#wedding plan ep6

[gunsatthaphan]

"let's go home."

[itsallaboutbl]

Will you let me be a part of your secret too?

[yilinggusu]

The contrast of this scene where Nuea asks Sailom if he can be a part of his secret compared to the Prapai and Sky wedding in episode 1. Both stories are set in the same universe but I love the contrast of Prapai and Sky and Sailom and Nuea.

Sailom is friends with Prapai who is very open with his relationship with Sky. Prapai's family know Prapai likes men and women, Prapai's siblings are both gay and their family doesn't care. Prapai's family love and support him and his siblings no matter who they like. Prapai and Sky also have people who love them and support their relationship. While Sailom is alone and has to hide the fact that he is gay through a lavender marriage. They only people who know he is gay are Yiwa and Marine and even their relationship takes place in secret.

The look of relief on Sailom's face when Nuea tells him he will be part of his secret and that he will be on Sailom's side from now on. Sailom had long decided he would be alone for the rest of his life. He doesn't want to be with anyone else so when Yiwa comes up with her plan of getting married so she can be with Marine, Sailom agrees to do it. He loves Yiwa as a sister and would clearly do anything for her at the expense of his own happiness. The marriage also serves as cover to get his overbearing controlling mother to leave him alone and the same goes for Yiwa. It's the perfect cover or arrangement for them both.

The way Sailom breaks down and starts crying when Nuea tells him he will always be on his side. For how long has Sailom being carrying the burden of being closeted and feeling like he is alone in the world. How long had he been telling himself he will never love anyone or that no one would love him because if he did have a relationship then it would have to be a secret. How long had Sailom being wanting something like what Yiwa and Marine had but knowing he would never have it. How long did he have to watch Yiwa and Marine being happy and in love right in front of him and pretend he was okay. Did he lie there at night with the crushing weight of knowing he would never have what Yiwa/Marine have. That he would always be alone.

The relief he must have felt when Nuea agreed to be with him and be part of a secret. Not many people would want to be a secret but Nuea knows why Sailom has to hide in the closet. Nuea knows his own culture and society and understands not everyone is accepting of people being gay. With Nuea, Sailom has someone to share that burden with him. Even Yiwa was pushing him towards Nuea because she wants him to be happy.

The Sailom and Nuea scene is darkly light showing the relationship takes place in secret where no one knows about them only Sailom and Nuea and a few others. The last shot of them in bed is so soft and vulnerable. They are all alone and they only have each other.

Compared to Prapai and Sky who are out in the open in broad daylight with supportive family and friends watching as they get married.

It must have been hard for Sailom to watch his friend get married out in the open and have supportive family and friends there to witness it Unlike Sailom whose mother is clearly not supportive at all. Prapai and Sky's relationship takes place out in the open for everyone to see while Sailom and Nuea's relationship has to take place in shadows and remain a secret to protect Sailom.

If the shit hits the fan next week with Sailom's mother then I want Sailom and Nuea to go Chaing Mai or go hang out with Prapai and Sky for a while. I cant wait for next week. If you read my ramblings then thanks for reading it and I hope it wasn't too bad.

[syffets]

[blbeloved]

#WeddingPlanEP6 calls attention to why the vast majority of🏳️‍🌈adults arent out

The man who’s closeted must lie til he can take the RISK to trust someone he’s attracted to but barely knows, with his big secret; the one who’s out must decide whether to join Lom and Yihwa as an ally, in the lie of the man he’s growing to love

Which lie is the ethical queer choice?

Lie to homophobic society or lie to your own natural desires?

Both are harsh choices because even where all four sides in a Lavender Marriage agree it doesn’t end pain or lies because many “choices” made under oppression are terrible and soul-destroying. Where lies truth under sexual oppression?

[nortism]

Unburied Secrets (BBC Ghosts fic)

A/N Since ao3 is down I’ve decided to upload my recent fic here. Stay strong gang 

A/N ao3 is back! you can read my fic here

summary:

“Why me?” he said, conscious that he was starting to sound like a whiny teenager while also being far too tired to care.

“Well Kitty was quite insistent that it be you, she’s in my room picking out blankets for your sleepover.”

“Our sleepover?”

After Sam and Clare’s wedding, the Captain wants nothing more than a quiet night to himself. But the snowstorm forces guests to stay at Button House overnight, the Captain gets roped into having a sleepover with Kitty in which secrets are revealed.

Set immediately after S2 Ep6

word count: 5,161

relationships: The Captain & Kitty, Alison & The Captain, The Captain/Lieutenant Havers

tags: coming out, sleepovers, late night conversations, angst, emotional hurt/comfort, the captain is gay, bisexual kitty, the captain needs a hug, and he gets one

Unburied Secrets

The clock had almost struck midnight by the time the guests started filing out of Button House and into an assortment of cabs waiting to take them home or to nearby hotels where they could sleep off the events of the day. The Captain was very much looking forward to doing the same as he stood by the door, making a show of ferrying the guests away, actions that were entirely futile but comforting all the same. His fellow ghosts were no doubt lounging about, enjoying the aftermath of the party but not him. He had a sense of duty. There was no excuse to let standards slip.

Sam and Clare were the last out, having thanked all their guests. Together they gave Alison a final hug and made their way out into the night, their hands intertwined. They shared a peck before slipping into the cab. Through the frosted glass, the Captain saw Clare slip an arm around her new wife’s shoulder. They were the picture of domestic bliss and something about their joy made the Captain’s long unbeating heart ache. He was distracted from thinking about this too hard by Alison approaching him from behind.

“Thank you for tonight,” she said, her sincerity catching him off guard, “If I’m honest, I wasn't sure how you’d react to a wedding party, especially after the one me and Mike threw last month.”

The Captain shuddered at the memory.

“Yes, well this was a rather more dignified affair,” he replied primly, “And I wouldn't have wanted to ruin Clare and Samantha’s big day.”

Alison gave him a knowing smile that the Captain did not want to decipher.

“Speaking of, I’ve got one more mission for you. Clare’s aunt and Sam’s parents can’t drive home in this weather so I’m going to have to commandeer your room.”

“Absolutely not Alison, I’ve had a long day and as ranking officer it is vital that I get the proper rest-”

Alison cut him off mid rant, “Mike’s already showed them to their rooms so unless you want to share your bed with an elderly woman who can’t see you, you’re going to have to move. I’m bringing the sofas back into the ballroom, you can sleep on one of those.”

It was a fine plan, the Captain mused. There was just one thing missing.

“Where are Sam’s parents going to sleep?”

“Well,” Alison began, slightly sheepishly, “Kitty volunteered her room- in the name of love apparently. She’ll be joining you in the ballroom.”

Clearly whatever God was out there was not just content to let him peacefully rot in purgatory. Katherine was a sweet girl, certainly one of the more tolerable of his fellow dead people but he was really not in the mood for her antics tonight.

“Why me?” he said, conscious that he was starting to sound like a whiny teenager while also being far too tired to care.

“Well Kitty was quite insistent that it be you, she’s in my room picking out blankets for your sleepover.”

“Our sleepover?”

Alison gave him an apologetic smile, “You know how she gets when she’s excited, I couldn’t bring myself to talk her out of it.”

“I could refuse to go.”

“Right…” Alison raised her eyebrows at him, “And you’re prepared to deal with the aftermath of that are you? The crying? The emotions?”

The Captain grimaced. Alison could clearly sense she was winning and went in to deal the final blow.

“If you keep her entertained, there's a new BBC docuseries about assassination attempts on Hitler in it for you.”

