#at least these are the vibes i’m getting from the first 11 episodes

[thesunsethour]

so i’m halfway through season one of house and so far if wilson isn’t cheating on his wife he’s talking about cheating on his wife and if he isn’t talking about cheating on his wife he’s wishing he could actively be cheating on his wife and if he isn’t doing that he’s conducting psychosexual mind games on house which he thinks is for the greater good of their relationship and during all of this he’s like “i am the most normal man in this hospital”

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - We In A Slump, but help might be coming from a very strange source

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

Sept 2024 Week 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 3 of 12 - I don’t have a lot to say except that the plot is somewhat predictable but the show is still very engaging. War is fantastic. I’m enjoying it a hell of a lot.

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) ep 10 of 12 - The second leads are getting better in this one. I understand where they are coming from, which makes their conflict so much more understandably painful, and honest to a friends2lovers trope. The main couple is kinda standard college relationship drama, but they are cuties.  

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 4 of 12 - How is Ohm so damn gorgeous? Meanwhile, babies’ first argument. And it’s sponge bath time. Q has got to be wondering if Min is as meticulous with all kinds of care and attention to detail all......the......time. Somebody here in the hellhole said something about this being "the most BL to ever BL." And I think they’re right. At least right now. Although, watch out, we got us a new contender from the east.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 - I do love the continuation of the perversion, in a good way, of the punishment trope from last week's episode. Oh, has the show finally remembered its title? NO SINGING. 

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 7 of 10 - More kidnapping and an attack and now there’s a girl involved and somebody’s going to China and I don’t understand anything! And I don’t really care. Is this how the actual book originally went? Because it’s wild. Also TOO MANY of flashbacks. I guess they got a bit of a boyfriend era, and the claiming during the water fight was cute, but otherwise...... meh

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 15 - One shouldn’t make comparisons, of course, but all I can think about is how amazing Captain was as Noh in the original series. Thus this show is mostly just making me want to rewatch the original. It’d be an interesting twist to have Aim be queer instead of a damaged cool girl slut. Was the helmet hand letting go a foreshadow of the iconic bookstore hands letting go? Also, I gotta say for the second episode of a series there are already too many flashbacks. Why are they using filler when they have so much content crammed into so few (comparable) episodes for a series? It’s annoying. Stop it.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 4 of 5 - This show has some interesting, if heavy handed, things to say about shipping and trolling, but also predatory/proprietary female behavior. It’s fascinating to see it tackled head on, if handled in a profoundly clumsy manner. I’m not sure how I feel about it. That said, most of this episode was actually an advertisement for a resort in Phuket. 

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I'm getting What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? vibes from this show. Only this is WAY more bullying. It’s very old-fashioned 90’s billionaire romance novel only gay. It’s never a good sign when I’m watching two boys kiss and I really want one of them to just bite the other ones lip off instead.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 9 of 12 - No ep this week. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 8 of 10 - Gosh it’s so frikin adorable. Baby got sick. He has SUCH A CRUSH. And such a courageous little confession! Yay! Can’t wait for next week. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ep 1 - sure, yes this is, in fact, just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again. And yet...... There is a REASON this leapt into the standings guns blazing. So it’s high school set but it's stepbrothers trope. (My, aren’t we popular this year?) I know, but I NEVER get tired of this trope. We got us Bach (BV's sullen tsundere) and Dat (babygirl meets bully). It’s GREAT how the brothers' dynamic is entirely different at school than when they're at home. My ear isn’t trained for Vietnamese, but I think Dat is using different pronouns depending on his location (his personality entirely shifts when he’s at school). I’m not sold on the Bach character, although I always trust BV to serve in the end (at least we know the kisses will be good), but Dat is utterly in love, a touch spicy, and reasonably complex. The surrounding cast is good too, my favorite pretty boy is there playing top dog (woof), and one of the besties is out gay (YAY!). The plot of the show is...... well...... absent. Nothing happened. But if we are aiming for Love Sick slice of life style BL, I'm game. Subs are appropriately terrible and confusing. But I like it A FUCK TON so far, so I’m gonna keep it in rotation. Nice to have Vietnam back in play. What a shocker.

2024 has been a year of upsets.

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 3 of 10 eps - I weirdly enjoyed the farcical music and the utter absurdity of the court case. I also liked how it highlighted what a good team these two are. Frankly I don’t mind a bit of an antihero sleazy lawyer + conman, it's engaging. I’m getting wholesome out of Thailand. I don’t really need it from Japan at the moment. Also I don’t believe for one second our conman actually is serious about the relationship. Conmen gonna con. I'm reminded of the scorpion and the frog fable.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - I love Orca so much. I do not love the autotuned version of Orca, but I knew what I was in for with this particular show, it's in the title after all. I did laugh a whole lot when Laing used kha. Hon, I don't think that word means what you think it means......

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 11-12fin - I never thought I’d say this, but the pacing was off in the penultimate episode. Taiwan, and its chronic misuse of flashbacks strikes again. That said we eventually got a "lock in" trope and Wang being the biggest little flirt shit in the cafe OMG!!! Of course, you shouldn’t use a girl to torment your bf, but it was so well done, I can’t really complain. Meanwhile, teacher kisses. And now I understand exactly why they’re present in this narrative. Clever. Bummer of a burden on that ending though. I cannot see how they’ll manage to stick this landing. [That was ep 11]

AND NOW EP 12 - doomey doomey doom

Not the water bottle trope! Argh the teenage lust of it all. Just stop it. Wang is so smart he knows exactly how bad he has to be to leave the class. And his bf certainly knows that too. And......

......

So that was not an ending and I’m not happy about it and no one is surprised. Even I’m not surprised. I’m just disappointed. Even tho I suspected this was where we were headed I'm disappointed. That’s it. That’s all I got. How do I review something that was such a crushing let down?

Conclusion:

Based on a Mou Mou novel + the Your Name Engraved Herein team, this is old-school coming of age BL and it was bloody fantastic. Tsundere seme to beat all tsundere (smartest + tallest + bestest at everything but people) meets socially-ept cutie smart-ass uke. They're living together by end of ep 1 and start kissing by end of ep 2. A stellar tense slow burn stepbrothers trope that ate my life and than just belly-flopped the finale. What I'm left with is epic levels of disappointment and well...... at least nobody died? My standard "fatally flawed" rating for any BL is 4/10 so I guess that’s what I’m giving it. 

Before you ask me for the stats: Taiwan does not have a history of second seasons. I went ahead and ran the numbers and the odds are certainly not in our favor. I put the chances at 2%.

Yes, I contemplated a revenge rating of 2/10 but even I'm not that mean.

It's airing but...

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger). A man is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai being converted into a café. He sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, falls in love with one of them. Was substantially recast. I loved IFYLITA except the ending so I think I'll let this one run it's course you can tell me if it's work tracking down... if they managed to land it. I have my doubts.

In Case You Missed It

Falling For My Boss is vertical format (nash) short from Korean BL about a happy-go-unlucky man who keeps losing his flower shop business because of romantically misbehaving employees (apparently it's a thing). When his best employee brings in a new boy he's worried she's falling for him, but it turns out it's his own heart on the line. He a clueless softy and The Boy is a lost broken sweetheart, making this a gentle little snippet of a show. There's a baby linguistic negotiation, some hung slinging, awkward handholds, and everyone is very pretty. For me the absence of kisses and the vertical format were more annoying than the length, which felt fine but many viewers will find too short. I enjoyed the 30 minutes of cute. All of which makes this a solid 7/10 from me. It was originally only available on this one ap in very short form with ads so I wasn't gonna bother. Then some kind soul cut it together without ads and stuck it up for download. Say thank you.

Oddball recommendation next: This podcast episode touches on some stuff we see in Thai BL so I think it's worth listening to. Journalist Dominic Faulder on the Complex History Between Thailand & Myanmar

Happy of the End (Japan Gaga) - Completed its run. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL and it's exactly as expected. I do not like it at all and DNFed. Gossip round the hellhole is that was a solid decision.

Marriage Equality Law has officially been enacted in Thailand...

Yes the actual law. Goes into effect Jan 22, 2025

Next Week Looks Like This:

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.

Coming Oct 2024:

10/3 Fourever You (Thai iQIYI?) 16 eps - New directs Earth (UWMA, 12%) + Pond (Century of Love, 180 Degrees), Bas (Gen Y, 2 Moons) + Maxky (Why You… Y Me?) and other familiar faces like Bever. Sampler pack university BL from Wabi Sabi that looks like it's trying to be a gay Boys Over Flowers (4 older med students hot boys) and I'm not mad about it. Trailer Not sure who's distributing this but my guess is iQIYI since they had the last few from this house.

10/7 Every You Every Me (Thai Gaga) 10 eps - Jade and Chin have lived over a thousand lifetimes. In each one they somehow manage to fall in love with each other. (This pair, TopMick was piloted in a My Universe ep, that was one of the only ones I liked.)

10/10 Eccentric Romance (Korea ????) 12 eps - Silkwood’s 2nd Thai/Korean colab, that has been in production since 2022 which is a LONG time in the BL world. I'm worried but I like the concept: friends of 10 years who’ve been hiding feelings for each other enter the same university. Plus MURDER.

