#den markings

[ghostcherrie]

elesa would probably say something like ''pane and simple''

(i miss making meme redraws)

[thinkingimages]

Mark van den Brink – The Minox Files 06401.00.paris, 2000

[corvidaeconundrum]

Cesar and Mark happy moments(real not clickbait) ( @mustangs-flames )

Flipped image below \/ incase anyone wanted matching pfps or something like that idk ndjsebdjjsdj

[naffeclipse]

If we’re mixing aus like this then what about naga CS Eclipse? Cryptid hunter Y/N traipsing through the jungle looking to hunt down a monster that’s been terrorizing a local town, except whoops! They found this big cuddly bastard along the way

Oh geeze though, what if BL Eclipse and SJ Naga Eclipse with Cryptid hunter Y/N,,, the shenanigans,,, the violence,,,,,

YOOO

Augh, CS Eclipse as a naga is terrifying and gorgeous! He keeps his four arms so he can be the most creature. His long tail is inky black like water under a moonless sky, and he shines iridescently with crimson and midnight blue in the light. His horns and frills are so strange and majestic. His jaws can split open and swallow any animal whole. He's quite the terrifying sight.

A monster in the jungle.

CS!Eclipse is less demonic and more monstrous, so that means no vessel to hide behind. Y/N meets him first in the darkness of night, mistaking him for a helpful person hidden behind the trees who guides them to the next town because what kind of monster would hesitate to strike them dead where they stood?

"You look lost, friend."

"I think you're right. Can you point me to the next town?"

"...Follow. Watch your step."

"Oh, thank you, sweetie. That's very kind of you."

Eclipse leads Y/N to where they need to go. Y/N tries to ask how they can express their gratitude to him for making a scary and difficult journey through the jungle at night just to help them, but Eclipse has already faded into the darkness. He still watches Y/N in their confusion at his disappearance. He knows what a monster hunter looks like. He could have killed them, but they were kind to him, unafraid when he first spoke.

Perhaps a few more midnight meetings in the thickest, densest parts of the jungle where Y/N won't catch a glimpse of his black tail or his four wicked pairs of claws would be lovely.

Perhaps Y/N might hunt too far into the jungle one night and get lost, unable to make it to town before morning. Eclipse could help them find shelter and a place to rest, never revealing himself, much to Y/N's growing intrigue. Maybe, once Y/N has finally fallen asleep, he can slip close enough to brush their hair across their forehead and feel their warmth and wonder how badly they would react once they realized what they were speaking to. But morning arises, as it always does, and Y/N wakes up to foggy dreams of their cheek being stroked as they were carried through the night. But it was just a dream. They don't find their friend in the jungle but they do find their way back to town—interestingly, they were a lot closer than they originally thought.

Now Cryptid Hunter Y/N with BL!Eclipse and SJ!Eclipse? That's not the best combo for a fighter who already has it out for any monsters.

BL!Eclipse understands what Y/N is; he loathes them. He wants to kill them the second they step where they shouldn't. Unfortunately, they have a very large shadow following their every move, so BL!Eclipse chooses to either stay away (the hunter can pick that naga off first for all BL!Eclipse cares) or wait until the hunter is alone, and then strike. He can easily stay out of sight and reach, but he is not fond of humans who think they can be rid of him easily.

SJ!Eclipse on the other hand is so much worse. Go figure. It's one thing to not immediately give in to him. It's another thing entirely to try and stop him. Imagine his umbrage at this little human trying to kill him. Cryptid Hunter Y/N is a fighter and isn't about to slow down to chat with what they know to be a lethal beast. Unfortunately for Y/N, that means a deathly encounter. SJ!Eclipse sees red and a living stress ball that he wants to squeeze to death after being shot at, and poor Y/N is going to endure far worse harm before their spilled blood gives SJ!Eclipse pauses and, perhaps, just one little reason to not squish this little bug quite yet.

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 10 EDITION -- WHEN THE HOES CAN'T CATCH A BREAK

I wrote about the hoes yesterday in response to my reaction to the Atom/Boston scandal. But really, my thoughts on hoes not being able to catch breaks in Only Friends, I think, extends to.... maybe to this entire show itself.

