#(IDEK HOW MUCH MORE TO EXPLAIN THAT WHOLE EP)

[izzyizumi]

DigiAdvs U.S. DUB Blu ray Liner notes: *explains abt Ep31 scene where Koushiro (badly) 'tells' 'jokes' but what he was REALLY trying to do was cover up Tentomons Kansai dialect to his Adoptive (!!!) Parents (who DIDNT KNOW yet that Koushiro KNEW ABOUT HIS ADOPTION AND IT WAS MAKING EVERYTHING INVOLVING HIM AND HIS FAMILY AWKWARD!!!!! while He Tried To Cover That Up And It Was Going V. VerY BADLY)*

M E, Koushiro Fan Who Keeps Attempting to Explain abt Koushiros assumed """bad humor""" to other Adv-02 Fans: THANK YOU (for finally explaining at least this in official media so I dont have to as much anymore!!!!)

Me: btw the much more obvious Point of the scene was Koushiro is TERRIBLE at Hiding Things (The Way Koushiro Initially 'Intends' at the LEAST) (+from Parents ESPECIALLY) + Koushiros blatant awkwardness HIDING SUCH THINGS WHILE!!! TRYING TO MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION!!! TO HIS PARENTS!!! the 'bad' jokes ASIDE...

[venuspessimist]

I made a playlist for every month in 2023

I mean you read the title :/

Okay but fr, Last year I decided to to an ongoing art project of sorts where I would pick a song each day to add to a playlist of the month.

Rules for this included no repeat songs in any of the playlist, meaning altogether I have complied 365 unique songs representing my year.

I didn't really have any plans to do anything with it besides just look at in awe and think art how cool ig I am for actually committing to that for a whole year. But, now that I a starting my second year on 'song diaries' as I have dubbed them I thought it would be fun to document all this nonsense somewhere.

Which leads me to this: tbh I have 0 expectations of anyone reading this but me so here! This is my January 2023 playlist:

Now a disclaimer before listening this is 100% my taste in music and is all over the place. I have no defense for the amount of k pop and MCR made it onto these.

Oh before you go I also forgot to mention I also made a playlist that I am adding my top 5 songs from each month to!

For a lot of these playlists, songs were added for very specific reasons so I thought it would be fun to do a kind of 'awards'!

SO for January my top 5 songs are!

Party Poison- My Chemical Romance

Like I said, I don't have a defense. It is what it is. and what it is is that this was was and always will be a bop. This song never fails to get me pumped. Like I don't even have to explain that the vocals on this are fabulous and the instrumental is ON from start to finish. It's MCR they don't miss.

2. Eden- Sub-Radio

Okay, this fucking song had me in a headlock last January. Idk what crack is in it but it will worm its way into your brain until you listen to in on repeat for a few days. The upbeat pop sound and the lead singers voice just reel you in. I stg I listened to this song so much it managed to get a pretty solid rank 35 on my Spotify wrapped.

3. Strange Love- Simple Creatures

Idek what to say about this song. If you don't know who Simple Creatures are you are seriously missing out. Its the stage name for two EPs released by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low. And when I say that their discography is NO SKIP. It is very likely that more of their music will make this list, however this song dominated my January.

4. The Haunting (Acoustic)- Set it Off

This track made this list because it is perfect to feel a certain sorta way real fast. Like Idk maybe it's the recovering emo kid in me that knows every word to many of Set it Off's classic songs that just loves this version so much. It doesn't so too much, it is just right imo. If you like being able to scream-sing along to semi cringe emo lyrics with a sick beat or if you've got a bitch ass ex who didn't deserve you this song if for you.

5. Warm Blood- Flor

This was my crying song this time last year. And man, does it still hit. When I was re-listening to this playlist to pick a top 5 I immediately knew this had to be on the list, it just brought back too many memories. Such an emotional track. Beautifully sung vocals and overall great listening experience. Love this group and all their songs but this one in particular is special.

Okay Ig that's enough for now. Idk if I will post my February playlist or song choices or anything...we'll see :)

[vitaminwaterreviews]

fromis_9 - Unlock My World

I don’t really know what I was expecting from this album. Actually, seeing as I don’t know any other fromis_9 music, I kind of just assumed that they were a generic bubblegum group like any other. And this album sounded very much like a bubblegum girl group��s first foray into darker concepts. The album as a whole felt dark and empty, and while that vibe can be a lot of fun for a song or two, it gets really repetitive and boring after the first few songs.

The middle songs were all completely interchangeable, and pretty much all filler. You could’ve cut half of this album out and ended up with a more pleasant listening experience as an EP, but it feels like they added half of an album worth of filler just to call it a studio album. That said, if you’re more into this type of sound, then I’m sure you’d rate this album much higher. That’s kind of how Twicetagram is to me; a lot of the songs sound similar, but I happen to like that sound, so I really like that album. Average rating is 7.2 which … Yeah, I guess that’s alright. I think individually, these songs are better than as a whole. Like, if any one of these came on shuffle, then I’d enjoy them way more than I did listening to them as an album. I’ll probably add a couple of them and then forget that the rest exist.

- I know the title track, nothing else. I’ve heard great things about this album though, and I don’t even know any other fromis_9 stuff, so I’m excited!

Attitude

Okay, I like the soundscape

What even is that synth?

Woahh this synth is even cooler

Mmm I think I like this, the chorus was nice

The song isn’t doing anything super innovative but I’m a fan of this style of staccato synth stuff

Oh yes, is this the bridge? This is so good

9/10

#menow

I don’t actually know if I’ve ever seen the MV for this, let’s find out

Wait what is this aspect ratio

Wow look it’s an airplane

And here’s the song

Damn they really highlighting the fact that they lost a member lol

The synths here are super sad

Haha this is cute

Hey look it’s the airplane again

7/10, I like it, it’s not too special as far as title tracks go

Wishlist

Mm this is cute

Oh it’s all english

Nice

It is funny how you just don’t recognize that until you look at the lyrics lol

At least, that’s the sentiment I’ve seen from a lot of people, self included

The album is very minimalistic so far

Drums, bass, vocals, and some light flourishes

7/10 but I could grow to love it

In The Mirror

Mhm, keeping it kind of dark and minimal

Although this bass is Deep

Love love love the voice doubling oh my god

7/10

Don’t Care

Welp, clearly we’re going girl crush for all the songs on this album

A much more funky bass, do you Hear that?

Yeah I just dunno. A lot of these songs sound good, but they don’t like go anywhere

Like I appreciate the sound of this song, it just doesn’t do much

Maybe I’m just not in the mood, I dunno

8/10

Prom Night

Mhm, more of the same

Haha you can tell that this album is kind of just filler because every unpromoted song is between 1.2m and 800k streams, very tight distribution, nothing stands out

Okay this part is nice at least, with the distorted vocals

I do appreciate the synths throughout the album though. They do cool things, the songs just aren’t interesting

I’m kind of getting “how can I breathe now now now” vibes

Even the bridges feel predictable, that’s how you know it’s meh

7/10

Bring It On

Mkay, weird plucks or something

And that whistle, alright

But this bass has been used on every song on this album lmao

Idek what the plucks are supposed to be doing, they’re kind of just there

6/10, sorry I’m starting to get boredd by this album

What I Want

7/10

My Night Routine

Oh, this guitar is nice, a change of pace maybe?

I mean same general vibe, but the guitar at least does something

And it’s boring again already haha

6/10

Eye Contact

Mkay, a bit dancier

But it’s still like … idk how to explain it, kind of dark and empty

Maybe it’s the type of background synths that they’re using?

Either way, the vocals here sound kind of Cherry Bullet and I like that

8/10, nice song to end the album with at least

[leamy-world]

Reaction to The Devil Judge (spoilers for ep. 11-12)

Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing well this week!

Here we go! Again i’m really sorry for the english & my personal interpretations which might go a little bit overboard (❁´ω`❁)

THIS GOT VERYYYYYYYYYY LONG PLEASE BEAR WITH ME!!!!

tldr: i am in shambles haha

Have a nice week and take care! ♥

- Huckleberryfinn’s new OST, The Nights, was released this saturday and it’s truly a gem! The guitar/bass’s place in BOTH OSTs they composed is awesome. The lyrics destroyed me haha (i’ll shortly talk about it below!). The soundtrack during these two episodes was awesome btw ;;

- Sun-Ah’s visit to the mansion felt nostalgic and shattering at the same time, she sees she doesn’t belong in this house but still indulges a little in this illusion, « wanting to fall for his trick even just for a little while ». Her expression made me feel for her for a little while too ;; 

This shot above is funny because the bokeh effect (✨ the little sparkles ✨) is used in the background every time but this time it plays in front of Sun-Ah’s view: she sees in Yohan and his mansion a « shining » thing she desired for a long time. The bokeh here served also as a transition to the flashback right after.

Well, it could just be the streetlights’ reflections on the car and me reaching but there are so many symbolic visual shots in this show already i just couldn’t dismiss it in my brain haha

I liked Sun-Ah’s depiction of her choice to go against Yohan: she drops the necklace (symbolizing Yohan, this scene followed by Yohan’s cross-like scar) and not herself, like she did in the past for/because of Yohan when she was a maid + Yohan’s reflection disappears, Sun-Ah only focusing on herself: the ‘us’ she wanted for some time disappeared. And this event makes Sun-Ah’s rage on K more upsetting than it already is, but maybe i’m reaching haha

This scene also shows Yohan and Sun-Ah want two different directions to their relationship: to use her and to have him reach the top by her side respectively. They both look at the mirror, but their focus is different and they’re set in different plans on the shots.

In My Mister, (SPOILERS) the wife has a serious affair with her husband’s superior, but throughout the drama, they have divergent opinions on their affair’s developments: the wife wanted to leave her husband and settle with her lover, while the latter didn’t think any of it and, among other plot reasons, only wanted her because married women are the ‘safest choice (ending the relationship while she still loves him would be more troublesome) and always kept the affair secret’. 

This was particularly symbolized by their song preferences, but also by this shot in the beginning of the series: after the wife shared her hopes about their relationship (and her lover staying most of the time silent), they both look to the distance (their affair’s metaphorical future) but their eyes almost never look in the same direction.

- « I did it because i need you (by my side?) », Sun-Ah and Gaon’s parallels:

"[To Gaon on ep. 8] I wanted you to be by my side.”

“[To Gaon on ep. 5] I don’t need you to understand, but you need to make a decision. Will you stand in my way … or stand on my side?”

"[To Gaon] If i needed to, i would’ve done something even worse. Whether it was switching him or something else.”

