#i like doing one post for a handful of eps bc it saves time

[linnaealyn]

Been working on again off again on a Xenogears portrait mod for two years now, started in Sept 2021 right before I actually finished the game for the first time. Some time ago I started adding upscaled (hand painted) versions of UI elements, so I guess its now a general texture pack I'm working on.

Its done through RetroArch's Beetle PSX HW core real-time texture replacer.

My goal with this is to make a texture pack that stays very true to the original look of the game. I don't want to redesign elements, impose too much of my own influence into it, and make the game look like it had an identity crisis. I still want it to look like Xenogears in the end, just upscaled, and where the portraits are concerned I want it to look as close to the original artwork as possible, with no scanning artifacts and low res quality- as if we actually had digital versions of Tanaka's original artwork.

Also, this isn't intended to be super high res 4k or anything, idc about that.

Figured I'd make a full post here going over everything I've done so far. I'm on the home stretch! Just a few more left.

⬆ Starting with UI. I replaced the red selection arrow, the red/grey spheres, save block icon, save/load text/bar, Walk/Gear icons (more about that one later), compass cardinal points (was unable to get a proper dump of the circular compass texture), and the dialogue diamond and selection diamond within menus.

I totally get it if someone wouldn't want to use something like the dialogue diamond, as you see it all the time right beside the pixelated text and it seems to stand out more in dialogue vs the one in menuing bc your attention is typically focused elsewhere while menuing. In the end, all changes are optional and to remove something all you have to do is move/delete the equivalent img file from the texture replacement folder. Within said folder I have a sub-folder titled "alternate portraits" where I keep alts and things I want to "disable" without outright deleting.

⬆ In combat UI I've replaced the HP/dmg numbers, the Time/AP/numbers, battle palette text (used for other text as well), the circle and tags of the battle palette, Time/AP/fuel bars, green Gear text and numbers, Gear attack level/♾ indicator, black Gear UI backgrounds, and combo icons. The red arrows have been replaced, but unfortunately the black arrows around the red cannot be replaced based on how the game does it; it is not a texture you can change, it is a triangular shaped box that the game fills with the black texture from behind Gear UI.

⬆ Menu/gameplay buttons. Also numbers/"points/fuel/cancel end" Someone mentioned playing with a switch pro controller or joy-cons so I threw an ABXY version together as an alternate button display option. Used the same typeface as the combo icons to keep some consistency with a typeface already in-use as well as for overall clarity.

⬆ Also, DB icons, EP/Fuel/Miss text, and "total damage". Unfortunately, the other DB icons (showing the △🞪☐ highlighted) cannot be replaced as far as I can tell. The battle UI textures (the 17 or so textures of the same thing in varying hues) shows them on it, but changing them in each one of these textures does not change the icons. It does not pull from these specific texture dumps, in other words; its just one of those that doesn't dump, like the circular compass texture.

⬆ In working on the Walk/Gear icons I wasn't sure exactly how I'd go about doing it because the original is literally just that tiny. So I had the idea of putting a little Fei & Weltall in it, outlined by the same grey. Thought it might be weird in the other party members' menus, idk, and I don't like changing things too much from the original, so I decided to just use Fei/Weltall as the grey silhouettes instead. Ill keep the Fei/Weltall one as an alt option if anyone wants to use it.

⬆ And the minimap. Kept B&W so that the colored dots (indicators of where all you can enter an area) aren't difficult to see. I do have a colored version as an alt, though. Credit to Adelinold for having ripped the 3D maps and made a bird's eye view "minimap" esque screenshot of the world map some years back because it is absolutely perfect for use here.

~~~~~

Now onto portraits, the main bulk of the work. This includes dialogue portraits, menu portraits, and gameplay portraits. I go through each one individually, find the highest quality version of the art, and clean it up manually, painting over it to get rid of any jpg rot, scanning artifacts, or print dots from scans while keeping it as close to the artwork as possible. In order to keep colors consistent across the board (because scans of the artwork can vary) I'm picking from the sprites. One portrait typically takes 2.5+ hours, not including testing them in-game. Each one needs to be tested in-game and edited to make sure semi-transparent pixels around the portraits don't result in black or white pixels in the area that should be transparent.

⬆ Direct comparison to the sprites. I'm not too strict about how I match how much of the art is shown, but in instances like this I like to show more of the character than the pixelated portraits allowed for. However, this wouldn't work for everyone as Fei's default portrait is also used when Kim is naked from the hips up.

For the Captain I specifically wanted to get his pipe within frame. Typically the portraits end just behind their ear, have the eyes at 1/2 to 2/3 height, and end just above the clavicle.

⬆ Some portraits like Kim and Elly have no artwork equivalent, but were pretty basic to make with the artwork of Fei & Elly that we do have.

⬆ Other characters have no artwork equivalent whatsoever, like Stein and Wel-Gear Hammer. For Stein I had to take the collar from Stone's artwork and paint something from scratch using Stein's sprite as reference. This one was more fun to do than I expected because its a special case, entirely different from all of the other portraits. For example, usually the artwork has 4 colors for skin- base color, shadow color, deep shadow color (usually seen directly under the chin, used sparingly), and a highlight color for on the nose or lip. But with Stein his skin had many different colors you could pick from the sprite and no equivalent artwork to limit yourself in how many there actually are. So in trying to get it looking just right it took something like 7 different shades of varying pink, red, and orange. It clearly has more dynamic shading compared to all of the other portraits.

For Wel-Gear Hammer... I did my best given what all I could see was even happening in the sprite.

⬆ I made a close eyed Elly portrait as there is no artwork of it and a bomb collar Fei and Hammer portrait using the bomb collar in Rico's art. Its fun playing around with them when there is no equivalent artwork.

⬆ Made an unsmiling Citan to mirror his unsmiling dialogue sprite vs his smiling menu sprites as well as alt Krelians to better match the expression of his mouth that the sprite has vs the artwork. (sprites are always a bit stretched compared to the artwork, btw. even when you rip them from the disc)

⬆ I'm also working on alternate versions, like a two-eyed Bart I did for fun.

~~~~~

It is finished! 1.0 anyway. Right in time for the North American 25th Anniversary! I just gotta get it uploaded somewhere.

I'll continue to work on the ones that I think still need more work, but for now even the ones that are in rougher shape are passable.

Ill have two versions of the mod- one with stretched and cropped portraits that work in 4:3 (much like the sprite portrait bmps in the base-game that end up looking fine in true 4:3. they kind of end up blurrier due to stretching the artwork) (with Crop Overscan set to None) and another version which isn't stretched or cropped so its as crisp as I could get them, but in order to get them to display the image exactly as they are in-game without squishing you need Crop Overscan set to Static (removes horizontal padding) which makes it just slightly off 4:3. Honestly, to the untrained eye its hard to tell it isn't 4:3. 🤷‍♀️ The only thing you might notice it really affecting would be the animated cutscenes.

I'll make a master post for the mod itself, separate from this. This'll end up being a bit of a time capsule for me.

[canonically47]

review pls

EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP YUL HAD HIS ASS HANDED TO HIM AND WE GOT JAJAMES IN THE FINALE. ONC DO NOT FUCK THIS UP FOR ME.

DCAS ep 19 - review

spoilers !!!! (but you knew that.)

tom saying jake sees the best in people was so fucking funny i'm sorry like we both know He Does Not. even the line was like 'despite his anxieties he..' baby ur literally saying 'despite not seeing the best in people he really does see the best in people' you are so fucking stupid

side note tom is actually an idiot, unironically. not haha himbo idiot just an actual fucking idiot. how is he 30. how is he a fan favorite. HOW IS TOMJAKE A FAN FAVORITE SHIP nonono im not talking about this rn im NOT (claws at my enclosure)

ugh i forgot tomjake is like. a thing. and not a very bad made-up fanon ship. and they're giving them a spin-off. for a sec i allowed myself to exist in a world where ONC made good writing decisions. what a world it was

james being jake's biggest hater was amazing. almost unleashed my inner jake hater. there is still time though, trust

kinda sad to see huntess not hang out with anyone but each other. i was waiting on tess interacting with gabellie or something

on the bright side, GRETT HAVING A MOMENT WITH GABELLIE??? HELLOOOOOOOOO?????? CAN YALL HEAR ME???????????????

gabgrellie save me.... save me gabgrellie............

speaking of ellie she looked so off the entire episode. why did her eyes move like that. am i crazy. she looked so ugly

oh my fucking god they fucking burnt yul's face. that's crazy. grett the woman that you are <333 i might actually draw the prick because he looks cool now

i am also sooooooo glad they're not giving him a half-assed redemption arc. they know he sucks ass. at least we have that

krystal saying "that's the good shit" was the most embarrassing thing ever in fact her entire part before dinner was embarrassing. why did she keep. doing that and saying that. girl why are you interrupting the moment you want to get on camera are you an idiot

also she fell victim to the inconsistency bc tell me why she was bitching and moaning the entire season about 'those that really matter' and being all lpvey dovey about her friends but then derek is like 'trevor :)' and she goes 'why arent u professional' girl.

and derek. man. we all know youre lying genuinely fuck you. 'he matters to me' GIRLLL WHEEENNNNNNNNNNN HAVE YOU SHOWN THAT 😭😭😭

FIORE AND ALEC!!! ALEC SCOWLING THEN LOOKING AT FIORE AND INSTANTLY SMILING!!! HIM PROTECTING HER FROM YUL!!! HIM COVERING HER EYES WHEN YUL GOT BURNED!!! TH!!! THE!!!!!!! THE FATHER-DAUGHTER DUO EVERRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭

now allow me to be even more not normal

JAJAMES CRUMBS 🗣🗣🗣‼️‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥 JAMES IS HELPING JAKE IN THE FINALE EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP HERE IS HOW JAJAKEDEN NATION CAN STILL WIN- [gets shot] [gets shot] [gets shot] [gets s

please god PLEASE LET THEM BECOME FRIENDS because if they do i will actually write DSVC fic about jajakeden getting together. i made a promise to myself to never write DSVC fic but if they become friends. i will be so. fucking. annoying.

JAJAMES PLEASE BECOME FRIENDS PLEASEEEEEEE PLEASE 😭😭😭

sooooo glad fiore not only did not pick riya but also GAVE HER THE DISADVANTAGE. JAKE FANS HERE IS HOW WE CAN STILL WIN

why did they bring emily back just to make her a bitch.

JAJAMES PLEEEEEAAAAAASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 😭😭😭😭😭

there are many things wrong with this ep (like derek existing, and also his lines, and also yul existing,,, and the stuff ive pointed out) but its ONC. i'll throw them a bone ig. i'm okay with what we got, it obviously wasn't a masterpiece and it felt fanservice-y in parts (yk that one post or ask or whatever that says season 1 & 2 DSVC was a show a fandom was built off, but season 3 is a show built off the fandom? yea some scenes reminded me of that. coigh cough krystal mildly breaking the fourth wall.) but i'm glad connor only got like 2 seconds of screentime, fiore and alec got along, and the jajames crumbs oh my.. <3

overall, an 8/10 and if my memory isn't failing me this is probably the best rating since ep 13?? but yea it was a good episode i'm fine with it. im surprised they didnt ruin.everything. bc yk its ONC. so yea!!! yay yippee yay!

i am so glad there are only 2 episodes left . istg if i watch the spin offs or new seasons i need yall to shoot me. and remember how i was talking some time ago about rewatching the entire show after DCAS came out fully? yea no. not doing that. when episode 21 comes out i will be cheering because i will finally put DSVC behind me. i fucking hate this show WE ARE ALMOST FREE!!!!!!!!! CHEERING

[buckevantommy]

alright i finally managed to get a copy of the ep and i'm watching it on my smallass iphone screen which isn't ideal but i can't wait 3 days to get access to a bigger screen so here we go:

i need to know if that rainbow flare on buck was intentional

i might be looking too hard but that hand grabbing buck's throat and then eddie's junk could be foreshadowing for you know what, i mean who's to say?

oliver deserves a fucking oscar for his nervous smitten buck performance

tommy shaved for their date which is so old school i love it but i also miss the scruff and need to see its return asap

hints of Tommy Backstory, my beloved

the convo about renting out a home with marisol and eddie but including buck is making me think of how buck is possibly being 'rented out' to tommy in the narrative for now but later eddie will be the one to buy

i understand tommy ending their date early but WHAT HAPPENED to him picking up buck from his loft?? and don't tell me he ubered for a first date when we know he drives. although i get not wanting to drink and drive ig

also: tommy was meant to pick up buck at 8pm and now they've finished dinner so wtf is eddie and marisol doing starting their dinner at like 930pm is that an LA thing bc that's insane

'oldest italian restaurant' sign just makes me think of tommy and buck's age gap and i giggle and gasp

buck's reaction to being rejected is breaking my hearrrrt. tommy opened him up to his sexuality and buck was So Excited and now this guy is just dumping him?? who is he supposed to bounce his restless bisexual energy off now??

we're not even 10mins in so i have no idea what the bulk of this ep is gonna be about

oH YEAH THE GAY MOMS pls let them be happy

BUCK COMES OUT TO MADDIE ACCIDENTALLY like a true bisexual disaster

The Guy Thing is very much The Point buck, you sweet thick cinnamom scroll

buck is doubly an ally. he's a bially.

keep talking buck i am cackling you adorable baby bi

insane thing to have eddie post-sex with his nun gf after buck was gushing about tommy

it's okay buck, false starts with difficult convos happen, you'll get there

something something buck intending to come out to eddie and eddie explaining his sex problems all while eddie gets sweaty and swole

LIKE SEAMONKEYS! buck i adore you

buck wishes he could lend eddie a hand but he can't bc he's no homewrecker and bc eddie is quote unquote straight. not bc he himself is taken, bc the hot pilot dumped him and oh now i'm sad again :(

there's some buck+guilt [re:self worth] meta glanced over here that makes me wanna delve into some introspective reads

buck giving good advice is something that can be so personal

hen saving a rescue dog after it attacked the firefighter trying to save it as a parallel to their current foster child situation. it's just good storytelling. the dark stuff is getting hopeful

HANG OUT WITH THE BOYS eddie you don't know how perfect your words are

i really love the way they chose for buck to come out to eddie. trying to do it at a certain time didn't work for him, it was too daunting. but as soon as eddie mistook buck's date with tommy for something platonic? buck doesn't want to hide anymore. it really speaks to the human and especially the queer experience - that need to correct someone's misinterpretation (someone important to buck) of who you are.

