#insane visual chemistry

[last-blue-hours]

I’m gobbling up the 3D jungkook x Who jimin edits like a starving man.

[ambrwolf]

I cant figure anyone else out but if anyone else is thinking about a fancast for wmom i have two suggestions.

Kristen Stewart as Danny

(Im showing an incredible amount of restraint by only picking three pictures)

And Bryan Dechart as Father Victor Ardelian

(Unfortunately he's not short but look. at. Him)

[mare-sanguis]

i sure hope we will get some good fics about gunwoo and woojin soon because if not thats such a waste. they work both well as friends and a couple and a lot of people have already drawn the parallels between them and suho/sieun... so if thats doesn't scream fics idk what does

[luxrayz64]

I saw a post a while back responding to criticism of botw as being "a good game but not a good zelda game", and they responded with how the Zelda Formula was getting tired and stale and botw was a response to that, that it was meant to harken back to the original zelda game where it just drops you in and it makes you find everything on yr own. which like is fine and good and all but. you do know that the original zelda had 8 full unique (as unique as they could be on the nes) dungeons right. the original zelda game had dungeon items. they didn't need to take out one of zeldas defining gameplay aspects and replace it with the fundamentally inferior shrines and divine beasts. you can make a game non linear and refresh its gameplay without taking out one of the series' strongest aspects.

[mysticmoosenger]

thinking about a tutor!gojo who has a massive crush on you, but you can’t stand him. the tension is insane.

cw: pining, gojo being annoying, lots of tension, organic chemistry, gojo is sexy asf

You had never thought you would be in this position, but here you are, in the corner of the library behind a shelf of old books with your assigned tutor’s tongue in your mouth. Ironically, despite the clear chemistry between you and your new tutor, you were still failing the organic chemistry class that you needed to graduate.

From the start of the semester you have had a silent cold war level of annoyance with the tall white-haired frat bro that sat in front of you. He had a habit of talking through the lectures and spinning his chair around to attempt to talk to you, resulting in your professor to get mad at both of you. several times.

Unfortunately your grades started to slip as you have never been very great with time management and studying, so you approached your professor and asked him to help you choose someone to tutor you. You were pretty much stuck with Gojo as the only option, as everyone else your professor had mentioned had too busy of schedules. Lucky for you, Gojo was not very involved in campus life other than his frat events.

You had never been a fan of Gojo as his ego was taller than Everest and he did not understand the concept of an inside voice. You dragged yourself to the library after your last class of the day to meet him and go over the lecture and reading material from the week. As soon as you entered you found his fluffy mess of a head of hair and walked over, sitting across from him.

Gojo was surprisingly good at organic chemistry. you would never have known, judging by the way he carries himself in class. he talks you through some of the more confusing topics, coming to sit next to you to draw out some messy diagrams to help you visualize some concepts. you both look up at each other at the same time, not realizing how close you were sitting to one another. your heart skips a beat as you make direct eye contact with his beautiful blue eyes. he faintly blushes and gives you a flustered smile, glancing down at your lips before quickly turning his head. internally, you know exactly what is happening. the tension from that point on had become impossible to ignore.

the tension had been so suffocating that despite your previous dislike for the man, you had started to develop a bit of a crush on him. suddenly you caught yourself thinking about how soft his hair must be, how sweet his lips must taste, how talented his fingers may be. you wondered about how he would be in bed, dominant or submissive? how his voice must sound angelic when he’s moaning your name…. fuck.

all of a sudden the glances became longer, the brief “accidental” touches lingered for an unnatural amount of time, the joking got a bit suggestive. you found yourself engaging in conversations about anything but organic chemistry. he would subtly invite you to his frat parties, ask you deeper questions, laugh at nothing. the poor man was obviously so into you, and you were too dense to notice it the whole semester. fuck, you barely noticed it now. you were too wrapped up in trying to decode your own feelings that you didnt take any time to analyze his.

After a few weeks the tension had reached a boiling point. you couldnt focus on anything but him. he could explain a topic to death and you would still not be able to repeat a single thing he said. you were too entranced by the way his soft lips move and how sexy his eyes look when he is focused. you were practically eye fucking him at this point, and he was certainly not oblivious to it.

Gojo was normally a confident and cocky guy but when he is around you all of that disappears. As midterms were approaching and break was just around the corner, he hyped himself up to try to make a move on you. to get your number, your snap, hold your hand, ask you to grab food with him… something. he just had to do something before the class ends for an excuse to keep seeing you. he knew that you were starting to enjoy your time with him, it was pretty obvious. Still, he found it very difficult to just make a move.

Midterms were in just a few weeks and it became crunch time to finalize your understanding of the concepts from earlier in the semester. the fifth floor of the library was almost completely deserted due to the late hour on a Friday night. once again, you were staring at him, not hearing a word he was saying. with a sudden, impulsive move, Gojo reaches forward and smashes his lips to yours, leaving you in slight shock for a second, before you begin to kiss him back.

