#edit: as we *see* in ep8

[eemoo1o]

An AU where Ron leaves the shadow world (work) and, while Reagan’s now fully promoted, is her stay at home housewife who just comes up behind her while she’s at her desk and rubs her shoulders and kisses her, and she actually smiles and kisses back, and promises that she’ll try to finish work early for him.

[clairegregoryau]

I've been tracking this down for a while now and I've finally found confirmation of what I suspected: Google Maps imagery for Piha Beach in Aotearoa New Zealand captured the setup for filming of Our Flag Means Death's Season 2, Episode 8!

[EDIT 25 June: the north end current imagery is sadly no longer this version, but I've captured it for posterity here, and it's still visible in the free Google Maps Pro app- read on for more info].

On the left is the north end of Piha Beach with the inn set. On the right is the south end carpark with the film crew base.

Why is that cool to me? Because it truly was a fleeting moment in time, no more than a handful of days of possibility, and yet it was captured as the image on the map, at least for a period of time. As an archaeologist I love a moment preserved in time, and in this one you can even see the OFMD production crew on the beach and on the path. It's places and people caught in the flashbulb of this aerial image.

The specifics of how I pinned down the imagery and the date are in this Twitter thread, but the short version is, I was hunting for a better visual on the area immediately surrounding the inn while writing Full Fathom Five, and noticed that the carpark in particular seemed to line up exactly with images from the final day of filming.

The final day of filming overall was 13 December 2022, filming at Piha was on 12 December 2022, and this aerial image was taken on 11 December 2022.

I had already been through the first image to make a comparison to the aerial map and it looked like a match, but Google Maps had 2024 in their attribution. [Noting that I'd put 13 Dec on my image notes, but I'd got that tangled with the last day of filming in the Kumeū studio the next day, and it was 12 Dec on location].

Thankfully Google Earth came through with the actual date.

And I just took a further dig into Google Earth Pro, which allows you to switch between previous satellite images, and it confirms a date of 11 December 2022 for the north end image as well.

[EDIT 9 September 2024- thinking about this again and suddenly realised... you know what, very often things will put the date it was in the US when a picture was taken, even when that picture was taken on the other side of the world, in a different timezone. Which made me realise that actually, if this was taken on the 11th of December in the US, that was on the 12th of December in AoNZ. A quick search shows that Google Maps confirms the date can be one day out, so- odds increasing that we're seeing the actual filming of Ep8 here!]

You can also compare this to a few months earlier in March 2022, right around the premiere of OFMD S1 (everything moved so fast in hindsight!) when there was no inn in that spot.

Which means we now know that for now, if you hop onto Google Maps (not Google Earth, because they have a different image for the north end that does come from 2024) and zing on down to Piha Beach, you can take a look at a preserved moment in time from the filming of S2Ep8.

[EDIT 25 June: the north end image has now been updated to the 2024 version across all of Google Maps and Google Earth, but the south end is for now still from the filming day. You can find the previous version for the north end on Google Earth Pro].

You can hop straight to the inn here.

And straight to the parking lot here.

And remember to put the layers into Satellite mode to view the aerial imagery.

Everything that was/is shown at the north end lines up with what we've seen both in the show and in behind the scenes content, all of which I delved into in this Twitter thread last month. That goes into a lot more detail about specifics, but the evidence is solid across the board.

The sandy path that runs beside the inn is a distinct feature seen in the show.

The peak that sits behind it, likewise (from Google Maps user uploads here and here).

The inn itself, and the way the path gives way to an unseen carpark, from Simone Nathan's TikTok video.

Based on all of that, it's easy to see that we've got our inn right here circled in red, preserved in that moment in time, even though it was no doubt taken down as soon as filming was done.

Prep looks like it took a couple of days before filming; filming was pretty much done in a day, according to an article at the time.

So, there you have it- it's a minor little thing and it won't be up forever, but for now you can hop into Google Maps and see an aerial view adjacent to the filming of S2Ep8 at Piha. The other beach scenes from Eps 1, 3 and 8 were filmed at Te Henga/ Bethells Beach.

[bridgertonnteas]

Regarding Bridgerton part2 & things that might have been changed or cut

I did get early screening for 5& 6 at the time but I never got one for 7 & 8 so I didn't see anything myself. however, I do know that there were at least 3 different versions of ep8 most of what happened is the same but there few differences that I know about & there was another version of another scene in ep7

1-In episode 8, the scene of Pen riding Colin those few seconds were part of a bigger scene. a montage that would have shown them after they reconciled. what I do know about the scene is that they made out / kissed a lot playfully, and they looked happy in it & few seconds of sex scenes that show them trying different things from him eating her out to the riding part etc. They weren't fully naked but just like the riding scene part with her wearing a robe and him being covered somehow in that area or waist down

2- No, there wasn't any other mirror scene. however part of the montage; there are few seconds of them looking at the mirror while he is kissing her neck & smiling

3- In the scene when things get heated in the streets in ep7, there was another version of it of him getting into the carriage with her and making sure she went home while still being upset with her, he doesn't let her go home alone in that version. I personally would have liked that version more because it would have shown that he was still worried about her which was clear already, but that version would have been better

4- I seriously don't know why the montage was cut and I don't find any possible explanation to that because why remove a happy scene like that more so when the leads were going around promoting how steamy the season is & how they had multiple scenes like the carriage and the mirror. I do know that both of them didn't see the final version of ep8 so they didn't know it was cut which sucks because thinking about it why did they have them take time to film that and then cut it, cutting it didn't change anything from the storyline and in fact, if they have let it stay it would have more to their story & those scenes were empowering to women with nicola's body type

5-Ben sex scenes were there in all versions but they weren't in the same quantity nor in the randomness of placements which I find it an odd editing choice for the final version and I still don't understand why that decision was taken

No, I don't have the original version of 8 & I never saw it myself but all my sources confirmed the same thing which is a shame because I feel the original version would have been better. I still did enjoy the ep8 we got tho, I have few complaints I did talk about before, but I don't wanna talk about it

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep8 Musings - Loustat (SPOILERS) Pt2: Reunion

You don't know the HALF of what Lestat feels for Louis, to let YOUR grimy arse steal his man, just for LOUIS's happiness. ANYTHING for Louis.

Am I the only one who felt left hanging? We BEEN knew it didn't make sense, but what's your POINT, exactly? If Louis misremembered Lestat whispering, it's just par for the course about the odyssey of recollection. But if Lestat DID do telepathy, is that evidence of...what? That the vampire bond works differently than what's been explained? That he COULD read Lou's mind? AMC, this is AGGRAVATING.

Your goose is COOKED, my guy.

The copium & denial pack Louis was smoking as he laughed was 🤌

That's right, start sweating!

Master manipulation; cuz he certainly would NOT have, as we soon find out. ANYTHING for Louis. (Dang, Imma have to take back some of what I said about Lestat's character development not having started yet.)

I was shocked. I was NOT expecting this plot twist. I was ready to throw Lestat out with the rest of the TRASH, in the DUMP. Well dang. Guess I'll only leave him rotting in a TINY landfill.

I nearly SCREAMED--@nashvillethotchicken and I were talking about Loustat as Bobby and Whitney ages ago! I cannot BELIEVE AMC threw in a New Edition reference in the year of our lord 2024; y'all are diabolical AF, Rolin, STOP IT.

I wonder if AMC used Hurricane Odette cuz the OG script was set in pandemic!2020, so it would make sense that a year later Louis would head back to NOLA during 2021 when Hurricane Odette last hit.

That looks like NOLA's Pontchartrain Hotel--lemme find out he bumped into the Mayfairs when Rowan & them were in town, LOL.

Lestat got more aliases than the KGB; meanwhile Louis just sprinkles his long AF unique AF name all over the place. 🤦 But I guess it's ok, since the tour guide never mentioned him & Claudia by name. (Not Tom Anderson in another finale, LOL.) Louis so offended the tour guide said he ran a voodoo cult. XD

Fall of the House of Lioncourt-Melmouth.

You're gosh darned right! THEE Louis of Troy is in the building!

You love to see it. "A wearisome fledgling; all the millennials are--" not Lestat making PALE PROXIES of rat-catcher extraordinare LDPDL out of millennials. 😭

Lestat, if you don't get your crazy arse outta here with that bloodstained wooden keyboard Imma ROTFLMFAO.

NO JOKE, I effed up my friend's whole set when I started screaming "Siri, Pause," cuz my friend's Siri started freaking out and effed up the volume! XD

HERE WE EFFING GOOOOOOOO

(Best scene all season, fight me on this)

You know this was TEARING Lestat up, cuz of what happened in 1973--I gave Louis to you so you could do BETTER by him than EYE did, and instead it's NICKI ALL OVER AGAIN.

Imma smack him--this is NOT the time to be self-loathing, Lestat!

NOLA is my home--and the SAINT is not a city--I'm gonna cry.

