#Literally the whole reason I started watching AEW | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fancysasquatch · 2 years ago

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Click on this read more link for a 1k+ word rant about why I've been bummed about wrestling lately

Alright, I assume most of my followers don't know much about wrestling so I'm going to try and explain this as best I can.

So, my current favorite team of professional wrestlers is this group called the Best Friends, who as the name implies are all best friends with one another. The current lineup of the Best Friends is

Trent? and Chuck Taylor Tag team partners for the past decade, they were the first two to use the Best Friends name, Trent's mom Sue sometimes drives them to matches in her minivan

Orange Cassidy Literally just Paul Rudd in this scene. Wears denim on denim and aviators, so lazy that one of his signature moves is putting his hands in his pockets, currently the All-Atlantic champion (which is the company's third men's title belt, don't ask my why they need three)

Danhausen A parody of horror wrestling gimmicks, he's like if Sting were just a silly little guy

There's also a fifth member, Kris Statlander, but she's out with an injury. Some people tend not to take the Best Friends seriously because they lean towards the goofier side of wrestling, but most of the members are actually good wrestlers so in general they're well liked.

This coming Sunday there's a special event pay-per-view match, so for the past few months All Elite Wrestling (the company the Best Friends wrestle for) has been building up several different feuds to get people excited for the PPV and make them more likely to watch. The Best Friends have been feuding with an evil group of wrestlers who stole a Golden Globe from the actor Paul Walter Hauser. Given the Best Friends' popularity, the fact Orange Cassidy still has a belt, and the fact that their feud keeps being brought up pretty much every week, it seemed like a shoe-in that they'd have one final showdown at the PPV. Personally, I would have scheduled a wager match where the Best Friends would put up Orange's belt and the bad guys would put up the stolen Golden Globe, and whoever won got both, but that's just me.

I have to go on what seems to be an unrelated tangent now, but I promise it'll tie back in. Until recently the AEW tag team champions were this duo called the Acclaimed, two thirty year old wrestlers with "How do you do fellow kids" energy. One of them drops a diss track on the way to the ring, and it's always the weakest bars you've ever heard. I hate them but they're super popular. Their manager is Billy Gunn, also known as Daddy Ass (it's a whole thing I can't get into right now). Billy Gunn used to be part of the three man team with his sons Austin and Colten Gunn, also known as the Ass Boys, but they betrayed him to join a different group of bad guy wrestlers called The Firm.

Recently the Ass Boys have gotten jealous that their dad helped their rivals become the tag team champions, and so the Acclaimed and the Firm have been feuding over that. Last month the Ass Boys managed to beat the Acclaimed to become the new tag team champs, and during the PPV they're going to have a rematch against the Acclaimed and two other tag teams. Those other two teams were decided in a pair of battle royales, where 10 tag teams fight it out and the last man standing wins his team a spot in the title match.

The reason I'm mentioning all of that is because those two different feuds started crossing over when the Best Friends and the Acclaimed started helping each other fight their rivals. Trent? and Chuck entered the first battle royale, and Trent almost won before being the final person eliminated by one of the guys the Best Friends were feuding with.

So going into the second battle royale, it seemed pretty obvious that they were building up to Chuck and Trent? winning and being the fourth team in the title match this Sunday. After all, they're involving the Best Friends with the tag team title drama, and those guys are the tag team at the heart of the Best Friends who came just shy of winning the week before (the final three came down to Trent? in a 2v1, which he would have won without outside interference). And you know what? Good for them. Even though they're pretty well liked they haven't had a title shot since 2020, and they've kind of been overshadowed lately. Orange Cassidy has his title belt, Danhausen topped the company's merch sales last year, and even Kris Statlander was close to winning a title before she got injured. It was high time for Chuck and Trent? to get the spotlight for a change.

That wasn't what ended up happening, though. About an hour before the second battle royale they announced that Chuck and Trent? couldn't compete because they were still too (fake) injured from the week before. Instead the tenth team in the battle royale was going to be Danhausen and Orange Cassidy, who have only fought as a tag team in AEW once, in a non-televised house show two days before the battle royale. They wound up winning the battle royale, in a pretty unsatisfying manner, and beating out 9 actual tag teams for the last spot in the tag team title match.

So not only did they take the one group of wrestlers I care about most and tie them in with a storyline I don't care about at all, they took the one silver lining of the whole thing (Trent? and Chuck being seen as serious tag team contenders for once) and tossed it right out the window at the last minute for no real reason.

Now, I've read some theorizing that Chuck and Trent? might still be in the title match, either by invoking the "Freebird rule" (where groups of three or more can collectively act as a regular tag team by having any two members wrestle at once), or just having Orange Cassidy and Danhausen be forced to back out because Orange is too hurt to wrestle (which they were hinting at) and having Trent? and Chuck fill in for them. Neither of those seem likely to me, though, because they specifically didn't have those two win the fourth spot on purpose, so it doesn't seem like they're just going to give it to them now.

Instead there's another, even crazier theory I've seen which I think might have a decent shot of coming through. One of the most popular AEW wrestlers who currently doesn't have a match scheduled for the PPV is Hook, a promising young talent and the son of one of AEW's announcers. He teamed up with "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry (another promising young talent, also the son of the late Luke Perry from 90210) for a few matches against the Firm earlier this year, and it seemed like JungleHook was going to become a permanent tag team that was going to be the ones to team up with The Acclaimed, but then Jungle Boy's mentor-turned-nemesis Christian Cage came back from an injury and derailed that. But last year Hook spent a lot of time with Danhausen, and if they do say that Orange Cassidy is too injured to fight on Sunday then Hook might come in as his replacement to team up with Danhausen for the HookHausen reunion.

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adampage · 2 years ago

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Hi. I see you as a sort of Hangman expert, so might you have any recommendations of your favorite matches of his or just his best?

Hi! sorry this took a while to answer, yesterday was a super busy day for me so i havent really had the time to reply until now. Thank you for seeing me as a hangman expert; it's totally not the case as I really haven't seen too many matches from before he started in AEW, but I will give you some that I enjoyed for different reasons. Adam Page vs Zane Dawson - CWF Mid Atlantic Wrestling - Jan. 25, 2014: I like this match because the color commentator is literally all of us. He is a very loud country man objectifying and complimenting Adam with his whole chest. There is a point in the match where Adam does a beautiful indian deathlock and the commentator is just. Chef's kiss. I also just love to see baby Adam in all his glory.

Hangman Adam Page vs Kota Ibushi - Supercard of Honor - Apr. 7, 2018: this match really shows off how agile and fast he is and can be. the man stood toe to toe with kota fuckin ibushi. he's a badass.

Hangman Adam Page vs Kazuchika Okada - G1 Climax 28, Day 5 - Jul. 20, 2018: love this one because the story going into it is that Okada, who had lost his IWGP heavyweight championship, was kinda....gone off the deep end. rather than being the badass rainmaker, he dyed his hair red and was all spiky, didn't come out in his badass robe, was always smiling, and had balloons with him all the time. during the g1, i had my url as balloonmakerokada because i thought it was funny. im digressing - so hangman didn't want to wrestle this okada. he wanted to wrestle the badass, the man who held the title for so long people didn't know a world where he wasn't the champion. he wanted the REAL okada. so he spent the entirety of this match trying to bring him out. it's great. he curses, does the okada pose. love that for me. hot.

Hangman Adam Page vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - G1 Climax, Day 7 - Jul. 22. 2018: love this one too for story purposes. the ace promises everyone that he will take the poison out of hangman. he knows he has so much potential and the bullet club is just making him worse. he wants to save him. and they're also both comedy kings. i lvoe them together.

Hangman Adam Page vs PAC - Wrestlegate Pro - May 18, 2019: it seems he's had TWO great matches on may 18 because the takeshita match three years after this one on the same date is also fucking good.

Matches from AEW i've liked him in that i can remember:

Hangman vs Takeshita, May 18 2022

Adam Cole vs Hangman (Texas Deathmatch), Apr 15 2022

Adam Cole vs Hangman, AEW Revolution 2022

Hangman vs Bryan Danielson 1, 2, and 3 - Winter is Coming, New Year's Bash, and the post-All Out dynamite 09/07

Hangman and Kenny vs the Young Bucks, AEW Revolution 2020

Hangman vs Kenny, AEW Full Gear 2021

I'm sure there are more but my memory is really bad. i hope these are good ones for you to start with!

if anyone else would like to rec some, you are more than welcome to!!

also, nonnie, i'm certain my friends @cowboyshit and @adam-page also have some good insight into other matches of his that you might enjoy, as im certain they've actually uh. Watched ROH and possibly NJPW more than i have.

#emi replies #nonnie #hangman adam page #hangman page #adam page

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blacktofade · 2 years ago

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hi hello! i’m trying to get into wrestling, thanks in part to your excellent fics, & im not sure where to start—do you have any advice? should i just watch the next match & catch context where i can?? i’ve seen the hookhausen primer, but beyond that i don’t know much of the Lore…what do you think?

Thank you again for your patience while I was out of town and couldn't answer this! I'm now ready to settle down and show my whole ass and admit I don't really have any good advice, but what I'm about to talk about will be specific to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is trying (and succeeding imo) to be WWE's younger, more hip sibling.

I'm gonna stick this under a cut because this is a stupidly long reply to your question. And I'm also gonna refer to a generic "you" as I'm hoping this will help other people who are thinking about hopping onboard.

The first trick to enjoying wrestling is by following your pussy (or pussy equivalent). The second trick to enjoying wrestling is finding one or two people to scream at. I don't speak for everyone (obviously), but I've randomly messaged so many people in fandom and they've all been happy to yell about our favorite clowns at the circus.

(For anyone reading this, my messages are always open, or you can find me on discord @ blacktofade#2949. Just know that I have every notification turned off and I will see things when I see things lmfao)

For me, getting into wrestling (again, specifically AEW) went: reading fic on AO3 -> watching some content of one specific wrestler on YouTube -> watching what I could of the AEW weekly schedule -> finding more wrestlers I liked and reading more fic on AO3 -> rinse and repeat.

