#also it's been a while since i've watched a series that was still on-air so that's fun

[leixinyus]

Cindy Sirinya Bishop as Yani Home School (2023), episode 1

[roosterforme]

In the Line of Duty | Rooster x Reader

Summary: During preparations for a dangerous mission, Bradley finds comfort in writing his thoughts down for his unborn child to eventually read. There's always a chance that he won't make it back, and his final plans involve safeguarding the most important item he brought on his deployment with him.

Warnings: Angst, deployment, pregnancy topics

Length: 2800 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

This was written to accompany my series Is It Working For You? along with a bunch of my one-shots and other series, but it can be read on its own! Check my masterlist for the reading order.

Bradley was in the same tiny room with the same seven people for the nineteenth day in a row. He was sweating, too aware of his surroundings. He could hear Reuben breathing next to him. He could hear Admiral Turner's wristwatch counting off every second. He could hear the plans being laid out, but he could barely focus on them.

"The political climate is rapidly changing," the admiral said. "This bombing run is essential, however it will undoubtedly lead to a hostile environment for our allies. Getting the timing just right is essential to a successful mission."

He'd been telling the aviators the same things for days, and while Bradley knew somebody's best interest was at heart, he wasn't really sure it was his. Or Reuben's. Or anybody's in this fucking claustrophobic room. But what choice did he have but to sit here in his flight suit, reeking of jet fuel until he was released?

"Also," Admiral Turner said, his voice laced with exhaustion, "we'll be keeping a close watch on the weather. If you fly this mission, it's going to be a rough takeoff and an even rougher landing. And that's not even mentioning the elements you'll encounter in the air."

Bradley could feel it. The aircraft carrier was a massive vessel, nothing like a cruise ship or anything smaller. It was built to withstand typhoons and hurricanes, but he could still feel it. The movement was getting worse by the hour now. There were deckhands and petty officers walking around with seasickness bags. People were running from the mess hall left and right. The only thing that could be said of this small group of aviators in this tiny ass room was that professional fighter pilots had all traces of motion sickness eliminated from their bodies during flight training, never to be heard from again. He wasn't uncomfortable, but he could still feel it.

"And with that final precaution, I've made my selection for the three pilots who will fly when I say it's time to go." Bradley knew it in his bones even before he heard the admiral say, "Vandal. Patches. Rooster. Everyone else will remain on standby. You're all dismissed."

As he stood, Reuben stuck his fist out. "Congrats, man," he said, and Bradley reached out as well to bump fists. Being chosen was an accomplishment; Bradley always wanted to be chosen. He always wanted to perform to the best of his ability. But his thoughts were so heavy now, filled with new hopes and fears. 

"Thanks, Payback," he replied, following his friend from the room and into the noisy reprieve of the cool hallway. There were people rushing around as the two of them made their way to the mess hall. "But if I have to sit in that room for another day, I'm going to lose my mind."

Reuben laughed as he started to load a tray with food. "I love how the weather is too bad for us to do any training runs, but in the same sentence, we're told to be ready to fly a mission in this. It's like they're steering us right into the worst of the storm."

They were. Bradley could tell they were. There was something strategic about the open water location, but they were absolutely heading into the worst of it. He just hoped it would clear up before he was called out on deck to fly. 

"It's a good thing I haven't barfed in a Super Hornet since that very first time," he said, also piling food that he knew would taste like cardboard onto a plate.

"This shit sucks," Reuben muttered, biting into a roll once they reached an empty table. "We got any more of your wife's cookies back in the bunk?"

Bradley smiled as he looked at the questionable meal in front of him. "A few." He bit into the steak and grimaced. Everything you cooked at home was better than this. He'd trade his whole plate of food right now for half of a grilled cheese sandwich made by your hands. Just thinking about it had his stomach growling louder. "You already ate most of them."

Reuben popped another roll into his mouth and chewed it up before saying, "Rooster, you've got a hot lieutenant commander who can cook for a wife. And a baby on the way. Come on, man. The least you can do is spare some more of those cookies."

Once he let his thoughts drift, Bradley knew it would take hours to get focused on his job again, but he couldn't help it. When he left home, you looked the same as you always did. You'd been complaining about your weight gain and bloating for weeks, but you looked just perfect to him. He wanted to get back home to see if you had a bump yet. He wanted to get home and talk to the Nugget. But he'd already been gone for three weeks, and he hadn't been given a single chance to call or FaceTime with you. 

He hated having no idea how your most recent doctor's appointment went. There were probably new ultrasound photos sitting right on the kitchen counter, but it could be weeks before he got to see how much the Nugget grew since last time. He should be a home, catering to your every whim and building the massive jungle gym for the backyard.

"Are you excited?" Reuben asked, breaking through his thoughts. "You've got what, like five more months to go before you're a dad?"

"One hundred and eighty-six days until the due date," Bradley replied with a grin. "And yeah, I'm pretty fucking excited. It's all I can think about." He tried to finish all of the food, but he set his plate aside and said, "Let's go eat some of those cookies."

An hour later, Bradley was sitting in his bunk, nibbling on the rationed baked goods while Reuben snored across the room. He took this opportunity to get out the pink and blue striped notebook which he affectionately referred to as the Nugget notebook. He'd filled half of it with his musings, and he figured it would be full by your due date. It was silly, just his random thoughts and some sporadic story telling, but he liked the idea of his kid having all of this to look at later. He uncapped his pen, jotted down the date, and started writing what was on his mind. 

You'll never guess where I am right now. No really. It would be impossible, because even I don't really know where I am! But it's somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, I know that for sure. And while I'm really, really far away from you and your mom right now, the two of you are all I can think about....

-------------------------

The weather was so bad a few days later that the gym was closed. Bradley and Reuben stood in front of the locked door in their gym clothes looking at each other. 

"This is fucking wild," Bradley muttered, deprived of the only activity he could think of to keep himself busy. The hallways were pretty empty at this time of night, but everything still felt more deserted than usual. The dining menus had been pared down, presumably because half of the kitchen staff was too seasick to make everything. He was starting to feel anxious. "Let's go workout in the bunk and then finish the cookies."

"Sounds good," Reuben replied. They took turns churning out sets of fifty push ups while the other ate a cookie. They did this until they were both sweating and all of the cookies were officially gone.

"Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?" Bradley asked, but any response was cut off by a knocking on the door. He jumped up, glanced at Reuben, and then opened the door for a petty officer. 

"Bradshaw?"

"Yeah?"

"You requested a FaceTime call? Report to the lounge in thirty minutes."

"Thanks," he said, heart beating wildly as he closed the door. He rushed around the room, grinning and grabbing everything he'd need to take a quick shower.

Reuben just laughed and said, "Please thank her again for the cookies."

"Will do," Bradley replied, making a mad dash for the showers. If he did the math correctly, he figured it was between four and five o'clock in the morning back home in San Diego. He hated calling you in the middle of the night, especially when you were pregnant and exhausted, but he knew you'd forgive him. And he desperately needed to see your face and hear your voice.

His hair was still damp when he jogged along the quiet corridors toward the lounge and took a seat in front of one of the computers. He quickly entered his credentials followed by your phone number, and then he waited and waited. "Shit," he muttered, gripping the edge of the table, afraid the call was going to ring through and then cut off. But then he heard you screech his name and saw you as you reached for your glasses while the light from the lamp on your nightstand illuminated your face. 

"Bradley!" you practically screamed again, your voice scratchy from sleep. "Roo! Are you okay?"

"Hey, Baby Girl," he said, feeling calmer than he had in weeks as you juggled your phone around and tried to sit up fully in bed. "I'm fine. Sorry it's so late."

"No, no, no, this is perfect!" you insisted, rubbing your eye behind your glasses as you tried to stifle a yawn. "This is great."

Bradley laughed and said, "I miss you so fucking much. Wish I was in bed right there with you."

"Me too," you insisted, and he could see the sincerity on your face. "It got chilly here tonight, and Tramp isn't as snuggly as you are."

He wanted to kiss you. He wished he could somehow dive through the screen and end up next to you where you'd pull him right into your arms. His voice was just a whisper as he said, "Tell me about the Nugget."

Your smile was soft, and you bit your lip. "Dr. Morris said the Nugget looked great when I was there two weeks ago."

"Two weeks ago," he groaned, rubbing his rough hands along his face. "Sweetheart... I already missed so much." When he looked at the screen again, you were out of bed and on the move. "Where are you going?"

You flipped on the hallway light and said, "To get the ultrasounds to show you. I left them on the kitchen counter."

The fact that he knew that's where they would be made him smile. When you propped your phone up next to the stove and turned on the light, he felt tears stinging his eyes. You held up one of the photos so he could see the baby, and he had to blink past his blurry vision. "There's my Nugget," he said, voice thick with emotion as you held up a second image. "Fucking cutest baby I've ever seen."

Your laughter sounded beautiful as you showed him a third one. "I liked this one the best. I think it looks like the baby is waving hello."

"Shit," he gasped. "You're right. I can't wait to wallpaper our bedroom with copies of these."

You pulled the baby picture away, and he could see your face again as you said, "You're probably not even joking."

"I'm definitely not even joking."

You leaned on the counter and got a little closer to your phone as you said, "Another week or so, and I can go in for an anatomy scan."

Now Bradley felt like crying for a totally different reason. "You get to find out if the Nugget is a boy or a girl."

"Yeah," you said with a nod. "But I don't really want to do that without you there too."

Bradley looked at your beautiful face and the perfect curve of your cheek. He imagined a little baby in your arms with the same flawless features. "I wish I could get home in time to hold your hand and find out in person. But you know I don't care one way or the other. The only nice thing is that we can start narrowing down baby names soon. I actually wrote down a few that I kind of like in the Nugget notebook earlier."

Your smile was brilliant as you told him, "I can't wait to read all of your notebook entries. And if you're not home for my next appointment, I'll be practically vibrating with anticipation until I get to tell you if it's a boy Nugget or a girl Nugget."

Bradley opened his mouth to say he couldn't wait to come home and spend a full day curled up with both of you. He was about to ask you to pull his UVA shirt up and let him see what your belly looked like now. But the lounge door swung open so hard, it sounded like it was going to fall off the hinges.

"Bradshaw!" barked Admiral Turner. "It's time. Get into your flight suit."

"Yes, Sir," he said before glancing back down to see your face as you started to cry.

"You have to go," you sobbed.

"I do," he said quickly. "Right now. Listen, I love you. More than anything. You and the baby both, okay? I love you."

"I love you, too," you sobbed as your lips trembled. "So much."

"I'll be home soon," he promised, even though he knew he couldn't guarantee anything of the sort. "I love you."

After he ended the call, he ran back to the bunk where Reuben was already in his flight suit and pulling on his boots. It was late enough now that it had to be dark outside, so he was either about to fly another mission without the use of one of his senses, or they were sending him out at first light. Either way, he knew what he had to do, so he pulled his own flight suit on with shaky hands.

The call with you had calmed his nerves right up until the point when he had to abruptly end it. What he wouldn't give to be back home within a week. He'd drive you to the appointment in his Bronco and hold your hand the whole time. Dr. Morris would let you know if he was going to be the dad to a daughter or a son. His little Nugget.

"You ready?" Reuben asked as Bradley finished lacing up his boots. 

He looked up at his friend as he stood. "Actually, no," he said, pulling his duffle out from under his bed. He started rooting through it as he said, "I need you to potentially do me a favor."

"Sure," Reuben replied, "but we gotta get to the meeting room now, Rooster."

"I know," he mumbled in response as his hands connected with the most important thing he had with him. He held up the pink and blue notebook, his voice calm in spite of his nerves as he said, "Just real quick, you see this? I need you to take this back to my wife if anything happens to me."

His friend was silent for a beat before he said, "Alright. I can do that."

Bradley's fingers tightened around the spiral binding holding together all of his thoughts about fatherhood and how much he loved his unborn child. And now his voice shook a bit as he said, "This is very important to me."

Reuben nodded and said, "Understood. I promise I'll take care of it if the need arises."

"Thank you." Bradley kissed the striped cover and propped the notebook up against his pillow, giving it one last look before he followed Reuben from the bunk.

At first light, Bradley made his way out onto the carrier deck through the rain and whistling wind. The mission was on. The weather was miserable, but the plethora of Naval officers deemed this the best opportunity they were going to get to help their allies. 

It was time. Time for Bradley to trust himself. And if he failed, he trusted Reuben to take the notebook back to San Diego and get it into the hands of his wife. Then you'd take care of the notebook for the Nugget. Because if there was one person who was never going to let him down, it was you.

-------------------------

I can't deal with how much I've been hurting my own feelings with these two. Should we start a new series? Would that be okay? A tragic, new series? Thank you for reading about and loving them! Please stay tuned. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

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[absolutebl]

10 BLs That Shook Me

@trribledelight asked for "BLs that made you think or learn smthg or shook you culturally? Eg the political considerations in Not Me..."

Let's get the rough ones out of the way first, shall we?

1 2gether

Green. One of the most egregious reps for punching down humor against femmes in BL (and there sure are a lot out there). Seriously GMMTV? Must you?

At the time we all watched this because there wasn't anything else to watch, and it's been a long time since I bothered with a rewatch, but Green is one of the reasons I just can't with this series.

I'm not knocking the actor, but the character and how the other characters behave around him, and the director with regard to this aspect of the plot and portrayal was rough going.

What shook me was how casually homophobic 2g was. It was just so odd to watch a gay romance gloss over and degrade queerness. I was like, wait, aren't they supposed to me on our side?

(Ah, the before times.)

2 Fish Upon the Sky

Shall we address the head wrap in the room? This BL has some of the most shockingly racist content I've seen in a long time. Also punching down humor. I fast forwarded through it and I still don't want to think about it. GMMTV should be throughly ashamed of themselves... Again. I was shook, but in a bad way.

Okay, now for the ones that shook me in a good way.

3 Until We Meet Again

I watched this early in my Thai BL journey (while it was airing) and I had no idea what to expect. Frankly, you could watch it now and still not know. It's just very unusual for a Thai BL.

The plot twist about how they each ended up reborn. Just so brilliant. I still can't get over it. So simple. SO CLEVER. So punishing for the families.

Fantastic!

4 Secret Crush On You

This one kinda shook me all along but that Daisy & Touch scene. It lives on in my head rent free forever. Just because it was so beautifully sweet and genuine and kindly towards a femme character.

I still don't like this BL.

But I love that scene in it.

5 My Beautiful Man

I went on a JOURNEY with this show. Mostly because I didn't think Japan had it in them to land something this complex. But they managed it beautifully by not shying away from the delicious messy ugliness of it all.

Possibly the greatest final episode in all BL.

And from Japan. Usually so bad at endings.

I remain gobsmacked.

6 Unknown

I shouldn't have been shooketh by this one but I really was.

The style of it while staying so down home and gritty.

How old school Chinese BL it felt yet it still managed to be very modern BL about it.

The execution and quality of the acting.

How it was aired (available in YouTube?! we NEVER get that from Taiwan!)

Also the pair branding. We haven't gotten this level of pair brand from the leads in a Taiwanese BL since SamYu.

I'm was absolutely riveted by everything about this show and its production.

I loved seeing it. I hope we get more BLs like this from Taiwan as a result.

But I ALSO hope they realize that a big factor in the popularity and the success of this show was in distribution.

It's what's for dinner.

Along with the stepbrother trope.

KOREA'S SUPRISES

I watch a lot of Kdramas as well as BL, and have done for a really long time. I'm riveted by Hallyu, from an entertainment industry perspective (what I wouldn't do to get my hands on some of their proprietary data). I also listen to a ton of Kpop.

Therefore, Korea dominates the P'ABL gets shooketh list because I had (and have) more expectations firmly in place around Korea's media product sfyle than anyone elses. Even before they started to make a big play into the BL scene.

My favorite BLs from Korea, like Semantic Error and Light on Me are EXACTLY what I expect from them, manufactured perfection. But I was also shook more times by Korea than other BL nations because I had such rigid expectations.

7 Color Rush

Yeah yeah. But it starred an idol. It started out pretty and stiff and everything I was expecting and then the concept hit me up side the head and I never recovered from the CLEVER of this show. I'm not used to my Kdramas or my BL being this high concept and SMART about their sanitized perfection.

8 Blueming

What with the 8th Sense and others since, Blueming seems to have been somewhat forgotten about. But at the time, I was shook by the down home grit of this show. By the actual pain from the characters. By the higher heat concept. By Korea actually going THERE.

And then these babies came along...

9 The 8th Sense

I just didn't think Korea had it in them. Yes, I realize now that it was a bit navel gazey, and we were weighted heavily towards the seme and his pain. I would have liked a better balance between the leads, but that's in retrospect.

At the time I couldn't believe it. A KBL dealing with mental health?

And can we talk about those sex scenes? How insanely comfortable the actors were with each other? How easy in each other's personal space? I've not seen anything else quite like that from Korea. It's super rare. I had assumed they, culturally, just didn't do casual intimacy, or if they did, it wasn't allowed on screen.

Of course now I know the CAN do it, I want more.

10 Love for Love's Sake

Okay, lots to unpack with this one. A genuine isakai BL, in the original sense of the term. The death twist didn't shake me up, but the execution, acting, open gayness, and a couple other things did. Enough to make me still think on this show with fond surprise and affection, despite its undercurrent of darkness.

I like to be shooketh.

(source)

[bvidzsoo]

Love Me Like A Rockstar (8)

ー☆ Chapter 8: Own My Mind

Author: bvidzsoo

Pairing: Song Mingi x female reader

ー☆ Warning: cursing ー☆ Word count: 8.3k ー☆ Genre: university!au, enemies to lovers!au, rockstar!au ー☆ Rating: sfw ー☆ Summary: Love. You wanted none of it. You had already been heartbroken very badly once, you didn't wish to go through that ever again. But the Universe works in intricate ways and, somehow, you found yourself webbed up in a local rockstar's life, Song Mingi. He was everything you expected him to be, yet nothing like you imagined him he would be. What happens when you find mutual understanding and have heartful conversations? Will he be able to break down your walls? Will you be able to chase away his darkness?

A/N: Hello, lovelies! I'm back with a new chapter and let me tell you, ever since I've started writing this there's been little changes to the plot here and there, but...we should all thank Song Mingi for the way he's been acting this weekend for bringing a major change to it (i wanna kms ha-ha *dies in pain*) Anyways, I have a love-hate relationship with that man right now, don't mind my dramatic ass. Please listen to Maneskin's Own My Mind before or while reading this chapter, just the usual! If you want to be added to this story's taglist, just leave a comment on this post and you'll be added! Also, the drawing our girlie is talking about that is on her bed (later in this chp.), is absolutely waterbomb Mingi and it's a call-back to chp. 4 hehet. I have a surprise at the end of this chapter lol. One last question and then I'm going, should I do a Q&A surrounding this story? Like, if you have any curiosities about it, you can send in an ask and I'll gladly answer it! ^^ I hope you'll enjoy this part and, as always, let me know your thoughts about it!

Taglist: @orshii @or5i @lovely-red2 @scarfac3 @juicy-red @sunaswifes-blog @voicesinmyhead-rc @teez-the-time @maru-matt @kyeos4ng @deathbyyeekies @chicksmoothie @mjlbn01 @xhexy @sharksandminhos

⟨Series M.list ↭ Previous Chapter⟩

♫Playlist♫

            I shivered as I hurriedly shrugged off my jacket, backpack discarded the second I stepped inside my warm home, the loud thunder cut short as Mingi quickly closed the front door behind himself, hissing and groaning. I turned my head to watch him struggle out of his worn-out jacket as I stepped out of my shoes, hardly believing that from just a few minutes out in the rain, even my socks got soaked. Mingi’s head shook as his body trembled, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched him. He looked quite hilarious with his black hair sticking to his forehead, glasses so wet he couldn’t see through them anymore, loose clothing now sticking to his lean body like a second skin.

“What’s so funny?” Mingi playfully furrowed his eyebrows as he took his specks off, shaking the water off the glass, as wiping it against his already wet clothes wouldn’t have helped him in ridding his glasses of water.

“You.” I mumbled with a chuckle as I peeled my cardigan off, skin covered in goosebumps as my damp skin was exposed to the chilly air in the hallway. Mingi rolled his eyes, and placed his glasses back on as I took off towards the wardrobe by the stairs, chewing on my bottom lip. Mingi would have to change out of his wet clothes, unless we wanted him to catch a cold. I couldn’t leave him standing there like that, shivering and sniffing as he already sneezed loudly. His apology was sheepish, but I just flashed him a small smile before opening the heavy door of the wardrobe. There were minimal chances that the box I was looking for was still inside the wardrobe, considering the fact that my mother would go on a cleaning frenzy every month and throw out almost everything inside the house that she deemed unusable anymore. Therefore, there were almost one to zero chances that the box I so vividly remember having placed here ages ago, was still in its spot.

“Uh, do you think I could use the bathroom real fast?” Mingi asked, voice sounding unsure as I kneeled down in front of the wardrobe, eyebrows furrowing when I didn’t spot the box right away.

