#Ming is my kind of crazy

[respectthepetty]

Backshots & Smiles

Yes, I'm being crass and this is a sexual innuendo, but go with it . . .

Ming loves Joe's back because it allows him to think he is with Tong.

We know this.

Because the series has shown this several times.

And Joe knows it too now.

But the third episode showed us that Ming actually fell in love with Tong because of Joe's back.

Therefore, Ming really fell in love with Joe first.

But he didn't realize it (until it was too late).

Even when Ming initially met Tong, Ming saw Tong's back first with his side profile.

And Tong's back at the restaurant reminded Ming of Joe.

And the meal Joe made for him their first night together - face first

The show has constantly told us that Ming is attracted to Joe's back because of its connection to Tong.

But the show has also told us Ming is truly in love with Joe because he IS Joe, not Tong's stand in which is why Ming, who only has sex with Joe from behind, was finally willing to let Joe top from behind.

And it's why the posters have shifted as well, so we now see Joe's face and Ming's back.

Unlike Ming and Joe who switch faces/places (there is a deeper meaning there about outward perceptions versus personal identity but that's not for here), Tong is the "face" . . . but that is all he is and all he will only be.

But I think the show is even stating Ming and Joe are one versatile unit as in they are connected and evolving and Tong is the static outlier.

Unlike Ming in the elevator, Sol had no recognition of Joe but then again Ming has been in love with Joe forever, even if it was initially through his back.

And Joe has never seen Ming as just a face as so many other do.

Which is why it's important that Ming rarely smiles.

Because Ming does smile.

A lot.

When he is with Joe.

So the staff members noting that Ming only smiles when he works with Tong is telling.

Because I don't think Ming is smiling because it's Tong.

He is smiling because Tong reminds him of Joe.

Ming, the man who is still living in Joe's house, making two meals with the bowls Joe bought, mending the broken mugs with their names on them, using the personalized pillowcases, and wearing the watch Joe bought him, is using Tong has a stand-in for Joe.

Joe is no longer the stand-in. He is the main character, which is why Ming told *new* Joe's BACK that people only liked him because of his resemblance to *old* Joe.

Ming no longer wants just a stand-in, but the whole person, so when he gets Joe back, he will always look him in his face.

And smile.

[chersoyei]

Seriously, I don't even know your name. It's Ming. And...when I wake up, will I see you? Normally I'm not that mean to my sleeping partner. But we're not sleeping partners. That's true.

[hydropophis]

the amount of things my brain has inserted hualian into at this point is astounding. tloz. pmmm. ffx. the epic of gilgamesh. More

[xueyuverse]

Things I love about HuaLian,

a short analysis and nothing deep, just me sighing with love for them 💞

I like how it was only after Hua Cheng's arrival that Xie Lian realized that being used to loneliness is different from being okay, that he really missed having someone by his side, hearing him talk, that he missed talking late into the night and the little things that make being happy so simple.

And I like how Hua Cheng is always protecting and caring, taking the lead only when necessary, but always leaving Xie Lian in the lead.

He doesn't try to control Xie Lian, he just stands by his side, adding his strength to his rather than replacing it, and only trying to persuade Xie Lian not to do something when it involves danger to him.

I like how they don't make one or the other stand out or diminish, they are not substitutes for each other, but a complement.

I like that even their disagreements aren't enough to cause major stresses between them cuz they trust each other enough, whether it's because there's always an unspoken reason or cuz they like each other too much for whatever reason there is or lack thereof not matter.

And I like how this calm makes total sense with their personality, even when they both have scenes of jealousy, it's not something that intense, after all, any stress they have is not between them, it just arises outside the relationship because of third parties or when a of them is in danger. Which leads me to say that I absolutely love it when they go crazy when the other is in danger.

Hua Cheng is described as someone rational, who is always on his own mind, so when he invades the Heavens after Xie Lian who had been arrested shortly after being injured by E-Ming, the gods fall into despair because this simply It's not like Hua Cheng, no one was prepared for it.

Another thing I love is the progression of Xie Lian's feelings.

When he meets Hua Cheng in the ghost bride arch, he already feels impacted by Hua Cheng's strength, kindness and clear beauty even though he hasn't seen his face, and later when they meet in the carriage, even though he is wearing a different skin, Xie Lian still sees "Hua Cheng" in "San Lang", barely able to look at him because he is so handsome. There comes a time when Xie Lian is clearly in love, wanting to marry Hua Cheng and feeling unhappy when Hua Cheng talks about his "wife", but no one knows when Xie Lian fell in love, nor should he know.

Hua Cheng probably doesn't even know when he fell in love too, he only realized when he found himself sighing for the prince on the swing and saying things like "he's my future wife".

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Stand-in Stands Up (all puns intended)

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

June 2024 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Stand-In (Fri iQIYI) ep 7 of 12 eps - I do enjoy that the other Joe’s past is now coming back to haunt the present. For our Joe, the hits just keep on coming. Meanwhile, I know my heartstrings are being intentionally tugged, but I did feel sorry for Ming in this episode (at the last). And I think Up is doing a great job with this frankly difficult role if he can make me feel anything approaching sympathy for Ming. Ming's breakdown was excellent. Very dramatic.

Wandee Goodday (Sat YT) ep 6 of 12 - These two are entirely boyfriends who just don’t happen to be dating. It’s Schrödinger’s relationship. It's crazy that these two are already sleeping together and I still can’t wait for them to kiss. Very nicely done. Good tension point. This was a really cute episode but nothing much happened.

In other news, the sound effects REALLY bother me in this show. It might have been in the running as a 10/10, except for those fucking sound effects.

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 10 of 16 - I like how the majority of this show is just basically struggling with first love. It’s strangely sweet and innocent as a result. Frankly, right now, I need that - it’s comforting. It’s not exciting, but I can’t deny that thi is the highlight of the middle of my week.

Peem to Phum = use your words. Phum = SMOOCH. 

Bet you all heard this one coming: NO SINGING. 

Note: Satang (Toey) is a fantastic actor. I love the way he changes the physicality of his body for his roles. In this part, he’s kind of loose-limbed and floppy. He doesn't look younger but the way he inhabits his body does.

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 1 of 12 - GeminiForth (AKA G4) are back and glory-be they showed up on YouTube. Still I’m worried it won’t stay there after the Cherry Magic debacle. So I stayed up late that night to gank it. 

Back to the show.

One of the things I’ve always loved about this IP, is how genuine and decent and earnest all of the kids are. They’re all trying so hard not to hurt each other's feelings. It’s all just a terrible case of miscommunication. G4 are perfect casting for these roles. That said, I have the same challenges with this version as I did with the JBL - it’s a bit frenetic and can be clownishly too MUCH for me. 

Meanwhile, the he feeds strays trope has popped up again. 

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - Trash watch here. MAME warning! I found it rather lacklustre and inoffensive but still managed to invent dildo smores.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) eps 3 of 12 - Honestly? I’m kind of enjoying watching the friendships develop between the housemates. Of course I know they’re probably gonna all end up sleeping together, but right now the communal easy-going companionship and teasing is the most fun. Other than that, this is an unremarkable Thai BL pulp with better than normal acting and consistency (for a pulp).

Only Boo! (Sun YT) ep 9 of 12 - Moo is the clinginess boyfriend in the entire universe. The thing I think I love best about this couple, and the show, is what great communicators they are. That said they are not great actors. I don’t mean to be rude, and I don’t expect great acting from my Thai BL, but it’s a little rough going sometimes with this pair.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 8 of 10 - It’s taken me a long time, but I finally realized what I dislike about this show. It’s the pacing. Or rather, the lack of it. And I’m not saying that the pacing is necessarily off, in fact this is a typical JBL thing. But for some reason, in this show, I find it particularly annoying.

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 5-6fin - Honestly, this was a perfectly fine little friends to lovers BL, with better than average kissing from Korea. But for some reason it never really hit for me. The very end was extremely odd. A bit of a disappointment for a longer piece from Strongberry. I think they tried to be too classically BL and that is just not their strength-berry. Strongberry is better when they explore something a little edgy, or a little outside the box. 7/10

It's airing but...

The Last Time (Fri YT?) - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something. Can't find it.

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ???) 10 eps - also I can't find it. Comments from last week suggest this is not my thing anyway, but Lee Long Shi very much IS my thing, so... maybe I'll put it on hold for a bit and y'all can let me know.

In case you missed it

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS. How?

You Made My Day (Thai YT) - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard. Apparently it's cute but basically a 10 min advert.

