#i love how one moment they're being all playful this ep and the other they're all tender and intimate and serious about everything

[dramaism]

mooncovey in every episode — S2EP5 Kissing Cousins

So, my American friend here, she's so pathetic and perpetually single. She really needs professional help. Mm. And Min Ho here also desperately needs your services. He's run off every girl in town by being so annoying and rude.

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️ Ranking Richonne

#1: For The Future (S9E03) 🏆🥳🎉

This is the one. 🥹 The number 1. 🏆 My favorite Richonne scene. 😍 And it's quite fitting on TOWL eve to discuss Rick and Michonne's final irl dialogue from TWD. How lovely that Richonne's 'last' day together was this beautiful. 😭

Richonne's relationship illustrates what I've always felt true love should be like. What the characters of Rick and Michonne have is a radiant, vivid, and undeniable soulmate love. It's earned and organic, it's devoted and deep-rooted, it's heartfelt, it's fiery, it's passionately palpable, it's everything. And genuinely, this impeccable scene has it all.

So I adore this moment to infinity and beyond, especially because in this scene, we truly get to see Rick and Michonne revel in Richonne...

What's clear from my Top 5 is I tend to really appreciate scenes where Rick and Michonne talk about Rick and Michonne, and this scene is one of the best examples of that.

Throughout all these posts I’ve expressed the sides of Rick and Michonne's relationship that I adore - when they're doting on each other, desiring each other, leading together, parenting together, relaxed and domestic, fighting the fight, being playful and flirty, being reassuring, being hopeful, happy, honest, human, wise, vulnerable, encouraging, and enchanted by the other. And pretty much all of this was captured in this scene right here.

So while I have no notes for this scene, my extra self still has a lot to gush over and praise. I mean naturally, cuz this is my goated Richonne moment. 🙌🏾😌

I just marvel at how special this ship is for only continuing to top themselves with golden scenes to the point that Richonne's last moving dialogue irl is my all-time favorite moment between them.

And if Richonne just had to be taken from me for 6 years, then this was an excellent scene to hold onto as I patiently waited for their return. (which is tomorrow, can you believe it!? 🤗) And it's also an excellent moment for Rick and Michonne to hold onto as their paths part for years and they fight with everything in them to get back to each other. 👌🏽

The chemistry and connection between Rick and Michonne have always been so profound to me, and they’ve been operating like one for a long long time. And in this scene, you just see every single reason why they are meant for each other and how they're ready to take their oneness to new levels. 🙌🏽🎉

Also in this episode, it feels like this is the one time when Rick, Michonne, Judith, Carl, and RJ are all in some way involved as we officially know Michonne will be pregnant after this. 😭

Ok, so first we gotta talk about the great Grimes Family 2.0 sequence just before because it's attached to this #1 moment for me. The episode starts with Rick waking up in his bed with Michonne asleep, and I love any time we get to see their everyday life side.

I adore the way Rick immediately places his attention on Michonne when she sleepily tosses to the other side. And then seeing that she may be feeling a bit restless, he gently gives her a calming kiss on the shoulder. Such a sweet silent act of love for his wife. 🥰

And I love seeing that Rick wakes up with this instant affection for her, just as Michonne does in the next ep when she wakes up and adoringly kisses him while he sleeps. 🥹

Also, this moment makes me a bit sad cuz it’s the last time Rick and Michonne will wake up together like this for years. 😢 But thank goodness they will hopefully soon have mornings together like this again. 🙌🏾

And then, after showing love to his wife, Rick hears Judith cough and goes to gently check on her as she also is sleeping in a similar position as Michonne. Seeing Rick in this house with his wife and daughter, you just know these are the two he’d do absolutely anything for. Including fighting every day for years to get back to them. 🥲

And then they gotta get my waterworks going when Rick walks down the steps and touches Carl’s handprint. Oh how I wish Carl was asleep in another room for Rick to check on. 😭 But the fact that even tho Carl is gone, Rick still finds meaningful ways to feel connected to him is beautiful and makes it feel like he really managed to have a genuine heartfelt moment with his wife, daughter, and son this morning. The truest family man. 🥰

Then Rick takes a walk in the lush community and it’s just nice seeing him get to really take in how much life is growing around them with all the plants and food sprouting up. This is so reflective of what he and Michonne have impressively built together, and Rick deserves this satisfying peaceful moment so much.

If Richonne had managed to carve out even a semi-decent life a year and a half after the pain of losing their son and fighting a war it would have been commendable. But for them to have healed to the point where they were living a genuinely happy robust life together, speaks to the revitalizing power of their love.

Everything is fruitful and growing in their community, and I love that just like that ripe red tomato Rick finds, Rick is also ready to be fruitful and multiply. Amen. 🥳

And as if the sequence wasn’t already precious enough, Rick places the red tomato at Carl’s gravesite, and he has this quiet moment with his son which just hits my heart. It's like Rick's letting Carl know he's making his dream real just like he promised. 😭

I love that Rick is so devoted to keeping Carl’s memory and wishes alive, including Carl’s desire for Rick to build a bountiful future - specifically one where “Michonne is happy.”

I’ve always found Rick’s teary smile at Carl’s grave interesting because it makes me curious what they're implying he’s thinking. I personally feel like part of it is Rick thinking about the fact that he’s ready to grow their family and knowing Carl would want that for them too. 

So now onto my all-time favorite Richonne scene. 🙌🏽🥳

I truly love that they give Rick and Michonne this at-home, comfortable, living their everyday life moment in bed for their final irl conversation. 😍😭

Where my #2 scene from the season 5 finale was one I really appreciated for depicting Richonne's strength amid tough times, my #1 scene here is one I appreciate so much for depicting Richonne's strength during a time of overall calm. This moment wonderfully and angelically shows how Rick and Michonne's love soars when they finally get to live the peaceful life they fought so hard for.

So I of course love all the scenes where Richonne shower each other in love during high-stakes moments of adversity. But this rewarding scene is so special to me for being a moment of Richonne getting to shower each other in love during a rare time of normalcy after everything they’ve been through. 

So Michonne is up in bed and working on the charter like the Get Things Done Grimes she is. And Rick returns to their room and the moment is just so calm and casual as they ask each other how they slept, and Michonne admits her mind won’t shut off. As we know from their canon ep, they’re very good at helping the other just turn their mind off for a bit and so Rick is def about to help her with that. 😋

I love seeing Rick take his boots off and get right back into bed cuz I know that man already had his mind made up to take today off and just be with his girls. I think about how refreshed Rick was in s9 even though so many of his OG friends were all spread out. And a big reason why he can still seem so content is because as long as he has Michonne and his daughter every day then he has everything.

Then Rick is so encouraging when he tells Michonne she’ll have the charter figured out by supper. Like the charter is a big deal to figure out, but he knows his goddess of a wife can handle it, and I love that he always has so much belief in her. 

When Michonne smiles and says, "yeah, no," Rick is rightfully in full Michonne-stan mode as he tells her it’s good she's leading this place. I love how Rick knows and is grateful that Michonne is so capable of not just helping him lead but being a leader in her own right.

And I like that Michonne says, "with you" because it just shows how much she truly values their partnership and still only wants to lead if it’s with him. The “Me and you” way. 😊

It’s really sweet the way Rick says, "Nah, I’ve been at the bridge, here it’s you." He’s going to make sure Michonne gets credit where credit is due. And again, his reverence for her has always been so lovely to watch throughout this scene and this series. (Rick Grimes is a 'Michonner,' y'all 😋💕)

Also, it's great seeing that Rick is so comfy as he rests on the bed while letting Michonne know she’s the one whose been keeping this place safe and figuring out how to improve it. After roughing it in prison cells, the woods, and mattress-less rooms during the saviors' reign, it's great to see him get to just make himself comfortable in a warm bed with the love of his life.

And Michonne is all multi-tasking by listening to him, writing notes down, and setting a plan to take their daughter to the doctor. Like truly, Rick,...

But he already knows that. 😊

Then I love seeing this parents moment of them talking about Judith’s cough and taking her to the doctor. Rick assures that he checked on her and it’s probably just a cough but Mama Michonne still wants to be sure so she says she's going to take her to Siddiq just in case. And Rick is immediately on board saying he’ll join them. I love this dad, y’all. 🥰

Like this is what’s important to Rick always, so even as a leader with so much on his plate, being around for his family is always the priority, even for just an unassuming doctor's visit. 

And I also love this exchange cuz It’s so clear that Rick and Michonne are equally Judith's parents and obviously have a lot of care for her that they want to take precautions even if it’s a small cough. I'll also just never get over that we went from Michonne saying, "You could've just taken the formula" to now her and Rick talking about Judith as the daughter they're raising together. 🤗

Then my uncontrollable smiling has returned when Rick tells Michonne that they’ll have to promise Judith a Family Fun Day to get her to go to the doctor. 🥰 I love that they’ve coined this term, indicating Family Fun Days are something they do often. They really are such a beautiful caring family, and their eventual family reunion that I've been trying to speak into existence since 2018 is going to be HEAVENLY. 😇

The fact that the word "fun" can even be a part of their lives now is refreshing. And I also love how much this family fun day is something Rick genuinely wants not just for Judith but for him and for Michonne too. Here for it.

Michonne smiles when he says this and then has a realization moment as she asks, "Aren’t you headed back right away?" And Rick says, "I can take the day" and then says “We can.” That man ain’t tell a lie. Rick and Michonne deserve a day off, and I like how this is the beginning of Rick helping Michonne know that it’s okay to take a break in this scene. 😏 And once again, Rick demonstrates that when he's with Michonne...the world can wait. 😌

Rick says the last report was good and “Maggie will be there soon thanks to you.” Which again I love that every chance Rick gets he’s giving Michonne her props.

There's also something a bit sad about this because Rick is so convinced that the others can hold it down for a bit but that ends up not being the case and results in their family fun day getting cut short indefinitely.

I really feel like because Rick values Michonne’s influence and insights so highly in his own life, that’s why he felt so confident that Maggie would have become on board after a visit with Michonne - because he would have had Michonne visited him. He thinks everyone should get in formation when Michonne speaks just like he does, and Rick, sincerely...

Always intuitive, Michonne knows that Maggie is still angry and Daryl too so she tells Rick this and he nods and then he asks, "Well you want me to go?" And I was like now Slick Rick knows the answer to that is no lol.

Michonne places her hand on his and says she wants it to work. And by reaching for his hand it shows that ultimately she of course wants him to stay with her, she just knows how much they’re needed by the others. #SelflessQueen

Also, there's just something so moving to me about the way she looks at him in this moment. Like of course Michonne is known for her only-envision-winning mentality, but here there is also a part of her that needs some reassurance that everything they're trying to do and build really can work despite all the underlying division within the communities and tf.

Needing some reassurance, her husband so sweetly gives her just that when Rick says "It will" in the most comforting tone. And I like how he positions himself to sit up and really look in her eyes as he lets her know that even if everyone isn’t all in yet they will be, “just like we did.”

I love that Rick and Michonne are always a “we”. They’re a package deal cuz they’re one. And that line just felt like a bigger statement to their own journey. How they truly went all in with each other. 

And again the way Michonne looks at him is just heartwarming as she expresses agreement. Her love for him and belief is so visible and sincere. The way they can both always resonantly reach and reassure each other when they speak is perfection.

I love that she then says okay and touches his face, and I also was like sis, you know if you touch him like that this scene is gonna escalate lol. 😋

Then we get to one of my many favorite parts of my favorite scene when Rick looks at Michonne with such genuine abundant love in his eyes and tells her, "Thank you." 🥹

The way Rick always tells her thank you since season 3. 😭 I love the way he adores, praises, and reveres Michonne. Like, for Rick, it is always doting over Michonne hours. 

Michonne asks, "For what?" which just reminded me of when Rick asks her "For what?" when Michonne said she never thanked him in the s3 finale.

And then the way Rick takes a breath and smiles at Michonne on this bed after she asks this - it literally makes me want to shed a tear. It’s just a beyond beautiful wordless moment that really feels like Michonne taking his breath away as he’s overcome with love for her. And that might sound dramatic but hey...