GAY TOMMY CONFIRMED

supportive eddie and 'this doesn't change a thing between us'

buck finally getting to talk to his friend about getting dumped by a guy he was really hoping for more with

eddie's turn to give good advice to buck re:his dating life and we come full circle

buck's relief at eddie knowing and accepting him. the double-back for the hug. the comfort is all there.

i want to shower the wardrobe department in love for putting buck in that slutty blue 70s polo for his date within tommy and then the sky blue sweater and now this tight stripey number i am digging the vibes

buck hearing that he didn't screw things up with tommy, tommy just didn't want to pressure him bc the feels are mutual! and buck taking responsibility for his behaviour bc he's mature like that he's a good dude

i love lou but oliver literally glows - and i don't mean from the sunshine - he lights up every scene

the way buck gushed about tommy's confidence to maddie and now he's the confident one reassuring tommy that he wants this and that it won't be weird for tommy i am so proud of him

HOUSTON WE HAVE HAND HOLDING

sad my buddy chim was barely in this ep :(

WEDDING TEASER and we've got a Hangover situation and a missing groom omg

the writers are working their magic and we are reaping the rewards.

[coredrill]

my apologies to bravern himself but my own committment to the bit is not nearly as powerful as his bc i cannot figure out how to get the number ten into the word bravern [sadface]

ANYWAYS THOUGHTS god i loved this ep............lulu.......bang brave bang bravern is abt loving ppl so damn hard you take the narrative itself into your hands and give them a better ending. when superbia said that basically verbatim i YELLED

thank god this show is only 12 episodes cause i have a feeling they are gonna explain the time travel logic of NONE of this and i am so happy about that LMAO. just do it!!! have fun!!! this is a wow cool robot show i don't care abt the paradoxes or whatever i'm having a good time lmao. i mean i'm not opposed to them explaining it but it would def melt my brain. also i feel like if it ran past 12 eps it probably would've gone for a more monster-of-the-week situation at parts and also the ~mystery~ of bravern himself would've gotten pretty frustrating so i am just. rly loving the pacing overall tbh

isami is so fucking funny. he's trying SO hard to live in an ultraserious narrative but everyone else is chomping at the bit to get on with their unhinged looney tunes antics INCLUDING THE CAMERA ITSELF. like we don't know much abt him as a protagonist but i really do adore him on the whole. peak fiction fr fr

in the uncensored theater of masami obari's mind in which this show ends with a smith/isami wedding i think that one dude (googles) Thomas J. Plumman would be the officiant cause why else is he witnessing the boxing match AND isami fucking SNIFFING THE SHIRT??????? true allyship i suppose LMFAO

on perhaps the only serious note of this whole post i am thinkign SO hard abt how like. even in the Bad Ending Timeline, isami and smith/bravern still achieved their goal! like. the world was saved! it looked fairly peaceful! the deathdrives (minus superbia but he was just kinda chillin) were gone! they'd done their job and that wasn't enough! and i am ALSO thinkin abt bad-ending-bravern's last words being abt the curry he ate while human.........i mentioned this already but i think my prediction is leaning slightly more "human smith comes back somehow" after this ep. i still think it could work with whatever route they go tbh, but those factors plus ofc bravern saying "there are things that ONLY YOU HUMAN SMITH can do for isami" are making me think that we gotta like. Get Smith Outta There or something ("you have been saying this since like ep4" AND I HAVE NOT BEEN PROVEN WRONG YET!!!! [is immediately proven wrong when the preview drops on sunday LMFAO]) i DO wonder what would happen to bravern himself in this scenario however because he is a funny guy and i do not wanna lose him either :[ but tbh i'm just excited for the ride that the final two eps will deliver :]

[honey-dont]

Despite reading all your posts abt it I still have no idea what Bigtop Burger is skfkskdk HOWEVER I would still like to hear abt your StEx AU :]

YAY ty for enabling me <3

(it's an animated show on youtube and it's super good!! it's about Totally Normal™ rival food trucks except one of them is run by an alien clown who was banished from his home planet for getting stage fright during a production of cats the musical and the other one is run by a 1000-year-old zombie bounty hunter who is also italian. there's only about an hour's worth of content between all the current eps/songs and it has me grasped by the scruff of the neck like a misbehaving kitten)

sticking this under a cut bc my god the rambling

just focusing on zomburger rn bc they're my beloveds <3 they're a short-line freight train!

-

cesare is a converted oil-burning steamer who used to be a passenger engine once upon a time before getting stuck on freight duty. he's lowkey pissed about essentially getting demoted and goes out of his way to cause problems on purpose - he's extremely petty and WILL slow down whenever he sees a passenger train so they can't pass due to freight having right of rail! has a one-sided rivalry going on with renown tourist train 'the bigtop' (they're more baffled by his antics than anything else tbh)

he got a little fucked up during the conversion process so he'll leak oil from his eyes/mouth sometimes, it's gross </3 his crew doesn't really care tho since they're freight so they're used to grime

frances: were you guys making out again

doctor, face completely covered in oil: no

he totally does NOT care about his freight so what if he makes them sleep in his stall during bad weather so he can keep an eye on them to make sure they're safe it doesn't mean ANYTHING shut up.

(he also never turns his headlight off so his eyes always glow but that's not bc of the conversion he's just a weirdo)

-

doctor is a gondola! he usually carries junk/scrap metal. he'll do that social experiment thing where if you hand someone something while talking to them they'll take it without even thinking. you're having a conversation with him and suddenly you're holding a copy of the atari E.T. game

he'll save things that he thinks are neat or that the others will like! expresses affection by giving you garbage :)

is totally unfazed by the rotary dumper (it freaks everyone else out), very skilled at heckling coaches, and will eat human food (what is wrong with him)

-

conrad is a hazmat tanker and he wears goggles for safety :) why is a short-line carrying hazardous material? don't worry about it. he's v big and v strong and a lil dumb but doing his best! will pick up frances and doctor and carry them around sometimes

he'll also drink his load if he thinks he can get away with it (he is not sneaky starlight bless him). man chugs hydrochloric acid like powerade. kind of scared of humans, they creep him out a bit

-

frances is a transfer caboose and she's basically cesare's right hand man brake van in this scenario bc she's more than happy to be a nuisance!

cesare: FRANCES HIT THE BRAKES WE NEED TO BE AN I N C O N V E N I E N C E

frances: on it boss (saluting emoji)

she was converted from a flatcar (she still has the lil fangs) but she generally tends to get along better with coaches (loves her boys tho). she LOVES having passengers bc she thinks humans are super cute <3

she'll hack into other train's radio frequencies and eavesdrop/interrupt/pass along the hot gossip to everyone else. she'll also tune into stations and sing along to songs sometimes (cesare will tell her to cut that shit out and then 3 seconds later ask if she can get anything italian)

-

last random cute thing before i am forcibly dragged off stage!! freight naturally have black nails so they all paint theirs blue to match with cesare <3

[piganatur]

THE EIGHTH SENSE EP 3

Honestly, I was a little afraid because the first two episodes blew me away so much that it felt almost ridiculous. I so wanted this to continue, and when I anticipate something to this extent the dread of it maybe falling flat, of it refuting me and my anticipation is sky high. My pulse legit rose before clicking on ep3 that’s how jittery and insane this show makes me. But I worried for nothing, the creators of this show clearly know what they want and what they are doing. Ep 3&4... all I can say is: 👏👏👏 solid follow-up

Episode 3 (and a part of ep4) is all about parallels and the contrast between these parallels: 1, like the entirety of whatever happened between Jaewon & Jihyun in ep2 vs. walking the same steps, doing those same motions but now doing it alone? Brilliant! Taking care of others vs. not taking care of them (so they have to take care of themselves) and the reason for doing all of that...it’s all about perspective.

2, another parallel is the dynamic of Jaewon/Yoonwon vs. Jihyun/Aeri Jaewon and Yoonwon are what Jihyun and Aeri could be in the future (down to the detail of one of them thinking the other liked them bc they acted so friendly, or that they didn’t like the other but found a true ally) I'm a friendship maniac I love it more than anything. Now I want to make a separate post all about the importance of friendship for Jaewon and Jihyun and their character arcs

3, Joonpyo aka the heavenly hand of fate Joonpyo being obedient for once and not saying a thing just like Jihyun asked him to when meeting Aeri vs. Joonpyo introducing himself and chatting up Jaewon in the middle of the cafeteria without anyone asking him to... both of those times, at that moment, what Joonpyo did was the opposite of what Jihyun wanted (and what he felt he’d be saved by) yet as we can see in ep4 both of those times his roommate (enter Jihyun’s voice *and menace of a childhood friend*) actually helped Jihyun

4, the evolution of Jihyun and Jaewon’s interpersonal relationships Jihyun collects people after careful deliberation or is it the other way and others are the ones collecting him? broadening his circle (a place of support and care) is, in fact, in parallel with Jaewon slowly slipping out of others’ circles whilst tightening his own. They are both treading towards the same ideal but while Jaewon has to cut ppl out Jihyun has to let ppl in to get to that place where they are seen and valued for who they are

5, the cherry on top was the closing sequence. I’m in love with the visual, the music score, all the details building up, the parallel lines and symmetry in every single shot, seemingly playing on different sides and directions but colliding in the most breathtaking and intense harmony to complete all the unsaid things in a nonverbal way. But it is a quietness that screams

[waltwhitmansbeard]

hiiiii, i'm fairly new to CR (it saved my life during the pandemic!!1) and i'm pretty much caught up with everything but my love for vaxleth is off the charts and it's both a blessing and a curse: i love everything about them but there's fewer fics about them than i thought they ought to have. i have gone through ao3 these past few months and read a lot and also saved some for later (including yours!! i want to save it for a cozy day where i need a pick me up). having said all of that i was wondering if you have any recs (preferably of the longer type but ok if not) not just in ao3 but anywhere else as well? and preferably happy endings and some smooching n stuff bc wooooooof. these two got so much angst (i do also love it tho). any smut rec is welcome as well!! AND!!! ALSO!! do you think there's any chance this last ep can reignite the flame so to speak so we can all get more and more fics bc honestly?? i'm obssessed and they deserve it. epic love needs eternal retelling.

well hello! first i wanna say welcome to the fandom, we're all pretty nice but completely feral so watch where you put your hands bc we like to gnaw on things. (i say this like i am not also very new to the fandom; i just looked it up earlier today and my 1-year anniversary is at the end of may.)

when it comes to fic recs, i actually have to admit that i don't read a ton of fics myself (i don't have time, lol). i'll start by saying reading @romeoandjulietyouwish's au posts and drabbles is what got me back into writing fanfiction for the first time since i was a teenager, so i definitely recommend checking her stuff out. @blorbologist is, in my humble opinion, the foremost perc'ahlia expert of the fandom, if that ship also floats your boat. i have started reading her extremely famous one for joy but as i said, i really do not have a lot of time to read these days so i am extremely behind. my friend @ravendruid has recently started dipping her toes into the fic-writing realm, and i've been really loving watching her style develop as she goes, and my irl best friend and platonic life partner @runforyourshield is writing a vaxleth summer camp au called camp cloudtop you should check out! other recs you can find on my blog under the tag #fic rec. also just generally we tend to rb each other a lot so just stalk all of those blogs and you'll find some good stuff.

on ao3, i actually just today read a little three-part vaxleth happy ending style fic called with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair that i really enjoyed, and i've started reading this incredible fic called Heaven Couldn't Shake that AGAIN i started reading and then stopped having time for (!!!!!!!!!!!! i am busy!!!!!!! i am sorry!!!!!) but it is really good and i highly recommend the one chapter that i have read lol.

as for smut, to be perfectly honest, there is a dearth of smut in the vaxleth fandom, and like, i get it, it is extremely common to headcanon keyleth as ace or demisexual, and i don't have a problem with that headcanon at all. but me personally, while i also hc her as demi, i absolutely believe she and vax have fucking incredible sex and i wish i could read more of it (*eyebrow waggle* keep your eyes on the mfl space for future one-shots, jussayin). my recommendation there is to go the keyleth/vax tag on ao3 and filter by E, tbh. (also, don't sleep on vaxlethmore, bc those fics are *chef's kiss*)

(also this isn't vaxleth and idk if you've seen c2 or not but truly one of the hottest fucking fics i have read in my life—and friendo i have read a lot—is this shadowgast fic that truly gave me a nicotine addiction, bc wow)

will c3e51 reignite the fandom's fire for vaxleth? i mean, i can hope so, tho tbh, i'm keeping my hopes low. i know that, generally speaking, more people care for perc'ahlia than vaxleth (which was truly the wildest thing for me to find out when i started interacting w the fandom at large, i assumed everyone would be as fucking feral for vaxleth as i was), so i don't imagine there's gonna be a ton of new people writing them, but hey, maybe the episode will spur some people who haven't watched c1 to go watch, and they'll be the new generation of vaxleth shippers (again, me talking like i'm not the new generation of vaxleth shippers).

i hope i answered all of your questions, and thanks for being part of this community! i hope you find what you're looking for.

