#i should just write a couple bonus episodes

[seveneyesoup]

i’ve GOTTA start writing shorter segments

[familyofpaladins]

So I've been rewatching the 2003 TMNT series lately, about 2 or 3 episodes right before bed, almost every night for the last 2 months (about).

Anyway I finished the series and watched Turtles Forever last night, but its like... now what? I have no more bed time show lol

[pensbridge]

1 thing that the Bridgerton siblings all have in common is that they are going to act in the most innane, chaotic, borderline animalistic of ways.

Anthony: speed runs toward Daphne and Simon without thought to pry them off from fucking in the garden only followed by bitch punching Simon square in the face; schemes to find the "perfect" wife (one who fits his checklist) to only later realize he feels for her sister....but doesn't stop there, and continues his plan as if he doesn't realize that his perfect wife is actually right there, therefore he should not have to attempt to marry the other in his escape that can only be described as a self-destruct endeavor to not accept happiness; ruins the plan AT the wedding; also smells his future wife as she passes (and gets caught); the gazebo..nuff said

Benedict: is generally a little shit (see him at dinner tables, in large gatherings, and just around his siblings); criticized an artist in front of their own work. he wasn't aware, which just adds to the chaos. walks into spaces without a clue to what is going on before him (i repeat: criticizing the artist's painting; also his chaotic arrivals at sibling councils calling for immediate action); in an ongoing frustration over his artistic expression that is meant to be expression of his feelings; proceeded to get high and took the whole bottle of substances; almost jumped out of a window fr

Colin: proposes to a woman he barely knows in a mad dash impulsive instinct that evades kissing her; walks out from the dinner with his fiancé without notice on the sole basis that he does not want to hear his future in-law sing badly. yes she is indeed terrible, fyi. failed engagement -> impulse flee from the country; ahh (sigh) he is feeding the ducks; loudly proclaims his "mis-affections" for a woman who is actually his future wife, then lends himself to help her find a husband like he doesn't see the big yellow sign flashing to reveal himself as the spouse in question

Daphne: is ½ of the couple about to desperately fuck in the garden; previously was involved in a scheme to fool the people of their surroundings that she was on her way towards marriage; ran away from a prince who was about to propose to her. I understand, but we are in dire, desperate times here. fell for the garden-fuck buddy, and became obligated to marry him, but he doesn't want kids oh no.........married him; in the "I know something my brother's fiancé doesn't know" club of 3 (peace-out, staying out of the drama; c u @ the wedding)

Eloise: trots into a room full of her mother and siblings LOUDLY inquiring how a lady becomes pregnant; accuses a maid of writing a gossip column as if she does have much time on her hands to observe and overhear the secrets of those in her surroundings, and further write about it with an internal sassy voice like she doesn't have chores and duties to tend to everyday to survive; does everything in her power to avoid men, marriage, and anything to do with the opposite sex... except one (which is scandalous no matter how cute/innocent). tears apart her bff's room in haste after the shock effect of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Bonus) 'Mother' Bridgerton: nearly asked a servant to lie on her in need for her "garden" to be tended to

Here's some more events from Season 3 that is added on to Bridgerdums malfunctioning:

Benedict: insults someone again/talks without thinking; generally has no idea what's going on; shit's (ship's) going on right in front of his eyes and he has no idea (tbh this is everything that I expected from him and this is EVERYTHING (he's chilling); so obvious trying to escape the desper-taunt; sooooo obvious trying to chat it up with L.D./Aggie Danbury, my girl

Colin: where do I start...playing 'Where's Waldo' with his bff for half an episode; LYING LIAR WHO LIES, 17 cities...you went to 17 cities?! (i'm just shocked); perhaps we should go somewhere more private??? /rushes to apologize with full sentimental remarks (good); rushes to offer the help as previously mentioned; kisses his best friend to help her out it's only fair; "OF COURSE!"...back on the hunt for pretty bff; *ooh watching bff eat a pastry, malfunction ahh* -> buys the pastry; the entirrreee hot air balloon scene (he waits, he rushes...he's definitely a fight mode with mental gymnastics flight in the lead up); can't speak in the middle of a ball; downbadism yellow sheet drop; crashes a proposal, cuts in the dance, literally so obvious, *angry* "perhaps that is for the best"; chases down a carriage ON FOOT; the (in)FAMOUS carriage; chaotic proposal

Eloise: she hates socializing with men and she's gonna shout it; cracking jokes with The Plastics; oops loud queen...let the cat out of the bag; /forever the accuser (now w/Cressida, former queen of The Plastics); she HATES society, guys, I don't think you understand; "MY BROTHER?!???" x2 (3x04 deleted scene + 3x05 tick tock Lady Featheringdown)

Francesca: the most sane, but living up to her name; dun dun dun piano; introvert escape room expert; finds a man without talking to him; rushes out of the new boyfriend hang to play her piano

Gregory: fell and broke his arm being nosy AND faaaaaailedddd; dummy was just fascinated by a balloon

Hyacinth: she's gonna be trouble, we just know, ok/always always always right

[s-aint-elmo]

digging out the eah content i created in a frenzy during last year’s summer of obsession part 1: my personal sapphic multishipping guide (created to explain to my friends which of these dolls i think should hold hands)

(more in-depth discussion of the ships below the cut)

the polycule that will take over ever after

kitty/lizzie; kitty/maddie; maddie/lizzie

self-explanatory. frequently purchased together do not separate. bonus shoutout to maddie canonically giving kitty a little kissie on the cheek and getting off scot-free in the books though. a wonderlandiful world was a banquet to me

cedar protection squad

once again a wonderlandiful world and once upon a time i owe you my life. kitty ESP being so adamant abt not giving a shit then turning around and fucking up those boys who were mean to cedar...... i love friendship

kitty/cerise

also self-explanatory. she was a catgirl she was a wolfgirl can i make it anymore obvious. also doribuki’s phenomenal fake dating fanfic....... transformative foundational transcendental

cerise/raven

YOU MUST UNDERSTAND. i entered eah a rapple shipper and exited the book series ready to burn at the stake for cerise/raven. book two was SO MUCH. it had everything. raven befriending cerise despite her attempts to isolate herself. texting in class. winking at each other. raven meeting the parents and hearing embarrassing baby cerise stories. cerise putting it all on the line to save raven. i’m ambivalent about shadow high but cerise gets literally one (1) mention and it’s in raven’s internal monologue wherein she equates cerise’s hood w feelings of warmth and safety. like how was that in any way necessary. i rest my case 

raven & maddie

self-explanatory as well. dabesties. the ride or dies. it means so much to me that raven always has a friend in maddie no matter how many clowns and jokers (derogatory) treat her like the antichrist. maddie the character ever

raven/apple

WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN. the gelphie dynamic is a classic and i am EXTREMELY vulnerable to it. they are THE ship and i will pay my respects to the end of time. i am a big fan of how they trade their roles throughout the franchise and how rich the drama and history are between them. it’s pure fucking poetry.

raven/darling

TBH. a serve. the only thing juicier than evil queen/damsel in distress is evil queen/princess charming. big big fan of darling giving raven the five star princess treatment after a lifetime of being feared and shunned and vilified. equally big fan of raven’s momentous act of rebellion giving darling the courage to be true to herself. ALSO. the absolute archetype-subversion slay of the Pure-Hearted Hero(TM) confronting the Mistress of Evil(TM) and dropping their sword. looking through the smoke and mirrors and the will of Fate itself to see the girl who has wanted nothing but to be kind beneath. swearing their heart and soul and sword to the one true good they have found. picture it. i can almost see the 100-word drabble

raven/apple/darling

now THIS is just THE fairytale couple. the evil queen, the damsel in distress and the princess charming ALL holding hands and riding off into the sunset together. dappling on its own doesn’t do it for me but raven in the mix just makes everything gel perfectly. she’s the tomato in the ratatouille the cornstarch in the spring roll water, etc etc

darling/holly

this is one of those ships where i read a really convincing fic and the more i thought of it the more it just made sense. like they'd read swashbucklers and tales of courtly love together. holly would 100% write a darling placeholder in her self-insert romance fanfic pre-relationship as a way to express her feelings. darling would 100% find out and gently pull her out of the pit of sheer mortification she drilled into the ground to escape. also the height difference is a thing of beauty

safe from the polycule

duchess/poppy

they have one singular episode to their name and it was enough. it was Everything. the dynamic you can extrapolate from that one single interaction is so incredibly appealing to me. duchess’s bitchiness belied by her palpable air of vulnerability coming up against poppy’s spine of steel tempered by her skill in gaining perspective. poppy can challenge duchess into being a better person and duchess can be poppy’s character flaw like idk she just has shit taste in women that was the price she had to pay to be moisturized and unbothered by destiny. i just think they have the potential to be the unexpected, inexplicable power couple of eah

briar/faybelle

do i even need to say anything they had a whole movie to make their case. they’re rapple if rapple got their shit together before armageddon, with the bonus of a potential curse-breaking true love’s kiss for the fanfic authors to thrash between their teeth. truly unlimited. also unlike rapple where raven is 100% against being a villain and therefore it’s apple who has to do the mental gymnastics to open herself to the possibility of a relationship w raven, faybelle is just chomping at the bit to make her momma proud and presents a compelling perspective for the whole “falling in love w your fated nemesis” thing

blondie/cupid

they are icons, they are legends, and they ARE the moment. these two are so chaotic individually, what with blondie’s criminal skillset and habit of menacing innocent woodland creatures and cupid’s matchmaking powers combined w her shitty aim, that putting them together can only mean good things. there’s this whole element of their shared passion as public figures who at their best seek the truth and guide others through matters of the heart respectively that’s always interesting as a point of irony/obstacle when they start catching feelings and have to decide what to do with them. their joint youtuber/podcaster slay can level nations

