#idk maybe i'll try watching one ep a week

[fionainlove]

Tbh as much as i loved the fight sequences and a few moments funny moments, on a whole nocturne felt kinda flat story wise. I absolutely would've taken 4 episodes of build up over 8 over stuffed episodes of hype bc i didn't really share most of the emotional beats the show was throwing down to the point where I'm more nervous than I am hype about season 2. And I wanna be hype!! I love this show!! But idk if the writing is on the same level as season 1 then 🤷🏾‍♀️

[robertfettuccine]

My Post-May the Fourth Bad Batch Thoughts

there's lots of 'em

[spoilers]

To start off, I was So excited for the finale I stayed up to watch it when it came out (1am in my time zone) and idk it didn’t feel worth it to do that during finals week after watching the ep

Maybe I had too high expectations but I figured that to wrap up the entire show we’d at least get an hour? Maybe more? I was hoping for something like the s1 premiere but no 51 minutes and you suffer.

Ok I've decided to put my thoughts into 15 minute increments for Organization Purposes

Part One thoughts:

Ok so right away I feel the "wrecker is gonna die" vibes. "Can you make it?" "Try and stop me." It feels very final it feels like he won't. I def thought my first time around that he wasn't gonna make it

The way Hemlock holds that gloved hand... I thought surely that had to be important somehow. I've been wondering about it since he was introduced.

Echo looks like handsome squidward sorry

The way Omega rewires the droid.. Tech. But the way she starts giving orders to the rest of the kids is so Hunter. She really is her fathers' (plural) daughter.

Sidenote the way her theme combines with a light, string-heavy version of the Bad Batch theme while she and the kids are getting ready to leave the vault... mmmm me when music

Ok back to the Batch and ough.. Wrecker is seriously hurt this had me so nervous they're out of med patches I thought for Sure he was gone

Imagine you're in the military and you get sent to some super secret boring base and your whole job is to stand around and guard a submerged lizard (?) and you're already confused and over it and then you find a bunch of kids in your walls???

WOw this is really minor but the cut from the kids and the Zillo to Echo and Emerie at 9:46 felt Really awkward. That's all.

the HAND thing again what is With that Hemlock??

Wrecker again with the Dying

REX MENTION!!!!! WTF IS A BAD HELMET PAINT JOB

"Clone Force 99 died with Tech" what a great line. If only it carried emotional weight within the rest of the story. If only the character's actions made that make sense. Hmm.

"If we all go in, we're not all making it out" see this is why I thought I was getting rogue one'd

"Omega needs you both" is sweet and cool, but she doesn't. She's proved this whole season that she's competent on her own. Idk.

Plan 99 namedrop? Also crosshair's self hatred and guilt is so devastating he's constantly trying to atone and it's so.....

Tech namedrop????? And for WHAT??????????

nOO that stormtrooper.. they done squished his ass

Jax is afraid of heights! Just like Wrecker!! Good character moment for everybody.

Part 1 TLDR: The first third of this episode was full of contrast, which was super interesting to watch. Omega and the kids are doing great, the lighting on them is generally softer and.. idk, lighter. They get hopeful music and they succeed. The Batch on the other hand..... everything is so ominous. It feels like somebody's gonna die (and it feels like it's Wrecker). My main gripes: some of the jump cuts feel like the episode was hastily stitched together and they don't make sense, I don't really know what to do with that knowledge. The Plan 99 conversation didn't make any sense within the context of this season (I'll elaborate later). Positives: Omega is really winning this ep, you can see all of her brothers in her and it's beautiful. What they've done with her theme in the music I Love. That moment with Omega and Jax when he says he's afraid of heights is really sweet.

Part Two Thoughts:

Ok starting off strong, Scorch questioning his orders for a bit? He's going to lose brothers? The door closes before we can hear what he says over the comm? I really thought maybe Scorch redemption.

Ok Hemlock is activating the CXs. There's four of them.

They all have different armor.. and different body types.. very similar to the batch....... hmmmmmmm

CX-2!! *clown noises*

Ok close up on the same CXs from before. One of them uses blades. One has.. sci-fi brass knuckles? CX-2 is there. This feels like Evil Bad Batch.

THE CLOSE UP ON CX-2 SPECIFICALLY WHY IS HE IMPORTANT

wrecker dying again uhnnnnnnhnhhhhhhhhhh

The brass knuckles CX just grabbed a panel of Something and used it as a shield. That's Plan 82. That's Wrecker's job.

WHY IS THERE ONE WITH GOGGLES JUST LIKE TECH'S? WHY

Goggles clone duel wields sword-vibroblades. ?

The one with the staff.. Hunter?

Ok Vibro-Sword CX, why toss the Sword to CX-2 so he can cut off Crosshair's hand? Why not just do it yourself? Those things have enough reach that he could have sliced it off himself.

The way CX-2 talks is Just like Crosshair. The inflections are exactly the same.

Ok I get Hemlock's a sadist but why keep the Batch alive at all? Seems like that's more dangerous than experimenting on them is productive

Echo and Omega's reunion is lovely. "Hey kid. And... other kids." he's doing amazing

Using the Chief Scientist's datapad just like last time Omega escaped... nice.

Hemlock's hand again.

Ok so crosshair just gets a hand stump and we move on?? This whole scene felt weird and out of place to me but Especially that.

Yeah!! Clone rebellion. Echo is Fives if he won (and had no melanin)

Maybe Electrostaff CX is Wrecker? He seems taller and has a wider build.

But nvm Brass Knuckles CX plays wrecker's part in the batch and Electrostaff doesn't

GOGGLES AGAIN WITH THE SWORDS?? WhY isn't CX-2 fighting with the rest why is he with Hemlock why does he stand out so much WHY

"My work will always be Kaminoan" yeah Nala Se isn't redeemed for me she's still a supremacist and a eugenicist and she and Rampart both deserved what they got. Satisfying ending for them both though.

Part 2 TLDR: This part had a ton of potential. There were a lot of suspenseful and mysterious shots. The story started getting more intense, even though the kids escaped successfully. There was weight there, and as an audience we could tell how much was on the line. I loved watching this part. My main gripes: Honestly none with this part alone. All of it felt pretty in-character, it had depth, it had weight, and it had meaning in the story. It makes less sense when we get to Part 3 though. Positives: I absolutely loved watching this part of the ep. It had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out just what was going on with the CXs and who wasn't going to make it out. Giving Echo the chance to continue his brother's mission and free the clones was great. Nala Se and Rampart both got a fitting end, I was very satisfied with that as well.

Part Three Thoughts:

Wrecker is fighting Staff Guy (possibly Evil Wrecker) oh that would've been so cool

And they just STABBED HIM?? JUST LIKE THAT?? What was with the focus on CX-2 throughout the ENTIRE SEASON when he literally Didn't Matter At All???

We're not even gonna talk about the hand then huh. Ok.

Closeup of the Goggles Helmet?? What was the purpose. What was it.

And then they have SOmeone pick up the sword and helmet all ominously and then it's just some guy. We see his face. It kinda looks too small for his body. Like bad photoshop

Ok so echo doesn't have lungs? or like..

There is Such a focus on the Goggles. Like we were never supposed to see his face. Like it was maybe supposed to be suspenseful.

Ok why so ominous if Wrecker is just gonna shove his face into a wall instantly? Why all the suspense and cool shots?

When CX-2's ship blew up I thought for sure it was from Rex or Phee's ship. But no. (can regular DC-15s even Do that?)

HNNNNNHG wet hair Hunter

SCORCH?? Ok so he could have been some random guy and it wouldn't have made a difference. What was the purpose. Why did he have a name? Why bring in a Legends character just to get rid of him in the most anticlimactic way possible?

Hemlock threatening Omega literally doesn't make any sense? It carries Zero weight. Omega even brings it up and Hemlock doesn't respond. Because it doesn't make sense for his character. Why.

Nice little callback with Crosshair's shoulder rest

Crosshair shooting Omega's binders off should be a tense moment but it's not. There's nothing at stake here. We know he won't shoot Omega. What am I supposed to be feeling?

Ok seeing Hemlock just get absolutely Pelted was nice

She hugged Crosshair first. Maybe we can start resolving some of his guilt. If we actually took time to show characters processing their emotions.

We're Still not talking about the hand? That feels notable, is that just me???

Ok and everyone just.. leaves. We just leave. It's done? Where was the climax supposed to be genuine question

Ok so we're namedropping now. Project Stardust with a nice subtle imperial march in the background. Okay?

We are back on Pabu now. The clone kids are there. The clones are there. The kids are there. Emerie is there. Everybody's happy.

Where is Phee?

Echo's ending is actually fine. I went into this ep the first time thinking for Sure he was going to die. Instead he's doing what Fives died trying to do. He's the last Domino but he doesn't have to fall and I think that's ok. But why isn't he with Rex in Rebels?

"With Hemlock gone, and his data destroyed, they're finally safe" - M. Night Shyamalan in the ATLA movie because we must Tell our audience Everything. Seriously why are we telling the audience something they can see? Why does Omega say that out loud? Nobody would say that. It's obvious. That line was just SO out of place

No real goodbyes for Echo though? No sweet character moments? No reactions from anyone?

Nice clones theme though. Fives would be proud.

All the dialogue between Omega and Hunter in this final scene just feels so.. off. Lazy. Show us what's going on, don't tell.

Why do Crosshair and Wrecker feel like such an afterthought here? Why is it so Awkward? Why were they over saying goodbye to Echo and Omega and Hunter weren't? It feels like they weren't supposed to make it out. It feels weird. It feels forced.

Part 3 TLDR: This was the part of the ep that just fell flat for me. It had some cool moments, but it felt really rushed and poorly thought out. It feels very out of place with the previous 30mins. It almost feels to me like it was rewritten, although I may just be delusional. My main gripes: This part of the ep should have had the big emotional moments and also wrapped up all the loose ends introduced in the rest of the season. It did none of that for me. Why cut off Crosshair's hand to have none of the characters really acknowledge his sacrifice? That isn't a resolution to his arc. None of the Things that happened to the Batch this season were processed at all, and everyone except Hunter and Omega was pretty much sidelined towards the end. CX-2, who was built up all season, died in a super unsatisfying way. The dialogue and staging of that final scene felt super off. The cavalry never arrived. Positives: As always, the Kiners killed it. The music was great. I love a happy ending, that rarely happens in Star Wars and I would've absolutely eaten it up under the right circumstances. Watching Hemlock finally get it was super satisfying. Echo's ending as a continuation of the Domino Squad's quest for clone individuality was really fitting actually. That One shot of Tantiss... glorious.

Epilogue Thoughts:

The way the city is set up on Pabu makes it look just like Tantiss in the overhead shot.

Aww the red bandana in Omega's hair

Hunter aged much better than Rex.

"We want to keep you safe" "You're our kid Omega" OK WHERE IS THE WE? WHERE IS THE OUR????

Ha she's taller than him short king Hunter wins

"Keep an eye on Wrecker and Crosshair" you're not gonna say bye? They aren't gonna see you off?? No way Wrecker would be ok with that

The GOGGLES :((((

Omega's lil salute like Tech in S2E4 Faster my heart

Where are Crosshair and Wrecker in the epilogue. It feels like a weird choice to leave them out. They're just as much her dads as Hunter is.

Epilogue TLDR: Honestly I liked that this was their ending. Finally, some Star Wars characters can have peace. With that said, My main gripes: significant lack of Crosshair and Wrecker, who absolutely wouldn't have let omega leave without saying goodbye. Similarly, lack of Phee, who seemed to be becoming a mother figure to Omega. I can't imagine she wouldn't have seen her daughter off. Positives: old Hunter. We don't get to see that many clones age, and Rebels animation, as much as I love it, just didn't quite do it justice. It was great to see some characters get to actually live out full (ish) lives at peace. Also older Omega's character design was peak.

Oooookay so this ended up being a Lot longer than I intended it to be when I started writing it but I just had a lot of thoughts on the finale and needed to put them somewhere. I loved the experience of being a part of the Bad Batch fandom from start to finish, and I made some great memories for sure. While the finale wasn't necessarily what I was hoping for from this show, I loved being delusional with everybody. Plus, this isn't the end. (we know they won't give up the clone wars animation style it makes them too much money)

[aimwigs]

hey I've been listening to the yard for about a year and a half and I want to get more into it ifywim do I just start watching old vods to catch up or is there any content u can recommend as a baseline must-watch

this is by no means a comprehensive list because i've only really been watching the yard since dec 2022 and my 2021 stint in lud viewing was brief and casual (didn't know what i had) but it is a fucking long list so i'll keep it under the cut. included stuff that maybe i wouldn't classify as a must watch but i wanted to include it so you can pick and choose what interests you

PODCASTS - I know for a fact there are other podcast appearances out there that I don't know of but here are a few:

the yard x wine about it - it's just the four of them and qt which means good times! this is an essential imo

there are a few eps of fear& that they appear on! specifically rec the ep with nick and aiden and the ep with ludwig and aiden. there are also a few eps with ludwig and slime (not at the same time) if you're interested in those

i've watched aiden on three different interview podcasts all are worth a watch to me: karat interview, across the bar, and good griefed (audio a little scuffed on this one but it's cute)

fucking loved nick's ep of across the bar because his outlook on creativity is super relatable to me. he also did something with safety third that i've been meaning to watch but haven't yet!

