#bring back his MB bestie
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Rethinking all his life choices
#babe what#that’s bruno when lucas isn’t there#bring back his MB bestie#voleibol#bruno rezende#vnl 2023#gifs
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I fucking NEED to read what it'd be like to have Luke absolutely writhing beneath you. Whether you're riding him or he's letting you top him🙏
Luke Alvez x GN!Reader
Reader teases Luke while riding him, watching him beg and become a mess under them.
Warnings: No actual plot, gets straight into the smut. Sorta Submissive Luke and Dom/Tease Reader. Luke is whiny and needy !! No mention of Readers genitalia. Luke speaks spanish quite a lot cuz im gay for him speaking spanish mb.. um also first time writing sub Luke sooo
Word Count: 932
A/N: bestie, i am so sorry this took so long. as much as i LOVED this request, my mind blanked out whenever I tried writing. i hope you still like this 😭
You sit on top of Luke, naked and a big smirk on your face from teasing him. He lays beneath you, uncomfortably hard, his eyes clouded with lust while your hands trail his chest.
“Please cariño, I need to be in you so bad. Please..” Luke begged, his hands moving up to hold you, his hips bucking upwards slightly.
“Yeah? You need me? You wanna fuck me?” You lean down close to his face, your breath tickling his neck. You let out a small laugh, pressing an opened mouth kiss on his neck as he lets out a small whine.
“Sí.. sí, please..” He begged, his hands trying to pull you down unsuccessfully.
You chuckle at his desperate voice, pulling away from him to sit up. You back up, taking a hold of his length to line yourself up.
Luke groans as he slowly enters you, his fingers digging into you, trying to pull you down completely.
You let out a groan as he enters you completely, sitting on his member for a moment to get used to the intrusion. “Fuck Luke. You fill me up so well..” You murmur out, slowly rocking your hips as you get used to his size.
“Mm, cariño, please..” Luke groans out, thrusting his hips upwards trying to push into you.
“Shh, relax, be patient.” You laugh, your hands moving onto his stomach to calm him.
“Be a good boy, alright?” You ask, slowly starting to speed up the movement of your hips. You grind yourself on his dick, riding him as he tries to hold back his moans.
His hands hold your hips, and he looks up to you with lust clouded eyes. “Faster, please.” He begged, his hands trying to guide you on himself.
You laugh at his desperation, but comply anyway. You allow him to guide you, speeding up your movements and riding him faster. “God, you're so good Luke.. so so good.” You praised him softly, only causing his hips to buck up with another moan.
“Mas rapido.. Please Y/N.. faster. ”His nails dug into your skin as he thrusted into you, chasing your tight walls, but his actions were quickly stopped by you.
“Calm down, last time I checked you weren't in charge here” You grabbed his wrists, pulling them off you and pinned them against the bed.
This was a bit new to both of you, but not unliked. You weren't usually the dominant one in bed, but damn did Luke enjoy it when you were.
He loved being controlled by you, having you use him and boss him around. It added to the moment, the pleasure.
“Lo siento mi amor..” He mumbled out, forcing his hips to stay down,
You smiled as he finally calmed down, but kept his hands pinned down just to remind him who was in charge.
You grinded yourself on his length, trying to find your sweet spot with each movement. With a swift movement, his dick hit a specific spot, causing you to moan out loudly. You kept that angle, groaning out with each time you hit that one spot.
Your moans were only music to Luke's ears, each of them adding to his arousal. He groaned and whined as he struggled not to thrust up into you.
“Porfa.. please.. mas, need more..” Luke muttered out, unsure what he was even begging for. He groaned, trying to move his hands to hold you again, but you still pinned him down.
You ignored his pleas, continuing to use his dick for your own pleasure, moving your hips back and forth. You hit your spot almost every time, bringing yourself closer to the edge every time.
Luke cried out each time you moved, his dick twitching inside you. He groaned, bucking his hips upwards and trying to move his hands out your grip.
“Ay dios, I’m so close..” Luke grunted, shutting his eyes as he bit back a moan.
You finally released his hands, and he immediately put them on your body, his hands running up your thighs, holding back his moans as you rode him.
“Ya casi.. porfa.. God Y/N you feel so good.” He muttered as he felt his orgasm approach. His hands moved up your thighs and to your waist, holding you down on him.
The room filled with the erotic sounds of both your moans, and the sound of you riding him.
“Y/N.. ya, ya voy a-” With a last movement forward, and Luke bucking upwards, he finally came inside you with a moan.
“Fuck, I'm close Luke..” You groaned as he finished inside you, moving faster on him, chasing your own orgasm.
Luke whined softly as you used him, the pleasure slowly overwhelming him. His hands grabbed your hips, trying to slow you down slightly, but failed to actually stop you.
With one last movement down onto him, you hit your spot again and came onto him. You moaned out, slowly grinding yourself on his dick as you rode out your high, small praises slipping past your lips.
You panted as you came down from your high, still on Luke, his semen slowly dripping out of you. You leaned down, resting your head on his shoulder taking a breath before finally getting off of him.
“You really change when you're not the one on top huh?” You chuckle laying down next to Luke, who just blushes slightly.
“Callate mejor.” He muttered, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to him to cuddle.
You laugh and hug him back, his head nuzzling into the crook of your neck.
Taglist: @starch1ldz @jaden-reid, @the-gregster, @lover-of-books-and-tea, @eli-chris
#luke alvez#criminal minds#luke alvez x male reader#luke alvez smut#luke alvez x reader#male reader smut#luke alvez x gn!reader#luke alvez x gn reader#criminal minds x gn reader#x gender neutral reader#gender neutral reader#criminal minds x reader
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My Personal Weatherman Ep 8 (Finale) Stray Thoughts
Last week, we got to see Segasaki's perspective on Yoh from college. We learned that Segasaki never felt comfortable around his friends and always masked. He reacted to Yoh seeing past his mask and drawing him. We also learned that Segasaki feels like he can breathe easier around Yoh, to the point that he believes he can't breathe without him. He thought Yoh had left because he doesn't know that Yoh is hiding the manga from him, and found Yoh trying to bring the laundry in during a storm. They kissed on the roof before coming back down. Segasaki apologized, which Yoh misunderstood, before he tied Yoh's hands and then threw him on the bed.
I like that Segasaki's aura broke under the weight of his insecurity here. Yoh wasn't ready for this at all.
"Have you ever considered my feelings?" is such a valid question.
Yoh really doesn't see how much Segasaki has been pouring his love on him the whole time, and doesn't get how deeply this misunderstanding between them has also hurt Segasaki.
"What is so good about me?" is also a valid and fundamental question that deserves an answer. Sucking on a finger and refusing to answer in a coy tone is not enough, even if it's hot.
Lol, Yoh admits to himself that he liked being tied up because Segasaki was anxious and finally admits aloud that he might like Segasaki.
Okay, Segasaki stopping immediately, and then zipping up the jacket after Yoh sneezed was also hot.
"I don't care anymore. I'm going to do this slowly so even a dense guy like you understands my feelings. You're prepared for this, right?" And that smirk? I'm gone. Bye.
I do like when they get to tend to each other when they're sick, and now we finally get to clear up the manga thing offscreen.
Segasaki tried to confess via the manga and Yoh totally didn't get it. We're running out of time!
I love Man-san. She's connecting her bestie to opportunity and telling him to stop doubting his boyfriend at lunch while still working.
There's only two of them. They'll be eating this curry for days.
Even if he's being himself about it, I like that Segasaki is trying to let Yoh have a life beyond them.
Oh, I really love that Segasaki wants the domestic ritual of coming home.
Oh lord I hope they don't get salmonella poisoning.
Final Verdict: 9, This Was Compelling. I really liked the exploration of this dynamic between the two of them. I feel like we still left a hole in how this got started and why Yoh misunderstood Segasaki so badly in the beginning, but the performances are so captivating that I will forgive them that oversight. I really love how effectively MBS used a small cast and small locations for this drama, and I genuinely hope we see these two actors working together again.
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Mixed Nuts, Part 2: Thoughts on Yaoi
And we're back! Japan is churning them out almost faster than we can keep up, so we dedicated a whole grab bag episode to give them the attention they're asking for. Ben, NiNi, Ginny, and Shan talk what's working and what's not in Japanese BL as we discuss Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun, One Room Angel, Perfect Propose, Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro Ka, I Want To See Only You and I Became the Star of a BL Drama.
Timestamps
The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.
00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:15 - Grab Bag Part 2: J-BL 00:02:22 - Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun 00:11:29 - One Room Angel 00:18:54 - A Note on MBS Tunku Shower 00:26:01 - Perfect Propose 00:49:27 - Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka 01:04:44 - I Want To See Only You 01:10:55 - I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama 01:26:16 - Outro
The Conversation Transcripts!
Thanks to the continued efforts of @ginnymoonbeam as transcriber, and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.
We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes (Coming soon thanks to @wen-kexing-apologist). When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.
Please send our volunteers your thanks!
00:00:00 - Welcome
NiNi
Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.
Ben
And there it is. I’m Ben.
NiNi
I’m NiNi.
Ben
And we’re your drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.
NiNi
Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.
Ben
We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.
NiNi
And I review from a romance and drama lens.
Ben
So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…
NiNi
If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…
Ben
And if you generally just love simping…
NiNi
There is a lot of simping on this podcast…
Ben
We are the show for you!
00:01:15 - Grab Bag Part 2: J-BL
Ben
And we're back. Continuing into Grab Bag episode 2, this time we're going to talk about all the Japanese projects.
We are still with pod team members Ginny and Shan. Say hi, Ginny.
Ginny
Hello.
Ben
Say hi, Shan.
Shan
Hi again.
NiNi
We are here to talk about Japanese BL, Japanese drama, all things Japanese, aka Ben's favorite thing, aka Ginny's starting to become favorite thing, aka Shan's actual favorite thing, aka my I'm gettin’ there thing.
Ben
We will be talking about six shows this week. We're talking about Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun, One Room Angel, Perfect Propose, Although I Love You, and You? aka Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka, I Want to See Only You, and I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama.
NiNi, take us in.
00:02:22 - Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun
NiNi
Let's start with Sahara-sensei, which I did not watch. So, Ben or Shan, who wants to complain about this?
Ben
Well, there's no need for you to watch it, bestie, because it was horrible!
Shan
Horrible!
Ben
Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun is a Japanese BL from MBS through Drama Shower about a juvenile delinquent who falls for a new teacher who seems to pay attention to him, and starts to reform his behaviors as a result of this relationship. But the teacher’s got his own baggage, and then the show makes a goddamn mess of all of this. And we have very many gripes to voice!
[exhales] It was not good. Ginny, did you watch this show?
Ginny
I did.
Ben
I feel like you were less pissed than me and Shan. Is that true?
Ginny
I'm usually less pissed than you and Shan.
Shan
I think it's just a natural state—[NiNi laughs]
NiNi
I don't think anybody could be as pissed as Shan. [Ben and NiNi laugh]
Shan
Right!
Ginny
Scaling for our norms, I think I was about as pissed. I really did not like the show.
Ben
Oh, yes! Go for it, Ginny! Tell it! Kill ‘em. Kill ‘em, bestie!