Rick has been in awe of her since literally day one at that fence, and to see seasons later, after getting to know her in the deepest sense, he still has that awe of Michonne but amplified. It's great. And Rick just looks so unabashedly mesmerized by her in this moment which is heartwarming.

Like when she asks 'for what?,' you can tell Rick is just marveling about how incredible she is and how the list of reasons to thank her is miles long.

And this is not really Rick and Michonne's newlywed stage anymore, y'all. This is their married for a while, been through hell and back together after losing our son stage, and Rick still looks at Michonne like she hung the moon and the stars. 😭

And then Rick takes the scene to new heights of heartwarming when he says exactly what he's thanking her for, stating ���For everything you’ve done. For everything you’re doing. For you.” Absolutely perfect. 😍😭😍😭

And it's so fitting cuz Michonne really has done so much of value, past, present, and for the future. But the best of the best is Rick saying “for you” because he’s not just grateful for what she does but who she is. And she is someone exceptional. 

I adore that in their final one-on-one irl scene Rick is outright thanking Michone for existing and for the lovely gift that she is and has always been in his life. Honestly, Rick's romantic heart needs to be studied because the things he says to and about Michonne are just everything and more. 🥹

Another thing that makes this scene and ep so special is Rick and Michonne don’t know this is their last day together. So for them, this is just another day. And I love it for showing how all this beautiful love and adoration they’re letting out is not because they’re trying to make their final day count - this is just how they are with each other on the regular.

And I love that we get to see Michonne’s reaction to receiving this genuine love and appreciation from her husband as he gives her her flowers. Michonne deserves every bit of this love. 🙌🏾💐

I am so excited that Michonne will get to have this type of love back in her life when she finally reunites with the man who adores her. 🤗 I firmly believe Rick’s awe of Michonne will only be heightened when he gets to learn how resilient she’s been in his absence for herself, their children, and their community. She’s had to be so strong for so many, and I love that she’ll finally be back in the arms of the one whom she can be most soft and taken care of with.

And the same goes for Rick. After being a man desperately looking and longing for his family while so alone for years - I am elated that he’ll be back with the woman who most makes him feel loved, sane, seen, and home. 

When Rick and Michonne see each other again you know this is about to be a direct quote from both their minds...

Also, something that’s so sweet about the love story crafted for Rick and Michonne is that adoring each other comes so effortlessly to them. They don’t have to constantly remind or force themselves to be attentive and expressive to each other, it’s the most natural thing in the world for them to love this person in front of them out loud.

So yes it’s an active daily choice to love, but I appreciate that it also feels so aligned with how Rick and Michonne want to naturally operate - head over heels in the most grown, grounded, yet grand way. 🥰

Then, after saying something so authentic, accurate, and beautiful by thanking her for pretty much everything, the two share a sweet kiss. And their every kiss is so special to me. Like it’s always passionate no matter what. And just the way he looks at her after 😭 heart-melting. They're irresistible to each other and always have been. 😍

I especially love that Michonne then leans in and kisses him again as her own thank you for his kind words. Those magnets within them mean we’re always gonna see more than one kiss. 😋

And then she slides her hand down his neck and chest and once again I was like - now sis, you know things are about to escalate if you do that. 🤭

And sure enough…😋

Rick starts closing the books and moving them away as he invitingly says, "Why don’t you take a break?" 😏 I love it. It’s cute that Michonne is instantly tickled by this too. She knows what’s up. And she knows she’s down. ijs. 😋

But first she asks, "You want me to stop working?" and she knows good and well the answer is yes - but I love that Rick has always been a little extra when it comes to Michonne so he doesn’t only say yes. Instead, he takes the pencil out of her hand and flicks it away as he says, "yeah" in a way that will never fail to have me smiling and kicking my feet cuz like...

And Michonne was undeniably amused already, but she got especially tickled when he tossed the pencil. That man always has her smitten. 😊

I adore seeing this playful side of them and this reminder that Rick and Michonne are husband and wife and also best friends who could always make each other laugh. 

Even more, I love how Rick fully believes Michonne can do any and everything…but he also knows she shouldn’t have to, especially not all the time. Which is why I appreciate his consistent thing of wanting to give them a chance to have a break and time to themselves.

It's sweet too how, without even fully seeing his face, you can still see from Rick's profile that he has this genuine proud smile upon seeing he made his wife laugh. Her joy is truly one of his favorite things. 🥹

Rick smiling at her here reminds me of how happy he was to have made Michonne smile when he came home with mints to give her in their canon ep seasons ago. #TheirLoveNeverFades

I adore that from season 3 saying "Good, cuz I see things" to this moment in season 9, Richonne stayed flirty with each other, both when strangers and when married. 🥰

And then Michonne teases as she asks Rick, "You want me to stop creating the foundations of a new civilization?"...The questions are just foreplay at this point because they both know what's about to happen rn lol. She and Rick both know that what he wants is in the first three words of her question. 😋

I love the way Michonne talks to him and looks at him and the way Rick can’t help but touch her and study her while she speaks, knowing this is the woman he is so ready to have another child with.

Somehow in this moment, Rick seems to be intently listening to her while also distracted by her all at the same dang time. 🤭

So Michonne is all cutely smiling at him while waiting for his answer... and then Rick gives an unforgettable answer.

(also the way even Rick and Michonne's movement is in sync in this scene is just 👩🏽‍🍳💋. they're magnets fr)

Rick looks right at Michonne and then says, “I can think of another way to build for the future” and it’s just ahhhhhh. The best. 😭 What a great way to reveal that Rick wants to have a baby with Michonne.

The scene organically transitions from like playful causal morning vibes to a huge serious declaration of love and development for their family and I'm too here for it. 😍

Rick wanting this baby is a huge deal, especially just a year and a half after losing Carl. And him being at this stage has everything to do with his belief in Michonne and him together and knowing he's with the love of his life who has in so many ways healed him with her one-of-a-kind presence.

He's seen the way he and Michonne work so well together in any role - parents, partners, lovers, leaders - and Rick has always known that the two of them can do anything, from reordering the world to raising a growing family.

So then Rick passionately kisses her after he says this - but like this is a giant statement and Michonne knows what he’s implying is a big deal, so she has this curious look at him. And then I absolutely adore this next moment of them transitioning to a more intimate position.

The way Rick is ready for her to do this little maneuver always felt like a nice little suggestion that they’ve done this often. And it’s just so sensual and romantic. 😍 But I also love this shift for showing how Michonne goes right out of work mode and wants to be so fully present and focused on him as she confirms that Rick is really saying what she thinks he’s saying. Their consistent ability to be present with each other deserves another shoutout cuz it's gold. 👏🏽👏🏽

Also, the way Rick just stays with his eyes glued to her as he holds her and the way Michonne tenderly holds his face in her hands. They knew they were gonna have little Richonner hearts everywhere doing front flips with this movement alone. And I ain't mad at it. 😋

Michonne looks right in Rick's eyes as she says a hopeful, "Yeah?" Then Rick says such a certain, "Yeah" that lets you know having a kid with Michonne isn’t some out-of-nowhere idea that just hit him but something he’s thought about and is sure about. Rick is always sure when it comes to him and her. 👌🏽

And you just know Rick loves their future baby already too, especially because the baby will be part of the woman he's madly in love with.

Michonne smiles and softly says, "okay" and then I love the way Rick eagerly pulls her in closer to him. 😊🧲

Then the last line of the scene is Michonne so sweetly repeating Rick's words back, as they so often do throughout their relationship, as she says, "For The Future." 🥹 

Perfect. x1000.

What a fitting final line and final scene to conclude Richonne's last private exchange like this. Especially for two reasons.

One; thinking about the long-term future used to not be a luxury they had at the start of the apocalypse so it shows how far they've come. Two; Rick and Michonne were two people who, even before they met each other, fought to believe in the future even when others around them (and at times their own past partners) didn't. But in finding each other, Rick and Michonne found the one who could fight to live like them, believe in the future like them, and hold onto hope like them - And now here they are in love and getting to feel so hopeful about their future together. 😭

It’s great that such a major decision like having another kid is one Rick and Michonne were both so quickly on the same page about. They both are ready for this. Both want their splendid love to take form in a new life being brought into the world. 🥹

And again it’s such a testament to their powerful relationship and the way they were able to help build each other back up after losing Carl to the point that they could be healed enough to want another kid. I'll never get over it.

Then I adore this shot of Rick looking up at Michonne with the two bathed in light. It feels so reflective of how highly Rick's always viewed her and how Michonne's been the light in his life. She's his future. And he's hers. 🥰

The scene concludes with Rick and Michonne sharing their last irl passionate kiss as things finally escalate, and they savor each other as they do best. And this whole scene and final moment is just so beautiful it makes my heart hurt. Richonne is stunning and their love is a work of art. 🙌🏾

'Epic love story' really is the best way to describe Richonne, and I love love love that Rick and Michonne always enjoy reveling in Richonne. We have that in common. 😋

I just so appreciate that before he left the show, it was made crystal clear that what Rick wanted for his future was to bring life into this world with Michonne, the ultimate and unequivocal love of his life. 👏🏽 And he’s going to learn that even apart, that dream was still achieved. The Get Things Done Grimes got it done. The baby Rick loved before he even was made, lives. Oh I CANNOT wait for Rick to learn about and meet RJ!!! 🥳😭

Knowing Rick and Michonne's individual journeys, it genuinely moves me that two people who went through so much and lost so much but continued to fight for the people they love got personally rewarded with this gorgeous and deep love that’s just for them. And they didn’t shy away from the love that was there, rather they valiantly and completely embraced it and it’s truly what they deserve. They both deserve to be loved this wholly.

I know this is my undeniable #1 scene because each time I watch it, it warms my whole soul and I get fully enwrapped in it - just mesmerized and overjoyed from start to finish. Watching this #1 scene, during every single part I'm just like...

And Rick and Michonne Grimes bathed in bright sunlight and sharing a passionate kiss while acknowledging they want their future and their love to now take shape in the form of a child is just such a fitting final private exchange between them on TWD and so very special. They're a shining light to each other, to the franchise, and to me, y'all. ☀️

When I say Richonne is everything it’s not just a phrase. They literally have everything going for them and are everything to each other. And every scene from my 30th to this #1 moment masterfully illustrates their resplendent love.

This season 9 scene feels like a love letter to Richonne and it's my all-time favorite for capturing everything I adore about Rick and Michonne’s relationship all in one. Tens across the board. 

I look at this whole scene and whenever I see it I just think - This is Richonne. For me, this scene is their definition. ♥️👌🏽

Richonne is truly love incarnate, and this beautiful top-tier moment captured that flawlessly. 👑🤍😌

[aliceisathome]

Man I love Wandee Goodday - this is a grown up bl that's managing to be funny, sexy and informative without becoming preachy. They are repping for everything from mental health and vaccines to communication, consent and fun sex. There's a femme guy who's managing a gym, an ace psychiatrist who's designing sex aids, sensitive boxers, and no evil female character. All this and a villain we all want to the boxer to punch. It's glorious.

Anyway our 'fake' boyfriends continue to be incredibly supportive of each other but NO! DOC! You got that pic of you and Ter out of the bin and saved it. Poor Yak - he looked so content poking around your shelves. Gah. Now he thinks you're still into Ter. Please tell me you're not still into Ter Dee - he's just a toxic habit you've given up surely?*

Kao channelling the viewers in this convo with Dee, and throwing truth bombs as usual. Once again proving he is the true MVP of this series - now give him someone to cuddle dammit.

I'm not sure how Yak resisted punching Ter just now but I loved Cher's little mother moment.

Holy arms Batman.

Aaand I'm back.

Every now and again I forget that there's nearly a decade's age difference between Dee and Yak - Dee might be smart but, as Kao knows, he's a little immature emotionally.

I'm more shocked by the fact that Dee wore his Teeny Tiger gear to Ter's place than that he left the candles burning. What are you doing Dee? Why did you stay? That smug bastard is complimenting your tiger costume - the tiger costume you should be keeping for Yak.

Honestly I don't blame Yak one little bit - he waits for ages then finds Dee in his sexy tiger getup with a half naked Ter. Do we think Ter deliberately sabotaged his bathroom tap? Yes, yes we do.

Loved Kao here.

