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absolutebl · 2 months

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These Weeks in BL - This Is Very Late, Or Right on Time depending on where you sit on the temporal debate team

Sorry I got distracted by work. In my defense: I was paid.

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

March 2024 Wk 1 & 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube grey) ep 12 fin - Unfortunately, there was singing. But what can we do?

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth, with no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up. Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it still stands. This is a great show, a solid adaptation, and a pleasing take on the original yaoi. I personally like it better than the Japanese live action, but I think that’s because I just really like Thai BL and I LOVE TayNew. I doubted them for this and I shouldn’t have. They did a great job, as did the sides. I will say all the kissing was both present and better than any other iteration. As it should be. Definitely one for the rewatch rotation. 9/10

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 1 of 8 (10?) - Damn it, I love it. And I don't want to. It’s more classic BL than I thought it would be, and far less Only Friends or Playboyy. (Thank fuck.) We got a big cast and a lot of tropes going down out the gate, including SMITTEN popular hot guy versus nerd with secret identity. (Incidentally, Khem did drop into rude / informal when arguing with his Aunt and defending his ma. Bratty boy.) The leads have good chemistry (First always does), and everyone is very pretty. The main boy reminds me of J-Min's role (and look) in Love Class 2. I am entertained. (And faintly wonder why this isn't a MosBank vehicle.)

To Be Continued (Thai C3 Thailand grey) eps 1-3 of 8- High school sweethearts who had a bad break up reunite a decade later when both of them have full time jobs (celebrity & doctor). Dr Ji is a familiar face (hi Dream it's been a LONG time) and everyone is way too old for high school, but I guess I prefer this to child actors?

I'm enjoying it, actually, the cast may be older but they're solid as a result and the chemistry is on point for a pulp. Whether our celebrity is on the DL or cheating or something else remains to be seen but he sure is smitten. The way he LOOKS at Ji = hawt.

Frankly? Celebrity/doctor is a good pairing and this is a solid Thai BL. I hope we have a nice angsty reason for the break-up and we're not in another Promise situation. I like the sides too. Carry on, little show, I'm disposed to be pleased with you.

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 12 - I am enjoying it, actually. It’s incredibly silly. But I don’t really mind. STOP SINGING.

1000 Years Old eps 3-4 of 12 - I love that these kids basically adopted a vampire pet. And one of them accidentally got a vampire boyfriend. This suddenly turned from a PNR into a family drama about domestic gays opening a food stall and I'm not mad about it. Nothing makes sense and I don't care because... rainbow umbrella!

A Secretly Love (Thai WeTV grey) eps 1 of 10 - I don’t love it. I make no bones about the fact that a pining uke rarely works for me, especially if he’s younger (cute supportive besties not withstanding), the power dynamic isn’t good. I always like Kimmon, he’s a stiff actor but v pretty. (I shallow af.) Still it’s time he started acting his age… literally. Having to watch ads again as well… for this? Ooof. I'm not sure I'm strong enough.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Perfect Propose (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 6 fin - It was very cute. I liked that there was uke instigated kisses. However I have some reservations on this one, much as I enjoyed it.

Adapted from Mayo Tsurakame’s manga, production team included Tadaaki Horai (My Love Mix-Up!) and Takeshi Miyamoto (Old Fashion Cupcake). Essentially Perfect Propose was about finding hope in a person when all other hope is gone. This show focuses on apathy, and perforce is somewhat apathetic and un-engaging especially as the pacing was off (and with only 6 episodes? now) However, this is countered by great visuals, good archetypes, and a clean story of childhood sweethearts reuniting after loosing their way in life. I landed on 8/10 mostly for a demanding younger seme and some great kisses.

Unknown (Taiwan Tues Youku YouTube) eps 2-3 of 11 - Oh it’s great. I love it. I’m still worried by how gritty and "Taiwanese short-esk" it feels, but wow does this hit all my favorite taboo tropes and buttons. I also adore the little found fam, they the cutest gay older bros ever. The younger one who wants so bad to grow up and take care of the older one and pushes himself because into self sacrifice that’s the only model of love he has. ARGH. BOYS. Why so much pain, just smooch already! Sheesh. It's on YouTube for some of us, here's the schedule.

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) eps 6-7 of 10 - They remain questionably cute, and that is probably going to be my ultimate review of this show. Awe cameo! (Hi babies, hope the ghosts are leaving you alone.) The irony does not escape me that the person in the relationship with the most emotional acumen is, in fact, the robot and not the human. I'm sure that's meant to be deep.

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Gaga) ep 1 of 6 - A tortured second chance romance featuring a reported and a successful celebrity(?) academic. The kid actors look nothing like their adult counterparts, but they do look much younger. So, okay. Ah the utter embarrassment of first love. Oh I like it a lot, so very messy Japanese emo. Sigh. Here we go again.

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Thurs Gaga) eps 8-9 of 10 - They are a cute couple. They both trying so hard and so confused and awkward and polite in trying to understand each other but TERRIBLE at communication.

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) eps 3-4 of 8 - I don’t know how I feel about this. But I do know it’s not my thing because it’s not BL. I’ll finish it because it’s short but… meh.

It's done, ready to binge, but I have no time

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have any spare time. 2024 is crazy busy for me so far.

The Servant and the Young Master (Vietnam YouTube) - I will try when I have a window of time.

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) - A Burmese BL? @heretherebedork vouched for it, so I will watch eventually.

It's airing but...

Dead Friend Forever (Thai iQIYI) - finished it's run and I won't be watching it. It's horror with BL elements and the ending, well, let's just say that's a "no thank you" from me.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… no. I'm not watching this. I dislike this franchise.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - dropped it at ep 4.

Takumi-kun (2023) movie version AKA Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa released on FOD 3/5/2024. The original project was a 6 ep series. Having seen all the previous iterations and read the (terrible) yaoi I admit to being intrigued. If anyone finds eng subbed please let me know with a link in comments or in a DM? For those intersted in this show, probably the world's first true BL franchise I chat all about it here.

Gossip

James Supamongkon has withdrawn from the series Love Upon A Time and the NetJames pair is no more. Net Siraphop will continue with the historical BL project alongside a new partner. Can I interest you in Tod Techit... almost as pretty, legs for days...

The Complete Chronology of the Assault Case Against GMMTV Actor Win Pawin

I'm merely directing your attention to these articles, I do not wish for discussion of this content on this blog. Please don't ask for further info, I don't know the answer, follow the link that's why it's there.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Still Coming

3/21 Two Worlds (Thai IQIYI) 10 eps - announced here. One of those "he's dead Jim so time travel" thingames staring MaxNat. I'm over them but Asia flipping loves this trope and I do adore MaxNat. Phupha (Gun) and Khram (Nat) love each other but Phupha is murdered. Then Khram is pulled to a parallel world where, 12 years ago, Khram and Tai (Max) were in love. However, Khram was killed by Thai’s dad. Now Tai finds alter-Khram apparently alive. But then there is ALSO an alter-Phupha (played by Gun Thanawat who is Khom the repressed butler bodyguard from Unforgotten Night).

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

How flipping adorable is this vampire with his big gay umbrella? SUCH A DORK and we got more vampire dorks coming.

Thailand has found its vampire line and it's awkward and geeky and quite cheerful. 'Bout what we expected, to be fair. It's a good look for them.

And vampires.

In other news...

That's your random moment of thirst, Lim Jimin shirtless AKA my Just B bias (I mean, I could talk about how good his extensions are and how I love a husky voice in Kpop but really, just LOOK at him). I'm very very very shallow, remember? Full vid is here.

Why am I mentioning Lim Jimin (aside from the obvious)? If Just B doesn't break soon, I could some of them transitioning to BL. Jimin in particular would be a win for us, obvs.

Also, can we talk about Bain (my bias wrecker) KILLING it on Build Up? I had no idea he was that good. Anygay, this has been your Kpop end note.

Seriously tho, is ANYONE else watching Build-Up?

(Last week - well, 2 weeks ago)

Streaming services are listed how I'm (usually watching) which is with a USA based IP

The tag bragade: @doorajar

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will. Easy peesy.

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tobi-smp · 6 months

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it is kinda funny how with darksbi, the subsection of the fandom that is into/produces some of the darkest work. Has actually been the most (relatively) chill. Irony or something!