VIDEOS AND STREAMS - there's a lot here but i'll try to describe what's what

mogul money ft the yard - this is the full vod, there's also a cut down video. extremely fun watch

nick was also on mogul money live (first game specifically) and he and aiden appear in the bts video a little bit

qt posted vlogs from italy! they're all fun watches and there's some good moments. one, two, three, four

qt and aiden halloween gingerbread house video. ludwig and aiden kiss in this one. i think the full vod is in god's hands unfortunately

qt and aiden make shit in an ezbake oven and make the guys eat it. fun little video. idk if the vod is out there somewhere or not

there's a cut down version of this too but the full stream of qt having all the guys do a gingerbread house competition is very peak

lud did a shit load of taste test videos with the guys for a slim jim sponsor. this might not be all of them but here are the ones i cold find off rip (fruit, cheese, chocolate, water, steak)

ludwig has done a shitload of ylyl streams with slime that you can find and honestly i have a horrible mediashare allergy so i haven't watched a lot of them but i have watched the one they did with aiden and the one with everyone but idk where the full vod is for the latter

from ludwig's fortnite mondays, there was a week where slime and nick played with jerma and sapnap. idk if any of the others posted the vod but here's sapnap's

the subathon has a shitload of stuff that i can't even begin to link but if you want the experience of the dcom series without subbing to tier 2 they watched the truman show starting about an hour thirty into this vod, tho it takes a hot minute to get everything lined up with the time stamps

halloween po unboxing where them + qt dress up as characters from scooby doo. nick looks frankly obscene as velma this is a great vod

how many flashlights does it take to cook an egg is exactly what it sounds like. it's lud slime and nick ft a little bit of yingo

they play the family feud game together in these two vods: just them and against miz/otk (can't stand miz but it was still good)

RECENT STUFF - aka stuff you probably know about or have seen because you've been around a year and a half but i figured i'd include them anyway since they happened off the pod

two months ago they all played fortnite on lud's stream and it was awesome

both the show matches of the ludwig tarik invitationals are worth watching if you're into valo! the first one is team mogul v otv and they're split up in the second. if the timestamps are broken it's 2h30 in both vods

the rivals 2 tournament is fun! i don't understand shit about fighting games but i love to see the boys play

cdawgva ski vod with lud and aiden from the japan trip! there's also a cut down version of youtube but i found it a fun watch

recency bias alert: they all played in creator dodgeball

the qt and aiden winter cocktail tierlist stream was so good like genuinely a stream of all time to me. ludwig hangs around for parts of it

the yard doing the dougdoug fast food challenge is a MUST WATCH! they celebrate and they suffer what could be more beautiful

otv's fear pong video with them is so fucking good. SO GOOD!

and finally i guess i should mention beerio because it just happened LOL

[namtanlovesfilm]

What you said abt p'jojo, I feel this.

For Chueam, I thought for sure she would be more developed but I understood quickly (but not so quickly) it wouldn't and i was sad. Yeah sure it's a BOYSLOVE, but I thought.

The thing is, I started the first 3 eps of the show and realized it wasn't what I thought it would be, and that is saying smthg bc I had zero expectations. So I did a thing that I already did for a little few other gmmtv shows, I stopped watching, let loose of my thoughts, and started over 2 weeks later and catching it up live again. And honestly it was better. But I wasn't like other ppl in the fandom lmao. I had no analysis, no theories, no nothing. It was just vibes😅 But then something happened and idk why, but I got bored of it ??? Idk maybe it's like you said and this series had lots of shocking value, but in other departments it was lacking.

 Like the lack of repercussions or like just you know, finishing somethings, having resolutions. And having it makes sense for the characters, bc how you feel with something tells you what kind of a person you are. But they seem to kind of always cut that ? I don't know the words exactly English isn't my first language sorry (I'm so mad I can't find the words it's killing me my god).

For me it was also too much for the stable pairings if it makes sense. Like the first and khao and book and force (Mark and neo in this series as a couple was a great choice bc I didnt that 'problem' with them). I don't follows the actors closely at all but sometimes I could sense something weird. Like it's for example an actor interacting with the other actor he's close with, and not another entity interacting with another with their own (fictional) feelings. Again I'm really sorry for my weird English I don't know how to say it 😅 hope it makes sense lol.

So all in all, kind of fun, I don't mind having characters that have a grey moral, in fact I like them the most, or having characters opposite of my morals, bc it makes me think, and keep things interesting (well usually).

I like the mess usually, and I did like some in this series, but maybe this show is not for me bc it was a mess yes be for me not the right reason in a way, I think. Also I love a series that is concentrated on friends but sometimes hum something was lacking idk.

There is one thing that happened who made me rrreeeaallly think. Bc a character isn't supposed to always be the light of reason, and can make mistakes, or just have a different opinion of mine the watcher. And I like that. But yeah at one point I wanted to wake-up-slap Chueam. Bc I dont understand what the show/the story/the show runners whatever  was trying to tell me. And that's what I talked abt earlier. Bc either it is something that is not well resolved until the end, or it is and that's just that. Honestly idk.

[ Boston find a new group of friends. Bc they're like yeah we're messy and fucked up and then act or pretend like they are morally white and the he is evil. But I do like though how Nick and Boston broke up. That he should find someone who is okay with his way of life and share the same sentiments abt monogamy.]

And lastly I like the actors but i I'm so tired of seeing them with the same couple pairing. I want them to grow up outside of their couple pairing bc you can sense a sense of safety net when they act together. I find they are GOOD actors, I just want them to fly more.

But then again, all of this is my opinion, it's very subjective (apart from the lack of development of chueam, of course).

Maybe I'll rewatch this series next year in a binge. I'll be waiting for your review, if you will do one.

Sorry this is long, I send you my regards 🐝

I agree with everything you've said above. I think that when p'jojo announced this show as the gay friend zone, I was hoping it would bring the one thing that friend zone does not have into its show: queer community. I was hoping that, despite the drama, this would feel like such a relatable show to anyone who has a queer group of friends... but it really wasn't. the only parts I truly LOVED are sand being openly bi, though sadly all of his relationships are with men, and the kiss scene between sand & nick when they just laugh bc they realize they're not compatible. THIS! this felt like the queer experience. if the show had leaned into this kind of scenes, I would've honestly overlooked everything else. but again, having watched friendzone where 1) its female characters are developed 2) its WLW characters are loved & developed 3) stud is the best "slutty messy gay" character and boston WISH he could be him 4) topmew are just a re-hash of samearth's boring ass relationship 5) arm's character in friend zone was everything boeing should've been... the purpose of only friends becomes only the audience being shocked bc two random actors kissed and/or fucked. and by the end? I got mond & first kissing yet I felt nothing. ME! the biggest not me stan & a fan of the gramyok ship... felt absolutely nothing about seeing them kiss. bc since everyone kissed there was nothing to be surprised about. I'm glad that despite the show's popularity, people are FINALLY opening their eyes & seeing that it was not a good show and never was from the very start.

note: I feel the need to say something bc a few people have been misinterpreting what I mean when referencing the queer community. I do think this show represents some of the queer community well, and perhaps I relied too much on people knowing my opinion of jojo tichakorn & his previous shows for it to get understood. what I'm saying in this ask is that the show didn't lean into the queer FRIENDSHIP enough like the nicksand kiss example that I stated above, not that the queer experience reflected on the show is bad or unrealistic.

xxx

[matan4il]

Sorry if you've been asked this before and sorry if this is quite long, but I just wanted to ask what your theory is for the poker game picture. Especially now that we know the episode is called mixed feelings and also Captain Mehta is in the episode (I think he's also at the poker game too) after they just talked about the shooting. I mean he could just be there to maybe give Buck some advice especially if Buck is struggling with his recovery but that's just my theory. I'm trying to keep my expectations low as a Buddie shipper but at the same time I'm interested to see what happens. Also I hope you have an amazing rest of the week and I love your blog!

Oh Nonnie, thank you so much for the kind words, you're SO sweet! And please, you can always ask something, even if it's been asked before I'll try to link it, and you never have to apologize. Just know you being interested in my opinion is a really lovely compliment and I appreciate that and you! *HUGS*

Okay, since we now have the freaking promo for 613 that made me lose my mind a bit, we know that you were right on Captain Mehta at the poker game (which made sense the second we knew Chief Williams was at the game, and that Mehta's actor was in the ep, it's a natural connection). We also know the cap mentions Buck's recent brush with death. But Mehta is quite literally the biggest connection to the shooting arc we had in 413 and 414. He's literally the only character other than Buck and Eddie who we saw on the scene, IDK how there could be a scenario without that being brought up at some point if they went to the trouble of bringing in this actor specifically. He pulled Buck away from danger, and then watched how Buck went back in and did the same for Eddie. They could have brought in any number of firefighters, including higher ranking ones, we had seen the 118 have contact with along the seasons, or they could have had everyone be high ranking officials in the LAFD who we hadn't met before, but it's implied everyone, including Buddie, knows them (or at least of them). That would have been less trouble, 'coz they could have used ANY actor for that. But the show brought Mehta in. I sincerely think there HAS to be some reference to the shooting at some point, and yes, it's all cloaked in recovery and adjustment to life post-injury, isn't it? For both Buck and Eddie. It ALL fits. If they don't go for it, I'd have to scratch my head and then wonder WHY they would go to all the trouble of bringing in this actor and then squandering away the opportunity that provides...

I hope my ramble helps! Have a great day, lovely! Thank you again for being so kind. As always, here's my ask tag. xoxox

[airenyah]

Current Tag Game

I was tagged by @telomeke and @lurkingteapot <3

Current Time:

23:14 as of me posting this

Current activity:

lying on my stomach in bed, typing out this ask game

Currently thinking about:

all the things i have to do for uni and also that one interpretation test i have on monday rip

Current favourite song:

listen. LISTEN. it is such a fun song, okay!! i love the vibes!! it just always puts me in a good mood, okay!!

Currently reading:

just a whooole bunch of stuff for uni. namely, italian articles on sustainable tourism for my interpretation test on monday (gotta familiarize myself with the lingo...) and some scientific literature on fansubbing for a paper i have to write on this topic this semester

Currently watching:

not a lot, i started my master's degree like a month ago and i haven't really started any new shows since

i've been trying to finish home school all summer and i'm still only on ep13 as of now rip (i might go watch another ep later, let's see how sleepy i am)

i also started watching bbs for the 23rd time a week ago! i'm doing a weekly anniversary rewatch and soooo tomorrow i get to watch ep2 hehe

oh and my mom sat me down in front of the kdrama andante the other day. we watched 3 or 4 episodes before i went back to the cursed city and so i'll be watching that over the next few weeks whenever i go back home

i might start another show at some point over the next week, idk. right now i'm trying not to get distracted bc of uni

Current favourite character:

pat napat jindapat has been living rent free in my head for the past two years now

Current WIP:

i think i have a bbs vs hidden agenda parallel gifset as well as a bbs vs only friends parallel gifset somewhere that i started in september and then just never finished???? idk. i'll have to go into my folders

plus, i started recording some thoughts on bbs and pat specifically for a meta that has been in my head for 2 whole years but never really posted. considering 24 months have passed and we all are still here i'm like... okay maybe posting it is worth it after all. so yeah, let's see if that will ever get written. it's not anything special, just some thoughts on my reading of pat and his awareness/obliviousness of his feelings. bc that differs from popular fandom interpretation

Tags:

uhhhh idk who's been tagged yet and who hasn't buuuut i'm just gonna say @newyearknwwme @killiru @visualtaehyun @moonkhao @cornflowershade

[cornflowershade]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

Thank you for tagging me @lamonnaie!

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself Sonia (she/her). 24. I love getting to know people & chatting about shows so lets goooo

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom? I watched Bad Buddy in one week, in late October 2022. I owe it to @airenyah honestly. I think I found their blog through an SPN post and clicked over for that reason. In my scrolling, I happened upon a lovely gifset (wish I could recall who made it) of InkPa. It was the scene where they're outside and Pa says anyone taller than her is fine and hops down off the sidewalk. :) Love that scene. Anyway I reblogged it and in the tags was like WHAT IS THIS I MUST WATCH IT. To which airenyah gave me a whole blessed reply telling me the show name, giving a small synopsis/what to expect from my first thai drama & telling me where I could watch it. I immediately watched the series and adored it. I've seen it twice thus far.

favorite ship(s) PatPran & InkPa :)

favorite character(s): Okay I adore all the main 4 but I'm gonna go with Pran. I love him. There's just something so soft about him and how on earth do his eyes communicate so much?? I think I relate to his messy little overthinking and silently in love brain—very "me the first time i had a queer crush and simply wallowed the whole time bc it was impossible" lol. Also, he's always making the funniest facial expressions which gets me every time. I could go on about everything I like about his character (for instance how clever yet sometimes oblivious he is & how he gets all annoyed lol). Though I do question his sense of interior design and that smiley face obsession.

favorite episode(s) Honestly I'm not certain if I have one?? It's all so good! I do really like their "whoever falls first loses" era though. Wait actually?? My favorite ep might be the early one where Pat thinks he's hitting on the "girl" across the hall and they end up running into each other on the roof. Also both of the beach episodes.

favorite scene(s) *pastes in the entire show* Okay okay I'll try to pick a few:

~ The scene where Pat is staying over and he and Pran are lying in the dark, counting down to say in unison whether they have a crush on Ink. Idk I remember that scene having an emotional impact on me. Pran's face??? Then when Pat asks "would you like me?" and Pran says "I hate you" and then he yanks the blanket away but you saw him crying?? ahhhghrhghgh

~ The scene in the darkroom with Ink and Pa. I remember getting so emotional. Pretty sure Pa's dialogue and acting made me cry. "I do [like you being nice to me]. I like it so much that I thought I was special to you." ARE YOU KIDDING ME ASDFGZ. And then Ink says she is special to her!! And it's so sweet!!

