#and that style now has that same ability with fadel too

[secriden]

One of my favourite things about the way Fadel's plan (to "make them [Style] fall in love with us [me]") plays out is that when he dials up his affection and goes all out on the sweet flirtation and tenderness, Style immediately finds it weird and strange and suspicious and off-putting. Fadel pretending to be #whipped actually makes Style pull away like none of Fadel's aggression and violence and outright rejection did -- because it wasn't sincere, and Style could sense that.

When Fadel first drags Style out and starts peppering kisses on his face, Style turns away from his kisses and pulls back/pushes Fadel away from him to start questioning why Fadel is acting so strange. This is the same person who later propositions Fadel in a public bathroom whilst knowing one of the stalls is currently occupied by a stranger, so whilst I fully acknowledge Style probably genuinely did not want his dad to see them necking in his place of work, I'm also convinced it wasn't the only reason.

Because when Fadel allows some honesty to slip out, when he says "Don't you ever think that I'm only like this because of you?", Style actually softens and turns into Fadel's kiss for the first time in the scene. His hands go from pushing upwards at Fadel's neck to clenching softly against his shoulder and upper arm, like he's finally able to relax and hold Fadel closer (you can actually see the difference in these screenshots compared to the ones above). Style stops resisting and sinks into the kiss, lets his eyes almost slip close because something in him recognises that Fadel spoke true.

The same thing happens in Style's bedroom when Fadel continues his charade: Style is smiling, but there's a distinctly uncomfortable and awkward air about it, and he actually pulls away when Fadel continues to sniff-kiss him while going on and on about loving the way Style smells like gasoline. Fadel tries to be clingy again and Style outright calls him out on how weird he's being, so Fadel is forced to backtrack into sincerity:

Suddenly, Style's wariness turns to excitement and interest; he happily agrees to come along and asks what he should get Bison as a gift. Fadel is literally torturing himself to keep up this excessive affection and tenderness (the away Fadel's softness and sweetness just drops once Style goes to take that shower. Ugh. T_T) and gets nothing from Style until he offers something genuine -- a request for time to celebrate someone Fadel truly loves.

In fact, it's the pieces of honesty (or at least I'm assuming that this is also true since he was honest about Bison's birthday), and only those, that Style responds positively to. We have seen Style flirting constantly in previous episodes but he literally has not said anything scandalous or suggestive so far, nor has he initiated any affection even once until this moment.

And the reason why I love all this SO MUCH is because it really shows the evidence of Style's words before he even says them. In the midst of all the secrets and lies between them, ever since he found out about Fadel's secret and decided he was going to keep pursing him anyway, Style has been chasing and chasing Fadel's sincerity. And each precious revelation that Fadel gave him -- his parents' murder, his inability to trust, his desire for something genuine from Style -- has been carefully stored away in Style's heart like nuggets of gold. Which is why Fadel's performance was doomed from the start; because Style was moved by the true things and not the lies, and Fadel's pretensions can have no effect when Style's heart now has the ability to recognise that which he has already grown to love.

[invisiblegarters]

I agree with you about the actors - idt they really have the preference towards Khao that last anon said they did. If anything they seem pretty evenly split which is natural imo - like book is clearly closer to first than Khao, for example, but that’s normal in friendships. But anyways it’s so crazy you mention the gaipa crying scene because while I do think khaotung was INCREDIBLY amazing as gaipa I had the same level of shock regarding the reception to first as you did 😭 it’s especially strange looking back bc MLC is how I got to know Firstkhao and it was first’s performance as Alan specifically that made me interested in following them so I’m just?

About the directors - honestly, after seeing bts material it kind of feels like Nuchy is the only recent ish one who actually is aware of First’s abilities and what to do with them which is kind of sad imo.

On another note, I haven’t read the novel. Can you elaborate on the Kant thing? I’ve seen mixed thoughts but I’m leaning towards believing the bad reviews after the OF novel lol. If it’s rlly bad then that’s concerning - I was already hesitant about how he would be given Jojo’s general tendency to focus extensively on Khao but now I’m getting anxious LMFAO

That's hilarious because I would have said Book was closer to Khaotung if asked. But that said, I think that again, it might be because tumblr is where I live, and tumblr for whatever reason mostly brings me stuff about Khaotung. Can't see stuff if I'm not in the right places to look for it! But yeah I think trying to piece together who loves whom more in their personal lives is…a lot. I'm not going there. It's just none of my business.

I actually didn't say anything about Gaipa v. Alan, that was the anon, lol. I'm mostly pissed that Earth didn't get the credit he deserved for that series. The more I think about it the more it annoys me. I won't pretend I don't think that they tend to hand Khaotung the big, dramatic scene or scenes that tend to get people talking and win the awards and I'm not saying he's not good at them. What I am saying there's more to acting than that, and the fact that Earth's amazing, nuanced performance as Jim was not recognized makes me impotently furious. Like it's just a travesty what on earth (heh) is wrong with people.

