#this ep title could not be better like i think it is actually happening

[oneofthedrunksattheoverpass]

8x05 is called “masks” guys this is not a drill buddie canon is coming gay eddie is real and will be on our screens very soon like this is actually happening

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Top 3 Are HEATING UP

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2023 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Honestly, 3 are neck & necking for top position! They are all so good in different ways. But The Sign had me hooting with laughter this week, so it scooped #1.

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 4 of 10 - This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, paranormal, fated mates, mystery, suspense, slasher, and horror. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. I have no idea what I’m watching but I’m ON this ride. Is it a roller coaster? Is it a haunted house? Is it a twirl & hurl? Is there candy floss? Am I even tall enough? Who tf cares. All through the second scene, I was laughing. It was legit funny. Billy has great comedic timing. Guess he’s not just a pretty face.

Everyone should be watching this. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 6 of 12 -  Yech. August may be one of GMMTV’s least likable characters ever (and that is saying something). Meanwhile, MOAR language play! They spoiling me!

Mhok letting Day go then walking away at the party hurt so bad.

Argh this show is great!

Ep 6 so that kiss was right on schedule. I’m looking forward to the boyfriend eps before doom & pain in the new year. Carry on GMMTV. 

Speaking of...

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Oh they’re great. It’s great. It’s paced oddly, moving quickly through most of the key scenes of the original JBL in these first 2 eps. I think it’s intending to encompass more of the manga series than that one did. Which is good, cause that will get us all the way to The Library Kiss (TM). It's the best kiss in the manga. I also like the sides in this show (better than the JBL version). 

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thurs iQIYI) ep 8fin - What a lovely slightly unhinged little show. Tew, can we talk? Un-ironic suspenders, that takes courage. Also, the revolver was a crazy gun choice. 

Final thoughts:

This show is just as ridiculous as its title. About a gaymer who falls in love with one of his in-game teammates, who just happens to be a IRL gangster. A real gangster, the kind that actually kills people regularly. The lead pair is doing their best with a ridiculous story and shoddy script, but I enjoyed it. Although I was grateful it wasn’t very long, what we got was oddly satisfying if, frankly, a little bit silly. Recommended. 8/10 

That said, what's important about this BL is not the show, but the production and style. Let me explain... no, too much, let me sum up.

This is a chimera BL. Regarding characters: it has Japan's style otaku + Korea's style gangster + Thailand's style friendship group. It used Thai talent + Korean money (Kakao) & IP (adapted from a manwha) but aired on a Chinese channel globally (iQIYI). I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production and truly doubt that any other genre but BL could ever produce like this. It's like diplomat's BL and it's the great wonder of our age that it happened at all. This BL deserves its place in the history books on production alone, even if that place is only in the footnotes. A remarkable little monster.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - The sides are… messy. Using the same actor for the old bf is… odd. But in the end, this show leaves me smiling. Which means, I like it despite myself. 

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - It's decent. It’s basically what I wanted Antique Bakery to be when I first watched that way back when (not to mention Bite Me). But there’s been so much BL since then that, for some reason, this is falling flat. I think it’s moving too fast for a Thai series. Although, say what you like, Ohm has to be one of the best soft kissers in the industry. He's just good at mouth tenderness.

Ugh, that doesn't sound right. But you know what I mean.

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 7 of 10 - I love how First is so upset when Sprite starts chatting and being nice to Koh. Sprite is just a sweet easy-going likable boy. I enjoy Sprite as a main character, he’s a bubbly little communicator. And they had a cute kiss.  

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 14 - Because there was more Alan and Jeff and they were more key to the plot I was more into this ep. I do compare it to green smoothie down the pants in the Trash Watch.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 3 of 12 - Look OffGun are truly great. But I’m just not sure we need them in BL anymore. That said, it’s nice to see Off as "the one with the crush" for a change. Also, this show is only good when OffGun are on screen together, otherwise it kinda, well, sucks.

Night Dream (Sat YT) ep 1 of 6 - Cafe setting featuring a cook and a writer. *Seems awfully familiar.* Except these two are exes and this is a reunion romance. It’s stiff and very pulp but not bad (no crap sound effects) and I am a sucker for a reunion romance. That said, Rookie Thailand is not to be trusted, proceed with caution.

Absolute Zero (Weds iQIYI) ep 12fin - I'm grateful this is over. It was tense but for the wrong reasons - sadness and confusion. This final episode was fine, but that’s because it was mostly them being together + flashbacks. Plus all the familiar actor faces of the grown-up friends (hi, Karn my lovely, still stunning I see). But 2 of 12 episodes is not enough for the 10 of suffering and confusion that came before.

In conclusion:

A man is killed on his 10th anniversary resulting in a time paradox, for which the only solution is him never meeting his childhood sweetheart until later in life. Both lovers cycle back to the past at different ages, so that they each become their own 1st & 2nd great loves, but every time it ends in pain, until each also endures 10 years of separation. Finally it gets fixed, but leaves them with multiple memories of time's failures like temporal PTSD, and everyone around them has chronic deja vu. Me? I got both. This is one of those BLs that is high-quality with great acting but poor story. If you like your BL dwelling, maudlin, and tense due to angst and suffering, then you might enjoy this. But I just regret it, 6/10. Recommended only if you like confusing time travel emo pain.

In which case, just watch Tokyo in April is... instead. Give over Thailand, Japan does it better.

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 6 of 8 - While our main couple isn’t working for me... the side couple isn’t working for me either. I really wanted to give LeoTai a chance, this is the 3rd show I’ve seen them in, and still nope. I like Jade a lot more when he’s sad. He’s a much more pleasant screen experience depressed. I would like him to stay hurt for a couple of eps, just so I can enjoy this show a tiny bit more. But then he just goes unhinged again. Argh. I just don’t like it. 

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Pisces of Me ep 17 of 24 - Codependent boyfriends in middle school planning for high school dealing with stuff. Including other boys being into them. 

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 5 of 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. DNF 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - It’s cute but I don’t think BL in this short format is Taiwan’s strength these days. And this is quite slow and dull. Perhaps they should have whacked it down to 6 eps, not 10.

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - This is one of those JBLs that I should like on paper but is failing me. The drag bit was ridiculous but handled gently. The kiss was… well… something wasn’t it? It’s all very odd. I like the photographer cutie character. 

It's Airing But...

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if it's safe.

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep 1. Been told I shouldn't bother.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until after it completes its run next week.

Dear Kitakyushu (Thai/Japan movie) in theaters in country only, I know nothing about distribution.

Behind the Shadows (Korea movie) this is a historical I was interested in, but I've been told they kill the gay so I'm OUT.

Next Week Looks Like This

Still coming:

12/23 Dead Friend Forever (Thai horror) iQIYI

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED). With the end of the year upon us I'll do an "announced for 2023 but never happened list" soon.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

He so pretty.

I forgot how likable TayNew are, and frankly I think New is a better version of this role for me, personally. I like him a lot. He's a conscientious sweetheart. And a good egg. (Cherry Magic)

Ah the rooftop my old friend. (Last Twilight)

I would like to point out that it's no accident the naga's sex dream happened in the shower, he's a water creature after all. (The Sign)

(Last week)

[solarwynd]

https://www.tumblr.com/solarwynd/757367162624180224/what-do-you-think-is-next-for-jimins-career-will?source=share

I'm starting to hear who outside kpop spaces which is excellent news. Jimin already built a solid fanbase with face, and I honestly think he's going to get more mainstream attention with muse. Not like Sabrina Carpenter or Taylor Swift level attention because you need a lot more label support and frankly payola or a boatload of luck for that to happen after just two solo eps but Jimin is rising.

I think it's fantastic that he's doing better and better with every solo release. His next full length album is going to go crazy. I only hope that Hybe slowly see the light as well. They killed like crazy in every way possible. They didn't give who much support but at least they're not actively suppressing it. Maybe I'm too optimistic but I hope that Hybe either open their eyes and provide proper support for his third album or Jimin walks for his solo contract I hope. In any case as long as Jimin keeps releasing solo music, he's going to keep getting bigger and better, of that I have no doubt. When he released lie I thought he couldn't top it but he released like crazy. When I thought he couldn't top like crazy, he released who. I can't wait to see what he releases next.

Also critics are so snotty about EPs which is one of the reasons why I hope Jimin make his next album full length. I think critical acclaim could be one of his next frontiers and in that respect he has the vision and direction down but critics will not go for a 7 song album with an interlude and an intro. Like they already have a prejudice against kpop so the limited songs aren't helping even though structurally it makes more sense to have separated the songs and we know Jimin was on a time crunch before enlisting

Soooo agreed.

If there’s a step or 2 below like a full blown GP artist I feel like that’s where Jimin resides. A lot of people know of him, others might have some vague familiarity, but when you hear that he’s releasing music there’s definitely automatic intrigue there. I also think that Jimin has managed to do something very smart in where people now know to anticipate his title tracks because he’s 2/2 with them.

I think back to that translation I saw of what he said about his “standard of excellence rising.” and I get so excited. Because here’s a man who worked very hard of MUSE but knows that it wasn’t peak him because he was on a time crunch like you mentioned. So when he’s finally free of enlistment and has unlimited time to really sit down and explore even more, I really believe that PJM3 is gonna be his best work. And I’m genuinely hoping that it’s an actual album with like 10+ songs

[j4gm]

SPOILERS!!! REFERENCES AND EASTER EGGS IN F&C ep. 9: CASPER & NOVA (1 of 2)

I hit the image limit so this post will be in two parts.

These last two episodes feature traditional Adventure Time title cards with intro credits, which is something the others haven't had.

There is a butterfly floating above Fionna when she enters the "Land of Ooo". The same thing happened to Cake when she entered Ooo, and to Simon later on, but this butterfly doesn't have a face on it like those. This is our first hint that something is wrong.