10/10 Gangster and His Boyfriend (Korea ????) 8 eps? - Kim Dong Bin (famous trainee & idol reality competitor, yeah that happens) stars as a fallen idol who unexpectedly becomes entangled in a gangster family. Discovers that his friend’s father is responsible for the murder of his entire family years ago. I don't know much about this one, neither does anyone else and I'm not sure where I got that release date so……

10/21 Love in the Big City (Korea ????) 8 eps - Adaptation of Booker-nominated famous coming of age novel of the same title by Park Sang-Young. Cynical yet fun loving student writer Young pinballs from home, to class, to Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female besie and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their worries about life, love, and money with soju. As time passes Jaehee settles down and leaves Young to face his problems on his own. Young finding comfort in the arms of the series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness and another who might be the great love of his life. Not really BL. Stars Kim Go-eun (The King: Eternal Monarch), Noh Sang-hyun, and Nam Yoon Su (The King’s Affection). This already released as a movie and isn't very well regarded, this date is supposedly an international release as a series. I'm wary of it being BL.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I got nothing, The On1y One drove me into a funk.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (11)

Chapter Eleven: Point of No Return

Gif by @moonstrider9904

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: The Empire closes in on you and the Batch

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, threats, food mentions, flash of PDA and fluff in the beginning, referenced character death, rip a certain ship :(, self-blame, brief injury mention, humour as a tool for deflection, overall angsty vibes

Word Count: 4.2K

Author's notes: Still sticking very close to the episode here but hope it's still enjoyable and episode 12 is in progress!!

Getting into the pirate’s ship had been all too easy. He wasn’t going to fail this time. CX-2 decrypted the coordinates before he put the transmission for Scorch through, “The Trandoshan’s intel paid off. I tracked the pirate and accessed her navicomputer. She tried to cover her tracks but I broke the encryption.”

“What did you find?”

“She frequented a planet in the Outer Rim. I’m headed there now to do recon.”

“Send the coordinates. I’ll have a full division on standby if you require a visual on the targets.” Scorch provided before he signed off.

CX-2 entered the coordinates for Pabu.

--

“That’s gotta be all of it, right?” Wrecker asked in disbelief as he saw the three of you approach and unload the next round of supplies.

“We still need to grab the rations.” Hunter told him. “Keep loading up the ship. We’ll be back.”

Wrecker groaned, “Fine. But at least bring me back an ice cone.”

“Just one?” You questioned with an enticing grin as you walked backwards away from him and the ship.

“No, no, no. You’re right! M-Make it two!” Wrecker corrected his error.

You gave a two-fingered salute in reply before you turned around and jogged to catch up with Hunter and Crosshair.

--

“I wish you didn’t have to leave.” Lyana said lowly as she led Omega through the Archium.

“Me too, but Hunter thinks it’s safer for everyone if we do.”

Lyana led her over to a gap in one of the ledges. “What do you think of this spot?”

“It’s perfect.” Omega said with a thankful smile.

“So, which treasures did you bring?” Lyana asked, her tone curious but respectful of what this moment meant to those that left things here and Omega would not be treated differently.

Omega tucked Lula under her arm and brought out Tech’s cracked goggles. She held them delicately in her hands as she let the memories that they brought wash over her.

“You sure you wanna leave these behind?” Lyana double checked gently.

“Pabu was the first place that felt like a home.” Omega placed both objects down with the utmost care. “This way, a piece of us is still here.”

Lyana laid a supportive hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Well, I’ll make sure these stay safe until you come back.” She looked at Omega with a new type of seriousness. “Because you will come back, right?”

“I hope so.” Omega replied, the harsh reality of the day quickly catching up to her as she realised this would be the last time she would see her for a while.

--

“And where are you going?” Hunter asked with a questioning smile and tilt of his head as you separated from them. “We’ve got rations to get.”

You feigned disgust at the very idea. “Hey, I have the very important ice-cone mission. I cannot be diverted with a mere ration run.” You said with a coy grin before you pressed a swift kiss to Hunter’s cheek and sauntered off with exaggerated determination.

“Get that lovesick smile of your face before I throw up.” Crosshair snickered with a roll of his eyes as he saw the way Hunter watched you go.

“Shut up.” Hunter shoved his brother’s shoulder before they carried on with their own search.

--

“I don’t even think there’s room on this ship for all this gear.” Wrecker complained to Gonky as he saw all that was still to be shifted and he knew there was still more to come. However, Gonky’s cheeky honks of reply were not the commiseration he was looking for. “Oh, yeah? Well, maybe I should leave you behind.” He retorted, smirking at the offended honks he got in response.

Wrecker brought more of the stuff on board, completely unaware that the proximity sensor had been flashing a half second before.

--

CX-2 landed the ship in the cavern and began his hunt.

--

Hunter paused as he heard the nervous squeaking on the island birds, their tone matching his own growing sense of unease.

“What is it?” Crosshair asked.

“Not sure, but I don’t like it.” Hunter brought out his comm. “Omega, time to go.”

Upon hearing that, you gave up your spot in line and joined up with Hunter and Crosshair. You’d make it up to Wrecker another time.

--

CX-2 scanned the bustling market stalls from above and that was when he caught sight of the two clones and the targets he’d been sent to acquire. He touched the control panel on his sleeve and got Scorch on his comm.

“Report.” Scorch demanded.

“I’ve got eyes on the targets.”

“Ground them and wait for the division. They must be recovered unharmed. No mistakes this time.”

“And the clones they’re with?” He asked as he saw the group of you leaving the area.

“If they get in your way, eliminate them.”

--

“We’re sorry to see you go, but you’re all welcome here anytime.” Shep said sincerely. “Those homes will be waiting for you when you get back.”

You bowed your head in gratitude.

“Thanks for everything, Shep.” Hunter said, shaking his hand.

Omega and Lyana shared in a hug.

“I’ll see you soon.” Lyana said as she parted from Omega.

The four of you and Batcher started to make your way back to Wrecker.

--

The sun had almost set by the time Wrecker finished getting the most recent batch of supplies onto the ship, but he just took relief in the fact that he wouldn’t be alone in shifting the next round of gear.

As he went to grab the last crate, he paused on the steps as he picked up on a faint but rapid series of beeps.

He recognised the sound.

He knew exactly what that meant.

He reacted quickly and with a shout, he abandoned the ship and grabbed Gonky just as the Marauder exploded, hurling both of them into the sea.

With the last of his strength, he managed to pull himself onto a piece of debris before his vision went dark.

--

Upon hearing the harsh echoing boom of an explosion, you all instantly ran to the edge of Upper Pabu and your heart thumped in a frantic panic as you saw the distant flames and charred remnants of what was once the Marauder.

Hunter brought out his binoculars and took in the scene. He saw Wrecker and Gonky floating in the water and felt his own panic set in at seeing his brother unconscious. He put on his helmet and started running for the docks.

You did the same with your coverings and Crosshair put on his helmet before the three of you followed close behind.

--

One of the locals had grabbed a boat and brought Wrecker and Gonky back to port.

You pushed your way through the crowd of people and stopped short as you saw Wrecker’s body.

Omega knelt down by Wrecker’s side. “Wrecker? Wrecker!” Omega gasped, desperately shaking his shoulders to try and rouse him but it did no good.

Your stomach dropped to your feet. It took all the training you had to not lose control upon seeing the lack of response from Wrecker. He was strong, he was always so strong. He had to be alright.

“Mox and Stak, take Wrecker to Shep’s. Deke, get Az-3 to patch him up, and fast.” Hunter ordered the regs. He needed his brother back on his feet. He needed him to be okay.

“Ships don’t just blow up. We’ve been compromised.” Crosshair realised.

Hunter turned his head from Wrecker to the sound of a deep rumbling from above and what he saw sent both a deep anger and dread through his veins. The Imperial Star Destroyer hovered above the Archium and a series of gunships swarmed down. “Everyone, get to cover!”

Amidst the crowds of panicked and screaming people, the four of you regrouped and found cover of your own.

--

Shep was helpless to stop the hordes stormtroopers from moving in. He could only watch in despair as his people ran in fear.

--

“Cut off all escape routes. Destroy any ships or sea skiffs in sight.” CX-2 ordered as he remained unphased by the chaos around him. It wouldn’t affect what he needed to achieve; it would only help.

--

You and Omega both paused as you saw the destruction the Empire was causing to the docks.

The only light in the night were the fires caused by the Imperial gunfire.

The only sounds the whirr of gunship and cried of fear that echoed around the island.

Kamino, the Marauder, Pabu… How many more homes was the Empire going to take from you?

From these innocent people?

And how much longer could you let it go on?

A glance down at Omega told you she was thinking similarly to you. You indicated your head back and you both joined the others in an alleyway.

“Is this our fault? Are they attacking because of us?” Omega whispered up at you as she kept Batcher calm.

You wished with every fibre of your being that you could tell her no. That they were the ones at fault but the own guilt residing in your heart made the words die before they left your lips. How could you reassure her when you couldn’t believe the words yourself? It was never meant to go this way. The very thing you had wanted to avoid had happened and now you knew there was only one real way out of it.

Hunter crouched down. “It’s the Empire’s fault. Not yours. You have to stay focused. Both of you.” He implored with a helmeted look in your direction too.

“They’re destroying all means of escape and jamming our comms.” Crosshair said as he tried his comm, but it was only static. “We have to steal one of their gunships. Once we’re out of range, we can contact Echo.”

“I’ll handle it.” Hunter said. “You three, get to Shep’s and wait with Wrecker until I signal you.”

You caught his vambrace and pulled him back to you. You pressed your forehead against his helmet.

Hunter had a distinct and sinking feeling that this was you saying goodbye, but he wasn’t going to let that be the case- this plan would work… it- it had to. “I’ll see you soon.” He said as he stepped away.

You couldn’t quite meet his helmeted gaze as you nodded before you, Omega and Batcher split from him to head to Shep’s.

Hunter gave Crosshair a last meaningful look before he went in the opposite direction.

Crosshair knew what that look meant- keep them safe. And he would do everything in his power to do that. He followed you and Omega.

--

“Lock down the town. Search every domicile until you find them.” CX-2 ordered the squadrons of troopers.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shep demanded as he approached the black-armoured soldier that seemed intent on ruining the lives of so many people.

“Who are you?” CX-2 replied with equal parts disdain and curiosity.

“The mayor of this town. You’ve opened fire on my village and its people without warning and without reason. Under what pretence are you attacking?” Shep seethed.

