#mlcts

[wen-kexing-apologist]

By god do I just need to scream into the ether about the Heart and co. confrontation scene.

First, the tension, incredible. Gemini and Fourth are phenomenal actors. Heart and Li Ming know they are walking in to a very emotionally fraught situation and their hesitation is palpable.

It's scene breakdown time babyyyy! Let's start from the beginning

For a boy who admitted last episode that he has no idea what he is doing, he sure keeps doing things right. He's letting Heart know he's going to talk. Now, granted I don't know what he is saying here precisely if he is just simply saying "I'm going to talk for us/first", "I'll interpret," or if he's saying "I'm going to talk?", I don't think his face moves in any way that would imply a question, but his face is partially obscured. Either way he is at the very least keeping Heart in the know, and at the most asking for Heart's explicit consent to lead this conversation. You can't see it from pictures, but I appreciate the fact that before they cut back to the wide shot, Heart nods, so we as an audience, and Li Ming as the speaker here knows that Heart is okay with the power dynamics at play, with Li Ming talking for both of them.

It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, thankfully I'm obsessed with this scene and therefore have been looping it endlessly, but I feel compelled to point out the way eye contact in this moment goes a long way in conveying how Heart's Mom and Li Ming view Heart. When Heart's mother points to her son she doesn't even look at him. The most she does is cast a downward glance at his bandage, and that's before she even points. And you can argue all you want that she doesn't look at him because she's specifically talking to and addressing Li Ming. But I call bullshit on that because Li Ming is specifically talking to and addressing Heart's mother, and he's looking straight in to Heart's eyes when he refers to and gestures towards Heart. I'm sure that both of these characters believe they love and care about Heart, but of these two characters which one actually recognizes Heart's personhood?

But uh oh! Li Ming stood up for himself and for Heart, and talked back to not just an adult, but a powerful adult. And now she's mentioning past debts, and now there will be more to pay as a result. And Li Ming can only work so much with school and life and everything. He clearly doesn't know what he's getting himself in to, or what he has gotten himself in to. Li Ming and Heart's Mom are both getting angry, tensions are rising, something needs to happen to de-escalate the situation or this might go wrong. Uncle Jim absolutely must intervene (I hope you can hear the sarcasm in my voice). Interesting note: Guess who else doesn't look at their child when making a decision for them. Jim does look at Li Ming directly after this though, but it's to ask him why he did it. It's to place the blame for the accident on Li Ming. "You Li Ming, why did you do it?" "Heart asked me to." "Stop saying that."

Jim is scared, Li Ming is pissed. "He was bored at home" "I said stop!" Jim is used to the way powerful and wealthy people can control and punish the poor. Jim and Li Ming have had conversations before that indicate this very mindset. Jim has mentioned power to Li Ming before and Li Ming's response has always been "what, so we just let them?" "He's a police officer so he can just do anything he wants to us?" to a young adult like Li Ming, this is an absurdity, to an older man like Jim, this is a reality. "he can just do anything he wants to us?" the answer is yes. Which is why Jim is so desperate to get Li Ming to stop talking here. But it just serves as a reminder to Li Ming that Jim thinks he's a child, and that he needs all his battles fought for him. If Li Ming doesn't keep pushing, nothing is going to change (social and political commentary anyone?)

"There you go again," Heart's mother says, and this is Li Ming's initial reaction. This moment of annoyance and anger that this woman who doesn't even know him is once again accusing him of something he didn't do. This woman who is pointing once again to her son without even a glance in his direction "You know that he's mute, so you can say whatever you want?" First of all, even people who are mute have ways to communicate, so it's not like even if he was mute Heart would be helpless. Hell, even if Heart was mute he still has fucking sign language.

The face of a woman who was, in fact, not aware that deaf people dislike being called mute.