- When Elijah and Gaon play jenga, Yohan might have let the door to his bedroom open (even after leaving them the first time) to continue hearing them have fun in the living room. It parallels to the scene in ep. 5 where he watches them play in the garden with Kkomi through the little gap of his curtains: what piques his curiosity first is the playful conversation he hears from his bed even from the closed windows. The flashback explains it all and i’m glad Gaon insisted to have him play with them despite the front he tried to put on, Elijah’s and Yohan’s expressions in this scene ended me ;;

Look how quick he turned his attention to Gaon, as if he waited for something to happen, to get to play with them!! His eyes lit up in an instant i can’t with this —

I loved how Yohan delayed his defeat to Elijah by asking Gaon questions about the game hahah

Elijah and Yohan’s relationship growth here reminds me of 2 parallels i didn’t catch the first time (but the desperation i felt when Gaon left because everything could grow cold again between Elijah and Yohan):

“That’s everything i think about”:

Elijah getting in & out of the car (ep. 6-9):

- And Gaon’s « Once everything is over, i’ll definitely … » — you’ll definitely what, please tell the audienceeeeeeee ;;;; this screams a death flag for Soohyun (or was it just foreshadowing their confrontation in ep. 12? idek anymore haha), but let’s hope it’s not!!

- After CKH’s suicide: we can’t expect people to make perfect choices every time they are challenged, and i think this story shows it well: Soohyun when she was with Elijah, and now Gaon carelessly touching the minister’s body for the files. As judges, they could have searched the body and the room using a fabric to hide their presence. But they’re both shocked: Yohan looks dumbfounded, standing and watching (even though he’s quicker to react when he sees Soohyun and he puts on a composure at the house saying it was ‘nothing’, he looked very sour when Sun-Ah called him to rejoice in her death) and Gaon panic-stricken. The fact he might have relived his parents’ suicide when he discovered the Minister’s body … And in the worst way possible (in a daze, searching her dead body for her files and realizing he didn’t give the body minimum respect) … oof

At least Yohan could have thought about it since the story shows how prepared he is in his plans, but this scene shows even him is at a loss at what to do. After all, the minister was the way he targeted to bring everyone linked to the foundation down. They were so close, i think he was too convinced her « self-pity » would mean her survival despite everything (« Do you have any other options? ») to see what was coming. After all, when they last met, he saw she was about to shoot him. 

Sun-Ah was the only one he thought was ‘unpredictable’. When Gaon talked to CKH, he let him speak and approved his speech, surely thinking everything went along his plans and the minister would surrender. And i think that’s also why he gives Gaon all this speech, to reassure himself and them, since they work now as a team. 

- Ep. 9 foreshadowing ep. 11 and 12 (Soohyun facing Yohan and Gaon). It’s interesting how the two shots from ep. 9 seem to put on the same plan the three characters, as if Yohan is literally standing between Soohyun and Gaon, as if he was the one protecting/separating him from Soohyun. This is very telling of the whole dynamic between those three.

- When the minister said she didn’t want to clear her name regarding her son in the live but still does so anyway, this is pure preterition haha! It’s also why she reminds the public opinion the first case Yohan handled!

- Cha Kyung Hee’s demise (ep. 11-4 parallels):

(+ a cinematographic reference to the 2000 movie Malèna, which was recently used in Hwasa’s MV for the song Maria)

- The scene right after where Soohyun wipes Gaon’s involvement to the suicide was moving in regards to her character, we get to see how torn she is by this situation + when she faces off Yohan in the parking (and the ‘let go’ could also have referred to Gaon) … i felt bad for her!

- About Soohyun & the professor: I find interesting the way the professor and Soohyun shelter Gaon’s existence was clearly shown with these two episodes and through their rage. At the beginning of the drama, their hold on his life’s values and choices was almost impalpable but not anymore, now that they’re facing Yohan’s threat.

In these shots, Soohyun looks like she is covering Gaon’s ear, turning him away and protecting him from outside (from the pain, Yohan, the rest of the world).

And on professor Min’s part, it’s almost infantilizing, de-responsibilizing Gaon to say the least (« What are you making Gaon do? That child has been through so much. He suffered and struggled through the worst to get there. »), given he’s the one who planted him on the court’s bench to find what’s happening behind the scene: he could have asked Gaon for explanations (as Yohan underlined, « Did you hear it from Gaon himself? ») but he just snaps at him. He should have foreseen that he could’ve taken Yohan’s side. 

For his defense, his family just got targeted but still, it’s the first time Gaon came back since then!

(By the way, that whole conversation with professor Min confirmed to Yohan Gaon didn’t admit to their plan to Soohyun nor the professor)

As for Soohyun, her deep concern for Gaon makes her antagonize Yohan and, in her POV, it’s pretty understandable: her friend got locked up in this judge’s house for days with no phone or permission to go out + said judge seems to not let her niece go out with her new friends, got violent against Gaon + he seems to be plotting something behind the trials he biased + Gaon’s description of the man in the first episodes wasn’t that nice but DESPITE IT ALL her friend still seems to be empathizing with him? 

She’s maybe thinking he got manipulated by Yohan given the evil picture he depicted her & must feel helpless in front of Gaon’s sudden change of heart. I think that’s what she wanted to ask him when she got cut by the professor’s arrival. The lack of honest conversation between them is what’s making it worse: on one hand, Gaon goes to her every time he feels sad or confused to get comfort & advice without telling what truly is going on (or eventually telling her when she insists), on the other hand, Soohyun always tells him to give up his investigation on Yohan and never asks him his point of view to understand the situation. 

And she discovered he lied about him not being involved with this man in the worst way possible, finding him by CKH’s body with Yohan. He was her reason to dedicate her life to protect people under the law (he does not owe her anything in no way, but it was her wish), and she ended up dirtying her hands for him. Her gut reaction to her moral principles being violated by both Gaon and her right now is stronger than wanting to hear the truth from Gaon. She continues to investigate Yohan on her own, to protect him. It was interesting to see this sententious side when she confronted Gaon after all this! The only time Soohyun saw him cry and didn’t support him, it hits hard ;;

But i believe the whole crisis that’s happening by the end of ep. 12 will make them team up again at least for a while. And on that note, will she meet Sun-Ah? It would be interesting!

I’m glad the professor raised as a concern on the live trials the due process & fair trial, which are essential for the rule of law to prosper.   

In fact, the live trials slowly become a place of majoritarianism/ochlocracy/mob rule as the cases progress (the two best examples being the actor and Juk Chang cases), the protests against professor Min are another example. Even if Yohan has the last word on the defendant’s sentence, this issue is still there. 

Maybe the viewers’ voice will turn against Yohan one day?

- The minister … Even though the story showed us how cruel her family could be, i can’t help but feel sympathy for her son with her suicide. And that is accentuated by the fact her family’s grief is not even showed, covered by the mediatic chaos. She could have fled the country as her son suggested, but she thought she was « nothing » without her accomplishments and her path to glory. As the former president of the foundation killed by Sun-Ah’s hands, she died in her office as the Minister of Justice, while her image wasn’t torn to shreds yet. The photograph she held showed her at the center and, ironically, it’s the only figure from the photo who is clear-cut, her husband and her son are out of focus (or it could just be the episode’s image quality misleading me haha). Even though she loved them (well, at least in her manner, which was kind of narcissistic tbh), she cared too much for her success and her death was her act of self-pity.   

- This isn’t the first time Gaon was warned about Yohan and i find it interesting it’s the people closest to him that say that, especially K despite (or precisely because?) his loyalty to him. Elijah also warned him before.

- The whole argument … It’s a progression of ep. 5 & 8 scenes (’will you stand in my way or stand on my side?’ & ‘i wanted you by my side and if i needed to, i would’ve done something worse’). You can tell how desperate Yohan was when he reached out to Gaon. His gaze faltered, showing his hesitation to do it, but as the realization he was going to lose him dawned on him, this touch became a necessity in front of the exigency, making up for everything he couldn’t say out loud. It was a sad & hurtful mess. Yohan truly looked short on ‘arguments’ after Gaon’s question (‘what kind of monster am i turning into?’), he seemed to not even know what to say to make him stay, making him pause before talking about Soohyun. 

The way his eyes lit up, almost smiling, full of hope, when he finished laying his ultimatum and how he regained a composed expression, thinking Gaon would take his side maybe?

I didn’t catch it on the first time, but Gaon’s sadness to end/put a hold on their collaboration (thus their whole relationship, stepping out of his life) transpired through him weakly rejecting Yohan’s hand with his own hand sliding down the latter's arm, as if he was unwilling to let this life with the Kangs go. You can see it’s hard on him to leave with the tears in his eyes. 

I think Gaon’s response outran his thoughts, as a quick riposte, it was to make Yohan stop this. The way things went (well, it escalated QUICKLY), hurting him like that was the only effective way, and he knows it will hurt him: before saying Soohyun is his world, he tears up because of that (in addition to everything Yohan said and it was A LOT), and didn’t even have the strength/will to get angry like all the previous times: 

the fact Yohan laid this very ultimatum and wanted to persuade/manipulate him into thinking this was the only choice. Even if he knew Yohan would be capable of doing this since ep. 7-8 (”To achieve his goal, would he not use another man’s pain? If the devil really did exist among us.”), he got a confirmation and it still hurts.

+ the fact he knows he has to hurt him with something as much as hurtful before he takes it too far.

+ the fact he knows he can’t live in this house any longer because of this argument when he made all these memories with them.

And (let’s hope for it) if Gaon wants to show Yohan there’s another way out of this ultimatum, Gaon’s « Soohyun is my world » might be a counter ultimatum (‘to stay by your side, you’ll have to deal with my world because there must be another way, there is no question, or else you’ll have to deal on your own’). He’s still not said anything to Soohyun (well, he didn’t have the opportunity to anyway but even during their confrontation, when she asked for details, he said nothing) nor the professor, so maybe that’s it?

- « Of course it doesn’t matter to me, but … » ELIJAH NOOOOOOOO ;;;;;;;;; After Yohan, Elijah tries in her way to hold Gaon back — and she makes a valid point tbh (look at what happened by the end of the episode!), but seeing her putting all her efforts and realizing it’s failing is heartbreaking … Given the preview for ep. 13, please let me hope this conversation won’t be their last one!! 

- Utter devastation when the next scenes show how Gaon still shines even in his absence: the « You never apologize » + the scene with the nanny & Gaon’s last prepared meal + Gaon’s portrait by Elijah … ugh 

- Elijah’s painting game is too strong, can’t relate haha! I wish they could show the BTS for this painting, respect for the artist behind!!