The Betty statue in the background of this shot is on top of a four-faceted object that sort of resembles Glob's helmet; an item that she used to gain her magic powers in You Forgot Your Floaties. Also in this shot are several gnome fairies from The Enchiridion and Billy's Bucket List, and of course Mrs Cupcake and genderswapped Chocoberry. Mrs Cupcake has appeared before but I think Chocoberry is a new design for this episode.

This is our first and only look at what Hunter Wizard would look like. Mostly the same as his main universe counterpart.

This species of dragon first appeared in Memories of Boom Boom Mountain and has been in several subsequent episodes. I'm not sure who the giant cyclops is. It could be a genderswap of the cyclops from Another Way, or perhaps the rock giant from Five More Short Graybles.

Lots of the text in this scene is hostile. There is this sign behind the counter, of course, but lots of the books on the shelf also have violent names.

This series loves giving us extremely fucked up Simons.

This background character looks like Phlannel Boxingday. It would be hilarious if that was the case, considering he is widely assumed to have been a disguise of Princess Bubblegum rather than his own character.

This might be genderswapped Tiffany. She's wearing Tiffany's pink shirt under her jacket. Maybe she has a masculine name in this universe.

We get a better look at the newspaper from the first episode, featuring Betty. It also features the fake butterfly from the dream which feels like a bad omen.

Marshall Lee's t-shirt features the cake pop from Princess Bubblegum's rock shirt, first seen in What Was Missing.

The Lich first mentioned being a Scholar of GOLB in the episode Whispers. In this episode it is confirmed that he has been working towards his goals in GOLB's name. But it doesn't seem like he's actually had any line of communication with GOLB this whole time. GOLB doesn't seem to appreciate The Lich's efforts to wipe out all life; and now that GOLB is fused with Betty, they certainly don't.

The Lich rips off Billy's skin to reveal his skeletal form, which is the same as it was in Escape from the Citadel, complete with the metal plate on his ribcage.

GOLBetty turns the Lich into a tetronimo, implying that all of the tetronimoes surrounding them were once powerful beings who defied GOLB; perhaps they are even all alternate versions of The Lich.

Shermy and Beth! This episode incorporates a lot of the extra lore that writer Steve Wolfhard published shortly after the release of Come Along With Me. It canonises the fact that Shermy and Beth are rebels who oppose the tyrannical rule of Gibbon, who is Charlie's future son from Daddy-Daughter Card Wars. This place is the Pup Kingdom, which is featured in the Come Along With Me title sequence and is a central part of Wolfhard's 1000+ lore.

These are the same kinds of soldiers as seen in Graybles 1000+ when Cuber interrupted the space wedding. In that episode, you only got a very brief glimpse of their jowls. This episode makes it more obvious that they are pups.

All of these pups in the windows are designs from Steve Wolfhard's "Every Pup Has a Power" series of drawings. They once had superpowers, but their powers were extinguished by Gibbon.

This is Jake's favourite mug from the episode Puhoy, and the house in the snowglobe is Tree Trunks' house.

There is a Shermy plush in this pile of junk. There might be some other recognisable stuff in that pile too. I think the popcorn machine is from something but I can't remember what, and the pool toy might be a reference to the Lub Glubs from Beautopia.

This is our best shot of the Pup Kingdom, with its space elevator.

Beth is a revolutionary communist confirmed.

Shermy Simon shouts breadballs, an expletive that he previously used in the episode Simon & Marcy.

The clouds in Fionnaworld are shaped like GOLB blocks while Simon is in the presence of GOLB. We also get a better look at all the glitched out buildings, like that door that leads nowhere.

I think the creature next to Gunter in this advert is a yeti from the show Summer Camp Island, which a bunch of Adventure Time alumni went to work on after the original show ended.

There is a poster for Super Porp, a fizzy grape juice introduced in the episode Dark Purple, along with their mascot Cheryl.

Jake is on these packages in one of the shops.

The Library looks incredible now. In the original show, only the top part with the dome could be seen sticking out of the ground. Either the ground has eroded away to reveal the rest of the structure, or the library has been greatly expanded over time.

Turtle Princess is dead and apparently a robot took over her empty shell and continues to work as a librarian. These are the first gun-books we've seen that also function as actual guns.

These are the pagelings from the episode Paper Pete. They're much larger than they used to be. They don't have many books left to protect these days.

Casper & Nova mention lodging in the seaside town of Scandia on their quest to find the crown. This is a reference to the fact that Simon and Betty found the crown in Scandinavia, as mentioned way back in Holly Jolly Secrets.

I hit the image limit! Link to the second part.

[pikapeppa]

A transcript of Solas's involvement in Vows & Vengeance: Episode 1

As the title says: I transcribed the scene between Solas, Nadia, and Elio in the first ep of the Vows & Vengeance podcast, for fic and meta reasons for anyone who wants it!

Of note: some of the closed captions for the video are not accurate to the actual audio recording. One particular significant instance of this is highlighted in the transcript below. I also added a little bit of context for clarification purposes.

This transcript covers the portion of the podcast from 31:26 - 40:04.

See below the cut!

[Elio and Nadia are riding through the Silent Plains. They are on the run from Tevinter. Nadia’s horse whinnies in fear.]

Nadia: Whoa, whoa! What’s got you spooked, girl?

Elio: Probably just that ominous-looking chap in the road just ahead. Is that your guy?

Nadia: I’m not sure. Hood’s up. I can’t see his face.

Elio: Think he’s safe?

Nadia: Let’s go find out. Keep an eye for bandits just in case.

[They approach the ominous-looking chap.]

Nadia: You! Stranger! Do you know of Olen?

Solis: Nadia, I presume. I am Solas. And I am, I believe, the one that you seek.

Nadia: you have the gold? 

Solas: If that is what matters most to you.

Nadia: It’s what matters to the world.

Solas: Perhaps.

[clinking of coins.]

Nadia: Looks good to me. Elio, give him the Eye.* (* The Eye of Kethisca — the magical relic that Nadia stole from Arcanist Hall in the Archives at Minrathous)

Elio [whispering]: Are you sure about this?

Nadia: What other choice do we have?

Elio [sigh]: One moment.

[Magical humming. Elio and Nadia gasp.]

Solas: Steady yourselves. There is nothing to fear from this relic.

Nadia: You didn’t see what this thing did back in Minrathous. Unleashed a wave of energy or something. Tore the ground up, almost killed Elio!

Solas [chuckle]: I will demonstrate. Ar dirthan’as ir elgara. Ma’sula e’var vhenan. 

[Magical humming subsides.]

Elio: How did you do that?

Solas: The Eye was made from a rare gem mined in the caves beneath us. It was crafted centuries ago by a powerful Dreamer.

Eloi: So… it’s connected to the Fade?

Solas: Do you feel a connection to the Fade, Magister?

Elio: You know who I am?

Solas: Among other things. I know you well.

Nadia: [sharply] What is this? What — what game are you playing?

Solas: I do not play games. But if you seek answers, then come.

[The sound of footsteps moving through rocky debris. They are entering a cave.]

Nadia: Maybe we should turn back. This cave has a dark energy. I don’t like it.

Solas: Energy is neither dark nor light. It is just energy. And it is not the cave responsible for what you feel. It is the Fade. The Veil is fragile here.

Elio: I can feel it.

Solas: What about the Eye? Can you feel that, too?

Nadia: You said you had answers about what happened. Tell us.

Solas [sigh]: I suspect that when Elio summoned his magic* back on those docks, he unknowingly formed a bond with the Eye, and it amplified his powers. (* Elio used Stone Fist: a spell from the Rift Mage subclass in Inquisition)

[The sound of scuffling footsteps, and a blade unsheathing.]

Nadia: [to Solas] You better choose your next words very carefully.

Elio: What are you doing?!

Nadia: We never said it was at the docks.

Solas: [calmly] Kindly remove your blade from my neck.

Nadia: You start talking. I’ll decide if I move it.

Solas: Do you think the threat of a knife brings truth?

Nadia: The knife is just a promise. 

Elio: Nadia, put it down.

Nadia [sigh]: Fine.

[She sheathes the blade.]

Solas: I heard word that the Venatori had plans for the Eye. I hired Olen to retrieve the relic before that could happen.

[A sound like wind whistling in the background.]

Elio: Why would you do that?

Solas: Because they do not understand its power. Or yours, Magister.

Elio: Mine?

Solas: There are things in motion that neither of you can fully grasp. And it is up to me to ensure that we arrive at the best possible outcome. But in order for that to happen, yes: I will need your help.

Elio: Why me?

Solas: Because you are a powerful Rift Mage, and your bloodline is tied to this relic. The Dreamer that forged the Eye bore the name of An’Dante.* (* Elio’s full name is Elio Andante.)

Elio: My family created it?

Nadia: it was no accident that Olen hired me, was it? 

Solas: You’re sharper than you let on.

Nadia: It’s a gift.

Solas: It’s a frailty. [gently]

Elio: I was told* that the Eye would end the world, not mend it. (* By Neve Gallus)

Solas: Some people confuse a reckoning as an ending.

Elio: So you seek reform?

Solas: I seek… regeneration.

Nadia: I’ve heard enough of this dreck. Let’s go, Elio. Elio!

Elio: I’ll do it.

Nadia: Um, can I speak to you for a moment?

[Footsteps as they step away a bit.]

Nadia: [scoff] Are you crazy? There is no way we can trust this guy!

Elio: I understand your concern, but my purpose in the Magisterium was to help the people. To invoke change. I can’t do that now. That life is over. This could be my last chance to make a difference. And to find out the Eye was born by my ancestor’s hand? I… I have to do this. it was fated.

Nadia: [sigh] Why must you be so noble?

Elio: We are who we are, my love. 