“We’re here to collect some fugitives you’ve been harbouring.” CX-2 brought out the puck and flashed the two images.

Shep made sure to keep his true reaction at bay- he wouldn’t give you and Omega away if he could help it. “You can’t just barge in here-”

“I’ve barely done anything yet.” CX-2 interrupted coldly.

“You destroyed our docks and fishing skiffs. Our livelihood.”

“I have simply cut off their means of escape. But I can do worse. I know they are here. Until they are turned over to me, your island will burn.” CX-2 threatened as he walked away.

--

The path to Shep’s had been fraught with troopers and each time like this where you had to hide from the next roaming patrol only slowed things down more.

You peered round the corner of your hiding spot to see one of the villagers being forced out of her home and you heard her distressed plea.

“You can’t do this! It’s our home!”

You were fighting the urge to go out and it seemed Batcher also shared in your current sentiment as Omega was doing her best to keep the dog quiet and calm.

And the cruel reply from the trooper that you heard next only confirmed what you already dreaded.

“We know they’re here! Where are the Jedi and the girl?”

“I don’t know! I swear-”

The familiar sound of a slap made your blood boil. You went to reveal yourself to stop them but Crosshair’s hand on your arm prevented you from doing so.

Omega couldn’t hold Batcher back though. The dog snarled and charged for the soldiers before they could do anymore harm.

“Batcher can handle herself. Let’s go.” Crosshair said to you both as he made sure Omega didn’t go to follow the dog either.

--

You had managed to scale the wall up to Shep’s and opened the door.

“Lyana!” Omega said with a relieved gasp.

“Omega! My-My dad, he said to hide here.” Lyana said fearfully. She ran up to her friend and hugged her tight, “I’m so scared.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.” Omega replied as she parted from her.

You and Crosshair took off your coverings as you saw AZ attending to Wrecker.

“How’s Wrecker, AZ?” You asked.

“He is still unconscious, but his vitals are stable.”

You allowed yourself to feel some semblance of relief at that, but you hastily pushed it to one side as you heard another gunships sound outside.

The three of you ran back out to take in what was happening and what you saw made your chest tighten and curl your fists in rage- stormtroopers were everywhere, removing people from their homes, tossing them to the ground, arresting them. It was unnecessarily cruel, and it was all because you were still here.

--

Getting onto the gunship had started out as a stealth mission but quickly became one where Hunter just had to get inside without getting shot.

He’d managed to do so but the pilot was making his life extremely difficult with erratic flying designed to fling him out. He had to take a tight grasp of the handles inside to remain upright.

--

Something else then caught your attention as you saw the unstable and irregular flying patterns of an Imperial gunship and a whole different kind of emotion swept through you. You knew the exact cause of that particular situation, but you were not reassured by the sight in the slightest.

“Is that, Hunter?” Omega asked both you and Crosshair as she noticed the ship in the air.

“Yes.” You said through clenched teeth.

“Uh huh.” Crosshair echoed nonchalantly.

But then, something shifted, there was a blaster shot and vessel nosedived down towards the sea in a way that showed that neither Hunter nor the pilot was in charge of the ship anymore.

A strained breath caught in your throat as you watched the ship plummet into the sea. “Where- where is he?” You choked out as you saw Crosshair grab his macrobinoculars.

Crosshair scanned the water anxiously but let out a relieved sigh as he saw his brother resurface and swim for the shore. “He’s fine.”

You bent forwards as you braced your hands on the wall and let out a slow calming breath before the distant sound of comm chatter reminded you of your current situation.

“He’s safer than we are at the moment.” Crosshair hissed as the three of you retreated back inside Shep’s.

--

“What do we do? Troopers will be here soon.” Omega asked anxiously.

“Hunter would want us to stick to the plan.” Crosshair replied, internally scrambling to think of a way out of this.

“There’s no hiding, Crosshair. The Empire knows we’re here. They won’t stop searching until they find us!”

Whilst they were talking, you were coming up with a plan of your own. If you handed yourself in and convinced them that you’d already shipped Omega off-world, then maybe they’d leave Pabu and the rest of them alive and in peace.

You glanced between Wrecker and Lyana and the door. You took a calming breath as you came to terms with what you had to do but a squeeze of your hand brought your eyes downwards. No. You said as you saw her nod at you.  

“You promised.” Omega reminded you.

This is different, Omega. It’s not a choice you should need to make. It-

“You’re going, I know you are!” Omega interrupted. “But that won’t be enough, they’re here for me too! They won’t stop and you know it. It is my choice!”

Crosshair clued in and realised what the two of you were arguing about. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s our only option, Crosshair.” You said heavily.

“What? No, it’s not. We-”

“Look at what they’ve already done.” You said, a flash of anger coming through. “We can’t let the people here suffer any more because of us. That’s why we were leaving in the first place- to avoid this. We can’t let it carry on. We just can’t.” I’m not risking anyone else. Wrecker already got hurt, I’m not risking you and I’m not risking Hunter. If I could help it, Omega wouldn’t be coming but I can’t and it kills me that I can’t, but it’s how it has to be.

Crosshair went to respond to you, but Omega got in first, “If we let them take us, it stops.” She emphasised.

Crosshair focused on the young girl, distress in his voice. “You’ll be taken back to Tantiss.”

“Exactly. We’ve been trying to find those coordinates, and nothing’s worked. But if we keep our comms on us, and turn ourselves in, you can track us to Tantiss. This is our chance. Our chance to finally rescue the clones imprisoned there.”

“No. They’ll search you and find it. It won’t work.” Crosshair argued.

“Then shoot a secondary tracker onto the ship that they take us away on.” You suggested.

“Too many unknown variables. It’s not a viable plan.”

“It’s all we’ve got.” You countered.

“And it’s our choice.” Omega reminded him again.

Crosshair looked imploringly in your direction now. “Tantiss is different. This isn’t some random Imperial that’ll take you this time. It’ll be Hemlock. Who knows what he’ll do to you there.”

You also saw a genuine fear behind his eyes, and it unnerved you. It won’t be for long, I’ll be alright. “Focus on the bigger mission, Crosshair.” You said aloud and you came to stand behind Omega and rested your hands on her shoulders.

“Yeah, we’re just a small part of it.” Omega agreed.

Crosshair found himself in a position where he was forced to reflect on that, and he had to agree with you both.

--

The two of you got ready to depart but you noticed the reluctance that still graced Crosshair’s face and you approached him.

“He’s going to kill me.” Crosshair said to you quietly.

So, tell him he was right that Hemlock was after me too, that outta smooth things over.

“It’s not funny.” Crosshair snapped. He didn’t want to lose you both either. Not when he knew how important you both were to Hunter, to this squad… to this family. He’d finally made ground with you, you were one of them, you always had been, and he’d welcomed that feeling again. And Omega, well, Omega had seen and been through it all with him already, he owed her much more than a half-baked rescue plan.

Yeah sorry, it’s a bad habit. You went serious again and shook your head. “He’s not going to do that, Crosshair. Six months ago, maybe he would’ve, but not now. He’s not going to lose the progress he’s built with you either, not anymore. He’ll understand.” You glanced back to Omega who was standing by the door and regret stabbed your heart over the fact that this was to be her fate too, but you also knew that she wouldn’t have it any other way. “We’re very stubborn and determined individuals.” You said fondly before you looked back at him and placed a reassuring hand on his upper arm. “Just don’t miss.” You said with a light but resigned smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes.

With that, you and Omega exited the hut.

--

You caught Omega’s shoulder just before you rounded the corner to make yourselves known. You crouched down to her eye-level. “Omega… you know if there was any other option that I could think of that would get us- particularly you- out of this, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Omega nodded. “I know, but it’s what we have to do.” She said bravely.

Your heart broke a little bit more right then and there- this was something no kid should ever have to do, “You had to grow up far too fast.” You murmured, both with sadness and a hint of pride in your voice as you gave her a loving hug before the two of you stepped out of your hiding spot.

--

“Stop.”

CX-2 signalled the troopers with the flamethrowers to disengage as he heard the voice of a woman.

“We surrender.” Omega said as all eyes, both Imperial and Pabu civilians turned in your direction.

“Stay alert. I neutralised the other two clones with them, but not the third.” CX-2 advised as he approached you two.

“Take us and leave the island alone.” You said as you held your wrists out.

“The people here are innocent.” Omega did the same thing as you.

CX-2 first put the cuffs on the young girl, “Then you never should have come here in the first place.”

“I’m assuming these are the special cuffs made just for me?” You said dully as the operative attached a second pair to your wrists, and you noticed the slightly different design of them compared to Omega’s.

“Why don’t you try them and find out?”

The harsh modulated voice sent a cold shiver of fear down your spine, but you covered it up. “Nah, you seem like someone who is on top of things, so I’ll take your word for it.” You were determined to not flinch under the unwavering glare of his helmet.

“Scan them for tracking devices.” CX-2 ordered as he confiscated your knife and Jedi weapon.

As expected, the comm devices were picked up immediately.

“Give them to me.” CX-2 demanded.

You and Omega reluctantly handed them over before you were both shoved and made to walk between the squadron of troopers as they got ready to transport you off the planet.

--

Crosshair had watched the surrender take place and had been stealthily tracking and making his way to a vantage point where he could tag the ship that you were to be taken away on.

--

Hunter staggered to shore and collapsed to his hands and knees.

He felt the water seeping through the gaps in his armour, weighing him down, and it was choking him beneath his helmet.

He removed it and took a few recovering breaths before he became alert to the sound of rustling just ahead of him. He instantly got to his feet and guardedly drew his blaster as he waited for the threat to show.

But he was able to relax his stance as Batcher came into view and ran over to him with a happy bark. He bent down and rubbed her side with a slight grin before he glanced up at the Archium and the rest of the island, but he didn’t see as many ships anymore.

And the realisation at what was about to happen hit him harder than he had hit the water.