@angelartist asked: tobi-smp number one dark sbi shooter fr!!!

[End Transcription]

no because that's So So True ! I really do think a big part of it is that intentionally making dark content requires a level of self awareness about it.

that doesn't inherently mean the Execution of any individual work will stick the landing, but it's like !

I love Regular sbi content, but if you search for it outside of the context of dark sbi you Will run into depictions of the rankest most unhealthy dynamics out there, depicted with seemingly No awareness that it's not, in fact, Fluffy And Cute.

people who are Aware that they're making dark content A: are actively thinking about how they could impact other people, and tend to have more robust tagging For those darker elements (which often Are still present in other parts of the fandom). and B: are Aware that they're twisting the characters and depicting them in unhealthy ways

people tend to want to Win fandom in mcyt spaces, tearing each other to pieces to Prove that their little dolly is Objectively Morally Correct. twisting other characters into Caricatures to get there, sometimes when it's not even Necessary to make the points they want to.

and with sbi in Particular it's Especially dicey because of how much drama the characters get up to in the series proper.

if you want, for example, techno and tommy to be besties despite the Everything that happened a lot of classic flavor fic will fall into two tropes

1: picking a sacrificial lamb to be the Real Reason their relationship exploded, usually wilbur or tubbo (though I've seen phil sprinkled in there too). you just make it Somebody Else's fault and turn them into the devil to be Defeated

2: you just have the one or more of the characters lose their fundamental beliefs and become an empty vessel in exchange for love and protection. but like, This Is Fluff, And It's Good Because The Person Thinking For Them Is Morally Correct And Right.

and the thing About dark sbi as a Baseline is that there's always an Awareness that they're making the characters Dark On Purpose. that's the very Premise. the twisting of the characters or the setting is never done Unintentionally, it never Expects you to shove the implications underneath the rug and not think about them.

mind, there's plenty of Extraordinarily Excellent sbi fic that Isn't dark sbi, and I've seen more than my fair share of dark sbi that fumbles the bag spectacularly. but the fact is, the source material Does contain Many dark elements, elements that can be difficult to fully grasp at All let alone depict with grace or elegance.

so it's just ! much easier to navigate a space where everyone is already Aware of what they're depicting and what to expect From it. it's being in on the joke going in, knowing that if characters feel off It's On Purpose. nobody's being twisted to demonize their characters or to victim blame or to Do An Ableism, it's just for fun.

and I think that Also significantly cuts down on that feeling of competitiveness within the space. everyone's borrowing from and inspiring each other no matter which of the sbi they lean more towards.

it's in a word, Nice

(obligatory link to my breakdown on dark sbi and dark fiction in general and why it appeals to people here [Link])

#dream smp #dsmp #sbi #dark sbi #meta #long post

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nereidprinc3ss · 13 days

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Jokes and being 'horny on main' aside I find it so fascinating how many women are drawn to both Spencer Reid and MGG. Like he's not classically handsome, in the way most macho Hollywood men are. He's softer, more poetic looking and his personality is also very unique. I think he feels safe (from what we know anyways), and there's something to be said for why women (especially younger women) go nuts for this kind of smart, goofy, caring guy who is truly weird (more so MGG than Spencer). Yet you'll still have incels on Reddit/Twitter parading the toxic alpha male shit to impressionable men and creating this vicious cycle. There was actually an interesting class I took on Romance novels and how because they're sort of an unexplored medium that hasn't been taken seriously in the cultural zeitgeist until recently it's been able to develop into a safe space for women, written by women. A lot of men call them unrealistic and yes they can lean trope-y and drama-esque but also at their core its about women reading about men that are good communicators, with decent personalities and hygiene

idk WHY he is the most visually appealing man I’ve ever seen, and idk why he has this crazy staying power for me—like normally my celebrity crushes are crazy intense for a few months and then they just disappear one day, but me and matthew are approaching our year anniversary and i see no signs of stopping lol!!

i think personality does have a lot to do with it. mgg is genuinely a weirdo like he’s a weird dude with a lot of heart and he seems really passionate about the things he does. men who care about something outside of themselves, and don’t take themselves too seriously, do tend to make me feel safer. i can’t speak for other women and obviously we don’t know him in real life but if he’s secretly an asshole he does a fantastic job of hiding it!! his sense of humor requires a kind of self awareness and awareness of other people that we don’t usually expect from famous men, and the way he speaks about and interacts w his female friends/coworkers is really amazing too.

idk, obviously we don’t actually know him and i try very much not to idolize people (especially men) who i don’t know. but he’s so funny and seems like an actually kind person who lacks some of the hangups that other male celebrities have and that make them repellant to me

also men saying romance novels are “unrealistic” need to give me a fucking break. women know that the men they read about in romance novels aren’t realistic representations of men in real life but men don’t seem to understand that porn is a fucking joke and not a realistic representation of real women. yet they hold us to those ludicrous standards all the time. until they start thinking about the porn they watch as a complete MADE UP FANTASY the way women think about romance novels i really do not want to hear it from them lmfaooo

especially when our fantasy is being treated respectfully by a good man and their fantasies include anti gravity boobs and removed ribs and viewing women as objects made for their pleasure

can you tell im mad about this…

anyway thank you for sharing your thoughts!! i completely agree<3

#asks

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quodekash · 7 months

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I FELL ASLEEP FOR A FEW MINUTES BUT WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS BABEYYYY LETS KEEP GOIGN ON EPISDOE 9

THE WAY HE SLIDES UNDER THE WATER TO AVOID ANSWERING THE QUESTION

I LOVE HIM SO SO MUCH OML

noooooo dontttt

you should make outttt

nooooooooooooo

pleaseeee I just want you two to kiss and make out and be in love, and it'll be a LOT easier if youre stuck in a confined space with each other

YYYYYYYESSSSSS

SO THEN NOW THEYRE GONNA SHARE THE MOTORCYCLE???

EEEEEEEEE IM SO EXCITED

IM SO EXCITED FOR THE PUTTING-ON-HELMET TROPE AND THE WAIST-GRABBING TROPE

GOIUREDHSGPIOVKREND

he cARES ABOUT HIM

oh, what's that sound? nothing, its just me sobbing my soul out

bestie you're so in love with him

WAIT

HANG ON A SECOND

OMG

EVEN MORE SOUNDWIN/GUYNAWA PARALLELS

LOOK AT THAT FREAKING EXPRESSION ON GUY'S FACE

B O O M

aaaaaaaaaaaa soundwin/guynawa parallels may be the death of me

D U D E

this feels so intentional

nawa so badly wanted them to have a stargazing date

the way they speak in sync is so insane

they're like literally soulmates???

idk man, I think you should kiss. shooting star feels like a good reason to kiss

THEYRE GONNA COME BACK TOGETHER AND EVERYONE'S GONNA THINK THAT THEY SNUCK OUT TO GO ON A DATE TOGETHER OR WHATEVER

JUST LIKE IN MSP WHEN SOUNDWIN COME BACK AFTER WIN GIVES SOUND A RIDE FROM THE PHYSICAL THERAPY APPOINTMENT AND THEYRE ALL LIKE 'why did you guys get here together?? 🤔'

except this time I dont think they'll be as dense and stupid because the sexual tension literally oozes off of guy and nawa every time they interact

bitch did you not register the arm? bro is wounded and he obviously "didnt know where else to go" (aaaaa now my brain is going through classic enemies to lovers tropes)

broooo just kiss

you're looking at him so tenderly rn

d u d e

AWW, HE COULDNT SHOOT SOMEONE SO THEN HE GOT SHOT INSTEAD, AND ALSO LOOK AT HOW SAIFAH'S BUTTONING UP HIS SHIRT FOR HIM AAAA

the guy sitting next to you, that's what you can do

OHHHH

OH THAT ADDS A WHOLE NEW LAYER TO THE THEORY

well, not really.

but its a very interesting detail!

