#ep 36 had me in pieces

[mirrorshards]

A special kind of Wonderful

[simply-whump]

Kill Me Love Me (春花焰) - Whump List

Whumpee : Murong Jing He played by Liu Xue Yi

Synopsis : Prince Murong Jing He led his Weibei Army to reclaim Qingzhou, a lost territory. Soon after his army entered the city, a devastating fire broke out. Rumor had it that the prince, now known as the ruthless "Butcher General", ordered the city to be burned to the ground. In the flames, a young girl named Mei Lin lost her entire family. Heartbroken and consumed by vengeance, she vowed to kill the one responsible for the massacre, Prince Murong Jing He himself. (MDL)

Genres : Historical, Mystery, Romance, Political

Warning! Possible spoilers below!

Murong Jinghe

Ep 1 : (20:35) Dreaming of the past (beaten on the ground, bloody) — (27:25) Bitten

Ep 2 : (Flashback) (00:30) Depressed, in a wheel chair — (05:30) Pushed to the ground — (Present) (22:20) Hit in the face by a piece of bread — (Flashback) (33:00) Falls from his wheelchair, crawling on the ground, crying, miserable, kicked

Ep 3 : (Flashback) (09:35) Accused unjustly, hit, falls down some stairs, beaten very badly, spitting blood, legs broken, in pain — (Present) (27:55) Stumbling, caught, stabbed, collapses — (29:40) In bed, coughing — (Flashback) (30:40) Very painful treatment to heal his leg, leg broken, trying to stand, falling

EP 4 : (07:15) Drunk — (28:25) Hand bleeding — (32:00) Stumbling, caught, concern for him, coughing

Ep 5 : (01:55) Coughing (old injury acting up), concern for him — (25:55) Bitten

Ep 6 : (16:15) Bitten

Ep 7 : None

Ep 8 : (19:10) Knocked out

Ep 9-10 : None

Ep 11 : (30:35) Drunk, walking unsteadily 

Ep 12 : None

Ep 13 : (27:15) Surrounded by assassins, falls down a cliff into water — (29:25) Bitten by a poisonous snake, in pain, can’t get up, leg paralysed, helped to walk — (34:05) Helped to walk, weak, feeling embarrassed, collapses, recalling painful memories of previous injuries, struggling, crying — (40:00) Put on a handmade wooden stretcher 

Ep 14 : (01:45) Still walking a bit weakly — (04:00) Having nightmares, wakes up, shaky breathing — (22:00) Intense battle, shot, sees a friend die in front of him, emotional, running away from assassins 

Ep 15 : (03:25) Helped to walk, weak (Has had nothing to drink or eat for a few days + injured) — (06:45) Walking weakly, stumble down a small cliff, seems unconscious, concern for him, coughing — (10:05) Starved, dehydrated, helped to walk under the snow, very weak, collapses, passes out, concern for him — (19:05) Half buried under the snow, still unconscious, found — (21:55) wakes up, weak — (34:05) Stung by a bee

Ep 16 : (07:35) Tied up

Ep 17-20 : None

Ep 21 : (29:30) Unsteady, concern for him, has a fever, given medicine — (34:15) Collapses unconscious, concern for him —(37:10) In pain

Ep 22 : (06:45) Wakes up — (32:15) Chained

Ep 23 : (02:25) Fighting, cut — (06:45) Fighting, hit, spitting blood, cut, more blood spitting, stabbed, struggling, cut, stabbed again while protecting someone, collapses — (13:35) Treated, unconscious in bed, between life and death — (16:05) Wakes up, crying, gets up, weak — (30:05) Weak, stumbling, wound reopens, bleeding, collapses —(36:15) Crying

Ep 24 : (35:00) Stone thrown at him

Ep 25 : None

Ep 26 : (16:00) Working under the rain, hand bleeding

Ep 27 : None

Ep 28 : (16:15) Desperate, crying, miserable — (22:00) Tries to kill himself, stopped — (25:00) Desperate, going a bit crazy, running around in search of his love, collapses, crying — (34:05) Depressed, teary-eyed, crying

Ep 29: (31:45) Stabbed in the shoulder while protecting someone, passes out — (33:10) Unconscious in bed, concern for him, coughing, wakes up, weak

Ep 30 : (25:30) Jump into water from a cliff, worried for someone

Ep 31 : (31:30) Tough battle, hit, spitting blood (Seriously why do they always have to kill the best side characters at the end??? I swear, every time!), blasted by an explosion — (35:20) On the ground, exhausted — (37:10) Sitting looking completely out of it, thinking about his fallen friend, crying, startled by a small touch, hugged, sobbing (I almost cried with him) — (44:40) Worried for someone 

Ep 32 : (03:00) Worried, desperate, digging in the snow, exhausted, collapses, rolls down a hill, passes out — (08:05) Crying — (15:50) Crying (These last few episode have been pure pain) — (38:00) Crying — (43:00) Crying — (51:50) Dies

>> Another Whump List with Liu Xue Yi

>> More Whump Lists

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Notes on Criston Cole in 2x02

I was fascinated by Criston Cole in this episode. We don’t really see much of him in ep. 1 so I really wasn’t sure what to do with him and his current choices. This episode we see him a TON and everything in it had me sitting up, eyes sparkling, stupid grin on my face like OH HO HO!! We’re doing good tv!!

More below cut.

1- Fabien Frankel’s Acting

So, last episode, many people noted how Criston generally seems completely blank, no expression, dead eyed. I think this episode confirmed for me that this is a conscious choice by Fabien Frankel, not a reflection of a bad actor or director— Jared Padalecki half-acting in 90% of his scenes for the last several seasons of Supernatural THIS IS NOT!! (Sorry, spn is one of my other natural habitats. The comparison is right there for me.)

There are two smaller moments where we see these really interesting bits of physical acting letting us in on Criston’s internal thoughts even while he’s got the dead face on— I think we should be thinking of this as his Kingsguard Face, roughly equivalent to the customer service smile, but for bodyguards— Criston doesn’t want anyone EVER to know what he’s thinking and feeling unless what those things are can be summed up as “bloodthirsty shark dog with knives pointed at you” (more on this later).

These two moments are first, when we see the servants clearing out the bedroom and Criston flinches away from the sight of Jaehaerys’s bloody mattress. It doesn’t look like a flinch in the way that, say, Emma D’Arcy’s flinch when the door slams closed behind Daemon after the fight does, but it’s an uncalculated movement away from something distressing nonetheless. The scene is basically just this— we see the room coming down, we see Criston, we see the mattress, we see the flinch, there’s like one line of dialogue, the scene ends. The scene has very little function except, one, to show us background minutiae and detail that bring the world and the moment to life, and two, to let us see Criston away from Alicent, Otto, Aegon, and Aemond. It’s a moment that lets us into Cole’s interiority, his guilt.

This guilt is articulated clearly later, when he says to Alicent that nothing can absolve him of what he has done. After Alicent closes the door on him, the camera pans back to Criston where we get the second piece of physical acting that fascinated me— Criston is shaking his head ever so slightly, as if trying to push away thoughts creeping in. This is the moment that really sealed for me the idea of Criston’s Kingsguard Face versus the actual interiority of the character as articulated by Frankel. Essentially, just because Criston’s busy not projecting anything doesn’t mean that Frankel isn’t trying to convey something to the audience in that moment. Criston’s dead eyes and stupid face are a front. There are three scenes where we see something other than this front, and I’d like to look at them more closely.

2- Promotion

We’ve all memed hard on this moment— the scene where Aegon fires Otto and says, “oh?? I need a strong hand??? Well!! Guess what!! I’m promoting— him!”

[camera focus shifts to show Criston Cole standing there like🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️]

(I cackled.)

As usual in any scene where Cole isn’t actively radiating malice, he’s mostly expressionless, serving in his capacity as bodyguard. However, if you look at his face, you can see that his expression isn’t actually “blank” so much as it is “poleaxed”— another thing which has been deservedly memed on. It’s still a minute expression, but it’s visibly different from his standard 🫥 face.

Here the significance of the expression serves a different purpose than in other scenes. Here, Criston’s obvious surprise and mild befuddlement function as a way to hammer home Aegon’s impulsivity and irresponsibility. Criston’s been thinking for the last 36 hours that he got a toddler killed by fucking the king’s mom, and now, after ZERO PRIOR DISCUSSION, has gotten his second insane promotion in like three months maximum.

He’s gone from Kingsguard No. 2 to Lord Commander to the fucking Hand of the King. Criston was fully prepared to be LC of the KG— at most, Criston is expecting to be a crucial lieutenant and battle commander in non-aerial combat for the Greens. Now, as Hand, he would get to decide which battles get fought where by who. Oh, and he has zero administrative skills, so jot that one down.

3- Punching Bag

I talked before about how the turn in Alicent and Criston’s relationship left me with mixed emotions. This scene— the ending scene, notably, which I respect as a denouement and to avoid breaking the flow of the Rryk Fight Plot— helped things fall into place for me.

Criston is waiting inside Alicent’s bedchamber, armor off. If I had the time and energy (or if anyone else has the time and energy…? 👀) I would love to do a post looking at Criston with him armored versus unarmored, because I think the pattern will show that, generally, when he is literally vulnerable he is usually also personally vulnerable.

But I digress— the bigger point I’m trying to make is that Criston, who just kind of got a toddler killed by fucking the king’s mom and also just got promoted over said queen’s dad for a position he’s not qualified for, has shown up wearing pajamas in her room. This man is expecting intimacy. He has prepared himself for it by removing his armor before she even enters the room. There can be no pretense for this. This is about as close to reclining naked, oiled up, on a bed of rose petals, as Criston Cole’s gonna get. Alicent initiates the scene by storming over and getting physical, but I think in his own way, he’s asking for it. Criston plays at passivity, but the point of the scene is to show that he’s very much in it with her.

The scene itself is without dialogue, no recriminations. I think Criston and Alicent have said all that can be said earlier— “What do you take me for?” “One who seeks absolution.” “There can be none for what I have done.”— and this is what’s left: guilt and pain, tangled with a desperation for human connection and someone who understands. Last episode, the commentary talked about how Criston functions as Alicent’s punching bag, and in this episode we see that both with her actually hitting him and I think also with the fact that they keep having sex, re-enacting the thing that they’re feeling guilty about. It’s a way to keep self-flagellating, keeping the wound open so they can atone for their sins by constantly feeling the guilt.

If it works for them, hey. Fair enough.

4- That Bitch

This is the scene that had me GIGGLING, eyes sparkling, stupid grin on my face, kicking my feet, THRILLED. Criston Cole, my dear friend, my evil bitch.

What many people who find themselves bewildered by the genuine Team Green fandom fail to recognize is that, apart from Team Black suffering a lot of iffy writing in s1 that made them uninteresting, most people who like Team Green like them BECAUSE they are not nice people (Helaena excepted 🙂‍↕️😌🙏💜). They are not uniform in this un-niceness, either— Alicent pontificates and pines and looks guilty, Otto calculates and schemes in a very Lawful Evil manner, Larys manipulates and schemes creepily, Aegon is taking notes from Theon Greyjoy, Aemond is an anime villain who just wants his mommy to love him and his brother to say sorry and also to bite people in half with his dragon and maybe get his uncle to fuck him idk we’ll get back to that, and Tyland is an Econ Major. There’s a looooot in there!

Criston is a violent person who for about 95% of his time currently cannot express any of the sheer hatred, rage, malignance, resentment, or pettiness that he is feeling, because he is Too Busy Doing His Fucking Job, where such emotions are a hindrance. Set Criston Cole in a battlefield melee, and he’s fucking set. Set Criston Cole in front of a door for six hours and he’s about ready to die.

In season 1, we saw how Criston found outlets for this— beating men to death, antagonizing the Strong boys in the yard, and getting into fights with Harwin. But now, he’s older, and now, he’s the Lord Commander (though soon!! Soon!!!!) and he can’t do any of that because everyone in King’s Landing is, for better or worse, functionally on Team Green and therefore un-fuck-with-able.

So what’s a man to do when he wants to lash out? The old classic— take it out on the underlings.

People have already said this, but the way the light comes into Criston Cole’s eyes when he’s guilt-tripping his brother-in-arms into either killing Criston’s ex or committing suicide by cop is genuinely incredible. Criston doesn’t even really think Arryk harbors any traitorous inclinations— he just has the excuse of it theoretically being a concern and theoretically having a built-in plan if he needs some justification. Aegon swallows the plan easily enough before Otto forces him to think about it.

Criston gets his co-worker killed and he looks ALIVE while he’s doing it.

It’s clear, too, that Criston lashing out like this at the other Kingsguard isn’t unusual. First, there’s how Arryk reacts to Criston initially entering the room like “oookay. Here we go. While I’m eating breakfast. This fucking guy.” which is telling in and of itself, but could have been a personal acting choice from Arryk’s actor. The bigger clue to this being a regular occurrence comes when Criston hits the table and IMMEDIATELY all the Kingsguard FLEE. THE. SCENE. They don’t exchange looks, they don’t say anything, they know that the best they can do is clear out before they get caught in the crossfire. They know, each and every one of them, exactly who Criston is and how he acts, and they are NOT about to get in the way of their evil boss when he’s on a rampage.

Criston, my guy, you are so awful and I love you. Congrats on getting your co-worker killed. It looked like fun.

Looking forward to the next few weeks when we start to see the Criston-Aegon Hand-King duo in action! I’m sure that everything will go SUPER smoothly and no one will get killed and everything will be fiiiiiinnneeee.

[the-conversation-pod]

Summer 2023 Ep 2 - The Eighth Sense

AND WE'RE BACK!

It seems like every season we're going to have a single show dominate the conversation and the zeitgeist so much that we have to dedicate an entire episode to it! This season it was the Korean-German team-up about a boy so sprung that he joined a surfing club even though he couldn't swim. Strap in for a long discussion!

Nini and Ben dive deep into The Eighth Sense to discuss the international nature of BL, the way film history plays into our stories, the role of forgiveness in our lives, and the role of community in queer development.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Google Podcasts

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond to chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

0:00 - Welcome 1:04 - The Eighth Sense 18:00 - The Relationship Between the Seniors and Juniors 27:45 - The Hedwig Incident 36:32 - Ae Ri 42:50 - Ji Hyun and Jae Won 50:38 - Joon Pyo and Boss Lady 56:28 - Let's Talk About the Kissing (and Episode 6) 1:06:21 - The Party Scene and Forgiveness 1:17:14 - On a Possible Second Season 1:24:10 - Checking in Two Months Later

The Conversation: Now With Transcripts!

We received an accessibility request to include transcripts for the podcast. We are working with @ginnymoonbeam on providing the transcripts and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes. When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

1:04 - The Eighth Sense

Ben

Welcome to The Eighth Sense episode! Nini and I had so much to say about this that we decided to give it its own episode, separate from our overall consternation from whatever is going on in the land of K-BL, because this felt distinct. This was a piece of work from a German and a Korean filmmaking team, and it created unique results. So we're going to speak to you all for the next hour and a half? [laughs] about it, and then we'll come back at the end with some reactions to the show and how we're feeling about it a few months later.

Nini

Let's go.

Nini

We are here today to talk about The Eighth Sense, and only The Eighth Sense. Benjamin. What is The Eighth Sense about?