“Done.”

Realistically, the Captain would have done it to avoid Kitty’s wide eyed, tearful stare which has the uncanny ability to actually make him feel sorry for his actions but he wasn’t above using the situation to his advantage. 

“Thank you so much!” Alison beamed at him, “Do you want to come and help us set up? I know how much you like bossing me around.”

“No thank you, Alison. These grounds won’t patrol themselves.”

She gave him a quizzical look but didn’t push it.

“Right... Well, have fun.”

Before she could leave the Captain called out, “Oh and well played Alison. We’ll make a commanding officer of you yet.”

She gave him a mock salute and went upstairs.

                                                                —

The Captain had only come to appreciate snow after his death. In life, it was a disruption, forcing the events of the day to be rescheduled around it. But in death, he couldn't feel the bite of the wind or the sensation of cold damp trickling through his boots into his socks. As he walked, he left no footprints, no evidence he was there. The swirling flakes fell to the ground, transforming the landscape he’d been haunting for the better part of seventy years into something new. 

Logically, the Captain knew he didn't actually need to patrol the grounds of Button House. Even when he was alive, the chances of the Germans invading a remote country estate in Surrey were slim and each decade that passed since the end of the war saw that chance become slimmer. And even if something were to happen, in his current state there was very little the Captain could do against corporal beings, as the recent home invasion had demonstrated. But routine had defined the Captain’s life and it was only fitting it define his death. The ritual of following the perimeter of the grounds, observing the occasional passerby was comforting to him and especially after a day like this, gave him a chance to untangle his thoughts.

He’d been running on autopilot ever since Sam had stepped out of the car. Keeping busy was the best way to keep the façade up, to make sure that no one in the house could suspect him of being any more interested in this particular wedding than he would be any other. He’d turned off his mind and his heart and let the events of the day sweep him up. It had been far too easy to remain unaffected with the general chaos that accompanied all occasions at Button House. 

But now, out here in the quiet night, the Captain’s thoughts turned to Sam and Clare and what their wedding meant for him. Sure, he'd had an inkling that things had gotten better for people like him (even in the privacy of his own thoughts, he couldn't quite bring himself to say it) but to see two women getting married in front of his eyes was another thing. What had hit him was the sheer normalcy of it all. It was just two people in love, surrounded by the love and support of their friends and family, without any opposition or backlash besides from the ghost of an Edwardian lady who neither of the brides could see nor hear. But even she had come around in the end, he reminded himself, something he’d never seen Fanny do in his over seventy years of haunting. How could times have changed so much?

He was happy for them, he thought. Yes, happy. But even in his own head that didn't feel quite right. Looking at the brides, he felt that warm glow of pride at their courage to be themselves in ways he never would have dared but underneath there was something else. It wasn't the fault of these women but watching their happiness brought out something ugly in the Captain. Perhaps a few decades ago it would have been jealousy and before then even repulsion but after all these years alone, all he could feel was a sense of grief. He mourned the life he could have lived, the lives so many could have lived. He wondered if two men could do that, could get married, move out to a cottage by the sea, away from the roar of gunfire and simply be together, in peace. It still scarcely seemed possible. Banishing the incriminating thoughts from his head, the Captain spun on his heel back towards the house.

                                                              —

When he arrived in the ballroom, the furniture had been moved back to its usual positions with the two sofas running parallel in front of the fireplace. The only evidence that it had served as a makeshift chapel just hours earlier were the string lights the Captain had helped (ordered) Alison to hang from the ceiling. Kitty was following Alison as she arranged a truly obscene number of cushions on one of the sofas, chattering away all the while.

Kitty let out an ungodly squeal when she saw him, immediately rushing over to explain her blanket choices to him. She’d selected a simple knitted blanket for him in an army green which would have probably been quite soft if he was able to touch it. All of Button House’s various stuffed animals (the locations of which Kitty had memorised over her time haunting the house) were arranged on and around both sofas so that they could all join in on the fun. 

After Kitty had introduced the Captain to each and every toy (she’d insisted he pretended to shake their hands), the pair retired to their respective sofas. Alison mimed draping the blanket over Kitty, and although it just passed through her ghostly form, it seemed to please her.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Alison said, moving to turn off the string lights.

“Wait, leave them on,” the Captain called.

“Okay, goodnight,” Alison smiled as she closed the door. 

The soft glow of the fairy lights illuminated the otherwise dark room. If anyone had looked out the window, they would have seen that the night sky bore a remarkable resemblance to the ceiling. The Captain stiffly lay down on his sofa and relaxed as best as a ghost who was unable to touch the blankets or cushions could. The rustling of petticoats from the other side of the room suggested Kitty was doing the same. The Captain let out a deep sigh. Perhaps he was going to get away with his night of rest after all. 

Five minutes later, Kitty let out a giggle. 

“Katherine,” the Captain called lowly, “Are you quite alright?”

“Oh yes!” came the lilting reply, “I’m just far too excited to sleep yet!”

The Captain stayed silent in hopes that she’d realise he wasn't in the mood but those hopes were dashed when the voice spoke again.

“You missed our conversation earlier, when all the others were telling me about their weddings!”

This was very quickly moving into uncomfortable territory for the Captain. He carefully pondered his reply.

“Yes, well I must have been helping Alison with the decorating.”

Undeterred Kitty continued, “Oh that’s a shame, it was most interesting! Well Julian just said horrible things and Lady Button just started listing people I didn't know. Oh, and then Thomas started wallowing about the wedding he never had. But Pat’s sounded nice!”

That was all pretty much as the Captain expected such a conversation to go, which probably said a lot about the amount of time he spent with the other ghosts. Truthfully, he’d heard that line of inquiry starting up and had immediately left the room in search of a distraction. He hadn’t initially been all that interested in the wedding, seeing it as another disruption to his sacred routine, but the topic of romance was to be avoided at all costs. However with the intimate nature of a sleepover, he may not be so lucky this time.

“Were you ever married?”

The question ricocheted off the Captain’s armoured heart like a bullet. He cleared his throat.

“Um, no Katherine, I never was.”

“Why not?”

That dreaded question had followed the Captain throughout his life and it seemed now it had come back to haunt him in death. He’d given many answers over the years. As a teenager he said he was too focused on his studies. Immediately out of school, he’d enlisted and been shipped off to the Western Front. His fellow soldiers seemed to be obsessed with girls and he was often asked if there was anyone back home, but the backdrop of the trenches was the perfect excuse for his lack of experience. After the Great War, he stayed in the army. The question gained new urgency as one by one his old schoolmates and surviving comrades paired off. The Captain became skilled in the art of avoidance, citing a busy schedule, his devotion to the forces and “never meeting the right one” as excuses for his perpetual singleness. 

The higher he rose through the ranks in the army, the less the question was asked. His position gave him authority and status and let him keep those around him at an arm's length. He told himself he was happy that way. His family eventually gave up asking and by the time the Second World War rolled around, it had been over a year since anyone had asked the Captain why he’d never married. That was until Havers came along: friendly, sincere and far, far too interested. He wormed his way into the Captain’s life, graduating from a Lieutenant to an actual friend, the first in far too long.   

The question reared its ugly head on a warm spring evening in 1940. A shared bottle of whiskey to celebrate a breakthrough in their secret project had quickly led the two men into the realm of the personal. The Captain’s carefully maintained walls, loosened by drink and the high of progress, were gently chipped away at by Haver’s persistent desire for information. They discussed their hometowns, their families, their old friends; everything but the omnipresent war that surrounded them during the day. 