“One second, let me find something.” I called out, leaning forward as I pushed my mother’s long coats hanging in my face out of the way, and disappeared further into the wardrobe as I pushed and pulled at the thick blankets she kept in there. I thought about giving up for a second, about her having thrown out the contents of the box I was searching for, but I gasped when I felt the sturdy cartoon underneath my fingertips. With a triumphant smile, I pulled on it, a few scarfs and my very old Hello Kitty beanie falling out in the process. The box felt heavier than I remembered it to be, and my heart settled knowing that my mother didn’t throw it out. But that didn’t mean it didn’t start beating wildly once I sat back on my heels, box placed in front of me. A chill ran down my spine, and I knew right now that it wasn’t because of the chilly air and my damp skin. Whatever still remained inside this box…is what I never had the strength to throw out, to fully get rid of every memory lingering of Yunho. I gulped, chewing on my bottom lip as I hesitated opening it up. But there was another loud sneeze, and as I briefly glanced at Mingi, I couldn’t help but notice the light red tinge on his cheeks as he typed away on his phone, completely soaked. I really had no other choice but to open up the box of pandora.

And a lump formed in my throat when I finally opened it, a stale scent hitting my nose. My eyebrows furrowed when a golden butterfly necklace sat on top of everything, a harsh reminder of all the gifts Yunho would buy for me during our relationship. I have thrown out all the gifts, except this one. It was expensive, and frankly, too beautiful to be thrown out or gifted to anyone else. Gulping, I pushed the necklace aside and sighed as I dug around the box, jaw clenching at the three sketchbooks getting in my way. They were filled with drawings of Yunho and myself, of all the places we’ve been to, of all the places I have wished to visit with Yunho. Of all the memories we have once made, and of all the memories I wished we could’ve made. Being an artist was amazing, but at certain times it was a nightmare in disguise, brain able to conjure such vivid images that never happened, that it could fool me into thinking that they have actually happened. I sighed quietly as I felt eyes on me, and finally found what I was searching for. A fuzzy and faded knitted sweater, a plethora of colors mixed together, from beige to a light purple, black and silver in the mix too. I pulled it out of the box, together with the grey sweatpants, and cleared my throat as I stood, hands burning the longer I held the clothing in my hands. I felt guilty, almost disgusting as I neared Mingi again, trying to avoid his eyes as he had an easy look on his face, smiling despite continuously sniffing.

“These are the only male clothing we have in the house,” I said as I reached my hands out, looking at Mingi’s chest rather than eyes, “hopefully they’ll fit you.”

“And if they won’t, you can always give me one of your colorful fuzzy cardigans.” Mingi’s tone was playful and I chuckled, giving him a playful glare. Those cardigans would never fit his broad shoulders. The tightness was gone from my chest as Mingi took the clothes from my grasp, a thankful look on his face. The guilt remained, but it wasn’t so pressing anymore.

“You can change in the bathroom downstairs,” I pointed towards the closed door across from the wardrobe, “towels are in the cabinet above the toilet. Do you need a hairdryer?”

Mingi shook his head with a smile and gave my soaked hair a light tap, “Thank you, Y/N.”

The way he seemed to linger on my name sent my heart into a dumb frenzy, and I found myself flustered beyond, emotion so foreign I forgot how to speak for a second. And Mingi didn’t miss it, fuck, because he walked away with a smug smile towards the bathroom and paused in the doorway for dramatic effect, before disappearing with a damn wink. I huffed, glaring daggers at the closed door as I scurried to shove everything fallen out back inside the wardrobe, closing its door rather harshly. I licked my chapped lips and raced up the stairs, throwing the door to my room open and taking a second to take in its state. My desk was messy, but that’s just how it always was, I couldn’t do much about it right now. I opened the blackout curtains, however, the weather already gloomy enough to cast shadows inside my dark room. I flinched as another thunder rumbled through the sky, and grabbed the first clothes I found in my closet, walking to the bathroom upstairs.

After having changed into wide legged leggings that had cotton on the inside, I quickly threw on a white tank top and a soft pink mock neck sweater, sighing in content as warmth finally enveloped my body after I have dried up the dampness on it with a towel. I skipped down the stairs as I had a towel around my head, messily towel drying my hair, completely missing the tall form standing at the foot of the stairs as I stumbled into him. I yelped, but Mingi quickly steadied me by the elbows. Before I had the chance to pull the towel off my head, two large hands grabbed at it and started softly rubbing the towel against my wet hair. I froze, everything inside me stopping as even my breath stilled, eyes wide open. Mingi said nothing as he continued with his actions, quietly humming to himself. I was afraid he’d be able to hear my loud heartbeat as I breathed through my mouth, lips parting as I struggled to calm down. I was thankful for the towel hiding my face, because I could feel the blush spreading down from my cheeks to my ears, and even neck. I couldn’t remember a time when I have blushed this hard, and it made me feel slightly disoriented. For God’s sake, Mingi was simply towel drying my hair for me, why was I having such a visceral reaction to it?! My mind seemed to be screaming at me, but I was too busy trying to regulate my breathing, doing so quietly, as Mingi’s hands became a little rougher, almost pulling on specific strands of hair. My eyes narrowed as he turned my head left to right to his likes, and I groaned as his fingers dug into my scalp.

“Hey, stop it!” I whined and slapped at his hand, making Mingi chuckle as he ruffled my hair to the point I had strands from the back falling into my eyes.

“Oh, good,” He was still chuckling, “for a second there I thought you had fallen asleep with how quiet you were.”

Despite not being able to see his face, or anything if I looked ahead, I could still peek down and see his feet. I was standing on the last step of the stairs, and with an evil grin, I jumped down, his naked toes falling victims to my attack. Mingi yelped loudly, and I cackled as I pulled the towel off my face, smiling at him smugly.

“Serves you right since my hair is all knotted up thanks to you.” I raised my eyebrows at him as Mingi had his right leg raised, massaging his toes with a pained expression.

“So you break my toes?!” He exclaimed, his deep tone a few octaves higher, making me snicker to myself as I threw the towel at him, making him yelp and look at me with an appalled expression on his face.

“Stop being a baby,” I stuck my tongue out at him as I walked towards the front door to lock it before I went inside the kitchen, “And wear some slippers before you come to the kitchen.”

Mingi was closely following behind me, ignoring my words, “What, one of your dwarf slippers? It’s either my toes or heels will be dangling off.”

The image was funny in my head, but I ignored it in order to throw him a scrutinizing look, “The tiles are cold in here, you’ll catch a cold.”

A wide smile spread on Mingi’s lips as he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed in front of his chest, biceps bulging underneath the tight fabric of the sweater, “You’re so cute when you worry about me, doll.”

There goes the pleasant exchange we’ve been having up until now. My voice became devoid of any expression besides the glare I threw at him, mirroring him as I crossed my arms in front of my chest, “I’m not cute. I’m merely saying you’ll probably catch a cold since we’ve been out in the rain not even fifteen minutes ago. And since you’re a singer you should be taking a lot more care of yourself.”

Mingi remained silent for a few seconds, until I watched a light hue tinge his cheeks. Was he blushing because I was lecturing him? Just what in the hell?!

“You’re right, sorry.” Mingi mumbled, but showed no intentions of actually following through with my words as he walked further inside the room, sitting at the table, feet up on the chair as he hugged his long legs to his chest. For such a tall and broad man, he looked extremely tiny sitting on that chair right now.

“Uh,” A little confused by the turn of events, I looked around the kitchen, trying to remember the initial purpose of me coming here, “Right. You don’t like tea, so we have coffee or hot chocolate to warm us up, which one would you like?”

Mingi’s eyes lingered on me for a second too long, taking in my whole being before his eyes settled on my face again, a smile so genuine settling on his lips that his eyes were sparkling, “Hot chocolate is fine.”

I hummed, a little breathless, then turned to open the cabinet above the microwave to take out two tall mugs for the hot chocolate. For some reason, I didn’t mind Mingi’s eyes following my every move as I tinkered around in my kitchen, taking everything I needed in my hands to prepare them on the counter. The thought of having Mingi inside my home, sitting in my kitchen, wearing my ex’s clothes, acting like we’ve been friends since forever seemed to hit me at once as I froze for a second while pouring water inside the second mug, Mingi’s mug. And what was even more surprising was not finding any thoughts that suggested that this was wrong, that I shouldn’t be doing this, that Mingi didn’t belong inside my kitchen. I didn’t want to dwell more on why it all felt so right, so instead, I watched as the mugs whirled around in the microwave, locking these thoughts away for later…I knew they’d come back late at night to haunt me, it’s just how it always was.

Mingi clearing his throat gained my attention as I glanced back at him, and tried not to look too long. The way Yunho’s clothes perfectly fit Mingi’s form was alarming, albeit the sweatpants seemed to be slightly too long for Mingi. I’ve had Yunho’s clothes since highschool, which was a few good years ago, yet they still fit Mingi. It made me wonder if the two ever exchanged clothes or wore something matching, like best friends would do for fun. I know Yunho had once mentioned having matching rings with Mingi, but back then I was too jealous about their closeness to ask any further questions about any other matching items they had. And it was a little surprising just how well Mingi’s skin tone was complimented by the colors of Yunho’s old sweater, Mingi’s necklaces sitting on top of the knitted fabric. That sweater was one of my favorite’s while Yunho and I were dating, Yunho always seemed to be glowing when he wore it. At some point I had even forgotten that I still had it. Perhaps I should do something about the contents of that box, join my mother next month in her frenzy cleaning marathon and throw out its contents.

The microwave pinged and I took the two mugs out, realizing that Mingi and I had been staring at each other for at least a good minute, my cheeks flushed again. A soft chuckle was heard behind me, but I ignored it for my own sake. The silence didn’t last for longer as I opened the little packages containing the hot chocolate powder to pour into our cups, “This might sound crazy, but I swear I’ve seen this exact sweater on Yunho quite a few times.”

I froze, thankful that I had my back to Mingi as panic flashed over my face. Deep breaths, I had this. Mingi didn’t have to know, I could lie my way out of this. And so, I forced a small smile on my face as I faced him while walking to the fridge, “Really? Well, coincidence, maybe. It’s my cousin’s sweater, he forgot it here once, but as he lives overseas he never came to get it and my mother just placed it away for when he comes to visit us.”

I didn’t have one single male cousin. Let alone cousin’s that lived overseas.

“Oh,” Mingi mumbled as he picked at an undone string on the sleeve of Yunho’s sweater, “Yeah, that could be it, a coincidence, I mean. Besides, my memory is a little fuzzy, I might be wrong.”

I gulped away the guilt that suddenly bloomed in my chest and grabbed the whipped cream, raising it up, “Whipped cream for your hot chocolate?”

I grinned at Mingi as he slowly shook his head, “I drink it simple.”

“Really?” I asked surprised as I walked back to the mugs, “Not even with marshmallows?”

Mingi shook his head with a small smile and so I mixed his powder with the warm water, handing it to him. Mingi had a fond smile on his lips when he took it, his cold fingers lightly brushing against mine, making me blush like a stupid schoolgirl who has a crush. And I do not have a crush on anyone, let alone on Song Mingi. I swiftly turned around, hoping that Mingi didn’t notice me blushing as I quickly put whipped cream in my hot chocolate and stuck two marshmallows in it, putting everything away quickly. I turned to face him as I took a sip, leaning against the counter. Mingi sat in a cross-legged position on the chair as he had the mug in his hands, ring clad fingers wrapped around the warm ceramic. I couldn’t help myself as my eyes lingered on his painted nails, slowly trailing up to Mingi’s face. His black fluffy hair fell in his eyes, obscuring his sharp eyes slightly as they were devoid of the black eyeliner now, a few blemishes tainting his otherwise glowing skin around his jaw, glasses slipping low on his tall nose, and plump lips red and slightly wet from how much Mingi always licks his lips. The simplicity of his whole being has never looked more attractive than right now, and as Mingi opened his mouth to say something, I was startled by such alarming thoughts, and so I hurried out of the kitchen.

“Let’s go up to my room!” I called out, on the brink of crying from all these stupid emotions I was suddenly feeling, trying to calm my crazily beating heart. Who allowed my brain to think in such way of Song Mingi? When did I even start considering him attractive? He was annoying, obnoxiously loud, arrogant and irritating, there was absolutely nothing to like about him or find in him attractive. I had to get a grip of myself right now! Mingi’s footsteps were dull as he followed after me, probably surprised that I had waited for him at the top of the stairs, unknowing of the storm inside my head, matching the raging storm outside. Lightning flashed every two seconds, skies rumbling with thunder, shaking even the ground at times. I hated storms, but suddenly it wasn’t as unbearable as before. When Mingi stood next to me, I lead us towards my room and pushed the door open, leaving it like that as Mingi walked in once I stepped aside for him, allowing him inside my safe space.

I have never been consciously proud or embarrassed of what my room looked like, the thought of what others thought of it absent up until right now. As Mingi walked further inside, head turning each and every way, taking everything in, suddenly I realized I was scared of what he would think. My walls were painted a light grey, on purpose, and there was little to no space left bare except for the wall on which the window was. My bed was pushed up against the wall to your left just as you walked inside, sketches that I have done throughout the years plastered up and put on display, my very first drawing even making it up on my wall. It was my little personal museum, a way of reminding myself of where I started out and how much I have evolved ever since, and even how much I was still changing as I was experimenting with my styles, learning a new technique in the class of Mr. Yoon. The desk across from my bed was messy, like I have said, it was littered with everything I needed to have at hand. Pencil holders filled to the brim, at least five of them, then there were brushes and little paint tubes littered all over it, notebooks and discarded sketches sitting underneath it, with my laptop hanging just a little dangerously off, not having paid much attention where I have put it this morning. A plain canvas was spread out on the little free space I still had, a project I had planned on starting today, now postponed for tomorrow. The wall above my desk had three modest shelves filled to the brim with books and some vinyl’s I have started collecting not long ago, pots and plants hanging off from the sides. The wall around the shelves was decorated by posters and pictures of my favorite bands, a few of my favorite paintings mixing in with them. The little stand next to my desk had my vinyl player, plants underneath it and around it, little ones. And then in the corner there was an old guitar that once had belonged to my mother, who has had a phase back in highschool and dreams of becoming a band member, famous and rich. She didn’t have the heart to gift the guitar to anyone, so she’s always kept it and passed it on to me once I was old enough. I never had an affinity for playing any instruments, but I do enjoy good music. A mix of old and new artists making it in that mix, actually—perhaps Noir Zenith slowly becoming one of them too, but Mingi didn’t have to know that. My closet was to the right just as you walked in, and it was of dark and sturdy wood, expanding from the ceiling to the floor. I had a little mirror right on its right side, the wall above and behind it, going right behind the door even, littered with my favorite painter’s paintings. Of course, they were only prints made at the local copy shop, but that didn’t matter. Fairy lights hung above my bed and from the lamp on the ceiling. The two nightstands on either side of my bed were more organized than one would expect from me, little makeup buckets placed on the one closest to the window, charger cable and some headphones sitting on the dark wood. The one nearest to the door had pictures of myself and my mom, and of Seulgi and I on display with a little clock, its drawer so filled with notebooks that I couldn’t quite close it. Thankfully the drawers of my desk weren’t so filled, I had just rearranged them last week, one evening when I was too restless to sleep.

Mingi was quiet as his mouth was slightly open, eyes wide as he took everything in, eyes falling onto my bed. I followed his sight and was mortified to find my biggest sketchbook open and displaying a quite realistic sketch of Mingi performing on stage. It was from the night I had a breakdown and Mingi found me in that diner. Seulgi had sent me some pictures she had taken of Wooyoung and accidentally slipped in one with Mingi too, and because the image just wouldn’t leave my mind, I knew I had no choice but to draw it. I dived for the sketchbook as if my life depended on it, all of it happening so fast I hoped Mingi didn’t actually catch what the drawing—or better said, who—the drawing was of. I shut it closed and pushed it off the bed, the light thud loud in the silent room. When I turned to look at Mingi, ready to face his smug face and taunting words, I was surprised to find his attention on something completely different. Of course, I should’ve expected from a man who plays in a band to be enamored by the vintage guitar in my possession. Its body was a light blue and had cherry blossoms painted over it, something my mother admitted to doing so, which lead to an argument with her father back in the days when he had seen the “damage” my mother had done to the pricey guitar.

“Is that a Martin D-19?” Mingi gushed as he walked toward the guitar, mouth hanging open. My eyebrows raised at his knowledge about it upon one glance. To me, it looked like a regular acoustic guitar. But then again, I should’ve expected it from a music major and a guy who has a literal band and plays the bass.

“Yeah, it was my mother’s.” I answered as I set my mug on the nightstand and sat at the edge of my bed, watching the awed expression on Mingi’s face. He had placed his mug by the foot of my desk as he crouched down, admiring the guitar from up-close.

“It’s absolutely beautiful.” Mingi whispered, fingers carefully tracing its body. Not even at gun point would I have admitted my next thought, which was of just how beautiful Mingi looked in this exact moment. Lightning flashed and the ground shook with the intense thunder, making Mingi tense for a second before he turned back to face me with the prettiest smile I have ever seen on someone.

“Your mother knows how to play it?” He asked, sounding enthusiastic. I was breathless, but after a big gulp, I forced my brain to function.

“Yeah,” I answered with a small smile, “she was a big rock lover back in the days, even wanted to start her own band. But due to her parents negative reactions to it, she unfortunately had to give up on that dream and do something more ‘real’.”

I rolled my eyes at the end of my sentence, not very fond of my grandparents. They weren’t bad people, but they also treated my mother harshly, and even myself, always asking about my future plans and straight up crying when I told them I wanted to become a painter. I saw the way Mingi’s face hardened for a second, but I knew he didn’t want to talk about it as he became expressionless quickly after. I was curious what made his mood become sour so quickly, if he perhaps related to what I have said in some way, but I wouldn’t prod. If he wants to tell me, he will sometime. So, instead, as a distraction, I scooched up further on my bed and patted the mattress next to me with a lazy smile, watching Mingi’s eyes slightly widen. He looked a little shy as he grabbed his mug and rose up to his full height, steps almost hesitant as he approached the bed, making me snort. It made Mingi narrow his eyes as I crossed my legs underneath myself as he kneeled on the bed and then settled beside me, long legs extended as he playfully wiggled his feet left and right. I chuckled as I clasped my hands together, letting them rest in my lap as Mingi took a sip of his hot chocolate. The silence was comfortable between us, the harsh rain hitting the windows loudly, wind rocking trees harshly, and the lightning and rumble a constant background noise.

“Last time when we performed at Outlaw, when you didn’t come,” Mingi paused and turned his head to look at me, “you know, when we met at the diner—”

“Let’s not talk about that.” I muttered with a grimace and Mingi hummed, licking his lips.

“Right, so, that night,” His voice was quiet, lips pulling into an abashed smile, “the crowd was bigger than usual, at first I blamed it on being a rowdier night, but it turned out those people were there to see us, Noir Zenith, to see me.”

I felt a small smile appear on my own lips, Mingi looking pleased with himself despite the light pink tinge of his cheeks, “And now Hongjoong might help us sign with a record deal, I feel like everything is finally coming together. Like my hard work is finally being rewarded.”

I bit my lower lip to stop myself from smiling too wide, subconsciously reaching out to hold Mingi’s arm as he looked me in the eyes, “That’s so good, Mingi! You deserve all the praise and attention your band gets, you’re really good.”

“You really think so?” Mingi sounded small, eyes wide in wonder as he flushed more. I knew I have said some things that weren’t the nicest, and now it made me realize that Mingi never deserved hearing those things from me. Yeah, I didn’t like the guy much at the beginning—not that now I like him more—but I still shouldn’t have shit on his music, on something he pours his whole soul and heart into.

“I really do, Mingi.” I slightly squeezed his arm, hoping that he could hear the sincerity in my voice as a wide and bright smile spread onto Mingi’s plush lips, so contagious that I found myself with a matching smile on my own lips. I chuckled, for some reason not wanting to release his arm just yet, the knitted sweater soft and warm under my touch.

“Lovely seeing you slowly turn into my number one fan, doll.” Of course, trust Mingi to ruin the moment. My eyes narrowed as I sighed loudly, slowly shaking my head. Mingi chuckled before taking a large gulp of his not so hot anymore chocolate, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Now, don’t get cocky.” I rolled my eyes, pulling my hand off his arm, watching as his eyes lingered where I have touched him, “I can recognize good work without becoming your fan.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Mingi mused playfully and I scoffed, bumping my shoulder into his before I went to retrieve my laptop from my desk, “Seonghwa and Wooyoung want us to try out new genres.”

“Really?” I asked surprised as I settled back in my previous spot, knee brushing against Mingi’s thigh, “Like what?”

“Well, nothing specific, just something little softer.” Mingi pursed his lips, fiddling with the mug in his hands, “Maybe something more indie rock.”

“I love indie rock,” I muttered absentmindedly as I powered on my laptop, “and why are you reluctant?”

Mingi seemed surprised that I had caught on, but it was quite obvious in his tone that he didn’t sound very enthusiastic about it, “Because my voice is rough and raw, unlike Seonghwa’s who’s smooth and almost angelic, and Wooyoung’s who’s can reach pitches I can only dream of and has a roughness that is absolutely soft at the same time, alluring.”

“Your voice is deep and powerful, it conveys every single emotion you’re feeling when you sing, Mingi. Your raspy tone alone tells a story, even without speaking the same language I would understand what you’re singing about. But just because it’s rougher and more powerful compared to Seonghwa and Wooyoung’s doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful and enchanting, Mingi.” Occupied with typing in the password to my laptop, I failed to notice the way Mingi’s breaths became shallow, the way his eyes bore into the side of my skull, “I think your voice is unique and desirable, you should be proud of it and not look down on yourself because of it. Many wish to have what you have, so really, don’t think any less of yourself because you think Seonghwa and Wooyoung are somehow better and more alluring. It’s not true, each one of you has their charm and well…I think you’re the most charming out of the three of you.”