Hunter grabbed his helmet and started running back, Batcher close at his heels.

--

You swallowed thickly as you and Omega were marched to the docks and forced to walk past the wreckage of both the sea skiffs and the Marauder.

CX-2 tapped the band on his arm and his ship came flying to meet the three of you.

You and Omega paused before boarding but an insistent jab of the butt of the operative’s rifle prompted you both to step up.

--

Crosshair got into position and readied himself to take the shot when the flashlight hit him.

“Over there!”

He fired back at the small squad of troopers that had found him and dealt with them as quickly as he could, but the interruption had moved him out of the prime position.

He had to run for it.

His gait was rushed.

His aim unsteady.

But there was no more time.

The ship’s engines were powering up.

He had no choice but to fire.

The ship took off.

His tracker missed.

And he could only look on in complete and utter dismay and horror as the ship flew out of view.

--

“Targets acquired. Returning to base.” CX-2 transmitted before he put the ship into hyperspace.

You and Omega sat side by side on the metal floor.

Omega took off her hat and leaned against your shoulder. “We’ll have each other there.” She murmured, doing her best to keep her voice composed.

“Yeah, we’ll be okay.” You whispered back.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @nightmonkeysstuff , @jellybeanstacey0519 @callsign-denmark @allthingsimagines, @superbookishhufflepuff

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

sus

Rewatching the (updated) Diasomnia CM, here’s some details I notice are now highly suspect because of the additional context of episode 7 part 1:

The spinning wheel imagery is even more ominous than it initially seemed 😔 now that we know about Malleus’s insecurities about the inevitabilities that are time and the change that comes with it…

Lilia voice) oh, I can’t even teleport anymore! BITCH. THAT YOU AT 10 TO 11 SECONDS NYOOMING BEHIND MALLEUS LIKE A NINJA???? 🤡 DoN’T YOU LIE TO ME SIR (TWST had better address this in the main story and don’t let it be another “it’s just a prank, bro”, not for the main story when it’s hitting peak seriousness—)

Just. This. Malleus alone upon his throne at the beginning of the CM… then alone again, at the end, this time in the darkness and in a cage of thorns??? It’s like the start symbolizes how Malleus always was; he was powerful yet alone, but at least he had small pockets of joy in Lilia and other interactions (ie with Yuu). But the darkness at the end… that’s how he feels now, in episode 7, with the knowledge that Lilia and Yuu are leaving him. He has nothing left, and he is trapped—he cannot escape fate.

Silver is positioned as though he were sleeping; when his eyes open, the thread behind him snaps. Is this maybe Silver “waking up” or coming to a realization about who he really is (since an item associated with his birth parents is introduced and given to him in episode 7)??

I noticed this the first time around but… Sebek, Lilia, and Silver are tinted the colors of the three Good Fairies. The three fairies’ silhouettes also appear on the jeweled tin in which Lilia keeps items precious to him. The vibes that I’m getting are the three fairies + Aurora/Briar Rose made up a happy family unit in their secluded home… until Aurora “came of age” and the truth of her identity was revealed to her. In this case, “Aurora” and “finding the truth” is most likely Silver and learning about his true lineage, but I’m also guessing that it could refer to Malleus and the discovery that he will be without his beloved “family” in the future.

Call me crazy, but I SWEAR to Michard Mouse that this shot of Malleus smiling with his teeth was not in the original CM. This, paired with the ominous dialogue he had with Yuu towards the end part 1, really makes me think Malleus is about to take some drastic measures to ensure that no one ever leaves him . _ . Uhhh… That’s not good, chief.

ALSO???? Remember how Malleus was rising from the coffin?? That seems even creepier now considering that he’s smiling like THIS after sitting up... It’s like Malleus has woken from a dream and has gotten a terrible idea from it that he hopes to bring to reality.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 11 The Guest Bedroom Burglar Beating

I amuse myself

The more you look the worse it gets!

(Even as Mr. Shadow, Irratino is still goat lord)

This episode's got new characters, but I was too tired to draw yesterday </3

I'll have Maid Marble's design tomorrow probably, and Manservant Brownstone isn't different enough to warrant an official artwork I don't think? He's a taller Brownstone in a suit with emo hair and visible eyes, and both antlers intact. Meaning he's NOT the clone from the one episode where Brother Brownstone dies so this opens up a new can of worms

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Lady Violet is not doing well. As in, she won’t stop sobbing!

LOGICO: Hey… it will be alright. I promise.  VIOLET: [in hysterics] Yeah… you were the one who was begging for something to go wrong! LOGICO: I… um. VIOLET: Just go… go to your bedroom or something, here’s the key…

Logico sighs. Poor Violet. He’ll find a way to make it better. But he clambers to his bedroom.

Aaaaaaaaand it looks bigger than should be physically possible to be attached to this building, unsurprisingly. Gold-plated, fountain on the balcony, busts of Lord Violet staring at you while you sleep and pee, bathroom bigger than Logico’s entire apartment blah blah blah. He can barely get onto the bed because it’s so large (and he’s so small!). There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. But he finally gets up there. He’s out of breath. 

The cleaning service comes in and sweeps a tad, and a person who looks eerily like Brownstone (but not quite) hands him a drink. He tucks into the silky comforter. Ahh, softgico <3

A window breaks! A burglar has entered the room! Logico rolls off and under the bed, praying that they won’t notice him. He hyperventilates as he hears the footsteps coming closer… 

There’s a scream, a crash, and a thud!... then silence. Scared for his life, Logico peeks out, but all he sees is the dead burglar. Someone has saved him! But no one else is there anymore… He smacks himself.

LOGICO: Logico you fool! Regardless of if someone has saved my life, this is a MURDER, and I have to deal with it like DEDUCTIVE LOGICO!

He goes out. He sees the maid (Marble), the butler Brownstone, and Bronze, the guy from the airport.

VIOLET: Again?

Logico nods. At least this time it was for a good cause. He first corners the maid, who’s giving real wolf-from-little-red-riding-hood vibes.

MARBLE: I’m sorry dearie… I tried my best to clean the room! LOGICO: No, not that! I want to know if you have blood on your claws. MARBLE: Oh heavens!

She drops her broom and cowers. Logico has to admit it’s a pretty good helpless routine. Bronze, meanwhile, is looking clueless as always, reading a fascinating book.

LOGICO: And what might that book be? BRONZE: Does it matter? LOGICO: Now it does. BRONZE: It is just a biography of Lord Violet. It is the only thing to read in this place… LOGICO: I want see! M. BROWNSTONE: [ahem] LOGICO: OH, what do you want, Brother Brownstone? You’re supposed to be dead. M. BROWNSTONE: Manservant. Manservant Brownstone. I work here and am a separate individual from my short younger brother.

Irratino is by himself. He draws a marot card, revealing a crucial clue. But Logico cannot see it. He sighs. 

IRRATINO: Please… let me see him soon.

Logico has uncovered his culprit - Chauffeur Bronze! The beast recoils in fear of punishment. But everyone cheers!

LOGICO: Well… you did save my life. BRONZE: Aw… really? [blush] VIOLET: It’s official! We HAVE to have a party in your honor!

And they do. Bronze is so happy!

BRONZE: No one has ever appreciated me this much before! Thank you…

Logico kicks back at the party, a nice break from the chaos. He hears the guests talking.

VIOLET: That was just so amazing! I wish I could have seen it happen! MARBLE: Just as when Lord Violet avenged his beloved Beryl…

Logico tingles at these words. It seems like everyone knows the lore but him! But it’s not time to worry about that. He closes his eye and enjoys a free moment.

The end!

i can hardly bear to see them separated!!!

Come back my squishy goat lord.

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I think this is the first time since season 10 that I’ve watched the first episode of a Taskmaster season without writing a liveblogging Tumblr post as I went along (in seasons 11-16, I stuck to varying levels of keeping up the liveblogs for the rest of the season, but I always at least did the first one). If I’m very honest, the main reason why I didn’t do it for this one is it’s the first lineup for which there was only person I was really really excited about. The other four I have varying levels of vague opinions about, from “broadly like based on the one time I saw her on Russell Howard’s show” (Sophie), to “quite strongly dislike based on seeing her promote stalking and harassment on Alan Davies’ show, but I guess it was probably just a joke that came off badly” (Joanne) to “never got into League of Gentlemen because the surreal vibe creeped me out a bit and BBC Sherlock put me off Mark Gatiss so I know almost nothing about him”. Oh, and I do actively like Nick, because I am one of the few people who’s found Mr. Swallow funny on Catsdown, but I didn’t much enjoy his Houdini special and Ted Lasso season 3 was so bad that it put me off everyone who had anything to do with it even though obviously it’s not Nick Mohammed’s fault, so those conflicting opinions balance out into a vague “I guess I like that guy”.

Anyway, I didn’t want to write a post that was meant to be liveblogging the whole Taskmaster episode, and have that post be 90% about John Robins, and lay out just how much John Robins was the only one I was really interested in, and I also didn’t want to try to make myself have more of an opinion about the rest of them than I actually did. So no liveblog post this time, I just watched the episode. Once it gets a couple of episodes in I will have an opinion on the rest of them, and then might start the liveblogs again because I will have a slightly more balanced view.

Having said that. I have now watched it and do have some new opinions:

- Sophie Willan: I expected the charmingly naïve chaos, based on that time she was on Russell Howard’s show, that’s exactly how she came across on there and it’s great. Funny and sweet just great fun to watch. I did not, however, expect this extreme level of incompetence. I find an extreme level of anything funny on Taskmaster, and this is no exception. Love that we’re going to have a good old fashioned disaster contestant and it’s been marked out so early. Love that she appears to have no idea what show she’s on. Obsessed with her decision to paint that actual fence even though she definitely saw the blinds.