He did. He just forgot, when reality settled in and the allure/nostalgia/glamour wore off. "I tried to make nights awful for you." Not the whole time, Louis. Y'all actually were happy b4--even Claudia said "the easy times" stopped after Florence died; and esp. after Charlie died. Lou can't be blamed for grieving his mom's death, and he definitely can't be blamed for Lestat & Claudia falling out after Charlie. Everything that happened after that--the 7 years of depression--was ALSO Lestat's fault. "I wanted you to suffer, cuz I was suffering;" I'm glad Les just waved that aside and said they BOTH wronged e/o.

He's not suicidal anymore then! He has nights in front of him to look forward to! So Lou can finally "learn to live honestly" with HIMSELF.

And Lestat dove RIGHT ON IN with that! He's been carrying that with him for DECADES, worried about Louis & what happened.

I LOVE that Les' language changes (the way his voice CRACKS and goes so TINY, oml)--he asked Lou in 1973 if he was "ill," and if something had happened TO him; so as to not spook/trigger or blame him--but he can ask more candidly now in a (relatively) "healthier" 2024 if Lou tried to hurt/kill himself; and get a more candid/honest answer. CLOSURE, y'all, I'm gonna cry.

GOOOOOOD. Don't EVER forget your daughter. Y'all need to have a Claudia Memorial; to KEEP remembering her, as she was in all her vampiric splendour, the good times AND the bad times.

I KNOW this hurt Louis to his effing core. The way Jacob cried FIRE!

I'm so glad Lou hugged him--YES YOU WERE, Uncle Les. And you KNOW it; you FELT that bond b/t y'all, even if she never looked at you. The distance b/t y'all was in name only, cuz a little Black girl couldn't have TWO daddies in 1917 and have one of them be white on top of it. I AM YOUR MAKER, sure, but you were her BLOOD FATHER, and she loved you, which is why she hoped you'd help her.

ANOTHER ROUND IN THE STORMY ROMANCE OF YOU TWO. 😭👏

What are these magical off-mic speeches/pep-talks Louis keeps giving people in Season 2?!? THE PEOPLE WANNA KNOW, gosh darnit!

DRATS.

I get why Jam said they thought the Loustat ending was "satisfying." It was nice, even though I'd've preferred to see Lestat in the Dubai penthouse at the end. :\

I LOVE THIS, AMC, thank you! ❤️

[squirrellypoo]

Ep8 "What Can The Damned Really Say To The Damned" rewatch thoughts (Part 2)

Here's my second set of things I noticed on my third rewatch! Part 1 is here if you missed it...

11. On Claudia's first visit to the forest, we can briefly see a red mark on one of the trees. When brightened up, it's clearly a handprint, in fresh blood. Edit: ah, it’s not blood but paint from the kids painting their hands and slapping trees to show how far they could go into the forest!

12. I totally missed that the BBC radio bulletin talks about looted art being loaded onto trucks to be taken back to Paris! So that’s how they knew to jump in a truck and be taken all the way there rather than just random hitch-hiking.

13. Morgan mentions that Louis's photo of Grace was printed onto albumen, by a glass-plate camera, and I was intrigued by this and wanted to learn more. If you're also interested, have a read of this Wikipedia article.

14. I thought I must've been missing some sort of reference in Daniel's “Maybe you’re just frosting the pie?” line (about Louis remembering Claudia dreaming), but Google has no evidence this is a saying? So it looks like this was just a Daniel-ism? How odd.

15. Ohhhhh it's a factory they're all camping in! That makes sense, with the thick walls and boiler room, but I couldn't quite work out whether it was a church or meeting hall or what.

16. Claudia is singing the Anna Anna nursery rhyme that the children just taught her in order to lure the pissing soldier into the woods. Nice touch!

17. Both soldiers from the woods are in Daciana's castle. First we see one in the room that Louis and Claudia pass through before the one on the table by the fire that she calls “a burnt tray of bread”. Guess this first guy just dies after a while? Or maybe Louis and Claudia finish him off?

18. In the Dubai bedroom, there’s nothing on Armand’s bedside table (nothing!) but on Louis’s side there are so many well-thumbed books, cascading from the nightstand onto the floor…

19. The TdV programme is for “Des Cris Dans Les Ténèbres!” (Shrieks in the Darkness). I love that the actual item is in French, but the posters up all around Paris are in English, because Louis would’ve translated them into English and that’s how he remembered them! The details! 🤌

20. In the truck scene, Louis is still healing from Daciana’s attack. It made me wonder how long it would take to drive (pre-motorways!) from Romania to Paris. So I looked it up, and using modern roads, but avoiding motorways, it'd take 31hrs straight. But they’d have to break to sleep somewhere safe in the day, and many of the roads and bridges would likely have been bombed and required detours, so I think we can assume it'd take several days to get there. So if Louis still isn't healed by the time we see them outside Paris, he is one seriously malnourished vampire. 😔 The blood really was bad there!

And that's my list of weird things I noticed in the first episode! Part 1 is here if you missed it, and do let me know in the notes if there's any of these you missed, too!

[siennaditbot]

Kim Possible x Ron Stoppable ship analysis!

I'll go through the episodes I know have something shipping related and analyse the moments and try to think what the characters are thinking!

Edited the final movie stuff btw! It's better now! Also now with pictures and GIFs!

S1 EP1: Crush

Ron doesn't really like Mankey (says his name mockingly) or the idea that Kim likes him. He later mentions this in So the Drama ("I was never in favor of that but I was there for Kim.")

I like how they're comfortable enough to talk about their crushes. In the past, sure, but now as well!

"We always go together." (To dances? What other "school functions" are there?) I kinda really wish we could've seen one of those. Like it was obvious to Ron that they would still go together! Idk how American schools work and how many dances they'd have been to at this point, but they really must be comfortable with each other to go to dances together like that. Just two pals having fun!

Neither is jealous of the other planning to take a date to the dance. A bit awkward and taken aback, sure, but both seem to be fine with it. I'd say neither is crushing at this point, but as mentioned earlier, Ron isn't fully on board with the Mankey thing even if he helps Kim with it.

Ron might ask all the other girls to the dance cuz he feels a bit left out? Not jealous left out, but a bit lost cuz it's a new situation?

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not dating Kim Possible." Proof that at this point they are aware of the idea of them being together, even if they aren't for or into it. Not a new concept, but not one they'd consider. Ron also tries to help Kim with Josh with this, clearly caring more about their friendship than whatever he thinks of Mankey.

Ron really encourages her to ask Mankey to the dance. "You can handle this!" Sweet guy.

S1 EP8: Mind Games

Small thing but Ron says that Kim is pretty <3 ("smart, athletic, pretty and popular")

Ron (as Kim) has a soff face when they practice cheerleading and are back to back <3 Looks at her, smiles and closes his eyes and leans against her <33 No idea why though. Kim has a similar expression but she just enjoys doing the routine, she smiles the whole time. Could be platonic "I like to be close to her", could be him subconsciously appreciating the closeness in a different way? No major "crushage" though.

S2 EP2: Grudge Match

Kim's had a crush on someone and now Ron has a crush. I don't think they have feelings for each other at this point since both are pursuing other people.

More open talking about feelings. Both are so supportive.

Ron's very aware that people might think they're a couple doing couple things (doesn't want Zita to see them coming out of the movie theater)

Kim's all "yeah, so?" and "you.. and me.. on a.. date?" which imo means that she doesn't think of them dating as a thing that's likely to happen.

Ron, on the other hand, goes "it could happen!" which tells me that he's more open to the idea and has maybe considered it before. Not enough to act on it but is aware and not as much against it as Kim. Still very much thinks of Kim as a friend more than anything else since he's into Zita rn.

Kim goes "I'm gonna say something that I've never said to you before", and Ron seems unnecessarily shocked or interested? To me it seems like he might have expected her to confess or smth like that based on the convo topic, idk.

S2 EP11: Exchange

Ron is clearly interested in Yori. Stares and swoons and stuff. Wiggles his eyebrows like an idiot lol. Super happy about her kissing his cheek. ("Yeah I love this place!!") Pointing this out since he seems different when they meet later in S3.

S2 EP13: A Very Possible Christmas

First of all I love how much time Ron spends with the Possible family! He joins their Christmas party <3 Seems like it's not his first time joining, either.

Also Kim, really, a cyber scrapbook of their memories together?? That's adorable. I'd cry too. Platonic but super cute.

Two hugs in this ep. Platonic but super cute.

They're really sweet to each other. Ron wanting to give the best gift to Kim and Kim looking all over the world for Ron.

Lol, does Drakken ship it? He puts them under the mistletoe. Ron found it though... Who put it up? Drakken does put the ribbon thingy on it so maybe he did.

They aren't that awkward about it, but Ron does laugh it off and Kim does give him a quick peck on the cheek. He says a positively surprised "oh" and touches his cheek with an awkward smile. He's a bit taken aback but doesn't seem to think about it too much, and neither does Kim. It's platonic to her it seems?

Ron's more confused than when Yori kissed him, since the girls are different to him? He doesn't celebrate like he did with Yori. Intriguing... "Yeah!!" vs "Oh!"... I think his reaction to Kim's peck is more genuine? Less "mr popular ladies man"?

"Season's greetings from the Possibles"? I see you there Ron lol. He's part of the fam.