[dilfmas]

tell me about he/she ayan

i was hoping someone that had actually finished the show would ask me 🙄 but if you're the only one who will, i'mma take what i'm given

so aye talks about how when he was first realizing he was gay, it was hard for him too, and it's easy to assume that the reason dika took him to the cafe for all the first time was after aye first came out to him, but despite that aye kind of gives the energy of someone that has just always knew they were gay, which i feel like doesn't necessarily contradict what canon tells us. i feel like he's always had an inkling, especially because he's always had dika, but because he always had dika, there had to be a time when he realized that being gay wasn't widely accepted, especially in thailand, so i kind of feel like that's what he meant when he talked about it being hard for him. and then when he did come to terms with that and understand it, that's when he came out to dika and dika took him to cafe for all etc etc

anyways, despite that, i feel like aye never looked too closely at her gender. like we all know aye is a very pretty man, so i'm sure she was told her whole life that kind of thing and while most men would take offense, she always liked it and just never questioned why. that is until she goes to cafe for all and meets p'golf

because p'golf is played by the director, who is trans non-binary, it's easy to assume the in-universe p'golf is also trans non-binary, so going to cafe for all and meeting them allowed aye to start to understand there were other options beyond being cis or even binary trans

however, he didn't exactly have a chance to think about it a whole lot because dika died and then he put his whole focus into finding out what happened to him. so, he put the gender crisis on the back burner (we've all been there)

so, i think when she really started to think about it was post-canon, probably even post os2 eps bc i think those only happen a few weeks after the end of the show, so after they officially lay dika to rest.

now in thai, it doesn't seem like they have gendered pronouns in the same way that we do, but they DO have pronouns based on your gender when speaking to someone else apparently? don't quote me on this i did some very minor googling, and i do know they have other gendered words like hia/je, etc etc. but basically whatever the thai equivalent of using he/she pronouns in english is, i think she'd consider experimenting with before eventually realizing she's genderfluid

she'd bring it up with akk first, and while i'd love to say akk would be 100% loving and supportive and i'm not saying he WOULDN'T be, i also think he'd be confused tbh JDHJDF like he's only been to cafe for all a handful of times and while he knows p'golf and that they’re non-binary, i feel like he still doesn't know enough about the whole gender spectrum to understand fully. i also feel like he'd get a little tripped up on the she part because it took akk so long to be comfortable with the idea of being gay and aye is definitely his soulmate, but aye? wants to be referred to like a girl? does that make him NOT gay? but basically it'd be a conversation, and by the end of it once akk understands better and knows that aye being genderfluid doesn't effect his sexuality at all, he'd be fully on board and supportive and refer to aye however she wants to be referred to

the others are also a little confused at first, but they catch on pretty quickly. especially when aye starts experimenting with presentation, starting to wear makeup and occasionally dresses or skirts. akk nearly passes out the first time he sees her in a mini skirt that exposes her thigh tattoo and aye saves that in the back of her mind for later

[funnywormz]

TOP FIVE MANAGERBOY MOMENTS GO!

OGUGUGUUGUGH LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

(putting below the cut bc it got long and also there are Spoilers for anyone who hasn't finished s5. much like with my lobby boy outfits post i didn't include any bonus or new crew eps here)

5: 5.1 merp and burble + 5.5 the bellhop

combining these bc i couldn't choose + i like them for the same reasons........ i love both of these episodes bc they're full of these "WHERE IS MY LOBBY BOY" moments from the manager lol. watching her desperately fight against the hotel and tear shit up trying to get to him is so sweet. you can tell she really cares abt him here which makes me very happy bc i feel like that wasn't always the case, but he's grown on her big time lol. there's definitely a sense from her here that she would keep on trying to get back to him as long as she's able to. also the way in merp and burble she continuously refers to feeling lost or like she's lost someone when she's trying to remember him......... it's rlly sweet

4: 4.3 - the habers

ik this is purely an observation by madam hotel but it counts. this is just a straight up admission from her that the lobby boy feels romantic love or something like it for the manager. it's sad as well bc i think this is kinda before the manager began to reciprocate any of those feelings, so it's a depiction of an unrequited, sad, confused sort of love. but it's love nonetheless. also the "it keeps him warm in his little closet" line is so sweet. it's so cute and a little tragic to imagine him sitting in the closet just daydreaming abt her.........

3: 4.18 - she's always been here (1)

i don't see many ppl talking abt this moment but it's one of my favourites with them. there's something so sweet and sad abt how the lobby boy just wants to help her and make her feel better even though he knows he can't. also him just straight up saying that he belongs with her auugugugh...... they're a set do not separate.........

2: 4.18 - she's always been here (2)

when they see what happens to the owner and they realise they're gonna be separated too........ MAN.......... literally heart breaking. the way they cry out for each other as they're pulled away........ the manager literally pleading trying to save him and screaming when he's gone, i think it's the most emotional we've ever seen her get abt like...... anything ever. she cares abt him so much. also the statement "i wish we were alone" from the lobby boy is so intriguing to me. to me it implies that he wants to be away from the hotel, that he wants to be somewhere where him and the manager (and maybe the owner idk) can just be by themselves without being constantly watched and tampered with and killed. it suggests a desire to be free from surveillance and maybe freedom from the hotel herself? i think it's the only time any of the staff have ever verbally expressed a desire to leave the hotel and i wonder if it's going to be revisited in s6.

1: 5.12 - the reaper's envy

they're literally holding hands........ the way the manager calls the lobby boy over telling him it'll be ok and then they HOLD HANDS............ collapses onto the floor. augh. not to get sappy but it's amazing how their relationship has grown over the seasons from the relatively cold uncaring dynamic that it was to something beautiful just tentatively growing bit by bit.......... to me this moment is the culmination of that growth so far. it was so cathartic after they'd been separated for so long too and seeing the manager's desperate attempts to get back to him :'-) man i love them so much........... it's so sweet to see the staff in general express genuine care for each other in this episode <3. the manager especially isn't good at expressing her feelings so this scene is probably the closest thing to a heartfelt expression of love that she's capable of, and i like to think that the lobby boy knows that

[clevervonskelli]

some thoughts on The Night Agent

Pros:

The real mix of male and female characters and their importance or roles within the narrative itself. It all felt so natural. 

For the most part, even the ‘villainous’ characters have so many moments where you can appreciate their complexity and flaws, rather than just dismissing them as (boring) baddies with purely evil motivations.

The relationship between Peter and Rose is nice. Could the story have worked without the romantic love angle? Yes. Could we have done without the heavy petting / possibly-alluding-to-dance-with-no-pants scene on the boat right when the intensity of the story and the stakes were very high? Most definitely. (Sorry, I usually hate that in action stories bc okay, if you could die in the next hour then why not, but also you have bigger fish to fry right now, folks!!). It was still nice though. They work as a pair and the chemistry was great. There was a sweetness to them that I really appreciated.

Enough people croak that it feels realistic, even if you’re still rooting for those miraculous, lucky saves that would end up making you think “they wouldn’t all make it if this was real” for the characters you like.

Background hints are given and there is a world outside the story (especially important for an action, conspiracy, thrill, run-from-the-gov type pieces that have the potential to feel very isolating and insular). But none of it is detailed excessively or used as a weird, unfulfilled diversion for the plot. It adds authenticity and stakes beyond the main thrust of the plot.

I cannot stress this enough: Rose essentially being like “I can’t hack EVERYTHING Peter, that’s not how the world works” and still needing to do physical, analogue, paper research. Yes, yes, YES!

Love that they didn’t take the comfortable way out and make Peter Sr’s shit be a part of this / another conspiracy and didn’t make things easy for Peter Jr. as a reward for everything he accomplished by the end of the narrative.

Every. single. time. Rose attacks someone.

**Bonus:

Rose and the Rome Tome nuts’ wallets? Perfection. The show’s capacity for quiet humour despite the action shenanigans is good throughout, but my god that early moment is never topped.

The Canada Post truck that cruises by in one of the most obvious shots I have recently seen of that happening for a show set in the US. Gotta love Canadian filming locations!

Cons:

The almost forced-feeling cursing and some overdone dialogue in the first couple eps. I’m not sure if I just got more used to it after or if it really did improve as the episodes continued.

A full emergency / med kit in the boat but they needed to crack open the liquor to sterilise the wound? What the hell?!?

Whatever the fuck was going on with the assassins in that hotel room re: her riding his hand like a rodeo participant. The impotent thing is fine, it brings something interesting to their dynamic and his character as a whole (although we certainly don’t like the possible implication that this adds to his heinousness or whatever because fuck that noise, THAT’S not why he’s a monster!) but the sex scene itself felt unnecessary AF.

Umm, on that note, creepy-eyes assassin lady? Stealing a baby and raising it rather than conceiving and birthing and raising it would still make you parents, and the kid could easily still end up as fucked-up as you’re imagining, even if it doesn’t share your genes.

Disregard my earlier comment about the benefit of so many people being knocked off; Cisco was an unacceptable loss and I want him to be not dead.

[forsakenmissives]

I know nothing about football but I'd still like to hear about the au :3

see bc i complain and then i don't even know where to start LOL

ok so ig i'll start with the title From the Sidelines and a little description i have, to pique interest heh

Arthur is Camelot FC's star striker and captain. Merlin is the kitman. Life is hardly ever fair.

anyway . i suppose that's. a little misleading. that being said i think this grew into something waaaaay larger than i originally planned @.@ like it was supposed to be a fun little addition to the surprisingly small amt of footballer arthur fics we have but now this fic has double daddy issues (balinor my beloved...), coming out, sports injuries, shitty coaches (aredick die by my sword) and never making the national team. HUH??? i just wanted merthur to fuck on the pitch... (joke) (just in time for fuck him on the field friday)

also there's side stories. like one is when the players get handcuffed tgt for 24hrs but they've got an uneven amt for it and merlin gets roped in

and then there's the valentine's day arwen special that i somehow accidentally made into a statement about arthur's attitude toward his sexuality?? and feelings for merlin??? through his anxiety about his date with gwen????

“All good?” Merlin asks. “Never better,” Arthur replies, then pivots and walks directly into his closet. He stares at his barren shoe rack before he feels hands on his shoulders, and Merlin is turning him around and guiding him back out. “Wrong way,” he hears him say. “Right.” This time, Arthur marches out his room then down the hall to the front door. “I’ll be back.”

i'm allowed to give this info bc i don't know if i'll ever actually post the extras. i dont' even know when i'm gonna finish the main story sjkdfhgjkf

oh yeah another side story takes place in 2007 (that might be the title for it idk) and it's about uther buying camelot fc for arthur's tenth birthday LOL dont question the legaltiy of arthur playing for his father's club. i dont know and i dont care. this is fiction SIMILARLY dont say shit abt arthur being a striker and captain. it's happened before. it's literally fine. dont even worry about it

there's like. ik i rly only talked about the side stories but u have to realize just how much has already gone into this fic and i wouldn't even say i'm halfway done. i don't think i've written out a single match which is also funny bc i've been keeping up with the prem and actually think i can do it now. i just keep dragging my feet abt it lol

i think the hardest part for me is when im gonna have to seriously injure arthur. i didnt want to but i think it's an important way for his and merlin's relationship to progress and also would explain merlin's attitude toward him in january. its less abt injuring him and more abt him having to sit out of games not for like. lineup stats/compatibility reasons

oh my god typing this all out made me realize we haven't met like. half of the guys on the team yet. i was sitting here like "i need to rewatch eps with all the knights bc i dont trust myself to write percy and elyan accurately" but now i just realized i dont even know if mordred is on the like. squad yet or if he's still with the u18s (after a brief check with my info page he is. i'm gonna be sick)

like i said there is a LOT of info on this . sorry this was so long i just needed to ramble a bit and it also made me realize some info i still need to include so yayyy :3 thank you nonny if u have anything u wanna know in specific like fr anything PLEASE ask. i'd love it so much if u asked. u saved my life <3

[deathbxnny]

Hi there! It’s been a while ^_^

First of all, thanks for making my wrio request. It is everything i imagine what a dynamic between him and Vi would be like and i love it.

Second of all, i saw your post that mention you being sick. I hope you get well soon and get enough rest while your at it. Being sick while also doing final exams and running on 3-4 hours of sleep is hell.. i would know that bc ive done it (and i dont regret it despite passing out by the time i get home). So please dont do what i did and take care of yourself, drink your medicine as needed, drink water, and just rest 👍

Im nearing the end of my final exams and will be having my school break soon which i will be using to finish up any major or long story quest in HSR and Genshin. Im planning to get Citlali later (bc god she is so relatable and funny). Mauvika is gonna debut alongside her, what’s your thoughts on her gameplay? (and the fact she has a literal motorcycle WTH hoyoverse?!)

Also i saw your post about black butler and ngl im kinda excited to see you open requests for it bc well.. it has became a guilty pleasure of mine 😅 so expect some black butler requests once you add it to your roster and open requests

Speaking of anime, have you watched/read Dandadan? There was this episode (ep 7) that made me bawl like a baby bc.. good god it was heartbreaking and wonderfully created.

Uh so yeah.. that’s all. Again, i hope you get well soon and thank you for your arcane posts, they help me whenever i need to wind down after studying for hours. Hope you have a good day/night and take care of yourself bxnny!

- Flower Anon 🌸

-----♡

Hello Flower Anon!!<33

I'm so glad to hear from you again, and I'm glad you liked my post! Also, thank you so much for the well wishes and reminders. They mean a lot to me. I'm happy to know that your exams are finally coming to an end because you seriously deserve a good, long break for your hard work! I'm definitely proud of you for it, but you should also definitely take care if yourself too, even when it's hard with the lack of time...

Regarding Mavuika, I have over 160 wishes saved up just for her and her weapon. I've skipped literally every single character just for her and cannot wait to FINALLY get my hands on her after so long. I'm obsessed with her whole aesthetic and the motorcycle, especially. Her attacks and idles are just so good, too. So I'm excited, to say the least lol. (I need her-)

I'm glad you're excited for the potential black butler content, btw, because I'm essentially going back to my roots, lol. Fun fact about me, my first fanfics/one-shots were for the black butler Fandom when it was still extremely popular in the early/mid 2010s, so this is going to be great haha.

I have also tried, REALLY tried, to like Dandadan. I read the first volume and didn't enjoy it at all for some reason. Then I tried the anime, but idk, still didn't click for me so ig it's not my thing, lol. Great character designs tho!

Anyhow, I hope to continue making good content for you to enjoy, and thank you again for your little update! I'm always happy to hear from you fr and I wish you a lot of good luck for the last of your exams!

Take care of yourself too, and have a good day/night!<3

-----♡

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x12 thoughts

Lol look I got there in the end. I actually wrote this in June but intended to do a read through before posting... then got on a plane and promptly forgot about the entire thing til now haha.

But here it is anyway, a very belated 3x12 recap with a random assortment of my thoughts about the finale.