[Nadia sighs. They return to Solas. Magical humming/ringing; it sounds like they are in a large cavern. Some breezy-echoing sounds.]

Nadia: What is this place?

Solas: An ancient chamber. Once home to unspeakable acts. Many were sacrificed on these grounds, and the blood that was spilled weakened the barriers between our worlds.

Elio: And the Eye will help us fix that?

[Ambient whispering sounds. Almost sound like voices. Inaudible/incomprehensible.]

Solas: More or less. 

[Clinking sound; Solas seems to be working.]

Nadia: And you’re sure this is safe?

Solas: As safe as we make it.

Nadia [sigh]: I don’t know. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Elio: Would it help if I told you that ring around your neck is imbued with a protective spell?

Nadia: Maybe. Is it?

Elio: Mm. Maybe.

[Nadia chuckles.]

[Ongoing magic humming sound; incomprehensible/inaudible ambient whispers.]

Solas: The relic is ready. Prepare your mind. Begin.

Solas and Elio chanting together in Elvhen: Heruamin litirien. Alai uethri maeria. Halurocon yalei nam bahna. Dolin nereba maome…

Nadia [sounds afraid] Guys? Guys, this does not feel right. 

Solas: Silence, please.

Solas and Elio chanting together in Elvhen: Ame amin. Halai lothi amin. Aloamin Heruamin. Heruamin oh lonai. Imwe naine beriole… 

[There is rumbling in the background, rocks breaking, cave crumbling.]

Nadia: Elio! Elio, I really don’t like this! Elio!

Elio: It’s working, Nadia! I can feel it!

Solas and Elio, chanting loudly together in Elvhen: Ame amin! Halai lothi amin! Aloamin Heruamin! Aloamin Heruamin! Aloamin Heruamin!

[Ongoing sound of cave crumbling. Nadia is crying out in fear. Then Elio starts groaning.]

Nadia: Elio!

Elio: Solas, something is wrong!  

Solas: Keep your focus. 

Elio: Solas, please! We must stop!

Solas: Keep your mind steady!

Elio: Argh! I… feel something. A presence!* (* this is significantly different from the closed caption, but my transcription is correct.)

Nadia: Solas, you have to stop this! 

Solas: This is all to be expected. Remain firm.

Elio: [straining, groaning] I can’t… Hold on!

[Ongoing cave-crumbling sounds. Nadia crying out in fear.]

Solas: If you let go now, the Eye will explode!

Nadia: Elio!

Elio: I’m here!

Nadia: Where?

[Elio screams. The cave collapses.]

Nadia: [screaming] Elio! Elio! 

Solas: [voice sounds distant] We must flee. We must flee! Now! [cries out in pain/effort] Hurry! [cries out]

Nadia: Elio! [voice echoing weirdly.]

Solas: [voice echoing weirdly] Nadia, here! Take my hand. 

Nadia: Save Elio!

Solas: He has crossed over.

Nadia: Elio!

Solas: We must escape! I’m sorry!

[Nadia grunts. Ambient sounds return to normal, no longer weirdly echoing. No more cave-crumbling sounds; silence. Shortly after, there is the sound of gusting wind rustling through grass, the horse whinnying; it appears that Nadia has emerged from the cave, or what was left of it.] 

Nadia: [groaning] Elio? Elio, are you there? Elio? Solas! Hello? [yelling, crying out in despair] No!

[acoraxia]

hi! if you dont mind, what abt the lmk s5 turned you off from it? im legitimately just curious, and you dont have to answer if you dont wanna obvi

it was mostly the writing choices from S3 onward that made me really question the actual reason why I watched the show

at first I genuinely enjoyed and was excited for S3 up until we got to S3E2 and I realized the creative liberties they took with the myths was not.. awesome! there’s also a lot of favoritism towards certain characters and they often overshadow the arcs or needed development for others characters like Sandy, Pigsy and Wukong. Xiaotian by S5E3 feels less and less like the protagonist I enjoyed by S4 and more like Smartie Kid 2.0.

The decisions to handle certain myths made me a little tired like — I do not want a 100% copy of the original myths of course not! Nüwa has different versions of her myths including the ones with Pangu and Fuxi and creative liberties need to be taken sometimes but they direction they went with the pillars and making it just the Samadhi Fire rings but… with rocks wasn’t great? I do not visually remember anything that happens within S5 and that sucks! Certain comedic moments lose their touch after a while and it feels like it’s trying to fill in the gaps Flying Bark left behind

After S3 I really… only watched the show for Sun Wukong and by S4’s special eps I was really… frustrated with how they handled his character by taking away his selfishness, bad acts and making him regret or not know that he killed someone… since… that’s a thriving point to his character? The point being that, yes, killing people is wrong and that was an important lesson Sun Wukong had to learn through the journey and having him regret those actions really devalues the fact that those acts of violence lead to the person who he is today, a pilgrim who is worthy of his title as Victorious Fighting Buddha. So S5’s approach to having SWK around was uhhhhhhhh not great? not necessarily bad I can see why people enjoy it. alas i am not people!

I just think there’s better media out there for Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods i could fixate on including New Gods and their takes on god powers and the myths themselves,,, sorry if this is wonky, i just got home and i’m incredibly tired and need to wake up early for college stuff

[hiddenbeks]

people i'd like to know better

tagged by @ecofear, thank you!!! 😌🫶

last song: apocalypse please by muse!

favorite color: really into dark emerald green rn

last book read: last book i remember actually finishing was the obelisk gate by n. k. jemisin like... two years ago aha... i'm currently enjoying kellopelisydän by vehka kurjenmiekka!! it's in finnish but the title translates to 'clockwork heart' and it's about these assassins who have had their hearts replaced by a mechanical one that demands they kill at least one person per year and if they fail to do this the heart will kill them... lots of mystery surrounding the hearts and the assassins... and like the setting and its people in general... i really don't wanna say too much bc i believe this book is best enjoyed if you just dive in with minimal knowledge... finnish speaking mutuals check it out 🫵 if u wanna

last movie: mad max fury road was on tv the other day and i watched it... still love it still the most action movie of all time... i've seen it four times now i think

last show: i'm currently juggling between twin peaks and battlestar galactica (2004 remake)! i've never watched twin peaks before but i borrowed the dvd box set from my sib and i've watched 3 episodes so far? i really enjoy the setting and the soundtrack and the mystery and the characters and their secrets and the overall ✨ambiance✨ but the creepy staring man in ep 2 jumpscared me so hard that it has been difficult to continue lol

sweet/savory/spicy: savory mostly

relationship status: single. sigh

last thing i looked up: 'antibiotics hair loss' bc i'm still on antibiotics and i'm losing a lot more hair than normally so i was wondering if it was connected. could be but also could be that it's something else who knows. i'm so tired

current obsession: idk i'm not really intensely obsessed with anything at the moment. but i'm spending lots of time with fields of mistria... and kotor... i'm gonna get the 4th star map soon and i know after that you encounter malak on the leviathan?? so the Reveal is about to happen soon??? i'm nervous... also speaking of kotor i am obsessed with liah actually. i watch battlestar galactica and i go what if liah bsg au 🤔 i think abt the sw prequels and i go what if liah prequel au 🤔 i've never played cyberponk and never will but the other day i went what if liah cyberponk au (liah with mantis blades??!?!?!?!!???!!) 🤔 can't think abt anything without also thinking abt inserting liah in it somehow...

looking forward to: kotor remake :) fields of mistria update later this month :) finding out who wins this season of finland's dancing with the stars... it's gotta be either isaac or linnea. or bess maybe

tagging @yahgrondu @volkihar @nokstella @thelavellans

@pinkfey @pawnguild @bellaralutare no pressure thooooo!

[toonfanatic08]

do u have any headcanons for ickis questionmark

slams the fucking door open

the question is not do i , but its…. how many do i have ;-) keep in mind that aahhh!!! real monsters is a very intense special interest of mine so its extremely personal to me. because of that, my HCs are also personal interpretation and may not be everyone's cup of tea. my experiences inform my perception of media, and thereby i will probably have a lot of biases. please dont make fun of me yall im paranoid as shit clears throat dramatically

look at him... he means everything to me... <3

autistic

so i am an avid autistic "ickis is autistic" truther. i want a fanfic where he gets diagnosed with the monster equivalent of autism and if nobody here will do it, well nelly i may just Do It Myself ! a lot of the stuff the gromble shits on him for, and much of what he is ostracized for by others is actually autistic traits if you look closely. warning this can make you see the show in a MUCH different light. i literally was not the same after i realized it. it kind of makes it about an autistic creature experiencing ableism and being victim blamed for it. story of my life :')

sensory issues. in season 2's "rosh-o-monster," he's quickly overstimulated by the opera singer in the theater theyre in. same season's "mayberry ufo", the harsh rocking of the carriage theyre on clearly stresses him out too.

in the season 2 episode "the ickis box", he develops a hyperfixation on televisions and building one. he also shows an example of stimming in this episode too with the way he starts grooving relentlessly to the television music in the beginning. there's even this quote here:

Ickis: I couldn't help it. I was swept away! It was all so magnificent. (from ahh real monsters wiki, linked later in this document!) i must also mention it's punk/rock music! again! this adds proof to my headcanon that he would probably be a punk enjoyer.

this was pointed out by another tumblr post headcanoning this too but at some point he even says " i wish i was a better judge of character." this is from the season 3 episode "cement heads", in which he's taken advantage of by the taffy gang to break them out of their gargoyle state. the post is here! i credit lots of my opinions to that because the media literacy is excellent here and it gave me Many ideas i did not think of initially.

this, secondly, was also borrowed from the tumblr post. he seems to have a budding possible special interest in human culture. i want to cite these episodes, "hats off", again "the ickis box", "into the woods", in which he even reached out to a human for help (bradley). and "monster blues", in which he develops a bond with a blind man. he seems to have like this general curiosity for stuff concerning it and whatnot. time and time again, hes shown to be the most open to the idea of humans even though his society is not.