I didn’t expect the expression on Mingi’s face when I turned my head to look at him. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were glazed over as his sharp eyes watched me intently, his breaths loud as his cheeks were red. My eyebrows furrowed, and for a second I worried I have made him angry, but the longer I looked, I realized the look in his eyes had nothing to do with anger. I gulped and averted my eyes, suddenly feeling my heart race again, biting my lower lip and trying to ignore the overbearing proximity between us. It was only our knee and thigh touching, yet it felt like Mingi was all over me, his scent still strong despite having changed out of his clothes and getting soaked by the rain. He always had a sharp scent surround him; it reminded me of pine trees.

“Thank you.” At last, Mingi found his voice and it was lower than before, goosebumps covered my skin as the low baritone of it traveled through my body. I nodded once in acknowledgement, not trusting my voice as I went on the internet to search for some movies to watch and pass the time while we wait for the storm to pass. If it passes, “Do you think rapping would fit my tone?”

It was an unexpected question, but as I mulled over it, I concluded that Mingi had the perfect timbre to both sing and rap, “Yeah, I think it would.”

I dared to take a peek at Mingi from the corner of my eyes, and was relieved to find the intensity gone from his face, instead, a soft smile grazed his lips as he finished his hot chocolate. He leaned back and placed his empty mug next to mine on the nightstand and fished his phone out of his pocket, “I found some old videos of me at school plays, let’s see what my music genius bestie thinks of them.”

I rolled my eyes, but nevertheless peered over Mingi’s shoulder in curiosity, “Don’t make fun of me, I’m merely stating something that someone with not musically trained ears hear. You should be more thankful.”

“I’m more than thankful, Y/N.” Mingi suddenly turned his head, our faces too close for comfort, so I quickly leaned back as he placed his arm on my thigh and pressed play on a video he pulled up from his gallery.

『Do you wanna, do you wanna own my mind, own my mind?

Do you wanna, do you wanna own my mind, own my mind?

Do you wanna know what the good, good, bad things all feel like?

Do you wanna, do you wanna own my mind, own my mind?』

            The movie of my choice was simple, The Quiet Ones. Nothing better than something a little spooky while there’s a wild storm raging outside, but to my utter surprise, Mingi looked terrified after only ten minutes of watching it. We were both leaning against the headboard of my bed, pillows behind our backs, and laptop placed between our lower bodies as our legs were stretched out. And despite the laptop being between us, Mingi’s shoulder pressed against mine not even five minutes after settling in our current spots. Trying to watch the horror movie, which was one of my favorite movie’s, turned out to be a fail, and I had no choice but to give in to Mingi as he only stopped whining when he got what he wanted. And that was watching a rom-com from the nineties, called 10 Things I Hate About You. I’ve seen it numerous times already, but it never gets old. There is something about the way the actors play their parts, and the plot too, that have me coming back to it with the same enthusiasm I had for it when watching it for the first time. At first, I thought Mingi hadn’t seen it and had only went along with my suggestion because he didn’t know what else to watch, but when he started quoting Patrick’s lines as if he were the character himself, I narrowed my eyes at him and poked his arm. After some painful jabs, he admitted that it was his favorite movie and he regularly rewatched it, especially if he was in a bad mood. That was a piece of information I wasn’t expecting from someone like Mingi. He looked like a guy who enjoyed tough and brutal movies, with the occasional romance movies if a pretty girl begged him to watch it together. Turns out, Mingi’s favorite genre is romance, and he hates horror, and depends on the type of thriller whether he likes it or not.

We found ourselves joking and laughing throughout the movie, making our own commentary about it after our first disagreement. Which was about whether Patrick accepting the money to charm Kat was right or wrong. Of course, it was very wrong to play with someone’s feelings and get paid for it too, but Mingi argued that if he never accepted it, then him and Kat would’ve never gotten together. And for that, I threw in the hypothetical scenario of him accepting money from Wooyoung so that he could take me out on a date and make me fall in love with him if that meant Wooyoung could have Seulgi date him. Mingi’s eyebrows furrowed and he declined such scenario, exactly proving my point why this was so wrong then, but he remained believing that for Kat and Patrick it totally worked out. And then he had the audacity to compare my stubbornness to Kat’s, making me call him just as stupid as Patrick was.

Time flew by as our laughter got louder, completely missing the way the rain had started to quiet down as we were immersed in the movie we were watching. It felt like a bubble was wrapped around us, isolating us from the cold world, and letting us enjoy ourselves without being so cautious of what we were saying. It felt nice. I couldn’t remember a time when I was able to let loose with someone other than Seulgi. It was a nice feeling, it made me excited in some way, completely making me forget that I was doing this with Mingi. He made it too easy to forget my worries and made me feel really comfortable all of a sudden, never stepping out of line—if we ignore his stupid flirting—and always keeping everything lighthearted. It was a nice change for once.

I groaned as I let my head fall back, lips pursed as my ass had gone numb from sitting so much in one place. Mingi snickered as Kat reversed into Joey’s car, clearly amused by the snarky remarks exchanged between the two characters. He was clearly into the witty exchanges, especially between Patrick and Kat, even having said that it makes Kat attractive how quickly and well she can shut Patrick down. I had told him that she wouldn’t have to do that if Patrick wasn’t so stupid most of the time, making Mingi roll his eyes at me, and say that I simply didn’t appreciate some good banter. Which wasn’t even true, I liked bantering if it had a smart purpose, not just to rile each other up, what was the point of that?

I licked my lips as my head lulled to the right, eyes falling on Mingi’s profile as he had his legs up, leaning forward as he hugged them around his knees with one arm. He was smiling and chuckling, pretty red lips pulled to the side, showing off his white teeth. His brows were dark, and his browbone being more prominent really sharpened his face in a very aesthetically pleasing way. Mingi’s face was very beautiful, and as an artist, I couldn’t help but admire it, and recognize it. So many pretty portraits of his face could be made, pity he doesn’t model. My lips pulled into a tiny smile at the thought of him modelling for me when we had to sketch human forms for our next class. I’m sure my professor would appreciate my drawings even more. Mingi’s glasses were discarded, and my eyes paused on his long nose, biting my lower lip just as Mingi chuckled again, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. He sniffed before rubbing two fingers against his plump lips, wetting them not even a second later. I gulped as I suddenly wondered what they would taste like. It was such a startling thought that I jumped, but Mingi suddenly looking at me certainly scared me more. I gulped, instantly blushing as a friendly smile painted Mingi’s lips as he leaned back, placing his head on the pillow, and letting it roll to the left. Our gazes connected, and I wasn’t surprised to find my heart beating so quickly once again, my lips pulling into a straight line as I struggled to keep my breathing even. Mingi’s easy smile didn’t disappear as his eyes racked over my face, it only became wider.

There was a whole galaxy behind those beautiful deep brown eyes of his, they sparkled with life and an excitement I haven’t seen in anyone before. I wished that I could recreate that in my drawings, but I wasn’t good enough to give simple eyes such deep emotions yet. And I really wished I was able to do so, because the longer I stared into Mingi’s eyes, the more lost I got in them, thoughts and worries disappearing into nothingness. Mingi’s hand twitched for a second and I tensed when I felt a finger gently poking my cold hand. I gulped, but I wasn’t able to look away as ever so softly more fingers brushed against my skin like feather, Mingi’s bottom lip between his teeth. His actions were slow and cautious, probably afraid that I would pull away, but I was too captured by his alluring gaze to even think to move away from him. Slowly, his longer fingers intertwined with mine and his rings cut into my skin when I squeezed his hand, uncaring that it hurt a bit. I knew my cheeks were now surely very red, but I couldn’t actually be bothered to feel embarrassed, not when Mingi’s cheeks were dusted pink as well. His high cheekbones were flushed the pretties color they could have been, and I smiled as Mingi blinked, looking abashed. Somehow no words had to be exchanged between us, everything felt comfortable, scarily familiar. I haven’t felt like this…since my ex. And not even with him have I felt so safe and understood, it always seemed like there was some invisible barrier between us, and I never understood why. With Mingi, if I allowed myself to feel and be unafraid, no barrier lay between the two of us.

I gulped, eyes suddenly falling on Mingi’s lips as his tongue poked out just slightly to wet them, his plump lips red and full. I’ve never seen a person have such full lips, and it made me wonder if they were as soft as one would imagine them be. Aware that my eyes were glued to Mingi’s lips, I looked back up in his eyes, trying to ignore how insanely attractive his mole right underneath it made him look. There was something about Mingi’s bareface that was so charming and beautiful that it almost made me feel jealous of it. Mingi sniffed quietly, and his bottom lip was between his teeth again as his eyes fell to my lips, my rapid heartbeat halting for a second. Could he be having similar thoughts to mine? I wouldn’t know, but when Mingi’s eyes found mine again, they were just slightly more intense and sharper. Like he was determined and nothing could stop him. I gulped loudly as he moved his head, just lightly, but it was closer than before. My heart was beating like crazy, but almost as if I was under a spell, I found myself shifting my head just a little bit closer. Mingi’s eyes no longer were on mine, and as my lips parted when I licked them, I felt Mingi’s hand squeeze mine just a little bit more. I gulped as I proceeded to lean even closer, my eyes fixated on Mingi’s lips now too, just wondering and wondering infinitely if they were warm, soft, wet, and what they would taste like. I didn’t startle nor flinch when Mingi angled his body so that he could lean dangerously close, the bridge of his nose brushing against mine. His hot breath mingled with mine as our lips were parted, a pull so magnetic I couldn’t untangle myself from it even if I tried to. My eyes threatened to flutter closed as I pressed my nose against his, the side of our lips rubbing just a little together as I couldn’t breathe regularly anymore. Mingi’s lips pressed ever so slightly against the corner of mine, feather like, and it suddenly wasn’t enough. The distance, it was too big—even if it didn’t even exist between us anymore—and I squeezed his hand as I angled my head to finally press our lips together, Mingi’s breaths audible due to our proximity.

But suddenly, a door was slammed shut loudly, “Sweetheart, I made it home finally! I saw a car parked in front of our house, all’s good?!”

The curious and shrill voice of my mother sent Mingi and I flying away from each other, both of our eyes wide as I was panting, my whole body burning. I couldn’t look at Mingi as I scrambled to press pause on the movie and Mingi was off the bed in a flash, sprinting towards my window. I could still feel his hot puffs against my face, and I gulped as I forced myself to forget everything I felt just seconds ago.

“The rain stopped,” Mingi’s voice was hoarse, so gravely that I had to clench my fists to stop myself from doing something I would regret, “I will be going.”

“I’ll go downstairs, let my mom know you’re here.” My voice wasn’t better off, I sounded breathless. I felt lightheaded as I got off the bed, standing and pausing for a second.

“Right, I’ll change back into my clothes and then—”

“No,” I didn’t mean to sound desperate as Mingi’s eyes fell on me, I had to look away in embarrassment, “keep them, they are of no use to me.”

“Right.” Mingi cleared his throat and I quickly walked past him, thankful that he stepped aside, and hurried out of my room and down the stairs. I took a deep breath to compose myself as I heard my mother placing down plastic bags in the kitchen. I needed to behave like everything was fine, when nothing was fine anymore.

“Hi!” My greeting was high pitched and way too cheery, my mother’s eyes narrowed when she saw me standing in the doorway, “Glad you made it home, the storm was awful.”

“It really was.” My mom grimaced as she continued unpacking the groceries, “You got home alright?”

“Yeah, uhm, actually,” I gulped and bit my lower lip as I heard Mingi coming down the stairs, “a friend from university drove me home as it was already raining, and he, uhm, stayed over. Because the rain was so bad he wouldn’t have been able to drive home. You know, safety measures and all.”

My mother paused and looked up at me with both of her eyebrows raised, “He?”

And on cue, Mingi appeared next to me, glasses pushed up on his nose adequately for once and hair not as messy as before, “Hello, my name is Song Mingi.”

“Nice to meet you, dear.” My mother’s eyes were glinting, looking way too happy for someone who was just introducing themselves. I was afraid of what would come, so, I grabbed Mingi’s arm and guided him towards the coat hanger.

“Mingi’s leaving, mom.” I said as I let go of his arm, averting my eyes as he wore his shoes and pulled on his jacket.

“Already?” My mom asked with a pout, coming to stand in the doorway, “Don’t you want to stay for dinner, dear?”

Mingi froze, eyes first finding mine before he looked at my mother with a polite smile, “Don’t worry, Mrs—”

“Oh, don’t be all formal with me, I hate that shit.” My mother chuckled and winked at him, “Call me Boyoung.”

Mingi gulped, seemingly taken aback by my mother’s behavior. I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly, knowing how surprising the contrast between my mother’s personality and mine was. Sadly, I haven’t taken after her when it comes to my attitude, but that’s fine.

“Well, Boyoung, thank you for your offer, but my friends and I actually agreed on dining out tonight.” Mingi’s excuse sounded real, so I knew he wasn’t lying. I gulped when my mother threw me a very slick glare, almost saying that this was my fault. I rolled my eyes, offended by her assumption.

“That’s a pity, dear,” My mother pouted, but soon a bright smile appeared on her lips, “But you are invited for whenever you feel like having dinner with us, right, my starlight?”

I tried not to glare at my mother for the outrageous nickname, especially when I saw Mingi’s lips twitch in amusement. I told her not to call me that in front of others so many times, “Right, mom.”

My mother chuckled, all too aware of my dislike for the nickname, before her eyes landed on Mingi again. There was a brief pause, one too awkward for my liking, and then Mingi was clearing his throat and opening the front door.

“Uh,” He made eye contact with me briefly, “talk to you later.”

“Wait,” My mother’s eyebrows furrowed as Mingi stepped outside, trying to adjust the strap of his backpack, “Aren’t those Yun—”

“Talk to you later!” I loudly said, making sure to send my mother a very alarmed look as Mingi froze for a second before he hummed quietly and took off towards his car.

The air was chilly and humid due to the harsh rain, and as I closed the front door, I knew I had a lot of questions to answer when my eyes fell on my mother’s amused face.

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The Danny Ric Series🍯🦡

Daniel Ricciardo × Reader

New relationships need boundaries that have to be set and feelings that need to be talked about. Through that it can grow, and each partner can become fully comfortable so that it may be healthy and long-lasting.

A/N: Welcome! I hope you enjoy The Danny Ric Series. It is dedicated to the wonderful man that brought so much joy to Formula One and its fans.

Due to the topic there is a lot of dialogue in this fic. This takes place in no specific or real timeline.

This story on AO3.

The bathroom mirror was foggy after her shower. Where Daniel seemed to prefer colder showers in the mornings, mostly because his trainer recommended them, she enjoyed hers quite hot.

It was the third night she had slept at his apartment in Monaco. They had been together for a bit more than three months, but the race calendar had made it impossible to spend more time at his place.

She didn't need the mirror to dry herself off and slip into her lounge wear. Daniel was already in the kitchen, having gone on a jog and showered before she woke up. He was making her breakfast, since he had most of his meals premade.

When she slipped into the kitchen, he was just laying an omelette on her plate, next to some toast. She rubbed her right eye, still a bit sleepy. "Thank you, that's very nice."

He turned around, welcoming her with a wide smile. "Only the best for you!" She trotted over to him and kissed him. "You're sweet." His smile grew impossibly wider while handing her the plate. She sat down while he got his porridge out of the fridge. After fixing them both something to drink, he sat down too.

At the beginning they ate in silence, but after she had eaten her toast and was left with the leftovers of her omelette, she began to push them around the plate. "Daniel?" He looked up from his phone, where he had looked over the data of his morning jog. He put it down. "We haven't really talked about sex, and after yesterday..." She left the sentence hanging in the air.

They hadn't had sex the night before, but there were decidedly fewer clothes and more skin contact involved than the nights they had spent together beforehand. "I liked yesterday." He was searching her face for any kind of discomfort, afraid she felt otherwise, and he hadn't picked up on it. A simple nod from her relaxed him.

"So did I, but I wanted to talk about our expectations before jumping into it. This is neither of our first serious relationship, and I think neither of us is a virgin?" She lifted a brow questioningly and he shook his head. "But it's our relationship and I would like to know what you like, and I'd like you to know what I like. The same with things we don't like." Daniel nodded in response before tipping his head back, thinking about her words.

After she had given him a bit of time, she continued, "I can start. I started this conversation, and I have thought about what to say before." His eyes found hers once more and he nodded encouragingly.

"Well, I have no problem with and quite enjoy things like fingering, missionary, oral or riding." She watched for a reaction, but Daniel was simply listening and nodding. "I like both giving and receiving oral." She blushed lightly, these were normal things in a relationship, but voicing them so clearly and clinically for the first time felt a bit weird. "I also enjoy thigh riding a lot, beyond that there is not much I've tried or that I'm interested in. Not regarding my body at least, that does not mean that we cannot talk about the things that go beyond that that you like. I would also ask you to refrain from calling me names, humiliating ones, degrading ones or even things like 'good girl'. I don't think you would say that, but I wanted to voice it. My name or endearments are totally fine."

Daniel listened attentively and made note of everything she said. "Thank you for being so clear with all that. Um, I agree with the things you've listed, and I've never been involved in thigh riding, but I'm very interested. I'll look after my language." He leaned back again, after having moved towards her, and thought for a few moments more. "There are a few things beyond that that I'm interested in. I'm very big on worshipping, from top to bottom, face, neck, breasts, stomach, tight. Everything." He paused, waiting for an answer. "I'm more than okay with that, it sounds very enjoyable." Her smile was genuine, so he continued, "I also like blindfolds and temperature play. Both on myself." He waited once more, but she looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate. "I like the sensitivity that comes with not being able to see, especially when it comes to blowjobs and temperature is mostly ice. That's especially good after a race weekend. I haven't tried them both combined yet, but I'm interested in that."

She thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I'm opposed to neither of that. We'd have to talk about both beforehand, but if you enjoy it, I'm willing to try it out." This time he nodded. "Good, thank you for bringing it up. It's good to be on the same page. So, was that everything for now?" He rolled his shoulders, he didn't want to abruptly end the conversation, but he also wanted to move.

She was about to nod when something else, something important, crossed her mind. "I'm not on birth control!" Daniel nodded. "That's okay, you don't have to be, even when we're having sex. We'll use condoms." She smiled softly. "Good, I think that was the last thing."

He stood up, walked over to her and leaned down so he could give her a kiss. "Then everything is ready for the next time you stay." She grinned. "Who'd say we'd wait that long?" Her tone was teasing and humorous, clearly making a joke. "Such enthusiasm to get into my pants!" Daniel exclaimed. They both started laughing.

She stood up too. "How about we start with the dishes before wandering back into bed?" Daniel sighed dramatically. "If it's so urgent, then yes, let's do the dishes first. Before our glorious first bedroom adventure." They fell back into laughter.

***

A heavenly quiet enveloped their hotel room after the frenzy at the Austin Grand Prix. It was only Saturday, but Daniel was more in demand on this weekend than on any other. It was only the third time that she was accompanying him. Their relationship was still new, and she didn't have the time to visit all of them, but this was his home race, so she took special care to clear her calendar.

When the cars were on track, she spent time with some of the other drivers girlfriends. She was also more than welcome in his team's motorhome, so she'd enjoy a hot cup there from time to time. When they left, she also knew what that entailed.

Daniel signed more autographs and took more photos than anyone else she had seen. She liked it, especially since it showed how much he cared and how much joy it brought him. It also meant that they came back to the hotel quite late.

He was peeling himself out of his clothes, to take one last shower before going to bed. She herself was still dressed and was looking at him. "Daniel?"

"Um, yeah?" He looked up at her, which made him stumble and almost fall over, since he was trying to take off his pants. She shook her head. "Finish up first. Don't want to be responsible for any injuries before the big race." He grinned in return and kicked off his jeans before picking them up and throwing them over a chair.

He turned back towards her. "So, what was it, love?" A slight smile formed on her face at the nickname, she hoped the feeling she had while he called her such sweet names wouldn't get lost with time. "I just..."

She looked away from him, not knowing how to articulate her thoughts. "Race weekends make uncomfortable. I spoke to Alexandra, she kinda understood where I was coming from, but I think you'd want to know too. I think I simply have to get used to it, but right now I am not. Your fans adore you and I know you love the interactions, but I just don’t like the way they're looking at you. The constant photographers make me nauseous, and the interviewers are even worse. What do they even want from me?"

Her gaze returned to him. "I hope you understand what I’m trying to say." She scratched her neck. "I still want to come, I love being here with you, it's just all a little much."

He nodded and was clearly thinking of an appropriate answer. His first action, however, was walking over to her and taking her into his arms. "That's valid." They stood in silence for a bit and while she was happy he hadn't said she was overreacting, which she had never believed he would do, she was hoping for a bit more.

"Thank you for telling me. That's pretty shit." He stroked over her back. "I can't, um, do much about it, the fans are the fans and the photographers and interviewers are part of it all." He looked over to the bed. "But we can talk more about it." They let go of each other and after finding a comfortable position on the bed, he continued. "What exactly is bothering you? Maybe if we pinpoint it, it'll help?"

