#underwatcher

[wylohwist]

Welp, this is it

The first chapter of UnderWatcher Part I if officially out!

I hope y'all enjoy :3

We look forward to your questions

[talesfromthecrypts]

What would be some of your top underated films???

Knightriders (1981) (begging you people to get into Knightriders at this point)

Near Dark (1987)

Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

Ghostdog: Way of the Samurai (1999)

Cecil B. Demented (2000)

Good Manners (2017)

Frailty (2001)

The Stendhal Syndrome (1997)

Madhouse (1974)

Flesh+Blood (1984)

Ravenous (1999)

The Legend of Hell House (1973)

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

The Lure (2015)

Strange Days (1995)

[cloudbends]

first time attending a con in 6 years and finally I got back home with a haul + a nice conversation with the artist I bought from

[thedevotionaltour]

i need. to rewatch perfect blue

[funstyle]

Went to lunch with my bf and his dad and aunt.... Tell me why i was the only person at the table who hadnt watched MILF MANOR

[bluecandysaysstuff]

So I recently found my way back into webtoons, found this AMAZING webtoon called Let’s Play by Leeanne M. Krecic, read it all in about 2 days.

The fun part is, I showed my boyfriend ONE little thing I found funny, and he took my phone and started reading the entire chapter, so it clearly sucked him in too, so he decided to download webtoon as well, and he read it just about as fast as me. So during a good while we both sat and read this together, and it was the more intimate thing I’ve ever done I believe. Just sitting next to each other, reading the same thing. And after we have been able to discuss about it, and it makes me so very very happy!!

So now that we both have finished that one, he started with Heartstopper by Alice Oceman that I started with when the Netflix adaptation came out, and it feels so fun to have someone to talk to about these webtoons that I’m reading, and that he truly enjoys them:)

[dykehayleywilliams]

okay rhoslc tipsy blogging done god this is the greatest reality televisino show of all time

[ladykeldana]

HEY that's MY emotional support morally ambiguous misunderstood full of trauma touch starved yearning for love drenched in blood responsible for numerous atrocities comfort character who is TRYING & u will TREAT them with RESPECT

[severalowls]

I'm not a ratings scientist but it seems like a bad sign for them that rings of power has a 3.5/5 (reasonable I guess) on amazon but that its only based on like 400 ratings total

[wylohwist]

Yo

Welcome to my corner of the internet

My name's Wyloh (Said 'Willow') and I'm the official creator of UnderWatcher

_+=-------About Me-------=+_

The name's Wyloh, with the 'Y' said like an 'I' (So "Willow" with extra steps basically).

I've been in the Undertale Fandom since around 2020, but only as of the date this post was made (January 1st 2025) have I actually been a creator within said Fandom.

In my spare time I like to play video games like Minecraft, Roblox (Creatures of Sonaria & Kaiju Universe being the main ones), Undertale (obviously), Hollow Knight, Cult of the Lamb, Portal 1 & 2, and a bunch of others

I also like to read both books/fanfic & comics, listen to all sorts of music (particularly rock), and occasionally do some extreme sports like diving, sky diving, and white water rafting as well. I've also got an interest in Psychology and how the human mind / human behaviour works, so if you've got any fun facts about that, feel free to share 'em with me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm the kinda guy that doesn't give 2 shits about being "normal" and take being called a freak or weird or strange as a compliment

Honestly, you'd insult me more if you did call me normal, like "Damn, am I not doin enough?" X)

Anywho, if there's anything else you wanna know about me, I guess go ahead and check my Bio, as that's where the rest of the relevant info about me is gonna be

_+=-----About this Blog-----=+_

This is the main hub of UnderWatcher where I'll be mainly answering questions about said AU, but I'll also be posting some general life stuff if it becomes relevant

Relevant Tags

Here are each of the important tags I use in my posts to help y'all properly navigate everything

#underwatcher - Anything & Everything UnderWatcher related #pinned post - Added to any important posts, primarily used for UnderWatcher related stuff #lore - Any and all UnderWatcher lore, either in the form of character-answered asks or just shared info by me #progress update - To keep y'all up to date with how my writing progress is going #wist answers - For any & all asks that the canon creator of UnderWatcher has personally answered (This'll also apply if any other characters answer questions, but with their respective names, so like "#papyrus answers" or "#toriel answers") #spoilers - For when I'm feelin generous and wanna give you guys a sneak peak at what's to come :3 #life update - For relevant updates on my life