KWill To Reunite With Seo In Guk, Ahn Jae Hyun in Comeback! For those who don't know the MV for his song Please Don't is a heavy hitting shock tactic BL adjacent piece featuring major Korean actors. (The closest we are likely to ever get.) Look it was a BIG DEAL at the time. Kinda like Kpop's Broke Back Mountain moment. More here:

I don't often report on the Kpop scene but this is very interesting.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

June Releases

6/14 Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2 AKA Aki wa Haru to Gohan wo Tabetai 2 Haime! (Japan movie Gaga?) - Continues the (frankly) lackadaisical story from part 1.

6/15 Sunset Vibes AKA SunsetXVibes (Thailand Sat iQIYI) 12 eps - Star Hunter + MosBank on iQIYI for 12 weeks? If nothing else it's gonna be a wild and sexy ride. A one night stand but "uh-oh he’s my boss," adapted from a web series. I’m game. Maybe it’ll have a better story than Big Dragon? Maybe it will have a plot? We can but hope.

6/26 The Rebound (Thai Weds VIU?) - MeenPing are back in their 3rd BL together, a basketball based romance (Meen was a national basketball player, so yay for that). I like this pair better than most (I still do miss Meen with Est but Est has a fantastic looking new BL coming from GMMTV so yeah...) Anyway I'm up for a sports romance starring a man who, yah know, actually played that sport so... I'm game (pun intended).

(Speaking of, why can't Est be a merman? This... I ask you?.)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Flipping stellar side couple Wandee, thank you.

Love the mains too of course.

This is that funny little unnamed (muli-named) BL/GL something from Korea that's happening on YouTube right now. It's cute! I guess it's falling under the moniker Fake Buddies.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity

@rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[waitmyturtles]

Last Twilight, episode 12: final reflections

Wow. It took me all of this past weekend to process this finale, notwithstanding the usual life craziness that has dogged me lately.

Let me preface this whole thing by saying that I'm confused by what I watched. I'd say that, overall -- I actually quite liked this series, and I especially, absolutely ADORED JimmySea, Namtan, and Mark, and their acting. JimmySea kicked major ass, and I really hope they get another big and complicated show to chew on.

I also want to say that between episodes 11 and 12, I felt that I saw uncharacteristic editing clunkiness from Aof Noppharnach and his team that left a lot of necessary emotional and ethical processing on the cutting room floor. I think that's what's ultimately making me feel uneasy about the process of watching this, but -- funnily enough, I'm not nearly as "angry" about the ending as I was with other bad shows that fell apart in their last quarter recently. It was obvious that MhokDay were going to get together.

But I needed to walk a few more steps with them on their journey to that end.

Before I got my eyes on the finale, a few reactions on social media, from Tumblr to Twitter gave me the case of the jibbles. Namely: that the story of Last Twilight would have worked better if Day had stayed blind through the end.

I wasn't really understanding how that construction could work without walking through some sort of ethical minefield.

Now that I've seen the finale -- especially that infamous 4/4 segment -- I understand better what those arguments were saying.

Yet, I'm still dogged by a kind of ethical confusion here. And maybe that was one of the points of this finale, another one of Aof Noppharnach's perhaps now-famous-or-infamous emotionally inconclusive endings.

To me, there are two ethical potholes that this show stumbled on:

1) The ethics WITHIN the fictional piece itself for a character to not depict the process of considering the various fates he might face vis à vis a potentially reversible impairment, and

2) The ethics of a REAL audience ultimately wanting a different outcome for a fictional character to NOT have an impairment reversed.

TL;DR — I don’t think Last Twilight spent enough time having Day consider the permanence or impermanence of the various fates he faced, including permanent blindness. I don’t think the characters, and as such, the audience, spent enough time understanding that a corneal transplant was always going to be Day’s endgame.

Last Twilight was marketed as a show focused on disability, on a man going blind in a society that prioritizes the able-bodied, and how he would adjust to his disability, and of course (this being GMMTV), his falling in love. As fans, we were prepared to receive a whole show about a character with a disability, not as a side pairing, à la Heart and Li Ming in Moonlight Chicken.

It so happened that Day's visual impairment was corneal deterioration -- a condition that could lead to permanent blindness, and thus qualify him for a corneal transplant.

What I'm struggling with is the crux of the ethical dilemma that this show was ALWAYS going to have to deal with: that a corneal impairment of the kind that Day experienced, in the prime of his life, could very well be reversed with surgery, a surgery that has tremendous success rates.

As such -- as we got that clarification in drips throughout the series -- this show was actually not ONLY going to be about the newfound adjustment of a recently-impaired man to an ableist society. It was ALWAYS going to have this door of ANOTHER major change, the reversal of the impairment, just slightly cracked open. I'm not sure that I, as a viewer, was fully prepared for this, even as Night and Mae Mhon spoke about "eye donations" as givens in the middle of the series. I believe the show needed to be much louder, earlier, about the "hope" that Day could "go back" to "living a normal life," instead of framing the high majority of the show around his adjustments to his impairment.

As we went through Day's adjustment to life outside of his room, I believe we needed to hear, FROM DAY HIMSELF, that a corneal transplant was a conclusion that HE believed in, that HE wanted. A failure of this series was that we unfortunately only heard that from his family members, leaving us to only ASSUME that the conclusion of the reversal of his impairment was ALSO Day's intention.

For a story that was very much about an individual's developing agency and self-advocacy: I believe I needed to hear from Day himself that he was good and ready for the final surgery. I only assume that was the case, as I saw his own body and mind in the hospital. But I believe, for dramatic success, that I could have used a basic, "I'm ready," from him, to make segment 4/4 more complete and contextual, against the story of adjustment and resilience we had so far seen before then.

And what a story of adjustment and resilience we had gotten, as Day had established a full career for himself, without Mhok next to him, during one of the time jumps of episode 12.

For my sake, as I process what I watched this weekend, I want to come to grips with what I thought were the major themes of this show, and see if I can come to some sort of sensible conclusion about what happened here.

This show was focused on:

1) the romance between Day and Mhok, 2) Mhok's caretaking and companionship being the lever to help Day out of his room and back into the world from which he had retreated after the onset of his visual impairment, 3) Day slowly learning how to function again in a society that prioritizes the able-bodied vis à vis his visual impairment, 4) Day learning how to self-advocate for himself in the face of those who condescend to him and/or keep him trapped in compassion bias postures,

and more that I'm sure I'm missing, but those are the themes that resonated the most with me.

I think the general feeling on Tumblr is that, save for the romance, that themes 3 and 4 were contradicted out of existence in the face of the sudden flip to the surgery of segment 4/4.

I think not hearing from Day himself that he was ready and willing for the surgery was a lost moment. I don't believe Day was ever acting as if he would choose anything else OTHER than surgery throughout the series. BUT, AT THE SAME TIME: what we had watched prior to 4/4 was his story of adjustment.

My biggest ethical concern here, vis à vis the audience reactions that I've read, is that NO ONE -- in fiction or in real life -- owes me a story of heroism. If there is an individual who has been impaired since birth, or is dealing with a degenerative condition later in their life, and has the opportunity to address or reverse the condition, who am I to say that that individual SHOULD NOT address their condition?

For me, this is huge. I believe this is a huge ethical dilemma that Last Twilight ultimately does not face. I wish this series had been much more centered, earlier on, about the utter REALITY that Day could have his condition reversed by surgery, in words he'd say himself, rather than assumptions made for him, on behalf of his family, who.... I presume were established to be some sort of legal conservators for him, as Mhon continued to be the one to receive eye donation text messages.

(I concede that I don't know if this is a more common set-up for disabled individuals in Thailand, as I would assume in the States, that Day himself would have been the one to receive that message directly.)

For this show to have seemed emotionally and artistically complete: I needed to hear from Day himself that surgery was an endgame that he was banking his hopes on. I also needed to understand, much more statistically clearly vis à vis the show, of the absolute risks that Day faced towards having permanent blindness for the rest of his life. Because the show ALSO needed to focus on the establishment of the romance between Mhok and Day, we missed out on the show taking time to explain to us, the viewers, of the absolute risks that Day faced in any of these scenarios -- and thus, we would have had MUCH more context into the nuances of the resilience that Day needed to establish for himself as he re-adjusted to society, with his numerous fates lying before him.