GUESS WHO FINALLY LOOKS AT HER SON AFTER THAT!!!! Please please if the writers are kind and merciful, this will be the point in the show where Heart's mother does so deep deep introspection and realizes how much she has fucked up. "He's just deaf," Li Ming says, loudly, and he steps forward, to try to engage Heart's mom in further conversation, in more dialogue. And what does Jim do? Pulls him back, takes him off his even footing "I said stop,"

The face of a man who is very scared for the trouble his nephew might be getting himself in to, and the face of his nephew who is very disappointed that his uncle keeps not only backing down, but forcing him to back down as well. Who keeps asking him, in these small ways to lie instead of tell the truth. To remain quiet, to take the blame, to stick to the status quo.

And then the part I hate (emotionally) begins. Heart asks Li Ming to tell him what they're saying. And I hate it because Heart's parents refusing to learn sign language does not only hurt Heart but it hurts everyone around him, themselves included. But specifically here, it hurts Li Ming, because he has to be the one to look Heart in the face and repeat the words his mother said, knowing that to do so will hurt Heart. Knowing that he has to be the one to hurt Heart.

And this moment is also a great reminder for the audience as well that no one else knowing sign language creates really uncomfortable power dynamics between the person who is able to interpret and the Deaf person. Because Li Ming is hesitant to repeat it. Heart has to repeatedly grab his arm, repeatedly ask Li Ming to tell him what was said. Li Ming has absolute power over Heart right now, to refuse to say it, or to flat out lie. He doesn't, but it also should not be Li Ming's decision whether or not Heart knows, accurately, what was said. Even after we see it in his face that Li Ming agrees to translate, he still hesitates for a few seconds to move, to reach for the notepad, to have to write it down.

And once he writes it down, Li Ming's eyes do not leave Heart. He is honed in on Heart, on Heart's face, on his shoulders, hell even on the back of his head until Heart asks him to translate. And god as much as I hate this moment in the scene for the pain that it causes Li Ming, I hate it even more for the pain that it causes Heart.

He is fucking livid. Rightfully so, because HE'S NOT FUCKING MUTE, HE'S HAD LANGUAGE THIS ENTIRE GODDAMN TIME. He just wants to live his life like everyone else AND HE HAS TO TELL HIS PARENT'S THAT USING SOMEONE ELSE'S VOICE. Because they have refused to use his own. GOD. I'll be surprised if anyone makes it this far down in the post but I just...AHHHH I have no coherent thoughts about this moment, I just....Heart's parents do fucking better. Damn. And the worst part of this scene is yet to come because his Mom tries for like 0.2 seconds, but it looks like she's going to start signing something and Heart just looks SO surprised.

He's so focused on it, he's paying so much attention to it. Is this it? Is this the moment he finds out that his mother has actually been trying? That she has learned and is ready to start using sign language with him? To talk to him, to understand him?

No.

She can't do it. She doesn't know how to. And it's just..it's so easy to see how much hope he had for just a second, how much that one millisecond of effort obliterated all the logic in his head that told him they didn't know it, they didn't care. And how quickly that disappointed anger snaps right back in to place. So Heart starts talking, in sign language, like he has been able to do for years, and he speaks his mind, and his mother still can't understand him. And we see the same dynamic here as with the "mute" comment. Heart's Mom wants Li Ming to translate, Heart wants Li Ming to translate, Li Ming knows how hurt Heart is, and yeah, probably some of his hesitation in voicing what Heart said is because he knows what Heart said will hurt her. But more so because I think it hurts Li Ming to know how much pain Heart is in.

God, poor Heart, literally having to beg to be heard.

"He said you are ashamed of him being deaf,"

His mother shakes her head and says "Heart, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say, dear," and therein lies the problem. She doesn't know what to say, she never has. She has never bothered to learn how to communicate with him since he went deaf. She has kept him locked away. And it doesn't matter if she thinks she did that to keep him safe, Heart feels like he's being hidden away. And she doesn't say "No. No I'm not ashamed. I have never been ashamed." she doesn't know what to say. Because she can't say that. She can't deny that, and it just confirmed everything that Heart has known. So he leaves, because that's too much to handle.

