#maybe i should do one of these with side bl couples in non-bl shows | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gillianthecat · 2 years ago

Note

I'd love to read your opinion on seanwhite, danyok, toddblack and gramblack tbh

Oooh, thanks for this question anon. I have so many thoughts about Not Me and no idea where to begin, so this provides a great entry point to start writing.

SeanWhite is the easiest one: I really liked them. I liked the pace of very slow burn and then a fairly quick switch into unwavering support and domesticity. That kind of pacing wouldn’t always work for me, but it fit these characters and this show. Although the show was unequivocally a BL, it was also many other things, so I wasn’t primarily looking at it as a romance story.

This got kinda long, so the rest is under a cut.

I think the actors had great chemistry together. And I like that they seemed like actual enemies until they weren’t. I love how in The Eclipse Akk and Ayan keep giving each other long lingering looks while they’re “enemies,” but I’m glad that Sean and White didn’t do that. They behaved like antagonists until they stopped. Sean genuinely hated the person he thought was Black, and acted that way, until he stopped. And I could see that White was intrigued by Sean, and probably attracted to him, but he was keeping his distance and mostly he was confused and trying to solve the mystery.

Probably my favorite scene with them was the one in Black’s bedroom – the first time they start to really be vulnerable with each other. I can’t remember all the details anymore, but it had such a feeling of intimacy and warmth. Similar to their sex scene in the tent, actually. The way it was filmed and edited, with tight close-ups and shots through the netting on the tent. I love the way they asked each other what they liked, that was very sexy. There were so many details about their interactions that felt real and specific to them as characters.

Oh, and the scene under the rainbow flag!! That was amazing, not just because of them, but I loved their interaction there - the freedom and joy in White’s body, the way they saw each other on opposite sides, the way we could see Sean… not falling in love yet.. but maybe beginning to see “Black” as the person White actually was. (Oh! It was Sean’s fanfic oh moment.)

I guess I’m mostly writing about moments with them. But overall I just felt good about them as a couple. It seemed like they were people who loved each other and supported each other and would continue to support each other. There’s a lot to say about the way White kept lying about his identity, probably past the point where he should, and how he pulled away from Sean when Black asked him to. And how they started in violence. But those rough parts don’t really ruin my feeling that they’re just good together.

GramBlack: I get why people ship them, based on that card in Gram’s room, but I don’t see any textual evidence for it. Gram turned out to be only interested in Eugene, and I honestly have no idea of what Black thought about most things, but I didn’t see anything to indicate he was interested in Gram. He seemed pretty dismissive of him in the few interactions we saw. I didn’t really get the sense from either of them that they were attracted to or romantically interested in each other.

I imagine that there could be a lot of amazing fanfic written about them anyway! But since I’m not going to get into the fanfic for this show, I see them as very non romantic.

I am curious about what their relationship actually was though. Because the way that Gram treated White-pretending-to-be-Black was very friendly and helpful, indicating that they’d been close friends, and that they worked together regularly. But when Black showed up, he all but ignored Gram. Was he changed by nearly being murdered? Or was he always like that with Gram?

ToddBlack. Black and Todd are very intriguing, in part because they are in the background most of the time, but they are also the ones who are responsible for initiating everything that happened.

I think the Not Me world felt too real for me to ship such a toxic relationship, if we are talking about ToddBlack as a romantic relationship. They have fundamental moral and ideological differences, and have hurt each other so much, so it would never make sense for them to be together. Maybe they used to be boyfriends or fuckbuddies, before Black got radicalized. Maybe they had hot and/or miserable hate sex with each other after Black returned from the near dead. But I can’t see them in a relationship now, even without Todd being in a coma. And even ignoring the fact that they each beat the other so severely they ended up in a coma. In something like KinnPorsche I could imagine a relationship coming out of that, but not in Not Me.

If we’re not talking about romance, then I’m fascinated by Todd and Black’s relationship. I’m fascinated by Black in general – how did he become the person he is today? How did his radicalization happen? How did he change from the rich kid, judge’s son, friends with Todd, to an anarchist(?) leading missions to destroy property and ready to fuck shit up? What even are his political beliefs? Does he have an ideology?

I really want to know their history together. From what I can tell, they used to be very close friends, and ideologically aligned. It seemed like they had dreams and plans to fight Tawi (which is this show’s lightly veiled stand-in for the authoritarian Thai government) together. But then somehow their ideologies shifted in opposite directions - Black got radicalized and Todd started to believe that he could play god with his money. And now they’re in this twisted mess of hate and love and old affection and deep ideological conflict. And it seems like Black sees the chasm between them for what it is, and hates Todd for what he’s become, only slightly tempered by the old love. While Todd genuinely thinks they can repair things, that he hasn’t become the enemy, and it seems like his love is stronger than his hate.

But what kind of love they had, I couldn’t tell. Was it romantic? Friendship? Comrades? It seems like it was intense, whatever it was, to produce the shards that we see. I have so many questions about them. What were their dreams? When did things start to go wrong between them? Why did Todd attack Black to begin with? Was it all a plot to infiltrate his crew? Was it in anger? (Maybe some of these were answered in the series, I haven’t rewatched to check.)

DanYok. Oh DanYok. Honestly I kinda just shut my mind down to them at the gallery reunion scene and tried not to think about them because I was feeling so upset about it. But there is a lot of stuff surrounding them that is worth thinking about, so I will open my mind back up.

Starting at the beginning. They were adorable. As much as rescuing someone from a fire you started yourself can be called “cute,” I loved their meetcute. And Yok’s fascination with UNAR, his hunt to find him, all of that. The kidnapping was maybe a little silly, but I loved that whole scene at Dan’s art studio hideout. Yok’s flirting (oh my), Dan’s distrust turned to shyness. And everything about Yok drawing Dan was so powerful.

Their whole relationship I was kind of on the edge, wanting to trust him, but not sure that I should. So when he appeared in the hospital with the other cops, I was both shocked and not. But I ached for Yok at that betrayal. And even his last minute switch to helping them escape… it didn’t redeem him for me yet.

Frankly, I was hoping that Dan would just disappear from Yok’s life, and their goodbye at the hospital would be the last time they saw each other. I really did not want to see Yok welcome him back. I want nothing but happiness for Yok, and seeing Dan again clearly made him happy, but my visceral reaction is that I’ve completely lost trust in Dan and want him far away from Yok.

HOWEVER. This brings up important questions about redemption and responsibility and change. And Dan quit his job as a cop, so the show was not asking us (and Yok) to accept him as the same person. And of course he was blackmailed into betraying Yok and his crew. (Assuming I understood that scene correctly, but I’m pretty sure that rich guy threatened Dan’s family.) So it’s not that I think he’s irredeemable. I guess I also don’t trust him because he clung to being a cop for so long. Which I think was intentional on the part of Nuchy et al. – my read is that they wanted to interrogate the question of the role of the police in society. And they did that through him. Which I guess would mean that their answer is: cops cannot do good while they’re cops. The system will force them to betray the people. Dan was full of good intentions but in the end he was on the state’s Tawi’s side in the final confrontation. It is only after he quit that he was allowed to approach Yok again.

So redemption. Of course I have to believe people can and do change. I think I just struggle with the idea of redeeming a police officer, especially after the barrage of US American copaganda media that wants us to feel sorry for the poor cops who are at war with the criminals and forced to make difficult decisions and kill. BUT. That is not actually what Not Me is doing with Dan, and if I let go of that imported baggage, I can have hope for a future for Yok and Dan together. It’s just the beginning of their story, so we don’t get to see him change, but I do believe it’s possible.

So you asked me about relationships and half the words I wrote were about politics. I guess for me in this show they are intimately twined. I hope that this makes sense and at least sort of answered your question, anon. Thanks for this ask! It’s helped me work through a lot of the swirling thoughts I have about Not Me.

#not me #not me the series #seanwhite #danyok #toddblack #gramblack #asks answered #my ramblings #this feels like i splatted out a bunch of disconnected thoughts #and there's so much more i could say about them all #but its tumblr so its ok #anon asks

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absolutebl · 4 years ago

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This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 1 - living up to its name since it looks to be a series of redemption arcs. Launched with a college confession and a broken friendship, then a flash back to them as seniors in high school. Pairings include friends to lovers, nerd/jock, and maybe cafe boss/employee. There’s a lot going on, but it’s still... quiet and sweet. The script is pretty pat but it’s still WAY more watchable than Cupid Coach or Brothers and most of the acting is solid. Ep 1 tropes included: he’s in engineering, wound tending, fast & bicurious. This could turn into what I wanted My Gear & Your Gown to be. Fingers crossed.

Love Poison 2 Ep 1 & 2 turns out I did watch and report on season 1 (8 eps), season 2 seems equally unmemorable. Thai countryside setting, strong dialect, incomprehensible plot, camp side characters, and ghastly singing.

Y-Destiny Ep 1 (eng subs?) - opened with the sports romance enemies to lovers (they aren’t going in the teaser order). When the couple got over fighting, the flirting was v cute, but the flipping SPONGE BATH trope had to rear its ugly head. Still, this series is shaping up to be less coy and more frank than most BL, better than expected. It feels, I don’t know, gay-er or something? *** Sources were correct that each couple is getting (at least) 2 eps, and MDL has been updated to say this is a 15 episode series (not 7).

Cupid Coach 12 fin - The new Nite was great and should have been a main all along. It felt like we got a tiny nugget of what could have been in about 10 minutes worth of this last ep. It was way too slow with terrible editing and a criminally bad script, but at least it ended happy. Mostly, like Friend Forever, I’m just disappointed that these two actors were done dirty by the series. Bad Cupid Coach, no screen caps for you.

Lovely Writer Ep 6 - breaking news, there’s a het couple I like: toppy bi femme + soft boi = such a good pairing! I know, but this NEVER happens. Meanwhile, Sib’s secret is out, Gene is a bit of a drama queen, and the plot thickens. We half way through.

Brothers Ep 9 - Kaow had a serious moment of advice giving that was truly lovely. Lots of family dama made this a superior episode to... well... any of the others in this series. Which isn’t saying much.

1000 Stars Ep 10 fin - at the start this series didn’t grab me the way GMMTV’s last BL, Tonhon Chonlatee, did. But boy did it end 1000x better. Might have given us 2021′s best forehead kiss. I enjoyed the ultra romantic cliff-top reunion kiss, and I LOVED the stinger flirting scene. That was an absolute gift we had no right to expect. This drama is a poster child for finishing on a high note (always focus on that dessert course). Final thoughts? This was FAR more a classic romance than it was BL. There were some BL tropes used but not many and most of them originated in the romance genre not yaoi. A picture perfect ending bumped 1000 Stars much higher up my best-of list than expected. Not sure how often I’ll rewatch it as a whole, but this last episode? I’m probably rewatching it right now.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Dear Uranus (Taiwan GL) Ep 3 fin - I guess that’s it? Okaaaaay

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 3 (AKA Ep 5-6) - we got actual legit gay culture not just BL (always appreciated) from XingSi. I’m starting to find LiCheng’s “show them we fucking” hijinks hilarious rather than annoying (not sure why, maybe I just love a rubber chicken, or maybe it was the STUFFED CORN WITH THE TASSEL that did it).

-- H4 Moment of RANT --

Tropes included beach trip, there’s only one bed, cook for him, baby is a floppy drunk, carry baby to bed, and.... drunk non-con. Whoopdedoo. Here we go again. Did TharnType teach us NOTHING? (Apparently it taught us if the chemistry is good enough, I have no morals at all.) At least H4 seems to be taking us out of cheese into serious when it comes to assault. Or is it?

I take back what I said last week about XingSi & YongJie being codependency + salvation trope, that only works if YongJie is the uke. He’s NOT. So we got us an obsessive predatory villain with a possible redemption arc. That’s more common in crime dramas, mafia romance, and epic fantasy than BL. It’s real hard to redeem a sexual predator in a reality-grounded universe like contemporary romance (See Kla in LBC1&2).

Next week is gonna be a test of the whole damn franchise. Imma remind both me a you that this was ep 3 of 10 so we got a ways to go yet... but ooof, what have we wrought, BL? (I ended up doing a whole post about the stepbrother trope because of this sub plot.) Taiwan is killing me.

-- RANT ended --

Word of Honor (China) Ep 19-21 - over half way point so we got ALL the back story (in a classic 4 act story structure midway reveal). Now we know who WKX really is and his lineage. We also got some cute hugs and hand holds. Moving along at a nice clip despite being 36 eps total. Still gayest thing to come out of we-not-gay China since Advance Bravely.

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 2 - takes them a while to get eng subs together and ep 2 didn’t drop until late. So I’m putting this in a Thurs time slot going forward. Miscommunication already cleared up and a 2nd couple has been introduced. The pacing on these Vietnamese BLs is always a bit... off. But it’s still better than most of its ilk, enjoyable. I’m thinking it’s a 6 ep arc.

We Best Love 2 (Taiwan) Ep 5 - after the initial drama DRAMA of ep 2, the current external crisis at work is much quieter, giving this whole season a top heavy feel. Taken along side the first season, I think it’s fitting nicely into a 4 act structure, but that might be my bias. I hope I’m not wrong, we’ll find out next week. Shi De puttering about being domestic with Shu Yi on his back was the best execution of the piggyback trope EVER. Meanwhile, our little D/s side couple of codependency, salvation trope + mental illness is becoming weirdly appealing. I don’t know. H4 done mess with my head.

Stand Alones

Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko (Japan) Ep 1-4 mini series. Found subs under A Man Who Defies The World of BL. IT’S HILARIOUS. It’s Japan making fun of us, but also itself for having started this whole BL nonsense - from yaoi roots to present day. It’s parody goddamn gold. Utterly cheeky unto the very last line. We are not worthy.

Apparently the most powerful tropes of all time are: baby is a floppy drunk and the piggyback fo nobility. Oh and chocolate. {Full review here.}��

Honestly, this show may have been made with only @heretherebedork and I in mind. I don’t know if you’d even understand half of it if you don’t have a history with the manga source genre and an obsessive interest in underlying narrative devices. I haven’t seen much chatter in the blog’o’sphere on this one because, in the end, it’s not a romance at all, it’s social commentary.

The ending line was a masterclass in lampooning a genre. I’m going to rewatch the whole thing just to catch all the digs I missed first time around. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Thank you Japan. I forgive you all your hair-styling sins of the last decade.

Breaking News

Spring Line Up:

Scholar Ryu’s Wedding Ceremony AKA Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korean historical BL) April 15th

Close Friend the series (Thai trailer) April 22.

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) April 22 to Thai theaters.

Nitiman (Thai) May 7 on One31.

I Told Sunset About You 2 (Thai) May 27 on LineTV

Ossan’s Love (Hong Kong) June to Viu

Gossip

Bad Buddies released its first promo op via Arm Share, which means GMMTV is at least *thinking* about filming it.

Fun behind the scenes gossip sesh with eng subs for Tell the World I Love You (that Perth Bas movie we are maybe getting someday but will likely be sad).

New Thai BL Bite Me (adapted from novel Grab a Bite) dropped a teaser. It stars Mark Siwat (Kla in LBC) as uke character Ake, a delivery boy with special foodie powers, and chef Eua (seme played by Zung Kidakorn) who discovers him. It’s from the same author as Manner of Death so we might even get some actual plot. Since it’s an established BL actor who I happen LOVE, a known author, and a plot about FOOD, I could not me more excited for this one.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed a day later than actual air date for accessibility reasons. Some are dropping multiples at a time but just started so I’m not sure on numbering.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

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watchinglikeafangirl · 2 years ago

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The BL genre needs to change

Or, I ramble about between us and the eclipse

I don't understand why nealy every BL has a side couple or even multiple ones. I mean I get the idea of showing another love story happening at the same time so the audience won't get bored. The way "love in the air" did it is very interesting to me and I haven't seen any other show splitting the stories to give each couple a proper story with its own arc. It's not revolutionary but it's new and I liked that approach a lot. No storyline was interrupted by the side couple then and each had their own 6 episodes and our brains didn't have to switch back and forth between the different conflicts. Also, it showed that each couple has their own problems to solve and overcome and those problems aren't linked to anyone else's. Mostly, the side couple either has no conflict or has the same one as the main couple which isn't realistic at all. "The eclipse" did it in the usual way but the characters were treated as full people and not some time fillers to keep the story going for 12 episodes. Kan and Thua appeared in other scenes that weren't flirty ones and just them being in the same friend group. That was also realistic since they were closely attached to the main couple and overall social commentary. "Not me" was the same. But these stories were different because "the eclipse" and "not me" carry a message. It's a social commentary, it's criticizm and to show how people suffer and are affected in different ways by the same people, we have side couples. They are closely intertwinded with the main leads and the fight for justice but don't share the same braincells with everyone else. They have their own thing going on.

But as I was watching "between us" today and since we reached the point when the two side couples are introduced, I can't help but be bored and annoyed. My personal, unpopular opinion is "until we meet again" wasn't that great. It was good, it could have been better if they would have cut it down to maybe 14 episodes cause there was a lot of filler. And "between us" amazes me since I find it better than "until we meet again", so now I'm disappointed they follow the clichée and give us two side couples. Firstly, this is already a spin-off so why introduce more couples? And secondly, it's so lazily done. There's no meaning behind these lovestories. They are partly characters that are not connected to the main leads and there are just too much characters who in the end cut down important moments of the main couple. Instead of just putting out so many side couples to fill the 12 episodes, I would love it if the production companies would decide 8 episodes will do as well since the story doesn't allow us more.

I think it's in general the problem of the fact that WinTeam are not connected at all. Yes, they are at the swim club but they are obviously distant there. Their friends are not the same, their studies are not the same, their hobbies aren't as well and it feels like they have nothing to talk about. So the script is just poorly written and it's so sad because they are the main leads and the reason why we all are watching. So instead of creating an unncessary arc for the side couples, the writers should focus more on the main story.

I think big dragon does a really, really good job with that. The side couple is non-existent basically, so the main leads can shine. Since the story isn't long enough for 12 episodes, it's only 8 episodes long and that's totally enough.

I think what I wanna say is, I'm getting bored of the genre. There's nothing new and old tropes are being recycled. 12 episodes has been too long for a while already but the companies don't understand that. Eight episodes or six is what people watch these days. Else the arc seems to be stretched and not really exciting.