Ginny
I don't know anything about the source material, but it felt like it was trying to set up two taboo relationships: one teacher student, and one side ship that was sort of step-siblings. And then it completely whiffed both of those and decided, bizarrely, to deal with the taboo nature, particularly the main relationship, as if it simply isn't a taboo.
No one cared! No one cared that this teacher and student were having a romance. It was simply not addressed, or didn't seem to be a concern to anybody. It made the show baffling to follow because it was like they lived in this alternate universe where that doesn't matter, but other things like homophobia do matter—but only sometimes. It was not coherent.
I really enjoyed Toki, the juvenile delinquent. He was delightful. His actor was really fun, and that's really what kept me watching the show for however many episodes it was—six, eight, ten? Eight. That's what kept me watching the show for eight episodes, even though by about the midpoint, it really felt like it was not doing or saying anything interesting.
Ben
Shan, go in and let have.
Shan
Okay, I will! This show is fucking infuriating. I am still so mad every time I think about it.
Ben
[laughs] I can hear it in her voice.
Shan
Ugh! Here's the thing with the teacher student trope: it can be done well. It has been done well. The way that you do this trope well is that you take that relationship seriously. You have to care in the story that there is a power dynamic here, that a teacher has a role to play and a job to do with regard to their students, that they are an adult who is meant to be trusted to guide their students to good life choices, to their own social/emotional wellbeing, to care about their futures, to care about their education. This show just utterly, utterly failed on that front, and it makes the teacher character here completely irredeemable and unbelievable as an education professional. At no point did this show take its own concept seriously. It wanted us to engage with this romance as if this was just a normal teen love story between a teenage boy and a slightly older boy. There was no reckoning with the fact that this was his teacher.
The biggest sin, among many, was that we were shown through the story that Toki was not actually helped by this relationship with Sahara-sensei. We were shown that Toki—because of his feelings for his teacher, and because of his desire to impress this prospective love interest—that he made choices that were harmful to him. That he did not seek help when he was being bullied. That he did not take his education and his assignment seriously because he was too focused on this crush. We began the show with the notion that he was a juvenile delinquent who needed support and mentorship. He's a good kid, a nice kid, a kind kid, and he just needed some guidance. But he didn't get any fucking guidance from this teacher.
Instead, what he got was a distraction and an extraordinarily self-centered adult who really only cared about what he was getting—the confidence boost that he was getting—out of this relationship with his student. Did not look out for this kid, did not help him focus on his studies, did not help him prepare for his future, and did not help him in any meaningful way with the problems that he was experiencing at school.
This show literally ended with Toki [volume increases] graduating, walking out of the school building, spotting Sahara, and chucking his diploma into the fucking bushes so that he could run and kiss his boyfriend, because school's over now and he doesn't have to care about appearances anymore. I actually could not fucking believe that. And the wildest part of all of this is that the show doesn't seem to have any awareness about it. This is not a narrative about a student getting so obsessed with a teacher that he loses his way. This is just being presented as a straightforward, happy and positive romance that we're supposed to root for. It is one of the most baffling things I have ever fucking seen.
NiNi
Tell ‘em why you mad, son! Tell ‘em why you mad! [laughs]
Ben
Bestie, everything you said was true and correct. I will add further that this show does not get the benefit of the doubt of being BL to cop out about a lot of this because of the backstory they give on Sahara and Nekoto—his junior in high school, now fellow teacher. The failure of their relationship is grounded in the realities of homophobia and taboo, so there's no way to approach the Sahara-Toki relationship under the guise of “any m/m attraction is fine because BL,” because the show draws attention to the social and political realities of queerness.
And it's especially frustrating because Sahara actually gives decent guidance to another student: the Todo character, who is playing injured as a basketball player. Sahara talks him down from going into a match that he shouldn't because he's hurt in a way that I thought was really excellent from an educator, because he doesn't tell the kid, “You shouldn't play.” He asked the kid pointed questions, making the kid self-introspect and recognize for himself that he should not play. Which only exacerbates the issues that Shan eloquently highlighted just now about how fucked up this whole thing is, because he does not bring that same awareness to the relationship he has with Toki. It is such a weird experience with this show and I really hated it.
Ginny
I think that about covers it. It just feels like it didn't know what it was trying to do, and it did everything badly.
NiNi
I think that's an excellent tagline. [Ben laughs] So, those of you who watched it, it's time to rate.
Shan, you first.
Shan
I gave it a 3, and I think reflecting in this moment, I want to lower it to a 2. I'm giving it a 2.
Ben
I agree. Go ahead. Ginny?
Ginny
Oh man, so I give it a 6.5. [Ben hmms] I simply don't finish shows that I'm gonna rate lower than a 4 or a 5. On the surface level, there were moments that I really enjoyed about this. As I said, I did like the performance of the Toki character in particular, so I gave it some credit for that.
Ben
I agree with Shan. I originally gave this show a 4. I'm lowering it to a 3. [Ben and Shan laugh]
Shan
Let's talk about it again in a couple of months, see where we land.
Ben
I'm giving the show a 3.5 from The Conversation. That is not how the math works, but that's what I'm giving it.
Shan
Feels right.
00:11:29 - One Room Angel
NiNi
Moving on to our next show, let's talk One Room Angel.
Ben, what is One Room Angel about?
Ben
One Room Angel is a story about a depressed man who ends up hanging out with an angel for a few weeks, it feels like, and starts to maybe come out of his depressive spiral as a result, which ends up with some really sad over- and undertones from what we learn about the angel character.
This is a kind of difficult show to talk about from a BL perspective, because I don't really think it's a BL. This wasn't really a romance. From my understanding, the angel character is significantly younger in the source material, and I get why they maybe chose not to go that direction. Shan had more complex thoughts, I think, than I did about the genre assignment of this show.
Shan
I like this show. I just want to say that upfront, I think it's a really beautiful show, a really thought-provoking show. I think it has some really interesting things to say about depression and self worth and finding meaning and life and the will to live. I liked all of its themes. I liked the characters.
I do think that it feels incomplete as a narrative, and it feels like there was supposed to be a romance arc here that got removed. I don't know if that's true, I haven't read the source material, but that's kind of how it felt upon watching it. I don't think it's a BL. There's no romance here. There's what feels more like a platonic friendship to me between Koki and the Angel.
This show has some of the most beautiful cinematography that we've seen in Drama Shower. Some of the visual imagery is really striking, and I still think about it off and on. I like the way that they constructed Koki as this character who is kind of downtrodden, but kind at his core. He's just been through some shit, he's had a hard life. And I like that, I like that he was someone who was very easy to sympathize with. The Angel was a good foil for him. He would come at him in ways that would provoke him and give him some spark, make him feel a little bit alive again, which was what was missing and what was so important.
I think the show wasn't that strong on unpacking the mystery of the Angel and who he had been in his life, and connecting that back to Koki. I think there were a few different threads here and they didn't all come together seamlessly, but I did really like the core story of healing.
I do have feelings about this tendency we're seeing recently in the MBS Drama Shower shows of sprinkling in some non-BLs in the lineup. This is a dedicated time slot that is explicitly meant to be for BL shows, and there have been a couple now in the lineup that don't really fit that bill, and so I do kind of regret that we got this show as part of the Drama Shower lineup instead of another BL. But I'm glad we got the show. I like it a lot. I think it has some good things to offer.
Ben
Ginny, were you able to watch this show?
Ginny
I was! In the interest of precision, because we're talking about it not being a romance, which I do kind of agree with. They do have a conversation about being boyfriends, and they have this cute little beach date and stuff, but it feels like something that's sort of tacked on to make it fit in the BL space. It doesn't feel like it's actually part of their story. The connection that grows between them is, but the romance was not really played out. So even though they kind of give it lip service, it doesn't feel like it's there, which is why we're all saying it's not a romance. I think my favorite thing about the show was the Koki character.
Ben
This is Ginny's favorite character type: the hot mess. [Ginny and Shan laugh]
Ginny
I love a hot mess. I do. He's older, which I also like. He's not especially pretty, which is a nice change of pace. And he's just so down in it and can't seem to get himself out. I do like the story of him sort of getting forced roommate Angel therapy, basically. So yeah, I enjoyed it. I didn't deeply love it.
For the themes that it was getting into, it could have gone deeper. It's got some really dark material in both of the characters' backstories, and it didn't feel to me like it really followed through strongly enough on the resolutions to those things. But it also wasn't a total miss.
Ben
I ended up feeling really complicated about this show. I feel like I was very unfairly comparing it to Eternal Yesterday a lot, and because it wasn't BL I was a little bit frustrated that this time slot was going into non-BL content. Like, it feels like the original thing was BL, and they decided in their adaptation not to lean into the potential romance between an adult and a high school student. A totally fine adaptation choice, but it's like, why adapt this work then? It doesn't exactly work for me as a result.
I really liked the Angel character. I liked how sassy he was, and pushy he was about stuff. Nishimura Takuya; loved the way he played the Angel character. I really liked the aesthetic with his all-white outfit the whole time. I really liked the effort that the costuming department put into his wings. That was not easy, particularly on the budget that Drama Shower was clearly working on. I thought they got a lot of good work out of the animatronics of his wings. I really wish we had gotten more about Koki's yakuza based trauma. There's an allusion to this with the brother that feels a bit incomplete for me. Or the stuff with his mom, Arisa.
There's like a weird ambiguity with the end of this too, where some of the viewers thought that Koki also died at the end, tragically.
Ginny
What?
Shan
Wait, what? I don't think—he didn't die.
Ben
I didn't think he died, but apparently that was one of the reads.
Shan
Fascinating.
Ginny
Huh.
Shan
That didn't occur to me, but you can't really argue with it in a show that leaves things this unfinished.
Ben
Exactly, and that's why I was a little unsettled by it towards the end, because I'm like, “Well, I can't refute that, but also damn!” [Shan laughs] “Y'all killed this man so they could fuck? Shit!”
Okay. [Ginny laughs]
Shan
[laughs] Oh boy, we better wrap it up there.
Ben
So let's rate this experience. Ginny?
Ginny
I gave it a 7. Not bad for what it was. Not great.
Ben
Shan?
Shan
I gave it an 8. I liked some of what it was trying to do, but I don't think it fully got there on all of its storylines or really on its themes.
Ben
I gave it an 8 originally. I think I'm going to downgrade it to a 7.5, so we'll give it a 7.5 from The Conversation.
00:18:54 - A Note on MBS Tunku Shower
Ben
Let's discuss Drama Shower before we move to the other projects. As of this recording, we are almost at the end of My Strawberry Film, the last outing from Drama Shower Season 2, and currently MBS has not renewed the Drama Shower time slot for additional projects. They may renew this in the future, but let's talk on the podcast how we feel about Drama Shower after almost 11 projects, the role this time slot has fulfilled, and our complex reactions to all of the projects.
Ginny
I like that they did so many different kinds of things. Almost none of the Drama Shower shows are favorites of mine. There are a lot that I quite liked, and a few that I could see rewatching, but I do appreciate the commitment to do and try a bunch of different things. I hope that something like it gets renewed or gets put in place because, as we discussed a little bit last time talking about genre, I want to see experimental BL. I want to see different ideas and frameworks being explored, even ones that we hated like Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun. I would rather they make a bag of shows that includes a terrible one than just crank out the same reliable favorites, so. While I don't love most of the individual shows, I feel positively about the project.