Bullshit 'he'll be fine, honey'. Your fucking son just told you that you never bothered to learn sign language in THREE FUCKING YEARS, and stormed away after admitting that he feels like you are ashamed of him, and you think no need to go after him, he'll be fine??? Fuck you. ACAB.

Does this...

look like...

he's fine, to you?

No. I didn't think so.

I don't really feel like I need to say much about this last shot. It stands on its own so strongly. Mirrors reflecting back, Heart and Li Ming only ever being able to see each other, to be seen by each other. Warm light at Heart's back, Li Ming in front of him, sandwiched between warmth in all of that blue, isolating coldness. All that evidence of how much time and the energy Heart has spent learning sign language. I don't know what the post-its say, I don't know that I want to know.

I don't know if they are notes Heart has written to himself when he was learning, and this is just what remains of his effort. Honestly I hope it's that, because if it is what I think it is, general, every day responses that he might have to give in reply to his parents that he can just pull off his wall and return, that is so much fucking worse. Because then its just the evidence of all the effort Heart has put in to communicate with his parents on their level when they have not put in the same effort to communicate on his. Even if it's something cute, even if it's all the notes that he and Li Ming have passed back and forth to each other over the last few months, serving as a reminder that someone cares, you still are left with the heartbreaking shot of two young men, desperate to be understood by their families, only having each other to hold on to, surrounded by reminders that they are the only two people that can understand each other. No matter how hard they try.

[heretherebedork]

Hands that confront, hands that speaks, hands that comfort, hands that love.

[legendaryrooftopscene]

There’s no way Jim (poor, owns a shop where he regularly chops up whole chickens) is gonna be spending money on expensive cat gogurt for Jimbo when he could just toss that bitch endless chicken scraps. However GMMtv needs that sweet sweet sponsorship money so they can keep casting earth in projects that age him up 10+ years so I’ll allow it

[dramatic-dolphin]

okay wow, there are a LOT of things going on with this map.

some of these can be explained by someone just typing a country name into google translate and setting it to burmese. now, since burmese does not use the latin alphabet, google translate will helpfully provide a phonetic guide to pronouncing it, such as "lait suu yayy nee yarr" for lithuania. this is a pronunciation guide and NOT an actual transliteration. it's way too clunky for that.

there are several actual ways of romanizing burmese. MLCTS, the myanmar language commissiom's recommended way gives us "lacsuye:ni:ya:" for lithuania which is immediately more helpful and less unwieldy. because it was created by people who know their stuff.

now, OTHERS on this map i am flabbergasted by, like "maggreyar" for hungary, which is provided by both wiktionary and wikipedia as "han-geri", with the wikipedia prounciation guide being "haangayre". after a solid 15 minutes of dicking around with google translate, i've come to the disvovery that "maggreyar" shows up as a pronunciation guide if you type in the nonsense word maggryar when translating from english to burmese. so either that kind of catastrophic misspelling happened, or i have no clue what.

others like this include "hay" for greece (it's gari), "aahkyit" for slovenia (hca.luibe:ni:ya:), and "negyaartaung" for either kosovo or montenegro, NEITHER of which are actually pronounced in any way similar to that.

but my favorite here is "potpotparrparr" which from the placement i assume is supposed to be liechtenstein??? liechtenstein is in fact a pretty easy "lactanca.tin:". what the fuck is potpotparrparr. after 15 more minutes of fucking around i have concluded that google translate is likely to give us "pot" and "parr" as pronunciations for ပေါ့ and ပါး respectively, which it together translates in english to "light, thin", which, if you can squint, you can see a resemblance to the word "liechtenstein". i fucking guess. i don't know man, i'm out of ideas.

in conclusion: i have no idea what happened here (maybe a translator mishap involving a source language that was not english or written with the latin alphabet, or something involving copious misspellings?), but whoever made this map clearly didn't speak burmese or do any research beyond fucking. google translate. and they did that comically badly. moral of the story is do your own research.

Burmese names of European countries

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Here's a parallel I hate

What Heart signs in the background of the church.

What heart signs to the sign language instructor at the church:

gif from @ablazenqueen

In order the signs are DEAF. THREE. YEARS. NOW. FIRST. MEET. DEAF. SAME."

