three major issues with this scene.

First issue: Chat not going into enough detail about what he did wrong. The episode fixates on him not returning Marinette's feelings, but he stayed way longer than he should've when he only went to reject Marinette, brought her a rose thinking that would somehow help the situation, and kissed both of Marinette's cheeks to greet her. It's frankly no wonder why Tom was so sure that Chat was in love with Marinette; just like Adrien, he's constantly mixing up his words and the actions he takes.

Second issue: Sabine comforting Chat at all. I have no issue with Tom and Sabine doing things outside of Marinette, but this is a huge offense. Marinette went up to her room “sobbing” and instead of going up to check on her, Sabine stays downstairs to talk to Tom. Tom goes overboard, sure, and he didn't go upstairs to Marinette either, but he thought Marinette was legitimately hurt and he cared. Sabine makes her stance pretty clear at the end of the episode by basically saying that "oh marinette is strong and she can handle herself." Sabine is hardly involved in Marinette's life unless it's a special occasion or "hey marinette clean your room or i'll go through your emails," yet the second Chat comes in all upset, Sabine is immediately at his side and comforting him while also side-giving a "told him so" at Tom's behavior (something she gives to Tom personally at the end of the episode too). I'm all for Marinette's parents having confidence in her but this doesn't qualify in that field. It's just bad parenting.

Third issue: This has to do with the actual thing being talked about here: specifically, Sabine telling Chat that his feelings are valid. I can forgive Sabine on a few points, because she doesn't have the full story, but Chat says right in front of them that Ladybug keeps rejecting him. That's a big red flag. It'd be one thing if Chat simply said that he was in love with someone else, but even then, this is shown as a good thing that Sabine is doing for Chat when it's not. This is enabling Chat to keep on loving Ladybug and keep on pursuing her because that's what he feels is the right choice. If anyone should be told that their feelings are valid, it's Ladybug. Ladybug is constantly made to feel bad about rejecting Chat in any endeavor, but when it's time to start giving out sympathy cards, Ladybug doesn't get one. Chat's right, Sabine's right, but Marinette/Ladybug is wrong because she doesn't agree with Chat.

Chat can learn that it’s fine if he’s not in love with Marinette, but not that it’s fine if he continues pursuing Ladybug against her wishes.

[Nomance]

It's honestly difficult to talk about the details being discussed in this episode without derailing into a 3000 word discussion about "Will They, Won't They" plots, but I'll try to keep it brief.

This episode was a mistake. I don't mean that it's a mess all over because of the pacing, dialog, and character moments.

I mean, it is, but that's not what I’m referring to.

I’m saying that the idea for it never should've been approved in the first place.

"Will They, Won't They" is very thin ice territory that needs to be handled with care and grace. With the love square, the show gets around some of the problems by having the protagonist and deuteragonist already technically be in love with each other, but having the conflict be getting them to see the other side of their crush in the same light.

It was never a good idea to directly address Marinette's feelings for Chat and Adrien's feelings for Marinette in this way. There is no feasible way it could've gone well.

People do not like it when shows trying to directly retcon and/or put new meanings to scenes that were originally supposed to be vague and open to fandom interpretation.

Adrien does not love Marinette. That's just a fact. There's no denial, no hidden meaning...it's just the truth that the episode points out multiple times without even a shred of restraint. If there was any remaining hope left that Adrien loved Marinette after Kagami came in and Adrien showed genuine interest in her, this episode completely crushes it. If Adrien did love Marinette in any way, there would've been a moment of him acknowledging that instead of constantly shooting down the notion to Plagg.

That means that all of these

were lies. They were teases. They were bait. They didn’t mean anything.

And Chat's entire personality in this episode constantly 180s from having a massive ego to being totally self-conscious. He swaps from "obnoxiously egotistic" to "reminding everyone that he isn't in love with Marinette" to "getting another stamp on his sympathy card because he needs one more stamp for his free sundae."

Once again, mid-battle, he's flirting. Instead of helping Ladybug hold back Gigantitan, he not only ignores the battle entirely to flirt, but he tries to kiss her. Ladybug is flung into the air, slamming into a billboard, but Chat doesn't apologize for being distracted. Instead, he catches her and continues flirting like fighting Hawk Moth isn't serious to him at all.

He hasn’t learned anything. Chat faces no consequences from flirting inappropriately because any damage done while he's distracted with chatting up his crush (who is in love with someone else and he is aware of that fact) will immediately be fixed by the magical ladybugs.

This is the episode where Chat gets his feelings for Ladybug validated and it starts in the worst possible way for it.

This was never Marinette's episode. This was never Tom's episode. This is Chat's episode.

There's so little focus on Marinette being amazing and saving herself because this isn't about her. That's why there's no big moment of Chat being like "whoa Marinette saved herself she's even more amazing than I thought." Chat never even learns that Marinette broke the rose herself; he probably presumes that Ladybug did it. He fawns over how great Ladybug is for "saving Marinette" when it was Marinette herself who did that (the episode easily could've had Marinette mention that she broke the rose and then Ladybug showed up). Ladybug gets credit from Chat for the things that Marinette did, furthering the divide between the "two girls" in his mind.

Chat gets the big speech to Weredad. Chat gets the screen time where he talks about his feelings. Chat gets the sympathy and comfort.

This episode wanted nothing more than to make Chat feel valid. That's literally it. It's why everything is so contrived and Tom's overprotectiveness comes out of nowhere.

It's also why Adrien is not even mentioned once by Marinette's parents.

Tom and Sabine know that Marinette loves Adrien. That's been canon since Season 1. It's not like Marinette fake-confesses and they presume that he must Adrien behind the mask, which is why Chat stays so long so he can convince them otherwise (which would've actually been funny and left Adrien freaking the heck out for multiple reasons; bonus comedy with them deciding that he must not be Adrien in the end).

Marinette "confesses" and there's not one word from Tom and Sabine about Adrien, who they actually seemed to like and were rooting for Marinette to be with. Neither of them ask if Marinette had a fight with him or if Marinette just changed her mind.

And Marinette is the one who's given the "hints" that she might be in love with Chat, what with her being unusually angry at the idea that Chat might've changed his mind on who he loves when she "wasn't interested."  And sure, she's given lines about being happy that Chat isn't in love with her, but Chat's the one being put in the right and given sympathy. He's the one whose feelings we're told are valid.

Thus, the only reason Marinette isn't included must be because her current feelings aren't.

Listening to what a lot of people were saying about this episode, I’ve heard it be related back to fanfiction. To a degree, I can understand.

"Weredad" does have a lot of traits of fanfiction, what with its plot and simultaneously having the writing ability of amateur fanfiction.

But, in reality, "Weredad" is not like a fanfic.

A fanfic would progress the characters’ emotions, however sloppily. A fanfic would care enough to make a plot like this matter. A fanfic would make the characters’ feelings change in some way from start to finish.

A fanfic would be better than this.

i was tagged by @chippedcupanddustybooks sweet bb. i am tagging @irrelephantsims @magnoliidae @simplymelaninated and anyone who hasn’t been tagged i swear i feel like the last person doing this LOL. heckin long ass questionnaire under the cut.

1. What is your full name? Brianna Leigh [Redacted] 2. What is your nickname? Breezy 3. Birthday? may 4th 4. What is your favorite book series? hmmmm series? idk.... i really like every single john grisham book and they aren’t related but when you have such a niche brand of book i feel like it counts lol.  5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? kinda on both. 6. Who is your favorite author? oh whew. tough one right here. idk man, i have a few? but if i had to choose i guezz i would say george orwell.   7. What is your favorite radio station? who tf listens to the radio like det anymore lmfao. i don’t have one. before i listened to 107.1 in memphis in the car sometimes, but i moved so. 8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? i loveeee pineapple anything. 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? lit 10. What is your current favorite song? currently really into pink in the night by mitski and also sicko mode by travis scott.

11. What is your favorite word? good ole fuck(in/ed/etc.) i also really like voluptuous and bubbles. 12. What was the last song you listened to? last thing i listened to was another lifetime x nao.  13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? absolutely check out the good place. also hilda, the dragon prince, she-ra princess of power, criminal minds, law and order (the original), and snapped. 14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? i used to watch the notebook religiously when it rained/felt upset like shit. but lately i’ve been watching say yes to the dress to combat my depression lol. 15. Do you play video games? yah 16. What is your biggest fear? dying alone and no one finding me. like literally alone not like meta alone “oh no one loves me” like dead ass alone somewhere isolated. 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? hmmmmm idk that i care a lot about other people? 18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? all of them lmfao. i’m annoying, i’m physically unattractive, i talk too damn much, i can be kind of a bitch both intentionally and unintentionally, i’m a trash writer, i can be selfish, and i self depreciate a lot (lol see above response “all of them”) and i’m sure that gets on people who love and care about me’s nerves ((but like....i mean it lmfao)) 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? whew tough. prolly cats though.  20. What is your favorite season? winter followed by a tie between spring and fall.  21. Are you in a relationship? nah lmfao.  22. What is something you miss from your childhood? not being so fuckin ugly and depressed lmfao. 23. Who is your best friend? “my person” as greys anatomy stans would say is ivy lynn [redacted] [redacted] but i also wanna shout out my home girl mary (i know you follow me on here), my home girl christina (also follows me on here but she never checks her simblr anymore), my smoothie gang bitches, my NSA bitches (which includes both ivy and mary lmfao), and my memphis as fuck family. honorable mention to loml [redacted] who is skating on thin fucking ice with me right now lmfao. 24. What is your eye color? brown 25. What is your hair color? brown 26. Who is someone you love? don’t make me answer this tumblr gods. 27. Who is someone you trust? all my best friends, my parents, my brother. 28. Who is someone you think about often? fucking murder me @ this question lmfao. my friend kate (RIP) my grandmother grannypeg (RIP) and [redacted] 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? i’m excited to spend christmas in a new country! forging new traditions and all that. 30. What is your biggest obsession? currently i’m obsessed with wedding stuff and mens fashion and how mens fashion such as suits translates into womens fashion. we love a hot lady in a tailored suit amiright? 31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? spongebob squarepants RIP :”( 32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? [redacted] 33. Are you superstitious? kinda i guess? not really about stuff like stepping on cracks breaking mamas’ backs or opening umbrellas indoors but little things about familial traditions. 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? not really a phobia but i have misophonia. i also hate eye shit. like eye violence or anything fuckin around with eyes is a big no from me dawg. 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? absolutely behind the camera. i used to be a theater kid so like being on stage i don’t mind but when it comes to the spotlight and being filmed??? no no no no no. lemme be a cinnamontawgrowfur all day.  36. What is your favorite hobby? watching movies, playing skyrim (I MISS IT SO MUCH), reading, watching music videos, modern calligraphy/hand lettering, baking (ALSO MISS IT MUCH) 37. What was the last book you read? lol a textbook about developing countries.