I thought yesterday's episode was fantastic. The acting was SPARKLING. I finally felt like I appreciated having both First and Khaotung acting together. Good LORD, Khaotung. The scene in Sand's apartment, the wailing meditation in the rehab triage. Khaotung out-Gaipa'ed himself. Utterly amazing, and First rose to the occasion as well. I also thought Book carried himself more strongly than I had seen in previous episodes -- him and Force carried their tension well in this episode.

But I wrote to @lurkingshan yesterday -- maybe typifying myself as an international fan -- that I feel a little unsettled about the direction of where this show is either going, and/or where I thought this show was going to go.

In my ask to Shan, I indicated that through ALL of the preliminary material we had available to us about OF, from the initial promos, to Jojo and team interacting on social media, the actors and the entire artistic team dropping hints -- that I had a relatively strong sense of where this show was going.

I will be honest and selfish! I was particularly excited about a potential vision from Jojo et al that having lots of sex on the part of an individual would be a decision that would possibly NOT be judged by others. I was damn excited about potentially seeing a meditation on that. It was certainly a vibe that had been easily reached in Jojo's early work in Gay OK Bangkok.

Shan wrote in her answer to me (thank you, dear friend!) that so much has shaped and likely changed the trajectory of Only Friends from its original gestation to the current editing process. This includes observations made by Jojo et al about how the fandoms have spoken about the show on social media.

Our amazing mutual, @bengiyo Sensei, went even further in separate conversation with Shan, noting even more of the various factors that have likely impacted the original vision of this show as had been proposed to us in the fandom last fall. Ben notes that the process of a show changing trajectory within its airing time is common practice. Both Shan and Ben did not hesitate to note that the presence of the shipped pairs of FirstKhao and ForceBook -- and the influence of the large fandoms surrounding these two pairs -- has very likely impacted the Only Friends storylines, to the extent of possibly demanding that the show have more linear, monogamous, and romantic stories and conclusions than were originally expected (at least, as expected from fans like myself, who were already familiar with the boundaries that Jojo usually likes to push).

While MewTop and SandRay continue to flirt with, to toe the line of more traditionally romantic conclusions (okay, maybe not MewTop as much, I'll get there in a bit) -- I feel like I've been caught by a bit of surprise that BostonNick have also been bitten by this current romance bug.

While I really did love this episode (and I'll explain why down below in a bit, besides Khao's stellar acting), I'm just feeling.... a little saddened and bogged down that Boston's ass was handed to him like that. So, Atom lies. Cheum stands up for Atom. I cannot expect Cheum to do less in that moment as a big sis, although I have very much questioned her judgment in the past (like inviting Mew's ex to their hostel Halloween party, what the fuck).

I'm sighing with a bit of regret, because in this episode, the framing of a resolution for Boston is that Nick comes back to Boston. Boston admits to Nick he's acted like an asshole, as I screenshot above, and we know that -- filming RayMew, sleeping with Top.

But I don't know, in the summation of his saying that he's done "awful things," if he's also lumping his life of engaging in casual sex, as he unwinds to Nick. I just -- I don't want Boston judging himself for having casual sex. (To @respectthepetty's point! Let the sluts slut. Why judge?)

Don't do shitty things to your friends, for sure, but if I were your mom, Boston? Have the sex. If someone's gonna judge you, it ain't me.

Are we getting an indirect judgement against Boston’s casual sex with a resolution that Nick will come back to Boston’s life? Is the show telling us that, vis à vis Nick's return, that Boston will be redeemed by.... monogamy? Is that what Cheum's and Mew's presence at the confrontation telling us? Is Boston’s ultimate resolution that he’ll have either a relationship or an LDR with Nick?

If that’s what works for the narrative device of Boston, then — okay. I will have to trust Jojo and team with that. I do NOT want to question Boston’s reaching a point of queer joy by finding love in a relationship with Nick. If Jojo and team are telling us a story that people-judged-as-sluts can find love in a relationship, then... I wasn't expecting Only Friends to go in that somewhat puritanical direction, but I'll go with it, because I trust Jojo.

