#Between Us ep 3

[hael987]

The level of respect and understanding of boundaries and the true meaning of consent being shown in this show (so far) really makes me so happy.

We often see consent depictions in shows solely focusing mainly on sex but it applies to so many more aspects too, about your autonomy and what you decide is okay to happen to you in any setting, not just a sexual one. And we see this shown perfectly in episode 3 when Win accidentally walks in on Team showering. Just because previously Team has consented to his body being seen before doesn’t mean it applies always - this is a completely different and separate time. He wasn’t prepared or expecting to be seen and based on the reaction doesn’t want to be seen - he hasn’t consented to it. Win isn’t entitled to seeing Team’s body just because he has previously and I love that he gets that. Win perfectly understanding that, quickly and immediately apologising, leaving, and letting Team have his space, control, and privacy back. He respects Team both as a person and also his choices, needs and boundaries. This is the representation I love to see.

Just because there’s consent to one thing it doesn’t provide a blanket consent for everything. Past consent doesn’t mean future consent. Consent can change and be revoked at any time. It’s so refreshing to see it shown outside of a sexual moment too.

[liyazaki]

do you want me to help you?

BETWEEN US | EP. 3 [2022-2023]

[legacy-cookware]

Ty to this line for being the catalyst, I have made this:

Team Moodboard 🌸🌊✨

Angry Kitten

Angry Kitten 2

SwimTeam

Why Are Your Eyes Like Hearts?

a ‘Win just looked the other way’ exclusive

Win x Team bonus :

[aliceisathome]

I cannot even with Between Us. I had to watch it in small bites to spin it out - much like a particularly delicious dessert.

Win still feels quite stern but his playfulness is beginning to come through with Team. Also his worry about him. Boun is just incandescent - I have to pause and just look at that face sometimes.

Team's really interesting - he's a brat and sub with Win and quite Dom with others but my poor baby's got Trauma.

Talking of Team, I have no idea why the director decided to have a lingering shot of his lower legs and feet in the shower but at least he's stopped cutting to that bloody floating leaf we had every five minutes in UWMA.

Timing wise we must have just had the purple dumpling feeding episode so we're about to see poor Team being dunked if I remember rightly (and the red thread first kiss between Dean and Pharm happens), so we're running at approx 1 ep for every 1.5 of UMWA at the moment.

Alphabet are still meh - please go away - I don't care about any of you, not even Bee and the new guy* WinTeam and DeanPharm have my entire attention and heart.

Favourite bits - sassy, drunk Team, the snuggly sleeping and Team's whole bit after giving Win a peck on the lips at the end.

*I was completely distracted by this particular actor's massive earlobes. MASSIVE. I thought he was wearing some sort of earbud.

PS I note that Manow was the latest victim to be bitten by a particularly large mosquito. I find it hilarious that, evidently, during UWMA both Team and Manow were pestering and teasing Pharm over Dean while simultaneously having their own secret affairs. Cheeky sods.

[thebroccolination]

A THEORY

What if Team gets drunk to try and help himself sleep, so Win finds him and takes him back to his room. But when Win goes up to his own room, he’s still worried, so he goes back down and finds Team mid-nightmare.

SAME SHIRT SO. 👀👀👀👀

[youdontloveme-yet]

So the angst is gonna be next week, eh? Okay okay okay okay, sure sure sure sure. This is fiiiiiiine. He's gonna think he just used him. This is completely fiiiiiiiiine.

[gillianthecat]

My Thoughts as I Watched Episodes 2 and 3 of Between Us.

in which your intrepid reporter files her article two weeks late

I actually watched them and wrote this two weeks ago, but didn't post it because I had vague plans to write more about them. But I want to catch up on the next two episodes, so any additional thoughts will wait for after that. The summary is: I continue to love the show, and it continues to make sense to me without seeing Until We Meet Again

Episode 2

- Ok, I think my initial prediction will be laughably wrong. It looks like so far Win is absolutely not trying to hide how he feels. Team though is. It's all very cute, I'm really into their dynamic. And they have CHEMISTRY, my goodness. I loved Team's reaction after Win left his room—his big sigh, his trying to hide his big smile even from himself.

