#(and peepers is a whole dork. how did this happen how are you friends with this nerd. what.)

[s1utspeare]

DID SOMEONE SAY BODY LANGUAGE COMPARISON???

I heard the sweet, dulcet tones of acting meta on this post and could not resist her call, so @xcziel, @foxofninetales, this one is for you.

THE LIU CHANG DMBJ CHARACTER META: WANG CAN vs LIU SANG

So first of all lemme just say I love these bitches, and what’s interesting about Liu Chang is that he plays them on opposite ends. There’s not much he can do about the fact that, y’know, he’s the same-ass person, but there are some very distinct differences between Liu Sang and Wang Can, which we will be talking about now.

Liu Sang photo cred: @foxofninetales

Wang Can photo cred: @xcziel

Jiang Wu photo cred: me screenshotting @xia-xueyi’s Moonfall Echo subs (ep. 13)

PART ONE: BODY LINES

I’ve talked about body lines before! But now we get to look at it from the same actor in two different characters! As a recap, straight lines are strong, sturdy, confident, and straightforward; curved lines are weaker, but more interesting and more dynamic.

For example!!

We got our bitch Wang Can here!! This is our first look at this slimy man, and look! He’s like a square!!! All straight lines, all ups and downs. Him body a square!! The costume people also do a great job of boxing him up bc of the tailoring of his jacket, and the two neutral color palette. There’s no embellishments, no decor. This is a straightforward man!! He’s not hiding anything except exactly how much of a bitch he is

(Also notice that his hands are showing and in fists. This will be important in a minute.)

Next, we have our favorite boy Liu Sang, showing up for the first time (ignore the differences in angles):

Oho! He’s a curvy motherfucker!! Aside from the fact that his clothes are now tailored correctly to demonstrate his natural curves, this mans is also curving himself! His arms! Are loose! And bent!! His head and neck aren’t nearly as emphasized! And! AND!!!! His hands are in his fucjing POCKEEETTTSSS. That indicates FURTIVENESS! That indicates MYSTERY! We’re going to find some things OUT about this boy and we’re gonna like it!!!

In comparison, look at Jiang Wu:

LIU CHANG U BEAUTIFUL BITCH. He fucking BENT HIS ARM. He kept one straight and BENT THE OTHER!!! Oh joyous occasion!! We have a DYNAMIC BOY!! but not too dynamic—peep that hidden hand! Also I love this bc it was TWO DIFFERENT LIU CHANG CHARACTERS IN THE SAME SHOW!!! :D see!! Here’s Liu Sang again!

THIS IS A CONFIDENT LIU SANG!!!! He is CHANGED! He is capable of expressing emotions now! Look at just how much body language he has going on, while in comparison, Jiang Wu and Wang Can are like creepy Wood Baby Puppets. His body shape is boxy again, but that’s bc he’s the protagonist of this one. The plot hinges on him, he’s gotta be sturdy.

WHAT WE HAVE DETERMINED SO FAR:

Wang Can is straight lines, no hidden agenda (which is funny cause he’s a Bad Guy)

Liu Sang is dynamic lines and movement, and alludes to mysterious ✨secrets✨

Jiang Wu is a mix of the two and also a dumb dork (that’s not from the body language, I just think he’s funny)

PART TWO: HAIR, BABY!

Once again I owe my life to costuming people. Someday I’ll write that Mystic Nine costuming meta but today we’re focusing on Liu Chang and, specifically, his HAIR PEOPLE!!! I love them and would die for them literally

Once again, ladies and gentlemen and all my glorious they/thems, Wang Can:

OOOOOH I hate his slimy RAT FACE lemme AT EM. Ahem. Regardless, let’s take a look at this BITCH, shall we? We have: straight line face angles!! Very standard shape, BUT this is all accented by the fact that his hair is S C R A P E D back to within an inch of its life, like. Ahem. Sir. Please. Also this man’s got CONTOUR on. If u look at literally any pics/videos of Liu Chang out of character he is NOT this angular. His head is just as rectangular as his body, and the pulled back hair emphasizes his face, which is interesting as he doesn’t do a whole lot with it.