"It's all kind of intertwined. With the fans, it's just the way you and the team present this image. You're a high performance athlete, and you also have to have sex appeal and be entertaining. It's not like that's hard, you're sexy and funny, but the whole concept is just weird. It's not that they think you're cool, or that they see you as an inspiration. I support that, I think that's important. It's when we stand in front of crowds and I know someone in there has thought about fucking you. It's not constantly on my mind, it just comes up." Daniel was taken aback.

"Yes, so I understand that. Sometimes I have moments like that too. I think everyone in my position has. I don't like that it affects you." He took her hands in his. "And the rest of the media?"

She looked at their hands, squeezing them. "I'm your girlfriend, and I'm there to support you, but they're interested in me. Yeah, only because I'm your girlfriend, but still." She let a few moments pass before continuing. "I have to get used to all that, and I will, the others did, but right now it's just really fucking weird." Her eyes search for his and he nodded. "God, yes, it's always going to stay weird. Most of the stuff that happens in the paddock is absolutely surreal. You just get used to it all over time."

"So, effectively, I'll do exposure therapy until I'm used to the weirdness?" There was a smile on her face but a genuine slight concern to her question. Daniel nodded once more. "Yes, but I'll be there with you every step of the way."

***

They were sitting on plastic garden chairs next to a tiny bike track, eating dinner. Daniel and a few friends had wanted to bike, and she and some of the other partners had decided to come along. Now, after way more rounds than she could count, some with her, most him alone, exhaustion had sat in.

The others had gone inside the little garage they used to work on the bikes for repairs to get more drinks, but they must have gotten lost in their conversation, since they hadn't returned yet.

She only noticed that Daniel had stopped eating when he started talking to her. "Out there on track today, did you like it?" He looked at her. The track here was one made for hobby bikers, nothing serious, but one could go faster than on the normal road. She looked over the track before she answered. "We all had a lot of fun, right?"

She could see him shake his head in her peripheral vision. "Did you have fun? I thought you liked biking, but in between, I thought you'd fall over before you were even on it? And I know you don't get motion sickness."

Her gaze returned to him before answering. She was hesitant. "Well... I like biking." She bit her lip, thinking of the right words. "And I like going fast on a straight piece of road, but with all the curves around the track, I, um, was kinda afraid we'd die." There was humour in her voice, but it fell flat.

Daniel didn't look angry or annoyed, he looked hurt. "Why didn't you say that? I thought you were having fun." She nodded, trying to steer the conversation towards something else. "It was cool, I loved watching you, you were clearly having the time of your life."

He nodded. "I did, but you clearly didn't." He swallowed, laying his food on the plate in front of him on the grass. "You have to say stuff like that. You don't have to come if you don't want to, and if you want to simply watch, then you'll watch." She took a deep breath, looking at the track once again. "You were so excited to take me on the bike, I wanted you to have that experience. Also, it wasn't that bad the whole time." She tried to lessen her previous statement.

Daniel shook his head. "Then I'd have driven slower, and even if I liked the idea of driving you around, I'd like it more if you were comfortable." His chair made a suspicious creaking sound when he lifted it up to sit down right next to her. "Please tell me when something makes you uncomfortable. I'm a big boy, I can take it. But if you don't, or if I wouldn't, then we'd both be down in the end."

"Okay, yeah. I'll try next time." She looked over Daniel's shoulder. Their friends were returning, drinks in hand.  She looked back at him. "Let us talk about this more tomorrow, I want to enjoy this evening." He nodded, accepting her request. "Yes, I just want you to know that that's really important to me." A warm smile formed on her lips and she nodded. "I do, I promise."

***

The music at Jimmyz was deafening, and the air was practically vibrating. The party after the Monaco Grand Prix was something else entirely. She took a sip of her drink and leaned into Daniel, who had an arm around her.

He had just come back after being away for a bit, talking to different people he had spotted. She had sat in a booth with multiple of the other drivers and their partners, a lot of fun and alcohol involved.

He leaned towards her ear. "You aren't uncomfortable, right?" He kissed her cheek, a bit sloppily. He'd had some drinks. "Just wanted to make sure you were all right."

She turned her head, kissing him on the mouth. "No, no, I'm not! The others are great. Thank you for asking." They both had to talk loudly over the music to be understood.

"That's good. Want you to have a good time!" She nodded her head, taking another sip. "Don't worry!" He nodded and turned his head, someone had tapped on his shoulder and he was buried in a conversation shortly after.

She looked around. Clubs may or may not be her thing, but she was sitting next to Daniel, surrounded by drivers that were more or less his friends and the women that were more or less hers. This was just fine by her, she liked it like this, and she knew Daniel did too.

@kigieri 2024. All rights reserved. Do not copy, steal, translate or repost any of my work.

[mirai-e-jump]

Uchusen Vol.185 (Summer 2024) Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger | Detail of Super Sentai ft. Main Cast & Director Interviews, Summer Film Details (translations below)

Publication: July 1, 2024

Miyazawa Yu (Sakito Homura)

"To start, please tell us why Miyazawa-san decided to become an actor, and what happened when you first became aware that you were an actor."

Miyazawa: I've been playing soccer since I was little, and even in high school, I played on the soccer team while living at the dorms. It was located in Shizuoka, but there were alot of kids around me who were in the entertainment business, so I kinda had the impression of it being a glorious thing. However, I was serious about soccer, participating in national competitions and such at the time. After that, when I entered college, I happened to be approached by an entertainment agency, and that's where my entertainment career began. I started to pursue acting when I played the role of a classmate in the 2015 film, "Girl's Step." Even after a cut or during set up, I'd see some actors practicing their lines, and that's how things started taking shape. When I quit playing soccer and had nothing in particular to be passionate about, I was impressed by the seriousness with which they tried to create things. The TV shows and films we watch are finished products, right? When I learned about the production process, I was surprised to discover how "deep" it was. Until that moment, I had no idea that the Director and actors communicate with each other to create the performance, and that there are many other departments involved in the production, such as the filming department, lighting department, and audio department. I was impressed by the fact that so many people could create a single production in this way. Then, when everyone around me started job hunting, I began to think, "Becoming some company employee doesn't seem right," and that's when I started to pursue acting properly. I was around 22 years old then.

"What kind of actor did you aspire to become?"

Miyazawa: There are many actors who are good at performing called "chameleon actors," and I still aspire to become that kind of actor, being able to play roles that only I can play.

"The agency Miyazawa-san belongs to, G-STAR PRO, has many people who have worked on Toei's tokusatsu productions in the past, doesn't it? Miyazawa-san, did you also have any desire to work on tokusatsu productions?"

Miyazawa: Yes. I've always wanted to be in one. The first production I auditioned for was "Kamen Rider Drive," when I was 19 years old at the time. From there, I've had more than 10 auditions for the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai series. Many of the seniors from my agency have appeared in tokusatsu productions, but they all transferred from other agencies, and as a matter of fact, no one made their tokusatsu debut from this agency at that time. That's why I was auditioning, determined to be the first. The outcome was that Kawana-kun (Kiryu Daigoro in King-Ohger) was the first actor, but I always had a strong desire to be in a tokusatsu production.

"Did you get the feeling that others were ahead of you?"

Miyazawa: To be honest, I didn't really feel that I was being overtaken. Still, I'm 29 years old now, and the main cast of the Super Sentai series usually consists of people around their early 20s, so I wondered if it was going to become tougher for me. Especially in the last 2-3 years……I had a strong feeling that I'd probably fail the audition anyways. Actually, I also auditioned for the initial members of Boonboomger last year, and was able to make it to the final selection. However, I was eliminated in the end. This is the toughest place to fail. You start to think, "Ah, maybe it'll work out?" (laughs). I had the feeling of, "I've been failing for so long, I guess I'll never pass."

"Did you audition for the role of Sakito Homura after watching Boonboomger?"

Miyazawa: Boonboomger had already started airing, so I knew what kind of story it was going to be. However, Sakito Homura is quite a special character (laughs). I wanted to try to express a slightly different kind of character, one that's different from the worldview we've seen up until now in Boonboomger.

"How did you feel when you heard about the audition?"

Miyazawa: I wanted to pass this time, but I had a feeling that I'd fail again. However, when I saw the character profile of Sakito Homura written in the audition summary, I thought, "This character, isn't this just me?" (laughs). It's a strange story, but it gave me confidence that I would definitely pass the audition this time. On the other hand, I felt that if I failed this one, I'd never get another audition for a tokusatsu production.

"Does this mean you thought Sakito Homura seemed to resemble you?"

Miyazawa: The incomplete part of him, his weaknesses, and his vulnerabilities, I felt that they were similar to my own. Also, I like characters who are cheerful but have some kind of dark side to them. I had a desire to try playing such a role, and was strangely confident that I could definitely express it myself.

"How did you feel when you finally passed after almost 10 years of doing auditions?"

Miyazawa: I received a call about 30 minutes after the final selection (laughs). On my way home, my manager asked me, "Can you come to the office now?," where I was told that I had passed. It didn't really sink in at the time……It was only during filming of the first Change that the realization of "I've become a hero" actually hit me. The first Change was filmed on the fourth day after I arrived on set, so up until the third day, I felt the same as when I was working on other productions (laughs). When I was working with Action Director Jun-san and Violet's Suit Actor Tsutamune-san on thinking up transformation poses, the realization of what I was doing started to bubble up inside me, and when the cameras started rolling and I posed for the transformation and Tsutamune-san came out as BoonViolet, that's when it finally hit me.

"We understand that the three of you came up with the transformation poses together, but who took the lead?"

Miyazawa: Since it was my first time, Jun-san and Tsutamune-san pulled me along, but rather than anyone taking the lead, we thought about it as a group of three. I wanted to express myself in some way, since the transformation pose I decided on here will be the one that will remain with me for the rest of my life. Jun-san and Tsutamune-san also said that, "Miyazawa-kun's favorite pose should be good." I thought about it while receiving lots of ideas from both of them. Speaking of, there's something I like regarding Sakito's transformation pose, can I tell you about it? (laughs).

"Please go ahead (laughs)."

Miyazawa: There's the pose that looks like he's waving a checkered flag, which is meant to say, "Sakito Homura is here to end the game. I'm here, and everything's alright now." In addition, Sakito loves fighting and chaos, and is a forward character who wants to stir things up on his own, so I incorporated the attitude of Sakito Homura into the pose, with the spinning (of the checkered flag) around and sprinting forward from a jump.

"It's a transformation pose with alot of attention to detail. Before Boonboomger, Miyazawa-san appeared in "Super Battle Junretsuger," "Kamen Rider Revice," and "Kamen Rider Gotchard." You have alot of experience gained from dramas, films, and stage plays, but do you feel that tokusatsu productions have a different feel to them?"

Miyazawa: My first acting role was in Kamen Rider Revice. I've been watching "Kamen Rider" since I was a child, so it felt alittle different than appearing in a regular TV drama. Tokusatsu productions are something we remember and admire from our childhood, right? I was deeply moved to be apart of such a production.

"I know we talked about filming first, but after you were cast for the role, how did you prepare to portray Sakito Homura?"

Miyazawa: Sakito's setting is that he's been in space for about 20 years, so for starters, I've never been to space (laughs). Since he's a character with an unusual past, I had the impression of a character who's far removed from reality. I created the backbone of Sakito Homura's character by imagining life in space, and by watching American comic book films like "The Avengers," which I hadn't seen much of before, and discovered things I didn't have in my own repertoire.

"Filming for episode 18 has finished (at the time of this interview), but have your impressions of Sakito changed as a result of your performance?"

Miyazawa: He was in space for almost 20 years, and I think he's become a detached type of character in an attempt to appear strong. But in reality, he's the kind of character who feels that there's one thing he wants to protect, and aside from that, nothing else matters to him. As I played the role, I strongly felt Sakito's humanity, thinking that it was okay to show such emotions in small detail, and that (Sakito) was capable of it.

"Will Byundi (Byun Diesel) be the one with whom you've performed with the most up to episode 18?"

Miyazawa: That's right. I was filming while consulting with Takada Masashi-san. The relationship between Sakito and Byundi is really good, like that of Luffy and Ace from "ONE PIECE." They have a relationship where they support each other, so when Byundi puts down the gun he's pointing at his opponent, Sakito also puts down his, and I'm working with Takada-san in mind while being conscious of the habits that Sakito has as he matches Byundi. I've also been discussing with Tsutamune-san how BoonViolet should interact with Byundi after the Change. In the beginning, I watched Tsutamune-san and Takada-san's performance as BoonViolet and Byundi, and I even played Sakito with them in mind before the Change.

"How's the mood with the other cast members playing Boonboomgers?"

Miyazawa: There are younger kids like Iuchi-kun and Saito-kun, who are only 19 years old, so it's a very energetic set. At first, I was worried about whether I'd be able to communicate well with them, but everyone is very kind. They came rushing over to me when I was having my costume fit and asked things like, "What's Violet like?," and I thought, "Uwah, they're so cute" (laughs). We'll be working together for more than half a year, so I'd like to go out to dinner together and steadily become closer. I've only been on set for less than a month, but we're communicating well, and I'm having fun working together with everyone.

"We've noticed that Sakito will be featured in the film that'll be released this Summer."

Miyazawa: I didn't expect to be able to perform so soon after I appeared. There's a scene where Mira asks for help, and I thought hard about how Sakito should react there. Presumably, in the timeline of the film, Sakito will have grown enough where he acts for his friends. For me personally, it was difficult because we haven't filmed that much of the main series yet……(bitter smile). I was also happy to be able to perform in a scene where all six of us fight together, a development that's typical of the Super Sentai series.

"There's still more than half a year left to film, but is there anything you'd like to challenge yourself to in this show?"

Miyazawa: Up until now, I've often played the role of a villain, but I tried not to show that part of myself since this time children would be watching (laughs). I'd also like to try my hand at acting in a situation where I have to fight to protect someone while falling apart. I think Boonboomger is different from the films and TV dramas I've been involved with in the past, and in terms of acting, I'm asked to express myself in a way that's easy to understand, and I'm also being asked to show parts of myself that I haven't shown before, so I'd like to continue to challenge myself in these areas.

"Regarding Sakito Homura, what would you like people to pay attention to from now on in Boonboomger?"

Miyazawa: I think episode 18 showed us alot of Sakito's strengths and vulnerabilities. How will Sakito be involved with the Boonboomgers going forward? I hope you'll look forward to seeing how Sakito and Byundi change and grow over the course of each episode. If the viewers can feel that growth, then I'll be happy to have played the role of Sakito. Please make sure you pay attention to that.

Matsumoto Rika (Bundorio Bunderas VA)

-Delivering energy for the children's sake-

"First, we'd like to ask about the story behind your offer for this production."

Matsumoto: The first offer I received was to voice the "DX Boonboom Changer" toy. It's really wonderful to hear my own voice coming out of an item that children can directly touch. As an artist, I always hope to be a "strong vitamin" for others, and that's exactly what I do through my voice, delivering energy directly to children. There used to be a thing called a "laugh bag," right? You'd press the bag and hear the sound of laughter, and it'd make you laugh along too. With that image in mind, I put myself in a super good mood during the recording, thinking about fun things like listening to music and eating tasty food (laughs). I'd be happy if everyone could join in with my "Boon Boon Boon!" voice heard coming from the toys, imitating me when playing with them and naturally becoming energetic.

"Following that, you'd also be the voice of Boonboom and singing the ED theme?"

Matsumoto: One after another they said, "Please voice Boonboom" and, "Rika-san, please sing as well." I "cranked up" saying, "Of course!" The flow of everything was good as usual. I had reached a milestone after appearing in the anime "Pokemon" for 26 years, so I had alot of energy left in me, and I had also heard that children were missing my voice and becoming sad. I was looking for a way to delivering energy to them, as there was no option inside of me to make them feel lonely.

"Next, please tell us about your role as Bundorio Bunderas."

Matsumoto: The Producers told me, "We'd like to see him portrayed as a life form rather than a robot." At first I thought, "Maybe I should just do it as myself?," but since Boonboom's actual character is played in tandem with the Suit Actor, I wanted to add some spiritual meaning into the Suit Actor's detailed movements. I wanted to make Boonboom even more appealing by including dialogue that's true to life.

"How about the actual recording?"

Matsumoto: We have a trusting relationship, and I'm often entrusted with the job. Even in scenes where there are no lines, I'm sometimes asked, "Please give us a line here that's unique to Bundorio." I'd ask, "What kind of lines do you want?" and they'd say, "We'll leave it to you" (laughs). So I'd look at the footage 3-4 times and say, "I'm ready!" They'd say, "Do you want to do a test? Or do you want to do it for real?," and I would do a test from time to time, but sometimes I'd just go straight into doing the real thing. After all, isn't it best for it to come about naturally and without pretending? There are many cases where the first take is good. However, every Director entrusts me with their work, which makes me very happy and makes it worthwhile. There are multiple Directors, including one who was an Assistant Director during the days of "Chikyu Sentai Fiveman." For some reason, it puts a smile on my face every time.

"In that regard, do you also sometimes think back on the days of Fiveman?"

Matsumoto: I've been active overseas quite abit this year, so I'm able to concentrate on recording, but back in the days of Fiveman, we recorded every week without exception, and it took us from the time we entered the studio in the morning until late at night, which is totally different from how it is now. One of the recordings I remember well is the episode where Arthur G6 is damaged (Ep 12, Arthur's Super Transformation). Arthur's personality changes, but I was also simultaneously performing in "Obocchama-kun," so I added the essence of Binbocchama, the character who I played at the time (laughs). Most of the puns in that episode I came up with myself (laughs).

"Hasn't Toei Studios also changed a considerable amount?"

Matsumoto: First of all, it's become beautiful. Back in the old days, the floor in the recording studio was just dirt (laughs). Back then, it was still the era of film, so we'd screen the film in a dark, almost cave like environment, and read our lines by relying on a small light. I don't know how my seniors did it in that environment. Now, we've moved from film to the digital era, and the floor is no longer made of dirt. The recording room is also bright. The way I approached the role back then and the way I do it now has changed considerably, and because I've been doing this for so long, I've been able to feel this transition with the passage of time, which fills me with an inexpressible feeling.

-The word play is improvised-

"What do you care about in your role as Boonboom?"

Matsumoto: I like to include lots of wordplay. In the Children's Day broadcast on May 5 (Bakuage 10), there's a scene where the five of us were talking in the garage, and Boonboom was wearing an origami helmet (kabuto). And so I said things like, "Kabuto, I'm a kabuto~🎵" (laughs). However, I felt that the sound was muffled in the broadcast, so the next time we recorded, I said to the mixer, "I thought I sounded really good there, but wasn't my voice low?" They replied, "No, no, I could hear you just fine" (laughs). During the days of Fiveman, I could hardly talk to the Staff, but now we have a normal relationship where we can talk about these kinds of things, and I really enjoy each recording session.

"In the show, you're active not only in the usual Boonboom scenes, but also in the giant Robo battles."

Matsumoto: No, I thought I wouldn't participate in that part and would have a break. "The five of them are piloting and fighting, there they go, good luck!" is what I thought……I was told, "No, no, please do the same as Boonboom," and now I'm working hard with great enthusiasm, believing that I'm one of the Boonboomgers.

"We feel like you're being called upon more and more by the production team, and that your opportunities to play an active role are expanding."

Matsumoto: I'm really very grateful for this. Right, the OP theme song is sometimes played in the background during the Robo fight. En-chan (Endoh Masaaki) told me, "Rika's voice is so high pitched that I can't hear my own singing" (laughs). I want to make it clear to him that I'm just doing what they ask me to do (laughs).

"Have you had a chance to meet any of the cast members of Boonboomger?"

Matsumoto: We first met when the Producer brought the Boonboomger members to observe the recording session "for the sake of studying." They were all lined up behind the booth and looked at me. I thought it would be good if I could be of some help, but I kinda felt embarrassed and shy (laughs). The five members were cheerful and refreshing, full of enthusiasm and saying, "Let's do our best from now on!" They're very pleasant members. As I mentioned earlier, I consider myself a member of the Boonboomgers, so I'd like them to make as much Boonboom merch as they can (laughs). "With Boonboom, the six of us are Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger!" (laughs).

-Also singing songs as Boonboom-

"From here, we'd like to hear you talk as the singer who sings KotsuKotsu PONPON."

Matsumoto: I sang KotsuKotsu PONPON at various places during the Golden Week holiday, and everywhere I went, children's eyes lit up with joy while saying "Wow!," and I was able to experience firsthand the response to the song. When I went to Amagasaki, there were small children in the room next to the one I was staying at in the hotel, and it was very lively. Then I thought, "What's that?," and what I heard from the other side of the wall was KotsuKotsu PONPON being sung by the children. I was thrilled and thought, "They're singing!," and I tried singing the next part, but then they suddenly became quiet (laughs).

"The children wouldn't expect Matsumoto-san to be staying next door (laughs)."

Matsumoto: That'd be a surprise, wouldn't it? (laughs). But I was happy to see that this was such a widespread song. Overseas, I sang it in Portugal, and everyone already knows it. It's also up on YouTube, so I guess people looked it up and remember it. Now that we have TikTok, I hope that through SNS we can spread our music to a large number of people and have them enjoy listening to it. I myself listen to this song and find it very energizing.

"Please share your recording stories with us."