SORRY

IM SORRY

BUT WHY DOES THIS GUY LOOK KIND OF LIKE MARKIPLIER

well frick now im sad

o-oh

well frick now im SADDER

OKAY FINALLY

THEYRE FINALLY GONNA KISS AND ITS ACTUALLY GONNA BE GOOD

rfhghfghffhgbehsdbfhewbsdfhgaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhfebhgbehsbghbrs

YES

GOOD

YAYYYYYYY

FINALLYYYYYYY

guynawa's turn next pls

NOOOO DONT MAKE ME CRY WITH THE SHOT OF THE HANDS

FRICK

I love chimon's curly hair so so so much

B I T C H-

IM LOSING IT

THIS ENTIRE POST CREDITS SCENE IS FREAKING INCREDIBLE

I love cheesy pickup lines so much, but even more than that I love kang's ridiculously cheesy pickup lines, but even MORE than that I love sailom's reactions to kang's cheesy-ass pickup lines

so this is like. the greatest thing ever

yup

as per usual, for every single 12 episode bl ever, the actually insane stuff is gonna go down in episodes 10, 11 and 12

woohoo. can't wait.

(part of me just wants the fluffiness to continue but also part of me wants to get into the juicy drama of everything, you know? I love chaos so much)

WELL, EPISODE GOOD

I MANAGED TO WATCH IT IN JUST OVER 2 HOURS WHICH I THINK IS A NEW RECORD FOR SHORTEST TIME

and I shall be rewatching this episode once every single day until episode 10 comes out because I am feral 😊

goodnight folks!!

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nights-at-crystarium · 1 year

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January 9 is Vivi’s birthday \;w;/ The date’s cheeky, it’s when I reached ShB on him ingame. A year ago. JUST A YEAR. No other oc of mine had such an intense development process. I wanted to try writing a disaster, and, well....

Lemme have today as an excuse to ramble about his influences. Of course I didn’t merely lump these together, I kept realizing the likeness as time went on.

The concentration of unhinged blondies and literal idols is past the critical level, take cover, it’s gonna blow.

Spoiler warning for everything.

Anarchy Panty

Because his full name’s Vivien Fucksalot Rell x’D A good number of their tropes match perfectly.

This speech could as well be copypasted into his final battle with Emet:

Panty: You're right, I'm just a little bitch and I'm proud of it. But guess what, douchebag? That's not the point. News flash, I don't need special fucking powers to beat the shit out of you. You know why? Because I'm a bitch who doesn't give a fuck. You and your half-dead face can preach about hymens and demons and other weird words that supposedly mean shit, but that doesn't change the fact that if any of you fuckers get in my way, I'm gonna kick some twisted-ass ass. You hear me dick? I'm a hot bitch angel named Panty. And no matter what anyone says, I DO WHAT I FUCKING WANT!

Princess Ai

An edgy fashion icon that I'm still in love with. Brainstorming the visual styles for Vivi, I simply decided to indulge as hard as I can.

Howl

Howl gets his redemption arc, Vivi, uh.... Surprise, the entire ShB part of Fragments is his redemption arc of sorts. But he exists outside ShB as well. He’s not meant to be a goody two shoes. But hey, his drama queen moments are entertaining to watch.

Raha has a lot of Howl in his character too. With Vivi, he’s basically this, except he doesn’t swallow him.. Okay he does but in a different way *kicked*

Arataka Reigen

Because I’m physically incapable of writing a classic hero.

Vivi has a complicated relationship with his career and a pragmatic approach to most things in life. He also prefers words to violence, will fight only if that fails.

When confidence and persuasion carry so hard you don’t really need anything else. Vivi firmly believes in everything he says and does. He doesn’t derive any fucked up joy from being right, but he knows as a fact that he IS right.

Sakuma Ryuichi

Duality my beloved \o/ And dorkiness. Other than that, Ryuichi doesn’t have as much influence on his character, but the visuals?

I mean I literally use this shirt and necklace as an easter egg/homage. Gravitation triggered my queer awakening in the faraway 2006, might as well give it the acknowledgement it deserves.

And, lastly, the he.

What else do you expect from a character tailored for a ship \o/

Short. Sassy. Dorky. Gremlin. All of their direct likeness stems from ARR, while the more subtle parallels and extreme opposite values form later.

If Raha’s eccentric, Vivi takes that just a tad bit further, simply because he’s always been allowed to.

What Raha keeps repressed, buried deep down, Vivi embraces in full. He’s an unruly, effervescent spark of life, he’s meant to be Raha’s “manic pixie dream boy” according to tvtropes, to slowly lure him out of his shell and teach him confidence, the joy of living, and find a way to stop him from killing himself over and over again.

Words of praise and affirmation have no effect on them. Both are competent in some field, but never brag about it. While Raha has a severe imposter syndrome, Vivi knows he’s cool as a fact, which still doesn't mean he loves or values himself as he should. He just acknowledges and uses his status for his own benefit as openly as the world keeps using himself.

Destiny (affectionate) and destiny (derogatory).

Raha’s The Adult (tm) Vivi needs to stay somewhat stable. This’s the reason they don’t quite get along in ARR yet, Raha must go through that century of suffering that, despite all common sense, refines him into something delightful, Vivi must go through HW-SB to realize his priorities in life and frankly get fucked up enough to form a perfect chemistry with Exarch.

Raha has a moral compass that he may adjust at will, Vivi has none at all. How much more questionable would they be if they weren’t cute and charismatic :’D

They’re feisty and competitive towards each other, Raha especially so. Vivi has a red cloth effect on him. Forever wrestling for that imaginary control (yep, in bed too). On the emotional side, it’s forever “you matter, I don’t”. They’re mirrors of each other, reflecting some parts as they are, twisting others in most peculiar ways.

Vivi literally wouldn’t exist without Raha, both ic and ooc. So I daresay Raha has the most influence on his character, at the same time he’s his own guy enough to stay interesting. I’m so proud of him. I’m holding him by the scruff and helplessly shaking him in the air.

#wol inspo chart #ffxiv #vivien rell #text post #gif

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lurkingshan · 11 months

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La Pluie: The most important thing is that we really love each other

Well, they really said it all in this episode, didn’t they! Y’all know I have maintained all along that La Pluie is a smart show that knows what it’s about. They have been intentionally subverting classic romance tropes. They have been inviting us to question the very premise of the show and the myth at the heart of its lore. And today we got some very big payoff to everything they’ve been building toward, via two major events: Tai and Patts directly discussing their doubts about whether they are soulmates (and whether it matters), and Lomfon, our resident soulmate skeptic, suddenly experiencing a hearing loss episode in which he can hear both Tai and Patts.

Let’s start with the drama between Tai, Patts, and Nara. As we all assumed, this scene was simply Nara taking her last desperate shot, and Patts letting her down easy. And he really did go easy on her - struggling to find the right words, and letting her kiss him without pushing her off - which I actually love, upon reflection. Because the reason is clear: he feels so fucking guilty, y’all. He loved her once, and the reason they broke up in the first place is because she always thought he would meet his soulmate and end things with her. And that’s exactly what happened! He feels bad about it, and freshly guilty after being reminded of their drunken kiss, and he has no ill will towards her, so he doesn’t want to hurt her anymore than he already has. It speaks to his character and I wouldn’t like him as much as I do if he didn’t care about her.

And she is also a good person, which shows in her immediate and final acceptance of his rejection once she knows Tai is in the picture. She is gracious, a bit chagrined realizing all the things she said to Patts’ soulmate, and just as concerned for Tai as everyone else when he goes missing. Patts and Nara are good people who just didn’t work out, there are no bad guys here!

Now over to Tai. First of all, shouts to @ginnymoonbeam and @bengiyo for their read on Tai’s reaction to seeing Nara kiss Patts. They were entirely correct. He is not mad at anyone or thinking Patts has betrayed him. He knows exactly what he’s seeing. But it activates again his ongoing doubts about whether soulmates are real, and he rashly decides to run up the mountain to Doi Mae Pliang seeking answers (without even grabbing any water or hiking supplies, Tai what the fuck). He realizes fairly quickly that this was very stupid, and as soon as it rains he calls out for Patts.

And here we get to what is arguably the most important scene in the entire show. Tai and Patts have an honest conversation about Tai’s doubts and whether they are really soulmates. Tai says it plainly: he is in pain because he knows his feelings for Patts, but he doesn’t feel safe to trust them. His parents’ divorce has rocked him to his core, he doesn’t feel confident that soulmates are real anymore, and seeing Patts and Nara together made him wonder if he really is the best person for Patts. And Patts completely understands why he is feeling this way and shows him he is safe by saying exactly the right thing: he doesn’t know whether soulmates are real, but he knows he loves Tai more than anyone else, and that will be true regardless of the myth. You can see how badly Tai needed to hear this, and it settles something in him. He no longer needs to go to the top of the mountain or know for certain whether they are soulmates or connected by some random fluke of science. What matters is they love each other and make each other happy. And with that, Tai is ready to commit himself and be faens.