S2 EP19: Blush

Again, Ron's not super into the Mankey business. ("Mankey-monkey conspiracy")

Ron says he "Finds the whole 'dating thing' overrated. Who would subject themselves to that?" Is that jealous talk or has he not had great experiences with it before? The Zita thing did crash and burn pretty fast at least. Maybe he also thinks of how Kim turns into a mess around guys? Degrading? Embarrassing?

"So he takes you to dinner, you two see a movie, big tap-dancing whoop! We do that stuff together all the time!" I see you there Ron. He compares their time together to dating...... More to mock the concept of dating than saying that they're like a couple? Does sound a bit jealous though..

He's much more negative towards him than in S1 EP1. Intriguing... The romantic-platonic levels might be changing there..

Kim's call log is mostly Ron. That's sweet. Probably platonic but sweet.

He gives her an awkward thumbs up when he saves her and lets her enjoy the rest of her date. That is an uncomfortable face though, Ron... I'm definitely moving him into the romantic category at this point. He likes her, but doesn't know it?

Kim's still platonic and very into Josh. Maybe.

Sitch In Time:

Could be (and really should I think) read as best friends being separated, but since I already put Ron in the romantic category, it hurts just a little bit more. Still tough to lose a best friend though, so no major "crushage" yet imo.

Ron wants younger teen him to grow to be a "babe magnet" but that's just his typical "mr wanna be popular" speaking. He does dumb stuff like that later as well. Also none of that happened? Time travel stuff?

Oh yeah now we're getting to the good stuff

S3 EP1: Steal Wheels

"Official Ron night". Cute.

Platonic but Kim's jealous of Ron spending more time with Felix.

I understand the whole "he's my best friend!" stuff but also shows how possessive she is of him?

S3 EP2: Emotion Sickness

Ron wants to protect Kim from seeing Mankey with Tara. Sweet dude.

Kim's over Mankey. "Grew apart. Time to move on."

Ron's bummed out about not realizing that Tara used to like him. Doesn't wallow in it though, which seems to me like he never had that much interest in her.

Ron's super awkward when Kim goes all flirty, and I'd say it's because she's not acting like herself. Been odd all day. Says that she's freaking him out. Weird enough for him to run away from her.

Monique asks if Kim liking him is not good and Ron goes "I don't know, it's not that I haven't thought about this.. I mean who hasn't..." Which really tells us that he has considered it before. It's not a new thought to him.

The 'who hasn't' part though? Who hasn't shipped them or who hasn't thought of Kim liking them? I'd say it's the first. People do often think they're a couple so it's once again understandable that he's considered it as well.

Ok, the kiss. He's surprised, but definitely into it. Fully kissing back and embracing her, even though she's "just a friend" to him and obviously acting weird. It's not gross since he doesn't pull back. He's not against it, even if it's a "in the heat of the moment" kinda thing.

If it was Yori or Zita? Would probably somewhat kiss back too. I think he'd have a different expression though. Less content, more confused and awkward idiot playboy? Would let them do "most of the work" and not fully embrace like that? He just wasn't as comfortable with them.

If he didn't already like the kisser? If it was a pretty girl he might have just stood there all confused but let himself be kissed (see Bonnie in S4).

Idiotic grin afterwards? "Whatever you say"? Would probably have a similar reaction to Zita or Yori kissing him, but I still say there would be more awkwardness and celebrating aka babe magnet stuff. Also important to note, he liked those two. Kim is getting a similar - if not better - reaction.

He seriously considers dating Kim.

"What's not to like about Kim? I mean she's smart, cute... Dating could be good, you know, the date thing."

Still, he's super worried about what it could do to their friendship. I read this as him not being ready for it or feeling like it isn't natural - which, of course, it isn't. Being friends is more important than this unnatural thing that's going on, even if he does get kisses out of it.

"We're a great team, but dating could complicate things." Understandable to be afraid of change (he is bad with that), but I think it's mostly how unnatural and sudden it is.

Would probably swoon over any pretty girl talking to him like that, but there is a hint of "I knew Kim was pretty but wow." in there imo. Definitely not a platonic reaction there my guy. Uncomfortable but into it.

"So I guess the crush and everything was all moodulator, huh?" he says while looking sad and disappointed. Guess he did want it to be real after all?

Kim's "Not everything. There's still fireworks." though? Confusing. Is that her straight out admitting that she thinks there's something there? She does say a few eps later when Ron's bummed out about not getting that Yori liked her that "you got me", so maybe she just likes to stay stuff like this?

Also Ron is so happy about her words with his "You think so?" and is a bit disappointed/confused? again when Kim points at the sky.

My headcanon is that Kim's really starting to get feelings and realize there might be something there after this episode.

S3 EP4: Bad Boy

First things first, cozy movie night. Friends do that too, but I've been there. More special if there's feelings there. Which both have at this point.

Ron hasn't managed to get a date with him before (to a wedding) and goes "Unless.." and looks at Kim. Immediately awkward, tugs at shirt, looks away. He considered her a date-date for a bit there.

"Not that I'm asking you." That wouldn't be as awkward if there were no feelings there. Friend date. Both are thinking of a date-date. Which is awkward to think about cuz they're still just friends.

First time Kim seems to actually react like Ron does. Awkward and in denial. Both label it as awk-weird. See above.

Ron is intrigued about Kim liking bad boys. Both that and girls liking bad boys in general cause more babe magnet shenanigans. Definitely tryna attract other girls though.

"Thanks for being my date- uh, friend", he says. They do go together, and everything's fine. A bit funny of Kim to make sure he doesn't think of it as a date-date though. Maybe she just hasn't accepted her feelings yet? Ron's happy to call it a date though.

S3 EP9: Overdue

Shego asks Ron where Kim is, and he goes "She's not my girlfriend!" very suspiciously. Leaves me a bit confused though. At least shows that he's been thinking about the possibility? Linking the gf term to her as well. Such denial can only mean he'd prefer the opposite.

"Ooooh... Awkward...." with a laugh too. That's very suspicious my guy.

S3 EP12: Gorilla Fist

Happy to see Yori ofc, but clearly lacks the "OH YEAH YORI HI" factor. A lot chiller. Over her, into Kim.

Kim's very jealous. If it wasn't obvious before, it is now. She's interested.

I feel like Ron's trying not to make Kim get the wrong idea about Yori when they first meet. "She's not my secret girlfriend!!" type of talk imo.

"I knew he crushed on someone when he was there!" Very platonic of you Kim. Makes one think.. Has she had some feelings for him all this time? There's the "It took 12 stinking years for you to kiss me!" in S4 so it's not impossible. Small, 'not wanting to accept them' kinda feelings she's tryna cover up with other guys? Who knows.

More great denial. Aka the opposite of what she's saying. Very jeal.

Ron's super smug about Kim "freaking over about his friend Yori". Happy about Kim being jealous huh? Dude's so in love already. Cute.

Ron's not super phased about being caught by Yori. Business like usual, nothing special there. No swooning.

Kim asks about their relationship, obviously curious and jealous. More ok with her now though. Shocked about the kiss though.

Ron has a calmer reaction to Yori's cheek kiss than before. Eyes widen and he smiles, laughs in a flattered way? Still different from S2. Immediately tries to explain to Kim what just happened lol.

He's only a bit disappointed when Kim tells him Yori actually liked him.

"Why can't girls be more obvious? - - How am I supposed to know what's going on?" "Well, you got me." Very sus of you Kim. Even says it a bit shyly I think? Indirect confession? Not that indirect though. Ron still misses it.

And finally, some notes from So the Drama:

Cute how Ron grabs onto Kim when they're falling. He know she protecc.

"Captain of the chess team. Or worse." She makes a scared face? An 'oh no' type expression? It's really emphasising how, at least in the context, Ron is anything but boyfriend material to her. I know Bonnie's talk is affecting her, but she really shows no trace about having feelings for him in S3, which she absolutely did have btw!

"Is there anything sadder than going to the prom with your 'just a friend'?" A bit confusing, Kim. Does she want someone else, or does she want to actually go with Ron? As more than friends? Or does she think she's unlovable and a failure n stuff if she doesn't bring a romantic partner? That's more likely, but one can dream.

"I mean, a "date" date would be nice, but a stinking 'bf'..." Another confusing Kim line. She was looking at Ron before speaking. I'm reading it as 'a real date with someone (else? Not actually sure if she's excluding him with that) would be nice, but I wish there was at least a guy', which is pretty much how the Finnish dub put it. It clears this up a little. The tone of the conversation is that she'd like a "proper" boyfriend who's not like Ron and fits better into the food chain etc so this makes sense I think. Kim's so difficult.

"I'm gonna end up with Ron!" "Mom, he's not a guy, he's Ron!" He's "obviously" not boyfriend material! I love denial and whatever but she really doesn't seem to want to accept the idea. Bonnie is affecting her yadda yadda but still! Stuff like this is why I think everything after the confession happens a bit too quickly. She acts like he's the worst case scenario which is a bit odd for someone who kisses him not that much later, right? Is she covering up her existing feelings out of fear she'll be mocked? Has she just not come to terms with her feelings yet? I can't accept her coming to like him only after and because of his confession, that would be too shallow of her, and odd since she was this against it earlier. She's not that desperate for attention. There was definitely something there before, but she's just not willing to see it until he confesses?