_+=-------Socials-------=+_

I don't promise to be consistent across all my platforms, nor do I promise to even post anything on said platforms but if you're interested in where else to find me for whatever purpose, here's the links:

Active Socials (Socials I actually post on)

AO3

Tumblr (You are here) Inactive Socials (Only exist for credit and content consuming purposes)

YouTube

Deviant Art

Instagram

Twitter (No I'm not gonna call it "X" cause Fuck Musk)

TikTok

_+=-------Community-------=+_

If you're interested in what I've created here and want more, feel free to join the Discord, where you can talk to others about the AU, theories, share fanart, fanfics, and talk with me directly

(Please note that a discord has not been made YET and will be worked on in the future if the need for one arises (though I'll probably end up creating one anyway))

_+=-------The Story of UnderWatcher-------=+_

AO3 Series Folder

Introduction (The Beginning)

UnderWatcher Part I - The Underground I

UnderWatcher is an Undertale AU whose official creation is on January 1st, 2025 (aka, the day this was all created)

Though I'm the official creator of UnderWatcher, I'm not the canon creator. That title belong to my counterpart Wist, who is always available for asks regardless of if other characters are or not

_+=-------ASK UNDERWATCHER-------=+_

Once enough characters have been introduced in the story, they'll be available for asks.

The characters that are currently available for asks are the following:

Wist (UnderWatcher's Canon Creator)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_+=------Behind the AU------=+_

The story of UnderWatcher goes as follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Long ago, two races ruled over Gaia: HUMANS and MONSTERS.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, a truce was met.

Humans would rule over Gaia's Surface, while Monsters would claim her Underground.

And so, the Monsters willingly sealed themselves off from the surface with a magical barrier.

Many Years later...

MT Oíkos. 1378

Legends say that those who seek out the Monsters never return.

While Myths say that Monsters never existed.

Regardless of Legend or Legacy, one thing stands true.

History is being forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are many differences between this AU and a lot of other AUs out there, but if I explained every single one of them then I'd spoil the whole story, so here's the main points I believe are relevant to know:

Monsters were not forced Underground by humans, but chose to live underground away from them

Monsters can pass through the barrier at will, but humans cannot

Resetting is NOT a determination trait ability

This AU pulls inspiration from the following: Underfell, Dancetale, Xtale, Underverse, ATLA, Greek Mythology, Norse Mythology, Celtic Mythology, and others I currently can't remember

This AU has been through a lot long before it's publication and has gone through a total of 3 redesigns, with the most recent version being the third. This third rendition is what changed UnderWatcher from "Undertale with minor character redesigns 1 majorly changed character (take a wild guess as to which character I'm talking about)" to "An Undertale AU with a unique twist" or at least as unique as an Undertale AU can get X)

I originally intended for UnderWatcher to be a comic series, but I sadly don't have the artistic talent to draw comics for a series of them, nor the patience to learn how to draw well enough to make said comics a reality. So AO3 it is!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welp, that's all I got for now. I'll continue to update this as I got along, but don't expect things to be quick or consistent with me (I'm still just finding my legs here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[edenorisshitposting]

source

this is literally my favorite video

[taylortruther]

as someone who is so deeply Obsessed With Movies im both hopping around excited and weirdly dreading taylor breaking into film. She clearly has a lot of raw skill both as someone who clearly loves movies and as someone whose spent years on mv sets absorbing everything she can, as well as her being in contact w directors like del toro and gerwig have me genuinely excited for whatever project she puts out but also the culture of the film world is soo different from the music industry and im curious of how theyll clash but like. curious scared-style. Patrick willems made a super interesting video on what he thinks her movies might be like via analyzing her self directed music videos and her personal taste in and discussion of film that I super recommend and I think was underwatched/discussed among swifties

i hadn't heard of that video before! but i just watched it and honestly this criticism is soooo good, i think he really words a lot of my thoughts (esp about atw10), and it gave me a lot of chew on too! i wasn't familiar with prince or madonna's filmmaking.

i could totally see a nora ephron-style movie from her tbh

[justanothercinemaniac]

Things probably only I think about: as far as TV creators go, Emily Kapnek has been done dirty.