I'm going to borrow the words of @hallowpen in their final review here, to say that this show at the end needed much more "breathing room." I think @hallowpen is so right in saying it like this, because these two factors that I just laid out, geez -- the first 7/8ths of the series being about Day's social adjustment against the utter suddenness of the successful surgery and his sudden jump back to what's been translated as his "normal life" -- just clash so tonally. (I do wonder if we're getting as nuanced a translation on "normal" as we could be.)

I think this is about the most confused final review of a show that I've written. There is an ethical heaviness to all of this that's weighing on me, that I think I still need time to comb through.

I also feel that I simply do not know enough, by way of my lack of cultural competency into how Thai society approaches issues of public and private health, if Day’s unseen choice to get the surgery would have been a given among majority Thai audiences, AND that majority Thai audiences would not have asked for the kind of internal debates that I think the show could have used.

I feel thrilled that Day can see Poomjai/Mee, after making that wish in episode 11.

But I think, if this show was about a journey for someone to learn how to successfully advocate for his own agency -- that, at the very end, I needed to see that agency exercised, by him, to get to the part of the reversal of the impairment that I assumed he wanted.

Again: Day doesn't owe me his story of heroism. If fiction doesn't want to give me that, from a character with a recent impairment, I don't have the right to ask for it.

But the missing bits of artistry to get me, the viewer, to only an assumption, has led me to surprising ethical places, that will leave me wondering about what happened in this series for a long time.

[lutawolf]

“My Stand In” Episode 7 opinion and commentary.

esinegerp asked:

Lovely Luta, I just got caught up on My Stand In … I do love some tortured tears from a toxic boy who is now learning a painful lesson.  Please bless me with some commentary on the latest episode.

So here I am!

I would like to start by emphasizing that Ming is not a good person. Now, that doesn't imply a lack of affection towards him. I am merely highlighting the obvious to ensure that everyone is aware that I am not blind to his shortcomings. He exhibits sporadic instances of kindness; however, please note that this does not make him a considerate individual. He is not a nice person, but a person who can be kind.

This makes him an almost villainous love interest, which I appreciate. I genuinely appreciate that he is not our typical main lead. He is a selfish asshole, who does what he wants without regard to feelings. Unless he cares about you, which is rare. There are few who can get past his trust issues for him to care. Which is why he is in the conundrum that he is in. He doesn't trust people and likes even fewer. Ming’s instincts are telling him to trust Joe, but his typical distrust is getting in the way. 

Let's start this episode off by discussing the agreement between Joe and Ming. Ming is required to buy Joe's mother a house and pay her medical expenses. Does that include a housekeeper/caretaker? Cause that is who Joe and his mother are greeted by when they arrive at the new home. Is that stipulated in the agreement? I have my doubts, yet here she is. Allow me to explain. It could be inferred that Joe is responsible for obtaining her. However, it is worth noting that he is not the same Joe who possessed some wealth. And he likely expended the majority of the funds he had earned on the initial hospital payment that he had to make prior to Ming's arrival.

Now to the next scene. That kindness and assholishness is being shown right off the bat because Ming immediately.  The question, “Have you eaten?” is the kindness. But then, knowing his character, you can imagine that he is asking why he cares while he is nodding in reply to Joe. Which is why he so rudely throws the towel and tells him to take a shower.

I want you to look at the body language and expressions here. One conveys dissatisfaction, whereas the other expresses regret. When I say that Ming is so confused, this right here shows it. He feels immediate regret for hurting Joe, but he doesn't know why. This further agitates him. That's the thing to not forget, he can feel Joe in there, but his brain is telling him it's not true. Wouldn't you second guess yourself on that, too? Plus, he's being told that Joe is alive. So here he is in a pull and push game. Pulling him near because he can feel Joe in there but pushing him away because Joe is alive and this can't possibly be his Joe. Ming is going batshit crazy inside himself, and to be fair, he wasn't exactly sane to begin with.

That robe keeps taking me out of the scene. That is the tackiest wardrobe pick.

Oh, this scene kills me, but I think it expresses what I've been trying to say. Both of them are going through hell, but we tend to sympathize with Joe because he's not an asshole, and we know what happened. We also get to see his perspective, whereas we are left piecing it together with Ming.

Ming is an asshole, but the boy has been alone for two years, wallowing in guilt. He is clearly lonely and touched starved. Before, he was affectionate to the people he cared about, but now we've observed that he's really kept the people at arms length now. Not nearly as handsy with Tong as previous. He might not know to hate or blame Tong yet, but he knows that he was a source of discomfort for his Joe. He's living out the ideology that his Joe will come back, so he is trying to set everything in place for that. Furthermore, he is now in showbiz when he never wanted to be before. He is doing that so wherever Joe is, he'll eventually see him and recognize him. He does the watch commercial featuring the watch his Joe got him, just in case Joe might see it from wherever he is and know that Ming is waiting.

Everything Ming has shown thus far is that he truly believes that Joe is alive and will eventually come back to him. So why is he pulling this Joe close when it goes against what he believes? He doesn't have the answer to that either.

Ming is clearly disappointed to be waking to an empty bed.

Let us revisit the agreement once more as we watch Ming watch Joe make breakfast. Currently, Joe is intended to serve as a substitute boyfriend for a duration of one year. There is no mention of making breakfast in the agreement I heard. Yet here is Joe, making Ming breakfast. Until told otherwise, I'm working under the assumption that Joe felt the need to make Ming breakfast. If so, that speaks volumes, now, doesn't it?

Ming tells Joe to hurry back, that he'll wait for him. There is almost a softening to him here. All the flashbacks getting to him, or does he feel Joe more at this moment?

Sol makes Joe a main character. Does Sol finally feel Joe, or is he just finally moving on and he has a type? I would like to remind everyone that Ming immediately felt Joe, while Sol didn't. So right now I'm working under the assumption that Sol is moving on, and he has a type. Which isn't a bad thing, in the real world we would want someone to move on and find happiness.

Oh, no! Sol recognized his back!

Joe is trying to put that distance up. Is it for himself? Or is it for Ming? Both maybe? He can't possibly miss that he is basically reliving his past at this point.

Shit, suspicious Sol. Joe, you are a terrible liar, and you are also suspicious. “Even in death, misfortune still finds him.”

Sol is now asking himself, how you knew Joe had misfortune in life.

Allow me to point out that Joe is polite to Ming, but not to Sol. When he answered his phone, he didn't say, “Please excuse me.” As he does with Ming.

Sol taking the phone from Joe… That was strictly to antagonize Ming, who he holds responsible for Joe's death. He is seeing the past repeat itself as well. Sol is taking this all in.

The way Joe so quickly takes the phone away to make the conversation private. Barely puts up an argument. Now we could say this is due to Ming paying for his mother and that would be true. However, Joe could at least be a little bit of an asshole, but not once is he. He put a little argument in there, but quickly caved and stayed respectful the whole time. He is trying to put distance by using Mr. Ming, but it isn't working well.

Ahh, look at Joe puzzling it out. “A new life… but why do I feel like everything... Is going back the way it was?”

I love Wut and their friendship.

Hahahahahahahah! Serves the dick right for not being recognized. I can only imagine this is the friend that mom doesn't like. I love Joe's witty remarks back. It appears that both men, named Joe, don't have great taste in men, but at least Ming loves Joe. If he had known it was him laying in the hospital, he would have been there every day. Tharn doesn't give one shit about Joe.

Mom and Joe's relationship is everything. He is really soaking up the motherly love he'd missed out on. Aww… She's so cute. She's just happy to have her son back, but she still feels the need to protect him. I get that on cellular level. Until you are a parent yourself to an older child, you don't realize how hard parenting is. This is when you start desperately looking around for an instruction book, and then you realize there isn't one. Even me with my counseling knowledge am clueless and have messed up, but I try. I tell my kids, I'm giving this parenting thing my all, but ultimately, they'll still have to see a therapist for something I did.

I love, love, the empathy of Joe. He feels so bad for the Joe2 that there are tears in his eyes. He feels for his new mom and the pain of what Joe2 went through.

“Right now, the only person I love is sitting right here with me.” I'm not crying, you're crying. He really is such a lovely human being.

Ming questing Joe about the accident and if he dreamed of anyone. He knows the two men are connected, but he isn't sure how.

Joe packing for Ming. Is that part of the agreement? Is Joe just Ming's to be ordered any way he wants. Let's say that's true, Joe could still push back, but he doesn't. Just because of the situation with his mother doesn't mean he couldn't at least give attitude, but he quickly agrees.

What do you mean, Luta…? Just look at this scene. He sees the watch and he is taken back. Ming comes in and tells him to go away, but Joe puts up a fuss. He might have still left, but he initially gave attitude at being told to leave and not finish packing. Are you guys picking up on that?