Ben

See I had her a little bit annoyed before we started talking. She gives my full name because she's still mad at me for being obnoxious. The Eighth Sense —

Nini

[laughs]

Ben

The Eighth Sense is an age gap college romance between a new freshman from the Korean countryside and a very wealthy Korean man, who is the heir of his family, who's recently back from military service and trying to finish school. They kind of meet by happenstance at the freshman's job and instantly have a connection between them which they both find themselves drawn to and pulling on. 

And over the course of the show the freshman, Ji Hyun, ends up joining the surfing club to hang out with Jae Won, the senior, and a romance blossoms between them… but we hit a lot of very familiar western queer storytelling drama beats. It blends fairly well with the Korean storytelling beats, as these two eventually choose each other as they're trying to move forward with their lives. Much drama ensues because of the older boy’s deep mental health issues. It's a really simple plot. It's just incredibly well executed.

Nini

Well, let's talk a little bit about that execution. So this is a… it's a Korean production but it's co-directed by a Korean director, Baek Inu, and a German director, Werner du Plessis. And I think that that interplay between the two filmmaking styles, between some of the hallmarks of Korean filmmaking and then some of the hallmarks of like classic German bildungsroman… They interplay really interestingly I think, in terms of the way that it's executed. A lot of people are saying that The Eighth Sense made them think of Skam? I have not watched Skam so I can't really speak to that, but in terms of certain aspects of the techniques of the filmmaking that I've seen, in terms of lighting and color and all of those things, I could see the comparisons that they're making. 

But I feel like this show… it's something all its own? We've talked on this show about how K-BL was starting to get a little repetitive and feel like it wasn't, you know, using its time well and all those other things. And I think that those are criticisms that you can't level at The Eighth Sense. It does use its time well. I feel like it is well thought through, I feel like it uses its budget well, I feel like it… really engages me, like I'm not going to forget these characters. I'm not going to forget Ji Hyun, Eun Ji, Tae Hyung, Jae Won, Joon Pyo, Yoon Won, [laughs] I'm not going to forget these characters. You know what I mean? These characters have sort of touched something inside of me, particularly Jae Won. 

I feel like it came along at just the right time for me to not write off K-BL. [laughs]

Ben

I mean, is it really K-BL, though?

Nini

Well, that's the question isn't it? Because a lot of people are like, ‘oh this isn't, this isn’t BL.’ I think it's very firmly BL, but I don't know how much it feels like K-BL.

Ben

It is not relying on… the tropes or beats of traditional yaoi, as evolved by Thailand's fiddling with the formula, and what's recently been happening in Korea over the last three years-ish. When you called it like a German coming of age thing, I can feel some of those influences here. In terms of the pacing, and the knowing. 

So one of the things that BL is not very good at doing that I don't always enjoy is… BL doesn't know how to make characters always gay. Like their queerness activates when it's relevant, because they're thinking about it now. It isn't… built really into the way the character is functioning. But when you're writing queer cinema, a queer character is always queer. It is always complicating their life in some way, and that feels present here with Ji Hyun and Jae Won. Particularly when it comes to the ways that two of them engage with each other. 

Ji Hyun gets clocked constantly by everyone, because he's obvious to them. Jae Won and he bump into each other at the restaurant and recognize each other, flirt outside of the restaurant. Ae Ri recognizes these things in him very quickly and she starts covering for him; Eun Ji sees this in him right away, and beefs with him immediately over Jae Won. Yoon Won I think picks up on it right away, which is why she's always calling him cutie. And I think the boss picks up on it too, which is why she's kind of protective of him. 

This works for me because he's so clearly different, and I like how he clearly had these big dreams about ‘I'm going to move to the city and I'm going to live my best gay life.’ Then he moved to the city and got scared, because it's such a big place, all these strangers, and it's confusing because he's not used to dealing with urban systems… And so like, he immediately retreated a little bit. He just picked up a job, so he would only have to deal with one person, because it's like a one woman operation and like the freshman temp worker she's relying on? [laughs] And I think that's one of the big things that separates it for me with most of the BL we've experienced, like Ji Hyun always feels gay for me, in the way that Ji Hyun is very… protective of himself but very honest in general. Like Ji Hyun doesn't offer himself up easily to other people, but he's consistently honest and forthright with them. And like, after his big ol’ incident — where he almost dies, and I’m calling it ‘the incident’ [laughs] — he turns really sassy, but he's still being honest, he's just not tempering that. And also he's a little bit pissy, because he has a right to be. 

So like that's the biggest, I think, line between like, BL per se, and what we might call queer cinema, when I'm watching them. Like their queerness is not active only when they're flirting, like other BL characters often feel for me.

Nini

Hmmm. That's something to ponder… It is clear that Ji Hyun does get clocked pretty regularly. You know I always have a soft spot for the ones who can't hide, and… so, I can get like why the boss is protective of him, why Joon Pyo is protective of him — like, even though Joon Pyo doesn't really know? He knows something, but he doesn't really know that Ji Hyun is queer, and it's this really funny scene when he finds out in the end, and he's just really upset that, you know, Ji Hyun didn’t tell him that he had a boyfriend. 

Ji Hyun feels recognizably queer, in some intangible way? Like I think about my gay friends and my gay family, and… that thing that you said about a person who is gay being gay all the time and not just when they're flirting with somebody? [laughs] That really resonated [both laugh] Thaaaat really resonated, and I think is also a little bit of shots fired for some of BL.

Ben

I don't know that I want to fire shots at the other dramas in this regard, because… it's not fair. Because some of these things are intangible, you can't really always do them really well or correctly. It's not like I have obvious guidance, like ‘hey, here are the five tips to make your character seem authentically queer when you're writing your little stories!’ [both laugh] And like, that's not fair. 

What I can do as a amateur critic, is point out that this character reads queer to me: from the little gay rainbow lamp he has, to the way he had big dreams for the city then feels a little bit disappointed about it, to the way he sees a really hot boy and immediately decides to do — to join a dangerous club just to get some dick. Like that's the kind of dumb shit that baby gays do! Like can you swim? No. So you joined the surfing club? Was — was the dick even that good? Yeahhh. All right, well, shit! [both laugh]

Nini

The man said that, before he nearly died, he was the happiest he had ever been in his life. He literally said that. [laughs]

Ben

This poor boy's whole brain got rearranged by some good dick! God damn.

Nini

Our other protagonist is Jae Won. Jae Won is a poor little rich boy, he's a tragic figure with a tragic past.

Ben

He's a sad little meow meow.

Nini

He really is the saddest little meow meow. It’s up in the air whether he's closeted or not. I don't feel like he is? But I also feel like he doesn't advertise. Because it doesn't feel like any of his angst about Ji Hyun is about the idea of him dating a guy. It doesn't feel that way.

Ben

Jae Won feels therapized. He… definitely is aware of his queerness, and seems mostly inconvenienced by it. His father is described as aggressive, and there's all of these pressures on him to be a certain kind of man, and a certain kind of son. Like they get mad about how emotional he is, they get mad that he's out drinking with his friends… so he's definitely been forced to be closeted about it? So I think he is definitely aware of it, and the reason why I think he's aware of it is, Ji Hyun calls him out on it in the last episode, when he's like, ‘You had a lighter in your pocket, the first night you met me.’

Nini

It's not that I feel like he doesn't know himself, like he knows himself, I think that much is clearly obvious in the story, he knows himself. The question is whether the people around him know. I feel like Eun Ji definitely knows, that's why she's so im— one of the reasons she's so immediately hostile to Ji Hyun, because she knows.

Ben

She knows, but I don't think he's told her. He just feels really modern about it, like, yes he's gay, if you ask him directly he'd probably just shrug and be like yeah, sure, whatever, but people aren't going to ask him that. They don't want to cross that line, because they want to use him, and trying to embarrass him about that is just gonna get you iced out of his life. Again, like we know that the surfing dudes hadn't really considered it, because they're like no, Jae Won's not that way. That's also like the men, though. Like every single girl in the story clocked every single gay boy the whole time. The boss, Eun Ji, Ae Ri, Yoon Won, all clocked Jae Won and Ji Hyun. And Jae Won didn't even know about it, because Yoon Won was like ‘you better do right by that boy,’ he's like ‘what are you talking about?’ and she was like ‘girl!’ and he was like ‘all right, shit.’ [laughs]

Nini

Jae Won is not closeted but he's not out either. Let's put it that way.

Ben

I think he was closeted by default, but he had already worked through the, ‘if I really connect with someone, I will step out for them.’ And you can feel that, with the way he tries to casually say to the boss, ‘yeah I have feelings about my boyfriend,’ and the way he's forthright about it with Ji Hyun. Because I feel like he had emotionally prepared for the moment? And once he decided to commit to it, all of that work came out right away.

Nini

Well, even before he says it to the boss or to Ji Hyun, he says it to the guy at the, at the rest stop, when they're heading off to that fateful trip. It's not even a big deal for him to say that. And that's why I was wondering like, well is he closeted or is, has just nobody just ever asked him about it? And I think I'm going to land on your side of things here with, probably nobody ever asked him about it, and he didn't feel the need to announce it.

Ben

Right, and I think that's where — that's, that's mostly how he reads to me.

Nini

Do you think that Tae Hyung knew?

Ben

Yes, because he kisses him all the time. But, he knows it in the way that stupid-ass straight boys know. Where they know, and they want the attention, and they kind of want it, but they would have to be gay and they can't actually do that. Which is why he gets so… bothered about Jae Won caring about other stuff. It's the same thing we see all the time, he gets mad that he's not being paid attention to, or that Jae Won doesn't care about the things he wants him to care about. Or isn't being as miserable as they want him to be.

Nini

You know what I think is actually a subtle hint? In the first few episodes of the show, the way that Tae Hyung keeps pushing Jae Won and Eun Ji together, keeps pushing them towards each other, keeps bringing Eun Ji into the spaces. Now that I'm thinking about it, at the beginning I just never quite figured out why it mattered so much to him? But now, it makes like a strange kind of sense, if he knew or if he at least suspected… why he would keep shoving Eun Ji at him.

Ben

Right, because if she — he chooses Eun Ji, it's at least, like, the woman that he was okay with, I guess. And like it gives him some sort of weird control or investment in whatever they have going on. I feel like at some level Tae Hyung knows. But again like that's part of why this show feels more queer for me than some other stuff, because we're having this really complex conversation about who knows, doesn't know, at what level do they know, what does their knowing imply about the way they perceive Jae Won — like that's the world real queer people exist in. Where it isn't just who knows, it's what do they do with the knowledge.

Nini

I'm really recasting, like, my initial reactions of the whole Tae Hyung, Jae Won thing.

Ben

I mean if you, I don't know if you remember, I hated that motherfucker from the very first time we saw him! [both laugh]

Nini

Ben could not stand his ass from jump.

Ben

Like, the very first episode I was like, ‘oh I hate this boy so much Nini!’ [laughs] and she was like ‘damn bro, they just had like one fight!’ and I'm like, ‘oh no, it was not just one fight.’

18:00 - The Relationships Between the Seniors and Juniors

Nini

Speaking of fights between Jae Won and Tae Hyung, perfect segue. 

Ben

Let's talk about him tagging that ass though.

Nini

We're kinda jumping around here, and one of the reasons that we're jumping around is I feel like, talking about The Eighth Sense, like it doesn't really, it's not really useful to talk about it in some kind of chronology, or in terms of the plot. The plot's there and the plot is good… 

Ben

The plot is… a country boy snags a chaebol. It's very good.

Nini

Yeah, the plot is very simple, I feel like The Eighth Sense, the, the real meat of the discussion is in the relationships — in all the different interactions that these characters have bouncing off of each other, in some of the ways that they interact with society? I feel like that's more of where the meat of talking about the story comes from. There's going to be a lot of jumping around in this discussion I think because of that.

Ben

We’ll talk about Tae Hyung, but more specifically we'll talk about how strong the characterization is for all of these characters. Like the biggest thing that's interesting about this show is, all the seniors are miserable horrible people.

Nini

Terrible. [laughs]

Ben

All of the freshmen are not — but some of them could be. I think that's Bit Na's role in the story. Yoon Won, Eun Ji, and Jae Won are all seniors who probably should have graduated already, but because of the funding model of school and how you need to get a job, they're all stuck and they hate it. They're having the millennial problem of, we were told that if we were really good at school and we went to college and checked all the boxes, we would get decent jobs, marry wives, live in the suburbs, have a van, and have two point three kids. And uh… we didn't! And we've lived through crisis after crisis for… literally 22 years, and it sucks! 

And so like I get why Yoon Won, Eun Ji, Jae Won, and Tae Hyung are so frustrated and so pissed about all of it. And like they can't even be happy about any of it, like Tae Hyung wasn't drafted, but it's not like it worked out for him, it's not like he got to do anything useful with school, and like get ahead and go work somewhere, which is why like he's glomping back on to Jae Won. Because he's his last hope, that maybe somehow Jae Won getting control of his dad's company will get him a useful job, and maybe he won't be such a piece of shit. But he's such a selfish prick that he can't do anything with it. 

Eun Ji is clearly a status chaser, and she really wants to be the wife of a chaebol. And that's why she's trying to lock Jae Won down. 

Yoon Won is the only person that Jae Won ends up having a real connection with, because she's frustrated, but she's trying to do something positive, like ‘hey I'm gonna be stuck in school for a while but I'm [gonna] try and keep the surfing club afloat while I'm here. I hope you can get a chance to relax and I'm really glad that you came back and helped us out because — you’re really good at it, and I'm really glad that you're here.’ Like, she's the only person who's thankful for Jae Won's presence because he offered it. And she asks for literally nothing else beyond him except, ‘so hey you feel like getting a pizza and a beer with me? I really want to go to this place but the guy only speaks English even though he lives in fucking Korea.’

Nini

[laughs] That was bizarre.

Ben

And he's gonna be such a dick about it! That felt like a dig at foreigners moving to Korea.

[both laugh]

Nini

I completely agree that Yoon Won feels like the only person who is interested in Jae Won and not in what Jae Won can do for them, in terms of the seniors. And that's why their… thing works. And Jae Won says it when they're drinking in that foreigner's bar. He's like, ‘you know, when we started school I really didn't like you. But now you're kind of the only person who—’ [laughs] Basically he tells her that she's the only person he doesn't hate, so.

Ben

Right? And he call — she calls him out, like ‘I know you hated me, you piece of shit. But it's fine. We're cool now.’ [laughs] But again like, in terms of like, early episodes… she's the only person in the series [who] respects what he wants. She's like ‘Okay, I'll take the new kid because he clearly can't swim. You take the two girls, because you gay, you ain't gonna do nothing with them girls. Teach them girls how to swim right.’ He's like ‘No. I wanna go with the boy.’ She's like ‘Girl. Are you sure?’ and he's like ‘Nah nah nah, I really wanna go hang out with this boy.’ ‘Allll right.’ [laughs] 

But again, everyone else disrespects him — ignores his stated desires, constantly. Yoon Won is the only person in the show who, when he says he wants something, she lets him have it. And then she's like ‘Hey the cute boy drew a picture of you… wanna see it?’

[both laugh]

Nini

She gives him so much shit in like her own way, I love it. You know I’m all about besties who give you shit, you know that's my favorite, [laughs] that's my favorite trope. Besties givin’ you shit. 