- On metaphorical images, Gaon took care of the Kangs like he tended to his plants at home. On a regular basis, he provided them attention and care, making them lively as his plants got lush. On ep. 8, we got a shot of Elijah smiling at Gaon’s plants, sort of a confirmation she loved how their house became warmer since Gaon’s stay, which led her to open up to his uncle.

- Now they’re only four! It looks like the mafia game haha, i look forward (am i though?) to the day Sun-Ah sits by herself haha 

AND THIS MAN

This is true pig behavior, especially considering Sun-Ah’s past … I felt her reaction when he said all this bs to demean her, she had all her struggles with men thrown back to her face, soiled by these « jokes ». 

- The monsters, the abyss and Nietzsche:

« He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee. », Nietzsche

- « I don’t care if humanity falls, as long as i have you two ». It was what he wouldn’t say to Gaon nor Elijah, and yet they’re his world! This sequence parallels Gaon’s inner wish when he leaves the Kang’s house + the flashbacks of his fond memories with the Kangs. Will Yohan give his vigilante ideals up for them? Will Gaon pursue this dream but in his own way that won’t threaten their « worlds »?

(Now we know what his whole world meant)

- The light from the chandelier (ie. their newfound family) is out of Yohan’s (metaphorical) reach, shown by its blurred silhouette, as if it’s gone from the room which regained its initial colder tones. But it’s not: once it’s made its way in the room, it remains and lingers, as a keepsake of the lost warmth. His fond memories with Gaon and Elijah flashed back through the window’s light.

On a similar note, Gaon’s room, albeit having warmer tones than the Kang’s ones since the beginning, looks dark too. The contrast with earlier episodes is clear. This reminds me of My Mister’s (SPOILERS) full shots of Lee Ji An’s room, getting warmer as she gets to know Park Dong Hoon, and losing all its fond colors when she has to leave for his sake. As if the room and inanimate objects were given life by their owner, imbuing them with their feelings. It becomes an outer expression of their feelings. Sorry for the rambling but i just love when they do that in fiction, and i think it sometimes leaves more impact to the viewers if emotions are conveyed through various angles (eg. through another character’s point of view, sounds, looks, the use of light i mentioned below, etc) ! 

- I wonder … since the flashbacks are giving us Gaon’s conscious point of view on this separation, was he awake when Yohan came back from his (forced) encounter with Sun-Ah? It’s a really minor point but it could be an interesting detail since this show always shows us there are some sides or spots to the stories we didn’t have yet! 

The jenga scene also flashed back but this time we see Gaon’s POV seeing Yohan’s smile & we got Gaon’s angle when Yohan had a nightmare in ep. 5: while from Yohan’s POV, Gaon’s irruption truly felt like an invasion of his intimacy (the quick succession of shots expressing his panic and defensive reaction), from Gaon’s POV only one angle showed the scene, the tension was conveyed only when Yohan slapped his hand away. 

We also got Yohan’s POV when he admitted to Gaon he needed him by his side (and a closer look at Gaon’s troubled expression)!  

- Ep. 5 and 11-12 parallels: 

Yohan’s tentative look at Gaon and Elijah playing outside, as if he wanted to join them like in ep. 11, the curtains mainly closed and only pushed by one of his hands. It let the daylight in his dark room through this sneak peek. 

But in ep. 12, the curtains are drawn, Yohan taking the (moon)light fully in. And this time, he doesn’t reach out to his late brother in the flames, but to the moonlight. He gets up, as in a trance, from his nightmare like the last time, but he goes to his window instead. And it reminds me of both Huckleberry Finn’s OST’s (in Tempest, « you said i’ll live in the sun / moonlight » and in The Nights, « my / your night shines on you / me »), the suffer is here. And see how the light reveals his tear? I nearly missed it!

The fact he could not find sleep anymore after this night + he slept on his sofa where the moonlight could be seen + has kept his phone right next to him (in case Gaon called him or to know if something happened to him) ➾ 🌝 pure devastation 🌝

- I really love the show’s use of light/dark tones to reveal and contrast its characters’ emotions! What you can’t see in the light gets revealed in the dark, and vice-versa. The OST The Nights touches on this subject as well. 

And it ties up very well to the plot so far: everyone has his or her own motivations and intentions, background, and makes choices, but depending on the perspective, their story changes and sparks off different reactions. Everybody’s story is interconnected. 

As @skylessnights pointed out, one of the books found during the series (when Yohan revealed his past to Gaon if i’m correct), The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, depicts this angle well in its plot and epigraph: « Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one. » - John Berger. 

When Gaon and Yohan go back to the mansion after CKH’s death, the route lights flash Gaon’s hands red, caught (literally) red-handed by Soohyun. He begins to recollect his recent memories of what just happened, and panics, short-winded, until Yohan touched his arm. He’s startled but calmed himself down, and we don’t hear him out of breath anymore. It’s interesting how the light’s focus was on Gaon’s hands, the core of his panic, until Yohan’s arm came into the light, as if our and Gaon’s attention went back to Yohan’s touch, his anchor in his panic, and begins to think clear-headed of what they had done. (btw, getting Phoenix Wright desperate vibes from Gaon’s pose haha)

Gaon’s emotions show when his phone lights up, trying to reach Soohyun again. 

When Yohan’s inner wish brings him back to their happy times, the end of the flashback shows a shot of his eyes dazzled by the light of these memories and back to the present, the light now gone out from his eyes.

Yohan’s reaction to Gaon’s cry in the prison yard in ep. 7: what i loved to see was how his restraint told more about the emotions he held back. The light shifting on his face revealed his jaw clenching & frowned brows, his glassy eyes and him averting his gaze, which he often does when he’s in front of sensitive topics and it’s too much.

+ other instances he looked away:

When Jinjoo decides to accept the foundation’s offer, she steps into the dark side of the room where the two chairmen are. Up till now, she stood where the light could reach her, away from them. It symbolically seals her involvement with the foundation, and by the end of ep. 12, it is confirmed by her message on behalf of the foundation (about the plague) displayed on the screens. By the way, i love the fact so much things unfold while we focus on Yohan and Gaon’s story!

On the subject of ‘subjective’ truths, examples, besides the flashback with the priest about Yohan in ep. 11, could be the truth behind the cancellation of the donation by Yohan or Sun-Ah’s fall from the window when she was a maid. We got Sun-Ah, Elijah, and then later Yohan’s point of view.

- I think Gaon tried to call Soohyun and not Yohan (though the subs say otherwise) because the contact above has the ‘thug’ nickname with the fist emoji! It made more sense, Yohan would’ve answered right away! But i believe he will have regrets/worries in the next episodes (Yohan and Elijah seem to be getting in real danger so maybe he’ll come back to save them).

- Metatextuality in The Devil Judge — Beauty and the Beast (written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont & Disney’s 1991 animation movie)

I’ve always loved transtextual relationships between fictions, my french teacher in middle school gave us this passion haha! Ever since i read this interview translated by @deviljudge​, it’s true i’m getting more and more Beauty and the Beast vibes, especially from ep. 12’s argument (and the whole premise Belle got locked up in the mansion in the beginning)! The original fairy tale and Disney’s adaptation are both relevant, some plot points differ from one another (Belle’s sisters vs Gaston, the mansion personnel turned into living paraphernalia) even though the core of the fairy tale is left untouched but for the sake of this bit, i’ll use the 1991 movie because its inevitably longer format delves more into the fairy tale moral lesson.

(Cheesy time incoming haha) The beast lets Belle go see her father he knew she deeply cared about, and let her go because he realized he loved her. He thought she would never come back, but despite it all, she came back and saved him from Gaston. Belle (Gaon) broke the spell that was casted on the mansion (the Kangs and their loneliness, especially when Yohan said he’s tired of this house). Yohan fails at not hurting the people he cares about but learns step by step, by Gaon and Elijah's side, how to live again and reconnect with his ‘human’ side.

Even the secretary looks like the modern version of the whole cast in the Beast’s mansion (Cogsworth, Lumière, …) haha

The movie intro is self-explanatory: 

« Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind. But then, one winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. And as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast? »

Belle’s characterization in the movie is also interesting:

« With a dreamy, far-off look and her nose stuck in her book what a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle ». 

« There must be more than this provincial life (…) I want adventure in the great wide somewhere — I want it more than i can tell — And for once it might be grand to have someone understand — I want so much more than they’ve got planned » 

& when Belle got locked up in the mansion: « I’ve lost my father, my dreams, everything. » (similar to “Soohyun is my world”).

Gaon, since his parents’ death, lived his life believing in the illusion of justice the system gave him, along with Soohyun and professor Min, his two pillars who kept him steady this whole time. Once he was showed it was an illusion, he wanted to fight this world.

Before the movie’s climax, this conversation reminded me of ep. 12’s argument:

« - Belle? Are you happy here with me?

- Yes. [looks to the distance]

- What is it?

- If only i could see my father again just for a moment. I miss him so much.

- There is a way. This mirror will show you anything. Anything you wish to see.

- I’d like to see my father, please. [The mirror projects the image of his father in danger and sick] Papa. Oh no. He’s sick. He may be dying and he’s all alone.

- [Glances at the wilting rose] Then you must go to him. 

- What did you say?

- I release you. You’re no longer my prisoner.

- You mean i’m free?

- Yes.

- Oh, thank you. Hold on Papa, i’m on my way.

- Take [the mirror] with you, so you’ll always have a way to look back and remember me.

- Thank you for understanding how much he needs me.

(…)

- I let her go. 

- [Cogsworth] Yes, splen … You what? How could you do that?

- I had to.

- Yes but … Why?

- Because i love her. »

Yohan did nothing to hold Gaon back even if he needs him (as shown when he clutches his hands together after he left) because he was forced by Gaon to understand how precious Soohyun is to him, this point was already made multiple times in the series (when Gaon thought he was the one who pushed Soohyun in the stairs and already threatened him about it, when Gaon told him he couldn’t live as a conman in front of Soohyun and his parents). Since his ‘to have you by my side, i would have done worse if it was necessary’ + ‘this is a life or death situation, sacrifices are also necessary’, he seemed to think Soohyun was expendable in his own world, which he shared with Gaon. With this argument, his world looks definitely incompatible with the one Gaon described (« Soohyun is my world »), and even though they already went this far in their plan, he lets him go and respects his choice. Will it make him change for the better or for the worse? Will the whole ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ apply to him?