But I think I am feeling a little bummed about how we may have gotten there. Because, goddamn: for once, give me a world in which casual sex is NOT judged. For heavens' sake, Cheum and Mew. Khai and I’ll sit in the corner with tears in our eyes.

My ho heart is pining for what could have been (chaos leading to a summation judgement AGAINST monogamous purity). But, anyway. None of this is ACTUALLY resolved, I need to tell my damn self; we still have two episodes left, and I’ll stop being so mewdy about it.

The other question I have floating about this episode is: what’s Mew’s motivation to get revenge against Top NOW? If he wanted to team up with Boeing to get back at Top — narratively, that may have made more sense two or three episodes ago, no? During the last episode, we saw Mew very much teetering on the edge of what he should do. His moms LOVED Top, and they missed all of Mew’s confused signals. We ended episode 9 with Mew stating to Cheum that he thought he was still in love with Top.

I appreciate a good state of confusion. Mew might still love Top. Mew might still be damn angry at Top, too. As I’ve written before, the wise Daniel Tiger has taught my kids, and so many more, that having two or more feelings is okay.

But I’m wondering about the timing of this arc. Mew plans something out with Boeing seemingly AFTER he's chosen to resolve his issues with Top. What was it about Boeing’s presence that triggered another revenge reaction in Mew? Mew’s….already been there with revenge. With Ray. And that’s done now. I don’t think I’m clear on Mew’s motivation on revenge AGAIN. Unless? Unless... I'm rubbing my hands together....

.....unless it’s to actually just SLEEP with Boeing, because come AWN, let me get to what I actually, really LOVED about this episode.

Shan indicated in her answer to me yesterday that OF was originally supposed to be constructed with GMMTV’s stable of supporting actors — your Neos, your Marks, your Papangs, your Monds.

For me? Man, Papang’s and Mond’s ENERGY was fresh to watch. I totally squealed at the possibility of BookMond. Mond is just so…..THERE, in a “why yes, look at my manly muscular shoulders, why yes, my gym membership comes with towels and high-end shower products” kinda way.

I liked Mond’s THERE-ness. I like that plants are the new Netflix.

I liked the spice of newness and curiosity in this episode. I liked seeing supporting faces, people that we know and love in Papang and Mond, doing something bold and totally different, and I love the ideas that they bring with their characters -- that Daddy Dan is very obviously in "like" with Nick; and that Boeing is truly around to fuck some damn shit up with Top, and maybe Mew.

Am I demanding this show BE ABOUT curiosity and newness? Unfortunately, that's what turned me on in this episode, and I admittedly would loooove to see more of it as this series winds down.

No, I do not have the right to DEMAND where this show goes. Westerners demanding things of queer Asian artists is an absolute NO for me.

But I think, as I look back at the trajectory of the last few episodes, that I had hoped the show would be less about the branded pairs. I honestly didn't think Only Friends was gonna be about the shipping. I thought loose lips were gonna sink the ships, and I was standing on the beach, cheering my ass off. To see SandRay approaching change and commitment in a romantic and positive way -- the acting was PHENOMENAL, but the outcome was a little to-be-expected-for-a-BL-in-a-non-BL-show kind of way.

And as for MewTop -- while I'm confused about the timeline of Mew's vengeful waffling, should I just go ahead and expect them to get together AGAIN? I'd like to ask for contextual clarification. But, at this point, that's how I know Mew to be, so I think my answer is yes -- I will be expecting Mew and Top to get together after all of this.

As I wonder how the ships kinda took over this whole joint, I think the answer is obviously in front of my face. FirstKhao and ForceBook are the first two GMMTV ships to travel out of the continent for fan meets, with FK going to Brazil, and FB going to Italy. If storylines in a fictional drama upset the fantasies of ship fandoms that these couples may not get together in their drama commodities, GMMTV's wallets, and the fanbases, may not like that very much. If FB’s and FK’s characters don’t get together — and that has a demonstrable economic impact? Jojo and team may have no choice but to hand over some happy endings to some shipped dudes for Jojo's future at GMMTV. Jojo's had to toe lines before. We KNEW what he was indicating by putting Joss, Mild, and Tay together in certain ways in 3 Will Be Free. But he couldn't go so far as to actually show a throuple in intimacy. That would have been too much for GMMTV in 2019.