But yeah, so you've got all the seniors who are stuck and miserable because, I mean, other than Jae Won — if they all came in at the same time, other than Jae Won because of his military service — they should have all graduated already. And the fact that they haven't, and they're all there just kind of, you know, sitting there miserable staring at each other, is a big commentary on everything. 

So compare them to all the freshmen. Now, the freshmen are… still young and hopeful and they have all this energy and all that stuff, and it’s such a contrast to the seniors who’re all fucking miserable. Even though there's fear there, particularly, like sort of shown up in the person of Ji Hyun, there's still this kind of enthusiasm? And then there's this brightness that comes off of them? And you kind of understand why Yoon Won and Jae Won gravitate, kind of, towards the freshman. And they feel protective of them, and they, they want them to have a good experience? That's one of the things that I really enjoyed about, for example, the surfing trip. They really invest in making sure that the freshmen have a good experience, like they keep the skeevy senior guys away from them…. they tell them they don't have to drink, they tell Tae Hyung, like, stop being a creep.

Ben

Right? They keep telling him to fuck off, they're like, ‘None of these rituals or things you're supposed to do that we did did anything for us. It didn't move us forward, it didn't make us closer to our seniors, it didn't help us succeed at school. We just got bullied by people who are older than us. And you hated it too, so chill the fuck out.’

Nini

Yeah! I like how invested they are, Jae Won and Yoon Won, in making sure that the freshmen have a good time, and that they're taken care of and protected. I really did like that. Like, it's almost like they want to help them preserve their innocence for a little bit longer, which I found was a great commentary to be quite frank… [laughs] I did love that. And then you also see, like you were mentioning in the character Bit Na, you're seeing somebody who could go along that trajectory towards misery, that landed Eun Ji and Tae Hyung where they are now.

Ben

Exactly, it's implied that she's doing all the things, like, you're Expected To Do(™), but there's a little bit of her being like ‘No I'm not gonna drink all that stuff from you’ and like at the end, like, she's furious with Tae Hyung. She's like, ‘No! I know that you've been causing problems for me, because you have a possessive crush on me. Fuck you. Get out of here.’

Nini

Scram! Beat it! [laughs]

Ben

Pulls out her little spray bottle: sks sks sks Move! [both laugh] Go on now, get!

Nini

So, she's sort of the antagonistic force that's pushing back against that stuff, while Ji Hyun and Ae Ri are more like that force that's laughing at that stuff. One is like, dismissive, and the other is… antagonistic. And it's two ways of dealing with the same thing.

Ben

I love how when the two of them start to bond, they just turn into like the meanest little catty duo. They're like ‘Oh well she hasn’t mentioned you at all” and “Oh has she really not? If I had a crush and had a best friend I know that I would be talking to my best friend about the crush, so… it's really embarrassing for you that she really hasn't mentioned you at all to her, right? Oh geez.’

Nini

[laughs] And he says that and then he doesn't tell Joon Pyo about his crush. Terrible.

Ben

And that's why Joon Pyo was pissed.

27:45 - The Hedwig Incident

Nini

Let’s talk about Ji Hyun and Ae Ri being catty for a second. So, we've already seen Ji Hyun and Ae Ri in class making fun of, like people giving their presentations… for this class on, I guess some kind of film studies course or whatever, because they're doing these presentations about films that they've watched or whatever. So we've seen them doing their little mean girl duo act in class already, where they, you know, kind of quietly snicker at whoever is in front of the class at the point in time — which I mean, come on, who hasn't done that with your friend in class? [laughs] 

When Ji Hyun comes back from his accident, the one that they're making fun of — and this is the part that I wasn't quite sure what they were trying to say, because I didn't recognize the character. So at first I didn't know if it was a character we had already met or if it was just a character that we hadn't seen before. And I think not knowing that also made things a little more difficult to parse? Because you get the sense from the way that this character talks to them that this is a character we're supposed to know who it is. That we have seen before or something. But I don't recognize him. Anyway. So this character is doing their presentation on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is a… queer classic?

Ben

I have not commented on this particular moment on Tumblr, because I didn't feel like getting flamed? But this is The Conversation! So I will say what needs to be said. So a big part of this film critic class that they're taking is that most of these presentations people are giving are only doing surface level reads of the source material. And this guy's read is not that deep either, but he dresses as Hedwig and thinks like he should be getting a lot of points for that. Whereas, they give a really solid read that understands the themes being explored in the Park Chan-wook film…

Nini

I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay?

Ben

They give a really solid presentation, they clearly understood the themes involved, but their presentation didn't have a lot of pizzazz, and they barely passed the class team. But they don't really care, because they took what they needed from the course: they engaged with the source material, they understood it, and they moved on, whereas he's cosplaying as Hedwig, a gay character. Does he appreciate the life of this gay character? 

Which for me felt like this show taking shots at performative queerness happening with BL in particular. A lot of these boys are cosplaying as gay: do they understand gay people? Do they understand the lives we live? Like you're sitting here beefing with me, an actual gay, and my hag over our presentation. But do you have any appreciation for who we are? Why don't you go ahead and scamper your ass down a little gay district off here and figure out what gay people actually live through? Like people didn't like that because they thought it read as transphobic, which it probably did, and I'm not going to begrudge people what they took from it. But for me I read it as you can cosplay as us, but you ain't us.

Nini

Hm. So I have never watched Hedwig, so… I couldn't really get a read on what they were trying to do with this? Because I didn't know if what the guy was saying had any weight of understanding to it.

Ben

It didn't… like even just knowing the film by reputation alone, and knowing older gay men who loved it, his read on it was weak. And it's, that's what, that's what I got, like — I don't want to drag anybody who is like ‘this is transphobic, and gay people should be better’ — it's also a surface level read on what's going on there. You're reacting to the fact that they diss a guy in drag, but not why they dissed a guy in drag — who started beef with them! I come from the school of talk shit get hit. So. [laughs]

Nini

[laughs] My main reaction to it, like I said because I, I don't have the… the context. Right? So my reaction to it was just kind of confused? I think that's what my overwhelming reaction was. I was confused by what was happening, I wasn't sure. I'm seeing all the takes, you know saying this is transmisogyny, this is transphobic, this is this that and the other, but the only thing that didn't read right to me about those takes — again, acknowledging that I didn't have the context — was that I don't know that this guy is part of queerness.

Ben

You know he ain't one of us because he couldn't walk in heels! You don't cosplay as Hedwig and not walk in heels.

Nini

Fair.

Ben

It's fine… The reason why I let everybody have it is, it was a deep cut and it wasn't for everybody. And that's kind of why I love The Eighth Sense because, the people who don't do their homework, who don't do the research on the genre history, who don't watch this stuff, who don't really engage in complex interactions with queerness — they kind of miss these sort of things. And I think that's okay, like, does the interaction read a little transphobic? It does. Do gay men's interactions with drag queens and other trans people often read transphobic? Hell yeah, they do! But I got it. 

Like, is it a great interaction? No, but… you ain't gonna last long in queer spaces if you can't handle a botched interaction.

Nini

I feel like it was probably the only really clunky part of the show, in that it wasn't clear. I feel like everything else that happened in the show was, it was very clear — it was abundantly clear what the show was saying, what the characters were saying and feeling, what they were trying to do. But I feel like this moment, this particular interaction, was the only time I felt like the show got a little… got a little clumsy.

Ben

It's the only indulgent thing that the show really does. It's the German director's favorite film, and he was taking a dig at people who get caught up in the fact that there's… gender performance stuff in Hedwig, and the wearing of the wig and dressing as a woman stuff, but they're missing, maybe the meat of the story. They focus on the wigs and the makeup, but not the person and the story. 

I have this particular beef too, like — I had an interaction with a colleague about what parts of queer cinema that they should maybe check out. And they really just wanted me to validate the things they wanted to watch. And that's kind of how this guy reads to me… like, the gay boy in the room is laughing at his performance. ‘How dare you laugh at my performance, I know I did my fucking research, I know gay people!’ [both laugh] That's — that's how that felt for me. Like, bro, why are you in my face? Like, go drink your juice Shelby, shit!

Nini

When you just said it like that, it made me think about white gays appropriating the language of the ballroom.

Ben

Well yeah, exactly, that's exactly what it feels like! Like… you aren't us, but you're wearing us. And it's fine, like you can get your little grade, you can make your little coins. But like, the rest of us are still here, trying to create queer lives that have meaning and comfort to them. Are you going to be with us there? That’s, like, if we're going to beef with this show for being rude to a guy in drag… what have you done for us lately? Like you might be queer too, and I don't mean to make you feel bad… but also if you're queer and all you do is watch BL, there's way more work to be done sweetie! 

Let go of your beef about the Hedwig scene, go watch Hedwig. Go watch I'm a Cyborg, But That's Okay. Then go watch the fucking sequences where these kids gave weak-ass takes about these really classic films, and then understand why they were getting laughed at by the teacher too. Like sure you dressed as Hedwig, but do you appreciate her? No? Okay, you get a B plus, I guess. Thank you for wearing drag.

It's not the most elegant moment in the thing? But it's one of those moments that it's like: who knows and who doesn't know?

36:32 - Ae Ri

Ben

Let's just talk about some fun gay shit. Let’s talk about Ae Ri! [laughs]

Nini

Ae Ri’s an interesting character. Ae Ri is a Seoul kid, so she's not like a country mouse innocent like Ji Hyun. She's with it, she knows what's going on, she, she understands the haps, you know what I mean? She's savvy. And she becomes Ji Hyun’s…

Ben

She becomes a hag. Let's call her what she is. Let's give her the term of endearment that we used to hand out to the best of the ladies.

Nini

She becomes the hag, yes, she becomes his fairy godmother. The way that she just kind of scoops Ji Hyun up? And is just like, ‘oh you poor little baby, come, let me help you because you very clearly need help’ [laughs] I just think that's delightful. I think that the way that their friendship develops — because at first Ji Hyun is convinced that she has a crush on him. And honestly, I'm not sure that he was wrong.

Ben

Elaborate.

Nini

I think that she clocked him when she had actually like, spent time with him?

Ben

I don't think she was paying attention to him until he drank the — until he drank the liquor for them, and then she's like, ‘Why would he do that, because all he does is look at Jae Won — Ohhh.’ [laughs]

Nini

Yeah, I feel like that's, that's where we go with this, it’s like ‘Aww! He's nice! Let me go scoop him up because he clearly needs help! Because he is not going to make it like this.’

Ben

He did though, like he needed somebody to be like ‘Bro. If you're trying to be closeted, because it seems like you are, let me just be clear: you’re doing a terrible job sweetie. Also? Them fits is busted. We need to buy you some clothes, like immediately. We're going shopping right now.’

Nini

It's like, ‘You’re trying to get Jae Won's attention? This is not how you do it. Okay, we're gonna need to accentuate those eyes darling. Ok?’ [laughs] 

She's the best girl. She ends up being protective of Ji Hyun, and because she's protective of Ji Hyun she also becomes protective of the people that Ji Hyun cares about, and Ji Hyun cares about Jae Won. So she becomes protective of Jae Won [laughs]. And she has claws! And she will use them. We talked about it earlier, but that scene where she just very neatly — she and Ji Hyun very neatly take Tae Hyung apart. The reason that they take him apart is because he goes for Jae Won, and Jae Won just looks really sad about it, and they're like ‘Not to-fuckin-day! We are going to end your entire career.��� 

She's the best girl. She's the best girl. I want her to have everything that she wants. I don't know what she wants, because it's not really clear, but I want her to have whatever she wants. She just seems to be vibin’, and I always love a character who's vibin’.

Ben

The reason why I like Ae Ri is, in a room of seniors being awful to her friend, she stood up and challenged them — and that was scary for her. Like she broke down in tears after that confrontation with the other seniors and Eun Ji. If you read that a certain way you're like, well is she weak or whatever? Like no, it's, it's scary to stand up in front of a bunch of people who are being awful and tell them like no, you guys are mean and this is not right.

Nini

That confrontation among the surf club after Ji Hyun has his accident is so ugly. You really see how self-centered these people are, these seniors. They do not care that this kid nearly died. 

Like yeah ok, they're upset about their club getting canceled because it's not technically fair. It's not like, you know, this was a club activity that he got hurt at. So yeah, ok, it's not technically fair, but the claws that they have out! And the way that they completely dismiss that at this point Ji Hyun is still in the hospital! It's not like he's back. He's still in the hospital, and they are so catty and vicious.

Ben

I don't even know if he was conscious at that point.

Nini

Yeah! He's — like he's, they're all so vicious about it. It's like they don't care whether he lives or dies? They don't care about anything other than the fact that this is inconveniencing them. And… that, Ae Ri takes that in, she like feels that, she internalizes that, and she realizes: y'all don't give a fuck about us. 

Which, which we’re dealing with like intergenerational relationships, and you're in a situation where you are the low man on the totem pole. You expect a certain amount of care and consideration to be taken with regards to you, because you're, you're the low man on the totem pole, you can't protect yourself necessarily. You need these people to care for and protect you. And… realizing, quite clearly and unambiguously, that these people will not protect her. They will not protect any of them. They don't care. Like I can understand why she breaks down.

Ben

Exactly. Like it's terrifying to realize that the people you're asked to respect do not give a shit about you. They'll demand abasement all the time, but when some shit popped off, did they care about Jae Won? Did they care about Ji Hyun? No, they're like: wow this is awfully inconvenient for us isn't it.

Nini

It was so ugly. I just remember being shocked, like you — I felt that one, you know what I mean? It wasn't just like, the intellectualization of what was happening on screen, I felt that deep somewhere inside of me.

42:50 - Ji Hyun and Jae Won

Ben

My appreciation for The Eighth Sense is more intellectual than it is emotional. I think it's very excellent: I gave it a 9.5 when I rated it? But I'm not… obsessed with the romance of this the way I might have been in another show. I like the way this one unfolds; I really like the way these two talk to each other. I like the way they see each other, I like that they totally misunderstood each other after the near-death crisis moment, and I like that other people pulled their heads out of their asses for them, so that they could be together, and then they followed through on that. 

But because this is just a very ‘boy likes boy’ sort of story, there isn't really a whole lot to say about the romance, but I do think we should take some time to unpack how we see Jae Won and Ji Hyun engaging with each other.

Nini

Yeah, so let's do that. These two are, as you would have said before, drawn to each other from the start, like Jae Won clocks Ji Hyun in the restaurant, Ji Hyun clocks Jae Won… I haven't rewatched the first couple of episodes as yet, but I think I remember that when Jae Won goes outside to smoke, Ji Hyun follows him?

Ben

Ji Hyun is outside, maybe on like a break or whatever? Just decompressing after a stressful moment, and all of Jae Won and his friends are maybe thinking about leaving. And then Jae Won asks for a lighter so he can light a cigarette.

Nini

He asks for the cigarette first, because he doesn't have a cigarette. He asks for a cigarette and he asks for a lighter, which is why I thought I remembered Ji Hyun following him outside, because the lighter that he gives him is the gas match for the restaurant, not like a, a standard bic. It's the big… gas match that he uses so — to light the cigarette for him, and he gives him two cigarettes. One for now and one one for later.

Ben

Jae Won was definitely flirting in a subtle way, and then Ji Hyun responds in a way that's like, I see you, but it both gave them the chance to back off of it and just write it off. Which is where I started to really appreciate the show, because… BL flirting is too overt sometimes.

