Okay, now that I've got the fangirling out of the system, some initial thoughts on dialogue.

XL - he sounded more confrontational in the dub. He also said the best fucking line ever; "you don't know him like I do". Like, sweetie, you sound like you're defending your good-for-nothing boyfriend from your friends and family while they tell you that this is a bad idea. Tbh, that is kinda what is happening. But also, the one tiktok with this exact line and talking about opinion on assault/salt popped up instantly.

PM - he sounds hot, sue me. But, yeah, defo a honeyed hoe vibe from him.

JW - I praise whoever came up with the English dialogue and his va because the lines and delivery were amazing. By tone, he sounds confident, kind but watchful, and miffed, like a parent whose child didn't live up to their words or expectation, which is exactly what you would be expecting. The lines add to this. "Torture", "disrespect", "disappointed" and "selfishly" are the main words, where it's clear that JW blames XL for not reaching out, for pushing him away. It sounds like a concerned parental figure, but it also has manipulation, where JW wants XL to feel guilty for his actions. He then proceeds to talk about how XL's actions have made things more difficult for him and how XL has his implicit trust. This, combined with the guilt-tripping, made XL feel somewhat responsible for associating with HC, which he doesn't feel bad about, and for making things harder for JW, which XL might be feeling bad about. Technically, none of this is a bad thing; JW, as both a highly political figure, leader and mentor figure for XL, could simply be trying to guide a misfortunate subordinate and student to stay out of trouble and safe by gaslight, gatekeep, girl bossing him. But, knowing JW's full past completely recontextualises the whole thing, and everything sounds so much more sinister, an attempt at control and teaching, a perverse form of care, and a shit ton of manipulation. Either way, for both novel readers and donghua only, you can tell that something is off.

SQX - both male and female voices were unique but fitting to their physical form, and every line from them was absolute gold and had me laughing, especially when he was talking about how pretty he is.

HC - woof. No, but seriously, when I first watched season 1 dub, I genuinely thought that HC's voice actor was Tatum because of the Sebastian Michaelis resemblance, so it made sense when I heard that Sebastian was the inspiration. The difference between s1 and s2 is the fact that in s1, HC was softer and brighter when interacting with XL while being baiting and mocking towards everyone else. In s2, in the 2 lines we got, it was so obvious that he was leaning into the suave and self-assurance because he's not dealing with people he dislikes or XL. He's in his territory, in front of his subjects who adore and follow him. His tone speaks volumes of his power in the city; he sounds arrogant, but it's justified, so really, it's true, backed-up confidence. The last 2 lines reminded me so much of Sebastian with calm, poised, but ultimately vicious tone.