Even Gojo cannot believe what is happening as he snaps back into reality, feeling your soft lips against his and your tongue brushing against his. He quickly breaks away and stands up, backing up a bit from the table, blushing heavily and apologizing profusely. “I’m so so sorry I-I dont know what came over me, oh my god, I’m sorry…” and a chain of other similar apologies leave his lips.

You also get up from the table, approaching him, and taking his fingers into your own, lightly grazing his hand and attempting to be as gentle and soothing as possible due to the sheer amount of stress this poor man looked like he was in. you get closer and catch his eyes, locking him into an intense, emotion-driven moment of crackling tension. You quietly breathe out, “…it’s okay ‘Toru, I liked it, please-“ you didn’t get to finish your sentence before he whipped you around and caged you against a long shelf of random books no one would look for, once again smashing his lips to yours in the most hungry, passionate kiss imaginable. his body presses to yours, aching to feel closer to you, to feel your heat and flawless body. his hard dick grinding small circles against you. one of his hands snakes up your side and into your hair at the base of your neck, controlling you through the rough kiss. his teeth graze your bottom lip as he lets out a quiet moan of satisfaction.

his kisses were making you dizzy, suffocating you with the urge to let him fuck you in the library, of all places. by the time he breaks the kiss, you are being held up by his knee between your legs. you both have a minute to catch your breath and process the status of your relationship now that a move has been made.

resting his head against yours he nearly moans, “my roommate isnt home tonight… would you want to come over?”

　˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

a/n: hey guys thanks for reading, I wrote this one at like 4am and I havent proofread so ignore anything that doesnt make sense please lol. I kinda liked where this fic was going so I might make a part 2 to it.

[justheblueberry]

handbinding of A Study in Scarlette by kittebasu

There are people who want to live forever, and then there is Shinichi, who just wants to live a little longer than this.

this bind has been in my head since i first read the fic like, three years ago. i dreamed up so many ideas for it, for so long, and now it's finally done! the typeset was actually done in early 2022, back when i was still using google docs, but it went through a few iterations because i was just. so. fiddly. with every aspect of this book. it needed to be perfect (as close to perfect as i, an amateur bookbinder out of my depth, can get) and it had to be absolutely over the top, to reflect the insane amount of love and care that the author put into the fic itself.

the first time i read this fic, i barely knew what detective conan was, much less all of the intricate plot details; i was just along for the ride, but by the end i was completely invested. i went back and watched through the anime as well as a few movies (it took me six months) and then read the fic again. and then a few more times. kaishin and the world of dcmk has utterly gripped me. it's 100% this fic's fault and i love it so, so, much.

i went through a few iterations of visual designs and i'm really happy with the little details i managed to squeeze in.

the entire color scheme is based around red, because 1) it's a murder mystery, 2) for scarlette shinamoto (and the title of the fic as well as the original holmes novel it references), and 3) the irony of "lady red" actually being red. the secret fourth reason is that i think red/gold is a super sexy color combo.

i sewed the textblock with red thread to reference holmes' "scarlet thread of murder".

another detail i love is the five yen coin bookmark, it was one of my first ideas and it turned out even better than i thought.

i wanted the endpapers to evoke a sense of the white marbled floor of the ballroom, with the glow-in-the-dark kaitou kid caricature being the luminol on the floor, and the little pops of red looks like blood that's been mixed in. i lucked out in that the other side of the endpaper was like a lavender-purpley color, i like to think of it as a little wink wink nudge to the color of the actual Lady Red.

the chapter pages got a few reworkings, but i'm happy with the illustrations i ended up doing for each of them. the chapter titles are one of my favorite things about the fic, each one has so much meaning packed into it and flows so beautifully, and i wanted to put as much care into making them pop as possible.

the cover was a linocut carving i designed and carved, which i then printed onto the bookcloth, and ironed on htv on top.

i also threw in a couple of my drawings of my favorite scenes.

this is getting way too long, so i'll end it here. i'll have a separate post detailing the process every step of the way, if anyone wants to take a closer look. this fic is kind of directly responsible for getting me into fanbinding, so it's safe to say it altered the course of my life. i now spend way too much time (and money) looking at book stuff.

kittebasu, if, somehow, you see this and would like an author copy, i would be honored to make one and ship it to you; i would be overjoyed to gift you with any art i have the ability to make, because the fics you wrote have irreversibly altered my brain chemistry, and being able to give back in any capacity would be a dream. (thank you.)

a few postscripts:

i am not selling any copies of this fic. partially because i believe in the gift economy of fandom as well as firmly keeping fanbinding a hobby that will stay unmonetized, but also because it took me months (years, if we are counting when i first finished the typeset) to finish this and i do not have the strength.

however, if you are also a fan of this fic and would like a copy, i honestly, fervently, encourage you to give fanbinding a try! renegade publishing and its discord server are an absolutely wonderful and free resource. i knew nothing about bookbinding and had zero materials when i first started, but i've learned so much thanks to the lovely people there. if you're still apprehensive about getting started, i'd be willing to share my typeset of this fic as well as answer any questions about the making of this book if you DM me.