~ OH and how could I forget. This should be at the top of the list. I realllly like the scene where Pran stands up to his mom and they have that emotional fight in their front hall. That whole thing is just. AHHHHHH. AHHH. AHIOFJEIOsdJIO. SIJDGRIOGJRIGJORE

~ And the scene at the stairs where Pat yells how much he loves Pran in front of Pran's whole faculty. :)

(Also any scene where Pat & Pran are being silly. Like their dumb little chopstick fight :p omg or the designing the bus stop at night scene)

one thing you would change about the show if you could Ohhhh I don't know! Maybe I'd throw in a few more InkPa scenes :)

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people? Ahh fun fun fun. Get ready for some fanvid recs! (What else do you expect from me, a fanvidder.)

• Just My Type (Pat x Pran) by samyvids • Physical (Pat x Pran) by coldties • Enchanted (Ink x Pa) by rheaprodz • I really like you (Pat x Pran) by dkyth73 • Rebels (Pat x Pran) by coldties • Dandelions (Pat x Pran) by hylian fanvids

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made? I've made two fanvids for Bad Buddy, as well as one song cover haha. I'll stick to the fanvids here. :)

• All I Need (Ink x Pa) • That dimple is illegal (Pat x Pran)

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol) Physical by Dua Lipa. The fanvid using that song is my all-time favorite BBS edit, so hearing the song reminds me of it.

idk anything else you want us to know? Uhhhhhhhh. I mean I could ramble about BBS and why it means so much to me for a long time haha. Should I do that? I guess I'll do that.

Okay so BBS was the first Thai drama I watched. I was still feeling a lot from the SPN-finale/confession scene era (yes that happened 2 years prior but it's SPN okay iykyk) which had me especially sad about and aware of media censorship etc. etc.

On top of that I was still working up the courage to leave this group chat of childhood friends, some of whom liked to complain about media "making everything gay" etc. (Amazing how you can not know people are homophobic for the entirety of your childhood bc the topic just never comes up lol.) Which was of course upsetting to me for multiple reasons. However the universe decided to do something nice and Heartstopper was released. That series felt really huge to me, but after it was over, I was left with this feeling of like... what else is there to watch? Where else will I ever find a queer ship this canon where they're also the main characters?

That's when I came across BBS and it gave me this realization that OH WAIT we aren't limited to western media and OH LOOK there's so many great shows that I didn't even know about!! And they keep making them! Also it was a queer story where the main obstacle wasn't being gay (Plus, Asian leads!!). And BBS itself is just such a standout show. First of all, I love a good comedy and the series made me laugh so much. It's heartfelt but full of ANTICS [like yes lets have fun! Lets not take everything too seriously!], and Pat & Pran & Ink & Pa are just such wonderful and lovable and real feeling characters—who have this lovely friendship too—and the show is just! Such a fun ride. <3 I recall watching the series and feeling like my world just got a little bit bigger. Anyway Bad Buddy goes all in for everything it does and it's such a joy.

.

Tagging @airenyah and @distant-screaming and @feralmuskyscentedhoepran if you haven't done this yet and would like to!

[feuqueerfire]

The Worst of Evil Live Blogging

Finished A Shop for Killers and was supposed to start My Stand-In so that I can be caught up for ep 10 but I have a Very Important Thing next week and idk I feel like My Stand-In might take up too much brain space and I also wanna savour it and spend time on it so... I'm starting this instead even though it's not like short or not intense lmfao. Good luck to me

I don't know much about this except 1) Wi Hajoon (he was literally the reason I started actually getting into dramas after Squid Game because usually I'd just watch a show every 6-12 months and not watch anything until the next show a year later lol but I watched a bunch of things for him and now here I am), 2) police drama? they're cops I think, 3) one of them has a wife, and 4) I saw an author who wrote a couple fanfics of them on AO3 but idk if it's like a bromance or if it's like just a ship the writer liked.

I'm excited to Wi Hajoon again after a long while, I haven't watched anything of his since Squid Game, all of it was stuff before Squid Game because I started watching it around the time SQ was released. I'm also curious about his current noona romance Midnight Romance in Hagwon but I'll give this one a try first.

I keep debating between this and My Stand-In because it feels like I'm kinda in the mood for something dark or heavy but I might also be in the mood for BL/romance/relationship stuff, so idk. we'll see how this one goes.

Ep 1 (June 21)

bloody fight to start with. the butcher knives make it more visceral, though not as intriguing as the Shop For Killers beginning violence

2 years ago, 1994

ah, the wife is an elite officer and so her brother is begging the husband because he's a "lowly detective" or smth

Wi Hajoon is a DJ? Girl I thought he was a cop. maybe he's undercover? anyway, this outfit reminds me of the serial killer fucker he played in Midnight

Wi Hajoon: Gicheul

oh, Gichul is actually being recruited by... some shady guy? he's the opposite of a cop lol

1 year later, 1995

ohh Gicheul is treated like shit and feels slighted so is making plans to wipe out the current top guys + their thugs at this hotel in the middle of the woods and just taking over Gangnam?

is this cool? I guess I'm supposed to think this sneak attack and planning to overthrow is cool? they mostly seem like posers other than the knife guy

oof, stupid dude Taeho

so they've killed the secondary boss guy who's their boss

Busan

Ah, okay, I was wondering how killing these people was just give them Gangnam, esp cuz they also worked for somebody but I guess Gicheul wants Gangnam from the big boss

So that's how the cop and Gicheul end up meeting. The detective is gonna infiltrate the gang to try to find who is selling meth to the Japanese gangs. also, when Gicheul was securing the hotel, he gave the guy in the car a little baggie with white stuff... I'm guessing that's what they're looking for?

Ah, his father is a drug user, that's why all that tension

damn, this fucker explicitly says he nor anybody higher-up would give a promotion to a drug addict's son

Gicheul's group (?) is known Gangnam Union and the 4 guys knew each other since high school (thus the hyung/donsaeng close relationship) and there are 3 of them now that Taeho's dead but the knife guy joined ig so it's 4 again. they appear like a social club but they've taken over nearly every club in Gangnam

fake identity: Taeho's non-existent cousin named Seungho

ooh, he wants to meet Gicheul his own way. If I was pretending to be Seungho but wanted to make sure I get close to Gicheul without raising suspicion... maybe I'd first start off antagonistic actually? Like oh you fuckers killed Taeho, how dare you, etc. etc. or make it seem like I was planning on doing something for revenge. because then they'd think I actually knew Taeho + am who I say I am + wouldn't be obvious that I'm clearly trying to get close to Gicheul

they don't translate the ssibals that Seungho (I can't remember his real name rip) keeps dropping every sentence smh

okay, Seungho went in a slightly similar route to me in that he made a scene and went in antagonistically but his plan was obviously more fleshed out and more fun/cool. I love a first meeting like this, with secrets and planning. The watch was a nice touch, is it a similar watch to which Taeho stole from that Sergeant Jang guy or what?

Fave scene: I love love love a first meeting or the initial scenes in a story where one party has secrets and the other party doesn't know. I'll also be very excited to see how Gicheul finds out Seungho's real identity and how he reacts.

I didn't know this was the synopsis of this show lmfao I feel like I didn't know anything for at the beginning for both this show and A Shop for Killers even though the things were in the synopsis lol it's fun this way though. I like an undercover story

Yo, I'm irritated, I thought the synopsis would probably have stuff just from this ep but from skimming it, I found out Seungho's wife is also gonna be undercover for this operation, wish I had found that out on my own.

Ep 2 (June 21)

okay, the father was also told by the cops Seungho's backstory and he's playing along

this was interesting because the guy literally told most of the other gangsters to not fight, it'll be like 1 v 7, not 1 v 30 lol so it makes why they're just standing around

okay but Taeho's killer is just the Sergeant Jang who they also killed, right? like Gicheul knifed that man

oh? one of Gicheul's friends (Heesung) who neither him nor the other old friend take seriously wants to team up with one of the guys they slashed back then (I'm guessing) to take down Gicheul? is this the thing that will have Gicheul and Seungho on the same side? i feel like that's too soon for Gicheul to fall from grace. or is this like... a trick?

Gicheul notices something about Heesung

not Heesung saying they're my friends and brothers so don't let anything bad happen and don't hurt them to much?? girl, what do you think is gonna happen exactly?

ohhh so it was indeed a trap

what must it feel like for the cop dude who's outside the building lmfao must feel like a trap for Seungho but indeed it's for the other guys who filed in. mans being like fuckkk do i call 112 or nah

oh brutal fucking torture wtf girl anyway if I was Seungho I'd be scared af of getting found out (maybe that's also why they're putting on a show of what happens when you betray Gicheul)

damn, why was the big boss looking at all those weapons? anyway, Gicheul isn't gonna send him money anymore apparently

but that's angering the boss and he wants Gicheul dead but the Japan guy the boss works with really likes Gicheul

right, okay, Seungho wasn't supposed to know that Srgt Jang was dead, so Gicheul finally tells him after kinda testing him + opening the place for Taeho

heh Seungho now being the maknae of the gang. i love the bureaucracy or mundaneness of gangster life, like some jokes about jobs and money in A Shop for Killers too

the cop also keeps patrolling and looking out for Seungho ig

Yongdae's so cute, our other maknae

a love triangle?

scary af too the gang know she's a cop and are like... you were meeting a cop. whelp

he's saying that his father is held at the police station for drugs... can they somehow check that Taeho's uncle is indeed there or whatever?

matching necklaces and first loves good god

If they were brave, we'd get a proper triangle lmfao bring Gicheul as a third into the marriage! but also i'm thinking, is Gicheul gonna die or be in prison or something by the end?

Also, I've heard Ji Chang Wook's name often but haven't watched anything he's in. He's doing really well as Junmo/Seungho so far. omg some people on the r/kdrama said the FL often dies in similar kdramas, esp with 2 main male leads and... no. she can't. This reminded me of The Devil Judge and Jinyoung's character's love interest dying and simply, no. if they kill the woman I'll be annoyed

Ep 3 (June 21)

oh Euijung bought the couple necklace for Gicheul, damn

I think Euijung started wearing it again since she just brought it home again recently but Gicheul always wears it still ig

what happened, Gicheul's parent was arrested or what?

omg okay Gicheul's asking his contact in the cops about Kwan Seungho's father's criminal record (to check that he's in jail from drugs or whatever Seungho said) + also checking for Euijung's cop husband

they faked Seungho's father's records so they must be able to give a photo of a different man for Euijung's husband

okay whew, can't blow cover in ep 3

they both call her noona ahhh

did the cops send in the thugs to Gicheol and have Seungho save him or whatever? but um what if some of these people die?

lol they all just left at once, a gunshot wasn't even fired, how choreographed, how suspicious imo

damn, Gicheol heard Seungho's "I'm Gicheul" to "trick" the people and now trusts him fully

oh, so they were literally cops, not even hired thugs omg and they're not being told that Gicheol had a literal gun (and they don't know that Seungho/Junmo is one of them because he's from a random village/town station, not Seoul ig)

Junmo-Seungho getting pissed as Gicheol talks about Euijung and also insults her husband lmfao

oof, Seungho managed to get away with not going to see Euijung's mother at the hospital with Gicheol bc she would def just be like oh, my police son-in-law Junmo, hello

damn, so the Japan guy also wants Gicheol gone? girl

lol Gicheol tryna get in Euijung's mother's good graces

oh wait, he wasn't the Japan guy that loves Gicheol. The Kanemoto guy who loves Gicheol making money for him killed the other guy ig. idk what's happening there lol

oh, that was Song Donghyuk. and Kanemoto or whoever is who Gicheol calls Father/Abeoji

There are cameras here but do they work when the electricity's out?

lmfaooo Gicheol used Euijung's birthday as the passcode for the most important door. Seungho mad as hell in the middle of his investigation

so that kid got Gangnam Crystal from one of the stores that the Gangnam Union runs right? hm, seems like he was selling something else before but now is selling this?

omg not the cops pretending to be thugs dropping a flashlight that day and now Gicheol and the top people know...

okay, yeah, the important Gangnam Union quartet + Seungho gathered to take down the other druglord guy

Gicheol quite scary as he's yelling at Seungho to kill the man to establish trust omg

Ep 4 (June 21)