- Steve Pemberton: The “old man who is far too well established in comedy to need this show” contestant actually trying in the tasks, that’s always a fun surprise. I mean, I enjoy it either way. Frankie Boyle, Alan Davies, Julian Cleary, Ardal O’Hanlon – all those guys stumbling through the tasks with bemusement is fun. But it’s a nice surprise when you get a Lee Mack, a Dara O’Briain, a thing that Steve Pemberton looks to be – an old man who doesn’t need this but decides to actually put significant effort into doing each task properly. The egg train was impressive. The stumble at the end was funny. The good-natured attitude in the studio is amusing. And John Robins being the competent competitive force I’m hoping for won’t be as much fun if there’s not another good player to challenge him.

- Nick Mohammed: That’s exactly what I wanted from him. It’s almost weird to hear him talk in a normal voice, which doesn’t make sense because it’s not like he was using the Mr. Swallow voice on Ted Lasso, but I think on some level, my brain operated under the assumption the Mr. Swallow voice was his “real voice” and he was just putting on a character for Ted Lasso. It is interesting to see him play himself, where it turns out, he’s not that far off from Mr. Swallow’s quirks, just with a lower-pitched voice. I liked the exchanged he had with Greg in this manner. I liked the pragmatic approach to getting hula hoops out of a river. I liked the dynamic with Steve. I liked it when he threw some bricks around.

Joanne McNally: I dislike her a bit. Which is a lot less than how much I disliked her yesterday. This episode has brought me from disliking her a lot to disliking her a bit. She was entertaining. I wish I hadn’t seen that episode of Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, because it’s sending me into this season with a bias against her that may be too much for her Taskmaster persona, as entertaining as it is, to overcome. I like other comedians who've said worse things than that, because I can put those things in the context of all their other stuff and consider it just one badly judged story. Maybe Taskmaster will give me enough context for McNally to get past it. She was fun. I wanted to be able to enjoy her. But she does still annoy me.

John Robins: Here's an idea. What if I do the opposite of the post this would have been if I'd been liveblogging as I watched and had been honest about where most of my interest was (though that interest broadened out as the episode went along, it only takes a small amount of time at the beginning of a season for me to get to know the unknowns well enough to be interested in them too), and make this a post about everyone except John Robins? I'll just end this post here.

(He crashed a car with an egg and he brought in 19th Century literature and he thought through that live task so strategically and and his drawings were so much better than everyone else's and this is exactly the level of competence I was hoping for and I don't mind waiting a bit for the competitiveness-induced outbursts that I'm sure are coming later, because actually it was equally funny to watch him spend this episode just glaring and biting his tongue (and having his voice crack the way it sometimes does on the radio, it happened right at the beginning of this episode, and you always know we're getting something good out of John Robins when his voice starts cracking) whenever he got annoyed about something going wrong. And is adorable that his buddy Alex got a reference to his big award into the episode, especially in a way that says "You know, technically you're on the level with Steve Pemberton."

(The other reason I didn't do a liveblog this time is I was genuinely embarrassed reading back the one I wrote during s16e01, where I frequently transcribed my internal and/or external monologue verbatim as I was too into the episode to also put an edit between my thoughts and the typed words, and was really into backing Sam Campbell like a sports team and Taskmaster brings out the sports team side of me in general, which is how you had bits of that post with me writing things like "Yes Sammy C coming through" with what I hope any reader would (incorrectly) interpret as irony. It's for the best that I avoided that this time and didn't need to document the number of times the words "Come on Johnny you got this" came out out loud as I was watching him throw hula hoops at things. I have never referred to him by that name before, it's just the automatic sports-ifying of people's names that happens when you watch them like a sports team. I'm pretty sure words in parentheses don't count towards a post, so this one actually ended when I said it did two paragraphs ago.)

[brxkxnhxxrtsclxb]

finally picked up pasión de gavilanes 2 again and… SIGH

it reminds me why i dropped it to begin with ._.

i finished the ACTUAL novela a couple months back and it was so fun. it’s no wonder is a highly regarded classic. BUT THIS ??!!

i’m on what ?? episode 11 ?? 12 ?? around there of season 2 and it’s just eww😭😭

idk if i should give it a little more but i did check the first two episodes after finishing the OG and the vibe was VERY different and NOT IT from the get go. like how tf do we go from a romance storytelling and being character driven… to a murder mystery (which is so stupid cuz the OG had nothing like it) ?? it’s dumb and feels ugly

the new cast is so bland too. like i’m sorry but i really do not gaf about their kids😭 the worst offenders are the freaking reyes twins like goodbye. y’all annoying and ugly. at least be good to look at ?? idk😭😭 (that was mean but at least the three reyes brothers were good to look at in the original >.< they still are but that’s besides the point)

sorry. i just had to get this out my system >.< i don’t think i can continue watching this :// i went back to it cuz i recently found out they’re apparently making a season 3 but i can barely get past season 2 so i might just not even watch it T_T

the little i’ve seen of spoilers is so dumb. oscar wouldn’t have cheated on jimena. he just WOULD NOT. and have a kid without her ?? FUCK THAT. franco would’ve never left sara. why tf y’all got her thinking he left her for someone else and insecure over rosario AGAIN ?? speaking of rosario, why tf is SHE BACK ??!! she moved on from the reyes. she had her villain era when she was trying to keep franco and sara apart in the OG !!!! also the juan david and rosario plot is just so boring and stupid. again, SHE MOVED ON FROM THE REYES (not to mention juan david was literally A BABY WHEN SHE MET HIM BACK IN THE OG) !! don’t get me started on miss gaby (that’s how i call gabriella cuz she would piss me off in the OG lmaoo) NOT believing her granddaughter about her bestie demetrio. DID SHE LEARN NOTHING FROM DON FERNANDITO ??!! also, i don’t like the new don martin. no hate to the actor, it’s not his fault he did his job. he’s just not as funny and doesn’t have the charm jorge cao did T_T

sorry for the rant. this novela went from a cute, lighthearted story about family to… whatever this mess is. sure they talk about family but it doesn’t feel like they mean it. doesn’t even have the comedy bits the original had to help break the tension. of course, the original has some issues and some problematic jokes that wouldn’t have flown by today but i can forgive it as it’s in tune with the times (early 2000s)

also the THEME SONG ??!! i’m sorry but the song originally made sense . it was in tune with the story and now it’s not. this is a murder mystery. sure there’s romance but it literally took the backseat so it doesn’t even make sense anymore. and i don’t like the new version. it sounds bad T_T it just doesn’t fit

this season 2… none of the vibes fit anywhere. doesn’t even feel like the same show. they should’ve just not made season 2 but that’s just my opinion. or at the very least, they should’ve just made it a different version of the characters. kinda like the addams family or marvel / DC comics where we have the same characters, just different versions of them. that would’ve worked better to separate the two but nah. they wanted to continue it thus ruining everyone. it’s ugly ._.

[sunshinechay]

So I finally got to watch the new episode of Be My Favorite and while I definitely agree with everyone’s interpretation of Kawi being ace (I definitely think he’s likely on the ace spectrum somewhere, just where I’m not quite sure) I don’t necessarily think that’s what they’re going for.

Both Kawi and Pisaeng are on opposite ending of the “virgin spectrum” (yes virginity is a largely social construction but bare with me).

I definitely for the vibe that Pisaeng is a virgin as well, especially since his mother mentions that Kawi is the first person he’s ever dated. Pisaeng however, is the kind of guy who had imagined what it’s been like to have a boyfriend, to date and be in a relationship and yes, have sex with his boyfriend. He is eager because he finally has the chance to do all of that and it’s with Kawi, who Pisaeng is absolutely in love with. He is eager for something and someone in a way that I don’t think he’s been in a long time. So he decides to jump in head first and just go for it. Is his methods awkward as all hell? Yes, which is another reason I think Pisaeng is also a virgin like Kawi.

Kawi however, is afraid. He claims he’s not but he is. The amusement park date proves that. The rollercoaster being a metaphor for sex. He doesn’t want to get on because he’s scared, even if he holds onto Pisaeng the whole time. Kawi may be from the future, but he has spent all of that time fantasizing about what it would have been like to be with Pear. He is only now developing true feelings of romantic love for someone and that someone is not Pear. He’s been in love with the idea of Pear and a relationship with her for 12 years. The whole time travel thing started because he wanted the chance to go back and be with her. He’s been repressing his desire for so long, he doesn’t know how to let it out, so he lets his fear overwhelm him.

It’s a holding pattern through much of the series. Kawi thinks one thing in particular, gets confronted with the fact that it’s not the right choice for him to make, he gets scared and tries to run away from the decision/person/situation, realizes he can’t and swallows his pride/fear and does the thing anyway. He did it with Pear, he did it with his father and now he is doing it with regards to Pisaeng and specifically sex with Pisaeng.

This is why I think the episode had to end with the two of them having sex, whether it’s deserved or not. A big part of Kawi’s journey has been about facing his fear, about not letting it control him or his life. So when he realizes he fucked up the date with Pisaeng, a lightbulb finally goes off in his head (credit to Krist because his acting in on point for that scene. You get to watch just though his facial journey, he realized how he screwed up). He realizes that he is letting his fear control him again. He has to at least try sex with Pisaeng. If he doesn’t like it after all, then it’ll be something for them to discuss in the future.

That’s not say he feels backed in a corner or anything. He knows that if he pumped the breaks on sex and decided he was never going to be ready/want to have sex, Pisaeng would do his best to make sure he always feels okay about his decision. Again see the dinner part of the date where he asks Kawi if he fucked up and how he can fix it. I think Pisaeng was worried he was being too pushy and he kind of was, but it was needed in a lot of ways. Kawi was getting caught up in his own head again and whether Pisaeng realized it or not, he needed to say the things he did for Kawi to realize that he was falling into his pattern again.

P.S. Pisaeng definitely travelled to the future when he turned the snow globe. I’m not sure what he saw but I’m worried it’s not gonna be good considering it’s ep 11 and the episode 11 curse is still alive and well.