To Shan’s very apt and accurate point at the end of her answer to my ask — my hope for purely uncommodified art from the Only Friends team, art that doesn’t leverage a judgement against sex in its potentially romantic conclusions, may very well be a pipe dream. If Jojo and his team were pushed to keep the ships together -- and to create happy-ish endings for as many characters in this show as possible, AND to be forced to leverage monogamy IN those storylines -- then how can I judge the artists for needing to toe an economic line? I can't. We are damn lucky enough that Jojo makes art as progressive as Only Friends, as 3 Will Be Free, as Gay OK Bangkok. Only Friends is still a great show.

But.... there was a moment where I think more than a few of us thought that we'd see something truly experimental with the ships sinking. There may still be time to see something nuts happen. But in the end, if Jojo and team have to keep the ships sailing, I won't begrudge the artists. But I will hope that GMMTV can keep allowing for more progressively progressive art over time, maybe even for the sake of letting a ship sink every once in a while.

(Ephemerality…my hope that we’d see intrigue beyond the ships was perhaps ephemeral. But we still have two episodes left! Let’s see! @ranchthoughts @twig-tea @chickenstrangers @lurkingshan @neuroticbookworm @distant-screaming @clara-maybe-ontheroad @thatgirl4815 @slayerkitty)

[kittyconfidant]

whoooa that's allot of beffica! umm let me know if this looks okay :3c i'm playing around allot with my markers, for fun.

+ some individual closeups

[doom-dreaming]

okay i'm still very awake so you're all gonna have to deal with me red-stringing about character bullshit until i fall asleep. i Know i'm making a big post about this but i don't care

why. this is the first instance of mark being designated as the one in charge when a higher-up (fred, in this case) isn't present. but why. they were only trapped in the slipspace fuckeryzone for a few days relative to normal space-time and i don't think anything drastic happens (with these guys) in glasslands? at least according to the wiki it doesn't. why did being integrated into blue team suddenly disrupt team saber's former command structure?

did they plan to kill mark off at the very start of this? was this all a long game to give mark enough of a foothold as an Important Character to make his death have more impact? does troy denning just like him more? how much weight did his personal preferences even play in this? why do the gammas suddenly start bantering when they're in danger and alone with a woman they just met? why do mark and ash seem to switch personalities every other chapter? why is this worse than i remember it being when i first read it a few months ago?

[rad-hound]

Omg... how are there zero fics of Nick Valentine and Irma? They literally flirt with each other the moment Nick enters the Memory Den. 😭

I need to change this. Very soon.

[ghostcherrie]

they both have kimono pairs now. what could this mean.

[octoagentmiles]

ok this is weird but I'm a psychology nerd so hear me out–

I love how Natquik and Calico Jack's fear responses are canonically Fight and Flight respectively.

You'd think it'd be the opposite, because CJ's a brave, strong pirate, and Natquik is kind of an awkward loner (affectionate), but noooooooo........

When Calico Jack is afraid of something:

He runs away from it.

Which could actually be a fun nod to the IRL Calico Jack, who was apparently a notorious ✨ coward ✨, and terrible fighter.

and what does Natquik do... 👁️👁️ ?

BARK BARK GRR GROWL BARK—

[moggettt]

Oof... that's gonna leave a mark

(feat. oc Den Conor)

[snackugaki]

i typed what i typed

[daughterofhecata]

Karow got to me.