There's too much lore (and often content) to feasibly digest it all as a new fan, so don't sweat it. Just have fun watching what you have time for and figure out who you enjoy most. Just remember that you're allowed to like anyone for whatever reason. We're all just here for a good time.

Also, most of the lore is hand-wavy at best. Most match promos are basically one person going "you did my man dirty by looking to the east on a wednesday at 5pm, therefore I have no choice but to fight you" and the other person says "yeah okay let's settle this in Ohio in a week like adults". Just go with it. Sometimes even with context, shit just doesn't make sense. Your job is to sit there going "yeah! kick their ass!" and to love every camp minute of it.

The great thing is that a lot of matches are on YouTube. Just search "[wrestler name] match" and you'll most likely find 10 years of content waiting for you. Pick at random. Don't try to go chronologically, or you'll drive yourself insane. See a thumbnail that interests you? Click it.

If you're lucky, you'll pick a wrestler who vlogs a lot (looking at you, Mr. Danhausen) and you'll be introduced to other wrestlers by association.

My favorite thing is watching two people wrestle on one of the AEW shows, and then looking them up later and finding out they had a major feud between 2010 and 2014 on three different continents and I'm very late to the party. This is part of the fun. Their history plays as big (or as little) a role as you want it to. You make the rules for your wrestling adventure. Anyone who says differently is a huge fucking nerd and you can tell them I'll meet them in the parking lot after school.

Now, for actual helpful info on how to literally watch wrestling:

When/Where to Watch?

Wrestling nights are every night Mon, Tues, Wed, and Fri with the following schedule:

Mon – Dark Elevation on YouTube @ 7pm EST (midnight UTC) Tues – Elevation on YouTube @ 7pm EST (midnight UTC) Wed – Dynamite on TBS @ 8pm EST (1am UTC) Fri – Rampage on TNT @ 10pm EST (3am UTC)

The Mon and Tues shows are the easiest to watch since they're on YouTube and you can watch them whenever you want after they air. They usually save the meatier matches for Wed and Fri and there are plenty of ways to watch those while sailing the seven seas 🏴‍☠ and I definitely won't share info about these if you message me...

It took me the longest time to figure this out, but they film the YouTube matches on the same days as Dynamite/Rampage (which are live shows). For example, an episode of Dark might be filmed on Friday, but won't air until the following Tues. Which is why you might see the same outfits or people in the crowds, and also why you might see spoilers on socials from people who were there in-person for Dynamite/Rampage.

Live shows have a post show for people there in-person, too. It's typically along the lines of "let's bring out this wrestler and you can clap and they will tell you they love you". Sometimes, it's a lil extra kayfabe beef between wrestlers. And sometimes, very kind people record these and put them online for us to gobble down. Would definitely recommend searching YouTube or Twitter on weekends after shows.

Throughout the year, they also have Pay Per View (PPV) events, which are additional-cost shows typically on weekends and they're like 5 hour of pure nonstop wrestling for $50. They're a blast. Highly recommend if the brainrot is eating you alive.

Independent Wrestling?

I have dabbled only slightly outside of AEW, but for $10/month, you can get a subscription to IWTV (Independent Wrestling TV, not to be confused with Anne Rice's masterpiece lmfao), which has an insane amount of matches, an excellent search engine, and a video player that isn't pure trash.

This is a particularly fun investment once you've started to get to know the general AEW roster, because familiar faces pop up EVERYWHERE.

Finding Matches?

One of the hardest things is trying to figure out where to begin with finding matches for a specific wrestler or team.

CAGEMATCH is the single most important wrestling resource on the internet. Hands down.

You can search for any wrestler and it will compile a neat little list of every single match they've ever participated in. It will also tell you who won, how long the match was, where/when the match took place, and usually where you can (pay) to watch it. This can be extremely helpful for 1) writing fic and 2) finding lore between wrestling characters.

WTF is Kayfabe?

This also took me way too long to figure out, but kayfabe is the act of pretending what happens in the ring is real (real fights, real beef, real characters, etc). They're not doing fancy stunt work, they're actually kicking the shit out of each other. Most interviews are kayfabe compliant as they sit there and go "yes, on wednesday I will be murdering my enemy live on stage". It's very fun.

The "not kayfabe compliant" tag on AO3 is typically used when the fic uses shoot names (aka real names). For example, Donovan vs. Danhausen, Jim vs. Orange Cassidy, etc.

Fandom Etiquette?

Wrestlers are often easy to interact with, whether it's here, or Twitter, or Twitch. Don't. Don't even look in their direction if you're posting about ship-related content. Don't send them links. Don't @ them. If you want to keep your space safe, block them and stop them from seeing your content.

On AO3 you can lock your fic to give an extra layer of protection (and sometimes some cunt will send an ask to a wrestler here on tumblr telling them specifically how to get around it lmfao). Do what makes you feel comfy. I leave mine open because if anyone finds it, that's between them and god. I also haven't felt shame since the 90s.

ANYWAY. TL;DR: there are many ways to get into wrestling, but I hope you have fun on your wrestling adventure because that's the important thing.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

PS: For anyone who wants the Hookhausen Primer, you can find it HERE.

#I need to start an official tally of the victims I've lured into wrestling #it's at least four or five people now #xmentsch #answer #wrestling primer #of sorts #i really am just a noob tho so anyone is free to correct me on things #i'm not tagging this as aew tho because I don't want real fans to see #this is for me and the girls (gender neutral) only

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piastrinorris · 2 years ago

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quite literally nobody asked for this and it's a very niche crossover but this is what i think the spicy six's favourite aew wrestlers are/what each one's relationship is with wrestling

apologies in advance, i got really into writinig these lol.

starting off with the person who i think really got a lot of them into wrestling, robin. i like to think her whole sexuality awakening happened after she couldn't sleep one night, she tried to sneak downstairs to get herself a snack but her dad was up late watching wwe. transfixed by the female wrestlers on the screen, her dad thankfully mistook it for an interest in the sport and started letting her stay up late on wwe nights to teach her all about wrestling - the moves, the lore, the trickery of performance. she does end up loving the technical side of things soon enough, her and her dad go to a lot of indie matches together. she started watching aew when cm punk returned, but her favourite very quickly became nyla rose, especially when she learned about nyla being the first openly trans wrestler in the american pro circuit.

nancy initially doesn't take an interest in wrestling when robin starts trying to teach her about it. she thinks that it's all staged and she doesn't understand how people can believe that it's real. then one night she walks into the room to see robin watching dr britt baker, d.m.d. nancy asks robin isn't it misleading to tell people she's a doctor? robin explains that britt baker is an actively practicing dentist who also happens to show up and wrestle 1-3 times a week. nancy starts taking an interest in britt's fighting style specifically - something about being someone who helps others in need by day and a badass who throws people around at night is nancy's dream. nancy doing so is also robin's dream, but a very different kind. robin finds it hilarious when nancy starts cheering for specific moves, ooh-ing when moves look and sound especially painful, and continuing to watch long after britt's matches have ended.

eddie is also a wrestling sceptic, but for a different reason. he doesn't understand how people can watch something where the entire premise is grown men in skimpy outfits putting their hands all over each other and take it seriously. enter the obvious favourite for eddie: danhausen. eddie completely embodies that chaotic little gremlin man. he runs around doing the t-rex hands and the stare, 'cursing' everyone that defies him. he makes 'very nice' and 'very evil' patches that he puts on each side of his vest. steve draws the line at eddie trying to recreate danhausen's face paint, but he does find it funny when eddie shouts "send hook!" at him as he gets a bag of chips thrown at his face. he starts letting robin teach him about other wrestlers' backstories, feuds etc and he gets super invested. robin starts noticing some familiar-sounding lore from the npcs in eddie's dnd campaigns, but she doesn't call him out on it, she's just happy he's taking an interest.

steve certainly has a soft spot for hook, not just for the hookhausen parallel but also the whole legacy of hook being taz's kid, his commitment to the bit of being silent and stoic (aside from with danhausen ofc), his overall performance. but above all else, steve loves watching mjf. it started off with robin excitedly telling him about the cm punk/mjf rivalry, and he'd happily listen to her ramble and he'd watch with her if they were hanging out together, but he never went out of his way to watch it. apart from the dog collar match, of course. he offered to cover that pay-per-view, which robin had to really fight herself not to tease him about. robin's interest in mjf dwindles after his rivalry with cm punk, but steve gets really into the mjf/wardlow arc. he watches every episode of dynamite and rampage, and every ppv, just in the hopes for crumbs in their development.

jonathan has been into wrestling for pretty much his whole life. will even says he used to take inspiration from characters he and jonathan would make up, but jonathan's characters would always be wrestling personas he always wished he could perform as someday. jonathan prefers the indie circuit most of all, he isn't so keen on how wwe operate, but he watches njpw and aew religiously and, more importantly, silently. one day, when robin's telling the group about the bullet club, she gets hangman adam page and adam cole mixed up. jonathan quietly corrects her and her jaw drops. she starts shouting at and shaking him asking why he never told her sooner, which nancy soon puts a stop to, reminding robin that she's gonna scare him off. they chat away for hours over it, none of them have seen jonathan talk this animatedly about anything and steve jokes that none of them would have gotten dragged into being wrestling fans if this had all happened sooner. jonathan's all-time favourite pro is kenny omega, but he's pleased to see cesaro claudio castagnoli out of wwe, too.

argyle just kinda passively watches any wrestling that jonathan does, he isn't especially into any particular feuds or backstories, sometimes he asks jonathan what certain moves are called or whether he's seen this wrestler fight another that he happens to know the name of. however, whenever willow nightingale is on the screen, argyle is hyp. no. tised. no strain of weed has ever rendered him as incapacitated as watching her. the others start making a game out of what they can do to mess with argyle for as long as she's fighting. jonathan brags one time about how he'd saved up to go watch an indie show in new york and so he'd actually watched her perform live and argyle still asks him about it.