[dreamingsnowflake2013]

When I started watching The Double, I was trying to pinpoint why it felt so familiar, both visually (utterly gorgeous) and the insane OTP chemistry and dynamic between them, well, it turns out it's helmed by the director of Go Princess Go and Oh My General, who brought his trusty fan wind machine and petals along the ride. Sure, he has a bigger budget now and is limited by more censorship restrictions but it's still his signature style.

Seriously, so many scenes feel like homage shots to Go Princess Go that I've started to rewatch it like Pavlov's dog.

The trusty fan machine never fails.

The extra and gorgeous male lead (with a fan) with a penchant for dramatic poses.

Romance among flower petals.

Tragic death among flower petals.

Heroine taking the lead in a dance with the male lead.

Female lead openly thirsting after the hero.

[shinidamachu]

inukag was born to be shipped by me and I was born to ship inukag as well

For ages now I've been meaning to write about the reasons why I ship Inukag as fervently as I do and @inukag-week felt like the perfect opportunity to indulge myself, so here we go.

I want to start with how aesthetically pleasing they are. From their perfect size difference to the complimentary color scheme of their outfits plus contrasting hair and eye colors, Inuyasha and Kagome just look absolutely good together.

Their character design makes it clear from the get go that they're visually a great match. The association is so strong that the audience becomes unable to picture one without the other, as if they're two halves of the same item. Different, yet unequivocally a team, a pair.

Decades ago, they already had that classic quality to them and I bet they'd never get out of style even decades from now. And the rich lore that surrounds the pairing only adds to that aesthetic: the well, the tree, the beads, the robe, the sword, all of it enhances how iconic they are. Even something as ordinary as star gazing becomes uniquelly theirs.

Futhermore, I just absolutely love the entire concept of it. The subvertion of the fairy tale archetype, the idea of a love that transcends time, of soulmates who actually work on building their bond. Loving each other was both inevitable and a choice they made every single day.

Inuyasha and Kagome were just two teenagers from different worlds — literally and figurativelly — discovering together what love was. This made their relationship very compelling, because the excange between them is insanely substancial.

And their overall dynamic is so wholesome. There was a push and pull, a give and take, that made it fluid rather than static. Every single milestone felt organic and kept the audience thirsting for the next one.

Nothing felt forced or rushed. The slow burn was competently written to showcase their relationship being build on a very strong foundation, consistent in intimacy, mutual trust and acceptance — recurring themes for them and for the story — and so the stages of their bond had such a natural pace, it highlighted how genuine and healthy it was.

Consequently, there are so many aspects of their connection to explore. There's a never ending room for angst and for light hearted moments and you can adopt a more mature perspective or go for comical instead: they manage to be versatile without being generic and to embod the best clichés in fiction without becoming one themselves.

It's hard to think of a trope they couldn't pull off or an alternate universe that doesn't work for them. It gives the fandom plenty of freedom to be creative and to have the best time with it.

Plus, their chemistry was off charts. The romantic tension bleed through every single interaction. Their passion is so strong you could feel it even in scenes that had nothing to do with romance. And they didn't even need to kiss to achieve that level of synchrony.

They were also compatible. Inuyasha and Kagome balance each other quite nicely. Even in a relationship, they still keep their individualities and remain interesting both as characters and as a ship.

The very thing that dooms most pairings — opposite personalities — is precisely what keeps them together. Inuyasha and Kagome are completely different from each other, but they're actually extremely similar where it actually matters: their morals and goals.

And they longer they stay together, challenging one another, growing through trials and tribulations, inadvertently learning what each other's needs are and fulfilling them, easing each other's sorrows, covering each other's backs, saving each other's lives in every possible way, learning each other and learning with one another, the more their dichotomy turns into a duality, because they gain a more nuanced perspective of themselves, of each other and of the world.

It's a level of understanding, closeness and respect incredibly difficult to match. And for Inuyasha and Kagome, no one else even came close.

Another thing is that they're not just complementary to each other, but to the story itself. Their romance enhaces the overall plot. It has a structural placement in the wider narrative, strengthening its core themes and fulfilling the characters individual arcs, ultimately resulting in a more compelling journey.

So many romances are disposable to their own story, but Inukag was detrimental to theirs. Inuyasha and Kagome's interactions served as pivotal points of their respective arcs. Taking only the narrative into consideration, their relationship holds a lot of weight and greatly influenced everyone around it and it tied everything together.

That's why their happy ending felt so satisfying: it feels earned because everything went full cycle. All of that symbolism, all of those parallels paid off. Anything different from what we got would simply lack narrative and thematic cohesion.

And even if they didn't end up together, they could never be circumstancial. There was a real reason why they met, a reason why the fell in love and why they had ever lasting impacts on each other's lives regardless. It wasn't just love for love's sake.

This is what makes them, in my opinion, an epic ship.