Ben
Shan, how are you feeling?
Shan
I'm sad at the prospect that Drama Shower might not continue. It did produce one of my all time favorite BLs—Eternal Yesterday—and while I don't always love the shows, I love that we can rely on a steady progression of shows being released. When one show ends, we know the next is coming very soon. Japanese media can feel uncertain. We often don't find out about shows until right before they air. We often find out about a show, but then find out that it's not accessible to us, and we can't watch it. It's been nice to have kind of a steady, reliable place where we know we could go to find a Japanese BL, and I like how, you know, like Ginny said, how experimental it's been. They're doing a lot of different types of shows, a lot of different tones and styles.
A lot of them have been not my favorites. Maybe, like, mid to bad, but there have been a few real gems in this lineup. Not only Eternal Yesterday, but also shows like Jack o’ Frost and Tokyo in April is… These are shows that stuck with me, that I really enjoyed the watch experience for, and I hope that even if Drama Shower as a dedicated time slot doesn't come back, that MBS will keep churning out these shows and releasing them at a steady clip because I think that they are pretty solid. I really like this format for Japan, where they do these six- to eight-episode shows. These tight contained stories. Have a pretty clear sense of what they want to do most of the time, with some exceptions. And I'd like to see that continue.
We've had this kind of recent boom of Japanese BL. And I don't want that to go away. I want them to keep producing shows and I want to always have a Japanese BL airing, ideally. So yeah, I'm hopeful that if not this exact project, that something will come back, that we will continue to get shows that are interesting and a fun watch.
Ben
I'm also a bit sad that we might be losing Drama Shower because I really like what Azuma Kaoru has talked about with it from the little bits of translation we've gotten. They have a real commitment to BL as a genre and showcasing what BL can be. I like the Drama Shower has had two original projects both times it's run. Jack o’ Frost was original and My Strawberry Film is original, and whether or not we end up deciding that these projects were especially good or not, I actually think it's really healthy for BL as a genre to not be as tied to the developmental format where we basically just raid the closet and see what indie writers have been up to and then quickly adapt their shows. I'm really curious what knowing that you're developing for television right away enables with the storytelling.
So, I'm a little bit bummed that we don't know for sure if Drama Shower is coming back right now, but I've really enjoyed this entire project. My average rating for Drama Shower was just under 8, which feels correct. If you like BL, Drama Shower has been a really fascinating project because it's been so varied. We had some cool stuff that came out of it. I thought Mr. Unlucky had some cool ideas. I loved Eternal Yesterday. Takara-kun and Amagi-kun let me down slightly, but I liked it! Like, I liked almost every single one of these outings—except for fucking Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun.
Shan
They really had to come in and ruin it right at the end, didn't they? [laughs]
Ben
For fuck’s sake. I will miss this if we don't get it back, but I really like what we got from it.
NiNi, any thoughts on Drama Shower from sort of only getting our reactions to it and then being prodded about some of the shows?
NiNi
When you were talking to me about some of the Drama Shower shows, you basically were saying these are Japanese pulps. So I've tried to place them in the BL firmament, for me, according to them being mostly pulps. I've only watched three of the Drama Shower shows. I've watched Jack o’ Frost, I watched Tokyo in April, and I watched My Personal Weatherman. Of those three, Jack o’ Frost is easily my favorite, but the shows that I've watched coming out of Japan that weren’t Drama Shower in the last year or two were actually the ones that I enjoyed overall more. So, while I appreciate the role of Drama Shower, what it has done in giving a dedicated time slot, much like in Thailand GMMTV Frigay was a dedicated time slot to help build some bits of the genre. This is kind of similar.
It's a lab, and I think that the genre needs its labs. I think Drama Shower is a good lab, and I'm sure we're going to get another good lab out of Japan again soon. So, yeah, I think that the project was worthy. I only really watched a little bit of it, but I think I could also see how some of the things that it was working through have already started to percolate a little bit through some of the other stuff that we're getting out of Japan. Specifically out of MBS, but also are some of the other places.
00:26:01 - Perfect Propose
Ben
On to our next show: Perfect Propose.
NiNi
Yes, bring it on! I love this show.
Ben
Shan, would you like to describe Perfect Propose for us?
Shan
Sure. Our protagonist Hiro, who is extremely overworked, exhausted, very stressed out by his soul-sucking corporate job, is found, passed out on the sidewalk, by his childhood friend? Sweetheart? Question mark. I think they see that slightly differently, but a childhood friend named Kai, who has also just come into some personal hardship. Kai decides to move in with Hiro to take care of him and also so he has a place to stay. And the story is primarily about Hiro seeing his way out of this really horrible burnout situation that he finds himself in with Kai’s support.
Ben
Second chance romance is my favorite thing in BL [Shan trills] so I had a great time with this show. One of the things the show really focused on was how fucking horrible Hiro's fucking job was.
Shan
Mmhmm.
NiNi
Listen! Oh my God, it was too real.
Ben
I want to talk about that part first because, while I think we all have mostly positive things to say about Hiro and Kai's relationship, I don't want to downplay that particular portion, because the show cared a lot about. And I know, Ginny, you landed on the uncomfortable to slightly put off side of that presentation. It's rare that I see you repulsed when we're watching something. And it was interesting seeing you have a difficult time with that.
Ginny
My issue really was that, as the second half of the show came into play, it became clear that this wasn’t primarily a romance. This was a story about Hiro escaping his soul-sucking corporate job and also being more attentive to his body in the most fundamental sense of, like, his needs as a human being. I felt like I'd been a little bit bait and switched. The setup of the first couple episodes, tt's very much about Kai offering him this physical nurturance, including sexual attention that he was in need of, and possibly their relationship growing. And then it let that be nothing more than a catalyst for Hiro to leave his situation. There was like an episode and a half that were really just fully dedicated to the misery of his job and how and why he was so stuck in it.
I was just like, they're doing this well, but I didn't sign up for it and I'm not enjoying it. [laughs] So that was my experience.
Ben
I respect that. While we're talking about the job stuff, I want to go to NiNi, because I think of all of us, you had the strongest response to the corporate culture stuff.
NiNi
Oh my God, it was like I was seeing myself. So, if you listen to us, you will know that I'm doing this thing where I've restarted my life in my 40s. And the reason that I'm doing it is because I left a job like this. I left a soul-sucking job where I was being gaslit and basically burnt out and destroyed, and so this was almost like a healing drama for me. I would just settle in like, “oh, I'm gonna stab the boss. Oh, he's making him food. I want somebody to make me food. This is so awesome. I'm so glad. Is he gonna get out? I need him to get out. Hell, I need all of them to get out. Why don't they all quit?”
Like, I was having that running commentary in my head while I was watching the show. It was very cathartic for me. I enjoyed everything about it. It was too real. The gaslighting from their boss, especially, was the part that sort of sent me a little bit into a crouch. I was just like, “oh, I'm having flashbacks,” but I needed it. I needed to see Perfect Propose.
It wasn't just an enjoyment for me. It was something I needed to excise from my life and I was able to do it through Perfect Propose. So, it was great for me. The experience was so cathartic. Can't complain about it at all. Fantastic.
Ben
Shan, I remember you having some thoughts because, I don't know that you lived through this sort of stuff directly, but you know colleagues who did.
Shan
Yeah, I'm, I think more on NiNi’s side of the line with this, in that I experienced it as more cathartic and healing. I have been in some toxic workplaces. I've never been in quite the kind of place that Hiro was in in this story like NiNi has. But, I thought it was just a really authentic presentation of that kind of work experience. I thought it was a really genuine representation of the dynamics that can come up in a workplace like that.
One of my favorite things that happened in the show is that Hiro's supervisor left and Hiro became the supervisor, and then he was put in the position of having to drive his team to do the kind of things that he had been driven to do. And he was realizing how limited his options were for breaking that cycle. And I thought that that was just such an important note to include here. It's not the people within the system that are the problem, it's the system itself and it's all reinforcing.
Ben
I was also Hiro in my last job and my team and I, we quit—on my birthday, no less. What an incredible experience. So I started the age of 32 [laughs] unemployed. Which was fun.
I really liked that the show leaned into the work culture aspect of it, that Hiro's previous supervisor was like. “You need to quit, too. Like, I'm leaving. I got a better offer. You are way better than these people allow you to think of yourself as. You should quit, too.” I loved Hiro staying because he thought he needed to insulate his team from that kind of hell. And I love that he failed, spectacularly. Like, he tried to save a younger dev from that and he couldn't.
I really appreciated that they show that there's no amount of effort that overcomes that sort of nonsense. A lot of the times when they do the adult BL, the work part of being an adult feels kind of missing or nebulous. They're mostly using work to recreate the cliquish dynamics of high school to tell those sort of stories, and I really appreciate it that this show, and the next show we're going to talk about actually, don't do that.
I want to refocus now that we've talked about really fucked up, sad work part of this, on the relationship between Kai and Hiro. Part of what locked me in on this show, right away was Kai literally picks passed out Hiro up off the street, takes him back to his house, feeds him some proper food, and then jerks him off so he can go to sleep. Hiro was more than a little overwhelmed by all of this. But that man's skin cleared up the next day.
NiNi
[laughs] He was looking refreshed, restored, rejuvenated.
Ben
We had some complex reactions in our own circle and online about that particular encounter. Ginny, I want to get your commentary on this part because I think you often have the most nuanced appreciation of sexual moments that carry a level of dubious consent. And I wonder if you have any thoughts about that.
Ginny
One thing that you and I have talked about, Ben, is people often put male-female frameworks onto these shows. Which is not to say that consent isn't a problem between men, ‘cause it for sure is. But the way that these dynamics play out and the way that the core relational dynamics between men work is not always comparable and can't always be mapped onto a male-female dynamic.
How I read this scene and how I think it was intended to be read is Hiro can't say, “Oh yes, do this, please,” because he's not in a headspace to accept that this is something that he could want from another man, or really at all. And again, it's really difficult to talk about this without inviting people to map it on all kinds of other situations where it doesn't belong. So please don't do that. But the way this scene is constructed felt very clearly to me like, this is something that Hiro is willing to let happen to him and maybe needs to let happen to him, but is not able to affirmatively say yes to because of where he is in his head, and especially with the way that intimacy develops between the characters later fulfilled the storyline that they set up in that first scene.
NiNi
I feel like this is a place we always land up in with Asian media because of the ways that Asian media portrays and puts forward ideas about what is acceptable sexually, what it is acceptable to want and not want, how it is acceptable to relate in a sexual manner. I feel like these always come up when we're dealing with Asian media. People talk about wanting to change the conversation in Asian media around this kind of stuff, and I fully understand that.
But this story read to me pretty old school yaoi and because of that I got where the headspace of the story was coming from. Like you said, Ginny, this can't be mapped on to everything else. But in this specific story I saw where it was coming from.
Ben
For me, I think I would have been more concerned about their dynamic if not for the morning after conversation in the bathroom. The energy in that scene was Kai being very attentive and almost doing, like, aftercare with Hiro, who was clearly into the dynamic with that whole scene with the hair gel and then him giving him the key so he could stay and then the next episode being like, why has nothing happened since that moment? Which also, like NiNi said, is very old school yaoi.