I was supposed to have watched 3 eps the whole day, not 3 episodes before 3 pm and onto the 4th... I have things to do bruh. I should pause in the middle of the ep instead of waiting for the end bc they end on cliffhangers

so he couldn't kill the guy this time

i don't think i liked that transition into the title card lol

Heesung really doesn't trust Seungho and for good reason. i wonder at which point Gicheol will find out for certain and whether he'll tell everybody or how he'll react. i guess by the time the opening credit happens, he still doesn't know because Euijung's with him while Seungho's at the other side? or something

okay at least the other cop said they're not asking Junmo's wife for help, they're asking the talented and capable Inspector Euijung because agh it's so annoying somehow that Junmo gets to infiltrate the gang and show off his fighting skills and such while Euijung is supposed to like... flirt with Gicheol to get close to him. in a different show where this is the premise it'd be different but it feels unfair somehow that the men get to do cool and dangerous things while she's like a trophy they want to possess and there's anger and jealousy over her like agh

she's pretending she's had a divorce. fewer questions about her husband + Gicheol's gonna think he has a chance

okay I'll try to not be mad about how they're inserting her and how i think it's unfair and instead focus on the interesting and emotionally-charged dynamics between the 3 of them

interesting how Gicheol's the one in the dark while a literal police couple are the only other 2 people in the car

Won't Gicheol notice how Seungho keeps avoiding meeting Euijung's family or people who should know him?

but damn sucks that Junmo can't appear at his mother-in-law's funeral + Euijung's gonna have to field questions from her family about where tf her husband is

awwww the scene where Seungho peeks in and she sees and her lips start trembling and eyes watering but obviously they can't interact or comfort each other is so sad

omg this child calling Seungho 이모부, meaning maternal aunt's husband (not even just like oh regular old uncle who may not be related to me) in front of Gicheol but the other cop guy (the one whose working with them + is keeping an eye on everybody) whose photo is being used as Euijung's husband also showed up right then, whew

this fucking quartet lmfaoooooooo first we have Euijung, everybody knows her real identity and occupation. Then we have Gicheol, the guy who has been obsessed with Euijung since high school and still loves and is clearly aiming to date her. Witnessing all this is Junmo as Gicheol, Euijung's real husband but pretending to be just a friend who only kind of knows her and is Gicheol's minion but he's seething in jealousy and anger at all their interactions. Finally joins the cop who's in on the plan + is mascarading as Euijung's husband Junmo loll he can show some of the resentment the real Junmo feels but has to masquerade as a loser husband or rather ex-husband because they're pretend divorced as well

funny dynamic but also we've got a dick-measuring contest now while Euijung is mostly passive like alright

omg this is so sad, Junmo not being able to say goodbye to his MIL and her being pretty much the only person from Euijung's family who is actually good to him + also said she likes him more than her actual 2 sons that's crazy. reminds me a bit of 18 Again because we don't see MIL-son-in-law dynamics much but that one really gutted me

ah, okay, Gicheol's mother killed his father after the fucker came to find them after they ran away from his abusive ass. that's why she was both bloody and in cuffs in the flashback

hah. Gicheol wants Seungho's help to win over Euijung

I don't fully get everything and what gangs etc but ig another 2 gangs wanna pair up to take down Gicheol

oh and they're tryna recruit people from Gicheol's gang Gangnam Union or whatever

who is that face with the towel that they showed... i'm so fucking bad at facial recognition bruh. was it one of the top 3 people? honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's the knife guy because he seemed dissatisfied when speaking to Seungho

is the guy who pulled out of fishing really preoccupied or is he planning something? what with all these people tryna take down Gicheol. was he the one under the towel?

ah, they're taking Seungho fishing instead of the Seo knife guy. and Chief Seo and Seungho had also talked a bit about alliances kinda/sticking together

Heeseung or whoever long-haired also scheming?

how can they cliffhanger end on Seungho possibly shooting somebody to kill two eps in a row lmfaoo

Fave Scene: when Junmo and Euijung's eyes first meet at the funeral and it's so tragic that they can't meet. then when Junmo breaks down and bows while thinking about his MIL being kind to him.

Ep 5 (June 21)

um hm so last ep I did not stop halfway through the ep and now it's 4:30pm but I must do it this ep... around 5pm i should stop and do some work...

he really did start shooting people this time, even if not fatally

ah, towel guy was knife Seo

but he said he wouldn't betray them and also came in to help. took his sweet time to intervene though lmao

damn, I'm invested in Junmo/Euijung and also sometimes am into Seungho/Gicheol... why can't this be a fucking triangle bruh

why did those 2 guys (not the top two) who knew about them going fishing tell Seungho to be worried about himself... I know the long-haired Heesung was a rat, maybe Jeongdae is a rat, are these two also rats? Were they the people who met at the billiards thing idek can't remember the faces rip

Youngdae better not be a spy and he better not die, he's such a cutie. he legit thinks the world's gonna end in 4 years what the hell

Youngdae saw the cop getting out of the van after speaking to Seungho...

so is it not Heeseung fr? but he saw those vans following their car?

oh Seongho really does not want people die, especially not at his hands or because of him

oof, Gicheol's really letting him live... how can you be at the top of the gang if you just beat up the rat who almost got you and somebody else killed and also has caused problems with your drug trade with the Japanese lmfao now other people are gonna be like well even if i sell em out, i won't die

also I've been saying the wrong names!!!! long haired guy is Jeongbae, short haired guy is Heesung. i know once somebody else called long-haired as Jeongbae but I'd already thought he was Heeseong so I was like... I will ignore this

oh yeah, what was up with the old professor? she was mentioned at the very start but never again until this glimpse now... is the the one who makes or gives instructions on how to make the drugs? was she a prof of chemistry or smth i can't rmr

oh lol she's Yoon Wongil and she'd previously been caught for cooking meth, i see

okay wtf actually why is Gicheol fucking ditching the Chinese meeting (that's happening because of the ambush and them not being able to deliver their fucking drugs) to hang out with Euijung... be so serious right now. the day after he lets the rat live no less. are you cut out to be the leader like this wtf

right, we already know that long-hair Jeongbae (not Heeseung, wrong name) was in kahoots with the other gang

...did Seo knife guy do something at all? They showed him saying no etc but he was quite late in saving the 2 of them. but he's questioning now how they found Gicheol that night, so maybe he didn't tell them

Seo's killing the guy who attacked Gicheol... we know he followed them from Seoul but not in his own car... possibly in Seo's car?

okay, so Gicheol had said to take care of Kang Geon. and Heeseung and Jeongbae are clean. Jeongbae really had his kid we know that at least

Gicheol so fucking obvious, Jeongbae's like it's because of Euijeong right?

Jeongbae and Gicheol trusting each other and speaking... Euijeong and Junmo also meeting up alone after So Long at home... T.T

always makes me nervous when Junmo meets the cops

so these last 2 people were also part of the Chinese people who were coming right?

Euijung worries about her husband and gets mad at the lack of precautions and wants to help more to ensure he's safe/finishes the missions asap. I think that's a reasonable reaction where it respects his autonomy while also expressing her own feelings, I think it'd be fair if she has an even worse reaction considering he could die at any moment, even if he's done nothing to give anything away, because people wanna kill Gicheol.

Junmo on the other hand is so proprietary over Euijung like she is indeed also a cop, she's an inspector, she's ranked higher than you. And she's not even in as much of a danger, just that Gicheol likes her and doesn't like her husband and it's not like Euijung's gonna fucking get with Gicheol. it's not unreasonable for him to be jealous but the way he's so... yeah idk what else to say except proprietary and as if he can dictate her actions like stfu idk i'm so fucking picky in my het romances and how the man treats/views the woman. But I also get him because he feels that he's not good enough for her, everybody says so from his wife's family to fuckass Gicheol, so to have her flirt with somebody rich and perhaps more successful in the eyes of others will rub him the wrong way.

A lot of people on the on-air think Dohyung (the undercover cop guy) is actually working for the bad guys and tipping them off after communicating with Seungho. I didn't even think of that tbh lol

Ep 6 (June 21)

marriage?! Gicheol's been wanting to marry Euijung since high school, girl meet a different lover!

ah, the people at the end last ep were Japanese, not from the Chinese branch

this hotel meeting is filled with cops because of the Kr-Jpn-Chn meeting and also the Gangnam cops who are trailing them for murdering that Cho drug dealer

this meeting is just near heart attack one after the other

wants him to pretend nd stand so that he can see if he's being watched

lol do they just wanna talk alone

lmao yeah. so he aint even watching?

Jeongbae sees the undercover cops too

okay i was having dinner so barely wrote anything but lots of stuff happened

It's important that 1) Jeongbae has seen the undercover cop Dohyung but unrelated to Seungho 2) Yeongdae saw the cop coming out of/near the van when Seungho was in it

the Chinese woman keeps noting how Seungho's going far and risking his life for Gicheol lol

Talking about how Seungho fully trusts Gicheol. both Gicheol and the Chinese woman noting it

It's actually interesting that she's taking Such A Note of Seungho, like more than Gicheol, she's taking Seungho more into account regarding whether she'll continue business with them

also Junmo's so good at this lmfao he's fooling everybody about his identity and loyalties

bruh, Miss Lee likes Seungho

please, these cops

hah, Seungho being like yeah lemme turn myself into the police, I'll take the fall no worries, just let me in on the drug trade next time plsplspls

I love Miss Lee, loveeee her. the way she speaks and watches, ah. also her "your Japanese is acting like a kiiing" @ 50:45 is great. I hope she appears again later

Ep 7 (June 21)

I was supposed to watch 3 episodes today, how am I about to start ep 7, it's 8:30pm I've done nothing today except watch this show...

Damn, the clueless angry gangnam cop really beat the shit out of Seungho. I've never really considered whether he'd turn to the "bad" side tbh cuz he seems invested in his cop life and is averse to killing and he def wouldn't be worthy of his wife as a criminal but this sort of cop abuse of authority should at least make him consider wtf cops are lol

Jeongbae's intuitions crazy good + his suspicions all correct and yet they all keep brushing him off to protect Seungho lmfao fools

Ah, Gicheol feels inferior against the Chinese and Japanese reps and how they treat him

Is the Chinese assistant scouting out a new seller or anything

Miss Lee, I love you

pls not her basically dragging Seungho around on a date kinda

the way Seungho's speaking sounds like he's in love with Gicheol

damn, Gicheol's been stashing away some of the meth and selling here? or has that been Jeongbae (the Yankee kid was getting it from Jeongbae)

cringe "you can spend more time with me" i don't wanna watch omg, you think she gives a fuck about spending more time with you ohhhh men.

at least she barely laughed lol I was ready for a raucous laughter

ahh, they fucking got Jeongbae's ass and letting him go free made it even worse in Gicheol's eyes.

omg not their friendship falling the fuck apart because of lying etc

Jeongbae is literally correct that Gicheol needs him because Gicheol can't see Seungho's suspicious actions nor can he think because of Euijung

omg Jeongbae literally having an angry outburst but he's only yelling things that are true, this is wild

"One day you'll realize you were blinded. I guarantee it." oh Jeongbae, I hope you live to see it and that you're not collateral damage who dies or smth

their entire floor must be just cigarette butts and the burnt stuff

why the hell is Seo now fighting Jeongbae. I like Jeongbae, can we not do this right now... I need him to live and cackle when he finally hears down the grape vine that Seungho was indeed an undercover cop and Gicheol was a dumbass

omg... Gicheol did a very nice thing for Euijeong but he overheard one of the ladies and has figured out that Euijeong didn't use to live in the same city as Seungho...

ahhhh the corrupt cop fell off the roof in a fight with Seungho...

but Seungho's more relieved to see he got the papers that would've blown his cover

he's leaving the man like this and taking the documents + phone that would've ruined his gig

why the hell are Gicheol and Euijeong's dates and hangouts so fucking boring. I didn't care about their past flashbacks but that's not surprising but even their current scenes together are so... freaking mellow and feel kinda useless because it's not like Euijeong's really helping the case progress, it's so boring when they're together. i'd expected more mind games at least!

I started and ended this episode being like hm... Seungho going to the dark side possibly? I don't think he'd actually abandon it, but he's probably gonna become more and more ambiguous as time goes on, especially with how we ended this ep. Also interesting that both the start and end of this ep began with corrupt cops

okay hear me out so Gicheol is completely blind when it comes to Euijeong right, like she's a fucking cop but he's just hagnigng around her and plans to marry her lol and similarly... he is blinded by Seungho, he trusts him deeply and worries for him and wants him by his side. This means that Gicheol also likes/loves/has romantic feelings for Seungho. yes.