I am not sure the show can be much clearer than this! Tai and Patts are together because they’re in love and make each other happy, not because they think they are fated by destiny. As we have been discussing, the soulmate myth was an obstacle that was getting in the way, and now they have officially overcome it. But just in case we still don’t fully get it, there is more plot coming our way to cement it!

Which brings me to Lomfon. I cannot overstate how much I love the twist that he has suddenly experienced a hearing loss episode which enabled him to hear both Tai and Patts. There are a lot of possibilities for where they could take this, plot-wise (Will he think they’re both his soulmates? Will he grow confused as he continues getting closer to Tien but hears others when it rains? Will this cement his belief that it’s just a freak scientific phenomenon? Could he hear just them because they happened to be the only hearing loss sufferers in close proximity?) and I’m not even going to try to guess which one it’ll be because this show surprises me every week. But one thing I do feel confident about is that this new wrinkle will be used to continue exploring the themes the show has been wrestling with all along.

We are not done interrogating the soulmate lore, and we have now been firmly told that the relationships the characters build with each other are ultimately what matters above all else. This show is fantastic.

#la pluie #thai bl #shan shouts into the void

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sometimesthatsbetter · 2 months

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Every thing i read in Febubary

I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game

The MC of this novel is so fucking silly cause who tf names their kid Ash 'Born hater' Everblack? Like i'm being for real right now, his mom literally called him her 'little hater'. Love that

So, a Korean gamer who was streaming about this old strategy game on hardmode where if you fail once the game resets. The guy got isekaied the moment he finished the game on stream and right in the middle of the battle field too, tough luck hater.

Before we go more in depth about this story I would recommend that you read the novel version, the manhwa seems a little tacky and i've seen alot of readers complain that the manhwa makes everything look cheaper.

So, one of reasons why it made on to my reading list is because it was recommended by my guy friends who has great taste for this kinda genre. It drew him in because it used actual strategies that he would also use in his game instead of throwing around random lingo in hopes to cater to gamers. Like every battle was truly suspenseful and the author isn't afraid to show that every victory requires a sacrifice. Also I've seen people praise the character development of this novel, everyone starts out a little stereotypical and annoying but they get their own story arcs to shine.

Another thing i like is that this story is about the fight against the end of the world. Like i know alot of stories with that kind of premise but rarely do i ever feel the urgencey as strongly as i do with this story. The last stand against a sea of monsters waiting to consume the world and the young prince who's tasked with the question of remaining human or turning into a monster to save his world. I love me some classical fantasy

Anyways, it has 500+ translated chapters and it's all free. Go read it now.

The problematic prince

If i'm being honest here i can think of at least 10 more manhwa crown princes who are even more problematic than the ML, especially that guy from the abandoned empress, yeah fuck you blueberry head.

So the story premise is the typical bad boy x good girl story trope. Our prince Bjorn keeps getting pestered by his ex wife whom he doesn't want contact with and our FL is being sold off to the highest bidder in society, shinnaigans happen and so the are married. That's the very shorten version of the plot

First thing that i noticed, the vibes. It gave off so much Edwardian, turn of the century energy that i adore. From the costuming to the city streets and the interactions between common people. Love it.

The author seems to have been blessed with amazing writing skills because oh my god did the writing style made me swoon. Erna, our FL, can be classified as one of those soft girl heroines but i feel like she's more than that. She knew what she had to do to keep her loved ones safe and always strived for better, she's not a cunning villainess nor a simpering coward. Erna never settled and kept enduring and trying new ways to connect with others around her even when she's being labelled as a home wrecker.

Also the nobilities and medias reaction to their marriage was incredibly realistic, i see alot of manhwas with rags to riches stories or men marrying women with horrendus reputations but never mention how powerful the influence of the peoples opinions. Here you can see that Bjorn and Erna's relationship, while rocky still holds strong, it seemed like they are truly in love and happy with their choices. Yet media still condemns her as a witch, a slut and a disgrace towards the royal family. It even lead to a attempt on Ernas life. Which shows you how easily the public can be whipped into a frenzy just because of a narritive that she is other woman.

The spirit queen

If i even find the author of this manhwa i would like to make out with them and have their babies, cause this kind of genious deserves to be preserved.

Do you want a story with proper drama? Do you want something that actually keeps it's momentum and doesn't half ass shit half way through? Do you want themes about power and how it turns people into the worse version of themselves? Well look no further. The spirit queen has your back

Another thing that i loved about this story was it's sympathy towards the working class. The servants in this aren't the stereotypical happy go lucky loyal maids that you see in manhwas, they also aren't evil back stabbing people either. They know that their lives are worthless when it comes to the upper classes so they do all that they can to survive and to protect their loved ones. And i respect that as hell, even if it made them do less than savory things.

Also i recently learned that the author, Tutu-nim, wrote and drew this manhwa on their own. A true girlboss

Run away with me, girl

Remember all those times you said that you can be a better husband for the FL? Well this is a lesbian romance based on that premise.

It's a bittersweet romance story about two girls who were high school friends meeting each other after 10 years. Maki, who is till doing her graduate courses while living with her mom and lamenting her loneliness, while Midori is engaged and pregnant and living that perfect, normal life she wanted. Of course everything is not as it seems, and that's what the author wanted to explore in the coming chapters of the story

It's a short read, about 16? 17? chapters. But the author manages to do so much in that short amount of time. Every character felt so real and complicated. At first when you see Midori and the way that she treated Maki after their reunion, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that Midori is just playing around with Makis feelings. Especially with the way that she flirts and then reminds Maki of her engagement to her boyfriend.

This manga has the most realistic, hut wrenching potrayals of abuse, love and hate i've seen in a while. And if i'm being honest there is a high chance i would do the same if i was stuck in their situation.

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chrononautintraining · 6 months

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All right! Fine! I’m in! Can you recommend me your favorite fic in the non-hobbit fandom that you post about a lot? I’m not familiar with it all so a fic that explains canon a little more than an a total AU would be best

No biggie if you don’t want to recommend any hahaha just send me on my way with a ‘no’

Yes! Join us! You must be referring to The Untamed, which is a Chinese drama based on a web novel translated into English under the name The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. It has a lot to recommend it to Hobbit fans! Swords! Legendary monsters! Do you like that scene in the Fellowship of the Ring where the hobbits stumble across the ancient tomb and are almost laid to rest by a barrow-wight, but come out with the Numenorean blades? I have good news about both leveling up weaponry in graveyards and ancient tombs!

If your preferred way to enter a fandom is a fic rec, I have to say A Narrow Bridge by JoLaSalle and FrameofMind is my current favorite. It's a Fix-it-AU that tells most of the early canon through flash back scenes while diverging wildly. I'd say it goes into even more detail than canon about how some aspects of cultivation and demonic cultivation works. Moreover, it has a *lot* to appeal to Hobbit fans. "How do you feel about pastoral novels?" she asked knowingly. Please enjoy two devoted, justice-loving idiots growing radishes in a graveyard, zero feet apart because they are in love.

Okay, so A Narrow Bridge is 700 thousand words. A big part of the appeal of this fandom is how many incredibly writers go for sprawling, epic AUs. There is a library here waiting, if you find you like the blorbos. That said, if you're looking for something a little shorter:

Short and Sexy - if this is what you like in a fandom, my friend, this one has a tremendous amount of well written, niche smut.

River-to-the-Sea Sure by Deastar is ~7k words of heat. This fic is A/B/O, which is not usually my thing. So believe me when I say that it is both extremely sexy and genuinely virtuous. It captures the characters of our main leads and their usual dynamic very well. Interestingly, this is the first in a series of A/B/O Bingo by the author, which somehow manages to keep Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in perfect character no matter their "dynamic". But the dynamic illustrated in this story is the one you meet with most often.

But the rose was awake all night for your sake knowing your promise to me by x_los is ~8k of magical lovemaking. Very magical. Using tentacles of resentful energy...