Shan
Sexual encounters with dubious consent happen a lot in life. It's a thing that happens. I don't need every depiction of it in fiction to be accompanied by someone turning to the camera and saying, “That was dubious consent, and it's bad.” Instead of just letting the context of the story and the characters’ reactions let us know what their headspace was and why it happened.
And I think that the show did that. I think that we understood Hiro and Kai's dynamic well as the show progressed. I think that we saw a pattern develop where Hiro would hope for or want something from Kai, but wouldn't ask for it. And Kai could read him and see what he was going for. I like that Kai got to a point of teasing him about that and pushed him to ask for the things he wants or come right out and say or do something to confirm it. I thought it was quite legible what the show was going for here, so I was not troubled by it. They did a good job of building a believable dynamic for them of Hiro coming to rely on Kai for all kinds of different comforts and as his main source of care and pleasure.
Ben
I think they did a great job conveying that Kai was totally down for Hiro the whole time without it feeling, like, possessive. I particularly enjoyed around—was it episode 5 when they had that kiss on the bench where he's like,”Hirokuni-san, have you made your decision yet?” I thought that was great.
Shan
Pairing that with teasing him with the shots of the delicious dinners he was making at home, that Hiro wasn't making it home to eat. I think the message from Kai always, consistently, was this is all here for you. You just gotta take it. And I like that. That felt adult to me.
Ben
I want to talk about Kai a little bit. We know that Hiro is obviously at the end of his rope when we first see him passed out on the street, people walking past him. We learned fairly quickly that Kai is also kind of at the end of his rope. He's been a neglected, lonely child for a long time, and the only other person who ever seemed to give a shit about him was in the midst of a health crisis, and that guy's son was keeping him away from the dad because he didn't understand their relationship.
NiNi
I really liked, actually, that part of the issue that Kai was having with his boss and his son was that Kai couldn't ask for what he wanted out of the boss. He clearly saw the boss as a father figure and the boss saw him as a son figure, but he couldn't talk about it. It's very Japanese. He couldn't presume and he couldn't put himself in a position where he appeared presumptuous. So he had to take a step back. Be polite. He couldn't say certain things. He couldn't behave in certain ways. This is the situation, I'm going to make myself as small as possible in this situation. And then once it got to the point where he felt like maybe he could have presumed a little more, the son started to understand, “Okay, this is actually sort of a father son dynamic here,” the son backed down immediately. He was just like, “I'm sorry. I didn't understand what you guys were to each other.”
I really liked that. I am often the one who complains about the Japanese non-communication or Japanese communication and how it is frustrating for me, but I thought this was a really good use of it, of Japanese cultural expectations around family and not wanting to be presumptuous about certain things. I really think that it played out really well here. I quite enjoyed that.
Ben
I love the relationship between Kai and the restaurant owner. Few things are more important to a boy than bonding with an older, grumpy man and connecting in the same grumpy way. It's extremely important to your development.
Shan
I like what you said NiNi about Kaiju's inability to communicate what Kenji meant to him and what he was seeking from the relationship, and I like that that was mirrored in Kenji, the restaurant owner, also not being able to say out loud what the deal was, like, why this boy mattered to him. He also kept his mouth shut and didn't explain it to his son, I think for similar reasons. They have a very emotional bond that they both found hard to talk about or justify to other people. I did like that.
I will say, though, that I do think that the Kai side of this show is the weaker element, perhaps of the story. Hiro's narrative was the main narrative, but Kai had a story too, and I do think it didn't get the fullness that Hiro's did, and it was one area where I wanted a little bit more from the show than what we got.
Ginny
This is more to my personal preferences than necessarily show doing right or wrong. I was much more interested in Kai and his situation than in Hiro's situation, so I also would have liked to see more of it. There were a lot of layers to the ways that Kai and Hiro each struggled to take care of themselves or see themselves as deserving care. We did get that fully played through with Hiro and we didn't really get to see Kai’s own dovetailing/mirror image issue of that fully realized and I would have liked to see it.
Ben
Getting back to some of the adult things I really liked in this, I really liked the whole missed opportunity around the festival because Hiro is unable to leave his job and tell him to fuck off. And I really liked Kai, just sort of accepting that disappointment, but getting something kind of interesting out of it by growing the strawberries in the tank they were hoping to use for something else.
I really liked the failure of that moment. Hiro getting mad with himself on Kai's behalf and being frustrated that Kai didn't presume more from him and voicing all of the ways that he kind of was a jerk about the whole festival thing. I think that was one of my favorite moments in the show where Hiro gets mad, but doesn't really have a great outlet for it because he knows he's the one who's at fault. And so Kai's telling him, “It doesn't matter, like, you don't owe me anything,” only frustrated him even more.
NiNi
Yeah, because he wants Kai to expect things of him by that point, and he's not even entirely sure why. But he does want Kai to feel like he has responsibilities towards him.
Ginny
You do see Hiro consistently more upset about other people not getting what they deserve than himself [Shan mmhmms] with Kai in that situation and with his new underlying when he becomes the team lead.
Ben
I'm never getting over that man having a couch that matches the aesthetic of the chairs in his office.
Shan
I clocked that in the first episode and I was so depressed. I was like, no!
[Shan and Ben laugh]
Ben
I remember you pointed it out first.
Shan
I was like y'all, are you seeing these colors? I'm not usually a colors person, either. I don't usually notice that shit. But that was so striking to me that the one pop of color in his entire gray, sad home was that green couch that was the same green as the chairs in his office. Depressing as fuck.
Ben
Before we get to ratings, we gotta do a shout out for Hiori, the junior dev who was clearly a fujoshi who was keyed in right away to watch series.
[all laugh]
Shan
I loved her!
NiNi
She was so ready when they went on the work dinner and she was like, “All right, I'm headed out. I'm going home. Y'all are getting drunk. I'm not sticking around for this, I'm gonna catch the last train” and then Hiro’s drunk and somebody's like, “oh, we're gonna call the guy he's living with.” And she sat back down immediately, like, “He's coming here? I need to see this.”
Shan
Sat her ass right back down and ordered another beer. She was like, “Hell no, I'ma miss that train.”
NiNi
“I'm gonna pay for this Uber ride or this taxi and I'm gonna like it.”
Ben
I loved her. She was like, “Oh, shit, Am I gonna get to see him?” And she got everything she wanted. Kai showed up, sweaty.
Shan
Ooo, sweaty from his run. Mmm.
Ben
Glared at Konoko, like, “Don't you ever fucking put your hands on him ever again, I will fucking kill you. And she was, like, “I got everything I needed.”
[Shan laughs]
NiNi
She didn't even go home after that. She's just like, “Well, I need another drink because that was delightful.”
Ben
I do appreciate that we got to see Hiro, quit that job and stop prioritizing it at the end. Like, he woke up, clearly from them having a good session the night before, like “I ain't answering that fucking phone.” And we saw that the other employees have seemingly maybe left their job because they all looked like they were happy in the park. And they ran into Konoko, as well. So, I feel very relieved by the end of this drama.
Shan
I definitely interpret that group picnic at the end as confirmation that they have all left that awful job.
Ben
Particularly because Sakamoto was also there and I'm really glad that he looked okay.
NiNi
Listen, I was so worried about that kid. I was so worried that I stopped in the middle of my binge to ask. “Listen, you'll need to tell me if this kid is okay, because the last time I saw him, he was having a meltdown. And then they sent him home. And then I have not seen him. So y’all need to tell me that he's fine.” And they were like, “Yeah, he's fine” and then I was able to continue the show.
Ben
So, ratings! NiNi.
NiNi
I gave the show a 9.5. I agree with Shan and Ginny that I wanted to see a little bit more of Kai’s side of the story because I think it was actually quite intriguing. I understand that they didn't have a ton of time and they didn't use their time well, but I would have liked to see a bit more of the Kai side of things.
Ben
Ginny?
Ginny
I gave it an 8.5. I think execution-wise it probably merits a 9, but I did dock it for my own personal enjoyment because it's my rating and I'm allowed.
Ben
Absolutely. Shan?
Shan
I gave it a 9. I agree with basically what NiNi said. I think if they had managed to drive home Kai’s side of the story a little firmer, it would have been a higher score for me. But it's a good show, I really liked it.
Ben
It's not an obvious recommend right away, because then they have to get involved in the discourse and so it’s hard for me to just go, “It's a 10. Go watch it right now!” But I like the show a lot, so I gave it a 9 because there are reasonable knocks on some threads not being fully completed and yaoi considerations around male sex that made me a little bit grumpy to deal with while we were watching this.
It gets a 9 from The Conversation. I liked it a lot, I think it's worth your time.
NiNi
I have to add, whenever I saw Kai’s hands, I kept thinking about the discussion I had with Ben about yaoi hands.
[all laugh]
Ben
He did have yaoi hands.
NiNi
He had massive hands!
Ben
I have started following that actor. His real smile is so fu,n he is worth following on IG.
NiNi
Bestie you know I don't do the socials, but for those of you who do.
Ben
I do. That's what I'm here for.
00:49:27 - Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro Ka
NiNi
Moving on to Although I Love You, And You?—Japanese title Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka. Oh my God I can't believe I got that right the first time around.
Ben
Yeah, good job, bestie.
Shan
Good job, NiNi.
NiNi
I'm not gonna get it right again. So, Ben, what is Sukidoya about?
Ben
Sukidoya is a story about a burgeoning romance between a restaurant owner and a corporate salary man who has recently moved to Osaka from Tokyo. Both of these guys are coming out of failed relationships and find friendship and connection in each other. The restaurant owner already is very aware of his own queerness. Meets this guy and has an instant attraction to him and is determined to follow up on it, but decides that he should probably be a bit more cautious this time, particularly because of some of the cultural differences between Osaka and Tokyo. We get to see them try to sort through what their new potential relationship will look like with the complications that ensue.
This was another show that we had a lot of complicated discussions about while we were watching it. Because you have more consternation than others, Shan, we'll let you go first, and then we'll follow up.
Shan
This is a show that I wanted to like more than I ended up liking. I really loved the main characters in this show. I liked that there was what felt like a very adult setup for the romance. These were two adult men with pasts, with romantic histories who had exes that were present in the story and actually had roles to play. They were coming together across differences, both cultural differences and differences in how they had experienced romance in the past, differences in how they relate, differences in their hobbies and personalities. I was very interested in all of that and I was really excited to get what I thought was going to be a pretty adult narrative about figuring out how to be in a relationship together across those differences.
That's not really what the show ended up being about. There was a lot going on in the narrative here and some of it in the end didn't feel like it justified the amount of story time that it got. Some of it felt like it really derailed the story. There I'm speaking primarily about the insertion of a love triangle into the plot that I don't think ultimately served the story or the characters very well. Sakae’s ex, Mizuki, came into the story around the midpoint and I liked his inclusion initially, ‘cause I liked seeing this mature ex that was in the mix. It's very common for people to still have exes in their lives and we don't see it depicted very often in drama, and so I liked that he was around, that he was coming back into Sakae's orbit, that he was bringing up some issues for him that were maybe throwing a little bit of a wrench in this burgeoning romance that he had with Soga. But then the show really took that much further, turned it into a full blown love triangle, had Mizuki pursuing Sakae again, had him intervening in the romance, getting in the way, dating Sakae again briefly. It was a lot, ultimately, I think too much. It took up a lot of story time. It threw off the trajectory of Sakae and Soga’s relationship development. The pacing of the story felt pretty rushed. It felt like we hadn't really gotten to settle into any kind of relationship with them. Candidly, I am not generally a fan of love triangles. They can be done well and they have been, but this is a romance narrative in which a love triangle was kind of awkwardly inserted to create drama, and that's the kind I really don't like. That was a big negative for me on this show and threw off my investment in the romance.