this was thirdly also pointed out by the tumblr post. motor skill issues, which can be attributed to problems with proprioception. but i can cite an additional example. [the ep where he like has his foot run over by a car when trying to scare two teenagers. i can't remember the title. my source is: trust me bro. i will edit this when i figure out which one it was]

this is an obscure trait but he has a unique form of vocal tone. it could be called hyperexpressive vocal prosody. or a "sing-songy" tone. i like to attribute his expressiveness to autism as well.

he has had many moments in the series that resemble meltdowns/panic attacks.

different types of stimming as well. throughout the series he tends to pace back and forth, pull on his ears, or makes squeaks and voice cracks.

there is also echolalia present. here is a particular example… in the end of "wake me up when it's over", in which this exchange happens:

Oblina: Ickis, did you eat this skanky stuff? Ickis: Yes, I ate this skanky stuff. Oblina: Well, no wonder you have been sleep-scaring! Ickis: Well, no wonder I've been sleep-scaring! Oblina: And now you should be fine. Ickis: And now I should be fi… Is there an echo in here? (~transcript exerpt from here.)

overall my mind is obsessed with how well it depicts autism for me personally. like he depicts how i was my whole life, being blamed for things i can't really control. i cannot express enough how much ickis means to me as a character. because it means that again as i mentioned at the beginning, the stuff he gets ostracized for is autistic traits, it makes the story so tragic and fucked up when u think about it like this. it means everything to me and i cannot stop thinking about it.

adhd

interest-based attention and cognition. easily distracted and tends to procrastinate (literally transient throughout the series. his common procrastination and seeking for shortcuts on assignments, etc. its a rather common source of plot in the show.)

impulsivity. such as in "this is your brain on ickis."

rejection-sensitive dysphoria such as in season 2 episodes "monster blues", "spontaneously combustible", and other similar episodes. RSD is often associated with autism, adhd, and other types of conditions. i may add more adhd symptoms onto this if i find them when i rewatch the cartoon

generalized anxiety disorder, with panic attacks

in the NICKsclusive aahh!! real monsters interview, he was canonically described by his voice actor (charlie adler) as "neurotic", which is from the outdated psychological term "neurosis". it denotes symptoms of stress or mood disturbance. in colloquial use signifies a rather anxious, obsessive, or nervous person. i just thought this was interesting so i included it here.

his frequent anxiety and worries, especially in the earlier seasons. as generalized anxiety disorder is transient worry across many things in life, (i myself have it!)

okay ! now these next headcanons have less substantial proof than the others.

gender. orientation things

non-binary . he/they/it/xe. possibly also genderfluid or boyflux. again once again in "monster blues", he literally states "i'm not a boy, i'm a monster!". there are times where the show actually uses both masculine AND neutral titles for him. as for orientation i am not entirely sure. maybe bisexual or just queer?

miscellaneous

he would be punk if he had more exposure to it! in the episode with the punk/rock band (there is a clip of it online but i cant remember the name of the episode,) he clearly enjoys the music and is grooving relentlessly. also, the previous example i mentioned of the episode "the ickis box", too.

he would listen to dead kennedys and sex pistols absolutely. i dont know a Lot of punk bands though, so maybe i will add onto this once i listen to more.

i also feel like he would enjoy motorhead, megadeth, and possibly probably deftones and insane clown posse but i could be projecting haha. maybe classics like elvis as well. no i am totally projecting :') okay um that's some of my major ones. i am very autistic this is just over a thousand words. help.

[pynkhues]

Apologies for the disorganized ask but - how much (if at all) do you think the golden trio understand the experiences their siblings have re Logan’s abuse? I’ve been rewatching Succession to cope with the show ending and I noticed there’s this kind of warped view the siblings seem to have of each other (for example, Ken and Rome’s view of Shiv being treated better as the girl and favorite or Shiv and Rome believing Ken is treated better because of how close Logan keeps him at times like S2). I’ve also noticed a lot of Logan’s abuse tends to happen in one-on-one scenes as well (meaning other characters are not privy to those exchanges) and the times it’s brought up is by “witness” characters as opposed to the character who experienced the abuse (inherently to my read meaning that if acts are not witnessed, we tend not to hear about it).  Do you think this has impacted how each of Roman, Shiv and Ken view each other?

I don’t think it’s a disorganised ask at all, anon, I think you’ve really hit the nail on the head in the sense that the Golden Trio don’t have a clear sense of each other’s experiences of abuse, nor more broadly of each other’s relationship with Logan at all. A lot of this is, of course, the fact that Logan’s parenting style seems to have been divide and conquer as that’s been the way he’s managed to control the people and the world around him, but in a lot of ways I think it’s symptomatic too of Logan’s own experience of abuse. Logan’s childhood was one of separation after all – from parent, from brother, from sister, sometimes in death, sometimes by force – and I think in a lot of respects, that division is to him a complicated cocktail of love and self-hatred (I think the funeral ep in particular made clear that Logan sent Roman away in the same way Noah had sent him, and whether that was out of punishment or self-hatred or in an effort to try and make Roman strong like he felt he was we could speculate forever).

Of course, it’s also the very ethos of the show that the past is made up. There are no objective truths in a personal history, which means there can be no shared understanding of what an experience was. The show plays around with memory all the time – Logan telling Roman he didn’t even hit him, Shiv and Caroline having different understandings of when Caroline and Logan divorced, the scripts showing us that the memory of the kids being shown their own crying faces in the mirror is attributed to different parents by different kids (Logan for Kendall, Caroline for Shiv) – and it seems to understand at its core that memory is inherently personal.

Add to that that children experiencing trauma often face developmental delays and memory loss (funnily enough, I just did a whole course on this for work), and neither the kids nor Logan ever really stood a chance.

But yes, more to the point of your question, haha, I do think the Golden Trio know that Logan ruined them, I think they know that his abuse was real, and I think they have a sort of vague idea of what buttons to push with each other because they’ve seen that behaviour modelled for them – know how to lean on Shiv’s gender and perceived politics and Kendall’s emotional vulnerability and mental health, and Roman’s mother issues and runt of the litter title – but I don’t think any of them have ever unpicked the reasons they do it beyond the fact that it’s ingrained in the DNA of the family, or have any deeper sense of what it means. They’ve been trained to sniff out each other’s weak spots, but they’ve also been trained to think only in the context of what that means for them personally.

We see that all the time, but especially I think in s2 when Kendall’s at his lowest and we see both Roman and Shiv feel threatened by Logan and Kendall’s seeming new closeness, but there’s a reticence to actually think about why or what it means beyond their own precarious places in the family unit. They’ve been raised in competition, and they’ve been taught to weaponise even the most personal of tragedies, which is exactly what Shiv does when she weaponises the waiter’s death in the finale, and Kendall does exactly what he’s been taught to do too which is re-write a memory in a way that makes what he did bearable. It’s tragic and it’s inherent to the show’s sense of identity, power and abuse – after all, how can you ever truly see each other when what you’ve been through and what you’ve done can be turned into nothing at all?

[cornus27florida]

What did you think of CPC’s ending? 👀👀

Hi IHF!!! I am really sorry to just replying cuz I overthinking so many things, I kinda want to write many things about CPC's ending but that's making me go here and there...

As an overthinker, along with a big procrastinator, I realized how long I keep your question in my inbox unanswered... This also I portrayed through fanfiction at AO3 ``June's Dump" which initially about month June at CPC, so 7 months timeskip as we have George and his sommelier wedding - which def invite Jamie, but I wonder if the venue at Plaid Palace thus we have Plaid Royals reactions over them... Hmph, fix time! I need to fulfill ‘em all!!

Back to basic, the initial question... What do I personally think about the CPC's ending as in epilogue 173? Well… I have mixed feelings, so I have some clashed opinions

As a wiki editor personal thought, I am kind of annoyed at a certain 'new' editor that cut off many things in the page as Mocha already gives the foundation... Peri was even shocked by my strong reactions over that annoyance... Although from there I see how unstable my emotions are, I literally have too many mixed emotions that I can't describe! Nevertheless I finished the story part up to completion, and I think that page is pretty much done. There's my thought as fandom wikia editor lmao but that's too much technical

As a wiki editor personal thought, I am kind of annoyed at a certain 'new' editor that cut off many things in the page as already Mocha gives the foundation... Peri even shocked to my strong reactions over that annoyance... Although from there I see how unstable my emotions, I literally have too many mixed emotions that I can't describe! Nevertheless I finished the story part up to completion, and I think that page is pretty much done. There's my thought as fandom wikia editor lmao but that's too much technical and boring

...although nvm, I will be myself who rambling to things that I love and I won't change at that aspect haha - here come v.02!

So, here is another of my thoughts but based on TV Tropes! This more at happy note~

(Disclaimer: I didn't mainly edit in there, but I do some minor editings here and there - although those never done lmao)

Also it's open secret for everyone, that TV Tropes content is hella subjective but at least they are funny - hence why I feel better informations database is at fandom wiki instead

"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The final chapter takes place six months later, and Gwen writes in her diary about what happened then:

Jack learned about Lilyth and her painting curse, then he cried for a whole week over her.

> We know Jack cried in happiness as reunite with his wife once again, IDK that sentence feels like Jack cried in sadness which the opposite of reality

Lorena got an A+++++ for her final class project.

The kids are getting along with the family, and both Jamie and Leopold made more artwork for the walls so Lilyth could travel through them around the castle.

Jack held a celebration to acknowledge the people who helped defend the castle from the invasion. He hasn't visited Leland in prison since.

Jerry was promoted to Chief Warden, while Beckett got demoted and transferred far away from Maria.