#the eclipse #between us

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life-rewritten · 4 years ago

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THE GIANTS OF THAI BL 2020 AKA SHOWS STEALING MY HEART IN NOVEMBER

UPDATE AND UPCOMING ANALYSIS NOVEMBER 2020

It's the moment I've been waiting for since the excruciating silence of Thai BLS during the lockdown. It's November, the month of thanksgivings, the month of pre-Christmas jitters, nanowrimo and the month that has finally made me realise we are so close to ending this godforsaken year. Still, most of all, November means that we are getting buttloads of shows that are about to take my breath away. This year has been such an exciting year for BLS because of the increasingly amount of companies and directors willing to produce and release different types of BLS. In this list, we have awaited sequels, delicious plotlines and shocking comebacks. But most of all we have lots and lots of romance and men. Which of these have you been waiting for? Let me know. Let's squeal about it. November is going to be so great!

Ratings: From 1 to 5 (1 being least excited to watch, 5 being most,) how excited am I to delve into these shows?

Shows already airing

1.I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU/ INTERPRET, MY LOVE, WITH YOUR HEART

Genre/Themes: Romance, Melodrama, Coming of Age, Angst, Drama, Childhood friendship

Country: Thailand

Verdict: So finally I rise from the memories of poorly produced bls, and pains of bad acting, and toxic writings, and traumas of stiff actors and homophobic agendas to finally say that without a doubt. Nadao has produced another masterpiece after my other favourite (Non) BL; Greater Man academy. Nadao stuns me, and for a very long time, I couldn't understand that this was how everyone was feeling, one because I wasn't fully educated or in the know about the company, I only saw tv shows in Thailand that were produced by GMMTV and to be honest I didn't think there was anything else above that standard in shows apart from Lakorns and Movies. (I know Sacrebleu) Getting to know and watch Nadao shows has been an experience, and for BL, I am hooked and ready for what else they have to offer. The only qualms that prevent me from gushing about the show are how international fans are treated. It took me a very long time to forgive ITSAY for its subbing platform (and price range), and that's why I refused to watch it with positive feelings. After episode 2 though, I'd be a fool to hold on to resentment when there is no doubt that this BL (despite not knowing if it's a sad ending. I'd hate if it is but it wouldn't change anything) is the best BL of this year. With ridiculous, incredible production, outstanding breathtaking cinematography, beautiful and talented actors and writing so good it blows me away. Episode 2 left my heart in pieces, but in a good way, I haven't recovered from the angst.

Ratings: 4.5/5 Would have been a 5/5 if the pricing made sense but also I'm terrified about a sad ending which I won't be too happy about.

2. FRIEND FOREVER/ OUR LOVE IS SICK

Genre/Themes: Romance, Music, Coming of Age, Angst, Drama, Childhood friendship, Rich vs poor, Bullying

Country: Thailand

Verdict: It's a pity this show is not available for international fans. Because I think people would actually love this show the way I do. It's so precious, reminds me so much of my first ever BL Lovesick (made by the same production team so makes sense) but better. What can I say about this show, really adorable cast, actually so good on the screen, great chemistry, and good storylines that keep me hooked. I am so in love with surprisingly one of my favourite couples this year Tin and Sea. I have such a great time watching this show, and I enjoy also analysing and just piecing together some of the mysteries in the show. It's been so good so far, and I can't wait for more. The first episodes are a little slow-paced, but it gets better as you keep watching it. I'd advise you to watch the director's cut because that has all of the storylines in the episode instead of the tv version which is more censored and has a lot of deleted scenes that mess with the flow of the storyline. Still, one of my favourite Thai shows right now.

Ratings: 4/5 I think 4/5 is a fair score just because of some confusion when trying to watch it internationally and getting the right version and I do think the story feels like a whiplash between the different styles of writing of the main two couples. Go watch this though if you haven't, dm me and I'll show you how.

NON-THAI

3. GAYA SA PELIKULA

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Angst, LGBTQ+ Education, Contract relationship, Haters to lovers

Country: Philippines

Verdict: Normally with verdicts, I have so much to say about a show, also when I analyse I can write essays and essays of information. When it comes to this show, I'm speechless. I'm in awe; I'm crying just even trying to explain how great this show is. How great Fridays are because of this show. How upsetting and damaged I am when the end of the episode occurs, I literally mourn waiting for the next episode the next week because it's too long. This show pulls you in, and it never lets you go. I'm mindblown by the writing of this show, mindblown by the acting, by the production, music, but most of all I have become a mess because of this meta in this show. I have cried so much because of how much I care about this show, the characters are all fleshed out, are so powerfully written, and emotionally tugs at your heartstrings whilst still educating and representing LGBTQ community fantastically. I don't know what we did to deserve a show like this. Maybe its because after years of waiting for something to finally show up and just be unproblematic and be so great with no questions, no confusions, no struggle, this show is just that. And I will be forever thankful to the whole team that brought this to us

Ratings: 5/5 I would give this more than 5 if I could. That's how much this show means to me.

4. CHERRY MAGIC

Genre/Themes: Romance, Comedy, Supernatural, Office drama, Slice of Life

Country: Japan

Verdict: Kurosawa and Adachi. That's it. That's the reason for the 5/5 stars when it comes to watching this show. First of all, I like Japanese romantic comedy shows, and anime, and manga. So seeing cherry magic come to life as this amazing form of that makes me so happy. Typically with Japanese BL, everything feels so serious sometimes, and then sometimes it feels too crazy and over the top. But Cherry Magic just feels like a warm hug when you watch it; you can't help your self but to smile and giggle at Adachi's adventures realising that he can read minds because he's a virgin at 30 years old. To add to that, he is given Kurosowa this incredible, amazing, wonderful non-toxic man who absolutely adores him and unconditionally is there for him. I just like what? Where do I get my own Kurosawa? Like it just feels so unfair haha. But really cherry magic is full of great acting, fantastic plot and unique as well. Every character is also written well, and all have interesting dynamics. We also have another side couple who is so funny and ridiculous but also just cute and heartwarming. I have a great time watching this show and the fact that it's ending on Christmas day? Already tells you what this show is, a gift and its a great one.

Ratings: 5/5 I want my own Kurosawa. That's it. That's all I want Universe.

Shows Upcoming

5. THARNTYPE 7 YEARS OF LOVE

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Mature, LGBTQ+ Representation, Internalised homophobia, Sequel

Country: Thailand

Verdict: This is a complicated show to gush about. First of all TharnType, the series in 2019 was one of my favourite shows that brought me back to this BL thing. I absolutely adore all the actors, and I also loved the storyline like I said before there's something about Mame's writing that I appreciate, I think most of her strengths is found in TharnType. Because of this, this sequel is one of my most anticipated show this year. However, I feel conflicted because I hate sequels. I hate couples having to go through the weird-ass, shallow, conflicts that just end up ruining the meaning of their previous show and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth about the couple I once loved (Looking at you Together with me the next chapter still traumatised honestly). Enough of the negatives, Tharn and Type from the trailer looks like it's going to be a wild ride, I can even see the great chemistry that made me fall for MewGulf, and I'm so excited to see the new couples and characters. I also am so excited to see TECHNO again and laugh with him every Friday. We also know that the awaited wedding between our couple is also going to be in this show. And that's going to make me bawl like a baby. Let's hope we don't have too many toxic or troublesome storylines, let's hope we don't have too many breakups and fights (because that hurts so much seeing Mew cry) and let's hope we finally have a sequel that is better than its predecessor.

Ratings: 4.5/5 This is how I feel about it, I don't think I can rate it as 5/5 because of all the worry and anxiety at what the storyline entails—still a great show to look forward to.

6. MANNER OF DEATH

Genre/Themes: Romance, Crime, Mature, Angst, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Haters to Lovers

Country: Thailand

Verdict: Think about it. Why wouldn't this be number one on everyone's list of upcoming BLS? We have the return of one of the best actors in this genre MaxTul the actual godfathers of Thai BL; we have an incredible team here with a director that has won multiple awards, with a storyline that is unique to Thai BL, we're getting crime, detective, mystery BL with mature characters who are not in university? As if that's not enough, we also have a really incredible plotline about this forensic doctor who falls in love with someone who we are not sure if we should trust because he could be a murderer! Like oooh yes please, the drama, the angst, the thrill?? I'm ready for this; I am so prepared to give my whole heart and attention on this show. I want it to be so good, to defeat the shows of 2019 that came and took our hearts away, to be the best BL ever. It's so difficult not to raise my expectations when it comes to this show when I know we have a great cast, great chemistry, non-stiff acting, and just a really non-toxic author as well. I look forward to this so much. Only issue/question? Where is the trailer? Hello WETV, where is our teaser? Why don't we know the date for when this is coming out? I want it out now. But I'll try and be patient okay?

Ratings: 5/5 I can't think of how this show won't be good. And that's really worrying. But for now, I'll keep my expectations high and wait.

7. TONHON CHONTALEE

Genre/Themes: Romance, Coming of Age, Angst, Comedy, Childhood friendship, GMMTV

Country: Thailand

Verdict: Podd and KHAOTHUNG, (my sun, my heart, my favourite person ever) Sorry just gushing over my two faves. GMMTV has shocked me this year with the announcement of this show. First of all, Khao gets to have a show where he's the main lead. I've been waiting for this, and I'm so proud and excited for him. Not only that obviously, but TonTonChontalee looks really good with a vibe of a comedic spin to one of my favourite shows Theory of love. I am ready to see Podd act so stupid as Ton and at the same time sob when he finally realises that Chon is the one. I'm so ready to see Khao act his socks off, and the show looks so funny, so fun and just like the chemistry between two is definitely a winner. I cannot wait for this next Friday. And it also has Mike and Toptap! What's not to love? Seriously though I'm praying this is successful, and it helps both Podd and Khao to dominate GMMTV. Let's find out next Friday.

Ratings: 5/5 For Podd and Khaothung. Just worth the rating.

8. GEN Y THE SERIES

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Angst, 2moons Fanfiction, Haters to Lovers

Country: Thailand

Verdict: First of all 2 MOONS Reunion! What?? Very shocked to see this show tbh one because it's like a direct copy of 2moons the series; the same cast, the weird alternations to the same name, the same kind of plot as well. Channel 3 has finally decided to invest in BLs, one of the biggest companies in Thailand, so the budget is high, the actors are known and famous, the production is good. This is so exciting to see. Also, 2moons was one of my favourite past BLs the whole time it was airing, and I had a massive affinity for Kimmon and Copter, so it's great to see them play their characters again but with a better budget and now glow up and grown. Their acting seems to have improved, Kit and Ming's storyline being the main focus is also really lovely to see. I also love seeing Bas and the other actors from other Bl series (The Moment actors) and I'm excited to know more about the new cast as well. So yeh this show has a great potential to win my heart as well, and the competition is not easy at all. But with a great company behind them and an exciting premise, this can also be a winner.

Ratings: 4/5 I'm intrigued by this show, and I look forward to seeing what it brings.

November is such an exciting month for someone like me who just loves watching tv and analysing and just seeing romance bloom. These couples, stories and actors have a great potential to be the best things of 2020 so far, each of these shows holds evidence that they're worth paying attention to and honestly I've missed seeing Thai BLs that make me so excited so much. I've missed these actors, I've loved each and every one of them, and I can't wait to see them this month on my screen. What about you, guys? What do you look forward to? Who are your favourites? What are you worried about when it comes to these comebacks. Let's discuss.

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whyamistillwatchingtheseshows · 4 years ago

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Do you think TharnType is as popular as it is more-so because of the series itself or MewGulf? As someone who hates shipping people they make it hard not to ship them and I wonder that if they weren't so obviously "close" would the series have a different impact on people. I think they have some of the best chemistry in all of the bl series and I'm actually worried for my sanity for what we will see in the next one. I'm asking several people this for different perspectives.

I do think Mew and Gulf’s chemistry has a lot to do with it, but it’s also a market in Thailand. It’s a brand. The whole shipping in real life thing. I like how Mel @graveformydarling once said it. Schrodingers Gays. It’s that whole is the cat in the box or not? Or the classic will they won’t they? I can’t say is never a possibility because hello gay people are invested in these shows and I ain’t ever gonna say all these boys are straight (pssh). That’s to say it’s not our business or job to police who these boys should be dating. That’s up to them. All I want to do is say thank you for the acting because we know both of them worked hard to make Tharn and Type come to life. Do I think this show could’ve been a catalyst for change ? Yes, I do. If we could’ve handled Type’s trauma correctly and also negate the idea that all gay men are pushy and predatory then there’d be much more praise rather than backlash. What makes authors, producers etc think we want non-consent bullshit or that gay men/people won’t take no for answer, (so if the story is that Type doesn’t fall for Tharn then what we have a whole show of Tharn being a non-consent prick?) The author’s question should be how does Type “I hate gays” fall for him? I’ve said it before, Tharn’s character seemed a byproduct, if not equivalent to the one who molested Type and just because your character (Type) thinks like so does not make your gay character the same predatory man. That’s entirely different and if we could’ve had the show questioning that a little more then I think it’d be popular outside of shipping MewGulf. Questioning or working through a trauma like Type’s, and sure he grew out of some violent tendencies, his brain managed to stop thinking all gay men are like the man who molested him but I don’t think he’d still be without triggering moments. Type never figured out a sexuality (don’t ever think he will label himself at all), but through a learned intimacy he did come to terms with how much he loves Tharn. It also turns out that Tharn needed Type more than the other way around, if you think about it. How drawn out would everything be if Llhong kept doing his bullshit? Tharn learned from Type that maybe you can’t always wear your heart on your sleeve. Type is a defender, if he’s latched onto to you/cares so deeply, he will defend you to the death tbh. And truthfully, it’s all partly for Tar because Type knows how he feels. By exposing Lhong, Type rescued two people, if not partly himself in the process.

I digress because I love these characters, but I do think the show never established itself as anything but two college roomies, enemies to (extremely jealous) lovers trope. One a raging homophobic character but wait! He has a past repressed trauma that fuels his anger...and then a gay roommate enters his life what now? He’s gonna be a dick but the gay character is so pushy (ep 1-3) that eventually he falls for him because that’s how you get a straight raging homophobe to like you. Or that’s how you get anyone to like you if you’re gay, be pushy they’ll eventually give in with a little force.

Let’s redo the show (first 3 eps) to put everything Type’s head. He imagines it all and we get his inner monologue to explain how he’s parsing through his feelings. Or at first the sexual attraction. I mean the water bottle scene could very well be in his imagination and it partly is...who stares like that at someone’s throat if you’re not attracted/turned on? He’s caught staring so Tharn flirts. Duh. Tharn if anything is a confident flirt. Type tells himself (in his head) it’s because he hasn’t got laid in awhile that’s why he finds it hot or basically wants his dick sucked...well, he learns after (ep 4 onward) three times he can’t seem to stop, something else is happening...

Anon, this show could be a solid 5 seasons of well planned characterization to stress that Type is a character worthy of change, growth and sympathy. Tharn is a gay character who is not equivalent to a pedophile but he too might have trauma because I am still on the fence about his first time (at 14 😬) with P’San. I might be crazy and perhaps the author never thought this but by the actions given to Tharn in ep 1-3 it seems pretty clear that he kept trying in a forcible way to make Type like him back becoming even more so the very thing Type hates. Should’ve seen reciprocated attraction from Type that takes place over time and at his pace, after all the pushiness triggers him.

I need to stop but I do still love this show. Love how much Mew and Gulf love their characters too which also makes it awesome. Recenly, I saw they had such professional answers to some questions that simply explain (and I paraphrase) we (MG) have to make you believe these characters are in love for 7 years (s2) and that’s what they’ll do no doubt.

Ooh..wait one more thing. I do think none of these BL series could be executed properly if the main couple or side couples didn’t have chemistry. If the boys absolutely hated each other for some reason and couldn’t get along then I don’t know how you could even act intimate scenes. If you find someone repulsive even acting is out of the question. Look at how a couple years ago Hollywood was being called out for rampant sexual harassment (still is) against actresses and even actors came forward too. The experiences are basically sexual assault and then threaten the job when they refuse; why do I have to be topless in this scene? No reason says the director. Oh well, then I’m going to keep my top on. Are you sure about that I can ruin your career if you don’t...

None of that has came forward in real life circumstances as far as I know for the actors of Thai BL series, (well there was Saint’s issues from LBC set...) but other than that it’s just a problem within the source material/entertaining they’re creating. It’s spreading lessons that it’s okay for non-consent, we’re all straight but gay for one guy, we absolutely think it is okay to be possessive and take what we want because they’re the wifey (😡grr), says the hubby. There is a YouTube channel that has a few videos to talk about Thai culture aspects that may be disconcerting but truthfully not all that unsurprising to see since it’s also in mainstream American television/film.