Matsumoto: At first, I thought I should just sing it in my own style, but I couldn't help but sound cool (laughs). I was asked to sing with a relaxed and open tone, so I was very conscious of that. Also, the key is set to a male voice, and it's only Boonboom that sings. We had alot of discussions about the fine details of the song like, "I want to sing it like this." For the chorus, the words "KotsuKotsu" was also written twice in the verse, but I was only able to do it once. We also discussed and decided on what to say for lines like, "Crank up! Let's go!" It really felt like we were writing the song together, and we were able to record it in the best possible form, even exploring the perfect key until the very last minute.

"It's on TV every week, but how do you feel about seeing it with the footage?"

Matsumoto: At the time of the recording, I had heard that there was going to be dancing, but I didn't know they were going to feature Boonboom that much. It's a really fun video. All the Staff members had fun making it, including the inclusion of the explanation of traffic rules. I really hope this song becomes a favorite song for as many people as possible. It would definitely be a hit if everyone could dance and sing along. The choreography itself was also well thought out in such a way that it can be performed while sitting and using only hand gestures.

"His name was mentioned earlier, but what about Endoh Masaaki-san, who sings the theme song?"

Matsumoto: En-chan and I have been friends for a long time as fellow singers, and it's interesting that the two of us are responsible for the OP and ED of Boonboomger. I've also had him participate in the chorus of "Rival!" from Pokemon, and when I see En-chan working hard, it makes me want to work harder, so we have a great relationship. When I heard that, "Endoh Masaaki-san has been chosen for the OP," I called him immediately before we recorded this time. "En-chan? Hey, it's Rika"……we were able to communicate with each other just by saying that and burst out laughing. I said, "I'm looking forward to working with you this year!" So far we haven't had a chance to sing together on stage yet, but I'm looking forward to the time we can perform together.

"In addition, a new character song, "Curry is spicy but beautiful" is also being sung."

Matsumoto: It's not so much a character song as it is a song about how to make curry. I was told, "You're going to sing a song about making curry" (laughs). I sang the song while imagining a happy scene of a family eating curry together. It would be great if the song becomes so popular that people sing it when making curry in their everyday lives.

"During the time of Fiveman, you sang the character song "Super Arthur" as well."

Matsumoto: This was my first recording as a singer, and I was extremely happy about it. It was my first time singing a character song. At first, I was singing with a natural, rock feel in mind, but then the music suddenly stopped and the Director at the time said, "Sing as the character." At first, I had a hard time figuring out how to sing it, but then I relaxed and sang it as much as I could, letting my hands swing around, which had a cute feeling to it. They also nailed it with Arthur G6's character name, so I tried singing it like a cheer.

"It'd be fun if the opportunity to sing it at Super Sentai Spirits arose."

Matsumoto: I haven't sung it since those days, so if that happens, I'll have to practice (laughs). But, that song is also cheerful and uplifting. At the time, I had heard from the Staff that many children liked this song among the ones on the Fiveman album. Because of my experience at that time, I was even more conscious of singing as the character this time. I think that "KotsuKotsu PONPON" and "Curry is spicy but beautiful" are both different from Matsumoto Rika, and are truly Bundorio Bunderas.

"You seemed to have sung the role with that much feeling."

Matsumoto: I've come to realize that character songs can only be sung by people who are serious about the performance. I think that both the melody and the poetry need to be conveyed in a compelling way.

-A character loved by everyone-

"Looking back, in addition to Arthur G6, you've often appeared in Toei's tokusatsu productions as the voice of a monster, but in episode 9 of "Mobile Cop Jiban," you also performed in person."

Matsumoto: I played the role of a reporter. Guess I've been found out, huh? (laughs). I'm beyond embarrassed. What's more, the green clothes I was wearing at that time were my own. At the time, those kind of clothes were popular……

"Ah, the bodycon dress, right?"

Matsumoto: Right! I took care of my own costume and makeup. My hair was also very wavy (laughs). For some reason, at Toei, when it comes to roles where I appear in person, there are alot of unusual ones. Like when I was AkibaYellow's mother in "Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger" (laughs). I'm very happy to be asked to play any role, but in the Super Sentai series, I'd like to play an evil super boss someday. I once played the role of Prometheum in the stage play of "Galaxy Express 999 The Musical," where I got alittle taste of such a role, and found it very rewarding. That's exactly the kind of super boss I'd like to play, like the ones played by Soga Machiko-san, who was also active as a Voice Actor. I admire it.

"Returning to Boonboomger, how do you watch the weekly broadcasts?"

Matsumoto: I really love this production. Watching the show cheers me up, and there's a part of me that looks forward to living for each Sunday. The Boonboomgers are cool of course, but the way the Sanseaters are depicted is funny, and I like the Kurumaju that appear each week, who despite being enemies, are somewhat cute. I wish they were all mascots (laughs). For recent broadcasts, the Kaseki Grumer episode (Bakuage 15) really struck my heart. When I saw it during the recording, I genuinely started crying. It's really amazing that they can portray such a deep drama in 30 minutes, and that they continue to deliver so many messages to children week after week, making me once again feel that I'm being allowed to be apart of a good program.

"Finally, please tell us again how you feel about your performance in this production."

Matsumoto: I've been holding on to the same unwavering feelings I had 34 years ago when I played the role of Arthur G6. I'm not trying to imitate that role, but both Arthur and Boonboom are packed with elements of courage, smiles, and energy. In the beginning I mentioned that I, "Wanted to be a strong vitamin," and recently, I've actually felt that Boonboom is becoming that way. His name "Boonboom" is also very playful and I really like it. It's not the same as the pandas "Lan Lan" and "Kang Kang," but it seems that names followed by the same word are ones that are loved all around the world. In that regard, I think he's a familiar figure for children, so I'd like to make him a character that'll always be there for children and loved by everyone. I'd be happy if we could grow together.

Director Nakazawa Shojiro

"This is Director Nakazawa's second production as the Main Director after "Kamen Rider Geats," When did you start participating in the project?"

Nakazawa: Technically, I did episodes 30 and 31 of King-Ohger after Geats, but to be honest, planning for Boonboomger had already progressed to a certain extent while I was working on Geats. I joined when Geats when was at it's halfway point. At that point, it was decided that it would be a "Sentai with a car motif," and that there was a "deliverer" and a "A group of professionals."

"Director Nakazawa has been the Main Director of multiple Super Sentai series, but were you given any orders for this production?"

Nakazawa: The orders were to "guarantee clarity" and "to have the cars appear in someway or other." The previous production, King-Ohger, had a strong connection to the passage of time, so with Boonboomger, I was conscious of making, "A show that can be enjoyed without thinking too much about the passage of time while also being aware of it." For my own part, I focused on simplicity and clarity, and finding the right sense of balance between being comical and serious at the same time.

"This is your first time working with Tomioka Atsuhiro-san, who wrote the script. We think you've worked with Kuji Yoshito-san before, but this is the first time for you to work with him as Chief Producer."

Nakazawa: Yes. I also worked with Kuji-san on "Ressha Sentai ToQger" and "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger" when he was an Assistant Producer. Tomioka-san is a man of man ideas, offering a variety of proposals, and is also good at summarizing them. The impression of him I get is that he's broadminded. Kuji-san listens to what multiple people have to say, and instead of rejecting things in a one sided way, he'll skillfully sum things up by saying, "That's one way to think about it." Working together with him is very helpful.

"Tomioka-san said, "I love toys," when we interviewed him in the previous issue of this magazine."

Nakazawa: That's right. When he starts talking about toys, he can't stop (laughs). In tokusatsu productions, Scriptwriters are sometimes at a loss as to how to make the mechas and items appear, but Tomioka-san will skillfully suggest, "Let's make this Boonboom Car appear like this."

"Boonboom Wagon grabbing the Kurumaju and driving off in episode 2 was putting a gimmick to good use."

Nakazawa: I'd like to have the Cars appear as much as possible, but we can't keep repeating scenes of them just driving. So, we came up with an effective way to make the Boonboom Cars appear on the scene. We thought alot about how to use the Boonboom Cars while working with the gimmick of the toys, and decided on it grabbing the Kurumaju and hauling it off.

"One of the highlights of the Boonboom Cars is the inroad scene, however, is there a reason why all the Cars go out together every time?"

Nakazawa: In a logical sense, there's no point in having all the Cars in the show come out, but Butsuda-san (SFX Director) insisted with, "You have to have all of them appear!" (laughs). The Boonboom Cars use both CG and miniatures, a direction that Butsuda-san has cultivated over the years. In Super Sentai giant battles, mechs often merge together as soon as they appear. In Boonboomger we wanted to show the Cars driving as much as possible, so we setup a highway space.

"What were you particularly conscious of when creating the first three pilot episodes?"

Nakazawa: I took great care in character building, and how to portray Taiya-kun and the others in a charming way. Taiya-kun has lots of money and can do whatever he wants, but he doesn't speak honestly and doesn't talk about himself, which can inadvertently make him come across as rude. Therefore, I was conscious of how to portray the character of Taiya in an appealing way. At the same time, we also wanted Mira-chan and Chasshiro to be good characters. At the request of Producer Kuji-san, I was conscious of how to combine the conflicting elements of being smart and professional with a comical feel.

"We think this is a difficult direction that could only be done by veteran Director Nakazawa. How exactly did you proceed?"

Nakazawa: When making a comical facial expression, do you go all out or restrain it? I was careful of finding the right balance. However, it's meaningless if the actors don't give it their all. It's important to assess this.

"For the members who joined later, BoonBlack and BoonOrange's transformed forms were also missing from the pilot."

Nakazawa: We started with three members in the beginning, and decided that the fourth and fifth would join later, but then we decided that, "It's better to have Jou and Genba appear from the beginning." If you watched the show without knowing that he transforms, you might've thought, "For some reason, the policeman who appears every time is pretty handsome" (laughs), but our original idea was to create, "A strange character who comes out and gets knocked out immediately," and then have him join the group.

"Of the two who join later, the fact that Black is a policeman reminds us of "Engine Sentai Go-Onger"……(laughs)."

Nakazawa: It certainly reminds me of that (laughs). Still, the fourth member became a police officer since it was decided on that his mech would be a patrol car. It was Tomioka-san's idea to have the fifth member be a "procurer," but since it was already decided that the mech would be heavy machinery, the name "Genba" was chosen to reflect the image of an "on site person."

"In episodes 8-9, which Director Nakazawa was next in charge of, the Boonboomgers were already in danger of breaking up."

Nakazawa: In fact, this was the second time after episode 4 where they were on the verge of breaking up (laughs). I didn't know at the time we were filming that this 9th episode was the "end of part 1" (laughs), but I think it was good timing for the first climax after all five members were together. This is the episode where Taiya's dream of the BBG is first mentioned and information begins to be revealed. From the very beginning, we had clearly decided that the Boonboomgers would be "people who do what they want to do," and that they're not necessarily heroes who are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of peace on Earth. As more info about the BBG (Big Bang Grand Prix) is revealed in the future, I'm sure we'll also learn more about why Bundorio's qualifications as a racer were revoked.

"Please also tell us your impressions of the cast."

Nakazawa: I always tell the cast before we start filming that, "It's not just your job to say what's written in the script, but to also to think about the background of the lines written and express them." It's like King-Ohger's "between the lines" (laughs). I also tell them that, "Each character is your own creation." The Director changes on a rotating basis, so it's necessary the cast members themselves work through their roles. In that sense, they've grown alot between their first meeting together and the wrap up of episode 3. I think they've grown in some areas since then, but I hope they'll grow even more after experiencing the Summer movie.

"Starting from episode 16, Sakito Homura and BoonViolet also made their appearance."

Nakazawa: Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on an episode where Sakito appears yet, but I was involved in the casting process. Sakito's Miyazawa-kun was one of the finalists in the audition that decided the original five cast members. He's a good actor and has a good character, so when we were deciding on the role of Sakito, I said, "I'd like him for this role." Sakito plays the dangerous role of a "cleaner," but I wanted him to skilfully play it without becoming a scary person.

"Another interesting point is that Bundorio and the Boonboomgers Robo are the same being."

Nakazawa: At first, Bundorio wasn't even established, and the Boonboomgers Robo just had the image a very ordinary Sentai Robo. As the planning meetings progressed, it was decided that, "A life sized version of the Robo should be released so that people would become attached to it," and that the character Bundorio would combine with the Robo so that, "The Robo is always with the members." The "giant battles" are a major feature of Super Sentai, and robots are the main items in its merchandise development. I was thinking about how to make this Robo look appealing. We're limited in what we can do if they just appear in giant battles.

"It's similar to Zenkaiger, in that the giant Robos also served as life sized friends."

Nakazawa: In Zenkaigers situation, the Robos appearance changed before and after the transformation, as well as when they combined, but Bundorio's appearance remains almost the same. So, I'd say that it was a step forward from what we had done with Zenkaiger. In Zenkaiger, there was "space" when the Robos took on different forms, but in Donbrothers, the Robos have the faces of each of the characters. This time, we've taken it one step further, and the "Robo still remains almost the same." If its appearance changes like in Zenkaiger, it'll be difficult for the children watching to view it as "the same thing." That's why this time we decided to keep the design mostly the same.

"Matsumoto Rika-san's performance makes Bundorio an even more appealing character."

Nakazawa: She has an aura about her, so much so that even before she enters the studio, I know she'll be there soon (laughs). In any case, she loves Bundorio, and just by saying a few words, the character is brought to life. Furthermore, she hardly rehearses at all, and after watching the footage only once, she goes straight into the performance, which is tremendous. I heard that she'd like to appear in these shows, even if she has to show her face, so if she does, it'll likely be a strong character like in Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger.

"One of the features in this show is that Bundorio often makes curry. Why did you choose to have him cook curry?"

Nakazawa: Taiya-kun's tired of eating expensive gourmet food, and prefers to eat ordinary food. Tomioka-san's idea was to make ochazuke, but after some complications, we decided on "everyone's favorite: curry."

"Now then, how were the enemy Hashiriyan characters decided?"

Nakazawa: Since the hero's side is set up that their cool adults, I was conscious of giving the Hashiriyans the comical, almost comedian like role in contrast. The Gaiark trio in Go-Onger initially appeared as "really bad guys," but in the latter half of the show, they became lovable comedic characters, didn't they? The kind of feeling I had when I thought of them were, "They're bad guys, but I don't hate them, they're ridiculous characters who are indispensable." Both the Suit Actors and the Voice Actors are having fun and in high spirits, so the characters are growing and developing.

"There are many memorable lines in this show, such as, "That Cranks me up!" and "Seems like you're in trouble."

Nakazawa: "Cranking up" was first introduced during a meeting when Tsukada-san, who was also present said, "They say Bakuage Sentai, but what's the point of Bakuage? This can be traced back to "Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger," where Tsukada-san had said something similar like, "What's the point of Abare?" In other words, such a point is absolutely necessary for the Super Sentai series. So, we started to include "Bakuage points" in each episode and "Cranking Up" in the dialogue. In short, Bakuage is, "The moment when you get excited about something, but don't know what it is." If you think about it calmly, it doesn't make sense but……it's not about logic!

"What about Genba's, "Seems like you're in trouble"?"

Nakazawa: The lines are tailored to Genba-kun's elusive and mysterious character. I think Tomioka-san was the first to include it in the script, and before I knew it, it had become a common line in the script. Tomioka-san is skilled at coming up with lines that show a character in just one word.

"Live compositing has been used since the covid pandemic, but how is it being used this time?"

Nakazawa: The Staff's skills have improved as a result of the experience we've gained so far. The technique was used to its fullest extent in the previous show, King-Ohger, but it wasn't all positive, so we had the option of not using it this year. However, it'd be a waste to reduce the technology we've accumulated from zero, so this time we used live compositing to capture things like the cockpit of the Boonboom Cars and walls in the background. These are the kind of scenes that could be shot on a set, but the difference so far is that we're mixing CG and actual modeling objects in the filming.

"And now finally, please give a message to the readers of this magazine."

Nakazawa: We're aiming to create a show that's both stylish and fun. I think you'll enjoy that unbalanced balance. We look forward to your support throughout the next year! _

Summer Film Details

"Saving the princess of the Universe from the strongest Hashiryan!" (Boonboom meets Princess?!)

The name of Boonboomgers first film that'll be released this Summer is called, "Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger: Gekijo BOON! Promise the Circuit." As the title suggests, the story starts at a circuit. While Taiya and the others are filming a video collaboration with HIKAKIN, an urgent request comes into the Boonboomgers…….Including Sakito, the curtain rises on a large scale battle between the six Boonboomger members. With the Main Director and Main Writer being the duo Nakazawa Shojiro and Tomioka Atsuhiro, come witness this cranked up battle only in theaters!

STORY: Princess Nicola Keydoor appears before Taiya and the others. She says that the planet Trickle, on which she lived, fell into the hands of the Hashiryans, and so she fled to Earth. In addition, the Hashiryans send the threat of a large, planet destroying missile to ISA, demanding that Nicola be turned over to them. In order to protect Earth, the higher ups at ISA decide to hand over Nicola. However, she couldn't accept this decision, and asks the Boonboomgers for help. As Demon Thunder appears in pursuit of Nicola, will the Boonboomgers be able to save both the princess and Earth?!

Demon Thunder (VA: Kishi Yuji, Suit Actor: Seike Riichi): A Hashiryan Catching Captain. He attacks Nicola, a princess, because he considers the screams emitted by people of nobility to be a fine source of Ghassolin.

Circuit Grumer (VA: Seki Tomokazu, Suit Actor: Sakai Kazuma): The Kurumaju born from Demon Thunder.

Nicola (Irei Himena): Princess of planet Trickle. She arrives on Earth after being ordered to flee by her father, the king, as her homeworld fell into the hands of the Hashiryans.

HIKAKIN: A popular video creator known around the world. Bundorio is one of his fans, and it appears that the collaborative video shoot was procured by Genba.

(page 73, clockwise) The Boonboomgers are shooting a collaboration video with HIKAKIN on the circuit that Taiya bought. It seems like he introduces the Boonboom Cars, and yet…..

BoonRed engages Demon Thunder to save Nicola. The result of his fate is……!

Mira and Nicola get into the Boonbom Super Car parked in the woods in order to escape from Circuit Grumer!

[pharawee]

Back in May I bought Khemjira's Rescue on meb, happy that there finally was an official English translation because I love horror and actually liked the first pilot teaser for Spirit Reborn - even though it wasn't well received.

I now know why the teaser wasn't well received (the official version has since been deleted and there's only some re-uploads left) and I agree. Khemjira isn't really a classic QL where the story centres around two people falling in love. It's a horror novel first (and the novel's content warning is very open about this). Much of the romance only happens in the bonus chapters. It's also steeped in Isan folklore and Theravadin Buddhist teachings and virtues, with heavy and uncompromising themes of karma, rebirth, right action and non-attachment (which I really appreciate but might not be everyone's cup of tea because it completely ignores concepts of justice and revenge).

The novel itself is translated really well with only a few editorial slip-ups but tons of footnotes to explain potentially unfamiliar concepts and give translations for the recited khatha. The bonus chapters are plentiful and rewarding if you're into romance and the usual level of BL novel spiciness, but even without them the narrative flows really well and comes to a satisfying conclusion. I really liked the novel - it might be my favourite right after I Feel You Linger in the Air - so I was slightly apprehensive when Mandee announced that they had acquired the rights for a new adaptation.

I don't know the actors at all so I only have the novel to go by, but all in all I'm really happy with Mandee's pilot teaser. It's so close to the novel that even seemingly short filler scenes are recognisably taken from moments in the story. And while I still think Keng Harit is a bit too young as Por Kru Parun, he manages to capture his commanding and alluring presence very well.

My only worry now is that they'll downplay the religious themes in order to elevate the romance between, well, basically everyone. I couldn't even blame them though, because most of the audience will be expecting romance, and the series probably wouldn't be very well received if both couples remained chaste until the very end. I don't think Khemjira's Rescue even qualifies as slow-burn for reasons I'll explain a bit later (and behind a spoiler warning).

But first, a bit more about the main characters because I've seen some confusion about their names etc. I'll keep these as spoiler-free as Mandee's pilot teaser was so if you've watched that then you're all set.

Khemjira is cursed, as are all male descendants of his family, doomed to die before their 20th birthday (the series changes it to 21). His mother gave him a traditionally female name to confuse the curse but to no avail: as he grows older he's more and more troubled by the heavy and malevolent presence of spirits. These are kept at bay by an amulet given to to him by a venerable Por Kru (a practicioner of Buddhist white magic) but when that's no longer enough, his friend Jhet introduces him to his teacher Por Kru Parun who lives in a small Isan village. Despite the burden of bad karma, Khem is a good person who always tries his best even when he feels like giving up.

Por Kru Parun (the series calls him Karan) is a respected practicioner of Buddhist white magic. He lives in a traditional wooden house outside of a small Isan village and protects his community from spiritual harm. He learned from his grandfather (who was himself a respected Por Kru) and also spent many years ordained as a monk. Because he lives by the precepts (which go beyond the five precepts of laypeople) he seems detached and aloof, often wearing dark sunglasses so others won't get charmed by him. His real (nick)name is Peem but he only starts using it with Khem once the two get romantically involved.

Jhettana and Charnvit (aka Jhet and Charn) are Khem's best friends. Khem meets Jhet during freshman orientation when Jhet senses the malevolent spirits around him. It's also Jhet who suggests visiting his teacher Por Kru Parun in his home province. They do this during a university excursion. This is how they meet Charn who's part of the student trip and very suspicious about what they're doing. Charn is extremely polite, addressing everyone as Khun. He wears glasses to aid his bad vision. Both Jhet and Charn are extremely protective of Khem, choosing to become Parun's students in order to help save him. They're also the secondary couple with a surprising past connection.

