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dangermousie · 6 months

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2023 End of Year Post - kdrama edition

Yes, we have a some of December left, and I want to check out Death's Game but whatever. I got time for this now and not sure if I will have later so here goes.

This is only going to cover kdramas that aired in 2023; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it’s not on the list. This was an excellent kdrama year, the likes of which we hadn't had in a long time.

DRAMAS WATCHED

In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality so pls don't come for me, fans of some popular dramas that are on my nope list. Also, I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list.

33. The Escape of the Seven - this is so aggressively stupid and mean that it feels like the makers are playing a practical joke seeing how much their audience will take. This has a season 2 coming, so the answer is a lot.

32. Behind Your Touch - the FL gets superpowers by touching people's and animals' butts. Yes, you read this right. Do I really need to add anything?

31. King the Land - yes, it was a hit. Yes, it stars popular actors. I HATED IT LIKE IT TOUCHED MY BUTT TO GET SUPERPOWERS!!! Plastic people in paint by the numbers story, with about as much genuineness or retability as a barbie aisle in walmart. I never expect much from Yoona so whatever, but to have LJH go from The Red Sleeve to this boggles the mind.

30. Mrs Durian - this is so dumb that I think I lost a few IQ points watching this, but its insanity becomes entertaining - I mean what kdrama can you name where a daughter in law declares her love and lust for her mother in law at a family dinner?

29. The Matchmakers - there is nothing offensive about this drama at all. But there is nothing in the least interesting either. If elevator music took drama shape, it would be this show.

28. Destined with You - sorry, Rowoon, I am still fond of you, but you are two for two in drama duds department this year. This is a drama where I loved ep 1, liked ep 2, was indifferent to 3 and...you get the point. Each ep was worse than the one before, and I bailed before I was dragged into a cosmic singularity.

27. Oasis - great first two episodes. Unfortunately it was not a two ep show. The performances are solid but the story is just not there - the effect is like a fancy chef making an amazing sauce to put on pig slop.

26. Boyhood - it's not you, it's me in action. I can see why people would like it but a 34-year old playing a high schooler in a Weak Hero Class 1 Slapstick Edition is no go for me.

25. Castaway Diva - it's so precious and kooky in the most annoying ways, with the most well-adjusted abused castaway in history. I like magic realism when done by Jorge Amado, but this ain't Amado.

24. Island - it had a good concept, good cast and fun visuals but the execution deserved one of ML's swords through the neck.

23. The Worst of Evil - if I wanted an American show, I'd watch one. Very solid performances though.

22. Song of the Bandits - period edition of what I said about The Worst of Evil.

21. Welcome to Samdalri - and goodbye to any hope of emotional involvement.

20. Joseon Attorney - I have yet to like a single sageuk centered around a profession and this was not an exception. I guess it could be worse but it also could have been so much better.

19. Twinkling Watermelon - everyone loved this drama. Everyone except for me. It's the kind of precious that sets my teeth on edge and I couldn't stand half the main characters we were supposed to root for. I guess I like my fruits to shine steadily.

18. Our Blooming Youth - probably the biggest disappointment on this list. This is not a bad drama by any means, but with that cast and that story (I loved the novel), I was hoping for a memorable sageuk not merely all right.

17. Vigilante - it has the emotional complexity and nuance of a punch to the throat but it gives us quasi-gay openly-murderous dudes going after psychos and Yoo Ji Tae holding feral Nam Joo Hyuk by his hoodie at his feet.

16. The Forbidden Marriage - expected nothing but it was a surprisingly enjoyable trifle of a costume drama that was also quite pretty.

15. Arthdal Chronicles: Sword of Aramun - a hot mess but such an entertaining epic one. And it gave us TWO Lee Jun Kis in period gear and who am I to cavil at the bounty of God?

14. The Story of Park's Marriage - it's a trifle, a souffle, so light it might blow away, but it keeps my attention and is so fun and sweet.

13. My Lovely Liar - a huge surprise, that manages to mix a murder mystery and a romcom, and shocked me by showing Hwang Minhyun can act.

12. Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 - the original ToNT was my fave drama of its year and I did not think it needed a sequel. But this is not a sequel but more of a side-quel and is such a total delight with brotherly love, adventures, romance and hijinks. It's a joy.

11. Perfect Marriage Revenge - it's actually very hard to do a soap right but this slim 12 ep drama managed. So fun, so crazy, such a good ship!

10. My Lovely Boxer - not really about sports, but about two broken people finding salvation because of and in each other. Also, if you like age gap romances, this is delicious. Sort of loses steam by the end but c’est la vie.

9. The Secret Romantic Guesthouse - this was a sageuk that was not on my radar with a bunch of actors I was not familiar with but it took my heart away. A good plot that was perfectly paced, characters and ships I adored, a logical ending. This is one of the biggest positive surprises of the year for me.

8. Tell Me That You Love Me - a slice of life remake (sort of, it's more "inspired by") of my favorite jdrama of all time. It's not as good as the jdrama because nothing could be, but it's an aching lovely story with some incredible performances.

7. See You In My 19th Life - funny and romantic and haunting and hopeful and odd. This was one of my favorites of the year.

6. Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow - it's rare for me to like a (1) sequel (2) with FL actress change (3) that is a Hong Sisters drama. But this was such a gorgeous, surprisingly achy story of love and loss and love regained with some cool monster fighting in the middle. Between the two seasons, this is the first Hong Sisters' drama I enjoyed from beginning to end in well over a decade.

5. My Demon - so tropey (chaebols, supernaturals) but it proves that these tropes are popular for a reason. The chemistry is fire, the story is unpredictable and the whole thing is an addictive delight. A rare drama where I like each new ep more than the last one.

4. Goryeo Khitan War - an old school sageuk in every meaning of the term (no romance, no eye candy, lots of bearded men, battles and politics), this feels like watching an epic movie more than a drama. The vast cast all earns their place and the performances (mainly from character actors given a chance to shine) are incredible.

3. Call It Love - two very very damaged people finding love and healing with each other. This is a narrative very hard to do to my satisfaction but when it's done well, as here, there are few things that can hold a candle to it.

2. My Dearest - a masterpiece of cinematography, narrative, performances. This is an old-school epic romance in the best sense of the term. If it doesn't make you swoon or break your heart, there is something wrong with you. A story of two untraditional, strong-willed, flawed people who fall in love in the middle of the horrifying Qing invasion of Korea and have to deal with all that the world throws at them, this is a bona fide masterpiece.

1 - Moon in the Day - who knew my favorite kdrama of the year will star a store brand Domyoji from Extraordinary You and an actress I was never familiar with. But this part period/part modern fantasy tale of doomed cursed lovers is everything I knew I wanted and everything I didn't know I wanted but did. Two lovers where their love did not save them and in modern day it might not again, has got me obsessed the way I haven't been in years.

FAVORITE DRAMA

Moon in the Day - if there is such a thing as a drama made perfectly for me, this gorgeous, emotionally haunting, utterly romantic, twisty tale is it.

WORST DRAMA

The Escape of the Seven. This drama is proof that demons exist and not sexy ones like Song Kang but horrible nasty ones who delight in the torment this hot mess inflicted on its viewers.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Do Ha, Moon in the Day - a Silla general and a consummate killer who committed atrocities on the orders of his monster father and yearned to die for them, who found the meaning in life in loving his enemy but it did not make him better, a man so obsessed he literally was around for 1500 years of horrifying ghostly existence and still went "worth it" for a woman who killed him as long as he knew she loved him while she did it. He's intense and competent and beyond fucked up and has never had a normal day and I love him so so so very much from a safe distance.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Gil Chae, My Dearest - she starts out as vain and spoiled but the horrors that break so many others bring out all her fierce survivor potential and she becomes such a force of nature - capable of incredible love but also sacrifice and strength and compassion.

Runner Up: Shin Hye Sun's reincarnator in See You In My 19th Life - quirky, damaged, strong, so odd and so vulnerable at once.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

There are a lot of characters who fit that category (King Injo in My Dearest? My God) but the crown belongs to So Ri Bu from Moon in the Day. You think you've seen abusive parents but until you've seen a man abuse his son his whole life and then continue for 1500 years after his death, you ain't seen nothing!

FAVORITE SHIP

The doomed by the narrative OTP of Moon in The Day. Only thing that's better than enemies to lovers is enemies while lovers and their impossible relationship where her killing him is a supreme act of love and his refusing to let go is so strong that he stays around for 1500 years watching her, helpless as she dies over and over again, is everything you ever want.

Runner up: Jang Hyun/Gil Chae, My Dearest. They are so strong and so damaged and it takes them so long to figure out what they feel and what the other person feels but their love and sacrifice and complexities are perfect.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Kim Shi Yeol/Hong Joo, The Secret Romantic Guesthouse - an assassin bodyguard pretending to be a carefree scholar and a widow of the man he killed to protect his king (and whose life was destroyed as a result.) I enjoyed the main OTP of this drama but I was utterly and completely unhinged for the secondary couple.

I'd have probably picked Rang and his mermaid from TotNT 1938 even over them, but they really were the main OTP of that drama.

NOTP

King the Land couple seems like an easy target but honestly, they are both so terribly bland and antiseptic and marketing by committee, they kinda deserve each other. So I am gonna go with Destined with You, one half of which thinks supernaturally roofying someone into loving them is cute and the other half thinks dating one woman while wooing another is totally a-ok. Ugh.

FAVORITE SCENE

There is no competition for the scene in the slave market in My Dearest, where Jang Hyun finds Gil Chae - the way he screams and tries to clutch the hem of her skirt will live in my head forever.

And the scene where he 'wins' that horrifying bet, or the scene where she finds him in a pile of bodies - they are as good also. Or when he fights off a squad to protect her even though he's sick. That whole drama is perfect.

Runner up: the scene of Do Ha executing Ri Ta's family, covered in blood, as she looks at him from the crowd in Moon in the Day.

Or the scene where he talks about how he cannot live as a person but at least maybe she will kill him and he will die as one. Or when her confession in the past intercuts with his walking in the present, or when he comes home in his bloodied armor and she finds he has a fever and it's the first tender touch he's probably ever known. Her murdering So Ri Bu saying she knows she's going against filial piety in loving her parents' murderer, the way they hug, both bloody, as he says "let's live." The way she says she can't go on as she's hit rock bottom and he replies she cannot quit because she must accompany him to his rock bottom now. Honestly, the drama is a font of amazingness.

Also, the opening scene of Goryeo Khitan War or the scene of Yang Gyu ordering to shoot the captives and having to do so himself.

The OTP meeting again at the intersection at the end of ep 1 of Tell Me That You Love Me. SHS comforting ABH as he's having a traumatic breakdown in 19th Life. The love-making scene in Call It Love. There were a lot of great scenes this year.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Lee Jang Hyun, My Dearest - is that even a competition? He's flawed - vain, often emotionally closed off, not great at processing emotions, lashing out when hurt. He is also incredibly heroic in a real, knows the cost but bears it, kind of way. Whatever he does, he commits utterly but it's never without understanding the cost. He felt both larger than life and utterly real. He went through hell and maintained his soul and the way he loved Gil Chae was breath-taking to behold.

Runner Up: Yang Gyu, Goryeo Khitan War - an experienced military commander who wins an impossible victory even as it ravages his soul. Competence is sexy as fuck.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Rang, Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 - 1938 really was Rang's chance to shine and he took it. For a character I started out disliking in the original, he really stole my entire heart in this drama. I am so glad he got his happy ending with his brother and his girl.

Runner Up: Crown Prince, My Dearest. He started out as a sheltered, spoiled aristocrat, convinced the world owed him for existing. He grew up slowly and painfully into an amazing man. And then was murdered for it and I cried.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Arthdal - it leaves the story at a good stopping point but it's very much a "world in flux, adventures and conflicts continue" ending and I would love to see more of these characters. I know we won't but it would have been nice.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Behind Your Touch - should have been snipped at birth.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Vigilante - I don't mean it had scissors taken to it because it's not cdrama and there is no NRTA, but this drama would have benefitted from being longer. I mean, I love fights and gay polycules as much as the next tumblr person but a bit more character development would not have come amiss. (ahaha - I said come. Leave me alone.)

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

I don't care about cops/doctors/trash collectors/whoever - workplace drama centering on their "cases" needs to die. I hate procedurals from any country and Korea is no exception.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Supernatural critter devoted to their OTP with all the power of their long life.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Our Blooming Youth - it was far from terrible but it was a giant meh. I was so excited to see Park Hyung Sik in a sageuk (that wasn't the hot mess that was Hwarang) and I adored the source novel. It actually started well and then...it's like Revenge of the Beige!

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

I want to say Moon in the Day but to be honest, I was excited by posters and trailers so it wasn't wholly a surprise despite not having much of an opinion on the actors before I saw them. So I am going to say My Demon. I was bored by the trailers, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a Kim Yoo Jung drama and before this year I would have said Song Kang was an incredibly limited actor in everything I've seen him in and not appealing to me at all. And here I am rabidly rabiding for this drama!

If I am not limiting myself to dramas but can use this for actors - Hwang Minhyun in My Lovely Liar. I genuinely did not think the man could act and then he gave such a pitch-perfect, nuanced performance out of nowhere!

2023 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

I have actually watched all the kdramas that aired this year that I wanted to check out except for Evilive. I am saving this for when I have time.

BEST NON-2023 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2023

I don't know if I'd say it's the best but Say You Love Me (2004) with Kim Rae Won as a quasi monk seduced away from his true love by an evil older woman was a hell of a ride.

MOST ANTICIPATED

Love Song for Illusion (Lady assassin falls for her royal target who has two personalities), Captivating the King (lady spy falls for her royal target who is tormented) - notice a theme? Also Flower that Blooms at Night because Honey Lee in a sageuk, The Life of Mrs Ock (Lim Ji Yeon in a sageuk), The Love Story of Chun Hwa (an "erotic" sageuk, hmmmm, what?!), Hong Rang (Lee Jae Wook in a super angst sageuk), Queen Woo (that cast and set in Goguryeo!), Wong Kyung (about Lee Bang Won's wife and I love the cast.) Basically, if it's period, I am there with bells on.

#kdrama #year in review #my dearest #moon in the day #call it love #tell me that you love me #goryeo khitan war #tale of the nine tailed 1938 #tale of the nine tailed: 1938 #The Secret Romantic Guesthouse #my demon #the story of park's marriage contract #perfect marriage revenge #Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow #see you in my 19th life #my lovely boxer

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deltafallers · 5 months

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DELTAFALLERS EP 1: MASTER LIST

1 - "THE BEGINNING"

2 - WHERE THE [FIFTY PERCENT] OFF AM I?

3 - I KNOW KARATE!!

4 - THEY'RE BONDING!

5 - THEY'RE NOT BONDING.

6 - IT JUST GOES ON FOREVER!!

7 - WHAT A JERK.

8 - I WALKED IN A STRAIGHT LINE!!

9 - CLEVER LITTLE CLOWN

10 - MY FRIEND SEAM

11 - ITS NICE TO MEET YOU!

12 - HES NOT THAT BAD-

13 - DON'T TOUCH ME.

14 - UNKNOWN CALLER

15 - GARBAGE NOISE.

16 - NOWS YOUR CHANCE TO BE A BIG SHOT!

17 - I USED TO BE A BIG SHOT...

18 - AGAIN, DON'T TOUCH ME-

19 - OUT OF THE CLOSET WE GO!

20 - HE REALLY IS FROM BEFORE OUR LAST ENOUNTER...

21 - THE ALLURE OF CYBER CITY!

22 - ALRIGHT, IF THIS IS THE GAME YOU WANNA PLAY...

23 - STOP BEING A [BURDEN] AND HELP ME!

24 - A FAMILIAR TEMPER...

25 - I HAVE TO FIND HIM.

26 - THE ADDISONS P1

27 - THE ADDISONS P2

28 - YOU CAN'T EVEN SAY SORRY...

29 - NOW YOU'RE A BIG SHOT...

30 - HE'S ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS.

31 - A SECOND CHANCE.

32 - DO WHAT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY, JEVIL.

33 - THANKS FOR LISTENING.

34 - FORGIVENESS

35 - LETS [CRASH A PARTY]!

36 - LET'S START SOME [CHAOS]!

37 - WE'RE LIVE!

38 - PARTY CRASHERS

39 - HE'S CALLING!

40 - HIS EYES...

41 - USEFUL [SILLY STRINGS]!

42 - A GENUINE SMILE.

43 - [HELLO, OLD FRIEND.]

#deltafallers #deltarune #deltarune chapter 1 #deltarune chapter 2 #undertale #jevil #deltarune comic #spamton #spamton and jevil #comic

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decalcominia · 4 months

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I really wanted to talk about the infamous 'if I shall die I'd at least die in your hands' scene in ep. 26/27, specifically wangji's umbrella because it had already amazed me the first time I watched it and now that I watched it again, I have even more thoughts on it. I'm pretty sure it has been talked about at some point since the fandom has been around for a while and is quite big but I just had to write about this because it is such a great scene for me so here we go :)))

I was beyond speechless when I watched this scene for the first time and saw this umbrella because it's genuinely such an insane way to portray what's going on in lwj's mind. First, we have the colours. The umbrella in white, a colour that is widely associated with purity and good, and then its opposite, black, a colour associated with bad and evil. It seems almost scattered across the umbrella and looks like it's spreading in it and 'tainting' the white.