#mewgulf #tharntype #tharntype the series

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earthfluuke · 4 years ago

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1/hello! i'm late (it's already night here) but i really wanted to take some time and send you an ask 🥰 what you mentioned in your last reply about tax being a lot about memorizing lots of tax code and such totally makes sense. I kinda just.. forgot about that part 😂 it doesn't sound like too much fun to memorize these different things but it's probably not why you choose to study accounting and now tax, right? if you feel like talking about it, why did you choose those as your majors? 😁 - 🎄

2/ going in undecided into uni is also not a thing here, so, yes, i've already chosen a major. it's korean studies, actually! (I'm so glad my parents let me do what i wanted instead of forcing something on me that i'm not passionate about...) - 🎄

3/ it's a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. the semester being online is an advantage for me though - at least in some parts! I live quite far away from the university and getting a flat or a room in the city is nearly impossible, so i don't have to spend nearly 4 hours of the day commuting from one place to the other. it's sad though that i can't meet the other students and my lecturers/professors... :( - 🎄

4/ and about your favourite shows, dw!! i can relate so well, i'm undecisive af when it comes to my favourites from basically everything 😅 i've watched all of these shows except for still2gether (i dropped 2gether after episode 10 or so though). dbk gave us the cutest side couple tbh! morksun stole the spotlight from petekao, for me at least! you're a huge petekao fan though, right? - 🎄

5/ uwma was such a nice watch. it was a bit heavier and i couldn't watch certain scenes (did not need to be reminded of my panic attacks, thank you very much) but over all i did like it. the acting, especially on fluke's side, was awesome but i wish we could've seen more of earth and kao's incarnation of the main couple... i wish kornin's story would've ended differently :(( - 🎄

hello! good morning! i’m so sorry i didn’t get around to answering this last night! i wanted to make sure all of your messages had come in ^^

i don’t usually talk about my career path online, because...it’s very boring? haha, it’s just not something of interest. but since you asked! i took some accounting classes in high school to see if it was a feasible major, and i found out i was quite good at it. so i figured why not? as for my master’s, there is this thing called the cpa (certified public accountant) exam that almost all accountants take. it honestly just makes you look good on paper, if anything, and companies are more likely to hire you. in order to sit for that, you need to have a certain number of credit hours. with just undergrad, you won’t be able to meet those. so i figured that i’d get a master’s to fill those hours. it was between taxation and auditing, and auditing is just NOT for me (auditors are the people who make sure companies aren’t doing anything illegal on their financial statements, and that’s just the most basic way of putting it haha). so that’s how i ended up here!

it’s so nice that your parents are supportive of the path you want to take! i know for me and many others, that isn’t always the case (if i could’ve, i probably would’ve gone down the route of psychology, but alas). i completely relate to living far from my campus, so while online school is hard, at least we don’t have to make that long commute! especially as it gets colder. i’ve had to walk a good few miles from the train to my building, and let me say, i will not be missing that this year! not being able to make connections with people is really one of the worst parts of online school, but hopefully you’re able to meet at least a few classmates in group projects or something like that (even though group projects are the WORST).

still2gether, to me at least, is the superior between the two shows. i don’t want to say i had low expectations, but i definitely didn’t expect so many things i wanted to happen in the show to ACTUALLY happen. it was just so sweet and lovely and comforting.

petekao...is everything to me? that sounds so dramatic, omfg. their relationship just makes my heart so full. i could write essays on them. but in fewer words, i adore that they’re an established couple and that they have such grown up, mature conversations. if we set aside the non storyline for a moment (which i could ALSO write essays on, and i’m planning on doing a complete rewrite of his storyline and therefore the trajectory of the show, because i’m crazy), they truly are so supportive of each other through everything. they’re just so GOOD, and i always wish we got to see more of them. but! i know morksun was The Couple of dbk for a lot of people, which i can understand. i should really go back and rewatch it, so i can pay more attention to them, because i really didn’t give them a fair enough shot the first time around.

until we meet again is my very favorite bl, and at this point, i don’t think that’s a secret haha. someone just recently asked me why i loved it so much, so i won’t go into too much detail here. but my tldr is: deanpharm best boys. they have my favorite relationship in the whole wide world. but i am with you! i want to see earth and kao act more together! maybe in a series of their own??

#answered #christmas chronicles #🎄#Anonymous

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turningintomalfoy · 4 years ago

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Draco Malfoy and the Obnoxious Stone

Rating: All Audiences

Tags: Time travel, AU/Canon divergence, Redemption, Character growth

Chapter: 3/9 [complete]

AO3: Read Here

“You better have a good reason for not writing back to most of my letters last month.” Pansy Parkinson announced the moment her head made it through the threshold of the train compartment. Draco couldn’t push down a feeling of guilt and let himself get distracted enough to lose a round of exploding snap against Goyle. He had barely just calmed enough to look in Crabbe’s direction, thank you very much, and did not want more reminders of the future mistakes he would make.

“Well, they were rather dull. I didn’t think my input would change how the weather ruined your plans,” his friend bristled, but that’s how they always worked best together. “You remember weather spells exist, don’t you? Why do they have to be natural thunderstorms?”

“It’s not the same.” she stretched the vowels, petulant. Draco shifted closer to the window to make room for them both. The train only set off a few moments prior, and were he to peer out the windows, he would still be able to catch the last parents waving goodbye to some student he would have probably seen tortured or killed if Draco paid any attention to anyone’s suffering in the war.

“You got to play quidditch with your cousins, nothing to complain about. Did you work on your catches?”

Pansy, in fact, did not practice her catches this summer, and told Draco exactly what she thought about spending precious time with obnoxious and spoilt kids. This time, Draco stopped himself for pointing out she should fit right in with that crowd. She really did seem put out.

Instead, Draco reached for the abandoned book on obscure age altering potions he pocketed at Flourish and Blott’s while browsing for non-incriminating books that could still be useful. There wasn’t as much choice at the store as he hoped for, but the library at Hogwarts would definitely have an answer, he couldn’t accept anything else. The dusty, in all likelihood outdated, tome had yet to provide a good lead on his situation. On the bright side, if he wanted to remain in this 11 year old body for much longer than a year or return to a more adult form, he now knew half a dozen ways of making it happen and the side effects of each one.

With a sigh, Draco rejoined the discussion about exactly how much cheating in chess is permissible before it’s embarrassing even if you don’t get caught. He hated playing against Pansy on days she decided there was no limit. The other boys somehow ended up entertaining them with all the misadventures they ended up in over the last month, not sugar coating their own ignorance or stupid ideas in the slightest. Before long, though, the conversation died out, probably because no one was used to Draco not vying for the spotlight at every opportunity.

Draco climbed up onto the seat with his book in hand to find his school robes and less frustrating reading material. Everything was going well until he forgot he wasn’t tall enough to step back to pull his trunk down without tumbling down. The trunk avoided squashing him by an inch, but that wasn’t enough to soften the blow to his ego (or his behind). The other kids bursting into laughter definitely didn’t help the issue one bit.

“Ahaha maybe you need to pra-haha practice more swan dives off a stage!” Pansy’s tone couldn’t even reach mocking, she was too busy trying to hold back her laughter. “You were so graceful before .”

“Maybe it’s puberty.“ Crabbe choked out, visibly preening at the rare opportunity to berate him. Goyle laughed so hard he started a coughing fit. Draco would never hear the end of it at this rate. He had to clear his head and recover whatever dignity he could.

He got up with as much poise as he could, considering the burning in his cheeks and ears, and slammed to door on his way out. The food trolley witch would be doing a round by now, he figured, he could buy some sweets for their silence.

He almost reached the front of the train by the time he caught up to the trolley. While the lady counted out change, Draco could have sworn he saw a green chocolate frog jump out of a wrapper and onto her shoulder, but the woman didn’t react. The return journey was slower both with residual embarrassment and the weight of bribes filling his pockets. He pushed past a few groups of older students, who seemed to be debating if Harry Potter was on the train, one of them claiming the boy must have gone abroad to hide from vengeful Death Eaters and will definitely be attending Durmstrang.

Draco almost ran into Hermione Granger as she marched out of a compartment with enough determination and energy to trample right over him.

“You haven’t seen a toad around, have you?” She asked. “A boy called Neville is looking for one, its name is Trevor.”

Draco wasn’t ready. Potter was one thing, he could still hate the Chosen One. But here stood Granger before he belittled and demeaned her in front of most, before he teased and bullied her for being smarter and more dedicated, before witnessing the torture she endured in his home. He felt sick.

“Well? Have you seen one around or not?” Granger prompted again.

“What’s the point of looking? The toad must have taken one look at him and realised it was a lost cause” what was he doing? He wanted to fix things, or to run away from all those he hurt before. Not preemptively insult them. Draco couldn’t tell whether he felt ill, angry, or just tired.

“How dare you. You can’t say things like that!”

Their heated exchange drew attention from the compartment beside them, it’s door opening to show a tall ginger (definitely Ron Weasley), and Potter. This settled it, Draco had to be stuck in his personal hell.

“Oi! What’s going on?” Weasley grumbled. “Can’t you question him somewhere else?”

“Hey, it’s you again. Draco Malfoy?” Potter chimed in, sounding out his name as though it was difficult to remember.

“You know him? Ask him if he’s seen Neville’s toad.” Granger put Potter between her and Draco with a couple steps back.

“It’ll be a public service to let the toad go. It belongs with a proper wizard.”

Apparently, Draco just couldn’t help himself.

“Of course the git would say that. Forget about it Harry, Hermione. Don’t expect any good from a Malfoy.” Weasley exclaimed with pride. The worst part was it wasn’t completely wrong. Still, Draco was already worked up and past the point of no return.

“I don’t even need to ask your name, Weasley. Father says your parents have more children than garden gnomes. Figures Potter would take pity on a charity case like you.” Weasley’s face turned scarlet, and both boys seemed ready for a fistfight, Draco realised a little late with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Anyway, I have better things to be doing.”

He swerved out of range just in case one of them decided to go for a punch, and carried on. He wouldn’t admit to feeling guilt about coming full circle when it comes to these three, but something pushed him to mention the food trolley witch to Granger as he passed. The toad was probably long gone by then, anyway.

His friends greeted him somewhat remorsefully, and they spent the rest of the way to Hogwarts playing cards and enjoying his snacks. Not long after sunset the train came to a stop. Draco couldn’t contain his excitement. They followed other first years to the lake shore, where Hagrid packed them into boats. A breathtaking reflection of the stars spread around them on patches of still water. They cut through it, gentle ripples appearing around them like a gathered shimmering silk. It was a real shame only first years got to experience this sight.

“Has someone forgotten a toad?” Hagrid helped an embarrassed Longbottom climb back into the boat. They must have found it on the train, but the amphibian seemed to know what it wanted.

Draco kept to a group of pureblood students and away from the soon to be gryffindors, only slightly preoccupied by a possible continuation of their argument on the train, but Professor McGonagall didn’t make them wait long.

He lost focus, staring at the teacher table. He felt faint, palms sweating, and couldn’t tear his eyes away from Severus Snape and Dumbledore. Here they were, alive and unaware. A song reached him more like wind wailing outside tightly closed doors, he couldn’t join in if his life depended on it. McGonagall repeated his name twice before anything broke Draco out of thought. It was his turn. He pushed past a smaller kid out of his way to the Sorting Hat.

“My, my... this should be the first time we meet, young man. Yet, I see you have already found yourself amongst loyal snakes.”

“Just put me where I belong, it’s been a long day already,” Draco thought, grinding his teeth in frustration.

“Now, let’s not be hasty... It’s true you still have Slytherin on your mind, but is it truly where your heart lies?” The Hat carried on. “Gryffindor could hone your courage and quench a thirst for justice, child. You could make a bigger difference than you ever thought possible.”

Draco looked up at his godfather, at the headmaster, at the faces of all these children doomed to take part in a war they didn’t want. If he could slow Voldemort’s return, maybe they could all be safe. The war could be stopped before it even began. He caught Potter, staring at him with a mixture of worry and disgust.

“Forget it, I wouldn’t be caught dead with that lot. Even Hufflepuff would be better than Gryffindor.”

“Another difficult one, I see. Have it your way...”

The Slytherin table cheered at the Hat’s decision, as Draco took a seat opposite Crabbe and Goyle, who were too busy trying to stare food into existence on the empty plates between them.

The rest of the sorting went as expected. Nott, Theodore and Pansy joined them with a lot less fanfare than Draco or Potter, who ended up causing an uproar by landing in Gryffindor. Weasley followed suit, and finally Zabini, Blaise sat on Draco’s unoccupied side.

“I’m Draco.”

“Blaise. Does the Hat actually listen to us? I thought I saw you talking back to it.”

“It does, when someone is good enough to be in two houses. I hear it’s rare for a real hat stall to happen. It has to take more than five minutes.”

“Sweet! Which house did you turn down for better company?” He asked with a grin.

“... Ravenclaw.”

“Well, then it’s settled Draco. That puts you in charge of making sure we all pass!” Pansy joined in on his other side with a laugh. She gestured with a tilt of her head, pointing out Crabbe and Goyle. “We’ll definitely need a miracle for those two to make it.”

#hp fanfic #au fic #draco malfoy #harry potter

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andoqin · 4 years ago

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K-Dramas of 2020

Well, like the general mood of 2020, the dramas this year were uh, certainly an adventure. I was going to put all the dramas I watched this year here, but uh. This turned out longer than expected so I’ll guess I’ll separate K-dramas at the very least.

Putting this behind a cut because Long.

Completed:

365: Repeat the year: I barely remember this one, but I gave it 8/10 on MDL, maybe I should lower that, because honestly all I remember are the time-travel meet up set and the main actors.

CHIP-IN: A short who-dunnit, which has interesting characters, although the show was very wise to be capped at 8 Episodes, because the “mystery” was pretty predictable and also starting to wear thin. Still, the younger cast was stellar and I hope we get to see them in more.

Diary of a Prosecutor: The cases in this drama were actually legit interesting to me and I found the politicking surprisingly not bad. People were flawed in very human ways, but the drama gave us enough time with our main characters to enjoy getting to know all of them.

Do you like Brahms: Contender for worst drama of the year for me, good lord I hated the way this tanked its story line, its characters and the romance. Is it believable that the main characters might act this way? ... Debatable. Is it entertaining to watch? Hell fucking no. Don’t watch this one, unless you like stupid misunderstandings and non communication.

Extracurricular: Short action-y show on Netflix that makes me hopeful for what Sweet Home might be.

Flower of Evil: Lee Jun Ki gets to suffer prettily. That is All. Okay Moon Chae Won and LJK were great together, but it got almost makjang-y by the end.

Hospital Playlist: Delightful Slice of Life Medical show, that despite its delightfulness never quite got me. Very enjoyable and at 12 episodes it doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it didn’t stay with me either.

Hot Stove League: Pretty entertaining and as a drama about sports management seems reasonably accurate? (Not that I’d know of course).

Hyena: Flawed as heck in some aspects (the lawyer-plotting got lulzy and boring at the same time), but oh my god some of the HOTTEST chemistry this way from sunday. Joo Ji Hoon and Kim Hye Soo just crackled anytime they were on screen together and Joo Ji Hoon as the high powered lawyer who falls head over heels in love with KHS’s character who is more reluctant to act on those feelings is just *chefs kiss*. Also didn’t suffer the Dreaded Plot Denuement of 2020 (DPD2020). Sure the latter half wasn’t as tight as the beginning, but it stuck the landing and that’s all that matters.

Into the Ring: Weird camera angles and sometimes overly sharp edited shots aside, this had a solid romance, great characters, great romance and almost made me want to get into community politics lmao.

It’s Okay Not To Be Okay (Psycho But It’s Okay): The first half of this show is just *amazing*, the way the scenes transition is pretty much film-like and the main character trio is stunningly well acted. Sadly the story with the mom is resolved in the weirdest fucking way, but the drama decides to do the smart thing and just forget about it once that’s done and the finale made me cry ;_;.

Itaewon Class: Sadly also suffered the DPD2020. I was really into the first half, loved the way the characters found support in each other, plus: a main trans character! Handled really well! Also iconic OST. I was one of the few people who was into the romance of the main couple, but the way the latter half of the plot developed was just completely nonsensical and felt like the writer was just trying to tie off the lose ends as much as possible.

Kingdom Season 2: The first season was stellar and this continues the trend! Although it doesn’t quite reach the highs of the first season I am still so looking forward to season 3! More Joseon zombies please!

Money Game: I... apparently watched this, and looking at the logo there is some vague feeling of “Yeah this is familiar”. But nothing else...

Mr. Heart: Okay-ish BL drama that has it’s cute moments but nothing that made me go “Ooooh”. I am glad SK is getting in on this trend though!

My Holo Love: So all of those Robot/AI shows that came before that I’ve seen and had the premise of “Oh no, I’ve fallen for a ROBOT” when it either turned out their object of affection was either human or actually a robot, but their human counterpart was so shitty that no sane person would like them worked pretty well for me. This one didn’t. From what I remember the heroine does very much fall for the holographic version of this guy, but the human version is *different* and yet whoops the main couple is still human/human. Granted you can’t really do romantic kiss scenes between a girl and nothing, but the switch-over felt abrupt and the way our main lady just transfers her affections to the dude never sat right to me.

Mystic Pop Up Bar: Quite a few dramas this year went with 12 eps, and were all the better for it. Hwang Jung Eum is incredibly hit or miss with me (mostly it’s miss honestly), but in this one she’s used really well and I liked the way the premise was used!

Private Lives: I recently wrote a longer post about this, but honestly another victim of terrible writing and maybe DPD2020.

Stranger 2: Love! Not as much as Season 1, but man this writer is *so* good at writing smart and interesting plots and looking at things from many different angles!

Tale of the Nine Tailed: Flawed but man do I ever love the OTP. Like really really love it. Plus it stuck the landing for me in a way few dramas did in recent months.

The School Nurse Files: So weird. So fucking weird. And yet, so very entertaining. Thanks to its short length ( I think) some plot threads felt very much unceremoniously dropped, but it has a canon lesbian couple!

The World of the Married: Makjang to the Nth degree, got kind of exhausting by the end, but Kim Hee Ae is so good.

Train: Yoon Shi Yoon gets to suffer prettily!

When the Weather is Fine: Kinda mellow and sweet and I wish I could live like the main character does (just have a bookshop in the middle of nowhere and still no money issues??? The Dream) but for that also not super memorable.

Where Your Eyes Linger: SK’s first major Webdrama I believe? Cute and as a foray into this genre not bad, but I hope this is just a taste of things to come.

Dropped:

Hi Bye, Mama: So many people loved this, I couldn’t get over the basic premise and the way my brain tried to tie the logic in this together made my head hurt. The King: Eternal Monarch: Maybe KES dramas just aren’t for me, I didn’t like the plot or the main couple. Woo Do Hwan and Kim Kyung Nam were amazing though and please please I beg both of you do more stuff.

18 Again: Nope. Lee Do Hyun is pretty, but the setup drove me bonkers and I pretty much liked no one.

Zombie Detective: Yikes no thank you. Complete mismatch of tones I wanted and the drama gave me.

Romantic Teacher Dr. Kim 2: Zzzzzzzzz. I found the first one mildly entertaining at least but this one just made me fall asleep immediately.

Black Dog: Yeah I watched like 2 Episodes of this and lost interest.

Search: I’ve watched like 6 eps and I know there’s zombies, but I couldn’t tell you much more tbh.

Start-Up: I watched 2 episodes in the beginning, didn’t think I’d want to live watch this and then just popcorned the tag until it got insufferable with the ship wars and this dropped out of my watch list pretty immediately.

Record of Youth: Pretty much the same deal as with Start-Up only in this case there wasn’t so much a shipwar as the tag showing me that this drama would *not* be my bag at all.

Still Watching:

Kairos: Hmmmm timey-wimey stuff. The FL is this close to losing me though. The fact I thought it plausible that she would murder someone just based on a TEXT from someone else says it all. (She didn’t, thank god, and seems to have found a few of her lost braincells, but by god she was frustrating).