These two boys are Thong and Ake, Parun's spirit servants. They're the ghosts of 12-year-old twins that already served Parun's grandfather. They also have a surprising role to play in things to come.

SOME SPOILERS FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE NOVEL

As for why the romance can only happen after Khemjira's curse has been lifted: as practitioners of white magic, Parun and his students Jhet and Charn have to adhere to the precepts. These include abstinence from unchastity, so they should remain non-attached to thoughts of sexual and romantic nature. If one of these precepts is broken, all of them are considered broken (which makes it impossible to practice white magic) - Khemjira's rescue would fail if any of them got involved romantically. Parun knows that he's mindful enough to remain non-attached until the curse has been dealt with. He also knows that he can't expect the same of Khem so he refuses to take him as his student (which is fortunate because that way we get to read about Khem's pining).

And beyond the horror and the romance, there's also a third element that heavily features in the story: rebirth. All of the characters' fates are interwoven through several past lives, and I'm really curious how Mandee will decide to tackle this added layer of complexity and identity. In The Sign, Idolfactory used the same actors througout every past life (while 1000 Years Old used different actors with the same identifying birth mark). In Khemjira's Rescue the past identities of some of the characters are incredibly important and I'd hate to see them getting erased by using the same actors to better fit with BL marketing. It was so rewarding to find out that Jhet and Charn were starcrossed lesbian lovers in a past life and I'd love it if they kept that reveal for the series as well.

Oh, and also? Yes, there's going to be at least one naga. 🙌

END OF SPOILERS

Ultimately, if Mandee truly commits to playing the long game and doesn't simplify the story in order to appeal to marketing opportunities, this could end up being one of the best Thai BL series to come. From what I saw, the actors can definitely pull it off, and the fact that the 11 minute long trailer focuses so much on novel-accuracy is very promising already. Just don't have Parun and Khem get it on too early. Sometimes you have to keep it in your pants for a bit in order to save the day. 🙏

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine "Genre BLs," Along With a Critical Take on Branded Ships

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I take a look at my very first GMMTV series that I ever watched, The Eclipse, to examine its prowess as a "genre" BL, and to take a critical stab at the branded ship model vis à vis a successful narrative.]

HELLO. Due to BIG SUMMER LIFE (!!!) (WOW -- work trips, work changes, new projects, the regular family stuff, so much travel!), I've been a couple months delayed on getting some words down on my recent rewatch of The Eclipse for my Old GMMTV Challenge project, but I'm glad to take some time now to talk about this show.

I'm at a point in the project where my syllabus (pasted at the bottom of this post) will take me into the territory of many shows that I've already watched since starting my Thai BL journey in the fall of 2022, shows that I watched while they were airing, such as Moonlight Chicken, Bed Friend, Be My Favorite, and others. (I will be offering short, non-rewatch notes on some of these shows as I go along in the chronology.) The Eclipse is one of these.

I wanted to specifically give The Eclipse a full rewatch for a couple of reasons, the biggest one being very personal, in that The Eclipse was my very first ever-EVER GMMTV series (!!!). And, the only Thai BL I had watched, in the late summer and fall of 2022, prior to The Eclipse was KinnPorsche.

So! At the time of my watching The Eclipse in 2022, I had nooooo idea who First Kanaphan or Khaotung Thanawat were; I didn't know about the existence of branded ships in Thai BLs yet; I didn't know about the prevalence and regularity of side couples in Thai BLs, as VegasPete had been my first exposure to that; I didn't effing know about the fabulousity that is Neo Trai, none of it.

I simply just watched the show on the recommendation of a dear mutual. And, fuck, man, I totally had expected WAY more salacious material in The Eclipse coming off of KinnPorsche! At first, I was like, Thailand is WILDIN', and then it was just the GMMTV-PG FirstKhao smooches, which was fine, they were great, ha! I wasn't disappointed, but lmao, that was my mindset and understanding of my very brief introduction to Thai BLs at that very moment -- I thought it was all guns and butts and mafiosos and pool sex.

Besides rewatching The Eclipse with my now-very-experienced Thai BL glasses on to fix ALL of those past assumptions, I also wanted to rewatch the show in the understanding that filmmaker and former politician, Golf Tanwarin (the first transgender member of parliament in Thailand's House of Representatives) was addressing homophobia and leveraging their screenplay to talk about themes of stifling conformation in Thai society vis à vis the fictional environment of the Suppalo boys school. I want to demarcate this moment as an important one: at this point of my syllabus, the late summer and fall of 2022, the Thai BL landscape exists still mostly within the no-homophobia bubble, with only a handful of shows (He's Coming To Me, Secret Crush On You, etc.) stepping out of that bubble to grab the theme of homophobia and really wrangle with it frontally by way of familial and social acceptance.

However, I have to admit something as I write this review. During this recent rewatch, I had the benefit not just of my past historical chronological viewing of old shows behind me to judge The Eclipse's success as a show and as a messenger of deeper themes past straightforward romance; but I also had the benefit of foresight into the future, seeing how First and Khao served as a branded couple again in Only Friends, a series that, I believe, flopped in its narrative end due to the show prioritizing happy endings for its branded couples, rather than taking the time and the risks to break the branded ships up (or, at least, rock their foundations) to offer sophisticated social commentary on casual sex, as the initial marketing for Only Friends had initially promised.

In other words, I had critical glasses on for FirstKhao's performance, not necessarily for the actors themselves (well, kinda, lemme be for real), but I also wanted to understand better how The Eclipse centered THEM as an IT, a tangible IT, the branded ship, either against and/or vis à vis Golf's underlying critical messaging on social conformity and homophobia.

Unfortunately, through that critical lens, what I gained out of this rewatch of The Eclipse is a confirmed judgement that the common Thai BL structure of very much CENTERING a branded ship, especially emanating out of GMMTV, the central home for branded ships in Thailand, will almost CERTAINLY render a show attempting to make higher messages a weaker one in the end.

I found myself FULLY enjoying The Eclipse out of the FirstKhao sequences. When I first watched The Eclipse in 2022, I was a Thua hater, and I engaged for the very first time with @respectthepetty and others on subsequent defenses of Thua's outing of Akk and Ayan in the context of Akk and Ayan acting like loose-cannon-dillholes themselves. (This was a fabulous intro to my engaging with others on Tumblr, by the way, and I remember this discourse fondly!)

This time around, with the blessing of hindsight, I fully appreciated Louis Thanawin's FANTASTIC performance at the end of the series, as an overly frustrated and overwhelmed student wrangling with his sexuality, his attraction to Kan, and watching Kan's own struggles with his own sexuality, along with dealing with an overbearing stepfather -- and all of that happening while he was watching the hypocrisy of Akk slowly warming to Ayan, while Akk simultaneously punished The World Remembers gang. Louis, as Thua, fucking nailed it, and was an utter cutie at the end with Kan (including in Our Skyy 2, swoon). And forget about Neo Trai: Neo as Kan was one of the best performances I've seen of Neo's, as a student struggling literally to the second to manage his outward displays of automatic attraction to Thua for the sake of maintaining a façade of "order" for the Suppalo environment.

How does all of this impact my thoughts on FirstKhao as a branded ship, and AkkAyan as a fictional couple in The Eclipse?

There was so much great commentary on mental health, on social pressures and conformity, and on the reliance of history to contextualize and engage in suppression, in this show. The show hit hard and impactfully on these themes. As I just mentioned, the story of Thua was a welcome inclusion of the various ways in which homophobia impacted the Suppalo environment on micro- and macro-levels. The story of Dika is also gutting, and I appreciated The Eclipse for never turning an eye away from Ayan's continued suffering at losing his uncle so traumatically. (I also understand that there was quite a lot of conservative protest against The Eclipse in Thailand, and that the show being shortened by two episodes may have been related to this, along with the show airing during ongoing student protests.)

Unfortunately, I believe The Eclipse tripped on itself when it stepped away from these themes to move to more lighthearted moments with AkkAyan. I think the centering of this ship led to a number of key unfulfilled narrative moments, including a key factual skip later in the series, when Ayan indicates to Akk that Akk had made a promise to reveal his work against The World Remembers, a promise that did not have prior reference in earlier episodes.

This isn't to say that a budding couple can't have sweet moments. And we saw a tremendous amount of trauma coming from both Akk and Ayan, with Ayan's ongoing anger at Suppalo, and Akk's fear of rejection for his and his family's financial state, leading him to embody Suppalo's culture of suppression for the sake of his own survival at the school. These very-deeply messed-up fictional boys absolutely deserved and needed love.

But I found myself taking the most notes on this show when I felt the tones of previous scenes of protest, trauma, or attack were juxtaposed against getting Akk and Ayan together for a subsequent scene, especially later in the series, when their flirtation continued to grow. I felt this particularly during the outdoor Twitter scene in the bleachers, when Akk and Ayan were using tweets as a means of finding out who was running the counterprotest Twitter account, which was placed right after a particularly brutal attack against The World Remembers. I needed to flip my emotional attention back to a practiced GMMTV routine of watching a ship continue to warm up to each other for memorable and meme-able moments, and I found that juxtaposition jarring.

As opposed to Not Me, GMMTV's first "genre" BL that played with a sandbox outside of romance, The Eclipse was on steadier feet. While Not Me really tried to play around de-centering a shipped pair in OffGun, it truly stumbled in rushing back to inject romance throughout the storyline, particularly with DanYok taking up unexpected and discordant room (ACAB, YOK). And outside of GMMTV, we've seen many "genre" BLs actually work really well, most notably to that point in 2022, the crime-driven Manner of Death (MaxTul, my beloved), which balanced a developing romance with a legitimately interesting and unwinding mystery, all with a sharp and solid screenplay that didn't stray from its intended purpose. (Maybe I'm getting my hopes up too soon, but we're seeing "genre" BL doing well right now with 4 Minutes, and GMMTV has another, riskier, "genre" BL coming up in its crime-driven series, Kidnap.)

GMMTV, however, demands something economically from its shows, a sellable final product that can be transmogrified into fan meetings, branded items, and most of all, enduring and memorable legacies for the branded ships that center most of its BLs. At the time of The Eclipse's airing, both First and Khao had been previously paired with others (First with Gawin Caskey in Not Me; Khao with Podd Suphakorn in Tonhon Chonlotee), and the sao wais had been eagerly awaiting the debut of FirstKhao, and were fed nicely.

I can't say, quantifiably, if the majority of the global Thai BL fandom, or even the majority of the GMMTV fandom, are sao wais who only watch GMMTV shows for branded ships and guaranteed happy endings between shipped actors that only partner with the same person over and over again. I also believe that at this moment in time (in 2024), that we may be seeing differences in preferences emanating from fandoms based in Thailand, China, elsewhere in Asia, and globally, particularly in Europe and North and South America, between fans that will willingly support branded ships through very bad narrative shows, versus fans that prefer well-scripted shows above all else.

I think, after the economic earthquake that was the airing of 2gether in 2020, that GMMTV made a hard-turn decision to prioritize series that centered repeating branded ships above all other kinds of investment in other shows, including excellent screenplays.

I say this not to bemoan the opportunity for Thai filmmakers to have economic success. If these shows are making coin for Thai creatives -- maybe even the kind of coin that will allow these creatives to have more artistic freedom in their futures -- then I cannot begrudge that at all, and I wish these artists economic success.

But from a critical viewpoint of artistically narrative success, I'd argue that the last truly great narrative show of GMMTV's portfolio is 2021-22's Bad Buddy, featuring a branded ship in OhmNanon that I'm sure the network wanted to use again, one that both Nanon Korapat and Ohm Pawat knew they didn't want to repeat. Since then, while we've had a small amount of storytelling gems out of GMMTV like Moonlight Chicken, Cherry Magic Thailand, and Cooking Crush, most of what's come out of that studio has been mediocre for the past few years, with some aching stumbles having been had in shows like 23.5, Wandee Goodday, and My Love Mix-Up Thailand, which is airing now.

A major complaint across social media right now about My Love Mix-Up Thailand, centering Gemini Norawit and Fourth Nattawat, is that the show rushes to create meme-able moments between them, which is more in line with GMMTV's bottom line of engagement first. My Love Mix-Up/Kieta Hatsukoi is an utterly beloved Japanese manga and dorama. While G4 fans are drumming up the level of social media engagement that GMMTV judges "success" on, many other general BL fans have been left disappointed by the show's pulling back from honoring certain moments of hilarity and connection with the original Japanese source material (how could Fourth NOT go into the trash can?!).

I posit that it was 2gether's 2020 airing that encouraged GMMTV to make the pivot from investing in well-crafted screenplays, and taking risks to split ships up -- as the network did with Tay Tawan in 2019's 3 Will Be Free -- to center the branded ships.

And I think 2022's The Eclipse is an excellent example of the result of this decision-making: that while The Eclipse's core ideas within its screenplay were admirable, and much of the acting and romance outside of the branded ship were great to watch, that the show's needing to leave the central path of the narrative central story to spotlight the FirstKhao ship to create engagement-worthy moments ultimately took power away from the show and its message.

Only Friends -- a late-2023 show that initially marketed itself on breaking up ships and celebrating casual sex -- came back around in the end to scold any of us fans that wanted to see the ships sink. The dynamic between First and Khao in Only Friends was incredibly similar to their dynamic in The Eclipse: First acting as a tough-guy character who couldn't help being simp-ly swept away by an overpowering character played by Khao. I'm afraid the same will be repeated again in Jojo Tichakorn's next show, The Heart Killers, and I'd like to be proven wrong there, but.

It's incredible for me to reflect on what I know now about The Eclipse, and how this otherwise-excellent show was, in my eyes, economically impacted by the casting decision to prioritize a branded ship over the narrative cohesiveness of a screenplay. GMMTV has only committed even more to this path since The Eclipse's airing.

For the sake of excellent actors like First, and especially Khao: I hope they can have the future opportunity to spread their wings and act with other actors (as the very extreme majority of actors in entertainment get to enjoy), to shake off the economic prioritizing of branded ships in order to access better screenplays and stories. They deserve it, as hard-working creatives, and I'll certainly support them outside of the branded ship model, one that I believe is showing artistic wear and tear as more branded ship shows keep narratively sinking.

[Alright! So, where am I on the OGMMTV list? I've actually already finished the next show on my list, GAP The Series, this summer, and I hope I can pen that review in short order to get this series back on some kind of timely track.

HOWEVER, HEH HEH, that's actually going to be a bit difficult for me as, per the recommendation of a couple of BL elders, I am backtracking chronologically and tackling 2022's The Miracle of Teddy Bear, Thailand's first queer primetime, broadcast channel-level lakorn, which consists of 16 90-minute episodes, which, woof. Despite its hefty length, I am terribly excited to watch a show (a lakorn, EEEE!) out of the usual Thai BL bubble, one that I understand has been potentially misunderstood and/or mis-marketed to BL fandoms over the years. For the sake of its primetime airing alone, it holds an important place on the OGMMTVC syllabus. And I can't wait to take a crack at a Thai major channel's first attempt to make queer content and BL-genre-influenced content a primetime offering.

This means that, once again, My School President has been held at a delay, but I will get to MSP soon, I SWEAR! (And....oops. I'm thiiiiiinking that I might watch My Love Mix-Up after MSP at literal warp speed, literally 1.5x, to do another piece on branded ships vis à vis G4 and Au Kornprom in 2022 vs. 2024. We'll see. I may not wanna do that to myself, but... but! For science?!?! Maybe.)

Here's the updated OGMMTVC syllabus for your perusal. ONWARDS!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here)

21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here)

31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: preamble here, part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) (review here) 35) The Miracle of Teddy Bear (2022) (watching) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here)  37) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist (part 1 and part 2) 38) Honorable Mention: War of Y (2022) (for the sake of an attempt to provide meta BL commentary within a BL in the modern BL era), with a complementary watch of Aam Anusorn’s documentary, BL: Broken Fantasy (2020) (thoughts here) 39) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 40) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine "Genre BLs," Along With a Critical Take on Branded Ships

41) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) (review coming) 42) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 43) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 44) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 45) La Pluie (2023) (review coming) 46) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 47) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 48) Only Friends (2023) (tag here) (not technically a BL, but it certainly became one in the end) 49) Last Twilight (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as Thailand’s first major BL to center disability, successfully or otherwise) 50) Cherry Magic Thailand (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as the first major Japanese-to-Thai drama adaptation, featuring the comeback of TayNew)

51) Ossan’s Love Returns (2024) (adding for the EarthMix cameo and the eventual Thai remake) 52) Dead Friend Forever (2024) (thoughts here) 53) 23.5 (2024) (GMMTV’s first GL) (thoughts here)]

[nipuni]

Time for an old school blog post, Hello!

Just various updates about life and shows and clothes and some photos! Adding a read more cut because I talk too much 😊

Happy equinox everyone!! The mild weather has been wonderful for daily park walks. We have been taking our meals outside as often as we can to make the most of it before summer scorches the land and all life. The longer days allow for a lot more wandering too but the imminent return of the heat is also making the longing to move up north worse by the day. We miss the choppy ocean and seaside cliffs 😭 We love the silence and the rain and the nippy sea breeze!! it's like being suspended in early spring for half the year and a rainy autumn the other half, Ideal if you don't mind humidity, but that's what wellies and flat caps are for. We have been looking for properties to rent to show up everyday so for now we lie in wait.

Speaking of nature, a few months ago we discovered a free app called Plantnet that you use to take and upload photos of plants, trees, flowers and it will identify them for you. You keep a log with their locations and can share them too to help contribute to each local biodiversity database. It feels like a pokedex for plants. There are many apps like this one to choose from too. It's been so fun learning what all these plants are called and memorizing them! I recommend it, is like a little educational side quest to take on while stretching your legs and getting some fresh air. This is not an ad I promise lmao I just think it's neat! kind of sad feeling the need to clarify that.

This weather is also making me want to start making outfit posts again! It's been so long since I made any!! my winter wardrobe is mostly long wool coats or capes and boots so the inspiration wasn't there but now I'm ready to pull out all my stuff back from under my bed storage and experiment again 👏 I've also been meaning to share some of Nicolas outfits for ages too so there is more variety, could be fun!

Speaking of clothes, lately I've grown more and more frustrated with how poorly most clothes fit me to the point where I'm considering learning how to make them from scratch. I usually have to take in the tops and hem the bottoms but most things I try on are just built weird even if I fix the size, or maybe I'm built weird! I think it may be both. Nicolas also said he would love to learn along with me so we will probably embark on that adventure soon. OH and on a short tangent, I got myself a sort of binder-like top that flattens the chest a bit and I'm loving it! I'm very flat already but what little bust I do have has always bothered me when I dress and I've found I feel a lot more comfortable in this type of top. I'm glad I tried it out so if you feel similarly you may want to give it a go too, see how it feels!

On the media side of things we have also been watching more of David Tennant's work. We are still very much in love with him to an embarrassing degree, you can probably tell if you follow me anywhere, my likes on twitter alone give me away alksjdf and Nicolas isn't any better! if he used social media his would look the same lmao.

Since my last report we have watched and absolutely LOVED "There She Goes" we already want to watch it again honestly. The family dynamics for all his characters are always so real and refreshing!! Their relationship with their wives especially are always so believable in every series we've seen, the comfort and camaraderie, the banter and just friendship! You can tell they enjoy each other's company, it feels true. I love it so much!!

We also watched "Inside man" which was..a very stressful mess but David was incredible as always, also very hot and very pitiful which is always great, and Stanley Tucci was on it! so that's also fun.

Then we rewatched season one of Good Omens and the first 4 seasons of Doctor Who, with all the extra content like the Confidentials, deleted scenes, video diaries and more, they are just so good!! our list of favourite episodes keeps growing, season four is incredible, we are loving all these seasons even more the second time around!! Now we are probably going to start watching either Classic Who or Torchwood, along with more of David's work. We were trying to pick what to watch during dinner the other day and Nicolas was like 'damn, David is not in this though, I miss him' and lmao same so now we just watch one show without him and one with him right after to cope 😂

OH we have also been doing more historical reenactment! Since the last one in the 20's we jumped back to Regency times. We have been putting our outfits together for a ball soon and hopefully another one in autumn in the UK 😊 1800 is the farthest back in time we've been yet so it's been fun doing research, finding pieces and learning the dances in class but also very hectic. I'll share more about this soon!

Then we also have a couple of 1900 events coming soon, so I'll be sharing more Edwardian looks as well, our favourite era!!

Anyway I think that's all for now, thanks for reading to whoever is doing so!! I know this is long and not a popular blogging format anymore but I enjoy it a lot, maybe some of you do too 🥰 I will reply to some messages soon, I'm so sorry I'm so bad at keeping up with those!! I've read them all and cherish every word 🥺 Thank you for supporting my art and shenanigans as always!! I hope you have a great week!!

[sleepingpillscosmos]

STUPID GIFTS AND A NEW MILESTONE — jean kirstein

pairing: jean kirstein x fem!reader.

warnings/content: modern AU. implied past sex activity if you squint. reader cries but it's because she's happy.

wc: 1.3k.

a/n: hi hi hi @stopisa, this is your gift from me, your cupid <3 I hope you'll enjoy this fic and I hope you passed a wonderful day! I saw Jean was one of your preferred ones and I've wanted to write for him for a long time so I took this opportunity to do it!