[kimdokjas]

why you should read Mystic Prince if you enjoyed ORV

Mystic Prince / Prince of Myolyeong (묘령의 황자) is a fantasy and action-adventure manhwa with art & story by Aheuredal (아흐레달) and in my humble opinion, an absolute hidden gem. it's literally one the best manhwas i've ever read (among the top 2) and i've finally gathered my thoughts enough to try to articulate why i love it so much, and hopefully convince you to give it a chance!

here's the official summary on webtoon:

An immortal emperor rules the Kingdom of Yeol, a divine country blessed by gods with awesome powers. After a thousand years of peaceful rule, the time has come for a new emperor to be chosen. This is determined by a series of trials, in which twenty princes with special powers who have trained since birth must compete. As all princes of varying personalities and agendas gather to partake in the trials, intrigue and possibly even bloodshed seem all but certain. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the other princes, the Fourth Prince Jeok-yeon Ryu hides a secret he must guard with his life.

anyway i literally made a carrd for this, that's how much i care about this manhwa and i worked very hard on it!! you can find the carrd here*

(* also if you hate daily pass like me pls note that there's a fan translation as well! just keep in mind that some episodes have ost but you can find the links to youtube on the carrd as well. but if you enjoy it please do try to leave likes, comments, and a good rating on webtoon to support the creator!)

Mystic Prince is incredibly unique in terms of story and execution that i can't really compare it to anything else but here's why i think you'll enjoy it, especially if you also liked orv:

strong-willed MC who's not naturally skilled but works extremely hard

said MC is willing to suffer and hurt themselves to achieve their goals (aka kim dokja-esque tendencies)

seemingly cold and aloof ML with yoo joonghyuk vibes at first, naturally gifted and seems to look down on everyone

...but is actually head over heels for MC and just doesn't know how to express his feelings

ensemble cast of incredibly complex and well-developed characters with different personalities and motivations

MC seems a little dense at times but they have a tragic backstory that explains why they're Like That

incredibly bisexual vibes !! like literally off the charts

slowburn romance that is cooking up such a great meal

MC and ML have actually known each other for centuries

characters go through trials that involve risking death

extremely unique lore and world-building

i said ML before but there are actually multiple potential MLs with how much complexity all the character dynamics have

beautiful character designs (literally over 10+ within the main cast and they're all so unique)

evocative writing and heartfelt monologues that seem taken out of a book of pure poetry

narratively significant motifs of fire and water (à la orv's black/white and reader/protagonist)

profound and realistic depiction of the inner feelings and troubles that the characters go through

incredibly heart-wrenching original soundtrack! (actually made me cry)

some of the most gorgeous art i've seen in any manhwa (seriously pls just open the 1st episode and look at the first few panels)

[spoilers below for chapter ~10]

delicious gender fuckery

MC is actually cross-dressing afab (i personally hc them as genderqueer; korean doesn't have gendered pronouns but the official tl uses she/her pronouns)

bonus: they're built like a fucking tank (as seen here) like hello??? which is so refreshing to see for an afab MC

plus they're also canonically lacking in empathy but still deeply compassionate which again is really refreshing

i'm sure there's even more stuff i'm forgetting but these are just some reasons off the top of my head why i think this manhwa is so amazing

please do give Mystic Prince a chance, it's an absolute delight!! there are multiple beautiful covers but here's a couple of them, BE ART BAITED <3

and finally some of my personal reactions to Mystic Prince and also a note regarding the content warnings under the cut!

feel free to skip this part lol but personally when i look for recs, i love when people tell me their emotional reactions and how passionate they are about it! so if this tells you anything,

this is the ONLY manhwa to have made me cry so far (yes that includes the orv webtoon, but not the novel ofc) like actually ugly sobbing with snot and tears and everything lmao

(it's not all sad though! this manhwa will have you clutching your heart one moment and then cackling out loud the next)

and it's also the ONLY manhwa i've ever spent actual money on before the fan tl picked it up just so i could read the advanced chapters (i'm notoriously cheap so this says a lot imo)

and i'm not alone in this, every other comment on webtoon is people saying the exact same thing. the general consensus is that this is 100% a hidden gem (webtoon DP my behated why'd you have to shoot yourself in the foot like that)

also regarding the content warnings on the carrd: this was my first time making a list of cws (i don't think anyone else has made one yet?) and i was a little hesitant to add them, so i sincerely apologize if i missed anything!! if anyone else has anything else to add (cws or otherwise) then please feel free to send me a message and i'll be happy to edit it!!

(btw this was inspired by this post which is also a great summary for why u should read a cnovel called mist unlimited)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Just wanted to say that i shared your post about Miraculous being a cross between magical girl (team) and rom-com genres and the failings of it.

It spawned a fun debate as we tried to think of other shows who tried the same thing but stayed in the mid-zone of both genres. All we ended up with was Teen Titans (as you mentioned) and Inuyasha which don't quite fit the bill as they aren't exactly magic girl shows in the traditional sense before we swerved off to try to find examples of other genres that don't mess well but should.

Anyways, just wanted to thank you for the analysis. It spawned a fun discussion.

Thank you for this lovely ask! It really made me smile. I love knowing that my stuff is getting people talking about storytelling! The main reason that I run this blog is not to dunk on Miraculous, but to talk about writing.

I'm a big fan of the saying that "failure is the greatest teacher," but I also like to point out that it doesn't need to be your failure! Talking about the things a piece of media did wrong and comparing it to media that did those things right is one of the best ways to learn about writing and far more helpful than just looking at good stories as there are thousands of ways to tell a good story.

To give my two cents to your debate (without knowing the fine details) the first two seasons of Digimon have some similar dynamics of romance between various leads, though it's also not a magical girl team show and the romance is certainly not focused on like it is in Teen Titans. One magical girl team show that did a great job of having a romance plot play a big role in a story is - strangely enough - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

While it's not really a rom-com (though it could have been and worked just as well), the second season ends with a two-part episode called A Canterlot Wedding and it's very cute. The couple that's established in that special goes on to have several episodes focused on them and their romance.

The reason this worked so well was that the romance was between ponies outside of the core team, so you didn't have to figure out how to make friendship the most important thing while also making romantic love the most important thing. By making both forces important in their own ways, the writers were able to let the couple be extremely close and passionate about each other while also allowing friendship to have a key role.

That's the issue that you have to keep in mind if you want to try to blend the genres: figure out a way to add in a romance without messing up the core team and creating a setup where romance is making friendship take a back seat. You also need to figure out how to deal with someone external to the team warring with the team for narrative importance.

My two cents? Just make some of the magical girls lesbians, bi, pan, or any other sexuality that allows for same-sex attraction. That should allow you to have romance in your team without the nasty complication of trying to make a person external to the team super important. After all, what is a good romance if not a friendship with bonus features? I wouldn't be surprised if there's a story out there that has already done this (not sure if Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon count since I don't think that their romance gets a major story line around it, but if it does, then just mirror that!)

And if there's not a magical girl team show that has done this? Then I'm certain that you can find fanfic that has. After all, people tend to ship the characters who get the most screen time together no matter who the canon love interests are supposed to be. That's why shonen anime is dominated by yaoi ships. Those shows rarely develop the hetero love interest the way that magical girl team shows do and so people ship the guys together. Meanwhile, magical girl team shows assume that the audience wants a good romance and so the hetero love interests tend to feel more fleshed out.

[absolutebl]

Recommendation for something to watch and complete on a off day? I am also off today. Something soft and full of love preferably....

10 Soft BL's to Binge In A Day

(Since I don't sleep and watch high speed I binge full length Thai BL but I'm assuming you want something shorter than that, so I've limited myself to a 5hr runtime.)

1. Semantic Error (Korea Viki) - Sexy older boy discovers pouty younger boy has outed him as a slacker, starts out bullying him, accidentally falls madly in love. Korea hits it entirely out of the Parks by doing a university BL with everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. Korea's signature quality executed perfectly with added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full review.