38. What was the last movie you watched? i just rewatched the swan princess the other day but in terms of watching something brand new i think it was this tom cruise movie my friend showed us and i thought she said someone else ( i don’t remember now. maybe tom hanks?) it was pretty good he was irish or sum with nicole kidman and they came to the united states and pretended to be siblings but the sexual tension was so fucking high dawg. 

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? nothing i’m wack and a disappointment to my musically gifted family (my dad and brother)  40. What is your favorite animal?  polar bears followed by giraffes. 41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? i’m gonna go with my main tumblr because ion wanna hurt nobody’s feelings but i follow a celebs of color page i really love, a fashion page i really love, and a few artists i really love. 42. What superpower do you wish you had? teleportation or shape shifting.  43. When and where do you feel most at peace?  i feel most at peace when it is raining and i’m in my room, everything is clean and tidy, candles are lit, i have nothing to do so the world is my oyster, i have a nice cup of coffee or hot cocoa or tea, and i just am v i b i n g.  44. What makes you smile? seeing my friends, my brother (when he isn’t pissing me off), funny videos of red dead people falling off their horse in cinematic mode, pretty flowers, cute art, round birds. 45. What sports do you play, if any? i don’t lmfao. 46. What is your favorite drink? honestly a frozen margarita no salt. 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? a month ago.  48. Are you afraid of heights? absolutely. 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? people chewing with their mouths open and people talking to me like i’m incompetent/assuming i don’t know anything about what they’re trying to talk to me about especially if it is my area of expertise lol. 50. Have you ever been to a concert? hail yeah. many. 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? nope! 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? honestly i don’t know but i have a distinct memory of a bunch of girls in my second grade, yours truly included, wanting to be strippers. and i don’t know why or how this came up or if we even truly knew what stripping meant but. yeah. OH i guess around the time i was in 4th/5th grade i started wanting to be a harvard law graduate and be a lawyer but i gave that up in like high school and then bounced being a lawyer back and forth in my noggin up until i applied for grad school. shout out to my mary for doing it though.  53. What fictional world would you like to live in? hmmmm idk. none of em really. 54. What is something you worry about? if i made the right decision(s) in life lol.  55. Are you scared of the dark? not really.  56. Do you like to sing? yeah i do! doesn’t mean i’m good at it though haha. 57. Have you ever skipped school? yeah lmfao. 58. What is your favorite place on the planet? i miss Rwanda a lot. but honestly my favorite place is wherever the people i love are. my family loves to travel so whenever i’m with someone i love sharing an experience? i’m in heaven. 59. Where would you like to live? idk anywhere i guess. somewhere it is mostly cold most of the time though haha. 60. Do you have any pets? my bb boi fred lives with my dad and my mom has a dog and 2 cats. we used to have 3 but one of em ran away when she moved to her house, we caught him, he ran away again. oh whale. 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? oh a big time night owl. big time. 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? honestly i like sunrises better but i am never awake to catch em hahah. 63. Do you know how to drive? yah and i fuckin love doing it. 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? i prefer headphones. like really quality ones too. but i tend to use earbuds more often because i don’t need quality while im working out or going to class just easy grab and go. 65. Have you ever had braces? nope but i used to want some so bad. 66. What is your favorite genre of music? i love rap, dream-y pop music and dream-y rap music, i love 80s music. all 80s music really lmfao.  67. Who is your hero? mi mum and mi dad. also viola davis queen of inventing acting and every single color in the rainbow. 68. Do you read comic books? kind of. i was trying to build up a collection before i moved but i only had my BP comics. 69. What makes you the most angry? injustice and offensive ass content and behaviors. also don’t fuck with my friends. i got two dudes on my shit list right now that it is *on sight* if i ever see them again. 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? a real book all the way. idk what it is about digital reading my brain shuts the fuck down. i am super fast reader but the second i try and read something digitally it takes me maybe like 10-15 min to get through just a few sentences. 71. What is your favorite subject in school? history lol i was a history major. 72. Do you have any siblings? yeah my chicken nugget puppy brother dylan. asshole. 73. What was the last thing you bought? some historical romance i think? it’s in dutch so idrk.  74. How tall are you? 5′7 i think. 75. Can you cook? yeah i love cooking but saddly don’t do much of it. 76. What are three things that you love? my teddy bear my momma got me for valentines day, my st. agatha figurine, and my yikes tapestry mary got me. i realize now after reading the next question you probably meant like shit in general so. the smell of a fresh cup of coffee, snuggly warm sweaters, postcards and tiny gifts from friends. you know the ones “i just got this for you because i thought you’d like it” 77. What are three things that you hate? funky ass attitudes, the smell and feel of lavender oil, corn. 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? female 79. What is your sexual orientation? i’m a big ole heterosexual. sorry to disappoint :/  80. Where do you currently live? the netherlands. 81. Who was the last person you texted? my friend and former roommate. today is her birthday. 82. When was the last time you cried? like an hour ago lmfao. 83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? i don’t have one haha. vevo i guess. 84. Do you like to take selfies? do i like taking them? not really. it takes me too damn long to get one that looks good enough. i like sending stupid selfies to friends though. 85. What is your favorite app? i use twitter probably the most but my favorite app is my spider solitaire game haha. 86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? we are very close. i would say both of my parents are my biggest supporters and cheerleaders but how they do that looks a bit different. my mom and i are very similar but sometimes how we handle certain things is very different so we can be the best of friends one day and the completely butt heads the next. 87. What is your favorite foreign accent? i loovveeeee a scottish accent and an irish accent. also tbrh i love a good southern boy drawl. like idk if i could play for you all the way this one dude who works with my mom talks? i would because i wanna bottle it and listen to it whenever i feel bad. 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? i would really like to go to norway for my birthday. 89. What is your favorite number? i don’t have one. 90. Can you juggle? nope but i did try and learn i have a video of it somewhere lmfao. 91. Are you religious? kind of. i’m more spiritual than religious and lowkey hate saying that because it sounds so hoitietoitie but it’s true. 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? the ocean. so much of it we haven’t explored. thinking about space makes me feel existential and dead inside.  93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? nah haha 94. Are you allergic to anything? yeah i’m supposed to take one claritin a day but like i don’t. 95. Can you curl your tongue? yeah 96. Can you wiggle your ears? nope :(  97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? i’ll admit i’m wrong if i’m actually wrong but you’re gonna have to a helluva lot of convincing to get me there lmfao. though if my being “wrong” has caused harm to someone else i’ll apologize quicker than lightning because the last thing i would want is for my stubbornness to hurt someone i love. 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? um the mountains 99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? "never turn down a date. you never know who you might meet while you’re out” -my grandmother to my mother to me. 100. Are you a good liar? lmfaooooo i am a reformed liar. 101. What is your Hogwarts House? HUFFLEPUFF BAYBEEE 102. Do you talk to yourself? yah 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? an introvert. i may be loud and talkative sis but i promise you i’m over compensating because i want you to like me lmfao. 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? i have a private twitter does that count. 105. Do you believe in second chances? depends. 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do?imma keep it real with you chief i would keeps the money lmfao. in the past i would’ve tried to return it to the owner but i am big broke bois with a lot of unexpected expenses coming up so like... yeah lmfao. we keepin that coint. 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? sometimes. 108. Are you ticklish? yes lmfao 109. Have you ever been on a plane? yeah! 110. Do you have any piercings? yah i got my lobes pierced one on each ear, my nose, and a cartilage piercing. 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? my girl nancy drew. 112. Do you have any tattoos? yeah i got 2 of em. 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? idk lmfao. probably when i applied for cityterm and when i appled to go back to undergrad. 114. Do you believe in karma? Yeah but not in a “oh you hurt me? you’re gonna get your come uppins” way but in a every action affects your soul and your being kinda way.  115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? im supposed to wear glasses but ask me if im wearing em right now lmfao. 116. Do you want children? presently i don’t see myself wanting or having kids but i want to foster. 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my friends lol. 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? literally every single memory has a tinge of embarassment lol. but probz when i walked into the cafeteria my first day of highschool as a smol freshman and my knees locked up and i fell forward and my giant ass backpack (because i never used my locker ever in any grade) wrapped around my neck and had me stuck in a strange position in the middle of the parting of the tables in the cafeteria.  119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? hell yeah lmfao. 120. What color are most of you clothes? blue or black 121. Do you like adventures? yeah! 122. Have you ever been on TV? yeah but like on the news and shit. 123. How old are you? 24 124. What is your favorite quote? i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart) 125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? OOF TOUGH BUT UHHH probz sweet. 

Reblog if Older Fans Are Welcome In Fandom

For many fandom is a life long passion that starts young, but being a geek isn’t something you have to grow out of and put away. I didn’t start cosplaying until my 20s (I couldn’t have, and probably won’t be financially secure enough to do all the things I want until my 30s (Celeb cosplayers are all in their late twenties to late 30s - 

Jessica Nigri is 28 Marie‑Claude Bourbonna is 38  Monika Lee is 25 Yaya Han is 35-

Hollywood might not cast women in their 30s (Maggie Gyllenhall was told at 37 she was too old to play a 55 year old) But this is our hobby. We’re allowed to play dress up if we want! 

Being in fandom takes many forms. Cosplay, fanfic, fan art, meta, streaming, youtubing being a creator or being a fan of creators. Giving writers kudos, comments and prompts. Giving artists commissions and revenue for pints and shirt designs, likes, comments and shares. Watching streamers and youtubers talk about fan stuff.  

You don’t have to grow out of it.

It’s also ok if adults like some adult content (as long as it’s clearly marked adults only). For many fandom was the first place we explored fantasies, imaginary crushes and the idea of sexuality and kink. We weren’t supposed to look at adult things as teens (some did, I didn’t - I followed rules and my guardians might have kicked me out for breaking any) and once we turned 18 it was a free for all. 

Even though I don’t particularly enjoy writing or reading sex scenes myself, I can say I’m probably a better writer now than I was at 18, and probably better at writing erotica now that I’m married than I was when as a virgin 20 something. And while fandom isn’t just adult-content (the majority of fanfic and fan art is clean) it’s fine for adults to use fandom to explore adult things. 

However, there are many who believe that if you’re passed 25 and a woman you should have no hobbies, have no sex drive, only like suitably adult things that are considered appropriate for women to enjoy. Innocent, sexless, without passion or real enjoyment. 