Nini

It’s a dance that I've seen before, this kind of, I think you are but are you? And there's like these little subtle signals, and all these other things… I mean I don't need to tell: you're gay, you know.

Ben

[laughs] No no Nini! Go on!

Nini

Hilarious. [both laugh] Fine, read me.

Ben

Nah, it's, it's legitimately fun for me to see what other people are picking up on.

Nini

The thing is that it's so easy to dismiss, and it has to be. So these two, they clock each other, they do the dance, you know — ‘are you? I think you are, but are you? I think you are’ kind of dance.

Ben

What's so fun about them dancing is, like it could have been a one off moment. But then Ji Hyun joins the surfing club. And Ji Hyun forces Jae Won to see him. Like ‘No, my name is Ji Hyun, what's yours? You said you wanted to be friends. Were you just bullshitting me, or were you just flirting?’

Nini

Yeah, Ji Hyun is actually pretty…

Ben

He's so brave! I love him!

Nini

He is pretty forward for a baby gay, I will say that.

Ben

He knows who he is. And he sees a boy in pain — who's very pretty — and he's like, ‘I can help him.’ Not ‘I can fix him.’ ‘I can help him’ — Ji Hyun doesn't really demand anything of Jae Won really. He just won't let Jae Won fully push him away, and continues to offer him emotional support. He's incredibly patient, in a way that maybe city folk aren't used to.

Nini

Being city folk myself I can't, like, speak to city versus country in that regard, because I simply don't have the country experience.

Ben

I'm from Louisiana! [laughs]

Nini

The extra shot in that daiquiri gettin to ya, huh?

Ben

It really is. We are two-thirds of the way through this 32 ounces? That's a lot. [laughs]

Nini

There is something to be said for like, the way that Ji Hyun is… he's brave, he's forward, but he does it in this kind of quiet still way. He's pushing, there's definitely no doubt that he's pushing. But he's also not pushy?

Ben

When I was really on Twitter a lot, there’s this writer I used to follow, his name is Anthony Oliveira? He's queer, and he used to say like once or twice a day on his Twitter, he would say: Be brave enough to be kind. And that's where Ji Hyun fits for me. Even when he's being catty with people, it's only with people who came at him sideways. It's… the Hedwig boy coming at him for no reason, it's Eun Ji beefing with him for no reason, it's Joon Pyo picking on him a little bit, and him being like nah, fuck you bro. Other than that, he treats people really well. He gives people back the energy they give him. Like when they drag Tae Hyung, we mentioned this earlier, he was being shitty about Bit Na when she wasn't even there. And it's like bro, she don’t owe you nothin’. 

That's kind of what I love about Ji Hyun, because that's what he gives Jae Won. Jae Won flirted with him a little bit, he flirted back. He won't let Jae Won run away after starting that with him, like ‘Hm! You made a mistake — you should not have started this!’ And like, he's so confident at the end, like he's singing a song, like, ‘I won, ha ha!’

Nini

It's like ‘Jae Won’s miiiiiine, Jae Won’s miiiiiine’ [laughs] I love that so much! 

Ben

And Eun Ji’s like, ‘What’s it like to win?’ and he’s like ‘Hm, I’ll tell you later tonight!’ [laughs] And let's talk about that boy later that night, because he pinned that boy down… he's like oh no, we've been here for four hours of this TV show? It's time to get mine.

Nini

Ahhh, he literally said — what's the line that he said? ‘Don't laugh, you don't know what's coming next.’ 

Ben

Right? I was like, baby boy!

Nini

I loved that, I loved that!

Ben

I was in my — I was like yeeeeees bitch, yeeeeeees!

[both laugh]

Ben

Get! It! In!

Nini

He's like, I — he's like, I may look, I may look innocent but I ain't that innocent, you know, kind of…

Ben

He said I am suited, tooted, and booted!

Nini

He’s like, I have the internet, I know how these things go… [laughs]

Ben

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake.

[both laugh]

Nini

God I hate you. [both laugh] Oh god…

50:38 - Joon Pyo and Boss Lady

Ben

Speaking of getting it in… let's talk about my boy Joon Pyo.

Nini

Hello! Hello. I said it in the clown server and I'm gonna repeat it on this podcast and I don't care how filthy it is okay? You just know — I'm sorry he might be a virgin, but I know that dick game bomb. I know it!

Ben

Look, we've been here a while; anybody who's still listening wants to be here. Let's talk about this for a second. Both Yoon Won and Joon Pyo are fat characters, who are seen enjoying food repeatedly in this show, and I am so glad that the two of them get to have what was clearly a very enjoyable makeout session with each other. And got to vibe for the rest of the night, and are confirmed to dip — off to wherever they're going on their own, so we got time to do our little gay thing we need to next to my rain! bow! lamp! in this room. 

My boy! He's been there for his homie the whole time, because he knows his friend gets lonely, he tries to make sure he does social things with him. Maybe he's a little overbearing, maybe he's a little codependent, but he had his boy’s back, and when his boy was down for the count? He starts working at his job, treating the boss with respect — because the boss seems like she might be picky about who she lets work with her. And she seemed to like Joon Pyo too! He brought that man his school supplies to make sure that he didn't have to lose a semester. And when he found out that his homie was gay, and the reason he almost died was for some dick? He was like, ‘shit was it worth it? Yes? We need to secure that bag, don't we? What we doing next?’

Nini

He was for it!

Ben

He stumbled briefly, he's like ‘Wait, Ae Ri knew before me?’ ‘Yeah, but she's from Seoul, she clocked me, I don't know.’ ‘All right, so she's just smart. Is she cool? Are we friends now, does that mean I get to hang out with cool people?’ My man is always looking at the best way to proceed forward. Ain't nobody doing it like my man Joon Pyo.

Nini

Not just that — when, after all this shit when Ji Hyun and Jae Won finally get back together, Joon Pyo clears out of the room that first night, he's like, ‘clearly y'all got some stuff to be doing and I don't want to be here while y'all do it.’ 

Ben

Right? Jae Won, he's like where'd you, like I felt — I felt it for Ji Hyun, like he wakes up in the morning and Jae Won's gone and like, that boy is not well. We knew that boy almost hurt himself in the show. Ji Hyun’s, ah, understandably worried, he goes out and he's just vibing with with Joon Pyo and he's like ‘well what's going on here?’ He's like ‘well Joon Pyo hung out outside all night for us, so. He brought us coffee, I'm honoring the man's commitment to us.’ And Joon Pyo’s like, ‘you're very pretty and popular, like… would you please take me clubbing?’ He's like ‘hell yeah, let's go clubbing. Let's get you some, son!’

Nini

[laughs] I love that!

Ben

And he's like ‘how do I need to dress, how do I need to be?’ He’s like ‘man you just need to be yourself’ … says the rich boy with all the nice clothes. [laughs]

Nini

You just know that Jae Won gonna make it rain on Joon Pyo at the club. He's going to make sure that he has everything.

Ben

I love Joon Pyo. I liked how there were kind people even in Seoul, like… like these are two freshmen clearly not used to Seoul who want to try specialty drinks for the first time. And I like how that bartender only teased them briefly, and then gave them the kind of popular drinks people their age might want to enjoy. Like that felt so gentle to me in a way, and it really stuck out when I watched it.

Nini

I feel like one of the things that the show gets right, that I really enjoyed, was that the businesses around a university are really accustomed to having students — particularly new students who don't know what the fuck they're doing. The people who work and who own and work in businesses around a university can really be quite nice like that.

Ben

That's how I feel about the boss character. She clearly loves young people, in a genuine way, and like Eun Ji thought she was really doing some stuff, ‘Oh I'm about to post a negative review on you on Yelp.’ And I like how she's like ‘Business improved as a result of your negative review, you insufferable waste of human flesh.’ [laughs] People were like, ‘So this mean catty person got chewed out by, by a business owner for being rude to the support staff? Yeah, we should go to that place.’

I like how the boss doesn't have a name, because it doesn't really matter if she has a name or not, because she's a temporary component of their lives. They're not going to really remember her name in a way that it matters, they're going to remember the things she said to them. They're going to remember how she treated them. They're going to remember like, how she helped them grow, how she pushed them to choose the things in their lives that they wanted. And like that's what matters about her character. Like, that's why they don't give her a name, because it doesn't matter what her name is, because she's so much older than them that we don't have to distinguish her. She is the positive older mentor figure in their lives.

Nini

I just think of her as such a, I mean, [laughs] Because you’re right, she doesn’t get a name, but she is so important to… not just having the story unfold, but she's important to the characters. 

56:28 - Let’s Talk About The Kissing (And Episode 6)

Ben

Let's talk about the kissing?

Nini

You go first.

Ben

Oh absolutely not. [Nini laughs] You of the… you of the, ‘all of the kissing is bad and I have notes?’ [laughs] 

No, it's fine, I'm gonna go first cause, I have more fun than you sometimes with these terrible kiss scenes. I will say that overall I enjoyed the execution of intimacy in this because everyone is very earnest, and I never feel like I'm not observing the character. This is shored up by the fact that Im Ji Sub gives absolutely terrible kisses with Eun Ji’s actress, on purpose. Straight actors will win me over so much in queer cinema when, when they're forced to kiss women, they look like they hate it. [laughs]

Nini

From a character standpoint I found it very believable.

Ben

Okay.

Nini

I found it extremely believable from a character standpoint. It wasn't pretty, but it's not supposed to be pretty? Jae Won is definitely more experienced than Ji Hyun, and that shows? It works for me, because I don't feel like Ji Hyun is supposed to be good at it. I feel like he's new to the whole thing, and because of that, the enthusiasm carries more for me than the technique. He's new to it but he's going for it in a particular kind of way. There's some little acting choices that Oh Jun Taek does, like he opens his mouth, like really wide when —

Ben

I loved it! The first time I thought, I was like, go — I was like go in baby boy!

Nini

I loved that, because — that's the kind of thing you do when you're learning to kiss, you overcompensate.

Ben

I love it.

Nini

You overcompensate when you're learning to kiss, it’s one of the things that you do, so I actually really like that detail? He looks like he wants to swallow Jae Won whole, and I really [laughs] really like that —

Ben

I fucking love it, I loved it so much —

Nini

I really love that and that's, that's the kissing at the end, but then the kissing sort of in between as well, is really… good, because those kisses — those kisses like towards the end… like they're together at that point, you know what I mean, it's a whole different thing. But the way that he kisses him before that, there is a little bit of tentativeness to it, some — in some parts? When they're surfing when they're on their trip, and he kisses them in the sea? Like, in terms of pretty? Those are the pretty, those are the prettiest kisses, like you know what I mean? Those, those aesthetically pleasing, all that good stuff, and you feel the sense of euphoria that's coming out of it? They are having this whole moment, there is so much joy in those kisses, which I truly love. 

And that's the other thing, like every — all the kisses have different moods. And you know I like to follow the trajectory of a relationship through the… to the intimacy and how it's being portrayed. So watching all the kisses and the, all the intimacy have different moods to it? Fantastic. I can't complain about it. Is it pretty? In a lot of instances, no. Does it feel real? Absolutely a hundred percent, all the time.

See? See?

Ben

I'm so relieved y'all, because normally I'm like ‘I really enjoyed that!’ and Nini's like ‘Hmmm… it was terrible’ and I'm like, ‘Awww.’ [laughs]

Nini

You know, I'm out here being Beyonce, ‘look at my technique,’ you know kinda thing [laughs] And Ben's like ‘No!’

[both laugh]

Ben

Leave them alone! They're doing their best, shit.

Nini

No… No but I really, I did, I did like it here. It's also maybe something to do with the style, because the style is so vérité? When you get an ugly kiss — quote unquote ugly kiss — in a vérité style, it feels different…

Nini

…than when you get a quote unquote ugly kiss in a style that's very polished.

Ben

I know what you mean. Like a —

Nini

You know?

Ben

Right, right. When it feels very fanciful and like ‘this is the best kiss that's ever happened,’ and you're like ‘oh but it wasn't.’

Nini

Yeah, exactly. [laughs] Precisely.

Ben

All right, so, while we're talking about the intimacy and stuff, I think we should talk about episode 6 reactions. First, I'm going to say that I loved episode 6, and I particularly enjoyed the way they handled the intimacy of episode 6? I think that was very appropriate for… the newness of the actors, the lack of an intimacy coordinator… 

I want to talk about the reaction. I don't know if you were on Tumblr for this, but there was a lot of discussion at the end of episode 6 where people were saying that episode 6 was not real. That it was fake — and I have written on Tumblr on record about how much I hated that take, and I want to unpack it here.

Nini

I did see the reactions on Tumblr, I mostly stayed out of it… I didn't really delve too much into The Eighth Sense discussion? I did do, like a little thing about Eun Ji, but I didn't really delve into The Eighth Sense discussion because I wanted it to play out. I felt like The Eighth Sense is one of those shows that… the episodic discussion wasn't going to give much. I felt like it's one of those shows where I needed to see the full, the full thing, to really… understand. Because it's not — as, as we said earlier in the show, it's not really one of those… episode by episode kind of things where the plot is what's driving it or whatever, it's really about the interactions that these characters are having, the way that they're interacting with their surroundings. 

It's why we've been jumping back and forth in discussion, and like it's how I felt about it while it was airing, so I really kinda, didn't really delve too much into the whole episode 6 discussion. I saw it, but… I wasn't getting into it.

Ben

I guess I'm just gonna deliver a little read while we're here then.

Nini

Okay!

Ben

[laughs] Here we go!

Nini

Here we go.

Ben

I don't want to disrespect anyone before we get into this. Let me be clear. Like, I do believe people were relying on very fair reads of traditional filming techniques, for why they believed that some parts of… episode 6 might have not been real, or that Jae Won would— became an unreliable narrator for it? But I think it's very important to talk about this. 

Just because it's unpleasant to consider does not mean it's not real. This is not meant to be read as disrespect to those of you trying to make sense of what's going on because you were nervous and concerned for Ji Hyun. That is valid. But, please understand, that for me — this is just me! As a queer person in these streets with y'all — whenever you all seemingly get squicked out because one of us isn't being entertaining or sexy? It makes me feel a little bit unwelcome. That's all I'm going to say about that, because you know who was right as of episode 7? Me! It was real!

[both laugh]

Ben

I was insufferable that week, I feel sorry for everybody who had to talk to me.

Nini

[laughs] I didn't think you were insufferable.

Ben

I felt insufferable. I was smug! My crops were watered.

Nini

The field in which you grew your fucks was barren.

[both laugh]

Ben

I don't want anyone to feel embarrassed if you just — felt called out by what I just said. But I would like you to approach these shows with just a little more kindness. The goal of watching TV is not to be right. It's about finding connection — with fictional people, and the real people who are also finding that connection with you. It can bring you closer to other people. It can help you understand other people. It can bring you just a little bit of peace and joy in an otherwise difficult time. There are no points to be awarded, you are not taking a test when you watch these shows. So please… be kinder to yourselves. Be kind to the people making these stories, and be kind to the people who are also watching them alongside you.

Nini

[singing] Message!

Ben

I'm a little drunk but that's all I'm going to say on that!

1:06:21 - The Party Scene and Forgiveness

Nini

Let's talk about that end scene, the party.