Thank you to @deafcruz for pointing out the sign: SAME

So for a rough English translation: "I've been deaf for three years and now is the first I'm meeting others who are deaf"

What Heart signs to his mother in their fight: DEAF. YEARS. THREE.

gif from @maxescheibechlinichacheli

followed by "You never learned sign language. You are ashamed of me being Deaf,"

And like...yeah...we knew this already, but I can't believe that I didn't pay attention to what Heart was saying at the church until literally last night because he mentions how long he's been deaf and how long he's been deprived of community so casually in that scene. Probably cause he's just excited to meet other Deaf people. But that simple statement looms overhead, getting ready to be used again when Heart finally speaks his mind to his mother. When Heart finally shows her how isolated she has made him because her feelings have been more important than his life.

[heretherebedork]

Moonlight Chicken is about moving on, about finding community, about learning to love, about learning to let go, about realizing you were never alone, about trusting in love, abut overcoming your internalized prejudices, about the power of relationships (romantic, platonic and familial) and how they are shaped in day and in night and in life and in death and in loss and in gain and in change and in choices, it's about your family and it's about what family means and it's about loving with your whole heart and smashing down your walls and opening up even when you know you might get hurt again.

[fmarkets]

Malachite Innovations Inc. Maintains Unchanged EPS in Q3 2023 Earnings Season https://csimarket.com/stocks/news.php?code=MLCT&date=2023-12-03170846&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[soisialta]

Interview with Betty Ogiel, Transformational Leadership and Career Coach and author of a book Against All Odds. from akwyz on Vimeo.

Betty is a Transformational Leadership and Career Coach, and a speaker with the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team. She is also an author of a book Against All Odds where she shares her journey of overcoming odds when she was abandoned at the tender age of fourteen years and thrived until she got her desire to attain a University Education at one of Africa’s Premier Institution Makerere University in Kampala Uganda. She has since become a multi-award-winning human resource practitioner with over 18 years of experience and has worked in international corporations such as Oil and Gas as well as Management Advisory.

Her life slogan is there is greatness in everyone. She uses her skills, talents, and experiences to inspire hope and challenge people to discover their life’s purpose and maximize their potential.

Currently, she is serving as a Master Facilitator with EQUIP’s Beyond Success program which is a non-profit organisation of the Maxwell Enterprises. She also serves in the Maxwell Leadership Certified team members President’s Advisory Committee where she inducts new members and helps them as they navigate the maze of becoming a Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the MLCT.

As a Transformational Leadership and Career Coach, Betty uses her personal story of overcoming the odds of brain injury, paralysis, speech loss and impairment after she suffered a horrific motor accident in 2006. By the grace and mercy of God and her resilience, she was able to revive her career, and follow her Calling in life.

Having experienced the desire to have a quality education and see the benefit of destiny helpers and sponsors, Betty started the Betty Ogiel Foundation. Proceeds from the work of the Foundation go to helping the girl child to attain an education and thrive. To date, the Foundation has been able to help six orphans and was able to see the first girl child graduate in May 2022 becoming the first graduate in her village.

In order to fulfil her life slogan and bring out the greatness in people, Betty started the life-transforming Against All Odds Talks which are held every month. To date she has held over 40 editions, where she invites highly experienced speakers to speak on different topics that inspire hope and builds resilience among the participants.

In spite of suffering COVID-19 twice, Betty again overcame the odds against her and successfully competed and for the first time brought to the African Continent the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Members DNA Culture Award for 2021and the Nurture Transformation award.

Betty also continues to excel in her profession as a Human Resource Expert. In 2016 and 2017, she won the Human Resource Excellence Award in employee engagement from the Human Resource Managers Association of Uganda. In September 2017, she received the Global Prosperity and Peace Initiative’s Peacemaker Award in Kampala. Betty was also named as one of Uganda’s Top 40 under 40 Most Inspirational Women by the New Vision, one of the leading newspapers in Uganda.

She is married to Julius Rubanga’s and together they have three (3) biological sons.