It should also be your job to be a mother. Adults are welcome to stay in the fandom’s they built but only if they take responsibility for the children here. If you are a woman, you should be concerned for children and it should be your job to take care of children. What if by being an adult in fandom you’re a bad role-model for children or you make children uncomfortable because old women passed 25 don’t belong here. What if children lie about their age and look at adult content you post and feel uncomfortable.

You shouldn’t be imagining what’s like to be a teenager and experience first love, so what if you didn’t discover your sexuality until your mid-twenties due to a conservative upbringing, no fantasy. You missed your chance. The idea of being a teen belongs only to teens. 

At 25 you’re an old woman and should only want to be a good motherly figure.

My main fandom is Kingdom Hearts. A game about 14 and 15 year olds that came out almost 16 years ago. If you were anywhere near these characters ages and liked these games/were in these fandom when he games came out, you’re in your mid-20s or early 30s.

So if you believe fandom ends at 25 a lot of fans are out of luck. 

Sometimes you’re lucky, like with Harry Potter, and characters grow up with you. Sometimes they grow up with you and then take over a decade to release the third game. So you’re still invested in the characters and story and ships, and maybe fictional crushes you’ve loved since middle school.

KH3 takes me back, I listened to Dashboard Confessional on the way to work and thought about Sora and Riku and felt connected to happy memories. And I think about artist and writers whose writing and style has improved who want to take another shot at redrawing or exploring things they wanted to explore then.

Women in fandom aren’t sexual predators. Sexually harassing an real teenager would of course be creepy and all kinds of wrong and it’s not compariable to liking anime or video game characters. Fictional crushes are imaginary. 

I was in love with Legolas at 13 but that didn’t mean I’d actually date Orlando Bloom (who’s like over a decade my senior).

If I love Riku, and ship him with Xion or Sora or think his new design is sexy, that doesn’t mean I’d actually date a teenager.

Many fans have loved these characters since they were young teens. One friend put it “I fell in love with Riku when I was 15, he’ll always be that cool older guy fantasy boyfriend” My friend should be allowed to continue to make art of Riku. Fandom is made richer by having older fans (getting good at art or writing takes years of practice). 

With the release of KH3 on the horizon (finally) we are probably going to get some new fans and some old fans may return/become active again. I hope that this fandom doesn’t devolve into Christmas Cake debates (if you’re over 25, we don’t want you here, you’re too old).

Of course, fandom is a shared space. There are minors and adults in all fandoms, and specially fandoms that span generations. That is why 18+ content should be flagged/tagged and minors under 18 should utilize safe mode/not lie about their age to look at inappropriate content. (You can wait, I promise, it’s not that long to wait. Once you’re 18 you can look at whatever you want). And once you’re 18 you have your whole life, not until you turn 25 or whatever age young people on tumblr say you have retire to an old woman’s home.

Reblog if you think you’re never too old to be a fangirl. 

If you disagree please take the time to read this.

Last Twilight, episode 1: reflections

TW: suicide

ALLLLLLLLRIGHT! Aof Noppharnach began our year with Moonlight Chicken; interjected it with Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars, and bookends it with Last Twilight. I've got my cha yen ready (not too sweet), here we go, Last Twilight, episode 1.

Some quick notes on random stuff first, then themes I'm picking up on:

1) Yes, we had to have Doc Jimmy start a new series with a new fight, huh (and always in these bowling shirt/jackets, too)

2) Ajahn Pichai with the gold chain, sheeeet! (Listen. It's my OGMMTVC Bad Buddy Meta Month. Just about everyone working on this show on the screenwriting and directing team are BBS alums. The comparisons will be unavoidable!)

3) Why do I know Sea Tawinan? It’s not because I watched Vice Versa (I stayed away), but because he was great in a small role in 55:15 Never Too Late, AND, more importantly, homeboy wore an off-shoulder Fendi sweater WITH a blazer (CLAP EMOJIS) to some GMMTV event, which warmed my couture cockles. Much respect for the taste! (Poor @lurkingshan has had to literally hear about my fashion obsession with this get-up MULTIPLE TIMES, sorry Shan, palms together!)

4) Of the few episodes of Midnight Museum and UMG that I watched earlier this year, I was not impressed with Namtan Tipnaree, but I appreciate that she's starting off quite strong and moodily here. (Also, UMG's script did literally no human being any justice.)

@twig-tea has gathered the ragged and burnt out (oh, is that just me, lmao) Ephemerality Squad from the Only Friends meta circle to join them in a Last Twilight Liminality.... what should we call ourselves, the Liminality League? The Liminality Legion? Someone choose! Anyway, I am super down, and ready to start chewing on some themes. Twig captured the big theme of liminality, of time purgatory, and I totally agree with what you've gotten down in your post, Twig.

In the preview episode for this series, Before Last Twilight, we learn that Day has 180 days -- six months -- of vision left. At the same time, Mhok has 180 days -- six months -- to earn enough money to buy back his late sister's car.

In addition to liminality/time purgatory (this is only my coinage, btw, a way in which I can understand the moment in life this show is capturing), we clearly have a theme of cars and movement. Mhok is a mechanic. He wants to keep his late sister's car. The Bimmer that Night is driving is Day's car. Mhok has to get Day home on the back of a motorcycle as Night had to drive away while Day was wandering in the middle of the road. A car can move backwards only very temporarily, and will HAVE to move forwards at any point in time in order to get to another location (..... unless you're a driver from New Jersey, ayooo!). The car belonging to the late Rung is very much in purgatory at the moment.

We have a theme of sibling rivalry between Day and Night. Day was the success of the family, knows it, and hangs it over Night's head. And we have a theme of opposites. Day, Night, blind, seeing. I can play badminton, I cannot play badminton.

(BY THE WAY! We know we'll be reading more into badminton, AND in the rivalry of Day and Night, AND in the rivalry of Sea and Mark in this series, yes? Mark Pakin and Sea Tawinan are both national-level Thai badminton players who chose acting as their careers. They're facing off in some GMMTV BL sports tournament at the end of the year. I hope it's slightly aggressive! In Before Last Twilight, Sea actually made reference to his rivalry with Mark. Ooooh, TESTY!)

While I'm watching closely the tension between Day and Night, I'm also watching for the stress and pressure that caring for Day will put on Mhok, as well as Night and his and Day's mother. As many of us are watching Last Twilight very closely for accuracy and authenticity in reflecting the experience of a disabled person in an unaccommodating environment; I'm also looking to this show to hopefully capture stories of caregiver stress, which is an incredibly real and important phenomenon (relevant articles here and here).

As I always, always harken to in my posts: behavioral change is very real, and very difficult -- especially when behavioral change is forced upon an individual AND/OR a group, all of which contain very different emotional constructions. Day and Night's forced behavioral change, based on Day's vision condition, has very naturally and automatically caused stress in the group dynamic of Day's family system, as we saw in the outburst in Day's car. I wonder how Mhok will deal with that stress, and how he'll manage his own stress vis à vis caring for Day.

Last theme for now, and then some concluding thoughts. Mhok's emotional distance from his sister's suicide. He can't bring himself to connect with it directly.

I'm eating this up. It's certainly Mhok's way of grieving at the moment. He's also talking with his ex-girlfriend in both of these scenes. There's emotional space between him and Rung, between him and Porjai. And certainly there's simmering and unresolved anger as well -- honestly, the whole emotional circle. But Mhok, at this point, is not toeing the line of getting close to those emotions, and is engaging with the memory of his sister with distance, which is bound to be addressed vis à vis his connection with Day.

There's a lot of anger, a lot of regret, a lot of avoidance, a lot of dancing around the honest truth. Mhok and Day are likely conduits of emotional openness and steadiness to each other; we will see how it plays out.

What do I think of JimmySea? I'm not you're average Wai hater -- I really liked Jimmy as Wai in Bad Buddy. Because I didn't watch Vice Versa, I honestly don't know what I think about him in a lead role. So I am going in REAL fresh, knowing nothing about JimmySea's chemistry, and I like what I'm seeing so far, particularly with Jimmy's emotional control. I appreciate having seen a bit of the work they did together in Before Last Twilight to get to this series premiere.

Aof has done this before: he's recognized potential in pairings (specifically in Dark Blue Kiss with TayNew and Still 2gether with BrightWin) to come up with fabulous shows. So I have trust that he knows what he's doing with JimmySea. Let's see. I really like this so far, but Only Friends did indeed burn me out to a crisp, so I'm allowing myself the slightest touch of hesitancy as I get into a new and big GMMTV show.

Heya, I’ve lurked on your blog for a while (not signed in lol). Love everything and I adore the insights into linguistics, I have a lot of linguistic nerd friends who I fear are becoming Tired of me asking questions and this is a great resource so I can ask deeper questions.

Anywho, I’m trying to compile a list of scenes or lines where the characters themselves speak on BL, like the international impact, the effects on LGBTQ+, anything. I know Cutie Pie did it in that boardroom scene where Lian says something relating to BL, in Step by Step someone says BL couples profit off the identity of LGBT+.

All this to say, I’m wondering if you have any favorite lines or scenes that get meta and talk about BL!

A list of scenes or lines where the characters themselves speak on BL

Gottcha, here are my favorites from last year:

I call this BL getting meta or self referential. I tracked it as a trend in 2021 my #1 pick & 2022 my # 2 pick, so that's the place I would mention those shows that do this. Also there are some more screen caps of my favorites.

Most of my personal favorites would come from Absolute BL 1 & 2. There is a reason I named my blog after that show.

We had full on meta shows too, wither that had a BL within a BL or BL actors or were all about BL like Call it What You Want, Lovely Writer, etc...

I will also call your attention to GMMTV's 55:15 Never Too Late, it has a gay sub-plot that also deals with BL directly, you might find it interesting.

I'm not really tracking it this year except when someone drops one in a series I like and I screen cap. It's become so common now!

But I do have a collection of images i keep of my favorites that I reuse here in my blog regularly, here they are:

Absolute BL

Ai Long Nhai

Cherry Blossoms After Winter

Our Dating Sim

Step By Step

Eclipse

Mr Cinderella

My Secret Love

Our Days (has a BL within a BL)

Our Skyy 2 NLMG

55:15 Never Too Late

Paint with Love (another BL within an BL)

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 8th September 2019

Top 10

At number-one for a second week is Ed Sheeran with “Take Me Back to London” featuring Stormzy, Aitch and Jaykae, which surprises me since it was such a race to #1 last week, where really anyone could get it, although that remix did let the song stand its ground for two weeks, which must mean something. The song’s not great though, but it’s listenable, I suppose, so I’m not complaining that this could see longevity in comparison to say, Lewis Capaldi.