Ben

Okay, let's talk about forgiveness for the next thirty minutes. [laughs]

Nini

I think that's a good segue from what you just said: let's talk a little bit about forgiveness.

Ben

I'm gonna let Nini talk, because I just made you guys feel bad for like, probably 10 minutes of this edit. 

Here's the thing: Nini and I… came down on the side of forgiveness for this. But Nini and I are a little bit older than some of the viewers, so… I'll let you talk about the final scene and particularly how there were mixed reactions to Jae Won’s and Ji Hyun’s decision to reconcile, at a party, with Tae Hyung and Eun Ji: the two worst offenders of this particular story. Nini?

Nini

See here's the thing: I didn't read it as a reconciliation? And that's probably why I have a, like a different view of it. So the way that I read that is, when you're stonkingly giddy happy… when you are at a celebratory event, when you are… drinking, let's just be real about it… It is so easy to just be like, ‘You know what? I don't want to fight, I don't want to argue. I just want to let all this go… like, there's so much love in this club, I'm just gonna…’ [laughs] 

Ben

And there is love in this club tonight! Some of you don't even know.

Nini

That's part of it. That's definitely part of it. But also, you have to understand what's happening with Tae Hyung, and with Eun Ji in here as well. 

Tae Hyung is a dick. That doesn't change throughout the show. He was a dick at the start of the show, at the end of the show he's still a dick… nothing about him changes. But you get to understand the value that Jae Won finds in Tae Hyung. Because he… outright asks him, Tae Hyung asks him ‘Why are you still friends with me?’ because Tae Hyung doesn't even understand why Jae Won keeps him around. And what Jae Won says about that, he’s just like… Basically he tells him, ‘I keep you around because you don't mask and I find that really refreshing.’ That's basically what he tells him. 

And that makes so much sense to me. And it also makes me understand why he would just let the shit go, at this point. Because Tae Hyung's not going to change. We see that at the same party. He continues to try to hit on Bit Na. He has to get read to the ground by Bit Na for his bullshit. Tae Hyung is never going to change.

Ben

That's true. He's the most bitchless motherfucker in the whole show.

[both laugh]

Nini

Completely! A hundred percent. He's never going to change, and Jae Won finds that comforting. Also, I have seen men forgive each other for all kinds of shit? So that just read a hundred percent true to me. I have seen dudes fight, box, wrestle, nearly kill each other… and then two days later they're out together hanging out.

Ben

Dude I've seen them after the fight bloody, like crying, hugging each other like I love you bro! [laughs] And I'm like, the hell just happened?

Nini

That rang a hundred percent true to me… I think that if Tae Hyung and Jae Won stay in contact — because there's no guarantee that that's going to happen either, because they're coming to the end of things now. The fact that they're having this party because Yoon Won got a job means that things are starting to move. Where all the seniors were stuck before, things are now starting to move for them. They're coming to the end of this period of their lives anyway, so they've also got like a hefty whiff of nostalgia permeating the whole thing, and also? They don't know if they're gonna see each other really, after this. They don't know if they're going to stay friends. It's easy in that situation to just let the shit go, and I've seen the situation happen so many times before and I'm just kind of like, you know what? That rang true for me, I wasn't worried about that.

Ben

I’m with Nini. As a boy, I have friends like that. Where… you know who this person is: kind of a sad sack, kind of a shit heel, and you get it. But they're weirdly there? And so, you just accept these losses, like yeah he tried to get me kicked out of school but he failed, because he sucks, so… whatever. Was that annoying? Yes. Is he going to apologize for it? No. But he wouldn't be himself if he apologized. And like that's not great, but this is again a reflection of the current state of social… politics.

Nini

It's more of a question of, is this realistic? And to me, yes it is.

Ben

Nini and I are both from cultures that have carnival. And so like, I've seen this happen at Mardi Gras, where blood feuds have ended because, like, we ran into each other at a parade. And like, the right thing was said at the right moment, and people just let go of decades worth of beef. Like it can happen! And like, the question is like, does holding on to this anger at Tae Hyung help Jae Won take care of Ji Hyun? So let it go.

Nini

The way I can best describe it is: whatever, I'm over it. It's not like he's gonna, like make him like godparent to his first born or anything like that, I don't think that's where their relationship is going. I'd be surprised if they're speaking to each other in two years. For now, at a party? Everybody's happy, everybody's drinking. You're gonna go home with your boyfriend later and have a great time, like… [laughs]

Ben

Right? The music is good, the drinks are flowing, there's love in this club tonight.

Nini

The other one that everybody’s upset about is Ji Hyun forgiving Eun Ji. Now I also found that incredibly believable. Not just for party reasons but also for career reasons? Eun Ji is still his senior. The first thing he does, like when he walks up to her, is he apologizes for being snarky with her. In the moment and like the heat of battle so to speak, he might have popped off at the mouth, but he's gonna feel bad about it later. And I can see him, like, apologizing to her about it. And I can genuinely see her, having lost so comprehensively? Licking her wounds, taking a step back, and reassessing her entire life.

Ben

Here's the thing about the way she lost to Ji Hyun. What she realized from Jae Won handing her her entire ass was, Ji Hyun was never her enemy. She lost way before this boy showed up. And so all the beef she had with him in this whole competition for Jae Won? Was nil, because he said, ‘I saw you.’ And so all of the presumption she had about, like, what was at stake, is this a battle for Jae Won’s booty or whatever… Like none of that works out. He had already dismissed her. And he was adamant: he did not want to be with her, the whole time. So she feels like an asshole, because she's been in the wrong the whole time. 

And maybe like a part of her was true about this. Maybe she was just bitter that Jae Won was gone. She's mad about him being gone, but she didn't do right by him and she lied. That's the big thing, like she's been caught lying. There's no coming back from that. Whatever her goals were for Jae Won, she had to eat that bowl of shit, and set it aside. And like there's no value for her in beefing with Ji Hyun anymore, because it just further exacerbates how much of an asshole she is. This boy did literally nothing to her, and they are not equals in a struggle for the heart of a bisexual boy. She lost her chance before this boy showed up. And so it's actually good to see her becoming the senior she's supposed to be, now that she has some experience to maybe pass on and grow from.

Nini

I agree with that read, I really think that she's reassessing and reevaluating her entire life at this point? She's feeling a little vulnerable, she's feeling a little… raw. She’s feeling a little humbled, and so… when you're feeling that way, just what do you do? You sit quietly and you try not to do too much. I don't know if this feels the way that it feels to me because I am an old bitch? But… [laughs] The first and hopefully last time you ever find yourself beefing with a fetus? Like… [laughs]

Ben

BEEFING WITH A FETUS! AAAAH! [laughs]

Nini

You know I'm right. You know I'm right.

Ben

I know what you mean! I mean there’re times, I'm like, oh lord I almost threw hands with a 12 year old today.

[both laugh]

Nini

You literally like, when somebody slaps into you like, what are you doing? Like this is a child! Hopefully it only ever happens to you once. And hopefully you very quickly realize that you are, in fact… you're in an antagonistic situation with a child.

Ben

It's really hard to realize sometimes that you are wrong. And to accept that and try to, like, move on from it properly. Like, I think she does okay. And like, she's still an asshole… just like Tae Hyung’s still an asshole. But I think she does okay.

Nini

To me it feels right, that the end is not… a comeuppance in that sense or a vengeance, but it's more like everybody being like, ‘Look okay, we all been through it. Let's just hug that shit out. Maybe I'll see you again, maybe I won't, but for right now, we’re here, it's a party, let's just have a good time, and not like do all this shit.’

1:17:14 - On a Possible Second Season

Ben

Speaking of ‘maybe we'll see each other again’ how do you feel about returning to these characters?

Nini

As you always say: Dick is not magical, it does not fix you.

Ben

It does not!

Nini

And there's still a lot, particularly on Jae Won’s side, like there's stuff with Ji Hyun too, but especially with Jae Won, there's still a lot there… in terms of his mental health, in terms of his family, in terms of all that stuff. So… there is room there? For something else, that could be interesting, but… I feel like if this was all there was, I would be good with it. 

How do you feel? What, what are your thoughts on a potential sequel?

Ben

So we talked about sequels in the spring season and I was really amped about sequels! I don't… feel the pull for one here yet. I'm not opposed, because… these characters are so strong, like we're gonna remember these characters, we're gonna remember Ji Hyun, Jae Won, Joon Pyo, Yoon Won, Eun Ji, Tae Hyung, the boss… Ae Ri! Don't forget my girl, I'm sorry boo boo. We're going to remember these characters, and their characterizations are fairly strong. So I am confident that the voice of the characters is strong enough to carry them into whatever new situations they want to put these characters through. 

However… I believe that this particular outing had a lot of very specific things they wanted to say, about queerness, about being Korean, about being young in Korea… and I hope that if they really want to continue the story, that they have more things that they think are worth saying, and they do that in a way that's legible. I am just concerned that they aren't prepared for… a domestic story where one of them is still in school? And the other one is trying to survive their homophobic family? And abusive dad. And I'm not entirely certain that I am… eager to explore that? 

I'm not opposed to a sequel, I'm not yearning for one, but I do hope that we get more melodrama out of these guys. I enjoyed this production a lot! Even if we don't get more of The Eighth Sense, I hope that this team continues to make cool stuff. I really loved the way Oh Jun Taek played Ji Hyun this whole time. I loved the way he moved, I loved the way he spoke, I loved his smile. And like, I like how in the final episodes when Jae Won has, almost the Japanese running-to-the-boy moment, I just love the way that… Ji Hyun is just so ecstatic to finally get what he's been hoping for. And he's clingy for the final parts of this show, and he's having a good time! He's literally radiant for the rest of the show! Oh Jun Taek plays the relief and joy of that character so well. 

Like you see, even Jae Won, like you can see his old bones creaking. That's, he's like ‘I can experience joy again?’ as he quickly wakes up for this, and like — I feel like some of the… final bits were a little bit rushed? But I'm not going to complain, because like… I like the therapy bit with Jae Won, like it allows me to be forgiving about a character — who's had a lot of emotional struggles for the whole fucking show — to very quickly adapt to the situation, and like ‘no, we're boyfriends now.’ Like you can see the work of somebody who spent a great deal of time working with a professional about how he's feeling and how to manage them… expressing them properly, now that the hugest block is out of his way. And that lands really well for me in the final moments, like in another show it might have felt like this got resolved too quickly.

Nini

I don't feel like it did get resolved too quickly. If I have to do like, one more ding for the show: I think that the passage of time, particularly in this last two episodes, wasn't really clear?

Ben

It is not.

Nini

There's a sequence where Ji Hyun is in a classroom and he's sitting in different positions in the classroom and wearing different clothes, and we're meant to understand that that is time passing. So there is a bunch of time that passes, in episode 9 in particular, that I don't think it’s very clear to the audience that there is a lot of time passing. We're seeing Jae Won becoming stronger and stronger and happier and happier. But because it all happens in a montage where it's not clear that time is passing, it feels rushed. I don't know how much time there is? But it feels like they go through a season, because you see his clothes change. At one point he's just wearing a t-shirt, and then the next time when they meet each other up, they're back into like maybe something heavier, like more like fall clothes? So I feel like they at least went through the summer.

Ben

Though I did love this show, this is not a show that's going to be, like, part of my personal canon.

Nini

For me, it's like… I can appreciate it as being objectively good. I can feel the emotions that it was going for?... Watching it is kind of… ticking something off a film syllabus.

Ben

That's the exact feeling… that like, I think it is!

Nini

That makes it sound bad in a way, but I don't mean for it to sound bad.

Ben

It goes on the must-watch list, but you're like, ehhh.

Nini

It's all the things: it's good, it's worthy, it's enjoyable, it's emotional… It's all of the things that you want a drama to be. I will recommend it for sure, I think it's important work. I… don't really see myself rewatching it? It touches me but it doesn't give me the visceral feelings.

Ben

This is not calling the show bad!

Nini

Objectively, this is a 10 show for me.

Ben

Don't let our mid commentary at the end of this two and a half hour recording deter you. We loved this show! And like we said in the beginning, we will remember every single one of these characters, because they're so vivid, and they're so expertly crafted. Do we recommend The Eighth Sense? Wholeheartedly yes! Please! You should experience this. Go watch this.

1:24:10 - Checking in Two Months Later

Ben

Okay, Nini… it's been about two months I think since The Eighth Sense ended at this point? How are you feeling about it two months later?

Nini

As I predicted I have not rewatched it. I have not felt the need to rewatch it. When I was doing the edit I was listening to us talk about it and everything just came flooding back. Like I could remember distinctly how I felt watching it, the things that we were talking about, but I still don't feel compelled to rewatch it. 

I feel like it's one of those things where… it has stuck? Somewhere deep inside? And because it stuck I don't need to go back to it and reinterpret it and review it and look at it again, I feel like it was so clear. It was so legible. It spoke for itself really, and so I don't feel the need to go over and over and over it. It's very different from how I normally consume media because if I'm really into something I will go over and over and over and over it. This is… very different for me, a very different experience of taking in media. 

What about you Ben, how do you feel about it a few months down the line?

Ben

I feel a bit weird about it, and I think a big part of it is the way that the team behind it is continuing to release behind the scenes content in a way that I wasn't expecting — like I was hoping it’d feel more akin to… the gravitas with which Boss and them released the I Told Sunset About You documentaries. But it's been a little bit on the silly side? 

There's talk about them doing a second season. And I'm not opposed, but I feel like it's left me in a liminal space with the show, like I feel like I'm sitting on a, like a train station waiting for the next train to come. 

What has stuck with me, and I was thinking about this when I listened to the edit, is: I'm so glad that we had that whole conversation on forgiveness. Because let me tell you, the amount of peace I have had over this show because I'm not sitting here hating on Tae Hyung or Eun Ji all these months later? Because they just don't matter. I really like that the show left us with these two driving down a tunnel together and saying, ‘Whatever is coming next, we'll do this together.’ That's so lovely. 

Like I feel like where I was with the show at the end of it, like it is one of those things that goes… in my cataloging of, this is a really good piece that I am going to remember and recommend to the youths, when they ask me about things that are worth watching from certain places or from certain angles. But I don't necessarily find myself yearning for Jae Won or Ji Hyun the way I have for other people. It was fun though, revisiting our absolutely unhinged love for Joon Pyo when I went back through this. [laughs] I still love that boy so much.

Nini

Joon Pyo the MVP! Everybody needs a friend like him. Everybody.

Ben

He was a really good friend. 

I think what stands out for me really about The Eighth Sense is that the field itself is just so much more crowded now. So much good stuff was airing when this show aired, more good stuff has aired since this show aired. It's not a knock on The Eighth Sense, it's just that… we have such a wide variety of excellent offerings to choose from, that I find that you're going to be able to find shows that hit your specific emotional resonances more consistently. Regardless of how good The Eighth Sense is, it didn't fully resonate with the exact weird queer sensibilities I have, that would make me put it into one of my heart shows.

Nini

You know what it is I think, Ben? I think we're getting older. [Ben laughs] I think this is an intensely youthful show. I watch these coming of age dramas all the time I mean, you spoke about ITSAY and that still like hits me like a ton of bricks. But that's because it feels like my youth? 