[akkrosu]

@ellaspore, I blame you entirely for this. How dare you give me the courage to express my thoughts openly. Consider this me shouting from the rooftops.

So, my music-obsessed brain has been sitting on a particular KinnPorsche moment for over a year now. So let me get crazy and belatedly add my own two cents to all the meta we already have for this show.

In episode 5, we had Kinn and Porsche trying to cope with their confusion over their first time in The Bathroom™ and their feelings for each other by making out with other people, Porsche at Yok’s bar and Kinn in his room. And the music (Volunteer by David Celeste, a composer I like about as much as the staff of many Thai BLs seem to) does something so wonderful in that moment to illustrate their feelings—especially Porsche’s—that I’m still gushing about it a year later.

The first interesting thing is that we start the scene in complete darkness, musically speaking. All we have is this simple and super vague piano melody. The first time I watched this scene I remember how unsettled the music made me feel because of how vague it is; I didn’t know how to understand or interpret it and the mood of the scene around it. And this is because there is something fundamental missing.

All the piano plays is fifths—first g and d in the first two measures, then d and a in the following. (I am aware that the last three bars of the transcription below make it a little more complicated because of that f# in the left hand, which means it’s not just fifths, but since this particular harmonic holds no value for what I’m about to write, I’ll just ignore it.) And it is important that they are fifths, because fifths are pretty much the backbone of any harmonic. They tell us some basics about the key we’re in and about the chords we’re using, which is important because these two things are what creates the mood of the entire piece.

The first five measures of the piece, which correspond to roughly 0:00 to 0:13 of the video linked above and about 21:11 to 21:23 of episode 5.

But we’re missing one fundamental factor to get clarification about the exact key and chords here: the third. In case you don’t know, every basic chord is made up of three notes: the base note, the third and the fifth. And the third is arguably the most important note of the chord—at least in our case—because it differentiates between a major and a minor chord.

Basically (and this is simplified quite a bit), every chord exists in two modes—major and minor. The only difference between them, musically speaking, is the third: in a major chord, the third is a major third, meaning it is four semitones up from the base note, whereas the minor chord has a minor third, which is three semitones up from the base note.

A little illustration of the construction of a basic chord (here C major) and the intervals between its notes.

What that means in practice is that the chords sound radically different. In general, major chords sound more upbeat, happy and positive, while minor chords have more of a somber, sad vibe to them. Feel free to listen to the demonstration below.

So, now that we have the basics of harmony out of the way—how in the world does this relate to the scene and KinnPorsche? Well, now that you understand why thirds are so important, you’ll also understand why the lack of a third is equally important. As I mentioned before, we start the scene and the piece with only fifths. Because we’re missing the third especially in the first chord (spanning the first two bars), we can’t determine the mode of the chord or the key of the entire piece, and so we’re ripped of any sort of understanding about the mood of the music and the scene. This creates a really unsettled and tense feeling and makes you think that’s what the characters are feeling. As we watch Porsche make out with that girl, the music tells us how uncertain he himself is of what he’s doing. He doesn’t know if he’s making the right choices. He’s walking a fine line of mental instability, yay.

As powerful as this lack of the third is, what’s even more powerful is when and how it finally does appear. Because it shows up in the exact instant that Porsche suddenly pauses and his mind flashes back to Kinn (~21:27 of the episode). And we get it in a very subtle, but elegant way: the strings, which were quietly reinforcing the fifths in the piano before, now add that third note to complete the first chord of the theme, the only chord we really need because it is the tonic (which makes it the most important one in determining the key).

Based on only the fifths—g and d—the chord (and the key, which is identical to the tonic) could have been a G major or g minor chord. In the case of the first one, the third would have been a b, and in the second one a b flat (see the above video demonstration of a G major and minor chord for reference). And what note do the strings add? A b flat, which puts both the chord and the key into g minor, the sadder, quieter mode of the two. It finally gives us the clarification we needed: what Porsche is doing isn’t working, he is sad about how things are with Kinn, he misses Kinn and his touch. Before, he wasn’t sure about what he was doing, now he knows it’s not what he wants or needs. His attempt at forgetting him through this woman has failed.

Measures 9-15, which correspond to roughly 0:15 to 0:26 of the video and 21:25 to 21:37 of the episode.

I also really appreciate how the strings were the ones to bring this resolution, not only because they have a very soft tone and are therefore already typically connected to sad music, but also because they make it possible to introduce the new note very carefully and quietly. For at least the first half of the first measure in the above picture, the note can’t even be heard, and then it is introduced through a crescendo, slowly appearing like it is dawning on Porsche that he can’t forget Kinn.

From this point on—as Porsche tries to distract himself from this realization by kissing the woman and we get to see Kinn do the same—, more strings come in and the piano develops the theme we have heard twice now. The piece also gets a bit more complex harmonically, but all of these changes just serve to highlight the minor key we are in and the depressed, lonely, even desperate mood of both Kinn and Porsche. It mixes well with the almost feverish, desperate way especially Kinn behaves in that moment.

So, I want to thank whoever was in charge of the music in this show because they made some excellent choices (and some interesting ones—looking at you, weird MIDI-sounding version of Vivaldi’s Summer that for some reason comes up again and again), but this piece in particular stood out to me because of how perfectly it was edited into the scene. This doesn’t happen very often in (Thai) BLs since very few of them have scores specifically written for them, so most have to make do with pre-existing pieces that can often not be incorporated as elegantly and interestingly as an original soundtrack.

[emblazons]

hELLO do you have any fun specific hopes/theories/headcanons for st5?

HELLO STRANGER 😂

Honestly I am not like super headcanon forward as a watcher because I think I have expectations trust issues from other television and therefore stick to what I can see on screen before speculating, BUT!

Headcanons + some things I would love to see explored (that aren’t just aggressive amounts of pining byler)?

The whole “Will is suppressed in his queerness being attached to soteria/suppression of powers” is like. 11/10 concept imo. It goes along with horror history so well (shout out @pinkeoni for that analysis) and plays so well into the whole relating to “Alan Turing” bit that we were introduced to start of S4, given his history as a gay man.

re, the last point: the contrast in queerness between Mike and Will being explored as someone who shows more blatant attraction to men but struggles to accept it as an identity versus someone who accepts their identity while suppressing their attraction (by outside forces or not) is also a dynamic I think would be cool to explore. I am not an ace Will truther at all but. I do think he shies away from his own sexuality a lot in a way they don’t do with Mike.

I really want “samfro caught on mount doom together while the rest of the fellowship fights an army” byler vibes—something about El and Lucas as Aragorn & Legolas with Dustin (Gimli) and Erica (Merry/Pippin) while Will struggles with feeling alone carrying the heavy burden of a connection to Vecna? Some “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you�� heroism from Mike? El getting a moment to reunite with Max (Arwen) at the hand of Lucas, just like in Return of the King? Fucking mint lmao

I need scenes of Max in whatever place she’s still alive in like I need oxygen. Working from “the inside” to do exposition on Henry + the UD while she’s in a coma while the party sorts through it in Hawkins feels like such a phenomenal writing opportunity I’ll be desperately sad if they don’t explore it. I hope they include some elements of like. The duality of presence a la The Talisman in that given Lucas was reading it to her in the hospital? But 🤷🏽‍♀️

GIVE ME TIME FKERY OR GIVE ME DEATH. I know it’s pretty much guaranteed at this point but. I need Mr. Clarke back stat, with some convoluted ass theory explained on a paper plate again. I need the most elaborate UD reality just, absolutely borderline nonsensical lore for like a full episode so I can watch this series back again and see it from SECOND ONE (or minute 8:15) and giggle like a schoolgirl knowing the duffers really are smart/the haters were wrong.

I want more Wheelers! I know Nancy is central to the supernatural given she was the only other one pulled in by Vecna and not killed—just sent as a messenger—but. I have so many Wheeler and Creel thoughts at this point I don’t know where to start, but. They are the PERFECT family for exploring picture-perfection against horror themes (just like the Creels) and I want it. Like “don’t care how, I want it now” level focus on them, along with their Byers.

I said it before but: an exploration of motherhood as a theme makes so much sense to me, and it seems to be important to The Duffers too, so. I want it.

Kinda want RoVickie as the couple who introduces the idea of the supernatural + queerness v Hawkins element at the start of the season, and for byler to be the ones who “end it.” I think that would be a fascinating way to parallel them more, though…I haven’t much thought this through.

If they don’t make Finn Wolfhard sob his little eyes out this season I’m going to feel betrayed. I need him like. Noah level pressed at least once next season, for the culture (Finn said he wanted to do more dramas. Let him defeat the bad actor allegations here so they let him LMAOOOO)

That’s all I can think of for now! I’m sure there are more, but. Those were the firsts that came to mind haha.

Thanks for the ask!

[thebladeblaster]

DivineZ episode 10&11 reaction

I feel weird to find out that they all met as kids but considering it was a long time ago I guess I could understand them not remembering. But considering how important it was to Akina’s life it feels weird that he would forget. Nao too fr. From what I remember it seemed like most of them acted like it was their first time meeting besides Akina with Suo and Akina with Nao. This does add interesting context for Akina persistently trying to befriend Suo though.

You have angered the protagonist. That isn’t wise.

Oh no!!!!

He really conquered the control with the power of wholesomeness lol. I guess we probably are never getting a dark Akina now. Poor Aichi has to suffer alone as the only protagonist that is allowed to go dark.

Ooh that looks nice. This reminds me of the depend cards from G. They really just lends him alll their good vibes to lead to new power. It’s a bit cheesy but it works.

What’s with those poses, Sybilt? You think you’re in Jojo? I mean he is kinda dressed for it. Poor Nao fr. She got dragged into this for helping a girl.