#stranger things #all elite wrestling #spicy six #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #eddie munson #steve harrington #jonathan byers #argyle

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biolums · 2 years ago

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hiii hope ur well do u have. bl recs..i trust ur taste immensely 🫶🏾

HIIIIIII SORRY THIS IS SO LATE I WANTED TO HAVE TIME TO DO THIS AND NOT RUSH IT!!!!!

so first of all. i DO watch a lot of shitty bl its a past time i greatly enjoy BUT this will be a list of shows i recommend because theyre GOOD fjdjsjkfksjdkf also idk how much bl youve watched if any!! so if youve seen all of these i can and WILL rec more im just putting the ones i would recommend MOST rn

adding a keep reading. this is a bit long i apologize jfsiodjf

1. Bad Buddy (available on youtube)

WAGHHH this show changed me as a person… rivals to friends to lovers, romeo and juliet, secretly dating… its just sooooo good. its about pat and pran, who have lived next to each other their entire lives BUT their parents Hate each other. occurs mostly in college where they live across from each other now (sighs.. fated lovers…) AND their friend groups hate each other too. rivals 2x… however theyre forced to work together because the university is threatening punishment if the two groups dont stop fighting.

this show seriously is just SOOO good and i relate to pran on a personal level. both like… autistically and loving pat-ingly (ohm pawat.. whew hes Such a man)

2. Where Your Eyes Linger (available on viki? or dramacool if you want to pirate it lol)

OK a lot of people rate this kind of mid in kbls BUTTT its forever my favorite idc. its about a chaebol and his bodyguard who was essentially adopted by the family for the Sole purpose of being his bodyguard. set in high school and features just the most wonderful yearning and also for some reason they only have one bed in the apartment they share. goes into power structures and stuff a bit which i thought was cool :) basically the bodyguard has been in love with the chaebol his whole life but never acted on it because 1. thats not his place and 2. taejoo is Straight. he yearns quietly until Uh Oh… someone starts taking kang gook (the bodyguard)’s attention away from taejoo and he gets jealous.

3. I Told Sunset About You (available on viki. i watched it on dramacool)

AUOGGH.. this show will tear you into pieces. its just such a BEAUTIFUL and cinematic experience i love it so much… notable things to mention: features cheating and an obscene amount of crying. i love this show but i cannot do crying scenes. it was a struggle fjsjdjfjdjdjf anyways this show is about two childhood friends who are now rivals. theyre trying to get into college and taking classes outside of school to prepare, where they meet each other for the first time in quite a few years. teh is insanely jealous of oh aew for being popular amongst other things and it causes a lot of. tension. teh has a girl hes been flirting with for years and oh aew has a guy he likes but they both feel an INTENSE pull to each other. one that isnt easy on their relationships or theirselves.

OH!!! also this show features a ton of thai-chinese culture and is set in phuket as opposed to almost every other thai show being set in bangkok.

also i dont recommend the sequel. i havent watched it but it has some. problematic tropes that leave a bad taste in my mouth. also just destroys the characters! idk thats just my opinion though im sure SOMEONE likes that show..

4. Until We Meet Again (available on youtube)

ok. first of all. this show is about the red string of fate and reincarnated lovers. im warning you now that it literally starts with a double suicide scene and its. its a lot. HOWEVER. i do really like this show!! its sweet and does justice to both its trope and the couple who commit suicide. basically pharm, a stick of a guy who experiences panic attacks and nightmares that he cant explain, enters college and meets dean, the captain of the swim team. they both definitely know something is up and have feelings for each other but they have to navigate flashbacks and discovering what happened to their past selves (in and korn). ALSO has a side couple whos show is currently airing!!!! im not putting between us on here since its still airing but i do recommend it :)

ugh second warning. this show ALSO has soooo much crying……….

5. Gaya Sa Pelikula (available on youtube)

when i say this show changed me as a person.... god i genuinely have sooooooooooooo many emotions about this show. it follows karl, an architecture student. he moves into his apartment and.. some guy runs in and puts a hand over his mouth and tells him to be quiet. No he is not getting robbed but he doesn't know that. QUEUE fake dating and cohabitation to appease vlad (the guy who ran in)'s sister. genuinely has some of the best most incredible characters ever made and features incredible depictions of internalized homophobia and struggling to live your own life rather than the one someone else made for you. god just thinking about this show is makingme emotional i miss karl and vlad :(

i think this show was supposed to have a season two but something happened with the cast/production crew (im pretty sure it was SA but im not sure) and so theres no sequel. it has a cliffhanger/bittersweet ending but genuinely i think that shouldnt impact whether or not someone watches because its sad YES but its just actually such a good ending and i would have hated if they ended it another way. one of the realest and most human shows ive watched. the BEST depiction of the gay experience ive ever seen. genuinely please watch this show just for that it made me cry and laugh and sob and giggle with how nuanced and thoughtful it is about gayness

6. cherry magic (ITS AVAILABLE ON CRUNCHYROLL??? i watched it on dramacool. lmao)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH the movie sequel just came out and i haven't seen it yet but im soooo excited for it. cherry magic is one of the most endearing shows but it doesn't sacrifice character development or plot for cuteness. the premise is that when you turn 30, and youre still a virgin, you turn into a mind reader. which is a big premise to sell i KNOW. but they NAIL IT. adachi (the mindreader) is introverted, insecure, and uncomfortable in his skin, but his new powers force him to come to terms with himself and exist as a person. he avoids touch as much as possible as everyones thoughts can be A Lot BUT he brushes against the office hottie/mvp and finds out that he (kurosawa) has a crush on HIM. adachi doesnt understand but tries to figure out why this incredible guy could love a shy and awkward person like him. features an aroace side character and a side couple i ignored (save for the cat. udon lovers unite) its just such a sweet but powerful show and i love the characters so much :((((

7. hes coming to me (available on youtube)

OHM PAWATS BACK IM SORRY HES JUST MY FAV AND ALSO THE BEST ACTOR EVER. anyways this show has SUCH a soft place in my heart i truly think its such a special show. its about a ghost who is never visited at his grave and therefore cant pass on and a guy who can see ghosts. Thun has seen ghosts for most of his life but he hasn't really talked to any. Mes has been dead for awhile and longs to have someone SEE him and TALK to him. when thun is a kid, he sees mes and leaves him some offerings. but he doesn't return for a very long time. thuns now a college kid and when he returns to the graveyard, he finally talks to mes and they click. from there, they work together to figure out how mes died to try and help his spirit move on, but develop feelings along the way. has the most HEARTBREAKING coming out scene ever. ohm pawat seriously deserves so many awards. ALSO has a lot of thai-chinese culture!!

i have mixed feelings about the ending. its complicated i like it and i dont like it.. if you watch it youll see what i mean sdfhsoidfjsido

OIADJOASI:JDOIS IM STOPPING HERE THIS IS SO LONGIM SORRY LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE I JUST DONT WANT TO MAKE THIS NOVEL LENGTH IOJF:SDIJSDOI:JIOD

OMG EDITING TO SAY THAT GAP THE SERIES IS A GL CURRENTLY AIRING THAT I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RECOMMEND AS WELL!!!!!!! we stan the autistic queen sam is and mon whos just doing her best in a lesbian world. without knowing shes a lesbian. Somehow

#i had sooo much fun doing this i hope you like it!!!#im sorry its so late finals week was brutal. it destroyed me #BUT IM BACK AND BRINGING THIS WITH ME :)#honestly i have so many more recs i just Really didn't want this too be super long #honorable rec is the untamed #its not technically bl (adapted from gay novel BUT censored) but i disagree #xiao zhan did not put his pussy into that show for it to be called a bromance. has anyone ever considered.#that its NOT necessary to have a kiss scene or a love declaration scene and that maybe. its just enough to have the story #because thats what the untamed is.#iofjsodifjsoidghouifgi;dg i got sidetracked sorry #thank you for asking me this :( you made me blush idfjofishd #let me know what you think if you watch any of these!!!!!!!!!!!!#ily <3 #asks #bad buddy #where your eyes linger #i told sunset about you #itsay #until we meet again #gaya sa pelikula #cherry magic #hes coming to me

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dreadwhoop · 2 years ago

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Reviewing the All Elite Wrestling personnel 2022 Edition (Part 3) -

Part 0 - https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/697331836428353536/reviewing-the-all-elite-wrestling-personnel-2022

Part 1 - https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/697332640769081344/reviewing-the-all-elite-wrestling-personnel-2022

Part 2 - https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/697333058207154176/reviewing-the-all-elite-wrestling-personnel-2022

REMOVE

After their failure to rebrand themselves as The Dark Riders with Adam Page, The Dark Order has floundered for any relevance beyond beating The Factory over and over on AEW Dark. Had Stu Grayson and Anna Jay still remained this would be a harder sell but with Alan Angels also gone and Colt Cabana exiled from on-screen duties, the cast is down to its most pointless and fruitless members. Let me be the first to say I have all the respect in the world for a company putting on a tribute show to the untimely demise of one of their top talents who deserved better. However, with all due respect, if Jon Huber were alive today he'd of died from embaressment. The company has treated The Dark Order like a joke and never as any kind of creditable threat but when you factor in Pres10 Vance is FOURTH PLACE IN THE OVERALL WIN LOSS RATIO over Wardlow or Powerhouse Hobbs then no...I already made justifications to get rid of John Silver on his own terms. People who are happy to be there and not to be stars should go. The whole group is a farce and in shambles. The House of Black was simultaneously a better and less successful version of the whole thing. They're in shambles too. This whole group is a waste of time and effort let it end.

What a difference a year makes. AEW's biggest dissapointment. Ruby Soho deserved a chance to shine - she was being held back right? She got opportunity after opportunity and in the end fell flat. Literally falls flat - her finisher, No Future, either whiffs or has the effectiveness of an enziguri hit by a decayed sloth. Loses to the Women's Champion, loses her chance to be the first TBS Champion, and continues to be a loser where every win holds better talent back. It's embaressing to see her be so worried about what she does in the ring and her win over Kris Statlander in the Owen Hart cup cemented the tethering of patience AEW fans had waiting for her to justify beating better talent. I groan every time she shows up and now, thanks to Tay Melo, may not be showing up much at all. A tragic and cautionary tale as to why you don't hire every Ex-WWE person.

