#i literally pulled up the ep to watch the full scene bc i was like surely not that bad

[verytendou]

Coming out of my jjk hole to remind mappa i carry a big hammer and i NEVER FORGET

[clairedaring]

more my stand-in thoughts and other ramblings about joe/zhou xiang best boi

!!!!!!!!!!! POSSIBLE NOVEL SPOILERS WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!

as my stand-in begins to air, even though we're only two episodes in, the series itself has already established very clearly and explicitly that ming is a HUGE RED FLAG and he's not... the nicest guy.

and as we are told by the narration of joe, this time he had with ming was not a dream as he had though but rather a nightmare and that it was ming who led joe to his death (literal translation of his last line in ep 1, iqiyi engsub you lack accuracy i hate you).

and while i am just one among the joe's protection squad, i feel like i don't share this overwhelming opinion i've been seeing of people thinking joe 2.0 should pull a 180 change or to be as bad as ming or to become some kind of monster and take his revenge on everyone who's ever hurt him as if this is some makjang kdrama.

i once wrote a bit about my thoughts on why joe/zhou xiang is such a compelling protagonist and what separates him from other 188 novels' main characters. but since that piece was written before my stand-in had aired and i think the characterization of joe has been slightly changed in comparison to the novel, so i want to take this chance to elaborate a bit more on my point in that post as well as update it to fit with the series version of zhou xiang.

so, like i've mentioned,one of the traits i love most about joe/zx is this inherent kind-hearted nature of his and i think the series has not only just done well in this aspect, but also greatly amped up this quality in the series portrayal of zhou xiang.

you can seeeeee it through joe's acts of services for this STRANGER he had just met. be it offering ming a ride to the BTS station or cooking for ming even though they didn't fuck.

however, i do agree with my friend @dragonsandphoenix's observation that with the series, since they're trying to speed through joe 1.0 and ming's relationship, the series has joe falling much quicker (literally him using the L word on ep 2 pls joe) than zhou xiang did, considering it took mingjoe only 2 ep before they started their period of domestic life and yanzhou 17 chapters to do the same thing.

i feel like this specific adaptation change in regards to characterization can cause audience to be even more protective of joe than novel readers already were of zhou xiang. one of my biggest fears for this adaptation (i say one of bc novel readers would already know my biggest fear of one specific scene) has always been the doormat allegations against joe. but like i've also said before, it's that specific trait that 'joe has the ability to fight back but he simply won't because he refuses to hurt others and his soft heart has him in pain whenever he sees others hurt' about him that i hold so dear. even in the series, we know joe has the physical capability of taking sol down... and the man did give sol a deck to his neck making him passed out.

... but it's also the same joe who would take care of sol after accidentally decking him.

did anyone watch ep 2 started counting how many times JOE apologizes in this episode... literally in the car scene, he said sorry to ming TWICE because he was scared he had hurt ming's feelings for his assumptions (right ones at that). or when the hot water dripped from the lid of the pot, joe immediately said sorry and checked to see if ming was hurt.

whether it is in the novel or the series, joe/zhou xiang is just really the type to sacrifice himself for the sake of others, he's never been able to put himself first and puts others' feelings above his (⁠っ⁠˘̩⁠╭⁠╮⁠˘̩⁠)⁠っ

which is why i was pleasantly surprised reading professional body double. because one would generally assume that after all the miseries thrown his way, he would become a bitter person, full of grudge and resentment against people who had hurt him, but he doesn't. that just isn't who joe is.

while joe's bad experience in his 1.0 life does change how he navigates his social life and the relations he has around him, it doesn't change the inherent kind hearted nature nor the optimistic outlook on life he once had. i love that for joe in his 2.0 life because his first and foremost goal was to restart a life happily and we gradually got this journey of self-respect and joe 2.0 finally being able to put himself first and fight for the things/people he love.

while there are obviously bad consequences to the "antagonists", i like that it has never been the direct result of joe 2.0 actions but it's more karmic. although i'm very open and would glad to see the antagonists getting even worse consequences than what happened in the novel (which i think was pretty mild) i think i'd rather be interested to see more of series!joe being happy and successful (big emphasis on successful because if i don't see joe with his 20+ blockbusters he deserve i'm suing for emotional damage)

in regards to the wife chasing arc in the second half of the series, i think this part will be rather controversial since there are diverse opinions on how audience want the wife chasing arc to be executed, or from joe 2.0's perspective: his responses/actions to being chased by ming again. and trust me, i do want to see ming grovelling in pain and suffer just as much as the next joe's protector. but at the same time for me it'd just be... ooc of joe to intentionally and/or maliciously inflict pain on ming. granted i do have some qualms as to ming's chasing method that i hope the series will adjust, i do think that zhou xiang's approach to being chased by yan ming xiu was rather sufficient without the need to give zhou xiang a 180 personality change, so i really hope that doesn't change.

all in all, while it's probably quite early to tell how the second half will progress and whether it does/doesn't diverge from his journey in the second half, i just think it was very in character for zhou xiang to make the decisions he does in the novel in his second life (except for one noble idiocy move that lasted like a day) and hopefully joe 2.0 also does in my stand-in for his new life. *sighs* joe is just truly best boi... i love him... look at he... that's my baby angel （づ￣3￣）づ╭❤️～

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x10 thoughts

The main things: 

The ep starts immediately after last ep, then goes to the next morning and takes place over just one day. Nadia also says it’s been ‘an eventful few weeks’ since she made the deal to buy the house (which was in 3x01, so the entire season has taken place over around 3 weeks)

One of my favourite things about this series, and about Thony specifically, is that she’s not only an unintentional angel of death for the people around her, but also for criminal empires?? Literally this show is full of seasoned criminals who thrived for years in the darkest parts of the Vegas underworld, and then they encounter Thony, and boom! Down they go. Hayak. Cortes. Kamdar. (Even Arman, in a slightly different way). And now it looks like Sin Cara is next… honestly the Feds should be falling at her feet in gratitude haha 

Lol at Thony and Fi’s little bit of theatre for Jeremy as they set up their own little ‘sting’ for him. Thony actually nearly breaking and laughing at Fi’s ranting for a second was so cute, because while this is a serious situation, it is a bit bizarre to think that this is what their life has become. And this scene was so worth it just to get to watch two skilled actors having to pretend to be bad at acting… moments like this are always fun, like a kind of act-ception haha. Ngl it’s a good thing that Thony confronts Jeremy by the end of the episode though, bc I doubt it would have taken much longer for him to notice something was up, with all the dramatic conversations happening right in front of his bugs while and other conversations were hushed under the cover of super loud TV/music. Not to mention the suspiciously intentional-looking plumbing emergencies lol (seriously Thony?? A hammer??? lol).  To be fair though, Fi’s acting did improve a lot by the end, with their clever little ploy to make Jeremy think Thony was on her way to kill Nadia. That entire sequence was done well– even though anyone who has been watching the show for more than like a week would know that Thony would never kill Nadia (at least while literally any other option existed), it was still enjoyable to experience the ‘suspense’ that the creative team set up regarding Nadia’s fate. I just hope that she can make it through the finale… 

Honestly I love the deliberate continued theme in this show of Thony being caught between worlds, and the constant push and pull of ‘good vs evil’ and ‘power vs vulnerability’. It’s why, despite all her efforts, she can never quite escape the criminal world, and she can never quite escape the hold of the FBI either. And they’re often tied up together, too– to protect herself or someone she cares about from one, she reaches out to the other. In late s1, Arman helped protect her from the FBI by agreeing to be an informant, and in turn she was part of the plan to protect him from both the FBI and Hayak. In S2, she agrees to inform for the FBI again in order to protect Arman and keep him out of prison. And now, she’s making that same deal– and risking her own safety– but for Nadia this time. To me, though, I think that she’s reached a kind of ‘fool me once’ situation with the FBI, and though she says she’s going to help then take down Sin Cara, I think she is actually going to be following her own agenda, and using the ties she has to both the cartel and the FBI to manipulate them into taking each other out, and leaving her being the only one left standing. And god I hope that’s where things are headed bc I would be so here for it.

I really wish we’d been able to see a lot more of Thony and Nadia’s relationship this season, because it’s so compelling and complex and I’ve loved every moment they’ve shared so far. Nadia’s “oh no” at seeing Thony walking into the club was hilarious; they haven’t seen each other in the week or so since the wake, but Thony showing up at the club looking deathly serious is never a good sign. I loved that they were immediately like ‘ok bye Jorge the grownups need to talk’ tho lol– he may have formed connections with both of them, but he hasn’t gotten to this level of club membership yet. Thony’s first question to Nadia (“Did you cut a deal with the feds?”) felt like an interesting tie-in to the events of earlier eps, given that it was exactly what Nadia asked her at the wake– tbh these two must feel like they’re on a merry-go-round or something, and it’s all because they just haven’t been completely open with one another!!! But finally, here, they’re starting to be, even if it’s too goddamn late now (*adele voice* we could have had it aaaaaalll). But anyway ughhhh “All I wanted was to find Arman, like you. I wanted to protect him.” Honestly Nadia acknowledging/accepting Thony’s genuine love of Arman has been one of the parts of this season that I have appreciated the most. These two women are bonded by that love, which is why Thony telling Nadia she should have come to her is such a punch in the gut, because you can see her pain and regret, her utter dismay at the fact that her preoccupation with her own family (getting Fi and Chris back, preventing Luca from being taken away) led her to overlook what was going on with Nadia– aka with Arman’s family– and now she has let down the only other person Arman truly loved. And I think she went to La Habana fully intending to warn her, but then it became clear that Nadia wouldn’t listen to her even if she did try to pose the fake-death plan (“You always think you know everything. But you don’t”), and would’ve almost certainly tried to run instead, endangering both of them. So instead Thony tries once more to talk Ramona out of it (unsuccessfully, of course), and ugh when she says she wants to take care of Nadia herself “For Arman” and she squeezes her eyes shut as she says his name… the grief of losing him is still so goddamn fresh and now she’s terrified she’s going to fail him by not being able to save Nadia in time. But that’s the thing about Thony– she never gives up on the people she loves. And because of Arman, that group includes Nadia. 

Nadia’s reaction to Thony striding straight into her house (literally how does Thony even know where that is?) is so funny bc she doesn’t even get angry, it’s just like mild exasperation as she tries to convince Thony to leave. That is, until her brain catches up and suddenly she just stops and says “What’s happening?” because she knows Thony, knows that she wouldn’t actually barge in like this without a damn serious reason. When Thony tells her the danger she’s in, she believes her immediately (ugh her panic was hard to watch) and immediately begs for Thony to help– because while they may have a complex relationship, she knows that Thony is the only person she has left who actually cares what happens to her, and she also knows that Thony is clever and capable and holds a surprising amount of power, and often does manage to fix things even when a situation seems impossible. Which is exactly what Thony does next– and while I wish that Thony had explained to Nadia about what she was going to do, so Nadia didn’t have to have those brief moments of terror and betrayal before she lost consciousness, I get that it had to be written this way or it would have spoiled the twist. But oh man, even though I knew  Thony wouldn’t kill her and that she was going to be fine, the relief at seeing her wake up on that couch was still so damn real, phew. Eva did an amazing job with Nadia’s emotions on waking up, from utter confusion to a mix of relief, gratitude and anger. The scene between her and Thony in Jeremy’s lair felt like it was cut off midway through, which I guess means that they’re going to pick up exactly where they left off in the finale next week, like this was actually a 3-part finale rather than a 2 parter, and I can’t wait to see more of the Nadia/Thony dynamic next week.