I was just talking to @theforceisstronginthegirl about this. Emily Kapnek is a TV writer and producer who you might know for creating the Nickelodeon show As Told By Ginger.

Emily Kapnek created three live-action shows for Warner Brothers that aired between 2011 and 2019 on ABC. Suburgatory with Jane Levy ran for three seasons, Selfie with Karen Gillan ran for one season, and Splitting Up Together with Jenna Fischer ran for two seasons (although that's a remake of a Danish show so she technically "developed" it). All of them were really funny, critically well received, but short-lived because not a ton of people watched them.

Except for the first season of Suburgatory, you cannot legally watch these shows ANYWHERE.

These shows were never released on DVD, aren't streaming anywhere, and cannot be purchased digitally (except for the first season of Suburgatory for some reason). They are inaccessible to the public through legal means.

I don't know what god or devil Emily Kapnek pissed off to have almost a decade of her work be wiped from legal existence, but she has been done dirty.

TL;DR - Three well loved but underwatched shows created by the same person are pretty much unavailable to watch legally & I think about it A LOT.

[irregularcollapse]

Hey B!! Happy new year ✨ My 2025 resolution is to watch more films, and you seem to have very good taste. Would you be willing to recommend me some of your faves? 🤍

anon hi hello yes! in 2025 we should ALL watch more films <3 thank you for saying i have good taste! that's very flattering.

i always find it really hard to think of my Favourite™ films because i feel like i love heaps of different films for different reasons! i will truly watch anything and always try to find something that i like when i watch a film (although sometimes that doesn't work).

these were my top watches of last year!

other films newish i watched last year that i thought were really cool:

Infinity Pool (2023) dir. Brandon Cronenberg

Summer of Blood (2014) dir. Onur Tukel

Bug (2006) dir. William Friedkin (not terribly new, i know, but severely underwatched imo! very cool concept and staging, and the performances are incred)

Aftersun (2022) dir. Lluís Galter (not that Aftersun though I do hear that one is good too hfhfhfff)

The Sweet East (2023) dir. Sean Price Williams

Of an Age (2022) dir. Goran Stolevski

Kinds of Kindness (2024) dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

La Chimera (2023) dir. Alice Rohrwacher

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023) dir. Ariane Louis-Seize

Triangle of Sadness (2022) dir. Ruben Östlund

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) dir. Quentin Tarantino (I actually think this is his best film since Death Proof! Don't write it off, don't go in expecting A Tarantino™. It's super well-paced and so competently edited, truly)

Problemista (2023) dir. Julio Torres

Conclave (2024) dir. Edward Berger

Neptune Frost (2021) dir. Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman

also just for directors that really hit my taste every time... [timmy chalamet voice] shoutout Julia Ducournau, shoutout Amanda Kramer, shoutout Wong Kar-Wai, shoutout Gregg Araki, shoutout David Lynch, shoutout Luca Guadagnino, shoutout Gus Van Sant, shoutout Todd Haynes, shoutout Agnès Varda, shoutout Rose Glass, shoutout Claire Denis, shoutout Jennifer Kent, shoutout Lizzie Borden, shoutout David Cronenberg.

also i'm vamplibrarian on letterboxd if you're ever curious what i've been watching! i'm currently picking lots from the Criterion Collection though we'll see how long that lasts xoxo

[three--rings]

The Chinese live action is now on Amazon Prime. Please watch it, it's so worth it!

Hikaru no Go, the rec post

What is Hikaru no Go?  Well it is a manga by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata, which was made into a 75 episode anime from 2001-2003 and has now also been adapted into a Chinese live action drama called 棋魂, Qi Hun, or Hikaru no Go (2020). 

I have watched both the anime and the live action, though I’ve never read the manga (except for little bits, like the ending.)  (One of these days I will, really.) So what I will be saying will be based on the anime and the cdrama.

What is it about?

It’s about a young boy who, through discovery of an ancient Go board in his grandfather’s attic, becomes semi-possessed by the spirit of a thousand year old Go master.  (Note the Chinese drama, for censorship reasons, make Chu Ying NOT a spirit, though he did die(?) and now lives in a boy’s head, so…) (Also note that the Cdrama changes all the original Japanese character names into Chinese names, so this may get a bit confusing.)