Why did Santana have to be the one injured and not this guy?! It's just not fair. Ortizitious is a condition involving the tongue being unfurled from the mouth and past the lips of the victim and then 'pants' or otherwise 'wags' the exposed muscle in front of everyone until you have the reflex to retract until the next time you are afflicted with said condition. Ruby Soho is a big sufferer of this but so are many others. Never forget Ortiz started all this. Ortiz deserves the door he's incredibly boring to watch at best and infuriating any other time.

Under normal circumstances an injured wrestler shouldn't be cut for these reasons but with Darius the true detriment is how much he'll hold his brother back as a tag-team. He can't be trusted to wrestle in any capacity than a supporting role and yet he's not needed here either. He's no Kris Statlander or others sidelined with injuries. He's a waste of promotion. Sorry Dante but he's no good. Cut him.

The world's most boring wrestler. A poor man's Pac. No direction, no promo ability, no psychology, no fundementals, no crowd reaction, nothing but a good looking body and an average height to stake a claim on. Jonathan Gresham has everything this man has and he's been marginalised. Tony Nese teams with a guy called Josh Woods who overshadows him in every way and you could argue he's painfully average in presentation. It's ridiculous this guy still has a job. At least with jobbers like Fuego or Peter Avalon the presentation has some comedy to it. Tony Nese is just a lost cause.

Do I need a reason? Aside from what happened recently, AEW has long needed to dismantle one of the most damaging examples to modern tag-team wrestling. Everyone will say they hold FTR back, trying to turn them into the modern day Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon and, whilst true, you have to also understand they also held back Private Party's momentum and now they're jokes, The Butcher and The Blade, who aren't taken seriously, and even Best Friends or SCU or Dark Order or Jurassic Express or any tag-team. Any. Out of the 8 teams to hold this belt in 3 years only 5 still exist including The Young Bucks. It's why The Acclaimed and Swerve in our Glory has proven not only are Matt and Nick Jackson not needed but they're not missed either. They're so insecure they didn't even let Brandon Cutler come out, even as a joke, for the House of the Dragon episode in terms of who would be their 3rd partner in the trios tournament. Oh and how could anyone respect a person after losing a fight to a guy who had a torn pec? Nobody should put these guys over ever again and, as the biggest reason why AEW has problems right now, they need to be held accountable and be fired or become the jobbers they've made everyone else barring The Lucha Bros. Don't come back.

It's time to hang it up. Matt's sad tribute act was due to his brother who is a foregone conclusion in terms of also leaving. Matt has no business on TV anymore - he can be a backstage agent like Christopher Daniels. Stiff knees, dazed looks, tough as nails I'll give him this, but he's hard to look at - a shell of his former self. Why give him wins? He has less chance of being a big star than Dustin Rhodes does these days. Manage talent, be on commentary, just please stop wrestling. I'd rather see Mark Henry or Paul Wight in the ring which is to say I'd rather not them either. Retire with dignity before it's too late.

The prophecy is incomplete but I cannot wait another year. The time has come. We got part 1 completed with him winning the tag titles with Jungle Boy. Now all he needs to do is finish it with putting Jungle Boy over and we're done with this doofus. The fact this guy nearly ended Rey Fenix's career should be enough reason to remove. Every year he almost gets the cut but I stay the execution well now his time has come.

You probably forgot she even existed. It's worrying to think at one point they were contemplating her being a serious contender for the Women's title. Did you know she beat Kris Statlander on a PPV this year? Like Red Velvet, Leyla was never destined for greatness and her complete lack of charisma or presence makes it the kind of deal I worry she'd be inserted into the BCC instead of Jamie Hayter. Get rid of this charisma vacuum and channel changer.

If MJF calls himself The Devil then Chris Jericho is Keyser Soze. The greatest trick The Magician pulled is letting everyone call him The Wizard because he sure has pulled the curtain over us all. A masterful conspiracy has played out where Jericho has resurfaced as a top talent, because he's booking his own segments, whilst latching onto every big name and fan-favourite until they're squeezed out of relevance. Everyone from Santana to Orange Cassidy to Eddie Kingston to even MJF - the list goes on and on - and not once was it to benefit them because who is still being booked at the top whilst the rest follow behind? The man with the master plan. Look at the past at who I've slated to remove - 2.0 to Jake Hager to others latched onto Jericho. Is it any wonder why Jericho has to go now? Look Chris Jericho is a good wrestler - he still can go - but this is it. He's done it all. It's all played out. He's the last of a generation where his contemporaries are either retired, dead, or passing the torch to a new generation. Hi Rey Mysterio! Look at Sammy Guevara - the most protected person in AEW. He is always causing issues and yet nothing happens to him. Why is this? Hmm...isn't he always with Chris Jericho? What a coincidence. Is Chris Jericho bad for AEW? Let me answer with a question and you can figure out if I said yes or no - if Chris Jericho were released would it hurt AEW? Because your answer will be the same as my answer to the first question. Jericho should of been the one to hand off to a new generation - the kind of thing CM Punk spoke out - the kind of thing Dustin Rhodes wants to pass the torch over - the rub of a veteran to help those who need to be names in this business. Who has he made who didn't already get made without him or are hopeless without him? It only works one of two ways for Jericho - you are either better with him or he buries you subtly and plays out a performance worthy of WWE's favor. The weakness of those unable to call this out is why AEW has growing pains. If it turns out the entire CM Punk/Young Bucks + Kenny Omega situation was secretly orchestrated by Jericho and Moxley then it certainly validates why they're the biggest benefactors of their leaving. Remember a rule in life - whenever something bad happens look to who gains from the situation and ask yourself if it didn't happen would they have not gained more than if it had happened. This is why bad things happen. Maybe you still don't get it. Maybe you never will. It is too late to change what Jericho is to you or to AEW. All I know is the future of AEW is not Jericho. It will be the end if he stays.

#AEW #all elite wrestling #personal opinion

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fallout-lou-begas · 2 years ago

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who would you say is your favorite wrestler? also please keep filling my dash with these big hot women wrestlers thank you

honestly i think it's kris statlander (which means there will be plenty of big hot woman posting). she's not even been medically cleared for in-ring activity the entire time i've started watching AEW but i've been going nuts on youtube and stream sites watching basically every statlander match that i can just because she's so strong and cool and fun and her movement is so expressive and a joy just to watch and her fits are to die for and on top of everything else her technique is just absolutely killer. i think if she so much as looked at me i would explode with a crunchy poor stock explosion effect, for dyke reasons. it's funny because it's like, i miss her but haven't even seen her live on television! i miss her without even knowing her! anguish. agony. i've also been watching a lot of thunder rosa matches just because she's the other really crucial wrestler out on indefinite injury leave and my god she's a blast. goes apeshit. again, just so much fun to watch; like statlander she just has that je ne sais quoi where she could be doing the most basic possible moves in the ring but it's still compelling because she's the one doing them, and she's just got it. this is probably just a form of confirmation bias but digging into the backlogs for these two wrestlers, it really does throw into relief how badly the women's division is limping with all the injuries. but maybe if kris wasn't doing the double-suplexes that made people fall in love with her, her knees wouldn't have exploded so it's like...man.

as far as wrestlers that are Actually Wrestling Right Now: i do love that jamie hayter and she's basically carrying the women's division of AEW singlehandedly on her shoulders rn because the whole outcasts thing is just foul but takes up so much oxygen; mox for his rabid desire to bleed and fluid-bond with every man who enters his field of vision; bandido is a lucha who i've only seen in the ring once, against bryan danielson, but who was AMAZING and i want to see him and his fucking execution-shot gesture running attack over and over; MJF for being literally perfect in every way as a champion heel to the point where i genuinely hope darby, sammy, and jungleboy all fail to take the title because i just think it would be a huge downgrade in entertainment value; samoa joe for being DA KING OF TELEVISION; stu grayson for being apeshit (and dark order in general is always such an entertaining stable); brian cage for being probably the epitome to me of the ferocious kind of Terminator heel who just destroys people, like the motherfucker looks like a miniboss in a batman video game; keith lee is a wrestler that i fell in love with basically immediately when he showed up to diss chris jericho and then i fell in double-love with him in the ring when he gave chris a fuckin polite little kissaroo on the forehead between blows.

honorable mentions go to Wardlow who i hated at first but who has sucked so much that he has endeared me. getting his car broken into. losing the title immediately. my ex-husband pointed out that he's a hired goon without a boss, like a stray cat, and it broke my little heart. the poor guy is acting out! he's troubled! there's also a lot of women wrestlers that i would love to see a lot more of like willow nightingale and nyla rose but either they're all wrestling on friday nights (i only really watch wednesdays) or the outcasts' feud with jamie hayter is really just burying opportunities for Literally Anything Else to happen in the women's division. jade cargill is an absolute beast but she has literally run out of people to fight so i hope taya valkyrie or something finally takes the belt away (as it's looking like) so that jade can do something else beside mulch regional guests. and yeah i think i do like britt baker as a wrestler, the dentist gimmick is good to me, she's good in the ring, and i know the legit feud with thunder rosa is messy and shitty but whatever, i like her matches (including THE hardcore cage match WITH thunder rosa pre-feud). honestly when rosa comes back, maybe they patch things up face-to-face or maybe they don't, but in either case i'm expecting a fucking barnburner of a grudge match that'll make the hardcore cage match look like a kindergarten classroom

#asks #louposting #wrstlng

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skamamoroma · 4 years ago

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I Promised You The Moon - Episode 1 Thoughts - aka did John Hughes direct this and not tell us?

Oh I had to wait so long today to see episode 1 as I was working but I am so very happy I waited till I was in bed and with a cup of tea... which I then cried into four times. So that’s where I’m at. This is going to be long, I’m not even sorry in the slightest!

For ITSAY, I made so many posts about this show and how moving and beautiful it was, how the symbolism and writing was exceptional, how the music was absolutely incredible and how much I adored BK and PP’s chemistry. P’Boss’ work is special and the feel of Part 1 was a delicious kind of awkward, indie movie full of metaphors, fraught pain and emotion and pretty breathtaking storytelling of love and growth. I fell absolutely in love with Teh and Oh and their story, obsessed with Teh as a character (as I see a lot of myself in him and I love when he spirals) and I just felt utterly moved by the whole show. So I never needed Part 2. Part 1, for me, is perfect. And I certainly didn’t expect to love Part 2 as much or feel as much emotion because I just thought it wouldn’t be possible especially with a change of director and city and storyline... but I genuinely think that was a good idea after seeing Episode 1.