> poor Beckett, in wiki there Mocha add sentence which technically objective but lack in Tropes :  Jerry got everything Beckett wanted - a princess, a promotion (to Chief Warden), and recognition from the King himself - while Beckett was demoted and moved to a station as far away from Maria as possible.

Suzana officially joined the Pastel Troops.

> It's actually from ep 171 about Suzie plan to move out to Pastel Kingdom, but ep 173 as the epilogue itself never explicitly tell it? Probably due to it from Gwen's POV that uninterested with military stuff... I am more curious about the location of the new "home" where the throuple LorZanCe are lmao, likely at Pastel Kingdom I guess

The Club got Gwen's painting from the Conservatory back by distracting them with Laverne.

The forest of the Cursed Princess Club was declared a protected area by the king so it's never in danger of being invaded again.

> Remember the spider's conversation about a new member of the CPC incoming? Who?? Heck yeah, sequel potential!

Frederick has been hard at work studying to one day become king and receives support from his family.

> At discord, me and some buddies are joking about how Frederick is going during timeskip espc as he is technically the 'special member' but hasn't got his own slumber party yet... Hence why we got amused on the scenario of him sneaking out on a night to get initiated, but his kingdom mistaken it as something serious and send an army to fetch him out from initiation LOL (in similar sense of ep 148 ending where Prez shocked to see Plaid soldiers lining and thought they are merely fetching Frederick, and in our scenario that assumption of Prez becomes reality). Oh well, I hope in the promised side stories we have Frederick's slumber party (and Maria as well! Although I also hope Lorena and Jamie get the open arms to join the CPC? Well let's see/Fanfic for cope)

Prez stopped taking her medication and resorted to her old way of dealing with her curse. With the growing acknowledgement and support for the Cursed Princess Club, she is looking to expand to help more people who are cursed.

> regarding Prez point, this kinda too summarized on my liking lol. First about the expansion as moving out to a new and bigger building, we don't know exactly where but I really really hope it's at Plaid Kingdom. That way with reformed Plaid Kingdom whose initially negative thoughts toward cursed people (let's see; Leland feels the cursed need to be fixed first, while Blaine and com. Tattersall sees cursed as a monster which needs to die), now on the hands of kinder people espc the crown prince himself is close with CPC - that makes the CPC expansion more meaningful IMHO. Also cuz Plaid has larger land xD

> the period pauser pill (it's not birth control y'all, please don't mix 'em up, fandom!) indeed merely temporarily solution and I have doubts from very first time as see it through eyes of biologist that concerned with drugs side effects espc for long use - even if those pills possibly non synthetic ones=lesser side effects. Basically ALL drugs are technically poison that is used on right doses, time and matched person with many has strict rules under prescription. That's why Whitney suddenly bought it kinda concerning, although I can see the comedic effect and temporarily 'relief of the curse' on that solution haha. Permanent solution possibility for Prez is to get 'reproduction organs/system removal' surgery - the HYSTERECTOMY.. here I spill a bit of spoiler secret of RaS as my ff series, I want Prez to consider that option

Themidora reunited with lobster lover, Benedict, who tricked the wicked sea cucumber into cursing him so he could be with her.

> I am surprised but in the side of “wao, so LambCat chose that option” because I kinda guessed it before. Thermidora "solution" is either to de-transform back as lobster so can reunites with Benedict (probably through searching 'lobster' serum from that background cursed serums merchant, or probably Jack allows the Clam to be used for betterment of CPC members not for greed) OR Benedict somehow finds a way to meets with her. I am more surprised with the way of latter guess to be true, because the method is kinda mundane "trick the sea cucumber to curse me so I can walk on land!" way + Thermidora wish of 'meeting hot summer lobster' to be true somehow LOL. Her premonition comes true and that's silly sweet panel ^^

Whitney returned home to his kingdom for Blacquelyn's coronation. She now wears a coat made from Greyden's fur.

> I wonder about Whitney's status in the Monochrome Kingdom but it seems won't be explained. So my guess as in HCs: Queen Blacquelyn actually 'likes' Whitney more than Greyden from the start, probably in the way of 'being girl is never to claim the throne' so Whitney never heeds her much. Which as Whitney presumed to die and Greyden raising to power, Greyden make havoc to bring his harem to the palace and annoys his sister so much = reason why Blacquelyn decides to throws throne of Greyden (which I and Axel have HC, got neutered LOL)

Nell and Jolie officially got married.

> Very happy for the wedding! Personally I thought their wedding itself is beautiful but the guests scene kinda iffy me a lil bit. Like why Pastel Kingdom only has Maria, Gwen, and Jack? Where are Lorena and Jamie?? I think they are busy chasing their dreams so choose not to attend, or LambCat simply lazy to draw them lol/jk. Also this kinda controversial intake espc to Syrah lovers, but personally I don't feel humored at all with Syrah still flirting with Jack when she must know how strong the love of Jack/Leelathae-Lilyth.. So that scene leaves bad taste to me, this excluding poor Saffron moment. Sigh, the ship of Syrah/ Saffron is officially sunk. I am kinda accepted it but I just feel weird despite being female myself, I feel many female characters are easily 'get away' with things while male characters gets repetitive/redundant/unnecessary misfortunes - some of folks at discord agree with that statement but at the end of the day I want CPC for their heartwarming wholesomeness, not to pick fights at anyone and I am still learning about that. I wonder if Nell and Jolie moved out to stays at the Lace Kingdom as I feel CPC need some delegations that stays at their own kingdom, that's what Tori wants for Monika after all. Speaking of Monika, she technically can have 2 suitors as one Tori and other Orson lol - but epilogue is not deciding her end so I feel who Monika ends up to isn't important? At least her dream to open a stall for jewelry becomes reality, although a certain someone at discord is mad about lack of Monika's appearance overall....

Aurelia got together with Celso after their meeting at the castle.

> This super simplified explanation about Aurelia, and a certain someone labeling Celso as her boy toy - which make me think both of their characters downgraded uhh. Anyway to be honest I am not really a fan of both of them as they are alright characters but not really special as in 'meh' territory. Unlike Orson/Monika as the ship of a Princel/CPC member, CeLia is too rushed imho (they literally meet each other during the night of invasion arc) with the dash of concerning acid mouth from both + we don't know if the "True love's kiss" attempt from Aurelia to Celso really happening or not, but it's so concerning - realistically in my HC about cures for Aurelia, we can develop some utensils that won't melt with her spit (they have magics, duh) with probability of chopsticks could not touching directly with mouth along it's saliva during consumption of certain foods OR developing (more realistic!) melting curse counter which high in acid with something like specialized mouthwash high in alkaline

Maria got to fulfill her dream of singing her recital for everyone, which caught the eye of her idol and they began collabing.

> Good for Maria :3 Also the side stories sneak peak has Maria like performing on a certain stage with a new outfit which the image can be seen at P.S at the end, I wonder if she does an idol live stage under Bozart tutelage?

Blaine is now on a journey of self atonement, but has made sure to attend Maria's recital.

> Some people love Blaine so much, I am not really sure if to be honest.. I just hope that Blaine at least attempts to communicate with his family (sans Leland ofc) in his journey, especially his youngest brother who becomes crown prince right now could get some pointers about how to lead people of their kingdom. My opinion about Blaine fits the most with Mono's opinion in that sense after all

As for Gwen, she no longer sees cracks in her reflection. She is happy with Frederick.

> that's how TV Tropes conclude things but I feel I need to add more (for another time, remind the future me plz) as I feel Gwen and Frederick, being the protagonist and the deuteragonist respectively, need to be on separate points? From what I get (thus my personal thoughts) by rereading ep 173 at uncountable times, Gwen technically doesn't stopping see cracks in her reflection BUT every time she feels down which make the cracking - she will read her mother's letter that she put on her bedroom wall (I kinda hope there's a couple pictures with Frederick inside Gwen's bedroom, but well at least we have that lovely finale panel)

> The content of Gwen's mom deserves a separate point! Her letter is so warming although there’s some parts that imho too female-exclusive, hence in the fanfiction that I made, Dear Me, I make the content to fits everyone :D

> What's TV Tropes forgot but I will make it up someday, but fandom like at this Tumblr doesn't by some folks, is the crucial final step implicitly told regarding Frederick's character development. He is purposely growing giant sunflowers at the front yard of his palace, showing that he didn't afraid of sunflowers anymore as well making peace with his past as got bullied (I still wondering his bullies where about although I have assumptions they are too 'broken' to show up to public anymore). 

Last for real, GwenDerick/FredDolyn last finale panel is very similar with Frederick's dream as Frederick on the left side of us, holding hands with Gwen with blushing face. That panel is freaking cute and fits the CPC epilogue so much in my humble opinion, what I dream is becomes reality - of wholesomeness ^^

Conclusion: (u could just jump to here, HEHEHE XD )

Long Story Short, overall the epilogue as in the CPC's ending is satisfying to me espc that lovely very last panel. Certain parts like Aurelia's solution of her curse or Prez just back to her old method seems lackluster, but to me is not that bad. I feel the 'backlash' of enjoyment actually from the fandom itself by some 'people' that I will put as anonymous, those I label as 'ungrateful' with some points I already mention. Also I know I am pushing myself so unhealthy regarding editing stuff… I love it actually so no pressure to me at all, but I know it’s kind of my running of realities of adulting hence why I need to ‘touch some grass’ as well

I forgot to mention that I guessed long ago (and confirmed to be right!) that Gwen will write a diary at the epilogue as inspired by her mom's diary. Although a bit of 'offs' are due to initial thought about 'the diary of lilyth' is filled with grief so it meant to be hidden, while Gwen's diary meant to be read to her kids with Frederik [one of comedy is silly sentence that in form of: dear my lovely kids, I want to tell you that your father does not love me at first sight but used to be so scared of my appearance but see now how hard he loves me now :) as a means for the complete opposite as a form of happiness to tell everything about CPC... So a kind of epilogue "I write my own story - reveal" because some episodes which are heavy-centric of Frederick like at ep 70 and 145, no way others could explain it unless those come from Frederick himself. That scenario could happen once Frederick and Gwen becomes true lovebirds that cozy w each other - to reveals true selves

P.S:

Here is some bonus from LambCat's Patreon that somehow I get the updates including the HD pictures !!