Midlength Mysteries - my understanding of the genre is that the typical format involves two cultivators traveling together to investigate supernatural mysteries. Here are some of those.

And I will Call You Home by Spodume 42k of a post-canon investigation into some mysterious deaths. This is an interesting example of the ways the monsters in cultivation novels differ from traditional western Dragons In Need of Slaying, ala Smaug. At its core, this is two investigators working a problem, and one very smart protagonist coming up with an answer. Also, the investigators are in love. Love is the answer.

Vagabond by xantissa is 65k of something similar, equally good, with added undertones of gay culture in ancient china. I really adore this one, but maybe read one or two other stories first so the climax has its full impact.

Look Not With the Eyes by Spodume 28k Classic tropes, truly classic mythological creature, absolutely adorable. Is it kind of cheating to recommend two by the same author? Maybe. Do I low key think you should just start with this one? Yes. Two men travel to investigate a mystery. After a strange encounter, they find that everyone they meet falls instantly in love with one of them. The other is totally not extremely jealous, but works hard to solve the mystery and fix this serious problem.

And once you're in deep, hit me up again! I have a million AUs to recommend.

#wangxian #the untamed #chen qing ling

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yellowstarwater · 10 months

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Okay so this is going to be my overall thoughts on Clone High season 2!

A lot of people have and will continue to complain about how it’s not as good or as funny as season one and that’s both fair and unfair. As a fanfic writer I know how hard it can be to continue writing a story after not working on it for a long time especially after working on new projects. And the same can be said for the show runners here, a lot has changed since they first produced season one. This was something that if it wasn’t for COVID it might have never been revived, so I can forgive them for it not feeling exactly the same as before after all it was twenty years ago. Jokes that worked then wouldn’t work now, I get and respect that. With that being said it could have been better.

For one besides Abe in the first episode no one seems to struggle with adjusting to 2023! That kinda of doesn’t make sense, I get not wanting to bring it up all the time but side jokes and cutaways could have worked. I also found it weird that we barely see any foster parents this season, you’re telling me that the Clones from 2003 parents weren’t freaking out when they suddenly came home after being gone for twenty years! I mean it’s not like the foster parents were important to the story but they could have shown some kind of reaction to them just showing up again?!

Like wouldn’t it have been funny if the foster parents were like super protective of their kids when they came back to the point of putting tracking devices on their phones or something?! I don’t know maybe not that but something! Also is John Stamos alive or dead after what happened? It’s also never addressed!

I do like the inclusion of all the new characters though, they do really add some new elements to the show and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But again I expected this going into this season. Another thing that has changed is that besides Harriet no one seems to be trying to live up to or are pressured by expectations of their Clone parents. This was a running theme in season one for all the characters and yet this theme is just given to one person now? Sometimes the other clones might mention something but it’s very rare.

Now to get into the relationship that took up most of the season Joanfk, as a huge fan of the ship I was both excited and dreading to see how this relationship would develop. And that’s mostly because of the new intro, I personally don’t think the creators were ever going to make them a couple in 2003, they clearly seem to favor Abe/Joan which makes sense because during that time period the Friends to Lovers trope ruled most shows. I feel like Joanfk was done because they knew that a lot of the new fans wanted to see it, after all Joanfk shippers are one of the main reasons this show was not only revived but people kept talking about it until season two came out. I’m not gonna say that it’s not possible that they could get back together because Clone High is satire a parody of all the teen drama shows and movies it’s very possible that they could get back together again at some point. And honestly I hate the reason they gave for breaking them up being that JFK wasn’t smart enough both intellectually and emotionally for Joan to stay with him when throughout this season alone we can see that this isn’t even really true. I appreciate that they did this and even gave them a semi respectable breakup but (and I could be wrong) BUT clearly they’re not that into Joanfk. And yet still the biggest obstacle to Joanfk starts and ends with Joan not being sure how she feels about Abe (or even JFK sometimes) and not doing anything to resolve it.

Abe and Joan if the show had continued it’s run in 2003 this couple would have probably been end game, it’s the classic Friends to Lovers trope that the 90’s and early 2000’s loved. After all the show Friends basically coasted on this one trope as well as Saved by the Bell etc…Personally I think the Friends to Lovers trope can work if it’s done well Kim Possible is an example that I can think of that does this well and though some might not like Kim and Ron being endgame I think its actually done well and believable. And then there’s the times when I don’t think it’s done well (again this is just my opinion!) like with Danny Phantom. Don’t get me wrong Danny and Sam started off as cute and I did root for them…in season one after that the writers basically just dragged this trope out till the very end. And it didn’t help that (in my opinion) Valerie and Danny’s relationship was a lot more interesting. I mentioned this because Abe and Joan’s possible relationship seems to be something the writers want to drag out and this is bad because you could very easily lose your audience because of that. I get that dragging it out is part of the humor and satire but in a time where a lot of shows can easily be canceled (especially with the writers strike still going on) it’s not the best way to go. I will never like Abe and Joan being together as much as Joanfk (I really do think it’s the better relationship between the two of them despite what was said in episode seven) but I can at least get used to it and be happy for them if it’s not dragged out. Or they can make the three of them polyamorous I’m fine with that too!

The other couples are fine for the most part Confucius and Harriet will have their issues I can already see it but I am willing to give it a chance. Again the last episode (spoilers if you haven’t seen it) it makes sense that Harriet acted the way she did because again of all of the clones right now she seems to be the only one who feels any pressure about living up to her clone mother. And Confucius well he has rich foster parents even if he doesn’t qualify to get into a college he’ll be admitted it makes sense that he’s not worried about it or thinking about it.

Frida and Cleo are perfect, I only wish there had been more hints of them throughout the season but in like two episodes the pace and execution of this relationship was done perfectly and believable. It’s one of the few couples that’s just cute and has nothing else messing with it. Was it fair that Frida let go of Joan to save Cleo, not really but it made sense that she would save her girlfriend, over her girl friend.

Okay now to talk about the characters one on one.

JFK continues to improve and grow despite this being a satire teen drama show, he makes male friends, is in a committed relationship with one person where he Doesn’t cheat or even thinks about anyone else all the time. (Only one episode sorta counts) It’s hard but he accepts Joan’s decision to break things off with him even though he really does love her to the point of wanting what is best for her even if it’s not him. He even becomes friends with Abe and encourages him to pursue someone he still very clearly loves. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out he was faking it in episode seven just to give Joan an excuse to leave because he was afraid he wasn’t enough to make her happy.

Cleo didn’t get enough screen time for someone who is a main character, and besides her relationship with Frida and squashing her beef with Joan. And the fact that most of the beef was between them fighting over Abe is strangely never brought up. She’s not given much to do throughout this season besides being Homecoming Queen. An episode where she has to navigate the world of social media like Instagram would have been interesting to see. Maybe in season three?

Frida is one of the new main characters and I think she fits well with the show so far. Again love her relationship with Cleo, but besides that I think she’ll be like voice of reason character going forward. Not much to say besides that because well this is her first season on the show!

Harriet another new main character and again seems to be the one dealing with the pressures of being a clone the most. Wanting to be great because her Clone mother was Harriet Tubman makes a lot of sense and I think it touches on a lot of people’s fears of not doing anything important with their lives. I looked forward to seeing how she grows.

Confucius another new main character who is just trying to gain the attention of his foster parents. It’s very clear that attention is what he wants out of anything. You can see it whenever they show him on FlipFlop, and again the fact that he’s not worried about college makes sense whether he doesn’t want to go or knows that his parents will pay for him eventually. I look forward to seeing how he develops.

Topher the last new main character, there is a lot that someone can say about him, I’m pretty sure he’s now the favorite character whether it’s because you love or hate him. Honestly I like that they have a character that’s awful, do I think he’s closeted…maybe but I do believe that one of the reasons he was “white leveraging” Abe is to keep Abe’s attention to himself. I don’t think he had any friends before Abe was thawed out and he probably wouldn’t be able to hang around the group if it wasn’t for him. So it makes sense that he would “white leverage” him from telling Joan how he felt because then Topher would no longer have an audience because Abe would likely spend all his time with Joan.