- I just find Win so utterly charming. It makes the whole thing work; he might come across as a bit of a creep otherwise. I love his little smirk to Tul as he gets in the elevator.

- OH MY GOODNESS! Is there going to be a romance between Tul and Win's older brother?! - A gamer, internet stranger romance? I am so here for this. (Also Tul's actor has gotten even hotter as he's gotten older.)

- Ah, besides age gap we have a sprinkling of Forbidden Romance. Win is not supposed to be dating his juniors in the club. I dig it.

- Speaking of age gap (and perhaps this is because I've been watching Cutie Pie) hearing Team call Win Hia is very seductive. Especially that he's contouring to do it after Win asked for it in the heat of the moment. Whew. I cannot blame Win for being captivated by this boy.

- It does feel like this is going to be a very simple story—just two people fumbling their way toward falling in love—without a lot of plot happening around them. Interesting with all the reincarnation drama happening in the background. Since I like the characters and their actors, I like this simplicity.

- Also, now I can see why everyone was so frustrated that Even Sun was bad. These two are so good together.

- I love how much they talk during while making out. I love how conversation about consent and who they are to each other are made such a natural part of it, and also really hot. That "kiss me" !!! I also love how much they're into slamming each other into walls. These two can seriously convey desire and lust. It really feels like they want to fuck.

- I like how Team is worried about what he means to Win, and still figuring out what it means to desire someone, but he doesn't hold back sexually.

- I'm nervous that they will be discovered at some point; that no one will see us felt very foreshadow-y. And I really liked the questions that Team was asking - is either of us using each other, what happens if we break up - both because they're good questions and because it feels like something he would do. But it also felt a bit foreshadowing.

Episode 3

- Ooh, another side romance? That brings the total up to five romance pairs in this show (so far!). That is a lot to balance, I hope the script can manage it. And it's Fee from My Only 12%! (I had to look him up, he looked familiar but I couldn't figure out from where.)

- I saw the Wabi Sabi logo, and I realized there were several overlapping actors, but somehow it wasn't until now that I connected this was made by the same production company as My Only 12%. It makes sense, although the overall feeling of the show is different, a lot of the things I like productions wise are the same. They both feel like money was spent on making a professional product. And they both are good at making friend groups feel natural, which is not always the case. (And also why Sea looked familiar - he was Cake's university friend Auk in My Only 12%.

- Oooh that drunk/flashback scene. I will come back to that later.

- One thing I love is that I feel like I can trust Win not to try anything while Team is drunk because he was so careful to make sure that Team was sober enough to consent the first time. There are many drunken hook ups in BLs that I've loved (Love Mechanics, Big Dragon, in its own toxic way), but that thread of toxicity doesn't fit their dynamic, and it's such a relief to trust that the show won't go there.

- Team's actor plays drunkenness well. I love the way Win responds to it, switching between feeling he needs to be the stern mentor figure, annoyance, fond indulgence, and feeling desire, despite his best intentions.

- I feel vindicated in my initial snap judgements of their characters. (Well, and also this show did a good job introducing them.) Team literally calls Win "the cool one" and Team is becoming more and more chaotic now that the he's no longer on his beginning-of-the-school-year best behavior. (Also several people have affirmed to me that he is indeed a chaos monkey.)

- This flashback! I guess these two won't be all sex and awkward flirting after all, they will have their own angst and pain. It was hinted at in their breakfast date when Team was so shaken by the ordinary question of, "do you have siblings," but honestly I got distracted and forgot. I suspect this was something that was not known in UWMA, it's the kind of secret that wouldn't be shared about the side couple.

- Darling Win's response. I think I will write a separate list about what I like about this pair, because there are a lot of things.

- I love how Manow and Team are teasing Pharm about Dean. Seeing these hints does make me want to watch that series more now.

- Tul and Waan! I already love them. I assume they're brand new for Between Us; there's no reason that they would have been in Dean and Pharm's awareness. Tul has such a crush! The way he's smiling at his phone!

- I guess with the way UWMA opened I shouldn't be surprised by this traumatic memory of his brother drowning. But it's still hard to watch.