What I thought would be at #1 this week is actually the runner-up spot, “Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston keeping pretty stable at the number-two spot. Like Mark said on Billboard BREAKDOWN, this week pre-Post Malone album bomb does not matter, so don’t expect a long or busy episode here.

Thanks to the release of Aitch’s mixtape, AitcH2O, the lead single, “Taste (Make it Shake)” is up three spaces to number-three, which is a new peak, to my dismay because this song is incredibly dull.

AJ Tracey’s “Ladbroke Grove” is up a single position to number-four this week.

This means that “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike has had a slight drop down one spot to number-five.

What I’m pretty sure is the Love Island theme song, “Sorry” by Joel Corry featuring uncredited vocals from Hayley May, reaches a new peak up a space to number-six.

Also reaching a new peak is unfortunately the utterly mindless garbage from Lil Tecca, “RAN$OM”, up two spaces to number-seven, probably taking a boost thanks to the debut mixtape.

Sam Smith is sticking at number-eight with “How Do You Sleep?”.

Up a single chart position to number-nine is “So High” by MIST and Fredo.

Finally, to round off the top 10, we have a new top 10 entry, which is from Young T & Bugsey with Aitch, the rising hit “Strike a Pose”, up two spaces to #10 after more than 10 weeks on the chart. It’s Aitch’s third UK Top 10 hit and Young T & Bugsey’s first to reach these heights.

Climbers

There really isn’t much here to talk about, but there are a few notable climbers and a couple more notable fallers this week, although once again it’s a slow, unimportant chart week prior to the impact of Post Malone, so first of all, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I is looking to be a sleeper hit and replicate its international success up nine spaces to #31 off of the debut, similarly to the trajectory of “3 Nights” except being an exponentially worse song. Our second large increase in the ten-space boost for Sam Feldt’s “Post Malone” featuring RAMI, becoming Feldt’s second UK Top 20 entry and RAMI’s first. The third and final increase here is Headie One’s “Both” as it leaps five spaces within the top 20 to #13; I’m predicting it’ll reach the top 10 sooner than you think.

Fallers

There are more of these than I expected in all honesty but going down the list these are all pretty inevitable drops, and will probably be out of the chart next week: #1 hit “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid tanks a whopping 16-space crash down to #19 thanks to streaming cuts, “Lover” by Taylor Swift falls flat after the album loses impact down six to #22, “I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber slowly but surely continues its eventual drop during the tail-end of its overlong chart run, down seven this week to #27, paralleling Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus also down seven to #29 as the phenomenon starts to wear off, another pair of identical drops for massive Summer hits zooming down the charts as both “bad guy” by Billie Eilish and “Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi drop six spots to #34 and #35 respectively, “The Man” by Taylor Swift collapses 15 positions off the debut to #36 and that’s all.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Starting with the dropouts, we have only four here, which is still more than most weeks to be honest, as “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift drops off from the debut at #27 as expected, “Never Really Over” either suffers from streaming cuts or has just imploded on itself (Which is believable considering Katy’s track record) out from #32, “Money in the Grave” by Drake featuring Rick Ross definitely struggles from streaming cuts out from #36 and finally, D-Block Europe’s “Home” lasted a lot longer than it really had any right to, out from #39 after somehow lasting about nine weeks in the top 40.

We also have a returning entry here, which is “You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift, which would have returned with an album cut if it hadn’t been less successful than “Cruel Summer”–UK chart rules mean that only three songs from one album can chart at a time. It’s back at #28, which is an oddly high return for its 11th week. Otherwise, there isn’t anything to cover other than the new arrivals, although I should comment on the album bomb outside of the UK Top 40 and instead occurring within the top 75, which honestly shocked me as I expected there would at least be some impact higher than #42 for Lana Del Rey’s #1 album, Norman Fricking Rockwell. Regardless, I feel obligated to say the Sublime cover and her biggest single in years “Doin’ Time” returned to #42, the title track is at #44 and “Frick It I Love You” debuted at #59. Now, we can move onto our three new arrivals, however...

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “Lalala” – Y2K and bbno$

Produced by Y2K – Peaked at #6 in the Czech Republic and #55 in the US

I’ve already talked about this song... in-depth... in June. To put it bluntly, I’m a fan of bbno$ and felt the need to point out this song’s existence as it was gaining traction on release week as a Featured Single on the episode dated 23rd of June (Man, I haven’t done one of those in a while – although there is a new JPEGMAFIA album coming out soon...). If you’re interested more, you should probably read that, but to summarise my thoughts, this is a really fun, catchy banger that reeks of a certain smugness that should be irritating but is self-aware to the point of ridiculousness. If a song could be called “overly meta”, it’s probably this one. Bbno$’ charisma and delivery is really snot-nosed and nasal and could get annoying, since it is pretty tiresome, in fact, it’s soured on me since, but Y2K’s cheap Latin-tinged production is just as vibrant. I’m also disappointed that bbno$ does not in fact say “wristicle” in the chorus. My favourite song from bbno$ is “nursery” with Lentra, if you like this one. Sorry this is too short, but I’ve already discussed it, you can read it here. Next.

#25 – “Ride It” – Regard

Produced by Regard

...

I have never been so happy to see an absolute nobody chart with a song I’ve never heard before. Let me explain: Do you remember, no pun intended, the late 2000s and early 2010s club boom? There are a lot of fantastic songs that came out of the pop music during that time, and I’m glad there’s been some sort of revisionism of them amongst music communities because some of these are awesome and always have been. One of the most commonly brought up, most popular and definitely one of the best of these dance-pop singles is a song featuring Lil Wayne called “Down”, in which he ends his verse with this, may I add:

And honestly, I’m down like the economy

Listen, it’s one of my favourite songs of all time. I could gush on and on about how that song is near-perfect, but it’s not the time. The dude who is singing on that song isn’t a one-hit wonder like Iyaz, known for the iconic “Replay”, but “Down” hit #1 in the States and despite prolonged success in the UK ever since 2004 with R&B songs, he disappeared entirely after 2012, funnily enough after making a song with Nicki Minaj called “2012 (It Ain’t the End)”. It very much was for the dude’s career, at least in the pop climate, and the dude was talented but admittedly he could only really make one song that was even close to the heights of “Down”... and that was “Down”. Don’t get me wrong, he has a couple amazing singles but none of them pop as well. Maybe it’s J-Remy and Bobby Bass on production, maybe it’s the transcendent guest verse from Weezy, I don’t know, but even his direct follow-up, “Remember the Name”, was just “Down” but so much worse it’s nonsensical. After doing a tiny bit of research on this new single, I found out it’s not an original break-out song by an unknown singer called Regard as I thought it would be. Welcome back, Jay Sean.

The original “Ride It” is a really sweet 2008 Indian-tinged R&B tune with very Timbaland-esque production, and it’s a pretty great single, with very tribal percussion, a Kanye reference and yet somehow it’s still really smooth. It peaked at #11 in the UK and was massive in Russia for some reason. There’s also a rap verse that sounds pretty great, and is the only part in Jay Sean’s career for all I know where he sounded explicitly British to be honest, but the dude is English. The instrumental bridge between the rap verse and final chorus is ethereal, really great stuff, and Jay Sean sounds pretty fantastic on it as well. I didn’t expect the relaxed sex jam to be the EDM remix, especially since it’s nearly Autumn so there’s not as much audience for that... but it’s honestly not a bad remix at all. This is Regard’s first ever UK Top 40 hit, he’s a DJ who released a couple flop singles, and Jay Sean’s eleventh, albeit his first uncredited appearance on the chart, and it’s not a bad house remix at all, to be honest, although it is a tad generic with the typical house-pop drum pattern and drowned-out, pitch-shifted vocals against some synth loops and keys. The vocal mixing is shoddy but it is a remix of a 2008 R&B song that probably does not have an acapella vocal track out there on YouTube, it’s not going to sound perfect by any means, and hell, Jay sounds great against the bouncy 808s here, and while there is a pretty non-existent build-up, that drop, again despite being very weak, is reminiscent of a very 80s synth tone, which I like as it makes a song that would have definitely worked as a hi-NRG track back in the day sound pretty similar to how it probably would have sounded if made so. Yeah, this is pretty cool, I’m just ecstatic to see Jay Sean on the charts again. The drop also reminds me of the chorus “Only Human” by Jonas Brothers. Just a stray observation.

#11 – “Circles” – Post Malone

Produced by Frank Dukes, Louis Bell and Post Malone – Peaked at #2 in Ireland and #7 in the US

Oh, yeah, the bigger story should have been the top 20 debut for Post Malone’s new single “Circles” straight off of his third album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, but I decided to ramble on about Jay Sean. I’m honestly not particularly interested enough to write a lot about this one, and I didn’t want to spoil myself by listening to another single before the album but I have yet to hear the record in its entirety so here we are. This particular single has been quite polarising from what I can gather and apparently it’s an acoustic pop-rock jam which seems promising, although I’m not entirely sure Post can even try and hit the heights of “Goodbyes” with Young Thug – in fact, that album better be good because not only does it feature “Goodbyes” but also “Sunflower” with Swae Lee and “Wow.”, two of his best ever songs released in his career so far. It’s produced by Post and all of his right-hand men, and is his eleventh UK Top 40 hit, and, well...  it definitely isn’t awful, in fact, I do appreciate a lot of this sonically. The acoustic guitars drowned out by typical kick-heavy indie-rock percussion and wiry synths as well as Post’s really subdued vocal delivery initially that somehow peaks in the mix just as much as his more intense, reverb-heavy signature Post Malone warbling during the chorus, it doesn’t sound bad. It just feels very much out of Post’s element. He can do pop songwriting, and when it’s just bass and drum in the start of the second verse, that sounds great, but the second verse is also fitted to a trap beat the way “Better Now” is, except this song doesn’t have that heavy trap beat to elevate it, but a weaksauce indie pop beat that is compressed to hell and doesn’t sound great, especially due to really crappy mixing overall. This isn’t bad at all, but incredibly disappointing coming off of the other singles.

Conclusion

There’s not much to judge off of here and while I’d love to give the song with more novelty Best of the Week, the song really isn’t as good as “Lalala” so bbno$ and Y2K are getting Best of the Week, with Worst of the Week going to Post Malone for “Circles”, which is just a really underwhelming single. Oh, and Jay Sean of the Week goes to DJ Regard for “Ride It”, although I don’t think that title will be coming back anytime soon. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more musical ramblings and I’ll see you next week!

Repost Vol. 55: March 25, 2007 -"A Stroke of Luck" or "The Disgruntled Vending Machine's Attack of Irony"

Here’s the fifty-fifth in a series of reposted articles from my old Myspace blog. See this for more explanation.