And given my love for both Nadia and Thony, gotta say I do love how much Ramona herself has shown genuine admiration for both women, for their competence, intelligence, determination, fortitude, their coolness under pressure, and their desire for power. (Like in her conversation with Ramona, Thony would always deny that desire, but tbh people who want a simple family life do not become cardiac surgeons. Much like being a cartel leader, it’s a profession that provides money, prestige, authority, and a near-godlike ability over life and death– ergo, power). Anyway, Ramona’s entire art collection, her life, is centred around women with those traits, and tbh in another life I think these three incredible women could have become an unbeatable team that ruled Vegas together. Ramona saw that possibility and tried to make it happen, only for both of them to reject her, and now… well, I think we are heading for a ‘this town ain’t big enough for the both of us’ situation, and lbr it’s going to be Thony that’s the one left standing

Honestly I love that I have written a bunch of words already for this ep, and it’s all been about women– that’s one of the true gifts of this show, how much it focuses on women and their stories and their relationships. In the earlier seasons it was mostly just focused around Thony and Fi’s characters, but after the loss of Adan, and having a female villain for a change (two if you count Russo), the focus on women has definitely expanded and been even more apparent this season. I’m sad that it’s looking unlikely that Ramona or my baby Nadia will return next season, because they deserved to have more of their story told. Still, I’m clinging to the hope that Nadia may somehow return, and I’ll get more of the amazing Thony & Nadia dynamic that we all deserve

Anyway I guess I could talk about a boy now– though given that he is literally surrounded by women in his life, Jorge is an honorary girl to me lol. It was cute to see him so excited about all the hotel stuff, from his big spiel to Nadia to all the proposal materials in his office– looks like he’s finally found his own path, not just the one Ramona chose for him. (Though holy shit it’s so messed up that the corporate world is literally the best place to hide illegal activity, wow). I found it hilarious that when Jorge was trying to sell Nadia on the hotel idea and saying all this stuff about how she’ll be the face of it etc, the picture very clearly shows he’s planning to call it ‘JS hotel’ lol. So she’s the face but it’s named after you?? Hmmm. Also geez he laid it on a little thick with the flattery there, but I guess it worked, because you could see how smitten she was with the hotel idea. And I can understand how some people might interpret that as her being smitten with him, but I genuinely don’t think so. First of all, she lost the man she loved literally like a week and a half ago; there’s no way that she has even the slightest inclination to look at anyone romantically right now. Plus, the show has already established that she’s incredibly good at reading people. She knows he’s trying to manipulate her in order to access her money, but in her life, that’s just a demonstration of good business skills. She sees what working with him can give her, and she wants it. In S1 she says to Arman “What do we own? Nothing”-- I think it’s hugely important to her character to actually be in possession of something big, to be the owner, not just the manager, to remove herself as far from the powerless girl from the Argentinian slums as she can. Anyway I love that one of his arguments is that she’ll be ‘set for life’ if they do this… because apparently already having 50 million dollars isn’t being set for life??? Man, what a world they live in haha. Anyway with it seeming unlikely that Nadia will be around next season, I wonder if the hotel will still somehow happen in S4? Maybe somehow Thony gets involved with it, though I don’t really see her wanting any part in something like that… tbh my main concern is that we might not get to see the La Habana set next season :(

Seeing Jeremy’s reaction to being burned was so satisfying. Not so clever now, are you, buddy?? Got outsmarted by a civilian just like Garrett did, and now you’ll be working with her, just like Garrett… but unlike Garrrett, she has zero regard or sense of obligation toward you, and so you may think she’s gonna work with you and follow your orders, but think again. She’s just going to bide her time until she has you right where she wants you, and then she will completely fuck you over, because you betrayed her family and took the man she loves, and that’s what you deserve. Be grateful if you walk out of all of this alive. 

Other stuff:

Omg Fi going for the baseball bat to take out the smoke alarm. Someone has issues with impulsivity haha. Tbh her and Thony’s entire relationship is just the two of them taking turns holding each other back from doing something stupid and I love it

Ugh seeing Nadia standing all alone in that huge empty house, talking about how it’s time to put the past behind her and have a fresh start… and then later saying to Jorge that she just wants to be free… and then Thony telling her at the end that she’s free and she tells Thony that she took her whole life form her… ugh stop giving me stressful foreshadowing here writers. If Nadia has to go, write her out by having her run away into the sunset with her millions. Don’t make me watch her die twice!!!!!!!!!

I didn't initially remember seeing Ramona and Russo cross paths at La habana, but @gsue74 reminded me that they glimpse each other across the club the first time Ramona goes there, and Ramona noticed the way Nadia reacted to her arrival. Well done of the writers to plant that in 3x04 to come back up now. Anyway I do enjoy Russo’s sassiness though. It was never super obvious before bc she was always having to play the serious one keeping Garrett in line, but I think I see why they got along lol

Oh boy the agent that scared Violeta really fucked up lol, like maybe don’t piss off a super powerful cartel leader??? Dude’s gonna be feeding the fishes in the Hoover Dam in no time lol

 I love that the proposed hotel site is completely in the middle of nowhere, like too bad if the guests want to visit any other part of Vegas haha. Though I guess that might be entire point, to make it like a one-stop shop so guests will spend all their time and money in the one place lol

JD is such a cutie. Loved him taking advantage of a free weekday to bring thoughtful gifts for his bae. Lol at Fi shutting him up with a kiss– she really needs to go somewhere private and tell him everything though, bc he needs to know so he doesn’t inadvertently screw things up for them again. 

I really felt for Fi when she found the immigrant worker house empty– this show is always full of painful near-misses in terms of timing, but at least in this case there’s still the hope that Thony will be able to use her sway over Jorge to find Camila and Gisele

Anyway ugh the promo for the finale looks so good… Nadia at Thony’s house, wearing borrowed clothes while Thony makes a plan to get her her money back… Jorge apparently being there too and helping them… Thony in a fancy dress, shooting a gun… it might be Ramona’s assassin guy that she shoots (one of the clips looks like he could be fighting with Jeremy) but man it would be cool if it was actually Ramona or Jeremy that she shoots, and honestly I’m so down for either of those options. Maybe she even does it to protect one of them from the other– like maybe she shoots Ramona to save Jeremy, which would mean she’d probably get pardoned by the FBI for everything. Or she shoots Jeremy to save Ramona, making Ramona extremely grateful, and as a result Ramona makes sure the shooting never ties back to her, and brings her into Sin Cara in a position of power…. Either way it’s going to make for an interesting S4!  

[allthemurders]

i found your sarah barnaby whump posts and I'm desperate for more do u have any more ideas or thoughts ahdjsj

HELLO HI I AM ALWAYS DOWN TO TALK ABOUT SARAH BARNABY WHUMP!! i have So Many thoughts and ideas hehehehehe

ngl it’s been A While since i last watched midsomer tho, so my memories of it are all a bit hazy and i’ve probably misremembered some plot points / timings / etc. this is also why some of these ideas are Extremely Vague hgkfjdjfhf

(i’m gonna put it all under the cut bc the post got fairly long, wHoOpS)

ep-specific whump:

s19 ep5 - death by persuasion : the aim is a little off with the warning shot during the ball, and sarah gets hit. or she gets hit by a mirror shard. either way, she’s in a regency era ball gown and she is bleeding out while john frantically tries to help her. (this naturally gives her ideas for her book, much to john’s concern)

s20 ep2 - death of the small coppers : i was So sure sarah was gonna end up getting caught helping birgitte with her investigation and that some sort of whump would play out with that. i have no real thoughts of what or how or why exactly, but i Need it. possibly could have birgitte & sarah being caught snooping and subsequently getting whumped together??? helping each other stay strong throughout it, then working out an escape plan and getting themselves out before john & jamie can even attempt to rescue them??? also unrelated but sarah should’ve been there for the jamie whump scene at the end i stg

s21 ep2 - the miniature murders : THE MURDERER WAS LITERALLY IN JOHN & SARAH’S HOUSE WITH SARAH & BETTY. WHY DID NOTHING HAPPEN WITH THIS?????? MIDSOMER WRITERS HATE ME I STG 😭😭 anyways what if john & jamie rush in, john telling sarah to take betty to play in her room, but sarah doesn’t get the opportunity to leave?? the murderer grabs her in a panic and pulls a knife (or possibly a dangerous improvised weapon of some kind, i’m hazy on the details of this ep) and takes her hostage. jamie hurries betty upstairs on john’s orders, trying his best to console her and answer her questions while also massively worrying about his adoptive mum sarah. john is left to talk the murderer down on his own

s22 ep5 - for death prepare : things go massively wrong when sarah is on stage. i’m talking “murderer walks on stage in full costume with an actual extremely lethal sword or a period-accurate gun” kind of massively wrong. “the last guy he wants to kill is also on stage” kind of massively wrong. “sarah just gets in the way of his revenge and ends up with a severe wound” kind of massively wrong. (john and jamie get there in time to see it happen but too late to actually stop it. they both blame themselves for not getting there sooner)

s23 ep1 - the blacktrees prophecy : so many vague and depressing thoughts about sarah having a Bad Childhood™ with far too much pressure on her to always be perfect, because nothing was ever good enough for her mum no matter how hard she tried. (*literally looks so upset by the thought of her mum coming to stay that john thinks she’s straight up died* / “oh, i’m just touching up a few patches [of paint on the walls]. you know how my mother likes to point out every little imperfection” / “the house is, er… looking lovely” “well, i’m sure she’ll find fault somewhere”). HER SCENES IN THIS EP PHYSICALLY HURT ME HONESTLY. SHE IS SO STRESSED AND TENSE,,,,,,,,, and then basically as soon as she finds out her mum’s going to her sister’s instead you can See this massive weight has been lifted off her. like ik there’s a couple hours between her finding out and the actual scene at the end, bUT STILL. IT’S LIKE FLICKING A SWITCH???? SHE’S SUDDENLY HAPPY AND JOKING WITH JOHN AGAIN??????? sorry this was basically just me repeating canon but i have too many Feelings about it 😭😭

s23 ep3 - a grain of truth : look honestly i don’t really remember anything about this ep other than that sarah was at the place where a murder happened or smth and iirc exactly zero whump came out of this. some whump should’ve come out of this. also weren’t ppl being poisoned with ergot or smth?? why was sarah not poisoned with ergot??

non-ep whump:

john gets a call from betty’s school saying that it’s getting pretty late, will he or sarah be picking her up soon? and he’s a little confused, because it’s meant to be sarah’s day to do the school pickup and it’s not like her to forget, but he figures she must’ve been waylaid by something. he calls her, but it just goes to voicemail. he calls again; still nothing. he’s concerned now, wondering why she isn’t answering, but he knows she sometimes gets stuck in unplanned meetings for ages, so it’s like a low-level concern as he leaves work early to pick betty up. his worry absolutely skyrockets when he finds the front door kicked in, the living room trashed, and the house empty despite sarah’s car being parked up outside. a ransom note and proof of life photos arrive the following morning

john & sarah are held captive together for some reason. john’s being Extremely Annoying in order to get the captors to keep their focus on him, because he’s willing to take all the consequences of their anger if it keeps sarah out of harm’s way. one of the captors eventually hurts sarah to try and keep him in line, and he just goes absolutely feral

sarah should get to watch someone being killed. as a treat (..ok probably not for her, but it would be for me ✌️😎)

tbh most of the rest of my misc ideas are just various other forms of “sarah gets Beaten Up!!” or “sarah gets held hostage to get john to cooperate!!” s o o o yea that is basically all i can think of atm 👀

tysm for the ask, and i really really hope you enjoyed this whump as much as i enjoyed thinking about it!! ✨✨✨

[piganatur]

THE EIGHTH SENSE EP 1

The eighth sense is: - the type of production that I tend to inhale - giving me such k-indie film vibes I’m humming with joy

I watched the first two episodes like two days ago. Rewatched them again the next morning. Pondered for a day, then watched the first ep again. At that point I accepted: this show lives rent free in my brain.

It’s something about: - the opening sequence because it literally plunges us into the middle of what this story will tell and what it’s about. It’s the wave crashing over our heads and after seeing nothing but the confusing (but crucial) bits, much like the white crest of said breaking wave, the scene in the bar slows down. We’re up at the surface again, waiting, building for the next wave

It’s something about: - how funny it is that in the bar, there’s noise, everyone chats loudly, there’s ought to be the dynamic of life and fun – a certain kind of rush to the scene – yet it’s the opposite. I’ve seen people describe it as too boring and long of a scene. It’s fascinating to think that it’s our timeout before the next wave. Two conversations from the bar: 1, about getting dumped/love life and 2, about getting rejected/ finding a job AND THEN we have the table with Jaewon who’s about to look for a job + broke up with his gf + is about to meet Jihyun... I already love this sm

It’s something about: - how everything Jaewon’s friends say about 1, him being impressive (for not taking time off school, for interning at a foreign company, for doing his military service then getting certificates and straightaway acing TOEIC… so things he had to do) and 2, him being backed up (by connections, family, money… essentially the reason why he had to do those things – bc they’re expected of him *just think about his mum’s messages*) COMES INTO FULL CIRCLE His friend says ‘when I see you I feel like I’m suffocating’ >> man… imagine what it’s like for Jaewon. He’s angry but stifles it and it builds in him. He’s trapped in that scene (background sounds and music fades out as Taehyung’s accusations echo through his head) until he’s literally knocked off his seat. And that’s when he shows his anger. And Jihyun embraces him and pulls him away from that (and the scene slows down again!!!)