You finished packing for tonight, remembering to put your gifts beside the bag so that you wouldn’t forget them.

It was Valentine’s day, every couple probably decided to go out and eat at a fancy restaurant, but you and Jean opted to stay at home and relax. You both had a hell of a week, so it was the only thing that didn’t require too much effort while spending time together.

As you left your apartment, you sent a quick text to Jean, letting him know that you would be there in about twenty minutes or so.

After you arrived at his apartment you rang the doorbell and Jean opened the door almost immediately.

“Were you waiting for me at the door like a dog?” You said jokingly as you hugged him.

Even though you lived close, you often didn’t have the time to see each other. You both worked, had classes at university and your own lives, so even if you really wished to spend time together everyday, you couldn’t.

You also had different friends. You met Connie, Armin, Eren, Mikasa and Sasha at the very start of your relationship, but they were all childhood friends and you didn’t want to intrude every time they hung out, even if they told you multiple times that it didn’t bother them. Jean met your friends a couple months into your relationship, but it didn’t go as smoothly. Jean and Reiner already knew each other and they weren’t, and still are, on bad terms. Your boyfriend always kept it civil for your sake, but you can’t blame him when he doesn’t want to hang out with you all, which is rare anyway.

“Would I sound pathetic if I said yes?” He asked as he squeezed you harder, leaving a couple of kisses on the side of your head.

“Don’t worry, I already know you are.” He scoffed, breaking the hug while you chuckled. He grabbed your cheeks with both his hands as he closed the distance between you to rest his forehead against yours, you moved your hands to his waist.

“Hi,” Jean said looking in your eyes, “Happy Valentine’s day, sweetheart.”

You smiled muttering, “Happy Valentine’s day to you too, love.”

His smile widened before he kissed you gently. It didn’t matter how long you two have been together, his heart always skipped a beat when you called him that. He just felt so loved and appreciated when you used pet names, but that was with no doubt his favourite.

Once you were both in need of some air, you broke the kiss. You took off your shoes and went to Jean’s bedroom to leave your things and get changed in your pyjamas while he prepared your luxurious dinner, cup noodles.

When you got back in the living room, Jean was already waiting for you on the couch, noodles placed on the little table in front of him, blanket beside him and remote in hand already choosing the series you were slowly watching together.

“I hope you didn’t watch episodes without me.” you teased, sitting beside him and covering the both of you with the blanket before grabbing your noodles.

“It happened one time!” He defended himself.

“And since that day I know that I can’t trust you. What kind of boyfriend would do that?” You clutched your heart with a hurt expression. He looked at you smirking, “Connie doesn’t count.”

He sighed defeated, then he pushed play with the remote, to finally let your night start.

[...]

“Okay time for the gifts!” You exclaimed, clapping your hands together. It was your favourite part of the day, not because you were materialistic, but because of your tradition together. It started randomly, but since the first Valentine’s day you spent together it’s stuck with you.. Your tradition consisted of two gifts, one is the real or serious one and the other is the stupidest thing you could think of.

One year you gifted him a pair of slippers. To be exact, horse slippers. Honestly, he loved them, but his friends even more, especially Eren.

“You start.” He said since he knew you couldn’t keep your mouth shut for too long. You nodded happily and handed him the first gift, the stupid one. He opened the bag and found a mug, which looked like it was plain, but when he turned it he read the phrase “I love you for your personality, but that dick is a great bonus.” written in black.

“No, you didn’t!” He gasped, covering his mouth with his free hands, he was nearly crying from laughing so hard. This was one of the best gifts hands down. “I need to send a photo to Connie and Eren right now.”

He quickly took a photo of the mug and sent it to the group chat with the boys, then he hugged and kissed you, thanking you a hundred times and saying this would become his everyday mug.

“Okay, here’s my stupid one for you,” he handed you the package and you didn’t waste a second to open it. It was a pair of socks, but you couldn’t really understand what was printed on them at first. Once you looked at them better, you realised.

“What the actual fuck is this.” You said laughing. There was a face printed on them. Jean’s face. “They’re horrible. I love them.”

You hugged him and finally gave him the real present, even if he told you that nothing could surpass the mug.

This year you went for something more cheesy. You saw he was looking for a chain necklace on the internet since his broke a couple of months ago, but he never bought one, he couldn’t set his mind on a specific one. So you researched for the perfect one, you spent weeks finding it, and then you had both his and your initials engraved on the inside of the necklace.

“I don’t know what to say, really” He stared at the necklace like it was the most beautiful and precious thing in the world, inspecting every centimetre of it. Then he saw the engraved initials and his brain malfunctioned for a good 10 seconds.

He thanked you again, hugging you so hard that you struggled to breathe for a moment, then he took your next present in his hands.

“There’s something I want to say before you open this,” he started, fidgeting with the box in his hands. “We talked about this thing multiple times, mostly joking, but I think it’s the right thing to do now. We’ve been together for a long time, and I love you so, so much. We’ve been through a lot, and even now we’re still struggling with some things. Like spending time together because we’re so busy. But I think you’re my person, honestly I kind of always thought that, and I hope you think the same. So, after thinking about this day and night for a very long time, and after a push by Mikasa and Sasha, this is my gift for you.”

He handed you the box and you opened it with teary eyes from the sweet words he just used.

You found two keys and a little keychain with a phrase from your song, “These are the keys for my apartment. I want to ask you to come and live here with me, so that we don’t have to worry about finding time for each other since we’ll always come home, our home.”

Now you were crying. You couldn’t find the right words to voice your love for him and your gratitude for the gift. You hugged him again, wetting his shirt with your happy tears and mumbling a soft thank you, and that yes, you thought that he was your person too.

No, you knew that he was your person.

network: @enchantedforest-network.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Most memorable items of clothing in bl series in 2023

In order of their airing/me watching them:

I'm thankful I've gotten into the habit of noting which shows I watch and when otherwise I wouldn’t be able to remember. As it is, first on my list is Bed Friend, which kind of sets the tone for this post since it features the best and the worst outfit choices for Uea. The waffle robes and cat ears vs the fake sleeves shirt.

Next is a quick shout out to Por in My School President, since the show started in 2022 but did finish in 2023, and basically all of his outfits. The man is a style icon. But this stripy polo shirt takes the biscuit for me. I need to have it.

On to Moonlight Chicken and this one is a combined effort between Heart and Li Ming. @telomeke prompted me to write a little about it, but essentially the two shirts together are saying 'you're my other half'. Urthe / Tomato sauce.

The Gloves! Need I say more? (Alright, for those of you who don't know - how could you not?! - they're from Chains of Heart).

And now not strictly an item of clothing but an accessory, the most straight ankle bracelet you'll ever see in a thai series. Totally platonic, not gay AT ALL. In Midnight Museum.

In July the different Thai production companies took stock of three versions of the same stripy linin shirt – the cream long-sleeved, the brown short-sleeved, and the charcoal short-sleeved - and proceeded to clad every actor they could in one of them within a three and a half month period (six shows*, eight different characters). We had couple-shirts with both Kawi and Pisaeng and Mew and Top wearing them, and Namneua in Wedding Plan wore all three. (*Step by Step, Be My Favourite, Hidden Agenda, Wedding Plan, Love in Translation, and Only Friends).

Staying in July for a while, and speaking of weddings, Kawi rocked on up to Pearmai and Not's wedding in Be My Favourite in this brown houndstooth shirt and black pants outfit - an almost exact replica of Ray's outfit in the original pilot trailer for Only Friends. I waited with baited breath to see if Ray would still wear the outfit in the actual series...and he did! Not only that, I then realised Uea had already worn it in Bed Friend earlier in the year.

In a surprising turn of events, Be My Favourite – and Krist – turned out to actually be Quite Good. Perhaps distracted by Krist's puppy eyes, we weren't entirely ready for the first appearance of the Dudes shirt – itself a wonderful comment on the narrative since Kawi was figuring out his feelings for Pisaeng – but it was a delight to see it again on Nick in Only Friends, and offering a different narrative comment.

This next one may only be notable for me, but when I was doing my dedicated scan through of oh so many shows to collect items for the communal wardrobe, I noticed this sand and grey sweater amongst the many other items of shared clothing which appeared in The Warp Effect and then very briefly on Pisaeng in Be My Favourite. Not long after, the trailer for Last Twilight dropped and I spotted it again immediately. I've also since noticed it in a speed scan of The Shipper. Not only do I think it's a pretty neat sweater, but I loved the effect it gave in Last Twilight, which I wrote about at the end of this post.

This is getting long but I'm going to keep going (this might be the only 2023 wrap up I do so I'ma make it count).

If you've been following me for a while (or since the BBS days), you’ll know how rabid I go when I see a pair of the yellow-soled Mustard brand shoes in a show. The most recent being in Hidden Agenda worn by Zo…but they're not the ones on this list. Oh no, it's Joke's blue-soled shoes which made me sit up and scream this time...meaning even their shoes were colour-coded in this show. Oh how I wish I could buy a pair of each.

There were many fabulous outfits in Laws of Attraction (especially Charn's) but Tanthai's green rope shirt wins out for me. Green seemed to be used in the show to represent the lies and secrets Tanthai was forced to keep because of his father, and he was metaphorically bound and trapped in these lies and his life. Ah perfection!

I've mentioned a lot of brilliant items but there have also been many awful ones, and the one I can't seem to stop thinking about (or horrifying over) is the Droopy Tits shirt (or Nipple Protector, whichever way you want to call it) which first appeared in Dangerous Romance and then The Jungle just three days later. I'm surprised we haven't seen it again to be honest, but I imagine if we get more spoiled rich kids we probably will.

These next two aren't specific items but more of a shout out to the whole wardrobe design of the shows.

First, Only Friends, with Mew and Ray's transformation to Ray and Sand's (respective) wardrobe choices, as well as the inversion of colours to highlight differences in relationships, and the use of colour-groupings to separate characters (<- a post i have yet to write). I wish I could write more about it…but life is just too busy to give it the time it needs.

The second is, of course, Ai Di and Chen Yi in Kiseki: Dear to Me with how they always share a colour in their different outfits. @respectthepetty details this perfectly here, so I don't need to. I am however still feral about these two and can't wait to do a full re-watch of the show.

And lastly, much like Baseball Mom in Bad Buddy two years ago (and to be honest many of Pat's other shirts), Aof recently gifted us another absolutely ridiculous but brilliantly poignant t-shirt slogan in Mhok's Fart Proudly shirt in Last Twilight, which I went into detail about here. Just A+

Thanks for sticking with me through all that! Any others that stood out for you or that I missed?

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - It's 2024 & I'm talking about TayNew... really?

(They pretty much told us all to sit down and shut tf up, 'cause they got this. AND THEY DO.)

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

Feb 2024 Wk 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube grey) ep 9 of 12 - I broke. In my defense, it was Monday, I needed comfort, and TayNew were right tf there. Ya know what? They are great in this show. It's a great adaptation. I might like it more than the JBL live action. You know why? Really, honestly WHY...?

That was a PHENOMENAL KISS. Those boys did Thailand fucking proud. They did fandom a solid. Thank you OGs for reminding us how it's done. I was getting used to SloppyHot. And SloppyHot has its place, but that TayNew rooftop kiss was a top tear class act. It was tender and sweet and respectful and joyful. It was eye work and breath work and years of practice. How very far BL has come while still staying so much the same. TayNew - I salute you!

(Read all about distribution issues here.)

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 12fin - we waiting, I guess? Bah.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 11 of 12 - The recipe book thing was so damn cute and I love a claiming. YOU KNOW I LOVE A CLAIMING!

In fact, I love OffGun.

I love food based BL.

I adored seeing a reboot of "the infamous dragging". 

But I don’t love anything else about this show. Sigh.

1000 Years Old ep 1 of 12 - Finally we get our gay vampire BL from Feel Good Bangkok. Stars Shane (My Engineer) and fresh face Opal, directed by Champ (2gether). It’s kind of odd but enjoyable. A group of teen UFO seekers find a vampire instead. Opal looks a bit like a mix between Newnu + Leo (VIXX) - so cute + edge. Also, nice to see Shane again on our screens after so long. 

Finally, I like the subtle (and sometimes not subtle) presence of ghosts permeating this show. Do the friends know she's there? Do they know she's dead? Is the existence of paranormal accepted but not that of aliens? Or are the two combined? Is this lazy writing or just fun world building? Who cares! It's enjoyable.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 12fin - the nail painting bit was very cutie queers and I've not seen it done in BL before, so that was nice. For some reason captions never dropped for me on this last episode, but it didn’t really matter. Not much happened and I understood everything anyway.

Quick pitch?

From the people who brought us Unforgotten Night based on a y-novel, about a young man nursing a heartbreak who has a one-night stand, but the other boy didn't want it to end. This turned out to be a pulp that wasn’t half as good as it should have been and even less memorable, but not terrible. 5/10 DON'T BOTHER unless you're v bored

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 3 of 12 - Oh it is such a pulp: the acting is not good and the script is terrible. Of course, I’m mildly enjoying it. Very good dream kissing. There's something appealing about these main characters - I think it's the moot crushes. We rarely get to see that. These days everything feels very one sided, this... isn't.

A Secretly Love (Thai WeTV) - Khonprot, a third-year hazer of the engineering faculty, has a secret crush on Pluem, a tsundere fourth-year head hazer. Over the years, he's seen Pluem cycle through girlfriends. Recently, after a public breakup, however, Khonprot thinks maybe a boy has a chance.

I tried but I can't get into my WeTV account anymore and I'm way too lazy to figure it out. I'll catch it grey if I can, since I've rebooted the bootlegging side of my BL life for Cherry Magic anyway.

So this show may stay in this section, or I may bump it down to "it's airing but..."

If anyone is watching it, let me know if it's good?

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Love For Love's Sake (Korea Weds iQIYI) 7-8fin - Ugh it was GREAT, despite some pretty telling flaws. I ended up feeling like some of the filming was amateurish (very overworked low angles - director's first feature, I assume), and the narrative is a little disjoined and on the nose, AND the subs are clumsy (which I don't expect from KBL) BUT I still loved it. (FYI - I wouldn't be so harsh on a BL for this kinda thing except one from Korea.)

Quick pitch:

This isekai-based KBL is about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. Like many queer narratives, this show is actually about self worth, trust, and found family, and it is VERY on the nose. But I don’t expect subtlety from my BL and I enjoyed it's truly lovely redemption arc and earnest performances. While I found the narrative a touch disjointed with overworked filming angles and poorer than average captions, this is certainly much better than early KBL in terms of consistency of tone, script, and immersion. Highly rewatchable and charming, which counts for a lot. 9/10

Trigger warning for suicide depicted.

Perfect Propose (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - Gosh, it’s so lovely. But I do just constantly want to give them both hugs. 

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - Oh look, Taiwan has created yet another BL where I spend most of the time watching it grinning like an idiot. Surprise surprise. The pet name thing was fucking adorable. Also Taiwan once more proving they come by their "kings of kissing" title honestly. I mean to say. In a week of good kisses this one was just... WOW.

On the other hand, some of the underpinning themes are starting to v worry me (ownership, consent, age), and we only just got started, and I don't trust this production company so... I have concerns.

But also... YAY KISSES!

(I'm made of weak moral fiber.)

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - Like many other shows on this list. I just enjoy it the most when the two leads are on screen together. So this episode was kind of lacking because they were apart for most of it. I also am starting to agree with the tone of the plot, that maybe they ARE better off as friends not lovers. (And I'm sure I'm not supposed to want that.) Oh Japan, must you?

My Strawberry Film (Japan Gaga) ep 1 of 8 - Oh it’s good. In the arthouse lane so don’t expect sweetness & light or an HEA. If there’s no cartoon aspect to a JBL, there’s usually no joy. But it is certainly good. Teens uncover some old film and a mystery around a pretty girl. The background music is wildly annoying (and rarely in the background). 

It's Done

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

The Servant and the Young Master - from Vietnam, it's on YouTube. I will give it a try when I have a window of time.

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

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) - Gave me Luminous Solution vibes have decided not to watch.

It's Airing But...

Dead Friend Forever (Thai iQIYI) - rumors are it's interesting. I'm waiting to know how it ends.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… probubly not. I won't be watching this. I disliked Season one and actively hated the follow ups. No thank you.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

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

Next Week Looks Like This:

2/24 Unknown (Taiwan Youku) 12 eps - Older brother tough guy breadwinner looks after his sister and defacto adopted little brother. Little bother falls in love with him and is sent away after a stolen kiss. But when he comes back…

Sam Lin has a cameo so even if I wasn't already excited, I'm in. We should be on our guard though, Taiwan will occasionally go edgy, dark, and sad... this could go there.

One assumes GMMTV is filling in the BL time slot with something queer on their YT Channel after Cooking Crush ends, they gonna lose subs if they don't. But I've not been paying attention to the chatter so I don't know which of their line-up it will be. I think G4 are filming/off radar now, and Earth is in that het noona thing? Plus they gotta sort out the IP for MIx-Up and Ossen. So it won't be one of the announced adaptations. They'll hold My Golden Blood for the high season, so I think it'll be one of the lesser known lead-outs. Wandee or Only Boo maybe? But they only just started filming those. Are we getting our long awaited GL? Anything else left from 2023 that I forgot about?

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

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Two crawling kisses from Thailand this week. Now this is a fetish I didn't know I had. Turns out, we love this one! (*waves hand in air* I speak for all of us now.)

Cooking Crush

City of Stars

Possibly the best tsundere to cinnamon roll pivot we've had in a long time.

Also the best asshole to KING pivot. Could we have a whole drama staring this character now? Please?

And finally our sunshine learning to love himself.

SIGH. what a lovely show.

And a good SMILEY kiss from a KBL.

And then some cute cuddles? Korea is spoiling me these days. I'm catching expectations now. What's next? Japan learns to kiss in their light BLs? Ha! I kill me.

(All Love for Love's Sake).

(Last week)

[salemoleander]

I think what you osserved about Cleo and Lizzie is a result of many factors.

Gender is of course one and a major one at that but it cannot be the only one as both Pearl and Gem have much more fandom characterization. Pearls characterisation especially can be attribuited almost entirely to Double Life.

There is also the factor there are a lot less females then males in the mcyt scene and that has always been a problem. But this means that there will always be way more discussion over man because there are so much more.

We should also consider that Lizzie did have a lot of characterisation back in the Empires s1 days that has been swept under the rug as she became inactive for long periods of time, she had a characterisation but this characterisation didn't even apply to the life series because she was never in it like the others, she missed 3rd life, Double life and Limited life which definitely didn't do her any favours. Mumbos characterization on the other hand still existed because he was much more active and when he was in hiatus his fellow Hermits kept reminding us about him... But Lizzie kinda dips for a while and then comes back and is never really mentioned.

Cleo always had the problem of being simplified as either chaotic arsonist, doting mother figure or talented artigian with dark humor... It's been since the 2020 that I have seen people discussing about her characterisation being basically cut down to one of these 3 personality instead of actually giving her actual personality. This was because newbies at characterization back in season 6 usually put either her or Stress as the nurturing mom friend in fanfiction who then other newbies took as inspiration and it kinda stuck around in a loop.

In a way one would need to analyze this problem at the olden days of minecraft content but then we would be here for days.

Putting most of my response under a cut because it got LONG.

To start, I will point out that "this is the result of many factors" and "in a way you'd need to analyze the origins of this, but we don't have time for that" are extremely common & toothless reasons to derail talking about misogyny (or any other -ism).

I do not think you are intentionally replicating that, but anytime an immediate response is "well it's not really ____-ism, and it's so complicated we could never hope to unpack it," that maybe isn't a useful addition to the discussion.

"[Gender] cannot be the only [factor] as both Pearl and Gem have much more fandom characterization"

I agree that gender is not the only factor, but I think going "well SOME women aren't as affected by misogyny so clearly it can't just be misogyny" is inaccurate. Also, if you look at Pearl and Gem's characterization - Gem is pigeonholed to a very particular type of cutesy fighting-princess role, akin to many YA protagonists of late.

Pearl does have more complex characterization from specifically Double Life, but the majority of analysis & attention only started going to Pearl after she won. As DL was airing, much more attention was paid to Desert Duo Redux and Team Rancher and Impdubs etc. I also think the fandom has taken to holding up Pearl as a token and going 'but look, we can write women! Look how many emotions she has. She's sad and likes murder and dogs."

There is also the factor there are a lot less females then males in the mcyt scene and that has always been a problem. But this means that there will always be way more discussion over man because there are so much more.

I agree, it has been a problem forever (I've been watching MCYT since 2012. I watched Cleo & then False join HC. Believe Me, I Know.) But you'll notice my critique wasn't [All Life Series Dudes] are talked about more than [The Much Smaller Number of Life Series Women]. My critique in my post was 'if Lizzie's death happened to a man I would see more posts about that other hypothetical person" - comparing 1 person to 1 person.

We should also consider that Lizzie did have a lot of characterisation back in the Empires s1 days that has been swept under the rug as she became inactive for long periods of time, she had a characterisation but this characterisation didn't even apply to the life series because she was never in it like the others, she missed 3rd life, Double life and Limited life which definitely didn't do her any favours. Mumbos characterization on the other hand still existed because he was much more active and when he was in hiatus his fellow Hermits kept reminding us about him… But Lizzie kinda dips for a while and then comes back and is never really mentioned.