“So how come you never married?” Havers finally asked. It was hard to tell if the red glow on his face was due to the alcohol or merely the setting sun warming his features. Either way, the Captain thought it suited him.

If he’d been sober, the Captain would have been able to pull out one of an assortment of well practised lines that answered the question without inviting further inquiry. As it was he spluttered and stammered in lieu of a response, his normally disciplined mind clouded by alcohol. The corners of Havers’ mouth slowly turned up into a knowing smile, like the Captain’s incompetence had answered all the questions he could ever wish to ask. Idly, the Captain wondered if the other man had always had dimples. Was Havers getting closer or was it just wishful thinking?

“I think I know why you never married,” Havers said, his usual close mouthed smile replaced with a grin that showed all his teeth right back to his molars. He was definitely getting closer.

 “I think you are just like me.”

The voice in the back of his head was screaming that this was a terrible idea, that everything he’d ever worked for could be lost if the Captain succumbed to temptation. But that voice was getting quieter and quieter and Havers was getting closer and closer and maybe he was moving too. Their faces were inches apart over the Captain’s desk and the man was aware that they must have both been leaning out of their seats to get here.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Captain whispered in a last ditch attempt to delay the inevitable.

Havers just smiled and cupped his cheek with one hand. It was unclear who initiated it but suddenly they were kissing. Their bodies were too far apart and the side of the desk was sticking uncomfortably into the side of the Captain’s hip. Havers tasted of stale cigarettes and alcohol and his lips were slightly chapped. Everything about this experience should have been repulsive but to the Captain, it was a revelation. It could only have been a minute, maybe less, but he knew nothing could ever be the same again.

And then he felt it, his old friend, the slithering feeling of guilt that had made its home in his heart since he was a small boy. And like the coward he was, the Captain broke the kiss. His lieutenants' panic stricken face carved itself into his mind as he left him in his office, without a word of acknowledgement. 

Honestly, what had the man been thinking? He’d have to report him, the Captain thought as he paced the perimeter of the grounds. It was too cold to be outside without his jacket but that was back in his office and there was no way he was turning back. He should definitely report Havers. But even then, he knew wouldn’t, because the Captain could lie to himself, but he couldn't lie to a court. After a solid hour of circling the grounds, the Captain concluded that the best course of action would be to pretend it never happened. Havers was a good lieutenant, it hardly seemed worth it to disrupt their work over this. Sure, he was breaking the rules but there was a war on and every man was needed. It was really the Captain’s fault for letting a subordinate get too close. It wouldn’t happen again. 

The Captain went back inside, his fingers and nose red from the cold. His office was mercifully empty. As the Captain tidied his desk, he saw a hastily scribbled note in his Lieutenant’s handwriting:

Sir,

My apologies for what happened. I had too much to drink, it won’t happen again. Can we please pretend it never happened?

- W.H

So it seemed they were on the same page in regards to forgetting the night. The Captain tossed the note onto the dying fire and tried to convince himself that this was what he wanted.

Unfortunately, the Captain had been blessed with an excellent memory. Rather than forgetting about it, that night plagued the Captain’s mind, leaving him to stew in a cocktail of desire and regret. Still, he pushed on. They had a war to win after all. Havers upheld his end of their unspoken bargain. The pair never discussed it, nor anything unrelated to work, again. The Captain told himself he didn’t miss it.

Two months later, France surrendered and Havers left for the Front. The Captain considered for a brief moment, saying something, anything, to make him stay. He even wrote it down but in the end, he was still a coward and Havers left him. Life marched on. The Captain threw himself into his work and for a while, Havers’ absence helped to keep the memories from replaying in his mind. 

Then, almost a year later, Havers’ mother arrived at the House. Her son was dead and she needed to pick up his things. He’d been dead for a couple of months. The Captain hadn’t received any word of this. They weren’t family, they certainly weren’t married and now they never could be. To the record of history they were just a Captain and his former Lieutenant, nothing more, nothing less. All that remained of them was a letter he’d been too cowardly to send.

He gave himself an hour to cry that night, for the first time since he was a boy, before wiping his eyes, putting on his coat and finally burying the prototype mine, the one Havers was supposed to help him complete, alongside the letter. He’d hoped the symbolic burial would relieve him of the burden of memory, of wondering what might have been, but that night had stuck with the Captain to his own burial and beyond.

“Captain?” Kitty’s voice shook the man out of his reminiscence.

“Sorry Katherine,” he replied, straining to keep his voice level and calm, “I- uhm- suppose I never got married because I was too busy with the war.”

This was not his most convincing lie, there were several years in between the World Wars in which he could have settled down but hopefully Kitty’s memory of this period was limited. Whether she believed him or not, she didn’t push and instead moved the conversation to herself.

“I should have liked to have been married,” she began wistfully, “I didn’t live long enough to ever meet someone but I often imagined what my own wedding might be like. How the church would look adorned in flowers, what dress I would wear! And of course the handsome groom that would be waiting for me by the altar!” She let out a giggle at this. “Though I suppose nowadays it could be a handsome bride! Oh that would be wonderful!” 

The Captain’s heart skipped a beat at this revelation, which really shouldn’t have been possible considering he hadn’t had a functioning body since the 1940s. He put considerable effort into keeping his tone casual when he asked, “And would that be something you’d be interested in? A bride?”

Kitty’s voice remained as light and breezy as ever as she replied, “Well I’d never really thought about it until today but I think it would be lovely to marry a woman! We could wear matching dresses or even suits like Clare!”

The Captain almost wanted to scream that it wasn't that simple, that she couldn't just say things like that so casually. But a voice in the back of his head, a voice that sounded suspiciously like a man he’d known long ago, asked why shouldn’t it be? Why must it be so difficult for him?

“- And I’ve always thought women were beautiful, like Alison. Oh! Do you think Alison would wear matching dresses with me?”

Belatedly, the Captain realised he was supposed to reply.

“I’m sure she would Kitty, if it were possible.”

A slightly awkward silence followed, as it often did when one of the ghosts was confronted with the reality of their state of being. Determined to salvage what had been a not entirely unsuccessful social interaction, the Captain spoke:

“Well Katherine, if you were to ever get married, I would be honoured to attend.”

He could practically hear the smile in her voice when she replied, “Why thank you Captain! I would also be honoured to attend your wedding. Oooo could I be a bridesmaid? Please please please?”

“If you like Katherine, though I can't imagine anyone wanting to marry an old man like me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true!” Kitty sounded genuinely offended on his behalf, “There’s loads of people you could marry. What about Lady Button?”

The Captain almost choked on his own tongue.

“Now Kitty, I’m not sure that would be appropriate-”

“How about Pat?” the young woman continued, undeterred, “Or Julian!”

The Captain wondered if it was possible for a ghost to kill themself.

“I don’t think any of the other ghosts would make appropriate marriage candidates, I’m afraid.”

The room was silent for a moment and the Captain naively hoped that this topic of conversation had been dropped.

“What about your lieutenant?”

No such luck.

“I’m sorry?”

“You know, during the war?” Kitty continued, “I forget his name but he had kind eyes and a very handsome smile. He was the only soldier Lady Button could tolerate, she said the others had appalling manners.”

“Havers…”

“Hmm?”

“His name was Lieutenant William Havers,” the Captain was struggling to keep the tremor out of his voice, “He helped me develop the limpet mine, the one Alison blew up in the garden, before he left for the front.”

“Of course! I remember the two of you were very close.”