2. Seven Days (Japan grey in 2 parts Seven Days: Monday - Thursday, Seven Days: Friday - Sunday) - one of the best live action yaoi mangas ever made. The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat, there’s still more kisses than Cherry Magic. Popular first year Seiryo has a policy of going out with any girl who asks… for one week. On a lark, third year Yuzuru tests to see if that policy also applies to boys. Seiryo agrees that it does. Along the way they accidentally fall in love. All the angst is just teen confusion. 

3. Our Dating Sim (Korea Viki) - I enjoyed every aspect from the casting to the very simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s very low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story. Do we call this cozy BL? Why not? This one is going to live in my rewatch pile, I can tell already, and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent. It perfectly suited KBL’s short-length tendencies. Full review.

4. Light On Me (Korea Viki - Korea does an elegant pastiche of traditional live action yaoi but all tropes are cleverly deployed to bolster one of the most riveting love triangles ever put on screen… and I don’t like love triangles. LoM strategically tailors classic BL tropes to 2 different semes resulting in pristine pacing, plot, and character development, explicitly serving narrative (not just to tick boxes). LoM is a master class in this trope drops. (If you write fanfic or romance you should study this show.) Full review.

5. Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Gaga & Viki) - I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must learn to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst, thirst, & yearning. Was there plot? Not really. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Did I enjoy the hell out of it? Oh yes. Full review.

6. HIStory 2: Crossing the Line (Taiwan Viki) - super low stakes sweetest story of the bad boy who falls hard for the senior on the volleyball team and then works to earn his love. You know it’s Taiwan so the kisses are great but in this case it also ends well. Only trigger is that the side couple is the stepbrothers trope, and some don’t like that.

7. Cherry Magic (Japan indie subbed) AKA Doutei dato Mahoutsukai ni narerurashii - the sweetest, fluffiest, most charming bit of adorable ever, full of found family and pastry and serious slapstick, the characters are utterly bonkers, but cute about it. 

8. Wish You (Korea Netflix or Viki, you want the movie version) AKA WISH YOU: Your Melody in My Heart - low stakes high pining romance about a pianist who falls in love with a busker who is on his way to being the next big idol. 

9. Restart After Come Back Home (Japan indie subbed or Gaga?) - this one is perfect if you just want a beautiful loving movie, and one that is well filmed and complex enough to appeal to those who don’t normally watch BL or romance (if you have a reluctant partner). 

10. You Are Ma Boy (Vietnam YouTube) - is there angst? Nope even what could have been angst (a gay idol) doesn’t materialize, it’s just cuties in a cafe confusing each other with cat & mouse games. The side het couple is a touch disturbing, tho. 

Also Old Fashioned Cupcake, it's a bit more complicated than soft but a FANTASTIC binge watch.

(list updated May 2023, not responsible for ones that come after that date)

[chahnniesroom]

tenderness | bonus scene: when we are in need

pairing: bang chan x female reader

summary: an awkward misunderstanding when minho overhears part of a private conversation between y/n and eunsung. set sometime around chapter 10.

chapter word count: 1.4k

warnings: suspicions of cheating, brief description of injury

a/n: honestly this scene might be a bit unexpected, but it was fun for me to write so here you go! also yes, the title is based on episode 8 of the last of us

tenderness masterlist | read it on ao3

Minho looks up from his phone when he hears the gasp and poorly suppressed laughter. A pair of young staff members that don’t look familiar are trying to subtly peek into one of the rooms. When they see Minho, one of the staff member’s eyes widen dramatically and they elbow the other trying to get their attention and tugs on their arm to drag them away.

Curious, he slows when he reaches the door that they had passed. He’s on his way to one of the practice rooms, but there’s still a little bit of time before he has to get there. The door to the room is partially opened, but not enough for Minho to see inside.

“Stop squirming, Y/n,” he hears Eunsung chide. 

Interesting.

“I can’t! This is so weird, you’re looming over me so much,” Y/n complains in response.

“Can you lift your shirt more?” Minho stops in his tracks at the sound of Eunsung’s request. “Just relax. You’re so tense right now that it’ll make it hurt more. Here, follow my breaths for a moment.”

“It’ll hurt anyway.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Just get on with it,” Y/n snaps, but her voice is shaky. Minho forces himself to move, silently opening the door further and slipping inside. He closes it behind him and turns the lock.

“It’s going to sting,” Eunsung warns.

“Oppa, hurry up-” she cuts herself off with a sharp intake of air. 

Minho has always liked Y/n, even though he’s not as close to her as some of the other members are. He knows that she’s hard-working, kind, and that she cares for Chan, enough to sacrifice her physical wellbeing for him. 

He doesn’t want to jump to conclusions, it’s just really hard not to be suspicious about what he’s overheard. By now, all of the members have heard about the rumours of a romantic relationship between Y/n and Eunsung, they’d probably have to be deaf and blind not to, but Minho has never even entertained the idea that there might be some truth behind them. 

Taking a couple of deep breaths to try and control his temper doesn’t work, by the time he makes it to the makeshift curtains that are blocking the pair from sight, he’s pissed. 

When he pulls aside the curtains, he’s ready to yell at them, but the sight before him makes him freeze, feeling like all the air has been forced out of his lungs.

Y/n is stretched out on a couch with Eunsung crouched beside her. She makes eye contact with Minho and immediately yanks her shirt down and attempts to sit up, but not before Minho catches sight of Eunsung’s glove-covered hand that’s dabbing a cotton pad against one of the neat rows of stitches that cross her abdomen. The quick glance was enough for him to tell that they look inflamed and incredibly sensitive.

“What are you-” Eunsung protests, before he also spots Minho. He pulls his hand out from where Y/n’s shirt had stretched over it and moves it behind his back, as if that would hide what’s going on.

“I could hear you two from the hallway,” Minho explains flatly. He can see the moment that Y/n plays back the conversation and how it would sound without any context, her face paling.

“No,” she says faintly.

“Yes,” Minho replies. “Next time, you should at least close the door.”

“You didn’t close the door?!” Y/n turns to Eunsung and smacks him lightly. “Ugh, hopefully nobody else walked by.”

“Ah,” Minho says.

“Don’t tell me-”

“There were a couple of-”

“Don’t say it! I want to live in ignorance.”

Nobody speaks for a second. Y/n is fiddling with the hem of her shirt, Eunsung is awkwardly squatting beside her, and Minho is still trying to process everything.

“Why not get Channie-hyung to help you?” Minho asks slowly. “You know he would if you asked.”

“They’re ugly.” Minho can tell that’s not the whole reason. After a moment of silence, Y/n looks away and admits in a quiet voice, “and… I know he thinks this whole thing is his fault. I don’t want him to feel even more guilty than he already does. I thought that I could take care of them on my own, but it’s been difficult.” 

“I can help you with them. It’s better to do it at the dorms where you have privacy.”

Y/n hums noncommittally. Minho knows that means she won’t accept unless he presses her.

“Y/n, you need to clean them regularly. And really- they’re not ugly. Look, when it heals then we’ll be matching.”

He tugs at the bottom of his shirt so that it untucks itself from his pants and reveals the scar on his abdomen. It had initially healed nicely, but became warped by his growth so that it stretches strangely across his stomach. When he first became an idol, he hated it, now he accepts that it’s just part of himself. Minho’s no longer self conscious about it around the boys or any of the stylists or other staff who have seen them changing, but he still isn’t keen on showing Stays any time soon, even though he knows that a lot of them are curious. He’s fairly certain that Y/n has never seen it before.

She stares at it for a long time. Minho can see that her fingers flex and he steps a little closer.

“You can touch it, if you want,” he says gently. He pretends not to notice that her fingers are trembling when she reaches towards him. Y/n’s fingers are warm, but Minho can’t stop his stomach muscles from tightening as she traces the shape of the scar, unused to being touched there by someone else.

“Sorry, does it hurt?” she asks in a hushed voice, withdrawing her hand. Minho releases his shirt and lets it fall back into place.

“No, no, it’s fine. It was healed a long time ago. It just feels like normal skin now, maybe less sensitive if anything.” When she doesn’t respond, he speaks up again. “Do you think it’s ugly?”

“No, of course not!” she says immediately. 

“Then why would yours be?”

“It’s different,” she insists, resolutely avoiding eye contact.

“How?”

“I- It- It just is,” she says stubbornly. Minho can tell that his attempt to change her perspective seems to be at least partially successful, even if she doesn’t acknowledge it.

“It’s cheesy, but it’s proof that you survived. You shouldn’t be ashamed of them.” To try and lighten the mood, he continues, “If you don’t believe me, 3Racha literally wrote a whole song about it.”

Minho’s efforts are rewarded when she laughs a little.

“Let’s just… keep going,” Y/n says. She lifts up her shirt again, but flinches slightly the second that Eunsung’s hand approaches. When he hesitates, she pastes on a smile. “Sorry, I’m fine. Please, continue.”