Noooo - the inevitable break up. Sometimes I hate the narrative arc - I'd be happy just watching another 5 eps of Dee and Yak just being boyfriends and snuggly and domestic.

And now we have the crying. You silly men, both thinking it's the other who doesn't really care. The reach for the comfort of the necklace that's no longer there? Gutted. Literally gutted.

And now I feel sorry for Taem as well - I thought she liked Mr Student Council. Ter, not so much - even if I believed the manipulative fucker. And of course he passed out so we didn't get to see if Dee would have given him his first kiss while we did see Yak decide not to kiss Taem.

Cher, my sassy little queen, I love you so much. Please give your big boyfriend a smack for us. He is an idiot.

And this is not how I wanted the first kiss - I wanted it to be joyful. It was a good kiss - a great kiss - but neither of them were wearing their colour and they weren't lit by them either. That's what I want to see - them dressed in their yellow and purple, bathed in their light and declaring undying love. Give it to me now!

Wandee Goodday has been a happy counterbalance to the sheer stress and tension of My Stand In. Except this week. Ter and Tong are cut from the same cloth and they both deserve to have the snot slapped out of them.

But because Wandee Goodday has been so delightful so far, this episode has hit me hard - I need to go and watch something tooth achingly sweet and cuddle my cat.

*much like me and cigarettes - I gave up years ago but every now and again I still REALLY want one.

NB the interviews, bts etc are excellent - I don't usually watch these but Great and Inn are so good in them. They're both older than other GMMtv newbies and haven't grown up with the company so are just brilliantly relaxed and playful with each other. It looks like some of the dialogue and action is developed and/or improvised by these two as well - they're very naughty and Golf just lets them go for it.

[thatgirl4815]

One thing that strikes me about Ray/Sand vs Ray/Mew is that for the life of me I just can't picture the Ray who jumps on Sand and sticks his smelly pits in his face, the Ray who is cheeky and playful and a bit goofy, doing those things or acting that way with Mew. And I don't even mean within the context of any romantic relationship - I find it really hard to imagine their friendship having any such similar moments, where they're just two boys being a bit daft. With Sand Ray can be flirty, sensual, fierce, but he can also be silly, petulant, carefree (whilst sober). I just can't see him exhibiting that duality in his relationship with Mew. In their scenes previous to The Dance of Doom, he's usually been quite serious, heavy, earnest - weighed down, whether by Mew's expectations or his own feelings I don't know (likely both). He just seems so much lighter when he's with Sand (and they're apart from everyone else). I'm not saying it's Mew's fault - maybe it's a result of the pedestal he occupies in Ray's mind, but I just thought it was interesting. Ray often seems like an entirely different person when he's with Sand. And I think that's why those of us rooting for a (healthy) endgame are so invested, because in those interactions we see the person Ray COULD be, and it's pretty clear it's Sand that brings out that potential. Again, not saying he doesn't also require a shitload of soul-searching and professional help, but how could you NOT want him to reach that potential? And I'm almost certain the showrunners would agree. Now that doesn't necessarily mean the only way to get there is a Sand/Ray happy ending or that Sand owes it to Ray to put up with his bullshit in the meantime, but I think Sand wants that for Ray too and I don't think that makes him pathetic. I think Sand is pretty good at spotting when Ray's behaviour is that of someone in crisis vs being a brat/careless. It's probably why he requires an apology for Ray dropping him at the end of ep 3 but not for the insults at the end of ep 6 (well that and the whole near death experience!). No, Sand is under no obligation to keep loving/caring for Ray at his worst, but if he CHOOSES to do so because he's seen him at his best and because he knows the pain that lies beneath it all, well then actually that's something quite remarkable. Not romantic, mind you - remarkable. I'm not romanticising anything. But to me that shows a strength of character and a depth of compassion that's worthy of respect.

Great observations! I also can't really see a teasing, light-hearted RayMew relationship (at least, not when they're both sober), mostly because we haven't seen that dynamic much at all between them as friends. The thing that makes friends-to-lovers plots so successful is the chemistry between friends conjoined with romantic chemistry. And I don't get much of either of those between them (possibly because the vast majority of scenes between Ray and Mew only are about Ray's alcohol/drug problems).

A lot of this goes back to what you said about Ray putting Mew on a pedestal. It's always felt like Mew is in a superior position while Ray is only pining after him. With Ray and Sand, we see Sand acknowledge the dangers of Ray's behavior, but it never comes across as domineering or self-righteous (reminds me of @bird-inacage's analysis here about how Sand and Mew react differently to Ray's addictions).

I definitely think Ray is a better version of himself with Sand. He's noticeably less drunk around him, he opens up about his past, he apologizes and speaks relatively openly about his feelings, he makes an effort to invest in Sand's interests...the list goes on. Those are all signs of a healthy relationship built on mutual interests. For Ray and Mew, I think it's fair to say there are other motivations beyond romantic feelings.

I also admire Sand's depth of compassion. As you said, he is under no obligation to keep coming back to Ray and caring for him the way he does, but the fact that he is doing that despite knowing that he deserves better says a lot about his values. When he cares for someone, he cares for them deeply, despite the pain they might inflict upon him. For someone like Sand who seems so headstrong in other areas of his life, there's something endearing about how soft he is for Ray.

[shinakazami1]

Shina I'm gonna need a Susan review from you once you've finished the whole game or I might actually die 😔 KEEP THE POSTS GOING I love reading them!!

I HAD ALREADY FINISHED THE GAME SO I CAN GIVE SUSAN SEPARATE REVIEW HERE but I'll post the remaining stuff this week! I played one of Bad endings, so I assume I didn't see everything.

Susan Coldwell review, coming right up (spoilers to New Tales) :

She seems like a BADASS corporate woman. She KNOWS her stuff. It's no wonder Tediore soldiers are my fav part of the game, they're playful because Susan doesn't care for them, at all! Like the BADASS SUPERFAN losing his job and not being able to even get a rent while they get free gym membership (Stapleface mentioned it but, I assume what that means is just 'physical work'), makes it really show how she just, doesn't care.

It's interesting though how much she tries to show her superiority. Example - talk with Fran in Ep 1. I feel it is to prove to herself, she has to be superior. That thing seems to be most consistent about her - she ought to be better than everyone else. To prove herself compenent. As if she was recompensating something to herself, and to no-one else around. Her silencing the other company members in Ep 4 also shows it. She really needs her image straight, to see herself above everyone else. A big bully I would for sure get stressed around.

I LOVED the angel echo thing tho. I knew it would be her but I wondered if she was the one who said stuff in the dialect or sth but she did seem cool.

I gotta say though - based on playing the main games, her big idea felt like the closest we've got to New U stations. I really wonder if we will get any mention of it in BL4.

But dear God, the sequence in Ep 5,,,it sucked imo JSJEHEHE LIKE It was surprising at the end of it all, she decided to fight. But her being surprised about the Echo,,,, it did make her a bit funny, more human, just like the Taco friend code. She has parts of herself that show she isn't her own perfect image. LIKE WHY DID SHE PUT HER HANDS BEHIND HERSELF AT THE TACO BIT SHE IS SO SURPRISED AND flustered sjwhehhehw

And her fight in her shards form with Fran is so silly like, she can kill her, others, and she just sort of moves around 😭😭 like shoot Anu, and her being so distracted with all the holograms, true grandma moment. I so admire her hurting herself to prove a point though if she withstood such a heavy beating on her face, I wonder why she didn't consider just getting her soldiers there. My assumption - pride.

In general - She knows what she wants from life and is willing to destroy anyone in her way. Confident, power driven, ruthless. But she still got eaten by her pride in the end. She seems unredeamable but with the way she present herself, it's obvious she's trying to prove something. Too bad we don't hear what since she died JSJEHEHSWJ Susan Coldwell? More like Susan Coldgone

Hope you enjoyed this review and would love to hear your thoughts, esp since when I played the game, I thought of your art of her ><

[tipsyjaehyun]

which are your yaijom's favorite scenes that made you scream into the pillow??

Hello anon! If I could I would link the entire 12 episodes and the pilot because every single one of their interactions made me lose my mind. But no, I'm gonna include some of the scenes here, the ones that made me scream into pillow out of giddiness (this could turn into a lengthy answer so, sorry for that. Also, I'm trying to do this in chronological order but I might miss a few scenes).

The first meet - The camera work, the ost playing in the background, the way we are introduced to the character of Khun Yai, the expression of vague recognition in their faces because of their dreams. AAAAH, PERFECTION!

Khun Yai making Jom read smut - That was such a hilarious scene. The background score getting faster and faster as Jom continues reading the text, Khun Yai's bewildered face, Jom starting to curse the two-timing male lead of the novel... CHEF'S KISS!

DRUNK KHUN YAI - Could there be anything cuter than a drunk Khun Yai just reciting love poems to his crush? Their soft conversations, with Khun Yai's head on Jom's lap, Khun Yai asking Jom to forget his old lover and then confessing his own feelings with the most romantic poem of all time. Then him telling Jom that he only needs one lover (read Jom), a throwback to Jom telling Khun Yai that he hates libertines during the smut reading scene.

The lanthom scene in ep 5 - Khun Yai trying to persuade his father to lessen Mae Prik and Jom's punishment, him apologizing to Jom by giving him a lanthom flower, his promise to make things better in the future... BEAUTIFUL!

THEIR FIRST KISS - One of my favourite episodes. We start off with the Christmas party, the conversation between James and Jom, a jealous Khun Yai being spotted in the wild, Jom making Khun Yai's favourite dessert, Khun Yai's confession, THEIR FIRST KISS (!!!), the OST in the background... I could go on and on.

The dance scene - I agree that it is a bittersweet scene, a glimpse of what could have been if they could be open with their love, with everyone's support, their friends and family just looking at them with happiness but it was so well executed. ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENES IN THE SHOW.

Olive oil scene - Can I just say that this was the most brilliant portrayal of sensuality, sexual longing, tension, desire on screen? It was not explicit, per say, but still managed to show the feeling of want and lust perfectly. The background score, the back and forth between Khun Yai's bedroom and Jom's and then between Khun Yai's expressions to Jom's... SPECTACULAR!

EPISODE 9 & 10 - These made me scream into my pillow out of frustration. The whole fiasco around engagement, the breakup scene, then Jom just fucking shit up by exposing Uncle Dech and Robert, the aftermath... MINDBLOWING!

Jom drawing the portrait of Khun Yai - In the middle of the anticipation of the doom, these love birds getting a few moments to showcase their love for each other was like a balm to my aching soul. It was yet again bittersweet to watch these two being playful while knowing what was round the corner.

YAI KANTHORN - Listen, I had no hopes at all to see Kanthorn. I had made peace with the thought that they're gonna end the show on a bittersweet note but I literally threw my cushion when Kanthorn came. He had always been my babygirl and I'm glad they gave him to me, no matter how confusing and short his scene was.

This turned way lengthier than I expected. I'm not including Commander Yai scenes here with the hope that if season 2 comes, I'll get to make another one of these posts but with Commander Yai and Jom. Anon, please share your favourite scenes with me!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up, Ep 4 Recap: Don’t Forget v I Don’t Love You

Welcome back to the project everyone deals with waiting two weeks for -- my MNET Build Up Recaps! In the previous one, a bunch of my favorites -- Kim Minseo, Bain, Lee Gwangsuk, and Kim Sungjung -- went head to head. Ah, that was a good one! In this one, we’ll see the other member of Just B, Geonu, and Chicago’s pride Soomin take on former BDC member Hong Seong Jun and musical actor Kim Seohyung. It’s also a good one! Let’s dive in. 

So we start off pretty much as usual, with the guys taking the stage, accompanied by some musical soundtrack. This time the editors have chosen a driving beat with rock and dub step elements so it's really powerful sounding, which makes it a little comical when we see the guys and how they're dressed. 

Soomin is wearing a pretty fabulous s w e a t e r but Geonu has decided to raid the wardrobe of an old grampa for some reason. You know I love a good sweater but... this ain't it, fam. It's about three sizes too big and looks like it would smell like cigarettes for some reason. And paired with loose white slacks? Nope, I'm out. 