But it's not a show that I wanna be too negative about. I like a lot of what it did. I did like these characters, this smaller town restaurant owner who's really genuine and straightforward, but maybe not the most socially graceful guy. Being into this nerdy, quiet guy who has nothing in common with him, trying to figure out how to relate to each other, trying to figure out how to communicate across their differences. I really liked those aspects of it. I left the drama wishing that we had gotten a story more focused on that and less on all this random stuff that they were throwing in to create conflict. In the end I was a bit frustrated with the show, but I like a lot of what it was doing and I hope that we'll get more shows like this that focus on adult characters.
Ben
I just learned some fun trivia while doing some research.
Shan
Oh?
Ben
NiNi, the screenwriter of Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka is also the screenwriter on Three Star Bar in Nishi Ogikubo.
NiNi
The DNA is there. I could see it.
Ben
This is also one of the same directors who was on Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun.
NiNi
We shall not speak of it, bestie.
Shan
Don't bring them back into this. [laughs]
Ben
Ginny, of all the shows we're going to talk about tonight, you had, I think, the strongest connection to these particular characters, and I really want to hear your thoughts on them.
Ginny
While I agree that narratively the show did not hold together as strongly as it could, in every scene they were written well, they were acted well, they were consistent, they were who they were. And that, I think, was why I loved the show so much, as it played so well on a scene by scene level. Both of these are, in almost completely opposite superficial ways, men who struggle to advocate for what they want in life. Sakae is extremely a pushover. You see, as soon as his ex walks back into the scene, how difficult it is for him to say no and even earlier, as he and Soga are getting to know each other, it's very easy for him to fall into a rhythm of just doing whatever Sogo wants and enjoys and simply not advocating for himself or his interests at all. So he's this very kind of impulsively outspoken character. He keeps saying things that he doesn't mean to say, but when it comes to actually saying what he wants, he's slow to do that.
On Soga’s side, he's very reserved, and kind of doesn't feel confident enough, I think, in his own desires to advocate for them. Even though he clearly likes and feels very drawn to Sakae, he takes so much of the show trying to figure out exactly what that means and waffling on what to do with that. I really like seeing two characters with the same fundamental issue that expresses itself in such different ways come together and try to build a relationship.
My favorite part in the whole show is after they've started dating, they try to work out this conflict resolution system in such a characteristic way. Sakae knows Soga has been married before, so he says, “What was your ex-wife like? What was your relationship like?” Thinking in his head, “I'm going to become exactly like her, because clearly Soga liked her, so that will work out great and I foresee no problems with this.” And so Soga tells him about their conflict resolution style, which is not Sakae’s style at all, but they try it. They both kind of yes, and each other into doing something that's not gonna work for either of them and they try it for a while and then it falls apart and then they talk it out.
It all felt so real to me as a person who struggles to express and sometimes even to know what I want. I've been in relationships on both sides where that's a major factor and they played it out so beautifully realistically, while still feeling very fun. The show always felt light, even when it was headed into kind of a difficult moment between them. It never let the mood sink too much. I loved seeing that dynamic play out between them and the ways that they tried to work towards each other and often worked harder at making the other person happy than making themselves happy and had to kind of figure out how to do both at the same time.
NiNi
I liked you describing it as them yes, and-ing each other, because that's exactly what that felt like. It felt very improv. I really enjoyed that scene a lot.
Ben
I really liked that we got to see a homo jock trying to date a culture person. That was so fuckin’ funny to me. We don't get to see fitness gays that often, and I had such a great time as a result.
NiNi
It was delightful, and it was more of that city mouse, country mouse thing that they were trying to do, it was so fun. I wish that they had leaned more into the differences between them, more than the external factors.
Of the external factors, I really enjoyed the job one coming up and when it came up in the relationship, and the conflict that that posed. But I think that the ex-boyfriend thing was a bridge too far. I think it was important that we saw the ex-boyfriend to understand certain things about Sakae, but I don't think that they needed to drag that out into him trying to get Sakae back kind of thing.
Ben
I liked Mizuki as a character a lot and I liked them showing Sakae having an intimate, intense relationship with another person. I think on the pragmatic side, from talking about this as a drama, I'm more with Shan in that I don't know that this show set us up for the right expectations and that could be a cultural competency part on our part, because of the thing they were playing with, with the Osaka, Tokyo thing. But I was also hoping to spend more time with these guys as a functional couple perhaps than I think we got? I think it's fine for the show to do what they chose to do with their time, but I think I wanted something from the show it couldn't give us. I also got a little bit frustrated that there was way less food in the back half than there was in the front half because I signed up for a food show.
But, they did give me a great baseball moment, so maybe it’s okay.
Shan
[laughs] They did have a really good baseball scene. I was just gonna yes, and you Ben about the food. The food was a strong presence in the first half of the show. And then it did just kind of disappeared. I wouldn’t really call this a food drama, in the end.
I think one other piece that we kind of discussed live while we were watching that I do think is worth mentioning—not to single this show out, but to talk a little bit about a trend that exists, I think, across dramas—there was a quite a spicy sex scene between Sakae and Mizuki in this show. Far spicier than any scene we ended up getting for Sakae and Soga. Feels like a strange choice that they went to that heat level in a scene with his ex and then kept the heat so low on the current relationship.
One of the reasons I don't like it when dramas do that is because it kind of sends a message that only toxic relationships have hot sex in them, and that when you find your right person when you're truly in love, sex is not that important, or it's not part of the dynamic. And I don't think that's a good message. It's not a sex positive message, certainly—and I don't know or think necessarily that the show intended to do that here—but, it is kind of the effect of that choice that a lot of dramas make to only show hot sex in the context of toxic or old relationships and keep the main couple of a show kind of quote unquote pure. That stuck out to me in this show and nothing that came after that scene hit anywhere close to that heat level. So it did kind of stand out as a weird choice to me.
Ginny
In terms of the general trend, I certainly agree. It is worth noting that that scene was specifically happening in Soga’s imagination, so it wasn't like, “This was how it was.” It's like, “This is how Soga is thinking about Sakae and his ex.” Which in the context of the story gives it a very different meaning. But I do certainly agree with what you're saying about the overall trend in media.
Shan
That's a good point, Ginny. It's a fair one to bring up. I do think, though, if the show is willing to go to that heat level, why are they not willing to go there with the main couple?
NiNi
And we do know that they are having a hot time, because at the end when they make back up Soga’s like, “Look, we know we gotta fuck, okay? So let's just get this relationship shit wrapped up before we do.” And I thought that was delightful.
Ginny
So good!
Shan
It was a very funny line, but it also kinda came out of nowhere, ‘cause we hadn't seen any sexual relationship for them. [laughs]
Ginny
We saw some.
Ben
I get where Shan’s coming from, like, they confirmed that the guys are having sex and they deliver some of the prelude and the aftermath. But it stands out with what they showed with Mizuki. I think minus the Mizuki stuff, we probably don't feel that way.
NiNi
In general, I agree with Shan, yes, but I do agree with Ginny as well that this is really Soga’s imagination. Like really pushing up his fears and anxieties and all that stuff.
Ben
I at least got to make a joke about the need for a robust public transport system [Shan and Ginny laugh], because it's what allows them to be compromised in the end of this. I’m like, “You see that? Robust, fast, frequent high speed rail is the only reason that these gays made it.”
NiNi
Public transport is for the gays, that's the new slogan.
So, ratings, how are we rating this one? Ginny, how about you? What do you think?
Ginny
I gave this one also an 8.5 from the opposite direction of Perfect Propose. I think execution wise it deserves a bit lower, but I enjoyed it so much that I bumped us up to 8.5.
Ben
Shandler?
Shan
I gave it a 7.5 because the execution issues really really bothered me. I think ultimately I really wanted to love it and I was disappointed that I didn't.
Ben
NiNi?
NiNi
I liked all the Osaka stuff. I liked how homey they made Osaka feel. I liked the female coworker who, having been pushed back, decided to become a full on supporter and get these two guys together. I gave it an 8. I had a good time with it. I think it was well done. I could have done without most of the Mizuki arc, but, I enjoyed it.
Ben
I did like Kanda a lot too, and his friend Kanada [Kaname]? Oh man, I really like the friend support group, but this show didn't come together fully for me. I struggle to really talk about it and give a clear recommendation for it, so it's a 7.5 for me.
Which averages out to a 7.89ish. We'll give it an 8. I think that's fair.
NiNi
I think it's fine for it to get an 8 from The Conversation.
Ben
We liked it. Even though it was not exactly what I think any of us was wanting.
01:04:44 - I Want To See Only You
NiNi
Next up, we're gonna talk the latest entry, actually: I Want to See Only You.
Ben, what is I Want to See Only You about?
Ben
It is about how we all really, really loved Kura Yuki in [laughs] His: I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love, and we needed another show with him.
Shan
Oh, man, you're struggling. You can't even deliver the joke, sir, [laughs] ‘cause it's so ridiculous.
[Ben laughs]
Ben’s just trying to score a point off me right now, but it's not working. [laughs]
Ben
Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai, aka I Want to See Only You, is a four episode Japanese BL, partially funded by Hulu—that was kind of interesting—in which two boys in high school go through a friends-to-lovers arc. One of them has been nursing a crush for a long time on his friend, and confesses to his friend, and they deal with the complications that ensue from that in a way that I thought was really gentle and wholesome. This was a very short story, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Because it's not that complicated! They've been childhood friends. One of them reveals that he has stronger feelings than just friendship, and the other guy just begins to process that, and we get this really interesting dynamic where they're figuring out what the changes to their relationship are going to be. There's not any real complicating drama here. It's really just about these guys sorting their shit out.
Shan
Yeah, I mean, this show is just uncomplicated. It is heartwarming. It is cute as fuck. It is two nice boys being kind to each other while they navigate a change in their relationship. It's really as simple as that. Sakura confesses to Yuma. Yuma processes the confession. They have a lovely kiss around the fire pit. It's so straightforward and I loved it. It was just nice to watch something that is gentle and kind and lovely, and that's what it is.
I really like this show. I think it's a great serotonin hit—a quick one. And definitely recommend folks watch it.
Ben
Ginny and Nini, did you have time to watch this show?
Ginny
I did not even know it existed until I saw it on the show notes and I was like, “What's that? Oh, well, I'm already doing another show as my homework.”
NiNi
I watched it. It was very short, very sweet. I came away just with the feeling of having really enjoyed watching something, like being wrapped in a nice warm blanket. Watching these two soft boys have a soft time and then all the kooky characters around them. This is one of the things about this kind of Japanese drama that I enjoy, which is all the kooky side characters.