BONUS: their soundtrack is lit and their quotes are simply legendary.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Rose Recaps 2024 - Japan [Thailand | Korea.]

Ok, the individual show's recaps will be shorter in this one, because there are too many shows I've loved. I am partial to Japan, so it shouldn't be surprising.

We've had 4 different shows that had BL's within BL's. Which is a lot. And also kind of amazing. I'll start with those and then move on to all the others.

The Last One of 2023 and the First One of 2024 - I Became the Lead in a BL Drama: Crank up Edition

I love them and I can't believe I will get more of them this year. the comedy is great and they are both so earnest and adorable.

The One With the Slope - At 25:00 in Akasaka

They rewired my brain. One of my big obsessions of the year. The show within the show was used so efficiently. And Hayama. What a phenomenal character. I love pining boys, but this was on another level. A stand out moment was when Hayama finally chose himself and left Shirasaki before going too far, and tainting the beautiful memories they had created together.

The One With the Fourth Wall - A Man Who Defies the World of BL 3

Adding the making of a bl to this one was particularly interesting. That and the triangle made this season particularly fun to watch. Also Hatano was an incredible addition to the story and the filming of the bl was both adorable and heart breaking at times. A huge thanks to @ikeoji-subs for making it possible to watch.

The One With All the Tropes - Twilight Out of Focus

What a beautiful and lovely show. Just a gift for the eyes and a really fun and adorable watch. My favourite couple was the first, but I liked things about all of them. Such interesting use of tropes.

The One About Family - Ossan's Love Returns

I should thank @twig-tea everyday for convincing me to watch this one, even though I hadn't watch the previous ones. This is such a sweet show, with endearing characters and amazing family dynamics. Haruta and Maki deliver such sweet romance moments and Kurosawa makes me laugh so hard. It wasn't perfect but it was so so good.

The One With the Cutest Puppy - Sugar Dog Life

With so many disappointments, this show stands out by executing a simple and heart warming story really well. Isumi is the most adorable lonely boy and even though I wanted to strangle Amasawa at points, it all made sense in this context. They have great chemistry and their scenes together had a warmth that felt real.

The One With the Glass - Takara no Vidro

I will never get tired of someone falling for a crush because they were kind. It's something that Japan does a lot and I will always root for those characters. Taishin was such a beautiful character to watch grow and learn about his own feelings. And I adore Takara. His fear that his love for Taishin would bring out his possessiveness, and much like glass, if he held on too tight he might crush it, was heartbreaking to watch.

The One With the Succulents - Love Is a Poison

I just spoke a bit about it in my monthly breakdown so I'll just say one more thing about it. The visual effects in this show were used incredibly well, as were Shiba's insane dream sequences. The dropped green ink, the shine in the succulents and the heart eyes on Haruto. Perfection. Oh and the sound effects of the succulents. Freaking adorable.

The One With the Two Lonely Boys - Perfect propose

These two were looking for connection and a place to rest and found it in each other. It was short and gentle and sweet and managed to say a lot even though we only had them for 6 episodes.

The Other Magical Adaptation - Cherry Magic Anime

I would watch this story over and over again. And to have this one airing at the same time as the thailand adaptation was a joy. I feel the characters in this one are closest to the ones in the manga, they feel less perfect for lack of a better world. I want to rewatch this one soon.

The One With the Food and the Dog - Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

One of my new comfort watches. It's adorable in a very realistic way. The acting feels effortless, everybody feels comfortable in their roles, and all the supporting characters have purpose and play a part in the main romance. The best BL dog ever and all the food looked amazing and kept bringing me back to Kinou Nani Tabeta, which is not surprising since it shares a director with it. Thank you to @isaksbestpillow for allowing us to watch.

The One With the Amazing Women - She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat

I spoke about this one several times. I watched both seasons this year, my full review is here. I love all of them, although Kasuga holds a special place in my heart.

That's it for the breakdown by country. I still have one more post I wanna make with a couple of other bl's that I couldn't fit in these posts. Let's see if I find the time and the spoons for it. 💜

[dangermousie]

My favorite dramas of first quarter of 2024

We are a quarter in, so time for a list. Once again, my subjective list, blah blah blah.

10. Destiny (Japan) - drama as only Japan does it - melancholy, secrets, complications and a messy relationship that is irresistible.

9. In Blossom (China) - somehow, this feels like a cracky, delicious web novel come to life and it's so beautiful to watch, to boot.

8. Unknown (Taiwan) - a quiet, slice of life BL that often feels like peeking at real people.

7. Fortune Writer (China) - smart and surprising, this has both really grey protagonists and an interesting story about fighting the narrative.

6. Goryeo Khitan War (Korea) - an old school war and politics epic in every sense of the word, with uniformly amazing acting.

5. Derailment (China) - a rare cdrama modern I love, this one kept at the edge of my seat both due to plot and the insane OTP chemistry.

4. Lovely Runner (Korea) - time travel, second chance romance, high school love, celebrities - it throws in all the tropes and makes them fresh.