Birthcare Center: I like what it’s trying to say and the main character and her husband are very cute, but a lot of the side characters don’t really interest me. It’s only an 8 ep drama, so I might finish this.

The Spies Who Loved Me: Honestly I’m this close to dropping it. Only my intense love for Yoo In Na and fondness for Eric are keeping me going. But she might not end up with Eric and I’m gonna be mad. Honestly if they just went OT3 I’d be really cool with this, but despite the small advancements in dramaland, they aint ready for that yet.

Lies of Lies: I watched 2 eps and I might continue (the premise seems hilariously makjang and sometimes I’m into that, but it’s *very* much on the backburner)

The Uncanny Counter: Delightful Webtoon vibe, with some great visuals and actually nice action. I’ve only seen 2 eps so far but at least they don’t want to make me poke my eyes out or make me fall asleep. Let’s hope it avoids the DPD2020 plague.

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im-just-here-for-the-drama · 5 years ago

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LGBTQ Characters in Asian dramas: The Good, The Bad, and The Mediocre: 2019 Edition

No one asked, but here it is-all the gay I saw in 2019!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Bad (I’d say don’t waste your time on these, but who am I to tell you what to do?)

Graceful Family: Mo Wan Joon

The Story: Blah blah blah, revenge or something- at a point it’s revealed that Mo Wan Joon is a trans woman.

Should you watch?: If you really like revenge melos maybe, but if you’re looking for this show to do something good and offer up some good trans rep? Nope.

Literally nothing about Mo Wan Joon’s story is watchable. I wasn’t even entirely sure the show even knows what being transgender even means. It comes off as more of a plot twist to put the family all in a tizzy more than anything else. They don’t really show much of Wan Joon’s struggle or anything poignant or engaging.

TharnType

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault/rape

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.facebook.com/notes/line-tv/tharntypetheseries-line-tvs-official-links-for-international-fans/2525229217761969/

The Story: Type is a homophobe who ends being roommates with the openly gay Tharn.

Should you watch?: No. The good you get isn’t worth sitting through the bad. But if you really can’t help yourself, you’ll have to learn to ignore its problematic elements.

Type was molested as a child, and as a result he hates gay people. He’s clearly still traumatized by his experience. He has nightmares and is triggered by Tharn at least once remembering his assault. Type eventually tells Tharn about his assault and it’s pretty much never brought up again.

Type is shown to be ridiculously homophobic and he equates gay people with pedophiles and is never really corrected in this logic (even though his boyfriend is a whole gay man). Even after Type starts dating Tharn, Type’s homophobia is never really properly put to rest.

For some reason, the writer of TharnType loves incorporating rape/sexual assault into her shows when it’s clearly a sensitive topic she knows next to nothing about. And it’s clear in this show, because the show take the topic way lighter than it should. Because of what happened to Type in his childhood, he believes that gay men like forcing themselves onto others without their consent, and then the show proceeds to have Tharn do exactly that to Type multiple times. Also, thankfully, this happens offscreen, but another character pays several men to gang rape another character and that’s too heavy for a show that clearly wasn’t going to address it properly.

At the beginning of this show, Tharn had a huge issue with knowing what boundaries and consent were, but by the second half, Tharn chilled out and Type stepped up and became ridiculously childish and violent towards Tharn. Clearly these two have no real business being in a relationship with each other if you ask me.

Though there was a lot I hated about this show I did like some of it. I think this writer writes some really nice and sweet scenes between Tharn and Type. Mew and Gulf have great chemistry. I’ve seen plenty of videos of Gulf and Mew together and they are adorable. They work well together and they come off more natural than some other couples, but the way the relationship is handled in TharnType and some of the things that are glossed over in this show leave a bad taste in my mouth.

The Mediocre (These aren’t the best, but they’re watchable.)

Moment at Eighteen: Jung Oh Je

Country: Korea

Official Links: https://www.viki.com/tv/36633c-moment-of-eighteen?q=moment%20of

The Story: Transfer student Jun Woo has no interest in school life, as he is traumatized from being expelled from bullying. Meanwhile, Soo Bin has been watching Jun Woo all this time. She sees a different side to Jun Woo than the one that other people see. Oh Je, is Jun Woo’s best friend who starts to discover his sexuality.

Should you watch?: Hmmm… sure.

Oh Je has a decent side plot. It was interesting to see him figuring out he liked Hwi Young and coming out to his ex girlfried, Da Young and his friends. I do wish his story was expanded a little more though. There were several things I would have liked to have seen, like coming out to his family, and I thought they wrapped his story up a little too quickly at the end.

2moons2

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdoEouCtbBvjdNkB5Wl0eYS4V4Zx-1MZY

The Story: Wayo is accepted at the Kantaphat University, in the Faculty of Sciences. Wayo has always been in love with Phana, who studies at the same university. When Wayo has the chance to become the “moon” of his faculty, the two begin to spend time together because Phana himself has been the “moon” of the medical school the previous year and must supervise the freshmen participating in the competition. The two slowly get closer and closer.

Should you watch?: Yeah.

Honestly, it’s not super memorable,and not super impressive, but there’s some cute moments, and an easy storyline. We get to see more of the other two couples (MingKit and ForthBeam) than we saw in the original 2moons. It’s fun and interesting enough. I’ll look forward to the next one.

Theory of Love

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVsizYwoQ6B3LsKmcDDMNtHGXnjG88i4C

The Story: Third is a filmology major and a member of the Savage Team along with his best friends Two, Bone, and Khai, but he has a secret. Third has been secretly in love with Khai for years.

For three years he has kept his secret love in his heart, silently supporting and loving Khai while knowing there is absolutely no future between them since Khai is as straight as a streetlight pole and also an absolute player.

To make matters worse, Khai has a “no dating friends” policy. How long can Third love Khai silently while watching Khai bring a different girl home every night? Third has tried to see Khai as just a friend. But has failed time and time again. Because as easy as it is to fall in love, to stop is just as hard. Maybe even harder. But when Third finally decides to stop loving Khai, Khai decides to start loving Third.

Should you watch?: It wasn’t my cup of tea but, yeah.

Who knew one of my most anticipated shows of the year would turn out to be one of the most disappointing? The show spent way too much time on Third crying, wallowing, and letting his friend walk all over him, and not nearly enough time on Khai making a believable turnaround. Khai spent at least half the show being a dick of a friend, to the point that I was unsure as to why Third liked him for so long. Then when Khai started to have feelings for Third, I just thought it happened way too quickly and unbelievably to me. But despite all that there were some cute moments in the end that made all of that kind of okay and kind of worth it. And the side couple was cute.

Dark Blue Kiss

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdoEouCtbBviEVFNHbg7dKw7Lfd8-6zB1

The Story: Kao and Pete being in a blissful romance, have grown closer. But Kao is closeted, and he fears the thought of others finding out. His mother introduces Non, a son of a colleague, to be tutored by Kao. With Non constantly giving off ‘iffy’ vibes towards Kao, it only fuels Pete’s jealousy. Their relationship is put in strain, but through this, they must ultimately overcome each other’s flaws.

Whilst Sun pushes his brother Rain to stay away from Mork, the younger man’s uncontrollable behavior brings him in. As his wildness is intriguing, Sun’s seriousness holds Mork down somewhat. Underneath it all, the two start to care for each other. However, with Mork’s dangerous life, he can’t shake who he is. But maybe he can for someone like Sun.

Should you watch?: If you’re a fan of Pete/Kao or a fan of the typical GMM show.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Pete and Kao from the series they were originally in and this show honestly didn’t really help. Pete and Kao’s relationship is pulled into an annoying direction when an outsider tries to come between the two of them. It’s classic bl tactics and frankly it’s boring and frustrating to watch when it drags on for multiple episodes. I did love Sun and Mork from the beginning, but even the writing for their storyline got annoying towards the end. The huge problem in this series is that none of our leads really communicate with each other. There’s some enjoyable things in this show but it’s ultimately more frustrating than it should be.

Ossan’s Love: In The Sky

Country: Japan

The Story: Haruta, a 35-year-old single man, has to switch careers and he begins a new career as a cabin attendant in Tenku Peach Airlines. Even though he’s clumsy, he seems to be protected by the Great Captain Kurosawa. One day, he finds drawings of himself in a locker and accidentally discovers tries to figure out who drew them. Haruta discovers that not only is the mechanic Shino in love with him, but Captain is secretly in love with him too. Meanwhile, Haruta takes an interest in the co-pilot Naruse.

Should you watch? Yes, but you might be disappointed by the end.

I’m a fan of the original Ossan’s Love and I know what this show usually gives so I expected this show to be silly, ridiculous, fun. And it was for the most part. I always love Haruta. I would literally watch him in any reincarnation of this show and not complain. He’s always a joy to watch and that’s still true here. But this time around, things are a lot more messier than usual. There’s a complicated love triangle, which I hate, but even that was fine because I enjoyed the other characters. My only complaint was how it ended, because I would have preferred him with someone else rather than who he ends up with.

Love with Flaws: Won Suk and Ho Dol

Country: Korea

The Story: Joo Seo Yeon, is a hot-tempered physical education high school teacher who always wears sneakers, jeans and training uniforms. The death of her parents helped instill a deep sense of compassion, a generous heart and an outspoken objection for anyone who drinks and drives. Living in a house with three wild and very attractive brothers, she loathes flower boys. Her ideal type is someone who is “not handsome.” Won Suk is one of her handsome older brothers.

Won Suk has closed his heart to relationships and love, but he lives his life as an openly gay man. Ho Dol is closeted and lacks confidence. They meet one night at Won Suk’s bar.

Should you watch?: People have been kind enough to condense Won Suk’s and Ho Dol’s story into parts on YouTube so yeah, go ahead and check it out.

These two don’t get a whole lot of screen time, but the little they do get is nice. We get to see Won Seok help Ho Dol open up and be more confident with who he is and in turn, Won Seok opens up his heart.

The Good (These are worth the hours of your life you won’t get back.)

History3: Trapped

Country: Taiwan

Official Links: https://www.viki.com/tv/36410c-history-3-trapped?locale=en

The Story: Shao Fei’s police officer mentor and Tang Yi’s gang leader father were killed in a gunshot attack. No one knows why or what really happened. The only survivor, Tang Yi, stepped up and is now the gang leader. Police officer Shao Fei wants to find out what happened that day and he’s sure that Tang Yi’s hiding the truth. Shao Fei decides that the only way to figure out the truth is to investigate Tang Yi to the fullest and Tang Yi just wants Shao Fei to leave him alone since he’s trying to take the gang in a more legitimate direction, but what happens when the two keep crossing paths and ultimately start to fall for each other?

Should you watch?: Absolutely.

I watched this show twice last year and somehow I liked it even better the second time around. The story is fresh-school/university plots get real old real fast (not that I don’t love them though). Instead we get a story about a mob boss and a police officer. The plot is well written, coherent, interesting, and fun, and doesn’t revolve solely around the romance. And speaking of romance, it’s well integrated into the larger plot that focuses on figuring out what happened to Tang Yi’s father and Shao Fei’s mentor years ago. There’s just the right balance between plot and romance. There’s also a second couple that’s super cute. Both couples have great chemistry. What’s not to like?

He’s Coming To Me

Country: Thailand

The Story: After his death, Mes is a ghost that is consumed by loneliness. That is until he meets a strange boy that can see him. The two bond in a state of happiness and joy as they develop into friends. But what happens when Mes falls for the boy who is alive?

Should you watch?: Of course!

This is by far, in my opinion one of the most slept on shows of 2019. Who would have thought things could work out between a ghost and human? I went into this show expecting it to be full of sadness and angst and it really surprised me. Of course it does have those things, Mes is ghost so… but it’s definitely one of the sweetest dramas of the year. The boys forge a strong friendship and bond from the beginning, they’re ridiculously cute, the side characters are enjoyable, the friends are supportive, and there’s an interesting story of Mes and Thun trying to figure out the mystery behind Mes’ death. You should definitely put it on your list to check out.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Country: Japan

The Story: Kakei Shiro is a 45 year old lawyer who works at a small law firm. He is a good cook and a meticulous and thrifty person who keeps the monthly food budget to 25,000 yen. Shiro’s daily routine is to leave work on time and head to a discount supermarket nearby. His partner Yabuki Kenji is an affable hairdresser in his 40s. The two of them share a two-bedroom apartment and the finer points of two men living together comes up at the dining table every day. Although two of them have been in a relationship for three years and Kakei’s parents know he is gay, Kakei never shares the fact that he is gay or Kenji is his partner to anyone else.

Should you watch? Definitely.

Very slice of life, very sweet, very heartwarming. We get to see two older gay men navigate their lives and society. We see how Shiro struggles with coming out and being open and we see how he deals with his accepting but ignorant parents. We see Kenji struggle with Shiro’s closed-offness and the strain its puts on their relationship when Shiro refuses to let people know they’re together. Shiro and Kenji interact with other gay couples too, and it’s interesting to see the dynamics between the different couples. It’s a nice change of pace to the shows I’m used to. Also, there’s plenty of food to salivate over.

Hello? Spring Is Coming

Country: Korea

Official Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnyivXs1rWk

The Story: Every coming out is difficult, but most of all, coming out in front of family is the hardest.

Should you watch?: We get way too few shows about wlw. And also they’re way too short, and on that note yes you should watch. It’s sweet.

The Effect

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape, bullying, attempted suicide

Country: Thailand

Official Links (in the comments): https://mydramalist.com/32424-the-effect

The Story: Shin, a shy and reserved 1st-year university student, admires his senior Keng from afar. Keng is tall, handsome, smart and owns the heart of many girls on campus. But what others don’t see is the pressure to be perfect from his family that weighs on Keng’s shoulders. Due to Shin’s clumsiness, he becomes acquainted with the handsome senior. As Keng takes a liking to his junior, jealousy from peers makes the cyber world a breeding ground for hate and nasty rumors. Shin falls victim not only to the strangers online but to Keng as well. Nobody but Shin can overcome the trauma that will be placed upon him. All he needs is for the strangers to listen. Because only then can they understand “the effect” that they have on others.

Should you watch? Heed the trigger warnings, and if you can handle them, then yes.

You know those BL shows where one of the characters is forced or coerced into having sex with their love interest and then falls in love with him at the end? This show is thankfully, not that. I wouldn’t even consider this a BL because, well because it’s not. It’s not a love story. It takes a very very different and serious path that most shows in this genre don’t even come close to. This show did a good job of really showing the effects of social media, bullying, and rape, what they could really do to a person, and the support system one needs after a trauma. At a (way too) short 3 episodes, it was super emotional, mostly realistic, and it really left a memorable impression. There were a few things I wish had been explored and fleshed out more and I wished they’d changed the ending from the novel. I would have preferred something more uplifting, less open ended potential tragedy. But on another note, James as Shin was a stand out here with such an emotionally draining role. I’ll definitely be looking forward to his future projects.

Mood Indigo/Indigo No Kibun

Country: Japan

The Story: The story begins with Shiro Kido’s reunion with a former classmate, Rio Kijima, at a college teacher’s funeral. In the past, when they were students, Kijima used to show talent as a novelist, even earning a big prize. Kido was jealous of Kijima’s success, but after reading his works he became aware of his lack of talent and gave up writing novels and became an editor of erotic novels. However, after reuniting, it became clear to Kido that Kijima was stuck; facing a wall. He had used up all his talent. With Kido also being in a lost state he offers Kijima the opportunity to write pornographic novels.With the intense eroticism and closeness, both men open up and feed into their desire.

Should you watch?: Yeah.

As one of the more erotic shows on this list, It was interesting to see the development between Rio and Kido. Their dynamic certainly isn’t anything romantic,cute, or healthy but still very beautiful, passionate, and raw. I wasn’t a huge fan of this shows predecessor Pornographer, but this one really made me appreciate it from another perspective. It helped me realize why Rio was the way he was and how this relationship impacted his later relationship with Kusami.

Really Lily?

Country: Korea

Official Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=167D6kmuspU

The Story: Are we friends? Or…

Should you watch?: It’s short, sweet, and funny. Absolutely.

Rural Outcasts

Country: Korea

The Story: Sun Hui moves to a small village where she lives her life as Soon Ho until she can make enough money to become her true self. Dong Ja, a feisty 12 year old, breaks into her house one day.

Should you watch? Yes.

Found family always makes for a heartwarming story and this one is no different. I loved the bond between Dong Ja and Sun Hui and I loved their mother daughter relationship. Very sweet and heartwarming, but be prepared for some heartbreak too.

History3: Make Our Days Count

TRIGGER WARNING: Forced kisses, bullying

Country: Taiwan

The Story: At first glance, high schoolers Xiang Hao Ting and Yu Xi Gu appear to be polar opposites: While Hao Ting is an outgoing, hot-headed extravert and some-time bully, Xi Gu prefers to keep a low profile and focus on his schoolwork. They seem bound for totally different futures – the bookish Xi Gu looks destined for academic success, while life is just a long popularity contest for Hao Ting. But a quirk of fate – and a crucial intervention by a female schoolmate – results in the two young men’s paths crossing. But there is more to both young men than first meets the eye. Hao Ting was not always this way. He started out as a perfect student until he discovered the joys of going off the rails. Xi Gu has a reason for being so aloof and studious: His parents died in a traffic accident while he was younger, and he is being fostered by his aunt. As such, he works hard to get good grades in an effort to win a scholarship and ease the financial burden on his relatives. Xi Gu and Hao Ting find themselves drawn together, and passions ignite. The former notices that he has the unique ability to bring Xi Gu out of his shell – and becomes intent on melting his cold-as-ice exterior. What will happen when their two worlds collide? And can love be the catalyst that helps bring these two unlikely students together – as their high school days draw to a close?

Sun Bo Xiang is Hao Ting’s friend who has a crush on a man, Lu Zhi Gang who he meets at the gym. Zhi Gang’s runs the shop that Xi Gu works at part time. When Bo Xiang confesses to Zhi Gang, and tells him that he’ll love hm forever, Zhi Gang doesn’t believe it because Zhi Gang is young and overzealous. Also, nothing lasts forever, or does it?

Should You Watch?: Yes, but it doesn’t end happily so keep that in mind..