The other team is dressed in button down shirts, which is fine, I guess. Hong Seongjun has one of those thin bow ties that hangs down limply, and Kim Seohyung's shirt is tightly pleated in the front, as if it's made of crepe paper. They look perfectly nice but it seems absurd that they'd be accompanied by dub-rock! It should be more like... James Taylor. Or Sarah McLachlan. 

VCG looks at the teams and says, "Ohh, Chicago!" Because, of course, Soomin is from Chicago. (I wonder what his American name is? Because I feel like he probably doesn’t go by Soomin back in the US.) We're reminded of his lovely performance in Ditto in the first round. 

Soomin and Geonu have joined their names into "Soo-u" and do a little thing and it's, like, whatever, because they forget to use their mics. They're besties with a personal joke that’s funny to them, even if it’s not that funny to us.  

Dahee asks the other team to introduce themselves, and Seohyung says hello. His natural speaking voice is very low and pleasant and the judges react like, wow! Then he and Seongjung give a weird intro that also doesn't go so well so let's just move on. 

The teams do a bit of smack talk and it actually doesn't really feel that good natured. Eeep. 

We flashback back to the rival choosing moment, when Geonu and Soomin were chosen to go the RCPA (Rival Choosing Platform Area). Several teams begin whispering about possibly taking them on, but then Soomin, in his continuing effort to make Americans look bad, addresses the other teams rudely, not using proper honorifics even though they're all older than them. This is extremely insulting to a Korean person in ways that I know I don't fully understand, so if I get it wrong and you are Korean or have specialized knowledge, I welcome your input.

Despite my incomplete knowledge, I do know enough to know that (a) Soomin is probably being playful and doesn't truly mean to offend and also (b) it is likely that many other contestants, and many Korean viewers will be offended anyway. I really do worry about the way Soomin is presenting himself on this show. Korean culture is so specific about what you should and shouldn't do and if you piss off the voting base, it can be really hard to win them back. It’s not impossible, but… it can be tough. As an American myself I can sympathize -- we often are perceived of as rude by people from other cultures when we do things that would be acceptable, even celebrated, in our own culture. I really like Soomin's voice and I think he could have a career singing, as long as he doesn't alienate the Korean public!!

So yeah, Soomin tries to provoke one of the younger teams to challenge his team -- he comes across as really disdainful of some of the older contestants, which rubs me the wrong way, to be honest. Team Seohyung x Seongjun (I’ll call them Team S&S) seem to be the ones they're calling to, so the rivalry is formed. 

"Since you invited us here, we'll see you off," says Seohyung, in a vague attempt at smack talk. Then Soomin does a dumb thing where he acts like his hand is a phone, with a call from the taxi driver who is here for the other team, and it's super hacky and cringey but Soomin and Geonu are so proud of it. Sigh. But Seohyung takes it all in stride. He seems like a cheerful, lovable dude, doesn't he?  Some time later, Team S&S is meeting to choose a song and stuff, and Seohyung is wearing a black mock turtleneck with a gray hoodie over it and black coat over that. What is with Korean heating systems? Seongjun is wearing a fleece sweatshirt, so no proper sweaters here.

Anyway, they're talking strategy. Seongjun was on the same team as Geonu for the first round, singing If You, and he thinks it's obvious that Geonu will want to perform a western R&B pop song. Seohyung points out that since Soomin is from the USA, Soomin also probably will want to sing a Western song. 

Mentioning this really sets off Seongjun, who says, "He only speaks in English. I get sick when I'm next to him." 

Ok, I know that could be a Korean figure of speech and maybe it's not as harsh as it sounds, but woah, dude. Yes, of course, it would be annoying to be around these ostentatious English speakers. I can only imagine how it might feel as a Korean person who is being bombarded daily with more and more English all the time; it would be irritating to have your own language being supplanted by another language, especially if it feels like maybe your own culture is being displaced as well. Also, it would just be annoying to have someone around refusing to speak the language you both speak, regardless of like, geopolitical issues.

But even so, I'm not sure it’s a cute look for Seongjun to say that it makes him feel sick to be around it. When you factor in the obvious animosity that he displayed in earlier episodes on the topic of successful idols like Yeo One or Seokhwa or Woong being on this show, you get a picture of someone who seems bitter and irritable. That's not necessarily who he IS, but it's how he's looking. 

The two guys go on to talk about how Geonu also speaks in English a lot and we get a little montage of Geonu and Soomin speaking English together. (And later on we find out that Geonu introduced himself in English on the first day, which is weird. More on that later....)

In any case, since Geonu and Soomin are probably going to sing R&B, Team S&S decide to go for a more sentimental song. 

Then Seohyung gives a funny little smile and reveals his musical taste, which is all sappy songs that came out in the 1970s. You can tell that Seongjung isn't quite sure what to make of this weird partner. 

We flash back to the duo-formation moment and find out that despite Seongjung assumptions, he is actually two years older than his old fashioned -- and tall -- partner. 

Seongjung tells Seohyung, "You look like an upright man," and Seohyung says he gets that a lot. He doesn't mind, either, because people also tell him he's handsome apparently. We flash back to a pre production meeting, and a staff member points out that he's very tall. He says he drank a lot of milk. He also says he enjoys watching "car documentaries." What? Are there enough documentaries about cars for this to constitute a genre? I guess so!

He also doesn't know his MBTI, which for a young Korean person is very unusual. He does seem to be a very specific person, doesn't he? Calm, polite, cheerful, sweet. I like him. I feel like he's someone Lisa Simpson would have a crush on, you know? Like he's quiet and enjoys puzzles?

Anyway, back to song selection. Seohyung suggests "I Don't Love You" by a group called Urban Zakapa. Per Wikipedia: 

"Urban Zakapa is a South Korean R&B singer-songwriter group formed in 2009 by Fluxus Music. ....The group's name is an abbreviation for Urban, Zappy, Kaleidoscopic, and Passionate.... Although the group debuted in 2009 as a nine-piece with four vocalists and five instrumentalists, there are currently only three vocalists due to artistic differences."  

Ooh, sounds like some hot gossip there! 

Anyway, the song went to number 1 in 2016, so even though it's not super recent, it would probably be familiar to the judging panel. Like at least 101% of Korean ballads, it's about a breakup. I wonder how Koreans even have time to fall in love in the first place when they're breaking up so often!

Sample lyrics:

What should I say? / Where do I start? / I’m only hanging my head / You’re looking at me  / In this awkward silence

I don’t love you / I’m sure you already know / Even when I see you shedding tears / My heart doesn’t ache anymore

I don’t love you / There’s no other reason / I don’t even want to say / I’m sorry or forgive me

That’s all / This is how I really feel / I don’t love you / I don’t love you

The original song featured both male and female voices, which helps break up the repetitive monotony a bit. But it really is just saying over and over “I don’t love you” -- without a hint of irony or sarcasm that maybe the singer really *does* love the listener, that they’re just saying it because they’re hurt. You know, like the song Abittipsy by Youhua, where she tries to sound cheery and like she’s fine, but then she admits that she *might* cry later. Nope, this song seems to be straightforward, just “I don’t love you,” periodt.  

Seongjung likes the idea of this song because it would allow them to show off their low pitches, their high pitches, and their "sentiments."

They rehearse in a variety of locations, holding water bottles to be their microphones (cracks me up how they do that). 

s w e a t e r s

They're confident; practice never lets you down. Hmm… I hear the ghost of my middle school band teacher murmuring, "Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect." 

Did they practice perfectly? I guess we'll find out!

It’s performance day! As they prepare to sing, kindly hyung Seongjung reaches out to Seohyung for a fist bump and says, Let's have fun.

"Oh, a fist bump! I read an article about this youthful behavior in the printed newspaper I read in the mornings while I drink healthy tea and eat fiber cereal. I return your fist bump in a friendly manner!" -- Seohyung, probably

The judges are like, this song is hard. Uh oh...

Full version without reactions

My thoughts:

That was nice. It's not really my jam, but the singing was pretty and their harmonies sounded great.

Seohyung has that musical theater voice, with a lot of emotion in his tone. Toward the beginning and again at the end, he almost verges on sing-talking, which again is very musical theater of him. I don't know if ballad-fans like that kind of thing or not. 

Though he has a lovely upper mix, he appears to be a bass, which is kind of cool to find in a field that preferences tenors. A deep voice can add a special color to a group. I mean, what would Stray Kids be without Felix? What would ONF be without Wyatt? Or even Dreamcatcher without Dami, or G-Idle without Yuqi? Those special voices help make their teams a little special. 

Overall I actually like Seohyung's voice more than I would have thought. It's hard to deny his range and the variety of vocal tones he can do. I think the biggest problem in his performance is the way he holds his body and his facial expressions. 

If you have an hour or two to spare, you should watch Jenny Nicholson's amazing take down of Dear Evan Hanson. One thing she points out is that the way you act on stage is different from the way you act for the camera. On stage, it makes sense to bug out your eyes and jut out your chin, because someone at the back of the theater needs to see you. But for the camera, it's just too much. And that’s kind of what we see with Seohyung here. He’s Acting, rather than just living through the song, and it’s a bit too much. 

Also, he hunches his shoulders a lot, which might be a habit of his because he's shy and tall, but it doesn't come off well on stage. 

Seongjung isn't quite as powerful of a singer, but he's still really good. He appears to be a tenor, so the lowest notes are maybe a little harder for him, but he ends up hitting them ok. He has a slight nasality to his tone, and his upper range is a bit thin sounding sometimes, but I still think he sounds pretty. Also, his full on belts are excellent. He used to be in an idol group (BDC) and he knows how to look into the camera and sell it, but he doesn't vary up his expressions much.

Overall, the whole thing is oddly lacking even though there's nothing at all wrong with it. Doesn't seem fair, but here we are.

I really think the song choice is partly to blame. For one thing, singing about not loving someone is kind of… I don’t know. If you were a judge listening to people sing about not loving someone, would you get immersed in the emotions of it the way you would if you were listening to people talking about being in love? But the other problem is Seohyung’s over-acting. He’s really throwing himself into it, and contrasting with Seongjung’s more natural performance, it feels kind of off. The vocals aren’t the problem at all, though. 

My favorite part of the performance was the harmony right after the key change. Good stuff.

“I mean, there’s emotions, and then there’s this!” -- Jenny Nicholson

The MNET edit is a bit confusing. Right at the beginning, Eunkwang says of Seohyung’s singing, “ah, he removed a lot of the musical tone.” I think he’s referring to Seohyung’s semi-sing-talking. 

But VCG likes it.

We get a lot of reactions from other contestants backstage saying that it's really good, and we get the judges smiling and nodding, but we also get the judges making weird faces. 

I don’t think they’re enjoying it, but seriously you never know. 

There don't seem to be any instant replays. 

Right at the end, Seohyung sings unaccompanied and everyone seems really touched. Then there's a moment of silence, and then soft applause. The singers hug each other, and Seohyung almost rests his head on his older teammate's shoulder. Seongjung has a lot more stage experience and probably helped Seohyung a lot when they were preparing.

The judges applaud kind of quietly. Backstage, the guys say they think it was really good. 

I paused it here and asked myself, how do the judges feel? And I had no idea. I'm not sure even they know. They had to watch 20 performances over what had to be at least a five hour period, maybe much longer, so maybe at some point they low-key stopped caring. They are still taking it seriously though and are checking their previous scores to make sure they're giving as fair a grade as possible.

Backstage, Choi Suhwan (who sang Sherlock at the beginning of the round) says “They didn’t form harmony. They didn’t sound like a team.” I don’t know if I agree with that -- I thought their voices sounded nice together. 

Sunyoul, who is sitting right by Suhwan and probably heard him, wonders out loud if maybe they picked the song because “they couldn’t form harmony.” I think maybe Sunyoul is referring to the fact that Seohyung is a bass and Seongjung is a tenor. I still think that’s fine for a duet, but what do I know?

The scores are revealed. Their high score is 92, from Solar, and their low score is 80, from, of course, Jaehwan. The scores aren't super low or anything, so they're a bit relieved, but they had probably been hoping for a few 100s. I mean, who doesn’t hope?

Solar says, “You both have nice voices. You can both sing. It was flawless.” VCG agrees. “But… I couldn’t stop thinking that it was ordinary.”