Ep 8 (June 21)

It's nearly 11pm, I want to say this will be my last episode for the day but who knows. What an addictive, exciting show

Miss Lee is too kind not killing these sexist fuckers

ah, Seungho being haunted by that guy's death. expected

woah, all 4 of them at one place. you know i was like let's have a 3some with euijeong/seungho/gicheol but now it's like 4some with Miss Lee let's go

but it's funny how Miss Lee immediately clocked Euijeong and Gicheol lmfao, she did Not like the way they looked at each other

I wanna know Yongdae's little mission so bad, what a cutie. I'll be mad as fuck if he dies frrrr

not Euijeong and Gicheol both looking at their guns...

and Euijeong and Seungho's dates both being like .hm. at them calling/their phone ringing

I... think Seungho and Miss Lee should kiss. actually i think it happens bc in the ep 6-7 on-air somebody mentioned an edit where they were kissing apparently

I'm so proud of Yongdae for all the intel and research yay

lmfao Gicheol has Yongdae pretending to be a cop

i'm so excited, they keep reaching for their guns and also I want to know exactly what and how much Yongdae said and Gicheol knows. like probably that Euijeong's father never worked at Wonju but did Yongdae say that the photo of Junmu is literally Seungho?

is he choosing between gun vs necklace?

the handheld cameras shakiness is throwing me off, I don't like it

aghhhh they keep covering their trails too well, now they've got Euijeong's dad working at Wonju smh and probably replaced the Junmu photo too

I want Gicheol to find out soon so fucking bad but I don't think he will in these 2 eps because I accidentally had clicked on the 8-9 on-air and the first comment was about how Seungho was doing so much and going so far for this mission or whatever. so we'll find out in the last quarter. i just want it not in the last 30 minutes or whatever man

Yongdae has now seen Dohyung the cop coming from the van/near the van where Seungho was + now at the police room + also... would he recognize him from Junmo's photo?

omg, the Gangnam cops found Seungho/Junmo's lighter at the PI death scene

poor Gicheol getting confessed to and Literally Crying over it but it's all A Lie. at least Euijeong's now taking the leap and getting even closer to Gicheol fr now

stay away from Gicheol at all costs tonight...???

Gicheol on a fucking date with a cop while the Japanese folks are talking to another gang lmfao what the hell man. he's so smart in some scenarios (keeps digging and cross-checking everything) but whenever he trusts Euijung, every rational thought goes out the window

I like Miss Lee and Seungho and I also know why Seungho's not expressing much outward interest toward her but I want better for her... after she compliments a man she's on a date with, he should also say what he likes about her, no? or show any sort of initiative or attraction

Gicheol wants to become a good person...? is he gonna push back on Seungho's drug deal and be like no i am to become a reformed person? lol

ahhhh I love Miss Lee/Seungho even though Seungho's uh... not really having a good time/into it. it started out kinda hot but got sadder as time went on. sorry that i was into it at first despite you experiencing workplace sexual harassment junmo. also i'm nervous he's gonna say Euijeong's name...

ah... China and Japan are teaming up with Jageon group and gonna attack Gicheol... will we Finally get the intro scene please?

ahh exciting

Ep 9 (June 21)

If we figure out the identities this ep, I'll be so happy. Also glad we're finally getting the intro scene cuz everything for me was like this isn't the intro scene yet, so they don't know this or that won't happen, etc

aw no, the flashback to their wedding and the father interruption

both Seungho and Gicheol noticing Euijung in a chokehold... and Gicheol having to save her... it's not that I don't get it but I'm just frustrated

just disgusting and violent and brutal... and Euijung witness Junmo-Seungho that way...

Miss Lee and Seungho on one side of the gladd, Euijeong and Gicheol on the other...

brutal... Seungho like this truly reminds me of Strangers From Hell last episode

Heeseung noticed how Gicheol didn't help him even as he nearly died (but was focused on the cop woman I think)

ah, both of them are reminiscing about the start of the relationship... also Euijeong clenched her fist when Gicheol kissed her both in the past and last episode but she kissed Junmo first and doesn't do that

clean office the next day lol

oof, almost got Seungho with the lighter thing

but he does know/have a very big hunch that Seungho killed the PI and he's correct

Seungho wants this trade to happen more than Gicheol does

and he’s willing to do anything wtf is this finger thing is Gicheol missing a finger at all

ah, betrayal in the Japanese yakuza

ah, Gicheol knew about the betrayal. that’s why he was disrespectful to the old man and fucking things up bc he knew he’ll do business with new guy

Euijung's actress is from True Beauty - the cool older sister

just insane. I’m really liking this show. only 3 more eps left, hope it doesn’t let me down ahh. I Need it to stick the landing

Ep 10 (June 22)

mad that i got woken up at 5:30am, esp bc i’ve got less than 5 hours of sleep or smth but uh, i wanna watch next ep…

lmfao Gicheol wants to hand over this thing to Seungho and walk away and be a normal man bc of Euijeong… girl both your right hand Seungho and your girl Euijeong want you in jail!!!

either Junmo nor Gicheol feeling worthy of Euijeong and wanting to be

i just feel like so far, despite doing too much and going too far, Seungho hasn’t shown interest in actually becoming the boss or staying in this lifestyle

no like this Mingoo cop is so bothersome like if he was like Jaengdo it’d be fine bc he’d be correct and it’d be ironic how they’re ignoring him but he’s also constantly abusing his power and it’s annoying. why the hell don’t the cops control him more

lol double date and it’ll be fun to see Euijung jealous

Miss Lee is funny as hell i love her

I just Neeeed to know whether Miss Lee can see the intense eye contact and emotion that Euijeong and Seungho share

i am ILL why do I like Miss Lee/Seungho so fucking much. like in the end i still want the real married couple in love to end up together and overcome this but I really like these two and their cute little dates (workplace sexual harassment not withstanding…). and also Seungho has been giving Miss Lee little smiles tonight, ah how cute

pls the way Miss Lee is like do you even have feelings for me? she’s so spoiled that she doesn’t care if he does or doesn’t, he wants him just bc she likes him.

Knife Seo pissed me the fuck off with brutalizing Jeongbae just as he was leaving but if he kills Mingoo i will be less mad

Junmo’s father?!?! Meth Park?

they’re trying to set up Knife Seo for Manager Cho’s death - which isn’t untrue but there’s a reason for the fake witness setup ig

stop suspecting Jeongnbae, you dumbass

ah, they gave up Knife Seo kinda to distract Mingoo ig…

Dohyung telling Junmo to not overdo it and that he’s a cop who needs to return to that life

Everybody going to the port while Euijeong sitting worried at home, agh this show

Jeonbae at the office… and saying he told Gicheol the cop bitch would screw him over…

Ep 11 (June 22)

Two episodes left, pleaseeee stick the landing

2 Days Earlier oof

It’s annoying because Mingoo is kinda good at his job in some aspects and so keeps catching onto things lmfao

i get more mad as they show Euijeong helpless to stop the deal from going through and is just upset and worried at home

Gicheol sees himself in Seungho

not this random ass car crash with Dodgers. is this Mingoo’s doing wtf

omg the car blowing up?!

oh that was Kyungjin (the previous rat), not Dodgers oops. So Jeongbae did this? omg

1 week to get the stolen drugs back oof, will they meander a lot? also when will Gicheol find out about the identities?

fucking he’ll, Mingoo’s at Junmo’s old station where people actually know him

what is Changchun to Seungho or maybe Junmo rather…

oh he’s just excited that he knows that the gang is based in Changchun

Dohyung playing as Park Junmo at Gangnam station with Mingoo but Knife Seo and Yongdae (guy who has seen Dohyung multiple times now including the piece of paper like 2 secs ago that Seo saw) also caught a glimpse from the outside

Gicheol having by to tell Seungho to not cross the line after he suggests fucking up Jeongbae’s family members omg

guess Jeongbae stole all the money and everything oof stupid, how can y’all leave everything unmanned?

fucks sake I’m so over Euijeong playing worried, useless wife. and Dohyung is annoying too like obviously Seungho’s fucked up. obviously he is. what the hell you want him to do

and Knife Seo + Yongdae know that the man (Dohyung cosplaying Junmo) is a narcotics division cop who swapped pages for an investigation

also they don’t fucking tell Seungho that his father was taken in for questioning at Gangnam. he may not realize at once that he’s Meth Park but some prep, some foresight could happen

omg Knife Seo brutalizing Dohyung and finding out he’s not Junmo and also not trusting Seungho and wanting him to stab Dohyung

Ep 12 (June 22)

one hour left… be good please. I’ll watch it at 1x speed

damn Seo killed Dohyung

Dohyung still telling Seungho that he’s a cop and to never forget

wonder what Yongdae’s gonna make of this and if he’ll inform Gicheol

I need Gicheol to find out the identities and soooon and have enough time for the realization and heartbreak and anger that comes with it

“If I’m gonna die anyway, I might as well be killed by hyung” Jeongbae to Gicheol omg… should’ve been shipping these two this whole time they make me so fucking sad

I need to kill Mingoo like actually. annoying ass fucker

Jeongbae and Heesung teaming up and going to Mingoo with the drugs… crazy but also funny in ways because the cops of this case Don’t Want That, they wanna catch em red-handed along w China and Japan branches

like Mingoo wants to catch Gicheol or whatever but that’s not what the investigation wants, they want whole drug ring and how it’s being passed around

Heeseung and Jeongbae really betrayed him like this. Can’t say I’m surprised

parallels of Gicheol getting taken away in the cop car

2nd purposeful car crash in two consecutive episodes lol

does Euijung actually do anything except stand and worry/cry?

no but what’s the plan lol like we have Gicheol but the drug trade ain’t gonna happen without the drugs

Dohyung died ig but they aren’t telling Seungho

okay, one more plan for handoff to Japan, everybody involved and knows what’s happening (though not everybody knows who else knows lol)

30 minutes left

I keep thinking Miss Lee’s guard mans is gonna interfere somehow

Mingoo if you don’t fucking stop brih

how did Mingoo and his lackey find out about Seungho being Junmo and the wedding photo before all of them im dead

okay god bless, Seungho was at least like how about you stay somewhere far away, so Miss Lee is still a lovesick fool (her and Gicheol similarities….) and I assume didn’t betray him even though she knows who he is

she’s stabbed Mingoo, thank you. hated that fucker

Think I could’ve also shipped Miss Lee with her guard, similar to History 3: Trapped

good luck Miss Lee, thank you for being here for these last few episodes because I couldn’t have taken it if fucking Euijung was out only female characters

Seungho betraying Gicheol but not revealing who he is but also keeping the key in the ignition of the car where he handcuffed Gicheol…

the arrest somehow anticlimactic but wrapping up well. need moreeee from Gicheol

ah okay Gicheol here in their apartment and knows things now

oof

damn, Junmo shot for the fucking heart, I thought he’d shoot Gicheol’s arm so that he can’t kill himself or whatever

the fact that he killed Gicheol like that is crazy like actually fr

what ring did Junmo leave… wedding ring??? w a cigarette. and Euijeong had left her cross matching necklace

I wonder why Jungmo killed Gicheol and what it accomplished. The only thing I can think of is that getting murdered is better than committing suicide, afterlife punishment wise, so in a twisted, romantic way you can think of it as Junmo saving Gicheol’s soul from eternal damnation or whatever due to suicide by surrendering his own soul to it instead since he committed murder. Some people said maybe he did it because then Euijeong didn't lead to her friend's suicide (even if she didn't love him like he wanted, she seemingly cared for Gicheol to a certain extent), but idk would her husband being a murderer be better?

Overall:

Surprised even myself by binging this in 24 hours (10am-10am June 21-22) when I was planning on watching ~3eps/day for 4 days. Intense, interesting, engaging, exciting, thrilling. How fun. Been a while since I couldn't stop watching a show from beginning to end because even when I'd be excited and binge a few eps, I'd usually lose interest or be disappointed or just falter after a couple episodes.

Last time I binged like this might've been Alice In Borderland last year, April 2023, S1 8 eps in ~14 hours. I did watch Good Bad Mother 14 episodes in ~50 hours this April 2024 though.

This was exciting because it made me feel like when I had just started watching k-dramas or thrillers, and everything was exciting and I'd just watch it for hours on end. Also helped because I straight up knew nothing about this except Wi Hajoon is in this (the guy who really had me getting into watching shows and dramas) + cop story; I literally thought they were a pair of cops lmfao not infiltration.

For A Shop for Killers, I started watching at 1.25x halfway through because it was slow and I wanted it to get a move on/finish certain parts quicker. This one I started with 1.25x from the very first episode and it goes very well with the fast-paced nature of this show.

The 90s timeline was a nice touch, it let us go farther with the "nobody in this city far away from where he lives/works knows what Junmo (a random cop in a random station) looks like"

I wasn't on anybody's side - I knew/suspected the cops and Seungho would win because that's just the kind of story but I wanted more and better from each side, I wanted them to be clever and to outsmart each other. When Gicheol did something clever, I was excited and when Seungho did something clever, I was equally excited.

It was also just a unique experience to have Jeongbae literally telling Gicheol about the suspicious people and being right on the money while Gicheol brushes him off. That one at least I enjoyed because I liked to see the group fracture and lose trust but I hated the Mingoo fucker so bad. It would've been one thing if he was actually just doing it all sneakily but ethically (as much as you can be as a cop lmfao) because he wanted to help or whatever, it would've been ironic how I still wouldn't want him to have much progress because I'd want the main investigation to go well, but this dirty cop motherfucker who also plays with these gangs but wants to arrest Gicheol for the police fame and notoriety too? Miss Lee you are a real and true winner for killing that motherfucker.

I pity Gicheol, he really had Seungho and Euijeong left at the end but they both were conspiring against him. But Seungho was right that Gicheol didn't need to do all this, it's an excuse, he just wanted to be powerful and at the top and rich. It's not surprising that others turned their back on him (didn't he himself kill the previous leader to take over + by the end he was only worried about himself and not really his friends or the guys under him) and it's not surprising how he turned out. He was also making such stupid decisions because of his love for Euijeong. he was not portrayed in a heinous light despite his criminal and cruel behaviour. Sometimes he would yell (ex. when he was yelling at Seungho to shoot Cho) and it felt like I could see more of his ruthless side

Seungho-Junmo's character was interesting too, enjoyed him constantly pushing farther and doing too much just to keep his cover and have the investigation continue. I don't think I ever really thought that Junmo would go to the dark side or really team up with Gicheol or anything, it seemed clear that he was doing this for the investigation and to keep his wife's involvement as low as possible + to prove himself as well. I haven't watched Ji Changwook in anything before this but he was impressive with the acting.