Ugh poor Thony, seeing a woman in a blonde wig and green shirt playing with Luca and having that split second of thinking it was somehow Nadia, only to instantly know it was impossible. It must have felt like she was being haunted by Nadia’s ghost ugh, and no wonder she immediately goes and downs a huge glass of whiskey

Are we sure Ramona’s been cured of the lead poisoning? Bc her plan to ‘eliminate’ the Feds is ridiculously irrational. Jorge offers her a perfect, clever solution and yet she turns him down because ‘Derek’ wants her to take out the Feds. Who the hell is this guy? Is he the one who suggested she set Jorge up to be her fall guy, or did she come up with that on her own? So much for ‘family’ being everything to her– Jorge was everything to her until he started outgrowing her and defying her, and now she wants to move on to Violeta, to take her and mold her and make her into a copy of herself, and if she has to get Jorge out of the way to make that happen, she will

On one hand, dumping Nadia’s body on Russo’s doorstep is so awful, but on the other, I’m actually kinda glad that Ramona did that? I’m glad she was delivered directly into the hands of someone who would genuinely mourn her loss, who would treat her body with care and respect, rather than her body being just left in the desert to rot. By sending this ‘message’, Ramona ensured that Nadia could be cremated and reunited with Arman, and that means so much to me. (Yes I haveindeed  made myself cry multiple times wondering about what is going to happen to both of their ashes now– I had a fic idea of Thony asking Jorge to take her to Curacao to spread their ashes together on some beautiful beach somewhere, to honour them the way they deserve. Ughh.). 

Also I just realised that as far as the FBI knew, the last Thony saw of Nadia was when she escaped from Jeremy’s lair. They just think that Nadia tried to make a run for it and that Ramona found her, killed her, and dumped her. Even when Thony’s van shows up with the blood in it, they would probably have assumed Ramona had the van stolen and used in the transport of the body to point the finger at Thony. But idk, it seems like Thony tells the Feds the truth of what happened at some point anyway.

Omg Chris banging on the door was so stressful, what if ICE was still there?? Like yes Camila needed treatment for her infection, but not so urgently to risk her (and himself, and all those other people) being deported!! And then him having to fight his way out?? Like damn son you got your protective instincts from your mama. It must have been such a relief to see her in that kitchen– remember he’s only 16! He’s in way over his head, and then his mum appears and protects him like she’s done his whole life. Honestly though MVP of this ep goes to the chef who immediately clocks the situation and tosses the carrots on the floor– what an ally! Love it.

“If you can’t do your job, I’m gonna do it” I really love how Thony talks to Feds haha. Zero respect given, which is exactly as it should be. It must feel familiar for Thony to hear the Feds going after the right-hand man rather than the head of the crime organisation yet again– just like with Hayak and Arman, it was only her stepping in that prevented Arman from bearing the brunt of the FBI while Hayak walked free, and now she’s trying to do the same for Jorge. The conversation between her and Jorge in the warehouse is definitely similar to the one she had with Arman in his office in 1x10 (aka where she was trying to convince a man she cares about to save both himself and her by turning on his boss) though with two major differences: one, Arman already knew about her involvement with the Feds, so rather than feeling betrayed, he felt worried for her; and two, he was already in love with her, so she was more important to him than Hayak. Jorge cares for Thony, but in this moment he’s reeling not only from the news of Nadia’s murder at Ramona’s hands, but also the realisation that someone he trusted and let into his home helped bring the FBI down on him, and now she also drops this bomb that the person he’s closest to in the world intends to betray him and ruin his life? Poor guy is definitely in a much harder situation than Arman ‘Protect Thony At All Costs’ Morales. I love that despite his opposition to Thony’s claims, Jorge still ends up making a plan to keep Violeta safe, because clearly some part of him knows that Thony is telling the truth, that she is genuinely trying to protect him and his family as well as her own. Truly hilarious that he’s like ‘nope no way I’m going to have a meeting with the Fed’ and she’s like ‘yeah you are’ and literally the next scene is him coming to her house to meet with Jeremy haha. Again, definitely very reminiscent of 1x10 when Arman meets with Garrett for her. I could totally understand some viewers being annoyed by the similarities and calling it repetitive writing, but I think it’s actually kind of cool to see her getting caught in the same situations repeatedly, because it really demonstrates the theme of how Thony walks the line between light and dark, good and evil, law and crime… she is the bridge between the two, never quite able to escape one or the other, instead always pulled back in, always balancing it out. But ugh anyway I’m not over when Jeremy asks Jorge “Which side do you want to be on?” and Jorge turns and looks at Thony. Hers. He wants to be on her team– not part of Ramona’s crazy empire, not a FBI rat, but the team of morally grey parents doing whatever it takes to keep their kid safe. Yaaaass.

And then later the similarities to the heist with Arman appear again when we realise Jorge used the FBI to get the fingerprint, allowing him access to what he wanted– just like Arman using the FBI sting to steal Hayak’s money. With Arman, though, she had the trust in him to know that he would protect her no matter what. She can’t trust Jorge like that, not yet… but maybe one day. I appreciate that even after the trauma of what just happened with Ramona being arrested, Jorge goes to Thony and puts an arm around her, the two of them united, each other’s stable ground as their worlds crumble around them. I love that they walk out together, the survivors, and he tells her that not only is she safe from repercussions from the cartel, but that there’s also a place for her within his new empire if she wants it. I love her answer, quoting Arman and how he used his power to protect the ones he loved, whereas Ramona used that power to hurt others… and how she wants to do things her own way. To me, her way is using power to protect those who don’t have the power to protect themselves– her family, yes, but also the vulnerable, the undocumented, the poor and sick and disabled, the people that the system leaves behind or even persecutes. The fact she’s even alive right now is a gift from both Arman and Garrett, and she’s not going to waste it. She’s going to make it count by helping as many as she can, because every life she betters honours those who gave theirs for her. 

Jorge bringing Violeta to Teresa… omg I can’t. First, it shows he really heard and listened to Thony, and that he truly doesn’t trust Ramona to be the one to raise Violeta. But ugh I was so hoping we could see Eduardo meet Violeta… I would have loved seeing him be all sweet with her, then share a wordless nod of understanding with Jorge, like a sign that their family might just begin to heal… but still, I loved that Teresa was immediately ready to go up against Ramona to protect Violeta. She couldn’t prevent her son from being pulled into the world of crime, but maybe she could save Violeta from the same fate, and that makes me wanna cry a bit 

Would using a 16 year old personally connected to Thony’s family to identify criminals really work, in like a legal sense? Also how likely would she, a ‘lowly’ worker, have been to have actually seen the boss guys? Meh idc I’ll roll with it

Thony was so terrified about Ramona finding out about her helping Nadia, so sure she would kill her for it, and yet Ramona’s response is literally like ‘eh couldn’t blame Thony for defying me, she’s not a killer’ lol. And then later at the gala she is pleased with Thony simply for confirming her own suspicions about Jeremy, which they really didn’t need Thony for anyway? They clocked him as a Fed themselves just from the way he was acting lol, but whatevs, it gave Thony an excuse to be there and for us to enjoy that white dress lol

“She’s never going to tell you anything! She’s too smart!/ “Well I got you to tell me you were mixed up with Sin Cara”  Yeah Jeremy, she told you that when she was half in shock after you guys both nearly got violently murdered (during which she literally saved your life btw), and also after like 2 weeks of you manipulating her when she was at her most vulnerable, and grieving the man she loved? Her slipping up once in that high-stress situation is not the same as you smooth-talking Ramona for 5 minutes buddy. Also, fuck you. And lol your attempt really didn’t go the way you hoped, did it? Ran away with your tail between your legs lol. Can’t believe Thony actually goes to the effort of saving your dumbass life, again!! You better pay her back for that one or I swear

“Let’s burn it to the ground” loved the inclusion of this line between Fi and Thony, given the conversation between Jorge and Nadia at the wake of wanting to burn everything down after losing the loves of their lives. Looks like it’s a sentiment that they all share

Ngl I enjoyed Jorge coming up to Thony immediately when she arrived at the gala, not only telling her she ‘cleans up well’ (lol punny) but the little moment of camaraderie they share with an almost-joke about Ramona planning to bury her in the dress– they both know the risk they’re facing but they’re facing it together, and that makes it just a fraction less horrific. I wonder if Ramona questions why Thony and Jorge are sticking together all night? Maybe she just assumes Thony feels safer around him, which I suppose would be true haha

Literally how does Jorge get all the way from the gala to their underground bunker and back in time????? Some TV magic happening there for sure lol

Thony and Ramona’s showdown on the roof is kinda funny… like how did Thony know to go up there? How did she walk around with that gun without being noticed? But no matter. And ugh Thony shaking and crying as she tells Ramona she deserves to die for Nadia and Arman… my creys. Plus it was definitely satisfying to see Ramona realise that Thony and Jorge had allied against her (which was her own fault! If she hadn’t betrayed him, he never would have betrayed her! Consequences, baby!). I do appreciate that Jorge told the FBI exactly where to find her, saving Thony from having to take Ramona out and then potentially go to jail for her murder… though  it would be very cool if in S4 Ramona somehow weasels her way out of prison, and so Thony has no choice to take the matter into her own hands once and for all– for herself, for Nadia, and for Arman. 

Haha awww the family all at home, celebrating, doing karaoke? My heart. “How about a love song for you and Camila, Chris?” lollll Jaz is such a little sister and I love it. JD suggesting Beyonce for him and Luca, Thony and Fi looking relaxed and happy, Chris getting his kiss and Luca accidentally cockblocking…. This family deserves to have some simple happiness after everything they’ve been through! 

“Not this time” oh Thony, you know that escaping ~the life~ is not so easy… like Arman told you a long time ago, once you’re in, you’re in… Looks like Derek will be an issue for both Thony and Jorge to have to contend with next season. Tbh I thought that this final scene could have been shot better though, like instead of Thony’s “Not this time” and then a cut to black, they should have had her say that and then walk away, and the camera pans past the phone (which stops ringing and goes dark) and follows her to the lounge where we see her rejoin the festivities with a grin on her face, choosing joy and light in defiance of the dark that’s trying to pull her back in. But nvm I guess lol, sadly the writers don’t consult me on this stuff so it’ll just have to stay in my head haha

[charlesdesvoeux]

terror rewatch time!!! i'll be using this post to comment on ep. 3 "the ladder" block the tag terrorwatch2 if you'd like :-)

just throw silna's father into a fucking fire hole huh. god these fucking people. the utter contempt and disrespected for anything and anyone who is of the place that they plunder and destroy and exploit and pollute with their very presence.

"if that's how they punish one of their own how will they deal with-" imperialists? plunderers? what word were you gonna use, ned? how would you describe your mission and your effect upon this land, now that the blood of an inuk man is in your hands?

"if the arctic bedeviled him, why should it open up to you, that's his thinking" and he was right lady jane........ sorry your hubby's hubris that you also stoked killed him (not really sorry though!!!!)

the way jirv quickly looks around to see if anyone is watching billy enter his room.... "do other people know of his vices? will i be taken for one of them if they see him entering me my room?"

goddddd the way franklin dooms them further by not allowing the sled party to go find rescue.... man..... sir john ross was mean to me and i'm gonna doom myself and 100+ men about it

"you're the worst kind of second" bc you don't fawn and throw yourself at my feet jesus fucking christ john franklin die challenge. "you'll never be fit for command... the vanity of your outlook" he's describing himself and attributing it all to crozier!!!! that is quite revealing

he's sooo fucking harsh to crozier. and obviously croziers not perfect but like. bringing the sophia thing into it is just cruel. perhaps deep down he feels a sense of inadequacy, and he knows crozier was more deserving of commanding the expedition, and he was only appointed bc of his being more "respectable" and not more competent, and that's why he puts so much emphasis in performance, in the "your demeanor should be all cheer" of it all.

dundy and jfj eavesdropping lolllll

the offer to lead the party is quite selfish as 1) he's pretty sure they're on the vortex of doom and he's trying to save himself and 2) he finds franklin's presence impossible to tolerate and wants to distance himself from him, even if he finds way to rationalize the choice to have him lead the party himself. but also pls imagine poor lt. little having to take command of terror at this point in time (any point in time really) it would be a DISASTER

ok so it's The Scene (jirv + hickey)... the way jirv looks away uncomfortable after hickey says he was hoping they'd meet...

"separated from the temptations of the world... find spiritual benefit in the collective... man's worst urges can be satisfied through christian pleasures..." the way he has a list at the ready!!!! tell me: what are your worst urges, john irving?

"god sees you, mr. hickey, here more than anywhere" now that's an interesting one. bc we know hickey wants to be seen, in a way; he wants to be recognized as somehow superior, and better. especially at this point by captain crozier but also in a metaphysical sense as well. this culminates in his arrogance in trying to bond with tuunbaq in the end.

his slight little smile in the end!!! he clocks that irving is scared of him. and if irving is scared then that means hickey has power. and he wants power, power over his circumstances, power over other people, power over nature.

I HAD ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN THE "DO YOU KNOW WHAT COPULATES IN THIS SHIP? RATS" THING. CORNELIUS HICKEY RAT MOTIF FOREVER.

billy argues that he has to keep himself in good standing with the command which is why they have to break up (it's a power thing and hickey has this obsessive relationship to the idea of power) hickey tries to argue that he's croziers specialest boy (power thing again; being liked by someone might mean having power over them and who wouldn't like to have power over the most powerful man around, the captain?) and billy just fully!!! laughs!!!! in his face!!!

also hickey's "it could lead anywhere ;-)" he wants to fuck that old man sooooo bad

"educate this creature as to the dominion of the empire" GODDDDDD TUUNBAQ DOESNT CARE ABOUT YOUR GODDAMN EMPIRE IT SIGNIFIES NOTHING TO HIM YOU ARE SIMPLY MEAT TO EAT AND SOULS TO CONSUME

unceremoniously dumped by tuunbaq in the same hole they unceremoniously dumped silna's dad. rot in piss <3

"you don't think it's strange how it started killing as soon as we took down the [slur]?" babyboy whose name I do not know you are SO CLOSE to getting it.

this very genuine grief over their fallen comrades expressed through singing was very touching to me.

I like how in the eulogy crozier gives (written by franklin) we tie back to the themes of power developed earlier through the imagery of the ladder; how you can climb up or down in the rungs of power...