Minho looks around him, then pulls a nearby chair closer. He sits and offers a hand to Y/n. She murmurs a thanks and threads their fingers together.

Her grip firm, tightening whenever Eunsung hits a particularly sensitive spot, although her expression never changes.

Eunsung talks Minho through the whole process, making sure he understands each step. He shows Minho how to wrap the bandages, demonstrating the proper placement and how tightly they should be applied. Afterwards, Eunsung packs up his things and Y/n levers herself up so that she’s sitting upright again. Minho takes that as a sign that he should leave now, he’s already 15 minutes late to dance practice.

“Minho,” Y/n calls when she sees him shuffle towards the door. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” he waves it off.

“No, really. I appreciate it. And… Please don’t tell Chan, I don’t want him to worry.”

Honestly, Minho is tempted to do just that, but he stops and studies Y/n for a moment. She’s still not looking at him, cheeks coloured with embarrassment. Telling Chan would only serve to make him upset. He’d be frustrated that Y/n didn’t tell him, hate himself about the fact that she felt the need to hide it in the first place, then agonise over anything else she might be keeping from him.

It would do nothing to improve the situation and in the end, it’s not his secret to tell.

“As long as you promise to come to me, to get them taken care of.”

“I promise.”

tenderness masterlist | read it on ao3

[puppy-phum]

Pick Your Vice Versa Outfit ↳ Puen Pranon Edition

My Top 10 Puen Outfits for @stormyoceans​​​ [x] layout insp. [x]

+ bonus:

(some thoughts under the cut!)

am mostly writing these rambles for you monica, so i hope you’re looking over here. i was supposed to make this into a simple text post with a couple of screenshots but well, this happened instead. i hope you like it :’D

TOP 10 Puen Outifts explained:

10. Home Alone an all-black slacks and dress shirt + gray jacket -combo. i am obsessed with how puen looks in all-black here, especially when he takes the jacket off. he just looks So Good. i can almost ignore the pain and heartbreak. i can almost forget that talay is not there with him. tbh am questioning why he needs to wear something so sexy when he’s missing, yearning, longing, grieving, lamenting.  

9. Kannes Film Festival suit a green-brown striped suit with a black shirt under it. out of all the suits puen wears during his time in the other universe, i like this one the most. i also like the one he wears to their first movie premiere (the gray gradient is cool) plus the magenta suit he wears to the wedding, but i do not like his white slacks. tbh in that wedding, talay outshines him so i had to leave that one out. this one however comes with the most fashionable friendgroup, a beautiful bf (in navy blue), and a chest pin i find fascinating. am so sad we see so little of it.

8. The Yellow Jacket a simple jeans + a sleeveless shirt -combo with a light yellow jeans jacket. from my favorite episode, from one of my favorite scenes. i love the soft yellow on puen and how it makes him light up. he absolutely beams when they’re filming the interview video and he gets to tell talay how much it means to him that they got to meet. the outfit also seems to make him extra playful and i love it. a big minus is that this outfit is the one puen wears when we last get to see joob. 

7. All denim an all denim outfit with matching jeans and a jeans jacket + a one colored shirt under it. puen wearing denim on denim makes me go wild. every time i see this outfit i just drool a bit bc he looks so fine. what a man. i think he should wear all denim more often, mix it with all the shirts he owns, maybe get a couple of color variations; a faded blue, a darker blue, maybe an all-white one... the options are infinite. 

6. The Green Shirt a simple dark green long sleeved shirt and dark jeans. nothing special really but i love how the shirt looks on puen. it shows off his body and arms, makes him look fashionable but super cozy. his hair looks darker and the outfit comes with a plant! also am just very fond of the “love confession” puen makes in this shirt and the satisfied smile he gives when talay ends up looking at him with his mouth open. i support my menace of a man in all of his chaotic life choices. 

5. Moonchild a combination of black pants, a dark blue shirt, and a gradient black & white jeans jacket. the jacket here is truly a legend. i love it so much. but the outfit also works so well without the jacket, and i think that makes it even better?? two outfits in one! so handy. puen looks sinful in the plain blue shirt, and with the jacket on, just very cuddly. one hug is all i ask for, dear sir. 

4. The Suspenders black slacks with a simple white dress shirt and suspenders. someone really said here, “we’re going to introduce puen in the first part of the first ep and leave the whole audience reeling” and got away with it. they really had to give puen the most glorious five minutes of his life and i think i am still somewhere in the ditch bc of it. this outfit has everything; it looks snazzy, his waist is snatched, hair is styled, tits are out. it comes with the smirk of a pleased cat and the fond look he gives to talay’s antics, truly the best thing ever. 

3. First date dark jeans and a simple, v-necked red t-shirt. puen owns three variations of this same red shirt for all the big events of his own love life: the first date, falling in love in the glass house, and the big realization after the bucket hat. each shirt has different length sleeves: t-shirt, long, and sleeveless. my favorite is the first date outfit with a simple red t-shirt bc i get to see all of puen. there’s so much leg and the characteristic hand-on-cocked-waist -lean. i love the flirtiness. less is really more with this guy. 

2. Reunion tastes sweet light blue jeans and a sleeveless, light gray-brown top. it’s really a tie between this sleeveless shirt and the orange one that comes later but am obsessed with this episode so. also i love, love, love the scene where they’re sitting on the stairs bc puen’s hair looks like that. he looks so cool and pretty and cute, and then makes me so sad bc am so soft for him. someone really decided to put all the comfort in this one man and then dress him like this and yeah, i really get it talay, i also would count every minute without him. 

1. Drunken night out a dark blue button-up with black jeans. tbh the biggest reason i even wanted to make this list was this outfit bc how could you not mention it?? my absolute favorite outfit on puen hands down. the blue denim shirt! the skin tight jeans! the goofy smile and drunken stumble! the soft hair! gosh he looks so good but is also such a baby. i don’t want to talk about him sprawling on the stairs like that bc i have a reputation to keep. bonus points for the snacks bc puen gets to enjoy too little of those! and gosh don’t even get me started on those puppy eyes, my heart is melting. 

Bonus: Homecoming pajamas a set of light blue-gray pajamas, didn’t include this one to the list itself bc pajamas don’t count as proper clothing right? but god, i never really thought about what puen wears when he sleeps so i remember just squealing when i saw him like this. he’s so soft! so baby!! idk how talay isn’t just instantly cuddling the heck out of him. he looks so huggable it makes my hands itch. and he’s so happy like this! i bet he never wants to change out of his pajamas again.        

[charthanry]

OS2xBBS: My Overall Thoughts

This is severely overdue, but I wanted to distance myself from these episodes to make sure that 1) regency bias didn’t seep through and 2) my thoughts don’t get clouded by the cute, swoony moments (all the kissing!) in an attempt to mask deeper plot and characterization issues, and 3) with some difficulty, I try to set aside how desperately I wanted OhmNanon’s reunion with PatPran to live up to the OG series.

So, to address the last item, for the most part OhmNanon’s chemistry was still alive and well, save for a few hiccups. This is a testament to two very experienced professionals. That said, my biggest gripe with these special episodes was the treatment of the Pat and Pran characters that has nothing to do with the actors.

It didn’t feel like a true crossover of two beloved series but instead felt like Pat and Pran’s presence were more like afterthoughts thrown into an ATOTS script. Pat and Pran were merely there to serve Phupha and Tian’s story and that is were I take great issue. In this case, Ohm and Nanon should not have been billed as main leads but rather supporting characters that have extended guest arcs in an ATOTS sequel.

Maybe setting plays a larger role here. I’ve asked myself if I would feel this way if Phupha and Tian got thrown into Pat and Pran’s university life instead. But I can’t imagine a storyline where the inverse of what we got makes sense since PatPran are the more established couple and PhuTian have no reason to leave PPD.

My wish was that instead of a crossover, P’Aof would have let BBS stand on its own even if it meant we got two fewer episodes out of it. While we did get glimpses of Pat and Pran’s life three-years into their relationship, it felt watered down because they weren’t in their own environment but a borrowed one. So, really, more like seeing them while on vacation than anything truly concrete. A lot of ‘what have Pat and Pran been up to and where are they in their relationship’ was left to viewer interpretation, which is all fine and well if what P’Aof had to say about the state of their relationship made any sense.

Fake fighting and cute hijinks aside (Ohm and Nanon can sell these type of scenes in their sleep); what I’m after is the meatier stuff like the end of EP4, the entirety of EP5, EP10, EP11 and EP12. Where is the Pran that got choked up when Pat revealed he ran after him with his guitar; who gripped his hand when Pat volunteered to fake break up to win back Pran’s friends and wordlessly said I’m here to stay. Where is the “but I care about you more” Pran? 

And where is the Pat who communicated so openly with his man? Who served as a walking advertisement of what it means to be a soaring green flag to all those who came before and after him? Why was he reduced to an amalgamation of Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber? Make it make sense, P’Aof. Pat never, ever, not once, came off as a dumb himbo in the OG series, so why was he reduced to that here?