Alternatively, Liu Sang:

This is a nice boy!!! This is a nice soft boy!!! Look his face has CURVES that are emphasized by the glasses (which also draw attention to his eyes, which is good bc that’s where he does the most work, which we’ll get to later) and the HAIR!!! His hair is soft!! It’s flowy! It’s curvy! He conditions!!! This boy is approachable and will Not shoot you One Million Times with a Machine Gun. This also works with the Liu Sang Signature Ponytail, as he leaves thick-enough bang pieces out to also give the illusion of curves around his face. Also his nose and cheekbones are NOT as strongly contoured, so the angularity of his face is softened as well

WHAT WE HAVE DETERMINED SO FAR

dmbj hair and makeup people were doing the absolute most

Wang Can’s hair gives us the most access to The Face, giving him a slick, straight look, and also something else which we will discuss next

Liu Sang is Soft and Curved bc of the hair and glasses, primarily

Oh speaking of fucking which you know who else is soft??? Huang Junjie. That’s the softest man I have ever seen. His xiaoge is my favorite bc it’s perfectly believable that he’s Butter Inside based solely on his Cheeks (again, it’s the hair people doing the Lord’s work)

PART THREE: IT’S ALL IN THE FACE

The face is the actor’s best friend, and Liu Chang definitely uses his well. We know him as being sort of stoic, more on the Xiao-Ge end of things than the Wu Xie side, but if u compare Liu Sang to Wang Can, LS is going HAM with the facials.

Let’s take a look!

Fuck me UP!!!!!! Look at him!! This is one of the earlier episodes too so we haven’t even gotten to the real good stuff but!!!! Look at his eyebrows!!! Look at how wide his eyes get (once again, the glasses are jumbotroning the peepers)! Look at his unhappy lil mouth!! That’s a whole REALM of facial expression, and so early on in our journey!

Meanwhile, Fuckboy Prime:

(Pardon the garbage screencap, my laptop broke on me this week and I am Suffering)

This is at the very end of Wang Can’s time with us; he’s fighting and he’s going to die and he KNOWS it, but this bitch doesn’t even draw his eyebrows together. Mcwhomst???? Bitch u GOTTA give us more than that I’m BEGGING u

The other interesting thing about their differing facial expressions is that Liu Sang emotes mostly with his eyes, and Wang Can emotes mostly with his mouth. This is very obvious in the clip @xcziel posted, esp when he starts doing the whole gesturing-with-his-chin thing, but it’s prominent throughout.

These two screenshots were taken like fifteen seconds apart. He does a whole face journey, but only with his mouth. His eyes stay fixed; they move, sure, but they don’t get any wider or anything like that.

Liu Sang, however is always doing stuff with his eyes. For example (I couldn’t find an image of it quick enough but I know that @kholran has this gifset), the sacrifice scene where he looks up at Wu Xie with the biggest, most pleading and questioning eyes imaginable?? Kills me. The DEPTH in those bad boys. Fuck me UP.

This also checks out when we remember the glasses. Since they emphasize the eyes, we’re drawn to that part of Liu Sang’s face, so it makes sense that the majority of his expression would happen there. This is also prominent with his hearing abilities; whenever he’s trying to focus them (or get us to focus on him), he not only turns his eyes away, he SHUTS THEM, which means we as the audience know that there’s something going on underneath the surface, and really highlights the fact that this is an unusual and cool power!

With Wang Can, however, the structure of his face and absence of Hair Curves directs the eye to his mouth, so we watch that to tell what’s going on in his head. It’s all about directing the eye, and Liu Chang is very good at knowing where people are going to be looking!