- Ok, but how are the dorms at the university so enormous! And singles! This can't be what any actual university dorms are like in Thailand, right? I lived in doubles half that size freshman year.

- I have a lot of thoughts comparing this, Love in the Air and Big Dragon all to each other. I'll save most of it for another post, but I'm intrigued by the different depictions of a dominant older character winning over a bratty younger character. I don't know if Win and Team are intended to be explicitly dom and sub, but the age gap, the power difference, Win's caretaking tendencies and Team's... whole thing (traumatized, anxious, pouty) have created that dynamic between them anyways. And I really like it here!

[cherrylite17]

Between us ep3

ep 3, head empty, no thoughts :)

So first off, Team skipping class because he was scared to be confronted by Win is literally the most relatable thing ever. Especially when Team later said “He’s not my father, nor my mother, why should I be afraid of him”. Like Team dearest, the audience can see right through that. 

Also, I really liked that this episode seemed to (at least in the beginning half) slow down the story. We we’re given the chance to actually explore characters and their stories rather than a bunch of information being thrown at you left and right. I enjoyed that because I would much rather have a bunch of slower episodes spread through the show over a bunch of slow episodes at the end.

Even though the novel progressed quite fast, I wasn’t looking forward to watching them pad out the show to twelve episodes, so I think I am not alone in saying that I would rather have a bunch of slower episodes evenly spread. 

Also, ABC gang being scared of Win and dropping Team TWICE might have actually been the funniest thing to come out of this show thus far. I actually liked how it played out lol. Also, there was only like ONE sound effect!!! This is proof that BLs can do funny things without sound effects!! (And then they turned around and played like a million sound effects through the rest of the episode *sigh*) 

ALSO!! THAT ENDING WAS SO FUCKING ADORABLE OMG UJHDAS DASHDG AJHD  :)

Anyways, no deep thoughts this time around lol (But aside, now that I have seen people mention Wins roots I cant help but notice it in every scene lol. Also, whoever decided that Win needs to have his hair tied back is criminal, Boun looks SO DAMN FINE with his hair down)

[neo-neos]

Petition to not hide that Prince dudes skin texture with an insane amount of make up. It’s normal to have textured skin and it just looked so off ;-;

[blamingbl]

Live posting while watching between us ep 3:

I think i might love a, bee and sea as much as those three names together crack me up. The teasing of team, the support, the worry for him... the alphabet trio is there for our worrywart of a boy!

[halliescomut]

I just wanna know who approved the solid 20 seconds of bare feet close-up in this episode?

[hael987]

I was really impressed by Boun’s acting this episode, he made me feel so much emotion and what Win was feeling.

The range of emotions being expressed in his facial expression, body language but most importantly his eyes.

The hurt, confusion, frustration but I also see fear. That Team is going to continue to pull away from him and he’s once again going to lose something that he wants to keep, something different from usual - something finally important.

The confrontation and confusion. That brief burst of anger in his eyes. The loneliness.

The initial frustration intermingled with deep sadness. The resigned indulgence. The determination.

The helplessness over not being confided in, of not being trusted with Team’s problems and vulnerabilities, encountering that wall. The subtle anger (at self? almost bitterness at the situation?) that Team is suffering but he’s behind the wall not yet able to reach out, not yet the one Team trusts to rely on.

The worry, pain, and torment that he knows Team is still suffering - and worse, still downplaying it - but not truly knowing how to help but so desperately wanting to.

Of course there’s the cute and the happy moments/feelings too but these ones really stuck out for me. I feel attacked by emotion.

[liyazaki]

who would I have to be?

BETWEEN US | EP. 3 [2022-2023]

[teethburied]

You are talentless. And useless.

YASMIN & HARPER Industry 3.06 'Nikki Beach'

this gifset was made for @thehananigirl to support a palestinian family. please commission me for a gifset to help a child get medical care!

[deoidesign]

Sketching

[trashcora]

I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong because there was one person worth saving. That’s what I did. I saved him. Then I protected him. That’s why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do. And God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way. — 1.03 Long, Long Time

@tlounetwork | THE LAST OF US WEEK 2023 ↳ Day 6: Favourite Episode