Given this show’s predecessors it had some big shoes to fill. I expected this show to be good and honestly, it was. The general consensus is that the ending ruined the entire show. And had I had time to sit on this series-if I had watched it over the weeks, I might have felt the same way. But I watched the entire show in one sitting over the course of a day and I just can’t bring myself to hate it completely. The writing was good, the directing was good, and the acting was so good I think a lot of the show was elevated because of it. This show made me feel so many things. The couples are great with natural chemistry, and the side characters fit so well (there’s never a dull moment with Hao Ting’s friends). I smiled, I laughed, and of course I cried (#heartbroken). I was sad and upset when episode 10 came around. I wasn’t disappointed once the credits rolled because I was still riding the emotional high of the first nine episodes, but after I had time to sit and think about it, the more disappointed and angry I got. Just like grey rainbow and wise prison life- why did you give me everything I ever wanted and then rip it out from under me? But even so, the first nine eps were great. Does it have its flaws? Well obviously, some things in the show are a little iffy (Hao Ting and Sun Bo practice some problematic behavior at the beginning towards their love interests, that’s where the trigger warning comes in) and the last episode is a glaring misstep. Do I wish things had ended differently? I think they absolutely should have. Even this ending would have been satisfactory with some proper execution and build up. Overall this show could have cemented itself as one of my favorite shows if not for the last episode, but I really don’t regret watching it, because when it was good? It was gold.

Out of Breath

Country: Taiwan

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuUQH5CiOw6n9Z0O5ytuQY2EFuvbF_7DX

The Story: Ha Eun has just broken up with her girlfriend when she meets out and proud Min Seo.

Should you watch?: Yes!

It’s a short webseries about coming out and no longer wanting to hide who you are. It’s very sweet and realistic. The ladies are cute and their characters are believable. My only complaint is that I wish the show was longer.

Until We Meet Again

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide

Country: Thailand

Official Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPXE51seODgcGxLQF_X5jzQ/playlists

The Story: Thirty years ago, Korn and Intouch were university students in Bangkok. Intouch entered Korn’s life despite knowing that he was the son of one of the most influential people in Bangkok, the mafia. At first, Korn kept pushing Intouch away, but in the end, he couldn’t resist him. However, in a time where homosexuality was unacceptable and having parents that were against their relationship and each other, Korn and In’s love was bound to be doomed. Amidst the chaos, while Intouch kept on fighting for their future, Korn could not deal with all the suffering his lover was facing and decided to give up. That day, two sounds of a gunshot rang through the air. Their story ended with tragedy, but something had already tied itself between them, bounding them together even after they were dead.

Years later, a freshly returned to Thailand, Pharm who is a freshman in T- University has grown up always feeling like he is waiting for someone. Being riddled with sad dreams that always left him waking up with a wet face, fear of loud noises, and a birthmark on his temple, the boy has always felt like there is someone he is missing. Dean, the third year swimming club’s president at T- University has also spent his life searching for someone whose face he can not remember. The red thread of fate that had tied them together in their past life once again pulls the two boys back to each other, tying them to each other and a past that might not be worth remembering, but a love that is unforgettable. Because the red thread that binds the two hearts together will always lead one back to the other. Even though it might tangle or stretch, it will never break.

Should you watch?: 100% yes.

This show isn’t finished yet, so I’ll just talk about what I’ve seen up to this point. I read a few comments about this show before I watched it and although it was one of the shows I was looking forward to the most, I was skeptical about watching it since the reviews were mixed. Lots of people love it, but there was also an overwhelming about of people saying it was boring and average at best. After watching the 12 episodes that are out, I gotta admit that it’s not perfect. It is a little slow in some parts, some times you feel like you’re watching Thailand’s version of the food network, the director needs to learn when a scene is over, the product placement can be distracting, the kisses are more awkward than I’d like them to be, and that sounds like a lot to be bothered by, but honestly- I love this show. I feel like Until We Meet Again is what happens when a production crew cares more about making a good show rather than making something that fuels the typical bl fan’s fantasies. It has an interesting storyline and it’s well acted. There’s great emotional moments filled with sweetness and sadness. It’s funny and there’s loving and supportive family and friends. A lot of the typical bl drama tropes aren’t involved here. There’s no girlfriends, no portrayals of women as evil incarnate, no cheating, no coercion into sexual activities, or the popular I’m just gay for you crap. I saw on Twitter a while back that someone was asking how they could get bl to branch out-how to reach a larger audience because there’s a lot of people that won’t watch it-this is how you do it.

24 notes · View notes

elizabethrobertajones · 7 years ago

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13x08 watching notes

You guys, I literally can't cope with Sam dressing like this much longer. I am being personally attacked. WHo EVEN SELLS ORANGE PLAID.

expectations: best case scenario, some literally unholy lovechild of 7x20 and 12x12.

Heists mean side characters and good heists mean fun side characters. From the promo stuff it looks like we have a couple of quirky side characters, who aesthetically vaguely reminded me of the Doctor Who bank heist episode from the Clara period of the show, just because quirky side characters to bolster a heist episode. It's probably quite easy to beat the mood and justification of ridiculousness from Doctor Who, especially peak Moffatt era nonsense, out of the water, but this is Glynn so I'm expecting good characters, good characterisation, but pooossibly some random plot hole or some sort of back and forth of characters/scenes that's hard to follow that doesn't necessarily hurt the episode but does make it a headache later :P

[note with hindsight: *just hands Glynn a trophy for it and walks off*]

It's essentially the same thing you forgive under Dabb vs cars (aka not a problem unless you make it one), but it doesn't really lend itself to writing a heist either so this is in no way the same level of "Uhoh" as a Buckleming episode but it is a hmmm I hope people aren't arguing in circles about some way the plot worked and ignoring the good stuff when I get online comment :P

I wasn't sure how this fit into the overall picture of wtf the demons were up to before yesterday, but with the promo scene with Bart, selling him as essentially the new (I mean... potentially since season 6) king of the crossroads but maybe not styling himself that way, we may or may not get another overt canon dive like 12x12 showed us how Crowley got his upgrade, to tell us how long this guy has been around behind the scenes (and SENSIBLY staying off the Winchesters' radar), but this character very literally is Crowley2.0 as people have been calling him in the sense that he is what Crowley was when we met him both with the actual job title AND narratively, and in this case probably very content with his job as it is especially with the danger at the very top, and I hope for his sake he doesn't get ambitious, because it would be great to have a character like this survive just for story stability - yeah even though he's another white dude might as well just lump it unless this episode immediately replaces him with someone better but intent on doing the *exact same* job properly - just to have some stability and a second player in the Hell storyline. Especially if they maintain an uneasy relationship with him that he really is the last resort for help Crowley really wasn't since like season 10.

It establishes another position of power in Hell's hierarchy and it's a fairly safe job where a smart demon can accrue a lot of power - Crowley was shown to have a whole bunch of resources and a lot of it predating becoming King of Hell, specifically because it was stuff gathered as a crossroads demon/through controlling that flow of trade. TBH it's better placed than whoever is trying to lead the demons because they have all the resources. I think in 11x23 Crowley said his minions took everything and ran? This dude would be one of the key placed people to do that because he has all the stuff and connections to all the souls collected in deals. Whether that comes up or not I'm just going to assume he did :P

Anyway in the story it creates another character where we basically already know everything about how they function, because Crowley, both on a random world building and originally how Crowley was in the narrative sort of level. It sucks he's getting replaced on a "I did actually quite like him most days" level, and it's definitely a "get 2 people to do the same job 1 man was doing" thing but then the writing had been so bad to Crowley for a couple of years since they ran out of things for him to do that maybe stripping back to basics to get the narrative role he used to offer without all the baggage is sensible >.> If a character takes on so much of a life of their own they can't do the stuff they used to offer without it being an issue like removing any tension about giving them magic things they couldn't obtain themselves, or offering sincere opposition and attempts to kill them from the throne of Hell, then unfortunately for Crowley, this is a great choice. Asmodeus represents all the shit I didn't like that they kept making Crowley do, Bart represents the side of Crowley introduced by Edlund and maintained at least until Edlund left the show (Crowley was his baby even more than Cas was - he just dipped in to write the best Cas episodes but he introduced and pushed Crowley as a character... funnily enough at the end of season 8 both their natures were changed dramatically and permanently). Based on 1 promo scene, I have to admit, Bart is all the bits of Crowley I liked best, while coming across as a bit of a cheap knock off in the way he tries to butter up to the Winchesters, a bit too knowing, a bit too under-informed, while Crowley ran loops around them just in their opening conversation.

OMG it's sleeting so I am going to roll the dice and get a lift to yoga from the same person who plain forgot to pick my mum up and take her wherever they were going for about 2 hours last week when I wisely decided to get the bus. See now I have extra time, the episode is downloaded, but... I don't have enough time. Nooo way :P

Other generic pre-ep thoughts: this concept is goofy but I seriously don't trust it to stay that way because you never trust this show to stay that way. We haven't seen Asmodeus in a non-BL episode and while he is essentially their pet character he's still plot relevant. I'm not exactly on the side of "we HAVE to get Casmodeus before this is all said and done" as in I'd really love it but it seems so easy to bungle in a BL episode. On the other hand, just because Cas is locked up doesn't mean we can't see Misha in an episode while this state of affairs continues (and just because there's no spoilers doesn't mean it's not happening) and Glynn having a crack at Casmodeus sounds like a perfect set up for the kind of stuff we'd want to see out of it, and be a curveball to throw in here.

I'm just going to assume we're not seeing Mary again for a while and this is all set in the main universe.

I assume Jack isn't in the episode but we may or may not get a lead on him at the end, or else be left on "well we have a lead/half a lead on him" because I sort of feel like if he literally breaks the universe next episode after this he'll be pretty easy to find again :P

This may all be some way to force some conversations about how Dean and Sam feel about Jack on the other side of the turning point, especially if it's our last chance for them to be in the limelight until the other side of Wayward Sisters midseason fun. And if Jack has broken the universe next episode, we need to have their current stances laid out before they go rushing in to deal with that. So this could be a fairly light episode for character discussion.

HI back from yoga

the recap immediately gets into Jack stuff so hey maybe he is in the episode, maybe it's just explaining better why he is not in this episode because the reason why NOT is just as important.

Then just way too much having to recap last episode to get us up to date on what Sam and Dean have been through with all that. I like that they included that Ketch said he was his own twin considering Dean says "twinsies" in the promo scene, as, of course, this may be a really important theme. Twins that aren't actually twins. Cas and the Empty, Ketch and "Alexander", Dean and Crowley2.0, Dean being fed up of things that look like other things and the shapeshifter & ghoul...

Anyway. "NOW" - Cambridge, England. Okay then. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. *rubs a Union Jack on it to make it more British*

This is your weekly reminder to read these notes in a shrill British accent.

Whoever this is outside looks like she's up to something.

This mueseum:

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/130991708770/justanotheridijiton-jerry-wanek-on-supernatural

I'm not gonna read into that immediately because its been completely dressed up for the vampire!Dean episode and it's been polished up for this episode. But we get a long look at the stained glass roof and that was a centrepiece for the vamp episode.

*she continues to be up to something*

Wow, great security. Bust open a door and no alarms go off? It's the 2nd door that doesn't work, after Dean failed to get the automatic door to open for him in 13x05.

Mmmm drawers of old scrolls and spooooky writing.

Just... shove it in your handbag.

Oh yep she's a demon, that's surprising.

This is a great way to do a robbery, tbh. Ethics about possession aside, you can burn a vessel and let them take whatever physical damage or legal ramifications of being found in the room where something was stolen, but if you run into problems, just possess the next person. Especially someone with clearance, if you couldn't find them earlier...

I suppose her not being able to open the door earlier was an omen for her not having all the information - not knowing that Bart was going to stab her as soon as he had what he wanted from her, and that she wasn't working for Asmodeus's whim at all, but Bart was going rogue with it. This is another suggestion of the dramatic irony at work - Dean couldn't open the door, he had no faith, and it seemed like to HIM that no one was helping him. But of course Cas had already come back, the automatic door had opened in that sense, but he didn't know so he's encountering this block. This demon powers through it as well without setting off any alarm bells and she should have had some about the whole double cross coming. Likewise, Dean's surprised by Cas's return.

Bart establishes himself as a Crowley-alike instantly, by having a random demon minion to double cross, and to go to the Winchesters. He already has Dean on speed dial which means his number must get circulated among the demons, or Bart has sought it out already from their sources. Whether he's had it a while and just decided to pounce...

I guess it's also like the opposite of Cas phoning him and we don't hear that side of the conversation - I mean we hear Dean on the phone here, but we're staying on Bart's side of the camera, and he's enticing him in with what he needs to find Jack. Again, more dark mirrors of stuff that's already happened... Dean getting a lot of phonecalls he needs to follow his faith on.

Dean immediately on screen in his bi plaid doing that thing with the gun that's... suggestive. Sitting there obessesively cleaning his gun.

Sam emerges, in a shirt that is going to be a Problem.

*mutes Sam*

Sam was the one who talked to Cas. I wonder if Asmodeus phoned Sam up rather than the other way around. Like, don't be suspicious, just check in every day and see how they're doing... Just phone one of the brothers at random.

Anyway we already know, of course, that it's not Cas, and here we are with more dramatic irony, the same problem as Casifer before they knew, and it's underlined by Sam being the one to talk to Casmodeus instead of Dean. Fewer opportunities based on what we see on screen for Dean to work it out.

And now we see the other side of the phonecall, tracking back in time to show us the same thing over again, but now we have Dean's POV on it too and he's not at this disadvantage, at least, with the way it's all been set up. He gets to snark back etc although Bart has the right word to stop Dean hanging up on him.

I do like the snark about Hell street locations :P

Sam's like "a demon!" whispered even though it's obvious and I think Dean clued into it which means once again Sam's being the GA, or a filter for them, and even though he says it silently, he's still spelling out what he thinks it is when it's blatantly obvious to us what it is as we watched the cold open and his side of the start of the phone call already.

"if I had a way to find *your boy*" - that parenting theme again, and he's addressing it to Dean since that's who he thinks he's solely on the phone to.

We get a look at a ton of shop fronts and I suppose they're all made up?

The Smile Diner is already incongruously happy - more irony, just that it's all smiles for what would be an understandably tense meeting.

Anyway: "BANGTOWN beauty & barber" "Fine art bartending LEARN TO BARTEND", a restaurant...

A Chinese-owned phone shop "Ketaiya" which I suppose is selling phones, as it says "iphone8.8" in the window but also would fit an idea of calling home, as shops like this exist for most immigrant populations, as a place where they can make cheap phonecalls home. In this part of the country I'm most used to seeing Arabic, Slavic or Eastern European versions of this but I assume it's the same deal. We get cage imagery over the front of this shop, obviously as protection for it as it has a bunch of iphones in it, but the idea that Cas can't call them because he's in prison is right there, and it makes him the lil green mascot in the window.

And then the smile cafe is the next thing along. :)

"He could work for Asmodeus" smart, but wrong *as far as we know*, and Sam is like "what if he's telling the truth", so this scepticism seems to be flipping their roles from last episode, buuut on the other hand Dean is being defensive and practical and Sam is again entertaining things villains tell them.

"After Crowley I told myself no more demons" it STILL sounds like bitter but civil exes. And you'd bet that "after Crowley" is not "in the last month since he died" but "since that time we had a wild elopement"

but hanging a lampshade on exactly what Bart is doing for them in the narrative, and of course that Dean is going to be predisposed to see him as a Crowley2.0 exactly as we do, so that adds even more depth to the promo scene.

Sam like "you said we need a miracle, maybe this is it" and then Dean calling out that demons don't give miracles - they give deals they can SELL as miracles. Who of the two of you has been jerked around more by demon deals? Oh yeah the one of you who sold your soul because your father's demon deal spiritually broke you already. (I mean yeah Sam has had it PLENTY hard in other ways but Dean and crossroads demons is a very different story to Sam)

"Let's hear the guy out." "And after that we kill him."

I continue to be enraged that Dean is wearing sensible black and at least MUTED purples and Sam's wearing the orange jacket and a plaid with like, hazard day glo orange strips sewn into it.

:) Smile Diner :)

it's horrifying, but it has homemade burgers. I have no clue if this is something they scouted out or repainted but the brickwork having yellow lines is like WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING in film language, like DO NOT ENTER police tape coding. IRL it would be whimsical, especially with all the smilies. On screen, it it horrifying. There's red signage and green neon boxing the window I think they're gonna sit in, and red and green are the poison codependency colours I think? According to Zerbe? I don't know if that's the dynamic here but it's certainly not GOOD, especially boxed in by yellow and black hazard warnings.

There's a pretty bridge and a sunset/rise in the sign. It's incongruous to the smile theme at least because it doesn't directly relate to smiling, and is just a random image. I would assume it's symbolic in some way... Cas is of course the sun, this does mimic the Gas n Sip logo (especially as it has a maroon version), and the road seems to lead away from the sun across the bridge. They're not helping Cas going in here, that's for sure :P

Lots of potted plants in here, and one behind Bart.

"The famous Winchesters!" "Some random demon." Dean is in a power play with him and now they're face to face rather than at a disadvantage over the phone, he's gonna win this one. Watch.

Bart offers a nickname to them, which could be a power play to say hey I'm so powerful we get on nickname terms because I allow you and you should be grateful or whatever, but his name sounds like an old powerful demon name (he and Asmodeus both have old school "us" endings to their names) and so he's actually neutering the part that makes his name sound powerful and impressive. He may be preempting Dean's infamous nicknaming habit, but Dean does it to be dismissive or to humanise. And he's not gonna get the latter treatment :P

Again, offering them to sit and then trying to get Dean on his side with pie - gesture after gesture of power, being the one in control, and knowing them, and the pie is the first sign he's done his Winchester Homework, which bad guys notoriously get wrong or misread. In this case, he's got Dean down as the stupid dumb muscle who can be bribed with pie, and I assume missing aaall the complexity of why demons fear him so much.

He labels Dean a "disrupter" when Dean has been tasked with maintaining the natural order. Dean has only ever tried to STOP bad stuff happening, and though he's ACCIDENTALLY helped unleash a bunch of stuff, it's never been because he WANTS to. He's helped cause a lot of the disruption in Hell with his actions, but that's because Hell is bad and he wants to stop it doing bad things. In general Dean's big victories have been to try and secure the natural order staying as it is, with his two biggest victories being Swan Song and settling things with God and Amara.

I love how the framing here has all that green light behind the Winchesters, but aside from a line of green behind Bart's head, he's got this innocent white flowery wall and some roses behind him.