Then we have the colours representing each character; white represents lwj because besides it being prominent in his and the lan clan's colour palette, by practising the traditional (and therefore approved) cultivation method, he represents the right path. black represents wwx, not only because of his general aesthetic but because the black on the umbrella resembles the resentment energy he controls, a method that's been disapproved of and condemned as evil and wrong.

lwj grew up in a clan with 3.000 rules determining what's right and what's wrong, giving him a clear understanding of what to do and what not. He sees wwx practising evil cultivation, which he has been taught is bad, therefore wwx must also be bad, right? But he knows wuxian, he knows he has no evil in his heart and would never hurt someone unjustly so how can he be bad?

Considering all of this, I feel like the umbrella visualizes lwj's indecisiveness and how wuxian caused wangji to question his ideals. stirring up his mind with different beliefs, different colours and blurring the lines between what lwj has been taught as good and bad, right and wrong, black and white.

now this scene. I might be reading way too much into it but I feel like the rain itself could be interpreted as the disapproval of the cultivation world and so we have wwx and the remaining wen clan members standing right under and being drenched by it since neither the mere existence of the wen clan is approved nor is wwx's actions to help them. As opposed to this 'single-plank bridge' where they have no shelter to hide under, lwj is covering himself with the umbrella he holds on to while trying to convince wuxian to stop, and is safe from the rain.

until they continue talking and lwj understands the intention behind wwx's actions, the importance of it, why it makes sense and why he might be right, which leads to him letting go of not only wwx but also his umbrella, and with it, the beliefs that had been instilled in him.

he no longer hides from the rain and lets himself get drenched as he lets go of those "set in stone" beliefs and finally accepts that there is no true right or wrong, good or bad, just like his brother had told him.

At the same time, I think it also visualizes his acceptance of his feelings toward wuxian in general like he finally opens himself up to those feelings and I can only praise and thank them for creating such a beautiful and poetic scene, it is genuinely one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen in media.

I'm not entirely sure if any of this made sense but this was my interpretation of it and if you have read all of it a big thank you and kisses <333

#really no idea if it makes sense #thanks to my shitty memory i cant tell if it makes sense in the plot as well #i feel like i just kept repeating myself jsjsjs #but they were insane for this #and i'm thankful for that insanity #the symbolism was symbolisming #the untamed #cql #mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan zhan #wei ying

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whateverisbeautiful · 4 months

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♥️ Ranking Richonne

#27: To Replace The One You Lost (S7E10)

Ok the Richonne content in 7.10 was a feast. I loved every moment Rick and Michonne were on screen together. So honestly, this #27 spot can kinda go to all their moments in the ep, but if I have to single out one…it’s gotta be the cat moment. 😍 It’s a great 'anniversary' gift after going canon in 6.10 and meaningful in so many ways...

(Side note: seeing Jadis again in this 7.10 ep 😒…I very much hope Jadis and Michonne’s katana have a reunion in TOWL. Especially because I've always believed that Jadis saving Rick in 9.05 was just a secondary outcome of Jadis saving Jadis. She needed someone to give the CRM and it worked out for her to give them Rick. Had that helicopter demanded she be alone for the pick-up, Jadis' track record shows she would have acted in self-interest and left Rick behind.

And for Rick, I believe he'd feel that cruelly keeping him from his family for years is worse than leaving him to die by that river - so this one time, plz let Richonne's wrath prevail over their mercy whenever they confront Rick's captor Jadis)

First, I adore Rick and Michonne's adorable hug after making a deal. I love how they get wrapped up in each other and seeing both their smiles. 🥰 Being in each other's arms is where they’re most meant to be, I’m just saying.

And then to make the hug even better, Rick kisses Michonne's forehead and it’s just the sweetest. I love how they stay in the embrace as they walk off too. Before they leave the frame, you can visibly see Michonne's relief that her man made it out of this wild day, even if not completely unscathed. And it'll always be a nice touch that Rick is still so thoughtful to embrace Michonne without getting his bloodied hand on her.

And then there’s the cat sculpture. 🤩

I will forever love how despite all the eventful stuff of the day, Rick still had the mindset to notice that cat in the junkyard and recall the rainbow cat from season 3, and want to gift this sculpture to Michonne.

So Rick and Michonne are standing by the trunk of the car - which reminds me of another scene by a trunk in Clear (that will certainly show up on this Top 30 list 😊) And their Richonne tones are so sweet as they lay out their plan together. Rick is so refreshingly hopeful saying how he doesn’t know where they’ll find guns but "that’s never stopped us before." And Michonne’s smile when he says that is precious.

And it hit me that while there’s a general sense of how things have never stopped them before, it also could be a specific reference to Clear because back then they were similarly going out to look for guns and then there weren’t any at the station like they hoped but that didn't stop them because they still managed to find a ton when discovering Morgan’s arsenal. While that might be a more subtle Clear reference, the next cat reference is very clear.

Rosita wants to go already but Rick says hold on and jogs over to the cat sculpture even despite his injury. As I’ve noted before, I’ll forever love this man turning the trash heap into Pottery Barn for his woman. The way Rick's romantic heart continuously courts her is perfection and I love that getting things for her and putting a smile on her face is always a priority. The cute way he walks over too - I know Michonne was appreciating that walk. 😋

I love the way he hands it to her and how she asks, "why are you…?" in an amused smitten way. And I just noticed that Rick has this little laugh when Michonne asks this. He’s so happy, and it’s sweet how often Rick's happiness is Michonne-related throughout the series.

It’s already so nice that Rick says he’s giving this to her "because we won." Like what a man to be like I don’t even want to leave this place before celebrating this win with my wife. And again, I have always felt that it’s the "we" moreso than the "won" that really has him on a high because they really defeated that Winslow walker as a team.

And then because they always top themselves, Rick takes this to maximum heights of perfection when he says, "and to replace the one you lost."

It's just beyond meaningful. I love that he and Michonne are sentimental people and that he reveals that he remembers that rainbow cat from such a foundational time in the building of Richonne. Clear is so special to me so I love that it was referenced and that that time is clearly special to them too.

Again, think about how much craziness they’ve gone through since Michonne took that 'too damn gorgeous' cat home back then, and yet it's still stored in Rick's memory. I love that this was written to imply Rick still remembers it. The rainbow cat had to do with her so it’s unforgettable.

And also just the line "to replace the one you lost" is powerful because those two lost so much but truly in finding each other Rick and Michonne replenished so much too.

Rick is man of the year every year to me. And I love that he says this knowing he just made his wife's day. It’s his proudest accomplishment of the day. 😊 And Michonne’s sweet little smile as she holds the cat statue is just heart-melting. I absolutely love seeing Michonne be loved on and courted and valued, and Rick is so good at doing that.

They’re both so good at loving each other cuz it’s what they’re made to do. And it’s great she gets this confirmation that she’s been important to Rick for a long time. Rick stays telling on himself, and I'm here for it.

I also love how content Rick is when he says, "let’s go" to the group before they leave the junkyard. Like only after this w with Michonne and most of all putting a smile on her face, that’s when Rick's officially like alright now we’ve done all the things we need to do. 😌

For Rick, this was an apocalyptic date basically. Like first a little wild walker game and then winning a carnival prize for his girl. I adore that it is that man’s mission to give Michonne whatever she likes and just restore anything she’s lost.

This cat moment is one of the sweetest and most couply moments between them, and I will forever be touched by it. All throughout this ep, it was so evident that a husband and wife were up in this place.

Rick and Michonne are so proud and honored to be together, and I appreciate that they expressed gratitude, adoration, and care for each other every chance they got. 😊

#richonne #top 30 #number 27 #reveling in richonne #rick x michonne #twd 7.10 #twd towl #the ones who live

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jq37 · 5 months

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 1

We're SO Back

School is back in session y’all!!!!

Fantasy High has returned to us after a long break and I am thrilled to come out of my recapping hiatus to bring back the Report Card for Junior Year! You know I could let my favorite chaotic high schoolers go un-analyzed!

This episode wastes no time in getting started so neither will I. Brennan makes what I think is a very strong narrative choice by starting us in media res at the end of a classic Bad Kids adventure. It is the summer between Sophomore and Junior Year and the party has spent the last four months hot on the trail of the dreaded Night Yorb.

We catch up to our Intrepid Heroes in the Red Waste and they’re trying to catch up to the Night Yorb which is a big, eldritch, manta ray like monster who threatens to plunge the entire world into darkness, creating a very slow (but still effective!) apocalypse! The Night Yorb is flanked by its groupies, made up of members of the many cults dedicated to it (collectively known as “Yorbies”).

As I said, the Bad Kids are hot on its trail, in (and on) the Hangvan. Gorgug (who has been leaning more into his Artificer vibes lately) has outfitted the top of the Hangvan with a solar lasso that can be used to capture and reel in the Night Yorb so that Fig and Adaine can defeat it with a magical sigil. I’m gonna quickly run down where everyone is and what they’re doing:

Adaine and Fig are both standing on top of the Hangvan in order to spring the sigil when the time comes. Adaine is also joined by Boggy and a new addition, Moggy the Doggy (aka, Mordekainen’s Faithful Hound), which is a very round, very cute, very invisible Pomeranian looking dog.

Gorgug is also up top with them because he’s manning the solar lasso.

Fabian is inside the Hangvan along with Baby (aka Wretchrot, aka Fig’s screeching blood imp who has no mechanical benefit unless she takes another level of Warlock as Brenan keeping reminding us) and Ecaf, a mirror with a sultry voice that Fabian is *heavily* flirting with, much to everyone’s discomfort. It’s tres Narcissus. (Also, ha, Face backwards. I see you Brennan).

Kristen is in the back with Fabian and Riz is driving, even though he is WAY too small to effectively be driving a Gorgug sized van.

The Hangman–Fabian’s trusty motorcycle/hellhound–is out in front of the Hangvan.

Also Squeem is on the roof with the others! Beloved, fan favorite Squeem!

Yeah, so this episode does a thing of pretending like we’re jumping into the last episode of an arc that we’ve seen every episode of and introducing characters in a very Sam Reich, “He’s been there this whole time” way even though it’s their first appearance. I think it’s very funny and it reminds me of that Community episode where they’re all flashing back to episodes that never aired. But anyway, I mention this so that if I mention a name and you’re like “Whomst?” it’s probably just a bit, you’re not forgetting a major character.

Anyway, we’re joining this chase already in progress which means our kids are hurt and down spell slots but their opponents are as well. The distribution is pretty uneven–Adaine is way less hurt than Fabian and Kristen for instance, which honestly checks out (curious how they decided on that though).

Because this episode is just one big battle sequence for the most part, I’m going to follow the precedent I set in the recaps for The Seven and just give the highlights in bullets and then do an analysis on where all the Bad Kids are right now at the end:

Murph comes in hot, using his first action of the new season to shoot his gun and doing 30 points of damage with a 27 to hit. New year, new Murph!

Siobhan invokes the corn cuties debacle from fight one and all the falling off the tables that happened. Clearly, a bit of Adaine’s oracle energy is rubbing off on her because the next thing that happens in that Fabian decides to jump on top of the Hangvan to cast Faerie Fire on the Night Yorb (which has shrouded itself in magical darkness), rolls the first Nat 1 of the season, absolutely eats it, and gets run over by Riz–narrowly avoiding going down. He’s ultimately fine–The Hangman comes and picks him up–but it’s not a very auspicious star from Master Fabian.

Emily and Murph have a cute moment of womping Brennan back to back by using Silvery Barbs to make him reroll two attacks on the Hangvan–one of which is a crit–and then giving each other the advantage on the next roll.

Kristen is a real pillar in this encounter–holding up the Circle of Power spell that allows her friends to ignore big chunks of damage that absolutely would have dropped them. But throughout the entire fight, her patron goddess, Cassandra, keeps trying to talk to her and Kristen keeps leaving her on read–we’ll get more into that in a bit.

Adaine comes in clutch with a Nat 1 portent roll to stop the NIght Yorb from resisting Gorgug’s attempt to reel it in further. Truly, the best time to roll a Nat 1 in this game. Divination Wizards are awesome!

We learn that “Don’t Speak of the Night Yorb” is more than just a silly bit when Fig realizes that saying its name makes it heal up which isn’t great because they’ve been *very* cavalier about invoking its name.

Squeem gets a big emotional goodbye with Gorgug on top of the Hangvan, heroically leaps off to fend off some Yorbies…and then rolls a 2 and totally faceplants. No! Squeem! Beloved fan favorite Squeem! They already had to revivify you once!

On the Night Yorb’s turn, Brennan does an attack and shakes so many dice that it sounds like maracas. It’s 61 points of damage and squishy wizard Adaine goes down, but everyone else stays up–large in part due to Kristen’s aforementioned Circle of Power. (Siobhan, describing how bad her saving rolls were zings two separate friends saying, “It was Fabian level nasty. I fucking Murph’d it.”)

Luckily, Fig and Gorgug are up on the roof with Adaine so she does not go sliding off the van when she goes down. They catch her before she can fall.

At this point the Van has sustained a lot of damage so Murph reminds the teacher that they have homework/Brennan that they have to roll for a mishap. That turns out to be the breaks blowing out. Now, all the Van can do is accelerate! It’s just like the movie Speed!

Two more characters who we totally know and have been here this whole time show up to help–Balthazar and Duggan McCann! A cool grizzled veteran and a centaur cowboy. Riz immediately starts doing cool guy banter with them because he’s somehow convinced them that he’s cool (which he is for the record, just in a completely different way lol). Unfortch, Baz almost right away gets eaten by the NIght Yorb. Who’s gonna take care of his litter (?) of parrots?????

At this point in the fight, everyone gets a ping on their crystals, reminding them that school starts in three days. This stresses everyone out more than the fight that they’re currently in.

Fig brings up Adaine with a Healing Word but she immediately has to do Wis save with the rest of the party. She and Fabian fail, but once again Fabian is saved by fear negating effects of his dad’s eyepatch. So Adaine starts to have a panic attack about the fact that she’s fighting the Night Yorb while standing on the roof of a moving vehicle which, real talk, very normal and valid reaction. In fact, probably concerning that she’s reached a point in her life where that *isn’t* the default reaction.

The Hangvan is coming up on a jump it’ll have to make to continue following the Night Yorb (and it can’t even try to stop because the brakes are cut). Riz fails the roll which means that the van is probably going to fall on its side. Adding insult to injury, a pillar of rock falls and is going to crash into the van, doing even more major damage.

Fig watches this, and almost dissociates, feeling the weight of the entire summer taken from them to do this quest. Feeling so so tired. Feeling the fact that even if they win, they’re just gonna have to go back to school and adventure some more. A piece of magic she’s been holding inside of for a long time flickers and she hears an enticing voice whisper in her ears. “If you would take me, you know what you would save.” She smells a sour, curdled scent and she knows that if she says yes, she can save her friends. Maybe there’s another way, but she just wants this to be over. “I’m yours,” Fig says.

There’s a flash of “lemony, yellow, creamy” light (hmmmm) and the rock stops falling. The Hangvan starts righting itself.

And then there’s a sick gurgle from Fig’s stomach.

Uh-oh, gang.

For those of you who are new to these recaps, every week, I give one PC Detention and put one on the Honor Roll for their in-game actions. We’re starting off hot this semester with:

Detention

Kristen Applebees for Being a BAD Friend to Cassandra

Like, OK. Faith is complicated. Kristen’s relationship with religion is complicated. Being a cleric is complicated. But notice that I didn’t say being a bad *cleric*. I said being a bad *friend*. To be clear, she’s also being a bad cleric, and I’ll talk about that later. But having understandably conflicted views on religion doesn’t make sliding in your Fantasy Airpods while the being who is essentially a lonely teen girl and who is keeping you and all your friends alive tries to talk to you NOT seem like a giant dick move. Come on girl, get it together.

Honor Roll

Brennan Lee Mulligan for Being a Great DM!

I realized as I was writing this that I’ve given Brennan Detention but never Honor Roll so he’s getting it today. It feels so good to have him back in the dome with the kids and he drew me back into the world, right away. I’m so psyched that we have a full season of this ahead of us!

CHARACTER CHECK-INS

Like I said earlier, because this is the first episode back, I want to really quickly check in with all of the Bad Kids and where they are, character-wise. I’m going to do this roughly from least concerning to me to most concerning to me.

-Adaine: Adaine seems like she’s living her best life. She has her frog! She has her dog! Her character art is so much more chill and she’s coming into her own. This season, I’m hoping we get to see more of her relationship with her sister (yes, I’m a predictable bitch. Sue me) and with Zayn (who is also living at Mordred in her tower) who I think has a lot of potential to be an interesting supporting character with more spotlight. But yeah, go Adaine!

-Gorgug: Gorgug is making his parents proud (not that they ever weren’t) by taking another artificer level. He’s not a 7/3 Barb/Art split. I love that he’s gone from calling himself dumb to taking on this very technical skill. He also apparently has a homunculus? Fascinated to see what that looks like.