I liked the main romance at the beginning, it was so heartbreaking how Junmo couldn't be at his MIL's funeral and the scene when he and Euijeong made eye contact secretly was tragic and touching. The scenarios where they had to pretend to not be together and either going on dates with Gicheol or on that double date were also interesting. But after a while, it got boring and repetitive because they weren't giving Euijeong any new material. It makes sense that they divorced or stopped being together after that mission, Gicheol was a changed man, a more ruthless and cold man who is not doing alright and Euijeong saw him kill Gicheol in front of her. They had asked before the last scene if they could go back to normal like before and the answer is simply no.

I don't think she was romantically interested in Gicheol at all by the way.

I didn't think of The Devil Judge while watching this show but as I was thinking about it afterwards, I kind of started noticing similarities a bit, so I'll write some of my thoughts in comparison. SPOILERS ALSO FOR DEVIL JUDGE IF ANYBODY OTHER THAN ME IS READING THIS:

Taeho-Seungho and Yohan's brother-Gaon: the former was somebody close to Gicheol-Yohan who died and reminded him of him. Gaon was much more directly and often referred to as similar to Yohan's brother but Seungho had bits of Taeho as his cousin (though Seungho reminded Gicheol more of himself tbh)

Euijeong and Soohyun (I think that's her): our main characters Seungho and Gaon had female love interests who were also both cops but were underutilized, underwritten, and ultimately not very useful. I fucking wish Euijeong was more involved, did more cool things, not just wait around and be worried about Junmo (and Gicheol) and have extremely boring dates with Gicheol. at least she didn't die i guess...

Miss Lee Haeryeong and Seonah: ahhh my interesting, antagonist women who I was obsessed with. The were given more personality and dimension than the first love interests I'd mentioned but it could never work out with them because they were too dangerous or not on the right side and the one she likes does not like her back. I think Miss Lee was especially important here because Devil Judge at least had other female characters who got screentime (younger sister Elijah was a semi-prominent character and the Minister was a badass) but here she was the only one other than Euijeong and I've already expressed my dissatisfaction with how they used that character. Miss Lee Haeryeong was a lovesick fool truly, but I give it a pass because we have an even bigger lovesick fool in this cast (oh, Gicheol), so it wasn't just like a sexist stereotype. I had loved how unhinged Seonah and Yohan were like truly unpredictable and dangerous and this show wasn't that (well Haeryeong did sexually assault/coerce Seungho that one time yikes) but her dynamic with Seungho still brought some fun into it all. She was kinder in letting Seungho's plan go through though instead of Seonah backstabbing Yohan, but Seungho was also kinder to her by telling her to leave the countries than Yohan was so Seonah.

Gicheol and Yohan: the actors were very good choices for their roles because they are not good people but they are very charming and make you want to root for them even as they do bad things or commit crimes. Yohan was overall "better" while Gicheol was literally a criminal and drug dealer and murderer who owned businesses. I didn't think of Gicheol as the antagonist because despite him definitely being that and I think it's mostly due to the way he was portrayed in the show but also about how Wi Hajoon specifically idk

homoeroticism? I think it's Much more pronounced in The Devil Judge but here, I was like... we can get a threesome going with Euijeong involved. Seungho was never on Gicheol's side here unlike with Gaon and Yohan being allies/friends/whatever in Devil Judge and the scriptwriters also didn't frame it as a possible ship ever whereas it definitely seemed like something they were alluding to in DJ. But it's a fun thought, maybe if I rewatch it and am not just so focused on the plot, I can try looking at it in that way.

The Ending: ...sad. Gaon and Junmo are changed people. Gicheol's dead, which is not surprising to me, though the way it happened wasn't what I was expecting. Junmo is not doing well, his marriage is falling apart, he's killed people, Dohyung's death has taken a toll on him, he's a more jaded person, he resents the fact that he had to do this mission. It was a fitting ending after all this.

Anyway, not super similar plot-wise but certain threads are maybe just common tropes.

The Devil Judge started off with 7.5 stars but lost its 0.5 to become 7 because I can't actually remember much about the show's plot and hold no affection for the characters. I hope my feelings for this show ages better.

I'm especially curious how I'll feel because my 3 favourite k-dramas are Squid Game, Beyond Evil, and Squid Game and I felt so deeply for the characters there. However, for the Devil Judge, I didn't feel attached to the characters after watching and so I do not think about that show at all. While watching The Worst of Evil, I wasn't against anybody nor was I on anybody's side and I didn't form attachments to the characters, like I don't love the 2 main leads and their bond or anything. So I thoroughly enjoyed the thrilling ride for the first time but to make me rewatch or think about the show weeks and months from now, usually a strong character arc or character relationship is necessary and this show doesn't really have that. So we'll see how I feel about it later on. I wrote a whole lot omg

Rating: 7.5/10

[vegaseatsass]

GAP the Series ep 5 thoughts (spoilers!!)

WANNA SUCK MOUTH !!!

Gonna rush through this post b/c we watched late and I gotta go to bed, but it's still VERY important to me to journal my way through this show, because, wow wow wow WOW, this show, dude.

Wanna suck mouth!!!

Wanna suck mouth.

Seriously though. The mouths, the lips, the lip-biting, the pen-biting, the teeth, the lipssss, the queer lady gaze of it all. Hottest first kiss I've seen maybe ever??, while simultaneously the most joyful and character-specific. Extremely good stuff.

But besides the absolute sexy excellence of all things Lips in the episode, the crux of this week for me was Mon's demand that Sam be direct, stop giving her a headache from trying to interpret all her opaque Sam-isms... and Sam demanding the same thing of Mon. Both because 1) I love the acknowledgment that graceful social butterfly Mon is probably just as confounding to Sam as vice versa - they communicate differently, not unevenly, and there's a point about neurotypical vs. neuroatypical communication to be made here, but basically it's not that either of them isn't trying, with all her smitten might, to understand and make herself understood AND 2) we got so many clear-cut examples throughout the episode of Sam doing the absolute most to be direct, before Mon ever requested it of her. "Some married man 😤 was flirting by sending you stickers? I sent you stickers!!!" "What is your favorite facial feature of mine? Jsyk my favorite of yours is LIPS. Can I BITE THEM." Lol she was pulling out all the stops!! I just feel like for the first time we really see the layer of the relationship where Sam is trying to express her feelings for Mon, trying to shout them from the rooftops even, but she's not being heard, and it isn't solely because she's repressed and socially awkward but because you put "I, your vaunted idol, want to fuck nasty" in Mon's face and Mon will find an "innocent" explanation to hear instead. Idk it's prob too late at night for me to express this well but I just think this show does a lot of really neat nuance work, while remaining impossibly adorable and funny and sexy and entertaining at the same time.

Like I'll try to say this fast but Sam vs. Nop is one of the best dreamiest things I've ever seen fr, and there is so much about how Sam confronted him and tried to set up a chance for Mon to confront him that speaks to what Sam values in communication, and how burdensome and arbitrary she finds social niceties. AND re: nuance work, I loved it because they let Sam make explicit what Nop has been doing, ignoring every single time Mon tells him she's not into him (because she has told him! onscreen!), with an expectation that he can wear her down over time, exploiting the misogynist social role Mon's trapped in. It is so badass that Sam calls that out, it is so badass that the narrative calls that out! I have so much hope and expectation for everything unspoken right now (forbidden workplace romance, fiance?, what Mon's headspace is re: "friends" playing the lip-biting game) because of these sorts of moments. I really believe this series knows what it's doing, has plenty to say and a deft touch when it comes to saying it, and that's exhilarating.

Quick other things: Loved when Sam got jealous of the prawns for stealing her girl's attention. How long before she asks "Would you love me if I was a worm?" and makes herself jealous of Sam the worm...

I just want to do a very clear shout-out to "What is your favorite facial feature of mine? I'll trade you a bite for a bite" as a flirtation strategy. Like I've been calling Sam a disaster lesbian but that is a move.

Laura and I agreed Sam had major Kim Theerapanyakul vibes in the very first scene, showing up to inflict jealous, unnecessary violence against friends, and then yell "Goodbye forever!!!" when questioned on her embarrassing behavior. Luckily for her Mon apparently will always text first :')

I loved Sam's tie necklace. Very sexy.

What other substances can be applied to and then bitten off lips? Let us brainstorm together, tumblr. Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (07/01/24)

I watched 7 eps of stuff today. SEVEN EPISODES. that's more in one day than I was watching the entire week last season, that's crazy to me. it feels like the good ol golden days of watching seasonal stuff.

anyway it feels good, like I'm back in better, simpler times. it was fun. tho I will certainly be trying to watch these the day they air instead of all in the same day like this cause that's not a sustainable way to do it, especially when jump returns on sundays later this month

oh and there's also a couple more shows coming next week that didn't premiere this one so even more for the pile, it's wild to see myself watching so much stuff again but it really is just THAT stacked of a season. lots of adaptations of stuff I've known/been wanting to check for YEARS and sequels as well. along with a couple promising looking originals like bones' Metallic Rouge

oh also also, this week was very weird to see outside of that too cause jump chaps were on friday instead of the usual sunday which threw my whole routine out of whack but ANYWAY

green - new series/new to me

Anime

Gushing over Magical Girls Ep1

I've known about this manga since it came out, *checks notes*, 5 years ago??? (on my bday no less so that's a funny coincidence), but I just never got around to reading it. if you didn't know I'm a big fan of mahou shoujo (precure being my favourite by a long shot). I'm not too sure about this series but I'll give it the good ol 3 episode try, and see if it respects the genre enough for me to keep watching or nah. the first ep was promising tho so here's hoping. if I like it enough I'll prob end up reading it too

Chained Soldier Ep1

I've known about this manga since it came out, *checks notes*, 5 years ago. wait why does that sound familiar? anyway I've known about it and I've wanted to read it for a long time but have never gotten around to it. anyway, idk if it was my fault for expecting too much but the episode was pretty disappointing. the animation was bare minimum and even the art felt weird, like there was some weird filter over it, especially during the CG bits. seeing the girls animated and voiced by such a good cast is good tho. only 12 episodes so I'll most likely keep up with it til the end and end up reading the manga at some point this year

Dungeon Meshi Ep1

dunme is one of those manga I never got around to reading despite knowing I'd love it if I did, and then it ended up ending some months ago. I still want to go back and read it tho cause I know it's right up my alley. for now however we have the anime. when it was originally previewed at ax? or wherever it was there was a guy that made an article complaining about how it didn't feel like a trigger show and they were disappointing, but... that's a good thing? at the end of the day it ISN'T a trigger show so it shouldn't feel like one. it's an adaptation and a damn good one at that too. plus it's not like it's completely devoid of trigger's dna. that bit with marcille where it did a rough crop of her face and completely stopped all sounds was hilarious. I'll be looking forward to this every week and to eventually getting around to reading it as well. and also to whatever kui works on next

Sasaki and Peeps Ep1

how I ended up watching this show is p funny it wasn't on my radar at all, tho I knew it existed and all that but just wasn't that interested in watching cause "oh it's just another isekai" then some weeks ago CR posted a video of yuuki aoi promoting it and talking about the premise and I was like "🤔hm maybe it's not what I expect...but no I shouldn't watch it I'm already watching a ton this season and I'm not gonna watch a show just for my queen.." then the other day I heard about that sasaki bit in the credits, and that almost convinced me to watch it after all cause it was so funny but I stayed strong. the straw that broke the camel's back was a clip of the scene leading up to the screenshot below and the voice yuuki is using for the bird, coupled with sugita's great peformance if I had seen the ep was double lenght that prob woulda put me off from watching it but I only realized it like halfway through it so gg I'm... pleasantly surprised really. it wasn't just another isekai, that's just a part of the plot, and him traveling between both worlds and doing trading and stuff reminded me of maoyuu. I'll certainly be keeping up with it

Mashle S2 Ep1

not much to say about this really, just more of the same. from the preview for it, it seems this season will have a lot more sakuga than s1 so I look forward to those little crumbs

Blue Exorcist: Izumo Arc Ep1

ah yes good ol exorcist, how long as it been? let's see... SEVEN YEARS HUH??? time really is fucked up and unforgiving huh... not much to say about this one either. just the continuation of the story, with the same quality you'd come to expect. funny enough, the last time I read the manga was right at the end of this arc, so the anime should be ending where I last read. I really need to get back to reading it again since it moving towards the ending now that its on it's final battles

Tales of Wedding Rings Ep1

hey I've known about this manga for years but just n- wait a minute haven't I said that already? anyway I do think it's funny that both this and mato seihei (chained soldier) ended up getting adaptations in the same season when they have similar concepts. funny how the universe works out sometimes. I think this was a lot better looking than soldier tho, but we'll see if that stays true for the rest of the season. and also just like the other series I said the same thing from the start of this, I really should read the manga, hopefully this year I'll get around to it oh also, really looking forward to when the cat girl shows up she's so unbearably good, I NEED her

Frieren Ep17

good ep, like usual, tho I thought they'd get to the exam and introduce a billion charas in the 2nd half of the episode. that'll be next time tho, looking forward to it. also the new op is nice tho I don't think it's as good as the first one, would have to see the lyrics for it

Manga

Kaiju 8: B-Side Ch1

hoshina is my favourite from kaiju so him getting his own spinoff is very fun. apparently it's based on a LN which was only 1 vol so it won't too long. I'll appreciate it while it's around tho. worth to note that the art is by the super smartphone author so it'll also be nice to see how much they've improved since that series got axed

[natashasbitxh]

To the anon asking you if they're a racoon for feeling the Shaynse, YES YOU'RE A RACCOON!!!!! (In Chance voice) 'cause that's how I feel about it, you can help it, it's just happens.