Again, Sam snatches up the spell, Dean doubts immediately, I guess if not that the spell is real that why a demon would just GIVE it to him without ulterior motives. Just be upfront about the ulterior motives :P

He re-introduces himself as first a cross-roads demon and then THE cross-roads demon, a clarification again. He doesn't say king of the crossroads, but he does smirk at Dean, and says helping people is what he does... Yeah, to a degree. They have to PAY for it. But it's that smarmy salesman charm, this time mixed with someone who looks like a thug boss, the sort who dresses nice but has goons.

I mean we KNOW he does, but his look is very typical of nice suit, close-cropped hair, and just generally heavy set like he's used to being intimidating more than relying on his words, when you go to cast this guy.

Dean says they don't listen to/help demons, just kill them, and for one thing Bart's got to know about Crowley, but he says "How Dean of you" like he knows Dean is the one who just threatens to/will kill demons and not think about it. I mean Dean could be showing he's learned from experience. But of course then, the great meta about him negging Dean, by switching focus to Sam, who's already been established even before they get in the diner that he's going to be more willing to listen, that he's the "smart one" aka the one more likely to make a bad decision by listening to people he shouldn't while trying to help.

And, of course, Dean eats his pie, and we already made the parallels to other scenes like this in diners, but Ishim stands out the most, throwing money at Dean to shut up and buy himself some pie. In this case the pie is already here, and Dean's allowed to be suspicious but also eat the pie because hey, it's here.

Bart treated Dean like he was the stupid pie guy so Dean, who doesn't trust him an inch, acts like the stupid pie guy, while not giving any ground. He is not bribed by the pie, but Sam can't believe Dean's eating it.

There's a world of metaphor there about Dean and seduction. Because of course Bart came on strong to Dean, but Dean wasn't buying that either, the coded second layer of the conversation about him being Crowley2.0 and thinking maybe he can find a way to unlock Dean's interest in dudes... by offering pie of course. Doesn't work like that, you have to earn it. And the coming on too strong is the first weakness he has in not measuring up to Crowley, despite how it all seems like he has the ~perfect plan~ in place.

They're STIIIILL in these shirts

Wow, that's some old Biblical stuff. Guess that explains why Dabb tweeted that, pretty quickly. I don't know much about the Queen of Shiba but the idea she's a nephilim is kind of amusing.

I'll have to leave that to the experts but anyway, more douchey guys, although this time King Solomon is keeping tabs on someone like a dick, so um. Welcome to the club of symbolism this part of the season? I assume this is the same guy from the Song of Solomon that we saw Jack glance at in 13x02, and it's more romantic stuff as well.

Sam's like "Jack is out there in the world, and he's alone and he's scared and he's dangerous", which is exactly Dean's stance from 13x01 saying better to keep Jack in the Bunker with them so the only people he'd hurt are them. Yes Sam still seems to care about Jack, but he is also now valuing him practically, and seeing he's dangerous, and it's caused this flip in his attitude to one mirroring Dean's but obviously with much less hate and upset about what happened to Cas etc

Heist HQ!

Quirky random demons! Hat and headphone demons.

Hahahah they're called Smash and Grab. Smash has flowery DMs so I love her. Grab is wearing that hat voluntarily so I am not so sure about him at all.

PS: in America has flipping the bird with 2 fingers become a thing or was that a peace sign? When I was a young'un I was told that you always had to do peace signs palm out because showing the back of your hand with the exact same gesture was as bad/worse than giving someone the finger.

Is Smash human? Since he said Grab is a demon that leaves an empty space over what she is.

Lol, Dean realising it's a heist. "What is this, a heist? Hold on, is this a heist?"

Hahahahahha his favourite My Little Pony... Come on Dean, you kept the little pony you cut off that car in 7x06. You literally can not throw stones in this house.

Luther Shrike looks like if he was on UK TV he'd be played by the guy who played Walder Frey (David Bradley).

There's some stuff on the board that looks like the Sumerian(?) that Kevin translated the angel tablet into. Since we already had Kevin back on screen, it seems superfluous to mention, but it gives me a 4 in a row for mentioning Kevin in an episode this season so BINGO and more dramatic irony that Sam and Dean don't know he's responsible for Lucifer coming back, or, indeed, that Lucifer is back.

(With a bonus grumble from me that it's a reminder, in this season about a nephilim, that we still don't know what the angel fall spell's specific wording was)

Oh boy the "hell and back" thing. Ouch. So we're apparently delving THIS now? Is this penance for 11x10 and Dean not seeming too bothered to go back down there aside from token nervousness about the whole thing in the acting? Anyway getting flashbacks to that out of the blue... Look I am a smol sensitive Dean girl you can't just throw that at me. D:

It's interesting the perhaps king of the crossroads can't swing this with a random soul. I would assume it's specifically blood of someone CONDEMNED to Hell and saved/brought back. And woah I have it paused right after the flashback to collect myself, but either this has to get a Cas mention or it's one heck of an empty space in the story that Cas saved Dean and is the reason he's viable for this.

And lol lol lol lol see above like THREE PARAGRAPHS AGO I am never ever going to be over the angel fall spell and the fact it required grace in such... suspicious... circumstances of nephilim and cupids, and the whole theme of clarification, and how we have these such specific spells - virgin blood in 12x22, archangel grace last episode, and human who has been to hell and back now...

I'm just saying, I'm gonna be on my deathbed when I'm 150 like "the angel fall spell needed the grace of an angel in love with a human, come fight me, Carver" and then I give up the ghost just so I can go beat him up in the afterlife.

Bart beams at Dean, wanting his blood. Dean offers it up just to get this over and done with, but he says, no, straight from the tap and anyway you two are extremely competent in a weird crisis, why the heck would I not exploit that I need your manpower for this?

Shrike is human who has been to hell and back - obviously a dark Dean mirror because apparently he's a sadist and murderer, and Dean's entire thing is whether he's a killer or not for doing this job he does and I have gifsets and meta blahing on and on about that but yeah basically 2x03 set up that for Dean about how you do the job because you like/need killing or you do it to save people, and his torturer arc, and his Mark of Cain/demon descent... Nuff said for now.

UGH so Sam pulls Dean aside and says, "we want that spell - we NEED that spell" which is a huge clarification, and literally the want/need theme you are probably aware I bang on about a weeeeeeeeeeeee little bit. In general it's the "use your words" theme which does not harm Sam for the reminder but also is a huge Destiel theme because the need/want thing is from the crypt scene/10x19 with the call out on the crypt scene from Dean's subconscious and the ongoing issue of whether Cas feels needed or wanted, with the fact he feels "needed" called out in OH WAIT 13x04, aka last time out for Glynn... the fact the clarification is coming now in the other direction is because this is a Sam thing anyways, and - UGH I have it paused with him on screen and he seems to have an even worse shirt on? - it's not about Destiel subtext for him it's just using your words and in general bolstering the presence of the theme. Of course they don't just want the spell for kicks, they have a serious reason for needing it. In fact Sam's concern about Jack going from emotional concern for Jack himself to seeing Jack as a dangerous crisis is encapsulated in turning a desire into an obligation.

"He'll never see us coming"

"they're coming"

More dramatic irony, immediately showing us that on the other side of the story the bad guy has more information than they think he does, and that they aren't going to have it as easy as they think. That Bart has already been made as a traitor and that Asmodeus knows his next move will be exactly this.

Asmodeus may not even be *on screen* in this episode and he's being written as more intelligent than he has been in both Buckleming episodes, which is super unfortunate that he's supposed to be an intelligent character and we have to judge the characterisation of these unfortunates who are main BL property off their depiction in OTHER episodes...

And yeah Shrike may chat with demons but he has demon traps, exorcisms memorised and he toes the line of a horrible human being but not demonic himself, but such a hair's breadth away that demons and demon interactions and generally knowing wtf is going on with demons is just his life.

He has a really pretty grate which I think is specifically in the hall so that he can exorcise demons out through it. It probably goes straight to Hell

His windows also have bars on them which look like random jumble to an unfamiliar eye but are of course iron warding

I think he also has grapevines. He lives on a vineyard with barbed wire and demon traps on the gates.

The metalwork is the coolest thing in this episode and this episode is not half bad so far

Oh my god Dean called out poor Smash for her amazing boots and called her "Winona" - she DOES bear a passing resemblance, but hey leave the boots alone.

Anyway that moment just to show they're top and tail under a blanket in the back of the Impala which is pretty funny to me - I'm never sure you can actually fit anyone in there like that but they want to prove me wrong.

I'm like 1000% sure Sam's ruse doesn't work, because Shrike knows they're coming but he's let in anyway because why not. Let's have some fun. Interesting that Sam's the one made to do this. Having to lie and we already KNOW he's been caught out.

Anyway more focus on the boots... 3 times and I'm super worried we're gonna have to identify some remains by the flowery boots >.>

Or more positively it could be used to fuck with us in some way

"Dean? Don't get dead." "you too." Aw.

Is Grab in the trunk of the car?

Iron warded door. Yeah, that's normal.

For these guests, the rug is pulled back, the demon trap is plain to see on the floor. We see Sam from above, like he's being watched.

Shrike's front room/office is like Metatron's desk? I swear he had that lamp. Cuthbert's house... I swear that's Bobby's wallpaper or one in a similar hue with appropriately similar patterns to at least make a sort of sense of familiarity.

Awww Dean and Smash. He calls her weird but then spots she's drinking the delightful sounding does what it says on the tin NERVE DAMAGE, and then he says he used to live on it as a kid, despite its illegal amounts of caffeine.

Ew and she's getting it expired on ebay.

Dean, she may be bonding with you, but don't drink it. It's literally called Nerve Damage.

Welp

he's gonna be bouncing off the walls after 1 sip

OH they have to summon Grab I guess?

"Cool."

Hahahaha

Dean's babysitting the weirdoes.

Heh, calls Dean "chief"

HAHAHAHA Smash told Grab off screen that Dean was just a pretty face :P

WHOOPS looks like Dean just got puppeted by his own blood. Like a couple of weeks ago or something I was writing about a worst case scenario for Jack's powers being that they completely overwhelm him and he's like, inside waiting to be busted out, perhaps as a conclusion of the crypt scene/swan song repetitions from an external evil possessing and controlling to an internal force making it happen - a slow process but it really has switched, and it has been a fairly smooth slope down :D

Also that was hilarious. Poor Dean.

Dean's being poisoned with NERVE DAMAGE and Sam's being poisoned with homemade gin. If that's what it really is.

Hahahahahah Sam picking up a basilisk fang. We've all seen Harry Potter

LOL Sam knows random knowledge about basilisks and gorgons. Of course it's a test, and Shrike would know what it was, but good on Sam for recognising it. I watched Tall Tales so recently I'm still giggling about him recognising a crocodile belly scale, but now I just think Sam has an affinity for identifying the weirder monsters. He must have read a load of junk about them in the MoL bunker.

His persona as the collector guy wanting to sell to Shrike is basically Sam but with a bit more nervous bluster, which might be explained by knowing how dangerous this guy is and that Sam is having to pretend. He's not even wearing clothes as a get up here.

OH BOY Sam's big gambit is Ruby's knife... I remember in my 8x02 watching notes (hi Dabb) I was amused that they kind of forget that that knife is one of the most valuable things they own and they just dropped it in the weapon bin with a warning, rather than considering even trading it for the tablet or whatever even as a ruse... Just the idea they go around laden with magical artefacts that help them all the time like this which would actually be priceless to collectors - like in 12x06 Asa having an angel blade on blue felt in a glass case.

I don't think there's been a strong bias about which one of them has an angel blade and which one still uses this knife in fights since Carver era, but Dean took it to Purgatory, while Sam seemed to have more consistent possession of it for a while, Dean was the one who wrangled it from Ruby in 3x16 and sort of formally took ownership of it on behalf of the Winchesters.

Given the emotional background to this season of Sam's powers being explored through Jack, though, it is interesting (since they have enough angel blades they could just swap to using them all the time instead of this knife, which is a relic of Sam's darkest times) to just give it up, but quite aside from its worth to the right market, it has an enormous emotional weight of the season 3-4-5 drama for the Winchesters, and remembering it as Ruby's knife ties it to Sam. He still uses her knife and keeps her memory close, perhaps just as a reminder. But that weight is there and bringing it up is a reminder of all that, because so often we just see it as a tool, but this is asking us to stop and CONSIDER what that knife actually means, how much it's worth, and how even though they could stop using it these days, they don't, but what it would mean to Sam to give it up.

Dean reeeally not getting along with Grab. Who, of course, is the demon in this mix. The fact Smash is not a demon is only brought up in that scene where Dean is talking about her working with demons - it's taken for granted that she's human and perhaps that is the default, but not when you're expecting a room full of demons as we might be when meeting them. So. More empty space fill in the blanks, use context and people using or not using definitions to not be surprised that she's human.

Anyway Grab calls Sam stupid and Dean gets so angry he stops and turns around even though the spell's been dragging him along so there's a ridic Swan Song mirror for the collection - while "puppeted" by the spell, "defensiveness" of his brother halts Dean's progress...

Aaaand he's off again. Not enough? :P

Hey creepy underground cellars. That's never bad.

LOL Dean gets called HANDPUPPET

Mr Fizzles can tell when you're being a liaaaaaaaaaaaaaar

"I will kill you." "I bet you say that to all the girls." Awww and here was I thinking Dean wouldn't get flirted with any more this episode.

That was literally from the Crowley handbook - 9x10/9x11 made a huge point out of it.

This murder cellar connects to 12x01, 12x12, and 12x20, with the cellars being where Sam was kept and the twig people were made, and 12x12 for the basement Ramiel kept his shit in. Crossing them all over into this is super fun.

I guess this is where Smash does her thing?

GREAT door.

I hope that thing doesn't bite

It almost certainly bites

Oooh Shrike thinks Sam is a demon.

He didn't see him not get stuck in the demon trap out in the hall.

He has some of the info but not ALL of the info - in this way, while Bart sent them to deal with curveballs, Sam has turned out to be the curveball instead.

Ow that's a big hole to blow in the books, that were nearly Sam.

He conveniently slides back to his knife.

On the other hand re: curveballs, if Shrike thinks he's a demon, that shotgun blast wouldn't have killed a demon but it will kill a Sam.

Sam just goes and stabs the dude.

"As long as I'm on my property I can't die."

Well that's annoyingly cheaty

I wonder if it's symbolic of something but I can't instantly link it to anything so I have to move on.

There's something very like the Cain stuff with Dean in 9x11 between Sam and this guy, especially as they matched up as equals in knowledge about gorgons or whatever earlier.

MAW

DEAN LOOKS INTO THE MAW

Dean does not like spiders.

Hard same.

Why is he always so relatable

I'm cackling so much at his reluctance to put his hand in there. It's like the not wanting to go in the hole in 13x06 but so much funnier because... spiders.

There was an eel tank at the local aquarium when I was a kid which had a game EMBEDDED in the side of the eel tank to put your hand in and feel what an eel feels like.

I'm having, like. PTSD flashbacks to this and the Tiger Head in the museum which terrified the living daylights out of us as children and we wouldn't even go past it because it looked so fierce with its big open mouth

this is literally combining two of The Most Horrifying Things about my childhood into one

Plus biting for blood = needles to draw blood which is a rather more recent thing what with recently coming down with a mystery chronic illness and spending 2 years fishing around for a diagnosis via endless blood drawing, so put that one on the list

I believe in you, Dean. You're stronger than me.

He's stronger than me

I love him more than I have ever loved him in this exact moment

He had to account for the fact that Shrike might regularly go in here so of course it won't take YOUR HAND or something.

Of course it's a massive suspense thing for a teeny weeny pinprick. Of course.

This is like the dead opposite of the Werther Box - it's just a key for the lock, not like... the entire murderous thing Cuthbert designed

NINJA reflexes to save Smash there

Bye Grab. You were a dick.

OH NOES Shrike is here, with the demon knife, covered in blood. That's not worrying for Dean to see AT ALL.

Smash just legs it.

Awww she seemed to care about Grab at least a little... They had matchy matchy names.

Dean wants to go watch Game of Thrones.

Walder Frey knock off prefers to read the books

how did Sam get here.

I'm gonna assume like... not!Sam for now, since he saved the day so fortuitously.

Bart lurkin' outside.

Not surprising at all that Smash has a deal with him. I doubt he's letting her off easy, either, she's going to be sent right back.

Does Shrike just walk through this thing and ignore all the darts because they can't kill him?

"Shrek"

Sam sure has some quick and easy insights into the keypad.

"Like in Entrapment"

"Did you just say Entrapment?"

... Did Sam just get busted over his pop culture knowledge, by Dean, slower on the uptake than what I thought was weird for Sam?

Omg they're sending Shrike through because the darts can't kill him. This is ridiculous

That *was* ridiculous, but funny

Winchester problem solving.

Awwwww Smash is back, if it's really her.

Sam figures out she has a deal.

He also has a real side-eye of Dean. If he's actually Sam I got to re-evaluate him through this section :P

If not, I have another case of something impersonating Sam while doing The Eyebrows

More horrifying: this is Sam actually doing The Eyebrows

Oh god it's full daylight all of a sudden and Sam's plaid

is orange

under the orange jacket

I hate Sam Winchester

undying feud levels

Guess this is the edge of the property where he can't be killed? Be hilarious if they get him over the line somehow to kill him

STUNT DRIVING

Suddenly backstory and emotional music plays.

Starting to think nothing’s up with Sam though, like, if he actually was replaced or not, because it was really funny imagining it and not letting them get the drop on me if it happened, and Sam being called out on his references etc, but we're getting pretty far into it all like leaving the property, having this moment, etc, so maybe it was just a fake out and Sam BAMF'd himself free off-screen or was never even tied up

Seems to just be a story of life, though that Shrike's kid died so soon after he was saved, and it was a "waste" of a demon deal. He seems like he must have already been a certain sort of person to know how to MAKE the deal...

What's in the trunk...

Ooh I wondered if it would be as soon as Bart wasn’t forthcoming. So a 6x04 parallel as well (or 6x10, which dealt a lot more with them having to work for Crowley).

Oooh they were off the property. WHOOPS. It *was* the gates. I thought so but I didn't figure he'd be so stupid to face them head on.

Although it was over Bart's bones so it was a risk he had to take to leave?

And now we have a new problem :P

Awww poor Smash

And there's the rest of the spell. Do they take it?