SO: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

Liu Sang, Wang Can, and Jiang Wu are all very distinctly characterized through their body language

The same actor becomes different characters by using their toolkit (the body) to its full potential

Hair and makeup people are Wizards

Wang Can is a Whole-Ass Ho and I do not miss him even a little bit

Liu Sang’s body dynamics change over time and I love that for him!!

I’m a giant nerd the end

[orrtala]

Dominator: A Sociopath’s Guide to Destruction

The villain. The bad guy (or bad girl). The destroyer of planets. A self-taught genius who built her suit, her ship, and her bot army all by herself. A… lonely, sad, pathetic person?

We got to know Dominator very gradually. At first it was some evil dude in an armor, observing Wander, Sylvia, and Hater in a stinger of S1 finale, "The Ryder". Who is that guy? New villain? Oh boy, oh boy, S2 is going to be awesome!

Then "The Greater Hater" happened. Our heroes and villains were busy goofing around on a little, uninhabited planet when a giant ship appeared. And BANG a giant drill comes down between them, destroying and stealing the planet from Hater at one time. Then main four decide to get on board enormous, scary lava ship – Wander and Sylvia meet up with bots and learn these guys are not as easily stopped as watchdogs. Peepers and Hater discover massive armory – ♫ This Guy's the Real Deal ♫ alright. Then everyone are chased by bots while Dominator… simply watches everything from the control room via countless cameras. Ok, so the guy is a control freak. Why does he keep our guys alive, though? For entertainment? Is he having fun with them? Hard to tell; he's covered by his armor that is… very Hater-like, huh. Hence the episode's title – Dominator is just better Hater than Hater. While clearly being a show-off. Doesn't pay attention to Wander until he starts singing and even then he gets rid of him without problem. Sylvia wants to punch him? Please, she's already doomed by the lava cuffs. Fighting Hater? What an amateur. …Guess he should have paid more attention to the nervous little eyeball man though; if not for that these dorks wouldn't get away but whatever. That was AMAZING after all, what fun that was… …to… her?… Dominator is a lady, everybody. She's full of energy, she's having fun, she's very, very clearly Wander's foil. That also wears sneakers.

Dom doesn't show up again until "The Battle Royale". She's just constantly mentioned, hovering on the villain leaderboard, taking up the first place. And that's all she does – she's a threat and nobody dares to face her, leaving other villains to fight with each other. Oh, and no one knows she's actually female. To be fair it's not her fault everyone just assumed things, right?

But the time comes for Wander's ingenious plan and Dominator is having FUN once again. First we get to see her having a dorky dance thanks to her leaderboard placement, then she can show-off to other villains what a powerhouse she is. The big fight ensues between her and Hater and it's a joy to watch. Not only she manages to destroy the whole skullship by herself and send Hater flying down deep into the ground, but also shows awarness of her surroundings, using Wander's shenanigans to beat her opponent. She's also not above using her feminine looks to get what she wants, as everyone learns after Hater develops crush on her.

At this point she's powerful, she's at top, and the only person who had any powers to actualy stop her… Well, he's not very keen on fighting her anymore. Things are looking grim for everyone, while she keeps having fun destroying everything on her path.

For the most part of the second arc she's just mentioned or shows up only for few moments. For Hater to be a goof again and fail at impressing her. To show the destruction she leaves behind. Or to send Sylvia home for a little bit.

In "The New Toy" she fights watchdogs troops without a problem, then uses Hater's crush to deal the final blow. Also shows that she did pay attention to him despite busy fighting everyone else.

"The Bot" shows what happens when you disappoint Dom. She just destroys you, no questions asked. And it really strikes the chord with audience. Sure we knew she's bad. Sure we knew she destroyed every planet on her path. But then the writers decided to introduce Beep Boop to us and then it got personal. And she just shrugs it off. Wwe all cried buckets and buckets of tears. Thanks, for that, Dominator.

Then there's "The Rival". Okay, Awesome's an idiot but we can all agree he didn't deserve developing PTSD thanks to her. In fact all the villains that were locked at her ship were so afraid of her they didn't show up at the end to fight her. What did she do to them exactly. Oh, and she also destroyed Jerry. I think.