So you've got the two teachers, you've got the girl who has the crush on—I can't remember which boy she has a crush on—and then the boy who has the crush on her. It's so fun. It's so delightful. The teachers are the second best part of the show. I love the teachers so much.
It's just fun. It's sweet. It doesn't require a lot of you. It's very wholesome. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Ben
I was being really goofy at the beginning of this, but I like Kura Yuki a lot and I'm really glad we got to see him in BL again. I thought he was really good in the His prequel, and I really enjoy getting to see him again.
NiNi
He has really sad eyes, which I actually really enjoyed.
Shan
Yeah, he has a really emotive face, I think. I'm excited to see him keep doing more shows.
Ben
There's really not that much more to say. This is a really quick, really gentle show. If you need a really good mood boost, I recommend it.
Ratings! Shan?
Shan
I gave this a 9. It is straightforward. It is sweet. It's an easy watch. Highly recommended.
Ben
NiNi?
NiNi
I also give it a 9. It's incredibly straightforward and cute. I enjoyed it. I like that they couldn't quite figure out how to shift their relationship from friends to boyfriends. They were dating and they're like, “Should we be doing, like, other stuff?” But they were just doing the same stuff that they had always done. I found that delightful.
Ben
I gave it a 9.5 for the terrible pasta they made. [Shan and NiNi laugh]
Shan
We forgot to talk about the pasta!
NiNi
The pasta was so bad.
Shan
[still laughing] Those boys really went outside and picked some tomatoes and just tossed them fully, without any chopping, into a pan and stirred them around a lil bit and put them on top of some fucking limp noodles and called that spaghetti.
Ben
Zero notes. [laughs]
NiNi
The pasta was still semi-crunchy. It was delightful. It was so high school. It was the most high school thing I've ever seen.
Shan
[still laughing] Raw tomatoes and, like, unseasoned noodles? Amazing.
Ben
I really loved it. For your context Ginny, this is when the boys are trying to figure out the shift in their relationship and they make a list of things they wanna do together. Making pasta with the tomatoes they were growing in the school garden was one of those things. And I thought that was a really lovely idea and super romantic. And then because they're a bunch of high school boys who barely know how to cook, they fucked it up badly. But they had a good time together. It was great.
Shan
It was so good.
Ginny
Incredible.
NiNi
Seriously, Ginny, it's a short watch. It's an easy watch. If you're ever in the mood for something to just lift your mood, I suggest watching it.
Ben
So it gets a 9 from The Conversation. It's worth your time. Please go watch it.
01:10:55 - I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama
NiNi
On to the main event, which Ben has literally been waiting to talk about since we recorded the winter series. We're finally going to talk about I Became the Main Role [of] a BL Drama. Ben, you've been basically building up to this moment. Go right ahead.
Ben
I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama is about how these two boys will drown the audience in the BL goodness. [Shan laughs]
NiNi
Oh God.
Ben
It is a BL about making a BL, which is a lot of fun. No shade against Thailand in this, but when they do self-critical BL it's not always the most fun experience because there's a lot of real grievances the people making it need to air—and I completely respect that. But it also can be kind of a downer. When Japan makes fun of BL, they end up seeming to have more fun poking at the nature of the genre and delivering on the comedic beats without it just feeling like a bitch session.
So, in this particular show, we have Aoyanagi Hajime, who is a former child actor who was struggling a bit with his career and trying to figure out how to move forward, and he gets an opportunity to be one of the leads in a BL production against a up-and-coming idol, Akafuji Yuichiro. They are working on a workplace BL and we're mostly on the set of them filming this show. We don't get to see the show itself. I really wish we would get to see the show they made, it looks great.
They're starting to work on the show, and the two guys do not seem to have much chemistry. The reason we learn is because Yuichiro is actually an Aoyanagi Hajime stan, who is internally freaking out the whole time because he's this close to his idol. And they suggest the two guys live together to build up their chemistry. Their relationship gets complicated as they start to develop something between each other, and this complicates their relationship on set as well. But we mostly spend that time unpacking Aoyanagi’s confidence issues.
This was my favorite show. Before I just start gushing about how beautiful I find Akutsu Nichika, Ginny, thoughts on the show?
Ginny
I love this show so much. Just hearing you talk about it, I was feeling little bubbles of delight remembering all of the different scenes and moments and setups. It was just exquisite. It was so fun and so funny. Very comic, but also felt true to these people as people. Love seeing the cheeky BL commentary. Love seeing Abe Alan play this cool, up-and-coming popular idol, who is just smitten with this kind of no-name, famous-for-one-ad guy and just is flailing around, having to try to act BL.
One of the best moments any BL drama will ever give us is him asking Hajime to record that one kinda bitchy line he says for fap material. [Ben and Shan laugh] God, that's the funniest thing that's ever happened to me personally.
Ben
We will not do that scene justice describing it because it's not just about the dialogue of the scenario. It is staged really well. The blocking is a huge part of the joke in that one, because of what other people know or don't know in the background. It's really a great sequence of the show.
NiNi
I loved all of the blocking in that show, all of the stage direction, all the stuff that's happening in the background of all the scenes when they're on set is hilarious. Japanese shows will always reward you for paying attention to what's happening in the background of a scene. And this show, in particular, the background of every scene, is just phenomenal. It is delightful.
Ben
We cruised into the new year watching this show.
Shan
It was both the last show of 2023 and the first show of 2024 for us.
Ben
This show ended, I was like, “We've already decided the winner [laughs] for ‘24. Everybody, pack it up.”
Shan
I love this show. It's a great example of a super high velocity comedy where it's just joke, joke, joke, joke, joke coming at you from all sides in every moment of the show, not just through the dialogue, but through the scenery, through the blocking, through the things that other characters are doing just out of the frame. This thing is just packed, packed, packed with jokes, and so every time you watch it, you will see new stuff that you missed last time. There are so many gags in this, it's just so well done. The command you have to have to deliver comedy in that way with this extremely zippy pacing, in that super-packed content to shove it all into this three hour package. It's just so impressive. It's the kind of precision that most productions can only aspire to.
There was such good visual jokes in this. The reveal that Akafuji had been wearing a fan T-shirt [laughs] underneath his clothes in scenes. There was a fantastic scene with a leg kabedon.
Ben
Hold on, this is fun. Let's go around the group with a gag that we remember until we run out. Shan gave two. NiNi?
NiNi
I mean, I feel like the leg kabedon was a moment, because when I finally watched the show, I literally said, “Did he just do a kabedon with his leg?” and I was instructed [Ginny and Shan laugh] in the ways of Japanese media in that moment.
Shan
Sure did!
Ben
Ginny?
Ginny
Him running after Hajime carrying his Hajime standee.
Ben
After he had previously used it as a shield. [laughs]
Ginny
Yeah.
Ben
One of the gags I enjoyed was all Aoyangi mentioning he was called a bad kisser by his ex, and Akafuji just checks out for that moment, like he's not even listening to the rest of the conversation. He just keeps repeating “moto kono,” referring to the ex-girlfriend over and over again because he's spiraling over it. I enjoyed that one a lot.
[all laugh]
NiNi
Speaking of spiraling! Him fighting with the showerhead.
Shan
[Ginny and NiNi laugh] Oh my God! The showerhead! I still don’t understand what he was doing in that scene, but it was so funny.
Ben
It represents his sexual desire almost being out of control.
Shan
Oh, I got that part. [laughs] I just don't understand what the character was doing.
[Ginny laughs]
Ben
Struggling.
NiNi
When he nearly kissed Aoyanagi, then he went outside and basically hung over the balcony railing [laughs]. Just had a meltdown just from being close enough to almost kiss him.
Ben
The spinning scene on the steps where I was like, “He's gonna kill that boy.” [Ginny laughs]
Shan
Yes! When they were like, twirling each other around on a concrete stairway. [Ben laughs]
There were so many good supporting characters in this, too. I really liked the initial pitch scene with the producers who are describing the vision for the show.
Ben
That was fucking fantastic.
NiNi
Oh my God!
Shan
The level of intensity that they were bringing to their description of this super fucking basic office BL. [laughs]
Ben
Our follow[ers] did not understand the way I lost my shit over this show after the first episode. From the “I will drown the audience in the BL goodness” scene, I was like, “This is it, y'all. This is the show.”
Shan
This is the one.
Ben
“Everyone else can go. I'm done. I found what I needed.”
NiNi
So funny, and literally every time she was on screen, whether it was foreground or background, she was killin’ it. I loved her.
Shan
Every performer in this show was so dialed in at all times, whether they were the focus of a scene or not, they were always doing something important and funny in the background. There was also, of course, the great runner with the managers—
Ginny
The managers!
Shan
—who were carrying on a secret romance.
Ben
We saw them interacting like, “Are they exes? Are they together? What's goin’ on?”
Shan
It was clear somethin’ was going on there from the start.
Ben
They know each other, that's for sure.
Ginny
Mmhmm.
NiNi
They definitely know each other.
Ginny
They know each other.
Shan
They know each other. I was very surprised by the spicy reveal we got [laughs] about their relationship.
NiNi
It was kind of spicy, wasn't it? There was choking involved.
Shan
And then also Ryoga, who was brought in to be a co-star in the show. He was, like, a very well known actor/influencer, I think?
Ben
He was a member of a boy band and they were bringing him in for additional crossover appeal. ‘Cause his strong point was his arrogance. [Ginny and Ben laugh] He walks in the room and they're like throwing fucking feathers for him. And then he starts helping them pick it up. “Thanks for throwing the feathers, guys.” [all laugh]
Shan
This drama! Three episodes, it had a small cast, but it did so much with what it had.
Ben
We were only with this show for two hours, but boy was that a great time.
NiNi
It was so much fun. The producer, the look on her face in the background when the two of them were flirting on set and she caught them? [Shan laughs] Her face was slowly lighting up. [laughs]
Ben
She's like—
Shan
So happy.
Ben
—”Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.” [all laugh]
I love the manager glaring at his own fucking ward. He's like, “Can you read that line again for me?” and he glares at him. [Ben and Ginny laugh]
Shan
Oh man.
Ben
In terms of the BL commentary, that was fun. There's the whole ramp up of you get selected for a role, you don't really know your costar, there's the reading of the material.
One of the things I really enjoyed with this is that they delved into Aoyanagi really struggling with the fact that he was unable to build rapport with his co-star right away. I like actors getting to play actors and stuff. When Aoyanagi was acting as his character, he was actually really good and was really dialed in. It was really cool how quickly he could go in and out of character. I really liked them showing that he's actually good, but he's in his own head about it because he's really sensitive to commentary from fans, and they reinforce how fan behavior has really potentially negative impacts on actors and entertainers with Kuromiya. He gets cornered by a really aggressive fan, and has to be saved by Aoyanagi in that moment.
I actually liked the moment with Tendo, the female supporting character on their cast, when Aoyanagi’s trying to talk to her about what's going on with Akafuji and he's speaking about it hypothetically, and she's like, “If your co-star is trying to make out with you off set, that's not good.”
Shan
Mmhmm.
Ben
“That's extremely bad.” And he's like, “Wait, but this is a BL story, we're gonna just ride it out for this.” But she's like, “Mmm, no.”