The script could have been so much better, tighter, just more substantial. And we can't even say that P'Aof didn't have the space to include a meaningful story for them; I call bullshit on this notion. There's so much story that you can tell in a single hour. We've seen him do it with the BBS pilot.

It felt like so very little thought went into the BBS side of the story. Does P’Aof not know how to write established relationships in a compelling way? I know this can't be true because he gave us EP12, but why did it feel like he phoned it in with these bonus episodes? It’s like P’Aof knew he had both boys for a limited time and just threw the entire kitchen sink at them and anything that stuck made it into the final cut. Like, he relied heavily on the actors to bring it home for him. And that really wasn't fair to Ohm or Nanon who really did the best they could with what they were given.

I mean, even if he wanted to show the (realistic) cracks in their relationship, there were so many better ways to show this than have Pran essentially running away, avoiding Pat (basically regressing to who he was pre-relationship) and then treating Pat like a bumbling Barney Fife for following him? There was no fire in either of them to fight for or with one another. They were shown to have grown complacent (and dare I say taking each other for granted?) which is so at odds with what we got in the OG series that I was confused at what I was watching onscreen. It did not feel like a continuation of EP11 leading to EP12, in fact it felt very disconnected from their origin story.

Pat Jindapat. What they did to my guy was a travesty. They took away all his depth and cast him in the role of a bumbling idiot. Don't get me wrong, OG Pat had his comedic moments but I felt like OS2 veered so far into the extreme of 'lets bring the funny' that it fell completely flat. It was NOT funny. It was disappointing and sad to see one of my favorite characters reduced to this cartoon version.

More than senselessly reducing Pat to cannon fodder to merely serve as comic relief, I'm upset that Pran's growth from the series was essentially negated to where he became, in some ways, unrecognizable. More than once, it felt like Pran was just tolerating Pat's presence rather than basking or gravitating towards it. Again, so inconsistent for a guy who longed for his man for literal YEARS.

Gone are the days of "I'm done adapting" or adoringly staring at the space Pat used to occupy with heart eyes. I just don't get how we went from that Pran to this Pran to the Pran who readily committed his life to Pat in EP12. This in-between Pran is a stranger to me.

Final words: I'm both grateful that we got extra scenes with our boys but at the same time wish P'Aof had left them untainted.

[lemotmo]

https://x.com/911TVNEWS/status/1806130243612356621

So kinda exciting to see this news about their return to set date. But

Ugggg I just saw that Kristen is still there and listed as co show runner with Tim 😭😭😭😭

That’s like an automatic excitement and expectation lowering experience. Truly don’t understand what it’ll take to get rid of her at this point. How many episodes or finale’s does that woman have to ruin before they finally say oh hey maybe we shouldn’t give you this much responsibility 💀💀💀

And if they let her anywhere near Eddie, Buck, or buddie, then I fear for us all because we all know what that’ll mean. Eddie’s trauma turned into a joke with him also some how being bunt kicked to the sidelines of it despite it being his trauma, No buddie, and more gross over sexualization of Buck, her three main specialties 🙃🙃🙃

Oh and as an added bonus more weird forced unearned parental forgiveness because found family is bad 🙃🙃😭😭😭

Hi Nonny!

Yep, exciting news indeed!!! Can't wait until they actually start filming and we'll start getting the bts pictures. I wonder what crazy speculations this fandom will come up with. :)

Listen, Kristen's name was there for season 7 as well, so it isn't new. Tim is first though, so he is the one who makes the final decisions. I don't mind her being there as long as she stays away from actually writing an episode. That season 7 finale was so bad. One of the worst finales out of all 7 seasons. There are a couple of things that she's good at when it comes to writing, but she has so many bad takes on situations and characters that she nearly always misses when she writes a Buddie scene or -as we have now discovered- a BT scene. That 'daddy' joke was the most misplaced joke ever in the history of 911. It was cringe-inducing.

As for the complex nature of biological family vs found family, I don't always agree with the biggest part of this fandom. We tend to see these situations from the main character's perspective, but I always make an effort to put myself into the shoes of the parental characters and the situation is never black and white. There are so many grey spaces in between. I'm not saying that we should automatically forgive all these 911 parents for how they have treated their children, but I'm saying it's important to look at the nuances and the layers in these relationships. And if the main characters find it in their hearts to forgive and/or move on, or if they do the opposite and completely cut the parents out of their life, I think it's that beat that we should follow.

Whether we like it or not, so many shows have main characters with problematic parents or so many main characters are problematic parents in some way. A good redemption arc is always great to watch.

But I think the problem with Kristen writing parental storylines like this is that she doesn't show us (enough of) the process of forgiveness. She doesn't show us what happens in between the scene of the mains calling out their parents for their shitty behaviour and the scene where they suddenly all get along. Well, we did get some morsels here and there, but to me it wasn't enough to completely redeem them. The only one that was kinda well done was Ramon having that deep conversation with Eddie about fatherhood (in season 6 I think?). That was a really powerful scene and I felt like Eddie and his dad were finally seeing eye to eye and understood each other. And then she wrote the season 7 finale and basically screwed all that progress up again.

I understand what she was trying to do with Chris's grandparents swooping in. She was trying to show us how Eddie's parents were now willing to help him get better. But this was so not the right way to do that. They could have shown us Eddie calling up his parents, asking for their advice or asking them to come over. They could have shown us Helena and Ramon sticking around for a while, helping Eddie out where necessary, while keeping Chris in his own environment. They could have shown us Helena or Ramon talking to Chris about him wanting to go to Texas, telling him that running away is not a good idea. Something like that would have shown us that Eddie's parents had grown into their parenthood and had realised that the way they treated Eddie in the past wasn't the right thing to do. It could have shown us that they were actively trying to do better. A true redemption arc. Instead they showed us them showing up unannounced, only really concerned about Chris and not Eddie. And then they talk Eddie into letting Chris go with them and take him away to Texas.

So yeah, I don't think 911 will ever be able to write a satisfying redemption arc for any of the main's parents. That's just a price we'll have to pay for all the great found family scenes we do get.

I hope that this made sense. It makes sense in my head, but I always wonder if it it makes sense to other people when they read it. :)

[accirax]

Despair Time Ch2 Motive Analysis

CW: Incredibly dark subject material– lots of death, murder, and suicide/self harm. Implied/mentioned homophobia, transphobia, and eating disorders. Major spoilers through Part 1 of Despair Time Chapter 2. Also it’s long.

Secrets, secrets, secrets! As soon as MonoTV revealed the secrets of Despair Time’s student body to us without telling us whose was whose, I started making plans to write a theory about who their true owners could be. And then the first part of the trial revealed way more than I thought it would. But, no matter! The trial isn’t over yet, and even if/when it is finished, I doubt they’ll spill all of the answers immediately.

In terms of gathering our truth bullets for this case, I saw some bonus material in the comments section of Chapter 2 Episode 8 that I think will give us a lot to work with. In case you weren’t aware, apparently if you go to the cast introductions of Despair Time’s Tumblr page, you can find a hidden quote on each of the characters’ profiles. You can read them all now if you wish, but I’ll make sure to write out the relevant ones when I talk about them later.

Notably, Min and Arei have both canonically said their quotes aloud within the duration of the story, while Xander has not. Does this perhaps indicate that he’ll say it later in a flashback or something? Will other characters say their quotes out loud in the future? Maybe, maybe not. That’s not super relevant to the discussion at hand.

So, let’s start by clearing the secrets that have been confirmed true by their (relatively) trustworthy owners.

“You took on your talent to earn money for your family. But you’ve since put them in a lifetime of debt.” We saw that this is the secret that Teruko received, and that it had Rose’s name on it. Rose later confirmed that this secret was true with detail, so this is definitely Rose’s secret.

“You hide your name and birthright to pretend that you aren’t the daughter of Mariabella Rosales.” Arturo openly revealed that this was J’s secret, and while she was upset, she didn’t deny it. This is definitely J’s secret.

“Blackmail, rumors, lying, stealing, slander. You did everything you could to ruin your sisters’ lives.” Arei outright confirmed that this was her secret to David and Teruko. Levi, the secret’s holder, backed that fact up during the Class Trial. This is definitely Arei’s secret.

“No one accepted you because of your identity. You were constantly mocked by your family, your peers, and everybody else.” Ace exposed this as Nico’s secret, and while, like J, they were upset at it being spread, they didn’t deny that it was theirs. Given that Nico has now come out with their identity, this is definitely Nico’s secret.

With those four obvious ones out of the way, let’s clear a couple more that I think have been attributed correctly.

“Your older brother died, but you don’t remember him at all.” Although J revealed this as Charles’ secret, he didn’t confirm that it was correct. However, the whole point of this secret is that Charles didn’t remember that it happened, and his later dialogue makes it seem like he’s started to remember that this is in fact, true. It’s not 100% guaranteed, but I’m almost certain this is Charles’ secret.