Now look. Joe expresses his feelings and opinion on sleeping with the crew and Ming, while not happy about it, doesn't argue. Are you guys catching what I'm saying? Ming is most definitely the Dominant one in this relationship; however, Joe isn't an unwilling submissive. He isn't just going along with things because he has to.

Haha! Face it, Tong, you just aren't as important as you once were. Sorry, not sorry, Joe is more significant. Tong's shock at Ming just getting up and leaving him is lovely. Oh, how I hate Tong.

Everybody is hating Ming, and I'm over here hating Tong. We are not the same.

Jealous, jealous, boy. Look at Ming being his usual jelly self. He wants to know who that boy was.

See! See Joe standing up for himself and what he wants. Their agreement doesn't mean that Ming owns Joe, and Joe doesn't have say. Which means Joe is doing things for Ming of his own free will.

Dude, how has Joe not gotten caught yet!

Lonely, Ming doesn't know how to say he is lonely.

I adore how rude Joe is being to Tharn. Have I mentioned that I hate Tharn?

Um... How does such a short ass boy overpower such a muscular man. I mean it can happen but not in this way. This scene really wasn't executed well.

Okay, so now they're fighting, but it's like Joe really gets Ming. He knows Ming's jealousy now, so he is trying to come in with calmness and sense. Unlike previously, but Ming triggers him. Because Tong is Joe's trigger. He triggers Ming with his words, and it does trigger Ming. Because he knows this is something his Joe would have felt. Ming does what he has always done when triggered with unfamiliar emotions he can't understand, which is to angrily lash out and say the most hateful things. “I bought you so you could wag your tail for me. Not bite me like this.” But in that hate is a confession. Ming is saying that those words hurt him. He is being more communicative than he typically is with anyone, even previous Joe.

Joe is pissed off for not being heard and then being dismissed as a sex toy. He is spewing anger. He is pissed off, but he never once fights Ming. Now in real life this wouldn't fly, and active participation is required to have consent. However, we aren't talking about real life but art and with that, we have to read between the lines.

At one point, Joe clutches Ming's arm. Clutching, not pushing him away. Remember, we've seen what Joe looks like when he doesn't want to have sex. Just previously, he was fighting Tharn. We aren't seeing that here. Now his face says he isn't happy, but this feels more like angry fucked up sex to me. And yes, that is a thing.

And here comes Tong, to add his annoying voice to the mix and not letting us see how they would resolve their anger.

Joe is pissed off that Tong is interrupting. Look, play back the scene. We can see Joe is not happy, and he is grappling with his feelings in the midst of this fucked up sex session, but the minute we hear Tong's voice, there is pain and sorrow. Then when Ming stops and answers the door, and says it's nothing. His anger snaps, but his negative feelings towards Ming are nothing compared to his rage at Tong. I repeated this scene five times and yeah, that is what I saw each time. Notice, though, as he says excuse me, he does not look at Tong as he is leaving. He is forcibly not looking at Tong.

That little smile of self deprecation on Ming's lips and the way he shoves away from the door.

OMG, but I love that Joe throws Tharn out. Just loses his shit and tosses him out in the hallway.

You mean you would like him to hang all over you again, Tong. Look at how Ming is putting up that wall and distance. Finally! Give it to Tong, Ming!

Oh, these two broken men.

“Make me a coffee, too.” And Joe does, no questions. There is hesitation, some grappling with his feelings. Yet, he makes Ming coffee and with care too, the way he knows he likes. Remember, we've established this isn't a part of the agreement, so he doesn't have to. He could have said, no, make it yourself and walked away. Instead, he makes it and then walks away. He made a point with that polite excuse me and walk away.

So Tong took the credit and didn't let Joe have it last time. That explains why Ming was such an idiot about not knowing, that of course, that was Joe's back. It wasn't just Tong saying he did it, he actually took credit for it in on the show credits. Have I mentioned that I hate Tong?

Now Ming knows. Let the devastation begin.

The way that everyone just watches Ming have a mental breakdown. Are they used to it now? And the way Joe just stood there and listened. He ate that shit up, but the boy has such low self-esteem that I'm sure later he'll make an excuse for this.

Ahhh, I need the next episode now.

Well, that's the end of my commentary. I hope you enjoyed it!

[omgtheregoesthefuckidontgive]

Okay but Sol is kind of crazy as well?

He acts like he's always been there for Joe, like yes you are a good friend, but you also ran all the way to Korea just to get away from Joe's feelings for you. Than you come back, he has a bf and you're pissed and then the whole time you try to get them to breakup and even now you're possessive when you don't have a leg to stand on. Like Joe is weak minded he will be swayed by anyone but you can't deny it was love at first sight with Ming. Anyway the public announcement of he's my Bf would've sent me into a straight panic attack.

Poor Joe... Can't he just have one normal person in his life that isn't straight up trying to manipulate him

Ming walking in there was also bat shit crazy

STOP DOING THINGS IN THE PUBLIC EYE

[littlemisspascal]

2023 & Me

Been thinking a lot these past few days about everything that's happened with me in 2023. Hard to believe it's coming to end--time seriously does fly 😮

There's been some heavy losses this year. Several family members passed away to illnesses and old age, including my grandfather who I had a strained relationship with to say the least. I also had a shocking family drama bomb dropped on me earlier this month that has had a huge ripple effect I'm still navigating, but fingers crossed things will find a way of working out for the best.

I had some severe mental health depression episodes throughout the year, made me reevaluate priorities and also doubt pretty much every choice I've ever made in life, but I do truly believe I'm entering 2024 in a positive mindset so that's something to be happy about :) I'mma try this crazy concept called self-love and not think the worst about me, myself, and I.

My writing took a hit this year. Word count wise, kudos wise, engagement wise--but I also made progress on several wips and even finished a few which is a big accomplishment for a snail writer like me 😊 I want to enter 2024 not feeling guilty for being self-indulgent or trying new kinds of writing styles. I also want to shake off the belief a low note count equals it was a bad fic/waste of time -- I don't believe that for anyone else, yet my brain always uses it as a weapon of insecurity against myself and enough is enough brain 😠 no more I say!

On a more positive note, I was fortunate enough to attend several conventions this year and improve my cosplay skills (2024 Ahsoka is gonna be my best look yet I just know it 😁). I got to meet total sweethearts Jon Bernthal and Charlie Cox, Steve Burns my childhood hero, the dear Jodi Benson, the gorgeous Rosario Dawson and beautiful Ming-Na Wen, and of course I can't ever forget Andrew Garfield 😱💗 And most importantly of all I did each these cons with my sister and made some lifelong memories! (Also bought a heckin lot of stickers. A heckin lot 🥰)

And then of course the crown jewel of 2023 1000% hands down was attending the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix. Good lord y'all it was one of the best weekends of my entire life! If you had asked me a couple years ago if I'd care about a sport--any sport--I'd have laughed in your face but there's just something so addictive and captivating about the world of F1 and its cast of characters. And having the luck of getting Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo's autographs on my dumb lil frog bucket hat was just *muffled screaming* I literally was a shaking mess lemme tell ya--just ask @beecastle and @undercoverpena who were there with me on my phone every step of the way 💜 thanks for putting up with my addiction y'all! Much much love to you both!!

AND THE FRIGGIN FACT SOMEONE GOT A PHOTO OF ME AND DANNY TOGETHER 🥺😭😭 NEVER BE OVER IT NOPE

There are so many people on here that made 2023 a bright and kind and fun one for me---@oonajaeadira @something-tofightfor @wheresarizona @trinkets01 @kyberblade @sofasoap @grogusmum @writeforfandoms @psychedelic-ink @kteague @prolix-yuy @wildemaven @the-blind-assassin-12 @practicalghost @gnpwdrnwhiskey @bishtrouille @nothoughtsjustmeds @kirsteng42 @miraclesabound @radiowallet @harriedandharassed @hopeamarsu and dozens dozens dozens more!

Thank you to everyone who's liked, reblogged, commented on my blog + sent me messages! I appreciate and love you all so much more than words can ever express 💜💗💙🧡

2024---let's bring it on! 🥳

[becauseimanicequeen]

Because you like color related questions: What is your favorite color and what ql use it best?

Hi, Anon.

I love the question, but...

How can this artist who loves colors possibly choose a favorite among the things that give her life?

I know I'm crazy, but not that crazy! lol

So I'll just change the question a bit and steer this post in the direction I want (and give you more than you asked for). Okay? Okay!