Hooked up? "Eww. Kim and me? No, no, no. Best friend since forever but not like that." The denial sounds genuine, I guess he just hasn't realized or accepted his feelings at this point. But then he's immediately uncomfortable by Eric's "extreme steam" comment. "Let's not talk about her that way ever again." To me that sounds protective. He does not appreciate others talking that way about her. Hint of jealousy? Doesn't wanna think about her like that himself? Confusing.

Immediately jealous and uncomfortable with Eric's advances and Kim's obviously positive reaction to him - he knows how Kim acts when she gets a crush. Cue sad montage. It's kinda funny how he still hangs out with them on their dates btw. Doesn't wanna give her up? Friends don't join their friends on dates though. Did Kim's parents make him be their chaperone? Could see James doing that.

More and more jealous as time passes. He angy. Dramatic "cooties in the area"! Understandable. They're barely noticing him anymore.

I always thought he took the pepperoni off the pizza cuz Kim and Eric had a silly moment related to it. He seems like the kind of guy who would like pepperoni otherwise.

Probably feels betrayed as well. Kim was so quick to say bye to him. Barely even looked at him. He could see it as 'Bye bye, this person is more important to me now.'

Still a good friend though and immediately goes to help her find her dad when asked. Manages to act normal as well. (I'm kinda mad about how useless he's in the action scenes btw.)

Ron's monologue about his feelings is the best scene in this movie. I love that stuff. He goes pretty far back as well with the locked braces thing, which is part of the 'she's been with other guys before which I wasn't in favor of but I was there for her' talk. I wonder what he thought of it all back then. He was a really supportive friend at least, helped even if the situation was uncomfortable or odd.

"Something's different now. There's something between us... Who am I kidding? That's not different. Something's been there a long time. I think there's something there. Does she?" Peak. (I've quoted that so many times here, it's so good.) Also now I kinda have proof of this, having gone through a lot of the series just for this post. For how long though...?

He's finally willing to look at his feelings properly and puts everything into perspective. Comparing this to the 'Emotion Sickness' monologues? He's less afraid of change. He's feeling different enough to want to actually go for it this time. The situation is more dire, but more real.

"There's something there". Does he figure out that Kim's been showing signs of feeling the same? The "Does she?" is probably him wondering if she's realized it too. The "something" could be anything from S3's awkwardness to smaller changes in their dynamic from S1 and before. Suddenly not going to dances together and having to think about this stuff more.

He's actually saying that he wants to date her. "Kim's worth [telling her about my feelings even if it's humiliating]!" "What if I start yapping about my feelings and she chooses Eric and not me?" Just the 'realizing his feelings' talk is great, but he actually wishes she would choose him as her boyfriend. Proper acceptance of feels right there. No denial whatsoever. He will hide it for Kim's sake, but he wants to date her. (I love this soff dude!!)

Dude's skilled for being able to act like he didn't just realize and accept a lot of scary and life changing feelings. Chooses friendship over any jealous and possessive behavior, even if it is a bit tough at times. Gets a bit smug when they do decide to go save the world though.

Tiny cute detail: when on the scooter together and Ron drives, Kim holds his shoulders, but when Kim drives, Ron has his arms around her/hands on her hips.

Confession scene. (Peak Ron for getting Kim out of her "pity fiesta" btw.) He's simply saying that a guy, a real guy that's good for her, exists, and that he's here, about to say 'someone like me'. A bit of a roundabout way to say it but it gets the point across. Mostly saying it to make her understand that she's not unlovable? There's a hint of 'guess this is a good opportunity to shoot my shot', too, but in a selfless way, not asking her to like him back. Just wants her to know so she can get her groove back. He thinks they could work. (Includes himself in "guys that are better for you than Eric")

Kim's reaction confuses me a bit once again. "Oh. Really?" She's happy about it, sounding hopeful too? 'Didn't think he actually liked me' surprised? 'I'm not unlovable' surprised? Both? 'It wasn't unrequited after all and I shouldn't have been afraid'? Why she so difficulttt

Kim's oddly flirty when hurrying to the prom, but the prom scene itself is adorable. Them being awkward about the change. Some distance inbetween that Rufus gets rid of lol. Stuff's different but they're still themselves.

Soff kiss with the soffest gazes I've ever seen. A bit quick to get there, but adorable. The point of a proper kiss is that both are in on it, and here they are. Better than the 'Emotion Sickness' kiss, but Ron's even more comfortable and less lovestruck with it. He knows it's real this time and that he's ready for it now. Kim's also finally getting over the food chain talk and really accepts her feelings for him. Feeling like 'This is still a bit odd, but it's him, and it's alright. I trust him more than anyone else. He's safe, and this feels right." or smth?

Is it finally done? This took... Almost 7 hours. It's 3am right now, so it might've started to get messy halfway lol. I hope someone out there gets something out of all this hard work.

Extra few hours (like 5, one edit didn't go through...) from editing after waking up. The movie stuff makes more sense now!

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello Nalyra, it's me again.......

The trial clearly shaterred me and obviously as you know I'm a bit (a lot) confused regarding some things and one in particular came up to me today as I rewatched the episode.

A few things were not revisited at all in the trial i.e. the murder night which is a pity but I trust the process, I let the tale seduce me and I know anyway that we will get Lestat's pov at some point in season 3 and I'm certain that we will go back to that specific night.

HOWEVER, do you think they actually might have, during the trial, spoken of that night and about Claudia's confession in her diary of using Louis to kill Lestat? Do you think they did but because ep7 was recounted by a clearly mind-controlled Louis and Armand, they did not highlight that aspect of the trial play at all?

What mostly confuses me is the fact that the trial is imo, the only moment where this piece of information can be shared you know because I really don't see Louis reading Claudia's diary post her death and learning about it that way, so they must have went over that night during the trial. Besides, I know Santiago used her diary at some point but they were displayed so that we see them as an audience, so that we are conscious of their existence and I don't know I don't feel like they used them that much and that irked me as well.

Obviously, my head is spinning and going in every direction but I just think these are such fundamental parts of the murder night and it is weird to think they did not speak about them during the trial that supposedly was all about that said murder attemp...like something is not clicking.

What do you think?

Have a nice day~

Hey!

Since they already put that into her written words I do think they will go there, eventually. But…. since this was a mock trial I think it might only come into play in s3. When Lestat recounts it.

Because this trial… this trial was presented (to Daniel, us and Louis) in a way to shift the blame from Armand, to Lestat, and to keep the memory of Claudia mostly (kind and) intact.

There were things glossed over and edited. Hidden.

We will likely only get the full picture in s3 it seems.

It… seems a bit much to go back for it in ep8. Especially since the aftermath is coming up.

[miles-is-so-gay]

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 EP 8 OF THE BOYS

my thoughts directly after watching the episode, not edited for spelling or grammer or continuity sorry :( [divider]

so

lotta things

rip nueman, you were a girlboss and will be deeply missed aND OH GOD YOUR DAUGHTER OUAGHHH AAAAAAAA

ashley you served cunt tbh and if she doesnt get stable powers i will be VERY dissappointed

i still fucking hate firecracker and want to beat her up but she DOES NOT DESERVE THAT SHIT FROM HOMELANDER!!!!!

speaking of homelander HOMELANDER KHS CHALLANGE!!!!!!!!

on frenchie and kimiko: WHYYYYYYY FUCKING HELL WHYYYYYYYY JESUS CHRIST CANT A TV EVER HAVE JUST TWO PEOPLE OF OPPOSITE GENDERS THAT JUST LIKE EACH OTHER PLATONICALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY GAVE ME THAT AND NOW IVE BEEN THROWN UNDER THE BUS OMG IM GOING TO EAT CONCRETE

hughie, honey, baby boy, my good man, DONT LET THESE SHOWRUNNERS KEEP WRITING YOU LIKE THIS WHAT THE HELL!!!!! IT IS NOT HIS FAULT THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW THE SHAPESHIFTER WAS POSING AS ANNIE FOR OVER A WEEK!!! THE SHIFTER CAN FUCKING READ MINDS TOO BTW AND HE LISTED ONLY 3 THINGS HE NOTICED - 2 if we arent counting the realization in the bunker - WHICH IS NOT ALOT. AAAA

dear shapeshifter, KYS!!! NOW!!!! but also thank you for existing on the show very fun callback to spn

on the spn note: BALLS! IDJIT!! YAY :D

i love sage shes great tbh but also FUUCKKNKKKKKKK !!!!! SHES SO EVIL AND FUCKED UP AND TBH A GREAT CHARACTER I HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT SEASON

butcher has tentacles now. mr. swiss cheese-for-brains is the ultimate supe killer... ok. .......................... he resigned himself to death and then felt the need to say SORRY!!!! to the BOYS!!!!! and then he fucks it up bc mallorey fucked it up and IS DEAD WHAT!!!!!!!!!