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 2 ("I PROMISED YOU THE MOONSHINE") EDITION

Being a day late to watching and writing about Only Friends allows me a little airspace away from the gasps and dopamine of the collective community first watch of each episode, and lemme tell ya -- my dash yesterday was so hot, it was like melting Tupperware on a stove. Unfortunately for many in the fandom, the ships are going to sink. That shower scene got some folks wrecked. Many folks on my dash have a sudden disdain for Neo Trai (poor kiddo). For anyone who reads around here, you might remember my implored begging of the Tumblr family to watch Gay OK Bangkok before Only Friends premiered, and I still stand by it. The Only Friends team -- Jojo Tichakorn, Ninew Pinya, writers Den Panuwat and Best Kittisak -- are playing with a lot of concepts that I thought were just FABULOUSLY explored in this second episode, and these concepts ARE going to lead to further innuendos and endings that the shippers are just not going to like. (I think GOKB primed us for this.) And frankly, by the way this episode played out (as we were talking about a couple days ago, @lurkingshan) -- I think that's a hell of a point that the team is making in our faces.

I'm going to get to this more in a moment. Let me explain more, by way, of all things (!) -- plum wine.

So a bunch of us meta clowns (cc @ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan) were talking about a theory I had on Friday regarding the theme of ephemerality in the first episode. How Cheum indicated to Mew that there's a lot in Thailand that'll bring them down, from pollution to radiation. She wanted Mew to nab Top -- she indicated that life is fickle, so what did her homeboy have to lose? Go get yer man, she said.

@ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan and I took this conversation further yesterday (please read all the reblogs on this link, folks, it's a great conversation!), exploring the many more references to the ephemeral, fickle nature of time and life that Only Friends is referencing. @chickenstrangers clocked that Yo's bar is called YOLO. @ranchthoughts clocked that Sand's bag of plum wine read "you only live once." @lurkingshan noted that Jojo's played around with the ephemeral before -- in Gay OK Bangkok, examining the impact of HIV on Bangkok's gay male population.

The reblogs of the post linked above also capture some common mentalities about the "future" for our current crop of young folks today (I... am not young, lol), particularly for the young queer community. That through climate change, the slow-snail-paced fight for equity (like the legalization of same-sex marriage in Thailand) (and even comparing it to the roll-back of rights for the LGBTQ+ community in the States) -- as @ranchthoughts wrote, there seems to be a stronger sense of "live fast, die young," among younger cohorts than when I was a young lass, born in the 1980s, when a middle management career could get you everything you needed, with a unfettered retirement in sight.

To me, the most wrenching references to the ephemeral in this second episode focused on death. "Do you want us to die?," Sand asked laughingly as Ray played around in the car. Top can't sleep alone because after a childhood trauma, he's afraid he'll die alone. Ray's deceased mom is shown with a glass in her hand.

And how are these young folks behaving? In the face of literal death, as they themselves are referring to it: they're living life very riskily. Top's a player. So is Boston. We hope they're playing safe. (Gay OK Bangkok had condoms all over the place. I haven't seen any yet in OF.) Ray's blood alcohol levels are clearly through the roof. Sand's committing a crime.

Say what now? Committing a crime?

I hope folks clocked that. What's REALLY making me shake my head is how slick the non-sexual commentary was in this episode.

Going back to my original post on ephemerality that I let loose on Friday: I talked about the metaphor of plum wine and the passage of time -- how plum wine tastes sweeter and better as you let it age.

Sand was pissed that his bottles of plum wine broke because he's making it himself. That's why he wanted Ray to pay him back for the lost supply. Sand lost both product AND time.

Making and selling plum wine is illegal in Thailand. It's like the selling of rotgut during Prohibition.

SAY WHAT? For real. Thailand's laws around alcohol are wild, y'all. The display of alcohol logos is weirdly regulated (I laugh at how bottles are often blurred out in Thai dramas), brewing alcohol within Thailand is insanely complicated (some people brew alcohol in Thailand, then bottle it elsewhere and import it BACK into Thailand to skirt these laws), and -- you cannot buy alcohol from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Remember we saw Ray sneaking some sips from a flask outside the hostel site? That's a major flag for confirmed alcoholism (drinking alone during the day). But also, if Ray wanted a drink during the hours of 2-5 pm -- he had to have the booze on himself to have a tipple.

We know Jojo does NOT shy away from political commentary. We saw it in spades during Dirty Laundry.