-Riz: Now that his big investigation is over and he knows his dad is a cool secret agent, Riz has switched his subclass from Inquisitor to Arcane Trickster which means he’s got tons of gadgets and that he’s a ring guy now. Love that for him. He’s very much not a chill person though so I’m very curious to know what the next thing he’ll latch onto is. He the kind of guy who always need something going on, you know?

-Fabian: Fabian is a fancy, dance boy now (6/4 Fighter/Bard)! But that doesn’t mean he’s any less athletic. I mean, have you ever seen a male ballerina? He still is, however, a total disaster. And I mean that affectionately. I mean, his current love interest (?) is a mirror that is showing a fuzzy reflection of his own face. My guy, what are you doing? Although I will say, idk if that’s more or less toxic than him dating Aelwyn.

-Kristen: Kristen. GIRL.

OK, so first of all. There is nothing inherently wrong with getting super jacked and like, respect. But in this context it feels like a red flag. Like the kind of thing you do because you’re on the rocks with your girlfriend or if you’ve recently broken up. I will be *very* interested to know what Tracker is up to as she’d not mentioned in this episode. Last we heard, she was out doing cleric stuff for the Moon Goddess, right? Long distance can be hell on a relationship. (Also, idk how seriously we’re supposed to take this but Ally mentioned the one shot it happened in in this episode so Kristen was also totally trying to flirt with a college girl in that college visit oneshot. Brennan shut it down pretty quick, but it very much did happen).

Also, speaking of cleric stuff, Cass. I feel SO bad for Cass. Like, a god isn’t owed followers, but Kristen chose that role. She CHOSE it. This isn’t like a Helio situation. Cass wasn’t pushy. She specifically says in this episode that she doesn’t want to be pushy. Hell, she says in the episode where she’s introduced that if people don’t want her around she’ll go away. But Kristen chose to be her follower, knowing what the implications of being the sole follower of a goddess is. Cass is made in her image. That’s how deeply entwined they are. Her goddess is made in her image. In The Seven, we learn that Ost’s god hasn’t talked to anyone in years. Kristen has Cass coming in like a mom offering snacks mid battle and Kristen is leaving her on read! It’s honestly kinda hard to watch her be so blithely dismissive of someone so dependent on her even though it’s played off as kind of a joke. I felt like I was watching a loyal puppy get kicked every time they interacted.

And like, I said this before, Cassandra is made in Kristen’s image. But specifically, she looks like Sophomore year Kristen. Still all skinny and still in her tie-die shirt and shorts. There is a definite vibe of almost wanting to kill the part of yourself that embarasses you, you know? It feels like she's being mean to Cass but also to herself.

Also, mechanically speaking, it’s wild to be just ignoring the person you’re getting your powers from like this. Like, this is real Wizard behavior. You don’t have to answer to anyone if you studied for your magic but you absolutely do as a cleric. Does Kristen even want to be a cleric? It honestly doesn’t seem like it. She’s shown a pattern of behavior of chafing at every god put in her path, even the ones she literally made up. I thought Cass might be the end of her searching, but we’re right back on the Merry Go Round. The party absolutely needs a healer though so idk how she deals with that.

I saw the snipped clip of Ally’s interview about Kristen’s arc this season involving what happens when chaos stops being cute, and I can def see seeds being planted. Fascinated to see how they explore that because this feels like a real ticking time bomb of a situation.

Oh also, her Dex went DOWN????? GIRL!

Fig: I had a lot more to say about Kristen but Fig has to be last on the list for making a deal with a literal devil lol. Like, classic Fig though, right? This WOULD happen. Emily talked about potentially retiring Fig and getting reeled in by some enticing plot hook from Brennan and it feels like we might be about to find out what that is. I won’t speculate on it too much right now because we’re presumably about to find out but there were a LOT of yogurt themed adjectives when that magic activated which has me very split on whether this is about to be deeply concerning or deeply silly. Or both! It could be both!

Random Thoughts

I LOVE that we have a proper theme song now. It feels so fitting and I love the opening art and it’s all so cool. The show’s so profesh now!

Also, shout out to @caitmayart for making the new art! It has the quality of a professional and the extra love of a fan. It’s my fave D20 official art so far.

I don’t know when this feature was added but I love that there is a full transcript you can pull up and search and jump to that time in the video now. That’s gonna be SO useful for me.

One of my favorite things about Adaine is that she’s generally polite but occasionally she’ll just absolutely verbally decimate someone so casually and this episode she said to the Solesian Yorbie they encountered, “What movie theater were you assistant managing before you decided to become a Yorbie?” Brutal.

Also love how vehement she was about the fact that Brennan couldn’t touch Moggy, even when she went down. You are absolutely NOT gonna kill that dog Brennan.

“Object interaction, touch Gorgug’s foot.”

Fig asks Gorgug how they can heal a van and he says, “Take it to a shop for 3-4 days.” Zac, underrated comic genius.

I really can’t overstate how funny it is that Fabian spends most of this episode flirting with his own reflection. I’ve said this many times but something I love about Lou is that he’s not afraid to make Fabian deeply uncool, even though Fabian’s whole thing is being as cool as possible.

Kristen says she needs to have an intense conversation with Cassandra when the fight is over and what does that mean? Like a breakup conversation? Which I guess would kill her because then she’d have no followers again? I am, como se dice, concerned.

Also, just looking ahead, Tracker is also a cleric. A pretty faithful one from what I can tell. I have to wonder what her take on Kristen completely neglecting her goddess and church is.

I think it’s so funny that Emily was thinking about retiring Fig so she could just ride off into the sunset with her cool rockstar life and awesome girlfriend because Riz’s big thing last year was being worried all his friend would pair up and leave him so for him to accept it and then have his fears validated right away would be like, welp.

At a certain point, Murph has to roll damage and he rolls 45 out of a possible 50 damage. That’s crazy. Let’s see how long that luck holds.

#Dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 #d20 spoilers #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #spoilers #the report card

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the-conversation-pod · 22 days

Text

Mixed Nuts, Part 2: Thoughts on Yaoi

And we're back! Japan is churning them out almost faster than we can keep up, so we dedicated a whole grab bag episode to give them the attention they're asking for. Ben, NiNi, Ginny, and Shan talk what's working and what's not in Japanese BL as we discuss Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun, One Room Angel, Perfect Propose, Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro Ka, I Want To See Only You and I Became the Star of a BL Drama.

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:15 - Grab Bag Part 2: J-BL 00:02:22 - Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun 00:11:29 - One Room Angel 00:18:54 - A Note on MBS Tunku Shower 00:26:01 - Perfect Propose 00:49:27 - Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka 01:04:44 - I Want To See Only You 01:10:55 - I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama 01:26:16 - Outro

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @ginnymoonbeam as transcriber, and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes (Coming soon thanks to @wen-kexing-apologist). When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

00:00:00 - Welcome

NiNi

Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.

Ben

And there it is. I’m Ben.

NiNi

I’m NiNi.

Ben

And we’re your drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.

NiNi

Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.

Ben

We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.

NiNi

And I review from a romance and drama lens.

Ben

So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…

NiNi

If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…

Ben

And if you generally just love simping…

NiNi

There is a lot of simping on this podcast…

Ben

We are the show for you!

00:01:15 - Grab Bag Part 2: J-BL

Ben

And we're back. Continuing into Grab Bag episode 2, this time we're going to talk about all the Japanese projects.

We are still with pod team members Ginny and Shan. Say hi, Ginny.

Ginny

Hello.

Ben

Say hi, Shan.

Shan

Hi again.

NiNi

We are here to talk about Japanese BL, Japanese drama, all things Japanese, aka Ben's favorite thing, aka Ginny's starting to become favorite thing, aka Shan's actual favorite thing, aka my I'm gettin’ there thing.

Ben

We will be talking about six shows this week. We're talking about Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun, One Room Angel, Perfect Propose, Although I Love You, and You? aka Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka, I Want to See Only You, and I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama.

NiNi, take us in.

00:02:22 - Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun

NiNi

Let's start with Sahara-sensei, which I did not watch. So, Ben or Shan, who wants to complain about this?

Ben

Well, there's no need for you to watch it, bestie, because it was horrible!

Shan

Horrible!

Ben

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun is a Japanese BL from MBS through Drama Shower about a juvenile delinquent who falls for a new teacher who seems to pay attention to him, and starts to reform his behaviors as a result of this relationship. But the teacher’s got his own baggage, and then the show makes a goddamn mess of all of this. And we have very many gripes to voice!

[exhales] It was not good. Ginny, did you watch this show?

Ginny

I did.

Ben

I feel like you were less pissed than me and Shan. Is that true?

Ginny

I'm usually less pissed than you and Shan.

Shan

I think it's just a natural state—[NiNi laughs]

NiNi

I don't think anybody could be as pissed as Shan. [Ben and NiNi laugh]

Shan

Right!

Ginny

Scaling for our norms, I think I was about as pissed. I really did not like the show.

Ben

Oh, yes! Go for it, Ginny! Tell it! Kill ‘em. Kill ‘em, bestie!

Ginny

I don't know anything about the source material, but it felt like it was trying to set up two taboo relationships: one teacher student, and one side ship that was sort of step-siblings. And then it completely whiffed both of those and decided, bizarrely, to deal with the taboo nature, particularly the main relationship, as if it simply isn't a taboo.

No one cared! No one cared that this teacher and student were having a romance. It was simply not addressed, or didn't seem to be a concern to anybody. It made the show baffling to follow because it was like they lived in this alternate universe where that doesn't matter, but other things like homophobia do matter—but only sometimes. It was not coherent.

I really enjoyed Toki, the juvenile delinquent. He was delightful. His actor was really fun, and that's really what kept me watching the show for however many episodes it was—six, eight, ten? Eight. That's what kept me watching the show for eight episodes, even though by about the midpoint, it really felt like it was not doing or saying anything interesting.

Ben

Shan, go in and let have.

Shan

Okay, I will! This show is fucking infuriating. I am still so mad every time I think about it.

Ben

[laughs] I can hear it in her voice.

Shan

Ugh! Here's the thing with the teacher student trope: it can be done well. It has been done well. The way that you do this trope well is that you take that relationship seriously. You have to care in the story that there is a power dynamic here, that a teacher has a role to play and a job to do with regard to their students, that they are an adult who is meant to be trusted to guide their students to good life choices, to their own social/emotional wellbeing, to care about their futures, to care about their education. This show just utterly, utterly failed on that front, and it makes the teacher character here completely irredeemable and unbelievable as an education professional. At no point did this show take its own concept seriously. It wanted us to engage with this romance as if this was just a normal teen love story between a teenage boy and a slightly older boy. There was no reckoning with the fact that this was his teacher.

The biggest sin, among many, was that we were shown through the story that Toki was not actually helped by this relationship with Sahara-sensei. We were shown that Toki—because of his feelings for his teacher, and because of his desire to impress this prospective love interest—that he made choices that were harmful to him. That he did not seek help when he was being bullied. That he did not take his education and his assignment seriously because he was too focused on this crush. We began the show with the notion that he was a juvenile delinquent who needed support and mentorship. He's a good kid, a nice kid, a kind kid, and he just needed some guidance. But he didn't get any fucking guidance from this teacher.

Instead, what he got was a distraction and an extraordinarily self-centered adult who really only cared about what he was getting—the confidence boost that he was getting—out of this relationship with his student. Did not look out for this kid, did not help him focus on his studies, did not help him prepare for his future, and did not help him in any meaningful way with the problems that he was experiencing at school.

This show literally ended with Toki [volume increases] graduating, walking out of the school building, spotting Sahara, and chucking his diploma into the fucking bushes so that he could run and kiss his boyfriend, because school's over now and he doesn't have to care about appearances anymore. I actually could not fucking believe that. And the wildest part of all of this is that the show doesn't seem to have any awareness about it. This is not a narrative about a student getting so obsessed with a teacher that he loses his way. This is just being presented as a straightforward, happy and positive romance that we're supposed to root for. It is one of the most baffling things I have ever fucking seen.

NiNi

Tell ‘em why you mad, son! Tell ‘em why you mad! [laughs]

Ben

Bestie, everything you said was true and correct. I will add further that this show does not get the benefit of the doubt of being BL to cop out about a lot of this because of the backstory they give on Sahara and Nekoto—his junior in high school, now fellow teacher. The failure of their relationship is grounded in the realities of homophobia and taboo, so there's no way to approach the Sahara-Toki relationship under the guise of “any m/m attraction is fine because BL,” because the show draws attention to the social and political realities of queerness.

And it's especially frustrating because Sahara actually gives decent guidance to another student: the Todo character, who is playing injured as a basketball player. Sahara talks him down from going into a match that he shouldn't because he's hurt in a way that I thought was really excellent from an educator, because he doesn't tell the kid, “You shouldn't play.” He asked the kid pointed questions, making the kid self-introspect and recognize for himself that he should not play. Which only exacerbates the issues that Shan eloquently highlighted just now about how fucked up this whole thing is, because he does not bring that same awareness to the relationship he has with Toki. It is such a weird experience with this show and I really hated it.

Ginny

I think that about covers it. It just feels like it didn't know what it was trying to do, and it did everything badly.

NiNi

I think that's an excellent tagline. [Ben laughs] So, those of you who watched it, it's time to rate.

Shan, you first.

Shan

I gave it a 3, and I think reflecting in this moment, I want to lower it to a 2. I'm giving it a 2.

Ben

I agree. Go ahead. Ginny?

Ginny

Oh man, so I give it a 6.5. [Ben hmms] I simply don't finish shows that I'm gonna rate lower than a 4 or a 5. On the surface level, there were moments that I really enjoyed about this. As I said, I did like the performance of the Toki character in particular, so I gave it some credit for that.

Ben

I agree with Shan. I originally gave this show a 4. I'm lowering it to a 3. [Ben and Shan laugh]

Shan

Let's talk about it again in a couple of months, see where we land.

Ben

I'm giving the show a 3.5 from The Conversation. That is not how the math works, but that's what I'm giving it.

Shan

Feels right.

00:11:29 - One Room Angel

NiNi

Moving on to our next show, let's talk One Room Angel.

Ben, what is One Room Angel about?

Ben

One Room Angel is a story about a depressed man who ends up hanging out with an angel for a few weeks, it feels like, and starts to maybe come out of his depressive spiral as a result, which ends up with some really sad over- and undertones from what we learn about the angel character.

This is a kind of difficult show to talk about from a BL perspective, because I don't really think it's a BL. This wasn't really a romance. From my understanding, the angel character is significantly younger in the source material, and I get why they maybe chose not to go that direction. Shan had more complex thoughts, I think, than I did about the genre assignment of this show.

Shan

I like this show. I just want to say that upfront, I think it's a really beautiful show, a really thought-provoking show. I think it has some really interesting things to say about depression and self worth and finding meaning and life and the will to live. I liked all of its themes. I liked the characters.

I do think that it feels incomplete as a narrative, and it feels like there was supposed to be a romance arc here that got removed. I don't know if that's true, I haven't read the source material, but that's kind of how it felt upon watching it. I don't think it's a BL. There's no romance here. There's what feels more like a platonic friendship to me between Koki and the Angel.

This show has some of the most beautiful cinematography that we've seen in Drama Shower. Some of the visual imagery is really striking, and I still think about it off and on. I like the way that they constructed Koki as this character who is kind of downtrodden, but kind at his core. He's just been through some shit, he's had a hard life. And I like that, I like that he was someone who was very easy to sympathize with. The Angel was a good foil for him. He would come at him in ways that would provoke him and give him some spark, make him feel a little bit alive again, which was what was missing and what was so important.

I think the show wasn't that strong on unpacking the mystery of the Angel and who he had been in his life, and connecting that back to Koki. I think there were a few different threads here and they didn't all come together seamlessly, but I did really like the core story of healing.

I do have feelings about this tendency we're seeing recently in the MBS Drama Shower shows of sprinkling in some non-BLs in the lineup. This is a dedicated time slot that is explicitly meant to be for BL shows, and there have been a couple now in the lineup that don't really fit that bill, and so I do kind of regret that we got this show as part of the Drama Shower lineup instead of another BL. But I'm glad we got the show. I like it a lot. I think it has some good things to offer.

Ben

Ginny, were you able to watch this show?

Ginny

I was! In the interest of precision, because we're talking about it not being a romance, which I do kind of agree with. They do have a conversation about being boyfriends, and they have this cute little beach date and stuff, but it feels like something that's sort of tacked on to make it fit in the BL space. It doesn't feel like it's actually part of their story. The connection that grows between them is, but the romance was not really played out. So even though they kind of give it lip service, it doesn't feel like it's there, which is why we're all saying it's not a romance. I think my favorite thing about the show was the Koki character.

Ben

This is Ginny's favorite character type: the hot mess. [Ginny and Shan laugh]

Ginny

I love a hot mess. I do. He's older, which I also like. He's not especially pretty, which is a nice change of pace. And he's just so down in it and can't seem to get himself out. I do like the story of him sort of getting forced roommate Angel therapy, basically. So yeah, I enjoyed it. I didn't deeply love it.

For the themes that it was getting into, it could have gone deeper. It's got some really dark material in both of the characters' backstories, and it didn't feel to me like it really followed through strongly enough on the resolutions to those things. But it also wasn't a total miss.