I just finished it and I’m kinda tear stained and the first thing I couldn’t get out of my head was just how much it reminds me of the late dear John Hughes movies from the 80s. Those of you who are a little old like me born right at the beginning of the 90s, will have been brought up on those movies filled with 80s synth music, stories of growing up, artsy camera work and filled with colour and emotion. Those movies are some of my all time favourites and I absolutely felt their influence on Episode 1 and maybe the rest of the season, I don’t know! I really wonder if P’Meen used them or was aware, hahaha. Anyway...!

But first off, I cannot, and I mean CANNOT handle the music. Part 1 really did floor me with the use of the score and how it was such a huge part of the reason it was so beautiful. Phuket Dreams has me in tears about 3 notes in... so cue me crying at the remixes of the old score with 80s synth sounds and almost Dream Pop echoy sounds. That right there is my jam, my absolute favourite music and the way IPYTM is so clearly going to be full of it makes my heart very happy. Especially those last scenes with Oh, that sweeping 80s style music taking him from heartbroken pain to dancing to forget had John Hughes all over it and just felt so impactful. So I will bang on every week about the music I’m sure.

As for the beginning and the casual buying of condoms (yesssss god damn Nadao, thank you for safe sex lessons for LGBT+ youth and a nod to actual sexual expression, I’m mega proud) leading into the way Hoon and Suri were involved (they didn’t give me Tuty 😭) in transferring Teh, it felt like such a gorgeous transfer from ITSAY vibes to IPYTM... watching Teh’s mamma so proud, Hoon watching over him as always and then gently leading into the first moment that made me cry...

How dare they put a remix of the old score over Teh being told by his mamma that she accepts him as he is so casually and softly, in a way that not only lets Teh know he’s loved but welcomes Oh as someone she cares about deeply and is happy being someone her son loves. It was beautifully done and I couldn’t help but think of Teh’s teary face on the Cape at the end of Episode 5 and thinking how proud I am of him. The way Hoon stroked his hair - help.

Teh. Now I made no secret of the fact that I loved every moment of watching Teh go through it in Part 1, how his very physicality and struggle played out especially him writhing all over his rug! But we had to see him grow. He isn’t the same boy he was but he still feels like Teh, just a little more comfortable, a little more mature in some ways and just READY for life. He feels tentative but also prepared to grow more and I just adore him. Oh, on the other hand, the one who was much more secure in himself in terms of his self and sexuality in Part 1 is now absolutely thrown into the unknown and isn’t handling it well.

Oh was established so beautifully as a Phuket boy. His name is rooted in his home, he lives in shorts and by the sea, he’s shaped by that place and what it means to him... his signature scent is coconut! He literally embodies Phuket... so it doesn’t in any way surprise me that we are watching him flounder and feel lost. It feels so human and so many moments felt so moving. When he told Teh that the best part of his day was seeing him, when he imagined the waves on his mind, when he listened to his mamma talk about the coastal weather... it’s hardly surprising that he cried as he was asked to explain his name. That was the second moment that got me. I was a wreck. Watching him break down and fall to pieces infront of total strangers just because he was recounting the meaning of his name, the foundation of who he is, the thing he misses to very much... he doesn’t fit, he doesn’t feel at home and he didn’t feel himself. It was beautifully done, for me. I caught my breath the second he started crying because it was so utterly human and raw. I have felt the way he does and recognised every second on his face. PP has come so so far with his acting.

Then we get the mention of Yongjian. NOW SOMEONE TELL ME IS THAT TEH AS YONGJIAN IN THE TITLES? If so, how dare they spoil it?! I am going to weep uncontrollably if Teh gets his dream. But the way Teh spoke of their future, the way he tried to recreate their past with Yongjian’s speech. Their entire history as friends and boyfriends is rooted in that story, that character, the idea of being Male protagonists... and Teh is so sure of their future. Also, you cannot also avoid the meta of it all with BK and PP. That moment and their words felt so personal to them too and their own real lives!

Do not even start with how their first kiss in Phuket was underwater and arguably their first kiss in Bangkok is the same albeit in public. DO NOT LET ME THINK ABOUT THIS TOO MUCH.

The issue is that, Part 1 set out for us how they ended up where they are. Oh fell into acting, it was never his dream from the start. Then it all became a fight, a thing to win from his rival and in the end a thing to prove. We haven’t really ever see Oh show a passion for the stage and acting, not really. He worked so hard to get his place in Uni but there’s so much irony at play. Their entire story of rivalry has actually caused this current situation. Oh “won” the coveted Uni spot (helped in part by Teh) and Teh “lost” and was making do. But we see how that’s not how life goes. Oh never really felt he knew what he wanted and so he just ploughed on. He’s now in a situation where he has to start deciding, has to be his own person and he’s just... lost. I can’t wait to see him find it whatever it may be! The difference with Teh is that he may not have got his number 1 desire but his passion is ENOUGH. He loves what he’s doing and that moment where Khim (is that her name, I forget now, it’s so late, but Goy’s character) was explaining the lights was gorgeous. Teh’s passion was ignited, you could see that “oh wow” moment... and you can see the difference in how they’re going to progress, Teh didn’t need the top Uni because his passion can carry him and will help him succeed whereas Oh doesn’t know what his passion is and perhaps he’s where he is for the wrong reasons after all. The story telling is lovely to me, if completely heartbreaking.

The tears came again at “but I’ve already given so much of our time to other people”. Oh the tears. The boat scene from ITSAY is my favourite scene of the show and that line is one of the most beautiful bits of writing I’ve encountered for a long while... and to see Teh use it and remember it and effectively set out the issue they’re facing was heartbreaking. They made that promise on the boat and they’re breaking it. Oh-aew is trying to be what he thinks Teh needs and Teh is wide eyed and filled with this new world and getting to indulge his passions. They’re both so human and both trying the best way they know but they’re so young and so unsure and have so little life experience that they don’t know how to be adults or how to manage all of this stuff. They know they care and love and are each other’s person but they have such a lot to learn.

So the introduction of Q and the boys... and let me say they’re glorious... feels both beautiful and tragic because they look like they will be accepting and also potentially LGBT+ themselves or maybe Q (I see your gorgeous painted nails, sweetheart and the way you didn’t question Oh saying “partner” for a second)... but also they’re what Oh is using to fill the time he promised to Teh. It’s not Oh’s fault. He deserves friendship and a world of his own too but he was relying so much on the familiarity of Teh and Teh’s presence to keep him grounded and comfortable but he can’t do that all the time. He is trying so hard to be good and thoughtful and kind that he’s not telling Teh the truth. He’s doing what he said he wouldn’t do on the boat, but we can’t blame him in the slightest, he’s the sweetest boy.

I have so much to say but I guess that’ll do for now. I really loved the episode. Yes, it’s different but I think I realise now why it needed to be. In a way I’m kinda of happy about it because ITSAY stays sacred!!!! It stays as that beautifully fraught and emotional indie movie of my heart filled with metaphorical depth. It can’t be touched as far as I’m concerned but with IPYTM it feels just as moving, just as emotional, just as impactful but in a different way that reflects maturity. I don’t think it would have worked if it still felt fraught and characterised by ITSAY vibes. They’re not kids, they’re not insecure about who they are anymore in terms of their sexuality and they are moving into adulthood.

I know it’s going to break me. Episode 1 had me genuinely crying into my tea but I also know that it had the potential for its own special brand of symbolism and meaning. We can already see some special moments which seemed to be saying way more than the words themselves like the speech on light and how we see things and the way Oh even used it himself to see a different perspective at the end. That felt really very meaningful. They’re going to need to be able to see different view points as they navigate what will probably be a shit ton of pain! They will need to adjust to the light, to their circumstances to be able to survive and for their bond to be what is important without allowing other stuff to pass into their line of sight. Oh saw nothing. Empty stage, no Teh, not even himself... he opened his eyes too soon. He needs to learn to adjust and learn how to see the world and his place in it so that when he opens his eyes he sees what he desires and has worked for and made for himself rather than emptiness.

The last thing for me is the chemistry. What more can you say other than they’re perfect? They have the most natural, enigmatic, intense and sweet chemistry. They work so beautifully together. They sell even the smallest of moments and they absolutely destroy with emotion. I just feel every second of Teh and Oh’s emotion and that is such a damn skill. Their talent, man.

So I loved it. I am going to be dreaming tearstained in 80s synth music tonight! I can’t wait for the rest to emotionally destroy me a little more.

#ipytm #i promised you the moon #ipytm thoughts #itsay

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shinjaeha · 4 years ago

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ipytm ep 1 (thoughts + spoilers)

so it’s been SUCH a long time since i last did one of these thoughts/recaps posts but !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! god, i’m just so happy that ipytm is HERE. FINALLY. it’s felt like forever, but it’s so wonderful to have our boys back again, and to be continuing on with their story :’) even though i know we’re all in agreement that this won’t be an easy journey for the two of them (or us).

the usual ‘this is not a proper analysis’ disclaimer here. i’m literally just rewatching the whole thing and getting all my thoughts out here (so idk if this is even considered a proper recap but oh well). just whatever comes to mind so it’s as unstructured as always.