- Jaewon knows what they say about him is true but that’s a double edged sword when others only see the positive side of it. Seeing how korean media represents university friendships, the way his friends act is (sure, shitty… but also) kinda typical. If they all met at the start of university, besides attending school and working on their social connections they drink/have fun together. The mention of someone’s connections or money (especially in their final year) is simply their drunken-jealous bitching about how easy it is for Jaewon, how he has no worries. And Jaewon also pretends to be drunk so he can let it go and make up with them but he’s obviously so fed up like… ppl just look at him and see

It’s something about: - the scene where Jihyun and Jaewon first talk. Jihyun not only gives Jaewon two cigarettes… he also has the lighter on him while he hands Jaewon those cigarettes but chooses to light one for him with his very cool bbq lighter instead. So then he can give the lighter as a farewell gift a few minutes later!

It’s something about: - Jihyun’s allure and that it’s his lack of preconceived assumptions about Jaewon. Jaewon doesn’t have to be any certain way around Jihyun and sometimes that’s the best someone could wish for

It’s something about: - Jihyun drinking with his boss lady. That scene is so magical because Jihyun is portrayed as a quiet countryside boy full of fears but he still pulls people in, connecting with them even when he doesn’t try (also I’m pretty sure boss lady is the tteokbokki shop owner from WYEL, where are my fellow WYEL enthusiasts at?)

It’s something about: - the scene w/ Jaewon at the gate of his house. Everything about that scene is just *chefs kiss*

It’s something about: - Jihyun trying to follow Jaewon and losing him vs Jaewon catching Jihyun eating lunch by himself (yo, I’m vibrating on a cellular level)

It’s something about: - Jaewon almost pissing his pants when caught talking w/ Jihyun in the cafeteria. It’s too funny to me

It’s something about:

this damn shot that makes me go feral - Jihyun follows Jaewon out of the bar to talk with him, they’re framed together yet there’s a line between them with the mirror/double images (I’m biting the edge of the table) BUT the moment Jihyun talks to Jaewon it’s all gone. Jaewon’s 'I didn’t see you earlier' is so telling

There’s also the scene with Jaewon and the therapist lady but I’ll come back to that in ep two

[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

[namtanlovesfilm]

axelle judges bl shows > To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories

summary: After a year together, Han Ji Woo breaks up with Kang Seo Joon and disappears to his native village in the mountain. But Kang Seo Joon won’t let it happen without a fight.

where to watch: dramacool

grade: 8/10

pros:

- the cinematography!!! you can definitely tell they got more budget & creative direction for this season because some shots literally fucking stunned me, they were gorgeous!!! they went full film d’auteur for this one & I couldn’t approve more, this is my jam!!!

- the characters, and especially kang seo joon. like I just love this character so much??? everyone in this show fucking WORKS, but kang seo joon is like this cartoon-y character who also feels so real & he’s just really fucking amazing.

- I love the writing & its realism. this sequel made me realize that even the original season had a deeper aspect to it compared to other kbls, a sort of looming feeling of mental health issues & other problems, even with a happy ending. and in that way, the writers perfectly continued that story & gave us more context as to who both characters are as people, and I think the writers did a great job underlining the possible problems in their relationship & playing on their differences. I feel like this sequel worked when all of the others haven’t because the writers stayed true to the characters & story they wanted to tell. obviously season two has a different tone & setting, yet both seasons really work together, whereas it’s usually really not the case.

- the chemistry & acting just work. I don’t think han ji woo’s actor is the best actor & the more emotional scene wasn’t the best imo, but apart from that this pairing just works really well, and overall the acting is very solid. even with all the issues between the characters, the chemistry between the actors makes you care about this pairing a lot more.

cons:

- v angsty. obviously I love angst bc it’s part of literally every single one of my favorite shows, but I know that this is not what some people are looking for in this sequel, and in that case I would skip this one out. or just binge it all in one go bc I guarantee you, binging the first 8 eps and then having to wait a week for the conclusion was HELL.

- I think han ji woo is a very interesting character that I really like, but since he’s been the driving factor for every drama & break up this couple has had, and he’s very cold & everything, in some moments it was really hard to care for him. there was literally a point in the show where I felt like these two were better off broken up, and I’m not sure that’s exactly what the writers wanted. so I think they went a bit too far with ji woo’s cruelty in certain moments, when it should’ve been slightly more push & pull rather than one hurting the other repeatedly if that makes sense.

would I rewatch it: maybe not on its own bc it’s very angsty, but if I rewatched the original show I would definitely follow it with season two

FINALLY a sequel that is not disappointing!!! You all know how much I despise second seasons, but here I’m so glad I gave this one a chance, despite not even knowing how it was gonna end! This just proves me that you can introduce angst, break ups and challenges in a sequel and still make it good, and I’m just really happy that one of my favorite 2021 shows actually got the sequel it deserves <3

[paeonie-s]

 csm first half op + eds ranking hehe

op 1: KICK BACK tbh wasnt a massive fan of the song when i came out but its grown on me w the full context & lyrics it slayed idc NOW THE VISUALS ... filled me w euphoria when i first saw it have (re)watched half the fucking movies referenced ONLY BC MIDTERMS WAS BEATING MY ASS .. so creative and fun and dynamic and hectic as fuck the timing and directing on this is like incomprehensibly good. its funny asf and has such beautiful lively enviornments and lighting and such a cohesive feel despite how batshit everything is NO ONE HAS TALKED ABT THE SHOT W THE MOUNTAINS AND SKY AND THE BULLETS. AM I THE ONLY OEN WHOSE INSANE ABT THAT ONE. so so beautiful literally a look into the minds of fujimoto and the ani staff and a gift upon this earth. 10/10

ed 1: SUCH A GOOD SONG !!!!!!! fit super well w the end of the first ep & is just genuinely such a banger. credits roll was smart for the airing of the actual ep, helped me take in the whole ep and appreciate the best parts of it. the mv released on mappas channel is rly solid considering it just recycled scenes from the actual ep !! love first half of the vid + the zoom in on pochitas tail the most ofc !! 6/10 bc the song is a banger but its just no as obsessable bc of the lack of og visuals :(

ed 2: GORGEOUSSS VISUALS tho it doesn’t feel v well aligned w the tone of csm BUT STILL !!!! song aligns super well w the visuals atleast & i love love the look of the animation, the environments especially are so beautiful 😭 i think the denji falling into the sky scene were especially well timed w the music and made me v emo about his character. esp love the hayakawa fam focus and how power is literally the one who PULLS HIM BACK DOWN .. beloveds 7.5/10 ok i like it picasso

ed 3: FAVE SONG its so good. so much to say abt this one rapid change of scene linework shading color sfx is fucking insane each unique aes makes me physically ill its so good. so gripping the TRANSITION from makima goddess to hayakawa fam W THE DOOR. AND THE TRAUMA. fave part is the hayakawa family shots towards the end that combined w the lyrics perfectly encapsulates what csm is thematically to me. goretastic insanity used as a means of making the intensely human obviously doomed connections at the heart of the story that much more impactful. fully embraces the best parts of csm and rips my heart out all in the course of 90 seconds 10/10 idc idc

ed 4: POWAAA !!!! song is such a fucking banger i mean it this shit has had me dancing for weeks BUT THE VISUALS .... so dynamic and insane love how they played dress up w her and also made sure the audience knew she was a lil freak. theres so much to love and appreciate about the visuals and how fucking sick the movements are and the colors but truly this ones just vibes. 9/10

ed 5: fs my FAVE of all the ones currently out (i think this is the most popular opinion lmao) but the combination of the frantic, very dense visuals and a rly cool fast paced song scratched smth in my brain. so much inspiration to dig through and BEAUTIFUL use of colors, lighting, and effects animation omg. Those shots of himeno are stapled on the inside of my eyelids i love them. so many art references w/ a great selection to specifically represent the chaos of the eternity devil love the use of optical illusions (ONCE AGAIN W THE LIGHTING !!!) and use of timing to create a jarring effect (horses running in slo mo (same w some shots of the chs) immediately being contrasted w rapid movement/blinking of eyes, fireworks, shots of the sky w the clouds racing across) as well as the rapid changing of one shot to another is so insane. another detail i love is that it has a almost collage like look bc each background/piece of ch or effects animation has dif linework, uses dif brushes, as well very unique lighting and shading. also so so much to dissect w how it foreshadows later events (if u start looking there are like. 4 dif instances of guns in this bitch holy fuck) and the themes of the work as a whole but i have classes a life etc that will have to wait til winter break. so genuinely obsessed w this one it was literally the one that convinced me (most obnoxious csm fan) that mappa knows exactly what theyre doing and are likely making the actual anime the way they are as a deliberate commitment to make it even more insane later down the line. i am a drastic rapid tonal shifts enjoyer i love this ed 10/10 its my gf

ed 6: not a massive fan of the visuals or the song for this one :( the instrumental of the song felt kinda jarring after the sequence of denji jumping into the eternity devils mouth, i was def expecting a dif kind of vibe. the visuals were cool, but i don't feel like the static characters were used particularly well. some of the transitions and “camera” movements also rly didn't feel very well suited to the cuts they were in. my fave part was the settings and backgrounds, especially the textures and the way the movement “through” the bgs were done, tho the 5th ed had a very similar concept and i think executed it better. kind of disappointing with how much i enjoyed the prev eds, but it was still enjoyable to watch and analyze how they constructed the visuals. 4/10 bc i respect what they were trying to do i just dont think they had the time to develop a unique vision

[shinjaeha]

bad buddy ep 8 (thoughts)

so this ep really took us for a ride. i’m still reeling over the end of the ep even though i had a feeling that something like that was going to go down (though maybe not as publicly as what actually happened...). i have so many thoughts and questions...but most of them prob won’t end up being answered until at least next ep.

i think we’ll really have to strap ourselves in for a bumpy ride from hereon in, but FIRST let’s talk about all the things i loved about this ep as usual :)

as fun as last ep was, nothing beats seeing them as ACTUAL boyfriends and the domesticity that comes with that :’) they’re so CUTE i can’t stand them omg. pat making pran breakfast in bed!!!!!!!! i love the little details like the pics/post its on pran’s wall, or their uniforms hanging on the hooks in his room together. the ketchup kiss was so adorable (esp knowing that that was improv on nanon’s part and ohm’s reaction was very real 😂). it’s just so sweet to me that pran can be as playful as he wants with pat now (at least when they’re alone). he’s spent his whole life repressing all these feelings, but now he has the chance to actually indulge and fully be himself around the boy that he’s been in love with for years. you can already see how different he is from previous eps when he was more closed off. he doesn’t have to be like that around pat anymore bc they’ve laid all their cards on the table. they’re BOYFRIENDS now and i’ll never get sick of saying that!!

something i really like about this show is, even though there’s obviously an overarching narrative throughout, it feels episodic bc many of the conflicts they deal with are introduced and resolved in a single episode (and sometimes another conflict is introduced at the end of the ep). like last episode, it was the challenge and who would cave first (resolved at the end when they both become boyfriends). this ep, it’s the struggle of having to keep their secret relationship under wraps, whilst also dealing with their differing personalities and stances within their relationship. this is a fairly common and realistic thing for people in same sex relationships to have to deal with, but it’s obviously more complicated for pat and pran given the situation with their friends and family. as we’ve already seen, pran’s friends and family seem very accepting of whatever he chooses to identify as, so i feel like it’s fair to assume that pran’s as scared as he is to reveal their relationship not bc he likes a guy, but bc that guy is PAT. he’s also experienced firsthand how unaccepting his parents have been about him just being in the same band as pat before (let alone boyfriends) so he has a very valid reason to be as scared as he is.