 I really want to get stable and high paying jobs soon :0 so I can be financially independent, thus can support LambCat through the paywall like subscribing her Patreon as well as buying CPC books!

[vampirevatican]

just finished slash fic... so now i have to wait til next saturday and set aside 200$... or keep logging in til i have 16k shards. for now let me just ramble and rant

SPOILERS FOR SLASH FIC BELOW (DORIAN VN)

EP 1-5:

so we're with our bestie, a theatre gay, an alt boy and a white, blue-eyed, blonde cancelled tiktok star... yeah this is a modern day horror.

riley really pissed me off... every time she was on screen she irritated me

she reads the incantation? "dumbass... WAIT WHY TF YOU PULLING ME INTO THIS?"

she calls me frumpy? "bitch i'm the only thing keeping you alive, you better bow tf down."

damien? god i love him. it's the aesthetic and his blush and as the game goes on i continue to love him.

the slashers?

mike saying "mine." hard. leather lifting me like a sack of potatoes? hard.

jay being adorable? "who's a sweet boy!!" ghost... was annoying to me he did not have me in the first half

actually no. ghost continued to piss me off... til the projector room. and it wasn't the smut. it was him taking down bitchy sorority girls hazing their latest member

that was the begining of the shift to lovers in enemies to lovers

leather... i... the way he relies on us and getting to spend time in his farm? no yeah i definitely fell in love. that's my husband.

oh jay. i just wanted to hold him and tell him he deserves so much more and so much better

damien can get hurt!? nooooo!!! i went back and saved him tho and... there's a small moment you share abt him crushing around here in the next batch of episodes and i... bb pls i love you

mike. he scares me. he... horraouses me. being and eldritch's plaything is... idk.

EP 6-10

I FUCKIN KNEW IT!!!

as soon as the talk of subverting tropes entered the chat i just knew it was that basic ass popular bitch

be damned if she's got a witch bloodline. her ass doesn't deserve that title!! and hell i don't think he mother (or jay's... different story, later) deserve witch status either!!

this section is also where my brain connected dots and started to like ghost more

ghost is stu macher... i like stu... so now, i like ghost.

protection, belonging, bashful, control... it's how i knew which of these belonged to which yet what i mixed up was ghost and jay but after seeing it... yeah no i started to pity ghost and like him even more

EP 11-15

RIIIIILEEEEEEY!!!!

can i say a bad word?? CAN I SAY A BAD WORD!!!? YOU MOTHERFUCKING BITCH @ RILEY

i hate her. and there's NOTHING this story can do to make me want her or pity her

"you witches play with darkness then act surprised when it plays back" uh huh papa, that's exactly what this dumb bitch does

love the team work boys, really... but not now

"am i just a protector? just muscle to stand between you and a blade?" no!! you're so much more...

FREDDIE KRUGER?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??

ngl the halloween special with jay walking out the fire... is where my concept of a mc counselor that loves fire comes from... and the darkness taking over

darkness taking over?! getting to do wild shit? being mean, nasty, murderous??? sign me up in the shit is brewing beneath the surface. oh... mc isn't, damn.

"this isn't you" jokes on you! it kinda is. ngl if the darkness hit me and i was fighting it off id have my ways on my own but i guarantee it'd be the catalyst to me becoming a killer

i got a glitch and got to see mike... do things and just gotta say cnc, knife play smut fic will happen.

EP 16-20

more ghost! and oh... oh he can get mad and it's hot...

and oh no... he's sad... he's cute when he's sad

the hearts start to piss me off from here on out. i could handle missing out on smut. but comforting my boys?? missing out on lore??? fuck you (i say, becoming the fuck you girl)

i was able to get everyone's unmasking (reluctantly getting mike's with a spend of hearts that i was trying to glitch) but ghosts and then i get it later but can't even go back and watch it w/o fucking up my progress... fuck you (i am the fuck you girl)

ANYWAY on to leather

i love you bubba, i love you papa, leather is so important to me after this one

his family is shit and he shouldn't have been lied to by his bs siblings

there's a spice scene w/ ofc heart option but it leads like free spice til you get the option ("fuck you", im telling you guys i hate the pay walls)

anyhow the lead up spice actually varies the way you say you wanna get down with the guys!! and turns out leather and jay get along rly good

fuck pilgrims btw.

EP 21-25

jay... oh jay... (losing dogs by miski plays while i start crying)

fuck jay's mom, fuck the dunlaps (prt 1), fuck cultists

jay deserves better and im glad that we get to help him in the end but FOR FUCKS SAKE IM MISSING OUT ON MOMENTS!!!

i wanted to comfort him, hell i wanted to comfort leather and ghost in the previous chapters too and yet PAYWALL

anyway speaking of my second irritation with the paywall, i accept smut pay wall but you can't no- shouldn't have the story read like we about to get freaky and it's in his hands and then strip it away!!! especially not jay!! give the option before hand!!!

anyway... the way he's like “i want you to run. run as fast as you can, and im gonna catch you. and when i do... your cookie is mine.”

the way i folded?? rock hard. down horrendous. i want him. no i need him.

anyway then he protects you and you stand up for him (reverse order) and if you get points you see his face and... i...

my baby. my baby...

he's so damn cute!!! he's such a sweetheart. he didn't deserve none of what happened to him!!!

okay now mike.... (loosing dogs starts playing again, specifically the 'oooooo')

i... he didn't deserve what happened with him either and im so glad he can actually really speak more after this.

turns out he wasn't an eldritch evil, but rather possessed by it, forced to do its bidding, born alongside it

FINALLY WE'RE FREE OF RILEY, THANK GOD DAMIEN IS OKAY

wait a minute... DAMIEN IS THAT YOU?? if so... i uh... you can join the harem w/o playing slasher pookie.

and who tf is this counselor?!

EP 26 and 27

so turns out the dilf/milf counselor got possessed to be krampus...

yeah no shit is getting hilarious levels of ridiculous but if this is what it takes for a special sure.

honestly the halloween and christmas could've been separated, like side stories?? spin offs?? ah well.

damien getting jelly? oh bb all you gotta do is say the word, i promise ilu. you're in the harem too!! if i had 1❤️ option or a freebie id take it every time.

the guys fuck each other... I REPEAT

“they hate each other. but they also f🐬CK each other!!”

apparently mike will watch jay, and ghost and leather get freaky sometimes... it may be bc unbearable darkness horny but idc, they fuck each other in the void!!!

[princesssszzzz]

do you think daemon would actually sleep with Rhaena?

Ummm idk

I don’t actually know if that rumor of Nettles being replaced is legitimate or not so 🤷‍♀️ Show Daemon I guess idk if that’s how they choose to portray his character as different than other Targaryens. Parent/child incest is not one of the normal or common relationships with Targaryens, and it’s not political because he’s not marrying Rhaena for lands or titles or anything. They aren’t having kids so it can’t be a “keep the blood line pure” thing. If they choose to add that, obviously they would for the Rhaenyra drama and from the setup of Rhaena saying Daemon ignores her.

That would add so many other questions to the show though like why would he want this relationship with Rhaena and not his favored child Baela. Because he’s a control freak during the war and Baela wouldn’t allow it?? How Baela, older Aegon, and Viserys would react to that? Why he would be so interested suddenly in Rhaena when his wives had a much different personality than her. If they did add that it would definitely be for shock value. Then post dance like how would Rhaena explain to two husbands that she slept with her dad because they aren’t Targaryens and would actually be weirded out by that. Phoebe seems like an ignored cast member so I would actually be surprised if that happened. Maybe there’s an early set up with Garmund and Daemon wants to sully her or something. Either way if that actually happened in HOTD they would just have to give up on any redemption for Daemon

I could see it happening if they don’t want to redeem him and continue how they’ve portrayed him in the trailers and ep. 10. Like he can only really get away with that domineering behavior with someone who wouldn’t be likely to argue with him, so it could be a grooming situation where he wants to keep her close to make him feel better about himself and his lack of power bc he’s not the king or allowed to run things however he wants

[absolutebl]

This week in BL - Gay Boy Turf Wars Galore!

Also, ALL the guest couples: TutorYim & MacNat showed up in Korea. Korea also reused the Love Class pair. And Wayne Song & Huang Chun Chih (H3:MODC) popped up AGAIN. (To be fair, when does Wayne not show up in a Taiwanese BL?)

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized by favs in each category. No numbered lists anymore, tumblr be buggn'.

Aug 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 7 of 8 - Plot reveals galore + all the penultimate tension we could want. (How many different kinds of smiles does Film have in his arsenal?) OMG I LOVE the unhinged idiot bloody tattooed ex bf - intro music and all. He is my precious psycho-bunny-snookums. Also Tinn, baby-boy, communicating about your honest feelings in a BL? What madness is this? I sense doom incoming. Smart Chan, always tell him he’s better in bed than your ex. The sides getting caught! Noooooo. I mean we knew it would happen but still noooooooo! 

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Sat YT) ep 2 of 12 - I like the surreal slip-stream dream-sequence openings. Is it a cerebral examination of temporal paradox or just designed to creep us out? The pace has picked up a bit and I'm delighted that external threat, stressors, and conflict are driving this plot. Refreshing. I love historicals - every touch and action can have such lingering significance, it’s very elegant. Thai BLs can often feel clumsy but not this one. I’m really enjoying it. 