There’s this amazing split screen of Seohyung singing so hard his face is about to fall off, while Solar is just sort of… looking. 

She goes on, “I was just thinking to myself, ‘Oh, this is the song they’re singing.’ You should pick a song that shows your charms more next time. But this was flawless. I liked it.” So their 92 score came with a mixed review. 

Jaehwan says “Let me tell you this first: This is a very high score for me.” The guys kind of laugh -- a bit of the pressure is relieved. He goes on to talk about how since Seohyung is a musical actor, he sang like he was reading lines. “You made it sound ordinary,” Jaehwan says. “Thank you for telling me,” Seohyung says, with a nice smile. 

Backstage, Sunyoul is still chatting with Jeup and Suhwan, even though the latter team beat him in the rivalry. 

Donghun looks like he might burst into tears any second. Will someone hug that man, stat? Thanks!

Sunyoul theorizes that it must be hard to change from a musical theater style of performance to a pop style. That’s interesting, because I don’t think any of the musical actors have been particularly successful on the show so far. I’ll have to run the numbers on that later. 

Thinking of sad Donghun reminds me to say, please check out A.C.E.’s new song, My Girl. It’s got a smooth, city-pop/retro vibe, kind of like Cupid by Fifty Fifty or Maniac by Viviz. I like it! Though I do think it was weird to show them singing to really young girls at the end when the A.C.E. is increasingly looking like a group of guys in their late 20s/early 30s. 

Anyway, back to the judging. VCG tells Seohyung, “You have a very nice voice. You build that voice to become a musical actor. So what you need to change is the way you sing. You don’t need to change your voice.” It’s hard to tell from the translation, but I think what VCG means is the way that Seohyung was doing that kind of sing-talk stuff, and the over-emoting that I noticed. “It’s very nice to have a bass like him on the team,” he says, tapping into my brain again, and all the judges agree. “It’s reassuring,” says Baekho. “Yes, the bass completes it,” says VCG. “You must protect your voice!” 

Seohyung seems to appreciate the helpful feedback.  

Meanwhile, poor Seongjung doesn’t get a ton of feedback that we see. I bet they did say stuff to him, though -- it’s just that the show doesn’t care, I guess. 

Anyway, it’s time for the other team, Geonu and Soomin, who are committed to being “happy charms” on stage. The other guys waiting backstage seem to be looking forward to Soomin’s performance. 

We find out that both of them chose each other as the person they most wanted to work with on the show. That should be really cute to me, and you know I love friendship on these shows, but…

Ok, I’m going to be honest with you guys: I find these guys a bit irritating. I know that’s not cool, but I figure it’s better to just be honest about my reaction to them. I’m aware that (1) I don’t know them in real life (2) this is all editing (3) they’re not doing anything really that bad. Despite all that, I find them irritating. So, I’m going to do my best to be honest about what I see, and I apologize in advance if either of these two is your favorite. It's not fair of me to just find them annoying for almost no reason, but it's hard to control an emotional response. Ok! Let's get back to it.

So, we jump back to the duet-choosing moment. 

We can see that 20 guys are standing on the top tier, meaning that all ten top tier guys chose a mid or lower tier member to work with. Now it’s time for the mid tiers to choose a duet partner. 

The other guys sort of shuffle around a little, but Soomin goes right up to Geonu. “What kind of music does Hyung like to do?” he asks, and Geonu’s face lights up, first with surprise, then with happiness. 

Bain also approaches, and kind of stands there awkwardly, which makes me feel kind of sad. Here’s the thing: Bain probably went over to Geonu at least in part because Bain didn’t want Geonu to not get picked. Geonu was Low Tier, and Bain was Mid tier, so he may have thought “I’ll rescue my teammate.” (They’re both on Just B together.) Bain and Geonu are the same age, which often gives people a feeling of connection in Korean culture (from what I can gleen). 

Bain says he’s looking for someone to do a pop song with, and what’s weird is that not only does Geonu not even seem to want to make eye contact with Bain, or say something like “Oh, thanks for the offer, but I think it’s better for us to show our individual colors,” he just ignores poor Bain, who stands there all tall and orange and awkward until he wanders away, and it makes me sad. Maybe this is where my irritation began, with Geonu sort of letting Bain hang in the wind like that. And for all I know Geonu did in fact talk to Bain and it was edited out. IDK. 

Meanwhile, Soomin suggests that they sing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” which was the song he did in the Voice Check. Seems odd to suggest it. 

We get a flashback to Geonu introducing himself in English:

“What’s good guys, I’m Geonu, and I’m here to sing my soul out. Vamos!” He doesn’t mention that he’s from Just B in his intro, either, which is also… interesting. Per his online info, his mother is an English teacher, which is how he learned to speak English well. Not sure where he got the Spanish, but hey, a lot of Spanish speakers listen to Kpop so it’s not crazy. 

So I guess the thing is, I can understand how he knows English so well but I do wonder why he would speak it to a group of Korean speakers. Everyone there knows Korean, including Jay, Soomin, and Wumuti, so why not choose Korean as the common language? It just seems like a weird flex, but ok. Imagine if Wumuti had just decided to speak Chinese…? 

Geonu seems to like everything about Soomin, including his hat and the way he sat on the stool, and Soomin seems to like everything about Geonu, so it’s a match made in heaven. They’re very like… I don’t know, like the way two best friends act in 7th grade. This seems to be objectively cute. I don’t know why it bugs me! Am I on crack? 

Some time later, Geonu’s hair is longer and less pink, and he and Soomin are meeting in what looks to be the same conference room as the one Bain used in another segment, complete with the map on the wall. So I guess it’s safe to assume that they’re at Bluedot Entertainment 

Geonu lists some of his favorite musical artists, including M*ch**l J*cks*n and Chr*s Br*wn, and, thankfully, at least one unproblematic fave, Taeyang. He likes R&B, and Soomin likes pop, so they decide that Pop-R&B, like a song by Crush, would be ideal. They seem to quickly decide on “Don’t Forget” by Crush featuring Taeyeon (a tiny bit). (I say “seem to” because I suspect they discussed this first via texting or something and then recreated the song choice for the cameras later.) 

The song itself is perfectly pleasant, the kind of song you’d put on to listen to in the background while you’re doing something else, but it’s hard to imagine someone being like, “oh yeah, this is my favorite song in the whole world.” The lyrics talk about the singer’s hope for his relationship for the future, that even if they break up, that they’d never forget each other. 

If you and me become estranged someday / If we could never see each other / Don’t forget, Don’t lose / Even if you are holding someone else’s hand / If you are somewhere I cannot go to /  Don’t forget, Don’t lose 

The lyrics keep repeating 잊어버리지마 잃어버리지마, ijeobeorijima ilheobeorijima, which means “Don’t forget, don’t lose”. (See, that’s the -jima ending for a negative command again! We’ll all become fluent in Korean eventually!) 

Once they’ve chosen the song, they take a break and make up an elaborate handshake. Soomin says he doesn’t have a hyung, and Geonu feels like his real hyung. That’s sweet! I know intellectually that that’s sweet! 

Then Soomin has to leave to go back to Chicago for a bit, and then after he comes back they’ll have ten more days to practice. So this gives us a hint of the timeline. Based on both their hair, I’d say at least two weeks has gone by since the Pre-4 mission taping day when they’re meeting in the office. Then Soomin is going to go back to Chicago for some period of time and then when he gets back they have another ten days. This suggests that maybe a much as month went by between the Pre-4 Mission and the 2 vs 2 Rival Mission. 

They chat via video call, and even do their handshake virtually. They’re both excited about the arrangement of the song that was made for them, and practice a little bit. Soomin says he can tell how much Geonu has been practicing. They’re speaking Korean together, which is again kind of interesting given that when they’re around other people, they choose English. Maybe they were just deliberately speaking English to speak more privately around the other people…?

When Soomin gets back, Geonu says he smells like Chicago, which is not the compliment he may think it is, and they get to do their handshake thing. They seem really happy as they rehearse together and just sort of hang out saying SOOUUUU! 

And that brings us the performance!

Full performance without reactions

My thoughts:

I should note, first off, that normally, when I hear a song over and over I start liking it more, almost against my will, but the more I hear this song the more boring it is to me. And maybe if I liked the song more I’d be more forgiving of the performance overall. Again, I’m just being honest. 

This was an ok performance, but I’ve heard both of these guys sing better than they sang this time.

Soomin was on his s w e a t e r game, for sure, and he really has a lovely voice. But here he sounds a lot breathier than he had been before, and maybe even a tiny bit hoarse. It didn’t sound bad, don’t get me wrong. I think it sounded lovely. Just maybe he wasn’t in the best condition when they taped? I still am interested in what he’s going to perform next. 

Geonu really didn’t float my boat with his performance. I’ve heard him sing much better than this, so I’m not sure what happened. His first few notes sounded nice, but as it went on, to me, he sounded nasal, slightly shrill, a bit pitchy, and almost like his throat was clenching down as he was trying to sing. It just didn’t sound right. I think his worst moment vocally is at about 0:47 in to the Youtube version of the performance. It’s almost like he has something caught in his throat. 

Also, um, the dancing. Not sure about that.

I remember liking Geonu on I-land, and I’ve heard him sing better than this, so I guess maybe he was nervous about performing well with his new American dongsae/friend, and/or just nervous in general about staying on the show. I think Geonu might benefit from some targeted vocal lessons because he does strange things with his throat and upper palette. His natural vocal color is so nice that if he just had some more training on how note to sabotage himself vocally, he’d be wonderful to listen to. 

Their harmonies sounded nice -- those were some precise harmonies, and they must have practiced a long time to get them right -- but I also am not sure I loved the contrast between their voices when they took turns singing. Geonu’s voice has a sharpness to it and Soomin’s is so smooth that it makes Geonu’s voice sound worse in contrast.

Which of the two duets should win -- this one, or Team S&S from earlier? In the end, I didn’t love either of them, so it’s hard to say. Of the four voices, I continue to like Soomin’s the best, but if I had to listen to one of the two performances over, I think I’d rather listen to the boring ballad performance instead of the boring R&B song performance, and I think the problem is Geonu. That’s such a bummer because I’ve been converted into a big Bain fan and I want to cheer for Just B. Hopefully, Geonu will win back my good opinion in the future! I’m certainly not committed to hating him or anything like that. 

In the MNET edit, everyone seems to really love Soomin’s voice and no one thinks he sounds hoarse or strange, so maybe it’s just me. Soomin gets some instant replays, and they both get happy judge reactions.

Eunkwang may or may not be enjoying the song.

The last line of the song is “Don’t forget this song,” which is why everyone reacts by saying “I can’t forget it!” 

Everyone seems to particularly love Soomin’s voice, but the overall vibe is positive. Backstage, poor Seongjung mutters, “I don’t want to go home.” 

The judges key in their votes, and we find out their highest and lowest votes: 95 (Solar) and 86 (Baekho). 

They’re so happy and surprised that I want to be happy for them, but it’s tough. I can’t help but be a little annoyed at this. I don’t think it’s really right that this team should win over the first team. There was nothing at all wrong with the way the first team sang, while Geonu’s performance was, in my informed opinion, pretty flawed. I know he’s capable of better, but he didn’t sing super well on the day they recorded this performance. I know Soomin sounded nice despite his hoarseness, but it just feels like favoritism. 

The guys back stage don’t look thrilled, either. Bain doesn’t seem happy for his teammate particularly. Kim Seongjeong, the leaping lizard, and his teammate Gwangseok, look irritated or at least incredulous. Jeong Inseong from KNK, front row with the maroon hair, has a thousand-yard stare that doesn’t seem happy. Jung Intae, front row right in the white shirt, looks a little disgusted. Maybe you interpret their expressions differently than I do, but they don’t look happy, and the guys generally seem pretty happy to cheer for one another when someone does well. I just get the impression that they think the performance wasn’t really that great.

Solar, who gave the 95, begins by praising Soomin’s voice and “vibe.” She tells Geonu that when he’s by himself he seems ordinary, but when he’s on a team, his presences is special. I don’t know how I’d feel about being given feedback like that.  

Seungkwan from Seventeen agrees with pretty much everything Solar says. He says that Soomin is so good, it’s a little annoying, and adds, “This calm and languid charm comes across as sexy when he sings.”