the hand holding scene is SO sweet bc although pran pulled away initially (and pat was super understanding about it), he couldn’t even bear pat being sad for a moment longer and gave in almost immediately. it’s the little concessions they make for one another that i’m absolutely in love with. just these little things they do to make one another smile bc they know it means a lot to the other.

paa with her arms around the both of them as they held hands behind her back made me weep THEY’RE SO ADORABLE...i’ve watched this scene way too many times to count at this point.

literally this whole rehearsal scene i just felt bad for toto 😂 no idea how he was able to make them get anything done in the end. but also, watching this back, how DIDN’T he know there was something going on with them bc they weren’t even a little bit subtle. just constantly flirting on that stage.

inkpaa!!!!!!!!! i love that paa’s the one always knocking some kind of sense into her brother, but the second she’s with ink she becomes this cute, bumbling mess. and you can tell that ink finds it so endearing. wai though...that’s a no from me :/ it’s so funny to me how ink keeps shooing away all these boys buzzing around paa like their flies...she was NOT here for wai’s interrogation whatsoever.

omg so i full on burst out laughing the moment i heard the sizzy song and saw pat doing the moves in his car (love score has been and always will be a certified BOP). even better when pat starting rapping nanon’s part with the moves bc YOU KNOW that ohm had a great time with that and that pran’s reaction was really just 100% nanon being embarrassed haha.

i was having fun laughing along and then they hit us with whoever it was that saw them in the car...and i will circle back to this again at the end of this post bc i have MANY thoughts about this...

anyway, this is a great ep for us inkpaa stans :) paa continues to be the clumsiest person on earth, but she’s so SOFT around ink. if i were ink, i would be totally enamoured too. interesting how she paid attention to what pat supposedly said about how much paa likes shrimp (and peeling them for her!!!!!)...and their cute little ~moment!! i love them ;;;

i like how the scene right after this is pat and pran’s rooftop dinner date. it’s a great contrast. the rooftop is obviously a special place for them, but i love that this is the first time that we’ve seen them on it when the sun’s still up (now that they’re both awakened to their feelings for each other). it’s lovely, but there’s still that underlying sadness there that they can’t date each other in public (or just hang out in general) the way that pat sees ink and paa doing on their hotpot date. this is clearly something that’s quite difficult for pat esp to deal with since he’s the type of person that WANTS to show off who he’s dating/that he’s taken. i just really love how pran can see how much it affects pat and quickly tries to cheer him up. they’re stuck being a rock and a hard place, but they’re both so understanding of one another as they’re able to see things from the other’s perspective.

pat’s ig posts remind me of how jealous he was when he saw that ig story of pran and wai drunk at the bar together. and even that ig story he just saw of paa with ink. THAT’S what he wants...to be able to post freely about his boyfriend, but he can’t do that. so he settles for these cryptic shots relating to pran bc he needs an outlet of sorts. he’s never been able to suppress his feelings in the same way that pran can bc that’s just not how he deals with things. on the other hand, pran’s just a lot more private in general. and he’s understandably worried that someone might be able to link all these posts to him, so he can’t help but panic on reflex when pat teases him with the kiss (even though logically i’m sure he knows pat would never post something that obvious without his express consent). either way, it broke my heart a little that they’ve been forced into this situation where they have to hide their love like this.

pran trying to make it up to pat with all those little post it notes (and the toilet paper)...MY POOR HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS. pran using his love of smiley faces to make pat smile too!! they really, really just can’t stand to see the other sad at all. honestly, this is the type of cute, domestic relationship stuff that we tend to miss when couples only get together at the end of a drama. i LOVE that we’ve gotten to see their dynamic morph from their playful ‘not friends’ bickering at the start, to them still playfully bickering, but being in an established relationship now. how could you stay sulky after that :’) impossible.

every single one of their friends are so dense it would almost be sad if it didn’t makes it that much easier for them to hide their relationship, i guess 😭

the way we go from pat being sulky to pran being sulky though. but you can already see how the conflict will start ramping up more and more from here as pran gets more paranoid about pat’s posts (esp as they get more daring). that being said, it’s so endearing to see the different methods the both of them use to cheer the other up. they hate seeing each other sad, and they can’t stay mad at each other for very long either.

the line reading back hug scene though!!!!! no matter how many times i’ve seen it, i can never stop smiling during it. it’s just so damn adorable. poor pran squirming in pat’s arms as he reads his lines ahhh...again, how could you stay sulky after that...there’s just no way. also, the behind the scenes for this particular scene was so CUTE...nanon was really going through it omg 😂

it’s so weird to me how obsessed wai is with paa when he literally only talked to her like that ONE time they bumped into each other (and almost fought her before he saw her)?? and then wanting to fight pat when he thought paa was his girlfriend?? this boy doesn’t need a love interest, he needs anger management classes...

not how wai called pran dramatic in ep 6 when HE’S being as dramatic as he is. pran using wai/paa for his monologue on why his relationship with pat is so exhausting bc of all the hiding :((( pran tends to do this a lot. confide in his friends SOME of his feelings (without them really realising), but never telling them the whole truth. pat is the only person he ever tells everything to, but pat is also the one who’s the most patient and perceptive of pran’s feelings when he’s not saying what he means.

i have more to say about wai’s involvement in all this, but i’ll leave that until the end...

pat’s argument with his dad absolutely broke my heart. pat is such an interesting character to me bc on the surface he seems easygoing and carefree. he’s honest and wears his heart on his sleeve. but there’s also a lot more bubbling under the surface with him. and we’ve gotten to see more and more of this with each new ep.

originally, i thought that pat had more freedom than pran (even pran mentioned that pat’s family was more ‘flexible’ than his own), but i think i might have been wrong on that front. pat SEEMS like he has more freedom than pran, but it’s bc he’s always followed the path that his dad has set for him. his dad is constantly talking about his own reputation and how he needs pat to uphold it, and so far, that’s what pat’s been doing. up until this point he’s been the ‘perfect son’. he’s always been involved in the things that his dad WANTS him to be involved in and has been rewarded for it (eg. the drum set, the car). he’s living out his dad’s dreams. but by participating in the architecture play, he’s deviating off this set path that’s been laid out for him by his dad. i hate parents like this. they want to live vicariously through their children instead of acknowledging that their children are their own individual people with their own interests and wants in life.

it’s interesting when he says that he doesn’t intervene in pat’s life much when truthfully he does seem to be keeping pretty close tabs on what his son has been doing. in ep 2, he goes to pat’s dorm and pokes around his room, then tells pat that one of pat’s professors was his senior in school. he’s there during the bus stop opening, and again when pat was talking to pran’s mum. and now he knows about pat skipping rugby practice. all of this could just be him being a supportive parent, sure, but looking at if from this context...it does feel a lot more controlling than it appears on the surface. esp given how his father’s acting towards him now just bc pat is in a university PLAY. maybe he skipped some rugby practices, but he’s STILL on the team. he’s still doing what his father wants of him...only he’s doing something else HE wants on top of that.

i think what really gets to me is just how torn up pat is about disappointing his father like this. he very clearly looks up to and respects his father a lot, and he SO wants his father to be proud of him :( like he couldn’t even outright say that he didn’t want to play rugby last ep...he just kept saying he was too lazy, even when paa pressed him on why he was going for tryouts when he didn’t even want to play anymore. he’s followed his dad’s footsteps for so long, that now that he’s taken his own steps, his dad has intervened in a way that he’s never outright done before...and it’s really shaken pat. i get the feeling that pat might never have realised just how much he needed his father’s approval until this moment (since his priorities have always aligned with what was expected of him by his dad). this is the first time that this hasn’t been the case, which explains why it’s so crushing for him. he feels like he’s letting his dad down for the first time in his life. i just want to hug him :(((

i feel like this scene also lays the groundwork for how pat’s dad is going to react once he finds out about pat and pran’s relationship (esp if he’s already blowing up at pat for being in a PLAY). it’s not boding well for them...but i think we all knew that :/

OF COURSE the first person he thinks of calling is pran...he’s the only person in the world that can give him the comfort he needs. the only person that will understand. i read another post somewhere that basically said that the love that pat and pran’s friends and family have for each of them come with conditions/expectations, but the love they have for each other is unconditional bc they love each other for who they actually ARE and not what they expect from each other, and i just thought that was so beautiful and true ;;; they’re each other’s safe zones.

something i adore about this scene is how pat always come across as super confident and sure of himself, but when he calls pran up and hears that he’s out drinking, he seems to get kind of insecure in that moment. like he doesn’t want to burden pran with his problems/feelings (esp when he’s out having a good time). this is a pretty relatable feeling to have when you’re in a new relationship too. you just don’t want to come across as too much so you end up keeping things to yourself. i just like seeing this more vulnerable side of pat. that he’s not always confident all of the time.

but i also love that pran just knew something was up from the tone of pat’s voice and rushed back home to comfort him. this was actually my fave thing about this whole ep. in previous eps, it was mostly pat that was the one to come over and comfort/cheer pran up...we see so much of pran doing this for pat this ep, and it makes their relationship feel much more balanced and reciprocal.

pran presses a little bit bc he knows that pat’s upset about something, and pat folds immediately which is just so in line with his personality. he can try, but he’s just not the type to hold his emotions in like that. he’s way too communicative, and never wants things to be lost in translation. it’s so consistent with his character and what he previously said in ep 6 (”if you don’t say it, how will i figure it out? how can i possibly understand you?”).

THE BALCONY SCENE!!!!!!!!!! i. can’t. stop. smiling. pran being all cute and trying to make pat happy just shows how comfortable and stable he feels in their relationship now (he would never have done this before they became official). he just wants to make pat feel how pat makes HIM feel...wants to make him smile too. it’s always been really evident how much pat loves pran bc he’s not subtle about it at all. he conveys so much of his love in grand gestures. pran might be more quiet about it, but things like this really prove how much pran loves pat too. it’s just so cute seeing pran be silly and playful in order to make pat laugh. they’re both so madly in love with each other. i’m glad that pat gets to sniff pran’s shirt as much as he wants now too :’)

this is just my head canon, but i feel like pat specifically got pran the earphone bag with their initials on it bc he knows how much pran likes things with the first letter of his name on them (his bag, the giant ‘p’ light in his room)...and idk i just think that’s adorable.

oh god, the montage with kacha’s ost!!!!!!!!!!!! they’re both so gone for one another (and i’m gone for them). at least they gave us a giant slice of happiness before everything came crashing down...

pran’s anxiety about people finding out about their relationship when he heard his classmates talking about it...we knew it was coming bc it’s been building up but still :((( their fight hurt to watch.

i think this drama does a really good job of making us feel for BOTH pat and pran. it’s easy to empathise with either side as both their feelings are absolutely valid, and that’s why it hurts so much. their conflicting feelings in this ep remind me a lot of the ep 5 kiss. since pat’s living in the present, he wants to be loud and proud about the boy he’s in love with, but pran’s paranoid and worried about their future...so he lashes out and panics as soon as he realises that people could potentially be putting the pieces together through pat’s ig that they’re together.

okay but ohm’s acting in the xylophone scene!!!!!!!!! outsold!!!!!!!! gave me goosebumps and everything 😭 i really love that they didn’t use a score here...it was pure xylophone. they just let pat play out the anger he was feeling. art reflecting life. it made this scene so much more effective imo.

pran watching in the audience and thinking back to the history of their entire romance up until this point while pat played...then pat looking up at him with those eyes, so angry, and pran thinking back to what a huge thing it was that pat did for him (taking on the role of riam), making him reflect on how he shouldn’t have blown up at pat like that before walking away. ouch.

and the clarity in pat’s eyes. how he goes from furious to realisation to regret as he remembers the shirt and what it means to him (how much pran means to him). the way the fury in his eyes just dissipates like that as his xylophone playing simmers down to a stop. i just really, really love this scene so much. it says so much without any words at all.