RYAN MY BOY YOU WERE SO CLOSE LOOK AT YOU IN EP 7 STANDING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN AND JUST HERE IN EP8 WALKING OUT ON HOMELANDER CUZ HES A WHINEY LITTLE FUCKHEAD AAAAAA

AND MALLOREY I KNOW YOU HAD GOKD INTENTIONS BUT GODDAMMIT!!! YOU'RE FUCKING HEAD OF THE C GODAMN IA PLEASEE GIRL ALSO RIP OH GODDD

tl;dr: rip neuman, ashley girlboss, firecracker please beat homelanders ass, homelander khs challange, frenchie and kimiko get RUINED for me, male sa not funny but annie ig i get her reaction, i hate shapeshifter but i love spn reference, BALLS! IDJIT!, sage is so evil/pos, swiss-cheese-for-brains has tentacles and i want to beat his ass, ryan IM SORRYY, mallorey you fucked up!!!!!!!!

[scarefox]

I need to write down the timeline of Zouey and Nant + Phop. Might edit this post along my rewatch:

Zoueys Birthday, 18. September 2023:

Zouey started to have a crush on Jason, they started chatting in September

the guys pestered Nant about his virginity too, so Nant didn't start sleeping with the playboyys and taking drugs yet either

nothing happened at that time yet but:

"Why do I have to go all the way back to last year? That's when it started"

April:

2024 or 2023 ?? (since Thai New Year is in April, April 2024 still counts as "last year" from a 2024 pov I guess)

The circumstances are still foggy here. (That said I am glad we didn't have to see that scene on screen). But I need more information how sentence 1 and sentence 2 are relevant to each other. Also how they got from texting to meeting. Zouey told Teena that he tried to have sex with someone but it didn't end well. Is that what happened or was it a "different version" he told Teena. (before someone asks, yes it's relevant for the plot and characterization)

Zouey is mad and disappointed at Jason (but as we know still has a crush on him)

Nant was the only one knowing about it "that's the reason he couldn't stay"

Nant is in debt

after taking Soongs drugs, nobody wanted to help him with he got involved with Nuth and drug dealing

so we are talking about him being in debt with Jason for throwing out his drugs to not get busted by the cops

might there be an ulterior motive of Nant to use this to get Jason behind bars so he doesn't have to pay the debt anymore?

not saying he wouldn't have exposed him anyways but it's convenient

Nant asked Zouey to come out as witness

-> him as witness sounds a bit as if there are more... well we audience know later about Porsche. But did Nant know? Could be possible since Nant and Porsche lived together before the others joined and they seemed close then according to Porsche. Yet something happened that Porsche is pissed at him. Porsche didn't seem to know that Nant wanted to expose Jason... or did he? (side note: Zouey did not know about Porsche being Jasons "sugar baby" / other victim, if we believe his surprised reaction in ep11)

Zouey didn't want Nant to expose Jason / what happened to Zouey, so he suggested Nant to fake his suicide instead to get out of the debt

Nants fake suicide & the time Nant went missing

Nant came back home to see Zouey & packed his stuff to go abroad after the video was done

Zouey told Jason to kidnap Nant for whatever warped messed up crush feelings he still has for this man

Nant was in the VIP room of Playboyy, held by Jason the whole time

assuming the party of episode 1 is Zoueys birthday again? So we start episode 1 around 5 months later after he got raped by Jason and Nant disappeared?

Nont arrives to investigate Nants disappearance

Zouey frees Nant from the VIP room (because Nont is sniffing around)... when Nant asks Zouey why he is here, Zouey refuses to answer:

Zouey apologizes.... for not being there sooner (.... bruh)

(internal voiceover from future ep14 Zouey "I am sorry Nant, I am the reason you're dead")

Zouey knows the whole time Nont is Nants twin... or maybe only after Nont revealed it in ep4?

Zouey refuses any of Nants question and is in a hurry to get Nant out / away from there

oh okay so that's way after ep4 then... after ep8 (fits with the Phop incident) that's when Nuth shows Nont the suicide clip

so Zouey didn't know till around ep8 where Nant was but he knew Jason got him since he was the one telling Jason... but how did he find out now

Zouey wants him to keep playing dead, even to his brother

Zouey got a ticket for Nant to the states via his mom, Nants & Nonts dad lives in the states

Zoueys mom was suppoesd to send a driver to pick up Nant the next day

Zoey doesn't want Nant to see Nont in fear Jasons men would find out

at least that bastard man wasn't present when Nant was in that room the whole time.. maybe. we don't know when he left Thailand

Zoey wants Nant to wear Zoueys clothes so he won't be noticed by other people in Playboyy lounge

seeing how different Zouey is dressed as well... maybe you have to look a bit more rich and fancy to be allowed in?

... look at him feeling guilty then when Nant hugs him and tells him that Zouey is always treating him the best. WHILE simultaneously we hear ep14 Zoueys guilty voiceover to that image, knowing that Nant indirectly got killed because of his stupid plan. PLUS this is just a few moments away from Nant getting killed by Phop.

Phop kills Nant in ep8

after Nuth tells him this

which happens after Nont held them both at gun point

after Nuth reveled the suicide video and the issues he had with Nant

but I don't think Phop recognizes Nant, since he wears a mask when they run into each other

it cut's back to the talk with Nuth, Phop promising him that he's not losing the drugs

Phop is shocked when he takes Nants mask off at the end, so he did not know it was him (or he didn't expect him to die) ... he just didn't want to get busted or robbed... I mean Nant does look shady here

News announced that Nants body was found

at the end of ep9

he was found naked in a forest near Rangsit, had been dead for 48 hours

side note Teena x Zouey

Zouey finally agrees to have sex (all the way) with Teena at the end of ep7 (did he know then that Jason comes back soon?). After Zouey confesses him that he is his muse and that Teena is the only one allowed in his art room. Teena is not as perfect as the image Zouey has in his head but he likes him despite that. (lets hope Zouey doesn't compare Jason & Teena 🤐). It was very unusual of Playboyy to not show their sex scene here despite it being a long awaited moment for the characters (and audience). They witheld Jump x Porsches first time too. We only saw that when it became relevant later in a flashback to define their relationship dynamic. I wonder if the Teena x Zouey scene will be revealed in the continuation / special / season 2 ... We got to see later sex scenes between these two after that. Where Zouey is more dominant, tho he did show some of that already earlier in ep7 during their art picnic.

Jason is back in ep10

Zouey please, dear, your obsession is showing (+ you have a boyfriend) 😭

we see mesmerized Zouey vs frowning nervous Porsche both watching Jasons speech.....

we learn from Porsches voiceover that Jason gives out scholarships and big projects to the best students

he gives the students opportunities for big projects and takes the credits for it

"if he likes someone, they get chosen to work for him after graduation." (this line paired with focus on Zoueys face)

Zouey got a scholarship here, he's happy talking with Jason

Jason tells him to drop the formal talk with him when they talked alone

they talk about Zoueys art exhibition he got the opportunity for now

(the music gives a shady vibe to the scene)

Teena x Zouey popcorn scene is the next time we see Zouey

later this shifty talk with Nont

hmmm :) oh well I feel like Nont became Zoueys new secret worst enemy to his dream

... could he be behind Nonts kidnapping? :) maybe trying the same thing again he did with Nant, now that it worked so well with Jump and Porsche :) Zouey please, that's not the way.

Zoueys art exhibition is his big dream

back then we thought he wants to do the exhibition in Jasons office for investigation reasons but nah... that's actually the opposite of what he wants. He's kind of a double agent here. Zouey wants the investigation to stop so his scholarship and exhibition doesn't get endangered (which is linked to Jasons goodwill.. affection). When Zouey is shocked about the reveal between Porsche and Jason, his first question to Porsche is "What you said isn't true, right? Your adoptive father doesn't sleep with you, right? He doesn't hurt you, right?"

Now is this actual worry for his friend or also worry for himself and his plans?

He desperately needs this exhibition to happen for some reason. Presumably to impress someone? To prove it to someone or to himself? His parents? Maybe Jason? (Aob is / was the same with Jason, his obsession to be number 1 in Playboyy. Might be a manipulation thing Jason does, to make people fall in love with him to make them do what he wants). With Porsches earlier voiceover about the opportunity to work with Jason, we constantly saw Zouey beaming up at him. Indicating that this might be his goal.

Later Zouey tells Jason that he wants the exhibition theme to be nudes but Jason smiles and says that's not working with the schools image.

In ep14 we see Zouey having beef with Den the school director, also about the theme of the exhibition being nudes and not "deep enough" for the schools image.

Zouey & Jasons private interactions ep11

do make a lot of sense btw. I saw some confused comments, I am too, that's why I do this rewatch. but looking at it all together, it makes sense

they both know what happened, they act as if nothing bad happened

Zouey has extreme respect for Jason, is intimidated by him even but still has a crush on him AND his future depends on this man (big ass power imbalance and abuse if we ever saw one)

bet Teena will be the one who reveals this mess if we get a sequel because he sees all of that, knows Zoueys issues with sex

Later we have this interaction between Jason and Zouey, also very in character and plot. When Zouey once again asks about a nude exhibition. Jason asks if Zouey will be the model. But Zouey is the artist not the model.

.... because he knows his naked body .....................

makes Zouey immediately more uncomfortable

Zouey snapping because of Captain and First intentionally (nonconsensually) hurt people during sex

this is a weird thing to say when Nant was the only one knowing about Jason and him. Maybe he slipped here, projected again like in ep1. Or maybe there is more we don't know yet but the baddie bunch knows about. Maybe that wasn't about Jason.