Betty believes that our past does not have to determine our future.

bettyogiel.com/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bettyogiel

Facebook: @BettyOgiel: Twitter: @BettyOgiel: Instagram: @bettyogiel

[defensenow]

Balikatan 23 | 1-27 IN BN and 3d MLCT Conducts Air Assault on Calayan Is...

[keemzus-sama]

#RP @c.t.ali.fletcher HULK... SMASH!!! #Repost @kevendahulkwashington ・・・ CT Fletcher told me No more warming up with 405, start at 5 plates and Up. Da Hulk and Pumped Up Fitness Nutrition preppin for Iron Wars 3. Yes the YouTube videos are coming! Rop! Rop! Rop! #dahulk #hulksmash #MLCT #IGAD #LITM #ultimatehulk #HWO #HulkWorldOrder #isymfs #ironaddict #ultimateaddict #fitnessmotivation #fitness #fitlife #muscle #powerlifting #bodybuilding #fitnessaddict #physique #strength #power #ironwars3

[placesandpalaces]

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Bagan (Burmese: ပုဂံ; MLCTS: pu.gam, IPA: [bəɡàɰ̃]; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, 4,446 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of 3822 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day. Now Bagan is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. The Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main attraction for the country's nascent tourism industry. It is the largest archaeological site in the world.

[henrydoeslanguages]

q for anyone out there who knows/is learning/has learnt burmese (Myanmar language): which transliteration system do you prefer? I’ve started learning burmese in earnest in preparation for my trip in a few weeks, and ive found that the ALA-LC system is most intuitive to me (probably because I have a sanskrit background, but ALA-LC seems to be used a lot less than MLCTS. Do you see strong pros and cons with any particular transliteration systems? I have a very strong suspicion that ALA-LC isn’t used anywhere except in academia... (and really why would it lmao it is a very Indic transliteration) but if it works it works right? 

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Sunday, 24th December

Welcome, 환영 (hwanyeong), ongi etorri, sveiki 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 24th December through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

24th December 2021 🗓️ : Event - Tatmadaw Burmese military forces killed at least 40 civilians during the Mo So massacre in Kayah State, Myanmar. "The Tatmadaw (Burmese: တပ်မတော်; MLCTS: tatma.taw, IPA: [taʔmədɔ̀], lit. 'Grand Army') is the military of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the Myanmar..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by Rayukk

24th December 2018 🗓️ : Event - 2018 Puebla helicopter crash A helicopter crash kills Martha Érika Alonso, first female Governor of Puebla, Mexico, and her husband Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, former governor. "On December 24, 2018, a helicopter carrying Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo, the newly elected Governor of the Mexican state of Puebla, and her husband, Senator and former Governor Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, crashed on a hill in Coronango near the city of Puebla. All five people on board the helicopter..."

Image licensed under GFDL 1.2? by

André Du-pont (Mexico Air Spotters)

24th December 2013 🗓️ : Death - Allan McKeown Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (b. 1946) "Allan McKeown (born John Allan McKeown; 21 May 1946 – 24 December 2013) was a British television and stage producer. ..."

Image licensed under CC BY 2.0? by Alan Light

24th December 1973 🗓️ : Event - United States Congress The U.S. Congress granted home rule to Washington, D.C., allowing the residents to elect their own mayor and a city council. "The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through..."

Image by Ipankonin

24th December 1923 🗓️ : Death - Dinny Lacey Joe Lacey, Irish Hunger Striker died during the 1923 Irish hunger strikes (b. 1895) "Denis Lacey (31 May 1889 – 18 February 1923) was an Irish Republican Army officer during the Irish War of Independence and anti-Treaty IRA officer during the Irish Civil War. Dennis Lacey is not related to the 3 Lacey brothers of Wexford who died in the civil war...."

Image licensed under PD-Ireland? by

unknown

24th December 1822 🗓️ : Birth - Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (d. 1888) "Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. He has been..."