Other moments i found interesting to note:

« Come into the light »:

When Belle goes to save the Beast from the village:

« - Please, i know he looks vicious, but he’s really kind and gentle. He’s my friend. - - [Gaston] If i didn’t know better, I’d think you had feelings for this monster. - - He’s no monster, Gaston. You are! - - If you’re not with us, you’re against us. » (pretty similar to the professor’s rage in the hospital)

When Belle’s father goes to save her: « I don’t care what it takes. I’ll find that castle and somehow, i … I’ll get her out of there. » (when Soohyun talks about and to Yohan)

The Beast possessive behavior in the beginning of the story: « [To her father] She’s no longer your concern, take him to the village. » (similar to Yohan’s behavior towards Soohyun) & « [To Belle] The castle is your home now » (and towards Gaon)

A monster:

When the Beast observes Belle playing from afar:

- And i saw some Jane Eyre vibes (SPOILERS) from the whole fire haha + Wuthering Heights on Sun-Ah’s & Yohan’s mixed parts!

- And well … Sun-Ah’s character loosely reminds me of Simone in Nier Automata (which in itself is a reference to Simone de Beauvoir’s life and works), with the whole « I must become more beautiful / But he still won’t look my way », to whoever knows this game! 

- These thigh boots holy hell Sun-Ah!!!! i loved this outfit!

- As soon as he said he didn’t feel anything from his revenge, K got the biggest death flag in this episode, i can’t believe they did this to the poor boy … When i asked for more scenes THIS isn’t what i meant aaaaaaaaaa

- A very random and weird note: Yohan’s almost silent and held back pain by the end of the ep. 12 fits his character so far, as well as his ‘calm’ tears. Given his past, it’s as if he’s always kept his pain bottled up and quietly bears it all and almost never got the space to properly let it all out (he had his brother, but with their father, i think they didn’t have this ‘chance’).

- My sick mind thought Sun-Ah was going to bring Gaon to the scene just in time for him to witness Yohan getting shot, but i guess it will be when she will get in the Kang’s mansion again according to the preview (since she asked Juk Chang for a « favor », i think they’ll knock Gaon out  after beating him up for his own fun to leave him to Sun-Ah). Sun-Ah looked surprised when Jae-Hee shot him, so i guess only hurting K was part of the plan.

- The ‘I know i’m fucked’ look hahaha

+ the softer version:

- I now have BIG trust issues since these last episodes’ previews, and the cliffhangers kill me haha 

- On another note, i find it amazing how Ji Sung and Kim Min Jung keep that upsetting atmosphere whenever there’s a scene between them that involves them and skinship, but it still conveys Sun-Ah’s complex feelings for Yohan and Yohan’s interest in her! The soundtrack really does a good job to convey that mood as well!

- In conclusion: How Dramatic do you want these two episodes to be? The devil judge: Yes

[potterology]

fave dylb scenes bc I can't get over and I’m already rewatching and noticing little things heheee 

- first meeting outside the restaurant. ohh how I love how awkward yet endearing they both were when they finally introduced themselves to one another. rewatching it made me realize that JY was already smitten by SA since the start. (like literally since the start y'all!!! he didn't even know her yet and wanted to stop the car to get SA an umbrella and this was in the first ep!!)

- when JY switched coffee cups with SA bc she spilt her cup and he started drinking it so she can’t refuse even though he doesn’t like coffee. Like he just did it bc he was compelled to do so?? like dude what if she already drank from it??? This scene was so funny to me and I love it cuz I dont think SA is used to being the one taken care of like that so it was just v cute

- when the noona was trying to get them to talk banmal but SA was like oh noooo he’s a superstar. This was cute bc you can actually see that JY was disappointed. Also they keep sneaking peeks at each other lol cute fools 

- waiting for taxi scene- this was so freaking adorable. shows how considerate they both are for each other and it’s so freaking awkward when they both realized they were standing there waiting for each other to get a taxi- but like in the cutest way

- when they were both outside that restaurant and SA asked if JY enjoyed his performance at granny’s house and I think this was the first time someone asked our boy if he likes what he does for a living and you can just tell his heart went soft for her(same dude same)

- spontaneous non-date date. ohh I love the first time they ate together at that beer place. they really started to get to know each other there. the mood and how that scene was filmed was just chef’s kiss~~

- rehearsal room we should be friends scene. when homeboy transitioned from moonlight sonata to happy birthday, y'all knew it was over for SA- god damn I would have swoon over too

- by the river “I wanted to see you” scene- high key JY sucks at communicating but I love how he is just so taken by SA that he just flat out says he misses her and as soon as he says it he was almost shocked himself. so pure

- the midnight call. I MEAN. guys. guys. he wanted to just talk to her and ask her out but tried to be nonchalant about it. ahhh they literally portrayed the first stages of dating so well I'm goo for it !!!!!!

- first walk together in the walkway. this was just so adorable. the almost hand holding. the chemistry!! the shy smiles :’’’) 

- SA’s birthday when she thanked JY for just being there for her. I love how she quietly acknowledges him and it was such an intimate interaction between them. I replay that scene a lot in my head

- when he ran to SA to give her his signed CD. He was so worried about her he forgot about JK lmaooo. Also the fact the he validated her as a violinist when SA was at a very low point... I mean... boyfriend material ugh

- the scene when SA told JY every little thing he does concerns her and that she didn’t want to feel that way about him anymore. As soon as SA said that homeboy PANICKED!!! I don’t even think he knew how much he liked SA until she said that :’)

- the lunchroom scenes 1) when they were teasing each other and 2) when JY announced that they were dating lolol I love how stoic he normally is but for SA he becomes a softie hehe

-ice cream day date; lol when SA won’t let JY tie her shoelaces bc she didn’t want to fall for him lol ok girl

-night ice cream/ stairs date. y'all know already. shit was just adorable. SA going for the kiss. I melted with the ice cream

- when JY asked SA for her handkerchief!!! it’s such a small gesture but they both knew it had a special meaning and I love how it put SA over the moon. (Also let’s include all the other times we see JY actually use that handkerchief- especially after they broke up. like homeboy was holding on to it for his dear life bc it was the only thing he had of SA~~ my fragile heart!!) ps did we ever see SA get a handkerchief from him???? No??? Sbs give me that pls

- when MS was telling JY in the car that SA has only openly confessed liking two things in her life and one them was JY. He was so flustered and couldn’t hide his smile and dimples... bruhhhhh he was full on swoon. Also when JY heard SA say that she really likes JY like he was so proud of himself lmao he’s like “yeah my gf LIKES ME” lolol

- when the lovebirds fought who was gonna clean up the broken glass at JY apartment. I love loveee this one bc SA has been beaten down so much by everyone calling her talentless that she didn’t even consider how important her hands is to her as a musician. And JY being like honey ur a violist and a musician too- UR HANDS ARE PRECIOUS. This was just v touching. Again showing how JY has always considered SA as an equal despite all the shit people say about his gf. luv him :’)

-all the moments JY just stood by SA’s side and held her hand when she needed comfort. I love how he’s just there for her. His silent support was just enough. (One thing that would have been nice is if we saw SA do the same thing, I felt like the writers were almost there but just didn't go all the way which is a shame tbh)

- Their lil day trip to JY’s hometown. I like how JY was so open to SA here. When he proclaimed that he never felt “this way before”  I screamed!! It was at that moment you clearly knew as a viewer that JY never really loved JK. He might have he loved the idea of her, yes. But he never truly loved her the way he loves SA. And his realization of this in that particular episode just made me so so so happy

- Handholding in the bus scene. That shit was so freaking tender bc you can tell how content JY was. He was beyond smitten- homeboy was IN LOVE AT THIS POINT

- when JY dropped SA home. I mean everything about this scene really makes ur heart soft right?? How both of them were beaming? How SA feet probably hurt bc homegirl was wearing heels the whole day and walked another 30 min just so she can spend more time with JY? How she literally ran back to him and JY just had this impression watching her like “my gf is cute af”?? How SA said something along the lines of JY having somewhere to belong to now and you can tell this had a double meaning for him bc at this point he prob considered SA as his home..I was literally mush oh my god. 

-break up scene. I know, v painful- but this was a rare one in kdramaland where I actually thought it was necessary for them to split (still wish it was done earlier but alas I'll take it) It was a graceful and needed breakup. Also when JY pulled out that umbrella for her.... bish it was over for me

- SA’s recital. I MEAN HOW IN SYNC COULD THEY BE. I normally skip the musical performances whenever I watch dramas that are music related- but this show makes it so magical I simply could not. PEAAAKKK ROMANCE

- JY’s recital- when he played that last song I was a big mess cuz we all knew it was dedicated for SA :’’) (I listen to this piece all the time now and im so emo when I hear it bc like god WHEN)

- First I love you scene. JY just going for it and chasing his happiness without caring if SA might reject him. We love to see it

-Second I love you scene. YALL. YALLLLL the way JY just releases his breathe when SA said she can't be friends bc she loves him more than a friend will forever slay me. Kim min jae’s acting here was real good. I love how JY said I love you four times and just went for it. top kissing scene in a krdrama for me hehee 

- dubokki date. lmao at JY with the spicy level. just plain cute

-the quick side by side peek to JY new album in the last episode. the way it showed how their relationship evolved. how he signed it as “for my love song ah” BISH I WANNA DATE A MUSICIAN TOO NOW

- that lil scene where JY wrote SA’s name as the planner bc he knows she works just as hard as the musicians and deserves the recognition. get u a boy who will vandalize a program notice for u :)

- basically all the scenes at the end of ep 16. I wish all of them were longer. I wanted to see more of them dating and happy!!! But I just love how they are both so INTO each other and you can see how happy JY is bc he finally has that person back that understood him since the beginning and it makes you feel so warm knowing they’re each other’s support system ahhhh I love their love !!