Poor guy

Honestly Syblit’s temptation doesn’t seem as threatening as it has been builtup to be. Akina and Kuon medium diffed it. Especially compared to the Void or Brandt. Like it was difficult to tell that most of The Destined Ones were affected by it at all. Like I think they should have made them more threatening or something. I mean they are possessed for crying out loud. That gives them free reign to make them as crazy as possible. It just makes Sybilt look weak to me.

Sybilt kinda said the thing. “Burn this world to ashes with your apocalyptic fire”-Kai. Or at least I thin that was a reference to it. I cannot tell if Nao’s whole possession here is referencing Reverse Kai or Gyze Kazama. It feels like one especially with that clearly being the reverse aura. I’m very curious about Sybilt’s origins. I swear he has to be related to the Void somehow.

I honestly do not know what they will do after season 2. This is kinda wrapping up everything with Sybilt being the source of all of this happening in the first place.

[grimmmviewing]

S1E12: “Last Grimm Standing”—C (Watched 3/11/24)

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Uh, no, just you.”

“Do you want me with green beans or asparagus?”

This episode begins strong, with a flurry of activity in the cold open—first, a posse on horseback which initially made me anticipate some flashback action, but then an old man and his wife are killed at their very modern house by a Wesen, who is himself being hunted by the posse. The concept of a Grimm fight club is pretty interesting, but it just didn’t quite work for me in the end.

In all honesty, I was hoping for human culprits rather than the lion men I got. I ultimately liked how they were costumed and styled to given off leonine vibes even in human form, but I thought it would have been more interesting to get some humans aware of and exploitative toward their Wesen neighbors— Some old bigotry to go with the old-school weapons and ritualistic fighting. The way the combatants are essentially, literally de-human-ized to make them fight, including feeding them the remains of killed fighters, feels like the sort of behavior that would fit with a prejudiced human antagonist, someone who only saw Wesen as beasts and wanted to force them to conform to that image. But I’m backseat writing here!

Adaptationally, “Last Grimm Standing” also doesn’t feel that ambitious, at least as far as I can tell. One subversion is how the lions are not themselves combatants here. Another could be how Monroe pulls the equivalent of a thorn from the hand of the top fighter (who is some sort of reptile), but then pulling the thorn doesn’t do the expected thing of softening the other Wesen’s regard for Monroe when they’re pitted against one another. It’s cool to see Nick fight physically in this one, sans gun, but it’s all pretty straightforward.

The most evocative, upsetting, and, also, interesting thing in the episode is probably the image of a bunch of white men on horseback lassoing and dragging a Black man. Of course, these are all technically Wesen in this universe, but the uncomfortable historical echoes here, along with the contrast of modern and not, obviously feels resonant. This is just another one of those things the show feels not at all equipped to do much with…

In terms of charming bits and goofs that could be considered charming, we’ve got the name “Leo Taymor” for the head Lowen, which I did not catch until quite late in the episode (and groaned when I figured it out). Nick also points out the appropriateness of “Leo” (to Leo himself) just in case anyone in the audience missed out. I found myself wondering if the lowlifes who presumably attend and bet on the fights actually understand Latin, though, or if Leo is just as good as speaking gibberish at them when he announces and commences these bouts. Whatever “wrath” Renard brings down on him in the end sounds an awful lot like a comedy badger, from Ernest Goes to Camp, maybe.

Maybe part of the “problem” is that “Last Grimm Standing” ultimately feels like an episode on its way somewhere else. The plot of the week does take up a sizeable chunk, but the way that the episode spotlights Renard in his own parallel story involving the fights (that he’s apparently kind of in charge of them) is obviously texture and characterization leading somewhere else. This is where we start to run up against my lack of knowledge outside this first season, but the Latin, the John Wickian secret honorable society stuff, Leo referring to Renard as “highness” and “royalty”—The antiquated vibe is a unifying element of the episode (Monroe emphasizes the historical value of the stuff in Aunt Marie’s trailer as well), but it’s also gesturing toward the larger plot, at least what I remember of it.

This is also the vibe with the ending: Renard gets his revenge on Leo for crossing him, leaving the audience with a lot of questions about his whole deal, while Nick is on his way home very late on his anniversary with Juliette, having missed dinner and left her in the dumps. This too is a gesture toward larger/longer plot threads, further putting emphasis on stories to come rather than this one. And that’s fine! I just wish I had felt a little better served by the story of the week to balance things out.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

June 2023 Wk 3 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - There sure is a lot of drinking in this show (who am I to talk?). Omg so awkward: The not-break-up not-confession. I have heartburn. Also I could not watch Jeng break down. Just nope. Then time jump? If that was our DOOM episode the timing is off. Or next week is the final? Or we get 3 eps of domestic bliss and sexitimes? I’m confused. 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 9 of 10 - I like how trope-subversive this show is - first soulmates, then love triangle, now the faen fatal. NO SINGING. Oh good. They didn’t! Yay! So yeah I still love it. But I am also still a touch scared of where it might go. This one can’t be trusted. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 5 of 12 - not a bad ep this week or was I too drunk to register nuance and damage? You decide. Trash watch here.

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 5 of 6 - I always have to psyche myself up to watch this show, because I want to fast forward through most of it, but it’s on Gaga so that’s damn near impossible. At least this is the penultimate episode. I think after 3 BLs I can safely say Gun is just not a good actor. Speaking of... crying clothed in the shower? I haven’t seen that trope in years. But I LOVE the high school boys and their story so much. Love Sick level of earnest floppy goodness, I’m such a sucker for this kind of romance. I want them to be in a completely different BL. I’m so conflicted. I NEED this show to end so I can decide how I feel about it.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 8 - So much is happening, evil x-boyfriend shows up. We got flashbacks to coming-out drama + nasty dad (super unusual for a KBL). But baby’s first taste of desire is hilarious. This one is full of lovely contrasts, and contrasting life experiences. It’s all about support and neglect. 

Tokyo in April AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 2 of 8 - Very much full of hero worship and giving me My Beautiful Man vibes (only softer and office set). “Dazzling” = always an interesting word when it comes up in JBL subs. It’s clearly a Japanese word/concept like kawaii  that is more complex than the English word being used. Meanwhile, this being Japan we get lots of hints as to separation and dark past events. 

Tie The Knot (prev Under the Same Sky) (Pinoy YouTube) eps 1-2 of 8 - From OXIN Films (Rainbow Prince), based on a true story (?!), Briggs's family runs a bridal business but he has never fallen in love until he meets a groom to be in an arranged marriage. EXACTLY the same premise at Mame’s forthcoming Wedding Planner. There are so many characters and prospective couples (including a v bi girl with a female fuck buddy, not seen that in a BL before) that it is a little hard to keep straight (heh). I’m sure it will shake out. It’s intriguing so far, if a touch silly. I actually like the arranged marriage premise because the two rich kids involved in it are so weirdly kind & platonically sweet to each other, even if they’re both on the same page about it only being for show. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 7 & 8 of 12 - Apparently there is very little difference between a cat and a demanding princess of a boyfriend. That clocks. Basically this was the dating times. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 11 of 12 - There is a lot more meat to this silly little BL then I thought there would be given the premise, but it’s Japan so that’s as it should be. But, as it’s Japan there’s also a little too much cringe for me. I do enjoy how generous Japan is with late bloomers and I would def like to host a kimchi party  but otherwise... meh. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 3 of 6 - Bi erasure still alive and well I see. This one remains fine for VBL but no more than that.

It’s airing but ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly in English and set in LA so I’m not bothering but the first one did drop.

Ever After (Pinoy YouTube) - I investigated but as spies reported it's a real mess (not a hot one). Don’t bother. 

About Us but Not About Us (Pinoy Prime?) - from 2022 supposed to be finally getting inter distribution, didn’t show in my territory. A professor grieving the loss of his partner meets an ambitious literature student. I’m not fussed. 

Stay With Me ... NO! 

In case you missed it

What Did You Eat Yesterday movie, BL Express posted a review. I’ve yet to get hold of it but if you enjoy Our Dining Table this is it’s grown up parent series & movie. 

Café in Love - I finally got around to watching this. And frankly it hits all the tropes but is so damn bad. The setting is cute, the central brotherly relationship is sweet, the side cast is v queer (baby gay has all these auntie queens catting about) and some complex bisexual awakenings but… but… everything else is a chemistry void. Some fun language wordplay and exploration of cultural tropes like cheek kissing does not save it from an unnecessary amount of punching  and a but ton of sexual harassment and statutory rape. No thank you. I had to rewatch Destiny Seeker to get over this. 3/10 

I gave up 

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan Sun ????) 10 eps - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I? Apparently it finished. I still can’t find it but it’ll be off this list next week.

Why You (Khmer ????) - Billed as a horror romance, not sure if this is a movie or a series where it aired... nothing except that it exists.

Next Week Looks Like This:

3 BLs are finishing but nothing is starting up. We running lean these days. 

Just started today (Sunday): Dinosaur Love (Thai iQIYI) Trailer 10 eps - from Ultimate Troop about a uni student, Rak, whose partner cheats on him with Rak's best friend. This gives bad boy hazer Dino an opportunity to hit on Rak at last. From The Yearbook people so I shouldn’t watch this as it airs. After Remember Me? I swore never again with them. But there’s so little on right now, I might fall on the pulp sword. 

I’ll include it in next week’s summation. 

I’ll have the July 2023 upcoming for you next week too. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love him, Your Honor. (Be My Favorite... HIM, he’s my favorite.) 

I love them, Your Honor. (Luminous Solution) 

Watch a tiny GL ship set sail across the seas of overly optimistic tumblrs... (La Pluie)

MY PRECIOUS! OMG I LOVE HER SO MUCH. (Tie the Knot) 

Incidentally, I would like a future as a dictatorial elder queer running a slightly shady business fleecing the straights via their dumb marriage traditions surrounded by nubile half-naked hotties.

