galacticfairy18

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Getting into musicians from finland is dangerous because one minute you’re just casually listening to one band and then suddenly you’ve got the entire finnish music industry living in your head rent free

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Notes on Unknown (and Da Ge)

Oh man, I love this show. They are absolutely nailing the dynamics for this trope. The bond between Qian and Yuan is palpable, and the way they interact with each other and with Lili feels very lived in. You can feel the shared history between this little family in every scene.

We got our Sam Lin cameo in episode 3, and I was so happy to see him. We also got a couple additional flashbacks to Qian's history with his mother, so CW again for child abuse this week (you should probably just assume there will be at least mentions of it in every episode of this show). I also liked getting to see some more of Qian's work story with the H.O.T. team, and how Yuan is able to help him.

A note on the adaptation: I have been reading Da Ge this week, the original Priest novel the drama is adapted from, and I'm about halfway through. The major thing to note is that the show has significantly condensed the story. The novel is chronological and their childhoods are more than half the story, but the show has changed the structure to focus on the time when they are adults and Yuan begins to pursue Qian, streamlining their pasts into a two episode backstory. They did this primarily by cutting and combining side characters, blending arcs together, and simplifying a lot of the relationships. I think it's quite well done, and it has affirmed for me that the creators of this show know the story they want to tell. They are making use of the rich material in the novel with some smart changes to make it all work as a 12 episode series.

Notable changes so far from the source material:

They have softened Qian's characterization quite a bit. He's much harsher and more tsundere with his siblings in the novel. There are aspects of his roughness in the show, but it feels gentler.

The whole sequence in episode one where Yuan is kidnapped, Qian fights to get him back, and they have that touching brotherly love moment is original to the show. "If I lose you, I would have nothing left" is the kind of nakedly emotional sentiment you would never hear from the Qian in the novel (though we have enough hints about how he thinks to know he does in fact feel that way). The show adapted a plot that was much more cerebral (in Priest's usual fashion) to give us this more romantic take. They're using some shorthand here to make sure we understand how deep the love between them already runs, and I think it's very effective.

Qian's abuse at the hands of his mother, and the trauma it causes for him, is much more present in the show. I haven't gotten to the adult years yet in the novel, so maybe it will ramp up then, but he doesn't think about her nearly this much throughout his childhood.

In the novel Lili's paternal grandmother is part of the family unit, Qian and San Pang have another friend in the building named Ma Zi, and there are multiple gangster types that Qian gets involved with. The show cut grandma and Ma Zi entirely and blended all these gangsters into one, which I think was the right call.

[galacticfairy18]

From Chris Chiu IG (translated from chinese)

"Last year I went through a dark period, no one

could tell because I hid it very well...when I saw

my friends I was still able to chat with them, joke around, and have a good time.

During that period I would often go to the gym alone and push myself till I was exhausted, so that I'd get a dopamine boost which would make me feel better and help me sleep better.

Since I didn't have anything else to do, I thought that I might as well get in shape and be prepared, and perhaps when the time comes a suitable role might come my way...This went on for two/three months...One afternoon 君君 messaged me and said: there's this bl drama, would you be interested? They'd like to chat with you...there are going to be some shirtless scenes and fight scenes,it's the character "Wei Qian" in the drama adaptation of the novel "Da Ge".

This was my first time hearing this name, I had not yet read the novel and I had no idea what this character's personality was like, or what type of story it would be... I just felt this jolt in my heart, a wonderful feeling that I couldn't explain, I said: Okay! I can do this! I think I'm ready!

Then, I finished the novel "Da Ge" in three days

and that was when I finally understood, why I felt that in my heart upon hearing this name: it's because Wei Qian's life is full of darkness and melancholy… and in some ways I'm living some aspects of his life, feeling uncertain and lost about the future. Reading the novel, I felt like I was being comforted and saved, it was like looking into a mirror… seeing all these images in my head…

Wei Qian, it's you who has come to me, isn't that right?

Actors have this saying, which I wholeheartedly believe, "Characters/roles have souls, and it's the role that comes to you, not the other way around. They have something to say through you! If it's meant to be then there's no escaping it." And I believe that Wei Qian has come (to me)! Perhaps you could sense this dark period? Through cosmic resonance, you found your way to me! Is there something that you want to say through me?

To all the people who are feeling lost and stuck in the darkness, please believe that someone's going to be by your side that's just like the sun. Wei Qian: thank you for coming to me! For letting me become you!

And I'd like to thank myself, for being able to take on most of the dark and melancholic parts of your life, during that period of darkness.

We've made it through that period of darkness together…

Regardless of how this show does, you are the most important present that I received last year! One that I'll remember for the rest of my life!

Unknown is more than just a BL : it's about all of our lives!

Everyone is working hard to get by: work, family, providing for one's family, paying bills, and paying off student loans.

You might feel as if you're suffocating under it all, but you're still persevering because you have something important to protect, something to live for!