Abe learns a bit throughout the season but I don’t think he grows much until nearly the end. He spends most of season pinning over Joan and…that’s it he doesn’t become friends with JFK until the last episode and as far a we know the reason why he even realized that he loved Joan was because Cleo had made her look hot in season one. It’s never addressed why he suddenly loves her, and yeah that’s it. Sure he’s “punished for his behavior” in the first episode and it almost makes it seem that Joan and Abe won’t be friends this season but that is quickly forgotten by the end of the episode. Again I do think the Joan/Abe relationship will happen or at least be addressed between them but it’s likely that it will be dragged for a while. I will admit that the moments where they’re together just being friends is nice though.

Joan changes the most throughout this season whether you liked the changes or not. It starts with her dating JFK which while I enjoyed seeing, it was never addressed on why she accepted his offer in the first place. Sure they slept together at prom but there wasn’t enough done to explain within the show why she agreed to date him. (Honestly it’s like the show runners were like, the Joanfk fanfic writers did that for us we don’t have to explain ourselves!) Then she becomes friends with Frida and Harriet which I thought was nicely done, then she and Cleo come to an understanding! But her feelings for Abe linger throughout the season and something that I noticed after episode ten is that Joan is codependent, if she believes that she doesn’t have a boyfriend or friends to support her then she turns into a monster. Season three will either address what she did in the first episode or throughout the season either way she’ll be punished for it. Even if she did realize at the last minute that what she was doing was wrong.

The rest of the cast was fine Mr. B’s backstory was compelling, I don’t know why the writers felt that Scudworth needed a love interest but…it happened? Candide is interesting enough we’ll see how it goes. Sorry not saying more but this is pretty long already.

#clone high joan #clone high jfk #clone high #clone high abraham lincoln #clone high cleo #clone high frida #clone high harriet tubman #clone high confucius #clone high topher #joanfk

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what-gs-watching · 6 months

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"Denial. It's amazing how far you can get on denial."

Gang, thinking about my career journey and where I want to go next and how to get all of my experience into a cohesive situation is tiring. Am I in the right place for that emotionally? Not really but if someone doesn’t make me do it, I never will. So career coaching is a thing, and I’m doing it.

But I’m also still hunkering down in content because that’s just what ya do. So I burned through the entirety of Fall of the House of Usher because I have a thing for Mike Flanagan and Edgar Allen Poe and…

Woooooof, y’all.

Wherein, an entire family headed up by Roderick Usher, CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and his conniving sister, starts biting it, while Roderick &Co is being prosecuted for doing shady corporate shit. Told through that classic trope of one person confessing to another over a glass of good liquor.

Do you want to watch a bunch of terrible people die horribly? Yes? Then this is for you.

Listen, I’m gonna watch almost anything, so I sat down and did the first two episodes in a row, and then I realized I probably could only handle one a day.

I’m not HUGE on scary movies, I can get into some of them but I’m not like, entirely bloodthirsty. Maybe a little bloodthirsty. And this show definitely has that. Practically chemically melting a party full of people, for longer than necessary? That’s what got me. Just me on the couch yelling “DAMN, DUDE!”

Also, my brain was all like ‘I’m totally gonna get all the Poe references, I wrote a paper on him in college, I’m with it’ but I really was not. There is a TON in the show and they did a good job of pulling elements from his work and I’m pretty sure it goes a lot deeper than I picked up on. I’m sure there’s someone out there that has dug into this, but it ain’t me - my brain is still on an EXTREMELY low simmer. So, if you’re a literature nerd, there’s good shit in there for you, but I can’t explain it (my english degree is glaring at me in disappointment, I can feel it). And only if you’re cool with some gore.

I will say, they do make you feel like shit about the world we have built, and for good reason. Society does feel like a bunch of starving, drugged up consumers, but also, the Ushers are the monsters that have helped make us this way. At least we can feel good about a fictional asshole that helped stoke the opioid epidemic getting his comeuppance.

The ‘reveal’ is pretty straight forward if you’d been paying attention, or maybe it’s because I’ve watched entirely too much Supernatural, that’s possible. My husband’s manager was watching at the same time and shared her theory at one point which was so off the money, it was adorable. She hated every second of it, she thought it was an intriguing family drama, but then she was too far in and couldn’t stop. My guess is other people got roped in that way too. JUST KIDDING! Enjoy some death scenes that are going to make you feel ways about stuff.

The one that cut me the most was Victorine, I couldn’t figure out how the shadowy figure that’d been following them was going to work into it but she barely had to do anything at all. Determination and outward pressure and the belief that what you’re doing is going to help people, is a hell of a drug. Especially when you’re willing to do anything to get what you want. That bish was trying to do something that would be good for humanity, but her family was poison and it poisoned her too and she downright fucking lost it. And it was the only situation Roderick got to see with his own eyes. That shit was a gut punch.

Was it as good as Haunting of Hill House? No, but it was good. And worth a watch, if you enjoy a twisted, brutal death (or eight).

All in all, I hope Mike Flanagan keeps ‘em coming. Sometimes, it’s just nice to watch fucked up people get what they deserve.

#what g's watching #fall of the house of usher #mike flanagan #spooky season

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absolutebl · 1 year

Text

This Week in BL

Nov 2022 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 2 of 12 - an even better kiss this ep and some background on how both of them are broken and need each other, this is popcorn worthy melodrama, keep it up. WATCH ALONG HERE.

Big Dragon (Sat Gaga) 7 of 8 - musical montage boyfriends date for most of this ep. I’m not mad about it. Like a 50 min OnlyOneOf MV. Poor P9! I think I finally realized why I like this couple so much, they remind me (when they are at their best) a little bit of We Best Love. Oh do we have a Kdrama separation coming in the final ep? Please no.

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) 8 of 10 - Nhai’s dad is pretty awesome, and I don’t mind that we had all this time with him and Ai chatting. Tiny concert full of crumbs, but blessed no actual singing! And the nothing continues to happen, and it continues to be shirtless. So I’m happy.

Ghost Host, Ghost House (Weds YouTube) 7 of 8 - Even in a ghost story, if it’s Thailand we’ve got to go to the beach and frolic. Use of I/you pronouns is super interesting and cute. I think what I like the most about these two is that they are so easily and casually boyfriends.

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 6 of 12 - LeoFiat are still the only thread that interests me, coincidentally they’re getting all the old school tropes too. Bus trip, earbud sharing, shoulder sleeping and everything.

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 1 of 12 - This definitely has all the markers of a bully romance, not my personal favorite. SOTUS not withstanding. This can go into BohnDuen territory a bit too much for me. So far I don’t dislike this show, but I don’t like it either and it’s definitely one of those I wish I had the 10 second fast forward button on.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 7 of 12 - Enter the faen fatal and anxiety baby is jelly - doesn't look as good on him as it does on our dentist. But HOW does he still not realize how hard he is being flirted with? I take that back, this isn’t flirting, this is courting. Like ritual old-fashioned gentlemanly marriage-in-mind how many crowns do you want in exchange level courting. I can’t believe it’s gonna be over month before this show finishes. I’m tense now.

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Thurs Gaga) 5 of 8 - This thing that Japan keeps doing with gay teachers killing themselves is not exciting to me. I really love how Michan is like “look after your own damn boyfriend and stop dragging mine onto ledges”... stupid teacher drama. But oh my goodness is this show achingly sad. This prevailing wistfulness between our leads about the future that they know they will never get to have. The way Michan is constantly listening and feeling for his Koichi’s heartbeat for a reassurance that is never going to come. The way he is reconciling himself with his own loneliness and returning to that solitary state, because he will never find a soulmate like Koichi again. It’s an aching extended wistful dry-eyed kind of yearning and pain. The counteraction to how good Japan is a thirst. This show is going to break my heart. In fact, it already has.

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 5-6 of 10 - It’s Strongberry so the blind date is with the boy. Yay! No bones about it (no boning either but hey-ho). Really this is a show about connection and loneliness, it’s kind of gut wrenching for something so silly. I got to say it, because no one else will, but how is uncle’s business staying in business? I’ve never seen a single customer.

Kabe Koji (Japan Mon Viki) 7 of 10 - The date was RIDICULOUS - couple’s keychains and everything. Gah. These two are too much. And then the classic penultimate ep of doom.

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

My Roommate (Thai YT) 32 eps of 2 minutes each + terrible production values? - I’m not bothering.