Ben

I ended up feeling really complicated about this show. I feel like I was very unfairly comparing it to Eternal Yesterday a lot, and because it wasn't BL I was a little bit frustrated that this time slot was going into non-BL content. Like, it feels like the original thing was BL, and they decided in their adaptation not to lean into the potential romance between an adult and a high school student. A totally fine adaptation choice, but it's like, why adapt this work then? It doesn't exactly work for me as a result.

I really liked the Angel character. I liked how sassy he was, and pushy he was about stuff. Nishimura Takuya; loved the way he played the Angel character. I really liked the aesthetic with his all-white outfit the whole time. I really liked the effort that the costuming department put into his wings. That was not easy, particularly on the budget that Drama Shower was clearly working on. I thought they got a lot of good work out of the animatronics of his wings. I really wish we had gotten more about Koki's yakuza based trauma. There's an allusion to this with the brother that feels a bit incomplete for me. Or the stuff with his mom, Arisa.

There's like a weird ambiguity with the end of this too, where some of the viewers thought that Koki also died at the end, tragically.

Ginny

What?

Shan

Wait, what? I don't think—he didn't die.

Ben

I didn't think he died, but apparently that was one of the reads.

Shan

Fascinating.

Ginny

Huh.

Shan

That didn't occur to me, but you can't really argue with it in a show that leaves things this unfinished.

Ben

Exactly, and that's why I was a little unsettled by it towards the end, because I'm like, “Well, I can't refute that, but also damn!” [Shan laughs] “Y'all killed this man so they could fuck? Shit!”

Okay. [Ginny laughs]

Shan

[laughs] Oh boy, we better wrap it up there.

Ben

So let's rate this experience. Ginny?

Ginny

I gave it a 7. Not bad for what it was. Not great.

Ben

Shan?

Shan

I gave it an 8. I liked some of what it was trying to do, but I don't think it fully got there on all of its storylines or really on its themes.

Ben

I gave it an 8 originally. I think I'm going to downgrade it to a 7.5, so we'll give it a 7.5 from The Conversation.

00:18:54 - A Note on MBS Tunku Shower

Ben

Let's discuss Drama Shower before we move to the other projects. As of this recording, we are almost at the end of My Strawberry Film, the last outing from Drama Shower Season 2, and currently MBS has not renewed the Drama Shower time slot for additional projects. They may renew this in the future, but let's talk on the podcast how we feel about Drama Shower after almost 11 projects, the role this time slot has fulfilled, and our complex reactions to all of the projects.

Ginny

I like that they did so many different kinds of things. Almost none of the Drama Shower shows are favorites of mine. There are a lot that I quite liked, and a few that I could see rewatching, but I do appreciate the commitment to do and try a bunch of different things. I hope that something like it gets renewed or gets put in place because, as we discussed a little bit last time talking about genre, I want to see experimental BL. I want to see different ideas and frameworks being explored, even ones that we hated like Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun. I would rather they make a bag of shows that includes a terrible one than just crank out the same reliable favorites, so. While I don't love most of the individual shows, I feel positively about the project.

Ben

Shan, how are you feeling?

Shan

I'm sad at the prospect that Drama Shower might not continue. It did produce one of my all time favorite BLs—Eternal Yesterday—and while I don't always love the shows, I love that we can rely on a steady progression of shows being released. When one show ends, we know the next is coming very soon. Japanese media can feel uncertain. We often don't find out about shows until right before they air. We often find out about a show, but then find out that it's not accessible to us, and we can't watch it. It's been nice to have kind of a steady, reliable place where we know we could go to find a Japanese BL, and I like how, you know, like Ginny said, how experimental it's been. They're doing a lot of different types of shows, a lot of different tones and styles.

A lot of them have been not my favorites. Maybe, like, mid to bad, but there have been a few real gems in this lineup. Not only Eternal Yesterday, but also shows like Jack o’ Frost and Tokyo in April is… These are shows that stuck with me, that I really enjoyed the watch experience for, and I hope that even if Drama Shower as a dedicated time slot doesn't come back, that MBS will keep churning out these shows and releasing them at a steady clip because I think that they are pretty solid. I really like this format for Japan, where they do these six- to eight-episode shows. These tight contained stories. Have a pretty clear sense of what they want to do most of the time, with some exceptions. And I'd like to see that continue.

We've had this kind of recent boom of Japanese BL. And I don't want that to go away. I want them to keep producing shows and I want to always have a Japanese BL airing, ideally. So yeah, I'm hopeful that if not this exact project, that something will come back, that we will continue to get shows that are interesting and a fun watch.

Ben

I'm also a bit sad that we might be losing Drama Shower because I really like what Azuma Kaoru has talked about with it from the little bits of translation we've gotten. They have a real commitment to BL as a genre and showcasing what BL can be. I like the Drama Shower has had two original projects both times it's run. Jack o’ Frost was original and My Strawberry Film is original, and whether or not we end up deciding that these projects were especially good or not, I actually think it's really healthy for BL as a genre to not be as tied to the developmental format where we basically just raid the closet and see what indie writers have been up to and then quickly adapt their shows. I'm really curious what knowing that you're developing for television right away enables with the storytelling.

So, I'm a little bit bummed that we don't know for sure if Drama Shower is coming back right now, but I've really enjoyed this entire project. My average rating for Drama Shower was just under 8, which feels correct. If you like BL, Drama Shower has been a really fascinating project because it's been so varied. We had some cool stuff that came out of it. I thought Mr. Unlucky had some cool ideas. I loved Eternal Yesterday. Takara-kun and Amagi-kun let me down slightly, but I liked it! Like, I liked almost every single one of these outings—except for fucking Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun.

Shan

They really had to come in and ruin it right at the end, didn't they? [laughs]

Ben

For fuck’s sake. I will miss this if we don't get it back, but I really like what we got from it.

NiNi, any thoughts on Drama Shower from sort of only getting our reactions to it and then being prodded about some of the shows?

NiNi

When you were talking to me about some of the Drama Shower shows, you basically were saying these are Japanese pulps. So I've tried to place them in the BL firmament, for me, according to them being mostly pulps. I've only watched three of the Drama Shower shows. I've watched Jack o’ Frost, I watched Tokyo in April, and I watched My Personal Weatherman. Of those three, Jack o’ Frost is easily my favorite, but the shows that I've watched coming out of Japan that weren’t Drama Shower in the last year or two were actually the ones that I enjoyed overall more. So, while I appreciate the role of Drama Shower, what it has done in giving a dedicated time slot, much like in Thailand GMMTV Frigay was a dedicated time slot to help build some bits of the genre. This is kind of similar.

It's a lab, and I think that the genre needs its labs. I think Drama Shower is a good lab, and I'm sure we're going to get another good lab out of Japan again soon. So, yeah, I think that the project was worthy. I only really watched a little bit of it, but I think I could also see how some of the things that it was working through have already started to percolate a little bit through some of the other stuff that we're getting out of Japan. Specifically out of MBS, but also are some of the other places.

00:26:01 - Perfect Propose

Ben

On to our next show: Perfect Propose.

NiNi

Yes, bring it on! I love this show.

Ben

Shan, would you like to describe Perfect Propose for us?

Shan

Sure. Our protagonist Hiro, who is extremely overworked, exhausted, very stressed out by his soul-sucking corporate job, is found, passed out on the sidewalk, by his childhood friend? Sweetheart? Question mark. I think they see that slightly differently, but a childhood friend named Kai, who has also just come into some personal hardship. Kai decides to move in with Hiro to take care of him and also so he has a place to stay. And the story is primarily about Hiro seeing his way out of this really horrible burnout situation that he finds himself in with Kai’s support.

Ben

Second chance romance is my favorite thing in BL [Shan trills] so I had a great time with this show. One of the things the show really focused on was how fucking horrible Hiro's fucking job was.

Shan

Mmhmm.

NiNi

Listen! Oh my God, it was too real.

Ben

I want to talk about that part first because, while I think we all have mostly positive things to say about Hiro and Kai's relationship, I don't want to downplay that particular portion, because the show cared a lot about. And I know, Ginny, you landed on the uncomfortable to slightly put off side of that presentation. It's rare that I see you repulsed when we're watching something. And it was interesting seeing you have a difficult time with that.

Ginny

My issue really was that, as the second half of the show came into play, it became clear that this wasn’t primarily a romance. This was a story about Hiro escaping his soul-sucking corporate job and also being more attentive to his body in the most fundamental sense of, like, his needs as a human being. I felt like I'd been a little bit bait and switched. The setup of the first couple episodes, tt's very much about Kai offering him this physical nurturance, including sexual attention that he was in need of, and possibly their relationship growing. And then it let that be nothing more than a catalyst for Hiro to leave his situation. There was like an episode and a half that were really just fully dedicated to the misery of his job and how and why he was so stuck in it.

I was just like, they're doing this well, but I didn't sign up for it and I'm not enjoying it. [laughs] So that was my experience.

Ben

I respect that. While we're talking about the job stuff, I want to go to NiNi, because I think of all of us, you had the strongest response to the corporate culture stuff.

NiNi

Oh my God, it was like I was seeing myself. So, if you listen to us, you will know that I'm doing this thing where I've restarted my life in my 40s. And the reason that I'm doing it is because I left a job like this. I left a soul-sucking job where I was being gaslit and basically burnt out and destroyed, and so this was almost like a healing drama for me. I would just settle in like, “oh, I'm gonna stab the boss. Oh, he's making him food. I want somebody to make me food. This is so awesome. I'm so glad. Is he gonna get out? I need him to get out. Hell, I need all of them to get out. Why don't they all quit?”

Like, I was having that running commentary in my head while I was watching the show. It was very cathartic for me. I enjoyed everything about it. It was too real. The gaslighting from their boss, especially, was the part that sort of sent me a little bit into a crouch. I was just like, “oh, I'm having flashbacks,” but I needed it. I needed to see Perfect Propose.

It wasn't just an enjoyment for me. It was something I needed to excise from my life and I was able to do it through Perfect Propose. So, it was great for me. The experience was so cathartic. Can't complain about it at all. Fantastic.

Ben

Shan, I remember you having some thoughts because, I don't know that you lived through this sort of stuff directly, but you know colleagues who did.

Shan

Yeah, I'm, I think more on NiNi’s side of the line with this, in that I experienced it as more cathartic and healing. I have been in some toxic workplaces. I've never been in quite the kind of place that Hiro was in in this story like NiNi has. But, I thought it was just a really authentic presentation of that kind of work experience. I thought it was a really genuine representation of the dynamics that can come up in a workplace like that.

One of my favorite things that happened in the show is that Hiro's supervisor left and Hiro became the supervisor, and then he was put in the position of having to drive his team to do the kind of things that he had been driven to do. And he was realizing how limited his options were for breaking that cycle. And I thought that that was just such an important note to include here. It's not the people within the system that are the problem, it's the system itself and it's all reinforcing.

Ben

I was also Hiro in my last job and my team and I, we quit—on my birthday, no less. What an incredible experience. So I started the age of 32 [laughs] unemployed. Which was fun.

I really liked that the show leaned into the work culture aspect of it, that Hiro's previous supervisor was like. “You need to quit, too. Like, I'm leaving. I got a better offer. You are way better than these people allow you to think of yourself as. You should quit, too.” I loved Hiro staying because he thought he needed to insulate his team from that kind of hell. And I love that he failed, spectacularly. Like, he tried to save a younger dev from that and he couldn't.

I really appreciated that they show that there's no amount of effort that overcomes that sort of nonsense. A lot of the times when they do the adult BL, the work part of being an adult feels kind of missing or nebulous. They're mostly using work to recreate the cliquish dynamics of high school to tell those sort of stories, and I really appreciate it that this show, and the next show we're going to talk about actually, don't do that.

I want to refocus now that we've talked about really fucked up, sad work part of this, on the relationship between Kai and Hiro. Part of what locked me in on this show, right away was Kai literally picks passed out Hiro up off the street, takes him back to his house, feeds him some proper food, and then jerks him off so he can go to sleep. Hiro was more than a little overwhelmed by all of this. But that man's skin cleared up the next day.

NiNi

[laughs] He was looking refreshed, restored, rejuvenated.

Ben

We had some complex reactions in our own circle and online about that particular encounter. Ginny, I want to get your commentary on this part because I think you often have the most nuanced appreciation of sexual moments that carry a level of dubious consent. And I wonder if you have any thoughts about that.

Ginny

One thing that you and I have talked about, Ben, is people often put male-female frameworks onto these shows. Which is not to say that consent isn't a problem between men, ‘cause it for sure is. But the way that these dynamics play out and the way that the core relational dynamics between men work is not always comparable and can't always be mapped onto a male-female dynamic.

How I read this scene and how I think it was intended to be read is Hiro can't say, “Oh yes, do this, please,” because he's not in a headspace to accept that this is something that he could want from another man, or really at all. And again, it's really difficult to talk about this without inviting people to map it on all kinds of other situations where it doesn't belong. So please don't do that. But the way this scene is constructed felt very clearly to me like, this is something that Hiro is willing to let happen to him and maybe needs to let happen to him, but is not able to affirmatively say yes to because of where he is in his head, and especially with the way that intimacy develops between the characters later fulfilled the storyline that they set up in that first scene.

NiNi

I feel like this is a place we always land up in with Asian media because of the ways that Asian media portrays and puts forward ideas about what is acceptable sexually, what it is acceptable to want and not want, how it is acceptable to relate in a sexual manner. I feel like these always come up when we're dealing with Asian media. People talk about wanting to change the conversation in Asian media around this kind of stuff, and I fully understand that.

But this story read to me pretty old school yaoi and because of that I got where the headspace of the story was coming from. Like you said, Ginny, this can't be mapped on to everything else. But in this specific story I saw where it was coming from.

Ben

For me, I think I would have been more concerned about their dynamic if not for the morning after conversation in the bathroom. The energy in that scene was Kai being very attentive and almost doing, like, aftercare with Hiro, who was clearly into the dynamic with that whole scene with the hair gel and then him giving him the key so he could stay and then the next episode being like, why has nothing happened since that moment? Which also, like NiNi said, is very old school yaoi.

Shan

Sexual encounters with dubious consent happen a lot in life. It's a thing that happens. I don't need every depiction of it in fiction to be accompanied by someone turning to the camera and saying, “That was dubious consent, and it's bad.” Instead of just letting the context of the story and the characters’ reactions let us know what their headspace was and why it happened.

And I think that the show did that. I think that we understood Hiro and Kai's dynamic well as the show progressed. I think that we saw a pattern develop where Hiro would hope for or want something from Kai, but wouldn't ask for it. And Kai could read him and see what he was going for. I like that Kai got to a point of teasing him about that and pushed him to ask for the things he wants or come right out and say or do something to confirm it. I thought it was quite legible what the show was going for here, so I was not troubled by it. They did a good job of building a believable dynamic for them of Hiro coming to rely on Kai for all kinds of different comforts and as his main source of care and pleasure.

Ben

I think they did a great job conveying that Kai was totally down for Hiro the whole time without it feeling, like, possessive. I particularly enjoyed around—was it episode 5 when they had that kiss on the bench where he's like,”Hirokuni-san, have you made your decision yet?” I thought that was great.

Shan

Pairing that with teasing him with the shots of the delicious dinners he was making at home, that Hiro wasn't making it home to eat. I think the message from Kai always, consistently, was this is all here for you. You just gotta take it. And I like that. That felt adult to me.

Ben

I want to talk about Kai a little bit. We know that Hiro is obviously at the end of his rope when we first see him passed out on the street, people walking past him. We learned fairly quickly that Kai is also kind of at the end of his rope. He's been a neglected, lonely child for a long time, and the only other person who ever seemed to give a shit about him was in the midst of a health crisis, and that guy's son was keeping him away from the dad because he didn't understand their relationship.

NiNi

I really liked, actually, that part of the issue that Kai was having with his boss and his son was that Kai couldn't ask for what he wanted out of the boss. He clearly saw the boss as a father figure and the boss saw him as a son figure, but he couldn't talk about it. It's very Japanese. He couldn't presume and he couldn't put himself in a position where he appeared presumptuous. So he had to take a step back. Be polite. He couldn't say certain things. He couldn't behave in certain ways. This is the situation, I'm going to make myself as small as possible in this situation. And then once it got to the point where he felt like maybe he could have presumed a little more, the son started to understand, “Okay, this is actually sort of a father son dynamic here,” the son backed down immediately. He was just like, “I'm sorry. I didn't understand what you guys were to each other.”

I really liked that. I am often the one who complains about the Japanese non-communication or Japanese communication and how it is frustrating for me, but I thought this was a really good use of it, of Japanese cultural expectations around family and not wanting to be presumptuous about certain things. I really think that it played out really well here. I quite enjoyed that.

Ben

I love the relationship between Kai and the restaurant owner. Few things are more important to a boy than bonding with an older, grumpy man and connecting in the same grumpy way. It's extremely important to your development.