3. The Legend of Shen Li (China) - I rarely like xianxia because I often find it cliche and emotionally unengaging. This one made me care desperately and genuinely not know where it's going. If you watch only one xianxia (that's not CLJ), make it this one.

2. Eternal Brotherhood (China) - smart, funny, bleak, visually out of this world story about friendship and war and politics and trauma and love and just - AAAAA! It would be in serious running as my n1 not just of the quarter but the year except for:

1. Tender Light (China) - yes, a modern cdrama is my favorite for the quarter and likely for the year. The world is indeed about to end. This is as if an arthouse movie was a drama. Or perhaps a jdrama and a BBC prestige production had a baby with a dash of Jorge Amado's darker novels like Teresa Batista - I am naming all my favorite things because it is all my favorite things. The emotion, the twists, the bleak view of the world with a shred of hope, the cinematography, the acting. This is a perfect drama, the end.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Irene Papas (Tribute to a Bad Man, Electra, Zorba the Greek)— "From the opening shot of Michael Cacoyannis's Electra, as the proud, implacable face emerges from encroaching shadows, it becomes impossible to imagine anyone else as Euripides's heroine. Erect, immutably dignified, dark eyes burning fiercely beneath heavy black brows, Irene Papas visibly embodies the sublimity of classical Greece, tragic yet serene." -Philip Kemp (film critic) Also she's a a badass.

Jane Greer (Out of the Past, The Big Steal, Station West)—Out of the Past is one of my all time favorites because of the beautiful black and white cinematography but it helps so much that Robert and Jane are insanely hot. Honestly recommend just watching the whole movie two appreciate the visuals and her presence in the film. It's a noir and she's the femme fatale, it's very faithful to the genre but I do feel like Kathie's chemistry with Jeff is uniquely entertaining and so appealing. I'm also just kind of a sucker for actors who clearly became the basis for a lot of illustrators in the years to come, you can see echoes of her in a lot of comics and advertisement illustration.

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Irene Papas:

An amazing actress and singer, some may say a literal Greek goddess. Fought against military dictatorship in her home country and had an affair with Marlon Brando.

She literally played Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world in Greek mythology, what more could you want

Jane Greer:

Jane is my favorite femme fatale of all time. She is SO cold!

[hopelesslygeek]

I'm Oliretta's biggest fan and here's why:

Okay, so I've seen a lot of people online who didn't like Season Three and didn't vibe with Oliver and Loretta's relationship and ,while I understand and respect that, I couldn't disagree more.

For one, Marty Short and Meryl Streep have insane on-screen chemistry imo, and they are also visually "compatible". It is established early on that they have a lot of things in common (love for theatre, tendency for ludicrous storytelling, "is the thing in the thing?", similar sense of humour etc), they even have some matching clothing items (Oliver's scarfs and Loretta's shawls). So it is obvious that the showrunners are telling us "Hey look, these two are very alike, maybe they would be compatible in a romantic sense too".

But the biggest and most important reason why I love this ship is that they see each other. Oliver was the first person to really see how talented and brilliant Loretta is, he is the first one to give her a chance and show her that all her life's work has not been for nought. On a more personal level later on, he proclaims her his "Lucky Durkin", he alleviates her of her insecurities of not being good or deserving enough and he encourages her to pursue her dreams. Loretta on the other hand, is the only one to really see Oliver's sensitivity and vulnerability, as shown in the second piano scene. Honestly, Oliver has been my favourite since day one and in that moment Loretta perfectly expressed the reason why: yes, he is loud and eccentric and he often serves the role of the comic relief but, in reality, he is a highly intelligent and empathetic person, and he has his own anxieties and insecurities like everyone else.

It was a delight to watch Marty act opposite Meryl in these scenes because I think he really nailed the surprise and delight that Oliver felt when Loretta told him that she really sees him for the sensitive, lovely man that he is ("You understand me, Loretta, and that has been a rarity in my life."). It is very subtle but you can clearly notice the difference in his acting when it's just the two of them. Whereas Oliver is usually chaotic and scattered, when he's alone with Loretta he is a more quite, honest version of himself.

Also, we got to see how wonderfully expressing and giving Oliver is when he is in love. He never hesitated to express his love and admiration for Loretta both in private ("I adore you, Loretta 'Lucky' Durkin, and everything about you", "I love you. I haven't said those words in a while but it felt right so I'm gonna say it again: I love you") and in front of others ("She's the love of my life.", "Doesn't Loretta look pretty?", "Anything for you, ma cherie").

All in all, after two whole seasons, my boy Oliver deserved to get some action too and I don't think there could have been a better choice for a romantic interest than Loretta. Can't wait to see them again in the new season and I really hope the creators won't fuck it up.

[theflagscene]

Random QL Superlatives - 2024 Edition

Listen, if there’s a trend that involves lists, imma jump on that! So here I am, giving random niche awards to my faves ☺️

Best use of a deity’s name - God / Monster Next Door

His nickname being Godzilla made sense in the webcomic, they carried the whole fire breathing monster motif over into very cutesy cartoons but I was not expecting them to shorten his nickname even further. Giving a nickname a… nickname?? 🤔 But you know what, it freaking worked! God was a gift sent down from the heavens. He was the perfect giant puppy and the greenest green flag, really perfectly named imo.