Musical time! Even Dominator isn't immune to its powers and sings her own number. "I'm the Bad Guy" is about, well, Dom being a bad guy. She's evil and she's having fun. No, Hater, she doesn't want to date you, she has other plans. Like destroying the whole galaxy. …Clearly not seeing the problem with it despite the fact she already did destroy at least one galaxy before. Aaaaaand she gets ice powers. Because Peepers made a mistake, not because she prevented the frostonium catastrophe. …Yes, I'm still kind of salty about that.

AND NO, HER SONG IS NOT SEXIST.

And then "The Night Out" happens. "The Night Out" is the Dominator episode everyone has been waiting for. Finally, our evil dudette will…

…be busy moping in her ship in her bathrobe and slippers? Okay?

She tries to talk and joke with her bots but to no avail; but she finds a solution! She'll just go down to the nearest planet and have fun by causing mayhem. By chance she runs into Sylvia and things take unexpected for her turn: she's having genuine fun with the zbornak. Who's willing to call her a friend! Wow! Yay! It means Sylvia will now have to listen to her and obey every command! That's what friends do, right? And this is where the penny drops for the viewers. Dominator's lonely. But, in strange turn of events it's not loneliness that caused her to be evil – it's her being evil that caused loneliness. And the lack of information about basic interaction between people. She just can't wrap her head around the concept of friendship and it's so… sad. So, so utterly sad.

Dominator is a weeaboo, pass it on.

"The Flower" demonstrates how much she enjoys personally causing pain to others, crushing their souls, making them lose all hope. Again, she likes spending time with others, she just doesn't know how and others' pain makes her really happy for some reason. Maybe because it's a reaction she knows very well how to receive? I guess it could be one of the reasons.

And the finale. "The End of the Galaxy". Dominator realizes there's nosthing left and feels empty. Guess it was her favorite galaxy after all, huh. But no worries, Wander's here! After tormenting poor Spoon and chasing him round the ship she discovers the exsistence of a Secret Planet, where the final battle takes place. Dominator underestimated everybody. She underestimated Wander and his kindness and his good soul. She underestimated Hater and his abilites. She underestimated people left in the galaxy, they were more than wlling to fight back one last time, if only to spare others of the same fate. She underestimated a freaking flower that left seeds in its last moments and left the mark on the destroyed galaxy.

And then "I don't need anybody" breakdown comes, Wander more or less understand what's the problem here, and Dominator loses everything she worked so hard on: her ship, her army, her postion, her dignity. Stomping away like a moody teenager she swears to get her revenge. But she does open her eyes. A little. Just for a short while. But it’s there.

She's so set in her ways she won't even stop to consider what she's missing. She wants people to laugh at her jokes but won't make a real steps to reach that goal. She'd rather destroy the galaxy for funsies and, well, because she can, than form a honest relationship with someone. And Wander Over Yonder, as a whole, is all about realtionships. Wander and Sylvia's friendship is a heart of the show, Wander reaches to Hater constantly in hopes to redeem him, Peepers and Sylvia formed a bond, Peepers and Hater are in a weird villain friendship of sorts. Dom? Dom is alone because that's what she chose despite hating loneliness.

The future? She'll try to get her revenge. Maybe we'll learn more about her backstory? Though I doubt there would be anything that would truly qualify as 'I became evil because something bad happened to me'. Some interactions with Wander, Syl and Hater, probably. Perhaps something about her being on the road to redemption of sorts. What I would like to see? Please, please, some Peepers interactions. They're two most evil people on the show, come on!

On a closing note? What a great theme.

TL;DR: Dom is a great character and a villain who I'd like to see more on S3. She knows how to use others' weaknesses but also easily underestimates people. Despite having fun by causing pain in others she's also utterly sad person who needs to start understand others more if there's any redemption of any kind to be had.