“Your younger sister killed herself because of you. You never should have left.” Knowing that the owner of this secret was an alive male, J deduced that this was Arturo’s secret, and Eden was eventually forced to back her up. While I still have some reserves about this secret, given that Arturo continues trying to deny that it’s his, it’s Eden’s story that really seals the deal for me. If this was not Arturo’s secret, Eden would have needed to fabricate the entire scene between her, Arturo, and Arei seemingly out of nowhere, and it would have to just happen to line up perfectly with the existence of the ripped note. If this was not Arturo’s secret, Eden would have to be pulling off a masterful lie for questionable gain, which seems implausible. Plus, Arturo lied about having a younger sister in the Trial, which implies he had something to hide. His quote, “You hated them, but even that doesn’t justify what you did,” fits this secret decently as well. Pretty sure this is Arturo’s.

“Your body is falling apart, but you’ll still refuse to eat.” Veronika guessed that this was Ace’s secret, and based on his reaction, it really seems like that would be the case. Nico also essentially confirming that it’s Ace’s is just another cherry on top. However, given that Ace didn’t verbally confirm it himself, I put it down here. I think it’s correct, though.

“Your mother is dead. You always omit that truth.” This is a unique one for this category because Whit actually did confirm that this one was his. It’s Rose’s actions that make this more uncertain, given that she never read the secret and therefore doesn’t know who it belonged to. Compared to other secrets, this one is pretty tame, so it’s possible that Whit could be taking advantage of Rose’s forgetfulness to claim this secret as his own. However, because nobody else claimed this secret, that means that he would have to know with enough certainty ahead of time that it belonged to Xander or Min (or theoretically Arei) that he could avoid someone else calling him out. His hidden quote, “We tend to idolize the dead,” also fits this secret, given that he’s spoken highly of his mother before. It’s probably Whit’s, but I wanted to examine all avenues.

“You exist to manipulate others. Everyone else exists to be taken advantage of.” Both Ace and Arei (if Ace is to be believed) called David out for being the owner of this secret, and Whit, via Charles, was eventually forced to admit that it was true. David’s own behavior after this secret was revealed also demonstrates the likelihood that this is true. However, we now know that David lies constantly. He could be rolling with the narrative that this is his secret because he believes it’s not worth it to fight back and reveal something potentially worse. Despite belonging to someone else in this scenario, I think that this secret would just happen to match up with David’s worldview as well, to the point of basically being two people’s secret. However, that would mean that Ace (and theoretically Arei) would have to be wrong, and that Whit, who claims to be a bad liar, would have to be lying. I think this is probably David’s, but if some plot twist occurs in Trial 2 Part 2, don’t say I didn’t see it coming.

“Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendships.” Charles claimed that this was Eden’s secret. While I don’t think she ever confirmed it, I personally trust that Charles is telling the truth (what motive does he have to not), so I think this is probably correct. Eden appears to care a lot about friendship, so this fits with her personality. “You can’t go back, no matter how hard you try,” Eden’s hidden quote, also feels applicable. However, for all the mastermind Eden truthers out there (I think there are a good number of you?), I think that this secret could easily be something that is true, but is also a soft ball compared to what could be said about her.

And, there we go! With ten secrets more or less confirmed, we’re left with six secrets to truly theorize about, and six students left to have them: Teruko, Xander, Hu, Levi, Min, and Veronika.

But, wait a minute! you realize. Wasn’t Xander’s secret already confirmed to be “How could I even select what secret to make your motive? Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault”? Well, here’s the thing. The only one who claimed that this secret was Xander’s was David. And, as previously established, David is a massive liar. Although he didn't say it, I get the sense from David’s behavior that he was trying to figure out where each secret lay before and during the trial, so that he could theoretically claim a different secret than was his and maintain his career. That’s why he asked to go last: so that he could have as much information as possible before making a bluff. In doing so, I think he may have claimed that this secret was Xander’s because Xander wasn’t there to tell the others that David was lying.

The way David said it, and especially the way that none of the other characters took the time to react to this information, make me believe that it was a lie. It’s like how they didn’t spend any time having Teruko and Eden dwell on Ace’s life and their relationships with him when they found him in the gym, because Ace wasn’t actually dead. If David really essentially revealed Xander as the mastermind in the middle of the Trial and that information was actually true, wouldn’t you have been curious how Teruko would react? I feel like they intentionally played softball with that “reveal” because it wasn’t true.

Additionally, I have my suspicions that another secret better fits Xander’s character. Namely, “You’re constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. It doesn’t matter that it’s not your fault, just that you didn’t go with them.” Via the story told in Bonus Episode 2 - Visiting Graves, we can gather that Xander’s family (which canonically includes parents and siblings) died due to some sort of disease outbreak while he was studying abroad. Thus, while saying that he “didn’t go with them” is sort of a strange way to phrase it, that part of the secret could be saying that Xander didn’t go back to Chariton to be with his family when they died. Or, it could be shaming him for not “going with them” to the afterlife. That would certainly fit in with Xander’s hidden quote, which is literally the definition of survivor’s guilt: “Survivor guilt (n): feelings of guilt for having survived a catastrophe in which others died.”

While I strongly suspect that this is Xander’s secret and that David was lying, I obviously can’t be certain that that’s true. It could be Teruko’s secret, given that we know that she has a sibling and has seen a dead body. It’s also possible that this could be Levi’s secret, as he is known to have parents and siblings. However, from the way he spoke about them, I feel like it was implied that they were alive. And, even if they weren’t, based on their rocky relationship, I don’t know if he would constantly blame himself. In Bonus Episode 1 - A History of Hope’s Peak, Min mentions that she has (likely alive) parents, while her sibling status is unknown. As far as I remember, not much is known about Hu or Veronika’s families, so it’s difficult to speculate about them.

That being said, I have a hard time believing that the secret “You only took on your talent to distract yourself from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun” isn’t Veronika’s. In Chapter 2 Episode 7, Veronika reveals that she struggles immensely with boredom, and got into horror because fear and thrill interest her. I could definitely see that, before discovering horror, injuring herself was Veronika’s “best” outlet to escape her boredom. Her hidden quote, “Once something is broken, it can never be pieced together in quite the same way again. The same goes for people” seems to match the worldview that this person might have had. Beyond that, I genuinely don’t know who else this secret would fit. Hu, Levi, and Min all feel like strange fits personality-wise to me– they seem pretty level-headed and aren’t big fun-seekers. Xander has knowledge of treating injuries, but I can’t see someone so tied to survivor’s guilt injuring themselves specifically for the sake of fun. Teruko is quite bandaged, but only because of her luck, and she seems to dislike being the recipient of such harm. Therefore, Veronika seems like the best fit.

The last secret that I have strong thoughts about is “Xander’s” secret, which we already talked about: “How could I even select what secret to make your motive? Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault.” I think that this is Teruko’s secret. Teruko has canonically stated that she doesn’t know what exactly her secret is. While she has a habit of keeping things from us, if she’s telling the truth, that lines up with “everything in your life being worth killing for.” From the very first scene, we also know that someone who wants to end the killing game has the goal of killing Teruko, no matter what. If the anti-killing game person is anti-Teruko, it stands to reason that Teruko is aligned with the killing game somehow.

I’m not entirely sure about this one, though, mainly because of the way Teruko acts. Wanting to stay in the school for the rest of her life doesn’t seem to align with the goals of the mastermind, AKA running the killing game. However, there are a couple of ways to avoid this problem. The first is the obvious solution that Teruko just forgot that she was the mastermind. This has happened in canon and fanon Danganronpa alike, so it totally could happen again. Alternately, this secret doesn’t actually say that its bearer is the mastermind, only that the killing game is their fault. If the real mastermind began the killing game in order to murder or otherwise get revenge on Teruko (potentially for all the so-called terrible things she’s done or been a part of), this could be Teruko’s secret without her actually being the mastermind.

For what it’s worth, though, I think it’s decently likely that the mastermind is a girl. In A History of Hope’s Peak and Visiting Graves, Min and Xander talk to “Unnamed Student,” who has a consistent voice between the two episodes. While I didn’t mention it earlier, MonoTV also has a hidden quote: “Her name is Mai Akasaki.” Looking at this hidden link, we can also see that Mai looks the same as the person Teruko saw in her flashback after Xander died. I would be willing to wager that this “Unnamed Student” is Mai, and that “she” is therefore a girl. The dialogue implies Mai was in the same Hope’s Peak class as both Min and Xander. Although this series follows the class of a collegiate Hope’s Peak several decades past Makoto, a typical class of Ultimates has sixteen students, eight men and eight women. Thus, if Mai was in Xander and Min’s class, but now is not in the killing game, there’s probably a female intruder who took Mai’s place. That person may be the mastermind. Seeing that Teruko is a girl, Teruko could fit this intruder role.