Image by Elliott & Fry

24th December 🗓️ : Holiday - Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: The Declaration of Christmas Peace (Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City) "Christmas Peace (Finnish: joulurauha, Swedish: julfrid) is a traditional Finnish event whereby a town formally announces the beginning of the Christmas season. This practice has its roots in old Swedish legislation and was established by Birger Jarl in the 13th century, building upon the Truce of..."

Image by

V. K. hietanen

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Heart's Vocalization Thoughts and Feelings

Hello and welcome to another round of Moonlight Chicken Posts That Literally No One @respectthepetty Specifically Asked For:

Heart Edition Round ?? i've lost count.

Mx. RTP may have gotten me hooked on red/blue through clothing but my first and truest love will always be lighting so I need everyone, but especially Professional Life Ruin-er Formerly Known as "Petty" (you're my best friend now, sorry I don't make the rules), to understand that this specific lighting ruined my life. Like on a cellular level, my body is a wasteland, my mind will never recover. Stepping in from the outside world, from Heart's world, Heart's life, Heart's home in to the rich, red, warmth of Li Ming's world, Li Ming's home. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if my memory serves me correctly we never see Heart in warm lighting until the end of Episode 4, and we definitely don't see Heart in red lighting until Episode 5. Up until this point when Li Ming and Heart are together, there is always blue lighting on them, and especially when they are in Heart's home there is always a blue wash on the whole scene. So finally, finally we get red lighting babyyyyyy, fuck yeah!

Ok, sorry, I'm normal again.

Initial thoughts going in to the actual scene are as follows: 1. Stripes, my beloved! 2. Heart is so head over heels for Li Ming it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I love the small little smile that Heart has on his face here when Li Ming is essentially giving him an 'I told you so' to Heart about asking his Mom. I know that Li Ming sees Heart earlier on in the episode, but he isn't present for the conversation between Li Ming and his mother so regardless of whether he knows that Li Ming talked to her, I don't think he knows the specifics. But he follows this comment up with "You're smart. You can persuade her." Obviously he knows that something happened because Heart's mother has never listened to her son before, why would she start now?

So! Much! Red! Lighting! They are in love your honor. I am so grateful for every moment we get to see of Li Ming and Heart alone together having fun. They may be on the edge of adulthood, but there is still so much repressed youth in them that has been dying to get out and can't because it's been contained by parental shame, by the need to work to survive, by the nature of generational gaps and unsuccessful attempts to protect your loved ones.

When Heart and Li Ming are by themselves (with the exception of the post confrontation mental breakdown session in Ep. 5) there is so much joy between them. And look at Li Ming, he is so proud of himself here, for successfully persuading Heart's mother to let Heart leave the house. They don't have to sneak out anymore, Heart's parents are finally starting to understand that they can't make their son problem go away if they just keep Heart cooped up.

Once again like father-figure uncle like nephew, Li Ming has found himself a love interest that is also obsessed with the family cat. Honestly, this cat is living the dream, all he has to do all day is be held for approximately 30 seconds and get fed a fuck ton of treats. So far this scene is just very cute, Heart taking in his surroundings, attaching himself immediately to the cat, absolutely bathed in red light. And there is something so simple I love about the set up this moment brings to the important turning point that immediately follows...

Heart's holding the cat with both his hands. He can't text or sign.

Side Note: I am curious if Thai sign language has finger spelling.

And here we go! Heart speaks, not just vocalizes, it's not an exclamation of surprise, it's not a shuddering breath, or a sob. It's not a squeak or random sound Heart makes because he can't hear how loud he is being. Up until this point, every time we have heard a sound from Heart it has been unintentional. This is the first time we hear Heart speak. And importantly, he doesn't have to. He doesn't have to say anything. There isn't anything urgent, nothing that would require a sound to get Li Ming's immediately attention. He doesn't need to say Jimbo's name, literally right before this he looked at Li Ming and pointed to the cat. He could have ended the acknowledgement there. But he doesn't. He speaks. And he absolutely does not look at Li Ming while he does it. He keeps his eyes trained firmly on the cat in front of him.