GODDDD hickey shitting on billy's bed. babyboy I love you forever <3 also him finding out about croziers attempted resignation!!! having someone's secret also means having some measure of power over them- even if they don't know it

oh and that is also where he kind of gets the inkling of how truly fucked they are. and then the gears in his mind really start turning...

[hariboz]

HELLO HELLO ML !!!! so sorry for the late reply ive been shockingly sorta busy these days :0 BUT IM BACK 2 TALK TO MY FAVE WRITERRRRR ( AKA U !!!!! )

ALSO I LISTENED TO SOME OF THE NCT WISH SONGS N HANDS UP IS DEF MY FAVE SO FAR ( u successfully influenced me ) n im totally gonna watch that bakery thing n get back to u bc why is that so cute.. ILL LYK MY POTENTIAL BIAS TOO N SEE IF UR PREDICTIONS R CORRECT 🤞🏻

I FEEL SO BAD FOR U LOVIE T__T i actually got lucky n found some zb1 digi albums at the kpop store in a mall where i live N TELL ME HOW I GOT ANOTHER WOOK !!!!! i love my man u guys ( i also got a hao n two gyubs <3 ) ALSO IKR ??? yujins pcs r so cute n pretty for no reason i swear T^T ACTUALLY SENDING MY RICKY PCS TO U I NEED TO SAVE UR WALLET !!!!! i love him but the way that hes avoiding u like that needs to end !! u both shld be reunited 🤭

&& IKR ?!?!?! wk1 being a good company was not on my 2024 bucket list but im not mad ???? LIKE LETS GO, despite it being such a stupid controversy im glad they shut the "zeroses" up n let my man free !!

NOT THE OLLIE FUND ( i dont blame u ) I SAW THAT URE GETTING THE MAGAZINES FOR HIM N GETTING SOME PCS IN APRIL ?!?! GOOD LUCK W/ UR PULLS !!! although u can get no wrong ones i mean.. ITS OLLIE !!!! but im so excited to see what u get ( if u get any good ones i might steal them, watch out... )

— 🎀

HELLOOOOO POOKIE <3 i’m glad ur back !! && AS YOU SHOULD hands up is soooo fun omg!! they did perform wish which is their debut song at smtown so if you’d like to check that out before the mv drops on the 28th…here you go 🥹🫶🏻 YESS watch wish bakery it’s SO cute ugh i love them all so much (my bet is still on riku & ryo + sakuya being your faves!! but they’re all so lovely <3)

i got 4 (FOUR!!) cheap mp digis on neokyo a while ago but STILL NO WOOKIE!! like this is personal atp…bc i have to buy ricky’s usually i actually end up with doubles 😭 i join multiple inclusion group orders and by the time all of them get to me i usually alr have the rickys i need…it was this way for yits & mp so i guess i just don’t learn LMAO maybe i should use the double rickys to trade for some wookies 🤭

i fear this will be the only time wk1 does something right…i don’t trust them to keep this up 😭 omg also “zeroses” are always mad abt something, i just stopped using twt bc every time i do i turn miserable bc why are k-zeroses mad over taerae doing gg dances well??? put this energy into something else oh my god

OLLIE FUND! OLLIE FUND! [chanting] i’m pretty sure the asy final will also be entirely decided on paid votes so….😵‍💫 i guess i’ll have to tap into the fund…? i sound insane but that’s my SON he needs to debut..!! speaking of the final..it’ll be a live show which should be obvious…but also it’s asy and all the eps were filmed in like october/november except for the rankings so 😭 i’m ready to have another breakdown like i did w the bp final…i guess…OLLIE FIRST OLLIE CENTER LETS GOOO!! &&& YES THE MAGAZINES!! i’m so excited for them oh my god!! & actually the pcs are guaranteed if i read everything correctly!! so the ones you see on that one post are the ones i’ll actually get and HES SO CUTE i’m so excited 🥹🫶🏻

[feuqueerfire]

Twinkling Watermelon Live Blogging

Came across some Tiktoks (I think the first one showed up on my FYP on my phone) about a deaf girl in school being tripped by a group of girls and a girl being nice to her and with a guy who's yelling at her for making fun of him but her not understand but then !! I found this Tiktok in the tags which has characters from this series and My Perfect Stranger who time travelled back in time to when their parents were teens! Not only that, the main guy in this is the son from 18 Again (aside: I've been Obsessed with this OST again for the past week this January), which this show kinda reminds me of even though that one had the parent turning young in current timeline rather than time travel. Then I realized that it's actually a really hyped show that everybody seems to be watching.

Anyway, been a long time since I watched a full-length kdrama that's not a rewatch (From Now On, Showtime! in June 2023), so I hope I love it. Again, bad timing because busy with school but the thing is, it's nearly always bad timing, so here it goes I guess.

Episode 1 (Jan 19, 2024)

It's 1:30AM and I'm starting this lol, I'm gonna just watch 15 mins and go to sleep so that I have something to look forward to/be excited about when waking up tomorrow

Do all these shows always start with something bad/scary happening so that it's used as a hook? I'm just remembering Psychopath Diary starting with this guy's worst day of ever which made me stop watching lol The events with this ingredient man seem like it'll turn sour

you're not gonna show me what the father answered smh will it be revealed at a critical, heart-wrenching moment in the future?

ahhh the fuckass landlady and her fuckass child i can’t believe the kid is threatening him with eviction if they do t cheat So did Eun Gyeol erase and put his own name again afterwards? idgi

From what I know about this show, Eun Gyeol goes back in time + makes some sort of music band? So I’m gonna assume his dad actually wrote this song or smth (turning his “I feel sorry that only I can play songs like this” untrue) and he used to be able to hear?

My current bad habit is wishing we could go back to grownup Eun Gyeol so that I could look at his pretty nice face. Like brooo pause on being someone who loves to look at pretty boys and focus on the story at hand

Girl we once again have: worst day of ever. house on fire, grandpa dead/injured, flashback to when his dad said he’ll save Eun Gyeol first to help save the others

I hate this girl’s guitare case so bad idk why the shape of it gives me the ick - anyway is she the girl who saw him crying in front of grandfather’s store? and is she gonna be his love interest?

oh it’s a cello case + it’s the brother’s gf (Eun Gyeol wouldn’t steal his brothers gf right?)

wait lol what’s happening i got so confused. + the weak hero class guy intro (not park jihoon), is he the landlady's kid all grown up?

oh lol anonymous busking

Well the random watching 15 mins and go to bed didn’t quite work out bc i did go to bed but finished the ep on my ipad instead of sleeping lol it’s like 3AM now rip

As I was watching, occasionally, I’d be like Oh that’s Shinwoo from 18 Again. Slightly wrong, the name was Shi Woo, but why do I remember even that fr?

No time travelling yet but a good start.

Was looking at the r/kdrama On-Air posts and it started off with posts w 100+ comments, then 200+, then 300+, and the final one has 800+ comments lol, did it blow up after the show finished airing or was almost at the end?

Episode 2 (Jan 19)

The secondary guy and the cello girl are both annoying right now but I assume they'll both grow, get better, etc. like firstly my guy why are you following around and stalking this girl T.T if he wasn't so overwhelmingly charming/endearing and we weren't seeing his side, it'd come off much creepier. and she's obviously like being forced to be in a strict schedule because of her family or whatever (wearing the pink dress while longingly looking at the black one lol) and she'll stop being the "ice queen" as time goes on, but idk I feel like there are characters who are kinda snobby but makes you like them regardless, whereas she's not quite hitting that for me

but him getting embarrassed about his open pants zipper and running away while covering his face was cute tho

hmm this older man (Yoon Dong Jin) was in a band in high school and he's the only one of the members who still does music... was Eun Gyeol's dad in this band perhaps? and was he the one who had the big accident to make him deaf?

This new band thing for Eun Gyeol happened so fast, tbh like no camaraderie? No getting to know the band members?

broo the landlady hit the dad's car? are we joking lmao

relying on a kid for interpreting serious matters is just So Much pls just write or text amongst adults

And also the father making his son say inflammatory stuff to the landlady (or the mother to that ingredient seller beforehand) instead of writing it on their own like cmon

okay at least they mentioned that there was a professional translator for the police convo, she was late but then again, c'mon let's use some writing utensils. they texted Byeong Ho when he was a kid

girl not this Mess in this band + the Eun Gyeol spilling his guilt and guts about the fire incident

The thing is I feel no desire to watch Eun Gyeol go back to this band. I want him to follow his dreams, do music, etc but not necessarily with these people - specifically that drummer guy agh

this fawking guitar T.T I knew Grandpa left it for Ha Eun Gyeol in his will

I knewwww I shouldn't have started this episode before finishing my important, pressing university lecture. Anyway I'm stopping at 42mins for now, hope I can do homework for an hour before coming back here lol. okay I did homework for an hour :)

Oh yeah, I forgot I thought the ice cream shop guy might've been grown up landlady's son but I don't think so anymore ig since when would he have hit the father with the car? + his name's Lee Chan (update: Yi Chan). I briefly thought he was the young father maybe but like him and Eun Gyeol are connected through the cello girl

oh wait, the tiktok I saw of the deaf girl falling and getting dirty water on some pretty, popular was in the current timeline? Idk why I thought maybe it was his mom in the previous timeline or smth

oh girl this girl gave the cello girl the shirt and then leaving, fuck don't say lesbians they're not lesbians you're just gonna get your heart broken but...

plsss not the rock band t-shirt making Yi Chan think she likes bands

oh does the deaf girl like Yi Chan or something? In the poster, Eun Gyeol and cello girl (Se Kyeong) are on one side while Yi Chan and newly introduced deaf girl are in the other side hmmm

okayyy the hyung is on Eun Gyeol's side

naurrrrr is this landlady gonna take a photo of Eun Gyeol holding a cigarette? my guy already drinks while underage, let's not get into this too

oh lol pls not a photo but thinking he's doing drugs with them

ahhh and then the landlady throwing it back in the father's face like okay okay some of these are correct (well he's playing at the club... but he does drink) but yikess

wait what happened to his mask?

oh fuck (father-son confrontation)

oh fuck again (when Eun Gyeol's saying he's not his father's trophy nor an interpreter nor an alarm nor an angel)

of fuck (not his father saying you should've told be more, should've convinced me but Eun Gyeol being like how? you can't even hear like D: girl)

oh fuck Eun Gyeol leaving without even saying sorry for the last part

I get him a little bit because it really is so suffocating to live under your parents' expectations and he had sooo much responsibility thrust onto him

he was about to smash the guitar?! girl

oh magic ooh~

girl he's selling the guitar? the grandfather's guitar? well i'm assuming it'll come back to him again but oh wow this really is a 16/17 year old (18 yo in Korean age)

Okayyyy so Yi Chan really is Eun Gyeol's father as a youngster? and the deaf girl is his mother? And the cello girl is maybe the woman who is the Viva Music grandfather's daughter? Because when we saw the woman move into the house with her cello daughter, we didn't see the daughter's face. So this Se Kyeong is actually the mother from when she was younger?

Yknow early in Ep 2 when it moved from Eun Gyeol leaving the band practice to Yi Chan asking his friend for Se Kyeong's contacts + the hijinks with the cello performance, it really did seem like we went to the past/another dimension but I was like hmm maybe not.

ahhh indeed musician Yoon Dong Jin's high school band Fake First Love Memory Makers included Ha Eun Gyeol's dad Ha Yi Chan. I'm guessing the

so he really didn't know his dad could hear and speak in the past. I thought they knew

Okay, I'm glad we moved to the past! I'm excited to see how this goes.

Let's see if I can finish up my homework and other stuff for the day before I end up picking up ep 3. Hopefully the reddit on-air commentary + searching for this show's first week gifs keeps me busy for I crave the next ep.

Episode 3 (Jan 20)

lmaoo the “phone cal to Dong Jin’s gyubgeon was funny”

so Eun Gyeol is gonna take over real life Yoon Dong Jin’s identity? how will this affect the future?

lol he was running bc he needed to go to the bathroom? i thought lat ep he was being chased or smth

cryingggg i love the hijinks that happen at first when the person who time traveled or whatever doesn’t yet realize they need to act normal and go wild with the first interactions like with 18 Again turning into a teenager but claiming to be aging Shia’s father

plss Eun Gyeol staring so intently at his father

lol okay i was glad that these guys were just exceptionally dumb and being fooled by eun gyeol into believing he’s Yoon Dong Jin and that he didn’t successfully somehow fool everybody ever

ahh so true Eun Gyeol is like wtf my dad joined a band not for the music but for a girl and that girl isn’t even my mother !