And ya know what? I think this is achievable life goal for me. 

Gotta go, I have a future to plan. 

(Last week.)

[unsafe-chikku]

Finally caved and decided to watch the first of the new doctor who episodes. Gotta say I already really like this Doctor!

I’ve been an off and on fan for a while. I started with 11 and obsessively watched all I could going backwards from there while keeping up with 11.

I dropped off midway through 12 bc it wasn’t really fun to watch anymore. I tried 13 but unfortunately her era was also kinda stale. I couldn’t get past 2 episodes. I liked the Doctor herself but the rest didn’t have the Vibes I wanted.

I don’t think it’s a masterpiece of tv but it is good fun. At its best it’s a solid Sci-fi/action/drama with some incredible singular episodes.

However It’s worst is iffy. While bad sci fi can be a lot of fun too (Campy and weird with soap opera drama, ect) it can also be very…stale, when it’s too much badly written drama and not enough camp.

So I’m hoping that I’ll at least like this era of Doctor all the way through.

[shadowsong26x]

So, back...like...10-12 years ago, I put together a fanmix (do we still call them that lol) for S3 of BSG. I had plans to do similar mixes for the other seasons (one song per episode, plus an overall/summary/opening song), but never got around to it.

Anyway, I was reloading my iPod for the first time in like...four years lol...and Days Upon Our Knees (the mix in question) was one of the things I added, and I was listening to it in the car.

And I was Pleasantly Surprised to see how well it holds up??? Even without tracking down my notes/rationale, almost every song at least Makes Sense (even if there are probably better choices I could have made/could make now). A couple of them are just ::chefskiss: perfect (As Long As You’re Mine for Unfinished Business; I legit do not think I could pick a better song for that episode lol). The only ones that I’m like “...where was I going with this” were Torn and A Measure of Salvation frankly I’m not 100% sure where the writers were going with that either but maybe I’ll figure it out when I rewatch those episodes this weekend

ANYWAY.

Full track list is behind the cut because I’m pleased with myself and feel like sharing XD (with links to the songs on YouTube because Why Not)

1/overall/summary: Days Upon Our Knees (International Victim)

2/occupation: Trommeln in der Stadt (Der Glockner von Notre Dame) [yes, this is in fact a full broadway-style adaptation of disney’s hunchback of notre dame, in german; it was the first version, premiered in 1999 in berlin. i like it much better than when it was translated back into english and got Weird. title translates to ‘drums in the city’; the english version was i think ‘city under siege’?]

3/precipice: March of Cambreadth (Alexander James Adams) [i don’t really have any complaints about my choices for the new caprica arc lol]

4/exodus 1: What Have You Done Now (Within Temptation) [i’m 95% sure i was mostly thinking of saul and ellen when i picked this one]

5/exodus 2: Into the Fire (The Scarlet Pimpernel) [see note on march of cambreadth]

6/collaborators: Sweet Sacrifice (Evanescence) [i think i could do better here, probably, but it does work]

7/torn: The Show Must Go On (Moulin Rouge!) [...yeah i got nothing]

8/a measure of salvation: His Hymn (Drew Sarich) [i try not to repeat artists on these things, and teeeeeechnically i did; since international victim was drew sarich’s band for a while. also, i’ve developed much stronger associations with a different fandom for this song (which i adore) which might be contributing to the ‘...huh?’ befuddlement i’m feeling now lol ETA: i feel like i might have considered this for collaborators if only because it does work as a gaeta song for the second half of the series, particularly post-demetrius...i think if i was doing these now, i’d replace this and try to work it into the s4 mix for that reason.]

9/hero: I Can’t Decide (Scissor Sisters) [this is kind of a weird episode, and i don’t super remember it? but i don’t remember this song not fitting...guess i’ll find out when i get here in my rewatch!]

10/unfinished business: As Long As You’re Mine (Wicked) [IT’S PERFECT OKAY I REGRET NOTHING]

11/passage: The Prayer (Quest for Camelot) [i think i know what i was going for here, and i can’t say it doesn’t fit, but i think i could do better]

12/the eye of jupiter: Confutatis (Mozart Requiem) [this was partly vibes, partly i thought the translation worked; i still like it even if maybe there were better choices]

13/rapture: O Magnum Mysterium (Tomas Luis Victoria) [this is 1000000000% vibes, lol. it’s technically a christmas song, but it just Sounds Right]

14/taking a break from all your worries: Break Me Shake Me (Savage Garden) [so i think this would’ve worked better on a baltar/six mix rather than here, but it Does fit. and i’m not sure what would work better, unless i picked something more aligned with the Quadrangle of Why half of the episode which. no. why the hell would i do that.]

15/the woman king: Man of La Mancha (Man of La Mancha/Linda Eder cover) [so, basically, the goal here was to pick a helo song. and i think ‘impossible dream’ is a better fit for him, but i think this one fits the episode a little better and also i really love this cover. almost as much as i hate this episode lol]

16/a day in the life: I’ll Be Seeing You (Frank Sinatra) [i’m pretty sure i hesitated on this one because i also used (a different version/cover of) it on a baltar/six mix (because Come On), but also...i’m not sure i could find a better fit for this weird, weird episode. (i don’t dislike it, exactly, but it feels...out of place? tonally, i mean. and not in a Relevant Way like TMUTMD does, but i suppose i’ll get into that when i get to the back half of this season in my rewatch notes lol)]

17/dirty hands: Do You Hear the People Sing (Les Mis) [i think this is a good fit for this episode. there’s probably a better (or at least more specifically relevant) one out there, but i think i’d have to Actively Look, if that makes sense? also, apparently a not-insignificant part of the fanbase actively dislikes this episode??? which...i don’t really...get? like...do people dislike chief? i know it’s not one of bill’s shining moments but at the same time...]

18/maelstrom: Storm Front (Billy Joel) [okay this one i took way too literally lol. i could probably do better here but this one doesn’t not fit]

19/the son also rises: Razzle Dazzle (Chicago) [again. perfect. no regrets. XD]

20/crossroads 1: Comfort and Joy (Bat Boy: The Musical) [i could have taken this one more seriously, lol. but i like this song and it does work so i stand by my decision XD]

21/crossroads 2: All Along the Watchtower (Bear McCreary) [yeah i had to]

((i also transferred the baltar/six mix (apart from one song that i know i’d replace; i even know what i’d replace it with lol) and a cylon pairing mix, both made around the same time; i might do the same thing with them after i play through them properly XD))

[gremoria411]

Alrighty then, I finished watching Gundam: The Witch from Mercury’s season finale yesterday, so I’m gonna note down my thoughts here, starting with characters, with another post about the mobile suits.

Spoilers ahead, obviously.

I really enjoyed the progression of Suletta and Miorine’s relationship during the season. It had a lovely slow-burn with moments of extreme heat quality to it (if that makes sense as a metaphor), particularly episode 11. The other members of Earth house are absolutely charming as well, them each having a solid personality to get attached to. I was disappointed we didn’t see a little more of them, but I expect they’ll be much more prominent in the next season. I was pleasantly surprised by Chuatury Panlunch, who’s just wonderful to watch and I enjoyed what little we saw of Nika Nanaura (though considering Chuchu’s getting a new suit next season, we’ll definitely be seeing more of them).

I did love the contrasts between the parents this season, with the outwardly nice Madame Prosepera/Elnora Samaya being contrasted with the aloof and standoffish Delling and Harsh Vim Jeturk, who nonetheless love their children (though I admit I may be reading into the season finale a little much there). I was honestly kinda sad to see Vim go, just because the Jeturk’s have just been so interesting to watch and the loss of one is unfortunate. Though this does mean that Guel’s younger brother Lauda is now head of the company.

Which, if I’m being honest, seems like it’s gonna end really badly.

Talking about the Jeturk’s neatly segues into talking about the rivals - Guel, Shaddiq and Elan. I’ve been absolutely loving Guel’s arc this season, with his actions during the finale being (while horrifying) an absolute standout. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where he goes from here (and I really hope he doesn’t die). Shaddiq’s been interesting, and I find it notable that he’s been basically dominating the scene except when he’s in a mobile suit, where he gets absolutely wrecked. I do hope we get to see more of his entourage in subsequent seasons though, since they’ve only really been stomped by suletta so far. Of note is that so far he appears to be the only character to have a genuinely positive relationship with his father, which is interesting.

Elan is difficult to talk about, principally because there’s three of him (so far). Number four (the first one we see) is only around briefly and while lovely, exists mostly as a sacrificial lamb to establish the darker tone. Number 5 (the manipulative one) hasn’t done all that much yet, so I have little to say about them. The original (the one in the suit) has officially dethroned Delling as the villain I most look forward to getting their comeuppance. We also haven’t seen that much of Peil’s CEO’s yet, though at a guess I’d say they’re the bigger threat here.

Now just some other observations that don’t really fit anywhere else:

While Dawn of Fold is interesting (since we’re finally seeing some more Earthican representation), I care more about the individual characters (Norea Du Noc, Sophie Pulone and Naji Geor Hija) than their actual cause, at least for the moment. Again, very much looking forward to seeing more of them, and their relation with Nika (Though I do fully expect at least two of them to die horribly at some point).

I was very happy to see Kenanji Avery (the antagonist from the prologue) make a return, even though I’m absolutely certain he’s going to die at some point.

I really wanted to like and trust Lady Prospera/Elanora at first, but eventually the manipulation and Char vibes just got too strong.

Speaking of, I do suspect that Suletta’s whole “move forward gain two” mantra might be a blockword or trigger phrase or something, given how utterly Gung Ho she is about killing people during the final parts of the finale. Then again, I suppose she could just be applying what her mother’s taught her without fully thinking about the consequences (really girl, don’t try to be all romantic while you’re covered in blood). I did love the symbolism of her mother leading her onto the bloodstained floor though, that was really great.