Of course, the gender balance could be thrown off given that we have at least one nonbinary student, but it’s still worth mentioning. Additionally, I can’t deny that this could still be Xander’s secret, or even someone else’s entirely. Whether David makes it through the second Class Trial or not, I feel like we won’t be getting the truth out of this one for a while to come.

Guessing who owns the last three secrets between Min, Hu, and Levi is where it gets murky. “You always treated the competition with ruthlessness, but poisoning them to win was a bit too far, wasn’t it?” probably gives us the most to work with. I don’t think this would be Levi’s secret, given that I don’t know what “competition” he would have had in becoming a personal stylist.

From A History, we know that Min did have to compete in order to become the Ultimate Student. However, she also tells Mai that “it seem[ed] highly unlikely that [she] was number one in the nation in terms of raw scores”, and that she “doubt[s she] was even the top scorer on that test.” The use of “unlikely” and “doubt” make it sound like she didn’t know exactly what would happen with the results, and therefore that she didn’t take decisive action against her competitors to secure them. However, she could also be concealing the truth from Mai. Or, if her benefactor poisoned the competition for her, perhaps that could count as her secret as well. She might then agree that it was a step too far, though, especially given that her hidden quote is “I wanted to save you.”

Otherwise, this secret could fit Hu pretty well. The arts are always a competitive field, so I could see Hu having competition for being the top zither player. Her hidden quote, “I want to pay for what I’ve done. But even then, I still want to live” could totally match up too. She feels bad about poisoning her competitors, but it’s not like she wants to be poisoned herself to atone for it.

Then there’s “You were quite the hopeless child. Dying once wasn’t enough, so you attempted suicide three times.” While it might seem like Hu’s “even then, I still want to live” could fall in line with this, I don’t see how attempting suicide would leave her with anything to pay for. It would only be if Hu’s suicide attempts drove her loved ones to such despair that they decided to take themselves out too. But, in that case, wouldn’t that probably be mentioned in the secret itself? However, I do think it’s worth noting that Hu’s refusal to share the “harm yourself for fun” secret could hint at her having a past history of self harm.

Min and Levi seem to have both been pretty hopeless children. By her own admittance, Min grew up quite poor, and her parents seemed to care more about her Ultimate potential than her as a person. This could have led her to become suicidal. Her dialogue surrounding these events is perplexing– she says that she obsessively studied for her entire life to pass the Ultimate test, and that she never considered failure as an option. If she’s telling the whole truth, then perhaps she had such tunnel vision on her goal that she never would have tried to take herself out of the game. Or, is she only using such strong language in hindsight, when she had more faltering steps along the way?

Levi also had a very rough childhood, claiming himself that he, his parents, and his siblings were bad influences on each other. It’s possible that their influence caused Levi to feel that “dying once wasn’t enough,” and separate instances of abuse or arguing drove him to the edge several times. His hidden quote, “I always believed that a person is defined by their actions alone. But maybe that’s just a poor excuse for my heartlessness” doesn't totally seem to fit this secret. However, if he was dishing out abuse as much as he was taking it, maybe he drove his family to the point of harming themselves, too. It’s quite sad to think about, but that’s true of whoever holds this secret.

And, finally, “You’re a murderer, and you hold no remorse.” This secret is so vague that it’s really hard to get a grasp on it. I want to eliminate Min from this one, simply based on her behavior in the first Class Trial. If she had killed someone before with no remorse, would she really act so shocked and afraid when she wound up killing Xander? And, how and when would she have been driven to the point of killing someone while she was devoted so fiercely to studying?

However, Levi and Hu don’t seem to make much sense for this one either. Levi seems to be a pretty regretful person, and talking about his “poor excuses for heartlessness” only adds to that reading. I could see Levi having killed someone, but it’s harder to believe that he wouldn’t feel even a little bit bad about it. Same with Hu– if she wants to “pay for what she’s done,” wouldn’t that mean that she feels bad about her hypothetical murder?

If I had to guess at this point, I suppose I would say that the competition was Hu, the three attempts were Min, and the no remorse was Levi? But the dead end on the remorse secret makes me feel like either I’m missing something, or I was wrong about Teruko, Xander, Veronika, or somebody else.

Sorry if this wasn’t as conclusive as you were hoping for– I mostly wrote this all out just to sort out my own thoughts. I only caught up with this series, like, three days ago? So it’s definitely possible that I’m forgetting or missing something. Or, that I just came upon common consensus, and that everyone already figured out and agreed on all this weeks ago. Still though, thank you so much for reading all the way until the end, and if you have anything to add, please feel free to respond in some way. I would love to know what you think!

[foxglovegames]

DEV LOG: July 2023

Just a short update from us to reflect on the very busy last two months, and what's coming next!

We spent most of this month taking a break. (Releasing a game is a lot of stress and nerves, but we're super thankful for the reception!) Melli and I took a vacation to Norway (yay), and it was our first time meeting in person since 2021. Sadly, we both got sick on our last day (not so yay) but it was still awesome to get to see each other again.

This past week, we've focused on writing for the DLC and getting the missing CGs from Stephanie x Jace's route done. They will be added in a patch update in early August, alongside some other bug fixes. (If there's anything you'd like to report, it's best to shoot us an email at foxglovegamesteam(@)gmail.com.)

We also wanted to quickly answer some FAQs about the DLC and other things. Read more under cut.

When will the DLC release?

This year. We're not giving a date until we know for certain.

How long will the DLC be?

Depends on how many of the bonus stories you play.

How many bonus stories will there be?

There's a Beach Episode, where you get to see the twins and all the love interests interact (with variations depending on your couple) - we know a lot of people have been asking for more twin moments, and this should definitely satisfy that! There's also short wedding-themed stories. And lastly, love interest POV stories where you get to see the love interest's thoughts on their relationship with the protagonists. They all vary in length/word count.

What will the DLC cost?

TBD. But it will be similarly priced to other visual novel DLCs.

What should I do until the DLC releases?

Cry until it comes out, of course. You could replay the game, drop us a review on Steam, and support some other awesome indie devs (there's so many cool projects). Our Patreon is on break this month, but starting next month, we're going to back to posting weekly previews for Trouble Comes Twice (DLC) and our upcoming projects like NOVISSIME. So you're more than welcome to subscribe and join us over there! Any funds we get from patreon go towards paying our artists for the DLC, and developing the demos for our new games.

Our askbox also remains open for anyone who's curious about anything or simply wants to chat about TCT!

Besides TCT, what are you working on next?

Our fantasy-adventure visual novel NOVISSIME remains in production, but there won't be a demo this year as we need more time for the gorgeous art.

Melli and I will instead focus on planning/writing for a third visual novel project! It's a supernatural crime drama, starring a hot-headed demon cop (male protagonist) and a vengeful vigilante vampire (female protagonist). We can't say much about this project yet as it's still so early in development, but we love the concept and we think you're going to love it too when the time comes to reveal more!

Thanks for reading!

It's nerve-wrecking to release a game, especially when it's your very first and it was in development for so long. Your warm reception has made the work well worth it though, and we're very grateful that we are able to continue making more games for you guys to enjoy.

[the-badger-mole]

Hi :D

I feel like I already know this one, but what's your anti otp/notp

You'd be correct. I don't hate any ship as much as I hate Kataang and Maiko, so now that I've named the obvious ones, I'll give you a couple bonus.

I hate Rory and Jess from Gilmore Girls. I wasn't a fan of Rory and Dean, but Rory and Jess are almost at the same level of hate for me as Kataang (I know! Le gasp!) I don't like the trope of the guy who hates everyone except his love interest, and Jess is that taken to the extreme. He's rude to literally everyone Rory cares about, but because he's read the same books as her and he's kind of nice to her, she fell for him? Also, he's garbage to me forever after The Party Incident. Which is never brought up again. I know he "made good" in the revival series, but it's too late. Plus it's mad creepy that he hasn't moved on from her in almost 2 decades. Did he ever have any other romantic relationships after her?

Also on my NoTP list is Ted and Robin from HIMYM. This is an example of why you should be very careful when committing to an ending for a story you haven't finished writing yet. If Ted and Robin had happened in season 1 or 2, I'd have been on board(ish). It would have been the predictable choice, but it would've been fine. But then the show spent over a decade explaining why they don't work as a couple, and building up Tracy, who managed to deliver and deliver hard in just a few short episodes, only to force Ted and Robin back together. What's going to be different this time? Robin is still pretty young. Is she just done globetrotting? Is Ted going to give up his career to follow her? I know his kids are older, but they'll still need him around until they're at least half-way through college. Is he going to try to be there for them from Argentina or Japan or wherever Robin ends up? Is he going to be okay living abroad when they start their own families? The show ending on them felt like a waste of 10 years.

Send me more asks from the list!