I hope Yoon Chung Ah (the mother) gets some proper story as a youngin because she wasn’t there much as an adult and even when she was, it was like she just wanted the dad to be happy hmm

I fucking wish they were lesbians talking about Frida Kahlo lesbians sharing headphones

plssss his dad had told them that Eun Gyeol’s mom was his first love??? Eun Gyeol finding out so much about his father

ahh the mother keeping everything from them about her life and saying it’s a secret till they’re older

ah, Eun Gyeol talking about how he stopped being curious about his parents lives because he thought he knew enough…

oh shit he’s homeless rn

waittt so Yoon Dong Jin’s life is now changed fr since he joined a diff band and not this one

TODO: change Lee Chan -> Yi Chan

auuauauah Se Kyeong giving a ticket for the band concert she’s going to Yoon Chung Ah

how bad is the bullying/fighting gonna be for the other girls against Chung Ah? i wasn’t prepared for super bad bullying

okay Yi Chan and Chung Ah met but also Eun Gyeol and Se Kyeong met and I’m hoping nothing romantic happens between them lol and also I don’t want him to get together with Se Kyeong’s daughter either as if through some sort of transitive property

Episode 4 (Jan 20)

ohhh Se Kyeong started doing cello to impress her mother and fill in the space of her dead daughter

ohh so that the Viva Music grandfather was her adoptive father

plsss not Eun Gyeol asking young Se Kyeong why her older self didn’t come to his concert nearly 3 decades in the future with her daughter

but wait her first love was also a “bandman” um so she ended up liking Yi Chan? maybe she meant her first love (Chung Ah) was a bandman lover

omg? Chung Ah’s flashback to some ripe strangling her or smth?

simultaneously thinking that Chung Ah and Yi Chan are cute while mourning Chung Ah and Se Kyeong. The girls won’t become enemies or something later, will they? Can’t handle another True Beauty tragedy

dang, somebody else trying to fuck with Se Kyeong so she thinks Eun Gyeol was sent by them?

ohhh her biological father…

but would he be the guitarist guy since the flower man already looks p old and like he had white hair when Se Kyeong was a teen?

pls Eun Gyeol hiding behind a tree is killing me so bad

lolll Yi Chan having to team up with Eun Gyeol to escape grandma’s wrath

lol getting tested by great grandmother on math. oh yeah i forgot he was doing reeeeally well at school and was supposed to be a doctor or whatever

wait wtf sudden realization that the hyung with the long hair and bad music and Yoon Dong Jin knower pretender is maybe Mr Viva Music grandpa? but he’s supposed to be at least a decade older than Eun Gyeol’s dad + he’s not Se Kyeong’s either dad so maybe not

Eun Gyeol watching his father and great grandmother sing and dance and remembering her and wondering about his joyous dad and crying ahhh family

they sleep the same way omg - Chung Ah’s stepmother chairwoman evil

not Chung Ah setting up her crush Yi Chan with Se Kyeong bc he likes her

I can’t believe Chung Ah’s ruining my lesbian ship dreams like this like Se Kyeong is literally waiting for you at the concert?!?!

bro Yi Chan is such a fucking menace why is he yelling Se Kyeong’s name in the middle of the street girl i’m embarrassed

no like I fully understand why Se Kyeong is mad as fuck even though in this instant it’s not Yi Chan’s fault that he’s there

not Eun Gyeol showing up to have his dad’s back about the band lol

So is Se Kyeong really not impressed by Yi Chan still? good I hope her “I hate band stuff” is real and true and that she and Chung Ah don’t like the same guy (ideally they’d like each other but)

ahhh Eun Gyeol has realized The Accident that his father was in hasn’t yet happened and will happen (this year)

Also, I really do wonder about Yoon Dong Jin like his band memory forgetter whatever disbanded because a member got into a big accident but he’s not even a member anymore

I guess now Eun Gyeol will be trying very hard to prevent his father's accident.

Fun Fact: I knew about 18 Again and Twinkling Watermelon sharing actors (and having kinda similar concepts) but apparently Youth of May also comes into play

Show: Father - Son

18 Again: Lee Dohyun (young ver.) - Shi Woo/Eun Gyeol actor

Twinkling Watermelon: Eun Gyeol's dad (adult Yi Chan) - Eun Gyeol actor

Youth of May: Eun Gyeol's dad (adult Yi Chan actor) - Lee Dohyun

Episode 5 (Jan 20)

Ahh Eun Gyeol previously being like fuck they remember that I wasn't there the day of the fire and couldn't help my brother and he also remembers that there was a time he was drowning and was yelling but his family couldn't hear

The dad has already hinted twice about having his voice taken away/losing sound in his life, how did Eun Gyeol not catch on?

I know people are often into bromance (people being me. I watch half these no-romance, intense bromance shows with either it being a BL in my mind or thinking one of them likes the other romantically) but are they into this bromance or are they put off by the incest? I don't really care this time, I'm more invested in the lesbians because Se Kyeong is literally in love with Chung Ah to me

I do love Yi Chan's pretty girl mannerisms, playing at being an innocent girl being perved on lmfao

Eun Gyeol talking about how the reason he travelled to 1995 is to stop the accident from happening to his dad and hmm I'm pretty sure that's not it. My guess/hope would be he doesn't change too much from the past, the accident still happens, things still happen mostly as they would've without him, but he gets to spend time with and see and understand his parents in a new way

I'm sorry I'm really supposed to believe what Se Kyeong feels for Chung Ah is not lesbianism? Miss girl doesn't give a fuck about saying bye to her bf, is thinking about how she's never coming back to Korea when her best friend asks but is searching for Chung Ah in the airport crowds hoping she shows up?

plss "How should I learn an instrument and sing in 3 octaves in 3 days? Should I give birth to a son and bring him somehow?" and Eun Gyeol just sipping his drink

and Oh Ma Joo inadvertently insulting Eun Gyeol by insulting Yi Chan by insulting his hypothetical son

aw grandma's dream being to see Yi Chan go to college

"Why are you being so nice to me/helping me out all the time?" "Well you saved me a few times in my previous life"

bro Se Kyeong is literally writing a letter to Chung Ah, how is this not gay? At least one sided?

Eun Gyeol's cheeks just going up every time he's complimented and unable to not smile - Gunwook core tbh

auuuu Eun Gyeol eats just like Yi Chan and has the same preferences and has grandmother being like ll y'all acting like you're related ahh reminds me of that ML with mother-in-law with the beef meal scene

oh, so the Se Kyeong coming back and being rebellious wasn't a dream. Was that also how it was in the present timeline and she was lying when she said she was there from 11th grade until her dad died? Because if not and she just randomly came back this time unlike the original time hmm I feel like Eun Gyeol's existence in this timeline hasn't influenced her enough to do all that

Anyway, she seems more fun and loose now, so does she actually like bands? she did a rock guitar motion in the middle there once... so does she actually end up liking Yi Chan? or would it be Eun Gyeol or smth

waittt this random guitar store called White Night's owner is Se Kyeong's biological father and will likely become Mr Viva Music grandpa okayyy bad casting but sure

ah, Se Kyeong caught on that Eun Gyeol very explicitly doesn't want her around Yi Chan

Girl, Se Kyeong's home life exploding rn?

I remember someone on a reddit on-air thread was like maybe Se Kyeong's daughter also came back in the timeline and just looks exactly like her mother and I was wondering if this did happen but hmm, doesn't quite seem like it because she already knows everything that Se Kyeong is supposed to

nooo I get why Yi Chan feels so wronged but don't yell at Chung Ah !!

Wait... his dad met his mom at 20 after going to a sign language class... I guess in the original timeline, Chung Ah just saw Yi Chan chasing Se Kyeong (while harbouring a crush from the bookstore incident) but Yi Chan didn't know her and this time because Yi Chan was escaping from Eun Gyeol, he ran into that other PE teacher who he had to run away from and thus ran into Chung Ah closet. And I guess if that didn't happen, Chung Ah wouldn't have given that concert ticket and that whole fiasco wouldn't have happened, neither with Yi Chan and Chung Ah nor with the jam session at the concert that Eun Gyeol stepped into.

Finally Eun Gyeol meeting his mom - Chung Ah!

not the meeting of all 4 of them in front of the ice cream shop

Insane ending, straight to ep 6 oof

Episode 6 (Jan 20)

damn, they sent Cheong Ah's mother away? D:

Her fuckass dad took her mom who knows where and brought in the stepmother fucking immediately? crazy

ah, her trying to teach Cheong Ah to speak (cruelly too) instead of teaching her sign language

and isolating her as punishment helllll

wait, so Cheong Ah doesn't properly know sign language because of this?

omgggg not the party where Se Kyeong played cello and Yi Chan had his zip open being in Cheong Ah's backyard where she's not allowed to attend

This would've happened regardless of Eun Gyeol interference right? So in original timeline, the mother must've liked the father for a longass time before properly meeting

omg Yi Chan making Se Kyeong wait to go apologize to Cheong Ah

but then being a dumbass bro what

the watermelon keychain + Viva La Vida belonging to Cheong Ah? girl everybody and everyone connected in this story fr lol

no she's fr playing with Yi Chan (convincing myself she's just going through it and doesn't like Yi Chan fr and there'll be no fight or sadness between her and Cheong Ah about liking him)

she doesn't remember how he knows her address?

ah fuck so scary, Se Kyeong really has a noose in her room

You know with the guitar playing and now skating, whenever it shows the bottom half of them doing the activity without their face in frame, I wonder if that's a stunt double or whatever?

fawk, if I wasn't rooting for Yi Chan + Cheong Ah out of principle and I didn't know that Se Kyeong is really fucking going through it and mostly just messing with Yi Chan, I would've really rooted for her and Yi Chan in its current form (her being bold as hell, showing up in a motorcycle and bringing tickets for a theme park date while Yi Chan is nervous and shy despite being a very boisterous boy with a very healthy dose of ego)

Eun Gyeol doing his best to 1) make sure his dad doesn't get into an accident and 2) ruin his dad's date with another girl

Eun Gyeol and Se Kyeong antagonisms are fun

How would you react to somebody thinking you have a crush on your real father lmfao anyway brings me back to what the BL fans are making of this relationship

personally not really into fictional character incest either but otherwise, I would've actually been really into the bromance, it's so funny Eun Gyeol speedily catching Yi Chan in his arms while pushing away Se Kyeong while all the other guys go to save Se Kyeong

pls they all think they're dating or smth

and now Se Kyeong being like oh do you like me actually?

I actually really could be into Eun Gyeol and Se Kyeong too (have I said this about every single pair out of these 4 except Eu Gyeol and Cheong Ah?), they're funny in their antagonisms as I said

Also, she kinda reminds me of Beyond Evil Minjeong with this new personality

also I'm into noona romance lol but would def prefer that he's not in HIGH SCHOOL

damn, tough fight and Eun Gyeol leaving

Ah, as expected, if he goes back to 2023 now, it'd be to a very different time

oh I thought he was gonna get shocked from touching his electric guitar in the rain but mic works too

ah, so it has indeed been Se Kyeong's daughter? since the out of order phone rang? When Se Kyeong didn't know how Eun Gyeol knew her address, I was like hmmmmm but it seems too hard for her to know all the rest, so I thought no. I also thought she'd say I'm from the future when Eun Gyeol first confronted her about why she came back and he was like being like loll your reason can't be worse/weirder than mine

Episode 7 (Jan 21)

First thing in the morning, watching the next ep rip

Ah, people in the on-air thread were mentioning that the lugagge tag was Eun Yoo when she came from America in ep 3

Also, I wonder whether Eun Yoo knows that Eun Gyeol isn't supposed to be there? she's never properly met him in the present timeline. ig it'll be fun when they realize the other's from the future too? and then they'll fall in love, which is good bc I was afraid that Eun Gyeol was gonna fall for Se Kyeong here or smth and then settle for like lookalike daughter in the original present timeline who was obviously a different person

not Se Kyeong emulating her mother in a bad way toward her own daughter

hearing adult Se Kyeong talk about her first love being a bandman is so funny because like well first of all, you were in love with a girl: Chung Ah. also, it kinda makes me think that despite her saying her first love was a bandman who was bright as sunshine, cheerful, and manly, it's somehow not Yi Chan because like she mentioned the boy who started a band for her but didn't mention he's her first love. Makes me think it's Eun Gyeol or smth but they barely had any interactions fr and like I don't think adult Se Kyeong had met teenage Eun Gyeol

ah, she really is going back to stop them from getting married and getting together with somebody else instead (although... can't Se Kyeong just do the same stuff as original tl since she's in America? and even if not, her pretending to have a relationship with Yi Chan isn't gonna make it happen fr - although maybe she thinks that if she can get herself and Yi Chan in a relationship and bring Se Kyeong back, she'll get together with her first love easily)

loll the $1 bills never having been changed

okay indeed Se Kyeong's first love isn't Yi Chan

loll Eun Yoo's gonna think her first love was Eun Gyeol despite Eun Gyeol not having been there in Se Kyeong's original teenage timeline

omg Se Kyeong wrote the letter/note in the concert ticket envelope... do I go check to see what she wrote? Okay I rechecked and it's nothing super romantic, just saying she was surprised that "you" were into bands and an invitation to go to the concert with her. but guys my lesbian goggles are just...

Yi Chan and Chung Ah are really cute fr I'm like :] :D :) watching them

naurr Eun Gyeol leaving and not taking the guitar pick (do we think somebody else - Mr. Viva grandpa - gets it and gives him back to him as a child)

Se Kyeong never had a meal with Eun Gyeol or Cheong Ah, so her first love is neither of them - lesbian dreams crashing once again. but who knows, maybe there was an event at Cheong Ah's house where they snuck together to eat food

but also funny that Eun Gyeol doesn't even appear on Eun Yoo's list of who Se Kyeong liked - does she know Eun Gyeol is a future kid too?

oh lol she just thinks Eun Gyeol likes men but him liking men wouldn't mean Se Kyeong still couldn't like him.