Whereas, I feel oddly… both connected and disconnected from The Eighth Sense. It feels like a youth that I'm familiar with? But not one that I have experienced? We talked about the millennial thing when we were talking about the show, and how this feels like that. But it still feels distant from my experience of being a millennial somehow? I think maybe I'm just too old for the show. Like, I can appreciate it for what it is, but I'm too old for it and it doesn't hit the nostalgia buttons that I Told Sunset About You and I Promised You the Moon and shows like that hit. I think this is one for the kids, Ben.

Ben

I don't think that's bad! What I'll say is, I'm really glad that there is room for that now. We've been talking in other spaces about how fandom feels like it's bifurcating too many times now, that it feels thinner than it used to be? Like it feels like there used to be a lot more of us around. But I just feel like a big thing at this point is, we're not all trying to get some sort of energy from the exact same shows anymore. 

Right now I'm yelling on Tumblr about a whole show that Nini is just not watching. And I think that's okay, because Nini and I are still screaming at each other about at least two or three other shows, and so like I'm not feeling despondent because Nini, who's one of my best friends in fandom, isn't watching one of the shows that I'm really enjoying right now. It's okay that The Eighth Sense is the type of coming of age experience that maybe is more suited for the Gen Z types than the millennials.

Nini

So now that we have fully memento mori’d ourselves, I think that's that's a wrap for us. [laughs]

Ben

It's a really good show guys. Don't, don't get us wrong like we're, we're being a little bit wistful at the end of this, but — I really liked this show. Like I still, I stand by everything we said in the original recording. 

I really like the performances here, I really like the gumption of this entire production. I really like the casting choices. I like the way Oh Jun Taek and Im Ji Sub really worked together. And… sincerely, if they want to do more work with these two guys and reprising these characters, I will be there, seated, to see what they do next. 

Nini

All right! And with that, we out! Say bye to the people, Ben.

Ben

Peace!

[beast-towers]

Final of Clashing Worlds.

From the last post and now we are on part two and final of my comic. Thank you all for the read!

Previous Part of Clashing Worlds

Warning: Some Blood and brighter colors will be shown, I do apologize about that.

Wish to continue? Alrighty then!

Hunter’s Report:

Time: 8:36 AM

Region: England

Area of Sighting: Alton Towers

As I explained before in the beginning of my last report of Uri’s sighting, Uri and her fellow Guardians felt an uneasy sensation in the air, and she has found one of the pieces. It was hard to believe that whatever this was, it has placed a Twisted “Blessing” onto Otsana Risa, Guardian Beast of The Smiler. Uri had done everything in her power to at least weaken Otsana and bring her to be purified… I’m afraid that was proven to be a difficult task.

As I and Alton discuss this situation, we’ve heard an explosion created by Uri. With no hesitation, I ran to the location, as a grandmother, I do worry for my grandchildren… but with this Darkness looming over the land, I didn’t want it to take another victim.

I thankfully reached my granddaughter in time before whatever was watching can make a move… I know it’s not Melanthios… the very demon I defeated so long ago. This is different, but not in the same threat level as him… well, it’s close enough unfortunately. Which it is concerning enough for Alton and the beasts. Whatever or whoever this was, he fears it still has enough power to do the very same to the other beasts… just like the poor Werewolf.

I have sent a band of hunters to track down Otsana’s blood trail and her whereabouts… This was my mistake. This darkness didn’t leave, and since it didn’t get their claws on my granddaughter’s soul, I’m afraid it grabbed them instead… UNFORGIVABLE. I and my family went out to search for them… nothing. Except claw marks and a scent of Otsana’s blood, and… unknown smell of someone and a horrible chemical smell. I’m not sure it was this dark energy or her…. My only prayer now is that the hunters are alive and fighting to escape…

Unfortunately, I will need further proof and an identification to launch a full hunt, capture, and rescue. I will be sending close Allies, my fellow Huntress, and my Grandson: Sycorax, Edric, Calypso, and Zyran to aid Alton with the beasts’ worries, while in the hopes to capture Otsana… if my and my dear friend’s Sight is correct and played right, perhaps one of them can help Otsana see through this polluted darkness, and return her to the light.

End of Report.

-Wolf Van Helsing, Lady of the Abyss Watchers.

—————————————————————

Thank you all so much for reading! This has been very interesting experience for me, and I hope I’ll get better at it in time ^^;

So! What really inspired me to make this? Once a fucking again, Darbi. Mostly Season 3 Ep. 42 Clensing (IV) or #117. (If wrong let me know so I can edit this) I HIGHLY recommend reading it! While it was on hiatus, I decided to read Season 3 and I forgot all about that scene of Dolla fighting Darbi, and it didn’t leave my mind until I finally caved in and created this! Was it fun? Yes. HOWEVER; my only mistake here is this: I should of planned it better. This all came into mind and that alone, so hopefully next time if I ever thought of this again, I’m grabbing my Note Book to write for ideas….

And lastly! And I’m still gonna thank you for this again! @twistedtowers for the incredible redesigning of Otsana! (And I’m sorry she didn’t get a W ;w; but the two got a tie… I know, still not a W ;-;) I wanted to experiment and have of the idea of “Otsana wants and has to prove she can Control the park, but there are those who would step up and forbid her from doing that.” A.K.A, Uri and perhaps now some future characters.

Okay, off to what was going on with the two having glowing lines! Welp, that’s not only a self regeneration, but also a way to charge up their attacks. Example: Otsana’s Flash attack. (Welp, looks like it’s been powered up now… thanks Regan.) with enough energy she can unleash it to an whole group, but pretty sure after this scuffle… she may want some training 😬 but she felt a bit proud for forcing Uri back into human form while stunning her.

As for Uri, why did her eyes changed? Welp, if pushed WAAAY in her limit, a deep Primal Instinct will be awakened. Her grandmother calls it: Primal Spirit. Basically it boosts up the power of the individual, and they are easily set off into a rage. But don’t be fooled, just because the person is mega angry, doesn’t mean they’re fully blinded, this will make them more focused and unleash their rage on the weak spot. Downside however, it will drain the person HEAVILY, causing them to be knocked out for awhile as seen from Uri.

Finally, Wolf Van Helsing herself. What or who is she? Well, for short. She is Uri’s Grandmother, and a Shiftwalker woman who survived a horrific war and carnage from a demon named, Melanthios, The Dark Flower who Blooms in One’s Heart. And that massive star like shape on her chest…. That’s a scar. Girl took in a deadly hit just to seal Melas away for 150 years. While dying, her allies and deceased old friend separated Melas’s life energy, and transferred it to her. Reborn as a being of Light, Creation, and Life. And to make things complicated for Melanthios, she transferred the same Energy to her children, and they passed it on to their children… like Uri. Explains why her transformation looks like a piece of an orange nebula. (Look man, I love space.)

Extras: Who are Sycorax, Edric, Zyran, and Calypso?? Two out of the four are my old ocs that I decided to bring back for fun! That being: Sycorax a battle scarred man and user of Alchemy Magic and a wolf side that might surprise Otsana, and Edric the adopted son of an Ice Queen (she belongs to a close bro of mine) and a man with a secret identity (Hint: he is NOT human.) he also uses Ice and Space magic as well for combat, but it’s the Black Ice that should be concerning IF pushed to his limits.

Zyran is Uri’s big brother (like 4 years older) and pretty sure after this incident… yeah home boi will unleash his thunder. As for Calypso, a fierce huntress well known in the Hunters World, but what role is she gonna play here? ;3

[chushanye]

I finally caught up to dndads after not having listened to it since June, so in order to not make a 1000 posts I will make one mega-post of all my reactions.

35 -> anthony made a reference to him being married b4, leading to me googling it, leading to me finding out there's a "at least im not anthony burch" 4chan meme

out of al the "new" epsidoes (for me) this one is still the funniest

FUCK, the goddamn convo between Normal and Hero you can't just do this to me. you can't just give me sibling dynamics and expect me to be normal about them.

36-> this ep was spoiled form me start to finish so no particular reactions but I will say Anthony is super clever for managing to spin that prophecy to come back around

37-> the contrast of the teens experiences this episode was astounding

ONE PIECE MENTIONED! 👒🏴‍☠️

"you whirling dervish of homoeroticism and pizza" is SUCH a sentence.

38-> god this episode did so much for Scary I fucking love her. "she is holds so much anger but is one of the most loving people" what if my heart bursts from the weight of it all

39 -> in my notes I just have "RONNNNNN RONNN UR IN HEAVEN BABGGIRLLLL I LOVE YOHJHUU."

40-> Freddy's bully character. Will and Freddy's syncing on that joke and screaming about it. Will going "I'm a little turned on rn I'm not gonna lie." Anthony going "Roll for Kinsley scale." all of that almost put me in an early grave.

41-> Freddy making up dumbass plans and the getting way too excited trying to explain them leading to him being out of breath and yelling and making very little sense while everyone else is trying to cut in to tell him how dumb his plan is only for him to roll ridiculously high makes up 90% of this podcast nd I will never get tired of it. also this episode solidified that Taylor is the best character to me.

42-> I hate this.

43-> Marco is way too fucking chill beung on the Titanic I'm gonna need a bit more shock and confusion from this man. like this jist makes me think he like KNOWS everything already.

44-> the next two were my favorite episodes out of the bunch and I have a like lahes worht of notes on them and I couldn't pick my favorites so I'm gonna make seperate posts for the two of those. but in the meantime:

does the ambulance driver's accent count as slavic? cause if so first slavic dndads character lmfaoo

I feel so sad for Normal because we saw thus arc coming from a mile away. I remember listening to episodes and bejng fristrated with how other characters were responding to Normal cause I KNEW it was making this worse in his mind. and like I get them too they're all going trough heinous shit but like...fucking ouch man this was so preventable

45-> Terry Jr and Glenn competing for the title of "most polite swordfight singe Ingio and Westley in the Princess Bride"

I had seperate notes for how much I loved the charactarisation for Terry Jr, Nick, Taylor and Normal so to sum it up the cast brought their A-game I was so fucking delighted.

Freddy's habit of tling over NPC's is so fucking funny. COMPLETELY disregarding the DM is hilarious when it's not happening to me.

46-> good to see Mat being a menece for once.

somebody PLEASE fucking tell me there is fanart for Abe Lincoln from this episode PLEASE.

I know I'm a tween bow at heart because Lincoln being cool again made me so fucking hyped even though that's not the point of his charactarisation 😭 agent Schmegan just brings out the cool dude in him

Hermie's death was way less dramatic than I expected it to be but rhis is only because the amazing artists in this fandom shot my expectations through the roof with the stuff they drew

BONUS: WHODADIT -> Beth is fucking SHINING in this god every joke landed.

Anthony quickly going: "nochinamenmayfeatureinthestory" everyone else going "WOAH" and Mat going fucking "FREDDY?" as is Freddy needs to explain himself???? 😭😭 please

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 8th October ✨

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! I feel like we’re really in spooky season this week with all the horrors on offer from the audio drama community!!

Big old spoilers below!

🌲 @hellofromthehallowoods (136) I looove when stories show escalating tension at the heart of the story through environmental change elsewhere!! And neither Danielle nor Clem knowing if the shaking was normal hurt my heart a little. They’re babies, your honour! I can’t wait for Danielle and Nikignik to chat again 🤞

HFTH does action SO well and the scene with Mort, Creep and Cindy was just masterful. I was cycling in to work but mentally I was right there. I really hope that Cindy’s plan works - I’ll not get into the ethics of utilitarianism here, but I’ll be so sad if her death isn’t ‘worth it’.

But HELL YEAH, let’s get Ralph back! Time to be useful, my man! Don’t fuck it up!

It’s safe to say that I didn’t have ‘Grug saving Diggory from the Phantom Radio Station’ on my end of S3 bingo. It is very interesting to me that they think their purpose is to die. I think it’s actually vital that the grave digger isn’t dead, but maybe that’s just me?

This final arc is such a white knuckle ride!! I can’t wait to see what happens next!

🦀 @thesiltverses (33) We’re all in agreement that Val is absolutely terrifying, right? Right. Good. We’ve heard the noose tighten a little around Faulkner’s throat, but will he be a different man now that he knows Carpenter is alive? I’m so excited to hear this plan fail.

👁️ @malevolentcast (36) The John memory scenes are done SO well because I literally cannot tell if he is lying or not. I usually want to have the upper hand as the listener and it’s so difficult to not know!! I *think* I’m glad that Arthur is trying to make friends but I did immediately assume that Oscar had run off with that book. Maybe this show has given me trust issues…

🌒 @monkeymanproductions Moonbase Theta, Out (Epilogue) SUCH A GOOD AND PERFECT ENDING. Oh MAN. There was so much to unpack here, but everyone seems content with their choices which makes my heart happy and THEY BROUGHT THE GIRLS TO THE MOON 😭😭😭😭😭 thank you, Deej, that is the best thing that could have happened.

🧛‍♂️ @re-dracula I’ve been trying and failing to catch up with the action this week but the early eps have made me feel very strongly that: WE MUST TALK TO EACH OTHER. Evil wins when good people stop communicating. Talk to your loved ones, reach out to people to might be struggling. No issue is too small for the people who love you. Aaand don’t be sexist lol. That is my Dracula related PSA. Thanks for listening!

🥾 @doyoucopypod (12) Do You Copy really do be about grief!! Poor Reese! But it is good to know that they were both rescued! I really can’t wait to get the final pieces of this puzzle and see how it all fits together!

⚓️ What a delight to catch the first episode of @eelerschoice! I knew this show would be right up my street and the first episode did not disappoint! Also, what a CAST! Very much looking forward to hearing more familiar voices!!

Have a good weekend everyone! 🥰 and if you’re the wishing/praying kind, please do shoot off a few desperate ones for amc’s laptop. my wife spilled water on it last night and we’re too scared to turn it on 🥲

[ghostaddictgremlin]

Kamen Rider Gaim

Ep 36

The jacket is killing me. There was no need to still wear that thing. The back part is only rags

KAITO WHAT WAS YOUR FUCKING MISSION THERE😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I'm so sorry but my baby is trying to break free and is just used again by fondue*

Oh is Kaito evolving into a tree?

WHY DO WE HAVE ANOTHER GAY MOMENT BETWEEN ZACK AND GLASSES GUY?!

Is that a new jacket or are you still fucking tattered, my guy?

Why is melon man such a cutie patootie with Kouta I can't do this

ALSO CHANGE THE FUCKING JACKET OR SKIP IT ALTOGETHER

Also like you may have tried your best but you didn't raise him quite well

Melon man's side burns are doing things to me that I will neither explore nor explain

Yeah, that's... that's correct. Like really no shame but one of the reasons for Micchi's downfall is definitely melon man

Oh I actually fucking love that so much

"You are my shadow. You are every mistake I've made." "If I'm your shadow... then I... can't be real until you're gone!" "That's right." THAT LINE JUST HIT SO MUCH OUT OF NOWHERE

CAN THE MUSIC IM THE BACKGROUND PLS CHILL I AM FUCKING DYING OVER HERE

"He dances to pieces without even needing my prodding. He's the finest toy." AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

JQBZIWBZIBWJZBQJZBQJSBQJSBQJSBJSJSJHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

BROKEN SUITS I REPEAT BROKEN SUITS

Why did he die in gay sprinkles?