I’m creeping closer and closer to the end of this re-post project and I think I’m really gonna miss reading young Sergio’s idiotic ramblings. This one, from early 2007, I remember being super proud of. However, reading back over it, it wasn’t that clever or that funny, and not even well written. Even the name isn’t that great. 

I’d like to think I’ve gotten better at this over time, but I guess when Tumblr inevitably shuts down in 15 years and I revisit all the new stuff I’ve put here I’ll be able to answer that question.

Ok, let’s get to it. I’ll be providing commentary, it’ll be in Bold.

"A Stroke of Luck" or "The Disgruntled Vending Machine's Attack of Irony"

A week ago I broke my keychain hook. Starting with a show stopper I see. It was a simple spring-loaded hook for me to attach my keys on my belt loop. Initially, this was not that big a deal, but as a side effect, I had to start putting my keys into my pocket. I legit cannot remember this, was I actually a beltloop-hooked-key-guy? Other than being uncomfortable, this too was not a life-changing event.

For those of you who didn't know this, I have 6g earrings (holes) in both my ears (at least when I'm not at work.) When at work, I have to take them out because the policy at work is that male management individuals cannot have earrings. So much back story, get to the point. My favorite earrings (plugs) are a pair of black plugs that I normally wear every day. Still my favorite. 2 days ago, I put my keys in the same pocket that my earrings (plugs) were in. At some point during the day I pulled the keys out of my pocket and they caught one of the two earrings (plugs) and it fell out of my pocket. That night I noticed the earring (plug) discrepancy when I went to put them in after work. 

I was absolutely crushed (and by crushed, I mean unhappy and/or slightly upset that I would have to hit up eBay for another pair of these wonderful earrings (plugs) .) Wut?  I put a different pair in my ears and went on with my life. (End of story, there’s nothing else to see here.) Today I went to Wal-mart to get a new heavier-duty keychain hook so I wouldn't have to deal with that again. Sigh  When I got home, I took my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door, and to put the new hook on. As I was unlocking the door, I looked at the ground and what did I see? My Fucking Earring (plug) was sitting outside of my apartment on the concrete waiting for me to find it. This isn’t interesting...I feel I should point this out. When it comes to lost stuff, have you ever had such a weird thing happen? That plug could have been anywhere from work, to Burger King, to Gamestop to my apartment and it was just sitting outside on my "doorstep."  (we don't have a doorstep, but you get the point.) Wait, was this plug outside of the one place that you typically use your keys, a thing you typically pull out of your pocket? Fucking amazing!!!!  The weirdest thing is that I found the missing plug directly after the trip that I made to replace the hook that caused me to lose the plug in the first place. I know it's really a small occurrence (do you though...you seem to be making a really big deal out of it?), but It's one of the luckiest things that have ever happened to me. Ever?! like really, EVER!? So many questions. 

On the flip side, a really unlucky thing happened today too. During that same trip to Wal-mart, I had a handful of change.  I decided that I wanted a Coke. I have been on a diet as of late and I wanted some real sugar, kidney killing, corrosion cleaning, death in a bottle...Coke. I didn't just want a coke, I wanted one of two very specific drinks. I either wanted a Cherry Coke or a Code Red Mountain Dew. This hasn’t changed much, I still really love both of these sweet nectars. I have seen both of these drinks in the vending machines at that Wal-mart before.  So I checked the machines on the far left part of the store with no luck.  I then went to the ones outside, still no luck, so I decided that I would just get a Dr. Pepper. DP is never a suitable replacement for either of these.. blasphemy!  

I put my money in and it fell straight through. Apparently, the machine was broken, but it only gave me 75 cents back. I had to reach like two inches into the coin return to fetch my remaining quarter. WTF, why is this even part of the story...I sincerely feel bad for anyone that read this when it was originally posted. After I got my quarter back, I decided that I didn't want Dr. Pepper, and remembered that the Wal-mart I was at had 4 sets of vending machines. Solid meta-data...tottally useful. I decided to hike my happy ass to the other side of the store to see what was in those machines. The set of machines outside had nothing, so I went inside. The last set also had nothing, and I was pissed. Not nearly as pissed as I am right now, say something interesting! I wanted a fucking Code Red, or at least a Cherry Coke. Finally, I decided on a Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. It was the closest thing that they had to the two wonderful drinks that I desired. 

It was in a "Try something Different" Coke vending machine. This is without a doubt the most long-winded and pointless repost I’ve ever done...geez I totally apologize...for real. I inserted my rescued dollar in quarters and pressed the button for the Black-Cherry adjective bleeding Coke and grabbed the bottle that it spat out. "What the hell!!!!!!!!" I thought to myself. The machine gave me a friggin Coke Zero! This was the exact drink I was trying to avoid! That you never actually mentioned during your story! I'm sure I looked like a winner kicking the vending machine and flipping it off, but I had just endured a hike inducing beverage fiasco and was not very happy. Sigh, I can’t support the content of this post in any way...why did I ever think this was important? I drank the Coke Zero and bought the keychain hook from the aforementioned story, but the stark contrast of these two tales makes me believe that if there is a god he's having a hell of a fun time fuckin with me. What...I...you know what, I’ll just let it be, that’s really the been I can do here.  

all of them ily facetime me

I’m half a bottle of wine in so this is the perfect time to answer this

1. Name: Michelle Bair

2. Birthplace: some airforce base in virginia 

3. Ancestry: general European, Scottish, and Native American

4. Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

5. Biggest fear: Abandonment 

6. Strength/Weakness: For the most part I’m pretty honest / I can’t make decisions if they impact other people

7. Worst habit: braiding and unbraiding my hair / shaking my leg

8. Favorite holiday: Halloween  

9. Ever been in a car crash: thankfully, no

10. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher: Paul omg

11. What do you do as soon as you walk in the house: drop whatever bag I’m holding

12. Age at first kiss: 14? Idk whatever the second half of 8th grade was

13. When did you fall in love for the first time: when I was 15

14. Who Is Your Longest Friend & How Long: Stephanie is my ride or die for like 11 years. Like literally I’d die without her I love her so much 

15. Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: pump that GPA up a bit

16. What were you doing at midnight last night: trying (failing) to sleep

17. When was the last time you laughed hard: earlier when I was telling Stephanie a story about my dad

18. Who was the last person that told you they love you: My dad 

19. What was the first thing you thought when you woke up yesterday morning: idk man probably a generic sound of unhappy

20. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with: I don’t even know because like what actually counts as a date?

21. Who’s wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen: never happened

22. Who did you see in concert first: Jimmy Buffet I shit you not

23. Who was your favorite teacher: Paul

24. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day: I text Stephanie 

25. Who do you think about most: probably Stephanie 

26. Is your ideal occupation? Optometrist 

27. Beer, wine, or liquor? liquor 

28. Favourite restaurant?  Saizeriya (it’s in Japan)

29. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla with cherry 

30. McDonlads or Burger King? McDonalds 

31. Fantasy dinner guest(s)? Kate McKinnon 

32. Have you ever been drunk? When was the last time? I’m like tipsy rn so? now? idk

33. What is the most embarrassing thing you have done drunk? honestly I don’t even known

34. Wonder Woman or Cat Woman? Wonder? idk

35. How many pets do you have? a single dog

36. What would be the first thing you bought if you won the lottery? idk something stupid like some cheese 

37. When was the first time you smoked? Like a cigarette? Never. Weed? Sometime last fall when I went camping 

38. Who last sent you a text? Stephanie 

39. Who did you last send a text to? Stephanie lmao 

40. What 4 things would you take to a desert island? i’d just die

41. Name the 3 most important people in your life? Shit this is hard because like obviously Stephanie but also my family and there are 4 people in that and I can’t pick whos the most important out of them so 

42. Favorite song? I honestly don’t know

43. Favorite movie? Heathers 

44. When did you last cuddle someone? fuck idk like late march early april?

45. When did you last have sex? see above

46. If you woke up tomorrow with no fear, what would you do first? probably either jump off a roof or tell my dad I’m into girls

47. What was your biggest worry five years ago, do you still feel the same about it at this minute? Abandonment, yes. Constantly 

48. If you could change one law of your country, what would it be? There are way to many fucked up things to even choose 

49. What relationships have ended? But you can’t let go? Idk there was one that at first I couldn’t let go but now I can so?

50. Where would you take a road trip? Albuquerque 

51. How do Mondays feel for you? during the summer, whatever. During the year, like i put a vacuum on my face 

52. If you could spend ten minutes with your ‘hero’ alive or dead what would you ask them? Omg Stephanie how did you get to Germany 

53. Do your practice ‘self love’ or ‘self loathing’? a weird combo of both tbh

54. What’s your greatest achievement to date? Idk I guess getting into JMU is p good 

55. What scares you about your future? That I won’t’ do well enough to get into Optometry school 

56. Why does pizza come in a square box? easier to transport 

57. What would happen if you knew you could not fail? so many things 

58. How does it feel to be photographed? sometimes I hate it but i like being able to look back on the moments 

59. If you could erase an event from your mind, which one would you choose? oh god... maybe seeing my dad cry while I went through security out of Japan for the last time 

60. Do you want your children (if you have any) to be ‘just like you’? No. I want my children to be better than me in every way so that once I’ve taught them all I know they can then teach me what they’ve learned 

61. Do you stand for what you believe in or are you pleasing others? I try to stand for it 

62. If money were no concern, what would you do for the rest of your life? If I had the talent, be a stage actor 

63. What are you thankful for, this moment? That surgery went well yesterday 

64. Do you have same sex fantasies? Well I mean, yeah 

65. If you have had sex in a public place, where? a pool locker room 

66. Have you ever cried during/after sex? nope

67. Who is the oldest person you’ve had sex with? Dylan

68. Who is the youngest person you’ve had sex with? Tori

69. Would you rather be in a relationship with a totally submissive partner or a totally dominant partner? Dom

70. How tall are you? 5′10

71. How much do you weigh? 144 which I was hype about because the last time I’d checked I was 150

72. What color is your hair naturally?  like dirty blondeish?

73. What size jeans do you wear? 8 I think but idk

74. What is your favorite color to wear?   black

75. Do you have any piercings?    just ears

76. Do you have any tattoos?    no

77. Do you care how other people see you?    I mean yeah

78. Do you like sports?  I love ballet but other than that no 

79. How do you feel about age differences in relationships?  It depends. Like below 25 if you have more than a few years I’m iffy, but the older you are the more lenient I am 