Hey, child who told me to KMS because I referred to Gunwook from Boys Planet as “sexy”, are you going to write hate letters to Seungkwan? Because Soomin is the same age now as Gunwook was then. Yep, I’m petty. I do not like being told to KMS. I will hold a grudge against anyone who tells me to KMS. 

Ok, sorry, deep breath. 

Anyway, it’s impossible for me to think of Soomin as sexy, because I have met waaaayyyy too many guys like him at youth hostels across the world, but I guess maybe he would be to someone else. I leave it to you, dear reader, to decide for yourself. 

Seungkwan tells Geonu that he likes Geonu’s dancing-like gestures. But low-scorer Baekho disagrees -- disharmony on Team Pledis! -- saying, “The reason why I gave the lowest score is that I thought that Geonu’s gestures were a bit… too much.”

Eunkwang’s feedback is a little confusing, I think mostly due to translation issues.  I think what he was saying was basically that Geonu was a bit out control -- not just with the gestures, but the whole vocal performance as well. He didn’t have good breath control, so the pitch suffered. The edit highlights the exact portion that I picked out as Geonu’s worst moment as well. Hey Eunkwang, if you noticed that like I did, why did you give a score higher than 86? 

It’s time to find out who won the round, and the first team comes back out on stage. Everyone says the scores are close, but they’re not really that close. It seems obvious that Geonu and Soomin won, and they have, 636, to 601. 

If you do the math and remove the highest and lowest scores from each group’s total, and find the average of the remaining five scores, Team Geonu x Soomin had an average score of 91, while Team S&S had an average score of 86. As Wendy says, “Ah, my heart hurts.” 

Soomin and Geonu do a cool-guy handshake thing to celebrate.  

Dahee asks Team S&S to say something about the fact that they’re up for elimination. 

Seungjung says, “I’m the one who chose Seohyung, and since we’ve lost, I feel….”

“... I’m so sorry to Seohyung. I’m a little sad for myself as well.” 

The judges reassure him that he did a good job.

Seohyung, ever cheerful, says, 

“Whenever I perform on stage, my belief always is, ‘It won’t be perfect, but let’s have no regrets.’ Today, the stage was not perfect at all. But I put everything into it, so I have no regrets. I’ll remember all the good things you’ve said, and continue.” Awww! That's great. He's a charming dude, isn't he?

The judges tell him he’s well spoken, and then he and Seungjung walk off stage arm in arm, with Seungjung still apologizing.

“I’m sorry…”

Backstage, Seongjung starts to beat himself up again -- “I could have done better…” -- when he interrupts himself and says firmly, “No, we did a great job!” Nice! Love that. 

And that’s basically the end of the episode! We see a preview of the next round, featuring a distressing lack of sweaters but a lot of other fashion statements, and get the current voting standings. The top five is the same as last week, and the top 9 has been the same 9 people since voting started. The only major changes this week compared to last week is that Yoon Inhwan is up 8 spots and Taewoo is down 7 spots. But nobody has changed to a different zone of the list, if that makes sense. People who were part of a losing 2x2 rivalry team are marked with a *. People who haven’t performed yet in the 2x2 rivalry mission are in italics. 

Jay Chang* ⊖

Donghun* ⊖

Wumuti ⊖

Seunghun* ⊖

Seokhwa* ⊖

Hwanhee ▲1

Yeo One ⛛ 1

Park Jeup ▲1

Jeon Woong* ⛛ 1

Bitsaeon* ▲3

Taehwan  ⛛ 1

Geonu  ⛛ 2

Jeong Inseong ⛛ 1

Sunyoul* ⊖

Kang Hayoon ▲2

Neon* ⊖

Hong Seongjun* ▲2

Lee Gwangsuk*  ▲3

Bain ⛛ 1

Jung Soomin ⊖

Hyukjin ⛛ 2

Park Joo Hee ▲1

Yoon Inhwan ▲8

Kim Minseo  ⊖

Hong Sung Won ⛛ 3

Kim Seohyung*  ⛛ 1

Choi Su Hwan ▲2

Lim Sang Hyun ⊖

Lee Min Wook ⛛ 3

Hwang In Hyuk ⊖

Kim Sungjung* ⛛ 4

Ma Jaekyung  ▲1

Kwon Eui Bin ▲5

Jang In Tae ▲6

Jo Hwan Ji ⛛ 1

Choi Ha Ram  ⛛ 1

Lim Jun Hyeok ▲2

Jeong Yunseo ⛛ 2

Taewoo ⛛ 7

Ji Yeonwoo ⛛ 3

Ok, gang, that’s a wrap on episode 4! I finished it before Episode 6 came out, which means I’m actually catching up a little. I’ll see you in the next one, when we dive into Episode 5. The first performance will include Yeo One from Pentagon, if that sweetens the deal. See you then! 

[jemmo]

I need us as a society to talk more about ohm's amazing acting choices for pat and I love all the posts I read this week and in particular the complexity he added to him. THE LAYERS. but you know the layer I love the most? His softness. Because oh god do I love getting lost in that amazing part of pat. The way he acts, the way he speaks and his mannerism in those moments are chef's kiss. You always talk about how pat is pure like he was never touched by the horrible world around him and that's such a perfect description. But he is also soft as hell. And isn't afraid to show it too. I was just watching the bus stop scene and the guitar one in ep3 and you can see I'm going through it. I love everything ohm gave to pat. That man is brilliant.

*rolls up sleeves* oh dear precious anon you have given me the chance to rant and rant i will. strap in.

ohm is something else. seriously. i cannot even begin to go about expressing how much adoration i have for this man and what he gave to us through pat. its astounding. im gonna reference what ohm said in the ep 12 reaction on jennie's yt channel just bc its fresh in my mind and bc it perfectly captures the things i wanna praise ohm for. he spoke about how pat is very much like him, we've heard him say this a billion times, and its very obvious they are similar types of people in the way they behave; playful, silly, tactile, but also very frank and honest and serious when its called for, when important things are happening or being discussed, or when they're sharing their emotions. but ohm also said two things i wanna focus in on; how pat can act like this given the background he has, a background very different to ohm's, and how ohm can make people think the person on screen is pat, not ohm. and its funny, bc i think these things feed into each other and made him successful in both.

i feel like pat's background is something ohm dug into a lot and really studied and considered and built up to deliver his performance. he wanted that through line so he could deliver a fully realised pat, he needed to figure out why, despite his upbringing and family situation and his father and the feud and so on, pat could be so cheerful and goofy and care-free on the surface. im not exactly sure what that through line is, but whats important is that i see it. i see that pat is not a bunch of separate people or personalities. there isn't the pat with pran, the pat with his friends and the pat with his father; they're all pat. yes his behaviour shifts but all his personality traits mix and affect each other. nothing is is simple, nothing is by the book, nothing is just as it seems on the cover. everything has this air of something else underlying it, bubbling under the surface. im not even sure how to perfectly describe it, its just there (i hope you know i actually just sat and cried for 5 mins bc i was just thinking about pat too much and it broke me but we continue).

you can see that pat is not just a one dimensional set of descriptors pilled into a body. he is a person, a living breathing human. you can see what his core personality traits are and how they have been altered by his childhood and his current environment, by the people he's known and knows now, and how they manifest differently in certain situations and around certain characters. its like... when he's with pran, hes adorable and smiley but that pang of pain and loneliness and hatred for the world and press of expectations never fully goes away. and even when he's at his saddest or angriest, that innate kindness and care and goodness in his heart is still present. sometimes you look at him and just see a kid that wanted a friend, but instead was moulded into something he didnt want to be, and yet he still holds on to the warmth and want for happiness thats so integral to him. and i think its so incredible that we see him in so many ways, in so many different lights; happy, sad, angry, cheeky, horny, hurt, jealous, excited, in love etc, and they're all pat. none of them are shocking, none of the ways he acts when feeling these emotions feel un-pat-like. i rlly dont know how he does it, but its just like pat will do something, react a certain way in a new situation and i'll just be like 'yeah, ofc he'd act like that, he's pat, thats what pat would do'. nothing is out of character, everything makes sense!! its so well thought out and crafted, but you can tell all that work was done beforehand so it could be ingrained into the performance, which allowed ohm to act so naturally and impulsively, bc he was living that character. he wasnt thinking 'what would pat do?' bc he already knew. he is pat and this is what pat does. its just AMAZING.

and as for his softness, i rlly rllyyyyy RLLLYYYYY adore this aspect of pat. it would've been so easy, given the kind of role he's fulfilling, to make pat very trope-ey. he could've been a jock/boy's boy/hot-head that is only softened by love, who only reveals that side to his lover, bc its his lover that brings it out of him. very much a man's man that will only act cute with his boyfriend much to his own embarrassment and at the sacrifice of manliness. but pat is so so soooooo far from this. his cute and soft demeanour is just pat. yes he's like it the most around pran, but you see him be goofy and sweet and kind with pa and his mom, he's like it when he goes home in ep 12 much to the annoyance of his father. he's dumb and playful with his friends in similar ways he is with pran and it shows us that this is pat, not just pat with pran, it’s who he always is, it’s just he shines brightest with pran. and i love that this softness is so integral and central to a character who is also very manly. i spoke before about how I don’t pats ‘manly’ aspects are just present bc of his fathers expectations, I think that rlly is pat, and I love that he can be all those typically manly things while also being so cute and adorable, and also while being caring and thoughtful and emotional and open. toxic masculinity is all about men feeling like they can’t open up, can’t be vulnerable, can’t be soft, they must be strong and stable 24/7. pat shows us that that’s just not true.

you are not any more of a man bc you hold your feelings in. christ, pat’s whole thing is that he can’t sit with his emotions, he has to be open and honest, it’s like a compulsion. and he doesn’t see being vulnerable and honest as a weakness or a sacrifice, he sees as something he needs in order to live fully. he truly wears his heart on his sleeve, but in a way where he’s almost adamant that he will feel and think and live how he wants. all his emotions are right there and he will feel them and share them bc otherwise he feels like he’s living half a life, and as someone who probably had to hide so much as a child, I can so see where that desire and will comes from. and that kind of resilience matched with his cuteness is perfection. bc it’s like his softness is defiant, his adorableness is an unconscious statement that he will live every moment with pure joy. he will not hide, he will not restrict, he will not pretend. that does not make him the man he is. he will play stupid games and pull cute faces and say his cheesy one liners bc for him, being a man is about sharing the kindness and happiness in his heart with the world, creating a warmer and brighter place for the people around him, and I just find that so admirable.

we go on and on about pat being best boy, but it’s so overwhelmingly true, bc i sincerely believe he’s such a great role model for how to just live. live happy and and honest and whole. and i think if we all just lived a little bit more like pat the world would be such a kinder place, and that’s something i can’t thank ohm enough for.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Vice Versa ep 9

As I said in the tags for last week's post, at this point I don't really have much to interpret...it's more that I'm *shaking you vigorously* saying 'hey look at this isn't it cool!'. It's clear the show is using pairs of colours (red/blue, black/white, yellow/green) - with most likely red/pink for Puen and blue for Talay - as well as brown to reflect seriousness and orange for playfulness. Yellow and green seem to show up more often with the Friend Credits group rather than Tess' friends but often all these colours are used in varying amounts in different scenes.

However, in ep 9, I think only the below scene had all the colour-pairs plus brown...so I wonder if this means this is the start of the end of their friendship (as they know it). (btw, I think Up must have multiple pairs of the same socks rather than just five that he cycles through…surely!...since he wears the same ones so often. Rainbow socks my beloved).

What this ep did do is utilise shades of pink/red and blue/purple together with Puen and Talay's scenes...perhaps indicating the shift to them as a couple and their imminent return to their own universe. The first being right at the beginning in the amazing office location, with the black table wall/shelves, red chairs, pink/purple wall behind, and pink furniture. I loved how the camera started on Mek but then gradually panned round to Puen and Talay and the colour.

Then, when Puen is describing the scene between Pitch and Toey, the background is a deep red behind him in his dark blue top (and with the black wall). I can't wait to see this morning scene between them for real... (JUST LOOK AT JIMMY'S FACE!)