What I love about Jojo's work is that he's unafraid to call out the hypocrisy of these kinds of laws. The making of plum wine is ILLEGAL? In Japan, making umeshu is traditional. (It's also the easiest and most delicious thing ever, please try making it!). For many of us around the world, making umeshu is a hobby, and a perfectly safe one at that. Considering Thailand's economy is so dependent on tourism, and that Bangkok itself is a world-class city, you would think that the selling of alcohol wouldn't be so complicated, and yet... 'tis.

This leads me to what I saw as the second Big Theme of this episode, besides ephemerality: I saw a lot of hypocrisy in this episode.

We got the liquor laws bullshit. We got Boston. Boston strikes me as a hypocrite for setting up his friend Mew with Top -- all while Boston's still wanting to get with Top, to the point of sneaking into Top's shower.

And Mew strikes me as a hypocrite, too. He wants to "redo" the start of his relationship with Top?... on his own terms? So, they're not boyfriends anymore? After already....having dated? Believable, my dude. The guys are in a PatPran-esque battle of... something, and I don't think it's wits, because neither of them seem to have many wits about them. They seem to be more interested in just winning a goal that (except for sex for Top) seems wholly unclear. Does Mew not know that Top may very well NOT respect Mew? Is Mew aware that his read on Top may not be at all accurate? And.... does Mew actually care? I'm not convinced of it.

Live fast, die young. What does it matter to be a hypocrite if the future is unstable, if time is speeding by -- and if no one is holding these young folks accountable for their behavior, as I put into the tags of @ranchthoughts's post yesterday? As Nick says to Boston: "you're a rich guy -- you don't care much for things." What, exactly, would make these rich kids care about being ethical human beings?

Accountability is around the corner for this group. Nick is starting to catch feelings. Boston is wondering why he's getting rejected by Top. Sand's recognizing that Ray's sniffing out something between them (cc @neuroticbookworm) (and, who knows, as NBW first referenced in her post -- Sand might be catching feelings, too). All of these friends -- it's mindblowing! -- leave Ray alone, often, wasted off his ass, to get himself home, as Sand himself notes.

These characters are going to get hurt, and it's only a matter of time until we begin seeing it happen. At the micro-level, human to human, they will hurt each other. And society, Thai society, is doing these young people no favors by not helping to equalize the inequity between rich and poor -- as Sand has to take risks to sell illegal hooch, of all things, to just get by.

Wrapping this up with what I was mentioning up at the top about the jibbles that the fandoms are starting to feel towards the established GMMTV ships of this show slowly sinking. Isn't there a bit of hypocrisy there as well? This show is NOT going to be pretty for the ForceBook/FirstKhao established ships. What are we, as fans, going to do when that time comes? Will we condemn Jojo? Will we stop watching the show? Will we equivocate by way of blaming other characters?

This show should be celebrated already for the risks it's taking, and the risks it will take. (Remember: fans protested at the GMMTV building in 2019 when the KristSingto ship was broken for He's Coming To Me.) Only Friends deciding to take on the toxicity and hypocrisy of shipper fandom? Bring it on. We cannot only enjoy the performances of these actors when they're paired up with one repeating partner. As the life of Gay OK Bangkok depicted, as the life of Only Friends is depicting -- life is a whole lot more complicated than just a dreamlike, over-organized monogamy between two people (ahem, Mew). Life -- and TIME -- will bring complications and change, sometimes unwanted change, that we have to learn to handle and manage. I'm not colored surprised in the least that Jojo's making this experience for us jump out of the screen and into our own hearts, as we see our beloved actors take risks upon themselves by their breaking of their own ships. I am all here for it, and I hope the shipper fans can be, too.

(BIG UPS to the small meta army family -- @ranchthoughts, @lurkingshan, @chickenstrangers, @neuroticbookworm -- I'm so thrilled to continue being thoughtful with y'all!)

[the-firefly-jar]

WAIT ALL OF YOUR WOLFQUEST PUPS CAN WANDER AWAY AT THE SAME TIME??? I LEFT FOR TWO MINUTES

[worldblight]

I wish Erin Hunter would hire me not because I particularly care about Warrior Cats anymore but because I know a lot about cat behavior and it makes me really really irritated seeing people draw cat body language so incorrectly