THEIR APOLOGIES TO ONE ANOTHER. they REALLY can’t stay mad at each other for too long ;;; i love that they both knew exactly what they were apologising for, admitted their faults, and just realised that their anger wasn’t worth it in the end. they’re competitive, but they’ve never been too stubborn to admit when they’ve been in the wrong. this is what a loving relationship is. can’t believe pat and pran invented romance AND healthy relationships :’)))

the communication between the two is just soooooo incredibly refreshing and satisfying to see. but the way they compromise with one another is just as important. pat wants to tell the world that he’s taken, but as always, he takes into account pran’s feelings above his own (only posts cryptically, tells pran that he’ll stop posting if it’s what he wants). pran is terrified about anyone finding out about them, but he can also see how much it hurts pat having to keep their relationship a secret...he can see how stifling it is for him, so even though he’s scared...he still takes these baby steps forward (holding pat’s hand, letting him post vague posts alluding to them on ig, the hand holding pic) bc he knows how much that means to pat. they put each other first in so many ways. constantly make an effort to adjust to the needs and wants of the other. genuinely care about and want one another to be happy. if that’s not true love, i don’t know what is.

i also like that while it was pran that needed assurance in previous eps, it’s pat that needed more of it in this ep. i feel like that’s partially the reason he kept posting about them on social media. although pran shows his love in actions (acts of service), he’s not very vocal when it comes to how he feels. i really think pat needed to hear it from pran’s mouth himself, so when he says “just because i’m not telling people doesn’t mean i don’t like you” and admits to being pat’s boyfriend (which he’s never really said properly before), it provides pat with the assurance and security he needs...bc it’s one thing knowing someone loves you/thinks about you in a certain way, but it’s another thing hearing the person that you love say the words out loud like that.

OKAY. so now let’s talk about the big reveal. it was always coming but...it really had to be in the most dramatic and revealing way ever huh.

so there’s a lot of speculation that it was wai that revealed them (possibly turned up the mic on stage/dropped the curtain)...and he does seem like the most likely candidate seeing the way he was overseeing them in the sound booth...like they were just puppets on his stage. he, at the very least, most DEFINITELY heard everything from the look on his face. i know one of the screenwriters tweeted about it too before deleting their tweet. it would also fit with the more villainous trajectory of his character development seeing as how he’s been racking up the red flags for awhile now (and esp since last ep). i’m sure he’s also angry at pran for telling him to give up on paa when pran’s been secretly dating pat this whole time.

what i’m having trouble fitting with the narrative though is, if he really was the one that saw them in the car, does that mean he was acting the entire time he went drinking with pran?? he knew the whole time but was just waiting to reveal it?? i know that wai’s pretty manipulative, but that’s plain diabolical. that’s so much more deliberate (and evil) than if he’d just found out at the theatre and revealed them impulsively...also imo it would have made more sense for him to have confronted pran immediately after seeing him in the car bc that seems more in line with his personality. since he’s the type to act first, think later.

unless he just saw pran get in the car and didn’t know who it was with?? so he went drinking with him to try to figure things out, maybe saw that the phone call pran received wasn’t from his mum, but still wasn’t able to quite pinpoint who pran was being so secretive about until seeing/hearing the two of them in the theatre (and then exposing them in an impulsive fit of anger).

or maybe someone else entirely saw them in the car?? ngl at first i thought korn...like why was he in the theatre in the first place? but then he didn’t seem very sus when they were teasing pat about dating an architecture ‘girl’ so...who knows. i guess we’ll only get answers with ep 9.

either way, what happened to them made my heart stop :( i’m so upset for the both of them that it had to happen like this. and i know their friends are gonna make this REAL hard for them next ep, but i hope they can power through everything together as they’ve been doing so far.

bless ink :’) and i know that the preview has paa looking kind of shady, but i do think she’ll come around. she’s grown up in the same heteronormative environment that pat has...she’s likely never even thought about her brother liking another boy (let alone PRAN) in that way so it might take her some time to adjust. esp given their family histories. and who knows, it might also make her question her own feelings and admiration for ink in more detail...js.

anyway, i do think we’ll get a resolution for the friend drama by the end of ep 9 (since that’ll be their main conflict next ep). they’ll prob have to wrap it up by the end so they can get to the family drama, which is likely going to be a thousand times worse... :/// i’m so worried for them but so invested...here’s hoping we’re all able to get through this storm okay. i just want them to be happy together, that’s it!!!!!

[angelhummel]

hello can you gush about klaine again bc i really liked the last one and i am in desperate need of happy klaine stuff again after seeing shitty discourse about them

well obviouslyyy you know you came to the right place. here for all your fluffy klaine needs! also literally no matter how many tags you block or who you unfollow it always has to slip thru the cracks doesn't it?? ugh

(x) this is BEFORE blaine realizes he's head over heels cuckoo bananas in love with kurt. look at those freakin heart eyes. blaine andersimp indeed

(x) they spent the entire morning being adorably flirty and domestic and despite the fact that kurt's bedroom is not five feet away, kurt decides he can't wait another second and absolutely HAS to have blaine on this couch right here right now. i can't

(x) Blaine's face when Kurt admits to having watched p0rn before. literally too many thoughts, head full, brain short circuiting

(x) The "BEDBUGS!!!" scene is literally one of the funniest in the show. So much humor crammed into so many quick cuts. I love s5 Klaine but their comedic chemistry remained sadly underutilized. They easily could've had a full 22 ep season just by giving us more funny scenes like this

(x) Just a few hours ago, Kurt was staring forlornly as Blaine serenaded another man, and Blaine was feeling the sting of rejection from someone he liked. And yet in no time at all they're making one another laugh like nothing bad ever happened. Bc they're what?? Best friends! this may also just be chris and darren breaking character but shh

(x) this?? is just so cute??? this ep was packed to the gills with domestic fluff and we ate it all up. just Blaine wrapping anything around Kurt's neck and using it to pull him closer like... what's not to love??

(x) (i'm not talking about this exact moment but i dont think anyone will complain about the gif...) Okay so in the scene leading up to the first kiss after Kurt says "Why did you pick me to sing that song with?" Blaine kind of stalls and it takes him a few seconds to answer

I have a hc that Blaine planned out exactly how this conversation would go, running thru it a million times in his head before he finally went to talk it out with Kurt. And he says what song he wants to sing and Kurt says he's impressed and Blaine says "Well I just wanted something a little more emotional" and I feel like he'd planned out several more minutes of conversation before he confessed his feelings, but Kurt jumped ahead by asking point blank "Why did you pick me to sing with?" and suddenly Blaine is mentally shuffling thru the flashcards he'd written up trying to get to the right one and tell Kurt how he feels

[s1utspeare]

DID SOMEONE SAY BODY LANGUAGE COMPARISON???

I heard the sweet, dulcet tones of acting meta on this post and could not resist her call, so @xcziel, @foxofninetales, this one is for you.

THE LIU CHANG DMBJ CHARACTER META: WANG CAN vs LIU SANG

So first of all lemme just say I love these bitches, and what’s interesting about Liu Chang is that he plays them on opposite ends. There’s not much he can do about the fact that, y’know, he’s the same-ass person, but there are some very distinct differences between Liu Sang and Wang Can, which we will be talking about now.

Liu Sang photo cred: @foxofninetales

Wang Can photo cred: @xcziel

Jiang Wu photo cred: me screenshotting @xia-xueyi’s Moonfall Echo subs (ep. 13)

PART ONE: BODY LINES

I’ve talked about body lines before! But now we get to look at it from the same actor in two different characters! As a recap, straight lines are strong, sturdy, confident, and straightforward; curved lines are weaker, but more interesting and more dynamic.

For example!!

We got our bitch Wang Can here!! This is our first look at this slimy man, and look! He’s like a square!!! All straight lines, all ups and downs. Him body a square!! The costume people also do a great job of boxing him up bc of the tailoring of his jacket, and the two neutral color palette. There’s no embellishments, no decor. This is a straightforward man!! He’s not hiding anything except exactly how much of a bitch he is

(Also notice that his hands are showing and in fists. This will be important in a minute.)

Next, we have our favorite boy Liu Sang, showing up for the first time (ignore the differences in angles):

Oho! He’s a curvy motherfucker!! Aside from the fact that his clothes are now tailored correctly to demonstrate his natural curves, this mans is also curving himself! His arms! Are loose! And bent!! His head and neck aren’t nearly as emphasized! And! AND!!!! His hands are in his fucjing POCKEEETTTSSS. That indicates FURTIVENESS! That indicates MYSTERY! We’re going to find some things OUT about this boy and we’re gonna like it!!!

In comparison, look at Jiang Wu:

LIU CHANG U BEAUTIFUL BITCH. He fucking BENT HIS ARM. He kept one straight and BENT THE OTHER!!! Oh joyous occasion!! We have a DYNAMIC BOY!! but not too dynamic—peep that hidden hand! Also I love this bc it was TWO DIFFERENT LIU CHANG CHARACTERS IN THE SAME SHOW!!! :D see!! Here’s Liu Sang again!

THIS IS A CONFIDENT LIU SANG!!!! He is CHANGED! He is capable of expressing emotions now! Look at just how much body language he has going on, while in comparison, Jiang Wu and Wang Can are like creepy Wood Baby Puppets. His body shape is boxy again, but that’s bc he’s the protagonist of this one. The plot hinges on him, he’s gotta be sturdy.

WHAT WE HAVE DETERMINED SO FAR:

Wang Can is straight lines, no hidden agenda (which is funny cause he’s a Bad Guy)

Liu Sang is dynamic lines and movement, and alludes to mysterious ✨secrets✨

Jiang Wu is a mix of the two and also a dumb dork (that’s not from the body language, I just think he’s funny)

PART TWO: HAIR, BABY!

Once again I owe my life to costuming people. Someday I’ll write that Mystic Nine costuming meta but today we’re focusing on Liu Chang and, specifically, his HAIR PEOPLE!!! I love them and would die for them literally

Once again, ladies and gentlemen and all my glorious they/thems, Wang Can:

OOOOOH I hate his slimy RAT FACE lemme AT EM. Ahem. Regardless, let’s take a look at this BITCH, shall we? We have: straight line face angles!! Very standard shape, BUT this is all accented by the fact that his hair is S C R A P E D back to within an inch of its life, like. Ahem. Sir. Please. Also this man’s got CONTOUR on. If u look at literally any pics/videos of Liu Chang out of character he is NOT this angular. His head is just as rectangular as his body, and the pulled back hair emphasizes his face, which is interesting as he doesn’t do a whole lot with it.

Alternatively, Liu Sang:

This is a nice boy!!! This is a nice soft boy!!! Look his face has CURVES that are emphasized by the glasses (which also draw attention to his eyes, which is good bc that’s where he does the most work, which we’ll get to later) and the HAIR!!! His hair is soft!! It’s flowy! It’s curvy! He conditions!!! This boy is approachable and will Not shoot you One Million Times with a Machine Gun. This also works with the Liu Sang Signature Ponytail, as he leaves thick-enough bang pieces out to also give the illusion of curves around his face. Also his nose and cheekbones are NOT as strongly contoured, so the angularity of his face is softened as well

WHAT WE HAVE DETERMINED SO FAR

dmbj hair and makeup people were doing the absolute most

Wang Can’s hair gives us the most access to The Face, giving him a slick, straight look, and also something else which we will discuss next

Liu Sang is Soft and Curved bc of the hair and glasses, primarily

Oh speaking of fucking which you know who else is soft??? Huang Junjie. That’s the softest man I have ever seen. His xiaoge is my favorite bc it’s perfectly believable that he’s Butter Inside based solely on his Cheeks (again, it’s the hair people doing the Lord’s work)

PART THREE: IT’S ALL IN THE FACE

The face is the actor’s best friend, and Liu Chang definitely uses his well. We know him as being sort of stoic, more on the Xiao-Ge end of things than the Wu Xie side, but if u compare Liu Sang to Wang Can, LS is going HAM with the facials.

Let’s take a look!

Fuck me UP!!!!!! Look at him!! This is one of the earlier episodes too so we haven’t even gotten to the real good stuff but!!!! Look at his eyebrows!!! Look at how wide his eyes get (once again, the glasses are jumbotroning the peepers)! Look at his unhappy lil mouth!! That’s a whole REALM of facial expression, and so early on in our journey!

Meanwhile, Fuckboy Prime:

(Pardon the garbage screencap, my laptop broke on me this week and I am Suffering)

This is at the very end of Wang Can’s time with us; he’s fighting and he’s going to die and he KNOWS it, but this bitch doesn’t even draw his eyebrows together. Mcwhomst???? Bitch u GOTTA give us more than that I’m BEGGING u

The other interesting thing about their differing facial expressions is that Liu Sang emotes mostly with his eyes, and Wang Can emotes mostly with his mouth. This is very obvious in the clip @xcziel posted, esp when he starts doing the whole gesturing-with-his-chin thing, but it’s prominent throughout.

