#love in the air spoilers

[auseyre]

So the LITA special is a whole hour of Disney(you know if Disney had lgbtq couples and kink) straight-to-DVD sequel frivolous madness about Rain and Sky being angry at their boyfriends for being hot, rich, and in demand?

Featuring the epic return of unhinged Rain(I really love the way his friends lean in hard on the teasing because Rain is all kinds of extra and it’s sweet they enjoy that most of the time.)

And sassy Dom Sky (who I did not see enough of in his story)

Y'all Prepai is so delighted here. You'd think he was some poor little innocent lamb who has been waiting his whole life for someone to guard his virtue from all the hot men and women constantly throwing themselves at him, instead of a big ole' "former" ho(affectionate).

Boys sitting around exchanging stories of getting dicked down in kinky ways.

(This boy has the appropriate level of horniness for a young, hormonal person getting that good-good on the reg and I heartily approve.)

Boys getting dicked down in kinky ways,

and one of the few solely comic relief characters in Thai BL I can stand(I love you Nawin from LoA!). 

I have to compliment them on doing a really good job of showing the difference in the relationship dynamics between the two couples even while the two “forgiveness” scenarios played out very similarly.

Prepai knows he has no clue about relationships, so he assumes that he actually did screw up somehow.

Payu knows that Rain is a pouty flibbertigibbet and, while it’s possible, he did inadvertently do something wrong. It’s more likely Rain is just being Rain. 

Also, it's a perfect demonstration of service sub/top vs bratty sub in action. (I consider Payu and Sky both soft Doms obvs with different kinks and techniques)

Man, This Prepai and Sky I really like. There was an absolutely fun RomCom about 80s-coded player Prepai hooking up for an anonymous one-night stand and then accidentally falling for 90s-coded earnest Sky just waiting for these characters/actors instead of what we got. (I originally wrote this up before I saw the trailer for Love Sea and it was like the BL gods answered my prayers.)

This special was goddamn delightful

Saw a post somewhere questioning if this special was necessary and yes, yes it was. Things that spark joy are always necessary.

Okay and I watched the LITA scenes in The Wedding Planner and I love that you can see how Rain has matured and how the relationship has matured, but that he’s still enough of a little gremlin to want to compete with Sky. 

[coffeebookslovegt]

-Sé que no ganaré nada aceptando la carrera, pero en algunos asuntos las acciones no se pueden explicar con razones.

-Entonces tienes que prometerme: No choques la moto, no termines en el hospital, no te rompas las extremidades. Cada parte de tu cuerpo debe estar intacta.

-Voy a participar en una carrera de motos, no iré a la guerra.

[captain-xandis]

I come from a time a thousand years ago, when gods walked among mortals. And the world was ruled by magic. Like you, I protected my home as First Knight, a member of the Brass Ring, a group similar to yours. And also like you, I assumed the best of them. I was blind as my friends condemned our civilization with their curiosity. Their hubris.

You mean the Calamity?

The gods set to war upon Exandria, and in the chaos, I found myself face to face ith the Lord of Torment himself. But instead of destroying me, he gave me a choice. Die with the rest or join him, and spare my family. I thought if I had enough time, I could reach him, save him, tame his turbulant heart. For my folly, I watched my husband and son fade with the rigors of time, losing even the memory of me. As if I never existed at all.

season 3, episode 4 of THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA

[figthefruitfaeth]

obsessed with the way that Lisa Frankenstein answers the question of “how will Lisa overcome her trauma” not with “by putting her morbid tendencies aside and rejoining society as a normal girl” but having her relive it as the perpetrator instead and being rewarded with a messy codependent husband

[rann-poisoncage]

[beguilingcorpse]

it drives me crazyyyy that like. palamedes is out at canaan house with tenderness in excelsius for dulcinea. the perfect regency era gentleman. every moment is the pride and prejudice hand flex scene. if the pov character was attracted to men even a little bit the narration would be filled with swooning. he’s lowering her gently into chairs and handing her tea so that their hands brush and looking at her with those big grey eyes of his. and all of it is WASTED because it’s NOT dulcinea it’s CYTHEREA. FUCK

[thinkanamelater]

Sam said "Oh Evan is sleeping" on the voice note she sent so i can imagine it gets leaked and the next day all the media is talking about this mysterious Evan who sweeped the beloved Sam Britain away, who is he? did they elope maybe??