This is not a diss against Khaotung, btw - I don't do that. His style of acting isn't my favorite but you'll never hear me say he's not good at it. It's just me lamenting that the style I tend to gravitate to seems to be considered if not bad, then less deserving. IMO Sand was a masterclass for First but most of what I saw while the show was airing was disparagement of either the character or the actor himself. It was a rough time for me, lol. I say again, people are really just casually really nasty about First sometimes and I don't get it.

I really can't speak too much to the director thing any more than I already have, but I keep bringing it back to being that for whatever reason, First's style of acting isn't it to them, and it shows. I don't know if there is anything that can be done about that.

Oh, the novel. The novel. Let's just say that finding out the author only wanted to do it because of Khaotung explained so much, lol. I got a little carried away, but in case you only wanted Kant spoilers I will post them first, with a warning about the rest.

And this should go without saying, but all these opinions and observations are entirely subjective, okay? Okay.

Kant: I wanted to like him, I did, but he's nothing. There's literally nothing to him. He could be replaced by a block of pretty wood and I don’t think anyone would know the difference. He has all the personality of a wet rag, and it gets worse once he "falls in love" with Bison. Has a little brother that he has two whole scenes with, one to establish why he needs money that he's being offered to track down and inform on Fadel & Bison and one that's mainly there to have Bison save the day and showcase how awesome he is. Please don't think I'm kidding that is it. And once he falls for Bison he basically just fawns over him and forgets how to be competent. Much is made of his skills as a thief but when it comes down to it it's basically Bison who has to do everything. The only emotion I could work up about this dude was rage that this is the character that my favorite actor is going to play. Feels like he's in the novel least but it could also be that he's such a nothing I've just forgotten times when he did show up. Block of wood, I tell you.  Khaotung's apparent obsession with this dude is incomprehensible to me (I still say he's attempting to gaslight us into thinking he matters at all).

And because I am on a roll, here' have impressions of the other characters, too. Feel free to stop here if you don't wanna know.

MORE SPOILERS BELOW

Bison: douchey in a way that I personally can't stand. Always made out to be the best and most interesting in the room, even when he's not. Also, not sure he even liked Kant much? Idk their dynamic bugged me. It wasn't the BDSM, it was just the way he thought about him and treated him. Once they get together Kant is fawning in a really cringy way and while Bison takes the praise he just seems to be like…above it, I guess you could say. Like he was there to be worshipped but not actually to return any of the devotion. In the end he turned out to be my least favorite character. I was relieved for the increasingly few chapters where he didn't appear.  Maybe he got better by the very end but frankly by then I was so done with him that I was just skimming to get to things I wanted to read.

Style: Fun but also…there are some questionable choices made about his character that got on my nerves.  His and Fadel's storyline is very school BL and parts of it annoyed the hell out of me. He is funny though, and I think if they tone down some of the more egregious childishness and relationship stuff, he will be a lot of fun. He's persistent and when he and Fadel really got going I liked the mutual devotion thing they were doing. Genuinely the one I would be looking forward to the most in the show.

Fadel: In the end, my favorite character. Funny enough I think that not being The Crush and not being The Designated Love Interest of The Crush really helped both Fadel and Style out, character wise, Fadel especially because thanks to being Bison's brother he gets more time devoted to him. I mean don't get me wrong it's still fairly shallow (as is everyone's, even Bison's although I'd say the author put the most effort into him), but he had a whole arc and everything, and his particular archetype is one of my favorites, I won't lie. I'm just a sucker for the dude who says he doesn't want a thing but it turns out he actually really does, he just doesn't think he can have it. I had the most fun with him and Style and if I were to watch (which to be frank I don't think is in the cards for me at this juncture, I'll wait to let my mutuals fill me in on whether First gets to do more than look pretty (he's so pretty but I also love to watch him do his thing, you know) and maybe either play catch up if I get intrigued enough or binge it when it's over) it would probably be for them.

Maybe I am being harsher than I should be, idk. Sometimes I get mad and when I do, I can become a bit of a dick. But the novel is up, you can read it for yourself. You tell me (and if you do read, please make sure to thank the person who translated it. They did it super fast and it was just a lovely thing for them to have done). Also apparently more extensive reviews than my ranting are coming in and they're…not favorable, although I haven't seen any myself.

Whether you think the show will be like the novel really depends on how you feel about everyone involved (I am a cynic from a long line of them, I am going to feel free to assume that while the story beats might not be entirely the same and while it will hopefully be better written, the care paid to the characters probably will be very close. I absolutely think we're in for The Bison Show, guest starring Fadel and sometimes Style. I don't really think they've been subtle about this lol).

But also, I think that there will be a lot of people who will like the show I am expecting. There are people who have already said they only want to watch for Khaotung, or are mainly here for JoongDunk doing a new thing, or to see First simp, and those people I think will be happy, and good for them, honestly. It's awesome when something you are looking forward to gives you exactly what you want. If the show felt like it were going to give me what I wanted I'd be there with bells on.

But since I don't feel that way, I can just not watch. Simple, easy, effective. Although I will be sad to lose my Wednesday watch.