The Captain often forgot that Kitty was actually much older than him. He knew of course that the older ghosts would have seen him during his service at Button House but he tried not to think about it too much. But now the very real possibility that Kitty had seen the events of the night he’d been unsuccessfully trying to forget for the better part of eighty years was dawning on him.

“Well Katherine, I wouldn’t say we were very close, it was just the nature of the job you see.”

“Well to me it seemed as though you were good friends, we all thought so.”

So deflection wasn't going to work. It was time for a direct charge.

“You didn’t see anything, did you Katherine?”

“I don’t think so?” Kitty sounded puzzled, “I just meant that the pair of you spent a lot of time together in your office. I didn’t usually spend much time there, I couldn’t understand a word you and your lieutenant were saying.”

Well that had backfired. The Captain cursed himself internally. Kitty had genuinely thought he and Havers were good friends and now he’d ruined it with his excessive defensiveness.

After a moment, Kitty spoke up tentatively.

“Would you have liked to marry him, Captain? If you could have?”

There it was. The finishing blow. The Captain was open and exposed and he had nowhere to run. He considered his options. He could play dumb, pretend he didn't know who Kitty was talking about. But that wouldn’t work, he had volunteered the man’s name mere moments ago. Or he could just leave, find somewhere else in this giant house to sleep. But that would answer the question for him and upset Kitty. He was out of choices. This was it, he was going to lose everything he’d built up in this half life. The other ghosts would lose all respect for him.

But then he remembered this was Kitty he was talking to. Yes, she could be naive but she could keep a secret if she knew it was important, he was sure of it. And she wouldn’t judge him. Not out of a sense of moral obligation but more that the thought of judgement simply would not have crossed her mind. When the Captain thought back on the days of his youth spent in church under the fierce watch of his parents, he thought that if God truly was out there, His love would look far more like Kitty’s; unquestioning and unwavering. He took a deep breath, steeled his nerves and charged out over the top.

“Yes, I think I would have liked that.”

Looking up at the fairy lights he’d helped Alison string up earlier, the Captain didn't feel as though he was talking to another person but merely that he was confessing his secrets to the stars. 

The couple beats of silence afterwards were enough to send the Captain spiralling into a panic. 

“By which I mean of course that I would much prefer to marry him over say Julian, not that I-”

He was cut off by a soft weight landing on top of him which he realised was Kitty diving on top of him for a hug. Really these were not the optimal conditions for it: he was horizontal and he could hardly see Kitty in the dim lighting but she clung onto him until his muscles slowly melted into the embrace. 

“It’s okay,” she whispered into the crook of his neck, “And I’m sorry you couldn’t be wed.”

Dimly, the Captain realised there were tears running down his cheeks though by the sound of Kitty’s voice, she wasn’t faring much better.

“Yes, well there’s nothing I can do about it now, I suppose.”

The Captain awkwardly patted the girl on the back. He couldn't remember the last time he’d been touched like this and he was slightly out of his depth. Kitty seemed to notice his discomfort and slid off him to sit on the floor.

“I suppose not,” she said. The Captain could make out that she was wiping her eyes with her sleeves in the dim light. 

“Now, now Katherine,” he said, moving to join her on the floor despite his knees’ vocal protest, “It may be too late for us but things are getting better for the living. We may have not gotten our happy endings, but Sam and Clare did and so will many others. It’s a gift in itself that we get to stick around to witness their joy.”

Kitty didn’t reply, instead leaning into the older man’s side. They spent a little while like that, in total silence looking up at the lights twinkling like stars on the ceiling. Eventually the Captain noticed Kitty’s eyes beginning to droop. He took it upon himself to guide her onto her sofa and almost instinctively took off his jacket and draped it over her drowsy form. By the time the Captain had laid down himself, the jacket had reappeared on his body but he slept soundly that night with the image of Kitty tucked up cosily in her makeshift bed. 

                                                                —

“Alison?” the Captain called, bouncing on the balls of his feet at the kitchen door, “A word if you may?

It was the next morning. The final guests had left the house and Alison and Mike were just about to settle down for a well deserved breakfast.

“Sorry Mike, ghost thing.” Alison kissed her husband on the cheek, leaving him to make the tea. Mike grumbled sleepily under his breath but let his wife go deal with whatever problem their undead housemates had come up with this time.

“I’m sorry I didn’t time your run this morning but with guests-” Alison began, leading the pair of them into the hallway.

“No no no Alison it’s nothing like that, though I would like to make sure that you will be promptly on time tomorrow.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, will do,” Alison went to leave but was stopped by the ghost.

“That's not all. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the wedding yesterday and,” the Captain looked at his feet, “And I was wondering if it was possible for two men to do something like that?”

Alison looked at him with the same knowing smile from yesterday.

“Of course they could, Cap.”

“Hmmm, well that’s excellent of course,'' he was still refusing to maintain eye contact and rocking back and forth on his feet, “Fascinating modern world this is.”

“Is there anything you’d like to tell me, Captain?” 

“Absolutely not Alison, just an intellectual curiosity is all.”

“Right,” Alison didn't sound entirely convinced but she didn’t push it, “Can I go back to my breakfast now?”

The Captain nodded. Alison turned back towards the kitchen only to be stopped once more.

“I say Alison!”

“Yes?”

“Those insipid romance novels that Katherine enjoys so much, do you know they have any featuring two girls?”

Alison raised her eyebrows at this.

“For Kitty, of course,” he added uncomfortably.

“Yeah I figured,” Alison said, “I didn’t know she was into that kind of thing. I’m sure I could find something on eBay.”

The Captain had no idea was an “E Bay” was but he decided that this was a mission accomplished.

“Well jolly good. I’ll see you this evening for my Hitler assassination show.” 

And with that the soldier spun on his heel and left. Alison shrugged and returned to the kitchen, ready to regale her husband with more tales of the weird ghosts that haunted their house.

[sunshinechay]

Top 5 BL Scenes that Made you Laugh 2023!!!

This one is really hard because I’m drawing a blank on any actual scenes (I’m so sorry 😭😭) so I’m going to go with shows/characters that made me laugh and if I can remember a specific scene I’ll put it in there.

So these are not in a particular order but

Nawin - Laws of Attraction

Literally any scene with this man in it, but his introduction scene specifically is just *chef’s kiss*

Nuea from Wedding Plan

He made me laugh with his overly dramatic self a lot in the early part of the series. He is such a fun and fantastic character and in the beginning of the series, he can be over dramatic at times. A favourite scene of his that comes to mind is in the second episode when he is feeding Lom (*my best Monty python impression* nobody expects the McDonald’s!) and ends up dropping the food into his lap and is frantically trying to clean Lom’s pants while Lom is desperately trying to get him to stop. It’s endearing to see him care so much but also funny to me due to his momentary lack of realizing that he is frantically rubbing at his crush’s groin. Like dude!

This one is a specific scene! The scene in La Pluie where Tai bites Patts while he’s drunk at the end of episode 3. An incredibly drunk Tai rambled on about Patts being a playboy because Patts is his soulmate (which Patts is unaware of at that moment), has decided to pursue someone else (Tai…he’s pursuing Tai) and decided to bite Patts as revenge? and it’s absolutely glorious.

Yao Shun Yu and Xiao Shang Zhou from You Are Mine. Just both of them, every scene they’re in. They’re both of them are the most over dramatic boys grown ass men. Their courtship is so strange and yet I found it entertaining and absolutely hilarious at the same time.