These two screenshots were taken like fifteen seconds apart. He does a whole face journey, but only with his mouth. His eyes stay fixed; they move, sure, but they don’t get any wider or anything like that.

Liu Sang, however is always doing stuff with his eyes. For example (I couldn’t find an image of it quick enough but I know that @kholran has this gifset), the sacrifice scene where he looks up at Wu Xie with the biggest, most pleading and questioning eyes imaginable?? Kills me. The DEPTH in those bad boys. Fuck me UP.

This also checks out when we remember the glasses. Since they emphasize the eyes, we’re drawn to that part of Liu Sang’s face, so it makes sense that the majority of his expression would happen there. This is also prominent with his hearing abilities; whenever he’s trying to focus them (or get us to focus on him), he not only turns his eyes away, he SHUTS THEM, which means we as the audience know that there’s something going on underneath the surface, and really highlights the fact that this is an unusual and cool power!

With Wang Can, however, the structure of his face and absence of Hair Curves directs the eye to his mouth, so we watch that to tell what’s going on in his head. It’s all about directing the eye, and Liu Chang is very good at knowing where people are going to be looking!

SO: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

Liu Sang, Wang Can, and Jiang Wu are all very distinctly characterized through their body language

The same actor becomes different characters by using their toolkit (the body) to its full potential

Hair and makeup people are Wizards

Wang Can is a Whole-Ass Ho and I do not miss him even a little bit

Liu Sang’s body dynamics change over time and I love that for him!!

I’m a giant nerd the end

[born-for-eachother]

am i the only person who sees no solid proof of inuyasha loving kikyo more in either manga or anime? Like I love dog boy, but most of his promises/devotion to kikyo to me only seemed to be born out of survivors guilt and it never really felt like he was in love with her anymore after she was revived. To me they always seemed like empty promises because he never…. protects her? after he said he would, like yes he would check in on her every now and then but then he’d leave her alone and go back to kagome. People always say they feel bad for kagome when he leaves her but tbh i pity kikyo more because he only goes to check on her for a few mins then goes back to the person he actually wants to be around. And that whole ep47 goes down the drain bc a) they never bring up him going to hell with her again and b) he and kagome immediately reconcile and it’s like he forgets about his promise to kikyo he made literally the ep before. Sometimes it feels like kikyo was just a plot device for inukag and it reminds me of that one interview when rumiko said something along the lines of adding in kikyo scenes because she liked the tension she created. idk it just confuses me when people say anime inukag is bad when to me it’s not, i mean i obvs prefer the manga but yeah.

Yay!! More questions 😀 Hi, anon!!

You definitely aren’t the only one who thinks there wasn’t enough solid proof of Inuyasha’s romantic feelings toward Kikyo. I say “romantic” specifically because most of their interactions throughout the story were purely transactional. However moments in chapters 173-176 did have more intimate undertones to it, with Inuyasha pulling Kikyo back into his arms and telling her to call him if she needs him. Which btw, they absolutely butchered that sweet moment in the anime with her pulling a KNIFE on him (lol ok sunrise) But aside from that and her final death scene, there wasn’t much there indeed.

Kikyo kissed him early on, he didn’t exactly reciprocate her kiss, he just stood there and I think his intention was to appease her tormented soul. Afterall, most of his emotions towards her stem from guilt. He cares about her a great deal but not enough to actually be there by her side day in and day out. Hell, the episode right after, Miroku calls him out on wanting to become a full demon because he wishes to protect Kagome. It didn’t take long for his selfish goals (tessaiga, full demon blood to strengthen him) to become resources to protect Kagome instead. The sword pulses when it wants Inuyasha to protect her and I think it’s a lot to do with the fact that she was the one who pulled out the sword. Also, as @inukag referenced before, it’s been said by Inuyasha that tessaiga and himself are one soul. And because of that, the sword senses how much Kagome means to its master.

It’s Kagome that he reassures/tries to calm down. Never did he reassure Kikyo about anything regarding his and Kagome’s relationship. Not that Kikyo’s jealousy was shown as much as Kagome’s but still. It’s there.

Kikyo served an important role in Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship coming to be and aside from that, she definitely was the reason for tension between them too. Then again, Koga was too. His persistence in wooing Kagome pissed Inuyasha off so much, and despite him being the feudal feminist, he did harbour feelings of possessiveness with Kagome.

Kagome would have rather had Inuyasha all to herself as well, without Kikyo’s interference. Inuyasha and Kagome had really similar insecurities stemming from their feelings for eachother.

Sinrise Studios butchered a lot of InuKag moments and omitted them completely. If fans are only watching the anime, I get that they aren’t convinced that they’re a great pairing.

[konaizumi]

A Tale of a Thousand Stars ep 8 thoughts/reaction

did i watch this episode secretly on my phone while i was in class bc i couldn’t stand waiting a whole hour to watch the new ep? maybe

tian visiting torfun’s memorial to leave flowers and tell her that he’s going to pha pun dao was sweet

also him and phupha missing each other again was just a really nice scene and phupha wondering who left her flowers

i have decided to forgive dr nam for last episode (the snooping not the flirting thing) bc i know he was just concerned about his friend and he didn’t intend for phupha to have that kind of reaction, but he still should’ve confronted tian directly before telling phupha

the way tian is looking at longtae in the beginning, seeing how supportive he’s being and knowing that he’s probably about to lose longtae as well

god this scene was so painful to watch, just knowing what was coming

but the editing that combines tian’s speech with phupha reading through the notebook

also, thank you to the writers for confirming that the tian/torfun similarities are bc he’s been reading the notebook and not because torfun’s spirit is possessing him, i didn’t think they would do that but nice to have confirmation

poor tian really did go there with the best intentions

oof, when the music goes silent when phupha interrupts his speech

also, i said this last week, but it should’ve been the rangers responsibility to tell everyone torfun had died and the fact that they didn’t only added to tian’s burden and the animosity aimed at him, and it annoyed me the way the rangers (perhaps unintentionally) let tian take on the full blame and didn’t admit that they had known about torfun’s death from the start

god and the way tian’s heart break is visible on his face as soon as phupha interrupts/confronts him and he realizes that phupha won’t be on his side

and mix’s acting in this scene (and the entire episode) is just so good, you can see the way he’s desperately trying to keep in together and not completely break down, and his heartbreak when he realizes he’s all alone

also, i made a longer post about how i understand phupha’s reaction, I think it’s pretty natural and that he’s not overreacting, however, i do wish he hadn’t confronted tian so publicly like that 

just everything about this scene is just so good in the most painful way, especially the sad orchestral version of the theme song

now i think this ep is too sad for me to say it’s my favorite, but from a narrative/cinematography perspective it is my favorite, it was just really well done

i was really hoping the kids would have a bigger role this ep and begin the forgiveness process for the rest of the village, so i was excited when Meejoo came but then p’aof decided to stab me directly in the heart when she asked what death is

(also im sorry but how old are these kids that she doesn’t know what the word death is?)

(also given that everything that happens in this ep happens within like a 30 hour period, i still hold hope for the kids forgiving next ep once they have some time to process)

at least they didn’t make me watch the scene where tian had to explain what death was, that would’ve killed me

i understand the villager’s reactions too, and i do kind of wish tian would just stay home and give them some time to grieve and process before trying to interact with them–i don’t blame tian for keeping the truth from them this long, but he does need to respect the pain they’re going through

also this scene with phupha really fucked me up, the way phupha remains stone faced even though he’s clearly in a lot of pain

“i wish i could return it to her” one of the things about this story that really fucks me up is that you can’t have both torfun and tian--torfun had to die for tian to live, and if torfun had lived then tian would have died and all the characters are in a way stuck with this moral dilemma of “choosing” between tian and torfun, even if the decision was already made for them, and tian has had to deal with this problem since the beginning and made his choice a long time ago that he would have preferred that torfun had lived instead of him bc he feels like she had more to live for and left behind more than he would’ve

also the scene is so much more painful knowing that just that morning phupha had finally said out loud that he wanted tian to stay

and i was really ton this scene between understanding phupha’s reaction and where he’s coming from but also being like “please stop talking to my son like that, he feels bad enough as is”

i have often had the emotion of “i want to walk through the screen so i can give this character a hug” and i have literally never felt it stronger than this episode of atots

also thank you to dr nam who told phupha not that he was wrong for his actions, but that he should’ve confronted tian differently, also for figuring out that tian wasn’t the driver

the fact that tian just walked through the tea field so he knows that either khama was lying to him or that longtae saw him in the field and hid from him

poor longtae tho, thought he knew what was coming then was hit with “im responsible for her death”

you know what? i didn’t realize khama would have such a recurring role from the first episode, but i really like him--he’s trying to do his best for the village and that isn’t always easy and he’s the first to try to think about tian’s perspective even when it’s clearly difficult for him

also i love khaotung, he does a really good job as longtae, and as much as i loved him as chonlatee, i prefer him in more mature roles like longtae or fong

did dr nam really think phupha would keep letting tian stay in his room?

it came as a surprise to likely no one but i am glad to have definitve confirmation that tian was in fact not driving the car

against my wishes, tul did not show up this episode to give tian a hug so i hope he’s in the next ep to provide some much needed emotional support

tian’s involvement in torfun’s death is also complicated because to say he had no responsibility in it would be wrong but to say he had full responsibility wouldn’t be right either, there was so much of the situation that was just due to chance, as it the case in any accident, so i appreciate the nuance of the narrative in that tian does take responsibility (even if he takes too much) but other characters like longtae argue that it’s not his fault, bc it’s easy from an outside perspective to say it’s not tian’s fault but it would be much harder to be in tian’s position and not feel responsible that his actions lead to torfun’s death

longtae is truly best boi

tian saying he’s okay with just longtae understanding him is so sad but at the same time it’s good that he’s not trying to force other people to understand or forgive him

now i really want to know what torfun’s wish is bc you know it’s going to be all meaningful and thematically relevant

istg if i had a fucking nickel for every time tian has tried to give me a heart attack

i spent the entirety of part 4 yelling at tian to just stop being stupid

like i get it, you don’t feel like you have the time to waste to go find phupha, but still

also im worried that maybe the reason he was so adamant about doing it himself and not finding phupha was because he didn’t feel like he could go to phupha or that phupha might not believe him

tian please just listen to longtae being the voice of reason

or at least send longtae back to the village to go get phupha if you’re this determined

as soon as he pulled out his phone i fucking knew the flash would go off bc tian can’t be smart without also being dumb

pls don’t hit my son he has a weak heart

longtae running away like “i didn’t sign up for this shit”

pls stop hitting my son

i was wondering how tian’s dad would become involved in the story again and tian name dropping him to escape being killed by poachers was not it

but sakda was clearly scared when tian first said the name so obvi they’re connected and i’m assuming the person who called tian’s dad was either sakda or one of the other men there which means that tian’s dad is doing illegal shit (surprise surprise)

tian i know you’re stressed but pls let rang provide first aid

that montage at the end tho really hit me

also the parallels between this scene and the one when tian fainted in the field, it’s literally the exact same scene but the roles are reversed

also the fucking post credits scene, the emotional whiplash, the pain from knowing phupha said this stuff literally hours before everything went wrong

the way i squealed when phupha said i do (and throught the rest of the scene), it was literally the sweetest thing, it might be my favorite phutian moment so far

so for the last two episodes, im assuming that tian’s dad coming to get him and the dad being involved in illegal stuff will be the main external conflict, i wouldn’t be surprised if next ep ended with the dad showing up and demanding to take tian back

also the next ep preview, khama telling tian to forgive himself, im weak

this episode just made me feel so much, the story is just so complex and nuanced, and the characters are real and messy, and pls more bl in the future that aren’t afraid to tell more serious stories (as much as i love the romcom style of most bls i would love some more variety)

[potterology]

fave dylb scenes bc I can't get over and I’m already rewatching and noticing little things heheee 

- first meeting outside the restaurant. ohh how I love how awkward yet endearing they both were when they finally introduced themselves to one another. rewatching it made me realize that JY was already smitten by SA since the start. (like literally since the start y'all!!! he didn't even know her yet and wanted to stop the car to get SA an umbrella and this was in the first ep!!)