So this paragraph is definitely where you lost me. Your point seems to be 'Lizzie had characterization in S1 of Empires, and we're forced to borrow it because she's so inactive since then, there's nothing to pull from'. Allow me to share a screenshot of her series playlists here.

Let's leave aside the question of why people would pull from Empires S1 characterization when Last Life happened in the middle of it, and would evidently be a more logical place to pull from for Life Series characterization.

She had a whole Afterlife series, and she wasn't inactive after that! She had only 6 fewer episodes in S2 of Empires than in S1. It is patently ridiculous to claim that Lizzie is just so inactive and absent her Empires S1 characterization is necessary to fall back on, when Mumbo has better characterization despite vanishing for an entire calendar year to go biking. That is sexism.

Cleo always had the problem of being simplified as either chaotic arsonist, doting mother figure or talented artigian with dark humor… It's been since the 2020 that I have seen people discussing about her characterisation being basically cut down to one of these 3 personality instead of actually giving her actual personality. This was because newbies at characterization back in season 6 usually put either her or Stress as the nurturing mom friend in fanfiction who then other newbies took as inspiration and it kinda stuck around in a loop.

I'm glad you agree it's a problem! I can definitely see how that problem originated, but I've seen new fandom members for the Life Series - who don't watch HC or read HC fic- duplicate the same problems. I think at some point it's less a fandom-specific issue than a replication of the social division of women into Virgin, Whore, Bitch, or Mother categories, with no ability to imagine women complexly outside of those boxes or continuums.

This fandom seems to think moving the women in and out of the 'Bitch' box is the same as complex characterization*, and we've all just kind of gone 'okay' because the other option is nothing about any women at all. But we can and must do better, because I have to believe we're capable of writing and paying fandom attention to women as people.

*This is where DL Pearl generally falls to me, and why I am dubious of claims that she's well characterized. I think much of the fandom equates cruelty or sadness with good writing/interesting characters. But she's still fundamentally defined by the questions "How nice or mean are you? Are you in a relationship or alone?"

[foxwitchaine]

Question

Which characters from other media, do you think is a better version of miraculous ladybug characters?

I'm gonna take this question with a huge pile of salt. Because there's more than one show that does this concept better than what MLB does. That also includes how they handle the cast. I'm also gonna sound like a broken record with the upcoming "buckle up", but buckle up and hold on tight, everyone. It's gonna be a rollercoaster.

1.) Mr. Freeze

I know for sure I'm cheating just by mentioning him, but Mr. Freeze is what Gabriel Agreste should have been in regards to his quest for Emilie. Mr. Freeze isn't just a sad man mourning for his wife. He is broken. Shattered. Screwed over by people higher on the corporate ladder than himself (doesn't that sound familiar). Thing is, Mr. Freeze's story resonates with people and is part of the reason why he is still talked about today. He's also shown a kinder side, like the time he made it snow during Christmas in one issue of The Batman Adventures comics. All for the simple reason his late wife would have been sad if there had been no snow that year.

His demise in Batman Beyond left many viewers heartbroken, as we're left wondering what could have been.

Gabriel Agreste, on the other hand, is utterly and thoroughly selfish and thinks of no one but himself. This is best seen in how he treats his son throughout the show. Disregarding Season 5 (I have no idea how they thought they could pull it off), Gabriel has not shown one ounce of humanity. Not towards Nathalie, not towards Adrien, not even towards his wife, who he supposedly loves. Other than the show telling us how much he loved her (this is a recurring problem with MLB's writing), we never would have known.

Gabriel's death in Season 5, as a result, is much less impactful than Mr. Freeze's death in Batman Beyond.

2.) Madoka Kaname

Now this is a more recent show that I still think holds up. For those not in the know, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a 12-episode anime series that aired in 2011 and, for lack of a better word, changed the game in magical girl anime. While one could argue that it tears down rather than celebrates women in power (as magical girl shows are supposed to do, Astruc), and it's not the most original concept (what is, nowadays), one thing most can agree on is the character writing, especially for Madoka.

Madoka, just like Marinette, is a selfless sweetheart who performs the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. What separates her from Marinette, tellingly enough, is how her sacrifice is written. Throughout the anime, Madoka watches helplessly from the sidelines as her best friend Sayaka sacrifices herself for a boy. And then Sayaka gradually loses herself as the truth about magical girls comes to light. We aren't just told how Madoka feels about it. We see and feel it ourselves. I could write an essay on how well-written Sayaka's tragedy is, but that's beside the point. The point is, Madoka chose the sacrifice rather than having it forced on her by the writers.

Sound familiar?

It should.

Gen Urobuchi, despite his reputation, took the time to respect Madoka's agency as a character. Thomas Astruc tears down Marinette every chance he gets. You can't get more telling than this.

3.) Prince Zuko

You're all probably gonna get tired of hearing me talk about Avatar: The Last Airbender. But then again, I'm pretty sure every ATLA fan has heard that in the years since the original show ended. I've mentioned him before when talking about Chloe's botched redemption, but I feel this is the perfect place to expand and discuss more.

Prince Zuko is what Chloe Bourgeouis should have been in the show. And no, his redemption didn't come out of nowhere. It was consistently foreshadowed throughout the show all the way from the very first episode. This is an essay all in itself, so I'll refrain from diving into detail. But the fact of the matter remains that Zuko is the gold standard for writing a villain redemption. I could point out Darth Vader as another example of a villain redemption. But where he had to die to redeem himself, Zuko didn't.

Zuko also had a better-written backstory that explained (not excused, there's a difference) his behavior at the start of the show. I can't claim to know what the MLB writers had in mind when writing Chloe, but I'm pretty sure Audrey Bourgeois was supposed to be the Ozai figure in Chloe's backstory. Which leads me to my next point:

Zuko wasn't forgiven right away.

Yes. You heard that right.

Zuko had to work to be forgiven by the people he had wronged. And guess what? He failed. If anyone remembers when Azula critically injured Aang and Zuko betrayed Iroh to the Fire Nation, you'll all know what I'm talking about.

Zuko fell during his redemption arc. But he got back up again. And he apologized — genuinely apologized — to the man he betrayed.

4.) Odd Della Robbia

Code Lyoko is a relic from the early 2000s eras of cartoons. And boy, could I write essay after essay on this show. But since we're talking about characters and such, we'll be focusing on this lovable jokester from the show.

Odd Della Robbia is what Chat Noir should have been if he had been in the hands of competent writers. Odd isn't just the perpetually hungry jokester of the group who chased the first pretty girl who caught his attention. He pulled his weight in the battles against the malevolent AI X.A.N.A. Be it through helping Aelita reach the Towers, fighting Specters in the real world, heck even fending off Sissi during her worst moments. Perhaps even more damning is how Odd, despite his less pleasant actions and habits, was more of a true friend to his group than Chat Noir is to Ladybug.

Yes, writers. You can write a jokester character beyond what comes from his mouth.

No, this doesn't mean you can let them harass everyone they come across.

Perhaps, I'm gonna say this a lot, even more damning is how Odd responds to the rejections from the various pretty girls he chases. He actually takes no for an answer. Shocking, isn't it. He chases a skirt, they say no, he moves on. And no, this isn't portrayed as romantic or heroic. It's portrayed just as it is. A hormonal teenage boy being prone to doing stupid things.

What teenager hasn't done something stupid thanks to their hormones?

5.) Susan Ashworth

(Content Warning: mature themes such as suicidal depression)

I'm venturing into mature video games here, admittedly. I couldn't quite find one from my childhood that stood out, so I browsed through some game playthroughs I watched years ago. Ultimately, I settled on Susan Ashworth from the 2012 game The Cat Lady. Astruc being a man shouldn't be an excuse for him writing Marinette and other female characters so poorly. Why? Because Susan Ashworth, and by extension the game she is from, was written by a man.

Funny. I know.

What's even more amazing is how the developer Remigiusz Michalski, who publishes his games under the label Harvester Games, tackled such serious topics such as depression and suicide. No, he didn't use them for shock value, as that's very commonly done very tactlessly. He handled them with maturity and grace. Susan isn't defined by her depression even though she successfully committed suicide in the opening of the game. She has moments of humor and snark, like in the scene where Mitzi is showing her how to use social media. It also helps that Michalski... actually knows what he's talking about, as it's stated in interviews that he worked as a nurse before he created the first game Downfall in 2009.

I can't stress enough the importance of research before writing. Astruc clearly has a lot of ideas he wants to shove into Miraculous Ladybug, but they all fall flat due to a glaring lack of research and preparation. I'm not saying go do gruesome things for your craft and stick to "write what you know". I'm saying know what you're getting into before you dive in. One glaring example I think everyone can agree was poorly handled was Qilin, thanks to plot with the racist ticket inspector.

Michalski clearly knew what he was doing when he wrote Susan's story. Astruc continues to flail in his attempts to keep Miraculous Ladybug relevant.

Honorable Mentions:

Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter - This is how you write snarky hero and sidekick duos

Jerry, from Totally Spies - Come on. You all knew as soon as I mentioned Code Lyoko that this guy would come up

Mandy, also from Totally Spies - She's very entertaining despite being the high school queen bee archetype. It also helps that she consistently faced punishment for her actions

Sissi Delmas, from Code Lyoko - I was gonna use her in place of Zuko just for the fact she showed other traits, such as her protectiveness of Milly during the zombie episode

Uncle Iroh - Do I even need to say it out loud?

KOS-MOS, from the Xenosaga trilogy - She's an excellent example of how to slowly unveil a character throughout the story

Tidus and Yuna, from Final Fantasy X - A really good example of how to write a romance into the story without dragging the plot down

Fiona Belli, from Haunting Ground - A bit polarizing, I know, but Fiona's friendship with Hewie is so heartwarming and grounding. Basically what Chat Noir should have also been to Ladybug

[nczaversnick]

Writblr/Artblr/Bookblr Intro

Hi! This blog is a lot of things I know but it’s fun I promise

Anyway

I'm N.C. Zaversnick, which lets be real is a pen name.

If you're wondering how I came up with it it's a combination of my and my writing partner's name.

Anyway I'm the one y'all will be interacting with so this will focus mostly on me. You can, however, follow Rachelle on Instagram @panda.panduh.

I'm 22, disabled and queer as hell. I also have ADHD and autism. I use he/they pronouns and I've been writing and drawing since I was 8. I also read a great deal, mostly fantasy though I started reading more dystopians when I started seriously working on Project Gemini.

My favorite book is The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen.

I'm currently reading The Toll by Neal Shuesterman

I'm currently playing Wizard101 (Y’all I’m so done with Wallaru)

I'm currently watching Scrubs

To join my tag lists, click here and comment which list(s) yoou want to be added to

COMISSION INFORMATION

WIPs

First off: Project Gemini

Project Gemini is the name for my book series that I do intend to publish some day. We're still working on book one but currently we're planning four books total for this series.

This is a link to the Master Post, where you will find more links to specific Project Gemini information

In a very general sense, this is a YA dystopian series with queer characters of an appropriate age (about mid 20s)

I can only describe it as what you'd get if you crossed X-men with Avatar. Some members of humanity evolved to have fire/water/earth/air powers. So naturally the government oppressed them. This leads to the creation of a rebel group determined to fight for their rights or overthrow the government whichever comes first. The story follows Caspian, a water elemental guy, and his experience when he meets this group and joins their cause.

Fandomverse

So this is why I don't have 5 bajillion WIPs. I take literally every idea I've ever had and mush them all together into this story. Anything I can't fit becomes an AU using OCs from this universe.

This one is a two year long text chain between me and a friend from middle school. It is a mix of original characters and world building and whatever random fandom shit we want.

It came to be while I was deep in my Doctor Who phase and I created my very own Time Lord/The Doctor. (Canonically speaking, he is the Doctor and the TV show Doctor Who still exists but everything in the TV show is based on stories my time lord told some BBC writers while drunk). My friend had a good deal of her own universe by then and so we just mushed the two together.

The basics are what would happen if a Time Lord and a couple of reapers fell in love and had many paranormal adventures but also were parents trying to raise their kids to be knowledgeable in both the human world and the paranormal world.

For the most part, this is the universe for most of the art I share, nnot so much for writing

AUs for Fandomverse

I will eventually put links here but for now it's just a list

Arc of a Scythe

Percy Jackson

Harry Potter

[thebookdragonshoard]

The Wicked King by Holly Black: Review (SPOILERS)

Dearest gentle readers (sorry, I've been watching too much Bridgerton).

Anyways, hello bitches, bros, and nonbinary hoes!! (+10 points if you can name that reference). I will most likely be jumping around from scene to scene instead of reviewing them chronologically because like my thought process, I can't do anything in an orderly or linear fashion.

The Wicked King by Holly Black is a 30 chapter, 448 page (or 10hr 21min audio book) book and is the second installment in the The Folk of the Air trilogy. It is primarily a political fantasy with a subplot of romance centering around our main character, Jude Duarte. Given that this is the second book in the series and that you are reading this, I will assume you already know the characters.

First of all, I'd like to highlight the fact that this is a political fantasy with a SUBplot of romance. I love the fact that, although the growing relationship between Cardan and Jude is relevant to the story, it is not the main focus. I feel like lately, many books are either hinged on romance or completely cut it out, so it always feels as if it's all or nothing. And I appreciate that Holly Black, while still producing a well-written and convincing romance, gave us a complex and captivating political scene with the world-building to match.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was how we got to see more into the inner workings of the High Court and life inside the palace. It was something I often found myself curious about while reading the first book (The Cruel Prince). Plus, we also got to see more faerie revels, which are always fun scenes to read, in my opinion.

Speaking of faerie revels, the revel on the night of the Hunter's Moon. First of all, I deeply despise Locke, and I just had to say that somewhere. Anyways, I like to believe that Jude being crowned Queen of Mirth was not only coincidental in her being the only mortal girl there, but also foreshadowing for the end of the book, when Jude rises to High Queen of Elfhame. Especially how, with her 'coronation' as Queen of Mirth, she was mocked and ridiculed the entire time (as per the game). When Jude is named High Queen and declares as such at the end of the book, the folk around her have much of the same reaction and start laughing at her almost instantaneously, Just like crowing a mortal as Queen of Mirth is meant to be a joke, Jude being crowned as the High Queen is received as a joke by the folk, however true it may be. Furthermore, a part of me has to admire the way Jude handled herself as Queen of Mirth and remained composed despite all the insults and ridiculed, even going so far as to turn the situation in her favor towards the end of the scene. For instance, how she strips herself naked before allowing the folk to dress her in the tattered gown given to the Queen of Mirth. It's such a powerful move for her and it basically screams to the folk that despite, no, in the face their cruel intentions, she can still hold her head high and that none of them could strip her of her dignity, despite how hard they may try. She silently says that whatever they may do to embarass her pales in comparison of what she can do to embarass herself and that, even though she is mortal, she is just as faerie as the rest of them, if not more so. Which I have personally thought since her first scheme to get Cardan on the throne. I think this quote sums it up very well. "After all, if the insult to me is pointing out that I am mortal, than this is my riposte: I live here, too, and I know the rules. Perhaps I even know them better than you since you were born into them, but I had to learn. Perhaps I know them better than you because you have greater leeway to break them."

However, even though Jude was the main focus of the scene, I have to bring up Cardan's actions. Because oh my gods, Cardan. First of all, how he makes sure that Taryn isn't there that night makes me believe that he did it not only because Jude asked him to help protect her from Locke, but that he also did it for Jude's sake. Because what would have been the one worse thing for Jude than her being named Queen of Mirth? If it were Taryn instead. Because I fully believe Locke would do it with zero hesitation, even though Taryn was supposed to be his lover. Additionally, Cardan tried to warn Jude to leave the revel towards the beginning of the scene, effectively trying to protect her from Locke's torment. And then what Cardan said when Locke asked about his feelings for Jude. " I have too often been troubled by dreams of Jude... her face features prominently in my most frequent nightmares... But I believe it is only that her beauty is unique... Excruciating. Alarming. Distressing." We all know that Cardan, being faerie, cannot lie and therefore has to be telling some form of the truth in this scene. And at first read, it's all too easy to assume he is being intentionally cruel. I certainly thought so at first. But then I remembered how Cardan previously admitted his attraction to Jude, more specifically how much it terrified him. Taking this into account, we realize that Cardan is actually complimenting Jude here. It is not that her beauty is excruciating, alarming, and distressing. Or that her face haunts his nightmares. But, rather, that her looks are excruciating, alarming, and distressing, and that her face haunts his nightmares because Cardan finds her beautiful, which he feels like he shouldn't because Jude is a mortal. Also, I like how, at the end of their shared dance, Cardan tells Jude she is allowed to stay or leave as she likes, effectively leaving the choice up to her. Giving her the option to leave insinuates that he is aware of how unsettled she must be after being named Queen of Mirth and that she may want to be alone to deal with her feelings about it, but also giving her the choice to stay essentially says that he isn't going to assume that she is still some weak, mortal girl that cant handle the pressure. Basically, he gives her the option to leave for her own sake if she must, no judgement included, or to stay and tough it out if she feels capable of it, also no judgement included.

Let's fast forward to the end of Taryn and Locke's wedding, aka the first betrayal scene. I was guessing the entire novel who the traitor would be, but I was not at all suspecting The Ghost. I suppose after the beginning sparring scene between Jude and The Ghost, I should have expected it but, you know what they say. Ignorance is bliss. So, The Ghost and Vulciber manage to lure Jude away to The Tower of Forgetting via an attack against it from the Undersea. And once there, it is revealed that The Ghost was the traitor and Jude gets the faerie equivalent of chloroformed. Talk about losing father figures, am I right? That makes what, 3 lost father figures for Jude?? Depenfing on your definition of lost if Madoc counts or not. Anyways, Jude then wakes up underwater as a prisoner of the Undersea. I, again, really enjoy how well this whole scenario highlights Jude's uncanny ability to lie and play a role. Consider, she manages to trick Queen Orlagh and Baelkin into believing she was glamored into adoring them. Even though Queen Orlagh is a major power in faerieland and is older than High King Eldred himself. And even though Baelkin's Hollow Hall was full of glamored mortals, meaning that he definitely should have been able to tell Jude wasn't actually glamored. You'd think at least one of them would have been able to tell. Or that even Nicasia should have been able to tell, given that out of the three she had been around Jude the most. It just goes to show again that even though Jude is mortal, she is just as faerie as the rest of the folk. And at the mention of Baelkin and this whole ordeal, am I the only one who audibly gagged when Jude had to kiss Baelkin? I can't be the only one. Her murdering him? Fully justified, and not even for him slaughtering his entire family save for Cardan and Oak. Good for Jude.

Finally, let's skip to the end of the book (aka the five stages of literary grief) because this review is already much longer than I anticipated. First off, Cardan rgiving up the Court of Termites just to arrange Jude's release??? No one can say he is NOT a romantic. And when Cardan has been poisoned by wraithberry at the masquerade ball, completely and utterly inebriated, and yet he still manages to come to Jude's defense when she is being threatened by Baelkin? Chef's kiss. It truly shows that Cardan has come such a long way from despising her, and his attraction towards her, in the first book to openly doing things that can be interpreted as fondness for her, even in front of the entire court and even when poisoned. And from there, Jude manages to trick the antidote away from Baelkin and kills him in a duel, before returning to Cardan. This leads us to the second betrayal of the book: Taryn.

Taryn tricks Cardan into believing she is Jude while he is still sobering up from the wraithberry and asks requested half the army plus Madoc to be released from their oaths to the crown. To which Cardan agrees without question, due to how much trust he now has in Jude. I didn't see The Ghost's betrayal coming, but I had my suspcicions about Taryn from the get go. She was being overly nice to Jude the entire book, despite her betrayal with Locke in the first book. I feel like this betrayal hurt worse for Jude than that of The Ghost's, because Jude had decided to give Taryn a second chance, despite her broken heart from the first book. And then Taryn turned right back around and stabbed a second knife into Jude's back, right next to the one from the first book.

After that whole debacle, Cardan summons Jude back to his room later in the night. And this is when he asks Jude to give him control of himself back, in exchange for her hand in marriage, making her the High Queen of Elfhame. Obviously, Jude accepts because she stills feels like that helpless mortal on the inside, and what better solution is there for than feeling than acquiring more power and respect. The next day, Queen Orlagh demands an audience with the High King and reveals she is furious about the murder of Baelkin, her ambassador. She threatens war and almost goes through with it. Before she can, Cardan quite literally boils the sea and raises an entirely new island of Elfhame. Which, if you recall, the original 3 islands were raised up by Queen Mab herself. I also interpret this as foreshadowing, however for the next book and the whole Cardan prophecy, specifically the "...a great ruler will rise" bit. Because Queen Mab is regarded in faerie as the greatest ruler there was, having the Blood Crown forged for her descendants. I find it's only fitting that Cardan raises up an island of Elfhame, as Mab did, in his, arguably, first moment acting as a true High King of Elfhame. Orlagh then goes on to back down, still demanding justice for Baelkin. And Cardan gives it to her, by exiling Jude back to the mortal realm until she is pardoned by the Crown. (a loop-hole she could have exploited right then and there since she was the High Queen and therefore part of the Crown). Which enraged me to no end at the time, given that they had just gotten married (a fact that thrilled me.) Again I say: they are the definition of enemies to lovers.

That's all I have for y'all, folks. If this review erred too far on the side of essay, then too bad, so sad. I enjoy writing essays (clearly.)