The mpreg discussion from ep6 of Pit Babe…it made me laugh in both a good way, because of course these two idiots would talk about having children literally 2 minutes after officially becoming a couple and also in a nervous way because I cannot believe I am witnessing a conversation about mpreg in a tv show on my screen in the year of our Lord, 2023. And like 4 days before Christmas too, which makes it feel even more strange to me someone *gets dragged off stage before I can go on a rant about Jesus and his birth being Christmas and also the breeding plot line from the book or have the urge to call any children Babe and Charlie did have together some kind of Jesus baby* any way

[esonetwork]

The Earth Station DCU Episode 328 – Superman & Lois Season 3 Premiere

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/the-earth-station-dcu-episode-328-superman-lois-season-3-premiere/

The Earth Station DCU Episode 328 – Superman & Lois Season 3 Premiere

This Week on Earth Station DCU! Drew Leiter and Cletus Jacobs review the Superman & Lois Season 3 Premiere. Janet talks Ivy into going to a wellness retreat in California before heading back to Gotham in Poison Ivy #10. Batman and his plus one, Joker, go to a wedding in Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #5. Jon Kent is called upon to help stop Ultraman from killing Kal-Els from across the Multiverse in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1. When the cops discover Catwoman’s plan to steal a Mesopotamia mask, They are waiting in ambush in Catwoman: Lonely City #3. Batman uncovers more information about the Bruce Wayne of that Earth as he attempts to save this new Gotham City in Batman #133. The War with the Fraction continues in Flash #794. All this plus, DC News, DC TV, Shout Outs, and much, much more!

————————

Table of Contents

0:00:00 Show Open

0:01:09 DC News

0:12:58 Poison Ivy #10

0:18:20 Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #5

0:22:30 Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1

0:29:28 Catwoman: Lonely City #3

0:36:33 Batman #133

0:42:36 Flash #794

0:47:36 The Flash S9 Ep6 – The Good, The Bad and The Lucky

1:02:05 Superman & Lois S3 Ep1 – Closer

1:12:52 Show Close

Links

Poison Ivy #10

Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #5

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1

Catwoman: Lonely City #3

Batman #133

Flash #794

Earth 2 (2012-2015) Vol. 1: The Gathering (Cletus’s Read More Comics Pick)

Earth Station One Tales of the Station

Earth Station One Tales of the Station Vol. 2

The Chameleon Chronicles: Colors of Fate

The Chameleon Chronicles: Sisters of the Thorn

If you would like to leave feedback, comment on the show, or would like us to give you a shout out, please call the ESDCU feedback line at (317) 564-9133 (remember long distance charges may apply) or feel free to email us @ earthstationdcu@gmail.com

[kathonydaily]

I feel like the closet scene isn't talked about enough! Anthony was so cold and matter of fact when he was trying to ask Kate to convince Edwina to continue with the wedding (which is a whole other conversation in itself since, for me anyways, it somewhat mirrors Kate convincing Anthony to do the same to save her sister from heartbreak and to keep his honor), but when Kate painfully says she herself has ruined Edwina's life, he just immediately softens. And it felt like the lines from Benedict's poem "...that all your defenses crumble... that you would willingly take any pain, any burden for her" was almost actualizing from the way Anthony steps in closer towards Kate to the way he grabs and holds her hand and whispers to her to wait. The more I rewatch this scene the more I'm in awe of it! Episode 6 was a hot mess in a lot of ways, but I also think that it's in this episode when love really does come to the surface (worst yet best timing ever lol).

Oh I SO agree, anon. That scene is one of my favorites actually. And since I already wanted to break it down, i'm going to use your ask to do so.

Let's start with where they were mentally at that point, because it is important. So...I've already said this in another post, but Anthony at the end of ep5 didn't want to get through with the wedding anymore. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life wanting the sister of his wife. Even if by some miracle he would have been able to control his instincts, that would have been pure torture to endure. But Kate in her own self-sacrificing way, basically begged him to go through with it, trying to convince him that what there was between them it will pass. Anthony knew it was bullshit of course, but the problem was that he couldn't say no to her. He couldn't say no to the love of his life, literally begging him to do something.

So here we are in ep6. Anthony was dreading the wedding, but also he was resolute to go through with it. He closed himself off again, his feelings put aside for everyone's else happiness, except his own. And the truth is...there was also some sort of resentment toward Kate. She didn't force him to do anything, OF COURSE, but if she didn't ask him to go through with the wedding, he wouldn't have been there that day, going through that charade of a wedding. And the fact that she could so easily say that what there was between them it will pass...it bothered him. So, if she was able to do that, he could also do that. Yep, it will pass, it was nothing, she was only a thorn in their lives. The plan was always to carry the family's name and found the perfect viscountess to do so. He did, and he would have gone through with it.

Except, when he saw Kate walking down the aisle, his heart stopped, literally. He couldn't stop looking at her, his mind drifting away, betraying his resolve and showing him his most precious and inner dream: marrying Kate. Then he returned to the reality he didn't want, and when the bangle fell off, he couldn't stop himself in trying to help Kate with it. He wanted to touch her just one last time, before returning to his duty. But that act 'ruined' everything. Edwina finally realized Anthony and Kate were in love with each other, shattering all her dreams.

Anthony knew this was mostly his fault. I've already talked in details on how he almost had a panic attack when he stormed in that room, followed by his family. He knew that if he didn't look at Kate, if he didn't help her with the bangle, Edwina would have never found out. But she did, and now the only thing he could do to fix this mess, and to avoid an even bigger scandal that would ruin both their families, was to find his resolve back and convince Edwina to get through with the wedding.

On the other hand, we have Kate, who spent the entire episode being sad but also resolute to get through with the wedding. Her sister's happiness had to come before anything else. She was going to lose the love of her life, but at least her sister would be happy. Then Edwina discovered the truth, and everything fell apart. Her worst nightmare materializing right in front of her: she had ruined her sister's happiness. She found a closet and cried all her tears, throwing away her mother's bangles that were the cause of the failed wedding.

Then after a while, she composed herself and was ready to go outside, to deal with the consequences of her own actions...except she was not. Because Anthony was right in front of her, and she just couldn't deal with him. She just couldn't trust her own feelings when they were together. So she tried to ran away, but he followed her. She tried to escape the closet, but he wouldn't let her. That menance of a man.

Anthony was resolute in trying to get through with the wedding because for him it was the only possible solution to fix that mess, so he asked her to try to convince her sister. It was yes, a parallel to their scene in the park at the end of ep5. And you know, even if Kate said no in that moment, later she did try to talk to her sister and convince her to get through with the wedding. Like Anthony tried to get through with the wedding because Kate asked, even if he didn't want to.

But returning on topic, Anthony was resolute, telling her Edwina would have ruined her life if they didn't do something, but then she said to him: I have ruined her life, and all his resolve went outside of the window. He could tell in that moment how much she was truly hurting, and the only thing he really wanted to do was to embrace her, and telling her that everything would have been okay. But that would be a lie, so the only thing he could do was to try to stop her from going away, and asking her to stay, just for a little while. He held her hand gently, touching the bangle who both ruined but also saved them, at the same time. She looked at him with those big eyes full of tears, and he wanted to kiss her and never let her go.

I think there is a reason why we don't have scenes with Anthony anymore until the end of the episode, after this one. I feel this was the moment when he realized that there was nothing to fix. The damage was already done, and he didn't want to go through a wedding that would make everybody miserable. He was tired of lying to himself, tired of pretending to follow his duty, when the only thing he truly wanted was Kate and nothing else. That's why at the end of the episode he said: 'Your sister is braver and wiser than us both. She had the courage to act on what she sensed between us. And here we are, standing perfectly still... having felt it for months.' He already reached that conclusion on his own, even before Edwina's outburst in the church at the end. And he reached that conclusion in that closet, watching those soulfoul eyes full of tears.