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 2 of 12 - Sailom is great. I love a smartass who’s actually really smart, reminds me of Bai Luo Yin in Addicted. (The real Addicted.) Never a bad thing. Kang is nasty bit of business, I look forward to his redemption arc. I love his grandma. (BL is giving good grandma right now.) Nicely executed narrative twist into sympathy too: rich kid sees how rough life really is. The complexity of character depth needed for this script makes me so happy it's Perth & Chimon, they both have such expressive nuanced faces.

I do keep wanting to rewatch LBC tho. 

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 3 of 10 - It remains a blast. Boston is king of red flags, cutting down Ray because he is the easiest punching bag? Going after his friend's bf just to prove he can? No thank you. I know Ray is lovely when he’s soft but danger zone, Sand. Be careful upon entering a minefield, every little step forward may cause an explosion. I don’t think being master of snark is gonna help you avoid getting blown up.

Sand is the one I feel the worst for - bi guy strays into cesspit of gay toxicity. He ain’t gonna make it out alive.  

Hidden Agenda (Sun GMMTV YouTube) ep 7 of 10 - The boyfriends date ep! Zo’s past explains a lot about his behavior. Flirty Zo is v dangerous to all our hearts. Nice kiss. Poor Joke. Meanwhile, the side couple gave good kiss too! However, why is Title playing the bad guy again? Did GMMTV bring him in just to be resident jerk face in all their BL? Makes me sad.

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 8 of 12 - This should be a 8 or 10 ep show, 12 is too many. I think I just don’t like the lead couple's character dynamic and personalities. (No shade on JaFirst.) Side couple went startlingly high heat allasudden. And while their sex scene was good, I wish Daddy and the Hot Doc were being given a lot more script, screen time, and character dev. Sigh. I guess I just wish they were the mains and the others were the sides.

Can't have everything, I suppose.  

Wedding Plan (Wed YT & iQIYI) ep 6 of 7 - Nuea is a saint and next week everything comes to a head (that didn’t already get head this episode). Trash watch here!

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 2 of 10 - The side couple is everything. They are so cute and my favorite trope. Plus hugs with neck kisses! I love big brother using his adorable boyfriend to try and help his annoying little brother’s business. It’s just perfect. Unfortunately, that annoying little brother, is too fucking annoying. I remain largely unable to watch the main story arc. 

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) 1 of 24 eps - Sampler pack BL, 12 pairs, each pair gets 2 eps, so this show will run all the way into 2024.

First installment is Casanova Begins. Dead boy wakes up in his enemy’s body, 2 years after his own death. Has to make things right with the boyfriend who thinks he was abandoned. Everyone has secrets. No one can be trusted. And the dead kid can never tell anyone who he really is. It’s … different? Unique take on the My Ghost Boyfriend trope.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thur Viki) ep 6 of 8 - Random moment of TutorYim. Hi cuties. Simon is my favorite, I love him and his flirty irreverent ways.

Who does he actually like?

Or is he just flirting with everyone?

Can he have a crush on anyone but himself?

He’s a house cat among the pigeons. Clearly wouldn't know what to do with the bird if he managed to catch it. Or would he?

The 4 boys dodging around each other and re-shuffling is so funny. I can’t tell you how delighted this show makes me. I do feel sorry for Lee Jun, he’s just the toy everyone wants to play with. I understand his frustration, do any of them really want him or is it all because the others are interested? Kiss! Yay! Good kiss! Even more yay! 

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - Poor baby doesn’t think he’s good enough and is holding JC back. They are THE CUTEST BOYFRIENDS. It hurts. The sappy. 

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 13(?) - From screenwriter Lin Pei Yu (We Best Love, H3: Trapped) formerly known as Miracle, features a student doctor forced to take care of a gangster. I love the premise and like the writer. This one could be sad. Never forget Taiwan will go there.

Shall we get tucked in?

Gay boy turf wars! Main couple is cute. Sunshine gangster (turns out to be a sweetie who cooks) meets broken brilliant tsundere student who wants to be a doctor. Side couple is the leader of the gang and his rabid Pet. Also, all praise the guest couple de jour (baddies). Nice to see you 2... again. All actors are clearly having a blast with this script.

Triggers for knife play, child abuse, lingering trauma. 

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 5-6 of 10 - Aw guest couple from Love Class original, that is very sweet. The tutor and returning student, aka couple 3, are the best. So funny. But the whole thing remains engaging in a messy way.

Why R U? (Korea Wed iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 8 - Oh, it’s very odd. Certainly a lot more comprehensible if you've already watched the Thai version. As with that version, I still dislike the SaifahZon couple and love the FighterTutor couple. And once again I hate the weird IRL shipping sister. HATE HER. I’m not mad at the "Man who Fell into the World of BL" overtones but I wish they went at it more intentionally. (They’re not using NPC the way I would, are they? Cause that’s hella cruel.) MaxNat are fun. I love that Fighter went to his girlfriend's birthday party, didn’t even say hi to her, picked up her drunk bestie, and took him home.

This show is WILD. It’s very Korea tries to do a Thai BL. And, I gotta say, I kind of like the absurdity of the whole scheme. Do I think it will ultimately "work" as a stand alone piece? No. But as a very odd kind of parody? Sure.

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - Truth always comes out in hot springs. It's a rule of life. Coming clean is coming clean, I suppose. Still, moving very slowly for me and I need sake to get through this season. It's certainly suffering from sophomore slump.

Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) ep 4 of 5 - Sad episode is sad. 

In case you missed it

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - didn't air this week

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI) ep 9 of 10 eps - Didn’t drop this week? MDL thinks it should have. Everyone is confused. But also… who cares? 

Low Frequency (Thai iQIYI) Finished it's run - NO SINGING as flirty boyfriends they very cute actually, but this final ep was V E R Y slow.

All in all this was not a great show. Classic pulp with an interesting twist on “ghost boyfriend investigates his own not-murder” but ultimately not very good in any arena. 6/10 Only if you have nothing better to do. 

Sing My Crush (Korea iQIYI) Finished it's rerun

This a cute coming of age drama around music and 2 kinds of self acceptance and actualization journeys. This was basically Korea’s version of About Youth, and was perhaps a bit too soft and ungrounded by comparison, like a marshmallow sculpture. Sweet but somewhat lacking in discernible flavor. Inoffensively unmemorable. 8/10 RECOMMENDED especially if you enjoy KBL's style

8/24 Man Suang (Thailand movie, domestic cinema release) - historical drama about Thai burlesque with KP’s MileApo. Do I know where to get it? Nope. Do I care? Nope.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming September

I have 4 on my radar:

9/2 Naughty Babe (Thailand Sat ????) - MaxNat back on our screens. We think iQIYI but aren't confident.

9/15 You Are Mine (Taiwan ????) - it's taking over from Stay By My Side so likely Gaga. Secretary has to deal with grumpy boss.

9/26 I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

9/27 Absolute Zero (Thai iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally bring us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance. We don’t always get HEAs from them, so I'm on my guard.

9/?? Venus in the Sky (Thai iQIYI) 10 eps - ????

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

No you aren't, Lom. You don't even know what that means. (Wedding Plan)

Minato comes out to the best person.

Trope spotlight! (Low Frequency)

I Fell You Linger in the Air

So true. (Only Friends)

I love them so much, as @heretherebedork would put it, Tiny Idiots!

(Last week) 

Gotta say I am hating this new UI so much I'm not bothering to tag with shows. We shall see what that does for ROI.

[justanotherwildfangirlsstuff]

Percy Jackson Disney+ series Ep. 1 & 2 Review (SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT)

This is WAY better than the movies and thank god for that. Now this is not entirely book accurate, and while I do like in general what they have altered, there were some things that made me go

I am very glad that they did a 2 episode release because that first episode would’ve probably turned folks away from it, second episode was much better in pacing.

Spoilers below

Ep. 1

First off, I love how they named the episodes after chapters in the books, such a fun reference, but it doesn’t make all that much sense given a little those titles actually have to do with the episode. This was such an exposition dump that it kind of made it clear that the show is for the book fans and not kids. They were clearly trying to get the main world building out of the way so they could get to the action parts of the story.

I really disliked how they handle the Dodds scene. Compared to the Dodds in the movies, I think that actually looked better than what this was in terms of character design- The fury in the TV series looked goofy and not scary at all. Aside from character design, the mist only does so much, and I disliked how Dodds attacked Percy out in the open like that since even with the Mist, it would’ve still look like someone attacking or some kind of fight happening. In the books, Grover and Chiron clearly knew Dodds was some kind of monster, but didn’t know for certain what kind. In the show when they say that the Mist was covering up Dodds too well that made no sense since both Grover and Chiron are monsters so the mist wouldn’t affect them. The Mist only affects mortals, which is why demigods are susceptible to the mist, but can kind of force themselves to see through it. On that note, I love the sequence of young Percy seeing things, and the mist then making it look like some thing else. That part was well done, and it made sense as to what it was being changed to such as that mechanical golden rhino being changed into a yellow dump truck. The Dodds scene took away from that unfortunately.

Also, Gabe was really docile in this. in the books, Gabe was a piece of shit who no one felt bad for once he was turned into a statue. Here this man says please and even tries to connect with Percy and it’s really weird. Yeah he’s obviously a deadbeat, but I don’t think this dude deserves to die right now. I hope they remedy this later because I don’t see the necessary hostility we need for later on. 