- also just all the scenes that JY looks at SA lovingly ~~ which literally happened since ep 1 I mean they are literally heart eyes emoji for each other every time :’)) 

- oh oh OH special shout out to ep 11 when JY just can’t stop holding SA’s hands !! the way he does it is so freaking INTIMATE like if I can only describe how I feel whenever I see compilation gifs of that episode where JY just reaches out and holds SA’s hands so steadily and tightly...it’s literally the most heartwarming thing.. idek how to explain what I’m trying to convey but I just vibe with it so much?? it’s so intimate and romantic.. Kim min jae I will die 4 u my love

[notjanine]

2020 in books!

the only kind of new year’s resolution i made as a naive baby last january was to try to read 40 books for the year. (i read 37 in 2019, for context.) well, with all of my commuting time eliminated and an increased need for immersive escapism, i ended up surpassing that goal three times over lmao (thanks library ebooks!)

idk how to summarize my year in books in a way that makes sense but

(f) = fiction, (nf) = nonfiction, (p) = poetry.

books that rewired my fucking brain:

braiding sweetgrass by robin wall kimmerer (nf)- GOD?!?!?! good. dr. k is right. ostensibly a book about plants, but actually a book about shut up and go outside. consumerism and capitalism are doing their damnedest to fuck you up, but you can just choose to value different things. take care of yourself by taking care of your environment. etc etc.

wasp by richard jones (nf)- lissen. when i got this book, my wasp-phobia was so severe that i had to put it away face down on a high shelf because there are wasps on the cover and i couldn’t bear to RISK even GLIMPSING them. now i am like... a wasp evangelist. (also due to the bugs 101 course on coursera it’s so good.)

wag by zazie todd (nf)- i have a dog, but i am NOT a Dog Person (i.e. i love my dog, but please keep yours away from me, thanks.) this book helped me understand my little guy better, plus it gives actionable tasks and activities to do with and for your pup! plus, y’know, learning about things you’re scared of helps to lessen that fear. i’d recommend this to anyone who has, wants, or regularly interacts with a dog.

a closed and common orbit by becky chambers (f)- is this series complete fluff? absolutely. am i fundamentally different after reading this one? maybe.

the best we could do by thi bui (nf)- this is so far outside of my personal experience but somehow still made me come to peace with my relationship with my mom?? and it’s barely even about that?? idk. this is probably objectively the best book i’ve read this year.

books that were just fun as hell:

mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia (f)- this book made me YELL out loud

death on the nile by agatha christie (f)- i grew up on agatha christie shows, but never actually read her before this year! she really was That Bitch. read this before the movie comes out

cosmoknights by hannah templer (f)- i read this in one sitting through the worst headache i’ve had in years. it is a goddamn DELIGHT. this book has everything: spaceships. mech suits. fighting the patriarchy. a perfect otp. fun art in bright colors with clean lines. onomatopoetic WAPs from before the song gave that hilarious context. 800 lesbians. this is an antidepressant in graphic novel form.

stiff by mary roach (nf)- ms. roach is like the 4th most represented author on my bookshelf because she 1. stays writing about shit i’m interested in and 2. manages to talk about gross and ridiculous things without resorting to sensationalism. it takes skill to write a hilarious book about corpses.

black sun by rebecca roanhorse (f)- excellent sexual tension between a horny siren pirate and a hot doomed... monk, kinda? set in the pre-columbian gulf of mexico with magic and shit.

cuisine chinoise by zao dao (? n/f)- this graphic novel about chinese food history/mythology is BEAUTIFUL.

the color of magic by terry pratchett (f)- you’d think a hardcore douglas adams stan would have gotten to this sooner, but no, i had to date a nerdy white boy to get here. it’s fun though! i’m not gonna read them all, but this one was good. bonus: contains one (1) great himbo.

gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir (f)- like 500 pages of action and mystery and jokes and space necromancy. harrow the ninth gets a special mention bc it has a meme reference that took me out so hard i had to close the book, lie down, and groan for an entire minute before continuing.

other minds by peter godfrey-smith (nf)- i love octopuses. on one tma bonus ep, jonny sims says that if a creature can choose to do evil, then it’s a Person. octopuses are People. but anyway frfr this has an explanation of the evolution of consciousness that is cool af. (this one is much better than the other recent popsci octo book which i will not name out of politeness.)

the perfect predator by steffanie strathdee and thomas patterson (nf)- i read this bc my microbiology prof recommended it and it’s cool as heck! it’s got adventure, drama, mystery, Science-with-a-capital-S. i’m biased bc i’m a bit of a microbes nerd, but i had a blast with this. (but only bc we know going in that everything works out okay; if i hadn’t known that, i would have been TOO stressed!)

books that were a little less fun but still very readable:

my sister, the serial killer by oyinkan braithwaite (f)- i couldn’t find this as funny as other people bc i, too, have a beautiful sister who’s an insufferable narcissist, so it hits a little too close to home, but. it is a wild ride.

piranesi by susanna clarke (f)- idek what to say! i went into this one blind just bc it had a cool cover and title, so i guess i’d recommend that for other people too.

the sixth world series by rebecca roanhorse (f)- monster hunting! a post-apocalyptic take that doesn’t feel tired.

the shades of magic trilogy by v.e. schwab (f)- easy escapism. some ideas feel a little first draft-y, but idk, it’s also a pretty simple premise (which isn’t a bad thing). it’s a decent urban fantasy set in ~georgian?-era london. very actiony. suffers from a bit of i’m-not-like-other-girls disease, but i didn’t even notice until book two or three, so.

the only good indians by stephen graham jones (f)- starts off a little ??? (and reeks of being Written By A Man) but picks up. the pacing’s great and there’s just a super fucking cool monster.

robopocalypse by daniel h. wilson (f)- this reads like a tv miniseries so much that i can’t believe it isn’t one yet.

confessions of the fox by jordy rosenberg (f)- not my usual cup of tea, fiction-wise, but still compelling. a fresh take on the white-male-english-professor-self-insert? but not insufferable. gets weird!

spinning silver by naomi novik (f)- rumplestilstkin, but make it interesting! a great, richly-told fairy tale, but like, large scale. good to read on a cold day while you’re wrapped up in a blanket with some hot tea.

interior chinatown by charles yu (f)- compulsively readable. a couple things bugged me, but not enough to make me dislike it. a fun companion piece to how to live safely in a science fictional universe. i like this guy’s style.

cannibalism by bill schutt (nf)- COOL. mostly covers the animal kingdom (fun), spends too much time on the donner party (less fun), ends with a SPICY take on prions that i cannot get out of my head!!!

buzz, sting, bite by anne sverdrup-thygeson (nf)- BUGS! broad but not overwhelming, neither dumbed down nor overly scientific, short enough to finish in a day or two. recommend this to literally everyone.

books that made me want to read everything else in the author’s ouevre:

the time invariance of snow by e. lily yu (f)- this FUCKS but it’s too short!!!

an unkindness of ghosts by rivers solomon (f)- okay this book is SO good and so well-written and interesting and blah blah blah all the good things, but... the whole time, i was just like?? why???? why is this what you’re choosing to write about??? (i did also read the deep and blood is another word for hunger after this one, and i did like them both, especially the latter, but i think they can do better! like i think they could write a perfect book and i am gonna be *eyes emoji* until then.)

the space between worlds by micaiah johnson (f)- a fine debut novel, but i want to see her do something a little more... idk, refined? i think she overreaches here, like it’s a little... idk looper? this is how you lose the time war? there’s a better comparison, but i can’t think of it, but you get the idea. and then halfway through it shifts gears to mad max. there’s something weird about one of the central relationships, like it’s not complex enough to take as long to resolve as it does. idk idk. there are just a lot of little nitpicky things. it’s not bad! but i think she can do better and i look forward to finding out.

postcolonial love poem by natalie diaz (p)- thinky! like i tried to read this before bed, but it’s not the sort of thing to parse out while you’re falling asleep, it requires more attention than that.

books that Learned Me Somethin:

smoke gets in your eyes by caitlin doughty (nf)- i am a self-professed death obsessed weirdo, fascinated by death and mourning, but i didn’t know all that much about what happens to a body between the dying and the funeral! this book isn’t big, but it covers a lot and doughty’s writing style is engaging and honest. it’s very memorable.

queer by meg-john barker and julia scheele (nf)- i’m gonna be totally honest and say Queer Theory is above my intellectual pay grade, but this book takes you by the hand and explains the basics.

vitamania by catherine price (nf)- LMAO my fellow americans, never take a supplement. this book is great and well-researched, but normal folks don’t need to read it, just listen to season two of the dream podcast, which definitely cribbed from this.

vegetable kingdom by bryant terry (nf)- this is a fine cookbook, my favorite of his that i’ve read so far. gets a special mention bc i had a religious experience just reading one of his kohlrabi recipes. absolutely gutted that i didn’t have an opportunity to try it this year, since the pandemic put the kibosh on all family bbqs.

the best american food writing 2020 edited by j. kenji lopez-alt (nf)- this really is just a great collection.

are prisons obsolete? by angela y. davis (nf)- yes.

i moved to los angeles to work in animation by natalie nourigat (nf)- before reading this, i had basically zero knowledge of how the animation industry works. now i know like three things.

the secret lives of bats by merlin tuttle (nf)- BATS! okay this book is more about the adventures of being a bat scientist than it actually is about bats, but there are bats in there. insectivorous bats basically shit glitter, you should know this.

books from valuable perspectives:

hood feminism by mikki kendall (nf)- a breakdown of who’s getting left out of feminist spaces, why that’s happening, and why it shouldn’t be happening.

all you can ever know by nicole chung (nf)- a (transracial) adoptee’s take on adoption and learning more about her birth family. the personal storytelling of this one really stuck with me.

motherhood so white by nefertiti austin (nf)- a single-mom-by-choice’s take on the foster system/adoption process. walks you through some things i always wondered about and some things i wouldn’t even have thought about.

this place by kateri akiwenzie-damm et al (? n/f)- i, like a lot of non- native americans, only know that history in broad strokes. getting this many highly specific stories in one dense and beautiful book felt like a lucky find. and taking that perspective into the future in the context of that history is v good.

empty by susan burton (nf)- eating disorder stories are important to me bc i care about food so much. this one is so relatable- not in its specificity, but rather its generality. it’s easy to empathize with her perspective because it’s like, Oh, i don’t have that exact problem, but i struggle with different problems in a very similar way. (feels like the opposite of roxane gay’s hunger, in a way.)

obit by victoria chang (p)- this exploration of grief is... woof.

short story collections are hard to evaluate bc you’ll never read one where every single story hits but i generally enjoyed these:

a thousand beginnings and endings edited by ellen oh and elsie chapman (f)

how long til black future month? by n.k. jemisin (f)

her body and other parties by carmen maria machado (f)

books i revisited:

the broken earth trilogy by n.k. jemisin (f)- i read the series backwards this time and like... i can’t really find any faults in these books, man. they’re just the best.

everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by jomny sun (f... but is it really?)- half of this book’s sales are from me buying it for other people bc it’s the only way i know how to say i love you. i reread it every time just to make sure it still feels right and it always does.

other honorable mentions:

white is for witching by helen oyeyemi (f)- not to pit two bad bitches against each other, but this book does what akwaeke emezi’s freshwater was trying to do. it’s a little weird, a little haunted, a little of a lot of things. read this only in the dead of winter. (and with stephen rennicks’ score for the little stranger playing in the background.)

homie by danez smith (p)- there’s a lot going on here, but this just made me crack a smile a couple times in a way that no other book of poetry has ever done.

the murder of roger ackroyd and murder in mesopotamia by agatha christie (f)- That Bitch!

blues by nikki giovanni (p)- she sure has some Things To Say

the three-body problem by cixin liu (f)- interesting concepts, but... idk something’s missing? felt weirdly soulless to me. i’m probably not gonna read the sequels. but it did make some points!

the sisters of the winter wood by rena rossner (f)- i’m a slut for shapeshifting, okay. but this is a good fairy tale, it works!

parable of the sower by octavia butler (f)- i read this in march, when the pandemic was just kicking off and boy that was not the right time. def my least favorite of hers so far, but an octavia butler i don’t love is still better than a hell of a lot of other books. no idea when or if i’ll get to a good enough headspace for the sequel.

faves:

saturnino herrán by adriana zapett tapia (nf)- i got to learn new things about my mans and see some of his paintings i’ve never even seen online! GOSH.

on food and cooking by harold mcgee (nf)- yeah yeah, i’ve already mentioned this book half a dozen times on here this year, but i don’t care. this book lives off the shelf in my home bc i reference it like every other fucking day. this book is a part of me now.