Lowkey was melon man made for me. He died without dying then revealed he is not dead only to die again without how I assume dying

* for the love of God, I had to google. I cannot remember her name to save my life. Fondue is Redue

Ep 37

Why are Gaim filler episodes so random?😭

I can't take another fever dream😭😭

Kaito is just having a drug trip or something

This is worse than Hakaider😂😂😭😭😭

I CAN'T DO THIS

Where the fuck are you running to, Kouta?

He looks so silly😭😭

And that's why you shouldn't take drugs, kids

Why's he gay like Evolto and why is the apple suit so cool???

Ep 38

Omf I love Micchi's close ups of the eyes. He looks so dead inside

Oh god, Micchi is full on loosing his mind. At least in his vision melon man has a new suit. And Fondue is just like... enjoying Micchi's insanity

HWBZJABZJA HAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHY IS MICCHI'S ACTOR SO GOOD

No Fondue, I don't think he's broken. I think he's totally fine

For a moment I thought Dr. Stylish is wearing a skirt and I was feeling things

I love him so much

I love his summer outfit, it looks so stupid

Btw Micchi, don't you want to go look for Rat and the girl?

You're so uncomfortable Micchi, oh my goodness

PEKOOOOOOOOOOOO

Defuq is going on with Micchi's strength?

Ep 39

I love savage melon man vision

Kqbskqbykqbdks Dr. Stylish is so skrunkly I aIdvqkqbdlbd

I would kiss him just so he shuts the fuck up

THAT WAS SO DESERVED PLS PUNCH DR. STYLISH IN THE FACE MORE OFTEN

I love that after every inconvenience, Dr. Stylish makes sure to dust of his shirt

The fruit is speaking to him!!

Ep 40

Wdym there wasn't an elevator before? Who build it in a few days???

Wait, is that another Build set? What is that? The hurricane scenes set?

"The snake tempted you with power and you took it, didn't you?" Hqvsjabsjq I blame Sleep Token on my fascination with Eden

Yeah, he's turning inves but lmaoo ever seen Build in suits past their power?

Oh welp, guess Kouta's gonna die

So we now wait the next 7 episodes for Kouta to die hated?

Jqbzjqbsjqbsj yes, Kaito, the solution is to just kick it😂😂😂

The way they mirror it with Yuuya and Hase🙃

No Fondue. You're hated bc you suck

Couldn't they have chosen ANY other angle. LITERALLY

Dr. Stylish is just having a lil movie night. Good for him. Treat yourself, princess

It was obvious but still like... for 40 episodes you were trying to tell us he's wrong and now he's right???😭

[moononmyfloor]

Dashing Youth Ep 26-32 Commentary

Ep 1-10, Ep 11-16, Ep 17-21, Ep 22-25, Ep 33-35, Ep 36-40

Ep 26

Watched everything in 2x because I'm still reeling from prev ep, everyone's busy preaching and talking politics and shit and some of them are right but it pisses me off there's not a single character who'd think from the perspective of that poor little darling who is getting bedded without her consent with every wasted second. Well, Luo Qingyang and Dingzhi do but it's not like they are given that much of screentime.

I can understand that all the parent/grandparents gen are thinking about the "bigger picture" and their priority is to keep their giant families safe before anything else but it wouldn't take much effort for at least one of them to say ONE sympathetic line about Wenjun. Almost all the caring lines that came from everyone had been for Dingzhi, for losing his girl and not about how WENJUN is being taken against her will. Other than LQY and Dingzhi, only Dongjun asked: "Does she want to marry the Prince? If not, I'm in for the fight".

AND AFTER THE FAILURE THAT WAS ABOUT IT

Dingzhi is still alone, his only option is bidding time for 2 yrs till his power grows. And that too only thanks to two kind monks, one of which an old man and the other a literal child. Great. Just great.🥲 If noone else feels pressed enough to help shorten that time might as well just make a casket for the pieces of Wenjun's permanently broken soul by then.

Don't quote "butbutbut in historical times that's what it was like, nobody cared for what an insignificant girl thought" at me.

1. Don't bulk insult ancient people. They were perfectly capable of recognising injustice in matters like this and speak up against it, it's just that it wasn't a winning game most of the time. It's up to the storytellers to decide if you'd have a SINGLE character who'd provide a feminist pov.

2. This is not even a period drama anyway. Period. The storytellers have even less excuse now.

Ep 27

This is the only dynamic that brings me solace in this show now. No wonder that Dingzhi wanted his child to grow up under Reverend Wangyou.

There are more gays in the block but sorry boys I'm so not in the mood for shipping anymore

The rest of the ep is full of more heartbreak for Wenjun and disgust towards some others who are not worthy of being mentioned.

Ep 28

So you had six children already, and though you said you were besotted with Wenjun for a while now, you created your sixth child barely two months before marrying her. I'm all for polycules and would even enjoy harems in period settings where it's almost always difficult to not have power imbalance and have 100% happy partners all around, as long as it's shown mutual respect was present and sufficient effort was put in for all the relationships. But here?

Your first wife is freshly pregnant and you weren't patient enough to wait and earn the second wife's consent, I hope your dick rots and falls off.

Thank you for saying that, Dongjun. 😭 Though I've lost interest in you like, a LOT, I still love you. Also shame on you, Yue Yao. What a waste of your existence as a female character.

I love this guy solely for having a Targaryen throne and for planning to put the star-crossed lovers together, though it's for his own agenda. At this point, I'll take anything. Since there won't be a happy ending anw, I just want them to have their single illusory pocket which they more than deserve.

Ep 29

Reunion! 💕

Oooh hiya Simon Chen Junyu! I liked you in your mini BL show Decline, happy to see you again.

This is what happens when you do inaction and play blind at the face of social problems. You also will be eaten up by it eventually. Now how does that feel like huh?

Of all Dashing Youth characters, he's the most uninteresting, most useless and least acted well.

Ep 30

Their characters are sometimes quite reminiscent of Wu Xie's different facets

Haha I had actually forgotten about this couple

That was funny. Just two random dudes who appreciate each others swords lmao. ALso hi baby Jade Deity!

Mood

Ep 31

This was the baddassest highlight of this ep

Followed by Dingzhi finally stabilizing his Immovable Lord technique and Dongjun becoming the Liquor Deity. Kudos to Hou Minghao for convincing us that Dongjun has become more mature and serious person through subtle changes in behaviour.

Ep 32

Why does it look like he's having sex with the rain lolz

I've been missing you and your goofy laugh, Lei Mengsha 🥺

Fluffy couple outfits for the seniormost pairing in the show hehehe

Speaking of couples, my babies who have let their guard down the moment in the time they most need it 😔 He Yu got that adoring husband face down to a tee

WTF show Changfeng had been working his underdog ass off to advance to the elite circles of Jianghu and you wouldn't show his big break and just cheapass illustrate it off???

Prince Qing who had been the lamest of them all but had the coolest bodyguard lady he so didn't deserve, went out in a cool way but only thanks to her. RIP you won't be missed

So Ruofeng, Ruojin... you were sons of an unfavored consort. Amazing. One would've thought that made you two be men who are considerate about women, let alone those who'd actively fight for women's rights. Smh.

[treasure-goblin]

Cal Reacts Masterlist

-----

DUNE

Tag: #cal liveblogs dune

Dune 1

WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE

Tag: #cal in night vale

Ep. 1 the first and the last, never again

TWILIGHT PRINCESS MANGA

Tag: #cal reads twilight princess

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Tag: #cal in the archives

Season 1

Ep. 1 Lawnchair Anglerfish

Ep. 2 The coffin wanted orange juice

Ep.3 Chicken Doppleganger crossed the road

Ep. 4 Spooky book with lightning smells

Ep. 5 Penguin Bin Man

Ep. 6 Tiny Tim and his exploding girlfriend (cw. Body horror)

Ep.7 Clarice, The Pie Man, and Willy, who is not better than me

Ep. 8 Handy Manny and the arsonist who was a tree

Ep. 9 We're here for the cult stuff

Ep. 10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ep. 11 Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift

Ep. 12 TWAS I WHO SET THE HOUSE ABLAZE

Ep. 13 Nomi and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Ep. 14 Hungry Hungry Hippos

Ep. 15 Pocket full of Johns (cw. Potential claustrophobia trigger)

Ep. 16 The Itzy Bitzy Spider (cw. Spiders)

Ep. 17 Jared but not the one we like (cw. Body horror)

Ep. 18 Wtf Toby

Ep. 19½ Handy Manny comes in clutch

Ep. 20 The other part, Handy Manny couldn't save him

Ep. 21 Unlicensed Chiropractor

Ep. 22 Reverse Escape Room

Ep. 23 Not the one with the Ponies

Ep. 24 Well that escalated quickly

Ep. 25 Fuck Natalie, we hate her

Ep. 26 The Wiggly Wobbly Friemd

Ep. 27 This is apparently normal Paul behavior

Ep. 28 Sarah keep your pants on

Ep. 30 I got pancake mix on my special pajamas while Davey had a mental breakdown

Ep. 31 Irresponsible pet ownership

Ep. 32 Jane talks in circles

Ep. 33 Second-hand Horror

Ep. 34 Baby Chicken Spiders <3

Ep. 35 Emo in a basement

Ep. 36 The Walls are closing in now

Ep. 37 Apparently, more than just Jon take issue with Gertrude's filing system.

Ep. 38 Married to Odysseus (Run, run as fast as you can...)

Ep. 39 Puzzle Pieces of doom falling into place

Ep. 40 Season One ending, Not-Sasha must die.

Season 2

Ep. 41 Well that was stupid

Ep. 42 Well ya shouldn't have done that

Ep. 43 I'VE CONNECTED THE DOTS /ref

Ep. 44 Gertrude reads my story this time and the circus doesn't kill anyone for once

Ep. 45 I like Tommy's voice

[hi-im-erick-and-this-is-my-story]

The case of the glitches ep 7 s2

ridning theier horses for seven hours made them and thier steeds tired so when the group saw the town they cheered with glee. They rented a stable spot for thier horses as they did previously and headed to the castle. they were let in and presented to the king sir 1nt0ni4 or rather Intonia.

1nt0ni4- yes, please state your name and busissnes

Jax- your majesty i think i may know a cure for your son. I studied a broken android i found, his name was Fr-36 or as i called him Fred, he also had cataclismic gliches i was able to debug him and fix his code he came back here afterwards and he sends me letters of how he is doing, here let me just

Jax pulled out a letter and hended it to the intriuged king who quickly gave it a read and spoke up as he got up from his throne

1nt0ni4- you may see him, please follow me

the group went after the king and stopped by a room that read C073 or as they took it Cole, upon entrance they were met with a android tied to a chair. The androids joints were spinning from time to time with the attached limbs, thier head was tilted as if it couldn't hold it's own weight, the screen was shattered and when it saw the group all it did was made a loud tv static sound as if it was trying to speak.

Jax- right to it

Jax compleatly unfazed came up to the machine and he was quickly given a laptop, he started his work by pluging in a pendrive, and it went on for one hour as he went through the code and fixed it, as he was fixing it the state of the robot became better first it's joints and a limbs stopped spinning, then it's head went straight, then the tv static on it's broken screen went to a face, and finally when the fixing was done Cole spoke up.

Cole- D@d wh4t is happening

1nt0ni4- oh my god, you really fixed him!

Jax- yes

1nt0ni4- please tell me how to do it and i will give you and your friends whatever you desire

Jax- well here

Jax heanded the king the pendrive

Jax- helf the time i spent on fred was for this. It's a debugger when i was fixing your son i set it up inside him so it's files would be downoloded on his data base, i activated it and it did all the work for me, the hour was spent on it to downoload and activate. I can show you how to downoload it but on the pendrive there is a video for that already, so please give it to your reserchers to study it

1nt0ni4- of course, i will make sure myself that it is done correctly, now what are you in need of, what are your desires

Jax- those people need to cure thier friend and to do that they need your joy candy, if you gave it to them you can save more than just your kingdom, also if it wasn't for them i would never be here so all the thanking is to them

1nt0ni4- thank you, all of you, please follow me to the candy factory

the group set off. When they got there each of them was given a piece of candy Erick bagged and packed his and the rest poceted it, and since it was considered a drug, Bebe and Jax were given two XXL chocolate bars instead Jax was also given a chest full of gold. Then the group got thier horses back and headed back to the pepper kingdom to get Jax home. And afterwards they also went back to Ericks hut where they made the cure and gave it to Henry The next day Henry was noticeably better, he no longer was aggresive and the spots dissapeared overnight, Now he was just tired so for the next week he stayed at Ericks to heal.

[salmoncakepls]

hiii hi uhm i hope i'm not doing repeats but 11, 18, 25, and/or 36?

Hii dre

11 - No not at all, it definitely changes after every rewatch or depending on the mood I'm feeling. I feel like I've gone across the board enough to say that every episode has been my favorite at one point !

I thought it said 16 !!! (now I'm noticing its 18 oops i still answered 18):

these the pieces of art! specifically the one on the right! I could go more into it when im not so tired but overall else the cinematography of this part if this scene is framed as though the danlou date is itself a piece of art ... and i love that. The paintings themselves an elevation of that (i rlly hope that make sense one day i will talk about this scene more in depth when im not about to sleep and i find the hd vers on the images loll)

16 - Underrated scene I will try to get back to ya but i do genuinely feel like anything from ep 2 bc ppl overlook it so much ! Even tho it has some of my favorite lines in it. I think of course the final scene in the episode that i ref above is something that doesn't get talked about too much but after my rewatch this month I wanna come back to thiss bc I feel like I find new things with each watch !

25 - Would this q technically be like leslou vs Armanlou because it's armanlou for me ! So many things about this dynamic intrigues me. I have never had such an intense interest in the goings ons of their relationship in a show in a long time. Like with the clip we got, with the small little interaction theres already a story to tell ! I love that you can see layers behind layers and I can't wait to see more of it!

36 - Answered :-0

[casyawn]

4, 7, 11, 13, 16, 22, 31, 36, 40 ⚰️

oh my god that's so many. i am sorry for what i am about to unleash.

4. Say you’re recommending the show right now, how would you pitch it?

it REALLY depends who i'm recommending it to but the main points i would hit is that it's good, it's short and it's about vampires in the worst relationship ever. i do make sure to specifically say the relationship is abusive especially if i'm talking to someone i think would be into it for the romance, and i usually also say that it's pretty trigger-heavy. for some people it's a deterrent but for others it's a plus, so. i also sometimes describe the vampire element as 'what if you lived forever but also had a mental illness' which i think is fun.

7. If you read the book, what are your favorite changes from page to screen? 

Ohh i have many. the obvious ones like louis and claudia (but louis especially) being black, the time period change, making the domestic abuse textual, daniel being old and the original interview having taken part in the past, etc. but in terms of smaller changes, i think it has to be the baby-trapping switch; giving claudia and louis the ability to speak telepathically was a stroke of absolute genius it's so so good and interesting and creepy

11. Has your favorite episode remained the same since you first finished the season? 

yup, it's the pilot! tho eps 4 and 5 were strong contenders.