Since they're father and son and we established they eat the same way, I'd assume Eun Gyeol can also handle spicy food since Yi Chan's eating it like it's nothing

All these fucking photos of Eun Gyeol staring at Yi Chan I'm crying, no wonder Eun Yoo is convinced that he likes him

Eun yoo saying Eun Gyeol makes her heart flutter somehow...

plss naught eun gyeol making money writing essays etc

auuuuu this is the part time to buy yi chan a guitar

oof yi chan realizing how he treated eun gyeol

naur Cheong Ah losing Yi Chan and Yi Chan getting beat up

ah, Cheong Ah and Eun Yoo meeting, in my head Eun Yoo will realize who Se Kyeong really loved is Cheong Ah

omg they really beat the shit outta Yi Chan and he's feeling so abandoned too

omg Ha Eun Gyeol going back to 2023 by trying to smash his guitar. I guess we'll see how his (+ Eun Yoo's) actions have affected the current timeline

They need to stop making the last scene of the episode sooo intriguing all the time smh I should really really really really do some homework and chores right now

Episode 8 (Jan 21)

aghhhh I'm starting ep 8 immediately, maybe I'll find some willpower in the middle there to pause and do some things I have to

Where's Eun Gyeol's bag? and he's also running away without his guitar

fuck kid don't be too happy, I don't think something good is awaiting you

oh waittt okay they're not too bad but I'm scared that the mother will not be Chung Ah...

but also in this universe, why does the dad not realize his son looks exactly like his teenage scam artist friend with the same name lmfao (ig he actually named baby Eun Gyeol after his friend who disappeared)

damn, he's even telling the story of his "dream" how is the father not being like haha. my son was my tutor back then. and is chill about it? how does he not remember?

okay I shouldn't think too much because how are Eun Gyeol and his brother born when their mother isn't the same - Se Kyeong instead of Chung Ah? And in that case, shouldn't Eun Yoo also exist?

okay, was that a dream and a glimpse into what it would be like but not fr what it's like? Anyway, does them getting married mean Yi Chan really was Se Kyeong's first love?

ohhh he's gonna meet Cheong Ah properly soon

ah Eun Yoo not remembering Cheong Ah

alskdfasl;kdfa;sdlkf jskldf ja;dklsf Cheong Ah seeing Se Kyeong-Eun Yoo be able ask for help and communicate with Yi Chan while she's not able to nooooooo

aksldjflksajflkasdfj passing by Cheong Ah and Eun Gyeol realizing just a bit too late and having guards stop him from following her as she calls her Mom

Se Kyeong's friend is Cheong Ah's step sister and theoretically Eun Gyeol's aunt. Also, what's that mom doesn't like you see the brother with the Attorny man? Is he gay?

god the evil stepmother and daughter and useless+evil stepson

auuuuu Eun Gyeol is here and signing with Cheong Ah but she doesn't know sign T.T but she does know Eomma sign lol

The father also seems evil if this has been going on for like a decade or whatever...

also is Yi Chan gonna find Eun Gyeol's guitar pick by any chance in the hospital?

stop wasting time with Yi Chan's galavant tale of 10 v 1, let me go back to Cheong Ah and Eun Gyeol

plsss "Yoon Cheong Ah found you" "Your friend Yoon Chung Ah?" "My friend Yoon Chung Ah?!" and her being like hmmm yeah! so true! we got close because she's easy to talk to! and he's like huh? isn't she hearing impaired? and Eun Yoo being like she is?!

laskdjfkl;sdfj so true Eun Yoo's dad is her mother's boyfriend (to be?) and she's pretending to be her mother T.T

Are we not seeing the Cheong Ah's dad and Eun Gyeol convo right now...

hehehhe so fun to have Eun Yoo and Eun Gyeol both thinking like oh fuck is he my mom's first love and noooo she can't marry my dad and be my mom because they don't know the other is from their own timeline. i hope they figure it out before the end of the ep

pls Eun Gyeol falling for Eun Yoo thinking she's Se Kyeong - and Eun Yoo has also had slip ups thinking of liking Eun Gyeol

auuu not Eun Gyeol being mean to Eun Yoo so that Se Kyeong doesn't end up with Yi Chan but idk what being mean to her would even do, but rip Eun Yoo getting hurt because of it

They're both such rascals, it's fun

aghhhhh Yi Chan not getting to talk to Cheong Ah (was it true she said no or did the step mother just decide) and then missing Eun Gyeol as he goes to that same house...

so is Cheong Ah's father like lowkey not evil or what? giving Eun Gyeol room and board to teach Cheong Ah sign?

also does Cheong Ah remember Yi Chan asking her if she knows someone names Ha Eun Gyeol?

oh he's a jerk nevermind fucker

Adult Cheong Ah teaching baby Eun Gyeol sign and now teenage him teaching teenage her sign

ah fuck him crying like his mom taught it to him as a child but now seeing that she didn't know how to sign when she was his age and was being treated this way by her family

pls my parents are... in another world right now

ohh Eun Gyeol basically being Cheong Ah's interpreter right now

pls the way Se Kyeong and Cheong Ah both know where Eun Gyeol is and now he's also enrolled in the other high school but the band doesn't know rip

plss Eun Gyeol going heart eyes over Eun Yoo but acting cold and mean smhhhh asshold

plsss not the fucking school band performance from first love memory makers at Eun Gyeol-Cheong Ah-Se Kyeong's school

oh wow I wish Eun Gyeol and Yi Chan weren't father-son or that I wasn't so icked out by fictional parent/child incest because this fucking I love you Ha Eun Gyeol song is crazy, it's like a confession scene

also so funny that apparently nobody has caught on that Se Kyeong is right there

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

lmfao I'm dying now he's like yes I'll come back to the band but you can't date Choi Se Kyeong because EYE like her

Episode 9 (Jan 21)

I took like a 30 minute break from this show to do some stuff that needed to be done before coming back here lol

aiaksdlfjaskldfjskadlf Eun Gyeol getting punched by Yi Chan instead of getting chosen omgggg

omg Eun Gyeol landing a punch on Yi Chan as well?

girl this is too much excitement for me

plsss Eun Gyeol cooing over hurting Yi Chan

This show lovessss a hair clutching fight

not the parallel running away now with En Gyeol and Eun Yoo (as Se Kyeong)

Eun Gyeol about Eun Yoo as Se Kyeong when she goes on about him using her as a shield/beard so that he doesn't have to come out about liking Yi Chan: Ajhumma was ahead of her time

Does Eun Yoo think now that Eun Gyeol probably did fall in love with Se Kyeong at first sight and maybe had smth with her mom and her mom's first love fr and is why she's easily being like okay :)

her kabadoning him so true

so true, what does somebody even make of this situation - new guy who comes in to help Cheong Ah gets in a fight with another guy from a diff school over a girl and said girl is actually supposed to be in the US

This is so funny because he's probably like I'm doing aegyo to my mom :) in his head but it comes off maybe romantic and Eun Yoo (and me...) are like aww he's cute

not the physical punishment at school

ahh Eun Yoo not knowing whether she wants him to be able to eat the food or not bc she's conflicted about whether she wants him to be the first love or not, esp because he'd be with her mother

and Eun Gyeol asking about the answer to his confessions omg

serenading Se Kyeong? who is it if not Yi Chan?

poor Eun Gyeol "Why are mom and dad both doing this to me?"

lmao now they're gonna be competing about Se Kyeong on stage - meaning they'll both serenade her? lol

paused the show to go read the ep 7&8 on-air thread and somebody mentioned Yoon Dong Jin being a possible first love for Se Kyeong and it feels really possible since he was that band's original guitarist. Other people are saying it's probably actually still Ji H wan (her bf/ex-husband) and she's just reminiscing about what it used to be like and it'll be ironic that despite trying to search for a new guy and forge a new path for her mom, she's still looking for her dad.

The fact that Eun Gyeol still thinks of Eun Yoo as Se Kyeong as Ajhumma

lol idk why I'm so endeared by Eun Gyeol and Eun Yoo

Eun Yoo being like am I your two's toy? You can just decide whatever? at being told Yi Chan and Eun Gyeol aren't allowed to see her till the festival so true

Did Eun Yoo learning sign because of Eun Gyeol's hyung?

ah, Yi Chan saw Cheong Ah's drawing of him...

Eun Yoo is so real and true about "playing" with both Eun Gyeol and Yi Chan because they also keep playing with her

Also Eun Gyeol is kinda cruel fr for asking Eun Yoo to like him back/pass him the ball while he thinks she's Se Kyeong and as a ploy to get her away from Yi Chan. I know he likes her kinda a bit but still...

Are we supposed to think that they kissed? No right, because it wasn't even an angle kiss... Just that Eun Gyeol leaned in while Eun Yoo didn't?

Episode 10 (Jan 21)

Menace Eun Gyeol breaking up with his brother's GF and making it worse T.T

waitttt Eun Gyeol was breaking off with 4 of 5 of his hyung's GFs? girl mans is too much 5???

plsss not the "you grew up well" flashback just as they were gonna kiss

oh we really did get a kiss (even if it's close lipped and stiff)

al;skdfj;askdf not only did Yi Chan ask whether Chung Ah likes him but Chung Ah answered truthfully

oh Eun Gyeol's gonna think Yi Chan said both what he said and what Se Kyeong said... I guess that's okay? idk

The Chainwoman stepmother is just too much

I need Eun Gyeol and Eun Yoo to find out that they're from the future soon pls

oh fuck Eun Yoo's friend committed suicide... why did Se Kyeong become SUCHHH a bad mother though tf telling her "don't let ppl say you became #1 because your friend committed suicide"

Ahh Eun Yoo really is in a very bad mental space

aw Chung Ah being like it's fine ik you like Se Kyeong, we can still be friends

Grandpa Choi isn't the one who's the helper that the guy sent you but he's literally Mr. Viva Music Grandpa

Dying at Eun Gyeol being alert at every mention of Helper now

alskdfj Yoon Dong Jin so funny

Oh Ma Joo the only person with braincells cuz I was like why are they running away T.T

Them getting beat up by the other band members for the 2nd time bc of Yoon Dong Jin, so funny

plsss soooo close to finding out that Eun Yoo sold the guitar to La Vida fuckkk he was even like oh could she be my helper??? aksdflaksdfj lkEun Yoo you should've saiddddd

Oh, Cheong Ah's Viva La Vida watermelon keychain comes from the painting by Frida Kahlo but I wonder how it relates to Viva and La Vida music stores

ah Yi Chan and Chung Ah so cute

ah fuck Eun Gyeol literally saying he's from the future and saying Se Kyeong's future to Eun Yoo, they musttt be getting closer to finding out about the other, right?

ahh Viva La Vida being told to Eun Gyeol by Yi Chan (adult) who was told about it by Chung Ah

It's sooo funny that Eun Gyeol approves so quick whenever Yi Chan does something for/gets something from Chung Ah. Like changing the band name and designs because Yi Chan said Chung Ah can design it. And now agreeing to watermelon stuff because he realizes Chung Ah taught Yi Chan about Viva La Vida

omg??? wait so okay the accident happened before the band festival... and the band also didn't go to the festival (meaning Se Kyeong's first love is someone else. and since Yoon Dong Jin also didn't go... probably just her Ji Hwan fr lol or she's making it up like some comments suggest)

The watermelon painting by Frida Kahlo is reminding me of Palestinian resistance as well.

Episode 11 (Jan 21)

I can seriously barely wait between watching episodes aghh

oh Kang Hyeon Yool beat up the gangsters for beating up Yi Chan, so that's how he ended up being injured too at the hospital

but what's this about Do Jin coming back... and maybe being stabbed in the back...

ohh Jindo dogs means gang members lol I thought it was a joke about him fighting with some real dogs when in fact he got beat up randomly or smth

oh damn, are these gangsters gonna try to get Yi Chan to get at Hyeon Yool('s weakness)? I'm gonna assume it wouldn't really work because it feels like it should be more ironic of an injury or smth

Not the girls urging Eun Yoo to keep Ha Eun Gyeol as a public option, as a humanitarian action lmao

plss every boy and girl falling over themselves for the same student is so silly but Eun Yoo and Eun Gyeol being those said students and dating would be a slay

lolol Eun Yoo being jealous about Eun Gyeol readily receiving the flirting/compliments/gifts with a smile and threatening him for it

ooh Eun Gyeol can't handle spice

okayyy I was wondering if Eun Yoo was also like "Eun Gyeol's an old man. An ajumma. not my first love, my mother's" the way Eun Gyeol was thinking Ajhumma about Eun Yoo as Se Kyeong

Maybe the accident isn't actually related to Yi Chan? But Kang Hyeon Yool and the Jindo dogs gang? Because of the way this info is being framed

Aw fuck, Eun Gyeol trying to stop Yi Chan going to the rehearsal which is obviously sounding ridiculous to him as expected but also Yichan saying despite Eun Gyeol pretending to have been innocent, he can sense something impure going on with him... crazy

plsss Eun Yoo convincing heself Eun Gyeol is ugly and old now and being like "Reality hit I'm so put off now" but immediately rushing to get dolled up when Eun Gyeol comes

dying, they sent Yi Chan to some fucking mountain island while they'll go on a date to the movies afterwards, menaces frrrr T.T

but also can you just figure out the future 2023 thing rn pls like quickly

mourning my Se Kyeong liking Chung Ah theories while seeing Eun Yoo and Chung Ah conversing

lmaoo Chung Ah menace as well, saying it looked like Eun Yoo liked Eun Gyeol more before going abroad

Anyway, crazy that Eun Gyeol was like ah yes, to protect my father, I will send him to a high up rocky mountain surrounded by water wtf

ah shit Eun Gyeol straight up just saying the future stuff to Yi Chan, woah

but ofc Yi Chan wouldn't believe him but maybe after something happens to Kang Hyeon Yool during the rehearsal?

girl wtf what if your father didn't know how to swim yet???? or couldn't help you by fucking jumping from a mountain be fr like why are you causing accident-prone situations to prevent accidents I'm crying. It makes me nervous that indeed it will be because of Eun Gyeol that an accident will happen that makes Yi Chan lose his hearing

oh fuck the way the lights fell on the stage and nobody got hurt... does that mean Yi Chan would've been injured or somebody else would've been but since Eun Gyeol made them come down to hear Oh Ma Joo, that other person was spared too

T.T Eun Gyeol just hugging and clutching Yi Chan while crying

Anyway, I need somebody to call Yi Chan and tell him about the incident or to see them tell him and have him realize that maybe Eun Gyeol is telling the truth

ayo why didn't they tell him about the incident at school with the lights falling on stage bruh

Eun Gyeol and Eun Yoo are just cute man

ohh I'm scared that they're legit having a rehearsal still

girl a fucking Squid Game reference and he's like hmmm ? and that's it?

girl, nawt Eun Gyeol fucking getting into a car accident on the way there tf

and yet he's still there to beat the shit out of that guy lol gj

ah fuck he thinks he prevented his dad losing his hearing but hmmmmm hm hm hm

Okay I should... finish up my 20 minute task for the day and then go to sleep. will that happen? I guess this document in the future knows better than I do right now.

Episode 12 (Jan 21)

Oof, ended up being like 40 minutes and now it's 12am but I'm a dumbass, so I'm starting next episode.

Awoo Eun Yoo waiting for Eun Gyeol but rip, can't blame him for running and not contacting her, mans got kinda run over by a car and still made it there for his father

Not only do they eat the same, they also dry themselves after bath the same

pls Eun Gyeol going back on the future thing with an excuse

I know we're supposed to be happy that the evil stepmother is being thwarted by the father but the way he treats his supposed wife is gross ew head of house blagh

oof, Eun Yoo's aversion to being a trophy and her being like you (and Yi Chan) are "hunting" and competing for me like ahhh so true, that's what I said

girl the way literally nobody wants Eun Yoo to choose Yi Chan for this contest, including Yi Chan himself even if he doesn't know it

Chung Ah's little gift ow

I can't believe Yi Chan's dream where he and Eun Yoo have a beautiful conversation while his son Eun Gyeol is ignored and pushed around is coming true lmfao

ah, so indeed it was her father who was her mom's first love

ah man Eun Yoo being mistaken as Viva Grandpa's daughter Se Kyeong and her not recognizing him...