Best jerk off scene - Fadel / The Heart Killers

Not only was this jerk off scene the most realistic one I’ve ever seen on network television—boy was done in sixty seconds!—but it was also the most realistic male orgasm I’ve ever seen. The scrunched up face, the weird grunting and huffing noises, kicking his leg, Joong came (heh) to prove a point and he did!

Best allegory for life and death - Love For Love’s Sake

From the constant water noises, to the video game visuals, the loss and gaining of points, the borrowed time, the crumbling world, the memory loss, the messages from the people left behind. When Myungha is caught between the life he lost and the second chance he was being given as he stands surrounded by darkness and water, dripping wet from his death but wearing the high school uniform from his second chance… just ugh! Perfect, absolutely beautiful.

Best fucked up family dynamic - Unknown

I love a messy family, but I love a messy found family even more. This was the perfect blend of both, with Wei Qian and Li Li being biologically related, Zhi Yuan the one they took in from the streets and Tan Yu the lifelong friend and only reason Wei Qian was able to keep a roof over their heads for so many years, it was bound to become insane. And insane it was, but in such a fantastic way. Messy forbidden love all around, arguments and fights and so much drama. But they all came out of it the other side better people, and a stronger family.

Best horniest bastards - MutRak / Love Sea

FortPeat will always deliver when it comes to high heat, and while I might have issues with the screenwriter’s… idiosyncrasies, shall we call them? Love Sea was one of her lesser offensive offerings, focusing mostly on the lust driven horn balls that were Mahasumut and Rak. Were there other plot points? Yes. Didn’t any of them matter? Not really. We all knew Mut would get his man in the end, boy put Rak under a dick spell from the first moment they met. I think this was the first QL with a canonical facefucking scene, kudos boys.

Best speedrun of feels - KanThiu / Spare Me Your Mercy

Where did the emotions come from? When did they start? Did Kan have a crush on Thiu from the stories that Thiu’s mother had told him? Neither are in the closet or into one night stands… yet they’re not dating. They have a full blown emotional relationship, before even sharing a kiss. KanThiu might secretly actually be useless lesbians and we’re all just being tricked!

Best health code violations - OabPlawan / This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans

No amount of Purell will ever make any of those kitchens food safe, two public kitchens and one private one, those pots and pans saw some shit!

Best sudden pairing replacement - MarcPoon

When the little DV dickhead was yanked from the We Are lineup, even though half of the filming was done, I was very concerned about the series getting shelved. But instead we got MarcPoon and omg, they are quickly becoming everything to me! Why are they so perfect? The chemistry, the cuteness, I just adore them.

Most unexpected second season announcement - Pit Babe Season 2

The scream I scrumpt, okay, that’s a lie, I didn’t scream. I laughed out loud and shouted: omg they fucking did it! Which prompted the infamous ‘butt babies’ conversation with my mother, so yeah, completely unexpected but very much excited for.

Best return to the QL world - Saint Suppapong

I have never been so happy to be wrong in my life! The morning I posted my answer for one of the ‘15 Day BL Challenge’ questions where I mentioned that I wished Saint would return to BLs but I highly doubted he ever would, that same morning Idol Factory dropped the teaser the rocked the fandom. Saint is returning to QLs! My flabbers were gasted.

[actual-changeling]

Welcome back to Alex's unhinged meta corner! I am fuelled up with coffee and my adhd medication, so this is about to be a RIDE.

Apologies in advance, since this post will probably get quite long and also scientific at some point, but I will try to keep it as plain and easy to understand as possible. Combine two of my special interests (Good Omens and chemistry) and you get absolutely insane infodumps; it's a blessing and a curse.

As always, this is simply a theory, and maybe I'm wrong, maybe we'll never find out. But it's an option, and I have canonical proof.

There have been endless theories about why the Gabriel-Hiding-Miracle (which I will shorten to GHM) set off alarm bells in heaven and reached a strength of 25 Lazarii. Are their half-miracles really combined that strong? Does it depend on their relationship or love?

Well, today I am here to tell you that, actually, there is no such thing as "half a miracle".

We are going to have a closer look at miracles themselves, but the first important thing to keep in mind is that most of the time, Crowley and Aziraphale are incredibly unreliable narrators and have barely any inside into how heaven and hell work. Remember, they have been on earth since 4004 BC, they are certainly not used to any of the internal routines and functions.

They can tell us all kinds of things, but that does not make them true.

Now, miracles!

Both angels and demons are capable of performing them, though they only seem to be counted as actual miracles when they happen on earth, seeing as they measured in Lazarii.

One Lazarus equals the miracle power it takes to bring one human being back to life—the consequence is that miracles must be bound to the earthly plane, since that is where their unit originated from. When they are performed in heaven or hell, they are still miracles in a broad sense—celestial beings using their powers—but not in a way that ascribes to the measuring system.