[mx-piggy]

just got around to watching the Ghosts Christmas special/finale. yesterday i saw previews to posts i assumed were negative, so i went into it with the thought i might not enjoy it. i have yet to find out what the negativity was in reference to- i'll go looking through some posts in a sec to look at the reaction to the ep, though i've already skimmed an angry post about it from someone i follow. but maybe the issues i have with the episode are different to others people's. i don't know yet.

anyway, here are my fresh from the oven thoughts about the episode. my opinion may be altered by reading some other thoughts on the ep but everything i put here is my uninfluenced thoughts.

first off, i cried. very bittersweet way to end the show, but honestly i didn't think it was a bad ending. it strikes a good balance for me, where Alison still sees the ghosts without having to take care of them like she used to. but i guess it's weird considering the previous episode where they try to get Mike and Alison to stay.

i don't want to be negative about this show that i adore and will no doubt rewatch and at some point write some fanfics for. technically speaking, though, i didn't really enjoy this episode as much as other episodes. i didn't like the choice to focus so heavily, for the first two thirds of the episode, on Mike's mum and the exorcism fake-out that i doubt worked on anyone watching. the build up was so unconvincing it seemed intentional, but regardless it felt kind of like a waste of time and an idea that should have been done in a different episode, not the series finale. it felt like the ghosts were sidelined in an episode of a show named after them. this bad pacing and focus on a weak story wasn't entertaining.

i also didn't laugh much at this episode, which is surprising, because normally Ghosts is good at balancing humour with emotionally resonant moments. it's frustrating because not a lot of this episode felt particularly emotionally resonant either because Betty takes up so much of the episode, and i wish that the weight of the ending didn't feel like it had just been tacked on to the end of an episode that only felt like it functioned as a finale in the closing few minutes. it barely even felt like a Christmas episode.

i would have preferred if S5 E6 had been the finale and this had just been an epilogue that could have been a fun, sweet Christmas episode rather than a Christmas episode and a finale, neither of which it feels like for most of its runtime.

again, i'm not unhappy with the choice to move Alison, Mike and Mia out of Button House, but i wish it hadn't felt so underdeveloped because of what else the episode chose to do. like i wish the rest of the episode didn't feel so tenuously connected to the Mike's mum story that took up so much time. i get that the thing with Mike's mum was there to make the ghosts realise that Alison might need some space away from them, but surely there was a better way to do that that didn't involve centring so much of the episode on a supporting character?

if it were me- an amateur writer- who was tasked with writing a Christmas finale and special, i have a (possibly worse) idea about what i would have maybe done. so here's my pitch: an episode that takes place when Mia is a little girl. there's a cold open where Alison or Mike make the typical parent mistake of dropping Mia on her head at some point during her first Christmas. everything's fine. cut to next Christmas, she takes her first steps. a ghost makes a comment that she should stop seeing them now. a couple/few Christmases after that, she starts talking about the ghosts. it's clear she can still see them. alternatively, Mia ends up having some kind of accident when she's long since outgrown seeing ghosts, and then she ends up seeing the ghosts (bonus points if Julian sees it happen and alerts Alison, and the ghosts are forced to question if Julian would harm a child). i just want this kid to see ghosts.

now there's ample opportunity for the ghosts to have the screentime and focus they were robbed of in this episode via having some sweet interactions with her. the Captain can still have his little arc of learning how to talk to a child in a way that isn't so stiff. Kitty learns to overcome her jealousy of a literal child, and she's the most enthusiastic auntie ever. Julian tries to be a good role model for his niece (this would also be related to another thing that i would have wanted in the episode, which is the idea that Rachel comes to visit or gets in touch with Alison or something). that said i don't know if it'd be appropriate for Julian to be around a kid for so long given the trouser situation he has going on. with Fanny, it'd be sweet if she was happy to see a girl grow up so free of the restrictions she grew up with. Robin could tell Mia all about the ghosts who've been sucked off. honestly that episode sounds like it'd be messy, but with an extra half an hour i think it'd be doable.

you can still find a way to kind of justify Mike and Alison leaving if you want to, by them wanting Mia to have a more 'normal' upbringing, or them wanting to put away some money for Mia, possibly? but honestly i kind of just like the idea of Mia having an interest in the ghosts' and the house's history from a young age and doing something with that, like writing a book about the ghosts or something. maybe that's all a load of crap, but i might write a fic based on that idea if anyone would like to see it. if i wrote a fic it wouldn't be constrained by festive obligation either. so let me know if you'd be interested in that (i might start outlining it even if someone tells me it's shit and i should never write professionally).

i can honestly say that this is the first episode of Ghosts that i haven't really enjoyed. it's saying something about how great this show is that it takes 34 episodes for it to get to a point where i think it's a letdown. it's just unfortunate that the dud had to be the last ever episode.

going into writing this review i didn't think i disliked this episode and its choices as much as i did. and honestly i don't hate this episode as much as i do other bad finales (looking at you, How I Met Your Mother). i still love this show and i think that everyone involved in it is so great at what they do. i'm not passionate in my dislike of the episode. i just think it was kind of disappointing that the episode focused so heavily on a supporting character and neglected most of the main cast in a way that a good final episode shouldn't. so many other episodes of the show would have been far more satisfying send-offs. i might just ignore this episode on rewatches to be honest.

feel free to chat with me about the ep and your thoughts on it, or your thoughts on my thoughts. comment, reblog, send me asks. i'd just love to discuss it with you guys!

[hughungrybear]

Thai BL Favourites List Tag Game

Why would you inflict this torture and cruelty on me, @lost-my-sanity1 😭😭😭😭

Favourite BL:

I said it before and I'll say it again, SOTUS holds a very special place in my heart. Say what you want about the storyline, plot, and actors (although, I will have your head if you come for my beloved Singto). I truly believed that the Thai BL landscape changed remarkably (for the better) when GMMTV released SOTUS in 2016. If you have been watching BLs as long as I have, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

[Image source: Icvr)

Favourite pairing:

Pat and Pran (OhmNanon) have revived something in me that I thought died with so many underwhelming BLs that had gone before them lol (hello, BBS Episodes 4 and 5) 😅 Although MLC's Heart and Li Ming (GeminiFourth) also had me in a chokehold.

More underrated actor:

Sing Harit. If you don't believe me, just look at his very extensive filmography. Also, Slam Dance, The Revenge, and Not Me. Enough said lol

(Image Source: My Drama List)

Favourite character:

In a Thai BL? Again, @lost-my-sanity1, just why???? Have I offended you in some way? Well, if you really must know then Sun (Chimon Wachirawit) from My Dear Loser: Edge of 17. Look, the way that Sun just accepted the fact that he'll never be number one - not with his family or with his beloved In (who sends Sun mixed signals every chance he gets, played by Pluem Purim), sends me into a downward spiral.

(Image source: Pinterest)

Another character that I love is Oh-aew (played by the ultra-talented PP Krit) from I Told Sunset About You. I'm just soft for characters who are oblivious that they are in a toxic relationship, okay? 😅

Favourite side character:

Definitely Pearmai (Aye Sarunchana) from Be My Favorite. Look, it has been a staple in a Thai BL to have (cis) female villains who are caught in a love triangle with one of the main characters (looking at you, Plern Pleng/Aim Satida of Together with Me). She admits she's not perfect and also cries when she found out that Kawi and Pisaeng are a thing. However, she didn't let it affect her friendship with the two. She even turn down Not's not-so-subtle invitation to be an effing rebound guy ("I'm disappointed, not desperate" will be forever etched in my mind).

Favourite scene:

I have so many. I can't just pick one 😭😭😭😭

Favourite line:

Have I talked about the script from Tale of a Thousand Stars? Because I really need to talk about how each effing episode is a nugget made of quotable quotes (For Pete's sake, from the very beginning, Torfun's "Where we are happy, we are home" sends tears to my eyes).

Most anticipated bl and why:

Only Friends because Jojo Tichakorn. Also, have you seen 3 Will Be Free???

Healthiest relationship in a bl:

PatPran. No explanations are necessary.

Most toxic relationship in a bl:

LOL. Where there is MAME anywhere near the writing and production crew, there is guaranteed toxicity in the plot (and not in a good, entertaining way — more like "you should have gotten a restraining order yesterday").

Guilty pleasure series:

I have to admit that I have watched 2 Moons 2 an embarrassing amount of times when there was basically only 2gether The Series in my semi-decent BL list.

Bonus! Most underrated series:

Dark Blue Kiss. I do not get all the hate TayNew has gotten over the years, but really the Kiss Me, Kiss Me Again, and Dark Blue Kiss were all worth watching simply because you can see how Pete and Kao grew as a couple.

(Image source: Pinterest)

Also, 3 Will Be Free deserves more YouTube views.

That's it. That's the post.

And since misery loves company, I'm tagging @dribs-and-drabbles, @telomeke, @ellasaru12, and whoever wants to undergo the same torture as I did when answering these questions lol