#I'm usually SUPER booked with revenges but I wanna see if I can just do lil sketches this year!

[redxblueihateloveyou]

I wanted to ask, if this 10 years period is real bad? Because I'm not sure whether to read this part or not.

By "real bad" you mean like in angsty? Or bad bad?

Bc to me there's no like any period in DMBJ series that I didn't love reading, like I ofc have those books that I love most, but surprisingly there were none I didn't like. I enjoyed all of them for different reasons. Some for masochistic ones, yes lol

Well, its just if you're already commited and won't read that part, you'll miss out way too important shit. Bc this part of the series (I don't mean just the sand sea, but all the books in between) is a major turning point for everything. Qiling's past, Wu Xie's character and etc. Their relationships, too.

I'm not gonna lie it was hard for me to read (esp SS bc newbies that won't appear anymore that I couldn't get attached to, didn't help), not interest wise (bc I've finished these 4 in like 5 days lmao), but just because despite the usual high quality entertainment and badass dark Wu Xie, don't know if thats an unpopular opinion or not, I didn't enjoy seeing him like that at all. Like after 10 years Wu Xie is my favorite Wu Xie, bc besides becoming extremely badass, with his soul Xiaoge returning to him, he becomes alive again and returns his.. well, not childishness, but idk word for this his thing... cute mischief (? lol) too. And it was just heartwarming to see and be like "yes thats his my baby, but cooler now" haha.

But this middle part he just was very lifeless during the whole thing and reading like he was trying to "exist" for several books was depressing days for me haha. I'm just used to authors being nice about stuff like this and do like time skips and gentle flashbacks after maybe xD. But like proportionally.. considering the amount of books its all fair to me haha. And its a really an awesome part and the most informative one for sure.

Is it sad? Heck yeah. I mean, even with the knowledge that he's gonna be back and that he's alive, it's like he's going through all the stages of grief there and it's all not great, yeah. I mean, he also cuts himself on regular basis and just does many things that I think would make Xiaoge not even just super angry but straight up cry, but... BUT...

...I'm one of those ppl for whom "without the bitter the sweet isn't as sweet". Like to me skipping to the reunion would be a blasphemy as it is just cause I wouldn't find it as satisfying. That's just how it is for me. I hate angst without the happy ending as much as a happy ending without angst before that lmao. Thats why I think this franchise and I were meant to be xD. Bc its literally a constant perfect rollercoaster of just that.

So I can't imagine skipping this part, bc to my masochistic ass it would just ruin the joy of the journey entirely lol.

It's like... so you skip to them reuniting... it just wouldn't be as tasty, trust me. Don't you wanna know how he is, when he's angry for the love of his life? Helpless about feeling so empty? Having to do crazy things just to stop hurting and missing him at least for a second? I know u secretly wanna lol 👀

Also don't u just have other faves, too? I mean, Wu Xie kinda scarying XiaoHua with his revenge for my husband plans.. lol. There's just a lot of things you don't wanna miss haha like a bunch of idiots being memes in hard times too xD

P.S. You can also wait for the sea flower dorama to air (we'll see how this one is gonna go, but idk I have 0 hopes as usual lol) besides watching sand sea ofc (if you haven't yet). But again, don't throw tomatoes and shoes at me pls, but like as much as I think that the SS casting was great and the quality of the whole production also great, I still didn't at all get the feels of what it felt like when I was reading it. Again don't kill me, but also there to me it kinda felt like he was his dead comrade or smth (lol idk why I'm sorry), while I deeply love this part for how very angsty fanfiction-y it is in the books. And I just didn't get what I wanted to get from it in the series. It was just not quite the same vibe to me.

And I'm always like willing to give everyone a chance to surprise me, no matter the budget and stuff, I don't care already for this after watching lots of stuff, but if it doesn't fit the certain feeling of the particular part, than I'll pass.

That being said. Just don't think they can put it off. I mean "hardcore romantic longing for someone who's like not even there" part and also that other part xD. I know someone who can, but I just don't wanna be the one who constantly like... whines about them not being able to join it again... But also I'm still totally doing it most of the time lol

So yeah, I for sure recommend the full experience, I mean, it's worth it.

[theji]

SDOC 4 Ep 6 Commentary

I thought I would be able to sleep earlier last Sat since SDOC was postponed but nope. Ended up reading till 6+am. What is wrong with me?