[usertoxicyaoi]

Hello :D It's funny because I agree and yet I disagree with the last anon you got about 2gether. I agree that these boys being as good looking as they are probably helps (but I feel like this is symptomatic and an issue with many "BLs" and the whole genre tbh, so it's true on a larger scale than just for 2gether alone). Because of that fact, I don't think it actually explains this show's popularity being higher than the ones of shows like Why R U or My Engineer. I truly believe that its (...)

popularity over other BLs airing today is actually because the show is of much better quality. Like no offense towards Why R U for instance, but the show really is wacky sometimes and the writing is kind of a mess at times, something that 2gether, although it isn’t a perfect show, didn’t suffer from. I also kind of a have a hard time with “presenting as straight” as a blanket term in general, because ultimately, isn’t that anon’s projection on these actors ? Bright himself has stated that his sexuality could be fluid and that it’s not as simple. So isn’t saying that they ‘present as straight’ kind of oversimplifying/stereotyping a little ? Bottom line- I think the fact that conventionally good looking actors’ shows get more attention is an issue with the entire industry in general, maybe even more so in this genre. But I don’t think it is the only justification for 2gether’s popularity, and I think it’s kind of unfair towards the show to state that. (END)

hiii anon!!! i think you describe it pretty well. i won’t sit here and compare … bc i haven’t seen why r u? nearly enough (only 2 eps max??), and i haven’t watched en of love or my engineer either, so i can’t compare 2gether to these 3 shows, and i won’t, bc its not in my place to do so. it would be rude and disrespectful to do so.

but i do watch 2gether. and i watch it, live it and breathe it like religion at this point. and i wanna compare it to bl’s i have watched in the past. and, like i said in my previous reply, the reason why 2gether just stands out so much to me, is probably why he’s coming to me also does so too - they both are shows that feel like lgbt+ shows, where the focus is on showing sexuality positively. its just a case of the characters, like tine and thun, realising that … okay, so, i like boys. and i really like them. and i really like how i feel with them. its nice. 

now, he’s coming to me didn’t get much attraction when it aired (that’s for a whole load of reasons, such as people not liking ohmsingto working together, that gmmtv sucked ASS when promoting the show, that it wasn’t available on youtube with subs etc) - but it won over the critics. and you know what? i feel like … NOW? more people are watching he’s coming to me. it’s over a year old, but … people are watching it and people like it! 

now, 2gether isn’t perfect. it treats its female characters with … not much care at all. mil … idek what’s up with him. but, where it does excel in terms of other bl’s i have watched in the past, is in its pacing and storytelling, and in fundamentally showing tine and sarawat’s relationship/dynamic … truly beautifully. its been invested in. details have been changed to make sure its as healthy of a portrayal that lgbt+ people deserve.

what also helps is how socially present bright and win are. what hits is what they say, how they talk about the lgbt+ community. how bright’s said he sees his sexuality as fluid, like you say. and .. yeah i mean, even NOW, people are still saying that “brightwin - the str8 bl couple! bright - the str8 bl actor” like … at this point i’m tired of seeing it and explaining myself constantly. its an insult to him saying that he sees his sexuality as fluid - something people only conveniently remember when they want to ship brightwin romantically. which is a whole conversation for another day.

so yeah, they are good looking, it helps. but its … yeah, much deeper than that. like i said, i am not going to compare 2gether to why r u?, my engineer and en of love,  simply bc i haven’t watched enough, or haven’t watched them at all to do so. but, idk, for me, personally, 2gether’s become like, my top favourite show, with hctm only coming second to it, and both of the justifications as to why are the same - they feel like shows made for the lgbt+ community, not for “bl fans”, but 2gether’s become popular within bl fans, partly bc of brightwin’s looks, but maybe also bc … idk, in some way, they see some form of a proper romance story being told on the show ………… but then obviously, they complain about why tine and sarawat still haven’t made out yet or had sex … so … ya.

[thotsupport]

ms heathcote turn on ur location i just wanna talk. i just wanna talk

im so fucking disappointed by the new episode. it was bad.... an episode of KILLING EVE!!! was bad !!!!! do u know how fucking awful that is.... how hard that is..... it has not had a single bad episode or even like bad MINUTE. 

rest is under a read more bc i have adhd and dont know how to explain my thoughts in less than 1000 words. this is a rant post ladies be warned of spoilers ig. its long 

ik everyone was worried about the writer change and we had a reason to be... this show walks such a thin line w its humor and all of its characters, esp eve and villanelle. so it was always going to be like, whoever gets put in charge of new seasons either gets it or they dont. but wow! wow huh

idek if i should be blaming ms heathcote, phoebe and emerald for leaving, or whoever signed off on this shit bc whew !! it sucked . that first minute of the wedding reception scene hit and u knew that things were off and this was rly not going to be what we hoped. they hyped us up for the wedding shit but it was absolutely pointless, when they couldve done SO MUCH w it. and that rly set the tone for the whole rest of the ep tbh

characters are ALL so out of character, stale as shit, and have basically been made into caricatures of themselves. the new characters that have been introduced have no substance. i think the most villanelle-like thing v did in the entire ep was pour the shop owner’s spice bag onto her face to mock dasha. and we’re really supposed to believe she thinks she killed eve? the top tier assassin we’ve watched for 2 seasons who kills people for a living? that  didnt sit well with me since the trailer, like it just feels unrealistic and contradictory as hell to their whole relationship. maybe we’re being faked out and she knew all along, which would be great !! but this first episode does not give me any hope for that bc it requires some decent writing

and now they kill kenny??? in the first fucking episode?? like ok maybe sean delaney said im signing out bye, which is like ok cool fine, so they had to write him out. but like THAT ? when he started hearing noises i went “if they kill kenny rn i dont think i can forgive them” LET ME HONK MY NOSE REAL QUICK. i sat there for like 5 min w my hand over my mouth. a cheap ass no build up death scene out of nowhere, just for shock value. is it crack? is that what you smoke? that entire sequence was so fucking bad. sloppy.... the predictability......my dvr cut off the last min so i had to look it up later, but what i imagined the ending was like ended up being right to a t, which is rly sad!!!. i do not write for this show! i should not be able to guess the end of the episode down to the song they use!! 

they tried to set his death up w whatever he was finding out online, but sis.........what a mess. and kenny was p much the only one from the first seasons they did a decent job of writing too 🙄

every interaction between characters, every character’s actions, the tone of every scene, the humor, the weird location cuts, rushed sequences, no build up or payoff to anything trying to be established...... mess. all of it fell flat.

anyway.... killing eve fell victim to change of writers combined w the classic ‘we already have a loyal established audience so we dont have to try as hard’ downhill slide. i hope the season gets a lot better from here but that first ep doesnt make me too hopeful. like am i going to keep watching no matter what? yes! i am a clown!! i want to see what happens. the cast will always be amazing. but let’s not pretend it was great

i probably sound harsh as hell but i do not care !! not a bit ! this show has been so fucking good and of course im going to be upset if it gets fucked up. miss 2020 rly came in and said we get nothing this year huh. not one crumb

[yukipri]

For the character ask, could you please do Arthur? I'm really curious to hear your thoughts / headcanons about him!

Thank you so much for sending this in~! WOWIE unexpected character, but that made this all the more fun to write :’D

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you: Arthur

Apologies if you adore this character bc I’m not too too kind to him here, but please take this as my interpretation of the character within the context of canon, in which he’s well, an ASS, to say it lightly ^ ^; I could defs probably like him in certain AUs!

How I feel about this character:

Within canon, I feel like he was made out to be a Big Bad and given a disproportionate amount of screen time for an unimpressive end result, and caused a shitton of pain without much purpose. He like, felt like a B-rated villain, acted like one, but got the drama of a Last Boss?? There wasn’t some deep betrayal or tragic past or anything that explained his actions or made them even slightly relatable. He was a coward, and jealous, and couldn’t live up, and died proving just that.

That whole, “You get why I hate you right, Ash?” Like, tbh, NO????? You try to make it sound profound, but all I get is that you wanted what Ash had, but can’t because you’re completely different people??? It ain’t that dramatic or deep????