We all have our hardships that no one else knows of, that we don't want others to know about but as long as you're alive, you'll be able to find your way back home!

The unknown stories continue on...

Let us walk on together ...

Chris Chiu

[galacticfairy18]

"I went through a dark period that no one else knew of." Three years after All Star Sports Day aired, Chris Chiu's career should have been bigger, but he felt lost once again. "What more did I have to offer to the entertainment business? Those who entered showbiz around the same time as I did seemed to all be doing very well, while I seemed to be stuck in the same place." Once someone turns 30, society has certain expectations of them, so he held himself up to those same standards, and even beat down on himself. He then decided to start working out to feel better, "god is very interesting, every time I start working out, change follows." He smiles and says, "Wei Qian came two, three months later. The very first time I heard this name, I felt this jolt in my heart."

Chris Chiu shared that actors have this saying that characters have souls, they'll find someone suitable, and use that person to send a message to an audience. The BL drama Unknown is based on the novel Da Ge by Chinese author Priest. It tells the story of Wei Qian, who was abused by his drug-addict mother for the better part of his childhood. Once his parents passed, he shouldered the responsibility of taking care of the family. He raised his baby sister, who he's related to by blood, and younger brother, who he adopted from the streets, on his own. At a young age, he dropped out of school, got involved in gang activity, and worked odd jobs. As he grew up in hardship, his sensitive younger brother started developing feelings for him that went beyond that of a sibling. During that dark period when the future was unknown, there was this synchronicity between Chris Chiu and Wei Qian. He said that reading the novel itself felt like he was being comforted and saved.

"Wei Qian looks like he's very strong, but on the inside, he really needs to be loved. It's just that he believes that he doesn't deserve to be loved, which is why he put up a shield to block out the outside world. If someone starts showing love when you're in despair, little by little, the shield starts to crack and you start to realize that you do indeed deserve to be loved, and that you are not alone." This character was by Chris Chiu's side as he walked out of his funk, and through Chris, taught everyone going through a hard time to believe that someone will be by your side looking over you just like the sun. "Compared to loving oneself, I believe that loving someone else will challenge your limits, make you forget about your own limitations, and realize that you're very strong."

Note: There's some overlap in content with an instagram post Chris made a little over a month ago, but I really liked this interview, so I thought that I'd share the parts that are related to Unknown.

[galacticfairy18]

the show (episode 5):

哥，你知道那種心裡裝著一個人的感覺嗎？裝一天倒還好，你試試看一個月、一年、甚至是好幾年。我知道再刻骨銘心的感情也有時過境遷的一天啊，可是都已經過這麼久了，時間對我來說早就不算什麼。那個人已經成為我的一部分。

Ge, do you know how it feels to have someone in your heart? It's one thing to keep it for a day, but try a month, a year, or even years. I know that even the deepest feelings can change over time. But it's been so long. Time has changed nothing. That person has become a part of me.

the novel (chapter 44 of Da Ge by Priest):

有一個人，我喜歡他好幾年了，沒敢讓他知道，也沒敢讓任何人知道，每天……每天刻骨銘心一次——我知道你要說什麼，哥，你的論調跟我高中教導主任一模一樣，你就是想說，再刻骨銘心的感情，也會時過境遷的對吧？可是一個人始終是由過去堆積起來的，你讓誰獨一無二地住進你心裡過嗎？你試試就知道，心裡裝著他一個月，那一個月就是他的，裝他一年，那一整年就是他的，後來就算真的時過境遷了，又怎麼樣呢？他都已經成為我的一部分了。

There’s someone I’ve liked for years, and I don’t dare let him or anyone else know. That feeling is etched deeper in my soul every day. I know what you want to say, Ge, just like my high school counselor did, that no matter how strong my feelings are they will one day pass? But a person is built from their past. Have you ever opened your heart to someone else? Try it and you’ll understand, if you hold space for him in your heart for a month, that month becomes his; a year, and that whole year is his. Even if the feelings pass eventually, so what? He’s become a part of me. (my very very rough translation)

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Cowboy Bebop Collab Title Screen

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Unknown Episode 7

Note: The second and third photos show Yuan's phone, and the first, fourth, and fifth photos show Qian's phone. From Yuan's phone we can see that he has been left on read, and from Qian's phone we can see that Yuan always wishes Qian happy birthday at midnight sharp Taiwan time. And that last big paragraph in the first photo is part of the dialogue, so it was translated in the subs.

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Join the Hinata Shoyo partyyyyyyy ;)

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Cyberpunk: Edgerunners POP UP STORE

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Psycho-Pass Providence

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recent bebop doodles :3

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Had the honor of getting to make a poster for the 25th anniversary of the legendary Cowboy Bebop! Really, really loved working on this one 🥲

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New!

Cowboy Bebop Staff Book. Arts, concept, gag comics, comments from official artists and designers

Thank you @jetswife for scans 🖤

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📸Me as Rei Hino: @galacticfairy on Instagram