Sai (the spirit)(Chu Ying in Chinese) lives for Go and is on a mission to achieve the “Divine Move”, the ultimate Go play.  He leads Shindou Hikaru (the boy, Shi Guang in Chinese) into a game with a young Go prodigy, Touya Akira (Yu Liang).  Because Sai is the one actually playing, Hikaru wins the game, completely blowing Touya’s mind.  Touya becomes obsessed with finding out how Hikaru could have played like that, and training enough to be able to beat him. 

Hikaru gets involved in the Go club at his school and learns the game for himself, eventually deciding to compete for real without Sai playing for him.  He wants to catch up in skill to Touya Akira so they can play a real game.  Both boys are intensely motivated and basically obsessed by this rivalry.  The story follows Hikaru’s progress towards eventually becoming a Pro Go player, along with the stories of the friends he makes along the way. 

It’s essentially a sports animanga, but with a board game in the sport’s place.  It’s also SO so good. 

Characters:

Shindou Hikaru / Shi Guang

The main character, just your average middle schooler when Sai first shows.  He doesn’t know anything about Go to start with, but he has a natural ability to remember games and see patterns.  In the original he’s 11 at the beginning of the story and 15 by the end.  But in the Chinese version, I believe Shi Guang is younger for the first two episodes and then there’s a six year time skip to him being in high school.  But I can’t find exactly how old he’s supposed to be and I don’t know how China works exactly in regards to age/school/etc to tell.  He’s at least 14-15 ish for most of it, I think.  (The actors are, of course, in their 20s but they pull off teen pretty well.)

Fujiwara no Sai / Chu Ying

A thousand year old Go Master from the Japanese Heian Period/Chinese Liang Dynasty.  He was an instructor to the Emperor until he was falsely accused of cheating which led him to commit suicide.  After his death he was a trainer and mentor to one other go player before Hikaru.  He lives in Hikaru’s mind and cannot physically interact with the world or control Hikaru, though Hikaru sees and hears him.  He’s highly emotional and often childish, though this differs by adaptation. 

Touya Akira / Yu Liang

Hikaru’s Go rival, a child prodigy and son of the greatest professional Go player in the world.  Serious, uptight, and intense.  He and Hikaru are opposites in many ways, except the ones where they are obsessive about both Go and each other. 

Other Characters:

There are SO MANY other characters and so many of them feel really significant.  But if I start listing them all I will literally never get this done.  There are the families of the two Go rivals, Hikaru’s fellow students in the Go Club, then his fellow students when he enters serious training later, as well as teachers.  Then there are the other Go professionals of all ages. They all have significant impacts at one time or another.  I will say that the animanga stays more focused on Hikaru and Akira, while the Cdrama fleshes out the side characters in a way I REALLY enjoy.  On the other hand, Yu Liang is a smaller role than his Japanese counterpart.  Always in the background, but not quite as much of a main character as Touya Akira. 

Is it gay?  Or how are the ships?

Well…it’s not straight, lol.  The truth is that there are only really two significant female characters in the story, and they both are pretty firmly side characters.  There’s hints that Hikaru’s female childhood friend has unrequited romantic feelings for him, and the cdrama adds in a fairly significant het romance between two of the people taking pro exams with Shi Guang. 

So almost all of the characters are male, and there are a lot of opportunities for viewing relationships through “slash goggles” as we used to say. Definitely, back in the day we were watching for the queer romance.  Obviously, the most popular and obvious ship is Hikaru/Akira or Shi Guang/Yu Liang.  All versions capture the very weird tension between them that isn’t overtly romantic but is definitely treated as Very Important.  For much of the original, of course, they are quite young, so there’s really no real romantic content at all other than subtext.  That doesn’t stop fans from heavily shipping, of course, though pretty much all the fic I’ve ever seen assumes (correctly IMO) that it would take years after the end of canon before Hikaru and Akira would actually ever admit to having romantic feelings for each other.  (Also see this AMAZING essay about the implicit queerness of the show which I found while writing this. And this older essay about how clear and intentional the queer aspects are.)