And I'm going to jump to the end for a moment because this ep is bookended with the pink and blue colours.

The other time it's used is in Pakorn's home, first just before the birthday celebration, when the painting is lit blue alongside the pastel peach of the wall further away, and then later when the painting is lit pink and the area above the sink is blue.

I had wondered if the abundance of pink/red might have been because the ep included Puen's birthday and Talay going to Pang to find out more about Puen...and of course there is red and pink in the scene for Puen's birthday as well as a lot of brown, and with Talay in a minty/sea green (I come back to this colour again later)…

And of course all those pink...sofas?...in the office for the conversation about Puen's life in their own universe. (Note the blue globe which wasn't in the office scene earlier in the ep - creating the red/blue pair with the seats).

Interestingly, after the above scene, pink and red were pretty much non-existent during Puen and Talay's estrangement - basically for the whole of part 3. First, we got the second vet scene, where I waited with bated breath to see what was on Fuse's t-shirt...and squealed when there was NOTHING. On one hand, it could be because it was a uniform - both he and Aou changed clothes after meeting Mix - but on the other hand it could also be because Fuse is 'changing' under Aou's influence...and therefore will drop the slogans from his shirts...as I mentioned in last week's post.

I'm going to jump forward here to mention that in the preview for ep 10, Fuse is also wearing a shirt without a slogan on...but then again, Aou also has no vest and Up is not wearing a hat... I'm wondering, therefore, if it means that they're all changing. Or that they've kind of homogenised since the two friend groups have obviously joined together. They all have similar colours and styles at a time when they're all together for potentially the first time, so maybe it's just showing how they're all 'growing up'... (It's going to be so weird when Tess and Pakorn return to their own universe and into this friendship group - maybe the talk of them supposedly being together will trigger Tess' 'oh' moment and he and Pakorn will get together!)

Going back to Aou and Fuse...of course when I first saw Fuse in this week's ep I got excited about what his t-shirt would say... Is the "almost" because he almost gave Aou his hand? He almost showed obedience? Is it because they're almost becoming friends...or even a couple? Crumbs. We got crumbs I tell you and I lapped up every one.

After the second vet scene, Talay goes to meet Up in the cafe...and I don't have much more to say about this other than it's aesthetically FANTASTIC.

Also the black/white and blue/yellow connects back to the earlier scene in the cinema foyer (where the clothes complement the set as it did in ep 7). Of course, when Up arrives he's in green (to pair with the yellow...and the oishi drink!) and he also has his mustard yellow socks...which match Aou's t-shirt - an interesting choice when they're joking about Aou and Up being another couple!

So, following the beach scene where Puen and Talay reconcile (again!), pink returns in the lights of the bus (with the blue). Aou is also in a pink and blue striped top with a blue vest (and brown trousers as usual) and Puen is wearing a red sleeveless top and blue jeans. I think this might be the first ep that I've noticed this kind of repetition and connection of colours throughout the whole ep...

Anyway, I couldn't also not mention the crisps (chips) advert at the end and I love the uniform use of red, blue, and yellow in the whole scene. But this is yet more evidence to make me think the shows designers took the product placements and based the colour schemes off the colours of the packaging 😂 (i.e. the minty green of the crisp packet along with the red and yellow).

But on to next week...and I'm not sure I can make a prediction of what colour we might get. The preview has a couple of instances of bright pink and deep red...so it might be the long-awaited red ep...but there's also a lot of neutral colours which makes me think it might be something like beige or sand (we haven't really had a 'brown' ep either) - I keep trying to think of colour names to go with sunrises, or daybreaks, or dawns...to follow the theme of time passing/endings and beginnings that the past few eps have set up - sunset orange, cloudy grey, midnight black etc). I've also been wondering if the last three eps might even be a red, a green, and a blue (although which order I don't know). Ah, it's too unknown! I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

[Ep 1] [Ep 2] [Ep 3] [Ep 4] [Ep 5] [Ep 6] [Ep 7] [Ep 8] [Ep 9] [Ep 10] [Ep 11] [Ep 12]

[thesilverlady]

My thoughts on daemyra in this episode as part 2 of my mini rant.

disclaimer: I adore daemyra. Me being salty over this episode has nothing to do with the actors or the ship itself. My main issue is the writing of the show.

I've seen many people loving this episode and I'm genuinely happy for them. But since I didn't I need to vent and get it out of my chest.

So please do not read this if you don't want me to ruin your fun and enjoyment.

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.

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Let's start with the amount of times Daemon and Rhaenyra have interacted; their first scene is in ep1 when Rhaenyra meeting Daemon in secret in the throne room.

Immediately we see there's a playful banter between the two even, and it's the first time we see Daemon gifting her something.

They see each other again in the tournament but they spoke two words so I'm not counting (they still have the playfulness from before though)

The second actual interaction is when Daemon steals the dragon egg and Rhaenyra goes to dragon stone in ep2. She's able to talk sense to him and avoid the bloodshed he and Otto were going to have.

In that scene Rhaenyra challenges him to kill her since she's the one who stands on his way to the throne and his response was giving her the egg. It's very clear that Daemon doesn't want to harm her and she's not the actual reason for his anger.

In episode 3 there are no interactions nor mentions since Daemon is fighting in the Stepstones.

And finally, we come in episode 4. They talk again for the first time after years when they're away from the king and everyone else

Rhaenyra questions his return and notices his change and he her maturity. They speak about the concept of marriage and Rhaenyras' feelings over it.

They once more have the teasing energy they already had in ep1 and Daemon constantly looks at her very fondly.

He later offers her a night of freedom and adventure and we all know how that goes. So why am I salty? First of all, there's no leading up to them being physical and actually expressing their attraction to one another.

Where is the courtship? the seduction? them falling in love?

Yes, they're obviously attractive to each other but they barely spent any time together. The moments I mentioned above were merely minutes, we don't see them spending time, doing activities together etc

(The reason I'm not counting their night out is because that night was supposed to be their peak.)

In the book Daemon comes back to her with gifts, he reads to her, eats with her, makes her laugh, they go flying together.

THEY. SPEND. TIME. TOGETHER

"Princess Rhaenyra was a different matter. Daemon spent long hours in her company, enthralling her with tales of his journeys and battles. He gave her pearls and silks and books and a jade tiara said once to have belonged to the Empress of Leng, read poems to her, dined with her, hawked with her, sailed with her, entertained her by making mock of the greens at court, the “lickspittles” fawning over Queen Alicent and her children. He praised her beauty, declaring her to be the fairest maid in all the Seven Kingdoms. Uncle and niece began to fly together almost daily, racing Syrax against Caraxes to Dragonstone and back. "

For the life of me I cannot understand how everybody is eating it up, because even without the book context it's very clear they rushed them to move things forward - which leads us to the next conclusion: the writing is annoyingly rushed.

Do y'all realize that Daemon hasn't been able to stay in King's landing for 1 freaking day without getting kicked out? 😭

I was always sus with the number 10 episodes the show was meant to have and while I understand the need for timeskip in every ep, the reason why the dance of dragon was such a mess was due to the relationship /dynamic the characters had before it.

We don't see these relationship being freshed out and developed because the writers try to move the story increasingly fast and it bothers the hell out of me.

This is something that every character suffers from in the show btw, not just daemyra. But Daemon and Rhaenyra are my favorites and I really wanted their story to be shown without jumping them over.

I won't even talk about the characters individually because the way they butcher them and water them down actually hurts.

And to save you from asking "Then why are you watching?" Because I adore Fire & Blood and all the characters were legit very interesting.

I was hoping to have a good adaptation but my hopes are dying down. I'm trying very hard to separate the show canon entirely to make it easier but yeah, that episode pissed me off to no end.

[jeriafterdark]

Day 3: Favorite WenZhou moment

Day 1 2

Honorable mention: Ni Bu pei!

So first off, I must include the Ni Bu Pei scene from Ep 27. The BTS is just so happy and sweet, and I love that both GJ and ZZH gang up on HYM lol.

ZZH: I can't stop laughing when I see your face, ni bu pei~!

GJ: Please bb if you laugh i'm gonna laugh oh no it's starti-

HYM: These gays, I stg-

4. Night Roof Date ep 9 + Ep 12 + EP 17

"You'll tell me why when you want to."

"It's difficult for us at our age to show our hearts to others. I can't do this myself and I shouldn't ask you to do so. So I decided to take the first step, and take a gamble. You are the one that I know."

I have a soft spot for considerate gentleness. ZZS is just so gentle with WKX every time the question of WKX's past comes up. He never pushes him to tell him about his past, and he understands that everyone's got things they regret about their past. He understands that WKX may not even know how to tell him, or how he feels, or if he even remembers everything anyway, but that's okay, ZZS is willing to wait and give him space. Ahh, so sweet.

3. Midnight ZZS Tears - EP 24

"Lao Wen, there's nothing between us that we can't discuss."

This scene solidified how much ZZS trusts WKX, regardless if WKX was willing to entrust him with his true feelings or not, ZZS just wanted to show that it's okay, and he can take the first step in admitting all the things he's regretted in his life to his zhiji. Because he knows WKX will understand him, how complicated life can be, when you have a good heart, but you do bad things, how can anyone else but WKX understand him? Here, WKX also doesn't push ZZS to confess any aspect of his past to him, but ZZS does so willingly - maybe to pave the way for WKX to do the same someday.

2. Confessions in the Rain - EP 14

This scene is one of my favorite favorite WenZhou scenes, which I will talk about more for Day 4, saddest WenZhou moment.

1. Basking in the Sun - EP 12

Honestly, this scene never fails to put a smile on my face. They're just so soft with each other. I don't prefer the overtly sugary/make-out slow-motion scenes in romance, I think it's so overdone and there's usually a lack of chemistry. There are only a few instances where it works out really well. Contrary to that, we have this very simple, slice-of-life scene where WKX calls out to A-Xu 3x, and expresses how much he feels surrounded by love, being able to call someone and have them be there for him. A-Xu is the same, and calls Lao Wen x3, each a lil more playful. I think it's one of the most romantic scenes I have ever watched lol. Of course it's also due to the very intense chemistry between Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun.

During the concert, the hosts said that it was the first time WKX heard a call from the human world, the good part of it, full of hope and love. I think it must be the same for ZZS as well, since they both come from morally grey backgrounds and find this moment of happiness (and possible redemption?) in each other.

[jjr1971]

I suppose this shouldn't surprise me but this particular anime title (and personal favorite show of mine) is really violently triggering a lot of online incels at the moment...the Japanese title is イジらないで、長瀞さん, Hepburn: Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san; In English, it's known by the longer title Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro.  It's a new manga series (I'm current on it and have the next volume, #8, on pre-order when it releases in August) and it's basically a romantic comedy....it was even more recently picked up for an anime adaptation which is currently airing in Japan and streaming in the USA with subtitles on the Crunchyroll site/app.  I wouldn't be surprised if it gets picked up for an English dub & North American home video distribution eventually; it really is that good.