Now I have to said it I tried to watch sword af but I got stuck in the first video, so Idk if I would watch it completely, maybe if I get out of videos to see, I would end up watching the sword af videos completely.

Also I watched some of the old ones, the chicken video one, where that actually give a vibe to the characters from love is blind hahahaha. I think I started this journey this week to be honest. I really don't understand how it happened, I think I stopped watching smosh like last month and this Monday y started again and basically all the Smosh games videos that were uploaded, I don't remember how but I have the love is blind really as a huge video for me, it made me laugh like no other in the games videos, so I didn't look for the ship tag 'cause I didn't know how or what name it would have. And the one day before the theater video came I actually ended watching love is blind again, I went really crazy, the first time the plot twist was crazy hahahahaha and how everything is like: “oh we're straight but we figure it out”, it's so funny to me for some strange reason.

And now I'm here on Tumblr waiting for people to talk about it, thanks for recommending the teletubbies, I think I watched all the reunion by now, I watched the pumpkin live too and other's lives where they're in. My love for the lives it's just how soft they're, just that. Softness.

The theater kid video, my love for redacted and Sarah Christ would have been the otp for me, but Shaynse took it all, I read all the comment and it's crazy how some minutes of interactions take to see that it's a powerful dynamic what this two be having (which is not bad) is a good thing, even Shayne said in the Smosh mouth year episode where he keeps interrupting Chance because he keeps relating to him, for me it like they have more in common that they thing, that was my highlight of that video, there's a lot of moments I know, but I know you know, so I just feel like we don't need to process those ('cause I will go crazy for the fact that Shayne is so shy and actually gets nervous some times and stutters when trying to answer to Chance hahahaha this man is a treasure).

Going back to the theater video, I just feel Shayne nervousness in all that part, it's so funny hahahaha, I love how everyone is looking at them, like it's the first time they ever interacted hahahah Idk why but it's so funny. AND THE FACT THAT SOMEONE READ THAT FIC AND FIX IT TO ACTUALLY BE IN THE VIDEO, WHO EVER DID THAT, THANK YOU SO MUCH, that the real one, they really have to read that... I'm going insane.

I confess I been watching some videos twice or three times, (I'm going feral like a raccoon if you ask me hahaha) I really love that ask that anon send you.

I guess that's it, today I'll watch more videos if I see something I'll share them here. I hope we get more fun moments.

And my question is, what is your fav video where they're in? And why? Do you feel like they need a playlist soon? Share your thoughts, I'm always pleasant to read everything about what you see in them. Because the spark is there (as a good thing) they just need to shine a little bit more.

Honestly raccoon is a perfect way to describe it

If u don't like sword af that is totally fine!! Not for everybody and thats okay!

tbh that a little vague😭 but my first thought was the vid where they're on a team flipping the chicken? Cause they're great in that vid!

Oh that's so great that u got back into smosh! The love is blind ep truly is such an important vid for me! Rlly showed me how great the smoshblr community is 🫶 Yh they're hilarious in that vid too!! Shayne came to serve drama and he did JUST THAT!!

Thats great! Did u enjoy the reunions? There truly is gold in those and they deserve more love, I miss them!! (Although they do get a lot of love on certain areas of the internet) I rlly miss the improv style vids they used to do on smosh main, where they kept laughter in! I guess the love is blind vid felt a little bit like that, cause they're playing characters? Idk

Oh I LOVE them in lives, I eat it up everytime they're so sweet in those!

I just gotta say I LOVE redacted and Sarah christ too, and it was so fun to see a mutual's fanfic make it in the vid! Yh, I think the fanfic vid rlly did bring a few more ppl to shaynse nation and I think that's so fun!

Yes, they are actually quite similar!! AND YES THE NERVOUSNESS AND STUTTERING!! SOMEBODY PULL UP THE "DID I LOOK GOOD IN MY WEDDING DRESS" CLIP!!!

Yh, Shayne is like uncharacteristically nervous!! Kinda crazy and rare to see within a smosh vid! Can't stop thinking abt the journey the fanfic would've had to get thru to get there...thank you to the author🫡

oh I rewatch smosh vids all the time, especially ones theyre in! Ur not alone!!

Yes, share anymore thoughts u have! I hope we get more moments too!

ooo my fav vid..I'm gonna have to say two! First off, the love is blind vid because it's such a classic and is iconic! When that came out I literally went crazy, shaynse day lives in my hear forever! And I think they're so fun in that vid, they're both competitive so when they got coupled up they were genuinely trying so hard to match! But I also have to say a low key one I love is the smoshmouth ep where they talk abt past jobs, there's a lot of sweet moments in that! And the intro of "Chanse, thanks for being here" "Thanks for having me", is literally the cutest and most gentle thing ever!! And also since u mentioned them not rlly insulting each other, my mind has been blown because also in that intro Shayne is quick to say something like "There's no rules rlly." In a kinda defense of Chanse, I just think that's sweet!

I'd love to hear ur fav vid and why!

I'm curious abt what u mean by playlist? Like a music or a vid playlist? I actually have both of those! I've just not shared yet cause I created both of them on personal accounts, I may make new accounts so I can share them at some point but idk!

Thank you for sharing ur thoughts anon! Yes, their spark needs to be explored!

[lakemichigans]

hey i'm back to clear things up, i was just so quick to get my thoughts out i didn't think to properly explain them

i wanted joel to seem more dramatic was what i meant. yell leave and then turn his head to the side bc he can't look at her go, or smtn like that. idk maybe i'm too hung op on this i'll rewatch the ep tmrw to see if i still feel the same

i liked the funnier in her head line too, but the fake bite was soo cute

ok fedra time this is gonna be a long one lol. i totally got what why ellie was saying those things, it's more so about the "rules" of the show. yk how every piece of media has it's own rules about the world and how the ppl in it are allowed to function. ex if someone other than the main cast shows altruistic intentions they're hiding something (spn), everyone lies for their own benefit to some degree (house md), the people can't rule themselves (got) etc. the rules of tlou (so far at least) are that there can't be an uprising without one firm hand who has clear and realistic end goals which happen to coincide with the morals of the writers. no one firm hand and no realistic goals means the fireflies are idealistic and ineffective. the morals don't coincide with the writers and no clear end goal means kc is brutal and senseless. it's not so much about these specific groups, but what they stand for. further examples for the fact that the people can't rule themselves. (ps jackson has council representatives which is called council communism and again proves the point that in the world of tlou there need to be people who make decisions for the majority)

i totally got the type of crush you were explaining for riley, i was just lacking the feeling like the actress was actually about to blush and then try to hide it and then lovingly look back etc. idk this one is really personal i think

sorry this was so long and i also hope this doesn't come off as me arguing i'm really happy just to be sharing my thought with you <3 excited for next week!

i think it's just up to personal interpretation! maybe i'm just not looking into it hard enough, but i felt that since this is a TV show, they can only focus on a few characters at a time. even if they wanted to show us a positive society without any sort of leader, it would be difficult to follow the story if we were bouncing around through a whole bunch of people, each with their own lives and ideas about the world they live in. it's a cool idea that i would happily watch, but it wouldn't fit with the (mostly) linear story they're trying to tell here. like, it was much easier for them to give maria this sorta-leader role because then she can be used for plot purposes and exposition about jackson. and there's always going to be some element of politics involved in apocalypse stories, but tbh covid has jaded me because i saw so much selfishness and greed arise from that, to the point where i'm burnt out and uninterested in the government systems and i'm much more concerned with the individual stories within. i probably should care more considering this show is so popular and definitely has an impact, but.... idk. maybe someday i'll rewatch and skip all the emotional scenes so i can focus on the rest of the show's message!

i think where we differ is that i like a more subtle type of acting. overacting is much more egregious to me than underacting. if joel had been sobbing or screaming his head off i would've been like.... 🤨 also it's worth pointing out that riley is a bit older than ellie and she's getting ready to do this very adult thing (essentially being deployed for war), so she's not in the same headspace as ellie is for most of the night. ellie is excited that her best friend just came back into her life, she's doing all these incredible fun things, and she's got butterflies in her tummy ;-; but riley knows what this night is really about. she's just trying to give ellie a good time, she's not focused on her own feelings yet. if everything had gone as planned, riley would've walked ellie back to the dorm, left boston, and then probably would break down and feel all her feelings when she's alone. i don't think she ever expected ellie to kiss her or for their relationship to go past friendship, so she didn't even bother getting hopeful about it. it's possible that i'm projecting a lot onto riley because this is exactly how i act when i'm interested in someone lol. sometimes i over-correct so hard that it seems like i don't like you at all, let alone feel romantic feelings towards you 😭

but either way i love talking about tlou in any capacity so please always feel free to share your thoughts!!!

[megumiifushiiguro]

heloooooooo, i;m sorry you're not having the best day!

if you haven't drunk any water in a while, please have a small glass, and maybe put one of those vitamin c dissolvable tablets in if you're feeling under the weather, it might help.

if you've been sitting for a while, stretch your legs and maybe sit up straight to give your back a break, or get a pillow or something.

if you're cold, get a jumper or a blanket or something cozy, and have a snack if you're hungry!!!!!

i'm so sorry if things aren't going incredibly well for you this week or today or whatever time period it is, but i promise you it will get better and you will feel good again and you know tomorrow is another day, and it may surprise you by being an absolutely amazing day that you weren't expecting!

i hope you walk somewhere today and see a cat and are able to stroke it a bit and have a nice couple minutes with the cat, and then you get a muffin or brownie or some crisps or cake or soemthing along those lines and and eat it whilst watching gilmore ggirls or another comfort show, and the day's overall quality just goes up!

ummm, what else. i can tell you about my day. i have eaten my body weight in special k istg. the chokehold that cereal has on me is ridiculous. i realized that once upon a time is no longer on netflix and is now on disney+, with i dont have, which was pretty annoying as i am currently craving hook/emma interactions and cuteness. yk how sometimes you are really just in the mood for one specific type of cute couple will they wont they enemies to lovers interaction, from two specific people, and then when you realise it's not available to you it'sjust so annoying. yeah, that kinda sucked, but i just watched rory and logan episodes of gilmore girls and felt better :)!

also, i just bought shadow and bone, the first book from that whole series. i was wondering if you've read it? i've heard from some people on here that it is really good, sothat is something to look forward too :)!

ummmm, what else is there to ramble about. idk if you've noticed but i'm trying to distract you from any bad or not nice things that might be happening, and i am going to continue to do this until i run out of words in my brain. gotta cheer up my favouritr tumblr big sister!!!

i have been obsessively listening to maisie peters today! do you watch caitlin marie reacts an youtube? i love her and i just binged all her maisie reactions this morning and spent the rest of the day obsessively listing to her eps and watching live performances. if you haven't already, you should listen to her music! it's really good! i watched her performance with james bay of funeral so many times today, it's just so good! so yeah, that's what the music has been like today.

oh, also i was sitting on my bed, just listening to music, and i was sitting cross legged, and my cat came and sat on me, kinda facing outwards and stretching his whole body out onto my leg, which was really cute and adorable, but he is also a large boy and didn't get off for an hour so by the time he did, the leg cramp was ridiculous istg. it took me five minutes to be able to use it again. so yeah, that happened. he's very sweet though so i'll forgive him.

have you got any plans for the next week? if so, what type of things are they. it is currently a week off from school for me so i am going to laze around, study a bit, listen to music, and maybe see friends at some point. very lazy week :)

soooooo, yeah. i can't really think of anything else to day but i hope this maybe made you feel better and if you were already feeling better before reading this then i hope this kept your mood at that good level.

idk, the amount of rambling in this is riduclous, i should stop, so yeah, byeeeeeeeee

(also no pressure to answer this, i just hope it makes you smile)

hellooo izzy🥺💗

i'm feel a lot better now :) i ate smth and took a bath so :) and i'm pretty cozy in my blanket rn :)

right??? cereal is so good??? wtf??? oooh i haven't watched ouat so as i have disney+ i might watch it now :D and yes yes yess i totally get that feeling bestie!! sjsjsj u can always count on rory and logan to make u feel better lol<3

noooo i haven't read it :( tho it's on my tbr FOREVER aahh!! also i heard that shadow and the bone trilogy is not that good but six of crows duology is better?? idk anyway rn i am ready city of bones by cassandra clare it's good i think tho i am not getting much time to read :(

awww i noticed🥺🥹💕 ilysm for this<33 and i'm so happy that u see me as a big sister ilyilyilyyyy

i don't listen to maisie but maybe now i will :) also yesss i watch caitlin marie reacts on yt!!

omg hgfdsdfgh ur cat sounds adorable<33 u should share a pic of him🥺 and i'm sorry for the cramp izzy ily

aaah that's nice!! i don't have much plans but to study as my exams are from march 1 so yeah :')

AND YES YES YESSSS THIS MADE ME FEEL SO MUCH BETTER ILYSM MWAH (and yes ik i think i already said ily in this like 10 times but hushhh)

and nooo it's not ridiculous at alll!! ramble whenever and whatever u want to me :)

take care of urself<3333

[blocksruinedme]

Something big is happening in Empires & Hermitcraft. Let's discuss! Specifically, Grian, Smallishbeans, LDshadowlady and Fwhip's episodes the week of October 9, 2022. I've clipped all the relevant scenes down below. I'm very interested in corrections and commentary!