Shan
Aside from how very fucking funny this is, it had some really good messages. The most important thing this show did for me was make it super clear that, in order for the two of them to have a real relationship and have a romance, Akafuji had to let go of being Aoyanagi’s fan. You can't idolize and worship a person if you want a relationship with them. You have to process them as a human being, a full human being, and see them fully for who they are, and not keep them on this fannish pedestal. I really like that the show was clear about that. Being a fan, being a stan of somebody, is not the same thing as loving them.
Ben
It was really surprising as well that the show allowed there to be the commentary about the network, late in production, interfering—getting cold feet about something. The guys had a lot of consternation about whether or not they'd be able to deliver a proper kiss for the intimacy, and then the powers that be pulled the kiss, and you get the sense immediately from the producers that that wasn't their choice, that people with money above them made that decision and they had to just deliver the party line and just accept it.
Shan
That probably brings us to our one real criticism of this show, yeah?
Ben
The reason why the show did not get a 10. [laughs]
Shan
Damn it, we wanted it to get a 10!
Ben
I get what they were going for. They reserved that moment for them. But I'm looking at you TV Asahi.
Shan
Because, they did not deliver a kiss.
Ben
They didn't.
Shan
They did not deliver a kiss in this show. [laughs]
Ben
It’s the only knock.
Shan
They teased a kiss continuously. They showed them about to kiss multiple times before cutting the camera away.
Ben
We got sad kissing in episode 2.
Shan
They implied that they might have been kissing as practice off camera, that we didn't see. And then they ended the show—similarly to Cherry Magic—with the camera zooming in on them, about to kiss, and then a cut to black. It was unsatisfying all around.
It's the one real ding on the show. The first time they did the fake out, we were like, “Oh no, show. Please don't do this. We want to love you unreservedly. Please just deliver the kiss.”
Ben
That's the real sadness of our two grab bags. We did not get a NiNi “I love this unreservedly” and we talked about like 10 shows. [Ben and Shan laugh]
NiNi
Everything's got a little ding to it right now, but we'll get that again, I believe.
Ben
[laughs] But genuinely I love this. I really like that for the little time we spent with them, all the characters felt really human to me in a way that was really accessible. And even though they were mostly broad strokes in all of these characters, I got a lot out of it. It was really, truly one of my favorite BL experiences I've had in a long time.
NiNi
I'm gonna give it a 9.75.
Ben
Oh, my God, here she goes.
Shan
[laughs] She’s cheating! That’s just cheating—
Ginny
Cheating!
Shan
—so you can be the most generous.
NiNi
It's not cheating. It is producer privilege. Get it right. [Ginny and Shan laugh]
Ben
Ginny?
Ginny
I gave it a 9.5. Would have been a 10 if they'd given us the kiss, but a truly delightful and worthwhile show.
Shan
Same. 9.5 for same reason.
Ben
I gave it a 9.5 for the same thing. It's a 9.5 from The Conversation.
Shan
But let the record state that NiNi is the most generous. [laughs]
Ben
Truly, we love this. This is one of our favorites. Go watch it right now.
Ginny
I have to rewatch it ‘cause I don't even remember my favorite gags.
Ben
Exactly. You gotta go watch again and get your gags back.
01:26:16 - Outro
NiNi
And with that, we have come to the end of our Japanese Grab Bag. So, what are we thinking about Japanese BL having just run down six of them in a row? Ginny, you go first.
Ginny
Last time I answered this question I was kind of feeling like Japanese BL can do no wrong, and now I feel like, well it can, and has. There have been several less than perfect shows. Still feeling very positive overall. Loving so far—knock wood—some of what's currently airing.
The beautiful density of storytelling that Japanese BL tends to deliver in such a short time, it almost never feels hollow or incomplete. It feels very rich and detailed, and I continue to love and appreciate that.
Ben
Shan?
Shan
I am just living right now. What a time to be alive. Japanese BL coming at us, all the time, consistently. It didn't used to be like this. We used to go long stretches with nothing coming out from Japan. No clue what was gonna come next. And now it’s like, we've got these consistently airing shows, we've got shows that are showing up as a surprise alongside that. I think at one point we had six different Japanese QLs airing simultaneously. That's just an unheard of bounty of Japanese QL content, and I am so happy about it. I hope it continues.
With volume, of course, comes some shows that are not gonna hit as well as the cream of the crop, but I still love the experience of watching all of them, I love getting to dig into this much Japanese content. I'm just so happy and I hope it continues.
Ben
I can't believe we got to talk about nine Japanese projects in a single season of this show. That's ridiculous.
Shan
Wow, right?
Ben
I am having a great time, and I'm actually glad some of these shows were flops or duds. As much as I really like Japanese BL, I'm glad that there was a show that I got to genuinely hate in this run [laughs] so that NiNi could see that I'm capable of hating a Japanese project with my whole heart.
NiNi
I did actually need to see that. That is true.
Ben
I'm havin’ a great time. It's really refreshing that so many different networks were involved. We had shows from about five or six different networks, and even if it feels like we're getting a slowdown in spring, I am very glad that we have more projects on the way. There's at least two more Japanese projects on the horizon, so. I'm in a really good place.
NiNi
There's some stuff in there, I think, that we're going to talk about in the Lagniappe about where things seem to be going next season, but for now, that's going to be it from us.
We out. Say bye to the people, everybody, this time in actual chorus: 1, 2, 3.
Ben
Peace.
Shan
Bye.
Ginny
Bye!
NiNi
Oh my God. Y'all are terrible at this.
[Ginny and Shan laugh]
#ben and nini's conversations#lgbtq#podcast#the conversation#on art#bl series#spring series#japanese bl#sahara sensei to toki kun#sukiyanen kedo do yaro ka#although i love you and you#perfect propose#i became the main role of a bl drama#bl drama no shuen ni narimashita: crank up hen#one room angel#i want to see only you#kimi no koto dake mite itai#Spotify
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Kitty crew apocalypse bios:
“Your tricks don’t work on me,not anymore.”
Shelby
Status: healthy/immune
Hostile
Info:She felt down at the beginning of the apocalypse,especially when losing her brother,however seeing infected heading to her home,she put herself together and became the houses protector. However she spend so much time in her corrupted form that her scarred eye became permanently black and pink,she missed her brother and old life,but she kept those feelings hidden so she could provide for her family.
“I’ll destroy that dark gods hopes and dreams.”
Nala
Status: healthy
Hostile
Info:She’s a protector of her family ever since the outbreak began,however she didn’t come out unscathed,as she got one of her eye torn out by a zombie and lost a arm saving midnight from the glitch,though despite that,she’s still a expert fighter,even with light a eye and arm,she still defends her family and sets out to destroy darkons dream.
“You can’t stop the vengeful spirt you created..”
Casper
Status: immune
Docile
Casper,being a ghost/guardian angel,can’t die or get infected,so he has no problem blow-dosing though the infected,though he prefers to just stay inside trying to keep peace between his siblings so they don’t kill each other,though he looks ok,he’s not mentally ok,feeling with feelings of grudge over to loss of his happy life when everything was peaceful and not toxic,and also missing his lost Dino dad.
“Papa will come back..he HAS too..he wouldn’t break our promise I’m sure of it!..”
Midnight
Status: infected (stage 4 of glitch infection)
Docile
Info: She followed her siblings orders to stay inside when the apocalypse began,however,using his DNA the glitch lured midnight away and tried fully corrupting her,she already had gotten attacked by it on the first few minutes of the apocalypse as it had attacked her head,nala and temp arrived to defend thier sister,however the glitch being so close to midnight was able to spread on her despite not touching her bringing her from stage 1,to stage 4 in a matter of seconds,upon seeing nala sacrifice her arm to protect her,midnight had channeled her new glitch power to teleport the three home,now a stage 4 infected,whenever not hanging out with lamina and crest,she secludes herself in her room,crying,heartbroken by the loss of her papa,and the loss of everyone’s happiness,she wears MBs old coat to somehow keep a part of him with her..
“That’s what it takes to be a living weapon.”
pinkie/pinkamena
Status: healthy,hostile
Info: throughout the several months of the apocalypse,pinkie tried keeeping up her optimism,however,after months of no sign of her bestie and thier family unit began to fall apart,she finally lost her cheer,shifting into her pinkamena personality. Although she can slice through infected,she has gone cold and depressed..sometimes so bitter and angry..she often harms herself to let out her frustration..
“I’m gonna make you wish I stayed down..”
Temp
Status: healthy
Hostile
Info: the apocalypse hardened temps spirit,going from a shy guy,to a toughened warrior,he fights off infected whenever he can,never letting his guard down so ready to battle his exe eye is always open and showing. However,even after the family began to drift apart,he was still kind to those who needed it and was still a good influence on the twins,he’s learned that senseless aggression will only make you bitter after all.
“I can never go out there..n-not again..”
Sunny
Status: healthy
Docile
Info:Had gotten in a bad firery car crash getting food for the others and was very scarred,he was too weak to defend himself when the infected were surrounded him,as he woke up from unconscious,he learned simba had saved him,ever since then,he’s stayed inside,hiding in the bathroom whenever the raids against his home would happen.
“I’ll show you what a feral cat can really do!”
Simba
Status: healthy
Hostile
Info:Got in a car crash with simba getting food,unlike his brother,he was strong enough to stay awake and he grabbed his brother,trying to fight off the infected as well as he could,they were saved by Shelby but simba was never the same. He went from an over competent smug guy,to a completely serious feral guy,often giving into his feral cat instinct to fight off the waves of infected.
“I’m so..hideous..this is all my fault..”
Herb
Status: infected (stage 5 zombie infection)
Docile
Info:Near the beginning of the apocalypse,she got bit and infected with the zombie infection,through the months she had been slowly decaying into a zombie,its thanks to Shelby’s magic that protected her brain that she’s still herself,and she must take a magic syringe everyday to make sure her body doesn’t decay anymore. She’s very guilty for getting bit and can’t stand seeing herself in the mirror for she feels so dirty and hideous..
“ I miss our happy beach days..”
Seasalt
Status: infected (corruption infection stage 2)
Docile
Info:When lamina was kidnapped and corrupted by an infected.Seasalt and midnight went over and saved her,however the infection spreaded to seasalt,infecting her hands and eye. She now shelters herself inside the house,desperate to not spread her infection and put others in danger.
“Can you people act smart for once?”
Lavender
Status: healthy
Docile
Info: lavender stays inside at all times,researching anything she can about magic,curses,and everything about illnesses and fevers,while taking notes whenever she can about the infectious,all this research has left her sleep deprived. She deeply resents blaze for putting them both in so much danger they almost lost their lives at the bottom of a canyon,where lavender got her several scars.
“This will only end if we fight back! Stop being such a baby!!!”
Blaze
Status: healthy
Hostile
Info: she is very hostile with fighting off the infected that threaten their home with a flamethrower,leaving to her multiple burn marks. She’s very reckless,resulting in many fights between lavender and blaze. Blaze one day had wandered to find darkon to kill him herself,tired of waiting,lavender tried stopping her and the two got into a kitty cat fight resulting in them falling into a cliff,after lavender recovered,the two’s relationship was permanently damaged and blazes toxic behavior effected everyone else,however,she still feels guilty for what happened to lavender and that’s why she stays with her family.
“I may be infected..but I don’t regret trying to help out my sister.”