I mean with this mean ass cliffhanger they left us sitting in the finale, there is definitely still some stuff left open for Zouey...

[stray-tori]

quick lc s2 rant about trolling the audience

Slowly but surely my patience is running out.

The LG trolling in PVs was already annoying to me. But like, sure. why not, it's all meta stuff, and the episode itself actually switched to LM (recognizeable by the choke marks) before the flatline. so, fair! easily catch-able when you pay attention or rewatch.

But this new episode...? In ep6's ending, the shot of CXS running with LTX had his eyes normal (like, in the actual ep!!).

I HATE shit like this. I'm sorry, wtf? This is not a case of "if you paid attention, you got something early". In fact, it's the complete opposite. it's turning to your audience and saying "oh, you paid attention? too bad, we lied!"

In s1 LM being possessed was obscured SO naturally through the mask and later the dark room being all red. Going from that (which is genuinely one of my favorite things from s1) to this kind of stuff really frustrates me.

In both cases (assuming this ep's ending is also misleading*) I feel like they could have edited it in a way that didn't show the eyes at all, and then use the full animation for the next episode.

Or at least make it a far shot then where non-colored eyes could be an abstraction/simplification because of the distance.

i just. i can't do this.

screwing over your invested fans who try to make sense of things they see IN THE EPISODES is just a move that I cannot understand.

Because yes, the eyes likely aren't in-universe. it's purely for the audience, but it's not like their approach changed to make for a less direct hint. They didn't keep doing it through ep7 as they did in ep6 - which proves that this is solely to be unreliable and to troll and I find that disappointing.

Because I absolutely understand the value of leaving things in the dark with this stuff - nobody can be trusted, etc. It would be great for the genre switch. But that's not how LC has operated with this until now and instead of consistently adjusting, it's done like this.

Maybe ep6 was an error, but considering how likely it is for ep7 to be doing the same, I don't think it would be.

\* reg why I think ep7 is also misleading: LG was too hurt to walk to the door without opening his wounds, there's NO WAY he could do all this. and we know that CXS possessing someone carries his physical condition over. also in a preview for s2 they showed the timestamp LG was waiting for in ep6 (18:55) with text that says "Past meets future". Idk how this will work considering he probably can't dive to save himself if he's actually taken but IG we'll find out!

edit: toned down my wording a bit ;w;

edit after ep8 came out: it wasn't trolling since they consistently portrayed him without golden eyes "before" we saw the dive happen, so that's fair game to me. Just makes me dislike ep6 end even more though lol, why did they deviate from their portrayal for that one shot ugh :(

[thatgirl4815]

I am once again tormented by the possibility that they have withheld yet more SandxRay content from us - at the end of the bathtub scene you can literally see Ray start to speak...and then cut! What was he going to say?? Will we ever know?? Why do they keep doing this to us??

I am also bitter about that, and the fact that the first SandRay scene from the Ep8 preview was cut from the end of Ep7 which, for people like me who do not speak Thai, is a bit of a bummer.

Personally, I am okay with some editing errors. Obviously it's not ideal, but I won't hold it against the crew--they're working on a short schedule. It does, however, seem a little sus to me that all the scenes that have managed to have issues or be cut entirely are SandRay ones. Also surprising, because I've been led to believe that FirstKhao is the biggest draw to this show (I am biased, but proportional to everyone else, SandRay seems like the most popular couple by a longshot.)

I will disagree with some people I've seen arguing that Sand and Ray's storyline is very weak because of the potential cuts; I think Sand and Ray still have a strong presence in the plot, even if they deserve more screentime. In a weird, terrible way, I am somewhat glad that now we have a big issue that they must contend with in their relationship to get things moving.

But yeah. Idk what they have against SandRay. Maybe it's just a coincidence? But it's definitely very frustrating.

[airenyah]

Hi, I came to report to you that your ql music research is rubbing off on me 😅 I was watching ep 2 of Ploy's Yearbook (for Joong and Namtan 😍), when suddenly I recognized a piece of music!! But I couldn't place it, so I tried to remember which series have I watched so many times that I'm familiar with the music. I reached the tentative conclusion that it must be from SIMM or possibly from Hidden Agenda (but I definitely connected it to JoongDunk). Maybe I need to do a complete rewatch of both series to confirm, what a hardship 😂 I just wanted to tell you that maybe aside from being a JD vampire bl truther, this will be your other legacy

oh my god, that's amazing!!!!!! i LOVE to hear that!!!!! i'm actually planning on making a side blog focused on shared royalty free music in thdramas, but that's something that is earliest going to happen in the summer if not in the winter. i wanna work my way through some of my fave shows first, because those are the soundtracks i'm more likely to recognize and i just wanna have them on my google doc before i go put everything in tumblr posts (which is also gonna take forever bc my google doc is currently at 100 pages worth of entries sjkfkjsfdj)

aaaaanyway, re: music in ploy's yearbook

was it by any chance desert caravan by ludvig moulin? i haven't watched ep2 yet (i was actually about to go watch it when your message came in and i couldn't help answering it first kjdkfdg), but i did see a clip of it earlier in jimmy's insta story and the scene had this music in the background. it has come up in episode 1 already as well. if it was this, then good job on connecting it to a joongdunk show because it actually has come up on hidden agenda a couple of times! i'm still missing the last 3 episodes on my music collection, but these are the time stamps so far:

ep1 pt1 - 0:13

ep3 pt2 - 0:20

ep4 pt1 - 4:32

ep8 pt4 - 8:08

And here are the time stamps for ep1 of ploy's yearbook:

ep1 pt1 - 11:10 / 17:41

ep1 pt2 - 1:50

ep2 pt1 - 9:38

ep2 pt2 - 0:27

ep2 pt3 - 3:09

ep2 pt4 - 3:07

you might also have recognized get up on that horse by spring gang as the music that plays in bad buddy at the beginning of ep7 when pat is in the car (ep7 pt1 - 1:20) or also in ep12 when patpran claim they broke up (ep12 pt3 - 3:45). oh but wait, it's definitely connected to joongdunk, you said? well, as it turns out this one has actually come up in star in my mind a lot. like. A LOT:

ep1 pt2 - 5:55

ep2 pt1 - 4:00

ep2 pt4 - 1:02

ep3 pt2 - 1:15

ep3 pt3 - 1:55

ep3 pt4 - 1:17

ep6 pt2 - 1:23

ep7 pt2 - 1:48

ep7 pt4 - 0:48

ep8 pt1 - 4:33 / 5:41

ep8 pt3 - 5:07

and here are the time stamps for ep1 of ploy's yearbook again for reference:

ep1 pt1 - 13:00

ep1 pt2 - 2:26

ep2 pt1 - 8:37

and here, have a bonus because why the fuck not: moonshiner's turn by martin landström. this one has shown up in ep1 pt4 of both bad buddy as well as 23.5 degrees. also found in ep1 of ploy's yearbook at:

ep1 pt1 - 18:53

ep1 pt3 - 6:16

ep2 pt1 - 0:35 / 17:30

well, i'm gonna go watch the new episode now! feel free to check back on this post in a couple of hours, i might edit it or add a reblog with all my findings about the music in ep2 😂

edit:

i've added the ep2 time stamps to the aforementioned ones! and i found new music as well!!

maybe the one you recognized as a joongdunk series music in ep2 was winning hand by ealot. it came up in star in my mind a couple of times:

ep1 pt4 - 3:00

ep2 pt2 - 2:20

ep4 pt2 - 9:16

ep8 pt3 - 4:17

it featured in ep2 of ploy's yearbook at following timestamps:

ep2 pt1 - 16:58

ep2 pt3 - 3:45

and there was some more bad buddy music as well (diggin' the drama by the new fools) and it amazes me that my brain immediately went "we know this!!" considering it showed up in bad buddy exactly one single time (ep7 pt2 - 13:45). bad buddy really has wormed its way into my brain in every single aspect in the last two years huh djkfkjdfg. anyway you can find it in ep2 of ploy's yearbook at:

ep2 pt1 - 11:10

apart from these, there were also two pieces of music that sounded increeeedibly familiar to me but neither shazam nor google could come up with any results! i'm gonna have to click through my "not found" list at some point, maybe they're already there. here are the time stamps if you're curious:

first one i can't find (ep2 pt3 - 2:06)

second one i can't find (ep2 pt3 - 7:09)

this is gonna bug me for a while....

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep8 Musings - The Ep8 Script (Pt1)

Thanks to slitwrstsavior sharing the script and @memorian for digitizing it! <3

Imma have to do this in chunks, cuz of Tumblr's 30-pic limit.

SHADE.

AMC. I'm finna smack y'all. I NEED those alternate outtakes! 😭🙏

😳 JACOOOOOOB! 😱

SIR ANDERSONNNNNNNNN~!!!!

You ain't have to commit to the bit like THAT! They said suck the BLOOD DROP on the FLOOR, not the effing ROCKS themselves! XD Your improvs are IMMACULATELY UNHINGED! 😍

This is VERY cool & interesting!