• First up. I just wanna exclaim. DD looks so good in this episode. I love his hair!

• Henry and his voice change shenanigan at the beginning where he confused everyone. 😅 But it was sweet that he was trying to console Lay.

• My top vote for the team captain's performance goes to Henry, followed by HG. I usually rank Henry quite low in my books (sorry!) but his team did really well in this ep. HG continues to surprise. Much as I love DD, I have to agree with his own assessment - that his team members lack cohesion. Major props to DD's facial expressions during his performance though.

• Of the 2x2 battles, my fav goes to Zyko and Ma Xiao Long's. It's a relatively silent performance, but loud in meaning and symbolism. The epitome of quiet strength. I like the flow and concept of succession that they are trying to convey. And DD's reaction. 😆 I also really like Huang Xiao and Ken Ken's. I thought it was brilliant to use the concept of mirroring to show Yin and Yang.

• AC attempting Locking. Good try! I love his personality. It was super awesome to see him pair up with Ibuki. I said it last week but ain't his new haircut cute?

• I've always known DD to be a smart guy but he has high EQ too. You can tell from the way he reacts, not just in SDOC but in other interviews. He has his own pace and he doesn't take the bait even if you try to get him to react to something or react in a certain way. He's not the kind to shoot his mouth off as well. For eg. his reply to Henry's attempted provocation before their battle "Aiyo, what to do?" in that cutesy but slightly annoying way, throwing the ball back to Henry. Like I'm not being rude, I'm still giving a response but I'm not playing your game.

• "I lost. I only got 4 votes." Can see that DD was slightly disappointed at himself and the team but he was still very objective when appraising his team. He knew going into the challenge they had issues. This is something I admire about him. I have no doubt In his head he's thinking how to be better, how to solve the issue etc, rather than feeling down. Compared to season 3 when he ranked last in the captain's first show, where he was visibly disappointed. You can really see his growth and change in attitude in the past year. Like him telling Nelson to do more of a certain dance move, cos that's what the judges like. Him rambling on about how fair this voting system is, despite losing. Now, results are not as important; he's really there to learn. He's more relaxed. Not just in SDOC but like in general, DD seems more cheerful, carefree this year. I love it.

• Hahaha Rochka's sweet revenge against DD. He's probaby the only one who can say that DD's performance is so-so. They're both so good natured.

• It was cool that the foreign judges had short performances.

• Acky San 'Firstly I want to tell everyone, I didn't contribute!'

• Unpopular opinion but I really like Bunta and his style. I had my eye on him since ep 1. The 'best friends' dance that he cheoreographed with Ye Yin was great but this week's performance by the waackers/choreographers was just amazing. Amazing. Truly my fav of the season so far. And the part where he collapsed at the end? Hope to see at least one or two more performances from Bunta before he inevitably gets eliminated. He is so underrated. I hope DD chooses him to join his team as choreographer but I have a feeling he might go for Chun Lin?

• As usual, Xiaoji was so entertaining. Can he join DDU as a co-host?😛 I think he gets undermined a fair bit and relegated to the comic relief sometimes but the guy has some great moves that I hardly see others using. Like the free fall one and the other one where he bounces across horizontally. All these require a lot of core strength and body control.

• I kinda wished they had cued DD to join the Lockers. That would have been amazing and I'm sure DD would have killed it. The boy was so excited the moment the familiar locking music came on. Give him the chance to share the stage with the OG Lockers whom he admires so much, please?

• Next week's ep looks so fun. And we get to see DD and his fav Hammer dance again.

DD gets it. He really lives and breathe street dance culture. Seeing him get excited over the song choices of the locking performance and reminiscing the times when he used to practice with the same song. Also, DD correctly identifying which member choreographed which segment of the waacker/choreographers group dance says a lot of his observation skills and understanding of the participants' expertise and styles. Also his experience. Also, DD always seem to get the underlying storyline eg. The Japanese theme. And that is why he has gained the attention and respect of the dance community, both from participants within his team and even other teams, in the show and outside. He knows his stuff.

I saw a comment made by a C-BXG, that WYB was a dancer first before an idol. As a child, he learned dancing to become a dancer. Because of his love for dance. Whereas for many others, they learn dancing with the aim of become an idol. That's the difference, and that's why he can relate to the dance community. Cos they have the same experiences. He really gets them.