Snow
Status: infected (stage 1 of glitch infection)
Docile
Info: snow stayed indoors to avoid the plague outside and was able to stay healthy,however,when trying to comfort midnight when she was crying,when attempting to wipe her tears,as he touched them his hand was completely tooken over by the glitch,ever since then they discovered her blood and tears could be lethal as it could spread the glitch infection. However snow doesn’t regret this action,he wears gloves to hide his infection and still comforts his siblings. If no ones going to be the emotional support,he will,even if it kills him..
“Don’t bother me..wake me when I’m dead..”
Nightfall
Status: healthy
Docile
Info: after so much drama going on with the family,it all became too much for nightfalls gentle and soft heart to handle..so he locked himself in his room and just preferred to sleep all day,avoiding everyone,he hardly ate or drank,becoming thin but he didn’t care,he just wanted to be left alone..or die..
“There’s no light anymore..only dull skies..”
Galaxy
Status: healthy
Info: Galaxy tried to keep the family unit stable however as more pressure and drama piled up from the apocalypse,she stopped trying..as she died inside her color drained as her spirit faded..now she just stares at her window,wondering what could’ve been..living life like a mindless machine..she no longer lives..she just merrily exists..
-mod Shelby
(Nuuu ;w;)
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I HAD THE BEST BYLER DREAM LAST NIGHT AND I REALLY WANNA SHARE IT WITH YOU ALL
it's so long (literally 2k words) so im gonna put it under the cut haha <3
so basically this would take place after mike and will start dating or something, idk exactly the time frame (i picture them being like 18 or something and this is the summer before college) and will goes to this summer arts program for like 2/3 months (i dunno how long american summer is but something like that) and its all the way far from home so there is dorms and stuff and he's "not in hawkins anymore" (no pun intended)
mike and will decide after will finishes his school they'd go to college together (cuz they're gonna be comic book artists together bc thats boyfriend shit) so throughout these months he's practically just waiting for will (<333333)
so one specific scene i remember from my dream involved will and mike getting off the bus to the school and then they hug and then mike grabs wills hand and brings him behind the bus and then he gives will a biggg kiss bc he won't be able to kiss him for 3 months. then they say they love each other and will gives him another quick kiss and is like "two kisses". they agree they'd call each other every day.
so will goes inside and mike goes back on the bus and goes home.
and basically the whole day is a whirl, until the end of it, in which mike is sitting in the kitchen near the phone waiting for like 3 hours for will to call, and will doesn't end up calling.
AND THEN IT GETS SPICYYYYY
so meanwhile at the arts program will asks like the front desk or something if he can call mike and they say phone is offlimits and they don't let him call mike
so then will goes to sleep and he's paranoid that he thinks mike is gonna hate him or something like that
mk than the next day in class there is this girl (they didn't reveal her name in the dream, ill call her stella) so stella is basically looking at will the entire class but will doesn't know it
so when they exit the class stella's like "hi" and will says "hi"
then stella says "i like your painting."
will is like rlly weirded out so he goes "thanks?"
"i um- hope this doesn't sound weird but i have no friends, do you want to be mine?"
"sure"
and then end of scene (this does not sound like a normal conversation but it's my dream so it doesn't have to make sense"
so BACK AT HAWKINS mike is still sleeping even tho it's like 3 pm because yk depressed boyfriend shit but then the PHONE RINGS and mike gets out of bed frantically and goes to the phone and he picks it up and is like "will?" and then it answers "it's el, idiot"
i feel like this is important for context but el speaks english very well now and hoppers back and she lives with hopper and not the byers anymore. ANYWAYS
el says "how's will?"
mike says "idk he didn't call"
"he didn't?"
"no, he didn't"
"okay. well maybe he will call later"
"yeah mb"
"wanna come over"
"ok"
so mike hangs up and gets changed and goes to el's house bc they r a couple o' besties and when he gets there it's like a therapy sessions bc mike usally talks to will every single day and he can't for like 3 months (unless will calls, but he's not going to) so he accepts he's gonna be depressed for 3 months and he's just talking to el about how he's gonna miss him so much and no be able to see his face and that shit
so el's like "well do u wanna do something to take ur mind off of him"
and mike's like "no im not gonna replace will" (I SCREAMED IN MY DREAM SRSLY)
but than el says "okay. guess im gonna go to the mall by myself" (ig starcourt is rebuilt by now)
and than mike bolts up and is like "fine"
"we can by something for will"
"okay yay"
so then they go to starcourt yasss!!
anyways back at the art school will is having lunch and stella is with he friends (even tho she said she doesn't have any friends) and one of her friends is like "omg did you see _____ he's so hot"
and another friend says "YESS! but ____ is cuter"
"what abt u stella? who do u have ur eyes on"
she says "byers" BUT NOOOOOOO WILL IS MIKES MAN
and they say "ew that kid who came back to life"
she says "yea. but he's cute, and shy, and once i wrap them around my finger i can get them to do anything"
so then she goes to sit down next to will at lunch
"hi will"
"hi"
"hru"
"im good"
"okay. good." and she gets upset because will goes ask how she is but she keeps her urging rage inside. and than they have this weird conversation and will is uncomfortable the whole time bc shes all like flirting with him and will is seeing someone obvi
but then she puts a hand on will's shoulder and he's shaking and then says something (idk what it is it wasn't explaining in my dream) then will stands up and runs to the bathroom. so he's just sitting in the stalls crying.
okay back at starcourt this part wasn't shown in my dream but im just gonna make up that mike and el go looking around starcourt for something for will (sort of like the mike/lucas/will montage where they were looking for stuff for el) and then i guess they find something for will and i don't have the slightest idea what they could have got for him BUT THEY GOT HIM SOMETHING GOOD
so mike's all happy but they'res still that depression inside of him lol
so fast forward a week, it really isn't explained but ill just make up that will still hasn't called mike, and he's super sad and all sleeping in but decides to look through his good ol binder full of will's drawings and in the arts school will and stella have a few more interactions im sure which are still very uncomfortable
okay so it's lunch again in the cafeteria and somehow will and stella are talking again but somehow it ends in stella kissing will and will like pulls away immediatley and is like "what is wrong with you!?"
and she says "what?"
"i'm seeing someone!"
"oh i uh- i didn't know."
the whole cafeteria is staring at them
so will's freaking out almost on the verge of a panic attack "idk what to do, he's gonna hate me and-"
"he?"
will has the look on his face like shit shit shit oh fuck no
"you're gay?"
"i-"
and will runs off once again. and everyone in the whole cafeteria knows that he's day and ofc with everybody being homophobic will knows it's not good at all bc everyone's gonna bully him
so then the next day he goes to class and the teacher is like "does anyone care to tell me where ___ is?" (it would be like a math question like 'where x is' but in art idkkk) and then the teacher calls on "will? can you tell me where ___ is?" and they'res a pause and then the teacher says "or perhaps you'd want to find your boyfriend instead?" (giving me anne with an e vibes prolly cuz i did a rewatch last weekend but i won't explain more in case some people haven't watched it but) anyways will stands up from his seat, everyone is looking at him, and he's shaking and so concerned but then he goes "fuck. you" badass will yeaaaa thats my boy
so then he runs out of the classroom and out of the school in a really cool montage way but then he realizes he's like 2 hours away from home but he runs and runs and he goes to a random bustop (it's not even garanteed if it takes him to hawkins but whatever) he gets on and tries to go back to hawkins.
and soon enough, he gets there, and immediatley goes to the wheelers because he needs to see mike and apologize for everything. so he's at the wheelers, and rings the doorbell, realizing he's still in his uniform lol but karen answers and mike is upstairs in his room sulking (i picture it would be 8 pm by now) so will asks for mike and karen calls mike. mike groans obviously because he doesn't know it's his boy, but he comes down, karen gets out of the way and as soon as he sees will they have a really big hug and it's super sweet and my heart UFHEIOSKA
mike says his usual "are you okay?" and mike is still confused as shit but will says "i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry" and mike says "you don't have to be sorry for anyrhing" but will says "ill explain"
so then they go to will's room, side-by-side on his bed and will starts explaining everything
(this is mostly improvised by me but it's still pretty similar to the dream)
"i hated it."
"the school?"
"yeah. there was no you, (mike blushes lmao), everything was terrible, i felt so lonely, they didn't let me call you-"
"what?"
"they said the phone was off limits. i wanted to talk to you so bad and i thought you'd hate me"
"i could never hate you, will, even if i tried." will smiles
"and then there was this girl, and she hit on me and i didn't know what to do bc i'd be the face of the school if i told her i was dating you and was gay and today she kissed me"
"WHAT"
"im sorry im sorry i didn't kiss back and i was so scared bc i never was in a relationship before and i was so scared it was considered cheating-"
and mike LAUGHSS
"what? mike? what's wrong?"
"if you don't do anything back, it's not considerd 'cheating'"
"oh. good. are you mad at me?"
"what? no! no never!" so mike opens his arms and says "come here" so will and mike hug or something like that and then mike says "do you need me to beat her up?"
and will says "you can't even beat eggs. besides, your noodle arms wouldn't be able to do harm to even a fly"
so mike laughs and says "i'm glad your home"
so will blurts "i cursed out a teacher"
"you? cursing?"
"yes."
"might have to start calling you a bad boy now"
will just smiles and says "i love you"
and mike says "i love you too"
AND THEN END AND IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF BC I LOVE THIS DREAM LIKE I CAN'T BELIEVE MY BRAIN THOUGHT OF THIS BUT IM OBSESSED
ALSO ONCE I FINISH WYBMFFAE ILL PROBABLY WRITE THIS INTO A FULL BLOWN FIC BUT AHIHFUSAH
edit: i have no idea what mike did with the present him and el bought for will but i guess they ended up giving it to him lol
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Heyyy sorry for disappearing today it’s been exhausting 😖 there was a lot of back and forth as to whether they should wait till after the storm to bring the boys home but luckily storm calmed down and they made it back safe and sound :) haha as I’m typing this boyfie is currently passed out on top of my boobs so I won’t be getting any action tonight haha (poor bby didn’t sleep very well last night since they kept waking them up)
How are you doing? Any exciting dique appointments? Also BAHAHAH YOU ALMOST BECAME A STEP MOTHER TWICE TBATS SO FUNNY BUT YOU WOULD BE A GREAT MOM SO 🥰🥺 (if that’s what you want that it)
~anon with mb boyfie
ahhh hi lovey!! i’m happy to hear that he is safely back home with you!! ahh i hope both of you get some rest tho 🥺 but don’t worry there’s plenty of time for dique after resting, yeah?
unfortunately i still dislike men atm 😂😂😂😂 GAJSKSKS YEAH TWICE OMFG
the first guy was this giant rugby player and he was like 6’6 😳 but he always used to invite me to his games where his baby son would be and just shskskks
the second was my old guy friend who i used to hook up with when i was 19, but then he had a son with his ex and then earlier this year was tryna slide back in gsjsksks
i spent most of my life disliking children and my sister puts me off kids lmao (even tho for some reason they love me) so i was like not keen on having babies, probably not until last year i thought it could be a possibility i would consider hahahaha
my mum used to lowkey scare me in high school about child birth and stuff 😂😂😂😂 so that’s why birth control is my bestie <3
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