I'm practically obsessed with one half of the traditional color wheel. And that's everything from purple, going into blue, and up to blue-green (or what most people call turquoise or teal, the latter which seems to have become really popular in the past few years). Throw some pink in there, preferably the neon/fluorescent kind, and black and you basically have my art, lol.

To summarize, though, my favorite colors are:

Purple

Blue

Blue-green (or what most people call turquoise or teal)

Pink

Black

With that said, let's move on to the second part of your question.

I can't remember if I've ever seen blue-green (turquoise/teal) in a QL (but my memory is fucked, so help me if you want).

When it comes to the other colors, I will share some moments from QLs where the colors are particularly beautiful (in my eyes), used in a great way in a particular scene, or when there's a color-coded character I like rather than focus on the use of a particular color throughout a whole series (the latter would turn into a thesis for each color, lol, and I just don't have the time or energy for that right now).

Let's start with black and then move through the others according to the color wheel.

I love black because it goes well with every other color. But I also love black because it's a color that can be used in shows/films without using it. And that's by filming night scenes.

I love night scenes in shows/films because it's many times used for the big emotional scenes, from confessions to breakups and everything in between.

The black might not be evident in all these particular images I've included below, but all these scenes play out in the dark of evening/night.

Like in To Be Continued when Ji practically confesses that he likes Achi but gets rejected (kind of):

When Zhou Shu Yi confesses his love for Gao Shi De in We Best Love: No. 1 For You:

Shu Yi is also one of my favorite QL characters, and he often wears black.

When Sailom confesses that he likes Namnuea in Wedding Plan:

Which I think has a deeper meaning since he can only ever truly be himself in the dark or in the company of Yiwa through a large part of the series.

Then there's Phat loosing his shit in La Pluie:

He finally got to unload some of the shit that had been weighing on him for so long, and I loved that scene so much.

And then there's My Stand-In that practically show a multitude of different emotions in their night scenes:

And Ming wears black a lot, which I've written about in this post about his clothes in particular, and in this one where I've also written about Joe's blue.

I could spend a whole post on night scenes, but I won't because I need to save some images for the other colors, lol.

So, moving on to pink!

For me, there are two characters/shows that stand out with the use of pink. The first one is Tankhun in KinnPorsche:

He's so ridiculous, such a drama queen, and that's exactly why I love him so much. And, he's constantly surrounded by pink.

Then there's Wandee Gooday. This series didn't just use pink, but neon pink, and I will forever and ever love this one for that:

The one above has some purple in it too, but the color on their skin, pillows, etc., has more red than blue in it, which (in my eyes) means it's verging more towards pink.

There's also this softer pink that's in contrast to the other images above. They're using different values, intensities, and hues of pink to create different moods/vibes in their scenes, and I love that.

Other honorable mentions (but I have to save on the images since tumblr only gives me 30... lol):

Tharn and Phaya's first (real) sex scene in The Sign (not the dreams). The neon pink is divine in that scene.

Maybe in Secret Crush on You as well. I can remember that there were neon lights. And, when there are neon lights, there has to be pink, right? (I will be rewatching this series for my Pride Month celebrations soon, so I might get to see how wrong I am, lol.)

The pink neon lights in Ai Di's club in Kiseki: Dear to Me were also divine.

Now, let's move on to purple.

I obviously have to mention Dee from Wandee Goodday here, because he just looks so good in purple:

Also, both Dee and Yak look good in purple:

Please, Wandee Goodday, give me more purple!

Other than this, I can't remember purple that well. So, let me share three examples that are a bit purple-ish. The first one is Kiseki: Dear to Me where the lights sometimes verge towards purple.

Then we have two different series where there are blueish and pinkish lights that, kind of, mix and create purple. The first one is this scene in KinnPorsche:

And the other one is this scene in Love in the Air:

They look really similar, don't they? And I absolutely love those colors together. That lighting is divine.

Next, we have blue.

Blue is used a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot.

So I had to narrow it down a lot and choose a couple of blue characters and moments.

Let's start with this scene from Deep Night:

This is the scene where Pan and Ken start flirting with Seji like it's a competition. But what I love about this shot in particular (besides from the blue) is that Pan, who is the one who brings up poly, shows up between Seji and Ken in the shot (and in several scenes throughout the series). He's the one who brought all three of them together. And I love that he often stands in the middle. Also, he looks so good in blue.

Then there's Ji in To Be Continued who is surrounded by blue basically all the time because he's a blue character. And he looks really good in blue.

And then there's King from Bed Friend who is also gorgeous in all the blue hues:

Then I love this moment in Two Worlds:

These two got about 10 seconds in the finale, which was the highlight of this episode for me. Both of them practically propose to each other at the same time, both are dressed in blue and standing in front of those blueish pillars. I loved every single second of this scene as if each second was a whole hour long.

Then there's a whole series called Blue Boys, which meant I had to watch it as soon as I heard about it in April/May. The second part started yesterday with a new episode and I have to say that I really love this short series and its vibe (their chemistry is great, btw). And Nami's blue shirt:

That blue is gorgeous.

And then, last but not least, there's one of my favorite blue characters, and that's Saengtai in La Pluie:

I love this blue boy and his yellow boyfriend so much. They're one of my favorite couples in the QLs I've watched.

As an introvert (passing off as an extrovert, which makes me want to shut up and hide on purpose most of the time to protect my energy, lol) I can absolutely relate to Tai not wanting to socialize with everyone all the fucking time. He's chosen the people who get to drain energy from him (I wish I was that good at putting up boundaries, lol) so I'm not as annoyed by his silence as many others who watch this might be.

Yes, he hurt Phat's feelings. Yes, Phat had every right to run away when he was hurt. Yes, it was glorious to see Tai switching on his loyalty like never before when he realized how much he'd hurt Phat. And that whole episode of him searching for Phat and losing it when he found him healed parts of me I didn't even know were broken (lol).

If you haven't seen La Pluie, I recommend watching it.

Anyway...

There you have it, Anon. My favorite colors (because I can't choose one) and some of my favorite characters/moments including those colors.

Thank you for your ask.

[setsus-girlfriend]

How Gnosia characters would react to you having a tapeworm

Setsu: …A tapeworm? OK…lets see if we can investigate the cause of this. Yeah, let's do it. We still dont know everything for certain, but I know we'll figure it out. Hehe…this is actually kind of nice. Spending time with you, I mean.

Gina: Oh… I'm sorry… I'm sure it'll be OK…

(Gina is lying…)

SQ: Um… a tapeworm? Aren’t those like, suuuppper good for losing weight and stuff? You’re like, soooo lucky, can you like, lend him to me afterwards?

Raqio: Hah, a tapeworm? Seriously? You'd have to be brainless to get one of those. I suppose its not surprising you got one then, [Player].

Stella: Oh, my… thats horrible… let me know if you need assistance, [Player]. I want to support you as best I can..!

Shigemichi: Woah, a real tapeworm? For real? Thats crazy, bud! Lemme know if ya got any troubles, y'know? THIS guy'll take care of em, no sweat.

Chipie: A tapeworm, eh? Haha, lemme know if theres anything I can do to help ya.

Comet: Oh man, you got a tapeworm? That sucks. Try drinking water or something? I heard that helps. I think.

Jonas: Hark! Fear not, dear comrade. It is I, JONAS, who shall help you in this dire matter. Such a worm hath NO CHANCE against me. SUCK IT, WORM!

Kukrushka: Kukrushka smiles warmly, as if to say, "everything will be alright, I'll handle this." Her demeanor shows this much.

Otome: squeak Oh no…thats horrible. I'm so sorry! Um…I hope you feel better soon.

Sha-Ming (Male MC): What the hell? That's disgusting, why are you telling me this crap? You screwed yourself over, not my problem…

Sha-Ming (Female MC): Haha, y'know, I've always been kinda into tapeworms. I could give ya little help down there, if you want. C'mon, don't be shy…

Remnan: …What? Why… why are you telling me this…?

Yuriko: Hehe… I see karma has taken its retribution on your sins, then.

[songtiddies]

Charmed Masterlist

This is not completely 100 percent accurate to the Harry Potter universe nor do I own any of the Harry Potter characters, I just took it and added my twist to it and here we are

In no way does this reflect on any of the Ateez members, my work is purely fiction

The mood boards and works of fiction were created by me so please do not repost my work

Tumblr is ran by reblogging so if you like my writing please reblog my work

All works are SFW, maybe suggestive but nothing crazy

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Synopsis: A Patronus charm can only be casted by picturing a vivid image of intense joy, so it’s no wonder that for wizarding folk it’s the key to finding your soulmate.