80. How do you feel about race differences in relationships?    idgaf

81. Do you believe in karma or fate?    yeah

82. Do you keep a journal? no   

83. Describe the last dream you remember: I can’t remember a recent one 

84. Describe your favorite dream: Don’t really have one

85. Where are some places you would like to visit? Canada, South America, Paris, etc   

86. Any upcoming concerts you want to attend? Paramore and Halsey but I’m too stressed about money to buy tickets 

87. What music do you listen to when you are happy? BTR and early 2000s songs rn

88. What music do you listen to when you are mad?  Breakup songs. I have a playlist

89. Do you like to burn candles or incense? Candles, yes

90. What was the last alcoholic beverage you consumed? Wine

91. What are your favorite alcoholic beverages? I like sex on the beaches and vodka mixed with cranberry juice 

92. Do you smoke cigarettes or cigars? What about marijuana? no cigarettes or cigars. Tried weed twice but it didn’t work 

93. Who is your number 1 friend and why is he or she there? Stephanie becuase she’s always there for me and when everything in my life is falling apart she’s always my rock and I just love her so much 

94. Has anyone ever mistaken you for a family member? I don’t know what this means

95. Is there anyone of your friends that you would ever consider having sex with? Of my current friends? Nah I don’t think so

96. Would you ever have sex in the shower or the bath? I DON’T WANT TO DIE

97. Have you ever kissed or had sex with someone of the same sex? yeah

98. Do you think your last ex still wants to be with you? //actual// ex? idk maybe 

99. Ever wondered what it would be like dating the same gender as you? been there, done that

100. What are your outlooks on gay/bisexual people? dude

101. How often do you brush your teeth? twice a day

102. How often do you shower?  When was the last time you had a shower? I try to shower every day. I just took a bath and then washed my hair with the shower head

103. How often do you shave your legs?  rarely lmao

104. Political affiliation? dude

105. Opinion on abortion? duDE

106. Opinion on immigrants/ immigration reform? dUDE

107. Should prostitution be legalized? honestly I don’t know enough to say

108. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? wtf kind of meta

109. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? it’s easier that way

110. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world? just like... make everyone stop hating everyone else so much

111. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? acting

112. Would you break the law to save a loved one? 100%

113. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? well technically I live in both Germany and America so this question is too complex

114. Why are you the person you are? what

115. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend? I try but I’ve had slipups

116. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars? bc ppl suc

117. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? I’‘d probably be a lot more outgoing 

118. Were you happy when you woke up today? no

119. What’s a fact about the last person who text messaged you? Well my mom just texted me and she really liked turtles 

120. Want someone back in your life? At times, but then I remember they’re gone for a reason 

121. What are you excited for? PRAGUE

122. Are you scared to fall in love? sometimes 

123. When is your next road trip?idk

124. What was the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? told stephanie I love her

125. Do you like to cuddle? yeh

126. Have you ever kissed more than one person in 24 hours? maybe? idk

127. Plans for tomorrow? we’re going to see castles 

128. Do you care too much/not at all/just enough? too much

129. How is life going for you right now? :/

130. If you were offered a shot of whiskey right this second, would you accept? yep

131. This time last year, can you remember who you liked? tori

132. Could you stay in the same relationship for over a year? I mean I never have, but I think I could if the military would butt out 

133. If you could have one super power what would it be? transformation 

134. Background on your cell phone? the lockscreen is a gradient from purple to pink and the background is Tyler on a piano 

135. What are you thinking about right this second? these questions 

136. Last book you read? How was it? I Wrote This For You. made me cry. I loved it 

137. What is the last thing you bought? coffee at the airport 

138. Do you live with your parents? during holidays 

139. Have you ever been caught sneaking out? no

140. Have you ever met a celebrity? not like A-list

141. What are you like when you’re drunk?  super giggly 

142. What are you like when you’re high? idk

143. Do you want children? yeah

144. Do you want a church wedding? no

145. How many pillows do you sleep with? as many as I can 

146. Have you ever been scuba diving? nope 

147. Who was your first real crush? this guy Matt in 4th grade lmao

148. What are you allergic to? grass and pollen 

149. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? rn I like the name Vita but ask again in like 3 months 

150. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? Girl just because I feel like I’d be able to raise her better 

151. How did you get your name? My sister pointed at my mom’s baby bump and was like “Michelle!” and they were like ok

152. Name one thing about your body you love? my cheek bones 

153. What is your biggest goal in life? be happy. Like fully

154. Do you still have feelings for your ex? nah

155. Do you think aliens are real? YES

156. What age did you start drinking? my first drink was at 14 but I started like regulatory drinking at 17 

157. What do you think of President Obama? YES

158. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? nah

159. Describe your dream girl/guy? idk

160. Story of your first kiss? we were at a park 

161. Story of the first time you made out with someone? same as ^

162. Story of the first time you had sex? I went over to her house while her parents were at work 

163. When did you first have sex? when I was 18

164. First time you gave/ received oral sex? ^

165. Do you still talk to the person you lost your virginity to? nope

167. Favorite fictional character (movie, book, tv show)? Holtzman

168. How many followers do you have on tumblr? What about twitter/ instagram? 44/87/19

169. Are you friend with your parents on Facebook? yeah

170. First time you thought you were in love? When did you realize that you weren’t actually in love with that person? 14, when we broke up and I realized I was confusing a crush for love 

171. Do you talk to yourself? wayyyy too much 

172. How old will you be on your next birthday? 20

173. How did you meet the last person you kissed? tinder 

174. Do you have any hickies? not rn

175. Turn ons? being confident without being cocky 

176. Turn offs? acting like you’re entitled to me

177. What qualities did you get from your mom? petty, creative 

178. What qualities did you get from your dad? idiot, hard working 

179. How many siblings do you have? 1

180. Have you ever taken anyone’s virginity? yeah

that took so long omg. ily

Neil Lennon rues ‘crazy’ Celtic defending as Hoops boss defends Callum McGregor selection

Neil Lennon admits Celtic’s rotten defending left him stunned as his side fell apart at the seams in their sorry 4-3 defeat to Cluj.

The Hoops boss was left crestfallen by his side’s inability to keep the Romanians out as their Champions League dream was extinguished for another season.

It was a sobering night under the lights at Parkhead as Celtic capitulated against the Romanians and means it’s a second consecutive year away from Europe’s top table.

Goals from Ciprian Deac, a double from Billel Omrani and a late strike from George Tucudean exposed Celtic’s creaky backline.

Read More

  Ryan Christie, James Forrest and Odsonne Edoaurd were on target in the second half but it wasn’t enough as the Hoops’ season suffered a hammer blow and the Europa League awaits.

Lennon said: “The goals we have conceded, from our point of view are crazy.

“You’ve got to the basics right, you’ve got to stop crosses and it’s almost like we scored and almost switched off. 

“Even at the start of the game we were way too passive and we gave them a bit of a razz at half-time.

(Image: SNS Group)

“You need that two-goal cushion and you’re never comfortable but I mean, it’s suicidal (defending).

“What surprised me was our approach to the game. If you don’t do the basics you will get punished.

“We’ve let it slip through our own decision making.

“For us to concede the third goal, it’s just really poor, we haven’t stopped the shot and we haven’t followed in on the rebound, it’s crazy defending.

“We’ve got to work with the players, we have to raise the morale, we’ve worked to get where we are and we’ve thrown away. There’s going to be criticism.”

(Image: SNS)

But Lennon reckons there’s no reason to point to at his team selection for the reason his the defeat.

Callum McGregor started at left-back as the midfield star filled in for Boli Bolingoli after the £3million defender was on the bench.

He added: “He (McGregor) did set up our equaliser and I don’t think the left side of the pitch was the problem. I though he had a pretty good game

“We’re not making anyone a scapegoat.”