HH's OCD mirrors Lou's mad ravings during his PTSD unhinged Revenge Plot, but it's also really cool that he was from vinatge Hollywood, contemporaneous with Louis' film noir aesthetic in 2x7, AND HH's association with aviation, and Lou's dream learning to fly (a plane)--perhaps in honor of Claudia mad that Les wouldn't teach her to fly (with the Cloud Gift? 😭💔) NO ONE EFFING TOUCH ME!

Ahhhhhh~! They're his triggers; AND his reset-buttons. U_U

He was finna KIIIIIIILLLLLL Lestat, IKR!? XD

I love how the use of ellipses can stand for either interruptions (Louis shushing him) or deliberate pauses (Armand actively tryna think of a lie).

Rolin's goofy arse. XD He really meant it when he said he wanted Dan's music to come in clutch.

Can't help but notice that it's SILENT during this part though. The "tense" film noir music only starts AFTER Louis' finished speaking. Which I think was a better choice. Let Louis' words sink in--HIS voice is the only one that should matter. THEN let the music come in. 👌

I EFFING KNEW THAT WAS HER ASHES OMG!? That ain't LIPSTICK!

I'm STILL MAD we didn't effing SEE the ear/jaw. But thank you for the movie nod from Akasha's BAMF exit.

Ahhh, that answers my question about if Louis was still using the Fire Gift from halfway across Paris--that is AWESOME, wow!

[EDIT] Forgot to add this in, cuz AMC!Lou's officially OP:

EXCUSE YOU!? Since when did Santiago know Armand's birthname!?

So either: Armand told Santiago his backstory, OR Santiago stole it from his mind (highly unlikely), OR he eavesdropped Loumand. SNAKE!

There's a typo--it should say "They are there to...." Which they took out anyway, and good riddance; Lou immediately cuts him off, cuz ain't nobody tryna hear your effing excuses, a-hole.

I DO wanna hear what he would've said though--pour some more Kool-aid down everyone's throats whydontcha!? "I knew the wisdom of the Great Laws," as if! I NEED to know what REALLY went down with the coven in S3--Imma make a separate post, cuz I have so many questions, that this Ep8 script unfortunately is NOT answering.

SUFFER, bish.

Imma cut off right here, and make a separate post.

[forcebookish]

hi! i’m the one who sent in about sandray’s death flags breakdown, with the joker and batman one. the post i saw it from didn’t really specify so i’m not too sure about that tbh but that was just stated in there. again, i’m not too certain about sand dying but there would come a time when ray may really have to let sand go, just like how sand mentioned in EP8. 

but with that said, i have a full breakdown about what the show is doing with top mew in my mind. i’m so sorry for the long post😅

I discovered an interesting part of the opening sequence that I think a lot of people overlooked. It’s the part right after Jennie with the guy and Title. With each couple, the screen pans to something that is heavily linked to them. SandRay - plum wine jars (income disparity), BostonNick - Boston’s photos (voyuerism), TopMew - some sort of deer antlers? I looked it up and it symbolises a lot of things associated with TopMew: power, dominance, authority, sacredness, self-awareness. The thing about deer antlers is that they regrow after they fall off - regrowth and regeneration. This confirms for me that the show is driving some sort of growth and regeneration for TopMew and their relationship, especially for Top. 

I’ve seen a lot of people complain about the lack of connection (chemistry?) between TopMew, but I truly think they were deliberately set up to do so. I feel that TopMew’s main dates - laser tag, silent disco, blind dinner heavily emphasise that disconnection (and its buildup). I personally am frustrated that a lot of people failed to realise that. Two people coming together defies the rules of laser tag. Technically one person is trying to get away from the other, one person has to keep chasing the other. The concept of silent disco is that you don’t have to listen to the same song as the other person and you can’t really hear the other person properly. For the blind dinner, you can’t see the other person and it’s difficult to be on the same page. not to mention the topmew scenes in the first half had a lot of eerie or unease bgm.

Overall, this disconnection is really from the insecurities, mistrust and miscommunication that was built up and not from the fact that they don’t love each other. they just didn’t fully confront these issues before the meltdown in EP6. If they didn’t love each other, they wouldn’t have been that hurt in the last scene of EP6. They wouldn’t have looked that vulnerable in the hostel kitchen in EP8. I want to pull at my hair every time someone says TopMew don’t love each other 🤯. But I’m glad they’re going to take steps to better communication and trust and be more open about their emotions, especially in the rage room (which I’m excited about😄!!). we’ll see how their connection builds from there. is their path of change/recovery smooth all the time? no, they’re morally grey people at the end of the day. but what makes topmew stand out and be able to work towards having a stable relationship is that they have individual responsibility, accountability and self-awareness to a certain extent. i can’t say the same for the others…

tysm for reading again! i just love forcebook in these roles and their story doesn’t seem like much at face value (cuz of the archetypes). but their story as a whole is so complex and interesting🥰. thank you for letting me share my thoughts.

wow!! this is really interesting, anon! i do, uhhhh, kind of disagree with everything........ and i will talk about it. at length... i promise i will try to do it in a not mean way lol but be warned you did trigger a lot of my spicier opinions. some of this reads like you might have taken a few too many sips of the kool-aid, my dear.

the antlers: are we sure it's that deep? obviously, it could be but it's an editing choice not a writing choice and half the time the gmmtv editors can't be trusted. plus, it's nickboston who have made out under antlers... just don't want us to get too into the weeds there. i definitely think that what you said about what it symbolizes for topmew IS true, but whether that was intended or not i'm a little skeptical of. cool trivia though!

lack of connection/chemistry: oh, anon... you poor thing, you're clearly new here... you don't know about me... this is straight up a winter soldier activation code for me at this point.

i wholly disagree that it was "set up" that way, because i literally do not see it. it's not the first time i've seen this interpretation, and it seems more like something that topmew/forcebook-haters incepted into your brain and you tried to explain it away... but it's simply not true. while i agree that these dates have similar purposes to what you've mentioned, the idea that they're not connecting is a conclusion that rejects everything that is actually happening on screen.

i will give you only the laser tag date, because it's when mew literally dumps top lol

but clearly there is still chemistry. this date demonstrates that they are playful, flirtatious, and competitive as well as there being a give and take to their relationship where top is pursuing mew (something completely neutral, btw).

also are we just going to ignore the bookstore date where they spent the whole time flirting and getting to know each other?? because it's actually the date that sets the tone for all of them: this is when it is established that

mew is largely unwilling to try new things and sticks to books, while top challenges that mindset and

mew's sense is (maybe) always right.

the dates you mentioned are about those two details: new experiences, top gets him out of his shell and introduces him to numerous firsts, and senses, when you take away one sense, all your other senses become stronger.

on the silent disco date, they purposefully switch to the same song and dance together, in sync (which is also how they kiss, btw - something that is meant to show that they're connecting and want the same thing out of the relationship. the only time they didn't kiss in sync is their love scene in episode six... for obvious reasons. again, no chemistry, my ass🙄).

mew listens to top and sees that he's cute.

(gifs from this post btw)

we're also ignoring the temple date? (x)

the cafe date? (x)

the dates where they just chat comfortably, are casually affectionate, and flirt sweetly are conveniently left out because they don't fit the false narrative that there's a disconnect between them? to fit the false narrative that chemistry is just about sex and not being easy with each other? ok........

the blind dinner is explicitly about seeing with your heart.

LIKE. TOP LITERALLY TELLS YOU.

the point is that they're on the same page: that's why they clink their glasses in perfect sync and top feeds mew and wipes his mouth more effectively.

that whole day is about mew seeing top for who he really is.

and as much as the fandom loooooooooves to talk about the lasik "revealing" who top really is, it's not. it's about revealing who his "friends," boston and ray, really are. mew starts out the relationship assuming that top is the person who he then thinks he is after he learns about the betrayal: but the person he's come to know, who he's seen with his heart is the true top. it's proven over and over and over again that top is a caring, friendly person (who defends himself when challenged) who loves mew (and doesn't want to fuck boston lol) - just how mew came to see him and is going to see him as again.

and while i agree that topmew have a fair amount of insecurities, mistrust, and miscommunication, i don't think it's indicative of a disconnect and these are mostly resolved through communication. and even when they aren't, what does that have to do with chemistry? why do they have to tick all these Perfect Relationship boxes? why are they held at a higher standard than all the other couples, who like you said don't have individual responsibility, accountability, or self-awareness? just because they're boyfriends? or because they were already on defense in a fandom that was determined to hate them from the jump? ...or because they're forcebook?🙃 i've never seen another couple in anything have their relationship so picked apart and scrutinized in bad faith. let them breathe!

eerie or uneasy background music: this makes me insane omg i've said this before but jangly guitar and soft piano are suddenly not romantic!?!?????!? are there scenes with uneasy background music? sure, but i think saying there are "a lot" of them is too broad and decontextualizes the scenes that they were used in.

they're morally gray people: they're just people. for the love of god. i'm so tired of this phrase. this should be used for jedis and superheroes, not 21-year-old college students trying to date each other omg morally gray implies that there is some war of balance between good and evil when really, they're just boys who fuck up sometimes. and i'm not saying that there aren't bad people (ray - who repeatedly hurts everyone around him, shouted at mew for not having sex with him, and rarely ever apologizes his worst offenses - and boston - who assaulted and coerced top and only reluctantly apologized to mew after ray asked him if he was going to lol) in this drama, but making it out like topmew are toeing the line when they're perfectly normal and make a few bad decisions (and often apologize for them) is excessive.

soooo sorry for all of that, anon. i know you meant well😅 this is typically the kind of discourse i just ignore when it shows up on my dash precisely because this is the result😅

if you're still reading😅: i'm also really excited about the rage room! i know a lot of my buddies on here want topmew to sit down and talk about their feelings, which is all fine and good for a couple irl, but this is a drama! i wanna see something happen! and i think this is the perfect visual tool to do that. i do think that their relationship is only going to get stronger after this, and i really hope that mew can get to a point (soon) where he's more secure. because even after exchanging i love yous he was still holding himself back and doubting the relationship. hopefully after seeing how top has handled the breakup and how clear it is that he never lied about loving mew, mew can be more confident about who he really is to top.

thanks for stopping by, anon!💗 sorry again for getting into it like that😅

[inkyweenus]

Post 8 edit: This has nothing to do with EP8, but I still stand by it.