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Come Up Off Your Color Chart.

Synopsis: After getting caught breaking quite a few wizard laws and somehow avoided getting expelled, you save him from getting stampeded in Care of Magical Creatures class. How have you never noticed him before, but he’s everywhere you go now? And why does his hair keep changing color?

Pairing: Metamorphagus! Gryffindor! Hongjoong! x Care of Magical Creatures Apprentice (afab) Hufflepuff! Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Soulmate au, SLOWWWW BURN, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining (they’re both low key dumb sometimes, Hongjoong is especially), a lil Angst (but barely)

Release Date: TBA

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You Gotta be Cruel to be Kind.

Synopsis: Years of battling for the top of the class was starting to become exhausting. Everything lately has become exhausting, except for the recent late night excursions to restore a broken mirror that have been helping you escape. Or will Park Seonghwa somehow try to ruin that for you too?

Pairing: Headboy! Hufflepuff! Seonghwa! x Headgirl! (afab) Ravenclaw! Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Soulmate au, Enemies to Lovers au, Hurt/Comfort, Eventual fluff, Seonghwa is a jerk like 80 percent of the time, Slow Burn

Release Date: TBA

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Would You Catch Me if I Should Fall?

Synopsis: Juggling quidditch practice, coursework, and running an advice column for the school newspaper means any sort of love life is out of the question. Until recently when you’ve been getting love letters sent to your advice column, and you start seeing your best friend in a different light after he saved your life.

Pairing: Quidditch Captain! Hufflepuff! Yunho! x School Journalist! (afab) Hufflepuff! Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Soulmates au, Fluff, BF2L, Secret Admirer au, Love Triangle au (but not really), Reader is BLIND, Slow Burn, Yunho really is a Golden Retriever

Release Date: TBA

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They’ll Tear Us Apart if You Give Them the Chance.

Synopsis: You already knew he was way out of your league, seven years of him not noticing your existence could tell you that. Yet when you finally catch a break, you’re suddenly being blackmailed, and there is no amount of bubblegum or midnight rants to the ghost in the bathroom that can ease the hole in your heart.

Pairing: Blonde!! (Yes that’s important) Prefect! Ravenclaw! Yeosang! x Quidditch Captain! Gryffindor! (afab) Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Angst!!!, Fluff, Soulmate au, Bullying (not from any main characters), Insecurities, Yeosang is an angel, Hurt/Comfort SLOW BURN

Release Date: TBA

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Now I Hear a Symphony.

Synopsis: You were completely content coasting through your eighth year as a background voice in the choir. Having managed to make it this far completely out of the spotlight, you were surprised that your gentle tune suddenly caught the school prince’s ear. Suddenly a boisterous symphony doesn’t seem so intimidating anymore.

Pairing: Slytherin Prince! San! x Hufflepuff! Choir Student! (afab) Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Soulmates au, Opposites Attract au, Fluff, a lil Angst, Strangers to Lovers, Slow Burn, San is so stupid but he makes up for it

Release Date: TBA

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We’ll Never Be as Young as We Are Now.

Synopsis: You don’t know how you got there, but surprisingly you got roped into tutoring Song Mingi, one of the loudest and most rambunctious boys in your year. What’s even more surprising is how he convinces you, one of the most uptight prefects in Hogwarts’ history, to tag along in his shenanigans.

Pairing: Keeper! Gryffindor! Mingi! x Potions Tutor! Ravenclaw! (afab) Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Soulmate au, Slow Burn, Reader is awkward (but so is Mingi), Fluff, a lil Angst, Classmates to Friends to Lovers

Release Date: TBA

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Plant New Seeds in the Melody.

Synopsis: After detangling the loudmouth boy from the tentacula plant you’ve been tending to, ultimately sparing him from getting eaten, Professor Sprout forces him to help out in the greenhouse as punishment for ruining your end of year project. Unfortunately for the plants you tend to he has a black thumb, but luckily for you he has a heart of gold.

Pairing: Prankster! Slytherin! Wooyoung! x Herbology Prodigy! Hufflepuff! (afab) Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Soulmate au, FLUFFY FLUFF FLUFF, Wooyoung is WHIPPED, Lowkey Enemies to Lovers (but not really), Lowkey Opposites Attract, Slowburn

Release Date: TBA

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You Can Coax the Cold Right Out of Me.

Synopsis: After waking up in the hospital wing because he knocked you out with a football to the head, he has been giving you flowers ever since. You don’t know why he keeps coming back even after you keep pushing him away, because there’s no way for someone that sweet to be able to withstand a personality as frigid as yours.

Pairing: Florist Assistant! Jongho! x Tsundere! Slytherin (afab) Reader!

Genres/Warnings: Angst/Fluff (Flangst), Soulmate au, Jongho is so sweet it hurts, Hurt/Comfort, One Sided Pining?, Flower Language, Slowburn (yeah I get it they’re all slowburn)

Release Date: Sunday April 2nd, 9 P.M. MST

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Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!

[best-queen-song]

Okay Queenies! All 88 91 polls are up now! They're each open for one week, so by this time next Sunday (3/3) Monday (3/4), they will all be closed. Here's the list of all Round One polls. Now's the time to spread the word, scatter them to the tumblr winds. Feel free to argue your choices' cases in the meantime!

Great King Rat / It’s A Beautiful Day (Reprise)

Crash Dive On Mingo City / Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon

Who Wants To Live Forever / Let Me Live

Stone Cold Crazy / Fight From The Inside

Escape From The Swamp / In The Lap Of The Gods

My Life Has Been Saved / I Want To Break Free

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy / Hang On In There

We Are The Champions / Friends Will Be Friends

I Was Born To Love You / Cool Cat

Princes Of The Universe / The Night Comes Down

The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction of Dale) / Don’t Try Suicide

Arboria (Planet Of The Tree Men) / Brighton Rock

Keep Passing The Open Windows / The Invisible Man

Under Pressure / Calling All Girls

Crazy Little Thing Called Love / The March Of The Black Queen

Dreamer’s Ball / Tenement Funster

You’re My Best Friend / Flash To The Rescue

Don’t Lose Your Head / Seven Seas Of Rhye

I’m Going Slightly Mad / Get Down, Make Love

In The Lap Of The Gods… Revisited / Spread Your Wings

Funny How Love Is / Fun It

Misfire / All God’s People

Action This Day / These Are The Days Of Our Lives

Sheer Heart Attack / God Save The Queen

The Hero / Body Language

Ride The Wild Wind / In The Space Capsule (The Love Theme)

Made In Heaven / The Loser In The End

‘39 / Modern Times Rock ‘N Roll

Sweet Lady / One Year Of Love

I Can’t Live With You / Leaving Home Ain’t Easy

Need Your Loving Tonight / Delilah

Pain Is So Close To Pleasure / Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)

Jesus / Chinese Torture

Football Fight / Save Me

In The Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise) / The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)

One Vision / The Miracle

Father To Son / Don’t Try So Hard

Fat Bottomed Girls / Liar

Who Needs You / Marriage Of Dale And Ming (And Flash Approaching)

Khashoggi’s Ship / You Don’t Fool Me

Bicycle Race / Battle Theme

Vultan’s Theme (Attack Of The Hawk Men) / Dear Friends

Tie Your Mother Down / It’s A Hard Life

I Want It All / Flash’s Theme Reprise

White Man / Dancer

Radio Ga Ga / Bijou

Gimme The Prize / Bohemian Rhapsody

Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To…) / Dead On Time

Scandal / I’m In Love With My Car

Back Chat / Tear It Up

Some Day One Day / More Of That Jazz

The Millionaire Waltz / Breakthru

You Take My Breath Away / My Melancholy Blues

All Dead, All Dead / Man On The Prowl

Untitled / Now I’m Here

Jealousy / Flash’s Theme

Somebody To Love / You And I

Sleeping On The Sidewalk / It’s A Beautiful Day

The Hitman / Execution Of Flash

We Will Rock You / In Only Seven Days

Another One Bites The Dust / Staying Power

Too Much Love Will Kill You / My Fairy King

Is This The World We Created…? / Don’t Stop Me Now

Seaside Rendezvous / Machines (or ‘Back To Humans’)

Sail Away Sweet Sister / Keep yourself alive

No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) / Teo Toriatte (Let Us Cling Together)