Ep. 2

This was way better. Still some exposition dumping, but it was better paced and more natural. Dionysus is hilarious, great choice of actor and great attitude. Not giving the “I hate children” vibe but still sassy and fun. In my opinion, Grover being the one to figure out that Sally’s mom is still alive takes away from Percy‘s character. In the books, Percy used his knowledge of the Greek myths to figure out what he was going to do in the underworld and why he needed to go there. Here I do like that he was doing so much to figure out who his father was and how he needed more motivation to go on the quest because it makes sense. Also, seeing so much resentment against his dad shows how easy it could’ve been for Percy to turn out the same way, Luke would. on that note, the introduction of Luke, Annabeth, and Clarisse was really what I enjoyed about this episode the most. In the books, Luke is labeled as a friend, but we really don’t see too much genuine friendship there, except for the giftgiving and a few small talks. I like that they have Luke showing Percy around and helping him try to find out his talent instead of Annabeth, because it would really make it seem like they were actual friends, making the betrayal hurt all the more. This works especially well because right now, Luke is one of Percy‘s first and only friends at camp since he is still struggling with Grovers earlier betrayal. Annabeth stalking him was weird, but does kind of make sense for her to observe before making a move. I like that Percy doesn’t go into the water with the fight at the creek with Clarisse and instead it is Annabeth who pushes him in to confirm her suspicions. It makes more sense since the average person will try to stay out of the water in a fight. However, the fact that Percy is able to fight these people off without ever touching the water is weird since right now he doesn’t have any current training, except for his one lucky encounter with the Minotaur. Having said all this, this episode was way better than the first, but there is STILL NO ORACLE? AGAIN? what the heck guys??? the Oracle is technically the most important side character because it is what gives out quests, prophecies, and what Rachel Elizabeth Dare turns into. Right now, just being like “well Percy off to the underworld you go!” makes no sense to me. I hope the oracle makes an appearance in the next episode, otherwise I will be pissed that the Oracle got snubbed AGAIN.

Also, who tf was that dryad with Grover? Was that supposed to be Juniper? Or his mom 💀. If Juniper, shouldn’t she be looking around Grover’s age cuz trees also age slower? Really not sure who this is supposed to be

Overall acting

I am so sorry, but I don’t know if it’s because it’s the first couple of episodes, but there is not good synergy between Sally and Percy 😭 Obviously, each person can have their own opinion so if you like them, that’s great but I felt like I was watching actors read lines and not actually…act? This did not feel like a mother and son duo, same thing with Grover and Percy. the actors got a little better by the end of episode two, but they still don’t have a lot of facial or realistic reactions, especially whenever Percy is being introduced to something that would theoretically completely destroy his worldview. he looks like a blank slate 😭 I’m sure it will get better later on, but sometimes it really took me out of it with how stale the acting was. On that note, so many of the actors did such a good job!

in terms of my favorite to least favorite ones (so far in terms of character portrayal), it is as follows:

Clarisse, Dionysus, Annabeth, Luke, Chiron, Grover, Percy

I really want to emphasize how much I LOVE the actor who plays Clarisse. They did SUCH A GOOD JOB. I was originally a lil hesitant cuz book Clarisse is supposed to be super buff but this was truly 😚👌. Could really feel the scorn and meanness. That scream when her spear is broken? Look of rage to letting Percy go when the game ended? HOLY SHIT, that was some DAMN GOOD ACTING

Obviously, I am being quite harsh here, but I do have high hopes for this series and I’m sure as the actors work more together, they will end up having better chemistry with one another. This is just first impressions so far. 

[yujeong]

VegasPete and Childhood's End: a deranged attempt at connecting two completely unrelated things

Hello there, fellow VP enthusiasts. This post here is my remaining 2 braincells trying to come up with ways the silly, little book known as Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke and the silly, little couple known as VegasPete are connected, and how the show chose this book for Vegas to be reading in episode 11 for reasons beyond its title. I swear it's true, I asked Pond, he told me about it, trust me. I said in the tags of this post that I have started reading the book because I have a fic idea I wanted to write (which will happen next year now, after I finish the book), and after I shared my observations on the kindergarten mafia server, I thought to myself why not make a Tumblr post too? So, here I am. I would like to clarify that I will be spoiling major parts of the book, obviously, so anyone who doesn't want to get spoiled, don't read this post and the ones after it. Also, this is the version of the book I bought like 5 days ago from a well-known bookshop at the center of Athens, which sells English books too, bless them. Just so you know what my source is. (Unfortunately, getting the version Vegas was reading might be difficult - if not impossible - in Greece to find, because I believe it's one of the first editions? I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I have the book in my hands, which is what counts.) If I make any mistakes in regards to the information I'll provide about the book, the story and the characters, I apologize in advance. It'll probably be me not being careful enough while reading it and missing sth. So, without any further delay, here we go:

The basic premise of the book is a concept that's become cliche in the recent years: aliens called the Overlords have taken over the Earth, bringing prosperity to it but leaving humans with having no actual freedom in their choices. So, reading up to page 34, we learn that there's a specific Overlord called Karellen who's responsible for ruling the Earth, and we also get introduced to Stormgren who's the intermediary between Karellen and the human race, with the title of "Secretary". At first, I had made the connection of Vegas being Stormgren and Karellen (or the Overlords in general) being Gun, because Stormgren trusts Karellen with ruling the human race, just as Vegas idolizes his father who can totally bring prosperity to the family and make it better by force (an important element since the Overlords just came and declared themselves the rulers of the planet and took over). Also, there's an element of secrecy with Karellen, because it's been 5 years since he arrived on Earth but no one, not even Stormgren, knows what he looks like. This causes Stormgren to be a bit suspicious of Karellen, which he rarely shows and tries to push the feeling down when it resurfaces. In the same way, I thought this could connect to Gun who's hiding stuff from Vegas - Porsche anyone? - which Vegas will start having thoughts about post ep 11. All of that is fine and good, BUT I wouldn't be a Pete girlie if I didn't try to include my boy in this. I think all of the above I mentioned is more about Pete than Vegas. And, judging by how obsessed Vegas became with Pete post ep 10 - after their masks fell off and he saw who Pete truly was - I am confident in my belief that Vegas reading Childhood's End would think of Pete, not himself (sth he already does at this point but you get what I'm saying). SO, Stormgren is actually Pete, who follows Karellen's words almost blindly, and almost is an important word here because in the book, he does argue back about things and is vocal about his opinions, even if Karellen smartly turns them down. Karellen is generally very softly spoken, polite and very human like in the way he talks, so in my opinion he resembles Korn way more than Gun. There's also a character who calls Stormgren out on his blind faith in Karellen, and if this isn't Vegas telling Pete that "there's no such thing as honesty", I don't know what it is. Now, for the fun part: Stormgren gets kidnapped by a group of humans who want the Overlords to leave and not only is the dude semi-casual about it on the surface while keeping his panic under wraps, in the end his captors, after explaining how they got him and what their plan is, throw a pack of cards at him and ask him to play poker with him, which causes Stormgren to laugh like he hasn't laughed in years. I'm just imagining Vegas reading this and shaking his head, putting on his clown shoes, thinking: these guys are so stupid, encouraging their captive be this nonchalant around them, I would never.

[spicyvampire]

Hi! So sorry to bug you, but I see you post about "4Minutes", so thought I'd ask. In one, the phrase "Great's Dying Brain v. Reality" appears, and (only if you have a spare moment) wondered what that meant? Some friends and I have watched the whole series (some twice) and still don't fully understand it. If not, no worries! Have a great day!

Hey, that is no problem at all, the fun of this show lies in the understanding and what you as a viewer make of it

I'm gonna give you the very surface level of explanation that helps understand the premise of the show but also the parallel gifsets I've made with captions like "Dying Brain vs Reality" or "Great's vs Tyme 4MP"

So what you need to understand for starters is that, in the premise of the show, when someone goes into cardiac arrest they see in their dying brain a life they could have had if they took different decisions for 4 minutes before the lack of oxygen kills their brain and they die forever, it's kinda their own little world/timeline where they can be happy, I call it (and doctor Den in the show call it) the 4 Minutes Phenomenom (4MP), and a good part of the show is those 4MP timelines created by Great and Tyme while they are dying, their heart stopped at the same time at 11:00 while Great was in the hospital and Tyme was dying outside in the rain, thus there is 3 timelines -> Great's 4MP, reality (real timeline) and Tyme's 4MP

Great's 4MP basically most of what you see from ep 1 to 5 : this is the longest one because Great's 4MP was used to establish the lore of the show, also Great could time travel inside his 4MP to actually change what happened in reality, Great's 4MP follows almost the same patterns as the real timeline but he changed a lot of things to be a better person (because when he got shot in reality he was starting a process to be a better person than he actually was)

Reality aka real timeline is most of what happened in ep 6 to 8 : it's the gruesome sad true of what actually happened to everyone story wise, this is why my gifsets of Dying Brain vs Reality are so sad, because what Great or Tyme created in their 4MPs is usually much sweeter than what happened in reality;;; also there are bits and pieces of reality in ep 1 to 5, especially the things Tonkla and his boytoys related

Tyme's 4MP end of ep 7 from when he got shot and start of ep 8 : this one is pretty much fabricated almost completely even if the characters keep their essences (but it is logical because Tyme lost a lot before he got shot, and he was feeling a lot of guilts and regrets)

All the changes in the 4MP timelines are direct results of the emotions and situations they lived during the real timeline, and they come out of that experience changed people, the 4MP was there as a vehicle for character development that you see at the end of ep 8

Disclaimer : personally, I do not think all of this is as cut and dry as I'm explaining it, I think there are signs of Great and Tyme's consciousness intertwining in ep 1 to 5 and in ep 8 while they are dying even if the 4MP timeline was led by only one of them specifically narratively speaking but that's the beauty of this show! While everything was pretty much explained in my opinions, you can always continue theorizing and it still would work, because there are things in there that can be interpreted in many other ways! It's why it's the show of the year for me

If you want/need more explanation, here is a link to a post on MDL that explain like absolutely everything step by step, including the whole deal with Korn/Tonkla/Win and Title & Dome

Hope this helps and don't hesitate to come back and discuss more, this show is fascinating and I'm always happy to talk about it