SO. we start off with teh and oh-aew playing rock, paper, scissors over having to do something they both clearly don’t want to do. it seems that we all had the same thoughts on this bc as they were playing, all i could think was “imagine if they’re doing this to buy condoms” only, low and behold, for it to ACTUALLY be true 😂 but good to know that our boys are practicing safe sex, i’m so happy for them :’) chaste/virgins no more!!!!! teh being as awkward and fidgety about this as always (I’VE MISSED THIS SO MUCH). they’re just so cute and i’ll never shut up about it!!!!! watching the last ep of itsay was like me exhaling and finally getting to relax a little, but i know that now ipytm’s started i’m gonna have to start holding my breath all over again. so i will def try to enjoy as much of the fluff as i can. i’m never taking that for granted ever again!!

one thing i really love is how itsay ended with them at promthep cape during the sunset as a new couple, and now ipytm’s opened at night, the both of them on the beach in the moonlight, as proper boyfriends. the contrasting images we get at both these scenes is so poetic and beautiful. just seeing their clothes strewn on the hammock is enough to bring all those memories rushing back.

they already kind of set the tone for how both boys, particularly oh-aew, were going to feel with ‘last twilight in phuket’, so it’s not altogether surprising to see oh-aew’s reluctance to leave phuket, and teh’s excitement to go to bangkok. this also makes a lot of sense in terms of their personalities. teh has always been the one that was the more ambitious of the two, so of course anything that brings him a step closer to his goals will excite him, and uni in bangkok has been the first major goal since the very beginning. oh-aew, on the other hand, has never been quite as decided or sure in terms of his goals and aspirations as teh, which would certainly make him feel a lot less enthused about leaving the comfort of home. he’s always been more cautious and careful, where teh tends to be the more impulsive one, so naturally he’s the one that feels more worried about this change while teh’s basically counting down the days till they can leave, not a care in the world.

the contrast between phuket and bangkok is already so jarring from the beginning. where phuket was so relaxed and sleepy, so many open spaces where there was no one else but the two of them...our first shot of bangkok is busy and bustling, cars and skyscrapers everywhere. the two shows are obv connected, but with this new setting, this is a completely different story. we’re (literally) in new territory!!

SO HAPPY TO SEE TEH’S FAM AGAIN!!!!! i’ve missed them too (esp hoon!!!!!). i love it so much that his mum just KNEW. and that she let him know that she knew in the most thoughtful way too. in a way where she was looking out for oh-aew as well :’) it’s interesting how i was genuinely expecting that they would focus a little more on teh struggling to be out in public, but it looks like that that was the main obstacle of itsay, and they’re looking to tell a different story now. he’s so much more comfortable with himself and it really shows. the one person that teh always wanted approval from was his mum (i mean, the initial reason that he wanted to become an actor in the first place was bc she told him how much he looked like yongjian), so once he realised that she knew about him and oh-aew (and they had her blessing), it’s like that’s all he needed. just that acceptance from the person that he respects the most in the world. it reminds me so much of that time he cried to hoon about liking oh-aew and how he was afraid that he wouldn’t be accepted bc he liked boys, and hoon was so clear about how he was okay with it no matter what. teh’s family are always showing him how much they truly love and care for him, and it’s so beautiful. just another weight off his shoulders now that he’s finally free to be himself and to love oh-aew out loud in public and not care about anything else. i’m glad that they got that out of the way so early on so we know that it’s likely not going to be one of the conflicts for the two of them in ipytm at least.

anyway, i’m so happy that they’re finally communicating directly to one another now that they’re a couple...hopefully, no more passive aggressive ig stories pls 😂also, the way safe zone starts playing the moment they see each other!!!!!!!!!!!! i wonder if nadao will also has sad acoustic/piano instrumental versions of safe zone on hand that’ll make me cry like they did with skyline........

FIRST BANGKOK DATE IN THE AQUARIUM!!!!!!!!! the cinematography is just a+++++ but then we knew it would be. i love that shot of them in the aquarium with the fish as their backdrop. it’s just SO stunning.

the voice recording was SO SWEET. and the way that oh-aew was so touched by teh’s mum’s approval. it’s a weight of his shoulders now too. one less thing to worry about for the future. it’s prob esp emotional for him bc hearing her talk about coming home to phuket to have a meal together must make him feel so incredibly homesick too.

“your mum is romantic, isn’t she?” and then teh really one ups his mum by KISSING OH-AEW IN PUBLIC. it’s the romance for me!!!!!!!!! with the fish in the background...like saying there are so many fish in the sea but you’re the only one for me...sorry, i’m a sap but i just love them so much okay ;;; i live for teh referring to the both of them as a couple/boyfriends and oh-aew pretending like he doesn’t absolutely love that and teh teasing him about it. he’s grown so, so much since the very first ep of itsay. even since ‘last twilight in phuket’ when he was too shy to kiss oh-aew on the cheek and now, in an even bigger city, he’s kissing him on the cheek AND the lips in public like it’s nothing. like it’s the easiest thing in the world. remember back when bas was confessing to oh-aew in their chinese class and teh had his breakdown bc it was so easy for bas yet it was something he couldn’t do?????? LOOK AT HIM NOW. WE’VE COME SO FAR. the character development makes me feel like a proud parent, and i’m SO happy that he’s happy and proud to be with oh-aew. and most importantly, proud to be himself. he really went through so much to get to this point 😭

ANYWAY, this kiss is everything. the contrast between their first kiss, when they were both underwater hidden from view, and now, still surrounded by water, still in their own little space, but on land this time. out in the open. no longer hiding. how you can hear everyone around them speaking in the background, but then when teh leans in, all the sounds fade away bc they may be surrounded by other people, but it’s still just the two of them. their underwater kiss was beautiful, but it always left me with this sadness bc of how restricted they were. this one is so much more satisfying now that they can love each other uninhibited like this. out loud. i really, truly just love them with every beat of my heart ;;;

teh talking about how one day he’ll be on that movie poster reminds me of when they were kids watching ‘sword over the moon’ and he jumped up and told the gang that he wanted to be an actor when he grew up (oh-aew was the only one who didn’t laugh at him back then too). he’s still that same boy, young and idealistic :’) and it’s also so nice seeing how confident teh is now about the two of them both being the male protagonists. like back when oh-aew originally brought it up (and asked if two male protagonists would be okay), he could barely nod his head in response, and now here he is boldly proclaiming that the both of them will be protagonists (a real couple) on movie posters, in different series’ and movies together. although we know the naiveness of this, and that things will prob not work out as smoothly as they’re imagining it will at this moment, it’s still very sweet. they’re just so young and in loooove.

teh spending his first night in bangkok at oh-aew’s place!! first thought, damn oh-aew’s place is real nice...so different from the dorm that teh’s sharing with his roommate. second, they could not be anymore adorable :’))) third, teh leaping out of bed in panic the second he heard what time it was was me yesterday morning after staying up half the night watching ep 1 and realising i was late for work...itsay/ipytm being relatable as always haha.

i like how from the get go they show you how different school in phuket and uni in bangkok is. teh was late a bunch of times in itsay too, and would sneak in without any of his teachers realising...but here he’s late and gets reprimanded on his very first day. anyway, must be nice to have a boyfriend surprise you by preparing milk for breakfast for you (well, i guess unless you’re lactose intolerant like i am hah).

i got soooooooo excited the second i saw goy (and oab!!)...i love the both of them so i really can’t wait to get to know more about their characters (as well as the rest of the new cast of characters) throughout this. it’s one of the things that i’ve been most looking forward to them exploring in this series. but yeah, teh fanboying over top?? i agree with kim. super cute. anyway, i’m already esp intrigued by jai...i was leaning towards him just being a senior/mentor for teh initially (which i still think will be the case), but i also get ~vibes from him that there’s something more to that (though i’m just speculating for now). he’s mysterious, and i have no doubt that there’s more to the story than meets the eye js.

all the tables and chairs at this restaurant are blue and red (as well as their uni ties)...they really gave us our official itsay/ipytm colours whenever possible 😂 in all seriousness though, i feel so sad for oh-aew. when teh asks how his first day was and he’s just like “i have the most fun being here with you now” and then you can see the sudden concern in teh’s face and voice when he’s like “why’s that?” that hurt :( seeing oh-aew sad is the worst...he’s just such a sweetheart. and just like in itsay where teh’s confusion and struggle in accepting his sexuality was such a relatable experience, oh-aew’s difficulty in adjusting to uni and life away from home is too. i totally understand where he’s coming from, and it fucking sucks. making friends in uni (ESP when you have no other friends that went with you to the same uni, and everyone else already seems to know one another) is so. damn. hard. i’ve been in this position so many times before...i’ve gone to unis and gone semester after semester without making ANY friends. it’s such a different experience from high school, and the transition can be really, really difficult. that plus the culture shock of being in an entirely new city with barely any support. i’m actually really glad that ipytm is delving into this experience a little bc i don’t think a lot of shows do tbh.

it also makes me think about how when you’re in high school, getting into uni seems like the end goal a lot of the time (the way the admission exam was always their main goal in itsay), but then you get to uni and you realise that it’s just another step. there’s so much more life once you get in. and that sometimes it’s really not all that it’s cracked up to be.

that sequence of teh progressively waking up earlier and earlier as the sky also gets progressively darker (and taking all sorts of different methods of transport) to get to class on time made me feel so bad for him. working on the play until almost midnight and then having to wake up at like 5am every morning (and not even being able to do fun things like teach oh-aew chinese at 4am anymore?)...the poor kid ;;;

i love plays/musicals but tbh i know next to nothing about how anything backstage works, so i really do love that we’ll get to learn more about that in this series. kind of like how the itsay/ipytm documentaries teach me so much more about how the acting/filming process works behind the scenes. i’d never even really thought about how the stage crew would have to adjust their eyes to the darkness in order to rearrange the props on stage, so that was fascinating to me. it’s such a visual and symbolic aid for the show itself too.

i get the feeling that teh and kim will become a lot closer, and i can’t wait to see how their relationship develops. it’s so great that teh has all these new seniors that he can learn from. just like the blindfold helps him adjust to the dark, having them there to guide him through makes it so much easier for him to adjust to this new city and this new stage of his life.

i knew that oh-aew telling teh to sleep at his dorm was coming bc poor teh was running himself ragged, and oh-aew’s always been so accommodating of teh. he’s always been able to understand...but he’s having so much trouble adjusting, and he’s SO lonely and homesick, it makes my heart ache for him. all these little things tend to build up over time. they’re still in the sweet, honeymoon period of their relationship so it doesn’t seem like a big deal now. but when life gets busy, it becomes increasingly easy to grow apart from someone without even truly realising it (and it’s the same for any type of relationship or friendship).

the emptiness of oh-aew all alone in his huge place :((( like although teh might not particularly like his roommate, he’s basically never alone like this, even in his dorm. he’s homesick and when everyone else is busy with their own lives, it can also feel like you’re being left behind.

yes, they’re playing pp’s new ost!!!!!!!!