Love Of My Life / A Kind Of Magic

Party / Headlong

Rain Must Fall / Mustapha

Ogre Battle / I Go Crazy

Mother Love / Doing Alright

Put Out The Fire / The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke

Nevermore / Lily Of The Valley

Procession / White Queen (As It Began)

Hammer To Fall / Seven Seas Of Rhye [unfinished]

Bring Back That Leroy Brown / The Wedding March

Was It All Worth It / Killer Queen

It’s Late / If You Can’t Beat Them

Flick Of The Wrist / Play The Game

Rock It (Prime Jive) / Innuendo

Thank God It’s Christmas / The Prophet’s Song

Long Away / My Baby Does Me

Coming Soon / Son And Daughter

A Winter’s Tale / Heaven For Everyone

The Show Must Go On / Ming’s Theme (In The Court Of Ming The Merciless)

Life Is Real (Song For Lennon) / Drowse

Dragon Attack / Let Me Entertain You

Good Company / She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettos)

Mad The Swine / Soul Brother

Hijack My Heart / A Human Body

Lost Opportunity / Stealin'

[moaserendipity]

My Top 10 BL's of 2023

I am back with my personal top 10 of 2023. I know I've been super quiet these days but making a top 10 is always fun to do. The #1 has been decided early this past year but for the rest... It was a crazy year for BL but only a few were really top tier...🔥🔥

10. My Personal Weatherman (Taikan Yoho)

One of the Japanese BL's I really enjoyed watching. It was more grown up then the ones I've seen and that was very welcome. I love the dynamics between the main characters a lot. It was a bit of a slow one, with the lack in communication between the two but I forgive that because the chemistry was really good.

09. Wedding Plan

Oh how i looked forward to this one, the second I saw the trailer. I loved the storyline but I thought it was very short, which made them rush through it at times, which was a shame because it was actually really good and I just wanted to see more. I loved the chemistry between Sailom and Namnuea, So I really enjoyed watching them. They are very new if I'm correct but I didn't notice it at all, so hopefully they will get another BL together but a longer one. Also I love the GL in this BL, it was very natural and I in the end hoped they would be the ones that got to marry. Not to forget about the cameo;s of my babies Payu and Rain and of course Prapai and Sky.

08. Moonlight Chicken

This one I've waited for so so long and it was kind of a surprise because I love EarthMix, Like Mix is my man but my attention got taken away from them and got attached to GemFourth who played Li Ming and Heart. I just loved everything about them! I loved how they incorporated Sign language because Heart was deaf and just the overall chemistry between them, was everything. They made me smile so much. Jim and Wen, you know were amazing as well but I sometimes felt frustrated by their interaction. The close moments they had were amazing of course but it was not what I expected from EarthMix but overall this drama was definitely worth the wait!

07. Kiseki: Dear to Me

I absolutely loved this one. I couldn't get enough of it. I am a sucker for the Hate to Love trope and this had exactly that and in a gangster way. Like I loved it. ZeRui and Bangyi were made for each other and you can't tell me otherwise how he went to prison for ZeRui and even got hurt but he still decided to dedicate his bakery to him with his Strawberry cakes, ugh too cute. The second couple made me want even more. The sassiness of Ai Di and the coldness of Chen Yi, they were really something. The way Chen Yi didn't realize that Ai Di loved him until he went to prison or that one hot night made me slap my forehead because nothing was more obvious, so I can not explain how happy I was they finally got together in the end!!

06. My School President

This really was a GemFourth year because this was their first leading BL and boy how they won us over with their cuteness. The OST was also seriously top tier. I think I loved all the songs. This entire Cast was amazing! To think I almost skipped this one...That would've been a mistake for sure, so I'm happy that I decided to give it another try because I fell in love with them and bingewatched it in one go. I can't wait to see the next project from them.!

5. Our Dating Sim

this Korean BL was a welcome one. I loved the office setting of this BL and the fact that the episodes were short as usual, didn't disturb me that much. Their chemistry made up for that! I will never forget how my heart sank when Ki Tae thought Wan had disappeared again, this poor man but I loved how Wan immediately comforted him the second he saw him. I should really rewatch this again.

4. Last Twilight

I know it's still running but I can not leave it out of my top10 for 2023. I am impressed with Jimmy and Sea. These two are everything to me at this moment. Their chemistry is crazy and I am happy they have this BL to show their talents again. I am impatiently waiting every week for the next episode and so far no episode has disappointed me, which is rare tbh.

3. Sing my Crush

Sing my crush was not even on my radar but the second I came across it, I bingewatched it. I am a sucker for music BL's, where the actors can ACTUALLY sing and play instruments.. I loved it so much. from start to finish. I really think this BL was very underrated. I did not hear a lot of people about it but it definitely deserves more!

2. I feel you linger in the Air

Ever since I saw the trailer, I wanted to see this one badly and boy did it not disappoint! I was in awe every episode. I don't think I've ever seen a Thai Bl that was staged in the past. Also this way of time traveling is one I actually like. As long as no bodies get switched I am loving it. Their chemistry was top notch and those intimate scenes. That kiss in the rain, Art I am telling you and that massage scene, HELLO!! I literally forgot to breathe at that point and my face was almost stuck to the screen, crazy!! So yeah this was a true masterpiece!

01. The Eighth Sense

Let's all act surprised by this one...... what can I say? This one touched my intire being. It touched my soul, My heart everything. I cried, laughed and even cursed at 2 people in particular.. This is the biggest masterpiece of 2023 and nothing can change my mind about this. The way I anticipated every week and felt sad when it ended, ugh!! I just want to praise Oh Jun Taek for the way he acted, because if I'm correct this was his first acting job or at least he is very new but he pulled it of perfectly and Ji sub, I am applauding him for the way he portrayed Jae Won. All I need now is a season 2 or an special episode where we see them do the things Jihyun wanted... like just please!! In al seriousness everything was amazing about this one and that's why it's my number 1

I really do think that the Korean BL's won this round. I feel like they are finally stepping up their game. It's still not as Explicit as Thai or Taiwanese but that's not what I am expecting. I don't always have to have NC scenes because without a story, it's not worth a lot. Overal the Bl's were powerful this year and Top tier. Hopefully next year will bring us even better ones!! <3

[lykos-thehare]

Hi guys, was drawing stuff

Here it is the 'stuff'

The straw hats wears different clothes until some point on the history, here are the romance dawn trio

okay time to explain how M.A.D works in my au, I don't change big things, M.A.D is still beging when an alternate gives non-wanted verbal information to a person.

The only stuff that really changes is the way it works on people, M.A.D varies depending on how strong is the person's mind, it can work like it normally does in TMC or it can change a bit

For example: if you are a small child then M.A.D will be like a disease, it makes you feel tired, you will be very sick, you will also feel obsessed with beging lonely, it makes you feel very sad and angry.

But this changes a bit when you are an alternates's vessel: you will feel not only tired, you'll feel weak, you slowly start becoming more and more crazy, as time passes, you will feel frustrated and sad, is almost the same as like the others but instead of desperately trying to k!ll yourself, or beging obsessed with being lonely, you'll desperately will try to be 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 people, you will not only 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 but 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 people, if you feel lonely while having M.A.D for way too long (like 5-7 months), you'll possibly look like my Nika looks like but with a small detail, you will completely loose your humanity, the person you once where will not be there anymore, instead, there will be a monster.

Nika accidentally inflicted M.A.D onto luffy when, you know, ace, that was when luffys ming was very weak, first he looses his friends and now his brother, my mind would be weak as well if that happened to me tbh

The case is, if being alone is the worst way of self damage to luffy, now imagine him with M.A.D, he feelt frustrated, sad and lonely at the same time and it was painful for him, those days were like hell for him, good thing there was Rayleigh, jimbei and Hancock, and of course Pao (Nika) , Nika didn't want luffy to feel like that (the big brother parasite has got him) so desperately tried to make him feel better, that worked thankfully.

Luffy still has M.A.D but now that his friends are there for him, is easier to control it cuz he doesn't feel alone anymore (whole cake was hell as well)

That's all!