- when JY switched coffee cups with SA bc she spilt her cup and he started drinking it so she can’t refuse even though he doesn’t like coffee. Like he just did it bc he was compelled to do so?? like dude what if she already drank from it??? This scene was so funny to me and I love it cuz I dont think SA is used to being the one taken care of like that so it was just v cute

- when the noona was trying to get them to talk banmal but SA was like oh noooo he’s a superstar. This was cute bc you can actually see that JY was disappointed. Also they keep sneaking peeks at each other lol cute fools 

- waiting for taxi scene- this was so freaking adorable. shows how considerate they both are for each other and it’s so freaking awkward when they both realized they were standing there waiting for each other to get a taxi- but like in the cutest way

- when they were both outside that restaurant and SA asked if JY enjoyed his performance at granny’s house and I think this was the first time someone asked our boy if he likes what he does for a living and you can just tell his heart went soft for her(same dude same)

- spontaneous non-date date. ohh I love the first time they ate together at that beer place. they really started to get to know each other there. the mood and how that scene was filmed was just chef’s kiss~~

- rehearsal room we should be friends scene. when homeboy transitioned from moonlight sonata to happy birthday, y'all knew it was over for SA- god damn I would have swoon over too

- by the river “I wanted to see you” scene- high key JY sucks at communicating but I love how he is just so taken by SA that he just flat out says he misses her and as soon as he says it he was almost shocked himself. so pure

- the midnight call. I MEAN. guys. guys. he wanted to just talk to her and ask her out but tried to be nonchalant about it. ahhh they literally portrayed the first stages of dating so well I'm goo for it !!!!!!

- first walk together in the walkway. this was just so adorable. the almost hand holding. the chemistry!! the shy smiles :’’’) 

- SA’s birthday when she thanked JY for just being there for her. I love how she quietly acknowledges him and it was such an intimate interaction between them. I replay that scene a lot in my head

- when he ran to SA to give her his signed CD. He was so worried about her he forgot about JK lmaooo. Also the fact the he validated her as a violinist when SA was at a very low point... I mean... boyfriend material ugh

- the scene when SA told JY every little thing he does concerns her and that she didn’t want to feel that way about him anymore. As soon as SA said that homeboy PANICKED!!! I don’t even think he knew how much he liked SA until she said that :’)

- the lunchroom scenes 1) when they were teasing each other and 2) when JY announced that they were dating lolol I love how stoic he normally is but for SA he becomes a softie hehe

-ice cream day date; lol when SA won’t let JY tie her shoelaces bc she didn’t want to fall for him lol ok girl

-night ice cream/ stairs date. y'all know already. shit was just adorable. SA going for the kiss. I melted with the ice cream

- when JY asked SA for her handkerchief!!! it’s such a small gesture but they both knew it had a special meaning and I love how it put SA over the moon. (Also let’s include all the other times we see JY actually use that handkerchief- especially after they broke up. like homeboy was holding on to it for his dear life bc it was the only thing he had of SA~~ my fragile heart!!) ps did we ever see SA get a handkerchief from him???? No??? Sbs give me that pls

- when MS was telling JY in the car that SA has only openly confessed liking two things in her life and one them was JY. He was so flustered and couldn’t hide his smile and dimples... bruhhhhh he was full on swoon. Also when JY heard SA say that she really likes JY like he was so proud of himself lmao he’s like “yeah my gf LIKES ME” lolol

- when the lovebirds fought who was gonna clean up the broken glass at JY apartment. I love loveee this one bc SA has been beaten down so much by everyone calling her talentless that she didn’t even consider how important her hands is to her as a musician. And JY being like honey ur a violist and a musician too- UR HANDS ARE PRECIOUS. This was just v touching. Again showing how JY has always considered SA as an equal despite all the shit people say about his gf. luv him :’)

-all the moments JY just stood by SA’s side and held her hand when she needed comfort. I love how he’s just there for her. His silent support was just enough. (One thing that would have been nice is if we saw SA do the same thing, I felt like the writers were almost there but just didn't go all the way which is a shame tbh)

- Their lil day trip to JY’s hometown. I like how JY was so open to SA here. When he proclaimed that he never felt “this way before”  I screamed!! It was at that moment you clearly knew as a viewer that JY never really loved JK. He might have he loved the idea of her, yes. But he never truly loved her the way he loves SA. And his realization of this in that particular episode just made me so so so happy

- Handholding in the bus scene. That shit was so freaking tender bc you can tell how content JY was. He was beyond smitten- homeboy was IN LOVE AT THIS POINT

- when JY dropped SA home. I mean everything about this scene really makes ur heart soft right?? How both of them were beaming? How SA feet probably hurt bc homegirl was wearing heels the whole day and walked another 30 min just so she can spend more time with JY? How she literally ran back to him and JY just had this impression watching her like “my gf is cute af”?? How SA said something along the lines of JY having somewhere to belong to now and you can tell this had a double meaning for him bc at this point he prob considered SA as his home..I was literally mush oh my god. 

-break up scene. I know, v painful- but this was a rare one in kdramaland where I actually thought it was necessary for them to split (still wish it was done earlier but alas I'll take it) It was a graceful and needed breakup. Also when JY pulled out that umbrella for her.... bish it was over for me

- SA’s recital. I MEAN HOW IN SYNC COULD THEY BE. I normally skip the musical performances whenever I watch dramas that are music related- but this show makes it so magical I simply could not. PEAAAKKK ROMANCE

- JY’s recital- when he played that last song I was a big mess cuz we all knew it was dedicated for SA :’’) (I listen to this piece all the time now and im so emo when I hear it bc like god WHEN)

- First I love you scene. JY just going for it and chasing his happiness without caring if SA might reject him. We love to see it

-Second I love you scene. YALL. YALLLLL the way JY just releases his breathe when SA said she can't be friends bc she loves him more than a friend will forever slay me. Kim min jae’s acting here was real good. I love how JY said I love you four times and just went for it. top kissing scene in a krdrama for me hehee 

- dubokki date. lmao at JY with the spicy level. just plain cute

-the quick side by side peek to JY new album in the last episode. the way it showed how their relationship evolved. how he signed it as “for my love song ah” BISH I WANNA DATE A MUSICIAN TOO NOW

- that lil scene where JY wrote SA’s name as the planner bc he knows she works just as hard as the musicians and deserves the recognition. get u a boy who will vandalize a program notice for u :)

- basically all the scenes at the end of ep 16. I wish all of them were longer. I wanted to see more of them dating and happy!!! But I just love how they are both so INTO each other and you can see how happy JY is bc he finally has that person back that understood him since the beginning and it makes you feel so warm knowing they’re each other’s support system ahhhh I love their love !!

- also just all the scenes that JY looks at SA lovingly ~~ which literally happened since ep 1 I mean they are literally heart eyes emoji for each other every time :’)) 

- oh oh OH special shout out to ep 11 when JY just can’t stop holding SA’s hands !! the way he does it is so freaking INTIMATE like if I can only describe how I feel whenever I see compilation gifs of that episode where JY just reaches out and holds SA’s hands so steadily and tightly...it’s literally the most heartwarming thing.. idek how to explain what I’m trying to convey but I just vibe with it so much?? it’s so intimate and romantic.. Kim min jae I will die 4 u my love

[cattles-bians]

Damie Vibecca exes AU part 4

post directory

[em note: this one is LONG i had to split it!!!]

obsetress: deflecting to viola protecting becs

obsetress: once they are dating

obsetress: and thinkin thoughts

em: viola asks rebecca if she wants to put a hit out on peter and rebestiecca is like????

em: that’s hot but

em: u can do that? also maybe don’t. but mostly that’s hot

obsetress: i was literally gonna say peter is still her ex and he's a persistent fucker even though it's been a year at least and viola's response is... not far off from canon!

obsetress: becca just stares at her for a minute and then she's cupping viola's cheek and murmuring "come here" and pulling her down

obsetress: they're like kissing or whatever and rebecca's murmuring "that was hot, you know" between kisses and viola's like "oh?" and becca's like "don't be cheeky, you know it was" and vi just grins against her mouth

em: I’m Really Invested In This Crack Ship

obsetress: ok but rebecca tells jamie and dani about vi offering to put a hit on peter and they're both understandably and reasonably aghast and rebecca's just like (takes a sip of wine, ducks head, smiles to self) i think it's sweet

obsetress: dani and jamie look at each other out of the corners of their eyes

obsetress: (later, dani agrees how absolutely out of line it is but also admits that it sure does feel nice to be so taken care of sometimes)

obsetress: (jamie throws a pillow at her)

obsetress: also thinking about secret soft vibecca are sometimes and how horrified dani and jamie are the first time they see it with their own eyes

em: jamie and dani excessive PDA queens get a taste of their own medicine

em: it’s so funny that i’m like. always on the verge of viola horny posting but as soon as it’s vibecca i’m like look at these babies. these beautiful babies

obsetress: viola and rebecca kissing one (1) time at brunch and jamie, arm slung around dani’s shoulders, is like “oi, no one wants to see that” and dani, leaning into jamie, one hand in her lap, crinkles her nose and rebecca’s like “y— you’re kidding, right?”

obsetress: also like. we talk a lot about what vi does for rebecca but also like

obsetress: vi massive abandonment issues and rebecca just

obsetress: she just stays

em: ur gonna Kill me here lies em

obsetress: i know i didn’t mean to and then i just

obsetress: i can’t think too hard abt them or i will Melt Down but just like

em: look if rebecca can see the best in someone as awful as peter

em: viola isnt nearly as terrible

obsetress: esp vi post dani like

obsetress: she’s obnoxious and haughty and neoliberal but

obsetress: radical love goes a long way!

obsetress: rebecca grounding her thru touch and rebecca slipping her hands around vi’s and easing them loose when vi’s hands start to clench and rebecca just pressing a kiss to viola’s temple and murmuring “i’m here, yeah? with you. not going anywhere”

em: like i just think after eddie dani wouldnt like, just go w the flw any more. like i think abt her challenging viola occasionally

em: lovingly! gently

but like, holding her accountable

em: also violas absolutely little spoon

em: like i know blah blah viola top rebecca top leaning switch but viola little spoon

obsetress: “actually viola” (vi always knows she’s in trouble when dani calls her viola) “that was really hurtful” “i’m sorry you feel that way, dani, but—“ “i don’t need you to be sorry for how i feel. i need you to show me you’re sorry for what you did”

em: dani calls vi the Full Name and viola knows shes in trouble bc thats at least 4 extra vowels w danis midwest accent

em: it is always v surprising how much like, working w kids equips you to work w adults. b/c at least w kids you dont have layers and layers of social nuance to work through. u can just say 'hey. that was hurtful and your apology sucks'

obsetress: meanwhile dani’s over here trying to explain to vi intent vs impact and how no, it’s not semantics or nuance, it’s actually kind of a chasm

em: i kind of love like um. look viola is terrible but she wasnt born terrible

obsetress: she just has a lot to unlearn

em: and id belive that even if i wasnt a ghostfucker thats just rogers theory of self actualisation babyeee

obsetress: dani viola big fight n dani's like

obsetress: "i'm sorry and i love you but it's not my job to fix you, vi" and she just breaks down and she's like "it's not"

obsetress: jesus why did my brain take THAT turn

em: wrow

em: its ok i was gonna be like 'so they obvs break up at some point....'

obsetress: anyway viola just stares at her for a second and then she's like "you put the 'i'm sorry' before the 'i love you'"

obsetress: and dani just stares at her for a long time and she's like "yeah. i guess i did"

em: HANNAH

em: BESTIE

obsetress: i KNOW what the FUCK

obsetress: anyway dani's like "i guess i did" and vi's like "is that it then?" and dani just looks at her with her puffy eyes and is like "i think so"

obsetress: dani clayton queen of saying "i love you" over and over in the midst of breaking up w someone

em: well! she has a lot of love to give but, she also has to love herself sometimes!

em: i was thinking abt scenarios n i just remembered that. whole video rental shop thing so i think that slots in nicely

[em edit: u can read here]

obsetress: god i love that lil scene

em: dani sends viola a tentative little meme peace offering and they get back to talking and its nice but maybe a bit awkward and viola mentions like, going to therapy and seeing someone for help n its

obsetress: vi's stewing on "i can't fix you" for weeks and then she's begrudgingly. BEGRUDGINGLY calling a therapist

em: like its still awkward and dani is still nursing some wounds but she can ALSO be happy for someone she used to care about

em: still cares about!