Kate, however, wasn't ready to reach that conclusion yet. She wanted him deeply, she had never wanted something more in her life. But she couldn't. The guilt of being the cause of her sister's unhappiness was killing her too. So she shook her head, and told him goodbye. She tried to do the same at the end of the episode, wanting to indulge just a moment in her dream of wanting him before letting him go forever, but her feelings were too strong and betrayed her. This was the exact reason why she tried to run away, finding refuge in the closet, earlier in the episode. She reached that point where she couldn't trust herself in his presence anymore.

So yeah, I agree. Ep6 is when they couldn't hide their love for each other anymore, and when Anthony totally realized he was tired of pretending.

[mskatesharma]

I really think the writers should have had Anthony grovel to both/either Kate and Edwina for the whole proposing to E in a fit of denial about his feelings thing. And the thorn stuff in ep6 literally made me want Kate to leave all these fucking assholes in England and run off to India with Dorset. Also as a younger sister why the fuck was Edwina so blase about her sister going back to India?? Like is she stupid? She has to know she'll prob never see K again and she was just like ok sure byeee!

I have a feeling this may get long lol

For starters, Edwina and Anthony needed to have another conversation where she reemed him properly for essentially leading her on. I know we can point to everything he said to her about duty, but he never explicitly tells her that he doesn't love her; that there won't be love in their marriage (like he does with Kate in the book, for example). And he knows that Edwina likes him at least, that she's smitten with him, and she talks openly about love in front of him; when the Queen calls them a 'true love match', and when they're at the lake and Edwina replies to Anthony when he says Kate and Dorset not knowing each otherdon't know each other, "Nor did I you at first. But love moves swiftly, does it not?" He never corrects her in the moment, or talk to her privately to ensure she understands that he doesn't plan for theirs to be a love marriage.

Even Violet talks to Anthony before the Sheffield dinner, and asks him "does she know your true feelings on the matter?" because she knows that Edwina feels something for Anthony, whereas for Anthony their marriage is basically a business arrangement. It's one thing for Kate to have said "Anthony does not want a love marriage", but I think it would obviously hit Edwina differently if the man himself came out with the words, because she would be far more likely to believe him, and to maybe realise she's not exactly going to change his mindset?

She also needed to reem him about the fact he proposed to her knowing that he was in love with her sister, or at the very least that he had stronger romantic feelings for Kate than he ever would for Edwina. Once Daphne caught him and Kate in the library, Anthony should have walked away from Edwina and found someone else to court and then wed. The fact that he proposed to Edwina after realising his feelings for Kate makes him even more of a dick. And I know after episode 5 he only proceeded with the engagement and wedding because Kate asked him to, but at the same time, he does realise how unfair it is to Edwina? I know we talk about Kate deserving better, but it obviously goes without saying that Edwina most definitely deserved better.

Obviously both Kate and Anthony are to blame for the whole mess, but I feel like Anthony's part in the whole thing just gets glossed over or ignored? Which isn't surprising considering how the fandom already woobifies Anthony, but it doesn't make it any less infuriating.

With regards to Edwina being blase about Kate going back to India...I don't think it's necessarily her being uncaring, and more that like Mary, Edwina thinks that what Kate wants most is her independence and freedom, and that for Kate, that means going back to India. And Edwina probably is under the (naive) impression that Kate will make at least one visit. It's a case of Edwina not really knowing her sister, while also maybe not trying harder to look any deeper past what Kate presents to her? Because Kate keeps her true feelings well pushed down, and she guards her heart so much. It's easier for Kate to let them think that what she really wants is to return to India, than correct them with what her true desire in life is and having to explain why she thinks she doesn't deserve to have it, while also breaking her sister's heart in the process.

The thorn stuff...I've not exactly been quiet about how much I hate it, especially because Edwina (and Mary) don't seem to care about Kate being cut from their lives, like there's no reaction to Anthony saying it? And while you can excuse Edwina in that moment, I don't think you can really excuse Mary's lack of a reaction to being told that one of her daughters is "a thorn to be removed". It's such callous expression. (Let’s not get started on the fact that Mary doesn’t even go to look for Kate at any point in the aftermath during episode 6.)

I've actually been bugging @nanso with an AU that I indulge whenever I get annoyed at Anthony and Edwina where Anthony and Edwina get married, and Kate goes back to India. I mean, I think we all know that if Anthony and Edwina had got married, Anthony was going to say Kate's name at least once during sex, right? And I think that utterly smashes any rose tinted illusion that Edwina was clinging to when she decided to go ahead with the marriage (this is based on the idea that they make it back to the alter after Edwina's runaway bride act). She basically comes to the conclusion that no matter what she does, Anthony will never think of her in the same way that he thinks of her sister, even with Kate in India. And obviously that comes with conflicting emotions, because Edwina does realise that she misses Kate, and just how much she loves her sister, but she also can't help but hate her because she's the one her husband really wants, and she's the one he dreams about. Anthony for his part throws himself to his duty, while he feels increasingly bitter towards Kate because not only did she say that the feeling between them would pass and that it would become bearable, he fooled himself into believing her and if anything, the feeling has just got worse? He also resents the fact that she's the one who essentially pushed him to the alter after he said he would end the engagement.

Meanwhile Kate ends up working for some rich family with a son and a daughter, and the dad's brother (who just so happens to look like Nikesh Patel) is a widow, and he and Kate bond over lost loves (she basically breaks down in the garden one evening and tells him about everything that happened in England, and how it's all her fault, and finally someone sees how much self loathing she has? How she doesn't think herself worthy or good enough?). Anyway, Nikesh Patel lookalike helps her feels less alone? He at least helps her recognise that it wasn't all her fault, and honestly? They end up starting some hot? torrid? affair together, where don't make each other promises; they're not under any illusions, but they do recognise that the other person helps them to feel less alone. Don't mistake me, she still has so many regrets, and longing, but she believes that everything probably worked out for the best because she's removed herself from the situation; she's no longer there to only end up making things worse.

And maybe it's been two years or so, but the family Kate works for announces that they're going to London because they want the daugter to try a social season? Idk exactly but they're making the journey to London and Kate can't get out of it. Kate has been exchanging letters with Mary (she does write to Edwina but I think understandably Edwina doesn't reply), so Kate obviously informs her mother that she's coming. Mary tells Edwina, but she doesn't share this information anyone else. Kate also writes to Dorset? He's been to see her once or twice, and she also informs him that she's coming. Anyway, he sees Anthony and Edwina at some ball or function, and asks Edwina if she is excited for Kate's visit. And obviously this is the first time Anthony is hearing of such a thing and...that's about all I have mapped out. I haven't really thought about it too much lol

[gunsatthaphan]

( ˘ ³˘)❤

[itsallaboutbl]

🔥😘

[notaboutafish]

Bridgerton meets SOTT

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Ep6:

Initially when I heard the news Bridgerton would use SOTT I was hopeful it was for a queer romance, however sad as it may seem it was not. The song is used in the background of a wedding scene between the viscount Antony and “this season’s diamond” Edwina. A short summary of their “love” story: the viscount has his sights set on Edwina from there very beginning, however he failed to anticipate falling in love with someone else. Anthony finally makes it to the alter where he sets about to marry Edwina he is not in love with. He continues with the wedding knowing he does not love her. When Edwina runs from the alter after having figured out Anthony is truly in love with her sister, he tells Edwina that neither of them had a choice in who they are but they can bear that load together. He’s willing to go through with the marriage as planned even though it will not be for love, and maybe in the future fall in love…it all comes down to Edwina’s choice between marrying the viscount knowing her sister is in love with him and he with her, or not. Edwina tells her sister that she has had every decision made for her, and she is finally going to take her life in her own hands. She chooses to not marry the viscount.

