#she's into danmei and one of the smartest people i know ��️

[pharawee]

[I've accidentally deleted the original post so if you think this is familiar then it's because I already posted this yesterday. Here's a reblog of the original along with some replies but I wanted a version of this in the tag as well. 🙏]

I can't help it. I just feel so sorry for the Joe that used to be a model and fell into a coma for two years and is now just... gone.

I probably shouldn't. He's no longer there after all, and hopefully he's moved on/reincarnated by now.

But seeing as (for some reason I still don't completely understand) Ming makes me incredibly uncomfortable and I consequently just don't get Joe (aka the only Joe we ever really learn about) AT ALL, i have to focus on something.

And that something is how this Joe is really just an empty vessel for "our" Joe to pour his himself into. There's really nothing left of him except for some short glimpses of Winner Tanatat in a mirror. I know, this is deliberate. The story just doesn't have time to focus on anything beyond Ming and Joe, and that's absolutely fine.

Yet here I am, almost in mourning over a character we know nothing about. Was he kind? Was he well liked? Did he have friends? What about his job? What happened to him? Surely he was close to his mother because there's no hesitation in her love at all and Joe uses her picture as his laptop wallpaper. Beyond that, there's nothing. No trace of him remains. Not even muscle memory.

And sure, there's always a possibility that if someone spends that long in a coma they're not expected to wake up from, they might unfortunately be forgotten by most. But no one came for Joe after he made a miraculous recovery either. No one reached out. It's like Joe isn't only gone but so is every single facet of his life as well.

And I find that almost unfair - almost rude of "our" Joe not to make merit for someone he owes his second chance to. As if Joe only ever existed so that another person could completely replace him.

There's other Thai BL where the premise is kind of similar.

[SPOILERS FOR CHAINS OF HEART]

There's an extra chapter in the Chains of Heart novel where it turns out that the original Peter Lue's ghost is still around, wondering what happened and why someone took over his life. He moves on only when he's reassured that the new Peter Lue doesn't mean any harm and will continue to honour and care for the things most dear to him.

[END OF SPOILERS]

More often than not the deceased's life or even the ghost's presence is honoured and merit is made in their name if any kind of relationship or connection persists. That the same thing doesn't happen here makes me sad - especially if they ever find "our" Joe's body and lay it to rest when the same courtesy is never extended to the other Joe.

I also feel like it lowers the stakes of the whole transmigration thing. If everything remains the same except for a handful of fleeting visual reminders, and everyone who counts almost immediately recognises "our" Joe's essence anyway, then what's the point? Where does that leave Joe the model?

[baoshan-sanren]

Hi, baoshan-sanren....If you don't mind me asking, who are your top 5 (or top 3) favorite couples from all of the danmei novel that you've finished reading until now? And why do you like them?

Sorry if you've answered this question before....

FengCiu | Peerless - their banter is aMaZING. They’re literally two of the smartest men in the Empire, but both have the emotional competence of jellyfish. Idk which one is more proud, or more unwilling to admit that they just might be fond of the other person. Incapable of being nice to each other unless their words are saturated in mockery. Equally ruthless to others and to each other. Probably the most terrifying pairing I’ve ever encountered. I LOVE THEM

SongXiao | MDZS - listen, I’ve written essays on them, so I’m not gonna write one here, buT there’s something so compelling about two people with completely different personalities, deciding to share a life together because their common values are enough to hold them together. I will forever argue that SongXiao are bound to be entangled across LIFETIMES 

MingQian | Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect - I really like these two characters, separately and together. Their dynamic is just really unique to me, but I also love the fact that we get to see them grow and mature into themselves and into the affection they feel for each other. They’re both also really dumb when it comes to love, so that’s fun too lol

YanShen | Thousand Autumns - I’m gonna quote hunxi here, because she said it really well “I don’t think their relationship is one of knowing, per se, so much as it’s one of choosing.” Since she always has words for things I have no language for, Imma link her answer here and leave it at that :)

Hualian | TGCF - I mean, if you’re not invested in an 800+ year slow build between a martial god turned god of misfortune and a boy born under an unlucky star turned one of the Four Great Calamities, then idk what to say really.