Be kind, be safe

[shinjiikar1]

So as I've been watching My Stand-In I've been writing down my thoughts on each episode, because boy do I have a lot of thoughts about this show. It's just really good to chew on! I'm a little behind and I'm trying to catch up before the finale, so I thought I'd post them throughout the week as the show comes to an end;; Starting with Episodes 1-4 under the cut ^^

Ep. 1

Joe… my guy… everything sucks so bad for you already huh ☹

Wut being at the hospital and talking about old joe… joe being like “guess I have to be a stand-in for another guy again” like so resigned, it hurts :(

It’s interesting to see like, Ming already having some sort of feelings for Joe when he probably doesn’t even realize it

The way he looks at him when Joe cooks for him and does nice stuff for him, he seems to just not “get it” and I think he’s confusing his feelings of like general attraction (esp due to his similarity to Tong) and his warm feelings of being cared for, for just that similarity

The fact that Joe just likes him immediately and wants to do things for him is I think not super helpful for his brain, like, in some ways it is, bc he’s being shown care in a way I suspect doesn’t happen often, but also Joe is really just letting himself get steamrolled

I do appreciate his mild level of self-awareness with the “you shouldn’t sleep with someone like me as your first time” thing

Ep. 2

Getting that jealous when you’ve slept with him once and he’s gay is Wild, like you have So many issues richboy

I appreciate that Joe is trying to communicate rationally, unfortunately your bf is a freak, sorry

The shit with Tong is Wild, you need to get over him girl he sucks So bad I hate this bitch

It’s crazy how you’re that jealous about a man you’re ostensibly not dating and “don’t care about”

Making him sleep on the floor in his own damn house and then yelling at him… girl……

Joe please run

Ming has so many issuesss, he can’t fuckin communicate at allllll

It’s nice to humanize him a little in these moments with his sister, he seems to love her a lot, which is nice to see bc based on the first ep you wouldn’t really see that was the case

He’s such a generally unhappy person already

The one person in his corner is the one person he Can’t tell damn… that’s kind of crazy

Oh man Joe is Gone already, I appreciate that he turned Sol down nicely, that does make the fact that Sol is kinda weird later a littler Hm. But not like So bad? We shall see

I wish we had more time to see Why Joe likes Ming so much (prior to him saying he’s in love) but also I get these things happen fast and we have a lot to do

It just seems like his feelings are So strong, otherwise he could let go on round two but… alas

Ming did seem like he was maybe going to apologize, Ming style at least, when he showed up

Cooking dinner is Really cute… making breakfast for my beautiful wife… the kitchen is burning down

The dinner scene is Really sweet, I think it’s a good way to show that they both do like eo

It’s crazy that Ming does still think this is about Tong on some level though, like, girl tf has he done for you

But the way they were laughing;;;;

Ep. 3

Shopping montage, Ming is So bad at not just defaulting to his first reaction to everything ever, which is being a huge bitch about literally everything on earth

Like clearly he doesn’t actually hate all this stuff, but Joe hasn’t learned to read him well enough yet to understand that (which isn’t on Joe, just that like, maybe he could’ve figured that out eventually if it weren’t for the other shit), so Joe just takes his initial reactions at face value (understandably so, he’s a very open person himself and also takes people in general at their word and assumes they are also honest in their reactions)

However, Ming does manage to resolve the apartment thing Fairly okay all things considered, even if it wasn’t entirely bc he’s actually fine living with Joe there (I think he kind of is but won’t fully admit that to himself), negligible points for Ming!

I’ll say this later but I think the show gives you like, some good moments where Ming doesn’t actually suck, which allow you to understand why this is so hard for Joe and also to keep him from becoming like, the devil dfhjgjdf

We’ll see how that progresses in the present, but at least in the past I think they do a solid job with that

I need everyone to stop trying to intrude in Joe’s private life, like leave his ass aloneeeeeee

That dinner did Not go good man rip

Okay Sol is pissing me off a little, idk why so many people keep defending him. Like obviously he’s better than Ming in some ways, but I don’t… love the way he treats Joe, and the fact that he keeps pushing him after Joe Very nicely turned him down… not a huge fan

Can Joe just have like, normal people in his life for once?

I think if they dated it wouldn’t have been like horrible, but I can also see it going poorly. Like imo Sol gives off the vibes of like, getting bored after he gets what he wants but I think I’m overreacting. It mainly just bothers me that he’s so pushy and doesn’t really respect Joe’s boundaries or autonomy. Like, if he tells you it’s his problem and you should let it go then let it go!

Also all the job stuff sucks so badddd Tong is the worstttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

I feel like Ming would have told him more Eventually, but Joe is really worried about pushing him, their relationship probably feels precarious to him a lot of the time, and he doesn’t want to ruin it by upsetting Ming

I think he also wants Ming to tell him stuff himself, based on what we see, it seems like he has some idea that Ming’s family situation is difficult, so I think he wants to give him time to trust him as well

ALAS

If Ming could communicate, we would not be here, but we are :/

Anyways Ming small win about the Christmas stuff, like he is trying a little, he’s not Totally understanding how to be in a relationship, but he has decent moments, the restaurant is way too fancy, but he does actually deal with the watch situation well, good job!

Unfortunately. Tong.

The moment he has with his sister is really sweet. I’m glad there’s someone to tell him that this seems to be good for him. Alas. Tragedy is about to strike.

The mugs is so fucked too…

☹ Joe ☹

Ep. 4

God. It literally couldn’t have gone worse.

Like, I’ll be real, I think if Ming had reacted better, he could have eventually won Joe back

If he’d /listened/, and backed off, and tried to show Joe that he cared about him as a person, not just as a stand-in, I think Joe is forgiving enough, and loved him enough, to make that happen

Unfortunately, it really seems like he’s still kind of unaware of his own feelings on a lot of levels

Like, I think he does think he likes Joe on some level, but he’s unable to untangle that from his feelings for Tong

It’s hard to know how much of his love for Joe is because he’s Joe

ALSO I know I’m not supposed to know this yet, but it’s hard to know how much he actually likes Joe for Joe at all. Like given the whole way he fell in love with him on a very superficial level… Obviously later on I think he does like Joe for who he is, but even though it was never really Tong, that image he had of Joe’s back wasn’t really Joe either y’know?

Anyways, that’s kind of beside the point but I’ve been thinking about it

I know I’ve been pretty charitable to Ming so far but that does end here LMAO

He handles this in literally the worst way possible, like confronting him /at work/?!?!? You’re deranged girl

He’s just so possessive and not used to not having whatever he wants all the time, his rich boy Momence

Like, Joe is /rightfully/ upset, and you’re like “well that’s my personal business” HELLO??? 911???

Ridiculoussssssssss

I hate Tong so bad guys you have no idea, I know it’s far away but I’m sooooooo excited for his downfall

Ming grovelling a little but it’s too lateeeee, or too early, like I said, if you gave it some time maybe

Crazy to be like “oh you’re cheating on me and all you care about is your job” when Joe has literally never lied or hid anything from you… like be SOooooo fr right now

Anyways literally knocking him out AND CHAINING HIM IN A BASEMENT is definitely like, idk how to even phrase this aside from girl what the actual fuck you thought that would get you anywhere????  THIS IS NOT KINNPORSCHE YOU ARE NOT IN THE MAFIA, YOU ARE A NEPO BABY WITH NO JOB AND THAT IS YOUR NORMAL-ASS BOYFRIEND

Joe like sadly seducing him to break out is really depressing, very hard to watch, I’m sorry everything sucks so bad for you I love u

Lets talk about Joe for a second too, I think you can make a case for the fact that he handles the situation a little poorly, but who among us would do better?

Based on his perspective, it’s really hard to tell what of Ming’s affection for him is real, and along with his own extant insecurities, there’s no way he could handle this calmly

Also why should he have to? Regardless of how he feels /now/, Ming did start this entire thing because he was comparing Joe to Tong. End of. Even if they had actually slept together that first night, he was with Joe partially because he was mad at Tong. He hadn’t necessarily made the connection about how similar they looked yet, but he still wasn’t doing it just because he liked Joe.

So like, the only thing I think Joe could have handled better was the acting situation, but he’s having such a miserable time, and trying to regain any sense of dignity and self-respect and this is the only way he can think to do it. If it helps him get back at Ming a little too, I get it y’know?

I don’t really blame him

And as for taking the job, again, what was he supposed to do? He has no support, and he’s obviously not willing to go back to Ming. Those are his only two options since Wut won’t help.

Sidebar I know Wut can’t do much, but to not give him any advice other than “if you do the only thing you can think of to do in this situation I’ll abandon you” ………….. wtf dude. I feel like he’s trying to scare him off it, but you can see how bad of a state he’s in right now… ANYWAYS, not thrilled with Wut

Anyways this show is such a tragedy, you can see all the points where each character could have gone a slightly different way and maybe it would’ve been better, but they didn’t, and now they’re here ☹

Joe’s death is also like, so horrifying btw, literally one of my worst nightmares

Anyways back to the present we goooo