obsetress: she's always gonna love her in some way or another

obsetress: but yeah also like. smth to viola being too stubborn to do anything she doesn't wanna do except suddenly when dani clayton gets involved and that feels p canon in its own way too

em: 'i cant fix u' weird bc every time i see viola im like 'i can fix her'

obsetress: it's like ur in my head bestie

em: how do u think viola and rebestiecca met

em: not that u think abt it or anything

obsetress: MAN i was just thnking

obsetress: in this universe how did dani and jamie meet but i guess it can still just be bly tbh

obsetress: as for vi and bestiecca hmmm

em: am so caught up in the joy of fucked up interpersnal dynamics i forgot a meet cute

obsetress: honestly part of me wants to be like

obsetress: on some dating app but a dating app for posh people yk

obsetress: but then i'm like

obsetress: that takes all the meet cute fun out of it

obsetress: oh GOD

obsetress: i got it

obsetress: ready

obsetress: so like viola landlord we know this

obsetress: and then i was watching whatever ep three the other day and bex mentions wanting to do public law right

em: oooooh

obsetress: bex public housing attorney

em: OOH

obsetress: they meet at some conference

obsetress: hit it off prob fuck lbr

obsetress: and then

obsetress: comedy of errors

obsetress: whoever stays the night, they sleep together again in the morning, breakfast in bed, bex is like "so what do you do, anyway"

em: hjgbjshmdnfbmngbmhnbgs,hndg m,shndgds

em: YES

obsetress: and then they just

em: WHEEZES

obsetress: also i like to think rebecca invites vi back to her hotel room and vi is so charmed by her taking charge ("""taking charge""") that she lets her

obsetress: and then like

obsetress: god for a while what if they just like

obsetress: they're so mortified and morally and fundamentally at odds but like

obsetress: the sex is so good???????

obsetress: that they keep just meeting up and then

em: romeo and juliet situation

obsetress: yk how it goes

obsetress: the sex is good and they see each other as like

em: thats so fucking good thank u hannah

obsetress: super rare intellectual equals whatever

obsetress: thank u i am exceedingly proud rn

obsetress: honestly at this point i'm

obsetress: rebecca and vi uhaul change my mind

obsetress: like not too quick because isabel but, quick enough to be considered

em: so the joke is like. obviously 'extremely pda damie' but when rebecca and vi are alone they Also cannot get their hands off each other

obsetress: they both just. worry about appearances too much meanwhile

obsetress: tweedle dee and tweedle dum in the overalls and mom jeans dgaf

em: accidentally seeing ur friends compromised is just part of the package of being friends w damie. however jamie accidentally catches vibecca in the act and shes Horrified

em: hypocrits

em: danis like yeah what do u. think theyre doing

em: dani is nonchallant bc shes dated viola of all people

obsetress: i mean could you imagine

obsetress: between vi and dani's just

obsetress: insatiable libido

em: HADNT IMAGINED UNTIL NOW BUT YEAH

obsetress: dani, very seriously: jamie, when two women love each other––

em: dani likes dating jamie bc it means she can top occasionally :) maybe even more than occasionally

em: jamies like ooh my god i knw i know how are u so casual about... rebecca... and ... viola... (dani just pulls her in fr a smooch)

obsetress: they have each other's clothes half off and dani's like "i'm so casual because i dated her too, babe" and jamie's like "can we not have this conversation right n"

obsetress: also i still have this on my clipboard from earlier we bopped around so fast but

obsetress: vi and bex hooking up early on:

obsetress: rebecca knocks on vi's door at, like, 6:00 pm after work, vi opens it, rebecca just grabs her and kisses her, vi pulls her in, becca kicks it closed behind her, vi shoves her against the door and they're kissing against it, then vi's ducking her head to kiss along rebecca's neck and rebecca's like "how many people did you evict today" as she angles her head and then viola's finding her lips again and tugging at her lower lip with her teeth "probably not as many landlords as you shortchanged today" and rebecca's laughing and pushing her backwards down the hall as viola tugs at her blouse

em: GOD. viola is probably like

em: ok, disclaimer: fuck all landlords

em: but at least in this fantasy world perhaps viola is 'fairly' 'reasonable' n shes absolutely playing it up for the hate sex angle n rebecca Maybe Assumes shes lying but

em: stupid morons in love

obsetress: yeah

obsetress: i think i've mentioned this before but like

obsetress: now that it's more fleshed out

obsetress: then they're at drinks one night (and when did it go from just sex to drinks? neither of them could tell you) and viola's kinda quiet n moody (n rebecca already knows she Gets Like This sometimes and that she'll usually say whatever she's thinking eventually) and finally she's like

obsetress: "i have... a daughter" and rebecca's just like "tell me about her" like it's the easiest thing in the world

obsetress: and viola's head snaps over and she stares because she was.... not expecting that

obsetress: and so viola does

obsetress: and rebecca's just like "i'd love to meet her one day"

em: soft.....

obsetress: they always turn back to soft

obsetress: like they have a fuckin mind of their own

em: rapidly oscillate between horny and soft

obsetress: that's the mood

em: violas probably like. yknow, rebecca's young and up and cming n she probably assumes rebesticca isnt interested as something as full on as a kid but shes like 'do you have any photos'

obsetress: fuck!!!!!!!!!

em: rebeccas like do u think i didnt. see the photos at ur apartment lmao

em: theres a childs drawing on the fridge

obsetress: rebecca has known almost from the jump but was

obsetress: giving viola her time

obsetress: also smth smth giving her time instead of time wearing her away etc etc we're all in hell

em: cracks knuckles

em: bestie....

obsetress: pls

obsetress: it's what i deserve

obsetress: first tho

obsetress: consider

obsetress: the way viola's face lights up when she's talking about isabel and showing rebecca all the pictures

obsetress: hold pls

em: soft......

obsetress: this one chief

obsetress: right here

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Y’all. YALL. KIPO SEASON 2 is FIREEEEEEEE

Heroes on Fire...

Anyway!

Binge watched Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Season 2 today and y’all it was sooooo good!!

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

I was gonna do a cut off but... I can’t be bothered getting my laptop sooo...

LONG POST TOO!!! Plus I have enough spoiler tags I think...

———

First of all... Scarlemagne = Mojo-jojo but with actual redemption arc potential???

They really set homie up as the biggest bad and then the twist mystery that Lio and Scarlemagne are connected at the end of S1... but then every much like The Storm from ATLA, we just DEEP-DIVED into Scarlemagne aka HUGO’s backstory and you’re like “well shit, no fucking wonder he got so damn twisted and hating on humans”

And yknow what even with his convoluted thinking and the terrible things he’s done, I’m really really glad they didn’t go down the whole “I blame Kipo bc I’m jealous she took Lio and Song’s attention away from me and that’s why they left me behind” story line... it’s absolutely fascinating that at no point does Scarlemagne blame Kipo, and even looks at her as a sister... like his line “you’re not the one who rejected me” was so powerful, bc he recognises she was just an innocent baby and sees the same confused child in her that he was when he was left alone on the surface... and twisted though his attempts of making her happy were, he was really reaching out for someone who genuinely cares about him again, and it helps that she’s also the daughter of the two people he once viewed as parental figures... and also Kipo’s just naturally empathetic and sees the good in people...

Then she was willing to sacrifice her humanity for a stadium full of mutes and Lio pulled him out of danger... so I’m reaaaallly hoping they keep this potential redemption going... bc really Hugo and Kipo are perfect mirrors of each other... very Zuko/Aang reminiscent... Hugo the animal experiment that was given human hopes and dreams and abilities, only to be thrust into a confusing and scary place with strange powers, and seemingly betrayed by the people he loves most... Kipo, the human experiment, with typical hopes and dreams but is forced into a confusing and scary place with strange powers, and finds out her whole birth and life has been a lie...

One of them just came out of it better...

Secondly... Kipo’s inner Mega-Jaguar scene = Naruto and the Nine-Tails Fox???

Like slowly learning to control the little bits of power that sneak through... being able to change between forms at will provided there is something anchoring her human half... that whole water/mirror/internal Jaguar sequence?!?!... USING THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP TO GET A GRIP ON HER HUMANITY?!?!

ACCESSING AN EVOLVED FORM OF HERSELF WHISLT THINKING OF THE PEOPLE SHE WANTED TO SAVE?!?!

Yo if that ain’t Naruto idk what is...

Next we have Mom the Monkey...

Wasn’t too hard of a leap to figure out... I probably clocked into it maybe mid ep 1?? Idk what triggered it but yeah don’t think that was meant to be a difficult leap to make... that aside, I like that they didn’t have Song immediately change back or have her wits about her when Mulholland helped free her from the pheromones... she’s been a monkey for 13 years, under the control of Dr Emilia, she hasn’t spoken and she didn’t have little moments to control her powers like Kipo... so figuring out how to change her back is a good ongoing mission to have I think... it also makes the fact that Kipo was the one to get through to her in the first place even more powerful and that’s SO dope...

Lio... yknow what when grown ups in these types of stories have regrets and the children are dealing with their consequences it can be very frustrating... but I like that Lio is more than willing to reflect on his past mistakes (valid tho it was that he had no choice but to grab Kipo and run before Emilia could get to her) and is also willing to ACT ON IT...he gives Kipo’s ideas a chance and its even shown for real when Scarlemagne forced him to tell the truth... Hugo was a child he raised and he doesn’t want to leave him behind anymore... even if he’s done so much bad... I’m also glad they showed Kipo expressing disappointment in her fathers actions, empathy for Hugo’s pain, but that didn’t mean she was suddenly disillusioned to her father and what kind of person he is... that can also be a very frustrating aspect of these types of plot lines...

Benson and his darling potentially mutual crush, Troy? What else can i say but beautiful first awkward teen crush PERFECTION! Both of them blushing when Benson ended up on top of Troy after tackling Troy out of the way of a rampaging Pierre? Troy kissing him on the cheek? Troy helping Benson out of the pit and the same falling in love music playing while Benson gazed up at Troy?? TROY AND BENSON HOLDING HANDS WHILE SCARED AND CLINGING TO EACH OTHER?!?!?

TROY BEING AT LEAST PARTIALLY (Latino? Hispanic?) MEANING EVEN MORE POC CHARACTERS AS MAINS LIKE HECK YEAH!!!

Sidenote: a good chunk of the music is like... “rap” music and they always hit during fight scenes and it’s great...

Also: the Kipo title sequence? A bop we must never forget...

SPEAKING OF BOPS WE MUST NEVER FORGET: Heroes on Fire... a karaoke classic I must learn... used with the Power of Friendship can turn a mega mute back to human...

Also also my love and life Jamack??? Continuing to help Kipo out even if he’s a total tsundere about it?!?! LITERALLY CANNOT STOP HIMSELF FROM HELPING HER?!?! I love him... and I want him to join the gang... so bad...

ALSO. The whole second episode was basically about cheese.

Feta. Gouda. Chevre. Fromage.

Idk about that whole... Soothsayer meets the Grey Sisters (Greek mythology? Three sisters, one eye, one tooth? Is that what they’re called?) business with the cheese but whatever it was fun... they were just straight up tossing knives at Kipo to get her latent powers to activate and that was hilarious... also Mr Miyagi moment I guess XD but it means Kipo’s created a whole brain pathway between Herbs in/Herbs out and how she controls her powers and she even mentions that...

Also mega bummed about Ratland burning down...

I also wanna know what was up with the sentient Fun Gus and why it had the mind of a child...

FINALLY: our new big bad - Dr Emilia...

WHAT COMPLETELY TOOK ME BY SURPRISE WAS IT WASNT SCARLEMAGNE WHO PUT HER UNDER HIS CONTROL BUT FRIGGEN THESE CLOAKED HUMANS...Monkey Mom wasn’t a surprise but THAT sure was

We’re really leaning into the one race supremacy theme here huh? But also the reckless and callous treatment of animals and the earth by humans... without regard for how they feel... and after mutating and having and being able to communicate their thoughts and feelings and dreams, Emilia still thinks it would be better to remove that and return them to just animals...

Fascinated to see where they go from here...anyway... go watch Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts so we can get a season 3 babeyyyyy