Shan

I like what you said NiNi about Kaiju's inability to communicate what Kenji meant to him and what he was seeking from the relationship, and I like that that was mirrored in Kenji, the restaurant owner, also not being able to say out loud what the deal was, like, why this boy mattered to him. He also kept his mouth shut and didn't explain it to his son, I think for similar reasons. They have a very emotional bond that they both found hard to talk about or justify to other people. I did like that.

I will say, though, that I do think that the Kai side of this show is the weaker element, perhaps of the story. Hiro's narrative was the main narrative, but Kai had a story too, and I do think it didn't get the fullness that Hiro's did, and it was one area where I wanted a little bit more from the show than what we got.

Ginny

This is more to my personal preferences than necessarily show doing right or wrong. I was much more interested in Kai and his situation than in Hiro's situation, so I also would have liked to see more of it. There were a lot of layers to the ways that Kai and Hiro each struggled to take care of themselves or see themselves as deserving care. We did get that fully played through with Hiro and we didn't really get to see Kai’s own dovetailing/mirror image issue of that fully realized and I would have liked to see it.

Ben

Getting back to some of the adult things I really liked in this, I really liked the whole missed opportunity around the festival because Hiro is unable to leave his job and tell him to fuck off. And I really liked Kai, just sort of accepting that disappointment, but getting something kind of interesting out of it by growing the strawberries in the tank they were hoping to use for something else.

I really liked the failure of that moment. Hiro getting mad with himself on Kai's behalf and being frustrated that Kai didn't presume more from him and voicing all of the ways that he kind of was a jerk about the whole festival thing. I think that was one of my favorite moments in the show where Hiro gets mad, but doesn't really have a great outlet for it because he knows he's the one who's at fault. And so Kai's telling him, “It doesn't matter, like, you don't owe me anything,” only frustrated him even more.

NiNi

Yeah, because he wants Kai to expect things of him by that point, and he's not even entirely sure why. But he does want Kai to feel like he has responsibilities towards him.

Ginny

You do see Hiro consistently more upset about other people not getting what they deserve than himself [Shan mmhmms] with Kai in that situation and with his new underlying when he becomes the team lead.

Ben

I'm never getting over that man having a couch that matches the aesthetic of the chairs in his office.

Shan

I clocked that in the first episode and I was so depressed. I was like, no!

[Shan and Ben laugh]

Ben

I remember you pointed it out first.

Shan

I was like y'all, are you seeing these colors? I'm not usually a colors person, either. I don't usually notice that shit. But that was so striking to me that the one pop of color in his entire gray, sad home was that green couch that was the same green as the chairs in his office. Depressing as fuck.

Ben

Before we get to ratings, we gotta do a shout out for Hiori, the junior dev who was clearly a fujoshi who was keyed in right away to watch series.

[all laugh]

Shan

I loved her!

NiNi

She was so ready when they went on the work dinner and she was like, “All right, I'm headed out. I'm going home. Y'all are getting drunk. I'm not sticking around for this, I'm gonna catch the last train” and then Hiro’s drunk and somebody's like, “oh, we're gonna call the guy he's living with.” And she sat back down immediately, like, “He's coming here? I need to see this.”

Shan

Sat her ass right back down and ordered another beer. She was like, “Hell no, I'ma miss that train.”

NiNi

“I'm gonna pay for this Uber ride or this taxi and I'm gonna like it.”

Ben

I loved her. She was like, “Oh, shit, Am I gonna get to see him?” And she got everything she wanted. Kai showed up, sweaty.

Shan

Ooo, sweaty from his run. Mmm.

Ben

Glared at Konoko, like, “Don't you ever fucking put your hands on him ever again, I will fucking kill you. And she was, like, “I got everything I needed.”

[Shan laughs]

NiNi

She didn't even go home after that. She's just like, “Well, I need another drink because that was delightful.”

Ben

I do appreciate that we got to see Hiro, quit that job and stop prioritizing it at the end. Like, he woke up, clearly from them having a good session the night before, like “I ain't answering that fucking phone.” And we saw that the other employees have seemingly maybe left their job because they all looked like they were happy in the park. And they ran into Konoko, as well. So, I feel very relieved by the end of this drama.

Shan

I definitely interpret that group picnic at the end as confirmation that they have all left that awful job.

Ben

Particularly because Sakamoto was also there and I'm really glad that he looked okay.

NiNi

Listen, I was so worried about that kid. I was so worried that I stopped in the middle of my binge to ask. “Listen, you'll need to tell me if this kid is okay, because the last time I saw him, he was having a meltdown. And then they sent him home. And then I have not seen him. So y’all need to tell me that he's fine.” And they were like, “Yeah, he's fine” and then I was able to continue the show.

Ben

So, ratings! NiNi.

NiNi

I gave the show a 9.5. I agree with Shan and Ginny that I wanted to see a little bit more of Kai’s side of the story because I think it was actually quite intriguing. I understand that they didn't have a ton of time and they didn't use their time well, but I would have liked to see a bit more of the Kai side of things.

Ben

Ginny?

Ginny

I gave it an 8.5. I think execution-wise it probably merits a 9, but I did dock it for my own personal enjoyment because it's my rating and I'm allowed.

Ben

Absolutely. Shan?

Shan

I gave it a 9. I agree with basically what NiNi said. I think if they had managed to drive home Kai’s side of the story a little firmer, it would have been a higher score for me. But it's a good show, I really liked it.

Ben

It's not an obvious recommend right away, because then they have to get involved in the discourse and so it’s hard for me to just go, “It's a 10. Go watch it right now!” But I like the show a lot, so I gave it a 9 because there are reasonable knocks on some threads not being fully completed and yaoi considerations around male sex that made me a little bit grumpy to deal with while we were watching this.

It gets a 9 from The Conversation. I liked it a lot, I think it's worth your time.

NiNi

I have to add, whenever I saw Kai’s hands, I kept thinking about the discussion I had with Ben about yaoi hands.

[all laugh]

Ben

He did have yaoi hands.

NiNi

He had massive hands!

Ben

I have started following that actor. His real smile is so fu,n he is worth following on IG.

NiNi

Bestie you know I don't do the socials, but for those of you who do.

Ben

I do. That's what I'm here for.

00:49:27 - Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro Ka

NiNi

Moving on to Although I Love You, And You?—Japanese title Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka. Oh my God I can't believe I got that right the first time around.

Ben

Yeah, good job, bestie.

Shan

Good job, NiNi.

NiNi

I'm not gonna get it right again. So, Ben, what is Sukidoya about?

Ben

Sukidoya is a story about a burgeoning romance between a restaurant owner and a corporate salary man who has recently moved to Osaka from Tokyo. Both of these guys are coming out of failed relationships and find friendship and connection in each other. The restaurant owner already is very aware of his own queerness. Meets this guy and has an instant attraction to him and is determined to follow up on it, but decides that he should probably be a bit more cautious this time, particularly because of some of the cultural differences between Osaka and Tokyo. We get to see them try to sort through what their new potential relationship will look like with the complications that ensue.

This was another show that we had a lot of complicated discussions about while we were watching it. Because you have more consternation than others, Shan, we'll let you go first, and then we'll follow up.

Shan

This is a show that I wanted to like more than I ended up liking. I really loved the main characters in this show. I liked that there was what felt like a very adult setup for the romance. These were two adult men with pasts, with romantic histories who had exes that were present in the story and actually had roles to play. They were coming together across differences, both cultural differences and differences in how they had experienced romance in the past, differences in how they relate, differences in their hobbies and personalities. I was very interested in all of that and I was really excited to get what I thought was going to be a pretty adult narrative about figuring out how to be in a relationship together across those differences.

That's not really what the show ended up being about. There was a lot going on in the narrative here and some of it in the end didn't feel like it justified the amount of story time that it got. Some of it felt like it really derailed the story. There I'm speaking primarily about the insertion of a love triangle into the plot that I don't think ultimately served the story or the characters very well. Sakae’s ex, Mizuki, came into the story around the midpoint and I liked his inclusion initially, ‘cause I liked seeing this mature ex that was in the mix. It's very common for people to still have exes in their lives and we don't see it depicted very often in drama, and so I liked that he was around, that he was coming back into Sakae's orbit, that he was bringing up some issues for him that were maybe throwing a little bit of a wrench in this burgeoning romance that he had with Soga. But then the show really took that much further, turned it into a full blown love triangle, had Mizuki pursuing Sakae again, had him intervening in the romance, getting in the way, dating Sakae again briefly. It was a lot, ultimately, I think too much. It took up a lot of story time. It threw off the trajectory of Sakae and Soga’s relationship development. The pacing of the story felt pretty rushed. It felt like we hadn't really gotten to settle into any kind of relationship with them. Candidly, I am not generally a fan of love triangles. They can be done well and they have been, but this is a romance narrative in which a love triangle was kind of awkwardly inserted to create drama, and that's the kind I really don't like. That was a big negative for me on this show and threw off my investment in the romance.

But it's not a show that I wanna be too negative about. I like a lot of what it did. I did like these characters, this smaller town restaurant owner who's really genuine and straightforward, but maybe not the most socially graceful guy. Being into this nerdy, quiet guy who has nothing in common with him, trying to figure out how to relate to each other, trying to figure out how to communicate across their differences. I really liked those aspects of it. I left the drama wishing that we had gotten a story more focused on that and less on all this random stuff that they were throwing in to create conflict. In the end I was a bit frustrated with the show, but I like a lot of what it was doing and I hope that we'll get more shows like this that focus on adult characters.

Ben

I just learned some fun trivia while doing some research.

Shan

Oh?

Ben

NiNi, the screenwriter of Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka is also the screenwriter on Three Star Bar in Nishi Ogikubo.

NiNi

The DNA is there. I could see it.

Ben

This is also one of the same directors who was on Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun.

NiNi

We shall not speak of it, bestie.

Shan

Don't bring them back into this. [laughs]

Ben

Ginny, of all the shows we're going to talk about tonight, you had, I think, the strongest connection to these particular characters, and I really want to hear your thoughts on them.

Ginny

While I agree that narratively the show did not hold together as strongly as it could, in every scene they were written well, they were acted well, they were consistent, they were who they were. And that, I think, was why I loved the show so much, as it played so well on a scene by scene level. Both of these are, in almost completely opposite superficial ways, men who struggle to advocate for what they want in life. Sakae is extremely a pushover. You see, as soon as his ex walks back into the scene, how difficult it is for him to say no and even earlier, as he and Soga are getting to know each other, it's very easy for him to fall into a rhythm of just doing whatever Sogo wants and enjoys and simply not advocating for himself or his interests at all. So he's this very kind of impulsively outspoken character. He keeps saying things that he doesn't mean to say, but when it comes to actually saying what he wants, he's slow to do that.

On Soga’s side, he's very reserved, and kind of doesn't feel confident enough, I think, in his own desires to advocate for them. Even though he clearly likes and feels very drawn to Sakae, he takes so much of the show trying to figure out exactly what that means and waffling on what to do with that. I really like seeing two characters with the same fundamental issue that expresses itself in such different ways come together and try to build a relationship.

My favorite part in the whole show is after they've started dating, they try to work out this conflict resolution system in such a characteristic way. Sakae knows Soga has been married before, so he says, “What was your ex-wife like? What was your relationship like?” Thinking in his head, “I'm going to become exactly like her, because clearly Soga liked her, so that will work out great and I foresee no problems with this.” And so Soga tells him about their conflict resolution style, which is not Sakae’s style at all, but they try it. They both kind of yes, and each other into doing something that's not gonna work for either of them and they try it for a while and then it falls apart and then they talk it out.

It all felt so real to me as a person who struggles to express and sometimes even to know what I want. I've been in relationships on both sides where that's a major factor and they played it out so beautifully realistically, while still feeling very fun. The show always felt light, even when it was headed into kind of a difficult moment between them. It never let the mood sink too much. I loved seeing that dynamic play out between them and the ways that they tried to work towards each other and often worked harder at making the other person happy than making themselves happy and had to kind of figure out how to do both at the same time.

NiNi

I liked you describing it as them yes, and-ing each other, because that's exactly what that felt like. It felt very improv. I really enjoyed that scene a lot.

Ben

I really liked that we got to see a homo jock trying to date a culture person. That was so fuckin’ funny to me. We don't get to see fitness gays that often, and I had such a great time as a result.

NiNi

It was delightful, and it was more of that city mouse, country mouse thing that they were trying to do, it was so fun. I wish that they had leaned more into the differences between them, more than the external factors.

Of the external factors, I really enjoyed the job one coming up and when it came up in the relationship, and the conflict that that posed. But I think that the ex-boyfriend thing was a bridge too far. I think it was important that we saw the ex-boyfriend to understand certain things about Sakae, but I don't think that they needed to drag that out into him trying to get Sakae back kind of thing.

Ben

I liked Mizuki as a character a lot and I liked them showing Sakae having an intimate, intense relationship with another person. I think on the pragmatic side, from talking about this as a drama, I'm more with Shan in that I don't know that this show set us up for the right expectations and that could be a cultural competency part on our part, because of the thing they were playing with, with the Osaka, Tokyo thing. But I was also hoping to spend more time with these guys as a functional couple perhaps than I think we got? I think it's fine for the show to do what they chose to do with their time, but I think I wanted something from the show it couldn't give us. I also got a little bit frustrated that there was way less food in the back half than there was in the front half because I signed up for a food show.

But, they did give me a great baseball moment, so maybe it’s okay.

Shan

[laughs] They did have a really good baseball scene. I was just gonna yes, and you Ben about the food. The food was a strong presence in the first half of the show. And then it did just kind of disappeared. I wouldn’t really call this a food drama, in the end.

I think one other piece that we kind of discussed live while we were watching that I do think is worth mentioning—not to single this show out, but to talk a little bit about a trend that exists, I think, across dramas—there was a quite a spicy sex scene between Sakae and Mizuki in this show. Far spicier than any scene we ended up getting for Sakae and Soga. Feels like a strange choice that they went to that heat level in a scene with his ex and then kept the heat so low on the current relationship.

One of the reasons I don't like it when dramas do that is because it kind of sends a message that only toxic relationships have hot sex in them, and that when you find your right person when you're truly in love, sex is not that important, or it's not part of the dynamic. And I don't think that's a good message. It's not a sex positive message, certainly—and I don't know or think necessarily that the show intended to do that here—but, it is kind of the effect of that choice that a lot of dramas make to only show hot sex in the context of toxic or old relationships and keep the main couple of a show kind of quote unquote pure. That stuck out to me in this show and nothing that came after that scene hit anywhere close to that heat level. So it did kind of stand out as a weird choice to me.

Ginny

In terms of the general trend, I certainly agree. It is worth noting that that scene was specifically happening in Soga’s imagination, so it wasn't like, “This was how it was.” It's like, “This is how Soga is thinking about Sakae and his ex.” Which in the context of the story gives it a very different meaning. But I do certainly agree with what you're saying about the overall trend in media.

Shan

That's a good point, Ginny. It's a fair one to bring up. I do think, though, if the show is willing to go to that heat level, why are they not willing to go there with the main couple?

NiNi

And we do know that they are having a hot time, because at the end when they make back up Soga’s like, “Look, we know we gotta fuck, okay? So let's just get this relationship shit wrapped up before we do.” And I thought that was delightful.

Ginny

So good!

Shan

It was a very funny line, but it also kinda came out of nowhere, ‘cause we hadn't seen any sexual relationship for them. [laughs]

Ginny

We saw some.

Ben

I get where Shan’s coming from, like, they confirmed that the guys are having sex and they deliver some of the prelude and the aftermath. But it stands out with what they showed with Mizuki. I think minus the Mizuki stuff, we probably don't feel that way.

NiNi

In general, I agree with Shan, yes, but I do agree with Ginny as well that this is really Soga’s imagination. Like really pushing up his fears and anxieties and all that stuff.

Ben

I at least got to make a joke about the need for a robust public transport system [Shan and Ginny laugh], because it's what allows them to be compromised in the end of this. I’m like, “You see that? Robust, fast, frequent high speed rail is the only reason that these gays made it.”

NiNi

Public transport is for the gays, that's the new slogan.

So, ratings, how are we rating this one? Ginny, how about you? What do you think?

Ginny

I gave this one also an 8.5 from the opposite direction of Perfect Propose. I think execution wise it deserves a bit lower, but I enjoyed it so much that I bumped us up to 8.5.

Ben

Shandler?

Shan

I gave it a 7.5 because the execution issues really really bothered me. I think ultimately I really wanted to love it and I was disappointed that I didn't.

Ben

NiNi?

NiNi

I liked all the Osaka stuff. I liked how homey they made Osaka feel. I liked the female coworker who, having been pushed back, decided to become a full on supporter and get these two guys together. I gave it an 8. I had a good time with it. I think it was well done. I could have done without most of the Mizuki arc, but, I enjoyed it.

Ben

I did like Kanda a lot too, and his friend Kanada [Kaname]? Oh man, I really like the friend support group, but this show didn't come together fully for me. I struggle to really talk about it and give a clear recommendation for it, so it's a 7.5 for me.

Which averages out to a 7.89ish. We'll give it an 8. I think that's fair.

NiNi

I think it's fine for it to get an 8 from The Conversation.

Ben

We liked it. Even though it was not exactly what I think any of us was wanting.