I stole this gif from @earthpirapat because I don't know how to make them, and because I need anyone who reads this to see Li Ming's reaction in this moment. He is also looking at Jimbo, because he, like the audience, believes that Heart is going to end his acknowledgement of the cat's name by pointing to the cat. Li Ming is content to watch his friend play with his cat, and that's all he is expecting. Until "yyim-" tickles his ear, and Li Ming's head snaps straight up to Heart's face. You can tell how surprised he is at the way he pulls his head back a bit more to really look at Heart. To make sure that what just happened is actually real when he says "bo".

And I think it's important to know that Heart does not really seem hesitant to speak. He just...does it. What he is hesitant to do is look at Li Ming. He waits a full two seconds after he's said "Jimbo" to look up from the cat he is holding in his arms.

But he has nothing to worry about because when his eyes go to Li Ming, what does he see?

A puppy dog of a man, radiating excitement. Li Ming is beaming. It's funny to me a little bit that the thought has never seemed to cross Li Ming's mind that Heart, who only went deaf three years ago, is actually able to speak. But nevertheless he is thrilled.

"You can speak?" he asks, and he's chuckling a little and pausing and you can see all the gears in his head turning as he signs because it's like his whole worldview just got rocked. And GOD I love this moment so much because from the second that Heart speaks Li Ming's eyes never leave Heart. Or if they do it is literally an unconscious thing that is happening when he's trying to remember his signs. Heart puts Jimbo down and Li Ming literally folds his body in half, to follow Heart's movement, bends over to tap him on the shoulder. "Hey, you can speak?" he says again.

"Yeah? Can you speak again? I want to hear." he asks, and he's baffled. He's losing his signs. Like he is signing successfully to Heart, sure, but it's taking him much longer to create his sentence than it normally does because he's still in such shock over what just happened. That Heart can speak, that he heard his voice. His brain cannot keep up with his emotions.

The face of a man verrryyyy skeptical that his voice would be that exciting for anyone to hear.

"I"

"Want"

"To Hear"

"Your Voice"

I have no thoughts. I have no notes for this. It is just an incredibly powerful moment to me in furthering Li Ming as a safe zone for Heart, as someone trusted and precious. Each sign is deliberate. This is a deliberate request. This isn't a question built on surprise, "wait wait do it again" this is specific. "I want to hear your voice"

Look how pleasantly surprised Heart is. Look how happy, how bewitched he is in this moment. A few weeks back, I wrote a post analyzing Heart's communication. At the time I wrote it, I was doing a lot of speculating about Heart and his ability to talk and what it meant for the character if he could versus if he couldn't. The tl;dr version was me essentially wondering how much agency Heart has over his own isolation. Is he capable of talking and chooses not to to test the people around him, maintaining control of his own isolation, with speaking as a lifeline, or because Thai is a tonal language did he lose the ability to speak because not being able to hear might impede his ability to make distinct tones. Either way he has the ability to talk, it's a matter of whether or not he could be understood if he did vocalize his words.

I got a pretty quick reply from @littlederxxnged with a link to this Tweet quoting P'Aof and Heart's voice:

And if this quote is real, if the reason Heart doesn't speak is because he lacks the confidence to, this makes the scene all the more important and all the more wonderful for me. Because it's showing us, the audience, that Li Ming makes Heart feel confident. Li Ming makes Heart brave.

And I love that I don't get a sense of fear from Heart in any of this. Surprise? Yes. Confusion? Yes. Skepticism? A bit. Hesitation? Absolutely. But it doesn't seem to come from a place of fear. Heart is not afraid of using his voice around Li Ming, and he is never afraid of what Li Ming's reaction will be. He certainly has no idea what Li Ming's reaction will be, but it shows how much trust these two have built in one another, that Heart feels safe enough with Li Ming to test his voice.

I don't know if Heart will speak again the show. I don't care if he does. Speaking is not his primary language anymore and he doesn't owe his voice to anyone. I just want to establish that before I say I find it so much more special that Heart says his own name, rather than Li Ming's here. Why? Because the way I interpret Heart's character at this point is a man who is far more certain about what he wants out of life, now that he is able to live his life again. We get to hear Heart's name, we get to hear Heart speak for himself.