But it really is a very subtle show with complex emotions.  It's also kind of a role reversal story.  It's reminiscent of the earlier series Teasing Master Takagi-san (Japanese: からかい上手の高木さん, Hepburn: Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san, lit. "Good at Teasing, Miss Takagi"), another romantic comedy set in Late Elementary/early Middle School...it features a very emotionally mature and smart girl who likes a boy but he hasn't matured at the same pace and still views her as a practical joker rival.  He's playing checkers and she's playing chess.  He keeps trying to one-up her and she easily parries him and makes him embarrassed.  But from the audience POV she's definitely flirting with him, he just can't perceive it. With Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro our characters are High Schoolers.  The main character (known only as "Senpai", a polite form of address for people older than you) is a shy, reclusive, sensitive artist type who wears glasses and keeps to himself.  He's a Junior in High School.  He's been the victim of actual bullies in the past (that we see via flashback) but just kept his head down and endured.  One day he's in the school library, trying to study and there's a group of first year girls socializing at a nearby table (Sophomores, technically.  Japanese High Schools have only grades 10-12; 9th graders are still in Middle School in Japan).  He resolves to just ignore them and try to study but clumsily knocks over his satchel, sending books & papers flying, including (*gasp*) the adventure/romance manga he's been drawing as a personal side project. The girls all look up, noticing the commotion.  One of the girls walks over to help pick up his things and to "Senpai's" horror notices the manga drawings and skims them.  The other girls leave but she stays behind and starts asking questions about the manga and its characters.  She begins to act out the scene he has drawn, playing the female protagonist.  She doesn't have a sword like the character so she does a karate kick and holds it.  He's kind of impressed but intimidated.  She critiques the story and offers suggestions.  She even teases him a little.  The next day she shows up in the Art Room, where "Senpai", who is a member of the Art Club, is working on a sketch drawing.  She's loud and obnoxious and resumes teasing him, getting on his nerves. She even follows him while he's walking home, laughing and teasing him playfully some more.  She claps his back a little too hard and sends him flying into the nearby canal.  But we can see from the regretful expression on her face she didn't mean to and feels bad about it.  And all the times she's around him and even when she's being very intense with her teasing, she's blushing red in the face the whole time.  She helps him out of the canal and apologizes and introduces herself.  He's tall and lanky and she's short & athletic and on the swim team.  She gazes up at him as she says her name syllable by syllable ("Na-Ga-To-Ro") and with one finger playfully traces the Kanji on his chest through his wet shirt, again with a playful look on her face and blushing. And so it goes for the next 7 volumes of the manga.  He tries to remain aloof & dignified, while she says loud & obnoxious but also playful and clearly the more emotionally immature of the two...so they're like a comedy duo of sorts.  He completely misreads her at first and has little fantasies predicting how she will be terrible next, but they never pan out.  He expects her to be obnoxious to other guys and terrorize them the way he feels a bit terrorized but....she doesn't.  To guys she doesn't like or have interest in, she's quite cold & cutting.  She reserves her "special treatment" only for her Senpai.   All this is a long introduction to make note that a lot of incels who are also into anime really REALLY don't understand this show....they complain bitterly that it "glorifies bullying" and reserve the most hateful language for Nagatoro herself, using all the usual hateful words for women (c-word, etc)...they really really hate her.  On the one hand, I would

love to see this series dubbed into English but on the other hand I feel bad for the online abuse any voice actress will inevitably suffer from lending her voice in English to this character someday.  A lot of these guys seemingly have a real issue separating fantasy from reality and will yell at voice actors when they're actually angry at the character they play.... Nagatoro does arguably cross the line into bullying territory initially, but like I said, she feels remorseful for pushing him into the canal.  Her friends are kind of dimwits and *are* themselves traditional bullies....but when THEY try to bully HER Senpai she gives them death stares and they back down.  She's very possessive of him.  In the manga especially, Nagatoro sometimes "gets out over her own skis" and winds up revealing her real feelings and getting embarrassed herself, overplaying her hand and getting little bits of come-uppance.  She sometimes blurts out her real desires then covers them up quickly with a dismissive joke....it's a little gas-lighty but I understand it's mainly a defense mechanism. What the incels who hate-watch this show can't conceive in their heads.....is that Nagatoro has genuine feelings for her Senpai.  She's not bullying him....she's flirting!  Aggressively and badly, sure, but it's not mean-spirited.  She even coyly suggests to him he should be bolder with her, she could make it worth his while.  In my past, I've dated a hyper-aggressive flirt who reminds me a lot of Nagatoro.  I just have a lot of empathy for both characters and wish them well.  Just like with the male protagonist Nishikata in Takagi-san the viewer feels like doing a loud "stage whisper" to him:  "psst!  she likes you, dummy."  There are a few moments here and there between the two of them that are so wholesome & sweet it makes me want to cry.  It's such a good show and it's so horribly misunderstood by a lot of very damaged people who are too blinded by their own misogyny and self-pity to see it. To sum up, Nagatoro wouldn't constantly hang around her Senpai and do the things she does if she didn't have genuine feelings for him....which she very plainly does. And by Ep.5 of the anime, it's clear he cares about her, too.

Anyway, I look forward to reading the next volume of the manga and finishing season 1 of the anime adaptation.  I would definitely watch it again if it gets an English dub release.

[ablazeinhim]

Halloweentown Musings

So I've been watching Halloweentown every day for like three weeks and i have a lot of thoughts/questions. Production/movie making thoughts, and also canon/universe thoughts. I probably should have just live logged my watchings, but I didn't, so here we are.

The first night i watched it, i watched the first three all right in a row. And by the third film, nearly all the beautiful, effortless warmth and coziness of the first film is gone.

Halloweentown is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. It is lit magnificently. Most of the lighting is warm, and there's an outlining light on their faces/forms a lot. The colors are rich and deep and plentiful. Even the outdoor spaces feel cozy and intimate because of the lighting and framing. It's a masterpiece.

Not surprising considering the director of photography, Michael Slovis', other work: 20 eps of breaking bad, 23 eps of CSI, many others. The other 3 films in the series have different DPs.

Look at these:

Compared to the third movie:

In especially the second movie it seems they use the richness of color, and the color tone of light to contrast the mom and grandma. The mortal world and the magical one. The love interest/villian even mentions how Marni's room doesn't seem to fit her and she says her mom likes "ordinary."

~

The effects in this movie are spectacular. All the practical effects and creature sculpts. They're gorgeous and well made! And they have a nice mix of practical and digital effects. It helps it feel real and magical, because so much of it is there physically. And BENNY. Ugh. He can show so much range in his face. The eyebrows!

Last thing about the production side. The acting is so natural. They feel like a real family! The little ways they react to each other. Especially the mom, like when she's scolding Sophie for asking grandma if she brought them presents. SO GOOD.

And the writing! Marni feels dopey at times, but then you realize she's 13! That's how 13 year olds are! Ready to go out and change the world and really believe that they can! Strong-willed, sure, optimistic. Not shameful about wanting to help or seeming over-eager. Her characterization is perfect.

One of my favorite through-lines is how playful the grandma is with Dylan. Like she knows he's the most skeptical/resistant, and because of that, is playfully hard on him. In the first movie when she's reading to them, he says it's stupid Marni thinks she could be a witch, and the grandma practically interrupts him by elbowing him in the side while she says something like, "you never know, she might be!" And in the second movie Marni uses his embarrassing username/password against him. Then as she walks away we hear the grandma whispering the name to him and chuckling.

~

Onto my canon/universe questions.

How do magical people age? How does time work? Why is the boy getting seemingly no training? I mean maybe he doesn't want it but that seems like a waste to not at least teach him practical spells and stuff. Like, he doesn't even know how to make his grandma's door appear and disappear in the second one, and the girls just wave their hand and it happens. What happened to Luke? Did Kalibar/Kal ever come back and muck things up again? At the end of the second movie Luke says he (Kalibar/Kal) will be back, but the subsequent two movies have unrelated villians.

The time and aging thing is what I'm most confused by. The grandma is over 1000 years old. But in the fourth movie we go back in time 1000 years and meet the grandma, presumably 18 then (forgive me, I'm not going back to watch it), being played by the same 18 year old actress playing Marni. And the children, half mortal/half witch are aging at a normal human pace. So like, does the aging of their bodies slow down sometime? When? How old is the mom?

In the first movie, the grandma says that two hours in the mortal world could be two days in Halloweentown, or two weeks if they're on vacation. And in the second movie it's established that if Marni goes to Halloweentown for a (mortal world)year with her grandma, it will "feel like" or "be like" 100 years to her. Soooo is whatever's up with that part of the aging thing? Doesn't make much sense considering all the creatures used to live in the mortal world. When they created their own world/dimension did they also decide to have time run differently? For what purpose?

OMG also!!! In the fourth movie, since the portal between worlds is now open all of the time instead of just on mortal-world Halloween, humans and creatures are going to college in each other's worlds. For that to make any sense at all, time, and public education, would have to run the same in both worlds.

~

There are people with humanoid bodies but jack-o'-lantern heads, and yet pumpkin products and consumables are openly sold in Halloweentown. Is that weird for them, or do they and edible/decorative pumpkins just happen to look alike?

Because this is a live-action movie, most of the creatures are humanoid in form, and that makes me curious how inter-species relations work. Like socially, but also personally. Obviously witches/warlocks are genetically similar enough to humans that they will 1. Become them if they haven't started their magical training by their 13th Halloween, and 2. Can produce offspring together. But seemingly up until the mom, no one in her family had gone off and made babies with a human, or any other creature. So did they have arranged deals with warlocks of powerful magical families? So they could ensure the Cromwell line would continue and be strong? And in the first film, Luke, a goblin, expresses romantic interest in Marni, and it's not treated as anything out of the ordinary. (I very much know love and romance and relationships happen without any need for, want for, or intent to produce children, but there are children in this universe, but seemingly no inter-species families aside from human/witch, so I'm curious if there are rules against it or logistical reasons why not).

~

Do we think the mom told her mortal husband that she was a witch? I really really hope so. I want that joy for her. I'm imagining beautiful moments of them together. Creating a shield over them to keep the rain off. Dancing in the kitchen while the freshly-done dishes dance around them. Pausing time or sealing off their space to get in one more kiss before they have to part. Beautiful, warm, romantic moments meant just for the two of them. I really hope they had that openness and joy and FUN.

~

I think that's it, but I have a few other random notes.

It feels significant that we see Sophie's powers, and she realizes them for herself, first. And before the other kids know. The first time she uses her powers AND gets to see the outcome of it, the other kids are distracted and don't realize she's done anything special.

Watching this movie at least once a day has been such an enjoyable experience. Until this year I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, and it was magical watching such a thoughtfully made kids movie. It really feels like it was in a golden age for dcoms. And the way I feel like I'm hanging out with this fam every night. Like I'm being told a story everynight (I mean like someone (really kind. A loved one or beloved famous reader) is telling me a story every night. It's v comforting.

And, Marni's scruchie is gorgeous and I need it, so if anyone has a lead on where I can get this scrunchie from 1998, hit me up.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I love how vulnerable Louis is after Clem spends time with him in ep 2. Once he realized that she saw more in him than just the jokes and piano, he tossed the whole bubbly persona aside and showed her his true self. He becomes more affectionate, and you can tell how much he cares about Clem just by the way he looks and smiles at her. I figure this is how they'd be around each other when they're alone. Of course, they'd also have their playful moments, but the softer, quieter ones warm my heart ❤

Soft clouis is my goddamn weakness. 

Like, I love their flirty playful moments, too, like when they’re teasing each other or laughing together. But, those moments where Louis feels he doesn’t HAVE to constantly make jokes or be goofy or whatever, and where Clementine doesn’t have to be so tense and can let herself be comfortable with slowing down are some of my favorite. 

And him tossing aside that bubbly persona, as you put it?

It’s really one of the reasons why I love the piano scene so much. I know I complain about the lack of piano mini game a lot because it’s bullshit and my selfish ass wants it but really? It’s a terrific scene.

We actually get to see Louis letting his guard down more than ever, letting himself be vulnerable to her in a different way. 

He sees Clementine walk in and says he wants to tickle the ivories one last time before all hell breaks loose, to which Clementine says, “...Haven’t heard music in a while.”

“Many people would say you’re not about to hear it now.”

It’s a joke, but an incredibly sad one that actually gets to him by the expression that overcomes his face and Clementine can SEE it.

He lets that little bit of vulnerability seep past, then what does he do? 

He turns around and asks her how she feels about their imminent deaths in a very jokey way. 

It’s very back and forth. 

Throughout the entire scene, it’s slowly lowering for him as he goes back and forth between being playful and serious until he ultimately takes the leap and finally opens up to her. 

And the longer you go without answering?

The way he looks at her? With so much hope?

Until he starts to doubt and looks away?

She’s not saying anything and he’s ready to bring that wall back up because “oh shit, I made a mistake-”

Of course, when she comes back with an “I like-like you” then he can’t help but express his relief and utter joy. Because yeah, those goofy jokes and quips are a part of his personality, but it’s not all he is. He still wants to make her laugh, he still wants to joke around, but he also wants to be soft and romantic. 

He names the song [y’know, the one he literally wrote] after her!

It’s so. Damn. Soft. 

I live for it.

Anyway, Louis lowering his wall and coming out of that persona he feels he has to keep up and being soft and vulnerable with Clementine is the best. There’s so much you can talk about when it comes to it and I love it and I need more of it.