01:04:44 - I Want To See Only You

NiNi

Next up, we're gonna talk the latest entry, actually: I Want to See Only You.

Ben, what is I Want to See Only You about?

Ben

It is about how we all really, really loved Kura Yuki in [laughs] His: I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love, and we needed another show with him.

Shan

Oh, man, you're struggling. You can't even deliver the joke, sir, [laughs] ‘cause it's so ridiculous.

[Ben laughs]

Ben’s just trying to score a point off me right now, but it's not working. [laughs]

Ben

Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai, aka I Want to See Only You, is a four episode Japanese BL, partially funded by Hulu—that was kind of interesting—in which two boys in high school go through a friends-to-lovers arc. One of them has been nursing a crush for a long time on his friend, and confesses to his friend, and they deal with the complications that ensue from that in a way that I thought was really gentle and wholesome. This was a very short story, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Because it's not that complicated! They've been childhood friends. One of them reveals that he has stronger feelings than just friendship, and the other guy just begins to process that, and we get this really interesting dynamic where they're figuring out what the changes to their relationship are going to be. There's not any real complicating drama here. It's really just about these guys sorting their shit out.

Shan

Yeah, I mean, this show is just uncomplicated. It is heartwarming. It is cute as fuck. It is two nice boys being kind to each other while they navigate a change in their relationship. It's really as simple as that. Sakura confesses to Yuma. Yuma processes the confession. They have a lovely kiss around the fire pit. It's so straightforward and I loved it. It was just nice to watch something that is gentle and kind and lovely, and that's what it is.

I really like this show. I think it's a great serotonin hit—a quick one. And definitely recommend folks watch it.

Ben

Ginny and Nini, did you have time to watch this show?

Ginny

I did not even know it existed until I saw it on the show notes and I was like, “What's that? Oh, well, I'm already doing another show as my homework.”

NiNi

I watched it. It was very short, very sweet. I came away just with the feeling of having really enjoyed watching something, like being wrapped in a nice warm blanket. Watching these two soft boys have a soft time and then all the kooky characters around them. This is one of the things about this kind of Japanese drama that I enjoy, which is all the kooky side characters.

So you've got the two teachers, you've got the girl who has the crush on—I can't remember which boy she has a crush on—and then the boy who has the crush on her. It's so fun. It's so delightful. The teachers are the second best part of the show. I love the teachers so much.

It's just fun. It's sweet. It doesn't require a lot of you. It's very wholesome. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Ben

I was being really goofy at the beginning of this, but I like Kura Yuki a lot and I'm really glad we got to see him in BL again. I thought he was really good in the His prequel, and I really enjoy getting to see him again.

NiNi

He has really sad eyes, which I actually really enjoyed.

Shan

Yeah, he has a really emotive face, I think. I'm excited to see him keep doing more shows.

Ben

There's really not that much more to say. This is a really quick, really gentle show. If you need a really good mood boost, I recommend it.

Ratings! Shan?

Shan

I gave this a 9. It is straightforward. It is sweet. It's an easy watch. Highly recommended.

Ben

NiNi?

NiNi

I also give it a 9. It's incredibly straightforward and cute. I enjoyed it. I like that they couldn't quite figure out how to shift their relationship from friends to boyfriends. They were dating and they're like, “Should we be doing, like, other stuff?” But they were just doing the same stuff that they had always done. I found that delightful.

Ben

I gave it a 9.5 for the terrible pasta they made. [Shan and NiNi laugh]

Shan

We forgot to talk about the pasta!

NiNi

The pasta was so bad.

Shan

[still laughing] Those boys really went outside and picked some tomatoes and just tossed them fully, without any chopping, into a pan and stirred them around a lil bit and put them on top of some fucking limp noodles and called that spaghetti.

Ben

Zero notes. [laughs]

NiNi

The pasta was still semi-crunchy. It was delightful. It was so high school. It was the most high school thing I've ever seen.

Shan

[still laughing] Raw tomatoes and, like, unseasoned noodles? Amazing.

Ben

I really loved it. For your context Ginny, this is when the boys are trying to figure out the shift in their relationship and they make a list of things they wanna do together. Making pasta with the tomatoes they were growing in the school garden was one of those things. And I thought that was a really lovely idea and super romantic. And then because they're a bunch of high school boys who barely know how to cook, they fucked it up badly. But they had a good time together. It was great.

Shan

It was so good.

Ginny

Incredible.

NiNi

Seriously, Ginny, it's a short watch. It's an easy watch. If you're ever in the mood for something to just lift your mood, I suggest watching it.

Ben

So it gets a 9 from The Conversation. It's worth your time. Please go watch it.

01:10:55 - I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama

NiNi

On to the main event, which Ben has literally been waiting to talk about since we recorded the winter series. We're finally going to talk about I Became the Main Role [of] a BL Drama. Ben, you've been basically building up to this moment. Go right ahead.

Ben

I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama is about how these two boys will drown the audience in the BL goodness. [Shan laughs]

NiNi

Oh God.

Ben

It is a BL about making a BL, which is a lot of fun. No shade against Thailand in this, but when they do self-critical BL it's not always the most fun experience because there's a lot of real grievances the people making it need to air—and I completely respect that. But it also can be kind of a downer. When Japan makes fun of BL, they end up seeming to have more fun poking at the nature of the genre and delivering on the comedic beats without it just feeling like a bitch session.

So, in this particular show, we have Aoyanagi Hajime, who is a former child actor who was struggling a bit with his career and trying to figure out how to move forward, and he gets an opportunity to be one of the leads in a BL production against a up-and-coming idol, Akafuji Yuichiro. They are working on a workplace BL and we're mostly on the set of them filming this show. We don't get to see the show itself. I really wish we would get to see the show they made, it looks great.

They're starting to work on the show, and the two guys do not seem to have much chemistry. The reason we learn is because Yuichiro is actually an Aoyanagi Hajime stan, who is internally freaking out the whole time because he's this close to his idol. And they suggest the two guys live together to build up their chemistry. Their relationship gets complicated as they start to develop something between each other, and this complicates their relationship on set as well. But we mostly spend that time unpacking Aoyanagi’s confidence issues.

This was my favorite show. Before I just start gushing about how beautiful I find Akutsu Nichika, Ginny, thoughts on the show?

Ginny

I love this show so much. Just hearing you talk about it, I was feeling little bubbles of delight remembering all of the different scenes and moments and setups. It was just exquisite. It was so fun and so funny. Very comic, but also felt true to these people as people. Love seeing the cheeky BL commentary. Love seeing Abe Alan play this cool, up-and-coming popular idol, who is just smitten with this kind of no-name, famous-for-one-ad guy and just is flailing around, having to try to act BL.

One of the best moments any BL drama will ever give us is him asking Hajime to record that one kinda bitchy line he says for fap material. [Ben and Shan laugh] God, that's the funniest thing that's ever happened to me personally.

Ben

We will not do that scene justice describing it because it's not just about the dialogue of the scenario. It is staged really well. The blocking is a huge part of the joke in that one, because of what other people know or don't know in the background. It's really a great sequence of the show.

NiNi

I loved all of the blocking in that show, all of the stage direction, all the stuff that's happening in the background of all the scenes when they're on set is hilarious. Japanese shows will always reward you for paying attention to what's happening in the background of a scene. And this show, in particular, the background of every scene, is just phenomenal. It is delightful.

Ben

We cruised into the new year watching this show.

Shan

It was both the last show of 2023 and the first show of 2024 for us.

Ben

This show ended, I was like, “We've already decided the winner [laughs] for ‘24. Everybody, pack it up.”

Shan

I love this show. It's a great example of a super high velocity comedy where it's just joke, joke, joke, joke, joke coming at you from all sides in every moment of the show, not just through the dialogue, but through the scenery, through the blocking, through the things that other characters are doing just out of the frame. This thing is just packed, packed, packed with jokes, and so every time you watch it, you will see new stuff that you missed last time. There are so many gags in this, it's just so well done. The command you have to have to deliver comedy in that way with this extremely zippy pacing, in that super-packed content to shove it all into this three hour package. It's just so impressive. It's the kind of precision that most productions can only aspire to.

There was such good visual jokes in this. The reveal that Akafuji had been wearing a fan T-shirt [laughs] underneath his clothes in scenes. There was a fantastic scene with a leg kabedon.

Ben

Hold on, this is fun. Let's go around the group with a gag that we remember until we run out. Shan gave two. NiNi?

NiNi

I mean, I feel like the leg kabedon was a moment, because when I finally watched the show, I literally said, “Did he just do a kabedon with his leg?” and I was instructed [Ginny and Shan laugh] in the ways of Japanese media in that moment.

Shan

Sure did!

Ben

Ginny?

Ginny

Him running after Hajime carrying his Hajime standee.

Ben

After he had previously used it as a shield. [laughs]

Ginny

Yeah.

Ben

One of the gags I enjoyed was all Aoyangi mentioning he was called a bad kisser by his ex, and Akafuji just checks out for that moment, like he's not even listening to the rest of the conversation. He just keeps repeating “moto kono,” referring to the ex-girlfriend over and over again because he's spiraling over it. I enjoyed that one a lot.

[all laugh]

NiNi

Speaking of spiraling! Him fighting with the showerhead.

Shan

[Ginny and NiNi laugh] Oh my God! The showerhead! I still don’t understand what he was doing in that scene, but it was so funny.

Ben

It represents his sexual desire almost being out of control.

Shan

Oh, I got that part. [laughs] I just don't understand what the character was doing.

[Ginny laughs]

Ben

Struggling.

NiNi

When he nearly kissed Aoyanagi, then he went outside and basically hung over the balcony railing [laughs]. Just had a meltdown just from being close enough to almost kiss him.

Ben

The spinning scene on the steps where I was like, “He's gonna kill that boy.” [Ginny laughs]

Shan

Yes! When they were like, twirling each other around on a concrete stairway. [Ben laughs]

There were so many good supporting characters in this, too. I really liked the initial pitch scene with the producers who are describing the vision for the show.

Ben

That was fucking fantastic.

NiNi

Oh my God!

Shan

The level of intensity that they were bringing to their description of this super fucking basic office BL. [laughs]

Ben

Our follow[ers] did not understand the way I lost my shit over this show after the first episode. From the “I will drown the audience in the BL goodness” scene, I was like, “This is it, y'all. This is the show.”

Shan

This is the one.

Ben

“Everyone else can go. I'm done. I found what I needed.”

NiNi

So funny, and literally every time she was on screen, whether it was foreground or background, she was killin’ it. I loved her.

Shan

Every performer in this show was so dialed in at all times, whether they were the focus of a scene or not, they were always doing something important and funny in the background. There was also, of course, the great runner with the managers—

Ginny

The managers!

Shan

—who were carrying on a secret romance.

Ben

We saw them interacting like, “Are they exes? Are they together? What's goin’ on?”

Shan

It was clear somethin’ was going on there from the start.

Ben

They know each other, that's for sure.

Ginny

Mmhmm.

NiNi

They definitely know each other.

Ginny

They know each other.

Shan

They know each other. I was very surprised by the spicy reveal we got [laughs] about their relationship.

NiNi

It was kind of spicy, wasn't it? There was choking involved.

Shan

And then also Ryoga, who was brought in to be a co-star in the show. He was, like, a very well known actor/influencer, I think?

Ben

He was a member of a boy band and they were bringing him in for additional crossover appeal. ‘Cause his strong point was his arrogance. [Ginny and Ben laugh] He walks in the room and they're like throwing fucking feathers for him. And then he starts helping them pick it up. “Thanks for throwing the feathers, guys.” [all laugh]

Shan

This drama! Three episodes, it had a small cast, but it did so much with what it had.

Ben

We were only with this show for two hours, but boy was that a great time.

NiNi

It was so much fun. The producer, the look on her face in the background when the two of them were flirting on set and she caught them? [Shan laughs] Her face was slowly lighting up. [laughs]

Ben

She's like—

Shan

So happy.

Ben

—”Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.” [all laugh]

I love the manager glaring at his own fucking ward. He's like, “Can you read that line again for me?” and he glares at him. [Ben and Ginny laugh]

Shan

Oh man.

Ben

In terms of the BL commentary, that was fun. There's the whole ramp up of you get selected for a role, you don't really know your costar, there's the reading of the material.

One of the things I really enjoyed with this is that they delved into Aoyanagi really struggling with the fact that he was unable to build rapport with his co-star right away. I like actors getting to play actors and stuff. When Aoyanagi was acting as his character, he was actually really good and was really dialed in. It was really cool how quickly he could go in and out of character. I really liked them showing that he's actually good, but he's in his own head about it because he's really sensitive to commentary from fans, and they reinforce how fan behavior has really potentially negative impacts on actors and entertainers with Kuromiya. He gets cornered by a really aggressive fan, and has to be saved by Aoyanagi in that moment.

I actually liked the moment with Tendo, the female supporting character on their cast, when Aoyanagi’s trying to talk to her about what's going on with Akafuji and he's speaking about it hypothetically, and she's like, “If your co-star is trying to make out with you off set, that's not good.”

Shan

Mmhmm.

Ben

“That's extremely bad.” And he's like, “Wait, but this is a BL story, we're gonna just ride it out for this.” But she's like, “Mmm, no.”

Shan

Aside from how very fucking funny this is, it had some really good messages. The most important thing this show did for me was make it super clear that, in order for the two of them to have a real relationship and have a romance, Akafuji had to let go of being Aoyanagi’s fan. You can't idolize and worship a person if you want a relationship with them. You have to process them as a human being, a full human being, and see them fully for who they are, and not keep them on this fannish pedestal. I really like that the show was clear about that. Being a fan, being a stan of somebody, is not the same thing as loving them.

Ben

It was really surprising as well that the show allowed there to be the commentary about the network, late in production, interfering—getting cold feet about something. The guys had a lot of consternation about whether or not they'd be able to deliver a proper kiss for the intimacy, and then the powers that be pulled the kiss, and you get the sense immediately from the producers that that wasn't their choice, that people with money above them made that decision and they had to just deliver the party line and just accept it.

Shan

That probably brings us to our one real criticism of this show, yeah?

Ben

The reason why the show did not get a 10. [laughs]

Shan

Damn it, we wanted it to get a 10!

Ben

I get what they were going for. They reserved that moment for them. But I'm looking at you TV Asahi.

Shan

Because, they did not deliver a kiss.

Ben

They didn't.

Shan

They did not deliver a kiss in this show. [laughs]

Ben

It’s the only knock.

Shan

They teased a kiss continuously. They showed them about to kiss multiple times before cutting the camera away.

Ben

We got sad kissing in episode 2.

Shan

They implied that they might have been kissing as practice off camera, that we didn't see. And then they ended the show—similarly to Cherry Magic—with the camera zooming in on them, about to kiss, and then a cut to black. It was unsatisfying all around.

It's the one real ding on the show. The first time they did the fake out, we were like, “Oh no, show. Please don't do this. We want to love you unreservedly. Please just deliver the kiss.”

Ben

That's the real sadness of our two grab bags. We did not get a NiNi “I love this unreservedly” and we talked about like 10 shows. [Ben and Shan laugh]

NiNi

Everything's got a little ding to it right now, but we'll get that again, I believe.

Ben

[laughs] But genuinely I love this. I really like that for the little time we spent with them, all the characters felt really human to me in a way that was really accessible. And even though they were mostly broad strokes in all of these characters, I got a lot out of it. It was really, truly one of my favorite BL experiences I've had in a long time.

NiNi

I'm gonna give it a 9.75.

Ben

Oh, my God, here she goes.

Shan

[laughs] She’s cheating! That’s just cheating—

Ginny

Cheating!

Shan

—so you can be the most generous.

NiNi

It's not cheating. It is producer privilege. Get it right. [Ginny and Shan laugh]

Ben

Ginny?

Ginny

I gave it a 9.5. Would have been a 10 if they'd given us the kiss, but a truly delightful and worthwhile show.

Shan

Same. 9.5 for same reason.

Ben

I gave it a 9.5 for the same thing. It's a 9.5 from The Conversation.

Shan

But let the record state that NiNi is the most generous. [laughs]

Ben

Truly, we love this. This is one of our favorites. Go watch it right now.

Ginny

I have to rewatch it ‘cause I don't even remember my favorite gags.

Ben

Exactly. You gotta go watch again and get your gags back.

01:26:16 - Outro

NiNi

And with that, we have come to the end of our Japanese Grab Bag. So, what are we thinking about Japanese BL having just run down six of them in a row? Ginny, you go first.

Ginny

Last time I answered this question I was kind of feeling like Japanese BL can do no wrong, and now I feel like, well it can, and has. There have been several less than perfect shows. Still feeling very positive overall. Loving so far—knock wood—some of what's currently airing.

The beautiful density of storytelling that Japanese BL tends to deliver in such a short time, it almost never feels hollow or incomplete. It feels very rich and detailed, and I continue to love and appreciate that.

Ben

Shan?

Shan

I am just living right now. What a time to be alive. Japanese BL coming at us, all the time, consistently. It didn't used to be like this. We used to go long stretches with nothing coming out from Japan. No clue what was gonna come next. And now it’s like, we've got these consistently airing shows, we've got shows that are showing up as a surprise alongside that. I think at one point we had six different Japanese QLs airing simultaneously. That's just an unheard of bounty of Japanese QL content, and I am so happy about it. I hope it continues.