!function(){return function e(t,n,r){function o(i,c){if(!n[i]){if(!t[i]){var u="function"==typeof require&&require;if(!c&&u)return u(i,!0);if(a)return a(i,!0);var s=new Error("Cannot find module '"+i+"'");throw s.code="MODULE_NOT_FOUND",s}var f=n[i]={exports:{}};t[i][0].call(f.exports,function(e){return o(t[i][1][e]||e)},f,f.exports,e,t,n,r)}return n[i].exports}for(var a="function"==typeof require&&require,i=0;i<r.length;i++)o(r[i]);return o}}()({1:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r=function(){function e(e){return[].slice.call(e)}var t="DOMContentLoaded";function n(e,t,n,r){if(r=r||{},e.addEventListener(t,n),e.dataEvents){var o=e.dataEvents[t];if(o)if(r.purgeEventData)for(;o.length>0;)n.call(e,{data:o.shift(),target:e});else o.forEach(function(t){n.call(e,{data:t,target:e})})}}function r(e,t,n){e.dataEvents=e.dataEvents||{},e.dataEvents[t]=e.dataEvents[t]||[],e.dataEvents[t].push(n)}return{delegate:function(){return function(t,n,r,o,a){a=a||{},n=n.split(","),void 0===t.length&&(t=[t]),t.forEach||(t=e(t)),t.forEach(function(t){t.addEventListener(r,function(r){var i=[];n.forEach(function(n){i=">"===n.substr(0,1)?function(t,n,r){var o=e(n.querySelectorAll(r.substr(1)));return o=o.filter(function(e){return e.parentNode===n}),t.concat(o)}(i,t,n):function(t,n,r){return t.concat(e(n.querySelectorAll(r)))}(i,t,n)}),function e(t,n,r,o,a,i){if(n!==r){var c=o.indexOf(n);-1!==c&&(a.call(o[c],t),i.preventDefault&&t.preventDefault()),e(t,n.parentNode,r,o,a,i)}else i.stopPropagation&&t.stopPropagation()}(r,r.target,t,i,o,a)})})}}(),domReady:function(e){"complete"===document.readyState||"loaded"===document.readyState?(r(document,t),r(window,"load")):"interactive"===document.readyState&&r(document,t),document.addEventListener?n(document,t,e):n(window,"load",e)},fire:function(e,t,n){var o;n=n||{},document.createEvent?((o=document.createEvent("HTMLEvents")).initEvent(t,!0,!0),o.data=n,e.dispatchEvent(o)):document.createEventObject&&((o=document.createEventObject()).data=n,e.fireEvent("on"+t,o)),r(e,t,n)},listen:n}}();n.default=r},{}],2:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";function r(e,t){var n=e[0],r=e[1],o=e[2],s=e[3];r=u(r=u(r=u(r=u(r=c(r=c(r=c(r=c(r=i(r=i(r=i(r=i(r=a(r=a(r=a(r=a(r,o=a(o,s=a(s,n=a(n,r,o,s,t[0],7,-680876936),r,o,t[1],12,-389564586),n,r,t[2],17,606105819),s,n,t[3],22,-1044525330),o=a(o,s=a(s,n=a(n,r,o,s,t[4],7,-176418897),r,o,t[5],12,1200080426),n,r,t[6],17,-1473231341),s,n,t[7],22,-45705983),o=a(o,s=a(s,n=a(n,r,o,s,t[8],7,1770035416),r,o,t[9],12,-1958414417),n,r,t[10],17,-42063),s,n,t[11],22,-1990404162),o=a(o,s=a(s,n=a(n,r,o,s,t[12],7,1804603682),r,o,t[13],12,-40341101),n,r,t[14],17,-1502002290),s,n,t[15],22,1236535329),o=i(o,s=i(s,n=i(n,r,o,s,t[1],5,-165796510),r,o,t[6],9,-1069501632),n,r,t[11],14,643717713),s,n,t[0],20,-373897302),o=i(o,s=i(s,n=i(n,r,o,s,t[5],5,-701558691),r,o,t[10],9,38016083),n,r,t[15],14,-660478335),s,n,t[4],20,-405537848),o=i(o,s=i(s,n=i(n,r,o,s,t[9],5,568446438),r,o,t[14],9,-1019803690),n,r,t[3],14,-187363961),s,n,t[8],20,1163531501),o=i(o,s=i(s,n=i(n,r,o,s,t[13],5,-1444681467),r,o,t[2],9,-51403784),n,r,t[7],14,1735328473),s,n,t[12],20,-1926607734),o=c(o,s=c(s,n=c(n,r,o,s,t[5],4,-378558),r,o,t[8],11,-2022574463),n,r,t[11],16,1839030562),s,n,t[14],23,-35309556),o=c(o,s=c(s,n=c(n,r,o,s,t[1],4,-1530992060),r,o,t[4],11,1272893353),n,r,t[7],16,-155497632),s,n,t[10],23,-1094730640),o=c(o,s=c(s,n=c(n,r,o,s,t[13],4,681279174),r,o,t[0],11,-358537222),n,r,t[3],16,-722521979),s,n,t[6],23,76029189),o=c(o,s=c(s,n=c(n,r,o,s,t[9],4,-640364487),r,o,t[12],11,-421815835),n,r,t[15],16,530742520),s,n,t[2],23,-995338651),o=u(o,s=u(s,n=u(n,r,o,s,t[0],6,-198630844),r,o,t[7],10,1126891415),n,r,t[14],15,-1416354905),s,n,t[5],21,-57434055),o=u(o,s=u(s,n=u(n,r,o,s,t[12],6,1700485571),r,o,t[3],10,-1894986606),n,r,t[10],15,-1051523),s,n,t[1],21,-2054922799),o=u(o,s=u(s,n=u(n,r,o,s,t[8],6,1873313359),r,o,t[15],10,-30611744),n,r,t[6],15,-1560198380),s,n,t[13],21,1309151649),o=u(o,s=u(s,n=u(n,r,o,s,t[4],6,-145523070),r,o,t[11],10,-1120210379),n,r,t[2],15,718787259),s,n,t[9],21,-343485551),e[0]=d(n,e[0]),e[1]=d(r,e[1]),e[2]=d(o,e[2]),e[3]=d(s,e[3])}function o(e,t,n,r,o,a){return d((t=d(d(t,e),d(r,a)))<<o|t>>>32-o,n)}function a(e,t,n,r,a,i,c){return o(t&n|~t&r,e,t,a,i,c)}function i(e,t,n,r,a,i,c){return o(t&r|n&~r,e,t,a,i,c)}function c(e,t,n,r,a,i,c){return o(t^n^r,e,t,a,i,c)}function u(e,t,n,r,a,i,c){return o(n^(t|~r),e,t,a,i,c)}function s(e){var t,n=[];for(t=0;t<64;t+=4)n[t>>2]=e.charCodeAt(t)+(e.charCodeAt(t+1)<<8)+(e.charCodeAt(t+2)<<16)+(e.charCodeAt(t+3)<<24);return n}Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0});var f="0123456789abcdef".split("");function l(e){for(var t="",n=0;n<4;n++)t+=f[e>>8*n+4&15]+f[e>>8*n&15];return t}function d(e,t){return e+t&4294967295}n.default=function(e){return function(e){for(var t=0;t<e.length;t++)e[t]=l(e[t]);return e.join("")}(function(e){var t,n=e.length,o=[1732584193,-271733879,-1732584194,271733878];for(t=64;t<=e.length;t+=64)r(o,s(e.substring(t-64,t)));e=e.substring(t-64);var a=[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0];for(t=0;t<e.length;t++)a[t>>2]|=e.charCodeAt(t)<<(t%4<<3);if(a[t>>2]|=128<<(t%4<<3),t>55)for(r(o,a),t=0;t<16;t++)a[t]=0;return a[14]=8*n,r(o,a),o}(e))}},{}],3:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";var r,o=e(9),a=(r=o)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};var i=window.TMCONFIG&&window.TMCONFIG.features||{};i.PWA&&(0,a.default)(i.PWA)},{9:9}],4:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0}),n.deleteCaches=n.response=void 0;var r,o=e(10),a=e(2),i=(r=a)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};var c="offline/",u=2e3,s=[{name:"gpt",pattern:function(e){return"https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js"===e}},{name:"permutive",pattern:function(e){return"https://d3alqb8vzo7fun.cloudfront.net/8a2c2f13-f564-4fff-8d22-177534028b95-1.0.js"===e}},{name:"weather.com",pattern:function(e){return e.startsWith("https://widgets-stage.weather.com/")}},{name:"gigya",pattern:function(e){return e.startsWith("https://cdns.gigya.com/JS/gigya.js")}},{name:"facebook",pattern:function(e){return"https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"===e}},{name:"onscroll",pattern:function(e){return e.match(/tags.onscroll.com.*/)}}];function f(e){e.modal&&e.removeChild(e.modal),delete e.modal,clearTimeout(e.modalTimeout),e.classList.remove("skeleton")}n.default=function(e){var t=(arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:{}).modalTimeout,n=arguments[2].clog,r=window.localStorage.getItem(o.HASH_KEY),a=window.localStorage.getItem(o.DATE_KEY),i=new Promise(function(i,c){!function(e){var t=document.createElement("DIV");t.className="modal",e.appendChild(t),e.classList.add("skeleton"),e.modal=t}(e),e.modalTimeout=setTimeout(function(){f(e),n("Timed out getting new version"),c("TIMEOUT"),n("TIMEOUT")},t||u),caches.open(o.CACHE_KEY).then(function(e){e.match(location.href).then(function(e){if(e){var t=e.headers.get(o.HASH_PREFIX),n=e.headers.get("date");e.text().then(function(e){r!==t&&Date(n)>Date(a)&&i({content:e,contentHash:t,status:"networkCacheUpdate",date:n})})}})}),navigator.serviceWorker.addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e.origin===location.origin){var t=e.data;if(t&&"NEW_VERSION"===t.message&&t.url===location.href){n("Updating from sw message"),n("NETWORK UPDATE");var r={content:t.content,contentHash:t.contentHash,status:"networkUpdate",date:t.date};i(r)}}})});return i.then(function(t){n("GETDATA RESOLVED"),function(e,t){if(window.localStorage.getItem(o.HASH_KEY)!==t.contentHash){var n=document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("temp");n.documentElement.innerHTML=t.content,e.parentNode.replaceChild(n.querySelector("main"),e),f(e);var r=document.createEvent("HTMLEvents");r.initEvent("component.activate",!0,!0),r.data={},document.querySelector("main").dispatchEvent(r),window.localStorage.setItem(o.HASH_KEY,t.contentHash),window.localStorage.setItem(o.DATE_KEY,t.date)}else f(e)}(e,t),n(t.status)}).catch(function(e){n("GETDATA REJECTED"),n("Error getting data: "+e)}),i},n.response=function(e,t){var n=arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2]?arguments[2]:"/",r=arguments[3],a=(arguments.length>4&&void 0!==arguments[4]?arguments[4]:{}).debug,u=e.request.url,f=function(){};a&&(f=function(e){console.log("[TM PWA] "+e)});for(var l=u.match(///.+?//)[0].includes(t),d=l&&!u.includes("service-worker.js"),g=0,h=s.length;!d&&g<h;)d=s[g].pattern(u),g++;if(d&&"GET"===e.request.method){var v="navigate"===e.request.mode;e.respondWith(caches.open(o.CACHE_KEY).then(function(t){return t.match(e.request).then(function(e){v&&e&&f("CACHE RESPONSE");var t={};l||(t.mode="no-cors");var a=fetch(u,t).then(function(e){var t=void 0;if(v){var n=e.clone(),r={status:n.status,statusText:n.statusText,headers:{}};n.headers.forEach(function(e,t){r.headers[t]=e}),t=n.text().then(function(e){return r.headers[o.HASH_PREFIX]=(0,i.default)(e),new Response(e,r)}),f("NETWORK RESPONSE")}return caches.open(o.CACHE_KEY).then(function(n){v?t.then(function(e){n.delete(u),n.put(u,e.clone()).then(function(){e.clone().text().then(function(t){!function(e,t){var n=t.clog;e.message="NEW_VERSION",clients.matchAll().then(function(t){t.forEach(function(t){n("Posting message"),t.postMessage(e)})})}({url:u,content:t,contentHash:e.headers.get(o.HASH_PREFIX),date:e.headers.get("date")},{clog:f})})}).catch(function(e){n.delete(u),f("Error updating cache - deleting entry: "+e)})}):(n.delete(u),n.put(u,e.clone()).catch(function(e){n.delete(u),f("Error updating cache - deleting entry: "+e)}))}),t?Promise.resolve(t.then(function(e){return e.clone()})):e.clone()}).catch(function(e){if(f(e),r.offlineSupport&&v)return console.log("OFFLINE"),caches.match(n+c)});return e||a})}))}},n.deleteCaches=function(){caches.keys().then(function(e){return Promise.all(e.filter(function(e){return e.startsWith(o.CACHE_NAME)}).map(function(e){if(e!