FINALLY we meet oh-aew new group of friends!! they seem so sweet. also, why is oh-aew saying his own name like the cutest thing in the world to me :’) i was smiling about how glad i was that he finally found a new gang of friends and then my poor boy started CRYING...but then they basically adopted him into their group and it made me feel more at ease again. i constantly want to hug and reassure oh-aew this whole ep. q making him bingsu to give oh-aew something as close to the taste of home as he could was soooooo lovely. he really needs a friend atm, and i’m glad that he found a bunch of them.

i was so afraid that teh was gonna drop the prop as he was waving to oh-aew haha. that interaction?? adorable. then again, it’s teh/oh-aew, so of course they are. also wondering if there was any significance to that glance between jai and oh-aew bc i know this crew never just puts things in this show randomly hmmm.

aaaaand i was waiting for the first real crack to appear, so when kim was saying they were gonna have to keep fine tuning the play for the contest, i was like OF COURSE. i have no doubt that teh would give up working on the play if oh-aew told him too, but we all know that oh-aew would never ask him to do that. it would be like teh relinquishing his place all over again. and oh-aew knows how goal oriented and driven teh is. this is one of the minor conflicts that has been brewing since the start of itsay, but i think that it’s going to become a much bigger deal now that their actually adults and there are new goals they’re striving towards. the both of them have pretty much always had the same goal, but what happens when this changes...

“but i’ve given so much of our time to other people already” they had to hurt me with that one huh.

but also, the “text me once you arrive at your condo” is a special one for me bc to me that text in itsay was the moment when oh-aew realised that teh might have feelings for him...and i feel real nostalgic about it.

if you think about it, in regards to his aspirations, oh-aew has always been pushed or motivated by teh in some part. when oh-aew was yongjian in the play when they were kids, teh helped him remember his lines, and this in turn made him want to become an actor. when they fell out the first time, one of the reasons oh-aew was so driven to succeed was bc he wanted to prove to teh that he wasn’t going to quit. teh tutored him in chinese so he could get into uni. the first time they ran to the cape, he almost gave up if it hadn’t been for teh motivating him to keep going. he nearly didn’t sit the admission exam until teh relinquished his spot which then spurred him to keep studying so he could get in on his own accord. in oh-aew’s own words, teh has basically always been his biggest rival and inspiration. and even now that they’re in phuket, oh-aew’s been so dependant on teh bc he’s been so lonely...and doesn’t have anyone else in bangkok with him (up until he met his new friends).

originally, i’d speculated that while itsay focussed on teh’s journey of discovery and self-acceptance, ipytm was going to focus more on oh-aew’s journey of discovery and self-growth. and i think based on this ep, it does seem to be heading in that direction? i just get the feeling that oh-aew’s going to learn to become more independent throughout the course of this series. he’ll grow and change, and as a result that may mean they grow apart, but i also think it’s a necessary and healthy thing for the both of them. and just bc you grow apart doesn’t meant that you can’t grow back together again eventually, you know?

but yeah, still doesn’t mean it’s not going to pain me to watch the angst we all know is coming. when teh gave the flowers back to oh-aew, that made my heart ache too. and it felt even more symbolic after watching pp’s mv for ‘hold me tight’ where the sunflower seems to represent oh-aew himself (always turning towards the sun...but what about during the night??). when oh-aew closed his eyes, opened them, and couldn’t see teh on the stage?? it’s both kind of like he’s imagining some sort of future where teh isn’t there with him AND that he’s realising that maybe the stage might not be for him anymore. the passion isn’t there...just darkness. like it was signalling a new chapter starting for oh-aew...and everything in this ep up to this point was just the set up for this realisation.

in the end, what i really want is for the both of them to be happy. that’s always been what i’ve wanted from the start. but i also really want to see how they mature and grow through this experience. watching this ep felt bittersweet in a way bc of that underlying angst that was threaded throughout (even in their happier moments). i only expect that to get heavier with the upcoming eps, but i’m also weirdly a lot more at peace with this than i was during itsay. maybe bc i think it’s arguably even more important and necessary for them to grow as individuals, than as a couple (as much as i want to see them together). i genuinely do believe that they’ll find each other again in the end though.

#i promised you the moon #ipytm #text #the first time i watched this i was like man idek know to SAY and then i rewatched and ended up writing a whole essay (again)#another thing that i like (is like the right word?) about this conflict is that this is no one's fault??#like you can't blame anyone directly bc sometimes you get busy...life gets in the way and there's nothing you can do #even if you try your best #and you might be in love with someone but sometimes your paths don't always align #this is hitting esp close to home with me bc one of my friends just broke up with her bf and i've been talking her through it recently #and the changes in life goals thing is eerily similar to what went down so :(((

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buttdawg · 3 years ago

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Plane Ride from Hell

I watched the new episode of “Dark Side of the Ring” to see what everyone was talking about, and yeah, it’s pretty messed up. Some stray observations:

I felt bad for Teri Runnels, because it was clear that she was going through the same kind of sexual harassment as the flight attendants, only it lasted a lot longer than a single plane ride. She kept saying “Don’t sell it” as her response to these kinds of thing. I get the feeling that this used to be sound advice for dealing with locker room pranks, but it mutated into this code-of-honor for excusing everything, up to and including wrestlers exposing themselves.

It occurred to me later that this might be why Curt Hennig became such a notorious prankster. The stories I’ve heard over the years suggest that lots of wrestlers would do terrible things to each other in the name of “ribbing”, and Curt Hennig took it to a whole other level. I’m wondering if maybe that was his defense mechanism for that sort of toxic culture. Maybe he decided there was no fighting it, so he made it his business to excel at it. I mean, who’d want to rib Curt Hennig? He’d just escalate it to an absurd degree. So it sounds like your only defenses are to “play dead” or “get them before they get you.”

But it’s kind of funny how everyone told Teri “don’t sell it”, but no one said it to Brock Lesnar that day. It just exposes the hypocrisy of the whole thing. If Brock exposes himself to Teri, she’s just supposed to live with it, but if Hennig messes with Brock, then Brock can just start a fight on an airplane.

I was at the grocery, and this four-year-old was just screaming “The Hokey Pokey”. I could literally hear him from halfway across the store. And yeah, “don’t sell it” is pretty good advice there, because it’s not that big a deal, and what are you going to do? It’s not worth getting upset about it. Tommy Dreamer seems to think that reasoning applies to Ric Flair strutting around nude in a charter plane. That’s pretty messed up.

There are people trotting out the defense that it was a “different time”. Okay, but they were calling it the “Plane Ride from Hell” during 2002. People got fired over it during 2002. Everyone knew it was fucked up, even then. There’s only a renewed sense of outrage because this Dark Side of the Ring episode is finally shedding some light on what really happened, and they’re not sugar coating it. I mean, yeah, people are probably more sensitive about this kind of thing than they were 19 years ago, but it was a scandal at the time. WWE did everything they could to cover it up, because they knew how bad it would be for their PR.

I’d even go so far to suggest that this might be why they didn’t fire more people after the plane landed. If they fired a lot of wrestlers all at once, it would attract more interest to the story, and there would be loads of ex-employees willing and able to tell their side of it. That seems to have been the general reaction from WWE’s management. Vince was upset about the whole incident, but only because of the embarrassment it would be for his company.

In particular, I find myself focusing on Jim Ross. I mean, it doesn’t sound like he did anything wrong on the PRFH, but his retelling of events sounds like he wants to have been an impartial, helpless observer, while at the same time he claims ownership of the whole fiasco. He’d explain his job description like he’s in charge of “the boys”, but then he’d also say things like “I can’t watch everyone every minute”. It sounds like he had a role in hiring the charter plane, but no one seemed to know how it had an open bar, or who approved the second and third cart of liquor after the first one ran out. JR claimed that he was the one who had to fire Hennig and Scott Hall, but he’s also quick to say that he only did it because Vince McMahon told him to. So there’s this sense that he’s just a middleman, executing orders from higher up. “I’m responsible, but if you don’t like how I handled things, it’s someone else’s fault.”

I just don’t get how all the wrestlers act like this was totally normal behavior for a bunch of drunk wrestlers stuck on a plane for 14 hours. Someone said that you had to wear sunglasses and a hat while you slept, so that you at least had a chance to wake up before someone tried to shave off your eyebrows. Ric Flair’s “helicopter” bit was so well known among the talent that they had a name for it. Ross said that if this had happened on a commercial plane, they would have had law enforcement waiting on them when they landed in the U.S. And yet, it sounds like there was zero plan in place for how to deal with the wrestlers if they got too rowdy.

I mean, it’s 19 years later, so maybe it’s obvious in hindsight, but it sounds like it would have been pretty obvious back then, too. So I can’t tell if Jim Ross was too naive to do his job, or he lacked the tools to do it properly. They asked Ross pointblank why Ric Flair wasn’t punished for cornering a flight attendant while he was naked, and Ross said he didn’t know. He suggested that Ric was a “made man” by that point, which doesn’t pass the smell test.

This isn’t an old vs. new issue. Ric Flair was 53 when the Plane Ride from Hell Happened. Brock was in his 20′s when he flashed Teri Runnels backstage. Dustin Rhodes was 32 during the Plane Ride from Hell. He’s 52 now, and he’s wrestling for AEW to this day. Darby Allin is a rapist and he’s working for AEW now, and he’s 28. Somehow, these guys get conferred an immunity from any consequences of their bad behavior. It might have something to do with star power or favoritism, but a lot of times it seems purely arbitrary. Tommy Dreamer was 30 during the Plane Ride From Hell, and he’s 50 now. He was never a “made man”, but he seems to find nothing inappropriate about Ric Flair’s behavior that day, then or now.

I don’t know what the solution to any of this is, but I do find it ironic how the episode opened with JR explaining that the charter plane was hired to be “talent friendly”. They were having a great year financially, and they were on a lucrative European tour, and morale was high, and I guess WWE wanted to do something nice for their wrestlers. But as the episode wore on, it became clear that WWE management seemed all-too-willing to bend over backwards for their talent. They let their guys bring syringes on board for crying out loud. Curt Hennig was drugging people’s drinks. No one was imposing any rules on the talent, and no one was in any position to enforce the rules. And when a few people actually did get fired, the guy who did it felt guilty about doing it.