Oookay I was thinking Sam would have to be Sam for this part and he and Dean are making emotional decisions together and Sam's picking the correct path so... I guess I have to assume 100% this is Sam again? Mittens isn't talking to me about stuff from this episode like there's too many spoilers for her to humour me about stuff. Even what I thought were silly things.

And now Smash/Alice is in peril after they made the decision that they do not want to get involved in Bart's shit because he's a shitty person.

Bye bye Bart :3 Nice move, Dean.

So basically, yep, Bart tried so hard to be what Crowley was to Dean in their opening interaction and all his set up to come across as like... something Dean had been missing? That Dean might WANT a demon ally to be on the hook with/have on his hook, even just have on his SPEED DIAL, because to him that probably meant being able to manipulate the Winchesters and so on...

But as I figured from the opening, he just completely underestimates them, including that Dean is way way way waaaay smarter than he gives him credit for, so OF COURSE Dean wins by outsmarting him, by doing what soulless!Sam STOPPED Dean from doing in 6x04 and just torching Crowley on the spot because what did they REALLY owe him and how much loyalty could you really have from a demon as uneasy business partners... So Dean outwits him, and in a move almost exactly like 13x06 he sets up the tools and someone else gets the kill but it's Dean who outsmarted the monster.

And whooops half of half a spell? Not even half... it's all gone.

Whoooops. Well at least they saved Alice. And they're putting her on a bus, as they usually do with characters they won't see again.

There's like 2 minutes left, which is always an ominous sign.

Anyway *waves goodbye to Alice*

*Dean pats Sam on the shoulder and we get the last look at Sam smiling*

Aaand to the Bunker, where Dean is getting them some beers while wearing his black Henley.

Like the whole thing resolved with that dude and Bart is dead and all (... they better find someone to replace him although constantly subbing in random "I'm the new king of the crossroads" characters might get a bit ridiculous, we know there's going to be an opening someone will take... I really hope that was a cue to get us to whoever takes over... If not they just make it even more frustrating that I’ve been waiting 7 years to know if someone replaced Crowley or he was doing both jobs, and now it’s made even more clear there’s a job for a secondary powerful demon in hell to show up in this role and the head crossroads demon is a serious position with power and such... It’s such a frustrating hole in the world building to overlook and I've been over-thinking it for longer than I’ve been on tumblr by a good few years.)

anyway Sam n Dean are talking

Is Sam going to explain how he escaped from being knocked out and showed up with perfect timing, or was that the plot hole?

Nah, they just have a nice talk about the job and how saving people is fun, and all. And Dean being optimistic. Yay! It's a similar call out to 13x06 and why Dean was so obscenely happy in the cowboy room, but Sam is now seeing that Dean is permanently feeling better even in ridiculous situations, and his mood really has permanently resettled to optimism and cheerfulness again and it is NOT just the cowboys.

Okay so I probably need to watch the last part of the episode again but I am now weirdly curious about what happened to Sam - though we know he's great at escaping things, but Shrike put his life into doubt to Dean, and we had no reason to assume he'd leave Sam in a place where he could easily get out, I'm guessing now that the way he showed up looking like he COULD have just killed and/or maimed Sam with that bloody knife, and I even pointed out that to DEAN'S eyes it would look sooo much worse than if it was as simple as Shrike knocked Sam out, and immediately legged it to the safe to check on it while just hoping unconsciousness would be enough to keep Sam down. (He has an iron skull after being knocked out so many times - like that thing where you kung fu your hands to have tons of micro fractures in order for the bones to heal stronger? That's Sam's head.)

He seemed to be put into question after he showed up again and I began to doubt it again as soon as they left the property because it would make no sense to leave Sam behind and just take a fake with them for the emotional resolution of the episode. Especially once they got into it and it was blatantly a straightforward emotional resolution to the episode that Sam had too much of a stake in for it NOT to be him at that point.

BUT Dean questioned Sam's reference to a thing right after he showed back up, while Sam was coming up with some hilarious ideas for solving things in a way written which you COULD think he was not!Sam and someone with more info/their own stake in this (e.g. the worry Asmodeus was coming) just because it was Sam at his most mercenary to come up with the "just send the guy who can't die over the traps to spring them all" plan... We KNOW Sam can be like that but at the same time... Sam being like that can also be some other person who would think like that as the LEAST WORST thing they thought that day instead of the actual worst.

Anyway it was all set up in such a way that Dean calling out something he didn't expect about Sam means he's questioning the people around him when they behave uncharacteristically - because he KNOWS his loved ones. He understands when they aren't behaving like themselves. He gets a secret out of Sam that he watched something he'd never normally watch just for Catherine Zeta-Jones, which Dean has to concede, while struggling with how much to mock Sam. It's interesting they use the empty space of Sam arriving without explanation to cast him into doubt, then have him doubted, verbally putting something out there that Dean stopped to question what Sam was saying. They brush it off, and it ends up being nothing, but considering the looming possibility of Casmodeus - and the fact that Sam started the episode saying he'd talked to Cas so they have literally been decieved THIS episode without knowing it (and Dean didn't get to verify if it was Cas or not - another reason to phone Sam instead of Dean)...

I wonder if it is leading up to Dean calling out Casmodeus about not being Cas? That this fake out might have been a time it really was Sam, but we and Dean were given a set up to doubt Sam was there in one piece, us with dramatic irony and Dean with just plain not knowing, and so they could play with this concept and it just tapers off - maybe we take the reaction about C Z-J as proof, maybe we eventually decide Sam has to be Sam after all and there's nothing going on here because he's involved earnestly in the emotional decisions at the end of the episode.

But it was interesting. Unlike with Ketch and his twin, it was the sort of set up where I wasn't certain we wouldn't finish the scene and then cut to Sam tied to a chair and bouncing it over to a nearby sharp object to saw himself free and run and stop the drama, at least until the end of that part of the episode. Once we were back out in the clear light of day it was like Sam's disgusting plaid was all the proof we needed it was really him :P

#13x08 #season 13 spoilers #*quietly sets Sam's wardrobe on fire*#my stuff

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afishtrap · 8 years ago

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representing romance in YoI

I’d been thinking about this ever since ep11/12, but @soobaki‘s replies here and here kind of crystallized it for me, because I’m not sure it’s entirely accurate to say that the representation of romance is all that different, cross-culture. There may be more or less shown (especially in everyday life, or in hyperbolic fictions like anime), but falling in love is a pretty universal thing, as are stories about the experience.

What makes this particular story more difficult is that we’re also tackling the question of LGBT representation, which is pretty thin on the ground in Japanese pop culture. (No, I don’t count BL/yuri and other fetishistic genres.) Quoting soobaki:

...i didnt start watching akagami no shirayukihime and think “oh, they might be too uncomfortable showing a kiss, since japan doesnt do pda like the states” b/c that was a heterosexual love story. i didnt have any doubt, and that series didnt feature anything nearly as raunchy as yuri on ice...

That’s always been my rule of thumb, in watching any media representation. Compare the screentime and intimacy of the non-het relationship to what’s shown for the het relationships. Is the screentime equal? Do we see, relatively, the same kind of treatment, weight, and import in the storylines? Except in the case of YoI, it’s such a compressed story that there’s really only one other romantic couple. Three more are former couples; Yakov and his ex, Georgi and his ex, Mila and her implied ex-boyfriend. For JJ and his fiancee, we see physical closeness in person and in their instagram, verbal affirmation of their relationship (how they refer to each other), and of course the public display of their own rings. So at minimum, we know that these signifiers are being treated, in-story, as ‘enough to let you know there’s a serious relationship here’.

For Yuuri and Victor, we see them hug; we see Victor showing physical affection to Yuuri, in public; we see Victor also publicly displaying/declaring the intent behind their rings. In that regard, if Yuuri and Victor were a background couple like JJ and his fiancee, then I’d probably call the representation equal.

But Yuuri and Victor are the central couple, and the emotional foundation of the story is their romance, although screentime-wise it’s probably a sub-plot within the overall sports genre storyline. For the moment, genderbend one of them, and make this a het romance. What would we reasonably expect to see, in the course of a developing romantic subplot?

I should note that I think it’s a bit misleading to compare YoI, which I’d say is in the ‘first-love’ genre of romance, to more adult fare. (While some US/UK media can get considerably steamier, I’ve seen plenty of Japanese media that may fade to black but otherwise doesn’t shirk from showing before or after of an implied sex scene.) Setting aside any prurient interest and just getting to the bones of a romance, what stages do we expect, in a story, that clue us in on the romantic progress?

1: Action. It starts with one character expressing/realizing an interest in another. It might be a bit ambiguous, if this character isn’t the POV character, but in hindsight, it’s clearly interest.

2: Reaction. The POV character develops a growing attraction in return. There might be some waffling, or rationalizing; side-characters may play a role in helping the POV character realize this is like-like, and not just like. Or the character may recognize it on their own, but we get some point where the audience can see that the attraction is now reciprocated.

3: Action. Some sort of gesture that signifies the two characters each recognize each the other‘s interest. This could be anything: shyly holding hands, agreeing to go out on a date, open self-aware flirtation. Cultures vary in this regard, but regardless of the intensity of the gesture, neither character is ignorant of the meaning (and neither is the audience).

4: Reaction. A slight drawing-back, or assessment. This is when each character ‘touches base’ with friends, family, coworkers. It’s a reaction stage, whether this reaction is from supportive (or disbelieving) side-characters, and that reaction allows the audience to see the characters’ own evolution from strangers to something close. This stage also lets us see the characters’ movement from seeing themselves as one person interested in another, to the beginning stages of seeing themselves as potentially one-half of a couple.

5: Action. Another step forward, increasing the intimacy again. In more adult fare, #3 might be the first kiss, while #5 is having sex; in a first-love story (or less PDA-happy cultures), #3 could be holding hands, while #5 is the first kiss. Whatever the levels, it’s displaying progression, and growing intimacy.

6: Reaction. Again the assessment, where the character’s reaction to the increased intimacy is contrasted with their previous reaction, in #4. If a character was doubtful/worried in #4, we’ll see glimmers of confidence in #6; if they did most of the talking in #4, we’ll see less of that as side-characters fill the gaps in #6 while the character holds back details. For the audience, this confirms that the relationship is now impacting the character beyond the relationship, and changing how they see/interact with friends outside that relationship.

7: Action. A final affirmation of the relationship. Depending on the time, place, culture, and personalities, this might be a wedding proposal, moving in together, showing up at a public event together... but it’s a step that seals the relationship as existing within the public sphere, and that the two characters are now interacting with the world as a couple. (You could say the world’s response counts as a #8 reaction, closing out the cycle, though this is usually a low-key final step compared to the rest.)

How much of that did we get, in YoI? Because it seems to me that some of these steps got skipped, and that’s why I felt a bit like I’d missed half the story, somewhere. I was expecting some kind of a progressive dynamic for the romantic subplot, but instead I only got snapshots at certain points in time, with the rest missing completely (not even mentioned in passing).

We got #1, with Victor’s advances. There’s a subtle #2, when Yuuri realizes he wants Victor to stay. I’m not really sure where/when #3 happened, and I’m not sure that scene on the beach counts; that conversation was about the role Victor would play, and not about their mutual attraction. Unless the kiss in ep7 was meant as the third step, but I think it was @caramelcheese and/or @soobaki who argued pretty persuasively that Yuuri’s reactions are completely off-base for a first kiss (especially one so public).

Which means we missed that first mutual recognition, as well as the reaction to that recognition. Instead, we saw a public kiss well after the point where this would’ve been a landmark event (of moving to the next level in couple-ship), which I’d argue is why people were kind of thrown by the total lack of anyone reacting to the kiss at all (even from announcers, or a passing conversation between Yuuri and anyone). It’s ‘cause when the characters move to the next level, the audience needs that reaction to see how the characters are handling it, how they rationalize, interpret, hope/fear/whatever.

The proposal in the airport might be #5, and this might be echoed by the way the hotel beds appear to be pushed together in eps 9-12. We’re to assume, I suppose, that #5 indicates the emotional progression, and subtle background clues imply a concurrent physical progression. But again, there’s no reaction stage; nothing where we can see via side-character conversations the changes ‘being in a new relationship’ have wrought on either of the characters. It’s like they exist entirely outside any kind of greater world, or they’re fine showing hints of their relationship (the kiss, the rings) yet don’t actually discuss it with anyone. Victor does give it some time, in ep10, but I’d say overall the reaction time is so minimal that it took hindsight to think that perhaps some of those quick scenes were meant to imply reaction/processing time, maybe.

We do get #7, of course, with Victor’s announcement in ep10 about the rings, but that’s pretty much the first time we get any definitive reactions from any other characters. And I’d argue that the jumpy progression (with gaps) is part of the reason some of us feel like ep12 was strangely ambiguous. We never really got a good look inside Yuuri’s head via external conversations, about his relationship with Victor (as a lover, as opposed to as his coach), so it’s hard to gauge things. His inner dialogue is pretty consistently about their coach-student relationship, rather than grappling with the newness of a boyfriends-lovers relationship.

Now, going back to the switch of treating this like a het romance: if this had been a het romance, I would’ve been completely baffled as to the writers’ choices to leave off half the relationship’s progression. I probably wouldn’t even be sure there really is a relationship--or I’d be seriously distrusting the strength of the relationship. The only stories I can think of where the reaction steps are skipped are stories that aren’t actually romances, but are either horror (where #7 contains a reveal like, idk, the love interest is actually a ghost or already married or something equally shattering). Or they’re just abusive crap where the love interest wants to keep everything private, and isolate/control the protagonist, which I don’t find romantic at all, so much as just plain horrifying.

By that measure, I’m stuck saying YoI is simply too coy, because nothing supports that ‘sudden reveal horror’ twist (and there isn’t one, regardless). The simple conclusion is that the writers wouldn’t, or couldn’t, give the main romance a weight in the storyline equivalent to what I’d reasonably expect from a het romance.

As much as I do love the story and the characters, and will praise it endlessly for its representations of depression (Victor) and anxiety (Yuuri), I do think the lack of fully exploring the relationship’s progression--and in a sense, failing to respect the characters fully--is part of what renders the last two episodes rather flat. Without a complete sense of the relationship’s dynamics, we lost some of the emotional heft that might’ve alleviated the eleventh-hour switchups. We could’ve still felt confident that the relationship itself had moved through understandable stages to a good conclusion, even if the overall (sports genre) plot remained truncated.

Somewhat related: I wonder how much the writers chose to expurgate due to fear/worry that showing more (iow, giving the same weight as a het romance) would automatically land it in the category of fetishistic/yaoi/BL. I’m not convinced that’s so; Aniplex/BONES did No.6, and you can see the stages of negotiation, including internal/external reactions via other characters, with the mlm aspect treated matter-of-factly. (Not even sure it’d even qualify as a romance, but that’s a post for another day.)

But my sense remains, underscored by the post-broadcast comments of ‘not gay, but transcendental’ that there was a better/richer story hiding underneath, and it’s just one they didn’t have the nerve to tell. Then again, seeing how they didn’t have the nerve to carry through on the first ten episodes of promises all the way to the end, I guess I’m not surprised that under careful analysis, even the main romantic subplot was given short shrift, too.

#yoimeta #yuri on ice #analysis is my chocolate cake

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life-rewritten · 4 years ago

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The Gifted Graduation Series: An Ode to Pang and Wave’s love

As much as I try hard not to fangirl in this blog, and try to focus on just analysis and theories when it comes to this show. This time I can't help it, when it comes to this show I always wonder if I should call it a Thai bl? Or if I should just accept that it isn't and move on, but then they give me these two's interaction, and then I'm a mess screaming there's no way Gifted is not a BL series. You don't need kisses or explicit confirmations of love between two men for a show to be a BL for me; I call Great Man Academy a BL and it's a gender bender, but it's still a BL for me. Why can't I do the same with Gifted the series? Because honestly the love of Pang and Wave may not be canon / confirmed as a romance, but for me, there's nothing else to explain it? I've tried using the oh they're best friends who are soulmates line, but like that's even more of a reason why they're in love, it's not like they get mirror images to other BL couple scenes right? (but then we get the earphones sharing thing which was the same as Sarawatine in 2gether the series, PhuKao in oxygen the series), it's not like they're proclaiming out to each other how much they'd die for each other? (but then we have Wave going to sacrifice himself with a virus that could potentially kill him and take away his powers just so Pang stays safe and then Pang doing the same in order to protect him), it's not like they tell each other every day how much the other person means to them (but then you have Wave saying he's so stupid for never giving up on Pang) and it's like wait for what? This has to be love, this has to be romantic love, I can have many best friends, but I don't think I'd lean close to their face inches from kissing and say that I would gladly give everything, my life, my ideals, my hopes and dreams just so they can stay by my side forever maybe its cause I'm a lousy friend who knows?

But when I see that kind of soulmate, passionate and unconditional love my brain goes into overdrive. These two are made for each other if they were a boy and a girl (in this heterosexual forced society we're in) this would be the ultimate power couple heck we'd have seen them already make out by now multiple times. So let me just have this okay? Let me just write an ode to one of the greatest ships in NON-Thai BL history, and let me explain to you why The gifted series is a BL to me even if Pang and Wave don't end up on the rooftops telling each other how in love they are. I'm fine with that, in my head, they've already passed that stage and are lovers, on their way to defeating evil and saving the world and staying together for the rest of their lives. Let's begin

Let's look at episode 10-11 in the Gifted Graduation before I keep on writing essays about these two's dynamic—the Virus.

THE VIRUS

You know what Pang and Wave have is special, and obvious when even the villain who is a psychopath can see that Wave is Pang's weak link. Supot threatens the other students, so they don't hide Pang's whereabouts, but he ensures that he gives a long side-eye to Wave, he smirks like he already has a plan for him, like he already knows what's about to happen, like he already understands that Wave is no longer the Wave in season 1 who'd sacrifice everything to ensure he's safe and his powers are still intact, but Wave is now Pang's 'friend', the Wave that will sacrifice everything even if it means he's hurt for Pang. And low and behold Supot confirms this with glee later on. It wasn't even a possibility for Wave to betray Pang. For Supot it was a done deal, that he had found a way to secure Pang under his control. That reason was Wave.