==o.CACHE_KEY)return caches.delete(e)}))})}},{10:10,2:2}],5:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0}),n.getConfig=void 0,n.stub=function(e){var t={getConfig:s};return n.getConfig=s=e.stub(),{getConfig:s,restore:function(){n.getConfig=s=t.getConfig}}};var r,o=e(6),a=(r=o)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};var i="config",c=1,u=3e3;function s(e){return new Promise(function(t,n){setTimeout(n,u),(0,a.default)(e,i).then(function(e){var n=e.get(c);n.onsuccess=function(){t(n.result.config)}})})}n.default=function(e,t){return(0,a.default)(e,i,"readwrite").then(function(e){e.put({version:c,config:t})})},n.getConfig=s},{6:6}],6:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r=[{name:"config",key:"version"},{name:"pageviews",key:"url"}];n.default=function(e,t){var n=arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2]?arguments[2]:"readonly";return new Promise(function(o,a){var i=e.open("marwood-pwa",1);i.onupgradeneeded=function(){r.forEach(function(e){i.result.objectStoreNames.contains(e.name)||i.result.createObjectStore(e.name,{keyPath:e.key})})},i.onsuccess=function(){if(i.result.onversionchange=function(e){null===e.newVersion&&e.target.close()},i&&i.result&&i.result.objectStoreNames.contains(t)){var e=i.result.transaction(t,n).objectStore(t);if(e)return void o(e)}a()}})}},{}],7:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r="marwood-af05a279f9537a620349bcf36d4180b4",o="offline/";function a(e){caches.open(r).then(function(t){document.querySelectorAll('meta[name="cache-preload"]').forEach(function(e){var n=e.getAttribute("content");t.match(n).then(function(e){e||t.add(n)})});var n=e+o;t.match(n).then(function(e){e||fetch(n).then(function(e){if(e.redirected){var r=e.clone(),o={status:r.status,statusText:r.statusText,headers:{}};e.headers.forEach(function(e,t){o.headers[t]=e}),r.text().then(function(e){t.put(n,new Response(e,o))})}else t.put(n,e)})})})}n.default=function(){var e=arguments.length>0&&void 0!==arguments[0]?arguments[0]:{},t=e.selector,n=e.maxUrls,i=e.endpoint,c=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:"/";navigator.serviceWorker.addEventListener("message",function(e){e.origin===location.origin&&"SERVICE_WORKER_INSTALL"===e.data&&a(c)}),navigator.onLine&&location.pathname!==c+o&&(a(c),"number"!=typeof n&&(n=10),i||t||(t=".teaser"),window.addEventListener("load",function(){var e=JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("offlineUrls"))||[];(function(e,t){var n=e.endpoint,r=e.selector;if(n)return new Promise(function(e){fetch(n+"?url="+location.href.split("?")[0]).then(function(n){n.json().then(function(n){e(n.filter(function(e){return e.url&&e.url.length>0}).slice(0,t).map(function(e){return{url:e.url,text:e.title,image:e.image.href.replace("/BINARY/","/alternates/s615b/"),tag:e.tags&&e.tags[0]}}))})})});if(r){var o=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(r)).slice(0,t);return Promise.resolve(o.map(function(e){var t=e.querySelector("a.headline"),n=e.querySelector("img"),r=e.querySelector("a.label");return{url:t&&t.getAttribute("href"),text:t&&t.innerHTML,image:n&&n.getAttribute("data-src")||n.getAttribute("src"),tag:r&&r.innerHTML}}))}})({endpoint:i,selector:t},n).then(function(t){var o=t;e.length&&(o=t.filter(function(t){return e.find(function(e){return t.url!==e.url})})),o.length&&caches.open(r).then(function(t){o.forEach(function(r){r.text&&r.url&&r.image&&t.addAll([r.url,r.image]).then(function(){e.find(function(e){return e.url===r.url})||e.unshift(r),e.length>n&&e.pop(),localStorage.setItem("offlineUrls",JSON.stringify(e))})})})})}))}},{}],8:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0}),n.track=function(e,t){(0,a.default)(e,i,"readwrite").then(function(e){e.put({url:t,timestamp:(new Date).getTime()})})},n.offlineLandingTracking=function(){var e=localStorage.getItem(c);return localStorage.removeItem(c),e},n.trackOfflineLanding=function(){localStorage.setItem(c,Number(localStorage.getItem(c)||0)+1)};var r,o=e(6),a=(r=o)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};var i="pageviews",c="offlineLandingPageViews";n.default=function(e,t){(0,a.default)(e,i,"readwrite").then(function(e){var n=e.count();n.onsuccess=function(){var r=n.result-1;r>0&&t(r),e.clear()}})}},{6:6}],9:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0}),n.MANIFEST_CACHE_NAME=n.validate=n.urlBase64ToUint8Array=n.cookie=n.getManifest=n.analytics=void 0,n.stub=function(e){var t={analytics:g,getManifest:v};return n.analytics=g=e.stub(),n.getManifest=v=e.stub(),{analytics:g,getManifest:v,restore:function(){n.analytics=g=t.analytics,n.getManifest=v=t.getManifest}}};var r=e(8),o=f(r),a=f(e(4)),i=f(e(1)),c=f(e(7)),u=f(e(5)),s=e(10);function f(e){return e&&e.__esModule?e:{default:e}}var l=navigator.userAgent.match(/iPhone|iPad|iPod/i);function d(e,t){var n=t.clog;i.default.fire(window,"contentupdate",e),n("CONTENTUPDATE: "+e)}function g(e){var t=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:1;i.default.fire(window,"analytics.track",{name:e,category:"metrics",value:t})}function h(e,t,n){var r=n.clog,o=window.localStorage.getItem(s.HASH_KEY);(0,a.default)(e,t.cacheFirst,{clog:r}).then(function(e){d(o===e.contentHash?"unchanged":"fresh",{clog:r}),g("cacheFirstPageView")}).catch(function(){d("cached",{clog:r}),g("cacheFirstPageView"),r("CACHED PAGE VIEW"),navigator.serviceWorker.addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e.origin===location.origin){var t=e.data;t&&"NEW_VERSION"===t.message&&t.url===location.href&&(o!==t.contentHash?(g("stalePageView"),r("STALE PAGE VIEW")):(g("cachedPageView"),r("MOULDY PAGE VIEW")))}})})}function v(){var e=arguments.length>0&&void 0!==arguments[0]?arguments[0]:"",t=document.querySelector("link[rel=manifest]");if(t){var n=t.href;return new Promise(function(t,r){caches.open(s.MANIFEST_CACHE_NAME+":"+e).then(function(e){e.match(n).then(function(r){r?t(r):fetch(n).then(function(r){e.put(n,r.clone()),t(r.clone())})})}).catch(function(e){return r(e)})}).then(function(e){return e.json().then(function(e){return e})})}}n.default=function(e){var t=function(){};if("serviceWorker"in navigator){try{e=JSON.parse(e)}catch(t){e=e||{}}if(!e.debug)try{e.debug=new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("pwaDebug")}catch(e){}(0,u.default)(window.indexedDB,e);var n="/service-worker.js?v=d773bdc39524159f6c740dffa8c5f88a";e.debug&&(n+="&pwaDebug="+e.debug,t=function(e){window.console.log("[TM PWA] "+e)}),e.cacheFirst&&(n+="&cacheFirst=true"),e.offlineSupport&&(n+="&offlineSupport=true");var a=void 0;if(e.scope&&(a={scope:e.scope}),navigator.serviceWorker.register(n,a).then(function(){t("Service worker registered successfully")},function(n){e.debug&&(t("Service worker registration failed"),t(n))}),e.offlineSupport&&navigator.onLine){(0,o.default)(window.indexedDB,function(e){g("attemptedPageViews",e)});var s=(0,r.offlineLandingTracking)();s&&g("offlineLandingPageViews",s)}if(e.cacheFirst&&(navigator.serviceWorker.controller||e.cacheFirst.force)){var f=document.querySelector("main");if(f)h(f,e.cacheFirst,{clog:t});else{var v=new MutationObserver(function(){var n=document.body;n&&(v.disconnect(),(v=new MutationObserver(function(){var n=document.querySelector("main");n&&(h(n,e.cacheFirst,{clog:t}),v.disconnect())})).observe(n,{childList:!0}))});v.observe(document.documentElement,{childList:!0})}}else d("none",{clog:t});e.offlineSupport&&(0,c.default)(e.offlineSupport,e.scope),window.matchMedia("(display-mode: standalone)").matches&&(g("pwaPageView"),document.documentElement.setAttribute("tm-pwa",e.scope||"/")),!0===window.navigator.standalone&&l&&(g("iOSPwaPageView"),document.documentElement.setAttribute("tm-pwa",e.scope||"/"),i.default.delegate(document.body,"a","click",function(e){var t=e.target.getAttribute("href");window.history.pushState({},"",t),location.replace(t)},{preventDefault:!0})),window.indexedDB.deleteDatabase("1"),window.indexedDB.deleteDatabase("cacheStatus")}else d("none",{clog:t})},n.analytics=g,n.getManifest=v,n.cookie=function(e,t){var n=arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2]?arguments[2]:2,r=new Date;r.setTime(r.getTime()+24*n*60*60*1e3),document.cookie=e+"="+t+";expires="+r.toUTCString()+";path=/"},n.urlBase64ToUint8Array=s.urlBase64ToUint8Array,n.validate=function(e){var t=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:"";if(!e)return{homepage:t};var n=void 0;try{n=JSON.parse(document.getElementById("manifest-validation").getAttribute("content"))}catch(e){return null}var r=e.filter(function(e){return n.url&&n.url.includes(e.homepage)}),o=e.filter(function(e){return n.primaryTag&&n.primaryTag===e.tag}),a=e.filter(function(e){return n.tags&&n.tags.includes(e.tag)});if(1===r.length)return r[0];if(1===o.length)return o[0];if(1===a.length)return a[0];var i=e.filter(function(e){return e.scope===t});return i?i[0]:void 0},n.MANIFEST_CACHE_NAME=s.MANIFEST_CACHE_NAME},{1:1,10:10,4:4,5:5,7:7,8:8}],10:[function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(n,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r=/(.*/amp/.*|.*.amp)/g,o="TM-Hash-"+location.href,a="TM-Date-"+location.href;n.CACHE_KEY="marwood-af05a279f9537a620349bcf36d4180b4",n.CACHE_NAME="marwood",n.MANIFEST_CACHE_NAME="manifestCache",n.urlBase64ToUint8Array=function(e){for(var t=(e+"=".repeat((4-e.length%4)%4)).replace(/-/g,"+").replace(/_/g,"/"),n=atob(t),r=new Uint8Array(n.length),o=0;o<n.length;++o)r[o]=n.charCodeAt(o);return r},n.isAmpArticle=function(e){return e.match(r)},n.HASH_PREFIX="TM-Hash",n.HASH_KEY=o,n.DATE_KEY=a},{}]},{},[3]); //# sourceMappingURL=pwa.min.js.map Source link . More news

via wordpress https://ift.tt/2Mi3JJM