Neil once answered an ask about Lazarus as a unit, and he stated that miracles tend to be measured in Centi- or Millilazarii (mostly the latter), meaning that the GHM was about 1000x as strong as your usual, daily miracle. The labeling also tells us that the scale for Lazarii is the same as the metric one.

If we treat Lazarus as a base unit, we need to find a way of defining it that is unique to this specific unit.

Globally, we have a collection of agreed-upon base units, the SI units (coming from the French Système international d'unités, aka International system of Units). Those seven are second, metre, kilogram, ampere, candela, kelvin, and mole, and every single one has a very specific definition—they are too bloody complex. None of them can be expressed with one of the other SI units, which gives you great definitions such as these:

A little excursion for those that are interested: For a very long time, the kilogram was defined by. well. A cube. The "true kilogram", which is still in a vault somewhere in Paris. However, you can probably imagine why basing a unit on a physical objects isn't a great idea long-term, so back in 2018, the kilogram was redefined, along with three other units.

Now, all SI units are defined by natural constants, not physical objects, making them accurate and (more or less) absolute.

Back to miracles!

The reason I am telling you all this is that we need to find such a basic definition for miracles, too, or at least an approximation.

My proposal is that a miracle itself is the force exerted on matter by a a celestial being. That force is then measured in Lazarii, with one Lazarus being equal to the force required to bring one person back to life. This is where it gets a bit tricky because how do you visualize that kind of force?

Matter cannot be destroyed only created, so all the particles currently making up our bodies will continue to exist long, long after our deaths. Meaning when a person dies, the amount of matter that was them is still there, the consequence of which is that their body can be recreated at will. Now, souls seem to be separate from matter, making them metaphysical and thus irrelevant for this conversation. I am going with the assumption that once a body has been recreated, the soul can be put back into without additional cost in miracle power.

There might be another base unit hidden in the metaphysical, but that's a conversation for another time.

All of this amounts to one fundamental hypothesis:

A miracle is either done, meaning matter gets changed, or it isn't, meaning matter remains unchanged.

There is no in-between stage here, a "half-change" is not possible, either you exert a force on particles or you don't. What kind of change that is might not be tangible for us, but a change is a change.

When Crowley and Aziraphale try to hide Gabriel, they change the way he gets perceived, how others perceive him, aka they change the way his presence is processed.

The closest thing to compare it to, in my opinion, is the superior mirage—the Fata Morgana. At its core, it means that light bends as it passes through air layers with different temperatures; your eyes perceive the bent light rays and your brain processes them accordingly. You see images that aren't actually there.

Celestial beings look at Gabriel but see something that isn't actually there, so the "true" image remains hidden.

If we stick to this metaphor, then Crowley creates a mirage for any ethereal beings, and Aziraphale creates one for occult beings. The creation of that mirage is one miracle—not half a miracle, but ONE singular miracle. Both of them change matter, and both of these miracles can exist independently of each other.

Crowley and Aziraphale could have created their mirages on their own, meaning that two miracles were performed, not two halves of one miracle.

If you listen to the sound of the miracles, you can hear that it's different from the other ones they have performed on their own, with the "combined" miracle having two sound peaks instead of one. Tumblr hates it when I upload audio files, so have it like this.

In order, the miracles are Aziraphale lowering the chandelier and moving the shelves, Crowley removing the paintball stain, and the GHM.

IF they had both performed half a miracle, the end result would have been one miracle, meaning it should have sounded like any other—but it didn't! Two connected sounds, two simultaneous miracles.

There is still one thing left to talk about, which is the power of their miracle. Here is where my previous definition of Lazarus as a unit comes into play again.

Heaven measured a miracle power of 25 Lazarii aka a very high amount of force exerted on matter. You might think Alex, if they both performed their own miracle, how come that the alarm bells rang?

If we keep up the mirage metaphor, we can explain that! Crowley's intention was to make it so that ethereal beings cannot perceive him, so his miracle changed matter in a way that aligns with ethereal perception.

However, Aziraphale intended to change matter so that occult beings cannot perceive Gabriel, meaning his miracle changed matter in a way that is adapted to occult perception.

This is where science comes into play again!!

You see, particles aren't just particles, they are waves too. Wave-particle duality describes exactly that, e.g. an electron being both a particle and a wave at the same time. A connected theory to that is the Uncertainty principle, which describes the inability to measure the exact value of two different properties at the same time.

Or, to put it more plainly, if you try to figure out the exact position of a particle, its momentum becomes blurred, unclear. If you then focus on the momentum of the same particle, you can no longer describe its exact position.

You are probably looking at me now, thinking where the fuck are they going with this and why are there suddenly so many principles of quantum mechanics in a Good Omens meta post???

Crowley changes matter in way A.

Aziraphale changes matter in way B.