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS S1 -> S2: Vi + 🖕

[oddthesungod]

new outfits new outfits NEW OUTFITS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[smile-files]

even if we each are nothing, i can still feel your hand holding mine... and isn't that worth everything?

[auseyre]

Straight up the most emotionally moving moment in their series. I laughed, I cried, I cheered.

I mean, did I want to see him and his friends down in a basement with Vegas in a raincoat? Did I want to see them in the Mulvaney brother's murder cabin? Sure. If I'm forced to watch them abuse and assault Sky twice, then I think I deserve a little on-screen torture, but I'll take what I can get.

[coffeebookslovegt]

-¿Me vas a obligar, P'Phai?

-¡Déjame utilizar el baño!

[shrugsinchinese]

We finally got Verin!!! Love him so much

[pocketgalaxies]

JUST MAKE IT DIE, OR YOU WILL TURN IT ALL TO ASHES AND BLOOD

[rann-poisoncage]

[pollyanna-nana]

One of the most tragic and compelling aspects of Dunmeshi, to me, is that we’ll probably never know (unless Kui tells us lol) how Delgal actually felt about Thistle. I’ve seen people say that he genuinely cared for him as a brother and his journey to the surface was to save him from his madness as much as it was his people. I’ve seen people say that he saw Thistle as nothing more than a fancy accessory or tool that ended up going astray. Others I’ve seen (and personally agree with) say that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. But honestly, I think any one of these interpretations has the potential to be correct… and that’s just heartbreaking.

After all, Delgal is dead. Like, dead-dead. The very first chapter of the manga starts with his spirit leaving this mortal coil, taking that answer with him. And…

How he talks about Thistle here… it’s interesting. He does not ask for him to be talked down, or captured or imprisoned, but instead “defeated”. Which Mithrun interprets as asking for his death… which is reasonable, because that’s likely how the vast majority of adventurers interpreted his words, too. Obviously as he was crumbling to dust he probably didn’t have the capacity to be particularly verbose or explain the complex backstory to how the kingdom ended up this way, but the effect is the same no matter how he may have felt with it. He asked for Thistle to be killed.

But… even in situations where he wasn’t under any such time limit to explain what was going on, he still seemed not to. Most glaringly:

Yaad seemingly has no idea that it was Delgal’s fault that Thistle sought the demon’s power. Obviously he couldn’t talk to him about it because Thistle was, uh, a little out there by that point, but why didn’t Delgal explain? Was he embarrassed? Mournful? Couldn’t find the words?

Delgal was scared of dying. He wanted prosperity at any cost, and how could Thistle possibly refuse? Did he even realize that what he was the one who pushed his own brother— One who basically helped raise him despite being a child himself, and in many ways is still a child— down this path? Or was it like watching an overzealous employee misinterpret directions?

The way Yaad describes things here makes it sound like Thistle simply dug too deep in his studies and fell into madness, but we know that’s not true. Delgal didn’t “suggest” he learn magic, he wanted a mage who could help himself and his people defy death, which he admits to Thistle openly:

So, why? Why not tell his grandson, at least, the truth of the matter? Did he worry it might make the remaining residents more likely to upset Thistle, and therefore suffer the consequences? Did he just not care? For what it’s worth though, Yaad does suspect the truth from Delgal’s behavior.

He “always blamed himself” for his descent into the dark arts. This is just Yaad’s observation, and that’s without knowing that it was quite literally Delgal’s fault Thistle went down this path. So, why? Why was it all kept a secret?

Of course, this made things ripe for the winged lion to manipulate to its advantage. Clearly despite knowing he’d pushed him into using it, Delgal still thought the lion was a force of good that was misused by Thistle as a result of his madness. His face in that last panel is particularly haunting. He looks terrible, gaunt and pale with overgrown hair and missing teeth. Had he gone mad, with grief and sorrow, as well?

Could he no longer see Thistle the way he did when they were younger? No one can ask him, because he died long before the story even began.

To go back to the original question, well, how did Delgal see Thistle? None of the previous points make a definitive answer any clearer, and I think that’s just brilliant. And so, so tragic.