REASONS FOR WHY WAVE TOOK THE VIRUS:

Because he can't betray Pang, that's an apparent reason. But it's more than that; at this moment Pang has shown that his idealism for the better world is a failure, he ended up doing the opposite and actually was the cause of Supot taking over the school system and being the messed up dictator that he is. Pang is the person who set his plans in motion. Wave should be furious, should be doubtful, should be tired, but no, one thing stays the same. He won't give up on Pang no matter what. Don't get him wrong he is furious, doubtful and annoyed, he even shouts to Pang this episode that he's so stupid for never giving up on him, for always wanting to save him, for always wanting him to be right. And if you know Wave who is the very optimum of knowledge and logic, him choosing to go against everything that is presented in front of him just to keep on believing in Pang is insane, his undying love and loyalty for Pang can't be broken. And he knows it, and he laments about it, but you know what he's okay with it as long as Pang is safe.

Because he was guessing how Pang was feeling after everything that happened. He could already see what happens next; Pang would be so exhausted, mentally and physically drained, and probably on the verge of giving up and choosing to end all his hopes and beliefs. He knew precisely how Pang would feel, so he took drastic measures, the only thing that could bring Pang up to his feet was if someone he cared about was hurt or in danger of being hurt by Supot. He took the Virus so Pang will get up and stop moping and hiding and do something. He believed that what they had would cause Pang to switch on and be determined to help again. It was the only way he could do that. And for Wave, Pang's spirit, idealism, and optimism were more needed than his own potential. Pang was his most trusted hope for the future, so he gave everything to ensure he didn't lose that.

Because he trusts Pang will find a cure. Because it's Pang. No matter what they've been through because Wave believes so much in Pang's potential and power, he knows that they'd be fine. It doesn't matter how many times they've failed before, it doesn't matter if the world is cruel and manipulative, it doesn't matter if people betray others, and change their philosophies, because, for Wave, Pang is his rock, Pang will keep fighting for what's right and one day he'll win because he's right. Wave has watched Pang fail and fail time and time again, but he always believes that as long as they're together, they're still hoping, and they still care, they'll be fine. Because Pang showed him why trust and unity are worth it. That's why in episode 4 he doesn't get shaken by Time betraying them he's just like, but we'll win. Because Pang is to him, his winner, if Pang cares and fights for it, Wave will be okay, and he'll be cured again. Because it's Pang, Pang will end up saving the world, and the gifted and Pang will be proven right. That's why although he feels stupid, Pang is the only thing he can't let go of in his mind otherwise his world would crumble; he'll be broken down, and his hope will be shattered, and he doesn't want to be that way like he was in Season 1. For him, Pang is his strength, so giving up his powers, his life, or his logic doesn't faze him because he'll be okay if Pang is still fighting for him to be.

THE REASON FOR PANG’S UNWAVERING FAITH

Let's look at what Wave is to Pang because I've already been repeating over and over again what Pang is to Wave (his strength, trust, hope etc.). Before we do that, let's analyse Pang's relationships when it comes to his idealism for a better world. His anchors should I call it, the people who make him still want to fight for a better world etc.

His friends/colleagues: From season 1, Pang got to be close to everyone, he became a leader for all of the gifted students in his year. He was the one who managed to convince them to fight for what's right. He had them as his team supporting and holding him up, and as we see in season 2, their hopes become frail, they become weak, and they can't keep up with their optimism as the world seems so dim and bleak. His friends trust and hope in him is what makes him determined to be a good leader. It's because of protecting them that he also gives into Supot this episode (after Wave) because he doesn't want them hurt or controlled in that way. They're his bargain chip for Supot. And luckily we see that because Pang is now weaker and controlled by Supot they've taken on the role to ensure that his vision for the world comes through, they've decided to trust no matter what in themselves and him to make sure his hopes comes through.

The students in danger: For Pang, he's the reason why Supot regained his control, and it kills him inside, so he gives up to protect everyone. Pang cares so much about what's right, and people. Equality for people is why he started his fight for a better system, and in this season seeing students be used as lab rats for a virus was very unsettling for him, it's because of this he trusted Supot because he had a way to cure them. The students are his source of determination. he wants to protect everyone and ensure everyone is safe. But now it looks like he's failed with that. However, I don't think, so he probably is still determined now he has Wave by his side (haha) because they're still being used and that's not okay to him he's just secretly looking for a new way to save them.

Grace, Third and Time: The next people that make him want to fight and stay true to his vision is the new generation of gifted who he's come to have to protect as well. Grace, Third and Time represent Pang, Wave and the other gifted students, like Pang they're determined to do what's right, they're optimistic. They don't care about the system, they are willing to fight and advocate for justice and equality. And they look up to him so much, he's their idol because he's inspired them to take on the system and fight for their beliefs. That's why we see them continue to keep on finding ways using their potentials to keep this vision alive. Grace doesn't care about adults, she really appreciates and is grateful for Pang for fighting for all the students, she's seen her friends (and thought one was dead) be used as experiments for this messed up system so yes she believes and wants Pang to be right. And Time started of doubting Pang's ideals, but now he also sees that Pang was right Supot is insane and evil, so he's even more determined to protect and help Pang to defeat Supot. Third likes doing what's right so he also believes in Pang because he can see for now that what Supot is doing isn't right. The new generation of gifted students is more determined now to keep Pang's vision, especially when they now know that change is possible. I'm sure Grace has already convinced Pang and Wave of a new secret way to ensure they have their vision come through, we just won't find out until the end when Supot is blindsided.

WAVE PANG’S FLOAT AND ANCHOR

And then finally there's Wave: See he has his own category for Pang's anchor. Wave is Pang's most needed anchor. He represents Pang's determination, loyalty, and faith in a better world, just like Pang's unwavering loyalty to his idealism for change, Wave returns that back to Pang, he's literally the symbol for Pang's anchor to his idealism. He's his biggest mission accomplice, his anchor when things seem stormy (the person who grounds him and wakes him up from giving up, so he starts finding a new solution, he's the person who reminded Pang of who he was when he lost himself and his memories at the end of season 1, he's the person who's the most loyal to Pang this whole season no matter what happens and he's the person who is determined to believe that they will succeed and fuels Pang with optimism).

He's his float when Pang is drowning, he's the person who reaches out to Pang as he finally wants to fall and give up, the person who gets Pang back up because of his actions, the person who Pang thinks of first when he's being controlled or tempted by Supot, he's Pang's moral compass, a reminder to stay true to his path, and to keep fighting.

Wave is everything to Pang and more, he's Pang's truest source of hope and light when everything feels dark and impossible. He's also Pang's strength. And that's why Pang runs to him every single time it's time to do something for the mission (Wave thinks he's just a tool but he doesn't understand how much Pang needs him to just be there). And because of his knowledge as well he's Pang's guide, and logic because sometimes Pang can get too up in the clouds and so he needs someone to bring him back down. Wave does both, he calls out Pang when he's too selfish and dreamy, and he pulls Pang up when he's being too pessimistic and hopeless. He's Pang's steadfast anchor no other person will do. He's his helper, his person, his confidant, his advice and his brains, no one else.

THE FATED PAIR

But there's also a fated/destined vibe with these two. They're fated to be together. Because in Gifted Graduation there's the fated pairs, two people opposite and partners who want to bring a change to the world. We have Supot and Yuth, we have Chanon and Pom, we have Wave and Pang, and we have Time and Third. The similarities between the fated pairs is another post, but its there on purpose, and so is their different paths/changes that occur in their dynamics. Wave and Pang are the most robust destined pair. One of the teams has the brains, information, the logic and the other has the idealism, the idea, the vision, the hope—each pair start of trusting each other, loyal by default and sacrificial as well for the other.

For Supot/Yuth: Yuth believes wholeheartedly in his friendship with Supot, he stays hurt and abused so that his dreams and his revenge for Supot's death isn't wasted, he refuses to give up on his vision because he believed it was also Supots. So he's delighted, and over the moon when he realises that Supot is alive, and he thinks its a sign that they'll win. So these two represent Wave and Pang's loyalty and belief in each other. The only issue is, Supot is a psychopath, unfeeling when it comes to his goals, so he ends up destroying his friend out of petty jealousy and also greed and ego.

Chanon/Pom: Chanon had hopes and ambition to push Pom to become a great teacher, to fulfil his biggest dreams, Channon was Poms inspiration and source of hope. Pom was Chanon's confidant and partner in crime. So they represent Wave and Pang's push, and inspiration to each other, except Pom, betrays Chanon when the world seems like its crumbling down. Chanon crosses Pom for revenge because of being traumatised by the world/Supot. Their trust and hope in each other are damaged. But Pang and Wave's is never going to be damaged.

Third/Time: Our newbies, they also start off being under each other's skin but automatically becoming each other's best friend, once Third gets his hope of becoming in the gifted program (because of Time's fight for it), he's grateful and loyal. Time is also appreciative for Third because he does what's right, but also he provides information (through his potential) to help their group survive. These two are just starting, but they represent the origins of Wave and Pang, that uncontrollable fate pulling them together to be a team no matter what. That destiny that ensures they find each other even if they hate each other to automatically start saving the world together no matter what.

WAVE AND PANG: PERFECTLY MATCHED

So Episode 10-11 Pang may be shattered right now with hope. Still, all the people he's inspired, all his anchors and reason for fighting are about to help and bring his vision back, and they'll finally show him how right he was to fight for them. How helpful he was to them and how he really did save all of them despite failing time and time again. But the funny thing is, it's Wave who's right there by his side as he's broken down. They're both right now sacrificing everything for each other.

Wave is holding Pang up as he is being under the director's control; he's the reason why Pang hasn't yet given in to evil because he's his moral compass in his head whenever he is being forced to do so. Pang and Wave stop each other from evil by just being there, they just need to show up by each other's side for them to want to trust and hope again that things will be okay. They save each other time and time again.

They're each other's opposite; teaching what they need to know, perfectly matched to help them improve from their flaws, Pang teaches Wave to trust and be more open to caring about others than himself, he pushes his walls down to believe again in feelings. Wave helps Pang be grounded and come back to reality, to look after others properly and to be selfless and be a good leader. They're logic and emotions a perfect match.

See why this is a BL? Why I'm shipping these two so hard. It's enviable to see what these two have formed. It makes me so jealous but also so giddy and just grateful that we have a couple like them despite not being stated as one. For me, these two are in love, these two have a bond that is unbreakable, and these two are soulmates destined for each other. They're the power couple who will save the world time and time again as long as they have each other, as long as they save each to other and as long as they keep on loving each other. As much as I couldn't analyse anything else this episode but these two, I will say that I don't believe these two have given up on their vision, they're probably secretly up to something, or they'll be pushed back to their hopes and idealisms next episode when they see all their peers fighting for them to trust again. As long as these two are together, they'll be fine. And so will the ending of the show, Supot will be defeated, he just doesn't know it yet.

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recentanimenews · 7 years ago

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Bookshelf Briefs 9/11/17

Absolute Duo, Vol. 1 | By Shinichirou Nariie, Takumi Hiragiboshi, and You Asaba| Seven Seas – In general, fans tend to dislike a couple of things in the manga they read, especially Western fans. The first is the tsundere female lead, and the second is the super-powered male lead. Not sure yet whether we’ll get the second, but Absolute Duo seems to be free of the first. Unfortunately, that does sort of make it clear why manga and light novel authors enjoy writing tsundere female leads—the conflict here is rather mild and undramatic, with our hero fighting against a nice girl, and when she loses, she just… says bye and leaves. As for the actual heroine, she’s nice and shy and sort of self-sacrificing. Absolute Duo is decent, and I like everyone, but if you didn’t see another volume you’d barely care. – Sean Gaffney

A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 6 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamachi| Seven Seas – I said last time we were down to the final fight, and we’re still on it by the end of this volume. Index is filled with long, drawn-out battles, but in Railgun and the main series they tend to be separated by more mundane matters. Accelerator, true to its antihero, never really lets us relax, and humorous escapades are at a minimum. It also makes it rather difficult to review. I mean… the fights were cool? I actually understood the action, which is not always the case with heavy action manga. The villain is bad and you want to see them go down? And I’m pretty sure one of our team of heroes is going to die, though I’m also pretty sure it’s the girl who’s already dead. A good spinoff that’s not as good as Railgun at its best. – Sean Gaffney

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 2 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – I’m enjoying this second volume more than I did the first, I think. We get a bit more backstory on the characters which makes them a bit more likeable, and Marcille is no longer whining at absolutely everything. On the opposite tact, Laios gets to do some truly ridiculous things showing that he’s a lot more impulsive than we expected (and we get flashbacks showing that his sister really was a major part of their party—I wonder if she’s actually died by now?). And Senshi, while he’s still the wise sage of the group, is also shown to sometimes be wrong. But of course the main draw here is the ridiculous food, detailed in loving “this is actually a cooking manga” detail. A lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 2 | By Tsukumizu| Ywn Press – This volume sets itself up much like the last one did, with about 2/3 devoted to Chito and Yuuri’s slice-of-life adventures among the ruins of the world, and the last third has them meeting with another living person and helping them try to achieve a dream. Both times they do this the dreamer fails, though it’s not really the girls’ fault. It does make me wonder what sort of mood the author wants to convey here. There are occasional scenes of Yuuri being an airhead or Chito a grump in that Chika and Miu sort of way, but the air of melancholy you’s expect to hover over this world is more prevalent here. Is there an endpoint the author wants to get to, or when they run out of cute situations will we just have the girls quietly die? Good but odd. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 15 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – Karasuno has advanced to the semifinals of the Miyagi Prefecture qualifier tournament. Will their next opponent be Aoba Johsai or Date Tech? Readers are treated to some of that match-up before Aoba Johsai emerges victorious. There are some nice moments here, particularly one in which Kageyama actually admits to Hinata that he’s scared to face Oikawa again and a brief interlude where Sugawara is brought in to shut down a high-scoring newcomer, but not quite as many as in the last volume, which fleshed out background team member Ennoshita. There’s no such thing as a bad volume of Haikyu!!, and this has plenty of excitement and a cliffhanger ending, but the final page suggests I will like next volume’s payoff even more than this volume’s setup. Looking forward to it, as ever! – Michelle Smith

Kase-san and Shortcake | By Hiromi Takashima | Seven Seas – Well, the girls have gotten together in book one, and gotten to know each other more closely in book two. Book three has a double shot of plot, with Yamada realizing that Kase-san is going to a Tokyo university on a sports sholarship, while she’s going to a local college. This… really doesn’t sit well with her, and she frets about it as best you can do when your manga is meant to be cute and fluffy. We also deal with Kase-san wanting to take things further physically, but not wanting to pressure Yamada, and being somewhat stymied by Yamada’s complete ignorance of what to actually do—at one point, she even googles how to have sex with a girl, with hilarious results. Still adorable and fluffy even when everyone is crying. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 3 | By Canno | Yen Press – We’re back to the first volume’s couple at the start of this new book, and it’s become pretty clear that their story will tie into all the others we see in this series, which is also why it’s not official as such. Ayake is still overdramatic and difficult to like, though you sympathize with her having to deal with the blase Yurine. As for Yurine, she’s dragooned into the gardening club, which is short on members and about to lose its garden to the sports clubs. And, as it turns out, is also being sabotaged. Luckily, Yukina is the utterly straightforward sort of ojou-sama type, and so it doesn’t end quite as badly as it possibly should. The series continues to detail how absolutely EVERY girl at school is falling for another girl, but that’s not uncommon in this genre. – Sean Gaffney

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 6 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – It is not a good sign when the best, most interesting part of the spinoff is the one that’s basically telling the events of the main series. I have no doubt that we see Raynesia because she’ll be interacting with our heroes in future volumes, but seeing her and Krusty here made me wish that we had a side series focusing on them instead. Instead, we get a predatory lesbian who seems to be in the West Wind Brigade for only that reason, though Soujiro can still calm her down. The other minor plot is the newbies training at the beach, and how Kawara may not be a dependable sempai but that her type of personality is probably just as good in the long run. I wish this was more consistent. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 3 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – This series continues to be super violent and super uncaring about the status of its victims—TWO loving fathers are graphically butchered, one right next to his daughter, and we don’t even stay behind to see the horror and grief. It’s all about the killing and the killers. Now, that does not mean that we can’t have fun—seeing Kuroko go to town is the purpose of this series, and it’s nice to watch her be cool and take down actual monsters. And you get the feeling that the next volume, involving Kuroko infiltrating a girls’ academy, will be funnier. But you really need to not really care what happens to anyone at all in order to get into Murcielago. It’s pure rush, but the rush is filled with sociopaths. – Sean Gaffney

One-Punch Man, Vol. 12 | By ONE and Yusuke Murata | VIZ Media – Even though hero-hunting Garo is on the cover, he barely appears. Instead, this volume mostly consists of glimpses of Saitama’s progress through the martial arts tournament intercut with various heroes fighting against a slew of monsters. Genos handles quite a few himself, including a skittering bad guy called Roach Awakening who is wonderfully icky, and it’s also fun to see a few other Class-S heroes in action, especially Watchdog Man, who I bet would get along well with Saitama when and if they actually meet. The tournament stuff is okay, and the action scenes are great, but it all seemed to zoom by so quickly without leaving much of an impact. I’m not sure what exactly I’d change about it, though. Could the answer be as simple as Saitama doing more punching? Maybe so… – Michelle Smith

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 6 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The last time I reviewed Tokyo Tarareba Girls, I found it to be majorly depressing. As a result, I let a few volumes accumulate and, honestly, kind of dreaded reading them. To my surprise, I didn’t find them depressing at all, despite Rinko and friends still being in the same awful relationships as before. I think the difference is that they’re beginning to see the truth, and there’s a strong suggestion that they’re going to do something about it. In this volume, for example, it’s Key to the rescue again as he helps Kaori finally (hopefully) break free of Ryo. Interestingly, though, when Rinko seems about to reunite with Mr. Hayasaka—and they’re genuinely cute together—and Key is poised to intervene again, I suddenly found his interference very unwelcome. Very eager for volume seven! – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 6 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – As I’ve mentioned before, this is one of those sports series that runs in a shonen magazine whose Western audience is predominately female, and the BL fandom is huge. (Pity poor Kanzaki…) I was not really expecting to see quite as much of why the BL fandom was huge till I got to this volume, the last half of which is Makishima and Toudou’s race, which may in fact be the gayest thing I’ve ever seen in a non-explicit manga. It’s incredible. The first half is also very good, involving Onoda getting into a crash which leaves him in last place, and having to pass 100 bikes in order to catch up. Which he does, because of course he does. The series is a pure exhilarating thrill ride, and I desperately want to read more. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith

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