The Chinese version is a little different.  Both because the characters are older and because the ending of the drama is a little different from both manga and anime.  The very end of the show begins to lay HEAVILY on subtext, having Shi Guang and Yu Liang become significantly closer friends than the original.  The last episode is WILDLY shippy.  And not just for the main rivals, but also for up to like three other m/m pairs!  They really went NUTS with subtext right at the end, probably for reasons of censorship.

Other than the main ship, the only real significant character to mention in a shipping context is Ogata Seiji/Fang Xu a young Go professional.  In the original he’s implied to sleep around with women, but people still like shipping him with others.  The problem is, there isn’t really anyone to obviously pair him with?  So I’ve seen people put him with the younger characters, which is…well, potentially problematic.  Or also Sai, in some kind of AU in which Sai isn’t just a ghost.  HOWEVER, his Chinese counterpart gets his own “Shixiong” (Senior “Brother”) from his training days and there’s some pretty serious implications by the end of the show.  Fang Xu/Bai Chuan seems to be the popular secondary ship from what I’ve seen online.  So that makes me very happy, honestly.  Fang Xu’s character is also much more developed in the drama and he’s a personal fav. 

However, I honestly think the shipping is optional to the enjoyment of the show.  It’s a coming of age/friendship/sports/drama that is very gripping and emotional.  The shippiness is pure bonus and if you don’t feel it or that’s not your thing it’s still a masterpiece of a story, IMO. 

So…they play a board game?

Yup. AND IT’S SO TENSE OMG.  So I think the anime actually does this best, because it focuses HEAVILY on the games of Go (so does the manga, I believe) but the filming of them is pure anime fight scene style.  The opponents are warriors and they’re super intense.  We get to hear their inner thoughts while playing, which is fascinating, and the SOUNDTRACK.  The music they put over go scenes is SO INTENSE it’s almost comical, if you were to see it out of context.  But the suspense and emotional sincerity of the characters means you stay on the edge of your seat.

See what I mean by watching this match from early in the series.

Do I have to understand Go?

Absolutely not.  I’ve watched this so much and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t actually sit down and play the game.  The anime when it ran originally included little go lessons at the end aimed at children, but I didn’t pick up much.  The show tells you enough to have a general sense of what is going on, but they analyze the games on screen when you need to appreciate something specific, and really it’s the DRAMA of it all that is important.

So what version should I watch/read?

Honestly, I think this comes down to personal preference. If you’re very into reading manga, maybe start there.  If anime is more your thing, go for that.  Or if you enjoy modern Asian dramas, go for the cdrama.  They are all good, with their own particular strengths.  I also think that if you end up liking either the anime or the drama, you will probably also enjoy the other if you watch it second.  `

If you’re very interesting in the shipping/romance aspect, I will probably recommend the cdrama (which is really ironic considering the censorship at play).  The only caveat there is that I think the second half is stronger than the first half so you might have to stick with it a little to get hooked.  There are 36 hour-long episodes, so the total length is not that different from the 75 anime episodes.  But it focuses much more on characters and interpersonal dynamic than Go games, I feel. Plus the ending is happier/more satisfying IMO. (Though the Go games in the anime are AMAZING.  Seriously. That’s something that is lacking in the drama.)

Any warnings/triggers?

Well, I’ve already mentioned that Sai/Chu Ying commits suicide in his first life.  But it’s only touched on very briefly.  There’s also pretty significant exploration of grief and grief-triggered depression at one point.  Expect there to be tears for a few episodes.

Recommended If You Like:

Ace Attorney (seriously there are SO MANY parallels!), Haikyuu!! (or other sports anime), Yuri!!! on Ice, The Queen’s Gambit (which I haven’t yet watched but you get me)

Where to Watch:

The anime is available on Crunchyroll and Hulu right now, I believe.  You can also find it pretty easily for free by googling.  The cdrama is available on the iqiyi website or app, and you need to make a free account to watch it. 

[transmutationisms]

have you seen the whole film of rabbits (originally a web series i believe)? it's my favourite of david lynch's works and seems very underwatched even by his fans. it's only fifty minutes, i would recommend it if you haven't seen it

ha a mutual just logged it on letterboxd and i was like oh i have to see this 🤓