Also, why is he called Arthur, he’s literally one of the only charas who’s called by his last name, and the one time Ash calls him Frederick he makes it sound so Meaningful, but I’m not getting much reason why his first name isn’t used?? Is it bc Freddie doesn’t sound scary??? Like Arthur is??? IDEK MAN

Oftentimes, even if they’re completely awful people, I can find villains interesting and multi-faceted, but a lot of Arthur just leaves me scritching my head ^ ^;; I won’t say I hate him bc that’s a really strong word for a fictional character, and I’m sure that in certain AU contexts, he could be written in a way that would make me like him, but boy am I also prepared to personally stab him in the neck for his role in Ep. 9 alone ^ ^;

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Uuuuuhhh, I’m going to say Eiji, but unless it’s a COMPLETELY ooc AU, it’d likely be completely one sided (rare for me I know LMAO). He’s that creep that keeps trying to approach Eiji, and Ash and Shorter gotta protect him HAHAH ^ ^;;;

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Not quite sure if it counts as an OTP, but boy oh boy is this kid fixated on Ash…

My unpopular opinion about this character:

HhrmmNNN, idk if this is unpopular or not, but I personally really wish he had gotten more depth? Like I felt like his whole feud with Ash had so much foreshadowing of something greater, but just left me feeling??????? That it?????? I don’t need him to be redeemable nor someone I can sympathize with, but I’d be interested in getting more about him that would maybe make me feel something other than There he goesssss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at the end of the Coney Island fight scene ^ ^;;

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

REALLY WISH HE COULD HAVE DEVELOPED A CONSCIENCE AND SWITCHED LOYALTIES TO ASH. He’s one of the characters who was positioned so that if he HAD backstabbed Golzine at the right times, he could have changed the plot so much for the better. Maybe he was actually smart and curious, and pocketed the Banana Fish powder for himself instead of turning it in, and comes to the same conclusion as any sane person and decides it’s too dangerous, and decides to reluctantly team up with Ash. Maybe instead of being delighted at the effects of the drug, he’s horrified, and he gets Shorter out or swaps out the syringe for a placebo. It doesn’t even need to be for entirely altruistic motives, even just a, “This is fighting dirty and I want an ACTUALLY fair rematch with Ash, and that includes clearing out all the trash first.” Now this Arthur is one I could defs ship with Eiji LOL

My OTP:

Points above ^^^

My cross over ship:

UhhHHHHHHHH Arthur x His Conscience, since it clearly doesn’t exist in canon universe? LMAO

A headcanon fact:

OKAY I ACTUALLY GOT ONE FOR THIS. I gotta admit, I started seeing a lot more potential for Arthur as a comedic character after watching all the official episode previews (which almost all have funny lil dialogues between some of the characters and are GOLDEN).

In one of the earlier ones, Arthur reveals that he’s a weeb (not in the whee i like anime!uwu way, but in the White Guy Creepily Obsessed With Hyper Stereotypical and Fetishizing Fantasies of Japan way). It’s why he does the whole “Samurai Boy” thing and goes on about seppuku ^ ^;

ANYWAY in a Less Serious AU, Arthur’s definitely That White Guy, and Ash knows he’s a creep but it’s Shorter who immediately sees all the signs and has to take Eiji aside and is like Hey be careful around Arthur, he’s a particular kind of white guy you gotta watch out for, they claim they have “yellow fever” and are super creepy around Asian girls and apparently cute boys like you. And Eiji of course is clueless and doesn’t really get it until Arthur shows up one day and is like HEY SAMURAI BOY YOU WANT TO WEAR THIS SCHOOL GIRL UNIFORM FOR ME? THIS IS WHAT YOUR PEOPLE WEAR RIGHT aaaand Eiji quickly ducks behind Shorter bc yeah he Gets It Now.

(^WHICH, is not actually all that funny a scenario bc heck I’ve had it happen to me before in rl, but anyway Arthur being that Loser who follows Eiji around and probably clicks on Hot Asian Singles in Your Area links, and doesn’t get why Eiji likes Ash but not himself, another blond white guy. WHICH is creepy but is still the type of character that can be worked into AUs, unlike I Watched Your Friend Get Drugged By a Fatal Mind Control Drug and Laughed)

Also Shorter calls him Onion-head, bc that’s what his hairdo looks like :P (also from another episode preview).

send me a ship and I will tell you/Give me a character & I will tell you/send me 5 characters and I will rank them in order of preference

Please send me more~!  

[assholemurphy]

oh yeah i definitely agree with that! the shit they all went through is awful, and after lexa died it definitely went downhill even more. though her coming back at the end was amazing!! and yea, o/ntari was a character i really hated lol. | agreed!! i really hope jaha dies soon, or at least isnt a huge part of season 5 | yess!! roan was such a good character, and him and bell wouldve been good ngl. | again i agree a lot haha. b/echo isnt a ship i like at all, and i really dont like (1/?) -🌸

echo, but she's a really good villain imo. | aahhh!! im so excited to watch s5! i actually just finished s4 lol (god that was intense). mt weather wasnt my favourite but it definitely had its moments, towards the end especially. but i really dislike maya and how jasper acted with and after her. | fav s3 moment has to be the clexa scenes. all of them. i love lexa so much tbh. and character i miss the most is definitely lexa!! hbu? | whats been your favourite plot line? (2/2) -🌸

The end scene with Lexa was almost too much for me. It was nice seeing Clexa back together, but it hurt to know it was rly over. I mean, the only thing I had against Lexa was the bindi (and how a lot of fans reacted to it being called out for what it was) but otherwise, I loved the character and for her to be rly gone, it hurt.

O/ntari can eat a dick, I s2g. Rape is never a plot device, not even for a villain, and the fact that (aside from one scene) it’s never even talked abt or acknowledged for what it was. I’ll never forgive Jroth for that or for never talking abt O’s abuse of Bell. But I’m hoping s5 will fix the latter.

Bruh, strap in. I’m not gonna spoil anything abt Jaha, but like, yeah, s5 is great.

Idek if they have a ship name, but I’m so on board with that ship. Like, I don’t think it’s v popular (m/m ships generally aren’t in this fandom :/) but I’d love some fics for it, even if I have to write them myself.

It’s not a good ship. She betrayed him so many times. I’m glad he’s happy, he deserves to be, but I just can’t get behind it. I’ll tolerate it bc it makes Bell smile (and he doesn’t do that often enough) but it just bugs me. I don’t hate it, but I don’t like it, ya know? But Echo as a villain was the best. I like her in s5 well enough, but like, considering how it’s being done, I just can’t get on board with her character. Ppl ship her with Raven and I’m just like why??? Emori is right there. 

It’s great. s5 is amazing. The writing is better than any other season imo and the villain is just absolutely amazing. Plus, the other ‘villain’ is just straight up badass. I’m living for this season, tbh. S4 was def intense. There was so much suspense, esp in the last few eps. Jroth has rly stepped up his game. 

I just like it bc we got to see the other delinquents (not just Bell and Clarke) kick ass. Like, Miller was great and Monty was amazing. I kinda liked Maya bc I love the whole ‘what my people are doing is bad, we have to stop them, bc if they’re killing others so that we can live, maybe we don’t deserve to live’ thing she had going on. Also Monty’s “Die.” quote is my everything. But I def didn’t like Jasper (I did at the beginning, but then I met a girl who explained to me a lot abt the whole thing and how it wasn’t good and just generally helped me see past the ‘I like him bc he’s dorky’ thing I had going on. Fast forward 4 years, I’m head over heels for her and we’re kinda talking marriage one day, so it’s great. But that’s not relevant to this ask, lol.) and how he acted towards Monty and Bellamy. Like, that wasn’t okay at all. Esp bc he knew the girl for what? A few weeks? And he was willing to sacrifice his friends for her? Wtf, Romeo, grow tf up and chill for like two seconds. His friends were literally being tortured and he was acting like a lovesick puppy. (Also, the whole ‘savior’ arc should have been Miller’s from the get go, it made more sense. I’m totes not bitter or anything.)

Those Clexa things gave me life. Like, Clarke being bi was everything I could ask for, bc she was the first bi character I’d ever seen on tv. And the relationship was so cute and sweet and they rly could have been great if the ship had survived for longer. Like, I’m forever bitter abt Jroth killing one of his only queer characters for shock value in such a stupid way.

Lexa was so good as a character. I miss her. If Jroth had ditched the damn bindi things would have been fine. I loved her so much. I just kinda hated the ship wars and the thinly veiled racism from both sides so I kinda stopped reblogging it, but it seems to have died down now.

My fav s3 moment was the meeting between Murphy and Bellamy in the tunnels (or whatever they were) plus the shoulder grab in the elevator. And Murphy performing open heart surgery (kind of, lol). It was great.

The character I miss most is probably Wells. He was great and his death didn’t have to happen. I miss him so much. He had so much potential. (And I’m a Wellamy and Wellphy shipper for life, honestly.)

My fav plotline was the whole thing with Pike. Bell and Monty following him. Miller being against him. The whole dictator thing mixed with the ‘us vs them’ mentality was so great to watch. I just wish we’d gotten to see how Monty dealt with the weight of helping kill the grounder army. (Monty’s pain/guilt is generally ignored for most of the show and it’s frustrating.)

Yours? And fav grounder character (other than Lexa)? What none shippy moment hurt the most?

[hungryhungryhippo3]

ok im kinda tired from studying all day and i just watched the latest episode, and ive got some thoughts??? but im not in the best state of mind to articulate everything so imma just do some dot points:

- letting everyone have a go as a superhero: i dont agree with; it sort of trivialises that kind of power and is contradictory to master fu’s own experiences with his carelessness,,, like did you even learn anything from hawkmoth lmao... idk why but this thing upset/made me most uncomfortable, it just seems like a lot of carelessness, but tbh this is also a kids show with a kids audience so i guess you do have to sacrifice some elements of common sense/rational thought and action/general consistency with fu’s decisions for some Cool Heroes and Fun New Powers

- leading on from this, what is our position on how we treat kwamis?? : these are sentient beings, these are actual gods ( i think?? i havent read the comics), who are chained to a miraculous. what is our (by that inclusive, im referring to the characters in the show + the actual audience + producers) actual position on them?? so we respect them as mentors and guides + actual gods, but do we also treat them with the same triviality as the miraculous object itself??? something to give away and lock up at will, something to utilise only in times of need?? and those are only in part rhetorical qqs, im genuinely curious and i wont judge if thats the way things are

- chat noir and rena rouge: y’all can argue that their interactions were strictly platonic but imma fight for this; he was blatantly flirting with her. he kissed her hand, he was *casually* leaning against his baton, leaning in towards her, ok admittedly, i know french culture is a lot more direct and touchy than western culture and i havent down my research lmao but it felt a lot like he was interested??? i mean these are the same stuff he does to ladybug??? and alya (maybe she saw it as just platonic) but she also indulged him even tho shes already in a relationship ??? lol idek maybe its just me, but the first introduction made me feel uncomfortable coz of that (the second interaction was much more platonic tho)

- keeping chat noir out of the loop: ive seen a lot about this already on the tags, and 100% agree. at this point i dont know what to make of the relationship between lb and cn. @the ml producers, whether you wanna sell them as partners or as a duo where ladybug is the Main, ill support, but pls: consistency. i feel like theyve always been presented as a partnership, like two parts of one whole, but this ep kinda went against that? marinette has visited fu many times (implied), he allowed her to choose a hero, he himself explained all that detail about the miraculous’ to her, she left chat noir to fend for himself (without explaining the plan) while she went to find fu. adrien, who took gabriel’s book to learn more himself, didnt even get the chance to learn properly. and i bet that had he been given the opportunity to read, lb wouldve been the first person he went to. partnership = developing together, making decisions together, being transparent and clear w/ each other. i didnt see that today. what i saw was something more akin to batman and robin, hero and sidekick

- development/consistency w/ ladybug and chat noir’s (general) relationship: again, ik this is a kids show, and each episode is meant to be independent of each other, and there isnt a fixed sense of continuity. and this dot point sort of touches on the last 2 as well, but a change in the dynamic had so much potential to progress on ladybug and chat noir’s relationship (there could’ve been conflict, there could’ve been insecurities, there could’ve been distance, esp. following the Glaciator ep). the producers could’ve used this opportunity to see a shift in their general relationship + some solid characterisation (in relation to their partnership/dynamic) and actually lay some solid groundwork beyond the whole lovesquare thing.