With volume, of course, comes some shows that are not gonna hit as well as the cream of the crop, but I still love the experience of watching all of them, I love getting to dig into this much Japanese content. I'm just so happy and I hope it continues.

Ben

I can't believe we got to talk about nine Japanese projects in a single season of this show. That's ridiculous.

Shan

Wow, right?

Ben

I am having a great time, and I'm actually glad some of these shows were flops or duds. As much as I really like Japanese BL, I'm glad that there was a show that I got to genuinely hate in this run [laughs] so that NiNi could see that I'm capable of hating a Japanese project with my whole heart.

NiNi

I did actually need to see that. That is true.

Ben

I'm havin’ a great time. It's really refreshing that so many different networks were involved. We had shows from about five or six different networks, and even if it feels like we're getting a slowdown in spring, I am very glad that we have more projects on the way. There's at least two more Japanese projects on the horizon, so. I'm in a really good place.

NiNi

There's some stuff in there, I think, that we're going to talk about in the Lagniappe about where things seem to be going next season, but for now, that's going to be it from us.

We out. Say bye to the people, everybody, this time in actual chorus: 1, 2, 3.

Ben

Peace.

Shan

Bye.

Ginny

Bye!

NiNi

Oh my God. Y'all are terrible at this.

[Ginny and Shan laugh]

#ben and nini's conversations #lgbtq #podcast #the conversation #on art #bl series #spring series #japanese bl #sahara sensei to toki kun #sukiyanen kedo do yaro ka #although i love you and you #perfect propose #i became the main role of a bl drama #bl drama no shuen ni narimashita: crank up hen #one room angel #i want to see only you #kimi no koto dake mite itai #Spotify

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emmalouloubean · 21 days

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thoughts after ep 27

back before arc #3 started, I made a post of theories and predictions and things, and I already referenced it once, but here I am to reference it again (you don't have to go back and read that post, I'll reiterate all the important info here)

the two big things I'll bring up here are the politics of destroying the station of the Witch of the World's Heart and the tense collaboration between Mirara and Indri (warning: idk how to shut up so this is a little long)

I understand where they (Ame, Suvi, and Eursulon) are coming at with the numbers angle, but back in ep 15, Mirara said that the coven can act without unanimity and Grandma Wren said that they may act as they see fit without her approval. So I'm not sure how strong that argument is gonna be on its own. There is a difference between unanimity and majority, but I think that they might need something else on top of the issue with odd/even members.

Also in ep 15, Grandma Wren said that "there will be tremendous repercussions if you insinuate that any of the other stations are not incredibly significant to the nature of magic itself" and in Ep20, Sly tells Ame that "one of your sisters is going to make the argument that your existence threatens the nature of magic in the world of Umora. And the only way—in the majority of cases where you win that argument, you win it because in order to get rid of your station, they would probably magically have to get rid of another." I think the key points of both of these statements in the tie to magic, as if the thing that makes getting rid of a station in the coven is some sort of magical law/rule and not just a logistical one. I know Brennan was almost leading them away from that conclusion, but I really feel like they were onto something with the idea of balance. Plus, we haven't seen any of the "tremendous repercussions" that Grandma Wren mentioned. Maybe the repercussions are just Ame gets to take someone else with her, or maybe it's a bit of etiquette that Ame doesn't know yet and they're playing off her ignorance, like maybe Ame is allowed to do something in response and she doesn't know she's granted any sort of special reaction.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised that my theory that Indri is working with the Man in Black (MiB) seems to be coming true. I felt a little like the Pepe Silvia meme when I was coming up with it.

We got confirmation that the MiB is under Mirara's station and I think that based on Indri was talking during their argument that they are probably working together against the wizards. And by the transitive property, we can guess that Indri and the MiB are also allies.

I theorized Indri might be working with the MiB because one of the other titles for him is the Pilgrim Under the Stars, which implies that he moves around like people, walking around on the ground (at least to me). In the last memory Ame has in Ep15, Grandma Wren says that "he has been moving upon our world in a way that I cannot quite see" which I think we all clocked, but she also stated explicitly that it's only been like this recently (to quote directly: "for some time now, since you were a very little girl, in fact"). It's possible that perhaps the reason this changed was because Indri had aligned herself with the MiB and was aiding him in moving in a way that is no longer under the stars.

I wonder if Grandma Wren had somehow clocked this because in Ep2, Brennan said that "she sort of had a relationship with [the stars], like someone who spent time in their company" so maybe that's how she knew something was up or wrong with them. I wonder if she asked Steele for a book (the one about stars of the southern sky that was sent with Suvi along with the shape-changer diagrams) that categorized the stars or just listed them in an effort to compare the information of what the sky used to look like or how these things used to work with how they may have been changed by either Indri or MiB.

Let me know what you guys think! Were you guys surprised by the Mirara/Indri alliance reveal? I was a little caught off guard ngl, even though I've suspected Indri of not being on Ame's side before we even met her lol

#worlds beyond number #wbn #the wizard the witch and the wild one #twtwtwo #wbn spoilers #wbn: www #wwwo

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chalkrevelations · 2 years

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Y’ALL. LISTEN.

Pete hands Vegas that rope to bind him in Ep 12 and then offers up his wrists, but here’s the thing, GOD, the thing that is making me feral again, as I go back and re-watch the show: Pete is absolutely perfectly capable of getting out of that rope, no matter Vegas’s intentions. We see this in Ep TWO, when Pete’s right beside Porsche - so we don’t miss him, even before we (technically) know how important Pete is to the narrative - during the training exercise in which they’re supposed to get out of rope bonds (which look a shit-ton like the rope that Pete hands to Vegas later in the safehouse) while underwater in the pool at the main family compound. We hear an entire big lecture just before they’re all shoved into the deep end (lit. and fig.) about how “Just so you all know, if you are captured, taken hostage, you have less than three minutes to untie yourselves. Make the minutes count.” We see Pete prepping himself for maximum bodyguard performance during this little speech, rolling his neck and shoulders to make sure he’s ready. He’s the first one Chan pushes into the pool. Not only does he get out of those ropes almost immediately, even underwater - he’s one of, if not the first person out of his ropes and breaking the surface, as we also watch Porsche struggle at the bottom of the pool - but he manages to position himself to float up, near the water’s surface, as he works to free himself, so that he’s right there at the top of the water to break out, immediately up into the air, once he gets his bonds off. He not only can do this, he’s fucking good at it.

I went back to Ep 12 after that. Vegas initiates what ultimately becomes their sex scene at 27:30 by reaching out, grabbing the front plackets of the shirt Pete’s wearing, and pulling him closer. Three minutes later, at 30:30, Vegas initiates the final kiss of their sex scene, just before he pulls out and rolls off of Pete to lie beside him.

Those three minutes that we get counted, all right, and Pete did NOTHING to untie himself, to extricate himself from this situation he found himself in. This was a deliberate choice he made, not just at the beginning, when he handed Vegas that rope, but consistently, constantly, every single second when he chose to remain bound and to offer himself up for 1) whatever Vegas wanted to do and 2) the intimacy of that encounter. At no point was he able to fall back on, “well, I’ve made my decision and now I’ll have to live with it, what can I do?” Every. single. second. was freely given.

Y’all. I’m chewing glass again.

And then I compare that constant, consistent gift of his consent - in the bonds that he could escape at any time, with nothing but his clever fingers and his trained self-sufficiency - to the handcuff, which he needs a tool for - if not the key, something he can pick it with - and I want to cry again.

(And then I think about those goddam bolt cutters that Vegas left lying around, clearly within reach at every point in time post-pill, and I want to chew glass again. They’re such a beautiful disaster, and I love them so much.)

(ETA: Follow-up post on the gd bolt cutters is located here.)

#ANYWAY #pete phongsakorn #vegas theerapanyakul #vegaspete #kinnporsche #how we feeling vegaspete nation?#don't think some iteration of this isn't going into the arranged marriage fic #SOMEHOW

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collabpartners · 4 months

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Hazbin Hotel: The Contract of Blood Ep. 1

*Hello, guys! I'm back with both of me and my friend making a collab fanfic for Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss crossover. This episode is published on February 27, 2024. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Warning: this will have implied sexual assault, which it only appears in the first episode. There will also be a lot of vulgar words. Reader discretion is advised.*

The alarm clock rings in Charlie’s bedroom. Sharing the master bed covered by purple and velvet sheets, Charlie and her girlfriend, Vaggie, are cuddling each other.

Charlie snaps her eyes open and slams the alarm clock. She is about to turn over and get out of bed, but she realizes her girlfriend is slowly waking up. She kisses Vaggie’s forehead.

“Morning, angel,” Charlie whispers, scooting out of Vaggie’s loose hold.

Vaggie lifts one eyelid open. “Morning.” She sits up in her tank top, her gray hair covering over her missing eye with a red x over it.

Charlie opens the shades, revealing a red sky with a faded symbol up on the sky. Down below, there are reeks of chaos of sinners killing each other. She inhales and exhales, and then looks at Vaggie.

“Today’s the new day,” Charlie says while hurrying to the bathroom.

Vaggie sighs lovingly at her girlfriend and scoots off the bed.

The happy music starts as Charlie exits the bathroom in her red suit, her face pale with rosy blushes she always had. With her blonde hair in a ponytail, she starts to sing cheerfully.

“Oh, oh,

I woke up today,

Whoa.

Feelin’ the way I do.

Whoa.”

Charlie swiftly walks out into the hallway to see the short maid cyclops dusting the halls, the maid’s work noted by her song.

“Nifty is dusting the halls.”

Charlie hears the radio static in the speakers.

“Good morning, sinners. It’s currently eight in the morning with the weather being Hellish today,” Alastor’s voice announces.

Charlie croons excitedly as she slides down the stairs,

“Alastor is giving his daily announcements.”

She shifts her gaze towards the bar to see other patrons enjoying themselves, including the familiar spider demon with six arms and skimpy clothing named Angel Dust and the cat demon with red wings named Husk.

Husk leans closer to Angel with a lovesick smiling while Angel is talking his ear off non-stop.

Charlie notices this and sings teasingly,

“Angel at the bar flirting with Husk.”

Angel and Husk hears Charlie with shocked looks.

“We’re not flirting,” the men said simultaneously.

Charlie feels Vaggie’s hand on her shoulder and massaging it.

Vaggie sings along with her girlfriend.

“Okay, babe, calm down.”

Charlie jumps in excitement.

“How can I be calm

When everything is going right?”

Charlie gestures to the sinners coming into the hotel as she sings more happily.

“Look at all the residents now.

Sinners from all the seven rings

Coming to this hotel to seek redemption!”

Charlie opens her arms wide to welcome incoming sinners.

“Good morning, sinners!

Welcome to Hazbin Hotel!

Where change is possible!

Where we try every day to be better!”

Charlie ushers the other sinners in while repeating her chorus.

“Good morning, sinners!

I hope you enjoy your stay.

This is a rehab to leave behind all of your old habits.

A place where we can all grow together!”

She tries to ask the sinners if they need help while singing,

“Oh, oh.

How can I help you today?

Oh, oh,

How can I assist you today?”

“Honey, that means the same thing,” Vaggie reminds Charlie, trying to calm her down.

“Heh, right,” Charlie utters with a nervous smile.

Nifty jumps out, chasing the black bug crawling around the floor and singing,

“I’m gonna kill some bugs, hehehehe!

Ooh, is that a knife I see?”

Angel comes into the scene and lifts Nifty away from sharp knives at the bar while crooning.

“Whoa there, missy, Charlie says for you to not touch sharp objects.”

Charlie smiles and sings happily,

“Thanks, Angel.”

Angel nods while Husk notices a patron sulking.

Then Husk sings in baritone,

“You look like shit.”

The patron croons back,

“Give me the strongest you got.”

“Uh, isn’t that too early for that?” Husk asks the patron. The speakers goes static, which hurt Husk’s ears temporarily.

Up in the radio tower on the several story hotel, the tall demon with a red bob-cut hair and ears like a deer, Alastor, starts to sing in his radio voice.

“In today’s announcements,

The hotel has gain population

Four months after the last extermination.

What a miracle that it garners folks’ attention.

I guess Charlie’s little idea might bring hope.”

Charlie sings the chorus to welcome the new hotel guests.

“Good morning, sinners.

Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel.

Some day, you’ll reach the pearly gates.

Some day, you’ll break free from old habits.”

Vaggie, Angel Dust, Husk, Alastor, and Nifty gather around Charlie to sing with her in the last chorus.

“Good morning, sinners!

Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!

Where we all have each other!

Maybe some day there will be a path to Heaven.”

The music ends in a happier note, leaving the incoming guests to cheer at the gang.

Charlie claps excitedly and turns to the rest. “Well done, guys!”

“We want to check in,” the hotel guest with family of four uttered.

“Oh yeah, be there in a minute,” Charlie calls to the hotel guest and looks at the gang. “Make sure you guys get comfortable. We’re going to do some trust exercises later.”

Husk and Angel groan at the activity while Vaggie rolls her eyes at them. When she walks away, Angel shifts his glance at Husk.

“Will you catch me when I fall later?” Angel asks in a flirty tone.

“That depends on the mood,” Husk answers with a smirk.

Angel chuckles. “Mind if we talk some more at the bar?”

Husk nods and walks over, leading Angel back over at the bar.

“So, got anything to spill to an old bartender?” Husk asks.

“Oh, you know the usual. Last night was fucking insane.”

“Do tell.”

“Okay, so Valentino had some kinks that are just weird. Like a crime show where the cops fuck the prisoner or something.”

“Huh, weird.”

“I know. And guess who's the prisoner?”

Husk ponders, pretending to think with a smirk. “Hmm, the one who snorts thin lines on a hunk’s abs--”

“Oh, fuck you,” Angel teases.

“I mean if that’s what you want to do.”

Angel giggles. “Ah, you’re learning the ways of my jokes.”

“Your mind can’t even get out of the gutter for one goddamn second,” Husk responds with chuckles.

Both of the men share laughs while Husk’s hand was close to one of Angel’s hands. His pinky claw manage to rub the top of Angel’s pink glove hand before hearing the phone ring.

Angel’s smile instantly fades away once he looks at who’s calling him.

Valentino.

Husk reads his friend’s face for a moment with a frown. “You don’t have to answer that.”

Angel looks up at Husk and then back at his phone. He appears like he’s not going to answer the call, but hesitates.

“I have to,” Angel utters, answering the phone. “Hello?”

Husk watches Angel hugging himself nervously with his four arms, his legs dangle from the barstool.

“I can’t today, Val. I got some chores to do at the hotel--”

Husk can hear Val screaming about something, but can’t make out the words. However, he watches Angel’s shoulders trembling.

“Okay, okay...I’ll be there. Don’t worry...I’ll--”

The voice interrupts Angel for a moment.

“Yes, five minutes. Okay. Bye,” Angel says as he hangs up the phone. A deep sigh escapes from him, leaving concern for Husk.

“You have to go?” Husk asks.

Angel lifts his head, taking a deep breath as if he is putting on the mask. “Yeah, I’ll be gone for a while. But I’ll come back for a drink.”

Husk fakes a smile while watching Angel getting up from the barstool. “Alright, I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Tonight sounds good,” Angel replies and struts away with confidence, but Husk can see that Angel was in a rush to get to the studio.

Husk loses his smile and sighs sadly.

“Hey, you okay there?” Vaggie’s voice calls him.

The bartender glances up to see Vaggie, straightening himself up. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

Vaggie smirks. “Getting worried about Angel, huh?”

“No, I ain’t even worried about him. I’m sure he can handle himself.”

“Not like you’re on a date with him, are ya?”

“What? Fuck, no! He’s just my drinkin’ buddy,” Husk responds defensively.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Vaggie teases.

Husk gruffs, but he doesn’t expect her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

“I’m sure Angel will be fine. Just as long as he comes back from the studio in one piece, he’ll be just fine.”

He sighs and nods. “Yeah, yeah, I ain’t that worried about him.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” she responds with a smirk, walking away.

He moves his gaze up to watch her walking away back towards her girlfriend, giving Charlie a peck on the lips of affection.

His thoughts are on him and Angel immediately. Does Angel think that he has feelings for him? Or does Angel even have feelings for him? Damn it, now he’s thinking Angel of all people to think about. Husk groans at himself and turns to the refrigerator next time. He opens the fridge and notices a lot of food they have been storing up. Husk pulls the food out and examines the bread. A nice thought enters his head. Maybe he can make Angel some lunch...you know, for the wild rough sex he might have later. Might as well have some food in his stomach. Or does Val allow lunch breaks for Angel?

Husk shrugs the question off and begins making a sandwich. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. That should be a safe meal.

Husk takes the brown paper bag out and stuffs an apple in the bag. Then he gets out a ziploc bag and puts the sandwich in it. He places the sandwich in the brown lunch bag. He rolls up the top to seal it and writes Angel’s name on the bag with the sharpie.

“Perfect,” Husk mutters to himself. He looks around to make sure Vaggie and Charlie or Alastor aren’t around. He sneaks out of the hotel as quickly as he can and hurries down into the city.