Fahlanruk (Thai Sun GaGa) 12 eps - I cut my losses at ep 5. DNF

To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai 16 eps - could be sad v worried

2 Moons 3 (Thai Mon ??) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

SELF (Thai Thurs YT) - DNF

Love Bill (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising and stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

In Case You Missed It

I did a post on all of Strongberry’s offerings.

Restart After Coming Back Home (formerly Restart After Come Back Home) is now available on Gaga! Go and watch it, it’s wonderful. Now they just have to get Seven Days and my life will be complete and my subscription love for them eternal.

OnlyOneOf is really doing a BL.

I did my GMMTV 2023 predictions.

TutorYim (Cutie Pie crumbs) have been cast as the new leads in Middle Love (formerly Jimmy Tommy).

I think this is a really good choice, actually.

GAP the series (Sat YT) 1 of 12 has started, office set GL. WATCH IT! GL and this studio needs our support! (Also, the stairs are back!)

Coming to Viki: Love in the Air, ITSAY & IPYTM, Remember Me, and 2 new KBLs: The New Employee & Happy Ending Romance.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting this week:

Nov 24: Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga) 8 - stars Karam (The Boss), Ha Jong Woo, and Leo (VIXX). Formerly Happy Ending Outside the Fence - thank fuck they changed the damn title.

Nov 26: 609 Bedtime Story (Thai Sat WeTV) 11 - another OhmFluke vehicle that’s rumored to be a good story. A one night stand leads to a series of mysterious premonitions and a possible parallel universe.

Nov 2022 still to come?

Nov ??: My School President (?? GMMTV YT) tester trailer here - it’s Love Sick + Korea & Japan's influence.

This week’s earworm: Hello Hello FT Island, doing the blog post about Kdrama actors who’d never do BL made me think about Lee Hong Ki, which made me go back to their back catalogue. I forgot how fucking killer they are.

(last week)

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decepti-thots · 4 months

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in lieu of tf fanon, can we all just agree that the fanon around seekers is just WAY too pervasive???? genuinely. why is seeker fanon Like That. why are seekers sometimes treated as a whole exotic subspecies. i feel like people got too attached to starscream, looked at the silly color swapped jet models due to budget in the original 80's cartoon, and just decided to invent a new kind of weird robot racism. sorry that this is on the bitchery side of anons but weirdly set-in-stone fanon stuff like seekers is what turned me off from reading tf fanfic

The answer to this, that is 'why is seeker fanon Like That', is gonna by necessity involve some discussion of NSFW stuff so I will cut this. But it's kinda. Necessary for the topic, lmao, so. And I do think it's worth actually going through ig. I've seen a lot of folks recently express this exact irritation and confusion, so...

OK so the honest answer: a good chunk of it's just fetish porn tbqh. And people, they are horny for those jets, lmao, and Starscream, exactly. Kink with some worldbuilding scaffolded around it as setup. Which to be clear, when someone is straight up just like 'hi, here is some cheerfully self-aware kink about breeding and shit, do not read too hard into this fantasy nonsense as a coherent narrative- we are here for horny egg laying and the implications will not be expanded on beyond that' I am usually like 'yeah cool go for it!!', lmao. Not my thing, can still go places in execution I'm like 'uhhhh think this through better please' about ofc, but like. Kink's kink, and all. Pretend adult fun times engaged in with full self-awareness are fine, a lot of the time.

My irritation really comes with when this bleeds into stuff that is taking itself seriously and is uhhhh. Not that? Or when it's engaged in by people who clearly don't have a level of self awareness about the above. And the answer is... IMO it's just regular fandom racism tbh, with an extra layer of obfuscation over it because it's got the fantasy analogue thing disguising it. Some people enjoy a lot of tropes that derive from certain strands of commercial genre romance, and honestly a lot of classic SFF as well, that are based in things they do not fully realise are rooted in racism, or any number of -isms tbh. And there's also a lot of people who sort of do notice, but they still want to keep enjoying those things without guilt, so they try and take the underlying logics and apply them to fantasy constructs or whatever in the hopes this will make the thing they like Not Racist. (Spoiler alert: the issue is rarely who the tropes are applied to alone, and this basically never works, because humans have pattern recognition and know how analogies work.)

People like stories about Scary Barbarians, or Submissive Sexually Exotic Androgynes, or whatever. And then someone points out 'yeah but mate, those are racial stereotypes, have you heard of orientalism' or whatever, and people feel bad but they sort of. Want to keep enjoying those stories in a way that is not harmful! That strips out that element succesfully. So they try and write an alien fantasy version, but again. This doesn't actually work most of the time, tbh. Because humans have pattern recognition and the tropes, the logic underlying the ideas in the first place, are often the actual issue. Shrug.

And IMO, this is where you get 'biologically distinct races frametypes who are Just Naturally For Breeding' shit, or whatever other example I can pull out of the TF fanon hat, in ostensibly serious stories about geopolitical conflicts or serious personal drama, ones which expect you to engage with this as an actual framework for how a world could work and not just as a loose excuse for 2000 words of smut. It's not as though canon is totally immune to this to be clear- ask me sometime about how I feel about the mess that is functionism being an analogy for 48563 things, lmao- but fanon is more pervasive because you're contending with decades of this stuff being super pervasive in fandom spaces and it becoming standard for fic. We were having discussions about this exact stuff like. When I was 15 on LJ, lmao. And it wasn't new then! I don't think it's anything unique; it's just got those extra layers of abstraction to sort through in terms of 'why IS this happening with these fuckin planes'.

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libertys-lovers · 2 years

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Self-Ship Ask Game ~ AJR Theme

🎲Go On Take a Chance🎲 ~ Tell us about the most exciting thing you’ve ever done with your F/O!

🌃Chelsea Streets🌃 ~ If you could go anywhere, where would you and your F/O wanna vacation at? How would it go?

🎞Classic🎞 ~ What classic/iconic shipping trope best describes your self-ship?

🎶Overture🎶 ~ Tell us a few of your favorite/most important memories involving your F/O!

🔥Pitchfork Kids🔥 ~ Was there ever a time when you and your F/O had to fight against the world? Or, perhaps when you had to fight against each other?

🛏Big White Bed🛏 ~ What’s your and your F/O’s dream home?

👍The Good Part👍 ~ What moment made you realize that you had to be with your F/O?

👀Drama👀 ~ Does your F/O have any light-hearted quirks or secrets? If so, tell us!!

👯‍♂️Bud Like You👯‍♂️ ~ When you and F/O go on a date/hang-out, is there ever anyone that third-wheels y’all? If so, why do they do it?

⏳Next Up Forever⌛️ ~ What’s something that you’re looking forward to, in terms of the future with you and your F/O?

❄️Dear Winter❄️ ~ This is your excuse to gush about your (fan)kid with your F/O, if you have one! If not, you can gush about the pet(s) you have with them. And if you don’t have pets with them, just talk about your F/O’s family!

🌘3 O’Clock Things🌒 ~ You’re up late; perhaps you’re working on something, or you’re worrying about something. What does your F/O do to (try to) get you to sleep?

💥Bang!💥 ~ What’s your favorite mundane thing to do with your F/O?

🚶Ordinaryish People🚶 ~ What does an average day look like for you and your F/O?

#can I just say that it was a blast looking through some of these songs??#i mean some of these are LOST MEDIA #THAT’S SO COOL!!!#okay anyway-#self ship #self shipper #self shipping #self ship ask game #gif #gif warning #proshippers dni #(as always OP (me) is accepting asks for this as well. But like it’s not required 😉)

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aurum-rays · 2 months

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When you rewatch most childhood movies, the cult classics, the nostalgia rides, I realize how sexist and problematic they were and I was secretly hoping Veer Zaara wasn't one of them(I watched it when I was like 10 so I don't remember). This movie surprised me.

Veer Zaara features strong, resilient female characters. Be it our protagonist Zaara played by Preity Zinta or the catalysts of the love story Saamiya (Rani Mukherjee) and Shabbo (Divya Dutta) or even Zaara’s mother (Kirron Kher) and her Bebe (Zohra Sehgal).

Zaara Hayaat Khan is a feminist, one who is against the societal norms laid for a woman. It's refreshing to see this in her introductory song "Hum to bhai jese hai wese rahengey" sung beautifully by Lata ji, but as this 3 hour musical drama progresses it gets disappointing to see Zaara whittle herself away to the same norms she was against in the first place.