Those changes can co-exist, like an electron being a particle and a wave at the same time. However—and this is scientific theory adapted to celestial miracles—when an angel looks at Gabriel, then they are focusing on state A. When demons are looking at Gabriel, they are focusing on state B.

Focus on A and B becomes blurry. Focus on B and A becomes blurry.

Maintaining that double-state requires power though, because compared to wave-particle duality, these states aren't natural, they're inflicted—matter was changed. It's like the matter around Gabriel is flickering between those two states, a light switch trying to find a neutral position when there is only on and off.

How do we measure that power? In Lazarii.

The miracle energy that heaven measured is not that high because they each performed half a miracle and combined it into one, it is that high because they each performed one miracle that stands in opposition to the other; as a result, two different states need to be maintained at the same time, meaning the manipulation is ongoing, meaning it needs a fuckton of power.

If you want to keep balancing your light switch, you need to keep trying, you need to keep up the pressure, otherwise you either click it off or on. Same thing with the hiding miracle.

Twenty-five Lazarii.

The power you need to exert on matter to reshape twenty-five people—or to continuously hide one being from two opposing observers with rapidly-switching state changes.

While I think the whole "it's because of love" theory is fun and cute, scientifically it really doesn't make much sense because their powers have rules similar to our base units, so me must approach and treat them as such.

With that, thank you to everyone who made it this far and managed to survive our little excursion into the field of quantum mechanics.

Questions, thoughts, additions, etc. are very welcome!

[blue-grama]

The Sign finale probably should have disappointed me, but... didn't?

It's been a heck of a run lately with Thai BLs that haven't quite stuck the landing, and it's got me pondering why The Sign worked for me despite sometimes feeling like a storyboard for a longer, better show.

I don't think they pulled off the emotional payoff they needed, despite that last reunion scene being so pretty and well-acted, simply because too much happened offscreen, from Khem's recovery from a gunshot wound to the entire multlifetime Tharn/Chalothon dynamic getting resolved without us seeing any of it. But somehow I wasn't that mad about it? And ultimately I think it's because this show did so many things well and so many things I'd love to see more of that I'm just like, yep, I enjoyed that ride sirs, please show me something this gorgeous again. In that sense it's joining something like Manner of Death or Kinnporsche where it's like, plot holes? Yes. Bizarre tonal shifts? Absolutely. Occasionally insane writing choices? Uh-huh. Love it anyway? You betcha. So here's what really, really worked for me:

Premise

I am always going to be onboard with QL that isn't solely coming-of-age or coming out. I'm not against those stories, of course, but give me gay romance with adult characters who know themselves and are doing adult things. I'm also a partisan for romances with high external stakes, so the mixture of crime and reincarnation was catnip to me.

Do I care that none of this training makes any sense? No.

2. Setting

Listen. Is The Sign the reason I have a document on my laptop titled "Imaginary trip to Thailand without ever seeing a beach?" Not exactly. But it's also not not the reason.

I am being willingly manipulated by the Thai Tourism Authority.

Kidding, kidding, but I do love when my Thai shows feel Thai or my Korean shows feel Korean, etc etc. I want to be driven to Wikipedia to learn more! Half the fun of watching stuff from not your own country.

3. Chemistry

I think @biochemjess covered what was underwritten about the romance in The Sign. Billy and Babe carried it on their backs and it was hard to dislike their romance, even when the series skipped over key beats.

Any time the pink lighting came out, you were gonna be in for a good time.

4. The camerawork

I don't know enough about film to speak intelligently about this, but the camerawork and aesthetics of this show were just so lovely to watch. It was really doing a lot. @chaos0pikachu wrote about it better than I ever could.

LOVED THIS. LOVED IT. So good.

We had some really lovely storytelling and visual parallels, too, like the first episode and finale both having a big action warehouse scene, or the multiple times that Phaya and Tharn ended up overlooking the Mekong river.

5. It was always kinda off the rails

I know some people felt this show started out with a strong premise and didn't live up to it, but I gotta say, I didn't have that experience. It was always kinda a bonkers watch for me. There were long training montages, random bodies in the shallows, missing genitals, extended performance art, that comedy flashback to Khem and Thongthai's college years... I never knew what I was going to get each Saturday. And I kind of loved that? I'm into unhinged. I was comparing this in my head to Last Twilight, which did disappoint me in the end, and I think it's because Last Twilight was NOT always bonkers and DID set itself up to tell a straighforward story, then dropped the ideas it had been juggling in the last episode. The Sign always felt chaotic to me, so a chaotic ending was par for the course. This is where I'd compare it to KinnPorsche, which had the weirdest fucking ending, but like, okay??? Why not!

End result? I see the flaws, but I'm giving this show tender forehead kisses anyway. Here's hoping for more like it.

[tofumoons]

love game in eastern fantasy is so good actually. gorgeous gorgeous costumes. fantastic hair and makeup. talented and commited actions beautful cgi and visual effects. insane chemistry btwn the 2 main couples. tension and weight to character relationships. thoughtful world building. immense suspense qand momentum. SO GOOD!