- alya in general: ok so a positive: some good characterisation for alya. it was gr8 to see some more insight about her family dynamic, her own interactions w/ her siblings, the type of person she is beyond school and the ladyblog. shes undoubtedly worthy to receive that miraculous; headstrong, focused, learns quickly (thats a bonus). but i gotta agree with some of the posts circulating, marinette, as professional as she can be when she has to, is still ultimately biased. master fu tells her himself to choose someone she trusts (according to the translation i got), and doesnt that entail some subjectivity??? thats not to say that she chose her just bcoz theyre friends because marinette would be blind not to see all these gr8 qualities in her bff. but like ppl are saying, i think alya shouldve been chosen by virtue by the guardian, who knows these miraculous’ more than anyone, knows the sort of characters each miraculous is suited to, instead of marinette randomly selecting one and giving it to her best friend.

- gabriel: is a hypocrite and does not deserve to be a parent, but what else is  new lmao

[invisoble]

tujuan review

the ejen ali fandom is currently in an emotional mess

ok, now where do i start...

i guess the only sane person in invizo is moon. whY JUST WHY

why

why Why why

WhY

i have

SO MUCH QUESTIONS

. im in the state of shocked wau had me yet again, but so far this is the most shocking ep i’ve ever watched

how do i review this everything just hit me like a truck. the fighting scene really broke my heart into pieces. now we know so far; how iris works. the device is highly unstable, seeing how ali couldn’t even recognized khai, moon and iman AND EVEN COMOT all together OH DEAR GOD. when override ali attacked all three of them boi i was about to fLIP. iman certainly had a good amount of screentime to show her skills, and it was amazing i tell you. sadly iris is too powerful for her, thus her defeat.

rizwan Oh man someone hold me HE KEEPS MAKING THAT REGRETFUL FACE WHY

WHY

WHY???!? he rly followed dos just to see uno ah the scene in the old building room got me broke man. at that time i couldnt read him at all on this ep they revealed the core leaders (which explains that today was pretty intense). oh general butterful ;__; alicia go and hug your dad he deserves better. i got completely thrown off when rama showed sadness and shocked that another of his trusted agent betrayed mata. once he left, the meeting of the current three core leaders begin. i, personally did not like ganz. he’s too...idk how to say this um headstrong? dayang gives me another vibe of dislike too idek why skdsnjd she wants to separate ali and the iris. so i see they’ve told rizwan the truth, and further blaming that he followed his emotions and past bonding towards djin. to put more salt, rizwan sees djin as a part of his fam. but then zain cut me off, which leads me to a mass confusion. said zain, rizwan is much like djin as they go on their own ways, then saying riz has his reasons. i take it as zain rly trust rizwan. meanwhile here i am not knowing who do i side with tbh. for now, i trusted zain, since he so far, believes in ali onto the sickbay scene. moon and jet interacted!! they were the original dynamic duo until moon sided with ali. here i can tell how jet feels. maybe he’s just that loud and blunt (telling moon to not be friends with ali wow ok smooth move jet), but i know he cares for moon. in this case we can see the little agents trying to defend their injured friend from the newbie (ali) who they now sees as a threat. mika, jet and roza were quick to attack him, same goes with rudy, who needs to be held back by jet when it comes to the mention of his lord and saviour role model djin. when ali told them the truth, they wouldn’t believe him, which is horrible. then again, they all had mutual feelings towards each other, so they won’t know how one experiences this and that. another thing is that they look down on ali, simply because he’s a no-good kid with the iris. ali couldn’t handle the pressure and ran away crying, slightly bumping into alicia at that. i was sad when moon couldn’t say anything throughout the situation, but seeing how she got injured by a friend, she might be unable to forgive him at the moment, or just couldn’t say anything due to her other friends. i do hope alicia, who personally know ali from the beginning, could hand a help to ali. its too much pressure for the 12-years-old kid its very sickening for me to watch back to riz and dos. i, really couldn’t bring myself to talk about rizwan. i personally like him. he, just like ali, has been put into pressure as well, but different. he told dos that he just wants to see him after knowing the truth, but dos didn’t believe him and there goes another fighting scene, but way brutal since it was many against one (thank god trez didn’t appear or else riz might yknow). new characters come kickin’ (no pun intended) in, which are the football twins seis and seite. theyre a bit annoying to me, but job well done on wau’s creativity. and there’s ali, troubled, throwing the iris away, which happened to land right in front of zain. ali ran down immediately and they had a conversation. can you believe i thought zain was ghazali the whole time when they didn’t show his face until they did. zain is really that father figure we don’t deserve good things. then he told about the truth about iris, and a younger djin and zain had a conflict about iris. and fast forward; thats where djin got heavily insane over power (+further adding that it was also djin who kinda glitched iris up, thus the instability of the iris itself). its like a prime motto where mata acts as a protector of cyberaya, not a leader. zain furthermore has encouraged ali, as ali’s first and prime reason about the iris is that he could do anything with it, especially to protect others. that’s where i’ve opened my eyes and see the truth. i cant believe i forgot about ali’s main trait. he’s been saving multiple lives from the start, flashing back to comot, ghazali and alicia. i blame myself for that, since wau often showed ali’s weakness right back when he did his heroic move. once ocho managed to trap him JENNY APPEARED KCDNNBJFNDJNDW I GOT INSANE. jenny really, darn she’s wicked as heck she gave me the chill. to be not safe for the children, rizwan nearly died until uno appeared.so there we have it. the cliffhanger. rizwan finally stepping in the uno card game, and zain putting his trust on ali to protect cyberaya and stop uno from getting iris

.

...

......

...a week rest after a heated ep isn’t enough i need more time to process all of these. everything is just shocking, in a good and bad way mixed up together. i’m glad ejen ali isn’t rushed im thankful that it gave us time to think through. i just...i just hope that everything gets toned down in the next ep

[write-yourself]

Shadowhunters 2x07 Spoilery Review...

So, this is the first time I’ve decided to scroll through my dash to see reactions before I started too write this, and I gotta say - the reactions are totally not what I was expecting. I enjoyed the episode, but apparently I was alone??? Okay, random thoughts ahead: 

Was I hoping to see the sex? Absolutely. We saw plenty of Izzy with Meliorn and plenty of Jace with No Name Lady, but there’s also the chance that we will see some naked skin start of 2x08, so I’m not too concerned. It’s just a little hinky in a, “oh, so the only couple that we don’t see plenty of skin from is the only gay couple, that’s not fishy at all” sort of way. 

That being said, it also doesn’t bother me. No other couple has had the buildup that Malec has had, so it’s a nice tradeoff. 

I hope this is the start of casual touching. They were just kissing and holding each other constantly in this ep, very much. Not every kiss has to be the ~epic kiss~ and I appreciate that. 

However, having Alec so far removed from EVERYTHING going on in the show is a little concerning. I hope that gets rectified and soon. Maybe once he’s off of Cloud Nine? I’ll let the boy enjoy his time with Magnus... until next episode when things get bad, apparently. 

Speaking of Magnus, I loved all of his scenes outside of Malec. Seeing him and Maia be friends was so great and unexpected. I had zero idea they knew each other, so it made me perk up and grin. A little disappointed that Izzy was able to - apparently? - pull the wool over his eyes when he seemed so close to finding her out. 

I assume he has the wool back over his eyes at least, because I really really HOPE he wouldn’t let Alec’s sister kill herself without telling someone about it. 

Color me disappointed that Simon/Maia (Smaia? Saia? Mimon? idek) isn’t moving forward. I was iffy about them at first, but yknow, things grow on me. Including Maia and this whole prospective relationship. 

I saw Sizzy potential, but I gotta say, I got a little squicked when Izzy told Simon to bite her. Looks like I wasn’t alone by Simon’s face. 

Why was only Clary able to hear the angel? Are we just gonna go with “she’s special” and leave it at that? I thought Jace was the angelic one, or have book fans led me astray? 

But imagine that twist... Valentine was being honest when he said Jace was filled with demon blood. DUN DUN DUUUUN. 

Can I just say “HA!!!!” to all those motherfuckers who thought Magnus was gonna be so angry that Jace brought a girl to his apartment? MAGNUS DIDN’T CARE. HE LIKES SEX. JAGNUS IS ON THE RISE. 

And so is Jalec. “Would you like to join us?” Hahahahaa, I died. 

Jace was great this episode. He was totally a dick, don’t get me wrong, but a lovable dick. He gives shit advice, though. No wonder Alec never listens to him. He probably listened to him once and ended up fake dating Jessica Hogbloom for like a year. 

But the payoff for Jace wasn’t that great. I don’t really... get it... I feel like the were building something up for Jace all episode as he was acting out, and then he finally connects with Clary, and it just ended. Maybe it’ll carry over, but... we’ll see. 

And more on Malec to finish it off - 

I’m in the camp that says yes, they had sex. The promo, imo, suggests that they did. Why would Jace say, “If you hurt him” if Magnus had already put a stop to their activities? Then wouldn’t it have been, “You’ve hurt him, so now I hurt you” or whatever it is bros say. 

But I could be wrong, and if I am, it would at least explain why we saw nothing. Not that we need to. I’m just frowny because of how much het sex we’ve seen. 

Overall, I enjoyed the episode. It wasn’t noteworthy or anything. Some people were screaming, “NEW FAVORITE EP!” before it even aired, and I think it got their expectations a little high. Also, I know nothing about the book lore, so maybe the angel stuff was off book and soo it’s got people frowny? I dunno.

At this point, I just want some answers. I’m so confused. Dx