[Note: They all ended their episodes at a portal with weird stuff happening, so if you're looking to check videos for rift lore, maybe skip to the ends.]

- October 9 - Grian finds a button in front of his Hermitcraft rift. It says "Begin?" Grumbot[1]  gives him a message that says "Push the button". He tries not to, but eventually gives in. (This is typical Grian behavior.)  (HC 9: Ep 23)

- October 11 - Lizzie finds a portal on Empires that bears some suspicious resemblance to Grian's rift. Hoping she might get crystals, she sends a fox named Gary through on a minecart to investigate, and bring back "lots of crystals, the shinier the better". They hit the portal, Gary goes through, the minecart doesn't. (Is Gary a modded villager? That's lizzie's thing?) (Empires s2, Ep 11)

- October 13 

(1) Joel spies the portal from his bridge, having heard about it already. He says he'll send something through because Lizzie already did. He sends one of his Jimmy dolls - it's important to remember the doll is named "Smallishbeans's Head". There's no minecart, he just chucks it in.  (Empires s2, ep 19) (2) Fwhip hears an explosion and finds the portal, decides to not engage with any of it. Later, Lizzie comes to Fwhip for help rescuing Gary, and they send Fwhip's creature, "Sniff, Explorer of the Deep", through the portal on a minecart to get Gary. I have no idea what kind of creature Sniff is. Some modded goblin horse I get. Snort's older brother. idk. (Empires S2 : Building a GOBLIN LAVA FORGE, because he can't be bothered to use episode numbers I guess?)

Maybe it's not Grian's rift, maybe Hermitcraft and Empires aren't connected, but that would be WILD. If you don't know, Grian is IRL friends with Lizzie and Joel, so them collaborating makes a lot of sense. Sausage is having big flashbacks to Empires s1 and Afterlife SMP. Gem and FalseSymmetry are in both Empires & Hermitcraft, and False's plot is about having woken up in a strange place. Pearl is in Hermitcraft, and was in Empires s1, and there's deep lore about her that I'm not caught up on, but she already exists between series, she sent Oli (theorionsound) from Afterlife SMP to Empires season 2, from her base in the sky. She's been Watching everything! She's a Saint? A Goddess? (I am going to catch up, I only finished emp1 this month.) And I'm told her afterlife/empires sky base is her hermitcraft s8 base. 

The Jimmy toy looks like Jimmy and has Joel's name. Their Double Life soulmates are in Hermitcraft. I saw a comic once that had Tango finding a Jimmy doll and it feeling familiar. Thus, I am now insane and will be at least until empires s2 is over, probably forever.

Here's some videos and some transcripts, but I've been at this two hours and I'm not transcribing them all, sorry!

(I will hopefully keep updating as things develop, but no promises. Probably with less transcription. I'll tag them all #mcyt crossover, because who knows how deep this will go.)

Joel transcript, at 13:26 - Joel spies the portal. "and whilst we're here, look at that. that's lore right there. weird lore stuff's happening on the server guys. what is it? I don't know. But I saw that Lizzie put something in it, so we should go put something in it as well. So what better than this little toy man here? Well, the toy version of the toy man. Have fun little toy-- oh, it's missed. Let's try again." [toy name says "Smallishbeans's Head"] "Have fun little toy man! And just like that, he's gone. I hope he's okay, but if he's not okay, then that's fine as well to be honest.

Fwhip transcript

11:57 - Fwhip says Jimmy is toying with his heart. </3

12:00 - Fwhip hears an explosion. "What? Bridge? What is (x3) that? I'm sorry but this is brand new. How did this pop up here out of the wall? [confused goblin noises] You know what, if I've learned anything being underground in the goblin cavern it's don't dig where you're not supposed to be digging. I'm going to be leaving that as if I've never saw it [things about copper and cave safety] spooky things are happening". 

15:30 - (too long to transcribe) Lizzie blows the emergency horn, says there's a situation with Gary, the greatest explorer who ever lived in Animalia. She's upset that Gary hasn't come back, Fwhip tells her that he heard an explosion earlier, Lizzie is more upset, wants a rescue mission. Fwhip says his empire's greatest explorer, "Sniff, Explorer of the Deep" has just returned home, [they laugh heartily]. Lizzie takes Fwhip and Sniff to the "crystal cave". Fwhip says maybe Gary did the explosion. Lizzie says Gary had a very specific mission (get crystals) and he'd never stray from the mission protocols. They tell Sniff to find and bring back Gary. Sniff spins around a lot, because he's excited for a job. They put him on a minecart, Lizzie makes a Harry Potter reference (which she and Joel do all the time), and the episode cuts right there, no outro. 

Time stamped links to the original videos (give them a like!): 

Joel https://youtu.be/rUmWjXaJGcw?t=805

Lizzie: https://youtu.be/bunhaERjxmE?t=533 Fwhip: https://youtu.be/jI3bYNJXuVs?t=717 (second part is at 15:30)

Grian: it's the whole episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onsbmy3r70g

[1] Grumbot is... in HC s7 Grian and Mumbo he made a robot son to help Mumbo win the mayoral election, then they lied to him and sai that he won, and put him in a (nice) box. Now there's a grumbot here and maybe he's from an AU and he says creepy things like "My Grian was sorry too" and I've only watched bits of all this.

[wanderingbards]

Saw your post about fics you'd like to see/write and honestly? Same.

Not a writer tho, which sucks, but I'm interested to see your interpretation of, well, pretty much all of them.

Especially curious about the Will sacrificing himself instead of Ashe (saw that fic too), Deadwood shenanigans, Dakota and Will meeting each other for the first time, and the drawback to superpowers.

Also, I never thought about Gill and Rumi meeting each other before, but that would definitely be something.

1, I'm not much of a writer either - I honestly find it's more of a mindset wherein you eventually just...do it. Idk how to explain, lol.

2. I'll go through the specific ones you req'd and give some base headcanons for each, and if I do end up writing them fully (I'm on vacation atm so it'll be a week or two before I do so) I'll tag you!

William Wisp's sacrifice

So this is kinda similar to the oneshot, but also different because it could completely change the plot of s2.

- William does the thing he did with the wisps on the train to that one dude, ends up dying. Ashe summons Duck, but Duck explains that William is simply gone.

- Meanwhile, William ends up in the spirit world again. This time, the wisps tell him his job above is complete - but he now has a place of power in the spirit world as a planeswalker, and he's kinda gotta work on getting rid of Mallard Conway and cleaning up the spirit world.

- This leaks into the real world, where rogue demons have slipped through the rift William opened in killing Overlord. Dakota still runs off, blaming himself for William's death (also comes with this loss of direction, which we saw hinted at in ep 19). Ashe moves in with Vyncent when his dad is taken to prison, and months pass.

- When Dakota returns, Ashe reveals he's been having some bad dreams lately - involving the spirit world. Le Frog calls, and s2 begins.

- Main twist could be that Ashe can't contact the spirit world maybe? Only through his dreams? Idk I haven't thought that far yet.

The Un-Witness Protection Program

- So I have the whole group named and hc'd out for some Shenanigans. This series of oneshots takes place before William moves to Rockfall, which is before the summer of William's junior year.

- Rose (she/they) and Xander (he/they) are fraternal twins. Both are black, with very curly hair - Rose keeps hers in pigtails, and Xander has a shorter afro thing goin on. They're 2 years older than William.

- Siobahn (any) is taller, long straight black hair, asian. They're the oldest of the group, being a few months older than the twins.

- And finally, Martyn (he/him) is the second youngest - second to William himself. Martyn is a couple months older than William.

- Yes, William is the baby of the group, and also he's trans.

- So anyways, these guys come together when Siobahn's younger brother, Zach, goes missing. They look into his case, and find this beautiful forest area with a cliff, and a scrap of Zach's clothing on a branch right next to the cliff.

- Over the next couple years, these 5 get into some serious chaos in trying to discern the mysteries of Deadwood - origins of spirits, dangerous places, etc.

- Throughout this time, William has an intuition that helps guide the group to the next location - he doesn't realize his 'intuition' is just seeing the wisps.

- Leads up to Spring Break of William's sophomore year. Siobahn and the twins are graduating, so they're all going camping to celebrate and do some farewells.

- The whole time, William is antsy. He keeps getting distracted by something moving in the woods, and the others poke just a bit of fun at him.

- That night, William follows the wisps to the cliff Zach died at. The others tag along, because they refuse to let William go alone, and they're attacked by a blink dog - that dives towards William and takes him right over the edge of the cliff.

- The others find William's body at the base of the cliff, and watch as his previously dead body comes back to life with a blue light.

- William doesn't remember what happened. The others don't know how to explain, so they tell him he fell chasing something.

- There's like, one more oneshot that's a 5+1 of 5 times William acted strange and the 1 time he did something about it. It ends with William leaving Deadwood for Rockfall.

Dakota and William's first meeting

- This'd just be a kinda oneshot where they meet beginning of summer break - they both got their powers over spring break (on the same day at the same time but they don't know that)

- Somethin quick and easy, probably involves Dakota overwhelming William and William ghosting through the floor

- Ends with Dakota saying something about them being a dynamic duo.

The Drawback to Superpowers

- In general, this is my favorite thing to think about. Like, I wrote a thing a while ago about what the Encanto gifts would have as drawbacks, and it's...it's so good.

- Dakota has a canonically heightened metabolism, but I also think he gets really bad muscle cramps/sore muscles. Like, really bad aches to a point where he can't walk. Because he shouldn't be able to. On these days, the others take care of him - they bring him water and food and watch movies in bed with him while he just rests.

- Vyncent gets bad headaches and real bad amnesia moments. I mean, come on, literal superpowered DID. I feel like the Greats would front casually, even if it's not as their full form, and the others learn how to tell the difference between them all and fill Vyncent in on things he missed.

- And William is Literally Dead. Like, cold hands and pale face, sure, but how about random bouts of rigor mortis. His joints and muscles locking up, tic moments happening at stressful times. I also feel like he has really heavy dissociative episodes where everything gets tinted with blue and hours pass in a blink.

~~~~

I could elaborate a Ton on these concepts, but I'm on vacation and am limited to typing on a phone.

Also I feel like the Rumi and Gillion meeting deserves it's own post separate from the pd stuff. So I might write it out later!

Thanks for the ask!!!

[spaceorphan18]

how many WIPs do you currently have going?

I can never tell tone on the internet - is this a judgy ask or a curious ask?

I'll assume the latter and give an update on the WIPS, which I had been planning to do anyway.

So... this is just Glee related things, I'm honestly thinking of taking down my left open MCU fics cause I'm not sure if I'll ever get to them or not.

I think it's only 4.

Head Over Feet -- I still love this story, and love writing this story. I was going to get the next chapter done this week and out to you guys but... real life, nearly week long anxiety attack stopped me from writing anything. But yes, most definitely still writing this one.

In This City That We Love - of which I posted today. My dudes... i've had this on the backburner since 2019. Believe it or not, my writing has really improved in the past three years, and I figured putting it out there for you all to see will force me to work on it. I love the idea, and love writing this one, too.

The Spaces In-Between -- Yup, still writing this, too. I'm actually going to pick this one back up as I work my way through my Musical Retrospective. I'm watching the episodes as I go, and once I finally get to ep 9 there will be new chapters.

The Smut Challenge - I realize this has been on the back burner for nearly a year now, but I do want to continue it. I think it'll be a nice way to just... get out all the smut prompts I've ever wanted to read. Another thing I was going to brush up this week and failed to do so.

And that's it! I have no new ideas other than these, lol.

There are two very old things that I may or may not get to at some point once I wrap up the above.

Changed For the Better - written with some Klaine advent years ago. Honestly, I struggled hard writing it, which is why I stopped. Idk - maybe with enough time and space, i'll want to wrap it up.

The CrossRhodes Saga - it's an AU noir. It's a big story. I would love to get to it someday, but definitely not something I'm going to try to do right now.

Look, I'm sure there are those of you out there who find it annoying that I have, like, ten plates spinning at all times - but I don't know how to do it any other way. I did finish up 99 Perspectives and Chasing Pavements, both novel length fics. I know sometimes it's slow going - but things will get done.

And, giving you guys a heads up - there's a real possibility that I'll have to move to another state in the near future, which might slow things down considerably. Sorry about that. Sometimes it's just easier to get things out of my head and give them to you then to have it sitting around in my draft box.

*shrugs*