GP will not connect this song and it’s meaning to the fact that two characters are potentially going to enter into a marriage that neither one of them truly want to be in and they’ve kind of been forced in this position and can’t really truly see a way out of it so they’re going to just go along with it…no the gp will just connect the one lyric “why are we always stuck and running from the bullets” to when Edwina runs out of the chapel.

SOTT no matter how you look at it is about going round and around in circles, never truly learning and never growing, always repeating the same pattern because there doesn’t seem to be another option. It’s about being stuck and battling circumstances that aren’t in your control. Edwina chooses not to be stuck anymore, and subsequently “unsticks” the viscount as well when she decides to not go through with the wedding. By making her choice she opens his eyes to a new future that he didn’t think was attainable.

The use of SOTT to highlight a relationship in a time period that many chose to marry for societal and financial purposes is very telling.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Sarazanmai Episode 11 [Finale]: “I Want To Connect, So Sarazanmai”

Do you ever just watch an anime episode that’s So Much in so many different ways that it makes you immediately want to lay down and sleep for a hundred years, but in like a good and hopeful way?

Yeah.

It’s very fitting that the final episode title is technically self-referential nonsense that in practice makes complete emotional sense and leaves everything feeling neatly tied together. It just Works [tm].

Thoughts under the cut.

Even though they were in like 5% of this episode I just wanna immediately point out that Reo and Mabu are ALIVE and IN LOVE and my SKIN IS CLEARED. It didn’t exactly happen in the way I expected, but I was hoping that they’d get revived, and here we are. The finale gave absolutely no shits about actually explaining any of the lingering mysteries about them, but I can’t fault them for it when they gave them such an unambiguously happy ending together. And in practice it perfectly fit the dreamy, surreal, intensely emotionally-driven vibe of the whole finale. Seeing their connected rings morph into them flying through the air while holding hands and the sheer power of their gay love literally paving the way for the main trio to finally connect was one of those moments where you just gotta sit back and accept that Ikuhara’s throwing at you, lmao.

Realistically I thought they might get left off on a pretty bittersweet note like a lot of Ikuhara characters, but nah, they’re just straight up back to being alive and happy and they pretty much got to attend their daughter’s magical furry wedding, lmao. They didn’t even get their memories erased like I thought might happen, so the whole confession scene from ep10 is still perfectly intact and now that the whole otter thing’s dealt with, we can probably safely assume that the two of them made up and are back to being The Ultimate Couple. It also looks like the two of them and even Sara and Keppi are still hanging out in the human world, which is kinda unexpected. I thought that even in the best case scenario they’d all just head back to the kappa kingdom, but I guess since that doesn’t really exist anymore they’re just gonna stay in the human world. Reo and Mabu seem to be working as rickshaw drivers now, which makes it even more clear that they’re probably back to being more or less regular people and being part of regular human society, and they’ve probably given up their jobs as cops, which is nice.

None of this answers the still lingering question of ‘how the fuck does the manga even fit into the timeline aaaaaaa’, but I don’t care as much about finding out the answer to that after this finale, so it’s not a big deal. I guess we’re meant to think that it happened before the anime, though. My best guess is that Sara was intentionally sent into the human world as a baby to protect her from the kappa/otter war, or something, and then Reo and Mabu raised her, she magically turned into her teenage/adult self [in an instantaneous fairy tale-y kind of way], then she went back to the kappa kingdom for a bit, and I guess she arranged things with Keppi and had them get recruited into the kappa kingdom? I still think they’re humans that got roped into this like the main trio, so I think that makes sense to me.

Even more so than with the main trio, I think that those two getting a 100% happily ever after with no caveats or drawbacks really spells out how fundamentally optimistic and hopeful this series is, and how they were one way or another victims of a harsh system that didn’t deserve the shit they went through, and so they got given a happy ending. It’d be understandable if people feel upset that they got such a happy ending after having done undeniably awful things, but I don’t mind.

And on the topic of the main trio, hoo boy they sure were the main focus of this episode, lol. And by ‘them’ I mean ‘Toi’ because let’s be honest he was basically the actual main character of the show by the end, and the finale was like 99% focused on his character development specifically. Which isn’t a bad thing. Kazuki’s whole deal had already been more or less resolved by the end of ep6, so it makes sense that the second half in general focused more on Toi.

On the flip side, Enta kinda got the short end of the stick in terms of screen-time and development, and things end in a sorta wishy-washy way in regards to his feelings for Kazuki. It makes enough sense that his whole ending was about choosing not to drown himself in fruitless delusions, even if it feels kinda lame and disappointing compared to the more climactic and intense resolutions that Kazuki and Toi got.

Though tbh a big part of why I don’t feel too negatively about how Enta’s crush on Kazuki kinda fizzled into irrelevancy is because Reo and Mabu got their happy ending that preserved all of their character development, with the obvious implication that they’re back to being in a happy and stable romantic relationship. The fact that there’s at least one happy gay couple at the end of all this makes me much more willing to forgive Enta’s story being handled a bit differently. I mean, that’s part of the whole reason why diversity in storytelling is so important. When you include multiple different gay characters/relationships in your stories, you have the freedom to do different things with them, instead of having all the narrative burdens and expectations being placed on just one character/relationship. It’s annoying when the ONLY gay character in a show ends up having to repress and move on from their feelings, but it’s fine when there are other gay characters who get to have their own happy relationships.

Anyway, I really liked how Toi’s story wrapped up here. A lot of what actually happened in the finale was full on bizarre dream logic nonsense, but the emotional undercurrent of Toi being faced with the prospect of effectively committing suicide in order to free himself from the pain of human connection once and for all, and him coming to the realization on his own terms that he doesn’t want to let go of those connections, got through perfectly clearly. They actually went a lot further with his story than I expected. Literally further, in that we had a whole timeskip epilogue detailing how after the main story ended he went to juvie for a few years and then reunited with Kazuki and Enta when he returned. I’m going to assume that he turned himself in, since there shouldn’t have been any concrete evidence tying him to any of his crimes, except for maybe him shooting Reo [though even then, Reo’s corpse immediately transformed into one of those rings so I don’t think that counts as lasting forensic evidence, lmao]. It was definitely the most brushed-over part of the finale, but it didn’t need to be focused on that much, since the more important part was him reuniting with the other two afterward.

And in terms of timeskips and whatnot, I really loved the whole potential future flashforward sequence showing a what-if scenario of the three of them becoming professional soccer players and being slowly torn apart by interpersonal drama, while the different episode title cards are re-used in this new context to show how their emotional issues and hang-ups might lead to that sort of negative outcome. It did a really nice job of illustrating how they’re willing to face the possibility of future pain in order to hold onto their connections with each other. Which is what the entire show had been building up to, really. It was all about them becoming able to face the harsh realities of being known in order to lead fulfilling lives with meaningful personal relationships.

I do kinda wish their older selves looked a bit more distinct from their base designs, though. Aside from the difference in outfits you can barely tell that they’ve grown up, lol.

I was initially planning on rewatching episode 1 after this, but honestly after what actually happened I don’t really think I’d actually get anything new out of episode 1 now. The very first scene of the show is still a bit of a mystery, even though it’s obviously based around a lot of visual imagery and cinematography from the finale, and the whole deal with the ‘A’ signs is still up for interpretation. But I don’t really think it’s super important one way or another.