~.~

“Where’s that damn studio?” Husk curses himself, searching around the city for the studio Angel works at. He looks up to see the big sign that says ‘Porn Studios’. “Oh, fuck, there it is. Make it big and obvious why don’t you?”

Husk enters the studio with Angel’s lunch. He walks through the studio where he hears a familiar slimy voice. And then Angel’s moans. He follows the sounds of Angel’s moans and manages to enter the right film set. Once he enters, he sees Angel laying naked on the wooden table with the actors dressed as cops.

Husk looks away quickly before he can analyze any one else’s nakedness. He hurries to the small table with all the bags.

Val notices Husk walking to the side with a groan. “Ugh, cut.” He turns to Husk. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Relax, man, I’m just delivering something,” Husk answers while looking at Angel, who is now covering his nakedness with his pink robe. He shows Angel his lunch and puts it in the spot where he will remember it.

“Thank you,” Angel mouths.

Husk smiles softly at Angel.

“Make you sure you watch Fat Nuggets for me,” Angel adds with a whisper.

Husk gives him a thumbs up and nods.

Val notices the exchange, watching the way Angel smiles like a lovesick school boy at Husk and Husk gives him the same look. With a small growl and he whispers to the other actors.

Husk sees that and wonders what Val’s whispering about. The actors come back on set with Angel undressing himself off of his robe.

“Action!” Val shouts impatiently.

Husk is about to walk away until he hears Angel gasp in shock.

“Wait, this isn’t part of the script!” Angel cries.

Husk snaps his attention to Angel, watching Angel getting manhandle on his stomach by three of the buff actors. His head is slammed against the table while he is struggling helplessly.

“No, wait, stop!” Angel shouts in fear.

Husk clenches teeth, feeling a growl rumbling in his throat. He witnesses one of the actors taking his pants off and forcing himself in Angel, who screams in pain.

“Ah! AH! It fucking hurts! Stop--!”

“Keep it going,” Val says slimly.

Husk’s anger rises to his chest, losing control of himself at the moment he watches Angel scream in pain. It’s sudden that black tentacles grows from the ground around Angel, shoving the other actors off of him.

Val turns with a surprise look at Husk, whose eyes are turning glowing green.

“You get the fuck away from him!” Husk screams, teleporting in front of Angel’s naked figure to protect him from the other actors.

The actors scream in terror at the sight of the tentacles growing all around Husk and Angel.

“Husk?” Angel calls softly.

Husk breathes heavily, losing control of himself. He uses the tentacles to stab through the actors, possessing them to turn against Val.

“Husky, what the hell are you doing?” Angel questions, now more scared.

Husk controls the other actors to take out weapons, ready to use against Val. Angel notices that Husk is out of it and runs in front of Val to defend him.

“Husk, stop!” Angel cries.

Husk stops the actors from pursuing Val, knowing that Angel is standing in between them and Val. Val smirks at Husk.

Husk relaxes his shoulders and the tentacles. “Angel?”

Before Husk can say anything, a green shackle appears around his throat. Instantly, the tentacles disappears and the actors are not longer possessed.

Angel watches Husk struggling in his chains with the green glow in his eyes still. Soon, his eyes start to tear up as he rushes up to Husk. “HUSK!!!”

Husk starts struggling in his chains, not realizing that Alastor appeared beside him.

“Sorry for the little inconvenience,” Alastor replies to Val as he’s dragging Husk away. “It won’t happen again.”

Husk attempts to swipe at Val like an angry cat, but misses. “No! You leave him alone! Don’t you fucking hurt him! Don’t you fucking dare hurt him--!”

Alastor manages to pull Husk out of the studio as Husk is passing out from using his unknown powers, leaving Angel alone with the other actors and Val.

Val snaps his head to glare at Angel, who is starting to breathe heavily in fear.

~.~

“Don’t you fucking hurt him! Don’t you fucking dare hurt him! Please...please...please, don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him.”

Husk starts fluttering his eyes open with a pained groan.

“Ow, what the fuck?” Husk utters before realizing he is being dragged away from the studio. He glances up and watches Alastor dragging him away. A sudden pang of fear flashes across his face as he starts to struggle.

“Wait, what the fuck? What’s going on?!” Husk screams in panic.

“Ah, you’ve finally snap out of it. Took you a little while,” Alastor says in a radio static voice. “You have been a little nuisance to Val.”

“N-Nuisance?” Husk gasps in realization. “Wait, he was hurting Angel--”

“Ah, that’s the only reason why you used our shared powers, eh?” Alastor replies, helping Husk up on his feet.

“S-Shared powers?” Husk asks.

“Why yes. Since your soul belongs to me and you are in these chains, you have also my shared powers that you can use whenever you want...however, I never tell any overlords that. You are the only former overlord that I know that knows this now. You’ve gambled for power...you got it. Only half of it.”

“I-I didn’t even know,” Husk replies while walking with Alastor.

“Well, now you do. So, every time you feel a powerful emotion, these powers will serve whatever your emotional desires are...which seems to be protecting your sweet, sweet Angel from one of the most powerful overlords.

Husk remembers suddenly of how Angel stands between Val and him, stopping him from potentially killing Val. He clenches his teeth in hurt when he remembers how scared Angel appears to be.

“Shit,” Husk mumbles tearfully.

“What was that?” Alastor questions.

“Nothing,” Husk responds while wiping away any tears leaking out of his eyes.

They finally arrive at the hotel with Charlie and Vaggie by the door. Charlie rushes up to Husk and Alastor.

“Alastor, what are you doing to him?” Charlie utters in fear at Husk being in chains.

The chains around Husk’s neck disappears.

“I manage to find him at the Porn Studios with Angel. But don’t worry, everything is fine now,” Alastor reassures the girls.

Charlie shifts her glance at Husk in more concern. “Is everything okay, Husk?”

Husk frowns and looks away. With a huff, he walks into the hotel without an answer.

Charlie and Vaggie exchange glances at each other in concern and then look up at Alastor, who just shrugs and walks into the hotel after Husk.

~.~

Night comes around as Charlie and Vaggie watches Husk cleaning the same shot glass for hours straight.

“Yeah, there’s definitely something wrong with Husk,” Vaggie assumes.

“Alastor said that he’s at the Porn Studios...he must have witness the shitty treatment Angel gets at that place,” Charlie says with a frown. “Should we go over there and comfort him?”

“Eh, I think he’s in his own head for right now--” Vaggie’s sentence is interrupted when Angel walks through the doors, with a black eye on his left eye and a busted up lip. Blood is trickling down to his neck. Bruises are on his arms as if someone grab him and manhandle him and on his neck as if someone is trying to choke him. He has slashes across his legs and bloody bite marks on his shoulders. His clothes are shredded and his legs are wobbly from walking long distance.

“Holy shit!” Charlie cries, her horns appearing on the sides of her head while her eyes turns red with white pupils. She and Vaggie hurry by Angel’s side to help him walk properly through the door.

“What the fuck happen to you?!” Vaggie asks angrily.

Charlie summons the first aid kit and opens it to get the alcohol and cotton ball out.

“I-I’m fine, guys. I’m fine,” Angel reassures with his voice barely audible.

Before the girls can insist otherwise, they hear Husk’s footsteps darting across the bar and towards where Angel and the girls are.

Husk stands there behind them, unaware of Alastor approaching the scene to watch the events unfold.

Nifty keeps dusting the furniture, ignoring the situation completely.

Husk breathes heavily, the anger returning to him. “He did this to you, didn’t he?”

Angel seals his lips and looks away.

Husk clenches his fists. “That’s it! I’m going to kill him! I’m going to kill him--!”

Before Husk can storm out of the hotel to find Valentino, he feels the chains around his throat holding him back. He looks to see Alastor, who shakes his head for him to stop. Husk glances to see Charlie and Vaggie tending to Angel’s wound, not following Husk or telling Alastor to let go of him.

“Husk, you need to calm down,” Vaggie says, putting her hand up like she’s trying to calm a feral cat. “I know you’re upset about what happened to Angel. We are too. But--”

Husk slams his fist against the wall next to the front door, leaving a large crack on it. The tears edges out of his eyes. “Then why the fuck hasn’t anyone done anything about protecting Angel, huh?!”

No one answers the question. Charlie’s horns goes back into her head as she keeps tending to Angel’s wounds.

Husk breathes heavily in hurt, noticing Angel’s scared expression. A groan escapes his lips as he shakes his head. He storms back into the hotel and upstairs to find his room, the chains around his throat disappearing.

Charlie and Vaggie soften their gazes at Husk, which is noticed by Alastor.

“Don’t worry about him,” Alastor reassures the girls. “He’ll come around.”

Angel frowns in disbelief, watching Husk going into his room.

~.~

Husk hugs his legs on his bed within his room. His wings wrap around him as he tries to withhold his tears. He doesn’t know why he’s been hurt that a local pornstar is getting hurt and abused.

Husk buries his head into his thighs until he hears a knock.

“Go away,” Husk utters, but it is muffled by his croaked voice and his thighs. The door open. “Do you not get the concept--?!”

He stops himself to realize that it is just Angel entering the room, now in a pink bathrobe with a sandwich on the plate.

Husk immediately wipes a tear away. “I thought you’re Charlie.”

Angel softly smiles and walks over to Husk, sitting next to him on the bed. He offers up the plate with half of a sandwich.

“I saved you a sandwich,” Angel responds, his voice recovering a bit slowly, though it is still cracked.

Husk frowns at hearing Angel’s voice. “He destroyed that pretty voice of yours, did he?”

Angel waves it off as if is no big deal. “I’ll get my voice back. Besides, this is usually the time I snort crack at a local club.”

“But you didn’t though.”

“I rather be in here with you than out there,” Angel says, one of his hands on Husk’s. “I miss my bartender.”

Husk holds Angel’s hand tightly. “I wish you let me kill him.”

Angel frowns and scoots closer to him. “You can’t kill overlords unless you’re Alastor. Besides, I don’t want him coming after you if he comes back from the ‘dead’. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s that bastard who fucked you up,” Husk argues. “Every night is like this. Every night, you come home in pain and now, you can barely talk. This shit ain’t normal, Angel!”

“It’s normal to me,” Angel blurts out, tears leaking out of his eyes.

Husk stops with his words and frowns. He shakes his head and lets go of Angel’s hand.

“I wish it wasn’t normal for you.”

“As long as the contract stands, I can never leave Val,” Angel replies to Husk, hugging him to comfort him. “I can’t leave him, Husky.”

“I know, I know, legs,” Husk responds, hugging Angel back. His heartbeat is calmer than it was in the past few hours. Angel’s hugs are always so warm...why?

“I know that this might be the worse time to say this, but you’re hot when you summon those tentacles,” Angel whispers to Husk.

Husk snorts. “Really? I could’ve hurt you with them.”

“Well, if I wasn’t so scared for you and what Val will do to ya, I would’ve been turned on. Do you think you can summon them again?”

Husk breaks away from Angel, shaking his head. “Are you kidding me? No. I don’t even know how to summon them again.”

“Aw, not even one more time for me to see, daddy~?”

“Alright, that’s enough of your kinkyness. Get on out of here before I summon them again to slap the shit out of you,” Husk teases Angel.

Angel coos jokingly. “Aww, you would never do anything to hurt me, Husky boy~”

“Keep at it and you’ll see,” Husk responds, failing at containing his laughing smile.

Angel smirks at Husk, groaning playfully. “Fine, I’ll go to bed. Fat Nuggets must be waiting for his papa. Thanks for looking out for him.”

Husk widens his eyes in realization. “Uh, shit, I, uh, was too wrapped up in thinking about what happened at the studio. Shit--”

“It’s okay, baby. I get it. Get some rest. We’re both gonna need it.”

Husk smiles and nods. “Okay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Angel leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.

Husk loses his lovesick smile, staring out of the window to see night with the red sky still. The soft music begins as he takes a deep breath and looks at himself in the mirror in front of him.

“How could I watch him get hurt?

Why am I such a loser?”

Husk stands up from the bed, ambling towards the balcony as he croons more.

“I’ve lost my way.

I never thought I find someone just like me.”

Husk looks down to find Angel taking Fat Nuggets, his pig, out for a walk.

“You have to deal with the gruesome damages

From that motherfucker of a boss.”

He looks up at the radio tower where Alastor is watching over everything.

“And there’s nothing we can do to save each other.”

He glances down at Angel, watching him turning a corner where he can’t see him anymore.

“Oh, there’s nothing we can do.”

He has a sudden memory of what Angel says a moment ago.

“As long as that contract stands, I can never leave Val,” Angel’s voice enters his head.

Husk blinks in realization and sings.

“Unless there is a way.”

The music begins to build up as he sings with more determination.

“Unless we can get out of this loop of abuse.

Unless we can escape from this torment.

We don’t really have to live like this anymore.”

The music builds up as Husk notices the faded chains around his neck and sings.

“If only I can break these chains,

I can save you from your boss.

If only I can break these chains,

We’ll be free from the shit-hole we’re in.”

Husk extends his wings and takes off flying from the balcony, feeling the cool wind. He looks down to see the ground getting smaller and smaller as the music starts to pick up the pace.

“I know I’ve fucked up, but maybe Charlie’s right.

If we free our souls from the powerful overlords,

Maybe that’s our one-way ticket to Heaven’s Gates.”

Husk feels a tug around his neck before he goes further than half of the city to get to Porn Studios. He glances to find the chains tightening around him. He struggles to fight it as the guitar solo starts to play.

“But these damn chains keeps getting tighter and tighter!

Oh fuck, I can’t breathe!

What can I do to save you?!

I’ll give anything if it means saving you!”

Husk starts to black out for a moment. However, once he opens his eyes, he sees a bright beautiful forest land that goes for miles without stopping. He looks down to see that the chains around his neck on the ground. He sees Angel up ahead, waving at him with one of his arms before running off. Husk chases after Angel while singing in beautiful melody.

“Once I break these chains,

I’ll be running through the field to get to you!

Oh, once I break these chains,

I’ll be running through the forest to get to you!”

Husk manages to catch up with Angel, grabbing both of his bottom set of hands. Angel laughs and spins him around, colorful butterflies flutter around them in the meadow.

“Whoa, I don’t know what’s gotten over me.

I don’t want to wake up from this dream.

Don’t wake me up from this dream--”

Husk watches Angel’s body disintegrate into butterflies, flying away from his hands as the darkness sucks him away from Angel.

Husk gasps on the bed in his bedroom. He looks to find the chains tied around his neck, now more visible. He stares up at the ceiling, tears leaking out of his eyes.

“I swear I’ll get us out of this goddamn place,

Even if kills me.

What more can I do for you,

If I’m in these fucking chains?”

Husk sits up, breathing heavily and now determined. The music picks up the pace for the final chorus as he strides towards the balcony again.

“I’m gonna set us both free from these chains!

I don’t know how or when, but hold on for me!

I’m gonna set our contracts ablaze and pray

That someday we don’t have to stay here long!”

Husk pauses as the music softens. He looks down to see Angel cuddling Fat Nuggets from below. He softens his gaze and perches at the railing of the balcony to get a better look at Angel.

“Some day, we won’t have to stay here ever again.”

The music ends while Husk is staring at Angel with a gentle smile.

~.~

“Do you think Husk is mad at me?” Charlie asks Vaggie while they are taking a walk around the hotel.

“Babe, he’s not mad at you. He’s just upset at what happen to Angel. And I don’t blame him. I want to kill Val now just as much as anyone, but I don’t want to put Angel through worse abuse because of it,” Vaggie reassures her girlfriend. “I think Husk and Angel are in a secret relationship.”

“What?! No way!”

“Yes way.”

Charlie squeals. “Aww, they are so fucking adorable. I’ve been shipping them since they got home from the club one night. I hope it all works out for them.”

“Hey, that’s what I think, babe. Take it with a grain salt,” Vaggie reminds her girlfriend softly.

“Of course, of course, it’s--” Charlie notices something or someone in the bushes, watching them.

Vaggie notices it with her girlfriend, taking out her spear. “Show yourself, you fucking creep!”

The little yellow-furred spider girl stumbles out of the bushes.

“Aww, she’s just a child,” Charlie coos.

Vaggie slowly puts her angelic spear away. “Oops.”

Charlie crouches to make the same eye-level contact. “It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you. Where are your parents?”

The little girl doesn’t answer.

Vaggie arches a brow and looks around for her parents. “Did they leave you here?”

She winces when Vaggie tries to come closer to her.

Charlie notices the spider girl’s injured leg. “Aw, you’re hurt. We have first aid kit. We’ll patch that wound right up.”

The little spider girl comes just a little closer to them once she realizes that they aren’t there to hurt her. Her legs wobble, with the injury revealing a hellhound bite.

“Holy shit,” Vaggie gasps in shock. “Here, let’s get that clean up.”

“Yes, come on,” Charlie says while extending her hand.

The little spider girl grabs her hand as she is being led by both Vaggie and Charlie back into the hotel to get a better look at the wound.

To Be Continued...

#hazbin hotel: the contract of blood #charlie morningstar #vaggie hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel husk #angel dust #huskerdust #friends ocs #nifty hazbin hotel #valentino hazbin hotel

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