Leniency and permissiveness can be just as dangerous as strict, draconian micromanagement. If you let your employees get away with anything, they’ll start getting away with everything, and the bad actors will start to make life miserable for the others. Without realizing it, WWE was basically punishing Teri Runnels for just existing on this plane. She can’t retaliate, and she can’t complain to management, so her only choice is “don’t sell it.”

I’ve always heard what a tyrant Vince McMahon can be, on and off screen, but really, I’ve come to notice how his greatest flaw is his indecision. Given two choices, he’ll refuse to make up his mind until the last possible moment. He books DQ finishes and no-contests rather than pick a winner. He hires a small army of writers to script his shows only to tear up their work right before they go on the air. He was on the Plane Ride From Hell. His wife was on board with him. It’s bizarre to me how we never hear what he was doing during the whole incident. But the answer is apparently “nothing”, and that probably explains a lot about why his employees felt so little pressure to behave themselves.

#wwe #plane ride from hell #afterword: i really think it's silly how they kept talking about michael hays' ponytail #like i get it #if i woke up and half my beard was gone i'd be upset #but everyone acts like that's the worst thing that happened on that flight and no #it's not even close #maybe vice only brought it up to make that point #or they just wanted to make sure everyone knew this was the same plane ride story #i kept waiting for them to talk about steve regal urinating on a flight attendant #but that was a different flight #when he was in wcw

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nomoregoldfish · 4 years ago

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I Promised You The Moon rant

Just binged it and this was from the episode by episode reaction/discussion with my partner in crime @glossyboy.

First of all, Oab stole the show, singlehandedly, which he's not supposed to. I don't think anyone expected it including himself. In the very top post when I searched his name on tumblr, he said this lol

But the truth is he played one hell of "villain" that required a very nuanced performance and he delivered it in a believable and graceful manner. Jai became the catalyst of the entire season and his rather complicated relationship with Teh was the highlight of part 2.

EP 1

From the very beginning it's clear that part 2 is very much a Teh's story rather than a balanced story about two young people's journey as a couple in the next chapter of their lives. It makes me uncomfortable they made Oh-aew clingy and pessimistic without giving him any character development.

The best part is probably the opening scene where they went paper-rock-scissors to decide who's gonna buy condoms. It felt authentic, the expectation, the hesitation, the mischievous act, all fits their characters well. Other times ep 1 was more like two adult kids playing house, literally in an empty giant ass upper middle class apartment.

EP 2

It's great that they poked the femininity vs. masculinity issue through Oh-aew, but stopped right there at the surface. Missed a perfect opportunity to go head-to-head with the controversial topic, start a debate, crush the stigma of femininity, bring something new, be a real game changer of the BL genre, and most importantly give Oh-aew some concrete character development. Part 1 showed us a gay character that's very comfortable with his sexuality and femininity, that's almost revolutionary in Asia, not as a comic relief but a leading role. Oh-aew questioned his own sexual identity once in that bra wearing scene, it's straight out of comfort zone, BOLD, and transgressive. So I expected more from part 2.

That's it? And they're already sophomores? Can't believe Oh-aew's character has been marginalized like this. It's pathetic.

But I love the brutally honest conversation at the end where Teh vented his rage and despair regarding his frustration of acting. He was acting like a dick because he's disappointed, and scared. Teh again was not afraid of showing vulnerability, making the reconciliation very realistic and touching.

EP 3

Dare I say I freaking love ep 3! The unresolved (partially sexual, but not entirely) tension between Teh and Jai was over the roof! And the built-up to their kiss was very authentic, which paled Teh and Oh-aew's much sidelined storyline, including the long anticipated sex scene (still can't believe it happened right after Jai explicitly instructed Teh to do it after the two spent a whole night bonding, like wow! Totally TRANSGRESSIVE and to some extent, kinky.) Teh looked up to the senior, idolized him, wanted to be good for him and make him proud, thirsted for the validation from him, which was mixed with affections. The workshop diary was a brilliant idea to let them open up to each other and eventually bring them close. This was what a meaningful arc of a story looked like. By contrast, there isn't a single moment between Oh-aew and Teh in part 2 that made me go "Damn it's soooooo hot!"

I know Jai/Teh wasn't the endgame but I appreciate the storyline so much. It's a very bold move considering it broke the over-glorified "one true love in one's life" fantasy of its target audience, mostly young cis women. The popular narrative of "you can only love one person through your life/one true love" in romance fictions/chick flicks was totally smashed. And it wasn't written just to stir up things between Teh and Oh-aew, it wasn't a silly fling. Instead, it's meaningful, complicated, natural, and realistic, delivered by nuanced and excellent acting from two young actors. It's hilarious that fans hate Jai with a passion and call him names.

And big news, Jai is bi?! Bravo! He's radiating bi vibes since his first appearance.

I kind of gave up at this point, the season wouldn't do Oh-aew any justice. Like my partner in crime pointed out, the costume design literally threw some "incongruous female fashion pieces" on Oh-aew, made him dye his hair red, without...making any actual point of his personality or his character development. Wardrobe was supposed to make a point in storytelling. Yes, PP wearing pink is cute, and? There's nothing else for Oh-aew. Unfortunately he's reduced to this sulky, crying, and wronged partner in a failing relationship.

EP 4

Oab again was killing it. The tension between Jai and Teh...from the rehearsal in front of Oh-aew to the dressing room pep talk, was incredibly intense and hot AF.

Was it a manipulative relationship after all? Oab was so good at conveying a character with many faces. Jai's a mentor to Teh, also a good friend, their relationship was genuine. He's also ambitious with his own goals, he used, challenged, provoked Teh in a way that benefited them both. It made sense the title of part 2, I Promised You The Moon, was from Jai's script. He promised Teh what the junior wanted the most, a bright future in acting. Teh's unconventional and unspoken feelings for Jai was the best part of the entire season in terms of creative writing, it's complicated, fragile, delicate and completely heartbreaking.

The after talk in the hallway was so well-written. It's funny (Teh joking about playwrights always write about their EXs is gold), intimate yet meticulously controlled, no one lashed out or wept. Both knew what they signed up for and Jai particularly made it clear about his motive and the purpose of the "special workshop" beforehand (or right away.) Yet it's no one's fault that Teh got carried away. He's younger, he's immature, he's more into it, it's totally natural. It's so romantic when Teh's singing karaoke in the bar with Oh-aew, yet he couldn't help but desperately staring at Jai on the floor, knowing he and the man who just turned him down were never gonna happen, they were done, but he's still madly attracted to him and his talent. He fancied Jai, at least the idea of Jai, a playwright, a director, someone knew him better than himself. That hurt beautifully.

EP 5

Teh/Oh-aew endgame at this point was pretty meaningless. Oh-aew as a leading character never got any solid character development over a span of four years. What happened between Jai and Teh wasn't just "cheating", though they surely made it look that way, like Teh's empty promise of "I won't see him again after the show ends". No matter how Oh-aew and Teh eventually reconciled, there's no emotional connection, no sparkle anymore between the couple.

But I knew for a fact they had to. Otherwise it's too much of a risk financially for the series. The creators had to take the easy way out like most traditional romances—one of the most contrived and formulaic trope where the male leading character made a mistake (usually cheating) and realized he's wrong, he deeply hurt the female leading character (Oh-aew was merely a girl substitute in part 2), then he completely changed for hell knew what reasons, started doing every nicest thing in the world to try to "win" the female character back. It has been feeding the emotionally-deprived cis female readers/audience who are frustrated with heterosexual relationship irl for decades. The formula that made romance outsell other genres of fictions combined in the 60s and 70s still sells today, under the name of boys' love. It's pathetic to see Oh-aew confess to Bas that he always "lost" to Teh. Love shouldn't be some kind of game or competition, there isn't winner or loser in love. Love is spontaneous. Oh-aew didn't lose because Teh developed feelings for someone else, and he didn't win when Teh begged him for reconciliation. People change, people move on.

And as predicted, they went for it. The ending was so absurd and tedious.

Overall, Jai's probably the hardest villain to play, he needed to be REALLY GOOD to be "the bad guy", to make his role conceivable. Oab absolutely nailed it with his talent and experience. He's not even my type or extremely good looking yet I'm 100% SOLD. I immediately re-watched the scene of him kissing Teh back hungrily at the end of ep 3 like I used to re-watch Teh/Oh-aew's steamy make out session at the end of episode 3 part 1. Coincidence?

I like some parts of both seasons for the same reason, each challenged and tried to break some outdated/contrived narratives in the BL genre. Part 1 took on the sexuality taboo by showing two same sex characters sexually attracted to each other, no more "I'm not into boys, I just happened to fall for someone of the same gender" or "pure love" bullshit. By staying true to the characters' sexuality and actually showing it with explicit, intense (and beautifully shot) scenes, the gay characters were normalized. They weren't just pure and innocent, no one was. And it created two of most unconventional gay characters in Asian pop culture, Oh-aew, a beautiful boy who's very comfortable with his own sexuality and femininity, not passive at all, taking initiative to pursue what he wanted; and Teh, a sensitive, caring and vulnerable boy who cried a lot, he's confused but also sweet and brave.

Part 2 tackled the "You can only love one person through your life" trope with a very nuanced story of "cheating". Yet neither carried out what they started. Part 1 fell short of a revolutionary piece that stayed true to "adolescent sexual turmoil", dismissing bisexuality and becoming a typical unrealistic BL fantasy in the end. And Part 2, ugh, forced a "happy ending" that almost no one digs. I understand it's extremely difficult and risky to disrupt the established norms of a genre. But sometimes being transgressive and progressive could be the same thing. A story, an artwork, has to challenge something in order to create something new and compelling.

#i promise you the moon #i told sunset about you #ipytm #oab oabnithi #billkin #pp krit #rant post #asian lgbtq dramas #lgbtq #i promised you the moon

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