Yi Chan changing the fucking song at the last minute I'm dead

ah Yi Chan moping about Se Kyeong but then going to see Chung Ah, yes!

ah fuck this Eun Yoo and Eun Gyeol convo - hard for me to disagree with her is the thing but also the ending with they're from "different worlds"

Viva Music grandpa again without knowing it's him

good god so much rejection and angst

The Eun Gyeol and Eun Yoo romance feels like A Lot from his side because like what are you even planning to doooo bro you're from different timeline but sure ig it's worth a romantic rain under umbrella moment

4 more episodes left ah

I'm scared to go check the tags because it'll be in November and like I don't wanna get spoiled yknow. Have to make sure to not look at a single gif after Nov 5th ig

Episode 13 (Jan 22)

They better learn about each other being from the future this episode!!!

I need to watch a noona romance one of these days is what I’ve realized. get some college kid with a noona/perhaps ajhumma fr cuz here he thinks she might be one but she isn’t and 18 Again was a fake noona romance lol

he saw the fucking luggage tagggg look harder dumbass!!

Im watching this in my bed in the dark on my ipad and the oh… the two of us are alone in this house… realization is killing me

air pod fuckkkkk find it out look at the luggage harder now that you’re taking it upstairs

is that how you’re supposed to put out fires?

im confused isn’t it a night with two moons right now? i guess not

but when is eun gyeol gonna fucking look at the anxiety meds in his pocket cmonnn

them referring to Eun Gyeol as Yi Chan’s son so funny

ahh Chung Ah saying I’ll manage it on my own, don’t you trust me? about Yi Chan to Eun Gyeol, she’s so cool

ahhhh Eun Gyeol started liking Eun Yoo after she came back from the US meaning it was her and not Se Kyeong. she’s so happy to hear it hehe

I saw gifs of Chung Ah with a cat

Yi Chan’s stalking habits never change

bro he’s just giving her back the anxiety meds? was nothing about 2023 meds suspicious

it’s Eun Yoo’s motorcycle why can’t she sometimes drive while he rides at the back

don’t throw anxiety meds away

ahhh Yi Chan confessing to and signing and singing to Chung Ah

ahh hug

finallyyyy they realize and with no help from their BRAINS just mere chance that they run into each other with their phones

Episode 14 (Jan 22)

It’s legit 3:15 I should just go to sleep but… but… they finally found out about the other time traveller

wow them finally talking about who they each are

ahh Eun Gyeol being like I already stopped the accident from happening and i think i came here to stop my dad from losing his hearing

ah the connection between them being Mr Viva Grandpa - Eun Yoo own real grandpa sekyeong’s father

cryinggg Se Kyeong just passing off BTS songs as her ideas

girl Eun Yoo learned sign language from some kid at the hospital who was charming… say it ain’t so (childhood meeting Eun Yoo and Eun Gyeol)

heheh teasing Eun gyeol about being born just fine, perhaps earlier than expected

is the evil stepmother not done omggg

i need the step mother ripped apart limb from limb and every bone in the father’s body broken for turning a blind eye for a decade

Awooo Eun Gyeol clutching and hugging his mom while crying after he finds her locked in

the grandma comforting cheong ah

Okay finally Eun Yoo has learned about Mr Choi Viva Music Grandpa Se Kyeong’s father

Ah, the hyung Eun Ho connection has come in. Eun Ho being the hospital friend is nice

still haven’t discovered the Viva Music Mr. Choi connecting you two

ah man as expected, Yi Chan’s accident hasn’t happened yet. what was the dateee is it in a few days I saw a glimpse of a gif of Eun Gyeol sitting in front of Yi Chan lying on a road

Episode 15 (Jan 22)

woke up and started this fml

dang they fought Jindo gang during rehearsal day during original tl too

brooo insane that we got to see the accident incident

also there’s always been the feeling that one of Yi Chan’s songs was the unfinished song that Viva Music grandpa gave to Eun Gyeol to finish but that seems almost certain now with him begging the guy to listen to his unfinished song and being turned away

also even in that original tl, was that Se Kyeong who came back from the US to talk to her bio dad? whose shoes were that

what did Eun Ho tell Eun Yoo that Eun Yoo didn’t understand?

ohh Eun Ho and Oh Ma Joo

aghhh this evil stepmother

Cheong Ah’s father so useless to me for real. It’s good when Cheong Ah’s slapping the stepmom, not him after having abandoned Cheong Ah to her clutches for 12 years agh

also I can’t ever tell if she’s actually a stepmom or not

pls let this be the end of stepmom it’s already middle of ep 15

not everybody leaving bc of Chung Ah’s food tasting bad but Yi Chan scarfing it down anyway

ah so nobody got hurt on the car accident. i was afraid Eun Yoo was gonna get run over instead

ahh don’t go to White Nights to see grandpa right now Ma Joo, either you’ll be injured or Yi Chan who’s gonna follow you will be injured

oh fucking fuck fuck fuck

this is both “trying to prevent the accident doesn’t mean it won’t happen” and “he’ll lose his hearing by trying to save Eun Gyeol” because it’s the same fucking car in the same place even if not the exact same time And it was to save Eun Gyeol man fuck but this is what I wanted because it’s got the irony and pain but doesn’t take away the disability

oh don’t fucking kill me, Yi Chan saying in the voice recording that Eun Gyeol lied to say he’s Yi Chan’s son but Yi Chan felt like Eun Gyeol was his father and felt fatherly love

The I’m sorry dad as he’s holding his injured, bleeding body and crying

Awoo hurts

Episode 16 (Jan 22)

Oh fuckass okay stepmom and family aren’t ever done i suppose

Also, it wasn’t same car as og timeline my bad but this time the car really was coming for Eun Gyeol and Yi Chan intercepting meant even more

Hit and run fucker hopefully Eun Yoo remembers the car number

not a fucking montage of Yi Chan’s college life and band and stuff possibilities

Aw fuck I didn’t tear up even once so far this show except this montage got me like firstly Eun Gyeol wouldn’t be here anyway even if the accident didn’t happen but yknow the accident did

It’s like in the present day, things are still good for the family and happy even if there are strains and conflict because that’s just life so it wouldn’t be too bad to go back but it hurts to know Yi Chan and the possibilities that didn’t happen in order to make the current life happen

okay so indeed Yi Chan can still speak, though he can’t hear

this fucking grandma and Yi Chan scene cryingggg

I don’t like this fucking dad but he is trying and did make Chung Ah smile laugh

girl what the hell you fuck you can’t fucking take Chung Ah away abroad without telling her i’ll fucking kill you you fucker i hated you through the whole thing and now it’s multiplied

Eun Yoo and Eun Gyeol giving some advice to Se Kyeong and grandpa respectively

Awooo Yi Chan Eun Gyeol last convo

what about Chung Ah tho like she doesn’t know about Yi Chan and is gonna be taken away

Okay I did think they were gonna be well off because of the Cheong Ah family thing now but didn’t expect them to live at that house

Ah, this future feels so unfamiliar despite everything, like everything is good and better but idk if I like it because it feels unearned and not like Eun Gyeol’s life

like he’s the only person who is himself while everyone else had much different experience and life as his original timeline yknow

okay so the dad has to kinda know now that his son really met him in the past bc he literally found the song To You Shining or whatever that he knew Eun Gyeol had

oh yeah I don’t care about Ghost9’s members rip

can you imagine if an idol in a kpop band was caught leaving his performance beforehand chants of encore and going outside to kiss a girl aldjjdkajs scandal

Eun Yoo knew the Master person was her grandpa Viva Music man but couldn’t figure out Eun Gyeol was from the future??

Ep 16 Wishlists:

longer ep, just by 20 minutes

A last Eun Gyeol and Chung Ah convo?

A Chung Ah and Yi Chan convo, cmon

A bit more of Eun Yu's life after coming back

Yi Chan having more people around him, whether be his bandmates or Chung Ah. like his grandma was there and that's good but I wanted Eun Gyeol to see that this time, he was saying goodbye to Yi Chan with more people arround him as support than the original timeline

Possibly a (coded?) convo between Eun Gyeol and Yi Chan about the time travel and the cassette or whatever. Maybe I should see if there's anything on AO3 for this because this seems more fanfiction's lane. I think I'm also okay that they don't quite seem to remember him except verrry hazy possibilities but the dad finding the voice tape is what's making me want more. At least Eun Yoo knows and is with Eun Gyeol in this not-quite-right world

Not even all necessary, at least could've fit 2-3 in. It's good that we don't get every single thing wrapped up because shows that have a bit of stuff open-ended for speculation retain audience/fans well and there's also the aspect of letting the 1995 characters live their lives on their own, trust them to succeed and make it to 2023 well, theme that goes well with us not seeing everything. But it still feels a Little empty ig

----

Time Travel Concept:

I guess something that's weird about time travel shows is that Eun Gyeol (and Eun Yoo) are the same people before going but with certain experiences (over the course of a couple weeks) whereas the people they have come back to have had different experiences for 28 years.

I wish they weren't famous as a family in the future. I'm glad they still had friends and I'm happy that they had money from Cheong Ah's side but... idk they're just different people when you're this rich and this influential and this famous. I wish they lived in a different house by themselves, even if a big rich people one, and that Chung Ah still did art and maybe Yi Chan could've participated in the Jinseng Instrument stuff but had his main job be something else, whether it be the restaurant or something else. There could be some influence allowed, like Chung Ah is a chaebol and a respected artist, Yi Chan somehow did smth similar to now but on a smaller scale, and Eun Gyeol as an up-and-coming band member who is recognized somewhat but not as famous to be chased down the street by a hoard of school girls.

Anyway, in the end, I'm glad Yi Chan didn't keep his hearing because in the show, it would've kind of undermined tings. Things happen, accidents happen, Yi Chan losing his hearing isn't the end of the world, he still deserves love and family and oppurtunity and for the world to accommodate his needs. The way he lost it was also good because despite Eun Gyeol's attempts, it happened that day and to save Eun Gyeol. Eun Gyeol's stint didn't change this specific aspect but it still changed a lot of things in a good way, leading to his new life in the future.

I just have to get used to these things in time-travelling shows where some people know about the magic while others don't, situations and people will be changed due to butterfly effect, etc. I guess I'm just unsettled by the fact that they have memories that Eun Gyeol does not and Eun Gyeol has ones they do not; that Eun Gyeol would've learned the guitar from somebody who is not Viva Music grandpa probably, etc. I'm trying to become less unsettled by the fact that they don't really remember Eun Gyeol because of magic and time logic or whatever and that they simply feel familiar to him.

As I was writing all this, I keep listening to You're Precious and My Song from the OST and ahh the You're Precious chorus really gets to me, feels like crying I don't get it the "ohhhh my love" literally brings tears to my eyes it has happened like 3 times now. and My Song is just so good in general.

General:

In 18 Again, the father wanted to pursue basketball after high school but had to give up due to teenage pregnancy and the kids and came back to his teen self where (among many other things) he got to play basketball in high school with his son. In this show, the father wanted to pursue music but lost his hearing and had to give that up but his son came to the past and got the chance to play in a band with his father and got to do the school festival he originally didn't get to do.

I'm fucking obsessed with this sort of concept.

It's got a good storyline, hilarious yet touching. Light-hearted but with many moments of weight. Entertaining to watch because why did I watch eps 13 and 14 and one of the earlier eps (2?) in bed on my iPad. We got to spend time with the different characters and pairs and the friend group together and it was vry fun.

There could be many pitfalls with the time traveling and the disability rep. I won't say there aren't any because some of the time loop stuff is kinda wonky if you look closely but I think that makes sense. I was really afraid that they'd make Yi Chan's hearing come back but I'm glad it didn't; it's just something that has to happen to him for no reason the way these things just happen sometimes.

The characters were well crafted and the acting was great. I liked all of them and each had moments of humour or emotions or romance and it was good.

Also, good faces sorry to say I'm shallow. Chung Ah gorgeous, gorgeous girl. I didn't find Se Kyeong attractive but the actress is sooo beautiful and charming as Eun Yoo (I know some people found her somewhat annoying but I liked her a lot). Ryeoun was really attractive as Eun Gyeol; when I first saw him in 18 Again, he was more posed as a loser kid and I was wowed by Lee Dohyun's face but here, he's so pretty and nice to look at and at certain angles, reminded me of Cha Eunwoo's face too (and a comment in this specific tiktok makes me think that it's not because I only know like 5 actors and so draw parallels between him and CEW lol). Then there were some other good faces too like Yi Chan sooo cute and round my pretty + the Kang Hyeon Yool guy was beautiful as well.

Kinda slow paced, there were certain episodes where I was like nothing really happened and we weren't closer to completing missions or finding out info but I guess that's the point of the slice of life aspect in some cases; just watching the characters exist alone and together.

Ships: I think I liked Chung Ah & Yi Chan more earlier on while I liked Eun Gyeol and Eun Yoo more later on. I was into the ChCh romance from the get-go and thought they were sooo cute whereas EunEun were a more fun menace pair who I just liked to watch fighting before it gradually became a couple I shipped Very Much. Also a shoutout to my Se Kyeong (OG, not Eun Yoo) and Chung Ah ship, I can't believe Se Kyeong's first love was her husband instead of Chung Ah (cold ice princess girl who is curbing every guy as they fall at her feet keeps chasing the girl who isolates herself to protect herself. Se Keyong asking about the Frida Kahlo painting and trying to bond over bands despite not liking it herself).

Well crafted show, good acting, hit some feels and I expect some attachment to it (I'm rewatching and skimming certain parts as I write lol).

Rating: 7.5/10 for now, could change 0.5 higher or lower in like a month as I assess my feelings

Tiktoks & Edits:

Tiktok: the ones in the first paragraph are ones I watched before starting and then there are a few I liked today after finishing (I just went to the tag, so they're some of the more liked ones). Might be my favourite of the edits: gets the vibe of youth, coming of age, sparkling shining twinkling

Twitter: Pre-dating euneun I miss u dearly (Song: How You Get The Girl - Taylor Swift) (uhmm_j)

Twitter: #CHEONGCHAN: cutest parents (Song: Summertime - Niki) (kdramazi)

#EUNEUN : the way I loved you (@uhmm_j)