I was kinda frustrated at first with how little actual plot information we've been getting each episode, but then I realized that if we got any semblance of a plan from Lu Guang, that would mean that Xiao Li would also probably get that information, and then he'd fuck up everything with sheer incompetence.

I mean... it's pretty much his fault that both of his partners are dead, and if it weren't for Qiao Ling reigning him in, he'd have done a lot more damage already. But she's reigning everyone in this season. Post 8 edit: I stand by this QL statement even more now. Although, because of the shitty subtitles, I'm not 100% sure if Wang Juan is actually dead yet.

Love that for Qiao Ling. But back to Xiao Li:

I have very little sympathy for him.

As a boss, he never gave his subordinate a day off. Not even to have a proper wedding. Or to care for his pregnant wife and unborn child. And after working Chen Bin several days in a row without even letting the man go home to sleep, XL was too caught up in getting some civilians to do his job that he didn't even notice CB leave the room during a time that he said himself everyone was to be on high alert. And we all know what happened after that.

And then after seeing his dead partner fall from the sky, XL was knocked out by random extras he knew would probably be afoot, rendering him incapable of doing anything while those civilians and some old people safely (?) apprehended the suspects.

(Okay, that one isn't fair. He was definitely in shock. But still.)

And then once he was conscious and back to work, he demanded the civilians continue to do his job for him, even though one was literally hooked into a hospital bed, because he's not even competent enough to look into cases that his former colleague-turned-evil and current antagonist was involved with during his downward spiral.

And then, he doesn't even wonder why some random unidentifiable witness only wants to talk to this civilian that shouldn't isn't publicly on the case but is essentially running it. XL just gives said civilian, who minutes before exited the scene of a double homicide while experiencing not only his own emotions but those of the child watching her mother (and almost brother) be beaten to death, a crash course on police interrogation and says, "Go get 'em, Tiger!"

And then, after losing his first trusted partner to a person who has proved capable of possessing anyone to do anything including kill themself and kill their friends, he established a whole buddy system to avoid people getting possessed and hurt but said his currently assigned partner was fine to go alone because he trusted her and she's "strong." Isn't that even more reason to not want her to potentially get possessed? It literally just happened to a cop you trusted, so it's not like the law makes them immune.

And then when his new partner, this civilian he can't stop traumatizing, and the person that has admitted on mic to be the one possessing people went missing after acting suspicious on camera AND MICROPHONE, he didn't even bother to call and notify the guard posted at the exit, who was also not part of this buddy system apparently. Like... Where did you think they were escaping from, the air vents?! This isn't a spy novel. And you left the one guy who's in charge of people coming in and out of the premise alone and totally out of the loop?? When one of the people involved is a former cop that people around here seem to kinda trust a bit?!

AND THEN he couldn't even catch the kid he put a tracker on, but this time he didn't even have to ask the civilians to do his job for him. They just heard that CaPtaIn XiAo was on the case and immediately jumped into action--evading police and hijacking vehicles to triangulate their partner's location by land and sea to prevent his capture

(at least for now... things can go south pretty quick and I'm just being dramatic while I wait for this episode to drop) Post 8 edit: Obviously things were going to get worse first. Would love some understandable subtitles to really know how much worse, though.

Or.

He's actually the bad guy and all of this was on purpose. I think I'd be okay with that.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi Nalyra!

Could you please expand on what you mean by ‘huge potential there’ regarding Louis and Daniel possibly getting the TOTBT-plot next season? If that is what you mean? Would love to know what you speculate? Plz do tell! Of course it’s very early days, but I think you’re right if you think they are doing that plot at some point - Rolin basically flat out said so I think? And Raglan James' whole deal and him asking for reciprocation is a still an unresolved plot line (I know some people think it’s the Talamasca getting to edit the book, but they always had that opportunity when they became Daniel's only potential publisher).

However, do you really think that plot takes place before Louis' and Daniel's conversation at the end of the last episode? I just don’t’ really get the sense that they have been on another separate ‘adventure’ already there. Also wouldn’t it be too confusing to have that episode imply that Armand turned Daniel in Dubai to then change it so drastically? Sure the show sometimes shows one thing and then reveals another to be the case, but i don't know… It also doesn't seem to be the case in light of Rolin's comments. I'm happy to be wrong though!

I do personally think Daniel's turning is a disappointment, as it occurs off-screen and may have been out of spite/hatred. Also because if DM didn't happen in the past that means we lose out completely on a humanDaniel/VampireArmand relationship dynamic, as they've already turned Daniel. Which makes me a bit sad, as a lot of the most important aspects around DM is kinda built around that. And if they are doing an enemies-to-lovers thing instead, that’s even more reason to show the turning - as it mirrors ep5 and becomes a vital part of their relationship story. I just find it so weird to skip that completely (I understand skipping it in ep8 but then say they won’t revisit it at all is disappointing, and a bit boring writing frankly). But I’m trying to have faith in that the show writers know what they are doing and that the DM relationship will be interesting and actually explored.

All this to say that I like the idea that there might be more to Daniel’s turning - I really liked the idea of them doing it in connection with TOTBT plot. But given that Daniel has already been turned I don’t think they are going to have him in some way be turned again. Of course one alternative would be to have that plot have taken place already, but given Louis and Daniel’s conversation at the end of ep8 I don’t think so? I don’t have any idea on how they might do TOTBT though, nor what Louis’s and Daniel’s plots will be about next season. Rolin did say they were setting up plots for them in interviews.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thank you!

I definitely think there is more to Daniel's turning. There might be more to Daniel's turning than Louis knows, too!! I mean, Louis says it was "out of spite" - but we know Louis' memories were edited, and especially around that time frame of San Francisco back then. Louis... might simply not know.

Personally I think part of DM happened in the past... and the inverse chase might happen in the present. I'd love that, actually^^. It would open up the mirroring in a really nice way, too, while keeping the dynamic extremely interesting, in both past and present.

If TtotBT happened already, or if Daniel is really a vampire already? We'll see :)

As per TtotBT:

The thing about doing that plot with Louis and Daniel, and maybe omitting David and even Gretchen is the following (which >I< find extremely interesting):

We know they want to keep Louis more involved. Louis and Lestat have that weird "Netflix and chill era" then in the books. They visit each other, often. Have stuff at each other's houses. And so on. By not "only" keeping Louis for the scene later in the story where Lestat wants him to turn him again, Louis is then (likely) pulled into the whole sickness and seeing Claudia phase. The trouble with Marius (that is only hinted at in the book but might be expanded in the show).

Daniel and Louis both are strong enough to find ways to do the chase, and as said before, personally I wonder if the changing eye colors of Daniel have something to do with the "proof of concept" that Rolin hinted at when he said he would need to establish the concept of a soul.

Now, you need the concept of a soul for body switching, spirits, and, of course ghosts (and the Memnoch adventure I guess, but I doubt they'll do that one).

Claudia's ghost being there, and being something Lestat sees would be a huge pull for Louis. In the books he suffers from the fact that he never saw her (until the end of Merrick, and it is debatable if that was really her ghost then).

Daniel in turn would be along of course because he has relations with Raglan - maybe he even let Raglan experiment with body switching before, hence the changing eye color. I think there is a high chance this might be the "favor" Raglan asks of him. And then, when Raglan knows he can... he steals Lestat's body.

Which would make Daniel in part responsible, or at least he might feel that way. I think he and Lestat will get along like a house on fire actually, at least eventually, and him then being responsible for maybe introducing? Facilitating? the theft might be the reason why he tags along.

Daniel, with his already established connections to the Talamasca might be the one to connect to their side - while Louis will maybe be the one to.... soften the blows from the vampiric side. We'll see.

A lot will depend on whether the show will actually "have David" - and in what capacity.

But I think, as said, that the changing eye color likely was a hint... and I don't think show Louis would stay away, even if he would hold to his principles - especially not if he knows Lestat sees the ghost of their daughter.