I’m actually very happy that the ending didn’t involve any sort of time travel, and that that’s not what the first scene of the show was hinting at. Especially with how this finale really hammered in the importance of living with the consequences of your actions and accepting the future for what it is, it would have felt very cheap if anything got reset in the end.

I guess it’s also worth noting that, at least with the main trio, there weren’t any romantic developments, which I think was fine. With how the story had been building up to this point I think it was fairly obvious that their ending was gonna be more about friendship alone. Which might disappoint some people [and the whole topic of Enta’s unrequited crush on Kazuki is it’s own whole thing], but at the very least, Reo and Mabu got their happy romantic ending together, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out, lol.

Part of me wants to be disappointed that we didn’t really learn anything new about Sara, and that she didn’t exactly, uh, DO anything even in this final episode, but honestly I feel like that’s kinda ‘the joke’. Like, she and Keppi come across as a super tongue in cheek joke about the fairy tale concept of princes and princesses. Sorta like how the Utena movie made the ‘prince’ into a complete joke, Sara and Keppi are just there to be funny plot devices, and their big ending is that they have a big fat furry wedding and that’s that. And honestly that’s fine by me. I feel like Ikuhara’s whole artistic career has involved him becoming more and more flippant and dismissive about the concepts of princes and princesses and how much importance is placed on them in fiction, and that’s valid. It reminds me a bit of how all of the actual major characters are all queer dudes and their relationships with each other are the actually important part of the narrative, whereas straight characters like Sara and Keppi and all the different faceless kappa zombie dudes are mostly just joke characters. There’s something both deeply amusing and deeply vindicating about how this show turns the tables like that, with how it frames different types of love and relationships.

The main trio’s story ended up being not super tied into what the show has to say about sexuality in general [and overall the show is less specifically ‘about’ that than Yuri Kuma Arashi was, from what I understand], but there was definitely a whole lot of social commentary about homophobia going on with Reo and Mabu, and thankfully that part of the narrative came to a satisfying and genuinely subversive ending, with them overcoming the death imposed upon them and regaining their happy lives together. 

Now I’m hoping that Ikuhara will ‘complete the set’, so to say, and have his next anime be about trans/non-binary characters, especially after how Kazuki’s whole cross-dressing thing ended up being kinda unimportant and not about gender identity to begin with. Which is still kinda disappointing to me, but oh well.

Overall, this ending was almost aggressively happy and optimistic compared to what I was bracing myself for, so thankfully it’s left me feeling warm and fuzzy and content. All in all, it was a surprisingly straightforward story in terms of it’s central messages, in spite of it’s over the top and abstract framing, and I think it really benefited from that inherent simplicity, especially in this finale, which was so singularly focused on it’s central trio [and mostly just Toi’s perspective alone]. I was a bit worried the finale might turn into one of those things where a deeply personal conflict gets blown up and tied into literally world-ending stakes, but thankfully they didn’t go unnecessarily far with it. Even the kappa/otter war resolution barely involved the main trio themselves.

At least in hindsight, I think the anime was very tightly woven and was paced surprisingly well for it’s short episode count, and it’s hard to imagine how they could have spent much more time on the main trio, but now that we have a better idea of the timeline of the series, I really think that episode 6 should have been followed up by an episode that basically adapted the ReoMabu manga, plus parts of the twitter account, and the short chapter from the first light novel volume about how they met. That way it would have ended up with a nice round 12-episode length, and I don’t think it would have ‘spoiled the surprise’ of the later reveals and developments with Reo and Mabu. I just think it would have been really good to actually cover that in the anime itself, especially since even in the finale, the whole fact that they literally raised Sara as a baby never got addressed, so it feels like anime-only viewers are missing out on a big chunk of their story. But it’s not a huge deal.

I guess at the end of the day my feelings about the finale boil down to ‘Reo and Mabu are alive and happy and that’s literally all that matters to me’, lol.

I was really worried about how I’d be left feeling after this, but I’m happy that I’ve been following this series ever since it was first announced. This is the only time I’ve watched an Ikuhara show as it’s come out, and oh boy has it been an emotional roller-coaster. The fact that it ended in a satisfying way makes it all feel worth it, though.

I probably won’t get to it immediately since I think my brain needs time to recover from this one, but sometime soon I want to finally get around to watching Penguindrum and then Yuri Kuma Arashi. I don’t think I’ll liveblog them like I’ve been doing with Sarazanmai, though, if only since I’ve already been spoiled on bits and pieces of what happens in them, but we’ll see how it goes.

[kathonydaily]

You have to keep in mind that Anthony didn’t want to marry Edwina anymore in ep5. He wanted to call off the wedding and find a way to fix things without creating a scandal. Then comes Kate and basically begged him to not do that. And the point is that she didn’t force him, of course, he could have said no, but if there is a person he listens to after his father’s death, is Kate. He can’t literally say no to her. So he accepted to go on with the wedding, despite knowing full well it was going to be torture for him.

So, even if he accepted willingly, he also felt some resentment toward Kate in ep6. And the fact that she could also say that basically what was between them was a fling that will pass with time hurt him deeply. Because she was definitely NOT a fling for him, he knew full well he was going to spend the rest of his days dreaming of her. But if she really thought that, then he could play the part too. So yeah, she was a thorn, a menance, just an interference in his original plan of marrying Edwina to fulfill his duty. It was not what he wished, but it was what he thought Kate wanted. So he played the part.

When Anthony says the thorn comment thing in ep 6 (🙄), it’s a callback to episode 2. To his original intention. Then he immediately contradicts that (imo) with “that is what I now know”.

His intention to remove the obstacle (Kate) will happen if Edwina says yes but he cannot deny that it is not what he wishes. He cannot deny that he has feelings for Kate, so he says it is what he knows because Kate told him that they must bury what they feel. Because Kate is leaving. Because Kate will choose familial duty over love and he must too.

(Or so these clowns think)

[everythingwithange]

Ep. 325 - 90 Day Fiance - Happily Ever After? - S5 EP6 - Ultimatums and Ugly Truths - Recap⁣ with @couponqueenpin001 ⁣ Princess Andrei makes waves in planning the wedding of her dreams, Angela walks off from meeting Mykals Friends. Larissa is back with Ericee but Carmen isn't happy. Kalani's dad confronts Asuelu.⁣ ⁣ Coupon Queen Pin Links:⁣ Instagram  @couponqueenpin001⁣ Twitter: CouponQueenPin⁣ www.Anchor.fm/cqpmoments⁣ Intro: KC from Chef Salty Pork⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ Search: A Little Bit Of Everything With Me! on 15 podcast platforms ⁣ Link in Bio!⁣ Website: anchor.fm/everythingwithange⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #90dayfiance #90dayfiancebeforethe90days #90dayfiancetheotherway #90dayfiancefans⁣ #90dayfiancerecap #podcasting #cohosting #realitytvrecap #90day #90dayfiancé⁣ #90dayfiancee #90dayfiance_ #toronto #itunespodcast #tuneinradio⁣ #stitcherpodcast #iheartradiopodcast #spotifypodcast #googlepodcasts⁣ #podcast #podcasting #torontopodcast #torontotalkshow⁣ #podcaster #realitytv #tlc #thecoop #coop⁣ #trashtv #tvtrash ⁣ (at Toronto, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC6cCPtgQmF/?igshid=1olzznxdp83t2