Everyone around her constantly tells her it's her responsibility to be a good wife and a good mother and to guard the respect of their families. Zaara crosses the border to fulfill a final wish of her ‘BeBe’(grandmother) all by herself.

In the midst of a rescue operation, she demands her things be lifted off along with her all while hanging on to an Air Force professional in his uniform.

She pushes the crowded men away and speaks with authority "I have a ticket and I need to get on this bus". In all these instances Zaara is scared yet heroic. She phones her mother and tells her that all her life she didn't do anything and probably won't in the future too and will probably end up being just like her mother - a good wife and a good mother, so she wants to do this one thing so she can respect herself. This is what irked me. I understand she's from an orthodox family but she can still have dreams and ambitions. From the start of the movie, she is portrayed as a rebel, one who doesn't comply with societal norms and laughs in the face of stereotypes. I can only imagine how curious she would have been as a child. That alone is enough to give her some dreams.

She fearlessly tells Amitabh's character what he is doing is unfair to the girls. If I went to someone’s house for a day especially someone I barely knew I wouldn't even dare to question their acts. Zaara does and she makes him spellbound. She doesn't go “I'm just here for one day so I’ll just mind my own business and leave”. She questions the injustice. "Imagine what girls could do if they were given the right education. Some of them might even surpass Veer".

I loved Zaara in all these scenes. She fearlessly stands up against mistreatment and calls them out no matter who the other person is. All this makes you root for her until it doesn't.

In a scene where Saamiya visits Veer's (Shahrukh Khan) hometown and finds Zaara there, she says to Shabbo "Yeh kis sadi ke log hai… ?" (transl. “Which century are these people from?”)

That's exactly how I felt too. “Kon hai ye log? Kahan se aate hai?”( transl. Who are these people? Where do they come from?) Spending their whole lives in the name of the person they never got to be with. Sacrificing everything and working to fulfill someone else’s dream. Zaara has always been that kind of person. She crosses borders to fulfill her bebe's wish and gives all her life to fulfill Veer and his Tau’s wish. She keeps doing everything for others. She spends her life making others’ dreams come true. She lives her life in the memory of her lover. This also reminded me of Sita aka Princess Noor Jahan from Sitaramam (also maybe Madarasipattinam's Amy).

If Saamiya saw these women she'd again say "Kon hai ye log?"

Even after decades of releasing love stories on-screen this "sacrificing" trope hasn't changed and remains to be a classic which I am not a big fan of. Why do these characters not have any characterization of their own? (Zaara) even if they do, it all changes when a man comes into her life (Sita/Noor Jahan). Ultimately the heroin has to either die or spend her whole life in the memory of her Romeo. (Remember what Mr. Dashwood says to Jo in 2019’s Little Women?)

Maybe I don't understand love stories. Maybe I don't understand love? I don't know. But I think in real life none of us are that insane to write our whole life in someone else’s name and live and breathe just reminiscing our lost lovers, at least I am not. Maybe that is why these movies will remain classics because they are too insane to happen in real life.

#veer zaara #sharukh khan #preity zinta #rani mukherjee #hema malini #amitabh bachchan #sita ramam #mrunal thakur #amy jackson

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quinnfebrey · 2 years

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okay, i finished first kill, and off the top of my head, here’s my initial thoughts upon first watch. it got obscenely long, so it’s going under a read more.

note: i will NOT be commenting on aspects of the cgi or production value because it was out of their control and irrelevant the quality of the show as a show:

tldr: i thought it was a VERY strong pilot season, and i absolutely loved it. i think that if you go into it with preconceived ideas (which i did) you might not click with it for an episode or two, but once you let the show shine for what it IS, not what you thought it would be, you can fully enjoy it. the standouts of the season to me were, of course, juliette and calliope both individually as well as together, talia, elinor, and the friendship between ben and juliette.

things i liked:

in general, the entire concept of a vampire and a vampire hunter (but make it high school) is super interesting to me and is what drew me in in the first place

the chemistry between the actresses for juliette and calliope make the show imo. not once did i EVER doubt that juliette was head over heels for her. playing on a constant loop in the back of her mind is “heart eyes” by coin

i loved the way they styled and based the homes/clothes/etc of the vampires as traditional classic and the hunters as modern. it wasn’t thrown in your face like “look how clever we are,” it was just a very smart, classy non verbal way of dividing the two even more.

the main families were pretty interesting, especially the burns family, and i felt like they added to the story well

i liked the subplot of juliette’s dad not being a legacy or vampire by blood. it helped humanize the mom and gave her family an interesting dynamic too

this is such a small thing but the childhood best friends to lovers trope with juliette and ben being spun into childhood friends to lovers to gay awakening for both of them was so nice

i also love that being gay is NEVER a source of conflict even though it’s addressed explicitly. i know that coming of age/coming out/homophobia storylines help a lot of people, but personally i’m really sick of watching every single queer story be devastating or depressing or highlighting how many people in the world hate people like us/me. juliette being out without being overt, talking about girls with her best friend, being teased about her crushes? that was me in high school! and i love to see it without being reminded about the fact that yes, some people are homophobic. i know. let my little gay people on screens be happy.

this show exemplifies how to do “bad people as good characters.” there are some characters for which you are shown time and again that they are NOT good people, but it’s still enjoyable and interesting to watch (and at times even root for) them because you understand completely WHY they did what they did, what their motives are, their fears, their joys, etc. there isn’t a single character that’s just “i do bad things because that’s my job as The Bad Person,” each and every one is some sort of gray with their own lines of thinking that, to them, are logical

hell, even when the good people do bad things, you understand it too! it’s never “wow good person does something completely out of character for drama,” you completely understand why they’re doing what they do or why they believe what they do, and that makes it even MORE heartbreaking. the theo storyline in the finale was so so so tough not because i thought it would be sad if he did die but because i UNDERSTOOD why his dad wanted to do it, AND i understood why the mom didn’t. there was no win, and no loss, no matter what happened, but you couldn’t look away. that’s tough as shit to do well, and first kill nailed it.

i LOVED the breakup. i hate that they broke up, but i love the way it happened. here is a full post about it

calliope’s mom, talia, is ELECTRIC. she was the star of the finale and was such a constant throughout the entire show. she’s magical to watch on screen, and her character is one of the most well-written and complex on the show.

things i didn’t like:

i felt like they tried to fit too much plot into episodes 2, 3, and 4, and it got a little bit overwhelming and unrealistic considering how little time they’ve known each other

the pacing of the relationship early on was a little rushed too (but you could argue it was due to the bite bond)

i wish they developed the guild a little more; what are their rankings based on? how were they started? how do they recruit?

oliver was just a really confusing addition and felt like a plot point more than anything

i wanted a little more info on the legacies’ limits and powers. like, i feel as though any vampire media that follows twilight HAS to address whether animal blood is good enough 🤷🏻‍♀️ i literally could not stop thinking about that the whole time lmao

as a personal opinion, i felt like the rapidly changing main plot and endless side plots were not interesting enough to carry the show as much as it did. this is the kind of show i watch for the characters, not the story, and so the plot was actually kind of taking me out of it

end notes/what i might have changed:

as someone that has zero professional experience in storytelling, screen writing, or tv show production, BUT has watched a shit ton of it, here’s what i would have done

first, if they really wanted to, the entire show could have been the first episode elongated. like, show me juliette and cal getting to know each other for weeks and slowly show me their families, their dynamics, cal realizing juliette is a vampire, juliette realizing cal is a hunter, etc. i would watch the shit out of that

BUT that’s not what they were going for and i respect that, so keeping more plot in mind, i felt like they could have spent at least two whole episodes on building juliette/cal and world building their families. then ramp up the plot slightly in which the big climax is juliette’s big party and cal’s family crashing it.

OR have the build up to their relationship, skip the raid, and then spend more episodes on the murder mystery part

both the raid and the murder storyline were interesting for different reasons, but to do BOTH felt like it was so much in such a short amount of time.

that being said, i absolutely LOVED the show as it is, and i need a season 2 stat.

anyway if you read all the way to the end, would love to chat. feel free to slide into my inbox!!

#*#first kill spoilers #first kill netflix #juliette fairmont #calliope burns #calliette #first kill

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