Something really cute about this moment as well is Li Ming's reaction. "I heard you just say your name!" I love that he signs to Heart what he heard. I love it so much. We know that Heart is hesitant to speak, and it takes him a second to get the word out, and I'm sure he can feel the vibrations of his vocal chords when he says his name, but he can't hear it. Li Ming is SO obviously happy, so obviously thrilled.

But this is about Heart, Li Ming's feelings have nothing to do with it. Okay, Li Ming's feelings have everything to do with it for Heart. But Li Ming's initial, gut-reaction response to hearing Heart, hesitantly say his name, is to hype the ever-loving FUCK out of that boy.

"You're great! You're awesome! How can you speak? You're so great. I'm happy." and GOD Heart can't even hear him say it. Li Ming isn't signing here, I mean he is very obviously happy, and very obviously showering Heart in praise. But Heart cannot hear him. For most of the hug he can't even read Li Ming's lips. But the pride, the joy, the excitement is so palpable. He's jumping up and down, you don't really need to hear his words to feel how happy he is about what just happened.

He pulls back "How could you do it? I'm happy. Can you see? I'm so happy," He is talking so fast. He is talking so so fast. He cannot contain himself. But he has integrated himself so much into Heart's life, that despite the fact that he is fully forgetting to sign here, he is touching Heart, he is jumping up and. down with Heart, he is showing Heart how much being trusted with his voice means to him.

Sweet baby angel, you are talking so fast. He sees a bunch of words coming out of your mouth but does not hear what you are saying. And he looks confused because he definitely did not anticipate this strong of a positive reaction to just saying his name. Especially when you consider he isn't confident in his voice. He looks confused because he almost certainly did not anticipate this outcome.

(Ignore the subtitles on that second picture, focus on Heart's smile)

Does Heart owe us his voice? No. Did we ever need to know if he could speak? No. Does this moment hit particular hard after the confrontation scene last episode concerning the use of the term "mute" in reference to Heart. Absolutely. We saw how much it hurt Heart to learn his mother refers to him as mute.

We know Heart has to beg Li Ming to even tell him what she said, Heart can see how much Li Ming hesitated to deliver that blow. He saw how strongly Li Ming was standing against his parents, he's a smart kid. He might not be able to follow the full conversation cause it's happening quickly, and they are shouting which fucks with lip shape to read lips, and Li Ming and his mother are both facing away from him. But he knows his mother said something bad, he knows Li Ming defended him.

It is so so so so so SO important to me that Heart decides to speak in this moment. That he uses his voice casually, to say a cat's name, in private, with just the two of them.

Heart's voice is not a commodity, it's not a novelty. It's a gift. And Li Ming treats it as such. Heart is being vulnerable with Li Ming. Heart hasn't spoken to anyone in three years, and when he does speak in front of Li Ming for the first time Li Ming literally cannot contain his joy. I love how many times the camera cuts to Heart's face in this, to show us to tell us that Heart loves this. That he is surprised by it, but that he is more than happy to speak again, that he is smiling the whole time because he knows how important it is to Li Ming. Because it's important to him too.

If you finished this whole post, congratulations you have won an invisible medal.

[heretherebedork]

And this is who Li Ming is. He is the new generation. He questions if he has to love his mother, though he will be grateful to her and he knows he must be. But he questions if he has to love her, if he has to go with her, if he has to care about her beyond gratitude for giving birth to him. But he does not question his love of Jim, he knows that he loves his uncle who has raised him, he knows that he is loved and that he loves in return.

And there is the heart of it all. That they understand each other, in the end, even when they're arguing and even when they're upset, even when they toe the line of what love lets you do to the people you love and who love you in return. Even when Li Ming is pushing Jim because he's hurt and afraid and angry at a world that doesn't accept him as he is and doesn't give him anything in return for his effort he still loves him, still loves his uncle in a way he doesn't know if he loves his mother.

[fmarkets]

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