13. What was your favorite piece of music from the first season’s OST?

it's vicious. so fucking good inject those violins right into my veins

16. Do you have a favorite piece of art (book, movie, painting) that’s referenced or featured in the show?

very interesting question. i think it's probably the francis bacon triptych (three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion)

22. Who's your favorite character? Why?

it's louis!!!!!!!! ldpdl forever and ever <3 i'll keep it simple and say i love a character full of nothing but contradictions, i love a delusional man, i love a man who suffers, and i think jacob anderson might be the epitome of human beauty

31. What’s your most anticipated season two storyline?

the storyline i'm most excited about is the souring of claudia and louis' relationship because i think it's such an interesting part of the book and i love it when characters act horribly. and i want claudia specifically to be so so horrible <3 and other than that, not a storyline exactly but i'm so so psyched to see the vampire theatre like. i'm a big theatre enjoyer. throw in any sort of puppetry and you'll win me forever

36. What’s an unpopular opinion you have?

oh man. i'll be honest i don't really know what's considered unpopular these days, i only follow a handful of people from the fandom and they tend to be the ones i share opinions with, but that doesn't mean those opinions are popular. i guess a truly unpopular opinion of mine is that i don't care about lestat/armand as a ship and i don't want the vampires to be poly or anything like that. insane drama jealousy and divorce forever <3 i guess another opinion that might be unpopular with hardcore book fans is that i don't care if lestat is redeemed or not, i have faith in the writers and i think either way could be interesting and that's ultimately what i care about. in general i guess i just don't care about book accuracy at all.

40. If you made any fanworks of your own, what are your personal favorites? Throw yourself some flowers! 

well uhh i have made fanworks but i have a separate account for them. if we are mutuals and you are interested you are welcome to send me a dm and i'll link you tho <3

[legion1227]

74 shows I watched this year: Ranked from least favorite to Most

74. Resident Evil (2/5)                    (Lance Reddick Wesker is only good thing)

73. Mike (2.5/5)                             (Poorly paced)

72. Shenmue (3/5)                         (Decent animation, middling plot)

71. Murderville (3/5)                       (Peaked with Conan o Brien episode)

70. Wednesday (3/5)                      (All the guys in the show suck)

69. Haikyu!! (Seasons 1-2) (3/5)       (Cute, but not for me)

68. Ms. Marvel (3/5)                       (Liked first half more)

67. The Walking Dead (Season 11: Parts 2 & 3) (3/5)     (Decent final ep)

66. Doom Patrol (Seasons 1-3) (3/5)              (Great cast)

65. Assassination Classroom (Season 2) (3/5)    (Season 1 was better)

64. Bel-Air (3.5/5)                                  (started fine, lost steam)

63. Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (3.5/5) (great to have Jack Black back)

62. Euphoria (Season 2) (3.5/5)     (Enjoyable schlock)

61. Violet Evergarden (3.5/5)         ( Amazing animation, likable main lead)

60. The Orville (Seasons 1-3) (3.5/5)        (season 3 elevated the show)

59. The Righteous Gemstones (Seasons 1-2) (3.5/5)   (chaotically endearing)

58. Book of Boba Fett (3.5/5)              (Should’ve focused more on Boba)

57. Tekken: Bloodline (3.5/5)            (other characters needed more screentime)

56. The Proud Family (Seasons 1-2) (3.5/5)    (Penny is my favorite character)

55. Schitt's Creek (Seasons 5-6) (3.5/5)    (Not the funniest, but I love the family)

54. Reacher (3.5/5)              (Strong first half, kinda falls apart 2nd half)

53. Insecure (Season 1-3)       (Issa and her friends are an intriguing bunch)

52. Disenchantment (Season 4) (3.5/5)     (luci, bean, and elfo, fun trio)

51. Handmaid's Tale (Season 5) (3.5/5)   (its very good, almost great)

50. South Park (Season 25) (3.5/5)    (wayyyyyy too short for a season)

49. The Last Kingdom (Season 1-2)    (Dreymon as Uhtred is a good main lead)

48. Moon Knight (3.5/5)        (oscar isaac is amazing in the role as moon knight)

47. Re: Zero (Season 1-2) (3.5/5) (fun cast and action sets)

46. Baki (Season 1-3) (3.5/5)      (over the top action fest thats a roaring time)

45. Black Mirror (Season 1-5) (3.5/5)    (mixed bag but mostly good episodes)

44. Code Geass (Season 1-2) (3.5/5)    (lelouch is a good anti-hero) 

43. Whose line is it anyway (CW seasons 1-7) (3.5/5) (bit predictable but still hilarious)

42. Love, Death, and Robots (Season 3) (4/5) (best season they had yet)

41. Archer (Season 13) (4/5)  (RIP Jessica Walter, still managed a solid season w/o her)

40. Zootopia+ (4/5)   (episodes that are as gratifying as the movie)

39. Baymax (4/5)      (Baymax helping others is just so cute) 

38. Baki Hanma (4/5)   (more focused than other seasons)

37. Rick and Morty (Season 6)  (4/5) (Big step up from season 5)

36. Avenue 5 (Season 1)  (4/5)   (Uproariously funny)

35. Legend of Korra (Seasons 1-4)       (4/5)  (besides season 2, its incredible)

34. Scrubs (seasons 1-4)  (4/5)  (carried by great character work)

33. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Seasons 1-6) (4/5) (last 2 seasons weak, iconic tho)

32. Jeen-yuhs (4/5)           (the kanye fall of is so damn depressing)

31. Stranger Things (Season 4) (4/5) (another solid season for the show)

30. Vikings: Valhalla (4/5)   (savagery at its finest)

29. She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (4/5)   (Jen Walters and cameos are dope)

28. What We Do in the Shadows (Season 4) (4/5)  (season 3 was better)

27. The Witcher (Season 2) (4/5)    (better than season 1)

26. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (Stone Ocean) (4/5)   (beautiful ending)

25. One Piece (Whole Cake Island & Wano Arcs) (4/5) (peak storytelling)

24. Tales of The Jedi (4/5)   (love what they did with Ahsoka and Dooku)

23. Atlanta (Seasons 1-3) (4/5)     (Prefer seasons 1 & 2 over 3 just a bit

22. House of the Dragon (4/5) (confusing names, but compelling family drama)

21. Dexter (Seasons 1-4) (4/5)   (Serial killer drama at its finest)

20. Blindspotting (4/5)  (4/5)     (lack of Diggs and Casal is felt, still great tho)

19. Obi-Wan Kenobi (4/5)   (return of mcgregor and Christensen was lovely)

18. The Sandman (4/5)   (Excellent cast with clever ways of dealing w/ enemies)

17. Umbrella Academy (Season 3) (4/5) (great but hate what they did with Allison)

16. Big Nate (4/5)  (loved reading the books growing up, cute show)

15. Arcane (4/5)    (one of the best video game adaptations)

14. Demon Slayer (Season 2) (4/5) (love way more season 1)

13. Chainsaw Man (4/5) (animation and characters are fascinating)

12. Cuphead (Season 1-3) (4/5) (an even BETTER video game adaptiation)

11. Regular Show (Season 1-8) (4/5)  (wild, ride of a show from start to end)

10. The Boys Presents: Diabolical (4.5/5) (superb snack to quell Boys hunger)

9. Mob Psycho 100 (Season 3) (4.5/5) (beautiful sendoff to amazing people)

8. Smiling Friends (4.5/5)   (funniest show I’ve watched in a long time)

7. Peacemaker (4.5/5)    (funny, but has better action and drama)

6. Harley Quinn (Season 3) (4.5/5)  (top tier character arcs

5. Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (4.5/5) (wayyyy funnier than I thought it would be)

4. Barry (Season 3) (4.5/5)  (balance of comedy and drama is masterful) 

3. Attack on Titan (Season 4 part 2) (4.5/5) (only 1 subpar episode)

2. The Boys (Season 3) (4.5/5)      (the best season with the best episode)

1. Better Call Saul (Season 6) (5/5)       (literal PERFECTION) 

[mooralltach]

I posted 2,369 times in 2022

34 posts created (1%)

2,335 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dandunn

@colorousme

@dying-suffering-french-stalkers

@boufalant

@mmangaboi

I tagged 2,167 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#lupin iii - 439 posts

#inspiration - 284 posts

#one piece - 234 posts

#ultimate eggs - 208 posts

#fav - 173 posts

#beestjes - 171 posts

#pokeymans - 73 posts

#travel goals - 36 posts

#about me - 34 posts

#dweebstories - 33 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#that one scene from a winnie the pooh movie/episode where they got sucked into the vacuum cleaner and ended up in the under the bed universe

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Lupin theory: it's a Manchurian Candidate plot, it must be. That second picture with a mother figure, brainwashing and spilled playing cards is 100% Manchurian Candidate. They're going to tie in all the card games this season to brainwashing, back to and including them playing cards to determine who cooks. It's going to tie in with all the flowers because of Hanafuda cards.

I had to look the Manchurian Candidate up for a bit, but that's a pretty convincing idea actually!

Regarding the spilled playing cards, I assumed they were a reference to the gang at first, like Jigens hat and Goemons Zantetsuken are also there. But they're also not really anyone's personal item either, like the hat and Zantetsuken are. It could be argued they stand for Fujiko (since she's sort of associated with cards and uses them as weapons sometimes, she even throws one in the opening), but we haven't seen Fujiko playing these specific cards at all, so I don't know.

What interested me is that for one of the brainwashed 'sleeper agents' in the Manchurian Candidate, seeing the queen of diamonds made him snap into killer mode, and the fact that his handler is his mother... holy shit Now I did check ep 13 again and Lupin has played this deck of cards against Jigen multiple times (and won), so I'm assuming he would've seen that card (or whatever card does it for him, if it is the cards) too without anything happening. But we did see Jigen and Goemon playing the cards in the car in the last episode, so they do have them with them, meaning they could easily be used next episode, and it might exactly be the context of who is showing him the card and in what way that might trigger something.

I honestly hadn't even considered the cards! They do have a very distinct design, even though that's probably a reference to the cards from Part 1 Episode 8's cards:

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23 notes - Posted March 19, 2022

#4

watching the next lupin episode moodboard

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27 notes - Posted March 19, 2022

#3

Okay hold on, hold on. This latest Lupin arc is making me go insane (in a good way). Let's see if I can put all this into coherent thoughts.

Since episode 19 I've been checking and rewatching some moments, and found out some... interesting details. Then after this weeks episode I noticed another thing, which had me rewatching everything again, and I'm now convinced things are even more connected than previously thought. If I'm right, this second arc is insanely good at leaving the smallest hints right under our nose that you wouldn't know were there unless you know what to look for. Even though yes, I also agree part 6 has its pacing problems and I'm not the biggest fan of interrupting the main arc with standalone episodes all the time either, but at least in this second part they do make use of that (yes I will elaborate).

Gonna continue under the cut, this post is long. Will probably end up continuing it too, since tumblr doesn't allow more than 10 images per post (grrr).In any case, spoilers for up to part 6 episode 20.

Anyway! I'm gonna go nuts for a moment

Alright. Let's start at this weeks episode. The thing with these filler episodes is that they are very much filler, but they also got slightly more in common with each other than simply being centered around a woman each time, as the arc implies. At first, I thought that was all there was to it, even if this arcs writer (Shigeru Murakoshi) said that the way all the individual women were shown in episode 14 was not a coincidence (or, to quote him: "Actually, this scene was not intended to make everyone appear unnecessarily. I would like you to look forward to how each and every character here appear in future episodes, and to see what position they form in the story and how they interact with Lupin and the gang."). I just thought that was an interesting extra, like oh cool, those are the women we're gonna be seeing this season, I love a little bit of foreshadowing like that (although, if he hadn't said so, I'm pretty sure I would've entirely missed that it was these exact women too until having a rewatch, since the designs don't really stand out save for one or two). However.

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42 notes - Posted March 3, 2022

#2

I know they left it ambiguous on whether or not Tomoe was actually Lupin's "real" mom (leaving the way they viewed each other out of it for now), and we're supposed to drift more toward the fact thats she was not

but that expression Lupin has when seeing what's in the box, and how he pauses a little too long...

it kinda haunts me

49 notes - Posted March 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

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94 notes - Posted March 21, 2022

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[chorusfm]

Liner Notes (November 4th, 2023)

I hope everyone had a good week this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here. If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here. A Few Things * This will probably be another shortish newsletter. It’s a slower music week, and it’s the time of the year when there’s not much happening in the music world, and I have a lot of family commitments. It’s nice to take some time off and enjoy my favorite time of the year though. It’s wild to think that next week will be Hannah and my fourth wedding anniversary. The plan is to relax a little, have some nice meals, and get some things done around the house to prepare for the holidays. In Case You Missed It * Review: Taking Back Sunday – 152 * Review: Boys Like Girls – Sunday At Foxwoods * Green Day Announce 2024 Tour * Anberlin Share Matty Mullins Vocal Clip * Major Labels Trying to Stop Artists from Re-Recording Songs * Taking Back Sunday Play Fan Wedding * Brian Fallon Reviews Every Gaslight Anthem Album * The Gaslight Anthem Perform on CBS Saturday Morning * 20th Anniversary Edition of ‘Take This To Your Grave’ * Albums in Stores – Nov 3rd, 2023 Music Thoughts * Things I enjoyed that came out yesterday were the final Atreyu EP, creating a nice 12-song album that leans more into their pop side but works for me this time of year. And Spiritbox also released an awesome EP that continues their hot streak. * My week was spent between the current releases (Blink-182, Gaslight Anthem, Taking Back Sunday) and revisiting some albums that always feel great in November (Matt Nathanson, Patrick Droney, anything Ace Enders touches). The Stats: Over the past week, I listened to 36 different artists, 45 different albums and 443 different tracks (479 scrobbles). And you can follow me on Apple Music and/or Last.fm. Entertainment Thoughts * From the very first one to the latest, I’m a sucker for all the Mission: Impossible movies. I enjoyed Dead Reckoning, but I did feel like it was hurt by only being a “part one.” There are some great action scenes and set pieces. But not quite up to the level as my favorites from the franchise on first watch. * We did a bunch of Halloween movies last week: Talk to Me was the best of the bunch, The Blackening was a lot of fun, and Suitable Flesh was weird. * Whenever I think I’m about to just cancel Netflix they release something that pulls me back in. Currently, that’s Bodies. The first four episodes have pulled me in. Curious to see where it goes. Random and Personal Stuff * Next week’s project is to get the bedroom track lights fixed. The power supply for them died, and of course, they don’t make it anymore. After talking to a few electricians, they all think the whole system probably needs to be replaced because of how old it is (like 15 years?), and they don’t make anything compatible anymore. So my “this shouldn’t be too annoying to fix” project became a “this is going to be absolutely obnoxious” project real fast. Ten Songs Here are ten songs that I listened to and loved this week. Some may be new, some may be old, but they all found their way into my life during the past seven days. * Spiritbox – Ultraviolet * The Beatles – Now and Then * Sigrid – Borderline * Blink-182 – Turpintine * Taking Back Sunday – Juice 2 Me * The Gaslight Anthem – The Weatherman * Patrick Droney – We Got Old This Year * Matt Nathanson – Soundtrack * There Will Be Firewords – Smoke Machines (Summer Moon) * Paint it Black – Dominion This playlist is available on Spotify and Apple Music. Community Watch The trending and popular threads in our community this week include: * NFL Gameday Week 9 * Nutella vs. Cookie Butter * Kevin Drew – Aging (November 3, 2023) * MGMT – Loss Of Life (February 23, 2024) * FOOTBALLHEAD – Overthinking Everything (March 1, 2024) * Tour Prediction and Speculation Thread * Video… https://chorus.fm/features/articles/liner-notes-november-4th-2023/